Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

I wish.

I was thinking of trying to make rum balls this year but then decided against it since my parents don't do the alcohol thing and my kids are too young for the alcohol thing and I technically shouldn't be doing the alcohol thing (breastfeeding) so... why bother. Cause I know I'd eat more than a couple.

Eh, maybe someday at a church party I'll stumble upon some and can finally cross "rum balls" off my bucket list.

In one of my father's anti-alcohol churches (which technically have been all his churches), they had a Christmas party one year and someone brought a friend who didn't attend their church and she brought rum balls. Well, one of the church ladies decided to try them (not knowing they had alcohol in them) and really liked them. And I guess she loaded up on them and basically got loaded.

Good times in the House of the Lord.

As of today, I have ALL my Christmas shopping done! And let me tell you people, this has been such a stress-free year of shopping that I'm almost sad it's done. (I said almost.) I started on Sunday and went to Target and Kohl's. Then on Monday I went to a few stores in the mall and back to Kohl's. Then today I stopped at Kohl's and Target again. And now, other than a few little things for stocking stuffers, I. Am. Done. (Well, except for the very worst part of all... the wrapping.)

Ohhh do I dislike the wrapping. And this year, I have to wrap! Can't just do the gift bag thing. (I can throw a gift in a bag with tissue paper like nobody's business!) But, I have an 18 month old who is gonna have a blast ripping the paper off his gifts and his mama is gonna have a blast watching it! So, with that thought, that's the end of my wrapping complaint.

And that's a wrap.

The Early Bird Gets The Bird

I am excited! I love this feeling!

I have 98.5% of my "Thanksgiving Dinner" shopping done.

I decided this morning that today I wanted to go get everything and beat the crazy crowds. I say this every year, but this year I did it. And it feels so wonderful!

I got: the turkey, stuffing, corn, sweet potatoes (yams) and the little marshmallows to go on top, green beans, cream of mushroom soup and those fried onion things for my green bean casserole, a bag of potatoes for mashed potatoes, Amish egg noodles, rolls, cheese, black olives, green olives, cottage cheese, a couple of jars of turkey gravy (just in case), and... and... 2 cans of cranberry sauce.

And now that I'm rereading that paragraph, I forgot the baby sweet pickles. Not that that is a traditional Thanksgiving food, but we like them. What's not to like about something that has baby and sweet in the name?

Where's the pumpkin pie you ask? My mom will be covering that. Oops! and now there's one more thing... I forgot the whipped cream. I think I'll be all Martha Stewart and make that myself, instead of doing Cool Whip or the spray can thing.

And no, I'm not talking about making it MYSELF... you need heavy whipping cream for that and Baby T's pediatrician would tell you that I only make skim milk.

Anyway... so other than the baby sweet pickles and heavy whipping cream (oh who are we kidding, COOL WHIP) I've got it covered folks. Bring on Thanksgiving!

And my stretchy pants.

Busy Week Ahead

I like busy weeks. They give me things to do and somewhat of a schedule. We haven't really had a schedule since Baby T joined our family. It's been nice but it's time for a schedule again.

Yesterday we were still at mam and paps (Baby T's version of grandma and grandpa) and I had things I needed to get done there. I signed Baby T up for "toddler storytime" at two libraries. One where they live and one where we live. He'll get storytime twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays. I figure we'll consider that part of his homeschooling.

Today I had bills to pay and errands to run... the bank, Dollar General and to the grocery store to pick something up for dinner. We're having tacos. Fast and easy. I still have laundry to do, the baby has no sheets on his bed and we're low on towels. Mr. R will be over later to visit Baby T.

Tomorrow I have two appointments. One early and one late afternoon. I hate early morning appointments because it disrupts Baby T's "wake-up and nurse for an hour" time. We do not get right out of bed in mornings, rather we sit and nurse and play and watch tv and nurse some more and then we get up. Normally it's about an hour after we first wake up. I know someday I'll miss that morning routine.

My parents will be here most of the day. I can't take the kids to my first appointment so they'll stay with them. Then the afternoon appointment is for T2, back to his allergist for his "fall" check.

Later tomorrow evening Baby T's aunts will be coming for a visit. It's always nice when they come and Baby T loves all the attention. He'll sleep good tomorrow night!

Thursday I don't think I have anything yet. I'm going to try and set up a play date with Baby T's cousin and his memaw. Maybe we can meet for lunch or they can come over.

Friday Baby T has a morning doctor's appointment. Shots! Ugh! Poor kiddo! We also need to have them recheck his little hernia while we're there just to make sure it's not getting worse. I keep praying it won't and he won't have to have surgery.

Then sometime this week I need to take T1 and T2 "Back to Home School" shopping. Notebooks, pens, folders, etc... and new shoes. They're pretty much good on clothes but really need new shoes. I also need to sit down and figure out their curriculum for the next month.

I also need to make dentist appointments for me and the older boys, make a doctor appointment for me and other little things like that.

OH and in the midst of all this, I need to find a job. One that does not include me watching other people's children, one I can do at home so I can still school the big boys and take care of the little one, and one that is flexible with good pay and benefits.

That one should be easy like Sunday morning.

New Laptop YAY!

