In love with Ju Ju be

I bought a new diaper bag, and I am head over heels in love with it.  My last diaper bag was a JJ Cole, and it was no longer cutting it.  After two years of use, it was filthy, had lost its shape, and the inner lining was ripped. 

For my birthday, I ordered a new Fossil purse online.  I was hoping that it would be big enough to shove a couple of diapers into, but sadly, it was way too small.  My lovely new purse has been hanging in the closet with the tags still attached.  I love the pattern and design, so I am keeping it.  But I still needed a new diaper bag. 

I went to Buy Buy Baby on Tuesday, and I fell in love with the Ju Ju Be bags.  Oh my goodness, the patterns and bag designs are so freaking cute!  It is hands down the nicest diaper bag I've ever owned.  I am a big purse person, so you have no idea how excited I am about my new bag...

My last diaper bag was light gray, and the front was all stained up.  I picked a dark color for this bag, hoping to avoid the stains this time around.  Anyways, I adore my new bag!

All grown up!

They did it!  My kids figured out how to ride their bikes without training wheels!  I am SOOO proud.

Porgie figured it out first, which enraged poor Izzy.  He was whining and crying and refusing to let anyone help him all morning.  He would literally throw himself off of his bike and sob while laying lifeless on the sidewalk.  It was pathetic (and annoying), but we let him have his pity party.  This afternoon it finally clicked in his little brain, and he was whizzing down the street with Porgie.  Now, if I could just teach these two how to swim, we will be all set for summer fun.

Hi! I have missed you! Let's talk.

My kids are sick.  Blah.  I knew it was coming, because it seems like everywhere we go people are coughing.  Porgie started coughing last week, but Izzy and Guppy seemed totally fine.   On Friday night Izzy started hacking up a lung too.  And on Saturday, Guppy followed suit. 
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We bought all of the kids new bikes.  Originally, I bought the older kids new bikes with the hope that they would learn to ride without training wheels.  That feat is proving harder than we had anticipated.  We pulled Porgie's old tricycle of out storage for Guppy, and he loved it.  Of course he didn't actually ride on it, but he thought that climbing up onto the seat was super fun!  Thirty minutes later, my husband managed to break the seat and ruined all the fun.  I felt sorry for the little guy.  So, we went out and bought him a Big Wheel trike. It makes noises and lights up and my baby boy adores it. We never buy him anything new (the curse of being the third baby), and it felt good to buy something special just for him.
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I am planning Porgie's 7th birthday party.  Oh my goodness, my BABY is going to be seven years old.  It is mind blowing.  Seriously!  She is having a Super Mario party, and I am having way too much fun with this theme.  I'll take some pictures of the various Mario projects I have been working on, and I'll post them soon.
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We recently went to an indoor water park.  Porgie and Izzy LOVED it.  Guppy?  The child was terrified.  He clung to me the entire time, and screamed bloody murder whenever water touched him.  I have never seen a kid act so insane over water.
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I have been Coca Cola free for about a month and a half.  Honestly, I still miss it, but not nearly as much as I did in the beginning.  I gave up ice cream too.  Fortunately, that wasn't nearly as hard.  I have lost a little weight, which has made my summer clothes fit sooooooo much better.  I guess it was worth it.  Now if I could just kick the habit permanently, we could stop having this conversation.
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I got a new laptop for Mother's Day.  This is my third laptop since I had Izzy.  Apparently, I do not know how to take care of computers.  My first one was an HP, and it was crap.  I only had that one for a year.  Next I bought a Dell, which worked great.  I had it for about 4 1/2 years, but recently the entire screen basically became unhinged from the keyboard.  I don't even know how it happened.  One day it seemed to be closing weird, and the next thing I knew, the entire machine was falling apart.  This time I bought a Lenovo.  We'll see how long this one lasts.
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I've been having some weird period problems lately.  My poor uterus has been put through the ringer, and I think it forgot how to function properly.  Basically, my periods last FOREVER.  I've charted them for the last three months, and they are lasting anywhere from 11 to 14 days.  UGH.  My bleeding is not excessively heavy or anything, it just seems to linger for a loooooooooooong time.  I tried to schedule my annual, but I can't get in until August.  I talked to a nurse, who seemed largely unconcerned.  Anyways, I decided to try raspberry leaf tea this month to see if it helps.  I am not really a "natural remedies" type of girl, but I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try.

The girl who loves her Hawley retainer

I have been working on my teeth for the past three years.  I take my dentist and orthodontist's advice VERY SERIOUSLY.  I have invested a lot of time, money, and emotion into this whole process.  Basically, what I am trying to say is that I am not a 13 year old girl who doesn't care.  I am a girl in my thirties who cares a lot. 

I had my braces removed in December of 2011.  I went straight into retainers, which I was instructed to wear 24/7.  Being the good girl that I am, I wore them constantly.   Most people only have to wear them full-time for about 6 months, but in my case, I had to wear them full time for a year and a half.  The reason I had to do this was because I didn't have the money to complete everything at once, so I had to break my treatment plan up into two separate oral surgery visits.  So, everything took longer than I initially expected.  But I am not nearly as vain as I thought I was, and wearing my retainer didn't really bother me.

Finally, after three years, I am finished with EVERYTHING.  I really can't believe it myself.  I don't know what my dentist is going to do with all his free time.  I had my last implant crown placed last Tuesday and then I had an orthodontist appointment on Friday.  The orthodontist declared that everything was great, took some final photos, and told me to just wear my retainer at night.  AWESOME! 

But I can't do it.  I know that sounds insane (because it is insane), but I just can't bring myself to go retainer free all day long. I worry that everything is shifting around in there.  It consumes my thoughts, and I just end up putting the retainers back in.  It is easier to wear the retainers than it is to deal with my craziness.  When I tried explaining this to my husband yesterday, he looked at me like I was a lunatic.  And you're probably thinking the same thing. 

It took me several weeks to get used to wearing retainers, and it will probably take me several weeks to get used to not wearing them too. 

If I had anything worth saying, I'd post more often.

I have been sooooo moody lately.  It is nothing really, just the same old shit that always happens, but suddenly everything is extra irritating to me.  I have been letting all of these little, everyday problems eat away at me.  I am making a huge deal out of small issues.  In my head, I realize that I am being crazy, but that doesn't stop the madness.

Long story short, I am in a funk and I can't seem to shake it.