Tater-Tots-n-Fries

Baby-Led Weaning

2011-07-30T11:24:00.008-04:00

When we introduced solids to E at 6 months we went with a totally different approach. With the older two we did the usual, start with baby cereal then introduce one pureed fruit or veggie every 3-4 days. Truth is, I hated it! It was so time consuming, not to mention we were not helping them learn to eat, just shoveling food into their mouths.

This time around I heard about Baby-Led Weaning. Again through my extensive research, uh reading of blogs, I realized this sounded like the way to go. I quickly ordered the book and got to it. Now purees for us!
We started her out at 6 months with hard foods that she couldn't really bite, but just gnaw on. She loved it! I was a little freaked out about her choking, but the book explains how that really is not a problem because a babies gag reflex is so far up on their tongues that it prevents them from getting large pieces of food in the back of their mouth.
After a while we started giving her steamed and softer foods to eat. It has been really amazing watching her learn to bite and chew at a much earlier age. By 9 months old she was eating just about everything we ate (minus common allergy triggers). An advantage to her eating the same food as us is that it is a good incentive to eat healthy! I am cooking healthier foods and healthier sides because I do not want my baby eating junk!

I often forget how advanced it is to just give my baby regular food and watch her eat it like she is two! It is also amazing to give a 10 month old a piece of steak and watch them chomp it up!

(Pics from early stages of BLW)

Conversations With Alexander

2011-07-29T22:03:00.002-04:00

A: Mommy, when I grow big like you I'm still going to call you Mom.
Me: That's good. Are you still going to give me hugs and kisses?
A: Um, okay. When I'm big I'm going to wear Daddy's clothes 'cause I will be that big.
Me: You will?
A: Yeah, but when you turn 1,000 you are going to die.
Me: (sad face)
A: But that is okay because we will be able to take care of ourselves.

I love my boy!

Cloth Diapers!

2011-07-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

For a variety of reasons we decided to go with cloth diapers this time around. I actually started looking into cloth diapers when I was pregnant with the boy, but I was so overwhelmed by all of the different types that I gave up. There were pocket diapers, prefolds, AIOs, hybrids, and flats. Then there are one size, perfect fit, inserts, doublers, velcro and snaps.....the list goes on and on. Not to mention all of the cute patterns.

This time around I started doing my research early. Of course by research I mean I read blogs, lots and lots of blogs. Without the blogs I would not have known what to pick. So, I am going to try to have a weekly cloth diaper post in hopes to help another overwhelmed Mama out.

Eliza May

2010-11-02T11:07:00.009-04:00

Well, like all my kids, Eliza just could not wait to come meet us. Only she was a bit more stubborn than the other two. She made her appearance just one day before her scheduled date. Of course it would turn out that way, now that c-sections are not allowed to be scheduled until 39 weeks. Since my doctor was out of town my section was scheduled on Thursday the 16th of September. She came Wednesday the 15th. That is the longest I have ever been pregnant: 39 weeks and 3 days. I was not happy. I always go early, so the last month of my pregnancy I was waiting because it could be any day now.

I woke up Wednesday morning at 4:30 with contractions and they hurt! I tried switching positions, walking around and taking a shower but nothing eased them. I started timing them and they ranged from 3-5 minutes apart. Which is not a big deal, but when you are a repeat c-section you don't want to labor. I waited until my husbands alarm clock went off around 7 and practically pounced on him. By this time I had my bag packed, written out directions for my mom and was ready to go. Of course he thought I was fine. He didn't want to fight with traffic to get to the hospital so he took his time getting ready. Seriously, he took the time to shave and trim his hair, clip his nails and shower. By this time it is after 8. I finally wake up the kids and get everyone out the door and he decided to stop and get donuts for the kids on the way to his sisters house!

We finally got to the hospital around 9. I had called my doctor at 7, so when we arrived they were waiting on us. Unfortunately by that time they had gotten two more walk-ins ahead of me. That meant that they had to do two c-sections before getting to me and then it was only if they could fit me in before the scheduled ones. The nurse thought I would get in around 11:30 so around 11 Tony decided he better get something to eat before the fun started. One thing he didn't do when he left was take his phone. So guess what? The nurse came in a little after 11 and said that we needed to go now or I would not get in until later that night and where was my husband? We ended up paging him and just heading to the OR.

I was so stressed out that he would not make it in time. I had the worst experience with the spinal. With the other two my nurse was right in my face, holding me and reassuring me that everything was OK. With this one the nurse basically had her back turned to me with one hand on my knee. I was already freaked out because of Tony being MIA and then I kept thinking about what was going on so I ended up jumping and getting "yelled" at. Ooops, not good. Finally, got the spinal in and was all numbed up and still no Tony. Just as the doctor was about to make the first cut, my nurse asked if anyone had seen my husband and if somebody could go looking for him. Just as she said that he walked in. I had such a mixture of relief and wanting to kill him!
One thing I loved about this hospital was that after Eliza was born, they did a quick rub down, wrapped her up and then gave her to Tony so he held her the rest of the time. Then when I went to recovery she got to go with me. I was so excited to have my baby with me and be able to breastfeed right away. After about an hour they sent her to the nursery to get cleaned up and weighed and measured. She ended up weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces and being 21 inches long.Since our parents only live two hours away they were able to make it to the hospital before I went into surgery. They were able to follow Eliza up to the nursery and then stand at the glass and watch her for the next two hours as she was being taken care of. They loved it. My Mom brought Hannah and Alex up a little later and they were smitten
We were all smitten. Welcome to the family Eliza May!

This Pregnancy

2010-06-07T12:08:00.004-04:00

In my pitiful blog neglect haze, I realized I have not yet blogged about this pregnancy. Um, I am 25 weeks pregnant.....seriously. Sorry peanut, you know third child and all.

During the first trimester I was so, so sick. Sicker than I have ever been with any of my other pregnancies. So sick that I could not move off of the couch without getting sick. I was so miserable! At first I thought I was pregnant with twins because it was so bad. Here is a look at my night time ritual:
Roll off the couch and slowly make my way upstairs. Promptly lay down on the bed to recover and try not to get sick. Feel better, roll off the bed and make my way into the bathroom. Wash my face and brush my teeth for about 10 seconds before I would start to gag. Run back to the bed and lay down. Not fun.

During that time I remember thinking, that this is it. This is the last time I will ever get pregnant because I cannot imagine going through that again. Thankfully, I slowly started feeling better and by March I was pretty much back to my old self. Now, I feel like I could do this again:)

We decided to find out what we were having. I wanted to wait, but Daddy wanted to find out. He said we had too much to take care of in order to prepare. In the end he won. I knew he wanted another boy because Hannah is his princess and he cannot imagine having another princess to not be able to say no to! However, that just means we get to try one more time! We took the kids with us to the ultrasound. Hannah loved it. She asked so many questions and especially loved hearing the heartbeat. She was very excited to hear she was going to be having a sister. When the tech asked if we had any names picked out the kids were more than happy to share their ideas. Hannah picked Star and Alex said Race Car. After being told by Hannah that Race Car was for a boy not a girl, he quickly replied with "Race Car Lady!" I think we will keep looking.

I am still feeling pretty good. I am past the sickness and not too big and uncomfortable yet. I enjoy feeling this baby move. She is so active! In fact, Hannah felt her kick for the first time on Memorial day. She was so excited! She ran upstairs to tell Daddy and Alex and has often asked to feel her move again. I have noticed that I am carrying her much lower though. With my other two, I always felt like they were in my ribs and their kicks were in the middle of my abdomen. It feels like this girl is using my bladder as a trampoline and her kicks are felt much lower in my abdomen.

I think that is about it for now. We still do not have a name picked out yet. I am open for any suggestions.

Hopes, Dreams and Letting Them Go

2010-06-06T18:49:00.002-04:00

This post is sort of two stories mashed together, so I apologize if it gets a little long.

This post has been rambling around in my head for some time. It was a hard one to write as most people do not know the first part of the story. If you are family or a close friend, I apologize for not telling you before this. It is however an awkward subject that I did not know how to bring up. However, looking back I wish I would have told more people so that I would have more support during that time.

It all started in September. September 28th to be exact. That is the day that I had a positive pregnancy test! We were so excited to be expanding our family. I had really hoped with this one that I could have a v-bac so I called a doctor that has researched having v-bacs after 2 c-sections and set up an appointment. For the first few weeks everything was going great. We decided to wait to tell the kids and the majority of our family and friends. I was so surprised that I had not been hit by morning sickness, but I was not complaining. In fact, I think I even thanked the Lord for blessing me with one pregnancy without it!

All of that changed when I woke up October 12. I went to the bathroom and noticed a very small amount of spotting. Telling myself it was nothing to worry about I went back to bed. However, throughout the day the spotting continued to get worse. I tried to call my new doctor's office and couldn't get through so when my husband got home we decided to go to the ER. It was there that my worst fears were confirmed. The baby was gone. He had stopped growing around 3-4 weeks. Right about the time that I found out I was pregnant.

One of the things that still makes me mad about the whole thing was when I went for a follow-up appointment with the new doctor and the ultrasound tech told me that "it wasn't really a baby yet anyway, just a clump of cells." Really! You tell me that, as I am sitting here grieving that I didn't just lose a baby. That it was just a clump of cells. I was so shocked and angry that I couldn't speak. I just sort of looked at her. I wish I would have said something, anything about how that wasn't correct.

Fast forward to January 7. There was a blood drive at our church that weekend, so on Thursday I decided to take a test just to be sure. It was positive and I was ecstatic! However, I was also full of fear. After experiencing that loss, I was so afraid it was going to happen again. I remember praying that I would get morning sickness so I would know everything was okay. (Stupid prayer request!) I was sort of holding my breath for that first 6 weeks. I made it past that, had my first appointment but still couldn't breathe. I was still overcome with fear. I knew of a couple of people who had recently lost their babies at 12 weeks so I felt like I just needed to get past that.

My first appointment came and I had all my previous records for my new doctor so that he could evaluate if I was a good candidate for the v-bac. Unfortunately, Alexander threw a wrench in that plan. Since I was already in labor with him and he was engaged they had a hard time getting him out so they made a vertical incision. A vertical incision increases the chances of rupture so the doctored said without knowing how big that incision was he wouldn't feel comfortable with a v-bac, but ultimately the decision was up to me. I was a little devastated. I really had to wrestle with this decision. I understand the c-section with Hannah, it was needed in order to get her out safely and worth it to have a healthy little girl. With Alex, it is a much different story. I wanted a v-bac with him but the doctor wouldn't let me. I did not have a choice. So when I went into labor on my own I feel like I should have pushed to just let it progress. I was already 4 centimeters when I got checked it with regular contractions and it was over 2 hours before the c-section took place. Looking back I wish I would have asked to be checked again to see if I had progressed anymore. Regardless, he was stuck and they made the vertical incision.

Now it was time to decide. It had been my dream to have a natural childbirth since getting pregnant the first time. Now I had to decide what was worth more; my dream or a healthy baby. How could I possible say that my dream of a chance at a natural childbirth was more important than ensuring the health of my baby. I knew if something were to happen I would not be able to live with myself so I decided to go with another c-section. I figured God had a reason for all of this, maybe my body couldn't handle the v-bac. I had to let go of "my dreams". It was not an easy decision, however I knew it was the right one. So, switched back to my other doctor who was much more personable!

I had to wait until I was almost 16 weeks for my second appointment which seemed like torture. However, it was through that that I realized my fear was taking hold of me. I needed to just let it go and turn my baby over to God. He was in control after all. I wrestled with that on and off over the next couple of weeks until I made the decision that I was going to enjoy my pregnancy. I was so engulfed with fear that I was not enjoying it. That made a big difference. The fear still pops up every now and then, but I think it makes me enjoy the pregnancy even more. I take nothing for granted.

June 6....my original due date. I should have a baby in my arms right now. It is hard to picture that. I am sad by the fact that my arms are empty right now, but then I would be choosing that baby over this one. How can I chose that?

My Forever Girl

2009-12-10T14:33:00.002-05:00

My girl. She pledges her love to me day after day. Often she tells me that she never wants to get married. She wants to stay home with Mommy forever and ever. Which is fine by me! I think I should try to record her saying that, so that when the teen years hit I can remind her how at one time she thought I was the best thing ever.

Somehow or other, Hannah has it in her head that we will be having a baby soon. Awhile back Tony said something about organizing the basement so that when the time came we would have the option of moving the toys down there. I guess she heard that conversation and it stuck with her.

The other day she told me she did NOT want me to have another baby because she didn't want her toys to go to the basement, she wanted them to stay in the toy room. I assured her that it would not be that way for sometime because the baby would sleep in Mommy and Daddies room at first. That eased her mind for awhile.