Last week we went over to my parents on a whim. We were bored and felt like getting away, so we packed up and headed out for our 45 minute drive. When we arrived, they weren't home but drove up while we were carrying our bags in. My dad was still sitting in the car and it was still running and as I walked by he said to get in the car and that he needed me to go somewhere with him. Long story short, we were at Best Buy and looking at laptops in no time. I love my parents! It's so nice to have a computer again! You really don't know how much you need one until you don't have one. And it's not just about Facebook, blogging or People.com, it's about having so much information available to you at any time of the day. I remember when Baby T was sick at 3am and getting out old medical books and baby books to look up illnesses and symptoms when I could have gotten the same, if not better, information in just a couple of seconds online. There were many nights when I had no idea what to make for dinner or had things to make but wanted a new recipe or ideas on what I could do with what I had. Internet would have been helpful. Oh world wide web, what did we ever do without you?!

So Baby T is getting so big! He's 13 months and he's SO active! He is walking (more like running) and climbing. He will climb on anything. He is always on the move and goes from one thing to the next faster than you can keep up with him. T1 and I took him to get some lab work done last Friday. He got allergy testing done for milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, etc. I had worried that he had a dairy allergy but the test came back negative for everything. At least now we don't have to worry that he could be allergic to anything, but it still leaves us scratching our heads as to what could be wrong with him. He's constipated a lot and right now is taking Miralax daily. I don't like that but until I find another option, he's gotta have it. His big thing right now is books and balls. He LOVES books and loves to be read to. Of course I've been reading to him since he was born. Not on a daily basis, but pretty often. I love reading to him and I love seeing him look at the pictures. He's always wanting to roll the ball with someone, although he likes to throw it most of the time. He loves my dad. He calls him "Pap". So right now we're calling him, "Pap" and calling my mom, "Mam". He calls his brothers "Bub". He calls me "Mama" most of the time, but also calls me "NeeNee"? Umm, too much Atlanta Housewives? (j/k) He's got 4 teeth on the top and 2 on the bottom. I had him get his MMR shot at his 1 yr well child check and I kind of wish I would have waited longer. He was sick for about two weeks after that. I know it had to do with the shot. He's still breastfeeding. And I don't care what anyone thinks about that. Actually, other than Mr. R's mom (Baby T's other grandma) telling me I needed to "quit that" last night on the phone and that we should have stopped doing that by now, no one has said anything else negative about it. And guess what, I don't really care who says what. It's my child and it's our choice. He's not ready, I'm not ready, so we're still doing it. I won't get in your business and you don't need in mine. Let's be friends, but let's not go there. K?!

T1, T2 and I went to the eye doctor yesterday. I'm shocked but happy to say that I still have 20/20 vision and the doctor said my eyes look great. T2's eyes were good as well. T1's, not so much. So, he gets glasses next week. They're really cool and trendy. Well, I guess the proper name is "hipster"? Whatever, I like them and I think they're gonna look really good on him! I'm almost jealous!

T1 hasn't mentioned anything about drivers ed yet and I'm not pushing it. I'm not ready to have a child who can drive. I have a child who just learned to walk. And really, it does go THAT fast. One day they're learning to walk and the next they're learning to drive.

T2 has been busy with friends this summer and doing yard work and basically anything that can keep him outdoors. The other night he came walking in asking if he could please stay out a little past dark so he and a couple of his friends could play flashlight tag. Of course I let him, that's a part of summer! Yay for being a kid! Today he went to Michigan with my mom and dad to visit my grandma.

We'll be going over to my parents' later today and we'll spend the night. I have a counseling appointment tomorrow and it's just easier to be there, rather than have to get up, get ready, get the baby fed and ready, and make the trip over there.

Oh yeah, I'm in counseling. And I'm not ashamed of it. I don't think there's anything wrong with talking to someone about issues in your life. It's different than just talking to family or friends. It's nice. I was putting up with a lot of emotional and verbal abuse from Baby T's father and it just needed to end. And for some reason, I wasn't strong enough to end it myself and I needed help. And I'm getting it and it's working and I'm happy! And I'm going for ME! I should have went a year ago, but at least I didn't wait another year.

Baby T is still napping and I've got laundry to get in the dryer before we leave, so I better go for now. I am so excited that I get to blog more.

It's Me Again...

I had forgotten how addicting blogging is.

We didn't do much today. I got up around 7:30, fed Baby T and got him back to sleep, then ate my normal oatmeal (helps with bfing) and then decided to lay back down with Baby T. I ended up falling back to sleep for about an hour. We finally got up, Baby T ate again and then I got him his bath and got him ready for the day. I cleaned some things up around the house and watched some tv. I normally don't get my shower until he takes his afternoon nap (unless we're going somewhere important). Today I waited because the only place we needed to go was to the grocery store and I don't consider that important.

Well, we planned on a quick shopping trip but ended up having to meet my parents at our usual "half way" meeting spot so that I could get my phone charger. I went to charge it before we left and realized I had left it at their house from being there this weekend. So, we ended up grocery shopping at Meijer. I wouldn't normally go there because I really don't care for that store, but it was close and my parents needed to get some stuff too, so we got to see them for a little longer.

Baby T was not a happy camper on the way home and pretty much screamed the whole way. He's been doing a lot better though and I'm pretty sure he was just tired and hungry. I got him home, fed him and he fell right to sleep.

Then I had all the groceries to put away and dinner to make. We had ham, broccoli with cheese sauce and mashed potatoes. We had chocolate cake for dessert but I was a good girl and didn't have any. Yet. The night's not over.

Well, I guess I should be getting some school work done before I have to feed Baby T again. OH yeah, I think I forgot to mention that I'm taking a class online. I'm going to get my certification for Medical Transcription. I'm gonna have to work now and I want to be able to still stay home and I do not want to go back to doing daycare, so... after much thought and research I decided to give it a try. I know a couple of people who do it and they make really good money at it. Let's hope I'm good at it.

