Hi all.. Ok.. so I've almost got this blog thing set up..

www.twomomsandababy.com

(because www.tmaab.com was already taken by the painters.. *grin*)

It is now active although I have a bit of work to do to fix some broken links from my transfer from blogspot.. i also have to relink some of my photos from old posts.. but all new posts will go through the new address. woo hoo!

Ok.. so the good news is that I'm pumped about being a blogger again. The challenging news is that I love to make things challenging. I'm halfway through transferring my blog to Wordpress.. the challenge is that to do it right (i.e... to not lose my readers or my site rank status).. I have to actually pay attention to what I'm doing.. pah! Anyway.. Here is a link to my latest post.. I wouldn't recommend changing any of your links to my blog yet.. I'm hoping to have a domain name set up soon and then all this dumb computer crap will be a bit more stable..

My latest post -- "Thank you, Presidents".. a little bit about my weekend..

I have a goal. That goal is to get a domain name registered and establish a hosting arrangement for my blog so that I can use the much cooler interface of Wordpress without losing my account with BlogHerAds.. which has made me a whopping... $0 so far. I've almost got enough hits to make my first $25 off of ads.. so it's a shame to drop them now.. I've come so far.. At the same time.. blogspot.com's interface has become irritating at best.

So here goes.. it will probably take me a bit to get this transition taken care of.. but my goal will be to have my blog moved to this address (tmaab.wordpress.com) in the near future and when the time comes that I can afford the $100 that it will cost to get my domain name set up (what a great Birthday idea.. a gift card to www.godaddy.com).. I will move over to a more permanent location and get the ads up and going again.

As a bit of a teaser.. I've also started a new blog that will be completely anonymous.. no photos.. no real names.. just my thoughts. It will probably be chaos and I'm not giving out the address.. :) At least not until I determine if I'm capable of posting anything more enlightening than "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy..."

In other news... let's see.. what's new? I haven't posted in a while. I guess I've hit a writing dry-spell. If it's any consolation, I haven't been taking many photographs or even watching much on TV these days.. just chugging through the winter days waiting for spring.

My health continues to be a wild ride for a 34 year old. I have stopped letting my shrink make any changes to my meds after having a string of bad reactions resulting in me going all "One flew over the cuckoo's nest". I'm finally feeling normal again and have stopped nibbling on plastic checker pieces (just kidding.. that's a mental hospital joke for those of you out of the loop.. *grin*)..

....just in time for my brain to start melting. Just call me Ms. Migraine.. i'm currently on my third migraine of the week. IRRITATING.

In other news.. Benji is doing great. He's got his tubes in and has had a string of colds and had croup and he's still managing to keep us on our toes. Last night he and I were brushing our teeth.. he does a great job. I leaned over the sink to spit and before I had a chance to react.. he dipped his toothbrush in my spit-foam and put it back in his mouth. *HEAVE* How nasty! I guess this is all a learning process and I have to start being a bit quicker on my feet!

I do have a ton of photos that I took during an impromptu trip to Cape Cod that we took this past weekend. It was heaven. It was also VERY cold.

Hope yer all well..

The person who I am closest with at my work was laid off this morning. This makes me very sad.

Link to my post last year.

It has been a year since Ben's first seizure. God that day sucked.

When I dropped Ben at daycare this morning, after having a relatively uneventful morning, one of the other parents was dropping off her two daughters. She looked a little haggard. As I was heading out, I saw her hand two ziplocks to Ruth.. one had both girl's socks.. they had both refused to wear socks. The other ziplock had one of the girl's underwear.. she had absolutely refused to wear it. I don't feel so bad for dropping Ben off with FOUR binkies...

As you can see.. I've been boycotting my own blog for a few weeks now. My "fan base" has really dropped.. you'd think people actually wanted to read some updates! Alas, I haven't really felt like blogging.. no reason in particular. I'm sure I will be inspired sometime soon and then I'll be blogging 3+ times a day.

Ok.. so when I dropped Ben off at daycare yesterday morning, everything was just fine. He was in a fine mood. No tantrums. No problem.

