A Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend we looked at over 20 houses in three days. Yeah, that is a lot. In fact it is so many that they are all starting to run together. When the realtor emails an update about a property I usually have no clue what she is talking about and have to look the property up to refresh my memory. It is like a light bulb that then goes off and I say, oh I remember that is the one with xyz that I did NOT like. However, let's face it I did not like just about EVERY house that we saw. Either the house was to small and the yard was perfect or the house was great with a tiny yard or, or, or...the list goes on.

BTW, thank goodness for awesome family! They are so awesome that they kept our kids Friday evening and all day Saturday (even though it was my brother-in-law's birthday) so that we would not have to drag the kids through that many houses. On Sunday, we did not want to burden them with our children again, so we did drag them with us and thankfully they did surprisingly well.

We did see a few promising ones, most of which were in foreclosure so we would be getting a great deal on them. The one that I liked the most was perfect on the inside. It met all of my criteria, had everything that I have ever wanted in a house except a finished basement. The yard was a bit on the small side and was not fenced in. I keep telling myself those two things are easily fixable. We do not need a finished basement because the house is so big that we can just use the basement as extra storage and then eventually finish it. The yard, well it does not have to be fenced in...we have never had a fenced in yard and it can easily be fenced in. I keep telling myself that over and over. Truly I am in love with the house and I can easily look past those two imperfections, but am I settling? Is there a house out there with an awesome backyard just waiting for me? Will it still have my garden tub, wood floors, fireplace, etc.?

I just do not know what to do. Oh internet, please help me. Tell me if I am being too picky, or if I should keep looking. Will I be settling if we buy this house even though I do love the actual house? While you're at it could you find me that perfect house and sell it to me at a reasonable price?

Yikes Mommy!

As overheard this morning after breakfast. Tater is on the couch in some weird position with her leg up by her face. (We all know how flexible our kids are.)

Tater: "Yikes Mommy! You know what? I have reawwy wong hair on my weg!"

Me: Sort of a stunned silence, thinking that it will stay long for many, many years. " Yes, you do! Isn't that cool?"

9 to 5

Or Monday through Friday of being a "single" Mommy. You know, no reinforcements coming in at the end of the day. Just me and the kiddos all day and all night. This marks the second week of Tony working all week and it actually has not been that bad. I mean seriously I survived two deployments and loads of training activities, I can handle five days (and nights) with the kids...can't I?

Actually we are so busy right now that the days have been flying by. The kids seem to be handling it well. Hannah is such a busy body that I'm not even sure she realizes Daddy is gone half the time. She understands that he is working in Columbus where Riah-roo lives and that we will see him on the weekend. She also enjoys talking to him on the phone and telling him about the excitement of her day. Today it was feeding the horses carrots at Vacation Bible School a*k*a Arkfest.

Zander on the other hand doesn't really understand. In the morning, Daddy has been the one to get Zander up the past few weeks. So Wednesday of last week when I went to get Zander out of bed this is the conversation that we had:

Zand: "No Mommy! 'Ere's Daddy?" (Said in his sweet little baby voice with his hands in a shrug position.)
Me: "Daddy's at work, he'll be home on Friday, only two more days!"

That was the end of it he happily came to me. Then Daddy was home for the weekend and Zander was so happy to see him. Then Monday morning came and we had this conversation:

Zand: "No Mommy! 'Ere's Daddy?" (Said with same sweet voice and hands out in a shrug position.)
Me: "He had to go back to work baby, he'll"
Zand: Interrupting "No work!" (No more sweet voice.)

If only it was that simple sweetie. So, this weekend we are packing up and heading down to visit Daddy and spend a fun filled weekend looking at houses. I do not think it is going to be pretty. I have a pretty specific list and I'm not really willing to budge on most of it. So wish me some happy house hunting this weekend.


On another note, I think my son is a genius. No really he is! He is only 21 months old and has quite the extensive vocabulary. Not to mention he is saying short sentences. I started counting his words the other day and stopped at 60!!! 60 words, holy cow. I know that he says more than 60, I just stopped there because I felt like it could go on forever. So yah, he's a genius in the making. Of course Hannah is a genius as well. Didn't you know? My spawn, they are all geniuses!

