Lunch & A Movie?

Heather had this great idea, (and if you know Heather she will likely comment that ALL her ideas are great), but this one is a real zinger!

She thought what a great way to spend our time during our lunch breaks but to watch a movie in our cars while we eat the lunch that we brought. Of course we are in the same car so that we can enjoy the movie together (I felt I needed to mention that since my first sentence seemed to imply otherwise. Frankly, I am too lazy to hit the delete button and think of a new first sentence, so instead I decided to continue to babble rather than hit the backspace button and use my brain). This way we can save money, hopefully lose weight as we will choose more healthy alternatives to fast food, and TRULY enjoy some time away from the office.

Me with my healthy standby sandwich (100% whole wheat 45 calorie bread with mustard (0 calories), spinach and 98% fat free turkey).
Heather with her healthy meal - a smart ones pizza


Since it was Heather's idea she had first choice at the movie. We are currently watching Serendipity (which is a romantic comedy so I am a total sucker for it. I love it!). Since we do not have time to finish the movie in one sitting, we will be watching it over multiple days. Next week is my movie pick...I have no idea what to pick right now, so suggestions would be great.

Us being cheesy. I know. I look like crap. I got up late and didn't want to do my hair or make-up. Seriously I should be a better example to the team.

Today was our first day doing lunch and a movie and I really did feel relaxed during my break which is rare and wonderful. Kudos to Heather for a creative and great idea!! Three cheers for Heather...hip hip HORRAY!!! *now repeat two more times* :)

I FINALLY Got A Break :(

Lesson learned. Be careful what you wish for, you just MAY get it. I have been hoping for a break in the bad luck. I have been asking for a break, and that is exactly what I got - just in the form of a toe. :(

Yep, that is right. I think I broke my toe. This is the part of the story where I should insert this amazingly cool story about how I was traversing up a mountain top to rescue someone from a dire situation, but frankly JD (friend from work) has been slacking in the imaginative, fake story department. Honestly, the story goes...I was watching TV and doing laundry. I went to go put the laundry away and ran straight into the coffee table. :( OUCHIE!!!! ***I would post a picture, but frankly, I don't like feet, so that's not gonna happen.*** I know. I am a Klutz. I have always admitted it.

Now my toe is black and blue and nicely taped to the one next to it. :( I am doing this new P90X exercise program with Dave, so it has become troublesome as it happened about 2 hours before my first day of the program. Sigh...again....lesson learned. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

Melissa and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad DayS

Yes, just like the children's story, I have been a little down on my luck a few days last week. I mean, I know that I am a naturally unlucky person, but this was getting a little ridiculous.

It started last Thursday in which I came into work still struggling with my "variable state of wellness" and with absolutely NO VOICE to speak of (hehe...little joke there...get it...no voice..yeah, well I never confessed to be funny). I had my day planned out. I was going to sit in a training, meet with a few of my reps, and have an otherwise very productive day.

That was my first mistake. Instead some very interesting things happened at work, that frankly I cannot speak of as people from my company actually read or potentially may read this entry. Let's just say, it was quite the hectic event in which I had to rely on Michael Chapman to interpret much of the goings on to a number of different people of a law enforcement variety.

Right after I had finished dealing with the work issue, I started receiving frantic calls from Dave. I answer the phone and he tells me that someone broke into the Fire Department vehicle and stole all of their stuff. Including their keys, wallet, EVERYTHING. The thieves had dropped his phone and he found it or they wouldn't have been able to call anyone. I then had to start calling credit card companies, signed up for life lock (he carried his social security card with him...yeah...I know), and started the work to try and replace everything. This proved to be very interesting as I didn't have a voice. I needed to go pick up Dave (remember they were training in the Kern River), but they found a hide-a-key for the FD truck, so they were able to make it back to the station at least. We then had to get the house re-keyed, etc...

That was Thursday. Then we had Friday. I thought...well, that was yesterday, the past is the past. Friday will be a good day. Yeah, not so much. I still had the work issue thing that I was dealing with, but now I was further behind in my workload as it took me out most of the day, and forced me to leave work earlier on Friday (for security reasons). Anyway, I get home and try to relax a little with the kids and Dave. Caiden goes upstairs to get ready for bed as I feed Kiya.

To make a long story short, our upstairs bathroom gets flooded, and starts raining down water into our ceiling. How? Caiden went to the bathroom, the toilet clogged, he tried to plunge it himself, called for me but I was feeding Kiya. I asked Dave to go upstairs and check, he called to Caiden to brush his teeth. Caiden panicked and started flushing the toilet over and over again to fix the clog.

The water leaked down through the light that is hanging. The buckets were catching the water.

