I hope everyone is having a good Easter.  Here in NWA, we are enjoying their day indoors.  It just keeps raining!  The kids enjoyed hunting eggs inside this morning.  I love that Ian is just old enough to keep Melody enjoying the egg hunts.  I read something on Facebook this morning that really spoke to me and I want to share it.

Easter is a promise
God renews to us each Spring.
May the promise of Easter
fill your heart with faith, hope, peace, joy & love!

I always have a hard time with New Years because its the middle of the winter and you are supposed to change your life for the better and I have always found that really wrong.  It is so much easier to think of Spring/Easter as a renewal time for yourself. 

I made salsa

Today I made some salsa by throwing together a little of this and a little of that...definitely not my style, but it turned out ok! Which is good because you have no idea how much courage it took to just throw some things into the bowl and have faith that it would turn out. Its missing a little something still I think but it IS definitely yummy. Maybe I'll add a little lime to it.

What I did last weekend for Mother's Day

It's Mother's day. 9:25am. I've been up since 6:30 with Ian, and am doing my best to remember the awesome time I had last weekend. I participated in a crop Friday night and all day Saturday which meant that Tony had the kids Friday night and all day Saturday by himself. Could this be why he is sleeping in today? Probably. I wish we could both sleep in, but there will be many more years when the kids are older that we can do that. Last weekend was a blast and I told Tony to consider it my Mother's Day gift...it did cost $30 and I did get 2 catered meals and 2 days without cooking. And I had uninterrupted time to preserve my family's memories. And hang out with my friends. Here is what I completed (I still have some journaling to do on some of the pages).

Maybe we can go out to lunch or dinner today. I hope all the moms are having a great day! I will be celebrating with my mom and Tony's mom next weekend. I will definitely be enjoying the quiet today and probably chilling with a movie or some of my friends or er seasons today.

Unexpected Harmony

Tonight we went to Melody's recorder concert. All of the 3rd grade students at her school learned to play the recorder thanks to their wonderful music teacher. And they played a concert tonight. It was a 20 minute concert and they sounded very good! I feel like I am qualified to speak about this ... I did play the violin for many years and have attended many orchestra concerts. That music teacher had a lot of courage and patience. So proud of my little girl! Might have to get her violin in working order so she can continue working on music.

Momma's night out!

This Momma's night out is fast approaching! Actually I get two in a row this weekend. I am doing a weekend crop...that's right, scrapbooking! Friday all evening and Saturday all day long.

I'm working on getting photos together so that I will have something to scrapbook about. I just finished finding pictures from Melody's year in kindergarten. I really should have much more done, but Ian was a bit demanding slash crabby tonight. He has found his demanding streak and his stubborn streak and he's not getting through this phase very quickly. Bless him, I know it will come in handy when he's an adult, but man its tough for me to deal with.

But this morning he was so sweet. We had a memorable moment. This morning, when we were leaving for daycare, he picked up his toy car on the way out. Before we got into the car to leave, I took his car and put it at the top of our driveway and let it roll all the way down. It made him so excited! And I'm glad he didn't try to run after it...lol. From the look on his face, you would have thought I had just done a magical trick...gotta love gravity!

Tonight I had to go to walmart to pick up a few things so Ian and I went on the way home. While we were there he said "hi" to a dozen or more people as we passed them. He loves to say hi and he is always surprised when they say "hi" back.

Tomorrow night, Melody has a recorder concert. Note to self.... REMEMBER THE CAMERA!

Ok I'm off to find more photos...or go to bed. hrmmm yep I think bed. G'night.

Trying something new....

Instead of thinking each post must be full of something amazing, I will try to just blog about my day at least 3 times a week.

Today, I started the morning without an alarm. I absolutely love how I can wake up on time without it. My inner clock is awesome and I am thankful for it!

But no matter how on time I wake up, I can never seem to leave on time. I couldn't find one of Ian's shoes. And I got to work 30 minutes after I wanted to. But that means 30 more minutes with a pleasant little boy who doesn't need breakfast as soon as he wakes up.

Work was ... ok I don't want to think about it and you don't want to hear about it. It's busy and just a jumbled mess right now. So lets skip forward 8 1/2 hours.

When I picked up Ian he had a big smile and said "heeeeeyyyy!". He's on this kick where he says "hi" all the time to everyone and its so cute. Then he pulled the wagon of blocks that the sitter says he was obsessed with today into the sitter's kitchen and then promptly lets me know he's ready to leave by going towards the door.

When I came home, Melody was down the street at the neighbors...for an hour and a half after I got home! Tony had to go pick her up because she failed to come home and check in. I used to do the same thing to my mom. I remember her getting so angry with me. I knew where Melody was so I tried to be calm about it. Definitely something we need to talk about. 1) checking in and 2) respecting the neighbors week night family time. Well, they aren't just neighbors, they are friends, but still.

When she came home I looked over her homework and tried to help with math. It's division and multiplication word problems. Hate them! But I was able to help her. That's my goal...help her with her homework ... work through the problems slowly. Maybe she'll slow down when doing her school work.