Another Slacker Blogger

Well I do have a good reason for not posting this week so maybe we could hold off on that title for a little bit longer. My power cord died on Sunday, which means I was out of battery by Monday. Oh, and Tony started his new job on Monday, so with him gone it was a bit hard to find any time to myself! I know, I know. I could have went out and bought new power cord...but that would have just been too easy. So, hubby and I are headed out today to buy one.

I do have a whole list of things to blog about so stay tuned. However, I am going to back date them for historical reasons. Haha! No really, I started this blog for family and friends to keep track of Tater when we had moved out of state and also as sort of a journal to keep track of important events. Which is why I like to have some of them dated on the right dates. Anyway, I am working on the birthday pictures now!

Happy Anniversary Babe!!

I cannot believe that today marks SEVEN years!! I guess we have almost made it past the seven year itch. We have been married for seven years, and it does not seem like it has been that long. (That is a good thing right?) Who would have that seven years ago that we would be where we are today? I love you sweetie and I hope that the next seven years fly by with just as much fun and excitement....well maybe a little less excitement like say fewer moves.

A Party Suited for a Princess

We had Hannah's FOURTH birthday party Saturday. (Seriously, I cannot believe that Hannah is four!!) For weeks upon weeks Hannah was set on having a polka-dot party. I was all set for that because it would have been so easy to decorate and plan. I found cute generic polka-dot plates and napkins and making the cake would have been a breeze. Not to mention how easy it would have been to decorate. However when it came time to by the invitations, Hannah came with me to the store. After filling our cart full of polka-dots, we were leaving the aisle and guess what she saw? Tinker Bell! So after a little hard work and creativity we had a Tink party.

The cake and cupcakes Mommy made.

Party decorations

We had the party at Grandma's house because she has so much fun stuff for all of the kids. Hannah had so many family and friends there that she did not know what to do! All of her cousins were there, her friends Reece and Owen were there and Knoah and Kaela came!

It was so much fun and the kids all seemed to have a great time. Now, I leave you with a ton of pictures that I will have to label later because Daddy is telling me that he needs his puter to do homework.

Her big thing is to say: "Three is gone now and I'm four!"

Four

Happy Birthday "Baby" Girl!! Wow! I cannot believe that you are already four! Where has time gone? It does not seem possible. I clearly remember just bringing a little peanut who was swimming in preemie clothes, home from the hospital just yesterday. Has it already been four years?


At four years old you are still a cross between a "baby" and a big girl. I would love to keep that baby in you as long as possible. I just love your personality and how you are always singing and dancing. Even if there is no music you just make up your own. Whenever people meet you, they are always asking if you are a dancer because you dance so much! When we went on vacation this year, the first thing you did at the ocean was to dance in the waves. You are learning so much and can even write your own name! You can draw shapes and people and you love to paint. Another favorite activity of yours is to cut paper. You will sit and cut shapes for hours.


This past year we have moved back to Ohio and you have transitioned so well. You love being close to your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. In fact almost every weekend you spend the night with Grandma Cath. You also took your first dance class this year and had your first recital. You were the cutest little dancer I have ever seen and we were so proud of how good you did. We also attended our first LPA convention! We had so much fun and I foresee many years of LPA events in our future. This summer you have turned into quite the swimmer. You are so brave; you will jump off the side of the pool and go under, you love to wear 'noculars and swim under the water and you love to perform you tricks for us.

Tater, you are such a sweet girl. You have such a gentle and fun loving spirit with a little spunk mixed in. You have quite the personality with such determination that I do not think that you will ever meet a challenge in your life that you will not face head on. I hope that you continue to grow in the Lord and love those around you. Keep the spunk girl, keep the spunk!

OBX

We just returned from a week at the beautiful Outer Banks, NC. We stayed on Corolla Beach with Bologna's family and a great time was had by all. I have been pretty busy getting ready for a certain little girl's fourth birthday party, so this is just a little preview of our time at the beach. Enjoy!

P.S. I was very tempted to find Nathan and Patricia's church and show up on Sunday, but I thought that might come across as being a bit stalkerish. Maybe next year!

We "met" the Roloff's!!!

