Christmas Sentiment

Most everyone who reads this knows me very well. I'm not typically sentimental.  I try to be funny, I am often sarcastic, and sometimes I can be judgemental.   I apologize, this ended up being longer than I had first anticipated.

Our family lost an important member this past week.  My dad's cousin Terry has been sick with multiple cancers and other ailments for the better part of the last 10-15 years.  His wife stopped caring for him, (aside from his $$), so my grandparents 'adopted' him.  He was a funny guy, an amazing athlete, and an overall great person.   We are upset that the family found out via a rumor, and his wife would not talk to any of his family, but are happy that Terry is now in a better place.  He will be greatly missed by all of us - and that is the truth. 
After dinner last night (Christmas night) my aunt and I were putting left overs into Styrofoam containers, I was trying to figure out who should get the extra piece of ham, and came to the realization of how lucky our family really is. (And by 'our', I mean both my and Adam's sides of the family.)  
We are all, for the most part, healthy (apart from the surgery here and there due to previous athletic injuries), everyone lives in large houses  (my house is by no means the biggest in the family), and we have a lot of family around.  My son, who is 2, knows nine (9) great-grandparents.  NINE - and he sees each of them, at least a few times a year.  (Hopefully, now that Grandpa Miller 'moved' back to Cinci, we'll see him more often.)  Nine Great-Grandparents, to me that is amazing, and I am grateful that he has gotten to know them, and will hopefully, have each of them around for a bit longer.

We had a phenomenal Christmas this year.  Adam had Friday off, but not Monday, and I  had Monday off, but not Friday, so we stayed in town and celebrated with my family, but again, we're grateful to all have nice jobs, as there are so many people looking. My uncle flew up from Texas, and my Aunt, Uncle and twin cousins came up from North Carolina.  It was so nice seeing everyone again, and so nice to be able to offer our house and comfortably welcome 4 additional people and a dog stay with us for a few days. 

I went a little overboard this year, and enjoyed every bit of it.  Adam was just as bad, but more sly.  He 'just' bought me tickets to a Broadway show, but then of course, we'll have to pay for the trip to New York City, which really adds on to the total.  Sly fox.

I will post pictures of Christmas soon, hopefully over the next few days, as Ares is spending the week at his Grandparents' house in Cincinnati.  Adam and I will make the trip on Friday to stay the weekend and bring him back home.  I will miss him tons, but am exciting about keeping a clean house for the week (well, if I can get it clean to start!!)

Merry Christmas everyone, and here's to health, family and good times in 2012!

December

I'm not entirely sure where this month went, but I'm pretty sure I was around, perhaps, maybe? Here's what I remember from this month.

1) Thanksgiving happened. We were in Cinci from Wednesday evening, through Sunday morning. We had a fabulous time, and it was nice to not be rushed and to be able to relax while in town. The "Feast" was just that, 12 people, and I think there were 6 pies, 45 rolls, 20 lbs of Turkey (maybe more), I'm fairly certain that there was enough food there to feed 40-50 people. It was amazing though. Ares got to go to another Great Aunt's house and ride their horses. Ares met his Great Grandpa Miller for the first time, his Great Grandma Jean and Papa Jim came up for a quick visit too. The weather was beautiful for an Ohio November and we had a lot of fun.  

2) The immediate day after coming back from Cincinnati, I was in Los Angeles for a week for business. I stayed in Beverly Hills. I got to eat at no less than 4 "Top Chef" restaurants, that were all within a 3 mile drive of the office. One of the restaurants that I ate at (not a top chef restaurant, but one of the most trendy places in Hollywood) was "animal". There, I ate bone marrow, polenta, pork belly, poutine, oxtail something-or-other, foie gras, a few other things I can't remember, and to end the evening, bacon chocolate crunch bar with ice cream. Oh, and two bottles of (awesomeness) wine finished by the 5 of us. I also got to go to dinner with some sorority sisters of mine that moved out there (plus, a visit to the famous Crumbs Bake Shop on Hollywood Boulevard), all while Adam played single - childless bachelor, and Ares lived it up with Auntie Cindy and then Grandma Venus.   

3) I got home from the airport, and immediately left to go back to Cincinnati for my father in law's Surprise 60th Birthday Party. That was a fast FAST and busy weekend that we had. A lot of fun, but an exhausting few weeks for me.  

