7.28.2011

Life as of late

I realize I haven't actually posted much on this blog in awhile - as it is, I barely update my baby/family blog much either. Not sure why, as Jay falls asleep before midnight, giving me a few hours to myself... guess I just haven't had the motivation!

For those still following (and I noticed I somehow gained a few this month!), here's a brief update on life and what I've been feeling!

Baby Jaydran (Jay) is doing pretty well! He'll be 6 months already next Thursday and has been hitting all his development milestones, some of them even early! He just cut his 1st tooth last week, after several months of teething/gum pain and I think he's got at least 1 more that's pretty close to coming through! He eats baby foods now, getting a big bowl of apple rice cereal in the morning and a jar of fruits or veggies for dinner. He doesn't crawl yet but he can roll from back to tummy and tummy to back with no problems and will roll around all over the place if you let him (which BTW is NOT fun when you're trying to change his clothes or diaper! lol...). Lately he's been working on sitting up by himself and he's starting to get the hang of it. He also enjoys playing in his new baby walker and jumping/swinging around in his Johnny Jump Up.

Not sure if I mentioned it on here but we're seeing a pediatric urology specialist at the children's hospital in Madison for his enlarged kidney issue - turns out, the ureter tube, where it connects to the bladder there, is deformed and basically pinched shut which is why nothing is getting through and why the kidney is enlarged. The specialist said it's basically one of those things that just happens when the organ is formed in the womb and that we'll most likely have to have a minor surgery when he gets closer to 2 years old to remove the ureter tube, snip off the tapered part and reattach it into the bladder. Not looking forward to that, but the specialist assured me he's done it plenty of times and it's always been successful.


My hours at work picked up for awhile but they seem to have slowed down now, although I still have the most hours our of the regular employees (non-management). They picked up because we lost 1 of our assistant managers so that was like 30+ hours that needed to be picked up and most of them went to me and another girl, but the last week or so we've gotten a new assistant manager for that spot and so there goes that whole block of hours. I still seem to be getting at least 2 shifts a day though (down from 4, which I'll admit was bit crazy to adjust to so all of  a sudden like, as it seemed like when I wasn't working I was on call). The paychecks were nice though and Jay's pretty much set on clothes for fall (I swear I come home with a bag every week!).

We lost power for about 2 days straight at the beginning of the month when we had a really nasty storm come through early one morning. By the time I got off work that night it was 86 degrees in our house and just too hot so my mom said we could spend the night at their house in the spare room if we wanted, which we did! It came back on later the next night though.

I recently started going the chiropractor for my back (finally) and he's got me doing some physical therapy for it too. I've been going twice a week and they do this electrical stimulation for 15 minutes, then a 10 minute ultrasound (which feels like a light massage) and then a full massage to loosen up my back muscles and get out any knots as he said my back muscles were just waaaaay too tight which was a big factor in my back pain. He also does a few adjustments which seem to have helped.

http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/15133358_SS.jpgI'm sure you've heard, Borders is closing! That really makes me sad as I'd rather not have to shop at Barnes & Noble if I want to get a non-new release or best-seller. B&N's prices are higher, they have no free rewards program and the only thing I like better there is their kid's section - everything else I prefer Borders. We went the 1st night of the liquidation sale and dropped some cash on some finds. I went back the other day too and picked up a few more collectibles for Jay that we either didn't get on Friday or they were out of and just got more in. That really does suck though... I really liked Borders and before we had a Borders in my town I enjoyed Media Play for my books, but they went out of business long ago.

We joined Sam's Club recently and I really like it! We can buy diapers and baby food in bulk for good prices, as well as our kitty litter, hubby's beer (Sam Adams) and a giant tub of ice cream that'll last us awhile among other stuff we can buy in bulk to stock up on (like body wash!). Also their book and movie selections are decent and are often cheaper than Walmart too (by like a dollar at least) so I've picked up a few newer/best-seller books there.

We finally got Tiger spayed too. Ever since we moved, we've been finding furniture and stuff that she had been peeing on! I'm not sure why she suddenly felt the need to mark our brand new furniture in addition to random boxes in our storage closest, other than maybe she was pissed or stressed about Jay and then us moving soon after too or what but we took her to the vet, they said she seemed fine and decided that spaying might solve the problem. Seems to have worked so far as we've noticed she's been peeing in the litter box again. She was confined to the basement for most of the month, 1st to keep her from peeing on all the upstairs furniture and then after she we spayed we had to confine her to the larger downstairs bathroom for a week or so til she healed so she wouldn't be jumping up high and tearing em open. We let her back upstairs the other day and she seems to be doing fine. She's still curious about Jay though and he tries to pet her every chance he gets (he's very fascinated with textures right now too!).

nflThere will be football this year!!! In case you don't pay attention to sports, there was an NFL lock-out going on the last few months involving the player's salaries and the owners and the players coming to an agreement or something... because of this there were no organized team things going on which explains why there's been so many NFL players arrested over stupid stuff the last few months. But anyways, if the lock-out wasn't settled soon there was the possibility there would be no football this season and that would be sad as I look forward to spending Sunday (and sometimes Monday nights) watching football with hubby and we were looking forward to Jay experiencing his first season of football (we're hoping to teach him to say "football" "touchdown" and "Cowboys" at some point!). It reminded me of when I was a kid and there was no baseball that one season in the early/mid-90s. The 1st Sunday Night Football game of the season is the Cowboys vs the Jets so hubby wants to have a football for it too - should be fun!

