Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Outlaw Wyatt James

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Nate's grandmother was killed in a horrendous car accident the Friday before Thanksgiving, and as he was extremely close to her, and she had been one of the nicest women ever to myself, we've had a hard time with it. Her husband was also injured in the accident and was hospitalized for awhile, but made it home for Thanksgiving and is recovering well. So it's been a rough week, but the funeral was beautiful and we walked away with positive thoughts. I'm not going to dwell on it, but we are hoping this has changed how some people in the family have treated us.

Spent Thanksgiving with close friends I work with and just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. We had fantastic food and I spent two days baking in my tiny kitchen. My part of the menu consisted of homemade rolls with spiced cinnamon butter, sweet potatoes, brie wrapped in pastry, homemade sangria, pumpkin pie, and berry/rhubarb custard pie. I have great recipes for all of it is anyone's interested. The Sangria was especially yummy!

Nate and I celebrated our anniversary Sunday. We made it one year without killing each other - barely.

I started back to school with the kids yesterday. I hated leaving Wyatt, but he has a great sitter that is just down the road from work and I can see him at lunch if I want. He's her only infant and only one of two full-time children. I'm very happy with her, but I miss my little man soooooo much. I wish I could take him to work with me.

Wyatt is growing! He is such a handsome little dude. He smiles and talks and laughs all day. If he gets cranky, we just need to change a diaper or feed him and he's back to amusing everyone! He's our little outlaw.

As a true outlaw, lounging around in long underware and cowboy boots is a pastime not to be beat.

"Soooooo....you think you can beat me at cards? Here, let me drool on you."


"That's right, wanted in all 50 states"


"Being this cute exhausts me. Keep an eye on things for me Maverick."

Disguised as "Little Earp"



Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Long Overdue

I haven't addressed the many questions concerning my step-daughter and the MIL. First things first -


Who made amends with me over the summer, then told me, though my efforts were appreciated, I wasn't good enough as a mother two weeks before giving birth when I was all hormonal?

Who told her granddaughter's teacher (at church no less) her parent's didn't care about her now that they had a new baby in the house, and to call her instad of her parent's if there were issues or concerns?

Who dresses up (ironically) as a clown to steal her granddaughter away from a Halloween party to take her to a haunted house at the school her stepmother works at, and then pretends she's not who she is 'cause...wait for it...she's in disguise?

You only get one guess (hint: it's the same person)

You got it! A crazy person! I'm over it. Really. It's really quite hurtful to myself and my family, and I just refuse to let anyone be hurt like this anymore

So that leads me into my stepdaughter's behavior. I don't think it takes much to explain the influences she has working around her. As a co-worker and parent of a child in her class recently said, "It's very obvious when you are out of town, or (she) has visited with her grandparents. She's rude to me and acts like a brat towards my child." Nice. At least I'm not getting blamed for her behavior. In fact, she herself blames grandma by telling her friends that, "my grandma told me I don't have to be nice to you." I don't actually believe this was really said, but she's got it figured she can behave anyway she wants if she blames it on her grandma. It's a quandary. And no, she doesn't visit but that doesn't seem to stop the in-laws anyway.

For the record - I really would love to be able to respect them and depend on them. Having family close would be nice if we could take advantage of it, and for general support. But when they can't respect their son, his wife or them as a couple - it makes it a little difficult when such foolish behavior is exhibited. What's killer is we visited quite often; at least once a month if not more. We spent the summer holidays with them, had dinner on more than one occasion, spent labor day with them, had my stepdaughter with them on and off through the summer for overnight visits, let her stay there when I was in the hospital, etc. But evidently if they don't have her whenever they want her, and for as long as they want her then they must resort to kidnapping. Like I said, I'm over it.

As for my step-daughter: we have started a red light/green light board and star chart at home. She's fine with Wyatt, but there have been some behavioral issues - such as lying about homework and then forging her father's initial on worksheets. What 5 year old does that? She gets a lot of attention, especially concerning school work and reading (which she really enjoys). The chart seems to be working as she's very excited to stay in the 'green zone' and collect as many stars as possible.

'K - moving on...

Wyatt is my little strong man. He loves to hang as a monkey and does pull ups. I'm not kidding. He does a 90 degree arm hang, can lower himself, pull himself back up and also does leg lifts. He laughs the whole time. Is this normal? LOL (BTW: LOVE the babylegs! They rock!)

I have been busy getting creative. I used to be quite the pencil and pen and ink artist, but don't have the space for my work in the house. My creative outlet has gone towards more 3D work - like knitting and sewing - and jewelry making. I've been knitting scarves and cowls to match recycled sweater mittens I've been felting for Christmas gifts. The only problem is I want to keep everything! I'll post pics soon concerning my projects - I've just had a stack of papers to grade lately so it's been put to the side for now since I have to catch time when baby is napping (and that's almost never).

This weekend I went to a birthday party for the daughter (and former student) of a good friend of mine. I totally spaced it, but came up with a cool gift at the last minute. She's a little cowgirl and shows horses competitively so anything chunky and rustic is right up her alley:

I used all natural stones: Turquoise, garnet, amber, quartz and lapis.

I made it into some pre-preggers pants about a month ago. Those were my 'fat pants'. This week I made it into some normal sized riding jeans I have that used to be a little loose, but now fit perfectly. Hopefully by next week they're a little loose again! Losing pregnancy weight sucks. I've been walking in my Shape-ups and doing some cardio, but not near the amount I should.

I had my hair done. I've been growing it out and wanted something drastic, but not short again. My stylist did an awesome job - she dyed the lower layers a really dark reddish brown (almost black), then chunked a bunch of bleached highlights and dark lowlights mixed with my natural haircolor. The highlights framing my face are a lighter blond that's almost a light lavender in certain light. I love it. It's totally dramatic and fun which is what I wanted. I've gone from the girl who might visit the hairsalon for a trim once every two years, to loving a change in my look at least twice a year. I'm not sure when the girl gene kicked in, or if it'll last, but I'm enjoying it.