Nothing interesting

Not that I'm complaining but life is a bit dull today. We didn't feel like going out and doing much tonight so we planned on staying home, having a good home cooked dinner and putting some storage units together that we purchased three weeks ago. We're 1 for 3. We certainly accomplished staying home but I went over to the store to catch up on some work and I didn't get home until 6ish and the boys were eating. I had steaks laid out and didn't get to cook them :( Then our evening slipped away and still no storage units put together, how does Mat get out of that every time it's on the to-do list??? Rees had been doing so well with potty training. I have to be more vigilant with it. He comes and tells me he has to pee. This is the last little "baby" thing that I have left. I thought I would be super dooper happy when the day came, but inside it feels sorta like he's trying to cut all ties from me, is that silly? Probably, but that's the way I feel and I'm sticking to it. He put on his little boxer briefs this morning and they are so darned cute. He won't wear his pants he has to show his big boy undies off. Aghh were does the time go? He is so big now. He can communicate so well now. His words are forming so well and he understands/remembers everything! Amazing how much children learn in such a short amount of time. Well I'm depressed now, and please no one suggest the addition of child number two yet... forewarning I just like to moan and groan about my baby boy growing so quickly, but I am not in any way saying I need another baby at the moment :) Next big ordeal will be getting a house with more room so someday we may be able to accommodate another child, Rees has taken over our whole house now with the addition of his Christmas toys. I feel a Yard Sale coming on in the Spring. I am trying so hard to make it until the ball drops I just don't think I'm going to make it another thirty minutes, wish me luck !

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Feeling better

So after all the Christmas excitement, Christmas Illness, Store catastrophe, and sleep deprivation  I finally just collapsed in my bed at 9:00 last night and slept until 7:00 this morning and it was just what I needed. I finally feel back to normal. I got up this morning and threw an Elmo movie on for Rees that he got for Christmas and hadn't seen yet and to my surprise it is still keeping him occupied (2 hours is a record) so my house is almost clean, laundry is done and I am blogging so all is well in our house this morning! I think we are going to tackle Wally World this morning so I can stock back up on groceries and get all the stuff I need to store my Christmas tree decorations. I want Chinese for lunch so bad, but I just don't know if I'm brave enough to try it yet, I still have "throw up" memories that is so gross I can't believe I said that LOL. Oh well no going back now it's out there! I am so stinkin happy to have energy back. I think I'll go get my Rees man and play a little hide a seak that's his new favorite thing to do for the moment :)

Santa could have just left me coal, but instead....

Okay so let's start on Christmas Eve. We were with Mat's side of the family and we had a great evening. Rees had a wonderful time and really got into it. We came home went to bed in anticipation of Santa visiting us, but I must have been really really bad this year because I got another visitor... A VIRUS of some sort. Oh my gosh it was terrible. I threw up all night along with a few other details that we won't discuss. Rees woke up at 6:00 and he was throwing up too. So needless to say we had to postpone Christmas day until Saturday. We were a sickly bunch, it was really sad. On Saturday we went to my mom and dad's and did our usual thing which is so fun. I was still really run down and exhausted, and I couldn't eat my dad's prime rib so that really stunk, but we had a wonderful day. Then last night Mat woke up about 1:00ish and said "here we go again" and he came down with it. So today he is really dragging around. It is a terrible sickness and I hope everyone else can avoid it! So our holiday wasn't ideal, but it was the best it could be under the circumstances. Out of all of Rees' gifts that he got guess what his fav was??? A set of 6 chapsticks that I put into his stocking. Isn't that funny? He is in that stage of doing everything that we do so he is really into the chap stick thing right now because Mat always has one is his pocket. He carries all six sticks in his hand at all times. Yesterday I found one stuffed down his diaper, he didn't have any pockets in his pants so I guess that was the next best thing :) Such a resourceful young man! That was our holiday. I am hoping that New Years won't be as eventful. I can't wait for Monday to come so we can get back to our normal routine.

Merry Christmas

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. We have run around all evening to be with family and it has been really wonderful. Rees is old enough now where he is getting into it now and understands a little bit about whats going on so that makes it so much fun. He is such a social butterfly. He loves going and being around a large crowd of people, more people for him to entertain. So here is a little glimpse of how much my little man is enjoying his Christmas festivities.

My disclaimer

I was bored so I read some of my posts from when I first started blogging and wow I was really surprised at how many typos, grammatical errors, and just silly things that I typed. To my surprise my current posts are just as bad :) so this is my disclaimer. I am terrible at spelling, horrible at grammar and always in too big of a hurry to go back and proof read. I have always been the sort of person that writes as it runs through my mind as if I am telling a story so that's why sometimes things seem a bit choppy or words may be repeated or deleted out of sentences. So I am sorry for that. I am 100% a numbers person and have no interest in improving upon my grammar.  In school that was always a low point for me. I thrived in math and art though if that counts for anything? Okay, I just feel silly now so I'm gonna leave it at that folks! Merry Christmas.

A picture says a thousand words

This is Bernie. He is a wonderful family dog. Lately Bernie as been participating in family activities a lot more than he usually does. Like our snow day. He came out with Rees and I and played in the snow for an hour or so. Bernie is a little (a lot) over weight so it has taken a toll on the poor dog. Between the snow day, being harassed by the new kitten and helping me wrap presents poor Bernie is exhausted. I was using him as a model for some pictures I wanted to take of Rees because the dog can hold still longer than my boy can. During me posing him and taking test shoots poor Bernie fell asleep.

Back to our snow day. I am such a kid when it comes to snow. I enjoyed it more than Rees did. I had bought this cool little snowman kit that I have been patiently waiting to use. So  I rolled my snowman out and stacked him up, then all the sudden some little maniac child comes out of nowhere and starts knocking him down, before I even got him decorated? What's up with that? Control your child. Somebody get this little hoodlum, oh wait he's mine. LOL It was really that bad though. He was certain that he didn't want this  "homan" up, until I broke out the snowman kit. He started to enjoy it then. We had coal coming out the snowmans back and the carrot out of his side etc etc etc. So when Rees got bored of playing with that I went back over and had my fun decorating him properly. See....