My college roommate is up visiting this week from Texas so we got together for a bit today so she could see the house and Jay (he's doubled since she last saw him in March) and we figured out her centerpieces for her wedding next year too. She also told me some rather pathetic but amusing news about my ex that only confirms I did the right thing leaving his lazyass - he's 29 now and living with his girlfriend he met online (who moved up here from Texas)... in his bedroom in his parents house! He's also still going to school and since he's living at home I assume his parents are still paying for it... his poor family, they've been paying for his tuition for at least 10 years now and it's all because he's just downright lazy and doesn't apply himself or go to class! The thought of living in his bedroom at his parents house just scares me and makes me soooo thankful I got out of that relationship! I'm sooo thankful I have a husband who WANTS to work and that it's important to him to be the provider for his family and that we have the means to have a home of our own and can support ourselves and way of life, plus we have one of the cutest baby boys ever! I can't imagine being nearly 30 and still living at home because I'm too lazy to support myself. That's just pathetic (*note* it's one thing to have to move back home because of the current economy and say you lost your job and thus lost your home and needed somewhere to stay til you get back on your feet - I get that. But the fact is, my ex is lazy and always has been and is on track to always will be. He's been wasting his parent's money for years and doesn't seem to have any problem with it either).

So anyways, while I haven't been too active on the blog here, feel free to keep in touch with me on Twitter as I'm always tweeting on there throughout the day and I LOVE tweeting with my blogger friends on there too - I've enjoyed getting to know some of you more via Twitter!

Book Survey

Angie posted this book survey not too long ago and I thought it would be fun to do and share!

1. Favorite book - To be honest, I don't reallly think I have just 1 favorite. I have several I really liked and some series I really love/d but as far as one single book that stands out above all the rest... I can't really think of one!

2. Least favorite book - Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight Saga. This is honestly THE WORST book I have ever read. Took me nearly 2 weeks to wade through that piece of crap and it was just horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE! It built up to a climax that never happened, was longer than necessary and it was just a terrible book in general. I want those 2 weeks back, Stephanie Meyer.

3. Book that makes you laugh out loud - This Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul book I recently got. Kids really do say the darndest things! lol...

4. Book that makes you cry - I almost cried at the end of book 10 in the Sookie Stackhouse series when a certain character gets killed off at the end. Granted, they already killed off this character in the TV series so I have no clue how they plan on doing some of the Sookie storylines from the later books, but it was a character I really started to like in the books and it was so sad to see them go!

5. Book you wish you could live in - The Sookie Stackhouse books, of course! All the supernatural creatures you read about in fantasy actually co-existing and coming out about it to the world?? How neat!

6. Favorite young adult book - I guess the Harry Potter books, although I don't really read much young adult fiction these days, I'm usually picking books up in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy or Mystery/Thriller sections

7. Book that you can quote/recite
-
Probably none, as I don't often reread books

8. Book that scares you - World War Z was a bit scary in the sense that the way it was written made the whole Zombie Apocalypse seem like a real possibility!

9. Book that makes you sick - Not really sure...

10. Book that changed your life - I guess maybe Jesus Freaks: Voice of the Martyrs as reading what some of these people went through all because they refused to turn their back on their faith was pretty inspirational!

11. Book from your favorite author - Currently my favorite author is Charlaine Harris who wrote the Sookie Stackhouse books, so I guess that whole series

12. Book that is most like your life - Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul, I can totally identify with that one!

13. Book whose main character is most like you - I've been told I remind people of Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series!

14. Book whose main character you want to marry - Eric Northman from the Sookie Stackhouse series

15. First "chapter book" you remember reading as a child - Not sure if I read it or if my mom read it to me but I remember we read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis together. Otherwise I'd probably say it was Meet Samantha from the American Girl Doll books

16. Longest book you've read - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is 870 pages

17. Shortest book you've read
- probably one of Jay's board books that's like 4-6 pages, lol...

18. Book you're most embarrassed to say you like - The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking. It was littered with typos and gramatical & sentence errors throughout but I liked it enough to keep reading all 3 books. Take the cheesy/corny-ness of Twilight plus the teenage romance and make it about a troll changeling who goes home to her kingdom and you basically have this series. It was dumb, but I liked it.

19. Book that turned you on - there's several parts in the Sookie Stackhouse books that turned me on & I ended up waking up hubby for, lol...

20. Book you've read the most number of times - I don't really reread books... I guess I would say Catcher in the Rye and Huckleberry Finn as I read them for class at 2 different times in high school.

