I MOVED!

So please come visit me at my new blog! Please me sure to make note of the url change!!

Hope to see you at my new site and let me know what you think!!

Thanks and "see" ya over there!!

Click here!

Birthday invitation opinion please!!

I would love if you would give me your opinion on which invite I should use for his party. I really like 7, but 8 is a very close 2nd. And 9..well its just so sweet. So please if you read often and never comment..please let today be the one day you do :) just state which number if thats all you want. I would appreciate it alot! Thanks!!

Number 7


Number 8


Number 9


The font looks better in my other program..saving it off as a jpg and shrinking it down makes it harder to read. But thank you so much for helping make this choice :) I think number 8 is getting blown up to go next to number 9 on our wall :)

He said it!

Easton has been waving. Not always when I ask him to say hello or buh bye..but he will wave. Yesterday, while we were at lunch, a great grandma of our friends said bye bye to Easton as we were leaving. He RESPONDED. He said buh bye..in the CUTEST voice and WAVED back at her! I was floored. I was in shock..she tells me how cute that was..and I told her "no kidding! he has never done that!". Kyle was standing right there and we both starred at each other like who is this kid!? We were so excited! So then later that day we tried it again but this time with the word Hi. We would start the 'Hi Easton..Hi. Hi baby." and by golly he did it! He waved back at us and said HI! in a very cute sing songy voice :) you know, drawn out "i" sound at the end. haha he did it several times..and we just grinned each time :) He is growing up. 2 words in one day and a wave to go with them!

Perfect blogging moment

Not more then 1 hr ago, I sat for a few seconds, reading a few blogs that I do so often. I thought to myself " self, I haven't blogged yet today. We were busy. What could I blog about? I could tell my readers about taking the kids to see Racing Stripes. But that is simple. I wish I had a great moment to write about..humm... ok time to start the bedtime routines.." and off I went. Not realizing the perfect blogging material awaits me.

So I gathered my son's p'js, the cute ones that say All Star with baseball players, bats and baseballs on them. I grab the butt creams, a diaper, and the wipes. I laid him down, and started our ritual of daily crocodile wrestling. Round one: I wrestle off his pants while trying to pin him down..I decide in desperation, to let him have a baby wipe*. He instantly shoves it in his mouth! Score!! Mommy 2 points! I get a few seconds of time to get the diaper off, wipe down, apply the creams and close up before he wiggles away again...In the moment between wiping and opening the butt cream, he looks at me kinda funny, stops squirming..grunts..and then resumes squirming. First mommy thought..you better not poop! So as I start applying cream..I smell a horrid smell....OH MY!!! My son's very first witnessed..SBD!!!! Can you believe it!? I just fell victim to his first Silent but Deadly fart..I am still in shock. I am sure this isn't the last because from experience, boys think this is the funniest fart alive. Especially to let your wife get caught in it at the car seat section of Target today and watch her blame it on the toddler, while checking her panties to see if she pooped... ugh! Now I am going to have two of those! They are never too young to become 100% boy are they??

After this happens, my brain starts working on how this is the perfect material for today. Whats better then farts on a mommy blog! I take a break before getting my daughter in p'js to run to my computer to jot some of this down so I don't forget it. I peek on the kids after a minute..and of course, my daughter was so kind to dump a baggy of Cheerios out in the laundry basket full of toys that need to go down the hall....and I quickly smell something again...I check her, all clear. I check him, and I was the lucky winner. Its not fair when I am the only one home, I get all the 'you smell it, you change it's" So I get ready for Round 2 of Crocodile Wrestling. This time it was a little more difficult, but at least I was not victim of another SBD. Its amazing how mom's manage not to get poop everywhere, while the wee ones wiggle, squirm, move, and toys that are used as diversion, end up being shoved in the diaper zone. How both of us manage to walk away(or crawl in his case)poop free really is amazing.

My night finishes with allowing the vacuum, aka dog, clean up the mess of cheerios. Laying a clean, freshly changed twice in 10 minutes, fart boy down in his bed. Wrangling a pleading-to sleep-in-the-chair 2 year old while carrying said child, 3 blankets, a towel, 3 puppies, 2 bears, a dolly, a carebear and 2 baby bottles down the hall to her bed. (All things mentioned were in the chair where she thought bed time should be) She laid happily in her bed inside her puppy sleeping bag with everything surrounding her, while we said her prayers and I turned out the light. Now its time for this tired mommy who didn't think she had anything worth blogging about, to finish up and go sit in the chair with her feet up while watching Wickedly Perfect :)

