The Pit

The Pit AKA My HOUSE...I swear my house is always TRASHED and I am just about DONE with it. I wish I could go back to the time we decided to buy a modular and smack myself and David on the head. We had the opportunity to build an actual home, but because of our living arrangements at the time (The place we were living prior to getting our house started was burned to the ground in a fire, so we were living in the "inlaw" apartment at his Dad and Step Mom's home) we decided to just go with the double wide. Of course when we made this decision we were just trying to get out of "their" house and in to a "home" of our own. At the time we had 1 child and the thought that "This house we are buying will be temporary and in the near future we will sell it and build on our property"...hmmm, well 9 years and 2 kids later, that "dream" has pretty much been squashed. We ended up building an additon on while I was pregnant with Brody. Because of the addition our current house can no longer be "sold seperately" and moved off our property.
Anyway, I sort of got off the original subject of my post...the fact is while our house in not "tiny" it is not as spacious as I would really like. There is a Living Room, Dining room, kitchen, laundry room, 4 bedrooms and 2 baths...the kids rooms are decent sizes, our bedroom is actually, quite large. I am sure as the kids get older and start spending more time in their rooms opposed to the actual "living areas" of the house it will get better, but for now. GRRRRRR, I am sooo sick of picking up Toys and kid stuff that filters out of their rooms and in to the rest of the house. I have always been a fan of the "great room" style of living area and that's what we have, but now there are days when I wish every room was seperate and if I just wanted to be ALONE in the kitchen or whatever I could be. As it is every time I walk into a room the kids either notice right away and follow me OR they arrive in the same area as I am in VERY SHORTLY.
I know this stuff probably happens no matter HOW BIG your house is when you have kids, but there are so many days I feel like everyone is just ON TOP of me.
The second issue is the construction of these homes is such CRAP...the walls are thin, the cabinets and countertops suck, stuff is just CHEAP...We have done A LOT of improvements to our house...like putting in wood floors througout the living areas, reflooring the kitchen, laundry room and main bathroom, we have replaced the crappy cheapo light fixtures in almost every room, painted every room, replaced the plumbing fixtures in the bathrooms etc. so a lot of stuff we have been able to "upgrade" over time, BUT there isn't really anything you can do about the thin, crappy walls that you can look at wrong and bust a hole in etc.
I get so frustrated sometimes that no matter what we do, no matter how much money we spend to make this place look good, it's always just "OK" it's NEVER going to be what I really "WANT". Yet, with that said, we will probably be stuck here for a very LONG time.
So this is just a post for me to whine...nice eh?

My Baby Boy

Brody, the one that is the baby, the one that was a surpise, the one that was never planned, the one I cried myself to sleep when I found out I was pregnant, the one I NEVER want to know those things, the one I thought was a girl, the one that David picked the name for, the one I felt good, not great, just good with while pregnant, the one that I almost had a C-section with, the one that scared me so bad because his heart rate was unstable during labor, the one that my Brother saw be born, the one that looked so much like his sister when he was born it was crazy, the one that I felt the most confident with as an infant, the one I didn't attempt to breast feed, the one that scared the crap out of me when he started throwing up all his formula in the hospital, the one that ended up NOT having the same thing as his sister, the one that was lactose intolerant, the one that was my only healthy infant, the one that never cried, the one that slept in a basinet the shortest time, the one that didn't love the swing, the one that LOVED the jump-a-roo and would make everyone that saw him jumping in it laugh til they cried, the one that had their 1 month pictures ruined by the STUPID stuido, the one that sat up in a bumbo seat at 6 weeks old and was the funniest thing ever to see, the one that sucked a paci the longest, the one that has the darker skin tone, the one that looks exactly like his Daddy did as a child, the one that doesn't have a "boo", the one that walked on Thanksgiving, the one that went to the beach the youngest and loved every minute of it, the one that loves to snack, but doesn't eat meals, the one that has the sweet tooth, the one that had ear infections, the one that everyone thought he was "the cutest baby I have ever seen", the one I couldn't take places without having to stop and let people look at him, the one that the nurses at the Ped's office LOVE, the one that wears the most hand me downs, the one that has the coolest color eyes, not blue, not brown, not green, a mixture of all depending on what he wears, the one that has the least patience, the one that LOVES the movie Cars and watches it every chance he gets, the one that LOVES his sister and will run to her (sometimes first) when he gets hurt or gets punished, the one that THROWS things, the one that trys so hard to be just like his big brother, the one that talks very, very well for his age, the one that likes to mimic everything we say, the one that is stout, the one that I think will be an awesome lineman for a pee wee football team one day, the one that can get his Great Granny to move like she is a lot younger than 84, the one that can be such a bruiser, the one that likes to be rough when he plays, the one that not only looks like his Dad, but has a lot of his Dad's personality, the one that loves his Uncle Jeff, the one I try to do as much for as I did for his older siblings, the one I somtimes fail at that with, the one I know the least about, the one I can't wait to find out more about