4)Decorating the Christmas tree. I decorated late this year, as we'd been out of town for so long. The tree had been up for a week or longer, but it took time to get the ornaments on, because I was just so tired. Plus, I still had to put away the Thanksgiving/Autumn stuff. It's more fun putting Christmas stuff out, although, I do NOT look forward to putting it all back away. I wish I could keep the Christmas things out for a few months. I think I might separate the stuff into Christmas and Winter things, so my snowmen/snowflake things stay out until Valentines day (of which I own nothing).

5)Sledding - we got the most minuscule amount of snow, and Ares wanted to go sledding. We have a (roughly) 6' hill in our backyard, so he went up and down that, about 20 times. Then, he pulled the sled up himself, and pushed his cars down. He not once, ever, complained about it being cold. (Of course, it did take about 10 minutes to bundle him up!) 

6) At work, they did a reorg. I still work for the same manager, that didn't change, but instead of working on California, I will now be in charge of Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas. I'm slightly excited, because the regulators in the state aren't nearly as strict as they are in California, but kind of bummed in that my winter trips to L.A. will now be few and far between. I'll still go out maybe once a year, but the earlier plan was that I'd be in California at least 5 times a year. I'll likely get to go to Summerfest in Wisconsin though. That could be neat.

7) We finally have Ares getting up and going to the bathroom himself in the middle of the night. Maybe once or twice a week he'll call for me, but usually I just wake up to hear a flush, or a toilet lid close. (Sorry, no picture for this.)

8) We spent an evening with my cousin and his kid at the Lake Erie Monsters Game.  We had fun, while the boys had an awesome time together.  They were best buds within seconds!

9) Now, we've been getting presents wrapped and ready to go for Christmas. We have my aunt, uncle and two cousins staying with us a few days in the next week or so. I might have gone overboard for Ares (although, I did not spend more than $60), but there's about 15 things for him to open. I really know I went overboard on Adam, but I think (hope) he likes what he gets. I know he doesn't read the blog, thank goodness, but I multiplied our "budgeted agreed amount" by about 12. Oops - he's going to love it. (Thanks mom & dad Miller for contributing! Now I can say it wasn't all me!)  The tree is together, the Christmas lights are on the house and we are ready to go! (the left top two windows also have lights like the other windows, but they are in Ares room, and the timer went off before I took these pictures). I just noticed that you can see the lights around the banister on the second story through the big window above the door. 

10) I got our Christmas card together (as mentioned in a prior post).   (I only mailed half of them, as I don't have updated address lists.)

Merry Christmas everyone .

Such a funny kid

I'm sitting on the floor of the bathroom while Ares is on the potty for this exchange:

Me: Ares, it's bedtime, c'mon, hurry up and go potty

Ares: but I can't

Me: You haven't gone since I brought you home from school (almost 4 hours ago), you have to go now

Ares: but I don't have to, my penis isn't full.

Me: (Laughing hysterically) - That's sound logic, OK, let's go.

(10 minutes later, we heard him get out of bed, run down the hall and go to the bathroom, LMAO.)

-----

Ares: Trick or Treat

Me: It's not Halloween, it's Christmas, you say "Merry Christmas"

Ares: Can I have a toy?

Me: No, it's not Christmas yet.

Ares: Trick or Treat

A Great Picture!

I'm psyched that we've gotten some great pictures of Ares as of late. Two great pics with Santa this year (once with Grandma, and once with Auntie Cindy) a great candid, and a fabulous school picture this year. (So I spent, like, $70 on school pictures, and got 4 -5x7 1-8x10, 4-3x5 and a few wallets. $70!! ugh!) Ah well, I now have something to put on my desk at work, since all of his other pictures are a year old.

It was such a bad evening with Ares today (tantrums - I think he's getting sick) that Adam had a beer with him while we were putting Ares to bed. We were all in the bathroom, waiting for Ares to finish up on the potty when he noticed Ballpark licking the (now empty) bottle. I yelled at Adam for letting the dog so close to the beer, and Ares exclaims "Hey daddy! You're not apposed (supposed) to have that in here!!"

