Traumatizing

We had a very traumatizing experience on Wednesday: two month shots. If any of you mothers out there say that it doesn't traumatize you to hold down your baby's arms as they are injected with a diluted virus, you are a horrible horrible liar. Or you are just a horrible horrible person. I didn't think that I would have a problem with this. But as she started to get poked all over, she looked and me and stuck out her bottom lip and then just WAILED.

Oh my goodness!! Tears instantly sprung into my eyes. I couldn't help it. And she kept looking at me like I had betrayed her. Oh, I was so sad for her. And she did NOT do well the rest of the day. She would only sleep in my arms, and every so often as she was sleeping, she would just spontaneously wake herself up screaming. Oh, the poor little thing. We didn't see a smile all night until we woke her up for bathtime. A nice hot bath, and some baby Tylenol and she was in heaven. She actually slept for most of the night after that. Well, one more dose of Tylenol was needed in the middle of the night but she really did do well. here's picture of her chubby pincushion legs:

To answer your question, YES, I know those diapers are too small for her. She wears a size 1 in Huggies, but apparently she's moved up to a size 2 in Luvs. Whatever, we are out of diapers today anyway. Costco trip tomorrow!!

Don't you just want to gobble up the chub? Oh, I love it!! And if you were wondering, here are her stats: 13.3 pounds puts her in the 93rd percentile for weight. 23 inches tall puts her the 75th percentile for height. And I can't remember what her head size was, but she was only in the 25th percentile. But the nurse girl struggled taking the measurement. You would think she would've noticed that and taken it again. But no.

Oh well, she'll just show "remarkable" growth in that area next time. Or maybe she just has a pin head!! Maybe that's why she's been able to hold her head up since like week 2 or 3 of being born. Because it weighs nothing. It was no problem for her from the start. She's just a good strong girl. And I'm glad I don't have to do that for another 2 months.

If you've been wondering why I haven't been posting recently, it's because this is finals week at UVSC. It's over!! Marcelo gets two weeks of vacation and then it's back to school time. On a side note, does anyone know where I can get a good student loan? Or maybe someone wants to buy my hair? Let me know if I have any takers.

Finally, can someone help me with something? So I use Firefox as my web browser. I love Firefox becuase they remember your passwords and they have a spell checker built right in. It underlines your misspelled words in red and alerts you when you need to change it. It's just better, right?

Not so much. See, when you right click on the word that is misspelled, it gives you some word choices. However, they have a very bad system going on. They offer the choices and then RIGHT UNDER the word, they have the option "add to dictionary." Well, my friends, I have a laptop. Those little mouse squares are not the most accurate of tools. And your hand can slip as you are trying to select the offered word and can land on the "add to dictionary" option and you can double click on it before you even know what is happening.

So devoted readers, how do I reset my dictionary? Currently the following words are misspelled in my dictionary: Because (spelled becuase. I make this mistake probably 40 times a day. I HATE THAT THIS ONE ISN'T PICKED UP BUY THE SPELL CHECKER) And Marcelo (spelled marcelo. Not capitalized. Hate that) and just today I added license. Is that right? I don't know. It could be wrong. I don't know!! There's no red line under it!!!

Anyway, if any computer genius knows how to reset my Firefox dictionary for me, I would be eternally grateful. I might even do a little dance for you and post it online.

What a hilarious misunderstanding!!

Friday night Reagan asked me if I wanted to come to the Twilight party with her. I said I did, but I didn't know when my baby was going to wake up, I hadn't taken a shower for 2 days and i didn't know when my husband was getting home. I'm glad I didn't commit to going because he didn't get home till like 11:30 pm. Anyway, she did end up going and had a great time. She had wedding cake. I LOVE wedding cake. I'm so mad I didn't go.

But I'm glad I got to see Reagan the next day. See, she invited me to come and crash a baby shower the very next day. Reagan came down for a work baby shower and I went too. It was one of those showers with GAMES and PRIZES. UGH, games. We had the "Don't Say the Word Baby or Lose Your Sticker" game and the "Try to Remember all the Things on This Tray" Game. We left too early, but I'm guessing that later on they had the "What Animal Baby Names Do you Know?"game where you have to pair animals with the names of their young. i.e. Cow/Calf, Kangaroo/Joey. You get it.

I find games lame. You don't need to entertain me!! Just put me in a room with some interesting people and I can make my own entertainment. Don't you have confidence in my intelligence? Also you can put a cake out and then let me fantasize about what it will taste like and when we get to eat it. I could spend 20 minutes alone just doing that that. Ahhh, cake.

