Quick update

We're officially moved into our house! The boys (thankfully) slept through the night in their new rooms for the first time last night. All of the furniture is in place, and now all that's left is many, MANY boxes to unpack. I think I'll be busy for awhile.

Once things are more organized at home I'll make sure to post some pics of the kids and our new house for you all to see. Of course that means I'll have to make sure to buy a memory card reader and get the internet working, but in time it'll all be done ;)

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

My theme song

Ever have a song that seems to be the theme of your life at that present time?

Here's mine:

I lost it again

For the second time now, I've lost the adapter thing to download my pics. Ugh!!! The good news is that we'll be starting to pack up & move next weekend (yay!), so I'm sure it'll turn up sometime then. And if not, I guess I have yet another purchase to make before the holidays *sigh*

And yes, I am beyond excited to move into our new house!! Friday after closing I plan on going to the house and start tearing down wallpaper in Jackson's future bedroom (because no boy should have to sleep in a "princess" room LOL), and the pink polka dot bathroom. Although I think it's a pretty cute bathroom, something tells me I can find something a little more appropriate for a bathroom soon to belong to 2 adorable little boys. (Side note - I actually already did - they're getting a full "Cars" themed bathroom set for Christmas, which I'm sure they'll love). The carpet cleaners are also coming that day, and then after some dinner & drinks with a couple friends of mine, I'll be crashing the night there on my brand new air mattress. I know you're all jealous ;) Saturday & Sunday will be spent scrubbing everything down and painting Jackson's bedroom and the boys' bathroom. Colin's room is yellow & dark green (which will match his new dinosaur bedding), but it does have a Sp.ongebob border which I'll have to take down at some point. His border is a little less priority than the princess room though...

So stay tuned.... after the craziness of moving I'm sure things will be a little more organized on my end and I'll be able to post pics and update more often.

Updates are coming

Sorry, I've been slacking lately! I promise I'll get a new post up soon. I bought a house (woohoo!), I've been busy Christmas shopping, and I had a very nice, and very much needed 3 day weekend away with the girls (woohoo again!). Hopefully I'll have some time over the weekend to upload new pics and show off our new house :)

Halloween

Halloween was a blast! We had awesome weather (around 70 degrees!), and the boys were ready to go when I got home from work. Jackson didn't really know what was going on until at the end, which was when he chose to run up to every house with his pumpkin, making sure to say "hi" and "bye" to everyone - at the beginning he'd try to take out & hand me every piece of candy he was given (he's very into taking things out of containers right now). Colin ran like a crazy man from house to house, and cracked me up because everytime he was given a piece of candy, he'd hold it up and ask me "does this have peanuts in it, Mommy?" (he's allergic and VERY well aware that he can't have peanuts). Then he'd say "thank you, Happy Halloween!" to the people in the house and run off to the next one. His running came at a price at the end when he fell and scraped his hand on a twig. Luckily we were only 2 houses away from being done because the tears were not about to stop. But overall, Halloween was a blast and my boys were as cute as can be!

Here's my little dragon (aka Colin):

And my little penguin (aka Jackson, who's not very good about smiling for the camera):

The boys together:

And last, the 3 of us:

I have to include this last pic to show that every once in awhile I do catch a smile of Jackson's on camera ;)

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

All About... Colin!

Where to start with Colin? He is growing into such an amazing little boy - there is no baby left about him. He is incredibly smart and his memory is a million times better than my own. He's 3.5yrs old, 41lbs and about 41in.

He is such a sweet kid. He uses "please" and "thank you" almost all the time, and tells me he loves me every night before bed.

His language is phenomenal. Every now and again he'll say something I don't understand, but that's very rare nowadays. And of course with any 3yr old, he tends to repeat phrases that he never should've heard in the first place (like "d*mnit"). I'm not sure where he heard it, but it took awhile to get him to stop : / Of course it took me awhile to figure out how to hide my laughter when he said it too LOL

Things he loves: riding his bike, watching his new Backyard.igans DVD, slurpees (and candy, cookies, ice cream... anything with sugar of course!), helping cut the grass and even picking up the dog poop beforehand (seriously), Mommy's computer, jumping on Mommy's bed (along with his brother), buttered noodles, and hot chocolate.

