Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday so I decided to have a party on my blog! Yay! And better yet, the cupcakes are zero calories. Enjoy!

Kid Quotes

Hopefully this summer we're making a trip to Portland for a wedding (fingers crossed). We told Razz that when we were there we would go on a trip to the beach. She was so excited and told us "I'm going to go to the beach and pick up 9 jars of sea shells and dead fish!!" I just hope the 'dead fish' are fossilized.
P.S. How do you make a button? I'm thinking of making a Kid Quotes one and hooking up Mr. Linky, but I'm technically challenged. I can do it, I just need some guidance. Thanks!

Guess who loves cupcakes!

Kid Quotes!

Last night Razz complained that her legs hurt. We told her it was probably growing pains. This morning when she woke up she jumped to her feet, stood up straight and asked "Do I look taller?

 It has been relatively warm lately. As such, the most common words that come out of Blue's lips are "Mommy! Coat, on! Shoes, on! Outside!"
What funny thing did your kid (or anyone else's for that matter!) say lately?

T I R E D !

So, last night Blue asked me to grab his fuzzy green blanket from downstairs so he could sleep with it. I went and grabbed it and took it back upstairs to give to him. When I went to cover him up, I realized it was purple...and that it wasn't even a blanket. I had grabbed Razz's coat! Oi, am I tired. I don't think any amount of sleep will cure it either. Poor Mr. CB is exhausted. He snores a ton and I'm pretty sure there's some sleep apnea going on. He'll have to go to the doctor to get some help, but we have no time for doctor visits! Thank goodness we only have another month and a half of school. Then we can sleep through the summer!

NEW! Kid Quotes!

Because Blue and Razz say so many off the wall things, I've decided to try to do a Kid Quotes post every couple of days or so. Please feel free to join me and share the wacky things your kids (or anyone else's, for that matter) have said lately in the comments!
To start it off, I offer these few classic Razz quotes from when she was 2.
 1. "I don't like potato pancakes, they're dangerous!"
2. "Mom, I'm thirsty. Can I have some marshmallows?"

And to finish off, here are some very recent Blue quotes.
1. March 19, 2010 "Mom, I sorry I peed you!"
2. March 20, 2010
Blue - "Dad, I have more popcorn dip chocolate milk?"
Mr. CB - "You want more popcorn to dip in your chocolate milk?"
Blue - "Yes, Sir!"

Join the fun! Leave a comment! Adios!

How I became Ms. Crackleberry, Part 3: The phone call.

Click on the links if you missed Part 1 and Part 2!

We were trying to be serious, but obviously I can't hold a straight face!

Where were we, oh yes! It was a lazy summer afternoon and my phone rang....and rang, and rang, and the answering machine picked up. I was sleeping (actually, I heard the phone ring but didn't want to get out of my comfy bed) so I didn't get the message until my sister Shay got home from work and told me that "some strange boy with a weird name" had called. For some reason, I instantly knew it was Mr. CB. His name just popped into my head the moment she told me. Why, I'm not quite sure. I had just broken up with James a couple weeks prior and had just resolved to be single a while because I needed to learn how to be myself without relying on a guy for my identity. I hadn't thought of Mr. CB for 6 months, and suddenly calling him back was THE most important thing in my life. I rushed over to the answering machine (total side note, I am just envisioning the future when our kids are reading this and they turn and ask what an answering machine is! Sorry, back to the story!) and jotted down his number. I dialed his phone and it started to ring....and ring, and ring, and the answering machine picked up. I left a message and hung up. Still I was anxious to reach him, so I called again, being careful to hang up before the answering machine picked up so I didn't come off as desperate (little did I know that Mr. CB had Caller ID so when he came home later he knew I had called twice in a row ~cringe~). It was the strangest feeling, knowing in my gut that I HAD to get a hold of him, but not actually having a logical reason why. My only explanation is Divine Intervention, literally! I truly felt like the Spirit was pushing me towards Mr. CB, and we hadn't even gone out on our first date yet! Whew, talk about intense. But to understand the whole story, we have to switch over to Mr. CB and his reasons for calling.

The same summer afternoon, Mr. CB was sitting bored at his apartment. With nothing to do, he picked up his address book with all his friends numbers in it, and started calling. NO ONE was home. He tried number after number and couldn't reach a soul. As he was flipping through, he kept passing my number and each time had the impression to call me. Each time he thought "No, Cherry and James are probably married by now and she probably doesn't have that number anymore." Still, none of his other friends were home and no one had called him back yet. The impression to call me came more urgently. "Oh, I guess it won't hurt anything," he thought and dialed away. The phone rang, and rang, and....well you know what happened! After leaving a message, there was a knock on the door. One of his buddies showed up, and off they went to skateboard.

So, here I am waiting at home anxiously and Mr. CB is skating around town. What happens when he returns home and finds I've called twice? Does he call me back? Do I call him a third time? Tune in next time for...The Return Call!