Anyway, we left early. Reagan said I had to come to her car and pick something up before I left. She mentioned it like 3 times because she didn't want to forget about it. We walked over to her car and she opened the passenger side. She bent down and picked up something. She came out with the new Twilight book!! I was so shocked!! That was so nice of her to get me one!! I said, "Oh my gosh, you got me one!! That's so nice of you!!!" And she said, "Uhhh. . . .no."

HA!!!!!!! I was laughing so hard at the hilarious misunderstanding. But you don't blame me, do you? She tells me 3 times I need to come get something, and so I don't think I'm crazy for jumping to a conclusion about the thing she pulled out of the car. She later said that she thought for of half second about just handing it over and being like "uhhhh, yeeaaaaah. I DID get you this book!! I even started reading it for you and marked my place in it right here, but you can disregard that" HA! Hilarious misunderstanding indeed. But it was embarrassing for a split second when I was presumptive enough to think that she had bought me one. Oh well, she'll forgive me for that.

So to answer your questions, NO, I don't have the new twilight book. And no, I probably won't buy it either. I'll just wait for Reagan or Lisa to finish it and let me borrow it. I don't have any of the other books either, so I figure why start now?

But could one of you hurry up and finish, please?

Accidents Happen!!

Marcelo got in a car accident on Thursday. He was going to pick up our rent check from our tenants, and he was on 800 South right by the Maverick on State Street. Well, as you ALL know, there are two lanes going west, and Marcelo was in the more left side lane. The person in the right lane had stopped because someone was trying to leave the parking lot on the South side. She was trying to get out so she can head west on 800 South.

So the car on the right stops and waves the car to pass. Note to people who want to do this: DO NOT DO THIS!! YOU HAVE NO EFFECT ON THE OTHER CARS IN THE OTHER LANES! THEY MIGHT NOT STOP, AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. YOU RUN THE RISK OF CAUSING AN ACCIDENT.

And they did. The car came shooting out of the parking lot trying to cross those lanes as quickly as possible. Well, my husband was just minding his business, going the speed limit, wearing his seatbelt and BAM! A car pops out in front of him and he smashes into it head-on. Airbags deploy. Marcelo's memory of the next few minutes is somewhat fuzzy, but he's sure of the following things: Airbags hurt coming out. Cars can pop out of no where when you least expect them. And the fastest way to the fullest, most plumpy lips is to have them burned by deploying airbags.

So here are some pictures:




























(I sadly didn't get a picture of the burned plump lips. By the time I arrived, the swelling had gone down. Nothing interesting to see. Sorry about the tease there)

For some reason we didn't get a picture of her car. But there was very little damage done at all. Her driver's side corner and wheel were banged up, but other than that her car looked almost perfect. She had to be towed also because it jacked up her wheel and axle.

So I get a call from Marcelo that he needs a ride. When I got there, I was VERY surprised to find a very nice girl who looked about my age. We later found out that she has a 17 year old daughter which she had when she was 18. HOLY CRAP!! Why do people get married so young here? Honestly, Marcelo and I both thought that she was YOUNGER than me. I would've put her age at 26 tops. Out of control.

Anyway, as you can tell, things were very good and hospitable between the two of us. Police had been called to fill out a report, and they were nearly done when I got there. I of COURSE brought the baby who looked gorgeous and slept through the whole thing. I Thought I might need some "sympathy" because at the time of the call, I wasn't sure who's fault the accident was. Marcelo *said* it was hers, but you never know!! So I thought the kid might soften him up. (Free prize to the person who can name where that quote comes from. Judd can do it immediately , but she might not comment for a while, so you still have a chance to win the prize) But I didn't need it because the girl took full responsibility for the whole thing from the start and made everything so great.

Yesterday we started calling all the insurance companies and BOTH companies have been great. When does that happen? They got a rental car for Marcelo, insisted he go to the doctor and have been very great in communicating every step of the way. I actually learned today that the repairs might be more than the car is worth, so they just might give us a check for the price of the car.

That is good and bad. It's good because it means new, non smelly car. However, it's bad because we don't have a car payment right now!! And I don't want one!!! And if we do get another car, we definitely will have a payment. I was really looking forward to having that car forever and driving it into the ground. There were already like 130,000 miles on it! And it was still in great condition. Oh well.