Here's one last pic of him after his last haircut all styled up ready to go - such a stud doing a classic "Zoolander" pose :) Hardly looks like the same kid from the picture above when his hair's nice & short!

All about... Jackson!

I figured it was time to give an update on the boys, and what they were each up to.

Jackson is now 17 months old and has definitely entered the "terrible 2" stage. He throws the most dramatic tantrums I have ever seen, and within the last 2 days decided it's fun to hit Mommy... in the face. Oy.

That being said, he is still the cutest little toddler I know! He is so much fun and absolutley hilarious. I have no idea where his little personality came from (ok, ok, I know it's my wonderful charm rubbing off on him), but I have a feeling this little guy is going to be one to make people laugh. He knows just how to work the room to get the attention, and makes sure he waves and says "hi" to everyone he walks past. If other people laugh and he doesn't have a clue why, he'll jump in with the funniest fake laugh ever. He is also my little cuddle bug, which I love - he gives lots and lots of hugs, along with saying "awwww" as he does it - what a charmer.

He talks A LOT. I'm sure he's in the "normal" spectrum for speech at his age, but he's so different than Colin was. I'm not even sure how many words he says because he says so many.

Things he loves right now are: Elmo (or "Melmo" as he calls him), being outside, jumping on Mommy's bed, "Nonny" (aka Colin), and Mommy's cell phone (not so fun when he wakes up at 5am yelling to play with it). He's still a huge fan of all fruits and with veggies he rotates what he likes, but green beans are always a hit.

Here's one more pic of my 29lb chunk-a-dunk - and yes, that is "Melmo"s head on his feet ;)

You think you know, but you have no idea...

I thought I knew what I was getting into with working full time and having a commute that's 1hr 20min each way. The first couple days weren't so bad, but now into week 3 I'm feeling the pain from it all. I'm exhausted beyond comprehension and have no clue why I'm on my computer typing this instead of sleeping. I absolutely cannot wait to move closer to work!

On a good note, I love my job (dealing with families who have adopted children with various special needs, and helping them financially). It's insanely busy, which makes time go by fast. They had told us the volume of what we'd be responsible for within our 3500-4000 caseload (each!), but wow. And of course with any new job, there's so much to learn. I remember around 2:45pm looking at the clock and realizing my brain has turned to complete mush. I got so much done but yet I still had about 35 phone messages sitting on my desk, along with about 30 other case files I received various requests and had to research, and another 20 that are sitting waiting for other people to make certain changes I requested so that I can finish my end of the work. And don't even get me started on how many things still need to be filed away. So yes, crazy busy in my office!

The boys are doing great with my cousin babysitting them. Colin was extra needy with me during the first week, but he's settled into the routine now. It's too bad I'll have to throw yet another new routine at them when we finally move. My poor Cousin sure did get dumped on though. Last week (her 2nd week babysitting them), Jackson came down with hand, foot & mouth disease, except that his sores only appeared in & around his mouth. He was miserable. He couldn't eat, drink, or even suck on his binky (which caused me to only get about 3hrs sleep each night last week). It was heartbreaking to see him in so much pain. And his poor gums swelled so bad that you could barely even see his top teeth - all you could see were white specks :( And to top it off, he was also cutting all 4 of his eye teeth at the same time. But he's all better now and the teeth have cut through, so we should be all set. Of course just as Jackson started getting better, Colin came down with a fever and was complaining his throat hurt - that lasted about 3 days. Fortunately he never had any sores, so no hand, foot & mouth disease for him. I also had him checked for strept throat, but that also came back negative. Thankfully, he's all better now too. I love having healthy, happy kids again :)

Here's a pic of Jackson from last weekend when we made our way to the cider mill. This was day 7 (or 8?) of hand, foot & mouth disease. He seemed to be feeling fine, but the sores were still very much there (they're finally fading now, thank goodness):

And Colin just had fun riding on the tractor:

I'm off to bed now... *yawn*

Summer reflections - July

July was quite a busy month for us. Between packing, moving back to Michigan, and settling into my parents house, we rarely sat still. Here's a few of my favorite pics of July:


Uh oh, someone doesn't want to leave the park:

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that this was Jackson's 1st popsicle. Can you believe that he was 14 months old before he got to taste a popsicle?!?! Oh and yes, he loved it ;)


It just doesn't get better than this *sigh*:

Summer reflections - June

I just realized with all the craziness that this summer has been, I haven't shared many pics of the kids. This post is pics from June, and I'll be adding July & August later today :) I need to get my blogging on track because I start back to work on Monday *sigh*


In June we were still down in Texas, and pretty much all of our free time was spent at the water park that was almost next door to our apartment complex. The boys LOVED it (and so did I!).




