This is My Life

Lots of pictures!

2011-04-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been forever since I posted last. I also realize I have friends and family who don't see the boys much and aren't on facebook so I am going to try and keep this up to date.

This past weekend Jason and I headed to Iowa to celebrate our anniversary. We have been married 8yrs on April 5th. We went to Cedar Rapids to see the Czech Village. The museum was flooded back in 2008 but they made a smaller one for people to see while they clean up the old one and most of the pieces. We had a snack of kolaches, a Czech pastry and went to a store with Czech cut crystal and pottery.

We stayed in Cedar Rapids for the night. We went to a restaurant that served some Czech food and went bowling, something we like to do on our anniversary trips.

Saturday morning we headed to the Amana colonies. Here is some info on them. The biggest thing we learned is they are not Amish. http://amanacolonies.com/pages/about-amana-colonies.php After visiting there, we headed to Des Moines. I have 2 childhood friends that we wanted to visit. We visited with Jennie and her husband and their adorable son, Hunter. Had a great visit. Was able to catch up on family and friend news. We went to supper at a Chinese buffet and then headed to our hotel. On Sunday we went to church with my other friend and her family. After church we headed back to Suzanne's house and had lunch. Another great visit. We got to meet Suzanne and Andy's twin toddlers, Kylee and Zach. They also have 2 older sons, Isaac and Derek. It was a good time to chat and laugh! After having lunch, we headed back to my inlaws. They were taking care of Nate, Riley and Jonathan while we enjoyed our trip.

The boys had so much fun on Grandpa and Grandmas farm over the weekend. There were lots of mule, 4 wheeler and tractor rides. Trip to Uncle Adrian and Aunt Kims house to see the baby lambs. Nate went on a nice long adventure with Uncle Adrian. Nate helped Uncle Adrian in the barn too!

After we got back to the farm, there was time to have some fun on the new lawn mower, ride the 4 wheeler and mule. We played chase with Grandma. Grandma and Riley were on the 4 wheeler and Nate, Jon and I were on the mule and we chased each other around the farm!! Lots of giggles!

Jason snapped some great photos of the boys on the farm when we got back. Enjoy!

The boys always have a good time on the farm. They are all turning into farm boys! Makes this mama proud to see them come in at the end of the day covered in dirt! Dirt = Fun! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother and father inlaw and the boys are so blessed to have wonderful grandparents who spoil them!

Lots of great pictures from the Fair!!

2010-08-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

We headed to Queen City and the farm last Wednesday. Pioneer Days was to take place Wed-Saturday. It is the annual county fair and we try very hard not to miss.

So with out further ado, PICTURES!!!

Grandma and Riley being silly!


Jonathan and myself.


Jonathan checking out the sheep in the barn.


Our nephew, Matthew relinquishing his 2009 Junior Livestock royalty title.

Matthew showing one of his pigs.


Matthew, again, showing one of his pigs. You can see my brother in law, Adrian, in the background holding the orange hog panel.

Jonathan exploring the square. He loved walking everywhere!


Riley hanging out during the kiddy races.

Riley messing around on the stage. Both Riley and Jonathan loved running around up there!!

Nate on the Adrenalin Rush. It was a blow up maze with climbing and a slide and maze. This is a typical picture of Nate the whole time we were there. He was on this or the bouncy house or the big slide.

Nate pretty much had the run of the square. He was really good about staying by us. The inflatable stuff was right near us and he could go back and forth between us and those. We were set up under a tent with Aunt Amy and her sound system and the Pioneer Table. My mother in law and father in law were overseeing that table. The sold tickets for a raffle and pins that my father in law made with old pictures of Queen City. Nate made friends with Michelle who ran the sno cones and Nate "helped" out quite a bit!!

Jonathan

The picture of Jonathan is where we were hanging out in the back of the van waiting for the kiddy parade to start and then the Grand Parade to start. The boys played with toys and had a snack. We were able to stay out of the sun there which was nice. The parades were great!! Were thrown a ton of candy and saw lots of people, classic cars, classic tractors and lots of horses!


I love this picture of our niece Ashton! She is so pretty! She was announcing the award ceremony of the 4H and FFA kids.

Jonathan getting bored so he decided to check out the cooler. Loved playing with what little water that was in there. Putting his foot in was pretty exciting too!

Jonathan and mommy being silly!

I was trying to get Jonathan to stick out his tongue but he wouldn't do it. He just smiled and thought it was silly! The next 2 pictures are of him and I snuggling. I love his smile and his hand on my cheek! Pure love!!

All in all, we had a great trip to the farm! The kids were great but we were all ready to come home.

Have a great week everyone!!

More pictures of the boys from the farm

2010-07-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Both Jason and I took lots of pictures while on the farm last weekend and I couldn't decide on just a few. I ended up going through the pictures and picking out 24 pictures so far that I want to share. I know there are more!

Here are more pictures that I just had to share!!

We were just walking around the farm checking out the tractors, garden and such. Grandma grows wonderful veggies for us to eat while we are there! We were checking out the zucchini that Grandma grew!

More pictures to come on another post!

Weekend at the farm

2010-07-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how long it's been since I blogged last. I apologize to my faithful readers that I haven't updated especially with pictures of the boys.

Last weekend we headed to the farm. Jason's family farm. We had plans to head to Iowa on Sunday for his moms family reunion. We had a wonderful weekend! The boys played outside as much as possible. Nate went on many Mule (like a John Deere Gator) rides as did the twins. We grilled out, went swimming (Jason and Nate) and just relaxed and had good conversation. While daddy and Nate were swimming, the twins and I explored the farm. I had fun getting pictures of them while we explored.

Enjoy!!

Nate's stamp of approval with his brothers!

2010-02-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

The other day I decided to let the boys finger paint with pudding. That way the twins could join in and I wouldn't have to worry about keeping their fingers out of their mouths b/c of the paint. This way, they could taste the 'paint' and be ok. Nate had chocolate pudding and the twins had vanilla. The twins just pretty much ate their pudding and didn't play with it. Nate wasn't so sure about the whole thing but dove in with both hands and had a blast. I think his favorite part was cleaning his fingers by licking them!! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I had them paint w/o their shirts to make clean up easier.

After everyone was cleaned up I sent them on their way to play so I could clean up the table. As usual, they all headed to Nates room to ~~destroy~~ play. I took a break and went to sit in the living room for just a few moments and Jonathan and Riley come crawling into the room. This is what I was met with:

Nate had found in his room a stamp that he had gotten when he played bingo at daddy's work back in December when they had Winter Wonderland. I did a double take when I saw the boys and then cracked up laughing!!! I guess Nate is cool with having his brothers now! He gave his stamp of approval!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy 1st Birthday, Riley and Jonathan!!

2010-01-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

A year ago this morning, my beautiful baby boys were born. Riley at 11:11am and Jonathan at 11:12am.

Riley and Jonathan, you have been such a joy to our lives. You make us laugh everyday! It has been a wonderful year watching each of you grow and change. I can not wait to see what this next year brings us!

I took the boys in for 1st birthday pictures today and I will share them as soon as I can. When I get more time, I will have to add some other pictures of their first year.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2009-12-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

So tonight I finally took the time to make my own laundry soap. I used this web site as my guide:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
I have read through this site before and had forgotten about it. Jason and I did watch his tutorial on youtube about a year ago. Here is the link to that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfEJHb5lfds
I like this guy cause he is from IA so he must know what he is doing!!! :)

I did not use Borax as I have heard that it is harsh on clothes and not ok to have around kids. I used Oxiclean instead. For the bar of soap, I used Dr Bronners castile soap. You can find it here:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OBPE05/PeppermintOrganicBarSoap.htm Dr Bronners is pretty cool. Looks to be a good go to site for some good soap!

It was a very easy process to making this detergent. The only thing that took a bit was shaving the soap but I cut the time by using my food processor. I had the water heating up while I shaved the soap. Once the water was boiling, I added the soap. I didn't do it little at a time like the guy said and I had a few clumps. I just took my wire wisk to it and it broke up the clumps fairly easy. In no time at all, the soap was dissolved.

I added 3 gallons of water to my "Homer" bucket by filling it up in the bathtub as my kitchen faucet has terrible water pressure.

I added 1 cup of Washing soda to the bucket and then poured in the soap that I had just dissolved. I stirred that up really good. I didn't have any lumps to break up. I think it's because I had hot water in the bucket to begin with. After that I added 1/2 cup Oxiclean to the bucket and gave it a good stir. I put the lid on and had my wonderful husband take it to the basement for me. I can't wait to give it a good stir tomorrow night and start using it!

I don't know how much this cost me as I bought the washing soda about a year ago and the Oxiclean from Sams club. The Dr Bronners soap does cost a bit but I am happy that I am using something that is good and green! I am hoping to find it cheaper on line and buy a few at a time.

I did take pictures and wanted to share but my husband went out to run some errands before I had him download the pictures. I will have to add pictures later.

A year gone by

2009-12-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

Almost a year ago, my twins came into this world. This year has gone by very fast. It has been a blur but there have been some great memories made, wonderful pictures taken and lots of laughter in the Starbuck household!

It has been so fun watching the boys grow and change each day. It's been fun watching Nate interact with the boys as they grow. These days when you see Nate crawling up and down the hallway, you can be sure to see Jonathan right behind Nate crawling and right behind Jonathan is Riley doing the army crawl!!! They do everything they can to keep up with big brother. Nate gets a kick out of his brothers doing the same thing he does. I think all 3 boys are going to be buds as the years go by.

This year has been special but it has been difficult too. It has taught me to be more organized, flexible and to just sit and not worry about the house. I have taken the time to just sit on the floor and play with the boys. I am a stronger person now because of the last year. Raising twins is very difficult. I remember once saying that I wanted both boys but not at the same time. Now, I wouldn't change it. I am glad I have both at the same time. They have given me lots of laughs and to be honest, tears too. I can't imagine going through the day and not loving on them in some way. I am sure some day, all 3 will tell me "Enough kisses!!"

I will leave you with a picture of each of my babies.

Picture of my boys!

2009-09-18T04:08:00.001-07:00

We were outside one day last week enjoying the beautiful weather and I decided to pull the twins around on the wagon. Nate of course hopped in for the ride. I pulled them under our magnolia tree and got a decent shot. Enjoy!

No more helmet for Riley!!!

2009-09-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

If you all remember, back in March, I noticed Riley was laying his head to one side. I took him to our wonderful chiropractor and she said that he has torticollis. She also noticed that his head was misshaped. When we took Jonathan to his hip doctor, we asked him to look at Riley's head. He said it was simply plagiocephaly. We took Riley to see Barb the helmet lady. She took measurements and said that we needed a helmet to help shape his head correctly. We got the helmet May 21st and today was our last day!!! He has made major improvments since we first had his head measured. We are quite happy with the results. His head isn't totally round and the left side of his face isn't perfect, but it's so much better than it was. He will continue to improve over time!

Happy Birthday to my darling 4 year old!

2009-09-12T20:44:00.001-07:00

Today is Nate's 4th birthday! He was born at 7:44pm and was 7lbs 4oz and I think 19 3/4 inches long.

I will have share pictures tomorrow.

Neat picture to share of Riley and Nate

2009-06-21T19:31:00.001-07:00

Thought I would be goofy and set Riley like this on Nate. They both were being pretty goofy themselves!

It's Helmet time!

2009-05-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

Riley as you can see got his helmet! I love the camo print! Jason said that he can go hunting with Grandpa Starbuck this fall now!! Riley is tolerating his helmet just fine. We are working our way up to 22 hours a day of wearing it. Right now we are one day 3. He wears it 3 times a day for 3 hours at a time. Kinda hard to wear it for 3 hours when you throw nap time in. By tomorrow, he can take naps with it on. By Tuesday, he will wear it over night too. We will take it off every 3-4 hours for a break, check for redness and wipe down his head and helmet. He gets pretty sweaty in it. I am going to ask if they can drill a couple of holes in the back of the helmet for more ventilation. He will have to wear this helmet for 3-6 months depending on how well the helmet works. Since we found his plagicephally early enough, he probably won't have to wear it as long.

Other news: My 33rd birthday was this week. My mom came into town to spend time with me. She made a peach pie that was very yummy! Jason took the day off. My mom babysat all 3 boys so Jason and I could go out for lunch. Thanks mom! We ended up at Walmart to get a few things after lunch. I bought a wireless mouse for my laptop that is awesome!! I also picked up a case for my new digital camera that Jason bought me! I love it! I am having fun taking pictures. I can download/upload pictures right to my laptop and manage the pics that way. The camera is a point and shoot from Pentax. It suits my needs very well. I also received a necklace and earring set from my parents that is beautiful!! Jason also bought me the movie Emma w/Gwenth Paltrow, 2 cds from my favorite Christian, Chonda Pierce and some spending cash. I am need of some nice clothes.

All 3 boys are doing fine. Nate had his last Parents Day Out last Thursday. He will start again next fall. I am thinking we need to schedule in some play dates with some friends this summer. Nate sure enjoys playing with his pals!

Jonathan and Riley are growing like crazy. They are talking all the time and getting louder too! They are enjoying an exersaucer that we are borrowing from a friend. They are getting interested in small toys too. Makes my life a bit easier to be able to entertain them! They are now sitting at the table with us. I brought out the booster chair that straps to a chair. I found another one just like what we have at a yard sale yesterday!! I was so excited! The seat has a tray that hooks on. Kinda like a highchair but for a chair. I need to wipe down the one I just bought and hook it to a chair. Our kitchen is too small for 2 highchairs so this fits our needs just fine. The boys are doing ok with sleeping at night. I stopped giving bottles to Jonathan and nursing Riley at the 3am feeding. A few nights ago, Jonathan woke up and I went in, gave him a paci, patted his bottom and within 2 mins he was fast asleep. I had to do this for a few nights in a row with both of them and last night they slept till 6am this morning!! I don't know how long this is going to last.

Guess thats enough rambling for the day! We have a birthday party to attend this afternoon. Lots of fun!

Cute words!

2009-05-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Teeter totter= Tator tots
Couple sips= soda or pop
Lemelade= lemonade

Nates version of the real words!

Cute picture to share

2009-05-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

This evening, I put the boys down for bed. I usually lay them about 1-2 feet apart. This is what I found when I went to check on them:

Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

2009-04-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Jason and I have been married 6 years today! These are some photos of the memorable day!
The first is of the grooms part. Starting on the left: Vince(friend), Josh(my brother), Jason, Adrian(Jasons brother) Ben(friend) and Matthew(nephew). Ben and Vince were ushers.

The second photo is of the brides party. Starting on the left: Amy(Jason's sister) Me, Tiffani(my sister-in-law, Josh's wife) and Ashton(niece). Tiffani was my Matron of Honor

The last picture is pretty much self explanatory. Jason and me, the Bride and Groom!

It was such a beautiful day. The sun was out but it was a bit chilly. We had a really good photographer from Trotters photo. My sister-in-law, Tiffani, brought some yummy pulled beef for sandwiches. I loved my dress! My mom and I went on a dressing shopping date. We stopped at a shop in Litchfield, IL. My parents lived not far from there. I tried on plenty of dresses not knowing what style fit me best. I put this on, went out to the big mirror and both my mom and I knew this was the dress for me. It's an A-line style dress, ivory in color with flowers embroidered on the bodice and down the dress. We did go into Springfield to see if we could find other dresses but had zero luck. This dress was meant for me! The only thing I wish I could have done is perserve my flowers. I wonder if I could recreate it somewhat with silk flowers? Mmmm, I will have to look into that.

Our reception was simple but nice. My mother-in-law, Kathy, and sister-in-law, Amy provided the meal. It was sandwiches, slaw, chips, and other yummy foods! Our cake was from McArthurs Bakery. It was all chocolate with a basket weave design.

We stayed at a B&B in St Charles and then took off that Monday for the Gulf Shores where we spent our honeymoon.

Out of this union came 3 adorable boys: Nate, Jonathan and Riley!

Happy Anniversary Jason!! I love you and can't wait to spend the next 6 years and more with you!

Goodbye Grandpa, I will miss you.

2009-04-02T20:14:00.001-07:00

Thursday night the 26th of March, my Grandpa Elmer passed away. I am very sad about this. I wasn't able to say goodbye to him. He is the only Grandpa I have known. My dad called me Friday morning to let me know that Grandpa had passed away. My Grandma was with him and they were at home. He was suffering from cancer. I am glad he is not hurting anymore. I have many wonderful memories of my Grandpa. I was honored to be a pall bearer along with my brother and 4 other cousins. My Aunt read a wonderful eulogy about my Grandpa. It described him perfectly! I will always miss my Grandpa.

Just surviving

2009-03-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

I don't like this time in life when raising babies. I am surviving which means I don't really get to enjoy my babies as much as I would like. I am tired. Makes taking care of babies that much harder. Thankfully, we have found some help. There are some women in our church that are willing to help out a few days a week. I am very happy at the idea of having an extra set of arms to help hold, feed, change diapers, and let me get a nap in once in a while and get some time to play with Nate.

We had an appointment last Thursday for Jonathan. He had another ultrasound done on his hips. The tech said that both his hips look great! We were keeping an eye on his left hip. We saw his Dr after and he also said that his hip looked great! So, no more ultrasounds or need to be seen by Dr Anderson and best of all, no braces! Whoo hoo!!!

Last Wednesday, I took the boys to the chiropractor to get adjusted. They both had some issues that I needed Dr Gina to address. She took care of both of them beautifully as usual! I was worried about Riley and the way he held his head. I was thinking he has torticollis. Dr Gina did take a look at his neck and head and said that he did indeed have a bit of torticollis. She did some muscle stretching and massage on his neck and then adjusted his neck. I let her know that I was doing massage on his neck also at home. Because of the torticollis, his head is misshaped. Dr Gina knew that we were going to see Jonathans orthopedist the next day so she wanted us to have the dr take a look at Riley's head. Dr Anderson took one look at this head and said that he has plagiocephaly. It is a malformation of the head. The way Riley lays his head, allows his bones to shift so his head takes on a weird shape. We have been referred to a plastic surgeon at St Johns. I have no clue why a plastic surgeon, but I have heard he is the best when it comes to plagiocephaly. We may end up getting Riley a helmet that helps reshape his head. I don't know more than that and will keep you all updated as we go along.

I have finally come to terms that I am no longer able to nurse both the twins full time. My body just can't keep up with the demands of two babies. I have tried all there is to keep up my milk supply but it wasn't working. I am going to continue to nurse Riley, but Jonathan will get mostly formula. As much as this hurts me, this is what needs to be done. Jonathan just isn't happy after nursing. He just isn't getting enough. I am not through nursing Jonathan completely, he still gets to nurse when Riley isn't and I will continue to pump and he can have what I pump. I would like to nurse them for as long as they want to. I was able to nurse Nate till 18mos. If we go that far, I will be very happy! I just don't want to lose my nursing relationship with my boys at all. I have a feeling that when they start eating table food then I can start nursing Jonathan more and maybe even get rid of the formula except at bedtime. I just need to get through the next few months.

I am so proud of my nephew, Ethan! He lost his first tooth! A call will be going out to Ethan this afternoon and I can't wait to hear all about it straight from the source! You can read about this exciting time from my sister-in-laws blog, Sunshine is Delicious. The link is to the left of my blog.