I cooked dinner. Chicken Chili with diced tomatos added in. That's as homemade as I get. It was good.

And I remembered Ian's medicine for his Impetigo. Yeah, he gets weird illnesses. Now, Castle is on. I love that show.

Sweet moment

So the last week or so I've been whispering to Ian at bath time ... "Ian do you want to take a bath?" At first I just wanted to see what he would do and then he would whisper back "bath" real soft and it was so cute so each night I've been asking him in a whisper.

Tonight, I got Ian undressed for his bath and then I was just sitting on the couch being lazy and not actually going in to run his bath. Apparently he understood why I had undressed him. He came over to me and got real close and whispered "bath".

:) It's so exciting! I think it was the first time he talked to me to ask me for something without me prompting it. It was so sweet. And he whispered, which I love, because he can be quite loud!

Melody turned 9! (6 weeks ago!)

Ok I am a little late getting this posted, BUT better late than never, right?

For Melody's birthday, we went bowling. It was a very small party, but we had fun and didn't blow a lot of money, which was my overall goal. Melody had 4 friends attend...Kayla, Mercy, Danae, and Matthew. Her Grandma and Aunt Beth came and of course mom, dad, and brother were there too.

The girls

Melody and her friend Matthew

Melody and her friend Danae

Melody and her friend Kayla

Melody and her friend Mercy

Time for cake, but mom forgot the candles (oops)

Her one gift from mom and dad
I think she likes it

Here are some photos of Ian. I was so proud of him. He stayed in his stroller most of the time and was rather entertained by the kids. He even tried to hold a bowling ball.

And back to Melody:

We did candles on a 1/2 eaten cake at home

Stay Tuned

Ok folks I have lots of updating to do and lots of pictures to go with! I think I even have a video stashed away.
Stay tuned for...
-Melody's 9th birthday recap
-Tony's all time high score in bowling
-Melody is going to be a flower girl and I have a sneak peak of her in her dress.
- Ian Paul and his great hair and his tackling of the slide and cornering of a tree.

But before we go there, here are some things that Ian is doing that melts my heart.

• When he wants to go to bed, he goes to the gate and attempts to climb it.
• Every couple days I get a kiss, open mouth and all.
• He points, a lot.
• He picks up toys when encouraged (this gives me hope)
• He claps and says "yay!" when he knows he's done something great
• He loves to sit on the couch, especially right next to daddy.
• He knows just the right time to smile, you know, just when he's about to get into big trouble.
• He truly loves to be outside and does his absolute best to get outside as soon after I put his shoes on as he can.
  

Yes, those are words that he is saying!

Melody's first word was light. Her Grannie taught her that. And whenever we entered a room, she said "light" and would point. She was about 10 months old. Ian's first words were bye bye, also at 10 months. But he has been pretty quiet since. He doesn't jabber quite as much as Melody did - trust me, this is ok! : ) But now, he has a collection of words that he can say.

"Dad-dy"
"Kit-ty"
those both have very pronounced syllables.
Duck
Bye bye
an attempt at Melody which consists of different syllables every time he says it but I know who he's reffering to because of the tone of his voice
Ball
and we get a very rare "pup" sometimes for "up"

I love hearing him talk!

It snowed and we sorted some shapes!

It snowed this weekend so we were inside Thursday pm through Sunday afternoon. I took time to try to teach Ian to sort shapes. He rocks.

circle in a star? nope...

sqare in a circle? nope...

ah...this fits I think!

He managed to get two circles in there!
Not to mention many more after I put the camera down.

Did I mention snow? Yes! Here was our yard this morning.

Snow + Freezing Fog = Pretty!

And we took a little time this afternoon to experience the snow!

Melody and Ian

I sat Ian in the snow and this is the face I got.

Action shot!
Melody threw a snow ball at me!

Melody is holding some snow and Ian is checkin' it out!

Here is a great photo of Ian. He is taking in the snow.

Ian is just beginning to talk some. Today when I was yelling for Melody he repeated after me... "elllll eeeee!" It was sooo cute! His babble is getting more conversational so I think its just a matter of time before he comes up with something really serious to tell me. He is also starting to put his mega blocks together. He walks around with two in his hands and pulls them apart and puts them back together over and over. Tony built a tower with his mega blocks today and Ian added one or two to the tower....but it wasn't long before he took them back. HAHA

And, he's at the imitation age. Melody and I taught him to fake sneeze.

Melody turns 9 in Feburary. We are less than 2 weeks from her birthday. We are going to have a bowling party. I hope the weather cooperates for her. I was supposed to go scrapbooking on Saturday night and that didn't work out because of the weather. Hopefully soon I'll get to go.

I've got cabin fever!!

