Sometimes they actually listen!

One thing Dave and I do with Aaron before he goes to bed is devotions. We have several different books and methods we use depending on how tired Aaron is, what mood he's in, and how tired we are :) We read the story/verse to him and then ask whatever questions are on the bottom of the page, plus sometimes we throw in our own. Sometimes I wonder if he really understands what we read to him and tell him since he usually answers our questions about the story with "Um, I don't know" or, "I have no clue!" He can be such a punk sometimes!

Well, this morning after Sunday School, his teacher, Mr. Tom, came over and said, "I have to tell you something. You know how in the movies they always show the Three Wise Men at the stable with baby Jesus, but actually they went to Josephs house instead. Todays's lesson was on the three Wise Men and I was explaining to the kids that Herod was trying to kill Jesus and an Angel warned Joseph in a dream to not go home. I asked if they knew where Joseph took Mary and Jesus and Aaron said 'Egypt!' I couldn't believe it!" I have to say, I was surprised too! I told Tom I guess Dave must have read it one night with Aaron and Aaron then told me that yes, he and Daddy had in fact discussed it. How funny! It was such a great thing to hear! As a parent, one of my biggest goals and concerns (not worries, but I can't think of a better word to use) is that my children truly understand who God is, what He has done for them, that they make Him their personal Saviour at an early age and they walk closely with Him. How wonderful to know that what we say, do and expose him to is sinking in a little! He has been asking questions lately like, where does Jesus live? and it is thrilling to my heart to think that each day Aaron gets closer to the truth! Please pray for him, that he will understand more and more each day and that very soon he would make that life changing decision, and then also please pray for Dave and me as we try to teach, instruct and inform him as best we can.

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Taking an idea from another blog I read, here are some of my favorite things about Christmas time.

~ Lots of baking!
~ Shrimp on Christmas Eve and my parents
~ Watching my children open gifts and seeing their expressions of sheer joy!
~ Spending all day in my pj's
~ Having Davey home ALL DAY!!!!
~ Mommom's monkey cake (which I am soooo missing this year!)
~ Going to 34th street
~ Watching Christmas movies- A Christmas Story, White Christmas, Christmas Vacation and Elf.
~ Shoping for the perfect gift for someone
~ Getting a gift that you are totally not expecting
~ Family Get-Togethers (Brunch with Dave's side and dinner with mine)
~Christmas music
~ More opportunities to discuss with Aaron that gifts and Santa are nice and fun, but that Jesus is the true reason for celebration
~ Christmas Programs, concerts, etc... (Debbie, I'm looking forward to next year! :p)
~ Feeling that if only for just one day, there really could be peace on earth!

Merry Christmas!

The title pretty much sums it up, but I also hope you each have a wonderful day with family and friends and remembering that Jesus is the true reason for the season!

My Awesome Helper

I just need to tell you all how awesome Aaron has been through all this sickness! Today I have zero energy and he has been such a great help! Any time I ask/tell him to do something his standard answer has been "Oh, sure!" I love it! He was eating dinner and I said "I'll go into the living room to get your gatorade" and he said, "Oh no mom, I'll do it, I really don't mind!" It was very cute :) He is just so willing to help me clean, pick stuff up, keep an eye on Belle, etc... I think he's done more around here tonight than Dave and I together, but he's the one who has the most energy, so I'm thankful someone's around to help! (Not to say that Dave hasn't tried to or been helpful, he has, but he is fighting something too and adding that with the fact that he got no sleep last night, he and I make one pitiful pair of energy-less parents tonight).

I told Aaron that after we are all better I'll take him some where special as a thank you for being so awesome the last two days. About an hour later he goes, "Mom, you forgot my surprise! You know, the one when I was putting my spoon away?" it took me a minute to figure it out but I did and explained that we'll go out after we're all better. Thankfully he understood and is ok with it :)

Sickness

I am totally bummed that we are sick right now! (Although, I can't think of a time or reason I would be happy about it...) Belle started Monday night during dinner so I had to miss the Ornament Exchange with the ladies from my church that evening. In Dave's defense, he did tell me I could still go and he would be happy to take care of her, I needed to get some gatorade for her and just felt bad leaving him with her.

Then Tuesday, around 4am, I woke up to a "mommy, I threw up" and had to clean Aaron's bed, put the sheets and all in the wash and get him cleaned up. He wanted to sleep on our floor which was fine with me due to the layout of our house. Dave got up and went to work after having a very interrupted nights sleep and I stayed inside all day, trying to clean and get laundry done in hopes of de-germing my house. Belle acted perfectly fine and seemed to have even more energy than usual but Aaron was pitiful and laid around all day, watching movies and "indulging" in the BRAT diet. Yum. Belle was, of course, on the BRAT diet and I was even careful of what I ate just in case they were so kind as to share their germs. Belle seemed fine all day and after I gave Aaron some chewable tylenol for his headache and fever, he perked up and I was quite optimistic about their prognosis. My parents, brother and his family and my family were all supposed to go to Valley View Farms (one of the traditions my father doesn't want to let go) but we had to skip. Obviously.

As soon as Belle threw up Monday evening I started to feel sick and figured it was all mental (ok, Sara, I know you will have something to say about that). I felt good yesterday and was even planning on getting on the treadmill for a while but as soon as I got down from putting Aaron into bed my stomach felt like someone had just flipped a switch and I felt icky, to say the least. I will spare you all the details, but neither Dave or I slept since I was sick and Belle apparently had a relapse. He had to wash her sheets and go check on her numerous times since I was unable to even walk to her room. Poor guy! He was so exhausted when he went to work today! Dave worked so hard to help me, I don't know what I would do without him!

As of now, Aaron seems ok but is still on the brat diet, Belle threw up right before her nap this afternoon and she and I are basically on an all liquid diet for the next 24 hours. I am thankful that we are all sick now instead of at Christmas, but I am supposed to go away Monday and Tuesday and am hoping that the kids are better by then, Dave does NOT get sick at all and that I am better soon too. It would be nice to have the extra time at home to get some things done, but I don't have much energy and certainly don't want to get my Christmas baking done now. Plus I have a ton of laundry to do and de-germing on top of the million other things I need to do before 4pm Sunday if I am going to go away. Blehhhhh.

I'm sure I won't blog too much between now and Christmas, so if I don't post anything new until then, I hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas! I know ours will be the best yet as we have Belle with us this year and each child makes this holiday a little more special.

The Best Laid Plans Continues...

Dave ran out to get the gifts needed while I made him a sandwich and had Aaron take a short nap on the couch. Dave got back and ate, then we got the wrapping supplies together, wrapped the gifts, woke Aaron up and brought him into the kitchen to sign the cards. Well, Aaron decided he was too tired to go and at the same time Mom "happened" to call with a question. (I think she was secretly hoping something would have changed since the last time we talked). I talked to mom and Dave told me to go ahead to the mall, so off I went! We got our shopping done, came home (after mom missed the exit for Target because she was talking on her cell phone-again, the best laid plans...) and then it was dealing with the Christmas decorations all night. Dave wanted me to go to WalMart to get a few supplies to fix the lights for the tree but I made him go with me since I really didn't know what he would really need. Bob and Alicia were supposed to come over and watch the game but Bob got a last minute ticket for free so it was just Alicia, (which was just as nice as having her and Bob!) and all day was not what I thought it was going to be. My tree is still un-decorated since Dave is still working on the lights, no other decoratins are out and I called out from work since I am fighting a cold or something and it is too stinkin cold to go anywhere today! Hopefully once the kids are in bed for naps I can finish up my laundry, do the bills (blechhh) and get the house cleaned (again) so I can decorate tonight.

I don't care if I get nothing else done today, I'm going to bed early tonight!

But you know what they say....

The Best Laid Plans

I still have yet to get my Christmas decorations put up, so I set aside time yesterday to do just that! We had breakfast with my Aunt and cousin at Cracker Barrel (Yummy!) then were coming home to clean and decorate. I had a committment to go to at 2pm but figured I wouldn't be too long and it gave Dave time to get the tree up and the lights on while the kids napped. Well, that party got postponed so I was quite happy to have more time at home to get a few extra things done around the house. Yeah right! Dave did get the tree up, we ran a few errands to look at prices and get ideas for outside Christmas decorations but since I have been fighting a cold and other issues, I just wasn't really up for doing all that I originally planned. Shocking!

I stayed home from church today since I am (again) fighting a cold and Belle's teething cold has turned into a full-fledged cold complete with green gunk and red eyes. I actually got a decent amount of laundry done before she woke up, but as soon as that girl gets out of the crib it is almost impossible to get much else done without her "helping" in a not so helpful way. I was folding laundry on my bed and she was playing in the playroom, when she decided to come in and join me. No problem, she usually finds a few things to occupy herself and seemed to not notice the nice, clean, folded pile of laundry next to where I was standing. Wonderful! I seriously thought I might actually get a whole load of laundry folded while she was awake. Not so fast! She grins at me, crawls over to the bed and as she is getting more and more excited, she stands up and grabs as much clothing as her little hand can hold and laughingly pulls it all onto the floor. Needless to say, I quit folding laundry then and we went and played for a while. I have Aaron all to myself a few times a day, but I rarely have time where it is just me and Belle, so I was able to enjoy some play time with her. We played, laughed, cuddled and had a marvelous cold, winter morning at home.

I had planned for Dave to get the lights on the tree today while the kids napped (Aaron really needs one since the game doesn't start till 8pm tonight and will skip a nap tomorrow since I work) and I have the house work almost done except for a few things (like vaccuming which I will do after we decorate the tree- why vaccum before?) and I made a pretty good size dent in the laundry this morning so I was feeling pretty good. I figured I'd hop on the treadmill, get showered, go to the mall with mom for a quick trip (she called and asked me to go with her....twist my arm to go to the mall, right?!- especially since I have a Victorias Secret gift card to use... :0) and then get back and have time to cuddle with Dave before the kids got up, then decorate the tree, clean up and be ready for friends to come over for the game tonight. Yeah.

