A Trip to the Doctor....for Mom!

Well, I went to the doctor to have a physical today.

My doctor, Dr. Lee, is a really sweet lady. She cant be much older than me; well she doesn't look it. She is very understanding, and gives me time to ask questions and voice my concerns. She even sits there and listens, and doesn't rush me. Anyways, she told me that I am doing really well, and I am perfectly healthy. I do need to lose 10 pounds though, in order to be in the right body-mass index thingy. I had already planned to lose 10 pounds before July anyways, so that I could look nice for my sister's wedding. Also, she said that my blood pressure was nice and low (90/70 - almost dead) for a 28 year old female with two small children. So I was very happy overall.

Then came the not-so-fun part. She said that I needed to get blood work done and get a Tetanus shot. My last one was when I was 15, so I was due for another. I reluctantly agreed, so she sent off my paperwork to the lab. Oh joy....I HATE NEEDLES. Its a wonder how I had 2 kids via C-Section at all. I am the kind of person that has to lay down to get shots and have blood drawn, or else I'll faint or even possibly throw-up. I have always been very queasy. Just ask the man who took my very first blood draw when I was preggo with Summyr. He had throw up on his feet when I was done. Or the time when I got a shot when I was about 13 yrs. old. I almost fainted in the elevator on the way to the car! So needless to say, I was nervous about this time.

The nurse came in to give me the Tetanus shot. I could feel my breaths starting to quicken. Then all of the sudden she was putting the band-aid on. WOW! She was GOOD! I didn't even feel it. Unfortunately I can feel it now!!! My arm hurts!!!! Then, I went off to get my labs done. I explained to the lady about my issues with needles and she was kind enough to take me to another room where I could lay down while she drew my blood. This was possibly the first time that I wasn't made to feel embarrassed about my "condition".

So anyways, I am glad its all over and I can start the New Year feeling good and knowing I am healthy!

After-Christmas Score!

I mentioned before in a prior post that I wanted to get some really nice Stocking Hangers for my mantle. Well, I followed through as planned and waited until after Christmas. I really would have preferred to get them before, that way all of our stockings could have been hung together, but I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg for a set. You know, some of those things were going for $10-$15 a piece!!!

So anyways, I went to Target today to get some stuff on my grocery list. As I walked around the store, picking up things here and there, I noticed that all of the Christmas stuff was 75% off!!!! At last...this was my chance! I was able to get a set of four really cute hangers for only $6.24!!!! Yes! The original price was $24.99. I am so excited!!!

Celebrating the Last 5 Years in Letters....

H - Home
A - Adoration
P - Presence
P - Patience
Y - Youth

A - Acceptance
N - Nurture
N - Nearness
I - Intimacy
V - Value
E - Emotion
R - Respect
S - Safety
A - Alliance
R - Resolution
Y - Years

I - Inspiration

L - Love
O - Obstacles
V - Vows
E - Experiences

Y - Yearn
O - Overcome
U - Unfailing

S - Steadfast
T - Teamwork
E - Enduring
P - Partners
H - Heart
A - Amusing
N - Now and Forever

Thinking About School....Making Conclusions.

So I thought about school today. I am not sure what brought it up. Maybe the fact that I have seen so many of the people that I grew up with become successful, while I am here wasting away (according to the world's standard).

I have friends who have become nurses and teachers. Friends who have traveled the world and lived in different countries. Friends who have completed college once or twice. Even friends my age, who have Masters Degrees! All I have is a MRS degree with a major in Domestic Engineering. So I am feeling a little bit sorry for myself and beating myself up for not feeling like I have made something of myself.

Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. That is the main reason I haven't gone to school yet. I don't want to have to put them in daycare while they are so little. We cant afford it anyways. Stephan is already in school right now, too. He has been since Jude was 10 days old. My hope has been to go to school as soon as he was done, but at the rate he is going....part time....I may never make it.

I don't know why, like I said before, but I mentioned the whole idea of school at dinner. The idea of how nice it would be for me to go to school so that I could get a degree and actually help our family financially, so that we would not have to live from paycheck to paycheck. Stephan is doing a good job, but I still feel that I need to pull my weight sometimes. He said that it would be a great idea. But, I mentioned that like many people, I really don't know what I want to go to school for. I have random skills, hate math, and am very non-confrontational. So this posed a problem for me.

