Happenings

I've been waiting to do a new post until all of the 'big events' of our day-to-day lives started to decrease, but I see no end in sight. So, this is what's been happening.

Isabelle is quickly getting bigger and bigger. So big, in fact, that soon she will need a new car seat. Jer and I have decided that it will be much more economical to get Carter a new booster, and to move Bell Bell into Carter's seat that he's been in since he was her age....so so long ago. I've been to almost every store in the area comparing car seats. I've been online comparing car seats, and then back to each store for a 2nd look at all the car seats. I can't decide.

Which, is the sole reason for Belle being in the infant carrier for so long. Do I spend the extra money for the EPP foam lining, or do I get the cheap one with just the plastic and the cover? Since, they all have to pass a safety test, anyway to go on the market. And, do I really write down the measurements for each seat, and then compare them to the measurements in my car to find one that will take up the less amount of space? Or do I just buy the one that Consumer Reports ranks highest?? Even though it may mean that we all may not fit in one car until Bell turns 1? (She has to be rear facing until she turns 1, and then the front seat has to be pushed all the way up almost to the dashboard for her car seat to fit.)

At any rate, there will be 2 new car seats purchased within the next few weeks. And there will be photos. Don't worry.

I've had the opportunity to work some overtime, and, as we all know, Jer just works ALL the time.

Carter and Isabelle enjoyed their first parade a few weeks ago. Isabelle was cheery as a peach, getting passed around the entire time, and Carter started to really get into the swing of the parade during the last 10 minutes of it. (It was 2 hours long.)

Jer has begun a new project, despite our decision earlier this year to invest in new windows, AND NO MORE PROJECTS!!!! And, despite my pleas for plumbing in the newly remodeled upstairs bathroom. And, despite my udder disgust of the dripping pipes in the basement.

Yes, Jer has begun a new project. He has gutted and begun to paint the three season porch. I'm pleased as pie. Can you tell?

I bought a giant bucket of cookie dough, and thought I'd make the cookies to take to the parade. I didn't take the cookies to the parade. Instead, we ate them over the course of a week.

Carter and Snoopy cruised in the Coupe with the help of Daddy,

and Carter decided that it was fun to draw on the Magna Doodle. I think he will be left handed.

And as Carter quickly grew out of the high chair, Isabelle quickly grew into it.

Although, I am COMPLETELY convinced that Carter makes the bigger mess at mealtime, and should be the one messing up the high chair, and not my beautiful dinning room table.

But isn't that what little boys are for??? Certainly little girls don't make messes like these!!!!!!

Our 3rd anniversary is coming up next week, and Jer and I have both taken the day after off in hopes of a relative taking the kids overnight so we can 'raise the roof' and have a late night out....so far, it looks like we will be at home doing the usual -- dinner, clean up, play, baths, bed, collapse. I'm thinking that even if we did ship the kids off for a night at home alone, I'd end up crying for them anyway. So they should just as well be there, and we just as well should stay home. Its cheaper, and maybe not worth the hangover the next day anyway. :)

I'm also taking the following 2 days off of that same week to put together and finish this rummage sale that we started ONCE AND FOR ALL!

During this time off, I would also like to shop for some work pants that FIT me, work on painting the fence, paint the porch (Jer's project), get rid of my cold, and purchase 2 new car seats.

My new work out plan has left me will little to NO free time in the evenings, but I hope to post another blog next week.
Stay tuned.

The Ouch

And don't ask about the "ouch" on his head. No one really knows what happened.

Box Tops!!!

My latest discovery is box tops. I ransacked my pantry, closets, and storage room in the hopes of finding some box tops.

This is how they work: You buy items at the grocery store, cut the box top off the packaging, and take your collection to a local school. For each box top, your school earns 10 cents.

I went online to find out what I have been throwing away that had a box top on it, and I about had a heart attack. So I downloaded the list if items, and ran about my house cutting out box tops. I earned my school $3.10!!!!

I couldn't believe the items I had in my pantry that had a box top, and all these years I've been literally throwing money out the window!!! (My toilet paper had box tops on it for Pete's Sake!)

Of course, now that I have small children, making sure that Carter and Isabelle's future schools are well equipped and have money is more important than ever.

So, I encourage all of you to visit the Box Top website, download the list, and start clipping those box tops!!!!!

And then take them to Harry Spence or Central, since my kids will probably be going there. :)

The kitchen remodel plan

Just for the record, this is my kitchen before the money saving remodel. Any suggestions are welcome. Lord knows I could use your input!

