bye bye

for now! We've moved, and the internet connection has not yet moved with me. I'll be back when I can.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Good Morning?

It's not even 5 AM yet and sadly, I've been awake for over an hour. None of this is my doing however!
D decided that he couldn't sleep, so he got up to take a shower. O decided (he was in our bed) that because Daddy was taking a shower, it must be morning. A bottle and a crib could not convince him otherwise.
D went to work at 4:30AM. That's right. Am I the only one who thinks that is weird?

SO, I COULD sleep, but I cannot because D couldn't sleep and now in turn O cannot sleep. I suggested, rather crabbily, that D and O could go NOT SLEEP together while leaving me in peace. D just had too much to do at work. WTH?

I don't know. I'm frustrated and tired and should be sleeping and not blogging!
By the time O is tired again and I get him to sleep, d will probably be up for the day.
Lucky me.

Men who are children

This morning, at 7 AM, D told me that his work gift exchange and holiday lunch were today.
First, I buy all the gifts in this house and I had bought no gift for a work party, nor had I ever heard of it. Second, D organized this lunch and gift exchange and, again, I had never heard a word of it. I find it so sad that we talk so little. Life has been hectic lately, but still!

I felt a little like a mother with a 1st grader who says, "By the way Mom, I need 3 dozen cookies for school today." 15 minutes before the bus comes. (Which is no doubt in my future.)

D and I are not really buying much for each other this year but I had bought him a little $20 gift and some stocking stuffers. That little $20 gift was wrapped and sent to work with him this morning so I hope he enjoys it.

holiday happenings

Still busy. Still here. I'm as tired of blogging about the house as you guys are of reading about it most likely. Closing is set for Friday, let's leave it at that.

d and I made a gingerbread house and it turned out really cute! True, it was from a kit so it was less work, but that's why I did it in the first place. The thought of doing it from scratch is enough to ruin the Christmas spirit all together!



I'm adding these pictures because this is one of my favorite outfits on O. I typically am not a flannel fan, but for some reason I love this shirt. I only use it around Christmas though. Note the cute shoes too.
O is starting to stand alone for 10 seconds at a time and I know what comes next. Steps! Eeek!

I'm too busy to be blogging

Why is it that when I have a million things to do I decide to sit down and do nothing?
The next couple of weeks are going to be very busy. To top it off I've had the sore throat from hell since Tuesday and I don't know when it's going to get better. I practically begged D to stay home from work today but apparently I'm not sick enough he had a meeting. *sigh*

Let's see, tomorrow I have to take dinner to a fellow mommy who just had a new baby. Tomorrow night is a Christmas party that I'm praying I feel well enough to go to because I. want. to. go. dammit.
Monday is the walkthrough and, hopefully, the electricity will be on. I should find out today and then I need to call an inspector to well, inspect it. We also need to sign a contract with a property management company so they can get this house rented out because it's crystal clear that we're not going to sell it anytime soon.
D is reluctant on this point, but because the bulk of the work would fall to me, I insist that they are worth the 10% they take every month.
My parents are supposed to come down Thursday, but now they said that their news reported 10-20 inches of snow in the next couple of days! eeps! Hopefully they can still make it, because the closing is on Friday and I was really counting on them being here to watch the boys. (8mo old + 2.5 yo + attorney's office = disaster)
Also, I want to see them for the holidays.
We need to change the insurance policy on our current house, and get a new policy for our new house. We're supposed to close in exactly ONE WEEK and I still need to pack a lot.
I also need to find out about getting cable, TiVo (because I don't want to live one day without it!) and phone stuff turned on.
O's been sleeping like crap and d's been bored out his mind since we haven't left the house this week with this sickness surrounding us.
I am fearful that I'll never get over this thing I have if I don't get some sleep soon. The lack of sleep + stress + being pregnant is starting to take a toll on me I'm afraid.

In good news, both kids seem over their sickness and last night we made Christmas cookies. They turned out so soft and yummy! D even said they tasted like his Grandma's which is a huge compliment.
Sadly, at first he was surprised they were so good and said he must have gotten too used to his mom's cookies. Which aren't. Good that is.
Of course, sugar is not something you should eat when sick so I only tried one a few. *ahem*

Lastly, through all this stress there is a lot of excitement. We're moving in ONE WEEK! Into our beautiful, new, 3x a many kitchen cabinets house! We've waited over 6 mo for this! I'm trying to keep that in mind when I just want to cry from sheer exhaustion and a growing to do list.

brag!

If you don't want bragging, don't watch this video. :)



Like his E? hehe

bummer

Sick kidlets. BOTH boys have a double ear infection! Yikes!!
Also, thank goodness for insurance. Even with our awesome coverage, the meds were over $50.
My throat is hurting now, so I'm afraid I'm next...

Praise Day

I was feeling pretty down the other day when I posted, but now I have good news!
FEMA approved our house and we no longer have to buy flood insurance! Woo! Also, the cabinets came in!
The closing is the 21st!!

The baby is healthy, I gained 3 lbs (not so good news!) and my anatomy ultrasound is Jan. 7th. With any luck, baby will show us the goods. We'll be happy either way, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope a little that it's a girl.

I'm 16 weeks 3 days according to my Dr. (I thought I was 2 days less, but I'll take it!) I have finally started to feel good more nights than I feel bad. Soon I'll probably feel good all the time. ha!

So, lots of good stuff! Also, d is still sick and so is O, but he seems like he's almost better. d is going to the Dr today because he said his ear hurt. Neither of my kids has ever had an ear infection or taken any prescription medicine for anything for that matter. d is 2 years 8 mo old so I guess if I got him this far without any drugs that's pretty good. All of us are usually healthy, so I think genetics plays a part in this too.
Hopefully we'll get good news at the Dr, and if not, we'll get good drugs to help the kidlets feel better again!

a list

how creative! Another list. I know...