Ares hasn't watched his dragons cartoon in over a month, because we gave it back to Koa's dad, who let us borrow it. I'm babysitting Koa this weekend (they're in from Pittsburgh), and when I told Ares that Koa was coming over he was excited that he might get to watch dragons. Only twice had we ever mentioned that the movies were Koa's dad's and it was so long ago! This kid remembers EVERYTHING!

I've finished our Christmas cards. The one thing I miss from my maternity leave, is the time I had to sit on the computer and make neat things with pictures and things. Perhaps I can convince Adam to let me go on another maternity leave in the next year or so... ??

Plumber What?!?

I was fixing some Christmas decorations outside when I heard the window to the morning room open. Next thing I know, my young, dear, impressionable son is yelling "Plumber crack!!!" over and over again. Thanks Adam, for saying "plumber crack" each and every time Ares needs to pull his pants up higher. I love boys.

Great Logic

I'm pretty sure most kids at his age are doing this, and he's not a genius, but, these conversations still blow my mind. As a background to this conversation, Ares wet his bed (a toddler bed) and I was changing his sheets.

Ares: I want two blankets
Me: Well, you had two blankets on, and now they're both wet. You only have one blanket that's clean, so until I do laundry, you can only have one blanket.
Ares: I want the rocket ship blanket over there (pointing to the full size comforter in the corner.)
Me: That blanket is too big, if I put it on your bed, I will have to fold it a bunch of times, and you will sweat.
Ares: But that's OK - (one of his favorite sayings). Sweating is OK.
Me: Yes, sweating is OK, but not at night - you wake up at night hot, and then you can't sleep.
Ares: But Whyyy? (another of his most-used sayings)
Me: That blanket is too big for your bed. That's for when you get your big boy bed.
Ares: But this is a big boy bed. See, is no crib, I can get out.
Me: Yes, that's true, but we will someday get you a bed as big as the one in Grandma and Grandpa's room (while pointing across the hall to the Queen bed in the guest room).
Ares: *thinking hard* but you have a big boy bed
Me: Yes, mommy and daddy have a big person bed
Ares: Then you have the rocket ship blanket?
Me: *sigh* You're too smart

My New Favorite Thing

One of my favorite things right now is to watch Ares and his daddy viewing videos on the computer. Ares loves to sit on Adam's lap and watch videos of Jeeps. Jeeps going up hills, driving across lakes, flipping over in sand, crawling up large LARGE rocks, you name it, if it's a Jeep, Dune Buggy, or any other off roading vehicle, Ares is obsessed with it. He points to the screen of available videos to watch to tell Adam which one to click on next. He's so into the videos though, fixated on everything that goes on, asks questions, makes comments, he's so involved!
Adam threw me a birthday party on Saturday night. It was very small, but he put A LOT of work into it (while my mom and I were off shopping at the IX Center's Christmas Connection). He ordered sushi (my fav) for us, made ribs, Skyline dip, had cheese fondu (with a lot of fixin's) and even a chocolate fountain! To top it off, he got cupcakes too! Davis' family came over, as well as the Gallo's (with Connor) and the Nelson's. It was a good time - until Ares stopped sharing and got fussy (Around 9:30). He and Davis tore apart the house, jumping, wrestling - boys being boys.
I used to believe the articles out there saying that acting like boys/girls is a learned behavior, but I completely disagree with that. This kid is ALL boy - and sometimes I try to get shopping and girlie cartoons snuck in, but he won't have any of it. The only thing that's not "boy" about him, is that he says pink is his favorite color. It's my favorite, so I'm not sure if he really likes it, or just says so because he knows I like it.
Thanks to everyone who made my birthday weekend so much fun - and for all of the birthday cards I got in the mail! Hopefully I get to see EVERYONE *cough - Grandma Jean & Jim* soon so I can thank them in person.

A Beautiful Smile!

I can't believe what a good picture this is.  I was walking in front of him, and without turning around, snapped a picture of him, hoping I got him.  This is one of my favorites of this fall. 

My computer at work will not let me on to this website, and my computer at home will not upload pictures, so I'm having a difficult time keeping up with this blog. 

Best Buds

Ares and his best bud Davis in the changing room at GAP.  These two boys wouldn't take their shirts off, so they ran around the store like supermen and we had to tear off the tags and put the boys on the counter to get the security tags off.  They were having such a great time, every single person in that store was grinning at how much fun two little boys can have.

