Trying to Recommit

I haven't blogged in ages. Facebook has sort of become my "unpersonal" blog, but this one is where I'd like to put more details and such for our memories. Especially mine. My brain does NOT remember things well at ALL, so I need stories and pictures to jog my memory from time to time.

Savannah will be 10 months old on July 22nd. I can't believe it. It feels like I just brought her home. It has been very bittersweet for me to see her grow up so quickly. She's gorgeous, healthy (so chubby!) and strong. I love her with all my heart. I've been terrible about keeping track of her baby "firsts," but she's been saying "da da" for a long time now. It's really funny bc you can say, "say ma ma!" and she immediately responds "da da da da da" EVERY time. Cracks me up. Just as well, because I already hear "mom" about 300x/day from the boys, heh heh. But of course who am I kidding--I'd love to hear her say "ma ma"! I try to take moments and just look at her and cuddle on her and savor my time with her being small. She's our last baby, and pair that with the fact that she's our first girl, makes for one emotional me! My last pregnancy was pretty tough on me (blood sugar scare which I ended up passing, as well as UTI and kidney stone stuff requiring a trip to the urologist after delivery and CAT scan of my abdomen. Found out I have a small umbellical hernia and some kind of calcified "fleck" in my kidney, both for which I was advised not to worry. Hmm). As lame as that was, I was almost grateful for that because it helped solidify my choice (and Reuben's too) to get my tubes tied during my cesarean. I felt like it was God's way of helping me know it was the right time for us. I turned 38 a few months after I had her, so that meant if I had a 4th child I'd be at least 40! Yikes! No thanks. I'm too old for this, haha. I do think if I had married younger, I may have gone for a 4th (they say after you have 3, it's not too bad from that point on bc your oldest can help/do things for himself). Guess I'll never know that! For now it's 3 kids under 5 and it's pretty tough some days. Ok I'm getting off on a tangent again! Back to Savannah. She has 2 of her bottom teeth, right in the middle, and they are stinkin' adorable. She is already a tiny diva. She will NOT eat something if she doesn't like it. She STILL refuses to take formula, although after MONTHS of offering binkies, bottles, and sippy cups, she will finally drink water out of a bottle or a sippy. This has only been going on for maybe a month? I tried sneaking formula into her bottle during her lunch the other day. She took 2 gulps, then realized it wasn't water and refused to drink ANY more. Argh! This girl! I am ready to start weaning her but so far, I'm not able to! I never had this trouble with the boys, ever. She has been able to sit up unassisted for a while now, and is awesome at rolling around to get to wherever she wants to go. It is so cute seeing her little rolly self all over the floor. Just in the last week or so she's been figuring out the army crawling thing...using elbows and toes to sort of scoot around on the floor. I think she weighs about 19 pounds (I need to go find her 9 month doctor stats), and is larger than average for her weight and height.

Ian is 3 and is either the cutest, sweetest boy you've ever seen or a complete emotional mess! LOL! For both he and Jase, it wasn't terrible 2's, it's terrible 3's! He makes the best grumpy faces you've ever seen! I wish I could get a picture of one because it's pretty freaking hilarious. I'm trying to put a stop to toy-throwing and hitting, though! He and Jase loooove to wrestle, run around screaming, fight, etc. They do have cute moments of playing well together, too. But I'd say they fight more than they play! It's a competition, man! Ok back to Ian. He's my small baby. We just had his 3 year old well-child visit and he was in the 30 percentile for his weight, hee hee. But he's grown taller! He still has moments where he wants mommy and still loves to cuddle up in my lap (while watching TV, while I'm eating, etc). Lately he'll come up to me and hug on me and tell me that he loves me. Ahhh, those are the moments I love. He did that to me last night while I was putting him to bed and I wanted to stay in that moment even longer. He's growing up, too. He loves anything with wheels, and if you get him separated from Jase he will play with cars/trucks for a long time! It's so cute. He's really loving the Disney movie CARS, and his favorite is Mater. He is also way into baseball caps. He won't leave the house without one on!

Jase is my oldest and such a handsome boy! Gracious me. He finished up his 2nd year of preschool this spring (year 1 he did academics with our neighbor, Joanne, who I loved; year 2 he did a music/art school where each month they focused on a different country). Both were 2.5 hours/twice per week for about $70-80/mo. He's all registered for Kindergarten this fall, and I am still in shock that he'll be starting "real" school! They only have 2 kindergarten teachers here, so they did little assessments to see where the kids were at in May. Jase got every question right except one. (I think he didn't know what an Octogon was--or a hexagon). I could tell the teacher was pretty impressed.  He is one smart cookie, for real. I am thankful he is so smart but it also has its challenges! He outsmarts me all the time and sometimes I feel like he's already 15 years old instead of 5! He can do so many "boy" things that I can't do (like hook up our boat to the SUV, unlock our garage doors from the opener, etc), it is pretty funny! Reuben teaches him every chance he gets! I love that Reuben is one of those "i can fix anything or at least figure it out" guys, bc Jase is fascinated with how things work and the "whys" behind everything.  Some of my friends with kids of their own are shocked to know all the things Jase can do and what all he gets into. Like keys. Don't leave any keys lying around, heaven help us. He will figure out what they are for, start it up and drive it around! LOL. We have tried to hide them in all kinds of places and he finds ALL the hiding spots. Grrrr.... He is a pretty good helper, too. He likes to have things to do and keep busy.  Jase is one of the tallest boys in town! At the kindergarten round-up thing he was a few inches taller than everyone else (except one other boy in our ward, who's about the same exact age and height). People think he is older than he really is! He loves music (right now he is listening to my iPod and dancing around) and he also seems to enjoy singing, too (must get that from me, hee hee).