The kids did do well during Racing Stripes. They both fell asleep half way through so it was almost like getting to see a movie alone with my husband. Easton woke for the ending and sadly we tried to wake Haley and she wouldn't wake. She saw the credits rolling, and asked for the Zebra... :( But it was a very cute movie, it was a "feel good, make you want to find your own zebra to ride" kind of movie :) hehe

*baby wipes are not suitable for eating..but they are the sensitive touch hypoallergenic and alcohol free ones..so they can't be that bad can they? I also do NOT allow him to chew on them long, just long enough for changing a diaper and then I quickly remove it. It makes him happy. Do not try this at home unless you are a professional mommy :) hehe

What the numbers mean to me

It has been:

26 months. 2 years and 2 months of my life spent pumping milk with my pump in style breast pump

14 months 20 days that Haley was given breast milk.

11 months and 11 days that Easton was given breast milk.

792 days that I had to make time to pump every 4 hrs. In the beginning I pumped 8 times a day. Thats every 3hrs. I slowly dropped the night time pump and let myself get 6hrs of rest at night. I was making almost 3 gallons of milk a week. Most of which was dumped out after 1 year, because well Haley only drank milk in "cc's" there's 30 cc's in an ounce. She didn't make 1 ounce for quite awhile.When she came home she was at 2 ounces. So I had freezers full of the liquid gold. Soon she drank more, but I still had freezers full because I was giving her mostly fresh milk. I had milk all across town. My sister had some at her house, some at my in laws, some at the hospital. My cousin even stored some for awhile.

182 days that I didn't pump because I was pregnant with Easton.

3,960 times, I sat down in a chair, in bed, a car, a bathroom with pumpers aka "horns" attached to me.

59,400 minutes I sat looking/playing at the computer, eating lunch, talking on the phone, all while attached to the pump. I was amazing at pumping no handed!

thats a total of 990 hours spent attached to my breast pump, my trusty pump.

That would equal 41.5 days of straight pumping round the clock!

MOOOOOoooooo Just call me ol' Bessie! Which my husband often did. I was a milk cow. I felt like a milk cow. I have been milking for the last two years of my life. And when I was done for that short time..I was preparing to do it again. I was nursing Easton for about 4 months when he was first born, but I was pumping off and on during the day if we were gone, or at night so he could have a bottle too. He is almost a year, and this time around my supply was a lot lower. So I just decided that since he is almost one, I could stop now. I can't believe I am stopping, with out having a reason. Just because I want to, not because I am pregnant. Just because I want my boobies back. I want to go to women's retreat without taking my pump. Without being awarded "the maids a milking award". For once maybe I can try to get to bed before midnight. The last two years, I pumped before I went to sleep, so that meant as close as possible to 6-8hrs of sleep a night so I didn't need to wake up in the middle of the night to pump. I don't need to take the pump in the car with me if we are going to be longer then 5hrs.

Today. I am wrapping up the cord and putting the pumpers away. Today the pump is going into the closet. I am actually really sad about this. As time consuming it may have been, we worked it into our schedule. Strangely I had a lot of good memories with that pump. The days of Kyle letting me know it was time to go pump and sitting in the family room at the nicu. We looked through past preemie pictures, of babies who came and left the unit. We sat and talked about how well or not well Haley was doing. The times I woke up in the middle of the night, sat sleepily pumping, while I could tap Kyle awake and he would go wash the pump parts for me at 3am. So sweet. The time, I pumped in the hospital bathroom, while my family sat visiting my sister who just had her thyroid removed. Talk about weird. It became such second nature, that with Easton, family sat in my room after having him, while I pumped. It didn't bother anyone. I pumped by his bedside and in my vistors room. Pumping in the car..that was fun. haha I got so good at it, that I was able to do it all under a blanket with out anything being seen or knowing what I was doing. Except for that swooshing sound that is all too familiar now. Friends call.."Are you pumping again Bree?" The pump went camping with us, has gone to softball games, to California. That pump has gotten around. It was increasingly harder having two kids and trying to pump though. One would be turning it off and on, while the other was crying next to me.

Now its time to say good bye to my pump. My excuse to get 15 minutes of computer time because I have to. :) I am proud to say that I stuck it out, became a pumping pro, and all because I wanted to give my babies breastmilk. Since Haley was so early, it was important to me. I wasn't against formula, but since I made so much milk, why not give it to her. With Easton, it was just out of habit. The last few months he was getting half and half since I wasn't making as much. But it has been an accomplishment. Something I can say I have done. But don't get too sad yet. This pump will be back. Trust me, it will be back! :)

What do these numbers mean to you?

Here is a fun little game. What do you think these numbers mean?

