My solo Not Me! Monday

I'm not sure how I get by without Not Me! Monday at this point! I stopped going to confession long ago, and since I feel like MckMama is a little bit like a saint, I think this counts. This week has been especially trying fun. All my boys are home and hubby and I were off from work so we got some good quality fighting family time in.

• My father did not join Facebook and post pictures of my potty training. He also did not find my blog! I will have to come up with a good name for him.

• Delicate Flower who now prefers to be referred to as Q Dawg did not projectile vomit over everything within a five foot radius. It was not mostly Doritos and the floor is not forever tinted a lovely shade of pink.

• Monkey did not develop sympathy sickness and develop an ear infection. The medicine did not give his bottom(from the diarrhea) such an awful rash I was tempted to let him go naked.

• Monkey did not break the new necklace from my MIL. I am not going to try to trade it in for the charm bracelets that everyone else received and I have been coveting.

• Monkey did not act like a fish in his first bath in the big bathtub. He did not scream when it was over even though he was shivering and his lips were blue.

• Monkey has not become very comfortable sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.

What have you not done this week? Check out all the others'. I am sure with the holidays there are bound to be some doozies! Well crud - you can't check out the others, MckMama is not hosting today. Be sure to check back next week!

Belated Merry Christmas

It was a Merry one! But after having two sick kids at home I am ready for a Happy New Year! I will have a bunch of not mes! Not that Delicate Flower would ever puck all over himself, the bed, the room, and anything else within projectile distance. The carpet will be forever pink from too many Doritos. Monkey had an ear infection. We think it was sympathy pains. But all things ended well. Delicate Flower is home with me for the holidays and I am trying to inspire the genius of John Hughes while we watch Weird Science. I can't wait to use my new food processor and whatever you do, wait for The Day the Earth Stood Still to come out on video. (We wasted our one grownup day!)

Oh I confessed to DF his nickname - his suggested names are: Q Dawg, Charlie, or RamQi - he requests a vote!

Not Me! Monday

Thank goodness for MckMama's Not Me! Monday. (Am I the only one that thinks she is a celebrity and a bit of a superwoman?) I am at least guaranteed to post once a week! Between the crazy holiday season and the fact I reset my wireless I just haven't had the time! Who am I kidding - I always have the time, but I am too lazy to go into another room to use the computer at home. At work I am way too busy playing facebook games. I am a BUSY working woman! Give me a break! Sheesh! LOL - yes I am feeling a little dramatic today, but I bet you can't wait to read what I have not done this week.

• I did not tell my MIL that Monkey peed and then spit up a little on her bed. (Her sheets were off.) I really don't feel any ill will to MIL, and Monkey did it on accident. It was not me that was letting him play naked while I got his clothes ready.

• Speaking of Monkey, it was not me that he threw up on the middle of the night. That would mean he still isn't sleeping and when he sleeps, he sleeps in our bed. I would never let a 8 month old baby still sleep in bed with his parents when he isn't nursing.

• It is not me that has not finished Christmas shopping. Nor did I mail out packages today. I can say with certainly they WILL NOT get there by Christmas!

• Delicate Flower arrived for the holidays and it is not my 13 yr child that is now 5'10". He also wasn't invited to tour the gifted and talented high school. Since my son is not failing all of his classes - I wouldn't have been surprised.

Ok - enough for today. I am not going to spend the rest of the day reading blogs and trying to finally upload some pictures of my tree that I am IN LOVE with!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Dear Dear Monkey

Dear Monkey -

Happy 8 month birthday!
It seems like just yesterday we were taking your six week pictures.

My goodness time is just whizzing by us. You are becoming quite the little man.
You are crawling everywhere and are obsessed with standing up. You do rounds endlessly in your baby jail (yes it does remind me a little bit of a prison yard) and you absolutely refuse to lie down in your crib. You hate to sleep. I can only hope that one day you will realize that 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep makes Mommy and Daddy very happy.
We are thankful that you really are a delight when you are awake. Your happy smiles and giggles make my day.

For some bizarre reason you find the word blue hilarious. It also makes you perfectly content to suck on my chin and pull my hair. I find this gross but I let you do it because I am a sucker for our little monkey.
I am so excited for your first Christmas. I know that you just like to try to eat the ornaments. Big Brother thinks it's great that you hated Santa (proven here), but I can only hope you will grown to love him!
You aren't talking yet, but I can tell you want too! We have endless conversations just by blowing raspberries at one another.
You still love to eat. Bananas and yogurt continue to be your favorite. You love to feed yourself your crackers too. (Mommy loves cracker time too, because it gives us time to eat dinner.)
I could go on about how much I love you, but Mommy doesn't want to embarrass you! Just know that we think you are the perfect baby no matter what!

Love Mommy

Not Me! Monday

Sadly Monday is here and I am back at work. Fortunately I have Not Me! Monday to pass away the time and give me giggles. I am not saying I take some pleasure in other peoples misfortunes. That would be mean.

• Monkey did not sample the following things; Christmas tree, ornament, cat food, carpet, receipt, and cat. (Yes cat) He is not obsessed with putting everything in his mouth in the effort to sooth his poor gums. I do not let him suck on my chin because that seems to make him happiest.

