Another Big Debate

Although probably not nearly as heated as the vaccine debate, but people still have strong opinions about it ... I think ... okay, maybe not strong opinions, but probably some kind of opinion.

How Much Is Too Much TV?

The AAP recommends NO television for children under 2. How realistic is this? My kid doesn't watch a ton of TV, and I don't keep the TV on most of the day. But he does watch Sesame every morning, paying most attention to the opening storyline, Cookie Monster and Elmo's World. He usually finds other things to do when the Count comes on or if Bert & Ernie are part of the show that day. So I'd say he watches about 35 minutes of Sesame. And then about 10 minutes of Big Big World, paying most attention to the songs and tuning out the rest. Then I turn the TV off for the rest of the day. So I guess he watches a total of up to an hour a day.

Ok, fine ... some days he does watch more.

I know some people let their kids watch more and some people are so completely opposed to any TV viewing for their children. But really, how much damage can I do by letting my kid watch Sesame Street?

My Youniverse

I Just Saved a Bunch of Money on My Car Insurance ...

By switching to PROGRESSIVE!

I know that's Geico's slogan, but whatever ... it applies to Progressive, too.

Seriously. Joe and I had Farmer's forEVER because he is a creature of habit and when we bought our house 4 years ago we got our homeowner's insurance through Farmer's as well, so it "made sense" for me to switch my car insurance over to Farmer's so we could "bundle". Fine.

Fast forward to now, when I'm sick of paying $100 a month for just my car because that seems REALLY high for someone who hasn't had an accident or speeding ticket in the past 5 years. And it's not like I'm still 22 and driving my Mustang. I'm 28 and driving a Mazda Tribute for crying-out-loud.

So I do some research online and find out the Progressive is SO MUCH less expensive than Farmer's. How much less expensive, you ask? Well let me break it down for you: Joe's 4-door Dodge Dakota AND my Mazda Tribute are covered with the same exact coverages as what we had with Farmer's and now we're paying $93/month. Yes. For both cars ... same coverage ... LESS THAN WHAT I WAS PAYING FOR JUST MY CAR WITH FARMER'S!

Ninety three dollars per month.

What a waste of money this past 4 years.

Way Better Than Raindrops on Roses & Whiskers on Kittens

The following are some of my absolute favorite things ... of the moment. Unlike Oprah, I will NOT be giving these away.

KitchenAid Mixer : I LOVE this mixer. I don't have the fancy-schmancy high-powered one, but I'm fine with that because I don't do extensive baking. But I use my mixer at least a few times a month and it makes my life so much easier.

MaxFactor Mascara : This is the BEST mascara I have ever tried. And I've tried quite a few. It doesn't clump, it's easy to remove and it makes my eyelashes incredibly long.

One Fabulous Fit Maidenform Bra : I've tried a lot of bras in the past, everything from Victoria's Secret overpriced bras to Target brand bras. Maidenform One Fabulous Fit is wonderful. It fits well, washes well in the washing machine (because I don't have time to hand wash, nor do I care to). These are the only ones I'll wear now.

Hoover : Does anyone else use their vacuum attachments to clean their counters and kitchen table? I have so many crumbs all over the place from Brandt that I find it so much easier to extend the wand on this vacuum and suck up all the mess instead of trying to wipe everything down, only to have to vacuum the floor anyway. While I'm vacuuming the floor I might as well vacuum the counter, too.

Abuelo's : My favorite salsa - ever. I highly recommend the Reynosa Salad as well. I wish they had one in Tucson, but instead I'm forced to wait until I drive up to Phoenix to see my parents. I guess that's better, though. Since my parents usually buy me lunch when I'm there. Yum.

Body Attack : It will kick you ass. And it's thoroughly addicting. Probably similar to "runner's high" because of the endorphin rush. But it will definitely kick your ass.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 : Aside from Gilmore Girls reruns, this is my favorite show to DVR. I am truly inspired by Jon & Kate and their beautiful children. I don't know how she stays so sane, because I know I don't have the patience for raising sextuplets. She and Jon work well together, even though some say she's a little bitchy. I think she handles everything very well and keeps her composure given the most extreme situations.

That's all for now. I'm sure I will add more when I think of things.

The Mom Song

I saw this on my friend's myspace page and thought it was hilarious. Enjoy!