I get a call just before noon from Ruth saying that Ben has thrown up 3 times. Ugh! We've done the ear infection thing, the ear tubes surgery twice, even 5 seizures an EEG and a stay at Children's Hospital (not to mention several ambulance rides).. but we've never done puke. Of course, I'm not counting baby spit-up or that freaky thing that happens with a 9 month old when they think they can keep eating forever and at some point it just comes right back at you. I'm talking sick-puke.

I'm queezy just thinking about it.

I got to daycare to pick him up. All of the other kids were very excited to see me and were telling me how Ben blew chunks all over everything and how he had to get new clothes on and... they kept going on and on and on. Ben just had sick-eyes and climbed into my arms and pointed at the door and said "go?"

We stopped at the pharmacy and picked up some pedialyte and ginger ale along with a brand new pack of binkys. You need something to make you feel better when you're sick. Binkys may not fix everything.. but they sure help.

He and I proceeded to spend the afternoon and early evening sipping grape pedialyte, having some dry cheerios and some toast and watching The Incredibles and Drumline on TV. I have to say.. he loved Drumline. He was absolutely hooked to watching the marching band scenes and would clap after each performance. It was cute.

The crapper of it all was that there was a commercial for a new horror movie that kept playing at each commercial break which required me to bend myself into pretzels to shield him from the tv. Then there was the commercial for the Flirty Girl Fitness Boutique DVDs.



There's no way to describe just how horrible these commercials were.. so I'll leave you with a quick clip of their "workout dvd"... (btw.. this should be rated PG-13, although my 2 year old son saw it at every commercial break yesterday afternoon)



Crazy..

Anywho.. Ben is doing better today, although I know that only from checking in by phone.. I've been down to Hartford and back for work and have been on the road since about 6am. To say I'm exhausted is putting it mildly.. whew! At least it's almost the weekend!

Btw.. the daycare provider listed off about 3/4 of their kids (including her grandson) who had also come down with this stomach bug... ugh!

That's one of my favorite quotes from Finding Nemo. Squirt is giving Dorie and Marlin a rundown of proper exiting technique and Marlin says "It's like he's trying to speak to me.."

That's been the theme with Ben for the past few weeks. He is talking all the time now.. we just don't always know what he's trying to tell us. Sometimes it is clear as day. Like when he chucks his binky across his bedroom and then says "Mooooommmmmmyyyyyyy... uh oh!... beeee!" I get that.. translation: "mommy, my bink ACCIDENTALLY got tossed across the room.. oh no! can you please come get it for me?"

Clear.. no problem.

This morning.. not so clear. The little dude has been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. Actually.. he sleeps GREAT. It's getting him to sleep that is the challenge. We've been spoiled. He's always had a really short and sweet nighttime routine and we've never really had to struggle with it. Well, we're paying for it now. Last night we opted to let him "cry-it-out".. i.e. we weren't going back in to get his binky or put his tippy of water back in his crib or give him a hug or pick out a new book for him. We gave him an hour. He really didn't cry. He yelled, threw things, jumped, kicked, laughed, babbled, practiced running from one side of the crib to the other and then falling backward and seeing how much of a bounce he could get..

Shiela and I were watching 24.. sort of. We had it on, with the volume pretty low, and I was watching Ben on the video monitor and every time we'd hear a crash or a scream, shiela would say "what's he doing".. and i'd check and give her the low down on his activities. Every once in a while he would do something funny. Once he decided to try to shove his tippy cup out between the bars in the crib. He grunted and screamed. If we hadn't had the video monitor, it sounded like he got stuck somewhere for sure. Nope.. just mad that the cup doesn't fit through the bars.

About 40 minutes into our vigil, and after a lot of eye rubbing and blanket chewing (the bink had long since gotten thrown to the floor), he started truly sobbing. I went in and gave him his binky and a hug and he let me know that he was upset with me (tried to kick me as i was lovingly giving him a goodnight hug)... but when I left the room, he was laying down with his bink in his mouth and he didn't make a peep. He was out cold in just minutes.

Now.. I don't want to do this every night.. but at least he was asleep before 11pm last night!

On to this morning.

