Andrea & Julie/Julia

I know I said I would do the book summary next but I wanted to write a post congratulating my friend Stacy who is due to have a baby on July 16th! She told her family on Christmas and called me on the 28th and now has announced it to everyone else (she had her first born 6 days after I had Logan). The first trimester was rough but her last test results showed that she is on track now so hopefully since she's started the second trimester it will be smooth sailing!

The opposite of smooth sailing was my day on Tuesday (here's a pic of Logan that night). In my last post I said that we'd had our car towed to our house since getting it fixed was a lost cause. Well it was a disaster getting it here. To make a long story short, after we finally got it set up they told Joe that I would need to be at the auto shop since I'm the AAA member, so since he had our only working car he had to leave work, come back to the house to pick me up (I wasn't prepared so I had to throw clothes on 'cuz I was still in my pjs), grab Logan, and they had said to call us when we'd left so that they could meet us there. It takes 25 minutes to get to our automotive shop and when there was 5 minutes left they apologized and said they couldn't give a specific time of towing - it could be as late as 9:30 that night! Seriously?!

So we had to turn around (Joe had been super busy at work so he was not happy) and then I ended up dropping him off so that I could take my car since they said they'd call with a half an hour notice for me to meet them later. I just knew this was going to fall around Logan's nap and, sure enough, just 15 minutes after I'd put him down they're like, "We're here." (So much for a half an hour notice.) I explained that we'd been ready that morning but now my 20 month old was napping and I wouldn't be able to leave. Surprisingly, the guy was majorly nice and said he understood - he could call back later. He even tried to tow it without us, apparently he DIDN'T need me there after all (so Joe should have kept my car) but he did need Joe's keys. So at 3:15 pm the guy called back and so I called Joe who got a ride from a friend at work to take the guy his key. The guy didn't show up until 4:15 so it was 4:45 pm before the car was delivered to our driveway. I was so glad to have the whole thing over with.

Now we've begun searching for a new vehicle. So far we've been recommended a Volvo SUV, a Chevy Traverse, a Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda Pilot, Toyota Rav, and Ford Flex. Any other suggestions on the best family car? I have no idea what we're going to end up with. My parents are coming over tonight (Friday) to help us. Neither Joe or I have ever bought a vehicle before so we are thirty year old virgins!

Not else much to report from the week other than yesterday (Thursday) we had another snow storm (and temps so freezing Omaha was on the national news and schools were canceled Wed & Thurs) so Joe worked from home.

The day before (Wednesday) Logan went to Babysitter's which made 18 hrs (the most ever). Next week I'm going back to the regular 8.5 hrs a week, but this week it was either that or me fly to another country by myself :p Logan's two year molars are coming in so he has been a handful this week (except apparently Babysitter gasped when Joe told her that and said, "Not Logan! I've never seen him fussy!" so he must have selective pain-feeling moments).

I never knew hitting was something instinctual but we have raised him in a very gentle home yet for the first time in his life I'm worried that he's going to lose his gentle disposition because suddenly that is the way he is showing his discomfort/frustration/anger. I've tried hugging and reminding him we hug, not hit; being firm - stopping his arm in mid-air and saying "no hitting"; and finally ignoring - but no improvement yet. It is very obvious to Joe & me that he's doing it because he can't yet communicate how he feels. He does it when I tell him "no" or during some other moment that upsets him (even if I have nothing to do with it - like if a toy doesn't work he'll walk over to me to hit me).

Babycenter says, "Hitting, scratching, and biting are common toddler behaviors. . .A combination of still-emerging language skills, a fierce desire to become independent, and undeveloped impulse control is usually the cause of the trouble. As your toddler matures, he'll eventually learn to express his frustration with words. Expect to reinforce this message many times over before the behavior stops. You should never, under any circumstances, hit your child to teach him a lesson. Some parents do this to show the child "how it feels," thinking that if their child feels hurt, he'll be reluctant to hurt others. Unfortunately, the tactic usually has the opposite effect. If you hit your child (or let others hit your child), it sends the message that hitting is okay."

My favorite author/pediatrician, Dr. Sears, gave some excellent advice HERE which Joe & I are following. (I could relate to the message written by the mother - just like her 20 month old daughter, Logan also hugs and needs me to hold him immediately after he hits.) One of the pieces of advice - I put him in time out five times this week. In my post last summer titled Everything-3 I mentioned that I had tried "time out" twice in Logan's life but felt it was ineffective & ridiculous at that point in time so I hadn't done it since. But now that Logan is 20.5 months old I thought I'd give it a try again and it seems to fit now. He was better behaved each time. . .for awhile. :p He's also hit the dogs. . .I hope he doesn't start hitting kids.

