Never Again

I'm serious, I will never ever EVER host a school-night sleep over unless I want to be arrested the next day for murder.

Cameron and Kenneth giggled, talked and were naughty all night long. Neither one would listen when I said it was time to sleep, the only way they listened was to have Steve get after them. (Thank goodness he was home!)

Then when Jake woke up at 5:00 am, the boys woke up and talked and laughed for QUITE a while.

Cameron, who is very used to sleeping a certain amount of time (8:00 pm until 7:00 am), woke up grumpy and crabby. He threw THE BIGGEST tantrum this morning...I had to drag his sorry body to the bathroom to get him cleaned up for school!

I love my friend, I'm glad I could help her out, but school-night sleep overs are NOT happening again.

Not gonna happen again!!

Lost in Real Life

I've been pretty sparse online lately, and I apologize....

Last weekend Jake was sick. He's got Thrush (for the FOURTH time....we're gonna kill it DEAD this time...I SWEAR) and Sunday morning he woke up with a NASTY cough that was making him gag and nearly throw up. I decided that I'd keep him home to prevent other kids from getting whatever he'd had, not that I was worried about him being "sick" but I didn't want to share. Then we WERE going to go visit my parents on Sunday, but an overly-long home teaching visit tore that idea all to pieces. :(

Jake's also been getting into EVERYTHING. He crawls away from us faster than we're used to. He's demolished several good books (BOARD BOOKS) and some of our church magazines!! There's a nearly perfect hole in the back cover of the October Conference edition!

Saturday we had a surprise visit from Steve's brother, girlfriend and their son. I wasn't really looking forward to it, because I'd already had plans and I REALLY didn't want to clean my house, but once they came I had an enjoyable visit with them.

Sunday the local newspaper came out with it's special section, "Born in '08." We'd entered Jake, but some little girl in a pink tutu won for June. :( I think the judges were blind. My baby was THE most beautiful in the WHOLE edition, and NO, I'm NOT biased at all! ;)

I've also decided that just because I have a computer in my home again doesn't mean that I *have* to be online all the time, so I've tried cutting back.

I've realized, after a complete night full of Facebook dreams, that I was doing too much non-stuff online. I dreamed that I was reading all of my friends' status updates AS they happened. (I guess that kind of a thing is called Twittering, but I'm not "hip" on that kind of a thing...Facebook is as "cool" as I can be.) I just really needed a reality break.

Dealing with a sick kid is as REAL as I want to be.

On a happy note, my good friend had her baby today. (I'm watching her son for her while she's in the hospital recovering.) Congrats to Baby Javin and his not so SMALL status. He weighed in at 11 POUNDS 5 ounces. HOLY MOLEY!! Good thing the kid was a c-section! Recover quickly, Janet! :)

ADDICTING!

I must have an addictive personality...in the last two days I've become hooked on this viking game and this bubble game.

Someone SAVE me!! :P

Gone With The WInd??

The last few days the wind has just been HOWLING here. When I was younger I absolutely LOVED the wind. I would lean into it and just let it hold me up. (Mind you, I was MANY MANY pounds lighter, and very innocent about falling flat on my face if the wind just happened to shift.)

Now I'm older, and I'm usually carrying a baby in it. I have to admit, I don't love the wind so much anymore.

Today when I went to the school to pick Cameron up, the wind was SO fierce that it took Jake's breath away when I took him OUT of the van. He was sucking air until we got inside out of the gusts.

Then on the way home from therapy it, again, sucked out the child's air. He was struggling until I got him buckled in the car seat. Once we got home, I finagled it so that I had the door unlocked and ready to just hurry my boys into the house and out of the wind. Wouldn't you know it, Jake was asleep. He'd been fighting his nap ALL day long, so I really didn't want him to wake up, but once we left the car mean Mr. Wind sucked the air away again.

