What the hell is wrong with our world?

This makes me absolutely sick.

Who the hell does this stupid kid think he is that he has any right to take human lives? How f*cked up can you be to go out and do something like this?? It takes me back to Columbine...I was actually teaching Spanish at a High School in Greenville at the time. Talk about a wake up call. I felt pretty safe up until that day.

I wonder about his parents too, not judging them, but wondering about the guilt that they are going to be left with after this tragedy. I bet they will ask themselves a million times over *what* they could have done differently.

I'm doing the best job I can to raise my boys, but whose to say that they would never do anything like this? I can only hope and pray that they won't, that they see and appreciate the value of life and the respect that we should have for it. I hope that I can instill that in them.

I pray for those families, and that community as they try to heal after this.

These are the things that almost make me feel guilty for bringing my children into the world.....

My next big adventure

The other day, my hubby asked me what I would like for Valentine's Day.

My response.

"A tattoo."

Yep...I'm headin' to the dark side people.

I'm not going to get anything big or where it will be readily available for the *world* to see, just something on my lower back. Something to add a little excitement to life (wink,wink!)

Hopefully I won't chicken out.

Update to follow soon.

The funk

and I don't mean a kind of music.

Colin is sick as a dog, and Landon just recovered from something he had over the weekend. I tried the denial tactic and *insisted* that Landon was only teething and that was causing his fever....but it didn't work.

I picked Colin up from school today and his teacher said he started out the day wired, and then slowly disintigrated in to a puddle of mush. Walking to the car, he could barely keep his eyes open and he absolutely INSISTED that he was not tired, and that he felt fine. We went out to lunch and he proceeded to lie down in the booth with his head on his jacket and pass out. If you know my child, you know that this is unheard of.

Yep...you feel just fine kid.

So, we're home. He's upstairs in bed with a big 'ole dose of motrin in his system and he's watching the Cars movie. Translated into Mommy language, that means he's taking a nap.

I guess I'd better get the clorox out and start wiping everything down. Hopefully this funk will by-pass the grown ups in this house.

Ya...right.

80's Night at our House

So...I've been a good wife the last two nights, and I have actually COOKED dinner! I'm so proud of myself that I could bust!

While I was being so creative and all"home-makey", I decided to take some inspiration from my friend OneHung and turn on our 80's music channel to keep my energy up.

I think I'm going to keep this practice going, because oh how the memories started coming! This turned the most mundane task into one that was pretty fun, and oh....my kids think I'm nuts now because of my dancing and singing.

I guess they would have figured that out eventually anyway right?

So, here's my blast from the past!! The Bangles and, "Hazy Shade of Winter".

Enjoy!

A Mini Superman....

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for my friend and her son Colin!! This little guy is bouncing back so quickly, you are going to be amazed!! Here are the latest updates on my new hero from Anita!

2.7.07 at 10:18am

Alrighty, where are we... Colin is doing wonderfully! They extubated him last night around midnight. He had to have some oxygen but that isn't unexpected. He is off of blood pressure medicine and hasn't had any problems with irregular heartbeats. They took all of his lines out this morning. All he has now is his chest tube and the I.V.s He's started taking liquids and just a bit ago had a popsicle. He is complaining about the tube and lines which is good. :-) The nurses say a complaining kid is a healthy kid. :-) They will be moving him to the general care floor later this morning. They plan to have him up walking tonight or in the morning if he is feeling up to it. The nurse seems to think if he continues improving like he is we will be home in five days. Its just a matter of when his chest stops draining and he feels better. They started him on a "water pill". The bypass machine causes inflammation of all the organs and make the body retain water. They are giving him that to help get rid of it. They orginally thought he may go home on it, but that doesn't seem to be the case. :-)
All those prayers are being answered. :-)
hugs,
Anita

2.7.07 at 3:44pm

We are in our own room! Colin is still doing wonderfully. He still is on some oxygen, but we are going to try and take him off when he wakes up. They set him up some in the bed, but haven't had him out of it yet. As soon as he wakes up I'm going to get the nurse and we are going to put him in the chair. By tomorrow he'll be running the halls. :-) He's been sick to his stomach some, so he's not eaten since the popsicle, but that's okay. I've got some Jello for when he gets up. So hopefully he will eat that and feel better. He REALLY wants chocolate milk and donuts. :-) I can't wait to give them to him. Oh!! THere's a computer right next to his bed, so I can update the carepage while Colin is napping. This is wonderful! I was beginning to have computer withdrawl. Guess that is it.
I'll update when there is anything new.
Anita

Today at 7:56 am

Colin had a pretty good night. He was up once during the night and climbed in and out of bed by himself. His chest tube is still draining pretty good. It has to drain less than 50 for 24 hours before they will take it out. He is currently draining around 110. But that's okay. He is doing way better than we thought. He is still having tummy pains. We don't know if its from the morphine or from hunger. He hasn't eaten anything since Monday night, so I would think he'd be hungrey. I ordered him a ton of stuff for breakfast just to see if any of it would strike his fancy. The nurse is also going to see if we can switch him to a different drug. They are going to get him and walking some today. Colin wasn't interested in it earlier, but I think once he sees the playroom he will want to get up more. They've got a lot of really neat stuff in there. :-)
I guess that's all for now. :-)
Anita

Since we're talkin' recipes

Onehung posted a few recipes that he tried out over the weekend. They all sounded great, so I thought I'd share what we..ahem...*I* had tonight. It was easy, and very tasty! Not from scratch, but hey, I'm the mother of two small boys with a husband who works round the clock...cooking anything other than a waffle in the toaster oven is an accomplishment! What sucks is the clean-up afterwards..especially because I'm the only one who eats it. The boys enjoyed their plain noodles and apples...a pretty typical meal for them. I've just given up fighting that fight.

Here goes!

Penne Pasta with Chicken and Vodka Sauce
(Vodka sauce is a creamy tomato sauce w/vodka in it..you can't taste the vodka, but it does have a unique flavor with a little "kick" to it)

Ingredients:
1 bottle Barilla Vodka Sauce (availabe near the spaghetti sauces in any grocery store)
1 pound of penne pasta
1 bag of Steamfresh garlic peas and mushrooms
about 10 frozen chicken tenderloins


Place frozen chicken in a deep sided fry pan with olive oil and season with salt and garlic pepper seasoning. Saute until cooked through and then remove from the pan and slice into small pieces. While cooking the chicken, cook pasta according to instructions, drain, and set aside. Cook the peas and mushrooms according the instructions in the microwave. Pour the vodka sauce in the saute pan and heat on low heat. Add the peas and mushrooms, chicken, and pasta.

ENJOY!

He's doing great!

I talked to Anita about 30 minutes ago and he is already trying to wake up!! She said that they are encouraging it, *but* he still needs to be on the ventilator. He's having a hard time with his carbon monoxide levels being a little high, and his blood pressure needs to come up. As soon as that happens, he will be off the the vent. He's connected to several tubes for various things such as drainage, and also is connected to a defibrulator (sp??) in case they need to shock his heart for any reason (let's hope they dont!).

Anita also told me that instead of using a human valve for the replacement, they used one from a COW!!! Huh?? It's not FDA approved, but obviously, they've done this many times before. The Doctor said that there is a far less chance of rejection with the bovine valve versus the human one. Crazy stuff!

She said he knows that they are there with him, and his color looks really great.

Awesome news to hear!!

They still need prayer, because the first 48 hours after the surgery are the most dangerous. Le'ts just hope he stays strong, and continues to improve as he has been!!!

Colin is out of surgery and doing well!

Anita posted to Colin's care page that he was out of surgery at 12:30 today and that everything went well. He came off of the bypass machine with no problems (that was the scariest part), WHOOO-HOO! :)

They were going to be able to see him around 2:00. Still no updates after this one, so I'm guessing that no news is good news.

Thanks everyone! I'll let you know how he's doing when I find out!

Many prayers needed for a friend and her son

Blog friends.

A good friend of mine, Anita, and her family are going through a difficult time right now. They are currently in Michigan, awaiting surgery for their four year old son, Colin. (Our son's have the same name...one of the many things that drew us together and that we have in common.)

Here is the procedure that Colin is having in the morning, and the description of his heart problem in Anita's own words:


He is having a procedure called the Konno-Ross procedure.

Colin has a congenital heart defect called aortic stenosis. His aorta valve is really narrow. This causes his heart to have work harder to pump blood.

He had a heart cath in May, unfortunately is was not very successful.

In the Konno-Ross procedure they take Colin's healthy pulmonary valve and replace his diseased aorta valve. They will then replace the pulmonary valve with a cadaver valve. They also have to replace the part of Colin's heart where the valve connects. I'll see if I can find a link that explains it better.

I copied and pasted this from the U of M website. This is exactly what Colin will be undergoing.

