Gag Reflex

I have serious issues with oatmeal. Just the smell of plain oatmeal cooking makes me gag. The flavored kind is easier to take since it tends to smell like cookies. But I don't eat oatmeal. No way. Not a chance. Just ask my sister's mom. It just isn't happening.

Earlier this week, I took the baby to the doctor and he says she isn't gaining weight and I should give her formula. However, after some research, I decided not to do that. However, I began looking at ways to increase breast milk production.

The baby seems fine and dandy to me. But if she needs more food she can have it.

Online and through friend recommendations I found that oatmeal can do a lot to increase breast milk production.

Oh the dreaded oatmeal.

But I will do anything for my baby.

So yesterday, I choked down a bowl of apples and cinnamon oatmeal. I gagged a bit and drank a lot of water, but I did it. For Michelle.

Today I choked down a bowl of cinnamon and spice oatmeal. It went down a lot easier. But still required water to make it go.

The things I am willing to do for this baby.

Wordless Wednesday

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Baby Shower For Baby Michelle
July 21, 2012
Apple Valley, California

Check Up

Yesterday we took Michelle for her 2 month check up. She is healthy. But the doctor says she isn't gaining enough weight. She weighed 8 lbs and 12 ounces yesterday. She weighed 7 lbs and 15 ounces when I had her. He suggested we give her formula. I say no. Instead, today I am researching tips to improving breast milk output. We have to take her back in 10 days for him to check her weight again.

He also put her on vitamin D drops. They smell awful and from the face she makes, I am guessing they don't taste awesome either. Then she got 6 vaccines. She only cried a little. She is a tough cookie.

All in all she is a healthy, strong baby.

So we took her to Mary and Tonya's for dinner so they could cuddle her and spoil her rotten. And they did. And we had turkey and it was fabulous.

That's What Big Sisters Are For

Last night when I was getting ready for work, David was sick. He had been sick all day. But when David is sick, he also goes into denial. He was coughing and had a sore throat and just felt like crap. But he was fine.

So I get him some Nyquil, some vitamin C and some throat drops. He doesn't take any of it. He is fine.

But he is avoiding the baby.

But he is not sick.

Finally, he admits it and I try and get him to take some medicine. But he still won't. He is afraid he won't hear the baby a night if he takes the medicine.

Carolynn is drafted to take care of the baby at night. David sleeps on the couch and Carolynn goes and sleeps in my bed with the baby in the bassinet next to her. I went off to work. Carolynn could handle it.

According to Carolynn's report....

The baby woke up around 3:00AM. Carolynn got up and fixed her a bottle and fed her. Then she tucked her back in.

Around 4:00AM, she heard a lot of diaper related sounds coming from the baby's bed. So she got up and found the baby was exploded. So off to the baby's room for a change of diaper and some fresh jammies. Then tuck in time again.

Of course, Michelle had other plans and spent some time playing a fun game of “Spit The Binky”. Michelle spits her binky out then starts fussing, and when Carolynn looked in at her, she smiled and giggled. Carolynn gave her back her binky. Then repeat. Again. And again.

Finally she was out.

Until about 7:00AM. That is when Michelle woke up. And was ready to go. So Carolynn got up and got her changed and turned on some cartoons.

When I got home, I found them both in Michelle's room. Disney Jr. was on TV. The baby was asleep in her chair. And Carolynn was passed out on the floor.

Random Cop Cliche'

Today is my David's birthday. As a surprise, after I got off of work this morning I decided to go get some doughnuts and bring them home for breakfast. I was in the doughnut shop picking out my doughnuts when a man came in with two little girls. They were excited and the little one was going on about holes. She was about 4 and the other one was about 10. Anyway, I finished picking my treats and was waiting for the lady to finish packing them and charge me when I noticed the little girl next to me. She was glancing at me and inching closer and closer. She was wearing Minnie Mouse pajamas and sparkly silver slippers. (It was 8:00 in the morning on a Sunday....)

Closer and closer....

Then a little tap on my arm.

She asks...

“Are you the police?”

I tell her yes.

And she says....

“Wiggum likes doughnuts.”

And I die laughing.

Her dad looked a little mortified.

I laughed harder.

She got her little bag of doughnut holes.

Then I took my doughnuts and went home.

Cherry Coke

Cherry Coke is my favorite soda. When ever we go out, if they have Cherry Coke, that is what I order. If it is on sale I stock up. We have a fridge in the garage full of soda. And if there is no Cherry Coke, I don't really go out there for soda. Maybe the occasional Dr. Pepper.

When David's dad was visiting, his wife Jasmin had never had a Cherry Coke. She is from the Philippines and there they just have regular and diet. She went out to the garage to get a regular Coke and decided to try a cherry. She must have really liked it because unless she was holding the baby, she had a Cherry Coke. Now every time I get a Cherry Coke from the garage I think of her.

They should visit more.

A Day In The Life

Animals on Patrol

A year or so ago, I was driving the mobile patrol around and around some fabulous prison.

