On top of old smokey...

WEEK IN REVIEW

Well, the Meredith obsession with Nick Jonas has escalated this week. She now goes around saying that she "loves" Nick Jonas. She even calls her baby, Nick Jonas. So when she takes the baby to bed with her, she says, "I want to sleep with Nick Jonas". We don't even go there!
Friday was Madeline's leader day at preschool. She is always sooo proud to walk in with a snack, toy to share, and book to share. Herfirst activity of the day was playing with Floam. Lucky girl!

While Madeline was at school, Meredith and I made some Ghirardelli triple chocolate cupcakes to take over to the church for their Lenten Fish Fry that night. (you know the one I was volunteered to bake for... haha). They looked so tasty, but of course I have no clue how they taste since giving up chocolate. Meredith the rest of the day was talking about eating those cupcakes when we go over for dinner. She of course picked out a cupcake, but it wasn't mine. Madeline, the good little girl that she is, managed to select the one that Meredith and I made. The actual dinner had us waiting for about an hour to get our food. Father Hazel announced at church the next day that they had served 900 dinners on Friday!! No wonder there was a wait. It was so good again :)

Meredith received a birthday gift in the mail. It was a make your own necklace/bracelet kit. Both Madeline and she loved doing that! I had difficulties estimating the length and tying the knots, but oh well. They enjoyed themselves.

The rest of the weekend was pretty non-eventful. I didn't even want to go to Marc's to do grocery shopping today, but I did. My shoes were leaking getting my feet wet. My cart kept pulling to the right. I made some lady hit off spaghetti jars to the floor making a mess. (she was in my way). I forget to get the vitamins which are in the first row; I was in the last. No wonder I didn't want to go :( Meredith's face says it all:

Looking for Coupons

Edwin's idea of helping me find coupons in the Sunday paper!

Celebrating AJ's 27th Birthday

Helping Grandma Nikki cook AJ's birthday lunch...



Helping AJ open her birthday gifts...



Helping AJ blow out her birthday candles...



and finally, ENJOYING the cake!!!!

An Actual Haircut

and some special girl scout cookies for being a good boy!!!

THANKS GRANDMA NIKKI!!!!

Hanging out with Mom

Dave has been in Nashville all weekend for a bachelor party (and from the pictures I've seen...looks like he's having fun!), so Edwin and I have had a whole weekend to play! I'm one lucky mom - he is AWESOME!!!

What can I work on today?

22 weeks today!!!

One thing is for sure, Baby Ross sure knows how to move!!!

Much more active than Edwin was, especially this early on...

General NOKY Updates

Edwin's big boy bed has arrived...we are thinking of starting the transition process in April. So, March will be a busy month of getting all of the things to make Edwin's new room as special as he is...is that possible?

His bedding is awesome! Pirates...he LOVES it...and I can't wait to see how the rest of the room comes together. Can't believe my little man will be in a big boy bed soon!

Pottying is still going well. He typically uses the potty a couple of times a day. He isn't telling me when he has to go yet, but he does tell me after he goes...he'll learn...and until then, we'll keep reading the potty book!!! hahaha

Speaking of books, we also got Edwin a BIG BROTHER book...and I'm looking for a baby so that Edwin can learn some new words - ex: GENTLE. LOL - not sure how that will go??

One last note, I've entered our house into a new contest called Desperate Landscapes. They are looking for houses in Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati that need some landscaping help...and well, unfortunately, I think we fit the profile! So, keep your fingers crossed...and I'll keep you posted!!!

WEEK IN REVIEW

Finally , Madeline got to have her Valentine's Party at school on Wednesday. Suspiciously, however, she returned home with 15 of her own cards. Hmm. She insists that she indeed gave everyone a card, but come on, how did we end up with 15 of hers? :) She got a bunch of candy, stickers, pencils, and tattoos! One kid handed out Sugar babies. Really? Now, I realize that I am a choke-a-phobic, but a little round sticky, caramel ball for kids? It was instantly pitched into the garbage. *** I would have eaten them had I not given up chocolate for Lent. HA!

Even stranger than this is what Madeline received from the teacher. It is a wall sticker. I have no words....

Speaking of Lent, I have decided to give up 3 things this year: chocolate, beer, and late night snacks. This is hard; I must admit. Matt has given up diet pop. We are hoping that this is for good since that stuff is NOT good for his health.

