MMM...Don't you wish your squirrel friend was fat like mine?

So making memories Monday turned into Major Migraine Monday...

I could feel it coming while feeding Bubba the most bland baby mush ever and the smell was overwhelming. It was an hour yet till hubs came home. I couldn't wait - I ended up nearly passed out next to the toliet on the (clean) bathroom rug. Thankfully laundry has been getting done a lot more frequently these days.

So, as I was near death all night, and a fog still fills my head, there is very little enthusiasm to give a great memory today. That being the cold, hard, fact I will let you see my little chubby squirrel friend. We decorated for fall with some corn stalks - these were quickly attacked by my little furry buddy. He even ventures onto the front porch to get at the delicious and fattening corn. Today - before my head asploding - I took some great pics of my friend.

Sir Fatty McFatterson

He loves munching!

He lives in my tree.

He leaves footprints on my front porch.

Making Memories Monday... Puttin away the baby gear.

Welcome to the start of, drum roll please... " MAKING MEMORIES MONDAY!!!"

I know today is Tuesday, but this stroke of genius hit me late last night and I was already in bed. I would hate to mess up my sleep schedule again as it just recently returned to semi-normal. So deal with it!

Today (actually yesterday ;p) I decided it was about time to finally set up Christmas. ONLY 12 DAYS LEFT! From the depths of the freezing cold basement, it's a cool 55 (?) degrees F all year round (awesome in the summer not so much full of the awesome in the winter) I pull up what seems to be ridiculously heavy boxes of decorations. Monkey and Bubba are trapped in the living room - ah the wonders of baby gates! And they seem to just "know" what is in those boxes. Their little eyes light up with even more awe and wonder with each subsequent box that I haul. After what seems to be the millionth box I drag up the too narrow stairs I get images of my two teenage boys so cheerfully carrying those boxes for their mother in the years to come. I know I should never wish the time away, but oh how nice it would be to have strong boys to carry things for me. Never again would I have to heft the groceries in from the van or lug the laundry up two flights of stairs. My  loving and devoted boys will be at their mother's beck and call. Oh how lovely it will be. (I know this is probably a pipe dream and reality is that I will probably be thankful just to get a "hi mom" between video game pauses and bathroom breaks - where, if they love me, they'll put the seat down.)

But as for my memory in the making, not just dreams of the future, I needed to clear a space for the Christmas tree. My only option is where the baby prison  playpen has made it's home for the past year.  Also in the space is the sad and lonely baby swing, baby jumper, baby bouncer, tummy time playmat, boppy pillow and breastpump. I guess they weren't really lonely - they did have each other - but they were sad. Still they sat there unused and taking up space. I'm sure that subconsciously I haven't wanted to put it away because it would mean that Bubba is no longer a baby. I hate that part, where kids have to grow up. Makes me sad in the pants.

The one and greatest upside about putting away the baby things is that we are storing them not selling them. This means there is a chance that Hubs will want to have another one someday! And that makes me happy in the pants! :)  So I pack away the baby crap to make room for Christmas. Bubba has never been so interested in these things as much as he was today - when I was finally putting them away - never to be used by him again. So thank you dear baby crap you have made my babies happy and hopefully, God and Hubs willing, you will continue to make my babies happy.

Here's to you "takes up too much room baby crap" - we are having a good run.

Princess goes first!

Monkey doing what he does best.

Bubba takes his turn.

But Mom! It's sooo much fun...

Packed in the box.

All the crap ready to go away!

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

is eee tie!!!

*** A small back story. ***
Monkey is developmentally delayed. He has language and speech issues, along with some behavior and emotional difficulties. We know that there is a genius behind all the broken language and temperamental storms. (He sleeps with his Rubik's Cube)
Hell - even Einstein had issues - he too would probably qualify for special-ed preschool.
Monkey is making leaps and bounds in terms of coming up to par with "normal" 3 year olds. (Meh - who really wants to be normal anyway?) We're lucky enough to have him in a special-ed preschool where he receives speech and occupational therapy four days a week. Soon enough he'll be running the world - so look busy!

