Frogs, Snails, and Fairytales

Too Long (New update with LOTS of pictures)

2011-10-06T15:49:00.018-05:00

Seriously, why is it that I can't keep up with this blog?! It has been over a month since I last posted and we have been busy. The only time I get to sit and blog is after all the kids are in bed at night and by that time I am so worn out that all I want to lay down myself.

Monday thru Thursday my days mostly consist on getting Timothy to and from school, and getting things done around the house or errands in between those times. Timothy is doing great in school, and he still LOVES going. He has been writing his name, writing his numbers, making all kinds of projects that he brings home daily, and next week it is fire prevention week.

It's always a good sign when your child gets upset that they have to miss school. Later this month there is a field trip to a pumpkin patch that I am looking forward to attending with him and his class, grandma is even going to go!

Besides Timothy going to school we have been keeping busy with other family activities on his days off and on dad's days off. A couple weeks ago my mom and I took the boys to see Toy Story 3 On Ice. They LOVED it, Mason was so excited he could hardly contain himself during the show, and was interested the whole time. It was a lot of a fun and a great show!

We also spent a day at the park last weekend with grandma and grandpa, it was so nice outside.

And a trip to The Museum of Transportation with grandma while daddy went to a gun show. This is always a hit with the boys, anything that has to do with trains and cars is always good in their book. But Taylor really enjoyed herself too, especially the little train ride we took.

So we have been go, go, go which is always nice. I would rather be busy than sit at the house all the time. Tomorrow I have another big update all about the pregnancy so stay tuned. And once again I am going to try and do some catching up on all of your blogs and updating my header and such.

I hope you all are doing well, and I look forward to catching up. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the day!

Quick Baby Update

2011-09-02T16:15:00.002-05:00

Today I had an appointment to have my blood pressure checked. Two weeks ago it was super high and the doctor increased my dosage. I have been seeing the other doctor in the office since my doctor was out on maternity leave so I needed to see her too to talk about the blood pressure and the last ultrasound.

Thankfully my blood pressure was down, but still a little high. It was 140s/82 which is a little high for a normal person, but for me she said was really good. She decided not to increase my medicine right now because she is afraid of making my blood pressure drop too low. She said that the baby and I are used to a little higher blood pressure and dropping it too low to a very normal blood pressure could make me feel like crap and harm the baby. So we kind of want to try to keep it around what it is.

At my last appointment they had trouble during the ultrasound seeing some important things. My doctor took a look at the ultrasound and said that it looks like due to the baby's position and her not wanting to cooperate at all that they didn't get a very good look at much of anything. They were unable to get a good look at the heart, they couldn't see any hands, and they didn't get a good look at the nose and mouth (looking for a cleft lip). She assured me that everything looks normal and she doesn't believe anything is wrong. That it was just a position and baby not cooperating issue.

She gave me the go ahead to not have to come back for 4 weeks at which time I will be 26 weeks. At that time they will do another ultrasound to get pictures of what they couldn't see before, make sure the blood pressure is still under control, and I get to do the lovely glucose test at that time too.

Shortly after this next appointment probably the appointment after it, I will start my weekly or every other week non stress tests and ultrasounds. With both Mason and Taylor around 32 weeks I always started having weekly visits that consisted of a non stress test, ultrasound, and a doctor visit because of the high blood pressure. Once I hit those long weekly visits I know I am near the end and because of my previous record it could be anytime. Both Mason and Taylor were induced because of a combination of the high blood pressure, a failed non stress test, or a bad report on the ultrasound.

For now I just keep thinking positive and pray that maybe this time I can actually go into labor on my own. It will just depend on the darn blood pressure!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend! Be safe and have fun!

School Love

2011-09-01T17:12:00.008-05:00

Today marked the last day of Timothy's first full week of preschool! He has done awesome, and I am so proud of what a big guy he is becoming.

He seems to be LOVING school, and gets excited every morning. Asking about a million times if he is going to school that day or when we can leave for school. I think he would be happy to go all day long instead of just 3 hours. But I am so glad he is enjoying it so much.

He usually won't tell me what he does at school, but as soon as dad gets home he eagerly spills his guts about school. Telling dad all about playing outside on the playground, dressing up as a fireman, playing play doh, drawing pictures, writing his name, reading stories, and on and on!

The one thing I can count on him always telling me about is snack. That boy sure does love his food and drinks!

Today was his first show and tell which they will have every Thursday. And in true Timothy fashion he of course brought a hot wheel. It was also school color day, so he wore blue. He promptly told me when I picked him up today that Tuesday is red day and he needed to wear red to school.

The other day the teacher taught him how to put his shoes on all by himself, in his defense they are hard shoes to get on. But apparently he said that he can't put his shoes on himself, and the teacher told him "we don't say the word can't". Then he learned the phrase he has been saying ever since. "I think I can, I think I can"!

I don't think Timothy is the only one that loves being in school. I really think Mason likes the separate time too, and more of my attention. The first two days Mason asked about Timothy the whole time he was gone. I also enjoy that time with just Mason and Taylor too. It's good for the boys to get their time apart from each other.

The other day while Timothy was at school, I took Mason out to play all by himself just me and him. He had my full undivided attention and he was soaking it up. He didn't let me sit down at all. We played "golf", and ran around the yard. It was special to have that time!

I was sad to send "my baby" off to school, but I think this time is good for our whole family.

The Best of Friends

2011-08-31T15:51:00.010-05:00

Sunday we spent the evening with Chris and Angie and the kids over at Chris's mom's house. They had to go over there so Chris could finish working on a trailer he was making and they invited us over so the kids could play together outside.

They BBQ ed and Angie set up the kiddie pool for the kids. Us ladies just sat around chatting and watching the kids play while the guys worked on the trailer. It was a nice evening.

If you have ever forgotten swim diapers, you know what happens when you use a regular diaper. We were cracking up at Alyssa's diaper!

Timothy was the only one who wanted to play in the water. I put Taylor's swimsuit on but she didn't get in the pool at all, just played on the slide. Mason refused to even put trunks on, but still splashed himself with water!

I am so glad that our kids get along so well together. It's nice to have good friends with kids. Mason loves Alyssa so much, and is always talking about her. The other day, I caught him with the play phone and he was talking to Alyssa!

Crazy Fact!

2011-08-30T18:57:00.003-05:00

I have been pregnant, giving birth, or taking care of/nursing a newborn since 2006!

2006- I got pregnant with Timothy

2007- I gave birth to Timothy

2007 (9 months later)- I got pregnant with Mason

2008- I gave birth to Mason

2009- I got pregnant with Taylor

2010- I gave birth to Taylor

2011- I got pregnant with baby #4

possibly 2011 or 2012- I will give birth to baby #4

That has been the last 6-7 years of my life. That's insane! My poor body! I am actually looking forward to the next chapter of our lives that doesn't include pregnancy or newborns. As sad as it will be to be done, I think I need a break. Or at least my body will thank me!

Peanut #4- weeks 21 and 22

2011-08-29T16:21:00.003-05:00

This is a quick update on our little peanut and my pregnancy. With this pregnancy I wanted to do a weekly update with pictures from the beginning to document everything. But due to my severe morning sickness, that is just now really going away, I was unable to keep that up. Most days I had a hard time even getting off the couch.

Thankfully I think I can say I am pretty much past that phase. This is my favorite part of pregnancy! I am no longer throwing up multiple times a day, I actually have most of my energy back (can't say all since I do have 3 other kids that drain my energy on a daily basis), and I am feeling really well. This phase I am not too big yet where I am really uncomfortable, but enough to really feel pregnant.

Last week is when I really started to feel her move. I was getting a little nervous because all three of my other kids I felt move before 20 weeks. So when I hadn't really felt anything yet, I started to get a little nervous. Knowing that I am overweight this time around , I knew that could be the reason in not feeling the movement as quickly. But after my appointment last week with the ultrasound, when I knew everything was alright I started to feel her more and more. Now she moves ALL. THE. TIME. I love it!

Nothing too exciting going on. Trying to keep up on my blood pressure medicine so we can keep that in check. I feel like I am growing and growing and growing. And just soaking up all those precious movements. Even on the hard days, when I am either so tired or not feeling well it's all worth it when I feel her move inside me. By far my favorite part of pregnancy!!

Picture Perfect {baby photos}

2011-08-24T17:43:00.004-05:00

This week I decided to play along over at For The Love of Blogs for Picture Perfect.

This weeks theme is baby photos, how appropriate since my first baby started preschool today!
So I submit this photo. The moment by first baby came into this world. The moment I became a mom. One of the best days of my life.

A Big Day!

2011-08-24T16:37:00.008-05:00

Today was an emotional day, and not the pregnant hormonally emotional kind of day either. Even though I am sure that added to my already fragile state of mind as I took my first born to his 1st day of preschool today.

Yep, my baby had his first day of school today! Seriously I do not understand how I can have a kid old enough to be in school. I have been trying to get him into a preschool for months now and we were put on waiting lists because of all the spots being filled. Just when I thought that Timothy wasn't going to be going to actual preschool, and instead I was going to have to teach him at home we got a call about an opening.

It was the neighboring school districts preschool program, and they had an afternoon spot open. I jumped all over it. And today was the day. Timothy was super excited, wearing his backpack all day yesterday and asking when he was going to see his teacher Mrs. Heather. He spent all morning much the same way, backpack on ready for school.

The parents were able to walk all the kids down to their classroom where they found their cubby and put their backpacks up. Then they found their folder on the table and worked on writing their names and making shapes until all the kids showed up. Then they put their folders away, and it was time to say goodbye so they could start their day.

I teared up, but kept everything down until I made it to the van. Timothy was awesome though, no tears and he followed all the teacher's instructions. Mason spent the whole afternoon asking about where Timothy was and stating that Timothy was at school with the teacher. I think he was a little sad and missed his best buddy. Thankfully he still had Taylor or else I think he would have had a harder time with Timothy being gone.

After a couple hours we went to pick him up. I arrived a few minutes early and sat by the door with some other parents and caught the kids dancing. Even Timothy was dancing! I was so glad to see him participating with the class and having a good time. On the way home, I asked him several times what he did at school and each time got the "nothing" response! He said he had a lot of fun and wanted to go back tomorrow.

After we were home for about an hour Timothy remembered he had something in his backpack. A note from his teacher with a piece of candy!

