A haircut is worthy of a complete meltdown

Jake has had exactly three haircuts in his lifetime. None of them have gone well. On Tuesday, I took him to Toys R Us to get his third haircut because his hair was truly a mess. He's got these great curls in back but the top of his hair and the stuff around his ears needed some work.

Several people told me to try Toys R Us because they have cool, little cars the kids can sit in while they're being worked on and they get to watch a movie during the haircut. Great! Jake loves cars so I thought this would be perfect. We even picked the Cars movie for him to watch during the proceedings.

We watched a little boy from my class last year get his hair cut first. I kept saying to Jake, "Look at how much fun Joey is having! Are you going to have fun to?" And he said "YES!" very emphatically. Liar. He loved getting in the car chair, loved watching the Cars movie come on and that's when the love stopped. As soon as Miss Mary took a wet comb to his head the waterworks began. And they lasted the entire haircut. There was even some stomping of the feet. It was good times. I got to hand it to Miss Mary though, she did not let his tirade distract her. She was intent on giving him a proper haircut. She even brought out the clippers at the end to clean up the edges. I could have told her that was a mistake. But I don't think she would have listened to me. I swear I thought she was going to cut one of his ears off because he was jerking his head around trying to dodge those clippers so much. She tried to tell him they were a tickle machine, but he's no fool.

Finally, it was over and I have to say he looked pretty cute. I thought about not buying him the stuffed animal we had picked out beforehand to ensure that he would be good during the haircut, but it turns out he had cried and snotted all over it so we had to go ahead and purchase it. It's that old if you get snot on it you buy it rule.

I had noticed that Joey had gotten a lollipop after his haircut so I kept waiting for Miss Mary to offer one to Jake. She didn't. So after I paid for the haircut I just kind of looked at the lollipop basket and she said, "Oh, did you want him to have one?" I guess she only offers them to the kids who don't cry. But I said yes, I would like for him to have one and by the way can I have one too? Because although it wasn't chocolate, it was sugar and you can bet we both needed a fix after such a horrendous experience. Too bad Jake dropped his on the dirty floor shortly thereafter. But at least he walked out of the store with a new, slightly wet pet giraffe.

(I'll post some pictures of his new "do" later.)

Pizookie Deliciousness

I promise this is the last time this year I'll post something about my birthday. Saturday Mike and I got to have a real, live date and went to a movie and out to dinner afterwards. Some friends of ours watched Jake for the evening and he had too much fun playing with their little boy. We went to see Defiance which is a really good movie but might I suggest not seeing it if you have raging hormones coursing their way through your body. It's about a group of brothers who basically hide out in the forest during the Holocaust, do some good and not so good things, but eventually end up helping lots of people survive that awful time. I don't know what I was thinking picking this movie. I think it was something like "that Daniel Craig is so hot!" However, his hotness and the genuine good quality of the movie could not match my pregnant body screaming how can people be so cruel to other people? It made me want to pack up the kids and tell Mike to take us out to the country or the mountains or something to live the rest of our lives in complete isolation. So, I give the movie an A- but warn you not to see it if you are feeling the least bit emotional. You know what else you shouldn't see if you're feeling emotional? Marley and Me with Jen Anniston and Owen Wilson. I made that mistake over Christmas. It's a really good movie, but it reduced me to a blubbering, shoulders heaving, tears running down my face idiot in the movie theater. I caught Mike looking at me during my breakdown and all I could say was "STUPID MOVIE!"

Anyhow, the movie was so long on Saturday that we didn't have time to go to the restaurant I wanted to go to so we ended up having a sandwhich at Schlotsky's. Then on Sunday night we took Jake with us to BJ's for the ultimate in birthday desserts. I had never before eaten a pizookie, but recently heard several good things about them from friends. So I literally chose my birthday dinner based on the dessert. It was well worth it. It's just a big, warm cookie loaded up with ice cream but it made me so happy! Jake liked it to and kept asking for "MORE CAKE PLEASE!" Here are some pictures from the big weekend.