My Baby

My Goobie

My little BIG surprise I wouldn't change for the world

One of my fav Brody pics

My "big" Boy

Dylan, the one in the middle, the one I tried for so long to have, the one I never thought I would have, the one I almost gave up hope on, the one I was scared to death the entire time I was pregnant that something would go wrong, the one I felt like crap with the entire pregnancy, the one I got HUGE with during pregnancy, the one I KNEW 100% was a boy from day one of being pregnant, the one I "thought" I wanted to name Wyatt, then one I never seriously picked a girls name because I "knew" he was a boy, the one they induced me 2 weeks early to have because they thought he was so big, the one I had the easiest labor ever, the one that was born so quickly the nurses couldn't even get the bed broken down in time for delivery, the one that looked nothing like his sister or Dad when he was born, the one that was the biggest at birth, but is my smallest now, the one that wouldn't eat, the one I tried, tried and failed to breast feed, the one that wouldn't gain weight, the one that was diagnosed "failure to thrive" and scared the crap out of me, the one that was SUCH a good baby we could forget there was an infant in the house, the one that never cried, the one that slept through the night at 4 weeks old, the one that had all of his baby hair fall out, the one that had a flat spot on the back of his head that worried the crap out of me, the one that had SEVERE cradle cap, the one that got the flu at 6 months old that I held for a week straight even while he slept, the one that started pulling up, "cruising", and trying to climb things really early, the one that climbed out of his crib for the first time before he could walk, the one that walked at 10 months, the one that was in a toddler bed before he was a year old, the one that has my blue eyes, the one that I cried after his first hair cut, the one that didn't like to take portraits so there are none after his 1st birthday until he was 4, the one that has always loved to snuggle, the one that we joke has OCD, the one that broke my heart when he came to the hospital to see his new baby brother and would barely look at me, the one that has been sleeping in the bed with me since he was 2 years old, the one that finally decided to start using the potty after his baby brother was born, the one my MOM ended up being able to potty train, the one I have the most patience with, the one that goes 110% the entire time he is awake and then moves around almost as much in his sleep, the one that has night terrors that used to scare me to the point of tears, the one that loved Monsters INC. and watched it 2-3 times a day, every day for too long, the one that had stitches, the one that has had croup too many times to count, the one that hates doctors and hates shots, the one that has been injured the most, the one that can climb anything that could possibly be climbed, the one that is the most sensitive, the one that thinks "You are my Sunshine" is "his" song and can not be sung to any other kid, the one that gives the most hugs and kisses, the one that is most attatched to me, the one that has huge, explosive tantrums when he is over tired, the one that has bad allergies, the one that loves fllip flops, the one that looks like he isn't related to his brother, sister or dad, the one that I was scared to go to Kindergarten, the one that has surpised me in more ways than one, the one that is a perfectionist, the one that gets frustrated when he doesn't do something right the first time, the one that HATES to shop, the one that doesn't eat, the one that LOVES warm milk and would live off it if he were allowed to, the one that has his Maw-Maw's heart, the one that takes the most of my physical strength to Mother, the one that dwells on things, the one that asks a MILLION questions, the one that LOVES Star Wars and knows as much about it as any grown person, the one that can go to school all day or play outside all day and rarely get's dirty, the one that is cold natured, the one that melts my heart when he says "I need some Mommy Love", the one that breaks my heart when I have to dicipline him, the one that draws people to him, the one I know will exceed our expectations of him, the one that is a naturally good student, the one I can't imagine what he will actually do in the future, but I can't wait to find out, the one I worry about ever getting a broken heart, the one I hope will grow up to be a man as good, kind, loving and thoughtful as his Dad, the one I pray will always be as willing to give me "Dylan Love" as he is right now.

