Monday Musings--P.M. edition

I......

~have had a day.

~have been treating a very sick little boy (if you don't already know that from my *friend* Facebook) named Colin and his two little brothers (who are following in his footsteps but do not seem to be as bad off as he is) for acute bronchitis. *Official* diagnosis given today--as if I haven't been through this a million times and didn't know that already, but alright. I mean, really--I enjoy giving the doctor's offices our hard earned money to tell me something I already knew.

~have given 81 nebulizer treatments since last Wednesday. *WHEW.* It's about to become 84.

~have chewed so much Vitamin C in the last few days that I think my teeth may actually be turning an orange-y tint.

~have never seen a fever as high as Colin's on Friday night--105. Can you believe that? Talk about a Momma freaking out over her little boy.....we treated him immediately with a luke-warm shower (which felt freezing to him, poor little guy), cold compresses, and then alternated Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the next several hours. Three hours later, his fever was down to 100.8 and this Momma was feeling much better.

~have never been so close to taking my child to an ER in any of their existences.

~have a van that smells like vomit. Colin coughed so hard on the way to the doctor today that he threw up everywhere. My pulling-the-car-over-as-fast-as-I-could/grabbing-a-plastic-bag-for-him-to-throw-up-in/missing-his-first-launch-by-about-a-second-and-a-half-but-catching-everything-else reaction was pretty much awesome....until I realized after he finished throwing up that said bag had a hole in the bottom, and all the contained throw up was now un-contained and all over him, his car seat, his seat belt, and the van seat. OY. This could only happen to me.

~am thankful that, even though we have been diaperless for a good six months now, I still keep wipes in the car. Thank God for baby wipes. As I was crying in the middle of holding poor Colin--who was still dry-heaving on the side of the interstate at this point--and trying to rack my brain as to what on earth I was going to do about this, I realized that they were the only things I had in the van that were even semi-suitable for cleaning up such a mess.

~have never used that many baby wipes in one sitting since having my babies. Unbelievable.

~am weary....but so thankful that God has answered my one prayer through all of this--to please not let me get sick! Somehow, after being coughed on, breathed on, coughed on, sneezed on, and coughed on continually for the last six days, I am still healthy. And, I'm praising God for that!

~finally have a son who has been without a fever for 18 hours. Yippee!!

~have been asked: "Is it H1N1?" The truth is, I have no idea. The doctor didn't have any idea today either, and truly didn't seem bothered to even be concerned with "what is it?"--which is pretty much how I feel. She thought it might be flu related, but also said it might not be--but that it didn't really matter now, because the fever was gone which meant the virus was on it's way out. Whatever it was, I'm just glad it's over!

~really hope I have something much more fun to blog about next Monday.

Goodnight friends!

"I Mommy! I Mommy!"

I swear....

....that's exactly what he said to me.....

....as he came into my bathroom.....

....looking like this.....

Kindergarten class celebration

Cameron, Ethan and I had so much fun taking 'treats' to Colin's class this morning! I went all out and made cupcakes (ahem). You know, 'cause....five and six-year-olds need cupcakes at 9:30 in the morning.

{Excuse my lovely, beat up and discolored baking sheet. Well, you can tell I use it, at least.}

"Happy 6th Birthday Colin!!"

When it's your special day, you get a special crown, balloons on your seat, get to stand on the chair and get your birthday 'spankings' and have the entire class sing to you. They even sing 'cha-cha-cha' style!

Here's some video of the spankings and the class singing (don't mind me giggling at all the funny things his little classmates were doing the entire video):

Colin was so cute. I love that kid.

Wordless Wednesday

Colin is SIX!

With Colin's birthday being Halloween, we always have the issue of 'the party'.

Should we do one?

Will anyone come, with it being such a busy day?

We've already got a full day of activities....are cake/presents/all-that-commotion just too much?

The answer has been on most years "yes". Including this one.

But, even without 'the party', we still have a great celebration of the day, because that's what birthdays are really all about--not huge parties with too many children overloaded on vast amounts of sugar--but rather, having a special day that honors our special child! And that's what we set out each year to do, and what we try to focus on, official 'party' or not!

We started with a special breakfast, made by Daddy. Shane is the breakfast expert in our house, and cooked Colin and the boys up some of his specialty--chocolate chip banana pancakes (in the shape of Mickey Mouse, no less!) May sound a bit weird, but they are absolutely to die for! Col was one happy guy.

Mommy put the finishing touch on his plate--six birthday candles--so that, at 8:30, we were starting the day off already in celebration mode!

Love that smile--can't believe this guy came into the world six years ago!
(I blogged about his birth story here {day one} and here {day two},
if you would like to read it! Yes, it was a two day adventure to get him here....)

