Still a Bobble Head

My son is still a bobble head (I hope I'm spelling that right). AJ had his 18 month appointment yesterday and his statistics are:

weight - 25 lbs. 11 oz --- 50 percentile
height - 32 7/8 inches --- 75 percentile
Head - 50.5 inches --- 97 percentile

Awesome. And he desperately needs a haircut, so he's looking extra top heavy these days.

As far as development, AJ is doing very well, except for the language. He should be saying 10-20 words but I don't think he is. He definitely has Ball down. In fact any round object is a ball and he loves pointing that out. Other words he says; baba (milk), aba (agua for water), daddeeee and that actually may be it. He does use his sign language skills to tell me he wants more food and he shakes his head for "no" if he's done. But I honestly can't think of any other words he can say that I can decipher as an attempt for a real word. According to Dr. G (real doctor not my G), he should be saying 50 words by the time he's two. I've got some work to do.

He understands everything. I can tell him to get things and he will. He understands cleaning up, go outside, cheez cheez (sleep time), etc. and can point things out on himself or in books, but he's not saying much. Well, that's not true....he talks, a lot, but it's all AJ talk.

AJ is becoming more a boy. Is really starting to get into cars - and making the sounds associated with cars.

He's starting to beat up on his sister. At least once a day he's hitting her with something. Yesterday it was with a naked barbie. I wonder if this is his way of telling me he needs some boy toys :)

AJ still LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to dance. The second any musical tune comes on he's up bouncing, stomping his feet and clapping. He loves to mimic my awesome car dance moves too.

My son is also fearless. He's not scared of any playground equipment. Doesn't matter what it is, how high it is or how far apart the "stepping" bars are - he's all over it. Or at least tries to climb, jump, drop, whatever before I can reach him.

As for discipline - the tantrums are starting. He definitely gets angry when things are taken away from him. And he's been introduced to time-out. Dr. G, time-outs are ok. AJ's time outs are usually following food throwing (excessive food throwing) or hitting his sister. The problem is, he thinks it's a game.

And one more thing...AJ loves to help his dad on those rare moments my precious G decides to flash his handy man skills. It usually involves AJ all up in G's grill observing and/or wanting to help with his "tools". My favorite so far was just this past weekend. G decided he wanted to switch his "movie room" with kids playroom. This involved moving a lot of furniture and items. AJ, the tiny tool man that he is, of course wanted to help and tried so hard to push the heaviest piece of furniture in the room. We couldn't let his efforts be wasted so we made sure he was "placed" appropriately so he could help push the furniture around. It was so stinkin' cute!

Home Sweet Home

The paperwork and payment have been received and my house is officially out of foreclosure. Music to my ears...for now. I still have to make two more payments during this "trial period" before my loan gets "officially" modified but either way, my house is out of foreclosure. That is all that matters to me. And good thing, my auction date was Friday, July 17. Of course, I learned of this date by the most embarrassing way possible. I started receiving "advertising mail" from lawyers with the actual clipping from the newspaper of my house, my name, the whole bit. Now, I'm not ashamed that I'm having to go through this; stuff happens in life that you have no control over but it is a little embarrassing to know that there will be people out there reading the paper and will see my name, my auction date but have no idea how I got there.

And it didn't end there.

I had real estate agents come to my door offering their help. I even had someone come to my house offering to buy it. Very unpleasant and unsettling. I'm glad it's over.

I suppose I have my wonderful husband to thank for us still being in our house. If it had been left to me solely, I would have already been moved out, living at my mom's that is already bursting at the seams with my sister's family and other tenants and had the place rented. I had two or three people ready to move in and right at the last minute G refused, refused, refused to let me rent it.

I'm so glad I caved.

Seena's Party a Success

The party was Sunday and it's now Wednesday. It has taken me this long to recoup. Boy, I'm getting old. After many long nights last week and only 5 hours of sleep over Friday and Saturday, I've slept like a LOG, ROCK, what have you for the last two nights. It's been AWESOME! My kids have even slept great too. Yeah! So, now back to the party...

