Hiatus

I can't figure out how to embed pics anywhere but at the beginning so the post will be somewhat disjointed. I know, what else is new? Shut up.

Here is the new back of our house partially completed. I love the new roof-line and can't wait to see the finished product!

Here is the before pic with justthe new slab poured:

Well, I admitted in the beginning that I was worried about the pressures of keeping up with this thing! It's amazing how quickly a week can go by while you put things off for "just one more day."

Let's see........I guess the biggest news is that we attended the Heart Walk for my nephew last weekend. It was a 3K walk and since I barely made it to the park from the parking lot I sat it out. I figured it would be my luck to send myself into preterm labor. I felt so useless sitting there like a big lump while everyone else did their thang. But it was a lovely day and we had a good time and the best news is that my sister met and surpassed her fundraising goal! Yay!

This morning on the way to The Nut's school, Frito let loose with a 45-second long speech that was nothing but babbling and "her" special language. When she was done I said, "Oh, really?" The Nut said, "Do you know what she said?" When I told her that I didn't she said, "She said you're hideous."

It's a good thing I was at a red light because I could not stop laughing. I called my mom immediately and she was appalled and I said, "Oh, she doesn't know what it means. The Nut, do you know what "hideous" means?" She said, "It means disgusting."

Oops! I guess she DOES know! I don't think she was mad at me so I can only guess that somewhere in Frito's speech was something that sounded like "hideous."

She's been having issues with counting money at school. She sometimes mixes up which coins are which and such. She was saying something about a hundred dollar bill and she turned her head to the left and said, "You know, the one with the girl who looks this way."

I was able to go grocery shopping all by my lonesome today because my mom came and sat with Frito. It's just getting VERY hard to even exert that much energy without dealing with hauling a 22-month old around so it was a big help. I thought I'd speed right through since there wouldn't be any distractions but just the opposite happened. I took 2.5 hours because I was ABLE to take my time. Such an odd experience.

With the birth just about a month away I'm getting anxious. I'm very curious to see how this one will go. The Nut's birth was almost 18 hours and a marathon. Frito's was less than 3 and a freight train. I don't know if I want something in the middle for this one or if I should wish for another short one to get it over with. I figure if I survived being steamrolled for Frito's birth I can do it again, right? Right?

I need to find a kiddie pool that will work as a birth pool because our bathtub here barely fits the kids and I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on a real birth pool. And TGTBT has been in there with me for the other 2 births so it has to be big enough for him to fit comfortably too. That's funny that I'm thinking of his comfort, lol. During The Nut's birth I was leaning back on him while pushing and at one point his leg got twisted underneath him and all of his weight AND my weight was on one of his ankles. I had no clue until I watched the video. His face contorted and he opened his mouth in a silent scream and you could see the midwives laughing and my mom actually had to step out of the room. When I watched the video and noticed that I told him, "You're a very smart man. If you had so much as whispered 'ouch' I'd have ripped something off of you."

I'm hungry. Again. I'll try not to let so much time pass by between posts anymore.

Yeah.........I Feel Bad

So, being 33 weeks pregnant is no walk in the park itself but having sinus issues when you're 33 weeks pregnant is like being dragged around the park behind one of those horse-drawn carriages and hitting every steaming pile of horse poo on the way. Here's where I need to give credit where credit is due and say that TGTBT fixed me an amaretto sour and gave me a back rub to help me sleep Saturday night while not saying a word that our tentative plans for lovin' were definitely NOT going to happen.

Speaking of, earlier that day before I felt so bad, he asked if we were going to have a special night that night. I told him that if I got a backrub I might give him "a little sumpin' sumpin'." The Nut pipes up and says, "If I give you a backrub can I have a little sumpin' sumpin'?" TGTBT fell over laughing. I asked her what she wanted and she said a dollar. So she rubbed my shoulders and the rest of the weekend kept asking if she could get a little sumpin' sumpin' for doing chores and stuff. We're choosing to ignore it and hoping that particular phrase leaves her vocabulary shortly.

She also came home Friday with a backpack full of candy and Valentines and kept going on and on about the Fun Dip she got from Justin. The whole afternoon it was Justin this and Fun Dip that. At supper she told TGTBT, "Daddy, don't tell him, because you don't know what he looks like, but I love Justin." So that explains it. She seems to have moved on from the boy she kissed behind the tires on the playground at the beginning of the school year. I met that kid and I can say I'm glad.

