Good and Bad

Well the good is that Bam finally started a nap in his bed today. He hasn't done this in two days. It was very nice to have some kid free time to get something done. We got the Christmas decorations and tree down. Yeah! I'm normally sad about taking the tree down, but I was very ready this year. I can't keep Lucas away from it and he's been braking more and more ornaments lately.

The bad. It's rater incredibly sad. We're going to have to put one of our cats down this week. She hasn't been herself for months. It's even worse because most of the time she seems fine. She's great with the kids and us and is as lovey as can be. But she decided a couple of months ago that she no longer likes our other cat that we've had for four years. She growls as soon as he walks in the room and attacks him if he comes close. The poor guy has scratches and bites all over him. She's also gone to spraying anytime she gets upset or peeing on the floor in front on the litter box. Nothing we've done seems to make her happy. So needless to say we are very sad that we are going to lose our first baby. She was our first pet together. She's definitely had her share of health problems (this behavior started after her last problem was treated) but she's been a good cat until recently. She will be dearly missed. It's going to be hard to explain it to the kids as they are very attached to her also.

Pictures Pictures Pictures

Sorry about the random order. Enjoy.

Mother Letters Recieved

True to his word, the man behind the mother letter project sent out a copy of all of the letters that he had received on Christmas eve. He will be sending another email with the letters he received on Christmas eve and Christmas day. I've been reading them, a couple a day when I have a moment. They are absolutely incredible. I've cried every day that I've read letters. It's a wonderful gift. All of the insight, advice, and just stories from other mothers.

Today was one of those days. Bam decided he didn't want to nap. I was not happy. Nap time is my time to get things done. I had dinner to make, floors to clean, and I was hoping to get to use the fit for awhile, but no not today. I was feeling very selfish during this time. I let him fuss for a few minutes while I got dinner to a place where I was able to stop and go back to it and then I went and got him. It took about 40 minutes of cuddling on the couch to get him to fall asleep. Afterwords, I didn't want to go finish dinner, I wanted to keep holding him.

Reading the letters really brings everything back into perspective. So thank you to Seth for giving your gift to all of us who contributed.

Christmas Joys

Well our camera has been recovered so I'll have to try to get some pictures uploaded soon, but sorry, don't feel like it right now. I got a fun new work out tool for Christmas and I can't seem to get enough of it. I've done over two hours since I got it. I need to run again tonight. Getting sick last week and then the holiday really hurt my routine. Maybe I'll run tonight and then treat myself to some more fun workouts.

I was really disappointed yesterday when Chuck went to load some songs on his mp3 player I got him and it was boxed with the wrong usb and ac cords. So now all it is, is a overpriced radio until we get it straightened out. No one answered at the company yesterday so we sent an email. We'll see how long it takes to get a response.

I've been really impressed with Sugar since Christmas. Santa brought him a GeoTrax, since the child is absolutely head over heals for trains. Sugar normally has a hissy anytime anything that he is play with is disturbed. Yes, I do realize that he is two, but he can also be very dramatic. He has been so calm with the GeoTrax that it's disturbing. There have been times that Bam or Sweet have caused trains to derail or taken the train or taken the track apart. Sugar just calmly and quietly waits for us to discover what has happened and patiently waits for us the rectify the situation. I'm not sure where this calm and collected child came from but I'm very pleasantly surprised with him. We'll see how long it lasts.

Sweet on the other hand is normally pretty easy going. Santa brought her a doll with a high chair and bed. Grandma also got her a stroller, bottles, and a carrier for her baby. The doll is definitley a hit. Everyone loves it. This is quite distressing to Sweet. She would prefer that no one touches her baby or any of it's things.

Bam has been well, Bam. He's into everything and has destroyed a few things already. Hopefully he outgrows this destructive phase sometime soon. I hope that he outgrows hitting and biting sometime soon too.

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful day with lots of family and food. The kids had a good time playing with their cousins and the adults too. We did our two stops, my parents and Chuck's grandparents. We visited Chuck's other grandparents on Christmas eve. I'd post some pictures, but we left our camera at one of our stops, at least it was the last one. All in all we had a fabulous day. The kids did very well considering they were very sleep deprived. We didn't have any problems until we got home about an hour before bed time and Sugar was beyond tired, but that's totally expected and understandable. The kids received some clothes, books, toys, and movies. Santa brought them bikes and a cozy coupe.Bam was quite distressed that Santa didn't think that he was ready for a bike, but he seems to be coping pretty well today. My dad also made them some absolutely beautiful rocking horses, defiantly heirloom items. One of my favortie presents was a picture colage from Chuck with a saying about family being created by love. A prefect present.

Special Delivery

I received my packets back from Homeland Security. I got Sweet's on Friday and Sugar's on Monday. Not too bad, about 5 weeks. Most of the paperwork is stuff that we've seen. I was really hoping to get more info or pictures. Well at least now I know what was in the sealed envelope.

