Fabric, OH MY!!

So today was pretty much a great day! I really can't complain about anything. I got to wake up next to Joe (and Nathan as he got into bed with us at 6am), Joe made omlets & I made toast & orange juice, and then Joe did breakfast dishes. Mom & Laura both called but I ate breakfast before I returned the calls. If I would have called mom back before breakfast, she would have brought me a couple dozen eggs but they had already left their house to come to my house. No big deal though, I can get them later.



I finished my shower just as Mom & Dad got to our house. It didn't take me long to get dressed and out the door with Dad. On our way to Mike's shop, we saw our neighbor that lives in Smith Funeral Home's house. He seems like a really cool guy. We talked to him for about 10 minutes & then we finally left. We got to the shop & unhitched the trailer. Then we went to get the fabric!! By the time we got it all loaded in the truck, the bed & cab were full. There was also a box of old board games & puzzles that I now have. I had to call Laura to come back and give me a ride!




Laura dropped me off at home, Mom left with Laura, & Dad took Joe's car somewhere. Joe helped Dad move wood scraps from the trailer to the dump truck, Frank came over to help Dad get the trailer lights working, and Joe & I had lunch. Nathan didn't much want to take a nap but I finally got him to sleep at about 4:40pm. Joe & I each made me a sammich for dinner & I grabbed 1/2 an avocado for dinner too.




Wasn't even too bad. Charlene brought me 4 pair of sunglasses for Nate. They are very cool!! On lunch I had my avocado & 1/2 of my pimento cheese sandwich and then I was full. I gave Vanessa my pb&j. I told a lot of people about the fabric & they were all excited! But I'm sure not as excited as I was!!



Cindy wants some of it but that's it. If Mike still has the manican & the clothes racks, I'll try to get those as well. I'm gonna open a store in my basement! Okay, maybe not. When I got home from work I finished sewing/reinforcing the laundry hamper basket thing & then washed a load of colored clothes after Joe brought laundry down from upstairs. I got Nate to sleep at about 10:30pm, or so I thought. He's been up & down about 4 times since then. He just won't go to sleep tonight. I made a quick trip to the basement to check out the fabric but couldn't stay long as Nate was screaming. (Joe just put Nate back in his "bed" & is laying down with him to try to get him to sleep.



I'm thankful for Mike & Cindy for letting me have all the fabric (or whatever of it Cindy does't want -- Mike was glad to get rid of it!!).

Joe's Home!!

I'm super tired and really not wanting to blog. Not a lot happened today. Ava stayed with us last night. She really wanted to take a bath this morning, but I wasn't really in the mood to give baths. After breakfast Ava tried on all her new clothes from Natalie. She loved them & was so excited to have them! I went back down for more while her & Nate were playing. I found some more but then I heard the doorbell ring. It was Grandpa. He called a bunch of people so I went back to the basement to look for more clothes. She ended up with 2 grocery bags full of clothes. And when the clothes are for an almost 4 year old, you can get a lot in the bag! She wanted to wear a shirt with buttons!

We took her to Cindy's & had donuts & then eggs & pancakes. Nathan then had cereal & then a banana. Mike says that if Nathan eats as much as Joe does, then I'll be going to the grocery store an awful lot!! We stayed there until about 4:30pm-ish. (I just had to fight off my cat. He attacked my arm.) We got all buckled into the car, took off down the road, & before we got to the highway (about the length of 2 city blocks), Nate was already asleep. I got him inside & layed him on the bed. I finished the dishes, cleaned up around the house, & did some sewing. I also had some leftover nachos!! YUM!!

Nate got up about 1 1/2 hours late. I tried to sew some more but that didn't work too well. I was able to get just a tiny bit done but I had to bribe him with jelly beans. (SHH... don't tell Daddy!) I did some more dishes, cleaned up the front room, & made chocolate milk for me & Nate and a pb&j sammich for Nate (he never ate it). Joe finally got home at about 8:30pm. I was so happy to see him. Nate was too! Grandpa dropped him off & left after just a few minutes. Joe took all his stuff upstairs & called my mom. Nate followed him up there so I decided to take the slipcovers off the couches & do some much-needed vacuuming.

Nathan did NOT want to go to sleep. I started trying to put his to sleep at 9:45pm. He screamed & cried and cried & screamed. I'm guessing he wasn't ready for bed. Just before 11:30pm, he finally conked out. Thank goodness!! He's getting way too heavy to carry around for 15 minutes trying to get him to sleep! I'm just glad he's asleep. I'm so happy to have Joe back home. He was gone for way too long, especially when I had such a busy & eventful weekend! I was going to upload pictures to add on here but the battery is almost dead & won't let me open them up. Sorry, no pictures tonight.

I'm thankful that Joe wants to learn as much as possible about my religion.

Mini Nacho Party!!!

This blog will be done in spurts. We had a busy day. No nap for Nate!! Aiight, first break... I know, I know. I just started. Actually I typed the title about 45 minutes ago and I just came back to type this. I'll be back. Aiight, so it's been about 25 0r 30 minutes but I'm back. Now where were we...

This mor (another spurt) ning I got up about 7am cause I had a dream that I backed up in the car over a little boy. That was horrible. I was able to go back to bed and then I got up at 8:45 or 9am-ish from a phone call. Then just a short while later I got another phone call. We took a shower, folded clothes, starting putting them away, and then I heard the dreadful "drip" sound. The roof was leaking onto our bed again! I moved all the stuff and covered the bed with the big plastic bag that the mattress came in. We came downstairs and I did some dishes.