My sinuses were driving me crazy so I was re-thinking the treadmill and considering skipping straight to the shower for some much needed relief from the pressure. I figured I could do that, go to the mall if that helped, then get back to do the rest of my planned afternoon activities. Then the phone rang. Aaron was invited to a friends party at Chuck E Cheeses at 3pm, it was 1:40. So, I called mom, told her the mall was a no go since Dave would take Aaron to the party, Dave dashed out to buy gifts and Aaron ate his lunch and is now sleeping till it is time to go. I threw together a sandwich for Dave and now have to go hunt down wrapping paper for the gifts, get the boys out the door and I guess then I will get to my cleaning, laundry and decorating. No relaxing afternoon with Dave or shopping at the mall. Bummer. I am glad that I get some time at home with no one around. Hopefully I will concentrate on being productive instead of wasting time doing silly things such as blogging... :)

Happy Sunday to you all!

Countdown to Christmas!

Yippie Skippie! Just 20 more days till Christmas! (I know, Sara, just 30 more days...bleh...)

Toolbox!

Aaron and Alyssa were playing nicely in the playroom this morning when my sweet little Belle decided she wanted to be part of their party and crawled in the room. She did something that Aaron found annoying (I couldn't see from where I was in the living room) and he said to her, "You toolbox!" to which Alyssa replied, "Oooooohh, you said a bad word!" It was too funny and I had to laugh at that since I had recently used that word in my FB status this morning. Ah, children. At least he's gotten out of the habit of yelling at drivers on the road and calling them morons... :p

Thanksgiving

Well, I hope you all had as lovely a Thanksgiving as I did! Mine was nice and relaxing and was filled with plenty of yummy food, wonderful family, and lots of laughs. :)

Dave's nephew, Kyle, spent Tuesday night with us and had a great time wrestling on the floor with Dave and Aaron and just goofing off as one of the boys. When he woke up Wednesday am he asked for chocolate chip pancakes, which is what he ate for breakfast last time he spent the night. He and Aaron stocked up on their morning ration of sugar then played it off while I got the house straightened, made sure Belle stayed out of trouble, etc..., blah, blah, blah..... Then after lunch (while Belle was safely confined to her crib for naptime :)) the boys made cupcakes for the holiday. They had a great time and made a huge mess, but I was able to overlook it (which is hard for me to do since I am OCD with things like that) and they were looking forward to serving them to the rest of their cousins at our Thanksgiving get-together on Saturday for the Casamento Clan. (I will post pictures later, once I download them).

Then Wednesday evening we went to our church for the Thanksgiving Eve Service. It was so nice! It was very informal, we sat in the Fellowship Hall and drank tea and coffee while eating cookies, and shared how/what God has blessed us with in the past year. I am so very thankful for the people in my church. They are so open and honest! A refreshing change! We attend a small church but God has done big things in it and through it and the people who attend there as well. Most were moved to tears at some point or another. We have a former drug/alcohol addict, a man who was in a terrible accident a few years ago and is paralyzed, people with children who are unmarried and have children, people who are imperfect, sick people, those in constant pain, jobless, etc... and through it all they are able to praise God for what He has done and how He has gotten them through the last year. It was very uplifting and wonderful!

Thursday morning we woke up and my dear hubby made a delicious breakfast of Peach Cobbler before I had to make the dishes I was assigned to take to my Aunt's house for dinner. (Mashed potatoes and corn- wow. Notice the excitement? ) I had made several desserts on Wednesday to take over so those were all ready to go and the potatoes and corn didn't take too long so it was pretty nice, but still, they are boring dishes. Anyway, we packed everything up and went to my aunts with her family, my parents and my brother and his family. Usually all my famikly from the Eastern Shore is over too but since they couldn't make it this year it was much quieter and roomier. :) We ate and laughed all day! Belle enjoyed her first Thanksgiving and all the food that comes with it. She filled her growing belly and then took a nice long nap which meant that I could relax with the family for most of the day. Eddie was telling us about his neighbors, work stories, etc... and it was great to be able to spend time with him and Jenn since they've been quite busy with moving lately. Let me take a minute to explain something about my mom. When we tell jokes or something, if she doesn't get it, she gets this look that comes over her face like "whhhaaat?" or if it is something "risque" or whatever, her eyes get really big, the eyebrows go up, and she sucks all the air out of the room with her gasp as she opens her mouth really wide! It is quite funny and when it takes a minute for her to get a joke, we can actually count back from 3 until she gets it. Well, needless to say that with Ed, Jenn, me and Dave in the room that happened a few times that day. I think the best time was when Ed was saying how "unfortunate looking" his neighbor is and then mentioned that the neighbor has a child. Jenn's response was "Well, he obviously got some play" and as we all laughed we could watch Mom's reaction go from "What?" to "!!!" in 3 seconds. It was quite funny! I think we laughed harder at mom's reaction than the actual line, but both were pretty funny! We came home later that evening and my cousin Brittany came over to spend the night and go shopping with me and Sara for Black Friday. My favorite friday! :)

We got to Starbucks at 4:15 and were at Old Navy by 4:45am. Oh, yes, be jealous, I was one to get a free mp3 player! Suckas! After a fun spree at ON, we moved on to Marley Station Mall where we hit up Victorias Secret, (woohoo!) Bath and Body Works, New York and Co, and the smelly bathroom in JC Penneys since I had a bladder with an apparent hole in it that day. Then it was off to Bob Evans for breakfast with a nice older waitress who made fun of herself and was quite funny. Then I convinced Sara and Britt to go to Target where I was able to finish Belle's Christmas shopping and get a few other misellaneous things. Once we were done there, we decided to stop by and visit my Dad at work. We stood outside talking to him while Brittany got back into the car to sleep since she was so tired. (Dad thought it was funny that the youngest one in the group and the only one with no kids, was the most tired!) I took Brittany back to my house where she took a nice nap while I spent some time with Dave and the kids before Belle went to bed and then Dave took Aaron out to run a few errands. I tried to take a nap but was not very successful. I only got about 45 minutes I think, but it was enough to get through till the end of the evening. I made a yummy chicken and broccoli wreath for dinner, went to youth group and then totally crashed after the kids went to bed. Whew! It was a realxing but BUSY time!

Saturday was busy too, I had a morning meeting, food to make, nieces over to spend the night and then a family dinner at Dave's parents house with his brothers and their families. By the time we got home Saturday night I was sooooooo ready for peace and quiet!

I was hoping to rest up a bit on Sunday but that never really happened and then the next thing I knew, it was Monday morning and it was up early to meet the family for breakfast and the Christmas tree cutting! Woohoo! We had a great time and I am hoping to get the tree up tonight. I love it when it is dark out and the only light on in the house is the tree. I tried to bribe Dave by saying if he gets the tree up tonight I'll make chocolate chip cookies. Mmmmmmm, yummy!

Happy Thursday to you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope your day was as wonderful as mine. I'm off to bed to rest up for my Black Friday shopping, see you all at the stores!

Devotions for Kids

At night, before Aaron goes to bed, he and Dave do devotions together. Tonight I found a devotional book I bought a few months ago and gave it to Dave to use. We have Dave's nephew, Kyle, staying with us for the night so he was sitting on the couch too. Well, Dave opens the book and starts the devotional. It begins with having you read Genesis 4:1-7 to the kids. Dave turned to that passage in Aaron's New Living Translation Bible and begins to read;

"Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve..."

Thankfully he had the idea to read ahead a little and omitted the word "sexual". :)

After the boys were in bed he came into the kitchen where I was washing dishes and said, "What kind of a childrens bible is this!!??" He told me what happened and I couldn't help but laugh! He said he just kept hoping that Aaron and Kyle didn't ask what "relations" were. :)

Hahahahahaha! I only wish I'd been there to see the look on his face! I can't wait till he gets to the passage where the woman couldn't leave the tent because she had her period... :p

My Silly Little Girl

What??!! Two posts in one day??!! I know, I know, you all should be so proud of me! :) I was sitting here on the computer while the kids played near the bookshelf. After a few minutes Belle must have been slightly tired because she laid on her belly, put her head down on the floor and started to suck her thumb. Now, as I am getting ready to tell her to get her thumb out of her mouth, Aaron goes over and put his hands on her hiney and started pushing her forward. It was funny but I told him to stop because I didn't want her little cheeks to have rug burn on them. Well, Belle looks at me, gets up on all fours and begins to crawl. After moving a few inches, she put her head down as it had been before and went across the rest of the living room with her head pushed down into the carpet! It was hysterical! I only wish I'd had a video camera close by to tape it!

Thankfulness Part 3

Next, in this riveting series, I will talk about my sister, Sara. There are so many things to say about her, hmmmm, where do I want to start??!! :p

I love my sister. She is creative, funny, smart and can even be wise every once in a while. (I can't be too generous or her head will swell :)). Sara is a wonderful mother and wife. She loves her girls equally but realizes that they are different and treats them according to their own needs. She works hard to identify how to relate to each one in a way that best shows them how much she loves them. Sara has worked very hard at teaching them how to love each other. Dani and Rach love each other and are so very kind to each other, much more so than Sara and I were to each other while we were growing up. They are not perfect, but they do get along very well. They share and do kind and thoughtful things for each other. I remember when Rachel was smaller and if they were in a restaurant when Rachel had to go to the bathroom Sara would tell dani to take her and dani would say yes and go without complaint. Wow! I don't think I would have ever been that nice! :) I think the way Sara disciplines her girls is one thing I admire most about her.

Also, Sara is funny and tons of fun! I love having inside jokes with her! Ever since we were little we have had them and I doubt that that will ever change! When we were little we re-wrote the words to the song "Oh, Victory in Jesus" and still laugh about it now. In fact, the first time she sang that song in her new church she sent me a text during the service and I about laughed out loud during church! I love meeting her at Starbucks for a nice relaxing way to start a Saturday morning. I have to get up super early to do it and since I am not a morning person, that is hard for me to do, but Sara is worth it :). We sit and laugh, talk about whatever is going on in our lives and of course, our mother :).