Time for Bed!

My sweet little Blue has been having a hard time going to bed lately. He doesn't want to be more than 10 feet away from me or Mr. CB, and preferably with no permanent structures between us (you know, like those silly wall and door things that are all over the house)! For a couple weeks I let him crawl into bed with us, but it's not a good solution. First of all, wiggly toddler + light sleeper Mom = not very much rest for me. Second, I try not to let the kids sleep next to Mr. CB because when his head hits the pillow, almost nothing can wake him up. Mr. CB has slept through screaming babies, super loud lightning storms, and trees crashing into the back of the house. Additionally, once when we were first married Mr. CB apparently wasn't comfortable enough on his side of the bed so he rolled over me to the other side. Yes OVER me. Completely steamrolled. He then snuggled down and continued snoozing, not even the slightest bit aware of what he had just done!

Luckily, I survived.

However, I don't know what would happen if it was our itty bitty kids in my place. Hence, I avoid letting them into our bed unless I'm desperate. I have been very desperate lately. Blue has slept with us a lot. I finally banished him to the floor next to our bed, which works well except for the whole forgetting-that-he-is-there-and-stepping-on-him thing that tends to happen more frequent than not. So for his safety, we decided that once again he was going to stay in his room at night. Since last week was spring break, I was able to stick to my guns once the screaming commenced. And it did. Immediately upon learning it was time for bed. And it continued. For hours! So, naturally, Mr. CB and I put in a DVD and turned up the volume until we couldn't hear him anymore. Cruel, mean, neglect? I don't think so, but after a couple days we had to come up with something else. He obviously needed some motivation. Blue has been sleeping in his crib converted to a toddler bed, but it was time to ditch the crib completely.

The next time we went to Walmart we swung by the baby furniture section. I casually pointed out all the "big boy beds" to Blue and guess what, he went for it! He was so excited I let him choose which one he wanted (out of the two I showed him, no plastic character frames, thank you very much!). We loaded it in the car, got dinner, and picked up Mr. CB, then whisked home to build it.
We removed the crib and got to work. I know I should have taken a picture of the crib, but I forgot, so you'll have to use your imagination.

(Please, please, please ignore the electrical outlet hazard right where his bed goes! Blue knows not to touch it, we've had the big ouchy burn talk and he completely understands. It's a weird outlet so the normal baby proofing stuff doesn't work. When you can't baby proof the house you end up house proofing the baby.)

Let's get started! Mr. CB and the kids got to work.

Hmm, nice work, but it looks like somethings missing. Did you read the instructions Mr. CB? No? Better take a look.

Oh, so that's where that big dowel goes!

Much better!

Who's bed is this?

Blue's bed!

Blue, I'm pretty sure your fingers don't go there.

Mr. CB started looking tired...

... so Blue and I took over.

Finally finished, we threw the mattress and bedding on. What do you think?

Well, what do you know? It's time for bed! Blue crawled in, snuggled up in his favorite green fuzzy blanket, and promptly started crying.

Razz had to come snuggle him for a bit before he calmed down and fell asleep, but he stayed there. When I checked on him at 6am he was still in bed, yay! When I came back up after my shower at 6:30am this is what I found...

He kinda reminds me of the Wicked Witch of the East with his stripped legs poking out from under his blanket! When I woke him up we did a little "Blue slept in his big boy bed all night" dance and song number and repeated it several times, telling everyone through out the day. The next night he started crying again, but still climbed into bed and went to sleep. So I guess this is our new normal. Still some tears, but no screaming for two hours. Plus everyone has been getting a good night sleep, just in time for school to start again.

Which reminds me, time to hit the books!

How I became Ms. Crackle Berry UPDATED!!

In case you missed it, here is Part 1 and Part 2 of mine and Mr. CB's love story. I recently added a dating era photo of us on Part 2 so swing on down to view it. Part 3 is in the works. Stay tuned!

Uticaria!!!!

A looooooooooong time ago when I was a Medical Assistant working in a family practice office, we had a bunch of Zyrtec drug reps come in. In between shoving patients in exam rooms, they would regal us MA's with the many wonders of this ultra hip medication. One of the uses was for uticaria (the super fancy medical term for hives). When they returned the next day, if we could spout off 3 of those fantastic uses, they would give us a smoothie. Not just any smoothie, this was a protein-packed-mango-berry-tropical-delight-frozen-yogurt-16-ounces-of-heaven from Jamba Juice. You betcha I memorized the clinical uses for Zyrtec, and still know them today! 
So, when Razz broke out into hives after consuming a huge bowlful of salad after refusing her lasagna (What a silly girl! I should count myself lucky it's not the other way around! I mean, who refuses lasagna??!?), I reached for my trusty bottle of Children's Zyrtec Syrup.....only it was empty!!!

 See how bright her lips are? Do you see that hive under her lip?