"Valve replacements alone are not always enough to relieve the narrowing out the ventricle. Sometimes the whole area leading out of the ventricle to the aorta is too small. The supporting structure of the valve, called the valve annulus, may be too narrow even if the leaflets are opened up as far as possible. In these cases the valve replacement is performed with a procedure called a Konno procedure. This involves enlarging the left ventricular outflow tract and the valve ring. It is done through an incision into the outflow tract of the right ventricle and the septum or wall between the right and left ventricles. A patch is placed in this area that enlarges it. The Konno procedure can be done with any type of aortic valve replacement.Ross procedure: This is one type of valve replacement operation. The surgeon makes an incision down the center of the breastbone. The heart is stopped for a brief period of time while a heart lung bypass machine supports the body.The coronary arteries are removed from the aortic valve and the diseased aortic valve is removed. The person's own pulmonary valve is then removed from its position in the right ventricular outflow tract and sewn into place as the new aortic valve. The coronary arteries are then reattached to the new valve. A tissue valve, called a homograft or an allograft, is then sewn in the place where the person's own pulmonary valve was removed. This valve is from a human donor and is not live tissue so it will not be rejected by the person's own immune system. It is expected that the tissue valves will need to be replaced in five to ten years but since this is a fairly new procedure the actual frequency of valve replacements is not yet known."

So...as you can see, this is a very scary situation for them. I can not imagine one of my boys having to undergo such a serious surgery.

please pray for them. They need all they can get.

His surgery is scheduled for 7:15 tomorrow morning, and will last anywhere from 3-6 hours. He will be on a ventilator for a few days and then in PICU for at least a week being heavily sedated so that they can manage his pain. Once they wean him from the vent, he will be moved to a regular floor. Hopefully they will be home in three to four weeks.

I'll update as soon as I hear how he is doing.

Thanks.

HYSTERICAL!!!

Can you tell I've been visiting Youtube a lot lately??

This is not a show that I normally watch, but for some odd reason, I happened to catch the end of this episode a while back. I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants!

For any nursing Mother, Husband who has supported a nursing wife, anyone who has even TRIED to wean a child from nursing.... you will find this all too appropriate, and roll on the floor, laugh your ass off funny!

I wish they had more, because the rest of the show gets even better. This will do for now though!

Enjoy!!

SNOW!!!!

We woke up to a full blanket of snow this morning!

We have had about 3 inches and it's beautiful. Colin is in heaven, he keeps wanting to taste it...ick!

Toto....... I don't think we're in South Carolina anymore!

A song I love

I first heard this song on ER during the episode where Dr. Mark Greene passed away. I bawled my eyes out during the episode, and then cried even harder when this song played.

This is, "somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole. It's a beautiful arrangement, and gives me this odd feeling of sadness and nostalgia. Oh to be young and innocent again....

Enjoy!

The ever expanding imaginary world of Colin

I just had to toss this picture in today for two reasons.

1. I can't believe Colin was ever that little.

2. I wish it were that warm and we were back at the BEACH!! It's freakin' 38 degrees here now, and that's the *high* for today.

I know...waa, waa, from all of you northerners dealing with snow and colder temps, but South Carolina is just NOT supposed to be this cold.

I wish I could take up OneHung on partnering in his investment property in Florida! We would head down there this weekend!

If you're a regular reader (yep...all 6 of ya!), you'll recall our new family editions thanks to Colin's highly active imagination.

It all started with William, and he has since added Wazdrowz and Awusu. (Don't ask me where he gets the names...I'm shocked every time I hear a new one.) They are his imaginary brothers and they go with us everywhere. We even had to order lunch for William on one occasion.

Well...the imaginary "friend" saga has now expanded to pets. Colin informed me today that he told his teacher, Ms. Emily, that he had a turtle named "Shotters" at home. (Thank goodness he didn't say shitters!! That would have gone over REALLY well at his Christian pre-school huh?)

Supposedly, Shotters lives in a bowl in his room, where he likes to swim in the water. There is a tree in the bowl that he does *not* run in to, and Colin feeds him turtle food. I'm glad *I* don't have to feed him!

Hey...this is a heck of a lot better than cleaning out a litter box!

Maybe we could move on to imaginary cats to replace the two real ones that we already have???

Just KIDDING Sammy and Uno!!!!

Sort of....

Onehung...

I've GOT to know what you do if you're a CPA and you have time to grace us with our 80's music memories every day! (In broad terms of course, so you don't give your "anonymity" away.)

Can you tell I'm looking for a career change for Hubby?? This busy season/SEC crap SUCKS!!!!

*****edited*****

Oh...I knew that! I guess it's been quite a while since I've read your profile. That, and my children have sucked any and all brain power from my frazzled self today.

Hmmm....I wonder if Kelly might be interested in doing that?

I never knew my child could scream so loudly

Damn.

That was rough.

Colin was all excited to see Dr. Cook, until we started out the appointment with a hemoglobin test. Yep, on top of 3 shots, they had to stick his finger too. He (and I for that matter) had no idea that was coming, and he was so terribly offended when the nurse did it. I kept thinking, "boy, if you think that's bad, just wait till you see what's coming!".

Luckily, he calmed down enough to talk to the Doctor, and everything looks good. He weighs 37 pounds and for the life of me, I can't remember how tall he is.

I had to physically lie on top of him while the nurse gave him his 3 shots. I felt horrible. He screamed bloody murder the entire time, and just kept begging me to make her stop. Sometimes this Mommy gig sucks people. Next time Kelly is taking him to the appointment and handling that job.

He cried for about 30 minutes after we left the office and just kept telling me how badly it hurt. We headed to Target and let me tell you....Hotwheel cars can fix those "boo-boos" in a hurry. At least when my child is concerned.

So...the good news is, it's OVER! At least for another year right?

Last thing,

Can anyone tell me why Landon is refusing to nap? He falls asleep in the car, and then when I take him up to his crib, he cries for an hour. What the heck is UP with that???

SLEEP CHILD...SLEEP!

4 Year check up in the morning with a nasty surprise for Colin

Yep. The poor kid has to get 3 or 4 shots.

I don't know if I'm handling this the right way or not by not telling him. He tends to get very upset and obsess over things like this, so I opted for the surprise approach.

I'm going to have to make sure that we have blankie and doggy when we go. It also might take a couple of hotwheels cars to make up for this as well.

I'll let you guys know how it goes!!

Heroes

Anyone else out there watching this?

I'm LOVIN' it!

The Swiffer Standoff

We've been in our house for almost exactly a month now. . We are still not fully unpacked, and even though the other house is under contract, we have a few boxes and large items awaiting their trip to the new house.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned here how much I really like my Swiffer sweep+vac. This thing rocks people! It's a fast and easy way to grab up all of those dust bunnies that end up chasing me around the house on a daily basis. ( Someone please stop me now, I feel I may be morphing in to some cleaning guru, and I promise...I am so far from it!)

Since we've been in the new house, I've had the Swiffer, but for some reason, the CORD to charge the damn thing has disappeared. I've looked, Kelly has looked, even COLIN has searched for it, but to no avail.

I have finally broken down and surrendered to the fact that I need to buy a new one. I can NOT deal with the dust bunnies anymore. They taunt me as I walk around the house, and I come across a new one every time I turn around. I do my best to grab them up and toss them in the trash, but I turn around...and there's another one!

Kelly has been begging me not to buy one, because he just KNOWS that he can find the cord. He swears up and down that he KNOWS he packed it in a box where there are some cleaning supplies, even though we've looked through every single one.

Well, babe, I hate to break it to you, but.....I did it. I broke down under the pressure of the taunting, teasing, dust-balls. I bought one.

We are no longer under the attack of the dust bunnies.

I promise you'll appreciate it one day.

What to do, what to do....

So, Spring is fast approaching, and Colin is four. Officially old enough to "do" something.

Should we go for soccer or t-ball?? I still need to look around at the different programs in our area to see what's offered. It may turn out that the time of the activity is the deciding factor based on naps and our church schedule.

I also may see if some of his friends are playing and go with that sport simply because there will be someone there that he knows. Colin is not really comfortable in new situations with all new people. I'm hoping that knowing someone on the team will help ease him in to the "team" set-up.

Any thoughts blog friends?? Any experience with soccer and or t-ball??

I just don't get it

What is it with the whole "Stay at home" mom verses "Work out of the home" mom debate??

Why is it that so many people are SOOOOO concerned with being RIGHT, that they can't respect the fact that people can and will do things differently, and also do them well??

Luckily, I am able to stay at home with my boys. Luckily, I get to wake up each morning and spend the day with them creating memories and loving all over them. Everyone is not a LUCKY as I am. Some women even say that there is no way in hell that they *could* stay home. Now...do I like hearing that? Not really. Can I do anything about it? No. Do I understand where they are coming from?

Yep. I certainly do.

Staying at home with your children is NOT an easy thing to do. Some days, I have to remind myself that being at home with my boys IS a blessing. There are some mornings that I wish Kelly would stay home, and I could go to work and actually interact with GROWN adults. Does this make me a bad Mother? I certainly think NOT. Does this make me human? Yep. I can go days at a time without having any brain stimulation other than "go fish". The words that make up my vocabulary on any given day are: poopy, diaper, snack, sippy cup,...etc., etc.

