Tuesday, November 13, 2012

I'm baaaaack!

Ok, so... it's been almost a year.  But, the kids are in bed, the dishes are done, and J has the channel changer (which means I must divert my attention lest I have a seizure due to his constant changing of the channels).

A quickie update-
Me- Loving life as a wife and momma.  My kids are so busy, but it's fun seeing their personalities develop.  Loving life as a middle school sped teacher.  I really do love my job- craziness and all.  (but really--- show me a job that isn't crazy)  I was "evaluated" the other day with my assistant principal watching a lesson.  Afterwards, she said that was her favorite observation. ever.  I wish I could tell you more about the kiddos in the class.  They are hilarious and I love starting my day with them.  New obsession?  Making hair clips!!

J- On rotations as a third-year med student.  Boo-ya!  We're getting to the light at the end of the tunnel---for me, that is known as.... the moment he starts getting paid.  YIPPEE!  Sounds bad to focus on that, but then I'll be able to stay home (for at least a while... we'll see...).  The place J is at right now is... basically full of white trash patients.  He's seen quite a few interesting cases, and knows he does not want to be a family physician (not just because of this one rotation, by the way).  I'm so proud of him--he's SO stinkin' smart- and learning more things every day.  His patients love him too.

M- Oh my biggie big girl.  Latest obsession? Being a horse.  This became a problem because she insists on wearing "clippity-cloppity shoes" and the other day, she ended up kicking C in the face.  Goodness gracious. She has a mind of her own, but is become a very helpful girl.  She does a few chores and MOST of the time, is on the lookout for how she can make C happy.  We have a four book cap at bedtime because she LOVES to read.  She still loves projects, but is sort of "over" kiddie ones and only wants to do what I'm doing... which sometimes means Mommy's crafting goes on after bedtime!  She says the absolutely FUNNIEST things on a daily basis- sometimes multiple times a day.  She has become a picky little eater, and I hate suppertime battles.  I am just NOT ok with jelly sandwiches every night.  She loves Cubbies but at gymnastics lately she has said, "I just want to play with YOU."  We may discontinue them after this month.  She's been in them since September, so I think we're good for a little break.

C- C's health issues are enough for another post.  But, we'll just do a quick summary with about 10 ear infections SINCE tubes last year.  Tubes out, new tubes in plus adenoids out last week... currently on antibiotics for a double ear infection he had WHILE he was finishing up antibiotics for a previous ear infection.  Awesome.  Currently in conversations with a group to possibly begin Speech therapy.  Sweet boy can't help but be delayed from all these ear troubles.  He is turning into a CRAZY Boy (with a capital B).  Just today in the tub, I had to stop him in a drowning attempt on either himself or his sister probably about 10 times.  He loves all things ball- favorites seem to be footballs and golf balls currently.  But, he DOES also enjoy J's wood baseball bat as well...

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Pinterest Adventures

I've seen a lot of people posting about pinterest, so I'll throw one out there too!  I heart Pinterest.  I also love that I can hang out with the kids and browse at my leisure.  hehe  At first I just was overwhelmed with amazing ideas.  Now I've started to actually use some of my pins.  I hope that is a trend that continues.  The first thing I used that I pinned was cutting up letters from cereal boxes and other containers that would be thrown away anyways.  I have an old wipe case on a kitchen counter and just throw 'em in there whenever I have new letters.  I hope M (and C down the road) enjoys recognizing, sorting, rearranging, making words ?! at some point,  but I figure that I'll be ready for that day!

Then I made 7-layer dip - one of my favorites.  The recipe I pinned is basically the same one my family uses, so it was pretty much just pinned to remember to make it every once in a while.

The THIRD thing I made is the reason for this post.  JJ had a midterm Monday.  Add that to studying for the boards, and basically we haven't seen daddy in a while.  In a conversation about feelings Sunday, M made the comment, "Sometimes I'm sad when I can't see my Daddy."  I decided we would go on an adventure and bring Daddy and his study buddies dessert!  So. much. fun.  But what dessert??  I had made cookies recently and wasn't feeling it. SO!  I turned to my faithful pinterest and found a Better than *you know what* cake.  Mmmmm.  Since it was my first time making it, PLUS I had two kids keeping my busy while I was supposed to be making it, PLUS I had a very tight schedule to make it (bring it to Daddy AND get home at a decent time), I decided it may not be better than s-e-x, but it was AT LEAST better than studying!  My Better than Studying cake turned out to be a major success and it was way fun to visit Daddy.  M loves some of JJ's buddies and she was delighted that one of them humored her and took her up and around the building, on the elevator, etc. numerous times!

A few other funnies:
M was sitting on the couch watching a movie, when all of a sudden, I heard *a noise*. 
Me: Honey!  Do you need to use the restroom?
M: No Mommy!  That came out of my mouth!

M: Oh, I'm just teasing, like my Grandpa.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

J family: Where have we been??!

Ugh.  I know.  I know.  BUT I have a few good excuses.

So, we moved.  We bit the bullet and bought a house.  While I was a little less eager than JJ to move, I'm so very happy with our house.  I guess it was time to put on my big girl pants and suck it up. 

November was pretty much a blur of packing, organizing, ear infections and, oh yeah, moving and unpacking and organizing!  Phew!  We absolutely couldn't've done it without my parents and some of our amazing friends.  A bunch of people from JJ's school helped us out and that meant so much to me - he really has a great group of buddies.  A coworker and friend's hubby were also recruited, and everyone appeared to still be moving even after all was said and done!  : )

My parents came to help us unpack and celebrate Thanksgiving with us in our new house!  The weather was amazing and we hit up the park on a walk - which doesn't always happen in November.  At least not where I'm from - last November, M was getting her first taste of snow!

December was fabulous.  More nice weather plus starting to feel settled equaled a great combination.  The C-man got tubes, which was such a crazy-fast procedure it was insane.  He did SO WELL, only fussing that we couldn't feed him from midnight on.  We were the first ones scheduled for the day, so he didn't have to wait too long and drank 10 oz pretty much as soon as we got to see him - still a little sloppy from anesthesia! 

Oh yeah, that was another development.  Much to Mommy's UNhappiness, C pretty much weaned himself at the end of Nov-early Dec.  : (  I attribute it mostly to stress and working full time, but I could not keep up with his needs - even pumping at work I never had a storage for him like I did with M (well her nursing was another whole story...).  I had no choice but to supplement, and you know how that can be a slippery slope.  Anyways, it's not the end of the world, and I know that I got him as much boobie juice as I could.  : )  hehe

My parents came for Christmas, and this time we felt like we could relax a little bit more!  We enjoyed having them back so much!  We were totally spoiled with not having to travel for the Holidays.  I'm pretty sure A and L J aren't going to let us get away with it next year though... ; )  We did miss them and are so glad they're coming to visit in February!!!

The boys, (two of JJ's bro-bros), CP and B surprised us and visited us for New Year's!  P called saying B bought a new car and was itching to test it out on the highway, which I translated as: we miss our little brother.  : )  We were so happy to have them, and the best part of that trip was beating both of them in scrabble... huh... they haven't played since... funny thing... ; )  Oh, and I WAS up at midnight, even if I had a nap on the floor for about an hour that evening.  : )

Enough of this update - can't wait to share a few recent funny stories!