Happy April

I'm so glad it's finally Spring... although they're saying we may have snow this weekend. I hope not because we need to get a lot of stuff done.

As of this Saturday, we only have 9 weeks left until Baby T gets here. 9 weeks!!! I can't believe it's this close! I'm excited and nervous.

We have another OB check tomorrow. I failed my 1 hour glucose test so had to go back last Wednesday and do the 3 hour test. I had to do the same thing with T2 and everything was fine, so I called one of the doctors and asked her if I really had to do the 3 hour test since my levels were right at the cut off mark. She said I really needed to do it and if I passed I could tell her "I told you so" the next time I see her. Well, guess which doctor I'm seeing tomorrow!?! LOL

We took the kids to see "Knowing" Tuesday night. It was ok. I thought it was going to be better from the previews. It was too drawn out and the ending was kind of stupid.

Mr. R and I rented "Quantum of Solace" last weekend and stopped it half way through. We didn't like it at all. Out of all the 007 movies, that was the worst. (At least in our opinion.) T1 had seen it before and he really liked it.

We did a lot of running around yesterday... we went to Sam's Club and renewed Mr. R's membership (got some food and candy), stopped by Walmart to return a car T2 had bought (it didn't work), went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and came home. Mr. R left and the boys and I headed to my parents' house. My grandma C is visiting so we went to Wednesday night church and then back to the house to visit her for a little bit. We went and got Taco Bell and watched American Idol, then left and got home around 11:00pm. I was very tired so I got my shower and went right to bed.

I was up this morning at 7:30 with a horrible charlie horse in my left leg. I've only had a few of them during this pregnancy so I'm not going to complain. With T2 I had them all the time. This time I've been eating bananas like crazy to avoid them and so far it's worked. I don't think I had had one in a few days, but guess what I had for breakfast this morning!

I'm working today and so far the day is going very slow. I'm still tired and wish I could crawl back into bed but I don't see that happening any time soon. I will probably get to sit down and rest a little while they're napping, but I won't go to sleep.

Happy April!

Happy St. Patty's Day

My kids have been gone since Thursday and I really miss them. They were suppose to come home yesterday, but at the last minute decided to stay with grandpa and grandma another night... I literally cried when I got off the phone with T2. 5 nights away from home is too much! I know they're having fun, but they're my kids, darn it!

I'm sure it also didn't help that Mr. R was going back home and I was extremely tired from our long day at the hospital and I was getting a sore throat. All that combined gave me reason for a break down.

So, I did what any normal person would do... went to Subway and got a foot long sub, drove home, stuffed my face, got in the shower, called my best friend and watched tv until I fell asleep.

Yesterday Mr. R finally had his doctor's appointment with the specialist. Actually, we saw two doctors and they both agreed he really needs an endoscopy. So, we have that scheduled in April. Hopefully they'll find out what's making him so sick and can fix it.

After that we had a lot of errands and running around to do. That always tires me out. We went to a new baby store and it was really nice. Somehow we managed to walk out without buying anything. That's a first. I just wasn't in the mood to shop.

Today is my birthday and I just want to go back to bed. I'm tired, I have a sore throat, my kids aren't here to entertain my oldest dc boy (who asks every 5 minutes "when is T2 coming home?") and I'm grouchy. I'm not in the mood to celebrate St. Patty's Day or my birthday.

I guess we're all going out to eat tonight, then we'll come back here, have cake, open presents and party like it's 1999. Yeah right, I hope I'm in bed by 10:00.

You'll all have to drink green beer without me.

T1's BDay - Baby Update - Etc.

Last Monday, February 23, was my first baby's 15th birthday. For his big day we went to Cincinnati with my parents, aunt Gail, uncle Mark and cousin Jer. It was a fun day!

We went to IKEA (where both boys got new beds), to the nation's 2nd largest mall (where we did a lot of walking), and then to TGIFridays for dinner (where we ate too much!).

I can't believe T1 is 15!!!! Next year this time it will be really hard to believe how old he's getting! I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to say I have a 16 year old. lol

I'm proud of T1! He's a great kid! Smart as a whip and FUNNY! He gets our family's sense of humor and enjoys it as much as gives it back. He's becoming quite the guy!

Luv ya toots!

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We had another OB appointment last week. The doctor we were suppose to see had to leave to deliver a baby so we got to see the one we've seen the most. He's real nice and told me I had "pretty" make-up on. Of course I was complaining because Mr. R was shooting pictures like crazy. (I really think it's sweet, but I can't let him know that!) At one point the doctor purposely stood in between me and Mr. R so he couldn't get any shots. It was funny!

The baby is doing good. I only gained 2.5 pounds since I'd been there a month ago. YAY!! I thought for sure I had gained at least 5-7, but I guess it's just ALL baby!

He (still no name yet) is kicking up a STORM! I was up a lot Saturday night because he was really kicking hard. I think he had me up from 2:30-3:30 and then again from about 6:30-8:00, just kicking and moving around. Needless to say we did not make it to church that morning. He was kicking so hard my sides were sore! Thankfully he's calmed down in the last couple of days.

My next OB appointment is in 3 weeks... I get to do the nasty glucose tolerance test. I hope I pass the first time because it's only an hour. The second one is about 4 hours, I think. I can't stand that stuff you have to drink. I still can't drink orange pop because of it.

