Monday, July 30, 2007

The boy.

William's 1st molar broke through sometime between last night and this morning. Needless to say he nursed. all. night.long. HOwever, he seems happier tomorrow; unfortunately I know that there are 3 more molars to follow; his teeth count is now up to 9. William also took a face plant yesterday at my moms house while 3 grown people were watching him (thankfully I was at work; as my mom thought it might warrant a trip to the emergency room, it didn't. He has a huge goose egg on his forhead, a swollen nose w/ scab on his upper lip (think mustach area) a scab on his chin. If I remember to change the battery in my camera that has been dead for 3 weeks, I'll take a picture and post it later.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

banging head up against brick wall

my son is crying and wont stop.
my daughter is dancing for him tyring to make him (and mama) happy.
i'm wishing that I could go to a hideaway where I would be alone.
i'm now feeling like a bad mother.
i also wish the maid would come (oh wait I am the maid).
son is screaming louder guess I should go.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Incase you've ever wondered but didn't know

Okay so I was blog surfing as I was sitting here eating my dinner and on a blog that I came across from a comment of a blog that I regularly read (hope you followed all that) I read 100 things about a person I've never even met (and probably never will) anyways I thought hmmm I wonder if I could think of 100 interesting things about my life (you'll have to forgive me if some of them are Obvious and not so interesting)! So here it goes.

1.) I was born September 26, 1979. Which makes me a Libra who is currently 27 years old

2.) My mom's name is Viva Marie Bessie; her maiden Last name was Ostberg

3.) My dad's name is Lance Richard Martin

4.) In December (2007) my parent's will celebrate there 30th Wedding anniversary!

5.) I have only one Sister Nichole Dyann who is 14 months younger than me.

6.) My middle name is Deanne, and I like it a lot.

7.) I still have one set of Great-Grandparents, which means that my children have great-great grandparents. There Names are Lil and Sam Digifford.

8.) The first time I can remember experiencing death was when I was 13 years old, in 8th grade and My Great-grandma Sylvia passed away; that also is the first time I can recall seeing my dad cry!

9.) I never wanted any other siblings, and never longed for a brother.

10.) Now that I see the amazing relationship between my daughter and her brother, I sorta wish I had a brother!

11.) Of Course I'm also saddened that my daughter will never have a sister (that's closer to age than 15 years older).

12.) I grew up in Jamul, born and raised; my parents still live in the house that my father (with some assistance) built when I was 7.

13.) As a child I took Dance classes, played soccer, did Gymnastics, I was a cheerleader and swam competitively.

14.)Once I entered High School the only two I pursued were Gymnastics and Cheerleading.

15.) Growing up I always imagined I'd become a teacher.

16.) I have my BA in English Literature from SDSU as I was going to achieve my previous goal. I do not want to be a teacher, I decided it just wasn't for me.

17.) I babysat a lot in High School, and always knew I wanted children!

18.) I never imagined my daughter would be such a clone of me; not only in looks, but also in personality. (my poor mother)

19.) I was a vegetarian for a while, when I became pregnant with Nathalie I craved MEAT and I've just not made it back to being meat free again.

20.) When I was 14 we had a foreign exchange student from Belgium named Nathalie, she is where I fell in love with the name and spelling of my daughters name. Nathalie's middle name is Nichole after her auntie (my sister).

21.) I went to Europe (Switzerland, Holland, and England) when I was 10 for 3 weeks with my Grandmother (on my dad's side).

22.) I love to cook, but despise the mess that's left afterwards!

23.) My favorite Non-Alcoholic drink is Diet Pepsi.

24.) My favorite Alcoholic drink is Rum and coke or a Daiquiri.

25.) I have worked in Pharmacy for 10 years!

26.) I met my husband while working for Rite Aid in Hillcrest.

27.) The age difference between my husband and I is 16 years and 8 months

28.) I am starting school again; I want to be a pharmacist!

29.) I LOVE dark Chocolate and don't honestly believe there is a better invention on Earth!

30.)I love to shop (although I have really been trying not to lately)

31.)I would love to have a maid.

32.)I am only 5'3" and Nathalie is estimated to be 5'9", I think its crazy that they can guess at stuff like this.

33.)I am not shy. Like I said my daughter is my clone, would any of you call her shy? Ha!