What's new with me? Two months ago I started training for a 5K using an app called "Couch to 5K." I didn't time it right and I was still 2 weeks shy of finishing my training by the time race day was here. I was nervous. The other "problem" was I had only trained on the treadmill and not on the real road! And my shoes were NOT good. Well, my goal for race day was to just keep a jogging pace, no matter how slow. The last mile was pretty tough, but I finished the race jogging the entire time! My time was a 14.8 minute mile. I was way happy with that! Especially since I haven't done a 5K in like 15 years! I am hoping to continue doing races here and there, but I really gotta get me some new shoes! By the way, Jase knew I was going to do it so he expressed interest in running the 1 mile. We let him do it and he did awesome! I can't remember his time but I think it was 12 or 13 minutes! He beat me, heh heh. We were so proud of him. Reuben actually is the guy who is in charge of the race for our town's 4th of July. He did a great job getting everything in place this year (this is his 3rd year doing it). I think he likes doing it, but having a day job that is sooo busy makes it hard for him to find the time he needs to be the race director. Not sure he will be able to do it next year, but we'll see. Lots can change by then.

Another cool thing I did this year was attend a class on Recording Studios and the music industry. I almost chickened out and didn't do it, but I'm extremely glad I did. I learned a TON of info and was able to record an official demo. We got one hour to record a song of our choice. Let me tell you it was total hell for me to choose a freaking song. I stressed out of my MIND about it. Ugh. I ended up recording "Over the Rainbow" (Katherine McPhee version). I haven't listened to it in a while bc the more I listen, I want to go back and fix a bunch of stuff I can hear...but when it was first done I was so excited sitting there hearing the playback! I had dreamed about recording a song in a real studio for years and years, and I finally was doing it! Now I want to go back and record more, when I can afford it. I think i will be less nervous the 2nd time around now that I have that under my belt. We were also given a list of people in the industry that accept demos and I haven't sent mine to one person. Not on purpose, I just have forgotten! What is my problem! Anyway, I guess I was thinking I should record one more before I start sending songs off to people??? I don't know. I'm sure it's just me being paranoid. However, I have tried out for a couple singing contests in the meantime...both online. I tried out to sing a couple demo tracks for a karaoke company and currently I'm waiting to hear back on a contest that has to do with singing an inspirational song. I didn't get the first one but maybe 2nd time's a charm? Ha ha, we'll see.

Welcome Baby Savannah

I haven't posted in months, but I wanted to take the time to write down what I can remember from the baby's birth before I forget everything! It's already been 9 days and memories are fading fast.

I had to get up about 4:30am on Saturday to get ready to be at the hospital for my third cesarean. Grandma Jenith kindly came over the night before to take care of Jase and Ian for us while I would be in the hospital. Huge relief to know your kids are safe, happy, and sound while you're away.

As usual I was a ball of nerves getting ready. I also made sure to slap on a little bit of makeup this time since I've gained these lovely face splotches (pregnancy mask) from my pregnancies that I like to attempt to cover up--even though the makeup doesn't help much. Ok back to the story...So this entire pregnancy had really been surreal for me. It just never seemed like I was REALLY going to have a baby! Since becoming pregnant, Reuben had switched jobs which also meant our insurance had changed and I had to deliver at a "new" hospital (a much smaller one than I was used to). I was lucky enough to snag a quick tour of the place a couple weeks prior, so at least I had some idea of where I'd be staying this time 'round.

Reub and I pulled into the parking lot right on time and just walked right in. They had me do a little bit of paperwork then next thing ya know I was changing into the hospital gown. Yikes. Things were getting pretty real pretty fast. My prep nurse was a woman probably in her 50's or so, nice, friendly...but it was soon to be discovered that she was what I call a "second-guesser." First she tried putting the IV into my forearm (ideal place) and after one try she gave up on that and decided to put it into my hand (not ideal). She got the IV in without much trouble, but then informed me she had to take a few vials of blood from it. For some reason it seemed to go on and on and the torture was almost unbearable. I started getting sweaty, clammy palms, and super nauseous. She kept apologizing and repeating how shocked she was that it was taking so much time to get the blood she needed. Ugh. Finally, the torture ended. Only to my horror, she notices that the IV is not dripping into my veins! Lovely. I am already planning revenge in my head because I'm thinking "she is NOT going to redo this IV" when she calls in a fellow nurse to come try and solve this new problem. After a few minutes, the other nurse realized that the IV would drip as long as I bent my hand down at the wrist. If I flexed my wrist, it cut off the IV drip. Great. So I get to have a bent hand throughout this entire procedure? Deal, if it means I don't have to get another IV (hahaha). Well turns out after a few mintues the vein opened up and I didn't have to bend my hand any longer! Phew. They made me put on a lovely hair cap, had Reuben all suited up as well, and put those compression "air" boots on my calves (they help prevent blood clots), then wheeled me into the operating room.

The anesthesiologist was so nice and informative. She talked me through the entire process about what could happen with a spinal. Ironically, pretty much everything she warned me about happened (we'll get to that later, though). I am pretty sure I had an epidural with Ian's delivery (for sure had one with Jase's), but she was saying most ppl do spinals for c-sections. I am still convinced her spinal was my first one. Anyway, it didn't hurt much at all (just feels really weird and uncomfortable when they do it, but it's fairly quick). She had me sit up and lean into Reuben while she did it. It's just so bizarre being in this sterile, surgical room knowing soon you'll be having your baby in there! Ugh. Not my favorite. I am pretty jealous of all the moms who get to have normal deliveries. I did get to sort of experience some of that with Jase...up until the part when he wouldn't actually come out, heh heh, but I digress...Soon after the spinal my legs started tingling very quickly. They did the catheter, which I couldn't feel at all (good thing) and very soon after I could not feel anything from the chest down. To me, having a c-section is like being at the dentist, except 10x more terrifying. It's like you're hoping you're numb, but you're worrying WHAT IF I'm not numb and I feel them cutting into my body!? Scary.

