Life with Baby

It's a God Thing.......

2009-01-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

That's what keeps replaying in mind. It's what a lady at Walmart said yesterday...... something that brought tears to my eyes...

I'd seen the lady walking across the aisle at one point. But I had no idea she was going to be behind me in the checkout line. Here's the story.......

I went to Walmart with $15.00 cash to buy bottle liners and some jarred baby food, and another thing or so for Justin. I needed milk and eggs. Then I saw some other things I needed and knew that I could use my debit card for the rest. It wouldn't be that much. I needed dog food and some cream for this crazy skin problem that my husband and I have.

Well, after I put the dog food in the cart, I decided to double check to make sure I knew where my debit card was. hmmm. No debit card. Not the one from the particular bank that actually had money in it. I had another debit card but I didn't know at that moment how much THAT bank account had in it. Probably nothing.

So, I started putting the dog food back, the creams back, etc. I thought, "OK, this should still be covered by the $15.00 cash.

I got to the register and I watched my bill go to $19.

Uh-oh. I gave the cashier my $15 and pulled out the debit card that I was really unsure of. And sure enough, the cashier quietly slipped me a piece of paper from the register that let me know it wouldn't take that card.

I gave her back $4.00 worth of groceries which happened to be the milk and eggs. She was giving me back 9 cents when the lady that I'd seen earlier and who HAPPENED to be about 4 behind me, came all the way up to me and told me that she'd buy what I had to put back.

I looked at her and told her she didn't have to do that. She said "It's ok, it's a God thing...."

At that moment, my eyes started puddling and I was trying to hold back, but the tears slipped out anyway.

She told me to just pull forward and when she paid for her things she'd pay for mine.

I waited for a while because like I said, she was about 3-4 people behind me. It's hard to imagine how she saw everything that happened between me and the cashier from that distance. And for that matter, I was trying to keep it low-key.

Anyway, she told the cashier she was paying for what I couldn't and the lady rang up the items. I slowly reached for my bags. She said for me to go ahead and take them. It was alright.

She looked at me so confident and bold and glowing and said to me these words: God loves you! He will always provide for you. You just raise your boys right." I hugged her and felt like I'd known her forever. All I could do was thank her several times. I couldn't say anything else.

I don't know her name, but I do know that we had a God thing going on...........

He does provide. He provides the way He wants to in His time.

Another good, yet challenging day!

2008-11-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

The next few posts are posts that I started during November and December, but never finalized. You know how it goes: 2 1/2 yr old, 1 yr old, trying to keep up the house, let alone keep up the blog. So at this moment I have a chance to "finalize" my drafts from earlier!!
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I emailed mom last night to see if she wanted to go to the mall with us today (Fri). She said yes.

So she came over here about 10:30am today and we went to the mall.

When we got there, we noticed the Christmas band starting to play. It looked like the Salvation Army people were going to be speaking at a particular time. I don't know for sure, but that's what it looked like.

I wanted Joshua to have a good time so he rode the rides that are in the middle of the mall. A motorcycle, a Ninja Turtle doodad, a helicopter, and a car. And a boat. Then we walked down to Books-A-Million where they have that nifty little kids section with the Thomas the Tank Engine railroad to play with in the middle of the store.

Oh man. He was having a BALL! Then daddy came in the store after he called me and found out where we were. He was on lunch so he wanted to see his little boys.

After a while though, we had to leave and that was NOT a popular idea with Josh. Daddy had to be the bad guy and get him out of the store.

So we all left, daddy went back to work and we went to IHOP. I don't know why I thought it was going to be easy.

I had Joshua who didn't want to sit down. Here's the conversation:

Me: Ok, baby, sit down in your big boy seat.
Josh: *Sits down.
Josh: *Gets out.
Me: Josh, sit in your seat.
Josh: Cain't get in.
Me: Yes you can.
Josh: Cain't get in. Stuck.
Me: Why?
Josh: Cain't get in.
*Struggles
Josh: *goes over to the window at the end of the booth.
Me: Josh, get in your seat.

And so on..............

Overall, it was a good day, but boy was it challenging................... When Josh "cain't" do something.

The past few days......

2008-11-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

has been pretty iffy with Joshua.

He's almost 3 yrs old. Will be in February.

He has toys that has been "his" for so long. And he wants them to stay "his" and nobody elses. He's had attention that was "his" and nobody elses.

Until now.

I know I've posted it here before, but he totally wants to be the baby again. He wants his toys to stay his and he wants the attention of course. He wants his crib, he wants his pack-n-play, he wants to eat baby oatmeal.

He doesn't want to poop in the potty. He LOVES to hear about the Thomas the Tank big boy pants, but when he feels like he has to "go," we tell him he needs to go to the potty, and he says uh-uh. And continues to go in his diaper. He runs from the potty when he has to go.

But he WILL go get the potty and put the lid down and step on it to get to the sink. Or he WILL sit on it when he knows he doesn't have to go.

He acts up and definitely gets attention, but not the good kind.

Yesterday, it didn't take much and he went into a pretty rough mood. I took them out to Chick-Fil-A yesterday and Justin fell asleep. It was his naptime anyway, so we went on and I got to spend time with Joshua. We even got icecream.

When supper time came, I tried hard to make sure he had the supper he likes but is good for him too. We all sat down to eat, except for Daddy who wasn't here and wasn't going to be here until 10-11pm last night. I'd been telling him every so often, "I love you Josh." So when I stepped away from the table a minute, he called me back and said "Tell Josh."

I looked at him and said "Tell Josh what?" Then I got in front of him face to face and said "I love you, Josh." That's the only thing I could figure he wanted me to say.....again. Then he said it again, "Tell Josh." I told him "I love you Josh."

His big brown eyes let me know that he was soon going to be back to Joshua again.

Last night after supper, I gave them a bath and got them ready for bed. I told Josh to go ahead and get in his bed and as soon as I got Justin in his crib, I'd be in there to read him whatever books he wanted to read. So off we went.

I got Justin to sleep and I went in there to read to Josh. He told me to get in. So I crawled up on the bed and we sat there and talked! Talked about Christmas, Thomas the Train, trains in general.

He was the happy Josh I was used to. Then we heard the rattle of daddy's keys in the door.

He and Daddy are still working on it. They need a full day out all by themselves!
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His first haircut!

2008-11-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'd been a bit antsy about my littlest big man who was soon going to need his very first haircut. Joshua's first haircut, he didn't want to sit in the seat by himself, but when he sat in our lap, he was very still. The stylists were in awe with how well behaved he was.

But Justin's personality is different. He's very active and all I could see in my mind was him sitting in either my husband's or my lap and wanting down the whole time. I could see him turning from side to side trying to see what the stylist was doing. I could see his hair gapped up because he just would NOT be still!

Well, we took Justin to JCPenny's hairsalon today. All 4 of us went.

When we got there, my husband looked at the back of Joshua's pants and they were soaked! Not because of a diaper leak, but because he accidentally spilled his drink down the side of his carseat down toward his pants. I asked the lady there if they had a dryer and I was thinking hair dryer. Little did I know that she would take me to a clothes dryer. I had no clue there was a washer and dryer there, but it all makes sense now!

Anyway, I drift.

The sweet stylist got Justin a booster seat. To my surprise, he sat in it. Also to my surprise, he didn't keep turning and turning like I'd pictured in my brain. He sat for the most part still. He looked up at her a time or so and got her tickled, but he was basically still. He didn't try to get down. He didn't cry.

He sat there looking cute as could be only looking around at here just a very few times. Of course when he looked at her quickly, she had to move quickly around because she had his hair between her fingers.

To my surprise, his hair was NOT gapped up because of any twisting and turning. She did a beautiful job on his hair and he was a champ!

Of course, we have his first hair that we'll file away just like we did Joshua's hair.

And of course, I took SEVERAL pictures. But they didn't mind. They knew I'm a mommy!!

Whoa. It's been a while!

2008-11-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm finally sitting down here with a cup of hot chocolate, my husband hasn't come home yet, and both boys are in bed. I'm glad they've been easy to work with while my husband has been working late for a few night.

My Josh is such the big man. But he still tends to go back to his "younger days" when he was in his crib, in his pack-n-play, in his bouncy seat....back when he crawled and pulled up. That's only been a little over a year ago!

He sees his little brother, Justin, who is now 11 months old, doing all these things and getting positive attention that he decides he's going to do it.

He loves to get in the pack-n-play with Justin. They get in there for probably a good 20 minutes and just play and "read" books. This is good while I'm trying to get a few things done in the kitchen. I just pull the pack over into the dining room and put them in it. We talk in between their reading.

While Josh wants to do whatever Justin does, he's also learned his A-B-Cs and 1-2-3's up to about 30 or so. He knows his shapes and colors and does educational games quite well on the computer. He's familiar with the A-B-C Bible verses too.

Thing is, nobody would really believe me because if I ask him to do it for me in front of someone else, he just sits there or says "can't" or "hard." Maybe one day he'll surprise me. We go over alot of this stuff and we do it in front of Justin. Justin hears it and should pick it up little bit by little bit.

Now. Justin. He's quite a character. They BOTH are, but Justin - he laughs alot. This past week and a half, he's started crawling up the one step that goes from the living room up into the hallway. Or from the dining room to the kitchen. Off he goes exploring. He walks well holding on the couch. He just hasn't got the nerve to let go yet. He stands there in front of me or my husband while we try to coax him away from his comfort zone and he just bounces and bounces and smiles and claps and then he slowly sinks to the floor and crawls to us. I know he'll walk to us pretty soon.

Justin is like a little turtle. Not as in speed, but as in head strong. When he's headed somewhere and I turn him around because it's somewhere he doesn't need to go, he turns right around goes back. He does this several times in a row. He wants to go where he wants to go. Of course, I'm persistent too because I don't want him hurt.

Then there is the morning that I ask my husband to feed Justin breakfast because I need to run grab a shower. I feed him the first couple of bites, then my husband takes over. Justin looks and takes maybe one bite, then bursts out crying! My husband is shocked. He tries to feed him again and Justin just will not eat. Then I go over and feed him a couple more bites then asks my husband to try again.

Same thing happens again! Justin looks at him and cries. My husband just walks off.

So I'm thinking whats the difference here besides the fact that I'm the momma and he's used to me feeding him? I don't know. But when I asked my husband where his cap was, he looked at me funny. I asked him to put on his cap and try again. My husband put on his cap, sat down and continued to feed Justin.

Go figure.....

Then there's the other time I was holding Justin and he reached up and took off my glasses. I looked at him and quietly said "no-no." I didn't raise my voice. Maybe I startled him when I didn't do my usual smile. Cause he looked at me, raised his eyes to the ceiling while his face was changing.....and he cried so hard!!

I'll probably have to work with him a little differently than I do Josh. Actually, I'm still learning with Josh. Sometimes I handle situations right and sometimes I don't. I know I handle it right when his response is positive and we both come up smiling. If I don't, we're just both frustrated.

But still, it looks like Justin may be extra sensitive.

Oh yeah, before I forget. There are alot of mornings (even tho it hasn't happened alot this week) that Josh gets on up and comes in where we are and hops in the bed with us. Its just for the last couple of hours.

When he's able to do that, he's in a pretty good mood most of the day.

But one morning, Justin just happened to be up first (around 7am or so )and I had him on the bed with us. Josh did his usual run down the hall and when he got to the end of the hall and saw us, his ENTIRE face changed. He came on it, but it went downhill from there. All day.

So it's interesting how much those little guys are like adults. When any little bit of the morning routine is off, so is the rest of the day.

"Have it!": Part 2

2008-10-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

If you read my previous post, you'll notice that my little "Josh Man" wants everything he sees.

AND this INCLUDES food!

This little guy will try anything! He still loves his broccoli casseroles, mac and cheese casseroles, and squash casseroles.

But he surprised us one day when we were eating. My husband had some hot pickles he was eating with his meal. It just wouldn't do for Joshua. He HAD to try one. And he holds out his hands. Here's the conversation on THIS one!

Joshua: Try it! Pickle.

Me: But baby, you probably won't like these pickles. They are very hot!

Joshua: Want it.

Me: They are HOT baby.

Hubby: They are very hot. You won't like them.

Joshua: Getting upset. Want it!

My husband and I looked at each other and were in agreement to just let him find out himself how hot those pickles were. He handed Joshua the pickle. Josh smiles and is excited.

And he bites down and chews. And looks over at me and goes "Oh."

And he continues to chew and swallow. It doesn't bother him!

My hubby and I looked at each other in amazement.

Joshua also LOVES bread in any form. Loaf bread, biscuits, hamburger buns. Just bread.

If we are eating and he's already finished his meal, but he sees one of us with bread somewhere on our plates, he wants some. Or he'll ask to get down and he'll go to the person and get on his lap and start trying to pinch off our bread.

He'll eat the hamburger bun right off the meat!

He did try hamburger helper (with turkey) one day, but he didn't finish. I told him if he wanted a jelly sandwich, I'd fix it. I didn't expect he'd like the hamburger helper.

He doesn't eat "fastfood" unless its fries or a shake or chicken from Chick-Fil-A. He likes "homemade food." He doesn't like the microwaveable kid's food. He'll take a bite, and won't finish.

But I don't mind a bit.

Have it!

2008-10-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Josh has been saying these words awhile now. If he wants something, he'll say "Have it, this." Or "Have it, helicopter." Or "Have it, train."

It's "Have it." And then he names what he wants. It's so interesting to hear how our little man can put his sentences together and ask for something.

My husband and I wonder, though, how 2 people who never asked for anything when they were Josh's age (meaning my hubby and me), have a child who asks for EVERYTHING he sees in Walmart!

Honestly, my parents told me I never asked for anything when I was little when we went in the stores except for ONE thing one time. It was a foot tall (maybe more) plastic duck that quacked when you squeeze it! I think the only thing my husband asked for in stores when he was little was a toy gun.

But not our sweet little man. We went shopping for Christmas the other day when my husband was off work. Here's the conversation:

Me: Now, Joshua we are not going to buy anything today, but we want to know what you like. Christmas is coming and you'll be getting some things. So remember, we're just looking.

Hubby: That's right. We're just trying to find out what you like.

Joshua (looking all around): Have it, helicopter!!

Me: Ok, but we're not buying it today. We're just looking.

Joshua (looking all around): Have it, train!

THEN we get over to the section with THOMAS the train. Oh.My.Word.

Joshua: OH WOW!! THOMAS THE TRAIN! HAVE IT! HAVE IT!

We explain alot of things to Joshua even with him 2 1/2 yrs old. He understands alot. BUT going into Walmart and going through the toys AND saying we're just want to see what he likes and promising to come back later to get it doesn't work.

I think he wanted every toy in the toy section.

Now we do cut it real short when we're around girl toys. He looks at them and points, but I explain that those toys are for girls. They are not for boys. And he is a boy!

200% boy! And we love him so much.

He's Imagining Things!

2008-09-11T05:28:00.001-07:00

(This is one of those "draft" posts from earlier in December that I never had a chance to finalize............)

In a good way!

In the past week and a half, Joshua has really showed us his imagination is working, whether he's at the dinner table or just playing around in the kitchen.

Who'd of ever thought about bread being an elephant? Or a penguin? But whichever way he turns it, or whenever he breaks off a piece of bread, that's what it becomes.

He's also been planting. He "plants" wheat," "apples," and then he serves us food! We take a bite out of it and it "sure is good!"

His Changing Schedule!

2008-09-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

(Yet another post I started and never finalized in early Nov or Dec. Justin is now 1 yr old, and I will update everything soon!!)
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Well, Justin is a almost 9 months old. Up til last week, he's been taking 2 naps. One in the morning around 9:00 and again around 1:00 or 3:00pm, it's according.

This past week, he's decided that he'd only take 1 nap. If that. Hmmm. The only time he'd nap is if I took him on a ride. It used to be that when I'd get home and got him out of the carseat, he'd continue to sleep when I put him in the crib.

But now, he might sleep, oh, about 15 minutes, then wake up.

For several nights in a row this past week and into this week, he'd sleep for about 5 or 6 hours straight! This is good! Now, the night before last, he was awake every 3 hours. And he'd squirm and squirm and burp and squirm til he went back to sleep. I put him in his crib and he'd wake up! So I did this about 2 more times until I was in there maybe an hour, and then he went to sleep for a while.

Last night he ate and took a bottle and then about 8:30 or 9:00pm, he went to sleep until 6am!

I'm pretty sure it's not permanent yet, but that's ok. He's my baby.

And a very busy baby at that. SO busy! Every now and then, he'll let me hold him and play. Then after about 10 minutes, he's ready to do something. Anything! He wants down to play or to get in his exersaucer. Then after a bit, he wants to just sit in his booster seat.

What a growing baby!

Reminiscing and enjoying today....

2008-09-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Every September in Aiken, SC, I look forward to hearing about the big yahoo up in Aiken's historical section. It's called Aiken's Makin. For years my mom and I would go to that big craft show.

It started out 32 yrs ago out on the sidewalks in front of all the stores in downtown Aiken. After a few years, it moved out into the grassy median. For the life of me, I can't remember if that's spelled right. Anyway, it's alot of grassy area. This craft show takes up about 3-4 good sections of grass.

It started at 9am today and will end tomorrow at 6pm. It's pretty shady and a cool breeze swept by to keep us, well, cool! Thank the Good Lord. I had to park probably a good mile away, but I was in front of a church and it's playground that was full of children playing by the time I finished looking.

My mom and I went there for years, and then it got to be a chore because when they moved it into the middle, it got a little crowded especially when strollers were going through. And then there was everyone who'd stop right in the middle and it was hard to get by. I know I used to get irritated. But not anymore. Cause you know what? I got a double stroller! And I have to stop smack in the middle sometimes. And Aiken's Makin' is not just for the ladies and gentlemen who are looking for Christmas items, or food, or jewelry to perk up their outfits, but it's for the tired mamma who doesn't know anything other than running to WalMart and then going to the dump. There is where you see everybody and their brother, and sometimes people's cousins who you might not really want to see.

It was for me. I actually put on a cute pair of jeans and a stylish shirt, made sure I had on a little more makeup than usual, and me and the boys headed down through this wonderland. There were all kinds of smells that I don't get to smell very often. All of the food vendors: Checkers (hamburgers), icecream, funnel cakes, hotdogs! Everything that smells like a fair when put all together. And yes, none of it is good for me. And no, I didn't buy any of that. But I needed to SMELL!

The only thing I bought was food from the Mennonite ladies. Sourdough bread, chocolate chip cookies, etc.

My boys were complete angels! Justin sat in the front with Joshua behind. No, you don't see it that way very much, but I found out that when I put Justin in the back, although he was buckled in, he leaned WAY up and was close to coming out. So in the front, he is buckled and has a tray to make sure he's held in. Joshua just chilled out in the back. They both had shades over their heads. So you couldn't ask for anything better.

It was a nice mamma's day out. Actually, a couple of hours out. I got back in time for them to get a good nap.

I Found Out How They Felt!

2008-08-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

After about 2 1/2 yrs, I've started playing the piano at a church again. I started playing for churches when I was 10 yrs old. Then when I was 33, I became a mommy.

After 23 years, I felt I needed to focus on the miracle baby God gave me, and just sit back and let someone else practice with the choir and deal with the complaints, and then play for the services on Sunday a.m., p.m., and Wednesdays. I loved to play because thats the gift God gave me, but over time and particular exasperating experiences, I managed to burn out.

Well, maybe not totally because during this 2 1/2 yrs, I felt still a little flicker. Then God fanned it. Again. And He opened a door for me to help out the young lady at the church I've been going to ever since I was 8 months pregnant with my first son. She is due with her first baby next month.

I've never asked to play. Someone there told her that I did play before and then a couple of months ago, she came to me and asked if I'd be interested in helping while she's on her 6 weeks maternity leave.

And I was interested. She asked me to practice and start playing with them this past week to get me warmed up with them instead of me just coming in when she's out. The tricky part was that my sons have always known me to be sitting/standing with them during church, not at a piano away from them.

So Justin did well because he's only 8 months old. Joshua on the other hand was a little upset. The lady that said she would help my husband with them in church came in to take Joshua, but he'd have no part of it. And he goes to her alot. But not this particular Sunday.

He lay down on the seats and slept. Then, I happened to glance up from the piano and noticed my husband and Joshua were gone. So when the music portion of the service was over, I went into the foyer and found out Joshua had been crying. So I took him and we went back into the service and he actually sat in my lap the entire time. On most Sundays, he's occupied. He wants to be active!

That Sunday night, my husband stayed home with the boys while I went to church to practice. Service started at 6:30pm. I told them that I'd probably be leaving early on Sunday nights due to the boys' bedtime routine. And it's hard for one person to get 2 boys in bed.

When I got home, I found my husband about to pull out his pretty brown hair. I found Justin in the highchair upset, and I found Josh on the couch asleep at 7:15pm not ready for bed and not full from supper. HE WOULDN'T EAT. He cried for an hour after I left and fell asleep crying. I took Justin and went over to the couch where Josh was lying. He looked at me confused. So anyway, I gave Justin to my husband and took Josh. Then Justin started crying again.