*Warning: Very photo heavy post!*

This past week Hannah, my Mom and I went to the LPA (Little People of America) National Convention. It was held downtown in Detroit at the beautiful Marriott Renaissance Center. We had such a great time and the workshops were very informative. I was a little worried ahead of time because I did not know what to expect and whether or not it would be worth going since Hannah was still pretty young. However, the workshops were great, the people were great...just about everything was great! I attended some really informative workshops that included: Ortho issues in young children, Achondroplasia specific diagnosis workshop, the ABC's of education, Sewing and Alteration, Dwarfism in Ancient Egypt, Dwarfism a world view and how we impact it as well as a couple of others.

The following are a few highlights from the week!
Here is the sign that greeted everyone in the lobby.

I say we "met" the Roloff's, but we really did not. We did get our picture taken with them though. They did a nice presentation about where the met, and how the show has impacted their lives and at the end had a picture time. Even though Hannah does not know who they are, I think it will be a nice photo for her to have when she gets a little older.

During the Newcomer's Reception, Owen decided to take over the International Group and become the leader! As always, he was such a cutie!!

The hotel was located right on the Detroit River and directly across the river you could see Windsor.

Apparently the GM building (which is attached to the Marriott) has spent a lot of money renovating the area. One of the things that they have done is to revitalize the waterfront. Hannah really enjoyed the fountain that the put in as part of the revitalization.

One of her favorite things to do was to step on the water when it would go down and try to block it from coming back up.

Another one of her favorite things was to visit the "water falls" that were located in the GM building. Every time we would enter the building for a workshop she would ask if the waterfalls were on and if we could go see them.

Detroit and Windsor put together one of the Nation's largest fireworks displays. Here is Hannah in awe of the fireworks.

Here she is with some 3D glasses that somebody gave her to try.

Knoah enjoyed the fireworks as well! He is such a cutie and he was such a ham the entire time we were there that I think my mom fell in love with him!

Here is Miss Priss with her sword that Gramma Cath bought for her. She was soooo spoiled the entire time we were there. Pretty much whatever her little heart desired she got. You gotta love Grandmas!

When I got home I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me!!! I have been wanting a Wii for quite some time and my hubs surprised me with one for my graduation present. I think it was sort of a combination of celebration of his exciting news and my graduation.

What I didn't tell you the exciting news? He had a job interview Monday, which is the main reason why he did not go to convention, and he got the job!!! Hooray he finally got the job. It was not the job that he had originally wanted but it is with the same company and he is really excited about it.

So we had quite the week...now wii are having a grand time...I mean getting ready to leave on vacation tomorrow!!

Summer of Meeeeee!

Have you been wondering about my weight loss? I know you are just dying to hear all about it. Unfortunately I kind of fizzled out. I did a great job on cutting down my portion sizes and sugar intake. However, I kind of fizzled out on the whole exercise thing. I would rollerblade here and there, or go for a walk with the kids but nothing to really get me motivated. Summer Slimdown came and went and I only lost 5 lbs. Nothing major. Of course it also could have been my sweet tooth that slowed me down.

So I decided to try again this time it is the Summer of ME. Christie over at Baby Tea Leaves is keeping the fun going. This time I decided that I am going to do an actual program to keep me motivated. I have actually done the program before and had good results, so I know I can do it. I am doing the Couch to the 5k program. It is a fairly "easy" program because it starts off in small intervals and gradually works up to 30 minutes of running. I actually started the program today and boy oh boy are my legs tired! Going up and down the stairs is killing me. I really need to shower but I'm putting it off because I do not want to go up those steps! So, I have my program now I just need to find a 5k to run!

I should also try to start some sort of diet. Does anybody have any suggestions on a good one? I don't care for weight watchers that much because even though it works, I hated having to calculate my points and how much food was worth etc. So, I would like something a little easier to use.

Anyway, feel free to leave weight loss tips, recipes or any sort of motivation to help me keep that ticker moving!! Now I'm off to try to hobble up those darn stairs!

Something to cry about

OUCH!!! Poor little Zander-doodle! We had a serious high chair malfunction last night and it was not pretty. We were eating dinner at my in-laws and we had just sat down for dinner with the colonel. Zander started to squirm and the highchair seat flipped forward (out of the base) and he smacked his face on the table and flipped him completely upside down. Hubby flipped the seat back up and his face was just covered in blood.

