Fun With My Boys

It's been a wet and rainy summer so far. I'll admit, I kind of like it though. Not every day, but we've had some great thunderstorms, which I love. Thankfully, the boys don't mind them either. It does put a damper on things some days though. I had plans to take Daniel to the pool a couple of days each week, and so far we've been able to go a grand total of once. He had a lot of fun though. once he got used to it of course.

Wednesday, I went to the dentist because of my jaw pain. It turned out to be my wisdom tooth. I promised myself if he said it was the wisdom tooth that I would let him pull it right then and there. I'm the girl that 3 years ago started shaking violently and crying while having an anxiety attack when he brought it up. He knows that I have to be super numbed up because my mouth just doesn't go numb like it should. Normally 3 big shots of Novocain will do it. Thank goodness he double checked. I thought it was numb, but he pressed around. At first I was fine, and then he pushed another area and I about smacked him. A nice big zing shot through my mouth. So, another shot of Novocain finally did the trick. I was shaking pretty badly at first, but once I knew I couldn't feel anything I was okay. It took lots of pulling and tugging, but that sucker finally came out. I survived! Plus, I've tolerated the pain with ice packs and Advil. No painkillers for this nursing momma.

Yesterday, I took James to Springfield to go shopping and left Daniel and Jacob at home for the day. Target went great other than that James kept kind of tipping in the cart. It was his first time riding in the seat of the cart! He liked it at first though!



My big score was at Kohl's. I walked out of there with 2 baby outfits, 3 tank tops, 1 t-shirt, 2 dish towels, a book and a toy for a total of $28! I LOVE that you can stack so many coupons. I had a $15 off $15, a $10 off $30, $10 Kohl's Cash and 15% off. I was pretty proud.

James was NOT amused at Kohl's though, and I couldn't leave because DEALS! He cried and screamed. I took him the dressing rooms twice to try and get him to eat. Oh no. The only thing he liked was hanging upside down off my lap and looking in the mirror at the same time. I got lots of, "Aww! Poor little baby". I did feel bad, but he eventually did fall asleep.

Since it was nice out, we walked the whole shopping strip and popped in several stores. Stopped at Babies R Us to feed him after he woke up. It's nice because they have a nursing mom's room with a nice changing able and a rocking chair.

I almost skipped Carter's, but decided to go it before heading home. They had a blowout clearance sale going on. I wish the Mimi's were with me! Haha! I did get Daniel 2 shirts, James an outfit for now and also a 3 piece winter outfit for $20, so another score for me!

Today, before it rained, Daniel and I went to the park and played for an hour. He's been..um...not good lately. Year 3 is not going down as a fun year in the books. But, he does well one on one a lot of times, so he was really good.



3 more days at home and then off on our next adventure to Iowa!

2 Months of Catching Up!

Summer is well under way and I haven't blogged about anything since April! I should probably try to catch up a little bit, so I'll do some recapping.

In May, I finally got to live my dream and saw Garth Brooks in concert! It was a LATE night, but it was all that I imagined it would be. He song every single song that I had hoped for. I can die happy now!





Other May happenings included lots of time at the park!





And milestones for James included eating jar food and learned to sit up by himself!





June has been very busy. I can't believe it's already going to be over next week. I'm never as big of a fan of July and August, but once we survive those, it's on to FALL!

June started with Jacob's and my traditional anniversary Cardinals game! We went a couple weeks early since we found a great deal on all inclusive tickets. The Cardinals lost, but it's always a fun time at the game! Not to mention endless food. Yum!



Sadly, that same day my Grandma S. suffered from a stroke. Although it's only been 3 weeks since it happened, it feels like an eternity has passed by. I can't imagine how my grandma and my mom must feel going through this. In 3 weeks she's been in the hospital twice and in 2 care centers. Her right side is paralyzed and her speech is hard to understand, but I'm praying she'll come back from this still.

A few days later the boys and I headed to Iowa (on an already planned visit), since Erica was flying home for the week. Erica and mom went to camp, but the boys and I came early anyway since my dad was going out of the country and I wanted him to see the boys. So we got to spend Friday night and all day Saturday together. We went the park and then to a kids summer fest on Saturday.







Kendra and I also took the boys to visit Great Mimi in the care center. It was the first time for both of us seeing her after the stroke. And when we left we both admitted it was much harder than we imagined seeing her that way. She seemed happy to see us though and I'm glad we took the boys along.



Sunday, mom and Erica got home. First time I had seen Erica since Daniel was 11 months old! We went and visited Grandma again that day. This picture melts my heart. She was so happy to hold James.



James took his first every big boy bath (a bath without his bath seat!)



We got to have a visit from Great Mimi T. and cousins!



We had sister time!



Splash pad and park with friends!





It was SOOO good to hang out with Sheila!



Aunt Erica and Daniel became besties!



And of course she loved James too!



We had a scare on that Wednesday where Grandma was sent back to the hospital. Erica, Kendra and I went up and were pretty much expecting to say our goodbyes. Thankfully, that was not the case, but it was sad and scary none the less. Because of that though, Erica skipped her flight and stayed until Saturday, so the boys and I did too! We got to spend more time together and also got to visit with Grandma again. There were tears as I told Grandma goodbye on my last day because I didn't know if I would see her again, but I'm very thankful for all the time I was able to spend with her.

I don't know when this will happen again, but I'm glad we were all together again!



Which lead me to our latest adventure! Road trip #5. This time Jacob was along for the ride! We went to Indiana for his cousin's wedding and Daniel was the ring bearer.

We ran into a little trouble on our way...



We also forgot to account for the time change, but it all worked out because we left early. Got checked into our hotel and then headed to the rehearsal. Got turned around on the campus where the wedding was and couldn't find the chapel. Finally found it after getting a hold of his aunt!

Rehearsal went so great! Daniel had us all laughing. He followed behind the flower girl and would pick up all of the flowers that she dropped. Guess he gets that from me!

On our way to the rehearsal dinner it started POURING. We made a mad dash into the dinner, but poor James was dripping with water...and smiling a big happy smile. Haha!

On Saturday we left early for the wedding. We needed to be there at 12:30. Turned out we had a very very flat tire. Many texts, and phone calls later we had both a tow truck and relatives on the way to the hotel. It's a long story, but the boys and I made it to the chapel by 1:30 when pictures were starting and Jacob made it just before the ceremony at 3:30!

Daniel was ADORABLE in his tux! And he did great with pictures and the ceremony.









It took he and flower girl 2 solid minutes to get down the aisle, but they were so cute and did a wonderful job!



Oh, and James was there too!



Then we partied hard the reception!











All in all a fun time!

Sunday we headed home, much to Daniel's disappointment. He wanted to spend THREE YEARS (aka nights) at the hotel, NOT TWO YEARS! :)  But he was happy that we stopped at Steak and Shake for Father's Day! So was James!




Whew! I did it! I caught up! Next road trip happens next week! Woohoo!