Changes!!!!

So very much is going on in our lives right now that this computer has been the last place I've been for some time now.

I have two HUGE updates for the moment.

One: We are expecting baby #3!! This is so exciting for us. Yes...we are super excited!!!! Please, if you have rude comments & thoughts, keep them to yourselves. For those of you who think that we weren't thinking when we got pregnant, please keep your ignorance to yourself. Especially when that exact thought makes YOU the hypocrite.

Please do not come to us asking if this means that Little Man won't be getting what he needs in some way. Are you kidding me? This one might be more insulting than the above mentioned ignorance. Never in the past 3.5 years has ANYONE been able to come to us wondering if we've had any of our children's best interest in mind so why in the world would that change now?

Please do not concern yourself as to whether or not I/we have too much on our plate. We don't. There is (sometimes unfortunately) always room for more. We have been through more with our 2 children than some people have with their entire brood. We know that. But you know what else we know...we have never sat around sulking about it. There have certainly been days where some things seem overwhelming but I know that I have it easy compared to what some people have to go through with/for their children.

Now. About this pregnancy. Due Date is around Nov 9 or 10. Doc's office is telling me Nov 14, but I KNOW that's not it. And while I realize 4-5 days for most people would make zero difference, I am not most people when it comes to pregnancy.

Biggest reason I haven't been on lately is the lack of energy. I'm using all of my energy taking care of the boys and there is nothing left right now, lol. I have been SOOOOO tired. That appears to be getting a little better at least.

Blood Pressure. It's doing better this time around than it did with Peanut. Thank Goodness! I'm getting to go 3 weeks between most appts now & with Peanut I only got that luxury ONCE, lol.

Cerclage. I had a cerclage done a few weeks ago so hopefully this baby will stay put longer than my first 2. (That's where they stitch the cervix shut)

Overall this pregnancy has been going so much better than my last one & I'm incredibly thankful for that.

Boy or Girl. We don't really know yet. They tried to take a peek at my last ultrasound (I've had like 4 already) but baby wasn't cooperative. I was convinced early on that I was having a girl. The day I went in for my cerclage I switched teams and I am now convinced I'm having a boy. I have no idea why. We should be able to find out next week.

This got so long that I will post Change #2 in a separate posting.

:)

Peanut's Birthday!!!

I cannot believe he's already 1. It doesn't feel like a year yet. That might be because he's been home with us for 11 months, lol.

April 25, 2008:

April 28, 2008:

April 25, 2009 (Waiting for cake!)

The Cake!!

MORE TO COME!!!!!!

Easter Pictures!!!!!

Better late than never, right?

Oh the cuteness!!

He's so excited! Getting ready to color eggs!!! (Yes, he's still obsessed with eggs.)

Like father, like son? Yep. :) (Except that he was upset because he broke an egg.)

He didn't think it was too cool that he got the dye on his finger.

There's the broken egg!

So Sad!

Once he discovered the (paper) grass...nothing else mattered!

He liked the real grass too. :)

A Quiet Moment

It's almost bedtime here so 'a quiet moment' is not exactly what I have. It's more like what I long for. I realize I haven't been posting much lately & I'd like to say I'll see that changing soon, but I'm just not so sure of that. Things are absolutely chaotic here. I have appointments as do Little Man & Peanut. Things are going to get crazier before they calm down at the end of July. Then in mid to late Aug it's going to be sheer chaos again.

I find myself saying, "when things get back to normal" more often than I should. I think it's time to come to terms with the fact that our life is crazy & crazy busy! In light of that I've been trying to get things cleaned up & better organized around here. That's where my "spare" moments are going. We've been trying to get rid of the things we don't use & make better use of the things we do. Tuesday is going to see a ton of garbage at the street as did Friday.

This week we only have 6 or 7 appointments. (Last week it was 8 or 9). Then this Saturday (25th) is Peanut's first birthday & his party!! I'm SOOOO excited for that. Time really flies!

I'm really bummed because a very close friend had her 30th birthday party last night and we weren't able to go. Between lack of a sitter & 14 or so inches of rain, it just didn't work out. That would have been a really nice time.

Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I can finally get those Easter pics up!

FINALLY! The Bluebonnet pictures!

Okay folks, I've been extra tired lately. More on that in another post. Anyhow I have FINALLY gone through the pictures, edited most of them and here are some of the highlights. Warning, it's pic heavy!! It was SO bright outside that it was really hard to get good pictures. That & the fact that toddlers would rather play than sit for pictures anyway, lol.

She was smelling the flowers, so he had to as well. ;)

He was ready to take off. He really liked the flowers & was fascinated by everything. So no, it's not a 'good' shot but with a baby that won't sit still, I'll take what I can get.

We couldn't get Little Man to look up from his flower, but thankfully my sister did manage to click when he finally did for that nano-second. (I still need to crop this one)

Little Man really struggles to hold that wiggling baby there, lol.

I totally screwed up on sizing this picture & am too lazy right now to go back & fix it. But you can see we named her Diva for a reason, hahaha!!

