The Chain of Love

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make for you!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year.

4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song. It may be a self portrait or maybe even some creation I haven't yet dreamed up. I may draw. I may bake you something and mail it to you. It may not be big or impressive. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! But lets be honest here. This is me and I will likely do something amazing. =) So come on, sign up!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to post this same blog on their blog and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Let's keep the chain of love going around!!

2 kids, 1 baby, and a Pregnancy!

I've waited longer than I thought possible, but I think it's safe to announce now that we are going to have a baby! Yes it seems like I just had one...wait a minute...I did!?! I am 9 weeks pregnant (we found out at 2 weeks when I woke up extremely sick one morning...then didn't have morning sickness again til now....I take it as the Lord giving me an extra early heads up!). Our baby is due around September 25th. Shaylee will be almost 9, Cayden will be 5, and little Addy Mae will already be 18 months. As you can see, we don't have experience in raising 2 babies anywhere close in age (just wasn't part of the Lord's plan for us in the past) so life may get even more interesting! We are very excited, especially Shaylee and Cayden! They hope it's a boy...but they say they will still be happy with a girl.

Over the last few weeks I've been wondering why I can't seem to fully catch up on housework. I've been sick for a long time but for awhile I was feeling better (other than my ribs still hurting) but last night I started losing my voice and I think I'm getting another sinus infection. The morning sickness is also exciting, mixed in with the ribs issue! I'm tired ALL the time...but even then I still couldn't understand why I'm so behind. THEN I realized what I've been doing each day...or what ADDY has been doing all day!! As I put the DVDs on the shelf, and walk away to clean something else, Addy pulls them right back out for me. As I head over to throw some stuff in the trash, she's right behind me to pull it back out. It's actually a hysterical mental picture. She's very devoted to not letting the house get too clean! Our trash can now has a pretty permanent place up on the table, and there's always a chair in front of the sink to block the cupboards below that house chemicals. She could easily MOVE the chair...but luckily hasn't even tried! Luckily there are also doors everywhere and we do have a baby gate so the dog can still jump over it to get to his food and water...

I've learned lately that for the next year or three, my house is going to be a little messier than it used to, while having two young children (but you know I'll still be cleaning every minute trying to CONVINCE myself that it'll eventually be clean!)

Life is good. I love my husband and my kids so much. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us and blesses us with the things we need, as we work hard to do the things he's asked of us!

Sorry for the "nekked" picture...I made sure nothing was showing...I just couldn't help myself! One morning after her bath she ran off and found the moraccas (spelling?) and started waving them around as she ran. She keeps us entertained ALL day!

Memories & Comfort Food!

Recently my mother-in-law gave me a used Bread Maker that she didn't need. I've wanted a Bread Maker for awhile, it's just one of those things though that you forget about...so tonight I made bread with it and made Tyler & I ham sandwiches with it when he got home from work. They were SOOOO good! Instantly I was taken back to when my family used to go on skiing trips. Sometimes my mom would make homemade bread and make sandwiches out of it to eat in the ski lodge. After skiing for a few hours, it was the PERFECT comfort food to get you revved up to head back out to the slopes...along with hot chocolate from the cafeteria!! Ah memories!

The other day I also used the machine to make pizza dough. I found a really good recipe here: http://www.recipezaar.com/My-Best-Ever-Breadmaker-Pizza-Dough-50101 it was so yummy and THICK! Tyler bought me a Food Processor for Valentine's (along with roses and a bear) that I've also really been wanting, and I found the best Pizza sauce recipe I've EVER had here: http://www.recipezaar.com/Homemade-Pizza-Sauce-22280 They don't say anything about using a food processor in the recipe, but I didn't want my sauce really chunky (from the tomatoes and onions) so I put it in my food processor to make it smooth (after cooking it for the 30 minutes).

