It's Official- Teeth

I'm calling it for official this time.

Symptoms:
Cranky as all get-out.
Loose stool.
Occasional rash on either girl parts or bottom.
Chomps on anything and everything that comes into her mouth.
Random feeling of warmness but not quite fever worthy.

Symptoms we're lacking:
Extra drool.
Red swollen gums.
Chapped chubby-cheeks.

What we're doing for her:
Letting her live. (with all the excess screaming, this mark is worth noting)
Giving her Tylenol in this handy device. (without it, she spits out anything that does not come through a bottle nipple, food included)
Letting her live.
Giving her anything short of sandpaper to shove in her pie hole.
Letting her live.

Any suggestions you may have? Speak now or forever hold your peace.

It's All the Toilet's Fault

No, not the one on the side of the highway...

Does anyone know if they make some kind of electronic buzzer that will automatically go off if you walk away from a public restroom with out the purse you walked in with?

Not that I've ever done that myself. No, certainly not me...

I'm just wanting to know because, well, what if it might happen to someone? On three different occasions. In one year's time.

Shhh... don't tell Jeremy that I might have almost lost my purse and wallet and other important items. Again.

Really, though. Completely not my fault this time.

I was taking Kyra to the potty. There was a shelf high above the toilet. No, really, it was high. My barley over 5 foot self had to tip toe it to reach over Kyra, the potty, and balance my purse on the shelf.

Anyway. So I was taking Kyra to the potty. Sat her on it. She did her business. I leaned down to clean her up and just as I made the motion the toilet started to flush.

Kyra has never been on an automatic flushing toilet and it scared the ba-jeebies out of her. She hoped down, pants still around her ankles and tried desperately to find an exit to the locked stall. So I quickly pulled her britches back up and exited the stall with her, all in the same motion.

While leaving my purse on the shelf.

In retrospect, it was all the automatic flushing toilet's fault. Had it not flushed before we were ready, Kyra wouldn't have been frightened, we wouldn't have dashed to a more secure location (out side the stall of doom) and I wouldn't have forgotten my purse.

The other two possible near loss of my purse and all it's important contents were, indeed, all my fault.

Now, back to my original question. Does anyone know if they make electronic alarms for your important items should you leave them behind or move too far away from said items?

I might need to invest in one if it exists.

And Now, We're Broke Again

You see, yesterday I made our very last loan payment on our gas guzzling SUV. I paid off our 5 year loan in 3 years. To celebrate we bought ourselves an brand-spanking new 2008 Ford Fusion.

We test drove the Honda and left the dealership preparing ourselves to return in an hour or so to pick up a new Civic.

Instead, we test drove the Fusion and fell head over heels in love. Sure, it cost us a bit more but have you seen the safety features Ford offers that a tiny little Honda doesn't even begin to touch?
-Side impact air bag curtains comes standard.
-Passenger side air bag sensors that figure out if there's a wee little person in the seat and shuts those air bags right off.
-Driver side air bag sensors that can tell how close the driver is to the airbag and deploys accordingly. You know, so stumpy legs, little 'ole me can still sit on top of the steering wheel and and not be killed from the impact of the airbag.
-Air bag vents for when the thing does deploy I'm not hitting a brick wall but instead cushions my head like an egg in your hand.
-Tear away seat belts. The way they are made its not supposed to break my collar bone but instead give just enough to still keep me in the seat and keep my bones in one piece.
-Real freaking steel holds the car together. Not the Japanese "the lighter and thinner the better" crap. I wanna know my car is going to hold me inside, not tear like an old woman's flesh.

The Honda? They have the standard side impact curtains; and they're inexpensive and have great resale value.

The seller at the Honda dealership pushed nothing but the fact that they resell so damned well, even after we told him we'll be keeping the car for at least 10 years he kept pushing what we could get for it in 3.

