Coming Soon To A Blog Near You

I just wanted to do a quick update on themessymom.com and what you can expect in the near AND distant future.

I am starting to get the hang of this having two kids thing and so I I plan on picking up the pace again for blogging. That means you can be on the look out more frequently for new material! I have so much to catch up on including photos of SJ's room, and the thrift store fashion show pics I took when I was still pregnant. Did you know that Z was in a horse back riding barrel competition? Probably not because I didn't post about it, but I will. So you see, there is a lot to catch up on.

In a couple months I will be celebrating two years of blogging, and my plan is to start back up on weekly theme posts again and I may even venture so far as participating in the blog community with memes and carnivals. We'll see, it may be something I start at the beginning of 2011. I am not putting any pressure on myself, but I have so many ideas so it would be a nice creative outlet for me.

My long term goal would be to become a genius at a craft so that I can share my knowledge with the world and make history, but for now I will just keep doing a journal format. Stay tuned.

Farewell

A couple days ago I had the TV on and there was a commercial for a new show called Loosing It With Jillian. I noticed at the bottom of the screen there was a song credit that said "Seabird Believe Me”.

Double click on the video to see the full screen.
So I call my brother and say “Hey bro, I think I just heard you playing on national primetime television again!” Not something I ever predicted I would be calling my brother about, but I shouldn’t be surprised he is a talented guy. So he confirmed that it was Seabird and that he is also in a music video, but I don’t have cable so I just had to look it up online.


The reason I am writing this post though is to announce that my brother is no longer a part of Seabird. There is no juicy gossip to tell. He wasn’t kicked out and he didn’t leave on bad terms. He just knew it wasn’t his calling. He and his wife gave up everything to move from Atlanta to Cincinnati in order to start up a recording studio and my brother knew from the beginning that life on the road with a rock band was only supposed to be short term. I know it was hard for him to resign from his position, but it was the right thing for him and his family. I told him how proud I was to see him on the stage performing in front of thousands of people all over the world, but I was even prouder that he was able to humbly step down when the time came.

So for now we will still see those little glimpses of stardom when we hear his bass on commercials or Grey’s anatomy reruns or watch him on VH1, but beyond that he is working more behind the scenes at his recording studio and continuing to do what I know him for best, passionately pursuing God.




The top photo is the latest CD and my brother is the one on the right.

Forever LOST

I don't even know how to put into words how I felt at the end of the Lost series. In the past 3 days I must have transitioned through all 5 stages of grief in regards to the finale episode. I think that I have maybe come to terms with the fact that I will not have all the answers and that it is just a show. After all I did say on this blog that I knew I would be disappointed.

The Lost obsession began with my husband and I renting the DVDs from netflix. Gradually more and more of our friends started to join us as we all piled in the living room on the edge of our seats watching one episode after the other into the wee hours of the morning. Little by little viewers were loosing interest and much like the cast members that were killed off in the show, our little fan club dwindled over time. However for the series finale we made a special effort to get together and celebrate this momentous occasion like old times. My friend made some rockin' tshirts. Mine said LOST on top and had the dharma logo then at the bottom it said "we want answers 5-23-10" we have since joked about inserting the word "still" now that it's over. SJ's onesie said "I'm a little lost".

We had mango quesadillas and fruit on a fish platter as part of the island theme and we all piled in the living room one more time to watch the final episode on the same little square tv that started it all 5 years ago.

Regardless of the ending, I don't know if any show will ever captivate me like Lost did and I don't know that I would want it to, but for those of us that were faithful to the end there is some sort of comraderie. We will always be able to remember the good ol' days when we were all LOST.





The top picture was 2006. We were reenacting our reactions to the show. The next photo is me, SJ, my friend Melissa and her mom, some of the attendees of our little Lost shindig.

Weekend With My Girl

The Lost Finale was on Sunday and we sent Z off to be with his grandparents this weekend so that we could have friends over and watch the show without interruption. This is the first time Z has been away from us since SJ's been born. Of course I always miss the little guy, but it was nice to have some alone time with my princess too. She even put on a show for us by rolling over for the first time! She can now roll over from tummy to back and vice versa, or flip would be a more accurate description.

We went to an all girl's garden party with ladies from the church on Friday. Saturday was a wedding at the church and Sunday was of course the Lost party. So we pretty much partied all weekend long. I guess it's true that girl's just wanna have fun!

