Mother of three, for three days only.

We finally planned a trip to Columbus that involved bringing additional children with us home to Wheeling. We went up on Tuesday and brought Andrew and Allie back home with us for three nights.



They were jam-packed days, and not everything went according to plan, but we still had an awesome time.

Early morning piano shenanigans.

Three hot kids on a chair.

Approximately 10 minutes after arriving back in Wheeling, our power goes out as I am making grilled cheese sandwiches for all the kids. I think it's important to note that it was exactly 96 degrees that day. The kids were uncomfortable. We went and rented a movie, and by the time we came home, the power was back on and we enjoyed a dinner of chicken enchiladas.

What I did not realize, was that something happened to the refrigerator during the power outage. The light was still on, the freezer was still cold, but by Thursday morning, the fridge was getting less cold than it should have been. I was thinking it may have had something to do with the excessive heat.

So, Thursday we packed up Andrew and Allie (Grandma stayed with Owen at our house) and went to Sandcastle. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures while at Sandcastle, because my phone was stored in a locker while we ran around the waterpark.

We first hit up the wave pool (always a favorite). The kids weren't sure what to expect, but once the waves started churning, and the kids started getting bounced around, we knew they were having an awesome time. Then Clint and I both got a double innertube to go down the Blue Tubalooba with each of the kids, the most awesome water slide in the history of water slides. After going down it once the kids immediate screamed, "Let's do that again!!!!!" The lazy river was not quite as big a hit, so we went back to the wave pool before lunch.

After lunch, Allie and I went to the kids' pool, which even as an adult, was awesome. I can't wait until Owen gets a little bigger so he can enjoy that. After the little pool, we tried to see if Allie could go down some slides in a single tube. Thankfully she was tall enough, so we each went down two more slides side by side. She was having a blast. Meanwhile, Andrew and Clint were going down the terrifying really tall slides. We met back up to go in the wave pool one more time before heading home.

We left Sandcastle at 5:30, and didn't reach the Fort Pitt Tunnel until 6:45... It's approximately 10 miles, maybe less. There was so much traffic. It was disastrous. The kids were exhausted and both took a nap in the car, but woke up before we even left Pittsburgh.

Below is Allie passed out in the car on the way home from Sandcastle.

When we got home, my mom says, "Kara, I don't think your fridge is keeping things cold..." The refrigerator that I bought 2.5 years ago when we first moved into our apartment is now ruined. Friday morning brought stress and refrigerator estimates. One company told me it would cost between $200-400 to fix it. Another company was going to charge me $80 just to come look at it, and they couldn't come look at it until the 20th (I called on the 9th)...

New refrigerator it is! I got a pretty sweet deal on a Whirpool brand (bottom freezer) refrigerator that was half off!!!! It was a good day to buy a fridge.

The rest of Friday was spent at the park, Andrew and Clint hitting up Cabela's, and Allie, Owen and me going shopping at Target where Allie got some cute new outfits and I got some new sunglasses to replace the ones broken at Sandcastle. (I cannot be without sunglasses on sunny days.)

Owey was also a fan of the shades.

Owey and his best friend (substitute polar bear), Andrew.

If the polar bear is not near, and Andrew is, Owey is happy! I have an almost identical shot of these two from our trip to the Columbus zoo.

The night in Columbus consisted of Bananagrams with my gutter-brained husband, Scott and Cristie, and two defunct dictionaries that couldn't keep up with my vocabulary. Thank God for Scott's iPhone. Good times, friends.

I just want to say how adorable Allie is with all her little dresses. I have known this little lady since she was nine days old, and in the past five years, I don't remember ever seeing her wear anything other than dresses (except for pajamas). Cristie says it doesn't happen too often.

Allie is very good at making Owey giggle.

Especially when she acts like she is biting his hands. The expression on Owen's face is his deliriously happy face.

And Allie can fly!

Action shot of Allie~!

Bubbles! Allie was blowing bubbles and Owey was chasing them.

Down the tubes.

Saturday morning, the entire Kimmins fam had breakfast in the Amie abode. I don't do it very often, but when there is a special occasion, I love to cook up a big breakfast. Cristie always prepares a huge breakfast for us the last day of our visits to Columbus, so I thought it only fair I return the favor. It was awesome having them all over! I'm looking forward to having a house with more livable areas so that I can do more entertaining (without having people climb three flights of stairs)... I'm pretty sure Owey was very sad to see his friends leave, and I'm sure he is looking forward to another visit soon.

Back to the fridge drama. Because it was considered an "emergency fridge," they did not give me a time window on when the fridge was going to be delivered, only that it would be Saturday. Clint went and got a few breakfast essentials this morning, and more ice. I had everything from the fridge within a cooler and a huge freezer bag.

I figured it would be delivered midday. Nope.

At 4:00pm, I called Lowes to find out where the fridge was. They took my number and told me they would call me back. At 6:00pm, with no word from Lowes, I called back. This new girl I talked to contacted the driver while on the phone with me, only to find out that they were "backed up" but it would definitely be today. I was upset. By this point, all the ice had melted from everywhere, and everything in the cooler and freezer bag was ruined. I told them I had kids in my house and needed to be able to have essential food items. I had planned on going shopping as soon as the fridge was delivered to replace everything that was ruined. Luckily, I stored all of our meat from the freezer with our upstairs neighbor, who was very accommodating, even though she is vegan!!! I relayed this to the girl on the phone, who promptly transferred me to a manager.