It took a while to clean him up and calm him down, but it was not that bad. Of course I was the one wearing most of the blood. We (and by we I mean me) decided to take him to the ER just to make sure everything was ok. He thankfully did not need any stitches, and we were out of the ER in under a half an hour!!!

Apparently over time the screws came loose (although my in-laws have had that chair less than a year) and his wiggling was enough to cause an imbalance in weight. We were blessed that it was nothing more than a bloodied up lip. He hit the table so hard and it could have been much worse, like a broken nose, if he would have been positioned slightly different. Even though it was scary, he was back to his busy little self by the time we got back from the ER. That boy is one tough kid.

Scum! SCUM!!!

So. Hubby and I have been talking about buying bikes. (By the way does anybody have a recommendation on what type of bike to get?) We decided that we would go look at some tonight, do some window shopping and comparisons. So he tells me to get a one of our store credit cards out, just in case that store has something that we like. Well I went to get it and couldn't find it. We looked in a couple of different places that we keep our credit cards, we looked in our wallets and could not find it. So, hubs decides to just look online just to be certain that there was no recent activity. Guess what. There was $1,700.00 worth of charges!!! What?! So we immediately called the credit card company to report the card stolen. The rep. that I talked to said that a charge was actually going through as we talked. She added up all of the charges and came up with $2,500!!! Are you kidding me? It makes me so mad that there are people that do this sort of thing. Yes I know that it happens all of the time and no, I am not going to say that I never thought it would happen to me because I have thought about it. That is why we do not carry all of our credit cards in our wallets. We only carry the one that we are using.
The thing of it is that it was not just one or two charges, it is a lot of little charges at a lot of different stores over the past month. The first charge showed up on May 17. It makes me wonder that there are that many stores and non of them checked I.D. It makes me angry that this person is just running around the area, yes it is local, (they have used the card in many of the surrounding cities) using my card. It angers me that nobody is checking I.D.'s, it angers me that some stores do not even require you to sign if the charge is less than a certain amount.
We filled out a report with the local law enforcement. We are working with the credit card company, but I have little faith that this person will be caught. We are not going to be held responsible for any of the charges, which I am thankful for, but I am just so angry that this person can rip off a company and not get caught. Maybe the credit card company will take it a little more serious than I suspect they will, who knows. Scum, scum I tell you.
Just make sure that you write CHECK I.D. on the back of all your cards!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Have you ever read the book: No, David! by David Shannon? I used to read it to my three year old class when I worked in a daycare. It is a really cute book that apparently Shannon wrote when he was a little boy. Every page he illustrated a picture of himself doing something that he shouldn't be doing and at the top of the page would be the words "No, David!"
Back in my childless days I found the book to be humorous. At the time I was an Early Childhood Education major and scuffed about how I would never spend my days telling me child no. I would redirect, I would say yes to more things....I would be the best parent I could be!
Hahahaha!! Fast-forward a couple of years. Here I am with two kids: my mellow, sweet Tater who rarely "gets into trouble" aside from telling me no or hitting her brother and then there is my bruiser Zander. What can I say? I spend my days chasing him around, trying to keep him from killing himself and guess what the most common phrase out of my mouth is? Yep! "NOOOOO!" It is like he is looking for trouble. Climbs anything, eats anything, can open ANYTHING, can reach anything...nothing is safe from this kid.
When I reflect on my day, it makes me feel sad knowing how often this kid hears no. He can sometimes be found saying "No, no, no!" for really no reason. I am trying to redirect more, I am trying to engage him in more activities (by the way have you ever tried to engage a 20 month old in an activity?) but I still find myself saying the dreaded N word more then I would like. What I am finding is that boy, this kid can throw a tantrum. Up to date the most embarrassing just happened on Thursday. I say most embarrassing because it was our first public meltdown. We were shopping at the local mall and trying to find a pair of sandals for Tater's wide feet. In the last store we visited we finally found some crocs. We thought we should try some on Alex too, just for fun...until I saw the price tag ($40.00!! um, online they are 24.99) and about had a heart attack. I think we will keep looking, I told my Mom. These don't fit very good, I told the girl and boy. I took the shoes off Alex and he just started to scream! Thankfully he was strapped in the stroller because that would have been lovely if he was able to throw himself on the floor. Anyway, I got the pleasure of pushing the screaming child out of the store to the parking lot where he continued to scream until we drove off. Fun times.
I say this because I am in a rough patch right now. There are a few areas in my life where I am feeling like a failure. My weight, my parenting skills, my organizational skills and some too personal to mention here. I just have that overwhelming feeling of failure that makes me want to curl up in a ball and hideout for a couple of weeks.