Laura called from in Hannibal and asked about lunch. Or maybe I told her about nachos earlier. I don't remember. Anyway, I started making taco meat, refried beans, spanish rice, & guacamole. Mike, Cindy, Michael, Pat, Meagan, Ava, Frank, Laura, Logan, & Beau all came over for a mini Nacho Party!! It was a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure everyone liked the food. The kitchen got cleaned in the process so maybe I need to have people over more often!



When everyone was here, they all wanted to see our water bed. There was a pretty good amount of water on the giant plastic bag. Laura went thru a bunch of clothes to give to Frank's cousin's baby. I found a few boxes of tiny baby clothes to go thru for a friend of my neice, Leslie. (Another break for about 20 minutes.) I went upstairs to dump the water from the plastic and noticed that the water leaked thru the bag!! I got all the blankets and sheets off the bed. The mattress was wet so I used towels to sop up the water. Then I heard more dripping. The water had gone all the way thru the mattress and onto the box springs!! So the bed is all apart and I've got a bucket under the leak. I used a hair dryer to dry the underside of the mattress. We're sleeping in the guest room tonight.



Everyone left and then Dianne called to see if I would keep Jack (he's 13) for the evening. We went to church (oh what fun!!! we started in the cry room & then Nate freaked out cause we weren't in the main church with the rest of the congregation, when we got there, he was still bad.) and then came home. Meagan (Cindy's sister) asked if I could watch Ava (Meagan's 3 year old daughter). Ava came over at about 7:30pm. I made a quick trip to the store for WIC & rum. What a great combination! Jack was in charge and did fine. When I got home, I had him get a bag of ice from the gas station across the street.



The 2 little ones brushed their teeth, took a bath, and got in their pj's. The pj's that Ava wore were a little bit too small but she said "They fit perfect!! I might just have to take these home with me!!" Keep in mind she's only 3. It was very cute. Neither of them wanted to go to bed but that wasn't an option. We all layed down in the bed with the lights off. Didn't work. Nate was crying & wanted up. Ava wanted to talk to Uncle Mike & her mom. Then Ava wanted a sippy cup with water like Nate. I took Nate in the other room so I could rock him to sleep while Ava stayed in the bed. He screamed some more but after about 5 minutes he was out. Ava was still awake but once I put sleeping Nate in bed next to her, she went out soon after. Jack left just before Ava fell asleep.



I did more dishes, started this blog, did some laundry, blogged a bit more, went to the basement to look for clothes for Ava (I found lots of socks, underwear, & tops but not many bottoms), did a little blogging, switched laundry, blogged, went upstairs to get ready for bed, and now I've been on a roll & am about to finish the blog I started about 2 1/2 hours ago!! (After I added pictures it's been about 3 hours since I started.)

I'm thankful we have another bedroom we can sleep in while our bedroom is out of order.

Missing Joe.

Nate decided to wake up at about 8:30am. I really didn't wanna get up that early, but I had to as he was crying a lot. And if you know Nathan, you know that if he cries an aweful lot, he will throw up. When I got up to get him, his hands were super cold. I forgot to turn the heat on last night. I put him in bed with me and we watched PBS. That didn't last long. He got up and went to play with the toys out in the "hall". Before I knew it, he made his way downstairs. I went after him and turned the heat on while I was down there; it was 57 degrees. We came back upstairs & watched PBS for about an hour until we were all nice & cozy!



After showers & breakfast & mo-zee-ing around the house for an hour or so, we left to go get my paycheck. They loved Nate's yellow short rain boots! Then to the bank, stopped at Dianne's work to get my checkbook, then stopped at a new kids resale store to check it out. We ended up getting a small See 'N Say, the vhs "Doug's 1st Movie", & some John Deere boots size 5 (they will fit the next kid we have but I couldn't pass them up for just $6!!!).



After that we stopped at Charlene's. We were there about 2 hours. Nathan had so much fun there. He tried to play with the animals a couple times but they really weren't that into him. He found a mirror, basketball, tall corner shelf, letter opener, batteries, candles, & scented oil to be great fun to play with!! He rolled the basketball down the steps a couple times. The 1st time he just went on down and got it. The 2nd time he tried to get me, Charlene, & Lexus to get it. We didn't so he found something else to do. He had an orange & he loved it!!



He rocked for a few minutes in the rocker and he was out. I layed him down and did some dishes. Most are done!! YA ME!!! He only slept for about 45 minutes and then we were off again. We went to Wal-Mart were the pharmacy line was horribly long (ok, so 4 or 5 people ahead of me was a lot a Nate had just woken up & wasn't happy!!) We finally got out of there & then made a very quick trip to the gas pumps. Then off to Mike's shop downtown. (The theatre opened today so we made a detour to see it.) Nate was NOT happy!! He screamed and cried the whole time Cindy & I were looking at fabric. OH MY THE FABRIC!!!! There is tons!!! We went to Yen Ching with them & I ate NO meat!! YA ME AGAIN!!!



We got home and Nate watched Curious George for just about 10 minute or so before we put in our new movie; Doug's 1st Movie. About 5 minutes after it started, Bob & Regina came over. I have no idea what the movie was about so we will need to watch it again. They stayed for maybe an hour & then left. Nate was is his pj's & ready to go upstairs by 9:45pm. I layed him in his bed, covered him up, kissed him, said good night and walked out. He cried for about 5 seconds - no joke - and then got up to play in the dark for about 5 minutes or so and then fell asleep on the floor in front of the bathroom. Why can't it always be that easy????



I'm thankful for friends & family to have around.

Forgot payday.

I'm not really in the mood to blog but here I am.

