Monthly Archives: January 2009

Tummy Time…

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One of the most important things for Janelle right now is to have some tummy time. This will enable her to exercise her muscles so she can start holding her head up by herself. Once she gets through that, she will be able to start eating solids! I’m so excited. I think Janelle is the type of baby that will LOVE to eat. Here is her most recent picture taken this morning (really early) with my Blackberry. Good job baby! I can’t believe she is already three months old.

In other news, I can’t wait until Friday. Dex and I will finally have the day off together and have a family day. Yay!

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Buzzzy Beeee

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Things have been hectic lately due to the fact that Dex and I have opposite schedules. It is rough and I haven’t been out anywhere (besides work) since the first week of the month.  I also put in a four day work week this week, plus I took a CPR and ACLS course on one of my days off. I was tired! I haven’t worked four days in a week in a long while, especially not since having another baby! Next week is another four day week, then it’s back to normal. That one day makes a difference in the paycheck, but it also makes a difference in my energy. I AM SO TIRED by the end of the week! Since I don’t have that third hand around on my days off, I am strictly taking care of the kiddies. Bath time and feedings and time for games and all that jazz. I really haven’t had the time for myself. As selfish as it sounds, everyone needs that little moment, if even for an hour! I can’t wait until Friday, cuz finally Dex and I are off together. Even on our days off though, we will still be juggling tasks. Jasmyne has her 2.5 year MD appointment and we have to go to the church and restaurant to prep for Janelle’s Baptism. Dexter’s parents are also going to be arriving from the Philippines, and I finally have a dental appointment as well. After that, we have to do our shopping for all the stuff the kids are running out of and of course, some groceries. I’m feeling the busy bug already!

With all the things going on and how tired I’ve been feeling, it has been extra hard trying to accomplish another task: Potty Training. Jasmyne loves to sit in her special seat, but hasn’t pee’d in the toilet yet. She just loves to sit there and flush and waste the tissue. I still give her lots of positive feed back just for even sitting there as long as she does. I bought her training panties which she loves. I think next week, she cannot get tissue or flush the toilet unless the waterbowl turns a different color- YELLOW! No more mister nice mommy for her! I will have to make sure my mom does the same. Training kids to use the potty and sleep in their own beds takes lots of patience and TIME! Jasmyne loves her bed, but it takes her so long to fall asleep and she wants you to lay your head by the foot side. Ugh- Dex and I barely have the energy to hold our heads up sometimes. Then we give in and lay her right next to us and all three of us dose off in a heart beat! Its so easy to fail as parents cause we are looking for the easy way out right now. We’ll get better soon, hopefully. I am determined to have Jazzy-Poo potty trained before summer!

Janelle’s swing is broken, so right now, I have to manually move it for her. She uses the swing during the day, and I reserve her crib ONLY for night time use. This allows her to know when night time is and hopefully trains her to sleep longer at night. It works for the most part, cuz her bed time is 845pm and she doesn’t usually wake until about 330am. If she slept that long during the daytime nowadays, we would be in trouble! She is definitely having longer wake periods during the day- and she LOVES to laugh! We just need a new swing, cuz I cannot be stuck in this room every single day.

Here’s to another random post… and a better work week!

So Last Minute!

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So one of my goals for the month of January was to get Janelle’s baptism set up. I was sure on wanting it done late March when the weather would probably be a lot nicer. When I called different churches, I came to find that baptisms are not done during Lent. That meant I wouldn’t be able to do it until after Easter. That meant that she would be half a year already, which to a lot of standards, is too old! More importantly, I wasn’t sure if Dexter’s parents would still be here at that time. They are coming next week, but they usually don’t like to stay too long. Thank goodness I made phone calls to the churches early enough to even find this out. Normally, you have to attend a class that occurs at the end of each month. If I called any later, I would have missed registration time for their class on Tuesday next week!

Well this whole week has gone in my favor. I am precepting a nurse who has six years of experience. She is pretty much on her own and doing her own thing. I’m just around in case she has any questions! So with that said, I was able to book a restaurant for the painful time of 3p-6p. Unfortunately, the baptism is at an awkward time of 130pm. I went through lots of phone calls before finally finding the right mixture of pricing and availability. Surprisingly, there are lots of baby and wedding showers that day. I guess those spring babies and weddings are just around the corner. To make a long story short, I am now doing invites! I still can’t believe that I managed to get so many tasks done- at work, and I mean A LOT! One of the best things I accomplished was setting up my dental appointment finally! Believe it or not, little tasks like that are hard to do at home with the two kids around! Thank goodness for work!

I wish I could sleep now. It is currently 515am and I can’t sleep. She got up around four to drink milk. She is adding another 30 minutes slowly, but surely. Last week, her waking time to eat was around 3-330! I can’t wait until she starts sleeping through the night and I’m back to sleeping in my own bed. It’s probably wishful thinking, but I hope she doesn’t wake up until 9AM. I’m gonna FORCE myself to get some shut eye now. Wish me luck!