26
792
182
3960
59400
990
41.5

answer coming soon..

The Phone is bad

So at 7:20 am this morning the phone rings. I hear Kyle say no, this is Kyle. My dad is at work. He is a machinist..call his cell phone..etc. So I asked who it was. Someone calling his dad about basketball reffing..and called Kyle by mistake. What a big mistake that man made. He woke my kids up. My kids who wake at 8:45-9. My kids who like sleep and are so busy they need sleep. They were up. You don't mess with a momma who has insomnia and doesn't get sleep anyway.. and is not a morning person. So now. My kids are sleeping. Haley fell asleep an hour ago. At 11. her nap is at one. Guess who isn't taking a nap at 1? and Easton he went down too and will be up anytime because he is still on schedule. So that means they will be off schedule with their naps. That man messed up my day. Not a nice man. So I think I should call him tomorrow just to say Hi, at say..oh 5 am :) Or maybe..I hope he gets a big pimple, because big pimples aren't fun. They are annoying. Like the phone call I got this morning.

what was I thinking?

I am making Easton's birthday invitations. I made Haley's the last two years, so its only right to make Easton's. Well its hard. Its hard when you have an idea in your head..and you won't stop til you get that perfect shot. I am still not 100% satisfied. I have taken probably 50 shots on my digital. But he is 11 months. Its hard when he is so wiggley and doesn't want to do what I ask. He will do it all day long, as long as I didn't ask it of him. Thats the way it goes. It's also hard to get help from Kyle when he has no idea what I am picturing in my head. So he has a foot in the way or he pulls the sheet down. So I think I will try one more time and if I don't get "the" shot I will go with one of the others I have taken. I have about 4 to choose from, all with different sayings. I will show you the ones I am choosing from later. I was also trying to search for the ones I have done for Haley. But, I am on my way to Awana and need to find something to wear. Tonight is dress like your favorite sport. Gee is MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) considered a sport? Because that show is pretty funny. I wonder how I could dress up..I could pick something from one of the many challengers...haha. Probably not suitable for 4 year olds. I think I will just wear one of Kyle's football jerseys. Should I go with Willamette? Sure. why not. :)

Butterflies

BIG. GIANT. HUGE. Butterflies. The ones the size of Texas. In my belly. They are so big they barely fit and are now stuck. in. my. throat.

You may wonder why I am being overwhelmed with butterflies. You see, I just got an email from March of Dimes. WalkAmerica is just around the corner. Last year our team Heaven's Hope raised over $1000 dollars. We were the Top New Team in our city. I recieved a letter congratualting us on a job well done. I was also asked if I would consider being the ambassador family for 2005. I thought about it, and with alot of support of family and friends, we decided that we would love to share our story. What was I thinking!? I love March of Dimes, I love WalkAmerica, I support them in memory of Ashlyn and in honor of Haley. I want to share my story, because sadly there are many just like mine. But. I just don't know if I can do this. The part where the butterflies starting growing out of control was the part where she said, " I definitely would like for you to speak at WalkAmerica about your experience and at the Kickoff." Thats where the butterflies lodged in my throat. Speak? I knew I had to speak..but am I ready? Can I speak in front of so many people and talk about my girls, talk about how I went into labor so early..and we did all we could..and we lost the fight with Ashlyn, and we watched Haley beat all odds.

The magic of medical technology tremondously helped my daughter. March of Dimes funded research which lead to surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress syndrome in 1985. Both my girls had surfactant. Without it, we wouldn't have Haley. We don't know why I went into labor too soon. The only reason I was given was "twins", and with Easton, the only reason was, I had a previous preterm pregnancy. One of MOD's main focus right now is finding the cause of premature birth, so many cases go unknown, like mine, and no one else is working harder then March of Dimes to find the cause. I will try my hardest to help support them in this search. I would like to have an answer as would many other parents.

So yes, maybe I can tell my story. Maybe with my husband by my side and my little miracles at my feet, we can tell a room full of people that through heartache, determination and prayer, we survived. Haley survived against all odds. Ashlyn will live on in our hearts and through our story. And as a friend said, "The Lord opened this opportunity for you, NOW just finish walking through the door"...I think she is right. This is something that will be wonderful for us to share.

I am sure I will find the strength and courage when the day comes. But for now, you get to hear of my panic attacks and butterflies that are eating at my stomach! What goes on in your mind and what you think you can do and what you actually have to do are two very different worlds.

You can click the link on the right and it will take you to our WalkAmerica Website :)

Stick with what ya like.