I do yearn for interaction with the adult world. I think this is one of the reasons that I really enjoy blogging. Number one, it shows me that I am not alone in my feelings about motherhood, and number two, it allows me to excercise my brain. I do that daily, but mostly on a 4 year old and 1 year old level. Even more so when my Husband is working non-stop and I simply wake up to feel the weight of him in the bed next to me at night, and then kiss him goodbye in the mornings.

I have a college education. Some days it's hard to believe that. I studied in Spain for a summer and lived with a Spanish family. I attended college in Spain. I taught high school Spanish for a year, I was a Director for an after school program and summer camp for under privileged kids.

I am now a Mother, and I take that job title just as seriously as I did all of the others.

I am proud to have been, and be, all of those things.

I respect all of the other mothers/parents in the world who love their children, and do the best they can for them just as I do. No matter whether they are home with them every day, or at work.

It doesn't mean they love their children any less than I do, they just DO it differently.

What do you do when a blog you love to read goes private??

Anyone??

I loved Manuela's blog, "Thin Pink Line", and I can no longer read it. I understand that she had some pretty nasty trolls hanging around, so I do get her reasons for doing it.

I hope all is okay with her.

Huh??

**edited to add: I posted this LOOOONG before I caught a similar post on MamaPop...... damn
I'm good!** :)





Oh. My. Gosh.

Is there ANY man on the face of the planet that would be caught DEAD in these??

SURELY....they jest????

Under Contract Baby!!!!

After only 8 days on the market, we are under contract!!!! We couldn't be happier!!!!

The first offer fell through after we received the second one this morning and informed them of the terms. They didn't want to get in to a bidding war, which I totally understand.

Get this: Full asking price, no contingencies, no closing costs (payed by us anyway), and they are paying CASH, so no worries about whether financing will fall through on their end!!!!!! We close on February 26th barring any unforseen problems. (Dear Lord, please don't let anything happen.)

Whew.....I'm so glad that part is over. Now only one more month, and our lives will be at least a little closer to normal!!

Goodbye little house!! You've been a part of some amazing memories, and wonderful times. Both boys were brought home from the hospital to your welcoming arms. I hope that the family that is buying you create as many happy memories as we did!

Let's see if I can finish something that I start...

Okay...here I am, crawling out from the hole that I fell in to.

What have I been up to? Well, for starters, pretty much being a single Mom to my two handsome boys. I love them dearly, but let me tell ya, the single Mom gig is 1000 times worse than anyone cracks it up to be.

I *should* be used to this after six years of marriage to my CPA Husband, yet every year it smacks me in the face harder than the last. Probably due to the demands of our ever growing, ever demanding, little men. Of course, this year we just had to go and top it off with a move to a new house, improvements to the last along with selling it, and most of the crap that goes along with it is on my plate.

Enough whining??

Yep, I thought so too.

The good news? Well, the GREAT news is that the old house is finished and CLEAN. We listed it a week ago, and as of tomorrow we will have had 9 showings, and two offers on the table. It's been absolutely crazy!!!

The first offer is still in negotiation. I feel for the folks because they have a lease that doesn't end until June, but I hate to break it to them....it's not up to us to finance OUR home for them, until they can get out of it (they wanted to close May 1st!). They're willing to pay a nice amount for the house, but not enough to make up for the house payments and utilities through May. At least not yet. We're waiting on their counter offer in repsonse to our counter offer. (Can I say counter offer again?) Still, with all of the attention it seems to be getting, I dont think we're going to give in on the close date. We need it under contract and sold ASAP.

We're very blessed to be in this situation, because it could have been SO much worse. We really just need someone to make an offer where we close by the end of February, if not sooner. We'll see what our second offer holds tomorrow morning...hopefully a LOT more dinero and a closer close date. I'm keepin' my fingers crossed.

The boys are doing great. Colin has added another imaginary friend to his entourage, and they go with us everywhere. William is the first, and then our second is "Wazdrowz". Don't ask me WHERE in the world he came up with that name. That kid is a trip!

We also held his birthday party last Saturday and it was a hit. You can NOT beat an indoor, bounce house, play party. Top it off with a PW's ice-cream cake, and it rocked.

Landon is a cute as ever, but the poor child's schedule is totally screwed up. He hasn't been to bed before 8:30 in a week or two, and each night and nap holds at least a 10 minute bout of screeching at the top of lungs in protest. I guess that's just what happens when we try to keep him up to see his Daddy. I don't know which is worse. Going a week at a time without seeing his father, or crying a little before bedtime. I guess maybe he can tell me what he thinks in one of our future therapy sessions since I'm sure one of the two are bound to cause him major trauma right?

Kelly and I were finally able to break in the new pool table last night.

Get your mind out of the gutter folks! We played pool...although I'm SURE Kelly wishes it was the alternative! It's nice to have, and it was really great to actually have some quality adult time with my Husband....finally. Nothing like being a "busy season" widow.

The boys and I also attended a funeral of an 18 year old girl on Tuesday. We used to attend church with her and her mother. She was the first young lady that I ever trusted to babysit Colin. (Landon wasn't born yet.) I'm still in shock. It was heartbreaking to get the news and I don't know that I will ever get the look of her mother's face out of my mind. We don't know exactly what happened. She was at the beach with friends, and they say she went to sleep, and just never woke up. There's a suspicion that drugs may have been involved, but we may never really know the answer to that. Even though she may have gotten mixed up in some pretty bad stuff recently, she was still a beautiful soul. She always had a smile on her face, and she loved kids...especially Colin, and he loved her. It's still really hard to believe that we'll never see her again, and it wasn't easy explaining to Colin what happened.

So, that's been my crazy life in a nutshell.

Just to give you an idea of how frazzled and brain-fried I've been lately, here's how I ended our evening.

As I was getting Landon ready for bed, probably thirty minutes after we got home from dinner with Kelly (yep, he's back at work tonight), I heard a LOUD knock on our front door. It was 9:00pm, and we know NO ONE in the neighborhood. I peeked out of Landon's room and down to the front door, and I heard barking and growling. In the dark, I could see a young man struggling to hold on to his big, black, dog. I cracked open the door, and he explained that as he was walking his dog, he noticed something strange about my car in the driveway.

I had left the stupid driver's side door WIDE open. Yep. I'm an idiot. Either that, or I desperately need a vacation.

Thank God for kind neighbors. Even though he did scare the crap out of me!

CONGRATULATIONS to my brother and his new fiance!

Lucas proposed to Liz this morning, and she said YES! (WHAT in the world is she thinking?) lol!

Just kidding! He's lucky to have her if you ask me. She absolutely ROCKS!

The ring is nothing to sneeze at either! Nice job bro! :)

A Weird Mommy or Me Thing?

What is it about my child's head that makes me want to sniff it ALL. THE. TIME?

I could hold Landon all day and just breathe in the scent of his precious little head. Same with Colin, but he doesn't stay still long enough for me to get a good whiff anymore.

Landon is doing this sweet little thing lately where, while he runs around the room and plays about every 5 minutes or so, he'll RUN to me and tackle me with one of his wonderful hugs. I just hold on as long as I can and breathe in his scent. It only lasts for about 8 seconds, but I cherish every one of those precious snuggles.

I'm curious if this smell thing is just a weird "me" thing, or are there any other parents out there who feel the way.

You can be honest, I *think* I can take it.

Hmmmm, Interesting

Well, I guess I owe the good 'ole (maybe I wouldn't go *that* far) BofA an apology, at least in this situation.

Hubby was finally able to take a moment and research why they put a hold on our closing check and the reason was quite surprising.

The check from the attorney's office...BOUNCED!

Nice huh?

Come to find out that they had someone writing fraudulent checks from their account, and they had to close it. I think we managed to get a check from that same account, so their bank wouldn't honor it.

It's hard for me to believe that they would make this kind of mistake, but I'm offering them the benefit of the doubt. I'll give them until tomorrow to make this right. We'll see what happens.

It's the never-ending saga of home buying crap on this blog.

Maybe I should change the name??

Limbo

Nope. Not the fun kind.

That is if you consider doing the limbo fun anyway.

I am stuck in limbo, and I lack the motivation to get my ass out of it.

I promised to update on the move and the house, and I have yet to do so.

Here goes, better late than never right?

We're here. It's great! I absolutely love my new house and all of the room that it provides us. I just wish that some other poor sap could come and unpack the 20 or so boxes of junk that I just don't feel like messing with. You know those things that you shove in drawers and under the sink? All of that junk that you just don't feel that you can part with at that time, but really don't need to keep? Yeah...that's what I have left to unpack and go through.

I have four boxes in the family room. Eleven boxes in the living room/play room/("box" room). Two in our bedroom, and probably about three in the garage.

Mind you, this does NOT count the piles of crap that are still hanging out at the old house. Those consist of bottles of various cleaning supplies (hehe, think I've done much cleaning in the new house??), two wedding dresses (one used at the wedding to my Dear Hubby and the other bought in a moment of insanity at the age of twenty, whew...glad I dodged *that* bullet!), and various toys that will hopefully only make it as far as our local Goodwill drop-off . Hell, if the boys have made it this long without them, then some other needy child should have them. Colin and Landon are NOT lacking anything on the toy front.