• The fuel pump did not go out on hubby's truck. That would be a sucky thing to happen right before Christmas. Firestone did not quote us $1300. We did not then find out it was covered under warranty and have the car towed again. That would be silly. Who pays for two toes when the car is under warranty? Not us!

• I did not go Christmas shopping yesterday only to come home with two pairs of shoes for myself. I am never that selfish.

• I know MckMama said not to blog about my period, but that made me think I have still not had a period since Monkey. (I do have the Mirna IUD) LOL I did not just announce to the world what birth control I use.

• Monkey will not be 8 months old tomorrow. He is not growing up tooo fast. He is not obsessed with standing and does not do laps in his playpen. He did not spend most of the week sleeping in our bed. Hubby is not convinced that he hates his crib. That would be silly. Why would it occur to us to even think Monkey hates his crib!

• Monkey does not only eat when I sing Itsie Bitsie Spider. I do not encourage this by singing as many versions of the song. My Itsie Bitsie Spider rap did not crack up the baby and cause him to spit risotto at me.

• Monkey did not pee on the floor when I was letting him crawl around naked. Who would be foolish enough to let a 7 month old baby crawl around the floor without a diaper. I certainly was not trying to catch cute naked baby moments.

What did you not do lately?

Wordless Wednesday

I am not always obsessed with the Baby! Delicate Flower lives with his dad during the school year, during the summer I try not to torture him too much. I did make everyone go for photos. Monkey's were awful. The family photos were awful. Brother pictures were awful. I LOVE these ones though.

Not Me! Monday

Where is the time going? Already a whole new weeks of things that never happened. Or if they did I wouldn't share. Check out the others on MckMama's list. I love honest denial.

• We did not take Monkey for a second round of photos. If we had he certainly did not react like this.

• I did not spend all week trying to make my blog Christmassy! I am a Project Manager for IT projects. Surely I have enough technical knowledge to do something like that in my sleep.


• I did not just realize the mug on my desk is brewing some new life form. That would be gross. I am not putting off cleaning it because I know how gross it probably is. I will not probably wind up just throwing it away.


• I did not buy more scrapbook supplies to add to the large pile of supplies I already don't use. I have not started on Monkey's baby book and I am not living in fear that my MIL will ask me. I do not pretend to love scrapbooking just to have something in common with my MIL.

What did you not do this week?

Oh Happy Pills

So the big Dr. appointment was yesterday. It was grueling. I have seen this psychiatrist before and I like him because he is pretty scientific when it comes to medicine. I also like that he listens to my concerns with taking medicine and works hard to find a good fit. He prescribed Cymbalta and Ambien. (Hubby is now on baby monitor duty)
He also prescribed the task of writing letters to my mother. He said bar none it is the most effective method for dealing with grief. Particularly when the death was sudden and unexpected like my mothers. The letters should trigger the brain to release the right chemicals. I'm then supposed to go back every couple weeks and read them again in the hopes that I will cry (not to hard to think that wouldn't happen.) Crying is the next best healer. And while I have been doing plenty of that, I don't know that I feel any better when I do. Not to mention I am so paralyzed by the fear that something else will happen to my family that sometime I'm crying over things that I just think will happen.
Anyway, I'll see how it goes. I'm optimistic. I did sleep last night so today I feel oodles better.

Public Service and Gift Ideas

My pregnancy with Monkey was difficult. It seemed like I failed (isn't that sad I think about it that way) every test under the planet when it was time to gage Monkey's health. The blood screen was just a couple points over for Downs. His heart was just a little off in the uber ultra-sound. Things like that. Maybe my Dr. was just very cautious. Maybe fate intervened. Fortunately by the time we saw every specialist, the issues would be gone. I don't know what I would have done if things worked out differently. I know that had we found something life-threatening with Monkey we would not have chosen to end the pregnancy. I believe in a woman's right to choose, but I also believe in life choosing life. I know that miracles happen. I know that science is not always exact. I believe in fate. I think my approach was just that we would be better prepared just in case. We were so blessed, just in case never happened and Monkey was a HUGE (9lb 5 oz) thriving active baby. My last trimester went without a single specialist visit for him.

I know there are families that are not so blessed. I know there are women that go through their pregnancy knowing the rate of survival for their infant is slim. My heart goes out to those women. String of Pearls is a ministry that supports families that have received a fatal prenatal diagnosis. Like all non-profits they rely on the kindness of thers. During this season of giving think about a donation in name for those hard to shop for people on your list.

"But Junita, how can I donate to String of Pearls?"

"Why I just so happen to know of an excellent fundraising program occurring right now, Rebel For A Cause."

What is that you ask? Rebel for a Cause is actually a union of three remarkable programs, String of Pearls, No Hands But Ours, and The Elison Project. For a donation of $10 you will be entered into a kick-ass raffle. The prizes make me drool. If the donation isn't in your budget, maybe you can mention this worthwhile cause on your own blog or network site. If nothing else maybe click on the sites and read the stories and keep the familes in your thoughts. There is never an overage of prayers.

Sigh

URGH - so I have only been working on a blogover for oh I don't know the ENTIRE day. I don't know why I felt compelled to decorate for Christmas virtually when I haven't even done so at home. Anyway - I hope to be finished tonight. In the mean time you may see some bad choices! I think wine is going to be required in order to finish.