34.)My favorite food is a tie between homemade lasagna and homemade Enchiladas!

35.) My husband's full name is Samuel Charles Long, He was named after both of his grandfathers!

36.) We considered naming William after both of his grandfathers, but then his Name would have been Lance Richard, we decided against this, due to #3 on my list. and instead decided that Richard as a middle name would suffice to represent both of his grandfathers!

37.) I love to read, but don't do it often enough.

38.) I also love to watch TV!

39.) my eyes are brown.

40.) on a daily basis I find myself amazed that I have 2 children that look and act so differently yet so much the same.

41.) I wish that I had more patience with my children and husband and often feel regret when I loose it with either of them.

42.) I greatly dislike going to the dentist, and so far I've been twice this month.

43.) I love flying on Airplanes; my husband hates it.

44.) I have found that I frequently give too much of myself to others.

45.) I often feel out of place amongst people.

46.) I regret mistakes that I have made, one of which cost me my best friend from High School.

47.) If William had been a girl his name would have been Lillian Kay after my Great Grandmother and my sister in law

48.) If Nathalie had been a boy her name was going to be Ian Richard, funny that Ian wasn't even discussed when we discovered William was a boy.

49.) If I ever had another baby (we won't as Sam had a Vasectomy) I love the name Jeremiah Charles for a boy and Brooklyn Kay for a girl; maybe I'll once have grand kids with those names.

50.) Theoretically I could be a grandma right now as my oldest step daughter is 18, thank goodness she's smarter than that and knows that its not a time for kids in her life (other than her baby brother and sister of course)!

51.) My step-daughters names are Jocelyn Celeste and Briana Chelsea; they are 18 and 15 and I miss them terribly.

52.) My favorite number, since about the age of 14 has been 52, because there are 52 weeks in the year.

53.) All 4 of my husband's children have middle names that are 7 letters long:
Celeste; Chelsea; Nichole and Richard! and it wasn't planned, it just happened!

54.)I would love to be a surrogate mother, but I don't think I ever will.

55.)I prefer dogs over cats 10 fold!

56.)My first job was at Dairy Queen.

57.)I have never been one to require a lot of sleep

58.)I have never been on a cruise and have always wanted to go on one, specifically to Alaska!

59.) My husband who has lived in San Diego for 25 years has never been to Las Vegas, I can't believe it; lol!

60.)It may be a bad thing, but I'm really not a germaphobe.

61.)I absolutely loved being pregnant (both times) and everything about it!

62.)I hate dishes and dusting, but like doing laundry and cleaning the bathroom

63.)I probably let my kids watch too much television

64.)If I had one wish at this moment, I would wish for William to stop throwing things on the ground and putting everything in his mouth.

65.) I am thankful that I never had twins.

66.) I love nothing in this world more than I love my children (even if some days I have to remind myself of this over and over).

67.) I really don't care what people say about me, I just wish they'd say it to my face and not behind my back.

68.) I am so grateful at how easily my daughter shares with my son.

69.)I am scared of death and of losing those close to me.

70.)Lateness is something that I try at all costs to avoid, even as a mother of 2. sometimes I realize it is inevitable, but I try to never be late, especially to appointments.

71.)I am an emotional person; always have been, and most likely always will be.

72.)My entire life I have been told that I am loud in both polite and impolite manners.

73.)my personality "type" is ESFJ (Extrovert Sensing Feeling Judging)my percentages break down to me being 89% Extrovert (that's huge) oh and here are the detail of my results "very expressed extrovert,moderately expressed sensing personality,
distinctively expressed feeling personality,slightly expressed judging personality"

74.)My first car was a 1989 Hyundai excel hatch back, that my parents bought me for 250 dollars, my dad made the car run, even converted it from a manual transmission to an automatic. The day the car was towed to our house my sister teased me that there was a big red spray painted "ouch" on the driver door, and I believed her and cried and cried. It wasn't true.

75.) One of the things I admire most about my Dad is his handiness (especially now that I have found the true value in this).

76.) I admire my mom for being a SAHM until my sister and I were teenagers, and then don't blame her in the least for wanting to get out of the house then. lol

77.)I hope that my Son and I have as good of a relationship as my husband and his mom; and that my daughter and I have one like my mom and I.

