A Merry Christmas!

I should go to bed, but here I sit listening to the rain and storm. What a weird December. It's been raining since the early hours this morning. We've had a steady flow of water running through our basement all day long. I keep praying it doesn't get worse than it is, and keep going down to check, even though I don't know what I would do if it got worse anyway. As I type, the rain is POURING down. This is insane!

Yesterday was such a fun day to celebrate with the boys!

Christmas Eve we ended our Advent calendar with a big list of traditional activities. Christmas Eve was rough though. Daniel was not in the mood to obey. He and I had a throw down about rest time, which ended in me waking Jacob up from his nap to deal with it, while I went to the basement to wrap their Christmas Eve jammies and have a little cry.

We did a living room picnic for lunch, and ate junk food while watching Elf. Sometimes I don't know why my expectations are so high. I know that Daniel rarely can sit through a movie, but the kid was bouncing off the walls. Then came the rest time meltdown. He ate supper well though because he was excited to go see Christmas at the Park! That was really fun this year because he noticed a lot of the lights and pointed things out. James sat and cheerfully chatted the whole way though. We came home and unwrapped jammies. It was the first (of many) years of matching jammies, I'm sure!



Then we watched Charlie Brown...which ended up another bust. He claimed he was watching, but he more or less ran around the living room like a maniac.

He was so tired and I knew it. He was asleep by 7:15 and James was down by 7:45. Santa showed up early...although I was a little nervous Daniel would wake up and wander into the living room before I went to bed!

I ended up waking up at 3:30 with James and never falling back to sleep. My mind wouldn't shut off and then I was excited for the boys to wake up! I had told Daniel he could come in and get us at 7:15. LOL! At 5 I was willing him to wake up! Just before 7, I heard his bedroom door and greeted him. He wanted to see if Santa came! Not long after we were opening gifts. We did stockings first , then breakfast and then presents.

James latched onto Mickey and a Bubble Guppies bath toy from his. And decided socks were the dumbest gift ever.



Daniel seemed to love just about everything he pulled out of his stockings. We've never given the impression that Santa does stockings. He even helped pick out stocking stuffers for Jacob and I. But he was so funny! "Santa filled our stockings!" "Santa got this police car at WalMart! I've seen it there before!"



Presents were such a hit this year! Jacob did the unwrapping for James because that boy has zero interest other than eating the paper! He examined almost all of his gifts though. I think his 2 favorites were his mini Mickey Mouse piano from Aunt Erica and his BeatBo from Mimi and Pa. The kid was cracking up at that thing!





Daniel loved each of his gifts as well. I loved hearing his exclamations as he opened each one. I think his 2 big hits were Gears and a cookie baking set. We've played each many times!





Santa also brought all 3 things he asked for: a doll, a book and a shark.

All in all a great day, and I even got to nap in the midst of all the playing.

This morning Daniel and I played gears and cookies again. Then he and I went to Springfield to go shopping. He was a trooper through the rain with me and was so good. I really didn't want today to end because he was SO good. Like, the best day ever, and I'm sad knowing that it won't last! Haha! He hugged me so hard tonight and told me he had so much fun with me. It makes all of the hard days worth it!

The Power Of Prayer

I was just going to post a Facebook status about this, but I decided it deserved its own post. I'm still in awe of this little conversation that I had with Daniel tonight.

I'll back up a little first.

When I started taking the boys to church at the beginning of August, it was a struggle for Daniel. Why? Because in his life he had only been to church for about 6 months as a baby. It was a struggle with myself. I was tired of feeling burned out or getting burned by church. We weren't feeling it at the church we attended for awhile when Daniel was little, and so we quit. I won't lie. It was kind of nice for quite awhile. I spent my whole life going to church on Sunday morning. I liked getting up and not worrying about having some place to be. Eventually though, the guilt started to creep in. That guilt was God nudging me over and over. I ignored, over and over.

Finally, I starting actually wanting to find a church, but there's the struggle of actually going. It's really hard to walking into a new place where everyone knows everyone, and you're the stranger. You don't know your surroundings and you've got to figure out how things work. I put it off more, but finally I was ready. I chose Calvary because I just felt drawn to it. I heard good things from other people all the time.

Jacob wasn't ready for the whole church thing, so I left the boys home the first Sunday I went so I could scope things out. No need to worry about child care when I might not even go back!

I walked across the parking lot, and was immediately greeted by 2 friendly faces. I walked upstairs and was greeted again and handed a bulletin. I went in the auditorium and found a seat a few rows from the back and on the far right side. I took in my surroundings and read my bulletin, and as I looked up, I was greeted by Pastor Steve. He took time to talk with me and introduced himself. Then he pointed out his wife, Shelley! As it turned out, I knew her from the Y! She had been the personal trainer while I worked there. She gave me a big hug (and we all know that I LOVE hugs!), and chatted a bit. The service was amazing. The music spoke to me. The message was just the right one that I needed that day. It was preached by Pastor Ryan, and was so easy to relate to. Before I left, I asked Shelley if I could see the children's area and she took me downstairs to show me. I was so impressed with their whole drop off and pick up system. They put safety first and I knew I would have no problem leaving the boys down there.

To make a long story short, I have continued to attend and just love it. James has always had an easy time. Daniel has taken time to adjust. When we started he cried and cried. He hadn't started preschool yet so this was really his first time being left somewhere (that he can remember, anyway), but when I would pick him up he'd be all smiles and tell me, "I LOVE my Calvary preschool!"

Recently, he's become hesitant of going again, and will cry at drop off. Last week was the worst. He screamed getting into the van. He screamed all the way to church. He refused to get out of his car seat. We got downstairs and they had to peel him off of me kicking, screaming and crying. He moved to a new room last week, and when I picked him up, he was happy again. He told me that night though that he still didn't want to go back there. I told him that we would pray about it each night, and so we did. At least a few nights. I think I forgot a couple. Whenever something bothers him, I always ask to pray about it and usually he agrees.

I've always been uncomfortable praying out loud, but praying with Daniel has turned into such a blessing. I don't mind praying out loud with him. In fact, I enjoy it. We pray each night before bed, and every day before he goes to preschool.

Now, to get to the whole reason behind this post.

I braced myself this morning for the tears and crying, but was still praying that all would be okay. Everything went smoothly at home. We got to church and he walked up to the lady who greeted us and told her all about his advent calendar. Then we went downstairs, checked in and off he went! Then he came back...but he just wanted a hug and then happily walked to his room.

Tonight before bed I told him how proud of him I was because he didn't cry when I dropped him off. He looked at me and said, "Do you know why? Because I heard Jesus talking to me when I was walking to my room. He said don't be scared and don't cry,"

I was floored. I said, "Wow! You heard Jesus tell you that?" He replied, "Yes, but I did not talk back to him."

Wow. Just, wow. My 4 year old heard Jesus speak to him, and was able to comprehend it and tell me about it. I think my heart was about to burst.

And as I was writing this, it made me think of how today's sermon once again matched up. It was all about prayer and what prayer can do. I'll be the first to admit, I'm full of doubt at times when I pray and don't get an answer (or the answer I want), but I witnessed an answer firsthand tonight.

Prayer works. And if you listen maybe you'll hear Jesus talking to you too.

Happy December!

Well, I didn't make it through every day in November, but 27 days was pretty good.

The boys had a great birthday celebration in Iowa. A very yummy CAT cake, and lots of fun new presents. Or "new" presents if you're James. He did get something new, but my mom also went shopping in our basement the last time they were here and wrapped a couple of Daniel's old toys! Get used to it kiddo. You're the 2nd child. Haha!







We were very thankful that Grandma was able to come over for Thanksgiving. The boys both gave her plenty of love and hugs. It makes my heart happy to see them together.