You know, I should learn by now. Stick with what I like. Stick with what works. We went to a picture place today to get pictures done of the kids. I decided to go because they were having a good coupon for a free 8x10 and some valentines day cards. I am a member there, and had a free sheet left. I love their cupid costume, and have always wanted to have one of my children in it. Its always seemed better suited for a boy, now I have one, so what perfect timing. Well I remembered why I decided never to go back. Its the quality of their photographers in our area. You know what kind of pictures you are going to get, when the girl doesn't even talk to my kids, or tries to be friendly with them, she asks me their names, their age, and then says "humm, well lets see if we can get them to take good pictures" in a negative tone. As if she was just expecting them to be hard. We get them in position, she waves a "tickle stick" in their faces, and says smile. Nothing. She does it again, Easton looks down instead, Haley tries to grab it. Not working. She stands there, so Kyle and I step in. We had to do so much work making noises, moving the kids, playing peek a boo, and basically doing her job, for her to MISS good opportunities. There were a few that were perfect, if she would have clicked the button! I also told her it was ok to take some if they were looking down, and it was sweet looking. Did she? No. I don't think she even took 5 different poses. Haley decided she wasn't smiling for this lady, and Easton had enough of her shoving a feather duster in his face. I told her we had enough. We came back an hour later to only 3 poses. I knew she took more of certain poses, and whats annoying, is that they decide what is "good" enough. So maybe I wanted to see the one where Haley was pushing her brother out of her lap, and he was crying. Because that is real life! haha So anyway, it made the decision to not buy more then we should even easier. And when the other girl was putting them in the bag she got into a conversation with another worker about the brand new cell phone, still in box, that was left on the counter..that she forgot to cut off the wallets and instead put the whole sheet in..so I got 2 - 5x7's that they normally throw away! Thank you to whoever it was who left their phone behind :) I got a bonus! My membership is up in March, and I am happy to say that I will not be going back there anytime soon. Not unless I get some great incentives. I am going to be happily going to JCP where Tina LOVES my children and they smile for her.

Here are the pictures we got. They are ok. There are a few things that I don't like, and maybe I am just too picky now. But oh well. I only paid 10 bucks for 4 sheets, that would have cost me 72 dollars! *choke*

Ahh...aren't they cute? If she would have waited a second longer, Haley would have been hugging him.

This is as good as the close up got.

And now..for the best one of all. The one that just shows how good their photographers are..the one that daddy did....not the girl who works there... hahaha

Just classic. Classic. The other one she took wasn't that cute at all. They showed us it instead, with this one printed in only an 8x10 inside, as if it wasn't that good. Well they were wrong. This was better then the other one. :)

Well, so now I know. Don't mess with a good thing. :)

White Noise

You know, tv static. Radio static. I was never afraid of it before. Now I am. Last night I went to the movies to see White Noise. Not by complete choice. Kyle was reffing til late, my parents so wonderfully watched the kids for me to get out of the house. My sister and her best friend K came by and picked me up, we met 5 other ladies at Applebee's, an hour late. We sat down and asked what movie we were going to see. The excitedly said Meet the Fockers. I slightly groan. I love Meet the Fockers. Don't get me wrong. But this would make it the THIRD weekend in a ROW that I would have seen it. I went with my mom, we had a date. It was soooo hilarious. I knew my husband would love it! So we went with another couple that we are really good friends with. It was even just as hilarious as the first time I saw it, with one side note, I knew what was going to happen. Not so fun. So seeing it the THIRD time..I just didn't think I could do it. We suggested a few other movies..all poo poo'd. My sister and K kept suggesting White Noise. The group said NO WAY. But were ok with us splitting up. We said..no no, so the plan was to meet them there, since we came late and weren't done eating yet. When we got done, it was movie start time, it was decided that I really didn't need to see it again, and the other two really didn't want to see it, and they were itching to see White Noise. So off to Old Navy and Starbucks and Childrens Place to kill some time. I got some great deals at Old Navy, Which normally I don't find anything very cheap. But I got Easton a snow suit for 4.99! I justified spending that because he doesn't have one, and in case we *might* just get snow this winter...the one time he wears it would be totally worth it! haha I also got him a few shirts and Haley a sweatshirt. When I was in line, I came to the conclusion I have completely crossed over to being a "Mom". I no longer buy things for myself normally, because, well my kids are cute and they look cute wearing clothes. :)