1 - we had another (and our last) open house (i.e. last ditch effort) today. Nobody came, but the house looks great. (For what I don't know.) Also, our realtor was supposed to be there at 1:45 and we were still waiting at 2:10. Then, she sent her husband instead. I was a little annoyed that she didn't tell me and that he was late and that he's not even a realtor. She's a friend, so it's kind of weird. We'll probably go ahead and find a renter now. Then, perhaps we'll put the house back on the market - with a different realtor - after we give renting a go for 6 mo or so.

2 - I have a major headache anytime I wear my contacts and a major backache all the time. *sigh* O weighs nearly 22 lbs and it's not like I can just NOT carry a not-even-8-month-old baby around. I mean, it's not like he can walk. Or climb into his crib alone.
*edit* We just weighed him and he's just over 23 lbs. eeps!

3 - We went and looked at the new house today. Everything is finished, except the backordered kitchen island, and bathroom cabinets. (and sinks that go on the cabinets.) They think it's most likely that we'll close on the 26th. Whatever. I don't really care anymore. It's either the 21st or the 26th so what difference does 5 days make?

4 - I started going to Curves with a friend. It's a free promotional month or something. I like it, but sometimes I think I might be freaking crazy. I mean, I'm pregnant and chasing around a 2.5 year old and an 8 mo old all day. Getting ready to move, showing the house when the occassion arises and doing all the normal everyday stuff. Do I really need one more energy sucking activity? But, it's probably good for me and all that crap.

5 - I have a DR's appt tomorrow and will probably schedule my u/s for sometime in January. I also have to talk to her about Curves and make sure it's OK. I only half (or maybe 75%) hope she says not to go anymore. *ahem*

6 - d and O both seem to have turned their cold, which I thought was gone, into some sort of green snotty affliction. Matted eyelashes, watery eyes, green nose. Blech.
Depending on how they look in the morning, maybe they'll both be making a trip to the Dr too. It does not escape my attention that O got sick exactly 3 days after he weaned and has been battling it ever since. *sigh* Then d got it from him.
I know, it could be a coincidence and for gawd's sake - it's winter! But still.

7 - The more I think about leaving D with the kids for a whole day, or a weekend, the more I really want to do it. The only problem is where to go. And with what money! Maybe something will come to me and I'll think of a cheap, fun, trip. Suggestions welcome.

8 - My parents might be coming down for Christmas and to help us move. That was a nice surprise.

He said, She said - part deux

He said- Do we have any popsicles?
She said- No, I haven't had time to make any lately. Maybe I could do that with all my "free time" tomorrow.
He said- *nothing* sheepish look and apologetic grin
She said- You were being ridiculous.(or an ass or something to that effect.)
He said- I was just saying, (backpedaling ensues)
She said- Listen. We decided I'd stay home and raise the kids, we decided to have these kids together, this is what we agreed on, so WHAT exactly is the problem?
He said- I know, I mean, I was just saying. Well, we could have more time together. (confused now, clearly dumbfounded by my rationale.)
She said- It doesn't matter that you spend 15 minutes doing chores in the morning, after you get home you play with the kids and when they go to bed you either want to watch football or do Fantasy football. You can't do that while they're awake anyway so me taking over your chores wouldn't do any good.
He said- *mumbles something* Takes d in other room to play.
____________
Clearly this wasn't about me. He was probably just feeling crappy after a day at work and took it out on me. It does bother me that he probably really feels that I have the better end of the deal. I agree that my job is good, but it has it's downfalls like any other. I mean, I don't think there's anything better than being at home with the kids, or I wouldn't be doing it. But to pretend it's all free time and play time is just wrong.
Hopefully he doesn't say anything else stupid for at least a few days.
I still think leaving the house for an entire day would be awesome. He's never been alone with both kids more than a few hours.
Of course, I need to do this now, because once baby comes I'll be breastfeeding and not able to leave like that.
The End.

He said, She said

She said- why don't you stay in here and talk to me about blah, blah, yadda, yadda?
He said- I want to watch football.
She said- We rarely have a conversation anymore. Just tell me about your day for 5 minutes.
He said- Well, if you didn't spend any time on the computer during the day, and got all the chores done, then I could have more free time when I come home.
She said- You only have 2 chores, plus the yard work. It doesn't take long to take out the trash or empty the dishwasher. IF you even remember.
He said- But you get lots of free time during the day. If you did all the chores then when I got home I wouldn't have to do any and we could spend more time together.
She said- You mean you'd have more time to watch football? I already do 90% of the things that get done around here.
He said- I never get free time. (clearly forgetting about child free hours every day, lunch, bathroom breaks, rugby that takes up loads of time, flag football...)
She said- But then I'd have less or no free time and you'd have more. I'd be working MORE and you'd be working less?
He said- That would even things out.
She said- whu? *laughing hysterically*
He said- Says the person who gets the better end of the deal!!
She (mad now) stares at him in slack jawed amazement - GO watch football.
*Silent fuming ensues*

To be continued...
(because I don't know how it ends yet.)

The holiday calm

Christmas has an effect on me. Or rather, Christmas trees have an effect on me.
We put ours up this weekend, since it looks like we won't be moving in to our house till either right before or directly after Christmas. It's a fake and it's always an ordeal. Putting it together, (alone. because someone is more interested in football.) hanging the lights, (I did get some help on commercials.) and deciding where to put it without making potential buyers feel that our dining room was too small - all fun!
Let's face it. It's kind of a pain in the butt. Funny how I never noticed that when I was a kid.

But. When it's up.
Then I turn off the house lights and just sit in the dark and look at the tree. It's a hodgepodge of lights and mismatched ornaments because we're not theme people. There's something calming about sitting in the dark looking at a lit Christmas tree.
It's worth the trouble.
(even when you ended up having to tape up the bottom just to get it to stand up and you and your husband were fighting about asinine things and thank gawd the kids were sleeping during all that.)
d really likes it too. We (I) set up the tree and lights during his nap and he helped me decorate with the ornaments. He just sat and stared at it when he woke up and kept saying, "It's beautiful."
Now he mostly likes taking the candy canes off and eating them, but I think he still finds it beautiful.