I told Josh he needed to eat and I took Justin and proceeded to make supper for Joshua.

I hate that my husband had a hard time. But then there's that mommy part of me that was glad that my babies missed me.

It was good to get back into playing the piano. Actually, it's more than playing. It's being able to use the tool God gave me for a praise and worship service where God is allowed to do whatever He wants to do whenever He wants to do it. He's not boxed in. He took over the Sunday morning service and people were delivered/set free from "chains" that bound them down.

Just a BUNCH of stuff!

2008-08-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

My 2 little men have really been trying to keep this mommy on her toes this past week. There have been tricks pulled, progress made, and more tricks pulled.

Did I say tricks?

I learned quickly a while back with Justin that I need to buckle him in his bouncy seat. I guess that's why they put buckles, huh? Well, with Joshua I didn't need to buckle him in. He was just so laid back except for 1 time when he tried to just slide out.

Justin learned 2 or 3 months ago that he could roll over in his seat and then "kneel" at it. Meaning, his knees were on the floor and his arms and body was in his seat. He looked like he was praying. That's how I start

But his most recent little move was last week. I had him buckled. Yep I did. I stepped into the living for a couple of minutes and when I walked back to the dining area where he was, I found him UPSIDE DOWN! And still buckled. I'm thinking, "Whoa! This child's an acrobat!"

Apparently, he saw something in front of his bouncy seat that intrigued him. So he decided to GO for it which would mean he leaned over. The way he landed makes me believe that he was leaning so hard over the front of the seat that when he wiggled his leg, the only place for it was up!

So his feet were up where his head should've been, and his face was down where his foot should've been.

After I got over the initial shock, I heard a clang come from the other part of the house. Then I saw Joshua at the end of our hallway looking at me and he has his 2nd drawer from his desk in his arms. With his books still in it.

If anyone has ever tried to take out a drawer with books still in it, then you know that the drawers are heavy.

So now I have an acrobat and a muscle man!

Next stunts. Joshua has been getting up early in the mornings. Well, this particular idea is not a stunt. It's a good thing. But it's good at 7:00 - 7:30am. Not 4am and 5am.

He woke up a couple of mornings, opened his bedroom door AND closed it (which lets me know he's awake), and comes to us. Wide awake. He's ready to play! And we're not. We're still asleep. His daddy takes him back to his room where he doesn't really want to go because he knows that his daddy will get in his bed while he (Josh) is in it. And Josh doesn't LIKE for daddy to get in his bed.

My better half told me that he believes Josh told him to "get out." "Crowded!" Because it's a twin bed. My husband does that because it's still early and he has to do some physically demanding work during the day.

Now. Last night or should I say VERY early this morning, like around 2:30am, I hear the door slam back there. My husband was just far enough in his sleep that when he heard that, he said "Did you hear that?" And he was totally awake because he was convinced our house was being broke into.

I said, "It's Josh." And we waited. And he came to us and didn't say a word, but he put his head down on the bed. I asked him if he wanted to get into bed with us. He crawled in and didn't say a word. I began to believe he was sleep walking. But then when my husband went to put him back in his bed, he found out that Josh was awake. My husband lay back down.

Josh lay there really still then turned over to look at me and said "Get train." Then he closed his eyes again.

After he lay there a couple of minutes, he got up and went to the couch and got his Thomas the Tank.

Ok. I explained that it was still very early. Everyone's still asleep. The sun hasn't come up yet. And I said I'd take him back to his room. And Thomas the Tank too.

He got in bed and wanted me to sit in the big popazanne (or however you spell it) chair in his room. That was easy, but he wanted me to "read." I told him it was too early.

Then he wanted "Milk." Now that I could do. I went to the kitchen and got his milk, took it back to him, and told him that that was all he needed and after he finished he needed to lay down.

After about an hour, I got up out of the chair. This was around 3:30am and I lay back down to try to finish sleeping. But I also knew that it was almost time for Justin to be fed. I was down about 15 minutes when I heard the little man. So I got up, fed him, made sure he was burped and back to sleep, and then I lay back down about 4:20am.

I'm debating on what time today to have the grandparents up here to watch them while I sleep!

Contests for 5 Minutes for Mom!!

2008-08-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Check out http://www.5minutesformom.com for some wonderful contests!! Good luck!!

Tricky Little Big Man!

2008-07-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

This morning we lay there in bed kinda late. It had to be around 7:30am when Justin woke us up because he was ready to eat.

I normally take care of him during those wee hours between 12 midnight and 6am, but lately I've asked my husband to take care of the last feeding. Today it was at 7:30am.

While he was fixing the bottle, I lay there still a bit pooped since I've had quite a challenging week.

Then he was startled by little feet coming up behind him. They were not my feet. They were not Justin's feet, of course. They were Josh's! How did he get out of bed?!?!

I had to laugh as my husband took him into his room for Josh to show him exactly how he got out!

Yeah, he's in a toddler bed, but we've had to rig the bed because he's a very, and I mean VERY active sleeper. The bed is pushed to the wall. The right side against one wall, the foot at the other wall. There's the headboard, and then the other side of the bed has a short guard rail and a bumper guard filling in the gap. At the bumper guard there is a big pillow so he won't roll out. Which he did the other morning.

My husband asked him how he did it and at first Josh wouldn't reveal his secret. I think it was because he thought he was in trouble. When he wouldn't tell us, I told him he was NOT in trouble, but we were curious.

So he proceeded to show his daddy his trick. He moved the big pillow, crawled under the bumper guard, and slid down feet first.

hmm. Ok. Now I'm going to REALLY need a video camera in his room because he could be getting up ANYtime!

I told him tonight to stay in the bed all night and when he wakes up, if he sees the sun coming up, then he could get out of the bed.

We'll see if that works and I'll update later!

Such a Challenging Week! Emotionally........

2008-07-19T04:25:00.001-07:00

I hardly know where to begin with this one. It's been a week. God has been GOOD getting me through it. He's always faithful! I don't know what would've happened if I had not prayed each day.

One day this week, Monday I think, I had got my babies in the car and had to run back in for one more thing. As I locked the door, my foot decided that it wasn't going to the very next step. It decided to go a few steps down.

Which means I went flying! And landed on my left knee, then landed on my left side.

hmmm. Ok. That hurt. I didn't hit my head, and my arms and hands were not skinned up.

I looked as I fell and saw my right shoe fly off and somehow my big toe bent back. So here I have one banged up knee and one banged up toe.

I told God, "Ok, You're gonna have to get me up cause this hurts." And there's no one else except for my babies who are in the car and they couldn't help me even if they were out. I'm just so glad I prayed before I walked out the door because it could have easily been my head that I hit.

I got up and got inside my van and drove off. To the bank. To Walmart. I got confused at the bank, but at least THIS time, I managed to give them back their container. The previous trip to the bank landed the teller ticked off at me because I accidentally drove off with the container that we send up the pipe to do transactions. I drove off with it because I asked when the money was going to be posted and she said that night. I deposited that money before the deadline I thought so why would it go in after midnight? I needed that money for my next visit which was WalMart. When I realized I had it, I had to turn around and put it back. She gave me a "look." Oh boy.

Thinking about when my deposit would post made me forget to put the container thingee back in the holder.

But I drifted into the week before. Back to this week. Josh and Justin and I have mostly good days but this week was a little more challenging.

Josh has got to where if you tell him to do something, he just stands there. Then if you tell him NOT to do something, he just stands there and THEN he does it anyway.

I'm thinking......how on earth am I going to teach this child to do what I ask of him? He needs to learn to do it and do it quickly or not do it quickly because I think of what if this was an emergency situation and he doesn't do what I say. It could be a matter of life or death!

Then yesterday, I was of course back at Walmart to pick up MORE bread, MORE milk, turkey, dogfood, and a gift for some friends of ours who are getting married in September. But I was there with only $42 I could spend. I made one wrong move as far as what I put in the cart and on the register belt. That caused me to go over $42 and I wasn't able to put some of the other stuff on the belt that I needed. I'm doing all this trying to make sure Josh kept his shoes on. He'd been trying to take them off the entire visit to WalMart.

When I got almost out the door, I realized of course we now only had one of Josh's shoes. The greeter helped me look inside my cart, then she had someone look for it where I checked my groceries out. Sure enough, she found it. Got in the car, drove down the road almost on empty. Ok. No gas and no gas money. This is not good.

But we got home safe and sound.

It has been challenging. But I thank God for taking care of us. I thank God that we have our home, food to eat, and clothes to wear. He makes sure I don't hit my head! He's been good to us. He's brought me through almost 36 yrs and I know He won't quit now.

Thank You Lord for Your mercy and grace. Thank You for your patience when I don't do as I'm told sometimes or do something I shouldn't. Just like Josh. Thank You that You are perfect and know what needs to be done to get me to do as You ask. Please help me to be like You and know how to work with my own children.

Night Walker!

2008-07-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well, if you read my previous post, you'll see that Josh was up with the crickets!

But the next night, he was up. But it was something different.

My husband and I once again fell asleep in the living room. You know....something about a VERY busy day with 2 little men. Sometimes I don't even feel like blinking!

Anyway, we were asleep. Then I heard my little man crying COMING.DOWN.THE.HALL!

"Say wha?!

He never does that. The main reason is that he's kinda blocked in bed with 2 walls, a headboard, and a guard rail. I know it's not really recommended, but he's a VERY active sleeper.

I got up, picked him up, and went back to his room. I asked him what was wrong and he looked at his bed, pointed, and said "Gell."

Fell. Fell off his bed.

There is a gap between the bed rail and the headboard. Normally, I have a big pillow there to keep him from falling off. But he decided to use this very same pillow for what pillows are normally used for. Sleeping on. He had moved the pillow to another part of the bed.

So when he had moved back over to the gap that normally has the pillow, but didn't have one this particular night, he slid off the bed.

Thank goodness we'd prepared the floor for this kind of accident. We pretty much made another bed on the floor by folding up blanket after blanket "just-in-case."

Around this time, Justin wanted his bottle, so I took care of him while my husband tried to get Joshua back to sleep.

Something about Justin drinking his milk makes Joshua want HIS own milk. At 3:30am. My husband didn't want to give him any. Because it was 3:30am.

But when I thought about it, I was actually pretty hungry at 3:30am myself! Hey, it'd been about 9 hours since we'd eaten supper. I could understand him wanting something to eat.

My husband gave in and gave him his milk. Joshua finally drifted off to sleep.

So this makes the 2nd night in a row that we were up. I was still mosying around the house and the kitchen at 5am. I'm thinking I COULD just stay up and get alot of stuff done.

Naa. That thought didn't last long. I ate breakfast instead and went back to sleep!

"Coakets Ing"

2008-07-12T05:20:00.000-07:00

which translates to "crickets sing."

Now the story.....

The first night that Joshua became aware of the cricket's music was earlier this week. He was getting ready to go to sleep for the night. He was in his bed and we were talking.

All of a sudden, he looked at me with the "curious" expression. I watched him and then I heard the crickets outside.

I said, "Oh, that's the crickets singing!"

He said, "Coakets Ing?"

I said, "Yes. The crickets sing. Now, just close your eyes and listen to them sing."

And he did. But not 2 nights ago. Oh my goodness.

Again, the other night, he said "Coakets ing?"

I said, "Yeah, they are singing. Close your eyes and listen to them sing."

I had gotten down the hall into the kitchen putting some leftover food in smaller dishes to go into the refrigerator when I heard a wail! I put everything down and took off because he never does that. He just goes on to sleep.

Joshua's face was red from crying and he put up his arms. I told him to calm down and tell me what's wrong.

He said "Coakets ing!"

I said, "Crickets sing? Did you want to hear them sing"

He said "No!"

hmm. I explained to him that the crickets were not going to hurt him and that God made them. He made them to sing. They don't sing like we do and we can't understand them, but it's the only way they know how to sing. They sing just like birds sing.

I thought this would suffice, but it didn't. He wanted to "walk" and continued to point down the hall.

My husband was sitting on the couch and explained about the crickets. We even went to his room and did the "cricket jig" for him.

Who knows if there is really a cricket jig, but if there isn't or wasn't, we NOW have one. If only we had known to take a video of it!! Hey, we might be millionnaires.

Ya'll know the crazy things we do for kids, right?!

Well, after what I thought was just WONDERFUL entertainment for my Mr. Josh, I ended up telling him I'd sit there with him for a while. So he fell asleep in his bed while I fell asleep in his poppazone chair.

I don't know how you spell that chair so I'll say it reminds me of a fish bowl.

My husband came in there and got me up after an hour or so.

So.

Around 3:30am, after I'd slept a bit, Justin woke me up to feed him.

I went to our trusty recliner to feed him and we fell asleep. But I woke up when I heard the tiny, but firm voice coming from the back room.

"Mama?"

"Mama?"

I put Justin in his crib and found Joshua upset again.

I got my husband to pull out the futon in the living room where we slept the rest of the night.

No more nursery for Josh!

2008-07-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Well, today I took down the "baby" part of Josh's room. I took down all the blue and pink letters that spelled "Precious Miracle, Joshua" that lined his wall.

I replaced it with the "Car" and "Scooby Doo" stickers. "Cars" was on one wall while "Scooby" was on another wall. He likes them both. Not that he knows anything about the Cars movie or the Scooby Doo cartoons. He really doesn't. He just likes Cars because it's, well, a car thing. And he likes Scooby because he's a DOG! I don't really like the idea of him even watching the cartoon. It's a little too spooky. Scooby is actually "Doo Doo" to Josh! HA! He hasn't learned to say the whole name yet.

The only thing that got me through this was that while I was taking down the blue and pink letters, Josh was standing on his bed trying to help me! It's like he was SO excited to take them down.

JUSTIN, on the other hand, decided that when he opens his mouth, food goes in it. Like, applesauce! When he tastes applesauce, he looks at me and smiles really big with his 2 little teeth showing! BUT when I try to give him oatmeal or rice cereal.....Oh My Word. His cute little face scrunches all up, he does like he's gonna gag. He DOESN'T, but he acts like it. Then he closes his eyes and shivers!

I take it he don't like it.

So. I'll just stick with applesauce right now. I've tried giving it to him several times before, but it just hasn't worked out. So I think he's ready now.

Now, somehow, I just have to get Josh POTTY trained! I'm trying to sneak it up on him. He tells me when he's got to. And his wet diapers are getting to be fewer. So we're just about there. I think I"m going to get the Potty DVD everyone talks about to help him.

Well, since they are both asleep, I'm gonna go wash Justin's bottles now. G'Nite.

Finished off his big day with Broccoli!

2008-07-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Amazing, but true.

After Josh's big day sitting in the salon chair ALL.BY.HIMSELF, we had supper. He had one of his favorite homemade meals: Broccoli Casserole. Yep. I know. I've said it before.

But it's amazing to me.

The credit for this recipe goes to someone else, of course. But this is the recipe he loves!

1 big package of frozen broccoli (cooked and drained and SMASHED!)
1 can mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 stick margarine (almost 1 stick) (mine is not melted)
2 eggs (not beat)
1 med. onion chopped
Grated sharp cheese (I just eyeball it. I LOVE cheese and lots of it.)
1 pkg Ritz crackers (or saltines or italian breadcrumbs)

Mix it all together, then put more cheese and more crackers (saltines or breadcrumbs) on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

mmmm. He finishes every bite!

How Fast They Grow!

2008-07-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today was the day!

I looked at my oldest little man (almost 2 1/2 yrs old) as he sat in that big boy seat while he got his hair cut. I was in awe. Although right now, I'm almost in tears.

It was his very first time sitting in that seat by himself. And most people probably won't understand why I make a big deal out of that. But my little man up until the last couple of weeks has been a shy one. He'd drop his head a little if someone got up in his "space." He'd look up slowly with those big brown eyes just to drop them again.

Either my husband or I would hold him in one of those seats and the sweet lady would trim his hair because he'd cry at being left alone in that big ol' seat!

But not today. I walked in there and the lady asked if he'd sit in a booster seat or did I need to hold him. I said, "hmmm. Normally I hold him, but lets just see if he'll sit by himself." AND he did!

He sat there like a big boy and even started talking a little even though others were around. I was talking to him and he was saying "cut. Hair cut." Then she proceeded to press the peddle to elevate him. He looked at me with his eyes wide and said "helicopter!" Meaning he went up just like a helicopter! He loves to watch those things!

They all told him what a big boy and what a good boy he was and he just plain out looked proud. And I WAS proud even though it made me ache a little because its just the next step he takes toward growing up. He talked, didn't cry, was still. Mostly.

And wouldn't you know this would be the day I didn't have my camera handy. ugh.

I'd planned to take him to the pet store just to look after our trip to the mall, but the proud little man zonked out about 2 minutes into our ride. So I changed directions and came on home.

Handsome, handsome. Sweet, sweet.

My 6 month Little Big Man!

2008-06-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

We took Justin to the doctor for his 6 month shots. You all know THAT is not fun.

I felt so bad for him because he HAD been smiling and flirting with the nurses and the lady doctor. But that disappeared when those lovely shots came his way.

Poor thing...

But I know they are necessary.

At 6 months, he is 20 lbs, 12 oz. AND 28 3/4 inches long.

I've watched this child go from 2-3 days in newborn diapers, maybe a couple of weeks in Size 1, and not long in Sizes 2 and 3.

Joshua had JUST got out of Size 3 when Justin landed in them.

Now they are both in Size 4. Keep in mind, Joshua is almost 2 1/2 yrs old. Justin is NOT.

Justin has managed to land up in Joshua's 12 mo and 18 mo clothing!

I know ya'll probably think I feed him ALOT. I actually wondered about that myself a while back. But I felt of his chest/stomach area and noticed where the ribcage is and how his shoulders are.

I have a big framed boy! He takes after his daddy and "PaPa." Justin can fit in Joshua's 18 mo old pjs where they are 2 piece....the shirt and pants.

He's been rolling over for a 2-3 weeks now. He's got 2 bottom teeth, and watches EVERYTHING I put in my mouth. He even REACHES for it! The only thing though is that he's not completely ready to take on the jarred food yet. I know because I've tried. He won't really open his mouth, and if he does, and I feed him some applesauce or something, he kinda wants to push it back out a little which is one of the signs he not quite ready.

I'm looking forward to seeing if he will eat brocolli casserole like Joshua does!

He started a month or two ago doing what Joshua started around 18 months: when I lay him on the bed to change his diaper, he tightens up and stiffens out those legs and tries to roll on his side.

I tell ya....... I need another shower by the time I finish changing his diaper and clothes because he's moving ALL.THE.TIME! And not just a little move.

But I really expected this because he moved ALL.THE.TIME before he was born! So anyway, he moves and I'm so pooped by the time I"m finished!

But don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm just in awe of this little guy!

Joshua was totally different. He just lay there and let me change him. He hardly budged! I remember telling people how easy he was to change. Now, my work is cut out for me.

AND you know what else? He still has blue eyes. They have a light blue sparkle to them. I don't think they are going to change. Why is this so fascinating to me? Because my husband and I and Joshua all have brown eyes!

Well, I guess I better go for now. Both my little fellas are asleep and I need to start supper and do another load of clothes!

"T, L, K, and X". What Does it Spell? "H-U-R-T".....

2008-06-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

.....if you don't check shoes!

Teehee! I just have to smile! I was getting the 3 of us ready to run some errands yesterday morning. We'd almost finished getting ready and all I needed was my shoes.

Instead of just sliding my shoes on like I do sometimes, I peeked inside them before I put them on.

It's a good thing too! Somehow, someway, some little hands dropped some of the alphabet in my shoes!

They are magnets to go on the refrigerator, so I think that woulda hurt a little! One was in one of my shoes. There were about 4 crammed into the other one around the toes! (I'd wondered where those letters went.....)

It really IS funny! You just never know what you're gonna find where around this house.

I've stepped on plastic giraffes. I've found all KINDS of things in my cabinets!

I've found crayon marks on my windows and floors!

But it doesn't really bother me. I'm glad I have a little guy in my life TO mark on my windows and floors!

I just take pictures and in a couple of days, clean it up.

I'm sure he'll teach his little brother well. Justin TOTALLY watches everything Joshua does!

So I"m in for QUITE a ride!!

Happy Birthday, Justin!! A Wonderful 6 Months!!

2008-06-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! Happy Birthday, Sweet Little Man. It's your big day.

I've SO enjoyed these 6 months with you. You are a complete blessing to me and your Daddy, your big brother Joshua, and grandparents. Your quick smile is amazing to me! In a second, it's there!

I'm so glad you and Joshua are happy with one another. I realize that there will be "those other moments" but I believe you both will be pretty close. Ya'll are very different from each other, but I love those differences. I love you both just the way you are!

You wake up smiling so many times. It's amazing!

You are my miracle. Just like Joshua. And I"m so proud to be your mommy. God really knew what He was doing when He gave me you two.

Happy Birthday!

So Good To Be Home!

2008-06-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've been home with my sons now for about 5 months. My job has granted me 6 months of leave without pay which means I'm so VERY tied to my company, but can stay home with my babies and not get into trouble. I just don't get paid.

