Thanks for the Grub!

How can you tell if you've (David) made good BBQ ribs?

Oh, and Mason let me eat half of my BBQ ribs before he started crying and wanted rocked to sleep! This is how we keep him busy during dinner....

Happy Memorial Day!!

Friday Flashbacks

I don't need to say much here....

Allison

Preston

Mason

Allison

Preston


Mason

So, I can't figure out....

Does Mason look more like....

Allison?

OR, does Mason look more like....

Preston?

What do you think?

Who's ready for a giveaway?

I just love giveaways...will have to do one myself so that I can actually get people to look at my blog.


In the meantime, check out this blog..and enter for some free stuff!


Talk to you soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Three Months!

Mason - what are you up to these days??

You have the greatest smile; still have that dimple in your left cheek and laugh so much more.

You are still most happiest in the morning.

You are ticklish! I found some of your sensitive spots and continue to use them to make you laugh out loud.

You can hold your head up completely all by yourself now.

You try to pull yourself into a sitting position if I have you laying back a little.

You are no longer content with being cuddled and held like a baby. You like to sit up and see the world.

You fall asleep every night between 8:30 and 9:00 pm and will sleep 5 -5 1/2 hours from then.

You are only waking up one time to eat during the night now; yay!

You sleep in your bassinet exclusively now. But, sometimes, on weekend mornings, I still bring you bed with me for a little while. We still love to cuddle!

You are wearing size 2 diapers and you weigh almost 14 pounds.

You are still wearing 3 months size clothes and some of them are even starting to look a little short now.

You love taking walks in your stroller; and you love being outside.

Your eyes are still a dark blue and we see them all the time now.

Your hair is still all there and dark brown. You may not lose any of it!

You really love your exersaucer and can spin around in it already!

You are still growing way too fast. :-)

I officially hate Mondays.

Why?

Why does everything seem to go wrong on Mondays?

So, I had this post going in my head about all the good things in my life and how things seem to be turning and getting better, in general, for us right now....until this morning.

Remember our new babysitter??? Last night I stopped over to her house to drop off diapers, wipes, change of clothes, etc. so that Monday morning would not be crazy for David when dropping off the boys. Preston and Allison went with me, and I had to drag them out of there after only 15 minutes. Preston wanted to play, and I told him he'd get to come and play all day the next day. I've never felt apprehensive about leaving my boys with Amie; we've talked via email, met in person a couple of times and I decided that I liked her; a bit jealous that she's a stay-at-home mom, but nevertheless, I felt comfortable that we made the right decision about hiring her to watch our kids.

Well, David was supposed to drop the boys off around 8:30 or so this morning; I told him to call me when . At 8:36 am I get a phone call from the babysitter telling me that her youngest daughter has thrown up twice this am. Oh, great. What a way to start off. I had to immediately call David, who was putting the boys in the car when I called, to tell him NOT to take them there. Of course, this started a huge fight and caused me lots of stress. To make a long story short, David stayed home from work while I got a few things done at work. I took half a day of vacation and left work at noon to come home so David could go to work. So, needless to say, the boys did not get to go play at Amie's today, nor are they going tomorrow as her daughter still wasn't holding anything down as of 6:30 this evening. So, David wants to look for a new sitter, which is totally ridiculous. We, of all people, know how it is to have kids and know that you have no control over these types of things and that life with kids is completely unpredictable. I think I've talked him out of it, but now am juggling the boys are again for this week. Amie wasn't available this coming Friday or next Monday anyhow; and I'm following the 24 hour rule before we even step foot in her house again (meaning, no puking for a solid 24 hours). I think it's just a matter of time until Amie's other daughter gets sick, so I'm thinking we'll just stay away until next Tuesday, which puts me right where I was last week. Great, still can't get into a groove.

Anyways, I suppose that's the worst thing that's happened in awhile.

I've had some good things happen this weekend.

1. My adjustable-rate mortgage is actually taking a turn for the better...Yes, we have an adjustable-rate mortgage. 3 years ago, it was a great idea; we'd just refinance in two years since we dropped a bunch of money updating the house when we bought it. Well, who knew the economy would take a dump, my husband would get laid off and our house wouldn't probably appraise for what we paid for it plus the new loan we took out replacing all 15 windows? Luckily, the rate has just gone up a little the two times it's adjusted so far. Well, this time, it's going down 1.5% giving us the rate we had when we bought the house. Yay...we're talking $75 less per month. Finally, some good news.

2. We bought some Azalea bushes for the front of the house and David planted them as soon as we got home. He finally dug out the bushes that were out front (either side of the front door), which I hated from the moment we saw the house. Nice upgrade, and they give the front some extra color.

Almost 3 years ago, to the day, at our inspection.

Just this weekend, 3 years after buying the house, quite a bit different. New windows, removed front awning, new bushes, new mailbox (yes, it's a fish!)..ha!

3. You know, I've always pegged Preston as a sports feign, figuring Allison would get an academic scholarship and Preston would hopefully get some sports scholarship. Well, we got the results from his kindergarten screening and he scored as well, if not better, than Allison is most areas. Overall, his scores were almost exactly the same as Allison's. Who knew? I knew he was smart, but with all the behavioral problems, figured we'd never get him to apply himself. Well, there's hope. Just a couple of shots of the kids bowling over the weekend.