So, when you find yourself stressed out from holiday crap, turn off the lights and TV and sit and look at your tree. A glass of eggnog wouldn't hurt either. (don't worry - mine will be non-alcoholic - but yours doesn't have to be.)

You know you're hormonal when...

Last night O was sleeping terribly. He was up around 3 crying and screaming. I know he's teething, but after an hour my patience was worn thin.
FINALLY I got him quieted down and almost asleep, next to me in bed. D took that moment to sneeze. I wanted to kill him.
Like he could help sneezing! I know! I'm so rational!











He could have at least *tried* to be quiet. When he sneezes it sounds like an elephant.

2 year old truths

You know you're really getting big when your two year old says, "You eat a lot of food mama? You so big now."
To which I responded, "There's a baby in my tummy, remember?"
To which HE responded, "And a lot of food."

Bad news, Good news

Bad news: Both kids were sick and miserable all day yesterday.
Good news: d seems all better this morning and O is, well, not. But he does seem a little better.

Bad news: There is a delay in our bathroom cabinets and we might not close before Christmas, instead of the 11th like we were told.
Good news: Maybe this will give us more time to sell our house.

Bad news: Someone rang our doorbell at 6:30 last night and wanted to see the house but hadn't bothered to call us first. (I was in pj's with no bra! and D was in running shorts and his work socks. There were 5 loads of laundry being folded on the couch and the dinner dishes in the sink. Plus, the kids had been sick all day so the house could have been cleaner.)
Good news: Someone saw the house.

Bad news: I gained 3 lbs over Thanksgiving.
Good news: Maybe the baby weighs 3 lbs. (haha! The baby is only 4 inches long...)

Bad news: There was a lot of rain and a lot of screaming on our 9 hour Thanksgiving drive. (it rained all 9 hours from AL to MO and all 9 hours back. No stopping at parks or McD*nald's with outdoor playgrounds for us!)
Good news: The kids were totally charming and wonderful when we weren't in the car, and we had a fabulous time seeing everyone over the holiday. It made me sad that we don't see them more often. One of my cousins got engaged and the last (and first) time I had met his fiance I was pregnant with d. It was kind of weird to be pregnant with #3 the second time I'd met her. heh

Bad news: O hasn't nursed in almost a week.
Good news: I'm having to look really hard to find the silver lining on this cloud. At least he's not biting me anymore. *sigh*

Random thoughts:
I'm starting to feel some strong girl vibes for this pregnancy. I'm also trying not to get my hopes up.
The looming certainty of two mortgages is scaring the crap out of me. Over half of our monthly income will be going to pay the mortgages if we don't sell or rent this house soon.
I'm totally bummed that we were told the 11th and I got all excited and now it might be after Christmas! If it's after Christmas then I want to know now so I can get out our tree!!

house!

Here are 3 videos, showing the inside of the house as of Wednesday. Pic is me and the boys at the front of the house.


Main living areas:

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.

Bedrooms/bathrooms:

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.


Backyard:

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.

Thankful

It's that time of year for a "what I'm thankful for" blog post!
1 - my kids. Even through the non stop chattering, the not sleeping, and the temper tantrums, they're great kids. They bring a lot of joy to my life.

2 - my husband. He can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but he's a wonderful friend, dad and provider a lot more often.

3 - my house. Both new and old. I love our "old" house and have many great memories here. d and O's first years were in this house. It was our first house as a couple, and then as a family. It's not perfect, but I love it. Our new house brings me hope for many more memories and at least one more baby coming home.

4 - my health and that of my family. My kids, D and I rarely get sick and I'm so very grateful for that.

5 - all the blessings I have in my life. I can complain with the best of them, but I'm a lucky girl. A very lucky girl.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. See you next week!

weekend and Hallejullah! I got my camera back!

This weekend flew by, just like every other one does. Friday we went to the Galaxy of Lights at our Botanical Gardens. It's a walk through some nights and a drive through on others. We walked and it was beautiful! It takes about an hour and it. was. cold.
I wish I had pictures to share, but my camera was still off in transit somewhere. Speaking of which! I got my camera back today. I was so excited my eyes actually teared up. (I know! Stupid hormones!) d even danced around singing "camers back, mama so happy, camers fixed, mama so happy!"
haha
Saturday was a long day full of yard work, house work, this store, that store and a million chores. Fun!
Sunday my Bil and Sil came down and Bil and D went to Atlanta to the Falcons and Bucs game. So the kids and I and Sil were at home all day. I feel bad because I was just happy to have an adult to talk to all day and not have to do all my regular chores. OK, I still did dishes but no bill paying, laundry, packing, etc...
Sunday is our lazy day so we typically don't go out much, except if we make it to church. If.
So, poor Sil, she must have been so bored. I tried to think of something to do, but my week usually consists of 2-4 playgroups, the park, the store and music class spread through 5 days. Sunday is kind of dead. Hopefully she still had a decent time. It was nice to just relax and catch up.
Now, some pics! Just because my camera is home and I'm so happy!!




d introduced O to blueberries today. They're both big fans.

Bwwwaaaaahaaahaaa

I was packing in our closet this morning and I came across some "memory boxes" from high school. I had all my diaries in there and I got to reading them only to come across this entry:
I'm so fat that I just can't stand myself. I went to the Dr for my checkup and I'm 5'8" and 130 lbs. UGH!
Bwaaaahaaaahaaa
That diary, and the subsquent 3, went on and on thousands of times about how fat I was and what diet I was currently on. (when I wasn't talking about what boys I loved, hated, or couldn't live without. *GAG* )

Seriously, I would give my right leg to weigh 130 again. Actually, you'd have to cut off my right leg for me to weigh even close to 130 again. Man! I was so stupid.

house

We got a call today. We can do our walk through as early as December 4th and close as early as December 11th.
I think I should start packing...