Not with the "green" stuff anyway......

BUT I get paid with a toothless big smile from Justin and hugs and kisses from Joshua. I love seeing all his "happy dances."

And when he holds up his arms and says "dan", I just grab him up and we take a spin dancing through the living room!

I can't really dance, but I do a little jig that feels like a dance and besides that, I get my exercise!

I love our morning routine of eating breakfast at our back doors that have full length windows. We watch the birds, squirrels and lizzards! We watch those squirrels get up on our bird feeder!

It feels good to know that on my husband's day off from work, we can pack up and head to the zoo!

I didn't know this until I got some mail a couple months ago that we could become a member of the zoo for a small fee and now all we have to do is show them our pass and we go right on in. Unlimited visits for a year for about $59.00! That's 2 visits. We get about 6 passes for guests
and we get to see the Christmas lights at that zoo one time during Christmas.

But I've slid off my topic. I didn't come on here to write about the zoo. I wanted to write about being able to watch my babies grow and learn.

It IS pretty tough financially right now, but we are making it. I think it's worth it to be able to be with them.

Every now and then for about 2 seconds, I go back to my spoiled ways. I'd love to have this or that. But then I think about the 2 little boys that God gave me. My 2 little miracles. I don't need my satellite or 2 cell phones. Don't need jewelry or brand new clothes. We find those ways to cut back and still have what we need.

As far as when my 6 months of leave without pay are up, honestly, I don't plan to go back. I believe that God provides. He has taken such good care of us in the past, and I don't think that He'll stop now......................

I'm Not Exempt. Why did I think I WOULD be?

2008-05-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

A toddler going through Terrible 2s? I always thought I'd have a child that would just plain out bypass that. Why?! I don't know.

I never believed my child would be like that. People talked about it and I'm like "Ok."

This past week, BOY did it hit!! Slinging himself in the floor when he didn't get his way. Oh and by the way, I'm typing this as he's tantruming. Is that a word? I'll make it one.

And do you know why he's having a fit right now? Me neither. He'd been napping and I was in the kitchen when I heard his crying. I thought he'd fallen off the couch. Nope.

I went over to try to soothe him. I put my arms around him and asked what's wrong and all I got was him hitting me on the leg. I had to laugh quietly because I'm thinking of my little boy growing up and being big enough to sock me on the leg. But it's not good. We got to "Nip it in the Bud."

I got up and went back to the kitchen. He cried. AND cried. Was it a nightmare? I honestly don't think so because of his actions while he's crying. Banging on the couch. Flipping around and pouncing back down on the couch.

Is it the video I have in? He keeps looking at it, but he's not SAYING a word. Just crying!

Oh my...Is that silence I hear?

hmmm.

I was trying another tactic of dealing with it. Because normally he gets a lecture, plus some, from me, but I'm trying to ignore it. But I honestly don't think it's the best way.

I've been ignored a few times in my life when I was having problems and it only made me bitter. BUT when I start talking to him trying to get him to communicate in other ways than crying, his crying only gets louder.

He started another temper tantrum earlier today when PaPa was here.

It's gonna take alot....and I mean ALOT..... of prayer to get us through these "2s".

Was he even AWAKE? Cause he's asleep again as I'm typing. Can a child have tantrums in his sleep? Or mostly likely he was totally awake and tired himself out.

agh.

He went to sleep with me holding him the first time. It was a sweet moment. Then THAT happened?

If anyone who reads this has suggestions, I'm all ears!

Routines. For those new frustrated parents or parents of 2 or more!

2008-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

With 2 boys, I DEFINITELY have my morning routine and bed routine. Pretty much down pat too.

I'd wondered before I had Justin if I was even going to have energy for 2 boys. SO....I prayed for it! And you know what? I got it! God WAS and is STILL good!! And faithful!

I tried to nurse both my boys. But it didn't work out. With Joshua, he was VERY impatient for food. With Justin, he was too sleepy to eat!! Even the nurse in the hospital got upset because she couldn't HELP me HELP HIM nurse! She tried everything. It's not like he'd nurse for 10 minutes, then go to sleep. He fell asleep in the first 10 seconds. AND wouldn't wake up! The nurse had to resort to flopping a cold washcloth on him, then she ended up stripping him down to his diaper, but it didn't work. I tried here at home, and me and him just couldn't get on the same "nursing" page.

I finally just went over to formula.

Anyway, I slid off my topic of morning routines. agh. This next part may be more interesting to mothers who are expecting soon or have already had their child and is frustrated not knowing how to get a routine going whether they have one or two! It's by no means perfect. And I'll probably change up a little once Justin is a few months older, but it's a major start!

Justin eats a couple times between midnight and 6am. Most of the time I keep a journal of when he eats (that way I don't forget the last time he's eaten) and normally its every 3 hours. I make sure I start getting the bottle ready when he starts cueing me but before he wakes up totally. When I do this he keeps his eyes closed, but drinks and goes back to sleep. If he wakes up totally, I'm in for a loonngg night. If he wakes up with his clothes wet, I give him part of his milk, change him, and then let him drink the rest. Its easier for him to go back to sleep. When he wakes up for his 3rd a.m. feeding which is around 6:30 or 7am, I feed him and then put him in his bouncy seat and take him with me to the bathroom where I can get my shower. (A shower helps get me going for the day!)

Many times I've already planned my clothes for the day. Not EVERY time, but alot of times. I dress in the bathroom, put on my makeup, then take him and change his diaper and clothes so he's ready for the day. Most of the time, Joshua wakes up early. If he does, I go ahead and dress him on our bed. Most of the time, I have both boys on the bed and they entertain each other. Now they are both ready for the day.

Somewhere in here I may grab an arm load of laundry and get it going or empty the dishwasher.

I take them both to the kitchen where Justin goes back in his bouncy seat or his exersaucer. I get Joshua's breakfast ready which could be oatmeal, or french toast, or pancakes. Stuff like that. If he's REALLY hungry, I give him a few cheerios to munch on until I finish his breakfast.

I pull his highchair in front of our french doors that goes out the back. He can watch the birds that come to the birdfeeder that "PaPa" gave him.

By this time, Justin is getting tired of playing and he wants to lie down. So I put him in his crib (previously Joshua's crib) and he sleeps. While Joshua eats, sometimes I eat with him. OR I'm finishing washing and preparing Justin's bottles for the day. If I'm doing THAT, I'm still talking to him.

So most of the time, we are all ready for the day by 8:30 or 9am.

Sometimes we get out in the mornings. Mornings TOTALLY work best for us to get out because they are fresh and in a better mood. By afternoon, they want their naps! AND I"m normally into washing and cooking (or in this 1 rare case, catching up on my blog!).

In between washing and cooking, Joshua might want to "dance." So I grab him up and we dance!! And also in between washing and cooking is teaching Josh his A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s. Sometimes we listen to music and sometimes he watches his airplanes/helicopters DVD. He learns about them. We also work on his colors and shapes. So yeah, we take time to have fun and learn! He's such a sponge!!

I start working on supper between 3:30-4:30pm. If Joshua has NOT had a nap, I make sure he's eating by 5pm. I learned this when he started falling asleep eating. And supper is NOT a good time to fall asleep since we start getting him ready for bed by 7:30 and 8:30pm. We do want him to fall asleep easy and NOT want to stay up all night.

But in a regular case, he eats with us by 5:30-6pm.

I get Justin changed into his sleeper before 7pm. He's ready for bed.

While I'm cleaning in the kitchen, most of the time, my hubby is playing with Joshua.

When 8pm gets here, I give Josh a bath, brush his teeth, put his pjs on and off to bed we go with about 5 books!

When we finish the books, we pray and I tell him I'll be back to check on him in a few minutes. We do "gishes and hogs" before I go. (Kisses and hugs, that is.) By the time I get back to him, he's asleep. If Justin needs feeding, my hubby does that while I'm putting Josh to bed. But most of the time, he doesn't need one until AFTER Josh goes to sleep.

I prepare all the bottles for the night, try to get the kitchen in some sort of good shape, fix my hubby's lunch for the next day, and THEN I sit down.

If I sit down anytime before this, that's TROUBLE! Because that means I fall asleep!

I plan to write about our transition from crib to big boy bed. But that's another post.

Also, for more "routine" information, go to flylady.net.

Feels Like 1 Step Forward, 2 Backward

2008-05-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Is this what we call a Monday or WHAT?

I've been praying for God to fix me.....fix my heart, fix my attitude, fix my mind. Make it what He wants it to be. So maybe it's not 2 steps back. But for a moment it felt like it.

On my list for today were these things: Dump the trash, go to ATM to pull out our tithes, go to Lowes to pay off our credit card which only held Justin's new floor. We knew that as soon as we got our rebate check, we'd pay it off. Then I was going to JC Penny's to exchange a blouse that was a size too large, then I was going to work on a project.

I was looking forward to getting out with my 2 little men accomplishing my To Do List.

Well, it looks like I only accomplished getting my trash dumped and the ATM trip.

I went to Lowes to pay off the card and they said I had no account. They couldn't pull up the information from the BILL I was showing them. Come to find out, they couldn't pull up Platinum cards and I couldn't pay it there at Lowes. So there. All this after a dude cut in front of me. hmfp

I went to JC Penny's and I showed the girl my receipt when I first walked in. She told me to go ahead and find the shirt I wanted. When I found the shirt, went to the counter, my receipt had DISAPPEARED! The 2 girls KNEW I had it because I'd spoken to one of them over the phone and the other saw it. Then they were going to scan the barcode off the tag of the blouse I was returning. They didnt find one because when I was trying on the shirt, I yanked the tag off. Yeah boy. I'm just comin' right along. But I know exactly where it is and will try again later.

Then me and the boys had time for a stop at the park. I'd got Josh some milk and I got me a small pack of fries and Dr. Pepper. What happened next was truly the least of my worries. He briefly forgot that he had his milk in his hand and tossed his arm sideways, so you know what happened. The milk went flying. But that's ok. I cleaned what I could.

Then we had our project to do. The boys were great. Justin decided he wanted to fuss just a little, but I got him out and held on to Joshua. In the meantime, I saw the sweetest sight! Joshua was talking to Justin and playing around and Justin laughed and laughed. AND laughed!! We're talking out loud and a belly laugh at that! He'd already started laughing a long time ago, but Josh has a way of REALLY making him laugh. I just stopped and laughed at all of it! After we finished, we walked to the car and as I got in, I realized THAT receipt had disappeared too. I REALLY needed that one.

Along our route this day, I had several good things happened even though I had 3 irritating things happen. The good things: you can't put a price on.

If I hadn''t prayed this particular morning, I don't know what would've happened. But with His help, we got through and I felt pretty good. He helped my heart and my attitude.

I've also come across Dani Johnson. I'm listening to her CDs. Check out Dani Johnson.com. It's a real eye opener!!

His Bright Smile

2008-05-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Justin's, that is.

He'll be 5 months old May 11. He has the brightest, most contagious smile!! I look at him and smile, and he smiles!

I can look over at him in his bouncy seat just kicking those legs, making that seat bounce so high that I think it's going to just bouncy straight up into the air! Not a care in the world, except for food.

He has some wonderfully blue eyes that has a brightness about them that makes me believe that they won't change. Joshua's eyes were deep blue and changed pretty quick. Justin's eyes were blue, but has that "sparkly" blue.

The way he looks at Joshua is a look of admiration. He appears to just "LOVE" Joshua. He watches everything he does in amazement.

Sometimes I catch Joshua watching Justin and a smiles creeps up on his face. He gets tickled at the way Justin does.

Now....sometimes, Joshua decides to copy Justin. hmmm. I tell Joshua that he doesn't need to do that because he is a big boy and can talk and Justin is trying to learn. Joshua doesn't need to make grunting noises like Justin or smack his food like Justin. I was trying to feed Justin applesause the other day and Joshua was watching how he smacked around. Of course, he had to do that too. BUT I try to explain it to him in his toddler language that he doesn't need to do that.

Joshua can be such a big boy. The other day we were at WalMart and Justin was starting to whimper around. Basically because it was running into his lunch time. Justin was in his infant carrier in the main part of the cart. Joshua was up in the front near me.

Well, Joshua heard Justin and turned around and started twirling the toys that are on the handle of his carrier. Then he pressed the button on it that plays the song "Pop goes the Weasel." That's what we do to distract Justin until we can get his bottle made while we're out and about.

Joshua is really putting his sentences together now! It's so amazing to hear him.

One of my issues with relatives who hang around him is this: While Joshua is learning to talk, of course, he doesn't pronounce everything just right. It comes out "bilk" instead of "milk". Or "Nam" instead of "Gram". "Beep" instead of "sheep." Well, while this is cute, the relatives like to use those same cute words to talk back to him. Joshua teaches them instead of them teaching him. I've tried to get them to say the words right. Not that I'm great at English, but I do try to say the words right to him all the time so he'll get the hang of it.

Anyway, now that I'm pretty much the one who takes care of him now (I'm finally getting to stay home with my babies), and I don't need alot of help taking care of them, I say the words like they need to be said, and he has learned how to say "milk", "Gram" , "oatmeal" instead of the cute little mis-pronunciations.

He is really coming along. So is Justin. Such sweet little men!!

Spaghetti and Toddlers! Oh NO!

2008-05-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

My little men and I went to WalMart the other day to get a load of groceries. One of my meals on the menu this week was going to be spaghetti.

Note the word "was."

Anyway, when we got home from WalMart, I put away most all my groceries. All but one bag that held a small box of spaghetti noodles that I was going to have to boil.

The next day, I got that box along with the can of spaghetti sauce and set it on the table.

I went back to the bedroom where my husband was getting changed after a hard day at work. We were talking when I heard a pretty oddball noise. I told my husband to hold that thought while I go check out the noise.

When I got to the end of our hallway and looked in the living room, I just turned and put my head on the wall. And stayed that way until my husband came to check it out too.

All over the floor was my ALL of my spaghetti noodles!! It looked like someone was going to be playing "pick-up sticks!"

My husband started picking them up, but with a hint of a smile. It actually did get funny. Especially when my 2 yr old toddler looked in his daddy's hands where all the sticks were and said "bwoom!"

I said "Well, actually it does look like a broom, but it WAS supposed to be our meal one night."
The way my husband was holding all that pasta in his hand looked like the sweeping end of a broom!

We proceeded to get up ALL the pasta and put it in the trash. I'm so glad it didn't cost much. And I'll try to remember next time I get pasta, to put it out of little fingers reach!!

Something I found out recently.......

2008-05-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were sitting in the living room while I was holding Justin, our 4 month old son.

He started out saying that he hoped the timing was right to tell me this. He thought he could tell me.

Before you think the worst, I'll tell you that it's not. It's actually an incredible vision!

Several years ago when I miscarried (I think it was the second because there actually was a baby unlike the first miscarriage that was just a sac), we were really hurting. Miscarriages are such a roller coaster ride of emotions. You cry uncontrollably, then the next day you are ok. But then, all of a sudden you're not.

Anyway, I dealt with the miscarriages the only way I knew how. I cried for a long time. I also knew deep down that my baby was in heaven waiting on me.

But this one particular miscarriage my husband had a harder time in a sense dealing with.
He hurt OH.SO.BAD. He cried. He told me that there were times at work that he just had to stop his work because he was so upset.

He told me that one night when he'd gone to church, he went up for prayer. After he'd prayed for a while, all of a sudden he looked up and there he was standing in Heaven. Not as in he died and went to heaven because it wasn't his time. He doesn't even know how long this vision was. A second or a minute. But there stood a man with the most piercing but loving eyes. It was Jesus and He was holding a little baby. Our little baby. Jesus held the baby where my husband could see him and the baby smiled. After that vision, my husband was ok.

I tried so hard to hold back the tears when he told me. But I couldn't. Just like I can't hold them back now. It's been a few years, but still the feelings for this child are with me.

I know my baby is safe with Jesus and making Him and the angels smile.

I can't wait to meet him!! And the One holding him.

Your Will. My Will.

2008-04-23T08:12:00.001-07:00

Oh my. And I'm talking about (right this minute) a 2 yr old's will vs mine!

He's DEFINITELY 2 years old and got a mind of his own. Which is basically good, but every now and again, it's NOT so good!

Not so good when I tell him one thing and he looks me in the eye and doesn't move to do what I said. I tell him again, and again he looks me in the eyes and doesn't move. And this goes on for a while.

Or he may just continue to do what he's doing and NEVER look at me.

BUT we're going to get through this, one prayer at a time!!

Cwy.

2008-04-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Of course, I mean cry. Joshua has learned that Justin cries. When Justin cries, he's letting us know he's hungry. Or just plain out don't like the way he's sitting, laying, etc. Or he's tired. Or in pain.

Since he realizes that Justin gets attention that way, sometimes he tries it. Like Justin. But I let him know that crying like that isn't necessary at his big boy age. Since he can talk, all he has to do is tell me. Sometimes, he'll start crying and when I ask him what is wrong or what he needs, he still just cries. I tell him to tell me what he wants or tell me what is wrong. But he just cries. I know he can tell me, but sometimes he just won't. He just cries.

I was thinking about that and realized we do that as adults... as Christian adults... sometimes. We "cry" about this or that. We "cry" that something didn't go our way. We "cry" that things are just so bad. We "cry" because we need this or that. We do that and never talk to the Good Lord about it. But I would guess that God just says, "Hey, there's no need to "cry" about it. Why don't you just "tell" me what you want....what you need.....and have faith that I'll take care of you and meet your needs one way or the other. Like the song "Take it to the Lord in Prayer!"

I realize that God already knows what is wrong because He's an All Knowing God. But He wants us to tell Him...to pray to Him and trust Him that our needs are met.

I also know that some crying is therapy. But we don't need to cry all the time. Just tell God the problem or ask Him for help. Don't just sit there and cry about it. He delights Himself in what we call impossible.

Ready, Set, Ready!

2008-04-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

We had been trying to potty train Joshua for a bit...that is, until he got sick right around his birthday. He was sick for about 3 weeks!

We'll get back into it later.

But until then, Joshua has started something new when he "poops"!

He'll say "iper" (for diaper) and crawl up on the couch, lay down with his head on our little red squooshy pillow and say "READY!" Then he'll of course use the word "poop" in there somewhere, even if his diaper is just wet.

He knows something has changed about his diaper and lets us know!

Another thing we are getting ready for is his change to his big boy bed. It's set up in his room with his crib still there.

My original plan was to have that bed set up 3 MONTHS ago but it didn't happen. He was SUPPOSED to be getting used to the idea and even lay on it in the afternoon some.

Now Joshua's crib is going to be moved either the later part of this week or early next week into Justin's room. Justin's room is still going to be re-floored and painted. Then, the crib goes in, because I tell you what......he can NOT stay in the bassinet too much longer. He's shaking that thing like no body's business when he starts waking up.

So the crib will be moved, Joshua will be in his big boy bed, Justin will have room to move.

And speaking of Justin! He has been smiling since probably his second month home. He is VERY quick to smile and laugh! He had showed me his routine which getting up early about 6am, eating, hanging out with me in the kitchen while I eat, then when his eyelids turn a bit pink, he's just about ready to take a nap! When I pick him up, give him about 5 minutes and he's out. I put him in his bassinet where he sleeps for a couple of hours. Then Joshua gets up.

If Joshua hears Justin crying when he first gets up, we can count on Joshua being cranky for a few hours. But if Justin is napping when Joshua gets up, it'll be a pretty good day!

My 2 boys are getting along very well now! The only thing that frustrates me is when I go to put Justin down for his nap in our room (until his room is totally remodelled), and Joshua decides to go gung-ho running in there and talking LOUD! It would be a different story if we had a big one story house or a 2 story, but we dont. It's small, and the word Quiet is not in Joshua's vocabulary.

Right now, my 3 men are taking naps. (My hubby is home today). And I'd LOVE to have one myself, but I can bank on this: if I go lay down, one will wake up.

But I wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world!! Kinda like Kristjana in Mommyblog. I can reminisce about the way life used to be: how free we were to just pick up and go or sleep in some days, but this is a great life and I wouldn't change it if I could.

Thank You, Lord for my family!!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

2008-03-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like my littlest guy, Justin, has rolled over!

The other evening, 3/18, I put him on the bed so I could change my clothes. I watched him roll from his back to his side. Then from his side to his stomach! I'm like "say what?!"

Anyway, he's the kind of baby who can't sleep on his back for long.....or maybe this is EVERY baby. I don't know. But it's taken me 3 months to figure this out.

I have a sleep positioner so he can lay on his side during the night. He's been doing great with it! Then all of a sudden last night, I went to lay him in his bassinett on his side, and he fussed and grunted, and slung himself EVERY which way trying to flip over on his stomach. I tried to just turn him on his other side. Didn't work. I"m thinking "Oh no." So........I ended up pulling the bassinett over to my side of the bed and putting him on his stomach.

Before you ding me, I've been putting him on his stomach in the daytime for several days now so I can watch him every 5 minutes! I'll do some work, then go check on him. He seems to be a great stomach sleeper. He keeps his head turned to the side.