4. Last week, David dug out the exersaucer from the garage attic and put Mason in it when I was at work. We'd been talking about trying it since Mason can hold his head up now and loves to stand up. Well, our exersaucer is almost 7 years old, and pretty boring and outdated. I found an awesome brand-new-still-in-the-box exersaucer on Craig's List that retails for $130 in stores. The ad said "make me an offer". So, I offered $35, hoping not to offend the seller. Not only did he take the $35, but he brought it to Toledo (from Ida, MI) and threw in a back-pack carrier, also still in the box. These kinds of things never happen to me. This new exersaucer is totally amazing; it has 3 stages and will be used for awhile, I'm sure. It was such a lucky find and Mason absolutely loves it.

"Boring", seven year-old exersaucer

Brand new, state-of-the-art-over-stimulating exersaucer. (Cute baby not included) :)

Oh, and the baby shower on Saturday was pretty much a dud. We invited 35-40 people and only 20 people showed up. Ouch. There were a lot of extended family (older aunts and cousins) that did not show up. Jill did get her bedding (from 6 of us who planned it) and a bunch of diapers, some onesies, bath towels and blankets. Plus, she got quite a bit of cash and a few gift cards. So, at least she was able to go and buy the things she still needed and wanted and hadn't gotten from her two showers. We went Saturday night and helped her pick out a diaper bag and tub and she picked up her bouncy seat and some bottles. Even though she's not my favorite SIL, I'm actually excited for the birth of her baby. They did not find out the gender of the baby, so we're all anxious to find out. I think it's a boy and that they know since the room is very boyish looking and everything she registered for was green and blue. We stopped over Saturday night and I finally saw the nursery. She's actually gotten a ton of stuff for this baby already, and she's got everything organized and separated. All stacked up nice and neat, all still in the package, brand new and clean. I was actually jealous, since Mason still doesn't have a crib to sleep in (haven't pulled either one out of the attic for the little guy). Jill's baby has a whole room that he/she won't even be in for a few months, since their master bedroom is on the main floor and the nursery is upstairs at the opposite end of the house. I know that I've had a nursery, two actually, a girl's nursery and a boy's nursery. I've had brand new stuff for each of my babies and even bought a bunch of newer stuff recently. Why am I jealous? I don't like feeling this way; I actually don't have anything to be jealous of...I can't shake this feeling.

Anyhow....I've rambled on enough. I'm exhausted and should have been in bed an hour ago.

Until next time.

TGIF!

You know, it's been a rough week!!

Well, the week is (almost) over. However, my weekend is going to be as equally busy as the work week was, but at least I don't have to go to work this weekend.

We met our new babysitter last night. We fell right into conversation and she showed me through her house. She already had everything set up and showed me where Mason would sleep for his naps; apparently, she was planning on watching my kids no matter what I said. No, really, it went fine. I'm so relieved that I found someone so close, involved in the same school and church and who is willing to watch my monsters. The only thing I didn't like was that she has a trampoline, without a net around it. I hate those things with or without the nets. My kids and her oldest were on it all at once and Preston and her daughter bumped heads. Already an accident and we'd been there 20 minutes. How do I tell her that I don't want my kids on there? Or, should I say that I don't want them on there unless there is netting around it? My husband thinks I'm overreacting, of course, but it only takes one trip to the hospital to prove my point.

In other news:

My van was fixed last Friday, and so far, so good. The hose that the dealership replaced was something they had manufactured differently to see if it would work better than the original. Basically, they are "experimenting" on my van to see if this new-type of hose will work longer than the replacement hose Chrysler is supplying. Apparently, it's a part that should warrant a recall, but with the current status of Chrysler Financial, they can't afford to recall it. So, with it not being a life threatening part, they have not been forced to recall it. They obviously don't have to drive around with 3 kids in the back seat...it could be life threatening for me if I had to drive with the windows open...my kids don't allow that! ha!

David's beloved big screen t.v. is being repaired today...hopefully this part with either fix the problem or not. If it does, great. If it doesn't, I'm hoping they will just replace the whole t.v.

That's all I've got today...here are some pictures from Mother's Day with my mom, sister and brother.

I don't have many shots of me with the kids since I'm always the one behind the camera...two out of three kids isn't bad.

Aunt Cassie!

Preston wanted to take a picture of my mom with Mason...see Mason sleeping on the couch? He didn't even give Nana a chance to pick him up!


Look at that face! I don't think he washed it after dinner.


My princess, taking pictures with Aunt Cassie's camera.


Uncle Eli was supposed to be playing a game with Preston....do you see any kids around? haha!


My mom was trying to show my sister and I how to french-braid.

Allison never sits that still for me, even just for a ponytail!


If looks could kill....I don't know what he was upset about..probably because Uncle Eli took his game.. :)


Just kicking back...Aunt Cassie has "pillows" just like mommy!!


Ready for some hockey!!


GO WINGS!


He'll grow into that hat, I suppose.


Who plays basketball on the sidewalk, in flip-flops?

He wanted me to get some shots of him dribbling...

I LOVE how he had to bend over to dribble....

Until next time,