So during this past week we have had the coldest weather that Arkansas has seen in TWENTY years. I realize this was felt all around the country and we were not the only ones, but it was COLD! On top of that, it snowed last Saturday night, so we've had snow and ice on the ground ever since which makes going out and about that much more difficult, but I guess I've always said that if its going to be really cold we should at least have snow on the ground because then it's much more pretty. Well, I'm am ready for the snow to melt and for the temperatures to rise and for there to be some warm air and sunshine. It is supposed to climb above 32 today. And by golly, we are going to Walmart to do our weekly shopping.

Melody was supposed to go back to school on Monday, but did she? Nope...in fact, she still hasn't gone back to school from winter break. She has been out of school for three weeks. Lets hope the above freezing temps melts the rest of the snow on the roads and they get back to school tomorrow.

I enjoyed two days at home last week, one of which I was off work and one of which I worked from home. I am super glad that I am blessed enough to work at home when I need to but it is super hard to stay focused and keep the kids happy. I owe Melody something super fun here soon for being such a big helper. On the days that Melody was out of school and I worked, she went to Ian's baby sitter's house. She has older kids and was able to watch her for me. Soooo thankful for that!

On the Ian front, he has switched to whole milk fully. He drinks about 24 ounces a day, give or take some. I think it may be too much, but he is also bigger than the average 1 year old so I hate to not give him what he seems to want. He also drinks 18 ounces of juice mixed with water (only 6 ounces of juice daily). He drinks the milk straight from the fridge at the sitter's house and warmed up at home (yep, spoiled rotten). He is sleeping really good right now and (knock on wood) hasn't been on antibiotics for a week . I have been giving him 1/2 a tsp of children's claritin daily and he sleeps with a humidifier.

On the Melody front, she has been rather mopey, but being inside for nearly a week straight and not seeing her friends from school in 3 weeks is enough reason I suppose. I realize that a great mother would wisk her away for some girl time, but money is tight so we'll have to see what we have left after grocery shopping today.

Tony and I have been passing the time by watching Friends on DVD since I completed my collection for Christmas. It is so funny! I never realized how raunchy it is, and I've been letting Melody watch it, which makes it even worse. But I suppose there are worse things in the world that she could be exposed to. And it makes her feel included. Maybe we can play some games later today after we get home from the store. That would be fun. I bought her boggle for Christmas...and haven't seen it since...where did it go?

Here's a picture from earlier this week when we had lunch at home. I've entitled it...spaghetti head:

I have been procrastinating posting again because I know I've waited too long (2 months!). So what's happened since Halloween?

an ear infections
a visit from Grannie
Thanksgiving
another ear infection
Hand Foot Mouth Disease
Ian's 1st Birthday!
Bronchitis
Christmas

Yep, that's what my life is made of lately. I am ready for the sickness to end.

So lets go over the three things that didn't involve illness.

Thanksgiving was fun. I hosted. Mom-in-law and sister-in-law were here. We had ham and all of the fixins. I took short cuts to try and enjoy my day with my children. We had steam and mash potatoes, noodles from the frozen food section, and stove top stuffing. It was yummy and Ian enjoyed it! Probably the last meal that he truly enjoyed for nearly a week because he got hand foot and mouth disease not too long after that. And then we lived through the most miserable week of our (Ian and Mommy) lives together.

Hand foot mouth was apparently very painful for Ian. He didn't want to eat or drink. I prayed for wet diapers. But we got through it slowly but surely. And then we CELEBRATED!

Ian's birthday party came about a week before his real birthday. It was great to see the people there who love him most. He went after the cake and truly enjoyed it. We opened presents. The kids that attended played with balloons. We played some music (although it was barely heard) and gave out CDs with "Ian's Party Tunes) on them for favors along with animal crackers and john deere fruit snacks. It was perfect.

Then we had Christmas. And I'll be honest. Ian was not at all impressed with opening presents on Christmas morning. It made him very cranky. I have a little man who is stuck on a routine and we don't open presents every day so it made him cranky. But we did have a white Christmas which was magical. And Melody had a great Christmas. We were thankful to be able to give our kids presents. It's been a pretty hard year financially and there were probably some creditors we should have paid more instead of buying gifts but we were able to have a very nice thrifty Christmas, and I will be honest, there wasn't too much that I didn't buy at Walmart or with my Swagbucks (yes, I got some Christmas presents for free for my family buy using Swagbucks to search all year).

And now 2010 is upon us. Ian is getting over Bronchitis. I am trying to figure out why he doesn't sleep at daycare. Melody is spending the week at grandmas. And I can't help but think of all of the wonderful things that happened in 2009. My little baby boy that we started the year off with has grown into a toddler. He has learned to walk (he learned during his 12th month) and is out to push every button I have.

He's been throwing his food at dinner time, mostly veggies, so I've been buying jarred veggies again just to be sure he's getting the vitamins he needs. He has started whole milk and is doing ok with it. I don't think he likes it very much.

Melody is getting ready to turn 9. This blows my mind away. Tony and I have already bought her birthday gift. She wants to go bowling for her birthday so that is what I'm working on planning. Luckily I still have about 6 weeks.

Now that I've rambled....lets hope I can post again before Melody turns 9!

