Amy’s Brain :: The Blog

Our New Car August 17, 2007

Here is a photo of our new car. We bought it a few weeks ago, July 31. After returning from a business trip and my old red car sitting idle for a few days it finally died. We had made a decision that the next thing that went wrong on the Honda – it was time to get a new car. The Honda has close to 200,000 miles on it and lots of problems (including a muffler that was tied onto the car with a zip tie – we did not want to fix it). I have not parted with my Honda yet. I have a very strong emotional attachment to it. My late grandpa bought it for me after I totaled my car. He sold his stamp collection, which he had worked on for his entire life and used some of the money for my car. What an amazing man.

Back to the new car, it is a 2007 Subaru Outback. It is the second “brand new” car I have owned – the last one being the Honda in 1995! And with the new car come my first car payment. Yes I am thirty two and this is the first time in my life that I have had a car payment. So far we are enjoying the new car. Part of why we bought a wagon is so we can take the dog in the car, which has not happened yet. I am afraid to get it dirty I am taking it on a road trip next week with my dear friend Jeni. We are heading up to Boston. It will be nice to travel in a new, clean car!

Hopefully this car will reach 200,000 miles and take our beautiful family everywhere it needs to go!

My Favorite Part of the Day is Goodbye! August 16, 2007

I know it sounds crazy, but my favorite part of the day is saying goodbye in the morning. Most mornings Morgan and I leave the house at the same time. He typically takes the kids to daycare and I head off to work. If the timing is just right we usually hit a red-light at the same time. The kids wave and blow me kisses! It is wonderful. Sometime my husband makes crude, suggestive gestures at me as well. Wednesday I took the kids to preschool and on the way Mason said to me “maybe there will be a red light so we can see dad”. So cute! I know that they look forward to our brief goodbyes at the light as well! Unfortunately that day dad was too far behind us that day to catch us at the red-light.

Counting Up….Growing Up

My little kids are growing up so fast! Last week (I think it was Monday, Aug 6th) both kids hit a milestone in counting. Madeleine can now count to three and Mason to twenty. For awhile now Madeleine will say “two” after someone else says “one”. She had also grasped the concept of what two meant. She would hold up two items and say “two”. She now says one, two, three. I don’t think she has the concept of what three means yet, but I am sure it wont be long. The same day Mason announced that he can count to twenty. A claim that he has been making for awhile and as good parents should, we asked him to show us. This time he actually did it! During repeat performances he missed 15 a few times, but he is getting it! I am very proud! I love to see them accomplish new things!

Where are your hashbrowns? July 9, 2007

Somewhat of a strange question – perhaps to you – but not to Mason. Last week while playing the common game of where is “X” (insert body part here) with Madeleine, Mason proceeded to ask Madeleine where her hashbrowns were. Very confused, I asked “what are you talking about? Mason pointed to his eyebrows and said “you know, hashbrowns”. With a somewhat delayed response I figured out that he was called his eyebrows – hashbrowns. I will be sad once we are through the phase of nonsense words. Mason is growing up fast and it seems as if he will not be a little guy much longer!

Return of the Blog June 12, 2007

My lazy husband finally got around to importing my old blog postings after he switched web hosting companies, so I can actually start blogging again. Hopefully I will have time soon!

OK, so this really is the husband writing, but I was rather lazy. I deserved it.

New Jersey November 14, 2006

Well it has been awhile since my last post….a couple of months and now we are living in New Jersey. It was a rough couple of months being apart, but time has a way of making you forget the hard times. We have been in our rental house for a little over a month and I think we are pretty much settled in. I miss Colorado, but it is not so bad here. I saw a picture of the skyline on MTV’’s Denver Real World and started crying. New Jersey gets a bad rap, but everyone I have met has been super friendly. It is just one massive suburban area, lots of strip malls! I am anxious to get to a city – we are luck in that NYC and Philadelphia are relatively close. Depending on the start date of my new job (see paragraph 2) I may try to go to Denver this weekend. I really want to go home before the holidays. Otherwise it will be January before we make it.

I have found a job!!! I will be working at Novartis OTC (over the counter), the parent company of Sandoz, where I worked in Colorado. The salary was a little lower than I had hoped, but I new that was a risk of staying within the company. The great thing is that I get to keep all of my benefits. I am not sure of my start date yet. It will either be starting this Monday or the first Monday in December (2 weeks). I am torn on when to start working….I am anxious to get out of the house and to start earning some income. On the other hand I am going to miss my kids. While they drive me crazy, I love them to death. It will be hard to only spend evenings and weekends with them. There needs to be more part time jobs! We have been looking at our childcare options and I am amazed at the extreme differences between facilities (both on curriculum and cost). We decided on a facility today. It is really reasonable and everyone seems super friendly. The curriculum seems good, not over done. I hope we have made a good choice.

