Mamas Need Chocolate

Part 3 - Who cares if its winter, crank that A/C DOWN.

2011-02-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Who knew that sometimes anesthesia wearing off can lead to sweat. I didn't. See, usually I don't really sweat, I am blessed that way I guess. I turn red when I'm hot and its not the cute flushed, pink look that some gals get. No its flaming cherry red. So this was unusual for me. And the gallons of it that I was producing that didn't stop after 3 days made me wonder if they installed sweat glands while they were in there. I had McHottie turn the a/c down and my room was at a very comfortable 55 degrees in December and still I was pouring. Every time a nurse would come help me roll over they would offer to turn the heat on or cover me in blankets. Heck no. I'll take an ice bath though.

I think nurses are left with the hard work. Doctors get to do the fun surgery part while you are incapable of complaining or hitting. Then turn you over to the nurses who get the joy of walking into your room 12 hours after surgery and tell you its time to get up and walk around.

Excuse me, say what?? They just spent 4 hours rearranging my spine, moving my ribs around and dissecting muscles. I'm having to do breathing exercises every 30 minutes so I will stop taking tiny little breaths because it HURTS TO BREATH. And you want me to get out of this bed. Please come very close to my bed so I can slap you.

I did learn with my prior surgeries that pushing through the pain really is best. It hurts like a mother but getting it over with and walking really does help you heal faster. It fights everything you are feeling at that moment but if you push past those screaming muscles next time it will only be a dull roar. Crazy nurses do know what they are talking about.

I wake up from surgeries and usually while I am at my most drugged state think, hey that wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating, I can do this. Then after a day my body has realized what has happened to it and the pain sets in and I feel trapped in that pain and have to talk myself away from jumping off a cliff in panic to just make it stop hurting. Healing can be a bitch, there is no way to go back and undo all the cuts and stitches, you can only go one way and when there seems to be no end in sight its hard not to really freak out. It always feels like it gets dark before it gets better with surgery. You have to get to a point of claustrophobic panic and just get over it to set your mind to getting better and move on.

It helps to be surrounded by really amazing people. Visitors, texts, prayers, calls, they all make a big difference. I'm very thankful for the support group that I had, I couldnt have done this without them. I do want to bring plate of cookies to the recovery floor and visit my nurses. I want to see if they are as cool as I remember or if I just liked them because they rolled me every 10 min. Also I might need to send a fruit basket to the on call doctor that I woke up at 3 am crying because I was in agony. Turns out he was right it was just really tight sore muscles and not a popped screw. whoops. Sorry very nice Doctor.

Jennifer is 26 and single in St. Louis

2011-01-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Jennifer. She is 26 and as beautiful on the inside as she is on the out.

Jennifer has a sweet heart and loves the Lord. She loves kids, so much so that she is a Sunday school teacher, works in the nursery, and teaches the Puggle class in Awanas at our Church. Here is a picture of her with her little niece who was born this winter. Aww! That little baby girl has her aunt wrapped around her tiny baby finger already.

She has a art degree and works at a photography studio. She also works at khols and is one of the hardest working girls I know. She paints and makes lots of crafts that she has for sale in a boutique.

Jennifer is also one amazing cook. My personal favorite is the Almond joy bars she makes from scratch!!

She is looking for a fun, spontaneous man that is a Christian and wants kids. Willing to have a long distance relationship. If your interested comment and let me know and she will email you!

Part 2. spikes and screws and hives, oh my!

2011-01-17T05:04:00.000-08:00

Part 1 is here

There was a 6 month wait to get in to Dr L and a nerve wracking day of xrays and a very long wait in the waiting room. My spine was not nearly as bad as most of the patients he works with, he deals with major deformity's and severe cases that made mine look like it was normal.The great news was I didn't need a full spine fusion. He would fuse only one of my lumbar vertebrae, for every lumbar vertebrae they left alone I would gain 7% mobility. My ability to roll my spine or hunch would be gone but I would be able to at least tie my own shoes. He agreed to take me on and I had a year long wait till the surgery but I knew it would be worth it. I wouldn't have to worry about someone hacking up my back and ending up in one of those nightmare post ops that end in multiple surgeries to fixed a botched up spine surgery. I wanted it done once and I wanted it done right.

The surgery was explained to us by Dr L sweet nurse and I got lightheaded and nauseous somewhere around the middle. Things like peeling all the muscles up, roughing up the bone surface, chiseling back chunks of bone with a picture that reminded me of those curling chocolate shavings made me feel like I was going to throw up right there on her desk. I really was having second thoughts and wondering how on earth I was going to back out of this. I didn't want to think about the 3 inch screws that were going to be inserted into pre drilled holes in my spine. I knew there was no other way around having this surgery but it went from a elusive surgery to a very real event in the near future. The big day was scheduled for December 3rd and that day came on a whole lot faster then I thought it would. I was excited for the surgery to be over and the recovery to begin, I wanted my life back!!

The night before the surgery unable to sleep and worry that traffic would make us late for our 5am appointment we ended up getting up hellish early. I thought that was ridiculously early for a surgery and that we would be the only ones in the waiting room. Wow was I wrong. That room was packed out. They herded groups of us from station to station getting us signed in and taking cups of pee then on up to the pre op floor. My husband and I got shown to a tiny little cupboard of a room to have all of the final pre op work done and to wait for the Doctors. The nurses said I was incredibly calm but to be honest we had just fallen into the routine we had at these things now.

We were kind of old pros at the surgery thing now, this was my third surgery since being married and we knew the drill. My husband is really amazing at distracting me and making me laugh. We both did pretty good up until all the Doctors were circled around my bed explaining all the risks and possible complications. They really want you well informed because they tell you about everything that may happen down to the .0000001% chance you may wake up part squid. They say all of this while the anesthesiologist is poised with a plunger full of sedative already screwed into your iv line ready to take you to slobbering oblivion. One of the things that was conveniently forgotten to be mentioned to us before was that since the surgery was on my back and they needed to lay me face down and still have access to my face for monitoring. I had already assumed that but what I didn't know was that the cradle I thought my forehead would be in was no longer used for surgeries. There had been many complications with swelling and pressure on the forehead and eyes causing temporary to permanent blindness. So in that case they would be sticking a bunch of large metal picks into my scalp to suspend my head. I wasn't the only one starting to loose my cool I saw look on McHotties face while we were saying our goodbyes. Holy terror batman this was not going to be pretty.

The first thing I remember when I woke up was oh crap someone gave me codine because I'm having an allergic reaction to a painkiller and why isn't my voice working!!! I felt like I was laying in a bed of stinging nettle and I don't really remember my back hurting at all. I wasn't doing a great job of explaining to the nurse that they needed to find me my husband and some benedryll NOW. What I thought I was saying and what was actually coming out of my mouth were two very different things. I do know I probably looked like a crack addict the way I was mumbling, thrashing around, and scratching myself like I had fleas. By the time I got to recovery and was able to see my husband I was given what amounted to a horse tranquilizer.

I hallucinated a lot the next few days from all the medicine they had me on. The first poor nurse was just trying to explain how my iv pain pump worked I thought she acted nasty and threw the pump trigger at me. She didn't. I told my husband that the one pretty nurse (who ended up being one of my very favorite nurses) was acting really awkward with him around and was flirting with him RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Which she wasn't. Poor McHottie went to get food from the cafeteria and when he got back I told him I had had a nice long visit with my father in law and that he said to say hi. Ya'll my father in law is in Texas and was still in Texas. I was a hot mess.

McHottie stuck by me though, amazing man that he is. Every time I opened my eyes he would be there with a spoonful of ice chips ( btw whoever thought up ice chips as a sufficient food replacement should be hit.) wiping the mass amounts of sweat off my face and neck with a washcloth and was even learning how to rotate me side to side and tuck my pillows. He is so sweet and I think I will be keeping him around :)

part three - I sweat and sweat and sweat some more. What was up with all that sweating???