I'm kind of surprised at this. I wasn't really angry, I just wanted to know when the damn fridge was going to be delivered. I am not one to hold back a complaint at places like restaurants and retail stores. I worked as a waitress and a sales associate before. I know the deal. Customer's are paying you for a service, and if that service is not delivered as expected, the customer should benefit. But in this case, I wasn't even that mad when on the phone. Clint said it sounded like I was going to cry, but I think I was just really tired. This phone call resulted in the darling manager from Lowes leaving $15o dollars at the customer service desk for me to replace my groceries. I'm still ticked that I had to replace a 2.5 year old fridge, but that was a huge help, especially with Clint being laid off and all that. Thanks Ashley the manager!

The fridge was finally in place in my kitchen at 8:15pm.

After the crazy week I have had, I made some plans with my dear Natalie for sushi and secret-spilling. The sweet-potato rolls were sweet-ass. After sushi-fest, I hightailed it to the grocery store to replace all my perishables, courtesy of Lowes.

Tonight, the house is quiet after three days of being a family of five. While I know our family will likely only ever be a family of four, having Andrew and Allie with us made me look forward to giving Owen a sibling in a few years. He was clearly sad when he woke up from his nap and realized that the big kids were not there anymore.

Kids are awesome. One of Clint's highlights from the week: Listening to Andrew and Allie giggle while watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." It was infectious. Love it.

Columbus Revisited

With Clint still out of work, we have a lot of time on our hands. We decided to go visit our friends in Columbus. I think I should stop calling them friends. They are more like family.

I knew Owen liked trains, but now it is clear that he LOVES them. Well, I know what SOMEONE is getting from Santa Claus this year!

Cristie making Owey giggle.

Owey hard at work on the Kimmins' computer.

Ah, is this what it would look like if we had a girl next. Ah, swoon.

Funny girl.

Abbie on the grass.

Abbie and Owey

Clint, Andrew and Owey. Scott, Clint and Andrew all went golfing on Wednesday. They had a great time, but it was probably 1,000 degrees out and they all came back with sunburn.

Owey liked to show the girls how good he is at closing doors.

Adam on the slide. The entire time we were there, Adam only called Owen "Baby Owey." It was pretty much adorable.

Allie taking Owen down the slide.

Owen kept taking Abbie's stroller, so she had to run away with it :)

More train-playing.
Being in Columbus did something to me this trip, and I don't mean make me nauseous when Owen started throwing up in the middle of the night due to strawberry overload during the day. Of course I am from Columbus, spent the majority of my childhood there. I don't know if it's desperation talking, but Clint's job search in the Ohio Valley is getting ridiculously depressing. He has applied to so many jobs, soo sooooo many jobs, and hasn't gotten any interviews. I don't know what the problem is.

On the way home from Columbus, Clint and I started talking about what it would be like to live there. I'm familiar with it already, we have FAMILY there who would make the transition so much easier in so many ways, a booming job market for Clint, so many more housing possibilities...

I have an excellent job that I have no plans of leaving. If we lived in Columbus, I could come back to Wheeling on a Friday afternoon, work my weekend, stay at my mom's and go back to Columbus Monday morning. I could take Owen with me two weekends a month, and leave him in Columbus with Clint two weekends a month. That way, Clint wouldn't be overwhelmed with Owen for three days straight, and my mom would still get to see Owen frequently. I'm really happy with my work schedule, and I think that my commuting for the weekends wouldn't be that difficult. If Clint can get a decent-paying job in Columbus, I think we should try to make it work.

First things first, we have not put the house on the market yet because we figured our next step would be buying a house in this area. If we MAY move out of the area, that won't work. So, either way, we need to sell this house so we can keep our options open. We need to be able to be in a position to move rather quickly (3 months or less) and we may not be able to do that while owning this house. So, a realtor is coming to our apartment on Tuesday.

We have explored so many options. I don't know what the right one is. It's really hard to figure it out. The idea of moving to an area where Clint can find decent work, being close to people we know and love, and being within easy travel distance to our family... seems like a good idea. We shall see.

And - HUGE congratulations to Mrs. Laura Jackson Roberts and family on the birth of new baby Benjamin Michael!!!!

