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..
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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!

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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!

H1N1

Is anyone else scared? Just today I have heard of over 10 reports of swine flu in our county. I feel like locking my doors and not letting anyone in. This is so scary. I am a member of a photog forum (for like a year now) and I really enjoy all the moms on the site but this morning one of the more active members lost her 4 year old son to H1N1 because it turned into pneumonia. Can you image? I am going crazy in my mind thinking of these germs just waiting to attack my child. Is that extreme??? Probably but it's also realistic. My MIL is a nurse and she works with the public so that really scares me for her too. I just can't help but be really bothered to the point I am driving myself insane thinking about it. He is teething, I know that but there are always the "what if's" but then it's scary thinking of taking him to the hospital where other sick people are because what if he's not sick? Then that might make him sick ACKKK I'm a nut or am I going nuts? Either way this is so scary, and I'm sorry to force my thoughts about this upon others but I am so worried about this and from what I am hearing it is much worse the younger you are so please WASH your hands often and clorox everything. I have went through a whole super sized can of clorox wipes today. The H1N1 shot should be here soon make sure and try to get one!!!

UPDATE: No shopping for a while. I really want to but I'm not willing to take Rees in public for a while. Just think about shopping cart handles etc. It is scary.

Thanks for letting me vent. Remember Antibacterial is your friend :)

Oh, and thanks Celeste I am going to pick those teething tablets up and try them I'll let ya know how they work. I had never heard of them

Oh to blog again

Seems like it's been forever since I have blogged just for the heck of it. Now is as good as time as any to catch up. Dad is recovering very quickly so all is well over his way. I was hoping things could slow down and go back to normal for a bit but no such luck my little man is cutting another dang tooth. He has such a hard time with them. He spiked a big fever, got the chills, was up ALL night, won't eat, runny nose and just feel rotten. I hate it for him so badly. That all happened Saturday night. Oh, I should back up and share our big Saturday night plans. I got the bright idea that we should do something fun as a family...but what in G-county options are so limited so we decided to see if Rees would enjoy a movie. We went to Mexican and that was yummy then we ventured off to Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. We paid $14 to get in, spent $12 on junk food then got in to an already started movie... 1o minutes later we were exiting the theater. LOL, he is so not ready for that yet. Now we know! It was a desperate attempt to do a family thing close to home but maybe next year! Okay back to sickness... So today Rees threw up his milk this morning now I am super worried that maybe it's not teeth? How are you ever really sure it's just a big guessing game but I don't ever feel better even after taking him to the Dr. because it doesn't seem like they ever have answers? He is so pathetic and lifeless. He still won't eat anything substantial and he is so tired and whinny I am so torn as to what to do. If he wakes up with this in the morning I think we're gonna go to the Dr...yuck! Oh fyi he doesn't have a temp anymore.

We were outside for a bit today. It's such a great fall day out. I ripped up all of my geraniums so I can replace them with the god for saken mums that I say I'm never going to plant again but always do. and then I'm going to hit Hobby Lobby for some fall dec since they have it all 1/2 price. The new one in Huntington is SOooooo nice I love it. As soon as Rees gets over all this we have some shoppin to do!

I have done some really great photo shoots lately (one of which was a newborn!!!) so I am trying to get the photos together then I'll be posting them on here to share! So there will be more posts soon on events of this past week.