My Best Big Guy

My Sunshine Boy

Dylan

One of my favorite pictures of Dylan

My Girl

Mikayla, my first child..

The one I planned on looooong before she was ever "seriously" thought of being concieved. The one I named looong before she was born. The one I braved an ice storm to buy a 2nd pregnancy test to convince me that we really had gotten pregnant the first month we "tried". The one that I LOVED being pregnant with. The one I felt GOOD for the entire 39 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy with. The one I thought I would DIE while in labor with. The one that looked so much like her Dad when she was born it was as if HE had been the one to actually have her. The one that took my breath away with her beauty. The one that made me doubt my decision to become a Mother when she cried 24/7 and wouldn't sleep for 2 weeks. The one that I rocked, held, sang to, patted, carried attatched to me ANYTHING to help her be comfortable and/or sleep. The one that puked on me at least 8-10 times a day, every day. The one that ended up being very, very sick. The one that made me age far beyond my 23 years when she ended up in the hospital for surgery at 32 days old. The one that I stayed up with all night long draped over a crib in the hospital holding a pacifier in her mouth because she couldn't eat for 12 hours before surgery. The one that I had a panic attack and thought I would die when she was taken away from me for surgery. The one that bounced back like nothing had happened after surgery. The one that I loved dressing up in frilly dresses and hair bands just to sit at home all day. The one I took a million pictures of (film and digital). The one that was so chubby we couldn't go anywhere without people trying to pinch her cheeks or comments about how cute and chubby she was. The one that watched every episode of Bear in the Big Blue House. The one that walked the day we moved in to our house. The one that could talk to you and be understood at 18 months old. The one that potty trained before she was 2. The one that loved her Pa so much. The one that I held on to when I didn't think I'd ever be able to have another baby. The one that took a nap with me every day when I DID finally get pregnant. The one I took to have her portrait done every 3 months. The one that looked cute in everything from the frilliest of dresses to camoflauge. The one that took the birth of her first brother so well, it was amazing. The one that I cried about all the way home from dropping off at school the first day. The one that started playing softball at 5 and was a natural right away. The one that stole the heart of her Uncle Jon. The one that loved the water as much as her Mama. The one that struggled to make friends in First Grade. The one I cried for when she had a hard time in school. The one that told me I love you first, and told me I hate you first. The one that I always hear compliments on how sweet she is. The one who is always so generous with money and gifts. The one that was a "little Mommy" to her 2nd baby brother. The one that has a loving spirit. The one that worries about others. The one that is so smart, but doesn't work up to her potential. The one that is an AMAZING athelete. The one that challenges me every single day. The one that can cut me to the quick with a look. The one that can fill my heart with joy to the point of bursting with pride. The one that can make me think I need to be on meds. The one that is loud. The one that is sympathetic. The one that is nosey. The one who loves her Daddy. The one that will let a 4 year old think she is her best friend. The one that loves to look nice, but doesn't love the time it takes. The one that is BEAUTIFUL, The one I believe will push me to my limits. The one I pray will want to be my best friend one day.

The first

The Only Girl

One of my most favorite recent pictures of Mikayla

My Kids

I thought of something to write about, so starting today I am going to do an individual post on each of my kids. It should be interesting....

Third Kids Play Pen

Go check out Cindy's Blog to see her 3rd child, Sweet Suzi's, play pen! Yesterday Cindy commented that I should post pictures during my bloggers block. I was thinking of posting this one anyway, but after seeing her blog today I just had to post this one

This is actually one of those bins that stores keep rubber balls in. David brought it home and we actually use it in our laundry room as a hamper. Last week Brody decided to use it as his own little cage. He climbed in there and was growling and acting like a Tiger. He didn't even want to get out!

