The Official New Mom Thread Part 2

[floridafam]

Mommies,

I need a favor. If any of you are out Christmas shopping and happen to see any of the Teletubbies stuff-plush or playset, etc. will you pick it up for me and I will pay you plus pay for shipping.

Kona is obesessed and I haven't really been able to find anything at all besides 2 little things on ebay. I'm nervous about ordering plus off ebay.

I saw ac couple of the plush characters at Walmart a few months ago and didn't buy them because I'm an idiot.

Thanks!

 

[Hillbeans]

Hi Ladies,

I'm just going to update very quickly today - i'm so busy at work (worked an 11.5 hour day yesterday) and Liam has Pink eye so DH is home with him today.

The wedding this past weekend was fun, but it was a 2 day wedding (Friday and Sunday) so i'm still trying to recover.

I need to report my good news though - i've been checking for airfare every morning for our trip this coming March/April and couldn't find anything under $400 out of Newark per person. I found airfare this morning from Newark - Tampa for $99 each way from Sat March 31 - Sat April 7th on JetBlue! I'm so excited!!!! I don't mind the hour drive from Tampa and I figure Loretta can give me good directions.

Well, i'd better go and get my work done so i'm not here another 11.5 hour day today also, but it appears to be heading in that direction. I don't know if i've ever told anyone on here what I do but I supervise a group of Human Resources/Payroll staff for a large corporation. It's kind of a lot of pressure and sometimes (like today) i'm not paid nearly enough for all of the grief.

I hope to catch up with everyone at the end of the week.

 

[Alice28]

Mommies,

I need a favor. If any of you are out Christmas shopping and happen to see any of the Teletubbies stuff-plush or playset, etc. will you pick it up for me and I will pay you plus pay for shipping.

Kona is obesessed and I haven't really been able to find anything at all besides 2 little things on ebay. I'm nervous about ordering plus off ebay.

I saw ac couple of the plush characters at Walmart a few months ago and didn't buy them because I'm an idiot.

Thanks!

I will look! You know who often has random stuff like that- Kmart! Do you have any left by you? I will look today after I drop Josh off to kinder.

Once upon a time Sam had the Dipsy and LaLa, but they went to Goodwill long ago. Too bad....he was OBSESSED with that show too! He's embarrassed when we bring it up these days.

 

[DisKim]

FF - Hmm...I haven't seen any Teletubbies stuff in the stores in recent years. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for some!

Zalansky - I'm glad nothing serious was wrong with your car. What a relief.

Jill - Way to go on getting your paper done . That's the best feeling. DH's semester ends Friday. I have no idea when he is planning of finishing up his work since he's so busy. When are you going to be finished with school?

Hillbeans - I hope Liam's pinkeye clears up. That's an awesome deal on the airfare.

Speaking of airfare, can you ladies let me know if you see any good deals for Philadelphia, Newark or Atlantic City to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami for May? I need a good deal to fly all 5 of us out to this wedding in Key Largo. I'm guessing that there is nothing out for May just yet.

Tamie - I think etoys has free shipping on certain toys. I learned to google the site I'm buying from and the coupon codes come up. I learned that trick from the budget board.

Robin - Oh, I know the "car seat buck" all too well. Aidan does it every morning.

Gems - I hope the itching gets better. That would drive me nuts!

My parent conference was cancelled today. I have a meeting with my supervisor about creating new AP classes. I have no idea how this could possibly work since our classes are all around 30 students already. How are we supposed to add new classes without a new teacher? Ah, who am I to question these things?

Well, speaking of the meeting. I have to get my behind there in a few minutes. Bye!

 

[floridafam]

Robin,

Thanks. I doubt I'll find anything other than on ebay but you never know.

I'll be back later to get caught up with everyone.

 

[lissawynn]

The crazy mother is coming in tomorrow at 7:30 to meet with my principal and see her son's test paper. I'll be finding out what comes from the meeting after it's over.

Now all I have to do is keep calm until then.

