Sunday, January 18, 2009

A dealer that can't add to 21 ?!?!?!

Isn't this picture precious?? Bug is such a Mommy to him, it is so cute!! Well, we are five days from sitting in the warm Florida sun. I am so itchin' to get there, I can barely stand it! I have bece such a homebody when it comes to going out in the cold--I hate it! It dosen't help that to go out I have to bundle two kids--one can't get out the door fast enough, and the other one screams every time we have to put his coat on. I will make sure to take some good pictures of the beach to show you, all my devoted readers.

Well, we went to DH's "holiday" party. It was at a local (real nice) hotel, in their conference center. We got a babysitter, and spent five hours away from the kids. We were excited to get away and have a date, but after the fact, we realized that we didn't say more than about 10 words to each other. I was busy talking to the wives of DH's co-workers, and DH was busy talking to his co-workers. After the dinner, they had a casino night. It was pretty fun...DH and I and one of his co-workers (and her husband) played Blackjack for about an hour. All I have to say, is thank goodness it wasn't real money!! I got some major help from DH's co-worker's husband--THANKS CHAD!! He was so funny--he was doing all these things (doubling-up, etc) that the dealer didn't even know about. It was hilarious...I am not sure though where they got some of their "dealers". There was one lady that seemed as though she couldn't even add her cards to 21, to pay us out?! Ummmm, ok. A dealer that can't add to 21?? We had a good time, but near the end I head to the bathroom, and find that I have to use the facilities without flushing, and wash my hands with bottled Evian water. Turns out a pipe burst, so they had to shut off the water for the ENTIRE hotel. Glad I didn't have a room there--

Bug has been doing so well with her potty training. Normally, she will have no accidents most days, except from 5-8pm. For whatever reason, her thimble bladder won't hold anything during those hours. She piddles in her pants like every 20 minutes or so--I was getting so irritated. WELL, after we got home from DH's party, I talked to the babysitter, and she said that Bug went on the potty all by herself every time, never threw a fit, and had NO accidents. WHAT?!!? Is this the same child we are talking about?? Surely, there is some kind of mistake--she pees all the time at night?!?! We are hoping she FINALLY figured it out...today was wonderful. She had no accidents, went to the potty when she needed to, never threw a fit. How nice it was to not have to soak undies/pants 4-5x's a day!!! Ahhhhh. Now we just have to tackle the nighttime/nap time issue, and by then, it will be time to start over with potty training Little Man.

Well, other than the party, we spent this weekend getting ready for vacation. I dug out the suitcases, started piling clothes/swimsuits/sandals/beach towels/shorts etc, and then I really got excited. I checked the weather channel, and Tampa shows 76 and sunny for the day we are heading to Magic Kingdom. Perfect. I will say hi to Mickey for all of you!!

Here are some pictures from the weekend: Here is poor LM after waking up from a nap. We put him to bed with wet hair...this is a major bad hair day!! Again with the bad hair... Bug under a pillow pile!! (cheap entertainment!!) In about two years this will probably be a regular occurrence!! The funniest part of this picture is the saying on LM's bib "I can't be good all the time!" Just goofin' around I love this picture....my little guy...by the way, his hair is MUCH better here! My two kiddos, who I love more than anything in the world....

Friday, January 16, 2009

"Lucy" is the culprit...


















I don't usually promote stuff, in fact
this is the first time I have done this since starting this blog. This is a picture of my new favorite baby/toddler thing. It is a baby sling by "mammasmilk". If anyone is interested, their website is http://www.mammasmilk.com/. It is for newborn to 35 pounds, so I can use it with Bug (not that I would, she is a "big girl" and her legs work just fine!). The good thing about it is you order a custom size, based on a few measurements, and it isn't nearly as painful on your back as a front carrier. It takes awhile to figure out how to use it, but once you have it down, it is awesome. I put LM in it the first time, and he went right to sleep. :-) There are quite a few different positions that the toddler can sit in. The best that work for LM are the "kangaroo" and the "cradle hold".