After that appointment I'll start going every 2 weeks until the last month. I kind of hope it goes fast but I want to enjoy it too. This has been such an easy pregnancy! I thought for sure the older a woman got, the harder it would be... not yet. (knock on wood)

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Yesterday the boys were still at my parents so I spent the day running errands with Mr. R. We drove everywhere! We literally were in the car from about 12:30 to almost 10:00 last night. We had to go to his side of town and he had a ton of errands to run. He forgot he had an appointment with his lawyer so guess who got to go to that. :) After we were done there we went to Texas Roadhouse, did some more baby shopping, spent over $100 in MORE baby clothes at Babies R Us (this kid is going to be dressed good), and went to Dick's and both got new tennis shoes. Then we came back to my house, let the dogs out, checked some stuff ending on ebay and headed to my parents' (which is another 45 minutes away) to get the kids.

My parents bought a Wii and guess what the boys brought home. LOL My mom said her and my dad would be too busy to play it the rest of the week so we could borrow it until the weekend. LOL I've been playing bowling and baseball with the boys today and my little 4 yr old daycare boy has been playing it with us too. He is really good! They have one at home and you can tell he's played a lot.

We reserved 3 movies for tonight (Australia for Mr. R and I, Spongebob vs. The Big One for T2 and Max Payne for T1) I'm making sloppy joes for dinner. I'm not sure what we'll have with it, I'll probably run to the store after work and look for some stuff. I wish I had some of my mom's potato salad! Mmmm! I need to learn how to make that!

Tomorrow we're going to start cleaning out my room and making a place for all the baby stuff. I've got a pretty big master bedroom so it shouldn't be a problem. There's no reason for the baby to have his own room anyway because he'd never sleep in there. I keep my babies right by me for at least the first year.

Well, that's all that's going on with us! I can't wait for some spring weather!!

One More Day

Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we'll know what we're having. Neither one of us really care, but it will be fun to find out. Mr. R wants to go shopping this weekend and get EVERYTHING. That's nice, but what will we do for the next 5 months? I have a feeling that we're going to get really impatient towards the end.

We finally got snow yesterday. I wasn't really holding my breath but it happened. Not only did it snow, but the temps dropped too. It's -4 degrees right now. Brr!

Here's T2 doing what he does best... working outside. That child hates being trapped indoors and shoveling to him isn't work, it's fun. Why can't we adults think like that about more things in life?!

Fun Weekend

Friday we had another OB appointment. I was a little nervous because it was with a doctor I'd never seen before and he had ordered the colposcopy. I didn't think it needed to be done, we discussed it and as long as he isn't doing biopsies, I guess I'll do it in a few weeks. He was really nice though and spent a good amount of time with us, answering some questions that we had and making sure that I understood everything. A big concern of mine is trying another VBAC. I guess we'll just see how big the baby is towards the end and go from there.

I only gained two pounds. Yippee! I'm surprised that's all I've gained considering I've been eating everything in sight.

We have another ultra sound set for Friday, Jan. 16. This one will tell us if it's a boy or girl. (Hopefully!) Everyone I've talked to thinks it's a girl. The doctor said if old wives tales are true, the fast heartbeat says it's a girl. I'm a little freaked out about that... I've got boys and that's all I know. We'll be happy with either though.

After the doctor's appt I had some last minute shopping to do. Then after that I went to my parents' house for dinner. My kids were already there and my uncle, aunt and two cousins came in from West Virginia. We had a yummy dinner, then me, the boys and my cousins all went to my house for the night.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early (6am) to go to Michigan to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and got up there around 11:45. We had a great time with our family and getting another Christmas was pretty fun.

Later in the afternoon I went to Biggby Coffee with one of my aunts . I got a Mocha Mocha (Big Chill, I think?). It was pretty good. No Starbucks, but it wasn't horrible.

We got back to my grandma's and decided to go visit my grandpa's grave. It's hard to believe he's been gone for over a month.

We left around 5:30. My parents and uncle and aunt drove in their car and me, my kids and cousins drove in mine. My cousin Jer drove for me. That made me happy because I didn't want to drive. He also filled up my tank on the way up and back. Awww, what a great guy. (And single.... email me, ladies!) We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. We were all so exhausted we pretty much went straight to bed when we got back to my house.

Sunday morning we got up early again, drove through Burger King for breakfast and headed to Muncie to go to church. After church we went to Damon's for lunch. Mmmmm, if you've never been to Damon's and there's one near you, GO! They have yummy yummy ribs and it's just a fun place to eat. They have huge screens up and you can play trivia games against other tables. We were actually in first place at one point. We took our two last names and put them together. (ClaMar)

After lunch the parents went home and me, the boys and my cousins went shopping. We went to Kohl's and I got 2 pairs of maternity pants and 4 maternity shirts. I am really starting to pop out, so I really needed them. My grandma gave me a Kohl's gift card for Christmas and Mr. R had given me money for clothes, so I was all set. I also had $20 in Kolh's Cash but they had expired on the 3rd. However, as I was leaving the lady behind me tried using hers and the cashier let her. So, I asked if she would let me use mine and she did. How nice!

After that we went to the mall and walked around. My cousin Steph road the "roller coaster", T2 took a bunch of stuff to Game Stop and my cousin Jer and the boys got pretzels from Auntie Anne's. I was stuffed from lunch but took a little piece off T2's pretzel.

