A Milk and Egg Free Christmas

This morning Tyler and I made gingerbread cookies. I found this kit by Crayola at Target yesterday. After the cookies cool you put white icing on them and then you paint the icing with food coloring. It was super easy and not that messy. Hopefully this is the last Christmas we have to worry about food allergies. Please excuse my messy counters.

The Mitten Tree Express

Every year our bank collects toys for two charities. This year we had a contest between all the branches to see who could decorate the best containers for the gifts. Our branch decided to make a train which we thought was a spectacular idea. Everyone had a part in the construction. I made the steam (isn't it lovely steam). Apparently this was not only a spectacular idea but a popular one also. Two other branches made trains. I was kind of bummed at first. You see our branch came in second on Halloween in the costume contest and we were all pretty bitter. This was going to be our time. Oh well at least we had a great time making it!

Mission Accomplished

I found a reasonably priced sit n spin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazon.com had one for $16.99 with free shipping! Woo Hoo!!!

Seriously?

Last Thursday I took T to the doctor to get his flu shot. One of the toys in the waiting room was a sit n spin. After he figured it out he was fascinated with it. I thought to myself this would be a great inexpensive Christmas present. This morning I searched the internet for one (because I can't find one in any store) and came across this one on amazon.com. Can you guess how much this little beauty costs? $79.99!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For a sit n spin!!!!!!!!!! Does it spin on it's own? It must do something extraordinary for 80 bucks. I couldn't help but share this with you. My search continues for a sit n spin under $20. Any suggestions?

***Tyler walked in as I was finishing this post and said "Hey, that's the thing from my doctor's office. I want one of those for Christmas!" No pressure. ********

I am Thankful ...........

...for my one perfect beautiful child.


...that Roy is patient and understanding of my lazy underproducing ovaries.


...for my loyal retriever and matted bichon.


...that my mom does my Christmas shopping while I work.


...that I won $100 Visa gift card to use for Black Friday shopping.

...for Kohls opening at 4am this Friday so I can have some quality mom, sister, friend time.

...that you can't gain any weight on Thanksgiving (holidays=zero weight gain, didn't you know)

Traffic

Tyler has a funny way of falling asleep in weird places. His babysitter is always telling me he falls asleep mid snack or on the kitchen floor after playing outside. The other night he was playing traffic in the kitchen. Ever since we were stuck in the car for hours while the police searched cars in the hunt for Butterhead (that was really his nickname) Tyler has a new fascination with traffic. I knew letting him pee in the sippy cup would be traumatizing. Anyway he lines all his trucks and cars around the kitchen table and then leaves them there. Apparently the traffic was exhausting because the next thing we knew he was passed out on the kitchen floor.

Exhausted and Satisfied

The New Kids concert was amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Just what I needed! It was a night filled with screaming and singing (you know I knew all the words and so do you). Right before they came on stage I was instantly 11 again and screaming uncontrollably. Awesome.

Was Jordan singing directly to me? I'm pretty sure he was. Don't we make a cute couple?

Spooky Pictures

I am way behind. Here are some pics from Halloween.

Robin, Cinderella, and M


Smokey the Bear


My Boy Wonder


That's right I'm hot!

Yummy!

Recently a Kelly introduced me to sushi. Not the kind you buy in the grocery store, but real sushi. Kelly and I had a no kid, no husband night out a few weeks ago and it was wonderful. She used to live in Japan so she's kind of an expert. Since then I've battled cravings and only gotten to eat it once(thanks Jen). It's kind of hard to find people who willingly eat raw fish. I don't know if it is the actual sushi that I crave or the great company and conversation that comes along with it. Either way, I can't wait to do it again!

A Fabulous Fall

I love fall! Here are a few images from our time off and other fun things.

On the hill at Stone Hill Winery in Hermann.


The view from our cottage in Hermann


At the pumpkin patch with Mal


Picking apples at Eckerts

Happy 7 Years!

Catch the Bad Guy

Have you ever been stuck in a car for 3 hours with a 3 year old who really LOVES to talk? Let me preface this story by saying I love being a mom. I love being Tyler's mom. OK now you won't think I'm terrible.

