Saturday, February 28, 2009

Sean's Brithday present

Today we finally went and picked up Sean's birthday present. I had found another one, that we were going to get last weekend, but it didn't work out, so he had to wait an extra week. Anyway, here it is:



He is so excited, even though he had to drive it home today when it was 34 degrees outside. I'm just glad he's happy. He's deserves something that he really wants, even if we don't need it. Happy Birthday Sean!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

6 years old, holy crap!

Emma is 6 today! I can't begin to describe how difficult is for me to believe that. I remember her being born like it was yesterday. She is growing up so fast so I'm trying to enjoy each phase of her life, even though it's not always pleasant. It's amazing watching her learn to read and write now. She is soaking up everything like a sponge and amazes me with the things she is learning. I think she's actually paying attention in school. lol!
Here is our sweet Emma from the past 6 years
Just minutes old

First Birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

Fourth Birthday

Fifth Birthday

And Now Birthday number 6!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

revamp

I should have cleaned my house today, but instead I revamped our blog page, so come out of your google reader and check it out.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Is it June yet?

I am so freaking excited about this summer I can hardly stand it! I plan to be at home as little as possible this summer. I'm sure that means I'll be exhausted, but it will be fun!
First on our list of travels is my cousins wedding near Kansas City in the beginning of June. Then we are going back to Florida for a week. This year we are driving instead of flying, unless we find an unbeatable deal, so the trip will actually last 9 days, but only 7 are going to be in Florida. The best part about this trip is we are renting a huge house and going with Sean's dad and step-mom, Sean's sister, her husband and Sean's nephew. We are also trying to get Sean's brother and his family to come, and I'm trying to talk my mom into joining us.
Here's our house

and we have our very own in ground pool!

The week after we get home from that trip is our annual lake trip. This year, however, we plan to stay at cloud 9 and drive down to spend a few days on the lake since it's so close. I plan to stay at cloud 9 for another week or so after the lake week, and maybe then I'll come home. I know I won't be able to stay away too much longer because by then July will almost be over, which means back to school time for the kids. Poor Sean will have to be working during a lot of my vacationing, but I don't feel bad enough to skip my vacationing because of it. Isn't that awful of me?!

Happy Birthday Sean!

Today is Sean's birthday, and I still don't have his present. It's not because I just put it off and ignored the fact that he needed a present. It's mainly because shopping with 4 kids is nearly impossible, especially when two of them insist on acting like complete lunatics in every store we enter. So then I found another present idea, but that fell through because the item is overpriced and they didn't want to come down at all. So here I sit at 2:11 in the afternoon on my husbands birthday with nothing to give him. I feel awful, but what's a girl to do?
Thankfully Sean and I are not big on presents. Granted we like them, but everything is not riding on making sure we have the perfect gift for each other for every occasion. Hopefully things will work out and I can get Sean the gift I really want for him that I know he'll love. I often feel like Sean sacrifices what he wants for things we need or want as a family. I really want him to know I appreciate all he does for us and that he deserves to have things just for him, even if he doesn't need it. Everyone cross your fingers everything works out!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

2 and 2

Unfortunately, this is not a post about Chuck Woolery or Love Connection, sorry to disappoint. Maybe another day I'll post a story reminiscing about watching that show with my grandma. She loved that show...
Anyway, yesterday we had Jackson's 2 month and Megan's 2 year checkups. Jackson weighed in at 12 pounds 1 ounce, which is almost a 2 pound gain in a month. He's also 23 inches long, which is a 2 inch growth in the last 6 weeks. Obviously he's eating plenty, even though he's been sleeping through the night for quite a while. He also had to get his first round of shots yesterday, which of course he hated. He only cried while getting them and calmed down as soon as I picked him up. But he did seem like his legs hurt him most of the day, and he just wanted to be held. I can't say I blame him since I'd be upset too after getting stuck with some needles. All in all a great visit though since he's growing well and seems just fine.
Megan, thankfully, didn't have to have any shots She is quite difficult at the doctor and generally throws a fit regardless of what they do to her, but yesterday went really well. She was calm and let the doctor check out her ears and mouth and listen to her chest and didn't cry at all. I'm glad she behaved so well, and I think it was great that on a visit that she did so good, she didn't have to have any shots. Megan has also gained a decent amount of weigh. finally. She is up to 24 pounds, which is more than I thought she'd weigh, and she is 34 inches tall. The doctor said she's tall and skinny for her age, so lets hope she stays like that.
So yay for healthy kids, but boo for shots to keep them that way.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

after hours

So, I hate calling the after hours exchange for any of our doctors. I really mean it when I say hate. When they are not in the office, they should not have to be bothered by patients with questions or concerns that really can wait. That said, I have done it a few times when absolutely necessary. Today was one of those times. I feel like I've been run over, repeatedly, by a mack truck. 4 kids, and more than 39 months of breastfeeding, and I've come down with my first case of mastitis. Basically it's a clogged milk duct that somehow gets infected. Fortunately it's not contagious, so no one else should be getting sick from me, including Jackson. The best thing to do is actually to nurse as much as possible to help clear the plugged duct, even though it's incredibly painful. I'm also ridiculously achy, as in I have influenza achy. I gave in and called my ob's after hours exchange and had him call me in some antibiotics. Yes they are safe for the baby according to several websites, so hopefully I'll feel a million times better in a day or two, and Jackson will suffer no ill-effects, other than a miserable mommy. What a fabulous 3-day weekend, huh?