They didn't even tell me that they had started the procedure but it had been a few minutes so I asked and they said, "Yes, we already started and we are about to pull the baby out!" I barely felt a thing at all. I did start to feel nauseous so I told the anesthesiologist and she gave me something that knocked that out and then I felt better. She had also mentioned that sometimes the spinal will numb your diaphragm a bit and make it almost feel like you can't breathe. I had that sensation as well, but it didn't scare me bc she had prepped me for it, so I just focused on taking slow, deep breaths. Next thing you know they got the baby out and I begged for someone to tell me if it were truly a girl (to which my doctor replied "yes") and I was sooo happy! I could hear her crying as they took her immediately into the next room to check her out and clean her up a bit. Now I can't remember if they even showed her to me before they took her--oh yes, wait, I think they did and I remember a ton of dark, dark hair! Hooray for a baby girl with hair! Reuben was still sitting next to my head for a few minutes and then he asked if he could go with the baby (and so he did). Then I was on my own. While they were stitching me back up, I started feeling major yuck-o. Like nausea city. Oh man. I remember them telling me they were going to move me from the operating table back to the bed and that it would feel like they were going to drop me on the floor but that they would not drop me (it totally does feel like they will drop you, by the way)! I barely got the words "I'm going to throw up" out of my mouth and they had some sort of cup at my mouth and I started puking. YUCK. The entire time they are wheeling me down the hall back to my room, I am throwing up over and over and over. This was a first for me. Luckily, I was numb all the way down, so at least it didn't physically hurt to throw up, it was just disgusting. And a bit embarrassing. They got me back to the room and I think I remember them bringing me the baby rather quickly. She was so tiny and beautiful! I tried to get her to eat but she was having NONE of that. It was a few hours later before she showed any interest in eating at all. Reub and I were worried, but they said some babies just aren't hungry right off the bat.

It's frustrating to me right now trying to type this all out, bc it's already hard for me to remember details and this all happened only 9 days ago. I think day 1 is the hardest to remember because I was so sick all day and super tired (I kept falling asleep mid-sentence while speaking to people). I think the tiredness was due to the anesthesia because to my surprise, at the end of the day I found out I hadn't been given any pain meds at all (I thought the entire time they were giving me morphine in my IV)! Nuts! My mom came up with Jase and Ian to meet the baby later that morning--I know my mom was over the moon excited to meet her 2nd granddaughter! The boys were cute and excited to meet their little sister as well. We took some videos and pics while they were there, and it was kind of neat to know our little family is now complete. I was still feeling super tired and the room would kind of spin if I moved my head too much and I was a little worried I might drop the baby! From what I remember, I had her underneath my hospital gown just resting on my chest. At some point they took her and really bathed her (up until then she still had that white stuff on her from birth...I guess they just sort of toweled her off after she was born?). Reuben's parents came to visit baby Sav on her "birth" day as well. I think this is grandchild #32 for them! What! Ha ha. I tried to eat some chicken noodle soup for lunch and after a couple bites, I started vomiting again! Bah! By about 7pm, I was starving and starting to feel MUCH better. I ordered a turkey sandwich that came with a huge mound of fries. I remember thinking, "I probably should not eat this" but I was so hungry I woofed down EVERYTHING. And guess what? It all stayed down! Ha! After that I was fine--no more nausea.

Sunday Jerel and Crystal came to visit, as well as Reuben's sister Julie and her family. Later that day, an old friend from college (who I literally haven't seen in yearsss) came to visit and brought me some Twix bars, cookies, and magazines! She is the best and it was so fun to see her!

It was day #3 at the hospital and I was able to move around fairly well, so we asked if we could go home. I was still teetering with this decision...but it didn't really matter much anyways bc my mom had to go back to work, which meant Reuben would have to go home with the kids and I'd be all alone in the hospital if I stayed an extra day. Also, the day nurse (we called her the bull in a china closet) was super loud and obnoxious (though nice) and I couldn't take her any longer! While she ran off to get us discharged, we both started packing up stuff and I guess from my moving around a little too much I started getting major pains. Oops. It felt like my incision area/internal organs were on fire. Not fun. But I am not very good about taking the full doses of pain meds, so that is my own fault. After a few hours they determined we could leave, so we did. We put the baby into her sweet going home outfit, and headed off in the car to stop at Walgreens to fill some prescriptions for me. It really hit me in the car that I was taking a new baby home and I was going to have to be new mommy all over again. Thrilled, scared, tired, overwhelmed...all those emotions just hit me like a ton of bricks and I just cried, most of the way home. I am so grateful she is a healthy baby. I worry so much during my pregnancy, so it's a huge relief to me when she's born with all her fingers and toes, can hear, can eat, and can breathe on her own. She did have to deal with jaundice (but so did her brothers when they were born) and we had to take her to the pediatrician a few times to be tested, as well as having her bloodwork done at the hospital. But we were able to avoid needing the bilirubin lights or any hospitalization, so that was good.

