Quick 5

I’m on Day 3 of being home with sick kiddos –and as much as I hate seeing my babies cough their lungs out day after day, I really have loved the extra time home and snuggles that come with having sick kids!  We went to the doctor Monday and she put both kids on zithromax….today we called back in and got some cough medicine, so hopefully they are both on the mend!!  I thought they were getting better yesterday – Makenie’s voice was back and both kids were up and running around again….but I woke up today to both kids coughing like crazy at 5 am. 

You get a really random post today because I’m not sure I have the brain capacity for anything else….so here’s what’s going on at our house:

1.  2+ hour naps are glorious…I’m not even the one taking the nap, but do you know how much I can get done when both kids sleep for over 2 hours???  Yesterday it was 3 batches of Christmas candy and LOTS of laundry, today I’ve been doing work…not fun but has to be done since I haven’t been at work since last Thursday.

2.  Technology is my new best friend today…..I love that I have a job that I really can do from home when necessary.  It’s not as easy as going into my office, but I love being able to get work done via email and appear for court via phone when I need to home with sick kids.

3.  My package from Amazon that was ordered literally WEEKS ago…and delivered to the Holdrege Post office December 9th finally made it to my house today.  Congrats USPS it only took you 12 days to get from downtown to my house….less than a mile!  It only took UPS three days to get it halfway across the country.  Anyone know why UPS is dropping their packages at the post office and having them deliver it??  The UPS guy has been at my door probably 5 times in the last 12 days….wouldn’t it have been easier to deliver this package with all the others instead of leaving it at the post office to get lost for 12 days?  The good news is it’s here and it’s not even Christmas yet!  

4.  I still hate divorces….I have 7 phone messages and 3 emails from ONE client….all dealing with fights she and her soon to be ex are having.  Seriously folks, its Christmas…can’t we just get along for a few days?? Maybe my New Years resolution for 2012 will be NO more divorces! 

5.  I LOVE Christmas shopping with Makenzie – she has been SO much fun this year!!  She was so, so worried about picking out the perfect present for her dad, but we finally found something she’s pleased with….she was a little disappointed when I vetoed the “skinny” jeans she picked out at JCPenney.  She told me, “Dad doesn’t have any nice jeans, I think he needs these.”   I’m not sure she quite grasps styles and sizes yet!  She also picked out the PERFECT present for her little brother and insisted on buying presents for all her little friends.  The kids and I ran to Kearney Friday to finish our Christmas shopping and I was looking for fabric to sew curtains for their new room….I picked out one fabric and Makenzie picked out another one, telling me she really didn’t like the one I had picked out because “it just doesn’t look very good”.  After much debating – she won!  I’m not thrilled with the fabric, but she loves it and its going in her room, so I decided it wasn’t worth the battle!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas jammies

You’ll have to start by reading the last two posts so you get the history on the Christmas jammies.  Micah thought he should wear his jammies to Cori’s today (which would have marked 2 days AND 2 nights in his jammies), but unfortunately spilled his breakfast all over his shirt so it wasn’t an option.  He got dressed without much of a fit and I took the kiddos to Cori’s as I was pulling into the parking lot at my office I got a text from Cori, “Micah keeps telling me his jammies are dirty.

I seriously laughed out loud!! Apparently it was traumatic for the poor guy!   You’ll be glad to know we washed the jammies today, gave the boy a bath tonight….and he’s sound asleep in his Christmas jammies!  We’re headed to Kearney tomorrow to finish our Christmas shopping, and if you see us there and Micah is still in his Christmas jammies, well…don’t be surprised! At least you know their clean!

Two More Things

As I was tucking the kiddos into bed tonight, I thought of two more things that make my day every time I hear them:

1.  I LOVE that every night when I tuck her in Makenzie tells me, “come check on me at 5:15 and leave the door way way open”….and every night I assure her that I’ll come check on her and I’ll leave the door open as long as Micah goes to sleep.  Truth be told, I don’t check on her at 5:15….I’m not even sure if she means a.m. or p.m. since she usually goes to bed at 8 pm, but I make a point of covering her up and kissing her one last time before I go to bed at night.  And nearly every morning she asks me, “Did you check on me?” 

