I got tagged on my facebook page to write 25 Random things about me so I figured I would post it up here since most of what I write about is my kids.
1. I dont regret not finishing college (not ever)
2. I am a compulsive worryer.... I worry about everything, even things I cant control (but mostly things that involve my children)
3. I watch Days of Our Lives (not everyday but often enough that I could fill you in on the storylines)
4. I talk to myself... A lot
5. I am constantly wondering if I am a good enough mom and if my kids are going to turn out ok
6. I want to have one more baby but dont always feel like I might be able to handle one more.
7. I suck at staying on a budget
8. I am a compulsive organizer...I am always looking for new ways to organize anything and everything in my house.
9. Although he will probably never hear it from my mouth, my husband is right a lot of the time
10. I dont believe anyone else could put up with me besides my husband, and the same for him...we are perfect for eachother
11. I have accepted that it is probably pretty likeley that at some point in my life I will have breast cancer... I just hope my children are older
12. I would wear jeans and a solid colored shirt everyday if I could12. Once upon a time I had a clue about fashion but now I just look at clothes with a big question mark over my head wondering how and where I would wear it to.
13. I am pretty even tempered most of the time but when my mommy claws come out you better watch out.
14. I wish I had more girl friends
15. I pray everyday, sometimes multiple times a day that my children will be good people.
16. Doing what I do everyday (staying home with my kids) is what I have always dreamed of doing. I never imagined I would do anything else.
17. I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tounge... TWICE (but I hate cherries)
18. I have a really hard time accepting that I cant do everything and be everything to everyone.
19. I eat something sweet everyday. And I have a diet coke everyday.
20. My favorite sound in the whole world is the sound of children laughing
21. I want to take a photography class someday.
22. I believe family is what life is all about.
23. I hate brushing my teeth (dont get me wrong, I brush them twice, sometimes 3 times a day) but I just hate doing it, I dont know why.
24. I believe religion is important... different people choose different religions and it is not my place to judge anyone for what they choose to believe, just dont judge me for what I choose to believe.
25. I believe that happiness is not a state of being...no one is happy all the time, happiness is moments and it is those moments of happiness that I want to always remember... the way my husband looked at me when he asked me to marry him, the way it felt to hold my children for the very first time, laughing until our sides hurt with my mom and sister, watching my kids discover anything and everything that life has to offer, holding my husbands hand after 50 years of marriage, seeing my children have children of their own...that is my happiness
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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Chaos
Anyone that knows me well knows I like to have a project going on... I like all different types of projects, home renovations, decorating, scrapbooking, organization, planning an event, pretty much anything that keeps me busy (as if I am not busy enough) but I like to have something going on. Fortunately for me I married a man that is a perfect match for me and shares my "project attitude".
We have been talking about closing in our 2 story family room and making a playroom over top of it. We weren't sure if we could do it or not but because we have 9ft ceilings upstairs Stephens main construction guy said it could be done. We have a playroom already but it is in the basement and Reagan never wanted to go play by herself downstairs. I don't blame her...there is something very dungeounlike about a basement to me so I understand why she wouldn't want to go down there alone. Plus the basement was suppose to be Stephens "Mancave" but was taken over with toys so he decided he wanted his basement back and I decided that I wanted a more practical playroom.
So the construction began. I have to admit that I had no idea how they were just going to throw a floor up in the middle of the room but Stephens crews know what they are doing so I just tried to stay out of the way which meant lots of outings for the kiddos last week. It took exactly 1 week, that's right ladies and gentleman, only 1 week to do the entire project. Demo was done, electrical was moved, walls were built, windows were removed and replaced, HVAC was ran, surround sound was installed, siding was replaced where the windows were moved, drywall was put up, mudded and sanded, new trim was installed, painting was done, carpet was installed, doors were installed and furniture was moved in and completely arranged in 1 week. Stephen does not mess around when it comes to making things happen. There were a few late nights by his guys but thankfully my kids can sleep through WWIII. Here are some shots of the process.
This is the open floor plan before we added the room. While it was a nice open feeling there was a lot of unused space up there and the sound travels up so when we were watching a movie downstairs I was always worrying it was going to wake up the kids. Plus the kids rooms would be on both sides of the new room which made it an ideal space for a new playroom.
This is how they came in and ran beams across to create a floor. Still kind of blows my mind how they did it.
This wall used to be noexistent. It was the catwalk that overlooked the family room.
The new playroom!!! Complete with wall mounted plasma and surround sound (I will give you one guess who decided the kids "had" to have that) The wall as you walk in has windows all across it but I couldnt get a good picture of it.
The family room closed in now. I really like it better. It has a more "homey" feel to it.