 

[floridafam]

lissawynn,

What the heck is she expecting to see on his paper? Why can't she just deal with it? UGH. I would hate to have to deal with people like that.

 

[nucpharm29]

ff--have you tried stores like Big Lots or Tuesday Morning. They get a lot of closeout and older model toys--usually pretty cheap! I'll keep my eye out for you!

hillbeans--Score on the airfare. How I wish we could use Jet Blue--but hey, at least here we can use SW--where as in Wisconsin we couldn't! Really easy to get to Orlando from Tampa--the traffic and construction were the only cons! Hope the pink eye clears up!

alice--that pumpkin bread was soooo nice this am with a cup of coffee--was thinking about you!

lissawyn--great to hear that the house is moving right a long!

z--glad that the car was taken care of quickly for you. DH took the van last night to see if he could hear the noise I did--no such luck! Maybe it was just a fluke!

jill--congrats on your semester being over! Must feel great!

Well, I better go! Babysitting again today, but hte baby is asleep--so I had a moment to check in! Will chat later tonight since DH is still on nights--someone asked, he'll be on nights until the 15th (I think).

Ugh, did I tell you that now we are leaving the IL's on the 21st? It keeps getting earlier and earlier! There has been some recent drama involving my FIL and his GF again--the jist of it was he told his daughter (DH's only sister) that she wasn't welcome in his house until she appologized to his GF for not inviting her to a wedding shower back in April(she was told not to invite her b/c she wouldn't come)! WTH?? Talk about High School--anyway, all the brothers (including DH) told FIL that they were going to boycott xmas at his house unless this was resolved. FIL thought they were threatening him, but eventually he appologized. Still won't make xmas any easier. DBIL summed it up--FIL's GF is an emotional crazy person! No joke! At least xmas at MIL's should be somewhat normal. Okay, so really going now!

 

[J&D]

If any of you are out Christmas shopping and happen to see any of the Teletubbies stuff-plush or playset, etc. will you pick it up for me and I will pay you plus pay for shipping.

You are in luck. I have a NWT stuffed Dipsy. I bought it to give to my nephew for Christmas, but I found out at Thanksgiving that he doesn't like them anymore.

 

[Alice28]

J&D saved the day! That's awesome! I looked at Kmart and I saw nothing. I'm trying to remember where I saw the toys because I know it was in the last 6 weeks and I thought, "Oh, I didn't know they still made Teletubbies toys." I wonder if PBS has a website you can buy products from? Maybe they would have some other stuff. Maybe it was a Walmart?

Hillbeans- SCORE on the airfare! I was so thrilled to get our SWA airfare for under $100 each way too- it's a great feeling to stay under budget at least in one area of a WDW trip! It does sound like you have quite a stressful job- hugs to you that you can get through today and the rest of this week!

nuc- don't you love holiday family drama? Like I said, MIL will be here Christmas week and I have a feeling emotions will be running high, as FIL passed away on 12/29, 5 years ago.She tends to like to argue with DH when she's stressed out, so I get the lucky position to listen to it all. Luckily in recent years, DH has matured and just doesn't argue back as much anymore. He'll just go upstairs and say, "Goodnight Mom, I think we're done for the day." and she has no choice but to go back to the hotel.

tamie- hope the phone guys arrives soon!

lissawynn- pixie dust for patience/calmness for you; I would be wanting to hunt that mother down and give her a piece of my mind! What a loon.

Kim- I hope the $$ your DH is due comes very soon! I hate anxiety over money more than anything.

Hey, I called today to the WL to ask for bunkbed rooms again, as it wasn't on our form we rec'd yesterday from WDW travel. I guess standard rooms no longer can get bunkbeds! I guess we're too lowly to ask for something that's so in demand. I'm NOT paying another $20-30 a night so my kids can have the bunkbeds, as we are already paying $350+! I guess that's why you were seeing those rates, Justine, when you were looking. I'm mostly disappointed because I figured by having the bunkbeds instead of 2 queens, it would give us a little more room to set up the pack n play for Molly. As I recall, the rooms at the WL aren't huge. The boys have bunkbeds at home, so it's not like it's a novelty for them, but still, I get frustrated when Disney nickel and dimes every single little thing! Come on already!