Week in review

Blah! That's exactly how I feel. Bam got sick again this week and was kind enough to spread it around again. Sweet and Sugar fought it off in a day, but Sweet has a runny nose again Sugar has a fever again so apparently it's trying to make a come back. Chuck and I started to get it a couple of days ago so hopefully it won't last too much longer. I think our family has a curse on it. The kids always seem to get sick for every holiday. They were sick on or during the week of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. Hopefully we'll be healthy for Christmas or maybe New Years.

Our new bed came last Monday and we got it together on Tuesday. It is absolutely wonderful. As an added bonus, it has features that we wanted, but the salesman said were not included in this model. Apparently he was mistaken. It's so comfy and going from a full to a queen makes a huge difference.

Friday I got to go to my former employer's Christmas party. It was really nice. The party was nice, it always is. But it was also wonderful to get to see all of my former coworkers. I really do miss the people that I worked with and the kids that I worked with. I stopped in at my old office on the way to the party and got to see a few extra people. I love being able to stay home and raise the kids (and the kids are excelling and doing wonderfully because of it), but I definitely miss parts of my former life at times. I can always to back to a job in my field, but the time I have with the kids now is irreplaceable.

Tomorrow we go to court. Chuck filed to have his birth certificate changed. His step mother will now legally be his mother. Definitely a huge step. After we readopted Sweet and Sugar, he decided it was something that he wanted to do and he realized how much it would mean to his step mom.

I can't believe Christmas is this week. I probably won't post much this week either since Chuck will be off work for a few days and we'll be doing family things. I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Rambling

Well Sweet and Sugar had their Dr apts last week. I do believe that Sugar and Bam now weigh the same. I say believe because Bam was weighed naked on the baby scale and Sugar got to keep his clothes on and stand on the big kid scale. Sugar also moved up on the height scale, Yeah! He's up to the 20th percentile! He's still not on the chart as far as weight is concerned, but he's made progress. Sweet has managed to maintain her status of being right around the midline on everything. I am so thankful the have three happy healthy beautiful children.

I think we're ready for Christmas with the kids. Wrapping is done and gifts are assembled. Yeah! I still have to pick up a couple gift certificates this week and get a couple odds and ends, but nothing big.

Chuck's birthday was this weekend. We didn't really do anything special for it. We did have a family dinner on Sunday to celebrate with my side of the family, which is always nice. The kids had fun and everyone ate too much. Bam had a bad napping day and was miserable last night, but is back to himself today. He's getting more molars in and I'll be happy when he's done cutting teeth. My kids definitely love the family get togethers. Bam loves to ham it up and make everyone laugh. Sugar loves playing with his cousin who's about a year older than him (they are too cute together). Sweet loves all the people to love on.

Sugar and Sweet, but more Sugar is into singing Christmas carols now. They especially love jingle bells. Sugar knows all the words and will sing it everytime he hears the melody. It's very cute. The kids love Christmas decorations. Sugar loves to point out Christmas lights. We were doing an errand the other night and he was looking at lights. We got to a stretch of the road where no one had lights. Sugar starts calling out "Christmas (where) are you?" It was too cute.

I wish the weather would decide what it wanted to do. It will snow one day and rain the next. We haven't gotten enough snow to really take the kids out to play in it. The grounds not even frozen. Definitely a strange December here. Of course since I have time to play in it and don't have to drive much in it this year we won't get much.

Lots of Pictures

How can you not love that hair? It's too cute. Chuck keeps saying that it's too long and needs cut, but I'm having a hard time with cutting the curls. What do you think?

Don't worry guys, I'll just help myself to the book I want.

This is a welcome sight, sort of. I'm so glad that he's finally getting interested enough in books to sit down and look at them and occasionally sit and listen to a story. Now if only he would stop tearing and eating them.

What a basket full of cuteness. They love the laundry basket, too bad it always leads to fights over it.

What can I get for ya?

Chuck says that he looks like the robber from home alone in his new hat. I just think it's cute.

Could he be a little more relaxed watching tv.

Bam hasn't been able to make it through the morning without falling asleep lately due to his desire to wake up earlier. If he doesn't get to sleep for 30 minutes before lunch this is what happens.

Kinda funny that I normally don't get many pictures of Bam and most of them are of him this month. I'll have to get more of Sweet next time.

Bad to Good or at least Better

Yesterday morning was one of those days. A day when mom can't make anyone happy, or at least not everyone at the same time. A morning filled with hitting, biting, pushing, taking, throwing, crying, and pure unhappiness (is that even a word). Sometimes being a mother of three little ones can be very overwhelming. The good news Daddy came home from work and mommy got a few minutes to go fold laundry by herself in the basement (yes, it was that bad that folding laundry was a good time), everyone took good naps, everyone woke up happy.

Today is a much better day. Maybe it's that I got a few errands done this morning and only took one child with me for them. Everyone seems to be in a better mood even though two are teething and one yet again for like the trillionth time this year has diaper rash so bad that he's blistering and bleeding (poor little guy, and yes I did tell the Dr about it at his last check up). I'm trying a new diaper cream on him so lets hope that it helps. The Dr also recommended that I increase his fat intake when he gets it (I admit it, they don't get a lot of fat) so Lilly and Emerson should thank him for having diaper rash since lunch consisted of several foods that they don't often get, fried fish, chips, and ice cream. That said, they also had corn and apples, because I can't stand for them to just eat junk and the portions of ice cream and chips were very limited.