Part 1. what, my spine isnt suppose to look like that??

2011-01-16T14:04:00.001-08:00

I am a private person and don't like to talk publicly about all the fun my body has in acting out. If you ask me I will tell you I'm fine and the recovery is no big deal, mostly because I don't want to start talking about it and end up whining or freak people out when I say I get anxiety thinking about a screw working itself loose and jabbing a new hole in me. I'm already covered in scars and when I try to wrap my mind around the magnitude of what I have been through and am going through I mentally freak out. Its not pretty and its definitely not something I want a lot of people to see. Me loose my shit over things that I cannot change and cannot control.

I never have understood the people who invent medical drama for themselves or make up symptoms and problems just to get attention. I would give a lot to be a normal 24 year old and have not experienced surgery. Let alone 5 of them already. Don't get me wrong there are many far, far worse things to have and those of you who genuinely suffer from very real medical problems my heart goes out to you. The medical problem inventors? bugger off and get a life.

I meant to write on here every day post op and keep a journal like entry to look back on after it was all said and done. Painkillers though? They are fun and they will kick your butt. Or rather I should say painkillers in self pump Iv form, pill form, along with huge doses of Valium to keep my muscles relaxed. Not to mention the benedryll I was taking for the allergic reaction to some of the painkillers I didn't know I was allergic to. I spent 4 1/2 days in the hospital recovering from surgery and I spent a good chuck of that time high as a kite, drooling, and chatting with people only I could see.

I have scolosis. Or rather I should say I had it and as a result had a spinal fusion. Scoliosis was painful, embarrassing, and a pain in the ass to have. I was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis at 16 and at the time it was pretty minimal. My spine was curving three ways, a top curve (thoracic) and bottom curve (lumbar) which made my spine look like a giant S drawn by a kinder gardener first learning to write. I was lopsided with a fun third curve with the entire spine twisting in one direction. This pushed my ribs in on one side and curved out on the other forming what my husband lovingly later would refer to as my hump. My parents opted to have my new found deformity monitored as I grew and see how fast it would progress. At 18 it was decided I was borderline surgical but since my hip bones had fused (meaning I was done growing) chances were that it would not get any worse. I was pretty much told go live my life like a normal human, this is as bad as it will get. Ha. What I didnt know was idopatic meant they have no idea what caused it, no idea how bad it will get, or when it will decide to rear its ugly head and jack my back up some more.

Fast forward 5ish years and 1 pregnancy later I was having nasty back pain every single night. I was use to daily back pain just caused by scoliosis but this was different. I was popping Ibuprofen like they were m&ms and started visiting a small town chiropractor to get some relief from what I thought was back pain mostly caused by hauling around a cute chunky baby and new owner of some chunky fat rolls on myself thanks to very cute baby. Every appointment I would leave and be in pain for hours and not really see a lot of progress toward what I felt like was normal scoliosis back pain. My neighbor recommended I see the same chiropractor he saw for his back injury and I made an appointment. I went in but this chiropractor wouldn't touch my back until I got xrayed. So I had them done and I made an appointment for the following evening to get my back cracked, I was pretty desperate. It will be awhile before I forget how it felt to see those new xrays up on the screen that next evening. I broke down and had a good ugly cry right there in the office. I knew just by looking at those cold black and white pictures that my back deformity had gotten much, much worse. They tried to convince me that I could reduce the curve by 1/3 just by visiting their office for traction and therapy 2-4 times a week for 6 months and then once a week for the rest of my life. My eyes glazed over as I was trying to do the math in my sleep deprived brain. I could not picture myself spending a huge chunk of my time in a doctors office hoping that my back was flexible enough to make reducing the curve possible. What about when I got old and my bones didn't want to move anymore. I knew that once scoliosis got to the degree I was at gravity started to help it along. I wasn't in the - it shouldn't move anymore category. I had moved on to the territory of - we have no idea when or how much this could move but we can promise you it will. Not to mention all the anxiety I would have worrying about my back slapping on a few more degrees just for the hell of it, I felt like my body had a sick sense of humor and there was no way of knowing where this would go. Getting pregnant again was out of the picture unless the curve was greatly reduced.

Like any normal person I spent hours and hours consulting Dr Google. I did my research and knew what I needed to do and I knew what Doctor I needed to perform it. We lived 30 minutes from a Doctor that specialized in fixing severe spinal deformities. Dr L is one of the best in the world in his field, people fly from all over the WORLD to see him, observe his work, meet him, have him slice their back open and perform miracles. This was just not another hernia surgery that could be trusted to most any Doctor with a license. This was my spine we were talking about. I had to get into see him and that's all there was to it.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I meet the amazing Doctor L, my jacked up spine is finally made to behave, and recovery conversations with people who didn't actually visit me.

Shutterfly’s Holiday Card promotion

2010-11-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

I'm really terrible about sending out Christmas cards. I dread writing on all those cards, getting them all addressed, and mailed so that the receiver actually gets them... before Christmas.

This year I'm going the easy peasy route. No writing = no stress. Since I saw that Shutter fly is doing a great promotional I jumped at the chance to try a different approach to my Christmas cards. Maybe this year the cards will actually make it out of the package.

I went looking through their Christmas cards and it was so hard for me to decide since I really love the bright colors on some of these Shutter fly cards!
So I ended up picking them by maturely eenie meenie miney moeing these guys.

How cute right?!!!

Go on over and take a peek at their Holiday card selection. So many great ones to choose from!

And I'm definitely sticking with the no writing theme and getting these bad boys.
Address labels.
Do I hear angels singing?

And for getting all that done in a few minutes you can buy a Photo Mug with a picture of your cutie on it. For the coffee you don't drink. (oops!! )

Or you can just give it as a gift to a Grandparent.

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Time for Some Holiday Shopping!!

2010-11-09T17:36:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year when we are all in a mad rush to get our Christmas list in. Well everyone except for me. This year I'm in a mad rush to stock up for my etsy shop! While I'm furiously sewing away for an upcoming craft fair and for restocking why don't you take a peek over at my Etsy shop and maybe scratch a few names off your list?

Out with the not good in with the.. good?

2010-05-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

So per doctors orders I am suppose to severely cut down on the amount of caffeine I drink. Our family is on the road to becoming more aware of making healthy food choices. Coffee and tea has always been our friend and since its organic your really cant go wrong with it right?

Wrong.

Apparently the fibery lumps I have are not caused by caffeine but symptoms are exaggerated by excessive caffeine. Yay me right?

So as my doctor put it I have to come off of high octane and settle for regular.

That means no more of these

and more of these.

During my daily slump I have been making a healthy drink for myself that is suppose give me a natural pick me up. Contains- fresh strawberrys, blackberries, spinach( yes I said fresh spinach. be jealous. ) and almond milk.
I put it in one of my pretty cups so I felt better about drinking it.

Ok thats a lie. There were no clean cups and I didn't really want to drink it out of a spiderman sippie cup. McHottie takes our large cups with him full or tea or coffee *no fair* with him to work and forgets to bring them in until I have an entire dishwasher tray full of them. Baby blue has broken so many glasses helping me in the kitchen that our cups population has dwindled down to minimum.

Since I no longer can drink large amounts of tea to get things done I am not getting things done as fast as I would like. A post to come about what we have been up to. Soon.

When Crafting is not advisable.

2010-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

When things are bothering me I like to take it out on my house. The house itself, not the people in it. I will clean till this place is shining or garden till I'm sun burnt and can no longer lift my arms. There is something about the quiet monotony of working that gives me something to take my emotions out on while thinking about them at the same time. That is, until I'm to exhausted to think or move for that matter. Yesterday during Baby blues nap, my house was clean and plants were all put in the ground, I was looking for something more positive to put my energy toward. I decided to make this baby.

Pretty right?