Since he's been going to sleep so late, getting him up in the morning has been torture. I can usually get him dressed before he even decides to open his eyes. This morning was no different. I poured him, fully clothed, onto the rocker with one of his blankets and put sesame street on while I packed up his lunch.

I was talking about Obama and explaining the inauguration to him (because he was listening.. right..). Then I said "whose special day is today?" and he says "bamama". Then he says "happy.. too youuu..." I was like wait.. what.. did he just say "Obama" and did he just say Happy Birthday? The kid is brilliant! It's not exactly Obama's birthday.. but it's close enough for a 2 year old!

Of course, following this epiphany, we stumbled out to the car where he kept screaming "NO... MOMMY... MU!" And I'm like "do you want your milk?" and he's like "NO... MOMMY... MU!" And I'm like "do you want your music on?" and he's like "NO... MOMMY... MU!"

It took me the entire trip to daycare to realize that he wanted me to put the hood up on my jacket because it's cold outside. It's like he's trying to talk to me...

Go check out my new post over at Skirt!

Ok.. so Benji got his ear tubes yesterday and we are very proud of what a big boy he was. I have a long story to write about it.. like usual.. complete with pictures.. but I haven't had the chance to sit down and write.. doh! So.. to hold you over.. here are some pics!

I've always wanted a Jeep. Hugely unreliable and largely not practical. It would, however, help get Benji to daycare in the morning.

We have one of those ordinary regular minivan/wagon crossover vehicles with no all-wheel drive. I know.. how strange for two lesbians. Turns out that we were broke when we traded in my old truck for the family mobile and opted for the Mazda instead of the fully loaded Subaru. Go figure.

Ok.. this is hard to explain without a picture, but I'll try. Our daycare is located at the top of Mount Everest. On an unpaved street. Off a cul-da-sac. When we interviewed this particular daycare, my old pickup started to smoke and let out an odd groaning sound about halfway up the hill. If we hadn't gotten rid of the truck due to the fact that we needed a back seat for the baby and his gear, we would have burned it out within a week of driving up that hill.

It's winter.

It has snowed approximately 17 feet over the past month here in the Great Boston Area (ok.. so maybe that is a slight exaggeration.. but the stuff just isn't melting!). As a result.. driving up the dangerously steep hill to daycare has redefined itself once again for the winter months. To make it more interesting this year, it seems that the neighbor of our daycare has some parking challenges.. I have lost count of how many cars they are trying to smash into their lack of a driveway.

As a result, I have to gun it at the bottom of the hill.. try not to wipe out the school bus that picks up a child in a wheelchair that lives halfway up the hill (what were her parents thinking?) and make the corner without hitting any of the vehicles parking along either side of the street and then get up the 47 degree rake to the landing while dodging parked cars and the cars of other daycare parents who are trying to drive the other way down this narrow street (only wide enough for one car at a time). To top it off, while they managed to dig up the four rocks that were threatening to rip out my undercarriage over the summer, there is now a hole (pronounced "cre-vahhhhssss") that I imagine my entire vehicle will flounder in one morning.

Poor Snickollet is going to have to throw me a rope from HER Subaru to haul me out...
(btw.. snick.. maddie told me this morning that Ben's hat didn't match his boots..)

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Check out my first blog posting over at Skirt!

I thought I'd jump right in.. *laff* I'm determined to make waves over there! This is what they get for labeling ME a trendsetter!

Virtually "pain free" hair removal...

This definitely qualifies as TMI:

Let me set the stage.

I am Italian and Irish. All of my hair follicles are Italian and all of my skin cells are Irish. I also have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which causes lots of fun hormonal crap like infertility, weight gain and.. yes.. male-pattern hair growth. As a result, I have spent all of my adult life struggling with the topic of hair removal and self-esteem.

When I was younger, I was very self-conscious about my image. How gross was it that I could grow more facial hair than most 18 year old boys. I would take hour-long showers which would include shaving just about every inch of my body.

To complicate matters further, I have just about THE MOST sensitive skin out there. If I walk down a perfume aisle, my skin will break out in a rash (and I’ll have an asthma attack). I can only use certain soaps and one wrong move in the shaving department would leave me with little cute patterns of razor burn all over my body.

