Betty Visits Louisiana

After a cancelled flight, a few tears, and a little "friendly" chat with the airline, Betty finally made it to Louisiana. The boys were very antsy to get her here, and even made "welcome" signs for her. (though it didn't go well because she was one of the first people off the plane and we were late getting to the boys to hold them)

We spent most of Saturday shopping and hanging out around town. My parents came over for dinner that night and Betty made chicken (i don't know how to make it), mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and we cut up a watermelon. We also had ice cream for dinner but everyone was stuffed by that time.

Then we introduced Betty to the Wii and played bowling, but switched to Are you Smarter than a 5th grader. That in and of itself was worth her trip. She quickly became addicted and could not stop yelling at the tv when she got an answer wrong. (and for those of you who don't know Alabama DOES border Florida and glaciers don't make mountains)



On Sunday we had plans to go to the local water park, but the weather wasn't looking to promising. So we decided to venture just outside of town (ok it was 103 miles away). We took a trip to the zoo in Texas. I had always heard about the zoo in Tyler, but figured it's in nowhere town Texas so it probably wasn't going to be much. Boy was I wrong. Betty explained it to Stu as "better than the Hogel Zoo", and it was. Though it was VERY VERY hot that day, it was so much fun. We took a cooler with some snacks for everyone, and stopped for lunch just outside the zoo. They had a nice picnic table area where we had lunch, then inside we went. It was very inexpensive since they offered both senior and military discount. Two of our family members were free, and vinny cost just $5. Unfortunately I was the only full price patron, as I had lost my military ID (which was replaced on Monday). Inside the zoo we recieved a map, which Vinny took custody of and started on our way. We saw tons of birds, large cats, elephants, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, penguins, fish, more birds, and we also visited the petting zoo.



Vinny warmed right up at the petting zoo diving in to pet and brush the goats. Zavion was a little shy though, as he had been told all day not to get too close. But once he saw that Vinny was ok he jumped right in and really enjoyed himself.

As the zoo came to a close, so did our day of fun. As we were leaving Justin overheard a police officer saying something that brought me to tears. Someone ACTUALLY left their little dog in the car while they played at the zoo. It was nearly 100 degrees outside, and there was zoo security standing at the car waiting for them to return. Hopefully the dog was ok AND taken away from them.



With tears in my eyes I approached my car quickly to get the air started for the boys. Boy was I in for a shock when it didn't start. After a long tiring HOT 3 hours at the zoo, my poor car was dead. Luckily some Zookeepers were able to jump it and I made the long drive home and finally cooled off. It was an eventful day.

Betty left Monday afternoon, after some more shopping of course. All in our house is slowly returning to normal, though we miss Betty, we know she will return again soon.

Long time no update!

It's been a while since I have written anything. Not that I have been overly busy or nothing has been happening, I just have been too tired. So here is a quick update, before a post about Betty's trip.

Vinny is starting to get very excited as August approaches for Kindergarten. I need to start thinking about school supply shopping before the mad rush. He is happy to be out of school for the summer, and thinks EVERYDAY is the perfect day to go to the park, rain or 105 degree shine. He is still very much into Transformers, and was very excited to get new Transformers bedding.

Zavion is also doing very well. His speech is getting better by the day and more and more people are understanding what he is saying. He still has his own language for some things but he always has his translator, I mean mom, with him to help out. He still looks just like Justin, and is still the happiest go luckiest kid about everything.

Aidric is growing at the speed of light. He is up to four teeth now, sitting up on his own, and crawling is just around the corner. Snack and juice time is his favorite time of day and he has taken a strong liking to Wow Wow Wubbzy (a favorite in this house). He continues his physical therapy and has started going once a week now to correct some muscles in his neck.

Rollie Pollie

Aidric is on his hands and knees rocking back and forth...he WANTS to crawl. He practices frequently throughout the day and sometimes moves half an inch. But for the most part he just rolls. He knows that if he studies something long enough he can figure out a way to roll to it. Sometimes he gets himself going and rolls right into a wall or some furniture, and becomes very upset. And other times he gets himself into a sticky situation, and is not at all bothered by it.

Days of Summer Begin

Today was a gorgeous day outside. The temperature was a roasty 88 and the sun was shining as bright as could be. We decided to let the boys play in the water for a bit while Justin worked on my mom's car. The boys had a blast playing and Rebel and Bit Bit enjoyed hanging out in the front yard with us as well.