The old house is currently receiving some TLC by way of a couple of coats of paint on the interior, the screened porch being pressure washed, and some steps being re-carpeted (thanks to our loving "un-declawed" kitties. Yes honey, we should have had that done years ago...I know.). We should be able to have it on the market by Monday of next week...thank GOD!

So. Here I am. Stuck in limbo, but really, it's not that bad.

I just keep telling myself, "one thing at a time", and so far it's going pretty well. I only had one near break-down when I found out that the idiots at Bank of Amer*ca had decided to put a hold on a $550 check we received from the closing. You know, we're really rich enough that that much money doesn't matter right? Take it, keep it! We don't need that for anything important. Maybe groceries, diapers, or to pay the electric bill for ONE of our freaking houses. Nothing much you "effing idiots" (hmm...I didn't realize I was holding on to this much hostility. I also hope you can sense the DRIPPING sarcasm here). I called to find out what the hold was for, and went through all of the hoops on the phone while they verified that I was who I said I was, and then they wouldn't speak to me about it. My name is not listed on the savings account that we tried to deposit the funds in to. God forbid I was someone trying to take money from an account that wasn't mine right??? Good to know that they're keeping up those tight security standards.

The poor girl who answered the phone was polite enough to listen to me cuss B of A for a good 5 minutes. I hate that I did that though, because I've worked in customer service before, so I know what that is like. I felt a lot better afterwards though. Sometimes you just have to let the bitch out, know what I mean?

Kelly is working a LOT now due to busy season, but luckily the new house has cut about 15 minutes off of his commute time, so that helps the tiniest of bits. He at least gets to see the kids for a little while before they go to bed. It helps that their routine and bed time was shot to hell during the move, so they're both up a LOT later than I would prefer these last few weeks.

So. I'm off to unpack some boxes.

Maybe I'll just check out ONE more blog before that (wink, wink).

Nothing better than a little procrastination baby!

Create your own avatar

Thanks to Catherine for sharing this link!

Check it out and make your own if you're interested.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Wow.

Four years ago I held you in my arms for the very first time.

This tiny, squeaky, little thing that would one day become my handsome, sensitive, loving, little boy.

You are so much fun to be around. Your love for life is contagious, and I am so thankful to be your Mommy.

Our lives have been so blessed because of your presence, Colin. I am a better person because you are here.

I'm doing the best that I can to be the best Mommy possible for you and your brother. I'm not perfect, you already know that, but my best is all I have to give.

Thank you for showing me how beautiful life is. I see the world through your eyes now, and it's more amazing than I could have ever imagined.

I can't wait to see what the rest of your life has to hold little man! You are destined for great things!!

Much love,
Mommy

It's official...we have another child in the house

His name is William.

I have no idea what he looks like, but he wears the same size and style clothes as Colin, and he is going to turn 4 on the 8th of January as well.

He joined us for lunch today.

I had to put his shoes on him, put on and zip up his jacket, and buckle him in to the seat of the car.

I had to tell Landon to stop "touching him" in the car, and then explain to Colin that William didn't mind if Landon did when he wouldn't stop.

Yes, William is Colin's new imaginary friend.

Thank God the guy behind the counter at Panera Bread understood this when we ordered his "imaginary cinnamon crunch bagel" for him at lunch today.

Colin was absolutely thrilled when he placed it on the plate along with his blueberry muffin. He was even kind enough to use tissue paper so as not to transfer imaginary germs to William's food.

Just when I've given up on the world, I'm surprised at the kindness of strangers who seem to "get" that you're only a child once.

Thank you Panera Bread employee....you made my kid's day.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

As I sit here alone in my bed while my dear Hubby is out playing poker with friends.

If that's not a kick-ASS wife, I don't know WHAT is!!

Oh...by the way...we're in the house, I LOVE it, and I still have tons of boxes to unpack.

It's feeling more and more like "home" every day. Pics and more details of moving day soon to follow.

Moving day is looming.....

We now own the house. Holy crap!

I'm excited and sick all at the same time. Closing was relatively painless, but took about an hour and 45 minutes. I don't remember signing SOOOOOOOOO many forms for this house, but hey...you do what you have to do right?

The movers are coming tomorrow morning between 9:00 and 10:00 am. The boys will be hanging out with my Dad and Stepmom for most of the day, so that we won't have to worry about them during all of the chaos.

Both Kelly and I are so stressed, I just feel the fights "bubbling up". I'm thinking if we break down and sort out our responsibilities, then we can stay out of each other's way, and hopefully keep the fights to a minimum.

Nothing like moving to test a marriage eh???

Wish us luck!! I'll update when I can!!

The fat lady

It's so funny to have a 3, almost 4 year old. You never quite know what the day will hold, and it's usually full of LOTS of surprises.

Today was the perfect example.

At lunch, as we walked in to the restaurant, Colin (as usual) had to go to the bathroom. As we scooted past the line of people waiting to place their orders, a rather "large" woman was walking by as well. I touched Colin's shoulder and said, "say excuse me honey" and as we inched over to let her walk by, she said excuse me as well.

She was barely behind us, and Colin says to me in a voice loud enough for her to hear, "Mommy, that is a REALLY FAT lady!!".

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and of course my pace quickened IMMEDIATELY. I rushed Colin back to the restroom and explained as best I could that we don't say things like that. I know that he didn't mean any harm, but I felt so badly for her. I told him that some people can't help being large, and that if she heard him say that, it would have made her sad.

He seemed to understand, so he took care of "business", and we headed out to the restaurant.
As we're walking back to our table he says, "Mommy, that lady must have eaten a BIG lunch!" Oh. My. Gosh. Why is my child fascinated with the fat lady?

I then explained that we have no idea how much she ate, but just because she's "bigger" doesn't mean that she ate that much for lunch.

As we sat down, and I started removing everyone's jacket, Colin came through with the punch-line for the day.

"Mommy, how did she fit through the door to go outside?"

It was all I could do to keep a straight face and try to remain stern in my reply. Inside, I was HOWLING!!

Looks like life is about to get a LOT more interesting.

The Christmas of snot and rain

Well, it was a major holiday, and you guessed it. Landon is sick.

Not just a cold sick, but 102 degree fever, I'm crabby as hell, sick.

I have been to three Doctors with him in the last three days (the first of which, I had to threaten his nurse within an inch of her life to get him to see us) and we still can't quite figure out what's going on with him. Strep tests are coming back negative, and his ears/tubes look great, so who the heck knows.

His nose is running like a faucet, he's feverish and clingy, and if you look at him the wrong way, he loses it and throws himself onto the floor crying. It could be the fact that he has 4 molars and one bottom latteral tooth all coming in at the same time, but you know those Doctors all "pooh pooh" the idea that teething causes congestion, fever, and diarrhea (my ass! Well, not mine, Landon's.)

Nothing like getting it all out of the way at once right??

Christmas day was cold and WET. Oh, and I had not been to the grocery store, so the tuna casserole that we had for dinner was just lovely (ick!). Actually, it was pretty tasty, but definitely not my grandmother's famous apple sausage stuffing. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who ate it. Why did I bother even cooking???

The boys loved their gifts. We were up until 12:30am putting everything together, then of course Landon was up around 2:00am, and again at 6:00am for the day. Oh, Momma was not in a jolly mood, let me tell ya!

His favorite is the ball popper. He sits at it and tries to keep the balls from popping out of the top, all the while screaming, "BAAWWWWL, BAWWWWL" By the way, I don't think he would be doing that if it weren't for the tubes in his ears. He's already speaking clearer, and repeating more sounds. Who knows if it's just his stage of development, or the tubes really, but I say the latter. I actually don't care, I'm just glad to HEAR it!

Colin's favorite toy was by far his garage, and shake & go speedway. The garage...well, let's just say that it's pretty much a piece of crap. Kelly broke it in about 5 places just trying to assemble it! It's one of the "Toys R Us" brands, and it had awful instructions and is made from thin, brittle plastic. I guess I shouldn't expect much more for $14.99 huh? Thank God for super glue, or Christmas would have been a bust for poor Colin. I foresee the trash for that in about 4 months. Hey, it's what the kid picked out from the TRU big toy book, so we got it. I wanted Santa to show up with at least one toy he requested.

The speedway is another story. That thing ROCKS! It's sturdy, and easy to assemble (hello, if you can count, you can put the thing together), and even LANDON can race cars on it. Plus, you can even buy Lightning McQueen and The King to race on it. A big plus for my Cars fanatic Colin.


we are now in "pack the house up at fast as you freakin' can" mode so that we can be ready for the movers to come Friday morning. The more we pack ourselves, the faster the move will go. Kelly's done an amazing job with it so far. Thank God I have a disciplined Husband. I've packed up a few things, but not nearly the amount he has so far. I guess the fact that I have a little munchkin following me around emptying my boxes and tossing their contents around the house, may play a little role in it. It could also explain the state of disaster that our house is currently in as well. Hey...it's a good excuse anyway, right?

So, I'm off. I will try to update about the move as soon as we get the computer set up. It will probably be one of the FIRST things we do knowing my Hubby. I'm really hoping that things will go as smoothly as possible. (HA!! I* know* my luck, don't think I'm kidding myself!)

