Lost & Found, Annoying Grandma and a Boo-Boo

That would about sum up our trip to the mall yesterday. We were all walking along enjoying the chaos that is our mall on the weekend when I noticed this super duper cute little girl up ahead of us - she was very pretty and had long curly blond hair and was being very good walking along with (what we thought) was her dad just a step behind her. Well as we continue to walk along I notice the guy start to walk ahead of her and she seemed to be looking around a lot so my mommy radar began to sound LOUDLY. Finally the guy walked off completely so I went to her and asked her if she knew where he mommy was and she told me "At work" so I asked about her daddy or whoever she was there with and finally pulled out of her that she couldn't find her Nana.

Ok I can tell you that are words you NEVER want to hear from a kid - even if it's not your own - thats just scary to think a little child doesn't know where their family is. I looked around and I didn't see anyone frantically looking for a child -which is exactly what I'd be doing including screaming their name and asking everyone in sight if they'd seen my kid - so I had her walk with me until we found a security guard. The guy asked where we first saw her and got on his radio to report that he had a little girl. I was asking her what her nana looked like or what she was wearing but the poor little girl didn't know. The security guard said that he would take it over from there but man I can say that it was VERY hard to just walk away from that poor little girl when she looked so scared and lost. I hope they found her Nana.

We then went to the B&N train table where we met a really annoying grandma. It was us and another little 2 year old when this lady and her 2 yr old granddaughter came up. She proceeded to then tell us that the little girl just talks all the time and can even recite the Pledge of Allegiance and this and that shes sure our kids will "catch up" - um ok our kids are the overachievers that yours is but they don't' need to catch up. Blah I certainly hope my parents are like this about Zilla to other people - how annoying. Thankfully she left not too long after that.

When we were done at the train table Zilla decided to come racing to find me (I was looking at books while DaddyZilla watched him). Well our B&N has these computer things where you can look up your own books and Zilla just so happened to find one of the metal trays that hold the keyboard - WITH HIS HEAD! He hit the corner pretty hard and was crying like crazy. Luckily for him he still has a nice thick layer of cradle cap on his head so that cushioned the blow and their was minimal blood. He calmed down and the manager came over to check on him (they were super nice) but we told her it was no biggie - just a small scrape so we just took his booty home. Fun times were had by all!!

Our new bed came!

DaddyZilla and I ordered a new memory foam mattress from Healthy Foundations and it was shipped on Monday. Well fast forward to Wed and bam our mattress was sitting in the driveway! So here is the box - Zilla gave it a try and seemed to like it LOL. We let it air out and expand overnight (they vacuum seal it to fit the queen size in that box to save on shipping!) and were able to use it last night. We LOVE it so far. It's a little firmer than our previous pillowtop but we are digging it. I will update again in a week or so and tell you all if it has helped us sleep better and if we wake up in the mornings without sore backs !

Zilla's 1st Football Game

Well sorta - it was on tv but it counts anyway right? So FSU (YAY!!!) was playing Wakeforest last week and before bed DaddyZilla decided that Zilla should chill and watch the game with him so they cuddled up to bond over football. DZ was totally loving sharing this wonderful manly moment with his son. Zilla was cool with it for about 5 minutes then he decided to go to the other end of the couch and pose for the camera looking all cute. Oh well it's two and has an almost negative attention span. Here is some of the magic moment and then his cheesy pics after that.

Cousins

Zilla and his cousin E got a chance to play this past week and it was tons of fun for everyone. DaddyZilla and I went over for some yummy dinner and to let the kiddos play. Zilla and E just had a great time playing cars and yelling! E kept trying to give Zilla hugs and cute stuff like that but Zilla was having none of it - he is SO not a hugger - but it was awesome how great they played together. Here's some pics:

How important is it?

