Which is Worse?

Which is worse......

When they leave the seat up and you either have to take the extra step of putting it down or don't notice and nearly fall in

OR

When they leave the seat down and you sit on a peed-on seat???

And I'm about to be living with 4 males!!!

Baby Names

I get asked all the time if I have a baby name picked out. The truth is I do, but I don't.

We have Connor Louis (Louis after Mark's grandfather) and Colton Lee (Lee after my dad). The middle names were a compromise we made before Connor was born. So it seems we have already started the "CLL" initials. My goal is to continue with the chees-y factor. Plus anything monogrammed can just get passed down. I am not thinking too hard about names because both boys were named after birth. I do like to meet them to be sure the name fits.

We were pretty set on Parker or Preston for Connor. And Colton had a list of our top faves and Colton was not on the list. All though we fought over it, I was not a fan of Colton. Of course now I could not imagine it any other way.

Mark really likes Christopher William for this one. I like the name, but it is very traditional and Connor and Colton are not. So I will argue that one. William was his dad's name, so while I respect that, it messes up our same initial game. I have offered Liam as a middle name, which is Irish for William. He is not sold on that.

I do have 2 favorites myself, which I am not sharing. It's not that I don't want anyone to know. I just know my husband. And the second I say them he will shoot them down. So I am keeping those to myself for just a bit longer. Though I do secretly talk to baby C and refer to him in a special C (non-Christopher) name!!

But I am willing to hear (read) any and all suggestions for a C and L names!!!!

Baby C Update

Well I am still pregnant!!!

Officially 10 weeks to go, unofficially 8 weeks.

I say 8 weeks because, hopefully, everything is being scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 25! I have not heard back from the nurse, so at this point I assume it is all a go. It could still be pushed out until the Monday after Turkey day, which would be ok too. It's just when it gets that close, it is the sooner the better. Plus if it is before Thanksgiving, I will have more people who can help with the boys since I would be in the hospital over a long, holiday weekend. If it is after, then family will have to take off work to help. My mom will come, but I would rather her be here when I am home from the hospital to help me.

My doctor's appointment went well. It would have been a rare visit that I was going to be in and out in less than 30 minutes, but I had to lay on the monitors for about half an hour. I was telling my DR that he had suddenly gotten much less active in the previous week. So she put the straps around my big belly to monitor his heart and movement. She said he looked great, perfectly normal for his age. I felt much better just hearing that. And of course, by that afternoon he was back to normal...the little rolly polly! Maybe I just worked myself up about it or was concentrating so hard on his movements that I could no longer feel them.

I start going back now every 2 weeks. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It's all fun and exciting in the beginning, but now....I'm kind of over it. I am not ready for his arrival, still SO much to do. But I can hardly do it because I am tired and have no energy. I have a sneaky little feeling that it is the procrastinator in me taking over. I will probably be up for 4 nights before his arrival finishing all my closets and cabinets.

Just a funny side note:

Yesterday while Colton was napping, I went into my bathroom to "do" my toes (it's part of my saving money movement-less paid for pedicures).

Well, I can no longer reach them in any position!! Darn the luck, I had to go to China-town today for a pedi. (As tacky as it is, that is what I call the nail salon)

Let's Take a Little Walk

Marky-Mark came home early on Thursday (at 5:30) because he knew my shows were starting last night. Now isn't that a good husband?!?!? He scored some major brownie points for thinking of it all by himself.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday, my kind of day. Sunny with a cool breeze and the high was around 73.....PERFECT!!! So we took a walk around the block after dinner. It's no speed walk, no burning calories here. It's a slow pace, checking out every flower, acorn, nut, tree, and fire hydrant there is kind-of walk. And the best 30 minutes of our day!

The acorns definitely took the prize

Daddy's pockets got to hold them all. Mental note....check Mark's pockets!

Isn't that a nice view-I mean picture?

OK, I'll admit it, I married him for his bum. At least he can say his looks the same as when we got married.

Connor just sat down in someone else's yard, so of course Colton did as well. Then he says "can we just sit down for a minute, I need to talk to you about something".

Mark shoots me 'the look' like Connor got it from me. And of course he did! Who else is gonna teach communication besides a woman? HA!!

