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!"