Just how important is a main ingredient in a recipe? That's a good question and what better way to find out than experimenting on my family's dinner? lol

I had planned on making corn pudding tonight to go with our meatloaf - it's an awesome recipe and should have been a no brainer. The main ingredient in corn pudding is corn - duh - well it's two kinds of corn, regular kernels and creamed corn. So anyway about 30 minutes into it's 60 minute cook time I realized that the can of regular corn was still sitting totally full on my counter! So I was really making creamed corn pudding. I was a little worried as to how it was gonna turn out but then again it was too late to turn around. So 30 minutes later I took it out and it surprisingly didn't taste that bad. DaddyZilla even had seconds.

So the answer is that apparently in corn pudding at least the main ingredient isn't that important! HA who would have guessed.

Training Wheels?

As some of you know DaddyZilla recently bought a motorcycle to help our wallet in the fuel department because his boat of a truck drinks that stuff like it's free. He got an awesome deal on a Harley Sportster -I've posted pictures of it. Anyway before he could ride like the wind he had to: take the Army's training course, get it registered, get tags, get his endorsement on his DL and put it on the insurance. Well last Friday he did all of that and decided to take it out on his first drive to go and get his sticker for the bike on post. He was on his way to do that and only about 2 miles from our house when the unthinkable happened.

He was in an accident. A young lady was in the median and apparently didn't see him because she pulled right out in front of him. He hit her car (Thank the good Lord that he had all of his safety gear on and wasn't going very fast) and flew over the hood and landed on the road. He apparently never passed out and was able to give a bystander my number so he could call me. Talk about a phone call you NEVER want to get! Motorcycle accidents are no joke and could result in a great deal of injuries so I was terrified. That feeling was compounded by a cop who called and told me that he was "ok...for now" - let me ask you all WHO THE HELL WOULD TELL THAT TO A PERSON ON THE PHONE?!?!? Someone who's never got that call before thats for sure - I began to freak the hell out but luckily God answered my prayer and the bystander called back to tell me that DaddyZilla was able to move all his limbs and talk when he left. Thank goodness for that man - before he called back I wasn't sure what we were dealing with. Anyway DZ only ended up with a very badly sprained ankle -can we say lucky as crap? - some scraps and some really ugly bruises! I am very thankful that he was able to walk away from what could have been much much worse. I'd also like to say thanks to my friend who came and got me, drove us to the hospital and watched Zilla for the over 3 hours we were there! What an angel she is! DZ joked that maybe he needs training wheels....what do you all think?
DaddyZilla on his bike before he left - doesn't he just look HOT!!!

This is the bike afterward - at the tow place. As you can tell thats not exactly the correct angle for the front forks. In fact it's bent so badly that the tire is permanently wedged there - you can't turn the handlebars at all. Who knows if they can fix it. Oh did I mention that we put it on the insurance about 40 minutes before the accident? Good thing it's her fault or else they might would have dropped us before the paperwork even went through! LOL


Oh and he now wants to get an Evil Kinevil star tattoo and my family is calling him "crash" - guess you gotta laugh or you'll cry right?

Let this be a lesson to anyone who is thinking about riding! If DaddyZilla hadn't been wearing his safety gear who knows how this might have ended - but he was and people Safety Gear SAVES LIVES so WEAR IT. Don't be stupid its not about you it's about the 20 year old in the Cadillac that might not be paying attention!!

Future Soccer Star?

I may have a future David Beckham on my hands - but WAY cuter!

Yesterday evening Zilla had his very first Soccer Practice. He really enjoyed it for about 3 or 4 minutes and then he just wanted to run around the entire field paying zero attention to practice at all. The "coach" didn't even seem to notice though so no harm done. We have about 15 kids on our little team and two "coaches" so it was interesting to say the least. A friend and I both agreed at the end that the coaches seemed to be expecting quite a bit of coordination and attention from a group of 2 year olds. I will admit that Zilla's attention span is only like 5 minutes so he's on the extreme end but seriously 45 minutes of practice? We'll see how it goes next week - maybe "coach" David will have realized that he's teaching 2 year olds AND 3/4 year olds not just 4 year olds. Zilla had a GREAT time running around though but I can't say I had the best time running after him. Here are some pics:

Pictures in the Park

We had a wonderful photographer, Jessica of Frog and Bee Photography, take some pictures of Zilla in the park a few weeks ago. I didn't want posed pictures (not that Zilla would do that anyway) so we just kinda let him do his own thing and Jessica snapped away. She was super nice and got some good shots considering his lack of cooperation! LOL Here are some of the shots:

Don't think I could say it any better!