Sara is also a fun Aunt to my kids and my nieces as well. She has them over every once in a while and they always have a great time. Aaron is always asking to go to Aunt Sara's for a visit. I'm not sure if it to see her or play with Dani's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer train set, but either way, he loves it there. Sara is one of a few people that I know will love my children and take care of them as I would. She is particular on what foods her girls eat and I really appreciate that. She set a great example of that for me starting with Dani and it has carried over to my children. We are very different but so very alike at times. We can be a good balance for each other, my compassion and her cold-heartedness :) (Just for you, Sara!) Her sensibility when I get a little whacky. :p

I love my sister and am very thankful that God blessed me by giving her to me. We had a fun childhood while growing up together and I am thankful for all the wonderful memories we have. Here are a few of my favorites:

~Hiding my Dad's special and ugly popintsettia bulb at Christmas time
~Poppop knocking over the Ranch dressing and us hearing him cuss about it! (I still giggle!)
~Wrapping Dad's dirty underwear and socks up as a Christmas Gift
~Playing "Timber" in bed while rolling our tongues
~One word, Sara. Cheerios.
~Sneaking in the basement to watch 90210 and then getting caught
~Watching All My Children together
~"Falling asleep" to Twila Paris blasting
~Mom puotting tape over our mouths because we talked too much at bedtime one night
~Working up enough spit to loosen the tape and then talkking more :)
~Actually having to scrub the kitchen floor one night because we were talking too much (Notice a pattern?)
~Pranking the teen staff boys at camp, one of which I married :)
~Buying make up that Sara influenced me to buy and then getting to keep it because I was honest but Sara got punished :)
~"Chip" from Busch Gardens
~Throwing cups of water off the balcony onto the cars ar Myrtle Beach

I could go on and on but Belle is crying and pulling on me now. Sara, I am very thankful for you and love you dearly. Thank you for all the laughter, prayers and for just being an awesome sister. I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so nice!

I had such a nice day today. We went to church and heard an awesome sermon, (as always) and then the plan was for Dave and I to feed the kids lunch and then take them to my parents while we went to the gym and then grocery shopping. While driving home I was thinking that I'd really rather just cuddle with Dave and watch the game since it's been a while since we've had any real quality time together. He apparently had the same thought so we decided to stay home and enjoy the afternoon. We put Belle to bed and then took Aaron to visit my parents for a while. We had already told him he was going to Grandi and Pop's for a while and knew he would be quite upset if we changed the plans on him. So, off he went, and we had a wonderful afternoon! I love my hubby and am so thankful for the time I have to spend with him. He works so hard during the week and then our weekends fill up so fast that we don't really see each other sometimes. Today was so relaxing! After the game we took the kids grocery shopping and then stopped at Starbucks for donuts (Belle fussed so much for Aarons that we ended up buying her her own to eat. Push overs- I know!!!!!), coffee and hot chocolate. We ran into an old friend of Daves and then had a great time as a family. God has blessed me with such a wonderful family. I love that we can take our kids out and have a good time with them. I hope you all had a nice and relaxing Sunday too!

And Go Ravens!!! :)

The Mystery of the Peach Cobbler

Today at church we had our annual meeting, and since we are a church that love to eat together, we had a luncheon first. I was standing in line for a drink when a lady, Sandy, came over and was talking about the desserts on the table next to the drinks. She and a few others were raving about this awesome peach cobbler that someone made last weekend during our Missions Conference. They were all disappointed that it wasn't there again today and then one of the ladies asked "Who made it?". No one knew the answer and I just kept thinking, "Peach cobbler? I never saw that". I got my food and then sat down with Dave and some friends to eat when I over heard a few ladies at the table next to me talking about this cobbler! I figured this must have been some cobbler for all these people to be talking about it a week later. They kept asking who made it and when one of them asked me, I replied that I never even saw a peach cobbler. I just sat and enjoyed one of the triple layer brownies that I made (they were AWESOME as always!) and forgot all about the mysterious cobbler. As the meeting got under wasy, there was a point where there was a kind of lull in the beginning and the Pastor asked if any one had a question, when Sandy raises her hand and said, "I have a question that is not related to the meeting, but who made the peach cobbler last week!" Everyone laughed at the randomness of the question and then looked around to see who was going to claim the dessert but no one said anything and just looked at each other. Then Dave asks Sandy from across the room, "Was it more of a cake or pie?" and she said yes, then Dave goes, "Katie made it, it's Peaches and Cream Pie". Haha! All this ruckus and it was for MY dessert! It never entered my mind that it was my dessert since it is a cake and is very different from a cobbler! Everyone laughed at me and I have now been told to bring in several copies of the recipe for everyone. How funny! Dave just looked at me and shook his head as he does so very often. :)

Sweetness

Last night I climbed into bed, pulled up the covers up and was reading my bible and praying when I fell asleep. The funny thing is, I was not tired at all when I started, I just pulled up the covers because there was a draft coming from the window and I was cold. Anyway, I woke up a little later, the light was out, my bible and notebook were gone and I was tucked in nice and cozy. Dave had come in a found me sleeping so he moved my stuff out of the way and covered me up. He's so sweet. I woke up and my first thought was how I felt so loved by such a simple but sweet gesture. I love Davey. He is full of sweetness!!!

Thankfulness Part 2

The next thing I want to write about my thankfulness for is my hubby, Dave. (Or Davey, Davey Gravy, etc...) He is wonderful and I think you all should know it! :)

Dave is one of those guys who never calls out of work because he has an awesome work ethic, plus he knows that our family depends on him to provide for us financially. Dave not only works his normal Mon-Fri job but does side work also to provide for us. When we were dating we both agreed that he would work and I would be a stay at home mom. Not only was it my desire from the time I was a little girl but Dave remembered what it felt like for him when his mom went back to work when he was a teenager and didn't want our kids to go through the same thing he did. He is all for homesechooling Aaron and Belle when it is time and even has some ideas as to how he can be an active part of their education. I love that about him! He is quite creative some times! Dave and I are very much a like in many ways. We are both procrastinators and don't really plan ahead much, when we have an awesome gift for the other it is hard for us to keep it a secret, and there are more ways, but I can't think of them right now since it is so late.

We are very different in many ways, also. Dave remembers things that I swear I never heard before. (Like that the government some times pays farmers not to grow corn?? I never knew that and thought that Dave was pulling my leg!) He is grounded and practical when I need him to be and he keeps me from just going out and doing something that I half-thought out that might end up in disaster. There are so many times he'll look at me and say something like, "What about such-in-such..." and I'm like, "Uh, I don't know" . What would I do without him? He is sweet and funny, kind and loving. Dave is such a great daddy to our kids. He spends time with them because he wants to, and makes a point to include them as much as possible (mostly Aaron for now since Belle is so little, but I guarantee when she is old enough she'll be out there in the driveway handing tools to Dave as he changes the oil or something). He takes Aaron to the Mens Breakfast each month at our church and to band practice Sunday am before the service starts. Dave sets such a great example of what a father, husband and man of God should be to our kids. There was a time when I didn't want to go to church each week and my dearest hubby was right there each week reminding me that I had to go. I was pregnant and he woke the "sleeping giant" each week! Now that takes guts!!! :)

One thing I really appreciate most about Dave is how he puts up with me and all my crap. I know I can be a nag, crazy, moody and just plain difficult, but he loves me anyway. My mom told me today that I am the only woman she knows who has ever called her husband to come home from work because she was sick. (actually, the truth in that is I asked him to take a long lunch those days. I figure if I have a nursing baby and I am too weak to even hold her, he needs to be home :)). Anyway... he comes home and I instantly feel better as soon as he walks through the door. The truth is, when I am sick or don't feel good I only want Dave around. He is the most important person to me (God and children aside) and he is the only one who can truly make me feel better. He will sit and rub my head, feet or back and all is well. I am so blessed to have him as my husband, best friend, companion and lover. Woot! ;) I just cannot imagine my life with anyone else! Sorry, ladies! You might disagree, but I have the best husband EVER!

Just for You (You know who you are)

Here is the latest update. I am too busy to update right now. There is nothing so pressing that I must ignore my children to update my blog so that certain parties have something to read when they are bored. If you are in such desperate need of somthing to read, go buy a book. If you cannot afford one, go borrow one from the library. Now I must go clean the house, do laundry, play wih my children, go buy groceries so I can make desserts for dessert night, make desserts for dessert night, decorate for dessert night and clean up all the leaves in the yard.

I love you, you little (BIG!) nag :)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Thankful

I decided I want to write about some of the things for which I am thankful. I figure since it is the Thanksgiving Season it would be most appropriate, plus I was just reminded on Saturday of how thankful I am for the life that God has given me.

The weather on Saturday was beautiful so it was quite easy to wake up and start the day. Dave was home and doing some work on our "lovely" car (for which I am thankful even though it is ugly!), Belle was sitting in her chair eating cheerios and being adorable as always, I was washing dishes while listening to the radio and Aaron was playing in the backyard. I looked out the window and thought of how thankful I am for this house! Here's why:

1) We have bedrooms for everyone, no more children rooming with us!
2) Dave can do side work at home in the driveway while Aaron either plays or "helps"
3) I can work in the house and let Aaron go outside and play. Having a yard and a partialy fenced in yard is wonderful!!!!!!!
4) There is a swing on the front porch that we love to sit in whenever possible and watch the cars go by (or watch neighbors get arrested, take your pick)
5) In the Spring there are beautiful flowers that bloom
6) Aaron loves watching the kids at school next door while they are outside for recess
7) We have a playroom to throw all the toys in an attempt at keeping the house somewhat neat
8) It is a home, with food to eat, clothes to wear, heat for winter, a/c for summer and a place to be safe and spend time making lasting memories with my husband and children. Like last night when I was stripping my bed, I looked up and realized how Aaron has recently gotten tall enough to wash his hands at the bathroom sink without using a stool. Or again, last night, when Belle took her first two steps towards Dave in the living room. Aaron's 4th birthday party was held in our own home this year because there was room, letting a friends bridal party get ready for a wedding because her house was too small, or being able to spend my first mothers day in 4 years at my own house because there was room for my family to come visit me!