And this is the kitchen that I would love to have someday. So, we are proceeding with a blackish tile for the counter top, and a whiteish tile for the back splash. The kitchen cabinets are getting painted white, with brushed silver hardware. We have a new brushed silver faucet, and the sink will remain stainless steel. Jer will build an island, with seating in the back as pictured above. The door is getting painted, and the wallpaper above the cabinets will be a tan color.

Kitchen remodel

Being married is a two way street. There are times when I make decisions and Jer complies, and there are times when Jer makes decisions, and.....I comply.

For example, if I am adamant about buying Huggies over the store brand even though they are 2x the price, he will comply. Since, after all, I am the mommy and SURELY know more about diapers than he does. And, when I insist that I just cannot drive the old car w/o air conditioning because I will die, and demand to take the newer good car, he complies. Since, after all, I am the woman and he SURELY is tougher than I. And lastly, I am usually exempt from taking out the garbage, since he is much better at lugging things around than I. Especially when they stink (unless it is a baby, of course).

With all that said, here is Jer's latest decision that I will comply with, reluctant or not.

*Let me just remind you of the kitchen I was dreaming of. I did want to save the money to completely re-do it in a few years, including knocking out a wall or two and adding a small expansion.

Jer got a wild hair and decided that we need to re-do the kitchen with whatever money we can afford RIGHT NOW (without finishing the plumbing in my upstairs-almost-finished bathroom) and have it finished in the next 2 months. Not my idea of planning a remodel, but, this is how my husband makes decisions, and sometimes I have to comply. So, I am working with him.

We picked out a possibility for tile, some new curtains, and decided we were painting the cupboards, and agreed on some new hardware. Also, he wants to build an island for the middle of the room. I'd like a new appliance or two. So, the saga begins...

BUT DON'T WORRY, I'LL BLOG ALL ABOUT IT!

Saving Time

I thought that maybe I could get a few pictures posted, minus a few stories, for the sake of saving time. Apparently, everything around here is about efficiency, and saving time.

Time saver #1. I present Isabelle, forgoing mama feeding her the squash to eat her own toes. That's efficient, right?

Time saver #2. Toddlers are never time savers....especially when they are "hide-in".

Time saver #2. Finding Nemo. Carter will actually sit on the couch and watch that video for a solid 20 minutes. This is efficient because it gives me time to clean the kitchen all in one swoop, rather than a bit here, a bit there, throughout the day. Bonus if I get to the basement and put a load of laundry in without him noticing.

Time saver #3. Does playing in the pool count as a bath???

Monsters in Monsterville

So some funny things happened tonight after we all got home.

First, Isabelle needed to be fed her baby cereal. I began to feed her, and she began to fuss (just like she did last night). Apparently, Jer is baffeled by this because she never fusses for him. So Jer and I both get in her face, and we are cooing and ooohing, and trying to make her happy so she will eat and not fuss and cry. I'm saying, "oooh, all she wants is a bottle" thinking she's too cranky and tired to eat 'real' food. Since, this was the case last night.

So I put the bowl of food down and marched into the kitchen to promptly fix her a bottle.

Meanwhile, dear sweet baffeled Jer picks up the cereal and starts to feed her, and she eats it, and she likes it.
I look into the dinning room from the kitchen to see her kicking and eating and having a jolly ole time.

Excuse me?!?!?! My jaw dropped.
Did my husband just 'one-up' me??????
So I re-enter the dinning room and we all sit down for dinner, and I finish feeding Isabelle in between my bites of dinner.

I'm still not sure what that was all about, but I found it entertaining.

Then, during dinner, Jer told Carter not to "eat with his mouth open", which I found to be hilarious. Jer was the least bit amused with my laughter following his attempt at discipline. I suppose if he made more sense it wouldn't have been so funny....I'm still giggling.

A few minutes later, Carter began saying "raarrrhhh!" like he's a scary monster. I told Carter that we are eating, not playing, and this repeated itself a few times.
Until suddenly out of the deep dark pits of monsterville, came a gigantic
"R-A-A-R-R-H-H-H-H!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" out of daddy's mouth. I had to remind him that 'we are eating, not playing', and again we both had a good laugh because it was apparent that Jer had HEARD what I said to Carter just seconds ago, but obviously wasn't LISTENING.
(I think this happens all the time.)
Sometimes it feels like we are sabotaging each other's attempts at discipline....gee, I'm not sure.