78.) I at this moment have the hiccups. I never have liked them and have gotten them frequently throughout my life, it was the one thing I didn't like when I was pregnant.

79.) My favorite kind of shoes are flip flops although I prefer being barefoot. My son has inherited this and screams, cries and kicks anytime I try to put any shoes other than his Crocs

80.) My favorite season is Fall.

81.)I recycle

82.)sometimes I wish I could close my eyes and be another place where I'm not a mom or a wife. Don't get me wrong I would not change my life for anything, I'm just saying.

83.)I find it completely odd that I often have conversations with my 3 year old that are more meaningful than a lot of adult conversation I have been a part of (whether listening or talking).

84.) I am caught up in amazement by watching my children grow, at the rapidness that they learn things, in their quickness to heal from injury, in their acceleration to forgive; I wish that adults could be more like this.

85.) I truly believe there is no more an amazing moment in life than the first time your child tells you they love you and understands what it means.

86.) I laugh when I think about my life right after I had William, one day Sam came home from work too a complete disaster he asked, "what did you do all day?" Fast forward about 3 months when I returned to work, the first day I came home from work to him and the kids he said "I never again will ask you what you did in a day." That moment in time made me feel excellent; truly.

87.)I am going back to school on August 27th, to finish up my prerequisites for Pharmacy school; in about 2 years I will be in Pharmacy school and in around 6 years I will have my PHarmD and be a pharmacist.

88.) I love to write; stories, poems, thoughts, I would love to write a book, I don't know what about and I don't know if it would ever happen but I want to.

89.) I am spontaneous, my husband is not.

90.)I love grocery shopping, especially without Kids!

91.) I have always wanted a Volvo xc70; maybe when I finish school

92.)I hate diets, and wont go on one.

93.) I sometimes find myself wishing I had extra hours in the day or didn't need to sleep so that I could get more stuff done.

94.)I am a Christian, I believe in God, and Heaven; but do not believe in ghosts.

95.)I don't feel like I have a person in my life that I could call my best friend, I'm totally okay with that; I have always been a bit of an outsider, but that's what makes me who I am and I don't mind it.

96.) I graduated High School in 1997; I am not attending my 10 year reunion this year.

97.) I believe in 2nd chances.

98.) I believe in unconditional love.

99.)I am not a fan of President Bush (at all).

100.) My favorite color is Yellow.

Monday, July 23, 2007

William's words at almost 15 months!

William will be 15 months old on the 4th. I just thought I'd update with a few words/signs he is currently saying/using


Words: ma or muu for mama
daaadaaa for Dada
high pitched squeal....Nathalie (soooo appropriate)!
elllo for Hello (on telephone)
tiiicl tiiicl for tickle tickle

signs and speaks:
more (says mooo mooo) for more
Ball says baaa while signing for ball
up and says up for pick me up!
no only shakes head rapidly back and forth for no


I think thats about it!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Bunco

Tonight I got out of the house sans kids and husband to go play bunco with a bunch of fellow moms! It was such a blast I can not believe how much I enjoyed myself! Who ever knew that rolling dice could be so much fun! I had the most wins which allowed me to walk out with 40 more dollars than I walked in with *it was a 10 dollar buy in* Whats even stranger is that this is my 3rd post today! What am I going to do with the 40 dollars, well I'll give you one guess? Remember This post from earlier today?! I think I'm going to set aside that money towards the carrier!!!

a contest that I WOULD LOVE to win

5 minutes for mom is holding a contest to win $300 in Horizon Organic products and I really would LOVE to win so Im entering you can enter too.

Chinado baby carrier

I have found my next baby carrier, you can see it here, I want one; can I justify spending that much on a new carrier when my baby is already 14.5 months old, I think yes, because said baby loves to be worn; now can I convince dh, to bad by birthday is still 2 months away! I think I could wait 2 months!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Nathalie is going to school