Halloween Fun

We had a wonderful Halloween! I would have to say that this was the absolute best for our family. It was tons of fun because we had a super cute costume theme and lots of places to go and lots of parties to attend. Our costume idea began with Ian being a bumble bee. Then we decided that both kids would be bumble bees and Tony would be a beekeeper and I would be a beehive. It was so much fun. I am lucky to have a creative friend with lots of Martha Stewart magazines that helped pull everything together nicely. I don't think I could have pulled it off without my friend Amanda. She really came through. Thanks Amanda!

I have put together a slide show of our photos with photos from the following events:
- Pumpkins for Bumkins party from 10/24. We carved pumpkins at Amanda's house with a group of people.

- Hallow's Eve activities from 10/30. I dressed up for work and Melody dressed up for school. I went to Melody's school to help with her party and we attended a costume karaoke party as a family that night. Ian slept through the whole party and I was able to have a great time!

- Fall party at a friend's house on Halloween which included a lot of fun and games for Melody. She had so much fun and I am thankful that we were able to go.

Just a little update

So, the past month or so has been quite busy.

Ian had an ear infection probably about 6 weeks ago. So I was off for a day with him then. I went with him to the doctor complaining that he cried when I kissed him on the cheek. Strange, I know, but it was true and he had an ear infection.

About 2 weeks later, his sitter's daughter had a stomach bug so I kept him home for the day. Then Tony woke up with it the next day and the daycare was closed so everyone could get well. This same day, we went in for his 9 MONTH checkup! He was 26lbs even and 30 1/4 inches long. Yes, he's a big boy. 90% for height. over 95% for weight. But when you look at him, he just looks older, not necessarily too big, so I figure that's ok. Melody was a big baby too and now she is one of the smallest in her class. Back to the stomach bug, Tony had it, I think Ian had a spell of it (not as bad as the rest of us), and then Melody and I had it too. It was the worse stomach bug I've ever had. Just awful. I'll leave it at that.

Then a week and 1/2 ago we went in with 103.6 degree fever as a symptom. His ear infection was back. We are just finishing up his other antibiotic and hoping for a couple of months of health for our household.

Melody has made it a little over a month into the 3rd grade. She currently has all A's, although math and science are 90% so they are right on the border. She had a couple weeks where she had to be reminded to do things like check over her work and answer every question. She is a great big sister and loves to entertain Ian. We are working on a family plan for Halloween and she was willing to change her costume idea for us. We've been taking advantage of a lot of free activites like First Friday on the downtown square and the Farmer's Market and going to the park.

Melody at the farmer's market.

Ian at the Farmer's Market playing in the fountain.

We have moved mostly to finger foods. It's been about a week now since we turned that corner. As I type, he is just finishing breakfast. It's taken him about 30-40 minutes to eat, but he is thoroughly enjoying it. This morning, he had Bananas coated with crushed Banana Nut Cheerios and then about 1/3 cup of Banana Nut Cheerios. He also had a 6 ounce bottle. We've been cooking a lot of frozen veggies. He does ok with those. Sometimes the green beens are a little tough to chew. I've made chicken and turkey and turkey meatballs and put them into the freezer easy quick dinners. I still throw in a jar every now and then for a super quick dinner or digestion help. He also likes wheat toast and wheat pasta and loves to come get food off my plate when we eat. I am going to try to serve him some cheese pizza this week, we'll see how that goes. He has eaten some meals with us too. My number one worry is just the level of sodium in everything - I don't have time to make everything home made, but I try to keep his intake on the lower side. Over the past week, he's been eating "big boy breakfast and big boy lunches" at day care which is pretty exciting for him I hear because he gets to sit at the table too and he doesn't have to go steal food off the other kids' trays. Yeah, he was that kid.

Ian with his mouth full of peas, chicken, and toast.

One notable thing about his personality is his early love of music. He likes to "dance". You'll see a video of him dancing below. Whenever he hears a tune he likes, he head starts to move back and forth...he does it whether he's sitting, standing, or crawling. It's so cute. Here is a video.

Yesterday, he walked across the room with his little walking toy. That was pretty exciting. I'll do my best to get some pictures of that or even video but I'm pretty busy following him closely to make sure he doesn't fall.

Here is a photo of Ian looking toddlerish in his fall clothes.

A Plug for My Services - Your Photos Collaged!

Do you have lots of snapshots but can't really afford to get professional pictures done right now? Did you know your snapshots can be edited to concentrate on the most important aspect of the photo therefore making your snapshot(s) just as frame-able as a professional shot? Load digital snapshots onto a site like Photobucket or Flicker and send me the link and I will create a collage of any size to make your snapshots presentable, frame-able, and gift-able! You will receive a digital file back that you can have printed at your local Walmart, Target, Walgreens, etc. Other uses of the digital file include...

1. Set as your background on the desktop of your computer.
2. Load it on your computer as a screensaver.
3. Send it via email and allow family members to also display your collage on their computer as their screensaver or "wallpaper".
4. Have one of the above companies put your collage image on a mousepad, blanket, t-shirt...really, the possibilities are endless.
5. Get multiple collages and let me add in some seasonal graphics and have a calendar printed!