Then I proceeded to pull Rees around our huge yard for about thirty minutes until I thought I was going to pass out. He just kept saying "pooosshhhh pooosshhhh" I just had to laugh and tell him okay I'll PULL you. and that was our day.

Beautiful Miss B

I had the opportunity to photograph Miss B at three weeks old and she was such a doll. Check her out...

Isn't she precious? She slept most of the time so I got to play around and pose her a variety of different ways.

Does it get any sweeter than this? Well maybe it does check the next picture out.

This one stole my heart. Her daddy was so wonderful with her and father daughter relationships are like no other. It was so precious to see how he could calm her down so quickly effortlessly.

So thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to photograph your family!

Ready for some great recipes?

Here are some of the recipes I used this year for my cookie platters. I loved all of them so I wanted to share some "tested" recipes with you. The pb blossoms were so easy * you cheat and use a package mix for the dough, but time savers are always a plus right? So here they are.

Remember that you can right click on the recipe cards and "save to your computer" then print them. It makes it so much easier than trying to copy it :)

Out with the old

So went went out to dinner last night and I came home and got really sick and stayed up most of the night doing ungodly things with the toilet so today I didnt go to work instead my mom came and got little man, I took a nap, got up and felt much better then fueled up with some Mt.Dew and started cleaning. You ladies know the cleaning I'm referring to right? Throw all the toys that you can pry out of your child's hands away to make room for the new unnecessary toys that will flood you house on Christmas morning cleaning.  I took  huge totes of stuff out of our house today and it still doesn't look like anything is missing. We have a small place, but I just can't believe how much "stuff" we have accumulated over our seven short years together. Then add Rees' treasures into the mix and we're a cluttered mess. If there is one word that describes me perfectly it would be organized (in my opinion) so you can see my dilemma right? Clutter = disorganized = crazy Amy. I feel so much better since I have gotten rid of some junk. Then there's the problem of what to do with the stuff. It's all good things but I don't have anywhere to store if for a yard sale, I don't know of anyone that could use it and I can't bear the thought of throwing it away. I guess I'll just junk my nice storage area up at the store :(  Then I got a chance to clean my little piece of heaven (my craft room) and I am sitter here while I'm typing this looking around at how wonderfully organized it all is. Oh praise the lord for storage containers. and the ones with the drawers don't even get me started. I just like pretty stuff I could sit and stare at it for hours and just be happy. Most of it doesn't really serve a purpose other than providing me with indescribable happiness. Does that make sense? Oh who cares if it does or doesn't it works for me :) I have one last thing to organize...my recipes so off I go to my little slice of heaven.

Cookie Mania

I think I set a record this year for the most cookies I have ever baked in a Christmas season. I think I (and my sister) baked somewhere in the vicinity of 25 dozen cookies. About 10 different varieties and to add to the list we made fudge, buckeyes and chocolate covered cherries. I have been  baking for four days. I'm glad I got finished but I gotta say I enjoyed every minute of it. I found some amazing new recipes this year that I'm going to post in a day or two. So Christmas season is in full swing and before we know it it will be long gone for another year. I'm 99% finished shopping (I'm positive I'll find some last minute goodies that I can't live without) we (Mat and I) ventured to Cincinnati on Sunday and we had a great day. I have never been there specifically for shopping but it's my new favorite place to shop. I love there, much better than Columbus. IKEA is my new favorite house store. It took us about three hours to make it through their showroom, shopping area and of course their cafe. They even provide child care at that store. I got some super cool gifts this year and I'm so excited to give them. Know what I mean. I'm just really excited to see peoples surprise when they open them. Now that Rees is old enough to enjoy it I'm super excited about Christmas again!!! Off to package some cookies, I'll be back soon with the yummy recipes.

Santa Baby

Tonight was the night our family ventured to the mall to visit St.Nick. I wasn't so sure how all this was gonna go down due to the horror stories that I've heard then standing in line almost every child that sat on his lap went bonkers and screamed. So I was talking Rees up in line trying to get him hyped up about Santa while I was hoping and praying he would just sit there for a moment so I could get one good picture and guess what... HE DID. Not only did I get one good picture but I got 4. He crawled right up on his lap and smiled away. He didn't have a fear in the world. It made me so happy, I know that your probably thinking how trivial that is, but these little moments are things that I obsess about. It didn't even bother me (at that moment, now I'm kinda p'd off about it) that they totally ripped me off when I bought the extremely overpriced photos. All in all it was a good evening out with just the three of us. We ran into some family at the mall and Rees played in the new kid area with his two cousins for a while, that let me release some steam. I don't have a scanner or I would share my Santa pics with you but I had to share how well it all went.

A new addition to our family

Meet Mr. BoJingles our new kitty cat.

I really wanted to get Rees a pet that he would enjoy and on our way home from Columbus I just got a whim to stop by Petland in Chillicothe and there he was. Perfectly sweet and ready for a new home. I love cats Mat hates cats so this was definitely a compromise for Mat but I think he's okay with it because of how much Rees loves him. He is an inside kitty and he is definitely Rees' new best buddy.

I just hope the poor cat makes it. Rees tugs him around everywhere. He plays on all of Rees' toys with him. He sits when Rees sits and he runs when Rees runs. LOL, it's so cute!

happy Birthday Day

Today, December 5th is always a great day for me. Two of the most important people in my life celebrate their day of birth. My sister and husband. I am so thankful to have such amazing people in my life and today is the day to let them know it. My sister and I have a very special day planned together (just the two of us, I can't remember the last time we've gotten to do that) and Mat has his own special day planned (it is deer season people.) I would just like to tell them both how much I love them and they are both my very best friends in the whole world. You two are the best!!!

Now, on to the beautiful site out the window this morning. 

It's bad for business, it forces me to stay at home (I don't drive with Rees in the snow if I can avoid it), and sometimes we lose our power but with all that said I still pray for the big snow storm to come like I did when I was 10 praying that school would be canceled. I don't think this is supposed to amount to much but it makes it feel more like winter.


Now for more big news. Can you believe it? It has finally happened. I can't tell you what I had to promise and how much I had to beg and plead but it happened and that's all that matters. You all might not think this is wall worthy but I am in love with it. It is the perfect description of my little man. Such a turd and so ornery but adorable and sweet at the same time. He is the perfect  mixture and I think this picture represents ALL of that. So this is getting enlarged and is going on my wall. This was the 7th photo session that him and I have had this month. It only took about 3 total hours to get this picture. LOL, I think I might have just worn him down, but it doesn't matter how just that I got it. Isn't he adorable?  