I received a link for a YouTube video today in an e-mail and I just wanted to share it with all (like 4) of you! What an appropriate day to hear from this Soldier. It really just expresses how I feel about this particular hot topic. Now if you don't feel that way then thats ok. I'm not trying to get anyone's panties in a wad because I have zero desire to argue politics with anyone and I'm not trying to make someone think what I think. I believe that everyone has a right to their own opinions - including me so I'm gonna share it (nicely) so if you feel you want to share yours in the comment section (maybe some of you will actually comment!) please just do so nicely as well. Thanks and make sure to watch the video until the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

Patriots Day - May God Bless America!

Today has been dedicated Patriots Day in Honor of those who lost their lives September 11, 2001. That day our nation was savagely attacked and we lost a good number of innocent people for no reason other than they were American. Many people seven years later are trying to put it in the back of their minds or have already forgotten the horror of this day. For most people this day, seven years ago, has no effect on their lives today - that can't be said for those who lost someone that day or the military members and their families. If nothing else this day should serve as a reminder that anything can happen to anyone and you should appreciate what you have right now.

I applaud the Men and Women in Uniform today (including my husband, my brother, my cousin, tons of friends, and maybe in the near future my little brother) for just being you and doing your job. It takes a very special person to volunteer to sacrifice themselves for their Country - especially when they are not given the Thanks they so deserve often enough. Well as for Me and my House we THANK YOU and we Pray for you every night!

His first real sentence!!

Zilla has been steadily increasing his vocabulary over the last few months but has only said 2 and 3 word sentences UNTIL today that is! He said and I quote "Alpha Pig to the rescue!" - no that wasn't a response to a question or him playing a game - he was repeating it from Super Why. Zilla loves him some Super Why on PBS - it encourages reading and spelling so MomZilla likes it to. I was on the phone with a friend and she heard it so I have proof that he really did say it and I wasn't just hearing things HA. Here's a pic of the Super Readers from the show:

Great Find!

Today was playdate day but well I just wasn't feeling it and decided instead to run some errands. I had to go mail the diaper bag I sold (YAY), stop by the library to pick up DaddyZilla's hold item and a few other books I want to read, and I needed to go by our thrift shop to see if they had a check for me (i consigned a few things).

I met a friend there and BAM right off the bat I found the perfect shoes to go with Zilla's Halloween Costume!!! Oh and the best part? They looked new, fit him like a glove and were only $3!! How exciting considering the ones I saw on sale at Gymboree looked odd and would have been $20 on sale!

I love me some bargains!!! I don't get this "high" often because our selection of shops in this town plain stinks. Anyway YAY for me.

A GREAT Cause!

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is a WONDERFUL cause and they have partnered with Lean Cuisine to bring back the super cute lunch bags. They are a good price (includes S&H!) and $5 from each bag is donated to help fund Breast Cancer Research.

Just yesterday my Great Aunt, who had suffered from incurable Breast Cancer, passed away. She was a wonderful strong woman who shouldn't have had to suffer the way she did because of this disease. We as women need to do everything we can to assist in this fight so that we can keep great ladies, like my Great Aunt, from getting and dying from this.

So go buy a lunch bag like NOW!! I bought two - they are super duper cute prints and you'll be doing something good for someone - maybe someone you know!

Return of the Bassinet!!

Today I prepared myself mentally for a fight because I planned to return my recalled bassinet to Burlington Coat Factory. Lets just say I haven't had very good experiences at our local store so I just knew it was gonna be a PITA.

I'll admit it - I was wrong.