Addy Mae

Addy's Favorite Things to Do:

*Dig in my purse when it's hanging on the doorknob
*Dig in the trash
*Eat dog food, and turn the dog's food & water dishes upside down
*EAT (she's never been a huge fan of baby food...she likes food that is more textured and chunky)
*Give Lucky (our dog) kisses and cuddle on the ground with him...and share her snacks with him!
*Play the Piano...luckily she likes to play pretty softly!
*Imitate...if you laugh at her, she has a very fake laugh that she does back at you. She also mimicks our actions. She also says "Mama" when she is sad or hurt, or when I tell her to say it. She says Dadda when she gets excited.
*Pull DVD's off the tower, pull books off the shelves, throw toys everywhere, and get into kitchen cupboards
*Making funny noises with her lips while she walk around the house...deciding which room she's going to make into a disaster next!!

Things That Make Her Laugh:

*EVERYTHING!! She laughs when I dance, laugh, sing, make funny faces, etc. She is SO entertained by everyone in her family, and occasionally is entertained by the little old ladies that LOVE to come over to her and see her smile when we go to the store...ANY store!

She:

* Can walk very well now
*Has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom...Cayden was just getting his 1st tooth around now!)
*Can sip through a straw...she enjoyed a little of my slushie the other night!! (Cayden was a year old before he learned that)
*LOVES walks...which is good because while Shaylee is in school and he's in Joy school, we'll be going on LONG walks!

Addy will be turning "1" next month, on March 16th. I probably should have waited to post this then but I figured it's already been a long time since I posted pics of her and told what she's been up to!! Watching her grow is so different than it was with Cayden! Cayden was a very happy baby just like Addy, but walked sooner...at 9 months instead of 10 months...but other than that Addy has been developing very quickly! Enjoy the pictures!

**Something I forgot to add before...when I say "Come here" she laughs and quickly walks to me. When I say "what's in your mouth?" and put my hand up to her mouth, she opens her mouth and tries to spit whatever it is into my hand. She's always been extremely observant... seems she's managed to pick up good manners and obedience from that!? She cracks me up!

Looking Innocent...this outfit and the striped shirt below were from her Aunt Stephanie!

Going for the Trash Can

Permanent Marker...she's very good at taking lids off difficult things but luckily she just couldn't loosen this one! (I knew she had it because she was right next to me the whole time...I don't know if that makes it better though, lol)


"Playing Piano"


Addy liked playing Rockband!

I'm not sure what Cayden was doing but Addy watched patiently!

She was playing with Daddy's tie...then came back a minute later with it on! I was impressed to find out she'd done it herself, although then I knew that wasn't a safe toy!! She was so proud of herself and thought it was hillarious though!!

Our first big purchase together!

Okay, no more complaining. No one likes a whiner...not to mention after reading Cassidy's comment that she's broken several ribs at once before, I feel very fortunate that I'm normally such a healthy, accident-free person!

So on that note...this morning Tyler wanted to get up early and go look at vans, since we got our tax return (and being sick and hurt wasn't going to stop me from picking out my own van...since this was going to be my transportation more than Tyler's) . For us the best option was to buy a van for cash because like a lot of people right now, we don't want to make payments!! We'd been searching online for atleast a month...but all of a sudden when we finally have the money, we were having a hard time finding the good (and USED) vans. We ended up going to a dealership where Tyler knows a guy there, although unfortunately it was his day off. BUT, we were able to find a wonderful 2003 Chevy Venture, with 100,000 miles, that was in our cash price-range!! It's so clean inside, and Tyler took it to his work on the test drive, to check for leaks and have his work buddies help him make sure everything sounded and looked good in the van. All in all I am SO happy that we have a nice van that we feel good about, and that still has plenty of life in it, and even looks good. It's a relief to not owe anything on it, and have the piece of mind that we have a bigger vehicle to fit our growing family's needs!!

You'd think we bought a 2009 Cadillac Escalade or something, by the way I have to keep looking out the window to our carport to make sure that buying it wasn't just a dream!

I don't mean to complain... but make it stop!