After the candles were lit of course comes the happy birthday song. I sang to Colin, and then looked at Ethan and said, "Say happy birthday to Col, Ethan!" I think he must have thought I said, "SING happy birthday to Col", because he jumped right in singing himself! {Not very clearly, a bit jumbled--as if he wasn't trying all that hard or was embarrassed by the camera or something--but it was Happy Birthday all the same!}

It was so cute to me how E confused the "happy birthday dear Colin" personalized version of the song with our generic church version, "happy birthday, God bless you". He actually sang, "happy birthday God bless Colin!" So, so cute. *grin*

I also loved it when Col said, "I got my own birthday!" "I got my own Mickey Mouse pancakes!" That just made me feel like he felt special, which was our whole goal for the day.

Here's some video....

Then, Colin actually left for a little while to go have some fun
with Grandma Jane, so the littler boys, Daddy, and I did some pumpkin painting!
Cam, starting on "Peanut's Pumpkin"

Ethan LOVED this!

I think what he actually loved was taking the brush, loading up the orange paint, and shoving as much of it as he could inside my belly button. I cleaned and cleaned but....I'm pretty sure that, here in a few weeks when my belly button "pops", there's going to be some orange-y remnants of paint in there....

Daddy and Cam, concentrating hard

Cameron helped a ton by blow drying each layer! Only a couple of *hot, hot!* moments where I had to remind him to keep that blow dryer moving....

The boys, with Peanut's finished 'costume'!

We thought, maybe, that Peanut looked a little scary for a girl....I wanted to go back and add a pink bow or something, but we ran out of time! Maybe we'll do a pink ornament at Christmas...

Then, it was already time for some trick-or-treating!

Dash (the really fast boy from the Incredibles--fits, don't you think?),
a 'fierce' frog, and a lovable lion

In the car, practicing their 'trick-or-treat' smiles!

Begging at doors for candy *grin*

By 6 p.m., this big-fat-momma everyone was pooped. We went around our neighborhood for a little more than an hour and came home with three plastic grocery bags full of candy! (Mommy was ecstatic at the thought of devouring that candy, and hoping and praying that glucose test she would take on Tuesday would come back negative...)

We had dinner, broke out ELF for the first time this season (one of our family favorites!) and had a picnic in the living room with some gourmet frozen pizza. It was a great night, and Colin had a great birthday!

(Colin with "his" pumpkin, painted all by himself at his class' Fall party)

We love you Colin!!
Happy Birthday bud--you are such a special little man,
and we are so thankful God gave you to US six years ago!!

Monday musings and 28 weeks

I....


~can. not. get. motivated. today. Ugh. But, I think I say that every Monday....

~would be much more excited about the 'daylight savings' train if my children would climb aboard. Geesh. Their little body clocks don't change so easily, do they?

~had such a fun birthday weekend with Colin. He turned SIX on Halloween! Post with pictures, coming soon!

~am not very happy with the Pop-Tart people lately. They are getting skimp--eeee on the icing. Come on, Pop-Tart people. That's why I buy Pop-Tarts.

~am so excited for my friends Kathy and Shelly! Kathy welcomed a new baby girl to her crew of three boys (and on Halloween too--just one more thing we have in common!) and Shelly added a boy to her girly clan! What an awesome weekend for babies!

~get to do the 28 week glucose test and get my Rogam shot tomorrow. *Yippee*.

~have two little boys in this house right now who would rather play with Daddy's plumbing parts than their own toys.

~wonder why I spend money on toys?

~am getting to that *point* where it is becoming difficult to find a sufficient sleeping position. Poor Shane is losing more and more room every night, thanks all the pillows it takes to make me comfy.

~could probably spend--at minimum--two hours every single day just walking around my house, picking things up, and putting them back in their rightful place. What is with that? Have we not lived here, in this exact same house, for three years? Am I the only one who knows where things GO around here?

~have much to do today....must get off this computer!

*28 week belly pic!*

Happy Monday, everyone!

You have to love those misprounced words

Cameron, having brushed his teeth about one hour before:

"Mom, I have to brush my teeth again."

Me: "Honey, you already brushed your teeth this morning. You don't need to brush them again."

Cameron opens his mouth wide, looks in the mirror, examines his pearly whites and says:

"But I still see some scavities in there."

That's MY paci. MINE.

I have wanted to post this particular series of photos forever.

Yet, I never have.

Mostly it's because I'm lazy I didn't want to have to take the pictures out of the frame they are in in my bedroom and scan them to my computer. It always seemed like so much work.

And bending those thingys that keep the backing attached to the wooden frame always hurts my fingers.

However, I overcame all that today and thought, "I'm gonna do it anyway."

It apparently just wasn't meant to be. After bending 12 of those thingys back and tearing my delicate fingers to shreds while I was at it; and please, don't even say to me "Why don't you just go and get a flat head screwdriver to lift those up?" because the screwdriver is all the way in the kitchen drawer, and I'm waaaaaay too lazy to walk all the way down there.... I was finally inside the frame.