Just some random randomness

First and foremost I need to tell you that I have lost my cell phone. I think the last time I had it was Thursday afternoon. No clue where it is. If it's in this house the battery is dead because when I called the number I couldn't hear it ringing anywhere. So if you called the cell phone to wish me Happy Birthday Saturday please don't think I'm being rude by not returning your call. I just didn't actually get your call.

Jack is BACK! Times two. I'm thrilled that the new season of television has started because about all I feel like doing at the end of the day now is sprawling on the couch and watching TV. While eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Anyway, 24 is off to a good start with Jack Bauer just being his manly old self. I can't wait to see how it ends. Meanwhile on LOST, we have Jack Shepherd back as our hero trying to convince his fellow lost but now found castaways to go back to the island to save their friends. I thought the season opener was great although all the time travel made my head hurt just a little bit.

If you like cheesecake, you should make this chocolate chunk one. It was really good and really rich. Look, even Mister Crab wanted a bite.



I found this quote on another blog and I couldn't agree with it more. I wish I could come up with something so profound that people would quote me on it! Anyway, here's the quote by Isak Dinesen who was actually Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa. Google can teach you so much! Okay, now for the quote:

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea." Love it! Had I been her I might have thrown in that chocolate can cure just about anything but I guess that would be straying from the whole salt water theme.

Lastly, at church today I actually asked the group to pray that I find my cell phone because no problem is too small for God. Someone prayed, I came home, I found my phone! So, thank you for all of the happy birthday phone calls Saturday!

Paging Dr. Ross or where is George Clooney when I need him

I had my 32 week checkup with the doctor yesterday and it was a bit confusing. I've had every confidence in this doctor since day one and then yesterday happened. He came into the room and confessed that his brain wasn't working right. So I told him to tell me what was going on and I could probably help him figure things out. I mean I haven't watched ER all my life to not know a thing or two about medicine.

Turns out, he was confused on my due date. He was thinking that I was at 38 weeks and would be having this baby really soon. I assured him that I was only 32 weeks and that she wasn't done cooking yet. So once we got my due date straightened out I thought I would try to pin him down on a date for the c-section. And that's when he looked at me and said "you want to have a c-section?" And I said "um, you told me I had to have one..."

After going into his office and refamiliarizing himself with who I was and my labor history with Jake, his professional opinion was that yes indeed, I should have a c-section. Glad we got that cleared up. He did tell me I could try for a VBAC if I wanted to suffer. But I'm not so much into suffering. So, we've set the date for Emma's arrival to be Thursday, March 12th at 7:30am. Can you let a mama sleep in a little longer please?

I can't wait to see her, but I'm feeling a little nostalgic already about giving all my attention to Jake. At least I was until this morning when he had a complete meltdown because I wouldn't let him have candy for breakfast. Because that's our normal routine. Candy for breakfast, cookies for lunch and ice cream for dinner. Now I'm thinking our little family of three desperately needs this little girl to get here to at least create some sort of diversion from all the drama of the terrible two's. I'm also praying that my doctor will know who I am on March 12th and give me a c-section instead of taking off a leg or something.

It's birthday week here at Little Mama

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm just gonna put it all out there and let ya'll know that I will be 39. This is my last year in the thirties. I really hadn't thought that much about it until last night. Maybe it was because I was up off and on all night from 12:30 on and having terrible leg cramps and back pain, but I just started panicking about my age. That's when I realized that if this is my last year being thirty something then that means that next year I will be 40. That just sounds old. How can someone who still feels 20 something be coming around the mountain to 40? And how can my hubby only be 27? Apparently I married someone who is the age I hoped to remain.

Actually, that's not true. If I'm being honest, my twenties pretty much sucked. I was working (too hard) at a job I felt no passion for, trying to "find" myself, and praying daily for a hubby and a chance to have babies. But my thirties have been really good times. I'm reluctant to leave them behind. I made a move to California that changed my life, found a job that fulfilled some of my wildest dreams, met my hubby, had baby number one and am waiting patiently for baby number two. The thirties have been good to me and I'm not willing to let them go just yet. So in the words of Tim McGraw I think I'll live this last year of thirtydom like I was dying. I'm going to do things I wouldn't normally do, stop putting off things I want to do, and just generally have fun. I'm not sure how this is going to work since there will be a newborn here in a couple months, but I'll figure it out.