I am so undeserving, but God has chosen to bless me anyway. There are times I just sit and marvel at His amazing love for me. I am so very blessed and thankful for all that God has given me.

Speaking of things for which I am thankful, Dave is asleep on the couch and it is getting late. I guess I'll wake him up and tuck him in. :) He's pretty cute all curled up in his "A man and his truck: it's a beautiful thing" t-shirt and Ravens pj pants, mouth partly open as he softly snores and "watches" Monday Night Football. In reality the tv is watching him :)

Can't wait to get away!

I'm so excited! In just under 3 months I will be on a mini-vacation, visiting my dearest friend! I love to travel and even though I REALLY am longing for a weekend away with just Davey, it will be nice to get away with him and the kids. Angie (my friend) has a little girl, Sandie June (if that's not a country name, I don't know what is!!!) who is going to marry Aaron whether they like it or not. :) I'm sure we'll talke lots of pictures so I'll post a few for you all to see. They will have such cute babies one day.... :)

We're taking a sort of day trip this weekend, so I'm counting that as an away activity too. We are taking the Youth Group to RVR for Maizefest and Aaron will tag along. They have so many neat things to do up there, I'm sure he will have a great time as will we. Aaron loves the kids in YG and I'm sure he'll talk about it for weeks to come. There are pony rides, the corn maze (duhhh), a zipline, plus tons of other things to do. It will finally seem like Fall and the Holiday Season to me, so I can't wait! I think since it will be November 1st we'll listen to Christmas music on the drive up. Woot!

Arbonne, Birth Control and Other Ramblings

I used to sell Arbonne and absolutely LOVE their products! I am seriously low on everything and realized I am getting old so I called my friend/consultant and told her I needed a party so I could get their Anti Aging skin care for free. I don't feel old and don't think that 28 is old, but I wonder how on earth I am almost 30??!! I feel as if I am still 21. It's very strange. Anyway, I digress... So I had the party tonight and it was a decent turn out even though I had about 6 people back out at the last minute. I am super excited about my Re9 set and have a HUGE list of other things I want too. They have new holiday make up (I am absolutely in love with any awesome make up), new weight loss products, and just a ton of fabulous other stuff. I started with wanting the Re9 system and "maybe a new mascara, chap stick and make up remover" and now have an ridiculously long list of what I really want :) Too bad my check book doesn't agree :p I was so proud of myself, I made a list and prioritized what I want so that when I close out the show I will know exactly what I will get. the Re9 is a must and the weight loss stuff is at the top too. (Imagine that...)

On a much more personal note- I have decided to go see the Dr and get on birth control. I was waiting until Belle was weaned (haha- I miss-typed that word and originally wrote "weanied" hehe) since it can affect your milk production. She is down to two nursings a day and in about 2 weeks she should be completely weaned. She's pitiful with it too, she fusses and sucks her thumb when she wants to nurse and then pulls it out and looks at me like, "it's just not the same!" I have enough frozen milk that she will be able to avoid formula and I even give her 1-2 bottles a day when she is awake to make sure she is getting enough milk. She's doing well with her solid foods now and absolutely loves beef stew! She likes peppers, onions, carrots, chicken wreath, spinach, etc... and all fruit. She also likes a good lasagne, which proves she is a true Italian! :) Anyway, back to the birth control. I'm thinking I'm really done with the whole baby thing which is shocking to most people, especially me! I am quite happy and content with my two wonderful children and think even though I would be thrilled if I did have another baby, I am satisfied. We've discussed adoption one day but not in a completely serious way, more of in a "we'd be open to it one day" way. I guess we'll just have to see where God leads us. Now that I am weaning Belle I am starting to see some hormonal changes, some not too bad, some are terrible! There is always the normal break outs, mood swings, etc... but I also have one horrible reaction that I think is probably fairly rare. My sciatic (sp?) nerve gets effected by my hormones and it will cause me to not be able to walk for a few minutes or if I am already walking my leg will just give out. It is incredibly painful, it feels like some one is stabbing my hiney with a knife and the pain shoots down my leg. I never had that happen until about 2 months before I got pregnant with Aaron and notice it gets worse around the time of my period. Sitting on a floor for even a minute can irritate it, so if you see me walking or moving around while rubbing my butt, please excuse me, I'm not being gross, I'm just in pain :) (Seriously! I have to massage it to feel better. I remember while Mom and I were running errands for Ed and Jenns wedding, I was pregnant with Aaron and it happened while we were shopping. I was walking across the Aldi parking lot holding my hiney and mom thought I was a loon). So I am hoping that if I get on the pills it will help with many things, including my complextion and nerves. (Physical and mental :p).

I am super excited about starting our new budget tomorrow! (Wow, there's a sentence I never thought I'd ever say!) We have one figured out and I think it is quite do-able. We have decided to use a new system to be sure we are in within our budget and I think we will have a lot more freedom now with the new system while saving money and working on our debt. (I cannot wait to have our van paid off!!!) God has provided for us each week what we need and so much more! I'm looking forward to seeing how He will bless us as we strive to be better stewards of HIS money. There have been times in the past when I have paid bills and then realized that I forgot to figure in tithe and there was none left but when I remember to pay tithe first God always gives what we need. I am looking forward to the challenge of grocery shopping and sticking to what we set aside this week for food, household things, etc... and seeing how much I can come in under budget. This is where my stubborness comes in handy :)

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend! I have had a nasty cold and need to get some sleep, I feel the toy store calling me.... :)

Life is good again!

Ahhhhh, the twitching has stopped and I feel whole again! My home phone and internet are fixed, woohoo!!! I called my mom yesterday am to ask a question and all I got was a buzzing sound and the cordless said "Line in Use". I knew that was incorrect so I went on a hunt through the house to see which phone had gotten knocked off the hook. None. Bummer. That meant there was a problem and I DID NOT want to have to call verizon and schedule for someone to come out and fix it. With my luck it would be an interior problem meaning big bucks to fix it. I procrastinated all day and figured I would wait until Dave got home to check it out as I knew he would do even if the outside line was laying disconnected in the middle of the street :). He checked, it was still broken and I was like, "I guess I'll call Verizon in the morning. I just hope it's an exterior thing so we don't have to pay". Dave looked at me and said, "The way I figure it, we have a friend and a brother who work on this type of thing and they both owe us!" He was giving me that "duhhh" look because he just finished fixing Ed's car and is in the process of doing motor work for our friend Bob, both of whom work for Comcast. Thankfully Ed came out today and presto! It's all fixed! (And it was an interior problem). I didn't tell Ed this, but I think we need new phone lines ran through out the whole house. I'll save that for another day :p I feel sooooo happy! Now I'm sitting in the playroom with the kids, playing with them, typing this and enjoying the beautiful weather God gave us today.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

I guess it's time

So yesterday I was in the kitchen making lunches since I had to work and Aaron and Belle were in the living room, playing nicely. I usually keep my bedroom door and the bathroom door shut and depending on what toys Aaron has out, I'll leave the playroom door shut too. That way Belle can crawl around and play without getting into stuff and it makes life a little easier for me knowing she's got a "safe" place to play if I'm in the kitchen or run outside to throw out a diaper, etc... Well, I'm at the counter assembling sandwiches and I hear Aaron proudly exclaiming, "Yeah, Belle! Good girl! Mommy, come look at Belle, she can go up the stairs all by herself!" So I book it into the living room just in time to see she is nearing the half way point on the steps, laughing and grinning, so very proud of herself. Oh my goodness! I guess now I have to break down and seriously look for a gate that will fit by the steps. There is a thin metal raining and then wide moulding at the bottom so it's been a challenge I kind of put off since I didn't actually need it yet. Oh well. At least I got this far without it :)

33 Miles

We went to see 33 Miles this past Friday, what a great concert! They are a newer Christian group with a sound that reminds me of Rascal Flatts. They were playing at Lindale Middle and the sponsoring church had apparently not done too much advertising so we had seats right up front and after the concert the group came out to sign autographs. But, the "best" part of the night was the opening band, Holy Smoke.

This band originated from NAC (North Arundel Church) where Dave used to attend. He claimed they were pretty good, so I was looking forward to hearing them. He dscribed them as having an 80's hair band sound which I enjoy so we were expecting good things. Ahem. They came out and I knew it was not a good sign when Dave said, "Wow, they got old". They were very good from an instrumental view point however, when they actually sang, that was a different story. They were terrible! It was almost painful to sit there and listen, the only consolation was that they were just the opening act and we knew good, no MUCH BETTER things were in store for us! I really don't mean to be unkind but they were like typical Glen Burnouts, you know? I'm sure they are very nice, but I just had to paint the picture for you. It really was an experience I'll never forget :)

Afterwards we went to Bennigans for dinner and much to my dismay they were out of broccoli bites. :( I need to go again soon, I am craving them now. (Hint, hint, Sara!)

Well, I need to go lay down now, my feet are swelling which is annoying. Hmmmm, I'm not sure why they are swelling, they only do that when I am preganant..... ;o

I Should Be Sleeping

But I can't seem to fall asleep. I figured I'd take a minute to update my blog so that I will bore myself into a nice, deep sleep.