This morning there was a GIANT manhunt in OFallon. I guess there was a high speed chase and the guy wrecked the car and ran off into the brush. There was a ton of traffic on the highway so I got off one exit before I needed to. When I exited I knew instantly I made a mistake. There were police cars everywhere and every car was being searched. Tyler and I sat in the car for 3 hours. It was a glorious 3 hours let me tell you. Screaming, whining, asking countless questions about the bad guy. Then after about 2 hours in a mess of non moving traffic he said the worst possible thing, "I have to pee." Come on. If you are picturing this in your head, I had all the windows on the Pathfinder down, so everyone around us is aware of the situation. My little guy is in the back screaming about how much it hurts and I am scrambling trying to find something, anything for him to relieve himself in. I noticed his sippy cup on the floor, yes everyone he peed in his own sippy cup. Talk about traumatizing. Then when he got back in the car seat (traffic is still not moving so he was never out of his car seat when the car was moving) he sat on his pop tart and stayed on it for the remainder of our journey. Needless to say I was a little crazed. The highlight was when our car was searched. Tyler was so excited to talk to the police officer. I said a silent prayer that Tyler didn't tell the officer that he peed in his sippy cup. Anyway they did finally catch the bad guy and I threw away the sippy cup. I feel better. Thank you for listening. ;)

Did you know..........

*A whole fried onion from any steakhouse is the fat and calorie equivalent of eating two Quarter Pounders with Chesse.

*An order of 12 buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing is like eating an entire rotiserie chcken, skin and all.

*One fried mozzarella stick has the same fat content as two pieces of bacon. If you eat nine it's like eating a half a stick of butter.

*In an order of 8 stuffed potato skins there is the same amount of fat as 2 1/2 lbs of tator tots.

****Sara, now that I know you are reading my blog I had to throw in some of my famous fun facts. I know you miss working with me!*****

Vacation Countdown!

Only 3 1/2 days until my vacation! Woo Hoo!!

Roy and I are going to a Bed and Breakfast in Hermann for our anniversary. Check it out at www.hermannhill.com. We are in the Polly Philips Suite.

Also next week we are going to Eckerts to pick apples and pumpkins on Thursday. On Friday we are going to Six Flags for Fright Fest.

In between all these things I'm going to sit on my butt and do nothing! That's probably not true because Roy is already making to do lists and there is a white wall that is screaming for paint.

P.S. I know I forgot to do the 5 things thing last week. I was super crabby on Sunday. Also my back is really sore so I've spent most of my evenings on the couch with a heating pad. I'm getting old.

Amy, The Infertility Mentor

Every now and then I have a moment where my whole infertility thing makes sense. How weird is that? Everyone knows I am very open with my infertility and probably share more then I should. Today a friend thanked me for advice I gave her as she starts her journey to conception. I told her I was going to write a book and she said we should both write a book about me being her infertility mentor. Finally something I'm good enough at to document! I am an expert on not getting pregnant! Anyway back to the everything making sense part. Sometimes I feel like I have this problem so I can use my big mouth and help other people get through it. I love moments where everything makes sense!

Five Smiles for the Week

#1 The Ghost Cowboy
On Sunday morning Tyler decided to dress up as a ghost cowboy. He is always dressing up as something these days. This is not the original picture. He also figured out how to erase pictures from my camera. So I made him recreate it.

#2 I'm an Airhead
I don't know what is wrong with me lately. This week I could not keep a thought in my head for the life of me. Twice I had to leave voice mails and I just rambled and talked in circles. There was even a super embarrassing moment at the track that I am to ashamed to blog about (Kelly call me and I'll tell you). I am attributing it to the new fertility drugs and that's why it makes me smile. Maybe it means that it's working.

#3 Vacation Baby!
Anyone who has been around me the past few months knows I've been working my booty off at work. My boss Nicole is still gone (God help her she's been through a lot). She is scheduled to return in 2 weeks. Coincidentally this is the same week I am taking vacation. There is still a chance she will not return and that would've meant no vaca for me. This week I found out we were schedule a floater officer for our branch so I can take my vacation week. Woo Hoo!



#4 A Tender Moment
On Thursday night we were doing the usual, Tyler was playing and we were watching The Office. I just happened to glance over at Tyler and he was just staring at Roy and smiling. Roy noticed too and gave him a smile back. Tyler ran over to him and climbed up on his lap to give him a hug. Later Roy told me how great that was. They are definitely best friends.