Following dinner came play and then bedtime. Fast forward to the part where daddy's holding Carter ready to take him to bed, and I ask Carter for a kiss. He leans over and gives me my kiss. Then daddy asks for a kiss. Carter leans over and gives him a kiss.

I thought this was fun, so I asked for another kiss from Carter. And holy moly, I got another kiss. Then daddy felt that he too needed yet another kiss, and that lucky duck, he got a second kiss as well!!

I got a third, and daddy got a third, I think we both got up to 6 kisses each, and then Carter interrupted this pattern to point to his bedroom and say "nite-nite!".
It was as if he was saying "this is dumb, and I'm tired." and he nipped it right in the bud.
We laughed, and laughed.
So now, this post needs to be nipped in the bud, because it's 9:31 and past my new bedtime!!!!

Story about the ducks

Daddy bought a loaf of bread.

Carter squished it, and it didn't bounce back.

Daddy and Carter wanted to feed the bread to the ducks.

Daddy took Carter to feed the bread to the ducks.

Except mommy saw the bread on the counter after they left.

Daddy forgot the bread.

The ducks didn't get fed.

Now they are sad.

But Carter will feed the ducks another day.

Until then, the ducks will have to eat everyone else's bread.

Those poor ducks.

The End.

Mommy Confessions

I'm stalling on potty training Carter because:
1. I'm not sure how to do it
2. I'm afraid of the stress
3. I'm afraid of the messes
4. It's easier to just change a diaper

I've got the potty topper, I've got the pull ups...but for some reason I just can't get started.

Conclusion #1. Maybe I should increase the dose of my anxiety medication and try again.
Conclusion #2. Maybe I should suck it up and quit whining.
Conclusion #3. Maybe Carter isn't ready anyway.
Conclusion #4. Maybe I'm making excuses.
Conclusion #5. I need to take a nap and sleep on it.
Conclusion #6. This is getting me no where.

I think I am more part of the problem that I am part of the solution....

Been So Postless

Why do I have so much drama in my life???? The last few weeks have been action packed with jaw dropping chaos, which has left Jer and myself completely exhausted. Between trying to pick up extra hours at work, and not being able to GET to work, finding babysitters, and trying to stay ahead of the game are all separate posts of themselves. Some of you know what I'm talking about, and many of you don't.

Jer's hours are way crazy. His new job is like boot camp. The hours are incredibly outrageous, and we just can't wait until Jer is no longer "the new guy".

I have given myself a new bedtime; 9:30pm is the latest I will allow myself to stay up. Friday and Saturday nights included. Last night we were all in bed by 8:40pm!!! I've decided that routine and a schedule work much better in this house than 'winging it'.

Carter is turning more and more into a big boy each day. And Isabelle is expressing her personality to its highest potential.

I love my children so much, and lately I've been learning to appreciate them more.

Thanks to a new medication (started it about a month ago) that is helping me manage my EXTREME anxiety, I feel much more in control of what seems to be my out of control life. So far, so good. And I think I'm a better mom and wife because of it. So, the family is happy that mommy is 'chillin-out' a bit. :)

And so am I.

Isabelle and the Cantaloupe

Yes, the cantaloupe is inside the little blue mesh net thingy. She sucks and chews on it and LOVED the juice so much, that she cried when I took it away from her to "reload" it.

Sleepless nights

Last night was one of the worst nights in a very, very long time.

Imagine this:

10:25pm, go to sleep.

1:30am, Isabelle needs to eat.

2am, go back to sleep.

4am, Carter is crying. Soothe him, put him back to sleep.

4:20am, Carter is screaming. Change a poopy diaper, tell him I'm not coming back, put him back to sleep.

5am, Carter is crying again.

5:20am, Carter is still crying. Go get him, bring him to bed with me. Tell him firmly it's time to go nite-nite, mamma's tired, mamma is going to sleep. Turn off light. Carter cuddles, but is restless and irritated for some reason. This goes on for 10 minutes.

5:30am, put Carter back in his bed, kicking and screaming.

6am, Carter quiets down and falls to sleep and finally, so can I.

8am, good morning! It's time to wake up! Both children are awake....AGAIN!

I do have to say, this was much more frustrating than having a newborn and expecting to be awake every 3-4 hours. This nightmare was unplanned, and so frustrating in the middle of the night. What do you do with a screaming toddler at 4am? I refuse to let him get up for the day. That is a bad habit that WILL NOT start. And how do I sleep when I can hear him crying????