Speaking of Dr apt. Bam had his check up last week. It seems that he has fallen below the 50th percentile for everything. Should I be surprised considering our size? Probably not, but I am. I had it in my head that he's going to be big. Maybe it's because of how fast he grew after he was born that is, or how freakishly strong he is for a one year old. I'm kind of wondering if part of it (his decline in the growth chart) is due to his lack of vit D consumption. He's not a fan of milk. He nursed well and then did well with the switch to formula, but is not a fan of milk. He would much rather drink water than milk. If I can get 10oz of milk in him it's a really good day. The Dr didn't seem to concerned since he eats other dairy, but we've put him on a vitamin regardless. If nothing else I feel better about it. I've also started making the yogurt with whole milk for the kids again. He is a fan of that and I've tweaked the recipe a little to get it to a better consistency. Who knows. Only time will tell. Maybe he's meant to be a small powerhouse. Sweet and Sugar have their check ups later this week, what fun that should be.

Holidays

So I think we're just about done Christmas shopping! Yeah! I still have to pick up a few more things for my family, but I already know what they will be. I want to get one more thing for Bam, but it's out of stock on line so I'm hoping that it either comes in stock soon or that I can find it locally. Plus we did it all without charging it. Now, if everything would just arrive before Christmas. I still have all of the wrapping to do. A lot of the stuff that we got the kids is bigger items that will have to be put together, thus no wrapping involved so it shouldn't be too bad. I'll probably do it one night after I work out. I got my Christmas cards mailed out today too (except for the couple that I don't have addresses for).

Right now I'm about ready to take the Christmas decorations down. The kids won't leave the tree alone, or I should say the boys mainly Bam. Sweet doesn't bother it too often. I say again that Sweet is my saving grace, for the time being, I'm sure that will change in about 10 years. Not only do they like to touch, Bam likes to pull off the ornaments, and Bam and Sugar like to sneak behind the chair to get to the outlet where the tree is plugged in and plug and unplug the tree. I don't know what to do to get them to leave it alone other than not plug it in and leave the outlet protector in, but if you're never going to turn your tree on, what's the point of having it up (I know, that was a serious run on). I'm at my whits end. It totally freaks me out. Plus we have this giant snowman (it's seriously about 4 1/2 feet tall) that sings and dances. The kids love it and play with it nonstop. The problem, other than the fact that it's extremely annoying the 1000 time it goes of in a day) is that the new fun thing is to push it over. Ah, the joy of the holidays.

Yesterday, we had a great nap time. Sugar slept 2 hours in his bed and Bam took his whole nap in his bed. You see as I've said before the boys have a horrible habit of not wanting to sleep in their cribs long at nap time. They sleep great in them at night and will go to sleep in them during the day, but wake up usually about an hour into nap and then I have to bring them out on the couches and they finish their naps their. Today was not a good day. Sugar started calling for me about 20 minutes after I put him down. I don't think he ever went to sleep and he hasn't fallen asleep on the couch either, which I'm sure will lead to a bad evening with him. Oh well, at least he is laying on the couch amusing himself.

Pretty Good Day

Yesterday was a great day. Well ok good. Bam had his check up in the morning, which made Sweet and Sugar happy since they got to spend the morning at Grandma and Papa's house. Bam was not so happy with the morning. He gave us dirty looks the whole way to the Dr's (25 minutes) when Sweet and Sugar got to get out at their house and he got left in the car. He definitely remembers the exam tables at the Drs too and doesn't like them at all. Too funny considering that Sweet and Sugar don't seem to make the connection.

Chuck and I got to go out to dinner without kids, thanks again to my parents who I love dearly, last night. It was nice to get out by ourselves for awhile. It was a very much needed outing. It had been way too long since we had been out without kids.

After dinner we went to the mall to pick up a present for one of the kids and ended up buying a bed too. I'm still in a little bit of shock. We've been wanting a sleep number forever and they started a special yesterday. It's very similiar to the bed we've been wanting, but it was half the price. Chuck's been saving money for his dream bed and has enough to pay for it so we did it. I look forward to sleeping in a bed together that doesn't make us both hurt, but I think I'm still in a little bit of shock about spending that kind of money right now.

We also decorated our tree yesterday before we went out. We definately don't have all of the ornaments that I would like to on the tree, but I don't trust the kids, or rather I really don't trust Bam. He can't keep his little hands off of the tree. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with him.

Today was a productive day, so hopefully tomorrow will be good too.

Teething and Cuteness

What was God thinking when he thought of teething? Sugar was great. I say this because he was a really incredibly nasty child when he was teething, but he did it very quickly. At one point he cut five teeth at the same time! And No, I don't blame him for being nasty during the process I can only imagine how that felt.

Sweet and Bam don't seem to be in a rush for teeth. They are definitely dragging their feet. Sweet is about 27 months now and still doesn't have all of her teeth. She's still got three to go. Lately she's been waking up sobbing, which I can only guess is from the teeth since Sweet rarely cries. The poor child breaks my heart. I've tried hylands, IB profin, and tylenol, but none seem to help much. I imagine it's like taking tylenol for a migrane.

