Blawnde's Blawg

6 Months

2012-02-10T07:30:00.001-06:00

How in the world are you 6 months oldalready?? Your daddy and I were talkingthe other day how up until this point you still sounded like such a baby whenwe would say how old you were, but now…now that you have hit 6 months it soundsso much older and we are on the downhill slope to your first birthday!! Just when we think you can’t get any moreprecious to us, you flash that gummy smile of yours and just melt our hearts. Last weekend you learned the “mmm” sound andit really sounds like you are trying to say “mama.” That is music to my ears my sweet Chloe! And even though you have no idea what you aresaying or that you are referring to me, I hope “dada” will follow soon behind. He loves you so much and I know it will meanthe world to him when you really start to call out to him. You have given us so much purpose in lifenow. Someone said it best that you arenever hit so hard with love as the day you bring a child into this world. That is so true. And you have our hearts completely.

Sleep: You have been very consistent with your sleep this last month. Besides one night when you had a cold and wereincredibly stuffy so I made you sleep in the bassinet in our room, you aredoing really well sleeping in your crib in your own room at night. Sometimes we have to go in within a fewminutes of putting you down to put the pacifier back in your mouth, but if youare pretty sleepy you are out immediately. We’ve learned if you wake up during the nightto let you try and go back to sleep on your own rather than running in thereright away. Usually you can soothe yourselfback to sleep within a few minutes. Youare down for the night between 9:30 and 10 and sleep until around 9 the nextmorning. We have gotten better with napstoo and you take between 2 and 3 a day. Swaddling is still key. Again if you are pretty sleepy we might beable to get away with not swaddling you, but it’s best to just do it from thebeginning so you don’t wake up in the middle of the night or early in themorning upset. And you love talking toyourself when you wake up! There is alittle green power light on your monitor camera that you love to look at. It’s like you know we are watching you on theother end and you’ll just stare up at the light (which makes it look like youare looking directly into the camera) and talk away.

Daily Routine: We’ve got this thing pretty well down now, it’s onlytaken 6 months. You normally wake uparound 9 am whether it’s a day you are going to the sitter or staying home withdaddy. You eat, and then either getready for the sitter, or hang out with dad. You still go down for a nap within the firsttwo hours of waking up, and if you don’t, we pay for it later in the day. That’s where swaddling is key…your daddy is asofty and if you fuss when he puts you down he normally goes and picks you backup or he doesn’t swaddle you. But wejust have to stand our ground and then you will fall asleep and take at leastan hour nap, if not two hours. How areyou still sleepy so soon after waking up for the day, my child?? Then it’s time to get up again, eat, play,change a couple diapers, play some more, and then go back down for a nap. If the morning nap wasn’t long this oneusually is. By this point I either pickyou up from the sitter after the 3^rd bottle of the day, or I gethome about the time you wake up. We playsome more, eat, take a bath, go down for a quick cat nap, up again to eat andrelax for the evening and then put you to bed.

Feed: Formula feeding has been pretty consistent this month as well.Your first and last bottle of the day are 7 ounces and the other 3 are usually6 ounces. It’s so cute watching youwatch us as we prepare your bottle. IfI’m holding you, you stare at the formula as I pour it into your bottle like “don’tskimp, mom!” and I count the scoops out loud so you know I don’t. Ha! I feel like the Count from Sesame Street. Thenif the bottle gets anywhere close to you, you grab for it. Even if I haven’t shaken it up yet, you stillwant to hold it. If we aren’t holdingyou while we prepare your bottle, as soon as we hold it up so you can see it,you reach out for it. You also hold thebottle now while you are eating. It’sstill a bit hard for you to manage when it’s full, but as you drink more youcan hold it. And sometimes you hold itstraight up in the air upside down which is pretty funny to watch. We introduced solids this month. I made you carrots and sweet potatoes, and wealso tried avocados. You did not likeavocados but seemed to like sweet potatoes. Then grandpa bought you a big variety pack ofbaby food from Sa.m’s and you love peaches and apples! We’ve also tried carrots out of that pack andyou like those too. The first few triesof the homemade food you choked but now you seem to be a pro. We try to give you a solid food once everynight and daddy seems to be getting in a habit of giving you some in themornings too.

Weight: will update after doctor’s appointment next Tuesday

Length: will update after doctor’s appointment next Tuesday

Diaper Size: Size 2 diaper

Clothes Size: We finally have had to put away some of your 3 monthpants. 3 month shirts are usually ok assuming the neck is big enough. Last night I went through your bin of clothesand pulled out a bunch of 6 month clothes. In my head I can’t believe that you are readyfor them, and I think they will be big for a while, but you are kind of in thisin between stage where 3 month clothes are a little too tight, but 6 monthclothes are a little too big.

Hair Color:
At birth: blonde
24 weeks: Still blonde. Even that darkpatch of hair on the back of your head has really lightened up. Your hair is getting thicker all around, butyou still have a thin, mostly bald spot on the back.

Eye color:
At birth: blue/gray
24 weeks: bright blue (really hoping they stick!)

Funniest moment: Well the “piss crystals” post sure ranks up there withfunniest moments this month. You’ve alsostarted rocking back and forth and it cracks us up. Whether you are in your jumperoo, in our arms,or sitting on our laps, you’ll just start rocking out of nowhere and get thebiggest grin.

Milestone: Your motor skills are really improving. You really reach for things now, like yourbottle I mentioned earlier, and you also reach for us. If you are laying down or sitting in your jumperoo,we’ll hold our hands out to pick you up and you will lift your arms. You lookat people when they talk to you or if you hear something, you will turn yourhead right towards the noise. You havefigured out how to sit up on your own, although it doesn’t last too long. Your new thing is to rock back and forth andyou think it’s so funny. One day you were in your jumperoo and your pacifierwas resting on the outside platform. Yousaw it, picked it up, and put it straight in your mouth! You seemed like such a big girl knowingexactly what to do. I just rememberlooking at you and thinking “you didn’t just have that, where did you get itfrom?” Since we have introduced solidfoods, you are sitting in your high chair to eat many times. Your new favoritething is to say “mmm” or “amam.” Stillno teeth but the drooling is constant.

Your favorite toy: You still love the jumperoo,but we have added a crinkle book to your assortment of toys and you like ittoo. The noise seems to captivate you,there is a mirror so you can see yourself, and of course after a few secondsthe toy ends up in your mouth. The dogshave become a favorite too. You aremesmerized by them. Always watching themand when they get close enough you reach out for them. You still like to hold mommy and daddy’s hands,or grab our necks, or mouths, or noses.