Lost Time August 10, 2006

It has been over 9 months since my last post, almost 11 months since Madeleine was born (four years for Mason) and it has now been over two months since Morgan has gone to start his new job at Vonage in New Jersey. I can not beleive how fast my life is passing me by. I say “passing me by” because I don”t know where the time has gone and I am not sure I have been savoring life like I should. The day to day functions seem a requirement and by the end of the day I don”t have the energy to enjoy the wonderful things I have in my life. I am sure some of it is because Morgan has been away and it is quite challenging to maintain a full time job, two kids, job hunting and the occasional packing I do. I am so afraid that I will look back at this summer and not remember Madeleine being a sweet baby and Mason being a radiant 3 year old. Life is so brief and fleeting and these moments only come once. So I will once again attempt to blog part of my life, so if nothing else I can look back and remember this lost time.

This week Madeleine took her first step (8/8) and cut her second tooth (8/6). She now waves, claps, plays patty cake and peak a boo. Mason had his first “real” phone conversation with Morgan on the phone last night. He played at the pool on Sunday without me being by his side the whole time. His vocabulary is ever expanding and he amazes me daily with the words he uses and statements he makes. He also astounds me with his amazing memory. Last night he was talking about an egg he saw at a petting zoo with my mom last summer. He was only two and a half but still remembers the moment….Hopefully he only remembers the happy positive moments Anyways some thoughts for now…

A week in review (10/23-10/30) October 31, 2005

I though I would try to sit down each week and summarize the events/actitvities/highlights of the week. Probably a very boring entry to read, but I figured it is the best way to keep a summary of my life

Sunday, October 23rd: We had breakfast with my dad at the Egg and I in Longmont. Nothing to exiting, just the normal conversation to catch up on our daily lifes. Afterwards we went to the pumpkin patch. We did not make it very far, it was somewhat of a meltdown situation. I was very stressed, Madeleine was fussy and I think I passed that on to the rest of the family. Then Mason wet his pants and so we picked our pumpkins and left. It was really a hard day. I felt as if I was removed from the activities as I sat in the car and nursed the baby. I was missing us being a family of three. I just need to remember things will get easier!

Monday, October 24th: Spent the morning running errands (emissions testing) and then met Cat/Audrey in Cherry Creek for a little shopping and lunch. Overall a fun day, it is so fun to shop for little girls clothes, as indicated by my pocket book!

Tuesday, October 25th: I attempted my first real outing with both kids and no other adults. We went to the zoo. Overall it was a good time. Mason was a little emotional and did not understand why I could not lift him up for all of the displays (because I had Madeleine). I truly don”t know how single parents do anything. We spent most of our time looking at the polar bears. They were busy playing and Mason enjoyed watching them.

Wednesday, October 26th: My mom came down from Greeley and spent the day with us. We tried to build a halloween haunted house (gingerbread), but it took too long for the frosting to dry, so we did not finish it. We walked to the light rail and went downtown to meet Morgan for lunch. Afterwards we decided to take the bus home, that did not work so well. We waited a long time and I was a little tired and grumpy! It was fun just hanging out with my m0m, I miss having them close. Morgan and Mason finished the haunted house after work.

Thursday, October 27th: We met Cat/Elliot/Audrey at the Childrens Museum for Trick or Treat Street. Before going to the museum we took Morgan to work and then I tried to find somewhere to kill some time. I drove around for a long time without much success, then I found a dollar store. Well it was not going to be open for an hour, so we tried to leave and Mason had a complete meltdown. It was the first time I dragged a screaming, kicking three year old along with the car seat/baby. Then Mason’’s pullup leaked. I was on the verge of a meltdown and was not sure if I was up to a day at the museum. I found a Kmart, bought some pants for Mason and tried to pull myself together. I felt bad, I knew I was being too short with him, but I was so frustrated. I ended up calling Morgan because I really needed to talk to another adult! He cheered me up! I am lucky to have such a great friend in my husband. I think that was hitting bottom as a first time mom of two kids. After the museum, at lunch Cat experienced a similar meltdown and it did make me feel better. Overall the museum was fun. Mason enjoyed getting candy.

Friday, October 28th: Nothing eventful that I can think of!

Saturday, October 29th: We carved pumpkins and went to boo at the zoo. Mason was not so interested in carving the pumpkins, he showed on and off interest. I think that he is just a little young for the activity. Morgan and I enjoyed the activity together. Boo at the Zoo was overall fun! Saturday night we went to a Halloween Party at Scott Balay’’s house. Mason spent the night at Grandmas. It was fun to be out with adults, but everyone just wanted to talk about the baby. Oh well – she is cute.

Sunday, October 30th: We went to Olivia’’s bday party at Pump it Up and spent the rest of the day at home. The weekend went very fast and I really did not want it to end. I miss being with the entire family during the week. We lit our pumpkins before bedtime and that was a fun activity for Mason.

The Things Kids Say… October 20, 2005

Having a three year, I am constantly amazed at the things that he says….. Today Mason was playing with his spiderman backpack (a coveted toy) and he started asking me about when he was going to go to preschool. I informed him that he would go in a couple of months after I went back to work. He was quick to inform me that he would be going alone! Then he proceeded to let me know that after he goes to preschool he will get a tattoo. They definitely grow up to fast. Hopefully he will settle for a temporary one!