The party was overall a great success. Leading up to the event was stressful. I had to wait until payday to do most of the shopping which then meant I couldn't do too much beforehand, the cake was by far the most stressful, followed closely by the goody bags. Seena was actually a great help. She wanted to be a part of it all and she started to understand what the party was about. She actually put most of the goody bags together, filled up the pinata, helped make the flowers for her cake and while I was stressing over finishing the cake, she kept encouraging me that things were going to be ok. My little 5 year old buttercup was telling me, the grown up, not to worry, the party was going to be great. And it was.

The Cake

Seena and I have known for months what her cake was going to be. She frequently goes through all of my cake decorating yearbooks and "picks" out cakes she wants. The Princess Castle Cake or "Romantic Castle Cake Set" as it's officially called was number 1 on her list. After looking over the picture and reading the instructions, it really didn't look difficult. It was mainly just assembling all of the pieces. The instructions, of course, list all of the Wilton products needed to assemble the cake, but being the frugal person that I am, I convinced myself that some of those things are not needed and I can improvise. I've taken self-taught cake decorating classes, I know how to make Royal Icing, leaves and drop flowers, I can do this. They may not be perfect but they will be good enough. My goal was to have the flowers done on Thursday evening, since I had to make at least 285 flowers I thought this was a good plan. Not so. I didn't attempt to make the flowers until Friday evening and it was a disaster. My "Royal Icing" was runny and my flowers looked like big blobs. I now start to feel the anxiety. One, for timing and two, I was realizing that I was going to have to buy all of the stuff I was trying NOT to buy for the cake.

Saturday morning....I bake the cakes, 2 to be exact. I realize I need another one. So, now I have to go to the grocery store on top of the two craft stores I have to go to to buy the flower making kit and the fondant (making use of 50% of coupons for each store). Oh, I also had to drag my two kids with me because EVERYONE else in my house was still sleeping.

Get home. Bake #3 cake. It deflates - big, huge, whopping hole in the middle. NO!!!! Beg and plead G to go to the store for me to buy cake #4. As I begin to bake this 4th cake - I realized that I forgot to add the eggs to the #3 cake...mystery solved. Phew...I was getting worried that I was losing my touch in my cake baking skills. But, this also made me realize that I needed to slow down. I'm rushing and I'm not thinking.

Get ready to make the flowers - ice cake and I realize I bought WAY too much fondant. So, off to the store I go AGAIN, to buy the correct amount.

I get back home and prepare the fondant to make the flowers. This is the point where I'm starting to get really upset at how much money I've spent on this cake. Even with my 50% off coupons, the overall cost was over $35. I could have bought a cake for this same price. I believe this is also the point Seena started reassuring me that this was going to be a great party. But nonetheless, I can't help feeling guilty at how much money I was spending. Was it really all necessary?

Anyway, Seena helps with the flower making...which actually turned out to be quite easy and kinda of fun. The kit comes with all kinds of flower cutters so I think Seena and I can practice making some other cool flowers another day.

The rest of the cake process...went pretty smoothly. Just took a lot of time. And the top was crooked - so much so that I was afraid the top was going to fall off. But it didn't..phew!

Goody Bags

For the record I just want to say, I hate goody bags. I know kids love them but goodness -- this is a ripoff scam. Who needs and wants all of the crap that gets put in them? It all ends up in the trash anyway. So, my philosophy is simple - goody bags are going to be filled with candy and or edible things. Sorry parents, I know it's sugar but this is a birthday party so suck it up, your kids are gettin' loaded with candy at my house. For documentation sake, and because I'm quite proud of how clever I was in my ideas (and Aunt V) both for "cuteness" and cost effectiveness.