Hurricane Season

Monday marks the first official day of Hurricane Season 2009. Reading through the news, I came across the pre-approved list of names that will be used this year, and boy did I get a laugh. They seemed to cover a few faces of people we know. Congratulations to the following 2009 hurricanes: Bill (my exhusband), Fred (what we call Rebel), Mindy (my sister in-lay), and Theresa (my mom). Hopefully the damage done by these storms will not offend any of the afore mentioned.

Barksdale Air Show

The air show was this past weekend. We went Friday night for what is known as the Twilight Show, and is only open to military families. They only did a few small planes, and the parachute jumpers did pyrotechnics and a small fireworks show which was pretty cool.

We went again on Saturday, but only stayed for a few hours because it was EXTREMELY hot. We went back on Sunday because Justin's boss and some co-workers were going. I wish we would have stayed longer on Saturday and stayed home on Sunday because it POURED on Sunday. We were able to take cover under the wing of a B52, and I even scored a new t-shirt, because I had on a white tank top. Shortly after the rain stopped we were treated to a concert given by Aaron Tippin, and just minutes before he was finished, the rain started again. It eventually dried up after two hours and the planes were able to fly and start the show. The boys had a GREAT time, and each selected the number 4 Blue Angel jet as their toy of choice for this year. We left before most of the major acts too place, as everyone was damp, tired, and starting to get hot, but not before everyone had the chance to climb on and tour through some of the planes.




The one plane we didn't tour was the AWAX. It is the top-secret highly classified airplane and this is the first year it was open to tour to the public. The line was what seemed like a mile long and I didn't think everyone would want to wait. They had it roped off and armed gaurds were infront of and behind it.




Everyone had a great tome and I can't wait the long year to go again next May!

Mr. and Mrs. Alan Weigold

Jamie and Alan were married at 1pm in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 5, 2009. Congratulations guys!!!!

Bit Bit needs help....or can he give it?

Yesterday while we were dropping off Justin's truck for some maitenence, I saw a regular sized Yorkie dog. Justin overheard the owner telling some people that he was a certified therapy dog. It gave me the idea that Bit Bit (the super puppy) can do that. He likes to be held and loved on and c'mon...who doesn't love that cute little face? He will have to be tested on his abilities, one of which is walking on a leash or harness, something he does NOT like to do. So I am going to start working with him on that. It's only $10 to register him and have him tested. And then I have to get a reccomendation from his vet and from any places that I would take him (children's hospitals, nursing homes, special needs homes, etc.) I think he would a very good therapy doggie woggie and hopefully it's something I will stick to and get done. Now if we can just get him to learn to like a leash...

My Big Baby Sister Grows Up

Tomorrow my big sister gets married. And while she is my big sister I feel like she is my little sister too. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I am already married with three gorgeous little boys. She made a road trip out of her trip to her wedding in Vegas stopping at the Grand Canyon and Hoover Damn along the way. She has already posted over two hundred pictures to her Myspace page, and I am waiting for her to post more (bachlorette party at Chippendales? who doesn't want to see pictures of that?). When she comes home she will be married and it will seem kind of weird that she is actually married now with two step daughters. It's like in one day she is almost all caught up to her little grown up sister.

Would you like fries with that?

Now because I am younger than SOME people, it may apply even more so to you. But I can remember as a kid we could go to McDonalds, and order a hamburger or cheeseburger Happy Meal, with fries, a coke, a bag of cookies and a toy. It seemed like a lot as a kid, but I now remember when those were the simple days.

Tonight we decided to be nice to ourselves and go out to eat. Justin and I decided on Wingstop, and since the kids don't like wings, we let them pick a fast food place for them. They chose Sonic. NEVER, has Justin had such a difficult time ordering food. There are so many choices and with two different kids (i pray Aidric never discovers fast food) it gets confusing. Zavion wanted a grilled cheese kids meal with apples and a white milk. Vinny wanted a plain cheeseburger kids meal with a banana and a sprite. It sounds fairly simple but it's a lot harder to order when you have one kid trying to remind you what they want every 2 seconds and the other one in the back repeating and answering the lady taking your order. I sat in the truck with tears in my eyes laughing so hard at the difficulty of what seemed like such an easy task. The scene from Beethoven's Second always comes to mind; where the family can't decide so the dog barks the order into the speaker and the lady answers him with "would you like fries with that?" While I am glad that fast food now offers healthier choices in their kids meals, it makes deciding and ordering all the more difficult.

