Pretty exciting news!

I am so excited to announce that Husband and I are expecting our third baby.  I knew that something wasn't right for weeks.  I was overly emotional and just plain different.  I knew that I was due for my cycle so right before we left for our beach trip, I took a test.  The line was incredibly faint, so we just figured we would check again with a different test.  Good old EPT showed a + sign right away. 

Now the conversations begin.  We are exploring names and are imagining life with 3 kiddos.  It's so funny, how I have done this twice before, but I feel like it is the first time.  We are thinking about keeping the sex of the baby a surprise for the birth day.  I am normally so impatient and want to plan everything, but I am finding myself to be more patient and spontaneous about this baby. 

Husband and I have agreed that this will be our last baby.  We would have a whole football team if money was no object.  I am so in love with my family and the thought of having a third just makes me feel complete inside.  I hope for a healthy and low key pregnancy.

Thank goodness they aren't picky!

I really need to appreciate my kiddos' flexibility. I am trying to diet and save money so this requires me to cook more often. Today I was having a heck of a time finding something to easy, so I pulled out an old favorite. Both of my boys ate tuna fish sandwiches. It's amazing because I never thought they would be so easy to please.

It's interesting because over the past month Monster Boo has had a pitiful appetite. He literally sat down and ate his whole sandwich without interruption. He even picked the tiny pieces of egg and onion that fell off of the sandwich up and ate them.

Amazing!!

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I need a color change!

Do you ever feel like you just need to completely change the look of your house? When we first moved into our home we painted our family room a teal color and I am quickly becoming tired of it. I feel like I need a soft green or yellow. I just know it will take some serious man hours to get it right.

It doesn't help that last night husband found a lovely drawing on the back of our sofa by my little artist Monster Boo. Ugh! I tried getting the pen out but it's not budging. So as you can see, we should probably just wait to do any changes.

I guess it would be more practical to just wait until the boys are a little older so it is not a waste. We will see...

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House Envy

Why is it that I am always looking for bigger and better?  I have constant house envy even though our house is just fine.  I love the house that we currently live in, but just feel like we need so many more features in a house.  I have an ongoing list in my head of the perfect home for my family.  I just went on my first walk of my diet and passed a home that I had my eye on 3 years ago when we moved into our current house.  This house has all the necessities on my list, but keeps coming around at the wrong time.  I guess this just means that once we are ready to get a bigger house, I will have a great list to go off of so that it will be our forever home.  We dream of being in a house long enough to pay it off.  So, now I must create my wish list on paper so I forget nothing! 

Time to get to work!

I just returned home from a quick vaca with my sisters and am totally rejuvinated!  It's now time to get my act together.  Four months ago I began my weight watchers dieting adventure.  And last month I gave up.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of my jump back onto the wagon.  I have gained back quite a bit of weight since summer began and I have got to get myself back in shape! 

I am not going to tell my starting weight, but each week I will update here how much loss I had for the week and then a total for the entire time as well. 

Here we gooooo!

Cake Making

Today marks Baby Bear's 1st birthday! It was a great party and there were lots of wonderful people there. I wanted to share the birthday cake that I made.  The theme was pool party so I did my best to make a cute cake.  The pool is filled with blue jello and the fence is made from Kit Kat bars.  I think it's pretty creative.  The taste was pretty good as well.

Vacation

So we got back Sunday from our vacation to Nags Head, NC and we are all exhausted! Baby Bear learned to walk while we were there and Monster Boo had a GREAT time with his cousin. Husband and I got to spend some alone time with the kiddos, which was also a nice treat.

We arrived on July 4th and had a great trip down. The kiddos tolerated the trip well and napped according to plan:). We were very thankful that they cooperated. I almost forgot one glitch. We were 30 minutes from home, traveling with 2 cars full of our family and realized that we had forgotten the bag with all of my entertainment in it (ie, laptop, chargers, camera, cross stitch, books). So, we let the rest head toward the beach and we returned home, now setting us back by an hour! It was very odd because I handled this situation very well. Normally, I feel that I would be very irritated by this, but it was just the perfect wrench for our trip.