The best thing about a new baby is that they sleep...a lot (except at night, ha)...at least for the first couple of weeks. So that really helps transition everyone into "baby mode" without too much stress. People in my neighborhood and ward (church group) were awesome and brought meals and gifts for a few days...I was overwhelmed at how NICE everyone was being to me and I appreciated it sooo much. I decided that I will definitely give back when the time comes. :)

She was born at 8:18 am, 19" long, weighing 8 lbs (though there is some discrepancy on this! The nurses logged it into the system as 8 lbs, 4 oz. (wait, I think it was Reub that said that is what the scale said when they weighed her), but her card on her incubator said 8 lbs. We decided to just go with the 8. Oh, and her head measured 36 centimeters.

Welcome baby Savannah. Now our family is complete.

It's a...

I had Reub snap a couple pics of me holding the first outfit I bought. Cute little top with jeggings! This one went up on facebook along with my announcement.

Yep, I'm still excited!

Wow, my feet look so big! LOL (I guess they kinda are at 9.5, thanks to growing along with my pregnancies)

Baby Girl! Eeeeeeeeee, we are so excited! We had tried to tell the sex of the baby 2 times before this time--the first was a tad too early, the second; the doctor couldn't see a thing...so this time I was 23 weeks along and I was basically about to puke on the way to the clinic from all the nerves and anxiety I had about it. We're pretty sure this is our last baby, so knowing it was my last shot at a girl made it THAT much more of a big deal. The ultrasound tech was pretty nice, but she was teasing me by telling me I should just wait and let it be a surprise. Pfffffffff, NOT happening. So she goes through all of the stuff (looking at the heart, uterus, c-section scar (crazy) etc etc) and finally starts trying to see what goods this baby's got. She had a pretty hard time seeing anything at first (I was trying not to panic) and she ended up tilting the chair so that my feet were high in the air and my head was down. The baby was positioned so high up (right under my ribs) and was hiding everything! Finally, she got the shot we wanted (I tried to scan it in but it's too dark so I can't post it)! When she told me I just burst into tears; I was so happy happy happy! But poor Jase wanted a baby brother again, so he was a little bummed.

Right after the appointment I made a few important phone calls, then hit up the stores! I was determined to find a little girl outfit, but it was harder than I thought. Everything in the stores right now is super summery (short, gauzy things, no sleeves, etc) and I'm due in Sept...so it's likely it could be just starting to cool off by then. Plus I was looking for newborn size, which is very hard to find! I can't stand big clothes on little babies. I finally found a cute top with a pair of dark jeggings from The Children's Place (see pic) but that was it! Oh well. There'll be plenty more time for shopping!

Some bedding ideas....just needs a touch of pale pink

Love all the textures and prints. Swap blue for pink!



Also fell in love with this cake, the color combo, and that elephant! Want!

 I also have this thing stuck in my head about doing gray, white, and touches of pale pink for her bedding, etc. Ironically, we don't really have a room for her. The boys share one bedroom already and Reub and I are in the other. We'd love to do an addition on our home, but making the finances work is proving to be trickier than we thought. We're trying to sell our boat to free up a bit of money, but so far it's been a few weeks and no takers. So I think Plan B is to maybe finish out this balcony that we have coming off of our master bedroom (behind sliding glass doors) and turn that balcony area into a tiny room. We could take out the sliding glass doors and put in french doors (or just a normal door), extend the balcony out to the exterior wall of the home, and replace the front windows on the house. Probably much more affordable in the meantime than Plan A.

Jase's Preschool Graduation

Jase has been going to preschool for 1 school year (Sept '11-May '12) and they put on a little preschool graduation program. It was really cute! They recited all the nursery rhymes (acted some out as well) and sang all the songs they'd worked on throughout the year. I was really impressed by all the stuff the teacher(s) put together! The kids all had parts to say (memorized) and Jase remembered his so well! Afterwards, Miss Joann handed out handmade scrapbooks she did for each child. It has pictures from various fieldtrips theytook and also other class activities. I loved it!

I got some ideas from pinterest for teacher gifts and ended up buying 2 cute plastic "freezable" cups, filled them with crystal light packets, and tied a Target gift card around the straws that read, "Thanks for keeping me on 'Target' all year. Have a great summer"! I really loved how they came out!



This is sort of what I did with the gift cards...

I bought cups similar to these, filled them with the drink packets, then tied the Target gift cards with notes onto the straws.

 I tried to get pictures with both of his teachers after the graduation, but as usual it's total chaos with kids running around and I was only able to snag one with Miss Joann. It was then she told us that she may not being doing her preschool this next year, depending on if she lands another job or not. Total bummer! So now I've got my eyes and ears open for other preschools in the area because Jase will miss the kindergarten cut off this year (and where we live is pretty rural, so there are not lots of options). I didn't even get any pictures of me, Reub, or Grandma Jenith! Lame. Grandma Connie was planning on coming as well, but her daughter ended up in the hospital with a bad infection and needed her there (she's doing better now, thank goodness). Jase said he wanted donuts for his graduation present, so that's what he got. Heh heh. Afterwards, we came home and grilled some chicken, then put Ian to bed. Grandma J, Jase, and I went into town and shopped a bit (Grandma bought Jase his own set of padlocks and keys, complete with key lock box) and I ended up getting some starter plants for my garden. We met Reub and Ian in town for dinner at a great pizza place and then said our goodbyes to Grandma. It was a good day!

Jase and Miss Joann! She is the best!

Dad drove Jase and Ian to the preschool graduation in "style" on the Ranger, complete with balloons! That's a proud Grandma and brother Ian in the pic!

 

Jase in the middle surrounded by two cute gals!



Little raindrops song, hee hee.