Around and around and around....

When I was stopped by the cutest, fluffiest little foxes.

Awwwwww....

But they didn't move. I honked. I yelled. Nope. They just sat and looked at me. I was afraid to run them over. They eventually moved. Someone must have been feeding them... Not that I am accusing anyone.

These foxes were cute, but I spent the night chasing fence alarms because of them. They think they own the joint. A lieutenant told me they were endangered and protected by the state. So I guess we were stuck with them.

Now I see them roaming the compound at night. They walk within a few feet of me and other officers. Running around, chasing birds.

Little foxes aren't the only animals running around. That same night I was bothered by little foxes, I saw a pack of coyotes chasing a rabbit across the parking lot. I saw a ton of adorable little owls.

On your average day I see lots of squirrels. More pigeons than anyone needs to see. Crows and ravens. Several cats. The occasional dog.

It's like a zoo. Except we lock up people and the animal roam free.

Because I Almost Forgot, But I Didn't

This will be my sixth NaBloPoMo. And I almost forgot. I have been so busy with the baby and the job and the kids and the David...

But I think I can do this. I have a lot to say. A LOT! I have barely written anything since I had Michelle. It has been 8 weeks. I can't believe it. It seems like I just had her, although I don't remember ever not having her.

So we begin. Blog posts coming your way every day for the whole month. I promise.

I hope.

Running Out Of Ideas

Well, we are down to the last couple of days of NaBloPoMo and I am running on low. I have a bunch of work posts ready to go, but I don't like to do more than one of those a week. The rest of the time I like to pretend I don't work in a prison.

Catherine has a Wordless Wednesday ready for tomorrow to finish off the month. Then she decided we should try and do it for all of December too. We are going to try and do it and give all of our posts titles of holiday songs and movies. We shall see how far along we get before we just run out of ideas. She has two more Wordless Wednesday posts coming after tomorrow too.

We have been so busy around here I am running out of time for things. Only three more weeks and I go back to a normal person's schedule and this place will be running a lot better. It's hard to get in a good routine when you work all nights.

Holiday baking is coming. There is eggnog in the fridge. (Not that I will drink it, because ewww. But Catherine loves it.) Soon it will be time for decorating and presents under the tree. I have done most of my shopping online this year so far.

That is all for now. Thanks for reading this nonsense and for continuing to come back for more nonsense.

Until next time...

Coke For Dinner

This is what you're going to do.

First, you're going to go to the store and buy some pork roast, (about 2 lbs) some BBQ sauce (1 bottle), and some Coke. Next, you're going to put that pork roast in the crock pot and pour in a can of Coke. Let that cook for about 6 or 7 hours. Then drain off the Coke. Shred up the pork with some forks. Then pour on the sauce. Stir it around, heat it through and serve it on a bun.

And it is awesome.

Make yourself some macaroni salad and some baked beans and you got one heck of a dinner.

Unless your name is Gena.

Then you don't like BBQ sauce or beans. But you can drink an entire 12 pack of Coke in one day.

Oh well.

Black Friday

I never went shopping on Black Friday. I always had to work or something. But this year, I got off at midnight anyway, so I figured I would see what it was all about and maybe pick up some good deals for Christmas.

Carolynn came with me because she figured she could get some good pictures for her current class project. David came too because he was concerned for our safety.

We went to the Wal-Mart. There was a line just to get in the store. There were police everywhere. It was crazy. We saw some swim moms there ready to tackle their shopping. They had a plan. I didn't have a plan. I should have had a plan. It should have been to stay home.

After about 20 minutes we finally get inside the store. It was a madhouse. The lines to check out stretched all the way to the back of the store. People had carts loaded with multiple TV's and all sorts of stuff. We went off in search of what we wanted. We found nothing. It had all been picked clean.

We left defeated. We didn't even try to brave the Target. We were scared for our lives.

A Day In The Life

Thankful For The Little Things

The other day an inmate stopped by my office. (It was this inmate, so I was prepared for anything.) He tells me he has a lot of things to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

He is thankful that he will enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner there in prison when there are plenty of law abiding citizens out there that will not get that luxury.

He is thankful that he did not receive the death penalty for the crime he was convicted of. (I believe it was murder.)

He is thankful he lives in America because in other countries when you get convicted of something like that, they kill you right away.

And finally, he is thankful for the opportunity to appeal.

He also informed me that he is starting his own mob because he likes the family camaraderie. And he'll be changing his name to Rico Soprano.

I am thankful that my job affords me so many interesting stories.

Happy Thanksgiving

It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving to me though. I have to work tonight. So we had our Thanksgiving on Tuesday. But it didn't feel like Thanksgiving then either. We still had stuff to do. The world wasn't on Thanksgiving time. Catherine and David had tae kwon do. I had an appointment with the personal trainer at the gym. We enjoyed the morning. We played Monopoly and roasted the turkey. We made all the sides the day before. We ate a fabulous meal. But after that, we all went off to our various activities. Sherri and Taylor came over to enjoy a little Thanksgiving food with us in the evening. And we sent some pie to Chris who wasn't feeling well.