Tack on the weight gain associated with PCOS and I had a rough time during my teenage years!

Fast-forward. I’m now 34 years old and happily married. I have a 2 year old beautiful son. I am completely content with my follicular status. The solution? The product that saved my self esteem?

Hate to burst your bubble, ladies, but for me.. it was just a matter of growing up and becoming comfortable with myself. No magical cream or little gadget that painlessly removed all of the hair forever.

Now.. that said, just because I’m comfortable with myself doesn’t mean I still don’t try every product and procedure under the sun. I’ve tried every chemical ever labeled for sensitive skin hair removal (translation: it removes the skin and leaves the hair) and have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on needles and lasers and weed-wackers, oh my!

So.. as the self-proclaimed expert on the subject.. do I still spend an hour a day in the shower? Heck no! I have a toddler.. I’m lucky if I snag 10 minutes to myself. I usually have the shower curtain thrown back about 7 minutes into it by a little red headed dude who hands me my glasses and says “mommy, all done”.

To be honest, I seem to have become a bit bi-polar when it comes to hair removal. It’s currently mid-winter and we’re broke. As a result, I haven’t shaved south of the equator for close to three months and I’m starting to resemble something off of the Discovery Channel. I really could care less, aside from the fact that my hair is so thick that it occasionally makes my skin hurt from rubbing against my pants. Also.. I don’t wear skirts.. that’s key.

Like I said though.. I tend to go through mood swings. When I’m not on shaving strike, I tend to go to extremes.

wax.jpg



I’ve become a huge fan of waxing. It feels strikingly like sticking your arm in a wood chipper, but the results are fantastic. It’s also great for releasing tension after a long week at work. I’m not sure what it says about your life when going in for a waxing session sounds relaxing. I’ll blog about that another time!

Now. Leg waxing isn’t a big deal. Ripping out hair in huge chunks is never pleasant, but after the first few strips, you start to lose consciousness and it doesn’t seem to hurt as badly. There are a few areas that really hurt. For me, it’s the front of my calves and the backs of my ankles and from the knee up.

Oh, I’m just kidding.. go try it, you’ll love it. No.. seriously. It’s horrible.. but I do have some advice. Don’t go cheap. DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF. I don’t care how simple and painless those TV infomercials make it look.. spring for a trip to the spa.. and not just a trip to the spa.. a trip to an EXPENSIVE spa. I’ve tried it both ways and the experience at a real spa can not compare to having a cheap wax job done by a hair dresser with a wax melter who knows how to use it. If you go cheap, prepare to wear long slacks for at least two weeks while your legs heal from all of the bruises and ingrown hairs that you’ll get... you’ll be able to put those shorts on just in time for your leg hair to start growing back! Think “She-she-poo-poo”...

Ok.. now, I think the reason why I downplay the amount of pain caused by a full leg wax is because I’ve also started getting bikini waxes. Not just regular bikini waxes, but Brazilian bikini waxes. Those Brazilians sure are wacky! I’m not sure of the history of it all or why those folks from south of the equator get the credit for the ultimate hair removal for “south of the border”.. but it’s like the Mount Everest of hair removal. It may kill you.. but it’s the best thing ever.

Once again.. if you’re going to attempt this.. remember my words about the expensive spa. No trying to do this at home kiddos. If you’re worried about the embarrassment factor.. well.. think of it like sky-diving.. once you take the plunge.. it’s all out there and you’re in a free fall and there is no going back.

The good news is that, once you’re off the IV fluids and morphine drip, you’ll feel like a million bucks. Even if you’re the only one who knows about it (aside from your new best friend at the spa), guaranteed you’ll feel like hot stuff..

- Jen (Two Moms and a Baby)

I'm going national, baby!

I've been selected to be a national blogger for Skirt!

The Skirt!® mantra: Skirt!® is all about women...their work, play, families, creativity, style, health and wealth, bodies and souls. Skirt! is an attitude... spirited, independent, outspoken, serious, playful and irreverent, sometimes controversial, always passionate.

Hmmm... I don't wear skirts and I don't wear makeup.. this should be interesting! The best part is that since I'm such a rad trendsetter (I guess that's what we call lesbian moms these days), I am being brought in as a "Skirt!setter" (get it.. a play on "trendsetter"..)

We'll see how this goes. The good news is that it will open my ranting mindless rambling up to a national audience. I think that is good news. Wait.. who are you? They are in the process of getting me set up in their system.. I'm currently trying to think of a spirited, independent, outspoken, serious, playful and irreverent but sometimes controversial and always passionate blog posting to get me off to a good start...

Maybe I'll post about how good Ben is at expressing his desire to play Guitar Hero for hours on end. That's edgy!

Blog away sister....

I haven't given you a mouse update in a bit.

I hired an exterminator, right. He came by last night. He actually laughed when I said the cat brought a mouse in my room TWICE- I'm thinking - yeah no kidding.

Wait- maybe I should back up. Wednesday- 5am- I hear this crazy meowing and scuffling in the kitchen (oh no oh no oh no)....Oh YES. He brings it in my room- drops it on the floor- it's dazed enough that he grabs it again and goes into the kitchen. I shut my door and listen to national geographic in the hallway.
Thinking ok I am not dealing with this - until I hear Ashley get up (I cannot believe this)...

So fast-forward- he kills it but doesn't destroy it. So- I pick it up and get rid of it.

Ok- so exterminator guy comes last night- sets traps inside and out. Plans on coming back Tuesday to check traps- he found a hole in the hatchway door and plugged it too (I pray that's the only way they are coming in).

Now- it's 11pm or something like that last night- Amy comes home talks to me for a bit then gets ready for bed. Now picture this...I am reading in bed...it's quiet. I hear her downstairs. All of a sudden I hear a yelp and some .....I can't even describe the noise (I am sitting here at my desk LAUGHING at loud as I type- these people think I am nuts) and I hear running- and "ohmygodohmygodohmygod"....

.......Oops- I forgot to tell her the exterminator came. (still laughing)...

She gets IN to my bed....LOL-

"beckthere'samouseinatrapbytherefridgeratoritsagluetrap
ohmygodohmygodit'salivethreefeeton,oneoffohmygodohmygodohmygod."

I am crying I am laughing so hard...the cat is walking around now trying to figure out what's up.

So Amy says to me-the kid's at jay's? yes. ok, I'm sleeping upstairs.

..haha

Fast-forward again. this morning.
She says to me- We have to get rid of the mouse in the trap....and then puts her finger on her nose slowly (GRRR). You know- that hole "nose goes"....someone says this has to be done and then everyone puts their finger on their nose and the last one to do it has to do whatever the thing is...Ok- it's something Amy did once and then the kids got a huge kick out of it and we've been doing it since Christmas.

Whatever gets you through the day right.

Anyway- we go downstairs together- both peering around the fridge. It's there- and it's dead...Well I can get rid of that. So I ask her- because now the cat is with us so I gotta hurry- can you get me a bag? So I am talking about anything to get my mind out of picking this disgusting trap up. and I put it in the bag- BUT the glue catches on the side of the bag- so the trap is teetering on the edge of the bag.

OH NO....so I yell get another bag get another bag. So she goes and gets one and we are laughing. Then...
as she's giving me the bag...

the glue lets go and the trap falls fully into the bag.. We both scream. Yes that's right....If they could have a candid camera in my house- this whole exchange would win awards- I swear it would.

Unbelievable....

one down (well two if you count the one zeke caught)...this guy is worth every penny I am telling you. I have traps set for weeks and weeks- his are set for a couple of hours and wam (well not literally- although I did think I heard a snap or two in the middle of the night- I might be a bit paranoid though...).

2 down...how many can their be (the thought of that terrifies me)....

Maybe I can get rid of the mice just before tick season starts again...

(glass half full, glass half full)....

For my new readers.. Here is a link to our adventure last March, when Ben had his first round of ear tubes put in.

Ear Tubes Round #1

They are supposed to stay in for about a year to 18 months. Ben's were out after 4 months. The ENT did warn me that since this happened once, it is very likely that it could happen again.. but hopefully this round will get us through this year's cold and flu season and maybe by next year he will have outgrown the ear infection thang...