After we were tired from shopping, we went back to my parents' house, played games, my aunt cut my hair, got Pizza Hut for dinner, played more games, got ice cream and then the boys and I headed home around 9pm. My uncle and aunt needed to leave early this morning so my cousins stayed there.

The boys came home and pretty much went straight to bed. They both fell asleep watching tv on their beds, so I just turned their lights out and set the timer on their tvs. I headed to bed pretty early too and tried to get some extra sleep to make up for what I lost getting up so early on Saturday and Sunday.

Today I did laundry, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned up the downstairs and went grocery shopping. I have to work tomorrow (first time in 3 weeks) so I'll probably try and get to bed early tonight too.

Hope your weekend was just as fun and enjoyable as mine! :)

Someone Is 12 ?!?!?!

Wow! I can't believe T2 is 12 today! 12? Really? When did THAT happen?

The poor thing had a rough night last night with a sore throat and stomachache and didn't get to bed until after 3am, so I decided to let him sleep a little this morning and not try to make it to church so early.

We did go to Muncie later. T2 wanted to have his birthday lunch at Cheeseburger In Paradise, so we met my parents there at noon. Afterwards, they took T2 back to their house and T1 and I went to pick up the cake and headed to Old Navy. T2 requested clothes from me, so I loaded up on sweats, long sleeved tees and socks. (He loves comfy clothes.) Of course I also put $12 in his card. Tradition.

We went back to my parents' and let him open his gifts. We had cake and sat around and talked for awhile. On our way home he wanted to stop by Best Buy. He got a WWE wrestling game and T1 got a dvd.

We came home and the house was freezing... it was almost 70 yesterday and today it's back down in the 30's. Crazy! No wonder I've had a headache most of the day.

Well, I need to get my laundry out and clean the kitchen up. Mr. R is coming over tonight and we're getting pizza and will watch a couple of movies.

Ice Ice Baby

Our second ice storm of the season. I'm thinking I do not like ice. However, as long as it just stays around for a few hours, warms up and melts, I guess it's better than a ton of snow.

Mr. R and I went to start (yep, start) our Christmas shopping this morning. By about 2:00pm we came out of Kohls and it was just starting to sleet. The roads were getting bad and everyone was going slow.

We thought we'd try to beat the horrible Walmart crowd and go late tonight instead of tomorrow... I just looked outside and everything (including my car) is solid ice. I checked the weather online and the freezing rain is suppose to stop around 1:00 am. Hmmm... guess who may be going shopping around 1:00 am?!

How Long Til June?

Wonder how many time you'll see that as a title?

I have a feeling this winter and spring are going to go very slow. Ahhh, I want this baby now! And I have a long way to go. 15 weeks down... 25 more to go... I'm thinking of maybe making a chain, like the "25 days til Christmas" kind, only it will be a "25 weeks til baby" chain. I'll make it pink and blue and every week we can tear off a link.

I have to admit I wasn't sure how I felt in the beginning and pretty much cried about every other day over it, but now since I've seen it and felt it, I really am glad it's coming. How can you be too disappointed about a new baby?! I'm pretty sure I had these same feeling with both my boys but I wouldn't trade them for anything now!

I know my life will be different. I haven't gotten up in the middle of the night for years, haven't had to pack a diaper bag or carry a car seat to and from the car each time we go somewhere, and sleeping in... well I guess I can kiss that good bye for a few years. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to all that, but I'm sure when I see its little face for the first time, all the dreaded things that I haven't been use to doing, won't matter anymore. Plus it's nice to know that this baby will have a father who will actually be around and will help me out if I get too tired or stressed. And then of course there's always grandma and grandpa... right, grandma?

Anyway, we do still have lives and most of the time it doesn't revolve around the baby-to-come... tonight we are going to my parents'. We haven't seen them since Dec.2 when we got back from my grandpa's funeral. My dad was very sick and I'm trying to stay away from any and all illnesses right now. We are going to a zoo over by where they live for a drive-through Christmas light show. Then we'll probably find a Christmas movie on tv. They just got new cable so I'm sure the boys will need to check out all the new channels. Tomorrow we'll go to church, have lunch and then I'm going shopping. I'll try and talk my mom into going, but she's not too excited about all the Christmas crowds right now. Well, neither am I but I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet and there's not too many shopping days left so I pretty much have to deal with the crowds.

Mr. R is off hunting again. He left yesterday and will be back on Sunday. This is the last weekend he's going. I hope he gets a big buck. I don't get to talk to him very much when he's gone because they are way down south and he doesn't get very good reception on his crappy Sprint phone. I keep telling him he needs to switch over to AT&T... maybe one day he'll listen. Can you hear me now?!

That's about all we're up to this weekend. I have laundry going and I need to do some dishes. Then I'll get us all packed up and we'll head off to Muncie. The dogs will be excited to go. They haven't left the house in awhile. All we have to say is "Wanna go to grandma's house?" and they start jumping all over the place.

Oh, one more bit of baby news... the nurse practitioner called from my OB's office yesterday and all my tests didn't come back ok. They want me to have a colposcopy done on the 31st but I'm thinking that I'm not going to do that. My pap came back abnormal and they want to take a look at my cervix with a microscope and perhaps take some biopsies. (I've had this done before and had severe cramping after the biopsies.) This happened with my other two pregnancies and cleared up on its own afterwards and I've continued to have normal paps ever since. The NP said it is most likely from the pregnancy hormones and that it's NOT cancer so I don't need to worry. Well, ok, if it could just be hormones, lets just wait until after the baby is born, do another pap and go from there. I'm not excited about getting my cervix messed with at this point. That's just too close to the baby and if it's not absolutely necessary, I say we wait. I'm going to call this week and see if I can talk to the doctor sometime before the appointment. I hope he agrees and says we can wait.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

It's Hard To Say Good-Bye

Today I gave the last dc parent notice that I was quitting. It was rather sad because I just adore her son. Well, her daughter too, but her son is just like my own because I've had him for almost 4 years. He's been with me through half my daycare journey and watching him grow from 5 months to 4 years has been an honor for me.