Bam just got his first molar in at 15 months. He's a mean child right now. He is constantly biting and I can't seem to break him of it. I hope that it's just because he's teething at it will go away on it's own, because nothing that I seem to do to try to discourage it is helping. I hope the other three molars come is quicker than the first one or we're going to look like purple people eaters by the time he's done. I guess I should look on the bright side, he's leaving bruises, but at least he's not breaking the skin.

I haven't posted much cuteness lately so I thought that I'd post a few pictures. We took pictures for Christmas cards the other day. Trying to get two two year olds and a one year old to sit still, smile, and be nice to one another is not an each task. While I'm not going to post the one that we picked I will post some of the duds and runner ups. Sugar is sad in some of them because he now wants to be behind the camera watching the screen to see what you're taking a picture of instead of getting his picture taken. This led to tears. Sweet was willing the cheese it up. Bam had no idea what was going on, the first picture totally should have a caption of "Hey Sugar, why are we dressed up and sitting on a blanket on the couch?" While the last one says "This is stupid, I'm out of here."

Mother Letters

This is an incredible thing to be a part of. It is called The Mother Letter Project. What an amazing gift it would be. Some woman out there is truly blessed to have a husband that loves her enough to think of and then pull off something like this. Please stop by and contribute, it doesn't cost anything but a little time. It took me awhile, but I did. Help make this the best Christmas gift ever for this lucky lady.

Please Say Thank You

I found this today and I think it is not only a wonderful thing, no matter how you feel about the war, but something that everyone should take a few seconds to do. Those men and women are risking their lives to fight for our country. Thank you cards are the least we should be doing for them. Please take a few seconds to participate.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was one of those days. You know, one that made me want to scream and pull my hair out. A day full of tantrums, kids that didn't want to listen or do what they're supposed to, kids that woke up way too early, kids that are sick and or teething, kids that don't want to eat what they're given. Yes it was one of those days for all three kids.

The good thing is that today is over. The kids are in bed and asleep. I hope they sleep until around 7 which is their normal wake up time, instead of 5:45. I hope they wake up healthy and happy.

Tomorrow is a new day. A fresh start. Hopefully it will be a better day after all it is Thanksgiving. It should be a much better day. We'll be out of the house and around lots of family and lots of food. (Distractions and changes of scenery can be a wonderful thing for toddlers.) Tomorrow is a day to think of all of the things that we have to be thankful for. Some things at the top of my list are my wonderful husband and my 3 incredible children (who even after a rough day, I wouldn't trade a second of it for the world because I got to spend it with them), my parents who do so so much for everyone, my family that always has fun together, my friends, and the ability to stay at home with my kids.

I hope that everyone has a day full of family, friends, good food, and things that make wonderful memories. Happy Thanksgiving.

Quiet Lately

I've been pretty quiet on here lately. Not much on my mind I guess. Just battling sick kids. Sugar did finally get better, but woke with a fever yesterday, fever's gone today. Sweet has a cough and runny nose today. Bam has a bit of a runny nose. It amazes me that three kids who eat well, get lots of physical activity, get lots of sleep, and aren't in day care or school get sick this much. Who knows. I just want healthy kids for Thanksgiving. I don't know that we'll get to partake in the festivities if the kids are sick. I would hate to get our grandparents or anyone else sick for that matter.

I did get a letter back yesterday in regards to my info requests for Sweet and Sugar. I was pleasantly surprised to get a response that quickly. I was not happy when it said that it could take 120 days to get the info. Seriously? I know of people recently getting it in about four weeks so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

My arthritis (yes I'm in my 20s and have arthritis, apparently due to pregnancy, they never mention that do they?) has been doing better lately. I'm not sure if it's due to me being off of work; not using my hands like I did at work/less stress, or if it's the stuff I've been taking. I stopped taking the rx awhile ago. (I'm NOT recommending that anyone just stop their meds!) The idea of starting daily meds in my 20s doesn't sound like a good idea to me, regardless of how safe the Dr said it was even though he wanted to monitor my blood work to make sure. So instead I'm taking the over the counter Osteo Bi Flex and eating turmeric every day. Turmeric is aweful. I mix a little (and I do mean a little) in with my oatmeal in the morning. I hate the smell and the taste of it, but maybe it's helping.

I've even been able to start doing some of my old work outs. I've been able to start lifting a couple of times a week and I'm using my treadmill again. The arthritis is in my hands and my feet, which made those things difficult. I'm definately happy to be working out again. I feel so much better when I am.

Sweet and Sugar's new favorite thing is to argue. They will sit in their high chairs or be in the play room together and just start yelling NO! at each other for no apparent reason. It's highly annoying. I really hope that this faze doesn't last too long.

Here's some cuteness to put a smile on your face.

Sweet in my robe from when I was little.

Sugar screeching in delight at his brother after their naps.

Bam post nap. Looks fine from the front, but the hair is pretty rough in the back. Pictures just don't do it justice.

