I'd Rather Lie on a Bed of Nails

Saturday night  Drew and I sat in front of the computer trying to plan an outing for the next day. He's never been to Knott's Berry Farm or Universal Studios, so I figured we could go to one of those theme parks.

I figured wrong.

Drew had no desire to go to Knott's after looking at their website. He says their rides all look to scary. (Yes, he is a Disneyland FOREVER kind of kid) He said we could go to Universal Studios, but only to go on the Simpson's ride.. and then leave. I refused that request for 2 reasons: 1. I hate the Simpson's (he gets to watch it at his dad's) and 2. I'm not spending $150 for us to spend 5 minutes in a theme park. No thanks.

So we agreed on going to the Discovery Science Center... which we go to about once a year anyway.

They have a lot of neat hands-on science stuff to do there. Drew was absolutely amazed with this smoke cloud making thingy. 

He got to fly a little airplane around.

They have these little chairs where you have to use a rope to pull yourself up. Each chair makes it harder and harder for you to pull, but the kids were all still able to do it. Drew must have done this one about 3 times.

There is an earthquake simulator that I thought was pretty cool.... Drew thought it sucked...my little scaredy-cat.

But Drew's absolute favorite thing there was the bed of nails.

Thousands of long nails poking him in the back and the bootie were the highlight if his day. 

We went back to this exhibit at least three times. And on the third time I finally gave into the begging and tried it myself (I've actually done it before on a previous visit, but Drew didn't remember seeing me, so he insisted I do it again.)

All in all we had a good day. This place is a lot closer to home than either of the theme parks... and it only cost me $23 bucks. It was a win win situation... oh, and it ended up raining that day anyway so the theme parks would have sucked. 

Maybe in a few weeks I can convince my kid to give Knott's a try. I know he'd love it once we got there. 

Free Weekends

I've been a single mom since day one. 


Our "visitation schedule" has been pretty consistent for the last 4 years. Drew lives with me an visits his dad every Wednesday and every other weekend. This is what we've agreed upon and made work. 


But I hate it. 
I hate sharing AT ALL. I don't want to be without my son on Wednesdays. I hate dropping him off at school every other Friday and knowing I won't see him until Monday. It sucks and I am not a fan of "visitation" AT ALL. 


But "visitation" isn't about me, it's about Drew getting to spend time with his dad. So I don't complain about it... and always encourage Drew to have a great relationship with his dad. 


So with this schedule intact... I have what are known to friends and family as "Free Weekends". Weekends without Drew. I prefer to call them "Weekends from Hell". Any time people ask about my plans for the weekend or want to invite us to something, they always ask if it's my Free Weekend.. or if I'll have Drew. 


While I hate the sharing of the child... I have to admit we've all become so accustom to it. I make plans to get the car worked on or my hair done only on weekends I don't have Drew. I plan anything that he wouldn't want to go to on weekends he's at his dad's. My dentist and doctor appointments are always on Wednesday afternoons. 


Luckily my sister and I both have our kids on the same weekends so we always plan stuff when we have the kids. This is the same on his dad's side, which works out so no one misses out. 


On my Free Weekends I can clean the house or lay around for hours doing nothing... I can eat ice cream for breakfast and not worry about being a bad example.


But more often than not, I find myself wishing I wasn't "Free".  I want the smiles, the laughs and even the attitude that comes along with my favorite kid on earth. I want the hugs, kisses and tickle sessions. I want the peace that comes with knowing exactly where Drew is and what he is doing at every moment... even if some of those moments are spent with him following me around the house. I want my favorite shopping partner, my best friend, and the love of my life. 


But as long as Drew as happy... and we've had no complaints from him on this schedule.. than this is the way it'll be. And I'll just be "Free" to miss my baby like crazy.

Stop and Hug The Kiddo

This morning we were rushing to get out of the house on time. I woke up later than I would have liked to, and Drew had zero desire to get out of bed. In between trying to blow dry my hair and get dressed, I finally managed to get Drew out of bed. Carrying him to the restroom was required. 