I got up early and showered and shaved. It doesn't happen too often! After my shower a friend called ad we talked for about 1/2 hour. Joe got up and gave Nate a shower. They went down for breakfast before me. I got down there and had a bowl of cereal. Dad was outside talking to the good neighbor (funeral house). After breakfast, Nate & I went out to be with Grandpa. We loaded up the truck with ALL of our recyclables. We had about 6 or 7 bags of plastic, 2 or 3 bags of soup cans, & way too many boxes to try to count. Our basement looks different without all that stuff!



Joe finished almost all of his homework and while doing that, he got Nate to sleep for a nap. While Nate was napping, I went to the rental house with Dad. It's really bad in there & it's gonna take a while to get it cleaned out. We need to get the windows open soon. I made popcorn again to take to work. Right before I left for work, Nate was coughing a lot and ended up throwing up all over me! I didn't like the shirt I was wearing so it was aiight. He took more medicine.



I had full-of-hull popcorn at work and Kim has hull-less popcorn at work. They were both very good! I was super tired at work but it's aiight. I was in credit again for 3 hour and then customer service for 1 hour. Beth gave me a bag of goodies; sheets for Nate & jean pockets for me!! Tomorrow I'm gonna try to get a bunch of fabric from Mike's shop!!! When I was at work, Joe left for his Cursillo weekend. He'll be back sometime Sunday. I'll miss him very much; I already do.



When I got home, Nate was VERY happy to see me! I also realized that I forgot to get my paycheck. Sucks, I know. He had fun with Aunt Dianne & cousin Jack tho. They watched him for a couple hours after Daddy left and before Mommy got home. Shortly after they left I got Nate ready for bed. He cried & screamed for about 15 minutes or so. I put him in our bed & he was out in about 5 minutes. After I put him in his bed, I had to get my own cereal. :( I had berry flavored Hannah Montana cereal. I'm still super tired so I'm gonna end this now.

I'm thankful for Dianne for watching Nate at the last minute.

Boring day.

Today wasn't too exciting. Last night wasn't the most fun night tho. Nathan decided to get up at 2am!! I brought him to our bed in hope that he would go back to sleep. That didn't happen. He was wide awake and kept trying to jump out of bed. At 3:30am I finally woke Joe up and asked if he could try to get Nate back to sleep. After about 10 or 15 minutes he tried laying him back in his bed. That's didn't work either. He screamed!!! Joe ended up taking him downstairs. Nathan watched Curious George & Joe did dishes and played on the computer. They finally came back upstairs at 7am!! Joe put sleeping Nate in his bed and then Joe came to bed. Nate woke me up at about 10:45am so we showered and got dressed. Joe got up just before noon.

Dad called the previous owners today. They said the wife was sick and they would need another 2-3 weeks to get stuff from the house. Dad told them about the letter I received in the mail and that I was pretty upset about it. Dad told them that we have already started working in the backyard and when we're done with that, we're moving to the inside of the house. Basically, if they don't have their stuff out by the time we finish the backyard, TOO BAD!!!



Me, Dad, & Nate went next door to check out some stuff. We found a few good 2x4s & 4x4 boards. Nathan loved climbing over all the stuff back there but didn't like it when he tripped over his feet. (He's gonna be just like his Daddy.)

Joe went to his meeting at the catholic church tonight and Cindy & Mike watched Nate. I'm told he fell asleep at their house shortly before 9pm. Joe got there shortly after 9pm and brought the little dude home. He's been asleep since then. Work wasn't too exciting. I didn't bake or sew anything today. I cleaned up a little bit in the kitchen but that's about it. I've had a headache for a couple days now and my upper/outer right leg is still tingly.

I'm thankful my dad comes down and helps us with so much stuff. I love you Dad!!

Long day.

I don't feel like writing much so this will be very short.

Joe gave Nate a shower, both got dressed and went downstairs for cereal and PBS. I stayed uptairs for about an hour or so. I had a headache and didn't feel like moving. After my shower I went downstairs and had a couple mini chocolate chip banana muffins. It rained forever today. We checked the mail and I got a letter from the City of Hannibal stating that we have a week to get the rental house backyard cleaned up. I was pissed! I called a couple times but didn't want to leave a voice mail. Nate & I ran some errands and then we were going to go to County Market but he fell asleep so I took him home.

I finally got to City Hall to talk to the lady that sent the letter. I explained the whole situation and she was very pleased to hear that we bought the house and will be fixing it up. I was told to ignore the deadline of 1 week as we were making a lot of progress on the house already. After that I went to County Market and bought 5 corned beefs! They are in the freezer now and were a great price -- $1.49 a pound!

Work was ok. It was Kim's birthday (notice the post before this). I printed a card for her at work and had everyone in our Credit Department sign it and I also gave her 2 regular size chocolate chip banana muffins. She was very pleased to get this! I had a bad headache at work so I took 2 tylenol with codeine. It probably wouldn't have been so bad but I took them on an empty stomach. I was so out of it for awhile & I just wanted to pass out. On a good note, I got 26 emails done in the 8:00 hour!! You are supposed to get at least 10 done per hour.

After work I stopped at Wal-Mart for pedialyte only to realize that we already have some at home. I got a few things and then came home and up to bed. My head still hurts and I'm still hungry. I guess I won't be taking any tylenol with codeine tho! No pictures today.

I'm thankful for friends at work that have pretzels, carmel corn, chips, & cheetos and shares them!

Happy Birthday Kim!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Took the fence down.