The cofered ceilings we had put in... I love them!!!!
We have been talking about closing in our 2 story family room and making a playroom over top of it. We weren't sure if we could do it or not but because we have 9ft ceilings upstairs Stephens main construction guy said it could be done. We have a playroom already but it is in the basement and Reagan never wanted to go play by herself downstairs. I don't blame her...there is something very dungeounlike about a basement to me so I understand why she wouldn't want to go down there alone. Plus the basement was suppose to be Stephens "Mancave" but was taken over with toys so he decided he wanted his basement back and I decided that I wanted a more practical playroom.
So the construction began. I have to admit that I had no idea how they were just going to throw a floor up in the middle of the room but Stephens crews know what they are doing so I just tried to stay out of the way which meant lots of outings for the kiddos last week. It took exactly 1 week, that's right ladies and gentleman, only 1 week to do the entire project. Demo was done, electrical was moved, walls were built, windows were removed and replaced, HVAC was ran, surround sound was installed, siding was replaced where the windows were moved, drywall was put up, mudded and sanded, new trim was installed, painting was done, carpet was installed, doors were installed and furniture was moved in and completely arranged in 1 week. Stephen does not mess around when it comes to making things happen. There were a few late nights by his guys but thankfully my kids can sleep through WWIII. Here are some shots of the process.
This is the open floor plan before we added the room. While it was a nice open feeling there was a lot of unused space up there and the sound travels up so when we were watching a movie downstairs I was always worrying it was going to wake up the kids. Plus the kids rooms would be on both sides of the new room which made it an ideal space for a new playroom.
This is how they came in and ran beams across to create a floor. Still kind of blows my mind how they did it.
This wall used to be noexistent. It was the catwalk that overlooked the family room.
The new playroom!!! Complete with wall mounted plasma and surround sound (I will give you one guess who decided the kids "had" to have that) The wall as you walk in has windows all across it but I couldnt get a good picture of it.
The family room closed in now. I really like it better. It has a more "homey" feel to it.
The cofered ceilings we had put in... I love them!!!!First Haircut
Well Reagan hair had finally gotten so long (read: past the middle of her back long) that it was getting fuzzies at the end so she had to get a haircut. It was more like a microscopic hair cut, they maybe cut off 1/4 inch but it was just what those fuzzy little ends needed.
We went to this fun place called Pigtails and Crewcuts close to our mall. It was a really cute place...all the chairs were firetrucks or airplanes (Reagan chose a firetruck) and they turned on Cinderella for her while she had her hair cut. The actual haircut took less than 10 minutes but somehow Reagan manages to consume 5 dum dums in that time... hey it kept her still right.
We went to this fun place called Pigtails and Crewcuts close to our mall. It was a really cute place...all the chairs were firetrucks or airplanes (Reagan chose a firetruck) and they turned on Cinderella for her while she had her hair cut. The actual haircut took less than 10 minutes but somehow Reagan manages to consume 5 dum dums in that time... hey it kept her still right.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
SUCCESS
Today was my little monkeys surgery and it went very well. I didnt really know what to expect but it was so fast. He was in and out before I really had time to get nervous. We got there at 6:30 this morning...meaning we had to leave our house at 5:15am to drive downtown to the surgery center. (Thanks again Bonnie for being at my house at the crack of dawn this morning to get Reagan off to school) The only nice thing was that Brody doesnt normally eat until close to 7am anyway so not being able to feed him wasnt to much of a struggle.
They called us back and did some pre-op stuff and then decided on giving him a breathing treatment before surgery because he was really congested and they just wanted to make sure his airways were open and dialated. The hard part was that I went back to the O.R. with him until they put him to sleep... I lost it when they did that. He was holding my finger and looking at me like "mom what are these people doing to me"...it was awful seeing him like that... I guess it was just a feeling like he is so small but he has already had to overcome so much in his life.
The nice nurse took me back to the waiting room and before I had time to stop crying the doctor came in and told Stephen and I he was done. They moved us to another waiting room and like literally five minutes later they came and told us he was awake.Stephen had taken the whole day off work and we were done by 9:30am. Modern medicine is amazing. He woke up from the anestesia a little grumpy but I think he was just hungry because as soon as i gave him a bottle he was his happy self again.
When we got home he took a 4 hour nap and woke up a new baby (maybe I am just being optimistic but he seemed happier to me). They told me his ears would drain for a few days but he should be as good as normal by tomorrow... The only thing is, his ears have been so bad for so long I dont even remember what normal is anymore.