Winter Duldrums

I go and get an "I Love Your Blog" award and quit blogging for 5 days, how cool am I?



I guess I just haven't felt very blogworthy the past few weeks, honestly I haven't felt very worthy period. I think I have a case of the Winter Duldrums, mixed in with a pretty classic case of House-a-tosis add in a dose of "Mommy Burnout" and yeah I'm just sort of bummed out.



I am so over Winter, I am not a fan of it anyway, but this Winter we have had such cold temps, lot's of rain (that's right RAIN not SNOW). My lovely children, who would spend every waking hour outside, have been pinned up more days than not. I have finally taken to dressing them up in their ski bibs (you know the ones we have for snow that we aren't getting?) and letting them go out for short periods, just to run out some of their endless energy. This works ok, but not nearly as good as when they are able to stay outside for most of the afternoon.



I have read, watched back episodes of TV shows I like, caught up on series I have on DVR, spent 1/2 the day on Facebook, watched Movies etc. until I am done with all of that too. I can't even "get in to" the last book I bought to read.



I am ready for Spring, enough with the winter crap already. Maybe with warmer temps some of my Blogability will return? I dunno

My First Blog Award

I got this nifty little Blog Award from my buddy Stacey & now I get to chose 5 of my Favorite Blogs to pass the award to! OH and if you are on my list, you have to do this on YOUR Blog too!!
Have Fun!

My Award goes to My 5 Favorites:

High on the Hog (Stacey)

The Tale of the Shrinking Boobies (Audra)

Tumbling After (Jill)

Mommy Daze (Cindy)

Shear Hell (Lia)

Enough with the throwing things already...

Being a Mom of 3 kids, I can testify that each kid has "their thing", the thing that they do that drives you 100% crazy, over the edge BONKERS, nuts, Bring on the Calgon, CRAZY! That "thing" normally rears it's ugly head around the age of 2 or so, right when the kid is coming out with his or her true personality.

For Mikayla it was and continues to be that she is MESSY...just MESSY in all things. When she leaves for school in the morning she is 100% clean and shiny, by the time she gets home she looks like she has been in a food fight or if she has been outside she will have some kind of dirt or grass stain on her. If she has had art she is going to have marker or paint or whatever on her. She has been this way since she was around 2 and I had to change her clothes 4-5 times a day, until I got sick of it and just let her run around in undies all the time. I ALWAYS had to have at least 1 if not 2 changes of clothes when we went out. She is a messy eater, always with the wiping the mouth on the sleeves etc. and GOD knows her ROOM really shows off her mess making skills. It's not really "dirty" it's just messy, oh and this also crosses the line to school and her desk. I should give her a little pat on the back that this year she has done MUCH better keeping her desk clean, BUT she has to be reminded on a DAILY basis. IT DRIVES ME NUTS

For Dylan it is climbing...since way before 2 Dylan has climbed any and everything he could. He climbed out of his crib WAAY before he could even walk. By the time he was 9 months old he was scaling the back of our couch. He will climb any tree that gets in his path, and trust me it doesn't even have to have any low branches. He has climbed from our chest freezer to the TOP of our fridge multiple times. He has even climbed on to our friend's roof (ok with this we actually instructed him to do it, to help dislodge a branch from the gutter). He has NO fear in climbing, none...when Brody was about 2 months old Dylan climbed about 60 feet up in to the middle of a pine tree on our property. He did this in about 3-4 minutes and he was only 3.5 years old! We often joke that he will one day be an astronaut or some sort of pilot because he wants to go higher and higher up, up and away. IT DRIVES ME NUTS