I am working on getting over some kind of lung/cold/bronchitis/virus/flu thingy. Luckily, no one else in the family has gotten it. Now, we just have to hold on till next week! Anyway, I think LM is going through some serious teething. He has been super crabby the last few days. I was diggin' in the medicine box for the infant tylenol for nap time today!

I had an interesting night last night. After walking my 3 miles on the treadmill at 9:30 last night, I checked on the kids. I unloaded Bug's bed (took all her toys that she likes to sleep with), including "Lucy" her baby doll. This is "Lucy":

"Lucy" talks/coos/screams (and pees her diaper) when you press the bracelet on her hand. I grabbed the wrong hand. "Lucy" started to do her thing. I threw a blanket over Lucy in the hopes that she will stop cooing/screaming/moving her legs and arms. "Lucy" woke LM up. I rock LM to sleep, put him back in bed. Hit the shower. After the shower, I crawl into my warm, toasty bed, with a big...Ahhhhh. Just then, I have a coughing attack, LM wakes up, and I spent the next hour and a half trying to get him to sleep. I finally get him to sleep, and put him in bed. I went downstairs to cough, trying to keep him from waking up and guess what--he starts to cry. I let him CIO (cry it out) awhile, obviously a little too long, because then Bug starts crying and telling me that LM is crying. UGH. At this point, DH is up, and takes LM downstairs to rock him to sleep. I lay in bed, coughing still. (this morning, DH said that even when he was rocking LM to sleep downstairs, every time I coughed LM jolted awake...poor kid) DH got LM to sleep and we decided I would sleep downstairs to avoid waking anyone else up. It wouldn't be a problem, except DH has a major meeting/presentation he is doing today, and needed to have a full night sleep. DH was planning on going into work super early to finish up some loose ends, but instead stayed up for 3hrs after I went downstairs to sleep. I slept on the couch. Hopefully, tonight will be better...


Here is a cute picture of Bug and DH:

Monday, January 12, 2009

Sewa Teatma Pant, Mommy!!

Nice bowling stance, aye? She takes after her Daddy!! :-) Well, another crazy week down. Eleven days till we leave for Florida....Ahhhh. Warm(er) weather. A time to get away from the snow, to have our first family (of four!) vacation, to see LM play in the sand for the first time, and most importantly, just time to get away, and enjoy each other. We will see about the "enjoy each other" after taking a toddler and a baby through airport security with two car seats, a double stroller, and all the other junk. I will need a drink BEFORE I even make it on the plane!!


Last week started with a visit to the pediatrician for LM. He had a weird "gunky" rash in his eye (I figured was an infection). I was right. After waiting in the drive up at a pharmacy for approx 15 minutes (they got the script wrong because of a oopsie with his recent name change...), we made it home with the antibiotic. I checked the paperwork when I got home. Guess how much it would have cost us for this prescription if we hadn't had insurance. For the record, we got exactly 7 grams of a ointment. ((waiting for guesses...)) It would have cost us $220!!!! $220 for 7 grams of ointment!?!?! Holy crap. For that price, it should hop out of the closet, take it's own cap off, and apply itself to my son's eye!!!

Nothing much more happened during the week. On Friday, I went out to a movie and dinner with a friend of mine. We saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I loved the movie. The weird part for me was when the hummingbirds appeared (twice) to signify souls after death (what I thought anyway). It was an excellent movie though, and I would go see it again.

Saturday, we had some friends over for dinner and playing some games. We had a fun time, and Bug just loves her "uncle" Dave and "aunt" Jen. Jen brought the best apple crisp I have ever had. She gave me the recipe, so watch out--I will probably be bringing it to the next family function! We look forward to seeing them again soon.

Then the fun really began. I went to bed about 11:30 on Saturday night feeling perfectly fine. I woke an hour later, and had trouble breathing, stuffy nose, sore throat, etc. Great. I am getting sick. As of today, the cold has turned into (I am sure) bronchitis. I will be going to the doctor, probably tomorrow. I just have to get rid of this, and make sure no one else gets it before next Friday. Grrrr, we better be able to go to Florida!!

