Q&A Part 3

Once again I thought that I had done a Q & A MUCH more recently than I actually have.  The first one was in May 2014 and the second one was on January 21, 2015.  

So, let's get these questions answered!

Q. I had written a post about putting up all of our Christmas stuff and Cathy asked if I get a new snow globe every year.

A.  Yes.  I do.  I started doing it in 2008 but then I was mad that I didn't have one for the year that Spencer was born (2007) because I display them next to our family Christmas card picture for the same year.  So just this past year (2014) I bought two of them and I'm going to have to somehow cover the 2014 with a 2007 or display it backwards (I bought one that you can do that) and add a 2007.  I have spent approximately 1 billion hours worrying about the lack of a 2007 globe and approximately 2 billion hours searching the internet to buy a 2007 globe.

Q. Jeannette asked how I organize/store my kids art.

A. Right now Elliott just has a cardboard box in the closet where I put stuff.  Since he hasn't started preschool yet he's not an art project creating machine yet.

For Spencer I have a big box that I keep in the hallway.  I got it when he was 3.  EVERYTHING goes in there (art and school work) and then once a year I go through and purge stuff and keep other stuff.  It is very spur of the moment what stays and what goes.  Then I have a big box that looks like this in his closet.

There are hanging file folders in there and each folder is for one year.  He has 3 years of preschool and 1 year of kindergarten so far.  It's apparent already that every year will have less and less art and more and more school work.  

Q. Jeannette asked if my pantry was still organized several weeks after I organized it.   She asked that in February.

A.  At the time- yes, it was still perfect.  Now, in May, my answer is "pretty much".  It gets a little messy, but I try to re-organize at least once a month.  The new system is still working really well.

Q. I wrote a post about our Super Bowl Sunday.  Jeannette asked if Elliott was wearing pink Mickey ears from Disneyland.

A.  Why yes, yes he is.  This is the story: When I was pregnant with Spencer my sister in law Kendra went to Disneyland.  She wanted to buy "the baby" something, but we didn't know if the baby was a he or she yet  so she bought both pink and blue and we still have both of them.  I meant to send the pink ones to Florida to give Bella, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. 

Q. Valerie asked if it would be like a wormhole into another portal if she moved out to AZ and we went shopping together .

A.  Yes.  It would be.  And you should do it. Soon.

Q. Jeannette asked "do you ever get the feeling that we "used up" all of the genuine smiles our children had to offer by taking 100,000 pictures of them already?

A.  Yes.  I do.  And my mother reminds me of this exact sentiment whenever I have a hard time taking a picture of them. 

Q. Sherry asked how long it took for Spencer's front teeth to come in.

A.  It was a long time for them to come all the way in, but he was never just totally toothless.  You could see the adult teeth from the time the baby teeth fell out, but those adult teeth are so big it seemed to take forever for the whole tooth to come down.  Maybe like 5 months. 

Q.  Jeannette asked a triple question.  Did it annoy me that Spencer's teeth were pulled right before we had spring pictures taken? How did I get an IKEA ice cream in a cup instead of a cone?  How did I get swirl ice cream at IKEA?

A. It did not annoy me. Since they weren't his front teeth it wasn't so incredibly noticeable. I just asked for a bowl and they did it.  I don't know.  They just have swirl.   Maybe you should start a letter writing campaign.

Q.  Jeannette asked if Spencer and I had a discussion about pretending like we were posing for a mug shot before taking this picture.

A. No, it was because every time we smiled the edges of the mustaches would lift up.  Spencer didn't like how it felt so he said we should do one without smiling.  We do look very angry though. 

Q. Jeannette asked if it bothered me that everyone is not in the same positions in this comparison shot. 

A.  Yes.  Greatly. Now we shall not speak of it again. 

Q.  Jeannette asked if people dipped the bacon in the guac or ate the bacon straight up.

A.  Straight up.  But we did put strips on a plate first.  We're not animals.  

Q.  Jeannette asked if we bought or rented our 20, 25 and 30 pound weights. 

A.  Neither!  When Maryellen and John moved into an apartment and put a bunch of their stuff in storage they gave them to us.  We do feel obligated to give them back once they move into a house though. 