On Friday, we went to St. Michael's Fish Fry at the new Parish Center. It is so convenient and very good! The girls got fried shrimp, I got fried fish, and Matt and Grandma got baked fish. YUM!! The dessert girl kept arriving at our table before we were ready for it. Of course, she was no where to be seen when we needed her. Meredith was desperate for dessert that she got off her chair, walked over to Madeline, and asked her to come with her to find the girl. Madeline (like myself) said no. This didn't stop all of the sudden brave Meredith! She continued on through the gym to find the girl. We had to stop her b/c another worker came by to get us dessert. But, seriously, she was on a mission. She really wanted that brownie!

When I arrived home from work on Saturday, I was greeted by Madeline and "Nick Jonas". Yep, Meredith is now Nick Jonas on and off throughout the day. She also refers to himself in the third person. For example: Nick Jonas is eating or Nick Jonas is going potty. Too funny!! She won't answer you if she is currently Nick. She really likes him :)

Edwin Jamming

POTTY

So, Edwin's Big Boy Potty arrived yesterday. He's been so curious about the happenings of the bathroom that I decided it couldn't hurt to start teaching him about the potty. We've been working on bathroom words/phrases (sink, wash hands, towells, tissue, rug, potty, pee, poop, etc.) and he's really interested in what mama and dada do in there...so...

Today, he was sitting on it with his clothes on like normal. I've read that you shouldn't rush boys into pottying before they are ready so I've just been letting him sit on it with his clothes on to get used to it being HIS chair. I told him we were done and turned out the light - he demanded the light to be turned back on. I told him I would turn it on, but he had to take his pants off to sit on the potty...and he agreed. He sat back down with just his diaper. After a few minutes, I turned the light back off...he demanded for it to be turned back on...I told him I would, but if he wanted to go back on the potty, he had to take his diaper off like a big boy. He agreed. So, he sat back down with no diaper. A few more minutes passed and I continued to explain that big boys pee and poop on the potty like mama and dada do on their potty. He just shook his head yes - serious, as usual. After a few minutes I told him we needed to get a new diaper on and try again later...he said no...I told him that big boys pee on the potty and he walked over (standing in front of the toilet) and peed...INTO THE POTTY!!!!!!!!!!! I was soooo excited that I started praising him before he was done and his potty started playing music when the pee hit the sensor...both of which made him lose his focus and turn - pee on the floor...oops....oh well! IT WAS GREAT!!! I don't have a baby anymore...at least not until Baby Ross #2 makes its debut!!!!

YAY EDWIN!!!!!

Profile Comparisons

Edwin:


Baby Ross #2:

photoshoot aka ultrasound

We had our ultrasound today. We will be 21 weeks on Friday...we stuck to our guns and Baby Ross remains an "IT" at this point. The heartbeat was 147 and it weighs approximately 12 ozs. It was moving a lot during the ultrasound, which made it fun! We saw the arms/hands/legs/feet/head/etc...and all look perfect! We are still sticking with our July 4th due date at this point and everything seems to be moving along smoothly!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

PROFILE:

FOOT:

HAND COVERING FACE:

LOOKING AT US:

Baby Names

So for whatever reason, Mindy & I just can't see eye-to-eye on girl baby names.

Last time around we agreed on Edwin Randall pretty early on, but we went to the delivery room with a potential girl name still in doubt. Since we've decided once again to not find out the gender until the baby is born, we are undergoing the same ordeal.

We don't have the boy name ironed out exactly (nothing's as obvious as our two dad's names), but I think we're both fairly satisfied with our short list*. A girl name? Jeez, we're not even close. The only thing I can find even remotely similar in our favorite names is that Mindy's just happens to be a famous cartoon character from the '60s, while mine happens to be a famous video game (sort of like a cartoon, right?) character from the '80s**.

To resolve this stand-off so we can move on with our lives, I have proposed the following compromise***:

1. We will follow the Winter Olympics for the next 2 weeks and note the name of every female medal winner.
2. Hopefully, we agree on our favorite name among the winners, and our job is done.
3. If we can't agree, we narrow the list down to gold medal winners.
4. Once again, hopefully, we can agree on one.
5. If still no agreement, we put the gold medal winners in a hat, then select one at random.

So you can play at home by rooting on the female Olympians with your favorite names!