So with him sleeping in his bassinett directly next to my side of the bed , I wake up with every move he makes and all I have to do is just sit up a little and look in.

I want to keep him in his own bed even if it's right next to me. His nursery still isn't finished. I'm trying so hard to concentrate on FlyLady's advice and not get frustrated. As soon as its finished, I"m hoping to get me a new home security system where I can have 2 cameras and a split screen monitor so I can see in both boys' bedrooms. I think it's cheaper than a regular baby monitor. I'll double check.

With Joshua being 25 months and getting ready to go in his big boy bed, I'll need to be able to watch what he's doing.....

And with Justin being 3 months old, I need to see how he's sleeping...not just hear him! Those monitors save me a few steps!

$20.00. Whose Life Did It Help Save? Seriously.

2008-03-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

I may never know the answer to this question.

Today I called my mom to see if she wanted to get out and go shopping with me and my babies. Well, she did.

We did some banking, we went to the humongous Dollar Tree around town, and we went to WalMart. That's where the $20 came in.

As I was going in, I stopped to talk to the Girl Scout gals to see how long they would be there because I needed to get some groceries but would stop on the way back out to get some. I'm such a sucker for those Thin Mints!

Anyway, I was thinking about getting 3 boxes since I actually had the green cash on me today. She told me it'd come to around $10. I only had $7. So I decided that when I checked out my groceries with my debit card, I'd get "cash back."

Well, around here, "cash back" when using your debit card starts at $20 instead of $10. So that's what I got. $20.

As I walked out of the store, I changed my mind and decided to only get 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies instead of 3. That'd be a total of $7. That's what I originally had in my pocket. So that ended up leaving me with that $20 bill.

I got to my van where my mom was still sitting with my babies when a man approached me. Seems like he came out of nowhere.

But there he came and stood within a couple of yards of me.

I'm thinking, "oh no." He proceeded to talk. He said "Maam, can you help me? I really need help." All the while, I was watching his every move. One arm had a jacket hanging over it. Was anything in that hand?

I didn't see anything, but I wasn't totally sure.

I watched while his other hand went up toward his neck. I just didn't know.

He told me he had "sickle cell" and he needed some medicine. The rest of his story was a blur because as he talked, I could hear a message in my head that my pastor preached several weeks ago. I'll tell that message in a bit.

I asked him how much he needed. He said he needed about $20 - $25. He said he'd even work for it.

Okay. That's weird. I just got $20 back. I reached in my pocket and got out that $20 bill and told him that I really didn't even know if he was telling me the truth or not. But I'd give him the money I had. He then asked if I wanted help putting the groceries in the van.

I said "no, that's ok." And he went on his way to the next person.

----------------------------------------

I don't know if he was honest or not. There's that 50/50 chance. But I'm happy with my decision to give him the money. He may have really needed that medicine for sickle cell, or he may have just wanted illegal drugs. Who knows.

But I find it strange that I NEVER ask for cash back. I didn't even know how it worked until today.

While this young man was talking, most of what he said became a blur because I started remembering a message from my Pastor. He said that it seems like anywhere he goes, people find him. People he doesn't know find him and ask for money. And he gives it to them not knowing for sure if their circumstances are for real. He said that really that money could be a matter of life or death for them in the sense that maybe they were really depressed that morning and said "OK God, if You're real, please let someone give me the money I ask for." Or "please show me that You're real." Maybe it'd be just enough that they wouldn't take their life or wouldn't give up on God.

I don't know if that was the case, if he really needed medicine or not. If he did, I hope that he was able to buy it. Or I hope that he could see God in me somehow.

If he was NOT sincere, I'm still glad I had the money to give him. Maybe it saved MY life.

Scooby Dooby Doo and other interesting songs!

2008-02-27T14:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, my mother and father-in-law were over here helping me with the boys. After a full afternoon of toddler and baby sitting, we had them stay for dinner.

While my husband and I were whipping up dinner which consisted of homemade mashed taters and chicken fingers and tea, I could hear my dear father -in-law singing to my 2month old son.

It's really sweet. It is really. Even though they were a bit interesting.

I had to giggle a bit and be glad that my 2 month old will never remember the words to these songs.

Here's a list of songs I could hear my father-in-law singing. Get ready for this.

Little Red Riding Hood
He'll Have to Go - by Jim Reeves
Scooby Dooby Doo
Ahab the Arab
Some song by Elvis
And SOME song about gum losing its flavor on the bedpost!

My husband and I looked at each other at times laughing and shaking our heads. Other times, my husband would tell him to PLEASE sing some other type of song to our child!

I really, REALLY hope that Justin understands his PaPa's good intentions but overlooks Ahab the Arab.

Barney vs. Barney

2008-02-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

Inter'sting these Barneys are.

There's Barney Fife and then there is BARNEY. You know that purple dinosaur? Well, Joshua learned of Barney Fife before he learned about BARNEY. So now we have a bit of confusion going on.

We watch alot of Andy Griffith around here. But since Joshua received alot of Barney the dinosaur DVDs for this birthday, we've been watching THEM alot.

So tonight, we were watching Andy Griffith and there was the scene with Barney Fife in it. Joshua already doesn't feel well this week. So when I said, "Yeah, that's Barney," boy did he cry. He kept pointing and saying "Barn" "Barn." I'm saying, "Yes, Baby, that's Barney."

And he cried harder.

Finally, I say, "Oh, did you mean Barney the dinosaur?" He looks at me.

I went to the tv and picked up the DVD that I thought he might be "talking" about.

Sure enough, I changed the DVD to the nice purple dinosaur and he sat down on some pillows in the floor and that was that!

I'm hoping to get him interested in Bob the Builder VERY soon!

Right this very minute, they are singing with a Bassett Hound "Do your ears hang low, do you tie 'em in a knot, do you tie 'em in a bow."

Or something like that.

What a Great Week!

2008-02-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

Despite the sniffles around the house, it's been a totally great week!

Joshua, who just turned 2 this week, has SOMEthing. I don't know if its just sniffles or a cold. He had a pretty high fever one day. 103 degrees. So maybe it IS a cold. Then he started the kind of sneezing that requires you to wear tissues on you all day long and have good legs to CATCH him! He may not feel well, but he can run when he doesn't want his nose wiped! agh. And of course, if I don't catch him, I'm gonna have "stuff" all over everything when he wipes his nose with the back of his hand. Let's hear another "agh" and add an "ugh."

He seems to be doing alot better after a couple of doses of regular tylenol and ALOT of 100% juice. Sugar is pretty aggravating because it's so high, but he needed the juice.

The part that makes it a totally great week is starting the mornings off in prayer then going "FlyLady!" Note an earlier post. I've gotten SO much done this week. I'm feeling lighter already. I feel like the house is lighter......on its way to being a home. This is for my husband and my babies. I want everything to be peaceful. Having a decluttered house is peaceful. *YES*

I went out to the car today to declutter it. It was a mess. It hasn't been on the road in months and my husband is ready to take it on the road to work since it's much better on gas. In there I found some notes I'd taken in our church service. A Word from God to me was this: Don't look with my eyes. Look and believe with my heart. It's going to look impossible with my eyes.

I'll have to get the note to write it down in its completeness. But it was neat finding that today! When I've looked with my eyes a few times, it definitely shows things won't work out for me to be home with my babies.. But I do believe God with my heart and know that He's on time. Even if He waits til the last minute to BE on time!

Saturday's almost here. But before it comes, we gotta fix supper! G'Nite.

2nd Birthday Party! Woohoo!!

2008-02-17T03:15:00.000-08:00

Joshua had his 2nd birthday party yesterday. Just a few days before his birthday. Saturday was a bit more convenient for everyone than on a Wednesday.

I woke up Saturday morning not feeling that great. One........I had a scratchy throat and felt a bit woozy in the nogin. Second......I had an issue on my mind. One of those family issues that when I wake up in the morning, and it's on my mind, I start stewing. You know how it goes......

I'm thinking God You're gonna have to help me today! It's my baby's birthday party. It HAS to go right.

I tried to do some laundry, etc before my husband went to work. I tried to decorate a little. We were doing a Bob the Builder theme even though I couldn't find the plates, napkins, and cups in an actual store around here! I'd have to order it online and I wasn't going to do that this time.

The only thing Bob the Builder we were going to have was a cake! The napkins, cups, & plates were just going to be blue and the table cloth was yellow. I had streamers of yellow and blue and had those little triangles on a string that had pictures of party hats and sat Happy Birthay! I wrapped that around his highchair and around our dining table.

I had the grandparents coming around 12 noon so I could pull myself together and try to do a few more things.

About 2pm, my husbad called me making sure that I had actually ordered a cake. And do you know where he was calling me from? That grocery store where I placed the order! I think you can guess what was happening. They didn't do a cake! It was in the system, but there was no.physical.cake.

OkeyDOKIE!

Well, in the meantime, my birthday boy fell asleep with Gram holding him. It starts at 3pm, remember? Well, that's ok.

My husband called me back saying that I'd be seeing a cake landing in my driveway very shortly. They were going to do my cake and deliver it to the house! No charge for the cake or delivery! This was a $26 cake! Even though they didn't have it ready when my hubby arrived at the store, there sure was a nice blessing hidden in there!

So instead of the party starting at 3pm, it started around 4pm.

We grilled hamburgers, had sodas, icecream and cake and it turned out nicely!

After eating, we sat in the living room gathering around my birthday boy. We had balloons all over the floor. Well.....I couldn't take it anymore. I had to start playing volleyball with those non-helium balloons. I kept popping them across to people who just had to knock them back to get them out of their face. It turned out fun!

Joshua got alot of videos! He already has bookoos of toys and clothes so we opted for videos!

Several Barney videos, Thomas the Tank, Handy Manny, and a Bob the Builder video (the lady told me that she'd give him that at church today.) He got some animal books and a wooden train/book set.

Overall, it turned out good. Late, but free, cake and all!

Joshua was exhausted and so was Mommy! Daddy had to put him to bed this time while I lay on the couch with my new little one.

We'll celebrate again on his actual birth day just not in big party form!

So, I'll go for now. It's almost 7am and I could still use another 3 hours sleep. I also need some sinus medicine that won't make me feel like I'm out on Mars or some strange place like that!

Nite, nite.....or is it Good Morning?

He graduated today!!

2008-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Joshua is REALLY growing up on me. It's great that he's growing, but 'tis also a bit sad! I'd love to keep him a baby.

Anyway, my mother-in-law and I went to the store......you guessed it......Walmart! I was helping her find a birthday present for Joshua.

Along the way, I realized I'd forgotten Joshua's sippy cup. We'd headed out for Walmart right about lunchtime so I knew we'd be grabbing some lunch and Joshua would need something to drink.

Well, I chanced it. I went through the drive-thru, ordered our meals including a bottle of milk for Josh.

hmm. I tested him out to see if he'd drink from the milk bottle. Didn't work. Next thing was the straw. I showed him how to drink from it and told him to suck on it like he did the sippy cup.

TaDA!!!! He caught on!!! He can drink from a straw!! I was so happy for him, cheering him on with him smiling!

I guess that means now he can drink a milkshake! uh-oh........

Before I forget, I had an interesting experience in Walmart.

I was going into the party section at this new Walmart in town hoping to find those Bob the Builder plates and cups that I talked about in a previous post.

Well, of course, in the party supplies are balloons. Well, he started screaming BAWWOOON!! Over and over and over again.

Then he wanted out of the cart. Then he wanted to walk. Then he wanted me to pick him up. Then somewhere along the way when he was standing on the floor, he decided to start pulling, and demanding, then he sunk to the floor. You know how they just go LIMP and you can't do anything with them?

After about 15-20 minutes of this, I told him that if he didn't settle down, I would have to call daddy to come pick him up and take him back home or if I didn't call daddy, Josh would get a spanking when he got home. He settled down.

Is this the beginning of the "terrible 2's? Or was it because "Gram" was with us? He NEVER does that!!

Then we get home and he's a totally different child.

hmmm.

Da-Da-Day!

2008-02-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

That's the way Joshua says Valentines Day!

Tuesday afternoon, Valentine Eve, about 4pm, I decided to go get a few items for our refrigerator. So I went to Dollar General. A little crowded. The line was out to wazoo.

Well, I needed to get party supplies, so I went to our nearest Dollar Tree. Oh.my.word. I have NEVER...I mean NEVER.....seen Dollar Tree so out of control. It was because of Valentines Day! Yeah, balloons were EVERYwhere from one end of the store to the other. Well, that's fine, but most were deflated.

Well, the frog balloons were mainly the ones deflated and those were the ones I wanted for my little guy!

Well, I finally made it out of there. Those lines were ALSO out to wazoo!

Then I needed to go into WalMart. I thought for sure they'd have Bob the Builder party plates, napkins and cups. But they didn't. All this for Joshua's 2nd birthday party. And it was freezing outside! The wind felt like it was coming off a frozen ocean! But I HAD to look for those plates. What a mom does for her son.......

Anyway. There were none. So as I headed home, I went to the Party supply store. There I knew they'd have the Bob the Builder plates, napkins, etc. I was wrong.

I'm going home now.

I walked in the door of my cozy home around 7pm where I found my husband and father-in-law cooking supper. Joshua was in his highchair and saw the balloons! That's it.

He had to have the balloons. The little guy held those balloons all through supper. Would NOT let them go. If he wanted to eat something himself, he just shoved TWO balloons in one hand and ate with the other.

Then it happened. I saw him turn his head and he went to sleep with those balloons in his hands. I snapped pictures, but I"ll have to get permission from my DH to post them! It was just too cute! After about 30 minutes, I managed to pry the balloons out of his hands. My husband came in and moved him to the bed to change him in to his pjs. Then the crib.

Valentine's morning, I walked in and the first thing out of his mouth was bawooon! He even had to have them during breakfast.

BaWOOOON!

My 2 Boys! What "Little Men!"

2008-02-13T05:09:00.000-08:00

I'll start with my biggest little man, Joshua. This guy has got to be 30-31 lbs. That's enough to tone this gal's arm! Anyway, he's so tall for almost 2 yrs. People tend to think he's about 3 or so. He makes me laugh everyday! Now, we have our moments.....oh boy. Alot of times when I say that we need to change his diaper, he'll go on to our room. He gets on the bed and as I start to unloose his diaper, if I blink my eye or turn to get something, he'll snatch that diaper out from under himself!! Oh.my.word. It's ONE thing if it's just a wet diaper, but something totally different if it's POOP! And not only that, if it's constipated poop! Oh man. We've gone a round on this one! I've learned to watch his little hands closely because he's sneaky! I hold on to the diaper a bit better now and we don't have as many messy moments!

And he still loves to go in our room, find the baby powder and start shaking it fiercely!! All over the place! I guess I shouldn't get so frustrated when he shakes it everywhere. It's only powder and it smells good and besides that, a few years down the road, I'm gonna wish I still had a little guy shaking powder everywhere. It's small stuff. I've got to remember that!

Although he's been talking a while, not in sentences, but communicating in 1-2 words, about 2 weeks ago, he's actually started saying "Mama" in front of what he wants. For example, he used to say "mama" just to say it. Now, he says "Mama, down-down." Or "Mama, bilk." Or "Mama, gone-gone!"

After his meals which still consist of the good stuff like fish, brocolli casserole, macaroni and cheese, tuna, etc, he'll hand me his plate and cup like he's saying all done!

He knows more sign language and boy does he have a great memory. Speaking of memory, he had told me in his special way that his milk was gone and said "Mo" and did his sign for more. I went and got his milk and set the cup on the table next to me. In just about 5 minutes, Josh says, "bilk." I'm like "oh yeah, I forgot!" And he's also started putting the two words "apple" and "juice" together. Apple.....juice.

A few more Josh-isms:
Golfa - Dolphin
et - hurt
break and broke - break and broke!
ae-pane - airplane
doo-doo - Scooby Doo
I think I've already mentioned "ron-ron" - macaroni
io - can be Cheerios or video
moke - smoke (chimney smoke)
mon - snowman
ee - teeth
ustn - Justin
bubba - brother
ba - bear, bug, bird
good - food's good!
ca - car
bi - bike
go-go - wants to go.....anywhere!
moom - moon, room
da-da-day! - Valentines Day!
nu-nu-nu-nu nose - tiny turned up nose (the song "Little Boy of Mine")
numa-numa-numinables - bananas

I know there are plenty more, but it being midnight, that's all I can think of right now!

Things I'm Learning.........

2008-02-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

It's hard to know how to write this particular entry. I want to keep it real.

Since I've been home on maternity leave, I'm learning alot. Not necessarily about how to keep 2 babies. Yeah, I"m learning that, but I'm learning other things.

I grew up in a very organized home. BUT guess what? I'm not organized. I don't even know how to clean! Which is sad since I"m 35 yrs old. I get so overwhelmed with cleaning. I've always wanted to be here at home with my boys and be a good wife. I want to have supper on the table by around 6pm even after a day of keeping my boys and doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, etc. It can be a chore.

I've been praying about it lately. Some people seem to be just flat out born with the organizational "gene", but I totally missed out! I asked God to please help me be what I need to be in my family. Help me take care of the house like I need to and help me take care of my husband. I want to give him a "haven" here at home after a hard days work. And it hasn't been for a long time.

It gets so frustrating for him AND me when I can't organize this place. It's hard to keep the laundry down. Hard to keep the bathrooms clean, etc.

I've been reading a blog lately about a lady with her "Three Girly Girlz." I feel like God sent me to her blog. I can SO relate. I'm so blessed after reading her articles. After praying about my housecleaning, I googled one day about how to clean a house. FlyLady. That's what came up. FlyLady. Say what?!

If you are frustrated about how much STUFF is in your home, when you finish reading her website, you'll have a TOTALLY different outlook. Reading it gave me a different side to cleaning and gave me such motivation! I realize now that I"m NOT alone. I'm not weird or have some "syndrome." So many people get frustrated and stressed out with their home and what's in it.

After reading the "Three Girly Girlz," I started giving stuff away. Mainly my clothes. I tried selling some of them on Ebay and guess what? I couldn't sell them and I think I know why. I was trying to depend on selling those clothes to get money when I knew deep down that I probably needed to give them away... But I resisted because "I needed the money."

It took all I had to start pulling clothes to "give" away. Then once I got going, that's all I could do. I kept on and on pulling stuff out. Because somewhere, someone really needed those good clothes.

When I read FlyLady's site, she talked about it. Giving clothes away. She also talked about taking baby steps in cleaning your home. Those baby steps are "blessing" your home. Anything you can clean and any clutter you can get rid, blesses your home. It brings peace.

That's what I want. Peace. Peace for my family.

Go check out those websites here and here.

Happy Dance!

2008-02-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

I first noticed this cute dance last year, but I had no idea how much I would actually see it!

We would be watching the Baby Einstein "Baby MacDonald"video. There's a part in there where there is a tall apple tree and a horse or a cow comes up picking the apples off one by one. And this is also where Joshua made his way up closer to the tv and stood REAL still until the horse (or cow) gets almost to the last apple (the horse/cow thinks its the last one anyway), it sounds like an earthquake and all the other apples come tumbling down.

That's when the dance started. Woohoo!! While staying in place, Joshua would highstep and get all excited!!

Well, I've seen that dance more and more!! When he picks up a box of toys and turns it upside down, he'll dance. Something about seeing ALOT of stuff FALL everywhere.......hmmmm.

When he sees something exciting or just wants to show off, he'll dance. And not just "in place" anymore. It's all around the room! He goes round and round until he gets dizzy and just flops down on the floor!

He's a happy child! Especially when there's a mess in the floor! He loves to make a "Meeeeesssss" as he calls it.

He dumps everything in the floor, stands up tall, points and ......

Josh: says "Messsss" in a strong voice.

Me: That IS a mess. Who made that mess?

Josh: PaPa!

Me: Papa made that mess? PaPa's ALWAYS making a mess!

Happy Dance.....Happy Life!! Happy Boy!

Wa-Mop

2008-02-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

I can tell that Joshua is really learning to put things together now at almost 2 yrs old. His birthday is Feb 20.

Instead of repeating just a few little words that I say, he's repeating almost every word! One word that caught me by surprise was Wa-Mop!

It's his version of WalMart!

I mentioned it a week or so ago and he's been saying it ever since.

The other evening, my husband, I and the babies were eating supper. My husband asked Joshua what we did that day:

Hubby to Josh: What did ya'll do today?

Josh: Go, Go.

Hubby: Where did you go?

Josh: Wa-Mop.

Hubby: What did you do at WalMart?

Josh: Mam

Well, I'm not exactly sure what "Mam" is, but I THINK it's a man or a woman. We stopped to talked to one of the employees. She's was talking about Joshua and relating to HER little man. Her son goes to karate class. She went on to say how it even helped his asthma and he's not on medication now! It's helped his attitude, etc.

My husband wants Joshua to start taking karate around 4yrs old. So when the lady was talking about that, I had a few questions.