#5 The Free Lunch
I was dreading Friday because the bank was buying everyone lunch and I knew I would get something fattening and feel like crap. We decided on Pasta House who has a low fat menu. Of course nothing on the low fat menu sounded appetizing but I forced myself to pick from it anyway. I chose the Chicken Rustico and the lowfat salad. The chicken only has 5 grams of fat and under 500 calories. Then I complained to everyone who would listen about how much I was dreading the meal. To my suprise it was actually good and I didn't feel like crap.

Dogs Shouldn't Eat Candy Corn

While we were out to dinner last night Kobe decided to help himself to a bowl of candy corn and peanuts. Lately we have to be careful about leaving things on the edge of the counter when we leave the house. Usually he isn't affected by eating human food (except horrible gas that affects the rest of us). However, last night was different. He threw up three times (twice on the carpet). He weighs 113 lbs so his vomit is no joke. Gross! Roy gave him Pepto Bismol. Thank goodness for the internet. Today we are steam cleaning our carpet. Fun fun!

Five More Things

This week was HARD!!! Here it goes.....



1) A Special Gift
On Monday, Tyler spent the day with Honey (my mom, that is not her name just what he calls her;)). They took a walk to the woods by her house and he collected these things for me. Aren't these the most beautiful rocks and weeds you've ever seen?

2) Great Cooworkers
On Tuesday, we had some staffing changes at work leaving our branch shorthanded and kind of screwed. My wonderful, amazing, talented branch manager Nicole(hopefully she reads this) is still on maturnity leave (13 weeks am I the only one counting?). Anyway this "staffing change" left me in charge (I know scary) so I quickly went to work on a new schedule. Every person who works at our branch stepped up and offered to stay longer, take on extra shifts, or help out in anyway they could. Hooray for teamwork! Three more weeks guys. Hang in there!



3)Kobe's Dye Job
This week I dyed my sister Melissa's hair. Let me just take a minute to remind everyone that I am not a hair dresser and have never been able to dye my own hair. I don't know why she asks me especially since our cousin does it for $25 and she does it for a living. Anyway back to the story. So while I'm dying her hair somehow Kobe ended up in the way and got some dye on his fur. The next day Roy told me he thought Tyler had been coloring the dog. You can barely see it in the picture. It's the dark brown splotch on the right side above his mouth. I liked this pic because I thought he looked sad. Probably because he doesn't like the color.



4)Battle of the Sexes
On Friday I had my very first Pampered Chef Battle of the Sexes show. It was chaotic to say the least. This moment made me run to my car and grab my camera. My sister Sarah just finished telling me how my brother in law Brandon had been trying to cook for her all week. She told me stories of burned grilled cheese and 5 lbs of ground beef for a dinner for two of tacos. I turn around and there is Brandon hard at work cooking with the boys. I thought it was cute!



5) My T
Needless to say Tyler makes my smile multiple times during the week! This week was extra hard because I started my second month of the fertility drug that I was sure I was going to get pregnant on. It's the same drug I was on when I got pregnant with Tyler. My doctor will only let me be on this drug for 3 months and then it's back to the fertility specialist. Everyone think happy baby thoughts and say an extra prayer for me! Pretty please! This moment above is extra funny because he has an entire sucker stuffed in his mouth just so I could get the picture. Great choking hazard mom! It's supposed to be a grill but it's upside down.

5 Things

I've committed myself to finding 5 things a week that make me smile and then blogging about them. I feel like sometimes I need a reminder that life is good and I can't let things get me down! So here it goes, 5 things that made me smile this week:


1. Taking a trip down memory lane. In my last post I mentioned my extensive collection of New Kids on the Block Memorabilia. A Lot of people cannot understand why I am so excited for the New Kids on the Block concert. The answer is simple. It reminds me of a simple time in my life. At the age of eleven I was truly obsessed with five teenagers who sang silly songs about the right stuff and loving girls forever. It was a time when my dad had to drive me and my cousins to a concert so we could sing and cry and swear they noticed us. So last weekend I found all my old stuff packed away in my basement (thanks mom for somehow knowing I would need it again). I brought it to work to show with my coworker Jen who is the only other person I know who has her New Kids stuff. We laughed and had a great time reliving all our New Kids memories. Thank you Jen for being as obsessed as me!