Random Blob

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It is so cold out. Jasmyne is having anxiety attacks and wants to go out of the house. She had a small tantrum this morning. I am officially sleep deprived. I should be having fairly easy days at work for the next couple of weeks. I am “teaching” a nurse the ways of our floor. She has six years experience. Did I mention how cold it is outside? Jasmyne has been sleeping in her bed during nap time with Daddy. Janelle’s waking hours are from 530AM to about 800AM! Did I mention I am sleep deprived- officially? I hate driving to work without the hubby. It gets so lonely and there is no one to talk to but myself in the car. I’ve actually been taking a picture a day since the year began. I still need to get my hair done. I can’t even remember the last time I got my nails did. It has been way too long. I love my Lorac Lip Gloss. I’m starting to love Sephora.com. Makeup is so addicting. Jasmyne is screaming for me at the top of her lungs at this very moment. I need a vacation ASAP. My diet is failing! The hubby is not even on a diet either. WTF? There are so many movies out that I want to see. It has been that way for quite some time. I need to start listing these movies so I don’t forget. I’ve done three loads of laundry my last two days off. I am quite proud of myself. Blah. Blah. Blah. My mind is blank now. I’m in a rush. I need to get some sleep. I’m with the baby again tonight. It’s cold outside. I am sleep deprived. The end.

10 THINGS

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Today’s post is from The Daily Meme: Ten On Tuesday

Question: Ten Things You’re Really Good At

So I had to think a little hard about this, which is good exercise for my brain. It’s also a confidence booster for me because I don’t think I’ve ever thought about the things I’m good at. It’s not something I do on a regular basis, you know? So here is what I came up with in no particular order. It’s as random as my brain!

1. Time Management: See my post from yesterday. I would like to add one thing to yesterdays post, by the way. Of course I am pretty lucky to have a good support system to allow me to do my daily extras. I have my momma, for one. More importantly I also have a great husband who shares in the responsibilities and gives me my ME time whenever possible.

2. Arts and Crafts: I’m pretty good at making paper products and such. I’ve always been good in this department. I think I always won the science fair when I was in elementary school- not for the science project, but for the poster boards I made. They were quite crafty and colorful.

3. Planning: If you’ve ever seen my calendar, you’ll know why I am in charge of making appointments for the family. I have every date possible in there. I know what weekends we’re working for the whole year. I know when all the holidays and special events are for the whole year. I’ve requested my days off for the year 2009. All I have to do is tell Dex what days he needs off and he’ll find out why much later because he could care less.

4. Cleaning: If you’ve ever set foot into our bedroom, you may realize what a messy couple we are. That’s just how the bedroom is and always probably will be. Believe it or not, however, we clean the other parts of the house fairly often. Dex and I as a team can make the house spic and span (spotless and ultimately clean, including bathrooms) for a party in less than two hours. On a regular day, we can make the house look clean in about 15 minutes. That’s talent!

5. Writing: Besides writing direct thoughts from my head into my journal, I think I was also a good writer back when I was in school. I remember cramming and writing my papers on the same day it was due back in college. I didn’t know how I did it, but when I read the final product, it was always better than what I expected. I write everything that I may not be able to communicate verbally. I think the hubby has read plenty of my letters to avoid verbal arguments. See my writing also serves as a peace offering!

6. Making Excuses: So this may not be such a positive thing, but I am good at making excuses to get me out of trouble. I can think of excuses *ahem* sometimes fibs *ahem* really quickly. Sometimes they come so quick that it is soooooo believable. I sound so proud of myself, don’t I?

7. Communicating with my patients: There are lots of health issues and diagnosis that my patients hear about on a daily basis. Many times, their doctors come and go within minutes, barely giving them time to breathe between questions. Patients and their families often give me positive feedback on my communication style and how naturally it comes out- without sounding like a robot or textbook material.

8. Staying up and energized even when I have been sleep deprived for weeks: Enough said. I just need my (almost daily) doses of iced coffee from Dunkin D or Starbucks and I’m good to go!

9. Multi-tasking: I work well under pressure I guess. There are times when I’m running around like a mad woman at work, but most of the time, I get things done faster that way. When I have nothing to do, things I need to get done generally don’t get done until the very end.

10. As good as I am with Number 8, I am even better at doing the exact opposite- SLEEPING! That is self explanatory me dears!

Time?

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It is so funny that I have had a journal for five years, but only started getting “press” recently. Maybe it’s because I joined several blogging communities, but I have been getting a lot of feedback as of late. Some of my friends have asked where the heck I get a chance to do much of the things I do- most especially this little journal of mine. I think the answer is really all about time management, which I must say I am very good at! It is one of my greatest positive assets in life. As an example, I planned my wedding in about a year- with no help from anyone due to my perfectionism and wanting things done my way. I worked two jobs at the time and did various other activities. I look back at it now and wonder how I did it all. I’m sure when I read this in the future, I will also look back and wonder how I’m doing this despite the fact that I have a two-year old and a newborn baby.