Much Success!

So I managed to keep B awake this morning before swimming lessons. Yesterday was a fluke because I didn't expect him to fall asleep in his stroller. He has never done that. Well, except when he was 4 months old and I forced him to go to Disneyland with me ... then he did sleep in his stroller.

But today has been a good napping day. He stayed awake on the way to swimming lessons - I only had to tickle his leg and shout "Stay AWAKE!" like five times, so it wasn't too bad. Then he played in the water for 30 minutes, I got him out, fed him a banana (or "BEEES" as he calls them) and strapped him into his car seat. He actually made it halfway home before he fell asleep. He lasted longer than I thought. The transfer from car seat to crib was smooth and he's going on 1.5 hours as I type this - YAY!

Current Mood: Annoyed

I have the kid who doesn't sleep. I hear from other moms whose children are close in age to Brandt and they tell stories of their children sleeping from 7pm - 6:30am, plus they take a 3 hour afternoon nap. THREE HOURS!!!! Something must be wrong with my kid.

This is my past 24 hours:
7:30pm - bedtime
5:45am- I hear him stir
6:20am - I get up
8:15am - Movers & Shakers
9:15am - Go to the mall for more running around in play area
10:00 - Stop at Ulta at the mall, Mommy needs mascara
10:15am - I look down and see he has fallen asleep (CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!!)
10:20am - transfer sleeping baby to car seat
10:35am - transfer sleeping baby to stroller
10:45am - force sleeping baby to wake up because we have swimming lessons
11am - 11:30am - swim
11:40am - feed him banana in car
Noon - unload baby and 4 bags of crap from car
12:15pm - feed baby more lunch
12:30pm - put down for his afternoon nap and pray
1pm - get wide-awake baby out of crib ... an afternoon nap is not in his plans since he took that little unscheduled catnap earlier
1:15pm - Mommy writes a bitter blog about how my kid refuses to sleep longer than 10 hours at night and refuses to sleep for longer than 1.5 hours during the day

I'm so annoyed right now. I tried to wake him up when he fell asleep this morning and I tried to keep him awake - he wasn't having any part of it.

I've been trying to transition him to one nap a day, since if he sleeps at all (even if it's only 25 minutes) in the morning he NEVER EVER (I know, I've tried) sleeps in the afternoon. On two occassions I was desperate for him to sleep so I drove around with him in the late afternoon, only to have him fall asleep at 4pm. Wonderful.

ARGH!!! To those of you with kids who sleep, ARGH!!! That's all I have to say.

Everything Happens For a Reason ...

And Other Crap We Tell Ourselves to Feel Better:

So a lot has happened during the last 9 months and I think it's time to provide a brief update to anyone who's interested.

Houses

We bought one ... kind of ... last October. We signed a contract to build a beautiful new Pulte home, contingent of course on the sale of our house. Our house hasn't sold due mostly to the crappy housing market, and as a result, our Pulte contract will be cancelled June 10th ... so no more beautiful house.

Jobs

Joe got laid off in September when the mortgage company he worked for closed their Tucson office. He has since worked from home as a kind of independent Loan Officer, which conveniently provides no health benefits which was the primary reason Joe and I have held off on trying to get pregnant. Anyway, he began the process for the Tucson Police Department back in February and passed the oral board interviews, and the written & the physical testings. He was expecting to start with the June Academy. Then Tucson cancelled the June Academy for budget reasons ... fabulous. TPD is still something he would like to pursue if the city approves a new Academy this summer, which we've heard it could be October ... or even as soon as July, so that's something. Currently he'll be starting with a new company Monday doing financial sales and business to business sales with a large, well-known, STABLE company that excitingly provides health benefits after the first day of employment! Yay.

Now for Something Cute

Brandt has started high-fiving the TV when Snook sings the goodbye song on Big Big World. Almost every time ... it's really sweet.

It Must Be Genetic

The ability for boys/men to make random sound effects from an early age ... Brandt has already started doing this. He has seen us fill our water cups from the water dispenser on the door of our refrigerator and now he puts his sippy cup in the dispenser area and goes "shhhhhh", as if to make the water sound. Then he proudly takes a sip of his milk.

I don't know ... maybe girls do this, too. But it seems like little boys start with the sound effects from an early age.