Sunday we drove home. It was a long, tiring drive, but the boys were good. Daniel even fell asleep for awhile before we stopped for lunch!

Yesterday was a bit uneventful. which is always good. Especially after having a busy long weekend. I realized though, that the advent calendar that I had been planning to make wasn't going to happen if I didn't get on it! I always get these ideas in my head, but never follow through. This is one I've wanted to do for quite awhile. Every day leading up to Christmas we'll turn a card over and we'll do something special. Either something fun as a family, or a project or an act of kindness. Today's activity was writing a letter to Santa! I had already discussed Santa with Daniel. I finally got him to visit Santa last year, but he wasn't overly thrilled. This year he has requested no Santa visit, so a letter seemed like a safe plan!



"Dear Santa,
My name is Daniel. I've been a good boy this year!
I like to read books with my Mommy.
I like to play Candy Crush and Soda Crush with my Daddy!
I like being silly with my little brother James.
For Christmas I would like:
books, a baby doll and a toy shark.
I like my preschool and church.
I'm excited for Christmas!
Love,
Daniel"

So much fun! I tried to make everything "doable" so that I don't tire out. He's already excited to see what tomorrow's is! I love this idea so much more than the Elf on the Shelf. First of all, those things creep me the heck out. Second of all, there is no way I'd want to find creative places to put that dang thing every night. Ain't nobody got time for that!

Daniel had a fun day at preschool and then we did some Aldi shopping after I picked him up. We were out of a lot of stuff! The boys were very well behaved though.

Tonight I busted out the waffle maker. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've only used it once since we got married! I even got all fancy and made them from scratch. They were pretty tasty too! I just don't have the patience to do things from scratch very often though.

I gave both boys a bath, but did them separately tonight. They have fun together, but I've felt something pinching in my back again this last week and set it off just by walking tonight. Ouch! Then after I tucked Daniel in I discovered yet another leak in our basement. So tomorrow I'll make the 3rd call to the plumber in the past 2 months. We cannot win. I can't let myself get too down, but it sure is frustrating when you don't have the money to keep flushing it away (see what I did there?).

But alas, tomorrow is a new day and supposedly my Christmas present will arrive by the end of the day tomorrow! We'll see though. The last place it was tracked was Maryland. Yay new camera though!

Black Friday Craziness and Orange Jello Disaster!

Well, I messed up. I didn't get all of my posts in this month. I completely forgot on Thursday and I forgot yesterday until 11:00 at night. Not worth it!

We drove over on Thursday and got here at 1:00! Kendra and I had planned to go to Kohl's and Target on Friday morning, but she asked if I wanted to go Thursday night? Well, why not? We weren't celebrating Thankgsgiving until today anyway! Kohl's was INSANE. We got there right as they were opening. When we drove up there were a million people standing out in the rain. We didn't really have a plan, but we had Kohl's cash so we had to look for some stuff. She bought me my Christmas present...another fleece blanket. I LOVE mine from last year so much! She was also looking for one for herself when I revealed that I *may* have already bought one for her. The line was all the way to the back of the store and it went SO slow. It was not good for my back at all and I was dying of a hot flash, but we finally made it through and ended up with 5 or so things for about $18.

Then we headed to Target. I was mostly wanting another pair of pants and all of the clothes were 40% off. I ended up with that, and a cute sweater for Daniel. I've bought almost all of their gifts online for amazing deals, so I wasn't really in search of anything else. The lines were crazy there too, but Target knew what they were doing and had a great system. I think we were in line maybe 10 minutes. We were in line well over a half an hour at Kohl's.

Yesterday was a lazy morning. I didn't get up until 10 and neither did James! I mean...he woke up 3 times that night, but sleeping until 10 was great.

Mom and I went to WalMart and Papa Murphy's to pick up some pizzas for the game. Mom made queso and mini pigs in a blanket too. Then we cheered on the Hawkeyes to their 12-0 victory!

Victory was cut short due to the Orange Jello Salad Disaster of 2015. I went to pull out the container of pizza to have another slice. The container hit a pop can which started to fall, and somehow while trying to catch it either myself or the pop can hit the bowl of jello salad which hadn't set yet. It was on the top shelf. There was orange jello liquid EVERYWHERE. Mom was yelling. Kendra was angry. I was just standing there in disbelief. It took at least an hour of cleaning. It was on food packages, in drawers and shelves, on the walls, on the floor, on our clothes. In the midst of everything I was trying to crack jokes and mom was not amused. Although she started yelling at me to dry the shelves and I yelled back, "I'M DRYING THE CHEEEEEESE!" You had to be there, but we were hysterically laughing.

Kendra was still mad that I ruined the "only good food on Thanksgiving" and snapping at me that I was going to have to go to the store and get the ingredients. Eventually, Kendra, Jacob and I ended up at Hy-Vee. We brought everything back only to discover we forgot one key ingredient. The orange jello. Yep. I'm that dumb.

In order to make sure Kendra didn't kill me in my sleep, Jacob and I went to Drug Town and bought the orange jello and finally ALL was right in the world.

Today was our Thankgsgivng and the boy's birthdays, but I'll save the post and pictures for tomorrow night. Headed home tomorrow.

10 Things I Am Thankful For

I might as well stick with 10. It always seems like a good number.

I am thankful for:

1. My immediate family. Jacob, Daniel and James. I am thankful that God gave me my own little family that fills my heart with love.

2. The rest of my family. I don't know what I would do without all of these amazing people in my life. 

3. God's love and grace. I'm so thankful that he is a God of love and forgiveness. His mercies are new every morning!

4. A roof over my head. These all sound so cliche, but it's true. Sometimes it feels like our house is crumbling around us, but we have a home and for that I am thankful!

5. Modern technology that allows me to be connected to loved ones both near and far away on a daily basis.

6. My friends. I don't have many close friends, but the ones that are know who they are and know what a difference they make in my life!

7. Chocolate. I mean, let's face it. Life would just be sad without chocolate.

8. The 4 seasons. Sure, winter kinda sucks, but I love living in a place where I get to experience all 4 seasons every year.

9. Music. Life would be pretty boring without it!

10. My church. I love having a place that I look forward to going to each week to worship and dig deeper into God's word.

That said...I hope every has a very Happy Thanksgiving! We're off to Iowa tomorrow and will celebrate Thanksgiving and the boys birthdays on Saturday!

10 Guilty Pleasures

We all have them!

Here are 10 of mine!

1. Old school boy bands. I will rock out to Backstreet Boys and  NSync like its nobody's business.

2. Reading gossip magazines. I know. I know. I've had a couple free subscriptions to US Weekly in the Past. I'm in it for the entertainment value, not because I'm invested in celebrities lives.

3. Chick flicks. I love me a good chick flick. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy and girl can't be together. Boy and girl fight. Boy and girl end up falling in love. Always the same story, but I'm a total sucker.

4. Listening to Christmas music. Not just at Christmas. Any old time I feel like it.

5. All things sweet. I have a sweet tooth and I will eat ALL the things. Chocolate is my comfort food.

6. Online window shopping. I love browsing stores online and making mental notes of the things I would buy if I could afford them.

7. Watching reality shows and real life murder mystery types shows.

8. Caramel Frappes from McDonald's. So good!

9. Going shopping all alone so I can linger and browse as slowly as I want to.

10. Going on an aimless drive. Just cruising around. Just me and my thoughts. I don't get that chance very often anymore because I have a kiddo who wants to chat. :)

Happy REAL Birthday, Daniel!

Since we did all of the fun celebrating yesterday I still wanted to make today special too.

Daniel came in and snuggled a little bit this morning with his new Paw Patrol pup, Marshall.



