Bleach Fumes

Bleach fumes are not good! But now my bathroom smells clean. It did smell like a giant kitty porta-potty. So now it is shiny and clean--yay! So not much going on, just going about daily life.
Grrr stupid picture transfer thing! It asked me if I wanted to save the same file twice, and I said of course not, and it deleted the super funny video of us throwing Mai's ball into the "lake" and watching her get totally soaked running from one end to the other looking for it.
Well, here are some pictures to keep everyone updated (and to prove that we really do exist!)

Here we are, at the park!

Here's Matt in the morning shortly after waking up.

Okay Mai, this side's mine and that side's yours!

Matt can slide by himself now! Woo hoo!

Okay...and turn that one clockwise three times, tap this one twice, and turn this one counter-clockwise...THERE! Countdown to magnetic pole reversal started!

Matt and Ebony ponder the mysterious Lake of Doom, and wonder if it lives up to its name.

Damn I am so mad about that video! It was hilarious! Oh well...just use your imaginations!

We Always Snow Where To Go To Have Some Fun

So after my doctor's appointment today (I didn't get the iud, they need to wait until I am on my period...feel sorry for that doctor!), we decided that it was too dull in Hemet and we needed to escape! Of course there is no real escape in Hemet, but we tried. It's sort of like going to a different floor in the Hotel California. Anyway, so we went up to the very nearby mountains to...Idyllwild!

Matthew got sick on the way up (like mother like son I guess) and puked everywhere. So we stopped here for some fresh air (and a new outfit).

After we calmed him down, it was on the road again to the Idyllwild Country Park!

Here's him doing his latest fad face.

I want you! To take me to the park!

And at last, we arrive!

Matt was pretty bewildered by the snow. It was a lot of crying, then "wow, this is pretty cool", than fake crying, then putting snow in his mouth, then loving it, then playing with it, and having a good time.

Ooo...what's this???

It's his snow stick. He wasn't too confident about touching it, so he got a stick and poked it for a while.
Here, see for yourself! Here's us having fun in the snow!


Matt being very clingy to daddy, as usual!

So on the map/hiking guide they gave us, it showed a nice trail curving around the park, leading around an amphitheater, than making its way back to the beginning. So, we begin in earnest, loving the snow and walking in it (it wasn't too deep). So after about, oh, 50 yards, we come across this "amphitheater":

According to the pamphlet, this amphitheater is used for routine annual sacrifices during some Festival Of The Snow Gods. Not really quite sure what that means, but they have this really cool deliberately placed baby-sized stump in the middle. And now we know how it snows in Southern California. Like that, all the pieces fall into place and we realize the only thing we can do is sacrifice Matthew so the other children can continue to enjoy the snow.

He put up a bit of a fight, as I am sure they all do. If only they knew it was for the greater good.

Well, the gods never took him, guess they'd had enough sacrifices for the time being. Sorry Matt, you're going to have to help people in some other way! Guess there really is no easy way out!

Since I could, I threw snowballs at my car. It just sat there looking very sad.

And this is what Sean did in the meantime.

Matt fed himself some kix in the backseat as we began to drive back.

But he was so tired, he could barely stay awake for five minutes until he passed out.

Here is a beautiful shot of the snow-flecked trees and the mountains looming in the mist. It was much more beautiful in person, I assure you.

And here's me! On a rock! For no reason!

Down there, somewhere, is Hemet! I know, you wouldn't think so, with how nice it looks from here.

And to treat ourselves, we ate here (because I can get a grilled cheese with tomato, yum!).

So, there's our super-awesome day for everyone to enjoy! Hope it's half as fun for you as it was for us. :-) Goodnight!

Picture THIS!!!!

So, it's late again, and almost bedtime! I was talking to Brenda for a long time about my going to college, my future as a writer (with a degree!), and many other motivating things. After looking briefly at the websites of some certain colleges, it's apparent this process is not something I can do when it's late and I'm tired. Like she said--it's easy to get accepted to a college if you have money, but if you want them to send you to their school for free, you have to work very very hard. Half the links on the UCSD site don't even work, so that's no help.
And on that note, I will actually get something done in that respect tomorrow, when I have oodles of time and don't have to wake up very early the next day.
Anyway, here are some cool pictures of some fun that we all had:

So Sean and I were playing some Guitar Hero; Sean was playing Through Fire And Flames on expert,

And I was struggling through Slow Ride on easy in extra slow practice mode,

And in barges Matt on our fun, as usual, demanding to play.