Ugh, I thought I uploaded the on with that leg cropped OUT of the picture. You get the idea, lol.

First he wanted a hug and Diva didn't approve.

When she finally wanted one, he thought it was more fun to make her chase him. LOL.

And there you have it. Bluebonnets & the kiddos!

Not a Happy Camper!

Yesterday morning after looking at the preschool that Little Man is going to go to in the fall, we headed out for the nearly 4 hour trek to Garner State Park. The plan was to spend a relaxing weekend in preparation for the next 5 weekends, which will not be so relaxing because we have so many plans for them.

On the way there, it became incredibly obvious that little man was experiencing an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he was nearly done with taking. OMG...that's it's own story but here are the pictures that just don't do it any justice.

We finally make it to Garner, between phone calls with the nurse & stopping for much needed things. After the 3rd attempt to pick a site, we finally decide on one and set up camp. It really wasn't THAT busy Fri night & of course the park is massive. There is nobody in the 10+ sites near us. As I laid there pondering how in the world we were going to stay warm that night, I hear Hubby say, "Look who's moving into the neighborhood." I look and think to myself, 'OMG' but instead say, "It might not be so bad."

Unfortunately these people fit every single stereotype you could think of. It was AWFUL. And they weren't drunk yet!!! They had clearly picked those spots due to the close proximity of the restrooms since there were so many children with them. Oh yes...and several of the ladies were pregnant, lol. Once they crank up the music I hear him say, "Oh Hell No!" And the rest is history.

We also had a little issue with the tent. The canpoy that is supposed to go over it is missing and neither of us realized it. That meant that even though we'd taken a heater with us, that warm air was going to go out as fast as it was coming out of the heater.

With all of these issues going on, we decided it was time to go. We packed up and got home about 1:30 this morning.

We're headed out now to a park closer to the house. Maybe this time I'll have good and "fun" pictures to share. :)

Be glad your child has a voice!!!

The older Little Man gets, the more irritated I sometimes get when I hear people complaining about how their child is "constantly whining." Let's compare whining. Mine whines as in, "eeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh" not whining as in, "Mom, she hit me" or, "but I don't wanna eat peas!!!" in a whiny voice.

Last night at some time between 1 & 1:30 am I heard Little Man whining and thought to myself, "already? seriously?" He's usually only up for 2 reasons; he either heard the train which scares him silly or he needs to go potty. So I got up to find him making his way to our room and I picked him up. It sounded like he said, "ba-ba" which is his word for Oma. That kinda made sense because we'd seen them earlier in the day and I know he enjoys playing with Diva over there. But to be sure I asked again, "what?"

That's when I realized he said "bo-bo" which is his word for a boo boo or an owie...whatever your choice word happens to be. I asked where and it seemed like he pointed to his eye. Granted it was pitch black in our room but I didn't see anything and it didn't make sense so I told him, "say bye bye bo-bo" to which he repeated it. I asked if it was gone and he confirmed it was. Great. That meant it really wasn't anything.

As I carried him towards his room I asked him if he needed to potty to which he replied, "mo." I informed him I wasn't going to make it if I didn't make a stop so I did. Of course as soon as I set him down he begins the potty dance so I get him up there, he goes and it seems like everything is fine.

As I put him down on his bed he completely freaks out again. I was trying to lay down next to him but he wouldn't lay down. Keep in mind it's insanely dark and my eyes aren't quite adjusted yet. As he turns to face me I suddenly realize there is blood all over his mouth. I can only see the shadows of it but it's pretty obvious as to what it is. I shockingly blurted out, "Oh my God! What the Hell?!"

I took him into the bathroom and stood him on the counter so I could see his mouth and of course it was covered in blood. I whisked him into the living room for a better place to put him and some wipes to start cleaning him up. Check the nose, nope not coming from there. I couldn't figure out where the blood was coming from but it appears it's not bleeding anymore at least.

Of course I ask him all of the routine questions, "What happened? How did you get your bo-bo? Did you hit your mouth? Did you bite your mouth? Did you bite your tongue?" Pretty much everything gets a routine, "yeah" out of him at this point. Great. You've got blood all over your face, hand, clothes & bed and I can't figure out exactly where it came from. Once we got him all cleaned up I just held him. We'd made enough noise (Hubby was up by that point too) that Peanut was awake and irritated at us for waking him, lol. Hubby took care of him and he went back to sleep pretty quickly at least.

I continued to talk to him & hold him. As I was getting ready to take him back to his bed Hubby tossed me Little Man's pacifier. Ah-ha! Great idea!! If it's one of his lips or front teeth, he's not going to be willing to suck on the pacifier which would make it hurt worse. Besides, it was one of those moments where he just needed to soothe himself. He rarely gets it. Sometimes at night when he's chewing through his fingers we'll give it to him to save his fingers but he rarely gets that thing, even though he LOVES it. He went to town on that thing immediately, which we hoped meant it we'd at least ruled out a few possibilities of where the blood had come from.

He took a little longer to fall back asleep this time but he did. I just laid at the end of his bed until he finally closed his little eyes. I felt so bad for him. He was trying so hard to tell us what had happened and there was just no way for us to understand what he was saying and he answered "yeah" to pretty much everything. Unfortunately that wasn't very helpful.