Bonus: on our walk Colton started saying tree. TREE!TREE!TREE! There are alot of trees around the block. YEAH! That's 1 more word. I am so proud. And of course he won't say it today, but that's OK.

Trick or Treat

Yesterday while Colton was still napping, Connor and I decided to bake a Halloween Cake. Now don't get all excited, it was from a box folks, this is me I'm talking about. But Connor doesn't care as long as he can pour things in the bowl, stir, and of course, lick the spoon! He even got to crack the eggs this time. And yes, there were egg shells in the mix. I personally got a bite!

Doesn't everyone bake in their undies??

The final result (after I went upstairs and left the cake on the island)

Damn DOG!!!

I always make comments when I talk about my dogs like "anybody want one" or "free dog". People ask me if I really mean it. Of course not, just like I would never fed ex my kids to my mom or trade in my husband. But now, I might be serious. Wednesday night I put the leftovers from the boys dinner in a tupperware bowl on the counter for me to eat after their bedtime. While we were upstairs I heard the dogs seriously fighting so I came down to see what was going on. Dinner was gone! Then the very next night, they eat half the freaking cake. I say they, but it is Frisco who gets it down. He is the only one who can reach the counter. It was no treat, most definitely a trick on us!!!

Anybody want a dog??

A Bit about Me

I got tagged on this "get to know me" from a couple of people, so I better get it done. I'm in a "check it off the list" kind of mood today anyway (at the moment) so I better go with it.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7am and not a minute sooner. In fact Connor came down to wake me up-what a great way to start the day, but I hope noone needed anything last night because I don't think I would have heard unless it was during one of my 14 potty breaks.

2. How do you like your steak? Medium.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Is it sad to say I can't remember? I am pretty sure it was at Studio Movie Grill with Amy, but I can't remember what we saw. It must not have been that great.

4. What is your favorite TV show? Grey's Anatomy in the fall, Army Wives in the summer

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I would love to live in lots of places-by the ocean, in the mountains-but as long as I have my family with me I can make it

6. What did you have for breakfast? a bowl of Special K and skim milk-mmmm tasty!

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican.

8. What foods do you dislike? beets and wierd animal parts

9. Favorite Place to Eat? on a patio (but I love to eat at my parent's house too-they always make my favorites)

10. Favorite dressing? Snuffer's ranch (great,now I will be craving it)

.11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Tahoe



12. What are your favorite clothes? Tshirt and jeans-usually these days I could live in my gym clothes (and I do)

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Anywhere- I love to go places-but for sure want to Italy and Hawaii

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Mostly full

15. Where would you want to retire? With a mountain view

16. Favorite time of day? 7:30pm...kids snoozing good

17. Where were you born? Collierville, TN

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? none, they take too long

19. Bird watcher? Only at my parents house, they have lots of cool birds right outside their windows

20. Are you a morning person or a night person? right now neither-normally a night person though

21. Do you have any pets? 2 dogs-Precious and Frisco-anybody want a dog?

22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I'm pregnant!

23. What did you want to be when you were little? A pilot

24. What is your best childhood memory? Weekends at the lake

25. Are you a cat or dog person? Dog

26. Are you married? I wear a ring and I think his name is Mark-but I can't really remember what he looks like...miss you M

27. Always wear your seat belt? Always!!

28. Been in a car accident? A few.

29. Any pet peeves? Tons...but I will say people who are driving (or attempting to) while talking on the phone and eating, smoking, or anything with their 2nd hand besides holding the wheel

30. Favorite Pizza Topping? Olives, but these days canadian bacan and pineapple

31. Favorite Flower? Hydrangeas

32. Favorite ice cream? good ol' vanilla

33. Favorite fast food restaurant? Which Wich

34. How many times did you fail your driver's test? The drivers test-none, but the permit test-at least once, maybe twice

35. From whom did you get your last email? Haven't checked this morning but I am sure I got 42 overnight from people offering me viagra

36. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Pottery Barn for my house, Nordstrom for me

37. Do anything spontaneous lately? Please!!

38. Like your job? Very much. But, very upset with my part time weekend job

39. Broccoli? Yes, please.

40. What was your favorite vacation? The wedding cruise 2005

41. Last person you went out to dinner with? Connor and Colton and Chick, of course

42. What are you listening to right now? The boys drive their big wheel and 4 wheeler around the house

43. What is your favorite color? Red.

44. How many tattoos do you have? None
45. Coffee Drinker? No, but does Mountain Dew or Coke count?

What time did you finish this quiz? 7:45am (and now I am running late) but I started it yesterday during dinner....I suck!

The Last Day of Summer-and updates

The last day of summer has officially arrived...hallelujah! And it felt like it here, in the 90's and sunny. Tonight the cold front/rain comes in on the area. Kind of exciting because tomorrow it should feel like fall (if they got it right).

Our weekend involved a kids night out at Nannie's house and an adult night out at a wedding. It was also filled with lots of work for me and travel for Mark. But it also meant sleep for me. I slept until 8:15 Sunday morning with a quiet house. I have not slept that long in 4 years....it was nice! Thank you MIL!

Connor has decided on Spider Man for his Halloween costume. And he wants to wear it constantly. He is a "cool" Spider Man (his words, not mine). He goes back and forth from Peter Parker to Spider Man. It has a full face mask, which concerns me a little. There was a costume with only a half mask, but he would have nothing to do with it. They want what they want, right?

Even Spidey gets time out occasionally

Colton just trying to play trains by himself without anyone taking away. It doesn't matter how many trains you own, or even how many of the exact same freaking train (or any toy for that matter). They always want the exact one that the other has.

Colton was satisfied with the Spider Man helmet.

We went to Chick last week and the cow was out. The boys would not leave him alone. And Colton said "cow" about a hundred times. Could never get him to say it before, can't get him to say it again. But he knows it. I wonder how many other words are just sitting in that little head of his waiting to come out. The doctor does not think we need to worry to much anymore with speech delay anymore. I did ask ask the cow #1-if he babysat and #2-if he had any other animal costumes he could throw on so I could see if Colton could speak more. I think he thought I was wierd.

Been on a lamp mission for weeks for either the boys room or the baby room. I did not want to pay PBK prices. Even with my discount, it will still cost about $60 for a lamp. I have been looking everywhere. Finally the other day I saw this at Target. They must have just gotten it in, as I am there every other day and have not seen it. You pull the whistle to turn it on. On each side of the shade is a different sport and the base is a bat. It goes great with Connor's sport-themed room. So I moved his lamp to the baby's room. Lamp problem solved!!



The wedding.

My dear friend Cherri, whom I worked with at the Limited and Pottery Barn, got married this weekend. She was truly the one we all thought would never get married. She always said she was perfectly happy just dating her (now) hubby forever. But she did it, and looked beautiful!

Congrats CJ!!!

Me and the bride

The ceremony was outside and what a perfect day for it, especially after 2 straight weeks of rain

The Limited gang

Me, Cherry, Nyna, Desiree, and Yuvi

RANDOM RAMBLINGS

• Bought a new garage door today since it literally fell apart. Thank goodness it was when I was closing it after backing out instead of trying to leave or just getting home. It was 11-12 years old and already being partially held together with a 2x4 board.
• $800 does not get you much in the garage door world-plain, unpainted, non insulated, bottom line door (just like the one we had). Who the heck sets the prices for this crap?
• I should probably really look into purchasing that home warranty that Marky-Mark cancelled since we keep having to replace things at full price.
• I could probably loose 10 pounds, quickly, if I would just stop finishing the boys plates. I think about this as I finish a hot dog and spider man shaped mac & cheese.
• I love the rain. I don't want to make a road trip in it, but running errands and such doesn't bother me. In the spring time it smells so fresh. And this time of year it is a nice break from the heat and makes it feel like fall. Plus I don't have to pay to water the grass.
• I really despise Kate Gosslin, and her hubby (ex-hubby) is even worse. I will not watch anything she is on or read anything about her. He was so wrong for cheating. I don't believe in it no matter the circumstances. But I don't feel sorry for her at all. She has obviously chosen money over family, and that gets to me in a bad way.
• I can watch some tacky shows. But I HATE the Atlanta housewives. They are by far the worst set of 'em. Have you ever seen anything so trashy or fake? Are they so lonely or have such a lack of self confidence that they are forced to have nothing real on their bodies, air out all their dirty laundry on TV, and act like hoodlums? Craziness I tell ya!
• Still fell asleep during Jay Leno, so it is not the time slot. Must just be him.
• If my computer were any freaking slower, I could hand write this stuff and mail it out.
• Do "they" purposely build electronics to only last a year-computers, cell phones, etc? I think so. Especially cell phones. It's how they get you. Then to get a new one, you have to renew your 2 year contract. It's a vicious cycle. I just had to threaten to leave At&T to get an upgrade before my upgrade time. It would have been cheaper for me to cancel my contract on both our lines and go elsewhere than to purchase a full price phone. They helped me out, but it's a real shame that it had to be like that.
• My email was messed up a few days ago and when it was finally back to normal, it's gotten of control. The junk email that is. I used to get 10-20 junk emails a day mostly from drug companies. Now 4 days into the week, I literally have 841 emails in my junk folder. I would say 95% from online pharmaceuticals. What the heck? I have opened another email account but I have not started using it yet because I have had the same email address for years. I am not a big fan of change, plus it really irritates me that I would have to do such a thing.
• You should NEVER give out your email address to a company. Obviously tons of them sell the information to people who want you to enlarge your penis!
• If I could afford anything I would have a full time housekeeper. Oh no, maybe I would have a daily sitter/nanny from 4-7pm. That is the hardest part of the day. I turn into evil-mom.

Well enough ramblings for now. Maybe it was more of a vent session, but either way I am through for the time being.

Duty calls!!!

Budget Busters and Meal Ideas

I work very hard on monitoring my grocery budget. I allow myself $75 per week on groceries, which in turn gives me $100 per month at Target for diapers, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and such. Now I do not count drinks in this budget. When Coke products are on sale I try to stock up. I also shop at Costco for a lot of our snack foods and items like paper towels and toilet paper and that is a separate budget. I must confess though, I could shop at Costco every week. I don't, but I so easily could-I love that store.

So that being said, here are some of my tricks.

-I cut coupons every Sunday from the paper

-I shop mainly at Kroger with my Kroger card where you get special offers and they double and triple coupons

-I sometimes do my purchase my fruits and veggies at the farmers market or even at a store called Sprouts where they are super fresh and much cheaper and sometimes, if time is not an issue or I see an advertisement, I get my meat at Walmart

-I watch my condiments so that I don't run out of everything at once

-I buy the store brand as much as possible-but truth is, some items you just can not substitute-there is a difference

-I try and plan my meals and left overs

-Mark travels alot, which does help, and quite frankly, when he is here he is not a picky eater and can scrape together weird things out of the pantry if need be (thank goodness because I am not a good cook at all)

-I go to the store alone on Wednesday's when both boys are in Mother's Day Out/Preschool-it takes concentration to watch for prices and keep a tally in your head

Doesn't this look like a good eater? A messy one, but good most of the time.

So all that being said- in the last month or so my budget has gone out the window. I think part of it is the boys were out of school and I had my little helpers with me at the grocery (probably my least favorite thing to do with kids). Also, Mark has been home a lot more in the recent weeks, sometimes only out 1 night of the week. And the big change is I was trying to cook more. I have quickly realized that buying all the ingredients for a nice dinner or two adds up fast! Not to mention the fact that is hit or miss if the boys will eat it. Even if they (Connor) ate it the week before, it will be loathed the next time it is served. For example-pot roast. I love to make pot roast because it is quick, easy, and cheap. Plus I love the way it makes the house smell. Oh, and it's a one-dish wash. You just can't beat it. But the last 2 times I made it, most of it went to waste. Connor refused to touch it. Colton wouldn't eat the left overs. So it was overall a BUST!

This would be the picky eater! Notice the bowl-chances are it has oatmeal in it which is what he eats most of time. I gave up fighting the food battle for now.

So I am trying to cook more for the family. I want to be better at it and I want to enjoy it. I think I could enjoy it if I were better at it. But I am all about simple and quick meals! But trying to incorporate that with a budget is not always so easy. What I really want is several meal options that I can make that use the same ingredients so that nothing goes to waste. I try to make 3 meals per week. With leftovers that can get us through all 7 nights. It seems like when I buy an onion, tomatoes, or special cheese or meat that half of it goes to waste.

So if anyone has a couple of meal ideas that use they same ingredients please share!!!

Happy Shopping

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day signals the summer's end, the last quickie get away, the final swim of the year, and the beginning of football season (which of course represents EVERYTHING fall). Well here at the Lenzer household in warm Texas at least we got half of it right-the football season part!!

In other words we had a travel free, hot weekend that included a swim, but doubtful it is the last. Technically there is still 2 weeks of summer, and hopefully not too many more weeks of heat. I am ready for a cool breeze.

We kept it pretty low key around the house. Mark had his fantasy football draft on Thursday night and golfed on Friday. The boys and I just played outside some-in the early morning hours 'cause it was warm!

Saturday was the first college football game day of the season. Mark went to the new Cowboy Stadium to watch his fave team-OU. Yikes...I won't even mention how it went because it still a sore subject here.

Sunday I spent the afternoon at PB working.

Monday was low key as well. We always go to Chuy's for lunch with friends on the holidays. The boys were in the middle of a very good, and well needed nap, so I stayed home with them and sent Mark to lunch. After nap, I filled up the whale pool and the boys took a dip.

OU loss aside, it was a great weekend, even if it was a little boring. Next time I will at least try and get some grilling in!

The boys swimming and using their "outside" voices

The boys playing inside, naked of course

Loving each other

Always time for a book

2 points

Crazy Thought

So I have had a seriously crazy thought!!!

With Connor I did go into labor 10 days early. My water broke in the middle of the night, and I just know it was from that raspberry tea I drank. But he was breech so I had to have a C-section. With Colton, I was given the option. I did not necessarily want to have the surgery, but he was due January 6th and I really wanted him in December. Mainly it was for insurance and tax purposes, and quite frankly 40 weeks is just too long!

Now with number 3, you don't have an option-it must be a repeat C-section. But since this is my last and there is no risk of going into the new year, I was thinking why schedule it? Why not let my body go into labor. There is just something about the unknown and the excitement about thinking "is this it". Now I know that when it gets down to it, I will be so ready to just get this baby out (the 40 weeks is too long thing)-and right now he scheduled 10 days early. I don't know if I could make those last few days.

When I told Mark about it, he thought it was one of my dumbest ideas yet! He is probably right, but that moment is so GREAT! I can't even choose the words to describe it.

I need opinions-schedule it the smart way or wait it out.

August Wrap Up and Random Thoughts

So I am quite behind in posting on my blog and reading all my favorite ones. My email has been messed up, and for the past week every time I turn on my computer, I have been screwing around with that and NOTHING else. The good news is, I think it is back to normal. The bad news is, I have a dozen post ideas that are floating around in my head. I am trying to get back into a good blogging rhythm. These pictures are all kinds of out of order...sorry.

Football season has started, as everyone knows! For me, that means less time for me and lots more time with the boys-ALONE-as Marky-Mark has new priorities. But I will save that bitching, as I have an entire posts worth of complaints on that single subject.

So the past week and a half we have had some decent temperatures here in DFW. A few days of the low 90's and a day or two of only the upper 80's!! That meant lots of outside time for us. I am so not a fan of the heat and while it still hot, it is very nice in the mornings right now, so we try to take full advantage of it. Let me just say, I can not wait for fall to officially arrive.

We have taken our lunch outside

We have hit several parks-several times

Lots of backyard time too

This is not a real ice cream cone. It is bubbles-and the best ones ever! We got them in a favor bag from one of the 3 birthday parties we attended this month.

We did some outdoor shopping

Of course we enjoyed a Popsicle or two (dozen)

We tried on the neighbor's hat (at Amelie's bday party)

We played soccer-in our jammies (or half of them)

And tossed balls at Precious

And cut the grass

Connor and Daddy at Ben's birthday party

Connor and Ben

We played dress up-ride em Cowboy!

We sweated it out on some of the warmer days

And we can't forget the sand park-our favorite one!

Here's to September-may it bring many more outside outings!