I peeled off the backing, went to take the pictures out to scan and, much to my dismay, the top photo was stuck to the glass by some unknown sticky substance. When I tried to pull, the picture was pulling away from the paper backing, and I was starting to downright panic at the thought of destroying one of my favorite series of photos ever just for the sake of putting it on my blog decided that I would just do the old fashioned thing: leave the pictures in the frame, and take a picture of a picture.

The quality's terrible, but I'm trudging forth anyway. They're still the cutest ever. E-ver.

When Colin was a year old, we decided not to carve pumpkins, but rather to paint some, and decorate our porch that way. I did up one for each of us, as you can see below.

{Sorry for the glare--nothing I could do about that.}
Each pumpkin was personalized with one piece other than paint. Shane's had a
Cubs hat; I had a 'bow' in my hair; and Colin's had, in it's mouth, a prized
possession--one of Colin's actual pacifiers.
I sat him down on our front porch bench one afternoon
for what I thought would be a cute photo opportunity.


Daddy Pumpkin, Mommy Pumpkin, and Colin Pumpkin with Colin at almost one-year old

Now, let me say here that Colin was a paci child. He was addicted until just before age two.
Once he noticed what was going on on that bench, the following transpired.

Colin's grin disappeared....he got a funny look on his face....and then....

.....he took back what was rightfully his, leaving Pumpkin Colin pacifier-free.

I wonder how that pacifier tasted to him that day? *blech*

I'm so thankful to this day that I managed to catch something so cute on camera--I still smile every time I look at these pictures, and my mind takes me back to that afternoon on the porch!

Great giveaway....

....over at the Diaper Diaries! Check it out to win a $200 gift card to Sticks and Stones!

Mr. President, your name is difficult for a five-year-old

Colin, discussing with me and Cameron his Fall Party tomorrow:

"Mom, Mrs. W. (his teacher) said that none of the parents have to bring any games tomorrow. Someone else is bringing the games."

Me: "Oh, okay, Colin."

Colin, explaining further: "I think it's Mr. F. (school principal) that's going to bring the games."

Me: "Oh. That's nice of him to do that."

Cameron: "Col, who is Mr. F?"

Colin: "He is the president at school."

Me: "No, bud, he isn't the president....he is the school principal, Col."

Colin: "Oh, that's right. The president is....is....Ockbama."

Monday Musings and belly pic

I.....

~do not enjoy getting up before the sun. Blech.

~love late-night talks with my adorable, wonderful, oh-so-handsome husband, so.....I'm willing to sacrifice some sleep every once in a while.

~watched Fireproof for the very first time last night. Yes, I know I am about a year behind everyone else on this, but what a GREAT movie, huh? (That's what prompted that late-night talk....) If you haven't seen this yet, it's awesome--go rent it!

~have a house that seems infested with ladybugs. Not the real ladybugs, mind you--the pretty red ones that 'bring good luck'--but the yucky, smelly, orange kind, known as the Asian ladybug, that were apparently imported here by our government for insect control purposes (they eat aphids) and now are taking over the nation. Or, at least, my house. Or, at least, it feels like it. Ugh. I actually had one crawling up my leg last night while my leg was under my covers in the privacy of my bed....oh, I can't even think about it. Talk about a freak out. Sick, sick, sick.

~spent the last four days growing a third eye. I mean, seriously....what is going on here? I vacillate each day between acne products to control breakouts and age fighters for the ever growing number of fine lines I am starting to see. Who does that? *sigh*

~found a couple of new Etsy sites that I love. Here (more hats--can't help myself) and Here (can you say, personalization-on-everything-we-own-for-this-child?). Plus, my friend Julie is adding new items to her shop almost everyday! I am determined to have hair accessories for every outfit. Ahem.

~go back for a checkup today! Looking forward to hearing my little Peanut! Though, these days--with her vicious kicks, karate chops, constant hiccups, and my ever-expanding frame--I have plenty of visual and tactile reminders that she's there! Cameron and Ethan are coming with me, and Cameron is so excited. He is currently counting the minutes (or, rather, asking me to count them....) until we leave.

27 weeks!!!

Happy Monday, everyone!

{Much needed} Fun at the orchard

The last couple of weeks have been, at the very least, difficult.

I've been trying to put a post together about my Grandma, and keep getting hung up on one thing or another. I've decided not to rush it, and just work on it a little bit at a time....so that when I do post it, it will be exactly what I am wanting.

Last Saturday, the day after Granny's funeral, I was in a funk and in much need of doing something to take my mind off our current circumstances....and Shane saved the day, as usual. He's done that a lot lately.

He decided that we should take the boys over to a local orchard for some fun. We went once already this season, but didn't do any of the "fun" (read--expensive) things that they have for the kids. Since we didn't go on any official vacations this year *sniff*, we decided that we could afford to take them over there and let them do a very few of those fun things, and then go have dinner at "the nut place" (that's what our boys call Texas Roadhouse).

I was so glad we did--I had some much needed fun there (not to mention the best apple cider--mmmmm!) and so did the boys!

Riding the "tractor"

Ha! Love this one...apparently, Col was getting smushed!