Q.  Sherry asked where Michael's cousin lives in North Carolina?

A.  I am not positive on what city, but I think they live really close to where you live now.  I'll have to check on that and start planning a NC trip immediately.

Q. Sherry asked if I was just joking about pirates sitting at the bar when Laura and I went out to dinner. 

A.  Oh no.  No, no, no.  There were actually 2 men wearing pirate clothes sitting at the bar drinking beer.  No explanation was given nor did we feel we needed one.  They were just, pirates. 

Q.  Sherry wanted to know where we got all of these clothes.

A. The boys clothes are from Carter's, but I bought them in January so I don't know if you could still find them.  My shirt is from Ross so good luck ever tracking it down.  I saw an 11 year old wearing it at Spencer's school about a month ago and then I questioned every single one of my current fashion choices. 

Q. Valerie asked what one does when one has steroid atrophy.

A. I have researched it and the short answer is "I don't know".  You're supposed to stop using the steroids and after months and years your skin will thicken again.  BUT, if he stops using the steroid creams then his eczema goes out of control.  So, catch 22.  We have an appointment in a few weeks to discuss all of this with the dermatologist.  I'll let you know after we do. 

Q.  Jeannette wondered if it was weird that she likes to see pictures of my kids sleeping. 

A. No.  All sleeping kids are precious.  Now if you saw and liked pictures of me sleeping, that would be unacceptable and totally weird. 

Q. Another double question from Jeannette.  Why did we have so many chocolate bunnies?  And what about chalkboard paint above the mantle?

A.  Holy cow- because they came from 4 different sources- parents, grandparents, Easter Bunny, other relatives.  Next year maybe the parents and the Easter Bunny will refrain.   And, hell no.  I hate chalkboard paint on anything but an actual chalkboard.  I cringe and throw up in my mouth a little when I see any of the following covered in chalkboard paint: appliances, doors, walls.  Seriously, it's so dusty and gross and just plain awful.  NO, NO, NO!

Q. Sherry asked, in reference to my rant about my OB being an incompetent jerk, if I should have had my cervix stitched to prevent pre-term labor.

A.  No, not necessarily.  But I met all of the qualifications for getting the shots that prevent pre-term labor.  My insurance provider recommended that I get them and I specifically asked my doctor if I could have them.  His answer, "well, your first baby wasn't THAT early.  It's really not that big of a deal."  Even after I started having contractions at pre-28 weeks and was hospitalized in California he didn't think we needed to do anything differently.  No more frequent monitoring or more frequent appointments or anything.   In hind site I should have insisted and kept working for something/anything to happen because I went into full on labor at 33 weeks.  And now I hate that man and secretly hope that he lost his job because of me.   He is no longer with the practice that he co-started and co-owned and that happened not long after Elliott was born.   And my new OB/GYN knows about the situation and alluded to something, but didn't tell me all of the details.

Q.  Megan asked a double question.  Why was her present (the little statue) banished to the closet?  And why was I being so brazen as to leave nail polish on the floor for a 3 year old to get into to do their own nails.

A. NO, NO, NO!  Not banished!  All of my favorite things are in the closet.  It's where I put "MY" stuff.  I love the statue in there because it's where I have all my special stuff so I can see it every day.  And, my nail polish has been in that container on the floor since before Spencer was born.  So far there has been just one  incident when Spencer was 2.  He spilled a whole bottle in the closet in our rental house.   Elliott has never even tried to take the lid off of the box.  And he knows exactly what's in there.  It must be the difference between boys and girls.

Q.  Sherry asked if I was correcting her name for "water closet" by calling it "toilet room".

A.  Ha ha. No, not at all.  I just think toilet room is accurate, albeit gross.