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.