What did I tell you, we'd get up late today. We got up a little after 10am. I gave Nate a shower and then we went down for breakfast. Joe got everyone cereal. Nate & I started making muffins for work and Joe went down to start cleaning the basement. As soon as he got down there, I realized I didn't have any eggs so I sent Joe to the store. Nate peeled all 10 bananas for me and put them in the bowl. He's such a great helper & he loves to be in there with me helping! When Joe got back he finally went downstairs to clean up. We finally got the muffins going and I got a couple dozen baked by almost 2. I had a meeting at work from 2-3 and then I came back and worked on more muffins. I took 2 of my pot holders to Gina (Kay) at work because she gave me some that she made. She inspired me to make the blue jean pot holders so I wanted to thank you. She loved them as well as everyone else in the room that saw them.



Dad was there when I got back. He brought a big trailer to load crap on from our new backyard. Dad & Joe had 2 sections of the fence taken down and dad was loading stuff. Joe was trying to get Nate down for a nap but that didn't happen. I talked to dad for about 10 minutes and then came back in to finish the muffins. Joe & I got into a very big fight and I asked him to please not slam the bedroom. Well he purposely slammed it 3 times. He slammed them so hard that the baby gates fell down, Ruso jumped like mad, & Nate was in the other room watching George. I didn't hear any response from him. I was so furious with him. I told him it was over & we just blew up on each other. If you read my blog from yesteday then you know about the sermon at church yesterday. About anger and how we need to work on it. Well today was a perfect example. We are better now, but we still need help.



Joe went out to help dad again since it was obvious that Nate wasn't going down for a nap. I took his step stool to the laundry room so he could stand on it to look out the window down to Daddy & Grandpa. He loved it! He also loved the muffins I made as he kept stealing them. I think he had 4 or 5.

Work wasn't too exciting except that we had a big carry-in dinner. There was tons of food and I brought home some fried chicken, baked beans, & homemade chicken n noodles. I only brought 6 muffins home from the 60 that I took in. I'm guessing they were a big hit!



Joe, Dad, Bob, & Mike were working in the backyard when I was at work. Mike brought his Bobcat over and got a bunch of stuff loaded up. It was too dark to see anything when I got home so it'll be a surprise to me when I see it in the morning. Nate was also alseep when I got home. It was very nice!! He had a busy day being outside and seeing the Bobcat! It was such a nice day outside. 77 degrees!!

I was on Facebook earlier & I noticed that a friend of mine that I worked with at Target was online. I haven't talked to her in about 3+ years but finally got to talk to her tonight!! We talked for about 45 minutes. It was so good to hear from her. I have missed talking with her and being around her. I hope to continue talking with her like the good ol' days!



I'm thankful to have old friends back in my life!!

Church & Sewing

We've been waking up a little bit earlier (8:15ish) each day that passes. I'm not sure why, but we have. Now that I say that, I'm sure we'll get up at noon tomorrow! Joe gave Nate a shower this morning while I got to snuggle in bed with all the pillows and covers to myself. After my shower we got dressed & then we watched "Martha Speaks" on PBS. We had breakfast and then had to change Nate's shirt as he dripped milk all down it from his cereal. We uually make good timing in the beginning but usually always end up late for mass. I really hate being late for church. We really need to continue working on that.

Joe had to take Nate to the church nursery soon after getting there. He was starting to be really bad. Now that Nate goes down there to play, I can actually listen to Pastor Steve's sermons. Today's sermon was automatically going off on people when you get angry or bottling it all up inside and then letting it all go at once later on. I'm a mixture of both. I usually end up automatically exploding at Joe, but other times I keep it all in in hopes that it will dissolve somewhere inside me... It never does. I've been getting better (I think, but if you wanna know for certain you should ask Joe) but I still need to work on it. After church we talked to Terry, he's a Speech Implementer at Veteran's School here in Hannibal. He gave us some tips & ideas for helping Nathan. He suggested the continued use of sign language but suggested making flash cards with signs/pictures that he uses/sees daily.

We stopped at the house to get the sewing machine & laptop and then headed over to Mike & Cindy's. Joe did homework while I sewed. I had Bri help and I think she really enjoyed it. Ava wanted to help but with her just being 3, I told her she had to wait until we had the right color thread (I was buying time since I don't want a 3 year old sewing. We stayed there from about noonish to late in the evening. Joe went home (we got it running and the tires aired up) in his car and the rest of us went to Palmyra to take Bri home.

Afterwards we got Joe and went to Breadeaux's. Joe & I got a cheeseburger pizza (so good!!!) with cheese bread sticks for free and Cindy and the boys got plain ol' pepperoni. Cindy tried the cheeseburger pizza and said it wasn't too bad and that it would have been better without mustard. She still like her plain pepperoini better. When we were about done, Ford came in to pick up their pizza. I made him try the "pickle pizza" and he said it was different but not bad. Bob & Regina came in for a little bit too. We stopped at Mike's shop for about 10 minutes and then dropped off Nate & Joe at home.

The rest of us went back to Cindy's. I packed up my stuff and headed to the car. Low and behold, my car wouldn't start! There wasn't much gas in it but should have been enough to get me to the gas station across the street from our house. Mike said since the car parked on an angle, the gas would have been leaning to one side of the tank and wouldn't be able to use what gas was in there. Joe had both wallets with him so Mike and I went to get gas in a couple small tanks and then went back to put it in the car. It started. Alas, I've also got to get better at watching the gas gauge.

Bob & Regina were here when I finally got home. Bob was working on Heather's computer & Regina was playing with Nathan. They didn't stay long and when the left, it was time to take Nate to bed. I layed him in bed and then hid in the closet with the laptop. He whined for a 20 minutes and then fell asleep on the floor in front of the baby gate. Yahoo!!!! I might try reading the new Janet Evanovich book, "Plum Spooky" after my blogging is done for the night.