I'm trying to look at the good things. One of them is that Marcelo is safe. Another one is that we weren't in the car with him and so we weren't hurt. DEFINITELY a blessing. And did I mention I have a beautiful baby? Wanna see some more pictures of her? OK!!








































Notice the spittle glistening off her mouth. She's really loving playing with her tongue and in doing it she pushes lots of saliva out of her mouth. But she just looks so cute. She's laughing and cooing and giggling all the time. She's got her mom and dad enchanted. And who can blame them?

Anyway, accidents do happen. But we are happy that this one had somewhat of a happy ending.

Summer Pal Trips-JACKITY LANTERN!!

Just so you know, that last blog, the one about Evi's blessing, it was blog #100 for me. I was thinking about making a bigger deal about it, but I decided not to. I just wanted you all to know that. Like you care, right? Right.

So I bet lots of you were wondering where I was last week. I know, it's SOOOOO hard for you all to go without my brilliant insights and embarrassing confessions. But I'm back, and ready for more confessions.

Anyway, I was gone last week becuase I went on a family vacation to Pal. My mom gave us all an amazing time!! She rented a house boat on Lake Powell for 4 days and all of our family was there. Well most all of the family. Marcelo wasn't there, as you already know. It was so much fun with everyone. Let me give you the rundown on who was there: My mom, my brother and his wife and their 5 kids, my sister, her husband and their 3 kids. Myself & Evi, My brother Nate (his wife is in Mexico for her brother's mission homecoming) Julie, Jacob and his girlfriend Clarin. Also there was Tina's (Jeff's wife) brother Dusty, his wife and their little girl. Count it up, that's 22 people.

The houseboat only was supposed to sleep 12! But we made it work. We pulled out mattresses and took them to the roof of the houseboat and we had air mattresses to put out on the floor. Also there was this awesome bench seat for eating and we pulled it out and made it a bed and jammed tons of kids on that. I was blessed enough to get my own room. I thought I would need it becuase I would have a nighttime screaming baby. Not so!! My baby was actually the most behaved of all the kids!! And that trip actually got her jump started into sleeping through the nights again. Granted it was in my bed with me, but she was sleeping.

Anyway, Sarah and I were in charge of the food. We did forget a few things like enough enchilada sauce and I think we should've had more water. And there was one other thing we forgot. I can't remember what it was. But we had the perfect amount of food. Not too much, and not too little. The funny thing is that Jules and my mom said that they felt like they did nothing but eat junk food the whole time there. However, Sarah and I BOTH said that we felt like we didn't buy any junk food!! I mean I bought a tub of licorice and a box of fruit snacks, and that's it!! Usually that will only last a day at our normal family reunions. But it was good that we didn't have it, otherwise I might've been tempted to eat it.

But we had just enough food. And I don't know if you've ever planned food for 22 people for 4 days, but it's not easy. Add that to the fact that we were NOT able to "run down" to anywhere and grab something if we forgot it. So if we forgot, we were S.O.L. and had to do without. My mom was running on HIGH stress at this time and that's why she asked Sarah and I to take care of the food. It wasn't fun! But I can understand why she asked us to do it. And now I feel prepared for next time.

The only people missing was Marcelo and Denisse, and my dad. But he was there in spirit. By spirit I mean his evil spirit lurking around. Pissing everyone off before they went on the trip. And there was plenty of dad talk while we were there. This is what the final result of that talk was: It is confirmed that my dad doesn't care about his kids or his grandkids. He didn't want to see Sarah's kids, and he didn't come to my baby's blessing. Also, my dad is crazy. I can't tell you all the ways he is crazy, but believe me his mind doesn't work like a normal person's. I mean what rationally thinking person would get a letter from his daughter inviting him to his grandchild's blessing and he calls back her HUSBAND to decline. Uh, I think the letter came from me, crazy. Oh, and he still hasn't seen Evi. Nor has he expressed any interest to see her. Again, if that's not craziness, I don't know what is.

Anyway, Pal was fantastic. Jeff brought his boat, we had our jet skis, and there was of course the houseboat. Things were a little hot and humid (we were surrounded by water, remember?) and some nights were HORRIBLE to sleep through the mugginess. And it seemed to never get any cooler. But like I said, I got my own room and the second night we found a fan in my room and we turned it on. AAAAHHHH cool air. And my baby had no problem sleeping through the night like I said before. And she also loved being in the water!! I'm not kidding!! She loved it!! I took her in 3 different times, and each time she loved it more.