I better get some breakfast eaten before one of the boys decide they need to get up.

Have a blessed day everyone!

Pictures of Nate and Jonathan

2009-03-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

Our old camera was broken after the twins were born so Jason went and bought a new one the next day. I was determined to see if the old one could be fixed so I could use that for myself. I knew how to use it and upload the photos to the computer and flickr. I took the camera in to get fixed and the guy quoted me $300 to fix it. Ummm, no thanks. Jasons new camera was less than that brand new. So, I guess I need to learn how to use the new camera. Thankfully it has an Easy button. It does everything for me! So, yesterday, I decided to get some pics of the boys. Riley decided he needed a nap instead so I only got pics of Nate and Jonathan. Here are a few pics of them.

The 2nd one is Jonathan just hanging out on the blanket. The first one is of Nate. He had to get in on the mix and get his picture taken too! I hope to get some photos of Riley today. I have a picture frame that has 3 frames in it that need some photos. I like the one of Jonathan here and hope to get one similar of Riley.

Enjoy the photos!

Life as usual

2009-03-01T04:43:00.000-08:00

As usual as can be with 3 boys! Life has continued since Jason went back to work over a month ago. There are some days I wonder if I will make it through. I look forward to the weekends even more now.

Nate is doing fine! He is just talking like crazy! I talked with my Grandpa the other day and he asked if Nate was talking and of course I said yes and then I realized what he was getting at. Does he talk alot like me! I told Grandpa, yes!! My Grandpa likes to tease me about my chatter. I do like to talk! Nate is into Mighty Monster Trucks at the moment. He likes Meteor, Junk Boy, Little Tow and Big Foot. I wonder what he will like after this. Will he go back to Thomas or Bob the Builder again? What about tractors? He seems to jump back and forth with what he likes. One thing that never changes is that he loves to be outside. The other day, he wanted to go outside so bad and I kept telling him that it was too cold. He still insisted on going out. So, I opened up the front door and had him step out onto the front porch in his jammies. I asked him if it was too cold and of course, he said No! When he gets something in his brain, he won't let it go. Mmmm, wonder where he gets that from?!! Thankfully we had a couple of nice warm days so we made sure we got outside to play. He loves when the neighbor boys are out too. Lots of boys to play with!

Riley and Jon are doing fine. Growing like crazy. They are making lots of eye contact now and are focusing more on things like our faces which is pretty cool. I have gotten a small smile out of both of them but I am waiting for them to crack big smiles!

Jonathan is my sleeper. I can always count on him taking good naps. Other news for him: Since he was breech, we need to keep an eye out on his hips. The second of Feb we had an ultrasound done on his hips to see if there was any concern. His right hip looks fine but his left hip is off a bit. We now have a pediatric orthapedist on our list of dr's. Dr Anderson saw Jon last Thurs. Dr did say that Jon's left hip is loose. We don't need to do anything in the way of braces right now. We are going to have another ultrasound done the 19th of March and then see Dr Anderson right after. Dr said that his hip could take care of itself and if thats the case, then no braces are needed. We will see what time will do between now and the 19th. Dr Anderson was wonderful!

Riley is my eater! When he nurses, he's all business. He is also a mamas boy. He loves to be held. Good thing I have a sling to put him in! He has red hair and it sticks up! Cracks me up! He gets lots of comments on it. He has battled 2 colds so far, poor thing. He has had to sleep in the bouncy seat so he could breath. Just last night I put him in the crib to sleep. He is also starting to coo. It is so fun to watch him. He can really get into it!

Both of their personalities are starting to emerge. Jonathan is more laid back and Riley is a mover and shaker. All 3 of my boys are going to do great things when they grow up :)

The twins had their first long car ride a few weeks ago. I took all 3 boys up to my folks in Springfield, Il. The babies slept the entire 1 1/2 hours. Nate just chilled out in the back seat. My parents were excited that we were coming to visit. They can't get enough of the grandbabies. We took some time and went to visit my sister-in-law and her boys. My brother was on his way home from Chicago so we didn't get to see him. Nate had a great time playing with his cousins. Tiffani got her baby fix with the boys. It was so much fun watching Nate play with his cousins. They are a hilarious bunch!

Jason celebrated his birthday the 21st of Feb. We went to lunch at TGIFridays. First restaurant outing for the twins. They did great! After that we chilled at home. Jason opened his gifts. He got new memory for the computer, some things for game nite, and a book. He also got to have breakfast in bed. I made biscuits and gravy for the first time. He was happy with that! Nate woke up and gave him a balloon. Nate and I were sneaky and hid the balloon in Nates closet so daddy wouldn't know. Nate did a good job keeping the secret! That night, we went to Americas Incredible Pizza Company with tickets and such that I won at our trivia night at church in Jan. We took our good friends Ben and Laura and their son Logan. Everyone ate for free and played for free. It has pizza and games. Think Chuckee Cheese but bigger and better.

I tried looking for photos of the twins so I could update you all but I cant find the new ones Jason just took a while ago. Here is a link to his blog since he seems to have the photos. Photo hog!

http://buckyworld2.blogspot.com/2009/02/riley-and-jonathan-mid-feb.html

Enjoy your Sunday!

Birth story

2009-01-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting my birth story of the twins.

My contractions started New Years day around noon. They were sorta painful but not too bad. Enough pain for me to notice them! They were around 5-7 mins apart. I was laying on the couch chatting with a friend who had come to see me. The contractions slowed down but that night they started up again. They were painful but not enough for me to breath through them. I was jotting down the times every time I had one. I was able to get some sleep that night. The next day, the contractions were farther apart but getting more painful. This was the way it was all day. That night I noticed them getting stronger. Saturday was the same. Sunday, I called my friend who is a doula to come and see me and give me some ideas on how to get the contractions more regular if this was the real deal! My doula was very supportive and gave me some great ideas. She asked if I wanted to have my membranes stripped and I said no. I wasn't sure that I was in labor. My mom called that afternoon and said that she was coming in the next day to help and be there just in case I did go into labor. All Sunday night and into Monday, I had to stop and breath through the contractions. They were getting stronger and closer. I felt better if I was standing and then swaying back and forth during a contraction. Since my mom was there, I decided to call my doula again and have her come and strip my membranes. She got here around 9pm. She decided to check me for dilation first. I didn't get my hopes up since the last time my OB check me, I was at 1cm. Well, my doula checked me and I was at..... 4cm!!!! She said that I was in labor!! After she left, I tried to rest. I think I maybe slept an hour total that night. Laying down during a contraction hurt the most. I wasn't sure when we should head to the hospital. That morning, Tuesday, I hit a wall mentally and physically. I knew then that we were heading to the hospital that day. Again, I was very happy my mom was here. She stayed with Nate till our friend got to our house to watch Nate so that my mom could come to the hospital. Jason and I left for the hospital around 7:30am. We got checked in and I got changed into the infamous hospital gown. They started monitoring the heartbeats of the twins and mine. I had an awesome labor and delivery nurse! She did get a bit worried because my heart was racing. It wasn't bad, but they were a bit worried. They had a lady come in a do an ultrasound on the babies. I thought that was a bit odd, but oh well. One more chance to see my boys before really seeing them! Good thing they did the ultrasound because baby B turned breech sometime in the past 4 weeks of my pregnancy. The nurse called my OB and mentioned this and my OB denied me my VBAC. I was angry about the whole situation. I had my heart set on a VBAC. Before all this, my nurse checked me for dilation and I was at 5cm and 100% effaced! When she was checking me, she noticed that my pelvic opening was a bit small. After my OB said no vbac, Jason and I talked about it and prayed but I knew that it was going to be a c-section. The anesthesiologist came in and talked with us about what was going to happen. I will tell you I had the best people caring for us! Everyone was so very nice. I was able to walk down to the OR. That was a bit weird walking into an OR. It was cold and kinda intimidating. I hopped up on the table and sat on the side so my epidural could be put in. Jason sat in front of me holding my hands. I was very fearful of getting an epidural. I didn't have a good experience with my c/s with Nate. Obviously, this anesthesiologist knew what she was doing because it didn't hurt much at all and she told me what she was doing so I wouldn't be surprised. Everything was put in place, I was able to lay down. Jason moved so he was up by my head on my right side. After a while, my OB started my surgery. I waited impatiently to hear the cry of my babies! Baby A came first and was born at 11:11am. I saw the nurse take him to the warmer. The nurse took him to the wrong warmer and we all told her, "Wrong warmer"!!! The warmers had a note on them saying Baby A and Baby B so we wouldn't get the babies mixed up! I have to admit I was a bit surprised to see him looking gray. It didn't take long and they had him crying! What a sweet sound! Baby B arrived one minute later at 11:12am. The nurses brought the babies over one at a time for me to see and hold and snuggle with for a few moments. Daddy was busy taking pictures and cutting the cords. My OB was wonderful to leave some length of the cord so daddy could have the experience of cutting the cords! As I was getting stitched back up, the babies were getting cleaned up and weighed and measured. Baby A, aka Riley was 7lbs 3oz and Baby B, aka Jonathan was 7lbs 15oz!
After a while, they were done stitching me up and onto a bed so I could head to recovery. Daddy stayed with the boys. Oh, Jason was the only guy in the OR!! I thought that was awesome that everyone in the OR were women. My mom met us in the recovery room. Both boys nurses were in there too and so were the boys. I got to see the boys get their first baths. Riley's nurse helped me start breastfeeding with Riley. He latched on with in 2 tries! We had to work on Jonathan a bit but he finally got it.
I didn't stay very long in the recovery room before heading to another room where I would be the rest of the time. The hospital has a thing called "Cuplet Care". Basically, the babies stay with me and Jason the whole time unless we send them to the nursery.
The rest of the week was pretty much a blur! I was able to get out of bed on Wednesday. I was a bit shakey but had 2 wonderful nurses helping me. My iv and catheter came out Wednesday morning too which was so nice! Both the boys and myself had wonderful nurses. I had a great experience at St Lukes. I would recommend St Lukes to anyone. I did send the boys to the nursery at 10pm every night. I needed the sleep. My nurse would bring them back when they needed to eat.

Today, the boys are 3 weeks old. We had a great 3 week check up today. Both are gaining weight and are healthy.

My OB originally set my due date at the 6th of January. After we found out we were having twins, the date was changed to the 14th of January and left at that. Well, I had the boys on the 6th so I know in my heart, I went 40 weeks to the day with my twins. That is a rare thing these days. I am blessed that we were healthy throughout my pregnancy and both boys were healthy the day they were born

Wow, I didn't know this would be so long. I think I had better copy this for myself to keep. I know that my memories of Nate's birth day have faded somewhat. I probably should write those down too.

Riley and Jonathan in their coming home outfits

2009-01-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the boys getting ready to come home yesterday! I just love the outfits!
Riley is on the left and Jonathan is on the right.

Puzzle boy

2009-01-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

Nate is really into puzzles right now. He was given 24 piece and a 60 piece puzzle for Christmas. After us helping him the first couple of times with the 24 piece puzzle, he can do it all by himself. I watched him put it together. He was really good. I decided to time him. He can put the 24 piece one together in 2 1/2 minutes!!! Now he can put the 60 piece one together in less than 5 minutes! Here is a picture of Nate putting together his tractor puzzle. He brought it with him to the hospital to play with when he visited me.

Nate is up to Grandpa and Grandmas H's house and then over to his Uncle Josh's house for the week. His cousins are excited to spend some time with him and Nate was excited to find out he gets to play with them too. Jason and I are looking forward to a quiet house for a couple of days. I do know that we will start missing him sometime tomorrow! My mom is coming into town to help out for a couple of days. I know that I will be sleeping as much as possible.

As a side note: There will be a lull in picture posting on both blogs as Jason's camera was broken yesterday. It was pushed off a chair and on to the floor on to the view finder that was out. It is jammed and I am hoping to get it fixed so that I can have it for the diaper bag and Jason can have his new camera. Jason just bought a new camera today. He is currently out buying a memory stick and a bag for it. He is getting the battery charged up.

Hope you all have a good Sunday!

Riley, Jonathan and mom are home

2009-01-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

We are officially home from the hospital. Both babies are doing well. Right now they are being spoiled by Grandma Starbuck and Aunt Amy.

I am going to be laying low for a week or two getting some rest so I might not be able to blog much so keep an eye out on Jason's blog for updates and pictures.

Lynn

I would like to introduce Jonathan David and Riley Charles!

2009-01-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

Our 2 new additions to our family! Unfortunately, I do not have pictures at this time. I am waiting for Jason to upload photos to flickr so I can show off the boys! I do have a picture that melts my heart when I see it. It is of Nate and Riley. Grandma brought Nate to visit yesterday morning to meet his brothers. He was cool with the boys, but he thought it was weird to see me here. He asked to hold Riley and so I said hop up on the bed and he did and then he held out his arms to hold him! Here is the picture! Nate is being goofy with his smile.

Enjoy the picture!

Obviously, I didn't get the picture to set right here, but that is of Nate and Riley. Not of Riley and Jonathan. Those pictures will be coming soon.

A picture I just had to share

2008-12-29T02:37:00.000-08:00

The other night, Nate was playing so nicely by himself while I was puttering around the house. I saw him playing with his toy cars near the water cooler. After that it was bedtime. As I have a cold, I have been drinking alot of cold water and munching on ice. Ice seems to keep the coughs away. Anyways, I went to fill up my cup at my water cooler and this is what I find! I couldn't resist taking a picture. I just smiled at what I saw!

Ahh, having a little boy, who is all boy, in the house is quite the adventure! Don't know what you will find next. I just try and imagine whats going thru his mind when he does things like this. Nate makes me smile!

On the baby front: Nothing still. We were scheduled for a C-section this morning but after much talk, thinking, and prayer, we decided not to have it. After lots of prayer on my part, I felt that we could hold off. This past week I strained a muscle in my back and then on Sat while I was coughing, I felt the muscle snap. I have been in lots of pain since then. I was finally able to talk with my ob last night. She still feels the c-section is the way to go even tho she knows how I feel about it. She isn't pushing me to do the c-section. I do respect her for her thoughts on everything too. She has some valid points. If this was a singleton pregnancy, I have a feeling she would be more than ok with waiting till my due date to decide anything. Being twins, thats a bit more complicated. We are both worried about how big I am getting. Putting extra strain on the uterus. Jason and I still need to talk more about this. I am tempted to get ahold of a doula (birth coach) and see what she has to say. I need some advice from someone who is knowledgeable in the whole birthing process and such. Anyways, after talking with my ob last night, she called in a prescription for some pain medicine. My wonderful husband went out last night at around 10pm and picked up the prescription! I took 2 right away and with in an hour, I was feeling better. My back still hurts, but not like it was. I slept on the couch so I could sleep more upright b/c of the coughing. I actually slept till around 4am and then my coughing started in. My coughing is finally done. Seems to be a pattern where I stay up for an hour and cough and then it's done and I can go back to bed.
I am off to bed. Please continue to pray for us as we make a decision that is right for us concerning the babies. It is not an easy decision. My arms ache to hold my little ones, but they need to stay where they are for a little bit longer.

I hope the next time I post, it will be to introduce the twinkies!

Please pray for me and the babies

2008-12-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

Thankfully this post isn't anything bad or urgent. The babies and I are fine. I had an appt today and the heart beats are strong. Last Thursday, Jason went with me to the appt because I was having my last ultrasound. Both boys look great. Baby A has lots of hair so should be interesting to see what it looks like when he is born. Is he going to be blond like his older brother or red like mine? We don't know much about Baby B in the hair dept. so that should be interesting too. I have a feeling they are both going to take after big brother and be blond. Baby A is still head down but his body is more to my right and not up and down so it would allow for an easy delivery. We spoke with my ob and we decided that because of the position he is in it would be safer with a c-section. I am sad. I wanted to go for a normal delivery. I still have time between now and Monday morning to go into labor on my own. We have a date of Monday the 29th at 7:30am for a scheduled c-section. I don't want this. I am not due till the 14th of Jan. but we don't want to go so far that the babies get so big and put stress on the scar that is already there. It could cause an uterine rupture and that is not what I need.
My prayer request is this: The Lord give me peace about our decision or give me some sort of insight on what to do. The Lord gets my body to start labor on it's own. I would love this! Also that Baby A would move his position if need be so I can labor naturally if this is really a problem. Part of me wants to cancel the c-section and just continue on with the pregnancy and see what happens but I am really afraid of the babies getting so big that it causes stress on the scar that is already there from my previous c-section with Nate. I have been praying about all this for some time now. I gave this whole pregnancy up to the Lord back when I was having trouble with my heart. The Lord has been so giving to me and has kept the babies and myself safe through this pregnancy. I am blessed. I just want the Lords will in this situation. I want some peace too.
Please pray for the babies and me. Thank you!

36 weeks!

2008-12-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to report that I am 36 weeks pregnant! I feel so blessed to have come this far with twins and not have any type of complications where the babies are concerned. I would like to send them an eviction notice pretty soon tho! I am tired, achy, and whatever else you can be when you are this far along in a pregnancy. Oh, emotional too. Just ask Jason! As of last Thursday at my dr's appt, there is no progress of any sort towards labor. I get to have an ultrasound this Thursday and then a talk with the dr after. This will be my last ultrasound before I get to hold my babies! I am officially down to every week appt now with my dr.

Last Tuesday night, some wonderful ladies gave me some really cute outfits, blankets and burp rags. All has been washed and ready for the boys to come home. 2 other friends took me to lunch at a tea room on Saturday and I recieved some cute things from them too. I was able to do a load of items including the coming home outfits. I just need to add a few more things to my bag and I should be ready to head out the door should I go into labor anytime soon.

I an almost done wrapping gifts. I have 2 more things to wrap for Saturday get together with my family. I can't wait for our nephews to open their gifts this year. Oh, can't wait to pick up the ham on Saturday too. It's a yummy ham! I still have one more or maybe two more things to buy for Jason. One he isn't even expecting and I can't wait to have him open it on Christmas morning.

Ok, time to clean up from supper and then head out to the library and a another place but can't say in case Jason reads this and figures out where I am getting his gift! Nice try hon! I can still fool you yet!

Lynn

Christmas Party

2008-12-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

We attended a Christmas party with our Bible study group this evening. It was wonderful! I felt like such an adult tonight! I got to dress up a bit, get out of the house and socialize with other adults, eat w/o helping someone else. The list goes on! It was a child free party and that was nice. We had some wonderful food tonight. We played 2 games after the meal that was lots of fun and there was lots of laughter.

I installed one car seat yesterday to see how the base installs and then added the infant seat into the base. Yeah, no one is going to be able to ride with me now! I had to pull the passenger seat up just to accommodate the seat. Anyone who rides with me is going to have their knees against the dash. My seat will have to move up a bit too. At least it's only for a year. When we move the babies to a bigger seat, I would like to keep them rear facing till at least 18 mos or so, so that means the seats might not fit either. Jason mentioned switching vans. That means I get the Dodge back. I am not sure how I feel about that as I have come to love and appreciate my Mazda. If we had the money, I would love to get a bigger vehicle. When we bought the Mazda, we didn't know we would be having 2 more babies and at the same time. I would like to find a used SUV, like a Suburban or something like it. Probably go foreign. Toyota has the Sequoia but I don't know much about it. We will make do with what we have because it's nice not to have any type of car payment!