A much debated topic I am quite aware! After much deliberation, Sam and I have decided to enroll Nathalie in Preschool! I must say that it helped me tremendously to read Sara's information on her daughters first day of school After much research and what seemed like countless (in reality it was only 3) visits we found a school that both she and we love! There are so many benefits to the school that we registered in. Most importantly it seems that they believe in a lot of the same philosophies we do as parents (educators). Although they provide snacks and lunch for the kids, we are welcome to provide our own (which I may or may not do, not sure yet)! They believe in gentle discipline (BIG ONE in my book). They are super close to our house, which I must admit factored in as well and have a completely open campus (which means we can visit whenever we or she wants). The preschool is called The Grey Rabbit which some of you may be familiar with *right across the street from Collier Park*. She will attend 3 days a week Mondays Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 until 4 (although the hours are quite flexible). She starts September 4th, 1 week after Mama goes back to school!! It will be so good for her (and allow me not only some alone time with William; but considering that William still naps, some study time.) She can't stop talking about the pet bunny they have named snowball (one of several small pets they have) or all the kids she saw and teachers she met! After visiting this morning she told me she wanted to go back (which was the first time out of the schools we saw that she said this) I think she may realize how close in proximity it is to our house and the park that we frequent so often and in her mind it must help her to realize that mama will always be close!

Does this really need any words?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Responsibility


This weeks theme at mama says om is responsibility! I haven't participated in one of their weekly themes in quite some while (read: slacker!) but as I read what they wanted out of "responsibility" I felt a sudden urge to write! They wrote "Tell us one story of how you were "responsible" during pregnancy and how you feel it set(s) you up for parenting." and as I read that line I somewhat chuckled to myself!

When I found out I was pregnant with Nathalie I was one month away from my 23rd birthday! I had just graduated college and her father and I were engaged but not yet married. Her father had just had two stints put in and nearly suffered a heart attack (BAD GENES). I did things that were bad for my body, I smoked cigarettes and drank) The first sacrifices I made for my daughter were giving up those two things. The sacrifices I've made since are countless! I couldn't believe that in 9 months I was going to be responsible for another human being! Fast forward 3 years, I am now a mother of 2, and the small sacrifices I made during immediate discovery of my pregnancy with Nathalie do not even come close to the amount of responsibility a mother has!

The responsibilities I have are countless, I have a responsibility to be a good mother to my children. I feel that I have a responsibility to show my daughter a positive female role model, as well as my son! I want my son to grow up to respect women as well as his father does. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that a woman can be anything she wants to be! I have a responsibility to be a strong, supportive, loving wife to my husband! I have a responsibility to be a hard worker both at home and at work! I have a responsibility to myself to finish my post baccalaureate studies, to earn my PHD in pharmacy and become Dr. Erika Long, this responsibility runs deep not only to fulfill my own heart but to help provide a good life for my children!

The responsibilites of life are endless, its an amazing thing motherhood, without it I wouldn't be who I am today! I love my life, my husband and my family and I am happy with the responsibilities set before me!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Absence, Life, and the future

So the last time I took my kids to playgroup was pre-Sam's surgery...it's been over 3 weeks. We were going to go on Monday when my transmission decided it wasn't such a good idea; and although I would LOVE to get a new(er) car Sam says we should wait until February or March, luckily my DAD can fix cars!!!! And he is coming to my rescue today (yet again; he just replaced my master cylinder on Saturday)and for the small price of 80 dollars my car (fingers crossed) should be up and running. I feel like a horrible mom but between his surgery and them getting sick yesterday really was the first time we would have been able to go, so I don't feel too bad after all, we won't make our Thursday playgroup this week either because I have to work and next Monday we have plans to go to the beach *but at least I'll be getting the kids out of the house* so hopefully they'll get to go to playgroup next Thursday!

Furthermore; I registered for school today! I'm going to start on 8-27 and will be taking Organic Chemistry plus Lab which is 5 units and Calculus which is 3. I am very satisfied with the schedule I got because I will have class M & W nights from about 530 to 1030 and Tuesdays from 6-10. During this semester I will be working Sundays and Wednesdays 8 hours each and thurs and fri nights. So if you've done the math my only day without work or school will be Saturdays. We are seriously considering part time preschool for Nathalie, she would attend Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and although I'm iffy about this, the school is walking distance from our house, and we are going to look at it on Thursday morning, Sam really wants me to have time to study and since William still naps at least I would get a little time to do that during the days Nathalie was (is) at school!