Random thoughts

• Summer has gone from non-existent to horribly persistent in a matter of days. I hate when the air is heavy and hot, makes me feel sticky, and the only solution is a pool.
• I love swimming. I think Owey is going to love it as well. We were at a barbecue for Memorial Day, and he took it upon himself to climb into the kiddie pool. With his shoes on.
• Clint is thinking about taking coal-mining classes. Yes the job market is that bad. He has had a couple of mental health positions he's been interested in, but they pay next to nothing. Is it worth it?
• I have been looking for houses online. At first it's exciting, but then it just gets depressing.
• In order for us to buy a house, things need to happen in this order: Clint needs to get a job, we need to get a realtor, we need to sell this house, and find the house we want to buy. Ugh. Can we fast forward to the last step?
• I really really really want to buy a house in Woodsdale, but I don't think it's going to happen.
• My darling Natalie K. has been making me many mix CDs, and they help me get through long nights of QC at work. Natalie, you continue to improve my life every week. I love our 15 minutes on Sundays.
• YOU, (yes you) should be listening to Emily Haines (with or without the Soft Skeleton and other various accompaniments). Crowd Surf off a Cliff and Bottom of the World are two of my new favorite songs.
• Owen will now willingly wear sandals, sunglasses and/or a hat. He has a little baseball-like hat, and it's slightly too big, so I turn it to the side and he looks like a little gangster.
• My darling Laura's bun is nearly cooked. We must have one more night out for crab legs before you become a mother of two.
• I recently reconnected (through Facebook!) with a little girl I used to babysit all through college. I started watching her when she was 5 or 6, I think. She is now nearly 15. Wow. The first time I watched her, she made me stay on a swing by her garage while she rode her bike up the street, making sure to keep in contact via walkie-talkie. I have so many good memories of that little lady. I hope we get together soon.
• I really really really want a new car. I refuse to make a new mix CD until I can make one for MY car, and I'm getting impatient.
• Owen has started running. It's more like a fast, exaggerated waddle, but it's adorable.
• My good friend Annie from high school is visiting while her husband is doing some training in the military. It's so good to see friends from your past, who after all the time are in the exact same place in their lives as you are. So good to see you and little Alex!
• Clint and I watched the entire first two seasons of True Blood in two weeks. It's scandalous. There is a lot of cussing, effing, biting and killing. Good stuff.
• Owen still doesn't say many words, but he talks all the time in little baby-talk sentences. He uses a lot of inflection and various different sounds. I'm convinced one day he is just going to start talking in sentences. He says, "dada, mama (very rarely), hi, kitty, yeah, mmmmm (when he likes something to eat), what's that, uh oh," and he makes exaggerated kissing sounds when he kisses things. He also kisses everything that he loves. I also saw him hugging a little Shrek doll today.
• Yesterday, my mama turned 64!!!! Happy Birthday Jude.

Ok, my little list turned into a long list.

How to Disappear Completely.

So... Things are kind of rough these days.

It seems like one good thing happens, and then three bad things happen directly afterward. For example, we got a handy man for a very reasonable price, who (together with Clint's assistance) finished the hallway and removed the sink and replaced the wall in the laundry room. Clint has been sanding window frames and hopes to do a lot of painting done next week. House renovations in preparation to put it on the market = good stuff.

So, then comes some bad stuff. Last Thursday, I had a dentist appointment. For a very long time, I have known that I have TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder). If you are unfamiliar, basically, it's a misalignment of the joints in my jaw. It causes a lot of different symptoms, but MINE include: headaches, clicking (to the point where I have had a meal with someone and they ask, 'what is that noise?' 'yeah, it's my jaw clicking.'), sometimes dizziness, and the worst of all - clenching. I clench my jaw all the time. I will wake up in the morning and my jaw will be clenched. I will be sitting at my desk and realize I have been clenching my jaw for who knows how long. I catch myself doing it all day. Well, for the past few weeks, I thought I might have had a cavity, because when I would drink something cold, or have something sweet, like a big old glass of Riesling... I would have some sensitivity in my lower left set of teeth. I expressed this to my dental hygienist, and she pointed it out to the dentist. He examined. I'm laying in the reclined chair, mouth wide open when I hear, "Oh, you have a crack in one of your lower left teeth... Here's another one on the other side!" So, apparently, I have been clenching my jaw hard enough and long enough that I have started cracking my teeth.

So, I am scheduled to have my teeth molded next week so that I can have a splint made to wear at night so I don't clench my teeth when I'm sleeping. This is of course, conveniently not covered by my dental insurance. Another option is to get braces. Believe me, I don't exactly dig the idea of having braces as an adult, but if it will prevent me cracking all my teeth and reducing the crazy headaches caused by all of this, I will consider. The option I will not even consider is surgery. The idea of having part of my jaw bones scraped off, and then having my jaw wired shut for weeks so it may heal does NOT sound like an excellent time.

So, that's that.

The next thing, which is both a good and bad thing at the same time, is that I sold my VW bug to a coworker. This is good because I no longer have a car payment and our monthly gas budget will be reduced. But it's bad because I no longer have a car, and I loved that car. Honestly, it was a little ridiculous having a toddler and a tiny two-door car, whose trunk did not even accommodate his stroller... With Clint being laid off right now, we sincerely do not need two cars. I walk to work. We are home together through the week. We very rarely drive separately anymore. Clint and I made a deal that when he gets a new job or we sell the house, whichever comes first, I can get a new car. I am pretty much decided on a Honda or a Nissan. I really want a CRV or a Rogue, but I would also take an Element, Murano or maybe even a Versa. Those are my possibilities.

And, very sadly, my great Aunt Katie died on Monday. She was 91. She was one of my late grandmother's many siblings, only one of which are still with us, my great Aunt Helen. Aunt Katie's funeral was today. Despite the fact that it was a very sad occasion, a lot of my family from out of town got to meet Owen at the viewing last night. He was actually very brave while there, not his usual timid self. He was walking around the entire first floor, and even grabbing random people's legs! He must have known he was among family.

Oh, and Clint found out he is making little more than half of what he made in unemployment the last time he was laid off! So, I am going to have to be creative with our budget until he goes back to work. Please pray that he finds a new job and that we are able to sell our house. This is wearing me down. I feel like I need a vacation from my life. I should start entering contests to have an all expense paid vacation to somewhere beautiful and stress free. Just for a week. Wonder what my odds would be... My mom thinks I'm pretty lucky.