The kids are doing well, both had check ups this week, Belle's 9 month and Aaron's 4 year check up. Belle is now 18 pounds, 27 1/2 inches and Aaron is 37 pounds and 3 feet 5". Both had to get shots, Belle only got a flu shot but Aaron had the flu mist, one combined shot of two vaccines and two single vaccines, plus he had to get a finger stick to check his iron levels. I had the brilliant idea to schedule both at the same time on Monday morning, then go have an early lunch with Dave who works right up the street from the Dr and then go to my work for the afternoon. Well, what is it they say about the best laid plans....? Uh huh! We got there and had to wait a while to be seen which is unusual, I'm usually back in the exam room within 5 minutes so our 20 minute wait seemed super long. We go in and I asked in code if they could have the flu shots and the nurse informed me that Belle needed no other vaccines but Aaron would have 4 others plus the finger stick. Great. The nurse checked his temp and then made him take off his shoes to walk down the hall and get on the scale which was apparently torture for him. Then we walked back to the room and he had to stand along the wall to measure his height, again, torture. Belle was good as could be for her exam minus some rolling around on the table cause she's so stinkin nosey. Dr Youn came in and told Aaron "You're a big 4 year old now so you get 4 needles, but you will get 2 lollipops and 2 stickers". Ha. Some consulation. Aaron begged for Belle to go first (I'm pretty sure he thought we would forget about him once it was Belle's turn) but he had to go first. The nurse came in and gave him the flu vaccine but it was the nasal mist and it wasn't too bad. Then came the real needles. She needed to do one in each arm and one in a leg and he threw a FIT when his pants came down! I was holding Belle with my left arm, the nurse was to my right and Aaron was on the table in the middle of us. I was using my right arm and most of my body to keep him to the side so the nurse could get to his leg but he saw her, screams and then uses his leg to push her away. It was hysterical! He was crying and begging me for no more shots and I felt so bad for him, I remember how I felt (and still do!) when I had to get shots. My parents made me suck it up but I at least take him to get a new toy afterwards. I'm such a good mommy... :) After much wrestling and tears the shots were over and then it was Belle's turn. She laid there and after the nurse stuck her she kind of frowned and looked at her like "hey, that's not comfortable" but she never cried or made any noise at all, she was so good! Dr. Youn was quite happy with their development and growth, Belle is 50/50 in height and weight percentile while Aaron is 75/75. The anemia fingerstick showed Aaron has low iron so I have to start him on medication and increase his high in iron/iron rich foods which is odd since most of the foods listed are ones he eats on a regular basis. The directions say to take it with oj since it can stain teeth. Lovely. Can you see him letting me use baking soda to clean the stains?

Then it was off to McDonalds for a "healthy" lunch with Davey. It was nice unilt about 20 minutes before I had to go to work and I realized Aaron was starting to have a negative reaction to the shots. Nothing major, just a fever and feeling crappy in general. I hadn't thought about it before since he has never reacted this strongly to shots, but I guess since he had 5 in one day they all took their toll. So I called out of work, stopped into Target for meds for both of them and then brought them home for naps. Ahhhhh, sweet silence!

Tuesday and Wednesday I was home sick with a virus, I think it is hormone related and if I would break down and go get on birth control it would solve the problem, but who has time for that? I hate going to the Dr's (excpet when I'm pregnant) and especially hate having to pay all that money a month for a pack of tiney little pills. Woe is me :) I'm feeling much better today, went to work and even got the house mostly cleaned before I went to bed so I'll have a nice start to the weekend tomorrow morning. The work phone is forwarded to me so that always makes life interesting, trying to sound professional as I answer the phone and run into another room away from the kids so the customers don't have to listen to Belle's growling or Aaron bossing her around. Dave and I are going to see 33Miles tomorrow with my cousin and her husband and I'm really looking forward to that! The weather for the next few days is supposed to be beautiful so my plan is to spend time outside with the kids enjoying God's fantastic creation!

Well, I really need to try to get some sleep. I have missed a few days of early am exercising and am hoping ( but realistically know it probably won't happen ) to get up early tomorrow for a lovely time of treadmilling and tae boing :) Aren't you jealous!?

Nitey Night!

Restless

I feel restless today. I keep working in circles, getting distracted and trying to get something done but it's just not happening. I feel bored, but have a huge list of things to do like cleaning, laundry, final preperations for Aarons party, figuring out what to make for our Sunday School picnic on Saturday, hanging my new curtains (ok, actually I can't do that since I have no idea where any tools are for me to use so scratch that one) etc... I just feel strange. (No comments from the peanut gallery, Sara!!) I did my devotions this morning and usually when I do that I have much better and productive days, but not today. *Sigh* I am having dinner with Sara tonight and as much as I am looking forward to it (we have a lot of catching up to do-my mom is crazy, you know!) even that is not helping right now. I need to focus and prioritize. Maybe I should make a list? (I know, I know, that is the Hairy coming out in me!) I don't even feel as if I could concentrate on a list. Maybe I will get on the treadmill and then do a little tae bo. The aura cleansing at the end always makes me feel better! (Note the sarcasim- I am NOT into aura cleansing, but it is a nice little cool down). Actually, I think that is part of my problem. For the last two days I have not exercised and I think I feel depressed and guilty. Hmmmmmm, maybe I am going crazy due to hormones?? There are so many possibilities! But really, I am tired of this weird feeling.

I have several things on my mind too- things that are unresloved and I'm not sure of how to resolve them. Actually, part of it is that I don't really WANT to, but I know that God is telling me I HAVE to. I guess if I had a clear direction as to exactly what to do to reslove them, I'd be ok. In one situation I feel as if I wasn't wrong at all, so it kind of makes it harder. I know I offended someone, but it was certainly not intentional. This is the hardest situation for me I think. I just want to apologize and move on, I don't feel the need or want to be friends again. I don't know if she would even allow me to apologize without turning it into some huge nasty dramatic scene that is totally unnecessary. Again, *sigh*. Woe is me :)

I need prayer. I need to fall on my face and ask God for help today, for there is no one else who knows what do to or exactly what I need. I need you to pray for me also. That I will have wisdom and be open to what God wants me to do.

Now I feel a little better. Partly because I was able to vent/share but also because Aaron just woke up and came in to give me a kiss. He leaned over and paused right before his lips touched mine. Guess why? Anyone? Anyone? ("Bueller? Bueller?") He wanted to poochie just as he kissed me!!! Nice. I laughed and am thanking God for my son who is a welcome reminder of how God blesses us. Now I feel better. Not really like I can totally concentrate, but better. Now I'll have a little tae bo buddy today, so that should be fun. :)

Happy Thursday, Friday is almost here!!!!

Guardian Angels

My sister, Sara, briefly mentioned this in a blog of hers, and I thought I would share the entire story since I was there that day. I will always remember this particular Saturday in July many years ago as the day that I saw my brother's guardian angels.

It was a hot Saturday afternoon in July, around 1993. We came home from our swim meet, had lunch and changed clothes and then headed out to the mall. I remember that I was really tired that day and didn't want to go to the mall with my mom and Eddie to pick out a new comforter set for my bedroom that my mom was redoing for me and Sara. We went to Security Square Mall and were in Wards. Mom and Sara had been there before and saw this set that they both really liked and they wanted to get my "ok" before they bought it. Sara was at Wynnewood Pool working, so it was just the three of us. (Dad was at work too). We walked through the store on the lower level and had to take the escalator up to the Housewares Dept. Mom and I were riding together and Eddie was a few steps behind us. No one else was on the escalator, so mom was ok with Ed being behind her. (It must have been 1992, I'm pretty sure Ed was only 10. I'm sure Sara will comment if I am wrong :p) As we were going up we felt the escalator kind of stop, and roughly start again, kind of knocking us off balance. Mom looked back to be sure Ed was ok, and I will NEVER forget what I saw then! Eddie's head was stuck between the diagional wall and the black rubber railing of the escalator, his feet were even off the steps because he was being pulled so hard! Mom and I yelled as we tried to get to him, but it was hard to do since we had to run down the up escalator. I remember Mom trying to yank him free as she yelled "Lord, help me!" All of a sudden there were about 6 HUGE men who appeared out of no where, grabbed Ed and yanked him out. He had been stuck so tightly that he had black streaks on his cheeks and his baseball hat had fallen off. (The dr's told mom that if he had not been wearing that hat he would have had some serious injuries). We got to the top level and mom turned to thank the men, but they had all disappeared. There were a few on-lookers, but none of them were the "men" on the escalator with us.

Some might think that is strange, coincidence, luck, etc... I however, know the truth, and that is that God sent his angels to protect my brother that day. I'm sure it is not the only time those angles have taken care of Eddie because, as Dani said, "he's pretty rotten" :) .

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering- I hated the comforter set Mom and Sara picked out but they bought it anyway.

Thanks for ruining it...

I'm sure you all have heard about the whole recall thing on Children's Cold Medicine. You know, it was causing problems with some kids and it was pulled from store shelves. (Most of it). Well, it was basically due to parents who were giving the wrong dosage, using the wrong syringe, etc... (ie, using the Tylenol measuring syringe instead of the motrin, etc). When Aaron was a few months old he got a horrible cold and was miserable! I found this stuff at Rite Aid, Infants Tylenol Cold Medicine. I gave it to him (using the dropper that was included, duhhhh) and it worked great! Now my little Belle was a nasty cold and I cannot find anything I can give to her! I can suck the snot out with a bulb syringe all I want, use all the saline drops in the bottle and wipe her nose a bazillion times, but NOTHING works! She is so sleep deprived, grumpy and miserable. She wants to suck her pacifier so much but cannot breathe with it in her mouth :( She's such a sad sight.

I just want to thank those morons who used the wrong dosage by being dumb. Now my little girl is miserable and there is nothing I can do. Thanks. Maybe you should pay attention to the dosage instructions, they're not that hard to follow.

Whole grains, no calories

Aaron come in with his box of cereal and goes, "Look mom!" (as he points to the side where the nutrition value is) "this has whole grains. And no calories too!" Ahhhhhh! Too many commercials for him!

Solicitors

The phone rings, it is a local number with "unknown name", so I answer since sometimes it is a person I know. The conversation went something like this:

"Hello?"

"Um, yes, Mrs. Casamento?"

"No, she's unavailable, may I take a message?" (a lie, I know, but I had NO CLUE who it was!)

"Oh, well, this is so in so from the Breast Cancer Society, I'll call her later"

Now, what happened to introducing yourself over the phone??!! Seriously! I just find it incredibly rude when people call you and don't say "I am so in so calling from such in such, do you have a minute?" I would be MUCH more open to listening to what they have to say, but if they don't introduce themselves, I just hang up on them. I REALLY hate it when the men call, they are so condescending! I even had a child screaming in the background once and when I said "This really is a bad time" he had the nerve to say, "Well, ma'am, don't you think it is important to support your local law enforcement?" Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! I hung up on him right then! Jerk! what kills me is when people refuse to give their name or info and say, "When is a good time to call back?" My response is always never :p

A Long Awaited Date Night!