We all ran upstairs to mop up the floor, and I put Kiya in her crib, so I could help. She rolls...boy does that little girl roll, and she rolled herself and inserted her chubby little leg into the crib slates and lodged her leg there - repeatedly. This, while Dave is yelling for more towels. Sigh...I just wanted to watch a TV show and go to bed...I really didn't feel well. My variable state of wellness turned into outright illness. Anyway...the last few days were not so good, but to be honest it was my fault. Someone from work who knew the whole situation said, "Well, Mel, I hope your day gets better". This is where I made the critical error. I said "Well, it has to, right? It can't get any worse". Famous last words...sigh...can it get worse now?

A "Variable State of Wellness"

I believe that a lot of things can be overcome by the whole mind over matter philosophy. I guess that is why I took an unmedicated approach to both my life and the births of my children, so why should sickness be any different.

I have been struggling with a cold for the last few weeks. There, I said it...I was fighting it, and last week it fought back. It took my voice, zapped my energy, but I still trudged on forcing myself to believe that I was NOT sick. When people would tell me that I sounded or looked terrible, I would just state that "I am currently in a variable state of wellness".

My logic - if I give in and think I am sick, then I will be and frankly I don't have time to be sick. There has been so much to do. So all last week I kept on trucking through the responsibilities at my job as well as my personal life. It was a TOUGH week, of which I was voice-less for many of the days. As a side note, I never knew how winded someone can get when you are trying to force your voice out...it was SO frustrating. For those of you who know me, I have a lot to say - I am NOT a quiet person. Unfortunately, there was a lot going on that I had comments too, but no one could hear me. :(

Anyway, this weekend I decided that I am giving in...if not just a little. I am exhausted, and now Kiya is sick (fever, cough, runny nose...poor her). I can pretend all I want that I am not sick, but when it comes to my adorable little monkey of a daughter I can no longer keep up the charade. I broke down, got her some infant drops to keep her fever down and am nursing on demand...I mean, hey if breast milk can cure and eye infection, let's put some of this magic milk to work on my infant daughter's cough and cold. We stayed home today, partly to get rest, and partly because childcare won't take a child with a fever. Hopefully we all start feeling a little healthier soon. After all, I want to meet Baby Hester (see link to Pam's blog) if he EVER decides to make an appearance. :)

Caiden's New Goggles

Caiden LOVES his new goggles. He was given them by a family at the pool who had a bunch of them. He doesn't want to take them off. He even wears them around the house sometimes. So funny. :)

Dancing Away Your Stress

For those of you who are my loyal Blog fans, you may have noticed that this entry is a bit of a repeat to an earlier entry. We started dancing our way to a stress free work life about a year or so ago based on the teachings of the Fish Philosophy.

I felt impelled to repost as we have a new group of people who are GREAT dancers and have so much enthusiasm. I mean, they actually inspired ME to get out there and dance. **So no comments about my lack of rhythm or dancing abilities or I will NEVER post anything dance related again. Plus Ronnie JUST taught me the "Hustle" like 2 seconds before we shot this video, which is why I keep looking at people's feet...I am trying to make sure I am doing it right**

I have posted a video for your viewing pleasure. The first part of it is me trying to coerce Michael Chapman into dancing...you may hear Ronnie say "Even Melissa was doing it". Is that like, "everyone's doing it?" *hehe*


We all had a lot of fun...I think I am finding my inner peace now...well, maybe not, but at least I had a good laugh! :)

Swift Water Rescue Caiden!!

Come rain, come sleet, come snow...if you fall in water, Caiden is your man!

Well, not really, but he wants to be. Dave is still doing the USAR training (Urban Search and Rescue training) with his job, and one of his courses is to learn swift water rescue techniques. They practice their swift water rescue at the Kern River. The Kern River can get pretty dangerous, so it is a pretty good place to learn the ropes of swift water rescue. I have posted a link below if you are interested in seeing what the Kern River is all about.

http://www.kernrafting.com/

Caiden loves to try on daddy's gear, so Dave thought it would be cute to let him try on his vest and swift water gear. I think it's cute that he wants to be just like his daddy.

Happy Birthday Gigi!

Mother's Day and my mom's birthday sometimes fall on the same day, and this was one of those years, so we had my mom and Phil, Dave, Steph and the twins over for Mother's Day/Happy Birthday Gigi day.
Kiya with Gigi
Kiya playing with Daddy...she loves to wiggle her feet

Caiden and I were up making a special birthday cake for Gigi. Of course, we forgot that Gigi likes Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, so we picked up Rainbow cake and White Frosting. Hey, it was easier to see the decorations, right? :) Caiden was so excited to help. He told me exactly what to write (yes I wrote it...I know, I don't exactly have nice handwriting. Again, I am not Heather Wilson). He then went to town on the rest of the decorations. He got so carried away that you almost can't see the writing that I painstakingly, but messily scrawled on the top of the cake.
Caiden decorating the birthday cake
The fiery cake presentation *hehe*