Firsts:

Firsttime sitting up on your own

Firsttime sleeping through the night in your crib not swaddled (very rare occasion)

Firsttime eating solids

You love sticking your tongue out

And here you are arching your back, again trying to roll over

Love those gorgeous blue eyes!

Saying "mmmm"

When we sat you in the glider, you realized you could make it move. It was so funny to watch you rocking yourself.

Ya Got Me!

2012-02-07T08:23:00.001-06:00

Gotta keep this fun survey going, right? I was tagged by Sean - thanks dude! I've seen a few different sets of rules, but I'll go with these and just make it work. :)

1 - Post the rules
2 - Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you.

3 - Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.
4 - Tag people and link them to your post.
5 - Let them know that you tagged them.

Her questions for me:

What movies could you watch over and over and still love? Grown-Ups, KnockedUp, UP – we watch a ton of movies, but not usually more than once
Last person you kissed? My sweet girl, Chloe
When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? About six monthsago. I wrote a letter to my daughterbefore she was born.
Ever gotten a speeding ticket? Yes,unfortunately. But it’s been a fewyears. My husband on the other hand hasn’tbeen so lucky.
What is your Chinese astrological sign? The Rat
Do you believe in ghosts? Hmm, not sure aboutthis one. I believe in signs that you’reloved ones are around you. Does that count?
In God? Yes, but I’m not avery religious person. I only go tochurch on major holidays, but I do want to find a new church soon so Chloegrows up learning about God.
Can you knit or crochet? No, but I reallywant to learn how!
Do you miss anyone right now? My mom, terribly.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be? I would love to livenear a beach, probably in the gulf somewhere.
If you could live in any era of time, what would you choose? Honestly I think itwould be fun to live in the 30’s, 40’s – not too terribly long ago but lifeseemed so much simpler back then.

My questions for you:

What is yourfavorite thing about blogging?
What is one thingthat makes you unique?
Have you lostsomeone close to you?
Were you named afteranyone?
Tell us about an embarrassingmoment.
What did you want tobe when you grew up, and did you accomplish it?
Why did you startyour blog?
What chore do youabsolutely hate doing?
What celebrity doyou think you look like?
What songs areincluded on the soundtrack of your life?
What story does yourfamily always tell about you?

The lucky bloggers I'm tagging:

Jenn at Hollands on the Hill
Kelly at Candid Confessions of a Southern Princess
Heather at The Road Less Traveled
Stacey at Three G's in a Pod
Kayln at The Kasun Family
Bridget at The Lost Stork
Sarah at Our Journey

A-M-A-M

2012-02-05T08:54:00.002-06:00

My daughter is on the verge of saying mama! She just has the letters mixed up a little bit. Instead of saying M-A-M-A, it comes out sounding like A-M-A-M. She just started doing this yesterday and it's crazy to hear her actually making sounds other than oohs and aahs. I have no idea how she picked it up, but it's like now that she knows she can make this new sound, that's all she wants to do. She did it all afternoon/night. It's the cutest thing!

And just to throw this in there, (I was a cheerleader for almost 10 years) I posted this picture on FB yesterday with the following caption: "Cheerleader in the making. I may or may not have taught her some cheers already...Go Jay.hawks!" Even though they lost, she was sure cute sporting her KU shirt!

All Clear!

2012-02-03T13:21:00.002-06:00

Yay! I was pretty sure that’s what I would heartoday at my appointment, but ya never know. I got there at 11, was called right back and asked to strip from thewaist up. Now that’s a change from whatI’m used to, ha! I felt like I was at aspa though, I was given a locker for my clothes, a nice white robe, and theoffice itself was very nice. The nursesaid she was going to talk to the radiologist first to see if he wanted to do amammogram. I was a bit confused sincethat’s the only reason I was there, but she said since I’m so young that thetissue can be pretty dense and hard to see anything with the mammogram and thatthey might just go straight to an ultrasound. She came back and let me know that we would be doing both teststoday. So she and I went in this smallroom, and did the screening. If you’venever had one done, they really aren’t bad. They aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world, and you have tostand funny sometimes just to get the right angle, but you are only in thatposition for a minute or less and then you reposition for the next image. She did six images total, three on eachside.

Then I had to wait a littlewhile for the ultrasound, there was someone ahead of me. When it was my turn, I went into that roomand was introduced to the tech and her trainee. What’s with me getting trainees at ultrasound appointments? (I had several at one of my REappointments). The tech did the wholething so I’m sure it took longer than normal. I couldn’t see anything on the screen though because it was behind myhead. I think it’s funny, this is now mythird type of ultrasound. They keepgoing further and further north. Firstthe internal, then the abdomen, and now the breast. Again the two techs said they couldn’t seeanything, but the radiologist needed to look the images over and he would cometalk to me.

After a few minutes the techsand the doc were in the room. He and hiswife have a 3 week old baby at home so we discussed life with newborns a bit,then he went on to ~~grope~~ examine me. I’venever had a male doctor, and as weird as I thought it would be, it really wasn’t. He too said he couldn’t feel anythingabnormal and showed me the monitor and pointed different things out to me. Basically that’s it. No follow up other than to my normal doctorto make sure they were satisfied with the screenings. And I’m glad to know that I have my baselinemammogram done now. Maybe now my dadwill get off my back about getting it done. The doc did ask if I wanted to fill out some paperwork since I wasconsidered at high risk for developing breast cancer – it had something to dowith high risk cases, people analyzing the data, and then providingrecommendations on further testing. Iwas fine with that, so we’ll see if they contact me in the future.

Onto even better news…I’m goingon a date tonight! With my husband! And no baby! My one and only cousin that lives somewhat close to me gave JJ and I anAMC gift card for Christmas along with a “coupon” good for a night ofbabysitting when we went to see a movie. After all the craziness we’ve had the last few weeks I thought it was agood time to take her up on it. So I’mmeeting JJ after work and we are going to see Contraband. What’s funny is we never go to movies and Ididn’t realize how hard it would be to find a movie time that was early enoughto get us back home in time to put Chloe to bed. The movie starts at 5:00. We’ll probably be the youngest people there,but maybe that means it will be a less rowdy crowd. Does that make me sound old? Oh, and my poor girl has a cold. We noticed a stuffy nose Wednesday night andyesterday with the sitter she was a little fussy and stuffy. We had her sleep in our room last night justto keep a better eye on her. Iabsolutely hate hearing the gurgly sound of her stuffed up nose. And with her pacifier in her mouth it’s evenworse. She usually hates us using the aspiratorbut last night it was like she almost wanted me to. She’d see it coming and she’d sit real stilland stretch out her neck to give me her nose. Poor baby. :( This just callsfor lots of cuddle time this weekend.