Anyway, back to Wa-Mop. Yesterday morning, I told Joshua that in the afternoon, his "Gram" and "PaPa" were coming and that they were going to keep Justin while he and I were going to WalMart.

Well, by mid-afternoon, about, oh say, 3:30 or 4pm, Joshua was in the hallway, and made a grunt sound to "Gram." It was one of those grunts that almost sounds like he COULD start crying, but didn't. It was a sound saying he's almost disgusted.

Here goes the conversation:

Josh: "grunt" (to say "I'm disgusted)

Gram: What's wrong, Baby?

Josh: Wa-Mop.

Gram: What?

Me: WalMart. I told him we'd go to WalMart this afternoon.

So needless to say, I put myself in high gear, put his other clothes on (he WAS in play clothes), finished getting ready and went to Wa-Mop!

Funny Things!

2008-02-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

As parents, it's interesting the things that we end up doing because maybe our brain has a wire coming unravelled only for a moment.

This morning, instead of putting Joshua's oatmeal in a bowl, I accidentally poured it on to a paper towel.

Normally, the paper towel is for the dry cheerios!

I groaned and told my husband what I did. He told me that one morning he was about to pour tea into his cereal bowl instead of milk!

Thank goodness he pours his milk first, THEN his cereal!

I've started to put things that should be in the refrigerator in the cabinet! And vice versa.

oKAY.............

-------------

It's an interesting life......the life of being a parent to a toddler. The things I find.....oh my....

I've opened the cabinet to the pots and pans only to find part of a pig or cow. Don't be alarmed, it's Joshua's magnets that go on the refrigerator.

Or.....a magnetic letter in the cabinet that holds some form of dining ware!

Or maybe in the middle of the night, I go into the kitchen to fix Justin's bottle and I see some THING in the middle of the floor.

Now, in the dark, you know how you can see a shape but not know what exactly it is? Well, I eased around it hoping it didn't move.

I turned on the light only to find Joshua's green plastic lizard.

Or maybe my husband is walking through and his feet find a hard plastic giraffe! ouch!

Or maybe I go to put on my shoe and find a toy in it or a tube of SOMEthing in it.

hmmmm. I wonder how THAT got there?!

Things are pretty hilarious here at toddlerville!

Yes, I have a newborn, but he can't pull THOSE stunts yet. All he can do is all of a sudden leave me with a warm wet sensation. OK, time to change the diaper! And my clothes!

Powder Anyone??

2008-01-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Ok. I'm not sure what the deal is with the baby powder. Is it just that toddlers love to see the white stuff fly everywhere? I guess.

For a couple of months now, Joshua has been TOTALLY intrigued with the baby powder. You see......silly me always forgets to put the stuff up HIGH enough out of little fingers reach. I've got so much on my brain, that I leave it on the table right beside our bed.

Before I know it, my little man has toddled off. I'm thinking "Oh No." Sure enough, he's gone into "Mommy and Daddy's" bedroom, got hold of the powder and is shaking it like there is no tomorrow!

Out flies powder, powder, powder. All over the floor, all in his HAIR, all over his CLOTHES, all on his face. Did I say all in his HAIR?!?

Then, of all things, I try....try to get on to him for doing that. All he does is look at me and......you guessed it: grins! How do I win?

My Littlest "Big Man"

2008-01-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

I call my 2 boys "Little Big Man" and my "Littlest Big Man" because they are, in fact, BIG!

Joshua is big framed and tall for almost 2.

Justin is big framed and weighed more than Joshua at birth. Only by 2 more oz, but still he was bigger. AND more active while I was pregnant with him!!

AND that IS.NOT.MY.IMAGINATION.

He is very active even at a little over a month old.

He eats somewhat different, but somewhat the same, as Joshua. Justin likes to snack. He'll drink part of his milk and then snooze. I burp him and BOY can he burp. Ain't no dinky burp. Somehow he manages to wake up for me and he may or may not finish his milk. Every now and then he'll spit up, and sometimes he makes a face like he's got a bad taste in his mouth which makes me wonder if he's got reflux.

I love to put him on his back, but he totally prefers sleeping on his side or stomach. I'll put him on his stomach in the daytime only, so I can watch him constantly.

I've heard the term "Cluster feed." Everytime I've read about it, this type of feeding is during nursing. I'm not sure if they consider this a nursing-only type of feeding, but I think this MUST be what he does at night ecen tho he takes a bottle of formula. For some reason, he can't seem to get full. We thought maybe he was fussy because of gas. Well, we gave him mylicon. He was still fussy and bounced his head and mouth off our shoulders and was sucking on his fists.

He drinks about 4 oz, then about 10 minutes later wants more. So we "ounce" him until he finally stops at about 8 oz and then.....he sleeps all night! I don't want to overfeed him and I try to be so careful. But he doesn't get satisfied at night until he reaches about 8-9 oz.

Joshua guzzled down his milk at this age. He only spit up milk 1 time. He didn't even THINK about sleeping until he finished all his milk.

Justin weighed 8 lbs 2 oz at birth, but he now feels like he weighs 12. His shoulders and chest are quite large.

I saw his first smile yesterday. First, as in not with his eyes closed. His eyes were wide open and he smiled a cute little grin. He did it again this morning for me as I was talking to him.

Joshua and Justin are adjusting quite well. At first, we had a problem, but now Josh will come over and put his head on Justin's headand smile. He'll be the first to check on Justin when I say "Lets go check on your brother." Josh goes and climbs on the couch, holds out his hands to hold him. I let him "hold" him. Not really, but a special way. Josh has even started calling him by name.

I HAVE noticed that Josh will at times "copy" what Justin is doing......like the way he grunts and fusses around.

I haven't pushed the issue of potty training since Justin was born and now Josh actually seems interested. Yesterday especially.

There is plenty more to say, but mommy duty calls!

Naptime....What is it??

2008-01-24T05:56:00.000-08:00

Joshua.....my sweet "little big man"......he's almost 2 yrs old and it's starting now where he really, just really DOES NOT want to take a nap. The only sure fire way for him to nap is for me to take him on a drive across town....maybe not even across town.....sometimes, I just put him in the car seat and back out and he goes to sleep.....hmmm.

If and that's a BIG "IF" he goes to sleep here, it's late in the afternoon close to suppertime when he's fought and fought and just can't take it anymore. Well, I put him in the highchair last night where he played with a 2-liter bottle I'd cleaned out. I was cutting up his mac and cheese and low and behold I look up to find him asleep! This has happened several times. The only thing I can do is give him some fruit.....you know the Stage 2 or 3 fruit? I have to keep it in the kitchen for days like yesterday. I know it's easy to swallow and he won't choke because he doesn't really chew it. Just mush with his tongue and he doesn't even have to open his eyes.

Which he didn't.

After I managed to give him his fruit, I let him stay in his highchair for a few minutes then took him to the bedroom to change his clothes. He wasn't dirty, so I just got him ready for bed. He slept ALL night long.

Now.....Justin.....he's another story......actually, my next post!

A Few Changes

2008-01-20T05:14:00.000-08:00

We've made a few changes around our house. We really didn't know how it'd work out. But it comes down to what is really necessary. We got rid of satellite TV and it's turned out great! You may wonder how on earth?? But we only watched about 3 channels of 400 + channels.

One of those channels was TV Land. And most of what is on TV Land has Season DVDs out. You know, like Andy Griffith, Gomer Pyle, Leave It To Beaver, etc. We have those Season Shows. And they are handpicked. We don't have to worry about language that our sons might here. I realize they WILL hear stuff like that one day, but they are so young and so impressionable. I don't want that stuff going in their ears. Joshua actually watches Andy Griffith and he's not quite 2yrs old!

The other channel was SoapNet. Yeah.....bad I know. But the 1 show I watched at night, comes on at 3pm and besides that, I can catch episodes on YouTube! But ya know, I really haven't even watched it at 3pm or on YouTube lately. They were getting a bit out on Mars with their language. Sad. I CAN do without the Soap.

FoodTV! I loved that channel, but it made me WANT! I'd have to go to the store and SPEND! We just keep it simple as far as meals. Every now and then, like this past Friday, we'll go out to eat. It's been SEVERAL months since we've done that.

If there was another channel, it was one my husband watched. Something like History, etc.

So we are doing quite well without the satellite. It isn't as hard as we thought!

We've cut down on our grocery shopping! I haven't got the coupon strategy down pat yet. Some people do and they seem to save even more! Like I said, I haven't got that down pat yet.

With me being at home on maternity leave, we've cut down on gas for our cars! Instead of 2 cars on the road, it's just one because hey, I'm HOME! And if it works out that I can stay at home permanently with my boys, then our insurance will go down.

Yeah, there are cute clothes I'd love to have. I'd love to have bigger bathrooms, a Florida room, new appliances for my kitchen........ but I'm learning to be content with what I have.

I have a good husband, 2 sweet miracles, a roof over my head, and food to eat. God provides in many different ways.

Like for example, while I'm on maternity leave, I still get paid. Even though I'm not at work, my last check was MORE than I ever imagined. I'm on a program where co-workers donate "leave" hours to me so I can still get paid.

A friend of mine gave me clothes for my "almost" 2 yr old. Some of those clothes still had tags. Clothes that her grandson never wore. She's also giving us a toddler bed!

Sometimes being content with what we have is hard. I look around and wish. But I'm learning.......learning that it's not about stuff that we want or think we want. God provides for us what we truly need. And I'm thankful!

Blessed!

2008-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here typing this post and watching my 2 little miracles sleep. My 23 month old, Joshua, is lying on some blankets on the floor with "Bay" (his word for bear). My 1 month old, Justin, I just picked up because he looked like he was about to get upset and I didn't want him to wake up Joshua.

I've been so blessed even though I've goofed up many times. As a teenager......well...I won't go into that. But I'm glad I can't go back there. I don't think I was bad, but I was terribly unsettled, but wanted my independence as all teens do....you're almost an adult, but still a stupid kid....knowwhutImean?

But God helped me get to 35 yrs old, gave me a good Christian husband (at age 26), and my babies. When they smile at me, I see God in it!

Joshua is quickly learning his alphabet. I was attempting to teach him with some alphabet placemats but found the Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set. It's WONDERFUL! He loves it! And so do I because it goes on the refrigerator and while I'm busy in the kitchen, he's right there! I'm able to go over the alphabet with him. AND this is NOT a paid advertisement for LeapFrog. I'm just tickled with it.

Oh yeah, let's hear a cheer for Baby Bjorn Baby Carriers!! I ordered one through Amazon last week. I found one brand new and alot cheaper than I would have got one in the stores. I won't mention which store. I just watched the price fluctuate until it fluctuated right down below $90 with no shipping cost. I carry Justin around while Joshua and I do laundry!

And when I say he does laundry, I ain't kidding! He grabs the clothes out of the hamper and hands each one to me to put in the washer or if I'm too slow putting them in, he reaches up, stands on his tippy toes, and tosses them in the washer himself! Then, when I take them out of the washer, I hand him each piece and he tosses them in the dryer! How's that for help?! It sure did come in handy when I was pregnant with Justin!!

I think I'm going to have to rename this blog "Life with Two Boys!"

My Little Christmas Miracle has Arrived!!

2007-12-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

My dr had scheduled me for labor induction Dec 17/18. (I was on a waiting list). BUT Joshua's little brother, Justin, arrived Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 10:46 am. Wow is all I can say!

Monday, December 10, about 8:30pm after a day of working hard around the house preparing, I started having pains on my right side. My contractions were kicking in.

My husband called his parents who live not 10 minutes away to come and stay at the house and get Joshua to bed. I think it only took them TWO minutes! I wondered if I was having false labor, but didn't want to take the chance. So we drove to the hospital. We actually did stay calm. We got there around 9pm.

Unlike when I was going to the hospital to have Joshua, this time we had no one to meet us with a wheel chair. We went over to the famous elevator and went to the 3rd floor to the triage. There, she told me that it must be the full moon because everyone was going into labor! It was full in there!

And they put me in a room that was originally the storage room for wheelchairs! But hey, I won't complain. They hooked me up to check the contractions. They were from 3 - 5 minutes apart and when the doctor on call came in, he said I'd already dilated 3 cm. Whoa.

So gone was the idea of possibly going back home. The doctor said that we might as well stay because I'd probably end up coming back to the hospital at 3am.

They took me to my own room where they started an IV to make sure I didn't dehydrate. Then after about an hour, they gave me an epidural. Which HURT! It's all in the way these guys give it to you. With my first delivery, it didn't hurt. This one HURT. It started affecting my neck which made me nervous. I told the nurse what I was feeling and she just thought I worried too much. She said it was because I tensed up.

Anyway, not too long after, of course, I felt no pain. I slept well. Then about 5am, they started pitosin. However you spell that. It's the medicine to induce labor.

This delivery was quick once they induced. I dilated quickly and about 10:30am they had me start pushing on each contraction. I pushed about 7 sets of 3 pushes.....if that makes any sense. One push - then count to 10. Second push - then count to ten. Third push - count to ten. Then wait for another contraction and do the same.

At 10:46am, my little guy made his way into the world!! Justin's head "coned" unlike Joshua and they only had to do minor stitching. This time, I was able to hold my son pretty quickly after delivery.

My doctor who delivered Justin is very good. He monitored me VERY closely. He was going to make sure I didn't have any "malfunction" with this delivery.

They moved me to the post pardum area of the hospital. Everyone was so nice! I enjoyed my stay mostly. The pain medicine they put me helped me sleep VERY well. I'm sure all the nurses coming in during the night heard me sawing some major logs!

The doctor came in Wednesday to do the "little boy surgery." And my nutty pediatrician came in to see me. Actually, he's very nice. Just a little nutty! And you know it would have to be me that he caught with the heat lamp and a container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that my husband had gone down to get for me!! While I was heating and healing, I was EATING! He said "now ain't this a set up: a heat lamp and ice cream!" Pretty funny!

This time in the hospital, we kept down visitors. With the previous delivery, everyone came in every possible time when I wasn't expecting it. My nerves were shot! You know how you are getting ready to try to nurse and someone walks in? Well, anyway, it was just family who came in and they called first! I needed time to rest, time to spend with my new son, and time with my husband. That's what I got!!

I'll try to write about my energy and my emotions regarding Joshua next time!

I'm so proud of my babies!

Christmas Giveaways at............

2007-11-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

5 minutes for Mom!!!!

Check it out here! I've put in for a few things! Good luck everyone! I believe the contest ends at 10pm today. I know its short notice, but things are a bit busy 'round here these days!!

Hey Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-22T04:26:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a while, but we are doing fine. Just a little update, as of November 8, I'm out on maternity leave for a while! November 8 around 3am, my contractions started. We went to the hospital (in-laws came to take care of Joshua), and the nurses there tried to get my contractions slowed down. Which is ALL they did.......slow them down.

They gave me 2 shots that didn't work. Then, they stuck an IV in me that was full of magnesium somethin' or 'nother. Oh that stuff is bad. It knocked my whole system for a loop! My eyes started crossing....literally......because this stuff messes with your muscles. So I couldn't focus well. They wouldn't let me eat or drink anything because they said it'd make me sick.

Well, it did anyway. That evening it caused me to puke! Nothing like puking, not being able to get up and go to the bathroom or not being able to eat, then finally when they "mag" me out, I come just "this close" to passing out totally. So they pulled the magnesium. FINALLY. But then later on, they put me back on at a lower dose.

They also gave me 2 shots of steroids to kinda jumpstart my little guy's lungs, just in case....

They figured out I'd dilated and that's why I was there for about 2 nights.

BUT NOW, today, Thanksgiving Day, marks my 36th week. SO, if my little guy wants to show up, we ain't gonna stop him!!

We still have quite a way to go with the nursery. We are getting a toddler bed within the next week for Joshua so we can go ahead and put it in his room with his crib where he can be getting used to it. By next March or April, our new son will take Joshua's crib.

Joshua is running around here these days surprising everyone with new tricks! It's amazing what his grow up. His little personality......he's cuddly some days, he's independent others. He's a little jokester some days; serious others. He's like a sponge MOST days wanting to learn; some days he just wants to play. Some days, he's a flirt with the ladies. Others, he might turn his head.

One day he dragged a baby wipes box into the kitchen where I was cooking, he sat down on it and said "boop." He DIDN'T poop, but he was associating! So I think he'll be easy to potty train. We're gonna get a potty seat soon.

Well, I'll update again later. My in-laws are coming up here today for Thanksgiving. Really we're not having a typical Thanksgiving meal. My husband suggested changing the menu. He'd rather have a big Christmas dinner than a big Thanksgiving dinner.

Stay safe!

Time to Pray!!

2007-10-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

Joshua is learning so quickly. I'm just flat floored! I'd love to know what else is going on in that little noggin of his!

I tell him it's time for his bath. He quickly turns toward the hall, heads to the bathroom, OPENS the door (we keep it closed mostly), and he leans toward the tub. He then puts his hands on the knob like he's seen us do. I get the water going pretty good and he puts his hands under it to "check" the water for temperature!

He knows what "we've got to go nite-nite" means. And he puts his head down and tries to go to sleep.

Last night, as we were in our room letting him wind down, we prayed. And of course, like we all do at some point, I peeked to look at Joshua. He was watching his daddy pray. He gets real still when we pray. He just knows. Ya know?

When we finished praying, I looked over at my little man, and as he sat there on the bed, he put his little hands together - clasped for prayer. I looked at my husband and he looked at me. Wow, I thought.... My husband tested Joshua out a minute to see if all this meant what we THOUGHT it meant. He asked Joshua "how do we pray?" Joshua folded his hands and smiled at us! Of course, we hugged him and praised his action. He just smiled........

With God's help, we're going to bring up this child (and our other son due soon) to know God and His love. And that he can always go to God for his needs whatever they might be.

"Tuck!"

2007-10-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my husband a few minutes ago over the phone and he told me something cute that our little Mr. Josh did earlier.

My husband was in the living room and noticed Joshua was in the dining room behind the table. When my husband called to him to come out from behind the table, Joshua wouldn't. He just stayed put.

Anyway, my husband called out again, but then let him be for a few minutes. Then in a couple of minutes Joshua started his special little whimper when something isn't just right. Apparently while he was over behind the table, he pulled a chair in his way. My husband says "What's the matter??"

Joshua says "Tuck!" He was stuck behind the table and chairs and couldn't get out! I didn't even know he KNEW the word "stuck"!

The old phrase that "children that age are like sponges," is very true! They pick up everything. When they hear it one time, that's it!

On another note, our little boy due in December is VERY active! He seems to be a bit more active than Joshua was at this stage. We tend to think he'll be an early baby. Originally due Dec. 20, I'm guessing he'll be here by the 10th or so. We've got everyone on guard here at work!!

Camera Giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom!

2007-10-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

She’s the Casio Pink EX-Z75 digital camera specially bundled with a camera case with pink stitching and a pink ribbon-clad lanyard to show support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).

Yes, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Casio is putting on the pink.

The special-edition pink EX-Z75 will be available beginning October 2007 and can be purchased at Sears, La Curacao, Fred Meyer, BJ’s, Nexcom, AAFES, Staples, and Future Shop. The bundle package will have an MSRP of $179.99, and will proudly sponsor the National Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information, please visit www.casiousa.com.

You can also win one of these Pink Digital Cameras at 5 minutes for Mom!!

I Remember When.....

2007-10-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

It is so amazing watching my little boy grow. Of course, it's emotional, but it's wonderful! I often remind my husband of the way it was when we first brought Joshua home....his little arms just a'goin. They couldn't grasp anything. Now he can throw a ball.

I remember when he just lay there and I'd change his diaper. Now he wants "down-down."

I remember when he didn't even know he "pooping", but he now stops, poops, then when we ask him what he did, he tells us "Boop."

I remember when all he did was drink 40 oz of milk in a day. Now he's feeding himself and drinking from his "big boy" cup. He eats almost anything. Except for the other day when we had asparagus. He tried it. But he let us know really quick he didn't want anymore. He's such a great eater that it doesn't worry me when all of a sudden he doesn't want something. He gets his meat, calcium, fiber, fruits, etc! One way or another! He doesn't eat hotdogs or alot of sweet stuff.....just because.

I remember when he had his days and nights mixed up. Now he sleeps all night long unless he's got an upset stomach or has had a nightmare.

I remember when I held him and slowly swayed back and forth and let him hear a hairdryer where he'd go to sleep. Then a few months later, I remember going to the nursery, reading, and rocking him to sleep.

A couple of months ago we had issues where we'd take him in his nursery and sit down, but he wanted "down-down" and it was difficult to hold him. He took off down the hall to go play again. We finally found a remedy. After I bathe him, brush his teeth, and dress him for bed, we just leave him on our bed for him to play. 95% of the time, he'll play, then start rolling, then fall right asleep. My husband puts him in his crib where he sleeps the rest of the night with ease. In the mornings, Joshua is perfectly content when he wakes up in his crib.

I remember when he was first learning to crawl, then when he was taking a few steps. I remember my husband showing me how Joshua could walk from the couch to him. Then Joshua started easing his way from the couch, to the furniture, to the dining room, to the hallway.