My poor baby is now WIDE awake, jumping around, being silly, and his nap is GONE with the wind. *sigh*

This wind is so terrible. It's making a normally beautiful day FREEZING! And our heat is on the fritz. And the Landlord said he would come and fix it TOMORROW....extra blankies for US! :S

Memories...Fickle Little Things

I don't know if I've really mentioned here how bad my Grandpa's memory has gotten. A year ago, he remembered a lot, but had many forgetful moments. Now, he barely remembers anything. It's been really hard to see him start to go this way. For a LONG time he didn't remember that his wife had died. On a daily basis we'd have to tell him, "Yes, Grandma died. Yes, you were there for her funeral. Yes, you got to say good-bye to her...." It was SO hard. He still has days when he forgets she's died. He has her funeral program on a little table by his recliner. He will rub it often.

The funny thing with his memory, though, is that he remembers things that he did a LONG time ago REALLY well. And he's funny when he tells you about the stories of his youth. He'll start out telling you the original story. Then he'll start saying something else, and for some reason he'll loop back to the first story he told you, only he makes it just a little better than what really happened. Then he'll start saying something else, and go BACK to that story, again, making it just a LITTLE more sensational than it was before. This loop continues for HOURS!

I try to visit him on a weekly basis. And usually I succeed. Yesterday, Steve and Cameron had days off, so we were going to go visit Grandma (my mom). As we drove to her house we drove past the facility where Grandpa lives and saw her car, so we decided to visit Grandpa as well.

While we were visiting, the facility performed their monthly (I think they do it monthly, anyway...) fire drill. It was LOUD and flashing lights everywhere. Grandpa looked at my mom and said, "What do we do?" Mom said that it was the fire alarm and we should get outside. (That IS what you do during a fire drill, right?)

So we all gathered up our little things and got coats on (the wind has been howling here lately...) and went to the nearest exit. The people who work at the facility were trying hard to get the fire alarm that they'd pulled to stop blaring, and we were the ONLY ones to go outside.

Grandpa lives on the backside of the building, so we took a LONG walk to get to the front to find out what was going on and if it was okay to go back inside. The whole walk back, Grandpa would ask, "Why do you suppose they did this TODAY?!" I told him it was to break up his day. *giggle*

Once we got to the front door, the people in charge were holding the doors open and telling us that it was okay to go back inside. They got the alarm turned off, and we went back to Grandpa's room where his memories of fire drills took over.

How is it, a man who doesn't remember WHO my baby is (he asks EVERY few minutes who's baby he is, and if he walks yet, commenting on how cute he is...) can remember a short little fire drill??

The story this time? When he moved to Caldwell (western Idaho) he went to high school. (When he lived here he went to a one roomed schoolhouse.) His first week at the high school they had a fire drill. It was the first time he'd ever been in one, and he was a little nervous that the school was actually going to burn down. I guess the school was completely made of wood, and was VERY flammable. The interesting thing about this fire drill was that the fire department had figured out a way to get smoke INTO the building.

This story repeated itself over and over. At one point, he told us that it wasn't at his high school that he'd had the drill....it was at a plant he worked at.

Yes, memories are funny things. I'm just SO glad I still have mine!

Pay It Forward

I commented on my friend, Mattmom's blog for this post

The first five people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations.

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, clothes, paper goods, or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

Here's the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Soooooo tired.....

I had to put Jake down, because he's gotten SUPER clingly lately, and I just needed the break. What I didn't realize, was that he was exhausted.

Here's what happened:

My little reader! <3

Be Positive

Lately I've seen a lot of negativity (and even been a bit negative myself....)

So I've decided to post the positive things going on in my life right now. Because I want to find the JOY in my journey.

~Steve has a job. I know this isn't always a positive thing, but in this economy, it is HUGE!

~Cameron is doing SO well on his medication. He's a new child. He had a rough few weeks, but we've finally found the correct dosage! YAY!
~Jake is a completely typical child. He's such a little smartie-pants too. He's picked up SO much...to mommy's chagrin!

~I have a home that is comfortable and very homey.