So it's official I have a preschooler. My sweet boy is now a big guy! But he will always be my baby, my first baby!!

Another Prince or Princess?

2011-08-22T21:27:00.003-05:00

Last Tuesday, I went in for my 20 week checkup and THE ultrasound. My guess was another boy, I had that feeling from the beginning. Everything about this pregnant reminded me of Timothy's pregnancy. Tim was thinking girl. Really I didn't have a preference. I have both boy and a girl so I would have been thrilled with either.

During the ultrasound the tech did the all the usual measurements they do around this time. She measured the head, belly, femur bone, looked for all the vital organs, checked the heartbeat. Everything looked good except there were a few things she couldn't really see or get a good picture of.

She was never able to get a good picture of the heart or things like the lips. WTF?! She said that she is sure everything is fine that it could be I am a little more overweight this time around so it's harder to get clear pictures. I mean I'm sure my little angel has lips, but It made me a little nervous to know that there were things they couldn't see. I have never had any problems with ultrasounds.

She decided to schedule me for another ultrasound in 4 weeks, and said that by then the baby will be even bigger and they should be able to see everything. But at the very end she asked if we wanted to know the sex, and of course we did! I have no patience to wait.

And then she wrote it out for us. We will be welcoming a new baby......

GIRL!

I was shocked! I was really thinking another little boy. Tim of course had to brag that he has been able to guess all 4 of the kids correctly. Nonetheless though we are ecstatic, and I cannot wait for Taylor to have a sister. I could not think of a better way to complete our family. 2 boys and 2 girl. Perfect!

Now comes the hard part, picking a name!

Alyssa's 2nd Birthday!

2011-08-20T19:30:00.007-05:00

Last Sunday our good friends Chris and Angie's little girl Alyssa turned 2. She had a birthday party at CiCi's Pizza! There was food, games, presents, and of course cake. Mason was so excited to see his girlfriend, he loves Alyssa so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

Grant's Farm

2011-08-20T18:47:00.007-05:00

Last week my mom and I took the kids to Grant's Farm, the first trip of the year! It is like a small version of the Zoo with special history ties to St. Louis. We spent all morning playing, and I think the kids had a great time! Just wanted to share some pictures from our day.

Playgroups.....Good or Bad?

2011-08-12T16:48:00.012-05:00

I became a stay at home mom when my first son Timothy was a year and a half old. Going from working full time to spending my days at home with my son was sorta a shock to me. Working full time I had plenty of time to socialize with adults, I was able to get out of the house everyday. Once I was staying home full time I lost all of that.

Not only was I needing to get that adult socialization, my son was now not getting that interaction with other kids like he was getting on a daily basis. I was a young new mother, I was 19 when Timothy was born. I needed to find support and help from other moms, so I turned to playgroups.

That first playgroup was crucial for us, and it was the best playgroup! The support, advice, and friendships I gained from that playgroup were priceless. And ever since that first playgroup I have struggled to find one that I liked as much. I went through several more playgroups that didn't work out for one reason or another. When my second son was born I found a playgroup that I enjoyed and eventually I became the organizer of that playgroup. It was the only other playgroup that I enjoyed as much as that first one.

I was sad to see that group go, but thankful that I made some friendships in that group of ladies that would last well after the group was gone.

I have went through a handful of other playgroups since the group I organized and have had no such luck at finding one that lasted. Finally about a month ago I found a group that seemed like it was going to work. They were all moms from around where I lived, they had several play dates scheduled a week, and looked like a great group. I went to my first play date with the group last week and had the worst experience I have ever had.

Of all the playgroups I have been in I have never had a really bad experience, they usually just didn't work out for a reason such as location or not having many play dates. But this group didn't lack any of that, they lacked common courtesy. We met at a park by our house for a morning play date. I was the second mom to arrive and had a short conversation with the mom that was already at the park. We said hello and made small talk. Then I went the rest of the morning without ANYONE saying a word to me. The only other mom was the assistant organizer and she merely said hello. The organizer of the group never approached me once. Everyone seemed to already know one another, so I was surprised she never introduced herself or me to the group.

So I was already feeling like a fish out of water. It felt like being a new kid in school and trying to fit in when there are already cliques formed. After that it was just one incident after another. First a little boy ran up and pushed Mason down and jumped on him. Then that same little boy sprayed my kids with water after I asked him once not to get them wet. But that's not all, then that little boy decided to take my $800 camera and hide it on the playground equipment. The only reason I found my camera was because another little boy told me where it was.

The thing I couldn't figure out was this little boy was terrorizing everyone, kids and adults. And no one seemed to be doing anything about it. Like that was just who he was and they let him do it. Well I had enough, and left the park pretty upset. I later received an email that I had been removed from the group because the other moms were complaining about me yelling (which I never did except when I left after my camera was taken).

Who knows if I will ever find another playgroup like that first one or the one I ran. But for now I am done looking. What ever happened to mother's supporting one another, a group of woman who are apart of a group for friendships and advice.

I am curious what your take on playgroups are especially if your a mom. Are you apart of a playgroup or mom's group? Do you think playgroups are more good or just problems? If your not apart of a playgroup, how do you get that advice, support, and socialization with other moms?

Mason's Park Birthday Party!

2011-07-27T13:06:00.014-05:00

We were able to reserve a pavilion at the park by our house for Mason's party on Sunday. It has been extremely hot here is St. Louis, highs in the upper 90s with a heat index into the 100s. Having a party outside at the park was going to be our easiest option, but the weather was not going to cooperate with us.

The predicted weather for Sunday was HOT and a chance for storms. I decided to start the party at 11am to hopefully beat the heat a little, but instead we beat the rain but it was unbelievably hot out.

Thankfully we still had a decent turnout of family and friends. Tim grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats. We had potato salad, cole slaw, and chips. Yummy!

By the time we ate, the heat was kicking in pretty good. Mason found the best way to keep cool by playing in the water. I am so thankful our pavilion was equipped with a water spout. It kept the kids cool and provided lots of entertainment!!

Then it was time for presents....

and naps for the little ones!

We can't forget about the cake, no party is complete without cake! Tim's mom made Mason's birthday cake. He loves Toy Story, so she made a buzz and woody cake. It turned out great. But Mason would not blow out his candles, didn't want us to sing to him, wouldn't even sit by the cake so I could get a picture. He did eat a piece of that cake though!

We ended the party with water guns from grandma. They were the hit of the party! I don't think anyone left without being a little wet, the boys were vicious with those things! It was a great party, and I think everyone had a good time!

Happy 3rd Birthday Mason! (A late birthday post)

2011-07-27T12:32:00.004-05:00

Mason turned 3 on Sunday the 24th. Honestly at times it feels like it has been 3 years, like he has been here for as long as I can remember. Other times I can't believe he is already 3, I still think of him as this sweet tiny little guy.

I can still remember the day we brought him home from the hospital. How exhausted we all were, how I was already starting to panic about how I was going to manage with 2 kids. It was lunch time and Timothy had to eat, Tim and I were starving, and of course I needed to nurse Mason. Add the hormones from just giving birth and I was a mess. Somehow it all worked out. After getting Timothy fed, Mason fed, I finally sat down to eat and noticed that Timothy had climbed into Mason's bouncy seat and fell asleep. Everyone was fed, happy, and all was quite in the house. At that moment I knew that I was going to make it.

Mason,

You were such a wonderful surprise! Our family would not have been complete without you in it. My pregnancy with you was rough, you gave us a lot of scares and many trips to the doctor. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Your wild and spunky personality keeps me on my toes, there is never a dull moment around here.

You and your brother are best friends. I love to see the way you look up to him, they way you want to do everything he does, to be just like him. I love to see how loving you are with Taylor. Always saying "Come on sissy, follow me", making sure she is always included. You have just the right mix of shy and bossy with a little bit of attitude thrown in.

And even when I am trying to discipline you for doing something wrong, you know just when to flash me one of those many looks to make my heart melt. Your a charmer that's for sure! But my life would not be as fun without you.

I love you buddy! Happy 3rd birthday big guy!

Mommy

Water Fun at Grandma's

2011-07-14T15:48:00.008-05:00

Since it has been so hot lately, and with me still not feeling great the kids and I haven't really been getting out of the house. Usually we stay in all week, and get out on Tim's days off, it's just easier to go out with the kids when I have an extra set of hands.

Yesterday my mom called and invited us over. She had a little blow up pool and figured the kids could play outside in the water. I knew the kids would love that, really they probably would have been content that we were leaving the house!

My mom got this blow up kiddie pool from a friend, and had never opened up before. It looked like a decent size from the picture on the box, but once we started blowing it up we quickly realized that it was more like a baby pool. It may not be as big as pawpaw's pool, but the kids didn't seem to mind one bit!

We gave them some cups, and they played for hours. We had to keep filling the pool up because they were dumping all the water out, but other than that it accomplished the goal. They stayed cool and were having fun. We spent all afternoon outside and it was much needed.

The true sign of a good day.....the boys were asleep in the van before we even made it down my mom's street!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2011-07-13T11:13:00.009-05:00

This is my first time participating in the What I'm Loving Wednesday with Jaimie over at This Kind Of Love!

Here is what I'm Loving Today:

1. I'm Loving, that in a few short weeks I will know whether this little peanut is a boy or a girl! I feel it's a boy, but will be happy either way!

2. I'm Loving, the series Breaking Bad on AMC. I am totally addicted. Tim and I are religiously watching the first 3 seasons to be reading for season 4 premier on Sunday.

3. I'm Loving, the big sloppy wet kisses Taylor gives. She is such a sweet girl. Loves giving hugs and kisses!

4. I'm Loving, that the AC seems to be working now after a scare yesterday. With it being in the 90s and 100s outside, the last thing I needed was the air conditioner to go out.

5. I'm Loving, when all is quiet in the boys room so I am sure they are getting into trouble. Only to be pleasantly surprised when I find them playing so nicely together.

Coming Back!

2011-07-12T07:45:00.010-05:00

Hello to my loyal followers, who are still here after my very lengthy absence. I looked at my last post, dated for May 31st, and I still cannot believe I have not blogged or been able to keep up with all of your blogs in almost 2 months. Let me just say I have missed it. But we have been plenty busy around here!

I am officially 15 weeks pregnant, and finally starting to really feel better. Getting my energy back, and not throwing up multiple times a day. It's great! Still taking my Zofran, usually everyday which is probably why I am not throwing up.