Now I'm off the the bath and I'm going to get ready for a long over due day out with my fabulous sister.

So overwhelmed today

Reason I want to go home and crawl into bed
1. I can't hardly see over my stack of To-do's on my desk
2. I can't seem to get caught up
3. When I get one thing done, two more come at me
4. Everyone seems to be having a "trying" day here today
5. I miss Rees
6. My mind is racing of things I needed to get done at home this week, but didn't.
7. Tomorrow is Mat and Abby's Birthday so I have some stuff that needs to be done for them too (not really a reason to get in bed, but still overwhelming my brain)
8. Christmas is stressing me now, the shopping part is getting hard now to finish everyone up.
9. I still haven't gotten my tree to my house yet!!!
10. I'm just needing a nap!

Okay now that the pitty party is over I guess I need to get back to work. Just wanted to vent for a minute!

All my goodies arrived today

Every thing I ordered on Black Friday came today or I at least I think, LOL it was all kind of a blur since it was so late but I think I got everything today. How great is that? I shopped in my jammies, got all the great deals, didn't wait in line and it came to me without me having to make a hundred trips outside to the car. I will never go out on black friday again. I'm so into the internet shopping this year. It's been a lot easier this year because we're all making cutbacks this year (which is great) and I thought it might make things hard, but it has actually been easier and I have put more thought into the gifts. I'm about half done and I think Abby and I are going to do a sister trip to Cincinnati at some point during December so I hope I can finish up during that trip. I am seriously immersed in the Christmas spirit. I spruced up my tree today, I can't stop adding ornaments it's like I'm addicted to decorating it. So you can't see much green on it anymore but I'm finally satisfied! I plan on taking Rees to go see some Christmas lights soon! Oh I just love this time of year. If only it would snow I would be in heaven.

My perfect moment.

7:42 pm Monday evening. My living room is nice and clean all the toys put up. The baby is bathed and in his jammies. He has had a snack. Mat is relaxing on the couch and good tv is getting ready to start. Aghhh does it get any better than this? I am so happy in this moment that I have sat here for ten minutes and just thought to myself what did I do so right to deserve this? All the other stuff in life are just details. The only thing that truly matters at the end of the day is your family. Now that the "moment" is over Rees is standing over on the bench grunting which means he has just poopied in the pullup, which is so bad. As I say Rees what are you doing? Did you poop? He replies Pooooop. Such a short moment. LOL I can't believe how well potty training is going though, all jokes aside he is doing amazing with it. I am not pushing or making him do anything yet and he comes to me and says pee pee and he goes in and uses it as soon as his tushy hits the seat. So I hope things keep going this smoothly. Well I have a big day tomorrow so I am going to settle in and watch my Monday sitcoms that I look forward to every week then turn in early.

Sneak Peak

I took some family pictures for my friend/neighbor last week and they turned out so well I thought I would share one of my favorites. I am not done with all of them but so far I am loving this one ( I wish Mat and I had some like this) It's really pretty in color but I am in love with the black and white version. They had a family of 5 and three full grown mastiff's. Needless to say I'm gonna post some of the pics with the doggies too! They are so pretty and so HUGE. Okay I better keep working on them I'm sure their anxious to see them.

Just a little share.

He loves the tree. I hope he doesn't figure out that he can climb it or knock it over!

Back in action

It's been over a week since I blogged and I have a lot to talk about. So did any of you crazies go shopping on Friday?Sister? (Inside joke, I don't think I'll embarrass her today) I have to tell you about all the awesomely wonderful deals I got...from the comfort of my own home! Yeah, I didn't know how good the sales would be online, but now that I know I have got to tell ya I will NEVER go shopping at 5am again. I stayed up until midnight to lurk around the stores and see if any of them were doing "black Friday" sales online and to my surprise they were and it was Amazing. I shopped Old Navy and got over half my people done. Then I hit Kohls and got a ton of stuff for dirt cheap. Then Sephora. Then American Eagle. Oh the memories of hot chocolate and internet shopping on Black Friday. It makes me so happy. Then at 2am I was tucked away in bed dreaming of buy one get one free sales. You have to try it next year! Now they have a new holiday (well that's what I'm calling it) called Cyber Monday where the stores have internet sales so I'm really hyped up for that. I have done so well sticking to my budget this year. I think it has helped that I have done ALL my shopping online thus far and I haven't been tempted in the stores to buy all the "extras".

Thanksgiving. Three places to eat = big belly and stretch pants. The food was so good. The company was great. Nothing more to say.

I have a stupid cold and I have lost my voice. I just feel stupid when this happens. I worked today and I was trying to make calls on bounced checks and the people were like what? who? ... hang up! I was one mad voiceless woman. ** If you are wondering why I was trying to make those calls on a Saturday it's because I have tried numerous times during the week and had no luck so I figured they might not expect it on the weekend. Desperate I know. I have been drinking hot tea with honey and that isn't even working for me so I guess I just have to let it run it's course. I am sitting here listening to Rees cough during his nap hoping and praying that he doesn't catch it. It breaks my heart when he's sick.

I put up all my Christmas dec at the restaurant now I am trying to get geared up to go up in the attic. Oh how I dread it. It is so nasty up there. Smelly, low ceilings, dusty and worst of all a gigantic mess. Then there are pull down steps so getting the all that stuff down is hard. I can't wait until I have a real storage area. Oh well. I got my Christmas dishes out already does that count?  Off I go to get Rees up.

Here is me waiving the white flag!