Happy New Year to everyone if I'm gone until then.

I'm so ready to be in my new HOUSE!!! Whoo HOO!

Welcome to the world Calhoun Thomas!!!!

Congratulations to my brother Adam, his wife Laura, and big sister Kate on the birth of their baby boy, Calhoun, early this morning.

What a wonderful Christmas gift!!!

Weclome to the world! We can't wait to meet you!!

My baby is just fine...BETTER than fine!

Sorry for the delay in the update. It's been an awfully long day considering that we woke up at 5:00am.

Landon did surprisingly well. He wasn't upset at all that we woke him up and tossed him in the car in his pajamas. In fact, I think he was a bit intrigued at the change in routine. Colin was AMAZING. I explained to him that we couldn't eat or drink anything around Landon since he couldn't, and he didn't complain ONE bit about it. He also was so supportive. When they took Landon from me, crying, and we turned to walk back to the waiting room, he held my hand the entire way. I think he just *knew* that I needed some support at that moment. I'm so proud of my little guy.

The surgery was short, only about 30 minutes, but the waiting before hand was about THREE hours and 45 minutes. UGH. Even so, Landon was a trooper.

He was very groggy when in recovery, and slept the entire way home. Once we got here, he ate 4 pancakes, and some pretzels. That is in addition to the banana and pretzels he had in recovery. He also drank two FULL sippy cups of juice. Poor little fella was starving and thirsting to death. He held every bit of it down (thank God!).

He napped for about 2 and a 1/2 hours and by 4:00pm, he was running around, dancing, and playing with his brother. It's as if nothing at all happened.

Thank God!

I'm just so glad that this is over.

Thanks again for the positive thoughts and prayers!!

Now on to packing and buying a house.

Surgery in the morning....

Well, I just wanted to thank all of you who have offered your thoughts and prayers regarding Landon's surgery in the morning. I've added many to them myself!

We will be at the hospital at 7:30 am, and I know that Landon is going to be one pissed off little guy since he won't be allowed to have anything to eat. Hopefully the "cocktail" that they plan to give him will calm him down.

I wonder if I can sneak a sip myself??

I'm going to be a big ball of nervous energy.

I'll update tomorrow afternoon and let you know how my little stinker-bug is doing.

Thanks again.

Wordless Wednesday

Miracles DO happen!

We actually closed on the home equity loan today. I'm in SHOCK!

I'll still never use Bank of Ameri** for any future financing needs unless I have absolutely NO other choice.

We're on our way folks!!! The countdown has begun!

Now...when will the packing???

Need the blogosphere's help

Well, if you've been reading, you know that we are moving in to our new home in 9 short days (EEEK!).

One of the MANY conversations that hubby and I are currently involved in regarding said move, is about the phone service for the new house.

Kel believes that we should NOT get a land line phone and that we could save money (exactly $26, and this includes tolls and taxes) each month, by using only our cell phones.

I am really uncomfortable with that idea. I feel that a land line is necessary, for emergency purposes. I am home with the kids by myself 95% of the time, and need to know that if I am incapacitated and can't speak or get to the phone, that my soon to be 4 year old can possibly do that for me. If I am hurt and can't speak, I know that I can dial 911, and they will send someone directly to our home to at least check things out. That is not possible with a cell phone. I know that the technology for cell phones is getting better, but I still don't quite trust them in a situation such as this.

I also don't feel that the $26 a month we would pay, would even cover the amount we would have to spend to increase our minutes to cover the local calls that we make on our current home phone.

What do you all think?

Even if you're a lurker, please feel free to comment. I'm really interested in your take on the idea.

MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!

Nice tonsils on my oldest huh?

I can now relate to my friends Gina and Andria. Getting a Christmas card picture is SO not as easy as I thought.

Here is one of our many rejects.

Landon looks as if he's scared Colin is going to swallow him whole.

-----------

I am officially a single parent for the next 4 nights and 3 days.

Kelly left for San Fransisco at 5:30 tonight and it couldn't be a worse time for him to go. We're still dealing with a whole bunch of loan crap (stupid Bank of Ameri**!) I will never use them again for any kind of financing. They actually SNAIL MAILED us a letter to request that we call them about our loan. It only took about 10 days to arrive. Think they're trying to expedite things the way we asked them to? Ummmm...that would be a big fat no! Not to mention, Kelly has called them pretty much every day since we started the process. We're probably going to have to use some 401K money to pay our down payment instead of our original plan. There doesn't seem to be any way possible that we'll be able to close on the home equity loan on Tuesday. If it DOES happen, it will be a miracle and I'm definitely not holding my breath.

----------------------------

We got the call from the scheduler at the ENT office and Landon has to be at the hospital at 7:30 am on Friday for his surgery. Our pediatrician had really good things to say about the ENT that we're using, so that was a little reassuring.

OH!! We went in for his 15 month check up and he's looking good. He's now in the 10th percentile for weight (WHOO HOO!! moving up baby!) A whole 21 pounds! He is in the 30th percentile for height, and the boy's head is still off the charts! Big brains mean big smarts people! This kid is destined for great things!

A Night Out

I am currently drunk from the two..yes, I said TWO margaritas that I consumed at a Christmas party tonight. I am a light-weight. There is NO shame in that!

We were called home early by the babysitter because Landon had shots today at his 15 month check up and is not handling them well. He's been running a low grade fever since about 5pm.

We have family coming tomorrow to celebrate Christmas, and we actually don't even have a present for some of them. We were going to make a (drunk) trip to Wally World to see if we could find something for them. Unfortunately, the call from the babysitter put a halt to that.

I had an amazingly fun night out actually talking with and BEING around other adults. Let's hope I don't wake up with a hang over so that tomorrow is ruined.

Who cares anyway....How many parties do I get to go to in one year that don't involve cupcakes, a bounce house and twenty screaming 3 year olds???

Not many.

Mothers and Fathers of Boys....

What do you say when your almost four year old looks down in the bathtub and says, "Mommy, something is wrong with my p3nis...it's really long!" (I'm not ashamed of the word, I'm just not interested in having wackos googling my site for ALL the wrong reasons.)

To top it off he says, "I think I like it that way!!"

This is where I think it would have been easier to have girls.

Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joe!

Any Adam Sandler fans out there?

This isn't what I initally was going to post. I was actually searching for something "holidayish" to help me get into the spirit of things, but in my searching, I came across this HILARIOUS Adam Sandler song.

Anyone remember "Lunch Lady Land??" If not, here's the video to jog your memory.

I needed a laugh today to take my mind off of everything we have going on, hopefully you'll get a chuckle too.

Enjoy!

The joys of parenting

I think one of the most wonderful things about being a Mommy is seeing the world through my children's eyes.

Colin has the most amazing view of the world.

I'll never forget a comment he made when we were at the beach in September. We were playing on the beach, and he looked up and pointed at the clouds. You know the lines that airplane exhaust leave in the sky? Well, he saw a few of those, and said, "Mommy, what is that?". I said, "An airplane made that honey" and his comment was, "Oh, the airplane scraped the sky!".

Since we're in the Holiday season, there are TONS of inflatable Santas, Frostys and every other known Christmas icon known to man, all over the city. There is a roller skating rink that we pass by daily, and it is adorned with a puffy Santa and Frosty. They are both haphazardly tied to the roof, and it never fails that one or both are lying flat or deflated. For some reason, Colin always checks their status as we drive by.

On this day, Frosty was was lying empty on the roof, and Colin asked me, "Mommy where did the air go that was inside Frosty". I said, "Well, it's out with the rest of the air". His comment was, " Oh, it went to go dance in the sky".

Funny how kids can put such an insteresting, and sometimes beautiful spin on the world.

The Verdict

Landon is having tubes put in his ears on the 22nd of December.

My BABY is having surgery. On the 22nd of December.

I'm struggling with this in a big way.

I know that he needs this. He has had 5 ear infection in the last 8 months.

I know that if we don't get this done, that it could affect his speech development in a dramatic way, if it hasn't already.

My head knows this, and has weighed all of the pros and cons, and my HEAD feels that we are making the right decision. My head knows that this is a very routine procedure, and that a very capable and experienced pediatric ENT is going to be performing the surgery.

My heart doesn't like the idea of passing my baby boy over to people who are going to make him go to sleep, and cut on him.

My heart is scared about all of the "what if's".

My heart can't handle the thought of losing my baby boy, no matter how small that possibility is.

Home Sweet Home

Just thought I'd share a picture of what we will soon be calling home.

We were so lucky to find it and I am so, SO, ready to move.

What a cool way to start off the new year!

Heading to the ENT tomorrow and House update

I finally got a referral from the Pediatrician to take Landon to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Doc. I guess the 5 ear infections that he's had in the last 8 months finally proved that it was warranted.

I don't know what to expect, but I'm glad that we're hopefully heading down a road that will give him some relief. The poor kid is such a trooper when he's sick. He never runs a fever and barely complains. The only two signs I have that he's sick are that he gets a runny nose, and he stops eating. Thank goodness for that though, because otherwise, I wouldn't have a clue.

I'm really concerned that all of these problems may interfere with his speech development since the ear infections are affecting his hearing. We have a neighbor who's little guy sounds almost like he's deaf when he speaks. It's so hard to understand him because he barely uses any consonants. He's a smart kid, but was plagued with numerous ear infections until he got tubes when he was two years old. His speech is progressively getting better, but I just don't want to do that to Landon. Colin was speaking VERY well by the time he was two. One of his favorite word was "volkswagon". He freaked out his Doctor at his two year check up by showing him his favorite yellow car which was a volkswagon and telling him all about it.

So, anyway. I'm guessing that they will probably recommend tubes. I know that in the long run, it will be what's best, but it scares the HELL out of me that they will have to put my baby under general anesthesia.

I'll update with the verdict tomorrow. We have a 1:45 appointment.

Everything with the house it going GREAT! We're waiting on the final "stuff" for the Home equity loan, but the loan for the new house is in place, we just have to send the signed paperwork back tomorrow. Kelly is heading to San Fransisco on Sunday for CPE training, so we're going to have to get Power of Attorny set up so I can sign for him at the Home Equity loan closing Tuesday of next week.

I never realized that you had to have a closing for a home equity loan. I guess it makes sense though. since it's technically a second mortgage. Live and learn right?

Fun, fun. Like I know ANYTHING about all of that. My CPA Husband is the finance guy in this family (duh!). I'm glad to do it, I just hope we don't run in to any problems. We'll just have to "conference" Kelly in during the closing if we can.

So, that's my exciting life now! I just can't wait to get in to our new home!!

17 days and counting! Woo HOO!

Legos, a work of the devil

Can I just tell you how much I hate those stupid things.

Every time I turn around I'm stepping on one, and getting Colin to clean them up is like pulling teeth.

They end up getting scattered all over the place. I bet we'll be finding them LOOONG after we get all of the furniture moved to the new house.

The DEVIL I tell you!!

29 DEGREES?

Okay. This is not right.

I live in South Carolina people! 29 degrees at 10:00 am is not SOUTH Carolina weather.

I think we actually broke a 90 something year old record low last night. It was 15 degrees outside!

Yep, I'm a wimp.

I'll scream it from the mountain tops.

"This is TOO FREAKIN' COLD!!!"

Random bits of nothing

I got nothing people.

I hate this. I have tried writing several posts, and my brain is just absolutely F-R-I-E-D!

I guess I'll just toss out an update. It's better than no post at all (maybe, maybe not. You guys be the judge). It may not be all that exciting, but it's currently all consuming to us and pretty damn cool when I allow myself to actually "go there".

The mortgage loan is set for us to buy the house (WHOO-HOO!). We're waiting on the final "stuff" for the home equity line of credit on our current home, which will allow us to actually PAY the down payment on our new one. The idea is that we will put our home up for sale, and as soon as we close on it, we will immediately pay that loan back. Hopefully we will be able to set up our closing for that on Monday or Tuesday of next week and I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. We're just running in to scheduling nightmares because of our closing set for the 28th of December (on the new house) and vacations and holidays on top of the short time frame that we're working in. I'm having to stay on my toes and light fires under lots of peoples' asses to ensure that no one drops the ball anywhere.

That's the one thing that I'm waiting on. I just can't allow myself to *really* feel excited about this move, until we have that money in hand (or at least in our account). Every day a little more excitement creeps in though. This house ROCKS you guys! We had the inspection today and the guy told us that if every house he looked at was in as good a shape as this one, he would be "out of a job". It certainly made us feel good about buying it. The worst thing he saw was that the master closet door would close, but not "latch". Ummmm, I think I can deal with that.

On a side note, Landon started going to "pre-school" today. I guess for a 15 month old, it's not technically school. We'll just call it "play school"...yeah, that sounds good.

He was fine when I first left the room, so I was flying high thinking it would be a breeze. He is such a social little fella, that I don't even think he realized I was gone initially. I ran to the car to grab something for Colin, and when I came back in, I peeked into his room (without letting him see me). Um, NOT a good idea. He was screaming his head off. My brain of course tripped in to "mommy guilt" mode and I was feeling like the shittiest Mom on the planet. The teacher came out and told me that they had tried, but he wouldn't let anyone pick him up, which honestly seemed kind of strange to me. My friend Allison who works in the adjoining room couldn't stand it after a minute or two and went in the check on him. He stopped crying within minutes. Hmmmm. I guess I'll have to watch and see how I feel about his teachers. I'm sure that they're busy with other toddlers running around, but even if the kid won't let you pick him up, you can do SOMEthing to distract him. Am I right?

We pulled out the Christmas tree tonight. Talk about something that is frustrating. I'm in packing/de-cluttering mode for our (hopefully) upcoming move, and I'm pulling shit out of the attic and setting it up inside? I have to though. Colin is so excited about decorating for Christmas. I'm just dreading the thought of having to pack it all up again the day after Christmas so we can move a few days after that.

Oh well...it's for my boys, so I'll bite the bullet and do it.

So, that's my life in a nutshell. Lots going on that I'm trying to stay conservatively excited about.

Oh, and by the way. My dear Hubby is in CRAZY, PSYCHO pack up mode. He came home the night we signed the contract and packed up about 5 boxes of stuff and put them in the garage. Every night since then he's asked me, "What can I pack?"

If you don't hear from me for a while, it means that he's boxed either me, or the computer up.

Can you tell he's excited too?

Amazing Neighbors

About five of my neighbors just came to my "rescue". I knew that I loved the people that we live around, but this just reminds me of how sad I am going to be to leave them. I hope we don't have jerky neighbors in the new house.

When my car wouldn't start, I decided to let it roll down our driveway to see if the angle I was parked at made any difference (yeah, I know...stupid, but I never claimed to be a mechanic).

The power steering wasn't working, so there was no way I could turn hard enough to get the car on the side of the road, so I just left it at the bottom of the driveway. My neighbor, Julie, noticed how strangely my car was parked, and stopped to check on the situation. She went home and got her jumper cables, and then the guy, Chris, who lives across the street, came over to supervise as we tried to jumpstart my car. (I know some women are great with cars, but we are not. Much better safe than sorry!).

Before they even got out of the car, another guy from across the street had already pulled up next to my car with his jumper cables. Then the girl from 3 doors down pulled up to see if I needed anything.

Luckily, it started. (WHEW!!!)

It's now been running for about 30 minutes. I'm trying to let the battery charge up so we can run up to Auto Zone and get a new one.

$60 is a heck of a lot better than the $600 I was imagining this morning. Thank you Lord!

My *&%# car isn't starting

I wonder how much this is going to cost?

Under Contract!

We're done!

After a day of negotiating, we've decided on all of the terms and we have our new house under contract. It's contingent upon financing of course, so we're waiting to hear back on our loan. We don't expect any problems though (crossing fingers!) We were pre-approved, so hopefully this is just a formality.

Kelly feels great about the terms, which in turn makes me feel great. We even got a 3 month old solid cherry pool table, plus all of the accessories thrown in, plus a brand new dining room set and chairs. All because the current owners didn't want to move them. Not too shabby!

The one surprise, and our best negotiating point by far, was that they really wanted to close *SOON*, so we're closing on December 31st. We will be the owners of TWO homes on December 31st (well, the 29th since the 31st is a Sunday).....holy crap.

That's 3 1/2 weeks away.

Now the true fun begins.

Thanks for all of your comments! I was busy today, so it kept my mind off of the negotiating. THAT was a good thing!

Tick.....Tock......Tick....

We put the offer in last night around 7:00pm. On the paperwork we requested an answer by 12:00 noon today.

We still haven't heard anything.

Good news or bad news???

Making an offer

Wow!

Kelly and I actually agree on a house. We're putting an offer in tonight.

Wish us luck.

Now to selling the one that we're in.

Anyone looking for a 3 bedroom 2 bath home in the Southeast???

Baby Jesus was hit by a garbage truck

While I was shopping on line for the boys' Christmas, I found something that I just HAD to have.

This is the Little People Deluxe Christmas Story set. I thought it would be a great way to teach the boys about the true meaning of Christmas, PLUS we'd have a Nativity set that I wouldn't worry about them playing with and possibly breaking.

In the last few days, we've had several visits from our local UPS guy (I think Colin might end up calling him Santa if I'm not careful), and today we received it.

After I snuck the boxes off of the front porch and hid the rest of the gifts in the garage, I brought it inside and opened it up. Hubby wasn't too thrilled about that, but I really want to be able to enjoy it this Christmas instead of playing with it for a day or so (the boys that is) and then packing it away. Colin was THRILLED with it!

He knows the story, so I told him who each "Little Person" was as I unwound, and unwound, and unwound those ridiculous wires that attach them to the packaging they come in. His favorite is the horse with the buggy. Of course. My oldest loves and worships anything with wheels. Makes me fear what we're in for when he turns sixteen!

After I freed all of the animals and characters from their wire prisons, I set to making dinner. We ate and I cleaned up a bit and then I sat down with Landon and Colin to play with "our" new toy.

Here is the discussion that followed.

Me: " Colin where is baby Jesus?" (I noticed that he was across the room, on the floor, and behind a chair."

Colin: "He's in the hospital, he'll be there for two or three days."

Me: "Oh, okay. What happened that he has to be in the hospital?"

Colin: "A garbage truck hit him."

Hmmmm, garbage pick up and public healthcare in Bethlehem during Biblical times.

Who knew?

(I love it!)

The Yellow Wiggle is Leaving?? (Take 2)

I would be remiss not to follow this story to the end, especially considering my very first troll was on account of my "Wiggles conspiracy theory".

Thanks to Catherine for the link to this article.

It actually looks like Greg might be leaving the Wiggles! How sad. Colin has loved them since he was teeny tiny, so I really hate to see this happen. Even though some of the music can be highly annoying and that laugh of Dorothy's can drive you up a wall...my kids love it all.

Thanks Greg, for all that you've done to make children all over the world smile, laugh, and dance!! I pray that your Doctors are able to diagnose whatever is happening with you, and restore you to full health and vigor as quickly as possible!!

You will be missed!

SANTA!!!!!

Here is our 2006 visit to Santa.

It's amazing how kids change their idea of him over the years. For Colin, we went from indifference, to being terrified of him, to this year. When he saw him, he RAN into his arms and gave him one of his very best hugs that are normally reserved for Grammy and Daddy. The Santa was really, REALLY, nice about it, and took a great deal of time with him. We were lucky that there was no one behind us in line, I'm sure that helped.

I can't get over how little Landon looks in the picture. He seems so "babyish" in it, but so grown up in person (well, as grown up as a 15 month old can be anyway). He was pretty indifferent to Santa himself...more fascinated with the Christmas tree and decorations around him. I guess next year he'll move to the terrified stage.

Colin looks like he's going to bust with that huge GRIN on his face.

Too funny!

I can't believe I forgot!!!

WOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!

The Gamecocks FINALLY beat Clemson!

(Okay, got that out of my system.)

I went to USC for 2 years (okay, let's be honest. I partied at USC for 2 years before I got serious and transferred to an all women's college and finally focused on the REAL reason I was paying that heinous amount of tuition) and Kelly has both his undergrad and graduate degree from USC. I don't think we ever really went to a USC vs. Clemson game that we *really* thought we would win...but we finally DID!

THAT, was a great come back!

Today was a great day

Even though all of the men in my house are sick...I actually had a pretty good day, which is nice to say, because I haven't been able to in a while.

I'm over my sickness (HAAAALELUJAAH!).

I was pretty "green" until last night when my appetite kicked in finally. Colin, unfortunately, barfed all night Friday night. I don't think that he has the same thing I did though, because he's been running a fever. The vomiting stopped early Saturday morning, but the fever has continued until today. We're heading to the Doc tomorrow, just to make sure it's not bronchitis again. I think Landon also has an ear infection because he's stopped eating, and we know that he cannot do that! Kelly also has a sinus infection and is on 4000 mg's of Augmentin a day! If that doesn't kill it, I don't know what will. His Doc must have decided to pull out the big guns this time around.

Oh, the joys of winter!! It would at least be worth it if we had snow! Not a chance of that any time soon though.

So, we'll shift gears again, and get back to my great day.

It started with my Hubby staying home with the sicklings and me heading to church all. by. my. self. I have to be honest, it was a little awkward. I'm not used to carrying a small purse and not having to tote a 20 pound toddler everywhere I go. It was nice though. It felt like the message was written just for me too. Funny how God works that way.

I was going to head to lunch with some friends (upon Kelly's insistence before I left for church), but decided to call home and check on the boys before fully committing. When I heard both kids crying....ahem...SCREAMING in unison in the background, I decided I should cut him a break and head on home to relieve him. We went to Panera for a late lunch, and believe it or not, every sick "kid" (including the 32 year old) ate a decent amount of food. It's amazing what getting out of the house will do for you.

We came home and I got everyone situated for naps (including the "oldest"), and while they slept, I went shopping.

HUH???

That's unheard of!

TWO trips away from the house. ALONE....in one day!???

Hell must have frozen over! Hehe, just kidding, but I have to admit it was nice!

Of course, I didn't go shopping for me. Are you kidding? I headed to a used book store to try and use up the $175.00 worth of credits I got from emptying out our guest room dressers when we de-cluttered (yes, I did used to have time to read, and enjoyed it. I didn't realize how much though). I found a few for the boys and then headed to the grocery store to buy the necessities for "Mommy's magic soup", and then came on home.

Luckily, I had *just* missed Landon waking up from his nap with his first poop in 2 days (HUUUUUGE!), so I got to love all over him after Daddy took care of the mess. (Insert big evil grin here.)

Not only did I make chicken corn chowder tonight, folks, I even made chicken noodle soup...from SCRATCH! My boys are going to be better in no time if I have anything to do with it.

Two things to note:

1. I think the zoloft is working

2. Do you think this has anything to do with the fact that I had about 3 Doctor Peppers today? Gotta LOOOOVE that caffeine!!

(Anyone have any suggestions on how to get to sleep now?)

Recovering from Thanksgiving...literally!

I would have to say that this year's Turkey day will have to go down as the worst ever in my life.

Oh, there was a beautiful turkey, with dressing, and mashed potatoes with gravy, and all of the wonderful side items that go along with it, but I didn't get to enjoy one bit of it.

You see, I awoke at 3:00 am on Thanksgiving morning, not to put the turkey in the oven, but to puke my guts out, over and over and over again.

Yep, I was throwing up from 3:00 am until about 12:30 pm, and nauseous until I went to bed around 6:00. Ick.

This happens to me every now and then because of my allergies, and luckily, this year, my lovely body decided to hit me with it on Thanksgiving. Usually I recover once I'm up and moving around the next day, but for some reason, it didn't happen that way this time.

Thank the LORD for my husband and my Mother! My Mom did every bit of the cooking, and my Hubby cleaned the entire house and managed the boys. I was sure that I would be okay for dinner in the afternoon, so we didn't cancel the invites to my Husband's friend and his family. Luckily, they understood when I couldn't eat with them and had to go lie down. I was able to vist for a little while, but I know I looked just as "green" as I felt.

I'm feeling OH so much better today, something that I am OHHH so thankful for! Sleeping from 6:00 pm until 10:00 am the next morning helped with that. I was even able to have my turkey with all of the "fixin's", so maybe we can say my Thanksgiving was just a day late....and boy was I thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to say I hope you all have a GREAT DAY!

We'll be home. I'm cooking a 20 pounder tomorrow (I guess I'd better get my butt to bed so I can get up to get it going in the morning!). We're having my Mom, her fiance', and a friend of Kelly's from work and his family (wife and 2 kids). It should be fairly laid back.

It's funny. When I think about tomorrow and having guests, I know that this will be so much less stressful, because they aren't all family.

Sad but true. I love my family, but we are much better family when there is distance between us.

Anyway...I hope you all have a wonderful day remembering all of the things that you're thankful for! I'll be spending it with those that I love more than anything in the world...my Hubby and my 2 boys.

I'm off to bed....sweet dreams everyone!

What is with these celebrity idiots?

First we have Mel Gibson spouting off at the mouth with his anti-semitism, and now Kramer is a freakin' racist??

What is wrong with these people that they think they can act and speak in a way that is degrading to ANYONE and not get some kick back?

Are they so rich and famous that they can do anything to anyone and get away with it?

Ummmm...no.

Needless to say, this guy's career is probably coming to a screeching halt.

Hopefully you're Seinfeld royalties are keeping you afloat Kramer, because I would say you're probably going to be out of the stand up business for a while.

What Have We Created???

I think we're in for it.

Driving to pre-school this morning, Colin says to me, "Mommy, we need to get new wheels for your car".

I said, "Why do we need new wheels for my car baby?"

"We just do. That car over there has new wheels."

I looked and couldn't see anything.

I then said, "New wheels for cars are usually pretty expensive, maybe you should talk to Daddy and ask him what he thinks about buying something that expensive."

Here it comes......

"I like expensive things Mommy."

Yep, we're definitely in for it.

Scared...

So...anyone wondering why I disappeared for a little bit last week? Well, part of the answer to that question is; I started taking zoloft tonight.

I'm scared shitless, a little relieved, and pretty much don't know what to expect.

I hope and pray that this is going to be a good thing for me. I've been having some issues coping with Kelly's busy work schedule, and pretty much just life in general. I found that I was basicly going from one necessary task to the next, to the next, to the next, and so on. I couldn't find any joy in my family, in my kids, or in my life any more. Even though I have two of the most beautiful children on the planet. Everything just seemed to turn in to one task after another.

I just couldn't keep living that way. So, I called the Doctor.

I'm hoping and praying that the medicine will help me to stop and take an inventory of all of the wonderful blessings that I have in my life. That it will allow me to see and DO what is really truly important, and that things will just in general...get "better".

So, that's "it" in a nutshell. I realize that medication isn't a miracle cure, but I hope that my days will seem much brighter soon.

We shall see.

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA the last week or so.

I'm back, and I have tons of half finished posts that I may or may not publish. It's been a rough week for me, which is why I didn't want to publish what I had written. Who wants to hear about all of the poop going on in my life right? lol...you guys probably!

I will update, but I just don't have time now. It's actually one of the posts in my "unfinished" archive.

Luckily, things are looking up, so I'll be back for GOOD...hopefully. You never know, I could get run over by a truck tomorrow morning..hehe!!

Question.

Have most of you already switched to Blogger Beta? Is it worth it? I've heard of many people having problems after they switched, so I've been hesitant to do so. Let me know what you think...If it's a "good thing" then I'll go ahead and do it.

Oh...the kids are good, Hubby is good. I have some great pics of Landon and his first haircut last weekend that I'll hopefully get up shortly. That kid is such a trip! NOTHING phases him!

I hope everyone is well and looking forward to some yummy turkey and dressing...MMMMM, I can't wait!!

Andria, I think I'm going to try out your baked pineapple recipe. I can't WAIT, it sounds so yummy!

Welcome to the world baby Sarah!!!!

I just wanted to congratulate my amazing friend Rebecca, her hubby David, Big sister Rachael, and Angel Sister Katherine on the birth of Sarah this morning.

From the time Rebecca's water broke and the time she was born at 10:18am, it was only ONE hour and 48 minutes! Can you say S-U-P-E-R WOMAN??

Congratulations my dear friend...this is truly an answer to many, many, prayers!

Much love from my family to yours!

Thinking of my friend Jennifer and her daughter Sydney

I just found out that Sydney, who will be 5 next week, has been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

Wow.

She's okay, and thank GOD for mother's intuition, because that is the only thing that kept something really serious from happening. Jennifer really can't place her finger on what "told" her something was wrong, but she acted on her suspicions and they were proven true.

Sydney's Dad, is diabetic as well, so they used his glucometer to test her sugar on Sunday night, and it was off the scale. Off to the hospital they went. She's now on 4 insulin shots a day, regular blood sugar tests, and of course, a modified diet.

Please just say a prayer for them if you have a moment. I can't imagine how to explain something like this to a little girl who is so...well, so little. She's a sweetheart too, Landon's little "mommy" whenever we're out playing with the neighborhood crew.

Please remember Mommys and Daddys, that little nagging voice that's there in the back of your head...it's there for a reason.

Always follow your gut when it comes to your children.

That's my PSA for the day.

Sidebar **Edited**

Okay, so does anyone have any idea why the heck all of my links are now at the BOTTOM of my blog when I haven't changed anything???

Hmmmm...I'm at a loss.

Thanks so much Mike...YOU ROCK! That's exactly what the problem was.

I'll make sure to shorten my shows of frustration from here on out.

House Hunting; NOT for the faint of heart

I think that my Husband and I may kill each other before this is over.

This truly, I mean TRU-LY sucks.

At least I have learned something through this experience (which, mind you, is totally different now that we have two children in tow). I am the optimist of this relationship, and HE is the pessimist.

Whenever we look at a house, or a neighborhood, I seem to point out all of the things that are nice about it (unless of course, it is totally WACKED, and we have seen some of that), wheras he starts off focusing on anything and EVERYTHING that may be wrong.

Now I ask you....is it ever possible to find 100% of what you want and like in a home or a neighborhood? EVEN IF you buy property, and pick out a floor plan, and build from the ground up....is it possible? I don't think so. Granted, if we had $1,000,000 to buy a home, this might not be so hard, but our budget is a great deal smaller than that.

There are non-negotiables which we both pretty much agree on, but other things that I FEEL we must be able to give and take on. He's not willing to do that at all. He wants it perfect, AND he wants it affordable. Of course, I would like that too, but I realize that it ain't gonna happen. (So wait...does that now make HIM the optimist and me the pessimist??)

I don't care...just call me CRAZY, 'cuz that's how I feel!

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

I did find the perfect house today...it's only about $200,000 outside of our budget.

Just to make sure you understand.

This sucks.

GUESS what movie we bought today?

Love it, and love the song too!

"Mommy, that boy has girl hair"

Today was a pretty good day. We had a little bit of a rough afternoon because Landon refused to nap. It only took one good upside down giggle (on his part, that is) to realize why he gave up on his precious sleep and that boy LOVES his sleep (I only wish that was the case when he was an infant).

A MOLOR is beginning to break through. Poor little kid. He has 5 teeth on top now, and still 2 little ones on the bottom. I guess there isn't a clear cut rule as to how they get them, because I've never been able to predict which ones will come next.

I opted to take the kids out for a quick and easy dinner since our afternoon routine was pretty much shot. Kelly, of course, had to work late, so it was just me and my fellas. Both of the boys LOVE waffles, so we headed to Waffle House. I guess they're all over the US, but if you're not familiar with the restaurant, it's a 24 hour, greasy food joint, but their waffles are TO DIE FOR. I was in the mood for a patty melt and my usual hashbrowns, scattered, smothered (onions), and covered(cheese) (YUUUUMMMMM!).

We sat down and ordered, and all the while, I was responding to Colin's normal smattering of questions and comments:

"Mommy, why is the waitress over there on that side of the wall?"

"Mommy, look at the light (a large round one), it looks like the MOON."

(The waitress comes by and brings our food.)

"Mommy, how do they get back behind there to make the food?"

Next comes the kicker.

Remember, this is a 24 hour joint, in the SOUTH.




"Mommy, (referring to the cook), why does that boy have girl hair?"





Thank GOD, we already had our food.




Now, if any of you have a 3 year old. You understand, that the voice of said 3 year old knows NO level of refrain, even when said 3 year old is talking about a person who is about 10 feet away from them.

Translation: EVERY. ONE. HEARD HIM.

Nice.

You just don't realize what you will have to deal with when you become a parent do you, but it sure makes life interesting.

Kyle's Story

This is heartwrenching.

Colin is currently in a booster seat.

I think that is going to change after seeing this video.

Have I ever mentioned that I *really* dislike the Fall and Winter??

It's freakin' 5:45 pm and it's pitch black outside.

YUCK.

Halloween Pics!

Well, we started out the festivities the night before Halloween, by carving our pumpkins. That was not the original plan, but when Mommy forgets, that is a HECK of a lot better than trying to carve them Halloween night.

Here's Landon trying to figure out how the HECK he's going to get that entire pumpkin in his mouth.

Don't worry, he never did.




Colin on pumpkin carving night. I know this picture is really fuzzy, but I just LOVE the look of sheer joy in his face!!

If there is anything in the world that will make you smile, it's seeing that look, or hearing the giggle that went along with it.

Love it.





Introducing, Colin the DRAGON (ROOOAARRRRR!) and his buddy, Dominic, the Ninja Turtle.

Colin was ALL in to trick or treating this year. We made it about half-way around the neighborhood before he puttered out. He drug poor Dominic with him the entire way. Sorry little buddy!







Please meet Landon the monkey.

Poor kid. I told you that he will eat anything, even a stuffed banana! Maybe he was just trying to act the part??

He did enjoy some M&M's that night. If only you knew me when...I don't think Colin had chocolate until his second birthday.

Metamorphosis

I am constantly in awe of how things change.

I look at my life now, compared to where I was 4 years ago, and I am amazed at how naive I feel I once was.

I look at my boys, and I'm shocked at how much I love them. How fiercly I would protect them from harm, from hurt, from anything that might tarnish their sweet, clear eyed view of our world.

I look at this world, and wonder if I've done the right thing bringing my boys in to it. In a way, I feel that my desire...my "need" to have children, over-rode my knowledge of the world that I destined them to be a part of. A world that will most likely let them down in some way, shape, or form.

I look at my Husband and my marriage. I remember how "easy" it once was. I remember people telling us that, "marriage is work", and thinking to myself, "nah..this is easy! We love each other and THAT is what matters".

It used to be easy.

I hate that I took those easy times for granted.

I see now, what people meant by, "marriage is work".

In the day to day grind of work, kids, bills, grocery trips, laundry, and all of the countless tasks that equal our lives....it seems like we've lost each other.

I don't mean that I love my Husband any less. Not at all. I just mean that, the ease with which we used to love each other, just isn't there any more.

We have to work to spend time together. We have to work to communicate. Hell, we even have to pay someone (a babysitter that is) so that we can have some alone time where we're not either asleep, or just dog-tired and cleaning up someone else's mess so we can then go to bed and go BACK to sleep.

I wish it could be easy again.

I miss my Husband. I miss my best friend that I married six and a half years ago.

I love my boys, and I would never change the fact that they are here, but I'm just trying to figure out how all of this works.

Is there ever enough time or energy for everyone? I want to be the best Mom I can be, but I also know that part of that includes being the best wife, partner, and LORI that I can be.

Why is it that so many Moms (and hey...probably even Dad's) sacrifice themselves for their children?

The reason that my children are here in the first place is because my Husband and I loved each other first. It kills me to think that in caring for them...in loving them....I'm losing or hurting the very reason that they exist. Something, someone, that I love very much, but I barely feel I know or can connect to anymore.

We go through our lives and take care of our priorities, but it seems WE, just aren't a priority anymore.

If anyone out there has it figured out. Please let me know.

It just seems like the cruelest of ironies.