One Year!

It's December first today, which means we have been living in our house for a year! Wahoo! After this, the longest we've ever lived somewhere is 6 months! I can't believe it's already been a year since we moved into this place. It certainly doesn't feel like it's been that long. Aden was only 9 months when we moved in here! And now he's nearly two years old! Crazy, I tell you.

Yep ... the longest we've ever lived somewhere before this is just 6 months. We lived in Richard's parents' basement for a few months before we moved into the condo, and we lived there for 6 months. After that, we had to move back in with our parents, and we lived seperately (sort of) for 3 months. From there, we moved into Jenn's place, and lived there for 2 or 3 months. Then in December of last year, we moved into this place.

Of course, with any luck, we won't be living here much longer. It's just not big enough for our needs. Two bedrooms, one bathroom (all downstairs), and a very small kitchen just doesn't suit our needs. I'm thrilled that we've lived in the same place for a year already, but I certainly hope we're not here for another one! The sad part is, we never even fully moved into this place. The walls aren't decorated, there are still boxes of things sitting out, and lots of things have never found their rightful place -- I guess there just isn't enough room for everything to found a home!

Anyway ... happy house anniversary to me!

Here's a photo of Aden when we first moved in here:



And here's Aden today!



Crazy how things change.

A Much-Needed Update

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, so I figured an update couldn't hurt.


Work has been good -- I'm finally getting the hours I want/need, which is awesome. It's exhausting, but I love it. I need the money, and as awful as work sometimes is, I really do look forward to going. I've made lots of friends at work -- some who are even parents! -- which is such a relief! I really look forward to working with some people! Of course, there are other people I really can't stand working with, but luckily there aren't too many of them.

There is only one person who really makes me HATE working. She has only been there about a month, and she drives me up the wall. She is a WSL, which is somewhere between assistant managers and us lowly floor associates -- apparently this makes her think she is God's gift to Toys R Us, and boy, does she need to be pushed off her pedestal. She's got more attitude than any of the managers! She treats me like dirt and talks to me like I'm 12. The other day, I was talking to my friend at work about it, and the jerk went and passed it on to her. So she, of course, came to talk to me about it, and said "the only reason I'm harder on you is because you're on the floor. The cashiers don't have the same responsibilities. But you're doing a good job today!" I thought to myself FUCK YOU. She has only been there a month, and frankly, she doesn't know shit about her job -- I have been working for Toys R Us since before our store even opened, and I've been in that store since Day 1. I'm damn good at my job and I don't need that bitch to tell me so. In fact, on Thursday, when I know I'm working with her and the manager of Baby, I'm gonna have a lot of complaining to do. You see, I've heard my manager isn't a fan of little miss High-and-mighty either, so I know she listen to my complaints. And you see, little miss High-and mighty does not know how to follow rules, so I'm sure my manager will appreciate hearing all about it. Oh yes, I can be evil too ...


ANYWAY!

Aden is growing like a weed. He's only 4 months away from being 2 years old! I can hardly believe it. He knows so many words now. We have even had a few actual conversations in the last few weeks! I absolutely love hearing him talk. He goes on and on about Mickey Mouse, Donald and Goofy, he tells me when he wants to watch cartoons or he wants a snack. When he and Richard are taking me to work, he knows when he sees the mall that Mommy is going to leave, and before we've even reached the parking lot he goes "See ya! Buh-bye!". I laugh everytime.

And he is such a little comedian. He loves to do silly things that will make people laugh. Last night, we were driving with Hannah, and he points directly at her and goes "Grandpa." And he just kept telling us over and over that she was Grandpa. Hannah and I were just killing ourselves laughing. He is going to be a class clown for sure.

He loves so many things now too. He won't go to bed unless he has three things: Donald, froggy, and blankey. And when he wakes up in the morning, he has to carry all three of those things upstairs with him -- EVERY TIME. It's too cute. He also loves Gunther -- "Gah-go" as he calls him. He'll just lay with Gunther and drink his bottle in the morning, and he'll pet his head and back, and Gunther loves it.

