Dog Park Drama

I've always wondered who got to do the drawings on this sign, and was Scooby Doo their inspiration?

I've been meaning to start revving up more posts with Qori in them because I feel like my fuzzy guy has got the short-end of the fetch stick lately.  This blog started off being all about him in my life and since Diego came along the Qori posts have been few and far between, even though he's still always faithfully by my side.

So this weekend, while Hubby took Diego out to some Halloween festivities, I went with my sister and family to our local off leash dog park intent to snap some great pics of Qori.  The dog park is awesome with rolling hills, sand, and even a dog beach that you can hike down to.  However, since it is an off leash park in San Francisco, you can almost expect each visit to produce some level of dog drama (but not always).  This particular outing yielded the most interesting dog drama yet, between a black lab and a gopher!

The gopher was pulled out of his hole by the lab puppy and she started playing with the gopher (doing the puppy stance).  There was no vicious growling or thrashing going on (especially because gophers don't squeak apparently); just a puppy having fun.  But the gopher was NOT HAVING IT and stood his ground.... over and over again.

Puppy Stance

If you're anything like me, then do not worry about the poor gopher's safety.  After it was evident that this gopher had his odds stacked against him, and the puppy was still trying to have fun.  I asked my sister (animal goddess- wild or domesticated) to please intervene.  She held the puppy back while I tried to scoot the gopher back into any hole.  The gopher didn't get it.  I don't think he was the brightest crayon in the box.  What was he doing at a dog-infested park anyway?  Not the smartest place to setup.  He's just lucky that this was only a puppy and that two helpful sisters decided to intervene for his sake!

The owner of the puppy FINALLY came for her asking what was wrong after witnessing my sister holding her collar back.  We explained the scenario and spun the story as if we were protecting the puppy from getting bitten by a gopher.  She leashed up the puppy and hauled her away.  That gopher was lucky this time, but I think he should seriously consider moving to another part of town.

 Once again poor Qori was upstaged on his own post, but he still had fun! - Shirley

Award-winning Maternity Costume!

Hi all!  The countdown is now less than a day until Halloween!   I thought I'd give you a sneak peek of my award-wining "Pregnant Skeleton Family" costume that was inspired by Pinterest once again!  I know I tend to exaggerate sometimes, but really!  It won an award, look below!

Very fitting award, right?  It actually won for "Most Creative" even though I entered us in the "Best Group" category.  That's how creative this costume was!  Wanna know how I did it?  Let's get started:

What You'll Need:

Mom Skeleton

• You'll need to have a baby belly ;)
• Black long sleeved top (Marshalls $7)
• Black leggings or Yoga pants (Marshalls $7)
• Freezer paper (Lucky's $7)
• White Fabric Paint (JoAnne Fabrics $3)
• Paint brush (JoAnne Fabrics $1)
• Exacto knife or blade (for the freezer paper)
• An iron
• Cardboard (to put inside the shirt and pants so that the paint doesn't seep)
• Bow or Fabric (for the baby's bow or tie depending on if it's a girl or boy)

Kid Skeleton

• Kid skeleton costume (you can also make one but I ran out of time; Party City $15)
• Candy or Food Applique
• Needle & Thread

Other Ideas that I ran out of time to do:

• Husband Skeleton Costume
• Pet Skeleton Costume

Diego helps me free-hand draw!

1. Free-hand draw the skeleton parts on the freezer paper

 

2.  Use an exacto knife or blade and carefully cut out the stencils

 

Don't forget the free-floating piece in the middle of the arm bone!

3.  Lay the stencils (shiny side down) on the clothing.  Remember the free-floating piece on the arm.

4.  Iron the stencils onto the clothing without steam.

5.  Insert cardboard inside the clothing

6.  Brush on the white paint.  (2-3 coats may be required)

7.  Let dry overnight.

8.  Peel off the freezer paper and admire your work.

You can see where I messed up above Baby's head.  I could fix it, if I had the energy :)

9.  Attach a bow or tie onto the baby skeleton depending on whether it's a boy or a girl.

Kid Skeleton:

1.  If the purchased skeleton costume doesn't have enough "tummy" space, you may need to "make space".  In my case with my hard-earned medical license,  I "surgically" removed 2 spinal disks above the pelvic area :) to make room.