Drew had a SERIOUS case of the lazies this morning and took FOREVER to get himself dressed... even stopping for a few minutes to check the players stats on his Miami Dolphins Calendar (priorities, you know). 


While I was attempting to get dressed in my room, I noticed him wandering around the kitchen and I yelled to him to make sure he got the dogs fed. Without saying a word, Drew walked into my bedroom and I started freaking out. I began saying things like "didn't I tell you to feed the dogs? Buddy come on, you're killing me, we're going to be late." 


And Drew just walked up to me and hugged me.... 


Without a word.. or even a look.. Just a hug.


Of course I was caught of guard a little, and was still panicking about being late, but I just hugged him back then knelt down and asked him what was wrong. To which he replied:


"Nothing Mom. I just love you.... oh, and I already fed the dogs."


No matter how late I might be, there will ALWAYS be time for moments like these.  

Growing in Red

To my complete surprise and utter amazement... my little monster is actually growing. 

Drew has always been an itty bitty teeny tiny boy.. and I LOVE it. He is currently 7 years old, 41 inches tall and weighs 40 pounds. According to his doctor, Drew is the size of your average 5 year old. 

But in the last few weeks this munchkin has been growing. He's gone up a shoe size and a size in jeans. Which required me to do so shopping this weekend. The shoes has already been taken care of the previous week.... so this time I was on a mission for jeans. First I hit the thrift stores. I LOVE the thrift stores in our area. I always find great deals on things we want need. I found 3 pairs of jeans for Drew and a pair of shorts and paid $12 total.. SCORE!! The jeans were Old Navy and Levi brands. And the shorts were Hurley. 

And on my last stop I found something that I knew would make my midget man smile. Red Levi Skinny Jeans. This boy LOVES red. 

In all honesty, I am not a fan of the skinny jean craze amongst boys. On girls they look great... but boys, not so much. But they're RED.. and since my baby is so small, they just look like regular jeans on him anyways... so I had to buy them. 

This picture (of horrible quality) was taken yesterday morning before school. I wish I would have taken one of the outfit he wanted to wear.... his ORANGE Dolphins jersey with his RED jeans.... sorry kid, not gonna happen on my watch. 

The Boob Police

Back in my high school days I clearly remember my father being the Outfit Police. I doubt there was a day that went by that he wasn't telling me to cover something up. And there were 2 factors that were working hard against him and his mission to keep his daughter fully clothed:
 1. I was a cheerleader. The super short skirt just comes with the job. There was no way around that one. 
 2. My ever growing chest. Which I inherited from HIS side of the family... so really he was to blame. I was a C cup at age 13.... and they kept growing. Enough said.


Every tank top or V-neck shirt exposed some sort of cleavage. Now they weren't just hanging out there... but there was always some minimal exposure going on. 


And to this day, not much has changed in that department. Except my dad is no longer inspecting my outfits and demanding I wear a jacket every morning. 


Nope.. now it's my 7 year old son. 


Before I go further let me explain something. Our household consists solely of Drew and I... and our little chihuahuas. And privacy is pretty much non-existent. It's just never been an issue. He gets undressed in his room before going to take a shower and will come walking into the living room naked to ask me a question along the way. When I'm getting ready for work my bedroom door is wide open. We're a pretty freely-naked-around-the-house kind of family. 


Lately Drew has made it his personal mission to keep his mommy's boobies out of sight. If I bend down to kiss him he'll stop me and pull at my shirt and say "Mom cover your boobies!!" Just the other day I was standing in just my jeans and a bra getting ready to go out and he comes in my room and says "Mom you need to buy a bigger bra. I can see your boobs." I just laughed and explained to him that this was actually a brand new bra I bought 2 weeks ago and that's how it's supposed to fit. 


Looks like my son is NOT a boob man. He wants them covered up and put away. Sure hope he gets past this phase before summer hits. I'll be wearing a wet suit instead of a bathing suit to the beach!! Lol

This mornings candid photo session

Vacation.. With a Contingency Plan...