Snow White - Hershey Kiss

Cinderella - Glass slipper filled with blue jelly beans

Ariel - Swedish Fish

Jasmine - Fruit Roll-Up (magic carpet)

Belle - fruit snacks

Sleeping beauty - a marshmallow (her pillow)

A sticker and a coloring book I made from printed pictures off the computer

I even saved on the goody bags by buying clear plastic ones in bulk and decorating them with ribbon. Yeah, for me!

The Course

The obstacle course was a lot of fun. I had intended for all of the kids to go through the course one-by-one but as soon as I finished giving the instructions all 50 million of them went running to the beginning and they all went at the same time.

Ursula - my Ursula didn't quite turn out how I envisioned it either. I should be grateful that I had a very gracious volunteer to be Ursula but I would have hoped there would have been a little bit more effort put in into the whole production. For starters, she was suppose to be sitting indian style on the table with her legs draped over the sides - as if an octopus was sitting on the table. Then I would have hoped she would have gotten "into character" a little and played it up for the kids. No luck there. Instead I got a teen sitting on a table with funky black things in her hands. She was a big help though - I have to give her that.

Nevertheless, the whole obstacle course was very cute. The kids had fun, Seena loved being the princess and the parents seemed to have had a good time. One little boy in particular, concentrated so hard on getting everything done correctly. He even rang the doorbell before entering the playhouse. Sooo stinkin' cute!

After the obstacle course the party went on auto pilot...pizza, pinata, cake and open presents. The party lasted exactly two hours and everyone was gone by 1:00pm. We had the outside cleaned up by 2:00 and AJ and I were down for a nap by 3.

It was a great day.

Why Do I Open My Mouth?

I never learn. I do this to myself all of the time and I never learn. Seena's big b-day is in three days. And yes, I still have a ton to do but I'm not stressed about that so much. I'm stressed at the number of people coming.

At the beginning of the week I was worried that we weren't going to have ANY guests because no one was calling to RSVP. I was worried that the cute scrolled up invitations that Seena and I made together were lost amongst the many art projects and school notices the kids get. So, I did what any good mom would do....I started to ask the parents if they received the invitation. As I thought, they had not. I even went as far as inviting another girl who no longer is even in Seena's class but I am friends with the mom and I felt guilty not inviting her. So, what went from not having many at the party to now I have 16 kids coming plus Seena. Oh, and the parents.

And it doesn't end there.

I purposely didn't give an invitation to a little boy in Seena's class because the mom told me they were going to be out of town. This morning as I dropped the kids off, I ran into this mom and to be nice, I asked "oh, so where are you guys vacationing this weekend?" The mom replied, "oh, we're not going now because blah, blah, blah...". This is where I should have stuffed my kids blankies in my mouth and made a B-line for the bathroom. But no, I HAD to open my BIG mouth and say "oh, well, does B want to come to Seena's party then? It's this weekend." WHY! And this particular mom, as well as the other mom that I invited because I felt guilty, has two other siblings that always tag along. So, if they come, as I suspect they will, that's 4 more kids.

Now, I don't need to buy them goody bags but I'm starting to stress over the number of actual invitees. As any mom that has planned a party knows, most party items come in sets of 4, 8, and 12. I've been particularly lucky in finding great priced goody bags in a set of 8. If I have the 16 kids, I am at the perfect number in terms of having complete sets. If I get even one more kid I have to buy entire sets of everything and I will end up having a ton left over. And then there’s the question of “do you make any extras just in case.” Of the list of people we invited there are probably at least 7 who haven’t called at all. So either, they are rude or they didn’t get the invitation. I’m not calling them to find out.

This probably wouldn’t bother me as much if I was financially ok and could deal with buying a little extra just in case. But no, I’m not there, I’m so not there. Seena’s b-day party could not have fallen on a worst week. To regress for one second, ***good news*** we have prequalified for the Obama plan and we have our first “new” trial mortgage payment due this week. Plus I have the bank loan to pay back – which I am now going to refer to as my “second home” mortgage. I think that sounds much better than having to “pay my mom back”. So, in order for us to make both of those payments on time, my b-day budget is very, very tight.