Baby names!

Last night D and I were playing around on Nymbler because it was too cold to go out to the car and get my copy of The Baby Name Wizard. Yes, I keep it in the car. I'm that obsessed with baby names.

When I was pregnant with O, we had decided on a girl's name - Lila. I still am absolutely head over heels in love with this name. D is OK with it and I'm pulling the I'm-the-pregnant-lady-and-you-owe-me card so that will likely be the baby's name if we managed to create a girl. However, I'm still open to suggestions since D is not in love with this name. It would take something awesome to change my mind, but it could happen.
However, given our propensity for creating boys, we should really have a boy's name picked out too. The name Beck has been on my mind for awhile and I really like it. D, not so much. I also like Cade, Eli, Cole, & Reed. Definitely not an all inclusive list, but just to give you an idea of names I lean towards.

D likes names like Dale, Colt, Troy and Pat. I'm not a fan.
We have a big problem! We agreed on Dane's name without a problem since we both loved it. Owen's name was a little harder, but ultimately not a big struggle. (I'm revealing their names to make this easier, but from here on out they'll go back to being d and O.)

This time we aren't even on the same page!! We are open for suggestions over here...

7 things meme

I've been tagged by el-e-e!
Here's the meme info:
- Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
- Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I haven't done a meme in a while so here it goes, but I'm warning you now that I'm not tagging anyone so if you feel like you need something to do feel free, otherwise, don't.

1. I have to sleep with covers on my legs, even if it's a million degrees. I cannot sleep without the covers, I feel naked.

2. I hate "under the bed." My bed sits flat on the floor and when we go to a motel I get really freaked out if they don't have those solid bed frames so that you can't see/get under the bed.

3. I kind of like balancing the checkbook. Gives me a job and sense of purpose.

4. I perform well under a deadline. If there's no deadline and/or not much to do I get really lazy. Busy is good.

5. I love that song by Montgomery Gentry, I'm a Lucky Man. YouTube Video
Except, of course, when they play it on our radio station, they say "when the Tide lost." This is Alabama after all.

6. D is a workaholic and I alternate between loving him for it and hating it.

7. I fear what would happen to my kids if I die. I'm the glue in my family. I fear certain people wanting to move closer and have far too much influence over D and the kids. I know I'll be dead and won't care anymore, but I still think about this far too often.

Tag! You're it!

You know what I hate

about being pregnant again so soon after having O?
When I'm out with the kids I notice people looking at my belly and I can see the wheels in their head turning.
Is she pregnant again? Naw, she's probably just fat, look how little that baby is. NO ONE would be that crazy.

heh
I'd rather them think I'm crazy than fat, so I may just be. Crazy that is.

Turkey Day, house woes and good news

Turkey Day is coming! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! After much crap we decided that we are going to travel for Thanksgiving. We haven't been to see my side of the family in a year and likely won't be back for another so we feel like we need to go. Plus, we do want to see everyone. We will stay at my parent's house and just play it by ear. If we have time and feel up to it we'll travel a little more and see everyone who didn't make the trip down. If not, then we won't. I'm not going to stress it, we're just trying to have a good time.
Have you seen the price of gas lately? It was $3.05 here last time I ventured out. The biggest damper on traveling next week is that we really should be saving our money. This house isn't selling and likely won't before we move out.
While we can still buy the new one that means a much, much smaller down payment and significantly tighter purse strings for awhile! When we decided to put this house on the market I felt like a huge financial burden had been lifted!
If we sold it we could afford the things we'll need for the new house. Some needs, (a refrigerator, a fence, curtains...)some wants (bedroom suites, new washer and dryer, dining room table, other furniture...) but now most of that will have to wait. The only thing we'll likely buy right away is a fridge because we absolutely will have to have that.
I feel so bummed that no one has fallen in love with our house yet! When D and I walked in here we knew immediately that it was the house for us, even though we'd seen a dozen other houses that day and it was slightly above our pathetically low price range. Every time someone shows the house I think how could those people NOT fall in love with it? but they never do.

I know it doesn't look like much, but the inside is really nice too. I just don't have pics...
If it doesn't sell we'll probably rent it out so all is not lost.

Now for the good news! Money will be a little less tight now because D got a promotion yesterday. After only 3 years on the job, he's a Level 3 engineer and that comes with a 5% raise (on top of the annual 2-4% raise)! I'm so proud of him. It typically takes twice as long to reach that level. Of course he's a workaholic, which drives me a little crazy. Still. I'm so proud of him!

Photo Shoot

My camera has been sent off to camera repair-land, but we had professional pics taken this weekend. The only appt we could get was at 5:30 PM which would have been perfect as both kids are generally happy this time of day. However, after an hour wait, O was sleepy. We still managed to get some good shots, but we didn't get home till 9 PM. Yipes!
We got a CD of all the shots they took, good or bad, but I'm only going to upload a few of my faves.















That may have been more than a few...

Caramel Cranberry Bars

I woke up this morning to a frosty, cold day. For some reason, that plus the holidays being on my mind put me in the mood to bake. (Is it because holidays remind me of food or because they remind me of stress, which makes me want to eat? hmmm)
In any case this was a new recipe but it. is. so. so. so. good. So Good!

Ingredients:
1 package fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed (I used fresh, 14 oz)
1 pkg (8 oz) chopped dates
3/4 cup pecans (I skipped these)
2 TBSP + 1/2 cup sugar divided
2 1/3 cup all purpose flour, divided
2 cups oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping (I used sugar free, about 75% of the small jar)


In a small bowl, mix together cranberries, dates, 2 TBSP sugar and pecans. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine 2 c flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and remaining sugar. Stir in butter. Set aside 1 c of mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the remaining flour in a small bowl. Mix with caramel topping. Set aside.
When crust is done, sprinkle cranberry mixture evenly over crust. Drizzle caramel topping over that. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

YUM! It's tart! It's sweet! It's crispy and chewy and pretty!! Go make it now!