Last night, the kids and I drove to pick up Tyler from work. On the way home I started to cough (that tends to happen with bronchitis) and all of a sudden I heard a "POP" sound from my upper left side where my ribs are. Then I started getting an intense stabbing pain everytime I moved, coughed, even breathed. We were going to stop at Michael's Craft Store so that I could run in by myself real quick and use my 40% off coupon on a big skein of yarn...and Tyler said we better go straight home. I told him no chance, and I managed to suck up the pain long enough to run through the store and get my yarn (I already knew exactly what I needed to grab). When we got home I called the E.R. We were just there a few days ago for Tyler's head so I wasn't surprised when the guy said that there is a 2+ hour wait right now. I talked to a triage nurse about my problem and she said she'd be happy to take a look if I came in tonight...but then I asked her what they could do if the rib was even broken. Basically they send you home with pain meds and tell you to rest a lot. I decided there was no point in going in. I've gotten used to breathing as shallow as possible because before this incident my ribs were already extremely sore...so that helps lessen the pain...and I've figured out that if I curl into a ball, or lean way over when coughing and hold my ribs, I can bear the pain...as long as I make my cough shallow.
Good news on the other hand...yesterday I was able to smell soap, and today I ate bean & ham soap and was able to taste it!! The antibiotics are clearing up the sinus infection!! Thank goodness...because I was going through taste withdrawals big time! Yesterday I was craving Olive Garden, and then as I drove by IHop I was craving the taste of pancakes...anything that has FLAVOR! One nice thing about losing my taste though...was that 2 days ago I was able to sit down with a big bowl of TOMATO SOAP and toast, and I could feel the warm creaminess of the soup run down my throat, it was just as I'd always imagined it could taste like! A little explanation on that...I HATE tomato soap. I watch people eat it on the tv commercials and it looks so incredibly delicious...but when I've actually tried it, it has always tasted bitter and nasty to me. It's the only dish I've ever eaten that I just cannot stand! But for that one day...when I was still pretty much tasteless...I was able to enjoy it. Good times!
Addy's stomach seems better...no more having to change her whole outfit 10 times a day thank goodness! Cayden's ear infections haven't been bothering him and I'm sure they are clearing up quickly with his antibiotics. Luckily Tyler has been a huge help over the last several weeks. Since there's not much else he can do for me, he's very willing to help get the house in order and take turns cooking meals! Thank you Tyler!

Accidents and more Relief!

Since I just wrote about my health, I'll include the rest of my family's interesting experiences! First off, right after I wrote my last post, Cayden came up to me crying because his throat and heart hurt. His Pediatrician was able to squeeze him right in. He has a throat virus but he couldn't hear anything wrong with his chest that would make his "heart hurt". He also found Cayden has ear infections...which Cayden never complained about his ears or head. He's now on an antibiotic along with me! Addy has had a very upset tummy to where I have had to change her about 5 times so far just today! Her 6th tooth has broken through, but the doc says he never links those two things despite what others say...he says she seems to have a stomach virus...no medicine for her. She is VERY cranky and has been sleeping very little the last couple of nights...I need to pick up some bananas today and some starchy foods for her tummy! Shaylee and Tyler are the only ones who aren't sick, but Tyler had some exciting things happen the other day...

Last Thursday, Tyler was at work and dropped a 10+ lb grate on his head...leaving him with a headache the rest of the day (he works in a lube center, down in the "pit"). Well then the very next day (around 4:30 p.m.), I get a call from Tyler that says "Hey, I hurt myself. I cut my head open and I'll call you as soon as I know which hospital they are taking me too". My mother-in-law was able to watch the kids (luckily her shift at work hadn't changed to evenings yet!!) and I found Tyler at the Shannon E.R. (we have two hospitals here). He had dried blood ALL over his face, his clothes, even in his ears. 4 hours later his forehead was sewn up with 4 stitches...the cut was only about 1 1/2 inches wide but that thing didn't want to stop bleeding, otherwise, he probably could have just been "glued" up instead of getting stitches. I told him he REALLY needed to take a day off...but he was back at work the next day...and luckily hasn't had any accidents since then (other than the usual cuts and burns he gets on his hands everyday from working).

I'm excited to go to Walmart tonight to get mine and Cayden's antibiotics (well, not excited about going outside...it's 26 degrees here). My ribs feel like someone is crushing them...and the wheezing and crackling in my chest is incredibly annoying and gross. I'm just happy knowing that after the long weeks of sickness in this house...it should soon be over...for awhile atleast!!