I remember when he couldn't walk up and down our step that leads from the dining room to the kitchen and the step from the living room to the hallway. When he got up the step, he would get on his stomach and work his way back down. Now he walks up and down with ease!

I remember when we had to lay him in a baby tub or the changing table to give him a sponge bath. Now he sits up like a big boy in his tub (that sits in the adult tub).

I remember when he would be in the bassinet at night (when he first came home) and I heard his little grunt sounds. And when he was waking up wanting food, he started kicking. Now I hear him from his crib alot of mornings saying "mama, dada, bilk-bilk."

I remember when he just wore socks when we went somewhere. Now he's in a size 6 1/2 - 7 shoe!

I remember when he was in his little carseat and we put it in the grocery cart. Now he either sits in the front (with a cart cover or with the grocery cart cleaned off well), or he holds our hand and walks with us!

I remember when he outgrew that little carseat and we had to get him a big boy carseat.

I remember when he was light as a feather, but now he's a VERY SOLID 25 lbs.

I remember the first 3 - 4 months I was home and needed to get a shower. It was daaays 'for I got one! Then I figured out that I could put him in his little bouncy-vibrating chair and pull him toward the bathroom while I got a bath.

Then after a few months I realized that was not going to work anymore. We put him in his little play gym. Now a days, I have to make sure I've had a bath by 7am - 7:30am before he wakes up. Because when he wakes up, we start the day and we don't need my bath to get in the way! He wants to eat! And drink his "bilk!"

I remember when we had a little toy thing that stretched across his car seat. Now we go to the zoo and he names off the animals! "Aff" for giraffe, "ion" for lion, "ti-der" for tiger, "zeze" for zebra, and so on.

I'm so thankful for the time that I do get to be with my little man. I feel like I"ve missed some things with me working full time outside the home, but I take the time that I'm allowed on weekends and in the evenings and spend it with him. I know God will work things out.

But like one of my recent dreams: A nice dirt path has been started. It's not paved yet. So I can't take that road. But it's there and will be paved soon! Looking forward to it!!

Good Read for Today

2007-09-24T08:20:00.002-07:00

I scooted over to BooMama's place a little while ago. She had read a post from Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. It's amazing! Check it out here! I needed to "hear" that today..... We don't have all the answers, but like Shannon said, I know what God's done for me........

Stroller Giveaway!!

2007-09-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Over at 5minutesformom.com, they are giving away away a stroller!! Check it all out right here!

My name's in their virtual hat, folks! Put yours in there too!

Sleep, Zoo, and Some other Stuff!!

2007-09-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

with blogging that is........

Joshua has been keeping things hopping around the house! There were those recent nights where he did not want to go to bed. Oh man.

He fought sleep something fierce. Our normal routine had stopped. But I didn't know it at the time. Normally, either me or my husband would rock him and read a story until he fell asleep. But it looks like that has stopped. For now anyway.......until our next son who is due in December.

For several nights straight, Joshua would fight and manage to get down and run down the hall to his toys! There were 10:00pm nights. There were 11pm nights. Not good.

We had no idea how to work with this. But one night after his bath and teeth were brushed, we put him on our bed for us to all hang out. We noticed he'd play on our bed, then he'd lay down and start rolling. Then we'd see his eyes start to close. Then our little guy was asleep.

Now, don't worry. He doesn't sleep with us. My husband puts him in his crib and he sleeps all night! And he wakes up happy!

For several weeks now, I've wanted to take my little man to the zoo! But the conditions of the day had to be just right. First, my husband had to be off work. Next, the weather needed to be
clear and cooler. Not 100 degree heat! Next it had to be before the end of October. I'm not going to be traveling any distance or walking around a zoo in Nov and December when our son could arrive at any time!

So, at 7:30am yesterday, we realized that we'd arrived at that perfect day. I called into work and proceeded to get me and Joshua ready! Although my husband originally had other plans for his day off, he gladly took us to the Zoo! It only took and hour and Joshua slept for the entire hour. Then when he woke up, he was set to go! We were there 3 hours and Joshua slept going back home!

It was the perfect day to get out. He was excited to see all the animals that he'd seen on video. He named over the "af" (for giraffe), "tiyder" (for tiger), "gow" (for cow)!

After we got back home from our treck in the animal world, we ate supper and Joshua played for a little while longer. Then I gave him his bath and brushed his teeth.

Needless to say, the little rascal flipped on his stomach and started trying to go to sleep! I hadn't even got his diaper and pjs on. After I got him all ready, he flipped over, played with his little toy cow, and fell asleep with said cow in hand! My husband took him to his bed and Joshua slept all night long. What a busy day he had!

Playing on our bed right before bedtime seems to be working very well right now. I'm sure that before we know it, he'll be going straight to his bed. We just take it in short phases at a time. It works best for us.

Bilk, Go, Down-Down, and Crackers!!

2007-09-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

My little guy is really getting a vocabulary! He definitely KNOWS how to communicate! One way or another, he gets his point across.

This past week, we've realized that he can climb UP a couch now! He's mastered getting down, and is starting to master getting up on the couch, looking out the window, and saying "dog." There's another doggy in the neighborhood now.....a female.....and our 60lb female doesn't really care for her.

This doggy tho is still actually a puppy. So she's very playful which means when we are out in the front yard, she figures it out and runs over to jump on us....which is not a good thing for me. She does NOT need to jump on me. But what is NOT good for HER is when she decides she's going to catch that car that's flying down the road.

Looks like I've got off my subject.

Joshua is doing really well with his sippy cup! Tipping and all!! Most days, he's content to drink from his sippy cup. But this past Sunday, he was not.

Sunday, I went to another church to help them with their music portion of the services. My husband and Joshua didn't come with me that service because my hubby felt like he'd been hit by a truck (those trucks that doggy loves to try to catch). Anyway, he'd had a rough day at work the day before and wasn't feeling well.

Joshua did really well most of the day. When I went back to church that evening around 5pm for the evening practice, I noticed that my husband and Joshua came in. And just as quick as they came in, they left. Well, I thought that they just went back outside in the foyer or in the restroom. Service started, and no family. We went through the music, and no family. Where did they go????

After service (it was a short service because they were having pizza and ice cream afterwards), I called home to see if they were there. AND they WERE. Come to find out, as soon as they walked into the foyer at church, Joshua started crying. Cried in the sanctuary. He's NEVER done that. The only thing we can figure is that Joshua remembers last Sunday at our original church. He was put in the nursery with people he didn't know. We believe that he remembered and was scared. So they went back home.

Fortunately, we don't live but about 5-6 minutes from that church I was helping out with the music. My husband was a wreck when I finally got home. (Yes, I did have pizza and I DID have chocolate icecream at the church!!) Joshua wouldn't drink his milk that was in the sippy cup. So, I took that milk and poured it into a regular playtex bottle, got on the couch with my little man and held him close.

He drank his milk and went to sleep.....for the night! I diapered, dressed him, and brushed his teeth and he never knew it! He slept all night long.

Labor Day, he started pointed out "cackerrrrrs." He loves the Gerbers Veggie Crackers! We have to stay stocked with cackerrrrrs and ios (cheerios). When nothing else works, they do. Cackerrrrs and Ios!

He loves to go outside. He'll say "go" and hold up his arms. Then he'll point to the door. Then if he decides he wants down, he says "down-down." It's so amazing how much my little miracle fella has grown! He's my special angel.

More Great Contests at 5 Minutes for Mom!

2007-08-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

This thing is sooo neat! Check out the contest over at 5 minutes for Mom.

And so is this! Also at 5 Minutes for Mom, they say that Lil’Angel Couture has generously offered to send six people a Bottle Snuggly. They'll randomly select 6 winners and each person will be sent a unisex color/style Snuggly.

There's always a good contest over at 5 minutes for Mom!

Yay for the Sippy Cup!!

2007-08-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

I took Joshua for his checkup this past Wednesday, Aug. 22, and all looks great! He's still about 25 lbs which is good! He has a wonderful appetite and wonderful energy! So he eats, but then burns it off in a matter of a few minutes! It was the first time he'd been put on the "big boy" scales. Normally, it'd be the cradle looking scales, but he stood up on those big scales just like a big boy.

He hadn't been long awake, so he wasn't thrilled to be at the Dr's office. He wasn't thrilled when the lady picked him up. He wasn't thrilled when the Dr. poked at his stomach, and he wasn't thrilled with his shot! Thing is, I wouldn't be thrilled either. ugh. I never look forward to being poked and prodded and given shots at the dr's office. NOPE!

It was quite an interesting day for him. He went to bed on time, but apparently all the excitement of the day caused him to wake up around 4am - 5am. He did that for a couple of mornings.

I stayed home with my little man Friday, Aug. 24. I called in and let them know I'd see them Monday. Basically, phooey on 'em. They guys at work, that is...... It was so nice to be able to spend the day with him. Then I had Saturday and Sunday!!

Sunday, he did well in service mostly, then decided he was tired of being cooped up. So my hubby took him into the nursery. It wasn't 10 minutes and they brought him back out to us because he was HIGHLY upset. I hardly ever take him in there because around 11:00am-11:20 is his usual naptime and he normally falls asleep right in the middle of church. But this time, he was awake and wanted to walk and play. BUT not in the nursery.......

His crying like that just hurt my feelings. I felt so bad for him. I'd never seen him cry like that. Anyway, my husband took him outside and tried to calm him down, but he kept pointing inside the church saying MaMa (according to my hubby). So hubby sent someone inside to get me and I went on out. They had already started the alter call. It took a while to calm him down. I know he needs to get used to the kids in the nursery so we'll try that again later.

We did get him started on the sippy cup this weekend! He seemed to really like it. He still doesn't understand totally about tipping the cup, but he's getting there.

We also went out and bought a potty seat.....the kind that attaches to the regular commode. We have VERY small bathrooms so this seemed like the most convenient. Besides that, when he DOES happen to poop in the commode, it'll just flush on down.

This morning was another hard one for me as far as leaving Joshua. But I won't bore you with that story again. I've done it already a couple of times.

If you haven't checked out BooMama's and BigMama's First PodCast, you can check it out here. Once you are on Boo's Page, click on the big box on the left side of her site under "FOR CLICKS" and click on "the Big Boo Cast."

Happy 18 Months Birthday, Little Man!!

2007-08-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

I had planned to get into work earlier this morning so I could get on out-a-here earlier and go hang out with Joshua.

Well, I was about to head out when I heard a little grunt. I looked at the video monitor. Sure enough, Joshua was sitting up and starting to take his socks off. He has to eeeaazze into the day like that, you know.

I told my husband who was in the process of waking up that Joshua looked like he was getting ready to start his day.

So I quietly went into his room to say Good Morning and I sang Happy Birthday to him.

When I picked him up, he looked at me so sweet and put his head on my shoulder. So I just hung out in there for a few "mommy/Joshua" moments. He looked up at me and smiled. Then he put his head back on my shoulder.

Finally I hear my husband calling out from the other room wondering where we were cause it was so quiet. And he came in to see what was going on. I took him and put him on our bed and we BOTH sang Happy Birthday again!

I made it into work where I'm typing this now.

Dear sweet little man,
Mommy loves you so much. You've made your Daddy's and my life so happy.

You're only 18 months old. Seems like yesterday we brought you in from the hospital. Your daddy and I wanted you very much. And soon you're going to be a big brother. We've enjoyed watching you learn and we'll enjoy watching you continue. When you came home, all you could do was grunt. Now, you can run all over the house, call out for DaDa, Mama, and everything else, rearrange our cabinets, feed yourself, and use some sign language. You even know some of the animals, and are in the process of learning numbers!

You are learning something new everyday. AND so are we! AND we enjoy every minute of it.

We thank the Good Lord for you. He knew exactly what we needed when we needed it. We needed a little boy to fill our days with laughter and love. And we needed him to be born Feb 20, 2006!

We love you, little guy!

It's A Slow Day at Work so.......

2007-08-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been doing ALOT of research trying to come up with some kind of work I can do from home!

There's scam after scam.

There's only 3 that I've looked into that seems legitimate! One I'm trying now and that's just flat out selling on Ebay. I've got ALOT of stuff that I REALLY need to get rid of to make room for our son due in Dec. (Yep! We found out a couple of days ago that we are having another little boy!! I'm tickled pink - no blue, I guess!!)

Anyway, we've got so much stuff to sell or give away. I've said that already.........

I've looked into a program that helps get a website up and running once you've found that particular niche.

Well, that's my problem. I can't see where I have any niche to fall into! I mean, I've played piano for YEARS! Since I was about 6, and I'm 35 now, but I wouldn't know where to start with giving information on that unless someone wants a biography and I don't think that's what they want. The only thing I'm CONSTANTLY interested in is babies/toddlers since I have Joshua!

I need to have some kind of information that the public really wants to hear about/know about/learn from, and I don't think I have any. ugh.

I'm trying to figure out about what Mystery Shopping really is. hmmm.

But the thing that got me out of my serious mode and made me laugh for the first time today was, of course, when my husband called to tell me what Joshua had done!! Mr. Josh really makes me smile!

From previous posts, you probably remember me saying we haven't mastered the sippy cup. Well, he HAS mastered holding his bottle, but he hasn't really learned the "tipping" part.

So, my husband had fed him and fixed him some milk (in the bottle) and put him on the couch. He put him on the couch lying back and a short angle so he'd automatically be tipping the bottle.

While Joshua was drinking his milk, my husband was in the kitchen frying up his OWN breakfast which consisted of sausage and grits. He was almost finished when in walked Joshua, holding up his bottle, saying "gone, gone!"

Ok, so he's TOTALLY mastered getting off the couch ALL by himself! My husband gave him a little more milk and put him back on the couch so he'd be tilting his bottle.

Again, in about 5 minutes, in walked my little man holding his bottle up to his daddy saying "gone, gone!" My husband was just getting ready to sit down and eat. So you know what THAT means..........

Up went Joshua into daddy's lap wanting grits! This time (unlike last time), daddy just gave him teeny bites of grits so Joshua would be getting something off daddy's plate. BUT "daddy" had basically ALL of the grits to himself.

Joshua was very content and all giggles!

He Takes My Hand!

2007-08-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

Just about a week or two ago, Joshua started this new thing: he'd go to the step that takes us from the living room up to the hallway. He'll go stand on it and once he's up there, he'll hold his hand out for me to take. Once I take it, he either looks up at me, smiles really big and steps down. Or he takes my hand and watches me come up the step and once I'm up, we walk down the hall hand in hand.

We all know good and well that he can go up and down that particular step by himself, but when he holds out his hand for me, it just melts this 35 yr old mom's heart. I take time out of whatever I'm doing at the time and take his little hand.

What I've noticed alot of times is if someone else sees him hold out his hand and they go over to take it, he runs the other way. It seems like he wants only me to come over and walk with him.

He did this before I went to work this morning, only making it harder for me to come into work. You all know my story about wanting to stay-at-home anyway.

As I was driving into work, I started thinking about that......him taking my hand.

I'm sure God's heart just melts when we ask Him to take our hand and help us get up and down OUR "steps." Or when we just ask Him to take our hand and just walk with us.....

Just to be walking.........

I wouldn't trade holding hands with my son for anything. I know he won't do that ALWAYS, so I take his hands while I have the chance now.

I went into the kitchen to grab my lunch and he found me. He put his little arms up and I held him. He had the hiccups! So of course, I did like I had the hiccups too. Then he growled and I growled. We did that over and over. So we both had a good giggle before I left him with his daddy (who is off work today).

I didn't get the kiss I got the other day, but I know it'll fall in there again somewhere. When I was holding him the other day, he took my face in both his hands and gave me a big ol' kiss the way only Joshua can!! I thought it was the BEST in the world!

Another Giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom!!

2007-08-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty neat giveaway! I've already commented on their website to put my name in the drawing for this! Go to http://www.5minutesformom.com/2144/comfy-pc/ to see the little toddler PC they are giving away! You never know. Someone has to win and the someone may be you!! Or me. :o) :o)

We Finally Took Time for Ourselves

2007-08-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

I believe it was Kristjana at the Mommy Blog who wrote about how she and her husband took time out, just the 2 of them, and had a date night/mini vacation.

I knew the time would come that my husband and I would need to do that also. I just thought I'd give in to it.....well......maybe in the next 2-3 years because I hated the thought of leaving Joshua overnight with someone else. I could tell that my husband was tired from just "stuff," and I'm emotionally tired. Physically, I'm doing well. But so emotionally tired that it's causing nightmares.

You know how sometimes you just get stuff on your mind, you're getting hit with one thing or another and it causes stress? It's not that anyONE wants me to do anyTHING, but there are things that I want (like to be a stay-at-home mom), then there are issues with people where I work. (You know when all of a sudden you get stabbed in the back and you were not expecting it.) We're tightening up with our money a bit to make sure we keep our bills paid.

Such and such, and on and on. Blah, blah.

I gave in because I knew we need to "just hang out!" Even if it was just an overnight trip to the next state down which is only 20 minutes from our house! We needed some time to recuperate and then go back home to our son refreshed!

We asked my in-laws to keep Joshua at our house. They were tickled to be able to stay at our house because it's mostly quiet there! Yeah, we have neighbors and sometimes they are noisy......VERY! But, for the most part it's quiet. I found out when we called home the next day that for the first time my father-in-law was able to sleep soundly all night long. He never does where they live.

Ok, back to our date. Yes, I keep drifting......

We went to Books-a-Million and Steinmart. By the time I finished Steinmart, I was feeling the affects of a apple turnover from Arby's. It was delicious, but it had way too much sugar in it and the sugar floored me! Knocked me on my behind! I got too sleepy! So, we went to our hotel.

We had already booked a room online. And we didn't pay for it!! YAY! I had ChoiceHotel Priviledge Points that we'd earned for a while, so I paid with points and not money.

Now, I realize that SleepInn may not be fancy. BUT it was so nice and cozy and OH.THAT.SHOWER!!

I love their shower! It's been a long time since I've had a walk-in shower, not to mention OVERSIZED! You could fit 3 people in it. Not that I want to, mind you. I really never would want that! ugh.... Nope. BUT you could fit a few in there.

I fell asleep for just about 30 minutes to help me get back on my feet again. We got ready and went to Bonefish grill. It was the first time we'd ever been there so it took a little time to figure what we wanted to eat. And I did a triple take on the waiter and waitresses when they came out because they were in Chef's coats. Oooh. Fancy, smansy!

Now. It was VERY VERY tasty. But we'll probably only do that twice a year because they are a bit pricey.

To walk off that food, we went shopping again. And not to buy, but just walk around and see what they had.

We did the hotel's continental breakfast the next morning and then went to the mall. My husband loves to shop. :o)

I asked him what time he'd told his parents we'd be back home and he said about 4pm. We ended up back at home at 3pm. When we returned, we found his dad had left for a while.

Then in about 45 minutes, he (and my hubby who'd gone out to the car to meet him) walked in with a balloon and a birthday cake and food!! They GOT me! My birthday was the last thing on my mind. Actually it was August 8.

I thought it was so sweet!

It was good special time away. We didn't do anything fancy really, but we just spent time together. A great way to bring in #35!

Every Cent Counts!!

2007-08-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

These days I am REALLY looking around for deals. Saving cents here and there. When you have a family that includes a husband, a 17 month old and one on the way, you start pinching pennies a bit. I've got some birthday presents to buy toward the end of the year; then there's Thanksgiving and Christmas on the way! Can you believe Christmas will be here in about 4 months?!?!

Anyway, I checked out Coupon Chief today and they have coupons of all sorts for every store you can think of! Coupon Chief focuses on customer support and provides up to date coupon codes and deals!

My husband loves hunting and fishing. All the sporty sports! Guess what I found? Cabelas coupon codes! It'll be pretty easy to find him something for his birthday. He also loves to read history of almost any form. Sure enough, I found Barnes and Noble coupon codes and other deals. For my little one, I found The Children's Place coupons!

For those who love shoes, there is the ShoeMall which is one of the webs largest footwear sites! The list goes on and on. Walmart, Zales, etc., etc.

Pretty neat, huh?!

An Interesting Give Away I Stumbled On!!

2007-08-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever seen a contest quite like this before!!!

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!!!

I Don't Even Know How to Title this One!

2007-08-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

The other evening I got home and got supper ready. It takes alot to get supper ready since I get home around 6pm.

Joshua is winding down or winding up or whatever you call it around that time. Ya'll know how it is.....I think I've heard some people call it "meltdown!" Ah.

Well, it's getting to be 6:30pm and we're all hungry. And tired.

I made Joshua a plate of mashed potatoes, carrots, and apples. We put him in his highchair and fed him a bite of the potatoes. He loves carrots and apples.

He ate probably 3 bites and then turned away. He pointed at something else. I thought...."Oh, he wants some carrots."

Nope.

He wants some apples. Nope. And he starts to cry uncontrollably!

And he cries.......... Major tears and runny nose.

huh?

Ok. I thought about it and thought maybe he wanted his plate right in front of him. (I normally feed him and have the actual plate on the table because I don't want him to shove the whole plate on the floor accidentally. Clear as mud?)