A few months ago Drew and I began talking about our next vacation. For the last 2 years we've gone to Vegas for our vacation (his choice.. seriously). So this year I decided we'd go to San Diego. He's been wanting to go to Lego Land so I figured San Diego would be perfect. He'll get to enjoy a new amusement park... we'll go to the wild animal park..  and I'll get to enjoy the San Diego beaches. 


However... this vacation plan came with a contingency plan: If the Miami Dolphins play in San Diego against the Chargers this season, we'll go to the game instead of our vacation. 


OK, not necessarily instead of... just that in that case our vacation would then be scheduled around the game instead of late August as planned. And we'd probably skip the wild animal park and stay at a cheaper hotel since we'll be paying over $200 to see the game. 


Well as of yesterday afternoon it's become official... the Dolphins play the Charges in San Diego this next season, so my little man will be going to his first NFL game!! I honestly have no desire to see the game... but I am SUPER anxious to see the look on my babies face while he watches HIS Dolphins.. live and in person!


However... this plan also comes with an un-official contingency plan: Drew loves the Dolphins because his Daddy loves the Dolphins. It's THEIR team.... so I'm sure his dad would LOVE to take him to see the game. 


His dad and I haven't talked about any of this yet so nothings official. And the NFL schedule isn't up yet so I don't even know exactly when the game is. So we're still in "wait and see" mode. If worse comes to worse, I may just be going on vacation alone this year..... 

If I Survive The Day it Will Be A Miracle

Right now... this very instant... my BABY.. my sweet 7 year old big boy... is at school, and getting ready for his 2nd grade field trip..... WITH OUT ME!!!!!! 


Just typing that made my blood pressure raise...  A LOT. 


For kindergarten and 1st grade I went with Drew and his class to both field trips. There was no way under the sun that I was allowing my son out in the scary world, away from the safe haven of his elementary school with out me. It was completely unthinkable. And that was the plan for 2nd grade too. Until last week...


When I went to pick up Drew from school on Friday his teacher tells me they have a field trip planned for next Thursday (today). She tells me where they're going and says "and I assume you'll be coming with us..." (cause you know, I'm THAT Mom.. obsessive, paranoid and overly involved). She then goes on to tell me about 2 more field trips she's planning... Seriously, what class needs to go on 3 field trips? And who gives a weeks notice for an upcoming field trip? This lady needs to get it together. 


Now here's where the dilemma begins. This Monday was a holiday for their school (and everywhere else.. MLK Day.. except my office) so since Drew didn't have school and I don't have a babysitter, I had to call in sick to work to take that day off. Also, let me remind you, I had just called in the previous Monday for a personal day since I had all that car drama going on. My work is pretty good about me taking time off for anything Drew related.. but 3 days in less than 2 weeks? That would just be pushing it. 


So since the field trip was actually just a half day trip... walking field trip.. 3 blocks away from their school... to a place he's been before.... I had to pass on being a chaperone (or protective parent... however you want to word it). And now I'm supposed to sit in my office and be productive? Not even slightly possible. I will sit here until 12 (when they're supposed to be back at school) just staring at my phone and hoping it DOESN'T ring with a call from the school. 


The next field trip is in March... to a place a hour away.. so I will definitely be going to that one. 


Now, back to my phone staring... .

Double Blogs?

I've been debating this for at least a couple months now....


Should I have 2 blogs... 2 completely separate and un-linked blogs?


Let me explain my dilemma a little further...


There are 2 sides to me. I truly am a Gemini at heart (don't believe in the whole astrological thing, but it does amuse me... hence the Gemini tattoo on my back.. ). 
There's the main me.. the MOM me.. Drew's Mom. The woman whose ENTIRE world revolves around her son. The side of me that loves baking cookies with my baby boy or listening to him rattle off football facts that I'll never understand. The side of me who can't take enough pictures of my adorable seven year old... the side whose arms literally ache at night when he's not here laying next to me.


And then there's that other side... 
The side that rarely creeps out. The side that only exists or even attempts to come out, when Drew is at his dad's. I'm not really sure what to call this side.... and since this blog is about Drew and I, our life.. our family.. I just don't feel right about writing things "not of a family nature" on here. But there are things I want to write.. want to share.. about my life. I have thoughts, opinions, and some interesting experiences that I want to get out.