I have packed 3/4 of my hospital bag. The baby stuff is in there. I still need to add a few pieces of clothing. I have my bathroom bag packed. There is a list of "Don't Forget" items sitting on the bag. Last minute things like pillow, snacks, and the like. Cameras too. Jason is responsible for that.

Babies are doing fine. They were both moving alot tonight at the party. B had the hiccups that Jason got to feel the movements. It's getting harder to get out of chairs and couches now. I stopped sitting on the floor too. If you want some good laughs, just come over and watch me get out of said couch or off said floor. Pretty funny! By bedtime, I am ready to lay down. I need the rest. I am guessing Nate is getting tired of mommy not sitting on the floor with him. I do sit on the couch, but then I have roll to the side to get off. I don't move very fast either. I have another routine appt on Thursday. I am hoping my blood pressure stays normal as it has in the past. I will be 35 on Tuesday. One more week and I have one month left. My last month with Nate I was put on blood pressure medicine and I am hoping to avoid that this time around. Who knows, I might have these two by 36 weeks and not have to worry about my blood pressure.

Nate is doing well! He is learning daily by asking lots of questions and is very observant. He is totally into Vegie Tales right now. He can sing a few of the songs. Yeah, I hear them daily! He loves to take the cd's in the van to listen too. He loves the Silly Song videos that Vegie Tales put out. One of his gifts for Christmas is The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! I can't wait to see his face when he opens that on Christmas Day. I can't wait to start making Christmas cookies with him too. He love to roll things out, dump things into the mixing bowl. He's a good baking helper!

Been busy shopping for my guys. I am done shopping for Nate and have most of his gifts wrapped. Jason is 3/4 the way done. He finally gave me a list and I am surprised to see that I have bought lots of things already just by listening to what he wants. Most things I have bought are wrapped for him also. I still need to buy for our niece and nephews. I hope to get those things done this Wed and Thursday. I would like to get going on my baking too.

Time to end for the night. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

The other outfit has been found

2008-11-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Before I posted here last about the coming home outfit, I posted on the message board that I am a member of. I figured there was a mama somewhere that could help me. There was! With in a few minutes of my posting there, a mama spoke up and said that there was an outfit on hold for me at a Babies R Us in Indiana! I called the number she gave me and I was able to buy the item over the phone and for $5 shipping, they would send it to me! It arrived today! It's pretty cool how other mamas help each other out and we don't really know each other but for the message board. My sister-in-law tried to help too but couldn't find anything at the Babies R Us near her. Thank you Tiffani for trying to help! I appreciated that!

The boys are going to look so handsome in their coming home outfits! I can't wait for them to be born and get pictures of them.

In need of some help, please

2008-11-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

For the longest time, I was looking for the right outfits to bring the twins home in. I searched so many places on the internet. I couldn't find what I wanted so I ended up with two different outfits. However, last night while at Babies R Us, I found the perfect outfit. Just what I was looking for. They had one newborn size. I picked it up today and called around to 3 other Babies R Us stores to see if they had any newborn size. None of the stores did. My sister-in-law looked at a store in Springfield Ill and couldn't find any there. Here is a picture of the outfit. It is a Koala Baby Boutique piece. It is knitted. Blue, gray and white striped. I could use some help please finding another one.

Here is one close up of the colors:

Thanks!

Picture of the day

2008-11-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

I haven't bragged about Nate lately. So I thought I would show you this picture. He is so stinkin' cute here. On Friday, I decided we should make up some cinnamon rolls. Here he is rolling out the dough! Enjoy!

Gettin' antsy for the arrival of my boys

2008-11-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

Each day I feel these boys move, I can't wait to meet them! Oh, we haven't shared the names yet. We finally chose another name. Maybe we should wait till they are born to share the names? Would that be too mean of us?!!

So far, the crib is up, the linens are washed, baby clothes are 3/4 of the way washed. I have one more basket of clothes to wash. Thanks to a friend and our neighbor, we have more newborn clothes and more onesies! I think I have a total of 12 onesies and will have 5 more sometime this week when my friend sends them to me. I clean up the diaper bag as best as possible. It doesn't look too bad for me using it for the past 3 years. Thankfully the bottom is black and the main color is dark red so dirt really doesn't show. I have laid out a few outfits, onesies, socks and 2 blankets ready to add to the diaper bag to take to the hospital. I am going to install the bases for the car seats right after Thanksgiving. Nate will be moved to the back of the van then. I still need to pack up a bag for myself and get some snacks ready also. Don't know how much they will let me eat while in labor. Jason needs to make sure the batteries for the camera are ready and I am going to make sure the lap top is ready to go to as I want to take it along. I may load up a couple CD's for the time there. Movies too as they have a dvd player. I am waiting on an order of cloth diapers. Probably won't cloth diaper in the hospital but I need to have them washed and ready to go when we get home. I still need to get some covers too. I also need to buy some preemie and infant prefolds and a couple more snappis for those. I don't pin prefolds. I am pin challenged! Oh, I have someone who will make me some newborn and small covers with some fleece I bought. Just need to get a pattern for her and go see her. Thankfully she lives not far from here.

On Fridays Jason and I attend a bible study at our church. Before we started the study last Friday night, the leader showed us this video. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Check it out!

http://www.timhawkins.net/video-audio.php

It didn't have anything to do with our study, but it was hilarious. The guy is Tim Hawkins. He is from St Louis.

Our wonderful neighbor has a cute little chalkboard with Santa on it and you can right down how many days are left till Christmas. She nicely let me know there are around 45 days left! Yikes! Thankfully, I am almost done with Jason and still need some things for Nate. I have 2 things coming in the mail for him but can't come up with anything else. This is terrible. I should have a whole list of things to spoil my son with. We get enough magazines in the mail to get ideas. Guess I need to look at them again.

Well, guess I don't have much more to say. I have been wanting to get to the library and get some new books.

Another baby update

2008-11-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful baby appt yesterday. Jason said that he would have time to come with me so that was awesome! It may be the last time we see the boys before they are born. The ultrasound was great! Baby A is a little over 4lbs and Baby B is a little over 5lbs. Baby B is now head down. Sometime in the past 2 weeks he decided that being head down is more fun! We have no problems with that. Both heartbeats are great too. I have been feeling pretty good. I can feel I am getting towards the end as I am tired now all day and needing to lay down 2 times in the day. Also, my lower back is popping all the time. Everything is getting loosened up!

Been looking at my huge to buy and to do list and I can cross of a few things thankfully! I changed my mind again with the stroller. We are going to wait till right before Jason goes back to work after the boys are born to buy the Snap n Go frame. We decided that would be the easiest thing to do and when the boys can sit up unassisted, then we will look into a double stroller. That way we have more options of what we want in a stroller not what we need. I was able to sell the stroller we bought on craigslist and get my money back. The only thing I really need is a pack n play with a bassinet. I want the boys in our room not the nursery. I mentioned on my message board that I still needed some onesies and a friend who is also due in Jan said that she had more than what she needed and said that for $3 shipping, I could have as many as I needed. I figured 5 would do fine to add to what I have. She is so sweet! Another friend gave me a tub full of clothes last night and in there were some onesies also! We are so blessed with friends. I finally found 2 coming home/first picture outfits. I found them at JC Penny. They are velour. One is navy blue and the other is a soft kelly green. They are simple but very nice. I also found 2 Baby's First Christmas outfits. They are the same, but I thought it would be fun to have a couple outfits if the boys to make an appearance before Christmas.

I had better stop and figure out what to do for supper. I am just so tired I have no clue what I am going to make. Wish me luck! We have bible study tonight so it needs to be simple and quick.

Change of plans

2008-11-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

As my previous post stated, I was looking for a Snap n go frame double stroller. Well, today I had a thought. I realized that when the babies outgrow their infant seats, I would have to get another double stroller with seats. So,I started doing some research to find another stroller that had seats but I can put 2 infant seats in it as well. So this is the stroller I found so far. I am still doing some research to see if there is another stroller out there.

So I don't need help anymore with the snap n go frame after all.

Tomorrow afternoon, Jason and I are going to tour the maternity floor at St Lukes. Then we are going on a date after! We have a friend babysitting for us so we are going to take advantage and have some time to ourselves. I am thinking of taking Jason to Babie R Us so he can see the stroller too. Would like his input.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping and laundry day. Lots to do!

On a mission

2008-11-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

I am on a mission to save some money on a stroller that we need to buy. As you all know, we are having twins and I would love to get my hands on this stroller: http://www.babytrend.com/products_detail.php?CategoryID=0002.0004.0000.0000&LampID=932

I posted a ISO on craigslist and someone responded with a EEEUC one for $50! We bought it and found out that our Britax Companion infant seats aren't compatible with this stroller only because it is older. Now, it is only 1 1/2 years old. I thought it was new enough but it isn't. Now, I am going to put it on craigslist and get our $50 back.

My mission: To find this stroller for as cheap as possible. I can go right to Babies R Us and buy it for $99, however, the frugal side of me wants to find it cheaper or buy it with a really good coupon.

Can anyone help us? I can not have a used one as it isn't compatible with our car seats. If anyone knows of a really good coupon to Babies R Us please let me know where I can find it. If anyone knows of a great web site for coupons and can find one for a store that has this stroller, please let me know! If in the end, I can't buy it with a coupon, I will pay full price. It is a need/necessary item for us. I am hoping to find one in the next 4 weeks or so.

Thanks to all who can help! I appreciate it!

Baby to do list

2008-10-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

I had a great baby appt today! Both heart beats are great! I am a little over 30 weeks along. My blood pressure was great too! 120 over 83. I am so pleased with that. Dr McDonald and I were talking that these two babes could come in 6 weeks or so! Ok, so not ready to hear that. I am not ready. We have two car seats so thats good. We have one crib and mattress so they have somewhere to sleep. I would prefer them to be in a pack n play in our room at least for the first few weeks. I do have a couple of newborn sleepers. I do need some diapers. I guess if they come in 6 weeks, I am sorta ready but not mentally! The more I feel them kicking and moving, I can't wait to meet them! I can't wait to see their faces and kiss them and love on them.
Tonight, I started making a list of things we still need to get and a list of things to get done by Thanksgiving. Here is the list:
To buy:
crib bumper and skirt- find fabric for my mom to make if possible, doesn't need to be done till March or so.
mattress
mattress cover
2 sheets
pack n play- would like to find used with a bassinet
few more sleepers
new born socks
diapers, KLOs and covers- need to ask a friend for a good deal on these
couple packs of either newborn or preemie huggies
2 towels
snap n go frame- bought a double frame on Craigslist, but it won't work with our car seats. If I bought a brand new one, it would. Will have to put in on craigslist and get my money back.
new born pacies
boppy cover- my boppy is ok, but would like to find a cute, soft cover for it. I am thinking blue minky!
2 packs new born onesies
extra sheet for pack n play
baskets, 4- for diaper storage
breast pump. Found out the insurance company doesn't cover the cost on this. I was hopeful!
Buy blackout curtains
radio with a cd feature for baby cd lullabyes.- another craigslist purchase

Here is the to do list:
Clean out nursery
touch up paint
put together crib
wash clothes
get dresser fixed
bring up changing pads and wash covers, all 4
wash breast pads
fix bumper ties
vacuum and scrub floor
wash windows

I am sure there are other things we need. I need to do a walk thru Babies R Us and make sure we have everything. It's been 3 years since we had a newborn so I need help remembering.

I guess this is it. I am going to take some time tonight and go thru the clothes I put away from when Nate was a newborn and wash them. I am going to wash the other clothes and the blankets I bought too.

Belly pictures!

2008-10-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to post pictures of my pregnant belly when I was pregnant with Nate. I think I have maybe 2 pictures all together. Never crossed my mind. Have know clue why?! This time around, I have more pictures. Here is a picture that Jason took today. I am 28 1/2 weeks along.

I have one where my belly is bare, but I won't post that here. You get the idea from the picture I have posted.

Tonight, we went to the local YMCA and watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! We watched it outside on a huge screen. It was a perfect night. Chilly enough to wear hats and mittens for Nate and wrap blankets around us. They had popcorn and hot chocolate there too. I brought cinnamon graham crackers and Jason bought the popcorn and hot chocolate. Nate pigged out on both things. He had so much fun tonight! He has seen this movie/show at least 15 times so far. He loves it!

I wanted to post some pics of the boys. Jason scanned in the latest pictures from the ultrasound from Thursday. I hadn't seen them since August and I was excited! The pics here are 3d. The top one is of the head with an arm across the face. Bashful! The second one you can see the face, eyes, nose and mouth. Very cool.

Enjoy the pictures!

Mission Accomplished

2008-10-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

I went through Nate's dresser drawers and closet and cleaned out the summer things and put them in the nursery until I can find a tub to put them in. I also went through all the new fall and winter clothes, washed and put them away. I did go out last night and got him another pj set for the winter and also sleep socks and regular socks. The sleep socks are from Old Navy and they are thick and don't come off easy. I got everything put away and I think he is set for the winter! He also got a pair of church shoes today. Found them at Kohls for $16 instead of $30! I love saving money! Thanks to people giving him things for birthday and last Christmas, and what I found on clearance at the end of winter, he is set!

I am off in about 45 mins to head to a friends house to stamp tonight. She is having a stamping party and I can't wait! I haven't sat down to stamp in a few months and I am hoping Cathy can get me into stamping again. We are stamping cards tonight. It will be a good time! I get the luxury of being in the car for an hour by myself too! I treasure those times. I even went out and bought a Chonda Pierce cd last night. She is a Christian comedian and she is very funny! I also found with the help of a sales associate at Life Way bookstore, a cd of hymns. I have been on the look out for a cd like this. I am particular about what I was looking for. I wanted to hear hymns just you would sing out of a hymnal at church. I don't like when they mess with songs to make them unique. The sales guy let me open the cd and listen to it before I bought it. How nice! He said they can shrink wrap it again after if I didn't like the cd. That was very helpful.

Ok, off to get ready to head out. Have a wonderful weekend!

Babies Update

2008-10-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

I went in for a measurement scan today. I couldn't wait to see the boys again. I hadn't seen them since August. Both had grown so much! Baby A is on my right and is head down with his feet in my ribs. He is 2lbs 9oz. Baby B is on my left with his head in my ribs. He is 2lbs 15oz. My ob is very happy with the weight. So am I! I was getting worried because I couldn't feel Baby B very much and didn't know what position he was in. Also, his placenta is between him and my uterus. That is why I can't feel him very much. It is like a cushion. Baby A's placenta is between the baby and my back. I hope this makes sense! Both heart rates are good. My blood pressure is good and I passed my glucose test!! If I can, I will try and scan the pics from the ultrasound. The tech did 2 pics with 3D. One has his arm in front of his face and the other one you can see the eyes, nose and mouth! Not too much longer and I get to see both of these cuties!

Have a wonderful night!

I am super excited!

2008-10-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

I want to share an article that I saw in our newspaper today. Here is the link: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/A84E1E46517E025E862574E2001083BE?OpenDocument

I have known Eric and Sierra for 3 years now. I attended the Thursday's nursing group for close to 2 years. They are the owners of Kangaroo Kids. It is a resale shop for kids clothes and equipment and maternity clothes. They also offer nursing support. Every Thursday Sierra holds a nursing group with in the store. She is a lactation consultant. The article is about her husband wanting to be a LC also! I am so excited for him! He knows just as much about nursing as Sierra since he has been exposed to it for so long. They are the sweetest people and are so helpful. I can't wait to start in the nursing group once more once my twins are born!

Onto other news. Nothing really going on here. I am enjoying the cooler weather. The cloudy days kinda match my mood lately. Nate and I have been having fun outside. He is really getting good at riding his scooter. He can go really anywhere with it!

Most of you know that I cloth diaper our son. I am on a message board with other mamas who cloth diaper too. You can buy, sell and trade diapers on this site. We also talk about things pertaining to being a mom, having kids, life. It's a fun and fast moving forum. I have been a member for 1 1/2 years. I have come to learn alot about cloth diapers and all the types of diapers out there. Whats great about this board is that you can buy used diapers. Now that may seem odd to some of you and you might think that it's gross. I must tell you tho, these mamas take special care of their diapers because they know they can sell them and get some of their money back. I have boughten a few used diapers and aside from the fleece being a bit pilly (from normal washing) to the print being a bit faded, these diapers are in excellent condition. You can get a really nice diaper for a nice price. Over the 2 1/2 years of cloth diapering, I have found what works for me and what doesn't. Right now my stash (my diapers) is set. I like what I have and it works for me and Nate. Although, I hope Nate will potty train sometime in the next decade or so :) As I was going through the diapers we have and putting them in a container waiting for the twins to get here, I ran across 2 diaper covers that I had really liked. They are wool. I bought one when I first started cloth diapering Nate and then bought another one used this past summer. However, Nate has outgrown them. I am sad because these covers are bullet proof. Meaning, they are leak proof. I absolutely love them. So, I decided to look today on my forum and see if there are any being sold. The brand is Sugar Peas. Here is the link to their page and the covers you see in the top right corner are the ones I love. www.sugarpeas.com
I have a natural color with teal thread, and older version I believe and a navy one. If I had the money, I would buy one in every color! They have different types of wool. Australian double knit wool and Wool flannel. I am not sure which one I would get, possibly both! I would buy them in mediums since it seemed Nate was in mediums the longest. Oh to have money to get them all. I have entertained the thought of getting them used. I have seen them on my forum for used ones and the prices aren't too bad. Retail they are $25. If I could get them for $15-$18 I would be happy. Well, so far, I cannot find any retailer who sells both types of wool covers. If I had $100, I would buy 4 of the wool flannel diapers. I just can't get enough of looking at the colors for these covers! Ok, enough drooling on my part!

This Friday I am heading out to Wright City to a friends house to attend a stamping party! I haven't been stamping in a long time. I have lots of material and stamps to make pretty cards and such, but I lost the love somewhere. I am hoping that Cathy (hostess) can help me get the love back! I am looking forward to a night of girl talk, laughing and having a good time. Oh, stamping too! It will be a full 5 hours of fun. Oh, and it's an hour drive to get there. Oh, one hour of driving w/o a 3 year olds chatter the whole way. Blissful peace! I better find a cd or 2 to listen to. No bible songs or stories or toddler tunes. Nice break.

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love when it gets chilly. I love the scents that come with fall. Cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin. Anything spicy! I love seeing the colors change. Raking up the leaves for Nate and Jackson to play in. Yes, our outside loving dog loves to roll around in the pile of leaves. I love having to hunt for a jacket to wear. Cozying up to a fire pit. Planting mums in my front yard. Hunting for pumpkins. I can take or leave Halloween. I enjoy watching the younger generation get excited about trick or treating. I will take Nate to Old St Charles on Halloween with a friend and her 4 boys to go trick or treating. Jason will take Nate out that night while I stay home and hand out candy. After we put Nate to bed, we usually head over to the neighbors and sit around their fire pit and chat. It ends up being a fun night. The thing I really look forward to is Thanksgiving. I enjoy getting together with family. Eating yummy food. This year will probably be just the 3 of us. I don't really want to travel when I will be almost 8 1/2 mos pregnant. If I was pregnant with just one, I would but not with twins!

Ok, enough for today. I need to work on laundry and straighten up the kitchen. I need to marinate a couple of pork chops so we can grill them tonight. Yummy!