I don't know if we've established the differences in my and TGTBT's parenting skills yet. If not, let's just say that he's a much better mother than I am and would probably breastfeed if he had the proper equipment. Our roles are sort of reversed. I'm the one who throws the pillows on the floor and lets them jump on the couch while he pitches a fit about potential broken bones and how they'll surely go to someone else's house and think it's ok to jump on their furniture. For the record, no broken bones yet and while I have seen them jump on someone else's furniture it's because they were following the lead of that person's kid(s).

So, Frito has been climbing onto the chair and then onto the kitchen table. I get her off the table but don't mind her in the chair. Sometime she just stands on the chair to reach a pencil or something off the table and gets back down. Saturday she was in the chair reaching for something and TGTBT yelled, "Frito! Get down!" She turned to look at him and came tumbling down and hit the floor HARD. He runs and gets her and is rocking and kissing her and I'm berating him the whole time. "That was YOUR fault, you know. You distracted her. She would have been fine if you wouldn't have made her turn and look at you. She gets up there all the time and hasn't fallen yet but you get involved and look what happens." And so on and so forth. It was all in good fun and I still got my backrub that night so it's all good.

The local newspaper ran the story of my nephew and my sister's fundraising today. The article turned out much better than we anticipated as the reporter was very rushed and didn't really do an actual interview. So hopefully it will raise awareness of CHDs and possibly some money so the goal for his team is met.

The contractor is coming tomorrow to start the work (YAY) and I think he'll be moving the staircase first which is so terribly exciting to me. I need to get in there this evening and take pictures to document all the changes. Hopefully they get their work done before this weekend so that we can make the Heart Walk on Saturday. Surely I'll feel better by then and the fresh air will do me good.

Kill Me Now

Does anyone know why they're teaching kids in Kindergarten and first grade to count money? Weren't we all on 2+2=4 back then? Do you know how frustrating it is to get the concept of monetary value across to a child who has spent the last 2 years learning to count individual items? The Nut has been able to count by 5s and 10s in her head forever but CANNOT apply that to money. You throw some coins down and tell her to add them and she's lost. I'm trying not to be angry with her because I really think these kids are too young for this but she's SO smart and it's very hard to watch her struggle and not get something that you feel she should grasp easily.

What's worse is that they seem to be flying through it in school whether or not the kids have a good grasp of it or not. I'm worried that she'll get to second grade and they'll build on it thinking the kids got a good foundation in 1st grade and she'll get left behind. I know from experience because I was out for about 2 weeks in 3rd grade when they covered fractions and I STILL have problems with measurements and stuff. Once you get behind it's nearly impossible to catch up because they have to shove so many subjects into the school year so the kids can pass the tests so the school looks good. Never mind that it's the reason we have college students who can barely spell their own name.

Frito is now firmly into the terrible twos. Never mind that she's not actually two yet. But she WILL be...........right before the baby is born. So that'll be good times. And I think she's really ready to potty train because she seems to hate her diapers but I don't know that it's a good idea to get into it now with the baby coming so soon. Because if she doesn't have it down pat within a few weeks it'll have to get put on hold until the baby is at least a few months old and I think interruptions are worse for them than getting a later start.

The Nut was a DREAM to potty train. As soon as she turned 30 months I took a Thursday and Friday off work, put her in panties, gave her a potty chair and made a chart where she could stick colored foil stars every time she went on the potty. She had NO accidents the first day. She went all over the place Friday and I was so confused as I cleaned up after her all day. That Saturday she had no accidents and that was that. The next weekend I remember taking her to the mall with my sister and niece and then to the park afterwards. We'd been at the park for a while when I realized it had been over 5 hours and we hadn't even thought of the bathroom. She hadn't asked and had no accidents either. It was amazing. She night trained just as quickly too.

So either Frito will be just as easy or it'll be a battle of epic proportions. I don't think the odds are good that I'll get 2 kids in a row that easy. Although I said the same thing when The Nut turned out to be such a great sleeper and although the first 6 months were pretty rocky with Frito she turned into a world class sleeper like her sister.

I managed to make a lot of enemies today on Babycenter. Some idiot came up with the idea of having "secret admirers" in honor of Valentine's Day and if you sign up you get to change your screenname to hide who you are and you're assigned someone else who signed up and you follow them around the various boards leaving "love" notes and sappy messages for them. Ugh. Someone started a thread asking opinions and I should have left it alone but I couldn't help it. My first post stated that I would probably kill myself if I had to go back to middle school and it was beyond me how grown women with kids would find the secret admirer thing appealing past middle school and voluntarily involve themselves in it. I was informed that I must be a miserable person who didn't know how to have fun. I then said that the only sort of person I could imagine who would find that game fun probably had a glittery pink Princess keychain and hit the bars every Friday night so I was fine not being grouped in with them. That went over well.