Yea! I'm so very happy, Dave and I had a date night for the first time in a looooooooooooong time tonight! It was the perfect timing, God knew we needed it, and he knew how badly we would need it tonight of all nights!

I was at work today, it was gloomy and dreary, I was tired and the kids were restless. I have been wanting to go out with Davey for a while and we just havn't had the time and decided today that tonight was the night if at all possible. I remembered that a dear friend, Debbie, had given us a "Free Night of babysitting" as a gift for Christmas TWO years ago and we had yet to use it. Silly me!!! I texted her to see if she was available and while I was waiting to hear back Dave called me. He was at work and was a little "shaken" for lack of a better word, the manager had just been fired for no apparent reason to anyone there and that was a concern to Dave. He likes Jeff, he was a decent manager and he and Dave got along well. No one was expecting it and it brings back memories of the whole Sterling fiasco three years ago where Dave was unexpectedly without a job for a few weeks. Thankfully Debbie was available and this evening she came over and we got to go out! Yippie! It was so nice!

I took Dave to Five Guys for dinner, then we went to His Way and we each bought some new devotionals (I highly reccomend Elizabeth George, she is great!) and then went to Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! It was so nice to have time to talk about what's going on, what Dave wants to do as far as a new job/career, what are certain financial ideas and goals that we have, a possible increase in work hours for me, etc... I love my husband and it was just wonderful to have him to myself tonight. It has been a joke at our church that he needs to take me out soon, so he's decided that he'll now be able to tell the other husbands at church that he's "just that good" since I've been nagging him to take me out and I was the one to take HIM out. What a prize :)

SIDE NOTE: The whole "job" thing should be a stressful time, but I have recently read "loving God with all Your Mind" by Elizabeth George, and it has not only drawn me closer to God, but I have really learned how to lean on Him, look for Him in every situation and see how God is in control of every aspect of my life. He is so very good to me and has provided far above every need I have had. Elizabeth George is a great author! I bought two more of her books and am so excited to start them later tonight! If you have never read her, you are missing out! If you have read her books, go get another!

Prayer Request: Dave and I are youth leaders at our church and are loving it! This Friday we are in charge since my dad is away and it is the first time that Dave is teaching. Dave is looking forward to it and has some great ideas! I'm sure that the timing of the work drama is not coincidential but Satan trying to distract Dave from serving God. Please pray for us that we would have wisdom and discernment for the work situation, but mostly, please pray for Dave as he prepares the lesson, that God would block out any and all distractions and that Dave would be sensitive to God's leading. The reassuring thing is that since we are experiencing some spiritual opposition, it means that we are doing what God wants and Satan hates. Thanks to everyone, prayer is so powerful!

Good Monday!

Usually on Mondays I start off behind. Behind "schedule" (I know, Sara, I sound like Mom), my cleaning seems to always be behind, the laundry, etc... I have to work on Mondays so I feel rushed to get everything done before I go in and since I have two children to care for, I never get it all done before I have to leave. But today is a different story. I have no work to go to today, I woke up to an empty sink, thanks to my lovely hubby, and a house that will be clean in less than 30 minutes after Belle is in bed. :) I've had my devotions, did 3 miles on the treadmill and feel quite accomplished today! Now I'll spend the next few hours with the kids, playing and having lunch, and then during naptime I'll get the last few loads of laundry done, clean up the house (which isn't too bad since I kept it clean over the weekend-which is a miracle!) and then maybe start on some much needed yard work. I HATE yard work and the yard is sooooo overgrown that i don't know where to start. My friend, Alicia, is taking the kids for a while tonight so Dave and I will be able to get a few things done in the yard tonight, so I think I am more motivated to start this afternoon since I should be able to get a lot done today and tonight. We'll see.

Tomorrow is looking busy with Ladies Bible Study, work, getting Tori from school and yucky rain, so I need to get moving today! Oh, wait, I have to make something for LBS tomorrow for the breakfast. Grrrrrr. Hopefully I'll remember that later this evening :)

Aaron's Friends

We live right next to a private school, so our front yard is parallel with the schools front yard. Every day (weather permitting) the kids come out for recess around 10:15am. They run around and play games, have a great time, and work off lots of energy. Aaron loves to watch this. At first, in the Spring, he would yell to them to stop running and yelling and be nice to each other, but then as time went on, he realized they were playing and having a good time with each other. Aaron was sad when the school year ended, and asked probably once a week when the kids would be back.

Fast forward to last week, now. Aaron saw the kids playing Tuesday morning in the yard and runs to the window (our kitchen and living room windows are right next to the fence seperating the yards and the boys especially like to hang out by the fence since the shrubs kind of hide them from the teachers :p) to watch, while yelling, "Hey, look mom! It's my friends!" He stood on the recliner to see them and got embarassed when the kids looked up and made eye contact with him. He slid down in the chair for a minute and then got up to knock on the window at them. He always gets sad when "his friends" go inside and has told a few people that his friends will be at his birthday party. :)

The Japanese Tourist

My grandfather was in this past week for a visit. He lives on the Eastern Shore and since my Grandmother is in Disney with my Aunt, Grandpa was visiting my mom. I suggested that we all get together for breakfast on Friday morning before he left to go back, so I took my van with Mom, Alyssa, Aaron and Belle, Grandpa followed SLOWLYYYYYYYYYY in his stylin purple truck and then Sara and her girls met us at BobEvans. It was a marvelous idea if I say so myself! We had a nice time of visiting, the kids were good and the food was yummy as well. As breakfast ended, my mom said she wanted to get a picture of Gpa with the kids. She jumps up and arranges the people she wanted in the picture (Sara, I guess you and I are not important enough to be included :p) and then, she breaks it out. A HUGE honkin camera. I leaned over to Sara and said, "Geez, she looks like a japanese tourist. I'm just waiting for her to say 'Me take picture?'" I'm telling you, it is insane! It has the strap and all to go around the neck! It is one sizeable camera. The only thing missing is the telescopic lens and she could be part of the paparazzi! I think next time I see her I might start to bow "hi" to her.

Crazy Hairy to the rescue!

Ok, so I know I have said a few things about my mom that wern't exactly "glowing", so I thought I should set the record straight on how I feel about her and tell a nice story so you all don't think she's so stinkin terrible.

First off, I want to say that I love my mother. I really do. We have a typical relationship where we have a good time together but cannot spend too much time together. Once I got married and moved out, our relationship changed and we can now enjoy and appreciate each other. My mom is sweet, thoughtful, helpful, loving, encouraging (even though she goes about it in a weird way sometimes) funny, creative and is honestly one of the women I admire most. She thinks EVERYTHING through and does nothing out of haste -except for maybe impulse shop. She raised her children prayerfully and to the absoulte best of her ability. Her knowledge of scripture is probably the one area of her life that I wish I had for myself.

Now I'd like to share a little story with you so you can get a glimpse of the kind of loving things my mother does for me. (And it's not just because I'm her favorite! :p) A few weeks ago I was supposed to take mom, Alyssa and my kids to visit my grandparents for a few days. We were leaving on a Thursday afternoon so I got up and was getting packed when I started to feel really sick. I called mom and told her I had decided not to go and she offered to come help with the kids if I needed it, and I told her no, I'd be fine. Well, by 11:30 I was curled up on my bed with the kids playing next to me and I realized I was too sick to take care of them. I called Dave to see if he could take a longer lunch and come home until Belle was down for her nap and he agreed to come home even though it was a Thursday and those are bad days for him to take off without notice. He came home and I told him to call mom and ask her to come over since he really needed to get back to work, so after he got me the barf bucket off he went with the kids. Of course mom insisted I should have called earlier and she would have walked over :) She came over and stayed the whole afternoon, gave the kids lunch (which was hard with Belle since I got sick in the middle of nursing her and mom had to drop everythig to make a bottle for my little diva), played with them and got them settled in bed for naps. She hung around for a while after that "just in case" and basically wasted her whole afternoon over here with us even though she had a lot to do at home. See what I mean? She drives me crazy, but then does stuff like that and I cannot help but be reminded of how wonderful she really is. I certainly don't love her anymore than I always have because she came over, but it was a great way for me to remember how much I love and appreciate her.

My mom is soooooo readable!

Several months ago I used a flat iron on my hair for the first time. (Actually, it was probably close to two years ago). I saw mom and Sara at Ladies Bible Study that morning and Sara complimented the style, but I told her to wait and see what Mom said, I KNEW mom would hate it! (I was laughing, I really don't care about my mother's opinion of my clothes/hair since we have VERY different taste!) Well, mom comes over, I asked if she liked my hair and she goes, "Uh, no, not really". Haha! I laughed and told Sara "I told you so" and thought it was funny.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. My cousin is staying with us for a few weeks and has an awesome hair straightener that I am in love with and threaten to hide so she can't take it back to school with her. I used it Sunday and while I didn't like that way I had styled my hair for church (my bangs were pulled back, not the best look for me but I didn't care) I pulled my hair into a ponytail after we got home and it was really cute. (I had used bobby pins on my bangs and had that bump thingy- it was quite fecthing if I say so myself!- Brittany even said I looked like Nastia Liukin, the gymnast who won the gold in the All Around for the US. I think that is a stretch, but I'll take the compliment :p) Mom and Dad came over for lunch and as we were sitting down to eat, she looks at me and says (using squinted eyes and a voice that you would use on a kid who obviously did something wrong but funny and you caught them but aren't really mad, you know?) "Did you use a straight iron on your hair today?" to which I responded "Yes" and her reply was, "I thought so, I've never seen your hair so straight". That was it. No "it looks nice", or anything like that. You should have seen the look on her face! It was priceless! She might as well have said, "I hate it!!!" It was so amusing to me, Brittany and I had a nice laugh after she left. Poor Mom. Too bad she has a daughter who wears her hair a way she can't stand. *Sigh* Heehee. She's just so readable and predictable and is a never-ending source of "entertainment" shall we say? I think I might do it again this week when we all go to Granite for Rachel's baptism. Wouldn't mom just love that!!! :p

Dong Dong

Ok, I was watching the trampoline competition for the olympics and I had to laugh! There is a guy (I think he's chinese) who's name is Dong Dong! Can you believe it??!! I burst out laughing when I saw it! The only thing better would be if his first name was Ding :p (And who knew that the trampoline was a sport??!!)