Well, enough Pal talk. Let's see some pictures, shall we?

This is the little girl in the water.













Doesn't she just look so happy there? I'm actually giving her a bath in this picture cause she needed it. She got a little bit of heat rash from, well, the heat!! And the bath cooled her right off.

And here is a picture of all of us on the back of the house boat. This was a great time. We were all running around because we had to drive Sarah and her family into the dock, so we only got to take one picture on my camera. But I think it's a pretty good one, no?





























And here are some pictures of where we camped and the rock formations around where we were. It was very beautiful. (That's my niece Rayce in the photo. That bathing suit had to be peeled off her at the end of the week)

And finally, here is the little girl in her swimming suit.















Isn't she adorable? I Love LOVE the little rash guard and shorts combo. It's the only modest bathing suit I could find in the whole store, I swear. Every other suit was a bikini!! For BABIES!! They are marketing bikini's for 18 month year olds! Why stop there? Why not just give them a tramp stamp and bottle of vodka at birth and let the "Girls Gone Wild" producers at her? Teach her as young as possible that her body is a sexual tool and she must use it to get whatever she wants. As as swim teacher for years, I would see these little girls in bikinis and wonder where their parents were that would let them wear such things. It's unconscionable and uncalled for. And thus concludes my chastity rant for the day.

If you are wondering, I plan on only letting my girls wear swim team/Speedo type suits once they get big enough to fit in them. (I can't find any this small right now). Or I'll just be like my mom and make our bathing suits. Yes, my mother made all my bathing suits growing up. When we were on the swim team, we just had to do without the fancy expensive swim team suit. Ohhhh, how I coveted them!! But she did make my younger brother a mini-bun hugging Speedo. A "banana hammock" of sorts. She cut up a pair of his underwear as a pattern. Oh man, I miss the good old days when my mom was making our clothes and trying to pass them off as "cool." Good times being poor.

Anyway, that little suit of hers kept her warm in the water and kept the sun off of her. I didn't take one with the hat, but that's because she kept dipping her head down and you couldn't see her face. And on the right are my cousins and brother and Clarin dancing to some booty shaking song. I don't remember what it was . . .oh wait, I do. It was "My humps" by Fergie. Good booty shakin' times on the the house boat.















And this last one is of us on the houseboat playing cards. Notice my head sticking out the side door. That was my room. And this is Evi looking at Marcelo when she got home. She really missed him. And he was happy that he could still make her smile.

So that was it!! I was so glad I didn't get sunburned the whole time I was up there. I can't say the same about everyone else, but I know my way around a good bottle of sunscreen. I will NOT die of cancer. I would rather live a very long (howbeit lily-white and pasty) life where I can see my kids and grandkids grow old.

Here's to more Pal trips!! WHOO HOOO!!

Oh, I forgot to put the story behind the title!! See my sister's oldest boy, Jack is freaking hilarious. He kinda has a light lisp and the greatest imagination. So we were all in the water bobbing around the back of the houseboat and he was going down the slide off the back. And he would like hold the sides of the slide as he went down and it would make a horrible squeak and it sounded like it really hurt. So I told him to put his hands up when he went down. You know, to reach maximum velocity, critical mass, etc.

And then he says "When I go down, I'm going to say something from Halloween. (Starting to slide) . . .JACKITY LANTERN!!!" Oh my gosh, It was awesome!! He got such a great response on that one, that he decided to go down AGAIN and do another Halloween vignette. It went like this. (Looking over shoulder) "Oh no!! He's chasing me!" (climbing up on slide) "I've got to get away" (Irrationally bobbling head as if he were scared and then using his hands to imitate bulging eyeballs. Which apparently is a necessity when you are running for your life on Halloween. Then he climbs on slide and says. . .) "I have to get away!! Agghh" And water entry.

Jack was the entertainment for the whole weekend. He "broke" the news of my sister's pregnancy but stopped halfway through the middle of the announcement because he didn't know if he could tell the secret yet. So he ran back and got the clear to launch and came back and finished the announcement. And he would write us letters. Very good letters with clear plots and lots of suspense. Really, he is very smart for a 5 year old. And he's hilarious when he gets so exhausted. He tries to bargain and make up ridiculous claims and requests. Oh, it's good times.

Anyway, that's the explanation around the title. Here's wishing you all a good JACKITY LANTERN!!

