Single Parenthood Is Not Fun!

For the next three days, I'm a single mom. Brye is away on a business trip. It's not the first time he's gone out of town, but it is the first time he's gone during the week. Plus, being 7 1/2 months pregnant does not make this job any easier. We had a good morning. The three of us stopped for donuts on the way to daycare and then I dropped Brye off to get his rental car before his drive to San Antonio. After a long day at work, I pick Bex up and we are having a great time. He had no time-outs at school so he got to watch TV and we had cookies and chocolate milk for a snack. Well, that was my first mistake 'cause then he wouldn't eat his favorite food for dinner; burritos. In the middle of dinner (well, my dinner) he spills his full cup of chocolate milk on the floor. Here I am again 7 1/2 months pregnant on my hands and knees cleaning up chocolate milk and trying to keep the dog from licking it up. In the meantime, my dinner gets cold and all Bex can do is cry for more chocolate milk. He didn't get any. I then have to put the lid on the sippy cup, which I should have already done. He gets mad 'cause he wants to put the lid on it and throws the cup. We go to time out. Jodi calls in the middle of everything and Bex is screaming and not staying in time out which he never does. I finally get him out of time out and we go back to the table to try dinner again. Bex then attempts to get out of his chair. I tell him to sit down and if his feet touch the floor he's going back to time out. Back to time out we go. No more TV!! Dinner is finally over; he ate three bites.
It's a beautiful day today and honestly I don't want to deal with another tantrum since we can't watch TV so we go outside to play and have a great time. I didn't even have trouble getting him back in! Bex loves bathtime so that wasn't a problem until. . . . it's time to get out. Wait, let me back up. He did dump a full cup of water over the edge of the tub all over me and when he attempts it again I take the cup away which then had him purposely splashing water in my face which then had me immediately snatching him up out of the tub which then had him in another tantrum. He told me, "be nice momma" which had me laughing but I was still so mad at the little booger.
We got the teeth brushed with no problem but the punishment for a bad bath was no books at bedtime. We got PJ's on with no problem as well. We get in bed and I give him three books for him to read since mommy is not reading to him. It's right at 8:00 pm at this time. For about 10 minutes he does really well, reading to himself, talking, etc. Then I guess he realizes that mommy is not there and begins to cry. I hear him get up and open his bedroom door, something he very rarely does. By the time I get up he's halfway down the stairs. I pick him up and put him back in bed. He starts crying, "I want my daddy". I laid down with him and got sucked into at least singing songs. When I wouldn't read to him he told me, "you're not my friend" REALLY? The kid's only two!! So I try to reason with him and leave again. A few minutes later he's screaming, "momma". I ignore it and find him downstairs again. I take him upstairs and we get back in bed and here it comes, with crocidile tears, "I can't read my books by myself". How is a hormonal pregnant woman not supposed to give in at this point. We really need daddy!! We read three books, gave kisses and within five minutes he's asleep. It only took an hour, and I'm exhausted. I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I'll let you know!

Guilty Pleasure

Tuesday night I just had to go to the grocery store, we were out of milk and the very essential toaster strudel for breakfast. It began raining, really raining, as I was pulling into Wal-Mart. The closest parking spot was too far away for my liking so I thought, "forget this, I'm going to Market Street to park in the new and expectant mothers parking". Is that so bad? I deserve it, right?

Oh the things kids will say

This past weekend we were driving around in the car and Bexley starts singing. His lyrics go like this.

Mama's gonna bite you, don't say that word.

WHAT?! He sang it over and over and over. I finally said to him, "Bex stop singing that song, Momma doesn't like it." He laughed and said, "I like it" and continued on. I even had him sing it to Brye to make sure I was hearing what I was hearing. I then became very angry and started wondering what in the world they were teaching my kid at daycare. So Monday morning I go straight into his room and up to his teacher. I tell her that Bexley has been singing a song all weekend and I needed her to decipher his code. I sang to her what he was singing to me. She immediately began to laugh and said, it's

Momma's gonna buy you a Mockingbird!

I feel like an idiot. For one, the daycare teacher recognized that and I didn't; and two, did I really think they were telling my kid I would bite him for saying a bad word? So now I can laugh about it and will be correcting his lyrics although they are now kind of cute!

A Great Night with Friends

It's been almost three years since I've seen some of my classmates and we got together this past Friday for dinner and conversation. We had a great time laughing, catching up, reminiscing and best of all, gossiping! It's so nice to see friends you haven't seen in a long time and feel like it was only yesterday. I just wish we could have all stayed longer. Hopefully it won't take as long for the next get together. We had such a good time and our next goal is to get Dan on Facebook. A big thank you to James and Althea for paying for dinner, you really shouldn't have. Until next time!

Weekend Away!