I decided to get online and see what I could find. I took a look at www.About.com and searched Career Planning. I was given 3 tests to take, one of which I could not get to work. The first one was not really a test but just a list of traits in different categories. I was to choose the category that best described me and in turn would get a list of jobs that best suited those traits. Here's what I got:

I am: CONVENTIONAL (sounds boring)

Here is the list of jobs it gave me:

Abstractor (CSI)Accountant (CSE)Accounting Clerk and Bookkeeper (CSR)Administrative Assistant (ESC)Bank Teller (CSE)Budget Analyst (CER)Building Inspector (CSE)Business Teacher (CSE)Cashier (CSE)Catalog Librarian (CSE)Clerk (CSE)Computer Operator (CSR)Cost Accountant (CES)Court Reporter (CSE)Customs Inspector (CEI)Data processing worker (CRI)Electronic Mail Technician (CSR)File Clerk (CSE)Financial Analyst (CSI)Insurance Adjuster (CSE)Insurance Underwriter (CSE)Internal Auditor (ICR)Key Punch Operator (CSE)Kindergarten Teacher (CSE)Legal Secretary (CSA)Library Assistant (CSE)Medical Records Technician (CSE)Medical Secretary (CES)Safety Inspector (RCS)Service Station Attendant (CER)Tax Consultant (CES)Telephone Operator (CSE)Typist (CES)

I don't know about you, but half of these jobs sound like I would be trapped in a tiny office or dusty closet for the rest of my life.

So I went on to the next test, which was the Meyers-Briggs Personality Type. The stuff I read said something about it having to been given and scored by a professional, but that they had changed it to generalizations, so I guess it was safe to do on my own. Anyways, here is what I scored:

Type: ISTJ - "Dependable, reliable and trustworthy, they like to belong to solid organisations that are reasonable in their ambitions and loyal to their employees. They feel useful when their roles and responsibilities are clearly established and they can monitor their activities and productivity in tangible ways. They tend to be rather modest, traditional and conventional, to like sensible clothing, to be thrifty, careful and wise with both money and possessions.
Once they accept a project, they will see it to the end. They manage their time well and are realistic about how much time and resources will be needed.
They tend to like to stay in one neighborhood, often choosing to live close to where they were themselves raised. They are often involved with volunteer organisations and have a developed sense of citizenship and accountability. When they purchase something, it is after careful consideration; rarely will they buy something without having a known need or use for it. They may keep possessions for a lifetime and treasure those that were given to them.
They tend to have a good memory for specific facts that are necessary in their day-to-day life at work and at home. They accumulate facts and details to orient themselves, relying on repeated experiences that have been proven trustworthy. A fact once experienced may be the product of circumstance and happenstance; it is not in and of itself reliable. When an introverted sensing type hears an idea, they rummage through reams of archived facts to find an experience that provides information for the relevance and realism of an idea. When an introverted sensing type utters, "It's never been done!" they are saying that no information about the relevance or usefulness of the idea is available to them. They tend to shy away from surprises and what is perceived as unnecessary change." - By Danielle Poirier www.RebelEagle.com © copyright Rebel Eagle Productions

And here are the jobs it suggested:

Chief Information Officer
Meteorological
Database administrator
Healthcare administrator
Paralegal
Accountant
Real Estate broker
Construction / building inspector
Police detective
Agricultural scientist
Primary care physician
Biomedical researcher
Office manager
Credit analyst

So by this point, I am not really sure that I want to go back to school. None of the jobs sounds that interesting...well except the meteorological one, but not if I have to get in front of a camera!

Then, as if God was reading my mind, Jude bumped his head on his bed and started screaming. This brought me back down to Earth, and back to the original reason I am not in school. Just the disruption of him screaming while I was trying to concentrate here on the computer, caused my blood-pressure to shoot through the roof. I cant imagine trying to do homework or study, while taking care of the kids. It just wouldn't be fair to them. I think that I will wait until Stephan is done with school, and in the meantime I will continue doing the job that I almost do best. And that is being a Mom.

Where are the PICTURES!?!?!?!?!?

I am sure everyone is anxious to see pictures from over Christmas, but since I have started using this computer, I came to the sad realization that it does not have any sort of Office programs on it. It is bare bones.....meant only for surfing the net, I guess. I really cant live without Picture Manager or Photoshop....I need something to edit my pics!!!! Please if you are out there reading this, and you want to see some really funny and cute pictures, make some noise on my husband's cell phone!!!!! Please! Trust me I have already made my wishes known....I need some backup!!!!

Been a While.....

I havent blogged in a couple of weeks. We have been so busy with the "holidays". And now I am typing on a new-to-me laptop and I am not used to the new keyboard yet.

We are about to have our 3rd Christmas in a week and a half. I am so not ready to wrap anymore presents and play Santa. We drove to Lubbock on the 13th. It was almost a disaster...we could not find the portable DVD player that we use for the kids on long trips!!! We were frantic and we searched high and low until the second that we left. No luck! But the kids actually did quite well. Nearly 7 hours in the car and NO MELTDOWNS! I dont know how...God had his hand over us! We enjoyed Christmas with Stephan's family and headed back to Pflugerville on the 17th. Thursday, the 18th, we loaded up again....and headed to Houston to have Christmas with my family. No DVD player again, but hey, its only 3 hours. Those 3 hours seemed like a never ending nightmare. Meltdowns and whining left and right....the whole way! But we made it alive....and enjoyed Christmas and a trip to our favorite Chinese restaurant...Happy Lamp. We headed back to Pflugerville once more on the 22nd....just intime for me to be home for my birthday....the 23rd.