He was very cute before all the screaming began. I was holding him and telling him how everyone was sleeping, mee-mee, bell-bell, daddy (who was actually gone to work already, but at the time telling Carter that daddy was sleeping seemed like a powerful trick). But Carter had other things on his mind.

Like naming everything he could think of....car, mee-mee's ball, juice, hot, cold, mama, daddy, bell-bell, eyes, nose, ouch, hat (the spiderman hat from Grandma Kay that will be the death of me. He wants to take it EVERYWHERE, even to bed.)...and on and on and on.

At 4am when it's just Carter and I, and he wants to talk to me and tell me everything he knows, and I have his full undivided attention, who wouldn't want to listen to what he has to say????

Maybe this is all my fault. For entertaining him when he wanted to talk instead of sleep. Or for going back in a 3rd time after telling him I wasn't coming back, and then bringing him to bed with me (which I will never do again, but desperate times call for desperate measures...okay, maybe I wasn't desperate, but golly gee, I sure felt like I was going to die! SLEEP, SLEEP, all I wanted was my sleep!!!). And when he wails for mamma while he's crying desperately, sometimes I cave.....

Thank goodness it's my day off.

Thank goodness I can take them to daycare.

Thank goodness I can get some rest.

My co-workers will not like me one bit on Wednesday if this happens again tomorrow night.

All About Carter

Carter is growing up so nicely. He seriously is a different boy than he was just 2 months ago. He's not QUITE so attached to my leg anymore, and is happy to play by himself for a while.

Daddy is teaching him how to pretend and role play with his army guys. They jump and spin and crash and slide and even FLY! Daddy is much better at this than mommy is. Mommy is much better at reading books, cutting apples, and changing diapers.

Funny how that works.

Isabelle is getting bigger and bigger. And the bigger she gets, the funnier she thinks her brother is. She watches him play and laughs at him all day long.

And, Carter loves to takes care of her.
I just love the person he is becoming. Ever since he turned 2, it's like the flood gates of words have burst.

He asks for 'ahh wader' = more water
he tells me when he goes 'pee pee',
he yells at Simon to stop barking = 'mee-mee, top', no-no',
he tells me Isabelle wants more = mowa
he likes his "guys",
and his "cars",
and loves to "jump!jump!jump!"
He loves "crackers" and "jush" = juice
and his shoes and downstairs and outside.
He wakes daddy up from naps "daddy, wk ip",
and "daddy, eeeeet!" when its time to eat dinner.
And he likes to try to count on his fingers, understands 1-2-3, and can sing the ABC's from A to G.
He says bye!
and bump-a (grandpa),
and nite-nite,
and sssshhhh!
and he loves his sister bell-bell,
and nee-nee (auntie 'lyn-dee').
He can say the names of his friends at daycare, and can even tell secrets. (compliments of Mel at daycare)
He also loves to do the "deesh" dishes,
and always wants a handful of 'bah-boos" = bubbles
(And I am completely intrigued by this, but I know that's probably enough.)

I'm so excited to watch him grow!!!!

From 3lbs 12oz, to 30lbs today, he amazes me every single day!!!

Devil VS Angel

What's funny, is that for Carter's birthday, I made him a chocolate devil's food cake.

BUT,

Great Grandma Violet brought a white angel food cake.

Maybe Carter is half devil,

and half angel???

Itsy Bitsy

And Carter LOVES the Itsy Bitsy Spiders.

My New Kitchen

Since our bathroom is almost complete, I thought I'd get started on ideas for our next project....

THE KITCHEN.

You can contact me via phone or email if you are interested in funding this project. Thanks.

Oh, and we are only accepting donations in increments of $1,000 or more. Again, Thank you.

This, that, and a Birthday Party!

In the last week and a half, there have been many events MUCH worthy of mentioning...if I can remember them all, it will justify why I have not posted a blog in the last 10 days.

The kids and I went to a family reunion. It was hot, humid, and yucky.

Grandma Violet spent most of the day holding Isabelle, as usual, and Carter ran around like a monkey.

Unfortunately, the reunion was in an un- airconditioned shelter.

Unfortunately, Carter fell face first onto the sidewalk, scraped his head, nose, and got a bloody lip.

And unfortunately, neither of the kids got their naps and there was hell to pay when we got home at 4 pm.