The flower (learn how to make it at mrs priss blog ) is a tiny singed flower ( do you already see the horrible tradgdy that is about to occur?) made from little circles you cut and burn the edges so they curl up. I settled down with my diet dr pepper, a bunch of matches, and turned on What Not to wear. I covered myself so I wouldn't drop anything in my lap that would burn me and would have something to set the used matches on. Ya'll, matches don't burn for very long. after going through 6 on the first circle I figured out I needed something that would burn better and longer.

Enter the lighter. Those suckers get HOT. I got about 2 more petals done and then after nearly melting off my thumb I decided that wasn't working well either. I wanted a pretty headband not a trip to the ER and if you know me at all you know that a lighter and me put together would entail a trip to the ER. Clumsy is just putting it mildly.

Birthday candles. I felt like a genius. Wouldn't have to keep re-lighting and risk of ER trip greatly reduced (ha!) I grabbed a blue candle and settled down to finish my soda and my show while being the great multitasker- re: not paying full attention to anything.

I had all but one petal done and I remember looking at the candle and thinking I'm going to need to light another one pretty soon. The next thing I knew the burnt wick fell off and onto my hand. I reacted. I tossed the candle. I was sitting on the couch. that candle rolled down and under me.

Blue wax. Lit candle. New furniture.
I nearly was in tears.
Enter Google. Google is dangerous.
My friend google said use a paper bag over the wax spot with a warm iron to remove the wax. Apparently it is suppose to gradually lift the bright colored spots off my couch. Ha. Results?
Iron mark. Apparently woven microfiber couches are still microfiber and should not come in contact with warm things. Like say... an iron.
Notice how the blue is fading but yet the two singed circles are clearly visible inside the melted iron decoration.

Real tears this time and a whole lot of file cabinet digging looking for the couch warranty information. I felt about as stupid and as panicked as I could get.

Good news is I found out that expensive warranty I bought for our couches was totally worth it. It covers everything. Candle wax, melted iron marks, crazy girls who think they can craft on nice couches...

Apparently I could accidentally do just about anything to these things and they will replace. Reassuring and kind of amazing. That lady was also reassuring and kind of amazing, she said send pictures and she will make a replacement cushion on its way. Also? she was laughing at the story. By then so was I. In a hahah.... this type of thing happens to me to often to be healthy kind of way.
Maybe next time I'll just clean the toilet.

* Both the headband and flower are two different crafts I decided to combine.
headband can be found here and flower here

A Great Cause!!

2010-04-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

I have been following a gals blog, Lora Lynn over at Vitafamiliae, for awhile now and have really enjoyed it. She writes about their family life and one of the reasons I love her blog is that it comforts me to know that the weird mom occurrences are actually really normal in mamaland.

Company in the crazytown, mamaland is nice.

This family is also nice :) They have 5 cute kids and have the desire to adopt more and I want to help! For a fund raiser they are selling all natural laundry detergent ground up and combined by them in their own kitchen. Cool right?

This felt like perfect timing. Baby Blue and I are still battling hives from a new commercial laundry detergent that we tried on sunday. I felt like I had found not only the solution to our families ongoing weird skin reactions to ALOT of commercial laundry detergents but a way to help a fellow family out with their adoption.

Even if buying natural detergent isn't for you would you consider adding them to your facebook to help spread the word?

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Yard sales, need I say more?

2010-04-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Yard sale loot makes me so excited! I have wanted a popcorn set like this for awhile but never really went looking for them in stores and I'm glad I hadn't for the price I got this 5 pc set!
Those tins are brand new bought from a craft store, she had a huge box that the tins came in and as soon as I saw them I knew they would be so perfect for sending baked goods to friends. I have always felt odd spending time to bake a gift and then sticking it in a ziplock bag.. plastic bags just don't scream cute. I restrained myself and only bought 4. And that stool, do I really need to say anything about the stool? I'm going to have McHottie spray paint the wood a chocolate brown. I'm thinking of stapling a cushion and cover onto the seat, a cream color would look so pretty! If I do I will show before and after pictures. The mirror is going up with some pictures I already have hung for some interest.
Grand total? $8. Awesome hmm? I really did restrain myself this yard sale and talked myself out of the the vintage metal milk urn. Gorgeous but really kind of impractical for $25.

Baby Blue has a new love of shopping now and I have yard sales to thank. Particularly a yard we stopped at that he found his beloved "fahya-truck" He is more anxious to get out of the car and start browsing than I am and that is really saying something because I have yard sale anxiety.
I see a yard sale sign and I start braking and swerving to get there. All with our safety in mind of course. If I see cars pulling in ahead of me the anxious feeling gets WORSE. What really makes feel like I might be a little nuts is the yard sales that use bright color paper. Bright paper is going to be a fantastic sale because that paper is neon green. People who really do yard sales do neon colors, white paper just doesn't do the trick. Subdivision sales? Knowing there is a plethora of goodies out there and there is NO way I can hit all the good sales at once, or go to them all? Aghhhhhh!

Welcome to my little blog!

2010-04-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

Hi ya'll! I love meeting new people so here goes!!
I'm a 24 and a stay at home mama to my 2 year old son, Baby Blue, and silly boy kitty, Boris. I married my Mchottie (huge greys anatomy fan here !!! ) 4 years ago. I love being a sahm mom but it definitely has its roller coaster days. *Like yesterday my son learned to make gassy noises with his mouth and then would follow it with a MOooooOOOM. Yes, this was in public. Walmart to be exact. He blamed a whole lot of horrible sounding mouth farts on ME. Totally not humiliating.*
Ahem.
A few things about me-

I believe in Jesus
I LOVE to craft and sew
I eat a lot of chocolate
I hate cleaning out the refrigerator with a passion, I will put it off forever.
I am not organized and I need to make a to do list to get organized
Gardening makes me calm
I sneak tons of vegetables into food so my guys will eat something besides just meat
I started my own Etsy store after talking about it forever, check it out here *exciting*
I love shopping and especially if I have a great coupon or find a sale!!
yes, I'm kind of cheap in my old age.

I really can say that I have a wonderful peace about my life right now and where its going. I really never understood a womans desire to stay at home until I got married and had my son. Its not for everyone but its for me.
So thats about it for now!! I hope ya'll come back!
I'm off to go through the blog party and find more blogs to read :D

Spring, how I love you!!

2010-04-07T05:02:00.001-07:00

I love spring! It means that the snow is gone for now and the warm sunshine begins! The first really beautiful day Baby Blue and I went outside to play and I ended up gardening all day. Im really paying for that now. I had no idea how bright white I was till I got a massive sunburn. I'm still paying for that sun now that my my entire back ITCHES from the healing.

It also means flip flops!! I love my flip flops. Bright beautiful flip flops. You know whats even better then flip flops? Embellished ones. I made some cute little zipper flowers out of hot pink and stuck them on my new flip flops. So sweet. I think all my flip flops are in for a makeover.

On Easter we were outside grilling and watching Baby blue play, we were talking about hes such a boys boy and just how freaking cute he is. Hes gonna be a force to be reckoned with when hes older, those girls wont know what to think. Now If we can just get him to stop eating crayons and thinking his farts are hilarious, we'll be in business.

Ive been making more of those little car roll ups for etsy and he thinks they are all for him. I set them out to take pictures and the next thing I know he has all his cars on them and is "driben, driben." Apparently saying driving once isn't enough because he always says it twice. The boy loves all things ... boy.

Right now he loves all earthworms and calls them "snakes" and will catch them and bring them to me. I saw this cute little blue silicone snake at the store when I was buying things for his Easter basket so I bought it thinking he would stop giving me real worms. Screams of terror, he hates it. Its been almost 4 days and he STILL wakes up from his nap and askes "snake???" and looks around to make sure it didn't magically appear in his room. If that thing can move from where Mchottie hid it and come into Baby Blues room I'll be joining him in his crib crying.

To be clear, I put him in the shorts and shirt. He decided on the shoes and hat, he has his own sense of style and I love it.

Arnt chubby little baby feet the cutest things ever?

Well I'm off to go eat easter candy for breakfast before my dentist appointment today.