OH, I almost forgot. To explain the title of this blog entry--Bug has been asking where her pee-pee goes. I would tell her it goes down the drain. That seemed like a good enough of an answer for her. Well, about a week ago, Daddy was helping her go potty, and she asked him..."Daddy, where pee-pee go..? Daddy, being the engineer that he is, replied..."your pee-pee goes to the sewage treatment plant, honey..." Now every time she goes potty, she exclaims..." Pee-Pee go Sewa Teatma Pant, Mommy!!!" Lovely.
My babies... Saturday morning, we took LM outside for his first time in the snow. It was one of the fastest photo shoots I have done. He hated it. He never cried, but had a scowl on his face the entire time. Daddy being goofy. It shows how much snow we have in our front yard, though. Bug is sitting on the driveway. We had to tell her not to eat the snow that Daddy had just shoveled from the driveway. She insisted in continuing to eat the snow, so we moved her to the untouched white snow in the middle of the yard.... OH HUSH...we all ate snow as kids!!! :-) Getting ready to take a yummy bite of "driveway snow" The kiddos My snow angels... Snacking on the "good" snow...

Monday, January 5, 2009

Missing you....



















Well, I have to admit that the cliche you hear about the first major holiday after the death of a loved one is so very true. This was the hardest Christmas ever. As much as we were rejoicing the miracle of our son that God brought to us through adoption, I felt like a huge part of me was missing this year. It just seems like some days the sadness is too much. It has been a rough past couple of weeks for me--no doubt about it. Lots of tears. Losing my Grandma was like losing another Mom. She was my other Mom. Do you ever wish you could have just five more minutes with someone?

This picture is one of my favorites. This was taken the last time we saw her in July, just about three weeks before she passed away. This is my Grandma--she loved our little Bug so much. She always said that Bug reminded her of me when I was little. Grandma always lit up as soon as Bug came into the room.

So, life has been crazy around here. After the post-Christmas clean up, I have been trying to keep low-key and not schedule so much. Little Man started eating baby food like it is going out of style. One day, just like switching on the light, he started snarfing it down. So far, he has had peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots and bananas. He eats so much, I started making my own baby food. When he eats 2-3 containers of baby food a day, that can get pricey!! My trusty blender is getting a workout and our freezer is full of ice cube sized frozen food. Hey, whatever works!

I want to mention a prayer request. My best friend's husband's--I will call him "Bob"-- family has had a horrible time with cancer. In Bob's family of 7, all five of the men in the family (his father, himself, and his three brothers) have had cancer of some sort (skin, non-Hodgkin's, Hodgkin's, etc). Last Christmas, one of the brothers was diagnosed with a late stage cancer. This Christmas, Bob's only sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Now, everyone in their family has had some type of cancer, except Bob's mother. Please pray for healing for everyone. Currently, three of Bob's siblings are fighting this nasty cancer.

At the end of a year, there is alot to reflect on. We shed many happy tears and many sad tears in 2008. I can never thank God enough for all the memories of my Grandma, and all the joy our son has brought us. Some moments from 2008 that I will never forget (in no particular order):

1) The moment that our son's birthmother told us she chose us to be parents to her baby. It was April 28th, at approximately 8:30pm. I would have to say it was the most humbling moment.

2) The day I held my Grandma's hand (August 26th) and told her all that I ever wanted her to know. She was already in a coma, but she squeezed my hand, and I felt as though she wanted me to know she heard me. The next day, holding her chilly hands after she took her last breath. Knowing that she was truely free, I still didn't want to let go of her hands--that would mean I would finally have to say goodbye...

3) The joy and wonder in my daughter's eyes, as she ran down the beach collecting sea shells in Florida, and when she rode her first ride at Disney's Magic Kingdom, the teacups. (early March)

4) Being in the room when Little Man was born (June 21). It was so amazing being able to see my son be born, to such a courageous young lady. Then, a few days later, coming into a room to see a crying young lady holding her precious son whom she loves so much, and knowing that I am the person that will take this baby from her arms and cause her to cry so many more tears.

5) The many times I hear my little Bug give her brother a kiss goodnight, and say..." I love you so so much baby....goodnight."

6) Hearing Bug say the same nighttime prayer that my Grandma taught me.

I could go on....