Molly is driving me crazy with her eating habits lately. It's kind of the opposite of most babies- she will gladly eat just about any meat put in front of her, but she is refusing produce! She will put it in her mouth, chew it, and then spit it out. I'm trying everything, and the only thing she will swallow is watermelon, which is kind of gross and out of season right now. But her BMs are normal and not hard, so I guess she's getting enough fiber somehow! I also need some pixie dust, as I need to put her down for her nap about an hour early today as Sam has a 3:30 dental appt and I couldn't get a sitter for Molly. So I need her to nap from about 12:30 or so to 3 so she won't be a little bear while Sam is getting his teeth cleaned.

 

[llij]

Good afternoon ladies!

Lissawynn – Holy Moly that mother sure does have a screw loose! I’m glad that your principal has intervened and has taken it to the superintendent. Some people really need to relax a bit…..ay yi yi!

J&D – Way to go on the Teletubbie for Floridafam!! You are awesome!

Floridafam – I’ll keep an eye open for some of the Teletubbie playsets for you. Meagan was crazy for Teletubbies when she was little.

Hillbeans – That is wonderful news on the airfare!! Congrats!

Tamie – I thought I saw that TRU has free shipping on some items. I could be wrong though. Good luck with your shopping!

Robin – I’ve got you covered for the calendar. Oh and we are going to drive to WDW instead of flying this time. Wish me luck as this is going to be one looooong car ride! Seven of us in our minivan! BTW, your MIL and mine sound a lot alike.

Zalansky – Glad to hear that the car wasn’t a big repair! How is Cam feeling today? John had a case of the barfs right before Thanksgiving (while I was in class) and I felt so awful that my mom and dh had to deal with it. I hope she is feeling better soon!

Gems – I’d love to pick up an antenna topper for you. Any special kind? I’m glad that your doctor diagnosed what is going on. Restless leg syndrome is such a pain though. I hope you get relief soon.

DisKim – I have two more classes next semester and then I student teach in the fall. I will be done after that! I can’t wait! I started this program in 2003 and was supposed to be finished by now, but I took the year off when I was pregnant with John. Good luck with your conference today. Will they want you to teach the new AP classes?

Nucpharm – Good luck with your FIL. Sometimes family can be quite interesting! I hope that you all have a quiet Christmas at his house.

Well, I better go make dinner for everyone before I have to leave for class. I did manage to get to the mall this morning with John. I was hoping that he could meet Santa but the line for Santa was a mile long. Alas, it will have to wait for another day. Maybe John can meet Santa when we go down to Florida.

Everyone have a great afternoon!

 

[tkyes]

We finally have our phone back! I guess some how some of our calls were being routed to another city. whatever!

That's so great that J&D has what FF is looking for! The moms board is so great!!

hillbeans - Sorry about your super long workday, yikes! And the pinkeye, no fun! I hope you get out of there sooner today. Congrats on the airfare.

lissawynn - Seriously? What does that mom think she is going to accomplish by coming down to the school?

alice - I hope you were able to get Molly down for an earlier nap.

nucpharm - We just had some family drama break out this weekend over a holiday party too. It's so childish! My mom's cousin called her to say she wouldn't be coming and doesn't feel welcome in my mom's house because my mom's sister isn't nice to her. I guess the cousin showed off a picture of her Grandson 2 years ago and my aunt didn't look at it. The cousin is still hurt by that.

Now, what to do with the rest of my free time???

Tamie

 

[floridafam]

Mommies,

There is a thread on the budget board about a great price on the Oliver Stone movie collection. I've never really seen any of his movies but if you know someone who likes them this might be a good Christmas present.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1292642

 

[zalansky]

Robin - You've probably addressed this previously but my memory is non-existent, but did you look into renting points at WL instead of satying in a the hotel? The weekday points run 30 points a night for a one bedroom which would be less than a regular room of you paid $10 per point. I am thinking you may be staying at WL over a weekend so that would negate the savings because the point cost would be too high for the weekend....I am just thinking out loud.