It was nice to have everyone come out here, and it was cool to see how much the twins have changed since their first birthday only a month ago. Since them, Kyle has started crawling and pulling himself up, while Lindsay is working on her scooting and crawling skills, although she is the talkative one.
My sleeping angel
Gigi bought Lindsay some new shoes...strike a pose Lindsay :P
Me...yeah. I know I look tired.
Grandpa Phil and Lindsay
No this picture is NOT upside down. Lindsay was sitting on the step down from me and kept STARRING at me, so I thought I would take a picture...it lasts longer right :P
Kyle is not opposed to playing with pink things

Steph and her kids
Kyle - always smiling


We ate good food, had good conversation and then moved upstairs to the playroom to play with the kids and teach mom about her new Ipod (her birthday gift from Steph and I).
Even Dave and Stephanie got in the playing mood
Kyle's take on a "hole in one"
Lindsay being cute

Lindsay and Kyle got their mommy flowers, courtesy of Gigi!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

This is my first Mother's day as a mother of two kids. Each of my kids made me something cute in school. Yes...even Kiya. They took her picture and put it in a cute little frame with a card and a saying.

Caiden made me a flower pot with hands. The hands are like helping hands. Each hand represents something.
This is the helping hands flower pot and paper teapot that Caiden made in school

He also gave me a paper that is a fill-in-the-blanks card, and he decorated a paper teapot for me too. The comments are funny. Caiden's comments are after the "..."The card says things like:

My mom is special because....she loves me
I like it when my Mom...tells me to clean up my playroom (seriously this is what it says) :P
My Mom can do many things. I think she is best at...coloring
My Mom is smart. She even knows...how to write things.
I'd like to tell my Mom...I love you!

Then Dave helped Caiden make a card for me too. How cute!
This is the inside of the above card. Caiden even wrote Happy himself and of course his name.

My mom brought me a card with flowers from Caiden and Kiya. They are so pretty. I think I may try to plant them. I figured, they are going to die anyway, so I might as well try and keep them alive. :)
These are the flowers I intend to plant and the cute card that Gigi made

This is Caiden giving the flowers and card to me.

I Know Martha Stewart, But I'm No Martha Stewart

Well, not really. I mean, honestly I don't KNOW Martha Stewart, but I know the next best thing...Heather Wilson!!! Heather is actually BETTER than Martha Stewart. She is funny, quirky, a good hostess and baker and doesn't have a prison record - all qualifications that I look for in a friend. :p

How did this post come about? Why the blogging about Heather? Besides the fact that she would say she's "cool" and deserves a blog posting? Well, it is teacher's appreciation week, and I am trying to do something creative for Caiden's teacher. So, instead of thinking "What would Martha Stewart do?" I think to myself "What would Heather Wilson do" - and Heather would make cupcakes...so off to the store we went.

Caiden wanted sprinkles and stuff, so I had to comply of course. We picked a rainbow sprinkle cake, so the kids would like it when they bite into it. You know, it being colorful and all. Anyway, we ended up making Ice Cream Cupcakes. There is actually no ice cream in the cupcakes, but they are made to look like ice cream...duh.

Caiden pouring the water into the cupcake mix
Such a good helper, putting out the paper cupcake holders
Ice cream cupcakes baking in the oven...this is when they were still straight

Well, I have learned a few things. I may know my version of Martha Stewart (Heather), but I am NO Martha Stewart. My ice cream cupcakes came out all crooked, and transporting them is going to be a pain in the butt. My only blessing is that they are for teacher's appreciation week at Caiden's school. What are they going to say? Go home and try again...they don't know me yet. They can't say that...I'm no Stepford wife...I mean, Heather Wilson. :P

drum roll please...

Heather's cupcakes would have been perfect! I think I will hire her next time I am tempted to be creative. :P

Patriotic and Adorable

My son is so cute, and now I can add both patriotic and adorable to the list. :)

He is really happy at his new school and learning so much. In fact, after his bath tonight I caught him singing "God Bless America". He was singing it with so much gusto I had to grab the camera. Of course he was then not as into it as he was when I was sans camera, but you get the picture.



I especially like the part where he is supposed to sing:

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam

Instead I think he says something about the fairies. :P

For those of you who don't know the song, I have included the lyrics below:
God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.

Breast Milk Is Best...

Or so everyone says. Of course I happen to believe it, as I am a happily nursing mom. But, wait...there is more.

**Warning possibly uncomfortable information ahead. Stop and go back to start if you are grossed out by nursing talk**

Despite all that you have heard about the health benefits of breast milk for both the moms and the babies, there is actually more to the story than meets the eye *hehe...you will see how clever this comment was as you continue to read**. I mean I have always heard how it boosts the baby's immune system, helps decrease certain kinds of cancers, burns extra calories for the nursing mom, is sensitive for the baby's digestive system. Blah Blah Blah, but I recently read an article in a Parenting magazine about the healing properties of breast milk. Yep, you heard me right. The HEALING properties. They said stuff like, it will help clear up ear infections, eye infections and I think I read something about stuffy noses.