21. Favorite picture book from childhood - Goodnight Moon, Monster at the End of the Book, Pokey Little Puppy, I Help My Mommy, The House that Had Enough... I'm sure I could go on!

22. Book you plan to read next - I'd like to read Game of Thrones but that all depends on whether or not hubby ever finishes reading it (I've read like 4 books already since he's started it), if not... either The Stand or Hunger Games.

23. Book you tell people you've read, but haven't (or haven't actually finished) - I started reading Lord of the Rings once but couldn't get past the 2nd chapter, I got too bored.

24. Book that contains your favorite scene - I... don't know.

25. Favorite book you read in school - Catcher in the Rye

26. Favorite nonfiction book - The Chicken Soup books. I love those!

27. Favorite fiction book - the Harry Potter series and the Sookie Stackhouse books

28. Last book you read - Physical book: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson (I want to read book 3 but it doesn't come out in trade paperbook like the rest until March 2012!!!), eBook: Ascend, book 3 in the Trylle Trilogy

29. Book you're currently reading - I just started reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland Into a Ship of Her Own Making which I won in @AmyGeek's blog giveaway a few months back.

30. Favorite coffee table book - The 2 that I have: Mythology - the DC Comics Art of Alex Ross (I LOVE his art and technique!) and the Wicked Grimmerie

7.19.2011

It *finally* happened!!

http://s3.daemonsmovies.com/mov/up/2011/02/Winnie-The-Pooh-Movie-poster.jpg
Today my sister and I took Jay to go see the new Winnie the Pooh movie, as my sister has ALWAYS liked Winnie the Pooh and I'll admit, the new movie looked cute (I was always a Tigger fan). Technically, his 1st movie in the theater was when we saw Thor with my in-laws on Mother's Day, however Jay slept that entire trip to the theater.

He did pretty good today though - he was awake when we went into the theater and the trailers were already playing... as I went to unbuckle him from his carrier to sit him in my lap I noticed he was starring at the movie screen all wide-eyed - it was funny! He laughed and grinned a few times and stayed awake during the Disney short at the beginning (it was about Nessie the Loch Ness Monster) but he fell asleep about 10 minutes into Pooh. He let out a cry when he woke up, but was fine as soon as he opened his eyes and realized mommy was there and where he was and watched the last 10 minutes or so of the movie. There were mostly toddlers in the theater and I think I saw 1 other baby, a little older than Jay.

Afterwards we stopped at Sam's Club to pick up kitty litter and a tub of ice cream (because we keep eating the smaller tubs too fast! doh!) and while walking down the book and movie aisles I found some with characters that Jay would recognize like Curious George and Dinosaur Train and got him laughing. While he was laughing I noticed a little white bud/bump on his bottom gum and proceeded to see what it was...

...he finally had a tooth break through!

It hasn't fully come in yet but it's definitely more progress than just his gums hurting as there's finally some visible proof! It's his front, bottom left tooth, which is surprising as his top front right ones seem to be where his gums hurt the most!

Dropping my sis off at my mom's house earlier, mom told us they had the free 8x10's from our church pictorial directory shoot available for pick-up last Sunday and since she didn't know when we would be there next she got ours for us.

 http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/270327_10100179908154719_30800316_46013648_2183380_n.jpg
I'd say it turned out pretty well!

7.17.2011

First Haircut & First Walker

Some more firsts for Jay this week!

Last Monday he had his first haircut!

I know some babies that don't get their 1st haircut to closer to their 1st birthdays, however Jay had quite the baby mullet going on (I'm sure it could have rivaled Billy Ray Cyrus' in his "Achy Breaky" days!). Hubby's mom brought her hair cutting stuff with her when she came for her weekly Monday visit and went ahead and cut it. I wasn't there - unfortunately I had to work that night, but hubby took video of it and it was quite amusing! Jay freaked out, like it was the most traumatic thing ever! He *really* did not like the cape she put on him and stopped fussing for a moment when she went to get the buzzer, but royally freaked out again when he realized she was putting it to the back of his head! LOL...

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/281487_10100177676556859_30800316_45973134_5850788_n.jpgWe also finally got him a baby walker after taking forever to find one I liked that didn't have a buttload of toys on the tray (I swear it's impossible to find just a plain simple walker with nothing on the tray like the one I had as a baby!). He seems to enjoy it - at first he didn't realize he could move himself around in it, and now he's figured out how to push himself backwards - still hasn't really figured out going forward yet though! He's only used it in the alley way of the kitchen so far - we need to order a gate for our stairs, which he can't get to from the kitchen and we supervise him the entire time he's using it. It seems to have been a good buy though!

My Top 10 Diaper Bag Must-Haves

I recently got an email update from What to Expect (much like I do everyday) with an article link to "Diaper Bag Must-Haves". I agreed with all their suggestions, but had a few of my own to add.

1. Diapers
This is a no-brainer as it IS called a "diaper bag." I usually try to keep at least 4 or 5 in there so I don't have to constantly be refilling it as the only time he goes through more than 1 at a time is when he's over at my mom's while I'm working or out.

2. Wipes
I always keep a package of wipeys in the diaper bag

3. Diaper rash ointment
I prefer Desitin and always keep a tube in there

4. Sunblock (in the warmer months)
You never know when you might go outside for an extended period of time & you don't want baby to get burned so it's a good idea to keep some of this in the diaper bag. We use Huggies Little Swimmers waterproof spf50 sunblock.

5. A spare bottle
Cuz kiddo might randomly decide to get hungry at the most inopportune times!

6. Some baby food
http://asset1.wellmedia.ca/images/product_images/158x184/33650.jpgAt Target and Babies R Us you can find small formula containers like the one in the picture by Munchkin where you measure out the formula powder beforehand and then just pour it into the bottle when you need it. I LOVE this product and am soooo glad to have it - it really comes in handy and I don't have to carry an entire tub of formula with me! This particular one has 3 separate spots.

7. Your kid's "lovey"
Jay's is his stuffed Elmo so I make sure to always put him the diaper bag before we go out.

8. Bib/Burpie
Jay drools A LOT right now so for us it's mandatory to have an extra bib in the bag and of course a burpie cloth is needed in case he eats while we're out and about.

9. A blanket
More for the colder months, as you never know how the weather will be - one minute it's in the 70s and your kid is in shorts, the next it's in the 50s and you need something to throw over his legs! Plus, if you're driving in the colder months and something happens where your car breaks down, doesn't hurt to have a blanket on hand, especially for kiddo!

10. A spare set of clothes
In case your child has a blowout in his diaper that goes up his back or some other massive mess that requires a change of clothes while you're out.

Honorable Mention: A bottle of water
More so in case you get stranded somewhere like if your car breaks down - if kiddo gets hungry you can mix a bottle for them (assuming you have #'s 5&6).

7.12.2011

Birthday Weekend

On Sunday we drove out to the Quad Cities (about 2 hours away) to celebrate our nephew Noah's golden birthday (he turned 4 on the 4th of July!). Jay had only met his cousins once before, when he was about 2 months old and he was quite in shock then to see a baby close to his size! This time around, he's a few months older and he seemed to interact with his cousin Lucas a bit more (Lucas is about 3 or 4 months older than Jay).

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262383_10100173438370219_30800316_45911522_8332139_n.jpg
Jay with cousin Lucas (he's about 3-4 months older than Jay)

The birthday theme was a hodge-podge of some of Noah's current favorite things - Iron Man, Thomas the Train, and Transformers. They had Iron Man masks and I couldn't resist putting one on Jay for a picture, lol...
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267654_10100173434313349_30800316_45911329_6385665_n.jpg

It was held at one of the playgrounds near them and they had reserved the pavilion for the afternoon and had to chase a few LARPers (Live Action Role Players) away to a different area of the park - it was pretty awesome though, hubby and his older brother both said that if they busted out in an all out LARPing battle they were definitely going to get it on video, lol...

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/268038_10100173637196769_30800316_45916765_2283256_n.jpgWe had lunch at the park, then did cupcakes and presents and just socialized while the kids attempted to beat the crap out of an indestructible Optimus Prime Transformer pinata!

It got pretty hot though so we ended up stripping Jay down to just his onesie - poor kiddo was getting tired but it was too hot for him to sleep! He passed out within 10 minutes of us getting in the car! LOL...

It was nice to see everyone again, as we don't get to see hubby's older brother and his family too often since they live a few hours away, despite us keeping touch on Facebook. I hope we get to see each other at least a few times a year - it'd be nice for Jay to at least know who his cousins are, since hubby's younger brothers don't seem to be settling down anytime soon.

Jay also seemed to LOVE his spray bottle water mist fan thingy! He would lean forward and wait for me to spray it and then pull back after I sprayed it at him... and then come back for more! LOL... too funny!

101 in 1001 progress update #5

This morning the Illinois/Wisconsin stateline was hit with some pretty strong storms and our house was one of the unfortunate 600,000+ that had its power knocked out at 715am! It's about 130am the next day and as of 1130pm it still wasn't back on and was 81 degrees in the house! My parent's house has power though so we're spending the night there, hoping ours comes back on tomorrow at some point!

Anyways, here's an update on my 101 in 1001 list!

#4 - Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month (11/66, 11/66)
Yeah... slacked a bit on this one. In June we watched "The Green Hornet" on DVD and I gotta admit, it was better than I was expecting (which honestly wasn't much). While it wasn't great, it was fun and amusing. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. So far for June we've watched "I Am Number 4" on DVD - it was alright, although I would have enjoyed it much better if it didn't have all the dumb teenage romance drama in it. I enjoyed the kid that played #4, the gal that played #6, and Timothy Olyphant as #4's guardian. It was an enjoyable movie and I'd recommend it. Also, I wasn't surprised that the team of Gould and Millar who worked together on Smallville for years were involved, as had that teenage superhero feel to it. I could see a sequel happening for this one too. As far as Instant Watch goes... no movies in June and so far for July I've watched "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - I recently finished the 1st 2 books and decided to start watching the Swedish films before the American remake comes out this Christmas. I gotta say though, actress Noomi Rapace IS Lisabeth Salander. I don't mind the casting of Daniel Craig as Blomkist in the American version, but I really wish they would use Noomi again as she's got the part down pat!