Some more pictures

2008-10-07T21:00:00.001-07:00

I am finally getting brave to show some belly pictures. This picture was taken about 8 weeks ago. I have gotten a bit bigger since then. I don't really like the bare belly look. Those shorts I am wearing, I put on yesterday and they aren't fitting anymore. I am getting too big for them! I am going to see if Jason will take a couple of pics tomorrow night. I am 27weeks today!

Here is another pic of my bare baby belly and Nate trying to kiss the babies! He is so sweet!

Nate will come up and try and hug the babies once in a while. I love him so much! He found out what cow pies were this weekend! He kept talking about them. It was so funny hearing him say "Cow pies". Funny guy. He had Jason and me cracking up laughing!

Have a good night!

Time to add pictures

2008-10-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't get time last night to add pictures like I wanted to. I was in bed and sleeping by 8:45pm. I was tired! I did wake up around 10 or so and couldn't go back to sleep. By then the babies decided it was play time for them and kept me awake for quite some time. I admit, I was getting a bit annoyed but was happy that both were messing around. One of the babies is pretty laid back. Doesn't move a whole lot, but the other baby, watch out! He moves so much and kicks all the time. Makes me wonder what type of temperament he will have.

Here are the pics of the chairs. The first is a before picture. I forgot to take a picture before the chair was disassembled, but you get the idea.

You can see how dingy and yucky the seat covers were, yuck! The next picture is the finished product! My dad did an awesome job sanding and spray painting the chairs. The green is actually darker than it shows in the picture. The material is left over from the curtains my mom made me. The lady at the fabric shop over measured when I went to buy fabric for my curtains. Ended up being ok because I had enough fabric for 5 chairs!

Thats all I have. I need to work on the base of the table. I am going to paint it the same green. I wish I could do something with the top, but it will have to stay the way it is. With this wonderful makeover of the chairs, this should last us till the kids are old enough not to destroy things! My dad put the chairs back together better than they were before.

Time to head off to bed.

A quick post

2008-10-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a long while. Too many things going on here to have the time to post. Thought I would give a quick update and hopefully tonight add some pictures if I can get them off the camera and onto the computer.

Babies are doing fine. My last appt was the 11th of Sept. Heartbeats were strong. Both my ob and I are happy with the way the pregnancy is going. No problems. I have another appt I believe on the 17th. I guess I better call to find out. I misplaced my appt. notice. I will have a measurement scan to make sure that both babies are growing on schedule. Can't wait to see them in the ultrasound! I have a feeling they have changed positions since my big ultrasound in August. I would like to know where they are laying so that I can keep an eye on their movements. Sometime towards the end of a pregnancy, the doctor wants a mama to monitor movements so they can catch something quickly if something is wrong. I have one baby that moves all the time and the other only a few times a day. Last night they kept me up and I just couldn't fall asleep. I hope they don't try that again tonight. This mama needs her beauty sleep!!

Nate had a good 3rd birthday. He had 2 parties. One on the farm and then one here. I think so far his favorite toy would be the 3 wheeled scooter that daddy and I bought for him. I don't know if we have any pictures of him riding it. I will have to go looking. He is in a new room now. We moved the office to the back room and made a big boy room for him. He has a new big boy bed that he loves! I think he really likes it cause daddy can lay with him at night and read his bed time stories.

This past week, my parents came down for the day to help me get some things done around here before these babies come. My bathroom needed a make over and it got one! It went from heather purple to taupe and beige. I think the names of the colors are Wild Honey and Toasted Marshmellow. I bought a new shower curtain that is black and beige. My mom and I worked in there all day and my dad did a make over on my kitchen chairs! They were so ugly and dirty, yuck! We took the cushions off and then dad sanded the chairs and spray painted them a really pretty green. I had some material leftover from when my mom made my curtains so we recovered the cushions with that. Oh my, what a big difference! I love my table now! It was a cheapy table from the bargain box in the paper. This was before we knew about craigslist. I do need to sand down the base of the table and then spray paint that and we should be done. At Nate's party here, my dad, brother and Jason put in closet organizers in Nate's new room and the nursery. That will help so much when I need to organize. It makes the closet so much more user friendly.
This past weekend, Jason took Nate and went to his folks farm for the weekend. It was my last weekend alone before these twins come. I needed it! I really didn't get anything done, but I did spend some time with a friend Friday night and Saturday night. Michelle and I went thru our cookbooks looking up recipes that can be frozen. We are wanting to put some meals in our freezers for quick and easy suppers. She has 4 boys and we will soon have 3 boys. We need easy in our homes! Nate and Jason had a good time on the farm.

Ok, off to finish supper. I will try to add pics tonight after Nate is in bed and I have loaded the pics from the camera to the computer.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

First I wanted to say again, Happy Birthday to Nate! Also, Happy 10th anniversary to my brother and sister-in-law! I was privileged to be a part of their wedding. Hope you both have a wonderful day and weekend celebrating! We love you both and your two boys!

Happy Birthday Nate!

2008-09-12T16:16:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Nate! You are 3 years old today! 3 years ago today I was laboring waiting to meet you. At 7:44pm, our little boy made his appearance into the big world. So much has happened since then. We have enjoyed watching you grow and change from an infant to a baby to a toddler and now an almost preschooler! You have made us laugh, cry, grit our teeth and just smile at you. You have been the sunshine in our life! We can't imagine life with out you! We love you so very much.

Nothing much to say

2008-09-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

I am going to post today but this will be the last time for a while. I have so much to get done. We are currently working on Nate's big boy room. We cleared it out and I am cutting in with paint so Jason can do the main painting. We have progress so far. I like that the soft white will brighten up the room.
Babies are fine. Kicking and moving alot. I have a feeling they are fighting for room now. I have another appt in 1 week. Just a general check up.
Nate started parents day out today! He gets to join the bigger kids. I enjoy having the time to get appts taken care of, time to myself, work on the house things like that.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Fall! Enjoy the beautiful colors! I know I will be busy putting in mums in my front flower bed possibly next week.
Take care!

Baby Update 2

2008-08-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful appt. The ultrasound tech was a gem! She said that the babies are growing fine. Everything looks good. Here is the news everyone is waiting for! We have 2 BOYS joining our family! We have one name picked out and I am waiting for Jason to pick the other. He did so well with Nate's name that I am sure he will come up with another cool name! When we have 2 names, we will share!

Today is the Day!

2008-08-14T04:27:00.000-07:00

I have my big ultrasound at 10am today!!! We have a friend coming with her son to play with Nate. Thank you again Laura!

I can't wait to find out the genders of these two. I do want a little girl, but I need to accept what God gives us because he knows the plan for our family and he will give us what is perfect for our family. I can't wait to put names to these two miracles. I can't wait to know who is going to join our family in 4-5 months. I am still in awe that we are having twins! I am giddy that we are going to be a family of 5 come January. In my mind, there would only be 4 of us when we were done having babies. Not according to Gods plan though!!!

Off do to some things before we have to leave for the appt. Nate is up early this morning. He usually doesn't get up till 8:30 or so. Now it's 6:30am. Too early!

I will update later. Our immediate family will be called first and then we will email friends and family and then I will update here.

Found what I was looking for!

2008-08-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

I decided that after we came home from the farm, I would start working on Nate's big boy room. My sister-in-law was so generous to give me a sheet set and a blanket. The sheet set has a transportation theme which is kinda what I was looking for. So with the colors out of that, I decided on an off white base for color for the walls and then 2 colors at chair rail hight. I wanted red and blue stripes. One of each color around the room. How hard would it be to find the colors? I took the pillow case in to match and couldn't find anything remotely close. Today, I decided to try again. With Jason and Nate we took off for Home Depot. Jason and Nate were looking at the Disney colors. Nate picked up brochure with Lightening McQueen on it. As I was looking at it, there was a red that matched the red I need perfectly!! I found a blue that would work too. So excited! The colors are: red:Three Cheers for Pooh and blue: To Infinity and Beyond. Cute names! The guys at the paint counter were very helpful. I didn't pick up the right type of paint for the colors so the guy went to get what I needed. I got a quart of each color and a gallon of the Popcorn white.

Now we need to work on the back room to make room for the computer and the train table. I need to remove a few things and we should be set. After that, we need to tackle the office and get it cleaned out. I will clean the office and the walls. I will cut in with the white and see if Jason will paint the rest. I don't know if I need to be painting so much being pregnant. He will need to mark off the stripes too. After that is all done, we need to look for a head board for the bed and get a mattress set. I will decorate his room little, by little. I need to paint inside the closet in the nursery and the office to get ready for the closet organizers we hope to get before Sept.

Lots to do! Yard work got done yesterday. I am looking forward to all this and getting it done!

What a beautiful day!

2008-08-08T09:11:00.001-07:00

The weather is positively beautiful today! The sun is out and the heat is down. There is a nice breeze so I opened up the house.

There isn't a baby update today. Sorry! We have an appt. next Thursday at 10:30am. I am impatiently waiting! The babies have been moving although sporadically. I have one that wiggles like Nate did and one that kicks and punches! The kicking is new to me as Nate never did kick.

I haven't done any type of shopping for baby things. I did do a trade with a friend that needed a pack n play and she had a travel swing that I have been wanting to get. Nice trade! I will have to get another pack n play but I need one that has the double bassinet. I would like to have the twins in our room for at least the first 8 weeks or more if can be. It all really depends when they are born and how big they are. There are 3 pieces of equipment that I will have to buy. We need 2 car seats and a breast pump. Those 3 things I will buy brand new. The last thing I need to get is a Snap-n-go double stroller. I would like to find the stroller used. It's a $100 new but I know I can find them for about $45. I have looked on craigslist but there aren't many listed and if there are, they are the single stroller. So I am asking all who read this, if you know someone or someplace that has one for sale around $45-50 please let me know! I would really appreciate it.

I am glad we find out what the sexes are next week that way I can take advantage of the summer end clearance on clothes! I will be needing it if one of these babies is a girl.

Well, off to fix my hair. Amy and Dave and Nate and I are heading out to the Mills this afternoon. Amy and Dave are taking Nate for a couple of hours there so I can do some shopping and have some mommy time. I may even head across the street and check out Babies R Us.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Baby Update

2008-07-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

I had my 16 week baby update today. My ob was able to find 2 heart beats! One was 159bpm and the other one was 169bpm. I didn't get to peek at the babies today but we have another appt scheduled in 3 weeks for the big ultrasound. We will look at the heart and find out what we are having in terms of gender! The next 3 weeks can't go by fast enough! Jason is going to come with me to the visit.

Another great piece of news is that my mom called today and said that she is officially cancer free. A little bit of background: The week before July 4th, my dad called and said that he wanted a family meeting. That night, Jason, Nate and I headed up to my parents house. My mom announced that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were all surprised. My bro and his wife were there too. She had just found out a few weeks before. She said that she was going to have surgery on the 15th of July. They found the lump in the very early stages which was great to hear. Fast forward to the 15th. I went up to my parents the night before to help out that night and the next day and to support. Jason stayed home with Nate so I could focus on my mom. The surgery which was supposed to take 2-2 1/2 hours took 1 1/2 hours. The DR came and talked with my dad and me in the waiting area. She said that the cancer was minimal and contained. They did take some lymph node to see if the cancer had spread anywhere else. They did look at it and it was negative, but they needed to do some more testing and mom and dad would hear the results by today at the latest. Mom was able to come home the same day. Surgery really wiped her out. Dad took the whole week off to help with mom. Their church stepped in to help with meals and my brother and sister-in-law also stepped in to help with whatever needed to be done. Mom called today and said that the lymph node was completely clean and no cancer!!! Praise the Lord.

On Saturday, I watched some friends daughters for the day while they packed up their house getting ready to move that night. They are heading out East for the husbands job. He will be teaching philosophy at a college. Another friend came over with her 3 kids and we all had lots of fun! We ordered pizza, played in the water and watched a movie. There was another mama and her son that came over that I didn't know well from my old church. Her husband was helping the family pack up the truck. I think the whole day went very well! It was a teary goodbye to our friends. We have known them for 5 years now. Thankfully, they will be back next May for the husband to graduate and we can see them then.

Guess thats it. Have a wonderful day!

One "No Thank You" bite

2008-07-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

This is what we tell Nate if we want him to try something new. It works! Tonight we had a yummy beef casserole dish. It has rice, beef, red pepper and salsa. When I prepare Nate's plate, I give him only a little bit as not to overwhelm him. He did take a look at it and got upset. We pretty much ignored him and talked about our day. Nate did notice a plate of finger vegies and asked for one. I gave him a small cucumber with a bit of Ranch dip on it. We said of course, one no thank you bite and he ate the whole piece! It was the size of a quarter. After he ate that, he wanted a carrot and he ate the whole thing! He finally dug into the casserole after daddy made a happy face with ketchup! He will eat anything with a ketchup happy face on it! I was so proud of him for eating something new tonight. By the way, we didn't ignore him the rest of supper. I just don't encourage whinyness at the table.

Nothing new with the babies. Last week I felt some movement. Little flutters and some thumps. Nothing since. I am 14 weeks tomorrow. My next appt is the 21st. I hope to hear the heart beats then. I will have to update then.

Last Monday, I went to visit a friend. While we were there, the doula she hired at her last birth came over. When I found out my friend hired a doula, I wanted to meet her. Jayne is her name and she has 10 kids and I think she said 6 of the 10 kids were born at home. I really like her. She asked me about Nates birth so I told her a short version. Most of you know that I had a C-Section after 12 hours of no progress past 2-3 cm. I told her I was not happy with the birth. After I filled her in, I could tell that she was upset about how the birth of Nate turned out. I am going to be calling her again around 20 weeks and interview her. I have one other doula that I will be calling too.

Guess thats it. Had a good 4th of July. Spent time with my family. Caught some fish with my nephew and we had lots of fun. Ethan made sure he "kissed" the fish before we threw them back in. My dad showed him how to hold a fish by the mouth. Ethan didn't want to and dad said that we were done fishing. Well, Ethan stuck his finger in the fish mouth very quickly!! He didn't want to be done fishing. I think Ethan caught 17 fish that day. Most were sunny's and bluegills. He did catch a small mouth bass at the end. Just a baby one tho. Ethan is just like his daddy and grandpa. Has fishing in his blood!

Take care and have a good week!

Just chillin!

2008-06-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

Not much has been happening around here. My mom, sister-in-law and her two boys came for a visit on Wednesday. Nate and his cousins had a good time. We had lunch at Culvers and then we perused the shops on Main Street St Charles. My mom was on the look out for a picture to hang above her sofa. She found a really nice one for a good price. There is a shop call Poor Mans Art, I believe. Nice art for nice price.

Not much on the babies update. I will see my baby doctor on Monday for a routine checkup. No ultrasound. I am feeling much better. My energy level is ok. I have been taking naps in the afternoon when Nate goes down for his. I find if I don't get a nap, I am a limp noodle for the rest of the night and I am in bed by 8:30 or 9pm. My nauseousness has gone down too. I have been able to eat better and more. The only thing I have an aversion to is bananas. Yep, love them, but not right now. I sure hope that when I pop these twinkies out that I will be able to eat a banana again. So very sad. I have been drinking water like no bodies business. Even tho I am carrying twins and that usually means I will be sticking out further sooner, I don't think I will be showing much till Nate's birthday is Sept. Being overweight to begin with, doesn't help. I hope I get bigger than with Nate. This time I am taking pics! I have one or two at the end with Nate and I am not that big. I am kinda bummed with that. Oh, well. At least I only have one or 2 stretch marks to show for it!!! The one thing that I can't wait for is feeling these babes moving. I loved, loved loved it with Nate.

Ok, 'nuf about the twinkies. I love that word! My baby doctor calls them that.
Oh, I had my heart recheck after being in the hospital. My heart dr is so nice and he really cares for me. He listened to my heart and lungs and said I sound good. I have had 2 more episodes of my heart racing but I was able to breath thru them and not have to go the the ER. I have another appt in Sept. I think for a couple of weeks after being in the hospital, my body decided to take a rest. I was so tired and down. I am finally coming up out of all that. I am still taking it easy tho. That whole heart thing took a toll on my body. Being pregnant too didn't help.

Need to be done for the day. I am hungry for breakfast and need to get my guy up who is now letting me know he is up and talking. Soon, he will be escaping from his room and asking for juice!

Y'all have a good day!

Smell that Smoke (Bandanas)

2008-06-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Fathers Day so Nate and I took daddy to Bandanas. I had been craving it and suggested it to the guys. It was sooooo good. I pigged out. The beef was so tender, the fries just right and the sweet tea just the right amount of sweet. I know, caffeine in the tea, but I haven't been drinking soda at all so I figured this time I was ok. Its a dangerous thing that Bandanas is right near us. Very tempting to call and order take out. Jason mentioned stopping by Schnucks (grocery store) and picking up some ice cream. After that we headed home and veged in front of the tv watching Snoopy shows. Nate and Daddy went for a walk and then we decided to head to the park. It had cooled off alot and I was ok to head out then. I have been reacting to the heat so I stay in the air conditioned. The park was great. Met a family at the park and come to find out they live 2 streets over and their son is just a month older than Nate! They had lots of fun and the parents were pretty cool too.

Nate has been so funny with his words lately. The other morning, Nate and I were having breakfast. Well, I was having my breakfast, he was on the 2nd half of his breakfast! Anyways, we were just chatting and he said, "I love mommy, I love Nate, I love Jackson (said this 3 times) then he said I love daddy!" He cracks me up! Our conversations are about everything and nothing! He is into singing alot too. I would love to get him to memorize some bible songs. We have plenty of resources and I know quite a few from memory. Thanks to Aunt Amy, we have a whole slew of cassette tapes with kid songs and stories. He loves to listen to these tapes in his cassette players.

2 weeks ago, I had a drs appt and Aunt Amy(Jasons sister) came to watch Nate for me. Since we were low on babysitter friendly diapers (disposables) Nate and I ran to target to pick some up and peruse the toy aisle. I ended up getting Nate a starter set of Playdough. It had some plastic scissors that would be good for Nate for small motor skills. It was perfect toy for Aunt Amy and Nate to play while I was gone. He is officially hooked on playdough! Over the weekend, Aunt Amy found a Bob the Builder and Sesame Streets playdough packs and cutters. He has had so much fun!

It is finally cooling off here. Supposed to be in the 80's this week. Good, I don't want to turn on the air if I don't have to. I love the fresh air.

My mom, sister-in-law and her two boys are coming Wednesday so us ladies can have a day of shopping. My mom wants to peruse St Charles Main street for some art pieces and such. I am going to see if a teen here in the neighborhood would be up to watching all 3 boys. If she is busy, then Jason said he would take the day off. I thought that would be good for the boys to spend time with their uncle and Nate could spend time with daddy.

Supposed to get our new cell phones today! I hope that is. We already have the new phone service on the home phone. I can officially call my mom and not use up her minutes on her phone.

Off to get Nate up. He thought that 5:30am would be a good wake up time. Thankfully, he laid in bed and fell back asleep around 7:30 or so. I was thinking of waking him up around 8 but didn't have the heart to wake a sleeping baby. He played hard yesterday and hopefully will today too. It's too nice to be spending the day indoors. We have 2 errands to run and then we will be done.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!