Like those of you who are more adventurous and are still reading this blog posting, I was actually taken aback by the advantages of this golden milk too. I remember thinking how interesting it was, but then I also remember thinking how I would NEVER try it. I thought it was a little to "out there" and "hippie-ish" for me. Yes I know. This coming from the girl who refused pain meds and opted for a natural drug free childbirth experience.

Anyway, fast forward to about a week later and Caiden scratched his eye playing. He was up all night, crying as it hurt really bad. I tried the typical things to remedy it, and was so at my wit's end, as my child was in pain, that I ran to the refrigerator, and grabbed some breast milk and squirted it in his eye. Magically, he stopped crying (no lie) and said he felt better. Of course I had to repeat this multiple times, but by the morning he was healed. I swore that I wasn't really going to tell anyone. It would be my little secret. I mean, what would people say? Honestly?

Then it happened again, only with Kiya. She got some kind of wicked eye infection, where her eye was all crusty and gooey. It was just gross. It was last Friday and the doctor's office was closed and would be for the weekend. Again, desperation got the best of me and so I decided..."aww..what the heck, it worked before". I tried the breast milk tactic again and Viola! Her eye has cleared up and she is all smiles again. This stuff is GREAT, and what an affordable option to prescription meds!!!!

I am loving my newfound knowledge and felt I needed to share in case there were other mothers out there who might want to give this a try. Now, I'm not going to go all nutty like that chick on America's Next Top Model and drink her own expressed milk, but I may just save some for medicinal purposes. Hehe :P

Swim Time At Pam and Jake's

Dave, Caiden, Kiya and I thought we would go visit Auntie Pam and Uncle Jake. Pretty soon baby Hester will make his appearance, so we thought we would go visit and see how the parents-to-be were holding up.

Uncle Jake had to work, so Auntie Pam, Dave and I took the kids to the pool for a quick swim. It was COLD, and I do mean cold, but Caiden was dead set on going in the water. He was really excited to use the kick board that I bought him, and the new swim vest. He even practiced using the kick board in the morning before we left the house. He kept standing on it like it was a surf board, and I kept trying to explain that it will help him learn how to kick his legs when he swims. He figured it out soon enough when we got in the water.

Caiden with his kick board

Dave was forced to go in the water, while I shivered on the side in a sweatshirt. Caiden did VERY well. I have some cute videos, but I told Pam that I would not post them since she didn't want the world to see her 9 months preggers in a swim suit. Frankly, I think she looks cute, but I am respecting her wishes. :) Below is a very brief video of Kiya's first time in the pool...it is very quick, but it was the only video I had that didn't have pregnant Pam in it. :)
*UPDATE Pam gave me the go ahead to post another video...Thank you Pam*

We even put Kiya in her swimsuit. She has a little bikini, some newborn sunglasses (which are frankly too big for her), and a sun hat (also too big for her). The bikini however fit, and it was 6-9 months. I have a little chunky monkey on my hands. So cute.

Kiya in her new ensemble
Dave taking a moment to relish in the sun with his baby girl

Kiya practicing her too-cool-for-school pose. Notice the drool :P

Kiya, sitting on the side of the pool with Pam

After we went swimming, we went back to Pam's house and hung out until Jake came home. Pam, Jake, the kids and I then piled into my car and we ran some errands (babysrus and petco). We then went back to their house and picked up sleeping Dave (clearly it was exhausting being around people as cool as us) and we all went out to a yummy dinner at Red Robin.

Cade practicing his back-up career ...barber
Pregnant Pam, Uncle Jake, Kiya and Caiden
Kiya helping Uncle Jake on his computer with her monkey toes
Caiden chillin' with an apple
Uncle Jake entertaining the kids. Caiden tried to compete a little for his attention

By the time we got home, Caiden was WORN OUT. I carried him inside, but he woke up. He went upstairs to put on his PJ's while I fed Kiya. Dave took the following picture when he went up to check on him. Caiden had taken his PJ's out (they are under him), took off his socks and shoes and then that's as far as he made it before he fell asleep on the chair in his room. So cute.

Thank you Pam and Jake for the dinner and for the great time! Now if we can just convince Baby Hester to come out and play :P

A Day Out With Gigi

Kiya, Caiden and I stopped over to Gigi's house to spend some quality time. We decided to go to Ruby's, one of my favorite 50's style diners. Caiden, Gigi and I had so much fun, and Kiya seemed to quite enjoy herself as well.

Gigi and Kiya

Afterwards, we did a little shopping to burn off that yummy food...yea...that's why we went shopping...to burn calories. Yep. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :P