Girl's Night

Tonight I left the comfort of my home and ventured out to "enjoy" a chick flick with some good friends. I have mentioned before that I am not a chick flick type of girl. I really only agree to go to this genre of movie because I like to get out of the house and be with friends...and my friends aren't always hot on the type of movies I like to see. During the previews, my friend, Julie, and I were giving the thumbs up or down to indicate if we would be interested in seeing each film. Our choices could not have been any more different. She gave a hearty thumbs up to Fame and Julie and Julia while flipping it downward for Surrogate. Quite the opposite for me. We are good friends, nevertheless.

So the movie I agreed to see was The Proposal. Luckily it was Matinee all Day at the theater, so I got my ticket for a measly five bucks. Gotta love Tuesdays! Unluckily for me, it was like every other romantic comedy I have ever seen. There will probably be some spoilers in here, so beware...if you care. Even seeing the trailer for the movie, you know that the two main characters will end up in love. Am I right? This movie had every scene necessary to make a romantic comedy. Unlikely lovers= check. Crazy old grandma= check. Scene where they sing together to "break the ice"= check. Man running after woman in airplane= check. So predictable. Here is what annoyed me the most: So I know that old ladies shrink with age. But the writers of this comedy tried to pull off the idea that 6'0" Sandra Bullock could fit into 5'5" Betty White's wedding dress...and it was long on SB. Come on. That's where they lost me.

Don't get me wrong, I did laugh at many a line in this movie. Ryan Reynolds can pull of the sarcastic comment very well, and Oscar Nunez (who plays Oscar in The Office) amused me a great deal. So I wasn't rolling my eyes during the entire movie, but I'm glad I only dropped a five spot for this evening's entertainment.

I can say with confidence that this movie would not make a top 200 list for me. Some day there will be a chick flick out there that I REALLY like...and when I find that flick, I will let you know. Until then...

One Fell Down and Bumped Her Head

Last night the family and I went to Will's parent's house for

supper. Will's dad loves to experiment with different crock pot meals, barbecued meats, and vegetable concoctions. I love it because Will is such a picky eater. I mean, who doesn't like corn? As GOB Bluth would say, "Come on!!" (As seen on the episode where he keeps wearing the $10,000 suit.) I, maybe excessively, try to encourage my children to try lots of different vegetables,

fruits, and crock pot dishes. My favorite vegetable that Judah LOVES is rhubarb. This kid will sneak into the garden
and eat rhubarb right off the plant. Good stuff.

We were all awaiting the freshly picked items from Ping Pong's garden (as Judah so lovingly refers to him), when Mayah decided to sprint across the room in her clunkified sneakers. She had almost reached the wooden computer chair when she tripped and bumped her head on the sturdy wood. The skin above her eye immediatly began bleeding...dripping...gushing. It was frightening. It was Mayah's first real injury. She was a trooper, though. After a few minutes of screaming, she was up and playing like nothing had happened. Her wound bled through the bandage a few times, so Will ventured to Boone to get some butterfly strips. Will informed me upon his return that every person with the intent to move to a new town should first visit that town's Wal Mart. Apparently, Will would not ever consider moving to Boone.

I just finished changing the bandages on Mayah's head wound and snapped some shots of her first official boo boo. It is crazy how much a tiny scratch can bleed. She is recovering nicely :)

GOAAAALLL(s)

Yesterday was a busy Sunday. I got up early to work out, which starts the day out long. I have not worked out in years. After I had Judah, I just kind of waited for my body to go back to normal. When he turned two and I was still fat, I realized my dreams were not going to come true. I got pregnant with Mayah that February, fifteen pounds heavier than I was before having Judah. After I had Mayah, I decided I would actually try to lose weight...until I got pregnant with Liam six months later. So here I am, almost three months out from having Liam, and I am not messing around this time. It is really hard for me to stay motivated because I like junk food. I think I get it from my dad. My father weighs about a buck fifteen at 62 and eats like he is trying prove something. He puts whip cream on every possible breakfast food, has multiple pie breaks during the day, stashes mounds of candy and chocolate in his couch, and will buy a dozen Krispie Creams with no intention of sharing. Now I am not this bad, but if there is junk food in my house, I don't feel guilty about eating it. I don't want it to go to waste, you know? I have also lost my high metabolism from my younger days. I really took advantage of it, too. It is hard for me to remember that I can't eat a pan of scotch-a-roos at 9pm (or any other time) like I use to. It is really quite a let down. So, how are you going to stay motivated this time, Jess?

Well, lucky for me, my darling husband has gained a lot of weight, too. Will likes to put on the sympathy pounds during my pregnancies...he's always been the sympathetic type. This time it was not a good situation, because he had his knee surgery a few months before Liam was born and was sedentary for weeks and weeks. So not only was he eating to match his pregnant wife, but he was completely inactive. So we have devised a contest to keep me motivated. The first one to weigh what he or she did at our wedding wins. The prize is....$100 of fun money. This is a big prize for us because we don't have a lot of fun money floating around. Most of our cash these days goes to our kids and their diapers or other necessities. What would I do with this kind of cash all to myself?? Give some of the clothes I have from my college years (seven or eight years ago) to Good Will and get some new stuff? Go purchase some of the movies I have wanted to own for a while but never felt right about spending money on? Treat myself to some "good" beauty supplies (good would not include anything from Suave, Jane, The Dollar General, or Hansen's Beauty Supply). I'm not sure yet, but I am sure that I am going to win.

So, folks, I'll keep you posted. I don't like to lose...anything.

Short Vacation

For those who were wondering if I had given up blogging, my answer is "not yet." Last week, Will and I discovered that the cord that plugs into the wall from our computer was frayed and no longer charging our laptop. We have been sans Internet for quite a while now. It is rough! I was able to check my email and facebook at my mom's house over the week, but only for short intervals because we were so busy. It is nuts how much Internet just becomes a part of your world.

My sister went home on Wednesday, and life is returning to its normal routine. We are in week two of no air conditioning and have been informed that it will be another three weeks before anyone can get out here to repair it. I realize that I grew up without the luxury of air conditioning, but this heat and humidity feels like nothing I have ever experienced. The first really hot night, Liam was up screaming for two hours. We finally gave him a bath to cool him down which woke him up even more. Yesterday I took the kids to WalMart and walked around for two hours just to stay out of the hot house. Oh the memories we are creating.

The kids are in bed, and Will and I are going to enjoy a night of movie watching. Tonight he brought home The International and Underworld (the last one). I'll let you know if they are any good...I don't have high hopes for Underworld...

Cousins Unite!

My older sister, Jenny(to the left), is visiting from Montana this week! I am very excited to have her here. We only get to see each other twice a year (if we are lucky). Jenny has an (almost) three year old, Madeline Rose. She is a beautiful little girl..looks just like her Mama. The kids and I went down on Tuesday and have been staying at my parent's house so we can get as much Jenny-Maddie time as possible. We all arrived at my parent's house on Tuesday and Papa C had a big meal all ready for us. My dad is an amazing cook...if only I had cared enough to pay attention growing up. My niece, Lily (10), came down with my big brother, Jer (aka Uncle Worm), and is also staying at Mama and Papa C (also known as G'ma and Popeye)'s house. To the right is a picture of Lily reading a Pooh book to Judah, Maddie, and Mayah.

Below is a photo of Mayah cuddled up to my Mama's leg on Tuesday. I added it because I think she is just that cute. I mean, look at those curls!

The three middle cousins finished the night off with a shared bath. I was going to upload a photo, but couldn't find one that covered Judah appropriately. We went into this adventure not knowing where everyone would sleep. My parents only have two bedrooms at their house and this week, we had nine people who needed sleeping quarters. Tuesday night, we attempted to put Judah and Maddie together in a bed. It was adorable. The plan was to have them watch cartoons in Gma's bed until it was time to sleep and Gma would come in when she was ready to sleep. After the tv was off, they talked off and on for about an hour. Favorite moment of the night: Gma went in and told them that if they didn't quit talking and go to sleep, she was going to take one of them downstairs. They were both quiet for a moment, and Maddie piped in saying, "Don't take me...take Judah." Judah looked heartbroken and replied, "But I'm a good boy. I never fight. I always share. I say please..." My mom had to leave because she was going to break up. Talk about throwing your cousin under the bus!

Wednesday we took the kids to a tea room in Prarie City. They had boas and hats for us to fancy ourselves up with. I was terrified the whole time that one of my toddlers would break free and run a rampage through the antiques. Luckily, we left the tea party without being required to buy a $40 broken tea pot or a $35 ceramic butterfly.

After that, we spent a sweltering hot day at the zoo. My favorite part of the zoo was all of the sweet hand-holding that went on.

Judah's favorite part of the zoo is the giraffes. We have a season pass, so Judah is quite the tour guide when we head into his
territory. He loves to be able to
show everyone what is what. The
one downfall of this is that he spends
all of five minutes at each exhibit. Above are pictures of Judah and Mayah with the flamingos.

Below are pictures of the aforementioned handholding. Also featured is a picture of Mayah with the river otters. She was cracking up as they swam around. She has such a contagious laugh.

Right now I am feeling overwhelmed. My kids need to be put down (not like a horse..although..), and I need to stop using my brain. I have blogged as much as I can blog today. My children and nieces have used up all of my energy. It is going to take me the whole weekend to recover.