I had a doctor's appointment at the end of June. I had an ultrasound to take measurements and get a more accurate due date. I thought I was around 10 weeks, but during the ultrasound it was determined that I was measuring more along the lines of 12 weeks. The baby looked awesome, and I was given a new due date of New Years Day!! So it looks like we will most likely have a Christmas baby. I was also put on blood pressure medicine at that time because my blood pressure has been really elevated. I have had this problem with my last 2 pregnancies. So she decided to start the medicine now to hopefully control it from the beginning before it gets out of control and hard to bring back down.

I am really trying to be optimistic that this time around my blood pressure will stay under control, that maybe I won't have to be induced, and that I could just go into labor on my own. I would really love to go into labor on my own. All three of my kids were induced because of blood pressure, so this would be a miracle. But I am hopeful!

In other news, all the kids are doing great. Taylor is getting so big and sassy! She is running all over the place, chasing her brother's and keeping up with them too! Oh and the climbing, she climbs EVERYTHING. This morning I caught her on the kitchen table. I have no idea how she got up there! Thankfully she didn't fall. She babbles non stop too. Just a talkative little thing. Her favorite thing to do though....play dress up. The boys never did that, but if Taylor finds a shirt, pants, any clothing item on the floor she is trying to put it on. I am always amazed at the differences I have seen in Taylor's personality and the boy's. It really is like she girl's are wired to be drawn to certain things, and boys to certain things.

Mason is really starting to talk and pronounce a lot. We were a little concerned about his speech, because he was just not a talker. Just grunted for things. But boy does he talk now. A lot of what he says is still hard to understand, but I think that is pretty normal. And oh the energy there is plenty of that! Both the boys have more energy than I can imagine, but especially Mason. He is on full steam from the time his feet hit the floor in the morning, until I convince him it is bedtime. He is so much fun though! He has his 3rd birthday at the end of the month, and we are planning a small party at the park on Sunday the 24th, his actual birthday. I am really excited!

I still have a hard time believing Timothy is 4, crazy! He is a little devil sometimes. Having a little bit of a hard time with his behavior. He likes to talk back, and his tantrums and whining are worse than a 2 year old. My hope is that since he is not going to be going to preschool, that I can slowly stop his naps and take that time to work with him. There are still things I need to work on to prepare him for kindergarten, and I hope that this time with him will help his behavior. Because when he gets that alone time, he is such a great kid!

Not much else has really been going on here. Just trying to keep sane. I have spent most of the time at home, just trying to keep from breaking down from really not feeling well. The poor kids are probably so ready to get out more and to see friends. I am hoping the weather cools, it's been in the high 90s with a heat index in the 100s, so that we can get out to the park and Zoo!

Going to spend the morning with my feet kicked up, trying to catch up on all of your blogs! I hope you all have a great day!!

Project 365: May 12th- May 31st

2011-05-31T17:43:00.011-05:00

Due to the rough past month, my project 365 kinda fell the the wayside. I didn't realize I was so behind until I rent to do this post. In the past 1 1/2 - 2 weeks I have hardly taken any pictures. Hopefully now I can get back on track, I am really sad I fell so behind. Anywho here are the few pictures I have taken.

#131 of 365- May 12, 2011
No picture taken

#132 of 365- May 13, 2011

Positive pregnancy test taken that morning! Baby #4 on the way.

#133 of 365- May 14, 2011
No picture taken

#134 of 365- May 15, 2011
No picture taken

#135 of 365- May 16, 2011

Timothy fishing with grandma!

#136 of 365- May 17, 2011
No picture taken

#137 of 365- May 18, 2011
No picture taken

#138 of 365- May 19, 2011

#139 of 365- May 20, 2011
No picture taken

#140 of 365- May 21, 2011
No picture taken

#141 of 365- May 22, 2011
No picture taken

#142 of 365- May 23, 2011
No picture taken

#143 of 365- May 24, 2011
No picture taken

#144 of 365- May 25, 2011
Huge storms hit St. Louis again. Lots of hail and tornados!

#145 of 365- May 26, 2011
No picture taken

#146 of 365- May 27, 2011
No picture taken

#147 of 365- May 28, 2011

Love!

#148 of 365- May 29, 2011
No picture taken

#149 of 365- May 30, 2011

Asleep on Memorial Day at Papa and Judee's house!

#150 of 365- May 31, 2011

Caught Taylor trying on my shirt HAHA!

Update!

2011-05-28T18:55:00.002-05:00

Hello my lovely readers! I just want to thank those of you who have sent kind words to me about our new addition, it truly means a lot to me. I also want to thank those of you who stuck around during this rough time, and with my lack of posting.

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last post, but I have been so sick. This morning sickness, well I should say all day sickness, it really kicking me in my butt. I feel like it was my first pregnancy with my son Timothy. I had a really rough time, and was sick most of my pregnancy with him.

I somehow lucked out with Mason and was only sick in the beginning, and REALLY lucked out with Taylor because I was hardly ever sick. I have felt bad for what seems like at least a month. I have a headache and nausea EVERYDAY! It's really starting to take a toll on me. I just feel like crap.

It really stinks when I have 3 little ones at home that count on me, and some days it takes all I have to just get off the couch. I feel like such a horrible mom because I haven't been as active with them, and I know they don't understand why mommy is always laying down.

The other day when we were over at Tim's grandparent's house for dinner I decided to just check my blood pressure out of curiosity. I tend to have blood pressure issues when pregnant and end up on medicine and with the headaches just wanted to see what it was. I was shocked when I seen the numbers. I took it a couple times to be sure, and I kept getting a reading around 160/102! No wonder I can't get rid of my headache.

Then yesterday morning I woke up and immediately thew up everything I ate the night before. I continued to throw up all day long. I couldn't keep any food or liquids down. By that night I had NOTHING all day, everything I tried to eat or drink immediately came back up. I was dizzy, had a severe headache, couldn't stop throwing up, was just sick. I called the doctor and they told me to go to the hospital.

Tim was on call, so I had to have him dad stay with the kids and his mom take me up to the hospital. As soon as we got there I threw up all over the main entrance to the hospital as soon you get in the door, ya know just for good measures and all. Once we got to the ER they were able to take my blood pressure, which was 161/106 I even blew the cuff off my arm, and they started an IV and gave me some medicine for the nausea.

After waiting a couple hours for a room, they finally started a bag of fluids, did an ultrasound to check on the baby, and monitored my blood pressure. By that time the Zofran had kicked in and I was able to keep sprite down. After a couple more hours I had a whole bag of fluids in me, I was feeling good, drank a whole bottle of sprite, and my blood pressure came down a little. They released me with a prescription for Zoran and another anti nausea medication.

By the time we got home it was around 3am and I was up that morning with the kids around 7:30am. Other than being tired, I feel a lot better than I did yesterday, granted I did take a Zofran this morning. But I have been able to eat and drink all day.

So thus is the reason for my lack in posts. I just have not had the energy to do much of anything. I haven't been on the computer hardly at all in weeks, my house is a wreck, and I am just drained. Anytime that I am feeling halfway decent I try and spend it with the kids.

Hopefully now with the prescription Zofran I can control the nausea better and will be able to blog a little more.

Tomorrow I hope to catch up on my project 365 and I have some posts planned for next week.

Thank you for your support!

I'm Alive...kinda!

2011-05-17T21:30:00.015-05:00

First I want to say thank you so much for all the support, and wonderful comments on my announcement post. It means a lot to me.

This pregnancy so far has been sucking the life out of me! I am so exhausted, not sleeping well, and waking up to a headache and nausea every morning. It's rough, but I know it's all worth it in the end.

The hardest part though about announcing this pregnancy has been the reaction of family and friends. I expected people to be shocked, I mean honesty I was totally shocked. I never in a million years thought I would conceive on the IUD once much less twice. But most of the reactions have been rather negative.

I know that most of the family like my parents and Tim's parents are just worried about us. I understand, we live tight now with three kids and adding one more is going to be tuff. But I haven't really received much positive reactions from friends. It makes it a little hard to be really excited about a new member of our family when no one else seems to share in the excitement with you.

My main stress right now is all about our living situation. To me at least, it appears that we will have to move. We have absolutely no wear to go with a new baby. We live in a small 3 bedroom house with no basement. The boys room is crammed with a bunk bed and all the toys, Taylor's poor room is crammed with her crib and the boys 2 dressers. I have NO idea how we would fit 2 beds in Taylor's room. Tim doesn't think it will be possible to move because we know our landlord and are paying a lot less than normal for this house.

So I am stressing a little about what we are going to do, but I know that in the end it will all work out. It always does!

Last week after I took the positive pregnancy test, I immediately called the doctor's office and explained my situation. I went in that afternoon. They did a urine pregnancy test, it came back positive. They did an ultrasound to make sure the could see a baby and that they baby attached to the right place. There was a tiny baby and a low IUD visible during the ultrasound. She then removed the IUD. I have a 2 week period now to wait and pray that I don't miscarry, there is always a risk for disrupting the pregnancy when you remove the IUD.

She said that the IUD appeared to be way too low, but that it's uncertain if it was originally put in too low or if it has slipped over the year that it was in. So I go back in about a week and a half for another ultrasound the make sure everything is still OK, and to check for sure how far along I am. The baby was so tiny it was still too early to really tell how far along I am. But going by my LMP which I am 100% sure on, my due date that they gave me is January 13th.

Switching gear. Yesterday we took the kids to the lake with grandma and grandpa to do a little fishing. I wasn't feeling well, and was hoping that some fresh air would do me some good. It was a beautiful evening, not too warm, and a cool breeze by the water!

Timothy did great with his little pole. He would have grandma hook a cricket, and he would cast all by himself. He had a little trouble staying focused and watching his bobber, but he hooked quite a few little fish. The excitement on his face was priceless! His favorite part was fighting to reel the fish in. These were tiny fish, but they put up just enough fight for Timothy!

Mason was much happier to follow grandpa around the lake, blow bubbles, or of course snack on food! Taylor was just along for the ride, literally. I pushed her all around that lake and she just happily kicked her little feet! She was such a good little girl.

Mason did catch one fish that he was pretty thrilled about, but he didn't want to get too close to it. He really just wanted to leave it hooked hanging it the water, but don't worry we let him go! It was such a fun evening with the kids!