Davis and Ares at school.  (The matching shirts was planned.)  Their teacher took this picture. 

Vacation

I want to go on a vacation like never before. Adam's on a vacation kick too. It's been a while since we've gone anywhere. Adam and I went to Ft.Lauderdale in January with my company for two nights (on business). It was a good time aside from us both getting the flu. Before that, we were supposed to have a vacation starting the first week of December for 3 weeks in 2008, but we all know what happened there. (If not, Google "Mumbai November 2008".)

Prior to that, Adam and I went to Florida to visit his grandfather and stayed a couple of days in Gatlinburg, TN, which was fun, but short, so our last real vacation was in 2005, when we went to Asia for a month. (Which, if anyone recalls, was supposed to be Egypt, but of course, we all know what happened there too (If not, Google "Cairo terrorist attack 2005".)).

I don't have time off for another 85 days of work, but I'd love to plan something for next summer. And by something, I want to leave the OH, IN, PA area, and actually go somewhere as a "vacation" that's not Cincinnati. I know we just bought a house, and that was our "vacation" (and a really nice one at that!) but Adam and I have been antsy to get out and go somewhere, I think it would be great to take Ares on a Disney Cruise, or to Disney World or something, of course, we'd love to save our $$ and go somewhere out of country again, perhaps with our little guy this time. Of course, we'll make sure we plan TWO vacations if that's the case, because we seem to have a bad history with terrorist attacks! hehe.

Or maybe we'll just take Ares to Kalahari this winter =p.

Finally, no talking, more pictures

The train that goes through Penninsula. This passenger train follows the canal.

For a late October day, it was beautiful out.

Ares can find fun no matter where he is.

Our lazy pumpkin. I love it, I think it's one of the most fun pumpkins we've done. (And by "we" I mean Ares and his Grandma Karen and Grandpa Doug.)

Boo at the Zoo. Ares dressed as Mike W-----owski from Monsters Inc. (No one actually knows what his last name is, or how to pronounce it.)

Happy family right after trick or treating. Ares made it down half of our street.

Great times with Friends. Eli and his family, and Davis and his family came over after TrUnk or Treating. Eli is with Ares here.

Beverly Hills, Here I Come!!!

So, I'd been at the office for 5 hours on Monday, (my first day), and I'm told I'm going to California the week after Thanksgiving. Here's where I'm staying. http://www.mybeverlyhillshotel.com/html/things-to-do-hollywood.asp
LESS than a mile from Rodeo Drive! (New purse for me?! Heh, I wish!!)

Unfortunately, I just realized that I'll be out of town both weekends surrounding that week, making it 13 days of straight travel. BLEH! At least I'll be back Dec 4th, which means I'll be able to celebrate St. Nick's day with Ares =)

Invisible Friend

I'd take a picture of them together, but the "nice bear" is "pretend mommy". Funny how this pretend bear eats his chocolate goldfish, so he needs more, and this pretend bear also sleeps in his bed, so there's no room for Ares to take a nap.
There's also been a "nice wolf" and a "nice alligator" that spend time in this precious little boy's mind. (Sometimes, though, I admit, that there's a devil child inside of this little boy's mind to though!)