Random good things this week:
Seeing dearly loved family that I don't get to see nearly enough.
Owen saying "Mama" completely unprovoked to get my attention.
Natalie.
New Moon on DVD, obviously.

Good and Bad

So, a lot has been going on around here. I need to sort my brain out, I feel kind of scrambled.

First off, we got a new pediatrician. We got the pediatrician I tried to get before the kid was even born. He wasn't taking patients but when I called last week, desperate to switch, they let me. The lady on the phone was really nice, and got him an appointment the next day. From the minute I met the new ped, I instantly felt better. He was more professional, he was more talkative, he explained things better, he presented new ideas and treatment ideas, it was awesome. Everything about it, the doctor, the nurses, the receptionists, the offices, the PAs and NPs, everyone and everything was better. I'm so glad we switched.

So, the new doc, Dr. M., suggested Owen get a blood test to rule out a couple of rare diseases that might be contributing to his weird poop problem. Those were clear. However, Dr. M. also tested his lead levels, which are elevated. The first thing he asked when he called (personally, not a nurse, extra points for doc) was if we lived in an old house or a new house. So, the kid is inhaling lead dust from the building. He said he doesn't even have to be eating paint or anything to elevate his levels. He also said that the lead levels are NOT high enough to be causing any symptoms or contributing to his poop problem, but he wants to keep an eye on it.

This leads to the other thing. We need to move, pronto. We have been throwing the idea around for a few months anyway. Living in this building with a baby is hard, and everyone can say "I told you so." It's hard. It's especially hard now that he's walking and attempting to open doors and stuff like that. It completely sucks to live on the third floor and cart a baby up and down the stairs. We really like living here, it's so convenient and the place has SO much character and history. It's so spacious and huge and I love how I have it decorated, but if there is a chance that living here may affect my child's health, we are going to have to bounce.

Clint's job is to finish the wall and fix a little thing in the laundry room, and then I'm going to hire a cleaning company to come in and clean this place better than I ever could. Then we are going to get a realtor in here and start getting serious. Then, when we finally sell, we are going to go back to renting (a whole house, with a yard and three bedrooms in case #2 shows up while there), and the goal is to be completely debt free (except for car payments and student loans) before we buy "the house."

So, on the cusp of this big decision, something happened last night that is making the transition SO much easier. Everyone is fully aware of my distaste for Darling Downstairs Neighbor. This woman has been a thorn in my side since we moved in here two plus years ago. I have always been nice to her, I've never done anything that can be considered mean or rude to her. Still, every conversation I have ever had, she manages to say something rude or inconsiderate to me, whether it's telling me that Clint walks too loud, or we shouldn't get Owen up so early on Sunday mornings (for church!) because they can hear us getting him up. The woman has absolutely no tact, or consideration or sympathy, WHATSOEVER.

So last night, because Owen is still going through his poop problem, he is having major trouble sleeping. And, unlike every other night of his life, he is not sleeping through the night as regularly. When he wakes up, we either need to change a poopy diaper, give him some water, or something little like that - but mainly, he just wants cuddled. And, Clint and I are both happy to oblige. However, he will not fall asleep on us. As soon as he's drowsy enough, we go to put him in his crib and he starts screaming again.

Now, there are a lot of different schools of thought on parenting in this situation. Generally, we are not a fan of the "cry it out method," but there comes a point sometimes where you have to let them cry. All of his needs were met, his diaper was clean, he wasn't thirsty, he didn't have a fever, he just wanted held. We held him for 30 minutes and tried to put him back. He cried for a solid 15 minutes after that. If we didn't live in an apartment, I would have let him cry, because the ONLY reason he was crying was because he didn't want in his crib. However, after the 15 minutes, I went in and got him again. I know this was a mistake, but I was trying to have a little consideration for our neighbors. Of course, now he assumes that anytime he cries, we are going to come in and get him, so he may as well scream until we do. I rocked him for another 30 minutes (and by now it's 2:30 am and he has been awake for two hours almost. He's very drowsy, and I go to put him in his bed. He starts crying again, obviously. And after FIVE minutes, Darling Downstairs Neighbor calls me. She asks to make sure everything is OK with Owen because they can hear him crying. I explained that he has been sick and he's having trouble sleeping. She said, "Well, I just wanted to let you know that both of your downstairs neighbors are awake now." WTF? I said, I'm sorry you're awake, but I can't keep going in there and getting him out, I have to let him cry or else he won't stop crying. I'm sure if we would have given him a few more minutes he would have gone to sleep, because whenever he is up, he's never up for more than 2 hours. She reiterated that they are both awake. ??? I said, "I'm sorry, but you don't know what it's like to have a sick child," (they have no kids). She got defensive and I got defensive right back. Honestly, what was the point of her calling? I know it wasn't because she was concerned for Owen. I apologized for them being awake, but I'm not going to make excuses because he is sick and sometimes babies cry!!! AND SOMETIMES THEY CRY AT 2AM!!!!!

The final straw was when she REITERATED AGAIN they were both awake. I said goodnight and hung up. I was so upset that I started crying. Clint went in and got Owen and we are trying to figure out what to do. We decide to bring the pack and play into our bedroom (to let Darling Downstairs Neighbors get back to sleep of course) and put him in there. Of course he starts screaming more. So, we decided to break the Cardinal Rule. We brought him into bed with us. We NEVER do this. And we don't plan to ever do it again. But Owen calmed down, finally. He snuggled up to me for about ten minutes, and then draped himself over Clint for about ten minutes, and was nice and relaxed, so we put him in the pack and play, he cried for about two minutes and passed out.

