You Mean, There's MORE Teeth?

Nickolas is 16 months old now, and he just got in more bottom teeth, the lower canines (please reference chart). Boy, have the last 6 or 7 days been c.r.a.n.k.y around here!!

It's not as if I'm not used to kids getting teeth, teething, but I guess I got so used to it I just didn't really think about it anymore. It didn't even dawn on me until someone else brought it up and then I thought to look in his mouth (high five Nicolle!)

Now I have a better idea of how many teeth the boy has-16 1/2? Okay, I still don't know. Cut me some slack because 2 teeth are fused and one tooth is split so how does that add up?

Braces, inevitable.

Kolbe-Saying Pledge of Allegiance

I Bought My Fictional Book

It's actually not a fictional book, but really the point (it's on my list of goals), was to take myself back to when I used to actually sit and read for leisure. Not grab a recent magazine, or try and improve things with a self-help book or read something about design. I wanted to be able to take in something new, something that challenges me and something that relaxes me.

The plot of this book is (from Amazon):

The narrator and protagonist of Middlesex is Cal, a hermaphrodite raised as a girl who later finds something resembling happiness as a man. Born Calliope Helen Stephanides into a Greek-American family, “Callie", as he is first known, seems like a girl to everyone – parents, his half-blind, old-fashioned doctor and even the other kids at school. But as Callie gets older, his voyage into puberty diverges sharply from the other girls he knows, and he begins to suspect, subconsciously at first, that something is different about him.

I bought it purely based on the title, how the spine looked and that I had a child with me who wasn't tolerating being in the store anymore.

We'll see how the book goes!

It Arrived!

My Pot of Gore Collection arrived today! That turned my frown upside down!

The plan is to watch 1, 4 and 5 at the Leprechaun-a-thon coming up in May. Who could pass that up?

Here's a brief description of the brilliance called "Leprechaun":

LEPRECHAUN: A horrific Leprechaun goes on a rampage after his precious bag of gold coins is stolen. He uses all of his magical destructive powers to trick, terrorize and kill anyone who is unlucky enough to hinder his relentless search. In a frantic attempt to survive the wrath of the Leprechaun, Tori (Jennifer Aniston) and her friends scramble to find the only weapon known to kill this Irish monster...a four leaf clover. However, until they discover a four leaf clover or return all the gold taken from the rainbow's end, their fairy tale nightmare has only just begun.

LEPRECHAUN 2: The ageless Leprechaun is back, stealing gold and with a thousand-year itch to find the perfect mate. His target: Bridget, a Southern California beauty, whose previous worst problem was a bad hair day. Standing in his way are Cody, Bridget's boyfriend and Cody's imbibing uncle Morty.

LEPRECHAUN 3: Set against the glamor and depravity of Las Vegas, a young man learns the hard way that it's not a good idea to steal the Leprechaun's gold.

LEPRECHAUN 4 IN SPACE: On a planet in a distant galaxy, the Leprechaun holds a beautiful alien princess hostage in order to marry her for her royal title. What he doesn't count on is an invading platoon of marines from Earth to save the princess and foil his scheme.

LEPRECHAUN IN THE HOOD: After a long and golden dormancy, the Leprechaun is brought back to life by three bungling rap artists looking to launch their music career. When Butch, Postmaster P and Stray Bullet loot the local hip-hop mogul's studio to fund their demo album, the threesome unwittingly ends up with the secret of Mack Daddy's success: a magical flute. Their gigs instantly turn golden, but a bloodthirsty Leprechaun and an angry Mack Daddy are hot on their trail, leaving a wake of destruction tainted by politically incorrect limericks.

The only thing better would be "Leprechauns in the Wild, Wild West"!

I'm Selfish

So, I've been pretty overwhelmed at work the last several weeks, but increasingly so the last week, and it came to a head today.

Everything kind of hit me. Thought I was handling it okay, but apparently not.