So I'm thinking of opening a separate blog... just haven't decided for sure yet. Maybe some things are best kept hidden... on the other side.. right where they belong.

Web-Cam Fun

Having a laptop is still fairly new to us.


As is the web-cam.


The other night we started playing around with it... and here are the results...

It's gonna take some work to get any real decent pictures... but for now, we'll stick to the fun stuff. Next Drew wants to learn to use Skype so he can talk to Grandma and his cousins. 

Randomness of the Week

Just some tid-bits of our week, since I don't have anything substantial enough to fill up a whole blog... here we go..


*Our rental car this week was a 2010 Hyundai Accent.. which was fine, but it didn't have power windows or locks (I swear I didn't know they even made cars with out power everything anymore). To make matters worse, it made me feel old... ok, so Drew's comment about the car made me feel old. He looked at the handle for the windows and said "Mom, what is this thing for?"... apparently someone is only used to windows that move with the push of a button. 


*I'm a schedule person... big fan pf predictability... I'm also horrible at waiting... this made the process of getting my eyes checked at the doctor (pretty sure both eyes are infected) impossible. Missing work for an appointment was out the question after all the time I missed dealing with my car drama, so I decided I'd squeeze in a stop to urgent care. Well waiting over 45 minutes just wasn't going to work for me.. especially knowing that after waiting there and being seen, I would end up having to stop at the pharmacy for my prescription. So know we're on 2 weeks of infected eyes.... hopefully when I go blind from this crap I'll have time in my busy schedule to see a doctor. 


*Drew is in a Hide & Seek phase. If I leave the room for 3 seconds, he's hiding. At first I gave in and played a long and would look for him. After a week of CONSTANT hiding, I was over it, so I started yelling at him to stop hiding and get do whatever I was asking him to do. We're about a month into it now... and I've completely given up.. now I don't look for him, don't call his name, and don't even bother yelling at him. I just let him stay hidden so I can enjoy a few moments in peace... until he gets bored and comes out. The game is now called Hide & Wait.. haha.. I win!


*Before we had Drew, his dad and I were really good friends (with a side of "more than friends" on random nights). With the birth of our son and his girlfriend moving in with him, our friendship became non-existent. Lately we've both been talking about how much we genuinely miss that friendship (not the random nights part.. no no no). Then we spend a few minutes together in person, the conversation always turns to Drew and we are both reminded while we will never have that friendship again. It's a vicious circle.. but it works for us. 


*There is a man at work who seems to need my help for things he should be doing himself at least twice a day. While this fact itself bothers me, what makes it worse is that he walks into my office and just stands in front of my desk..... just stands there. Doesn't say a word. It doesn't matter if I'm on the phone, reading a book, making a note, or playing on Facebook.. he absolutely does not speak until I ask if he needs something. Are you freaking kidding me??? You obviously came in for a reason, SPEAK UP!! This year I've decided to just ignore him until he speaks. I'm over it. This game will be called Speak or Wait.. haha


*I realized this week that being an adult requires A LOT of phone calls. I hate phone calls. Sure wish I could just TEXT the car insurance company, the car dealership, my doctors office, the bank, Drew's school, my office, Wal-Mart, my health insurance provider, and 78 year old grandparents... 


Happy Friday!

A Few Reason Why I Might Need A Husband

OK, so "Husband" is probably a bit extreme.
The thought of even having a boyfriend makes me nauseas. 
Let's just say here are a few reasons I discovered in the last few days when having an adult male around the house might come in handy. Might... I still have my 3,542 doubts.


Saturday I took my car in for an oil change. Reason #1 where a man would come in handy. While I am perfectly capable of changing the oil myself, I have absolutely zero desire or intention of ever doing so. 


While at said oil change, the moron employees managed to get 3 of my windows STUCK down... absolutely would not move up AT ALL. This lead in to a 4 day ordeal including an EXPENSIVE trip to the Ford dealership, a rental car, several phone calls to the manager of the oil changing morons, missed work, and no car for a day. This is reason #2 where some strong and mechanically inclined male would have come in handy. He could have just fixed the windows for me.