18 - Read at least 15 (non-children) fiction books (5/15)
I've read 2 so far for June and July! In June I finally finished "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and promptly started "The Girl Who Played With Fire" which I finished in July. I swear, Steig Larrson had a pattern to his books - make the 1st 200 or so pages of the book have just enough intrique to keep you interested (because they are a bit boring, making you wonder where is the story going already!?) and then something major happens in the last half of part 2 or between pages 200-300 that makes you glued to the book, wanting to read what happens next, making it so you don't want to put it down! That happened with both books! While book #2 seemed to move a bit faster than book 1, I was still wondering the whole time "where is this going? what's the point?" during the 1st 200 or so pages. And then something major happens and I breezed through the rest of the book in a matter of days! I really want to read the 3rd, however it's not currently available in trade paperback (only in large print paperback) and the Kindle version costs more than the hardcover version at Walmart so I guess I'll just wait...

22 - Find a part-time job that works me at least twice a week
Well, I guess I have this now! We've had several key people quit at work recently due to moving away and apparently I've "proved" myself too since as of this week, aside from management I have the 2nd most hours at work, working at least 2-3 shifts a week with a handful of on-call shifts, half of which I get called in for. The paychecks have been nice, but it's been a bit hard shifting from working 1-2 days a week to working 4-5! I'm used to hanging out with Jay most of the week and it's been a bit strange not doing that!

29 - Have a date with hubby at least once a month (4/33)
30 - Take an overnight with hubby once a year (1/3)

These go together for June & July, as hubby and I attended a wedding up in the Twin Cities from June 30-July 2 (my childhood best friend's wedding) and we left Jay with my parents to get some mommy and daddy time! It was nice getting away and not having to worry about squeezing in feedings, etc into the schedule but it was a bit strange being without him too!

51 - Host a PartyLite party once a year (1/3)
I did this in June! While not quite as many people came as I had hoped, I did get some "book orders" and got a nice bit of hostess credit. I stocked up on my tealights and took advantage of some nice hostess offers too! Definitely worth it!

53 - Visit in person with a friend once a month (6/33)
I've seen several people in June, so that counts!

60 - Go to church at least once a month (3/33)
We had Jay's baby dedication on Father's Day Sunday and we went once again in June too.

88 - Get a pedicure 3 times a year (2/9)
For Mother's Day, hubby got me a Groupon for a mani-pedi which I redeemed days before we went to the wedding in the Twin Cities - it was nice! The finger nails didn't last longer than a week, but the toenails still look good!

98 - Go on vacation somewhere once a year (1/3)
We went to the Twin Cities this year! While it was a mini-vacation, it was still a vacation for us and is about as much of one as we'll get this year, with Jay being so little. I'm sure we'll go somewhere more exciting for longer next year. Aside from the wedding, we stopped in Mall of America for a bit, ate some CiCi's Pizza (which the nearest one is nearly an hour from us so despite seeing all the commercials on TV, we've never had it!) and we drove past the Metrodome - the home of the Minnesota Vikings! Near the end of last season, the roof collapsed due to all the snow that had built up on top of it - it still looked like it was under construction!

101 in 1001 progress update #5

This morning the Illinois/Wisconsin stateline was hit with some pretty strong storms and our house was one of the unfortunate 600,000+ that had its power knocked out at 715am! It's about 130am the next day and as of 1130pm it still wasn't back on and was 81 degrees in the house! My parent's house has power though so we're spending the night there, hoping ours comes back on tomorrow at some point!

Anyways, here's an update on my 101 in 1001 list!

#4 - Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month (11/66, 11/66)
Yeah... slacked a bit on this one. In June we watched "The Green Hornet" on DVD and I gotta admit, it was better than I was expecting (which honestly wasn't much). While it wasn't great, it was fun and amusing. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. So far for June we've watched "I Am Number 4" on DVD - it was alright, although I would have enjoyed it much better if it didn't have all the dumb teenage romance drama in it. I enjoyed the kid that played #4, the gal that played #6, and Timothy Olyphant as #4's guardian. It was an enjoyable movie and I'd recommend it. Also, I wasn't surprised that the team of Gould and Millar who worked together on Smallville for years were involved, as had that teenage superhero feel to it. I could see a sequel happening for this one too. As far as Instant Watch goes... no movies in June and so far for July I've watched "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - I recently finished the 1st 2 books and decided to start watching the Swedish films before the American remake comes out this Christmas. I gotta say though, actress Noomi Rapace IS Lisabeth Salander. I don't mind the casting of Daniel Craig as Blomkist in the American version, but I really wish they would use Noomi again as she's got the part down pat!