This morning I woke up, got ready and went downstairs around 9:30. My little dc girl was acting tired and little grouchy so I picked her up to cuddle her a bit and she was burning up. Took her temp and it was high. Her mom came and took her to the doctor and it looks like she's got an ear infection. Poor thing. Then, after nap, her brother woke up and wouldn't eat snack. VERY unlike him, so I took his temp and it was a little high too. However, he was acting fine (other than not eating) so hopefully he'll be ok.

My mom is sick... she's got a horrible cold, congestion, cough, fever.... UGH I do not need this right now. Not that SHE does, poor mom, but ohmygosh I have so much to do. Sickness just cannot invade my life right now.

I picked out my ring on Sunday. It's from the Beverly Hills collection at Zales and it is beautiful!!! The main diamond is pear-shaped, and I've never been fond of the pear-shaped diamond, but this one just jumped out at me. I can't wait to have it on my finger!!! I love it!! It is almost 2 carats, white gold, tons of smaller diamonds on the ring and band and it's very vintage looking.

I still haven't figured out what I want to do about a dress... I have a couple that I've never worn that would be ok. I'm not getting the big dress until the November wedding, so I'm wondering if I don't do an "all white" dress for the August wedding, if that would be ok. The August wedding is very casual so I may just wear one of the new dresses I haven't worn yet.

Tonight we went to Subway for dinner because I didn't feel like cooking. Right as I was taking my last bite my neighbor came over and wanted to talk, so I sat outside with her for awhile. Then she had a computer question so we got T1 and went over to her house to see if he could help her. He's a computer whiz and got the program that she needed all figured out. Then we sat in her house and chatted for probably an hour. She's a fun lady and I really like talking to her! Last week my mom and I went over and played Euchre with her. I hadn't played in a VERY long time but I think I started getting the hang of it towards the end. She is in a Euchre group and wants me to join. I may, it sounds like fun. Besides, I'm going to need stuff to keep me busy if I'm going to be a lonely housewife. :)

I have so many things to do and so little time to do them. But, I always work better under pressure so I'm sure this will be no exception. I have been good about tanning so at least I haven't left that for the last minute.

Tomorrow I'm not working and I don't really have anything planned. I know I need to go tanning and I need to make a trip to downtown Indy. Other than that, it doesn't look like it will be a very busy day.

On a side note... I was so sad to see the news on Yahoo that Estelle Getty had passed away. If you know me, you know how much I love The Golden Girls! Sophia is just hilarious! RIP!

"Thank You For Being A Friend"

Shopping Spree

Did you like the "important" message? I figured you all needed to be "Rick Rolled" because I had no idea what it even was until Friday. I'm slow. I know.

I don't really have any big news. It's just the same, normal stuff going on around here. I'm still only working 3 days a week and I love it! I think I'm going to start advertising for only those days. I could be happy working 3 days and having 4 days off. It's pretty nice.

The boys got their pool up but have only been in it a couple of time this week. The water's been too cold or we've been out doing other things.

Mr. R is working in Chicago now. He's gone pretty much for two weeks at time and is working 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week. He was suppose to come home next weekend but he told me on Friday that he was going to have to wait another week. This means he'll have been gone for 3 weeks straight since the last time he's been home. I think he felt bad because he gave me $300 to go shopping. So, guess what we did after church today... :)

T1 got: a multi picture frame for his room, new trashcan, 2 new valances, new sheets and a new lampshade. (He's redoing his room.)

T2 got: legos, a big plastic container for all the legos he already has, a big remote control Mustang and some candy.

I got: a new mat for the front porch, new sunglasses, season 4 of 'The Golden Girls' (now I have the complete set), a picture frame and some other stuff we needed like: vitamins, sunscreen, batteries, pool toys, pool filters and 2 new beach towels.

It was a good day... but then any day spent shopping is usually good. :)

I'll be working this week and off the next. My aunt, uncle and cousin are coming and we're going to Michigan. I can't wait! We always have so much fun together!

Tomorrow T2 has his follow up appointment with the allergist. I'm going to be SO happy to report that since he's been on his new meds, he hasn't had to use his inhaler AT ALL!!! Praise the Lord!!! I'm so happy my little man can breathe again!

Well, here's to a great new week... live it up!

Our Outting For The Day

It gets boring when you don't work much. We're trying to find little things to do every day. Friday we went to a small town close to us and went through all their little stores. They have a real nice antique store, a few craft stores and stores that sell a bunch of different kinds of things. We also got both dogs groomed - they needed it and with this hot weather, are much more comfortable I'm sure. Monday we didn't do much, I got caught up on laundry. Yesterday we went grocery shopping. Today I was going to get the oil changed in my SUV but never got around to it. Instead I had an extra older kiddo in daycare and while my mom was watching the younger ones, I took him and T2 to the park. It was hot and I don't know why I thought I could just sit in the car and read? Now we're getting ready to make steaks on the grill and relax in the A/C.