National Adoption Month

This month is national adoption month. I think that it's fitting that it's November, the month of Thanksgiving. Everyday I am thankful for all of my children. I couldn't imagine life without them. All three of them are so incredibly different, yet all are amazing in their own ways. Each of them has their own unique personality. It's funny to see three children within a year of each other in age, raised by the same people,yet they are so different. I love to look back and see how they've grown, changed, and learned. They truly are amazing little people.

Recently I brought out Sweet and Sugar's life books to show them. They were enthralled with their pictures. Looking at the books brings back a lot of memories for me. I wonder what they remember about their foster moms, if anything. I hope that they'll treasure those pictures and the information that we have about their life before they came home. I'm trying to collect as much information as possible for them. Recently I sent away for some of the information that we had to give to customs. I also learned this week that there is another form that I can fill out to collect the rest of the information the government may have on the kids. I plan on making that request also.

I know that being a blended (or whatever to want to call it) family won't always be easy, but I hope that they always know that they were always wanted and loved. I hope that we can instill the knowledge that adoption is a choice of love on all sides.

People still ask how the three get along or what it's like to have all three. As you can see from the pictures they are all just normal brothers and their sister. They have their fights, but they love each other. They kiss each other before bed, they give hugs, they hold hands in the car, they're concerned when another is upset, they don't know life without each other. I hope that close bond that they currently share will always be there. For now, they are best friends. Even though they're getting bigger every day, they'll always be my babies.

1-2-3-4-5 Sick

Sugar started us off with a cold over the weekend. It has officially spread through the house. Poor Emerson got it the worst and seems to be having a hard time kicking it. Finally today we did see some improvement. Hopefully his attitude will improve with his illness.
Thankfully Chuck did clean and bring in the rest of the outdoor toys that I wanted in the basement for the winter. Wow did they have fun with them the first night. We've spent most of our time between dinner and bedtime in the basement playing since. I need to move a few more toys down from upstairs. It's going to be very nice to have two play rooms this year. A change of scenery can make a world of difference in the attitudes of three toddlers.

Enjoying the playset in the basement.

Maintenance

Quality non kid time is a hard thing to come by sometimes after you have those precious bundles of joy at home. With Chuck working night and needing to sleep during the day or evenings, it becomes a challenge to see each other let alone have quality time together. It is an effort to keep our relationship up. Relationships aren't easy, they do require maintenance to run smoothly. The relationship that you had with your spouse before the kids came along is the reason that you and your spouse decided to have children in the first place. Make sure to put the needed effort into your relationship. Make time together even if it is just staying up to watch a movie or talk (we watched Strangers last week, very creepy).
Don't forget that your friendships also need maintenance. Once kids come along friendships can change. Friends that aren't married or don't have kids may drift away. Maybe they or you think that there's nothing in common to talk about or maybe they don't know when a good time to call is (sometimes there isn't a good time, but you need to make time). Don't forget to put effort into your friendships. Everyone needs a few really good friends to connect with.

What 3 Toddlers Can Do

This is what three toddlers can do for or rather to a house, more specifically my toddlers in my house.


These are just two of the rooms that had toys scattered through them the other day, after a fun day of playing. What you need to remember is that toddlers can also help undo this. My children know that picking up their toys is something that needs to be done, not something that magically happens or is mom or dad's job. They help pick up their toys before nap time and bed time. (Yes there were this many toys brought out between nap time and bedtime.) The lesson is that even young children can help. It's much easier to start with good habits than to try and correct bad habits, not that my children don't have any of those (my sons are napping on the couches at the moment instead of in their beds). Even my 1 year old is catching on. Some days he helps without prompting, other days I may hand him a magnet or two and ask him to please put them on the frig. The point is that he's already learning that it's his responsibility along with all of the rest of us.

A Shot at PT

Well I decided to give potty training a shot earlier this week. We've had the potties and undies for months for months and let me tell you that it's not easy to find undies for a kid as small as Sugar. I only found one brand that's small enough for him. They occasionally sit on the potties and have seen the undies, but not worn them yet. Once in awhile they will ask to sit on the potty and actually produce (TMI I know). Most mornings I ask them if they want to wear big kid undies today. The usual reply is no, but this week they said yes. So we put the potties in a central location for the day and got out the undies and had the discussion that we need to pee and poo in the potty if we're going to wear the undies. I set a timer for 20 minutes and every 20 minutes we sat on the potties. Sounds good right? Not so much.

Sweet doesn't like wet panties. She knows that you're not supposed to pee in your panties, but she hasn't gotten to the point where she knows when she's going to pee. Instead, she would wet herself and then say sorry to let me know that she needed new panties. Five wet panties later, we were back in a diaper for lunch.
Sugar doesn't care if he's wet or not. I was hopeful since he wasn't going through the undies like his sister, but that's just because he didn't pee as often. He didn't even acknowledge that he had gone. So he also was back in a diaper for lunch.