Day three of trying to get good Christmas pictures went terribly wrong...surprise surprise. I tried this morning then I called Abby this evening for reinforcements and nothing, nada, zilch nil I give.  He wins. My 1 1/5 year old beat me. But, I did come out of it with some awesome blackmail pics for when he gets a little older :) So I am just exhausted. Today was supposed to be a nice pj day where him and I just bummed around and had a nice peaceful day. Well after the commotions this morning with pictures, the house work that I attempted to get done (attempted being the keyword), Rees cutting about a zillion teeth all at one time, and the robberies that are polluting our town I have had a very stressful, non relaxing day. But I didn't get out of my pj's so that was pretty sweet. So my Christmas to do list is so freakin long that I am now feeling very overwhelmed and non organized, which makes me a crazy person. I have to get a holiday game plan and get everything done early so I can enjoy the season and not have the burden of rushing around last minute. I am so not into that, but all to often it is thrown upon me from my "other" half. He is such a procrastinator and it makes me insane. He always makes up late and we have to do everything (that he is part of) last minute. I am hand making a lot of my gifts this year so I have to get a move on! I work the next couple of days so Rees man will get a little picture vacation but here is a sampling of a semi good one that I got today. I like it, it's not Christmassy (I have now coined that word fyi) but as a mom it just reminds me so much of him. Sounds weird but you other moms know what I mean.

Long day

It's almost time for bed Yay! I worked all day today. It was one of those super productive days where I got lots of "busy" work done that I have put off for weeks umm well maybe months and finally it's off my desk, which makes me so incrediably happy. So then my little man came to visit, Aunt Abby brought him over before the Thirty-One party. We had the party at 6 and it lasted a couple hours, the turn out was great and the food was yummy so I had a great time! Come home, put Rees to sleep and wind down from the day..now off to bed. I am really hoping we can stay in our jammies all day tomorrow and not have to leave the house, then reality hits and I'm sure it just won't work out that way for us. Oh well, nighty night.

Christmas pictures TAKE TWO....

Okay so I have decided that is just too stressful on Rees to get his picture taken. Look what happens to the poor kid when I bring him in my studio

This takes all the fun out of it. I am almost to the point of taking him to Walmart and letting them do it. I got him all dressed up this morning with high hopes that we could get it done and out of the way. I even tried first thing in the morning thinking he might have a little more patience about him...WRONG. So the journey for good Christmas pictures is still a work in progress.  But isn't his outfit darling!

Christmas Pictures = mommy going insane!

The whole reason I became interested in photography was because I wanted to photograph my beautiful son. Every single time we step into my studio it's like a switch flips and he turns into another child. One that is dead and determined that he WILL NOT let his mother get a good picture. Ughh... so here we go again.

I gotta admit, I am loving the last one, it is so rees! Whata turd. This was Sunday morning while I had him dressed for church (he went for the first time with his Nana) I decided to slip over and get some pictures so now I see that I will have to take pictures everyday for the next month to get the "perfect" picture. Well at least the posed, well mannered, my kid is a little angel one that your supposed to have at Christmas :)

Here is a picture of the tree I put up in the studio for Christmas pictures, although I wasn't exactly happy with it so I have changed it since then so I'll post the others soon. And anyone that needs some family Christmas pictures just come on over and I'll click away!

Do you have the spirit yet?

As previously stated this week I DO! I am a Christmasholic right now. So much so I hit up Hobby Lobby for a new tree and some new decorations partly because I needed to freshin things up and partly (and this was a bigger part) because all my other stuff is up stairs tucked deep within the scary, smelly, cramped attic with pull down stairs that sound like they are going to fall off every time I climb them so I thought a new one was a good idea. Then it hit me that it's just November, and I really shouldn't put the tree up yet for Rees to climb so I got the bright idea of setting it up in the Photog studio! I will use it as my Christmas picture scene then move it to my house...genius I know right? I love when I kill two birds with one stone figuratively of course :) So I have decorated my tree only to figure out that I did not get enough ornaments for my gigantore tree it is so dag gone tall that it is hard to get the whole tree in the frame so I have to figure out all that.... I took so many pics of the tree tonight if only I had a cooperative test subject (that wouldn't climb my tree) but I didn't so the pictures are of the lonely tree, well actually I did wrap some faux presents lol, the paper matched the decorations I couldn't resist. I will sort through the pics and show you the tree tommorow but for now check this one out I did spruce it up a little but the lighting is all natural. Do you like? I fell in love with it, but I like different stuff, I know it's not for everyone but it strikes me, makes me feel all gingerbread cookies and pine scent inside (Christmassy) I hope you all catch the spirit soon seems like there is a lot of bagh humbug right now!

The town petting zoo

Who is that crazy woman who has the 4 little donkeys and 2 llamas in her yard??? I have no idea *wink wink* All the sudden it hit me today that it's not really normal to have these animals in your yard...but all these years (6) it has been to me. Thinking back I wonder what in the world ever possessed me to want these animals? Now that I have a husband, a toddler and a store they sure have taken a back burner actually they don't even get that how bout maybe the warming drawer on the bottom of the stove!  I was outside to day trying to winterize and they were crying and carrying on for some attention. My donkeys really are great. They are more like dogs than donks. They loved to be petted and given a lot of attention. They do make wonderful pets, if you have the time. Rees is infatuated with them. He loves to get the scoop and feed them grain. I can't get him away once we start. But at last the time has come, it's time to say goodbye to these great little farm animals. I really need to find them a new home. It has to be a good home where they can get some much deserved lovin. The two females are preggo and I just can't deal with more babies!!! Although they are the cutest baby animals you will EVER see! Jersey was born a month after Rees was (she is not pregnant) the two older females are. So if anyone knows of someone in need of some mini donkeys please let me know or just send them my way! I will put some pics of them up tomorrow if I get time!

It has arrived!

As I have preached before I absolutely LOVE the Pioneer Woman. She is the shiznic. I am imaginary best friends with her...is that weird? HERE is here incredibly fabulous website. You have to go see it...right now look around then finish reading this. Her site is way more important than this!

Okay your back...good! Now for the icing on the cake. Her new cookbook arrived to me today! Yeah. It is so great. I am in love with it, the recipes, the photography, her wonderful sense of humor aghh she's is so great. And all her info is free! well, not the cookbook but it was cheap. Click HERE to buy a copy from Amazon for $15. It's a hardback with a beautiful cover, and extraordinary photography.  She has a bazillion pictures with each recipe and her recipes are super yummy and from everyday items that we have in Gallia county. Her stories will entertain you and her hilarity is unmatched. I am just in love with this book and I think everyone should own it. She gives lots of great tips too. So please please please check it out, you won't regret it. Off to cook dinner!  Oh I almost forgot here are a few pictures I took of my new prized possession.