So off to the movie. It was late. We called the sister of K and she and her daughter met up with us. We were late. As usual. We sat in the very front row side, which kind of distorts the peoples faces and makes it hard to read if there are words. It also makes you feel sick to your stomach if they do fast moving camera work. But that didn't matter because I looked through a grid of my fingers most the time. You see, I have become a big baby when it comes to scary movies. They scare me now. I wasn't the only one. 4 out of the 5 of us, slunk down in our seats and covered our ears and eyes. This was just down right freaky. I don't want to tell much of the story..because that would ruin it if you saw it. But I will say it had to do with White Noise of the radio and TV, and it makes me want to try to hear people..or see images of those who passed over..but then I learned that it wouldn't be a good idea. So we screamed and jumped, then we heard people laugh. We realized they were laughing at us. Being in the front row kinda sucks. People see you. :) What happened after the movie is what really freaked us out, we were the last in the theatre. As we were walking out I said "Wouldn't it be freaky if the big screen went to static all of a sudden?" Just then there was a loud clanking noise. We screamed and ran. You know when you watch a movie..the sides move away from it to make it bigger. Well they closed. But we then had to freak ourselves out all the way to the car. As we approached my sisters Explorer, freaking ourselves out, her alarm goes off...we scream. She accidently hit the panic button when she was unlocking it. As we made our way home, we stopped by to pick up K's daughter lil' K. We thought it would be funny to set up static on the radio while K went to the door and I would hit un mute on the radio from the back as we drove away. So as we set it up, and freaking out because we heard voices on it. The digital clock turned midnight. Just a few seconds later, the automatic doors LOCKED. We freaked out! Still do not know why that happened. We tried to justify it..and tried it again..and it didn't do it. FREAKY! So they get back in the car and I do the little trick. K screams..and now we have totally freaked her daughter out. haha So lil' K would not move so I could get out and I had to crawl over her. hehe I get safely inside my house, and then can NOT sleep because I am freaked out. I think I had a nightmare. haha

But that was my night, and I learned not to mess with white noise :)

Trust your instincts...

I laid Easton down for a nap. I changed his diaper, and thought twice about putting back on his pants. I thought to myself, "Self, nah.. don't worry about pants. No need for pants. He won't poop, and if he does..we haven't had a blow out in months" So pause right there. Biggest mistake was "he won't poop" you see you would think I would learn by now. When it comes to children and a thought crosses your mind...about 95% of the time it happens. I heard the little man banging on his wall, so I knew he was up. I went in and the first thing that came to mind was, "ohhh it smells like poop in here, eew" 2nd thought that followed.."hope it wasn't a blow out since he has no pants on" well you see. You just don't think these things..because you usually find what you thought.

Poop up his back, on his blankets, on his bumper, on the outside of his diaper..so I carried him straight to the tub..as his little body wiggled towards mine and I held him further away. I removed his clothing and turned for a second to grab a wipe..and I thought " don't move.." you see a pattern here??? of course he moved..and sat right on top of my foot and bath mat! so yup, poop there to. I get him cleaned. I start the wash and get the soiled things in. Now he is happily playing in the playroom with me, while I type this.

Just try not to think these thoughts, because I tell ya, they happen! Happy thoughts..non messy thoughts....keep it positive! hehe

Friday

Sometimes there are a few things I want to talk about , so it makes giving the post a title hard. So today is just Friday.

Today was mom 2 mom. Haley woke up warm. And really not looking well. As a mom you just know when your baby doesn't feel well and she gave me all the signs. I could see it in her eyes. So Kyle agreed to take her with him to work so I could still go to the moms group since, I am in charge of craft and all. Its important I am there. As I am getting my things out of the car, I notice Haley starts crying..and you guessed it. She barfed. So there goes our plan. Kyle took both kids back home. He is such a sweetheart. I am happy his job allows him to do this. So I went to mom 2 mom.

Where....I met Leslie! Ohhh and she is just as sweet, kind, and wonderful as she is in her blog! And her little baby!! Ohhh little Lauren is so precious! You don't know how hard it was not to call her LB. haha I am so happy that she came today. I really hope she had a good time, and that she comes back again :) We talked about getting together when it gets nicer out and walk :) We live pretty close to each other, what are the chances..to meet through Erin's blog and to be within a mile of each other in the same city! I wish I could have talked to her more..but being craft leader..makes it hard during the time we could talk alot. Hopefully next time. I was so happy to meet her!

Well now its 3 pm. Kids are napping and I have done NOTHING. sad isn't? I better do something and move Haley to her room so she doesn't wake too early. :)

Caught in the act!