Love love love this guy :)

Ethan was really, really excited about feeding the goats.....
we had a couple of moments where he got a bit too close!
They're so gentle (and fed so well by the hundreds that come through there everyday)
that I'm sure they'd never try to eat him, but you just can't be too careful! *giggle*

Who's that little bee?

Ethan loved climbing around in the wooden choo-choo train....

And begged--in his own way, of course--to ride the ponies.
"See Momma? That one there. He wants me to ride him. Please? See him?"

Then, we got to the 'real' fun--the bouncy house!
The boys could have played for hours and, as I stood there, shivering, it felt like they did ....

Next, it was time for a hay ride....

Cam was so excited about going anywhere behind a tractor!

Col, for some reason....not as excited.

Mommy and Cami

Daddy and E

Daddy and the boys

{Almost) All of us!

We decided that, since that pony wanted Ethan to ride him so badly,
we would go ahead give in. I mean, who am I to tell a pony "no"?
Ethan loved that part of the day, by the way....

After about three hours, we were starving (and out of moola!)

We headed over to Texas Roadhouse for some very good eats!

What mommy said:
"Ethan, smile for mommy!"
What Ethan heard:
"Ethan, give me your stinky face."

Cam, enjoying some of those prized peanuts....

....and loving on his Momma a bit *grin*

We had a wonderful meal to end a really great day--steak, mashed potatoes,
country friend chicken....and, yes--hot dogs. (Much to my dismay,
when you have boys, those are almost always involved....)

....well, most of us enjoyed those foods, anyway.
E made his meal off of his usual--carbs.
Some things never change....

Overheard at dinner:

Never a dull moment at our dinner table:

"Do you think they should get dessert?" I said.

Shane: "We still have those (spelling) c-u-p-c-a-k-e-s from the other night, they could split one."

Colin, about two seconds later: "Nah. I don't want a cupcake for dessert."

And Shane and I looked at each other in bewilderment.

****************************************************************************************************************

Cameron, responding to who-knows-what that Colin just said:

"And I'm a double decker so I can dip my head in milk!"

Wha??

****************************************************************************************************************

And Cameron, apparently wrestling within himself over this issue:

(in a very sing-songy voice)

"My belly says I'm getting full and I should stop eat-ing....

.....but my head knows that if I stop now, I won't get desser-hert."

His lovely little tune was quickly followed by the sound of

*slurp, slurp, slurping* more soup down.

Ahhhhh. A boy after my own heart.

Because it's too funny not to post.....

"I don't care who you are {or what your political "side" is}, that's funny right there."

Wordless Wednesday

Cameron's 4th Birthday party

This past Wednesday, we celebrated my sweet 2nd child's fourth birthday.

It is so hard for me to believe that he is four--I feel like I was just writing about his second and third birthdays. I wrote about his birth story (and posted a few birth pictures) here, if you haven't seen them before and would like to!

Cameron is amazing, and I thank God for him everyday. He is such a wonderful little man to have around, and one of the many attributes that I love about him is his keen sense of "all things fashion". He is always telling me that he likes the color polish on my toenails, or that my shirt is "so pretty Mommy!", or that he thinks the clip in my hair is "Cool Mom!" It is so funny to me that, while he is ALL boy, and a young one at that, he notices such things--but I love it! He has a knack for always making his Mommy feel good--even while she is wearing compression stockings *grin*.

We had a wonderful time at his party, and I wanted to share a few pictures!

His cake--CARS, of course

My big boy, looking extra handsome, and getting ready for his share of the sweets!

Ethan was not so happy at this point. Cameron had already been served his cake, and I think Ethan thought that he wasn't going to get any....so.....on turns the pouty face!

He quickly cheered up, once he realized that he wasn't going to be left out!

Cam, very happy once his cake was all gone....

....or, wait a minute--the icing was all gone, that is!
We discovered that apparently, that part was all Cameron thought was good enough to eat.

Two of my cousins :)

Love this picture....Ethan and Tony, having a "big boy" conversation!
I love the look on E's face.

My wonderful Aunt and Shane

Time for presents!

Oooh! A new, very cool dinosaur with sounds and movement!

Ethan quickly discovered just how cool this new dino was too....and
I'm pretty sure I know exactly what Cam was thinking here:
"Great. I suppose I have to share all of this stuff with you, too, don't I?"

A new tractor and grain hauler from Grandma 'Nette and
Grandpa--a great way to haul that new dino!

And a brand new, big-boy bike from Grandma Jane. Cam was so excited that, right then and there, he took off down the hallway--and has been riding around the house ever since! We got to try it out outside today for the first time, riding it in it's appropriate spot--the driveway. Cam loved it, and is already ready for the training wheels to come off!

Happy Birthday, sweet Cameron--Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

Happy Birthday to Cameron!!

Though it's been a sad week around here....

.....we have a little guy who is very happy today!!