Dave

I love my husband. He is just wonderful and I am so thankful for him! Right now he is at the men's breakfast at church with Aaron. He goes as often as possible and usually takes Aaron with him. The men love it when Aaron is there, and I love the example that Dave is setting for our son. Dave is a great father and as the kids get older (ok, mostly Aaron since Belle is so little) he does even more with them so that a) they can spend time together and learn new things and b) I can have a break :). How nice! It is so cute when He and Aaron go into the basement to clean up the workshop or go outside together to mow the lawn. Aaron has a toy lawn mower and since Dave makes Aaron walk behind him when Dave has the real mower going, Aaron makes Dave walk behind him when Aaron is using his. How funny! I'm just so thankful that God gave him to me as my husband. He is loving, a hard worker, funny, sweet, thoughtful, I could go on and on! One of the things I appreciate the most is that he works soooo hard for me to be able to stay home with the kids and the fact that he honestly tries his best when it comes to our marriage and the kids. What else could I ask for but his best?

No more late night blogging

I have decided that I need to blog during the day so I don't ramble and write boring blogs anymore. Do you really care about my schedule? Duhhhhh, no! I actually think of funny, entertaining and deep, (at least once in a while anyway...) meaningful things to blog about, but I don't feel as if I have the time. If I could just think my blog and have it automatically written down they would be awesome! Now there's a topic for a presidential debate!

Date Night

Since Aaron got sick at Friendly's the other night, I promised him when he was better I would take him to the one near us for dinner, just the two of us. Dave agreed to stay home with Belle and Aaron and I went out on our date. It was so nice! We talked, colored, laughed and ate our dinner side-by-side. He was so cute when he ordered his own meal and drink and grinned at the waitress like, yeah, I'm cute and I know it!

We ate and had a really nice time just the two of us. I miss that from before Belle was born, so it was nice to have the opportunity. Half-way thru our meal he looks up with panic-stricken eyes and says, "mom, I gotta poop!" So I found the waitress to let her know we're not skipping out on the bill and go into the bathroom. after a good hand washing we emerge and sit down to finish our meal. After a few bites he informs me that he is going to throw up. Poor guy! He was soooo paranoid about throwing up again! Off we go, again, to the bathroom. This time he just stood and waited near the toilet but never actually threw up. back to our table we go and then he eats the rest of his dinner and asks for ice cream. I have no idea what to think about this little boy. I order our sundees (hey, they were free with our dinners!) and eventually got his to go since he was again convinced he was going to throw up. We ran to walmart to get a few things and then he came home and ate the rest of his chicken and fries he had ordered for dinner.

Now he's asleep on my floor, going in to poop every once in a while and sleeping with a bucket by his head just in case. I don't know. I just made Dave go to walmart at 12:30am to get a pack of pull-ups just in case. Lovely.

At least the date was good :)

Sickies

It was an eventful trip to visit the family on the Eastern Shore (more to come in another blog- I'm just too worm out right now) but has been an even more eventful time since I got home.

I took two of my cousins to Friendly's for dinner Thursday night and when I told Aaron I was leaving, he threw a FIT and cried soooooo hard that I took him with me. He never does that and I figured it was because he was in a strange house and was tired from missing his nap that day. (He doesn't always adjust well to change but never really minds when I leave him, so I knew something wasn't right). Now, let me just take a minute and tell you how MUCH I was looking forward to this dinner! I love Friendly's but Dave always gets sick if we eat there so it has been more than a year, probably two or more, since I ate there. I was so excited to eat their fries and ice cream for dinner Thursday night! Anyway... We get inside and are seated, order drinks and get Belle situated in the high chair and Aaron snuggled up next to me with his blue blankie. He laid his head in my lap and as I was stroking his hair I noticed he might have had a fever. I asked if his head hurt and he nodded yes, then I asked if his belly hurt (expecting him to say no) and he again, said yes. Our food comes, it looks sooooo good and I take a bite of a fry as he chomps on a mozzarella stick. Well, the next thing I know I hear this little voice say, "mommy, I'm gonna throw up" and he grabs his blankie and holds it up to his mouth, keeping the puke back. Gross!!! I looked at my cousins and fought the urge to ask, "what do I do??", grabbed his arm and propelled him into the bathroom. We got there just in time (thankfully he has learned to hold in the vomit until the proper container is available) for him to throw up into the toilet. After a few heaves he looks up and says "I'm done!" I wipe his mouth, flush the toilet and take him out to wash our hands. As we're washing he looks up and says in a cheerful voice, "Mom, I'm ready to go finish my dinner". Uhhhh, WHAT????? He had perked up a lot in the last two minutes but there was no stinkin way I was letting that sucker eat anything!!!!!!!! We packed up and left the restaurant, I was sooooo disappointed! I put him to bed when we got home and he laid there watching Cars, in 7th heaven. Bethany got him some crackers and gatorade so he was happy as could be :). He had a fever at this point and spent a lot of the night tossing and turning, moaning and calling out in his sleep. He would whimper and I'd ask "Does your head hurt?" and he would nod "no". Then I'd ask about his belly and get the same response. Next my line was "What's wrong?" and I would get a pathetic "I don't know". How sad! Finally, at 4am I got up and found some childrens tylenol and gave it to him. His fever broke and he seemed good as new when he woke up. I kept him in for most of the weekend so he could rest, but it did no good. He is now sleeping on my floor, has a low-grade fever, and I've got the bucket on stand by. Lovely.

How is my baby girl, you ask? Well..... She vomited Saturday afternoon and was pathetic for a while. Then she seemed normal and happy but I stayed home from church with her just to be safe. Good call. We were to meet with the board for membership that morning, and at 10:10, during our meeting time, she threw up on me at home. I was soooooo glad I had played hookie! Then this morning she ate around 11 and threw it all up after about 5 minutes. I called the dr adn took her in to be seen. She has a virus, is not allowed to nurse until tomorrow and is only allowed to drink gatorade, pedialyte or sugar water. I am sooooo bummed! Not only is it physically painful to not feed her (thank goodness for breast pumps!!!) but when you know it would be comforting to her physically and mentally to nurse her it makes it even worse! I have to keep part of my hand on her face to get her to drink from a bottle and she just twists and tries to lay down on me to nurse. :( I'm sooooo happy she's doing better tonight, I think I can feed her before our follow up appointment in the morning. Yea!

I guess all the cleaning and disinfecting I did today will have to be done all over again tomorrow since my little man is sick again. Poor guy!

Just for you, Sara

The kids (Aaron and my niece, Tori) wanted watermelon to eat. I said, yes, and to get the small bowl from the fridge and have at it. Aaron was in the playroom and said he wanted to eat it in the playroom. My answer was no, eat it in the kitchen or not at all. Now he said I am a "mean-o" and is refusing to eat it. I guess he is punishing me. Gee, I hope I recover soon. (Note the sarcastic tone). On a slightly different note, Tori got out the HUGE bowl of watermelon, clearly not a detail person :) There, Rara, are you happy? Since I'm going with mom in a few days to see the G-rents I'm sure I will have more stories. I actually have a few things to share, but havn't had the time and energy at the same time to write it out. Maybe later. I'm sure after Friday I'll need to relax and de-Terry myself so you all are in for a treat! (Again, note the sarcastic tone when I say "treat").


Cheerio!



ADDED 10 MINUTES LATER...... While I was blogging to make Sara happy, Tori decided to use Aaron's drink to give him a mohawk, which he thought was a GREAT idea!

I was relieved to find out it was water, at first I thought it was watermelon juice!!!

My Big Girl

I took Belle to her six month check up last week *Sniff, sniff, tear, tear* and she's soooo grown up all of a sudden! She now weighs 17 (almost 18!!!) pounds and is 26 inches long. I always get a questionaire to fill out, ("circle yes or no, stop when you get to three no's") and ran out of questions to answer before I got to the three "no's"! The one "no" I circled was "Does baby feed him/herself a cracker" but the only reason I circled no was because she's never had a cracker before. My beautiful Belle smiled for Dr. Youn and laughed at him, and seemed to know that he was ooohing and aahhhhing over her, especially when he said how beautiful her blue eyes are. She was great until the shots and then screamed, but the nice thing is she is always cuddly afterwards and calms down pretty quickly.



She has been rolling all over the place for the last 6 weeks or so and learned how to scoot about 2 weeks ago. Now she full out crawls, goes from sitting to rolling to crawling to sitting again and lays on her belly and spins in a circle. She's not too fond of the walker any more but it is obvious that she thinks since she now crawls she should walk soon too. She will get on all fours and then straightens out her legs (at least I think those are legs under the fat rolls!) so her hiney is up in the air! She wants to hold your fingers now and tries to walk around the room with you, she's too funny! She started crawling for real just a few days ago and is now on her way to walking. Poor Aaron, she crawls over to his toys and tries to grab them. (She especially loves to chew on his cars and he just "loves" that as you can imagine!). She spotted one under the rocking chair today and made a beeline for it, but the funny thing is that the footrest was in front of it so it wasn't easy to see. I think she smelled it or something :). Soon we'll get into having to referee between the kids and the toys, Belle takes Aaron's toys and Aaron likes to put her links on his arms and calls them his watches. (He tried to convince Dave they were really his last night, it was pretty funny!) The funniest thing though is when Aaron wants something of Belle's and asks her if he can use it because then he will use a high pitched voice and make her reply "Yes, Aaron, you may!"