Soon she wondered, where would the baby go when it got bigger? Well, if it was a boy he would sleep in Alex's room and if we have a girl then she would sleep in Hannah's room. Well, it seemed that would work "Only if she doesn't snore! If she snores, she cannot sleep with me!" OK Hannah, but Mommy does NOT have a baby in her tummy so we have a long time to worry about that. To which she replied, "Are you sure? Your tummy sure is getting bigger!" Thanks sweetie;)

Soon enough her mind was reeling with questions again. Now she wanted to know if she could get a bunk bed if the baby was a girl. I told her we would wait and see. Then she told me when we take down her bed just to put it in a box and save it for her. That way when the girl gets married, we can take down the bunk bed and put her bed back up! You know, because she is never, ever getting married.

I like the way you think little girl! You can stay with Mommy and Daddy as long as you want. Maybe we could sign a legal agreement stating that you will stay away from boys all together while we are at it. Or you could just freeze time and stay my little girl forever.

You Capture: Lines

2009-12-10T14:23:00.003-05:00

Lines...lines....lines. This was a difficult challenge for me, my creative juices just were not flowing. The only thing I could come up with for You Capture was my blinds. Every time I looked up and saw the light streaming through, I thought it might make a nice picture.
Not the most awe inspiring subject, but it works just the same. Here is a different angle, don't mind the ahem, dust. It seems maybe I should have dusted before I took a picture of the blinds.

Head over to Beth's to see some great captures.

Christmas Card Outtakes...

2009-12-08T13:23:00.006-05:00

I decided to go with "simple" for our Christmas Cards this year. By simple I mean, buy a card where you just slide a photo in. Actually, I decided that two Christmases ago (2007) and ended up not sending out cards, so I still had the cards to use. Regardless, I thought it would be a cinch to take a cute photo of my kids! Ha, who was I kidding? I knew that I was setting myself up because it was before nap time and my little Mr. was a grump, but I still thought I could pull it off!

It actually started off that he was in a good mood and Sissy was grumpy.

Then it switched to Sissy being happy and him being grumpy. Somewhere along the line I may have threatened them that they wouldn't get to go to Grandma's house unless they both smiled for the camera! It may or may not have worked.
I may or may not have called Grandma and left a voicemail in front of them stating that Zander couldn't go to her house because he wasn't listening.

I may have gotten a few good shots.
I will reveal my top three picks at the end of the week.

You Capture: Food

2009-11-25T21:40:00.007-05:00

This week's You Capture was food. This Thanksgiving my Mom asked me to bake "a few pies or something." I had high expectations of capturing all these beautiful photos while I was baking. Except then I forgot, until I saw Beth's tweet that you capture was up. I was all, crap! Guess I will just show you the finished product.
A snowball cake.

Snowball cake, with pumpkin crunch in background.

Of course, a pumpkin roll. It was my first time baking all of these and I had two little helpers. Both helpers were quite upset when they found out they had to wait a whole day before they got to sample all their hard work. Hannah even asked if we could just taste one of them and take the other two to Grandma's. I like the way she thinks! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As always, head over to Beth's to see more captures.

You Capture: Autumn

2009-10-29T15:09:00.005-04:00

This weeks You Capture is Autumn. Autumn is probably my favorite season, except for the fact that winter is shortly behind it. I love all of the beautiful colors. It amazes me that we get one last colorful look before the dreary gray winter comes.

The kids and I went on a walk the other day and these are two of my favorite pictures from the walk.

Of course another reason to love autumn is pumpkin seeds!

We can't forget adorable kids and their pumpkins.

To see more captures or to play along, head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Wow!

2009-09-30T10:57:00.006-04:00

Hi! Remember me? I know it has been a LONG time. I really do not have an excuse other than we were busy enjoying our summer and I kind of hit a blogging funk. Sorry I neglected you so long;)
There is so much to update, so I am going to have a list on here and cross it out/link to the posts over the next few ~~days~~ weeks!

Hannah's trip to see Dr. Pauli
Hannah's birthday post
Birthday party
Hannah's first loose tooth
Trip to the zoo/stroller
Alexander's birthday post
Face painting

Hmm, that is all I can think of for now. I know not much content on this post! It is a start though.

Lose the Loose

2009-08-27T15:36:00.002-04:00

Hannah's tooth has been loose for weeks upon weeks. For a little girl who is anxious to lose her first tooth, it seemed like it had been loose FOREVER! The following is how it finally came out. I took a million pictures of this event, but luckily enough for you I narrowed it down to just four.

One night fresh from a bath, Hannah told Daddy that her tooth was really, really loose. So we all gathered around her as Daddy ~~tortured her~~ tried to pull her tooth.

She was a little bit scared, so she held Mommy's hand. She was worried that it was going to hurt even though that little tooth was only hanging on by a thread.

Daddy's big fingers had a hard time grabbing that tiny little baby tooth. So eventually we called it a night. The next day (August 26) while sitting at the table with Hannah I asked her if I could wiggle her tooth. I twisted it one time and out it came.

She was so excited to finally lose the tooth that had been loose for so LONG. The end.

A Whole Hand

2009-07-09T14:09:00.001-04:00

I know I start out every birthday post lamenting the fact that I cannot believe how old my "baby" is, but it is so true. How can my girl be 5 already?! It is unreal. Where does the time go? Which is funny to say because there are days that literally drag on and I am ready to pull my hair out by bedtime. However, the next thing I know another year has passed.

Things I want to remember from the past year:
You are still such a swimmer! You love the water and if it were up to you, you would swim every day all day! You have recently began swimming under water. I think maybe we should invest in swim lessons for you.

You are also so social. You love to play with your "friends" and cousins. In fact in the mornings I will often find you looking out our front window to see if any of your friends are outside. As soon as you spot one, you get so excited and beg to go outside.

You still love to sing and dance. In fact when we say your bedtime prayers it is usually done in form of a song! You just make up your own beat and dance to it. I love how you are constantly dancing or singing. We are hoping to find you a dance class this fall so that you can continue to do what you love.

You have started not only dressing yourself, but picking out what you want to wear. You come up with some crazy outfits! They do not always match, but to you they do! One day you wore two totally different patterns that both had flowers on them. Your reasoning was that you were going to be a flower girl, so you needed to wear flowers! You also almost always have some sort of scarf or headband as an accessory. For this reason, some people think you are going to be a fashion designer when you grow up.

One of your greatest loves is dogs. You have never taken an interest in playing with dolls, but you have so many stuffed dogs that you LOVE to play with. You just love Fuzzy Bones and all of the neighbors dogs. You are so gentle with them and loving. It still surprises me that you never had a fear of dogs even after you got bit. I know that I have a major fear now. I always have to stop you when we "meet" a new dog because you just want to get right down there and give them hugs and let them kiss you. It makes me so nervous! Sometimes when we are outside playing with the neighbors, you will ignore all of the kids and hang out with the neighbor's dog Clyde for awhile. Many people think you are going to be a veterinarian one day.

It is so amazing to see how much you have grown and changed over this year. You are my baby girl, and yet you are getting older right before my eyes. Often times you tell me that you do not want to get married. When asked why, you will respond that you want to stay with Mommy forever. Which is perfectly fine by me. You are such a strong, stubborn, spunky girl. I know God has some big plans for you. Really, it doesn't matter what you decide to become one day as long as you are happy.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Love,
Your Mommy

A Dog Gone Good Time

2009-07-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

It was no surprise that Hannah chose to have a dog themed birthday party this year. Although once again it was a last minute change. Pretty much since last year she has been talking about how she wanted a Hannah Montana party. I found a cute guitar cake stencil to use, as well as cute favor and game ideas. Then shortly before the party she decided on puppy dogs. It fit her well and we had a lot of fun doing it.

We had a great turn out for the party, besides most of my family not coming:( All of our neighbors (with kids) came, most of our small group, and some family. It was a little crowded in the house, but it was worth it.

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the decor (I was a little busy running around doing all the last minute stuff) so for now I will just tell you about them. I found dog dishes at Target in the $1 aisle. So I bought one for each of the kids and wrote their names on them with a paint pen. Then I put coco puffs in them (dog food) and sugar cookies cut in the shape of a bone on top. When the kids first came in we had a station for them to make a dog collar, licorice with fruit loops. The cake was in the shape of a dog face and then I made cupcakes with paw prints on them.

Games: A few weeks before Hannah's party we were at a neighbors party and they were getting ready to play pin the tale on the donkey. Hannah kept saying that she did not want to play. I could not figure out why because she had played all of the other games up to that point. She asked me if she could just watch. Then she asked me where they kept him at. Who? The donkey, is he outside? It was so funny. She actually thought there was a real donkey that she had to try to pin a tale on! After explaining to her it was pretend and showing her the picture, she was ready to play.

Of course she wanted to play pin the tale at her party. I tried to find a pin the tale on the dog, but couldn't so we were stuck with a donkey. We also had a barking contest and a pinata.

Hannah with all of her loot!

Her big gift from Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Fries, Grandma and Grandpa Lauck and Uncle Matt. We are looking forward to using that this summer!

You Capture, Summer

2009-06-25T15:16:00.002-04:00

This weeks challenge over at I Should Be Folding Laundry was summer. When I think of summer I think of hot lazy days at the pool. Unfortunately we no longer live by our parents who both have a pool, so we now use sprinklers. (Note, not as much "fun" for me this way!) Since I just used pictures of the kids in sprinklers, I had to move on. The next thing I thought of was ice pops! We LOVE ice pops at this house.
I love the colors and the lines! To see some more great captures head over to Beth's!

You Capture - Nature

2009-06-11T09:14:00.005-04:00

This week's challenge was nature. I did not have to go very far to get some fun pictures. What is that nursery rhyme? Mary, Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow? These pictures were all taken from my flower garden and they are SOC.

I had to include our 'mato plant because the Tater was just so excited to see that we had 'matoes growing!!

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to check out some great captures!

On a totally unrelated note, I know I have been kind of absent from the blog lately. It seems I am kind of in a funk. I have a ton of stuff to write about, but the words are not coming. Yesterday it was all I could do to get my weigh in post up and it was not very wordy. Anyway, be on the lookout for three or four posts coming soon (probably after the weekend).

Weigh-In Wednesday

2009-06-10T15:37:00.003-04:00

GO TEAM NAVY!!!!

Well, this past week has been fairly good for me. I have not done the best working out, but I have done pretty good eating. Still I managed to lose 1/2 a pound! Yay!

My goals for this coming week are to actually get up before my children in order to exercise and to continue eating healthy.

You Capture: Feel

2009-06-04T11:46:00.002-04:00

Feel. When I first saw this challenge I was a little stumped. Feel, maybe feelings...nope that won't work. I mulled it over for awhile, then it was like a light bulb went off in my brain. Feel. Blankets! My kids love to feel their blankets!
Hannah is a picker. She picks at the seams when she is falling asleep.
While Alex loves to feel the tag.

Unfortunately the other shots did not turn out! I had the wrong settings on, so when I took a shot with their face included it was a little blurred.

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more Captures!

Hannah's Story Part Two

2009-06-03T17:38:00.000-04:00

We finally got to see Dr. Pauli!! For those of you who do not know, Dr. Pauli is on the Medical Advisory Board for LPA and has several articles published about dwarfism. In fact, he is a renowned specialist in the dwarfism community!

Here is what Dr. Pauli had to say about Hannah:
He was quite excited to see her because he thought she would be somewhat of a "medical mystery" due to her past. Her FGFR3 gene was tested for achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia when she was younger and it was negative. So either she is one of the very rare individuals with some other mutation in FGFR3 or she has hypochondroplasia, which only 60% of individuals with hypochondroplasia have an identifiable mutation in FGFR3.
He reviewed her past x-rays and CT scan. He noted that the CT showed her foramen magnum to be small for average height children, but quite large compared with standards for achondroplasia. The features he saw on the x-rays are intermediate between those classically seen in achondroplasia and those that would be most consistent with hypochondroplasia. Due to the fact that she has had no medical issues related to achondroplasia, he thinks that hypchondroplasia may be the correct diagnosis in her.
He did a complete physical exam on her, noted all of her features and said based on the combination of her radiological features and clinical characteristics, the appropriate diagnosis would be hypochondroplasia. He also said that if we wanted to find out if this was the correct diagnosis we could pursue other testing, like sequencing of the entire FGFR3 gene. However, he also said that we could just wait since the primary justification for molecular confirmation relates to Hannah's reproductive risks rather than medical issues. So, I think for now we are just going to wait and accept her clinical diagnosis.
He went on to explain that there are far fewer issues with individuals with hypochondroplasia than those with achondroplasia. We have 4 things to watch: growth, ears/hearing, respiratory characteristics (some develop sleep apnea) and bowing of legs. He also mentioned that there has been some research showing a correlation between hypochondroplasia and learning disabilities, however in his words, "She certainly does seem to be cognitively normal."
We were quite pleased with Dr. Pauli and his knowledge and look forward to seeing him again in the future!