I'm not sure what kind of animal these bones are from, but T2 found them:

T2 (in red) and daycare boy:

I found this to go over my kitchen window at one of the craft stores:

Busy Day

I got up this morning and was ready by 9:00. I didn't have any kids coming until 10:00, so I thought I'd go tanning and go to the post office to get stamps and mail a couple of bills. Then I decided I'd rather have some time on the computer and actually be able to sit and eat my breakfast for once, so I did that instead.

I worked from 10:00-11:00... whoohoo... don't hurt yourself, Mama T! :)

As soon as I was done, the boys and I left to run errands. We went to the post office, got stamps, mailed the bills, then headed to Walmart.

We got back around 1:00 and had lunch. Then I made the BLT dip that we got at Shipshewana.

After lunch I needed to mail a birthday card and an anniversary card so I asked T2 if he wanted to take a bike ride to the post office. His eyes got huge and he said "YES!". So, we got the bikes out and off on our journey we went. About half way there I said "T2, did you happen to bring your inhaler?" and he said "No, I thought about it but I'm doing so good I knew I wouldn't need it." He was right, he did fine the whole way there and back. I was burning up and out of breath, but he did great. He told grandpa and grandma at dinner that we helped out 4 ways by riding our bikes to the post office... 1. we got exercise, 2. we saved gas, 3. by not using our car we helped the environment, and 4. we got some sun.

After I cooled down and had a "bomb pop" (you know, those awesome red, white and blue popsicles), I worked on some daycare stuff and then got ready to grill out for dinner. I bought some steaks and I thought I'd be nice and grill them for the family. Yeah... I'm not a good griller. That is what dads are for, so I called him outside and told him if he wanted decent meat tonight he better take over. They ended up turning out really good, although I put a tad too much tenderizer on them. We had salads and baked potatoes with our steak. It was a good dinner!

After dinner I was standing in the kitchen and noticed our neighbor lady (who just lost her husband in December) was getting ready to mow her lawn. It was still so hot, so I asked T2 if he wanted to help her so she could get it done quicker. Of course he wanted to, the kid LOVES to work. So T2, me and my dad went and helped her out. We did her back yard while she was working on the front. My dad helped her cut down some branches on a tree that was getting really low and I used the weed whacker around the areas that needed it.

Then she and a little neighbor girl came over to our house and T2 and I sat outside on the front lawn with them and talked. I'm so happy that I have nice neighbors!

After we came in I tried my BLT dip and now I'm getting ready for bed. I have to be up by 7:00 tomorrow morning and I am tired!

It was a very nice Monday! :)

PS- Don't forget to click the "Quickie" button on the side! Let's conserve water this summer by joining the Crunchy Domestic Goddess for a quick shower!

Shipshewana - Our Mini Vacation

My aunt Gail and cousin Jer came in on Memorial Day. We cooked out and made homemade ice cream. My cousin and the boys went on a bike ride and we made a last minute trip to Target to get a couple of things for our trip.

We got up early on Tuesday and left at 8am. We stopped at McDonald's for a quick breakfast and then took the 2 hour drive to Amish country.

My parents and aunt went in my parent's suv and my cousin, me and the boys went in mine. We had fun on the way. We listened to cds and passed a lot of beautiful scenery. Only half of it is highway, the rest is back roads so we got to see a lot of Amish homes and farms. We knew we were getting close when we started seeing horses and buggies and laundry hanging outside.

We got there around 11am and since it was too early to check in to our hotel, we headed straight HERE to the Flea Market. It was a little chilly but we survived. As soon as we walked through the gate I saw a "hair" booth. A Chinese lady was putting hair extensions in a ladies hair and I stopped to watched. She told me to come in and sit down and asked if I wanted her to do my hair. I loved the lady's hair she was doing, so I told her I wanted something exactly like "that". She was awesome at matching the hair color with her pieces and did a really good job with mine. And the good thing is, it's really easy to do, so anytime I want a cute hairstyle but are in a rush, I can do that. We walked around and looked at everything, got a quick lunch there and then walked around again until about 4:00. Right before we left we walked by a jumping thing... anyway, no one would do it but my cousin. I would have, but I didn't want my hair to go flying out.

After that we went to our hotel (Farmstead Inn), unpacked, got ready and went out to get an early dinner. We ate HERE and it was very yummy. Everything was home cooked and it was family style, so they just kept bringing out bowls or plates of whatever we needed. We got chicken, baked steak, corn, mashed potatoes, stuffing, noodles, a salad and bread. It was all so good!

After we ate we went back to the hotel and went swimming, sat in the hot tub, played basketball and ping pong. Then we went back to our rooms, sat and talked and decided we needed a late night snack, so we ordered Pizza Hut. Then we went to bed.

We all met down in the lobby at 8:15 am for breakfast. Our plans for Wednesday was to leave right after breakfast and go through all the little Amish shops in town. However, I had looked at a super cute Coach knockoff at the flea market the day before and decided I didn't need it. Well, after sleeping on it, I decided I needed it. So, me, my cousin, and the boys went back to the flea market. We got right by the gate where the purse vendor was and I went in and picked up the purse in less than 5 minutes. However, T2 saw an alligator he had his eye on the day before, so he got that and T1 bought a picture for his room that he had looked at the day before. I also found a Louis Vuitton headband so I picked that up also. It's a good thing we went back! :)

After that we headed for the little shops, found my mom and aunt and walked around with them. We went in one shop and there was a little Amish woman who walked by and told us to make sure we came upstairs and visited her, and that she had some things for us to try. So we walked upstairs and way in the back of the room she had a table set up of all these dips. We tried a bunch and they were all very good. I bought 3 of the mixes... a spinach dip mix, a BLT dip mix and I also got a strawberries and cream dessert dip mix. They're all real easy to make, you just add the mix to either sour cream or cream cheese.