Liam

As per request (this is for you, Denise), I am going to give you an update on young Liam. Liam was born April 1st of this year, which makes him eleven weeks old on Wednesday. That blows my mind. At the top is a picture of Liam when he was born. To the left is Liam about a week ago. Doesn't even look like the same kid, huh? Liam weighed in at 8 pounds 15 ounces. Today he weighs a whopping 14 pounds. That's right, fourteen. I know we aren't supposed to compare one child to another, but who doesn't do this? So, I will let you share in my poor parenting tactic. Liam weighs more than a pound over what my largest child did at this age. Mayah was 9 lbs 1 oz at birth and thirty pounds at 18 months. She only weighed 12 pounds 8 ounces at eleven weeksh is 1 1/2 pounds less than Liam right now. Liam may just be my little brute. Poor Judah. My oldest is doomed to a life of bullying by his two younger, larger siblings. Judah is only 33 pounds at 3 and a half (three pounds more than his 18 month old sister).

Enough of comparisons, and back to the youngest. Liam is a dream. He has been waking up only once at night since he came home from the hospital and has slept through a few times. He smiles and coos and takes a lot of beatings from J and M. Mayah just finished playing the "Liam is supporting all of my body weight while I kiss his face" game. It's a favorite of ours. He loves to be held closely and falls asleep almost instantly when we position him chest to chest. He is my only child who will not take a pacifier, which is maddening. Believe me, I have tried. Judah can make him smile almost instantly and is the only one who can make him laugh.

After my colicky child, Mayah, I wasn't so sure I could handle bringing another baby into our house. Liam has broken the mold. Before I was married, I was sure I wanted six kids. After having Judah, that number went down to four. After Mayah, I had to pray that God would make me want another one. (Six months later, He hadn't really left me a choice:) With Liam, I am more optimistic. I'm not making any promises, though...remember, he's only eleven weeks old.

My favorite part of Liam's appearance right now is his curly hair. His hair is super curly right out of the bath, but dries straight and spiky. I really hope that he has hair like Mayah and not Judah. I'm not sure I can handle another kid with Will's hair...poor Judah...

Anyway, here is a photo of Liam's hair right out of the bath.

Hmmm..not sure what else I can say about this little guy. He's beautiful and wonderful. We love him to pieces. If you haven't met him, you are missing out!

The Cheese Factor

Last night, I saw Coldplay in concert. I was very excited to attend, because I have been a fan of Coldplay for at least eight years. I remember seeing the music video for "Yellow" on my crap tv during my junior year in college (00-01) and asking my morally unbound friend to download their album from her Napster account. She then burned me a copy and our relationship was established. I have since pined to see them in concert. After a shameful status update(aka pathetic plea) informing my friends that tickets would make an amazing birthday gift, my college roomie, Colette, HOOKED ME UP! She got us great seats, too. We were spared the floor seats where all of the hardcore, annoying, loud-singing, slobbering fans stand. Don't get me wrong, I was once one of those fans. I have spent many a concert vying for a front row spot, secretly knowing in my heart of hearts that the lead singer was singing directly to me. There is something to be said for joining a throng of sweaty die-hards in pumping your fist and gyrating to a thumping bass. It can be amazing to get lost in the music and the show. These days, however, I just want to enjoy the show. I want to be able to hear the artist actually sing and actually play. I am officially old.

Back to our seats, we were in the first level directly in front of the stage. Good stuff. It was great because we could see the entirety of all of the extras like the crazy 80s inspired camera work on the big screens and the butterfly ticker tape falling from the ceilings. Coldplay really does put on a good show. It would have been a shame to have been on the floor, because I would have missed the crazy globes hanging from the ceiling that showed shots of Chris Martin's head in funny shapes and sizes.

In addition to the great seats, cool camera work, and great visuals, Coldplay sounded great. It was obvious that Chris Martin really does have a great voice. It doesn't take a bunch of computers to clean this band up. I have been to some concerts where you kind of look around and ask yourself, "Really?" as they are singing. Not so with Coldplay.

I titled this post "The Cheese Factor" because Coldplay definitely brought this factor with them. It always cracks me up when a band tells its crowd that it is the best crowd EVER!!! Wooo!! Wooott Woooooo!!! Seriously. I know that 80% of the people in the crowd know that this is just a morale booster, but I don't know why they all scream in appreciation. It drives me mad. Direct quote from Martin: "If we had known the Des Moines crowd was going to be so amazing, we'd a come much sooner!!" BS They also made up a song about Iowa and the Hawkeye state. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, it was just over the top cheesy. This song was preceded by the entire audience joining in a "mexican cellphone wave" (picture lights off and everyone doing the wave with their cellphones lit and in the air), and followed by a crowd sing-a-long to "I'm a Believer" by Neil Diamond. Cheese.

I really enjoyed this concert. I'm glad I got to go. My favorite part of the night was when the band left the stage to sing amongst the crowd. They were one section away from us and in the same row. I feel famous by association.