A little disappointing? Yes. But they are young. They will eventually get it. And yes, I do realize that there will be many many many a pair of wet undies to come. After all accidents do happen.
Potty training is really no fun at all. It definitely makes a parent feel totally and completely incompetent. So we'll give it a rest. We'll only sit on the potties when they ask to (Sweet did get up from her nap asking to sit on the potty but to no avail). Hopefully they'll be ready to try again in a few more weeks. In the mean time, they do love their potty book have you seen my potty.

I'd add a few cute pics, but my photo software seems to be on the fritz which equals one unhappy momma.
I finally got it working so here we go. Pictures of my little ones eating some freshly baked cookies the other night as a rare treat. Did they ever so enjoy them.

Prize Giveaway I Would Love To Win

blissfully domestic is giving away an Epson Artisan 800.
I would love to win this! Wouldn't it be great not to have to drag three small children to Staples when I need to make copies, speaking of I still need to make copies for the G-884. I could actually print some of my photos at home instead of hauling three small children to whatever store I end up sending my pics to. Maybe if I had one of these beautiful machines I would have the motivation to finish Sweet and Sugar's life books and maybe start Bam' baby book. Hmm what a novel idea. For now I'll just dream of winning and keep my fingers crossed.

Cutting Back

Now that I'm a SAHM we've had to find ways to save money/cut expenses. Here's a few things that we've done. We've managed to cut over $800 from our monthly budget. Every little penny helps right now, especially when staying at home. I'd love more ideas. Feel free to leave ideas as comments.

1. We had an extra vehicle for Chuck to pick up the kids in (my mom provided most of the childcare while I was a work. I love my family!) This was because his car is not big enough for three car seats. We bought an old used van to do the trick. It wansn't great on gas but it worked. With me at home we don't need it. We put it out at the road for sale and had two people interested. It sold within a week for what we paid for it. Yeah!
2. One less car = cheaper car insurance.
3. Me not driving 20+ miles(one way) to work six days a week saves a lot of gas money and allows my car to be listed as for pleasure on our car insurance, which lowers it again.
4. This may be old fashioned and more work, but I've gone to hanging our laundry to dry. We have a nice basement that allows me to do this.
5. Unplugging appliances and miscelaneous items that you don't use on a regular basis, like our TV and stereo in the basement. Unplug your cell phone charger when not using it too!
6. Our light bulbs are energy saving bulbs. Most of ours were already. If they burn out let the manufacturer know and they will replace them. Note, our generic bulbs were much easier to get replaced than our name brand ones.
7. Shop for sales. If something is on sale for a really good price and is either non perishable or can be frozen, buy up! We got canned veggies for 25 cents a can. That's a good price around here. We bought enough to last a few months since the store didn't have a limit.
8. Shop at the cheapest store. I used to shop at a local grocery store that I grew up shopping at. Lately the produce is getting worse and the prices are getting higher. Now I do most of my shopping at Super Walmart (one stop for everything is much easier when you have three kids). I do go to other stores for items that are on really good sales.
9. Turn off what you're not using. Lights and TVs don't need to be on in empty rooms. Remember to turn off your computer, printer, and monitor when not in use.
10. Open the blinds and let some natural light in!
11. Eat at home. It really is cheaper and healthier. Plus cooking usually yields left overs.
12. Get creative with what you can make at home. Like this recipe.
13. Consider transfering loans to credit unions if possible. They usually have cheaper rates and typically do not charge early termination fees.
14. Review your cell phone policy. We've gone to one now that I'm at home since Chuck needs it at night and I need it during the day.
15. Programable thermostat. Keep it cooler at night (you sleep better when it's cooler) and when you're not at home.
16. Turn down your thermostat. A couple of degrees can make a big difference. Plus why do you need it to be almost 70 when you're wearing winter clothes?
17. Make a grocery list and stick to it as much as possible and don't shop when you're hungry.
18. Buy generic when possible. Try generic. It doesn't hurt to try it once. Not all generic items are as good, you have to try them to find out.
19. Use coupons when buying name brand items. There are a lot of coupon sites out there. Some people love them, but I'm not a huge fan. Plus not all stores accept them (check ahead of time). We get most of our coupons from the Sunday paper, which we don't subscribe to. We get them from relatives or Chuck's work since no one else uses them.
    
20. Watch for free after rebate or bogo items. Even if you don't need it right now, wouldn't it be nice not to have to run out and buy a tube of toothpaste next time you run out or some cold medicine next time you need it? Coupons are also great for bogo items. Rite Aid tends to do a lot of free after rebate and bogo items.
21. Grow your own veggies and fruit if possible. We haven't had much of a garden in two years, but plan on giving it another try next year. I hope to grow some fresh veggies and enough tomatoes that I can freeze most of what we'll need for the year. I would love to have some more fruit trees. We have two apple trees, one is sadly dying, and the other isn't big enough to produce yet. My mother has some pear trees and gave us some pears, pearsauce, and pear jelly this year.
    

Off My Horse

I will say one more thing before I dismount. I definitely recommend reading the left behind series.

