My shopping helper

No, not Tyler. Al has decided to "help" me tonight by grocery shopping. Truth be told, we only really need things for barbecuing tomorrow, which is what HE wants to do, but regardless it was nice that he offered to go and then pick up the few things on the list that I have. Here is a record of the conversations from Walmart (abbreviated to limit your boredom...well, if you really want to limit your boredom, you might want to skip this whole post).

Phone call 1 from Walmart:
Al: What kind of burgers do we buy? I'm looking at them and I don't know which we get.
Me: Whatever looks good to you. I usually get the black angus ones with cheddar and bacon.
Al: Those sound good. Where are they?
Me: With the rest of the burgers.
Al: Well I don't see them.
Me: Okay, so get something else that looks good.

Phone call 2 from Walmart:
Al: Where are pickles?
Me: In the refrigerated section along the wall.
Al: Not the yucky ones. I already found those in condiments.
Me: Yes, I know you only like Claussen. They are in the refrigerated section along the wall.
Al: Ugh, I was just there. Ummm, lets see....I'm passing hotdogs. Are they coming up soon?

Phone call 3 from Walmart:
Al: What about bagels?
Me: On that same wall as the pickles, just further down closer to the eggs.
Al: Seriously? I just came from there. This carrier thing is getting heavy. Hold on, I'm walking there.
Me: Umm, okay (apparently I must stay on the phone until bagels have been located).
Al: Where is the weed killer?
Me: Back in home and garden, yes, completely on the other side of the store.
Al: Ugh, I have to bring all this frozen stuff all the way over there? (as if he expects me to say no???????)
Me: Well normal people buy that stuff BEFORE they get their frozen and refrigerated foods.
Al: Oh, I didn't know that. (yes, he seriously said that).

I can't wait for the next call. LOL.

How to beat the summer heat

So the heat has been unbearable. Today was the first day in a long while now where I could go outside without feeling as if heat stroke would set in at any moment. That is only "thanks" to Hurricane Gustav, which brought some fairly heavy winds and mild rain to the area.

Anyway, back to my point (yes, I lack clarity these days). The past few days have been H.O.T.

The other night, at 6:45pm, it was still over 90. This is how my boys beat the heat. Not a bad idea, huh?
It's been pretty nice having Al off for leave this past week. I am not the one who gets coerced into outside outings, because even at 6:45 at night, I was sweating after less than 5 minutes of picture taking!

You know you are a stay-at-home-mom when....

you find it to be a real pleasure to go to the OB/GYN without a child in tow! Today was my first OB/GYN appointment since getting pregnant that I've attended without my little man, and I must say, it was nice. Sad, huh? Even sadder was the fact that I was slightly excited that I was getting surprise blood work done, because it made me appreciate the lack of his presence even more.

Don't get me wrong, I love Tyler to death, but sometimes it's nice to not have a constant commentary of what is going on at the moment. Or the zillion questions.

Yea for preschool! It's a good time to get all those appointments over and done with. Of course in 4 weeks (yes, 4 weeks) I'll be back to carrying an infant seat with me everywhere I go!

the cutest thing EVER!

Okay, so anyone who knows me, knows that I like a deal. It's not often that I buy something that we don't truly need. Most of Tyler's clothes are hand-me-downs and garage sale finds, unless they've been given as gifts. The new baby's stuff is almost exclusively hand-me-downs and used things acquired from others. I just can't justify buying many things new, being that kids outgrow these things so quickly, and it's not as if Tyler cares if his stuff is brand new or the latest and greatest of brands.

Anyway, back to my point.

Well, all sense went out the door when I saw these at our hotel gift shop in Disney.

You might think, hmmm, Crocs. What's so great about that? Most anyone know knows us realizes that Tyler already has these and has worn them about a gabillion times.

So, then what's so great about them? Look how freakin' cute and tiny they are! Size 2/3. I could hardly believe it when I saw them. I've looked before and never saw anything below size 4/5, but these are just precious!

So obviously I NEEDED them. I think this falls into the category of necessity, don't you?