18 - Read at least 15 (non-children) fiction books (5/15)
I've read 2 so far for June and July! In June I finally finished "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and promptly started "The Girl Who Played With Fire" which I finished in July. I swear, Steig Larrson had a pattern to his books - make the 1st 200 or so pages of the book have just enough intrique to keep you interested (because they are a bit boring, making you wonder where is the story going already!?) and then something major happens in the last half of part 2 or between pages 200-300 that makes you glued to the book, wanting to read what happens next, making it so you don't want to put it down! That happened with both books! While book #2 seemed to move a bit faster than book 1, I was still wondering the whole time "where is this going? what's the point?" during the 1st 200 or so pages. And then something major happens and I breezed through the rest of the book in a matter of days! I really want to read the 3rd, however it's not currently available in trade paperback (only in large print paperback) and the Kindle version costs more than the hardcover version at Walmart so I guess I'll just wait...

22 - Find a part-time job that works me at least twice a week
Well, I guess I have this now! We've had several key people quit at work recently due to moving away and apparently I've "proved" myself too since as of this week, aside from management I have the 2nd most hours at work, working at least 2-3 shifts a week with a handful of on-call shifts, half of which I get called in for. The paychecks have been nice, but it's been a bit hard shifting from working 1-2 days a week to working 4-5! I'm used to hanging out with Jay most of the week and it's been a bit strange not doing that!

29 - Have a date with hubby at least once a month (4/33)
30 - Take an overnight with hubby once a year (1/3)

These go together for June & July, as hubby and I attended a wedding up in the Twin Cities from June 30-July 2 (my childhood best friend's wedding) and we left Jay with my parents to get some mommy and daddy time! It was nice getting away and not having to worry about squeezing in feedings, etc into the schedule but it was a bit strange being without him too!

51 - Host a PartyLite party once a year (1/3)
I did this in June! While not quite as many people came as I had hoped, I did get some "book orders" and got a nice bit of hostess credit. I stocked up on my tealights and took advantage of some nice hostess offers too! Definitely worth it!

53 - Visit in person with a friend once a month (6/33)
I've seen several people in June, so that counts!

60 - Go to church at least once a month (3/33)
We had Jay's baby dedication on Father's Day Sunday and we went once again in June too.

88 - Get a pedicure 3 times a year (2/9)
For Mother's Day, hubby got me a Groupon for a mani-pedi which I redeemed days before we went to the wedding in the Twin Cities - it was nice! The finger nails didn't last longer than a week, but the toenails still look good!

98 - Go on vacation somewhere once a year (1/3)
We went to the Twin Cities this year! While it was a mini-vacation, it was still a vacation for us and is about as much of one as we'll get this year, with Jay being so little. I'm sure we'll go somewhere more exciting for longer next year. Aside from the wedding, we stopped in Mall of America for a bit, ate some CiCi's Pizza (which the nearest one is nearly an hour from us so despite seeing all the commercials on TV, we've never had it!) and we drove past the Metrodome - the home of the Minnesota Vikings! Near the end of last season, the roof collapsed due to all the snow that had built up on top of it - it still looked like it was under construction!

7.07.2011

Jaydran Jump Up!

At my baby shower, one of the gifts my parents got me was a Johnny Jump Up as there's photos of me when I was a baby, having a blast in the thing (my sister on the other hand apparently hated it, lol...). Mom thought it was a must-have and had to get it for me.

Unfortunately, we didn't use it right away as there was no good place in our apartment for it, not to mention Jay was a tad too little to really do anything with it. When we moved we weren't really sure where to put it either, as there's not really many places in our house to put it.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/263178_10100168522222219_30800316_45814862_2526551_n.jpgWhen we left Jay with my parents for a few days last weekend though my mom bought one for her house and hooked it up and apparently he really enjoyed it! I made an effort to figure out where we could put in our house and narrowed it down to our bedroom doorframe and Jay's bedroom doorframe, as there's not really a lot of doorframes in our house to use it on!

He seemed to enjoy it the few times we've used it on our bedroom doorframe so far - today even he played in it for like a half hour, chewing on the cover that covers the metal bar frame and having a quite the conversation with me this afternoon! It was pretty amusing!

He can't really jump much yet, but he enjoys swinging around from it and dangling his legs, lol...

Also, today I swear he was trying to give me a kiss as he put his lips to my cheek and just held them there for a moment or so before pulling away. It was really cute!

I also *finally* got to see him flip from his tummy to his back! He's been doing it for about a month now but never when I'm around! Unfortunately though, he did it while he was on his changing table - doh!

7.06.2011

Long Weekend & Jay's 1st 4th of July

This past weekend has been a busy one for sure!

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Ketchup bottles are yummy!
On Thursday we dropped Jay off with a suitcase of his own at my parent's house as had a mommy and daddy getaway for a few days up in the Twin Cities area as my childhood best friend was getting married on Friday. Gotta admit, waking up Friday morning without my snuggle buddy to snuggle with was a bit weird, not to mention my body's used to him as my alarm clock most days!