Potty training is at a stand-still, but it's no big deal. I've decided we're going to get back into it by Christmas -- that's my goal. He'll be getting a big boy bed soon -- Paka is bringing one up from my Grandma's house, and we already have a single mattress for it. Before that time comes, I have to baby-proof Aden's room, and find a new spot for the boxes that have found a home in there. And then, I have to buy some bedding that he'll love to sleep in. I'm hoping he'll be in a big boy bed by 2010.


So, that's about it for my update. Hopefully I don't let it go for that long again.

That Time of Year

It's November 3rd, and I have realized in the last couple of days that I really hate November.

And here's why:

People get way too eager for the Christmas season, and the moment Halloween ends, it's like Christmas is coming any day. This year, while driving about on Halloween night, we saw TWO houses with their Christmas lights on! There were a couple houses that had lights on that went with their Halloween decor, but no ... these two houses were Christmas lights. The same lights they had up last year for Christmas. Seriously. On freaking Halloween. I know they weren't just up for Halloween, because driving home from work last night, we saw the same two houses with the lights on.

It makes me so mad! It's one thing to put your lights up this early ... since it's still nice out and you don't have to worry about ice on the roof or anything ... but to turn them on? That is just too much! It's November 3rd, for crying out loud! There are still leaves on the trees and there is no snow on the ground! It is NOT Christmas time yet!!

To make matters worse, I found out yesterday we'll be playing Christmas music at work starting mid-next week. As if I don't get in a bad enough mood on a busy day at work ... Christmas music is only going to make it that much worse. I really hate working retail at Christmas time ...

For me, Christmas stuff doesn't really start until December. That's when our lights go up, that's when the tree goes up, that's when the Christmas season begins. The only thing Christmas-related that should start sooner is shopping. That's IT. Come on, people!



Anyway ... here's Aden is his Halloween costume!

GO Donk!

I'm so proud of my baby sister.

I have been telling her for awhile now that she could be a model. Finally, she decided (with much coaxing from our auntie, and other people) that she maybe, just maybe, could be. So she went to Mode Models. She got an audition/interview-type thingie, and they liked her. She was nervous as heck, but it went well. A few weeks after that, they had her do a practice photo shoot. She said it went awesome and that they seemed to like her.

She was so eager, and couldn't wait to hear back. Today, she finally heard back.

My sister, ladies and gentlemen ... is going to be a model. They are signing her!!! I'm SO stoked!

So, you see, I'm super proud of Molly.

She has been really ... fretting her graduation. She graduates in June, and I think it's been getting to her. She is fearing it because she didn't really have any plans for what comes next. Some people have told her she has to figure it out, while I've been telling her there is no rush. I told her not to go to college for something she isn't positive she wants to do ... and to wait and go to college when she knows for sure. No point in wasting time and money just to find out that isn't what you want.

But modelling? Modelling she can do. It's so awesome that she has a goal, and even more awesome that she is fulfilling it ... before she even graduates! She still has plans to finish school, but now, when she is done, she can model! At least until she knows what she wants to do with her whole life. And heck ... if she wants to model for a long time, and does a damn good job at it ... well ... GO DONK!



Here is a picture of Molly, edited by yours truly.

Travel Systems

At work, we have a lot of travel systems. You know ... the stroller/infant seat combos. I think we have like 6, maybe 7, different ones.

Anyway ... the number of travel systems we have has nothing to do with this post.

In a regular shift at work, I see a lot of people pushing their baby around in a travel system. Often they have a little baby in there ... brand new, one month, two months old ... but other times ... they have an older baby in there -- we're talkin' seven, eight ... even nine months old.

I don't get it.

I understand the convenience of the travel systems ... that you can just click the carseat out of the car when your baby is sleeping, and just click them in the stroller, but ... to do that ALL the time just seems silly to me! A baby who's old enough to sit up on their own does not want to be strapped down in a laying position when they're going to be stuck that way for an hour or more while their parents shop! It just seems cruel to me! I don't think that lots of first-timers realize that you CAN use your stroller without the infant seat, even if your baby still has to ride in said infant seat in the car. The stroller DOES have a five-point harness, or whatever it's called, and it's just as safe for them to ride in -- and just as easy for them to sleep in, for that matter -- as the infant seat itself.