2. My adorable husband's never ending battle to rid our home of wasp infestation. Poor Roy is still fighting the wasps. This week he found our 7th nest. Our exterminator said we have the most infestation he's ever seen. I think we should get a discount for the record. I do have pictures of Roy fighting the wasps but I don't think he would appreciate me posting them.



3. My Little Asthmatic. After a trip to the ER on Thursday night for an asthma attack I decided to go into work late on Friday and spend the morning with the kid. It was the most destructive morning I have ever spent with him. He got his booty stuck in the dog food storage bin and hurt himself more times then I can count. I had to laugh. I think he was secretly trying to make me smile. Little booger.



4. Today I spent like 2 hours playing Mario Kart on Wii in my parent's media room with my sister Melissa. It was so relaxing. I love Wii!!!! It is the ultimate stress reliever!!!

5. Of course you have to guess that one thing that would make me smile would involve food. On Wednesday I found out the $.99 banana split from Sonic only has 3.5 grams of fat and 180 calories. Exciting. Of course I made Roy go get me one! Woo Hoo!!!

So there you have it, 5 things that made me smile. I have a feeling next week is going to be extra tough. I am going to work extra hard to concentrate on the positive!

A view from my desk

I was sitting at my desk today, bored out of my mind, when I realized something funny and kind of sad. I have 3 pictures of Tyler on my desk and a Jordan Knight action figure (don't judge me) but no pics of Roy. I guess I need to work on that.

****I actually just added the Jordan Knight action figure today because I brought all my old New Kids on the Block stuff to work. I don't know if that makes it any better.***********

MTV VMAS

For those of you who know me well you know I am not offended easily. However tonight something on the VMAs really got to me. So much that I went on the MTV website and tried to email a complaint. I realize everyone has a right to have their own opinion. Tonight the host, Robert Brand, of the MTV VMAs told America to "please do him a favor and vote for Barack Obama." Again I do realize that he has a right to his opinion but for crying out loud he is not even an American citizen. He then went on to call George W Bush a "retarded cowboy." It is one thing to state your opinion on who should be the next president, but leave it at that. OK I guess it's obvious by now that I am a conservative. However, this election I've made a conscious effort to listen to both parties views. I watched both conventions and all speeches by both parties. I wanted to feel like I was voting for a person, not just a party. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I feel better;) Maybe I'm finally to old to watch MTV.

Orbs or no Orbs

Today we went to clean out my Grandmas house. I brought my camera because I always bring my camera. While we were in the basement(very spooky) I took a picture of Tyler and noticed some orb looking things. Of course then some of us (my mom, aunt Linda, and myself) get all excited and start taking pictures in different places. My uncle (pooper) ruined our fun and said it was just dust. I will let you all judge on what you think it is. My uncle Eric (who lived in this particular room for awhile) has told me on several occasions of weird happenings in the basement. The last picture is in a different part of the basement. There are white orbs on my aunt's back. Tyler had a great time with us. I was afraid he would get really bored but as you can see all we had to do was stick him in the pantry with a flashlight and he was set.

A Winery Weekend

A week and a half ago Roy and I visited beautiful Ste Genevieve with our dear friends Steve and Kelly. We were supposed to go on a float trip (yucky) but it was canceled. For those of you not familiar with float trips it is 2 days of heat, camping, and floating down a nasty river full of snakes and other awful things. Needless to say I was not disapointed with the cancellation.
We called our visit to Ste Genevieve "Plan B." Plan B included visting up to 5 wineries, dining at a local steakhouse, and then spending the night at a local Microtel Inn.

We had a wonderful time. We went to a winery that was in a cave. There were supposed to be bats, but I didn't see any. Kelly cut her hand pretty bad on my Pampered Chef Color Coated Paring Knife cutting sausage. Pampered Chef knives are very sharp and probably shouldn't be handled by someone who has been drinking wine. ;)