(No clue what this is but it's the only picture taken today.)

I'm thankful for Cindy who invites us into her house even when she is having a bad day. I'm also thankful that her sewing machine still works and I hope that it helps her relieve stress.

More busy-ness...

I have no clue how to spell "busy-ness." I'm sure it's not a word but it's kinda fun to say!

We got up at a decent time this morning too; about 8:15am-ish. Since Joe brought all the freshly clean laundry upstairs last night, I gave Nate a shower. We got all packed up to leave the house after breakfast. We stopped at the church to drop off the pot holders that I made for the auction. We were there for about 10 or 15 minutes and then left to go to Monroe. We ended up not going so we came back home and baked the muffins that I didn't get to bake last night. We went back to the auction at the church with the muffins. I baked 24 mini banana muffins.



We got back to the church basement, got our seats, & got our auction tag number (#17). We all had lunch (soups, salad, dessert, bread) before the auction started. It was all really good. The auction started about 1pm ish but Nate was no where to be seen. Well not by me at least. Joe was chasing him everywhere. Joe ended up taking Nate home and I stayed at the auction. My first win was a bucket of goodies for Nate at $12. The rest of the stuff I won was cheaper. Milkshake maker $7, $10 haircut for $2, the other $32 may have gone to food but I'm not sure. We got soup, bread, brownies, & cake. After the auction we dropped all but the brownies and the football & kite from Nate's bucket at home.



We went to the Riverview Park playground for about 10 minutes but Nate didn't want to play, but instead only wanted to look at all the other kids. We crossed the street at the park to a big, open area of grass. Nate & I rolled all the way down the short hill! He loved it and was laughing the whole way to the bottom. We walked around for about 5 minutes or so but then I had to pee. We walked back up the hill (me way in the lead) and I kept walking to the port o potty (gross). Joe & Nate stopped at the playground again but I was told wasn't being too good so they drove up the the bathroom to get me. We drove around the park for a bit and then stopped at a different area there. We got out with Nate's new football & his kite. We started flying the kite (it didn't go that high as there wasn't much wind) and Nate LOVED it!! He held onto the string and thought he was the coolest! He didn't like it when Joe took over so I had to take it back.




We drove around Hannibal for about 1/2 hour and then came back home and I made chocolate chip milkshakes for us all on our new milkshake maker. Very yummy!!! We weren't inside long when Joe & Nate went to the back yard with the kite. I followed once I realized they were down there. There wasn't much wind to fly the kite so we decided to play in the leaves. We took turns burying each other. I threw Ruso (our cat) into the leaves but he didn't much care for it. We picked up the trash that was in the yard and just had a good time. We walked around the side of the house to the front and sat on the porch for about 15 minutes or so. We forgot the front door was locked so Joe went around and let us in.



Leftover chicken & rice soup and bread from the auction was very good! Nate only ate his soup if it was on his buttered bread. I tried to trick him a couple times with no butter but he didn't fall for it. He's a smart little guy! Can't trick him! We watched America's Most Wanted on the tube and then I came upstairs to fold laundry. I got thru about 4 or 5 baskets (I'm turning into Laura) and still have 2 left. I made a very large dent!!



I brought Nate up just before 10 and layed him in his bed. He cried but didn't scream (that's progress!). I was stuck in the bathroom with the vent on, like always. If I cross the room, he'll see me and want me to pick him up. He cried for about 6 or 7 minutes and then I didn't hear him. By this time I have the laptop and am sitting on the floor in the closet (he can't see me from there either!). By 10:15pm he was out but I was scared to check on him. I figured as soon as I do, he'll be waiting for me around the corner and then scream. I waited about 10 minutes longer and then finally got the courage to check on him. He was (and still is) passed out on the floor in front of the bathroom door!!! Joe is in charge of putting him in bed!!



My right leg above my knee has been tingling all day and I'm not sure why. I really hope it stops tingling because we don't have insurance anymore and I really hate to go to the doctor with no insurance :(

I'm thankful to God for giving us such a great day!! (I don't think we had any fights)

Busy, Busy, Busy.

So we've had a pretty busy pasy couple days. I'm not sure if I remember all of yesterday but I'll try. This will probably be split into 2 posts, otherwise this will be forever long.

I got up to my phone ringing at about 8:20am. Laura called to see if I wanted to go to a yard sale with her. I went. As soon as I get out to the van, Beau has to go #2. As soon as I get back in the house with him, he tells me he really doesn't have to go but wants to know if he can play Boom Blox on the Wii. The boy is addicted to any & all types of video/computer games.. and he's only 4 1/2!! We get back out to the van to find that Laura & Logan gone. They went to the gas station across the street for breakfast; chocolate donuts, honeybun, & strawberry health bar things. After Laura & I finish our health bars, we eat the rest of chocolate donuts that Beau didn't like. Logan shared his honeybun with Beau. We finally go to a couple sales. One was good, one wasn't so good. Then we went to County Market and Laura stocked up on cereal & I got ziplock bags & a box of cereal!