Now we come to my sweet baby boy...of course he just turned 2 one 12/27 and his "thing" has manifested. It is THROWING THINGS...everything. Anything he gets his hand on for more than 2 minutes he is going to throw it. Toys, remotes, bowls, cups, shoes, etc. EVERYTHING ends up flying across the room. I find myself telling him "NO THROW" more times a day than I care to count. He has started getting 2 min. time outs for throwing stuff and still he THROWS...Not to mention he has pretty darn good aim, if he has an actual target he almost always hits it. Oh and these are not little sissy tosses, he full on rares back and let's it fly. I am hoping my dream to have a son in the NFL will finally be realized...he would make one hell of a a Quarterback!! IT DRIVES ME NUTS

Not allergies

So my watery eyes didn't end up being allergies THANK GOD! I did NOT want to think about the options of getting rid of our cats or taking meds. Turns out there was an infection, a few days of eye drops and WALA no more water eyes! I am sooo happy about this!!

I am unblogworthy lately...

Be Thankful

I know I do a lot of whining and bitching about stupid things on here...I know I fuss about my kids having the pukes or colds, or allergies or whatever random thing there is. Today I found out that a little boy I have been reading about, Coleman Larson, lost his battle with cancer. A few years ago I followed, religiously, the story of another child with cancer, a little girl, Allie Scott (her Mom, Jenny, was on the same baby website I frequented). I read her Mom's blog/journal daily and cried with the downs and rejoiced with the ups. When Allie died I felt like someone I knew had died. Though she lived in Texas and I never met her or her parents, or anyone she even was related to or knew. I grieved for that little girl...I also vowed that day that I would never let myself become so attatched to a similar story. I have visisted care pages at random, mostly following links on other blogs, but just to do that, visit, close the page and go on with "my" life. I still read Allie's Mom, Jenny's Blog every day, I still think of her on her birthday, the day of her death etc. I know it sounds strange, but it really did touch my heart. I read another blog daily, the blog of an author and Mom to 6 kids...she has blogged about several kids with Cancer and I have ocasionaly visited their sites, but again, only to visit, put a face with a name etc. not to get involved or overwhelmed with the saddness that is Childhood cancer. Today when I read Dawn's blog I realized that one of the little boys she had talked about a lot had passed away. There was a video from youtube on her blog and after I watched it I followed the link to other videos. That is where I found the one below...I watched this video and I literally sobbed, huge body wrenching, heart wrenching sobs...I felt the need to go pick up my son and hug him and kiss him...I almost felt like going to school and picking up my kids just to hold them.

So many of us are so lucky, and we don't even realize it. We don't even understand that monsters that are out there attacking children every second of the day. I complain, and whine and vent about my kids and their latest stunts, or bad grades or just the fact that "I need a break" and then I hear a story like this one about Coleman.

Please watch this video, be thankful for your children...hug them, kiss them and be thankful that they are healthy enough to drive you totally nuts on a daily basis.

BTW the 2nd little boy in a lot of these pictures is Coleman's twin brother Caden

Childhood allergies (mine) revisited

As a kid I had TONS of allergies and skin issues (sure this is where Dylan gets it from), of course this was back before all the cool meds like Zyrtec, Allegra or Claritin and I lived most of the Spring in a miserable state each year. I suffered from bad excema, hay fever, cat allergies and more all sorts of fun things. As I got older (teens) some of the things backed off (cat allergy & hay fever), and as an adult I have only had mild flare ups of excema very, very rarely.

Until now...now all of a sudden all of my childhood allergies seemed to be rearing their ugly head. I have been suffering from the WORST break out of excema ever on my left arm and hand and now I have patches on my stomach and near my shoulder. It's sooo annoying and very ugly to look at. Now for the past week my eyes have started to water, first it was the left eye and now the right eye has joined in. I am almost 100% positive this is due to the fact that we now have 2 cats living in our house. I have always been just fine with 1 cat, but have noticed over the years if I visit houses with multiple cats or long haired cats I might have a slight reaction. I guess living with 1 cat was not enough to trigger my allergies, but now that we have 2 and Yoda is getting bigger it is too much for me. GRRR...this is frustrating because I can not get rid of my children's animals. So, I am left with the choice of dealing with the watering, tearing, runny eyes or taking meds every day to control it. I haven't really been out of my house for any significant amount of time since they both started watering, so if I go out and the watering stops I might just deal with it at home (as it is now, not if it gets worse or something). I guess I will just play it by ear.