Speaking of pie, this was my first attempt at baking a pie from scratch. And I burnt the first one. Black. But luckily, the second pie came out delicious.

Today, we are relaxing. We made some turkey with rice with leftover turkey. We planned our Black Friday strategy. I get off at midnight, just in time to shop.

Robbie and Gena supposedly are coming this weekend. We are going to make them some BBQ pork sandwiches and a pie for Robbie. (Gena, like her brother, doesn't eat pie.)

I hope you all are having a fabulous Thanksgiving. Think of me tonight while you eat your pie. I'll b spending my night with inmates. Awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

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Thanksgiving Decorations
November 2011
Apple Valley, California

How Hard Can It Be?

I mentioned yesterday that the girls and I were trying some yarn work. We got both crochet hooks and a book and knitting needles and a book as well as several small balls of yarn.

We went over the directions. We watched videos. We had this.

After 24 hours of frustration and hard work...

After all the videos and all the careful examination of diagrams and directions...

We have a knotted ball of yarn.

I just don't get it.

Fail

So today was supposed to be our Thanksgiving. However, I scheduled everything thinking I had a 10-11 lb turkey. It was 16 lbs. So we postponed it until tomorrow.

I tried to bake my first ever pumpkin pie from scratch. I burnt it. Well, the crust was burnt to black, the filling was still liquid.

The girls and I tried to learn to crochet. Inmates can do it, we can too. No, we can't. Seriously. No.

So we thought maybe knitting would be cool. No, no it was not.

I almost forgot to post something. NaBloPoMo fail. OMG!

So, how was your day?

Obsession

Right before Catherine's birthday, she decided that for her birthday she wanted scrapbooking stuff. She never did scrapbooking before but she likes art stuff so it made some sense. Everyone got her scrapbook stuff for her birthday. Especially my dad who works in a craft store and went crazy. She has made a ton of scrapbook pages. She has a whole scrapbook devoted just to her guinea pig.

So I decided to try it too.

And now I can't stop.

I made this page with pictures of my sister's visit.

These are my Carolynn and Catherine pages.

Here are some pages I made at Halloween.

Even Carolynn got in on it. She is sitting at the table scrapbooking right now.

The Christmas Wedding

I got my first book for my Nook on iPad. Well, I got it on accident. I didn't know that Barnes and Noble just let you purchase things without confirming your purchase.

But anyway, I finished it this morning and I really enjoyed it. I liked the convenience of having it available where ever I went. I took it to the gym and read it on the treadmill. I took it to tae kwon do and read it while waiting for David and Catherine. It was nice.

I didn't like that when I finished it, I couldn't lend it to someone else who might enjoy it. I didn't like that I couldn't take it to work with me.

Anyways, the book was The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson. I really enjoyed it. It was a about an older woman who had lost her husband and hadn't seen enough of her kids since his passing. She has a few good male friends who wish to become her new hubby and she agrees. They plan this elaborate wedding to lure the family to gather on Christmas and she won't tell them who she is marrying.

Anyway, I loved the story and I even got a bit teary eyed.

I am still reading A Game Of Thrones. I have been stuck at about half way through for a while. I just can't seem to get into it. David keeps promising that it will get better. Of course he thinks the whole series is amazing.

A Day In The Life

Makes Me Wonder...

I came across this email one day. It is from an inmate to what I can only assume is a lawyer or legal person of some sort.

Did you get the mesage about my request for you to file a motion to the court asking that I be allowed to wear my court clothing while in prison for the purposes of my executive presense.

First of all note the misspelled "message" and "presence". Then note that while this appears to be a question, it does not end with a question mark.

And then ask yourself this..

WHY?

Really? Do you really think that is going to work out for you? Are you really going to clog our court system with that triviality?

Yes, yes he is.

This is one of the many reasons I find my job to be so freaking hilarious.

Tall Boy's Block

I am not a fan of rap music. Really. I like some. Usually some older stuff. I like Eminem. But really, I am just not a fan.

I have a friend who is a rapper. He has a little fan base going. He's written some songs. He even recorded some of them. He is very ambitious. He has done some performances. He has a really cute logo.

He's has hats and shirts made with it. He's not a bad looking guy. And to top it all off, he is a really nice guy. That is the best part.

We got to talking one day and he discovered that I like computers and websites and stuff. He asked me to help him build a cool website for his music. So I did.

I had fun. I learned a whole bunch. With my help, he purchased a domain name, subscribed to a web-host, and purchased a cool template. I put it all together (with David's help) and I have been maintaining it for him. I have also been maintaining his Facebook, My Space and Twitter. It's kind of fun. And I know he appreciates my help.

So if your a rap fan, check out my friend Tall Boy's website at www.tallboy100block.com. Even if your not a rap fan, check out the site and see how I did. I even have a custom email there for website feedback: jennifer@tallboy100block.com.