I get dropped off back home and get to make a mad dash to the shower. (Good think Joe & Nate already had theirs.) I dropped Joe off at the unemployment office while I took his Cursillo application to the church office and then back to pick him up. We're running late to get to the hospital. We're supposed to be there at 12:15 to register but we get there a little after. Once we're finally in with the Physical Therapist (she's qualified to do the DAYC test (test to see what Nate can and can't do at his age)). He loved being there! There were so many new things for him to play with and try. The Speech Therapist student aid person came in a bit later to ask some more questions. We stayed while the PT graded the test (we didn't mind as Nate was very occupied playing). He is developing at his age level in 3 areas and lacking in the other 2 areas. One area he lacked in, didn't lack very much, but the speech was a different story. He is 26 months old and has the vocabulary of a 14 - 15 month old. He needs to be 50 - 100% deficit and he's at 46% deficit. The PT will write a letter to First Steps with her professional judgement. He should be able to see the Speech Therapist after that.

We came home and I buckled down on sewing, well prolly not buckled down but oh well. We had lunch; leftover corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and Nate had about 2 bites of a peanut butter & cheese sandwich. I'm thinking he may have taken a nap but I'm not sure. We might have gone to the park but I don't think so. I know that I finished all the pot holders & then I fixed the belt loop on Joe's jeans. I also did some dishes, I think. If I did some, I'm sure it wasn't many. One day I'll need to start taking something to help my memory but I'll probably forget that too! I do remember that for dinner we couldn't decide what to have so we ended up having peanut butter sammiches, cup o noodle for me & Joe, and yogurt for Nate. Exciting!



Joe also went to the store for me and got muffin liners and himself some pop & chips. I was going to bake some muffins last night so I preheated the oven. That was a waste of time because I ended up bringing Nate to bed and never went back down there. Joe turned it off for me and put the batter back in the fridge. He was NOT easy to get to sleep last night. I started him out in his bed (he screamed), then we moved to our bed for about 20 minutes (he just wanted to play, then back to his bed (he screamed some more, and then back to our bed (we both ended up going to sleep after about 15 or 20 minutes).

I also started laundry before I brought Nate to bed and Joe was kind enough to finish it and bring it all upstairs for me. Of course for him to do that, he didn't get to bed until about 2am. No blog yesterday, sorry. :(

Happy Anniversary!!

Today was a good day! We slept in for a bit and then Joe made breakfast. Ham & cheese omelets, toast, & oj in bed! Nate & I took a shower and Joe went downstairs. Nate went downstairs and I lounged around for a bit. We had a small argument about something and then I made banana muffins. After just a couple batches were done, Joe said he wanted to get Subway and then go to the park. We left at about 3pm and took muffins, a crossword puzzle book, & a Reader's Digest to a friend at the hospital and then we went to Riverview Park. We were there for just a few minutes when I decided to call in to work and use 4 top hours. For those that don't know what that means; I took the day off and since I used top hours, me not being there won't count against my attendance. I don't get paid for it, but like I said, at least it doesn't count against me.

We had a late lunch and were at the park until almost 5. Nathan loves the slides and swings! There were more kids there today and Nate liked that. Someone had a kite there and Nate really enjoyed watching it. I got kites last year for Nate, Logan & Beau. I'll have to find Nate's. Nathan had a small fall onto the concrete but he was up and running and laughing within just a few minutes. Afterwards, we stopped at a friend's house for about 20 minutes or so. Mom called and said she left her purse on the porch. We found it and brought it inside.

We didn't do too much after that. I made dinner (wasn't too good) and then did some sewing. Nathan tried to help me but he was more interested in tacking the spools of thread on top of each other! Just after 10 I brought Nate upstairs to bed. Of course, he screamed when I put him in his bed. After about 10 minutes I put him in our bed. He was out in about 10 minutes!!

Joe & I then started date night. We had popcorn, junior mints, cookie dough candy and watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I consumed WAY TOO MUCH!! We're now laying down and I'm trying to keep my eyes open.

I'm thankful for my father-in-law for teaching Joe foe to make omelets

Explanation...

Ok, I was very tired when I wrote my blog last night. I wasn't even sure that I finished it but Joe said I did. I had to read it to see that I did in fact finish it. So as I started reading I realized that you're probably thinking dirty thought when I started out with "Thank goodness our bed doesn't squeak." Ok, let me explain. Nathan was crying last night when I put him in his bed. I wanted to try and ignore him so he wouldn't scream louder if he saw me but I had to pee. I had to slide out of bed and make my way to the bathroom. Once I got back to bed I slid in and then realized that I left the windows open. I had to slide out of bed again to close the windows. I slid back in and the bed never squeaked. Nathan never heard me get in and out of the bed. It didn't really matter because he threw his cup and paci over the baby gate into our room. I finally got him and layed him in our bed and he went to sleep in just a few minutes.

Good thing....

...our bed doesn't squeak. Oh well, doesn't matter 'cause he's still crying. Today was just an average day. I called the Presbyterian church to make sure Pastor Steve was going to be there. Joe had to take a Cursillo application in to get it signed so Joe can attend the weekend. After that we went to the bank and then made a quick trip to Wal-Mart. We got some date-night snacks, chips for nachos, & royal blue thread for the pot holders that I'm making to donate to the church auction. We also had to get a couple of bananas because Nate about had a fit when he walked by them and didn't stop. Joe suggested going to Riverview Park for a bit. It was very nice to see Nate laughing and climbing and playing. He can now climb up the ladders (about 3 steps) all by himself. :( He's growing up too fast.



We came home and I did some sewing. While I was doing that, Nate decided to play by the window. It was all good until he reached for the wood that was holding the window open. It came out and the window fell on his hand. Before you freak out, the window didn't close shut on his hand as it was still propped open about an inch or so. It didn't do much to him at all, just scared him. We got some ice for his hand, and a cup and pacifier for him. It didn't take long for him to go down for a nap.