Here's the list of the female medal winners thus far:

• Charlotte (gold)
• Kristina
• Marit
• Martina (gold)
• Stephanie
• another Kristina
• Hannah (gold)
• Jennifer
• Shannon
• Anastazia (gold)
• Magdalena
• Marie

* We will not be disclosing our boy name short list.

** It is coincidental that our respective favorites share names with cartoon & video game characters. The referenced characters were not our inspirations for name choices.

*** Mindy has not (nor will she likely) agree to this compromise.

WEEK IN REVIEW

This week was comprised of snow, no school, and Valentine's Day activities! Madeline didn't have school all week due to the weather and Presidents' Day. She was so looking forward to her party at school. Her box remains on our table ready to go for Wednesday. Of course, we have another snow storm coming so who knows!! I am still figuring out my camera especially when it comes to focusing. Once I get the basics mastered, I hope that the details will fall into place. Here are a few of my attempts.

Grandma gave the girls Valentine aprons which they have worn 80% of the time since receiving them. HA :) So I decided that we would put them to good use by making a cake. The girls were especially good at putting the sprinkles on and eating the remaining icing. Saturday night we ( including Grandma) went to eat at Bistro GQ. What a yummy meal! I had veal and peppers which I polished off. I even had a Chocolate Kisses "martini" a.k.a. chocolate milk with some alcohol and a hugs kiss at the bottom. We saved the cake until the following day since we were all stuffed.

On Valentine's Day itself, the girls and Matt gave me some cards. Madeline and Meredith decorated their own creations. They were so cute. Matt picked out the girls' cards this year and he nailed it! He bought them musical cards; Hannah Montana for Madeline and Jonas Brothers for Meredith. Meredith LOVES her card. We have heard the tune a million times so far. She loves to dance to it , too! Lunch we had Papa over to visit. He suggested Chinese takeout so that is what we had. Yet again, it was another great meal, but this time with leftovers.

For dinner, we were off to Grandma's house with Panera. Yes, for a change we got everything that we ordered. Madeline and Meredith were very excited to eat the iced cookies that Grandma had made. We could barely get them to play between dinner and dessert!

The previous post was in regards to our failed attempt of dislodging all the CDs out of the Bose player of Grandma. We were hitting it, using screwdrivers, followed the "instructions", etc. and NOTHING. It was then that we found that article and decided that a professional is going to have to take over from there.

Fixing Mom #2's Bose

So Mom has a stuck CD and/or magazine with her Bose 20 Lifestyle system. The manual wasn't much help, so we took to the internet for a possible solution. This was the best one:

(I am not making this up. Someone posted this on a forum on how to solve the problem).


Problem: CD changer case will not eject and motor is constantly running.

Possible Solution: Take the entire case off of Lifestyle 20 system, by prying it open with a blow torch.

Then, Remove all silver covers by swinging an axe through it. They were (glued on).

Proceeded by removing the phillips head screws in-line, by using a jackhammer.

Next use a machete to pop the tabs under the end silver covers.

You now have access to a useless piece of c***.

The problem was the plastic gear on the motor had slipped where it was no longer engaging.

Stab wildly with a butchers knife, while screaming "I hate you!...I hate you!...I hate you!"


Realistic Solution: Strap to bulldozer tire and go have a nice drink.

Resolution: Return to store where you bought the Bose.

Wait till nightfall. Lurk in the shadows.

Apprehend salesman who brainwashed you and sold you the piece of c*** in question.

Bring to desolate location. Strap and tie to chair. Use duct tape to tape his eyelashes and eyelids in a permanent wide open stare.

Place several large pictures ( which you hopefully aqcuired through the internet, and NOT though personal experience)of a completely nudde Joan Rivers, roughly one foot from his face. Leave and go home.

Lesson Learned: Never buy Bose C***!!!

20 weeks and 20 months

Edwin is 20-months old, and I'm 20 weeks prego...1/2 way there!!! YAY!!!!
Ultrasound scheduled for the 17th...can't wait to see Baby Ross...with Dave!

Cleaning the Kitchen

To make time spent doing mundane weekday chores more enjoyable, I choose to be on the right side of the embracing vs. tolerating divide. One of the little things I do is listening to music or podcasts while cleaning up the kitchen after dinner each night.

Last night, I went with Basement Jaxx. Edwin must've agreed with my selection.

White Death - part II

A few more inches today...more shovel/play time for the boys!

DINO ATTACK caught on tape!

Cheese!