More Excuses ....

2010-03-30T12:30:00.002-07:00

I love reading blogs, I have a huge list of blogs that are just an broad range of subjects that I frequent (usually everyday). Mommy blogs, craft blogs, cooking blogs, you name it I probably have a blog I read about it. Things is.. I'm a fast reader. I can skim through my blogs in no time flat.

I'm not so good at posting on my own blog.

I love the idea of having a blog but it takes alot more time to post then I originally thought it would . Its not that I don't have the time, I actually do. I'm a busy mama but definitely keep our schedule on the non-hectic side. Its just that I prefer to live our life rather then talk a ton about it.
So. While I haven't been posting I have been doing some pretty darn important things.

teaching baby blue how to splash a rain puddle
taking care of my sickies.... again.
baking with my Baby Blue (mmmmm carbs )
starting my etsy store
shopping and making crafts for my etsy store
coloring all the pages in our coloring books
washing markers off table
cutting my guys hair. often.

laying on a blanket in the spring sun while Baby Blue makes a disaster out of my flower bed.

Really important stuff.

Heres a picture of my cute kid to make up for the fact that I don't post but every 2 months.

*note* I started this post while baby blue was sleeping, then nap time abruptly ended in screeches for water. Finally finishing and posting 5ish hours later.

*another note* Im not putting my name on my pictures because I think I'm a hotshot photographer (ahahah hilarious...) .... No. I'm terrified someone is going to steal a picture of my loved ones and repost somewhere. Not cool.

All in a Days Work

2010-01-18T17:36:00.000-08:00

For me, being a mom is the most rewarding and most challenging job there is. I would have never dreamed I would have to do some of the things that I now do. Like having a desperate screaming Baby Blue who wont use certain public toilets now because some genius invented the automatic flusher. Then hugging him and holding toilet paper over the flush sensor so he will calm down long enough to pee and then realizing all that effort had gone to waste because he peed straight into his pants.

With all the random day to day occurrences aside, teaching Baby Blue boundaries and to respect the word "no" is the most difficult ongoing problem I have had to work through. Day after day lines are crossed, boundaries are constantly being tested, along with everything in reach being gotten into. Makeup eaten, glue sticks applied to forehead, computer being rebooted, lotion rubbed thoroughly into the floor. My son has no end to energy and the only places he ever falls asleep are in his car seat or in his crib. Some days I think there is no end in sight and I often wonder when its all going to start getting easier. Then little things happen that give me hope, like sharing his treat with a friend, completely unprompted by me.

Or being told by the Mops nursery worker that Baby Blue tried to comfort a crying baby by giving him a hug and patting the baby's back. Seeing generosity and compassion in my son tells me that I am doing the right thing and that right now the best job I can have is raising my Baby Blue. Watching him turn into the person God wants him to be thrills me even more then coming into the living room and seeing this.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-02T07:07:00.001-08:00

We don't have many family traditions, maybe its because we prefer to make things up as we go. This year in mops one of the table topics was holiday family traditions in your house. I had to laugh. The ONLY one I could think of was our silly New Years breakfast. It never fails this time of year one or all of us are sick so traditions take a backseat to staying sane. The Christmas tree is usually gotten sometime in December by whoever feels like leaving the house wont send them to the hospital with pneumonia. We always have big plans to get our fresh cut tree the weekend after Thanksgiving but usually end up waiting and hoping that at the very least we can just get it as a family. hahah, funny right? Other then going to the pumpkin patch sometime in October ( is that REALLY considered holidays???) I couldn't think of anything else. So one of our few traditions we have is the breakfast New Years day. We LOVE breakfasts here, the bigger the better and as long as its before 1 pm it still counts. The first year we were married I wanted crepes really bad New Years Day, I hadn't had them in forever and since I had everything I needed I just made them.
Ok- wasnt that easy. It was more like I started making them and 3 hours later we ate. It was the most infuriating thing I had ever made and I was ready to throw it all away and eat cold cereal. They were weird and thick and every time I tried to flip them (haha) they ripped in half. I'm going to admit they weren't the best but since we were starving we ate them. This is our 4th New Years together and only the 4th time I have made them. This year was the first year I discovered that you don't flip them.......
McHotties job was to watch Baby Blue so I could focus completely on the crepes. Since I just discovered it was among very few holiday traditions we have, I was determined to get those suckers made. And... it was easy this year. I found out you have to spray with cooking spray between every single one, they are delicious NOT healthy, and use a rubber scraper to just loosen them so you can flop them onto the plate. I got those babys done in a record time of 1 hour to the table. I don't have a picture of their delicious cream cheese filled goodness, I DO however have a picture of McHottie on the job.
I guess I should say that we stayed up (as in McHottie and I, Blue was crashed out by 9) till 1:30 am and our morning baby thought 7:18am was a GREAT time to start his day.
Maybe give the poor guy his coffee first hmmm?

Its cold outside!!!

2009-12-30T11:37:00.000-08:00

The tree is down, the decorations are packed away for next year and this big Baby Blue is potty trained and passy free!!! Its hard to believe my soon to be 22 month old is already such a big boy. My next step is the toddler bed but hey, hes not climbing out of the cage yet so whats the rush?

I have been picking out more paint chips and getting things planned and ready because its time to finally finish painting the rooms in our house. I'm hoping with the winter leaving us shut in and bored that I will get some of the home improvements stuff knocked off my list. At least between colds and sicknesses. We have all been sick and still sick and it seems like our house always becomes one hotbed of sick from October to April. We hop from one sickness to the next with a few days in between of sweet relief. Sharing them with all our friends and family and passing things around just for kicks. I could list the 20 things I do to try to prevent colds and flus but why? Apparently not a single one of them work. If you have a magic cure for the cold, a sure fire way to prevent them or just a suggestion please tell me. I am getting desperate and I'm willing to try just about anything to get all three of us healthy and snot free at once. Sadly this has been my favorite find of the winter. I keep this sweet buy running full blast 24/7, in fact I need to go get one for every room in the house. Its kind of hilarious to think that at 23 I'm thrilled about successful potty training, passy addiction conquering, and cute humidifiers. I never saw this for myself this young but life is so good!

7-1

2009-12-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

That is the score in my head for hits and misses with the potty training. At 12 in the afternoon and my son had already peed 8 times...... I really had no idea he went THAT often. We have been up since 6:30 but thats still alot isn't it? I dont see any road trips in our future. hahah!
Well it would be 6-2 if you count the time he peed OVER the pee guard all over my floor but since he plunked his cute little butt down on the toilet by himself, I'm counting it as a hit.
He has turned into a little man about it too. I will come into the living room to find him sitting there on his toilet with the walmart ad or a book, content to sit and read.
I'm not brave enough to put him in underwear for outings yet. He does still tell me and we run for the toilet but since he only has about a 30 sec warning for me and I don't personally want to carry around 4 changes of clothes we do diapers for now.

I think....

2009-12-06T15:01:00.001-08:00

its time for me to come back~

Happy Valentines!! ( late I know)

2009-02-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

McHottie brought these home for my birthday and valentines day. Arnt they gorgeous? Normally I wouldn't post things like this but I had to share, I have never seen such perfect roses and two dozen of them!! My house smells like so good! - he brought a big box of chocolate too... lets just say those have disappeared... yes already!

On Valentines McHottie and I went furniture shopping and we finally agree don set we both loved. It was kind of difficult because there is such a big height difference between us. Everyhing that fit me perfect he looked like he was perching on it with, everything that fit him perfect I felt like it was swallowing me whole. The one we did agree on my feet still don't touch the ground but its ok because I didn't feel like that couch was eating me. I really hate that, when a couch is either really low to the ground and every ones knees are up past their chest when they sit or when the couch is so huge that it feels like your butt has disappeared in the cushions. ugh. Today Baby Blue and I went back to the furniture store to buy our couch and love seat and I got my first taste of life with a 1 year old. He normally is a very easy going baby but we were out during what would normally be his nap and he was obviously exhausted. I normally plan for him to sleep in the car or in the stroller but the older he gets the harder it is to get him to nap like that. Hes more aware of his surroundings and wants to take it all in.