Once I send you your digital file, you own it and can do whatever you want with it - send it via email to everyone you wish, print it as many times at whatever size you wish. I charge only for my time of making your images into something you'll cherish for years to come. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

So here is the good news...
I am dropping the price for a collage to $12 for a limited time!!
And for a limited time, you can get your collage for an EVEN lower price by visiting the Your Photos Collaged Site and meet the challenge(s) listed on the latest post.

September is here?!

Oh my goodness. This year is flying by! A year ago we were preparing to paint "the baby's room" and I was still pretty set on buying a crib set and did not really have anything to make a baby's room except for crib which was still in the attic. Fast forward a year and my baby is sleeping in his crib. His room is the perfect color blue and his crib, although never adorned with a beautiful matching "set" is comfy enough to allow him to sleep through the night. Today I was driving down the road and I heard Darius Rucker's song "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and it touched my heart because the last 8 1/2 months flashed before my eyes and I can't believe we are really well on our way to toddlerhood. Tony even lowered Ian's crib on Saturday (although this should have been done a couple of weeks ago).

This weekend was quite low key for us, although it was super busy for Miss Melody. She got invited to a sleepover on Friday for Friday - last minute good times! They went to Chuck E Cheese and then had a slumber party and then I didn't see her until 3pm on Saturday - I guess they played all day too! Then, our friends took Melody to ice skate later that evening which she enjoyed immensely. That said, she slept well Saturday night.

So, with Melody being the exception, we didn't leave the house until this afternoon. I did some laundry...actually A LOT of laundry, Melody cleaned her room, top to bottom, including her closet. This child needs no clothes! And I yelled at her so that she'd keep on task...hahaha. She just needs a little motivation. I made a chore chart for her too. It doesn't have much promise in my mind though, because I remember when my mom made me a chore chart and I ignored it on purpose. She seemed strangely excited though, so maybe I should take advantage. Anyway...

When we did finally leave the house today, we went to the park, and took these oh so lovely pictures.

Daddy is getting Ian.

My family at the park.

I think I may start keeping her indoors more...

Note his disgust in grass

No, he's not posing, he's checking out the cars.

The President's Speech to school children

My daughter is in 3rd grade, so this whole debate has made me think pretty intently about what the big deal is about. I know that there are a lot of people who don't agree with everything he stands for. I honestly am not too sure about what I agree with and what I don't. With an 8 month old and an 8 year old, a full time job, and all the housework that comes along with those children, I haven't really had time to think about all the issues that face this country including healthcare and the wars we are fighting across the Atlantic. But I did take time to think about the President giving a speech to my daughter that she would view in her classroom. And then, when our school system decided they would post it on their website and not show it in the classroom, I took time to think about whether or not I will show it to my 8 year old. I decided...yes, my daughter and I will watch it together on the internet and we'll have a conversation about it afterwords. Why? I've listed the reasons below:

• Respect. The President deserves to be respected. I don't want to teach my daughter disrespect by telling her what he has to say isn't important because I may not agree with everything he has to say. We don't have to agree with everything he has to say, but that doesn't mean we can't listen. This goes back to having and open mind and not judging a book by it's cover...these are life lessons here!
• The President has taken time to make a speech to school children. My daughter is one of those children. My assumption is that it is a speech meant to motivate children at the beginning of the school year. I would be sadly mistaken if I thought that my daughter only needed me and her teacher to be motivated. I bet she can use all of the motivation she can get and I know that one more person telling her that they believe in her and her future isn't going to hurt one bit.
• I want her to feel like she is part of a country and that everything doesn't just revolve around our family or her school or her town or her...she's part of the United States, and frankly, that is something to be proud of.

This morning, I found the site where they are sharing the "Prepared School Remarks". There is nothing in it that I would keep my child from hearing. In fact, I look forward to watching it with my daughter this week on our public school's internet site so that I can hear her perspective.

Today was Melody's first day of 3rd grade. I got up extra early this morning, made sure Ian looked nice and was fed, and off we went to take my 3rd grader to school. We left the house at 7:20am, plenty of time to park, put Ian in the stroller and walk Melody into school. Little did I know, she is way too big to have her mom walk her into school. She asked me to just drop her off at the door. She knew where she was going and was confident and excited. I guess I've done a good job, but it sure was hard to swallow. So I dropped her off and, with tears in my eyes, I drove Ian to Ms. Kim's and then went to work.

Here's my 3rd grader!

She had a great day! I am looking forward to this year. We are in the 2nd half of elementary school now, after all!

Ian isn't only crawling...

So about 3 weeks ago, Ian began to move like an inchworm...he'd fling those arms out in front of him and pull his legs up behind him. Then about a week later, he figured out the alternating arm and leg movements, and he began to move quicker than I ever imagined. Then, about a week ago (last Friday to be exact), he pulled up. Luckily, I don't think he'll be walking this week as that requires a bit more than a week to master, but I'm sure it won't be 11 months like I have my heart set on. He'll probably be like his sister and walk around 9 months. I'm still hoping for 11 though!!