This is just totally frustrating, my excema and the eye watering together makes for a very lovely appearance (NOT). Not great for a person that already has self esteem issues :(

Anyone that has ever changed diapers knows...

...How it feels to post these pictures of your baby...your last baby...the last baby you will ever be "required" by law to change diapers on. Yep, after 8 years these pictures mean SOOO MUCH to me & they are totally the BEST black mail for the future. I know we aren't DONE, DONE, but the finish line is in sight and I am REJOICING!!!

Party Time

Today is Brody's Birthday Party! I am excited for him, because he is 2 and at 2 kids start getting in to the fact that their Birthday Parties are ALL about THEM. He may not be big in to opening gifts (yet), but he will sure love playing with his new stuff, eating his chocolate cake and Pizza (his favorite). I am a big believer in Birthday's being made special, it's the only day of the year that is 100% YOUR DAY...and unless you are a twin or share your bday with a sibling or parent (rare, but heard of), it's the one day that is all about you. For Brody, I feel I have to make an extra special effort. A couple of reasons, #1 is obvious, his Bday is 2 days after Christmas, we all know Brody was my SURPRISE baby, and I don't think I would have ever "planned" to have a baby at this time of year, but I did and so we deal with it. #2 is because he is my 3rd and my other 2 have had blow out parties, especially for their first 3 or 4 years. I don't want to start doing cake and ice cream at the dinner table, just because he is #3 and at sort of an inconvenient time. Nope, I have to give him the party he deserves and make just as big of a deal out of it as I have the other 2. Sooo, David and I (mostly David, cause he's a ROCKSTAR) spent 4.5 hours making Brody a Lightning McQueen (Disney Cars, for you non kid people) 3D cake...all from scratch, no special cake pans and stuff like that. It was tedious and messy, but sooo worth it. Of course the cake is Chocolate Fudge, because Brody is my sweet eater and he LOVES his chocolate. His party decorations are all CARS themed and he will probably swoon when he sees all the Cars stuff he will be getting...the boy LOVES (not even strong enough of a word really) CARS!

The guest list includes immediate family, grandparents and his little "girl friend" from across the street, but even then it is almost 30 people!! We will have a FUN time hanging out with family, eating some Pizza (Brody's other favorite) and celebrating our little Goobie's Birthday...he has the cutest outfit and "Birthday Champ" badge to wear.

In closing I thought I would share some of the cake pictures...I may come back and BLOG about the entire process (believe me I took about 50 pictures) because...well, anyone that has a husband that can do this wants to brag about it LOL!

Side view of the cake after "fabrication" we used 1 sheet cake, 1 layer round cake, and cupcakes...the piece in the front eventually became the windshield

Here is a front view of the finished cake, notice in the back, David didn't stop with "just" the car, no he had to have a stack of tires and a member of the pit crew, one of Brody's favorite characters of the movie is "Guido" who he calls "Pit Stop" so he had to have a "Pit Stop" cake for his birthday...everything on the cake is 100% edible and it is NOT fondant...it's all decorated with whipped icicng that we colored at home

Top view of the cake, of course the Happy Birthday had to be written on the cake board...That is one of the few things "I" can take credit for...other than that the only thing I really did was icing the tires, and do the writing, headlights and brake lights...David did the rest so pretty much about 98% of the cake....like I said, he's a ROCKSTAR

2009

Wow, another New Year! Looking back over 2008 we had a lot going on, I am sure this year will be no different. I'm not really making any "resolutions" because that is a good way to set myself up for failure. I do have wishes and hopes for the New Year though:

1) To be a better (more patient among other things) Mom to my kids
2) To spend more alone time with David
3) To continue to have "Dinner around the table" with my family
4) To continue on my weight loss journey
5) To spend more time with my Brother & Sister
6) To continue my quest of being more active

I am sure there are tons more, but these are the ones that are at the tip of my tounge this minute. What are your wishes and hopes?