Not again please

2012-02-02T14:12:00.001-06:00

I had my yearly exam at the OB's office yesterday. One of the things I wanted to address with her was me getting a baseline mammogram. Those of you who have followed me for some time, know that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41. That's not ultimately what took her from us, but she was diagnosed at stage 3. I have always remembered her doctor said I should start getting checked at 25. Then when we went to the RE she suggested I get checked too. I never scheduled a test, but had inquired to insurance about whether or not they would cover it with me being so young.

So at my appointment yesterday I filled my doc in on all those details I just mentioned. Her thoughts were that the baseline didn't need to start until 10 years before my mom's diagnosis which would be at 31 for me. But she was fine with me doing it now, then another one at 31, and then yearly from 35 on. I was cool with that.

Then she went to do the breast exam. And almost right away she said she felt a lump and that was reason enough to request the baseline. Just as quickly as she said it, she said she was 99% sure it was just breast tissue, most likely from just having a baby and pumping for a few months. Then she went to the other side and found one almost in the same spot. That to me is a good sign meaning maybe it really is just tissue, but what do I know? After I left there I went straight downstairs and gave the Breast Care Clinic my orders for a mammogram. I knew I needed to have one done soon, and even asked for it, but now that's it here I have to admit I'm a little nervous. And it just brings back those emotions from when my mom was diagnosed and what all she went through. The clinic called and got me pre-registered today so when I go for my appointment tomorrow at 11 I should be in and out in less than an hour and a half. They are looking at both sides though which takes a little longer. So here's to hoping, crossing my fingers, praying, wishing, whatever I can do that everything checks out just fine so we don't have to go through this again.

Piss Crystals

2012-02-01T10:52:00.000-06:00

A little back story, my dad gave us an opened package of diapers that Nina's grandson has already grown out of. They are Huggies size 1-2. We normally use Pampers size 2. I figured we might as well use them up so I'll put them on Chloe when I know it will be a short time before changing her again. She usually does fine.

I just got a text from JJ with this picture and this caption:

"When I changed Chloe this morning this is what her diaper looked like. It's split open in the front. I'm burning these diapers so you can't use them anymore."

In my defense, those are the good Pampers diapers. But I noticed one had a tear in it and just set it aside. When I changed her last night, it was dark, and I must have grabbed the torn diaper by mistake.

I get a second text from JJ saying "those are piss crystals coming out of that tear!"

I am dying laughing! Piss crystals?

(But you gotta love those sweet baby fat rolls.)

Who Am I?

2012-01-31T08:11:00.000-06:00

I struggle sometimes withwho I am. For 18 months I wasinfertile. For 9+ months I waspregnant. And now for (gasp!) almost 6months I have been a mom. And add tothat a daughter, a sister, a wife, a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, anemployee, a teacher, a friend, probably even sometimes an enemy, and the listcould go on. Whew, that’s a lot ofthings to be! The best one by far is amom. I am Chloe’s mom. But I feel as though those 9+ months of beingpregnant never existed. I look at myselfin the mirror and see almost zero sign that I was ever once pregnant. The only thing left is the slightest hint ofthe linea nigra. I had an OB appointmentlast week and I felt so out of place sitting in the waiting room. Like I didn’t belong there because I wasn’tpregnant. Never mind the countlessappointments that I just had with a big belly in tow. Then over the weekend JJ and I took Chloe toBu.yBuyB.aby to get some things. Andagain I felt like I didn’t belong. Likeonly pregnant women were supposed to be in that store. Ridiculous, right? I can’t believe how much I miss beingpregnant. It truly defined who I wantedto be for so long, and just like that it was over. But then I think the goal wasn’t to getpregnant, the goal was to bring home a healthy baby. And we did that. So why am I struggling seeing myself as amom? I guess because I’ve only beendoing it for a few months? Maybe it’sbecause I don’t get the attention that I did when I had a big belly? People who don’t know me have no clue that Ihave a new baby at home. They just seeme as a “normal person.” And what’s sowrong with that? I think back so oftento those final days being pregnant, and how everything just fell intoplace. But again, keeping the eye on theprize, we brought Chloe home. I need tobe here in the now for her. What we wentthrough shaped our lives today but it doesn’t define us anymore. So who am I? I’m Chloe’s mom. The end.:)

Well We Did It

2012-01-28T10:32:00.001-06:00

We took Chloe to the bar with us last night. Car seat, diaper bag, and all. I'm sure we were a sight walking in the door. We decided to get there early, about 8:15. Surprisingly the bar wasn't too crowded. Our friends were already there so we joined them at a table. The band was there setting up and we got to talk to my friend as he was walking in the door. I had posted on his wall on FB asking "can we sneak a 5 month old into the bar to come see your last show" so I think he was pretty surprised that we actually showed up.

It was fairly loud in there just with everyone talking and the music playing overhead. We were sure by the time the band started to play we'd have to leave. The friend that we were with DJ's with the band and he had a decibel meter app on his phone. He and JJ started Goo.gling how many decibels is too loud for a baby. The consensus was between 85 and 90. The noise was already at that level. I think JJ was more worried about watching that damn decibel meter all night, but that's ok - he's just looking out for his little girl. :)

I text my dad asking if he was in KC for the night. He replied back no and asked if I needed something. I told him about the band playing for the last time and he said give us an hour, save two seats, and we'll be there. I had no idea they'd actually drive up to the city for the show. I felt bad that we may not be able to see them since we hadn't planned on staying that late, but they were fine hanging out with our friends instead.

Once the band started warming up, the drums alone were enough to make us pack up and leave. I forgot how loud the music gets! Even though we had to leave before we heard a song, I'm glad we got out. It was nice to see our friends for the short time we were there. And we waited out in the car to see my dad and Nina before they went in. My dad sent me a text this morning thanking him for the invite and said they didn't get home until 2 am. And here JJ and I were home by 10! Ha! Role reversal, much?

Can I Be That Mom?