In the meantime, my official birthday week has begun. I declared its start date Wednesday night which means I have until next Tuesday at midnight to be spoiled rotten because it's my birthday. Let me just tell you of all the birthday excitement so far. It actually got kicked off last Friday when Leslie and I got the chance to go out without kids to celebrate our upcoming birthdays. We were living on the edge and went to Sonic for burgers and then out to a movie. I recommend seeing Bride Wars. It's a cute chick flick. Yesterday, Amy and I decided to celebrate our birthdays by heading over to Starbucks. After having coffee cake and high caloric beverages (at least on my part) she thought it would be a good idea to go have lunch. Who am I to say no? So not ten minutes after finishing my meal at the coffee shop we were eating burritos at Taco Bueno. That's a good way to kick off your 39th year.

Mike has been spoiling me by cooking dinner all week and tomorrow night we'll be heading out on an official date. As for my last day of being 38? I'll be living it up going to the doctor this morning and cleaning (I'm using that term very loosely)the house this afternoon. But look out 39! It's going to be a great year.

Thoughtless Thursday

To hunt or not to hunt

Mike's dad sent Jake a very cute camo outfit for Christmas that would make him just the best dressed little hunter in the area. Now, I know that he's too young to go hunting just yet, but I'm also aware the day will come when he'll be able to go if he wants to. The Flinn men all go hunting and I assume it's a male bonding kind of experience and I'm sure they are responsible hunters. I know they eat what they kill. But my family are more of the gathering type than the hunting type. I mean we like our meat, but we like to buy it at the supermarket and pretend like we don't know how it got there. I prefer to think my steak and hamburger came from cows who died in their sleep of old age after living long, happy lives.

Also, hunting involves guns and bullets and knives and things of a nature that I'm not comfortable letting my little boy have. And isn't it possible that teaching a small child to hunt could possibly kill whatever compassion they were born with in their heart of hearts? I mean, looking down the barrel of a gun and pulling the trigger to kill Bambi's mama takes a certain emotional distance. I don't know. I'm really torn on this one. And yes, I know hunting keeps animal populations in check. I get that. But still, MY boy with a gun? I'm just not ready for that. And by the look on Jake's face in his hunting garb I'm not sure he's ready yet either. Maybe he could take up some other type of manly hobby, you know like working on cars with his daddy or knitting or something.

Diary of a preggo-Week 31, day 1

10PM-Got in bed. Enlisted the help of sweet hubby to help turn me on my side and get the belly settled because you know you have to sleep on your side even if you're used to being a back sleeper. It's now clear to me why beached whales simply can't hoist themselves back into the ocean on their own power.

11:30PM-Entire left side is numb or asleep. Flopped onto my back, took a few deep breaths and pushed myself to the right side. Rearranged pillow I have to sleep with in between my legs.

1:25AM-Wake up disoriented because I could have sworn I had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Nope. Just peed the bed is all. Left wet pillow in bed, rolled off the mattress, headed downstairs.

1:26AM-Greeted at the foot of the stairs by the dog for he is a good and faithful servant.

1:27AM-Realize something warm is pouring out of my nose. Go to bathroom to implement triage skills learned by watching ER for 19 seasons. Apply direct pressure!

1:35AM-Successfully stop bleeding. Go to living room couch.

1:40AM-Watch the E channel. Become disillusioned at the status celebrities have in our country. These are our role models? These people are all lost. Swear to never look at another People magazine ever again.

2:00AM-Watch last week's episode of The Office. Thank God for making Steve Carell and every single one of his cast members. Especially Jim.

2:20AM-Watch latest episode of The Daily Show. Thank God for making Jon Stewart as well. Listen to dog snoring wildly at the foot of the couch. He is a traitor. Pet the cat in my lap and tell her she is the favorite because she stays up with me at night.