I am taking a self defense class and learning how to kick butt - I love it! I have learned so much already, so far for the first week we learned what we can and cannot do. We can fight off an attacker however we want to but we are not allowed to chase them if they run and not allowed to go home and get something to beat them up with and hunt them down. So for the next 5 weeks we are putting on protective gear and learning how to punch and break a nose. Yay!

I tried to get him to pose wiht his carharts and a striped beanie but he got his stubborn face on and wanted to play with the swiffer and eat a hammer.. oh well!

Did you know your old and toxic?? Tea to the Rescue

2009-01-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

For you hot chocolate drinkers out there I found an amazing alternative to that high sugar beverage. A friend of mine goes into Teavanna every time we go to this one mall together and at first I turned my nose up at it. Its a very strange store with all sorts of funky mystical tea and scent things for sale. Because of course hot tea drinkers are, you know, odd. So you go into this super odd store that has the entire back wall of big canisters full of loose tea that looks like decaying potpourri and of course hip people work there and want to sell you all sorts of teas that are suppose to cleanse, detox, relax, and rejuvenate you. .. Really? They can do all that? I'm pretty wary when something is said to detox you. What exactly have I been eating that has toxins in it? Is that can of chicken noodle soup I just split with my son TOXIFIYING US? Are we going to die from all those toxins? Also how exactly does it detox me. Am I going to be sweating those toxins out for some poor non weird tea drinker to breathe in? Don't get me wrong I Love tea. I'm a Texas girl for ever and for always and nothing makes me happier then a huge glass of sweet tea and some dark chocolate. I love the fact that Lipton tea is a no brainer. I don't have to look at my tea collection and think hmmm.. am I tense? Should I drink white tea? Maybe I'm looking old lets go for the red tea.. No I'm definite feeling toxic.. Lets drink the green.
Anyways so Im standing at the counter reading all the labels waiting for my friend to buy tea for her husband and Im wondering how on earth does one get hooked on hot tea? Its so... hot and tastes sort of bland. This poor hip guy with a lip ring was trying very hard to sell me some, he would pull down a canister and use the lid to fan the teas aroma in my direction so the smell would grab me and make me loose my mind and buy some. All I could think was how can I tell this dude that that tea that hes trying so hard to get me to like smells an awful lot like my sons poop diaper and I certainly don't want to spend 18.00 a oz to seep it in water and drink that. Ew! I told him several times that I drink tea, only its Lipton tea.. Iced...In a box.... Premeasured... add tons of sugar and drink. No thinking involved... Realizing that tactic wasn't working I told him I prefer to spend my money on expensive coffee beans, THAT I told him is where you can taste the money you spend. I think the word coffee triggered a tea in his mind because he pulled one more canister and did his prissy waifing in my direction.. and WHOA. That tea smelled like chocolate, coffee, and tea all in one. My favorite things. I think the tea armoa drugged me becuase I bought some and its amazing!!!!! Its called Matevena and tastes like chocolate coffee tea in a cup and with a tiny bit of sugar its really guilt free and at least I can guarantee one thing I'm eating isn't toxinifying me.
Im drinking some now and thought I should share, hows that for rambling??

Tunes and Dresses

2009-01-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Baby Blue has turned out to be the most comical baby ever. He loves to be the center of attention and knows how to keep it. He also knows exactly what he wants and even though he doesn't talk alot right now he defiantly knows how to get his point across. For example McHottie and I bought him a Veggie Tales music cd for the car, when he would cry we found out that turning on some music calmed him down completely and so we would occasionally play it for him. Now he cries if I turn on MY music. We have listened to his cd countless times, I hear all the songs in my head all day and I can hear them play in my sleep at night... Any parents to be out there reading this, buy a cd that has at least 50 songs on it, ok? That way in one trip you cant listen to the ENTIRE cd. Or better yet.. make them listen to your songs. Im waiting for our new veggie tales to get here... unfortunately we found just a random one at walmart and to get more variety you have to order online. Oh well.
In exciting news- I found the most amazing wearable-again dress for Bekahs wedding! Im the Matron ( sounds so old....) of honor and needed to buy a dress that went with her theme we both talked about it and she wanted me to get something I could wear again! After a few very long days at several malls and with my sister-in-laws help I found a gorgeous dress at White house Black market and I love it! I am so excited for the happy couple and I cannot wait for the wedding. YAY!!

Why mirrors were invented

2009-01-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

I think I am finally becoming more use to the Midwestern cold winter. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the cold but I'm use to it. When going places that I know will have a heater on full blast I only wear a hoodie on the way there. Wearing a jacket usually means lots of sweating or taking it off and carrying it when you get inside and when your carting 22 pounds of uncooperative baby, the last thing you need is something that makes you sweat and exercise even more. Relaxing in our house is even a lot of work. For example a night trying to relax usually looks a lot like this - mama lays on the floor to rest and watch a tv, baby crawls over and pulls up on mama, baby decides to walk, baby falls, mama ( and daddy) get(s) up to comfort said screaming writhing baby, mama rocks, sooths, and comforts baby all while trying to locate bump on back of dramatic baby's head, baby suddenly is fine and wants DOWN, mama lays back on the floor to resume show, baby heads for his room to play, mama hears loud banging and unidentifiable noises, mama RUNS to room to find baby sitting in the middle of his once sorted put away clothes, mama puts away clothes while baby simultaneously throws them out of dresser, baby walks to daddy bored with the clothes, baby falls and hits head. Do I need to say more? Who needs a gym when you have a very active almost one year old. McHottie and I get worn out just watching Baby Blue dash around out house like an overconfident puppy.
The winters are difficult in many ways and one reason is dry skin. Any exposed skin gets dried out including lips, for that reason we buy a lot of chap stick and I mean ALOT. And I swear every time I turn around we have none. My parents always use to say no matter how many pens they bought there was never a single one to be found. Well that's our problem with chap stick. Either Boris is taking them as revenge on his mean owners or we have a chap stick monster. I never ever can find one when I need it.
New years Eve I was standing in line buying last minute supplies for our party, while standing there I was hunting thru my purse trying to find my chap stick. none. Desperate I grabbed lip gloss, it was a double sided kind and I had always used the pale glossy side but I guess I was feeling adventurous. I rarely ever wear bright colors on my lips but hey it was new years after all, I told myself to live a little! I put on the Double Bubble pink side. No mirror- just put it on, who uses a mirror to put lip gloss on anyways? Psshh I KNOW where my lips are. I slathered that gorgeous pink color on ( really it was pretty) and then it was my turn in line. I was checking out and chatting with the lady behind me who kept looking at my lips while we talked and the more she looked at them the more they started feeling tighter and tighter. Like something was really really drying them out. I started having this desperate feeling that something just wasn't right but how on earth do you find a mirror in your purse, when you cant find any thing in there anyways, all while keeping you baby from eating your wallet, typing in your pin number in and pretending that whatever is wrong of course I intended to look like that! Instead of stopping to check I just made a beeline for my car and was getting some second looks and smirks. The wind was so strong and that drying sensation was so bad by the time I got to the car that I no longer thought something was wrong, I knew it. For sure. I got Baby Blue in the car and out of the frigid cold and looked in the mirror. Double Bubble clown. Words cannot describe just how bad it was. I was absolutely horrified. I have always had fuller lips and for that very reason I usually don't wear dark or bright lipstick and also because I prefer to know when my lips look like they should have their own zip code. This wasn't just bright it was a weird DRY. Apparently that beautiful bright pink was actually a lip stain and it must- I repeat- MUST be worn with the shiny step 2 side. It wasn't until after the fact that I noticed both sides of the lip gloss had tiny tiny print that said step 1 and step 2. Clearly I missed that part. Step 1 and step 2 isn't a suggestion it was a matter of shiny pink lips or weird haunt your dreams double bubble the clown bad.
This week its suppose to get back into the frigids and I need to go grocery shop to stock up stuff so we don't have to make any emergency formula - or chap stick- runs when there is snow and ice on everything.