***My kitchen light is not working for some reason that is why the lighting stinks!

Christmas

It's right around the corner! I am so stinkin excited this year. Rees is just the right age to really enjoy it. I am starting early to try an explain about Santa Claus so he just might understand it. Is he too young for that yet??? My house is so cramped that I am already stressing about a tree. I already know that it will be climbed and pulled down multiple times. And anyone that knows me, knows that I have a ton of different "themes" that I have decorated my trees with over the years, but which one can I spare? Ya know if it gets broke or whatnot. It's inevitable and I don't want to get upset about it so I am going to plan on losing a few bulbs to warfare...aka Rees. So I have decided to decorate the Korner up all pretty and I started by purchasing these adorable snowmen valances from LTD they were so cheap like $4 each I need 7 of them so I have to bargain shop! But they are really adorable and I want to decorate my tree here all nice and pretty. I hang wreaths on all the windows I enjoy going over on Sunday mornings and being by my self to decorate that big open space! The only thing that sucks is when people steal the decorations LOL, but it's happening less often now so that's a plus! I am sitting at work taking a break from reconciling my bank accounts and this was my happy thought of the morning! And as Sarah reminded my Christmas music time is approaching I just can't wait!!!

"that kid"

Okay, so Sundays are the day I usually venture to Walmart for the weekly grocery thing. I always take Rees with me. Today went horribly wrong. I have no idea who the kid in my cart was, but I didn't recognize him! I was horrified, embarrassed and I was looking for a hole to crawl in. From the moment we walked in I knew something wasn't quite right, but we really needed the necessities this time so I hated to leave, I kept on truckin and boy did he make me regret that! You know that kid that you see out in public that your thinking "was doesn't his parent do something with him" or "oh my gosh I can't believe they take that kid in public" that was so us today! LOL, it went from bad to worse to unbelievable. He was screaming Hi to everyone that passed and normally that would be all cute and adorable but today it was in a vicious loud voice that really  was terrifying. Anything he could get his hands on was immediately thrown in the floor. He unloaded my cart several times. He opened a bag of fish crackers and dumped them. You name it he did it. This was really the first time that it was this bad and I was by myself. Next time I'm am leaving the cart and we are running for the car. I just can't figure out how you punish that behavior. I mean I don't want to be "that" mom that makes a huge scene but by the time we got to the car it had went on for an hour so what the heck am I supposed to say? Just so weird and I never want to experience it again, but I somehow doubt that I will be that lucky.  Mat is spending some man time with Rees so I am doing some "me" time and I really need to get back to that so enjoy what's left of the weekend...it always fly's by.

randomage

Definition (made up by me:) Things that enter your mind through out the day that just bring a smile to your face.

I worked lunch and dinner at the store today. We are a little understaffed right now so I have spent some extra time in the kitchen, which I enjoy. I like all the girls and I love to get to interact with people and it makes the day go by so fast. But today when things were a little slow and I was wiping down my food cart I had a random thing pop in my mind...pretty couches. I know right? Weird. I was imagining finding one of those gorgeous vintage couches that was in pristine condition and made with red velvet. It brought a smile to my face then I popped out of it and realized that while I couch shopping my hand had made it's way into the mayo YUCK! After I laughed I realized how neat it was to just step outside of my worries and everyday life and just think about  "nothings". Sometimes those 60 seconds of uninterrupted bliss renew me for another day. It does sound a little dramatic I know but simple things are very important!
So here's my list of random wonderful things that make me smile!
1. Organization...oh how I love to color coordinate my closet!
2. Bernie after he comes back from the groomers, he smells heavenly
3. Vintage couches (as previously mentioned)
4. Christmas ornaments
5. Pretty Yarn
6. Ice storms (I love the way the trees look)
7.  Stationary
And this list goes on and on. Drifting off into la la land is not always a bad thing in my opinion just like when Rees is watching his morning dose of Yo Gabba Gabba (A mind numbing childrens program) day dreaming is what gets me through LOL...that show is so bad! Well my break is over back to work I go!

Progression

It is so amazing to watch a childs development. I just can't believe how much knowledge Rees already has learned in his 20 short months. This morning we were playing with a bag of those oversized lego blocks. Rees likes to seperate all the colors then it is so neat to watch him build. I just can't believe he puts together the things he does. I didn't realize that children picked up on so many things. Things that I have never pointed out to him, he has just picked up on. These small, but wonderful accomplishments are so rewarding to watch. I am so glad that I get to be around and watch him progress. I have to thank my momma for giving me that wonderful gift! Without her I wouldn't get to have this time with him and I am so lucky to have such an amazing mom. I love you!!! Aparently I am feeling a bit sappy today, but it's just one of those moments ya know??? I just didn't think about all the small things along the long road of becoming an adult and it has given me priceless experiences just observing Rees growing up. I was so clueless about being a parent. Everyone always said "you just don't know" and I always thought that it was an exageration but turns out you people did know what you were talking about. It is just so wonderful that's all I can say!

I went a little overboard...

So I decided I needed to order myself some new pictures of Rees. I took some last week that turned out really well. So I couldn't choose which ones to print then I decided to make collages. Once I got started I couldn't stop! I ended up ordering 5 collages ranging in size from 10x20 to 20x20 LOL, as everyone knows we are limited on wall space so I'm not sure what I am going to do with these when they get here but I couldn't stop designing them. Going into the holiday season is so exciting this year. I can't wait to start taking Christmas pictures! I have had a lot of shoots lately and they have all come from word of mouth, that has been so encouraging. I love photography! I am looking forward to putting together something fun for holiday pictures!
Here's what I put together and ordered for myself.

 

Woo Hoo I did it!