2.  I LOVE that Micah man finishes all of his sisters prayers with an enthusiastic “MAY-MEN”.  We think maybe he’s getting ready for a career as a charismatic pastor!  

And the Christmas jammies I mentioned in my last post….Micah slept in them last night (just out of the laundry), insisted on wearing them to Cori’s today with his Elmo slippers, was still wearing the jammies and slippers when I picked him up after work and is sleeping in them again tonight (w/ the Elmo slippers still on his feet!)  That’s just how we roll around here!!  I’m debating about what to do if he insists on wearing them again tomorrow….is it bad that I’m seriously considering just letting him wear them??  Does it make it any better that he’s only in daycare till noon, then he’s home w/ Tom? 

Thankful.

I’ve decided I spend too many days being stressed out, focused on my way too long “to do list” and not just enjoying life.  The other day I heard the Trace Adkins song on the radio…..

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

All I could think was SO TRUE….this is SO my life right now, and I already wish these days wouldn’t go by so fast.  In an effort to “hang on” to these days, I decided I needed to make myself a list of all the things I really love about these days, so here it is…split out by kiddo:

Makenzie

* I love the little prayer you’ve adopted from your Boz movie and that you “add on to” every day – “Jesus prayer that he made for our family and our friends, taking time to sit/lay (sitting or laying depends on whether its a daytime or bedtime prayer) and pray, thank you God for this great day and thank you for….(insert long list, usually involving mom, dad, Micah, Grace, Kenna, the food on your plate….and sometimes including things as random as Zoe Dog, our house, the things in the Advent calendar, your teddy bear).  I love that you are so good at thinking about the things you are thankful for – I need to learn to be more like you!

* I love your excitement for the Christmas story and our advent calendar, and that randomly during the day you’ll ask questions about Zachariah and Elizabeth, why Zachariah couldn’t talk, or what the angels name was that told Mary she was going to have a baby.

* I love your soft heart and your love for Jesus!  I love that today you reminded me that we should buy groceries to take to the food pantry because Jesus wants us to give food to people who don’t have it (We just read The King’s Christmas List….great book by the way!) 

* I love that you tell me every day “I like you and I love you mom.”  You melt my heart!!  And I love telling you, “I’m glad you’re my girl” and hearing you respond every single time “I know….I’m glad you’re my mom.”

* I love that you’re such a little mommy, looking out for everyone (including mom and dad!)  And I love all the funny things you say, like the other day when we were packing for Lincoln and you were frantically searching for ponytail holders in your bag…when I reminded you that you didn’t even wear ponytails because your hair was short, you told me, “I know, but you need them for your pants.” 

* I love that you love to help, and you do it so willingly!  I love having you help fold laundry (and clean out the lint trap on the dryer….it’s your favorite!)

Micah

* Believe it or not, I love your curiosity, even when it means unloading the toy baskets for the 10th time in a day.  I love that you love to explore and I love it when you take my hand and tell me “play” and then want me to sit down on the floor with you to play.  You are too cute! 

* I love that you love to help me – whether its unloading the dishwasher, cooking, doing laundry or putting on my makeup, you love to be right in the middle of the action!

* I love listening to you chat and I love the way you try to say everything you hear.  You talk ALL.THE.TIME right now and I think every single day you’re saying new words!  Some of my very favorites right now are “ga-mo” (Grandma Moore), “gama/gammy”, jammies, sissy (which used to just be “see” and only in the last week gained the first syllable), kimma (Christmas), and sorry –which you say LOTS of times a day, usually to your sissy.  

* I love that you can’t say the letter “s” yet – so words like snow sound more like h-no – and it makes me smile everytime I hear you say it.

* I love that you love your new Christmas jammies, and  I even love it that you want to wear them every night (and most days!) 

* I love that you love to try everything your sister is doing and want to be with her ALL the time

* I love your independence – and the fact that at not even 22 months old, you insist on walking everywhere and climbing in and out of your car seat by yourself.  When I get frustrated with the slow speed, I remind myself how thankful I’ll be in April when you can do these things on your own! 