The entire class! Jase is second from the left.

Jase playing with his froggy noise-blower thing, haha

Froggy song is over and Jase is still playing with the prop!

Big Boy Beds for Big Boys

With baby #3 on the way, we have high hopes and dreams of turning our 2 bedroom home into a 3 bedroom home (hoping to add a real master bedroom on the main level). Our bedrooms are located on the 2nd story of our house. Currently Reub and I sleep in one; the boys share the other one. Since Jase has been around 2.5-3 years old, he's been sleeping in a little, cheap Toy Story toddler bed. It's been a good bed, but Jase is getting so tall, it's really getting too small for him now. Ian still sleeps in the baby crib (nope, he has not figured out how to climb out yet). We've realized we'll need the crib a few weeks after the baby is born, so I thought it'd be better to start transitioning Ian into a "real" bed right now...so by the time baby is here, ideally I won't have any trouble getting him to stay in bed for naps and at nighttime.

I've been watching a local online site that's kind of like a "craigslist" of used items. If anything decent popped up for a good price, it sold so stinkin' fast before I could get my hands on it. Or it was plain ugly. Or not sturdy enough. Etc etc. I went to the Downeast Home Outlet (lots of pottery barn markdowns) and found 2 matching espresso colored twin beds that were pretty awesome. They were dinged up a bit, but marked down on clearance for $250 each. I had the store hold them while I thought about what to do....I went back to the store and sweated out the pros and cons, finally deciding it was just too much for what we should be doing right now. So I passed. We looked around at some furniture stores in town, but couldn't seem to find anything cute (and solid wood) for less than $500 (for both). Well the other day Reub took us to a furniture outlet place and I did NOT expect to find anything there that I liked. Surprise! We found a black, solid wood bunk bed set for $280! It was really sturdy, and the headboard and footboard had a lower height than the Pottery Barn beds I previously had my heart set on (we needed them to be lower bc the boys have slanted walls in their room due to the A-frame house). The only thing I didn't love was that the bed had these BRASSY gold colored screws holding it all together. Blech. But nothing that a little paint couldn't fix! I paid the man (and in the meantime picked up some high quality mattress protectors by "Sleep Tite" that I had seen for only $29 each on Amazon. The manager tried to sell me some at the furniture store, but when I told him about the Amazon price he matched it for me--bonus!). I'm glad we ended up getting twin beds that can be bunked in case we ever need to do that. We also price shopped for twin mattresses and found the best price on a basic Serta mattress at Sam's Club for $99 each. We'd seen cheaper ones for about $79, but they were really cheap-o and you've never even heard of the manufacturer!

Last night Reub got them all put together and they look SO CUTE! He also painted all the screws with some leftover black marine paint (shouldn't chip) and it looks amazing. I was wondering how Ian would do his first night in a twin bed, but he did great (probably bc it was late and he was too tired to object). The "top bunk" bed comes with built-in railings all around it, so we put Ian in that bed. The funny thing was that later that night (after the boys were asleep), I was in the kitchen doing dishes and heard the loudest "thud"! Jase is the one who fell out of his twin bed, LOL. I thought I'd hear lots of crying next, but he just climbed back in and went back to sleep. I'm going to try to stick a swimming pool "noodle" under the fitted sheet along the edge of the bed until he gets used to it (I've heard that little trick works, we'll see).

The great thing about saving $200 between the bunks and the Pottery Barn Beds was that it allowed me to spend some money on cute bedding (I really wanted some PB quilts for $179 each, but let's be realistic here--I am not that rich, haha). I found 2 different but coordinating quilt and sham sets at Target. A space rocket themed one for Jase; and a construction themed one for little Ian. I also picked up two twin sheet sets that are navy blue and white pinstripes (they are so cute)! Here's to hoping no one pukes on these quilts for a long, long time, hahaha. This first one is Ian's bed. I forgot to buy extra pillows for the shams, so they are just "draped" on top of the other pillow. You can see the navy blue pinstriped sheet set at the top. The quilt even has some coudoroy (sp?) pieces sewn onto it for texture.

Ian's bed (has rails around it) w/ Construction themed quilt.

 This next one is Jase's bed. You can see the actual bed frame much better in this picture than in the previous one. Simple, curved headboard and footboard with vertical slats. This is also the room that was decorated in fall tones when they were babies, so I have some repainting and such to do (walls are kind of a dark, neutral brownish grayish green tone). And you can also see my floor rug kind of clashes with the new, brighter bedding. I will fix that eventually!

Jase's Outer Space Bed!

Top view of Jase's bed.  Too bad you can't see the details better (like the stitching, etc). And yes, he still sleeps with that little blue bear and also Jo Jo, the elf.

May 2012

I spend enough time online that you'd THINK I'd be able to keep up with blogging. I thought about trying to do "catch up" posts since last September, but I think that will just overwhelm me and I'll want to quit. So, I may as well start with today, and then maybe do occasional catch-ups whenever I'm up to it.

Ian on his 2nd Birthday

Reub & Ian. Look how cute Ian's bday t-shirt is! I love it!

The Construction-themed bday cake! I love how it came out! :)

Party favors: Home depot tool aprons with Tonka stickers, painbrushes, and chocolate dumptruck lollies.

LtoR: Hibbin (jase's cousin), Me and Ian opening gifts, Jase.