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

cleaning and disorganizing

I'm doing it. I think I'm hiring someone to help clean the house. It's not that I can't do it, or make time for, but well I can't. I feel like in order to keep up with the housework I neglect time for me and the kids, which I'm tired of doing. I know it sounds horrible that as a stay at home mom I can't find time to keep everything in my house clean, but I'm owning up to my failure and finding a solution for it. I know lots of other moms do it all, and do it all well, but I'm obviously not one of those moms. Maybe they don't spend their time keeping a blog and chatting with online friends, but you wouldn't want me to give up doing those things, would you?

Today is proof positive that I'm trying to cram too much into my life. Nathan had his valentines party at school today at 2:00. So I dropped him off at 12:30 as usual, ran a couple errands, then realized I was running behind and still needed to get the item I signed up to bring for said party and be at his school by 2:00. I pulled into the store parking lot at 1:50, and the store is not next door to Nathatn's school. So I get to his party at 2:05, run inside and drop off the items, make Nathan a plate of snacks, then go back out to my car to nurse Jackson because he's screaming since it's time to eat. After feeding and changing Jackson I plop him back into his seat, and then get Megan and Jackson out of the car and go into Nathan's school for the rest of his party. Keep in mind all that is going on while it's pouring down rain, so by this point I look like a rag even though I did actually fix my hair this morning. Once Nathan's party is over we all get back in the car and head home so I can be here when Emma get's off the bus. Once home Megan and Jackson have to go down for a nap, even though it's just after 3 and ridiculously late for a nap. Then Emma gets home and the older two want a snack. As I'm unpacking Emma's backpack I find a note reminding me that her six flags reading list is due by Tuesday. Ok no problem I'll go get it...or not. Guess what horrible mother can't find her daughters 600 minute reading list for a free six flags ticket. Oh, that's right, it's me! So now I have to dig through the recycling container tonight praying it got mixed up with those papers on one of my recent cleaning binges. Plus I'm supposed to go to the gym tonight. Yeah, like I have the engery for that!
Days like today make me want a cleaning person and a nanny so I can take a nap!

Monday, February 9, 2009

snow day

edit: yet again you'll have to click on the photos to see the whole thing and get the full effect. I promise I will fix the settings on it very soon. Sorry!

Here are some pictures from when we finally got a good amount of snow. Megan wasn't too crazy about it. I think it was too cold and I had bundled her up so much she was like the little brother from "A Christmas Story."

See the resemblance...
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the next night she decided she'd just go out like this:
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she was mad we wouldn't let her out like that, but hot chocolate makes everything better, right?
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and here is a picture of Emma and Nathan after Emma's kindergarten snow show at school. Doesn't she look old?
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Friday, February 6, 2009

March for Babies

I decided to join some of my online mommy friends in the fundraiser for the March of Dimes this year. It is a 3.1 mile walk on April 25th to benefit research to prevent premature birth and birth defects. We've been so lucky that we have had 4 full-term healthy babies, but many families are not so lucky. In order to make the fundraiser a success I'm reaching out to all of you who read this blog. You can join our team, even if you aren't a mom, by going here: STL moms, or you can make a donation to our team. I set my intital fundraising goal fairly low, so please don't feel like you have to give a lot. Just think if everyone who reads this donates a dollar, and then they get 5 more people they know to give a dollar, it would add up to a lot very quickly. I am posting a link at the top of the blog to be able to donate, and if you have any questions about this please email me, or post a comment. Also pass this on to anyone else you think may be willing to donate, or who would want to join our team. Thanks!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

weight loss ...again!

Because I'm a big fatty AGAIN, I'm back on the weight loss plan. I guess having 4 kids in less than 6 years and my weight going up and down so much has realy messed me up. After having Emma I lost weight pretty easily. This time I'm not really losing anything yet. I initally lost about 25 pounds, but umm, I gained a lot during my pregnancy, so I still have a long way to go to get back to where I want to be. Thankfully Sean needs to lose his baby weight too, so I have a great support system at home. Plus I'm member of an online community of moms and several of them want to lose some weight too, so we are all going to keep tabs on each other throughout our journey. After having Megan it took me about 6 months to lose about the same amount of weight I want to lose this time, so hopefully in another 6 months I'll be quite the MILF again. LOL!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

craziness

ok, seriously, who steals a porch rocker? Yesterday morning I took Emma out to wait for the bus and when I looked back at the porch I noticed one of our rocking chairs was missing. I thought that was quite odd because we had put them down on their sides so they wouldn't bang around when the wind blew. That plus the fact that they are kind of heavy, I knew it was very unlikely it had blown off the porch, but I looked around the side of the house anyway. Yeah, it's not there. So...to whoever came and stole our rocking chair off the porch, could you please bring it back? The porch looks funny without it. Thanks!