After a couple hours of fiddling with it I finally created my own blog. I have been obsessing about learning how to do it from scratch and after a lot of research I finally got it. I just love the little turkeys for Thanksgiving it puts me in the mood to cook! After Rees goes to bed at night I play on the computer if I don't have work to do, well "important" work to do lets say. As I have preached many times there is a wealth of free knowledge just waiting to be learned! If you have any interest in making or improving your own blog you have got to check out this site Easy Custom Blogs. Blogs are great ways to stay in touch with people without having to make a bunch of calls everyday or just think if you could set up a blog for you childs class and keep parents updated with all the fun stuff happening in their class. That home room mom would  be the Bestest!! I have had such a great response from everyone (yeah I actually have readers...who knew?) that I would love to encourage people to start a family, mom or just a for fun blog and if you decided to forward me the link I want to keep up with ya'll! You will be amazed at how addicting and constructive it is. I even found a place that will print your blog and bind it into a book. How cool is that! All the pictures I post of Rees that might be a good idea to have for him when he gets older. Okay, enough play time my stupid ol' laundry won't fold it's self so I better get to it. I have to have a clean house and no laundry by Sunday night so I can start out fresh on Mondays! I know kinda weird but it's my thing!

November?

How is that possible? September drug by for us then October flew by now it's November yikes! I am all of the sudden feeling the pressures of the holidays. For some reason I feel that I should have already started Christmas shopping. I feel behind which is very silly but I can't seem to shake the feeling. I'm so glad that we are gaining an hour of sleep tonight, but will Rees' internal clock realize it? I did however run onto some wonderful diy projects that I am going to do for presents this year. I will be starting them soon because I know how upset I would be putting that off and trying to scurry to get it done at the last minute and I so want to enjoy the holidays this year. I say that every year but I am trying to start early to make it a reality this year! We'll see how it turns out.

I have taken so many pictures of Rees this month. We have had like 5 "shoots" where I have dressed him and took him to the studio and they have not all turned out fantastic but we made memories that's all that counts...right??? (at least that's what I tell myself) So here is a pic from one we did this week and I love so many of the pictures that I took. He was in the mood, I bribed him with a huge sucker and he was in the mood to put on a show. Here's a sampling.

Trick or treat

Trick or Treat of 2009 was a success in my book. Rees didn't freak out when he got in his costume, He actually passed candy out to other kids, I avoided going door to door (we went to the store and handed out candy instead of going out to get candy), we got to see a lot of people, and the sugar high wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had a total dumba** moment and thought I would be a "fun" parent for the day??? I know right, it already sounds like a bad idea. So after he got up from his nap I let him start eating candy. He does not get a lot of sweets so this really was a treat for him. It was like he found a secret we had been hiding from him and his little fingers couldn't get the smartie packages open fast enough! So then it hit me, he's going to come down from this sugar high AGhhhh! But it was too late now I have already crossed the bridge no time to go back now. So we proceeded to eat candy ALL evening long. After trick or treat was over we went in to see Aunt Tricia at the barn yard bash and it was a lot of fun. They had a ton of stuff for kids and it was all free. Huge bouncy houses and big slides, face painting, cookie decorating games it was a great time. And after all this "miss steps" that I had taken through out the day as a parent what's one more right? We took our sugared up toddler to Chinese at 8:00. What was I thinking. And as soon as we walked in the door they gave him more candy which he wouldn't stop screaming until we let him eat ... so we did :) Needless to say we cut dinner a little short and now I know what NOT TO Do next year! But it was really a good time we all got to be together and have fun what more could I ask for!

Leaf discovery!

We don't really have any good trees around our house so today while Rees was at my mom and dad's he discovered the fun of leaf piles. I have such great memories of this when I was young. My dad would make huge piles for us to jump in and it was so much fun. I grabbed my camera and snapped away while he was playing and I got some good shots, but it really didn't last long. I had to bribe him with using the rake to keep playing and once he got his little hands on the rake that was all he wanted to do LOL, so it looks like child labor in a lot of the pictures but I promise he was having a blast raking! It was a wonderful sunny day out and the leaves are perfect for picture taking!

Finally some peace

I accomplished it! A peaceful drama free weekend. Rees was in great spirits, Mat and I had a date and I got to take pictures of a newborn! What more could I ask for? So Friday night Rees' Nana & Papa kept him so Mat and I could go to dinner and a movie we were a little pressed for time so we did Chinese and Mat was really set on watching Couples Retreat and I was good with that (the one I really wanted to see, Law Abiding Citizen wasn't on here???) so we get there and go to pay for our ticket and CR was broke. Only in Gallia county does something like this happen LOL so instead of being smart and just leaving we decided to try out Stepfather I had never even heard of it I had no clue what type of movie it was and let me tell ya every teenager with raging hormones was in that theater YUCK!!! It was a teenager scary movie so about 30 minutes into it I just broke I couldn't watch the out of focus screen (1/2 the movie was on the wall instead of the stupid screen) the speakers were crackling really badly and the kids were throwing candy enough was enough I was just happy to be out of the house and with Mat so we cut our date short which was fine I was excited to get back to our little man anyways. Then Saturday I got to work at the store then we went to dinner for Tricia's 28th B-day. Which I won't go into all that but I just want to apologize to her ***she understands!!! We owe ya an Outback dinner :) Then Sunday we had a lot of family time which is always uplifting and makes me in happy spirits. And Rees and I got a 3 hour nap in today! Our weekend was great.
As I said earlier Rees was not um lets say comfortable with this dragon costume so I decided I would let him run around in it and get him used to it so it wouldn't be a miserable trick or treat evening. Talk about a good idea, he had a great time. He was hiding behind the bushes and jumping out and scaring us it was hilarious. This is a snapshot I got from our play time.

cute pics

I know I'm a day late on posting these but today has been crazy (just like yesterday) As soon as we got up and started our day this morning we looked out in the front yard and seen a fireworks display on the electric pole followed by ...yeah you guessed a 3 hours power outage! And the line fell across our drive way so we couldn't leave. Ummmm a 19 month old and no electric = misery. We don't have a lot of sunlight in our house so we have to stay in the living room mostly and it was hard to do anything that didn't involve electric. Rees was phening for his morning dose of Yo Gabba Gabba I can't say that I really missed it but he certainly did! Has anyone ever watched that whack show??? Seriously it will turn your brain to mush (if your an adult) Rees absolutely loves it and he seems to be learning from it so I try my hardest to tolerate it. It is the only tv show that will keep his attention. We all went to the fall carnival tonight and it was fun. Rees had a great time watching all the kids and trying his best to be a "big kid" and he was so well mannered it was great. Today was so off for us that I was a bit worried about the outing but it turned out to be really nice. Now I haven't gotten any spare moments to really play with all my good pics from the other day but I did throw this together.