Disney Day #3

Luckily the birthday boy slept in a little on Sunday, which was a nice treat. I had hoped he'd sleep in a little because I was beat from the Magic Kindgom on Saturday and Tyler had been up past 11:00pm! Anyway, he awoke as a 4 year old. He claims he didn't feel any different, although he did add "I don't fink I feel any different. Do I wear different size clothes?". LOL.

We had breakfast in the hotel and then packed up and checked out before heading to Blizzard Beach. There were no clouds or rain, which of course meant it was blazing hot, but it was nice to finally see the sun even though I might not have survived if it weren't for the water.

Tyler got to see Goofy (again) before heading into Tykes Peak for the water slides. I swear he could have spent HOURS in that toddler section with the little slides, but he did eventually branch out to the slightly larger slides. He was tempted by the water tube slide, but couldn't get up the courage. He did do one of the larger kids slides and got stuck midway and freaked out, so I was just happy he even agreed to get back on the slides at all! He had a ball and absolutely refused to even leave that area of the park. He never saw the beach or anything. LOL! Luckily Al and I got a trip around the lazy river though (while my parents watched Tyler) before heading home.

Apparently we left just in time, because it started raining not long after we hit the road. As promised, we hit Cracker Barrel for dinner on the way home, as per Tyler's request.

All in all, great birthday weekend!

Disney Day #2

Saturday brought some clearing in the rain, so off we head to the Magic Kingdom. Tyler's first request was seeing his "friends". We met up with Chip and Dale, as well as Pluto, out on main street. From there it was on to Toon Town to see more "friends" and play in the play area.

We went on many of his favorite rides throughout the day, including the teacups and small world. He also tried a few new things. The Tiki Birds received horrible reviews from Tyler. In fact we had to leave early. Luckily Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride and the Swiss Family Treehouse were big hits. The Jungle Cruise was iffy. He was concerned that he was going to be eaten by an alligator or other such nonsense. As much as I tried to convince him that these things were pretend, it's hard to explain that to a child that truly believes a 6ft tall mouse is completely real.

We did have a VERY rained out view of the parade. Up until start time it was just cloudy, or else I'm sure they would have done the "Rainy Day Parade", but it was already in action when the skies opened up. It was sort of amusing seeing all of the characters drenched in water. Peter Pan even had to wring out his shirt as he passed us. Tyler apparently was unfazed by the rain and refused to wear his poncho.

We also fit in a nice dinner at the Crystal Palace to celebrate Tyler's birthday. As you can imagine, he had a wonderful time.

All in all, we had a great time. I think the weather was a blessing in disguise. The park wasn't too overly crowded and the weather wasn't too unbearably hot. Tyler had a great day!

Disney Day #1

The original "plan" went as follows:
Pick Tyler up from school.
Eat a quick lunch and get on the road.
Check in at Pop Century.
Spend the afternoon at Downtown Disney.
Eat dinner at Downtown Disney.
Drive to Fort Wilderness to attend campfire sing-a-long.
Walk to the lake to view the lagoon parade and distant fireworks.
Back to hotel and to bed.

Actual events, courtesy of Tropical Storm Fay:
Pick Tyler up from school.
Eat a quick lunch and get on the road.
Drive slowly in order to avoid complete blindness from heavy rain.
Sit in car at Pop Century, debating just how wet we could get while carrying in our luggage.
Check in hotel. Get wet in process.
View heavy rain out of hotel room while Tyler bounces on beds.
Note that people are still swimming.
Don bathing suits and head to kiddie pool.
Play in pool in rain, quite heavy at times.
Eat dinner at Pop Century cafe.
Shop in gift shop during next downpour.
Puddle jump back to hotel room.
Keep our fingers crossed and head to Fort Wilderness.
Take bus out to campfire sing-a-long area.
Observe washed out campsites and significant flooding.
Sit, under cover, in total downpour.
Take bus back to parking lot.
Drive home.
Eat "smores" in hotel room.
To bed.