And who can resist a fun bathtime pic ;)



And just as a note to myself so I have it on record, June was the month that Jackson really started walking (second child syndrome - I have no dates recorded for any milestones of his, poor kid got jipped!). He had taken steps here and there in May when he was 12 months old, but June was when he became a walking pro.

Another update...

The ENT called me back and had us come in this afternoon. J's ears (and tubes), nose, & throat all look good, and his chest sounds clear. The ENT was baffled as to why he spiked a fever after surgery. He even called his former mentor to ask his opinion - neither had ever seen this happen after a kid got tubes. So the verdict was that he caught a viral bug and it just happened to be at the same timeframe as his surgery.

The poor kid is miserable :( I gave him Motrin at noon (fever of 103.2) and when he woke up at 2:30pm, it was down to 99. About 1.5hrs later it was back up to 101.7 at the Dr's, so they gave him some Tylenol. I gave him a bath before bed, took his temp again, and it was up to 102.3. I gave him another dose of Motrin and off to sleep he went.

Hopefully he'll sleep good and feel better in the morning!

Surgery Day pics! **updated**

Here's a couple pics of my little guy in his gown. Sorry they're kind of blurry, but I had to take them quick to make sure he didn't fall.

This is him "jumping" on the hospital bed. He loved the sound it made LOL



He's doing great and didn't seem to have any issues bouncing back from surgery :)

Lots and lots of pics to come soon from this past summer!!!

**Edited to add that he seems to not have bounced back as great as I thought :( At 10:45am he had a fever of 102.1 and just now at noon it was up to 103.2. Per the post-surgical instructions from the Dr, anything over 101 after surgery is not normal and to call or take him to the ER. I left a message for the Dr and am waiting for a call back. He's not eating, is extremely irritable, and isn't interested in doing much of anything other than laying on me. I gave him a dose of Motrin and put him down for a nap a few minutes ago.

Surgery day

Jackson had his first surgery this morning to have tubes placed in his ears. Poor kid had 11 or 12 ear infections in the past 6-7 months. Hopefully this brings an end to that!

He did amazing this morning! He was nervous about all the Dr's & nurse's in his face, but then they gave him some loopy meds to mellow him out and let me tell you, it was hilarious. Probably the only time I'll appreciate seeing my kid drugged up ;) He was all smiles and giggles within about 5 minutes. He had no problems with the Anesthesiologist taking him to the back room, and according to her, he never cried - not even when they put the mask on to knock him out (which is completely opposite of his big brother when he had this done). Yay! And trust me, it made it easier on me having them take him back without him screaming and crying for me. After about 45 min (which were the longest 45 min I've ever experienced!!!), the Dr came out to tell me it went perfectly. About 30 seconds later, the Anesthesiologist got me and brought me back. This was the most heartbreaking part of it all. He was still out of it, but screaming his head off. The nurse was rocking him, and she told me that although I'm Mommy, I still won't be able to soothe him while he's coming out of anesthesia. And boy was she right! The poor kid screamed, then stopped and slept on my shoulder, then screamed, and slept... not to mention as he was screaming, he was climbing all over me (with his eyes still closed, mind you). His head was floppy as if he was a newborn, so it was pretty difficult to hold his head steady as my 29 pounder was climbing all over me. After about 15-20min of this, he finally started opening his eyes and waking up more. He chugged a cup of juice and out the door we went. He slept the whole ride home and is now playing and happy as if nothing happened.

I of course took pics of him in his little hospital gown, but I still don't have a card reader to download pics on my computer yet (my little bro is buying me one today). I have a TON of pics to post on here, hopefully soon :)

Too funny not to share

Tonight Colin was trying anything and everything to get out of staying in his bed. He had to go to the bathroom. He needed some water. He found clothes in his backpack. Then the last time was because he needed to wash his hands. I had had it by this point, so I told him very firmly he could wash his hands (because I didn't want to discourage hygiene, of course) and then back in bed and absolutely NO more getting out of bed for the rest of the night. So he starts washing his hands while I'm standing next to him, and he looks up and says, "You pretty, Mommy. You get your hair cut?" Seriously. He's 3 and already knows how to work the ladies. I went from crabby Mommy to beaming Mommy in about 2 seconds. He's just too cute not to love *sigh*

What a weekend!