So, we let him! Turns out that if you look just blankly enough at the screen, the song plays itself!

After that tiring day of rocking with our...socks out, it was time for bed. Matt read Nino a bedtime story,

And I rocked him to sleep.

Here's Matthew putting on a show for us. Whenever he decides we look occupied, he likes to see if he can distract us with some classical drama monologues--with interpretive crying.

Et tu, Brute?

Well, that's enough for now. Going to sleep and get ready for another exciting day in the life of...me!

Matt Is A Vampire

So he got his shots and his blood taken on Friday, and the kid just loooved it when they took his blood! They pricked his finger--no crying. Then they began to squeeze the blood into the tube and he started laughing and smiling! Great! That's not weird! Well, perhaps he will grow up to be a haematophiliac. Or a phlebotomist. Someone at work wants to do that. It's the official title for the person who takes your blood.
Anyway, he also got his four shots, and he certainly wasn't laughing then! But otherwise he is good. He is 23 lbs and 30 1/2 inches tall. Looking on the percentile chart, he is in the 25th-50th percentile for weight and up to the 75th percentile for height. Tall and skinny--what a revelation. I do have cute pictures but I am tired and don't feel like uploading them right now. I will though--I promise! Money has been extra tight lately since the energy bill almost doubled thanks to my dear husband and his GI bill got cut in half. He says he is "really" looking for a job now, so we should all hope he gets one.
On an extremely cool note, I got a note at work from corporate that I am so poor I qualify for the tax rebate being given to help boost the economy. I read about that-I should get a nice chunk. They are doing this because they figure the poor/ middle class will spend it as soon as they get it, therefore boosting the economy. A cheap, temporary fix, but I'm sure not complaining! I am not going to spend it though--just pay off some bills. Sprint, credit card and possibly the navy federal loan. Yay!
Okay, going to go to bed now. I'll post soon!

Matt's Going To See The Good Doctor...

At 9:15, to get many, many shots, blood drawn, weighed, measured, examined and entered into the county fair. Poor kid is sleeping right now, he has no idea what is about to happen to him. I'll post the results after we get back!

Matt is cute...etc.

Well, not much is going on except that Matt is super cute and we got a video of him having fun with our cat Nino--I have never seen him laugh so hard! I have also never seen Nino wish so fervently that he was dead.

In other news, my aunt Hillary is getting married to her awesome long-time boyfriend Brian, and she is also 3 months pregnant! I am very excited for her and know she is going to make the greatest mom!
I think she is having a girl for no other reason but that I have a reasonable chance of being right and if I am it would be super awesome hahaha!!!
Anyway, enjoy the video, and please take a look at Sean's blog. He updated it--finally! It's only been 4 months...
Goodnight everyone!

Drill Bits

So Sean left for drill last night and it's just Matt and I. We had lots of fun at the park last night and he arrived home utterly exhausted from trekking back and forth across the soft wood shavings. I kept him up until 8:00 or so last night (which believe me is really difficult) in the hopes that he would sleep in and...YAY! He is sleeping in! He is usually up and running around at 6 am.
Tonight Joey is going to spend the night because tomorrow he is going to be watching Matt for a few hours while I work a half-shift at work. I was hoping to be able to do 4 or 5 dogs Sunday, but now someone booked me an express (where we do the dog straight through and do nothing else) at 8, when I was supposed to take 3 dogs! So now I had to mark off all my other appointments for a neurotic poodle lady and am only going to make $25 that day when I could have made $100! Lame!
Oh well, enough ranting.
Matt's 1-year check up is on the 18th, and I am looking forward to it! He really is 100% weaned. No more bottles at all! He also walks well, obeys commands, has great motor skills and talks a whole bunch (of gibberish). He is saying mama and dada distinctly and only pertaining to one of us now. He also says "ya" and "hi"! Yesterday when Sean walked in the room he said "hi dad". Could have been an accident, but I think he is at the age when such things aren't as accidental anymore.
I also have an appointment to get an IUD put in on the 25th. Then I won't have to remember to take stupid pills anymore and don't have to worry about getting pregnant unless I WANT to get pregnant. Not to say that if I did I wouldn't be happy, but it would be really nice to wait until I am done with college!!! At least the first 4 years!
Anyway, here are some pictures of Sean and Matt right before Sean left for drill:

Mmm...dog tags...