Here are some pictures of him pulling up:

Here he is pulling up on his bouncy seat.


Here he is standing at the window in the living room. This is one of his favorite places to be.

Last night was quiet around here. Ian fell asleep on the way home at 5pm and slept the whole night with exception of a bottle at around 9pm. This gave me time to take a good look at my new photo collage site that I threw together last week and make it look how I really wanted it to. There is a link to the right if you'd like to check it out. If you have a blog or a website, I now have a button on there that you can "wear".

I would like to leave you with a picture of Ian as an infant and then a picture of Ian now.

The difference between me and those who surround me...

So I've come to the realization that I seem to be surrounded by people who need to escape their everyday lives for one reason or another mostly due to their job as far as I can tell. But my perspective is different. I am happy with my career choice - not that I don't get stressed or overwhelmed with it every now and then - and when I come home I have two beautiful children and a husband who loves me. I know I am blessed with friends. But many people I know, except my children, all seem to feel the need to escape their lives. Tony comes home from work and logs into an online game because he hates his job and people make him angry and he chooses to take his anger out there. I also know many people who choose to escape in other ways - having a beer or enough beers to forget their stresses or exercising excessively. But I feel like I don't have anything to escape. So I feel like I am surrounded by people who need to escape while I am enjoying life. Except sometimes I find it hard to enjoy life when surrounded by people who do not. And that depresses me as I feel the need to enjoy life with others instead of by myself. Melody enjoys life and I think, other than her being my daughter, that is why I love her so much. Maybe I need to invite people to enjoy life with me. Corny ways I can think of doing that are board games and trips to the park and scrapbooking. Ah, I feel the need to move pass being the mother of a newborn and enjoying my interests again. I just wish there was someone who I could share my joys with even though I am a corny person who loves life and tries my best to cherish each moment. I think corny is fun!

And two more teeth make four!

Goodness, the teeth are growing quickly in my Ian Paul's mouth! I was giving him a bath tonight and tickled him under his arms and he laughed so hard and opened his mouth wide and I caught a glimpse of two more teeth gleaming out of the top of his mouth. These are not where I expected his first two teeth to come in on the top though. These are to the right and left of his middle teeth. So, to get technical, Ian got his lower right central incisor first, then his lower left central incisor next, and now he has both upper lateral incisor. This tells me that he's probably working on 4 more teeth, the upper central incisors and the lower lateral incisors. I put a chart below to make this a bit easier to understand. He must be ahead of schedule if the upper lateral incisors until 9 months.

If you haven't yet, check out my other blog site where I am advertising my new service. I can take your snapshots and make them into a nice collage. When you purchase your collage, you'll receive a jpeg file that you can have printed and framed and you can use it as your desktop background on your computer! The jpeg file is yours to do whatever you wish. Have I sparked your interest? Click on the button on the right side of my blog!

I would love to be more like her...

I would love to be able to have a blog like a friend of mine that I met on my IV board for December Mommies. She has started a blog and is giving away prizes and has a lot of great information! Maybe if I didn't work full time....

Anyway, you should check her blog out. She rocks!





While you are at it, check out my blog I created for business purposes. I have decided to make photo collages for people in my spare time. Click on the link to the right that says "Your Photos Collaged". I think these will make excellent gifts especially in tough economic times like now where getting a photo shoot done may not be an option. At least your everyday snapshots can be turned into an awesome gift for your friends and family.

He's mobile!

Oh my Mr. Ian certainly is a mobile little boy now! The video below was taken about a week ago.


He's made great strides since this. He can crawl, alternating hands and legs and keep his belly off the ground all at the same time! That is a huge accomplishment for a 24lb baby. Yeah, he weighs over 24lbs on our bathroom scale.

He got a bit of a cold this weekend. I think he got it from me. I made a very interesting discovery since I was desperate to get rid of the snot dripping continuously from his nose. Remember a couple years ago when the FDA took all cold medicines for children under 6 off the market? Do you realize what kind of predicament it puts us moms in when we can't make our babies feel better. Well, when Ian had a cold a few months ago, the doctor gave us a prescription for cold medicine. Yesterday, I took it with me to Walmart and compared ingredients...can you believe that it's exactly the same medication that is in Children's Tylenol Cold? So I bought it and gave him .75 tsp - carefully calculated to match the prescription that the doctor gave us mind you - and low and behold, he felt better rather quickly. He hasn't had to have any medicine today and was such a good boy after work today. I am hoping for a good nights sleep.

Melody is at her Grandma's for 2 weeks. I surely miss my Melody. She really is a source of happiness for me. I miss her hugs. I hope she's having fun. There are only two weeks left before school starts. I am happy that she has the opportunity to get away a little and have some new experiences without her baby brother to tie her down. ; )

I gave my blog a make over! and other random thoughts...