All the fun ended though when Timothy hooked himself in the head. I didn't see it, but Tim's mom said he started to get wild with his casting, and some how hooked himself right behind his ear. Thankfully it barely stuck and was easy to get out with no bleeding at all. He was fine, scared, but OK!

I hope to get back to regular blogging, and stay caught up. But it's all up in the air with how I am feeling. Some day's it takes all I have to hold my shit together and not puke. The past few weeks, I get on the computer once or twice a day for a few minutes, and that's all I can handle.

If anyone has any suggestions for morning sickness, I am all ears! I have had several suggestions to try Unisom, has anyone used that for morning sickness? I may just give it a try.

I promise that one of these days, hopefully this week, I will catch up on all of your blogs and commenting. I have missed all my blog reading, and keeping up with your lives. So please hang in there as I slowly try and get back into the swing of things.

Again thank you for all the kind words, I really appreciate it! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

The More The Merrier!

2011-05-14T18:22:00.003-05:00

If you happen to follow me on Twitter, or know me IRL than you probably already know the news.

In case you don't know, I am going to tell you.

I am happy to announce that we will be welcoming baby #4 sometime in January!! Yep, you read that right, I am 5 weeks pregnant with number FOUR!

And just in case you don't already know, this would be the 2nd baby conceived while having an IUD in. Miss Taylor was conceived with an IUD in too!

CRAZY!

Still trying to get used to the thought of having 4 kids. Still processing how I am going to handle everything, especially financially. But I know that it will all work out, so I am trying to be positive.

This is another miracle, and another blessing for our family.

A beautiful surprise!

Project 365- May 2nd- May 11th

2011-05-12T14:48:00.003-05:00

#121 of 365- May 2, 2011 Taylor knocked out on our way home, after a long day!

#122 of 365- May 3, 2011

Taylor sitting right in the way as the boys and I were trying to play cars. Can you say attention hog?!

#123 of 365- May 4, 2011

#124 of 365- May 5, 2011

#125 of 365- May 6, 2011
Beautiful day at the park!

#126 of 365- May 7, 2011
Timothy's friend Ashley's 4th birthday party!

#127 of 365- May 8, 2011 *Actually taken on May 7th.
Taylor at Timothy's friend Ashley's birthday party!

#128 of 365- May 9, 2011 Leftover Mother's Day dinner for lunch!

#129 of 365- May 10, 2011 My birthday! Spent the morning at The Magic House with grandma.

#130 of 365- May 11, 2011

My sick little boy.

Mother's Day

2011-05-11T13:01:00.000-05:00

Please excuse me as I try to catch up on the past few days.

Sunday, Mother's Day, we had a long day planned. We wanted to make sure we spent time with boy my mom, and Tim's mom.

In the morning we met my mom, my uncle, and one of her closest friend and her family at the winery by our house. The same winery we went to last year, except last year things didn't go so well.

But this year was great. We went earlier in the morning around 11am, so it wasn't crowded, the weather was perfect, and we all had a great time!

We snacked on sub sandwiches, crackers, cheese, Salomi, fruit. Once our bellies were full we headed down by the water where the kids fed the fish bread. They really got a kick out of this!

After a spending the morning at the winery we headed to Tim's grandparents house for BBQ. We spent the rest of the evening outside with family. It was the first Mother's Day in probably 6 years that Tim got to be with his mom. Good food, and quality family time!

The kids crashed at great grandma and grandpa's house. And they were out for the night. So Tim and I decided to not wake them and just stay there overnight. We snuck out for a late night Wal-Mart run, without kids. It almost felt like a date!

It was a awesome Mother's Day! I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing day with your families as well!

Testing

2011-05-09T19:41:00.001-05:00

Testing out a new app on my phone! Seeing how easy it is to post from my phone and making sure it shows up!

I will be back hopefully later tonight with a post about mother's day.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and a great Monday!

Hard Head

2011-05-06T10:36:00.004-05:00

Last night we had a scare. The ones that can make a mommy panic. Knock on wood for having two very wild and crazy boys, we have had NO serious incidents.

No broken bones, nothing that needed stitches, hardly any blood. The most serious thing the boys have had to deal with was a seizure each. But looking back at those moments I think I remained rather calm, I may have been a mess on the inside, but I tried to remain calm.

Last night though, I fell apart. This morning though I have no idea why I freaked out as bad as I did.

After Tim got off of work, we went to help his parents finish unpacking all of their stuff into storage. The temperature had dropped and it started to rain. The kids and I escaped the cold rain and sat in dad's work truck. That way we were dry and warm, but they could still watch daddy and grandma and grandpa working.

Timothy was pretending to drive the truck, Taylor was on my lap playing with an empty soda can, and Mason? He was freaking out and screaming. We figured out that he just wanted the truck door open, I guess he didn't like feeling all closed in. I don't know.

All I know is they were almost done. Timothy slammed the door shut, I yelled at him because Mason once again started freaking out. Mason lunged at the door, Timothy decides then that he is going to go ahead and open back up and the last thing I remember is seeing Mason's feet in the air. Which meant his head was flying towards the ground. Which was gravel rocks.

I screamed for Tim because remember I still had Taylor on my lap. He ran over picked Mason up and all I see is blood coming from his head. I totally freak out! I don't know whether I am mad Timothy for not listening and messing with the door which caused Mason to fall out. If I am mad at Tim because he was the one who thought we should sit in the van. I just start crying and yelling at Timothy.

Which only made things worse because then Timothy started crying saying he was sorry and didn't mean to, and that mommy is mad at him. (insert huge mommy guilt). It was just a big mess. Literally and figuratively.

We got Mason cleaned up and the bleeding stopped almost immediately. There was only a few minor cuts, nothing major, and nothing that needed stitches or a hospital trip. Which is what I think I freaked out about the most. In the end he was OK, a little scared, probably a nice headache but he was OK! Thank god!

I survived, I just hope next time (I know there will be plenty more next times) I can stay calm and not loose my shit.

May

2011-05-03T14:41:00.011-05:00

Seriously, how can it be May already?! Before I had children, time didn't seem to fly by as fast as it does now that I have children. They really do grow right before your eyes.
On Sunday, the first day of May, we met my dad over at the park by our house. He was already there fishing, and we were looking for something to do. To get out of the house. It was a little chilly, but a chance to get out before it rained that evening.

Yesterday we spent the day at home, with no plans. But by the evening Tim had the itch to go to the shooting range, and I kinda wanted to get out of the house. We called our friends Chris and Angie, and the guys went shooting. Angie and I stayed at their house with all the kids, and then we all had dinner when they got home.

Today was pretty much the same as yesterday. We stayed in our pajamas well into the afternoon, Taylor and I snuggled on the couch, Tim had Nerf gun fights with the boys, lunch, and naps. Low key weekend. Tim goes back to work tomorrow, and back to the grind for the kids and I. I am sneaking in some time to blog, Taylor and Timothy just woke from their naps, Mason is still out.

In other unrelated news. Tim's parents went back to Texas the day after Easter to close on their house and pack up the rest of their things. They are supposed to be signing the papers today and then it's back to St. Louis for good. I know that this is a huge relief to them, and I know that are beyond thrilled to be back. I am a little sad to loose our vacation, getaway spot, but glad they are back.

One last thing to share before I sign off. Taylor is WALKING! I cannot believe it! She is still working on getting to standing without using something to pull herself up. But once she is up she is gone. She has been toddling all. over. the. place! And she is so proud of herself. When she gets to where she is going, she laughs and flashes the hugest smile. My baby is no longer a baby. *tear* They really do grow too fast.

Happy Tuesday friends! I hope your day has been great, and your night is fabulous.

Project 365: April 21st- May 1st

2011-05-01T17:36:00.015-05:00

#110 of 365- April 21, 2011

Taylor rocking the sunglasses!

#111 of 365- April 22, 2011

Such a big girl.

#112 of 365- April 23, 2011

Papa giving Taylor her first taste of candy before Easter.

#113 of 365- April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

#114 of 365- April 25, 2011*

*actually taken on April 28, 2011
Taylor already rolling her eyes at me!

#115 of 365- April 26, 2011

If you have not read this book yet, I HIGHLY recommend it!

#116 of 365- April 27, 2011

Kitchen all tore up, new water heater!

#117 of 365- April 28, 2011

Chalk time!

#118 of 365- April 29, 2011*

*Actually taken on April 22, 2011

#119 of 365- April 30, 2011

Playing Lightning McQueen fishing game.

#120 of 365- May 1, 2011

Chilly morning at the park before the rain.

Friday!

2011-04-29T09:51:00.012-05:00

Did you get up early to watch the royal wedding? I debated on weather or not I wanted to get up at 3am or not. I decided to just record it and get up when the boys wake me up and watch it, since they get up early enough.

Mason woke me up at 6:30am, and Timothy was shortly behind him. But neither of them were interested in this fabulous wedding. I really with Taylor would have been old enough to get up and watch it with me, instead she was sound asleep in her bed. I would have loved to show her that they were a real prince and princess. Instead, I watched on my own.

Yesterday we had a gorgeous day with no rain and sunshine. As you can probably tell from the pictures the kids and I played outside in the afternoon. I got out new bubbles and chalk from Easter. I even let Taylor crawl around on the grass and concrete for a few minutes.

Today has turned out to be another beautiful day with lots of sunshine. We just got home from taking Tim to the emergency room. Two days ago he was getting really dizzy and almost blacking out. Then vomited twice. Yesterday he still felt pretty bad. But then this morning he was taking a recertification test for work and was up on a pole when he got dizzy and vomited again. His supervisor told him to go to the doctor. They ran some blood work, gave him and IV of fluids and medicine. Blood work came back fine so they couldn't really come up with anything. They said his blood pressure was a little high so maybe it's his blood pressure, but don't really have an answers. His official diagnosis, headaches. Well duh!

I am really behind on reading and commenting on blogs, I apologize. It seems that every time I sit down to do that something comes up, or I have to tend to one of the kids. Or there is always laundry and chored that need to be done. I will try and catch up as much as I can now since it is nap time and 2 out of the 3 are sleeping. We shall see.

I hope you all have a awesome Friday, and an even better weekend. Any fun plans for the weekend?