~I have clean sheets to sleep on tonight. I LOVE that freshly laundered smell!

~I'm getting a shipment of my favorite smelly things this week. I'm SO excited. :)

~I have a cute hair-do that I can just blow-dry and go with. SOOOOOO wonderful!

~My boys love playing with each other. Not only that, but they LOVE each other. I'm truly blessed to have that!

~It's been raining all day today. Exciting....that means spring is just around the corner!!

~The yummy Easter treats are on the store shelves!! ;)

~I've got one pile of my many piles of papers filed in my filing cabinet. It's a start!

~I FEEL cute today. You know how you have those days when you just feel "blah?" And then there are those days that you actually FEEL "cute!?" Today's a cute day!

~I have many friends who do SO much for me.

~My husband LOVES me and I love him. (That's probably one that should have been at the top of the list...)

There really is much to be happy about and be grateful for.

"In all of living have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." (I don't know who said this, but it's a saying that I got from my stake enrichment meeting and I've got displayed by my computer.)

Blah

There's no school today. It's a teacher work-day.

Cameron needs his medicine refilled. (He's taking some other meds.)

Jake AND I have a sore throat/barking cough.

Oh, JOY!

What A WEEK!

After my day with sick boys, I had a fun rest of the week.
Yesterday was Cameron's Blue and Gold Banquet. This was our first NOT as leaders, and just as parents. I ended up sitting next to a good friend who's life is kind of rough right now. She has some of the cutest kids I know, but they've all got some pretty intense medical problems (yeah, look who's talking? The mom of the boy with ADHD AND NF1.) We had a good visit, and I was glad that our ward combines with another ward....so I can see her more often!

Then today Steve and I did our errands. We went from store to store as quickly as we could, and got pretty much everything done. (YAY!) In the process, I got a new haircut...which I LOVE!! My hairstylist is so good with cutting my hair so it looks good for me. Today we decided that I need bangs....and I think it's a good fit...for now! (One picture was taken by Steve, the other by Cameron...can you guess who took what?)

New development: Jake is now cruising along furniture. I'm SO not ready for this yet. My sweet, non-trouble-making Cameron didn't do that until he was a year old. Jake's not yet 9 months old. I have a feeling Mr. Trouble will be into more things soon.

Sickies

Last night Cam kept coming in and out of bed to complain that his nose was stuffed up, his throat hurt, he was coughing, his tummy hurt....

When I woke up for the day, I heard a loud barking cough from the boy. That was enough to convince me it was time for a sick-day...whether he liked it or not. (Just for the record, he did NOT like it.) I called the bus to tell them he was sick and didn't need picked up. I called the school and left a message that we were having a sick-day, and then I settled in for the day. Cam wasn't really miserably sick, but just enough to be whiny. :P

Then later on, after Jake's nap, I realized that Thrush has reared it's ugly head AGAIN! I called the doctor's office to make sure he didn't need to go in, and found out that we can go through the purple cycle SEVERAL times before it gets cleared up. Uh, nice to KNOW! :P

So here I sit at home with two sick little boys...each in their own way! *sigh*

I Can Do This....I Can Do This....I Can Do This....

My little tornado. His middle name should have been "Trouble."

He pulls himself up to EVERYTHING!!!! He even banged his mouth on a chair last night, causing gushing blood....and lots and lots of tears.

When Mama Plays...

...the baby will get into mischief! *giggle*

He climbed into this box ALL by himself...and got stuck. Little pill!

Thrush

Today I noticed some little white patches on the inside of Jake's mouth. Just on the corners by his lips. At first I thought it was paper, I mean, he HAS been putting everything that's been on the floor into his mouth, and we've been shredding paper like crazy people. But when I went to "pull it out" it didn't come, and I noticed it was more like a yeast infection or something else. So I called the doctor, and the nurse said it sounded like thrush. Um...yay?