Cameron Douglas is FOUR years old today,
and, as you can see, is very excited about it!

We can't wait to celebrate tonight with our family and lots of yummy cake and ice cream. I'll post lots and lots of pictures soon....this birthday boy is getting some great presents tonight! *grin*

Grandma Franzi's obituary

In case anyone would like to see it, here is my beautiful Grandma's obituary.

A hole in my heart

I've been absent for a few days.

My amazing, precious Grandma Franzi, whom I have blogged about before, went to heaven surrounded by both of her daughters and all of her granddaughters, myself included, on Saturday night.

There is a hole inside of me that will never be filled. I will never be the same.

When people mention their Grandmother, most have warm, happy, wonderful thoughts and memories. I am no exception. I loved her so much. I will miss her terribly.

This is a busy week, but I hope to blog again soon about everything my Grandmother meant to me. I'll never be able to adequately express it in words, I am sure....but I'm going to try.

Thank you to those of you who have been praying for me and for my family. I appreciate it so much.

*I love you Grandma Franzi.*

There will never, ever be anyone like you--ever again.

Friday Fun

First, there was the part where Ethan tried to
convince me that he really was a baby.....

Then, a bit of bejeweled playing....

Colin actually scored over 25,000! That's better than most of my scores....

Then some *lovely* nebulizer treatments, all the way around.....

And because old habits do die hard, a little bit of learning time....

Then, Colin drew a rainbow, "so we can have something colorful
to look at out the window on this rainy day!!"

And, then, it was time for some real fun. Some face-paintin' fun.

Col wasn't so thrilled about my methods to keep his hair out of the way....

But the end result was two very handsome Jack-O-Lanterns!
{Ahem. Please don't tell them they are handsome.
They would prefer it if you thought they were very scary, thankyouverymuch.}

I did manage to get them to smile...
The "Col-O-Lantern"

The "Cam-O-Lantern"

Ethan, by the way, refused this process.
He kept insisting that the paint was "Too hot. Too hot."
Don't know why he equated face painting with heat levels,
but whatever. His brothers enjoyed it, all the same!

Then, it was time for tattoos--a 'very scary' multiple-eyed version
that our sweet neighbor lady gave us the other day.
Good thing she bought a multi-pack....

The three amigos were pretty excited about the results!

I'd say it's been a great Friday!

H1N1 Vaccine--Yes or No?

I was part of an interesting discussion on Facebook this morning regarding the "Swine Flu".

Then, a few hours later, I hopped on over to my friend Brittany's blog where I watched the video that I just re-posted below. Both things have really gotten me thinking again about this topic, and I thought I would open a discussion here and see what everyone thinks about the H1N1 vaccine.

First subject to note: I DO vaccinate my children. I am NOT anti-vaccine, even though some aspects of vaccinating do concern me.

However, my personal opinion is that, from the research and reading that I have done, (I have not seen many reports on television, simply because we have no TV channels in our home, and I rarely go anywhere that I do see regular TV!) this vaccine has been rushed to the market simply because of the 'scare' or 'threat' of the virus and what it may cause.

I do understand that this virus can be deadly, but it appears that it is no more deadly than the regular, seasonal flu. I don't quite understand why it is getting the massive amounts of attention that it is, yet....here we are.

I will admit--this is a scary thing for me, simply because I have researched quite a bit about the disease hitting otherwise normal, healthy pregnant women (which, frankly, that is a category that I would not even fall into, due to my asthma and propensity toward bronchitis/breathing issues) and causing death. Yikes. Scary.

But the vaccine truly scares me more--the ingredients, the rush to make it available--it just does not appear safe. Brittany had some great information today over on her blog (and some great comments as well), if you'd like to check it out. I would encourage you to read for yourself, and really do your research before making the ultimate decision on whether to get this vaccine for yourself or your children. Hang in for three short minutes to watch this video.....





I'd LOVE to hear any thoughts YOU have on this topic--but please, keep all comments in a positive tone. I am not here today to rip anyone on either side of this argument, I just would like to hear thoughts--other than the ones that spin around in my own head daily.

So adult....so childish

Tonight, after I was done reading to the boys, Colin said to me:

"Mom? Today Naomi said that she wanted to marry me."

"Oh, really?" I said. "Well, you don't have to worry about that for a very long, long time, honey. You won't get married for many more years."

"But she said she wanted me to marry her."

Again, I explained that marriage is something that is waaaaaaaay in the future for him.

He was quiet for a moment, and, as if he needed to give me just a little bit more clarification--as if I just didn't quite get the point he was trying to make--he explained:

"You know, Mom....Naomi. Naomi? You know....the one who stuck the piece of corn in her ear today in class?"

(And maybe you had to be there, or you just totally have to know Colin to get this--but in no way was he worried about the idea of marriage in this instance. The expression on his face and the tone of his voice said it all--and I finally got what he was trying to say. If he were a little less polite, he would have just come out and said,

"Mom, are you serious? I would never marry a girl that put a piece of corn in her ear.")