Busy Bees

2011-04-28T08:45:00.007-05:00

And Taylor is no exception. She is making sure she can keep up with the rest of us. She is still not fully walking on her own. She will take 5+ steps if you stand her up and make her walk somewhere. Other than that, her preferred method of traveling is still crawling.

But man can she crawl. She is everywhere, always on the move, always getting into something, just a busy little bee!

We have been busy here too around the house. Finally getting the hot water heater and mold problem fixed. They came yesterday to start by replacing the water heater, and keep running into problem after problem. The poor guys were here from about 11am until 5pm. They finally got the new one in and old one out though! WOOHOO! No more leaking and hot showers again!

Since we live in a small house, no basement, the water heater is in the kitchen. The problem is the people that built the house in closed the water heater in the kitchen cabinets. So in order to get to it you have to take the counter off and all the cabinets apart. It's a huge mess. Once they finally got everything put back together yesterday and were about to leave there was a problem with the garbage disposal not staying attached.

So they have to come back this morning to put a new disposal and take care of the mold. They said something about spraying and putting some kind of powder stuff down that takes all the moisture out. And that by doing that it should kill the mold. I know nothing about this stuff so I sure hope that's all that we have to do.

Even though there is a little water damage and mold on the inside of the cabinets our landlord does not plan on replacing them. I am a little upset, but it's not super bad and I guess as long as the mold is killed and it's not harmful...I don't know. They said our landlord would only replace it if the cabinets were actually so bad they were falling apart, but we fixed the parts of the cabinets that were like that. Oh well as long as everything is safe then I am OK.

I woke up this morning to sunshine and it was just what I needed! There is suppose to be NO rain today! After seeing rain and storms for what feels like forever, the sun just made my day. We will probably be stuck inside though because of the men working in the kitchen, but it should be a good day if the sun is out!

Praying for all those families affected by the storms yesterday in the south. This has been one heck of a storm season.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and that the sun is shining where you are. Get out and enjoy the day!

If your not sick of Easter posts yet...

2011-04-26T17:39:00.011-05:00

I have one more for ya!

Saturday evening my dad and Judee came by to give the kids their baskets. We would normally see them at my aunt's house on Easter morning, but due to the recent storms and tornado my aunt was without power. And no power means no way to make food. So we had to skip my aunt's this year and we were pretty bummed about it. Tim was especially upset about missing the yummy food!

So since we wouldn't be seeing my dad on Easter he came by the night before so he could see he kids open their baskets.

Since Tim's parents were usually in Texas for Easter, we never did anything with his side of the family. And we usually went to my mom's on a different day because we always went to my aunt's. This year though my mom was just getting back from Mexico so she wanted us to come out on Easter, and Tim's parents wanted to see the kids on Easter since they have never spent an Easter with them. They also wanted us to go down to his grandparent's house because of their condition we wanted them to see the kids on Easter.

The night before, I filled about 60 plastic eggs with candy and hid them around the house for the boys to find in the morning. When hey got up, they practically tripped over them before they seen them. But once they did, they ran all over the house gathering eggs, and sneaking the candy out of them!

After we had our family time at home, we went down to Tim's grandparent's house to spend the afternoon with them and his parents. The kids did another egg hunt around the house, and then opened up baskets from grandma and grandpa, and Aunt Justine!

We ended the day at my mom's for dinner. My uncle Jeff stopped by too! Dinner was yummy!! The boys were even surprised to have baskets at grandma's too!

We had a wonderful Easter, and I hope you all did as well!

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

2011-04-23T13:03:00.005-05:00

We spent about an hour in the hallway last night, AGAIN, as storms and tornado's ripped through St. Louis. The storms started out in the far west area of Missouri around 5pm and were in the St. Louis area around 8pm.

As soon I seen that funnel clouds were being spotted all over, and especially just west of us, I barricaded the kids and I in the hallway. You know what sucks about tornado's? Having NO basement! It's so hard trying to keep 3 small children crammed in the hallway, but we did it.

There were reports of a tornado at a major highway heading towards St. Louis International Airport and North of the airport. I immediately panicked because my mom was suppose to be on a flight home from Mexico at that time. I wasn't sure if she was even able to land, and if she did land whether she was out of the airport and on her way home, or if she was stuck inside the airport.

I got a hold of her, and she said they had just landed and were stuck inside the airport. There was major damage, and they couldn't leave until it was safe. But they were OK!

I then called my dad because there was a report of funnel clouds heading towards us. All was alright there. We waited until the warning was lifted and then we were able to put the kids to bed.

This morning I have just been in shock watching the news coverage of all the damage. Houses completely leveled, all the damage at the airport, and all the damage north of the airport in the area we used to live in.

My aunt, uncle, and cousins live north of the airport where the tornado headed next. Thankfully they are all OK, they have no power, and a tree fell and scraped my cousins car. No one is hurt though and no damage to the house.

I am so thankful that having no basement our house was not hit with anything. Seeing these houses with nothing left standing scares the crap out of me. Especially when you think, that there are no injuries or fatalities because the families took shelter in the basement.

I am thankful that so far no fatalities have been reported and only a few minor injuries. I am thankful my mom is safe and home now. I am thankful all my friends and family are safe.

Today, I am praying for all the families affected by these tornado's. As they try to straighten things out and move on. I could only imagine the devastation.

Video from inside the airport as the tornado approaches.

Via

Hunting, Spring Storms, and Updates

2011-04-22T11:02:00.012-05:00

I have been so busy this week I haven't had much time to blog. I apologize now for the long post, but I am going to try to catch up.

Turkey hunting season began on Monday and Tim was dying to go out the first day with his friend Chris, but the only way they could go is if someone watched Chris's 2 kids, Alyssa and baby Christopher Jr. I said the only way I would watch them is if I had help. 5 kids all 4 year old and younger, 2 being 13 months and younger was more than I could handle.

Thankfully Tim's mom offered to come out to help me since his dad was going to go hunting with them.

And thankfully she was there! I always here people say they don't know how somebody with more than 1 or 2 make it, but we do. I say I don't know how people with 5 or more do it, but I am sure to them it's not as hard as it seems.

The first part of the morning went great. Everybody got to our house around 5:00am and my kids were all still asleep, the baby stayed asleep in the car seat, and the only one awake was Alyssa. She sat with me on the recliner watching cartoons until the kids woke up. Around 7:30am I fed the baby his bottle, Tim's mom made all the other kids some scrambled eggs, and we had everything under control.

By around 10am we had a house full of crying and unhappy kids. Alyssa was exhausted and needed a nap, but I couldn't get her to lay down. The boys were fighting every 2 seconds over a toy, and the baby was just crying. We couldn't figure out what to do for him. He was changed, it wasn't time to eat yet, I gave him some gas drops, but nothing helped. He didn't want to swing, he only wanted to be held, and held standing up not sitting down!

After an hour of listening to him cry and trying to get a hold of the guys and none of them answering their phones, they finally called us back. They told us they were on their way but by that time we had gotten him settled down and he could finally eat so he was fine. Go figure!

It was a stressful morning at times, when they were all crying. But when everyone was happy we had a lot of fun! But I was exhausted before it was even noon!

Later that afternoon we went with Tim's parents back down to his grandparents house for dinner. It was sunny and warm outside so we played outside before the storms that were expected rolled in.

Timothy LOVES playing baseball, and he is getting quite good at hitting the ball. We couldn't find a baseball so we just played with a big bouncy ball. It worked he was hitting the balls across the fence! I am glad we got this time in outside because we have had a lot of rain and stormy weather since!

That morning I woke up to everyone talking about the storms and the baseball size hail in our area. Thankfully there was no damage at our house, but some of the pictures of the hail in our area was CRAZY! It has been storming on and off all week. That night the storms were so bad there were tornado warnings all over and spotting of tornadoes all around us. The kids and I sat in the hallway for about a half hour to an hour until we felt that the storm was past us.

No tornado at our house, and we were all fine thankfully. My least favorite thing about spring are the storms and tornado season. Tornadoes terrify me especially when you have no basement! Last night it stormed pretty good, and today it has been raining since I woke up. Tonight we have some more severe storms with possible tornadoes. When will the rain end?!

Before I quite rambling on I want to give you a quick update on Tim's grandparents.

I don't remember if I mentioned when he had his surgery to remove the tumor in his bladder they found another, bigger, tumor in his urethra that they believe is the primary. They didn't remove it then because it would be a more invasive surgery and he was not put under all the way.

Well the other day he had a bunch of tests done, and seen multiple doctors to see if he would be cleared to be put under to have this massive surgery to have this other tumor removed. He needed to get cleared since he is on 100% oxygen all the time and lungs are not very good. Well all the doctors cleared him for surgery which is great news, since this tumor is very very aggressive.

They will be scheduling the surgery soon. I will update when I know when it is because we will need all the prayers we can get. He has already been told he will most likely have to be put on a ventilator for surgery and afterwards, and he is very adamant about not going on one.

Tim's grandma is also not doing so well. She hasn't been well for awhile now. A couple years ago she had some internal bleeding that she went into the hospital for, and was in a coma for a couple weeks. They found that the bleeding was in her esophagus and tied it off, but warned that it wouldn't be permanent. She also has sclerosis of the liver and has never drank in her life.

The other day at a doctors appointment they found that the internal bleeding was back. She has went back several times for blood draws, to receive a blood transfusion, and they said she was anemic. She has an upcoming doctors appointment to check on her liver and find out how much of it is left, and at CAT scan to find the internal bleeding. We know she is not in liver failure yet, but she is not doing well. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers if you don't mind.

I think that's all the updates I have for now. This post is way longer than I intended it to be, so if you are still with me THANK YOU for listening!

I hope you all have a FABULOUS Friday!!

Project 365- April 14-20

2011-04-21T15:09:00.008-05:00

#103 of 365- April 14, 2011 Peanut butter sandwich!

#104 of 365- April 15, 2011 Spring storm rolling in!

#105 of 365- April 16, 2011 My mom's friend Katie, entertaining the kids at her bridal shower.

#106 of 365- April 17, 2011 Baby Christopher Jr. at the park. Isn't he sweet?!

#107 of 365- April 18, 2011 Buddies! The morning I watched Alyssa and baby Christopher while Tim and Chris went hunting!

#108 of 365- April 19, 2011 In the hallway waiting out the tornado warnings. BAD storms!

#109 of 365- April 20, 2011*

*picture actually taken on April 18
The boys playing outside at great grandma and grandpa's!