I asked what he wanted for breakfast and he said toast.  I asked if he wanted a piece of cake, and he laughed in my face. I told him I was serious, but I don't think he really believed me. I'm a firm believer in cake for breakfast on your birthday! :) I made him toast and told him to sit down at the table because I was going to do something silly. I brought in his toast with a lit candle in it and sang happy birthday. He thought it was hilarious and thought it was great he got to blow out another candle!



After breakfast he of course wanted to play Candy Crush on my Kindle so we did for awhile and then he wanted to play his new pizza game. We had a lot of fun playing it. It seems like it's a hit!



We ate lunch and after lunch we went to WalMart with some money he had so he could pick something out. I told him since it was his birthday we could go down any aisle he wanted to. He also insisted upon wearing his new watch so he would know what time it was. Inside he had to take his coat off so he could see it. First we looked at books and then he wanted to go to the Christmas section. The on to the toy section where he explored just about every toy they have I think!
He finally settled on another Paw Patrol pup. He picked out Rocky and was very excited about it!





It was rest time when we got home. Daniel likes to rest on my bed, so he put all of his blankets, animals and pillows on the bed. I was changing James and was getting ready to get him down for a nap when I heard sobbing from the bedroom. "Mommy! We have to go back to WalMart! My watch is at WalMart!!"

My heart sunk. My back has been killing me and I was in pain and exhausted. I was frustrated too. I asked him where it was at WalMart and the answer kept changing. I made him go lay back down and the went and checked the van and dug through the diaper bag. When I came back to check on him he was asleep so I laid with him for a few minutes and peeked around a little but  no watch.

I called WalMart but no one had turned it in yet. Jacob got home and I left to go search WalMart. I remembered at one point he told me it was almost 2:00 and knew where we were, so I started backwards, but no luck, so I traced my steps all the way through every aisle we hit up. No watch. By this point pain is shooting down my hip. I checked customer service once more and then headed for home. As I was on my way home Jacob called. He laid down to snuggle with Daniel and the watch was UNDER the pillow!!! So much relief. I know it was silly to be worked up about it, but I was.

After that we were able to have a nice night at home. Daniel taught Daddy his new pizza game and they played a few rounds and he got to play another with me too.

We talked to Mimi and Pa T. and they sang him Happy Birthday! And then I tucked him in and came out to find this:

\

So darn precious!

All in all, I'd say Daniel had 2 pretty good days of birthday fun (and one more coming up this weekend!)

4 years ago at this time I was sitting in my hospital bed holding my sweet firstborn. He was only about 4 hours old and perfect in every way. How I wish I could relive those first moments again. Everything so new and fresh. (And the exhaustion hadn't set in yet!). It's been the most amazing and yet the most trying 4 years of my life, and I can't wait to continue on this journey of motherhood.

Happy "Pretend" Birthday, Daniel!

Today was Daniel's "pretend" birthday, since tomorrow is his real birthday!

I'm too sleepy to write much tonight, but it was a fun day getting to celebrate with him. I still can't believe that tomorrow he's turning 4! That means 4 years ago on this night I was so so excited, and so scared and anxious! I laughed and I cried. I couldn't wait to meet the little guy who had been kicking me for months! Time really does fly.

Mimi and Pa Elam came over this afternoon, and Daniel got to open all of his presents! He got lots of cools things. I really think he loved everything he got.


 









He couldn't wait to start playing with everything. He wore his watch on and off (gotta get used to it!), and wore his CAT hat to supper. Played with his new CAT and had fun making it push toys and bows. James even  had a blast chasing after it with Daniel. We checked out all the Paw Patrol pups. He and I read his new story tonight and bedtime. We're going to play his new game tomorrow and I'm pretty sure he's going to wear one of his new shirts. I'd say Mimi and Pa and Mommy and Daddy did a good job picking out presents!

We went out to Krieger's for supper tonight. Mr. James was so hungry. He ate a whole jar of food, a chicken nugget, some cheese and a few fries! He also hadn't napped except a short 30 minute nap in the church nursery this morning. His little eyes started rolling back and he eventually laid his head down on the table and passed out. Mimi picked him up and held him until we were all done and he never flinched when Jacob put his coat and hat on. He finally woke back up when we got in the van!

We came back to the house for cake and ice cream. Daniel enjoyed getting to blow out his candles. He didn't eat much. He was probably full from supper. James had no problem scarfing down some ice cream though.

Daniel fell asleep in my lap before bed and once again...just like every year, he's fallen asleep on me the night before his birthday. (I'm guessing that won't last forever...if it did it would probably seem a little odd!). He asked me if I was sad that he is turning 4 since I always say to stop growing up! I told him it was something called bittersweet. I'm sad, but very happy! He thought that was silly!

I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow, but I want to do something special with him so he can have a fun REAL birthday too! :)

What a Day!

I really didn't know what today would bring. Jacob had an all day music festival and I knew it would be the boys and I on our own again. After last weeks exhaustion I was a little worried! Thankfully though, I had nothing to worry about! They were very good all day long!

I laid in bed as long as I could this morning until I couldn't take James' fake crying anymore and Daniel telling me how hungry he was! This boy always claims to be, "SO HUNGRY" and then hardly eats. As it turns out, he really was hungry! He ate a whole piece of toast, a container of yogurt and two giant handfuls of pretzels. (He really wanted Lays Potato Chips, but settled for pretzels.)

I had every intention of showering and getting dressed after breakfast, but somehow got sucked into a super cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie. The boys even let me watch it without too much fuss! By the time I got ready for a shower it was 11:00! In my mind Iowa was playing at 2:30, but then I got a notification that they had scored. Oops! I turned the game on as soon as I was finished with my shower and got to see a touchdown!

Daniel was really wanting lunch and I said we'd wait until halftime. Not 2 minutes later the power went out! I waited a few minutes before deciding it wasn't just a quick glitch. I called the outage number just to see. I figured it wasn't good when the recording said that they were experiencing a "high volume of outages" and that 19,000 were without power. We ended up getting teased for the next 2 hours. It would come back on for about 2 minutes and then go out for 20. At one point it came on and off 4 or 5 times in a 10 minute span. The house was starting to get cold!

In a way it was kind of nice though. The boys and I raced cars around the living room. Daniel taught me his Bear Hunt song from school and we read lots of books. Finally around 2 the power came back and stayed on! Yay for warmth! Plus it was rest time and BOTH boys took naps again!

Went to Kroger after naps to pick up Daniel's cake for his "pretend birthday" as he's calling tomorrow. I also picked up some wrapping paper because I ran out of birthday wrapping paper yesterday. And I let him pick out ice cream to go with his cake. He was in awe when I pointed to the freezers and said that he could pick any kind he wanted! He picked out chocolate chip!

I drove through Wendy's on the way home. I went 15 days with no fast food! I only ordered a chili. I ordered a large but only got a small. Darn! Daniel got a kids meal and James stole some of his brother's fries.

About an hour after we got home I realized I never put the wrapping paper in the van! I think the guy forgot to put it in the cart! (It is possible I left it in the cart, but I don't remember seeing it.). Daniel thought we needed to go back, but it was so cold! I told him I'd be silly and use Christmas wrapping paper and that's just what I did. I'll have to go back to Kroger later this week and get my money back.  

We Skyped with Mimi, Pa and Aunt Nens. Then I gave James a bath. I let Daniel stay up a little later tonight since he was being so good and since he napped. Tucked him in at 8 and had James asleep by 8:20. Then I set to work wrapping the last few presents. Jacob came home and we chatted until I heard a creak. It was Daniel. He heard Daddy. I let him come out and snuggle for a little bit since he hadn't seen Jacob all day. 