Anyway. This seemed to satisfy him because the plate was in front and he took the fork away from me to try to feed himself.

Ah. I understand. Or do I?

I guess not. He started crying again so hard it broke my heart and I started crying with him.

Finally, in a desperate attempt to get something in him before we try to get ready for bed, I went over to the cabinet and found his box of veggie crackers. He immediately stopped crying.........

I opened it and he shoved his little hand in the bag and took one out and ate it. Then he looked at his daddy and me and clapped!!

So instead of him finishing up those crackers, I got out the box of Cheerios and poured some on a paper towel. I also cut up some of that Sharp Cheddar Cheese (in a block) into bitesize/finger sized pieces and put them on the papertowel.

We sat him back in his highchair where he continued to feed himself his Cheerios and cheese! It was a weird combination, but it was basically healthy. He fed himself a bite and clapped and said "AAAAY!" He continued to do that several times throughout his meal.

After he had enough, he said "Bilk!" Ok. He wanted his milk. And milk he got.

He was certainly a happy camper then.

My little guy is growing up and I know that he was tired. But he also is growing independent and was perfectly happy feeding himself!! Now, I'm having to search the WWW for easy healthy recipes. Finger food recipes...... so Joshua can feed himself and say "AAAAY!"

Any good easy healthy finger food/toddler food ideas out there??

Potatoes and Gravy....mm.mmm GOOD!

2007-07-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

My husband just called me to tell me this cute story:

He, his dad and Joshua went into town this morning to pay the taxes on one of our vehicles. Well, on the way back, his dad wanted to stop at the local cafe and pick up some lunch and take back to our house.

Joshua ate some sweet potatoes and drank part of his juice. In the meantime, my husband and his dad are getting ready to eat their food. My husband had gotten the sausage dog and chips, etc. while his dad had gotten country fried steak with french fries and gravy. This local cafe is known for some good home cookin' now, folks! Made.from.scratch! So the french fries looked like they had just been cut off the potatoe and the gravy was freshly made. Not too thick and not too thin!

Joshua had finished his lunch, and they had gotten him out of the highchair to run around.

Joshua ran to where his "PaPa" was, ran back to the table and grabbed up his "poon" (spoon). He took it to his PaPa and held it up for him and announced "Poon!" He held up his arms for his PaPa to take him.

See now, Joshua had finished his lunch, BUT if someone else is still eating, he wants what THEY are having too!

Anyway, Joshua sat there looking at his PaPa's plate and looking up at PaPa.

PaPa couldn't stand it anymore! He took one of the fries and dunked it in the gravy. He held it with his fingers up to a point to control how much Joshua bit off at one time.

One taste of that potato and gravy and he looks up and says "mm.MMM...GOOD!!" After a few more potatoes and a few more "mm.mmm.good, good GOOD!", PaPa had to feel of Joshua's stomach to see how full he was. Because Joshua HAS NO STOPPING POINT.

Anyway, Joshua finished and is now happy as a clam! Running around with a silly grin on his face saying "fench fie, fench fie! Fie, fie!" His little tummy is full of fies and gravy!

Fench fies and gravy are not things that he usually eats, but every now and then, it don't hurt. He eats fish, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, broccoli/mac/cheese casserole and many other healthy type foods. We try hard to feed him healthy stuff!

But some "times" call for certain things: Fies and gravy!

A Free TV!! Sounds Great!!

2007-07-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

Over at 5 Minutes for Mom, they are giving away a tv!! Check it all out right here! It's a 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV valued at $799.99 and is courtesy of Best Buy!!!

Of course, my name goes in the hat for this thang!!

2007-07-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

After supper the other night, I left the kitchen as it was and sat down on the living room floor to play with Joshua.

He's figured out about the toy box in the corner of the living room. It's one of those big wooden toy boxes. When he wants to look inside it, he puts his hand on the lid, looks at me and grunts!

Anyway, he pulled out a box that had the bucket inside. The bucket that has a lid, with square, round, triangle holes in it and he has to match up the shaped toy to the shaped hole!

Anyway, I showed him how the whole thing worked. He started putting the toys to the holes trying to match them up. For example, he took the round toy and put it to the triangle, square, and finally would get to the round hole and plop it in.

Well. He found out that if he couldn't get the toy in the hole, there was another way to get it in the box. He lifted that lid and plopped the toy in the basket! Then proceeded to put the lid back on and start again!

When I saw that, I bout fell over laughing! It didn't take him long to figure that out!

Also, we're still trying to ease him into a sippy cup or a regular cup. The last sippy cup left alot of air in him. What sippy cups work for ya'll? Or do most of your toddlers drink from glasses? What's the best way to teach him to drink from something other than a bottle? Any tips are appreciated!!!

The Little Guy Kept it Lively!!

2007-07-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

We definitely didn't get bored this past weekend!

We were out and about this past weekend. Goin' here, goin' there! I was nervous because one of the churches down the street asked for my help with the music they were going to play and sing this past Sunday. It's been almost 18 months since I've played the piano, so I had butterflies.

Joshua, like always, fights his naps in the afternoon, but there is no problem at night. He even drank from a sippy cup Saturday which was quite a victory! But here's where the concern stepped in!

My husband put Joshua to bed, cause like I've mentioned before, it's hard for my pregnant stomach to put him in his crib. The crib doesn't have a slide down side to it.

About 1 1/2 hours later, he started crying. This time though, this was no ordinary cry. And he kept crying. We could NOT get him to stop! We noticed he put his hand on his stomach, so it crossed my mind maybe it was gas. We tried to rub his stomach, but it must've been painful because he slapped at us. Shoved our hands away from his stomach. I gave him some Mylicon. Didn't see any immediate results, so maybe it wasn't gas.

Anyway, since he wouldn't stop crying, we didn't want to take a chance and it be something serious, so we called my in-laws to start praying, we packed us all up, with Joshua still in his jammies and headed to the emergency room. I didn't know how long we'd be there. I knew we needed to take him to be sure, but I was nervous because of how long it'd take, then the possibility of him catching something while there. Anyway....

Note the words "HEADED to the emergency room." Doesn't mean we arrived. We got up the street and the little stinker fell asleep! Hey, I'm glad, SOOO glad, he went back to sleep because that meant "no pain." But just the fact that he cried so hard and wouldn't stop, then we get down the road and he falls asleep, it's just amazing! It was after midnight too. We rode around for quite a while just to see if he was going to stay asleep. If so, we'd go back home. If not, we'd go right on to the ER. Well, it turned out he stayed asleep. We went back home.

I pretty much banked on us being up for a while because the LAST time we were up past midnight, because of fireworks next door, Joshua didn't go back to sleep until around 4am.

So I programmed myself. But wouldn't ya know. My husband took him inside the house, and Joshua went back to sleep. My husband walked him down the hall and put him in his crib and Joshua slept the rest of the night! Wow.

But now, my husband and I are totally awake. The only thing we can think of that could possibly cause THAT much pain was air that he swallowed while trying out his new sippy cup.

You see, it used a straw that is so totally different from the nipples on his bottles, but he sucked fast just like he was drinking from his bottle.

Call me nuts, but I attempted to drink from it just to test it out. With that sippy cup, you have to suck slow and strong to get the drink out. Not fast. I'd swallow air too if I drank from it fast.

So, I'm still trying to work with him on drinking from something other than a bottle. I know it takes time and I don't rush him. I know he'll be drinking from a big boy cup or adult cup soon!

Sunday morning church service turned out fine as far as the music goes. We did the usual stuff in the afternoon.

Anyway, by mid afternoon, we were ALL sooooo sleepy! Joshua fought his nap so we took him in our room and we all lay down. Before I knew it, my little guy had fallen asleep. We all slept for a couple of hours.

BUT. He woke up with a red face and fever. hmm. We gave him some tylenol. After about 30 minutes, he'd cooled down.

We took him to the doctor Monday just to rule out Fifth's Disease. Cuz if he had it, then it could cause me a problem.

The Dr ruled it out and told us to continue what we've been doing.

So Joshua was up and running like his usual self this morning. He's such a hoot!

CD Giveaway!

2007-07-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

I try to keep up with Ms. BooMama's blog. Recently, she's been talking about Monk and Neagle. I'd never heard of them until I read her post. She let her readers know about a CD giveaway on Monk's website, so I scooted on over there and put my name in the hat for one. If you'd like to check it out, go here!

She's so excited! Her excitement has got everyone else stirred up too! Monk and Neagle even mentioned her on their own website.

Go BooMama!!

I Think I Slept.................

2007-07-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

Did I sleep? A little I think.....

My little guy was falling asleep while he was eating supper last night, so I didn't push him to eat. I just topped it all off with some milk and he was out like a light. When his eyes start giving me clues that he's falling asleep, I don't give him anything else to eat because he doesn't chew his food up good.

But he wasn't ready for bed yet. He didn't have a bath or anything!

He slept for just a few minutes, then I managed to wake him up so I could give him a bath and brush his teeth. He was happy... Playing...... Still a little sleepy. We did the routine and he fell asleep.

But these days, it's hard for me to put Joshua in the crib because of a happily growing stomach. (The little one is due in Dec).

Anyway, my husband took a sleeping Joshua from me and put him in the crib. In about 10 seconds, the little rascal stood up crying, and held his arms out! My husband took over from there. So now we're looking at around 10:15pm when Joshua finally gave it all up and went on to sleep................until 4:30am.

At 4:30am, Joshua woke up screaming like he'd had the most horrible nightmare! So we went in there, my husband got him out of the crib. The little guy was soaked! Soaked and most likely a little cold, even tho he has long sleeves, long pants, and socks on.

Well, you know what happens here. He's soaked, I change his diaper and his clothes. By then, he's totally awake and playing! Joshua managed to get back to sleep after an hour or so.

This was the morning my husband and I needed to get to work a little early. But hey, this is the way it goes! We slept a little longer than normal, got up, got ready, and out the door we went when my mom got there to watch him for a little while.

Now I'm ready to take a nap and it's only 1:43pm. But I gotta go to the dr to make sure things are ok.

Then I gotta go to WalMart and get some toilet paper! Paper towels get a little rough!

HA!

Oh no. I've hit emotional again.............

2007-07-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Might as well put this one out there. I've been in tears again and it's not because of the "past midnight" fireworks next door.

I'm so glad that I am able to spend SOME time with Joshua. I have full days on Saturday and Sunday.

This morning, though, it hit me a little harder than usual. I have limited time with Joshua each morning. Sometimes its a few minutes or maybe it's none at all. When I pull out of the driveway, he's either standing on the couch looking out the window or he's standing in the doorway. That makes things REALLY hard.

In the evenings when I get home, he's starting to wind down. He's still sweet, but he's been through a full day and is getting tired or falls asleep during supper. I get him ready for bed.

My husband has started working all day on Tues, Thurs, and Fri. So that means the grandparents split those days. One stays with him from 9:15 - 12:30 or 1:00. The other stays from around 1pm til either my husband or I get home. My husband is with Joshua on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Sometimes, he'll grab my hand before work and want me to help him in his new venture. Walking up and down our steps. He's growing so fast and I feel like I'm missing it.

Well, hopefully I'll start working part time soon because I want to be at home with my little man a little more. If I work part time, then I'll be off 2 days. When my husband starts full time, he'll be off 1 day. That leaves only 2 days that someone else needs to watch him.

My husband and I both need to work at this time. Not so "we'll have extra money to burn." But you know how bills are. They have to be paid. Food needs to go on the table, electricity needs to be on, water needs to be running. Car insurance and taxes on our cars needs to be paid. Insurance and taxes (at the end of the year right at Christmas time) on the home need to be paid. Blah, blah.

We've cut back and continue to cut back on what we don't need.

I don't need to mention that because all of us have near 'bout the same bills. Thank goodness our home and 2 cars are paid for.

Anyway, for those of you who read this, if you have any interesting ideas about working from home, working part time, schedules, any experiences you want to share, PLEASE feel free to let me know about them.

Hide and Seek. Or was it?

2007-07-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

The other day, I heard my husband asking about the remote control. I know sometimes I hide it just joking, but I knew I didn't hide it this time.

We're looking everywhere imaginable now because we know one other little person in the house who loves the remote control.

We looked under cushions, under chairs, in shoes, under our desk, any place that we felt our little man might have gone and lay it down.

Next I mention the kitchen. Cabinets. Cabinets, you say?

All of a sudden while I was in another room, I hear a triumphant sound. My husband spotted the remote control! In the pots and pans cabinet.

He proceeds to tell me that while he was pulling out the remote, Joshua looked up at him so innocently and said, "Mote?"

Well, the interesting turn on this story is this: about 30 minutes later, my husband is walking down the hall and gets back to the living room where I was on the couch. He said, "you know, I hate to say this, but Joshua might not have put the remote in the pots and pans cabinet."

He sits in the chair next to the couch where I'm sitting.

I just stare at him. He says, "Don't say a word. Just don't say anything!" While I just burst out laughing!

He says "I may have put it in there." He goes on to say that he WAS in the kitchen with the remote at one time. And he WAS in the pots and pans cabinet. So he may have accidentally put the remote in there.

Well, what does that say about us? hmmm. I think over time, we get confused. Very confused. We love our little rascal to pieces. But if you have kids, you know that eventually something like this happens when you chase them all over the house making sure things don't go down the commode, making sure there's nothing other than dishes in the dish washer, making sure that someone don't pull their clothes and diaper off. Making sure that breakfast, lunch, and supper is served. Along with making sure laundry is done.

So maybe it's not confused. Maybe it's pooped.

July 4th's Big Challenge!!

2007-07-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty good 4th of July, considering....

We were at my parents house the morning of July 4th and ate breakfast and then by 2pm we were over at my in-laws home for some 4th of July food! My father-in-law LOVES to cook, so he was up about 4-5am cooking. He fixed up the regular barbeque, barbeque'd chicken, ribs, hash and rice, etc. They had tea for a few of us, they had yellow lemonade for some, and pink lemonade for others! There was something for everyone! They even fixed up some cheesy mashed potatoes and green beans for Joshua!

Our visit to my parents home in the a.m. was not planned, as was the visit to my in-laws. It was an emergency. Not to worry. No one was sick really. But it all started at 9pm July 3, a day earlier than we were expecting.

We pretty much knew that our new neighbors would do fireworks sometime this week. But for some reason, we didn't expect it to be done Tuesday evening. From what I've already experienced from afar, even though our houses are pretty close, they LOVE fireworks and parties. And no dinky party either. Hey, what's a 4th without fireworks and a party??? They have a humongous and POWERFUL display. Powerful as in "when it's shot off the ground it sounds like a canon going off!"

The problem with this type of activity is that where they have the "humongous canon sounding display" is on the side of the nursery. And we have Joshua in bed no later than 9pm MOST of the time.

So the first time Joshua woke up crying was about 9:30 - 10pm when the party people starting coming into the neighbor's drive (which is also on the side of the nursery). They had the radios booming....you know where the bass is heard over everything else and it shakes the whole street. Possibly the whole town.

Ok. I managed to get him back to sleep in a few minutes.

The next time he woke up was about 12:10am with the "canon" still going off! It scared him and the whole thing made me mad. Not mad at Joshua, but mad at the outside situation. Call me crazy, but it's very difficult for me to deal with the fact that they have no consideration for the people who actually have young children and the whole family is trying to sleep. Or call me very pregnant. Whichever one. Cause I was in the bathroom with the exhaust fan going trying to block out the noise and it.didn't.work! AND I was CRYING! Which Joshua thought was funny because he'd never seen Mommy with a red face, water come out of her eyes and a snotty nose!

Oh boy. Anyway.

My husband asked me if I wanted to go to my parents house. I said YES! Because they have a room in their house that is so much like an apartment! This one huge room has it's own couch, recliner, TV, bathroom, shower/tub, and its own heat and air system.

So, we get over there around 12:45am fully expecting Joshua to go on back to sleep.

Well. Something I learned over the next 4 hours, is that things don't go exactly like I think sometimes. Although he'd been yawning the whole 10 minutes on the way to their house, and he was still sleepy when we got there, he did not want to sleep. My DEAR husband and I tried EVERYTHING!! Finally, we broke down and did something we've NEVER done and hopefully Joshua will NOT remember (just because we've got him in a routine and he goes by it most faithfully, except this time). We lay him in the middle of us on the futon that folds out to a bed....that had sheets and pillows......and was so DESPERATELY calling my name! And I was SO trying to answer!

Joshua rolled around like he normally does when he's tired. His little eyes slowly closing. Around 4am He finally went to sleep with a flashlight that he'd been tinkering with still in his hand. I made the mistake of trying to pull the flashlight from him. OH how he cried!

Anyway, needless to say, at those wee hours, I did return the flashlight to him. By then, my husband had sat up on the side of the bed. He COULD have gone to sleep just sitting up. While he was sitting up, Joshua flopped down on my husband's pillow......the same pillow that just a few minutes before, my husband was laying on.

Guess what my sweet husband did?! Just let him stay RIGHT there and SLEEP! Cause my husband is just sweet that way!

So I found another pillow and told my husband he could lay the opposite way so we'd all fit on the futon/bed.

So that's the way it was at 4am July 4th. I got up at 7:30am because I heard the coffee maker going in the kitchen. And I was soooo hoping that mom was going to fix her homemade, made-from-scratch, wonderful biscuits! And she did.

After that, I tried to stay awake, but failed miserably. I slept somewhere between 9am-12:30pm, and then we managed to go to my in-laws for lunch.

So. There. Happy July 4th!

Could It Be?

2007-07-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

When I get up in the mornings, the first thing I do is thank God for the day and I ask Him to help me get through it! Cause God knows that I can NOT get through the day by myself. I just flat won't make it.

And He DOES help me get through it.

Sometimes something happens during the day to put me behind schedule, and at the time I get frustrated. For example, I get in my car to go to work, go down the road, and then realize I've forgotten something and have to go back home to get it. Or I get behind a slow-poke on the road. Agh! My car won't start up, someone holds me here at work just a little longer than I'd planned.

Things like that.

There's been times that something like that has happened, and then I finally get down the road further only to see where there had been an accident about 5-10 minutes before and patrols are trying to work the incident. That could've been me.

I wonder when Joshua wakes up if it's a prayer that I'm hearing from him while he's still in his crib. I hear the words MaMaMaMa, DaDaDaDa, MawMaw, BaPa, Bible, and some other words that I haven't decipered yet. He seems to go down the list of family members. When I watch him on the monitor, I see him sitting in there and talking like he's having a conversation. He's content. Happy. Ready for his day.

It's very POSSIBLE!

Then I walk in there to grab him up and steal some kisses. He's ready for "Bilk."

Keeping Them Busy and Learning!

2007-07-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

I've come across something that I think will be HIGHLY worthwhile for my little man when he gets just a teeny bit older. He loves to tinker with things. As long as his little hands are busy, he's happy. And when he's in church, if he can work with this, he'll be learning the Scriptures! I love the idea. I think you will too. Just check it out!!

Put God's Word in your child's heart

Check Out the 4th of July Contests......

2007-07-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

at 5minutesforMom.

They have about 11 great contests going on over there. All you have to do is leave a comment where they say to leave one. Then put up a link on your blog or website. They are supposed to announce the winners July 4!

I've already commented hoping for a win! Come on and join in on the fun!!!

He Loved CrackerBarrel's Breakfast!

2007-07-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

I have to say again it is so amazing to me how quickly my little man is growing. First, it was formula. Then it was applesauce and formula. You know, the Stage 1 fruits.

Now 16 mo later, it's "big people's food." As of right this minute, I'm talking about CrackerBarrels Sunrise Sampler! Well, maybe not the bacon or ham, but the hashbrowns, scrambled eggs with cheese, grits, biscuits and jelly!

We don't eat out alot, but we, along with my in-laws, went to CrackerBarrel June 30 to celebrate both anniversaries. My husband and I were still celebrating our 8 yrs as of June 28. My in-laws were celebrating 30 some odd years as of June 29.

Needless to say, our table was flat full! And Mr. Josh was able to celebrate like the rest of us. I know alot of parents would disagree with me totally on the way I feed him in public. But he's 16 mo old and I don't want to leave food all over the floor for the waitresses and busboys. Not to mention all the happy eaters around us. I've nearly lost my food (before I had Joshua) looking at the messy floors where food was dropped and smooshed and not picked up. He'll have plenty of practice at our house!

Anyway, he enjoyed as we all did that wonderful breakfast. And now.....get this........my sweet father-in-law told me at the end of breakfast that there was a dessert menu over at the end of the table and for me to get what I wanted!

Oh how I DID.NOT.NEED that chocolate cobbler. But it HOLLERED my name out until I had to respond. And not by yelling "No" either. I ate up nearly all of that piping hot brownie with fudge and vanilla icecream all over it!

*Joshua was sitting with his "Gram and Pop" at this time and did not see Mommy eating it! HA*

An Anniversary I'll NEVER Forget!

2007-06-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sooo glad that my husband and I celebrated our anniversary the day before.