Daydreamer

2011-04-20T22:04:00.003-05:00

( I wasn't kidding when I said girl likes her food)!

Sunny Sunday!

2011-04-17T10:03:00.007-05:00

Good Morning! Happy Sunday!

I just wanted to stop in real quick to say hello and wish you all a beautiful Sunday. We finally have sunshine and warm weather today. Yesterday and the day before were cold and rainy.

Today we have a few errands to run in preparation for for Tim being gone hunting tomorrow. Maybe a stop at the park, whatever the day brings! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, and your Sunday is just as great!

I will be back tomorrow in full swing, and hopefully have a giveaway for you all sometime next week! Make is a great day!

Fabulous Friends

2011-04-15T09:34:00.010-05:00

Sunday after our afternoon at the park and lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, we all went back to our house. We invited our friends Chris and Angie over because it's been a while since we have seen them and I mean come on, do I need an excuse to snuggle with a baby! Baby Christopher Jr. is already a month old! I blogged about his birth HERE. He is such a sweetie. We tease that Alyssa is Mason's little girlfriend. They are about the same size and play so well together. Mason can be a little overwhelming for her, he likes to be right up in her face. But they are so cute together! We always have a good time when they are over, with our house full of kids! Grandma and Grandpa rode their bike that day since it was so gorgeous out. So that meant they had to leave early because it was suppose to storm and it was already getting cloudy and dark. The boys LOVE grandma and grandpa's bike, but Timothy keeps his distance. He likes to compare his helmet to grandpa's helmet. I suppose this weekend will be like the last, nice and relaxing. NO plans. Sometimes those are the best weekends. Turkey season starts on Monday and the plan is for Tim to go hunting with Chris, while I watch Alyssa and baby Christopher. That makes for 5 kids total, so Tim's mom is suppose to come over to help. Anybody else have a significant other that hunts?

It's rainy and cloudy here today. I hope the sun is shining where you are and your day is fabulous! Happy Friday friends!

Park

2011-04-14T09:38:00.012-05:00

Sunday we spent the afternoon at the park. The weather was gorgeous and we just wanted to be outside! Tim's parents came along with us. I know they love living back in St. Louis, so they can do things like meet us at the park on a warm afternoon. We went to the park by our house that has the lakes. My favorite thing about this park? It's like 7 minutes from our house! We brought the bat and ball for the boys. Timothy had a blast hitting the ball while daddy pitched. He was doing pretty good too, we need to sign him up for t-ball. Mason didn't want to play at all, so I took him to the playground. This is one of my favorite places to be in the summer, well second to the Zoo. LOVE going to the Zoo. But I love sitting at the park, I could spend the whole afternoon there when the weather is nice and breezy. I love watching the boys interact with the other children, I love being out in the sunshine, I love the exercise of chasing the kids! My dad decided to meet us too. Judee stayed behind, so my dad brought their dog Princess! They kids love Princess, especially Taylor. She just giggles and chases her all around my dad's house. Timothy just wanted to walk her. If we go to this park we always have to take a walk by the lake. Mason gets so excited trying to find the geese! Except he calls the ducks. When he finds them he will stand there pointing "Ducks, ducks! Quack, quack"! And even though I tell him they are geese, he still says duck! I always mean to bring some bread to feed them but somehow I always forget. After the park we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesday's, where Taylor ate us all under the table. I am not kidding. She ate a whole grilled cheese sandwich, some broccoli, mashed potatoes, and like 4 biscuits. Girl can eat, I still don't know how she is only 18lbs! The boys barely had any of their macaroni and cheese. After lunch we had friends over in the evening. I got some baby snuggles in, I will share those pictures in a different post. Happy Thursday friends, have a beautiful day!

Project 365: April 7- 12

2011-04-13T20:57:00.010-05:00

#96 of 365- April 7, 2011

These moments melt my heart!

#97 of 365- April 8, 2011 This is a classic Mason face.

#98 of 365- April 9, 2011 Keeping cool on a 90 degree day!

#99 of 365- April 10, 2011 At the park with Tim's parents and my dad!

#100 of 365- April 11, 2011 Taylor's first nap without her binky. She was asleep in 15 minutes with maybe 5 minutes of crying.

#101 of 365- April 12, 2011 Tim watching Top Shot.

#102 of 365- April 13, 2011

Wearing his new sunglasses!

How Do You Cool Off?

2011-04-13T09:23:00.007-05:00

The weather has finally been somewhat consistent with warm weather and sunshine. Some days it is down right hot out, like in the middle of summer. Last week we had one of those days, it was almost 90 degrees out. I couldn't stay in the house, so we played in the front yard. After only a few minutes the boys were sweating, had bright red cheeks. It was hot! The boys have this new thing where they pour the ice water from their squirt bottles all over their head. Then the water soaks their hair and shirt. They laugh hysterically and repeat. Sometimes they would take a break from dumping water all over their head to squirt the water into their mouth like an athlete. This too they thought was hysterically funny! After a few minutes they were soaked. But they were cooled off!! We had a snack of bananas and apples, played for about an hour, and then had to go in. So how do YOU cool off?

Love

2011-04-12T14:29:00.005-05:00

Happy Tuesday Friends! Hope your having a wonderful day! It's beautiful in STL today, in the high 60s, sun shining, cool breeze coming through the windows.

I am having a lazy, relaxing kind of day. Reclining in the chair and catching up on my blog reading, which sorry for my lack of comments, I am behind. I will do my best to catch up today!

I hope the sun is shining where you are, and your day is fabulous. Filled with laughter and maybe a little love. We can all use some love right?!

Cheers to sunshine, lazy Sunday's, family, brother and sister hugs, and love!

Last Weekend

2011-04-10T10:36:00.009-05:00

I am behind on posting pictures from last weekend. This week flew by! We didn't do anything too exciting, but the weather was beautiful and warm! Sunday it was so warm out. We played outside in the morning while we tried to plan something to do. The boys played with bubbles while daddy worked on his dirt bike.

Timothy also rode his four wheeler all by himself! He was so proud of himself! We always practice safe riding. He NEVER rides without his helmet. His bike is specifically made for a child. It has a governor in it that is turned all the way down, so it can't go that fast. It also has a kill switch that Tim usually carries as he walks next to him. There is also a kill switch that if he falls off the bike it shuts off on him so it can't run him over.

It was so nice out that we thought it would be great to go the park and barbecue. We called my dad and Judee, and Tim's parents because we were trying to do something that everyone could do. But Tim's parents already had plans so we scratched the park plan and just went to my dad's house to play!

The boys LOVE playing ball with Pawpaw. Tim, my dad, and the boys played Frisbee and soccer. While Judee and I sat in the shade chatting. I was just so happy to be sitting outside enjoying the breeze!

We put Taylor in the pack n play with some toys and she had a blast! I think she really enjoyed being outside and watching the boys play! It was perfect.

We had to bail kind of early. The boys were becoming little monsters, and throwing fits. NO naps+playing in the sun= tired and crabby kids. So we headed home for an early bedtime!!

Have a Beautiful Weekend Friends!

2011-04-08T10:31:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to stop in and say happy Friday! Although it's more like a Thursday for me. Tim works on Saturday's so our Friday is tomorrow.

What are your plans for the weekend? Doing anything fun? I am just being lazy again today, we may go out to play this afternoon, or we may just stay in and snuggle. No real plans for the weekend. And that's just the way I like it!

Have a beautiful weekend friends, and a wonderful Friday!

* Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic

I swear she is 1 going on 16. Already jabbering on the phone, running up the bill!

Cooking With Grandma

2011-04-08T02:00:00.000-05:00

Friday the kids and I packed up and headed to grandma's (my mom). Tim was working so it was just the kids and I.

My mom was making tuna and chicken salad sandwhiched for a friends baby shower the next day. I happened to have about 12 cans of tuna fish that I had been waiting to make, so I just took it over there. We just made it all, and I planed on taking some back home with me.

Tuna salad is one of my favorites! But I am the only one is our house who will eat it so it doesn't hardly ever get made. Grandma also had to make frog eyes salad for the shower and the boys thought that they were going to "help" grandma cook!

Mason's idea of helping is playing in the water. If he even catches you at the sink he is pulling over a chair to "help". In reality he just enjoys filling up a cup and dumping it, over and over again! But whatever makes him feel included right?!

My uncle Jeff stoped by to see the kids, and then Tim came over after work. Tim and I then ran to get dinner from Viviano's, an awesome little italian place by my moms. Before I knew it, it was almost the kids bedtime. The kids were in a desperate need of a bath. Timothy and Mason had red kool-aid stained faces, Taylor had her dinner in her hair. So I just decided to give the kids a bath at my moms and then when we got home they could go right to bed.

Taylor fits perfectly in my mom's sink. How cute is she?! It's always great spending the day with grandma!!

#95 of 365- April 6, 2011*

2011-04-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

BUBBLES! * No picture taken on April 6. Picture actually taken on April 3.

#94 of 365- April 5, 2011

2011-04-07T10:49:00.000-05:00

Showing grandma and grandpa how he can ride his four wheeler on his own now!

#93 of 365- April 4, 2011*

2011-04-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

* No picture taken on April 4. Picture actually taken on March 22.

#92 of 365- April 3, 2011

2011-04-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

Such a big girl. Watching the boys play at pawpaw and Judee's!

#91 of 365- April 2, 2011

2011-04-07T10:29:00.000-05:00

Just like daddy!

#90 of 365- April 1, 2011

2011-04-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

One of my favorites....tuna salad!

#89 of 365- March 31, 2011

2011-04-07T10:23:00.000-05:00

Spending a morning at Chuck E Cheese with friends!

#88 of 365- March 30, 2011

2011-04-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

My weakness.

Happy Wednesday

2011-04-06T11:14:00.001-05:00

Good morning friends! It's Wednesday, woohoo! I woke up this morning with a pretty nasty headache. I am off to take something, lay on the couch as much as I can with three little ones, and hopefully get rid of this headache.

I should be back later today with some pictures from this past weekend. Have a wonderful day!

Preschool Stress

2011-04-05T18:16:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry for my lack of posting. I have been in such a blah mood lately, no motivation to do much of anything. Plus daddy has been off for the past 4 days, so we have been go go go. Haven't really been home to blog.

Hopefully this week I can keep up!