The local news is going to my sister's house tomorrow to do the story on my nephew and it should run in Saturday's paper so if you're local, be sure and check that out. She's about halfway to raising her goal so yay! We have plans to join the walkathon on the 21st but they're really up in the air with me being so close to term and with the work starting on our house any day now. But it would be nice to combine that with a last hurrah trip before the baby comes so I hope everything works out.

I need some ice cream to put out this heartburn from supper. :oP Yes, I know it'll make it worse but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

Blech

We had strong winds here last night and on the way to The Nut's school this morning I saw a port 'o potty tumped (yes, that's a word----MY word) over in the road. I'm just glad I'm not responsible for the cleanup on that.

My sister has been calling around to area businesses to see if they'll donate for CHD research and awareness and our local paper wants to do a story on my nephew! That's awesome. I think it's going to run this weekend.

Yesterday The Nut asked me what something was and I told her I didn't know. She said, "How do you NOT know that? You're very smart." I said, "Even the smartest people in the world don't know everything." She said, "You're not THAT smart..........well, you're pretty smart." I could tell she was going to leave it at "You're not THAT smart" but realized it wasn't very nice so she amended it. I like it when I see signs of her thinking things like that through and making the right choice.

Frito was a TERROR yesterday. She only napped for an hour (usual nap is around 3 hours) and I tried the rest of the afternoon to get her to go back to sleep and she wasn't having it. So she was cranky and wired at the same time and TORE the house up. She's really gotten into throwing things and likes to see how far she can chunk them. When I got her out of the bath we were walking to her bedroom for a diaper and clothes and she stopped and squatted and peed on the floor. I actually appreciated the squatting because I didn't have to clean up pee all down her legs.

My midwife and I think I'm becoming anemic. I was borderline when I had my bloodwork done back in November but the signs are there now. So I went to get liquid chlorophyll yesterday from the health food store because it does a really good job of boosting your red blood cells. But it tastes like turds. I used it during both previous pregnancies and the bottle I had back in 2002 for The Nut tasted like grass and dirt. When I used it in 2007 for Frito someone had the idea that adding mint flavor would make it more palatable. They were wrong. So I grudgingly went yesterday and was thrilled to find it in pill form! Yay! Still smells awful but I can do a pill no matter how stinky it is.

This is nasty but I'm posting anyway because we got a huge kick out of it. If TGTBT has a flaw, it's what happens in the bathroom when he's in there. He likes to think it's a sign of an efficient digestive system but I wonder who he offended in a past life to be saddled with that curse. He spent some time in there after supper last night and, unfortunately for The Nut, she chose a sticky piece of Airhead candy for dessert and had to wash her hands off before bed. I hollered at her to hold her breath as she headed off to the bathroom. Next thing we knew we heard gagging over the sound of the water running. We were both laughing as quietly as we could but lost it when we heard a garbled, "Oh God........" followed by another gag. I swear I thought I was going to send myself into labor. She came out a minute later all red-faced and watery-eyed and I said, "I told you to hold your breath!" She said, "I tried but it was SO bad! Don't ever do that again, Daddy."

I felt like a horrible parent for laughing because I've been married to the man for over 12 years and I KNOW how bad it is but some things are just funny no matter how much you care for the person affected. Case in point: at my sister's college graduation my oldest sister was dressed in a solid white pantsuit. She also has a bit of a reputation for not being the most graceful person you've ever seen. Someone had dropped their piece of cake on the floor and she stepped on it and BLAM! Hit the floor so hard it shook. Cake was all down the back of her pantsuit. My mom nearly had a heart attack thinking she had permanently injured herself while I was doubled over laughing with tears in my eyes and trying not to wet my pants.

I'm usually a pretty empathetic person but I can't help but laugh when I see things like that. I guess that's MY one flaw. ;o)

And Now My First Serious Post

This week is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. CHDs entered my life about 6 years ago when a good friend's daughter was born a micro-preemie with an assortment of heart defects that made up Tetralogy of Fallot. She had a long road ahead of her and overcame numerous health issues and surgeries. Unfortunately, with CHDs you're never really "cured" and nobody really knows what the future holds for her and how many more trials she'll have to face.