Te Presento Evelyn Loor

Hola Presiosura,

Hoy día tu papi te dio un nombre y una bendición. Somos miembros de Park 6th Ward en Orem Utah, y nuestra capilla se encuentra en Center Street y 400 West en Orem. Todos los presentes fueron: Tus tíos Chad & Sarah, tus primos Isabel, Jack y Noah, tu tío Nate, tu tío Jacob y su novia Clarín y Cristian & Georgia y Amy & Juan Carlos quienes son amigos de tus padres. Tu papi te dio la bendición acompañado con Chad, Nathan, Juan Carlos, Cristian y Hermano Woolley quien es 1° consejero en el obispado.

Tu papi te dió la bendición en español aunque casi nadie habla español en nuestro barrio. Lamento que nadie más que yo escribí las palabras de tu bendición porque tengo miedo que no escribí todo. Pero hice lo que pude. Debes saber que tu papi empezó a llorar cuando estaba dándote la bendición. Todos pudieron ver el amor que él tiene para ti. Aunque la gente no entendieron todo, pudieron entender El Espíritu y el amor con que te bendijo.

Y el bendijo con lo siguiente: Tus padres te aman. Gracias por ser una bendición en la vida de tus padres. Gracias por venir a nuestra familia y traer tu amor. Te bendecimos con sabiduría, y conocimiento. Te bendecimos con el poder de hacer decisiones correctas para regresar a tu Padre Celestial. Que puedas reconocer lo bueno en la vida. Quiero que sepas que tu Padre Celestial te ama. Te bendecimos que tengas a Jesucristo en tu mente y reconozcas sus enseñazas. Te bendecimos con salud, que tu cuerpo crezca sano y fuerte. Te bendecimos con humor y con obediencia a tus padres. Te bendecimos que puedas seguir el camino recto que te lleva a la salvación. Tus padres te aman, y haremos todo lo posible para hacerte feliz y ayudar que te permanezcas en el camino angosto y estrecho.

Te Amamos Evelyn!!

Con amor, Tus Padres.

Here are some pictures from the day.




















The dress is a loan from Cristian and Georgia. They were at the blessing and are currently renting our house. Thanks you guys!!
















Here is a picture of my sister, her 3 kids Nate, Jake and Clarin. And of course Evelyn in her blessing dress. I don't know why she was so giggly and happy that day!! But I'm really happy she was. We got some great shots of her. Oh, and of my boobs too. You can't NOT get them in the picture. They're huge, as we all know.

And for all of you who don't speak Spanish, here is the translation.

Today your father gave you a name and a blessing. We are members of Park 6th Ward in Orem, UT and our chapel is on Center Street and 400 West in Orem. Those present were: Your aunt & uncle Chad and Sarah, your cousins Isabel, Jack & Noah, Your uncle Nate, your Uncle Jacob and his girlfriend Clarin, and Cristian & Georgia and Amy & Juan Carlos who are friends of your parents. Your father blessed you accompanied by Chad, Nathan, Juan Carlos, Cristian and Brother Woolley who is the first counselor in our bishopric.

Your father gave you the blessing in Spanish even though almost nobody speaks Spanish in our ward. I'm sad that no one else could write down the words of the blessing because I'm afraid that I didn't write down everything. But I did what I could. You should know that your father started to cry when he was giving the blessing. Everyone could see the love he has for you. Even though they couldn't understand everything, they could understand The Spirit and the love with which he blessed you.

And he blessed you with the following: Your parents love you. Thank you for being a blessing in the lives of your parents. Thank you for coming to our house and bringing your love. We bless you with wisdom and knowledge. We bless you with the power to make correct decisions to be able to return to your Father in Heaven. We bless you that you will have Jesus Christ present in your mind and that you will be able to recognize his teachings. We bless you with health, that your body may grow healthy and strong. We bless you with humor and obedience to your parents. We bless you to be able to follow the straight path that leads to salvation. Your parents love you, and we will do everything possible to make you happy and help you to stay on the straight and narrow path.

We love you Evelyn!! Love, your parents

Cheesecake and Jelly Beans-Part Tres

Well my friends, it's time for another installment of "Cheesecake and Jelly Beans." This is the Post Pardom/Summer Edition! 30% off for your reading pleasure. And let me tell you, there will be plenty of reading pleasure going on starting. . . . .NOW!