WOOOO-HOOOOO

This has been a very crazy weekend. I was running around trying to get my FINAL school project done because yesterday was my VERY LAST day of class. It was so exciting turning everything in and knowing that I am done (for now) with school. I will soon be the proud owner of a nice shiny diploma. Now...what to do with that diploma.

I seriously have no idea what I will fill my time with, in the evenings after the kids go to sleep that is. I could catch-up on my scrapping. Or I could read some good books. Since most of my books lately have been from the child selection or accounting selection I need some suggestions. Has anybody read anything good lately?

We are leaving tomorrow for Columbus because hubs has interview there Thursday morning, so please pray for him. He really wants this job and our savings is starting to deplete. After his interview we are heading south to Arkansas because my little bro is graduating for high school. CONGRATULATIONS BRANDO! We are not sure how long we are staying there, but on the way back we are stopping in Kansas City to visit one of Tony's buddies from the Marines. So it is going to be a very busy week or so.

Did I mention that I am done? Soon I will be considered a college graduate!!!!!!

My little ballerina

This past weekend was Tater's first recital! I was probably more nervous than she was. First off let me start by saying that this was a much bigger production than I thought it would be. Initially, when I signed her up for dance I had two options: beginner's ballet or a mommy and me class. The beginner's ballet had a recital at the end and I thought: "How cute, a recital! Same cost...how much fun would that be." I had no idea. I did not realize that she would have to have special shoes, make-up, a bun, $14.00 a seat tickets and no flash photography or video (because you can buy a professional video for only $30.00)! Seriously, this was a 3 and 4 year old class, not a Broadway show. Moving on...

(Notice my adorable niece next to Hannah really rockin' the show. She was so serious about dance!)

Like I said, I was much more nervous than her. I thought for sure she would get out there and freeze but she did exceptionally well. From what I could see backstage, she remembered all of the moves! The only mishap was that half of the girls (Hannah included) ran off stage the wrong way. It was so cute, they ended and stood there for a minute looking back and forth and then ran off the wrong way. Meanwhile we were back there trying our hardest to get them to come to us.
Here she is after the "grand ally" holding her flowers. I made sure that Daddy picked some up on the way to the show and she was so proud to get them. However, once her Grandma gave her a figurine the flowers were long forgotten.
Meanwhile, Zander was with Uncle Ty...the bachelor. Notice anything funny about his diaper?

Happy Mudder's Day

I hope that everyone had a wonderful mother's day or mudder's day according to Tater! Were you all pampered with breakfast in bed, no housework and no dirty diapers? No? Well me either! What is that about? We should all be royalty for the day! Seriously though, it was a great mother's day. Time spent with family and an amazing gift for a day at the spa as well as a beautiful gift picked out by the Tater herself!

However, as I was thinking about mother's day I started thinking about all of the mother's that don't get acknowledge and/or women who find mother's day to be extremely hard. What about the first mom's, who chose (or we coerced) into placing their baby with another family. Or those women who long to hold a baby in their arms, and can't conceive. Those of us with are complete family can rejoice this weekend because we are complete!

For others everything about this past weekend (and week building up to it) have been extremely hard. Another reminder of what they are missing. Everywhere you turn it is another commercial, ad or program reminding us that mother's day is upon us and we should honor mom with that something special gift. Can you just imagine being reminded at every turn just what you are missing? I can't even begin to fathom the pain.