I decided since Nate was asleep, we needed to try to get the basement cleaned up a bit. We didn't get much done in the room that we started working on. I did, however, find a crap-ton of clothes that Lisa left here after our yardsale last summer. I got a bit excited because there are so many pairs of jeans with good back pockets! I've already started making more summer shorts and sewing up the pot holder part.



Work was ok but I wasn't really wanting to be there. I just wanted to come home. Oh well, gotta make a living somehow! Nathan didn't go to bed to easy when I got home. He cried as soon as I tried putting him in his bed. I layed him in our bed and he was quiet. After about 15 minutes I put him back in his bed. He didn't like that so he got up and cried some more. He wasn't bawling so I let him try to cry himself to sleep. That didn't work. After about 15 minutes, I put him back in our bed. He fell asleep in about 5 minutes. When Joe came up to put Nate in his bed, he also brought me a bowl of frosted shredded wheat!


I'm thankful for Joe for picking out an amazing bed! I love it!!

Ahhh....

Today was GORGEOUS!!! 79 degrees!! We had a really good day. We got up at 9am when my dad called to tell me that the previous owners were coming to get stuff out of our house. I was so excited!! We got up and showered all that good jazz. Dad got here once I finished my shower. He talked to Nate for a bit and then went next door to talk to the dude. They plan on coming back again in the next days with helpers to get more stuff. I hope that take a crap-ton of stuff. Whatever good wood they want to leave is fine with me. I told Joe I want him to make a sandbox & swingset for Nate and a deck & a round picnic table for me. I don't want much!

After breakfast, Nathan & I left to run some errands. We payed the cable bill for mom and our utility bill. Laura called and said to come to Burger King. We got lunch there and Beau & Nate played in the playarea. I went down the slide with Nate. Note to self: If you not a petite adult, don't go down the slide there!! Then off to the bank, then to get the car washed (thanks Dianne for the free coupon -- Nate loved it!!), then to County Market to get corned beef & cabbage for dinner, then to Wendy's to get Joe lunch (didn't want him to feel left out since we had lunch), then finally back home. We sat on the porch with Daddy while he ate. I also sliced an apple (thanks Laura) and Nate & I had that. I started the corned beef and let it simmer.



After lunch, we went to get Daddy's hair cut. He looks a bit different. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow. We walked down to Big Lots while Daddy walked to Hardee's to get a milkshake. We were in the checkout line and I realized that Joe had my wallet! I tried to call him but he didn't have his phone. I kept looking out the front windwon and he finally showed up. It's a good thing there wasn't a line at the register! Once he got there with his milkshake (half gone by then) and paid for our stuff, we let Nate ride the Bert & Ernie firetruck. He loved it and was NOT happy when the ride was over and we left!



We came home & I worked on dinner more. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, & carrots. We don't usually like this meal but it's supposed to bring good luck so we ate it. I was impressed because Joe said it was pretty good. He said Nate ate pretty good too. (When I got home from work I had to have some 'cause I'm not gonna miss out of the good luck!) Work was super busy. I was supposed to be on the internet but it was super busy and I had to be on the phones. Oh well, I got some upsells so it's cool.

I had to put Nate to sleep when I got home. He hasn't been wanting to go to sleep in his bed lately. I really need to get him a cotton sheet made soon. Maybe that's why?? I layed him in our bed with me for about 15 minutes and then took him back to his bed after he was calm. He went right to sleep. Joe surprised me by getting the old computer desk out of the closet and taking it to the basement. I'm happy.

I'm thankfor for Laura for inviting us to lunch.

Monday, Monday...

I slept really good last night. I woke up to Joe telling me to get Nate. Oh, I was so tired! Nathan was wide awake and jumping all over us in bed. I wish I had his energy!! Breakfast was cereal after I did some dishes (and when I say "some", I mean all the silverware (and there was A LOT) and plates and my nacho dishes. Nathan kept wanting my cereal so every so often I added frosted shredded wheat to his cheerios.

It was great weather today so we were out on the porch for a bit. We would have been out there more but a friend and her boyfriend brought their computer over for Joe to try and fix. They were here for a bit, then my Dad stopped by. After about 35 or 40 minutes, my sister stopped by just as my friend left. My sister was only here for about 10 minutes or so and then went back to work. My Dad left shortly after that but Nate didn't want him to go. He finally gave Grandpa a hug and then he didn't want to let him go! He even fell asleep on his own for his nap today. WOW!!!



Shortly before work I decided to make some popcorn. I made 3 batches in my Stir Crazy popper. I left some at home but took most to work. Most of it was gone by the time I came home. I got home from work and we watched an episode of "Scrubs" and then I brought Nate to bed. He hasn't been going to sleep in his own bed too good lately, but he did great last night and tonight. Usually he walks into his own room but the past 2 nights I've carried him in there and layed him in bed. He does perfect!! I hope this keeps up again!!



I'm thankful for the sunshine so we can go outside!! And to the porch gate being fixed!

Weekend

We had a boring weekend; well Saturday was boring. I didn't do much yesterday. I didn't even take a shower... if you were smelling something, it was probably me! I did some sewing and finished making all four oven mitts/pot holders. They look pretty cool!! My friend, Heather, came over for a couple hours. She played with Nate and we started watching Curious George. We didn't do much else the rest of the day. I brought Nate up to sleep at 10pm but he didn't like the idea of going to sleep in his own bed. I let him cry for about 20 minutes while I was stuck in the bathroom. I didn't want to leave there as I knew he would see me. I finally put him in our bed and I layed down with him. We both fell asleep. Joe came up at about 11pm to check on us. He put Nate in bed and gave me the laptop so I could blog. He then went back downstairs and came up again around midnight. I was asleep sitting up in bed and nothing was blogged. He woke me up to get me ready for bed and then I finally fell asleep for the night.