So today we went to the pharmacy and got some purple stuff (yeah, don't remember the name of it off hand...) and some anti-fungal foot stuff for me, and we're treating it.

Isn't Jake's purple mouth just LOVERLY!? ;)

Hopefully this won't last long...and none of the rest of US will get it. *fingers crossed* Until then I have a purple-mouthed baby...

Does Anyone Read Me Anymore??

I know I've been bad about commenting/reading everyone else's blogs in the past, but I *thought* I was doing better.

Two posts in a week and no comments.....

Maybe I'm talking to the great void....

Scoutty Brat

I finally got around to getting Cam a scout shirt, and then we actually SEWED the stuff on it! (He was supposed to wear it to school today, but being as scatter-brained as I am, I spaced it until now, and he's been gone for over an hour....Oh well!!)

Here's my proud little scout! (Isn't he cute!?)

We've also been trying out new ADHD medications with him. I liked the last medicine he was on except for the fact that he was ornery and VERY defiant. He did pay attention to things and was doing pretty well. The other downside to his last medication was the fact that his medical insurance just didn't cover it....period. It was too new to be covered, so we had to cover whatever they wouldn't, which ended up being almost $200 a month....ick!!

So we've tried him on Ritalin. Yeah, I know, the typical medicine, but I'm having problems with it. He's even MORE defiant, if that's at all possible, and even grouchier and meaner. I'm at my wits end with him most of the time. Since he had no school or therapy yesterday I about lost my MIND with the kid. He screamed, yelled, and threw tantrum after tantrum....I was ready to shoot him. Last night I told him that he NEEDED to start behaving better, or I'd get upset. He just shrugged it off and went to bed.

I'm HOPING that today goes better. I just keep telling myself that all this medicating stuff WILL get better....I just can't wait until we figure out the correct dosage and what works with him.

Home at Last!!

I can't use the excuse that I don't have my own computer at home to follow my favorite blogs...I'm now up and going with a NEW computer!! *doing a happy dance*

For the past 2 days I've been putting together all our new "office" area. We have a new computer desk (put together by me), a new computer chair (put together by me with my brother's help), a new filing cabinet (put together TWICE by me....dang directions...), and a new computer...set up by me. I'm sure Steve would have helped if he'd not been working when I was putting stuff together.

Because of the work I've been doing on the office area, Jake has felt neglected. Poor baby. He's been super whiny and cries at the drop of a hat. He refused to let me put him back to bed this morning after his early morning feeding....he slept with me. But now, it's put together, all that's left is to organize everything. *sigh* It sure feels good to get somethings accomplished!

And lest you think I forgot, Steve and I did treat each other for Valentine's day. I sent him a balloon bouquet and a singing card (I WILL be making him a steak dinner with the trimmings for dinner), and he got me some cute earrings, a bear, and CHOCOLATE!! :D It's been a great day!

Um...You Eat What?

Cameron was snacking on some cherry flavored jelly hearts. Now, when I taste them I think they taste a little like cough syrup. So I really don't like them. (My mom has also mentioned them tasting like cold medicine...)

So Cameron was eating away and then said, "YUCK!"

I was a little shocked (the boy doesn't say "yuck" to any kind of candy...) I asked him what was wrong.

He said, "These are GROSS!"

I asked him, "What's wrong with them?"

Cameron said, "Mom, they taste like eye drops!"

Thoughts on My Mind

Ever since I heard about the octuplets born a few weeks ago, thoughts have been on my mind. My first thought was, "Right on! That mom now has insta-family, I'm sure she's been wanting a family for a LONG time! Yay for them!"

Then when I heard that the octuplets already had 6 siblings I thought, "Wow! That's going to be QUITE the family. I hope the mom and dad are excited for a big family...." Then almost instantly I heard that the mom was single and living with her parents, then my somewhat positive thoughts turned VERY negative. My thoughts now aren't very nice. I think that this mom is VERY irresponsible. VERY!! How can she put *that* kind of pressure on her parents, who I'm sure, just want to be grandparents to these kids, not their sole support! I'm angry with the doctors and clinics who allowed this woman, with no job or home of her home, to have all of these kids SO close and all at once.