The Great Wasp War of 2008

For the past three summers wasps have made nests on the side of our deck. Everytime the nest appeared Roy attacked it with wasp spray and a golf club. After his attacks on their home, the wasps seemed to take a hint and pretty much disappeared. This summer is a different story. The wasps are angry and they've started fighting back. They started off harmless. Making their presence known when we were on the swing set or in the pool. On Saturday they actually started attacking.
It all started like a normal summer. The nest appeared in it's usual spot. Roy bought two cans of 30ft wasp spray from Home Depot (I think he secretly enjoys conquering the nest). For awhile things were quiet. Whenever a few would appear, Roy would get the wasp spray and take care of business. We felt we were in control of the situation. Of course we had some suspicion there was a nest nearby.
On Saturday we were in Ste Genevieve enjoying a weekend winery trip with Steve and Kelly when we got the call. My parents went to our house to let the dogs out in the evening. Dewey, our bichon, was making his way back up the deck stairs when he was hit. My dad said he was yelping and as he made his way down the stairs to save him, he too was stung twice in the elbow. The war was on.
We returned home on Sunday ready for battle. Tyler was ready dressed in a firefighter hat, froggy rain boots, and a giant squirt gun (of course we would never allow him to actually battle wasps). Roy made a trip to Home Depot to purchase his two cans of 30ft wasp spray and then stood outside the new nest location. The wasps found a home for themselves under the shingles on our roof on the side of our house. As they exited the nest Roy sprayed them and yelled at them until they were clearly dead. He successfully killed 10 wasps and I've never been prouder. On Sunday night we made the decision to call an exterminator an just squash (ha squash!) the problem for good.
Monday night Roy decided to give the wasps one final warning and attacked a nest on the side of the deck with the spray and a golf club. Apparently they were watching and Roy swears they set a trap for him. As he was walking back up the deck stairs he noticed a wasp lying on the stairs. Just in case it wasn't dead he smacked it with the golf club. It was probably just out of frustration and so the dogs wouldn't step on it. Anyway as he was beating the defenseless wasp another one stung him 3 or 4 times in the arm. Today he has a giant welt on his bicep.
I'm sorry this was so long.
*****UPDATE*****
After 3 visits from Rottler (exterminators) we believe we are wasp free. There were a total of 4 nests. Two on our deck (one was empty). One under shingles on the side of the house and one in the gutter on the same side of the house. I guess the word in the wasp community was that the Parenzuela house was the perfect location to raise a wasp family. We still have two cans of 30ft wasp spray on hand. Just in case. ;)

Cocktails, Gossip, and Wii

After a LONG morning at Children's Hospital I desperately needed an evening of fun. Tyler and I went to Kelly's house and had a happy hour (me not Tyler) with our long distance friend Shannon. After two pitchers of Mojitos and a pizza we played Wii Tennis. I am so addicted! We were going to wait until Christmas to buy one but I don't know if I can. My arm hurts today and it is totally worth it! I kicked butt (not really but as many of you know I have very little athletic ability)! Girls nights are great! I also found out yesterday that I am officially going to the New Kids on the Block concert in November. I know everyone is so jealous!

The Cape

Before I was a mom I always swore I would never let my child wear their Halloween costume in public. I'm not talking about on Halloween. I mean in the middle of the summer when you see the little girl in her Cinderella dress at the grocery store. Well on Thursday I took Batman to Six Flags. Not the whole costume, just the cape. I guess that makes it OK.

Birthday Parties!

This year Tyler had two birthday parties. The first one was last Sunday at my sister Sarah's house. We did a fire truck theme because Tyler is really into trucks lately. Uncle Brandon is a firefighter so he was able to get a real fire truck for the party. We had a big turnout this year because a lot of our friends had babies. His second party was on Monday at our house with Roy's side of the family. The party had a construction theme because Dad and Grandpa spent two days "constructing" a giant swing set in the backyard. I had a lot of fun planning both parties but I always forget how much time goes in to it no matter how simple I try to make it. I was really happy with his presents. He has SO many toys and really didn't need any more. Most of his presents were outside toys and clothes.

Happy Wedding!

.
Our friends Jason and Lindsey got married in Mexico a few weeks ago and had their reception last night. They are so cute! Most of our friends had overnight babysitters so we were able to let loose and stay out late. Woo Hoo! This morning I found all kinds of interesting pictures on my camera. Here are some of the appropriate ones.

Growing Grass

My friend Kelly always gets really mad at me for buying her daughter messy birthday presents (Mallori's birthday is 9 weeks before Tylers). Last year I got her a bucket of fake food and this year I got her this giant Play Dough set (I thought this was a great gift). Anyway, every year she glares at me and says, "Payback is a bitch." She bought Tyler this ceramic cat that you have to paint and them you plant grass in it. She thought I wouldn't paint it. Ha Ha Kelly! It was so much fun! You should try harder next year!