Overdue Update

(Written two days ago, but still true.) I'm trying my best to stay awake tonight. It's 8:30, and feels like it's past midnight. I have really enjoyed my week off, it's nice being between jobs (literally). I left a position that i didn't enjoy much at all, so I'm excited about that, and I'm looking forward to this new position, so it feels great (no stress) to have a week off (first one in over 18 months.)
I painted Ares' bedroom on Wed and Thurs. Two walls are red and two are blue. It's definitely a boy's room. He loves it, Adam loves it, and (now that I'm finished painting) I love it too! This week I've also gone shopping, cleaned he house, went out to breakfast and lunch, had people over the house, took Ares swimming, played cars and dinosaurs, watched CARS2 three times, wrapped Christmas presents, did crafts... I've been pretty busy.
Today my cousins put up my Christmas lights on the house. I paid EACH of them the equivalent to $25/hour to climb HIGH on my roof to get the entire outline of the house, and they did a really nice job. At least theweather was nice, and no one got hurt! I only wish these new fandangled LED lights weren't $30 per strand. My roof is large enough to need 7 strands of lights. INSANE!!
Because our last house was so small, getting a dog, having Ares, and putting the house up for sale, we hadn't put up a Christmas tree in 4 or 5 years. I'm so excited about having one this year, I want to put one up now! I'll hold off, for sake of my marriage. I want another full sized tree, but I'll wait for the after-Christmas sales to get that one.
Tomorrow I start my new job as a senior analyst at Farmers Insurance. I'm psyched. I know it will be difficult, but it has to be so much more fulfilling than my prior one. I'm excited about the new paycheck too, although, the first few are already spent with the price of the Christmas lights and labor to put them up. =) But that makes me really happy.
(I'll post pictures of Ares soon, plus his updated report card remarks. I'm so proud of my little boy! There's an assessment at the beginning of each school year (Sept/Oct) and an assessment for the end of the year (April/May). There's only 6 letters he doesn't know, 3 shapes (hexagon, octagon and pentagon) 3 numbers he doesn't recognize on sight, and his date of birth (which we went over yesterday). the other 100 things on the page he already knows. My baby will be ready for Pre-School soon!)

Prediction: A Great Week!

Today is my last day at National Interstate. I have nothing really to do, because I was worried I'd leave a lot of work for Mike, so I rushed through to make sure it was done. I'm psyched to be joining Farmers in a week!

Uncle Mike and Ares

Halloween this year has been a lot of fun. Ares loves candy (*grin*) and he really likes his costume. It's far too cute and other kids seem to love it. The eyeball kept coming off, so I've glued it and am hoping it stays attached throughout this weekend, where he'll be wearing the costume 4 times! (School, Trunk or Treat, the Kirbawi's party, and actual Trick or Treating, plus, he may go to grandma's on Monday to trick or treat. Not that we need the candy)

Here's a cute pic of Ares and Adam riding a wagon down the hill (at my in-laws) into a large pile of leaves. Ares absolutely loved it. Adam is here holding a video camera to record the ride. (Too bad he forgot to turn it on!!

Most recent Airie-ism:

"Mom, may I please ___ ? (insert anything) Anytime I say "no", he says, with a sweet voice (while batting his eyelashes) "But I asked nicely, mom, but I asked nicely."

I don't like Parties

Last weekend, Ares was in a foul mood. Usually, talking about what is planned cheers him up. Here's our conversation:
Me: Grandma and Grandpa are coming over this evening, and tomorrow we're going to the zoo and then a party. That will be fun, won't it?
Ares: No
Me: But you love the zoo. There will be lots of animals, and you get to dress up in your monsters costume, and ALL of your grandparents will be with you. That's going to be awesome!
Ares: No is not, not awesome
Me: After the zoo, we'll all go to a party at Auntie Cindy and Uncle Mike's house. You like parties! It'll be so much fun!
Ares: Not fun, no.
Me: C'mon, you love parties. There will be lots of people with costumes and candy, and.. uhm, cookies and your....
Ares: Ohhhh waaaiiit a minute, I like chocolate cookies.
-- and all was well in the world.

Lions and Tigers and Bears

So the picture to the right shows the "S" bridge, where Adam proposed to me some April night waaay back in 2003. Not far from here, Jack Hannah (Muskingum Alumn!) is off trying to catch Lions and Tigers and Bears. Quite literally! I've got to say, this is the most interesting thing that's ever happened to Muskingum County (aside, of course, from the county fair, LMAO).

These animals, and the area have been front page of FoxNews, CNN, and every other news station in the country. (In less interesting news, I got to give Ares a bath at 4:30 in the morning. His first time wetting the bed since he became potty trained. When I walked into his room, he told me that he was "cold... and wet, but it's OK". )

Ares LOVES the fall

This kid is obsessed with cornstalks. He likes to hide in them, and walk through them, rather than on the path. I asked him why he runs in the corn and he says "You can't RUN, you have to walk or you fall." Genius!

I love this picture. It has nothing to do with the Fall, but it's Super Cute. He loves this doggie at his Auntie Cindy's house.

He slept over Auntie Cindy and Uncle Mike's house (great aunt/uncle) and they carved pumpkins. I believe they let him draw the face before they carved it.