I fell asleep shortly after, but Clint laid awake fuming about the neighbors until 4am. He wanted to call them back and have words. If you know my husband, you know that's awfully out of character for him. He hardly ever raises his voice or gets mad enough to want to hash stuff out. But he didn't call them back. And sure enough, the kid woke up with Clint's alarm at 7:00 and stood in the pack and play staring at Mommy and Daddy. I pray he takes decent naps today. And of course I'm more motivated than ever to move.

When you live in an apartment, you give up certain freedoms. Most people also have some level of decency and tact. I'm fuming mad, still.


Ok, good stuff. We KILLED on our tax return this year, having a baby is awesome! :) We are paying off some more stuff (the debt just keeps dwindling!!), Clint's having some work done on his car, and we are STILL going to save a big chunk of change. We did have one frivolous purchase, which we have been dying to make for about a year - a new TV! 32inch, flat screen HD LCD, hot damn! It's awesome! And, I don't even feel guilty, because we got it on a super sale at Sam's Club (I heart Sam's).

And Miss Chicken is finally getting declawed on Tuesday. She has scratched her last wall and swatted at Owen for the last time.

AND, I bought 12 tubes of Burts Bees on EBay for $20 (a total steal).

And I had a date with Laura Jackson Roberts last night for crab legs and Reisling (for me, none for her, she's got a bun in the oven). It was so wonderful going out and chatting for hours while the men took care of the boys, and I'm very sorry to hear about the massive leaking in your dining room today. Good luck with that.

Ugh, I want to fast forward to whenever we live in another place, and the summer, where all this snow has disappeared.

The aftermath of the meeting...

So, the much dreaded co-op meeting wasn't all that bad, for me at least. Back story - our building is next to the Marsh Wheeling Stogie building, which in Wheeling's Hay Day was a pretty significant business. And this apartment building was pretty fancy living. Now I feel like I am in a sinking ship. The building rents a parking lot between our building and the Stogie building. Beyond the parking lot is another lot that was the grave site of a torn-down building. When we moved in, the lot was filled with bricks and cinder blocks and dirt. It was gross. Fast forward. Now, our upstairs neighbors, the children's book writers, have turned the brick-filled lot into an enormous garden. I will have to take a picture of it. It's huge. They actually had 5-foot stalks of corn growing in it last year. It is literally amazing what this man has done with a space that used to be filled with bricks.

That's how I feel about it. That's not how everyone feels about it. You know why? Because he uses the building's water to help the garden grow...

Last night in the meeting, I thought I had warped into a first grade classroom with a bunch of kids yelling at each other. We discussed the issues we had all been dreading, and then before the president could adjourn, one of the guys on the South side of the building decided to point his finger at the garden growers and flip his shit. I just sat with my pen and paper, noting the key points as any good secretary would do, bouncing my knee repeatedly until the steam stopped blowing out of his ears... Then the neighbors directly below us, who have graced my blog several times for all of their lovely complaints about Clint walking too loud, and getting the baby out of bed for church on Sunday morning... and breathing. They think that the garden people are rude because they have approached other members of the co-op association to get their opinions on the garden, bashing the downstairs neighbors in the process. I tried to stay out of it as much as possible, until the lady who lives below us starts, "I think it's downright rude of you to corral all the other neighbors and badmouth us, and now you guys don't speak to us, and the Amies are upset with us..." Please, Allison. Like the problems I have with you are about the garden... Maybe if you didn't find something to antagonize us about, every. single. time. we. speak.

Anyway. Clint was furious, but he missed the best of it, because he left around 8pm to take Owen off my mom's hands and put him to bed. I had to stay, unfortunately, because I'm the secretary, and the official shareholder, because our mortgage is in my name. The only major financial decision we made was for everyone to front the first half of our property taxes by August 25, so all the money we have in reserve can be put toward our gas bill in the winter. It was either that or hike up our monthly assessment fees, and I would much rather front the money right now, then half to pay more every month for the taxes AND end up short for the gas bill and have another special assessment. So the window issue was pretty much a non-issue. However, Clint and I have decided, that after basically freezing last winter, and in attempt to regulate the heat in our bedroom and living room, that we are going to look into replacing the five windows in our bedroom. Our upstairs neighbors have found a window company that charges the same price, regardless of the size of the window, which is a HUGE deal. The meeting started at 6:30, and I did not get home til 9:45... Ugh. The meeting was probably over by 9, but I stayed to be social because everyone had brought food, and I had some fantastic hummus. I've decided I'm a fan of hummus.

<>

So the windows need to be done before winter, on top of buying a new car seat, replacing our sink that won't stop dripping, having Clint's car tuned up, having Chicken declawed so she doesn't decide to use her claws the next time she takes a swipe at Owen (and so she can stop scratching our hardwood floors...) Oh, and the fact that Clint is still indefinitely laid off... So we have decided that I'm going to go to Iowa alone. It's not going to save a ton of money, but at least $450. And, Clint doesn't HAVE to go . I have to go (and of course I wouldn't miss it for the world, KAK). Clint can stay home and be with Owen, that way my mom doesn't have to keep him for three solid days. I'm sad that I will be traveling alone, but I've flown by myself before. I've dealt with unknown airports during layovers. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is staying in the hotel alone. I'm going to take my laptop, so I can keep myself busy. Note to friends: the weekend of September 18, I expect a lot of text support :) and facebook chats. I will also need to decide which book will be my travel companion. Which reminds me... I still need to buy a new dress.