When I tucked him back in he said, "That was so special that I got to snuggle with Daddy AND you!  So sweet! I made sure to remind him this was just a special thing and not something that will happen every night. 

He had seen the wrapped presents and so I told him they were for his birthday. He said to me, "Did you put bows on them?" I asked if he really wanted some and he said yes, so I went down and dug out some Christmas bows. Oh the things Mommys will do for their kids! He also informed me that Mimi and Pa Elam were probably at home wrapping his presents too!

I can't wait to celebrate him tomorrow and Monday!

Thanksgiving Feast

Today Daniel had his Thanksgiving Feast at preschool. He normally only goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but today both classes could come. I dropped him off and then James and I came home for awhile before needing to go back. James actually played with his toys for almost 25 minutes all by himself. I was pretty impressed. I decided to wrap Daniel's birthday presents and ran out of wrapping paper after the first two. Dang it!

James and I went back to preschool at 10:30 and got to see the kids do a little program. They did three songs/ finger plays while dressed as adorable little turkeys!





Then it was time for lunch! It was so yummy and some of the church ladies served us. Of course, I was the one who ended up feasting. James ate a bite of everything and then didn't want anything else. Daniel did okay, but I didn't expect too much. He did spill his water all over the table. He totally takes after me.



Before we left we checked out all of the "Turkeys in Disguise"! They were all so cute and clever!



When we got home Daniel wanted to play out on the porch, so we stayed outside for about 25 minutes. It was chilly, but the sun was shining so it didn't feel too bad.

It was kind of nice not having to get lunch ready for the boys! We hung out and played. Then Daniel got upset about something and went off in a fit of rage. It took awhile to get him (and myself) calmed down. Finally, rest time came and James fell asleep really fast. Daniel was in resting while I was folding laundry. He kept popping in and out of the bedroom asking me random things just to get to come out. I told him to go back in there and stay! I went to put some laundry away, and found this!



That was at 2:45, so I let him sleep until 4. He was not happy that I woke him up, but eventually came around.

We promised him a family movie night tonight. Generally movie nights last about 30 minutes before chaos occurs and we're left trying to watch a movie with 2 crazy boys. Tonight though, Daniel watched the whole movie!! He got up a couple of times but came right back and snuggled up with Jacob! We watched Wall-E and he couldn't get enough of it! James did good too. He'd play, then come and cry because he wanted up with us. I'd let him up and then he'd cry because he wanted to crawl all over us and we wouldn't let him. Silly little guy!

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Jacob will be gone the whole day, so may the odds be ever in my favor.

A Busy Day

Today was Daniel's birthday at preschool! He got to take birthday treats, and got a birthday crown and they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He was very excited about all of it.

I went to get him some cupcakes yesterday afternoon. WalMart had run out of Paw Patrol rings for the top of the cupcakes, so I went to Kroger and they ran out too! She went and looked to see what else they had and once she said Minions I knew I found a winner. Thankfully Daniel was excited and not bummed out. He'll have Paw Patrol stuff on his cake this weekend!

After Kroger, I went to my chiropractor appointment. As I was driving home it dawned on me that I forgot to get a drink for the kids! So, I had to make a quick run into CVS and grab some milk. I don't know how I function. I'm always forgetting things.

I meant to get a better picture on my camera of Daniel with his cupcakes, but we were in a hurry to get out the door, and I didn't have time, so I got a picture of him in the van!

And here he is later with his birthday hat.

After I dropped Daniel off, James and I went to his 1 year check up. It all went well. They were running on time, so we didn't even have to wait long. I love when that happens! He weighs 23 lbs. 12 oz (gained about 3 pounds since 9 months) and is in the 82% for weight. He measured 32 in. (which I don't think was accurate. I think he's closer to 31.) And he still has a giant head. :) He had to get 3 shots. He did great with the first one. Only a little fuss. By the next 2 though, he was not pleased. Poor guy cried and cried. Then flashed a quick smile to the nurse and then buried his head on me and cried some more. She asked if he could have a sucker? I decided I'd let him have a few licks. He was a sticky mess, but he sure was happy!

Afterward we still had time, so we went to WalMart to pick up a few things, and then since I still had about 15 minutes I drove around the neighborhood so James could nap and so I could search for the umbrella from Daniel's picnic table. It apparently got launched off in the wind the other day! 

I couldn't find it yesterday, but today I spotted it on another street up in someone's driveway! Yay!

Once we picked Daniel up and heard about his day, we went to get his hair cut. He did great and looks SO much better now. His hair was crazy! 

This afternoon we did lunch, played and rested. Now it's about suppertime, and Mr. D needs a bath. He gets to go to preschool again tomorrow. Both classes get to go and then at 10:30 James and I will go back for a program and a Thanksgiving Feast. Can't wait!

Worn

I don't usually just post lyrics, but I really relate to this song lately. So tonight, it's about a side of me I rarely let myself show to others.

Worn

I'm tired
I'm worn
My heart is heavy
From the work it takes to keep on breathing

I've made mistakes
I've let my hope fail
My soul feels crushed
By the weight of this world
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that's frail and torn

I want to know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that's dead inside can be reborn
Cause I'm worn

I know I need
To lift my eyes up
But I'm too week
Life just won't let up
And I know that You can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that's frail and torn

I want to know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that's dead inside can be reborn
Cause I'm worn

And my prayers are wearing thin
I'm worn even before the day begins
I'm worn I've lost my will to fight
I'm worn so heaven so come and flood my eyes

Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that's frail and torn

I want to know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that's dead inside can be reborn
Yes all that's dead inside will be reborn
Though I'm worn
Yeah I'm worn

A Day in the Life

Nothing too exciting to write about tonight. I'm too tired to think of anything thought provoking like last night, but I'm glad I wrote that post. It had been weighing on my mind for awhile and I finally got the words out.

My munchkins both woke me up last night. If I could just get James to stay asleep and only wake up once, I'd be happy. Instead he'll wake up 2 or 3 times. At one point I heard Daniel coughing and knew he'd be paying me a visit soon. We headed to the kitchen for some cough medicine, and then I had to coax him to drink it because it was a new bottle and it was blue instead of pink! He wanted to come snuggle in bed with me, but it was 4:30 and I was dying to go back to sleep! He settled for 5 minutes of rocking.

We got ready for preschool and headed out in the wind and rain. Our drive to preschool is only a few minutes and then we wait in the drop off line for a few minutes, but I love that time. Each morning on our drive we pray for his day at preschool. I prayed with him his first week because he was scared, and he liked it so much that we kept on doing it. After I said "Amen" today James made a sound that sounded like "amen"! Daniel said, "Jamesy likes to pray too!"

I always have good intentions when I get those 2 hours, but the first hour is usually spent with James and catching up on my Netflix! Then James will rest or take a short nap while I do a little cleaning.

Daniel was SO excited when I picked him up because he got to get a prize today. After 4 days of good behavior they get to pick a prize. This time he picked a book! So, tonight we got to read Dumbo together. :)

Tonight we went to Decatur for pizza at Monical's. It was part of a fundraiser for the band/choir trip to Disney next summer. We had the SLOWEST service, but the food was so good once we got it! We were there for almost 2 hours though. If we had just been there without doing the fundraiser I would've been pretty ticked. I was somewhat annoyed, but for the most part it was a good time! James loved the pizza too! Probably even more than Daniel. One of the parents from school asked Daniel about preschool and she asked him if they feed him snack there. He goes, "No. I feed myself!" Haha! So literal.