You Capture: Family

2009-05-28T12:18:00.006-04:00

I haven't been very "inspired" lately so I did not participated the past two weeks with You Capture. This week I am back on board with the challenge of Family. Or in my case: children since I neglected to take a family shot! Here are some of my favorites from this past weekend. Ironically these happened on the same day. Grandma was here and took the kids to playland and it was sooo hot. So, when we came home we hopped in the sprinkler.
Stopping long enough for a picture...hurry up Mom there is lots to do!

I should mention that Alex climbed all the way to the top in order to go down the big slide and guess what happened? Yep, he freaked out and yours truly had to go rescue him!

Sprinkler fun!! I had a hard time picking these. In most of the shots you can tell Hannah is singing and dancing!

Taking a moment to enjoy the mud!

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see some great captures!

Somebody Loves Steel Cut Oats

2009-05-20T11:58:00.003-04:00

So much so that he has to try to get every last drop out of the bowl.

Not snotty nose above, just the milk that was in the bowl, also doesn't it look like he is holding an imaginary spoon? I know the photos are overexposed, way to bright, but I wanted to get him holding the bowl up so I didn't have time to think about lighting.

Weigh In

2009-05-20T11:48:00.002-04:00

I have a major headache right now, so I feel like I can't make complete sentences let alone form a paragraph so I am going to do bullet point this week.

I think setting the goals really helped me
I did stay away from the sweets :)
I almost lost 2 lbs...
However I gained 1 lb last week, so really I only lost 1/2 a pound!
Somehow that breaks me even for the challenge
My starting weight and ending weight are pretty much the same
I only have 10 weeks until the wedding
I didn't do so well with the shred
I am going to keep the same goals for next week
This time focusing on shredding!!
That is all

Forgot to link up: Head on over to the Sisterhood to be inspired on your weight loss journey!

Is He Still There?

2009-05-13T11:30:00.003-04:00

Hannah has recently taken an interest in the fact that Jesus is always with you. She has started asking questions...all sorts of questions. Here are a few of them:

Is Jesus with Grandma? Alex? Daddy? Fuzzy?
Why doesn't Jesus live in Fuzzy's heart?
Does He see me when I am in the bathroom?
Does He go with me when I go upstairs?

On and on the list goes. However, the other night she didn't want to go upstairs by herself. When I questioned why, she informed me that she was scared that He was going to follow her again. LOL! Then a little bit later she told me that she was didn't want Him to follow her anymore.

I don't think she really understands the concept!

Weigh in Wednesday

2009-05-13T11:19:00.003-04:00

So....
Where to start? I guess I'll just jump right in. I gained this week. (Hangs head in shame.) That's right, I gained a pound!! Not exactly what I was going for, but I'm sure it is just muscle right? LOL! Last week I wrote out why I wanted to lose weight; which is great but I think I need something a little more concrete. Like some goals. For the first week I wanted to keep them simple so I can reach them;) So here are my goals:

I am aiming to lose 2 pounds this week
I am going to do the Shred everyday
Run at least 3 times this week
No sweets (for the week)

Onto the new week. Let's see how many I can cross off my list.

I NEED YOUR HELP!!

2009-05-07T12:33:00.000-04:00

Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but I do need your help in deciding about my decor. What do you think? Is it too much blue? Do you like the arrangement? I know I need to fill the other two cubbies and I am wondering if I need more with the diffusers. Also, you can't see the candle holders since they are on the top shelf, so I am wondering if I should buy bigger holders that you can see. Decisions, decisions! Tell me what you think....because I am so indecisive that it took me three weeks just to pick out what I have! I don't want it to be another three weeks before I finish it.
You can click on the picture to make it larger. Also, I feel like I should mention (from my husband) that he has been begging for a new TV! One that will fit in the hole better and you know that has a flat screen. Also, I will post a full room before and after very soon!

You Capture Week Nine

2009-05-07T12:25:00.003-04:00

This week's challenge was expression. I chose the literal definition of facial expressions. This was my favorite shot. I might upload a few more later on, but I don't have the time right now!
Sad.
I'm sooo hungry. That is what I hear all day long! This shot was taken right after I told her that she just ate breakfast and did not need a snack yet. Sigh, life is rough when you are four!
As always, head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more captures!

Weigh in Wednesday

2009-05-06T11:05:00.003-04:00

I almost didn't weigh in today.
I really was not motivated all week long to exercise.
So I did not exercise and I ate a bunch of junk.
Somehow I managed to not gain weight.
I feel like I am not taking this seriously.
Do I really want to lose weight? Of course.
Am I willing to sacrifice in order to do so? Apparently not.
Thankfully, I realize that this is a journey, a marathon not a sprint.
I am used to losing weight pretty easily.
It is hard to realize that I am getting older and my body does not work like that anymore.
I decided to make a list as to why I want to lose weight:

I want to look good in my sister's wedding
I want to look good for my husband
I want to look good for myself
I want to fit into my clothes again
I want to be at a reasonable weight before I get pregnant again
I want to stop being paranoid about the way people see me

You Capture Week Ten

2009-04-30T11:30:00.007-04:00

Joy. That was this week's challenge. Of course I put off the challenge once again! Mainly because it was hard to come up with something to represent joy. My children bring me joy, so I figured I would snap shots of them. However, I wanted the the joy to be evident on their faces. So what brings them joy? Here they are doing two of their favorite things combined: playing with Daddy and jumping on the trampoline.

This picture just looks awesome. Tater is doing her "split-jump". Unfortunately you cannot see the joy on her face because her crazy hair is in the way!

I took this picture a couple of days ago. It helps me to remember to stop and enJOY the beauty around me.
Hop over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see some great captures!

Just Had to Share

2009-04-29T14:31:00.003-04:00

I thought that this was so funny that I just had to share it with you all! Since we have experienced a heat wave the past few days Hubby has been complaining that he couldn't find any type of sandal. He thought for sure that they were buried somewhere in the basement where he would not be able to find them until summer was over. I knew that I remembered seeing them since we moved and I also knew that I should probably look for them for him. However, I never did and when we were out shopping last night he bought two new pairs.

Imagine my surprise when I was putting away laundry today and looked down and saw this:
Upon further inspection this is what I found. Not one, but two pairs of sandals! Hahaha.

In his defense there was a towel that somehow missed the laundry basket laying over the shoes that were blocking them. Other than that I did not move a thing! Hilarious. Love ya Babe!

Catching Up

2009-04-29T12:48:00.007-04:00

I realized that I have not really posted much about the kiddos lately so I thought I better give some updates on them. I really need to do an Easter post, but that will have to come later! For now here is a picture of us all dressed up.
Tater is doing great. Not much "changing" going on with her. She continues to get smarter by the day and I am constantly bombarded with questions throughout the day. Most of which I have no idea how to answer! I usually stumble along to the best of my ability, which is usually followed by a long list of whys! She keeps me on my toes, that is for sure. She is quite the fashion diva...only the fashion makes sense to only her. I have long ago decided not to fight her on what she wears. She gets to decided what to wear even if it evokes quite a few stares when we are out and about. This past weekend when it was 80+ degrees outside, she thought for sure that she needed to wear her hat and gloves.

Zander is also growing and changing so much everyday. One of my favorite things that he does right now is to tell me secrets. He comes up and makes the whispering noise and at the end whispers secret. It is so cute. He just loves to play outside and is all boy, let me tell you.

Unfortunately he is cutting his two year molars right now and it has really changed his disposition. I couldn't remember Hannah being so fussy, so I looked through my archives to see if I had written anything. Sure enough I had. Turns out she was fussy, I just must have blocked out that part! I am also a little concerned with how he turns his right foot in when he walks. When we originally asked the pediatrician about it she said they usually don't do anything about it until the child is 3 or 4. However, it has gotten much worse since then so I think we will be bringing it up at our next visit.

Weigh in Wednesday

2009-04-29T12:29:00.004-04:00

It is time to weigh in over at the Sisterhood. I was just plain busy last week and missed it so here I am and it is confession time. Somehow I managed to fall off the wagon. Meaning that I haven't done any type of "exercise" the past two weeks. Thankfully I did manage to eat semi-healthy, I mean strawberry pie for breakfast is acceptable right? It is after all a fruit. Suffice to say that I am back to my starting weight. Shocking isn't it? So, now I am hoping to get back on the wagon and start exercising regularly.

I did buy this really awesome water bottle in order to help keep track of my water intake.

Isn't it awesome? I am also starting a "diet." (Side note: it is most definitely a diet and not a lifestyle change since I am using slimfast.) I am using slimfast because I have had success with it in the past and I am hoping to jump start my weight loss. Once I get get it going then I am going to switch over to just eating healthy.
I am a little freaked out beause this is week 5 and I am still at square one. I was hoping to be further along by now...

Operation Make the Backyard Beautiful

2009-04-27T11:25:00.004-04:00

I realized yesterday that I forgot to show a before picture. So, here is what our steps looked like before:

They were just cheap rickety steps that the builders put up. Here is the (almost) finished product:
The guys did a great job! It looks so much better now. I was just a little taken aback by how small it is. Other than that I love it. Now we just need to buy some plants and patio furniture and it will be complete.

Operation Make the Backyard Beautiful

2009-04-25T11:06:00.005-04:00

Operation Make the Backyard Beautiful is in full swing. The first "phase" is complete...move all of that dirt and mulch around the house. I even convinced a good friend to come help move the dirt. (Thanks Alan!)
Here is a picture of all that dirt spread around the back, because I know you are just dying to see it!

Phase two, consists of enticing Tony's brother down for the weekend with the promise of going to shoot at the range with all of Tony's toys. Then convincing him that since he is coming down anyway why not help with the patio? Phase two, complete!
Phase three is underway. We were hoping to get pre-made cement steps for the back door. However, we could not find anyone around here that sold them. So, the boys are making them out of block. The steps are almost complete, they ran out of blocks last night and had to make a run to the store this morning. It was pretty hilarious listening to them "strategize" yesterday. It took them longer to decide how to do the steps then it actually took to lay them.

You Capture Week Nine

2009-04-23T10:44:00.003-04:00

This weeks challenge was Letters. Let me just start off by saying:
What? I'm not sucking up...no, not at all. I mean I just stuck the spoon into the soup and that is what appeared. No, REALLY! OK, so maybe I am...just a little.

These pictures I had a hard time putting in a collage. I am not that familiar with photoshop yet and I couldn't figure out how to make it a bit bigger. Anyway, with the help of some friends and cousins we made our own letters.

The kids really had a really fun time making their own letters. I had a great time laughing at them. I love it how my nephew wouldn't stay in a straight line, no matter how many times moved him. Also, we may have bribed a couple of the kids with a treat to keep doing the letters!

Every time I was in the car I saw so many cool signs and letters that I wanted to take pictures of, except I kept forgetting my camera. So, the moral of the story is that I need to start taking my camera with me everywhere.

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some great captures.

You Capture Week Eight

2009-04-16T10:04:00.005-04:00

This weeks challenge over at I Should Be Folding Laundry was Rustic. Again, I had a hard time with this challenge. Perhaps I am not that creative, or maybe I just procrastinate too much. Hmm, food for thought. Anyway, rustic...what in the world is rustic in my new suburbia? There is a nice barn down the street, but again I am looking for something a little more original. How about these suckers:
My backyard is filled with dandelions. That is pretty "country" isn't it? Maybe clover could be considered rustic? (Enlarge to see the morning dew on it.)

A rocking chair is definitely rustic...right? Well Beth said there is no wrong answer so I guess these are rustic enough for me!

My goal for next week is to actually work on the challenge throughout the week so that I am not scrambling around at the last minute trying to find something. Great idea self.

I'm Laughing On the Inside

2009-04-15T12:11:00.005-04:00

Operation make the backyard beautiful is underway, sort of. See this pile of dirt?
We also have a pile of mulch AND some stone coming. Although I am not sure where the stone is going to go. Hubby planned this without my input. The funny part about it is that all of this is in the driveway in the front yard. All of it (except some of the mulch) is going into the backyard. Hubby had a grand plan of them driving through the empty lot behind our house and dropping it off in the backyard. Unfortunately for him it has been raining nonstop the past few days. Which means that the mulch company could not drive through the empty lot in fear of getting stuck. So, now my dear sweet hubby, has to move all of this by wheelbarrow. Poor guy.

Seriously though, we are going to be doing a lot of work the next couple of days on our backyard. When it stops raining I will take some before pictures. We will be getting rid of the rickety step and replacing them with some concrete ones, laying a patio and building a flower garden. As well as getting rid of all of the dandelions that have taken up residence in the yard. Eventually we will be putting up a fence. That is after the HOA approves the aforementioned fence.