The wedding wasn't until the evening so we had the whole afternoon to kill and ventured out for a bit and made a stop at the Mall of America, where hubby had never been before! We need to make a trip up there when Jay's a little older as I recall the aquarium being really neat, he'd be in awe of the mini-Legoland and of course the indoor Nicktoons theme park (which by the way, I was disappointed to learn that it's no longer Camp Snoopy but now it's Nicktoons Universe! Booo!!).

The wedding was in downtown Minneapolis at the Mill City Museum and we drove right past the Metrodome - home of the Minnesota Vikings - in which its roof caved in last winter from so much snow! It looked still under-construction too. The wedding was really beautiful and her dress definitely looked like it was made for her as it looked so pretty on her! The ceremony was outside in the courtyard ruins, unfortunately it did rain a little bit for the last 5 minutes or so, but fortunately it didn't pour until later in the night when we were having the reception dinner inside. It was nice to get to see her family again too - her oldest brother I hadn't seen in nearly 20 years, when he left for college! Her parents still live just a few streets over from my parents, so I've occasionally seen her mom out walking but it was nice to get a chance to chat with them, even for a brief minute or so! I'm glad we went!

It was nice to get away with just hubby, but I did start missing Jay and was looking forward to picking him up. He had a big grin on his face when we went to get him and he 1st saw us though! Mom said he did fine, save for when his gums started hurting, but he was all happy to see us again and spent most of the evening snuggling with me.

Sunday night we had a cookout out just us 3. The neighbors next door were having people over too, including one of the neighbors that used to live behind our house (he stopped over to collect a ball that had gone over our fence, and commented how he was so used to the property being vacant for so long!). Hubby had purchased some fireworks stuff when he was up in Janesville for work last week and lit about half of them off. Jay did okay with the ones that just made lots of lights, but he didn't like the ones that made high-pitched screeching noises at all! The neighbors had stuff they were lighting off too so we were taking turns, lol... they had one they lit for the grand finale which lasted about 2 minutes, but including the screeching ones, which freaked Jay out so we had to take him inside, as he got too scared!

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Little Mr. 4th of July!

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Watching fireworks with daddy
Monday was the 4th of July and Jay's 5 month birthday! Hubby and I both got stuck working. Hubby and Jay had a cookout with my family while I joined up with them after work and ate what was left. We joined my mom and cousin and went downtown to the same spot we sat last year for the fireworks. Jay started fussing in the car for no apparent reason and daddy carried him while we walked downtown which seemed to keep him calm. For the most part he sat and actually watched the fireworks, only getting upset twice. The first time was when the stupid girls wheeling a cart of glow-in-the-dark stuff caused a pedestrian traffic jam right behind us and I think someone bumped Jay trying to get passed, as he started crying out of nowhere. He settled down a few minutes later though and continued to watch (and grab daddy's face as the lights were making his face light up, lol...) until the last 10 seconds when the grand finale occurred, with the fireworks shooting off constantly - it scared him and he started freaking out so I held him to me with my hand covering his outside ear as he buried his face into my chest. He was fine and all smiles after it stopped! LOL...

I'd say Jay's 1st 4th of July went pretty well!

7.03.2011

Thoughts on the Supreme Court's recent ruling on video games

This past weekend my husband and I took a trip up to the Twin Cities for a wedding and on the drive home, we came across an afternoon FM talk radio show. Normally we'd flip the channel and continue trying to find a good rock station, however the topic of discussion caught our interest - it was about the recent Supreme Court ruling on violent video games and the interviewee was Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council (aka the PTC).

As put by the Washington Times:
"In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court struck down a California law banning the purchase by children of violent video games. The court upheld a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision throwing out the ban on sale or rental of these games to minors, writing that governments do not have the power to "restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed," regardless of the amount of grotesque violence.

Scalia wrote for the majority in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association that children are not traditionally shielded from violence as they are from sexual conduct. He also stated that archaic texts and stories, such as Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White and other popular fairy tales and stories depict violence as well, but we wouldn’t think of limiting children’s access to those. 

"Certainly the books we give children to read - or read to them when they are younger - contain no shortage of gore," wrote Scalia. In building a case for protecting the rights of children to purchase games that simulate decapitation, violent murder and gruesome stabbings, the senior justice actually elevated violent video games to the standard of art.

“Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas — and even social messages — through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player's interaction with the virtual world),” Scalia wrote. “That suffices to confer First Amendment protection."

He called the California law “seriously over-inclusive because it abridges the First Amendment rights of young people whose parents (and aunts and uncles) think violent video games are a harmless pastime."

The case is a win for the $20 billion dollar video-game industry. Approximately 46 million American households had at least one video-game system in their homes in 2010."
 Scalia definitely makes some good points.

The interview we heard with Henson was also interesting, as she pointed out that the Paducah, KY high school shooter had never held a real gun before but he had played plenty of 1st person shooters, accurately killing many of his victims with the well-known video game headshot method. She said that he had played some of the same games that the US military has their soldiers play to help desensitize them for killing.