This past weekend, the boys & I, along with Amy and her son Sean, headed up to Mackinac Island to stay with our friend Rebecca and her family. It was a much needed mini-vacation for all of us, and it was so much fun!

We took a 20min boat ride over to the Island and I was nervous about how Colin would react. As soon as we got to the dock, he took off running because he was so excited to ride on the "big boat". And he loved every second of the boat ride. Jackson was pretty indifferent - he sat in the stroller eating Chee.rios the whole time, and even spared a few for Sean.

While on the Island, we managed to eat everything in sight. Exactly what you're supposed to do on vacation, right??? We took a carriage ride (although we didn't get 2 brown horses pulling the carriage like Colin wanted, which of course led to a complete meltdown, but we did get 1 brown horse at least). We shopped in all of the souvenir shops and I managed to only buy one item - a blanket since I needed it at Bec's house. We mostly just enjoyed being outside, chatting, and letting the kids play together.

Other than a crazy dinner on Saturday, the entire weekend was virtually stress-free. I know kids will be kids, but when you're a single parent of 2 little boys who are hungry and one is out past his bedtime, you're definitely in for a bit of a rough patch on the parenting front. And I'll be honest, once I tend to feel overwhelmed as a single parent, it's all downhill for me. That's pretty much what happened at dinner Saturday night. Fortunately my friends understood my kids acting up (since they have kids themselves), but it's still stressful when you feel like the whole restaurant is staring at you and wondering why you can't control your kids. I do what I can, but the truth is that there's 2 of them and only 1 of me. Ahhh, the joys of single parenthood.

So in a nutshell, the weekend was a blast and hopefully Bec and her family didn't regret inviting all of us up there ;) Enjoy the pics!

Future Mr. & Mrs.???




Because every kid should wear a hamburger hat...

Our one attempt at getting a shot of all 4 kids together. Not too successful LOL

P.S. Thank you, Amy, for being the photographer of the trip ;)

'Wicked'ly AWESOME!!!

Yesterday my friend Amy took me to see Wicked, the musical. O-M-G what an amazing show. I've been a fan of musicals my entire life (been to quite a few shows, and even starred in a few in high school). Wicked by far is the best one I have seen. I loved it so much that as soon as it ended, I turned to Amy and said "I want to see it again NOW". And guess what? I might be seeing it again in less than 2wks. I told my Mom how awesome it was and now she's anxious to see it too, so I checked online and there's still seats available for future performances. Woohoo!!!!!!!

THANK YOU AMY for taking me - I owe ya ;)

Welcome to my new blog!

Me and the boys are back in Michigan as of 2 days ago. It really, REALLY sucks to have to live at my parents house for the time being, but with no job and 2 kids to raise, where else do we have to go? Hopefully I'll find a job fairly quickly and we'll find a place of our own soon. This is definitely not the life I pictured for us, and by no means was this my choice.

The kids are doing great - they love the extra time with Grandma & Grandpa, and Colin's having a blast rockin' out on Uncle Kevin's drums that go to his rock band game. And the latest I just discovered from Colin is that he can count to 10 in Spanish! While we were driving, he just started counting in Spanish and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Obviously he learned this at daycare because I know it wasn't me. But I'm one proud Mommy :)

Jackson's 100% walking now. He's been taking steps since he was about 12 months old, but up until about 2 weeks ago he had thought crawling was faster. He's already trying to run, so I can only imagine what trouble him & Colin are going to be causing me LOL He's also a little motor mouth - he doesn't say many clear words (mama, bye bye, uh-oh, baby), but he still tries to say everything. Basically he sits and talks a foreign language non-stop. And literally the kid does not stop talking. The funniest thing is that if he sees a picture of a tiger, lion, or bear, he'll growl. It's hilarious!

I'll hopefully have pictures soon. I somehow lost the wires that download the pics from my camera to my laptop (this happened prior to the move, but still never showed up while packing). I'll have to get to the store to buy a new one.

Anyway, we're here and I hope to be updating a little more often.