We stopped at Sonic on our way down and had a yummy lunch with a Diet Cherry Limeade YUMMO!

I packed the majority of food for that evening because we were in charge of the meal. Checking in to the house at 4pm makes it difficult to get everything unpacked then head to the grocery store in all the madness of people arriving on Sunday. Not to mention the fact that it was July 4th, so I am sure that there were added visitors at the Harris Teeter. So we all got in the pool and had burgers, dogs and macaroni salad for dinner. It was perfect. We put the children to bed and sat out on the deck to watch the large array of fireworks going off on the beach. It was a great day.

The rest of the vacation was spent on the beach or in the pool. The time spent on the beach was more relaxing than the 2 previous summers. I could play with Monster Boo and not worry about him eating sand. However, Baby Bear was a sand eating machine. I was constantly wiping his mouth out. He was so tuckered out the first day that he slept on the beach, under an umbrella. It was really nice not having to worry about him and be able to play with Monster Boo and give him some attention.

The pool time was perfect! I purchased several flotation devices prior to our trip and they all came in mighty handy. I bought a Puddle Jumper for Monster Boo, which allowed him to move around in the pool without us having to hold onto him. Baby Bear had a cute little float with a sun shade. And I bought myself this wonderful float with head and foot rests and a cup holder. It was great being able to lay out in my float while the kiddos napped.

I am happy to be home and get back into our normal routine!

CIO revisited.

After 11 months of having a troubled sleeper, our Baby Bear is sleeping without interruption. It appears that ear rubes were the cure all! He has been able to settle himself in minutes upon laying him in the crib. Each night is better than the last. There are no more excruciatingly painful cry sessions that we had tried in previous months. And no more creeping out of the room to avoid the inevitable screams as he realizes he has just been released from Mommy's safe and cozy arms. Let's hope this lasts.

Song for Saturday!

There are a number of times in a week that I find songs that either inspire me or just make me smile. I thought I would take this opportunity to start a "Song for Saturday" post so that I can chronicle these songs. So here goes...



Today I chose "My Wish", by my favorite, Rascal Flatts. This song is so inspirational and is exactly what I wish for my children! I want them to live their lives to the fullest and above all, be happy.



"My Wish"



I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,



But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.



I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.



But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.



My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.



This is my wish

I hope you know somebody loves you

May all your dreams stay big

Let's GO!!!

Every day that passes is one day closer to the beach!!! I say it at least 5 times a day how excited I am to be getting the heck outta dodge. I have packed up as much as I can at this point. It's difficult with the kiddos because we are taking most things out of their rooms that they use everyday, so I cannot pack those items until the day we leave. I am going to make a list and tape it to their doors so that we can mark things off the morning of and not forget anything.

I can smell the beach right now...mmmmm...I can feel the breeze on my face. We really need a relaxing week. Husband and I are so looking forward to this vacation because the boys are so portable. I think we have relaxed as parents and have this whole parenting thing down to a science for the two little ones. It should be a very fun and mellow week.

Super Excited!

OK, I am about to have a nerd moment!

I CANNOT wait to get my new phone! I am getting a Droid X!

Husband and I are iphone users and really love our phones, but our service is pitiful. AT&T has terrible coverage and we rarely get service in our home. We have dealt with this problem long enough and it is time to call it quits. So Verizon, here we come! I am so looking forward to navigating the web at high speeds and being able to blog and lurk at my convenience!

Thank You Guests!

I want to say thank you to anyone who comes over to my house for a scheduled visit! Yes, I love your company but more than anything else, I LOVE the sudden inspiration I get to clean my house. I do more picking up than cleaning on a daily basis, so at least once a week I do a thorough dusting and vacuuming. As a plus, today I somehow motivated Husband! So the house and clean and I am ready for my guests! Bring on the Cookout!