However, as you can see, Tyler had a ball. All worth it!

5 years, baby!

Today is our 5 year anniversary. And, thankfully, we actually get to spend it together. Even though it will be a flooded adventure with my parents and our son. Not exactly romantic, but it beats all the times we've been apart on our anniversary.

Anniversary #1: Me, 6 days overdue with Tyler. We saw a movie and ate out. It's all I could handle. LOL.

Anniversary #2: Al in training in VA.

Anniversary #3: Al deployed that day to Iraq

Anniversary #4: He was actually home, and deployed 3 days later! We didn't have a sitter, but at least we were together

Anniversary #5: Together in Disney. Yeah!

I love you baby! Here's to many more years together!

Time to say goodbye

Fay, while your stay has been interesting, it's time for you to go.

We had no school on Tuesday, which I noted was rain-free. Now today, 3 days later, it's raining heavier than ever, with some high winds. You've made your presence known, and it's time to say goodbye.

See, my baby turns 4 on Sunday. And we have reservations to be in Disney this weekend. Reservations means we've paid money in the hopes of enjoying some time there. Nowhere in my plan was a mention of your name. My parents are here, plans have been set, and darn it, we're ready for fun. So I don't appreciate logging onto weather.com and find out that Orlando is STILL under a tropical storm watch and flood warning. Not appreciated. Not at all.

Time to say goodbye, Fay. Don't ruin this for my baby!

5 more weeks!

As some of you know, I had to go in for an ultrasound yesterday. Last week at my OB appointment, there was some minimal concern about my lack of weight gain, so they decided to schedule an ultrasound, just to be "proactive". Well, apparently the concerns were unwarranted, because everything looked good at my ultrasound yesterday! The baby is apparently weighing 5lbs, and I measured at 33w5d (being that I was 33w6d, that's only a day off!). The amniotic fluid is sufficient, and we (my mom and I) even got to see the baby do some "practice breathing", which was pretty cool!

As of today, I'm exactly 34 weeks along. I have a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks, which means I've got exactly 5 weeks to go! 35 days!!!! I can hardly believe it.

Perhaps we should really settle on a name. I don't think "baby bean" would be appropriate on a birth certificate!

Another "note to self"

Planning in advance isn't always the best option.

Or, as I say often, Florida heat sucks.

As most of you know, we were due to be hit by Tropical Storm Fay, which was reportedly going to be considered a hurricane by the time it made landfall right near us. As a dutiful Florida resident, we had stocked a hurricane evacuation kit over 2 years ago when we spent our first summer here (restocking it last year as well). We had all the necessities packed into a large Rubbermaid tote in our garage: jugs of water, cans of fruit/veggies, toilet paper, first aid supplies, some medications, flashlights and extra batteries, compass (not sure this would help me out, but it was on "the list" so we had one), ponchos, etc.

Well, yesterday I dropped Tyler off at preschool and came home to relax. Checked the weather and it wasn't looking good for us. I secretly laughed at all the people I knew were frantically running through Walmart and the grocery stores, trying to get prepared. Me, I knew I had my kit and all was good.

Well, something made me decide to go out in the garage and check on the kit. Apparently the water jugs had sprung leaks (most likely due to the heat) and therefore leaked all in the container which then turned essentially all of our supplies into mold. Likely toxic mold which may kill me. Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but don't let this happen to you!

So off to Walmart I went, along with the rest of Florida. Luckily it wasn't too bad, I think because most people were working. My dear father stayed home, armed with gloves and bleach, and tried to battle the evil mold situation.

Luckily for us, we didn't end up needing a single supply. Fay turned course and we were spared. Despite school being closed, we only ended up with some wind and occasional rain. We might still have some heavy wind and rain ahead of us, but I think we've been spared from the majority of the storm. Phew.

So, for now, I'm stocked again. This time though, I'm just printing out a magnetic list to hang to the fridge. This list will contain all I need to pack to head out in an emergency. That way I can make sure to keep these things stocked. But stocked within the air conditioned confines of my home. Lesson learned.