These are so cool dad!!!

Yay, we're cute!

Well, guess that'll be all for now. I think I might actually have time for a shower! Wow! Time to make coffee, drink it, post AND shower? He's spoiling me!
Have a good day everyone!!

"Tumbling" Down The Path To Toomanyanimals

So, we have a new member of the family! No, not another kid! I got a companion for Trumble, my current lizard (a house gecko). Here's Trumble:

(He's camera shy)

And here is Tumble, our new lizard, a green anole!

Isn't he so proud and handsome?

I wanted to name him Bumble, so we'd have Trumble and Bumble, but Sean really wanted to name him Tumble instead. So, since I have named all of our animals, I thought it was only fair he could name this one (even if I think my idea is much better).
And I also got a cool background for their terrarium:

Had to get a dinosaur background, you know, to keep them humble. To keep Trumble and Tumble humble...heh...heh...
Anyway! Nothing else going on! Matt is still teething and still completely weaned. I have to go now though because he is getting VERY bored watching me type and keeps putting "gifts" in my lap. An old computer mouse, a hanger, a camera case...oh and an outlet cover and just now: A spoon? Wow...
So, I'll post at ya later!!!

Oh yes, he really IS green, he changes colors. So I guess he is a Sometimes Green Anole.

Rain--Finally!

Yay! The three rain storms that were supposed to hit Thursday night FINALLY hit this morning! We really need the rain. Matt had tons of fun walking in it and stomping in puddles! It was raining too hard for pictures, so just take my word for it. Having another nice day today, and I believe that we have crossed a milestone! Matt didn't wake up once last night (although he sure did wake up bright and early), and he hasn't wanted a bottle in days. So I feel confident enough to do this:

And declare he is officially weaned! (okay, I just put them in storage but it's the symbolism that counts).
As was requested, here are some pictures of the new layout for my dining room, my new dining room table, and my "new" sleeper couch:



Now it looks much more open. Before, it was a struggle to seat four people. What a difference moving a few things around makes!

Here's the new-ish couch (with a cover). Now we have a guest bed, AND can finally use the coffee table.

There's Matt eating dinner in his new booster seat. Going to try to make family dinners at the table routine.

Random pic of Sean and Matt.
So yesterday, we got this big package in the mail, and upon opening it I find a bunch of awesome toys/clothes for Matt! The clothes are super cute, light brown corduroy pants and a cool outdoorsy t-ahirt, and some cute pj's. And he also got a dog he can "walk" and these:

Cool classic wooden blocks, his first set!

As you can see, he enjoys them very much. Bon appetit!

This is a cool ring stacker that I just recently realized looks like a lighthouse. He'll try to put the wooden rings on the pole, but will just throw them after one failed attempt. This kid has the patience of a fly.
Anyway, I just wanted to post quickly, because I do want to post more, and I enjoy it! Hope you do! Now I am going to go enjoy the rest of my super cool day off!

Fancy Chart

Okay, so here it is, because I am bored. The blue colored teeth are the ones he already has, the red colored teeth are the ones that are breaking the surface and causing intense pain right now, and the yellow ones are the ones I think he is getting right now, but am not sure. So there you go. Much easier than trying to explain it. I did find out something useful though. The reason I thought the back teeth he is getting weren't molars were because they seemed too close to the front of his mouth. Apparently babies only get 20 teeth (thank you, God), and there is a lot of room in the back of their mouth where teeth don't grow until they're much older.
So there you go, I hope you all can integrate this important information into your day somehow.