The seller at the Ford dealership? Told us about the fantastic safety features. Like, did you know I have a trunk release thing- inside the trunk! You know, in case someone wants to kidnap me and stuff me in there I'll have a simple and easy glow in the dark handle to pull and voila, I'm free!

The Honda's were nice and drove well and are built solely for market value. The Ford was equally as nice and drove just as well and built for me.

Here it is, my new shiny ride. It Ink Blue, but Jeremy calls it a bass boat blue. This picture does it no justice. In direct sunlight it is prominent royal blue with little glittery blue specks beaming in the sun. When not in direct light it is easily confused to be black or a very near black kind of blue. Make sense? No? Well, you'll just have to take my word for it then.

I'm happy with it and Kyra's making no complaints so I think it's a keeper. For the next 10 years anyway.

Cardio Blast? Anyone?

Have you guys seen the commercial for 3 Musketeers Mint yet?

The only thing better then dark chocolate is dark chocolate with mint. Mmmm....

I can't help but salivate at the thought of one of those. Mainly because I'm not letting myself have one. The Rec Department people called me on Friday to tell me my Cardio class was canceled for lack of people (and if I knew 3 more people who might sign up so we can meet a quota of 5). Don't they know I was depending on this class to help get my butt into shape so I can eat many, many yummy candy bars?

Do me a favor, will you guys? Go taste this exquisitely yummy looking dark chocolate mint flavored candy bar and tell me what I'm missing.

Ahh... Sleep

Remember this post? Sure you do. The one where I asked for advice and not even Lindsey gave advice she knows nothing about? Well, with no help from you guys I've gotten Kyra to go to bed again, on time at 7, without a fight. It's taken a whole month, but I've done it!

Wanna know my secret? Black out shades in the windows. Mom already had blinds, but they kept out very little light. I bought and had Kyra's Papa put them up behind the blinds on Sunday. That's right, we've doubled up. In return, Kyra has had a peaceful bedtime since Sunday. Ahhh...

Great Toddler Invention

It is no secret to any mother that babies and toddlers LOVE Cheerios. For you new mom's, they are, seriously, like Baby Crack. They can't get enough of this bland tasting cereal and Kyra is no different.

We keep Kyra's crack stash in a zip-lock bag in my purse/diaper bag. It is handy, convenient, and we can take it anywhere and everywhere. "What's that Kyra? You want to scream and throw a tantrum for no apparent reason in the middle of the store? Here, have some Cheerios." Yes, folks, Cheerios. It works every time.

The problem is, the zip-lock bag worked great when we could hand feed it to her and it wouldn't make that big of a mess. Now that Little Miss Independent wants to not only feed herself, but hold the bag too, this zip lock bag just isn't doing the job. This wouldn't be such a problem if Kyra understood the concept of gravity. When the bag gets turned upside down, there are no more Cheerios to tame the monster with.

Thus I have been searching for the better part of the week for this Cheerio/Baby Crack holder contraption. I have looked all over our little town to find this stupid cup. Wanna know where I finally found it? Either one of the local Wal-Marts? No. They had some other snack holding contraption that was worthless, and did not hold in the crack stash when Kyra tipped it over. Did I find it at Target? Um, nope. Not there either. Same cheap crap that Wal-Mart carried. Only in Target, they'll charge you a dollar more for it! I had to venture to Babies R Us. The one baby store I hate to go into. Why do I hate this store? Because it is so damn convenient and there are thousands of oh-so-adorable clothes that Kyra really doesn't need, but I have the will power of an ant when it comes to baby clothes.

So yes, there is my major find for the week. I am loving it right now. Kyra is happy. She has her crack, she can feed her self, and she can hold the container too. This is a wonderful invention.

Oh, and Jeremy will be happy to hear I went into Babies R Us, picked out several oh-so-cute outfits, stood in a long line, and before I made it to the cashier, decided I'd wait until he goes out on his next underway to treat Kyra (and myself) to some new, cute, toddler sized clothes.