Right before surgery (nice hat I know)
They called us back and did some pre-op stuff and then decided on giving him a breathing treatment before surgery because he was really congested and they just wanted to make sure his airways were open and dialated. The hard part was that I went back to the O.R. with him until they put him to sleep... I lost it when they did that. He was holding my finger and looking at me like "mom what are these people doing to me"...it was awful seeing him like that... I guess it was just a feeling like he is so small but he has already had to overcome so much in his life.
The nice nurse took me back to the waiting room and before I had time to stop crying the doctor came in and told Stephen and I he was done. They moved us to another waiting room and like literally five minutes later they came and told us he was awake.Stephen had taken the whole day off work and we were done by 9:30am. Modern medicine is amazing. He woke up from the anestesia a little grumpy but I think he was just hungry because as soon as i gave him a bottle he was his happy self again.
When we got home he took a 4 hour nap and woke up a new baby (maybe I am just being optimistic but he seemed happier to me). They told me his ears would drain for a few days but he should be as good as normal by tomorrow... The only thing is, his ears have been so bad for so long I dont even remember what normal is anymore.
Right before surgery (nice hat I know)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Time for Tubes
Well Brody is officially scheduled for surgery this Thursday, and while I hate the idea of him having to have surgery I think it is going to be the best thing for him.
I took him to the doctor last Thursday to have his ears checked... he had just had 3 shots of Rocephin (a really strong antibiotic) the week before and they wanted me to come in and see how his ears looked. So we trecked over to the doctors office for our 4th visit in less than a week and when we got there... sure enough, STILL INFECTED. Not just a little bit but bulging with puss infected (sorry for that visual). His doctor told me that I needed to see the ENT asap and that if I couldnt get an appointment to call her back and she would put in a call.
As soon as I got home I called the ENT and told them I needed the first available appointment, with the first available doctor at any of their 5 Atlanta locations. Of course it would have to be their Cobb office that had a cancelation for the very next day (that is only the farthest office from my house, almost 2hours without traffic). So I called my stepmom to see if she could watch Reagan (thanks Diane and Dad!!!) and took Brody to the other side of the universe for this appointment.
The doctor took one look at his ears and said he reccomended tubes... he said nothing else was working so it really seemed like our only option. In fact, his ears were so filled with fluid that when they did the hearing test Brody had almost no response. Thank goodness the hearing loss is just temporary and something that the tubes will help with as well but without them it could permanantly damage his hearing.
So this Thursday we will be driving down to Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital at 6:30am to have his ears fixed. (Thanks Bonnie for watching Reagan and Erin for taking her to and from school )It is not a day I am looking forward to... no parent wants to see their little baby go through any kind of pain but I just keep telling myself that kids get them all the time and its a minor surgery... maybe sometime before Thursday I might start to beleive myself. Heres to hoping everything goes smoothly.
I took him to the doctor last Thursday to have his ears checked... he had just had 3 shots of Rocephin (a really strong antibiotic) the week before and they wanted me to come in and see how his ears looked. So we trecked over to the doctors office for our 4th visit in less than a week and when we got there... sure enough, STILL INFECTED. Not just a little bit but bulging with puss infected (sorry for that visual). His doctor told me that I needed to see the ENT asap and that if I couldnt get an appointment to call her back and she would put in a call.
As soon as I got home I called the ENT and told them I needed the first available appointment, with the first available doctor at any of their 5 Atlanta locations. Of course it would have to be their Cobb office that had a cancelation for the very next day (that is only the farthest office from my house, almost 2hours without traffic). So I called my stepmom to see if she could watch Reagan (thanks Diane and Dad!!!) and took Brody to the other side of the universe for this appointment.
The doctor took one look at his ears and said he reccomended tubes... he said nothing else was working so it really seemed like our only option. In fact, his ears were so filled with fluid that when they did the hearing test Brody had almost no response. Thank goodness the hearing loss is just temporary and something that the tubes will help with as well but without them it could permanantly damage his hearing.
So this Thursday we will be driving down to Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital at 6:30am to have his ears fixed. (Thanks Bonnie for watching Reagan and Erin for taking her to and from school )It is not a day I am looking forward to... no parent wants to see their little baby go through any kind of pain but I just keep telling myself that kids get them all the time and its a minor surgery... maybe sometime before Thursday I might start to beleive myself. Heres to hoping everything goes smoothly.
Friday, January 2, 2009
My poor little guy
Unfortunatly this is how we ended our holiday season. Brody ended up with a double ear infection and a nasty cold/cough and when we went back to the doctor the next day for a second shot of antibiotics he was wheezing so they put him on breathing treatments.They tested him for RSV but it was negative (thank goodness). He is doing better but it looks like he is going to have to have tubes put in his ears. He is on his 5th ear infection in about 4 months and now even the shots aren't clearing them up completely. Poor little guy...