Baby Blues first Christmas!!

2008-12-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

McHottie and I have had a great week, there is nothing like having days and days off to spend together. I am definitely getting spoiled having him home all day. Baby Blue loves having his dada home all the time, he knows he can go in our room in the morning and its play time!

Christmas was tons of fun, lots of presents, family time, movies and playing with our cuddly baby. Its insane how fast he is growing and developing. He took 4 consecutive steps Christmas eve and now gives big slobbery kisses. Hes trying very hard to climb on things but I think his little round belly gets in the way of his mobility.

There were just awesome presents all around but I have to say that McHotties took the cake, I started screaming when I opened my KATHY VAN ZEELAND PURSE!!!!!!!!! Pics to come later when I'm not in my lazy-around-the-house clothes.

I also got a call from my little sister, they're engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy and excited for them!! Her ring is gorgeous and the date is set for the first weekend in March. She has her dress already and now I have to get crackin' on finding mine. So very happy for them!! Love you Skits!

One year ago......

2008-11-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

We got sleep at night and didn't have bags (steamer trucks to be precise) under our eyes...

Traveling to visit family didn't require intensive planning and a uhaul....

When being big was actually fun.......

We could go places and not worry about someone eating sand......

But we wernt a complete family yet.........

We needed our Baby Blue!!!

Turkey Day!!

2008-11-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for everything God has given me! I have my Hottie who loves me for who I am, a beautiful baby who thinks I'm the greatest thing on earth (except for whatever it is that is obviously more interesting over my shoulder.) I have a gorgeous home, healthy family, the greatest friends and most of all a God who has blessed me so much.

I'm so thankful that my son survived a tumble down some of our stairs and that his angels were working overtime, so that he not just survived but he came away with the littlest pink bump on his head.

Also (this on is my shallow one :) I'm thankful that I'm finally fitting into my pre- pregnancy fat pants. I have a huge stack of pants that fit me before I was pregnant, one of those is my fat pants and two days ago I put them on and THEY FIT. That in and of itself is just plain amazing. I never thought I would see the day that I could wear pre-pregnancy jeans but it happened and YAY!!! When they say 9 months to go back to your body they are right! Who ever "they" are. Now just to get rid of that lovely extra padding I have in the back... Stay tuned for the day I can wear my pre-pregnancy regular jeans and breathe at the same time!!

Hooked on Crafts

2008-11-20T08:55:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Baby Blue and did a little gardening and it was so beautiful outside it kind of went to my head and I went a little nuts and started fall cleaning Baby Blues room. Going thru all his clothes was kind of rough. I was trying not to cry and was laughing at his silliness at the same time. Apparently when mom is pulling out stuff and making a mess then its MESS TIME. I would stack his folded clothes in the rubber maid and he was pulled up on it flinging them out.

The toy sorting got even messier.
I forgot about taking a pic till I had gotten the piles mostly out of there.

Oh and I totally forgot to take a picture of Baby Blues first mouth full of dirt. He made a hilarious face and tried another bite. hahhaha I love my boy :D

Baby Blue made an amazing discovery of cabinets. I had been waiting for this and had already moved all the sharp or things that could be bad to out of reach places and made him a drawer of stuff he could play with. Though he really doesnt have any interest in the things anymore its more that he looooooooves opening and slamming the drawers and cabinets.

Even though Baby Blue still isn't an great sleeper and wakes up a few times a night evenings are when I can have uninterrupted time to make things. I tired playing with crafts during hte day but my son thinks hes a goat and everything he finds goes in his mouth. Even the tiniest scrap of paper. So when he goes down I make coffee and start playing! Lately my new obsession is..... Christmas stockings!

I used trusty ol' google to find some ideas and then I got a big stack of newspaper and sharpies and started drawing. It took about 6-7 drawings of each before I was happy with them.

I couldn't decide if I was going to add buttons to Baby Blues but a friend of mine is totally right and buttons would make his more child-like. I'm considering getting large multi sized purple sequins and sewing a few onto Mchotties so it has a polka dot appearance. Mine already has the bead trim and I think that finished that one off pretty nicely.

I'm going to make some for Skittles for Christmas (dont worry she reads this blog but she already knows) and after that Id kind of like to make them to sell but it would only be worth it if I could get $25 each. What do yall think? I hate listing things on Ebay and I cant imaigne Etsy would be any less hassel. Im more of a buyer... LOL

Off to take care of my Baby Blue!!

P.S Arnt they just the cutest?? I love my guys!

2 weeks late...

2008-11-19T19:47:00.001-08:00

...but here he is!!

Breaking, Tooth #5 is on its way.

2008-10-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

A few months ago Holy Mama! sent me her first published book, A Love for Larkspur. I wanted to let y'all know I LOVED IT. You know those books you marathon read because your hooked? This one is one of those books. Funny, sweet, and very relateable. Here is the interview she did on A Love for Larkspur . And HERE is the book itself on Amazon. I'm going to recommend this to anyone on your Christmas list who loves a great book. So go buy now so its there in time to give! And nooo she didn't ask me to do this, I did it of my own accord because I thought y'all would enjoy it. Well that and I want her to write another.

So Baby Blue is kind of being an overachiever and is working on his 5th and possibly 6th tooth this month. I'm really ready for the teeth to just give us both a break.

Well I'm off to clean for our little Halloween party tonight, Ill post pics of the kids and their costumes and of course Baby Blue will be making his debut as a freaking cute baby giraffe.

There was ice on my roof ya'll

2008-10-27T07:35:00.001-07:00

I have never really been big on decorating for any of the seasons. I always did something but it never was anything I put alot of time or effort into. Aunt Beenie told me about Micheal 60% off fall sale and since I was coming down with SOMETHING and Baby Blue and I needed to get out of the house and go somewhere warm for quality time, I decided that we should go look around. Well first we stopped and I got a cafe mocha, the biggest one I could buy because I figured since I was dragging I NEEDED IT. First off don't ever shop at Micheal's while drinking that much caffeine and sugar. It will land you an entire cart full of crafts and get you totally hooked on decorating. I already have some great ideas for Christmas!

Decorating really put me in the mood to finish up our pumpkin family, Aunt Beenie and I had already done dots on Baby Blues and I spent a long night watching Greys Anatomy and painting stars on mine. Baby Blue did Boris' and we sacrificed a onsie to the craft paint gods.

Our Pumpkin family needed some personality before we put them outside.

Baby Blue thought posing for some fall pictures before we gutted the big guy was just way to funny.

I drew the face and McHottie did the manly work and cut it up and gutted it.

He did some awesome carving work and even cut a vent whole for the candle smoke.

Baby Blue always wants to do whatever we are doing and be right there with us. Especially when his Dada is doing something.

Scary!!!
I thought the pumpkins really fit us well!!
I went out and bought another pumpkin for Boris because he loves to be right where we are and gets included in everything. That and hes Baby Blues buddy and where one goes the other goes.

That's all folks, bedtime for the baby!

Racoons, bless their little hearts.

2008-10-23T04:58:00.000-07:00

Ive always heard the saying bless their little hearts in the same sentence as something that could be considered... really pretty harsh. I figure if I bless their hearts I can go hunt them down and after I'm done with those suckers they will be a nice little rug in front of my fireplace.