Back to normal stuff. Today was a pretty good day. Chuck was able to accomplish a few things off of his to do list. Plus he actually wrote out a list of things he wants to get done, so maybe I can help with a few things when kids are sleeping. One of the things he did today was turn Bam's car seat around to forward facing, which makes the fact that I no longer have babies, only toddlers final. Bam definitely enjoyed the new view on the way to and from the Dr office tonight. He actually stayed awake, which has never happened. He normally is asleep within about 2 minutes of leaving the driveway. If only I could have afforded to pay someone to drive him around all night when he was a baby, maybe he would have slept through a night before 5 months. But that's another story.

We also got to take the kids to the park today. I wanted to take them for a walk through the woods before the weather got cold and wet again. It was definitely fun. We walked a couple miles though the woods and around the park and then they got to play on the play ground for awhile. Sweet and Bam were pretty pooped by that time so they didn't play that long and definitely not long enough for Sugar's liking and yes, he let us and everyone else within a 20 mile radius know what his opinion was.

It's Done

Well the future of our country has been decided. Now that Democrats are in control of the White House and Congress, lets see if they can actually fix everything that they claim they can. I hope that the transition goes as smoothly as possible and that this doesn't turn out to be a big mistake. I'm afraid of Obama's lack of experience. I'm afraid of other countries taking advantage of that, or how they may challenge him. I'm afraid that we may have another attack here on our own soil. I'm afraid that his health care plan will get implemented and drive this country that much farther into debt (Hawaii tried a similar one and had to shut it down after a few months because it was way too costly). I'm afraid of his take to the rich to give to the poor (robin hood want to be) ideas that make me think of socialism. Last I knew America was a great nation because it was a democracy and people could have hopes and dreams of achieving great things, and getting to hold on to what they earned. I hope that my fears are not realized. Just my opinion, please don't send hate mail.

On a lighter note. We got out and went shopping today, just to get out. The thought of having another day like yesterday was too much. We went to the outlet malls to walk around and so we could ride the train (they are Sugar's favorite thing in the world right now). The train was down for maintance, which was a huge bummer, but Sugar took it really well. I think he was just happy to be somewhere different.

Election Day

Hopefully after today all of the hype and constant talk about the election will be over. I'm tired of all of the commercials and bickering. I'm tired of media who tells what they want to tell. I would love to hear an honest newscast that doesn't contain anyone's opinion, just the truth. Too bad I don't think that will ever happen.

No pictures today. Today is one of those days that makes me want to pull my hair out. I have 3 very ornery kids today. Lots of fits, getting into things that they're not supposed to touch, yelling, taking, etc. I think these days are just to remind me of how good they normally are.

We're still trying to adjust to the time change here. My kids are very schedule oriented. With 3 this close in age you kind of have to have a set schedule to help control the chaos. The time change always messes with their schedule. I think the boys are starting to adjust, I hope. Sweet is still struggling bad. She's waking before 6, wanting to sleep during lunch, and asking for jamies and night night during dinner. Hopefully she'll figure it out soon.

I did cart wheels in front of the kids the other day. Or at least my lame attempt at them. Watching the 3 of them try to figure it out was hilarious. Sugar gives up after a minute and just starts rolling around. Sweet will try and try and try. Bam is even trying to figure it out. Too funny. Today I stood on one leg. It's amazing to see how much or rather how little balance a two year old has. I was jumping on one leg too. That totally stumped them.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I normally look forward to Wednesday and Thursday because Chuck has them off, but he has to go to Columbus for a test tomorrow, which means no daddy to help out and I'm taking the kids for flu shots on Thursday. That doesn't sound like fun either.

More Beautiful Weather!

It is gorgeous here today! I took the kids out to play this morning, which made them and myself very happy. I miss being able to take them out whenever they need to blow off some steam. They say that it's supposed to be nice all week. I hope that they are right. Hopefully we'll all have some fun in the snow this year once it shows up. Last year we didn't get to enjoy it too much.She decided to pick every dandelion that she could find. She was running around the yard squealing trying to find more.

I'm not sure what this tree did to deserve kisses, but it got quite a few this morning. Silly girl.

My little athlete.

The swing always seems to make this little guy extra sleepy.

It's really amazing to see how much the kids have changed since last year. At this time last year, no one was walking let alone talking much. Now all three are running, climbing, jumping, etc. Sweet and Sugar can say their ABCs and count to 10. They learn so much so fast. Last year I taught Sweet and Sugar some sign language and it really helped before they could talk. Now they love signing and will sign while they talk or they'll sign to us or each other for fun. I'm starting to try to get Bam to sign, but he's defiantely not as interested in it as they were. He's not nearly as interested in book either. Sometimes I'm glad that I only have two gabber gaws talking and other times I think it would be so much easier if Bam could communticate a little better.

Well, the yogurt turned out ok. It's definately yobaby consistancy, which is a little runny. After you add fruit it's really runny, but the kids like it. I think I'll add some gellitin the next time I make it though.

2 Days Until It's All Over

I'm so tired of all of the election garbage. I don't care who you're voting for, I think that we can all agree that we're tired of the name calling, commercials (tv and radio), junk mail, and phone calls. The today show had something on this morning talking about election withdrawal. Are you kidding? At this point I'm not thrilled with either candidate, I'm going to vote for who I think is the lesser of two evils.