Sulking in my problems that seem to be escalating by the hour, I head home at 5:30 (after having to skip a meeting that I wasn't included on or I could have planned accordingly).

I'm driving home. The same route I take every day. On my way to get the boys from school, and what do I see?

An elderly lady in a wheelchair holding several large items in her lap, on the side of the road! She appears to be fine, but she's needing to cross the street in heavy, heavy traffic. She doesn't even appear to be able to move, let alone get her wheelchair across the street. Maybe she was waiting for the bus? Did I stop? No. Should I have? Probably.

What is her life like? Does she get upset about having too much work to do? Kids not listening? Not enough time to clean the house? The fact that traffic was heavy and added 5 minutes to her commute?

I can almost guarantee she doesn't. Her worries (and I am assuming here), are along the lines of how to get from point A to point B, meals for the day, health.

How can I possibly complain, when you put those worries in comparison to each other?

Reality check, Nicolle.

Meals on Wheels Training

Today I went to Meals on Wheels Training during my lunch break, and I am excited about getting started as a volunteer.

It consisted of filling out paperwork, they run a background check (I passed-whew!), we watched a short video with a little background on the program, how it got started, what it consists of. Then we went over sample routes, pick-up locations and what would work well with each of our schedules.

So, my first delivery is Friday, May 2nd. They suggest bringing someone with you the first time, so I'm going to ask my grandfather to go with me. Then after that I will do it once a month, while Keith is home all summer. I think it will be great for Kolbe to join me after I learn the route. They said it takes about 1-2 hours to deliver.

Why do it? Because I can. Driving home today I was thinking about all these people out and about, just driving home from work not even realizing how lucky we are to just be able to hop in the car and get what we need, or ask someone for help if we can't do it ourselves.

It was eye-opening to hear more information today, see all the work and organization that goes into a program like that. They start making meals in Irving at 2:00am for the day (just an hour from now), they will be up making food. They make 7,000 meals every single DAY! 3,000 of those get delivered to residences, the rest go to daycares, shelters and nursing homes. That number is just for the Dallas area. These are people who are well enough to be on their own, but can't get around without help, most don't have help. The trainer said that when you deliver their meal, it will most likely be the only contact they have with anyone that whole day.

Can you imagine?

Think about all the contact we have with each other. Although not all the contact with certain people is the greatest, it is still human interaction.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”-Kahlil Gibran

4 Sick People=Fun? Not So Much.

So it was a rough week with the boys. Keith took them into the doctor on Wednesday because Nickolas' face was all swollen red, runny nose, and Kolbe had a cough that hadn't gotten any better.

Nickolas ended up with a sinus infection and they think Kolbe might have asthma, so they gave us 2 inhalers to use and to follow-up in 2 weeks.

Then, halfway through the week Keith ended up with a cough, and I didn't think much of it. Turns out I ended up with it too, but I have more allergy-like symptoms. They really hit on Friday morning, and it hasn't been the greatest around here at the House 'O Muellers the last 3 days.

Stay Clear!

Gray Hair-You Have Appeared!

Yes, there has been a significant amount of gray discovery in the last week - enough to create a scene.

Last week, getting ready one morning I found one on my head, plucked it.

Over the weekend, I found one in about the same place, plucked it.

This morning as I was about to head into work I went to brush my hair in the car, ANOTHER ONE. That was the final straw (literally). Plucked it and decided to hang onto it, it's in an envelope on my desk. I think I might still be in shock.

Then, to top it off, I am in the bathroom at work and see ANOTHER in the same place, but long. How does it grow that long without me noticing? Bottom line-4 in one week.

Just give me another week or two and I'll have a full head of grandma gray hair. Poltergeist, here I come.

School Pictures

Oh the good 'ol days of school picture day.

At least for this round of pictures, I remembered it was Nickolas' day (his was different than Kolbe's), and for Kolbe's (which I forgot about), they provided the clothing. We don't have jackets and ties laying around for the boys to casually wear out and about.