He was so happy and proud.

And My Last Day Is..... Drum Roll Please....

October 28! Wahoo! I got the new job. Yet another insurance company will be proud to say that Athena Miller is or has worked for them - for practically free. LMAO.


A good move for me - for my sanity, for better benefits, better pay, bigger company, etc. A good move for the company, as I'm probably one of the least expensive Senior Analysts they have. We're both happy! - For now at least

I have finally told the people at work, as well as made it Facebook official. Perfect timing as Christmas is coming, projects are needing to be completed on the house *by needing, I mean wanting*, AND (as Ares has in a matter of 15 days, grown 2.5" and requires an entirely new wardrobe of size 3T), clothes.

Thankfully, a children's sale was being held by the PTA in Brecksville, so I got 3 pairs of boots, 3 snow suits, hat, gloves, 9 pairs of pants, 15 long sleeve shirts/sweaters, 2 pairs of dress shoes, a (large) mat for Ares to play with his cars, and some infant clothes for my aunt - all for $102. GO - ME. I guess it was worth getting up at 6AM to wait in line. Most everything I have is from GAP too! Nice things!

I still cannot get over how fast his clothes went from fitting him, to being well above his ankles. Actually, so far above his ankles, you could see his skin above his socks. It's unbelievable the amount he has grown. The 3T's actually fit him perfectly. I'm really glad the GAP clothes have adjustable waistbands!

Adam loves his new schedule, he's working 4-10 hour days, and has Friday off. I hate his new schedule, as my mornings have become a lot more hectic in getting Ares ready, Ares doesn't see his daddy but for 15 minutes in the evening, and I have to make dinner now. Yuck. Yuck and YUCK!

A New Obsession

Most of you guys know me pretty well. I am not a fan of science fiction. Mystical creatures, magic, LARP, D&D, even movies and books about these mysterious creatures hold no interest for me. So, naturally, my 2 and a half year old son is OBSESSED with this "new" cartoon. Originally aired in 1983. *yes 83* it has such a grasp on him that he wakes up asking for 'Dragons Daddy' or 'Daddy's movie'. He asks questions about the 'bad buy with a blue face' and 'where did the dragon go' , and always wants another episode on after one ends.

He doesn't look like me, fine. He's allergic to peanut butter, fine, he doesn't like green beans, that's even fine too, but Dungeons and Dragons?!? PLEASE don't allow this kid to be a gamer. I would like him to finish college in a timely, 4 (or even 4.5) year time span.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

I'm going to bombard you with lots of pictures, be prepared...
These past couple of weeks, I've been in a funk. I've been studying a lot, I often take Ares to school, pick him up, make dinner, give him a bath, get him ready for bed, etc while Adam is on his new work schedule, and it had done nothing but rain for the past two or three weeks.

Except this weekend, where we had the most beautiful weather, for ANY month, let alone an October.

All day Saturday we did yard work, mow, weedwack, move bushes around, seed, plant bulbs, pull rocks out of the grass, fertilize etc etc. We also played with bugs, chalked on the driveway, slid down the slide and went to Red Lobster for dinner, where Ares finished my salad, got excited about broccoli, and LOVED popcorn shrimp.
Sunday was amazing, we went to Patterson's Fruit Farm for the kids' pumpkin fest. We met Mike Wiece and his family out there, which was great, because Ares adores Anna (age 8) and Cassie (3.5)

I really wish Anna's face wasn't covered by the corn stalk!

As we learned later, NOT the best way to go down when it comes to landing.

JUMPING off of the hay bales, of course, - ALL BOY

Yum, Apple Fritter!

Another Big Day

Case study was fine, I made it to the next step. Still cryptic, hopefully good news later this week.

A BIG Day

Today is a big day. I am nervous. I haven't had time to prepare. I am cryptic. I cannot post on FB for support. I dislike the idea of case studies.

Jellybean stuck

My 2.5 year old just said (and I quote, exactly): "But mom, I have to put my fingers in my mouth a-cuz I have a jellybean stuck in my teeth. OK?" (after I told him to keep his fingers out of his mouth). I'm pretty sure, although he's been saying complete sentences for many months now, this is probably one of the longest- intelligent, reasoning sentence I've heard, lol.