About a month ago I filled out all the paperwork for the head start program so that I could get Timothy started in some sort of preschool, and they would have also accepted Mason and Taylor into the program. It is state funded so we wouldn't have had to pay anything. The best of both worlds. But I have yet to hear anything about them getting in. The word on the street is that the state is shutting down most of the head start programs. CRAP! So that put me into a panic these past two days trying to figure out this whole preschool thing. Timothy is already 4 and "technically" he is behind with the whole preschool thing. Most kids start at 3, I guess. As a stay at home mom, I didn't really see the need to put him in preschool for an extra year, and spend more money when I could teach him at home. But now I think we need to get him in for at least one year before kindergarten for the social aspect more.

He is very smart. Knows all his letters, numbers up to 20 and 10 in Spanish, shapes, colors, writes his name, etc.. He is sociable with other children. He just has a very hard time listening to directions, and following directions, sitting for an extended period of time and working on one project. I assume that is mostly because he has been home with me since he was 1 and I have never really worked on that with him.

So anyway, the past few days I have been searching for for preschools. We were looking more towards a public preschool in our school district. For one I assumed a private preschool would cost more, apparently some people are telling me that may not be the case. Then, almost all the private preschools I could find around us had a religious affiliation, and we prefer to not have a church/religious affiliated school.

I could not find a preschool in our school district so I called the preschool in the next closest district. I called today and talked to the lady about the program. Timothy would be able to either go Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8am to 11am. Or Monday through Thursday from 11:45am until 2:45pm. The Monday- Friday afternoon class is a little bit more money so we would be interested in the 3 days a week morning class. Now that I found a close preschool, the only thing we have to worry about is the cost. I am not sure how the heck we are going to afford this. Since when did preschools become so expensive. Tim is talking like we can't afford it, but he really needs to get into some kind of program. I think if he doesn't he will not be prepared at all for kindergarten.

I could also put Mason into the 3 year old program, it would be twice a week in the morning. He would have to be potty trained by the fall, and it would be an extra $100 a month. Tim already pretty much said no, but I would really love to get them both into the school. Mason has never had any kind of daycare or anything, has always been home with me. I really see his vocabulary, and social skills taking off if he started school. First I was stressed about even finding a preschool that both Tim and I were OK with. Now I am stressed about how we are going to pay for it. Some way though we are going to have to figure it out. I would take a part time job, or even a evening or night job. But with Tim's schedule and being on call it makes it hard. He gets off so late as it is, and with him being on call I never know if he will have to go back in the middle of the night. I just don't see that working right now.

I just never imagined all this school stress would start so soon. But I know one way or another everything will work out in the end. I just need to BREATHE! I hope you all had a great weekend, and start of a new week! I have some pictures I will post tomorrow of our weekend.

Finger Painting!

2011-04-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

Timothy received a finger painting kit for his birthday and a couple weeks ago i finally decided to let the boys try it out. I am not a huge fan of painting in the house. Usually because it's hard trying to keep an eye on Taylor, and make sure the boys are not painting each other or anything but paper for the matter. Taylor was napping and it was the perfect opportunity because I could sit in the kitchen with them and supervise!

Timothy only painted one picture, he didn't seem as interested as Mason was in the paint. Of course as soon as I started to put everything away he wanted to paint more!

Quick Update

2011-03-30T20:25:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to give a quick update on how Tim's grandpa is doing.

This morning was his surgery to have the tumor in his bladder removed. During the surgery they found another tumor in his urethra that they believe is the primary(original) tumor. They believe the cancer spread from there to the bladder.

They are going to biopsy the tumor and we should know the results in about a week. I do not believe they removed that tumor though, but they did remove the one in the bladder.

He was told that chemo and radiation would probably not be an option because of the location of the tumors. So now we just wait and see. Pray that the cancer does not spread anymore.

Just waiting to find out the next step. Thank you to those of you who sent well wishes and prayers on my post about the diagnoses. We would greatly appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers.

I will update when I know more.

Project 365- Playing Catch Up

2011-03-30T09:08:00.001-05:00

#79 of 365-March 21, 2011* *Actually taken on March 22, 2011 Big girl!

#80 of 365-March 22, 2011 Mason finger painting!

#81 of 365-March 23, 2011 New phone!

#82 of 365-March 24, 2011 Taylor trying to play her brother's game!

#83 of 365-March 25, 2011 All packed up and ready to go stay the night with grandma and grandpa!

#84 of 365-March 26, 2011 Watching it snow...in March. A spring snow?!

#85 of 365-March 27, 2011 A beautiful spring snow, that melted by the end of the day.

#86 of 365-March 28, 2011 Waiting in line to see Lightning McQueen and Mater!

#87 of 365-March 29, 2011 Oh technology, watching a show before bed on daddy's phone!

Twitter Hop Tuesday

2011-03-29T16:22:00.000-05:00

Click on over to Twitter and join us! As always you can find me @NicoleMassie218 http://twitter.com/#!/NicoleMassie218

The hassle, and the memories.

2011-03-29T11:07:00.000-05:00

Do any of you read Kelle Hampton's blog, Enjoying the Small Things? Well if you don't I highly recommend you take a look, I promise you will not be disappointed. The other day she wrote a post about making memories. I could have written this post, I related to it so well. Although I am positive she captured the thoughts in writing way better than I could ever. Anyway, she talks about the hassle of getting kids all ready to go on an adventure is almost always worth it in the end. Ah if this isn't more true, especially when you have more than one kid. If you want to read her post about this, go HERE!

When you have children, sometimes the thought of just getting everyone ready and out the door, in the car, without incident is just too overwhelming that you just might as well stay home. Even if you have one child, it's a lot harder to get out of the house to go somewhere than it is if it's just yourself you have to be worried about. There are many times, I thought about taking the kids somewhere and backed out because I just didn't have the energy to fight with Mason to get him dressed, and fight with Timothy over which toy he can take with them, and trying to buckle all three kids in the van. This is worse in the winter, when I think about having to bundle all three kids up, and then UNbundle them in the van, then bundle them back up. It's exhausting. But it makes me sad to think that maybe we missed out on all the memories.

Lately I have been trying to get past the hassle of adventuring out with three kids, alone, to make some memories. Yesterday was definitely one of those days. I heard about Lightning McQueen and Mater being on tour for the new Cars movie that is coming out in June. I knew I had to take the boys. They are obsessed with the Disney Cars movie. This was a chance to make memories!

I bundles all three kids up. The sun was shining, it wasn't super cold out, but the breeze was a little chilly. I got everyone in the van, and we got there a half hour early. Super. The line didn't seem too long, but long enough that I just prayed they could hold on without any tantrums.

Before the event even opened we had already moved up in line to to roped off lines. This was great. I knew it wouldn't be too long of a wait now! And the boys did awesome in line. There was a few times there started to get wound up, but for making a 4 and 2 year old stand in a line or an hour I think they did amazing!

After an hour in line we were finally into the event! The boys were ecstatic, and seeing them so happy made my heart happy. It's that feeling that you did the right thing. That the hassle was worth it. There were a few activities to do before you got to the cars, they were a little hard for the little ones.

Then we got our first look at Lightning, Mater, and the new Finn up close. Oh I think I was just as excited as the boys. Timothy could hardly contain himself. I was definitely in Timothy's world!

They had it set up to have pictures taken with each car. Then they would put your pictures online and you can print them out at home after 48 hours. Timothy went up to each car with a permagrin. Mason really wasn't so sure. I could not get him to go near them at all!

I even caught Timothy sneak under the rope to touch Lightning McQueen, he wasn't the only one. I didn't even yell at him! Their faces said it all. This is exactly why I go through the hassle of even leaving the house sometimes. It's always worth it!

The best part though. Was when we were leaving, driving home. All Timothy kept saying was how fun it was to see Lightning and Mater. Over and over and over. That made me smile. He doesn't even remember all the work it took to even make it out of the house, to the event on time, and waiting in that line in the cold for an hour. I remember though. But I remember that all the hassle was worth their joy!

Have a great day friends, and go out and make some memories!!

Mood Swings!

2011-03-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday friends! Have a wonderful day!

One of those days.

2011-03-25T09:32:00.000-05:00

I think it's just going to be one of those days. I just feel blah. Probably due to the fact that it is snowing in St. Louis this morning. Yes, SNOWING! After our beautiful 70-80 degree weather. No sun, just dreary out. I need sun, it motivates me.

Thankfully I am about 12 miles south of St. Louis and it has only rained here. The kids have been in rare form this morning. LOTS of whining, crying, fit throwing, screaming. Over EVERYTHING. It's just one of those days. Where putting cheerios on the plate the wrong way, as if there is a right way, elicits screams of protest. "I'M NOT EATING"! To which I respond casually "Then don't eat"! It's just one of those days.

But despite the lack of sunshine I need to find my motivation and quick. There is a mountain of laundry to do, toys to pick up, dishes to do, bathroom to clean. The chores around here don't cease when the sun isn't shining, and I am pretty sure the cleaning fairy went somewhere where it's warm and sunny. So regardless of my blah mood, I need to be productive today.

If you have warmth and sunshine where you are, bottle it up and send some my way. I would really appreciate it. In other news. Taylor is officially off the bottle. Has been for about a week now!! She eats all table food now, whatever we are eating usually. I forgot how easy it is to have a child who is now off a bottle and baby food. A little sad yes, but so much easier. My little princess is growing so fast.

Don't forget you can now follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nicolemassie218 or my clicking the little tab on the right sidebar.

Have a wonderful weekend, and a fabulous Friday friends!

My favorite kind of day!

2011-03-24T08:51:00.001-05:00

Are you sick of park pictures yet?!

Wait don't say yes, I have more!!

Here is what we did on Sunday:

Happy Thursday friends, have a great day!

Tweet Tweet

2011-03-23T21:12:00.000-05:00

I am finally joining the rest of the world! I am back to tweeting!

Today Tim and I got new phones. I can actually Facebook, and tweet, and blog from my phone now. I am probably the last person on the earth to upgrade!

Anywho, you can find us over on twitter at http://twitter.com/nicolemassie218

I would love it if you would follow us!

I have so much to update on, with tons of pictures. But I am exhausted so look for a post tomorrow! Have a wonderful night friends!

#78 of 365- March 20, 2011

2011-03-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

Skipping rocks at the park with paw paw and daddy!