By the time we got home it was bedtime. It took awhile to get settled, but he was excited to read his new book. Before I tucked him in I told him to try to stay in bed all night (because lately I've had a middle of the night visitor in my bed). He said, "But, I love snuggling with you!" I told him that I love snuggling with him too, but that maybe we could make special times for that. "Okay, Mommy. How about Friday, Saturday and Monday nights?" Nice try kid! I told him we'd talk about that one later.

Well, here's hoping to some extra sleep tonight!

Memories of 225 Drexel Drive

As my mom has been posting and telling me about cleaning out our grandma's house, I've been hit with nostalgia. That house holds so many memories. Countless hours of childhood were spent there. A few years ago we said goodbye to our childhood home as my parents bought a new house. I'm so glad for memories.

As far back as I can remember we'd spend time over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They would watch us for a few hours if mom needed to go do something, and we'd spend the night often.

When I was 6.5 we moved to our house on Eastview, which was only one block away from their house. It was the best! I loved to call Grandma and talk on the phone with her. When I wanted to spend the night I'd call and talk, but even as a little kid I was shy about asking if I could spend the night, so I'd drop hints to see if she'd ask me. Sometimes she would and other times I had to ask. She'd always say she'd ask Grandpa, and then I'd hear her talking to him. Then I'd hear, "Oh yeah!" (And my relatives will all read that in his voice. :))

If it was nice out I'd walk over. Mom would pack our HIDEOUS tan and red (orange?) overnight bag, and walk me to the end of the block. Then I'd walk down 1st Ave, and Grandma would meet me at the end of Drexel.

There was something special about spending the night at their house. For starters other than a couple of occasions, I got to be the only child. One on one attention from Grandma and Grandpa? Heck yes!

When I was younger I always slept on the pull out couch in the green room (we called the rooms by their colors). It was the best because it had a TV and I could watch it all the way until bedtime if I wanted. Even better? They had cable! (We didn't get that until I was a freshman in high school). There was a doll up in the closet that belonged to Aunt Jeanne. One time Grandma let me watch Child's Play. Yeah. I was like 5 or 6 and she let me watch a horror movie about a doll that murders people! That's Grandma for you. Anyway...I always made her move that doll out of the closet after that because I was scared it would come to life and kill me. (Later in life...as in when I was late teens and early 20's, Aunt Jeanne got the doll back. I house sat for them and I made her put that stupid doll away because it sat on a chair in the hallway. No way was that thing sleeping outside my door at night!)

And as I got older I switched and would sleep in the blue room. I don't remember why though. I think maybe they got rid of the pull out couch.

I'd usually watch TV for quite awhile on my own while eating snacks. Snacks weren't apples or a package of M&M's, No. Grandma let us eat anything and everything. Giant bags of Cheetos, BAGS of Reeses's. Cans of Pringles...cuz once you pop the fun don't stop my friends. They had a big upright deep freezer in the basement which was always stocked with ice cream, Little Debbie Devil Squares, Reese's, Butterfingers and Kit Kats. It was basically junk food heaven. Finish that heaping bowl of ice cream? Grandpa would offer another bowl!

Grandma and I watched all of the game shows together. We'd all watch Wheel of Fortune (after Grandpa had retired anyway). She always taped all the game shows. My favorites to watch with her were Press Your Luck (or WHAMMY! as she called it), Supermarket Sweep and Shop Til You Drop! We'd also watch Unsolved Mysteries late a night before bed. I can still hear Robert Stack's creepy voice... "If YOU have any information on Jane Doe's whereabouts..."

Grandma has always loved jigsaw puzzles and always had one going on a card table. I always liked to help her. Funny because I really don't enjoy puzzles. I've never been good at them, but I always liked trying to help her even if I only got a few pieces put together.

I liked going out in the yard with Grandpa and helping him in his garden. I loved sitting in the chairs that he made. I don't even know their real names. I just called them "Chutey chutes" because I could slide down them because they dipped down. Grandma always hung the laundry out to dry on the clothesline. I loved sheet day. I'd run in between them, and pretend I was in another land.

They both enjoyed watching sports. I wasn't really a Hawkeye fan back then, but if there was a game on, Grandpa would be watching or listening on the radio. He loved the Chicago Bulls, so I'd watch the Bulls games with him. It was back in the day of Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman. (Or Popsicle Head as Grandpa called him after he died his hair multiple colors). Even now, when I watch basketball and here the squeaks from the players shoes, it takes me back to their house. They even watched WWF...or as we'd call it, "Bing Bang Boom".

Sometimes Grandma and I would play board games. There were 4 I loved to play. A Tom and Jerry Game, A Winnie the Pooh game (that I always cheated at!), Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. She'd also read me stories. My favorite at their house was always, "The Monster at the End of this Book"

Grandma always went to garage sales. She never drove, so grandpa faithfully took her to sales each week. Thursdays were the big sale days, so in the summers the best night to spend the night was Wednesday. I LOVED going to garage sales!

Sometimes in the summer they'd let me spend 2 nights. There was one time I spent 5 nights. Each day Grandpa would ask, "Well, Rachel. You gonna stay another night?" And I'd call mom and she'd say yes!

When Grandpa was still working, he would leave in the afternoon, but before he left he would pick me up in the kitchen and bonk my head on the lights. I don't know why, but it was the best! Haha!

One of my favorite memories was sitting at the table eating Oyster crackers and milk with Grandpa. We'd each get a coffee mug with milk and then dump the crackers in and eat them with a spoon. Sounds weird, but it was so good!

I could go on and on, but at least I have these memories. I'm thankful for the love and care they gave me over the years. I'm thankful they let me come over with no hesitation. They loved having us there, and we loved going! I miss my Grandpa so much, but am thankful we still have Grandma. She's on to new adventures in assisted living now, so soon we will say goodbye to the house forever.

Thanks for the memories 225 Drexel Drive.

Still Exhausted.

Too tired to write anything coherent, so a bullet post it is.

*Got boys both to sleep before 8:00 last night. Win!
*Settled down to watch the Hawkeyes play Minnesota.
*Wanted to watch Netflix during halftime but couldn't find the Firestick remote, so I searched everywhere with no luck.
*James woke up.
*Got him back to sleep.
*Watched the rest of the game. Iowa won!!! 10-0! New school record!
*Went to bed.
*James woke up.
(I'll save a dozen more bullet points to say that James woke up. Plus Daniel woke himself up coughing at one point.)
*Got up just after 7 and decided church wasn't happening today. I was bummed.
*Got them dressed and semi-fed. Dry cereal kind of day.
*Sat around while James fussed. He finally sat on my lap and fell asleep.
*Had lunch.
*Rest time. Hallelujah.
*Found the Firestick remote. It was in the shoe bin where everyone stores their remotes... (thanks Jamesy)
*Struggled to survive the rest of the day.
*Jacob came home. First time we'd actually seen him since Thursday!
*Daniel somehow preformed a factory reset on my phone. Awesome. Thank God for Google backup.
*Tucked Daniel in.
*Got a sinus headache.
*Got James to sleep while rewatching the Iowa game (the condensed one hour version) with Jacob. It was fun to watch again!
*Now I'm going to bed. Please Lord, let my children sleep tonight. :)

Exhausted

I'm exhausted. I hurt. And my eye keeps twitching. I don't know why. Probably because I'm tired. Jacob has been busy with the musical which is this weekend, so we pretty much haven't seen him this week. That means everything on the home front falls on me. Which is fine. I can handle it! I'm just worn out, and apparently cranky. And I'm sure Jacob is exhausted and worn out (and maybe cranky too). November is a busy month around here!

Yesterday I met a couple of people to sell them a couple of things that didn't sell at my garage sale. I like to meet in public places when I can, so I had a time set up to meet someone at 11 and 11:25. Got the boys ready...which is quite the task in itself. Headed to Walgreens to wait and the lady was about 10 minutes late. She was apologetic and really it was fine because both of my kids were restrained for a few  minutes. Ha! After she left we went in the store just to kill some time. I was just about ready to head back to the van to wait when she messaged that she was just leaving work and it would be another 15-20 minutes. Sigh. So we wandered the toy aisle again and thankfully both boys were in happy moods! The lady finally showed up and I handed the car seat over, but I felt a little sad. Daniel came home from the hospital in that seat...and James would have if it weren't for that darn nurse...

Daniel wanted to go to the park, but it was too windy and cold so then he asked if we could drive around, so we did. The afternoon was rather uneventful, but come suppertime each night I feel like I start losing control. By the 3rd meal of the day I just want to order a pizza and call it a day.

Both boys needed a bath, which went better than a few nights ago. They LOVE taking baths together, but James won't stop standing up in the tub. I remember going through this with Daniel and it drives me crazy! Plus he gets super wild and crazy and Daniel thinks it's hilarious and gets too crazy. I kept having to grab James so he wouldn't fall, but eventually he rocked too hard and fell over backward. I was waiting for the tears, but nope. The kid burst into laughter. Good grief.

Getting dried off and pj's on is insane. James is also going through a phase where he doesn't want to have clothes or diapers put on and will twist his body in every direction while SCREAMING like I'm trying to kill him. What should take a few minutes takes 10! Then when I'm done, he happily crawls off like nothing ever happened.

Bedtime is hard because Daniel and I have a routine and James wants up on my lap. Then he screams to get down. Then he opens dresser drawers and pulls everything out. Then comes the tears because he's tired too.

Once both boys were asleep, I finally curled up under a blanket and got some quality time with Netflix. I can't even begin to describe how badly my back hurt by that point. At least Daniel slept all night and didn't climb in bed with me until around 6:30. Just wish James would sleep a bit better at night.

Today? Well I'm kinda over it. 3 hours until bedtime begins! I've had a cranky 12 month old who wants up and then down. Wants to eat and then throws his food and shakes his head no at me. And turns the TV on and off and on and off and on and off....ALL. DAY. LONG. I'm hoping the cover I ordered will come soon and actually work so he stops messing with the buttons! :)
And Daniel has allergies and/or a cold. He's not feeling the greatest, but acting fine other than he's taken sassy to a whole new level.

I may have lost it and yelled at him at lunch today. Then I wiped his face too hard which hurt his nose and he started crying, which made me feel awful. So, I apologized and he was good for 10 minutes before acting up again. So much sass, but I'm trying.

Here's hoping for an easy night and a good day tomorrow! I'm looking forward to church so I can relax and listen to grown ups for a little while! :)

This is just a vent and I totally realize how petty I sound when horrible things are happening in other parts of the world right now. I didn't have much time to pay attention to what was happening in Paris yesterday, but when I was able to read and see just a bit on TV, my heart just hurt. I've shed some tears. Such awful things happening and my heart and prayers are with them. Instead of complaining, I should be happy that I have my family and I will try to remember that through the stress of motherhood!

20 Random Things

I don't know why I keep doing these, because it gets harder and harder to come up with new things each time,but they're always so fun!

Random Things About Me:

1. I am a chocoholic. But, I can't stand chocolate covered fruit or chocolate flavored cereal. Yuck.

2. Even if Daniel falls asleep when I'm rocking with him at night, I still tuck him in the exact way that he likes. He always organizes his stuffed animals and blankets and I always make sure they're in the right spot, because I totally understand!

3. One time when I was little I scribbled on my glasses at church with a crayon. I have no idea why, but when I couldn't get it off, I lied to my dad when he asked what happened. I said another kid did it, but I suspiciously couldn't point out the kid...because I didn't want to get another kid in trouble.

4. I killed something in my basement the other night and I still don't know what it was. It was like some kind of hybrid spider. It was HUGE. Not like the huge where you say it was huge  but really it wasn't that bad. No. This thing was a monster. I grabbed some ant spray and took aim. That sucker JUMPED about a foot off the wall, and then I realized it had WINGS. A freaking flying spider of some sort. I took that bad boy down though.

5. I've walked into so many things in my life. Walls, doors (closed ones) etc. My most notorious ones? Walking into a light pole while walking down the sidewalk. Walking into a window at our condo in Florida and splitting my lip open. And my most recent one. Walking into/bouncing off a window at church. There is now a stripe across the window so more people don't walk into it. I amaze myself.

6. I am trying to break my fast food addiction. It's been one week and I'm still alive. And my our bank account thanks me.

7. I love gummy worms, but every time I eat them I get a stomach ache. Why I continue eating them is beyond me.

8. My mom is the only person I can have a normal conversation with on the phone. Other than that, I don't do a lot of talking on the phone. My mom and I talk multiple times a week though.

9. There is no wrong time to listen to Christmas music no matter what anyone says. Sometimes if I want to hear a certain Christmas song in April, then I listen to it!

10. My favorite TV shows of all time are: Friends, Gilmore Girls, Parenthood, The Office and Parks and Rec

11. I sneaked into a movie once. My friend and I went to see a movie and when it was over we still had to wait for our ride, so she decided we should check out Titanic. I still remember it was the part where the boat was going down and they were showing all the china and everything crashing in the dining room. We were only in there for maybe 10 minutes, but I was so paranoid and felt so guilty!

12. I have a hard time following through with my dreams because I always get too scared to pursue them.

13. I've lived here for 6.5 years and I'm still homesick even though I've met some great people and gained an amazing best friend. But I still dream and wish that we could live in Iowa. I wanna hang out with my mom and sister more!

14. Golf, wrestling and car racing are literally the most boring sports I have ever witnessed.

15. I ate a dog biscuit once because it was free sample. Yes. I was aware it was a dog biscuit. No. It did not taste good. But I gave Aunt Jeanne a good laugh!

16. My favorite Halloween costume as a kid was the Wicked Witch of the West because the Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie.

17. My least favorite Halloween costume was a "princess" if that's what you could call it. First of all I was all huge and puffy due to many layers of clothes to stay warm. Then I wore an ugly Goodwill dress with flowers (not knocking Goodwill...because deals!), and a tacky tiara. LOL!

18. One time on a mission trip I got up to go to the bathroom at the school we were staying in. I felt like someone was behind me so I turned around and there was a dog!! I should mention that this was the point in my life I had to wear a back brace which had velcro straps. Yeah. Turns out the "dog" following me was my blanket attached to my back brace. Hey. I was tired, it was dark and I didn't have my glasses on!

19. I like to randomly send people cards because snail mail is fun to receive! I need to get better at it!

20. For 3 years I didn't have a church home, and I didn't like to talk about it. Now I've found a place that I really love and I'm thankful to have a place to worship and take our boys every week!

An Interesting Day

Today turned out to be an interesting one.

After I picked Daniel up from preschool we came home and James was napping, so I decided to run out to the garage to put a few things away. I had borrowed tables from church for my garage sale, and the pastor and his wife had brought them over, but had never gotten a chance to pick them up. Well, someone needs them this weekend, so the pastor was going to come get them. Daniel came out with me, and he helped me carry a few things inside. I locked the garage door and shut it behind me. I reached in my pocket, but only felt my house keys. No garage keys.

My dad installed a new lock on that door when they were here last month, and gave the me 2 keys it came with which were on one ring. Well, stupid me. I never separated them, so the only 2 keys we had were now locked inside the garage. Our garage remotes don't work, and I couldn't manually open it. Believe me...I tried. That dang garage was sealed up tight! I decided the next logical thing to do was to Google and then YouTube: "How to break into a garage" and "How to pick a lock". Just so you know...I will never make a good burglar. I gave it my all though. I was outside with a bobby pin and paperclips. No luck. I finally had to cave and call a locksmith. They were here literally within 5 minutes of me calling! Took them about 10 minutes and they got it open for me. What a dumb waste of money though. I hate stupid mistakes! The first thing I did when I came in was put one of the keys on my key ring like I should have a month ago.

I didn't get much time to relax today. I felt like I was constantly moving from one thing to the next. This morning was nice though before picking Daniel up because I was able to get together and chat with a friend for a bit. Always refreshing.

Jacob had another late night, so it was just the boys and I. Daniel was so well behaved today. I love days like that! James has turned into a little monster. A cute little monster, but man can that boy throw a tantrum now! Flings backward and screams and cries when he doesn't get what he wants. But, he rather adorable most of the time.

After supper we just played for awhile, and I realized I don't bust out the camera too often anymore when we're playing at home, so I snapped a few.











Bedtime went pretty well for Daniel even though James was in with us. He even fell asleep on me while James was making a bunch of noise! Guess he was worn out. He woke up just long enough to give Jacob a kiss goodnight when he got home. James, on the other hand, fought sleep until 9:00. I figured he would though, he napped pretty late today. I did get this picture though and then compared it with the picture I posted one year ago today. They grow so fast.

Deal High!

I'm on a deal high tonight! I try not to pay full price for Christmas and birthday gifts if I can help it. I'm not quite done shopping, but between Daniel and James for birthdays and Christmas combined I have saved $128.29! That's actual savings and deal shopping, not just an inflated price that was on "sale"! My best scores so far have been on a toy shopping cart. Sells for 29.75, and I got it for 11.19! Another good one was a new set of MegaBloks. Retail 30.89. but I got them during Targets blowout clearance sale earlier this summer for 9.26! It's all about keeping up the the deals of the day and stacking discount codes. I'm pretty dang proud of myself.

I can't believe I even have some stocking stuffers bought for Daniel. Jacob was laughing the other night because he noticed the note I left myself on the side of the refrigerator reminding myself where I hid them. Trust me. If there was no note, I wouldn't have a clue where they were!

Now...if I can only convince myself to wrap gifts earlier than one day before Daniel's birthday and on Christmas Eve. I hate wrapping though, so I don't think that'll go so well. I am probably the worst wrapper ever. If the box isn't a rectangle or square it's going to look awful. If it is a rectangle or square it's going to look like a 5 year old wrapped, but I get it done. No fancy wrapping over here. Get the paper to fit and tape the crap out of it. It's just going to get ripped off anyway!

Daniel and I have been counting down for his birthday. He's so excited! It falls on a Monday so we're celebrating the day before. So far he's good with having his "pretend" birthday where he gets to open presents and have cake. I've been instructed that he needs 4 candles AND would also like a number 4 candle. Whatever makes him happy. I'm thinking I may save back one gift to let him open in his birthday as well or that we'll go do something special that day.

I can't believe he's going to be 4! Time really does fly. 3 was pretty rough. I'm coming out of it with new found gray hairs...literally, but we've almost survived, and I really do love that little guy. Today I told he and James, "I sure love you my boys." Daniel replied, "I sure love you my girl." <3 p="">

A Nice Day to Crunch the Leaves

I'm so tired. There's a certain little 1 year old who enjoys waking up multiple times a night. The more I try to ignore the cries, the louder it gets. It doesn't help that he knows that I'm in the room with him, but I sure wish he would sleep a little better than he does. This will pass though, and I'll miss the snuggles, but I sure won't miss the lack of sleep!

We took Daniel to preschool this morning and then came home and James and I played for awhile. I got some cleaning done and he napped for awhile until it was time to go back for Daniel. Those 2 hours fly by! He had a great day and was excited to learn we were going to Aldi. It's the little things. He helped me put things in the cart. Poor kid though. At one point I opened a door to grab the eggs and Daniel had put his finger in the side the hinges are on. He let out a shriek of pain and started sobbing. I felt so bad, even though it was an accident. Thankfully he was okay though. I'm sure it'll be bruised tomorrow, and it was pretty fat most of the day, but not broken or anything.

After rest/naps this afternoon we went for a nice walk before it got dark. There were tons of crunchy leaves to stomp through and Daniel got to see his dog friend, Nika.









I figured we'd better get out today since tomorrow we're supposed to have severe weather, although it sounds like it won't hit until tomorrow night. I'd love a big storm, but it sounds like we may end up in the basement, and I'd just rather not! Daniel gets fixated on things that happen that are out of the ordinary. The last time the sirens went off he talked about it 10 times a day for weeks on end!

Tonight, since Jacob was at school late we ate supper and then I gave both boys a bath. I do that when Jacob is home sometimes too, but it was exhausting tonight. James thinks it's funny to pull up in the bathtub, and every time I sat him back down, he'd stand back up. Then I had to dry him off and put his PJ's on, which isn't easy when he's twisting his body in every direction and screaming his head off because he wants back in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Daniel is contentedly playing with James' new bath toys. Since the bathroom and the bedroom are attached, I don't mind leaving Daniel alone since I'm literally right there and usually still talking to him the whole time. I quickly got him out and James decided it would be fun to open dresser drawers and pull things out. It was driving me crazy!

Then we Skyped with my parents, hung out and then it was off to bed. That's where I'm off too in a few minutes!

Zzzz

Sometimes Mundane is Okay

Sometimes life is kind of boring and mundane, and there just isn't a lot to talk about. I realized a few minutes ago that I haven't left the house since Saturday night other than to grab the mail out of the box this afternoon.

I skipped church yesterday because I just couldn't will myself to go. I was tired and just wanted to rest and relax...which didn't really happen, so it was kind of pointless. I'm guessing no one would have cared too much if I showed up in sweatpants. Well, except me. I think my energy had all been spent on Saturday. Jacob was gone the whole day, and I was exhausted. Daniel had thrown a huge fit and shoved James over in the process which resulted in getting the Kindle (he loves to play Candy Crush on it) and the computer taken away from him. Then I took the boys to WalMart on Saturday night, and they were good (minus Daniel swinging a plastic Halloween sword at me and nailing me with it), but I was so darg tired. Daniel's preschool class was singing a few songs at church (the church his preschool meets in) on Sunday which was optional. I had wanted to do that, but I have learned not to force things on Daniel. We talked many times about it and he didn't want to. Then he decided he did want to. Then he didn't. Then he did...but he wasn't going to sing, he was just going to preschool. At that point I decided I wasn't battling that one. I knew if he wasn't comfortable with it, it wasn't going to end well. I do wish I would have taken the boys to Calvary though, where we have been going. It kind of threw my whole day off after not going, but now I'm really looking forward to next Sunday! So, really yesterday was kind of a bust, but I did get some quality time in with the boys.

Last night I planned to go to bed around 10, but I found AMAZING deals on Shutterfly, so I got sucked in. While I was in the middle of it James woke up, so I had to get him back to sleep and then go finish because a few of the codes ended at midnight. I finally went to bed at 11, and that little stinker butt woke up again at 11:45! Then he woke up at least 2 more times before morning.
Seriously though, the deal was totally worth it. I ended up with:
1- 16x20 print
50- 4x6 prints
1--gift that shall remain secret
25-Christmas cards
12- Assorted stationary cards

Wanna know how much I paid? $8.30!!! I love me a good deal.

Amazingly the boys let me stay in bed until 8:15 this morning. They were both up by 7:30 because that's what time Daniel is allowed to come in and pester wake me up. He sat in bed and played with his Leap Pad and James was entertained watching Daniel and playing peek-a-boo.