It doesn't help that every now and then Joe - yes - walks by and slaps my butt so now Logan walks by and slaps my butt!!!! Of course we both cracked up laughing the first time Logan did this but now it's like, okay this is not how I want to raise my son :p So I told Joe he's going to have to stop that, lol. Logan was happy on Thursday evening so I'm hoping he will be back to normal today (Friday). Maybe he also just got used to his daddy being home all of last week and didn't like it the days Joe wasn't here this week :pOn the bright side, he helped me put all of the dishes away from the dishwasher - he's known where they all go for the past couple of months! As of this week he is also able to open ALL doors. Until now he could only open certain types of doors but now he can open any door that we can. . .this one we hadn't been in any hurry for. :/

Anyway, instead of leaving the country on Wednesday, I rented Julie & Julia and OMG that movie is ME. A woman turns 30 - make that a wannabe novelist - starts a blog. . .even though cooking is not my thing, there were so many things I could relate to in the movie, it is definitely on my list of my favs and I'm buying it! It really inspired me to get with the program of being a published author.For the past year-and-a half I've been a web content writer, hoping to make some money while I wait for my I-don't-care-if-I-make-a-cent dream of being a published author. But I've hardly made anything and I want to at least feel that I have a sense of my own financial security in the meantime to getting a novel published. Even if on my own I would be living in poverty; I've never cared about money before so maybe it was having a baby, but for the past six months I have wanted to get a predictable-paying job except that I don't want to work outside of the home while my kids are young. I'm keeping my blog (because I'd blog even without getting paid) and will still accept paid assignments here, but I'm not going to write for any other sites anymore. Instead, I'm looking for other pay-mom-at-home positions while I spend the rest of my free time resuming my dream of being a novelist. (The weekend of the 23rd I plan to do my "writing retreat" to revise my last novel and then another one soon to finish my current novel.)

There is a part-time position with Google that is open right now that I'm qualified for, but I have to wipe the dust off my resume first. I want to be able to do things that Joe thinks are a waste but what I REALLY want - like, when my next baby is born: super duper professional photos. In my post titled Straw Cups - The Better Alternative To Sippy Cups, I gave two links of professional photographers in the Omaha area that I'd been recommended. Well now I can add this one. A few months ago my friend Lisa P sent me an email with the photographer's website address because she specializes in newborns.

I was so excited because just the week before I'd been watching The Today Show and they had on photographers from L.A. and New York who specialized in newborns - making the studio warm with sounds like in the womb, using props like putting them in flower pots, etc. I was so jealous because I would have loved to do something like that with Logan when he was born, but life was too chaotic with his jaundice and never having a baby before - plus, I didn't know there were any photographers like this here.

So I went to the photographer's website and saw her pictures were just like the ones featured on The Today Show. So whenever I get pregnant again I am going to contact this woman and meet with her so hopefully we can get it set up before baby #2 is here. Joe doesn't like her prices, but it would probably be a one time thing like our wedding photos - I'm sure I'll have her take some of Logan, too, but not all of us because if I just had a baby the week or two before then I'm not going to want my pic taken, haha. So we wouldn't have to order very many.

I also looked up this photographer because every time I eat at Roja I see their sign because they use the same parking lot. Their prices are about a hundred dollars cheaper and I was very impressed with their work as well, so I will meet with them in the future to see if they are a possibility instead.

A few weeks ago Joe suggested I open a Chick Fil A because we don't have one here and they are super popular wherever there is one. I wish (I couldn't get enough of the one in Cedar Rapids, IA when I lived 30 minutes away from 1988-1998). . .but I have absolutely NO experience and no interest in any type of manager work or franchises. I'd partner with someone who does but I'm guessing if I start my own business it won't be a restaurant.

If you've been reading since the summer then you know Joe & I plan to take a photography and photo shop class this spring, so maybe there will be something along that route (but there's no way I'd be good enough yet to take photos of my next baby equal to the professional photographers).

So, aside from the resolutions I gave in my previous post, hopefully 2010 will also be the year I start a new adventurous job path! Because some day soon I'm going to have a book in a bookstore. I will. I will. I will.