Ummm, not sure how to respond

2008-06-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

After coming back from lunch, there was a comment on my blog. I have no clue who it is. They commented on my experience at the circus. Pretty negative. I want to comment, but don't know what to say. The only thing I can think of is "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." The person mentioned how the elephants are taken from their moms in the wild to be trained and how they will never see their moms again. The person goes on to say more so go ahead and read the comment. Well, at the circus, we received a pretty neat book all about Ringling Bros. It talks about each performance and who the people are. There is a page dedicated to the elephants. They have a Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. Here is the website they provide if you wish to check it out. www.elephantcenter.com Thats all I have to say about this.

Not up to posting more now. Maybe tomorrow night.

AWESOME NIGHT

2008-06-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

Last night was an awesome night! We went to see the Ringling Bros Circus. That was the first time that I know of that I have been to a circus. Ringling Bros outdid themselves! Edward Jones invited all employees to the circus in celebration of opening their 10,000 office in Connecticut. We all had a good night. Nate loved all the animals and the clowns and trapeze people. We had really good seats and could see most of everything.

Well, I need to finish getting ready for church. There are more things I want to blog about so that will have to wait till this evening. Nate woke up around 9:30am so no nap for him this afternoon. Will have to wait till he goes down for bed tonight.

Score!

2008-06-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

Jason got me out of bed this morning to go garage saleing. We didn't go out for long since it was getting pretty hot early. We found a nice subdivision sale with quite a few sales. I ended up finding a crib for $10!!! It had all the parts but do need to casters. Our other crib did too so this isn't anything new for us. I also found 2 medium Bumkin cloth diapers at this sale. I was so happy! $2 each. Nice! They were barely used.

Had a rough week. I am so tired and nauseous but I am coming up out of the slump I think. I did go see my baby dr yesterday to voice my concerns and she said that since I was carrying twins, I am going to be more tired. She said that I was 9 1/2 weeks along. So, 2 or so more weeks and I will be into the 2nd trimester. I am looking forward to that. I am also looking at a Twins pregnancy book on half.com that I think I will order this afternoon. My pregnancy book from Dr Sears is good but it really doesn't touch on twins and I know that this pregnancy is different and I want to find out what is going to be different and what to look out for.

Well, off to try and make some lunch for my guys. It's getting pretty hard to get into the kitchen lately. My nose has super smelling powers and I don't like it! Good thing for Lysol!

I am hungry.

2008-05-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I have been very nauseous b/c of being pregnant. Since being put on progesterone for the babies, it has helped my nauseousness. So, today has been the best of days. I am hungry. But, the thing is, I am hungry for things I had when I was in the Czech Republic. It all started this afternoon when for some reason, I got to thinking about sweet bread. Sweet bread is typically eaten for breakfast. So, I decided to google "sweet bread" and see what I could find. I haven't found a recipe for sweet bread but as I was looking, I was reminded of so many things I used to eat over in the Czech Republic. I tried looking for these other things but can't find just the right one. I have 3 contacts in Czech Republic that I can get a hold of and ask them for recipes.
Here is what I am looking for:
Kolache, but only made by a good friend!
Sweet bread
Tomato and cucumber salad
Open faced sandwiches
Mushroom soup

I know there are more, but that's all I can think of. I know that I can get kolache here in St Louis, but my friend makes the best.
Some of these items I ate at our mission camps so I know things are made differently than others. The open faced sandwiches we ate for supper. Typically, people would eat a nice breakfast, big lunch and then a small supper. Opened face sandwiches were really good. I made them one last time right after we came home in 1995 but I don't remember it all.

Oh, I am craving cinnamon rolls right now too. Jason said he would make them for me! What a sweet guy!

Ok, of to email my mom to get the addresses so I can get the recipes.

Have something to share!

2008-05-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting on some important pieces of information before I wrote this post. On Sunday May 4th we found out that we are expecting another baby! I went on the following Wednesday to confirm with the OB. I had blood drawn the next day so that my ob could check my progesterone levels. That following Monday, I called in and talked with the ob and she said that my levels were much better that they were last fall when we miscarried. I was happy to hear that. However, I wasn't quite at a 10 for levels so she has me on progesterone for 30 days. Everything was going well till last Thursday early in the morning. I had woken up at 4:30am to use the restroom and I noticed my heart was beating awful fast. Now, pregnant womens hearts to beat a little faster because the heart is working for 2. I used the restroom and came back to bed, but didn't lay down. Jason woke up to see what was wrong and I had him feel my heart. It took us about 30 secs to decide to head into the ER. Thankfully, our niece was visiting and we let her know we were going to the er so we didnt have to worry about taking Nate since she was there. We got to the ER and told the people at the front desk that I was approx. 7 weeks along and my heart was racing. I was immediately seen by the house ER dr who listened to my heart and said to get me to a room. I was hooked up to a heart machine to check the beats. I went up as high as 180 bpm. I had so many people in the room. It took the nurses a while to get the IV in. Thankfully this whole time I wasn't in any pain or shortness of breath. After they got the IV in they decided to try and slow my heart down and see if it would reset itself. The nurse said right before the drug hit my veins that I would feel weird. Uh, yeah. It was the weirdest feeling. I think I blacked out for a couple of seconds. I felt this wave go from my neck to my feet. Thankfully its a short lived drug and it was out of my system quickly. That didn't work so they tried another. They finally got me a room in the heart hospital. I got to the room at 8:30am and the drugs they were using wasn't working. I saw so many drs and whoever else was there. I finally saw the heart dr. I had an EKG done. Sometime that morning and after a bunch of tests, they finally decided to do an electrical cardio version. What that means is they pretty much shock my heart to get it back to normal. I was drugged up so that it was a conscience sedation although, I don't remember anything. They brought the crash cart in my room to do the version. This happened around 12:15pm. After that my heart rate was back to normal, Praise the Lord!!!
I had the best nurses there. My heart nurse was the best of them all. She was so sweet and was 20 weeks pregnant so of course we had lots in common. She reassured me thru all of this. I came home Friday afternoon. Jasons sister stayed overnight to help with Nate. I felt so sorry for him as his world was turned upside down for 36 hours or so. I think he is much happier with me home.

So, in the er, the house dr did an ultrasound to check on the baby. I was scheduled to have one midmorning at my obs office anyways. The dr looks at us after finding the baby and asks "Are you taking fertility drugs"? We said "No, why"? He said that he thinks there are 2 sacs there! Our jaws dropped. No way. After all that happened Thursday, I called in on Tuesday to my ob and requested an ultrasound to make sure the baby was ok. Also to see if the dr was right about being twins. My ob is not on staff at the hospital we were at so she wasn't able to come see us, but she was notified about what was happening to me last week. As I am in her office getting an ultrasound, she comes rushing in the room cause she just has to know if the house er dr was right. Sure enough, as soon as the tech could get a pic, there are 2 babies and 2 heart beats!!!
Here is a pic of the 2 babies:

If you look at the 2 sacs and see 2 bean shapes, one in each sac, those are our babies!

We still don't know why we are blessed with twins, only knowing it's from God. But genetically, how? Jason doesn't have any twins on his side. My paternal grandfather was a twin although his brother was a stillborn at the time of their birth. It is said that twins skip generations. None of my cousins have had twins and for an exception of myself and my two younger cousins, everyone else is done having kids. My younger cousins may be done to as they already have kids. So, I am the only one left and I get the twins!!

I am excited about this journey for the next 8 months. My ob is very supportive. She and I are going to work together and make this pregnancy wonderful and hopefully the birth also. My edd is January 14th. I may go early as most twin pregnancies do. I am going to take it easy around November and December. I want to get to at least 38 weeks. That way the twins wont have to spend much time in the nicu. It's almost mandatory that twins spend some time there since they usually arrive earlier than single babies. Make sure their lungs are fully developed.

Please pray that the babies grow strong and healthy. I want to be able to hold 2 babies at the end of this journey.

You have to listen to this!

2008-04-29T08:27:00.001-07:00

I found this on the message board I am a member of. http://www.chumfm.com/MorningShow/bits/march24.swf Cut and paste. I don't know how to put in a link. Anyways, very funny to listen to. A guy witnesses and accident while leaving a message for his friend on his phone.

Enjoy!

I am off to get my tooth looked at today. Not looking forward to this. I think something happened to the tooth while I was getting my wisdom tooth removed. Thankfully the guy who I am going to see is good. Close the house too.

I will have to add more tonight.

Pictures to show!

2008-04-15T13:33:00.001-07:00

I haven't shared pictures of Nate lately so here goes!

The first few pics are of Nate sitting in an old desk. I have no clue how old this desk is. I do remember sitting in it to color too. My parents had it for years and they handed it down to me. I have it sitting in a corner of my kitchen just for looks till recently when Nate discovered it! Here he is coloring.

He is really getting into coloring. Usually I give him blank pages to color on, but he has been asking daddy to draw Peanut characters. If you read my previous post, you will understand his infatuation with Snoopy! As I was watching him, I noticed that he is definitely going to be a lefty! I am so proud as I am a lefty also. Up till now, he didn't really favor that hand, but you can really tell he is set for life. When Nate wants to color, he pulls the desk out of the corner.
Here are two more pics of him coloring:

His favorite color to color with is orange. He is getting his colors down too. He can name about 4 colors now.

The next photo is of 6 prefolds that I embellished with cute material. I sent them off to Tammy of Tinkle Traps. She will take those prefolds, trim them to the measurements I gave her and add elastic to the legs and back and make them into fitted diapers. They are actually called prefitteds since they are made from prefolds. The prefolds I sent her are toddler sized. They are too big for us to use. This is a good option for us. It doesn't hurt to have extra diapers. I will have to post pictures when I get them back.

The prints from left to right are: sock monkey with lite blue background, Retro western(Michael Miller print), Vintage Dick and Jane, Cars, another Vintage Dick and Jane and Thomas.

Here is another photo of Nate. Jason added this to his blog. I thought I would add it to mine too. This is after bath one night. I was being goofy and made a mow hawk of Nate's hair! He looks awful cute!

I need to find out how to add a blog roll to my blog. Guess I will have to go snooping around here. Either that or ask Jason.

Enjoy the pics. I know I get to enjoy the real thing every day :)

I like Linus!

2008-04-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

Nate just told me this! He enjoys watching anything Snoopy. We got him hooked on Snoopy back at Halloween. I enjoy watching holiday movies and Snoopy was one of them. We watched the Snoopy Christmas show too. Nate sits there and giggles at the pond scene. Jason found Snoopy Come home. Apparently, Snoopy gets forgotten and decides to leave home. I don't know the rest of the story b/c I don't sit and watch the whole thing. Jason and Nate watch it together. There is a scene in a hospital when Snoopy and Woodstock go to visit a girl Lila. She is sick. There is a sign at the entrance to the hospital, No Dog Allowed. Someone is chasing Snoopy and Woodstock thru the hospital. Think a scene from Scooby Doo. Running from room to room with someone chasing you. Some how they get from one room and then another w/o going into the hallway. Anyways, Nate absolutely loves that scene!!! So back to Linus. We have sometime nick named Nate Linus b/c of the whole blanky thing. Well, I think Nate can relate to Linus so he likes him!

Nate starts swimming lessons today! I hope to get in 2 sessions before he turns 3. Thats when he flies solo with other kids and a teacher. Up to 3 years old, the parents need to be in the pool with the kids. I also want to get him signed up for music and movement at our community center. I am wanting to get a season pass to the Aqua Port too. Lots of fun things to do this summer.

Off to get supper in the crock pot.

A certain intersection

2008-04-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

There is a certain intersection on St Charles Rock Rd that I loathe and fear. I have witnessed one accident there and almost another one today. This intersection is close to a fire department and hospital. I know that a few times a day that ambulances and fire trucks go through that intersection. When I witnessed the accident, an ambulance and a fire truck went thru the section with their lights and sirens going. Today, I was at that stop light and I was again the lead car. I heard sirens so I rolled down my window to find out what direction it was coming from since I couldn't see any lights in my mirrors. An ambulance was coming down the hill to my right. He slowed down and turned left onto the Rock Rd. Right after he went thru, a firebird came through the intersection and was half way through before the driver realized the ambulance in front of him had the lights and sirens going. The driver did slow down. I sat there shaking my head in disbelief. Don't you think that if you came upon an intersection and no one was moving that perhaps an emergency vehicle just went thru or was on their way through? Don't you think you should maybe slow down and access the situation to be safe? This is why I do not like this intersection. Thankfully, there are ways I can avoid this area. There are other ways to get to 70 and the other half of the Rock Rd.

Hoping to get out tomorrow. There is a Kids Health and Education expo tomorrow that I want to take Nate to. There are supposed to be some neat things for Nate to do. I do know that Jason's sister and friends are coming over tomorrow night for a game of Buzz. Some trivia game that you play on the Playstation.

I made some yummy snickerdoodles tonight. I didn't bake up all the dough. Oh they are nummy!

Guess thats it for tonight.

Wednesday

2008-04-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

I woke up by the telephone ringing at 7:30am. We don't get phone calls this early so it must be important. It was my mom calling to let me know a family friend had been in an accident and was not doing so well. She and 2 other teachers were broadsided by another driver and my friend was in the back with only a lap belt on. The other 2 women are doing ok, but my friend is not. The guy who hit them died. My mom updated me about an hour ago saying that "J" is responding a little bit with a squeeze of a finger and briefly opening her eyes. She will have to go back into surgery this after noon. So far they have given her 35 pints of blood. Please pray that she comes out of this and can go on with life. She is in her early 50's and has 2 wonderful daughters and 2 sweet grandsons. She isn't done living her life. I have known "J" since I was little. Our families started a church in Elkader IA many years ago. "J" and her family are very precious to us.

Discovered something really cool last week. When we travel up to Jason's folks, it's a 4 hour ride. We like to take the lap top to play movies for Nate. I have noticed that the sound isn't that great. I was looking into getting some external speakers to hook up to the lap top to help with the sound. I found some at Target and they were about $25. Didn't buy them. I wanted Jason's opinion b/4 buying something. Jason mentioned something about his work laptop had speakers that we could use. But he found something else instead. Back when my old cars didn't have CD's, just cassettes, I bought an adapter for my personal CD player. I think you all know what I am talking about. Jason had one too. He found them and we decided to see if we could use it with the lap top. Took the adapter and lap top out to the van and hooked it up and now we can hear the movies thru the vans sound system! Rock on! :)

Here is a pic of a custom that a wonderful WAHM (work at home mom) did for us. I love the tee shirt! I haven't figured out how to make it so you can just click on the link. Just copy and paste to see the work.

Nothing else is going on. Maybe I will have more later.

Awful moment in my day

2008-03-20T10:05:00.001-07:00

I had a friend watching Nate so I could go to an appointment w/o him. I had just picked him up and was heading home. We were stopped at a red light and off in the distance I could see a firetruck heading towards the stop light we were at. I was talking with Nate about the firetruck and rolled down the window so he could hear the siren. We were still at the red light waiting for the firetruck and one ambulance to pass thru. Just as the 2 trucks were passing thru, a SUV went thru the light right along side of the trucks but the trucks were turning and the SUV wasn't. The SUV was going straight thru the light. Just as the SUV was going thru the intersection, a Mustang came flying thru and hit the SUV hard enough for it to lift off the ground and land on a car 2 cars away from Nate and myself. Talk about shock! Everything was in slow motion. It was the weirdest feeling. I was actually thinking the SUV was going to hit us after it hit the other car. Thankfully it didn't. It took me a few moments to figure everything out and to pull into the gas station to the right of us. Nate was ok but I was shaking. The mustang was sitting right there and the ladies were yelling about the SUV wondering if it had run a red light. I wonder if the SUV driver thought since the firetruck and ambulance was going thru they could make a run for it even though it was a red light. I think the ladies in the mustang knew that the firetruck and ambulance was there or going thru the light or they would have slowed down. They were going pretty fast. Had to be going fast enough so that when they hit the SUV it was lifted off the ground. I sat in the gas station lot for a few minutes and then the police showed up. I have a feeling the firetruck saw it all and called it in right away. I don't think there were any fatalities, but I don't know for sure. I don't know about the driver in the SUV.

Makes me thankful for my life and my family! I am still processing everything. I am very, very grateful and thankful that our van wasn't hit. I am not happy that Nate saw it happen and I hope this is not something he will remember. He did make a comment as we were driving home that a truck was hit. I don't think he understands what all happened.

Give hugs to your kids and families and be thankful everyday for them!

Nate says "Love you"!

2008-03-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Last night as I was saying my goodnight and blowing kisses and saying "Love you" to Nate, he piped up and said "Love you" to me!! First time for him to say that. I think I am in love with my boy :)

Today as I am looking out the window in the office, I spot 2 Robins and then another one comes flying up to the tree! I think Spring is coming pretty soon. I am ready too.

I started my sewing class the 10th of March. Our project is a bag. We can bring our project home and work on it here. I did have to work on my handles here but didn't know how to assemble the bag. The class this past Monday I got alot more done. I brought it home to work some more. It actually looks like a bag now. All I need to do is add bias tape to the top rim of the bag and square off the bottom. I think I can get that done here. I am to find another project to do after this bag is done. It needs to have a pattern so I don't know what I am going to do. I have 4 weeks left of my class. I don't know if I will continue on after for more classes. If the cost isn't too high and Jason is cool with it, I might. I will have to post pics of my bag when I am done. I do have the pattern for it so I might make another one.

Enough for now. I am thinking of taking Nate swimming today to get rid of his energy or take him to the mall to run around. Good thing I don't have cash so I can't spend!!!

Trip to Kansas City

2008-03-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

I took Jason to the Kansas City area for his birthday. We were supposed to go the weekend of his birthday but b/c of the bad weather, we chose this past weekend instead. I had a bed and breakfast booked and a few things around the area to see. Our bed and breakfast was in Kearney, MO. It is called Western Way B&B. Bill and Connie Green are the owners. It was out in the country on a small ranch. They have a few horses but I couldn't ride them. Bill is a farrier and is a roper also. Connie is wonderful hostess that enjoys entertaining. She had a wonderful breakfast waiting for us Saturday morning. It consisted of Baked Bacon Twists, French Bread, Potato's O'Brien, mixed fruit and mini blueberry muffins. Yummy! The baked bacon twists were so yummy. She told me how she made them and now I will have to try them.

Some of the places we visited while we were there: Jesse James home, Watkins Woolen Mill, Museum of the Pony Express, the home where Jesse James was killed, and another museum called the Patee House which was a 140 room hotel and now is a museum. After we were done in St Joseph, we decided to head back towards Kirksville and stay in Chillicothe. It is the home of Sliced Bread. They also have murals painted on the sides of old buildings. Very pretty town. We were going to stay over night and then head back to Jasons folks the next day but we were bored and were back to Kirksville that night. We did stop to play 2 games of bowling before heading out of Chillicothe.

I would like to go back to that area next fall and visit a few places in Kansas City since we didn't do that this time around. I hope to stay at the Western Way B&B again too!

Spent some time at Hobby Lobby tonight. I picked up some flannel to make some doublers for Nate's diapers. I have some but they seem a bit rough to the touch. I have some microfiber towels that I am going to cover with the flannel to make the doublers. Should be an easy project.