Thankfully the front yard doesn't need much work. We are just going to put in some sort of edging around the current flowerbed. Then plant some flowers and throw some mulch on the flowerbed and ta-da.

We'll see how much we can get accomplished this weekend. I will be sure to take lots and lots of pictures. After all I am the landscape designer, supervisor and photographer...

Weigh in Wednesday

2009-04-15T11:35:00.003-04:00

Week 3:
I was totally prepared to write another Easter is kicking my butt post, because really I have no self control when it comes to chocolate and cookies. However, for some reason...maybe the shredding, maybe the fact that I have now started running on top of the shredding, I have lost one pound. I know, I know. One pound really isn't that big of deal, but it is to me. The past two weeks I have been holding steady and to finally see the sale move down is a great feeling. Hopefully this next week there will be even more movement since I won't have any big meals getting in the way. I will however still have lots and lots of chocolate. I just need to show a little self control. Really, what is the point of working so hard if I am just going to cancel it out by eating lots and lots of chocolate? I would rather see the fruits of my labor so to speak.

Almost Caught Up

2009-04-09T11:24:00.006-04:00

If you are on facebook at all you have no doubt heard me complain about the amount of laundry I have. We are a family of four, with two small children, how can we possibly have so much laundry? Here is some proof about how much laundry we go through. Mind you some of this is leftover from last week that I was too ~~lazy~~ busy to fold!
Amazing isn't it? Guess what? This isn't even all of it! There is still a load in the washer and one in the dryer! Sigh, it never ends does it?

I thought I would give you the view from all sides, just for a little perspective.

Can you believe I just devoted an entire post to how much laundry I have? Just keepin' it real folks, just keepin' it real.

You Capture Week Seven

2009-04-09T11:11:00.003-04:00

This week's challenge was fun. I wasn't sure what I was going to take a picture of...what is fun? I had thoughts of taking a picture of my kiddos doing something silly, but then kind of forgot about it. We had Easter with my husband's family this past weekend and my adorable nephew had a blue sucker. I just thought he was too cute with his blue face and curly hair and really, what is more fun than hunting eggs and going on a sugar overload?

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some great captures!

Easter is really kicking my butt....

2009-04-08T11:44:00.002-04:00

Today is Weigh in Wednesday for the Shrink into Summer Challenge.
Well what can I say? No weight loss:( I maintained the same weight as last week though so that is a plus since I have probably eaten my weight in chocolate since Saturday. We had Easter dinner with Bologna's family this past weekend and I did fairly well with not stuffing myself. However, that darn chocolate is killing me. I have been trying to stay away from it, but when it is in the house it just calls my name all day long! To top it off we have another Easter this weekend where my kids will be getting much more chocolate.
We have started the 30 Day Shred and it is much harder than I anticipated. I had started the video before but I was doing it every other day. We are doing it everyday for 30 days, 10 days on each level. Today is only day three, so I am sure it will get easier as the days progress right? As it is I can barely make it up the stairs.
My goal for this next week is to be better about what I eat. What is the point of killing myself (thank you Jillian) if I am not monitoring what I eat? So, going to start today writing down everything that I eat.

You Capture, Week 6

2009-04-02T12:16:00.004-04:00

This weeks challenge was Spring! The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of spring is painted toes and flip-flops! That and rain, rain, rain...and lots of mud!
My daughter saw me taking pictures of my toes and wanted hers to be included!

Of course spring also brings the trees to life! I am curious to see what the trees around our house will look like as spring progresses.

I am also curious to see the colors that will pop out of my flower garden. Again, since this is our first spring in the house, I have no idea what is here so it is exciting to see these pop out of the ground!

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some awesome pictures!

Shrink Into Summer!

2009-04-01T11:57:00.003-04:00

Did you notice my button on the sidebar? I have taken the plunge, time to get serious about my weight loss (and lose my muffin top). I need something to keep me on task so I decided to join the Sisterhood. It is a group of people all trying to lose the extra weight. I don't think there is a better way to do it!

Throughout the weeks there are mini challenges. This weeks challenge was hula hoop on the wii fit. Not just any hula, but the 10 minute hula! Whoever has the highest score wins! Side note: Have you tried it? Seriously, try it!! It is a great workout. They are getting ready to start a 30 Day Shred challenge as well. Consider joining the Sisterhood if you are trying to lose a little (or a lot) of weight.

Now, onto my progress. I have lost 0 lbs. Of course I just joined this weekend, so I didn't expect to see any loss. Especially since my Mom was here this weekend and I ate a lot of food! However, I have started my 5k training and now I am accountable for my weight so....hopefully next week there will be a difference in my numbers.

I Might Have Gotten a Little Carried Away

2009-03-31T14:02:00.002-04:00

Recently I have been looking at pictures from last summer and thinking how handsome Zander looked with shorter hair. I have been debating getting his hair cut, but I just hate paying so much for a boys haircut or trim. I had a great girl up north that would cut the kids hair for a very reasonable price, but just haven't found anyone down here yet.

Today, I thought to myself, was a great day to "trim" Zander's hair. The back was starting to look like a mullet and his bangs were in his eyes. It started off simple enough and then as I went on I decided it would look better shorter. Clippers. That was the logical solution. I used to cut Bologna's hair back in his Corps day when he had to have a fresh haircut every week. We usually used a 3 on top and then blended the bottom with a 2, 1 and no shield.

I thought that surely a 5 on top would be plenty long. Maybe, it is the blond hair or maybe I just got carried away but his hair is so short!
Oh, well. He is still adorable. At least in my humble opinion!

You Capture: Week 5

2009-03-26T12:49:00.005-04:00

Reflection. That was this week's challenge. I had this great picture all planned out in my head and then it started raining which totally ruined my idea since it was an outdoor shot. So, then I was wandering around the house wondering what I should use for reflection. Yes, I could have done a mirror shot, but I wanted something a bit more creative. Then I was cleaning up from breakfast I noticed my reflection in the microwave. Ta-da, inspiration. Here are the kids doing artwork:
This one might be my favorite shot. I like the way the blinds look.

Here is the opposite wall...

Not the most creative, but what are you going to do when it rains on your parade?

My Little Artist

2009-03-23T12:26:00.002-04:00

I love it that Daddy resembles a potato and I am a much skinnier frog!

Some Much Needed Motivation

2009-03-23T12:10:00.003-04:00

Well, I did it. I signed up for my first 5K. I started "training" the first of the year. However, I hit a slump at the beginning of this month. I was really busy the first couple of weeks and somehow running got pushed to the back burner. Then, after those few weeks I lost all motivation to run. I decided it was time that I do something drastic, so I signed up for the Race for the Cure. Now, I have to get myself in gear or face the embarrassment of dying during the run!

It is on May 16, so that gives me almost 9 weeks to get ready. My goal is to run it in 30 minutes, but we will see how that goes. I have yet to run outside, so I'm not sure how that will work out either! I really want one of these to help me track my runs, but we'll see. For now, it will be just me and the treadmill until I figure out a route.

What Were We Thinking?

2009-03-19T09:01:00.004-04:00

Hannah has been BEGGING for a puppy and I mean BEGGING! So, last night we decided to go look at some dogs. Just to look and pet and so forth. However, somehow a few crocodile tears later, we managed to come home with the newest member of our family. Meet Fuzzy Bones:
Yes, that is his name; Fuzzy Bones! Hannah got to pick it because she really wanted a chihuahua and I did not so we compromised and she got to pick the name. He is a ~~mutt~~ Peekapoo , meaning he was intentionally "mixed" between a Pekingese and Toy Poodle.

Hopefully, he won't get much bigger. Also, hopefully he won't shed! He is a little cutie who has already stolen our hearts, but I kind of forgot how much work a puppy is!!! We are off to the store to buy the puppy essentials. One chew toy just isn't enough and if he chews my new furniture (to be delivered Saturday, yay!) he will quickly become an outdoor dog.

You Capture, Week Four

2009-03-18T21:47:00.000-04:00

Week Four of the Blogging Carnival You Capture was shadows! Sometimes I have a hard time being creative, so the best I could come up with was shadows of the kids! Originally I had this grand idea of getting their shadows while they were jumping in the air. However, I randomly snapped this picture of their shadow and fell in love with it!

Here are some of the jumping shots that I took. I would have chosen this one as my favorite if I didn't happen to take the above photos.

Hannah had so much fun doing this! I just love how high she is in this picture. Unfortunately, here brother was too close so you can't see her shadow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T19:28:00.010-04:00

We decided that we should make some sugar cookies in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, by the time we decided it (today at noon) there were no cookie cutters or cut-out cookies with a St. Patrick's Day theme. So, we had to improvise...

Green cookies ready for the oven: Green frosting:

Now I just need some little leprechauns to decorate the cookies for me. Oh wait, I just happen to have two at my disposal!

This little leprechaun was VERY hard working!

The other one at the other hand seemed to eat more than he decorated!

Overall they did a great job:) Here are the finished products.

How did you all celebrate?

Tater goes to the dentist...

2009-03-11T10:30:00.003-04:00

Last Friday Hannah, Alex and I all had dentist appointments. I was a little nervous going into this since both the kids and I had appointments. Whoever I talked to on the phone assured me that it would be fine. The kids could watch while I got my teeth cleaned and then it would be their turn. We went ahead and scheduled them all together.

Of course we got there and had to wait at least 45 minutes before going back to the chair. Then for some reason they decided to take Hannah next door to start with her. Which of course made Alex mad because he wanted to go to a chair too. Upon seeing his meltdown another assistant took him to his room. All this time I am sitting in my chair fuming, hello these are my kids ages 2 and 4, I don't think they are quite old enough to be in their own room! Thankfully, they were just distracting Alex and taking Hannah's x-rays.

Alex is so young (the offices youngest patient!) that the dentist wanted it to be a positive experience for him. So, I held him in my lap and the dentist counted his teeth. Alex thought he was such a big boy! Hannah on the other hand got the works.
She was so excited! She just loved going to the dentist. As you can see, she thought her experience was worth two thumbs up.

You Capture, Week Three

2009-03-11T10:21:00.002-04:00

The blog carnival over at I should be folding laundry continues. This weeks assignment was texture. What better way to show texture then with some yummy peanut butter m&m's!

Another Blog Carnival and Alex's Sleep Habits

2009-03-05T10:27:00.005-05:00

Well the sleeping around these parts has gotten a tiny bit better. That's it, just a tiny bit. In fact I'm not even sure if it is "better" or not. After trying countless techniques, nothing seemed to be working. Then after talking to my SIL Julie it dawned on me. She was telling me about how they had to stop giving their daughter naps because otherwise she would be up until 11:00 or later. I thought seriously...can I give up naps? He is only 29 months old! Plus, he gets super whiny and turns into Mr. Crankypants when we skip a nap. My lovely SIL suggestion: just let him sleep for 30 - 45 minutes.

The past couple of days that has been my goal. Some days it is really easy, like when we are going somewhere because he will sleep in the car and that is it. Others he is just so exhausted he falls asleep on the floor. However, it seems to work. He has been going right to bed without getting out. The problem is he has still been waking up at night. I'm hoping that he is waking up only because he has a cold and needs his nose wiped. Only time will tell.

Now, onto the blog carnival. 5 Minutes for Mom is focusing on simple things that any Mom can do. Since I like to pretend that I am a good photographer, I figure practice, practice, practice can only make me better! This weeks tip was filling the frame. Here is my before shot of Alex after he passed out on the floor the other night. Notice how sloppy it looks? Your eyes are drawn to the toys around him.
Here is a full frame shot of his face. Much cleaner and sweeter looking! In this shot you notice his hand on his face and how it looks like he was playing cars until he couldn't take it anymore!

You Capture, Week Two

2009-03-04T09:35:00.007-05:00

It has been a crazy couple of weeks here, with the kids and I going up to visit family the past two weekends. I felt like I hadn't really spent any time with my husband for two weeks. Usually when that happens I start to get a little cranky. Well I think my hubs knew that was coming because when I came home Sunday night these waiting on me.

I thought they would be perfect for this weeks you capture assignment: perspective. I remembered Beth's advice to just start shooting from different angles, so that is what I did. When I took this next shot I knew it was the one!

I love the bright colors and the way you can see the individual petals. (BTW no editing here!) I had so much fun with this "assignment." Here are a couple more of my favorite shots:

*Updated to add: After looking at Beth's photo I know it might look like I took her idea...but really I didn't. I took these pictures Monday afternoon;)

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

2009-02-25T15:08:00.006-05:00

Hannah had been talking about getting her hair cut short "like Riah" (her cousin Mariah) for awhile. I'm not sure where it came from, but she just decided one day that she would like her hair cut short. So, we talked about it. Me telling her that it would take a REALLY long time for her hair to grow back when she cut it. Her telling me she didn't care because she wanted it cut short. She would also inform me that she didn't want bangs anymore.