So my lovey night started actually REALLY nice. My sister in law was so sweet and watched Baby Blue all afternoon and I got in a nice long nap. Mchottie came home and has the same cold I do, only its worse, its a man cold. Nooooo not the dreaded man cold. On my way out the door to pick up my baby he asks me if I could bring back St Louis Bread Company soup for dinner. Since that sounded really good to me I decided on my way back from picking up Baby Blue and before church I would swing by the house with his dinner. Baby Blue had other plans. He was so worn out he decided it was dinner time and bed time. When we finally got back to the house I was feeling lazy and thought Baby Blue could just have a liquid dinner instead of sitting him in the highchair and trying to feed him when he was tired. Baby Blue doesnt eat really well when hes tired so I didn't want to exert that much effort for a small jar of baby food. A small jar of baby food isn't REALLY necessary is it? Nahhhhh. So after a quick bath and a huge Hugo size bottle Baby Blue was OUT. So was McHottie. It was to late to go so no church for me Ill just settle in and watch my shows.
2 hours later Baby Blue wakes up and he is super pissed. Wait. Those are bottle cries. hmmmmmm Ok This is where I should have stuck him in his highchair and gotten some sweet potato's down him. Nahhhh Then Ill miss Stylista and that is looking really good. I was pretty sure boobies girl was gonna make a huge scene about covering up her big boobies and snob girl was gonna get attacked by anyone in the house. So I made another bottle and we cuddled up on the couch for the kind of lame ending. We both went to bed and it felt like as soon as I had fallen asleep there were more bottle cries. Angrier this time. wow. I need to hire a nighttime nanny. One bottle and 20 min later I was in bed for the rest of the night. Or not. Do I even need to tell you what happened at 4 am. Same story, differant time, tireder mama. I went back to bed telling McHottie that if I ever decided to skip that tiny jar of baby food again remind me how good sleep feels.
His alarm went off at 6 : 30 and I really did lay there and think about not getting up. It sounded so good. But since he was sick the night before and I was lazy no one took the trash to the curb. So if I wanted the diapers out of my house I had to get up. I packed his lunch and breakfast and was hauling the trash downstairs as he was leaving the front door. We were yelling our goodbyes and I love yous across the house. Well he was, I was squeaking them. Sometime in the middle of the night my cold settled into my chest and If I raise my voice above a whisper I sound like a prepubescent boy. I could hear him pulling out of the driveway as the garage door opened. Im standing there with a diaper pail in one hand and the kitchen trash in the other and the driveway is covered and I mean COVERED in a weeks worth of trash. Mchottie put the cans outside the garage and since they had really tight snap lids on them we figured it would be fine so there was more room in the garage for me to pull the car in easier. Im not the greatest at pulling into the garage. These apparently were ninja raccoons. That or the smell of old popcorn bags were like crack to them and gave them powers. Who knows. I was yelling very bad words and loosing it outside, ok maybe not yelling. I sounded allot more like a marine mouseketeer then anything. Did I mention its really, really, REALLY cold outside? I'm not going to tell you the details of the trash but by the time I hauled all the full cans to the top of the driveway I had trash under my fingernails. Gross, icky, week old trash. I called McHottie after washing my hands 3 times and he said he didn't see the mess when he left or he would have helped me. Now we know not to leave the trash outside the garage. Or to eat coleslaw ever again. either one.
Its 7 :30 and I'm going to go make some sickeningly rich hot chocolate for breakfast and take a steam shower in hopes my voice comes back while I try to figure out how to go get groceries without leaving the house.

Oh and if I ever see a raccoon again its ON.

Yay, its Fall!!

2008-10-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows it takes me forever to upload and send pictures, so if anyone is expecting me to post daily... I wish I could say I will but most likely there will some long stretches between posts. I'm not that motivated to do these sorts of things and when your 7 month olds favorite thing to do is eat your computer and press every button he can read (hey mama does it!) makes posting take forever and then I'm not going to even get started on all the emails and blogs or pages he hits escape. Do you know the one key he hits the most is escape??
Baby Blue had been strangly clingy and acting off for several days and I figure it was just a mild reaction to his shots and was just happy thats all that he had this time. Well last night it just got bad. Both McHottie and I were at our whits end when I stuck my finger in his mouth to feel his gums to see if it was teething. THERE WAS A TOOTH. Well sort of. I felt a bump and he seemed to just melt when I rubbed his gum so I was and realized I had rubbed it thru and that sucker was sharp. Today he has been sticking his tongue on it and looks like a crazy puppy but hes happy again. He didnt cry a single time at Eckerts! Which was kind of a miracle since he skipped his long afternoon nap.

All week I have been planning on going to Eckerts farm to have funnel cake, pick pumpkins, go on a hayride, and just have some family time with my guys.

We had a blast!! McHotties first order of business ( after I watched the animals in the petting farm) was FOOD. So I got my funnel cake right away. Or at least the half he left me :) I wanted to make a scarecrow but those suckers were 18 dollars for the biggest scarecrow I have ever seen. Seriously those things were huge. I wanted a small one I could put on a stake and stick in my flower buckets. There were tons of people in line for the hayride to pick apples but we were more into picking pumpkins, thankfully that was a short line.

Nobody really seemed into picking pumpkins. Mchottie had a blast finding a huge pumpkin for himself and a "sexy" pumpkin for me. Hes version of sexy was that it didn't have growths, dents, or discoloring under dirt. I got the cutest little pumpkin for Baby Blue. Tomorrow we are going to decorate them. I want spooky stars, Baby Blues is going to have polka dots, and McHottie gets to cute his up into a scary jack o lantern. Its weird how excited I am about this but we are hoping to have a yearly tradition of getting our pumpkins this way. Next year we want to get bigger pumpkins but since I was carrying Baby Blue and the diaper bag he was the one carrying all of them. Now to convince him we need to go back in December for our Christmas tree!!

I have some picks from Baby Blues 7 month photo shoot and its getting tougher every time to get him to sit for a picture. The only time he is still is for sleep and food.

I thought Id throw in a adorable picture of the cousins, Brown Bear is so sweet with his Baby Blue!!!

Shes always staring at me......

2008-09-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

So today when Baby blue and I were walking around our town square I decided to take a detour thru the dollar store to get vinegar for my nasty tasting coffee pot (right now the coffee comes out tasting like feet. feet and creamer are a bad combination. trust me on this) We were in the middle of picking out a ball, Baby Blue was choosing between curious george and spiderman when it sounded like the speaker system got turned up REALLY loud. When all it was, was a man belting out she thinks my tractors sexy. loudly. kenny twang and all. He left somewhere around farmers tan. It was the most amazing random moment I have ever witnessed.

Yesterday we were almost all ready for church when Boris came upstairs really damp and very pissed. We figured he had sat in the drain in the basement that he is so fascinated by. My husband is really a big help when it comes to trying to get me out the door on time. So he went downstairs to get everything ready for Baby Blue when he saw water covering half our basement floor. The half that has all the boxes we had decided didn't need to be gone thru yet, the same half that has all the speakers and computer. The miracle is even though everything had water on it nothing got damaged. Its strange, all the boxes had water marks up the side a good inch or two, the speakers were sitting in water and the computer wires (not the plugs) were all in water. Yet no damage!! The only damage done is to my arm muscles from filling and hauling our brand~spanking new rubbermaid tubs. Our basement is now squeaky (Hi Cole!) clean and smells a little like the sealant that SHOULD keep this from happening ever again.

I didnt have the presense of mind to take pictures becuase I was to busy trying to save the boxes of them from my childhood. So Im going to leave you a pic from Baby Blues six month photo shoot

Thats a nice camera you have there mama.

Ooo, look daddys here to rescue me!!!

Or Not. Can we be done now?

Do you need to puke? I do!

2008-09-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

If any of yall have ever read in a car you will know EXACTLY how I am feeling right now and have felt off and on for a week. Its the most nasty, dizzy ,nausteous, headache feeling ever. I thought perhaps it was from low blood sugar but I'm in the middle of a nasty bout of it and I just had a little debbie to see if it would fix it! uh no. I have tried everything and still am getting them. I think its time to see a Doctor. poop on a stick.
My mother in law suggested a inner ear problem which would make alot of sense but since Im still breastfeeding I want to make sure before I take medicine. Im worried I'm going to get dizzy on the stairs while carrying Shane and fall.
excuse me while I go puke.