Self Conscious...

Why is it that prior to having children I felt GREAT about myself, but now I am constantly feeling like what you see is just not good enough.

Having babies has gotten me a not so firm tummy and some beautiful veiny legs...fluffy arms and widened tuckus. Now...What to do with these wonderful gifts that my children have given me? Well, I decided after having Monster Boo that there was no point in losing weight and getting into shape because there would shortly be another baby taking residence in my belly. This was a not so good decision on my part. Now, I feel like I am really trying to catch up. Yes, I want to have another baby in the not so distant future, but I really don't want to be as big as a house after the next pregnancy.

So, dieting has become a yo-yo for me, but at least I am trying.

For the time being I must find clothes that are flattering to my deformities. The bathing suit dilemma has resulted in tankinis with skirts on the bottom. Thank goodness those are in style right now. Shorts have been a battle for the past 3 years and this year I have finally decided to own it and now sweat my way through the summer.

I don't want to fall into that "mommy slump" where people say, "It doesn't matter what you look like, you are a Mom." I just want to look good and put together. I am working on it!

I know this topic will be revisited so keep an eye out.

Crying It Out...

I am having a tough time getting Baby Bear to console himself. It has become quite the task to put him to bed at night and I have a feeling it is only going to get worse. Every night we swaddle and feed Baby Bear and he goes down to bed fine. We are generally in the middle of our "adult dinner" and he starts whaling! This is about 1 hour after we initially put him down. It takes us from 5 minutes to 1.5 hours get him back down for good. I'm thinking that his waking could be an ear issue or a just not tired issue.

We tried letting him Cry It Out (CIO) a few nights ago and he cried for 17 minutes then went to sleep. I think 17 minutes is pretty good since theoretically he is then supposed to taper down every night until it is just a few minute deal to calm down. Well, we tried it the following night and it was a 1 hour struggle to get him down. That was CIO for 20 minutes, feeding another bottle and rocking for at least 15 minutes to make sure he was sound asleep.

We really should have done this months ago, but I guess this is the second child syndrome. You know, the one where you just do what works and deal with the repercussions later? Ugh! This is so painful to deal with.

I have decided that CIO is not for him. It may have worked if he were 4 months old, but now he can just stand in his crib and go ballistic, which totally breaks my heart. So I think we must try that inching away tactic so he has the comfort of me in the room, but eventually doesn't need me there to fall asleep. We are going totally "Supernanny" with this decision. I'm going to wait until after vacation so we can really put a good effort into it. We shall see...

ENT...

Took Baby Bear to the ENT today for his ear infections. The MD couldn't be nicer. He was very gentle with my little bug and was very honest with me. Without even looking at Baby Bear's ears the MD said that we need to go ahead and get tubes placed in his ears. Baby Bear has had 5 ear infections in the past 6 months and it's time to call in the big guns. He, of course, then looked in his itty bitty ears and said that Baby Bear is continuing to hold onto fluid and really does need the tubes.

I know that he will be okay and a month without antibiotics would be fabulous! I just hate that they have to knock him out to put them in...but I do understand.

School?

I have created 5 different posts over the past week in regards to this topic and never posted them. By posting this I am committing to school.

I have applied to Liberty University to begin the road to achieving my Bachelor's Degree. I am very motivated to go ahead and start classes again. I know that I need my Bachelor's to obtain any managerial status, so away we go.

Use Caution

Monster Boo has shown us so much in the past few days. He has really started picking up what we are saying and has become way more involved in conversations. Last night I let him have brinner (breakfast for dinner) and I pulled out a box of Rice Krispies. As soon as I set the box down on the counter he exclaimed, "Oh My God". My initial reaction was shock, yes, but then I wanted to make sure that was exactly what he meant. I asked him to repeat it and yes, it was clear as day. I did not scold him, just made sure that he says "gosh" from now on. He's said it a few times now and makes sure to emphasize the "gosh" part.