Next, we went HERE and went through all the little shops and rode their restored 1906 carousel. Then we started getting hungry so we ate at a little Amish ran restaurant called Daily Bread. Then we rode the carousel again, went to Aunt Millies to pick up some candy and left. But not before we almost got stuck in the elevator. But we won't talk about that.

After that, we made one last stop at Antique Gallery. T2 collects old cars and he got an old Greyhound bus. I got two old Presidential spoons.

Then we were on our way home. We got home, went out to eat, sat and talked, then went to bed. My aunt and cousin left early the next morning at 7am and 2 hours later it was back to work for me.

It was fun and relaxing and we spent most of the time bent over laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. We had a great time!

Enjoy the pics below...

Happy NPAD!

Did you know today was National Provider Appreciation Day? I actually forgot myself until I got a call from a former dc parent who mentioned it. I had the day off, so I'll consider that my gift.

I really wanted to sleep in a little this morning, but that's almost impossible when your daycare is IN your house. I tried, but was fully awake by 7:50 so I decided to get up and get breakfast for me and the boys. I watched some tv then got ready for the day.

Then it was off to run errands. The boys and I went to get gas, Aldi's, the newspaper office, Walmart and Bath & Body Works.

Isn't it weird when you see someone out and about that you know and you know that they know who you are and you both look straight at each other but neither of you say anything. Not a "hi", "hello", "how are you"... nothing. Why do people do that? It happened to me today, twice. I'm never sure how to handle those kind of situations so I usually say nothing and just walk away.

We got Chinese for dinner tonight. (vegetarian T1 got Subway) T2 and I split and order of sesame chicken, white rice and crab rangoons. It was good, but spicy. We haven't ordered from this particular place in probably over a year and they've really spiced up the sauce on the sesame chicken. Hopefully that will clear up my sinuses.

I got a call this afternoon from a former daycare mom wanting to know if it would be possible for her to bring her daughter back. I would be so excited for them to come back! I was really sad when they left as they were really good dc parents! And well, of course I just love their daughter... talk about a FUNNY little girl! She kept me in stitches daily. And the mom... just a doll!! Loved the family and will totally welcome them back! "K" is starting Kindergarten this fall and needs somewhere to hang until mom can get her. I hope it works out.

I'm over the "beautiful" rain (yesterday's post). It's cold today, and wet AND cold don't mix.

"Home Alone" just started on FX. T2 and I are going to get our blankets and cuddle up on the couch together. I love that movie and I love cuddling with my kid so it looks like it's going to be a good night!

PS- BTW, the hair... it's brassy. But not enough to have to wear a hat. :)

Happy Monday

Boy the weekend went by fast. Only 3 weeks until my mini vacation. We're going HERE over Memorial Day! I'm so excited. I love the Amish culture and it's been years since I've been to the flea market. I can't wait. My aunt and cousin are going with us and it's going to be lots of fun. And I KNOW my cousin is not going to back out! lol Right, Jer?!?! (You better come!!)

Our weekend was pretty fun. Nothing big, but we got out of the house and out of our little town, so that's always nice. Friday night we got take-out and watched tv. We were actually in bed pretty early. Saturday T2 went to my parent's to mow. Their church got a new riding mower and he was very excited to go help out. I did laundry most of the day. Later that night T1 and I went to my parent's to spend the night. T2 wanted us to come and we didn't have anything else to do. We rented "Dan In Real Life" so we all watched that. Sunday morning we got up and went to church. After that we went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Yum! They have the BEST salads ever! After lunch, me, my mom, T1 and T2 went shopping. We went to Lowes to look for a new lampshade for the boys' room. Then I took my mom to take stuff back for my dad. After that, I took my mom and T2 back to the house and T1 and I went to Target. I got some new shirts and got T1 and T2 some more summer clothes. Then we helped my mom sort out boxes in the garage. I did her dishes for her and tried to clean the house a little. We ended up staying there most of the afternoon so went to evening church. After that we headed home. We went through Burger King for dinner and watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks". Cute movie! Then I picked up the downstairs and went to bed.

The dogs had me up at 4am to go outside and then I couldn't get back to sleep so I stayed up and watched 3 episodes of Roseanne on Nick at Night. Needless to say I'm tired today. I didn't have to work this morning and wanted to be up by at least 8:00 to run some errands, but ended up sleeping in until 10:00. I had to work at 11:30 so I rushed to get ready, go pay a couple bills and tan. YEP, I went tanning!! Yay me! I haven't been in forever but I really need to get back at it. I got an email that The Firm is on it's way so hopefully I'll get that today or tomorrow. I can't wait to start working out. I just want to be tan and in shape. lol

I haven't been on ebay in forever but saw a Java Blue Vera Bradley waterbottle that matches my backpack and bid on it and won. I want to take it to Shipshewana with me when we go. Then T1 bid on some sunglasses and won those. I looked at some Coach purses but not sure if I want a used one.

I didn't get my Farm Fresh Delivery order last week because they've had too many people join and are a week behind, but I should get it tomorrow.

That's about it for now... I have this Friday off so I'm looking forward to that. I love 3 day weekends.