Holiday Crap

Every year I look forward to the holidays but as they draw near I suddenly can't remember WHY.
We don't live near family and we almost always travel for holidays. The last few years have looked like this:
Easter & Thansksgiving in MO with my family.
Christmas & New Years in TX with his family.

We do it that way because we drive and therefore it makes sense to spend 2 shorter holidays at the closer relatives and the longer one at the farther relatives. Also, it equals about the same number of days.
However, as we've grown up and had kids and those kids have started getting a bit older, traveling has started to really suck. Really.
Especially on holidays, when the roads are crowded, it's cold, we're already strapped for money but shelling out for motels, eating out and gas and we feel as if we're being pulled in two hundred different directions by all the relatives who want a piece of our cutie pies.
Plus, have I mentioned the screaming? Oh yes, the screaming in the car leaves a lot to be desired.

Last year I told D that I would not be traveling for Christmas anymore. The people we visit do not have small children and we do. I want to start our own traditions and have Santa come to OUR house and not have to schlep 16 hours across the country to be annoyed for 2 weeks. They want to visit us? Fine. But I'm staying home and the kids are too.
So this year is the first year we get to stay home for Christmas. It also works out because our house will probably be finished sometime in December and we'll need those days D has off to pack, move, etc.

Anyway, Thanksgiving! This is the point of my post! (Didn't take me long to get here did it?)
We were going to stay home at Thanksgiving due to some circumstances beyond our control but those circumstances have changed. So, we haven't been to MO since last Thanksgiving. (we missed Easter because of O's birth.) Everyone is anxious to see the boys and possibly us too, but who are we kidding?
There are lots of people I want to see but everyone is stressing me out! My dad doesn't want to go to Thanksgiving with Grandpa because they are having a "tiff" and my aunts don't want to drive down to my parents house to see us, they want us to drive 3 hours to them (after 8-9 hours just to get to my parents...) and some of my cousins that I haven't seen in years will be a little over an hour away, but I don't see how I can possibly fit it all in and not be stretched too thin. If it were just me and D - no problem! But the kids. Those pesky, car hating kids.
How do I balance this and see both sides of the family for an adequate amount of time and not torture the kiddies and myself? I think it could be done, but I'm not sure we'll be there enough days.
The older I get (or maybe it's just the more kids I have...) the less appealing traveling is. The packing for 4, the laundry, the prep, the kenneling and driving and not sleeping (is it just my kids that don't sleep when we travel?) and sharing of time is exhausting!
Holidays should be about family! Not fighting over who gets us what day and where we should stay and will his side be mad that we're going to her side and all that crap.
How do you keep the family and lose the crap in your holiday?

IL recap, video and pictures!

This post is all sorts of randomness rolled into one!

*edit*

Next! House pictures!
The house is looking so great! The bricking is totally done and the shutters are up. The white front door you see will be replaced with a "fancy" one that's the same color as the shutters. That's just a temp door till they finish working.
The inside (which I can't get pics of because of my *&%$#%* camera) is painted and the trim is up. The floor is laid in the bathrooms and laundry room. Kitchen is next, then all that's left are the cabinets and countertops, appliances and carpet. (plus all the little things that I'm not thinking of...)

The boys in front of the garage!
D, "measuring" the back porch. Single door - kitchen, windows and french doors - living room.
The front! There will be a light on each brick column, and the upgraded front door, but the front of the house is pretty much done!!!

Last! We went to the Tennessee Aquarium today and it was awesome. I couldn't take many pics. (again - *&^%#$ camera!!) I did get a couple short videos though! I know, you people are sick of seeing my kids in videos. SORRY!!! (O is not in these, he's sleeping.)

Penguins:

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.
Shark:

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.

What did he say?

Picture it. It's Halloween. 2007. A clear afternoon.
I've decided to take both kids to the store for a few things because d won't nap and he must if he's to stay up for trick or treating. On the way home, O falls asleep.
One down, one to go!
We're nearing our neighborhood and he's looking drowsy so I decide to drive by our new neighborhood to kill time. Rather then the desired effect, this perks d up. He starts asking questions. We pull into our neighborhood but pass our street in hopes that all he needs is a few more minutes in the car before he finds Slumberland.
However, d knows the way home and starts asking "Where are we going?" and my answer of HOME! is met with his confident "NO we aren't!"
Finally, after 10 minutes of driving around our neighborhood, hoping he'll fall asleep, I give up. I pull up to our house and unbuckle his carseat. He hops out and makes his way into the garage while I'm busy unloading a sleeping O.
As an afterthought, he turns around and looks at me and says, "Good job Mama! You found it!"

Halloween!

O the Spider!


d & O - Spiderman and his Spider.

That little floating blob to the left? I think it dressed up as a baby! It suddenly looks really, really BABY to me.

My stupid, stupid camera is broken and I did manage to get some good pics of O, but very few of d, which makes me sad. I need to get the stupid thing fixed!
Halloween was a big hit around here! O and I handed out candy and d & D went trick or treating. He got a load and insisted on coming home because his pumpkin was too heavy. ha!
Also, we got rid of all the candy we bought! Success!!

house

This one is taken from the stop sign at the end of the cul-de-sac and you can see the neighbor's house too. It should be done around the same time as ours.


Here's the house today. I thought they'd be done by now, but not quite. The back and sides are totally finished, so what you see is all that's left to be bricked.

Blogger hates me so it took me an inordinate amount of time to upload these two pics. Enjoy.