The other phrase that he was been using is "lock the door". Every time we leave the house or the car he says it. We say this all the time to make sure that one of us is locking the door.

This has really put our family conversations under a microscope. I had not realized how many times I use certain phrases until he said them to me. From now on we are being very careful what we say and how we say it.

Another Potty Training Update

Monster Boo has had a great 2 days! Yesterday we had another issue with pooping in the potty, but today we have SUCCESS! No accidents today at all! We even when to Sam's Club for about an hour and he didn't have an accident. He pooped on the potty today and was beyond excited and proud! Quite frankly, so was I.

Monster Boo has this fascination with seeing his results. He looks at his poo and says, "Mommy look, see it?" Then he points into the potty and says over and over, "Buzz, Woody, see it?" I have NO idea what he was talking about, but it seems like recently everything has been about Toy Story. Maybe to him the poo was shaped like his new favorite characters...who knows??? :)

Potty Training Update

So, today began pretty well. Monster Boo peed on the potty every time that we placed him on the potty. After doing a lot of research I read that it is best to place them on the potty every 30 minutes to get them used to going and they will eventually be able to anticipate the need to go. I think Monster Boo is getting the hang of knowing when to pee, but the pooing is an issue right now. I asked him at about 2pm if he needed to use the potty and he screamed "NOOO". Suddenly about 2 minutes later he said "need to go potty". He runs into the bathroom and I don't hear anything so I check on him and he is standing at the sofa asking me to put some different underwear on him. I told him no, that there is no need to put on other underwear. He then goes into his playroom and just has this guilty look on his face. He turns around and I see a very saggy tushy. Of course, while Husband was out getting work done on his car, Monster Boo has to have the poopy undies...ICK!!!

Monster Boo was VERY upset by the fact that he pooped in his undies, so hopefully tomorrow he will go ahead and poo on the potty.

We are getting there!

Potty Training Extravaganza!!

Today marks the first day of officially potty training. We are really hoping for a smooth transition. Monster Boo has been peeing and pooping in the potty since he was 18 months old, but I didn't push it because I figured that it was just a phase. I definitely fell into that "boys take much longer than girls" mode. I just figured that I didn't need to worry about it until he was 3.

So, upon waking we made Monster Boo pee on the potty and put his big boy underwear on. I have been so nervous that he would pee on the furniture, but there have been no traumatizing moments yet. He is going to be so tired of me by the end of the weekend.

I do have to say that when Monster Boo successfully pees on the potty we sing a little song for him and he cuts loose. He dances and jumps around laughing and singing...too cute!!

I will keep you up to date on how this goes.

Weird...

So Monster Boo has started doing this weird thing lately and I don't know if he is just being funny or he is really just that odd. So, there are dents in his wall right next to his bed and we asked him where they came from. His response to this was "I eat it." And tonight we are playing in his room, a nightly ritual, and he says "Momma I want to eat the wall." What am I going to do with this boy?? And WHERE does he get this from???

The Name Game

So my Older sis would like a cute name for my blog and I am having some trouble coming up with something super interesting. Here is the index for family members:

Husband ~ Husband
Son 1 ~ Monster Boo
Son 2 ~ Baby Bear
My mother ~ Mom
My father ~ Dad
Older Sis ~ Sister Mo
Younger Sis ~ Sister Em
Older Sister-in-law ~ Sister Kel
Younger Sister-in-law ~ Sister Shel
Mother-in-law ~ Momma D
Brother-in-law ~ Big Kev
Brother-in-law ~ Big Bud
Brother-in-law ~ Tay

I have to give Husband some credit!

Yesterday Husband presented me with 1 dozen roses, a wine carafe, the Glee Madonna soundtrack and a case for my new camera. Some back story...Husband always says that he doesn't know what to get me and that I never ask for anything. I tend to give him a hard time because I don't want to have to ask for anything.