Lissa - I cannot believe that mother! I can't wait to see what the outsome is of her ridiculous visit to the school.

 

[floridafam]

Robin,

You are paying almost $350 a night for a standard room??? We usually pay around that for a concierge room with the FL resident rate.

Did they have any discounts available??

 

[Alice28]

Nope, no discounts. It's because it's Peak season. Or holiday- whatever it's called, it's the highest season along with Christmas. I know, it's crazy. We are actually only kicking in $100 a night (SOG room rate); my parents are giving us the other $250 so we can stay there half the trip. There is a AAA discount, which is so small, it comes out the same to either do room separately, but then no dining plan; or pay for room thru Disney travel and get the dining plan, which would save us about $150-200 on food costs.

If I do the SOG overflow rate, which is not guaranteed, we can't do the dining plan, but it may be better than the dining plan.

ETA- looked at SOG website. They still have tons of rooms for our WL time, so no overflow rate. Yet, I take that as a good sign- Shades gets booked up early because it's such a good value. If it still has room, maybe that means the parks won't be as packed as I am anticipating. Fingers crossed!

We just picked an expensive time of year to go. It kills me that sometimes I see the WL at $150 a night during off-season, knowing what we're paying. But, like I said before, this is our last chance to stay at the WL, unless we got a suite or a 2 bdrm. So we're taking it!

 

[lissawynn]

floridafam - I don't know if you have a Value City or Big Lots nearby, but they usually have stuff like that. Last year my mom got Jimmy a Booh-Bah at VC for $10. It's the scary one that makes noises and moves around.

Loretta - Glad your car wasn't anything serious. We've had a new car the last few years (b/c DH is crazy and keeps trading them in), and we're fortunate that we haven't had any problems. I hope Cam is feeling better.

SL - Sorry the Santa pic was a bust. I am worried that Jimmy won't be nearly as willing to sit and smile for a picture like he did last year. Btw, one of our malls that just got a Macy's (they replaced Kaufman's) has the same deal where men's stuff and housewares are in one store and the women's stuff is in a different store.

Jill - I hope these last few classes fly by for you. I don't envy you when the new semester starts again in January.

Tamie - Glad you have your phone back. DH disconnected ours a few days ago when he was working on the back of the house. He never told me and my family was calling my cell in a panic as to where we were.

Alice - Add Jimmy to the list of crazy non-eaters. He has never been a huge fan of meat, unless it came in the shape of a hotdog or chicken nugget. These days he wants nothing to do with "normal" food. He's sitting on the floor right now and is eating Apple Jacks and drinking milk. I keep telling DH (b/c he's the nervous Nellie) that kids this age go through phases like this and not to get worked up.

nucpharm - I so wish families could set aside the drama for the holidays. Things aren't stressful enough without having to deal with nonsense from relatives.

DisKim - How did your meeting go? The latest drama at our school is the fact that ALL teachers are going to have to include some kind of writing in their plans once a month or so. Our PSSA writing scores were low and we need to get everyone involved so we can raise the scores. There are several older teachers who are all but refusing to do this. I guess the dept. head meeting didn't go well yesterday. The principal basically told them they were all college educated and they could manage to grade one paragraph at least once a month.

Hillbeans - Don't let work stress you out too much. This is coming from the woman who is frantically popping MnMs while typing. Glad you got your airfare.

fab - Sorry you didn't get much sleep last night. I am not looking forward to those sleep deprived days again.

dizagain - I would love to be sitting and watching the skaters at RC.

GLT - I would seriously kneecap your XDH and this woman. That's just me, though. Remember, I'm not a nice teacher and I discriminate against middle schoolers and treat them with "disdain" (I think that was one of the words crazy mom used). I hope you keep getting mysterious packages of Christmas goodies. I hope you and your brother can have a good visit.
I think the best gift you can give to all of us is being healthy and happy and having a wonderful home in which you can raise your kids. It sounds like you're on your way there.