Reason #3 deals with our new appliances. My new fridge, washer and dryer have been available for us to pick up for about 2 weeks... but since I drive a little car, can not possibly lift said appliances alone, and do not have the money to pay someone else to do it, I have to rely on my uncles to help me out. If that strong male were a part of my life he would also definitely have to own a truck. Him and I would be able to handle the appliance issue our selves. But instead I am now at the mercy of my uncle's schedule and just hope I'll have this handled by the weekend.


And last but not least is reason #4. I have a HUGE and heavy entertainment center that is impossible for me to move myself... even a little. When I shampoo my carpets I like to move everything and clean the whole carpeted area... however, since I can't move the huge wooden box in my living room, that area remains uncleaned... and drives me crazy. Also, I want the entertainment center moved to the opposite wall... can't do that alone either. 


My family is great, and my uncles and cousins always help when I ask, but I HATE asking and always feel bad. I'm sure they're all wishing I would just let ANY man move in already so they don't have to be at my beck and call forever. 


Sorry. Ain't gonna happen. 


Because even though all of these reasons are true and legitimate needs.... the ever growing list of why I should never under any circumstances co-habitat with another adult of any gender, is a LONG list.  


So for now I'll go broke paying others to do manly things, and learn to be more patient while waiting for my family to rearrange my furniture. 

Picture-less 2011

One week.


Seven Days.


We are officially one week into 2011 and I haven't taken a single picture of my son (or anything else for that matter). How in the world is this even possible???


This is not good. Not-At-All. And now he's gone to his dad's for the weekend... so I have to wait till Monday to play catch up and get some pictures of my adorable little monster. And by that time it'll be the 10th!! Oh wow.... 


While I'm sure my camera appreciates the break... this is just unacceptable and I vow to get back to my normal camera-happy self and start taking a ridiculous amount of pictures again soon... well, Monday. Because this weekend is officially dedicated to a massive cleaning of the house, adding our new appliances (we get a new washer, dryer & fridge today!! Thanks Gramps!), organizing the ever growing pile of paperwork at home, oh, and getting ANOTHER root canal (seriously, can't I just get dentures already??)

Thank You Tangled

Over the years we've watched more than our fair share of movies. And every now and then a quote from the movie sticks with us, and pretty much because part of lives. For me, the words "you're killing me smalls" come out of my mouth on an almost daily basis. 


After seeing Tangled a couple weeks ago, we have a new one. And it's my absolute favorite and I hope it sticks around forever. In the movie, Rapunzel tells her mom "I love you" and the mom replies "I love you more." So that's become our new dialog, but we've added our own twist. 


Last night I called Drew since he was at his dad's and our conversation ended like this:


Mom: I love you
Drew: I love you more
Mom: I love you the mostest...




Thank you Disney!

Starting Fresh

Good Bye 2010... and Hello 2011


We ended 2010 on a very calm note. We ended it in a way that is so totally us.... without changing a thing. We spent the afternoon bowling with friends, went to dinner at Red Robin, played a few board games and went to sleep by 10:00. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. 


2010 was a good year for us. Nothing incredibly amazing... started off on a shaky note... but progressed well and ended well. We enjoyed 2010 but are looking forward to enjoying 2011 as well. 


Since we ended the year in a very normal every day fashion, I figured we should start the new year the same way. So January first was spent shopping, seeing a movie, and hanging out at home playing the Wii. Just the two of us.. enjoying our day and each other. 


Sunday we took a trip out to Pasadena with some friends to see the floats from the parade. We really didn't watch much of the parade on Saturday so it was good to get a chance to see the floats. Even though it was freezing, and started raining as we were leaving. 


Drew and I don't have any resolutions for the new year. We talked about it and just decided to be better people. Our behavior will be better. Drew will be more respectful, and I will be more patient. Drew will ask for less, and I will shop less. We will also work on our independence from each other. 


We welcome 2011 and all it has to offer. In all honesty, I'm hoping for a year with as little change as possible. I like the familiar and love the predictable. I fear change and drama.