CHDs hit even closer to home for me Dec. 21st 2007. My nephew was born at home on Dec. 6th and he seemed a healthy baby, albeit a very sleepy baby who had trouble nursing and would only sleep in 45 minute stretches round the clock. His first pediatrician appointment at 2 weeks old turned our lives upside down. The doctor heard a heart murmur and was concerned enough to send them directly to the hospital for an ultrasound. That evening, after a specialist reviewed the scans my sister received a phone call urging her to pack for 2 weeks and head straight to Texas Children's Hospital 2 hours away. The preliminary diagnosis was transposition of the great arteries and pulmonary atresia.

Knowing very little about the conditions I hopped online to learn what I could. The TGA seemed fairly easy to deal with, all things considered, but the information I read on PA wasn't comforting at all. My nephew was a sensation at the hospital as it was unheard of for PA babies to make it to 2 weeks without intervention and doctors and nurses kept dropping into the room to look him over. More thorough tests were run and his diagnosis was changed, thankfully, to tricuspid atresia, transposition of the great arteries, pulmonary stenosis, ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect. It sounds silly to say "thankfully" the diagnosis was changed and then post a laundry list of defects but I have my reasons.

So it was decided that he was "balanced," meaning a good ratio of oxygenated to unoxygenated blood was being pumped through his body and he could bypass the first of 3 surgeries that is standard procedure for correcting his particular defects. That surgery is usually done at birth. After a week in the hospital he was able to come home with special equipment to monitor his oxygen levels and his family settled into their new routine of dealing with a special needs baby. Gone were the days of packing up and going shopping or out to eat or even having guests over as he could not afford to get even a little cold. My sister had to quit her job as he could never go into daycare. She also had to begin pumping breastmilk as nursing from the breast was too taxing for him and he would get sweaty and exhausted from the effort.

Before we knew it the time for his first surgery had come. They generally wait as long as possible as the bigger and stronger the babies are the better the odds are of a good outcome. His condition began to deteriorate sooner than we had hoped and a week before he turned 5 months old he had his first open heart surgery. It's called the Hemi-Fontan and re-routes the blood flow from the upper body directly to the lungs which reduces the amount of work the right ventricle has to do. So now blood goes into the lungs to be oxygenated, back into the heart and then pumped to the rest of the body.

The surgery went extremely well and as hard as it was to prepare for this and to see the aftermath I can't imagine how we would have made it through if there had been complications. He spent a week in the hospital afterwards and another week at The Ronald McDonald House nearby. After 2 weeks he was home again and began his new life. Of course, we still had to be cautious and life certainly didn't go back to "normal" but he was a whole new baby. He began to eat better, sleep better, catch up on his milestones that were delayed because he had been simply trying to survive. We were all astounded at how much better his color was and horrified that we didn't notice how bad it was until we saw what he was supposed to look like. His older sister could finally start to really play with him as he began to have longer periods where he was awake.

He is now 14 months old and is the handsomest, happiest, best natured baby. He is still carefully monitored and his body will let us know when his next and, hopefully final, surgery will need to be performed. They like to get to 4 years old, ideally, for this one although if it becomes necessary before then, that's what will have to be. It's called the Fontan and will re-route the blood from his lower body directly to the lungs to further reduce the burden on his heart. From that point on his heart will only be responsible for pumping blood to the body and not to the lungs. I am dreading the surgery because it's surgery, and open heart at that, but I'm also excited in a way to see what this means for him. He changed SO much after being halfway "repaired" that it seems like the sky's the limit for him after he's fully "repaired."

There isn't much data on there about long-term prognosis for babies with his defect(s) as the procedure used to correct the defects is new. New as in only a few decades old. So there aren't many older kids and adults out there who had these defects and this repair to let us know what's in store for him. However, my sister has become acquainted with a wonderful girl named Lauren who is 21, has TA and has never had a transplant. She's still living with her heart that was repaired using the Hemi-Fontan and Fontan and gives my sister a lot of hope that her son will have just as positive an outcome as Lauren has. We're also supremely thankful to live so near to Texas Children's Hospital where there are so many world-renowned specialists who are on the cutting edge of research and technology and innovation. We know he's in the best hands he could be in.

Lauren created this video to raise awareness of CHDs and the impact they have on our lives. My nephew is featured briefly at 1:53 and at 3:22. You can also go here and view my nephew's CarePage. My sister is also raising money for CHD awareness this month and if you would like to donate the information as to how to do that is also in his latest CarePage entry.