I am so proud of Nate tonight so a little brag about him. Nate knows all 26 letters of the alphabet!!! I decided not to work with him to much because I figured he's only 2 1/2 and he is a boy. Jason has been playing with the foam letters in the bathtub with Nate when he gives Nate a bath. He makes a game out of it. Thanks to all that, he has learned his letters. If Nate points out a letter, I tell him what it is and I will spell things for him and such. He is getting exposure to the letters at Parents Day out too. Next on the list to learn is numbers and colors. He knows his shapes, but I havent heard him say them.

Have a good evening!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-03-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is the home of the famous Jesse James.

A day at the Butterfly House

2008-02-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I felt the need to get out of the house and give Jason some quiet time. I called up a friend and we decided to head out to the Butterfly House in Chesterfield. My friend has 2 girls, ages 4 and 1 1/2 years. I took quite a few pics. So I would like to share some with you.

This is my favorite photo. I like the colors on this butterfly.

I love this pic of Nate. He is learning to smile when we ask him to, so this is him smiling! I think he was being goofy too!

After spending time at the Butterfly House, there is the Carousel House. Here is Nate on his horse!

Hope you all enjoy the pics! Please leave a comment if you want!

One for the books

2008-02-25T04:52:00.000-08:00

Any body been woken up at 5:45am with your child yelling "SOOOOOORRRRRRYYYYY"? Well, I have been and it's not funny. Nate decided that 5:45am is a great time to wake up and frantically start searching for a toy. Maybe I need to translate the sorry for you. He was saying "SSAAAALLLLLLLLYYY". Sally, if you all know, is the blue car from the movie "Cars". In all reality, it's my fault that he has Sally. You see, we were supposed to go away for the weekend and Jason's parents were going to watch Nate for us. I had a great idea to buy 2 die cast cars from the movie Cars. I bought Doc and Sally and wrapped them up for him to open on Friday and Saturday. He has been asking for those 2 plus sheriff. He bought Sheriff on Monday. Thursday night he opened Doc and was excited. I let him open Sally on Saturday. This kid is hooked! S
So, after running in his room trying to help him look for Sally in the blankets and not finding her, he was content to lay down and try to go back to sleep with just Doc, Sheriff, Lightening McQueen, Mator and Bertie the Bus from Thomas. Well, he hasn't gone back to sleep. We have a crazy day of grocery shopping to do and get the shocks fixed on the van. Maybe he will go done for an early nap and sleep for 3 hours. That would be nice. Oh, yes, and looking for long lost Sally. I could have sworn he had Sally at nap time yesterday so I have no clue where she is. Oh, well.

I will add more when Nate goes down for nap.

Mission Accomplished

2008-02-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

When I left my parents old house in Hillsboro, they were on their way to Springfield. They didn't need me to help them on the other end unloading. 3 guys who helped load up the truck went to Springfield to unload. I know there were other people who were there too to help.

Please keep my dad in your prayers. Saturday he woke up with a fever and had chills. Saturday night when they were at supper he had the chills again. Mom and dad were supposed to go back to Hillsboro either yesterday or today to pick up dads truck so he could go back to work but I don't think thats going to happen. I talked with mom last night and said that he was going to see the doctor yesterday.

I got to talk with a old family friend on Saturday. It is my god father, Jim. He is such a good family friend that I call him Uncle Jim! He got remarried on Feb. 2 to Linda. I don't know anything about Linda only that from what mom says, she is a wonderful person! I haven't seen Jim in probably 15 years. I have talked with him on the phone in those years. We both have birthdays on May 19th! It was so good to hear his voice and talk with him.

I am surprising Jason with something good this weekend. He knew nothing of it till last night. All he knows is that we are heading to his folks Thursday night. I didn't want to keep him in the dark about that. He doesn't know whats happening after that. He does know that his folks are keeping Nate for the weekend. I will have to let you all know what we did on Monday.

Well, I have a chicken taco quiche to make up for supper. It makes 2 so I can freeze one! I am off to do that.

Will be gone till Sat.

2008-02-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

I am helping my parents move today, tomorrow and Saturday. I finally counted how many times they have moved since I was a baby, so since 1976. Where they live now was move number 13 and this will be move number 14. Now they did move 2 times to the Czech Republic so those were 2 big moves. Of those 14 moves, I moved 10 with my family and then after I moved out of the house, I moved 5 more times. Ha, I have my parents beat by one move!!! Not fun, but crazy!

Ok, off to take Nate to Parents day out and get my rear into Illinois to my folks house.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

Look what came for me today!!

2008-02-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

This gorgeous rose bouquet came for me today!!! I was quite surprised. Of course Jason sent it! I am going to be gone on Valentines day so it was sent early. He is such a sweet guy!

Fluffy day for me!!

2008-02-08T18:58:00.001-08:00

Ok, fluffy in the cloth diapering world means a cloth diaper! The diapers I buy are so soft and fluffy! So, I received the following 2 covers made from fleece. Fleece is an excellent material for covers for diapers at it repels moisture and pushes it back into the diaper. Also with fleece, I can wash it with normal clothes and put it into the dryer and use a dryer sheet as that helps keep the fleece repel moisture which is what I want. It is a no-no to put a diaper in the dryer with a dryer sheet b/c the dryer sheet will add a layer of stuff and that will make the diaper repel moisture when I want the diaper to absorb.

So, here are the 2 fleece covers/soakers:

The next thing I have to show you is a decal for the car. It goes on my window. It shows how much into cloth diapering I am!! After I posted the blog and looked at it, I noticed that the pics were getting cut off. Too tired to fix, but the decal says "Cloth Diapers Rock".

I still need to take off the protective cover. The letters are blue.

My mom came down yesterday to spend some time with us and then she and I went to the Reba/ Kelly Clarkson concert. It was special for us to see Reba in person. Not that we got to meet her, but at least hear her sing in person. We didn't stay the whole time as it was really loud. I was a bit upset b/c I had hoped Kelly would open and then Reba would sing, but they sang together the whole time. We were surprise to have a special appearance by "Barbara Jean"!!! Melissa Peterman plays Barbara Jean on Reba! She is so funny.
It was so nice to have my mom here for a visit. Nice treat. She and Nate have so much fun together. Next week on Thursday, I will head up to their house and help mom clean and pack as they move to Springfield on Saturday. I will stay at mom and dads till Saturday. Jason has Friday off and he and Nate are going to have daddy and Nate day. On Friday, mom and dad close on the house and then my brother will be there to help pack and pack up the truck. It's going to be just the 4 of us again for the day. Thats going to be weird.

Update on V. Her son called last night and he said that she had some inner ear problems so that's why she got dizzy and fell. I don't know when she will be home. I hope soon.

I have been busy going thru my stash of cloth diapers deciding what I want to sell so I can buy different diapers for Nate. There are a few that I don't like, or they don't fit Nate size wise and just don't fit right on him. There are some other things like books and parental items that I am selling also. I am going to be placing them on diaperswappers. I am hoping to get a little bit of pay pal. That will fund the other diapers. I don't need much, but I do need some things. I will probably list everything the first of March. Too much going on here before then.

Tomorrow is already filled. I am going to a friends house. She is hosting a Party Lite party for her cousin. If I find what I am looking for, I will post a pic of it after I get it. It's too hard to explain what I am looking for. I have a feeling I will find it tomorrow.

As I was busy taking pics of all the items I am selling, I wanted to listen to some music on the computer. Jason told me of Mikes Radio world. He lists alot of radio stations out there. I clicked on Tennessee and found a Bluegrass, Mountain, Old Country station there. Really good music. Not liking the dj at night. Older guy who gets into some political stuff that I have no interests in.

So, back in the beginning of Dec, I posted that I have been seeing this new dr who is holistic. She has helped me so much. I am eating better and the enzymes I am taking helps me to digest and absorb the food I eat alot better. I know I have lost some weight but I have tons more to go. I feel better. I feel healthier since seeing this dr and starting on the enzymes. So I had an appt yesterday with her. She said I am doing great. I brought up that Nate was getting sick again. He had a double ear infection 2 weeks ago and it seems that it didn't clear up completely as he is coughing and has a runny nose again. She mentioned that I need to take him to my chiropractor and get adjusted. She could adjust him too but Dr Gina already knows Nate. She also gave me some herbal supplement to give to him to help get rid of the bacteria in his ears that is causing him to get ear infections. I have to open up the capsule and empty the contents into applesauce or yogurt. I have been doing this for him since Thursday and I am already noticing a difference. Not coughing as much, he feels better. I do have an appt on Monday to see Dr Gina to get him adjusted. I hope she looks at his ears and lets me know how they are. We do have a follow up appt on Tuesday with the ped's to make sure the antibiotics did their job from 2 weeks ago. I think I will make a standing appt with Dr Gina once a month for Nate. He would benefit from it.

Ok, enough of me talking. I need to go do a load of laundry so I have something decent to wear tomorrow morning.

Have a wonderful night!!

Update on V

2008-02-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

Jason received a call from V's daughter yesterday and said that they were going to do a CT scan as she did hit her head when she fell. V also has a irregular heartbeat. No broken bones, thank goodness. They checked her in yesterday and kept her overnight. I have a feeling she will be there tonight as well. Hopefully, Jason and I will go see her tonight.

Tomorrow night is going to be exciting around here. My mom and I are going the Reba/ Kelly Clarkson concert!! Whoo-hoo! My mom will be here midmorning and she and I are going to spend the day together. Maybe a little fabric shopping and lunch.

So, I got signed up for this sewing class and the class is on Thursdays. I thought it was on Mondays. Ok, that's fine. Last week was cancelled b/c of the snow. But, I will have to miss tomorrow night and the following 2 Thursday's b/c of things going on that I will not get out of. So, I am hoping they will hold my payment and let me get in on Mondays the next round of classes. Thursday's just don't work out for me. I was looking forward to taking this class. Will have to wait now.

Nothing else is going on.
Lynn

A bit of a sad morning

2008-02-05T05:11:00.000-08:00

Our neighbor V fell on her driveway this morning. Thankfully, our neighbor across the street was out getting her paper around the same time, 6'ish, and heard V calling for help. I know God sent the other neighbor out at the same time so she could find V. The neighbor came over to get us. She had called 911 already and had covered V up to keep her warm. V had gotten dizzy when she reached down for her newspaper and fell. She isn't hurt, but she does have a heart condition and Parkinson's disease. Jason called V's son right away and they are meeting V at the hospital.

My heart is heavy right now. I know V will be ok, but it's a bit of a shock when you go outside and see her laying in her driveway. She is like a grandma to all of us. Please lift V up in prayers this morning if you would.

Missouri weather

2008-01-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

I don't think I will ever get used to this weird weather here in Missouri. It has been 10 years since I lived in Iowa. At least in Iowa, in the summer you get hot weather, the fall it was nice, but chilly and the leaves fall right on schedule. Winter you get snow starting from November and ends around March. Spring is the usual chilly, wet weather. Here in Missouri, in December you can have all 4 seasons in one day!!! Take today as an example. Woke up to beautiful Spring like weather. Temps must have been in the mid 50's. By 10, it was summer temps, close to 70. Nate and I played out side. Mrs G from next door asked us to come and play with her son and 2 nephews. I raked leaves. I opened up the house. Beautiful weather! We ran a quick errand, stopped to see my dad. It started cooling off a bit. Got home. After lunch I vacuumed and Nate played with his trains. Around 12:30 or so, it started getting really cold. I closed up the house, put Nate to bed and half hour or so later, it was hailing!!! Can we say fall weather anyone :). By this time it was down right cold out there. Not too long after the hail stopped, it was snowing. Big fat snow flakes. So we went from Spring like weather when we woke up to winter weather this after noon. Only in Missouri does this type of weather happen.

I used to bemoan the fact that this weather was weird. Never thought I would get used to it. Still don't think so, but I found something positive about winter weather. Once in a while, in the middle of December or January, it is warm enough to open the windows for some nice fresh air to get the stink out of the house. I love being able to open windows, having a nice breeze freshen up the house. I think I would go nuts if I couldn't open my windows at all during the winter. So, I putting this on record, "I like the Missouri winter weather"!

This Thursday, I am going to my first sewing class. We are going to be making a bag. I found some pretty material. It is black with creme floral. It reminds me of the new paper line in Close to My Heart stamping catalog. As soon as I remember to get my catalog from my sister-in-law(consultant for Close to my Heart), I may order the paper set. Absolutely to die for!

I have been wanting to change out the look in the bathroom. My mom says that I should freshen the paint in a room every 5 years as paint fades. So, I did the front room this past fall. Not that the paint was fading, just didn't have the right shade of yellow to begin with. Now it's nice warm yellow and it looks much better. I found a pretty color for the hallway. It also has the ugly original yellow from 4 years ago. Back to the topic of the bathroom. The color is purple. Nice heathery purple. I used the colors in my shower curtain as inspiration. My sister-in-law bought that curtain and some towels as a apartment warming gift when I moved into my apartment. I love the curtain. Pretty colors. I have found some fun bathroom scene pics. I think I need to update the color. I was thinking of changing it to blue and white. Found a nice curtain at Target with green, yellow and white and blue. I would accent with some nice pics and then a shelf above the toilet with cobalt blue bottles. Buuuut, ever since I saw that black with creme paper I want to make my bathroom that! I would paint the walls a creme color and there is a shower curtain at Target that would work perfectly. The only thing stopping me is that the bottom half of the walls are white beadboard/wainscoting. I don't know if the creme and white would look good together like that. Any have a thought, please let me know!

I will leave you with a pic. It's of Nate last Tuesday when he was so sick. We hadn't been to the doctor yet, but I pretty much knew it was ear infections. He is watching videos on my laptop. We don't have a tv in the front room. It's in the back room but that room is so cold. I let him curl up on the couch with all his blankets from his bed! Poor kid didn't feel well. He stayed there all morning. They only time this kids sits in one place for very long is if he is as sick as a dog!

Have a wonderful day!

Letter to my son

2008-01-25T18:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Nate,
You amaze me daily with all the things you can do! I was watching you climb all over your climber in the basement, you blew bubbles with me, you can go up and down the stairs like a champ now. I can understand you more and more and your vocabulary is exploding! You are such a big boy now. Not a little baby anymore. There are some days that I wish I could hold you forever not let you grow up. I thought that when you were a baby that was the best time, but now I think is the best time of your life. You are so much more independent but still love to give hugs and kisses. You are starting to help with things in the house like helping me fill up the big humidifier and then try to fill your little one by yourself! You know how to turn on the faucet in the bathtub. I love when we are apart and when you see me, you get a big smile on your face and come running to give me a hug. Oh how I wish you knew how much I treasure that.
You will always be my baby!
Mom

I just needed to brag a bit about my boy tonight! He is the love of my life. He makes me laugh. I truly treasure our time together as mama and son. You know, he doesn't call me mama, or mommy, he calls me mom. At times I am a bit sad. I am not ready to be plain ole mom. I do have to laugh when he says, "Silly Mom"! We have the best time together. We are always exploring when we are out on the town. We take life slowly and enjoy our time together.
There is a country song by Kenny Chesney called "Don't blink" here is the chorus words: Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap
and you wake up and you're twenty-five
and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your better half
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you'll pray that God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

I don't want to blink! It seems like I just came home from the hospital with Nate and now he is so big, doing things for himself. I feel the next time I "blink" he is going to ready for college.

As I read over that letter I wrote, I think I need to make a hard copy of it and give it to him when he turns 16.

I will leave you with this photo of Nate trying out daddy's slippers!

A yucky week

2008-01-24T20:27:00.000-08:00

This past week has been yucky around here. Nate came down with croup on Friday and we took him to the doctor on Sat. to make sure we were doing everything right to keep him comfortable. DR checked his ears and said that one looked a bit pink. Said to come back if I notice a difference. By Sunday morning, the croup cough was gone but the cough started sounding worse. Poor kid couldn't breath well. He seemed to be pretty miserable. Jason was home on Monday and we hung around the house. I went grocery shopping during Nates nap. Tuesday morning it dawns on me that b/c this cough hasn't gone away or at least gotten better is that he has an ear infection. Went to the doctors again and sure enough, an ear infection. Off to Schnucks (local grocery store) to get the antibiotic. The stores pharmacy is letting you get the stuff for free this month. Usually we go to Walgreens. He has been on this stuff for 3 days now and I am noticing a difference. His coughing is getting less and he seems to be in a better mood.

Nothing else has really been happening. Just trying to keep up with the house with a toddler coming in behind destroying it!!! I signed myself up for a sewing class. It is for 6 weeks. The only project that we are going to do is a bag. Didn't know we were actually going to make somthing. Just thought it was finding out about a sewing machine, what it can do and how to use one. Well, I am sure I can put the bag to work somehow. After I complete the classes, I am going to learn how to knit. I don't expect to be very good at sewing and knitting, but it will be fun to learn and make something.

Been going through Nate's stash of cloth diapers wondering if I need to over haul it. I have been using prefolds, covers, pockets,a few all in ones and some fitteds. I know that I need to find a better way of organizing them. Right now they are in a laundry basket in Nate's room and some are in 2 baskets on a shelf in the closet and prefolds are in a diaper stacker hanging in the closet. I can't seem to find a way of organizing that works well for me. I am thinking of checking out craigslist for a cheap dresser and putting that in the closet. That would work great. Haven't found one yet. Another idea is to find a shelf that is like cubes and putting baskets in that. Haven't found that yet either although I know it's out there b/c I have seen it!! Anyways, back to his stash. I am thinking of selling all the pockets but they are great for Jason to use. Very easy, daddy proof. But with pockets, there is stuffing the absorbent inserts before using and I am getting tired of stuffing. I have 16 pockets that I have to stuff. Not fun! I like fitteds and covers so those will stay. I like the prefolds too. I have 2 sizes of prefolds. Premiums and toddler size. Premiums are for babies up to potty training usually. Not to many kids get into the toddler size. I thought my son had gotten big enough so I bought some toddler sized. Too big. I might sell all but 2-3. I have 12 altogether. 2 or 3 of them have stains and I cannot in good conscience sell them. Maybe when it gets warm here and the sun shines I can put them out to sun out the stains. Another idea is to take those toddler prefolds and have someone convert them into fitteds. Pretty much cut them and add elastic to the legs. She also adds some yummy fabric if you want. It does cost to have this done. I figure I sell all but 2-3 and get the ones I keep converted. That won't be as expensive. Fitteds and covers are pretty daddy friendly. I am hoping too that after the sewing class I take that I might be able to make my own fitted diapers then I wont' have to go and buy!

Confused? It took me a year and a half to learn all the words and such that come with cloth diapers. I can talk the talk when it comes to cloth diapers. I amaze myself :)

I guess that's all. Not very entertaining tonight. Just some thoughts I have been having lately.

Thankful

2008-01-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

It has been almost a full week since Nate started sleeping in his new toddler bed. Haven't had any problems at all. He still takes naps, and sleeps all night and doesn't get out of bed till we come and get him! He did get out of bed after a nap and started playing and thats cool. At least he is keeping himself occupied!

Nothing too new on this end. Nate is getting into Snoopy! Snoopy cracks him up! Good thing Jason had a thing for Charlie Brown and Snoopy since we have at least 4 videos and can get more at the library.

We tackled the laundry room this week. On Tuesday while Nate and I were taking naps, Jason started cleaning up the laundry room. Nate and I came down later and started helping him. I was able to finish up the room that night. We were able to get rid of a bunch of junk and just reorganize that room. I know have room on the floor to sort laundry. I tackled the back room Thursday and Friday. I was able to clean off the shelves and declutter them. Looks much better.