Christmas

I started my Christmas shopping today. Besides stocking stuffers, I'm done with the boys. I have my nieces to buy for and also both sets of grandparents and the names we and the kids drew on each side of the family.
The best part about all this shopping is that Christmas is hardly going to cost us anything! For months and months I've been saving up our cash back bonus awards on our credit cards. We use cc for everything and pay them in full every month. We've never paid them interest or a late fee so this is truly "free money." With the cashback and gift cards I used our points for, we had a little over $200 to spend on Christmas gifts. I also have another $60 gift card that I'll use to buy the remainder of the gifts. My goal is to spend $300 or less on Christmas this year (not counting shipping for those presents I'll have to mail.)
All this shopping and penny pinching this morning caused me to wonder about other people's Christmas budgets. Obviously the bigger the family, the more it costs too.
We're really trying to keep Christmas small so that it doesn't break us since we are building the house too. Plus, the kids are still small and don't expect anything yet.
So, how's your Christmas budget? Also, when do you finish Christmas shopping? I try my best to be done before Thanksgiving because I hate crowded stores and it's a nightmare everywhere I go after Thanksgiving.

neighbors

The neighborhood we live in now is a decent neighborhood, but it has it's share of very bratty kids whose parents let them run wild and people who let their dogs poop on your lawn. Also, for the most part, the people here aren't very friendly. (in the South! Can you imagine?!)
Well, tonight we went to a holiday party in our new neighborhood. (Btw, they started bricking the house - yay! It looks awesome!) We met our immediate neighbors, plus many of the other people in the neighborhood. We were by far the youngest and the only ones there with young kids, but they were all so friendly and nice! The entire community is only 57 houses, so we'll have a chance to get to know our neighbors pretty well.
I really like the sense of community I felt there. It makes me excited to move in!

O crawling

A true man already. Look what he's after...

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.

Penny & Owen

Our very gentle and tolerant pooch with our very slobbery kid. Don't worry - I wouldn't leave them alone. ;)

Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

These are really yummy and I'm posting the original recipe that I have. In the ones I made yesterday I used pumpkin pie mix instead of regular pumpkin and then cut back a teeeeny bit on the ginger so it wouldn't be so strong. However, I think these are more pumpkin-y with regular canned pumpkin and NOT the pie mix. I'm going to try it that way next time.

2 cups all purpose flour
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger (less if you don't care for ginger)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash of ground allspice
1 egg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup milk
3 TBSP butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips (I used regular size and I recommend using the mini's for a better distribution of chocolate and pumpkin. :) )

Combine the 1st 7 ingredients in large bowl. Combine the rest, except the chocolate chips, in another bowl and mix into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 18-22 minutes. (grease muffins tins or use muffin cup inserts.)
Yield: 1 dozen

Good, bad and random

Good:
We went to the pumpkin patch Saturday and had a great time. This farm is awesome. They have hay rides and animals to pet, corn cribs, cotton jumping, a hay maze, and pumpkin picking.
Then, on Sunday, we went to visit some friends at their parents house and there were a bunch of us with little kids there. (we know each other already.) We went on a hay ride and had yummy soup afterwards, plus just got to hang out and chat while the kids played. Great weekend activities!

Bad:
Our open house was yesterday from 2-4. ONE. 1. Couple showed up. I'm so disappointed! ugh! We had 4 showings the first 2 days it was on the market and then NOTHING since then. We thought an open house would be great. We cleaned and cleaned and mowed and weeded and painted and for what? ONE frigging couple. Crap.
Also, not this coming up weekend, but the next, we were planning a visit to a town about 1.5 hours north. D has a rugby game there on Saturday and they have an awesome aquarium and children's museum. D told his parents about it last night because they called to chat and asked what was going on. His mom was like, "oh, well we were going to come see you that weekend because it's our ONLY free weekend."
1st- how about asking first? (you know, instead of acting all disappointed and put out that we already have plans because you never told us what you were planning!)
2nd- yes, I'm sure two 50 somethings, one retired, are just as busy as we are with 2 small children and a house selling, building situation. Anyway...
3rd - Can you see where this is going? Yes, you guessed it. Our little weekend getaway is now including them.
However, at least they aren't coming here, because the nightmare of having overnight visitors while trying to sell the house is not something I want to experience. I'm thinking that seperate hotel rooms and eating out is going to be a LOT easier for me. Plus, it's only for a short weekend, so it won't be that bad, right?
I think I just hate the "we're coming too!" aspect of this situation.

Random:
I made pumpkin chocolate chips muffins and YUM! Also, I found out last night that one of my girlfriends is pregnant and due 2 days after me! yay! This is her 2nd.

My head is full

I've been thinking a lot about this pregnancy for the last month or so. I'd be lying if I said I was taking this well.
Let's be clear for a moment, shall we? I WANT this baby, but I don't want to be pregnant. At least not right now.
If I lost the baby I would be devastated and so sad and undoubtedly terribly guilty because I just put it out there that I don't really want to be pregnant right now.
*sigh*
I'm sure that there are infertile women, and women struggling to get pregnant and women who desperately want a baby cursing me right now and I don't blame them. I'm being whiny. My feelings are mine though, and I claim them. I'm not perfect.

I'll admit to being a bit selfish right now. I hate taking care of the boys by myself and feeling so damn sick all the time. I hate having to drag my maternity clothes out of the attic when I just put them away. I hate the naseau, the hormones, the exhaustion, the depression. I hate nursing and then making a bottle as well. I hate bottle feeding. I don't care if other people use bottles and formula, I don't think it's evil, I just didn't want to use it myself. I hate the guilt that I'm screwing O out of a babyhood of his own.
I hate that I was dumb enough to get myself into this mess. D knows I blame him, but it's really my fault too. I knew it could happen.
The first trimester affects me this way. It gets to me. Trust me when I say that I can't reach 14 weeks soon enough.

Lest you fear for me or the kids, let me assure you that we are fine. I am tired and I am worn out but I am dealing. We aren't in danger over here. We have good days more often than bad.
In fact, the boys are the light. They keep me going. I mean, really, I don't have a choice! They need so much!
When I see how they love each other it helps me tremedously. This baby will fit in and it will be fine. I will get over this little funk and get over feeling sorry for myself. I know I'm blessed. I just need a reminder sometimes.