That's right folks! My blog has a new look thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block (love this site!). Where else can I get butterflies and polka dots?

Ian is 7 month old! Our 7 month old...

• Is growing a tooth...I can feel it and barely see it
• Is soooo close to crawling its not even funny...He's still working on those arm motions
• Is "dancing" in his exersaucer when the music plays ... I'll sway back and forth and then he'll imitate me with a big ole smile on his face
• Sits up very well
• Can go from a sitting position to standing when holding my hands (when he begins to crawl, he will most likely start pulling up VERY soon after)
• Is eating a very large variety of baby food out of jars mostly just because I know he's getting a better variety than what I could puree for him.
• Most recently we've added pumpkin, blueberries, strawberries, and mango to his diet. He surprisingly likes the meats. Tonight I mixed the Pumpkin Pear jar with Ham and he gobbled it right up. I have no idea why I decided to mix them together.
• Babbles all sorts of syllables (bababa, dadada) and is known to growl, squeal, and scream when he feels the need.
• Thinks his sister is the greatest and she just eats it up

What's on my mind lately?

I think I have finally gotten used to life with two kids. It's the norm now and it doesn't stress me out.

Tony's mom came in for the 4th of July weekend and my mom came in last weekend which was also known as my birthday weekend. I turned 26! Other than my mom coming to town (which was awesome!) and buying me cupcakes and pizza for dinner, my birthday was pretty low key. No big celebrations. Thanks for coming mom, you made my day!

Work has been complete hell lately - just way too busy and too much jammed packed into one month. But it should get better and more manageable as the busiest class season is behind us now.

Tony has been pretty into his online game for the past 5 months or so. This is leaving me longing for a hobby that makes me happy like his game makes him happy. I realize I can't expect him to entertain me and since I've go this parenting of two thing down, I think I can safely take on a project I enjoy. And I know what the hobby is...scrapbooking. I just need a little motivation to get it organized, a little money to make it exciting, and a way to keep it out of a soon to be toddler's hands.

I have a great idea for an "online business" but I have no idea how to set it up or advertise it. I have a love for making photo collages that can be used as a desktop background or even printed and framed in an 8x10 frame and I have several people ask about mine on my computer at work and I think I could charge a small fee to make them for people and then send them the file via email. I think I can request payment via pay pal, but I need to do some research. This could definitely provide my scrapbooking budget. If anyone has any ideas on how I can do this please comment!

I'm wondering what is keeping our friends so busy. I barely see anyone ever anymore and I'm not sure if its because I've done something wrong or if its just life. Melody misses seeing everyone too. We don't exactly get out as much as we used to either but I don't really remember us being out all the time anyway so I don't think thats it.

I had the day off yesterday and I took the kids to the park and walked around downtown with them. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad I didn't stress when Kim said she was sick - I just took the day off and didn't look back.

Melody starts 3rd grade in less than a month! Oh my! I really can't believe she is getting so big.

I am starting to ponder Ian's 1st birthday party. I really wish there were a place that I could have a simple party somewhere kid friendly without having 30 people in my house and not have to pay $200... I'm seriously hoping for a warm weekend in December lol. Ideas anyone?

I've been loving the weather we've had the past week or so...here's to another week like that!!

So lately I've been struggling with the balance between friends and family. A lot of times, I feel guilty for not spending time with my friends because of family commitments. I've struggled because I love my friends dearly, but my kids and their well being and their mood and their growth is all at stake when they miss a few hours of sleep. Their routine is so important, especially Ian's. He does so much better when he is on his routine and I have witnessed that if I mess with that routine, I risk him waking in the middle of the night or early in the morning and none of us get the sleep we need.

But I heard something the other day that really help put things in perspective for me. When we have kids, we tend to try to fit the old us into our family life, that of course, that doesn't work AT ALL. So instead of keeping our old self, I should accept that who I am has changed, so I need to re-invent myself. I need to find out who I am with two kids instead of one and I need to allow myself to be that person and try not to revert back to who I was as a parent to just one child. I went through the same process with Melody, its just that it lasted a LONG time and really it wasn't fully decided until recent years. Well, I want to take a more proactive approach this time - I don't want it to take years and I don't want people to make me feel guilty for putting my children first or taking care of myself so that my children can rely on me for anything that they need. I love my kids and I love spending time with my family. But I am missing my time with my friends and I don't know how to give both things the attention they need. I don't feel as if my friends think I am being a good friend.

On another note...

Yesterday was Ian's first 4th of July. Tonight we drove down the road and found the perfect spot to view the city's fireworks from just about .2 of a mile from our house. The fireworks were so-so, could have been better, but I am still thankful that our city had them because last year they didn't. Ian kind of watched the fireworks, but was randomly distracted by cars that drove by....so cute, his eyes would follow the car until it was out of his site and then back to fireworks. Melody was excited and giddy about the whole experience, which is fun. She's at a great age, maturing, but still has a lot of child like qualities. We bought a fountain and a pack of sparklers. Gotta love sparklers!