#77 of 365- March 19, 2011

2011-03-22T12:29:00.001-05:00

He makes me giggle!

#76 of 365- March 18, 2011

2011-03-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

Those eyes pierce my soul. They get me every single time.

For Tiffany

2011-03-21T16:07:00.001-05:00

Hey friends, I want to share something with you in the hopes that maybe some of you can help out.

One of my friends, Deanna, who I went to the park with last week on St. Patricks Day lost one of her closest friends the other day.

Here is the news story.

Tiffany has 4 children, who are now left without the most important person in their life. My heart breaks for those children, whom were all in the house at the time of their father's attempted suicide. I have been praying and thinking about Tiffany, her children, family, and friends.

Tiffany has a memorial page on Facebook, which can be found HERE. There are details on that page on how to help these children.

I know they are asking for any donations, food/gas/and clothing gift cards for the children. I am sure anything would be very much appreciated.

I had only met Tiffany once at Deanna's daughter Ashley's birthday party. Which I blogged about HERE. She was so kind and sweet. Her youngest, son Caden played with Timothy almost the whole time at the party. Even though I do not know her well, I am just heartbroken over this tragic incident. I can only imagine how her family is feeling at this time.

I am sure that the family could use all the prayers and support they can get right now. It's going to be tough.

Praying for Tiffany, her family and friends, her 4 beautiful children. And also lots of prayers and love for my friend Deanna.

RIP Tiffany

Seriously?!

2011-03-21T15:39:00.001-05:00

I tell ya, this year it has been one thing after another. Tim's poor parents just can't seem to catch a break.

The other day they got a phone call from their neighbors who are keeping an eye on their house that they are trying to sell while they are up here. The neighbor said she seen the lady up the street digging up flowers and plants, and stealing their garden decorations. She also said she has seen kids in their pool.

Tim's parent's immediately left and drove back to Texas.

When they got there, they seen that flowers had been dug up. One being a flower his mom got for her birthday 3 years ago from Grammy, the one who just passed away. All of her garden decorations were gone, most were gifts from Tim for Mother's Day when he was little.

The best part of all of this?

They also found a used condom behind their hot tub/pool (its a in ground pool with a hot tub connected). Seriously?! I just don't understand people I guess. Or kids I should say.

So they called the police and filed a report since they had more than one witness who seen everything that happened.

The police confronted the lady up the street and the lady's daughter, the one's who were seen taking stuff from the yard. The lady is 75 years old. She denied everything. They had until today or his parents would press charges and they could possibly go to jail.

Tim's mom really don't want to send a 75 year old lady to jail, but she took their stuff and is denying it.

So I am sure they will be staying there for most of this week. Which I totally understand, I am not sure I would want to leave all my stuff again until the house sells. Some people just suck. I don't understand the point.

I know they have to be back by the 3oth for grandpa's surgery to get his tumor removed. But they are just having a rough time. I really hope this lady just gives the stuff back, and makes everything a little more easier.

Good morning friends!

2011-03-19T10:18:00.000-05:00

hope

your

Saturday

Wonderful!

#75 of 365- March 17, 2011

2011-03-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

Timothy made it to the top of the big rock wall, all by himself! (he could do this last year, but it's still exciting)

St. Patricks Day 2011

2011-03-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

We spent our St. Patricks Day at the park of course! We had beautiful weather, in the high 70s. I just couldn't resist to get out to the park, again!

I would have loved to take the kids down to the parade, but I just couldn't bring myself to take all three by myself. I just didn't feel comfortable with them being so little. Maybe next year.

That morning Tim had to drop his work truck off to be worked on, so I had to go pick him up and bring him back home until it was done. I ran to an WIC appointment I had, and then when I was done with that we went to lunch with daddy. Going out to lunch with daddy is one of my favorite things to do! Then it was off to the park to meet friends and enjoy the gorgeous weather.

I should have known that the park was going to be crowded. This park in particular gets crazy crowded when the weather is nice out. SO crowded that it becomes hard to keep track of your kids. Which makes me especially nervous since I have two going in opposite directions, while I am trying to push Taylor in the stroller.

We didn't stay to long, mainly because of all the people. But also because it started to get too warm out, and the water fountains and such were still turned off so we couldn't get a drink. We seen the animals at the little farm, played at the playground, took a little walk around the lake, and then headed home.

I woke up that morning forgetting it was St. Patricks Day until after I got all the kids dressed. I really did not have the patience to change all three kids again, so Mason was the only one with a tiny bit of green on! Oh well. It was kinda good thing because with the sea of green at the park I would have really had a hard time keeping track of my kids HAHA!

What did you do for St. Patricks Day? I hope you all had beautiful weather to enjoy the day.

Today we are relaxing at home. It is suppose to rain on and off for the next few days, go figure. That's St. Louis weather for ya! I hope everyone is having a wonderful, relaxing Friday.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Have you checked out For The Love Of Blogs? If you haven't you totally should. Come join us, it's where all the cool blogs hang!

#74 of 365- March 16, 2011

2011-03-16T18:07:00.000-05:00

PB&J sandwiches outside this morning!

#73 of 365- March 15, 2011

2011-03-16T18:06:00.000-05:00

#72 of 365- March 14, 2011

2011-03-16T18:05:00.001-05:00

Helping grandma with the dishes!

Some good, some bad

2011-03-16T13:25:00.000-05:00

The warmer days are becoming more frequent, with a colder day here and there, which means the park trips are going to become more frequent and for that I am ecstatic!

We have a great park right by our house, about 10 minutes away at the most. There are 2 play areas, a walking path, plenty of area to run, and 2 lakes with geese!

I love watching the boys playing at the park. I think it's interesting watching kids interact. Mason is just now starting to really play with the other kids, without his brother. Most of the time he still follows Timothy around, but every once in a while now I will catch hi playing with his own "friend".

One of Mason's favorite thing to do it walk down to the lake and watch the geese. Sometimes we will feed them, which he really gets a kick out of, but most of the time he is just content to watch them.

The lake has this little deck you can walk onto that the boys always want to go to. They like to try and spot the fish. Their daddy trained them well! Little fisherman. I take it as a picture opportunity!

I am always so glad to see spring come. We spend most day out and about, with friends. I feel like the winter months are so long, and that I don't get out much, I don't see friends. I feel lonely in the winter. But once spring and summer come, we can have play dates at the park and zoo. I don't know what it is about the sunshine, but it makes me just want to get up and get out of the house!

The warmer weather could not have come at a better time either. With Taylor getting all big on me, we have dropped the baby food and formula, woohoo! She has been eating what we eat for a couple days now. I was joking (kinda) with Tim the other day that I forgot what you feed a 1 year old. Like I couldn't figure out what to feed her now that she is not eating baby jar food. You would think I have done this twice now and the last time wasn't that long ago, I would have this down. But for some reason I started to panic. "What the heck do I do now, my baby is not a baby anymore"!

Today she is getting only 2 ounces of formula and the rest is whole milk. By tomorrow she will be completely on whole milk, and she loves it! NO reactions yet either, she seems to be fine with the switch! Tomorrow, I hope to maybe go get some sippy cups that she will take. We have some at the house, but they are not the soft spout and she refuses to drink out of them. So getting her from the bottle to the sippy cup might take a few more days.

This morning Tim's grandpa(Tim's mom's dad), Grammy was his dad's mom, had to go have an EKG done and some other tests ran to see if they would even be able to surgically remove the tumor or if chemo and radiation would even be possible. I have not heard anything yet as far as how the tests went.

You see, apparently he has been having blood in his urine for at least a month now. He finally just said something since Tim's parents moved back and are staying with them. So we have no idea how long he has been having problems. I have no idea the stage the cancer is in or the size of the tumor. Nor do I know if it has spread anywhere else or not.

He has been on oxygen for a couple years now, he in on 4 liters 24/7, and his lungs do have scarring. This is why they are not sure if he can be put under for surgery or if he can handle chemo or radiation. We are praying that they will be able to do surgery, that it is in the early stages, and hasn't spread anywhere else. And of course that they are able to remove all of the tumor.

I am praying for Tim's parents too who have been going through so much. Now they are having to stay at her parents house to help with them instead of finding a house like they hoped to be doing. But her parents need them right now. Tim's grandma has been sick for while. I mean she is doing OK, but she has been having a tough time. They are trying not to get her all upset with the cancer stuff, they don't want her to stress about it since she isn't doing well herself. I just pray that this doesn't turn out to be a really bad year.

Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes and prayers. We really appreciate it. It's been a tough few weeks. If you feel led to we could still really use all the prayers and good thoughts because this is just the beginning. I will keep you all posted on the test results and what the next steps are.

I will have some lighter, more fun posts coming! Stay tuned!

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!

When it rains, it pours....

2011-03-15T13:47:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! Sorry for my lack of posts, again. I guess when it rains is pours, and we just can't seem to catch a break lately.

I have lots to update you all on, but we are getting ready to head out with Tim's dad to go shoot our guns at the shooting range! But I just wanted to pop in and say hello.

* The day Tim's Grammy passed away, Tim's mom had to leave to take his other grandpa to the doctor because he was having blood in his urine. Well just the other day, a week later, tests came back that he has bladder cancer. He is having some tests ran tomorrow to see if it is even possible to do surgery (he is on oxygen 24/7). So please keep him in your thoughts and prayers right now. More on that later when I have time for a full update.

* Taylor is eating table food for every meal now. NO MORE BABY FOOD! I am happy and a little sad at the same time, she is growing too fast. We are also in the transition from formula to whole milk. She is getting about half and half right now.

* We will be making the switch from bottle to sippy cup here within in the week hopefully, and also taking the binky away.

LOTS going on right now. I will be back hopefully tonight or tomorrow with more of a post. Have a great rest of the day!

#71 of 365- March 13, 2011

2011-03-13T19:20:00.000-05:00

Fell asleep during breakfast!

#70 of 365- March 12, 2011

2011-03-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

Taylor eating her first meal consisting of all table food, NO more baby food!

Sweet Treat!

2011-03-12T17:37:00.000-06:00

Homemade chocolate pudding.

The best part, that is was sugar free!

NO hyper kids!

#69 of 365- March 11, 2011

2011-03-11T19:41:00.001-06:00

The kids watching the geese at the park today!

#68 of 365- March 10, 2011

2011-03-11T19:37:00.000-06:00

Mommy's big girl!