The Day After Tomorrow

Some of you know that when I speak of the day after tomorrow (Sunday) I am talking about the LOST finale. It's hard to believe it's become such a phenomenon over 6 years and it's finally going to be over. I consider myself a fan. A big time fan. I've seen every episode, held Lost parties, have "John Locke's" autograph

and listen to a podcast about the show twice a week. So you can bet that I am excited that we may actually have a conclusion to the hours upon hours of mystery. The real mystery though is how I got sucked into this show in the first place. It's really not like me. I am not into Lord or the Rings, Star Wars, or anything like that. I don't ever have any good theories except that I will probably still have a million questions unanswered when this is all over. I do like Jimmy Kimmel's theory though. He said the end would be the smoke monster writing "So long suckas" in the sky and fly off. Don't get me wrong, I will still be a Lost fan no matter what and I am not shy when I tell people "I will probably be disappointed with the end... and I am REALLY looking forward to every minute of it!"

Meeting Aunts and Uncles

Over the weekend I got to visit with my brothers and sister in laws. It was nice for my siblings to meet their niece for the first time.



The whole reason I was in Kentucky was for the other Natalie's baby shower.



It was a beautiful event and I was so glad I got to be a part of it. We are back home now and I can officially say the whole trip was a success.

Flying

Greetings from Kentucky. The first half of our trip has flown by. Speaking of flying, this last flight was pretty uneventful compared to the time I got peed on or the the time I did a horrible job lying about Z's age. There was one awkward moment while waiting to board our plane. I had Z in one of those harness child leash things while we were walking around attempting to get all the wiggles out before he had to sit still for 2 hours. Then he suddenly decided he wanted to crawl on all fours. There is enough of a stigma that comes with the child leash without the attached child actually mimicking a dog. It's cool though, we made it to our destination and for the record Z went potty at the airport in Dallas and Cincinnati. 2 weeks ago all odds were against him staying dry throughout the trip, but he is peeing on the toilet %100 of the time now. On the other hand he is still pooping in his pull ups %100 of the time. I know we'll get there though and thanks for all of your encouragement.

One more word on "flying" when we arrived I went up stairs to get settled in and there was a big black bird in my dad's office. It scared me to death because of my history with birds flying into my head. I told my dad, who decided to sick the dog on it, but when that didn't work (he said it has worked in the past) he pulled out a gun and shot it. Yes he shot the bird in the house. It's an old house that needs a lot of work, and so I guess he feels like there's nothing to loose. Yeah, you can't make this stuff up. It's a small Kentucky town, but we stay entertained ya know?

Next up: the weekend with my brothas.




After reading over some of the post that I linked back to I found a multitude of typos. Isn't it funny how you can't see them while you write them? You can proof read and spell check all you want, but go back a year later and all the poor punctuation and misspelled words stick out like a sore thumb. It's too complicated and kind of pointless to go back and correct the old posts now. Anyway, thanks for putting up with all my typos you guys!

My My My Updates

I know I have divulged some of the latest obstacles I've been facing including my job being in jeopardy, my debit card being stolen, and potty training. Fortunately there has been some resolve to all of these circumstances and just in time for my trip to Kentucky. Here is where everything stands at this moment.

I had a meeting with my new boss concerning my position with the magazine and to make a long story short I do still have a job with them and I was able to stick up for myself and tell them exactly what my expectations are. So even though I have had to deal with a lot more drama and office politics than I ever would care to deal with things ended on a good note, this is assuming that they follow through with our agreement and I have some reservations about this considering our history. All I can do is hope for the best and just know that God is in control.

As for the debit card, it is kind of a hassle to get everything credited back, but I have filed a report with the bank and hopefully this will all be over soon. For those of you asking how they got the numbers, I am not actually sure how it all works, but there are some skillful crooks out there that can get numbers to credit cards and create there own. It happened to someone I know with a card that they had never even used.