Shockingly, she's not much into baby food or cereal right now. I've tried a few times but she makes a face, eats a few bites and then is done. By the looks of her she'd be all about food at any time (especially when we eat she tries to grab our food off of our plates) but she really has no interest in anything other than nursing. I'm ok with that, I LOVE nursing her and since it is the best nutrition I can give her I'm happy to indulge her whenever she wants. Plus, it's free and free is me!!!! :)



Belle is such a good baby, she sleeps at night and takes a great afternoon nap. She is sweet, adorable, and wonderful! I am loving the humidity of the sumer since it makes her hair extra curly and ringletish :) She gets a little afro sometimes, it's too cute! :p I put her hair into a hairband the other day to see what it looked like and she was just adorable! Her laugh and smile make me warm all over and my favorite time of the days is right after she eats and falls asleep on me. I could sit like that all day....

Aaron's Day

This is something I wrote on my MySpace blog and just re-read it for laughs. I hope those of you who have not heard this story yet enjoy it!

Here is a funny little story of my little man....
Last Sunday was Mother's Day and after we came home from church Dave and Aaron signed a few cards and Aaron "delivered" them. Well, he got upset that there was no card for him and didn't understand why I got two and he had none. My response was, "it's mother's day, it's my day. It's not your day, it's not Aaron's day. When it is your day you can do something special and get a card". So today after church we were taking him to Dave's parents for a visit per his request when I hear him pipe up from the backseat, "Mommy, is it some other day or Aaron's day?" It took a minute but I figured out what he meant and after I choked back a few giggles I told him it was in fact His Day and he was going to Grammy's for a while to celebrate. He so sweetly and cutely replied, "Oh, thank you Mommy!" It was hysterical! After I picked him up from Dave's mom's we had friends over for Dave to fix their van and they brought pizza for dinner. Now this had been planned for several days, however I told Aaron it was part of Aaron's Day. He was so excited, and Angie even had her kids say "Happy Aaron's Day" to him as they left. I guess the Sunday after Father's Day will have to be Belle's Day now. I love my children, they are a never-ending sourse of entertainment!

Happy Aaron's Day to you all!

I'm just so proud!

That's what Aaron says when he does something good or all by himself, and that's how I feel about adding the picture to my last blog. I rock, I know! (I also know that any half-wit could do it as well, just let me have my moment, ok?)

"Art" Car

As you all probably know, our truck died a few weeks ago and we have been looking to replace it. Clearly, from the looks of the truck, we are not picky with vehicles. Our standards are pretty low, (some would argue that's how Dave picked me for marriage :p) all we basically need is something for us to all fit in, reliable enough for getting Dave to work and around town, a/c is a plus because of the kids and something that won't guzzle gas. See? Low standards. Looks are not important (again, I defer to the truck as evidence) when it comes to cars. We were not in a rush to buy something since our friends lent us their car while they were on vacation and even then decided to let us have it for this past week since they rarely use their second vehicle. On Saturday I found a 1992 Honda Accord that was for sale in Parkville. I read the ad and then read it to Dave, being careful to NOT let him see the picture attached to the ad. He agreed it was something to look into, especially since it was in our price range, and then I let him see the picture. His reaction was less than favorable, but I reminded him that a new paint job would be no big deal for him, Mr. Body Man! :)



We made an appointment and went up Sunday afternoon to look at the car. It was owned by an independent singer/songwriter, Ellen Cherry (who sounds pretty good, check out her website if you are interested http://www.ellencherry.com/) who used it for lots of touring, including a radio tour in the South West last summer. Very quiclky it was obvious that she used this as her self promotion vehicle. It ran well, we liked the price and we all agreed that we'd buy it. After she took our picture in front of the car (she is very centimental about the car since she has used it for over 240,000 miles of tours, concerts, etc...) we packed up and left. It was perfect timing to get it since on the way home Bobby's car (I was driving it since the new car is a stick-Ughhhh!) started to over heat while in line for the toll.



We got home and had the car inspected by our Honda Mechanic, Tom, who is a friend from church (and Aaron's Sunday School teacher) and he said it was a great deal that we got, as did another guy Dave works with who used to work at a Honda dealership. We were happy, it went through inspection and now that we have it tagged and titled in our name, Davey now has new wheels. But guess what? It still has all the paint on it from when we bought it! Oh, yessiree! It is a sight, let me tell you! Dave said as he was driving it home from the inspection the other day people were looking at him! Heehee :) His response to that was, "You are in Glen Burnie, why are you surprised by this?" One side says, "It costs nothing to be gracious", the other says, "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?", the hood has names of people she thanked during her radio tour and the trunk is covered in stickers of different places she has been with the car. (Thankfully, the interior is in good shape). Dave told me, "Of all the cars I have driven, I am actually embarrased to drive this one!" Can you believe it??? I laughed, I seriously can't understand how this is worse than the truck, but I guess for a man it is.



I'm going to try to post a picture of it at the end of this blog, it's the one she took of us on Sunday. I'm going to take a few more tonight before Dave takes the old paint off, he is soooooo anxious to get it stripped off :) I'll post those later, so for now this one will have to do.



Enjoy the laugh!

Freakin Furniture

I have decided I hate painting furniture more than I hate painting rooms. Yechhh!

When we moved into this house I decided that Belle's room would look best with white furniture which was just fine with me since I always wanted white furniture for my baby's room anyway. I had a crib from Dave's brother but it was wood and it looked very "boy" to me. A friend mentioned she had a spare white crib and did I know of anyone who would want one. I told her I would like it and she informed me that it might need to be painted since it had sat in the back of a truck for a few days. Now, this friend has 5 kids so I would have been SHOCKED if it hadn't needed paint, you know? I figured, no problem! I'll slap a little paint on that puppy while I paint Belle's room and we'll be good to go. I found a used wooden changing table on CraigsList, picked it up and figured I'd slap a little paint on that too in addittion to a dresser we have in our basement and we'll have lovely white furniture in my beautiful baby girl's room. Sounds easy enough, right?

Today marks two months since we moved in and guess what? I still have freakin furniture to paint! I finally finished the changing table a few minutes ago and am settling for "good enough" at this point. It is a boring, painful, (my finger is almost numb right now from holding the spray paint nozzle down) and HOT!!!!!!! I actually started the table last Tuesday with paint from her room but after seeing how crappy it looked with the brush marks, Dave brought out the leftover paint from our old car (don't ask...) and then the pieces started to look a little better. We soon ran out and the disassembled changing table has been in my living room for a week now with the fumes stinkin up the joint. I went out today to get more paint for my afternoon project of finishing it up since I had motivation to get it done. I think it looks ok and will take a closer look when it is dry in an hour or so. As for the crib, I think it will stay the way it is for a while, I have NO desire to paint it any time soon. I didn't realize how much work it would need when I got it. Dave is all about stripping, sanding and then painting the crib, but it will take forever to do and we still have yard stuff that needs his attention more. He is ever the optomist when it comes to projects which is probably a good thing since I am probably a pessimist. I say I am a realist but in all reality am probably a pessimist. (See what I mean? That comment right there was pessimistic!) I still have the dresser to do so I think we might tackle that together this weekend (nothing like a day off, right Dave?). I still have trim and touch ups to do in Belle's room as well.

I hate painting...

The Power to Poop

A funny little story of my little man...

We were driving hom Saturday from OC when as we're getting onto 695 Aaron looks ast me and says, "Mom, I really have to poop!" Now the look on is face and the urgency in his eyes made me think he wouldn't make it home, but he did and I ran him right up, unlocked the door and let him run into the babthroom. A few minutes later he comes walking out which was odd since he cannot wipe by himself. I asked him if he was done and this is how our conversation went. (Imagine him with a super serious face and using a very determined voice)

"I lost the power!" (Using his arm and hand to demonstrate power)

"What power?"

"The power to poop! I'll do it later"

I love him and his little sayings. :)

Oh Crap

I was snug and comfy in my bed this morning. Davey came in and kissed me goodbye, Aaron came and cuddled with me as I dozed and life was great! All of a sudden the phone rang and I was cruely pulled from my state of dozing relaxation. I jumped out of bed and tried to find a working phone (which is a challenge in our house) and cringed when I saw Dave's number on the caller id. He had been gone for less than ten minutes. It couldn't be good. It wasn't.

I picked up the phone and tried to sound half-way awake with my muted "Hello?" and as I hear cars going past in the background I hear my love's voice saying, "I broke down and am on the Route 2 exit on 695. You need to come get me". Oh crap. I was in desperate need of a shower, didn't know where a bra was, had a sleeping baby upstairs that HAD to stay on schedule since I had to work today (Yes, Sara, I realize I sound like Mom!) and I was half asleep. Oh crap. I called my mom to come over and sit while Belle slept and started to brush my teeth when Dave called again. I cringed again and answered the phone waiting for more bad news. Thankfully it was the good news that his boss was closer and would pick him up so I could stop hunting for a bra to wear.

It has been determined that the motor is done in the truck so now we have decisions to make, wether to replace the motor, the truck itself, etc... Sadly, I think it will be the best route to replace the motor and I'm sure those of you who have seen "The Beast" as Dave's brothers call it, know it is not really worth fixing. It is times like this that I am thankful for our van that runs very well (and is under warranty too!) and I do enjoy the extra time with Dave as I drive him to work. My job is also just a few miles away too, so picking him up in the evening is not too big of a deal and it is a few extra minutes we have together. Having to get up early is NOT something I enjoy and when I had a sitter come over Monday am to take him in to work she laughed at me and said, "I see you are not a morning person" :) Clearly. Dave has learned that the hard way. When we were dating I had a rule for him to NEVER call on a Saturday am before 9 if he valued his life. He usually waited till 10 :). But I digress.....

So if you or anyone you know has a reliable and cheap car, let us know. Obviously Dave will drive anything, you've seen the truck.

Well, I'm off to cuddle with Dave on our swing and enjoy the quiet of the kids in bed. We have a lot to discuss and Dave is in a talking mood so I want to take advantage of it.

Nighty Nite!