It's Saturday Everyday Thanks to the Recession

Mark lost his job over a month ago and I feel really guilty admitting that I've enjoyed having him home. I mean, he should really be working somewhere, but it's been very nice to have Saturday everyday and have an extra pair of hands especially now that we have 2 kids.

He lost his job when Teddy was 5 weeks old and since I'm nursing, I was up with the baby every 2 and a half hours. It was exhausting and it was nice to be able to have Mark tend to Ricky while I was taking care of the baby or trying to sneak in a nap.

Mark has been taking Ricky to preschool and picking him up - he was even the parent volunteer twice. Ricky's been loving having Mark home - so much that when Mark said he had to send out more resumes so he could get a job that Ricky cried and said he didn't want Daddy to get a job. It's kind of funny. With the market so bad right now it's hard to say when Mark will get a job. It's actually a bit scary. It seems that if you aren't a nurse, doctor, policeman, fireman, or work at a funeral home, your job could be in jeopardy.

We've been doing pretty well controlling our expenses. My credit card bill was a whopping $151 this month! Probably the lowest it's ever been since I was in college. We put off buying a lot of stuff like clothing for ourselves - but we still buy the boys what they need. We eat restaurant food once a week and I cook at home everyday. The menu kind of sucks - I really need to pour over some cookbooks to make things interesting but I've been kind of busy these days. It's amazing how you can live comfortably on so little and I wish we were doing this all along. Maybe we would be thinner and have fatter bank accounts. But we love eating out - and we were enjoying ourselves so I don't regret it.

So now my dad and stepmom are in town and are staying with us. It's kind of cramped but okay. He is here for 3 weeks and this is the only time this year I get to see him. He lives in the Philippines and comes here once a year to pay taxes and to to all his doctors' appointments. I love my dad but it is hard having guests for more than a week....

I don't really know the point of this blog entry but I guess it makes sense. Saturdays are lazy days and you don't really need to have a point for the day.

Feeling Like The Bachelor This Week - Taking it All Back

I can't believe we just un-asked our brother-in-law to be Teddy's godfather! He is very pissed off and I wonder if this will begin a grudge that will last our lifetime.

It's a long story. We only asked Jack to be be godfather because he's married to Mark's sister-and she's the godmother. Jack is sexist, misogynistic, and lacks social skills. He is not a good role model and I was against asking him in the first place. But went along with it because of Mark. It undermines what a godfather is supposed to be. Besides, I can't tell Teddy that, "Jack is your godfather, and by the way, please do not listen to anything he says or do what he does." It would be irresponsible of us to go along with someone we don't think is good and it's not fair to Teddy.

So something happened that brought his sexist and misogynistic beliefs to the surface - not to mention he's being a jerk. So Mark and I decided to take the title away. Godparent selection should be easy and pain-free.

Oh Binky Head Gear, Where Art Thou?

Teddy is 9 weeks old and hasn't figured out how to keep the binky in his mouth - or how to pick it up and put it in his mouth. He's too little - plus I make it kind of hard for him by making him wear those no-scratch mittens at night. If I don't, he'll scratch up his face.

The problem is that at night, when the binky falls out of his mouth, he wakes up and cries for it. I have to put it back in his mouth for him. I got sick and tired of getting up out of bed and walking over to the bassinet so I just pushed the bassinet next to my side of the bed. That way, I just stick my arm in the bassinet and put the binky back in his mouth throughout the night.

The problem is that during the day, when he naps, and this happens, I have to stop what I'm doing to walk over to him and put the binky back in his mouth. It's kind of a pain. If I just let him cry, he won't stop crying and gets all red and stuff. When Ricky cries too much, he throws up, and I am always afraid Teddy is like his big brother.

Do they make binky head gears? Or special scotch tape to solve this problem? I am just joking around...I guess it will just take him time to figure it out as he gets older....

Clone trooper live with, I do!

I live with a clone trooper - a 4 year old one who wears his helmet while he plays the Lego Star Wars video game and while he walks around our house with his gun. Our house lives and breathes Star Wars - the movies, video games, action figures, you name it. Ricky recites lines from the movies and hums the Imperial March while he plays or sits on the potty.

A few weeks ago, Mark (who claims the first movie was life changing--of course he was 5 at the time) decided it was time to let Ricky watch the Star Wars movies. We waited on the third episode - Revenge of the Sith because it was a bit too violent (i.e. dismembering and decapitating Count Dooku, dismembering and burning Anakin Skywalker, etc.) but eventually watched it with him and fast forwarded the bad parts or covered his eyes.

It's waaaayyy too late to do anything about it now, but I wonder if it was a bad idea to expose a 4 year old to Star Wars already. I guess I was 4 myself when my parents took me to see Episode 4 and they never covered my eyes. Am I crazier than I would have been had they not? Can't really tell.

A Bad Patch or Bad Luck?

I can hardly believe I haven't blogged since November! I stopped working at the library because I was oh-so-huge and I think that cut into a lot of my online time. A lot has happened since then.

We had our baby boy, Teddy, the first week of January. He was supposed to be a c-section on 1/15 but decided to come 3 weeks early. It was kind of funny. I knew he was coming - I wasn't feeling well and decided to stay home. I have a fear breaking my water all over someone's couch and having to replace it. The day Teddy arrived I stayed home and watched the Sex and the City movie (again) and Mark and Ricky went to the mall. When the arrived, Mark brought me a sub sandwich and I was so hungry and couldn't wait to eat it. I took the sandwich and plopped on the couch and when I did that, my water broke. I ran to the bathroom and left a lovely trail behind me.

Teddy arrived 2 hours later at 8 pounds, 3 ounces. He is now a chunky 13 pounds at 2 months old. He is our little miracle baby. Ricky took it kind of hard in the beginning - you could totally tell he was jealous. It's been a few months and I think he is used to the change. He has to kiss Teddy all the time - so cute.

When we brought Teddy home from the hospital, a pipe broke in our house and our refrigerator died.

My postpartum was rocky. I developed a few cysts - one the size of a golf ball- along my incision. It hurt like hell and I was on vicodin and popping Advils every few hours. It went away the morning my dear aunt passed away. I am no longer diabetic - I passed my glucose test the other week - yay. My asthma is another story. Looks like she is here to stay.

My aunt was dying and had a few months. She had some complications and left us a lot sooner than expected. I was taking Teddy to the hospital with me on death watch - I wanted to be with my aunt but also wanted to nurse my baby. This went on for a few weeks. She passed away the first week of February. I really miss her.

To make matters worse, 4 days after my aunt's funeral, Mark was laid off. He survived their layoffs at least 4 times around. Not so lucky this time. I love having him home - and so does Ricky. It is nice to have every day feel like Saturday. He has been taking Ricky to preschool and picking up - and was even the volunteer room dad last week for me. In Mark's industry freelancing is common, so that eases my worry a bit. He should be able to get jobs here and there until a permanent one comes around. Meanwhile, we've been spending as less as we can. This has a domino effect - we can't put our house on the market if Mark has no income. The housing market sucks so bad anyways - we're planning on renting our house out.

With the exception of Teddy's birth, this year has really sucked the big one so far. I don't think it could get worse - at least it better not.