We got up around 8am (early!!!) and all got ready for church. We were making great timing and would you believe we were still about 5 minutes late for church!! Of course! Nathan went to the nursery after Children's mass and he had fun playing with Leanne as always! I took a pot holder to church to show a few people. I was then told I should donate at least one to the children's auction. I'll start making more this week.



After church we took a walk to downtown. We got Subway and then ate at a park bench that overlooked the park by the water. After we ate we went to the park to play. We had such a good time! The weather was prefect; I think it was almost 60 degrees!! We all went to Wal-Mart afterwards. We had a decent time there. I got some red thread and a pair of sewing scissors!!! They are a cheap pair that will only last until July. After that, a much better pair will be required!! (Hint Hint Joe... Birthday present!!!)



We came home and Nate & I were on the front porch. I fixed the gate and Nate worked on his fudgesicle! He also played the the dirt. He was a bit messy!!! Nate took a nap and I didn't do much. At about 5ish we decided to go to Monroe for dinner. We got there at about 6ish and we (I) made homemade pizza. One was BBQ Pork and the other was bacon & hamburger. They were both really good that only 2 1/2 small squares were left from 2 big rectangle cookies sheets. I finally remembered to take Wii Fit and the balanace board for Beau & Logan. They were thrilled!



Nathan went to bed much easier tonight. I carried him to his room. He cried for a few minutes but then fell asleep in his OWN bed!!!! YA ME!!! We decided against the new business venture. It's ok, we'll find a way to make things work. We always do. I talked to a friend on Facebook chat for about 1/2 hour. We talked about kids, potty training, pacifiers, clothes, church; all kinds of stuff. It was a good chat.



I'm thankful for Leanne in the nursery as she keeps Nate occupied during mass.

Friday the 13th!

Today started out to be a good day. We were up by 9am (I know it's late for most of you, but it's early for us!) We had showers, breakfast, made pasta salad for dinner, started laundry, and did a few dishes (when I saw a few, I mean about 10 pieces of silverware, if that). Then it started to go sour.



Joe told me that we had a late fee on our mortgage payment last month. (We tried to pay it on time but it was a holiday weekend and offices were closed on Monday.) Also, if he paid thi months mortgage over the internet, we'd have another late fee. I called Chase mortgage and asked if the late fee could be removed as we've never had any before and our account is in good standing. They took it off!! YA!!! Then I had to pay this months over the phone so it wouldn't be late. (When you pay online it's free, when you pay over the phone it's either $15 or $20.) I opted for the $15 charge by paying over the phone thru the automated system. (Swiss Colony and affiliates only charge $1 by phone!!!!) We always pay $500 a month so I was gonna pay that + the $15 charge to total $515. Joe is asking how I plan to do that since we only have $512 in the bank. We both start yelling and then I tell him that I still have a paycheck to deposit as I am the one who still has a job. Well that last phrase didn't go over too well and he got a bit mad. He stormed out of the house with no coat or phone and broke our baby gate.



When Joe was gone I paid the mortgage but instead of paying $515 total, I paid $485 mortgage and $15 charge. At least it' paid and there won't be a late fee. I did a bit of sewing but not much. I got Nate's bag ready, left a note for Joe, and then went to get the phone charger out of his car and to the bank. After that I drove downtown to find Joe and there he was, walking back towards home. He walked downtown to the library and to the Museum (about a mile or so from our house). On the way home we stopped so he could get an application for a Cursillo (Catholic weekend retreat).



Finally off to Quincy!! I wanted to leave at about 11am but ended up leaving at about 1:30pm. We went to the bank to deposit rent into Sarah's mortgage and then went to Kelly's for lunch. It was really good but I was stuffed before I even ate my meal. At least now I've got a crab sandwich for tomorrow (now today). We went to Joanne Fabrics where I got yellow thread (Ya!!!) and a pattern for some shirts for $1.99!!! I also got rolo's (shhh). I would have looked at the patterns a lot longer but Nate was being a butt. Then we went to Hobby Lobby and I got some grommets!! Ends up the grommets are too small but I'm sure we'll find a use for them. Nathan finally fell asleep on the way to Kohl's so Joe stayed in the car with him while I made a quick trip in there for some rugs.



We stopped at the house to get some stuff and then left for Monroe. Half way there I realize I forgot the Wii Balance Board and Wii Fit (Beau has been calling me for a few days asking me to let him borrow it). Nate was still asleep when we got to Monroe so I went to Ben Franklin and got the right size grommets and the tool to use for them. We parked in the alley behind mom's so Beau wouldn't see our car in the front (we're bad). We were there for about 10 minutes and then left to go to my friend Devyn's parents house for dinner.



Dinner was really good!!! Nate had a lot of fun playing with all the kids. They even had a roller coaster for the kids! And he only cried for a few minutes when he tumbled down a flight of stairs. At least it was carpeted! We watched a DVD and met a lot of people. I even saw my cousins Missy & Marty there! I also showed off my pot holder to a few people. They seemed to like it. We were there a few hours and then came back home. We drove right by Monroe but didn't stop as it was about 10:30pm.



Nate didn't want to sleep in his own bed and cried and cried and cried until I put him in our bed. He went to sleep in about 5 minutes. I changed him and put him in his own bed, finished my Apple Jacks, and here I am while Joe is on the computer downstairs.

This is a super long blog tonight.



I'm thankful for friends who want to help better our lives (and for a great dinner!). I hope we figure out what to do with the possible new business venture.