First Day!

Well, we did have some first day jitters before Tyler's big day at VPK today. However, they were from me, not from him! LOL. I couldn't get to sleep until after 1:00 and then couldn't get back to sleep after Al's alarm clock went off at 5:30.

Tyler woke up as happy as a clam. He once mentioned that he didn't want to go to preschool, but then quickly changed his tune. He happily ate breakfast, got dressed, and even eagerly put on his non-Croc footwear! And we were out the door!

He skipped into school without a care in the world, and quickly joined the other kids for some coloring. He did get a little hesitant when it was time for us to go, but never shed a tear and happily said goodbye. I even peeked back through the window, and sure enough he was busy in his activity and not at all crying! Way to go, Tyler!

At pick-up time he was happily playing on the playground. The teacher said he did great, but he got upset when it was time to transition to a different room. She said quite a few other children got upset as well, so maybe he just got caught up in the moment. She said he recovered quickly though, and I was happy to see that he was not one of the kids that was still crying.

We told him he could pick a restaurant for a celebratory lunch. He picked Wendy's, so we ate while he happily told us about his day. It appears that he was incredibly pleased, well, except for the disappointment over the lack of snack time. He is anxious and ready to go back tomorrow! Well, tomorrow IF they hold school. Hurricane Fay may have other plans for us!

Stay Away Fay!

Yep, now under a Hurricane Watch. Yipee.
The following, taken from the news:

"The forecast track for the storm shifted Sunday evening to take Fay over the Gulf of Mexico and into Pinellas County, and just west of Tampa, on Tuesday evening, with winds near 85 mph and close enough to possibly bring hurricane-force gales to the coast.

The projected path exposes the Tampa Bay area to a more serious storm surge threat than if the storm had crawled up the peninsula east of Tampa, as earlier forecasts had predicted.

The new track puts the Tampa Bay area on the eastern side of the storm, where the winds are strongest and extend farthest from the center."

Looks like fun, huh?

Did I mention that Al is leaving on Monday morning for Ft. Lauderdale? By vehicle. Gotta love the military.

Don't even get me started about all the hype about the increased likelihood of going into labor during hurricanes and tropical storms.

So, baby bean, please stay put. Fay, please stay away!

Birthday Boy!

Okay, it's not his actual birthday yet (not for another week) but we had to celebrate Tyler's birthday on Saturday. In reality it was a VERY last minute party. We are celebrating Tyler's birthday weekend in Disney, so we weren't going to do a "party" in addition to that but he started asking questions about his birthday party...so I felt guilty. So then I had planned on doing something AFTER his birthday, but incredibly-clueless me, on WEDNESDAY, realized I HAD to have the party on Saturday. My parents are here now, and they are now sending Al away tomorrow until Thursday, so if we didn't have the party this weekend the party would have to be held without his grandparents or without his father on a different date. Neither sounded like a good option. And having the party tonight (Sunday) wouldn't have been good either, with the start of school for everyone tomorrow.

Anyway, now that I've covered that boring back story, I will share that this neglectful mother contacted the guests on Thursday and managed to order Tyler's apparent dream cake (involving dinosaurs and a volcano) and managed to pull something together in time. All in all, I think I managed to make him quite happy, although apparently I must post another note to myself next year that all parties apparently must include carrots and dip. Hmm. I must say, if that was his only complaint, I guess we did fairly well.

I was in a quandary as to whom to invite, being that it was SOOOOO last minute, and being that our house is so small (with a bad weather forecast predicted), I was afraid to invite too many people anyway. So it ended up being just myself and Al, my parents, my neighbor and her son, his little friend Dionna and her new housemate (I won't get into that), and his friend Gabriella and her parents. But it was just perfect. Tyler got to play with his friends, eat pizza, gobble up some obnoxiously colorful cake, open presents, and then do some more playing. It was all topped off with providing gift bags to our guests, which, according to Tyler, was a huge highlight of the party.
Tyler got some awesome gifts, so we've been busy around here playing!