Is it a Yeti?

Nope, just Tatum.
Today was another snow day off of school. And it keeps coming down.

Tatum was the only one willing to brave the snow today.

My birthday

This year is the big 3-5. So I thought it only appropriate to spread the celebrating out over a week. Besides, my birthday was on a Wednesday, and who celebrates on a Wednesday? Plus, I was sleeping on my actual birthday since I worked the night before.

To recap, Friday, my big sis, took me to a tattoo parlor. Strange birthday present, huh? My mom, sis, and brother all chipped in.

Krista got a tattoo a while back to represent her nephews and nieces. Since I birthed her nephews and nieces, I thought I should probably have one too. So, I got one to match hers. Only not completely. Since they were drawn free hand, they are slightly different. And her tat is on her forearm. I wasn't sure it would look too professional flashing tats in a Catholic hospital, so mine is on my leg. And yes, I am that white. It's winter, and I'm a redhead.

Ignore my snowman socks. There is a cursive T in the middle to represent "The T's", and a flower with each of their birthstone colors, in descending birth order, no less. It hurt, not as bad as labor, but it hurt. Especially the filling in of the flowers. Owww. According to my husband and my mother, I don't handle pain well. Hmm, birthed 5 babies, 4 of them with no epidural, and I don't handle pain well. I reminded them that I work in labor and delivery and I know what can't handle pain sounds like. Apparently, in their world, you have to be completely silent to prove that you can handle pain. Whatever.
Saturday, despite making the comment that made me want to kick him in the groin, I did allow my darling husband to take me out for dinner and a movie. We saw the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was curious, and sad, and long, very long. I won't give away the ending, but let's just say, if you're born old and you become younger as you age, where do you suppose you'll end up?

And on that note, wouldn't it be nice? To be young, and be able to fall asleep in any position, anywhere?

Sunday was spent catching up on some Statistics homework. What fun! Although, I did get an A on the rough draft of my leadership paper. The one that I wrote in 4 hours. So, I don't have to rewrite it. Yay! That was a nice birthday present.

Monday night is girl's night out with my girls. We're going out for some dinner and yummy Margaritas. Perhaps I should invite the big sis, AKA the Margarita Queen along.

Check out Krista's blog for more pics of tattoos and cute kids.

Sisters

Wii be having fun

I particulary like the jumping action.

The week in review

I finished my first major paper for this quarter. Yay! Yes, I did wait until the last minute. It's due at midnight and I just finished a little bit ago. It only took me 4 hours. It's too hard to type with just my left hand so I had to take a break for breast feeding. But, it's done.
Tess has been busy rolling. Daddy tried to catch it on camera but this is a good as it gets.

And yes, the prince is asleep, on the back of the couch.

"Don't ask me where my sock went? Do I look like I know?"

Tatum thought it would be fun to dress up in her lion costume from ballet. Then she remembered it was freezing. Yep, cold, cold, cold this week.

It snowed early in the week and then dropped down to single digits. Then even further down into the negatives. Right now, it's a balmy 33 degrees. These pics are from Tuesday, way before it dropped down to 20 below zero, or whatever it was.

She did it.

Tess rolled over. Witnessed by Daddy, or rather unwitnessed but assumed. Tess was lying on her back playing on her playmat. She started fussing and when he went to investigate, she was lying on her belly. She hasn't tried it again though. She'll roll way over onto her side, but not quite make it over.
Her other new thing is blowing bubbles. She really likes to spit and will entertain herself blowing raspberries. The bib is her friend.

5 months

I am 5 months old today!
Check out my cool sparkly tights! Yeah, Mom keeps it cold in here.

Baby Tess is creeping up on her 1/2 year birthday. She is rolling to her side from her back, and lifts her head and butt when she is on her belly. But still hasn't mastered the full roll over. She manages to get around though. She scoots and spins off her play mat and within a matter of minutes is in the middle of the floor. She smiles, coos, laughs, squeals and screeches. Not on camera though, she still has the camera phobia/fascination.

And remember the baby who slept through the night and used her thumb to self soothe? This one does neither. She has been replaced with a baby who thinks sleep is overrated. Five month olds don't need to nap do they? Tess doesn't think so. Her limit is about 30 minutes, IF she is held. If not, all bets are off.

She is using a pacifier now, instead of her thumb. When she's not pulling it out anyway. Seems like when she really needs to sleep, she'd rather pull it out of her mouth and stare at it. Then when she can't get it back in her mouth, she gets mad.