Speaking of Mr. Owen Michael Amie.... he is being a major fuss-pants today and the past few days. He is getting his top two teeth, and could not be in a more crabby mood. He has completely redefined his nap schedule in the past few days. He keeps putting his hands in his mouth and then whining. Drool city. And the spitting up. Lord. I'm going to stop wearing v-neck shirts, because inevitably, if I do, he will throw up down the inside of my shirt. It's awesome. Really.

And, I'm very nervous about who is going to get voted of So You Think You Can Dance. I'm still rooting for Evan, but Melissa was just beautiful last night. My two favorite routines continue to be Randi and Evan dancing to Koop Island Blues (the butt!) and Jeanine and Jason dancing to If it Kills Me. In another life I want to be a dancer. :) Certainly not in this one.

Alright. Me time over.

"Come on man, I'll be your Doug."

We went to see the Hangover, and I could not stop laughing. It was seriously one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. Clint and I went out on our fourth date since we had Owen. We are almost keeping up with the once a month agreement. We have figured out a pretty good system for dates. We get him all ready for bed, then my mom comes over. We do his bath, lotion, and then feed him. Once he's asleep, we hurry and finish getting ready, and then leave. My mom basically babysits the baby moniter. It's a tough job. I sort of wish we could go have a dinner date or something, but for now, I'm happy to go out after he falls asleep, it just makes for some late nights.

We left after he fell asleep and went to get some ice cream. We still had time to kill, so we went to the bookstore and I bought "The Road," by Cormac McCarthy. I've only read about ten pages, but I can't wait to get back to it. I have a feeling it's going to be a hard read for me. Since I have become a mother, I get very affected if anything happens to a child in a movie or book or something.

Tonight is the dreaded co-op meeting where we are going to make decisions regarding the windows, the decks, the gas bill, etc. I am so afraid they are going to decide to replace all the windows in the apartment, which we simply cannot afford to do. I hope that our vote counts. Ideally, we vote for everyone to replace the windows of their choosing. In that case, I would love to replace all the windows in our bedroom and maybe our living room (8 windows total). Anything beyond that, I am going to have to oppose. We are just ticked, because we wanted to do the bathroom this fall, and now we are going to have to wait until Spring to do it. Which means there is no chance we will be moving until next Spring at the earliest.

The other downside to this, is that in an effort to save money, Clint may not come to Iowa with me in September. It's not going to be a big expensive trip, but it does equal two round trip plane tickets, two nights in the Marriot in Coralville, IA, car rental and meals and stuff like that. Besides the hotel costs, it would be half as expensive for Clint to come with me. It just doesn't sit right with me. I don't mind, but I would prefer not to travel alone. It makes the layovers quite a bit longer.

I don't quite understand why there are absolutely no direct flights from Pittsburgh to Cedar Rapids, but it looks like, depending on what flight I end up booking, I'm either going to have a layover in Chicago where I have never been, or again in Detroit or Minneapolis (both cities I have seen only from the inside of the airport.)

The last time I was in Minneapolis, I was sick as a dog, had a piece of pizza from Sbarro, let some guy have my copy of "The Painted Veil" that I had just finished reading, then put in the ipod and zoned out. When the guy saw that I was reading The Painted Veil, he said, "Oh MY GOD. I can't believe you're reading that," then he dug around in his bag and pulled out the copy of the DVD. I told him that I had seen the movie before reading the book, and ended up being disappointed in the book. The movie is more optimistic (and beautiful). Also the last time I flew to Iowa I was just a teensy bit pregnant. I found out the week after I came home.

I'll go alone if I have to, but I would much rather Clint come with me. If I go by myself, I will probably just take a couple of books and my computer and spend a lot of time in the hotel. And, Krista's friends will probably question whether I actually have a spouse.

It's also going to depend if Clint is working. Still no word from his work, other than we may lose our insurance. I checked with my HR person, and I could pick up insurance where I work, but I know it would be so expensive. I did Clint's resume and cover letter. We found a few places to send it to, and I applied a couple of places online for him. Cross your fingers.

I saw a commercial for Literacy.org, where kids were seeing all these road signs and stuff from books (Never Never Land, 25 miles). It was such a neat idea. I'm a big fan of kids reading.

Speaking of, I'm going to read.

Six-month Appointment

So, Owey had his six-month appointment today. All in all, it went really well. He weighs 17lbs, 5.1oz and is 25.5 inches long. I thought he weighed more, because it feels like he weighs a ton as we lug him up three flights of stairs.

The questions the nurses asked were a little different this time - more developmental stuff. They didn't ask exactly how much he eats or sleeps. They asked if he rolls (yes, but only if he starts out on his back. He can roll from back to front, and then to back again, but not if he starts out on his belly.) They asked if he tries to stand (no. Yet, he kicks his legs all over the place, and pushes his legs down in his stationary bouncer, but does not attempt to put his legs down if you are holding him up). They asked if he shows anxiety around strangers, and I said sometimes, and then explained the pout face. Other times, he smiles at everybody. Maybe he is a really good judge of character? Is it a bad sign that he makes the pout face when he sees his pediatrician? I don't know.