So the other day we noticed we were on a slight bottle shortage. Kyle moved Easton's crib, and he heard a clunk..clunk, clunk. As if a few somethings had fallen. So he dropped down and looked under the crib. There lay 3 empty bottles. Well now that makes sense..I was wondering where they were going. So today, while Easton was going down for a nap, I kept hearing a clanging noise. It wasn't Haley she was playing in the living room. It sounded like someone was in a closet. The light bulb went on and I made my way to Easton's room, where I heard babbling and the clanging noise louder. I opened the door, he froze, then turned and looked at me. He was banging his bottle up against the wall..trying to, from my perspective, get the bottle between the crib and wall. What a little goober. Now I know I need to look under the crib, and I will know exactly how the bottles got there, which is amazing, because the space between isn't that wide!

Bye Bye Poopy!

Todays topic, is once again. POOP. Yup. That is one of the many things mothers face each day. Its a fact of life. And the day that it can be flushed down instead of wiped with many wipeys..is a good day. Very good day. The princess finally pooped on the potty. She has had a mental block lately and its been frustrating since she has done it before and she knows when she has to go. So when she tells me she has to go..and she wants to in my toilet not hers.. I let her. She finally went and I, of course, did a fancy poopy dance and then she said bye bye poopy! as we flushed. She then ran to her bathroom asking for the candy that was pinned to the wall that has been taunting her until she went poop on the potty.

Here is a little song I found on the wonderful world wide web to dedicate this day, as Poopy day!

Poop in the potty

What a glorious Tuesday!

What to blog about.

Mondays are just like that. We all got up, laid around in our jammies, played, watched cartoons. I was able to get some scrapping done. *pat self on back* I have had no motivation to do any pages in some time. So to do a few today, I am proud. It helps when the pages I did had christmas card photos on them. Its kinda like cheating. You know all the cute cards you get from friends and family with a picture and a holiday greeting. I have always talked about scrapping them and today. I did it. So I cut out the pictures and the message and put them all on a page. I have a few categories. Family. September 2002 expecting/playgroup. March 2004 expecting/playgroup. & The NICU fabulous five. Its nice now that I have those cards on a page to display in my book. To see how much everyone has changed and grown. I like it. Now to find last years...

I didn't shower until 8 tonight. Thats a Monday for ya. Alot of you know what I am talking about. Just one of those days that somethings get put on the back burner. I did get alot done today, folded some clothes, got most of Haley's baby book filled in, (horrible I know, I have put it off for almost 3 years, because of many reasons..one, how do you have a baby book for one when at birth there were two. Everything was written down in a calendar, or on the computer or my journal, so it wasn't hard to find. But I just didn't know how to put it in there. so today I just did it.) I also bathed the kids, made dinner, scrapped, got the mail, worked out. Yes I worked out. Kyle worked out with me. We are starting 17 days late of our new year resolutions. I hate resolutions. But we started today. It was nice. Even better, I took a shower. Why is a shower so great you ask? Well I took it after the kids were in bed. That means, I didn't have an interuppted 10 solid minutes. Haley didn't get in with me, Easton didn't take one with me, I was alone. When I got out, I found a face mask. Yup. I pampered myself. I did a peel off face mask. And can you believe this...I had time to put on LOTION, ALL OVER. This is amazing people. My skin is soft. My face feels rejuvenated. If my hair didn't look so funky when it dries I would consider doing this every night. But when 9 am rolls around.. this head has one crazy do.

I also watched SuperNanny. I wonder if she has my number. I should check. Not that my kids are horrible. OR that I am horrible at raising them. But tonights show, I saw alot of the princess. I saw alot of suggestions from the nanny I could try. Difference was, that I already do a lot of what she suggested to these parents and sometimes my toddler still doesn't listen. I think I need a naughty chair. We tried the time out chair, but big key difference - its a chair she also uses as a play chair. SO I think I am defeating my purpose. New stool on my shopping list. I also have to work on my tone of voice. I am consistant, I don't let her get away with things, I don't give in. But I think my tone needs work. I also think, I let her see I am stressed. I only wished the episodes would show more of the how to's, or something. I didn't feel as a viewer I got alot of detail. I want details. I want to know what their routine was. Not just there was one on the wall. I want super nanny to make me a routine. I also want to be organized.

Right now outside, its 58 degrees, just the other night it was freezing, literally. The weather man even commented on how funky it was. That only means one thing. Earthquake. I have always had this theory that when an area has such extreme weather pattern, cold to warm..very quickly, it does something to upset the earth. Creating indigestion so to speak. My theory has never been tested, nor has it been correct that I know of. But it sounds like it could be true.

Enough of my midnight ramblings.. :)

Good Morning Sunshine..

oh wait..thats for a different day...hehe

How about Ice Ice Baby...too cold too cold... ok so I am a dork. :)

So grab some coffee or hot chocolate and sit by a heater and check out these icy pictures.