Fast Forward to this morning. I asked him if he had any bo-bos and he said no. Although he later changed his mind and as complained about his mouth several times today. He clearly has a wound of some sort extending from the top lip almost up to the bottom of the nose. I have NO earthly clues as to what happened, how, where, when, etc.

We've tried coaxing him this morning, "how'd you get your bo-bo? Can you show mommy/daddy what happened?" We've tried it all but still have no answers.

I am SO frustrated that when my child has an illness or an accident or just prefers a peanut butter sandwich to a grilled cheese that he cannot tell me. Everything is 'yes/no' questions with him and it's just frustrating and heartbreaking. It's not supposed to be like this. I have plenty of other stories but it doesn't matter. The end result is the same and I'm just ready for my son to be on equal footing with every other 3 yo out there.

Next time your child is in a whiny mood try being thankful that they have a voice instead of irritated that they are using it.

$20 for ALL of this!

Walgreens

2 Comfort Premium Diapers $4.50 ea
1 Cars Coloring Book (for Little Man's Easter Basket) $1

Total: $10
Used $10 RR to pay
$0 OOP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Randall's

I know there is the great water deal going on with the Aqua Pods but we just never use bottled water. I still have bottled water here from Ike!! So I decided to pass because I'd be trading the money on my GC with no expiration for the Cats which do have an expiration. I don't go to Randall's very often so i figured it wasn't worth it for me.

4 Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce $1.25 ea
2 Crystal Light $2 ea (-$.50/2 dbl)
2 Del Monte Fruit $1.25 ea (-$1/2)
1 Hefty Plates $1.50 (-$.50/1 dbl)
1 Cheerios $2.00 (-$1/1)

Total: $15.50
(- $5 Mega Deal)
(- $4 MQ)
Grand Total (w/tax): $6.83
That was put on GC so OOP: $0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kroger

This is where things get interesting.


5 Powerade $.99
2 A&W 2 Ltrs $1.25 (-$1/2)
2 Peanut Butter Crackers $1.67 ea
2 Welch's Aqua Juice (-Free item & $1.50/1) She input the free item as $3.39 instead of the $2.99 sale price
2 Huggies Diapers $9.99 (-$3 cellfire) & (-$3/1*2)
1 Pull Ups $9.99 (-$2 shortcuts) & (-$2/1)
1 Huggies Gentle Care Sensitive 184 ct Wipe Refill $6.59 (-$5 IP)
1 Comforts Diapers $5.99 (-$3/1)
1 Frusion 4pk Smoothies $2.49 (-$1)
1 Kroger Brand Honey $1.99
1 bottle Water $.50 (not pictured)
1 Diet Coke $1.39 (not pictured)

Total: $65.69
- $5 Mega Deal
- $5 Loadables
- $22.89 Coupons
Total w Tax: $36.67


If you did the math on that, it didn't add up correctly. The huggies diapers rang up at the wrong price!! They rang up at the regular price of $10.69 instead of the sale price on the tags of $9.99. Once I realized it I went to the service desk and was reimbursed for BOTH packages of diapers with the scan right guarantee. I assume it's because since they were two different sizes it makes them two different products? She deducted $6 worth of coupons that I used which I didn't necessarily agree with because the store will still get reimbursed for them BUT...with this lady, I wasn't arguing. I've had to deal with her in the past and she's just not worth my time. I was reimbursed a total of $16.65 which reduced my OOP to $20.02 for all that stuff up there!! YAY for free diapers, luck was on my side this time!


And yes I realize the wipes are only $5.99 at Target but since I bought a few I've yet to see them restocked & I didn't want to bother. It was only $.60 more and at least it's an extra $5 towards fuel rewards.


I don't know how long the wipes will be around but Peanut's OT is coming next Fri and she is going to be taking some of those wipes with her I hope, lol. She has a 2 year old and triplets that are about 6 months old.

Total Spent today: $20.02
Total Saved: $97.89
Don't forget I include the difference of a sale vs reg price in my savings at all 3 of these stores since it's included in the receipt savings tally.

Bluebonnet pictures!

Coming Soon!!

Yesterday we were able to take the kiddos up to Brenham and play in the bluebonnets. It was SO BRIGHT that many of the pictures just didn't come out so well. Once I'm done editing them (cropping and trying to adjust the lighting some) I'll post them.

Peanut thought they were great though! He really enjoyed getting to crawl through them, lol. Man he's quick!

We are going to be out of town this weekend so at least by Mon or Tues I'll finally be able to get caught up with some very important business around here.

Happy Anniversary!!

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth but Peanut was sick (double ear infection along with some nasty sinus stuff) and I had a horrible sinus infection so I just haven't been over here at the computer much.

Today is our 9 year anniversary though. All the people that thought we were nuts when we eloped 9 years ago and lookie now, lol. Seriously though I can't believe it's been 9 years. It's hard to remember what life before marriage even was at this point, lol.

I am so lucky & blessed.