Milestones

Well, O is officially crawling. I can't believe how fast these 6 months have gone by. He can do so many things! He crawls, he scoots and he goes from flat to sitting in no time. What's more scary is that this week when I go into his room to get him from naps, he's often hanging on the bars of his crib, pulled up to his knees and grinning from ear to ear. It won't be long before he figures out how to get to his feet! Eeeps!
According to our scale at home, he's right about 20 lbs and he feels every ounce of it. Carrying him around is quite a chore!
He wants so badly to do everything that d is doing. You can see the adoration in his eyes and it fills my heart up. It also gives me hope that everything really will be alright when baby3 gets here. They'll all love each other so much. (right?)


Untitled from Devan on Vimeo.

he was wrong!

My 2 year old is not psychic! Woo!! There is one healthy little blob in there. EDD is May 26th.

house today

More pictures!

Standing at the far side of the living room. O is in the corner of the living room, near one of the entrances to the kitchen. To the left is the dining room.

Standing in the kitchen, looking towards the backyard.

The brick.

The house.

Standing in the living room, looking toward the backyard. Kitchen to the left, bedrooms to the right.

Master bath. His and hers closets, one to each side of the garden tub.

Shower with seat!

I can't wait till they start bricking it!! My u/s is in the morning and I'm so nervous! Stay tuned.

Friday!

It's Friday! My favorite day of the week! My brain is too fried to make this coherent, so let's have a list, shall we?

1 - See that floating baby over there to the left? Doesn't it seem like it's getting bigger really fast? I can't wait till Monday's u/s to see if I'm right on the dates or not.
2 - We've had 3 showings! Our house officially hit the market late Wednesday night and we had 2 showings yesterday and one this morning. I hope this house sells fast so that I can quit cleaning with every free second.
3 - My house is still clean. (it's a miracle!)
4 - I haven't mentioned the potty in 4 days and this morning d stripped down and ran to the potty and went. BY himself. I don't know what gives, but he's got the right idea. I haven't mentioned the potty since then either, but he did get a balloon for being a big boy. hehe
5 - It's a cruel joke that I'm craving sandwiches but am not allowed to have lunch meat. hmph
6 - Both of the kids are napping at the same time. I actually got to eat lunch and get online! It's a great Friday!
7 - Our new house is coming along! The roof is done, the windows and doors are in and D says there are bathtubs inside and that the plumbing and electrical are done! I drove by today and saw piles of brick so that must be next. Also, the sprinkler system is done. I'll take more pics this weekend. I'm starting to get excited.
8 - I SWEAR I've felt the baby move, but I KNOW I couldn't have, because it's like the size of a pea or something. I must be crazy.

And the day is done.

Thank goodness.

I can't even tell you how much time it took me to de-clutter and clean the ENTIRE house. Thank goodness it's less than 1800 sq feet! It looks pretty awesome though.
D came home and he was like, "did we move out?!"

Heh.

Starting tomorrow, our house is officially "on the market." Oh, and that POD thing? They delivered it and I thought, MAN this thing is huge! I guess D was right, the bigger one would have been waaay too big. This one is good.
Turns out they never got the order change and DID deliver the bigger one. SO, they'll be back tomorrow to pick it up and bring the smaller one. Sheesh.

Also, on a completely unrelated note. After 2.5 weeks, we have officially given up on potty training. He was having more accidents than successes and begging to be in a diaper. I give up! At this point I'd rather change a diaper on a happy kid than have a stinker running around peeing on the floor.

Now, my back is killing me and my uterus hurts. I think I'm going to go lie down.

GAH!

Pissed. That is the one word you could use to describe me right now.

D has been so helpful and mostly understanding for the last couple of months. This week, he's having to work in a city 1.5 hours south, which means early morning departures and no help during the day. I get that. It's work.
However, being a jerk doesn't have to be part of the job.

He's still set to arrive home at 5:30 every day. Yesterday we had a hell of a day. I'm trying to get the house ready to show, which means major deep cleaning and de-cluttering. d didn't take a nap and O took only cat naps. I definitely overdid it, my back was killing me and I was exhausted.
While I was making dinner, I called D at 5:20 to see if he was almost home because both kids were screaming and I thought if I could just make it ten. more. minutes. I wouldn't have to explode.
HE HADN'T LEFT YET. Which means he wouldn't be home for at least 2 hours!
I thought I would cry. I know, I know, it's work! But he has a cell phone! So do I! Call!

Once I got over that I gave both kids an extremely early bedtime. (What? It's almost dark at 6:30!) Luckily, they cooperated.

I had also ordered a POD to be delivered to our house to pack up some stuff so that we could actually try and sell our house without crap, er, toys and clutter everywhere. It was not cheap. BUT they bring it to you, they pick it up and take it away and they take it to your new house when you call. Easy and convenient. Can you imagine packing up the mini with boxes and both kids and driving to a storage building and unloading everything (undoubtedly by myself) and doing it again in 2 months when we move?! I couldn't either.

D was annoyed though. It's too expensive. You got the wrong size. Blah blah.
That annoyed ME because I busted my butt all day and not only did he not comment on the extrememly clean and uncluttered bedroom we were sitting in, he found fault with something I did to make life easier for all of us. (but especially me) So HE called and changed our order to the smaller size. Fine.
This morning we had an email confirming our order. The price was wrong. It was more expensive than the webquote and than what was discussed on the phone, but still cheaper than our original order. He was ticked off, which I understand. I told him to call and fix it, I was busy cleaning the other 6 rooms in our house. Plus, he has an almost 2 hour (not traffic filled) drive this morning while I don't. (Though I'm now feeling guilty I'm taking the time to post this rant instead of cleaning. heh)
We got into a big fight and he wanted to cancel the whole thing. GAH! I said no way and it was ugly. Finally, he agreed to call on his drive in and straighten it out.
If he cancels it, there will be hell to pay. We don't have time to mess around! This house is going on the market tomorrow and it needs to be ready. If we want to sell it before we close on the other house, then we need a contract before Thanksgiving.