Amazingly, Brye and I, along with Bexley, took a weekend vacation to Fossil Rim Wildlife Park in Glen Rose, TX. The three of us have not been alone like that in, well, ever. So we started off Saturday morning and dropped Marley off at the vets for boarding. This was the first time we boarded her and it kind of made me sad. We then ventured down 75 looking for a McDonald's. I just knew there was one on 75 and Spring Valley, but when we got closer it was actually 75 and Beltline which is one exit before Spring Valley and we just missed it. The GPS on Brye's Blackberry said there was another one at Mid Park. Well, that was in the shut down Super Wal-Mart. I knew for a solid fact there was another McDonald's at 75 and Royal Ln. So we get there and order our food and coffee. At this McDonald's you order from one window, pay at another and get your food at another. So we order, we pay, and when we get our coffee, Brye asks for Splenda. The lady at the window, who had on the "manager's" uniform said something like, "did you ask for it at the window". We were a bit confused and said no, we didn't know we had to. She left the window, came back and very harshly informed us we were to ask for it at the previous window. Since when did getting two packages of Splenda become such a burden for the drive through window operator? We were so upset and angry at her for about 10 minutes, then all the sudden busted out laughing about it. I'm still a little confused when I think about it. Next time I go to any fast food place, I'm sure to ask for my condiments BEFORE I get to the food window.

From there we headed to Glen Rose, TX, to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park. It was amazing. I was concerned that we'd pay our money and the animals wouldn't be there. It happens at the zoo all the time. I couldn't have been more wrong. The animals basically charge at you as you can see in the pictures below. It was so much fun. Bexley wasn't even scared. We got to see multiple deer, giraffes, zebras, and the oh so mean ostrich's. I actually got a scratch on my hand from an ostrich pluck. We stopped halfway for a bite to eat and continued on. I would recommend this to anyone with kids. It's an easy day trip from the DFW area, although we stayed the night in Glen Rose to experience Dino Land the next day.

We were a little disappointed in Dino Land, but mainly because Bexley was too little to really appreciate and enjoy it. He was more afraid of these fake, although realistic dinosaurs, than the real life moving animals.

Not even halfway through Bex said, "I wanna go home and watch Barbagins". That's his word for Backyardigans. He was acting tired and we were bored and Bex was too young to dig for fossils, so we decided not to do the Dinosaur Valley State Park. There, you can see real dinosaur footprints and camp, etc. Maybe when he's older.

About 10 minutes after we left, Bexley who was already fast asleep already, began to throw up in the car. None of us had experienced this before. Of course, it frightened him to a screaming tantrum and Brye and I didn't really know what to do. We stripped him down to his diaper on the side of the road and my wonderful husband for some reason had a roll of shop towels under his seat of the truck. We cleaned the carseat as well as we could and put a blanket in it for Bex to sit on. Needless to say we had to smell it the whole way home. Bexley was fine the rest of the way, never went back to sleep and was singing songs by the time we got home. I however, felt like poop when we got home; psychological I think. We had a great weekend and I can't wait to do more of these great things with my boys.

My Funny Valentine

On February 7th, Brye and I attended a Gala titled, "My Funny Valentine" to raise money for CASA of Collin County, which is where I work. It is an annual event that we attend every year. This year was a little more reserved as you can imagine due to the economy. Dean Martin performed a stand up act and there was a swing band. The craziest part of the night was the fact that a yellow lab puppy was auctioned off for $6,000.00. Can you believe that? The week long trip to France for 10 people only went for $14,000.00. One of the volunteers that I supervise won a tip to the Dr. Phil show for around $2,000.00 Lot's of money was made for our charity and we are really pleased. It's not often Brye and I get to dress up together, although it's much more fun when I'm not six months pregnant! If you are interested in learning more about CASA and especially CASA of Collin County our web address is http://www.casaofcollincounty.org/. I would encourage all of you to volunteer at your local CASA program if there is one. It can be a very rewarding experience.

Rambling

It's not even been a week and so much has happened. If The Guinness Book of World Records is keeping score of the most weight gained by a pregnant woman in one month whose only carrying one child--I just got my picture in there. I don't know how it happened but there are 11 extra pounds on me that weren't there on December 31. I'm not kidding when I say my belly looks like I'll have a baby in a month. It wasn't like this at New Year's and I honestly don't know where it came from. Brye will tell you he knows and says I'm eating like a teenage boy; and maybe I am. My doctor is not worried and says my total weight gain is fine. I gained in one month what I had the previous 6, how can that be fine? I am really trying but I'm just hungry all the time, and apples are not doing it.

My husband is the greatest (in spite of the comments from above). This past weekend we have over indulged and finally bought the furniture we've been so desperately wanting and needing. New dining room and living room!! AND he put the bunk beds together for Bexley's "Big Boy" room. Bex is terribly confused and doesn't want to sleep in Baby Beau's room anymore. I still have a lot of work to do before that can happen. I open the closets with the motivation to clean them, look at them, and shut them again. I'll get it done. When does "nesting" start?

Bexley's hair is either starting to grow on me or starting to grow out after a disastrous haircut that landed me in tears for at least 24 hours. I won't go into detail about it to save my husband from further criticism; I think you can figure it out on your own. I love you Brye.