The doctor came in and listened to his heartbeat and checked his ears, eyes, belly and boy parts. He was all smiles, until she busted out the needles. It's so heartbreaking to see your baby get shots! He's smiling one second, and then they are stabbing a needle into his leg and he just instantly starts crying and screaming. Crying big tears. Ugh. I cried too. Once it was over, he curled up on Clint's shoulder and started sucking his thumb.

She said we could start moving up with baby food too. He can now have Stage 2 foods - including meat! Wow! Also, we have been feeding him solid food twice a day, and now she said we can move up to three or four times a day. The amount of his bottles should not change, just increase the solid food. I don't know how we would manage four times a day, between his bottles and naps, if we fed him four times, all he would be doing is sleeping and eating? He usually wakes up around 7am. I figured out that we could feed him at 9am, before his mid-morning nap, then again around 12, before his big mid-day nap, and then around 7pm as usual before his bedtime routine. She said we could also start putting those little Gerber puffs or cheerios on his high chair tray and let him pick them up and put them in his mouth. She also said that giving a baby juice is basically like giving them a pepsi. She said we could start putting water or very diluted juice in a sippy cup, so he can start getting out of the habit of having a bottle, so by the time he is a year old he can stop the bottle.

So, of course, I ran to the grocery store and bought all different new kinds of foods - mixed veggies, fruit combos - and little jars of what sounds like Thanksgiving dinner. Just kidding. But there are chicken and apples, turkey and sweet potatoes, and chicken and mixed veggies. I also bought two different kinds of puffs (sweet potatoes and peaches) and sippy cups. I fed him some mixed veggies for lunch and put a puff in his mouth. He did the same thing he did when he tried bananas for the first time. Made a disgusted face, and let it drool out of his mouth. Then when it was out of his mouth, he did kind of a little shimmy, like he had just done a shot. I tasted it, and it tastes just little cereal. I think he does that with sweet things. Real peaches didn't have that effect on him, but bananas and the peach puffs...

Oh, and this sucks. He's 25.5. inches long. By the time he's 27.5 inches long (about another month) we have to buy a new car seat. I didn't think we would have to buy another one until he was a year old. Alas, we have to spend $150 on another car seat that can be rear-facing or front-facing. This sucks for several reasons, money obviously, and also, we love his car seat and stroller set. It was a gift from Katie and her mom for my baby shower. The new car seat will stay in the car and will not be compatible with the stroller. Clint likes to take Owen for a walk with the car seat hooked into the stroller, because Owen falls asleep on the walk and always takes the best naps in his car seat. But if we take him for a walk in the stroller and he falls asleep, we will have to wake him up to get him out. (Something else that wouldn't be a problem if we didn't live in a 3rd floor walk-up.

Either way, she said he's growing well and looks great. She said the top two teeth will probably be coming in this weekend or early next week. I figured as much. He's been drool-tastic and a little more cranky than usual. But, he's still in bed by 8:30pm most nights and sleeps until 7 every morning (give or take 15 minutes). He still sucks his thumb to self-soothe. We can lay him down awake and he will fall asleep if he is tired. He started sleeping on his side too, which is the most adorable thing.

I think about how long he has been alive, and what a different little person he is going to be in another six months. I can't get over it. He's the coolest.

I'm going to wait a few more days before I do his six-month photo shoot. I have to decide on an outfit :). I also decided that once he can sit up on his own completely, and once the drooling from the top two teeth subsides a little, I'm going to take him for professional pictures. So much fun!

Drum roll, please.

Owen slept through the night last night!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back story: We have been doing a bedtime routine for less than one week. We have been trying to keep him up a little more throughout the day, as long as he stands it and doesn't get too fussy. Just sort of prolonging things. For example, if he wakes up at 1pm after a nap, we will play for a little while before we feed him lunch.

The routine consists of me getting home from work at 9pm. Loving on him for a few minutes. Having a nice calm bath with Johnsons bedtime bath. (We only wash his hair twice a week because that's his least favorite part, and his hair stays magically clean). Then, he gets rubbed down with Huggies Soft Skin lotion. Gets a fresh diapey and a nice terrycloth or fleece sleeper put on. Then he has a warm bottle and is rocked until he falls asleep.

The first night he slept five hours, and we were thrilled. Even after he woke up after 5 hours, I changed his diaper, fed him another bottle and then he went back to sleep within a half an hour. He woke up about an hour later, but we thought he was getting better at telling day from night.

The second night, he slept something like 6 and a half hours!! That was even better!! But, the downside was that he went to sleep a little earlier because I came home from work earlier, so he got up earlier. That was a hard day that started at 4:45am.

Night before last, we thought the past two nights had been a fluke. He woke up at 12:30 after going to sleep at 9:30. We were so sad. But, he still was only up for about a half an hour, and went right back to sleep and slept for like 4 hours. We think he may have had a tummy ache because it had been more than 2 days since he pooed. (His usual is once every two days).

But last night!!!! He was in a good mood when I got home (most times he is so sleepy that he is a little cranky), but he was in an awesome mood, smiling for 10 minutes at us, and carrying on a conversation! We talked and he made little cooing noises back at us!! He had his bath, and even tolerated having his hair washed without crying! He had his lotion rubbed on, which made him fuss a tad, but once we got to the bottle, he was fine. He fell asleep around 9:45pm and didn't wake up until a few minutes before 6am!!!!!!!! I attribute this success to routine, staying up longer during the day, gentle sounds and lights around and after bathtime, and of course, the thumb. When he woke up, he fussed for a second, and then I heard him start sucking his thumb and then silence for another half hour. When I looked at him right before 6, he was still sucking his thumb. Shortly after that he woke up for good. Thank God for thumbs!!!!!