The day BEFORE our 8 yr anniversary, after my dr's appointment, we went to Red Lobster. You know those garlic cheese biscuits? Oh.my.goodness! That's a meal all by itself! When you get to the bottom of the basket, there's no need for the entree. Because THERE'S NO ROOM! Well, in my case right now, yeah, I guess there was room. Our 2nd baby is on the way and it looks like he or she is just like our first. Eats all my food and 30 minutes later I'm starved again!

Anyway.......

I got a salad, then broiled flounder with a baked potatoe. AND fudge overboard.

After that, we went into WalMart to look for ONE item that we REALLY need, but came out with all other items. That you know, you don't think about until you see it when you get in the store. And it's like, "oh yeah, I forgot....we need that!"

By the time we got home, our little guy was asleep because of "MawMaw." She had kept him while we were out.

But I haven't got to the part that I'll "NEVER Forget." And it's not a good thing.

The next day was actually our anniversary. June 28. Yesterday. I went to work and actually had a nice quiet day. Up until 5:45pm.

I lost part of my lunch. But that's not the bad part. I finally got out of the building and down to my car and put the key in and turned. Nothing.

hmm.

Ok, let's try this again..... turned key. Nothing. Great.

Turned around and went back up the building that is actually going to be locking at 6pm and found the security guards. One went out to check my car. Went to get cables and found someone who could pull their truck up to help jump start my car.

Nothing. No charge. Zip. Nada. And it's 90 degrees out there!

I thanked them for their assistance and called my dad. Ok. We're at 6:15pm. And I'm supposed to be home now feeding Joshua.

Two other guys came out (from our company) and said they were headed where I needed to go. One of them could give me a ride. But before that, they also tried to jumpstart my car. Won't start.

I accepted the ride and I got to my parents house. It's about 7:00pm now. Joshua is supposed to be finished eating.

I'm sooooo tired and hot. So I sit down to rest.....in the cool! Mom took me home and I get there around 7:30 or a little past.

I managed to get some mashed potatoes done and Joshua's green beans, cheese, and fruit strip ready for him to eat. He was so tired he could hardly eat. I washed him down (no bath tonight) and got him ready for bed. He's supposed to be in bed before or by 9pm. He wouldn't go to sleep. I think with him just eating, he must've had the stomach ache. We let him play a tiny bit in the living room with the lights down until he felt a little better.

By 10pm, he was asleep. I really never got supper except for some lemon pound cake that mom had.

I fell asleep on the couch. All night.

The anniversary I'll NEVER forget!!

All He Wanted Was His Grits!

2007-06-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

It was suppertime and I prepared Joshua some squash and some carrots along with some milk. Me, I just popped a small pizza in the oven. I forgot exactly what my husband ate........but he ate! About 30-40 minutes after we ate, my husband said, "I'm hungry again!" I just chalk it up for "sympathy pains." Being 14 weeks pregnant, I eat.......and OFTEN! Actually, more than often. It's like my little growing one eats and leaves me nothing! I'll just have to do like I did when I was expecting Joshua: eat 2 of everything. One for the baby, and one for me.

Anyway, I'm off the subject again.

My husband went into the kitchen and pulled out some grits that we'd gotten from the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, TN. He prepared it with care, and even tossed cheese and sausage in there. After he poured it into his bowl, he was excited to be able to sit down and eat it.

Around the corner, our little Joshua spotted it: Daddy was getting ready to eat. Joshua held up his little arms and pointed to the grits. Daddy tried to explain to him TWICE that he probably wouldn't like those grits. They were Daddy's food.

Needless to say, Joshua ate the whole bowl of grits, minus the sausage. That's all my husband was able to eat. The sausage......It was a far cry from the wonderful grits that he so lovingly prepared for himself, but when you have a little boy looking up at you with those big brown eyes, you sacrifice. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I gave him a tiny bit of juice to wash all of the grits down. He was a HAPPY camper!

He slept well too.

"Bil" - It Does the Body Good!

2007-06-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Bil, Bil......Bil! That's what I hear alot from my little guy lately.......when he wants milk!!

From what I understand, Joshua had an interesting day yesterday. It started early after breakfast. My husband, his dad, and Joshua, all went for a ride in the Jeep. The jeep belongs to my hubby's dad. For over an hour. While Joshua slept!

When they pulled back into our yard, my husband was about to inside when he realized he didn't have the house keys. And the door was of course locked. But no keys!

And there was no diaper bag.....so.......... no lunch, diapers, or wipes for Joshua.

And I'm way out here at work! And my husband was supposed to be at work by 4pm. And I get off at 5:30pm!

They had to run to the store, grab some diapers, wipes, and food. Of course, pay for them before leaving! And return to my in-laws house.

So for lunch, Joshua got a grand meal! He had leftover Father's Day meal that had the good stuff...... Crowder peas, macaroni and cheese pie (casserole, something like that), and banana cake. He ate until he told her no more. Which was "the arm" pushing her back. Then he wanted "bil."

So by the time I got home, I fed him. Or tried to, but I think his little tummy was still happy with crowder peas! He only ate just a few pieces of carrots and green beans. Then wanted "bil!"

Then of all things, he fell asleep while drinking his "bil." But that REALLY didn't need to happen because we had to get a bath. With storms the past 2-3 days, I couldn't put him in the tub, so I just had to wipe him off. So he HAD to have a bath.

He didn't WANT a bath. He was tired. He was upset! So I made it a 3-4 minute bath, got him out, brushed his teeth, and took him to the nursery.

He didn't want to read. He wanted to sleep!

So that's what he did. Sleep! Til about 9:30am this morning. Bil.......It does the body good!!

Seems Like He Just Knew............

2007-06-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was Father's Day. We loaded up to go to church. Normally, Joshua falls asleep somewhere in the music service and sleeps a while. Not because it's boring....because no.its.not. We have praise and worship with the keyboards, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums, etc. I don't know for sure, but I think it's because I lead praise and worship a couple of years ago while I was expecting him. Music at naptime (which was the case Sunday about 11am) soothes him to sleep. When he's wide awake, he'll stop to listen and bounce! Or if we have the kid's praise video going, he'll stop what he's doing to watch it......and bounce!

Anyway, I slid off my topic.

Normally during church, Joshua wants me to hold him. Well, this day, he never one time asked to come to me. It's as if he just knew that this day was a special day.....Father's Day.....so he stayed with his daddy the whole time while he was awake and asleep, except for about 5 minutes when my husband handed him to me.

Service was very good. Like the pastor was talking about, it's a good day to be in church....on Father's Day.....and spend more time with our Heavenly Father.

After service, we went to my in-laws for a Father's Day meal. They had chicken wings, fresh corn, crowder peas, tomatoes, onions, and a macaroni and cheese dish. Actually, I grew up saying a macaroni and cheese pie. But it's only in a deep dish. It's not a dessert. All was good except for an interruption that was not expected. But in about an hour, we went BACK to the kitchen to finish our meal.

Joshua was able to celebrate Father's Day "big people" style by eating what WE ate. He even ate a small amount of the banana cake (which is like a banana pudding, but in layer cake syle). It had the vanilla wafers, bananas, cool whip mixed with a little sugar. It just didn't have the pudding that normally goes in the banana pudding.

When we went to my parents house Saturday evening to celebrate an early Father's Day, he ate some of the roast beef and gravy with macaroni and cheese "pie" and lima beans.

He knew "something" was going on. Being at one grandparent's home and eating ONE day, then being at the other grandparent's home and eating ANOTHER day, that ONLY means something special! Thing is, I'm a little jealous.........last night was my husband's and my date night when we went to Carrabba's. My in-laws came to our house to watch Joshua and fed him leftovers from the Father's Day meal.....including the banana cake! He got BANANA cake.

Oh well. My John Cole dessert worked mighty.fine.indeed!!

PayPerPost - A Good Way to Earn!!

2007-06-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

When I first saw PayPerPost, I was a bit skeptical. I checked out the website and studied it, then exited the site. I was just not sure. Then later, I checked out the website again, and exited again. Finally, one day I went back to their website and took the plunge and joined. I have been a member for just a couple of months now and have enjoyed finding opportunities that suits my website. I do not have to write about just any opportunity that is out there. Some opportunities I know nothing about and therefore do not write. Other opportunities just may not be what I want on my website. There are some I take, and when my post is approved, I get paid! It is just that simple. I look forward to seeing money go into my account. Right now, I've got almost $13 in the account with only 2 posts. Now I will have extra money to spend on family members for Christmas! YES!!

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Oh How I Wish It Were Permanent!

2007-06-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took the day off for 2 reasons: 1 being that I wanted to be with Joshua all day; 2 being that I had a dr's appointment in the later part of the afternoon.

After I fixed his breakfast yesterday morning, I had my normal "hanging over the porcelain" visit (since I"m 12 weeks pregnant with our 2nd child). I had put Joshua down in the living room real quick so I could make that visit. While I was over the toilet, I felt the sweetest little hand on my back. Joshua didn't understand what was happening and he was crying a little. I tried to let him know in between barfs that Mommy was ok. He put his hand on my back again. I think it was his way of taking care of me.......

After I managed to pull myself together, I got him ready to take off on a short road trip! Actually, I just had to take a small bag of trash to the dump and while we were out, he fell asleep. We're seriously looking around for land and homes for sale, so after I dumped the trash, I went on my merry way looking to see what was up for sale. I found a wonderful area. We are looking for, of course, a bigger, newer style house. But finding the right land is a little tricky.

We like out in the country, but not SO far out that you can't get to WalMart in a good amount of time! We already have VERY close neighbors (and I mean as far as distance between houses) who have a PARTY house out in the backyard. And you know what you do in a party house? Party til the wee hours of the morning. Hey, different strokes for different folks, but I like privacy and quiet......ESPECIALLY when I have Joshua in bed at a good time......I don't like to all of a sudden hear booming music, or bottles popping next door in the driveway NEXT to the nursery. Besides that, we live on a HIGHLY busy road and I couldn't let the kids out in the front yard in any peace.

We may not be able to get any of that right now, but I know most likely in the next 3-5 years, we'd be able to. I'm sure the right house and the right land will be there "in time." God's got a way of providing!

No Tuna Today!

2007-06-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Joshua is still eating his table food really well! The other day, I fixed some tuna salad. I spread some tuna on one piece of bread, cut into several slices, and he gobbled it up! Well, I had a little bit of tuna left over. So, you know what I did with the rest. The next day, my little man was being "sitted" by the grandparents. They put the remaining tuna salad on a piece of bread, sliced off the crust, and cut into several slices. They offered it to him, and the little stinker turned his head! He clamped his mouth shut, turned his head, and even slapped back at them! He wanted nothing.....absolutely NOTHING......to do with that tuna! I don't know if he just didn't want tuna a second day in a row, or if it's that he knows what the grandparents usually feed him and knows what I feed him.

He's been a little different this week so far. My husband is working all week this week helping set up a store in town. So therefore, the grandparents are keeping him in shifts! My mother keeps him in the mornings, while my in-laws keep him in the afternoon! Joshua IS teething. He's getting the BIG BOY teeth.....you know those big ol teeth on the sides? That's them! He has just not been his usual self. I guess between teething and having different people with him during the week is making him a little "curious" acting.

But as long as I get my hugs and kisses when I get home, I'm okeydokie! He's my little sweetie............

Something I read today!

2007-06-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who the author is, but if I knew, I'd give them credit for it. This is something to think about!
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THE BUZZARD, THE BAT AND THE BUMBLEBEE

The Buzzard

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6' x 8' and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10-12'. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The Bat

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and painfully until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

The Bumblebee

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

People

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up. Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up. Live simply, love generously, care deeply and speak kindly.

May your troubles be less, your blessings more, and may nothing but happiness come through your door.

"The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."

Eeeeeaat!

2007-05-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Joshua has been doing GREAT with his eating. Since he's been eating table food, he's added squash and asparagus to the menu. He loves for one of us to hold him when we're all in the kitchen. That way, he can see what's going on. I hold him a safe distance from what I'm preparing. Last night, he watched me prepare squash in the skillet. I put a teeny bit of butter in the pan, then put in my cut up squash, and salted and peppered them a little. I let them get very tender. I had asparagus going in a pot. Just the canned asparagus. He knows it's time to eat!!

The funny thing is that he can actually tell us when he's ready to eat. He does the sign language we taught him for milk, and he says "EEEEEEAAT!

That's what he did today with my husband before lunch(I'm at work). Joshua had taken a nap. When he woke up, he got in the floor, then looked up at daddy, made the sign language for milk and said "EEEAAT!" Daddy fixed lunch, and everybody was happy!!

Joshua's Dedication!

2007-05-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's been 15 months, but we have finally settled into one church that we are comfortable in and we had Joshua's dedication this past Sunday, May 27!!

We got his hair cut at JC Penny. We didn't get the girl who normally does Joshua's hair. She was pretty nervous....I felt sorry for her because Joshua was HIGHLY upset and she was going as fast as she could trying to cut his hair which ended up calling for a "re-take" Saturday before the dedication. They had to straighten it a bit.

We found Joshua a cute little white suit size 18 mo. The top fit fine, but I had to safety pin the pants! Anyway, I took pictures before the ceremony thank goodness! We had alot of problems getting pictures, good pictures, during the ceremony. For some reason everyone who took pictures got the backs of everyone. We needed a couple of front shots.

We went home after service and changed clothes, and ate. Joshua is doing GREAT with food! We went through Wifesaver and got chicken, broccoli casserole, mac/cheese, etc. He loved the broccoli casserole and mac/cheese. Then we went to the best ice cream shop in town! In my opinion, anyway..... Flanigan's! It was so nice to sit outside in their chairs with the cool breeze coming in. So relaxing.... aahhhhhh!!! Did I say it was relaxing??? Oh yeeesss. I know it may not sound like much for some, but for this mom who works outside the home and don't get home until 6pm, and who is now expecting Joshua's little brother or sister and is going through all the typical pregnancy stuff, it was so wonderful!! Joshua seemed to really enjoy his time there too! He even took a couple licks of ice cream!

Another Time to Celebrate!

2007-05-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mother's Day not too long ago. God blessed my husband and me with a son (who is the inspiration for my blog) 15 months ago. It's still so new to me: celebrating me as a mom. I always think about celebrating my mother who is almost 72 yrs old.

Now, coming the 3rd Sunday in June, June 17, we celebrate Father's Day. My father is almost 77 yrs old. He's always been a positive influence in my life. A great father! He'd tell me growing up "You can do it!" I got tired of hearing it at that time. But I go back to that alot these days.

My husband is a great father. He spends his days chasing our son around the house, making sure he's fed and diapered; making sure he's not hiding taking his clothes off, or taking something OUT of the trash or putting our house keys IN the trash. He even cooks dinner sometimes (we share the responsibility), he washes clothes (another responsibility we share), plus much more.

It is a bit hard sometimes knowing what to get for Fathers who have everything. But I think I may be on to something this year. At Delightful Deliveries, I've found all kinds of wonderful items for those dads!

Their California Assortment Gift basket contains some delightful items. It includes roasted garlic salsa, tortilla chips, caramel popcorn, butter toffee pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, California Crisps, and much more.

Another tempting basket, and I MEAN TEMPTING, is the Omaha Steaks Filet Mignons, which also include potato shells filled with whipped potatoes, sour cream, cheddar cheese and bacon.

And they have so much more besides the chocolate and gourmet meals. They have monthly clubs, fresh flowers, and corporate gifts! There is too much to list here, so you REALLY need to check it out for yourself. You never know what will pop out of the screen at you! PLENTY, and I mean P-L-E-N-T-Y, popped out at me! I am going to have to really watch myself when I go to order.

Check it out here! Father's Day Gifts

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

Table Food Anyone?

2007-05-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

Wow. This past week has been amazing as far as what Joshua has decided he wants to eat! It all started when I went to WalMart a month or so ago and found some Gerber Graduate cheese puffs! He was so excited to sink his little teeth into something and hear a crunch. I posted about this previously.

Anyway, one evening this past week, we tried carrots. I'd fixed them up in a pot. He just chomped them right up! The next day, I had stopped by S&S Cafeteria for takeout. In the takeout was baked chicken and mac/cheese, and green beans. He tried the green beans and loved them! He kept wanting more. He'd point. He doesn't SAY more, but he kept pointing and when I didn't get them to him fast enough, he let me know he was upset. The next day or so, we tried the 2 together. He didn't like MY beans. He seems to only like S&S beans. Oh well.... he just made a face like "ewww." I got to figure out how they make them! Then another evening he ate cheese and eggs and something else.

Then yesterday...... I wish I could've captured that moment on camera. I'd made me a grilled cheese sandwich after I got home from church. I'd already fed Joshua. I was holding him in my lap and I went to take a bite out of my sandwich. He opened his mouth wide like a little bird! I really was unsure if he could eat the sandwich. I lowered my sandwich out of his reach (so I thought) and he WENT for it. He grabbed for my sandwich and opened wide! He ate a little piece of it, but that was all I let him have.

Needless to say, last night, I fixed 1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich, sliced it in 3 long sections and took off the ends. He ate it and seemed VERY content. He ate 1/2 jar of pears with it and drank some milk. He didn't fuss anymore!

He doesn't seem interested in actually feeding himself right now. So I feed him. I realize that when he gets ready, he'll let me know just like he's let me know everything else!!

Getting Up and Starting Again!

2007-05-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in another post, I'm not a very unorganized person. I really wish I could get in touch with that part of my brain that has to do with organization. We'll clean up the house. Hey! Looks great! I'm going to try to keep it this way. Then before I know it, I've left things out where they don't need to be. Really the only part of the house that has a good bit of organization to it is our son's nursery.

Well, I've come across a post that makes me remember there IS hope! It reminded me that in EVERY aspect of my life, no matter how big or how small, I can ask God to help me. You know how sometimes things seem to big to us, but when you think about it, you may think "Aww, that's too small to pray about. I'll just deal with it on my own."

She mentions 2 vital tactics to keeping things manageable: Don't have more stuff than you have space to store it. And break down the main chores into smaller chunks through the week. Check it out at http://thebuildingbrows.blogspot.com/2007/04/taming-housework-elephant.html

All I can do is keep trying. If I mess up, I get up and start it again! With God's help, I'm going to beat this ridiculous unorganized trait in me!

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

3 Day Weekend

2007-05-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! I had a 3 day weekend! I took off Friday to spend the day with Joshua while my husband worked.

Joshua is such a little stinker....such company.....ALWAYS entertaining! I've learned that if I need an extra backrub during the day, he can do it George Jefferson style. You remember the Jefferson's and how during the theme song, you'd catch George on Bently's back?? Well, when my husband isn't there, I lay on my stomach in the floor and for some reason Joshua finds it quite interesting. He'll come over, back up, and sit on my back. Now that might not sound like much but when you consider he's about 25 pounds, it's a good bit. Then he'll get up and crawl over my back. One day, he backed up to my HEAD and sat down! I'm like...Ok, that wasn't QUITE what I had in mind. But it WAS pretty funny.

We had quite a big Mother's Day. We went to church in the a.m. They didn't have a p.m. service so everyone could go spend time with "Mamas." Although we had already been over to my parents house the Saturday before Mother's Day, we went back over there Sunday. We also went to my in-laws house Sunday. So each set of grandparents had between 2 and 2 1/2 hours with Joshua, not to mention I didn't have to cook. They wanted to cook!

It really didn't take my "lil'l man" long to go to sleep. He pretty much went to sleep while I was reading to him.

He woke up this morning in a kinda different mood. He seemed a bit upset. When I went in there to get him out of the crib, he wasn't his normal smiley self. It took me a little longer to dress him. I took him in the living room and put him down where he could start playing, but instead, he just stood there and cried. So I picked him up again and just sat with him. We watched his favorite animal DVD. He seemed content to just sit there with me. He finally wiggled around to get down. I may have been running late for work, and I may have only been like half dressed, but the time I got to spend sitting with him this morning was precious. It meant more to me than anything else............

What a week!

2007-05-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

I realize I haven't posted for a few days. Honestly, I just haven't felt like it. My husband hasn't felt good, and now I don't. I don't know if I caught his cold or what. I'm kinda wondering if it has to do with when Joshua was sick. A few weeks ago, he had a fever. Then his cheeks got BRIGHT red. I called the Dr, and the nurse there said to keep a watch on it because if he develops a rash, it could be Fifths Disease.

Fifths Disease. Ok. What's that? The nurse said it alot of times it comes from grocery carts. But when adults catch it, it does something funky.

Well, I'm not even sure if what I saw on Joshua a couple of days later actually WAS a rash on his arms. But I know my hubby and I just haven't felt well.

I tell ya, though......it's let me realize how much we have to lean on each other and really need to help each other out. It's always been the case where there's always ONE of us that feels good and can take care of Joshua with no problem. But with BOTH of us sick, it's pretty hard, and I've found myself saying "Ok, God, You're really going to have to help get me through today. And He did. He gave us just what we needed to keep on and not collapse. He even let Joshua sleep for 2 - 3 nights all the way through! We definitely needed some sleep.

So we did.......sleep!! It's taken alot for me to come into work this week, but I've done it so far. Don't know about Friday tho.