Christmas
Despite Reagans HUGE aversion to Santa Clause, christmas at our house this year was a whole lot of fun!!!! It was so fun to see Reagan get so excited about all her toys...she kept saying "For me?" and "Surprise" everytime she opened a present... it was so cute. Brody was a trooper through all of it, like most babies at christmas the paper and boxes struck his attention more than anything else. Here are several pictures (in complete oposite order) of our christmas.
This is Me, Megan, and Jordan at my moms house in Charlotte (we went christmas day afternoon). My mom bought us matching pajamas and they came with those silly eye cover things so we decided to be dumb and take some pictures.
This is my Grandma (my kids great grandma) playing with Brody. It was so fun to have her around this christmas
My nephew Damian and my sister Megan fedding Brody breakfast.
Brody wearing Damians protective eye wear for his play chain saw he got for christmas.
Reagan got a big trunk full of beautiful dress up clothes and shoes from my mom...she prances around the house like she is something else in all her fancy dresses.
Brody on one of his Christmas presents...he loves when you push him really fast around the kitchen.
Brody among all the chaos
The christmas bomb that went off at our house (this is what it looked like after we were done opening presents and started playing)
Reagan and Brody's big gift from Santa this year was a trampoline...and yes that is water on it, it had rained the night before but i couldnt show Reagan the trampoline and then tell her she couldnt jump on it... yes she got wet but she loved every second of it.
Reagan was a pro at opening presents. She would turn it around until she found the little flap that she could put her hand under and tear. She opened all of hers and all of Brody's presents and then wanted to help with mine.
Brody playing with his stocking (he woke up uncharacteristically early and was back asleep before Reagan even started opening her presents)
Christmas Eve just after Santa left =) or should i say putting together that little pink thing on the right that came in 125 parts and took 2 hrs to put together.
Reagan decorating christmas cookies. Despite not liking Santa she was all about making him cookies.
It is a tradition in my family to make homeade sugar cookies and frost them on christmas eve day...one that i have now passed onto my kids and Reagan LOVES it.
This is Me, Megan, and Jordan at my moms house in Charlotte (we went christmas day afternoon). My mom bought us matching pajamas and they came with those silly eye cover things so we decided to be dumb and take some pictures.
This is my Grandma (my kids great grandma) playing with Brody. It was so fun to have her around this christmas
My nephew Damian and my sister Megan fedding Brody breakfast.
Brody wearing Damians protective eye wear for his play chain saw he got for christmas.
Reagan got a big trunk full of beautiful dress up clothes and shoes from my mom...she prances around the house like she is something else in all her fancy dresses.
Brody on one of his Christmas presents...he loves when you push him really fast around the kitchen.
Brody among all the chaos
The christmas bomb that went off at our house (this is what it looked like after we were done opening presents and started playing)
Reagan and Brody's big gift from Santa this year was a trampoline...and yes that is water on it, it had rained the night before but i couldnt show Reagan the trampoline and then tell her she couldnt jump on it... yes she got wet but she loved every second of it.
Reagan was a pro at opening presents. She would turn it around until she found the little flap that she could put her hand under and tear. She opened all of hers and all of Brody's presents and then wanted to help with mine.
Brody playing with his stocking (he woke up uncharacteristically early and was back asleep before Reagan even started opening her presents)
Christmas Eve just after Santa left =) or should i say putting together that little pink thing on the right that came in 125 parts and took 2 hrs to put together.
Reagan decorating christmas cookies. Despite not liking Santa she was all about making him cookies.
It is a tradition in my family to make homeade sugar cookies and frost them on christmas eve day...one that i have now passed onto my kids and Reagan LOVES it. It was a great christmas...spending time with our families and watching our kids enjoy themselves makes all the work that goes into it worth it. I have to share a quick story that really brought me back to the true meaning of Christmas this year....
I was putting Reagan to bed Christmas eve and I was reading her "The Crippled Lamb" if you havent read it it is a great christmas story. I wasnt sure if she would listen to it since there are kind of a lot of words to read on one page and well...she two so you know how impatient they can be. While I was reading the story about a little lamb that has a bad leg and therefore cant go to the greener pasture with the other lambs, Reagan was listening very intently. The story goes on and it ends up that because the little lamb was unable to go to the pasture with the other lambs he ends up being in the stable when the baby Jesus was born and helps to keep the new king warm. As I turned to the page where baby Jesus was laying in the manger, Reagan sat up in the bed and looked at the baby. She rubbed her hand over him and leaned forward and kissed him. At that moment I was overcome with emotion and almost wasnt able to finish the story. It was a perfect end to the day and a perfect way to remind me what we are truly greatful for this holiday season.
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