Monday Musings

I.....

~am losing my eyelashes at an alarming rate. I pull them out one-by-one when I'm stressed. Isn't that a weird thing to do? I know. I'm weird.

~am firmly convinced that the fruit--and I use that term very, very loosely--in the middle of pop tarts contains some form of glue. Once that stuff hits the slate floor, it is like doing surgery to try to get it off. Okay, okay. It's like doing surgery if you leave it stuck to the floor for a couple of days. Which I would never, ever do. Just like I would never, ever feed my children a pop tart...those things have to be bad for you.

~have fallen in love with the hats over at BriarClaire. If Peanut is anything like her brothers (or her mother who was nearly bald until age two), then she will most likely need one in every color to cover her little head for a while! This one, this one, this one and this one are my favorites. *sigh* Oh, and the wonderful thing (in case you love these hats, too) is that in the month of October, for every single hat that is purchased, BriarClaire is donating a hat to a children's cancer hospital. As of October 4th, they have already donated 158 hats. Isn't that incredible? Seems like a great time to stock up to me.

~do believe that once Peanut does have hair, I will be ordering some of these amazing, handmade bows from my friend Julie! She has opened up an Etsy shop herself, and is selling some incredible Korker bows....head on over there and check them out! I definitely need the Black Beauty and the Neopolitan!

~just cleaned toilets my toilets on Friday. They already needed it again this morning. Boys are gross. I wonder how many more times in my life I am going to need to yell, "Aim for the water!" before they actually do?

~love a house that is clean and smells yummy.

~am so thankful for heating pads. I'm gonna need one tonight, after the cleaning rage I've been on today.

~actually WON a contest that I entered! Remember this post for a chance at a Miracle Blanket? Yours truly is now the proud owner! Let's hope Peanut loves it as much as so many other babies do....

~can say with confidence that, no matter how hard a girl may try, it is difficult to feel even somewhat pretty when you are wearing compression stockings. *sigh*

~had an amazing blessing at church yesterday. It's incredible to see how God's people can be moved to do something that is such a blessing to someone else, at such a sacrifice to themselves.

~am so thankful for the good report at the doctor last week, and for the sneak peak I got at my little girl. I have gained 13 pounds (feels like 30) and am mostly nice and healthy, with just a few *issues* that will hopefully go away once Peanut is born. One thing to keep in prayer is my asthma. It is flaring up pretty regularly these days, and I seem to have extra trouble breathing when I have the occasional contraction. A bit scary heading into labor, but still lots of time to get it regulated.

Happy Monday everyone!

Window Shopping (*when I should be doing my banking*)

Oh, Baby Gap, why must you torture me?

My four favorite guys

How do I love these....


....let me count the ways....

....wait....

....if I did that, we'd be here all day....

All is well

I wanted to thank those of you who sent me messages today inquiring how the sono went yesterday. I know many of you were praying, and I am sorry for the delay in posting--it's been a *difficult* couple of days, for various reasons, and I have not been able to find hardly a moment to post!

All went extremely wonderfully yesterday, and I am happy to report that my placenta has moved North! Albeit slowly, there has been definite progress--enough to remove me from my activity restrictions. I was so happy to hear that, and thankful that our prayers--and many of yours--were answered in this way!

Thought I would share a few more pictures of the little one, and one of me as well. Have a great night, and thank you again to all of you who genuinely care for my and Peanut's well-being...I'm so thankful for each one of you!

Perfect shot of the bones of the leg--I love this one!
Sweet little foot

An almost perfect shot of the face

And me, at 23 weeks and 3 days

Good night!

More *potty* humor

I just can't help it.

I have to post this.

I don't know why some of Cameron's funniest-ever moments come while he is on the potty....but I was doubled over in a fit of laughter with this one, and I had to share it. (Sorry in advance if it's a bit TMI for you....)

Cameron: "Mommy, I'm done!"

Mommy comes in, and begins the wiping process.

Cameron proceeds to let out a huge sigh, and then says:

"Aaaaahhhh. It's good to be wiped."

Oh. My. Word.

Monday Musings

I.....

~have a daughter who currently has the hiccups. *grin*

~have a son--Cameron--who has taken a liking to whispering. He thinks if he whispers in my ear, the answer will be "yes" to whatever he's asking. It's actually pretty cute. "What do you need Cameron?" "Mom, can you bend down so I can *whithper* in your ear?"

~am just feeling semi-exhausted today. *whew*

~hate having leg/vein trouble, but it's nice to be able to sit, put my feet up for a few minutes, and not feel totally guilty about it. If I don't do it at least a couple of times per day, I pay the price by 9 p.m.

~am looking for a good recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup, as I have been craving it for a few days now. Anyone got one they want to share with me?