Last, but definitely not least we have been in the potty training stage for 2 weeks now and the end is near. Z is basically accident free now with the exception of poop. He can hold it if he has to pee and he has complete control including nap time and bed time, but he rarely poops in the toilet. Yesterday he went a full 24 hours without any accidents, but then went #2 right next to the toilet and that is the second time he has done that. I have heard a lot of other people talk about that being the big struggle and I honestly thought Z would be fine with pooping on the toilet because he has done it dozens of times since he was 8 months old, usually when dealing with constipation. Anyway, I am not even pushing the issue right now because I just want to enjoy this trip to Kentucky and we can worry about fine tuning the whole potty thing when we get back.

With that said, SJ takes her first trip in airplane tomorrow and it will be my first trip with two kids. My mom will be with me, but I still wouldn't mind any prayers directed our way. Hope everyone has a great week. I better go finish packing.

Swimsuit Challenge

I smile as I take in the smell of the sunscreen

The sound of the splashes from children around me

The coolness of water with the warmth of the sun

Now knowing that harsh winter days are done

But the comforting thoughts I soon find are stopping

As I remember I still have to go swimsuit shopping!!!

This Messy Mom poem just came to me today while playing outside with the kids. Yesterday we hit 90 degree weather for the first time this year and so I got out all of our swimsuits to play in the sprinkler. I had to wear my maternity suit, which is really like a little black dress.

I love the water, but like most women I do not like swimsuit shopping. I dread it. A few weeks ago when I saw that the Gap outlet had swimsuits half off I wanted to snag a great deal while I could.

Unfortunately, I think what was half off was the actual swimsuit and not the price. Even the one pieces look like an infamous Jennifer Lopez dress. This photo was taken straight off of Gap.com


After my experience at the Gap I went directly to Face book and asked if anyone knew of where I could find a decent modest suit for my postpartum body. I got a lot of responses and I now feel like there is hope. My goal is to find something with a great support up top since I am breast feeding (need I say more) and some tummy coverage for my new to the scene stretch marks, and a bottom half that can cover my bottom. Oh yeah, and I would prefer it not look like something that would be all the rage at the retirement facilties and I want to find it by Memorial Day. Is that asking too much? Is anyone else in this predicament or are you all fortunate enough to have a suit that still fits?

Wish me luck as I embark upon this dreaded journey, and let me know if you have any pointers or tips to share. I will keep you all updated on how it goes.

2 Months

SJ is now 2 months old. She is definitely showing a lot more personality giving little smirks and cooing. She weighs a whopping 12 pounds and the thicker she gets the more she reminds me of myself as a baby. She sleeps all night other than a quick feeding 5 hours in.

We had a church picnic on Sunday and took a photo with all of the babies born within this past year.


We did the same thing with Z. This photo was taken about 2 years ago and 4 of us have had another baby since then.



I have slacked off quite a bit when it comes to taking photos of SJ and I don't think it's because she is the second, but my good camera is broken and it's discouraging. So, today I decided to get a couple quick snapshots to show everyone what she looks like now. Luckily big brother was more than eager to help get some smiles out of the little one and he did a great job at it too.

Stolen Numbers

A couple of weeks ago my mom told me about how her debit card was stolen, but she never lost it. It wasn't even like they had the numbers and were using them to do some online shopping, it was as though they had a copy of her actual debit card and she could see everything that they were purchasing. This included gas, groceries, and a Red Box rental. Red Box of all things! Fortunately the bank was onto the dirty rotten thieves and my folks didn't have to pay for any of it.

Then today I got a call from my bank because there was some suspicious activity on my card. I called back right away and they asked if I had done a "test run on my card at Home Depot". I said absolutely not, I haven't done anything at home depot. I have know idea how it all works, but the lady mentioned something about fishing for numbers. Apparently a couple of one dollar charges from Home Depot showed up as fraudulent in their system and I am so thankful that they caught it because I went online and sure enough hundreds of dollars were spent on my card from Publix and TJMaxx which are stores that aren't even local to my area and I have never used my card at. Right now my business account is $300 in the negative, but I am filing a report tomorrow and was told that it should all be credited back to my account. I hope so because I don't think you can be much more broke than I am right now.

These aren't the criminals that you see in movies, stealing fancy cars and exotic pieces of art from museums. It's almost like my grandma got a hold of my debit to pick up weekly groceries and check out the senior specials from their favorite bargain retailer. Shoot, if I wouldn't have cancelled my card they probably would have hit the drug store to pick up their medications. It's so strange, and very unfortunate.

Has anyone else had this happen to them?