The lesson for me here is, KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT. The more people that come means the more stuff I have to buy.

Oh, but the fun doesn't end there. They are calling for rain on Sunday. All week it's been BEAUTIFUL! But no, this weekend is going be hot, humid and Sunday now has a 50% chance of thunderstorms. Awesome.

To be continued….

Seena's Birthday Wish List

G finally settled her down and got a full list. These are listed in order.

1. Switch Play (infomercial - ball that flattens into a frisbee?)
2. Rocket Shot (another infomercial - fishing tool)
3. Married Doll
4. Doll with Pink House
5. Polly Pockets
6. Movies, Movies
7. Big Disney Dolls
8. Disney Princess Books
9. Any Princess stuff from Disney Store
10. High School Musical Dolls
11. High School Musical pajamas
12. Disney Princess bathing suit
13. Disney Princess towel
14. KITTEN (written in large letters and all caps)
15. Pool with Polly Pockets
16. Outdoor Pool
17. Crayons
18. Markers
19. Clothes
20. Coloring Book
21. WII

Let me remind you that G helped Seena make this list *ahem #21*.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

G is so proud.

Invitations Sent

If I could be granted with one skill it would be hands down creativity. It's the one thing that I can feel jealous about. There definitely is creativity in my family, thank goodness, but I possess the least amount of it. I have the desire, strong desire and therefore, I can come up with some decent ideas. My sister is a genius when it comes to coming up with really cool and fun ideas. I ALWAYS bounce off my ideas on her as she usually can give me new and better ones. My brother is the artist. I usually go to him if I need anything drawn or painted.

Anyway, since I refuse to give in to my lack of creativity I still try to plan grandioso theme birthday parties. Like I said, I can come up with a generic idea of what I want but may have trouble coming up with the visionary details. Plus, I have two other things working against me, money and not wanting to be wasteful. Sure, I could throw lavish birthday parties with real characters, rentals, etc. but one, I don't have that kind of money and two, I actually like the challenge of trying to pull off the same type of party without spending a ton of money. The other part is being wasteful...I hate spending money on something I will only use once. So, knowing this, I still put myself through the stress of planning theme parties....at home....with little money and little creative skills. Fun!!

This year for Seena's 5 year b-day party I've decided on a "Save the Princess" theme. It will be an obstacle course with 6 challenges, one for each villain of the 6 princess stories. I have to say, I did come up with this on my own and I even got approval from my sis. I'm a bit nervous about pulling it off but I've done a lot of research on other "princess parties" and obstacle courses that I think I've got a good plan in place. Now, I just need to put it all together.

I'm going to document my attempts at pulling this off just in case it doesn't go well. Later when Seena blames me for ruing her "ruining her life" she can look back and see that I really did have good intentions :)

The Plan

The six challenges are:
1. kids must crawl through the "tunnels" of the Cave of Wonders and avoid Jafar
2. Ursula's Cave - kids must crawl under a table covered in balloons (can't take credit for this---this was a Martha Stewart thing.) This is also the one station that is proving to be the most challenging. I want an Ursula sitting on top of the table for the "effect". I was going to try to make it somehow but I may have acquired a "volunteer" to dress up as Ursula. We'll see.
3. Cinderella - kids must find the glass slipper and put it on the princess
4. Snow White - kids must find the poison apple before Snow White does
5. Kids must "rescue" Ms. Potts from Gaston (running across a beam while holding a tray)
6. Knocking off the tip of the spindle before Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger.

While each kid is running through the obstacle course, the other kids will either be decorating foam crowns or cardboard shields (I've been saving cereal boxes). And of course there will be a pinata. The food and the goody bags will be inspired by the 6 princesses too. I'm still working on that.

The invitations were made on the computer using Disney Clipart and I tried to be as creative as I could be using Old English terminology. Seena and I rolled them up like scrolls, tied them up with pink ribbon and labeled them Sir Knight and Princess so and so. They've been delivered.

No turning back now...