On this mother's day, I would like to honor those women. Give them the acknowledgement that they deserve. So, to all those women whose arms are empty...there is not much that can be said to ease your sorrow, but I would still like to acknowledge you. Hopefully, someday soon you will be able to fill your empty arms. Happy first-mom's day, to all first moms! If I were a Hallmark card creator, I would make a card just for you.

Now for a little humor: check out this song.

Scavenger Hunt

Have I ever mentioned that I am a procrastinator? That would explain why at 7:45 I was running around like a mad woman trying to get my pictures taken for the scavenger hunt. I have known about said scavenger hunt since Monday and have been formulating my pictures since then. However, today I kind of forgot about it and the next thing I knew it was 7:45. So, I did not get to do it quite like I would have liked, but oh well.
Below you will find some of the healthiest foods in my house....mmmm, the fixings for a yummy salad!
Here is the most unhealthy food in my house. One of my weaknesses: cake batter ice cream. It is so delicious! Thankfully, we have had it four two weeks and there is barely any missing! (And yes I realize that the flowers are very brown, but Tater just picked them and wanted me to use it in my picture!)

Here are two of my favorite workout must-haves! My favorite shirt for jogging in and my Ipod...although it is rather large and not easy to run with. I would really like to get a nano, but that is neither here nor there.

A picture of part of me exercising:

This one was the trickiest as it was 7:45. However it is usually a nightly ritual when Mommy gets on the ball to do abs, kiddos see it as an open invitation. This was a very hard picture to take, in fact I had worked up a sweat by the time I got this shot that actually shows the ball. I do hate how I look, but time was running low.

To top it off....I lost a pound and a half this week. Woo-hoo!

Hello....?? Anybody there?

Geeze! I cannot believe that it has been so long since I posted! Where does time go? Well I blame it on my computer woes. (Yes I know that is the same excuse Cat used, but it really is true.) Something is up with my computer, first I couldn't leave comments on other blogs, then when I would try to log in it would redirect me a couple of times before I could log in and then it would redirect me over and over again and sometimes I could log in and sometimes I could not. So, I would just give up and move on. Point being, in order for me to post I have to use hubby's computer sometime during the day. If I don't get to it before dinner time, I'm out of luck. How often do you think I have time during the day to sit down uninterrupted? Yes, there is nap time but usually I am doing things like, oh I don't know laundry, dishes, vacuuming, picking up toys etc. I hope you all didn't give up on me...we're still here!

Hannah has her recital tomorrow! She is so excited. I just hope she does ok once she gets up on that big stage and sees everybody looking at her!

My other excuse for being MIA. It has been so nice out that we have been spending a lot of time outdoors. The kids are usually so much happier when we are outside AND they sleep so much better after running around all day. It really makes my life easier.

Weight Loss Extravaganza....Week 1

Well....I did not lose much weight this week. (Little side note: I actually thought I gained weight, but I think I read the scale wrong the first time I weighed myself because I did not turn the light on and I did not have my glasses on. So I was shocked when I read the scale the second time and I saw a 7 instead of a 1!!! At least I'm hoping that I read the scale wrong because I don't think it is possible to gain six pounds in a matter of a couple of days.) I am blaming my lack of weight loss on my Mom. She not only bought a cheesecake from Olive Garden (mmmm, black tie mouse cake) and sent me home with four pieces, but she also baked her awesome chocolate chip cookies and gave us about two dozen! So yeah, I'm blaming her!! Way to be responsible for my actions I know. I did however do very good with getting some exercise. I walked almost everyday (with a pinch of jogging), did some videos online, and of course tons of abs. Unfortunately, the junk food killed me. So my goal for next week is to jog a little bit more and stop eating the junk food! I think I am actually going to keep a log so that I see how much I am eating.

So I am a little disappointed with my results this week, but it just shows me I need to work a little bit harder next week!!

Edited: I just weighed myself again...not because I am obsessed or anything but because I thought that I did a lot of work this week and the scale just had to be wrong. Well when I weighed myself again I was down a total of 2.5 pounds!!! So I'm counting it for the week!

She is a QT!

The Tater got her outfit for her recital on Thursday. Doesn't she make an adorable ballerina?

The outside time-out corner woes. This is what happens when your Mommy tells you THREE times to get out of the neighbors yard and you don't listen!

Because this view is much funnier then the one previously posted!