2:45AM-Grab a glass of chocolate milk and thank God for chocolate. Try to avoid cat weaving in and out of my legs in the kitchen clearly trying to kill me.

3:00AM-Go to bathroom again and then crawl on couch to go to sleep.

5:30AM-Awakened by hubby coming downstairs to leave for work. Slowly make my way back upstairs and fling myself in bed again.

7:00AM-Entire right side feels paralyzed from sleeping on it. Decide to get up and have some quality alone time before Jake wakes up.

7:05AM-End of quality alone time as Jake is now in his bed saying "WANT OUT!" "AWAKE!"

Isn't he too young for this?

Yesterday around 4:00 two little girls from our neighborhood rang the doorbell and asked if Jake could come to the park and play with them. They are very sweet nine year olds and one of them named Maddie is always at the park when we go to play. She loves pushing Jake in the swing and running around with him. So we thought it was very cute when she showed up asking for him to play.

We told her we would bring him to the park to meet them in a few minutes. Then I turned to Jake and said "wanna go play with Maddie?" I have never seen him so excited! He ran to the door saying "Maddie!" Needless to say, they had a good time playing together and Mike and I got a chance to sit on the sidelines and watch. We were kind of joking around about how much Jake loves Maddie when Mike turned to me and reminded me that the difference in their age is very similar to the difference in our ages. Which made me cringe. He is too young to be falling in love for the first time. She's a sweet girl and all but I'm seriously hoping he just thinks of her as a big sister. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when I told him it was time to go home. He did NOT want to leave his Maddie. So, just like a girl she saw a boy crying and decided it was time to take off. She just jumped on her bike and said "see ya later, Jake!" Meanwhile, it was mama who had to console him and dry up all his tears. I did this with the promise of cookies when we got home. Bribery. Works every time. I hope cookies can still mend his broken heart when he becomes a teenager. Because as cute as he is, something tells me this isn't the last time some girl's gonna leave him at the park with his mama.

Baby Got Back (and front apparently)

So, I met Amy for lunch today and it had been a few weeks since we had seen each other. As soon as she saw me she started laughing hysterically and said something like "Oh, I wasn't expecting you to be SO big." So I said, "well, I've only got two more months to go." And she said something like "exactly, imagine how big you'll be in two months!" This is my best friend.

Granted, she has reminded me that when I saw her for the first time after she got pregnant I did the same thing. But in my defense, I hadn't seen her at all in that pregnancy until the very end because I lived out of state. And having never been pregnant at that time, I was a little shocked at the stature of a really preggo person. Especially since she is normally tall and slim.

I'm short. And there is no place for this baby or this weight to go but straight out. My belly is huge. I also noticed that for some reason I was having a hard time maneuvering between tables at the restaurant today. I think my belly actually brushed up against a couple people and maybe I was feeling a little self conscious because of all the laughing by my best friend in the parking lot, but I felt like everyone in there was looking at me and thinking "Oh my, she's big!" It was kind of like being back in junior high and thinking all the kids were watching me bring my hot fries and chocolate sundae I bought at the snack bar for lunch to a table just waiting for me to fall down or do something really stupid. Oh, the pressure!

Anyhow, I think Amy and I are even now. We've both laughed at the other ones size and discomfort in pregnancy. The good thing is we can both get past it and still be friends. Right, Amy?

Baby Bump Week 30

Seriously, does this baby make me look fat?

