The day before he turns 33

That was today…the day before Billy turns 33! Tomorrow is his BD, but we started having fun early. Today we went to Fernandina to the park…for some reason Billy loves this park. It’s nice…but I’m not sure it’s worth a 40 mile trip. Nevertheless, it’s an outing and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Do you notice what they’re eating on? I couldn’t think of anything else….

Today was also the day that we did Billy and his Aunt Carol’s BD dinner at Shogun. He’s been wanting to go for a while, so tonight was the night! We had a great time, and I think everyone else did too.

Trying something he didn’t like

Happy Sunday!

My Blog

I got called out on my blog by another blogging Mama.

“ Maybe this will inspire you to update your blog more.”

BAM! There it is!

So true, lol….

So, in light of that, I’m doing an update. It’s not a catch up blog, just a regular ole’ blog about our regular ole’ day, and maybe a few days before.

Wee Trade is a big consignment sale they have here a couple times/year. It is right by my baby-sitters house, and I just missed it last time. She went and said they had tons of smocked dresses that she thought would be so cute on Emily. Now, I love smocked dresses, I really do. BUT – I’m also very cheap and can’t imagine spending that much money on a full priced, brand new smocked dress. Unless we hit the big lottery, that will never be happening. I’m also not one to Goodwill shop. I want to, I really do. We have a brand new store not too far from our house. But it’s so much easier to go to Target, or Wal-mart, or Kohl’s, and get what we need ( as if we REALLY need clothes). So that being said, the only smocked dresses we have are ones that Aunt Christie got for us, we have 2. And we love them. We also have another fancy dress, I don’t think it’s technically smocked, but it’s one of those fancy ones that smock wearing girls wear.

ANYWAY – I hit the sale the first day it was open to the public, we were there at 9AM. I followed my instructions to the T, and ended up with about 50 things on my stroller, and whittled them down to about 8 or 9 things, smocked dresses included!!!

This is my loot.

I went back today for the 1/2 price day, but a lot of the stuff I really wanted wasn’t marked down. I didn’t buy anything that wasn’t 1/2 off, except for one shirt for William. That was Billy’s first question, what did you get for William? Ummm…nothing? Lol…so today I got him a Chaps shirt and a Polo shirt, just so he wouldn’t feel left out.

This is Billy’s BD weekend, he is a Valentine baby. We did absolutely nothing today, which can be nice, but can also lead to driving me crazy. It was beautiful but cool, and it was just one of those days where we couldn’t get motivated to get moving, and by the time we did, it was time for naps, etc. We did end up at Zaxby’s and Target, just to get out of the house.

William has become very interested in the mole on my face, calling it a boo-boo. Then he alternates between boo-boo and mole.

Emily has started adding the third syllable in her name. She used to say “Emmie” and now she’s is saying “Emily” the right way. It’s so funny. Just one day she decided to add the extra syllable and now she tries to correct William when he says “ Emmie.”

Ok, here is my update! More tomorrow…maybe!

Happy Saturday!

Confessions of a bad Mama

So, we’re having our hallway bathroom re-done, that’s what I asked for for Christmas. So my mom, dad and Billy’s parents all gave us money in order to do this. The guy started last Monday. He hasn’t been here when I get home at all, but yesterday Emily had a doctor’s appt, so I was home a bit earlier and the guy was still here. Because he’s needed the waterhose in the house a lot, he is leaving the doors open so the hose can stay in, which is fine. I get everyone out of the car and inside. We’re looking at the bathroom, twins are poking around, I’m talking to the guy…then…suddenly…my heart stops. OMG!!! I don’t hear the babies.

I take a few steps down the hall…no babies. I dash outside, and I see my sweet 2 year olds, running, laughing, right down the middle of the road. Holy cow…I sped through the yard, yelling their names, only to have them run away. Thankfully, there were no neighbors outside, and few cars were home. Someone could have been observing thru their window and I’m waiting on Child Services to come knocking on the door, but I’m only hoping that I’m the only one who witnessed this.

I just about died right there on the spot. See, a few months ago Billy and his dad were supposed to be watching William in his grandma’s front yard, and somehow William made it to the sidewalk with no trouble. We yelled at them, scolded them, shook our heads at them. How could you let that happen?!!?! And now, the MAMA, has also let it happen, only, I just let them escape right out of the front door, out of the whole house, without a peep, and start walking down the road. *sigh*  Live and learn I suppose.

On a happier note, Emily got a great report from her GI follow-up. Her weight gain and height increase is great, and the dr was very happy and impressed. She had to do blood work which will be the true test, but we were still thrilled to have that news. We seem to be doing Ok with this celiac thing.

One last thing for blog purposes – tonight me and the babies made brownies. It’s the first time they’ve ever “cooked.” It’s always seemed too daunting and messy and just plain hard, with 2 toddlers trying to “help.” But tonight, I’d been wanting to make one of our 4 boxes of gluten free brownies, so I decided to bite the bullet and do it. And we did, and they had a great time, and so did I. I taught them how to lick the bowl and get your hands messy and we all enjoyed a small brownie at the end of it all.

I would also like to document that we did a 5K on Saturday. We are not runners, though we both talk about it. We actually did run too, more than I thought we would. Not nearly the whole way, probably not even half. BUT – we still did it. We couldn’t move for 2 days afterward, but hey – that’s the fun of it all, right?!?!

William at 2

So here I am, 2nd post of the night, lol….

William at 2 is:

1) 28 pounds and in the 50% percentile; 30 something inches, and is in about 60% percentile. He is still a tad smaller than his sister, but he’s catching up!

2) He is very mischevious ( sp???)!!!! He gets into EVERYTHING! He is always looking for something to do, and something to take out and something to climb on. He is totally “ALL BOY.”