I hope you all don’t assume that I neglect my children or that I leave the work for my mother- because it is simply far from that. My kids always come first in everything I do. I shower them in the early afternoon. They take naps. Admittedly so, my eldest daughter also sleeps later than most kids. I wash their bottles. Dexter and I take turns doing different tasks on different days. We go out fairly frequently to entertain the kids or to run errands. I pay bills. I sent Christmas cards this year. I do lots of work related projects. I read magazines. I plan their parties. I help other people plan their parties. I clean up the house. I read to Jasmyne. I play with Jasmyne. I play with Janelle. I change their diapers. I have recently started doing laundry. I don’t cook or wash dishes, but I do a lot of things!

I do many things with my time, but the main priority is always about my kids and making sure I get to spend enough time with them. I make sure my priority is also doing the “chores” that need to be done on their behalf. I mostly have the chance to go on the computer when they are napping or late at night when they are sleeping or have winded down. Right now, as we speak, I am on duty as night shift in Janelle’s room. If you’ve been keeping up with me, you’ll know that it is impossible for me to get any type of sleep here. But the bottom line is, I get to do my extra curricular activities when I have extra time. Maybe that time should be spent sleeping on my part, but I think it’s also important for me to use it as an escape. I truly enjoy writing. I enjoy taking pictures. I enjoy taking pictures of my kids in hopes of making an album in the future. This has been my hobby all my life. I don’t mind sharing my thoughts to whoever reads this, but MOST of all, I am doing this for myself!

I still can’t believe I have over 1100 hits as of this time, but apparently there are some people in this planet who find me interesting. Thank you for your feedback and your time! I hope I have kept you entertained as much as I have kept myself sane in venting on this little space of mine. Just know that if you are reading anything I have written, it was done because I have finished doing all my tasks. I have chosen to do it instead of watching TV or sleeping for my own sake. I am doing something I truly enjoy. I am doing something to help me to remember days past for my future.

… and that’s the bottom line!


It’s over!

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It has been a sweet and relaxing three days off. Dex and I had to do some schedule changes for the next two months, so this was a three day weekend we had to savor. It has been a bit much for my momma to be alone with the two kids alone, so the hubby and I had to take a back seat. We won’t have a day off together until January 30th. Boooooo! When we did our schedule, we figured if we worked together three days a wekk, my mom could at least have four days off that week. Too bad it didn’t work out.

The snow and cold weather was actually a blessing in disguise. We got to chill at home and just relax. We had a wonderful time with Jasmyne- in bed. We weren’t sleeping or anything, but we were doing things you wouldn’t think. That includes wrestling and tickle fights and human ladder and much more. We had so much fun giggling in bed with our “older” little baby. Janelle is still in her napping, eating and wake times of 1.5 hours at a time phase, so we are taking full advantage of that for now. We can’t wait until she is able to be more awake without being crabby. Then the two sisters can really play and get to know each other.

Anyway, we’re both back to work tomorrow! Boooo for Mondays.

Number 98

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98. Have a one-to-one with my mom and thank her for everything.

So I finally have a task in green, meaning I have accomplished it on my 101 things to do. I have a wonderful relationship with my mom, but sometimes, serious one-to-one’s are hard to come by even though they should come more often. It is one of those things that I hope is understood, but it made me feel better that she knows how thankful I truly am. Taking care of two kids is hard work. Even though we only leave her alone with them to work on the same days once or twice a week, that is still a hefty job! I’ve got plenty of bitchy days, but thank goodness I have a wonderful family to put up with it.

Speaking of having two kids- if you all don’t already know, you will never have time for yourself. I have been trying to get my hair done for the last month and a  half. It keeps failing on me. I have cancelled three appointments already. I was gonna go and venture out today, but the freaking snow is hindering me. One of my other 101 things to do is to Drive THE Truck with confidence. I wasn’t about to test that theory out in the snowy weather. If we didn’t have to go to a party later, maybe- just maybe, I could have finally accomplished that task. Oh well. maybe next time.

Happy 2nd birthday David!

Very Smart…

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I received this email a little while back and have been meaning to post it up on my website. It was written by comedian George Carlin after the death of his wife. It is very well written. It is simple, yet very deep and meaningful. Enjoy this great little piece!

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways ,but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent. Remember, to say, ‘I love you’ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.


Let’s Begin!

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So today is the beginning of Our diet. (Our=Dex and Janice) We got the idea from my brother and we both hope it will work. Whoever loses the most weight by the end of March WINS! The winner actually does not win anything. The one who LOSES the battle cannot buy anything for two whole months. For Dex and I, that is major. There is almost never a day when we don’t spend anything on something. It’ll be interesting to see how this works out. Dex and I are already cringing at the thought of not being able to buy anything for two months, should we be the one who loses less weight. We both had our weigh in this morning when we woke up.  Talk about motivation. It’s also a great way for us to save some money from our useless spending sprees. I’ll keep you posted!