I see her point, but the boy was 14 and I'm pretty sure that all 1st person shooter games, including the ones the military uses, have an M-rating on them, meaning "mature content" and "inappropriate for those under 17" exactly like the R movie rating. So the question is, where were the parents and why were they letting their 14 year old play a game meant for adults?

She also called this ruling a recluse, asking "what's a parent to do?"

Um, parent their child...?

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Where are these pre-teen boys' parents?
Hearing her say that, my husband and I both had the same response - you take the game away from the kid and either throw it out or put it somewhere they won't find it, duh! Apparently Ms. Henson is not familiar with this approach, however both my husband and I are - I remember growing up not being allowed to listen to certain radio stations or watch certain TV shows/channels. Yes, I did occasionally sneak listening or watching something I knew I wasn't allowed to, but still, if and when my parents found out, I was in trouble.

While I understand what California was trying to do, I applaud the Supreme Court for taking a stand and basically saying that it's not the government's job to parent your child because you're too lazy or afraid to.

The problem I think (from what I've noticed) is that the generation before mine was too concerned about being their child's best friend rather than their parent so that's partially why so many teens are messed up today when it comes to right and wrong, doing things they shouldn't, and why they're so uneducated - the parents were afraid of their children hating them if they disciplined them so they let them do whatever they wanted and gave them anything and everything whether or not it was good for the kid! And now we have an entire part of a generation that can't read, write or spell for crap because their parents never made them sit down and do their homework or paid attention to what they were doing when they were at home so the kids watched whatever, played whatever, listened to whatever.

I've noticed my part of the generation (those of us in the mid-late 20s and early 30s) are sick of the way kids act and behave today - I have several friends who teach high school in the public school district and they get soooo frustrated at how some of these kids have reached the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades and can't spell, form a sentence or even study or do homework. And when they confront the parents about their child's poor performance in school the parents don't seem to care - all they care about is making sure their child is wearing the latest fashions! It's pretty sad!

Most parents I know around my age have the same attitude about parenting as my husband and I, and I'm sure it helps that the things our kids are growing up with now are things we are already accustomed to so we that can be more involved with our kids and keep up with what they're into and parent better than the previous generation did. Most parents I know with young kids take the time to spend time with them, playing together and reading, teaching them, etc because the majority of us think it's ridiculous how teens today can't spell for crap and are so uneducated about everything.

While I may be a new parent, and disciplining your child does suck (unless of course they really pissed you off, then a "time out" comes as a bit of a relief), it's my job to teach my children right from wrong and monitor what they're playing, listening to and watching.

The ESRB has a rating system for video games that's very easy to understand and is pretty similar to the MPAA's movie rating system. They have these ratings for a reason! TV shows have ratings now too and most cable providers provide parental controls so you can even block channels on your TV. And unless anything has changed, I recall video game consoles had a parental lock on them too so unless you input the correct code, the machine won't let you play. If you find out your kid is watching, playing, reading or listening to something that's inappropriate and too mature for them, set the kid down, explain to them why it's inappropriate and get rid of the item in question. Sure they can sneak it at a friend's house, but again, as a parent it's your responsibility to be involved with your child and know what kind of friends they're hanging out with (which is a whole 'nother story).

Besides, what good is banning the selling of certain games to minors when some parents will just buy it for them anyways? Right after Christmas, I went to Gamestop to pick up a few games for our brand new PS3. There were a few people a head of me in line, one of which was a mother and her son who couldn't be more than 10 years old. I forget what game it was they were purchasing, but it was M-rated. The clerk at the register, before ringing up the game, turned the parent and told her that the game was rated M, explained what that meant and what type of Mature content was in the game (I want to say it was the Call of Duty: Black Ops, but I didn't see for sure) and asked if she was sure she wanted to buy it for her son. Without thinking twice the mom said sure! What the heck?

Yes, my husband plays CoD while he's holding our 5 months old son, although half the time he's on the verge of taking his nap and falls asleep soon anyway. As he gets older, I don't think we'll be letting him watch or play that one much if at all until he's older. Even with watching Sunday night shows on HBO like Game of Thrones and True Blood or some of the movies we watch, Jay's too young to understand it, and it's usually close to his bedtime anyway so he usually falls asleep and we just make sure he's turned away from the TV so he's not exposed to too much violence or other things he doesn't need to grow up watching. I would NEVER buy an M-rated video game for a child 10 or younger. And even in their teens, I would find out first why the game is rated M and use discretion from there.

And while I can't speak for every place that sells video games and movies, the ones around here (in the "9th most dangerous city of 2011") do card for M-rated games and R-rated movies if you look young enough. Buying a copy of CoD: Black Ops for my adult brother-in-laws for Christmas, I got carded at Gamestop as did several others ahead of me in line that were also purchasing M-rated games. And I'm 26 and definitely don't look like a teenager (and at the time I was 7-8 months pregnant too!). I've also been carded at Walmart of all places for buying an R-rated movie! So despite what some might think, places DO card for Mature products.

The bottom line is, as a parent, it's YOUR job to actually parent and teach your child, not the government or anyone else.