Our House in the middle of our street

It doesn't look like much now, but in six or seven months this lot should have our brand new house sitting on it! After months of contemplating if we could afford to buy a house and if this really is the best time for us to do it, we decided to take the plunge. We're on a limited budget so we thought we might have to move to the ghetto to get a house we could afford. We've been looking at several in the neighborhood we're renting in for months now but they all seemed a little out of our price range. Then we saw a couple houses in neighboring communities that we could afford but one of them backed up to an apartment complex. The house was nice enough but all 100 of our closest neighbors would have been able to see right inside. And let's face it, I'd like to keep all the moments I spend roaming around the house in my flannel pj's private. So then our real estate agent suggested we go outside of the city limits to the next little town where there is a new community going up. Turns out if interest rates stay where they are (fingers crossed) and we live off of Ramen noodles for awhile, we can afford to build in this area. We're very excited and a little nervous. I'm just praying everything works out the way it should. Tomorrow we get to go pick out what kind of brick, tile, carpet and other features we want inside the house. Yeah! I'm thinking leopard prints and pink, shag carpet.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Over the years, I've become something of a cheeseburger connoisseur. I love a good meat patty smothered in cheese sitting inside a bun. So right now I'm sitting here dreaming about going to the new Carl's Jr. that just opened up here. They have this six dollar guacamole burger that is really very good. Mike and I have been watching the building going up and waiting for it to open. The actual grand opening was last night but when we drove by, the parking lot was completely full and the drive through line wrapped not only around the building but also around the building next door. It was complete madness. It seems we're not the only people here who were introduced to Carl somewhere else. When we lived in California we spent many a dollar there and also at a little place called In-N-Out that the natives are crazy about. Truth be told, I was a little disappointed in my first In-N-Out burger because it just didn't live up to the hype. If you're in southern California might I recommend a little place in San Clemente called Mr. Pete's? You won't be disappointed. Also, if you happen to be driving through Amarillo, go ahead and stop at the Blue Sky and order anything. So good.

I think the key to a really good cheeseburger is for the meat patty to be big but not too thick, for the cheese to be nice and melted and I'm sorry but it needs to be a little bit greasy. If you don't see some grease on the paper it should be wrapped in then run away. Also, I like my bun a little crispy around the edges with a little of that hamburger grease soaked up in the middle. I'm talking cheeseburger 101 here. Basic stuff. If you get these things right the burger will be good no matter what. Personally, I like to see a little bacon or avocado or even green chilies snuggled up next to the meat, but a really good burger needs no accessories.

So I'm on the lookout for the best burgers in the area. Right now we're big fans of Dan's Hamburgers. I have to say I've given my heart and maybe even some of my rear end to Dan, but I'm willing to try other places. Suggestions anyone?

Let's catch up, shall we?

After four days of NO NAP I think Jake is finally down for the count today. Which means I can do very important things that have to be put off when he's awake like blogging. We were able to drive to Amarillo on Christmas Eve to spend time with my family this year. Last year Mike couldn't go but this year his job very generously gave him a couple days of unpaid vacation. So after about 9 1/2 hours in the car we made it to Grandpa and MeMaw's house where nearly everyone was still awake after midnight waiting for Santa to come. It must have been disappointing when we walked in instead, but they put smiles on their faces and acted happy to see us. We put Jake to bed, let Santa in to put toys under the tree and fell asleep. The next morning we opened gifts, finally got Grandpa to read the Christmas story from the Bible and ate way too much. All in all a great day was had by everyone. Let's look at some pictures.




Why in the world would Santa bring toys that make noise to a little boy? He really should know better. That lawnmower Jake is pushing is enough to drive me into early therapy. What was I (I mean SANTA) thinking?



Me, Mike and Jake




I think my niece Katie got the coolest gift in the house this year. Who doesn't need an electric guitar named Big Red?



What can I say about these two? I love them both in their own special ways. That's my brother in law and nephew. I'll leave out their names because really they might want a little anonymity if this picture gets out.




Jake hanging out with Uncle James and Aunt Cheryl.



I'm not sure what it is about Amarillo, but it seemed to bring out the gangsta' or maybe inner pirate in both me and Jake. Peace out homies.

I think I'm in love

On Saturday Mike, Jake and I had the opportunity to see Emma in 3D. It was really cool. One of the girls Mike works with got her sister who works at a clinic that does these routinely to give us one free of charge. Thank you! It looks like Emma is going to have the same chubby cheeks that Jake had. The first picture shows what Anita believes to be a dimple in her left cheek. I LOVE it! Em had her hand or foot in her mouth most of the time, but we were able to get some really good pictures of her. Enjoy!

How the mighty have fallen

Professional football is dead to me. At least until the 2009 season gets started next fall. And I'm not even sure about next season. I may have to find another team to give my loyalty to. That's all I have to say about that.