~love, on the topic of recipes, this site. I love the Pioneer Woman (especially her cooking section) anyway, but this Tasty Kitchen thing she has done is simply awesome. When I searched "chicken tortilla soup" this morning, it yielded 29 results! I'm excited to spend some time this afternoon checking them out and seeing if there is one that I just have to make. (My fear will be choosing from several that look amazing....) If you haven't seen this site yet--run, do not walk, over there! Ahem. Well, you know what I mean. You won't be disappointed if you love simple and great recipes like me!

~am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thankful Shane's home. Woot!

~feel so blessed that my boys have really picked up where I have had to leave off with my whole 'modified activity' restriction in the last month. It is so cute watching Cameron push a basket full of laundry down to the laundry room for me, or heave Ethan up into his car seat--because I simply haven't been able to do those things.

~just love my boys.

~have heard some hilarious things come out of my boys' mouths over the last several days. I've posted a few of them below--keep scrolling down if you need a couple of good laughs today!

~go back to my doctor for a check-up and another sonogram tomorrow, to check on the low-placenta issue. Please, if you get the chance, pray that all goes well. If I get some more good pictures of Peanut, I'll post them as soon as I can!

Happy Monday everyone!

Biting sarcasm

Tonight we came home, and I really just wanted something quick to fix for dinner. After rummaging around a bit in my freezer for whatever on earth I could find consulting my wonderful and ever-so-organized menu, I pulled out some chicken nuggets that I had forgotten about. I knew right away the boys would love them--they were in the shape of dinosaurs.

I cooked them up in the toaster oven, got their plates ready, and served them to the boys. I warned them, first thing, that the nuggets were very hot, but my boys have a tendency to be like me: ignore the warning, dive right into the food, and scald the roof of your mouth so badly that you can't taste most of the rest of your meal due to your semi-melted skin.

After the warning, I walked away, and right away, I heard Colin yell, "Ouch!"

I knew it, I thought to myself. He's already taken a bite and burned himself.

"Did you burn yourself, buddy?" I asked him.

To which he laughingly replied,

"No, Mom! The dinosaur just bit me!"

Going, going....almost gone

Cameron, while sitting on my "lap" tonight:

"Mommy....baby Peanut is taking up all of your legs."

Hence, lap in quotation marks.

Good choice

Setting:

Mommy walks into the dining room after Colin has been working on yet another one of his 'projects'. There are markers, crayons, scissors, cardboard, construction paper, glue, glue sticks, colored pencils, another set of scissors, and scraps of paper everywhere. (This mess was left after repeated cautions from Mommy to 'make sure you pick up after yourself when you are done with your project'.) Oh, and, of course--smack in the middle of the table? One completed masterpiece of Colin's.

And......scene.

Mommy: "Colin? Cooooo-liiiiinnnn...."

Colin: "Yeah?"

Mommy: "Please come to the table."

Colin trudges down the hall, and into the dining room.

Mommy: "Honey....do you see the absolute mess you left all over the place from your craft stuff?"

Colin, seeing my face and, ahem, sensing my displeasure, replies: "Yep, I sure do....and I think I just may do something to fix it."

Miracle Blanket giveaway

My friend Kristy is giving a Miracle Blanket away sometime next week on her blog! Head on over to Waiting for Happy for your own chance to win!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Soccer pictures

My sweet little Colin, and his 2009 Under 6 soccer team. They're having a great year, and Colin's doing well. We love watching him play (and score!!) each game!

*Colin--middle front row, holding the ball*

Things I love Thursday: Red Hot Applesauce

I mentioned on Facebook this morning that I was going to spend some time today making one of my favorite Fall things: Red Hot Applesauce.

Then, I read this post over at the Diaper Diaries, and thought, "Hmmmm....I could share with everyone my love of Red Hot Applesauce, and gain an extra entry to win a Halo Sleepsack . . . . suh-weet!"

So, here I am, sharing with you something I truly love for Things I love Thursday. (If you'd like to join the carnival or enter the contest as well, just head on over to the Diaper Diaries yourself!)

Let me just say: I look forward to making this all year. It's that delicious.

The great thing, too, is that the recipe could not be any simpler. The hardest part, truly, is peeling, coring, and slicing all of the apples--but I picked up this handy tool at a garage sale last summer, and it has made cooking 'all things apple' infinitely easier! I got the stand and the corer for $5, which is an incredible deal. After using it again today, I would say if you are an 'all things apple' lover like I am and make things like applesauce, apple pies, or apple butter every year, this product is worth the full-price investment.

"If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Name that movie.

Sorry. I digress.

Anyway, the recipe.

By the way, I am not much for measurements when I cook.

I'm more of a "fly by the seat of my pants kinda gal, you know, moment to moment....that's me....that's....yeah."

Sorry. I did it again. Geesh.

Anyway, I'll give you my best guess approximates on these amounts.

You will need:

• Apples. I have always used Golden Delicious for this recipe.
• Red Hot Candies. I buy the large, 2.75 pound bag. It makes a few batches of applesauce.
  