And guess what Stephan found today....the DVD player.

Four things....

Four jobs I've had:
1) Nanny
2) Teacher's Assistant/Aide
3) Graphic Designer for R.E. Agents
4) Mom

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1) Labrynth
2) The Goonies
3) Toy Story - not by choice
4) Cars - again, not by choice

Four places I've lived:
1) Houston, Texas
2) Lubbock, Texas
3) Seattle, Washington
4) Pflugerville, Texas

Four TV shows I watch:
1) Fringe
2) Law & Order
3) Masterpiece Theater
4) Antique's Roadshow

Four places I've been:
1) Tegucigalpa, Honduras
2) Chihuahua, Mexico
3) Orlando, Florida
4) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Four people who email me regularly:
1) Dad
2) Philip - dadinlaw
3) Kelli
4) Katy

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Fruit Rollups
2) Peppermint Ice Cream
3) Spaghetti
4) Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Four places I would like to visit:
1) Italy
2) France
3) Bethlehem
4) Hawaii

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1) Jude turning 4
2) Summyr turning 2
3) Tax Returns!!!
4) Watching our family grow together

I Changed my Blog Name...

I felt like the old name, Abuzeide Family Blog, just was not right. No flair, no originality, and just not the right subject. Yes, I blog about my family, but the name seemed to mean that it was the blog "of " the family, when in actuality, it is just me blogging about my days and my life. So I hope that the new name doesnt throw you off.

Yuck!

Everyone in our house is sick....except for me. I hope it stays that way!!!

Holiday Decorating 2008

Well I decided to take some pictures of our tree and mantle. We dont have very many decorations this year. I am trying to keep it clean and simple. The tree is white with really funky colors and ornaments. Some are birds, some stars, spiraly things, snowflakes, bells, and disco balls. Its really cute. This is our 3rd year with this tree and this year, we were able to go and buy a ton of new ornaments to add to the ones that we already had. Also, the tree is wrapped with magenta colored beads, two colors of metallic twine, and three colors of metallic string.

The mantle has various trees and a small garland with the funky colors to match the tree. Not much....especially since Summyr has busy hands. I am going to try to get the hooks for the stockings soon. I refuse to spend the outlandish amount for those really nice stocking hangers....you know the metal ones with a tree/star/train/etc. on the top. I am hoping that I can pick up some on clearance right before or right after Christmas. Hope you enjoy the pics...and by the way, the pics dont do the tree justice. You have to see it.

Here is a video of Summyr walking!

FINALLY!

So, our little baby, is finally WALKING!!!

Summyr has taken her sweet time mastering the art of walking. Over the past 7 months, we waited as patiently as we possibly could. But our aching backs could only take so much more.

Honestly, I decided to finally put my foot down. I realized that we (Stephan and I) were carrying her too much. From the moment she woke up, whether it be morning or after nap, we picked her up. Yes, this was necessary as a newborn, infant, and up into the late baby months, but once she turned one, we were still picking her up and carrying her to the living room. Then we would carry her to her highchair. Then we would pick her up from the chair and carry her to the toy room. Or as a young toddler, we would carry her to the walker, or entertainment center. Then she would get tired and we would carry her to her crib, then back out of the crib, then carry her out the door, into the car/stroller. Never did her feet touch the ground. The she learned to crawl. We let her crawl at home, but we still carried her everywhere else.

So back to the part about putting my foot down. I decided it was time to STOP carrying her. When she woke up in the morning, down she would go, and with help, we would have her "walk" to the living room. "Walk" to the toy room. "Walk" to the highchair. "Walk" from the car to the store/Bible classroom/etc. Guess what? Within 2 weeks of doing this, she was taking steps on her own. All this time we had been complaining that she wasn't walking yet.

But it was our fault.....

So the day before Thanksgiving, we went to Conn's (appliance store). Summyr decided that would be the place that she would make eternal memories. She started taking independent steps, a few at a time, and today....Dec. 2, 2008, she can take 20+ steps on her own. She can walk from one room to the other, turn corners, squat down and then stand up again and take steps, walk with a toy/cup in her hand, and sometimes hold hands and walk with Jude.

So now we cannot go back. Our baby is now a big girl. No longer will she need me to carry her. Now she says, "Walk", and has no fear. Soon, she will run and play without hesitation. I am so proud to see her walk, yet so sad to see her grow up so fast.