Ian has been a sleepy boy today. He woke up briefly at 5am, had a bottle, and then went back to sleep until 9:30am and then got up and ate and played for about two hours and then slept for about 2 and 1/2 hours. He just had lunch and is playing now. Yay for lazy sundays!

We are well again!

I sure hope that me saying that doesn't jinx us.

So Ian had his 6 month well check last Tuesday. He is 21 pounds, 13 ounces and 28 1/2 inches long! So that's where 35 ounces of formula every day has been going... lol

He has slowed down his formula intake though. I was kind of concerned when we went to the doctor. He has dropped about 10 ounces a day since we started solids, and honestly, he prefers solids over drinking a bottle. He loves his baby food! I spoke with the doctor and he said that he would recommend adding meats just to make sure he is getting enough protein but that some children never look back after starting solids and take to it really well . So, now we are on what seems like a routine with foods, at least from what I can tell from the weekend.

• when he wakes up, he eats 1/4 cup oatmeal with a stage 2 fruit and 2 ounces of formula mixed in.
• about 2 hours later, he eats 6 ounces
• about 2 hours later, he eats lunch which consists of 2 tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with a stage two jar or tub of veggies or meat and veggies or even fruit and meat every once in awhile.
• within the hour, he'll drink most of a 4 ounce bottle
• 2-3 hours later he takes 6 ounces
• 2 hours later he eats dinner (same type of food as lunch) and sometimes wants 2-4 ounces of formula, especially if he didn't get both of the previous two bottles
• 2 hours later he takes a bath and gets an 8 ounce bottle and goes to bed.

Now we'll see how long this lasts...lol.

He is sitting up fairly well and will be crawling as soon as he figures out how to move his arms.

I am still amazed (and frustrated) by...

...how different my children are. I seriously feel as if I am having to learn everything all over again, and this is very eye opening to me and, naturally, very frustrating.

Ian is ill. He has had a fever since early yesterday morning. Now, whenever Melody has had a fever (except for two times), she's had some sort of infection...an ear infection, UTI, pneumonia, strep, etc...we get the antibiotics and she feels better within 12-24 hours.

I took Ian to the doctor yesterday morning and the doctor checked him and said it was probably viral and then on his chart wrote "teething syndrome". This is after I asked him if it could be teeth and he said, "well, maybe, but there's a virus going around where they run a fever for a couple days then get a rash". Well, ok, but now I wonder why he marked teething syndrome on his chart?? I digress...

I am frustrated because I cannot cure Ian with an antibiotic. I am not saying I want to have to give him antibiotics, because I totally believe he shouldn't have him without an infection, but I am a fixer and I cannot make him feel better except for giving him Tylenol or, now, Motrin.

And now I'm trying to figure out if I should call the doctor in the morning. Is 2 days too long to have a fever?? I hope I don't have to find out. Lets hope the fever goes away tonight just as quickly as it came Wednesday morning.

On another note, at 8:31 pm tonight, Ian Paul turned 6 months old!! I cannot believe he is already 1/2 a year old. This means I get to start thinking about birthday party ideas. I've got to find a place to host a party besides our house...it's just not big enough for everyone I'd like to have celebrate with us. Happy 1/2 birthday, little man!

It's really be a day of excitement for me!

1st, you should know that I've deemed my self "soggy" - this means that I am a huge proponent of convenience items especially when it comes to Ian. So I've been buying disposable diapers and baby food in jars and those sorts of things. These days, with all the cloth diapering going on in the world and websites built around making your own baby food, I was starting to feel like the minority sooooo... I got over my "sogginess" and made some Green Beans for Ian tonight and blended them into a yummy puree and he ate a pretty large serving of them! Now, I did buy the steamer bag of green beans from Birdseye and steam them in the microwave BUT I still think it cost about 1/2 as much overall and it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would and it didn't make much of a mess at all.

2nd, the carseat I ordered is in!! I installed it tonight and I'm thinking I may take it for inspection tomorrow to be sure it's in right, but it seems really comfy for Ian, he was really getting scrunched in his infant seat - he is such a chunk! We'll know just how big he is by this time next week - not sure exactly when but he's got his 6 month check up coming up within the next week!

3rd, Kim (our beloved childcare provider who has become a great friend) said that Ian went forward today in his crawling attempts. Here is a picture of him and a video of him from this past weekend working on his skilz.

He is also beginning to sit up some more. I haven't gotten a picture yet because he's still wobbly but by the beginning of July, I am positive that he will have moved on from being a horizantle baby. This is bittersweat for me. I am glad that he is growing and that he is healthy, but he is changing so quick I'm afraid I'm forgetting everything as soon as it happens.

Speaking of the beginning of July, the 4th is coming up. I really want to watch the Bentonville fireworks display this year but we'll see how that works out.

I will get a day off this week since I worked this past weekend. I am looking forward to it. I think I will take Melody to see a movie on my day off - some mommy and me time! She is definitely deserving of it. What a great sister she is!