And I swear she must be teething. She chews on her fingers, and any toys she can get to her mouth. We attempted baby cereal the other day, but she's not quite ready for it. She still opens her mouth and lets it drool back out. The older kids didn't have any until at least 6 months, so we've got awhile yet. Tatum thought that since Tess has a high chair now, she must be ready to eat. Really I just didn't want her to have to sit on the floor in a bouncy seat while we eat.

I'm not sure what's going on with the sleep issues. She doesn't nap well, she doesn't sleep long at night. I hope it's just a phase. A short one. I may try some teething tablets and see if that helps.

Last night, I rocked her to sleep. And while I was eager for her to fall asleep, I was content to rock her awhile. I know she will be the last, and sooner than I would like, she won't want to be rocked.

It's been awhile

since I shared the sleeping prince.

Feeling

overwhelmed again. Today is the start of Winter quarter. I am taking Statistics and Nursing Leadership. Looking over my syllabi causes my belly to flip flop. It just looks like sooo much. I have 4 major, I mean 6-10 pages major, papers to write for Leadership. Don't know if I've mentioned it, but I hate to write papers. Don't know why. I always get a decent grade, I just don't like to do it. Organizing my thoughts is difficult at times. There is too much info in my head, I guess.

And reading the instructions for statistics? Egad!!! Read the chapters in this book, then in that book, then the power point review, then do the practice exercises here, then there, then do the graded assignment. For each of the 8 modules!!! Ahhhhh!!! I guess it's good that I haven't got my statistics book yet. I can only stress so much in one day. I still haven't completely decided if I need to buy the texts for leadership. Other nurses have assured me that they rarely read the textbooks for these classes.

And to top it off, my little darling, my angel girl who started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks, is no longer sleeping through the night. I generally took advantage of the time after bedtime to study and work on my papers. Now, she is waking at least 2-3 times a night. I don't know if it is a growth spurt or teething. I'm leaning towards the teething idea, as she gnaws on everything, including my nipples! I have threatened to cut her off if she doesn't chill out with the nipple gumming. For not having any teeth yet, she has a serious bite. She isn't napping well either. Is this normal? I know, I should know this by now, I just don't remember having a baby who didn't nap much. I mean, we're talking 20 minutes here, 15 minutes there. I'm on the verge of falling into that "I don't have enough milk" trap. Which leads to more bottles, less milk..... I think I need to make a Fenugreek run.

Baby Picture Sunday

I was visiting Nicole when I spotted a cute sleeping baby pic. This is the first time I have seen Baby Picture Sunday, but I'm sure I'll check it out again, since I have plenty of baby pics.
This week's theme is snuggle bugs. I think this fits pretty well. Tess is all snuggled up and she's a bug..... a lady bug. ;op
Visit Who Says 8 is Enough? to see more snuggly bugs.

And so it begins....

2009

A new year.



Goals for the new year, reflections of the last year.....



It was an eventful 2008. We welcomed a daughter and sent our oldest son off to junior high. I started grad school. Bobby became a stay at home Dad. We witnessed a historical presidential election, and the beginning of a financial crisis.

I'm not one to make resolutions because I know I won't stick to them, so instead I'll set just a few little goals for 2009.

• I will lose 10 pounds. (I could stand to lose a whole lot more, but I like to aim low. That way, if I surpass it, I have exceeded my expectations.)

• We will work harder at paying down our debt by paying off at least 2 credit cards. (again, aim low)

• Stay in school. (This one shouldn't be too hard since the alternative is being stuck with student loans with nothing to show for it. I'm all about show.)

And that's it. There are a few others I could throw in for kicks, like

• I plan to not ride a crocodile down the Amazon.
• I plan to not take a tour of France.
• I plan to not go bungee jumping, or walk the high wire, or swim with sharks, or any other inherently dangerous activity.

You get the point. I'd really like to work on the debt issue. While we managed to pay for most of Christmas with cash, we did buy a new water softener. It was either that, or keep replacing dishwashers due to hard water burn out. So that's some major debtage we need to get rid of.

I think it's something we just have to jump into. I read a blog a few weeks ago that compared decreasing debt to quitting smoking. You have to start a few times before you stick with it. Since I have never smoked, I would say it's more like dieting. You know it's good for you, but the alternative is just so much more fun. Yeah, getting out of debt and losing weight, both will feel good in the end. Just getting started is the hard part.