It was worth it, It was worth it...

I noticed an additional student loan coming out of our account this morning. Now, when adding it all together, Adam and I pay $800/month in student loans. It's not much more than we were paying previously, however, I didn't realize it was so high, I always thought I was exaggerating when I said $800.

What's depressing about this, is that I finally got the buy in from Adam to have a second child, with the requirement that additional daycare can be afforded.

On the plus side - I met my husband at college, AND.... we're going to be RICH when these things are paid off!!! Yahoooooo!!!! And... isn't this such a fun pic, LMAO.

A night at the Hospital

Me: Do you like this Tinkerbell movie?
Ares: No!
Me: OK, then we won't watch it again.
Ares: No, I don't want to watch it ever again. Buuuuttt *sly face* Umizoomi would be nice.

We had an awesome mommy / son evening. Since we had a late lunch with Grandma, I hadn't planned on doing much (if anything) for dinner. So when Ares asked for popcorn, cheerios and juice, I said, 'why not' and we had a very nice 'dinner'. (I even added chocolate chips for color.)

This has been a rough week for Ares, but you would never know it. He has a staph (impetigo) infection on his lower back, butt, and upper thigh. there's three (large) open wounds, the biggest being 3'x3' on his ENTIRE left butt cheek. All open and drippy and really gross. Aside from the fact that he cannot sit or lay on his back, you would never know he had anything wrong. He runs, dances, jumps around, and plays like his normal self.

He had a 9am Dr appt on Thursday, and another one planned for 9am on Friday. Thursday's appt, they cleaned it, and cultured it, and he didn't even cry - not once. Thursday evening, it got bad enough that we had to take him to the Pediatric ER. There, he got mad that we made him leave the waiting room, he wanted to 'play'. This is already at 9pm.
Once in the examining room, he jumped around, and played with his cars for a couple of hours. this is with his butt looking like a piece of raw meat.
After two unsuccessful IV sticks, (they actually managed to stick his artery, which is very uncommon), and a few hours watching CARS dvd the Hospital provided (amazing!!) they dosed him up with amazing antibiotics. A shot in each thigh - and then a Popsicle (grape, his favorite).

The ONLY time he cried the entire evening, is when he was being restrained for the IVs and shots. This kid was amazing. He even asked to go potty when we got home at 1:45AM(this is a big deal, as the open sores would hit the toilet seat and hurt a lot). He slept great, and woke up better. Today has been one of the most fun days EVER with Ares. He is the most amazing kid - all of that pain, and yet, the best spirit, most energy and nicest/fun kid ever.

And - while I'm bragging, I must say, Ares is completely potty trained - he even has been dry at night. We're past the 'making-him-go-every-hour stage' and he now tells us when he has to go potty. Not bad, and he's not even 2 and a half. (Although, he's very close).

I haven't decided if I'm going to post pictures of his staph infection - as it's on his butt. That's not considered child porn, is it? I mean, it's not an attractive picture at all, AND this blog is not public, unless you know the exact blog address. Not sure if it'll get posted.

Can it be true?

I'm not sure how he did at school today, but Friday, he was wearing the SAME clothes he had on in the morning, on Saturday he stayed clean, as did he on Sunday. That was 3 straight days! (nights are still in a diaper, and only 1/2 the time does that stay dry). My good little boy is GREAT!

**OK, too good to be true, he had 1 accident yesterday. They can't wait 3 hours in between potty breaks.

Hopefully by the time Adam gets home, he'll be completely trained (where I'm confident). Ares hasn't seemed to miss Adam too much (which is good). He's made a couple of comments here and there, but not much really, except for last night. He REALLY wanted a hug and kiss goodnight from his daddy.

Missing Adam a lot. I've gotten a lot done around the house. It's kind of like I'm nesting. I've painted the master bathroom, done all laundry, mowed the lawn, started on Christmas presents, and I have a WHOLE BOATLOAD of projects in my head to do. I've been keeping busy though, the time away is easier than I thought it would be (for me... for Adam, it's a different story). Although, he was in NYC for the 10th anniversary of September 11. The actual memorial was closed to the public, but he got to see a lot of things there. He walked the city for 12 hours, and even went to a local pub and hung out (read: drink) with lots of police and firefighters.