We went downtown today to the Health Expo at the convention center. Nate hasn't ridden on the Metro Link yet so we parked at Hanely and took the metro to the convention center. Nate surprised me by being a wonderful little boy while we were going down there and back. He sat so quietly. He did go between us but that was cool. The health expo was good. We were able to get some good info on great stores. I found out more about the Sappington Farmers Market. Here is a web site to check out. I haven't looked at it yet as we got some info at the fair. I think I am going to check it out next weekend. www.localharvests.org

Nothing else going on. Guess I will post more on Monday.

Happy New Years Everyone!

2007-12-31T22:02:00.000-08:00

The neighborhood is going wild with fireworks tonight. Thankfully they aren't right next door. Shouldn't wake Nate up at all.
I decided to stay up till midnight posting on my favorite message board. At midnight I went in and kissed Jason and said Happy New Year and did the same to Nate. Jason woke up but Nate slept thru it and actually frowned in his sleep when I kissed him! :)

In my last post I said that Nate was getting a new toddler bed. He had a nap in it today and did great! He went to be tonight and again did great. Had to turn him around b/c he fell asleep with his feet on his pillow!! Silly Nate :)

Ok, small vent here: I know it's New Years Eve and I am up celebrating it like everyone else, but seriously, did you have to buy the loudest firecrackers you could and set them off just 4 houses down from us????? I am about to walk down there and give them a piece of my mind, but I won't b/c I don't like confrontation. Thankfully this only happens 2 times a year, 4th of July and New Years. Maybe the next 4th and next New Years, we can arrange to be at my inlaws farm. They are in the country so it's nice and quiet. Thankfully Nate has slept thru all this.

Had a great evening with Ben and Laura and Logan and Vesta. We get together with Ben and Laura every new years. We had hot wings, meatballs, salad, rotel dip, brownies and sweet corn casserole. Everything was yummy! Laura and I put the kids to bed. Logan was able to fall asleep in their pack n play w/o a problem. Then the adults, sans Vesta(she went home earlier) played Scrabble. All in all it was a good night.

I am going to leave you tonight with one photo. Last week I decided to tackle Nate's closet, clean it out and such. I went to get the camera to get a before and after pic and while I was gone, this happened:

Enjoy!

Just a quick post

2007-12-31T08:19:00.000-08:00

Today Nate gets his new bed! I can't believe it's time for my little baby to move into a big boy bed. We found a toddler bed at a garage sale this summer. If we hadn't found the bed, we would have just set up Jason's old twin bed with new mattresses and skipped the toddler bed. Didn't deem is necessary to spend money on toddler bed. We found one for $7 at a garage sale so we got it.
I will have to add pic's later. Nate seems to like it so far. He got into bed and promptly asked me to cover him up! He has a new buddy to share the bed with him. I bought Nate a Waldorf Style boy doll for Christmas. Nate named him Henry today! Perfect name. When Nate opened the doll at Christmas he didn't want to have anything to do with it, but today he is warming up to the doll.

Spending this evening with friends. Started this tradition maybe 5 years ago. We alternate houses each year. They have a 1 1/2 year old boy. Us parents are waiting till they are both old enough to really start playing together. I am guessing next year when Logan is a bit older.

Time to continue cleaning. Jason and I are in a cleaning frenzy. I needed to vacuum really badly. The area rug in the front room was really bad. Looks much better. I am just biding my time till the Christmas Tree comes down and goes to the curb. I really enjoy Christmas but when New Years comes around, I am ready to be done with the decorations. Need to get back to my routine and regular house. Makes it easier to clean. I will probably go thru old decorations and get rid of what we don't use. Example: string of lights that have been sitting in the basement for 3 years, garland that didn't make it up this year, old 3 ft artificial tree, etc. My goal for this year is to declutter as much as possible.

So much for a quick post!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2007-12-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We spent Dec. 21-24 with Jason's folks on the farm. It snowed up there so Nate got to go out and play with daddy and Jackson. Here is a pic of Daddy and Nate with the sled!

I found a snow pants and coat from Lands End on craigslist for $15. It's a size 3 but the snow pants fit great and I will have the coat for next winter! What a great score for me! We found his boots at Walmart. They have Thomas the tank Engine on them. Nate is pretty pleased with the boots!
We had a great time as usual at the farm. Nate saw Santa Claus and still doesn't particularly care for him as you can see in the next photo!

That is my father-in-law Jim holding Nate. Nate will high 5 Santa but that's it! He received a treat bag after. There was a cookie and some hard candy and also he got to pick out an apple. Nate tore into that apple and he loved chomping on it!

Nate got some more Take Along Thomas trains, some cute clothes and a great Thomas Book with poems in it. The book is really cute and has some great poems in it. He also got some slippers with of course, Thomas! :)

I got 2 cook books, Bath and Body Works soap (smells yummy), slippers, 2 Mary Kay items(sister-in-law sells Mary Kay), and a picture frame with our nieces graduation pic in it. Gorgeous girl!!

After we left the farm on Monday, we headed to Springfield Ill for my families Christmas. We had some yummy food, spent time with the nephews and watched the cousins open gifts. Nate received some nice clothes, a monster toy truck, small toy bulldozer, and a book about Behaving. The author is Max Lucado. He writes books with Hermie as the main character. Very cute!
The adults decided not to exchange gifts. We decided to find something/someone to donate our money too.

We got back home Christmas Eve around 9pm. Very long weekend for all. Nate was happy to be back in his own bed! The first time I put him in the pack n play at Grandpa and Grandmas, I noticed he was getting too big for it. Next Monday I am bringing in the toddler bed from the garage. We are going to transition him over to that bed. Wish us luck! I am going to have to remove all the train toys from the room. Too much temptation! Just don't know what I am going to do when we go to the farm. Right now, there is an area in the room we 3 sleep in that is fine for the pack n play, but the toddler bed they have wont fit there. I will have to see what Grandma can come up with the next time we are there.

Christmas day here was good. Jason posted on his blog with pics to what he received! I can make a list, but I am not sharing pics!
The big surprise is tickets to see Reba and Kelly Clarkson in concert in Feb. I am stinking happy about that one!!! Reba is a major favorite of mine.
The other big gift I got was all 9 seasons of Everybody loves Raymond. I have 1 and 2 but Jason thought it would save money just to get all 9 at once. It is going to take me forever to watch all those!
I got some earrings and necklace, candy in the stocking, gift certificate from St Louis Bread co, new sewing kit/container that is pink with vintage Ladies doing ironing and laundry, very cool! and a large cutting mat with rotary cutter.

Today I wanted to get out of the house and do something fun but not spend money. So, Nate and I went swimming at the YMCA. Up till this point, he really did not like swimming. He didn't mind getting his feet wet, but other than that, no. So I took my chances and went. He was a bit apprehensive but I held his hand and we took it slowly. Well, and hour and half later, he didn't want to get out!!! My boy likes swimming! I think I am going to add that to our fun list and go maybe 1-2 times a week till the Aqua Port opens and then maybe get a seasons pass there. They share memberships with the Bridgeton water park so we have 2 places to go swimming. We have friends who can go with us too.

Supper tonight is Beef vegetable soup with venison steak pieces instead of beef. My inlaws are hunters and supply us with venison once in a while. Very lean meat. That helps on our budget since the meat was free! The soup smells yummy! Can't wait. Jasons sister Amy and her friend Dave are coming over for supper and to see Nate.

Speaking of Nate, sounds like he is ready to get up from nap. Time to go get him and get some vacuuming done and fill the bird feeder, add an ear of corn to the squirrel feeder for the critters outside.

Cleaning day

2007-12-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

After last nights project, I decided that I needed some things if I was going to keep making diapers. I have on my Christmas list a new sewing kit. I need a new container since the one I have is my grandmas and I have no idea how old it is. There are a few things that I would like to have in my sewing kit too. Well, some of those things I bought tonight. I can't do without. So, when I got home from Hobby Lobby, I decided to clean out my sewing kit. I didn't get very far. I wanted to get rid of any straight pins that were in the pin cushion. I bought a new container of straight pins, 750 to be exact. Anywho, I was cleaning out the pin cushion and kept finding more hidden inside, but sticking out a little. So, I decided to open up the cushion and see what else was left and make sure I didn't leave any out. I ended up with, get this, 59 needles!!! They aren't machine needles, but thread needles, to sew by hand with. I will not be needing any of those types of needles for a long, long time! :)

I stopped by Goodwill tonight to see if I could find any fleece, flannel or cotton blankets to use for diapers. I found 4 tonight. Each were $1, and there were 2 on one hanger so they were counted as 1 blanket!

Other cleaning that got done today was our bedroom, Nate's room and the front room and vacuuming again. With the dog, vacuuming daily is a must around here. Especially in the colder months when Jackson isn't outside as much.

I am really enjoying staying home with Nate. I really like our days together. There was a time where it was hard to be home. I wanted to be out daily, going some where daily. Now, if we don't leave the house at all for a couple of days, I am happy. I am finding that if we are out of the house time goes by faster and that is time I can't get back again and time that isn't quality time with Nate. I know, going to the grocery store is good for Nate. Being out and about is a learning time for Nate, but it's not one on one time for the 2 of us. I know also, that will change when we have another baby.

The Christmas tree is up, the outside is lit with pretty lights and there is a blow up snowman in our front yard. Now, I need to set up my Christmas village. I have the area where it's going all cleaned off ready to go. I think I will tackle that tomorrow.

Nate is getting to be pretty comical with his words. I don't remember what we were doing, but out of the blue, Nate says "Silly mama"!!! I know that I have said "Silly Nate" plenty of times. Just didn't know he would say it to me! Another thing he does is when he sees me whether being away from me for a while, or just coming into the room from another room is "Hi mom"! His vocabulary is exploding right now. It's so much fun to hear the new words daily. He is now saying "Thank you" instead of signing it! I just can't get enough of this boy! I think I am in love!

Have a good night all!

I made a diaper!

2007-12-03T20:58:00.000-08:00

I have to show off my newest creation! I made a fitted diaper tonight. I found a pattern on line a few weeks ago. I used 2 blankets that I had laying around that we weren't using. It took me 2 hours, 2 broken needles, 1 bent needle and ripping out velcro once to make this diaper. I had no expectations going into this project and am glad I can laugh at the end results!

Here are 3 pictures of the diapers:

The first picture makes me laugh the most! I can't believe how the tabs came out different sizes. My seams on most of the diaper aren't straight and I need to make sure that I make the leg elastic longer.

All in all, it's a cute diaper and it hasn't turned me off of making another diaper. I think I will hit the local goodwill and find some more blankets to use. I would like to perfect my sewing before dipping into my stash of nice fabrics that I have set aside to make diapers. After the new year, a friend and I are taking sewing classes. I am excited to learn how to sew better.

Enjoy the pictures!!

Pictures!!!

2007-12-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

Jason showed me how to copy pictures from Flickr to add to my site. I think I remember him showing me how soon after he uploaded all the pictures there, but I am such a computer dork I forgot!
This is a picture of Nate sleeping in the backroom. He has never slept anywhere except his bed before. It surprised me that he fell asleep here.

This picture is of course of our pretty Christmas tree. To the left you can see a little bit of the green garland and red bells that surround the door to the kitchen.

This next picture is of Nate and Jackson standing infront of the tree. Jackson had a good old time running thru the trees sniffing everything. He was in doggy heaven!!

I forgot to add that Nate painted last week. Haven't brought out the paints since summer. Nate forgot where the paint goes and immediately put the paint brush with paint in his mouth! He didn't think it tasted too good! You can see that he also got paint on his shirt. He has no idea what he is doing sometimes. Thats a toddler for you!

You can see how happy he is getting to paint.

Well, I don't have anymore photos to share. Enjoy!

Busy week

2007-12-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

Lots of new things going on here. First, Nate is going to Parents Day out one day a week. His first day was this past Thursday. He is there from 9-3. He really likes it. Will be good for me to get a break or to get some things done around the house and make drs appts and not have to worry about finding a sitter for him or taking him with.

I am seeing a new dr. She is going to help me get healthy through enzyme therapy or enzyme nutrition. I saw her for the first time on Thursday. She did some acupuncture and asked a bunch of questions. She is trying to find out where I am health wise and to help get me started on enzymes. I am excited to get started! I have to do a urinalysis also so she can see where to start. She did make a comment that my thyroid is not working as well as it should so thats why I am gaining weight and have a hard time losing it. I really didn't have the heart to tell her that it's my stinking diet is why I am gaining weight!!! I do have a hard time losing weight too. Nice to have a reason why.

My parents wanted to have a work day at their house this past Saturday. They needed some help getting some things done in the house and figured many hands make light work. So, Jason, me and my bro and his wife were going to be there. Jason had Friday off so we went to my parents then and then my bro and his wife would come up on Sat. My parents watched Nate so Jason and I could have a date night!! We went to 2 Antique Shops and then out to eat. On the way to my parents, we stopped at a Christmas tree farm. Found a beautiful tree! I hope I can get a pic for you all to see. Ok, pics aren't available right now. Jason had the pictures moved to flickr and I cant figure out how to add them to my blog.

We had a great date night. Went back to my parents house and watched a movie. About half way into the movie, Nate gets sick. I mean, throwing up sick. Yuck. We just figured my dad had a little too much fun with Nate and his stomach got yucky. Not the case. I was up with Nate all night long since he would get sick every 15mins. From midnight to around 4am it was every 15mins then we got a break and we both slept till morning. He got sick 2 more times that day. Nate was in bed by 7pm and we didn't hear a peep out of him till morning. One time getting sick today. When I got home from teaching Sunday School, he was sleeping on the floor in the back room draped half on half off a big pillow. Still sleeping as of right now! Thankfully, Jason was able to get some water, dry toast and some banana in him.

We put up the Christmas tree last night. It's so pretty and smells sooo good! It's about 6ft tall. Just the type of tree I wanted. It is either a Canaan Fir or Fraser Fir. I like how the needles are. I almost had too many decorations to put on! I also put up around the door to the kitchen a garland and added a string of bells that play music. My wonderful mother-in-law, Kathy got those for us. My living room isn't completly done. I need to put up my Christmas village.

It was such a warm day that I finished putting lights up outside. I bought some new ones. They have the big light bulbs that are colored with icicle lights hanging down. The porch roof has those and the rest of the front of the house has just regular icicle lights. Looks nice! Right after we put up the rest of the lights, a front came through and it rained.

It's been a quiet day after all that. Just catching up on my message board and checking emails. I need to work on my menu for the week. I am craving spaghetti so I think thats what we will have tomorrow night.

I am looking forward to getting back into the work week. Not much going on, but still nice to get back to an ordinary day. Back to the familiar.

As soon as I can get Jason's help, I will have to add some pics.

Back to normal

2007-11-26T20:32:00.000-08:00

We had a good Thanksgiving on Thursday with my family. My parents, my bro and his family and my Uncle and Aunt and then us. My Uncle and Aunt hadn't seen Nate since he was 2 mos old so it was good for them to see him. My sis-in-law did a great job on the lunch. The turkey was so good and moist. I stole her idea on the roaster. I was wanting to pick one up the day after Thanksgiving but had no idea what one. She found hers at Bed Bath and Beyond. It is an Oneida. Really nice one for a good price. So, on Friday, I battled the crowds and went to Bed Bath and Beyond and found one.

Friday afternoon, Jasons folks arrived for the weekend. We putsied around the house for the rest of the day. Had chili for supper with cornbread. Everything was yummy. I almost forgot the beans. Thankfully we have a small grocery store near us so I was able to get some in time.

Saturday was spent doing a little shopping and getting ready for the supper. I made my first turkey! It turned out yummy. The outside was brown perfectly. I was able to pull off supper with the help of my wonderful Mom-in-law and sister in law. In fact, my MIL saved the deviled eggs. Apparently, my eggs were too fresh so that when I went to peel them, it was very difficult. My MIL, Kathy, saved me! She was able to peel the rest of them w/o a problem.

Sunday, I taught Sunday School. My kids sat so great and listened so well and helped answer the questions. I love those kids. After church, Jason called and said that his parents were still in town and they were going to eat at Hometown Buffet. So, I went and joined them for lunch.

So, now we are on Monday. Back to normal. I am enjoying getting back to cleaning, playing with Nate, doing laundry. All the usual. Last week, I spent almost everyday getting ready for Thanksgiving here and in Sprinfield so my routine was thrown out of whack.

Nate has discovered how to climb up on our bed. I think I am in trouble now!! When I start hearing laughter, I go look in our room, and there is Nate playing on our bed. He loves rolling on it, standing up and then sitting down quickly so he bounces, laying on our pillows. My kid is such a corker! I have started knick naming him my little spaz. I seriously cannot take him anywhere. He wants to run and get into everything. I guess this is what a toddler is like. I want another baby, why?!!!

I have gotten a head start on my Christmas decorations outside. I don't do much. Just evergreen garland around the post on the porch and icicle lights on the front of the house. We do have a blow up snowman. I have a wreath on my door. I don't think that am going to do much in the house for decorations till after the 1st of Dec. I want to get the house inside ready, clearing out things so I can put new things up, general cleaning and the sorts. I still need to figure out where the tree is going to go. It will probably go right next to the door that goes into the kitchen like last year. I am hoping to find the same size in height like last year, just over 5 ft high, but not as fat!!!

Ok, I am tired and am going to head to bed. More on the list of things to do tomorrow.
Lynn

I actually remember to blog!

2007-11-21T19:47:00.001-08:00

I realized that it has been a while since I blogged. I guess that's the last thing on my mind during the day. Jason has been making a My Space page and his cousin had 50 random questions so he answered them. I am not in the mood to try and link that so maybe next time. Anyhoo, I thought I would do them too. So with no further ado:

1. Do you like cheese?
yes, cheddar and mozzarella

2. Have you ever been to the Rockies?
yes,when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, lots of good memories

3. Do you own a gun?
no, but have shot a BB gun and almost my brothers 22

4. Your favorite song?
no, but anything from a hymnal

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
always,
6. What do you think of when you eat hot dogs?
can't stand them

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. Each Christmas I still hope for a white, snow filled Christmas
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Milk with my cereal

9. Can you do push-ups?
nope

10. Is your bathroom clean?
Yes it is.

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
definitely my engagement ring. Jason personalized it with both our birthstones as well as a diamond

12. Favorite Hobby?
reading

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
My red hair

14. Do you have A.D.D.?
a little bit

15. What's one thing you hate about yourself?
?

16. Middle Name?
Marie

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
1. Did I get everything done for tomorrow
2. Is my son asleep and warm enough
3. What am I going to wear tomorrow

18. Name the last 3 things you have bought
1. New very soft cloth diaper for Nate
2. 36 cloth wipes for Nate
3. groceries for this week

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink.
1. Milk
2. water
3. lemonade

20. Current worry right now?
Am I going to pull of Thanksgiving here on Saturday, making a turkey for the first time, gulp!