Need a closer look? Here you go!

AAaauughh! What was I to do!? The stores were long closed and I wasn't taking her to the ER for a teeny tiny hive. Never fear, I grabbed a bottle of adult Zyrtec, a knife, and cut that 10mg pill in half (Disclaimer: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER cut medication in half unless it was designed to be cut in half and you have express permission from your health care provider to do so! Also never give medication to a child that was designed for an adult. I broke a lot of rules here.) We gave Razz a big cup of water, the half pill, and cautioned her not to chew it up. After a couple of tries, she got it down, and none too soon! When she smiled at us I noticed another hive was popping up.
"Uh, Razz, how's your throat?" I asked.
"Kinda itchy!" she replied.
"Well, I don't think we're giving you anymore Italian dressing on your salad." said Mr. CB.
I totally agree with him.
We've know Razz has had some food allergies for a while. Usually her lips just turn bright red, or the, ahem, other end does, but nothing really serious. This hive thing, however, tells me that her allergic reaction is getting more severe. *Sigh* To the doctor's we go for allergy testing!

Sick!

Spring Break = sick! Actually, any time I have a break from school I get sick. Mr. CB had it last week, so I guess I should be happy I'm not missing any classes like he did. I did go and do an interview for one of my assignments this morning. Miraculously I was able to pull myself together for it.

Recipe for being able to function while sick

Small bites of bread or soda crackers

Small sips of Sprite or Gatorade

Maximum dose of Tylenol

Maximum dose of Immodium

Priesthood blessing from Mr. CB (of all the ingredients this one is the most important!)

This lasts for about 2-3 hours, then it's time to take a long nap. Which reminds me, it's about that time for me. Hopefully I'll be able to function this evening without the massive amounts of medication. We'll see.

Did you miss me?

Sorry, dear bloggy friends. I want to apologize for my absence. A couple 30+ hour homework assignments and a medical emergency kept me at bay. But never fear, I did not forget you. Since this week is SPRING BREAK!!!!! I have a little extra time to post. I'll tell you all about the events of the last couple of weeks and I'll try to get some more pictures up. As for the medical emergency, my son Blue decided to join my bloggy friend T.J. in enjoying the benefits of a concussion. Both are okay, thank goodness, and hopefully no repeat performances will occur. T.J. I'm sure will be more careful, but I'm not convinced Blue will be judging by his continual noggin cracking he does on a daily basis! Although I will say that Blue had perfect timing. Mr. CB and I whisked him off to the ER right before I had a major test in pharmacology which I wasn't as prepared for as I would have liked. Consequently, I did not have to take the test for five more days, and thus scored much higher than I would have due to the extra study time.
Oh, and one more thing, did you see my new button on the right? My sweet nephew battles cystic fibrosis everyday. Click on the button to see the blog his darling parents have started with stories, photos, and videos. This year I am joining them in Great Strides, a fundraising walk for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Please sponsor my walk or better yet, join me in walking at a Great Strides near you. You can go here to donate.
I am soooooo looking forward to posting more this week. See ya soon!

How I became Ms. Crackle Berry, Part 2!

Haven't read Part 1 yet? Click here!

Me and Mr. CB in a Kmart photo booth soon after we started dating

Last we left off, I had moved to the midwest with my family leaving Mr. CB behind. I started college right away, bouncing from one major to the other, and working overnights to pay for tuition. James and I had broken up, and so I entered the shallow dating pool. All I came across were bottom dwellers, not a keeper in the bunch. I spent a year and a half trying to fit in to a place I did not belong. Tired of dating pond scum and directionless in my schooling, I decided to move back with my eldest sister Shay. Out of sheer familiarity, James and I started dating again. I began searching for a job, picking up applications at strip malls and burger joints.
It was at a music/entertainment/bookstore I ran into Mr. CB who happened to be filling out an application as well. We started chatting while we wrote down our personal info and work history. Mr. CB mentioned that he had just ended his apprenticeship as a body piercer at a local tattoo shop. As we continued to talk, I casually mentioned that I had always wanted to get a navel piercing. Displaying the kindness and generosity that would later sweep me off my feet, Mr. CB offered to do the piercing for free. All I had to do, he said, was pick up some supplies. I had no more boxes to check or lines to fill out on my form, so I wrote my number on a slip of paper, handed it to Mr. CB, and told him to call me the next week to set up a time for the piercing.
The next week James and I arrived at Mr. CB's apartment, hollow needle and barbell in hand. We chatted as Mr. CB sterilized the equipment. Later Mr. CB told me that as he was perched over my abdomen, all he could think about was how James and I were not a good fit, and that I shouldn't be with him. After the piercing was done, James and I left. I didn't see or hear from Mr. CB for another six months.
Then, one lazy summer afternoon, the phone rang. Who was it? What did they want? Stay tuned to find out!
Click here to go to Part 3!