So what's the lastest? Ian turned 2 in April. Two. Nuts. And I'm already seeing little sassy glimpses of the "terrible 2's." Oh geez. He loves to literally scream "No" or "Don't want it" when you're asking him something. You could ask him like 5 questions in a row such as "Do you want a drink? Do you want to take a bath? Do you want a hug?" etc (to which he responds "NO" or "don't want it") and then throw one in like "do you want some candy?" and he'll automatically scream "NO," but then you can see him thinking and then he'll say "nandy, want some." Hee hee. I love messing with him like that! He's repeating pretty much ANY words you ask him to say, and now starting to say lots of 2- and 3-word phrases/sentences. I love it. He is growing up so fast. He can also turn from the sourest puss to the sweetest pea in a flash. He's so giggly and cute and cuddly. I love my boy. He will just hug you and say "hugs hugs" while he's doing it. Awwwww. My baby. I get all sad when I think that just in a few short months he is not going to be my official "baby" any longer. I haven't taken him to a pediatrician in a while (he's due now), so I'm not sure where he's at "statistically," but I'm guessing a bit on the smaller side since he's still wearing about 18 month sized clothes. And I think he's about a size 7 shoe.

Me and the boys (Dec 2011). Ian's going to have to take the backseat on the stroller to make room for baby #3!!!

Ah yes, on that note, I'm pregnant again! The "plan" was for me to actually have the baby by this spring/early summer, but it wasn't in the cards. I was so surprised when the pregnancy test came back with a positive result after seeing sooo many negatives (when I would have sworn I was pregnant in the past multiple times). I think that is why it still feels surreal to me. The baby is officially due late September, but due to the whole C-section thing, they'll schedule me a week earlier. I am not looking forward to having another fall baby, like Jase, bc it makes for a really long winter. And this winter since Jase misses the kindergarten cut off, I'll have Jase (almost 5 at the time), Ian (about 2.5 at the time), and brand new baby X. YIPES! I am taking names on a sign-up sheet now for visitors/helpers/nannies?? Heh heh. We are planning to find out the sex of the baby this Friday and I can't even stand it! It should be no shocker that we are hoping for a girl--but of course our number one priority would be a healthy child, either way. I will definitely have to post our results! I just hope and pray that the baby cooperates and doesn't hide the "goods" from the camera!

Jase's very first day of preschool in Sept 2011

LtoR: Miss Stephanie, Jase, Miss Joann (his preschool teachers)

Busted for pouring out a huge container of baby powder!!! Argh!!!

Taken back in Oct 2011. This was a field trip Jase's preschool took to a fun Halloween place!

Jase's 4th bday (Oct 2011). I kind of went all out for this one! It was a costume party!

A photo "booth" place I set up for the party. Then forgot to take pics of the guests there bc I am that awesome.

Some of the spread...it was a bit over the top!

Ghost lollipops, lots of painted/decorated pumpkins, etc.

Our festive little "crappio," as we like to call it. Check out the milk jug ghost lanters hanging from the trees!

Frankenstein bday cake + masked ghost smash cake. By me. I loved this cake!

Jase and friend doing a mask/sticker activity.

Jase trying to eat this donut without touching it! LOL! Fun game!

So Mr. Jase...he's been going to Miss Joann's preschool since Sept of last year and it has been AMAZING for him. She does the school out of her home and is so good with the kids, I love it. It's been really great for Jase to make little friends and have that social experience. We had a few rough patches in the beginning when he was trying desperately to get the other kids' attention but quickly learned what is/isn't acceptable. He has learned so much! He always surprises me with little songs, things he knows, what he draws/writes, etc and it makes me so proud. He loves to sing and knows sooo many songs. I have been listening to a lot of Miranda Lambert's new cd lately, which is country music if you didn't know, and he walks around the house singing "Another lonely night with that same ol' whiskey morning." Hee hee. I should probably skip that one when he's around. It's kind of funny hearing this little boy singing about whiskey....Ha ha ha! Jase is 44" tall (wow!), about 48 lbs, and wears a size 5 in pants and a boys XS (4) and sometimes a boys S (5) in shirts (just depends on the brand). We just signed him up to play for a local soccer team in the fall, which I hope he'll enjoy. He's such a good looking kid with the biggest smile, and he loves to make you laugh. He loves having all of your attention and doing anything with you, as long as he's not bored. He is the best kid ever if he has something productive to do. He still thinks helping me with "chores" is actually fun. I am going to try to keep this little "game" going as long as possible!

September Update

Just wanted to take a minute and write out a short update of our lives. First, I'll start with US. Reuben finally took the plunge after a year or so of debating and switched jobs. It has been different than expected, but we're trying to hang in there. Too bad he doesn't get paid hourly bc we'd be millionaires, ha ha. Let's just say I am really used to going to bed about 2am now. Anyway, we're hoping things get better down the road. As far as real estate, the beginning half of the year went fairly well for me...now I am in the process of doing some marketing in hopes for some referrals. I could use one right now. It's my Realtor income that helps keep us afloat in tough times!

Jase as "Dash." We did a photoshoot for his bday invites in his costume.  He is so cute! 