Baby #3

* I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE feeling you kick and wiggle all.the. time…even if it means kicking my bladder at 3 am because I love the assurance that everything is okay in there, that you’re doing well and growing bigger!

* I love that your sister and brother love you so much already—they love to kiss and pat on my belly and talk to you. 

And if you’re still reading – bless your heart!!  You get rewarded with pictures!  

AMAZING…

I love technology….and modern medicine and the fact that because of those two things I get to have a glimpse at what this growing baby looks like at 20 (+/-) weeks before he makes his arrival (or before she makes her arrival).  It’s truly amazing to see this tiny little baby….perfectly formed (we even got to count 5 fingers on one of the hands….he wouldn’t hold the other one still enough to do any counting), wiggling and kicking, yawning, covering his/her eyes and even sucking his/her thumb.

Today was a bitter sweet though because as we were in the hospital relishing at our perfect little growing baby, a friend of mine was in the very same hospital undergoing a DNC because of a molar pregnancy.  This was their 3rd child too, and their first two are very close in age to Makenzie and Micah.  Join me in praying for their family tonight! 

We took both kids to the ultrasound – Micah was bored quickly and threw a huge fit, so Tom had to take him out in the hall.  Makenzie was pretty intrigued at first but when she figured out that we weren’t going to know if we were having a boy or a girl she lost her interest….she’s convinced we’re having a girl (and truth be told, I think might be a bit disappointed if I call from the hospital to say she has brother instead!)  Micah man says it’s a boy….probably more to disagree with his sister than anything….that’s just Micah!  And if we’re all voting….Tom says girl, I say boy – and in April we’ll all find out! 

Baby is measuring nearly a week big according to the ultrasound – but somehow weighs only 12 little tiny ounces.  A little depressing given that I’ve gained a whole lot more than 12 ounces in the last 20 weeks.  The entire 16 oz  container of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream I’ve eaten over the last 3 days probably isn’t going to help that either.

How cute are they??

We just had pictures taken of Makenzie and Micah -- go check them out!  It's late and I'm tired (the story of my life), so I'll write more another day...SOON though, I promise! 

http://lifeartphotos.blogspot.com

I ALMOST forgot I was pregnant….

I’ve decided that EVERYTHING changes when you’re on round 3 of being pregnant…and I don't want to just take this pregnancy for granted because this baby isn't any less of a miracle than the first two, but life is busy....and that business just changes things!  For instance, with both the other kids I’ve taken regular belly pictures starting at 12 weeks, this time we finally took the first picture today (16 weeks).  With Makenzie I read about every book their was to read on being pregnant….with Micah I reread a couple of my favorites and this time, I haven’t even thought about reading a book – I think I’m doing good if I read my weekly email to see what baby is up to this week.  And today, I literally nearly forgot I was pregnant.  I honestly don’t know how – particularly given that I’ve been running around all day with my jeans unbuttoned because they’re just too tight AND just this morning I was giving this baby a serious lecture about how its time to be done making his/her mama sick now that we’re 16 weeks along (isn’t morning sickness supposed to end with the first trimester)?!?
But tonight, I was doing a little online shopping (wishing may be a better word) and I found the cutest sweater that I was seriously thinking about ordering…..and then I remembered that I’m pregnant, and already outgrowing most of my “normal” clothes….and that I’ll be pregnant until April 22nd (give or take a few days) which means sweater season will be over and gone before I could even fit into a sweater if I bought one.  So, I’m headed to the basement to do a little shopping….in my tub of maternity clothes from the last two pregnancies.  And I’m blaming my forgetfulness on this baby…my brain seems to be missing and I’m just hoping it comes back soon! 

Reason # 6,542 I’m not winning any mom of the year awards…..

My poor little man spent the last 2 days running around with a fractured wrist.  AND….he fractured that wrist in the church nursery, under MY supervision.  ugh!

I’m not sure exactly how he did it – I watched him climb up into a glider rocker in the nursery Sunday morning and he was sliding back out of the chair when I turned to look at another kiddo, and the next thing I knew he was laying face down beside the chair screaming.  I didn’t think a lot of it, he did cry pretty hard, but he’d been overly emotional and clingy all morning…we came home from church and he didn’t eat any lunch, instead he snuggled on the couch with me and we both fell asleep.  He woke from his nap much, much happier and that was the end of it (or so I thought).  He went to daycare yesterday and I didn’t even mention anything to our daycare gal, then I was home with him today and several times he complained of his arm hurting, twice when I was holding his hands to pull him up.  After 4 separate incidents of him crying about his arm hurting (all before noon), I decided I better have him checked out….after 2 hours at the doctors office, we found out he had a buckle fracture in his wrist.  Poor little man!  Honestly though I think the cast bothers him almost more than the fracture!  He’s so stinkin cute though! 

Still feeling a little sorry for himself….and maybe hoping for a little sympathy!

Hamming it up for mom!

Letting sissy decorate his cast.  I think it might be just as hard to be the big sister who had to spend 2 hours in the doctors office and go home WITHOUT a cast!  

Just out of the bath….check out the plastic bag on the arm!  Is it permissible to resort to sponge baths when your toddler has a cast??  I can’t fathom how we’re going to keep that thing dry (or even slightly clean!!) for the next 3-4 weeks! 

It hasn’t slowed him down a bit, and thankfully he even went to bed without any trouble tonight… the glow in the dark cast must have been a good choice!  It was either that or purple.

Dilemma….

With Baby #3 on the way, we have a HUGE problem at our house.  I think I mentioned in my last blog….we have 2 bedrooms on the main floor of the house and the new house won’t be built for AT LEAST a year (I’m banking on it being closer to 18 months or 2 years…..but that’s another story).  Anyway, the bottom line is we’re stuck with the house we have now and we’re just going to have to make it work.  The solution: move everyone to the basement where we have 3 rooms that can be used as bedrooms.  I’ve decided to put Makenzie and Micah in the biggest room in the basement so that we have more room for toys in their bedroom (which will hopefully translate to less toys all over the rest of the house).  We have a set of old bunk beds that I’m going to paint black – and leave as 2 separate twin beds….no bunks yet!

So here’s the dilemma:  how do I decorate their room???  I’m trying to come up with semi-coordinating bedding that will look good together now but that I love enough to want to keep when we have a new house and they have their own rooms…..so far I’ve looked at no less than 50 websites and found NOTHING.  I take that back, I found one set…pink polka dots for Makenzie, blue polka dots for Micah….but I wasn’t thrilled with it. 

Today I started thinking about maybe just trying to find bedding for each of them that has one common color – maybe a green or brown….something that I can use for curtains and paint, and just not worry about the bedding matching or even coordinating for that matter. 

Any suggestions, comments, good ideas, etc are welcome – ready?? Go! 

A picture worth a thousand words…

That’s right, #3 is on his/her way!  Total surprise, totally unplanned.  Guess that’s what happens after your hubby is gone for a month! I might have had a minor freak out because (a) we only have 2 bedrooms on the main floor of our house and I thought we’d be moved into our newly built house by the time we had a baby #3 (b) I already had a size 4 bridesmaid dress in my closet for my sister’s January wedding and I’m pretty sure there’s no way in [you.know.where.] that my 6 month preggo belly is going to squeeze into that thing, (c) my due date is April 22nd….a mere 7 days after tax season ends…which means if this baby comes early my partners may want to kill me and (d) Micah man and this baby will be 26 months apart….which means there’s a good chance Micah man will still be in diapers and probably just in the swing of acting out his terrible twos!  Not to mention, Micah keeps me SO SO busy I thought it would be good to have an even bigger gap between he and the next one than we have between he and Makenzie!  Oh boy! 

The rest of this blog might be classified as TMI….so read on at your own risk. 

Saturday (Aug 20th) I got up thinking that my period should have started by now.  I was mildly annoyed by the fact it hadn’t because we were leaving the following Saturday for a 3 day camping trip….not what I wanted to be worried about while we were camping and tubing on the Niobrara River.  I thought then that I might be a day late but didn’t think much of it.  As the day went on, I realized I hadn’t even had any symptoms (i.e. cramping) which is pretty unusual…still didn’t think much of it though because I also hadn’t really had any pregnancy symptoms.  By late afternoon, I was beginning to get a little nervous so I got out the calendar….and then I freaked out.  I was an ENTIRE WEEK LATE….hello, this does not happen at least not to me, unless I am pregnant.   So I did what all rational people do….called one of my best friends.  Me: Uh Kim, what are you doing?  Kim: I’m at the mall with Connor. Me: Oh okay, I have a problem…..I think I’m pregnant.  Just what every friend wants to hear while they’re at the mall! Thank you Kim for helping me keep my sanity and assuring me that everything would be okay! 

I did tell Tom later that night (“uh….if I have earth shattering news, would you like to know??”), and then took a test the next day to confirm what I already knew.  BUT…we had to drive all the way to Kearney to get a test because I refused to buy on in Holdrege.  Well, I tried to buy one in town, but stupid Pamida keeps them behind a locked glass case…are you kidding me?!?!  Do you really think I’m going to go stand in a line of no less than 6 customers and then ask for a pregnancy test?  No thank you, I’ll drive to Kearney. 

Other than Kim my sister was the first to get to know…uh, Jenilea, how much do you love me?  Would you still love me if I had to wear a size 14 dress to your wedding?!?    Luckily, she said yes!  So that Monday morning I skipped out of work and drove straight to the bridal store to figure out what I needed to do about a dress.  Unfortunately, the answer really was order a size 14….its only 4 inches bigger in the belly than the size 4.  ugh!  The new dress is here and the lovely lady at the bridal store is prepared to work a miracle with this dress come December.  Three days later we finally let grandparents know…they got the frame with pictures at the beginning of the blog! 

One more funny thing….the week before I figured out I was pregnant, Makenzie told the babysitter her mom was going to grow a baby in her tummy (our babysitter is also pregnant), then two days later Makenzie asked me why my tummy was getting bigger…..I’m thinking this girl knew before I did!    She says we’re having a baby sister, so we’ll see just how much she knows….if she starts talking twins, I’m going to be scared!! 

Now we’re officially 10 weeks…had our first appointment today and had another minor panic attack when the doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat, but she did a quick ultrasound in the clinic and I got to see baby wiggling and bouncing around like a crazy kid!!  Nothing like seeing that tiny little perfectly formed human being  to make you thankful for the miracle growing in your belly!

What I’m Loving (this week)

Micah
* will FINALLY sit and read a book with me and it doesn’t even have to be a touch and feel book, we made it through Dr. Suess’ Foot Book three times today!
* won’t go to bed without kissing and hugging his sister….seriously, cutest thing ever!  He also loves to crawl in her bed and pretend he’s going to sleep there….tried it, it doesn’t work, but cute nonetheless!
* his enthusiasm every time he answers a question, whether it’s “are you ready for bed” or “do you want to go outside” the answer is almost always an cheerful “yah”…unless of course the answer is “uh-uh”
* tries to mimic EVERYTHING his sister does, her gymnastics moves, the way she spits her toothpaste out after she brushes her teeth, holds her stuffed animals…seriously Pete and Repeat.  Love it! 
* is cooking, cooking cooking….I love that he loves to help me cook, pretend he’s cooking…anything to do with cooking! 
* his love for EVERYTHING BOY –sticks, locust shells, anything he can turn into a weapon (although I don’t love it quite so much when he uses his new found “weapons” to beat his sister which also happens on a regular basis)
Makenzie
*  loves “bynastics”…and I love even more than she calls it “bynastics”
* has an uncanny ability to make her brother giggle – I love that she recognizes when he’s getting sick of the situation (particularly at the grocery store or any where else we might be shopping/running errands) and she goes into entertainment mode doing whatever she can to entertain Micah man.  The two of them laughing together is no doubt the best sound on earth! 
* is my favorite little helper!!  She loves to help with everything – she folds all the towels and washcloths on laundry days, she helps unload the dishwasher, cleans the lint trap on the dryer everytime we change loads of laundry, and LOVES to crack eggs when we’re cooking (which may or may not have meant daddy got egg shell in his birthday cake this week!)
* talks like she’s 3 going on 16….this week I’ve heard, “also,…” and “mom, I was going to tell you”
* tells me everyday “I love you and I like you….”
I think its safe to say I am blessed!! 

Growing Up Too Fast

How does it happen?  How did my "baby" Makenzie get big enough to go to gymnastics?  I managed to avoid all "big girl" things like preschool, for one more year but Makenzie decided this year that she wanted to do gymnastics, so we said goodbye to Kindermusik and signed her up.  Tonight was her first class and I was about in tears.  Pitiful, I know.  It's only a 45 minute class and she spends 9 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays in daycare....it's not the leaving her that gets me (although even after nearly 4 years of that it's still not easy), the thing that really gets me is just how grown up she is.  All of a sudden she's not even a toddler anymore (Micah man probably fits in that category....and I still think he's my baby)....she's a little girl.  A little girl who will start preschool next fall and Kindergarten the following year.  Oh my!  Time goes too fast! 

But it was super fun to watch her little gymnastics class and the smile on her face as she showed me all the things she learned was priceless! 

Have I mentioned lately that I love her?

Those of you that also stalk facebook have already seen this, but it’s too good to not share here too:

Makenzie: "I like to listen to God talk to me when I go to sleep."
Me: "Oh really, what does God say to you?"
Makenzie: "Well, last night when I was falling alseep God told me not to get up early or my mom would be crabby."

I had high hopes that Miss Makenzie would have another chat with God last night and we would all get to sleep in.  Not the case.  Might have had more to do with the promise of doughnuts this morning….but whatever the reason, she was up at 6:25 and was determined that she was not going back to sleep.  I managed to get her to snuggle with me for a whole 5 minutes before she decided she had to go potty and conveniently made enough racket while in the bathroom to wake her brother so that we all had to get up.  Anybody else wonder why children don’t like sleep?!?! 

We made our doughnut run though, so the morning is looking up.  Micah man is sitting in his highchair eating his with a spoon….just how doughnuts are meant to be eaten.   Love him too!! 

Barely functioning

That’s me…..barely functioning.  As in so tired I can hardly function when I get home from work.  Dishwasher is full of dishes that I’m going to leave until morning when I “hopefully” have more energy.  A load of laundry has been in the dryer since Tuesday because I haven’t found the motivation to fold it.  A blog that hasn’t been updated since August 24, and even then it was only a picture update.  Both babes are sleeping tonight and Tom’s gone for drill….normally the perfect time to get my house in order, my blogging done, read a good book, and just enjoy some “me” time, but instead I’m headed for bed.  At 9 pm on a Friday night.  Mercy!  I just keep telling myself, “maybe tomorrow…” 

Pictures (as promised WEEKS ago)

The kids and I spent a day at the Lincoln zoo during Tom’s drill weekend earlier this month.  I had forgotten just how great the Lincoln zoo is….so much smaller scale than Omaha, but totally “doable” for a mom by herself with two kiddos!  

Sorry the pictures are all you get today – I spent most of naptime taking a nap myself!   We get an extra couple days at home this week….poor Micah man has hand foot and mouth disease, so no daycare for us!  And, I probably lost my mom of the year award – the poor guy fevered all day yesterday and was a drooling, slobbering mess. I attributed it to his 2 top eye teeth that are just about to burst out of his poor swollen gums and when the fever was gone today I sent him to daycare.  He had a rash on his buns, but I blamed that on the fever yesterday…..less than 2 hours after I dropped them off at daycare, the babysitter called to say Micah had broken out in red spots on his hands, feet, and mouth.  Like I said…mom of the year.  Or maybe not. 

Quick 5 (Things I LOVE this week)

1.)  Makenzie’s new night light.  Less than $5 at Pamida and seriously a miracle worker!!  After I left for Texas for 4 days (which came at the end of Tom’s 30 days away from home), Makenzie went into some sort of crisis mode and decided she couldn’t sleep through the night.  Literally, EVERY.NIGHT.  She’d be in our room sometimes as many as 4 times…and each time I’d take her back to bed and lay in her bed with her until she fell asleep (sometimes I’d just sleep there the rest of the night because I’d fall asleep before she did).  Anyway…she always told me she was scared…so finally one day, I got smart and asked what her help her to not be scared.  She said leaving a light on….not really an option, particularly since she and Micah share a room….but we compromised, went to Pamida and bought a night light.  That was 10 days ago and she hasn’t been up a single time since!  LOVE that nightlight…and that girl….and the fact that the nightlight keeps the girl in her bed all night so I can stay in mine!

2.)  Micah’s pacifier.  Another miracle working tool at our house.  I tried to take it away today and after 20 minutes of screaming his head off at nap time, I gave it back.  I promise I’ll get rid of it before he starts Kindergarten, but for now it provides me a much needed break from Micah man’s high pitched screaming.  And, I just can’t resist when he looks at me with those big blue eyes and says in his saddest voice, “pa, pa, pa.”  LOVE the paci….and the boy….and the fact that my boy still takes 2 naps a day and sleeps all night if he has his paci so I can sleep too!  I promise not everything on this list has to do with me getting sleep!    

3.)  My new tomato cages….correction, tomato towers.  Pricey yes, but I love them.  For the first year ever, my tomatoes are actually still standing tall in their cages and I will actually go pick them.  Before I always made Tom pick because I was sure I was going to find a snake digging around on the ground through the huge mess of fallen tomato plants and cages.  

4.)  Netflix….actually, I THINK I’m going to love Netflix.  And yes, I realize I’m totally behind the times and any “cool” factor I might have had going for me is completely gone….but I’m okay with that….and I’m still excited about Netflix!  We don’t have cable/satellite etc.…..haven’t for 4 years and honestly I haven’t really missed it.  Tom cringes every year at football season and we talk about getting cable, but for the few football games a year we can usually find a place to watch the games (Thank you Bruce and Sharon!).  It started as just a way to save money –when we first moved to Holdrege, we still at our apartment in Lincoln, I was still in school and Tom had just graduated, so in an effort to cut back on bills, we decided not to get cable.  And I never missed it, so we just never got it.  (If Tom has missed it he hasn’t complained much…other than football season.)  My neighbor told me a week or so ago that I could get Netflix for $7.99 a month and watch it on tv through our Wii.  Hello, why didn’t I know this before now!!  I was hoping to try it out tonight but that didn’t happen, but hopefully by next week I can report that I really do love Netflix as much as I think I’m going to! 

5.) Cooler weather.  LOVE the weather these past few days, LOVE having my windows open, LOVE being able to play outside with the kids without thinking I’m going to die.  Makes me ready for fall. 

I’m off to bed (after all, its nearly 10pm on a Friday night, isn’t that what everybody does?!? )  Someday I’ll get pictures off the camera and onto the computer….and on here for you all to see!   Someday when I haven’t chased kiddos all day, cleaned out my flower beds and filled them with new mulch, sprayed roundup on all the weeds out front, chopped the weeds around the garden and cleaned my house so its ready to show tomorrow.  

A Love/Hate Relationship

I haven’t decided yet if I’m bipolar or just what causes me to have such a love/hate relationship with things….
1.)  Micah sharing my breakfast.  Every. morning.  Micah gets up and eats breakfast with Tom and then as soon as I sit down to the table, he’s ready for round 2…..but round 2 must consist of whatever I’m eating (and not his own version of whatever I’m eating…we’re talking share the same yogurt and eat off the same spoon….alternating bites.)  Cute, yes, but sometimes I just want to eat my own yogurt!!
2.)  Makenzie deciding she’s a mama’s girl.  She is almost always a mama’s girl and 99% of the time I love it (who doesn’t love being the favorite, right?)  But lately Micah has decided to be a mama's boy....and one mom demanded by 2 kids 24/7 equals a mama sometimes just needs a break! 
3.)  Building a house.  Tom and I bought two lots about a month ago and building is something I am SUPER excited about, but it is also causes me way more anxiety than it should.  I want to get started NOW, but we have to wait on the city to put in water/sewer/utilities (yes, it would be good to have indoor plumbing in the new house!) which will probably take until at least spring.  This means we don’t even start building until spring, but I’m antsy to get started on plans etc…..and getting a budget into place for this new house because the potential cost also has me freaking out! 
4.)  My job.  I absolutely LOVE my job, but I’ve spent most of the last two weeks trying to answer interrogatories and respond to requests for production of documents (translation: sorting through ridiculously huge stacks of my client’s records trying to decide what to give the opposing party)  I HATE discovery! 
5.)  Drill weekends.  It really is a lot of fun to spend a weekend in Lincoln once a month….it’s a great chance for me to see lots of friends I probably wouldn’t otherwise see, but it’s also such.a.pain.  Every light in the motel goes at at 8 pm when the kids go to bed.  At the slightest noise, Micah is standing up in his pack n play yelling “mama, mama”.  Morning nap = nonexistent.  Saturday afternoon naps generally go well….for all 3 of us, because after all  wouldn’t want to make any noise and wake the sleeping babes!  Sunday afternoon naps are nearly impossible – checkout time is noon, even with a “late” checkout, they want us out by 1 (aka naptime)….and we never know what time Tom will get done.  Sometimes as early as 1:30, sometimes not until 4…..totally stresses me out, and it never fails, if I lay kids down at a friends house, Tom is done as soon as kids are out.  If I keep them up or plan on naps in the car, he’s not done till  4 and I’m stuck trying to entertain two way too tired crabby kiddos. 
On a happier note, the kids and I spent Sunday at the Lincoln zoo….SO.MUCH.FUN.  Pictures coming soon!

Experiment….Take 2

As you can see from the last post….posting from Word was a colossal failure….pictures didn’t make it!  And after doing a little research I figured out that blogger and word aren’t compatible…at least not when it comes to pictures.  But Windows Live Write is supposed to be the solution…..we’ll see if it works! 

 

Experimenting….

So after my last post took me way to many hours and the picture formatting was still goofy, I decided to try out the blogging function in Word and then publish my post to my blog….we'll see how it works! Blogger is totally frustrating when it comes to pictures…pretty sure they couldn't have made it more difficult if they tried! J Here's a few more pictures of my babes and their daddy…..because we're glad he's finally home (and because I want to make sure I can upload them in word….and if you don't see any pictures on the blog, you'll know it didn't work.)

Anybody else wonder at what point they became no longer technology savvy?!?! How did I cross that line that now requires me to ask my little brother to program my numbers in my new phone because I can't figure it out and has me cussing at blogger because I can't arrange my pictures the way I want. Oh to be young again! J

 

What We've Been Up To

I feel like I have nothing to blog about and too much to blog about all at the same time...lots going on, but nothing really blog worthy.....and when I start to type and update I don't know where to start, so you get an update the easy way...in pictures!!  

1)  Go Fish concert in Kearney Friday night before I left for San Antonio....this is the 2nd concert we've been to and WE LOVE these guys!!  WE as in I like them as much (and maybe even more) than Makenzie does! :)  Even Micah man got in on this concert!  

10 commandment boogie

It took Micah a while to warm up....he's not a huge fan of loud (ironic since he is the KING of loud!) and our 3rd row seats were a bit noisy! :)  I'll take free snuggles though! 

2.)  San Antonio date weekend --I flew out Saturday morning for San Antonio and got to spend the weekend with my hubby.  He graduated Monday and then we hit the road (the 15 hour road) for home! 

                                                                                Lookin' good Captain Nelsen!

And an equally cute, Junior Captain Nelsen!

Makenzie LOVES singing Lord's Army (see Go Fish above)....and Micah LOVES to do anything his sister does, so when Makenzie got out her army hat, Micah got Da-da's army hat! 

3.)  Mmmm, mmmm sweet corn!  Seriously, how cute are these two! 

For the record, the Go Fish shirt did get washed after the concert and before she wore it this day! :)

4.)  What would summer time be without a county fair!  We hit up the Holdrege fair the day Tom and I got home from San Antonio, but the real treat was the Elwood fair this weekend! 

My little dare devil....the tilt-a-whirl and octopus were her favorites!! 

Good to be a family of four again....even if it does mean riding on a little tiny train at the county fair! :)