I looked for a cute applique of food to put in Diego's tummy.  I was thinking either a huge lollipop or cupcakes.  Unfortunately a lot of the cute appliques that I found were more girly in nature, until I found these appliques at Michael's.

 

2.   Attach the appliques to the tummy area.  (I hand-sewed and didn't iron-on because the bones were made of some foamy material that I was afraid would not be able to handle the iron heat)

That's it!  Pics of the costumes "in action" coming soon!

Happy Halloween! -Shirley

These Boots are Made for Shirley

Diego told my dad that I wear my favorite over-the-knee, tan Steve Madden boots too much.  Well actually, he didn't TELL my father because we all know he's not so keen on speaking.  And actually, well - he didn't so much SAY that I wear them too much, but it's what I deduced...

My dad likes to take Diego to the local mall to wear him out socialize him with other kids and get some good exercise in for him.  They first walk around the mall for an hour and then they hit the children's romp area.  Well just the other day, according my Dad, they walked by the shoe store and a similar version of my boots were on display.

"Mama! Mama!  MAMA!" screamed Diego as he pointed to the boots.

This is such a hilarious story to me!  I believe this story really happened because he's actually, finally started calling me-specifically "mama" as of a week or two ago.  I also believe it because, yeah - well you know,  I really do overuse the boots.  I can't help it though.  They are cute, comfy, stylish, and FLAT.  What more could a pregnant mama ask for?  Maybe another pair in a different color.... I'm just sayin'

Still gonna wear my boots - Shirley (aka: Mama)

Gettin' Dressed in the Tub

It seems that I get later and later at posting these remodel updates, but at least I'm still within the right week.  We all know I'm not a fan of the remodel at my house lately, especially because I am STILL sick and it makes things so uncomfortable and inconvenient.  I can't believe it's been a whole week, and I still have a congested cough and sound like I was screaming at a concert last night!  I wish!

As you can see in this week's photo, the house is finally getting dressed in his new clothes (yes, I've determined that the house is a boy, just like my car, my dog, my husband, my children.  There's just no other estrogen here but me). We originally wanted to leave the siding a natural wood color because we're going for that rustic feeling for the house.  Hubby's changing his mind now though, because he thinks a coat of paint would protect the siding better.  I haven't even thought about what colors we would paint the house.  It seems like a hard decision for me to make, and something I would spend a lot of time sifting through Flickr and Google images before I could make up my mind.  I'm getting stressed just typing about it.

There haven't been too many updates inside the house to the female eye.  To the male eye however, there has.  I see many more wires, ducts, and other "manly" stuff going on in the inside.  But since I already snapped some "testosterone" pics of that last week, I thought I'd snap a pic of the new master bathroom tub instead.  Hubby and I had many conversations about this damn tub and they usually went something like this:

H:  Should we get a whirlpool or just a regular tub?

S:  What's the price difference?

H: Not that much.  A whirlpool is around $700 and a regular is around $300.

S:  Yikes!  That's double the cost!  I don't even like using the jets.  They don't give me that relaxing feeling that plain-old still hot water does in a tub.  I'd rather use the extra money on a nice vanity.

H:  But it's the master bedroom.

S: Are you going to use it?  Do you even take baths?  I'm telling you right now, I won't use it.  If you feel strongly about it, then go ahead and get a whirlpool but I just don't see any reason for one.

End result:  A regular tub.  And it's beautiful. 

(Let's ignore that super-duper expensive showerhead at the foot of the tub that Hubby plans to install, shall we?  I think he got it free from one of his rich customers so that's why I'm not freaking out - yet)

Being a good wife and saving us some money but Hubby doesn't get it - Shirley

Third Time's a Charm

Diego's 3rd Boating Trip!

I don't like this!

Maybe if I stay completely still with a worried face, nothing bad will happen.

Look! Land Lubbin' Cows!

I see them! I see them!

I don't know about this.  Why is Dada off of the boat?

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

This is my ecstatic face...

  You! Take the bow; all hands on deck!

Mama!  You need to be secured in your floatie since you're still sick and Mac is driving!

 

 

 

 

 

Stop trying to make me smile, can't you see I'm focusing on being a grump today?

Hand me the keys!  I'm getting us outta here!