The problem was that I did not want to get her hair cut! She has such beautiful long hair. It would lay so nice, even without brushing it in the morning. It is so thick and has natural highlights...sigh. In the end I decided that it is her hair so she should get to pick how to wear it. That plus, she was starting to be a real pill when it came to brushing her hair. She would instantly tear up and start whining before I would even start to brush it. I figured, fine we would get a few inches cut off and it would be easier to manage.

On Friday we headed to the salon. Here she is pre-cut:
We started off cutting about 4-5 inches off.

When we were all done she decided that wasn't long enough! So I asked her how short she wanted it and she pointed to her cheekbone. That was a little too short for me. Instead we chopped another 4 inches off!

She was so excited and proud when we were done.

She was very excited to have her hair cut like Riah. She even said that next time Riah saw her, Riah would think that she was Riah! Too funny. Here she is with her pile of hair.

I was a little sad to see all of that hair come off. I'm still not sure of the haircut. It is all one length, so it doesn't lay very nice. I think it is because her hair is so thick that it sort of looks like it is just chopped off. I think the bottom layer should have been cut a little shorter so it would lay nicer. In order for it to look decent I have to take the flat iron and give it a little curl. Oh well, it's only hair right?

You Capture, Week One

2009-02-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

Beth, over at I Should Be Folding Laundry, is hosting a blog carnival called You Capture. Each week she gives a challenge for others to "capture." This week the challenge was to take a picture of something that you love without using flash. At first I thought about taking some sort of picture of my kids. Then as the week progressed, I thought that I wanted to try to take a picture of something different, but I wasn't sure what.

I finally decided to take a picture of my mother's necklace. It is a piece of jewelry that I absolutely love and wear almost every day. It is actually a replacement for the necklace my husband got me for my first mother's day that I left at a hotel a few years ago. He surprised me with a new one two years ago and I have worn it non-stop since.

I know it looks like I used flash because of the shadows and brightness, but I didn't. I just moved my jewelry box into direct sunlight. Here is another view where you can actually see the lines from the blinds.
Maybe a little too bright! I was worried because my bedroom doesn't have too much natural light in it, so like I said I moved the jewelry box to the direct light. Oh well, I kind of like how the light shines off the necklace.

A Teaser

2009-02-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

What's for Dinner?

2009-02-19T13:58:00.004-05:00

Jamie had the great idea of doing some recipe sharing via our blogs. Since I am always on the lookout for new/easy/fast dinner ideas, I thought it was a great idea. I am thinking that we should make it some sort of blog carnival, that way people can easily jump from site to site to look at the recipes. I just need to figure out the details.

Anyway, for my first recipe I am sort of cheating. I found it on the Kraft website this week when I was making out my weekly menu. It just so happened that I had all the ingredients for Chicken Parmesan, so I decided to try it! It was pretty easy and VERY good.

I think Jamie is going to do this weekly, so I think I will as well. Next week, I will include pictures of the meal that I made, along with the written out recipe.

Have a recipe to share?

My Birthday

2009-02-16T15:41:00.003-05:00

Sorry to keep you all waiting about my BIG surprise! It was amazing!! Before we arrived at our first destination, I had all these scenarios in my head. One included a couples massage (which we didn't get) another included some of his friends (which thankfully they were not involved). So, I was pleasantly surprised by what we did do. It WAS an overnight stay, which was much needed and he managed to keep the whole thing a secret until we pulled into the hotel parking lot. Although he did tell me that we were staying overnight somewhere, so that I could pack an overnight bag. However, somehow in all of my excitement I managed to forget most of my toiletries. That's right, no deodorant or toothbrush for me! How romantic.

In case you were wondering, we stayed here and ate here.

ANTICIPATION!

2009-02-09T17:46:00.002-05:00

Wednesday is my birthday, I think. Yep, just checked the calender and it's on Wednesday. (You know when your birthday falls during the middle of the week, you don't actually celebrate it on that day so it's easy to lose track of the days. Anyway, so Wednesday is my birthday and for what is probably the. First. Time. Ever. Tony has kept my presents a surprise!

A little background information. First of all, Tony hates surprises. He is one of the hardest people to buy for because if he didn't ask for it, chances are he won't like it. This makes it very hard to surprise him because he gives very specific lists. I think that because he is this way, it makes it hard for him to keep my gifts a secret. Either that or he just loves me sooo much that he just can't contain himself. It could be either or. Secondly, he is not much of a planner when it comes to us having a date night. Usually I am the one making the plans, you know securing a babysitter, deciding where to go etc.

So, without sounding like a spoiled brat, back to the real story, my surprise. I know it's something big because he has his Mom coming down to babysit. I'm thinking it just HAS to be an overnight trip. Otherwise he would have just asked his sister to babysit. That is where the anticipation comes into play. I am a bit worried that I am looking to much into this. I don't want to be disappointed when I find out what the surprise really is. Especially since it is not like him to do the planning. I have made up my mind that no matter what, I will NOT be disappointed. I do have to give him props, because he wasn't even going to tell me that his Mom was coming, until I started making other plans. Also, he has other gifts for me that I don't know about! I am so shocked!! I am a little bummed that I know something is going on, but since I don't know exactly what it is I am still pretty excited.

Football Game

2009-01-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

How can Zander go from being so sweet and angelic:

to throwing a huge tantrum?

Easy take away his football game.

Since we watch a lot of football in this house, it as no surprise when Alex started calling everything to do with football "football game." A helmet is a football game, a football is a football game. Everything is a football game. Since we moved he has become really attached to a particular blanket. More specifically the tag on the blanket. He drags this thing around everywhere. When he is holding onto it and looking for his tag he sings "mytag, mytag, mytag!" He calls it his football game well, because it has a football on it. Obviously since he drags it around it gets pretty dirty so I have to wash it a lot. Hence the problem. Last week when I washed he he threw the biggest fit. Crying and screaming "I. WANT. MY. FOOTBALL GAME!" I tried giving him a different blanket, but he just threw it down and said "NO! I DON'T LIKE IT!" Fun times!

The next time I tried a different approach. I told him that I needed a big helper to help me with the laundry. Could he please help me? He was so excited that he didn't even realize we were washing his beloved football game. Crisis averted this week.

On a different but somewhat related subject I need help! Since before Christmas Zander has been waking up at night. Sometimes it is just once a night and other times it is multiple times! Usually, he wakes up and walks into our room. He (usually) doesn't cry, just comes to our room. I pick him up and lay him back down and that is that. However, sometimes he cries and screams and won't lay back down. It is a constant I lay him down, he gets up and repeat 20 times. I try not to talk to him, or give in when he asks for chocolate milk. Although, sometimes I am soooo tired that I feel like it is easier to just give him the milk rather then fighting it.

I do not know where this is coming from or how to stop it. Please give me your best advice. We are pretty tired over here because even though he is waking up multiple times that doesn't mean he is sleeping in. Nope, not my boy. He is usually up about the time Daddy gets up.

For Katie

2009-01-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

You inspired me to take a few pictures of our ice.
The ice came first.

Then came the snow! It is so much fun living up north. The snow is still coming down (lightly) today and we are supposed to get more by the end of the weekend. My poor husband, I feel like all he does lately is shovel the driveway! Notice our street. We don't rate the snow-plow unless we get over three inches....at a time.

Mean is My Middle Name

2009-01-29T13:42:00.009-05:00

A few weeks ago we had a light dusting of snow. Hannah begged me to let her go out and play. Being new to the city life, I was a little nervous about letting her go out by herself and I really did not want to go out. However, I agreed and watched her from the doors. Alex soon figured out what was going on and REALLY wanted to go out with Sissy. That is where I drew the line. There was no way that I could trust him to be out there without an adult. He however found this unreasonable. He soon found his hat and an old pair of gloves and put them on.

He stood at the door, alternating between watching Sissy and crying. Soon, he had enough and went upstairs to play. At least I thought that was what he was doing.

Not long after he went up, he came down with his pants. I'm sure he was thinking seriously Mommy! I got my hat, gloves and now my pants just let me go outside already!! (Side note, I am amazed that he managed to go upstairs, open his drawer, get out some pants and come back downstairs all the while leaving his mittens ON.)

PLEASE oh PLEASE can I go outside? See here are my pants!

Really, enough of this picture taking. Please just let me go outside and play with Sissy. Finally Daddy felt bad and took him out to play, in a t-shirt because he is cool like that.

All the while, I stayed nice and toasty warm in the house.

I Can See Her Future...

2009-01-28T13:54:00.002-05:00

and it does NOT involve being a make-up artist! Although who knows. Maybe by then this:
will be what all the A-listers will be sporting. No?

TAG

2009-01-24T10:04:00.006-05:00

Here are the rules:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer. No cheating {cropping, editing, etc.}!
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

Since I can't follow the rules here are my pictures!

Ok, so it wasn't exactly the fourth folder, but the fourth folder was boring. So I went to the fourth Hannah folder. It was Tony's birthday in 2005. He had just returned from Iraq a few weeks prior. We went to the beach in the evening and took a ton of pictures of Hannah using different settings on the camera. This one is "Holding the Sun."

Here is the fourth picture from Alex's beach folder. Again, Tony had just returned from Iraq and we went to the beach for a day of fun while it was still warm.

Finally, here is the real fourth folder, fourth picture:
Marine Corps Ball 2005. Tony posing with our friend Matt.

I'm not sure who has/hasn't been tagged! So, if you have already been tagged, sorry. I tag Destini, Lisa, Mike, and Emily.

Some Cuteness

2009-01-24T09:10:00.005-05:00

I found this video when I was looking through my pictures for the tag. It was just so cute that I had to share it! I just love those chubby legs!!!

Hannahisms

2009-01-22T11:15:00.002-05:00

Background: It is Sunday after church and the parking lot is full of snowy-slush. I am carrying Hannah so that she doesn't get all wet and dirty. For some reason Daddy parked way out in the boonies even though we were early and there were plenty of parking spaces. Whatever, we are young and healthy we can walk, but carrying Hannah all the way out to the boonies is no easy task. About halfway to the car this is the conversation we had:

H: Mommy my legs are tired, I can't hold on anymore. (She lets her legs go limp.)
M: Well that makes Mommy's arms tired and I might drop you.
H: And a car would run me over...
M: (Laughing) Well it might...
H: and I would become and angel and go see Jesus!
M: I really don't want you to go see Jesus yet, I want you to stay with me.
H: OK. How about for my birthday you buy me real wings so I can fly up and just visit.
M: (Laughing) I don't think they make real wings.
H: Just look, OK Mommy:
M: OK!

Just One of Those Days

2009-01-12T10:18:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was kind of a "relaxing" weekend. I decided that I was going to take the day off on Saturday and not do any housework. Which was great, for the day, but come Sunday the house was disastrous. Which caused me more stress then what my "day off" was worth.

Anyway, back to Saturday. My day of rest ended up turning into a day of stress. On Friday night my nieces and nephew spent the night. The kids had so much fun, but got little sleep. They stayed up way past bedtime and got up extremely early. Which is what a sleepover is all about. However, that makes for a very cranky two year old. It messed up his entire schedule. Nap-time came too early, so by late afternoon he was Mr. Cranky. He was crying and whining about everything! I was at my wits end. I was counting down the hours until bedtime. I had planned on putting them to bed extra early and ~~playing some Wii~~ picking up a bit. However, my plan was foiled.
I found this pile of bodies at 7:00 P.M. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew that if I let them nap they would not go to bed...but. But, it was quiet! There was no crying or whining or complaining. It had just been one of those days where I could not take it any longer. So I let them sleep.

Of course, when it was time for bed neither one of them were tired. That is why I was still putting a mad Zander back into his bed every two minutes and rubbing Tater's back in between at 11:00. Three hours past bedtime. Oh, what one little nap at the wrong time can do.

Are You Sick of This Yet?

2009-01-07T11:23:00.011-05:00

If not, then I'm sure you will be after this post! I am a bit excited about this room because it is Zander's first REAL room. So, I took a lot of pictures. Mainly all of the pictures are for the grandparents so that they can see all of the details of Zander's room.

First, I want to give you the back story. When Zander was born we were living in NC in a smaller house. At the time I wanted itty-bitty Zander to be in our room, so he slept in a cradle in our room. Then Tony left for Iraq and we moved up to OH where the kids and I shared a room at my Mom's house (crazy I know). When Tony got home and we moved back to NC Zander got into his "own room." However his room was also the office and by this time we knew we would be moving soon so we did not decorate his room at all. However, for Christmas, his grandparents bought him a bunch of jungle decor for his room. Then we moved to OH and again we knew where we were staying was not a permanent place so we did not decorate. Finally, we moved and my two year old "baby" gets his first room! So, even though I kind of wanted to do something a little more grown-up, we already had all of the stuff for a jungle room. It doesn't matter because he really loves his animals.