Do you love this? This is one of his super silly dance moves! LOL

Jase: He started preschool on September 6th. He goes for 2.5 hours, twice a week. So far it has been awesome. He seems to love it and so do I! I love that he's finally around children his age (he loves friends) and learning as well. I also love having a mini break while he's gone...hee hee. It's nice because it allows me one on one time with Ian, which I rarely get these days. Jase is growing like a weed! He's grown at least 3 inches so far just this year! He's about a size xs/4 in boys (tops and pants) and size 11 in shoes! He loves riding his bike (he wants to learn without training wheels) with us on our walks. He is a very busy child and likes to have things to do, so I'm trying to plan out more things to do with him so that they actually get done. I did manage to take the boys to this place called "Kangaroo Zoo" yesterday. It's a warehouse filled with inflatables bouncy houses, slides, etc. He loves it! He was quite the sweaty mess by the time we left, hahaha. Ian liked it as well, but ended up just pushing my stroller around like a car. Jase is a smart little guy...always surprising me with the things he can do! It's ridiculous! Ha ha. He is still obsessed with keys, locks, cars (the real ones)...basically, anything mechanical. I taught him to memorize my cell number because I am paranoid he is going to run off one day and get lost. We're working on our address as well. He loves to sing songs with daddy at night before bedtime, and loves to make people laugh. He will "fake laugh" once the real laughter dies out, just to keep everyone laughing--what a goon! His favorite "game" to play is to have me or Reuben run and try to catch him and tickle him. He is such a funny little dude. Oh and I forgot something else! He is obsessed with fleece footed onesie pajamas. The kid will wear them all day long, everyday, if I let him! Even in the summer! His birthday is coming up, so a Halloween-themed costume party is in the works! And this year he actually has little friends that he can invite! Before it was always family and/or my friends. Heh heh. So that is exciting! The problem is I might have too many friends on the invite list! I haven't figured out how to tackle this just yet.

Ian, taken Aug 20th. This pic is kind of old. I've noticed I take a LOT less pics of the 2nd child than I did of the first. Probably because I am MUCH busier now, hahaha. I'm slackin'!

Ian playing at the beach. He was having so much fun. I still can't get over the blond curls!

Ian: He's almost 18 months old. I can't even believe it! I meant to get his pictures taken at a year old but didn't (lame) so I'm hoping to schedule a session sometime in the next week before his hair gets too long again! He started walking at 15 months and now walks pretty well, though sometimes has a hard time keeping his balance, so I call him my little drunk man! He also has been "talking" a bit more lately. Let's see what some of his words are...he tries to say "there it is,", mama, dada, bopbop (that's his nickname), ow, oh yeah, wow, tries to say "book" and "ball"....He points at EVERYTHING and goes "ooooooh." It's pretty darn cute. He also makes what we call the "stinky face" if you fuss at him about anything. He's definitely good at throwing little fits, too. If he doesn't get his way he usually starts wailing and throws himself back onto the floor. One of these days he is going to crack his head open. He still likes his nunu (binky) but just since last night I am trying to take them away. He slept fine without it and he's napping right now without it, too, so this is a good sign! Update on the binky--I took it away and he's been doing GREAT without it. I think I took it away just in time before he became a full blown addict! Ian definitely seems to be a little momma's boy right now. He is pretty much always RIGHT next to me--which can be either endearing or annoying, depending on my mood. I was supposed to bring Ian into the doctor for a well visit at 15 months but it was about then that Reuben changed jobs (along with insurance carriers) so I had to give up my fabulous pediatrician and I still haven't made an appointment with a new one. It's all a bit of a pain...plus he is sick right now and I don't want him getting any shots until he is all healed up--so hopefully I can get him into a doc soon enough and then we can get some more stats on him posted! I'm assuming he's about average for his height/weight, but we'll see. For now, I will keep running my fingers through his blonde curls and wishing he'd stay young forever. My little sweet one.

Latest Pictures by Jase

While I was going over stuff with the babysitter, Jase was running around with my camera taking pictures. Had to post them (oh man, I accidentally deleted some! Oh well, here's the few I have left)!

View from our front porch.

Wow, very artistic shot! Right??

Destruction left behind by a 3 year old and a 15 month old. Sigh.

You Won't Believe!

Yesterday Jase had the cutest little bout of pretend play. He grabbed the hose attachment on the vaccum and told me to come and help him put "gas" in the "car" with it. The car was our loveseat sofa. Gas tank was a plastic bowl. So I started helping him and he was making gulping sounds. When I started to wiggle the hose he said, "No mom! Don't move it or the gas will spill out!" Uh, ok. So then he asks me to come sit down next to him in the "car." He asked me for the keys and started up the engine. Vroom, vroom. I turned to him and said, "Jase, where are we going?" and he said, "Mom, I am taking you to the greatest restaurant you won't believe!" "Oh where??," I said. "Chopsticks!," he replied proudly. (Chopsticks is a newer Chinese place out by us that we've been to 2 or 3 times but it's been a few months since we've gone there). This whole pretend thing was cracking me up! He was so into it. So then we have to take off our seatbelts and get out of the car. He then has me walk over to a small child's picnic table which ends up being our table at the restaurant. We got our "menus" (plastic candy wrappers) and ordered our food. I got lo mein noodles and he got some kind of roll (LOL). We started pretend eating and I asked for a taste of his. "Sure mom! It tastes kind of spicy. And salty," he says. So funny! Then he makes a quick "call" to our waiter to let them know we are done and we are leaving. Bwhahahah! I had to post this bc it was so cute to see him that imaginative. He doesn't do things like this very often.

New Orleans, May 2011 trip!

Jase chillin' on the plane, watching a movie on the iPod

I haven't been back home to visit in just over 2 years. Last time I was there, I was able to see one of my dear high school friends (Maria) get married! Yay! Seems like I am never there long enough, and I cry my eyes out when I leave. Reuben had too much work going on, so I took myself and the boys, along with my mom (big help to me on the plane!) down for about 7.5 days. I had to make a deal with my mom to get her to stay that extra day bc she works full time and it is hard on her to leave. I wanted to stay more like 10 days, but I was terrified of flying alone with the boys. Jase ended up being really good on the plane, but Ian, as expected, was very restless and fussy. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't rock my babies to sleep, so they are not used to being held while falling asleep. Works great for when you are home, but not so great on a plane! Ha! My mom finally pinned Ian down and he yelled for about 2 minutes, then went out like a light. Hee hee. Problem solved. Anyway, I digress!