Update

Oh my gosh I couldn't go to bed without looking at the pictures I took and look what I found..
.
Isn't he the cutest dragon you've ever seen? I can't believe he smiled and everything. I didn't know I got this one I just snap my shutter and pray to the camera gods that something will turn out amongst my hundreds of pictures :) I am so happy now!!!

Do you ever just wonder what the heck???

I am just sick about that "mad scientist" guy that said his little boy was in that balloon thingy only to find out it was all a hoax. I was truly concerned for that little boys well being when they were pleading for his safe return. I just cannot image how messed up that family is to pull a stunt like that. Who does that??? So it got me to thinking about how strange people are. I see all different kinds at work and let me tell you there are some dandies. For the most part people are nice, kind and very caring but then you run onto the really "special" ones like today. I was at a pump filling my car up and there was a line so I patiently waited (I was next) then a truck pulled up behind me. The next car to leave pulled out and this truck went to whip around me I proceed to pull up to the pump and I was going to crowd into the middle one (like I did anyways) to give this man room to pump since he was obviously in a hurry. Turns out he didn't pull into the spot I made him but he waited to get gas on the other side when he got out of his truck to pump from the same pump I was on he wreaked of alcohol he was stumbling and really rude to me (we won't go into all that :) when he went in to pay I looked over only to see a little boy in his truck, not buckled in or anything probably about 3-4 years old. What is the world coming to? I was sick. #1 this man is endangering this poor child's life #2 his is driving drunk which is a harm to my baby in my car #3 I felt helpless. It really gives me a nauseous feeling to think what that little boys life must be like. I know it's not right to judge people and I really wasn't judging him until he lit into me for no reason but, more so I think I just felt sick about it all. I can definitely be a harda** sometimes but I'm a huge softy when it comes to things like this. It ruined my day. I have been thinking about that little boy all afternoon and there is nothing I can do. Breaks my heart. I really don't have a point or anything of value to come out of this story I just had to get it off my chest and share my anger/heart break about it. I think I will just try to keep the unknown little boy in my thoughts and prayers and maybe things will turn out good for him.

So on that sad note I think I am going to turn in for the evening and hope tomorrow is a happy & cheerful day. Oh.... before pumping gas I was heading to my dad's to take pictures of Rees outside with the leaves and such for some good fall pictures and of course that was a bust LOL, I got some cute ones but nothing like what I had thought I was going to get he still won't hold still long enough for me to even focus on him let alone pose him. So I am going to play with them tomorrow and I'll post the results.

Great weekend

So how was everyone's weekend? I know the weather was lousy, but it got me in the fall/winter time spirit. I am mentally ready for snow now too :) I can't wait to take Rees out in a big snow storm I think he's really gonna like it this year, as opposed to last year when he cried his eyes out when we tried to play in it. I broke out some winter clothing, which is my favorite thing to wear. I love anything cuddly and warm. And scarfs ohhh I love em. I even wore one today with a jean jacket my attempt at trying to be trendy, not really sure I pulled it off though. I have been working hard on learning more about the blogging thing (building blog backgrounds) and I have found so much great info and some really great sites that are so easy to understand. So with all my new found knowledge I have created my Thanksgiving and Christmas blog backgrounds LOL, so I can't hardly wait to use them....I guess I have a while to wait now.

Oh, back to my weekend. How do I get so far off track so quickly? I went shopping this weekend for some clothes, but of course I only bought one pair of jeans and one top everything else was for Rees. I have an addiction to buying for him. It might just be a 99 cent pair of socks but I just can't resist. I always go to his dept first now too. Clothes are so cute in little baby sizes especially shoes aghh don't even get me started on that. He was so sweet and cuddly this weekend so I took full advantage of that. We're finally back on track after our horrible hospital stay things were so far off whack that it took us a while to get on our schedule (which I LOVE) Only funny thing well it's not really funny lets call it annoying instead is he wakes up every night at four o'clock??? What the heck is he thinking? So I'm a little exhausted, but we have been staying at home a lot lately and just having fun! And that was our weekend. Oh, I got him a Halloween costume too. I am not completely sold on it yet but there was NOTHING to chose from. All the stores were empty and the ones online that Iwanted are on b/o so I went ahead and bought the dinosaur which is really cute but he is really freaked out by it so I'm not sure how that is all going to go down. Wish me luck with it!

How do ya like it?

I made over my blog for fall. That was how I ended up being productive last night and today. I don't remember life before computers. The internet is so handy. I self taught myself how to put build this thing from the ground up in less than a day how cool is that? I just googled my questions and watched some youtube videos for clarity and tada it's a pretty blog (at least I like it:) It still amazes me the amount of free information that is at our finger tips. ANYTHING... I am becoming a youtube junkie. Anything that I come up with that I want to learn that is the first place I go. Like for instance I wanted to see the process of making a cheese cake...I you tubed it and then decided that it's too much work and I decided against it, but my point is a 5 min video saved me a couple hours of my life LOL that may be a little dramatic but you get my drift. Then I decided to learn how to knit hats and those skills were learned from you tube also at my own pace and for free. Just makes me happy to learn things. I would bet money that I have more useless skills than 5 normal people combine. Just silly things that are so random I don't want to even discuss it. But I am addicted to learning things, I guess you could say knowledge is my "crack" and I am very addicted. I think I have a short attention span too because once I learn it I hardly ever use it again I go through hobbies like socks. Excluding scrapbooking and photography those are definitely keepers. Since I now know how to do blog design (very basic knowledge) I wish that I could pursue it. This is were I get really aggravated at myself. I love to learn things but I can't for the life of me stick with anything (aside from the fore mentioned) I think this will be my resolution for next year (because we all know how easy those are :) is to see things through to the end and try to become very knowledgeable about less things. Not the quantity of things I learn but more about the quality. Man am I rambling or what? I have spent most of the day with Rees talking about cars, balls and puzzles I guess I am needing to vent. Off to watch my Ugly Betty season premiere that I have been looking forward to for months!!! That show just makes me laugh. It is a bit silly but I just love it.