*** End of little back story.***

In my house we speak a special language know only to us as "monkey speak."
This language is a special combination of normal toddler speak and, well, Monkey. 

Monkey is my second child, my first boy, and my ONLY monkey. 

He has earned this nickname for many reasons.
1. There is this nonhuman "gorilla grip" that he had as an infant. Monkey is so clingy that I can literally let go of him and he will hang to me -  much like a gorilla baby.
2. He loves to climb - couches, playsets, daddy - you name it and he will most likely "ape up" and be on top of it soon.
3.  The sound that he makes while upset is much like a screaming howler monkey in heat. Yeah - it's fun in my house.


Tonight amongst the crying Bubba, the jumping Princess, and the TV that is always on, my dear Monkey sets the sofa remote holder (which never has the remote anyway) on the floor and brings me dinner.

"Momi - is eee tie. Momi. Eee." Monkey mutters in his own language.

THIS IS AMAZING!!!!

Why?
Well for this 3 year old -  imaginative play is like quantum physics. 

He loves to mimic - he can follow along with anything his sister wants to pretend. But tonight - all on his own - he initiated imaginative play.
 He makes me smile and brings tears to my eye at the same time.  So I sit with him and ask him questions about his delicious supper he has made for me. It was a lovely meal of corn and pumpkin.

 (yes - I know it's an eggplant - but you try to get him to say that word! - new words are tough- yo.)

now that's hot

Dear Penthouse,

While cleaning my bathtub - which was long overdue - my sweatshirt kept getting in the way. So I ended up on my hands and knees, topless, and scrubbing the ring around the tub.  Before this gets too hot I do want to mention I was still wearing my yellow rubber cleaning gloves and my frosty the snowman jammie pants. HAWT!

So here is my pic-o-the-day:

See my shiny new bathtub?!?

Here is the before:

There's Monkey and Bubba.

and the peasants....rejoice

Someone asked me what made me make the leap into full time SAHMness. Well to be perfectly honest  -- I was pushed!

Without getting into all the dirty little details my previous employer was all "best for the business, blah, blah, blah..."  And if we are in the process of being truthful I had been on the fence about quitting my job and staying home for quite a while now. Being on the fence that long was pretty stressful. It wasn't at all awesome like sitting on a fencepost, munching bubblelicious, and meeting psycho, cannibalistic worms named Willie.
 No - this was a back and forth epic drama between mommy and sanity. Or at least I thought it was. On one hand there was that need to be mommy and take care of the hellions, and on the other there was that scary thought of prison time after staying at home and killing one or all of them. 

The financial reasons for keeping my job were already gone; after daycare, gas and the lunches I needed to buy I was essentially only bringing home $30 a week. I could easily do that from home (and not on the street corner).

  So far in this week I have discovered that I am pretty quick to jump through the hoops of grief and loss. Especially when that loss has been dreamt about for months.

So on 10/26/10 we have declared that this day is BeeFamily Independence Day.

I AM FREE!

Free to raise my Hellions - no longer needing to send them away being raised by others.
Free to keep my Home - no longer am I being stretched to the limits trying to balance work at work and work at home.
Free to respect my Hubs - for the first time I am totally reliant on him to take care of us, and how can you not respect that!

All in all, I am glad I was pushed.

confessions of farmville addict

So Hubs has once again blocked the Facebook games.

Apparently I spend waaay too much time playing games instead of cleaning, laundry, dishes, feeding the children. Things that should be my "JOB"

Now before you get your panties in a bunch over "your job!?! WTF"  Hubs is right. He works hard for us. I work (out of the house) too. But the difference is that I still have a part time job and my other part time job is raising the 3 hellions that he has blessed me with.

So instead of being addicted to all my FB games - particularly Farmville, I have decided to perhaps give myself some sort of reason to share my accomplishments (and failures) for the support that I so desperately need.

Yes, I still have facebook, and my "real" job to brag (ha ha) about all the really annoying amazing things that my hellions do and say. But here I can open up a little more.

I hope that I can one day look back at this documentary that is life and see all that I really have done.

 - OR -  Perhaps I will soon need a 12 step program for blog addiction.