A friend of mine made a comment about Kolbe's being a "Run for President" shot, so I can't wait to get it and create a "campaign" image!

Many more picture days to come, and I can't wait!

Ever Image Googled Your Name?

Apparently, I have too much time on my hands.

This is the first image that comes back when I google my name. It comes from a German site.

I can't read a whole lot of German anymore, but I'm guessing the site is about a pig, in Germany.

Says something along the lines of "Here is my picture of Nicolle Müller and her small BamBam, and something about being hot in the zoo?"

See Nicolle Müller Website

Pointless Post-Or Is It?

Have you ever stopped to think about how many people you have come into contact with over the course of your life?

And I mean all forms of contact, from eye contact with a stranger, accidentally brushing someone's arm in a crowd, opening a door for someone, forced dialogue with a waiter/waitress, chit chat with someone in an airport, conversations at work, lengthy talks with friends and deep meaningful relationships with loved ones.

If you average out any and all contact with all human beings throughout your life, and really stop and think about it, it's truly amazing. Let's say 10 people on average for every day. Some days it could be one or two people that you live with because you never left the house-and other days it could be 30 new people you interact with on a business trip.

10x365 days per year=3650x31(age)= 113,150 people

Think about all the small and large instances of contact, and how every single bit of it has shaped your life. How you have shaped yourself. We have all done the same for and to others. How have you shaped someone else? Do you even realize you have? Strangers, family members, co-workers, enemies, friends...

Incredible.

BabySitting Baby Hank

On Friday Kolbe and Nickolas had someone new to play with-Baby Hank! Nikki had some errands to run, so Hank came over and spent some time for a few hours.

3 against 1!

I thought I did pretty good with them. They all played really well together. Hank can't get around yet, but I laid him on the blanket and Nickolas climbed all over him, Kolbe brought him toys and even wanted to feed him. A little tense when they were all in different parts of the house, but they did great. Got all of them down for a nap at the same time-it was a miracle.

No comparison to having 3 all the time, but it was fun for a short while.

Great Mom Moment

To look back at your boys, see the resemblances between the two, and look at how peaceful they are.

Oh, and that it's QUIET!

That's a great Mom moment!

Group Outing

Today was group outing day for the team! An annual tradition and much needed!

We went to lunch at a hamburger joint called "Jakes", then made our way over for an awesome hour of whirlyball! 2 teams drive in bumper cards with "lacrosse-like" cups and play on what is like a basketball court to get the ball against the board, or the fake hole for more points. Awesome.

Then 2 games of lasertag!

I'm sore and worn out from the games, but it was a great time!!

Lunch and Whirlyball Pictures

Is it Insomnia?

I've always been a night-owl. Thinking back to when I was younger, especially junior high, teenage years, I always stayed up late if I could. My mom would make me go to bed by 10 during the week, but on the weekends I was easily up until 2am, watching Saturday Night Live, talking on the phone, reading, drawing, hanging out with friends, anything really.

Then in college I was up because I had to be, pulling all-nighters to get work done.

I guess maybe in the early stages of my career I eased up a bit on the late nights, heading to bed by 11 or so on a lot of nights, but was also able to sleep in until 10 or 11 on the weekends when nothing was planned (which I could easily do).

Then the kids came.

Now my night begins at 9:00pm. Doesn't mean that's when the fun starts, it just means that's when I get time without making meals, changing diapers and having 2 small children hang on my legs just while I try to go to the bathroom. This is the time when I get a workout in, watch TV, talk to Keith, work on freelance, clean the house, and the slight possibility of relaxation.

Maybe that's why I have gotten in the very bad habit of staying up until all hours of the night (always after midnight on most nights). It's 1:33am right now, I know I need to get up at 7 to get the boys ready and myself ready for the day, but I still can't bring myself to go to bed. I don't think it's insomnia, but I'm not quite sure what's going on. I do know I'm not more rested when I get 8 hours of sleep now, I'm actually more tired usually.

I need to figure it out!