We just lounged around all morning. I had actually planned to go on a walk with the boys at some point, but Daniel declared it PJ day and he stayed in his jammies and wanted to hang out at home. So we watched TV and made towers with Mega Bloks that James had a great time knocking over. James also likes to pull up to the TV and turn it on and off...every 5 seconds. You should see the smile that spreads across that boy's face when he does something he isn't supposed to!

Then we proceeded to have a rather boring afternoon and evening, but that was fine! James napped. Daniel rested and I watched some more How I Met Your Mother. It was nice to have a little down time. It doesn't last too long though! All in all both boys were good and I wasn't ready to rip my hair out at the end of the day, so I'd call it a success.

All About My Boys

1. Was your first pregnancy planned? Yes!
2. Were you married? Yes
3. What was your reaction to finding out? I was shaking. Even though I was almost certain that I was pregnant, I had tested many other months and gotten negatives, so this time I waited a whole week before I tested. When the 2nd pink line showed up it was so shocking and exciting! I kept looking over and over and then went and bought another test just to makes sure it was right!
4. Were you induced? Yep. Didn't think I would want to be, but when given the chance to have my own OB deliver, I went for it.
5. How old were you? 27
6. Who did you first tell? Jacob. I had to wait for 13 hours and I was going crazy!!
7. How did you find out? Pregnancy test.
8. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes! I thought I wanted to be surprised before I was actually pregnant, but I would have gone crazy not knowing.
9. Due Date? November 21, 2011
10. Did you deliver early or late? Late (only by 2 days)
11. Did you have morning sickness? Nope! Only 2 random incidents.
12. What did you crave? I can't say I craved anything out of the ordinary. I just wanted to to lots of Mexican food and DQ blizzards.
13. How many pounds did you gain from your pregnancy? 30ish
14. What was the sex of the baby? Boy
15. Did you have any complications during labor? It took 3 tries to get the epidural to work. I may have cussed the third time the needle went into my back! Other than that though, it was easy breezy.
16. Where did you give birth? Hospital
17. How many hours were you in labor? Hmm. Started induction at 8:30am. Water broke at 10:30. Born at 5:46pm
18. How much did your baby weigh? 8lbs 4oz.
19. What did you name him/her? Daniel Jacob
20. How old is your first born today? Almost 4!

1. Was your second pregnancy planned? Yes!
2. Were you married? Yep
3. What was your reaction to finding out? So excited and so shocked. It took 8 or 9 months to get pregnant with Daniel, and only 2 months with James! I had a feeling so tested right away this time. Found out when I was only 3.5 weeks pregnant.
4. Were you induced? C-Section
5. How old were you? 30
6. Who did you first tell? Jacob. I only had to wait about 8 hours that day. 
7. How did you find out? Pregnancy test. And then another one just to make sure again. LOL!
8. Did you want to find out the sex? Sure did! I thought boy and Jacob thought girl.
9. Due Date? 11/21/14  Yep. You read that right. My due date was the EXACT date Daniel was due 3 years earlier.
10. Did you deliver early or late? Early by 3 weeks (2 weeks before scheduled c-section)
11. Did you have morning sickness? No, but I was way more nauseous during the first trimester than I was with Daniel.
12. What did you crave? Sweets (but I always do.)And  ranch. I wanted to dip all the things in ranch.
13. How many pounds did you gain from your pregnancy? Um...almost 40 :( 
14. What was the sex of the baby? Boy!
15. Did you have any complications during labor? Many complications beforehand with Placenta Previa.  And had a lot of blood loss during my c-section. I was one pint away from a blood transfusion.
16. Where did you give birth? Hospital
17. How many hours were you in labor? No labor. They cut me open at 7:58 and he was born at 8:02am. 4 minutes! So surreal.
18. How much did your baby weigh? 7lbs  8oz.
19. What did you name him/her? James Michael
20. How old is your second born today? Just turned 1 last week!

10 Things Running Through My Mind Right Now

1. Crap. It's almost 10:00 and I've been putting off writing all day because I couldn't think of anything to write about. Eh. Maybe I just won't write. But...you HAVE to because it's November and you promised yourself that you would.

2. I really hope my kids let me sleep tonight. I saw every hour last night. Twice I had both boys in my bed. And while I love the added snuggles, I am not down with bed sharing. I need snuggles and then space.

3. I'm tired of feeling fat. I know I'm not fat, but I weigh a lot more than I once did. But, I also am a junk food-aholic, and it's really tough to not constantly stuff my face even when I'm not hungry. I know that's hard for some people to understand, but it really is an addiction.

4. I should really fold the laundry that's down in the dryer, but instead I'm just gonna leave them there and re-fluff them tomorrow and then fold them. I really hate folding and putting stuff away.

5. I wonder what I should make for supper tomorrow night. I'm not a big fan of cooking because I get bored and also at this point I have a "helper" that sometimes makes the process longer. I really need to make a meal plan and follow it. It would make life easier.

6. I wish there was a day where I was literally forced to relax. No kiddos. Just me. A big comfy bed and Netflix all day long. I have to be forced because otherwise I'd just get up and do other things that needed to be done, which would defeat the whole relaxing thing.

7. I wish I could hang out with my mom and sister every week and watch stupid cheesy Hallmark movies and HGTV together.

8. I wish I could find a way for me to bring in some added income and still be at home. (Note...if you sell things through parties, don't comment with that as a suggestion. I'm not into pyramid schemes).

9. I wonder how Ted met their mother? (I'm watching How I Met Your Mother for the first time on Netflix)

10. I should go to bed soon. I know I won't go to sleep right away though because I'll decide to look at Buzzfeed and get sucked in. Just as my eyes close, one of the boys will wake me up. Good thing they're cute!

Four Fun Facts (x12)

Four names that people call me (other than my real name)

1. Mommy 

2. Rach

3. Rae Lynn (only my mom can call me this though!)

4. Mrs. Elam (which just sounds weird)

Four jobs I’ve had

1. Cashier at Hy-Vee

2. Child Care Provider at many daycares +assistant director.

3.Cashier at True Value...my first real job. I always came home smelling like fertilizer.

4. YMCA child care worker. And swim lesson instructor in Iowa for about 2 months.

Four movies I’ve watched more than once

1. Bridesmaids

2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

3. While You Were Sleeping

4. Juno

Four books I’d recommend

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy

2. Like Dandelion Dust

3. To Kill a Mockingbird

4. Harry Potter Series

 

Four places I’ve lived

1. Eastview Ave. Cedar Rapids

2. 16th Ave. Cedar Rapids

3. 32nd St. Cedar Rapids

4. Taylorville, IL

Four places I’ve visited

1. Oregon

2. California

3. Florida

4. Ukraine

Four places I’d rather be right now

1. Hawaii

2. Disney World

3. Home in Iowa

4. My bed...but I'm sitting here doing this so I can have a post today!

Four things I don’t eat

1. Wild game meats like deer. Blech.

2. Nearly all vegetables. I don't know how I'm alive.

3. Pecans

4. Mushrooms...is that a vegetable? Whatever. They're gross. 

Four of my favorite foods

1 Chocolate

2. Pizza

3. Tacos

4. Ice cream

Four TV shows I watch

I don't watch a lot of current shows right now, so Netflix shows included!

1. Orange is the New Black

2. How I Met Your Mother

3. The Middle

4. House Hunters

 

Four things I’m looking forward to this year

Well, the year is almost over, but let's see...

1. Daniel's 4th birthday!

2. Trip to Iowa for Thanksgiving

3. Christmas music!

4. Celebrating Christmas with both boys. James already had his first Christmas, but this year he'll be more active!

 

Four things I’m always saying

1. I can't find... (I pretty much lose everything)

2. I know! (Said like Monica Gellar)

3. Stop being sassy!

4. Get off of your brother!