2012-01-27T12:10:00.001-06:00

At just a few weeks old, Chloe experienced her first trip to a bar. But if you remember, in my defense it was a restaurant/bar and it was at 6:30 pm on a Wednesday evening. We went for a friends going away party. But tonight, tonight might be a different story. One of my good friends is in a band. He has gotten more and more popular over the years playing at various venues, hell he even played at my wedding reception. He started out with gigs every Friday during the summer months at this particular bar in KC. But as he got more popular, he got away from only playing at this bar. It was our favorite place to watch him though. Over the years some of the venues are quite a drive from our house so we haven't gone as often. And now that we've had Chloe, we haven't seen him once. Well that bar is closing and my friend's band is the very last band to play there before they close. And that show is tonight. I desperately want to go! Can't I just sneak a 5 month old into a bar? No one would have to know, right? All our bars are non smoking now. Does that justify things? How about I will only let her drink out of her bottle of formula, unlike this babe. :)

We need family close so on nights like tonight, we can get out for a few hours...

(Found on Google)

TVT

2012-01-26T08:37:00.001-06:00

I don’t feel like I have muchelse going on right now other than what I’ve been talking about for the lastweek or so, and I'm over all that. So rather than having atotally boring TVT, I figured I would go on Chloe overload and post pictures andvideos that we’ve taken over the last few weeks. All of them are from my phone so the qualityisn’t the best, but it’s just so quick to grab my phone and snap apicture.

I think it's funny what she does with her hands while she eats. This picture was taken a few weeks ago. Now she likes to hold her bottle by herself, usually once it's about half empty.

I love the back of this little head so much. Shannon commented on how her head looks like a pumpkin, and as funny as that sounds, I think she's right!! How cute and rolly (and grown up!!) does she look?

If you couldn't gather from the first picture, yes, Chloe is sitting up on her own now!! Her head looks so big in this picture and her body looks so little.

And to be totally overkill, here is a video too. I love how her eyes are following the bright flash on my phone.

This is how I get to start my mornings off on the weekends. I had already been listening to her talk to herself for about 20 minutes before she had finally had enough. By the time I got in there, she had a few whimpers. Her big smiles and big stretches are just the best.

Last Monday I was off work and the weather was gorgeous, so Chloe and I took a little stroll around the neighborhood. She was stylin in her new shades.

Chloe is becoming best buds with both of our dogs. We'll put her on Sammy's back like she's riding him. She is always staring at the dogs and wanting to pet them. I thought this was cute, even though the flash on my phone is super bright and makes Chloe blink...every time.

Oh I found some more pictures I can post! (I'm at work...working hard...can't you tell? so I'm limited to what pictures I have access to). But I did get the link to my dad's wedding photos. Here are a few of my little family and one with my brother and his girlfriend.

Chloe's face cracks me up in this picture. It's like she's saying "what are you lookin at?

Emotionally Drained

2012-01-23T12:12:00.004-06:00

This past week or so sure hasn’tbeen the best. JJ and I never fight, butwe have been pretty short with each other and it’s all over the stupidrestaurant. I guess the saying “don’t dobusiness with family” is true – I can vouch for that. But all that said, we are in a much betterplace now. I always saw the restaurantcoming to an end at a certain point. JJon the other hand thought possibly this could be our future. He would make it big with the BBQ and quitthe railroad. It’s just not in the cardsfor us though for a variety of reasons. The main one being location. Location in that it is in a very small town out in the middle of nowherewith a population of 800, and also the fact that it’s 180 miles away fromhome. JJ has kind of shut down becausehe feels like a failure. I don’t see itthat way AT ALL!! I am so proud of himfor sticking it out through one of the most demanding years we’ve had, the yearwe brought our daughter into this world. He was away from home 5 days a week for a few months. He was going to school. He was still working at the railroad, albeit notvery often. We had 5 dogs at our housethat I was ~~dealing with~~ complaining about.

I guess he has known for a whilethat we needed to get out from under the restaurant but he just couldn’t bringhimself to finally do it. And now thatwe were finally in a place that we knew we were going to close down, it justgot to both of us more than we thought. We really do like having the restaurant. It’s been a fun adventure, but definitely not a money maker like we hadoriginally intended. But it gives JJsomething to do. He gets bored being athome all day, especially now with a baby so he can’t get out and do things likehe used to. Don’t get me wrong, he lovesbeing home with her, but don’t we all kind of get a little depressed once theweather turns cold and you get cabin fever during the winter months? This allows him to have some interaction withpeople, do something that he loves, and have a sense of accomplishment.

It was also starting to put astrain on the two of us because my dad was caught in the middle. My dad gives us our checks every week and wewere having a hard time coordinating with him to get those. JJ finally put his foot down and said if wedon’t have a check we are not coming out of pocket again to buy supplies. So then we ran the risk of shutting downbecause we were out of supplies which doesn’t look good at all. We met with my dad yesterday 100% convincedwe were going to close in the next few weeks. We left with a different outcome. The restaurant is staying open. We all feel like this is a good move…for now at least. We have come up with a good plan so that wenever have to come out of pocket for supplies again. JJ will also be down there one day less aweek. That will save us money not havingto use the sitter that extra day AND it will save us the gas money. Instead, JJ will cook at home. The plan is for him to go buy all thesupplies on Monday and head down to the restaurant. He will cook all day and prep food. What food he doesn’t get cooked he will bringhome with him to cook later in the week. Since this is our slow time this will totally be manageable. My dad is willing to drive to KC to pick upthe food that JJ cooks at home and take it back to the restaurant. If he’s willing to do that, JJ is more thanwilling to cook at home. And if JJ everneeds to go down to the restaurant during the week other than Monday, my dad’swife is more than happy to watch Chloe because she is out of work rightnow. I was pretty nervous going into ourlittle meeting yesterday, but I know JJ and I were both pleasantly surprisedwith the outcome.

And thanks for your thoughtsabout the personal issue I am going through. I have an old co-worker who I haven’t seen in about 4 years, but I keepup with her on FB. She is getting herPhD in Psychology so I reached out to her last week. We talked on the phone for about 45 minutesand it was good to get her perspective. I also opened up to JJ about it over the weekend and feel so much betterhaving his support as well. I never intendedon keeping it from him, I just needed to process things myself and get a handleon my own feelings before sharing it with him. I’m so ready to put the last week behind us and move forward in apositive way. I think a date night is inorder.