I want to be the best mom I can to my kids and I know that once I finish my PHD program in (fingers crossed again) roughly 6 years I can work less and make more! in 6 years I will be 34 and be the mother of a 9 and 7 year old; that is quite frightening to me. My husband will be 50 at that time and who knows if all goes well maybe he'll be ready to be a SAHD by then, he talks about it often and he would be a great SAHD; so we'll see!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Happy Saturday....Truly

Things are looking brighter here today!!!! William slept off and on between major cranky fits all day yesterday he probably took 4 naps 45 minutes to 1 hour in length!Last night San took him to bed with him at 8 and he didn't wake to nurse until 6 am; and I actually went to bed with Nathalie last night around 830 b/c I was sooo exhausted, so I got 9 full hours of sleep how exciting is that?!!!! I am very fortunate that Sam does all the middle of the night comforting at this point, and that now that William is feeling better he replies to it well! I was also excited that for two of William's naps yesterday I was able to lie him down on the bed and pat his back (he's a belly sleeper)for about 10 minutes or so to put him to sleep, it was the first time I've ever been able to have him nap after nursing rather than while nursing!

Nathalie and I made some delicious "zebra" brownies today as well as a fruit salad and some potato salad. Papa and Nana bbq'd dinner and although I skipped the meat (**I'm slowly phasing it out of my diet**) I truly enjoyed a meal of Fruit, Potato salad and corn on the cob!!!

Friday, July 13, 2007

KIDS

The exact conversation went something like this:

Me: "Nathalie please don't drink out of William's water cup, your both sick and I don't want each of you to get sicker"

Her: "we both alweady sick maaam"

Me: " I know sweetie but you guys are different kinds of sick"

Her: "Why?"

Which by the way is one of her most favorite questions of late!

sick kids!

William had a fever for about 4 days, followed by diarrhea and now a rash it appears that he has Roseola and although there is nothing I can do for it at least I know his constant scream crying and tiredness are explained! Nathalie threw up again 2 times the night before last with no apparent explanation! I've really had enough of the sickies at my house anyone want them next?

Monday, July 09, 2007

Good News

Nathalie has slept in Underwear the past 2 nights; no accidents; no more pull ups we are happy campers!

Friday, July 06, 2007

Let the fun begin

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law left to go home to Oregon today! I am sad that they had to leave; especially because I know longer have help with the recovering husband oh I mean with my kids! Sam has now broken out in hives over his entire body; I think its just stress, I really don't know what else it could be! He's actually returning to work on Monday, only to do paper work and office stuff, the Dr. said its fine as long as he DOES NOT USE HIS LEFT ARM (oh did I mention that he's left handed) but he can use his left hand so at least in immediate need he could sign his name! We have been doing physical therapy; not quite as frequently as they recommend but the pain this poor guy is in at some point enough is enough!

ON the kid front Nathalie woke up Monday morning around 7:30 and said "I'm gonna throw-up!" and she did all over our bed which she was in with Sam, but thankfully not all over Sam! She proceeded to throw up about two more times Monday morning, and then was seemingly fine for the rest of monday and all of Tuesday! Wednesday morning (the 4th) she woke up again around midnight(this time next to me on the air mattress) and said "I'm gonna throw-up" and she did; more than I ever imagined possible for such a little girl...She threw up only once more that day and now it seems to have left!

William has found new love for dancing this past couple of weeks and it is the most adorable thing I have ever seen! and he's discovered how to "jump" if you consider bending your knees and moving upwards (without your feet leaving the ground) with all of his might--jumping! But the excitment in his face when he "jumps" is amazing!

Well thats where we stand, slowly getting back into a normal routine!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

14 months; update on Sam; and its the 4th of July


Today my dear son William is 14 months old and I can't believe it! it's gone by so fast, in the past 2 months he has turned into such a little boy and I start to wonder where my baby has gone! The words he's begun to speak in this past week beyond mama and dada are "pu pu" for up up when he's climbing up our stairs; "waaastha?" for What's that and my favorite is when he tries to have a conversation with you by saying "blah blah blah blah" His laughter brings a smile to my face and his smile melts my heart!


Onto my dear husband Sam! As if having surgery a week and a half ago wasn't enough, he now has shingles! He's doing okay considering but its been hard on all of us!

Happy 4th of July to everyone; we are heading out to my parents for a swim and bbq!