I am on a diet. I really need to do this. I hate being fat, I complain about it all the time and I'm the only one that can do anything about it. I know I have loyal supporters (I'm looking at you Lisa and Reagan) who will tell me I'm not fat. I beg to differ. I am huge. I'm not going to SAY it, but I'm thinking that recently the words MORBIDLY OBESE have been used in regards to my body. Whenever I think about caving and going and getting that combo meal I've been thinking about for hours and hours and days and day, I just think the words "morbidly obese" and that usually stops me right there.

Another Jelly Bean is that I'm afraid I'm going to lose my milk if I go too strict on my food restrictions. But that's the best way I can lose weight. I mean, I can also lose weight, by exercising, but I HATE exercising. But more on that later. I actually talked to my sister who's a RD (That's Registered Dietitian, if you were wondering) and she gave me a good calorie guideline I should try to hit. It was an eye opener becuase it's 700 calories HIGHER than what I usually hit when I'm trying to lose weight. My point? I'm never going to lose this weight. AND my baby has been ridiculously bad at night these past 3 days. Is that because my milk is less nutritious? Oh man, I don't want to even consider that cause it will just make me want to run into the arms of french fries.

(Actually, it's a jelly bean that I can't EAT cheesecake right now. But let me not remind myself of that again.) The Cheesecake here is that during the summer, there is a plethera of fresh fruits and veggies to be had by the eaters. Both yesterday and the day before, I ate a whole half of a honeydew melon. Oh, I love honeydew. It's the one melon that hasn't been tainted yet by Viagra talk or my mission. On my mission they would blend up just straight cantaloupe and stick it in a glass for you. It was thick and almost like you needed to chew it. NOT DELICIOUS. I've never been a fan of cantaloupe since. But I like the fact that there are so many other fruits to choose from. Choice of many different fruits=Cheesecake

Working out. UGH!! I hate working out. Now, I don't think any of my readers are as fat as I am, so I'm going to enlighten them on what it's like to work out when you are MORBIDLY OBESE. First, you go to put on a "work out" shirt, one that used to be so big and roomy. It now is snug and clings to your baby fat pouch like an 18 year old girl on a pre-med major. It highlights and accentuates every jiggle and I swear the passerbys can see the stretch marks on my belly.

Then it comes to the actual WORKING OUT part. The fat on my inner thighs rubs together so much I could light a small forest fire with the friction going on down there. The heat isn't the only bad part, there is chafing going on. Chafing that will eventually lead to open wounds, and then to scabs. Scabs on the inner thighs. Roll that phrase around in your mouth a few times and just let the words caress your tongue and leave a nasty aftertaste.

Second Jelly Bean item in this topic: The Gold's Gym Parade of Idiots I'm forced to deal with everytime I go. What is it with these people? Why can't they just all go to the Cougar Eat to try to scam on each other? Why do they have to waste space in the gym and sit around on the equipment, not using it, yakking to each other about where to get the best fake tan? You know who I'm talking about. The people that go there just to oogle one another and try to pick up a date for the weekend.

Usually the guys who are doing this have spiky hair and LOOOOOOVE to stare at themselves in the mirror as they are walking around the gym. The girls who are doing this have come to the gym WITH MAKEUP ON and are wearing some type of shorty short that has writing on the ass. This writing says something like "Juicy" or "Pink" or "Gap" or "Jail Bait" or "Subtle" or "Look here please and base my value of a person on what you see jiggling underneath." I have nothing to say to these people, except "Go away and let me work out in peace!!"

Basically, exercising is a nightmare. And usually when I start to lose weight, I start by cutting waaaay back on calories so I can lose the first little bit of weight. Once I have that going for me, I start exercising. But because of the milk situation, I can't cut as far back on calories as I would like. So exercise has to be present from the beginning. UGH!! Did I mention how much I hate it? Oh yeah, I think we just covered that.

:If you ARE going to brave the gym and the ass shorts girls and the spiky narcissistic guys, then make sure there is a Cardio Cinema room in which to work out. Ahhhhh, Cardio Cinema, how I love thee. I love thee for your dimmed lights. I love thee for your various equipment, and plenty of it!! I love thee for your giant movie screen constantly playing chick flicks. At least I have something to watch as I try to keep the crotch of my pants from lighting on fire.

And finally, the last cheesecake item of the day: VACATION!! It's almost time for my family vacation. We are going to Pal (i.e. Lake Powell. If you don't get that joke, then obviously you are too busy to waste time on made up blogs) So we are going to Pal and renting a houseboat. We will have Jeff's big ski boat there too, and PLENTY of food (Reagan, we are going to have to talk about some "Modified Rules" for this upcoming week.)