TVT

2012-01-19T16:37:00.001-06:00

I've had some strange dreams about babies since I've had Chloe. In one there was this big open room in a hospital and all these pregnant women were delivering babies. No privacy, just all together in this room. There were even some women under the table with other women above them on the table. Babies were coming out of two different doors leading to the room, and people were carrying them covered with blood. The woman closest to the window where I was standing didn’t have any medicine and it was too painful to watch. I figured since I had just been through it myself, I could watch, but I couldn’t. And the ladies under the tables were laying there with their bloody babies, no help or anything. It was so messed up!!! The other one had a room at the end of the hall in a mall where a woman was having a baby, and again people were watching. So bizarre!
Chloe is doing this thing where she'll put her pacifier in her mouth, or a chew toy, or even your finger in her mouth, grab it, and yank it out of her mouth real hard. She keeps a bite down on it though. It's kind of funny to watch but sometimes it looks like she might hurt herself she does it so hard. Is this her way of dealing with teething? Do other babies do this?
My 91 year old grandma decided she wanted a Wii. Before having her shell out the money for one though, JJ took her ours and set it up for her. I guess she gets bored during the day, which I can imagine, and wants something interactive. I'd love to watch my grandma play Wii bowling!
Last week when I picked Chloe up at the sitter she mentioned that she was doing really well with tummy time and pushing straight up. She said she was trying to start to roll over but she wasn't sure if we had seen her do it yet, so she grabbed her real quick so her first time wouldn't be with the sitter. Isn't that sweet?
The credit card fraud case is still ongoing. Currently we have police departments in two different cities working the case since where my card was initially stolen happened one place, and where the fraudulent charges occurred were another. I'll keep you all updated though with this crazy story.
How many people out there could say they are happy with their sex life? I'm sure a guy's answer might differ from a girls. Especially those that have newborns. The other night JJ said he's just so tired after working at the restaurant and watching Chloe all day he just isn't in the mood at night. Haha, hello??? How do you think I've felt for the last year? It was just so funny hearing it come from a guy. I just struggle to find the "right time." You almost have to force yourself to be in the mood once the baby finally goes down because you know when you actually are in the mood, the baby won't cooperate. Am I alone in this?
Speaking of alone, I am going through something really personal right now and I feel so totally alone. I can't go into details on my blog. I can't go to friends and at this point I don't even want to talk to JJ about it. Suffice it to say I have been put in a horrible position by a close family member and I don't know what to do about it. I have been on the verge of tears for the last few days, and having serious talks about closing the restaurant down hasn't helped. I just hope this feeling goes away soon and everything works itself out. I am just so disappointed in this person, I don't even know what to think.

Him or Me?

2012-01-18T07:41:00.000-06:00

I have always thought Chloe looks like JJ. I came across my mom's purse at the house a few months back and looked at some of my baby pictures. I thought, oh yeah, she looks like me. Then I asked JJ's mom to find some of his baby pictures. She brought them over a few weeks later and it blew me away! Chloe looks just like him as a baby!! I thought it would be fun to compare some pictures of all of us around the same age to see what we all looked like. As I see these pictures now next to each other, I can see a little bit of me in her, but I still think she looks just like JJ. Wasn't he a cute baby? And yes, I was the chubbiest baby ever! My dark hair and dark eyes look nothing like Chloe.

2 months

5 months

Rules To Live By

2012-01-13T07:58:00.000-06:00

This blog post is circulating a little bit among my KC friends on FB. The author is from KC and is known for her funny, negative, sarcastic sense of humor. The title of the post is Rules for Parents of Daughters. I have a few to add to the list...

Teach your daughter that she doesn't have to "marry up" in order to live a lifestyle that she prefers. She can support her own self
Teach your daughter how to be financially responsible and the value of a dollar.
Teach your daughter to say what she means, and mean what she says
Teach your daughter that she is beautiful, both inside and out
Teach your daughter self-defense, enroll her in a class
Teach your daughter to trust her intuition
Teach your daughter there is no such thing as a stupid question
Teach your daughter teamwork, sign her up for a sport
Teach/show your daughter that you love her unconditionally
This one is for the parents...treat your spouse the way you want your daughter to be treated when she grows up. She is watching every move you make.

And for those of you with sons, here is the article for you.

What rules do you have to add?

Work for your own money dammit!

2012-01-11T12:52:00.003-06:00

Remember when I mentioned my purse was stolen on Halloween? Andthen I mentioned that my wallet was found, but still missing some thingsout of it. Well I thought it was allbehind us. It wasn’t. We don’t use our credit cards anymore, but westill have balances on a few of them. Ihave automatic payments set up so honestly I rarely look at our accountsonline. Something prompted me to checkone of our cards though Monday afternoon. I saw a few charges for the previous statement. Thought it was kind of odd, but not toounusual. Then I went back to the laststatement and saw a whole bunch of charges. Now I know JJ wouldn’t use the card that many times without tellingme. I quickly realized that I was wrongin assuming that all the cards that were stolen along with my wallet were notactive. Clearly this one still was. They had racked up about $1,500 in chargesfrom 12/6 – 12/24.I got on the phone and reportedit to my credit card company. Theycancelled the card and we are waiting for a claims form to come in the mailalong with our new cards.

As if thatwasn’t bad enough, I get a call Monday night around 9:00. I answered it and it was the bank where ourpersonal and business accounts are set up. They asked if we had made a purchase for $4.95 around 6:15 that eveningon our business debit card. I knew Ididn’t, but JJ was at the store and I couldn’t be sure that he didn’t. I asked if I could check with him and callthem back. I called JJ and he said thathe had not charged anything. So we foundout of two different accounts that were hacked all in the same day! At least our bank caught it and the chargedidn’t go through, nor did any further charges. That card was also cancelled and we should be receiving those new cardsany day now.

Back to the credit card that wasstolen, JJ was pissed. We know it’s somepunk kid that stole from a bunch of different cars in our neighborhood and hehasn’t been caught yet. So JJ took itupon himself to do some detective work yesterday. On our credit card printout of all thecharges, each store has an ID number. Some of the stores were Aero.postale, Jour.neys, Fam.ous Foot.wear, Ga.me S.top,just to name a few -obvious kid, right? He started with Ga.meSt.op and called a local store asking if they knew which location that specificstore ID was. They mentioned one thatwas about 8 miles from our house at a mall. Then he started calling the other stores at the mall that the card wasused at, and sure enough all the store ID’s matched. Then he called the security department at themall (I’m picturing Ma.ll Co.p now, ha!) and explained our situation. The guy was really nice and helpful on thephone. JJ gave him all the dates of thepurchases and what stores they were at and the guy said he would call him backby 5.