Jase swimming for the 1st time using floaties at Ashley's in-laws' pool. He would not get out of the pool! Ha!

I stayed with my sister, Ashley, who just had a baby boy 2 months prior, and my mom stayed with her cousin Rodney. She ran around and did her own thing, and so did I. However, we did meet up a few times to visit with my grammy, who fell and broke her hip last November (more on that later). We also met up to take the kids to Storyland (cute play area in New Orleans City Park that I actually played in as a child myself), Audubon Zoo, and once to meet up with my Grandpa Lucien (mother's dad), my Uncle Lucien (mom's brother) and Aunt Colleen and 2 of their kids for lunch. We also got stinkin' L-U-C-K-Y with the weather! The first 2 days were fairly warm (80 degrees and lots of humidity) but then cold front came through and the weather was more like 65! What! It was actually cool and I was wearing cardigans! Nuts! But I was happy about it except that we didn't really get to go swimming much due to the cold!

Me and my sister, Ashley (she favors her mom and I look more like our dad!)

Cousins Jazz & Jase at the rehab facility visiting Grammy

Jaxon and big sister, Jazz--visiting Grammy

I had the chance to meet up with my old high school buddies at Maria's house. She got us takeout from a place called "Zea's" and I'll never be the same! It was delicious! We had a good time hanging out (also flew by) and letting our kids play. I love that we are still good friends after all these years. I just feel so sad that I don't get to see them more often. Thank goodness for Facebook, bc that helps me keep tabs on them a little bit better than in the past!

Ian, Amiee, Laci & Maria (High School friends), Max

Overall it was a GREAT trip, except for the fact that Jase and his cousin Jazzmyn fought like cats and dogs. Oh my goodness. My sister and I were at our wits end with it all. They would purposefully tease and torment each other with a few shining moments of getting along...Oh and I forgot to mention it took about 2 full days to get Ian to adjust. He would not sleep well for naps at first and then just cry and cry. But after the 3rd day he was fine! Phew!

Ian playing on Aunt Ashley's porch

The other thing that is hard for me when I go back to Louisiana is trying to see everyone and do everything and fit it all in. It's nuts. I feel crazy. I cry a lot. I feel like I am hurting people's feelings all the time bc I can't see everyone when I am there (still have plenty of family in the area). My sister lives a good hour's drive from New Orleans (which is mainly where everyone is at except my dad, thank goodness), so it makes it more difficult with the drive time, traffic, and not to mention two 3 year olds (Jase and Jazzmyn), a 1 yr old (Ian), and her 2.5 month old baby (Jaxon). Coo-coo town!!!! I get so wrapped up with making everyone happy that I just break down. And my poor sister is like Amiee's Shuttle Service! It's like I just want a normal day where I can just chill and do nothing. Or have nothing scheduled to do. But then again, I do like seeing people and visiting! I think my main problem was that in order to prevent us from having the long drive into the city, I would schedule as much as I could with family/friends during the day and that is what made it tough. I felt rushed from thing to thing to thing, instead of being able to just relax and thoroughly enjoy my time. I will try to remember this for next time I come down. I will probably need to rent a car and stay for a month! LOL!

My mom with Ian in front of the Little Pigs' House at Storyland in City Park, NOLA

Jasey with one of the 3 Little Pigs at Storyland, hee hee

My sweetie niece with Snow White!

So I mentioned my grammy earlier in this post. She fell and broke her hip last Nov. and is 89 years old. Since then, she has been in and out of a rehab facility and the hospital. She'll be doing just fine, but then all of a sudden something will happen and she'll be whisked back to the hospital. Recently while at the rehab place, she fell AGAIN, which has hindered all the progress she had been making. It was so good to see her, but tough emotionally at the same time. I hated seeing her in that lonely rehab place. I hoped the staff was treating her well. I am really close to her and I have never seen her this weak and frail, wheelchair bound. The great thing is that she is still of sound mind, so you can still talk to her just like normal.  She had also never met Ian, so this was a big deal for me as well. Although she had a hard time seeing him due to her cataracts--so I held him up to her face really close, LOL, so she could get a good look at him :) I visited her as much as I could while I was there (she was also in the big city), so that was difficult as well with 4 children.

Hopefully learning some wisdom from his Great Grammy!

A couple days before we left she started complaining of not feeling well. Back to the hospital. My sister sat in the car with the children while mom and I went up. I was not prepared for the emotions that followed. She looked just miserable. I thought surely she was going to die that very night. I did. She was hard to understand bc she had an oxygen mask on due to not being able to breathe very well. Turns out she had pnemonia (sp?). I tried to find the words to say since I thought it was very likely that this would be the last time I'd see her on this earth, since who knows when I could come back? I think I sputtered out something about how much I love her, and I'm sorry she was feeling so badly, and I'm so glad I got to see her...then the tears came. I couldn't stop crying. Ugh. I left feeling just, well, sad. I left the day after that, and she was eating well, in good spirits, and had come through the whole sickness thing! What! I couldn't believe it. But my dad and sis tell me that she has been there many times, and always bounces right back! Guess the Good Lord isn't ready to take her just yet! I'm glad I got to see her and get some much needed pictures with her and also with my boys! I have so many more pictures to post...and some of the best shots are on my mom's camera and Ashley's camera! One day I will get them! Oh and I am missing pictures with so many people! What is wrong with my brain? Dad! Did we take any pictures with you??? OMG so dumb! Ha ha ha!