Anyway, We've been talking about this since November. And it will be rocking cause everyone will be there! Sarah and her 3 kids will be coming from Texas. And Chad gets to come too!! Jeff, Tina, 5 kids, 2 dogs and a boat will also be there. Basically, every one from my family and their families will be coming (except my dad, of course). Marcelo was going to miss the first and third days, but would be there for the second day. (He has school that can't be missed) I was so excited for the vacation until a big giant turd of a Jelly Bean came in the mail in the form of. . .

MARCELO'S INS APPOINTMENT!! Those of you who know about our INS problems know that we've been waiting for this appointment for a year. And we've had to pay the American Government TWICE for the courtesy of THEM losing Marcelo's card. I'm STILL peeved about it. Do you have $400 just waiting around so you can pay the government for their
crappy service? I know I sure don't.

Anyway, we got his letter in the mail with his "biometrics" appointment time. (That's just a fancy way to say, "you have to pay $80 for us to take your picture and fingerprints. . . .TWICE") They schedule this for you, you don't have a say in it. If you *can't* make the appointment, then you can tell them, but you have to wait months for them to reschedule. The moment, and I mean MOMENT that I saw that day and time, I knew instantly that Marcelo wouldn't be coming to the family reunion. And it pissed me off that the government was once again screwing me over. THANKS GOVERNMENT!! Lose our card, hijack our money and then ruin my family reunion? You know why don't you just get it over with and shoot my dog? Then you will have totally ruined my summer.

Anyway, that is my newest installment of "Cheesecake and Jelly Beans" I hope to have another installment coming your way soon.

You are all Liars

Remember how everyone told me that I could easily transition my baby from sleeping in our bed to sleeping in her own bed? Well, I would now like to call all of you out on the carpet as LIARS.

My child has been sleeping 7-8 hours IN A ROW every night. I'm in Heaven. Well, last night I decided it was time to move her to her own bed. UGH!!! After putting her there at 11:20, she wok up at 12:45 and then again at 1:30. It was at that time that Marcelo said, "just pull her into bed with us." I did where she remained asleep for the next 8 hours.

So, again, I am calling you all out as dirty filthy liars. You will be punished for your lies. You have made my life horrible and I blame you 100% for all my problems.

Just kidding. It's not entirely your fault. I think it also has something to do with the fact that her "crib" is right by the A/C vent. I think she's just too cold at night. When I picked her up 1:30 her cheeks and hands were so cold. So that could be part of the problem. I do put a blanket on her (as well as dressing her in those "footie" PJ's) but she always kicks it off. And it's not like I can put the blanket over her face!! Or could I. . . ? Kidding, always kidding.

But I do know that she does love to be by us. When she was taking her nap yesterday, she started to wake up early, and Marcelo crawled in bed next to her and just started to snuggle her, and she fell right asleep next to him. She loves being close to us. She must take after Raya in that aspect. And I think that's also contributing to her not wanting to sleep in her crib. I really hope that you are all right and she'll have no problem sleeping there once I move her off the Ice Box.

I don't know if you care (maybe you don't) but my boobs are officially REGULATED!!! WHOOO HOOO!!! They are no longer rock hard cantaloupes, but are now juicy juicy mangoes. I bet I made everyone really crave a fruit salad right there. But I've taken the advice of my blog commenters and have bought myself a box of Lansinoh pads. I used them once before, back when I thought that a pad would be enough for me, when I saw that I had a free set of them given to me in the hospital. I LOVED them because I noticed that when liquid hits them, they act like a diaper and absorb it quickly and turn into a gel.

Well, as soon as I realized I could graduate from the cups to pads, I knew I wanted some. They ROCK and you don't leak through your cloth pads in the middle of the night. Anyway, I have them now and I'm in love with them. They keep my milk right where it should be, and now I'm not afraid to go out in public anymore. You know what that means!! I'm hitting Ladies Night at Club Grind tonight!! (I don't know if there is such a place as Club Grind. But it sounds dirty enough to be real, right?)

Finally, I would like to say that I really appreciate all the comments I get on my blog. I think all of you have really contributed to making me a great mother. You definitely have calmed me down about some things, and made me realize that I'm going to make it through these crazy times. I hope I can someday be as helpful to you as you have been for me.