The manager at the customer service desk was the person who was my reason for not shopping there anymore so I was really looking forward to it . I have to say that after I explained that I had a recalled bassinet and that the corporate customer relations department said it was ok if I didn't have my receipt he was TOTALLY nice and went out of his way to help me. Their registers were bringing the bassinets up at $9.99 - about $70 less than I paid for it! He called about 5 people to get it figured out and eventually they got my $79.99+tax on a store credit. He apologized several times for it taking so long and was completely just as great as he could have been. Makes me almost want to start shopping there again!

DaddyZilla's New Toy

DaddyZilla got a new toy this weekend. It's a Harley Sportster 1200 - he is in love with it and can't wait until he goes through the safety course so that he can ride like the wind!! Anyway here is the new tenant currently residing in my garage:

Hopefully we won't be drawn into the cult that is Harley owners - I just don't think I'd look good in a leather vest and chaps with tattoos on my arms and boobs.

My little artist!!

We were drawing shapes on the chalkboard yesterday and Zilla drew a wonderful circle all on his own!! Here it is - its the one with all the arrows pointing towards it (in case you couldn't guess that LOL):

Welcome to Ft. Zilla

As you can see we have arrived at Ft. Zilla! The accommodations are modest at best but we will survive. Zilla is loving the new digs and wishes he could live in them forever. I'm not to sure about the structural integrity of them since Daddyzilla had to assist in the support but we'll have to wait and see on that one!

Parenting Advice:

You as a parent should know how to unlock your interior doors (bedrooms and bathrooms) BEFORE your kid locks themselves inside a room.

Zilla likes to close our bedroom doors and sometimes he shuts himself in - no biggy except that earlier today he decided to lock the door before closing it! Well our doors don't have that little key thing and the hinges are on the inside so we were a little perplexed for a minute. Zilla was having a grand time playing with the alarm clock in the room and oblivious to the situation. Well I cleverly figured out that you can unlock the door by using a screwdriver - Super Mom to the rescue!!!

Seriously it's only 5 inches

I'll start by saying GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER you sickos! lol

I understand that sometimes guys have an aiming problem while going pee but come on! We moved Zilla's potty chair into the living room because that would make it easier for him to get to - if he suddenly felt like helping out with this whole potty training thing. Well about 5 minutes ago I look over to see my darling son standing about 5 tiny inches from the potty peeing on my FLOOR!! Come on - it was only 5 inches he could have slightly turned to his right and BAM we would have had success!! But no he couldn't be bothered with that so he peed on the floor then when I pointed to the potty and said that's where we pee he proceeds to sit on the potty and say "pee" - yeah not much help afterward there sweetie. Blah

My boy has manners - sorta

I couldn't be more proud of my little 2 year old monster! Like most parents I want my little man to have manners and actually use them. Well we have been working on Please - he doesn't say it automatically but he will sometimes on his own and always when I tell him he needs to say it. That's great but I'm super excited this morning because without being asked at all he said Thank You when I gave him some grapes!!

Well it was more like "Q Momma" - but that's close enough for me!!! It's nice to know that he is listening and at least semi-understands. Makes you feel like you might actually be succeeding at this whole parenting thing. I don't think I could have smiled wider as I said Your Welcome back to him.

Goodbye Hanna!

Tropical Storm Hanna passed us up - Thank Goodness! Last night DaddyZilla and I were sorta expecting lots of wind and possibly a loss of power but Hanna really didn't effect us much at all.

We did however lose power - not having to do with Hanna at all - some horrible driver hit a pole or something who knows but it knocked out our power for about 40-45 minutes. So DZ and I lit some candles and just hung out until it came back on. Luckily for us Zilla was already asleep so we didn't have to try and entertain him in the dark! Well that was our whole ordeal and luckily from everything I'm reading online (since they don't show news on Noggin) the Carolina's didn't really get hit hard or anything by Hanna either. Now as long as hurricane Ike stays away from us we'll be good to go for now.