He called back with somenews. Apparently a girl (I assumed a guyhad stolen my card, and still think that’s the case, but it makes sense that agirl would actually be making the purchases since my name was on the card)bought an expensive game system at Ga.me St.op. As she was leaving, she decided to buy anextended warranty. Why the hell not, it’snot her money she’s spending?! Adifferent clerk helped her this time. I’ma little confused as to how it all went down, but I think when the girl went topay for the warranty, the clerk asked for ID. The girl obviously didn’t have ID to match the name on the card. I think at that point the clerk kept the cardand wouldn’t sell the girl the warranty. Now here’s the funny part…when the girl filled out the warranty, she puther OWN damn name and phone number down! Stupid! I’m not sure what otherinformation they have on this girl such as an address, but I’m guessing theymight have it all. So the security guyseemed pretty excited that it all went down the way it did. I’m very impressed the Ga.me St.op employee hadenough sense not to let the girl use it, but I don’t know why he/she would havekept the card and then not reported it. Oh well. The police went to themall yesterday afternoon to pick it up along with the warranty info the girl filledout and they are supposed to keep us posted. I hope we catch everyone involved in all the car thefts!

And as if that wasn’t enough (yet again), todayI got another call from our bank. Ithought it was just a follow up call from two days prior, but no. They asked if we had made a purchase at aSafe.way grocery store in Maryland for $201.70 on our personal card. Um, unless my husband is running around on mein Maryland, we definitely did not make a purchase there. Now I was really confused because we both hadour personal cards in hand, so how was someone able to go into a store and useour account? Apparently people can get acredit card and load a new number onto it, so when it’s swiped, it’s actuallypulling from our account. So thataccount was cancelled also and we have to go to a local branch to get our newcards printed. We did figure out thatthe hacking is tied to Restau.rant De.pot which is where we buy the food for therestaurant, and have used both our personal and business debit cardsthere. Apparently there was a pressrelease that went out late last year about 100,000 customers info beingcompromised, and according to it, RD sent a letter to all of itscustomers. If I remember right, when wesigned up for membership at RD, we put the apartment address downwhich obviously we don’t have anymore, so I’m guessing that’s why we never gota letter. But come on people!! Work for your own money and don’t spend others'money who basically work paycheck to paycheck as it is! And with a baby at home no less. You don’t want to cross this new mom thewrong way; it’s not like I enjoy leaving my daughter every day to go to work sowe can afford to live!

5 Months

2012-01-10T07:35:00.001-06:00

It is so crazy to think I have a 5 month old daughter! Hell, it’s crazy to think I have a daughter period! The other night I was “talking” to Chloe, and I was saying “I am your mommy and you are my daughter.” Those words still seem so weird coming out of my mouth but that’s where we are. I have a 5 month old daughter! This month has been so fun. I look at you and don’t see a newborn anymore. You are really starting to get a personality of your own and do so much more than just sleep like you did when we first brought you home. Every day is a new adventure and I love watching you explore the world. Even if it’s just staring at our faces, you seem to discover something new each time. From your fake coughs that make us laugh, to you arching your back trying to get off of our laps (not yet, my dear), you show us little glimpses of who you are and we love every second of it.

Sleep: We have a big announcement in this area – you now sleep in your very own room, in your very own crib! Now, there is a story here. Every time we thought about moving you, you would vomit in your sleep and it would scare the bejesus out of me, so we would hold off. We decided that while mommy was off for Christmas break, we would finally make the transition. Well we stayed at Grandpa’s house 4 nights during that break so we were hesitant if sleeping there AND moving you to your room was too much. We decided to push on though, and just when we were putting you down, daddy went to set up the video monitor in your room and it wouldn’t turn on! So your daddy said guess we need to get the bassinet back up and mommy said, no let’s go ahead and try this. So the first time in your room and you didn’t even have a monitor! It’s not like your room is far, but mommy was still a little uneasy to not have you right next to her and not be able to see you. The first few nights we would have to get up a few times early in the morning to put your pacifier back in your mouth, but you still sleep just as late as you did in our room. I have to say, as much as I loved you sleeping in our room, it’s kind of nice to be able to watch TV at night and not think we are disturbing you, and it’s really nice to get ready in the morning in our room and not tiptoe around. We still put you to bed between 9:30 and 10 every night and you usually sleep until around 9 the next morning. Your daddy sure lucked out with you! And naps, you finally have them figured out! What were we missing? Swaddling! We knew the sitter did it and had good luck, but the first few times we tried, not so much. Then we got out the sleep sack we got from the hospital and WOW did that do the trick! We were a little hesitant to start swaddling you again this late in the game, but you nap wonderfully with it, and sleeping in your own room at night I think allows you to go all night without us having to get up to put the pacifier in your mouth. So those are the two big things this month – you started going down great for naps a few times a day, and you are now sleeping in your room, both day and night.

Daily Routine: The best part of our day continues to be getting you up in the morning. Some mornings you will just lay in your crib and talk for what seems like forever. It is the best way to start our day as parents. During the week daddy will go in and get you up. If it’s a day with the sitter, he will change you, get you dressed, feed you, and off you to go the sitter. Then I will pick you up around 4:30, we play a little bit, eat, and then take a bath, eat again, and go to bed. If it’s a day you stay home, daddy still changes you, gets you dressed (sometimes :)), and feeds you. Within the first hour and a half or so of being up you go down for your first nap. When you wake up, it’s time to eat again and then you play. Usually you stay up again until it’s time to eat for the third time then you go down for an afternoon nap. Mommy usually gets home shortly after you wake up and then we pick back up with our evening routine.

Feed: Last month you were a 180 baby, and this month you are a 210 baby! That’s only happened a couple of times, but daddy likes to give you 7 ounces at a time. You seem to do OK with it for the most part, and honestly could probably use 7 ounces at each feeding since most days you only eat 5 times and some days you only eat 4 (still don’t like that). In general you are on a 9, 12, 3, 6, 9 eating schedule, those are the times of day you eat. You like to hold on to your bottle while we are feeding you, and sometimes can hold it up yourself. You also love to watch us make the bottle for you and grab for it once we are done. The saddest thing is when we go to burp you in the middle of the feeding and at the end - we set the bottle down on the table and you just stare at it and cry like "I know that's for me, just give it back!" We also tried giving you cereal for the first time. The first time was on Christmas day and it was so runny we probably should have put it in a bottle. The second time we made it thicker and you did really well. We plan to add that into your meals at least every few days to get you used to the idea of eating with a spoon.