Easy Peasy

2008-09-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

In a little over two weeks my son and I will be traveling to Texas, we will be there visiting family and friends for four and a half days. I am soooooo very excited!!
I have never traveled with a baby let alone by myself with a baby. I am already trying to figure out what I will need to bring with me. I just know I'm going to forget something all important, like say no binky on the plane? As a mom I have lots of -AGH!!- moments now. Fortunately Baby Blue is a very very happy baby and all he has to do is give me one of his big smiles and I can calm right down. I love being his mama!!

On a side note Baby Blue is now onto bunny hopping crawls and pulling up on things. Hes not cruising yet but its just a matter of time. Hes getting alot better about not smacking his head on our hardwood floors. If he takes after me takes after me at all he will be doomed to a life of just plain clumsy moments. Anyone that has ever been shopping with me knows taking me into a Claire's has always been a bad idea. In one move I can take out an entire rack of earrings. Oh and these stores? NOT stroller friendly. Give a clumsy mom a stroller and she can do as much damage as a toddler.

wordless wednesday

2008-08-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Vote for Shane!!

2008-08-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

OK so I entered my cute son in a baby contest and the win is determined by the voters! So go here http://www.z1077.com/pages/babyidol.html and vote for him! Hes under Shane B . one vote per person and you have to confirm it with a email link they send to make sure your really a person :) Please vote!!!

How to increase blog hits.

2008-08-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

(written by a guest blogger)
This is a post dedicated to all of you bloggers who have a lame blog. To all you people, who get 5 hits a month. (Which really isn’t 5 other people, it’s actually only your mom, occasionally checking up to make sure you didn’t write anything that might poison the family.) So I am going to try to expound off of all my great and wonderful mighty knowledge, to give you a couple helpful things to do to your blog, so you will then in turn also have thousands of daily readers (as I myself do).

1. Photos
If you happen to be as handsome as I am, you should put up your own photograph on the Blog. I suggest you take the picture from the best angle possible….... Not from where your huge nose, sharpie eyebrows, makeup that has been sprayed on with a can of lacquar...... However, if you cannot possibly take a photo from an angle that makes you look..You could purse your lips in hopes to destract from your not-so-hot apperance and make a horrible attempt and being suductive. OR take a pic of your child doing something really stupid.... People thrive off of photos on blogs. It makes you that much more stalk-able.

2. Comment on Other Sites
I would say go ahead, and comment all you can, on every blog you can. It really doesn’t matter if you know the person or not. It actually helps if you don’t because then they are that much more curious as to who this random “DoGlUvEr” user is that keeps leaving comments on their post dedicated to all their BFF’s! However, initially that trick of leaving posts everywhere did not work for me…and nobody came to my Blog..... So the more I thought about it, the more I understood a surefire method to boost traffic… Just start leaving messages like “You are a sucker!”, “Hey…dirt bag…care to chase me?”, “Idiot…how about being decent in your posts?”. As you can only imagine….now many come and visit my blog.

3. Post about your Child......
This one really hits the spot. The average mom out there knows her kid on a daily basis acts like a hell fired little demon. So moms looks to other moms to reassure them their child is not out of the norm.... “Is it normal for my kid to lay on the floor, in colvulsions, and scream how their sandwich didn't have enough grape jelly...... Or hyperventilate about how they wanted to wear the blue pair of underwear. Or maybe even threaten not to breathe if you don’t give them their soda.” I can guarantee you, moms LOVE to hear how horrible your kid is. About their latest green crayon filled BM. Or the weirdest thing your kid has tried to eat.... It brings them a wonderful and calming sense of normality. That JUST MAYBE their kid is not so weird... because there is someone out there just a little weirder.

4. Make your site look orange
Change your website’s look and feel to Orange…It's the color of life. Now you know why when it is sunrise…the sky is orange. It is the only color that comes from a fruit…Orange. There is no fruit called red, yellow, green, purple, or black…so naturally… none of these colors come from a fruit. Once you make your site orange, all those people who are in the pink of their health will come to your site......

5. Coupons
If there is one thing that will attract hits, it is posts about coupons. People who do coupons, DO coupons. It becomes their life. They spend every moment online trying to find the latest and best deal. Whether it be a printable coupon, a location to go get the coupon from, something on sale, a promotion for a free product, or even a free sample. For instance, a diaper sample.... How is that seriously going to help me any. It’s ONE DIAPER. No, they do not send you a whole box. Nor do they send you even 4-6. They send you ONE. It will last you maybe 2 hours depending on how much your child has drank. You still have to go and buy a box. So then, they search furiously search everywhere online, on blogs, websites, advertisements, etc… for a coupon for the diapers.

6. Stories of your Courtship or Betrothal
If you can’t think of anything interesting to post of, you can always post the story of you and your husband’s “courtship”. Everyone thrives off of these stories. Some for much different reasons then others. There are those people who believe just like you and think that is the most touching, romantic, blessed story they have ever laid their bulging eyes upon. They love hearing not how you fell in love with your man, but how you observed him at what moment you KNEW he would make a wonderful husband…. Then there are those people reading your story, and laughing. Wondering how you can say that you hated the guy, did NOT want to marry him, and then all the sudden decided he would make a good husband because he loves God. Don’t get me wrong, loving God is important…very very important…….. but that is not all there is to a marriage and relationship. There are also the people reading the story and empathizing with you. They realize that your parents are crazy, and insist that if you were left alone for 5 minutes in the hallway, you might just break it all down and give it up right there. Therefore post your story…. And if it’s not really that great of a story, then edit it a little, throw in how you never held hands till marriage…. So everyone can pause for a second and wonder how awkward your wedding night was.

7. The Do-Nots of Blogging
Here is a tip on what NOT to do. Whatever is going on in your life, however boring or interesting it may be… do NOT post your daily schedule. No one really cares to hear you recite off every move you made during the day. “I got up this morning at 9:43. I walked to the bathroom and proceeded to pee for ten minutes. After that, I took longer than anyone can every imagine getting ready, trying to make myself as beautiful as possible. I got in the car, started it, and backed out my driveway. On my way to the supermarket to get Eggs, Milk, Frozen Pizza, Bread, Ketchup, Hotdogs… I realized that I had forgotten to eat. So I decided to stop at the first fast food I came to, which happened to be a McDonald’s. I ate 5 chicken nuggets, 34 French fries, and 7/16th of my shake…………” Ok. do you get the point. It is PAINFUL. It is a instant way to either 1. Get a butt load of stalkers, or 2. Have people say “wow this lady is psycho.” And exit your page………………

I hope no one takes offense to my post…. But hey, you made a hit on page and that is really all I care about…. So I thank you all.

eat your squash.

2008-08-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Blue seems to have come down with the snots n' sneezes, poor guy. Along with trying to break two teeth thru. Between both of those he's become super clingy and sleepy (with a tiny bit of CRANK thrown in). So far today he has taken 3 naps, 2 of them were at least 2 hours long. I totally took advantage of not having to race around to get a ton accomplished during his usual 45 min nap. I got to mop the house and then mop the dining room twice. I've been on the hunt for a good wood floor cleaner and so far all I have liked is vinegar and water. Go figure. The pledge wood floor cleaner I tried in the dining room left a nasty residue that I had to re mop off. I miss my swiffer. OoooOooh the smell of swiffer.

After Baby Blue got up we made some acorn squash baby food and he LOVED IT! The blender makes him cry so naturally he needs to wear his daddys shooting ear things.

If you have ever seen him cry you will understand why I make him wear these. He has the most heartbreaking cry with lip quiver to top it off.

Obviously my son thinks Im a wonderful cook.

We also finally finished hanging the curtains in his room,
both Blue and Boris were fascinated by the drill. I dont see why I buy toys when the simplest things keep him occupied for so long. Who needs toys when there is a magazine to eat?

Now all I need is music!

2008-08-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

So thanks to the help of my big sister (hi cole!) I now have a blog title. whew.