I guess I'm really just pissed because I feel like I'm working like a crazy woman and taking care of the kids and house by myself and still managed to make dinner and all I got was a husband who couldn't give me the courtesy of a call or a thank you.

He did manage to make O's bottle this morning, let me sleep in a little bit (6:30 lol) and take out the trash so he's not all bad. I can't figure out a good way to end this and time is ticking. I need to clean!

watch this!

d & O from Devan on Vimeo.

Your Title Here

I bit the bullet and called and scheduled my u/s this morning. I go in next Monday morning so I only have to wait a week.

Last night, D thought it was acceptable to rinse raw meat off over the bottles in the sink. ew.
After I washed the bottles, I put them in a pot of water and set it to boil. In true mommy and pregnancy brain fashion, I walked away to do one of the million other things on my list. I never remembered to walk back into the kitchen. I got distracted by laundry and then Desperate Housewives. Halfway through Brothers and Sisters I saw a baby getting a bottle and it hit me! I had left the bottles boiling for hours! (or so I thought.) I jumped up and started to race into the kitchen and D started laughing hysterically and informed me that he turned them off ages ago.
I swear, if I was alone, I would have burnt down the house. Not to mention totally ruined the bottles. Am I just going to keep getting dumber?

I'm alive!

I'm still here, even though it feels like it's been ages since I posted. I've been sick. I just wasn't ready for the first trimester yet again and I forgot how miserable I am in it. Hopefully the morning all day sickness won't last too many more weeks. By Thanksgiving I expect to be fully recovered. (hopefully before that even!)
The more time that passes, the more I think that 3 might be the magic number for our family. Of course, I'm not sure enough to do anything drastic just yet. D is still pretty convinced that he wants 4 or 5 kids, but 4 is my upper limit.
Of course, the spacing is important. With O and this baby just 13 months apart, we're planning on waiting at least a year and a half before we even consider another addition. At that point, if we feel we're done, then someone is getting snipped. (and it's not me.)
I already feel a burden for this baby. Countless people have told me that they hope it's a girl.
On one hand, if I HAD to choose, I'd choose a girl too, since I already have 2 wonderful little boys. On the other hand, if we have a boy I'll be happy as a clam. I love my boys and it's familiar territory. Plus, they'd be so close in age - what fun they'd have!
I just hate the feeling that people will think that we're disappointed if it turns out to be a boy. Also, I don't want them to be disappointed. If we DO have a girl, and decide later that we're done, I don't want others to think we stopped because we finally had a girl. That wouldn't be the case at all.

Question for the internets: When you were pregnant, if you had an older child, did they express that they felt the baby was one gender over another? Or more than one?
d was always insistent that O was a boy, and he was right, but he had a 50% chance, right?
Now d is insisting that there are 2 babies in my tummy. I thought he was saying we'd have two babies, O and the new baby. But when forced to clarify he insisted that there were 2 babies in my tummy and that O is a "big baby now."
I'm not particularly freaked out, because the chances of him being right are so small. I mean, what are the odds? However, I admit it gave me pause. I can't imagine a 3 year old, a one year old and newborn twins. I should have an ultrasound in the next week or two, as soon as I schedule it, so we'll know before too long. I'm praying desperately hoping that he's wrong though.

baby!

Jen over at Never Melts had her baby!! Go see!!

Can you believe? Also, pictures.

Can you believe:
That 3 years ago, when I was pregnant for the first time, I actually enjoyed it? Even the first trimester!

That since June of 2004, I have NOT been pregnant or breastfeeding for only 4 months?

That in May of 2008, I will have had 3 kids in 3 years and 3 months?

That formula costs $28 a can? I had no idea!!

That I have the cutest kids ever?

___________________________
Have you ever heard of Babylegs? They are this nifty little product that I happened upon when d was learning to crawl. They are sort of like baby leg warmers. O has been getting monster carpet burn from his quest to crawl so I busted them out again. (The hat is just for fun.)

They have c-u-t-e designs too!! You can check them out here: http://www.babylegs.net/

stepping up

I've had many posts on this blog about D. We had some rough times shortly after O was born, and I had serious doubts about the strength of our marriage.
Things have gotten vastly better since then. In fact, since I've found out that I'm pregnant again, D has been wonderful.
True he's still working overtime, but that's work. He's been helping out with O during the night, letting me sleep in in the mornings while he gives d breakfast and plays with him, even trying to remember to take out the trash. He forgot to put the trash bag in this morning, but hey, nobody is perfect. He even said that he'll help me clean up the kitchen when he gets home from work if I don't get to it! (it's a disaster! Bottles = a lot of work.)
He's calmed my fraying nerves more than once and helped me feel like maybe I can do this. (not that I have a choice at this point...)
He even fixed the grout in shower last night, something I've asked him to do for at least a year and finally gave up on. It could be that he's finally gotten it. It could also be that rugby is here again and he knows that he's *thisclose* to being DONE for good because of all that we have going on.

Either way, the house is still a disaster and I still feel like crap, but at least I know that I have a shoulder to lean on. And that, my friends, makes all the difference.

more house

Sunday: Next step is the windows and doors, then roof and bricks!

(garage is left, bedrooms right)

Trying to show our yard. Our property line goes all the way back to about the 2nd post on the fence. We'll have a very large side yard.

Nice, big covered back porch.

(window on far right, kitchen. Moving left: kitchen door, then living room window, living room french doors and I think one more living room window.)

Darren took this pic of the inside. For the life of me, I can't figure out which rooms we are looking at. Ask me again when we have walls. :)