Weight: Was 13.4 lbs on the restaurant scale a few weeks ago but that was fully clothed and with a diaper. I’m guessing you are about 13.8 now.

Length: My guess is around 25 inches

Diaper Size: Size 2 diaper

Clothes Size: Let’s see here…you are STILL wearing some newborn pants, but for the most part you are in 3 month clothes. Jammies you are in 3-6 months and a few 3-6 month onesies fit too. I don’t think you are wearing anything that is 6 months. We had a bit of a funny moment this month (which could go under funniest moment but I’ll post it here). We were going to see grandpa and I had an outfit in my head of what I wanted you to wear. I went to put it on, and I couldn’t get the shirt over your head!! I was bound and determined though to make it work. Looking back on it, I feel bad I squeezed your head through, but I finally got it on. I told your daddy I wasn’t going to put you back through that a second time though so we cut it off of you that night. You just have a big head! It’s the Circo brand from Target that we have noticed has a smaller neck, and even if it fits everywhere else, we can’t always get it over your head.

Hair Color:
At birth: blonde
20 weeks: your hair is super blonde on top, and is getting much thicker. You still have the bald spot on the back of your head, but we can feel soft, prickly new hairs. I think you are just going to continue to rub them off for a while. And the darker hair at the base of your neck is even starting to lighten up now.

Eye color:
At birth: blue/gray
20 weeks: bright blue

Funniest moment: I already mentioned one funny moment with your shirt, but the other one is bath time. We took the sling out of your bathtub and let you splash around. You aren’t sure what to think, but you smile the whole time. Every once in a while though it’s like something startles you and you kick both legs out, stick your belly out, and put your arms up. You also get a serious look on your face when you do it. The combination of it all really is quite funny to watch. But you immediately start smiling and kicking and splashing again.

Milestone: You have rolled over a few times now, but just a few. It really seems to surprise you when you realize you are now on your belly when you were just on your back. You are starting to drool more and EVERYTHING goes in your mouth! Gazing at people and things is one of your favorite past times. I love when you are sitting in my lap and I feel your head move on my arm. I look down and you are just staring at me with those big blue eyes. I wonder what you are thinking. You continue to find your voice and make new noises every day. You are one loud baby! Your daddy and I joke that the quiet days in our house are over. You’ve figured out how to take the pacifier out of your mouth, but you forget one piece – you don’t open your mouth when you’re doing it! It’s so funny, but you pull it out while you have the death grip on it with your gums so you end up jerking it out of your mouth and it makes a popping noise. Sometimes you manage to get it back in, but other times you just spin it around and start chewing on it.

Your favorite toy: You’ve only had it a couple of weeks, but I would have to say your jumperoo. You can’t quite touch the floor yet so we put a blanket under your feet, but I think you like being in the upright position. Yes, you still like your play mat too, but I think you are getting bored laying on your back. You don’t jump much in the jumperoo, but you like to play with the spinning toy, chew on the seat, and just look around. The play mat and mirrors are still other toys you love too though. You really like to touch our faces. I’ll get right up to your face and you’ll put your hand on my mouth or chin. I’ll start opening my mouth and making noises so you can feel what I’m doing and hear it at the same time. You will just hold onto us forever. Just as long as your nails are short and not sharp, I’ll let you hold onto my face as long as you want, ha.

Firsts:

First Christmas

First time at a wedding

First time sitting in your high chair

First time eating cereal

First time napping in your own room

First time sleeping through the night in your own room

First time in the jumperoo

First time rolling from your belly to your back

First time rolling from your back to your belly

You were trying SO hard to roll over while I was taking your picture

You would kick and roll from side to side. You didn't once get frustrated though, just started talking to yourself.

What Would You Do?

2012-01-09T12:41:00.002-06:00

This post is about the restaurant. We started it back in March of 2010. I will say in the beginning we were putting supplies and food on a credit card, but we quit doing that within the first few months of the store being open and just go paycheck to paycheck. Our hopes were to bring in an extra grand or two a month to help pay for the costs of having a new baby. I will admit there haven't been too many weeks that we were able to pocket much money. In the beginning we were because JJ was the only one working, we didn't have labor costs. We did however have a monthly apartment rent payment but that wasn't much. Then as we got closer to my due date, he spent less and less time there, and had hired 3 employees to work. Now he's down there two days a week, but he just stays in the kitchen cooking - he always has another employee there actually running the restaurant. So what it boils down to is we are paying approximately 68 hours at minimum wage in MO which is $7.25, so that comes out to approximately $500 a week. Then we spend anywhere between $500 and $800 a week on food. So those two combined (on the high end) equals $1,300. Now going into the winter months, we are going to be lucky if we break even every week.

Here are the key things to think about. The drive is about 180 miles round trip, so the miles on our cars are quickly adding up
Gas alone driving down and back is roughly $35
Each day the sitter watches Chloe, it's $30

At this point, we feel like we have three options, and I'm just not sure which one is the best.

Option 1: JJ could be down there three days a week instead of two. Two of those days he would work alone so that would save us $145 a week in labor. That's the good. The bad is those would be REALLY long days for him. He would have to be out of the house by 8 (which is unheard of for him), and he wouldn't get home until 10 at night. We would have to pay $35 for gas and $30 for the sitter. So all said and done we are really only saving around $80. Also, the winter months are when JJ's likelihood of working at the railroad increases. So that puts a wrinkle in things too. Is it worth it?

Option 2: Close the restaurant down during the winter months. Like I said before, the winter is when JJ has to work more. He hasn't actually gotten called into work for months, but that will all change once the weather gets cold and it starts to snow. Also, we've already seen a decrease in sales at the restaurant because a lot of people walk to the store and they don't want to get out in crappy weather. The good is that we wouldn't have to worry with driving back and forth in crappy weather, and possibly coming out of pocket some weeks when sales are low. The bad is that we could, and most likely would, lose our employees. So when we would open back up in the spring, we'd be starting from scratch again.

Option 3: Close the restaurant down for good. It really has been fun, and JJ really does like to cook. But I know on multiple occasions he has gotten burned out. Whether it was being away from home, dealing with employee drama, not having enough food to keep up with business, etc. I think it would be a huge stress reliever for him. I know he will miss going down there though and the friends he's made, as will I. It's been fun to "have a restaurant" for the past year. And it's not like we would be missing out on the extra income; hell it would probably SAVE us money in the long run.

I don't mean to make it sound like we've already decided which way we are going to go, but it kind of sounds that way as I write it all out. What would you do in this situation? I'm open for all suggestions!