3) He is liking books a bit more these days, but he still doesn’t care to just sit around and look through them.

4) He loves cars, trains, trucks, and anything of the sort. He points all of them out on the road. He loves all of his trains and train tracks he got for Christmas. He got a remote control car that he loves. Automotives are just very cool to him right now.

5) He still loves dogs. He has about 30 stuffed dogs, all sizes, all breeds, all colors. He sleeps with a doggie every night and brings one pretty much everywhere we go. We go thru phases with which one he wants, right now it’s a red dog that he got for his first Valentine’s Day, lol, go figure!

6) He loves to take his pants down, though thankfully, he hasn’t done it often enough for it to be a huge problem yet.

7) He must do every single thing himSELF. He climbs in his booster to eat, buckles in and attempts to put his bib on. He buckles himself in the car seat, at least the top part. He tries to put on shoes and socks, which he normally can do, and he likes to pull his pants up. He hasn’t mastered shirts yet, though he can normally take them off.

8) He loves macaroni and cheese, but there are certainly days and times where he doesn’t eat anything.

9) He is a very sweet and caring boy, he loves to hold your hand and oftentimes requests to hold hands in the stroller or buggy at the grocery store. He is cuddly at times, but won’t let you hold him long. He loves to hug though and they are the best.

10) Cheers sweet William – we love you!

Emily at 2

I guess because I have 2 2-year olds in the house, I don’t blog a lot. I wish I did!!! I wish I could sit down and actually type out the things that are in my head, but it never happens. I don’t know how to make it! I’m soooo jealous of other’s blogs, I shouldn’t be, but I am.

So this is my blog of 2011, starting fresh! Emily at 2 is:

1. 29 pounds, 85% percentile; 30 something inches, my paper is at work, but she’s in the 92% percentile for height.

2. She has Celiac disease, and is doing great with it, or so we think. Her belly is no longer huge and bloated, she’s not in a bad mood all the time, her skin looks better, her eyes aren’t droopy and most importantly, no more terrible diarrhea. She has taken to her new diet well, I think because she doesn’t know any difference.

3. She loves books still and goes through them one by one sometimes and picks out just the right one. She sits on the toybox and will “read” them over and over.

4. She loves dresses and princesses. She likes to wear a blanket over her head and act like a princess. She loves hairbows, but she takes them out constantly.

5. She’s very very smart. She can count to 13 with no mistakes. She can say her ABC’s, almost as plain as day. She can say anything that she wants to. She knows all her colors, most shapes. She likes to color, though she can’t really draw anything yet ( that I’ve seen).

6. She loves Elmo and Thomas. And baby dolls. And Little People. But mostly Elmo and Thomas.

7.She loves shoes and she has several pairs that she adores. She got a pair of sandals for this summer, for Christmas, and she fell in LOVE with them. She also got a pair of Sketchers Twinkle Toes for Christmas and loves them just as much. She has also recently fallen for a pair of cowboy boots, boy boots, that were given to us by a friend in GA. So funny.

8. She loves blankets, she has one all the time, and sleeps with about 5.

9. She is beautiful and sweet, very good natured, loves her Daddy more than anyone and tries to comfort her brother when he’s unhappy.

10. Here’s to being 2 Miss Emily – we love you!

No pictures today

Since finding out for sure that Emily has Celiac disease, people send me websites and tips and suggestions and answers to questions all the time. I read them. I try to process them. I keep them in my e-mail so I can pull them out later and re-read them. Most things say things like " Food is wonderful, food can be the best thing ever, food is sensual." WHAT!?!?!?
I do not see food, more importantly, COOKING food, in this light at all. It makes me feel stress. I rarely feel stress. I feel like a pretty balanced person and sure, there are moments at night when both kiddos are screaming that my blood pressure rises a tad, but overall, I'm calm, cool and collected.
The thought of cooking meals, that are wonderful and "sensual" makes me sweat though. When I read the safe list and the forbidden list, most things I don't even recognize. I've never seen these letters put together, and I would never think they would make a word. But it's a word...it's a thing, an additive, a seasoning, a something...and now I have to know about it.
Some might say I've been naive, not reading labels all along, to know what additives and perservatives are in our food. But really, I read labels for fat and calories, carbs and sometimes sodium, but 20 letter preservatives - nope, not so much.
I wish I was organic.
I wish I was more earthy.
I wish I could have a garden and grow food and really eat it.
But...it's really not me. I wish it was me, sometimes, but it's not. I'm not sure it ever will be.
So I am going to figure out this gluten thing for me and my family the best way I know how. Yes, I will try some recipes, that don't take 1 hour of prep time and require chopping 4 different vegetables. I don't like to chop. Yes, call me lazy, but I'm not good at chopping and it takes FOREVER.
I don't do recipes that take more than 20 mins prep time. Lazy again, yes.
I mop several times a week, but chopping and preparing food, ugh. I'd rather be on my hands and knees scrubbing grout. Or scrubbing bathroom gunk. Anything and anywhere than in the kitchen.
Maybe if I had more time. Maybe if my kitchen was big and beautiful, and could be the true " heart of our home." Maybe if my husband was home at night with us. Maybe if my attitude changed a bit. Maybe....
But for right now, I am going to continue to scour shelves for gluten free products. I will buy gluten free mixes and mix them up. I will not buy potato flour and learn what " thickeners and stabilizers" are gluten free...what the heck are those anyway!?!?!?
I will buy gluten free chicken nuggets. And buy boxed gluten free cookie mix.
I will do my best.
The end.

TOGA TOGA!

The pictures speak for themselves, lol....



P.S. I can't keep that picture from being at the very top, I give up!