I mentioned the other day that I wanted to look up the traditional gift for yearly anniversaries, but KNEW he would not look that up. This is the website that I found very helpful. http://www.happy-anniversary.com/year-of-marriage/index.html

So, I bought Husband a LEATHER wallet and put coupons in there for things like a 10 minute massage and a trip to the movies. The last thing I was expecting was for him to listen to me and look up the gift ideas. So when he was presenting me with the wine carafe, he made sure to tell me that it is the alternate gift for a 3rd year anniversary. I would never ask for a wine carafe, but he truly did a lot of research and really understood what he was buying me and why I might need one.

His gifts were so thoughtful and I am soo proud of him. We ended our day with a Maggianno's dinner, which was fabulous. And of course, Husband used one of his massage coupons before bed.

Cheers to another 50+ years!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Today marks 3 years of marriage for Husband and I. It has been a crazy, busy and WONDERFUL 3 years for sure! I am absolutely blessed to have Husband in my life. Every day together I feel like we grow closer. Having 2 children close together has created an amazing bond us. We have had so much fun watching them grow and enjoying more and more outings together. Our journey gets more interesting with every day and I look forward to the next 50+ years with him. I love you Babe!!

Poor Baby Bear

My little Baby Bear has been fighting a nasty cough for weeks now and last week he was diagnosed with bilateral ear infections. Well, today I went for a follow up on the ear infections to make sure that they were clearing up. Turns out that the ear infections are not totally cleared up after being on antibiotics for 1 week. Looks like if he doesn't shake this over the next two weeks than he may have to get tubes in his ears :(. My sweet little boy seems to keep ear infections so in the end, I guess tubes would make him feel tons better.
So, back to the cough. It appears that it is more allergies than anything else, so we are to try some Singulair and see what happens. So, I guess we will just deal with the cough and hope that it clears up as well.
We have GOT to get this baby boy feeling better!!!

Soooo Ready for Summer!

I generally feel indifferent about the Summer season. The beach trip we take is generally a chore because of the children in tow. And I have never enjoyed being out in the heat and constantly sweating. ICK!

For some reason, this year, I am sooo excited about the summer and all that it has to offer. I am spending a lot of time outside with my boys just playing in the sprinkler, going to the amusement park and going to the local outdoor mall and playing in the fountains. Every day has offered us endless fun and I am having such a good time.

We have two beach trips planned and I already had my list started for what to take in April. I am also going to visit my little sister in Florida with my older sister. It's amazing to think that we are all of age now to truly have a "Girl's Weekend".

My plan for the summer is to try to take many photos and create a book at the end of summer to chronicle all the fun we had. I look forward to sharing photos with you all of our shenanigans.

4 Letter Words...

Husband and I have been extremely careful what we say around Monster Boo because he is definitely into mimicking every word heard. Yesterday Husband was putting him in his car seat and let out a quiet "S%!t". Of course Monster Boo heard this and said it right back to us with such conviction.

Time for damage control at this point! I quickly reprimanded Husband for his slip of tongue and made it very clear how Husband said a BAD word that we should NEVER say.

I am sure we are going to have a few more episodes like this. Just par for the course with a 2 year old I suppose.

Be Very Quiet...

I feel like so many things happen in one day that I would love to share them with everyone. Today I begin my blogging journey. I have a 2.5 year old (Monster Boo) and a 10 month old (Baby Bear) so you can only imagine our daily happenings.

This morning we ran some errands to return some items and I knew that I was pushing their nap time. We are 2 minutes from home and Baby Bear's eyes slam shut. I knew I was in trouble so Monster Boo and I grab all of our gear and toted Baby Bear in the house quickly and quietly.

Monster Boo is now old enough that he can sit and eat without my eyes being on him at every moment. So, to avoid losing precious nap time I let him sit in the hallway and eat while I was feeding Baby Bear his bottle and putting him down for a nap.

Monster Boo stands up at the door and waves and waves and waves. He then puts his finger up to his lips and says "shhhh". I absolutely LOVE these moments. I cannot stop smiling!