Our Frozen car...icicles not included.


Icy recycle :)


Icy Tiki Tiki wind chime from Disneyland


Haley and Bear..staying warm inside, sorry about the *just* panties..we are potty training..hey its easier that way!

Not sure if we will be getting more ice or maybe snow. Or if it will melt. The news is always wrong one way or another. This is definitely not as bad as it was last new years! We had inches of ice with inches of snow then another inch of ice on top! It looked like this..

and..this..

and the deadly walkway...


Hope you are all staying warm today! Do a snow dance for me..I would love love to have some snow. We have not had one flake this winter and its starting to depress me. We always have a few inches by now!

11 months old

My sweet little boy. Yesterday you turned 11 months old. I can NOT believe in 4 weeks we will be celebrating your First Birthday. I don't know where the time has gone. I still look at you as 9.5 months old..because. Well. It makes me feel better knowing you are still a little baby instead of a soon-to-be toddler. So I don't feel as sad that you are growing up so fast.

What a cute lil' basketball player..

You have been sleeping through the night. Finally. Its taken you awhile to get the hang of it. You also have become a speed crawler getting to the things you want in a flash. You discovered that when you stand up..your legs actually move and you can walk around furniture and toys. You also love pushing your hippo that eats your blocks. Your new fun skill is walking while holding my fingers.

Score!
You have 8 teeth. 8! Which help in your food munching skills. You eat anything and everything. There is not one picky bone in your body and you prefer to feed yourself! You get angry and slap the tray when I am trying to spoon the food in. So I let you do it yourself. You get messy, but hey, thats part of the fun. You boycotted baby food. I can't get anything near your mouth that even looks like it, you thought I was trying to trick you when I made potato soup. Honest, it was good, and just because it looked like baby food. It wasn't. You love green beans! My mom told me that I did too. She use to open a can of them and give them to me as a snack. I am doing the same for you too.
I know..I shouldn't have done that. No excuses. hehe

You were weighed 3 weeks ago and you were 19lbs 4 oz. I am betting you are 20 lbs now. Or at least so close. I don't doubt that next month you will be in a new car seat. That infant one is getting kinda hard to carry around! What a whole new world for you to sit forward facing. I bet you will love it!

Ribbon is so fun!
You can wave, and I have been trying to teach you sign language. I think you signed milk the other day and all done. I am very proud. I am going to work harder at being consistant and I am sure you will pick them up. You are a smart cookie. You say mama, and dada, and hi. But of course will not do them on command. Figures. :)

You love watching sports with your daddy, and you love playing with your sister. You favorite thing is to be a "little brother". You take your job seriously. The other day she had 3 towels with her. You crawled over and grabbed one. She took it back. So you grabbed a different one. She screamed, and grabbed it back. So you grabbed the other one she let go.. then it was tug or war over the next you grabbed. This game went on forever. You also crawl on her while she is watching cartoons and you growl while grabbing her hair and biting her. She giggles. So I let you continue.
Just too cute!
You have shown you CAN giggle. For the longest time you were a silent giggle boy. Your mouth would open and you would smile but nothing came out. Now, ohhh the giggles are constant and so adorable. I love the sound.

Tell my mom to clean the lense! smudges!

You are such a blessing. I am so happy you are in our family. It wouldn't be the same without you. I still can not believe you are 11 months old. I am sure I will be freaking out in 4 weeks when I say you are ONE! (but I can fool myself and say..BUT really he is 10.5 months old..hehe Some day I am gonna have to let that go. :)

Haley's advice tip # 1

Yes, you really do need all this stuff in bed. Its better that way. You sleep better.

Now what?

Haley and I had a conversation that went like this:

Mommy: Haley..you need to stop right now.

Haley : (giggles)

a more annoyed mommy: Haley, you need to listen to me, mommy said stop. Do I need to give you a spanken?

Haley: (rolls to the side, and slaps her own behind) NO!

Mommy: (trying to not laugh hysterically) Thank you.

Daddy in background covering his laugh with his hand...and Haley looks at me with her HUGE grin and giggles.

Mommy ponders to herself. Great, there goes spankings. Now what? Man, do I have some serious authority or what?!

You caption the picture below..haha

OK since no one played along and captioned the photo..I will tell you. Easton was looking for food...since that is his favorite thing to do now, and his big sister came by and saw him in there, and decided that a brother who lived in the fridge would be more fun, so she attempted to slam the door on him to keep him in there..I have reflexes like a cat and grabbed the door before it hit him. So there were no tears. :)Mommies are quick like that, daddy thought it would be a funnier picture if he had been squished...jesh!