And unfortunately this made mommy very irritated and wanting a break SOOO badly, but no one wanted to nap. Rather, they both cried for 30 minutes; too tired to sleep, and too upset to eat...until daddy came home from work. THANK YOU, LORD. Then I don't know what happened. I went to bed and locked the door.

This is just another reason I have said in the past, and I'll say it again, we are all much happier if we just stay home.

A few days later, our cousin (and life saver) Brit came to stay with us. This same day after a short road trip to pick her up, day care called and said Carter had a fever, and he needed to get picked up. So, we brought him home and went to see the Doc. Usually when Carter is has a fever this high, he is sick. But not this time. No strep, no ear infection, no nothing. So, for the next 3 days Carter stayed home with a fever.

Brit, in ALL her free time (which ended up to be little since Carter was home) was planning a garage sale for me. In my garage, in the humidity, and in the heat, she was laying out all the baby clothes. (Selling the baby clothes is incentive to not get pregnant any time soon.) The first day of the sale was successful, and Brit manned the fort like a pro, while I was at work.

The same night of the first day of the sale, our cousin Dawn was getting married. I couldnt go, since I was working, but Brit was able to catch a ride with my sister and attend the affair. I wished I could have gone so badly, but with Jer having to be to work at 1:30 AM the next morning, (insane, isn't it???) he really needed me to be there so he could go to bed by an early hour that evening. And what was I to do with the kids if I took them with??? Carter had been sick, and needed his sleep. And Isabelle....well, she's a piece of cake so I guess that wasn't an issue. BUT, Carter, really needed to be home. So, the decision was made. I had to stay home.

However, the next morning was day 2 of our exciting garage sale!!!! And I needed to be up at 6:30am, well rested, and ready to go.

This, I was.

But only to find a massive storm system hovering over my house. It started to get windy, it started to get dark, and it started to down pour. In the middle of this down pour, my faithful friend Dina showed up, just like she said she would, to help with the garage sale and the kids.

Upon walking in the door, she announced that there would be no sale anytime soon, and that we were going back to bed. This, we did. Till 8 am.

The sun was shining, and it was time for a sale!!!....then the kids woke up. I was stuck in the house getting breakfast going, while my faithful friend, Dina, set up the sale just like she said she would. I LOVE HER!!!! And I think I owe her a very large favor.

The sale went on, somewhat unsuccessful in it's 2nd day. I think the rain was to blame.

Then aound 11 am, Brit came back from the wedding, and she left shortly after to go home. I was sad. I wished I could have gone to the wedding, and I wished I could have spent more time with Brit. I miss her dearly, and want her to come live with me. I mean really, what's more important; the 11th grade, or living with your needy cousins????

The next day was Carter's 2nd birthday party! Jer had requested the day off, was granted it, then it was taken away, and then he was put on call. So, we had a pretty good chance that he would be home.

And this, he was.

And it was a perfect day. Carter was happy and silly and laughing, and Bell-Bell was cheeky as usual, and daddy was home with us on a Sunday, and the house got cleaned, and the lawn got mowed, and the cake was made, and the errands were ran, and naps were taken by all.....except poor poor daddy, who never seems to get a break. (I do need to mention that it was no ones fault but his own. He had the opportunity, but didn't take it.)

Carter had his party, and got his toys. This year, he's really into cars and spiderman. What a lucky boy he is, because he got some of both for his birthday!

And I was thinking, what a lucky boy he is, indeed:

He has his own house.

He has his own car.

He has his own horse.

And he has his own truck.And he's only TWO!

Dine Without Whine

So I had mentioned how I dislike cooking very, very much in a previous post. I was doing some research on the subject, and stumbled across something quite amazing. If you could imagine, every meal of the week, already planned out for you, including the grocery list down to the specific measurement needed for each individual dish. It's time to "Dine Without Whine".

I think this could quite simply be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

The New Bathroom

Would you just look at my friggen' bathroom!!!!?!??!!! I think that Jer did a smashingly amazing job, and deserves an applause.

I can't believe that I can once again, take a pee on the main level of my house. YAY! However, it isn't finished just yet...not so YAY. We are still waiting for the plumber, so, that means no running water in the sink or shower. And there are still some minor things that need to be finished. But just look at it. I think it is quite sharp, myself. And I can't wait to pee upstairs in the middle of the night!!!!! (Can you hear me squealing in delight??) I will post more pics when it is really really done.

This sure beats the alternative...