Gems - I agree that Aveeno products work wonders on itchy skin. I hope you're not in too much discomfort. I am right there with you as far as being ready to have this baby. I feel like the biggest woman on the planet.

Many of you have wondered what crazy mom hopes to accomplish by meeting with the principal tomorrow morning.I, myself, am wondering the same thing. Here's what I think. Her son tanked the test because he is lazy and didn't want to participate in anything that would add to his already heavy load (that's my sarcastic voice, btw). Instead of being honest with crazy mom, he most likely told her that I don't like him and somehow managed to screw him over. Mom, being the crazy person she is, ran with the idea that her son was wronged and is going to make the mean, nasty teacher pay for what's been done to the poor boy. I think she's under the impression that I somehow managed to give him a different/harder version of the test or manipulated his score. Like I've said before, I may not be the nicest teacher on the planet, but who likes the person who doesn't put up with $hit? I would NEVER compromise my professional integrity or the integrity of this competition (which I am very proud to be a part of each year), especially for this whiney slacker of a student.
This afternoon when my principal came to tell me to avoid the office tomorrow morning, I asked her what she thinks this woman is going to get out of this. Her response was nothing. She's not going to get anywhere. The principal is on my side and knows I did nothing wrong.
Here's where I get really pi$$ed off. If this woman goes to a school board meeting and is allowed to publicly rant and rave about me and make all kinds of accusations, no one can take back what she's said. It's out there for anyone present to hear and do with what they want. I don't want other people to feed into or believe what she's said.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox until after I find out what happens at the meeting.

 

[Ginamarie]

Sorry everyone’s week has had a bad start!

Gems- I’m glad the leg issue wasn’t something serious!

Lissawynn- I hope the meeting with the crazy parent goes well. Some people are insane when it comes to their kids. Like you have nothing better to do than pick out a bunch of kids and sabotage them.

Poor Livvie! I think the teething is in full force. She wasn’t interested in her dinner at all. She just nursed and fell asleep on me instead. Sorry I don’t have more time to catch up with everyone, but I’m thinking of you all!!

 

[floridafam]

lissawynn,

I hope the meeting goes well. Sorry you have to go through that.


J&D,

I sent you a PM. I haven't been many places to look for them. Kona hasn't been up to going out so we've been in the house all day.

Robin,

I looked on PBS.com and all they had were DVDs.

Tamie,

I'm glad your phone is fixed. We are waiting for them to launch phone service here. I can't wait to cancel my BellSouth-it's close to $100 every month. From what I hear, we'll be able to get the phone service from Comcast for 1/2 price because DH works there. I guess it's been problematic in some places.


zalansky,

Sorry to hear that Cam was sick. I'm glad there was nothing seriously wrong with your car.

nucpharm,

Sorry about the family issues.

jill,

I'm glad you are done with your classes for the most part. Have fun preparing for Disney.

 

[DisKim]

lissawynn - That mother sounds insane. You sound dead on as far as what you think happened. That kid is selling you down the river because he is scared of mom. I've had that happen to me before. I can't believe teachers are upset about having to grade one piece of writing a month. I have to grade 10 essays a marking period for my 9 Honors class. It's nice that your principal supports you. Ours NEVER supports the teachers. He's always right up the parents' behinds and sells us out. He's such a little creep.

I'm getting annoyed because I haven't been observed yet this year. I would like to think that the administration would like to see what goes on in my classroom. I've done all kinds of new things this year and none of them takes interest in any of it. I don't do it for them, but for the kids, but I'd still like some recognition. I guess it's because I'm not blonde, leggy and 25 like the rest of the teachers. OK, I'm off my soapbox now.

We are having parent conferences on Thursday night. Have any of you ever heard of such a thing in a high school. I have a feeling that there are going to be several verbal attacks on teachers since first marking period grades just came out. It's just the way I want to spend my entire evening.

Well, Emmy is waiting to play a Hannah Montana game so I must go...