Without further ado, here is his room:
The brown is not showing up as the actual color. It is more of a chocolate brown and not so much orange. Here is a close-up shot of his giraffe:

Close-up of elephant:

Close-up of zebra and dresser with the vine that hubs hung. (I'm not sure how I feel about it yet):

Monkey and window:

His toy box:

View from other side of the room:

From the other corner:

Hey, wait a minute! Who snuck into the shot. We better take a closer look:

What a ham!

Wii Love to Play

2009-01-05T12:41:00.007-05:00

This past weekend my brother and his girlfriend stayed with us. We had such a great time with them. We spent a lot of time playing Wii, and can I just tell you how much fun it is to WATCH others while they play. Seriously, the faces and the gestures are hilarious! So much so that I just had to share a few pictures of my brother from this weekend.

This is Matt and B getting ready to race in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Note we had already played ~~for hours~~ a few games and he had to change into lighter clothes because he was getting too warm.
Here is Matt "running" the race. Is that not hilarious? I should mention that he did beat the world record, so maybe he is onto something with his technique.

Really, how can you compete against that? Maybe that was part of his strategy? Make us all laugh so hard that we couldn't concentrate on the game.
I'm sure that he is going to be thrilled that I posted these pictures. Seriously, next time you are playing Wii, watch those around you. You will thank me later.

From the front porch looking in

2009-01-02T13:33:00.014-05:00

Here is a partial tour of our:

Here is the view from the front door looking upstairs.

A view from the front door looking in. On the left is the half bath, the right is a closet, entry to garage and basement. Of course looking straight is the eat-in area.

The front room, with the red wall, is currently empty (for the most part). So I won't show many pictures of that just yet. However, here is Tater showing off her new scooter.

And here is the shrine that hubs built of himself. LOL!

Here is a view of the kitchen and eat-in area. There are two closets to the left. The door that is visible is the pantry, and to the left of that is another one (you can kind of see the bottom of it) which we are using for storage.

Here is a closer view of my beautiful new appliances. Speaking of which does anybody have any good tricks on how to keep stainless looking good? I have noticed it shows a lot of smudges and fingerprints. Also, the crockpot holds supper....taco soup, yummy!

The eat-in area leads into the living room. The living room holds the floor that we replaced.

Here is a closer look at the fireplace. I just love having fires in the evening, so cozy and warm!

We have not even begun to decorate yet. We just hung up pictures yesterday, and now I need to do some shopping for the actual decorating. Any suggestions on what to fill my empty front room with? Or what would look good hanging on the green wall? Our what color to accent that room with? What I really need is a decorator to come and help me.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T10:49:00.000-05:00

Boy 2008 quite the year! I'm going to do my best to recall some of the years highlights.

January: Tony was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. We were alternating staying with my parents and in-laws in Ohio waiting for our house to sell. It actually sold towards the end of January.

February: I celebrated my 27th birthday. This was a big month for Hannah, she started taking dance classes and pooping on the big girl potty. We also closed on our house in North Carolina and officially moved to Ohio on the 22nd.

March: Kind of a slow month for us. Alex finally got his first haircut, getting rid of the mullet that he was sporting. Our niece Leah was also born in March.

April: I found Tonya's blog and contacted her. We ended up driving to Michigan for a little party and met some wonderful families.

May: I finally finished my degree!!!! Hannah had her dance recital.

June: Quite a busy month for us. We went to the LPA convention, while we were there Tony got a job!!! He also bought a motorcycle towards the end of the month. We went on a family vacation to the OBX, where Alex learned to "swim" by himself. My credit card was stolen.

July: Hannah turned 4! Hubs and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. Hubs "moved" to Columbus and started his job. We started the LONG process of house hunting.

August: Another slow month. We spent a lot of time at my in-laws swimming. We did some major house hunting and I was adjusting to being a "single" parent.

September: Tony turned 28. My sister got engaged.

October: Alex turns 2!! Our offer was accepted on the house. We had another party up at Tonya's and met the Hedgers. We celebrated my Grandparents 60th anniversary.

November: There was a lot of waiting on the house. We finally closed on the 24th, and moved the weekend of the 28th.

December: Mostly spent unpacking and settling in our new house.

Christmas

2008-12-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

I think I may have made too many Christmas cookies this year. Considering the fact that we just moved, so we don't know anybody yet. Meaning there was nobody to share them with. So, um hubs and I ate almost all of the cookies ourselves. It all started the week after we moved in and my Mom came for a visit. While she was here we made a TON of Christmas cookies. We made three batches of sugar cookies and some oreo dippers. Then after she left I made another batch of sugar cookies with my SIL and kids. Then I made some more oreo dippers and finally I made some chewy chocolate drops.
The kids really enjoyed making the sugar cookies with Grandma. I'm not sure why both of my kids have no pants on. I'm sure it had something to do with Grandma visiting and the kids running wild.

Alex would get so excited every time he cut-out a cookie. He would proudly hold up his cookie and say "LOOK!" Of course this resulted in most of his cookies looking more like a blob then anything else.

Hannah was so serious about cutting out the cookies. She would get upset if her cookie didn't turn out perfect. It was kind of cute and scary at the same time.

We waited to ice the cookies until Zander took his nap. I'm not sure why we did that. Maybe because I am ~~smart~~ bad mom and didn't want to have to clean up the mess he would make.

These are some of Hannah's beautiful creations. She worked so hard and used almost an entire bottle of sprinkles on her creations. When we were finished she said that she wanted to give some to B (my brother's girlfriend) buy not Matt (my brother). So we wrapped up a plate and sent some to "B ONLY!"

The next day we made the oreo dippers. Alex worked so hard creating his oreo ball. Only they did not turn out very round;)

Hannah loved squishing the dough together to start the ball. It was so fun watching these two make cookies.

We had a hard time finding a tree this year. Normally we would go to an awesome tree farm where we cut our own. This year since we were new to the area we were not sure where to go. Hubs was sort of a scrooge and did not want to mess with finding a place, he wanted to just get an artificial tree. I love real trees, so I vetoed the idea and he told me that it would be my job to find one then. So, my Mom and I trekked out to find the perfect tree. However the first place we went to was outrageously expensive. I refuse to pay more than $40 for a tree that is only going to be up for a short period of time. So, then we went to a nursery nearby. They did not have a very good selection, so I said we should go home and do some research. I found a couple of places online and then off we went. However, when we left the house it started raining. Yuck. We didn't want to take the kids out looking for a tree in the rain, but we decided we would drive and find the place anyway and hopefully it would stop raining by then. On the way we passed Lowe's and my Mom saw that they had trees. We decided to stop in and see what they had. We ended up finding one, it was kind of short but I prefer fat trees over tall trees anyway so we decided to get it. Somehow, in all of that madness we ended up forgetting to check the trunk. Big mistake, as it was very crooked.

Shortly after we put up the tree it toppled over smashing some of my favorite ornaments. I was so worried that it would fall again that I decided we would have an old fashioned tree. Complete with popcorn and candy canes. Hannah and I really enjoyed stringing the popcorn together. However, she lost interest before we were done and I had to finish it myself. Which was kind of boring, but it was SO easy to take down the tree this year that it was worth it!

Christmas morning I made the kids wait on the steps while I got the camera's ready. The were so adorable and so patient. I had charged the batteries the night before, however I forgot to check the tape on the video camera and ran out of film before they even made it down the stairs. So they had to wait some more while I ran around trying to find a new tape.

We had a relaxing Christmas morning at home. The kids were so much fun. Although Hannah was kind of confused because we gave her lots of presents and Santa only gave her one. He was supposed to give her lots. She kept asking why we gave her presents and why Santa only gave her one.

Stockings were opened last. I managed to get both kids to pause long enough to snap a picture. However I am a little sad because I was trying to take video and pictures by myself so I didn't end up with very many good shots of the kids opening their presents.

After a leisurely morning we packed up the kids and headed to my parents house for about an hour, then we headed over to Tony's parents for the rest of the day. We spent Thursday night and Friday night at Tony's parents house, then we headed over to my parent's house on Saturday for my family Christmas. We had some drama on Christmas Day involving family. I can't really go into it here because I'm sure the person who it involves reads this. I will say that it involved a little miscommunication, too high of expectations and a little bit of selfishness. All of it resulted in Tony and I deciding that next year Christmas Day is OURS. We will not be making any plans on that day other then spending OUR time how we choose. If that means we stay home most of the day or travel all around the country it will be up to us how we spend it.

Word of Advice

2008-12-29T12:21:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I know I suck already! Sorry it has taken me so long to update. Geesh, I said I would be MIA for the next couple of weeks. Alright so five or six weeks might be a little longer than a couple but whatever. It has been pretty eventful around here. Not to mention that moving between Thanksgiving and Christmas has got to be the worst time to move. EVER. So, just a word to the wise, if you are planning to move in the future, try to avoid the holiday season.

So, what have I been up to. Well we moved the weekend of Thanksgiving. That week was spent unpacking and unpacking some more. We also laid a floor, got appliances, and hung at least 15 light fixtures. We bought a live tree and decorated it, only to have it come crashing down the very next day and smash some of my favorite ornaments. Bah! Our basement flooded on the 19th, on the 20th we had a Christmas party, on the 21st I started painting Alex's room and Alex got sick. (Have you ever tried to paint a room with a sick two year old? Not fun.) So that was a really great weekend. Alex was sick for three days, but thankfully nobody else contracted his plague and we had no sickness for Christmas! We had five Christmas gatherings mixed in that as well.

So, I found myself having no energy to blog. Normally I blog when the kids are asleep, but with all the unpacking and organizing I have been doing there just was not time. So now that things are starting to settle down, I should resume my normal posting schedule. Hopefully soon I will have up a Christmas post and some pictures of the new house.

It's getting closer...

2008-11-17T11:34:00.002-05:00

Because I wouldn't want to forget them!!!

I might be MIA around here for the next couple of weeks, you know with trying to move and all. Right now my house is filled with boxes, most of them empty. So, yeah I really need to get busy. However, for some reason I cannot seem to get much done during the day. Hmmm, not really sure why. Oh right, because of two small "helpers".

Also, I updated my blogroll, please let me know if I forgot someone. There are so many blogs these days that it is hard to keep up with them all.

Freedom is NOT Free

2008-11-11T10:09:00.007-05:00

Happy Veterans Day. Although, I think that statement contradicts itself. How can somebody be happy that they are a veteran? That they fought in a war? So, I guess the proper thing to say would be: thank you. Thank you to those past and present for serving our country. Thank you for giving up your "freedoms" so that we can all continue to enjoy ours. Thank you to all of the faithful wives/husbands of veterans for proudly standing by your solider.

On this day, we remember those who have served and who are currently serving. I for one am grateful for your service. I just don't think that thank you covers it.

The HOTTEST of them all ;)

Christmas, Christmas time is here...

2008-11-10T11:20:00.002-05:00

Well, it is almost here anyway. I seriously cannot believe that stores have their Christmas stuff out in full force already! Of course my children love to go into said stores and marvel at all of the gaudy decorations. Needless to say, all the Christmas decor has made me realize that Christmas truly is around the corner and I need to get busy shopping. However, I am hoping to score something for myself (and possibly others) over at 5 Minutes for Mom. They are having an awesome Christmas giveaway throughout the month of November. Hop on over there and check it out!

Happy Almost Birthday

2008-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

The USMC birthday is coming up and it makes me a little sad. Normally we would be celebrating this occasion by getting all geared up for the Ball. Obviously since Bologna is no longer in the Marines, we will not be attending and that is partially what makes me sad. What it really boils down to is that I miss being a military family. I miss the community, the understanding between the wives, I miss NC and I miss our friends. However, there is not anything I can do about that. What I can do is wish all the Devil Dogs a safe and happy birthday. As well as a big Semper Fi!

To keep with the military theme here, I was thinking the other day about when Bologna was deployed to Iraq. I was thinking about how it almost seemed easier then the current separation we are in. I'm really not sure how to explain it. He was deployed for seven months, in a relatively "safe" area. However, there was no choice involved. He had to be there. Right now, it is more of a choice for us because he is only two hours away. Really we could be together if we wanted to. I mean he is paying to stay with friends. We could pay for something for all of us or drive up and see us more.

I think that is what makes it so hard. That we could be together and we are not. When he was deployed we were so in love. When we would correspond or talk it was similar to when you first start dating someone and everything is all sunshine and roses. I'm not saying we didn't argue, because we still did but it was different. It is much harder this time. There seems to be such a strain on our marriage. We are still in love, but we have to fight for that love.

I am just so excited that this is almost over. That we will soon be living together again and instead of missing him all of the time I will probably be wondering why I missed him so much in the first place!