I just don't understand.

Well, I understand the yearning for children of your own. THAT I do understand, but to bring children into that kind of situation, to me, is just wrong. I feel sorry for the grandparents. It's not their job to take care of this family...it's just NOT! I feel sorry for these kids. Their mom brought them into this world alone, and without a father. Raising one or two kids on your own is hard enough, but to have 14 children depending on YOU?! I can't imagine!

I know that it's her children, her body, and her choice, but sometimes what you want isn't what you should have.

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I had another nightmare last night, it woke me out of a sound sleep, and made me think hard about the things I've taught (or I'm teaching) my boys.

In my dream, one of my cousins was smoking and offered a cigarette to Cameron. HE TOOK IT! Not only did he take it, but by the time I found out about it, he was hooked. (And in my dream, he was the age he is now...) In the dream I tried over and over to stop him, but he would throw a tantrum and refuse to listen to me. (Like he likes to do whenever I tell him not to do something....) It was just all too real! When I woke up, I could *swear* that I could smell cigarette smoke. (I'm sure it was my *cough* LOVELY neighbor's.)

I couldn't sleep. So I tried to get my mind off of it by reading. While I was reading, Cameron woke up (early) and asked me what was going on. I told him about my nightmare, and asked him what he'd do if someone offered him ANYTHING that was bad. He thought for a while, and said, "Mom, if someone gave me cigarettes, I'd tell my teacher or you."

I just hope that I can keep steering this boy the right way. He's SO rebellious, I just don't know, sometimes!

******************************************************************

I'm SO happy. Really, even with all these negative things going on in my life, I'm TRULY happy! Several things have just been clicking with me and my family. I really am blessed and pray continually that this joy and happiness will continue for a VERY long time!

Where I've been...

I really REALLY miss having a computer in my home. I don't have complete access when things happen that are blog-worthy! UGH!

BUT...

I should have a new computer soon. I did our taxes on Friday, and with the direct deposit SHOULD be seeing some return money within a week or so.

There's so many things we've been putting off until we got taxes back, and poor Cameron has gotten used to us saying, "We'll get it once we get taxes back." Unfortunately for him, he still doesn't have understanding of time frames, and gets quite confused between a week and a month...sometimes a year. Silly boy!

This last week, my mom got all the stuff done (or going) for my grandpa to be in an assisted care facility. He moved in on Monday and we're thrilled! The boys and I went to visit him today and it's SUCH a nice place. I really like it. It feels like a comfortable apartment complex as opposed to any assisted care facility I've previously been in. I'm sure he'll be MUCH happier there. He's already had several visitors. :)

Jake's new talent has manifested itself....he spits. Yes, I know, babies are full of spit and saliva, but this boy, has mastered the raspberry. I laugh when I drive down the road and both boys are blowing raspberries. Not only do they spit at each other (which makes a mama proud) but they'll laugh and giggle at each other. There's nothing quite like the laughter of your kids to make you smile.

We've also discovered that Jake just likes to yank on his ears, for no other reason besides the fact that he wants to. Not fun for us when we THINK he's got an ear infection because of the way he's been yanking....UGH! My doctor's office is probably sick of seeing me, I'm sure! :P

Over the weekend we had a wonderful WONDERFUL Stake Conference with Elder Kim B. Clark (the president of BYU-Idaho). Saturday he asked the audience for input and had a GREAT conversation about how to strengthen our families, which I think my husband took to heart, because he's been SO amazing since then. (Not that he wasn't nice before, but he's so aware of me and my needs now....) Then we had great talks and testimonies given Sunday morning. All in all, I was very happy I went. I just don't understand when some people skip Stake Conference....

Otherwise, we've been just doing the normal routine. Jake did have a little bit of a cold that he's still fighting, but we're all good! (Thank heaven!)