This is a good website to find information on the issues on your ballot.

On another note. We went out to dinner last night with my parents, grandparents, and one of my aunts. We tried somewhere different with the kids. Sugar was a little ornery in the beginning, which is very unusual for my kids to be ornery in public (thank God). But all in the the food was good, prices were good, and I think everyone had a good time. We haven't gone out to eat much since the kids came along, so it's always nice when things go well at a different restaurant.

Today I'm trying something new. I use the crock pot a lot. It was the easiest way to make sure that there would be something good for the kids and Chuck to eat when I was working. Now I'm not using it as much, but still like it because it's easy and I have a lot of recipes for it. I've tried some of the recipes from this site, but haven't been a huge fan of most of them. A lot of them call for special ingredients, which honestly just isn't in the budget right now. But I saw one yesterday that I decided to try. I'm making the kids yogurt today. Kids yogurt is so expensive, and this seems cheap and easy so I hope it turns out well.

Halloween

The fever broke and we got to go to the party and trick or treating. Yeah! I think they had fun. I'm not sure they understood at first, but after they got candy, it was all good. They didn't make it very long before calling it quits and heading back to the party. Sugar enjoyed handing out candy to the other trick or treaters once we got back. Bam was still grumpy and it continued all night. Sweet was definitely stuck to mommy last night. All in all it was a pretty good night and the weather was beautiful. Here's a few pics.

Halloween has definitely made me think more about Bam and his nut allergy. I really hope that he's one of the lucky few that out grow it. Not only does he not get to have the easy go to lunch of PB&J, but NUTS ARE IN EVERYTHING! Just look at some candy wrappers, most say processed in a facility or on equipment that processes nuts, or may contain nuts. Even stuff that you would never guess to have nuts. We're going to have to buy some nut free candy when he's older to trade him for what he gets trick or treating or have him trade with Sweet and Sugar. If he doesn't outgrow it Halloween definitely isn't going to be as fun. We'll always have to inspect for safety and read labels.

Grandma A got the kids new shirts for Halloween. They are wearing them today and look too cute in them.
Can you tell that she didn't want her picture taken? She has fallen in love with everything pink and Elmo. So a pink Elmo shirt could not be any more perfect.

My little monkey. Too cute. And yes his pants are rolled at the top. I haven't taken in this years pants yet. The poor kid is too skinny to hold them up. Even the adjustable waist pants fall down and I can't find a belt small enough to fit him. Plus we're going to try potty training soon and a belt won't make that any easier. At least he smiled for me. He loves to have his picture taken. Every time the camera comes out he starts saying CHEESE.

My little Charlie Brown. I guess we should have named him after his father. Too funny. Definitely a perfect shirt for him.

This and That

So Bam still has a fever. It's now Thursday night and it's still here. So we ended up at the Dr's today. I can handle it for awhile, but after awhile, it's old and I want an explanation. They ended up testing him for strep (-) and then came to the conclusion that it's roseola. We're hoping that this is it and that he will drop the fever tomorrow. I'd really like to take the kids trick or treating in their awesome costumes that Grandma A made them, but I also don't want to infect anyone at the party if it's something else. At least no one else in the house has gotten sick yet.

His fever seems to go away with meds and he acts like himself when he's on the meds, until today. Today we decided that we were really tired. We fell asleep on Dad shortly after breadkfast. Dad loved it, but wasn't as excited about it when he realized that this was Ban's game plan for the day. We ended up waking him up after 2 1/2 hours (he normally doesn't take a morning nap). He also slept on the way to and home from the Dr. and then acted like he wanted a nap when we got home, but that got vetoed. Poor little guy, hopefully the sleep will help kick whatever it is.

So we finally carved a pumpkin tonight and the one child that I didn't think would go near it, was the only child that wanted anything to do with it. She absolutely loved it. She played in the gook for probably 45 minutes.
So I had planned on attempting to potty train Sugar soon.Sweet had shown interest in it a few months ago and then suddenly decided it was no good. Sugar has been having fun sitting on the potty lately, but Sweet was still timid, until last night. Last night she announced potty and took off for the bathroom. She pooed on the potty (very exciting, you'll understand when you have to potty train a child). So we cheered and she got a Dib (they are great little individual treats) which have become the special treat for pooing on the potty. Today she asked to sit on the potty about 4 times but no results. Then tonight, she comes over to me and says potty, but has already done her business. I explain that it's too late for the potty because she already went in her diaper. This was traumatizing. We demanded a treat in tears for atleast 30 minutes. I guess it's going to take awhile to figure out the whole treat is for using the potty and not just for pooing. Hmm This should be lots of fun.

A picture of Sugar from earlier this month, just because I can't leave anyone out. Plus I love this picture. He was watching leaves fall from the trees.

Lastly I had to include a picture of Bam in his coat. It's a hand me down from Sugar. Somehow I didn't think to look for a winter coat for Bam. I must have just been planning on him fitting into Sugar's old stuff, but that's certainly not going to work. This coat won't fit him for long, but it's cute while it lasts.