Crappy weather = lazy

This weather stinks! I am trying so hard to sit at my craft table and be creative, but I am just a blank slate today. I look out the windows and see all this misty rain and it makes me wanna go take a hot bath or curl up in bed neither of which is productive! I am trying to resist the temptation so bad but I just can't get into the mood to do anything as a matter of fact I am still in my pj's at 2:00. I have cleaned a lot today which in my book doesn't count for a whole lot lol, I mean I love a clean house but I feel much more accomplished when I do scrapbook pages rather than fold laundry! I even wiped down the cabinets today with orange oil, have you ever smelled that stuff....oh I love it! I went into Kmart yesterday and they already have xmas trees up and decorated (none that I even thought were pretty) but it's just so soon for that, seems like every year it's a week or so early than the previous year. I walked down one isle of Halloween then up the next isle I was looking at Xmas dec. that's just crazy. Does anyone else adore Kmarts toy selection? I just love their stuff I can do so much better there for Rees than Walmart I have a big problem with purchasing toys, I think I like them more than he does. He never whines for any (yet) I just love to look at them!

Today has been so much better than yesterday with Rees. His attitude has been much calmer and loving I was really starting to wonder what the heck was happening LOL where did my kiddo go??? But seems like he's back today loving all over his mama. How does that work anyways? Kids can make you so mad one day then the next it's like you don't even remember how mad you where it's just like they are the best thing since bread! LOL, I love bread so much :) <----carboholic! He's even eating good for me today. Makes me so happy. Hmmm anything else random to chat about? Nothing else really comes to mind so I guess I'll resume trying to be creative again! Have a wonderful rainy day.

Thank you, thank you thank you!

I cannot explain how appreciative I am for all the support and love we have received from so many people concerning Rees' well being. It is just amazing to think how many people care about him, he is such a lucky little man. We are very happy to report that he is 100% back in action now and just to confirm it I have included photos...


Lovin up on Auntie Abby since he has missed her for a week!


The totally Awesome rainboots that he has been sportin ALL DAY!!! He cries until I just
break down and let him wear them, who knew Independence started this early? I thought
I could control his fashion until he was at least in sixth grade :) ***Can you believe how tall he is getting???


And his new favorite thing his big ol' hairy ball. It's especially good for tormenting Bernie with since the dog is scared to death of it!

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

Now to the problem of the week. Tantrum throwing??? How in the world do you stop it? Ever since we came home from the hospital he has been wild. On the drop of a dime he will hit, slap, SCREAM, and dare I say it...spit. I can't believe this is my baby. It is all happening at once and he has his mama's hot temper so needless to say we really butt heads. But in all seriousness I really need some tips on controlling this. I just can't deal with it I have to stop it before he gets used to acting like this. Time outs do work for him I mean he sits there without getting up but 10 minutes later he is hitting again? So I guess they really don't work for him. When I spank (which I am a supporter of, I think kids need that sometimes) but when I try to spank him he hits me back, I mean really tries to hit me hard and he is such a little tough guy he isn't an easier crier and I can't whale on him he is still too little for that (in my opinion) and lastly "reasoning" with an 18 month old? I do try but I just don't think he gets it, or at least that's what I tell myself. I know it's a phase because he has such a big heart and when he hits he knows it's wrong and shortly comes back to hug and kiss but still, I just want to break it now! Does anyone know of any good books on the subject or any other good tactics to try?

But asides form all that fun stuff Rees is thriving. He is cutting another tooth Yeah!!! Could have something to do with all the rage. Well I'm going to go catch up on all the great sitcoms tonight I soooo love my tivo! What was life like when we were forced to watch commercials?

Back to normal

So after a tough couple weeks I'm finally back on track. Everyone is back healthy in my house, dad is doing great in his recovery and mom is starting to keep Rees again...all is well in the world! I'm pretty much caught up at the store which makes me so happy I have been stressin about my work piling up and the last two days I have accomplished a lot so that takes a lot of worry away. Rees is back in action. He has finally overcome the grouchiness of being sick. He always gets this mean thing when he is getting over being sick and it drives me nutso because I hate to get on him when he's sick but then I think if I let him get away with it he'll think it's okay...I tend to overthink all things related to disciplin but I don't want no hoodlum! But, his grouchy ways were gone today and we had a wonderful time hanging out this evening and playing games. And that was our day. I am so glad Monday is here and a new week is starting. Not to mention it's good tv night...channel 13 the best sitcoms ever!

Wowza what a week...

Turns out that no matter how much I hand sanitized the stupid flu found our family anyways! I lived in fear of Rees catching it and guess what he did. I'm still not sure if the symptoms last weekend were early signs or teething (like I originally thought) because he did cut two teeth but then he got the flu so who knows. We took him to his Dr. on Wed and she tested him for strep because she said his throat had blisters in it but they also did the flu swab (which looks so painful) no strep, but yes to flu. Because of the time it takes to get the H1N1 results back they are treating all cases as that. He was so sick. His little body was so droopy and sad, our little man is usually so perky and energized and to see him like that was devastating. Having him hospitalized was truly the best thing for him. He needed the I.V. and the oxygen tent or he would probably still be down and out. So when we came home he perked up and he's is doing great now. I got the same thing and I had to go back to Urgent care Friday for an antibiotic and when I woke up today I felt much healthier. Still not 100% but just happy things are back on track.

It has been such a hard week because with my dad recovering from surgery I obviously can't go around him or my mom because if he were to catch this I would never forgive myself. I miss them so much. Seems like when something this HUGE happens you just want your mom and dad and there wasn't a chance of that for me:( Mat's mom and dad were able to help out so that was good. I am really missing my parents right now, I sound like a big baby but I haven't gotten to see them in over a week now, not to mention I have severe cabin fever so I am whiny anyways LOL. I am still scared to get out and about with Rees. This whole experience was so scary I can't image going through it again.

I was looking forward to the Farm Fest but I'm not going to attempt that because I don't want to spread my germs or catch anyone elses. Man I was really looking forward to some yummy apple cider oh well, I guess I'll have to head over to the place in Jackson to pick some fresh up.

Oh how I hope life will get back to normal next week. Sometimes I just get so bored with the schedule that I maintain but when it's gone I remember why it works so well for me. It really bothers me when we are in limbo and don't have plans.

So in summary, Rees is a crazy little monkey again, I am feeling much much better, Mat isn't sick at all and I am looking so forward to Monday to start a whole NEW week. Everyone take care!