So silly ... but it really bugs me!

Sometimes, when I'm talking to parents and they say the baby riding in the travel system is 8 or 9 months, I just want to say "You know ... he'd probably be perfectly happy riding in just the stroller."

Do you think they'd find it rude? Hm ...

Aden's Bedroom

Since Richard is apparently too busy watching Spectacular Spiderman to talk about this with me, I'm blogging. Yes, Spectacular Spiderman is apparently much too important (even though I'VE even see this one before) to listen to what I have to say.

I'm on this new thing where I'm going to try (operative word here being "try") to clean something every day that I'm not working. Today, I tidied the living room -- something that needed desperately to happen. Tomorrow ... well, I won't be doing anything as we'll be out all day ... and Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are all work days ... so uh ... on WEDNESDAY, I'll probably tackle the bathroom or something.

Aaaaaanyway ... rambling on, here. I plan on eventually getting Aden's room in a state that makes it possible to get a big boy bed. As of right now, his room is a war zone. There's his crib, his dresser, and his ball pit (the huge waste of space his dear Grandma got him for his birthday) ... and a bunch of other crap. There are boxes stacked up at the end of his bed, sheets on the floor that either have to be washed or put away, snow suits that have to go in the closet, and random other odds and ends ... just all in the way.

First, I'm going to wash the sheets that need to be washed, and put away the ones that are already clean. The snow suits will be put in the upstairs closet, since that is obviously the best place for them. The ball pit and balls will be staying put, because there is NO way it's coming upstairs and taking up more space than Aden's toys already need to be taking up. The box of books can stay put, because it's on top of a bin where he can reach them ... and it's too heavy to be of danger. The other boxes stacked at the end of his bed are a real challenge. I need to find a home for them, or a home for all of the things inside them. I can probably fit a few in his closet, and find a suitable home for the others -- there aren't a whole ton of them that would make the job impossible. THEN, I have to get something to anchor his dresser to the wall. We have anchor things at my work that are just like the ones you get sometimes with dressers -- we had one from either my dresser or Aden's dresser, and we just threw it out. We shouldn't have, because turns out Aden's dresser is easily toppleable. He pulls out the bottom three drawers (because he can't reach the first one), and the thing just wobbles. Yeah ... not exactly the kind of thing I want happening when he can easily get in and out of his own bed!

When all of that is said and done, we'll be (hopefully) getting Aden a big boy bed! He is 19 months now, and I think he's almost ready for one. While he still does have a tendency to get around in his sleep, he is pretty good at staying on his pillow at night and keeping his blanket on too -- he thinks it's really fun to lay on his pillow and pull his blanket up. So I think, provided there are no dangers to him being in his room alone, that he could do quite well with a big boy bed. As long as none of those boxes are there to topple over, and his dresser can't be pulled down, it's all good.

Hopefully I don't lose motivation. I don't want to have to wait until we get a 3-bedroom place with more storage -- at this rate, that could be forever -- in order for him to get to grow up.

Another Post About Baby Fevah

We finally got to meet our new niece today. She is SUCH an angel. She looks like a miniature version of her big sister ... just with lots more fuzzy hair! I held her as long as I could while we were over at Richard's parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner (oh, happy Thanksgiving, by the way!), and she just slept ... and when she wasn't sleeping, she was just staring at me.

GOD, SHE WAS CUTE.

Here is Olivia Mackenzie:

She's such a sweetie! Holding her made my baby fever come out in full force, though, of course. I cannot wait to get working on another one. Olivia is just so tiny and delicate and adorable. Soooo sweet ...

Oh, also, my brother Tom got married yesterday! It was a beautiful wedding, and everyone looked great. Here's Tom and his new wife, Trenna: