Whaley Wonder

Jack has a new adventure

2011-03-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

Jack decided the other day he wanted to poop on the potty. Well this would have to be one of the worst weeks for potty training I would have to say. I have two drs appts. Elaina has two, and I have the consignment sale this week. Not to mention I'm still healing from my second surgery that I had last week. But Jack says he's ready so I really don't want to miss this huge window of opportunity. You know?! Anyway, it is really wearing me out! He wants to go ALL day long and I mean ALL day. He woke up at 7:00 and before 8:30 hit he had already gone pee pee 4 times and poo poo 1 That's 5 trips to the potty in an hour and a half. He is only 2 1/2 years old so I'm letting him run around naked so at least I don't have to constantly pull his underwear up and down and he's learned to get the stool himself but I still like to be in there to make sure he's not doing anything gross. And I have to be there to wipe if he poops. I'm soooo worn out!! The last two days have been great though. I've had a good amount of energy and I've gotten things done around the house, but today I'm pooped out!! LOL. I'm praying today for energy and patience b/c when I'm worn out I tend to be very inpatient. I'm very proud of my big boy!

Luke's Arrival

2011-02-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

Luke came into the world on January 27th via C-Section. This surgery experience was by far the worst of the three. From the very start I knew it was going to be bad. My veins kept collapsing so the nurse couldn't get my IV in and tried multiple different spots. My veins have never done this before and I was so annoyed b/c another nurse came over and numbed the area and tried again and it worked. Why did they not do that to begin with I don't know but my arms were all bruised up from all the previous pokes. Then a guy (younger than me) in his residency, with NO personality, did my spinal. He couldn't get the spot numb and had to give me multiple shots before he could do the spinal. Oh, and the "attendant" that told me he would be in there watching him give me the spinal the whole time didn't even come in until he had already started the needle. After the spinal was done I started losing feeling but had a horrible sensation that I didn't experience with Elaina or Jack. It was like I had an EXTREME case of restless leg syndrome but couldn't move them. Oh it made me go crazy! Then I started vomiting.

When they tried pulling Luke out he must have been cozy b/c they tried and tried to get him out but he wasn't coming so they had to use the vacuum. And after what seemed like forever. . . I got to see that precious boy. He looked so much smaller than Jack but was an ounce heavier. I couldn't quite figure that out. He scored an 8 on his test and was a healthy boy. The sweetest part about the whole experience was when the nurse brought him over to see me she held him kind of close to my face, and as soon as I started to talk to Luke he about pushed out of the nurses hands to get closer to me. It was like he knew my voice and wanted to hear more. Elaina and Jack didn't do that.

I'm so glad Luke's here and the surgery experience is over.

Now on to the next chapter of my life. . . Stay at Home Mom of 3! Overwhelming but exciting!

Overwhelming To-Do List

2010-12-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well as I am waiting for some laundry to finish and taking a quick breather I thought I would document this lengthy list of "to-do's" before baby comes. My goal is to get these all done by the end of my winter break. . . so by Jan 2nd in other words.

Before Christmas:
Finish 3-4 purchases
wrap presents and organize stocking stuff
Clean House
put all kinds of "stuff" back where it belongs (why I can't do this part as I go each day is beyond me.)
clean the bathroom
clean the kitchen
clean all the floors
laundry, laundry, and more laundry (about 6 loads to be more accurate)

Before Jan 2nd:
Put away all the Christmas decor
finish nursery
paint the walls
place-arrange furniture in nursery
dye fabric for
rocker cushions
blanket
rug
and misc.
find 2 cheap curtain rods
make and hang curtains
make pillows for rocker
make crib sheet
make changing pad cover.
make/buy a wall hanging for the room
find some chunky frames
find pails or tubs for storage

Sometime before Baby comes:
put together the swing
put the carseat in the car
clean out the car
get a several must haves from store

I guess this is why I seem disconnected whenever people are talking to me :)
This list didn't just happen b/c I waited until the last minute but I am a teacher teaching a new grade that I've never taught and also a mother of two. It has also been a stressful year b/c of many other things too but nonetheless I will overcome and only with the Lord's strength and help I'll make it.

Now I'm off to check off some more things on the never ending list. Oh and I welcome any prayers for the ones that might be reading.

Announcing Boy or Girl!

2010-10-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

I wanted to be a little creative with announcing the sex of this baby. I decided to have family over for icecream and cookies. I made blue goody bags and pink goody bags which each person chose according to what they thought it was. Then they ate there icecream with a hidden blue or pink piece of gum inside. That is how everyone found out what we were having. J.J guessed boy and I guessed girl. I thought it was a girl b/c I had a lot of similar cravings with my daughter. I also had a dream when I was pregnant with Jack that we had two girls and a boy. They both bring so much joy into my life that I really didn't care which one but Elaina really wanted a sister so I was kind of pulling for her.

It's been too Long!

2010-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Well like the title states, it has been too long since my last post. Life for me sometimes seems to be on fast forward mode and I wish I could slow things down instead. Teaching a new grade has been a real challenge for me. I sometimes feel like I'm a first year teacher again. And being pregnant on top of that is exhausting. I'm finally over the sickness and not nearly as tired as I have been, but since I don't exactly have a lot of time left I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with everything I have to do before he comes. Anyway, with God, I'm making it. I'm now going to post several short posts highlighting the past few months.

Miracle Child

2010-07-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

This is my precious miracle niece. My sister-in-law published a picture of her today and I just had to share. A little background: She was born in early April this year at around 1 pound. I can't remember exactly if she was 1 lb 5 oz or 1 lb 7 oz. As you can see in the first picture she was tiny. The ring is a size 6 or 6 1/2 I can't remember that exactly either but it fit over her hand like a bracelet. The last picture is what she looks like today. She is now off all oxygen, weighs over 7 lbs, and is waiting for the day she can come home from the hospital. They are waiting on some test results but we are praying for her homecoming. I know her two sisters and brother are excited to get her home too. This has been such a long exhausting journey for them all but God is good. The Lord decided to take her two triplet brothers home to be with him one before and the other shortly after their birth. Though we are so saddened by the loss we are also thankful and blessed to be able to see the miracle of this sweet Charli girl. What a joy to be able to see fat rolls on a baby!

Welcome surprise

2010-07-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when we came home from running around there was a long slithering surprise waiting on our front porch. . . a snake!! It caught me off guard and I thought for a minute that J.J was trying to play a joke on me. I didn't remember seeing it when we left so that made me think differently plus it just looked real. Well I backed away back to the car to call him and see if he was playing a joke. While I was waiting on him to answer the snake moved! I didn't know what to do. It wasn't extremely close to the front door but I still didn't want to take any chances especially since I had my kids with me and it takes a little longer to get inside the house while holding the door open with kids. You Know!? Yuck! I poked it with a very long stick and it barely moved. I thought it might be dying and felt a little safer to get the kids out of the car at that point. I told Elaina I thought the snake was dying so we should be o.k. but we needed to still hurry . . . and that sweet caring thing started thanking God for the snake like she really wanted him to help the snake or something. Doesn't really surprise me b/c this child isn't afraid of anything. This morning she was telling me that she wished we could have caught it to put in her room as her pet. LOL!

Daughter Date

2010-07-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

J.J and I decided to take Elaina to see Toy Story 3 the other day just the three of us. Jack got to spend time with Grandma all by himself. The movie was super cute and b/c I'm so sensitive hearted I cried at several parts. I know I know! Crying during Toy Story is a little crazy but there is something about having children to me that makes things even more sentimental. My heart strings get pulled a lot more now that I have kids is what I'm trying to say, and when I see a mom hugging her son and getting emotional because she knows she'll miss him when he goes off to college. . . even if it is an animated character. . . well . . . it's just so sad b/c kids grow up too fast. I know with just a couple more blinks my sweet Elaina will be heading that way herself. Anyway, she loved the movie and laughed through the whole thing. We all three had a great time.

Go to sleep.

2010-07-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

A while back a friend of mine tried to show me what her kids taught Jack and he would never do it for me. Well a couple weeks ago he did it for me kind of by accident. I told him it was time for him to go to sleep and he did it on cue. It is really adorable. Don't forget to pause the music so you can hear the video.

Kids and Technology

2010-06-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

This is my son using my husbands ipod touch. I find this amazing because it took me longer to learn how to operate it. He's only 22 months! This video is actually the second one. The first one I tried to get to record so fast I just turned it on and off again and didn't realize it. Of course the first one was so much better b/c it showed him searching through the games and selecting different ones to play, but this one is still pretty cute.

Feeling Good

2010-06-07T17:21:00.000-07:00

So it has been about a week now since I started my schedule. I'm feeling good ya'll! Here is a general idea of my schedule:

Morning Routine:

6:15 a.m wake up, take a shower, and get my self ready for the day.

(I know that's early to most of you but I'm usually up by 5:45 during the school year and I thought 30 more minutes of sleep each morning is perfect for now)

6:45 start a load of laundry

7:00 my kiddos start making their voices known about now. They're usually good to stay in their beds for about 15 minutes, so that gives me enough time to eat some breakfast and check my email. Then I get them up and feed them.

7:30ish I go finish getting ready (dry hair, fix hair, etc) while the kids watch a T.V show.

8:00 I put the clothes in the dryer and play with my kids for about an hour.

9:00 The kids have quiet time in their room on the bed with some quiet toys and books. This is when I start on one of the "To-Do List" items or eventually (hopefully) a fun project for the house or kids.

10:00-12:00 is pretty much unscheduled time I might run to a store, take the kids to the pool or sprinkler park, or the library, just something that gets us moving and out of the house.

12:00 lunch and T.V show

12:30 or 1:00 nap time for kids. This is my dedicated time for the Lord just Him, me, and the Bible. This is actually perfect timing for me b/c this is when I start getting tired and need a pick me up. Whatever time I end up finishing I then go fold the laundry if I haven't already and do another item on the "To-Do List."

3:00 ish the kids start waking up

3:00-5:30 another unscheduled time, I try to start dinner and just let the kids play a lot during this time. I might have to run somewhere during this time too.

5:30 Husband is HOME!!

Nighttime Routine:

Before I go to bed I make sure I do a couple things. I've been doing them before I sit down in the late evening b/c I know if I wait too long there is a high potential of me falling asleep on the couch. :) LOL then all I'll want to do is make it to the bed and go back to sleep. So anyway, I do these things:

I make sure all the dishes are out of the sink

I set the dirty laundry, that I'll do in the morning, in the laundry room

I fix my kids milk and juice cups

I lay out my outfit for the next day

I check my "hot spot" in my bedroom and put away whatever might have been left there.

I shine the kitchen sink

I know all that sounds like a lot but it hasn't taken me more than 10 minutes any night. I wake up in such a good mood too. There is just something to be said about waking up to a shiny sink. :)

So what all have I accomplished this week you ask? Well. . .

I went through just about everything in one of the "extra" spaces down stairs. It's been a mess since we moved in 5 years ago. YIKES! I started going through my "hobby" space too. Between the two spaces, I gathered 3 large containers of stuff/junk to sell in a yard sale and about the same amount of trash. Yeah me!! I'm also 1 load of laundry away from being all caught up on my laundry. This is just about a miracle. My laundry room was so piled with clothes there was stuff in there, at the bottom of the pile, I hadn't seen in months maybe even 8 months WoW! Another accomplishment was I cleared off the shelf in the laundry room and dusted it and painted a clear coat on it so it'll be easier to get the dust off next time. I won't say how long it had been since I dusted that shelf. Well. . . okay. . never. another Yikes!! I also reorganized the "junk" drawer in the kitchen. That sounds a little funny to say hee hee! organized junk. Let's see. . . what else have I done . . . I can't think of anything else major but I'm still very proud of myself. It hasn't been easy sticking to the schedule but I'm so glad I am. I've forgotten to set the timer each time too. Oops!

Here's what I'll wake up to in the morning!

Do you hear singing?! Maybe that's just me. :) hee hee!!

Summer Plans

2010-06-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

I have some Big summer plans! It's not the beach. . . . or some crazy fun amusement park. . . . or the Grand Canyon . . . or any vacation at all actually. So what is it you ask? My house is going to get organized! I know you're probably confused right about now, but those are some BIG plans. You see, I never can do a quick, good job at cleaning my house b/c every time I go to put something away I notice that the closet or drawer or container I go to put "it" away in is disorganized or a mess. So then I start trying to organize it. I get so distracted and before you know it . . . an hour and a half later. . . I've got a bigger mess than I started with and my house. . . .NOT cleaned or picked up. Call it OCD . . . ADD. . . or what ever b/c I'm sure I've got something. It's bad ya'll. First, I'm going to make a daily schedule and stick to it. I'll post it here as soon as I finish it. I'll have things that I'll do as soon as I wake up and before I go to bed. There will be no if ands about it. The tasks will be 15 minutes or less. Who can't work at something for 15 minutes. I'm also going to do something I do for my students in my class that have a hard time staying focused. . . set a timer. After the timer is up I have to stop and do the next task. I don't think this will be a problem but I'm curious to find out. LOL I'll also have a "to-do" list. I'll have 2 times in the day that will be dedicated to knocking out something on that list. I will only allow myself to work for 30 minutes on these tasks. Some might only take 5 minutes. . . others might not be finished in the 30 minutes. It'll be hard to stop if the task isn't finished, but that's part of my frustration is spending hours on something and the day is gone. Plus I have two little ones who need me too. So, . . . again . . . I really don't know how all this is going to play out. But we'll all know soon enough. I also have "fly-lady" on my side.

My husband is taking off today so we can have some family fun so this schedule will begin tomorrow. I'm going to keep you up to date with my journey and I'm excited that you are following it. Please feel free to comment with anything that you're thinking. I love comments.

Mother's Day

2010-05-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

J.J tried to get some quick pics of me and the kids like we do every Mother's Day and like every Mother's Day . . . the kids didn't want to cooporate. :) He did manage to get 2 or 3 good ones out of . . . oh. . . 45 pictures. LOL

Princess Party

2010-04-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Elaina has been so excited about her 4th birthday for literally 6 months now. She said she wanted a princess party (again) so that's what I did. . . again.

ladies and men consignment sale

2010-03-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

One of my friends has started her own consignment business. It is a twice a year event and the first one is April 8th-10th. She will be selling clothing for women and men, accessories, and small household decorating items. If you live near Knoxville and would like to either consign some of your old items or just shop click on the link below.
http://flipflopconsignment.blogspot.com/

I Live for Spring Weather!

2010-03-13T17:21:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love spring! We went straight to the park after church a couple weeks ago and had a blast. The pictures really show how much the kids enjoyed it. Elaina is such a hoot. She wanted to wear a dress but right as we are going out the door she throws a big fit. Neither J.J nor myself could understand what the fuss was all about. She finally calmed down enough to tell us, "It's not nice for my friends to see my underwear!!. . . I want my shorts on under my dress, so that will be nice." I tried not to giggle, b/c she was serious. Oh my little tomboy princess. Here we are at the park. Jack loved it when we chased him through the grass and pushed him in the swing. Elaina still likes going in the toddler swing so we can push her "to the sky."

Is Fishy Going to Make it?

2010-02-23T18:21:00.001-08:00

After putting Elaina to bed I told hubby I was going to run to CVS really quick. When I came home he wasn't sitting on the couch and I didn't see him. Then I hear him coming down the stairs, and he has Elaina's bath towel in his hand. I find this a little odd since she was in bed when I left, so my first thought was she got sick or something. Hubby gave me this look and said I think she just killed her fish. I said "WHAT! . . . What Happened?" Well. . . these are now my hubby's words, "she wanted to feed her fish and I told her that I already did. . . .she got mad and said she wanted to feed her fish. . . I told her sorry and that she could do it tomorrow. . . . then went down stairs. . . . a few minutes later I think I hear her so I go up there to check on her" (we have always had this rule ever since she went to a big girl bed that she wasn't allowed out of her bed during bedtime unless she asked permission. . . you see we have heard horror stories about things that happen to the house, the kids, etc when you think they are asleep and all is well when really they are up doing something crazy sneaky. She has only broke this rule 3 times in 1 and a half years, so she's done very well if you ask me) anyways . . . back to my husband's words. . . "When I went in there I saw her kissing her hand and saying 'I love you fishy' . . . I thought. . . . . . surely not". . .

but there was poor fishy being squeezed by our daughter. I just put my hand over my mouth in shock and giggled and was a little mad at the same time. I just can't believe she would first get out of bed. . . then feed her fishy HALF the jar of food, and THEN take him out of the tank to love on in her BED! . . . Oh wait. . . this is Elaina I'm talking about. . . . yes I can believe it, but poor fishy. She is just sitting at the bottom of the tank. . . breathing. . . .but probably her last breaths. It's sad. I wonder if she's suffering? She swims around every now and then but in a slanted way. Maybe Elaina broke one of the fish's bones. Elaina was so upset though. I also feel sorry for her too. She kept telling me, "I don't want fishy to die momma". . . then she would cry out really hard. . . "Did I kill fishy momma?" I just tried to be as gentle as possible and say I think fishy isn't going to make it. Fish are supposed to stay in water sweetie or they'll die and people aren't supposed to hold them b/c they are very fragile. She said "oh. . . . I'm sorry I disobedient momma. . . I'll obey" Oh I just wanted to cry for her. She was truly hurt by knowing she hurt fishy. She has always been the child that has to learn things the hard way, so maybe she'll learn from this. I just hope it doesn't traumatize her for life. Yikes!

This was taken the day we got the fish.

My Husband is Wonderful!

2010-02-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

My husband decided today, on his own, to clean out my car. . . it might have been that he was disgusted with the mess, the warm weather made him want to be outside . . . whatever the reason I know he did it b/c he loves me. . . even my slobbyness. For the ones of you that have followed my blog for a while might remember the annual car cleaning post a while back. Well he did such a good job with putting everything back right when he walked it that I didn't even get a chance to see what all was in there. He is so good. I would have just brought in all the bags of junk and they would have sat there for at least a week. I'm such a slob!. . . . no really . . . I am.

I'm about to go check it out. I'm so excited!!

New Blog

2010-02-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

Hey one or two readers! :) I'm starting a new blog that will talk about and show the projects I'm working on at home. I'm hoping to get followers for this new blog so please share with everyone you know. I'll be doing a giveaway soon so that might be a time to really get the word out. I don't have much on there right now, but my plan is to do one post a week for now. Being a working mom of two I don't have much time to do that many projects but the ones I do complete I would like to have in one spot so others might get inspired and try things too. So go on over and check it out! Let me know what you think.

http://embellishmentsandthings.blogspot.com

Photo Booth

2010-02-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

I've started thinking about ideas for my sweet Elaina's third Ooops did I say third I mean fourth birthday coming up in April and I am having such a difficult time. I've seen lots of cute ideas, but I just can't make my mind up. Elaina says she wants a princess party which she had, basically, last year. But when I ask her which friends she wants to come she names like 8 boys and 3 girls. LOL I've tried telling her that boys will not want to come to a princess party, but that's what she tells everyone when they ask her what kind of party she's having. One thing I know I'm going to do is the photo booth idea that I've seen everywhere lately. I had never heard about it until by sister-in-law told me the photographer at her sister's wedding did it and it was so much fun. I thought it was a crazy cute idea and within weeks I noticed that idea all over the web. It's basically where you set up a place with a simple backdrop (sheet of polka dot or striped fabric works great) and have the guests stand in front of it and smile or act silly. It looks like they are in a photo booth. So far, that's the only idea I got. Any ideas? She's girly . . . but in a tomboy kind of way if that makes any sense at all. She likes to dress up, but them a second later she is running through the house trying to catch "bad-guys" and telling me she needs a Monster Truck like Jack. . . . That's my girl!

Sweater Pillow

2010-01-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you remember the leg-warmers that I made earlier out of the sleeves of an old sweater, but one of my sweet friends from "happily home" told me I should make a pillow out of the rest. What a great idea! So I did and I am so pleased with how it turned out. I did it the short way and did not sew in a lining, so it only took me about 20 minutes. Slip stitching took me over half the time. I'm going to go browse my closet for some more old clothes to do something with. Yippee I'm excited.

Pants too short?

2010-01-30T06:38:00.000-08:00

Elaina had these pants that fit her in waist but not length. They were about two inches too short. Well, she doesn't have many spring and summer clothes, and we have cut our spending budget a lot. I have gone through her closet many times trying to find pieces that I can refurbish. Pieces that I wouldn't get much for at the consignment sale. All I had to do was measure her from the waist to her knee, cut straight across, turn under twice, press it, then sew all the way around. This was about a 10 minute project.

I don't like to waste anything, so I took the left over pieces and made cute flowers to pin on one of her shirts. I'm not sewing them on the shirt for two reasons. . . the flowers won't hold up in the wash and it's an easy way to have two shirts in one ;) All I did was cut out 3 imperfect circles, folded them in half and half again, stuck a needle through the pointed ends and tightened them by going through the pieces several more times. It was really easy! I'm not claiming any of these ideas as my own because I'm sure they came from somewhere just not sure where.

Twinkle in My Eye

2010-01-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

After coming home from grocery shopping today my husband told me something so sweet that our precious Elaina said while I was gone. Seriously she must just watch too much t.v. or something cause I don't know where she gets this stuff y'all. Here is what she said,

"Daddy. . . you know how I'm your little monkey? . . . Baby Jack is my little monkey." Then a little later she said, "you see this twinkle in my eye? . . . it's b/c you let me play." I got teary eyed and about lost it. These moments really keep me smiling.

Junk Room Reveal

2010-01-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

This room is one of the "extra" spaces in our downstairs. I've always called it my craft/junk room. It has needed a cleanin for a very long time, but for some reason I never cleaned it up. I decided today to take it on while my sweeties were napping. I couldn't get it all done of course, but it looks so much better. Don't you think?

BEFORE

AFTER

My Day Off

2010-01-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah for snow days! I love being a teacher. I love being a mom even more which makes snow days that much sweeter. Not only do I get to stay home from "work" I get to spend time with my kiddos.

During my youngest child's morning nap I got inspired and worked on a very short project. I was visiting some of my favorite "make-stuff" blogs. You can find them on the right side of the screen under "my blog list." I had this old sweater that has been in the "good will" box forever and I just didn't know if I really wanted to get rid of it or not. It didn't fit me right so I knew I would never wear it. Well, I had an idea after looking at the other blogs. Here it is.

I cut the sleeves off first. I turned up the wrist end and sewed it. I turned in the upper end and sewed elastic around it. I haven't sewn with elastic for a while so I don't think I did it the best way but it'll work. And there it was . . . leggings. Sometimes Elaina doesn't want to wear the stuff I make for her :( but she liked these.

Then I got another idea! The leggings kept slipping down and I thought. . . leg warmers! So I pinned an adorable crocheted flower a friend made me (handmade baby gifts link under blog list) just below the knee. CUTE! I don't know why I think these are so cute but I just love them. Total time invested? 18 minutes! Can you believe it? It took me longer to post this than make the leggings if you can believe that.

Looking too old!

2009-12-18T15:26:00.001-08:00

I tried very hard to get a good picture of the two together and failed miserably. I started thinking it was because I'm their mom and no kids sit still and smile for their mom. . . right? Well, I took them to a studio. . . . yes I know that's not like me, but I was desperate and I had a coupon. So I thought the worst that would happen would be I'd be out 8 bucks. Jack and Elaina were in a great mood and they got us right in. Well, their was this awesome photographer "in action" when we walked in. She was so sweet and child friendly. She went a little overboard with all the sounds and cheesy motions but hey. . . it got the kids that she was photographing smiling. I thought this was going to be great, but of course she told the other lady that was working she needed a break when it was our turn. So we got the grumpy, not friendly, in a hurry lady, and the second Jack saw she needed his attention he flipped out! I mean. . . it was like he saw a scary monster or something. The lady was cute just not the kid friendly type. It took Jack 15 minutes to warm up and trust her and by then Elaina was acting wild and crazy. She wouldn't sit still or do anything the lady asked. And to top it off the photographer kept saying, "you need to stop and listen." It was just weird hearing a photographer try and get a kid to smile by telling them they weren't listening. I thought at that point Elaina would start crying or act shy, but no she continued on her crazy streak. J.J and I were both so frustrated and ready to pull our hair out by the end. After 42 pictures only 4 turned out cute. I wanted them black and white and they told me the coupon didn't work for black and white. Are you Kidding me!? Please remind me to never go to a studio again. I'm starting to think it might be worth paying the $150 for one of the on location photographers to take their pictures. . . Ne. . . I'm not that desperate yet, but if anyone knows someone that does that for a great price let me know.

You could win a Christmas CD

2009-12-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

Check out my blog list on the right, and click on the Happily Home blog for your chance to win an amazing Christmas CD. My friend Angie is the artist and what a beautiful voice she has!

Candy Beware!

2009-10-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have been on a new diet for about 5 months now and I hope my heart is telling a difference. The main difference I made in my diet was taking out partially and hydrogenated oil of any kind. You see the FDA allows companies to put ZERO grams of trans fat per serving on the box as long as each serving is less than .5% Well that's all fine and dandy if you are only going to eat one serving per day and that's it. I have found that if the box says: ZERO GRAMS OF TRANS FAT period and that's it than it is true but if the box throws in the "PER SERVING" after it than watch out. Well, since candy if one of my weak areas I thought I would help some of you out. The ones who are jumping on this band wagon anyway. I'm going to list the candy that I have found with NO partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oil in them. Believe it or not there are some out there.

Reese's Cups (the original not any of the newer Reese's candy like the crunch or pieces etc)

Kit Kat

Plain M&Ms (most others are not good sorry peanut butter M&M lovers)

York peppermint patties

Hershey Kisses (the original)

100 Grand

Milk Chocolate Ghirardelli

Life Savers hard candy

I'm still doing some research so I'll list more soon

Here are a few to STAY AWAY FROM!

Skittles (I know. . . I can't believe it either)

Starbursts

tootsie rolls

Tootsie Pops

Baby Ruth

Heath Toffee Bar

Chewy Sweetarts

The best thing for you to do is take a second to flip over to the list of ingredients and look for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. If it has it than you know your body is getting trans fat which have been proven to cause heart disease. That nasty stuff stays in your body for 51 days too.

Virginia Creeper

2009-10-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

We had the lovely opportunity to join a group of friends from church last weekend and do the Virginia creeper. When we were first asked to go I wasn't quite sure. I heard 17 miles and I knew it wasn't for me. After all, I wouldn't consider my self the "biker" type. But, when I heard "down hill" I said, "well count me in on this one!" The scenery was astounding and the weather was perfect. We stopped about 4 or 5 miles into the trail for some lunch and visited the old train station they have there at the rest stop. It was set up like a little museum. Very neat! Then we were off again to coast down hill about 12 more miles. Never once did the thought of me wrecking cross my mind, but it happened. I don't exactly know how, but it wasn't pretty . . . no matter what people may say. At least I didn't hit my head. I do remember purposely holding my head up high as I was falling so I would "hopefully" keep from hitting it. After a few minutes I was ready to ride again, but sweet Kelly traded bikes with me so I could reach the ground better. I blame my wreck on me not being able to reach the ground on my bike. My tip toes barely touch the ground when I sit on the bike. It's pretty sad I know. My wreck has nothing to do with me not riding it in about 3 years and not having good balance. . . no . . . not at all ;) So Santa better put some biker gloves in my stocking this year. . . and elbow pads, knee pads, a helmet, oh what the heck he better throw in a face mask while he's there too.
But on a serious note. . . I am very lucky that I didn't get more hurt than I did. I hope I have learned my lesson. I guess I'll find out next year because I do want to do it again minus the wreck of course. It was truly fun and I can't wait! Here are a few pics. The one of the dirt is in memory of my fall. LOL!

This made me laugh

2009-09-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this story will be as funny in writing, but I found it quite hysterical just a moment ago. Elaina was doing her usual pee pee dance so I asked her if she had to go to the restroom and she said, "umm, yeah." Then she starts to hold the back end too. :) She says that she has to do both. We make it to the potty and as soon as she finishes her first job she says, "pee. . . check" (like she's checking it off her list of things to do) then she finishes her second job and says, "poopie. . . check." I'm not sure where she got this, but it made me laugh. I hope it made you laugh too.

Baby Jack is 1

2009-08-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

It has been an amazing year!! It has gone fast . . . with the occasional slow periods, but I've enjoyed the ride more than you could imagine.
Random thoughts about Jack:
He seems to be on accelerator mode with learning new things right now. He can say several new words and has recently started more baby signs. For the past few weeks he has been saying what sounds like "nneighna" and it turns out he says it every time he sees Elaina. I would have never thought he would say Elaina before "ball" or "dog" or some other one syllable word, but he did and it is super sweet. He also started saying ball the day before his birthday.
He extremely dislikes getting dressed and having his diaper changed. It has to be the biggest struggle I have with him. I've thought several times, "I wonder what people would think if Jack only had a diaper on every time they saw him?" Honestly, I've thought it. So if you see him with only a diaper on I've most likely given up!
He loves to eat Anything, (except baby food). You name it he probably has eaten or at least tried to eat it. Paper, shoes, boxes, socks, books, furniture, and the occasional cheerio that he's found laying on the floor. :) Please don't turn me in!
Today at the doctor he weighed just over 20 pounds. He is still below average in height and weight but he doesn't seem it to me.
Here are a couple pictures from the week he was born and his first birthday. I hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

More tiny Steps

2009-08-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Please excuse the terrible video, but hey . . . I at least caught it on tape this time. You might want to mute it. The ladies voice in the background is crazy annoying :) :)

First Steps

2009-08-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

So, to my surprise, when I picked Jack up Monday I was told he walked from the coffee table to the couch. It was very hard for me to believe this because Jack hadn't even walked using a push walker yet. Well one or two steps but not truly walking. It was only about 2 or 3 steps from the coffee table to the couch but still I found it hard to believe. So when I get home I stand him up and he stands there by himself for about 5 seconds (4 seconds longer than I'd ever seen him do before), smiles really big, takes two wobbly steps and falls into my arms laughing. J.J said he noticed Jack standing by himself for a few seconds over the weekend, but I never really got to see it much. It was like Jack would only do it when I wasn't looking. ;) I really don't think Jack realized he had let go though. Anyway, he took the two steps and of course I didn't have the video camera b/c I honestly didn't think he would do it. When I tried to video it he wouldn't do it, but I did get some fun footage of him zooming around with the push toy which I had never seen him do before Monday. I hope you enjoy. Push pause on the music before you start. Elaina was fighting for attention so try to tune her out :)

What, School Monday!?

2009-08-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Yes school is back in session as of Monday the 17th. I got to meet my students today. Well, most of them. I have to admit I am excited and they all seemed super sweet. God always reveals amazing things each year, so I'm pumped to see what he's up to this year. Not only did the kids seem sweet but the parents seemed great as well. One girl in particular, bless her, wanted to play with my filing cabinet and I told her it was for the teacher only and to stick the key back in the slot and that would be fine. Well, she stuck it back in the slot just not the key hole slot that I was talking about. She stuck it in the slot between the drawers so now the filing cabinet is locked with the key inside :) Ooops! Oh Well. I don't have a back up as I didn't foresee this happening, but I'm sure I'll figure out a way to break into it. The mom felt horrible, but we both just laughed it off. That was the most interesting one, and how much do you want to bet she'll end up being one of my favorites. No I'm serious! She probably will. I'll be letting you know how the first week goes.

2009-07-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What a sweet, amazing blessing! We just enjoyed the best time together at Myrtle Beach

The kids had a great, memorable time, and J.J and I completely enjoyed being away from Knoxville for a little while. Elaina Loved (and that would be an under-statement) the trip. She spent most of her free time in the large baby pool. She has become quite the swimmer. She did incredible in the car to and from. Thank you God for giving the wisdom to whoever invented the portable DVD players. She was in movie "heaven." Jack, on the other hand, :) didn't do as good. Why is it when you leave close to bedtime you don't get any sleepers and when you leave in the morning you get. . . sleepers? Let me explain. We thought it would be good to get a jump start on the traveling on Saturday evening close to their bedtime so maybe they would fall asleep and we could drive 3 or4 hours while they were sleeping. They didn't sleep at all! We stopped to sleep somewhere for the night and got up early the next morning to finish our drive. What did they do an hour into the drive? Fall asleep! It was only for 45 minutes but still. Another ironic thing is I wasn't tired driving at night either, but in the morning I had to fight to keep my eyes open. Why is this? Anyway, the trip felt short but we are so thankful that God allowed us this amazing opportunity. Around the first of July I started feeling a bit anxious b/c my summer was quickly coming to an end and I didn't feel like I had had much of a vacation. We hadn't done much as a family at all and that's always what I get so excited about for summer. Well since I took so much time (wonderful time) off for family leave after Jack, we just didn't have much in savings. I didn't want to share my disappointment with J.J right away because I didn't want him to feel bad or like he wasn't providing. Well I started praying for God to show opportunities and give me wisdom. I felt silly at first praying for a break and a time away, but I truly needed it. So, J.J came home the next week telling me about how he searched and searched placed to go for a short vacation and how there were strings he could pull to make it happen. I was tickled. It was so sweet hearing others excited for us too. We are truly blessed beyond measure!

Lastly, God has spoken wonderful things to me through the book Shepherding a Child's Heart which I had time to finish during the trip. :) another God thing! I was recommended this book by a precious friend of mine and I am now wanting the world to read it. I can't say enough about this book. God has called us to do very specific things in regards to raising his children, and this book makes it easy to understand that raising a child isn't all about what our culture has made it. . . being positive all the time. . . not spanking. . . .making sure they feel good about themselves. . . telling them they need a good education so they can make lots of "MONEY" . . . .etc. Behavior comes from the heart. Proverbs 4:23 states it like this, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." In other words, if we aren't dealing with the heart of our children then it is hard for them to know and understand who God is and why he sent his son. Reading this book parallelled with the Bible, has taught me so much about my own heart and God has graciously revealed many mistakes I have been making as a parent. I am so thankful my children are still so young. But it also talks about what to do if your children are older. It is a "must read!"

Scroll down and pause music to the right before playing

2009-06-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

This couple's son recently passed from drowning, and this video reveals the strength only the Lord can provide. It spoke to me in an amazing way, I pray it does the same for you.

If you have time, check out his other videos too. He has a lot of good things to share about God's love.

Firefly Fun

2009-06-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

We didn't have power for quite a while tonight so we let Elaina stay up later than usual and before she laid down to bed we went out back to visit the fireflies. We must have hundreds of them just in our backyard and the couple that back up to ours. It is so beautiful watching them flicker all over the place. Elaina thought it was so cool. She didn't care catching them either. There are so many, all you have to do is slowly move your hand around for a few seconds and before you know it. . . one's landed right on your hand. It was such a sweet time. I'm going to have to let her stay up later more often this summer. Her little voice saying, "fireflies are so nice mom, they like me mom, I like them too." is just so sweet. Oh the simple things that bring so much joy!

exhausting weekend

2009-06-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

I finally saved up enough money to buy a play set for Elaina and Jack. Elaina loves to climb, slide, swing, and be outside. We aren't 100% finished building it yet, but very close. I'd say 95% finished. We either lost a bolt or it was missing, so we have one bolt to attach to a bottom support piece and then stake it to the ground. J.J worked so hard putting it together. I wish I could have helped more than I did, but I had to also take care of Elaina and Jack too. We probably would have finished a couple hours earlier, but it took about 13 hours. We started Saturday late afternoon and worked until dark and then again mid-afternoon on Sunday til dark. Long and exhausting is all I have to say. I can't wait to hear what comes out of Elaina's mouth tomorrow when she sees it and actually gets to play on it.

2009-06-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Oh There You Are!

2009-06-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

So I tried to do something productive today and clean out my car. I wish I could say I am a neat and tidy person, but I'm creative and "they" say creative people aren't neat and tidy. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So anyway, I thought I'd gain a few laughs by letting you know a few of the items I found during the clean out. Here goes. . .

*4 plastic bowls

*3 plastic cups

*2 bottle lids

*4 pairs of Elaina's shoes (granted these were the uncomfortable ones that she "obviously" didn't wear much.)

*4 winter hats

*a pair of gloves

*one of Jack's jackets, one of my jackets, and two of Elaina's jackets

* four random socks of Elaina's without their match (What!?)

*5 toy balls

*etc. . . etc. . . etc

I collected two wal-mart bags of trash, one target bag of toys, and one target bag of dishes and clothing items: (all were busting at the seams might I add)

Not to mention that a hungry person could have at least eaten enough crumbs to get by for a few hours.

Wow! I am a slob. . .a filthy. . . disgusting. . . SLOB!

:) I'll let you know what I end up finding next year at my "annual" car cleaning :0 lol

Ouch!

2009-06-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jack fell out of his crib. I should have moved his mattress down sooner, but he just started pulling up to standing the other day so I thought I had at least a day or two. Well, I thought wrong. Fortunately, he is fine. J.J and I felt horrible! Needless to say, J.J moved his mattress down to the very bottom notch right away. Jack is so funny how he just starts doing stuff. . . I mean he doesn't really give us much warning. He went from barely ever rolling over to pushing himself up, to sitting on his own, to rocking on his hands and knees for a day and then crawling three or four crawls, then pulling to his knees the very next day. It all just started happening so fast. I thought I was going to be lucky and not have to worry about him moving everywhere for awhile. . . Wrong! Well I at least got 9 months of not much moving :)