• possibly sugar
• possibly water

I say 'possibly' because I have never used either of those things--my apples have never stuck to my pot (that's what you would need the water for--to keep them from sticking on the bottom) and with the Red Hots, the applesauce has never had the need for additional sugar. But everyone has different preferences of sweetness, and not everyone uses non-stick cookware, so have both of those on hand when you make this.

Peel, core, and thinly slice your apples. I simply use as many apples as I can possibly fit into my 7-quart pot. It will cook way down. Cook your apples over medium-low heat with the lid on for awhile, stirring every few minutes. They should start to soften up after about 30 minutes, but won't completely break down for at least an hour or so. Stir the pot often, and you will begin to notice that, as you are stirring, the apples are already turning into a 'mush' consistency.

Mush. Mmmmmmmm. Doesn't that sound yummy?

Once the apples have started to break down, add your Red Hots. I add about two handfuls to start, and go from there. Stir them in. The heat will begin to break them down as well, and they will add a beautiful red color to your sauce!

Let these cook a little while, until you aren't seeing too many large chunks of apple any longer. Once all the Red Hot pieces and most of the apple chunks are gone, I take a regular ol' potato masher--fancy, I'm aware, but it works--and mash all the remaining lumps that I can find.

Some would say that you need to press the apple mixture through a food mill or a sieve to get the 'proper' applesauce consistency. I say, a little lump here and there never hurt anyone, and I don't have the time nor the patience to push things through sieves when I cook. Ahem.

Now, it's time for the best part.

The taste test.

If the sauce is not sweet or 'cinnamon-y' enough for you, simply add more Red Hots! (This is why I would caution you to go with less, rather than more, at first--you can always add, but you can never take away!)

If you'd like, you can can the applesauce right then and there. Process for 20 minutes (following all instructions for canning that are found in this book) in a boiling water canner.

I'm finding that, after my first batch today, it's looking like I'm going to need another batch if I want to can this stuff. Between me, Cameron, and Ethan, we've had seven helpings--yes, seven, and I was only responsible for TWO of them, thankyouverymuch--since around 11:30 this morning. After hubby and Colin get home, I'm fairly certain there won't be enough left to can.

Note to self: Go back to the orchard for more apples and more Red Hots.

Hope you enjoy the recipe! Let me know if you try it and love it as much as we do!

Gracious

Yesterday, Cameron had to go 'potty'.

At the exact same time when Cameron was ready for this Mommy's help in the bathroom, Ethan had an 'incident'.

The following occurred:

Cameron, from his bathroom: "Mommy, I'm done!"

Me, from the other bathroom: "Okay, Cam, I'll be there in a minute!"

A minute passes....maybe two. Still helping Ethan get cleaned up from his incident.

Cameron, again: "Mommy, I'm do-ooooone!"

Me: "Cameron, okay, I know....I'll be there in just a minute!"

Another couple of minutes go by. Almost done now. Washing hands, changing clothes....okay. E is all clean.

Cameron, once again: "Mooooo-ooooooom!! I'm alllllllll dooooo-ooooooone!!!!"

Finally, after several promises of, "I'll be right there", I enter the bathroom to help Cameron get off of the potty.

Mommy: "Cameron, I'm sorry it took me so long to come and take care of you. Ethan had an accident, and I wasn't able to leave him and come to you right then. I came as quickly as I could. I'm sorry, buddy."

Cameron: "That's alright Mommy.....I'm gracious."

Wordless Wednesday

Another unwelcome visitor

We've had our snake issues here. If you're a long time visitor of this blog, you know all about the one we had living in our wall shortly after we moved in.

Yes, folks. The snake in the picture below is real. It is alive. And, it is in my front yard. That's my lawn chair you see in the upper left hand corner, where I was actually residing quite happily up until this little fellow jaunted over.


Shane and the boys were in the front yard playing baseball a few days ago while I watched semi comfortably from my lawn chair. All of a sudden, I could tell that something in the street had caught Shane's eye.

He stopped what he was doing and quickly walked over. Then, he hollered. "Hey boys! Come check out this snake!"

Quick as lightening, however, the snake veered off his course and headed in our direction. He had apparently decided that he wanted to come closer to us. To me.

Within about 10 seconds, that snake was about three feet away from us--with only Shane standing guard between him and our house. (He had intentions of going inside and living in my crawlspace or my walls again....I just know it.)

The boys watched from a few feet away.

See it? In the grass, the big black thing? *shudder*

Then, Shane yelled over to me. (Oh, yes--by this point {actually, much earlier than this point} I had abandoned my post at the lawn chair and had run over to the safety of the driveway.) He needed me to bring him a shovel. He quickly, ahem, took care of the snake, while I shuttled the boys away towards the front of the house so that they wouldn't see the murder disposal.

Then, of course.....boys will be boys. It was time to get a closer look.

I love the look on E's face here.
"Are you serious? You want me to touch that thing? Um....no."

Colin and Cameron were a bit more brave....

Another 3 1/2+ footer.

Ew, ew, ew.