Fall Fun and Other Ramblings

2008-11-07T16:04:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we enjoyed some awesome warm weather, so we decided to take advantage of it and play outside. All. Day. Long. (Except nap time because I'm not crazy!) We had such a wonderful time; raking the leaves, jumping in the leaves, throwing the leaves at each other, burying each other in the leaves, basically doing all things involved with leaves.
I managed to get some good shots of Hannah. I could post quite of few of her in the leaves because she is such a good subject. She will comply when I ask her to sit still for a few minutes.

Alex on the other hand is a different story. Being his two year old self it was hard to get a good picture of him. He was a ball of constant motion. So, I finally gave up, put the camera away and just enjoyed my kids.

We had such a fun time together! The downside was that the house got a little neglected. Never mind the fact that we spent all the daylight hours outside, there still managed to be a big mess! Oh well. It was worth it and I will gladly choose spending time with my children over housekeeping any day.

Also, I somehow forgot that since I was the one responsible for making beer bread for a Tastefully Simple party tonight, that I would you know need beer. Of course I did not remember that small little fact until well after the kids were in bed. So first thing today we ran out and bought some beer so I could make the stinking bread. After only 30 minutes in the oven (it is supposed to bake for almost an hour) I started to smell burning bread. Uh-oh, sure enough it was a little burnt. Again, oh well. We'll just scrape that part off!!

Lastly, some house news. It is finally official, I think. We have a closing date!! We will finally be closing the week of Thanksgiving, which will make for a busy Thanksgiving around these parts. Of course it will be worth it to finally be living together again.

Why Mommy?

2008-11-05T12:40:00.003-05:00

When I met Lisa recently one of the things we talked about was talking to our daughters about the fact that they were different from other kids. She said that one of the tools she uses is watching Little People Big World with Lizzie. Unfortunately, we do not have cable so that is not really an option for us. I have talked to Han before about how she is special, that God made her look different, but that she is just as smart and can do just as much in her own way.

When talking to Lisa, I said something about the fact that Hannah had not yet noticed that she was different then any of the other kids and that I was not sure if I wanted to ruin her innocence on the matter just yet. I just wanted her to remain worry free for a little longer. I do not know if that is the best approach, and I was struggling with what to do about it. How do you make a four year old understand what most adults don't understand?

Well, recently she has started to notice things. Like, that her two year old brother can reach the light switches and she cannot. Or that on most bikes/trikes she cannot reach the pedals while most kids can. This has caused her to start asking questions.
"Mommy, why can Alex reach the lights and I can't? I even stand on my tipey-toes and can't."
"Mommy, why can't I reach the pedals like Dax (our next door neighbor)?"
"Mommy, why am I different?"
"Mommy why are my legs short and Anna's legs long? I don't want short arms and legs."

Although it is a little heartbreaking for me to hear her question and express these things, I keep reassuring her that she can do those things with a little modification. Such as using her light wand to reach the switches, and her pedal blocks to reach the pedals. I also reiterate how special she is, how much I love her and that she should not let her difference hold her back. That one day she will be able to do these things and until then she gets to do them her own special way.

She still questions why she has short arms/legs. I'm not sure what more I can do for her, other than surround her with love so that she can realize that, short or not, she is an amazing little girl. Now the pressure is off on how to tell her she is different, but the pressure is there on how to help her embrace her difference. Any great suggestions?

We Rocked the Vote

2008-11-04T14:26:00.004-05:00

I VOTED....with a two year old on my hip. It doesn't get much harder than that, so really there is not excuse as to not voting.
(Apparently it is harder to take a self portrait in the mirror than I thought. This was the best out of a million shots, and even then I had to crop it.) Also, in case you were wondering if I left Tater at home by herself while the boy and I walked downtown to vote, I didn't. She was with her Grandma Cath and got to vote with her. Although, she wasn't sure what a vote was and got quite anxious in line since they had to wait 40 minutes. We on the other hand walked right in and voted.

Finished Product

2008-10-30T20:55:00.005-04:00

Here is the finished product at night. This is Hannah's clown:
Alex's pirate:

Sorry for the blur, that is what I get with no flash and night photography....apparently I cannot hold very still.

60 YEARS!!!

2008-10-30T14:42:00.005-04:00

Today is my Grandparent's anniversary, they have been married for sixty years. Can you believe that? Sixty years and they make it look so easy. This past weekend we had a surprise party for them. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I did not get any pictures of the grand event. I will have to steal my Mom's memory card so I can put up some pictures of them....they are so cute! Anyway, we had a great meal, went on a hayride and had a bunch of crafts for the kids to do. One of the crafts was to color and decorate pumpkins.
Here's Zander, cheesily showing off his pumpkin creation:
And Missy with hers. She spent a long time just coloring her pumpkin, the other side is also colored.

We decided that we also wanted to carve the pumpkins with the kids. So Sunday evening before Bologna left we carved them. Alex jumped right into the goo.

Hannah on the other hand was a little more timid. Tony finally put some in her hand and let her feel it so she would be brave enough to stick her hand inside.

I caught her face mid-yuck. She actually got better after a few times of sticking her hands in.

I will have to post the finished product later because I do not have a good picture of them yet. Tony is so creative, he made Tater a clown face and Zander a pirate. I think that he actually enjoys carving the pumpkins more than the kids do and in a few years we will have to get an extra pumpkin so that he still gets to carve one;)

Disgusting doesn't even begin to cover it...

2008-10-27T12:24:00.002-04:00

Last night the kids and I went over to my Mom's house for dinner. My brother's girlfriend B wanted to learn how to make my Mom's square noodles, so we all got together to eat them. After dinner we decided to play Phase 10. During which, I was drinking some water from a water bottle. My brother, who was sitting next to me was spitting into a water bottle. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

At one point in the game I had Zander on my lap and was trying to keep him from grabbing my cards and I decided to take a drink. As I unscrew the cap and lift the bottle up to my lips I hear B. yelling "no, no, no!" It takes a few seconds to realize that she is talking to me. By then I had the water bottle up to my lips, and started to tip it up. I look down and to my horror realize I grabbed my brother's spit bottle, not my water bottle. But, it was too late, the brown liquid spit had already made it's way past my lips. Thankfully (if you can even say that about this situation) I had realized it in time to only get a tiny bit past my lips and it did not even make it to my tongue. I spit it back into the bottle and ran to wash my mouth out....several times.

The bad thing about the situation was that at the dinner table I was laughing at my Mom for actually DRINKING some of the spit that was in a diet coke bottle. Yeah, not a good idea on my part. However, B let Matt know that from now on he has to throw his bottles away as soon as he is done with them.

Like I said, disgusting doesn't even begin to cover it!

I've been tagged!

2008-10-24T10:52:00.003-04:00

I am so excited! This is the first time I have ever been tagged, hooray! Here it goes:

{10 Years Ago I ....}
1. Was a Senior in High School
2. Had been dating my hubs for four months
3. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up
4. Could not wait to get out into the "real" world....haha, like that was the real world!
5. Drove a manual Pontiac Sunfire and loved it!

{5 Things On Today's to-do-List}
1. Make and decorate 48 cupcakes and 2 cakes for my Grandparents 60th anniversary party tomorrow
2. Lots of laundry (it never ends!)
3. Dishes (they never end either!)
4. Work on BIG A, little a
5. See my HUBBY :)
Really, this list could go on and on...

{5 Things I Would D0 if I Were a Millionaire}
1. Pay off my new mortgage and furnish my new house with all new stuff
2. Pay off my student loans (and all my debt for that matter)
3. Go on a shopping spree for ME!
4. Buy a fancy new SUV because hey, I could afford the gas!
5. Help out the ones I love

{5 Places I Have Lived}
1. Fostoria, OH
2. Luckey, OH
3. Rogers, AR
4. Havelock, NC (I heart NC and would LOVE to move back there!)
5. Columbus, OH (soon...very soon!)

{5 Jobs I've Had}
1. School Aide at local County Hospital
2. Bakers Apprentice at Meijer
3. Teacher at Daycare
4. Assistant at Dr's office
5. MOMMY

I tag, Destini, Trisha, Cat, Lisa (who has not updated in two weeks!) and Sarah (because if we all tag her she might update!)

A Public Service Announcement

2008-10-21T11:46:00.002-04:00

Last weekend when my cute husband was home, he started coming down with a cold. Somehow when he gets a cold the children always manage to catch it. When the children catch a cold it is inevitable that I will then catch it because of the constant in your face communication they like to have. So, I would like to take a time-out to give my family a public service announcement.

Dear Cute Husband,
I am so sorry that you started to come down with a cold over the weekend. However, for future reference, when you start to feel like you have a cold please refrain from allowing our children to drink after you. Drinking after someone who is sick is one of the easiest ways to pass germs from person to person. Furthermore, please wash your hands every five minutes or so. Thank you very much. I love you, I just do not wish to share your sick germs with the entire family.

Love,
Your wife

Dear Missy,
When you are laying in bed with Mommy in the morning and you want Mommy to turn her head towards you because you "love me", please do not cough in my face. Furthermore when you continue to cough in my face over and over again, please do not get upset when I turn away from you. Also, please wash your hands every time you cough, sneeze, or wipe your nose (basically every five seconds). I love you very much but I wish you would not share your germs with me.

Love,
Mommy

BIG A, little a

2008-10-20T21:37:00.006-04:00

Today I decided that since Missy Tater is not in preschool, we really need to start working on her letters. I figured we would start with A and work our way through to Z (ingenious I know), doing one letter per week, capital and lowercase including the sounds that they make. We'll see how it goes. Today we worked on writing big and little a's and sang a song about the sounds they make. Then for lunch we had "Aa" sandwiches.
We also had tomAto soup. It was very yummy and the kids just loved eating their letters.

After lunch we ran to the $ store and bought some art supplies so that we could do some serious "Aa" art projects this week. When we were done there we went to my friend Steph's house for a little play date. It was great to catch up with my friend Molly who I haven't seen for a few months. Towards the end of the night we tried to get all of the kiddos on the couch for a photo, but it did not work out to well.

I chose this one because H, was sitting there all nice and proper while everyone else was in their own world. Yep, that basically sums up us trying to get five kids to sit still for five minutes.

House Update

2008-10-19T21:26:00.002-04:00

I am a little nervous to post this, but we *might* have a house! This is all so different from the last time we bought a house that I just do not know what to expect. When we bought our house in NC, we were in a military town and the market was great. It really did not take much to get everything in order, and it seems like from the time our offer was accepted until we closed was really not that long at all. This time around everything seems to be moving in slow motion. Our offer was accepted like two weeks ago and we still do not have an end in sight. We are hoping to close by November 24th, but we still do not have our financing through, our home inspection or the appraisal. So, hopefully that will all be settled by this week.

It is a really great house!! One of the most exciting things is that it is REALLY close to my SIL's house. I won't bore you with the details, but it was one of the first houses that we looked at and loved. It was a little out of our price range at the time so we decided to keep looking. Well a couple of months later and the bank had dropped the price $10,000. We offered $5,000 less and they accepted our offer! See it pays to be patient (and picky).

VOTE!!!!

2008-10-16T16:37:00.004-04:00

No, I'm not talking about voting for the next president, I'm talking about voting over at 5 Minutes for Mom. I recently found a blog and instantly fell in love with the family. Well it turns out that they are a finalist in a contest to win new bedroom furniture. You can vote once per computer until October 29th. So head on over there and help Kaden win a new bedroom set! He's finalist number 18 and if you read the story behind the picture, it will probably melt you into a puddle of goo when you read it. Please take the time to vote:)

Happy Birthday Anna Michelle!!!

2008-10-16T11:41:00.000-04:00

Today is my niece Anna's fifth birthday. I cannot believe that she is already five years old. Since I started asking her two weeks ago what she wanted for her birthday she kept saying "I need more time to think about it." So, since her party is this weekend I decided that I would just take her shopping and let her pick out whatever she wanted.

So, I picked her up yesterday afternoon and took her up to a big toy store to let her pick out whatever she wanted. After she picked out her stuff, I knew that I would be in for some serious paybacks! She picked out a bunch of art stuff...only the messy kind. The kind that most mothers either don't buy or hide on the top shelf where they can't be seen. Oh well, you are only five once!

We then came back to my house for some Wii. Let me just tell you that little miss Anna can kick some booty when playing bowling. The first game she bowled a 130! The second game she bowled a 156! After that I let her play by herself because I did not want to get beat by an almost five year old. I wish I would have thought to take a picture because she looked really cute striking her bowling pose.

Happy Birthday Anna Banana! I cannot wait to enjoy your princess party on Saturday and to see your parents expressions when you open your gifts.

Poor Little Boy

2008-10-15T22:31:00.000-04:00

Remember the baseball tee that Zander got for his birthday? He really loved that tee, it was one of his favorite things to do when we went outside to play. He would put the ball on it and hit it, then chase it around the yard. It was actually pretty cute.