Snotty Kisses and Dead Bodies

So, what do you do when your absolutely precious 21-month old climbs in your lap to give you mouth kisses over and over? Usually I'd be bursting with joy and relishing every sweet baby kiss. However, an inch-long line of thick, yellow snot coming out of each of Frito's nostrils, spreading over her lips and covering her chin has a tendency to temper my enthusiasm. I've settled on being upbeat and cheery about it and teasing her with "yuckies" and "ew, grosses" as I smile and turn my head. It works in that it keeps her from actually kissing me but it kind of backfires in that she now thinks it's a game and her goal is to work at it as long as necessary to land one.

She got one on my cheek earlier and she even pointed at the smear and said, "Ewwww." That didn't seem to clue her in though that mayhaps I don't actually WANT her snot on my face because she kept going.

The Nut was just partially released from exile in her room due to atrocious behavior on a school field trip on Thursday. Any new experience sends her into a tailspin and puts her energy (and mouth) on overdrive so I was anticipating troubles. And she didn't disappoint. The outing was to a garden/nature preserve in our area. I'll leave out all the details of her behavior except for one........they took a boat ride and were getting a lecture on all the various flora and fauna and wildlife and the guide asked if the kids could guess what all sorts of things were in the water. One of the kids said 'alligators' and one said 'fish.' Apparently The Nut thought it would be appropriate to mention that there were probably dead bodies down there too.

In case you hadn't noticed, she tends to be very "matter-of-fact" about things and probably had no idea people would find that disturbing. And she's right........there probably ARE bodies down there. We tried to explain why it's best to not say that sort of thing, especially with other kids around, but I have a feeling it went right over her head.

She's like me in that respect. I've never understood not talking about factual things just because they may be unpleasant. I don't find it disturbing. What I find disturbing are the things people make up that are unpleasant. Acknowledging things that are real, no matter how bad they may be, is just part of life. Inventing things that are disgusting, for whatever reason, is the sign of a disturbed mind.

I don't believe she got in trouble for the actual comment, which I'm glad about, but I understand the teacher feeling the need to mention it. We just really need to work on her "filter." Which is going to be nearly impossible for me since I lack one myself.

Should I Glue the Diapers On?

I don't know what Frito's deal is but she cannot stand to have a diaper on anymore. Yesterday I was on the phone with my mom while Frito was napping. The Nut was home from school because she swore she was awake all night and was too tired to go. She also had a stuffy nose and a bit of a cough so it was somewhat justified. Frito woke up and The Nut went to go get her. The Nut came back into my room and announced that Frito was naked.

So I go to see the damage and on the way The Nut says, "Don't touch her hiney.......it's wrinkled." Poor Frito. She inherited TGTBT's muscular thighs and they got wrapped in a layer of my cellulite. When she was younger I used to take her diaper off and show anybody who cared to see how it looked like someone took a meat tenderizer to her backside. You have never seen a more dimpled baby butt in your life and it was absolutely adorable. She's slowly outgrowing it and I'm happy for her sake but it's bittersweet.

At any rate, I walk in and she's standing in her crib, in a pile of pee, buck naked with her baby in one arm. She's just sucking her thumb and looking at me as if there's not a thing wrong with what she's done. I clean her up and remind her, again, that we don't take off our diaper. I'm sure she got the message and it won't happen again.

Later I decide the girls can take a bath together so I get the bath ready, take off Frito's diaper and set her in the tub. I go to fold the diaper up and throw it away and I see poop in there. Great. I stand her up and see poop on her hiney and now there's flotsam and jetsam murking up the bathwater. The Nut is freaking out at this point and Frito again doesn't seem to see what the big deal is. I get her cleaned up, get the tub cleaned up and try again. Success.

That evening Frito disappears into The Nut's room while we're in the living room watching tv. I heard her playing and the door was open so I let her be. After a while we notice it's quiet. I call to her a few times and listen carefully. She's still quiet so I'm just about to haul myself up off the couch and go check when I see her naked butt come sliding off the bed. DANG IT! I check carefully and there's no pee anywhere, thank goodness. I've even started to make sure she's clothed thinking that will be a deterrant but no dice so far. She even managed to take off a long-sleeved footed sleeper that zips all the way up the front AND has a snap over that. I'm thinking industrial strength adhesive might do the trick so I'll have to check on that next time I'm at Home Depot.