Here are some pictures that Clint has taken with his cell phone and sent to me at work, so I don't miss him too too much.

Adorable, right?

We have also definitely decided on April 26 for his baptism! Yes! My Aunt is coming from North Carolina, and it's good with both of the God-parents. In other church news, we are working in the nursery this weekend for a little extra $$ and because the new girl can't do it this weekend. I told our minister that if she ever can't do it, we can come back to it.

Speaking of money, I am turning into quite a bargain shopper!!!! It gives me such a thrill!! I got a one day pass to Sam's Club thanks to our Allstate Insurance and my friend and fellow bargain shopper, Erin. They had our brand of formula, Similac Advance Early Shield, in 33.4 ounce containers for $27!!!!!! Usually it is $23 dollars for 23 ounces! I bought two for a total of $54 which will probably last about two weeks! Also at Sam's I bought an enormous package of chicken for $11, and an enormous package of western style pork ribs for $8. Since I am still on my mandarin orange and canned pineapple kick, I bought a case of each (8 and 6 cans, respectively), for a total of $15. Along with a couple other little things, I spent $108. (Considering half of that was formula, and I got at least 6 meals worth of meat, I feel excellent about it.

Then today, I went to Kroger for other essential things. I had a list of about 15 things, but came home with much much more. I got some veggies, english muffins, potatoes, etc... Then I realized that Kroger was still doing their promotion on certain brands, where if you bought 10 participating items, you got five dollars off your grocery bill. Just so happens, tons of the participating items were things I usually buy anyway! Including 4 Powerades for Clint at $1 each. Also, I don't usually buy frozen meals for myself, but Clint takes them for lunch a lot, and there a couple that I enjoy and will occasionally buy. Well, Stouffers frozen meals were on sale for $2 each, AND I had two separate coupons for Stouffers, saving over $2. So, with me back to work and Clint home with the baby, sometimes all he has time for is a frozen dinner. So, I bought like 12 of them!! ALSO they were a part of the promotion where if you bought 10 items you got $5 off!!! I also had a $5 coupon for complaining about Cottonelle toilet paper, so I bought a 12 pack of mega roll toilet paper for $1.49 after a sale and my coupon! I got a roll of paper towels for $.59, and Huggies were on sale for $10, and I had a $2 off coupon that expires in May, so I bought some in the next size, because I still haven't had to buy diapers yet!! So I got 40 size 2 diapers for $8!!!

So, I was excited to see the total. I put all my stuff on the conveyor belt, and the total was $138. Then, I used my Kroger plus card, saved a total of $10 because of the promotions, and used my coupons and the total was.......... $74!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's almost half!!!!! Clint was so proud of me. We also have been finagling our bills around so that our payments are manageable while Clint is laid off, and once he goes back to work and is at full salary, we will be able to pay off his car by the end of summer!!! Then, we want to put all that extra money towards other bills! We have a good plan.

Ok, this is like the longest post ever.
Today is a good day.

Bad News.

So, money has been really tight lately, because MetLife basically screwed me, and I haven't been paid the entire time I've been on maternity leave. I've missed 3 paychecks. That's tough. Fortunately (at the time) we got our income tax refund and were able to use that in place of my paychecks. Now I desperately wish I could have saved that money.

Clint came home on Friday and told me that he got laid off. Apparently, it's only temporary and partial? The company can't afford to pay everyone on his project for the whole month, and instead of letting some people go (which Clint said they should have done), they are only going to pay people for two weeks out of the month, and then Clint will have to sign up for unemployment for two weeks. Which is stupid, because two weeks on and then two weeks off, he is going to have to keep initiating unemployment and there is a week grace period before he will get paid each time. Clint thinks it will only be for a few months at the most. His project is the only one that doesn't already have some sort of contract or government funding. They are supposed to be getting a big multi-million dollar contract with this company, and if they do, everything will be fine. If they don't get the contract... I don't know what we are going to do.

I'm struggling, because I'm being realistic about it. He is extremely optimistic, thinking they are going to get the contract, and it should only be a month or two before everything is back to normal. I wish he would start looking for a different job immediately, have another job lined up in case the deal doesn't go through. I'm also being realistic because I write out the bills... I know how much money we have... I know how much money we spend... We have a new baby, and just last night I spent $50 on formula that will last about a week. If any of my friends want to sign up at similac.com for coupons you can give us, that would be awesome.

I'm scared. I feel cheated too, because I feel like we have done everything we can to be responsible young adults. We both graduated from college... we both went out and got good jobs... we got married... we waited for a little while before trying to have a baby, we bought a house... and now that the baby comes, everything is falling apart. Fortunately, I have a good job, for now it is only partially going to affect our money situation, our home is filled with love and laughter, and I know that a lot of children have a lot less.

In church this morning, Rev. Smith was talking about poverty and hunger, and that even in our own neighborhood, his wife said her students were excited to come back to school after a week of snow days because they said they didn't have any food at their house. I hear that and my heart breaks.

When I hear things like that, I know we have it so much better than so many and for that I am thankful.