21. Current person you despise?
no one

22. Favorite place be?
with my hubby and son

23. How will you ring in the NEW YEAR?
Don't know. We usually get together with Jasons best friend and his wife but we both have kids so it doesn't work any more

24. Where would you like to go?
Back to Europe, especially the Czech Republic

25. Name three people who will complete this and post it again?
wont send it on

26. How many siblings do you have?
one brother

27. Do you own slippers?
yes a purple soft pair

28. What shirt are you wearing right now?
an Army aviation t-shirt from Father-in-laws retirement from the National Guard

29. What shampoo do you use?
Infusium for dry hair

30. Favorite color?
red

31. Would you like to be a pirate?
no

32.What songs do you sing in the shower?
don't have time to sing, my shower is 5 mins long, I have a toddler to keep out of trouble
34. Favorite girl's name?
Lydia or Annika

35. What's in your pockets right now?
nothing

36. Last thing that made you laugh?
my son Nate. His little antics

37. Best bed sheets as a Kid?
boring white

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
probably the dog bite to my left eyebrow as a young kid

39. Are you addicted to anything?
No

40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
3

41. Does anyone have a crush on you?
my husband, Jason

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
no, never seen one

45. What is your favorite book?
Don't have a book, but my favorite author is Janette Oke and for kids books Jan Brett

46. What is your favorite candy?
M&M's

47. What song do you want played at your wedding?
God of Wonders and friend played his guitar

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
not thinking of that right now, maybe You lift me up by Josh Groban

49. What were you doing at 12am this morning?
snoring away

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
wondering when Nate will be up and do I have time to sleep some more before he wakes me up

I think I will leave it at that. Too tired to think of what I want to blog about. I know there are more things that you, my adoring fan(s) want to read about.

Ciao

Home Alone

2007-10-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Thats right, I am home alone. Jason and Nate headed up to the farm this weekend. Jason felt I needed some time to myself. I tried to persuade him that I was ok, but he insisted. So, they left this morning. I have accomplished the following: Saw my chiropractor and had my back adjusted, dropped off a paper at Nate's ped's office to fill out his medical records so he can go to a Parents Day Out program one day a week, had lunch, grocery shopped, haircut and had my blood drawn. The last was so my ob can get the hormone pregnancy levels. I know that I miscarried over a month ago, but she wanted to make sure my numbers/levels dropped to zero. Oh, I also cleaned out the linen closet and cleaned up my side of the office and was able to wash most of the floor. I also cleaned up the closet floor and vacuumed. There is a vacuum cleaner in the closet that needs to be kicked to the curb. I inherited from my mom and dad. I believe they bought it in either 86 or 87. So, it's 20 years old. They used it, sent it to my brother to use who sent it back to my folks, I think. Then when I got my apartment when I moved here, it was sent to me. It has had a good life. Cleaned lots of floors and done a good job. I was optimistic about keeping it. Just keep fixing the hose, taping up the holes, and it will run fine. However, the hose can no longer be fixed. It is deteriorating. I think I will have a nice send off on Tuesday in time for the garbage truck. Maybe I will take pic's for the good memory.

I don't have plans for tomorrow. I find if I make plans, they don't get done. Maybe a little bit of reading tho. Will be nice to read with out being interrupted 50 thousand times! I am thinking of making a fitted diaper too. I have bought some cute tie-dyed flannel a few weeks ago and would like to take a stab a making a fitted diaper. I have a few web sites that I can look at to help. I have a few diapers that I can use as my form. Wish me luck!

It's late and almost past my bedtime. Maybe I will post more tomorrow!
Lynn

Yummy soup recipe

2007-10-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

I am glad it's getting colder. I like the cooler weather. I enjoy picking out recipes that are great for fall and winter, turning on the heat, bundling up in long sleeves and pants. Oh, and getting out the fuzzy, warm, thick socks and settle in with a good book and something warm to drink. Which reminds me, I need to see if Jason will make his famous mulled cider, yum, yum!!!

Anyways, speaking of recipes, I found a really yummy vegetable beef soup. I keep looking for one and couldn't find any that suited my taste. Guess I am picky! So, I was looking through the book, Eating for Life by Bill Phillips. He writes the Body for Life book. He has recipes that we actually like. No frou-frou ingredients. I was needing some new ideas for suppers and came across this soup. We had it tonight. Perfect for a cold day.

Beef and Barley Soup:
1 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 lbs top sirloin, cubed
4 cups low-fat, reduced-sodium beef broth
1 cup water
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 carrot sliced
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 bay leaf
10oz frozen green beans
1 can (14 1/2oz) diced tomatoes
10oz frozen green peas

1: Brown cubed beef till browned on all sides in olive oil
2: Stir in beef broth, water, onion, celery, carrot, oregano, black pepper, garlic, barley and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 mins.
3: Stir in grean beans, tomatoes, and peas. Simmer, covered, until meat and vegetables are tender, about 15 mins. Remove bay leaf

I didn't leave this on the stove top. I browned the beef and then added everything to the crockpot. I had a few packages of vegetables in the freezer that I was able to use up with this soup. I had a pea/carrot mix that I used, but cut up a few raw carrots too. If I had gotten this all in the crockpot by noon instead of 2:30, the carrots would have time to cook all the way through. I also added a can of tomato sauce at the end and heated through. Tasted wonderful!

Nothing else has been going on. Nate and I have been having fun. Went to the park the other day. Nate loves climbing on all the structures there.
Jason took next week off. I am going to be getting some things done. I wanted to start a calender with Nate but hadn't gotten that far. Also, I wanted to start working on the alphabet with him too. Needed to get something copied and laminated. I am going to take advantage of Jason being home to do all this. I am also getting Nate signed up for Parents Day Out at a church not far from us. Thursday's only. I am going to let him stay all day. Should be interesting since he will be having a nap there and he wont sleep in a crib there, only on a cot. At least he can have his blanket with him. He will also have lunch there.

I bought another diaper from my message board! It is blue with vintage vans on it! I can't wait to get it. I also bought 2 John Deere diapers there a few weeks ago. When I get the new diaper, I will take pictures and share.

Went thru Nate's toys again the other day. We replaced the rocking chair and shelf that were in his room with his train table. The table was in the front room but it was taking up alot of room. Kept a few toys for the front room and found some cute baskets to put them in. I will have to take a picture of it all. I am proud of myself and getting it all organized. Nate still has toys in the back room. It's primarily Little People back there. Downstairs is misc toys. We are in the process of rearranging the basement area to accommodate the toys and his climbing cube. Can't wait till thats done. Hopefully we will be downstairs more. Especially this winter so Nate can climb all he wants.

I think I am going to stop here. I might go out for a few before Nate goes to bed. Jason wants to go to the YMCA after Nate goes to bed. We are heading out to the pumpkin patch tomorrow and then the Fire Station for an open house.

Sad time at the Starbuck household

2007-09-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

As you all noticed in the last posting of my blog, I said that we were pregnant. Well, on a sad note, I miscarried on Monday the 24th. According to my blood test and the numbers that my ob had to look for, my progesterone levels were low. I had the same thing with Nate but my former ob caught it fast enough and started me on the progesterone pills. I hope that my current ob will do that before we try and have another baby. I am going to try and get my health back on track so we wont be trying for a while.

On a happier note, we were visiting Jason's parents this weekend. They had the family auction on Saturday. Jason was able to find a few things he wanted. I will let him talk about them in his blog.
The mule we are always talking about Nate riding, small farm tractor, was part of Jason's grandfathers estate so it was at the auction. Nate wasn't too happy that he couldn't ride it and didn't understand why. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa bid on it and won! The mule is here to stay and Nate is quite happy!

I am looking forward to getting back to life. I am always anxious for a weekend like this past one so the week before I am running around getting things ready and our days are out of whack. I think tomorrow morning, we will be going to get my mums as I always do in the Fall. I can't wait to work on the front of the house getting it decorated for Fall. I wasn't able to get some cornstalks from the farm so I will be buying some this year. This weekend we have a birthday party at a farm in O'Fallon and they will be having pumpkins so we will be picking our pumpkins there.

I had the privilege of getting some older catalogs and magazines from the farm that have sewing, crafting and such in them. I am looking forward to sitting down and looking thru them and getting some ideas.

Have a nice night, morning, day etc.!
-Lynn

Really fun day!

2007-09-20T19:03:00.001-07:00

After all the running around the country lately, I decided to take Nate up to my bro's house and spend the day with my SIL and our nephews. Nate and the boys haven't spent alot of time together lately so I thought they would like that. My bro is out of town all week working in Chicago so I thought my SIL would like some girl time too.
Nate was the best kid on the trip up. It takes a good hour and 40 mins to get to Springfield, Illinois. I made sure he had his Thomas engines and box cars and Harold the helicopter and lots of books. He was so quiet but we did have a time of I Spy Bombines! (combines). Tractors and semis also! Every time we saw a semi, Nate would ask "Papa?" My dad drives a semi. We saw alot of semis on the road and I had to break it to him every time that no it wasn't papa. Oh, well. He took it pretty well.
He slept for half an hour on the ride home. The boys, Ethan and Nolan, ages 5 and 3 respectively, wore Nate out. They played at the park, with the train table, chasing each other. They had lots of fun!

I guess I should have been posting to my blog a bit more. I can't believe I did not post about Nate's birthday. What kind of mom am I?!! Ok, so Nate is 2 now. Not the terrible 2's everyone talks about. I call them the terrific 2's with some terribles on the side. He is the best kid. So fun to be around. He is in a very curious stage right now. So fun to watch and see what he is going to investigate. At the park today, he really could care less about the climbing structures. He wanted to walk the perimeter of the structures. It was a ledge about a foot high. He walked over a bridge I don't know how many times. Just investigating!!!
So, we celebrated at Jim and Kathy's house on the farm, Jason's parents, over Labor day. Had a Funfetti cake with green frosting with a farm scene. Here is a pic of it:

The 8th of September, we went to my parents and had my bro and his family there to help celebrate Nate's birthday. It was a carrot cake and had a Thomas the Tank engine theme. Here is the pic:

We bought Nate a Thomas train table for his birthday. We decided to set it up the night before his birthday and let him see it when he got up the next day. When I got him out of bed, he ran down the hall and stopped really quick when he saw the table. He didn't get as excited about it as I had hoped, but I know he really likes it.
That night we headed for Indiana by the way of Hillsboro Illinois to drop of the dog at my folks to take care of while we were gone on an extended weekend trip. Our main goal was to get to French Lick Indiana for a train ride for Nate. This is a train that was still running up till the 1960's. It was a diesel engine that pulled 2 passenger cars. It was an hour long trip with a pass thru a tunnel. Nate enjoyed it especially when the whistle went off. Here are 2 pics from the train we rode and one of Jason and Nate is an old steam engine that doesn't run anymore.

This is Nate looking out the train window:

This is the old steam engine:

After the train ride, we headed to our Bed and Breakfast. It is called the West Point Cottage. The family that runs this B&B acquired the cottage and relocated it to the current place. They dismantled it and when they put it back together, they added on and used screws and bolts. In some of the pictures, you can see some original beams between the living room and kitchen. Quite the history.

This is the only picture I could find. I will see if I can have Jason find the other pictures I took of the cottage.

Other exciting news in the family is that we are expecting a new baby around May 10th!!! I had my official appointment yesterday. I am seeing a new Dr and really like her. She was so nice and sweet. I like the other ladies in the office too. I think I am going to like seeing them for the next 8 months! I am 6 1/2 weeks along. I will have an official baby appointment the 8th of October and I am hoping Jason will be able to join me. The first appt yesterday was the one where they say, yeah you're pregnant and find the due date. Boring! I am hoping to get an ultrasound the next time I am there and maybe see the heart beat! I don't know about hearing it tho. When I first heard Nate's heartbeat, it made it so real to me.

I guess that's all the fun news on this end. I am sure I will be adding more as this pregnancy progresses.
-Lynn

Can't take the dog hair anymore!

2007-08-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am about to go insane with the dog hair. I try to vacuum every other day but lately, I need to everyday. It's awful. Can I shave my dog? Should I shave him? Does anyone want a Golden Retriever? Seriously, its awful. He can be laying on the wood floor, get up, come over to the rug and scratch or shake. The hair would fly everywhere. Come on, is the hard wood not good enough for you?! I think he is doing that to spite me! One word: UGH!

We had one of the best days today, Nate and me. We stayed home all day. Played in the front room with Thomas,books,container of elbow macaroni, cars, and yes, a movie. I had the want to watch "The Christmas Story". I know, I'm weird! Nate cuddled thru quite a bit of the movie. He got to have nekkie time too! After I took off his nite time diaper, he got this look of pure joy that he was naked. He ran around so happy.

Had a lunch with daddy here at the house. Played some more. I worked in the office cleaning things up.

I was perusing the cloth diaper boards yesterday and today. Thought I would share a link to an ebay listing. It is very funny and I have the ladies blog book marked. You need to check it out! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D130144061675%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1%5Dmoms

Another thing I have been reading on the cloth diaper boards are the recalls from China. Now, I have gotten rid of alot of Nate's toys in the past 2 weeks. Not because of the recalls, because we have too many toys and his birthday is coming up. If I had money, I would buy him a few wood toys. I have some great web sites of people who make wood toys. Don't know if I want to touch that issue with a 10ft pole! Alot of women on the boards are getting quite upset over it all.

I noticed that my laundry room was getting cluttered with tubs of Nates stuff so I went to home depot and bought some new shelves. Alas, the tubs dont fit! So, I started putting the Christmas decorations on the shelves and will put the tubs on the shelves the Christmas stuff was on. The previous owner made some shelves and they will work just fine for the tubs.

The 12th of September, Nate's birthday, we are heading out to Indiana for a few days. We as a family haven't taken some time for ourselves in a long while so we decided to get away for a long weekend. There is a train museum in French Lick Indiana that we want to see. Nate is really into Thomas right now. In fact, we found a train table and tracks and accessories on craigslist and decided to buy it. Can't wait to see Nate's eyes when he sees that when he wakes up on his birthday!

Well, Jason is home and I need to work on things for supper.
-L

Found the pic

2007-08-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

I finally found the picture that I wanted to add the last time I posted. Jason said that he hadn't uploaded to livedigital. So here it is. Nate looks so cute munching on his first ear of corn!

I didn't get around to getting any new pictures, but tonight Jason was able to get some. Since all this heat this week, we haven't been outside. There was a big storm that passed just north of us and we ended up with some good wind that cooled things off. So, we sat outside for a while tonight and Jason was able to snap some pics!

This weekend we are heading up to my folks for my dad's birthday and our nephew, Nolans birthday. We are staying over night and coming home on Sunday.

Nothing else is happening lately. Kinda boring around here.
I will have to post another time when things get exciting.

I've lost my purse...

2007-08-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't really lost my purse. It is the title of a poem and when I find the poem, I will share with you. On Friday, 2 friends and I went to tea at The St Louis Tea Room for one friends birthday. The ladies there read poems aloud while you eat. We only heard 2 poems and one was titled "I've Lost My Purse". At least I think thats what the lady said. I did email the tea room and ask for the author so I could find it online. It was a funny poem about a mother needing to pay a bill and couldn't find her pocketbook. This took place I would think in the 40's or 50's. Very cute poem and I hope I find it!

I had my first Diaper Class here at the house on Saturday. Only 3 people came. One person already cloth diapers. I didn't sell anything. I have 2 feelings about the day. 1: Sad because only 3 people showed and didn't sell anything, and 2: Happy because the people that were there are good friends and I trust them with critiquing my presentation. Now that my first class is done, and as I look back on that time, I know what I can do different. As I figure things out, I might share with you. I guess I am a bit embarrassed about my recent presentation. It didn't go as smooth as I had hoped. I think I need to have info on paper for people to look at as I am talking. I can use that as a cheat sheet too. Like I said, I may post more when I figure out what I want to do different.

I haven't shared any pics lately of us even tho Jason has on his blog. I would like to find some to share, or take some more and share then. My favorite lately is of Nate eating corn on the cob for the first time. I will try and find the pic. Well, livedigital is having a tough time loading and I don't want to wait around. I will have to post pics of Nate here another time.

Guess thats all for now.
-Lynn

Nate's New Word

2007-07-16T10:43:00.002-07:00

Been waiting somewhat patiently for Nate to finally start saying more words than just mama, daddy and tractor. So I made a list of what he can say. Uh oh, Jackson,whoa and today, I heard saying Baby! Clear as day! We have a babies r us advertisement from the other day and he loves looking thru it. Well, just a few minutes ago, as he was looking thru it, I heard Nate say Baby!

Here are some pictures that I said I would post.

The first pic is of my temporary clothes line. I thought I had more pictures of my clothes line and of Nates clothes line. Will have to go searching for those.
The second pic is of Nate painting for the first time. Aunt Amy was so kind to get him this easel at a yard sale.

Thats all for now. Maybe when Nate goes down for a nap, I will be able to post more.
-L

Nate

2007-07-16T10:43:00.001-07:00

Been to a good park lately?

2007-07-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

Nate and I ventured out to a park yesterday and today. They weather was so nice these past 2 days that we couldn't stay inside. We went to Creve Couer Park. They have a really nice play area for kids and it is pretty much all in shade. There are 2 play structures, one for the younger crowd and one for the older. The park also has a water feature where when one pushes a button, water shoots up out of the ground and also has a bucket that dumps water every time it's filled. Now Nate doesn't like the water, but he loves the climbing structures. We spent at least 2 hours there yesterday and about an 1 1/2 hours today. Called a friend to see if she and her 2 daughters would like to join us today.

Been waiting to get my clothesline so in the mean time, I decided to put up a temporary one in the backyard. I have strung a line from the garage to the fence by the carport. It only gives my one line and after fixing it a time or two, doesn't sag too much! I have been able to avoid the dryer the past 4 loads of laundry. I did take pictures and will have Jason upload them tonight and I will add them tomorrow here. Nate was playing around me yesterday as I was hanging out his diapers and tried to take a clothes pin from the bag. I gave him one and he went into the basket and grabbed an insert for his diaper and reached up high and tried to pin it to the line!!! So, I stopped hanging laundry and went to find some pieces of rope and tied it between 2 patio chairs. I showed him how to pinch the pin to make it open and how to pin the insert to the line. Nate has his own clothes line just his height!!! I did take pic's of that and will show you tomorrow.

Tonight, I am meeting with Nikki of Jacks Magic Beanstalk. She has my kit ready to go. It didn't cost as much as I was thinking it would. Silly me, I have been researching diapers for the past 2 years and know fairly well the prices of everything, I didn't need to be so worried. I am going to meet with her tonight and go over the order forms and some other things so that I can start getting out the emails to the ladies I want to invite to my first diaper party! I am getting super excited yet nervous. I am more nervous about having people to my house and being a hostess. I also am nervous that I wont be able to get out an invite in the mail to look the way I want it too.

As I am sitting here in the office, I look out my window and look at the tree thats right there. I have hung my bird feeder on a limb out there and see a squirrel trying to eat the seeds. Now I have stop trying to dissuade the squirrels from eating from the feeder, but I look just in time to see one almost fall off the feeder trying to stay perched enough to eat!!! I look up a little further and see a spot of red. There was a cardinal sitting there! How pretty! The stark red against the pretty green leaves. I love seeing such pretty birds flying around. Now, if I get my hummingbird feeder out there, would I be able to attract hummingbirds? Who knows!

Well, I need to get to the kitchen and make up some things for supper. Jason will be home soon and Nate will be getting up soon too.

Be looking for pictures tomorrow!