No babies were harmed in the taking of this picture. Daddy was behind the camera and that is my arm and I was able to grab the door before he was crushed by it. LOL!

Here's your sign...

Conjuctivitis. Yup. New illness to add to the list of Easton sickies. I noticed the green goop and the crusties yesterday. Blah. My eyes feel sticky. So I think I will just treat all of us with the eye drops just. in. case.

But, why is it I had to talk to two stupid people in one day? I called the doctor I don't want to see anymore, out of convenience since I haven't become patients of anyone else. We talked over the phone. He told me he would call in a prescription and to only put one drop of medicine in one of Easton's eyes, to check for irritation or blurred vision. OK. Stop right there. Are you being serious? You think my 10.5 month old could tell me he has blurred vision!!?? WOW that would be awesome if he could communicate he has blurred vision so that way, I can make sure I stop giving him the drops. He would be a baby genius! I can see it now, "Mom, about 10 minutes after giving me the eye drop in my left eye, it started getting blurry, and now I am having trouble seeing out of it. Please discontinue use."

Just hours later, when I picked up the prescription, the pharmacist came over to give me info on the meds. Can you believe he actually told me to make sure I put the drops in his eyes when they are open. Because you know, for a second I was actually thinking about putting the drops on his eyelids when he was sleeping. Because. That would make so much more sense!

Maybe it was my mood yesterday. But come on people, here's your sign!

Buttercream

Has anyone smelled the candles that smell like buttercream frosting..where you just want to lick the candle wax..hoping it tastes just as it smells? ohhh its just so yummy!

Well I found some to actually lick. No its not a candle. But its Betty Crockers Whipped frosting. I decided to make a cake because I wanted to use the frosting..and I shouldn't have because I want to eat the frosting in one sitting. I could eat it all. Honest. Dare me? hehe

Its so good. Too bad I have to put it on the cinnamon swirl cake I made with apples. I made it in my handy dandy pan on my stove.. it is an apple cinnamon swirl heavenly cake. I don't know if it will taste good but it smells good. and if it doesn't then more frosting for me. yummm!

Let the games begin...

We are potty training. The time has come, since New Years Eve she has been going in the potty 80% during the day. Night is a different story. We haven't braved that yet. So Sunday, we took her to the store and let her pick out some brand new panties! I was hyping it all up to get her really excited about it. I laid in front of her 4 packs in her size..My Little Pony, Pooh Bear, Care Bears, and Princesses. I was all excited because *I* had My Little pony and Care Bear panties growing up! Anyway..she looked and held..each one. Put them all down and went for the Thomas the train undies. She was shouting "choo choo!" "want choo!Choo!" Did you know for a second I actually thought about letting her get the little boy undies? I kept thinking..if it will help her go in the potty..what the hay! It wouldn't harm anything..but then those girly mommy feelings came back and I thought..hell no! She is two! She can get girly panties! Why though I asked..why don't they have train panties? Why are they just for boys? Girls can't like trains? So I redirected her to the 4 I picked out..and she took forever to decide.. again, don't let your toddler make decisions..ever. I followed her around the area asking if she wanted Care bears..or ponies...she wasn't listening. She found a Care Bear stuffed animal on the shelf. So I said..do you want the Care Bear? and showed her the panties again, she pointed at the care bear ones.. So I said ok..those are the ones!! YAY!! I also bought her the care bear to go with them..they matched..It was Cheer Bear :)

So now we are trying really hard to keep this potty thing going. She took a nap yesterday (not on purpose) with out a diaper on..she slept for 3.5 hrs..and did not pee her bed! I woke her up and sat her on the toilet..more then half asleep peed on command. I was impressed. So day 4 of training here we go...

Happy New Year!

The day or so have been busy. New Years eve we had a house full. We played bunko with about an hour to spare til midnight! we had 14 adults and 10 little kids in my house :) Only one who fell asleep early was Easton. How he slept through the noise I do not know. We had alot of fun with family and friends. What a great way to ring in the new year. We had a little fireworks, noise makers and lots of food :)

We spent our new years day at my grandparents house to have a wonderful brunch, which we normally have at Christmas but they were out of town. So today it was. Then this evening we went to my parents to have the tradional irish good luck meal, consisting of everything boiled..ham, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, black eyed peas and corn bread. As long as I eat a little bit of everything I should have good luck in the year ahead of us. So I made sure I had a bite of cabbage and turnips. Easton definantly did not get my pickyness towards food. The boy ate so much of it all! He is amazing to watch eat. I don't know where he puts it all. hehe Haley on the other hand.. she enjoyed her ham with dip(ketchup) and that was it.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years Day!