Well the other night I did not put it away. I left it in the yard thinking that we would be going back outside later and we would put it away after that. However, we never made it back outside and later that night I forgot about it and shut the garage door. Well some schmuck decided to steal a two year olds favorite toy! Mind you it was in my BACKYARD in a very small town. I would have thought that it would be ok to leave a toy outside overnight.

I was so angry when I went outside the next morning and found it missing. I called my hubby and he laughed and said "What are you going to do when you move to Columbus and somebody breaks into your car....or your house?" Which made me laugh! However at least my two year old would most likely not be missing his brand new favorite toy!!

WE MET LIZZIE!!!

2008-10-14T22:30:00.000-04:00

Very photo heavy post...however there are about a thousand pictures I could post so really you are getting off easy!

Tonya had a party on Saturday and I was soooo excited not only to see everybody, but because the Hedger's were going to be there. That meant that not only was there going to be somebody Hannah's age, but there was going to be a GIRL that was Hannah's age! However, what I did not expect was how much I would enjoy talking with Lisa. Not that I don't enjoy talking with Tonya, Sarah, Sue and Cat, but this was different. This was a mommy of a girl my girl's age. (Are you following me here?) That meant that we got to talk about things that applied to our girls. Things that the other parents are not facing either a. because they have male children, or b. because they are younger than Hannah. Anyway, what I am trying to convey here is just how nice it was to be able to talk to somebody at the same point that I am. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, moving on. The kids had such a great time. As always, Tonya was such a great hostess and had so much for the kids to do. They were buys most of the time which gave all of us mommas a chance to chit-chat. There was a cardboard box house, that had a bunch of shredded paper in the middle that hid the candy. Hannah and Liz actually sat in there forever picking out that candy. It was quite funny.

I think it is so cute how Alex is just peaking in!
There was bobbing for apples, and really what more can a bunch of almost two year olds want than a big bucket full of water and apples?

Hannah and Liz really enjoyed the bobbing.

They each got to make their own bag to collect the candy in. Tonya, so crafty had foam stickers, stamps and puffy paint for them to use.

There was even a bouncy house for them to jump in and boy did they love that.

When they weren't occupied with all of that, Will gave them a box of rocks to throw into the little fish pond. I think that was on of the highlights of the night. However, it was not until much later that Hannah discovered the fish.

Hannah and Liz were just so cute together! They played so well and at one point were upstairs playing by themselves. Every now and then somebody would go check on them to find that they were playing "Princess of the year!" Not sure what that is but okay. The one bummer is that they live so far away:( I did google it and if I have the right city then currently we are only roughly two hours away. Once I move though we will be almost four hours away!

Hannah and Liz saying goodbye:

I will leave you with some of the other cuties at the party. Unfortunately I am so bad about getting pictures of the older kids, mainly because they are so busy running around!

Dude, is this party over yet? 'Cause I am wicked tired!

Cars, cars, and more cars

2008-10-08T22:03:00.001-04:00

We had Alex's birthday party last Saturday. Nothing too big, just family and a few close friends. It just so happened that Papa Randy was in town, so even he got to join in the festivities. Of course it was a Car's themed party, since Zander is all about trucks. Even though it was not a big affair the boy took home the loot! He got some fall/winter clothes which were much needed, a soccer net, a baseball tee, a variety of trucks and a big truck.

There were a couple of funny moments at the party that I want to remember. Let me start off by saying that I think his baseball tee was one of his favorite gifts and that Daddy could not get it out of the box fast enough. Now lets just think about this. We are inside and a two year old is going to hit a ball off a tee. Mind you everything was plastic but still. Daddy got it all set up and Zander stepped up to the plate and bam, hit the ball. Right into Grandpa's head! Of course we all start laughing, give him the ball back and he does it again. Ok, enough of the tee.

The other one had to do with him blowing out the candles. It is not so much funny as cute. Remember how I said he did so good blowing out his candle on the cupcake? Well not so much at the party. We got done singing and he just sat there and smiled at us. Like what, am I supposed to do something here? It finally took Papa Dave picking him up and moving him much closer to the cake before he would blow them out. I guess he thought he was too far away.

Lastly, Owen one of the youngest party goes gave us some good entertainment. Here he is:

Zander getting ready to open all of his gifts.

A close up of the cakes: Zander's expression while we were singing to him:

I mentioned before the "big truck" that Zander got for his birthday. Well hubs and I went together with Grandpa and Grandma to get Alex a big jeep. He really loved it! Here are some pictures from the first time he drove it.

Hey how do I make this thing go?

You are such a crazy driver! Here let me help you steer:

Finally we decided that Zander was just a little too young to be able to both push the pedal and steer at the same time, so we let Sissy do most of the driving after that.

Two Years Old!!

2008-10-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

Dear Zander-boo,
Today you are two years old! I cannot believe that two years have already flown by. At two years old you are quite the little man. In fact I am having a hard time with how "big" you actually are because I am still clinging to my baby. Right now I love how much you love your sister. I am not naive enough to think that it will last long, but I can enjoy it while it lasts. The first thing you ask in the morning is 'ere's Sissy? Then when we get downstairs and you see her, you break into a hugs smile ans say "SISSY!!" You love following her around all day and trying to do what she does.
You also love to read books. In fact I think that the most that you sit still is while you are on my lap reading books. Besides reading you also like to draw and color. Unfortunately you have discovered that markers, pens and even crayons will work on other surfaces besides the paper.
Another one of your favorite things are trucks. You love your trucks (which can actually be cars, tractors, motorcycles, basically anything with wheels). You push them around and love to line them up in straight rows. I love listening to you make the vroom noise. I don't even know how to describe it. It is kind of like a youm sound.
You are a smart little cookie for only being two years old. Your vocabulary astounds me, as does your ability to say sentences. You have also recently started asking the dreaded why. You have such a cute little voice though, that I don't mind. I really need to get you talking on the video camera because I know that the sound of your voice is one of those things that will be forgotten over time.
I am sorry to say that you inherited my gracefulness. Your Grandpa Allison used to call me Grace and when I would fall he would say "There's Grace in action!" I did not understand it at the time, but now when I see you constantly tripping or falling I understand. It is a rare week around here when you do not have some sort of bump or bruise.
I have enjoyed watching your personality bloom over this past year. You have turned into quite the little character. I really cannot wait to see you continue to grow and learn.

Love,
Mommy
********************************

We had a special day for you today as your party is on Saturday. When you woke up I asked you what you wanted for breakfast and you gladly yelled "EGGS!!!" You even got to help Mommy make them.
You are such a little ham these days, you will do things just to make us laugh. Which is why in almost all of these pictures you are doing your "pirate face."

Since Mommy was taking you shopping to get the rest of the stuff for your party I decided to spike your hair for the day. You actually like it when I spike your hair because you like to look at yourself in the mirror and laugh at your hair.

Grandma Cath, Anna and Abbie went shopping with us. Then when we got home we had special cupcakes just for you.

Since it is only your second birthday, I figured you would need a little help with the whole blowing out the candle thing. However, I was very wrong! You blew out the candle before I was ready, so I re-lit it in order to get a picture of you blowing it out.

Your cousins and sissy were glad to be here for your little party. Even if they all only ate the frosting off the cupcake!!

I took your shirt off because I thought you would make a big mess with your cupcake. However I was pleasantly surprised that you barely made a mess at all.

I love you little boodle!

Pink

2008-10-01T16:50:00.004-04:00

Tater-Tots-n-Fries has went Pink for October. It took me a good part of the day, because I found the background that I loved and I was looking for a color to put over it. Unfortunately I could only find pink. I admit it is a little over the top, but I wanted to show my support for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I admit that I am not very educated about Breast Cancer, but isn't that what this is all about? Educating people about Breast Cancer while raising awareness? I would like to encourage everyone to go PINK!

Two years ago today....

2008-10-01T15:34:00.003-04:00

I was suffering through contractions! I cannot believe that my baby boy turns two tomorrow. I will have a full blown tribute up by 12:43 a.m. so stay tuned.

Random nothingness

2008-09-29T18:54:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we had a girls weekend! My mom, my sister, my sister's friend from work, Tater and I went to Cleveland to stay with my brother's girlfriend B. (Wow, did you catch all of that?) We went wedding dress shopping!!! Tater was SOOOO excited to go to B's house and spend that night. She ended up staying up waaay past her bedtime and hanging out with the girls. We then woke up entirely too early and spent the majority of the day looking at dresses. I am proud to say that she did amazingly well for going on that little of sleep. In fact my sister through a bigger fit than the Tater did! We got home late Saturday night which leads me to being overwhelmed.

That is how I am feeling right now. My house is such a disaster right now...um, like scary messy. Like so messy that I should not be on the computer right now, I should be digging through the mess. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, we left on Friday night and the house was pretty clean. We got home late Saturday night and by Sunday night the house was messy. It must have been the fact that I was so tired from all the shopping we did on Saturday that I did not feel like picking up after the kids. Now it is Monday night and I still have not picked up after them. So, yeah it is pretty messy and I am not motivated to get it straightened out...just overwhelmed by the mess.

We still have.not.found.a.house. What is wrong with us people? We have looked at a bazillion houses and still nothing. I am getting so desperate to find a house that I even let hubs go look at houses by himself on Sunday. Still nothing! You would think we were signing over our lives or something. Well I guess we basically are, but still. It is starting to get really stressful around here, and by really stressful I mean I am feeling the pressure and taking it out on hubs. We really need to find a house soon.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

2008-09-14T20:18:00.006-04:00

My sister, who it seems is barely old enough to be out of diapers let alone old enough to get married, announced that she is engaged. Her and her boyfriend went on vacation this past week up to Canada and she called home Friday night with the good news. Here is a picture of her and her fiance, taken last weekend at my cousin's wedding:
She also wanted to talk to the Tater to see if she would want to be a flower girl. Of course Tay is very excited that Cara and Zach are getting married because this means that Zach is now a part of our family. However, Zach is her first crush. I don't think she realizes that this should be devastating news as she no longer has a chance to win Zach's heart. Last weekend at the wedding my brother's girlfriend wanted to take a picture of Tater with Zach, so she told Tater to sit with Zach. This is the picture from my angle:

Everybody at the table died laughing when Hannah put her hand up like that! It was soooo cute!
Anyway, congratulations Cara and Zach! We are so happy for you!

No Comment

2008-09-10T12:03:00.003-04:00

Literally. I cannot comment on any of your blogs! I mentioned before that something is messed up on my laptop which did not allow me to comment. It always redirects me then my comment disappears into internetland. Which meant that I could comment when I got on the home computer or hubby's computer. Then hubby went out of town and I could only comment from the home computer. Then a few weeks ago the home computer crashed. So, now I cannot comment...and it sucks. I wanted to tell you all that I am still reading your blogs and OMG Kim I cannot believe that you pulled off the move and kept your mouth shut until two weeks before! Seriously!
Katie -- I want to know the secrets of html. Your blog is always so cute and I want to mix things up here.
Anyway, until I get my "puter" fixed just know that I am out there lurking in the shadows!

Leader of the Pack

2008-09-04T15:51:00.004-04:00

It all started out innocent enough. You see, hubs has always wanted a motorcycle and I have always vetoed his right to have one. You would have to know my husband to understand that he has quite the wild and reckless side so a motorcycle and him just do not mix. Sometime in late winter he started looking at motorcycles on the internet, just pricing them and watching them on ebay. Then he started talking to me about getting one. We made a deal, he could get a motorcycle if I got Wii, Wiifit, a bike and trailer and a smart phone. I thought he would never go for such a thing...then slowly but surely my treasures started rolling in. First the bike and trailer, but that was just so we could be together as a family. Then when I graduated in May he bought me all the Wii stuff, for a graduation present. The one thing still left of my list was a smart phone. I thought I was safe.

We continued to discuss the motorcycle. Me telling him that he should wait until he had a job and we saw what our finances would be like. Him telling me how much gas he would save. Then June came and he got a job. Uh-oh now the pressure was on. I still told him to hold out...but have I mentioned how stubborn and compulsive my husband is? The day that we were leaving for vacation, the day that we would be stuck together in a car for 14+ hours he decides that would be a good day to buy a motorcycle WITHOUT telling his wife about it.

Seriously, I was so livid the man is lucky to be alive. How could ha make such a large purchase without my knowledge? Let's just say it was a looong ride! However, just look at how cute he looks:
It's hard to stay mad at him when he's so darn cute! Seriously though, I am happy that he has his toy. I'm glad that he has something that he has always wanted and that it makes him happy. However, do you think he could at least have enough sense to wear a helmet? Especially when traveling long distances? He's not invincible ya' know and I wish he would get that through his thick skull!