Update on the Grainger Honda issue

I called the General Manager and left a message. One of the sales managers called me back and listened as I described the events yesterday. He was not exactly happy about how we were treated and said that he would make sure they found out who the salesperson was and have a talk with him because as he said "if they are having a bad day they can go home, they know not to bring that stuff to work". He did assure me that they at Grainger Honda DO care about customers and thanked me for calling to let them know.

He later called me back and said he talked with the General Manager who thinks he knows who it was and said that they would be sure to "handle" it - good I hope the jerk gets fired cause he was a HUGE A** to me. He also said that if we were still interested in the van he would handle it personally. They sent me the info on the van and what they could do - it was less than KBB value but I think they probably could have hooked me up better considering it has no warranty. I'm not counting it out but we'll see. DaddyZilla and I will talk about it. So overall I would say the manager guy was very nice and seemed mad for me that I had been treated that way.

Never in my life

Have I ever been treated SO rudely by a person "trying" to sell me something that they make a commission on! Today I was looking around online at used minivans and I found a couple that were nice. So I was telling DaddyZilla about one of them when we were out running errands and he suggested we stop by and take a look. So we went to Grainger Honda in Savannah, GA.

Do yourself a favor and if your thinking of buying a car there DON'T!!

We got zilla out of the car and walked over to where the used vans were and we thought we found the one from online but it didn't have a info sticker so we just started looking at it. We opened the door and I was taking a look at the inside (which was pretty nice looking) when a salesmen walked over. DZ told him to talk to me since it would be mine. Well the jerk um I mean guy says to me "You should talk to me because your gonna read stuff that you couldn't possibly understand" referring to a piece of paper that was laying in the car that I had glanced at - I thought it was the price paper but it was just the warranty thing - which by the way I COULD understand since I can read after all. He then proceeded to be totally rude to us absolutely REFUSING to tell us what the price of the van was, instead insisting that we tell him our "budget" which we explained that we didn't really have one but we were interested in know what the van was priced at. He reacted to that by saying "Whatever everyone has a budget" and began walking away from us !! He then came back and said "well whats your budget" so I said forget this because that is totally unacceptable. I won't be treated that way and then expected to give them my business - yep nope not gonna happen.

If that man had told me the van was only $1000 I would have told him to stick that van up his a**!! I didn't catch the guys name - gee he wouldn't even tell us the price of the van so I doubt he would have offered his name - but I plan to e-mail or call the manager and I have no intentions of buying a vehicle there.

Procrastinating is BAD!

Seriously I don't know why but I have been procrastinating on getting renters insurance. Well I guess it's not really procrastinating so much as it is that I just don't think about it. I am kinda being forced to think about it now because we could possibly be dealing with Hurricane Hanna soon. As it turns out insurance companies really aren't that eager to issue renters insurance when NOAA says that you may be the direct target of a Hurricane within the next week. Can't say I'm super surprised but it's still annoying. I'm not doing it just because of the hurricane - it HAS been on my to do list for a while now but I'm just retarded I guess and haven't done it.

So I will be keeping a close eye on Hanna and we will just have to pack all the important stuff (ie. pictures, cameras, the wii etc... you get the idea) and getting out of dodge if she comes our way. I guess I will keep praying that she just doesn't come here and all will be well.

1982 - Great Year, Great Score!

I think the 1982 was a wonderful year - after all I was born in March of that year! I do however think that also a GREAT score. On the Wii Fit Super Hula Hoop that is. I just got done getting 1,982 spins!! I'm very proud of myself 998 of those were on one side - I was really shooting for 1,000 and just barely missed it. Anyway I'm plum worn out - that Super Hula Hoop will give you a for sure work out and make you sweat like a man but I just live it. I do that almost every time I do the wii. If you have wii fit and haven't tried it - go try it NOW cause it's fun and well I told you too LOL.

Have fun and make sure to have a bottle of water waiting!!

ETA: Wow ok just finished the advanced step and free step. I am sweating like a man for sure right now and I am also positive that I probably should go shower before I stink my son and hubby out of the house! HAHA I am totally LOVING the wii!!!!