My belly gets really hot lately (my guess is all the cellular activity it contains at the moment) so I tied my t-shirt up between my boobs yesterday and went about my business. At one point The Nut and Frito were on the couch and I walked past and sat down beside them. The Nut said, "Mom, I don't want to tell you this in front of Frito so let me whisper in your ear." I said that wasn't necessary and she could just tell me. She looks at Frito and shrugs and says, "Okaaaaay. You have a big fat belly." Like that's some big top-secret piece of information. That didn't bother me because I have a baby in there. I'll survive.

However, as I was getting out of the bath she smacked my butt and said, "I like doing that because I like to watch your hiney wiggle." That one stung. The smack AND the honesty.

The Nut Tries to Teach a Lesson

Lately it's been a constant battle with Frito to keep her from jumping on the couch. I mean C.O.N.S.T.A.N.T. So I was preparing supper and she was going at it and The Nut kept getting onto her and pulling her down and Frito would squeal and cry and, since I like quiet, I told The Nut to leave her alone.

"Just let her fall. Maybe she'll learn her lesson."

The Nut got up and grabbed the coffee table and said, "Do you want me to move the table?"

I was chopping potatoes and thinking to myself, "That's a very mature and empathetic thing to think of. I'm so proud."

I told her that it would be nice if she would.

She said, "So she'll learn her lesson even better."

..........

I guess my pride will have to be because she thinks outside the box.

This is a Neat Test to Take

http://www.chemistry.com/whyhimwhyher/index.aspx


And here are my results. Pretty accurate, in my opinion.
http://www.chemistry.com/whyhimwhyher/LoveMapResults.aspx

Let's Try This Again

It certainly won't be a repeat of the one that Frito erased but..........

This morning TGTBT asked, "Do you know what a llama looks like?"

"Um.....yeah."

"Do you know what an elk looks like?"

"Yes........."

"Would you ever mistake a llama for an elk?"

Anyway, apparently some hunter shot a "feral" llama thinking it was an elk. I said, "There are feral llamas in the US?"

TGTBT said, "Well, yeah. They belong to someone but escape and become feral."

I said, "In that case, the cow that was in Joe's yard was feral, huh?"

He rolled his eyes and I realized that we had never told The Nut about it. So I said, "The Nut, did you know there was a cow wandering around here the other day?"

She nodded and then said, "Wait......in our yard?"

"No, in Joe's backyard."

"Oh yeah. I knew because I saw the cow poop."

She said it very matter-of-factly and went about her business like it was an everyday occurrence to see cow poop in the yard.

Speaking of poop.....I got a double dose of it yesterday. Frito woke up and I smelled it as soon as I walked in her room. I barely stuck my finger in the back of her diaper to pull it out and check and it was so far up the back it went all under my fingernail. Went and scrubbed my hands and went back and got her out of the crib and began changing her. She likes to flail all about now and try to grab whatever's there so I then got it all over the back of my hand. I was thoroughly grossed out by this point AND had been in the middle of making breakfast----sausage/egg biscuits that need to be eaten by HAND. I barely made it through, let me tell you.

We also found out yesterday that The Nut has been going into the neighbor's house uninvited and has walked in on them in their underwear AFTER they'd already gotten onto her once about knocking and such. What's ironic is that before we found that out I had JUST been thinking how nice it was that she was getting older and didn't have to be supervised 24/7 and how I bet she was enjoying her newfound freedom as much as we were. So much for that. New rule is that she's not allowed to go see if the boys can play anymore until she proves to us that she's showing maturity and responsibility in other ways. They have to come get her. I hope she learns her lesson. I was highly embarrassed about the whole thing.

Friday on the way to school "Love Story" by Taylor Swift was on the radio and The Nut asked, "Is Juliet a place or a thing?"

So I gave her a watered down version of Romeo and Juliet-----minus the double suicide at the end. She then wanted to hear, AGAIN, all about how TGTBT and I met and fell in love. She asked how old we were and I told her that I was almost 17 and TGTBT was almost 21. She got very quiet. Then, "I'm going to cry."

"Why are you going to cry?"

"Because Daddy's so much OLDER than you and he's going to DIE first!"

He got a kick out of that.

And lastly, Frito has a new consistent word. I went to get her up and she was staring at my pajama pants and I thought it was odd. Then she said, "Bum ba." I looked down and realized I had Spongebob all over my pants. She's said it all day long. So cute.