Where to, Matey?

I think here is just fine!

Vampire Pumpkins! Pinterest-Inspired

Hey friends!  I just finished a guest post on my good friend's new blog:  Pintrest Made Me Do It.  I seriously LOVE that blog name, and am so envious that I am not THAT skilled with my blog naming talents. 

Anyway, please check the blog out if only for the name .  If not, then would the fact that my post is saturated in pictures of Diego and fuzzy Qori work?  Come on be sweet as pumpkin pie and give her a click.....  :)

Still getting over my cold - Shirley

Project Four-Zero: 31 Weeks!

This week was tough just like getting this picture taken.  I knew I had a very brief moment of cooperation from Diego to get this photo right before he would unleash his fury.  I tried to get everything ready and even set my camera to continuous shoot so all my mom would have to do was press the button and snap away.  As you can see, this was the best shot by my standards (which were pretty low going into this week's photo session).  I still love it though!  Thanks to Pinterest, yet again!

So getting back to the pregnancy, it was basically tough because of the cold/flu that I mentioned in a previous post, so I won't talk about it much in this post.  Instead I'll focus on my ultrasound this week, which found that my 31-week old baby is measuring in at a 33-34 week old's measurements.  Due to the low inhibin found in an older blood test, the concern was that he may not be growing as big as he should, but he sure proved them wrong!

So what does Shirley decide to stress about when there's good news?  Look, there!  Lurking in the shadows!  It's my old enemy: gestational diabetes.  Although I'm supposedly cured, it's still something we're keeping an eye on.  GD babies tend to be born bigger, so I can't wait to see what my doctor says at my next appointment about the new ultrasound results (I'm being sarcastic if you can't tell).  Right now it feels like this last ultrasound was a lose/lose situation.

SYMPTOMS:

Slightly itchy belly skin due to the stretching

CRAVINGS:

Junk food, aka: McDonald's Big Mac Meal (My old tried and true!)

Zombie Mom

Diego sick a few weeks back.  No pics of me sick.  You DON'T want to see that!

So these past few days I've been sick as a dog.  If you can help it, don't ever get sick while 7 months pregnant!  Luck was on my side during Diego's pregnancy, and I never experienced the wrath of a cold/flu while pregnant until now.

I tried my best to battle it out without meds, and by Day Two I was caving in.  The advice nurse gave me a small list of acceptable meds including plain old regular Tylenol (not the cold/flu kind), Robitussin DM, and Sudafed.

The main symptoms that I was finding intolerable were the muscular aches that I was experiencing, mostly on my jaw (as if I had been clenching my teeth the entire night) and pain extending down my arm to the palm of my right hand only (as if the chest pain was somehow seeping down my one arm).  If I could just get rid of those two pains, I would be able to ride the rest through.  So reluctantly, I took the Tylenol.  It did relieve me some, but I continued to battle as the sickness festered. My reluctance to meds mostly stems from my miscarriage before this pregnancy and our difficulty to conceive before Diego. 

Things got so bad that by Friday, I needed to call in sick from work.  Knowing full well that construction would not stop at my house, somehow in the early morning I found the energy to pack some stuff and take Diego, Qori, and my sick booty to my Dad's house.  Here's a peek into how persistent I am:  with any off-chance that I would miraculously recuperate while at my dad's house, I packed a few personal things in addition to Diego's things so that I could be "productive" while there:

• My Macbook
• My SD cards in case I wanted to edit photos or video
• My camera
• All my power cords and chargers
• My makeup -- I knew I needed to go to the store at some point for Halloween project stuff
• And of course my phone

Um, yeah... you can safely assume that I used NONE of those things (except the phone for a few Facebook status updates here and there), as I spent the entire day in agony instead.   The sickness lasted through the weekend and still some today, but I'm able to be at work now.

Somehow I still managed to be very productive this weekend by almost finishing my Halloween costume, finishing Diego's costume, carving a few easy Pinterest-inspired pumpkins with Diego, and I even went on a little family boating adventure-- all of which you will be seeing in future posts.

I'm really amazed that the list is so long.  I must have looked like a zombie through all of it because that's how I felt.  And no, I'm not planning on being a zombie for Halloween!

XOXOXO Zombie mom - Shirley