My Friday Night...

2012-01-07T13:55:00.000-06:00

Was spent chatting with this little one.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Back in the Kitchen

2012-01-06T09:30:00.003-06:00

Who am I kidding, "back in the kitchen?" I never was in the kitchen to begin with! :) It's no secret that JJ does the majority of the cooking in our house. But since we've had Chloe, our kitchen only sees action when it's time to fix her a bottle. The cooking has almost completely stopped. So what do we eat? I have no idea. We have gotten used to eating food from the restaurant that JJ brings back a few times a week.

But this week - this week somehow a fire was lit under my ars and I was in the kitchen not once, but TWICE making something! The first time I made peanut butter balls. My brother's girlfriend had brought them over on Christmas and I forgot how much I love those things. But she made them with a twist - marshmallow fluff! Heaven! I made a batch and within the week JJ and I consumed all of them. Now unfortunately I didn't go all out and take pictures, but here is the recipe I used.

The second time I was in the kitchen was last night. And this was for work. It was my turn to bring in a snack today and I have some pretty health-conscious people in my department so I really have to dig deep to come up with something I think everyone will eat. I wanted something breakfast-y. I found this recipe and it was a huge hit! It's apple-granola-crisp. Chloe went down for a short nap last night and I was able to whip this bad boy up. I put it in the fridge overnight and everyone heated up their own portions this morning if they wanted to. I served it with vanilla yogurt. I think this is my new go-to breakfast food in the morning. I can make it ahead of time and scoop out an individual serving to take each day to work. Or better yet, I can divide them into ramekins as mentioned in the recipe to make it even easier. So if you are bored with cereal and looking for a different, healthier option, this might be it!

Used

2012-01-03T09:59:00.000-06:00

There is no denying that JJ could be at the restaurantmore. Sure he could. But that means more time away from Chloe andhe is not about to do that. Before shewas born, he was spending 4-5 days a week at the restaurant and now he’s onlythere 2-3. He appointed a manager wayback in May and things were working out really well. It was an 18 year old kid that had justgraduated from high school and had no plans to go to college. So JJ spent the time training him, taught himhow to smoke the meat, make the beans, run the restaurant, etc. He really took this kid under his wing. During the week when JJ was bored at night,the two of them would hang out. Theywould drive to Springfield to look around at Bass Pro, they would practiceshooting until all hours of the morning, and he would front this kid money ifhe needed it. Right about the time Chloewas born, JJ fired another employee and hired his first adult employee. We think that’s when things started to godownhill.

Before his manager just had to manage high school kids. It brought in a whole new dynamic having anadult in the mix and I think he felt threatened. JJ was spending less and less time at thestore and he was having to have more talks with the manager about things thatweren’t going right. More times than notJJ would be frustrated with him for something but we were kind of at his mercybecause we had a new baby at home and no time to train someone to take themanager’s place.

The Thursday of the Christmas party, JJ was all ready tofire the manager. He just wasn’t pullinghis weight. He wasn’t cooking when heshould, we were running out of food, and we heard he was complaining to otherrestaurant and c-store employees about various things. But of course JJ got soft on him when theytalked and gave him another chance. Thekid said he wanted to do a good job but felt like he had too much work on hisplate. JJ agreed and decided to divvy upmore of the responsibilities. That wasThursday. The kid didn’t work againuntil Monday.

JJ got a call Monday afternoon from one of his originalemployees who was back from college and picked up a few shifts at therestaurant. She said something was fishywith the manager. She had forgotten toclock in when she got there so she just figured she would pull the manager’stime card to see when he clocked out and use that as her clock in time. She got to work at 3:00 and knows he left afew minutes later, but his time card was hand written in for 4:30. She also said she had noticed he stuck aroundafter one of his shifts ended the week before later than he should have. Well either this kid is really dumb or justforgot – but there are 24 surveillance cameras in that store.

So what did we do? As soon as we got to the restaurant last Wednesday, JJ went and grabbedhis time card and headed back to the surveillance equipment. Sure enough, at 3:03 we saw the kid at thetime clock. He didn’t even attempt toclock out. He went right for the penthat is there for the employees to write their names on their time cards andwrote in 4:30. Busted! JJ fired him right on the spot. I guess he tried to come up with an excuse atfirst, but JJ interrupted him and said he had just watched it on video. After he said that, the kid didn’t sayanother word.

JJ went back to the office and started writing a correctedtime card and noticed the very next day (Tuesday) the manager clocked out at4:17. The person who relieved him clockedin at 2:57. He wasn’t cooking that day,so there was no reason for him to be there that late. So back to the cameras we went. And sure enough we busted him again. This time he actually left the store, droveoff in his car, came back at 4:15, clocked out, and left again. Now we were on a mission to ding this guy forevery minute he stole from us. We wentback three weeks worth of time cards. JJhad been nice enough to give this kid Fridays off the last few weeks. He didn’t want to miss out on the hoursthough so instead of working Mon-Fri day shifts, JJ had him work Mon-Thurs dayshifts, and Wed all day. One Wed nightshift he worked he clocked out around 8:00. I’m not sure what made JJ pull the video from that day, but we bustedthe kid again. This time he was stealingfood! He wrapped up a full slab of ribs,very carefully I might add. There is acamera in the kitchen and it was pointed right where this kid was wrapping thefood. Then he walked to the front of therestaurant and grabbed a to go bag to put the ribs in. Now here’s where it gets sketchy. Rather than just walking out the front doorlike he does every day, he left the ribs on the counter of the restaurant,walked out the front door, pulled his car around to the back, went in andgrabbed the ribs, put them in his car, pulled the car back around to the front,and came inside to eat another 20 minutes on the clock while he stood andtalked to the c-store worker on duty. What balls!

Needless to say JJ is very disappointed. After everything he has done for this kid hejust feels used. This kid knew when therestaurant wasn’t doing so hot, when there were weeks that we had to come outof pocket money just to buy food to keep the restaurant stocked. He knew we had a new baby at home. He knew that JJ hated being away from hisfamily, but that he enjoyed cooking so much he kept it open. But more than anything, he trusted thiskid. And that trust was thrown out thewindow after watching those videos. Yes he’sa kid and he just got greedy. He thoughthe could get away with it. We thought itwas just a one-time thing, but after going back weeks and seeing him repeatedlyscrew us over, now we’re just pissed. Andto think he would have been able to continue to get away with it had it notbeen for JJ’s employee back from college who just thought something seemedoff.