Family Day: hosted by the 917th Wing

Today was Family Day at the park on base, hosted by the entire Reserves wing on base. It was an awesome turn out of about 300 people at any given time. There were tons of activities for the boys to engage in, as well as face painting, balloon animals, and food, drinks, and music. We arrived at opening at 11am and had some lunch and played around until 1pm when Justin was scheduled to drive the kiddie train. He had an hour worth of driving kids around the park, horn tooting and all. Vinny asked to have his face painted and had a car on one cheek and a transformer on the other. He and Zavion stood in line and each asked Gabby the clown for a dog animal balloon. Then we marched over to the snow cone line and waited for blue bubblegum snow cones. There was a deejay playing music, and long lines for hot dogs and hamburgers. Vinny's favorite part of the whole day was the $1 he spent at the dunk tank. It took him several throws and a little help but he finally got the AF Reserves Captain in the water. I sure hope that doesn't affect Justin's day tomorrow.

It's a Miracle

We did it! We have finally rid Zavion of his bottle for good! He misplaced it earlier in the week and had to go to bed without it. I figured if he went to bed and slept fine without it, he wouldn't get it back. Not to mention that I didn't know where it was. I finally located it and said nothing, just threw it away when he wasn't looking. He has asked about it a few times but I just kind of ignore it and tell him to get his big boy juice cup. He has done SO much better than I expected him to without it and I am glad. We also switched Aidric's bottles hoping a smaller frame would encourage him to hold it. He was not thrilled and it took him a whole day of crying and screaming to understand that he wasn't getting his old bottle back to finally drink it. Now everyone is for the most part semi happy with their beverage containers....what a week!

The Three Munchkin Ears

In three short days my first baby, and he will always be my baby, will be enrolled in kindergarten. While I want him to be the smartest boy ever and get a great education, most of me wants to lock him in his room and board up the windows. I can't belive in just a few short months he will be putting on his little uniform and backpack and taking off with his lunch box. To counter balance starting a new school life, we decided to enroll him in soccer. The base has a great program that starts at age 5 and plays against other base and I think a few local youth teams. I think it will be something he will enjoy and can't wait to see him on the field.




As time marches on I have started to worry less and less about Zavion's speech. Dr. Parker wanted him to see a speech therapist if his speech wasn't better by September. Zavion must have thought that was a bad idea because now getting him to stop talking is nearly impossible. He even sings along in the car to his Imagination Movers CD and a few of my favorite songs too (picture American Woman or Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz sung by a two year old...it's hilarious). He is starting to make small sentences and getting better at saying words he used to have trouble with. I do however still worry about his little legs and I am going to talk to his doctor. Shriners Hospital said it should correct itself and he should come back in a year. But it doesn't seem to be getting better, and he falls a lot and right now has maybe 4 or 5 bruises at least on each leg. My biggest concern is that our Shriners is at the top of the list to close, making the next closest one in Houston (not that I would mind a trip back to NASA or the Houston Zoo). I think if his coordination doesn't improve over the next few weeks (though if like his mother he will be doomed for life as I have NO coordination skills) I will take him in and see what Dr. Parker suggests.





Aidric, or Tank as my dad now calls him, is growing like a bad weed that won't die. He eats a pretty big breakfast in the morning and I think soon he will start demanding more bacon, less baby oatmeal. He usually has one or two small bottles before lunch and then he will have a fruit for lunch. Then a few more bottles between then and dinner, which is usually a vegetable. Today for dinner he had an entire fruit and an entire vegetable and was content; untill he put on his adorable new big boy whale pajamas. I brought him out of his room so he could show his daddy his new jammies and as soon as we sat down some dinner came out. I didn't even have time to get the camera and take his CLEAN picture. I feel as though he is a little behind physically as well. He grows well but at 7 months still won't hold his own bottle and pitches a fit if you don't do it for him. He's not sitting up all the way, which could also be caused by the 9lb fat roll we call his stomach. I was hoping to make it all the way to the next scheduled appointment with no in between visits and so far so good. We only have all of May and most of June to go. So hopefully these boys will get there act together.

It Costs How Much?

I recently had the brilliant idea that I wanted mirror image toes; meaning I wanted my toes to match the rims on my car. I figured in all the companies in the world and all the millions of nail polish colors SOMEONE had to make this nail polish. Turns out I was right.



Unfortunately, this is not something I will be buying anytime soon. As it turns out this is a product that MANY people were demanding that companies make so those wonderful people took advantage and decided to charge at what I so far found to be the least expensive: $15. I absolutely cannot dignify spending that kind of money to paint my toes. My favorite brand, Pure Ice, is only $2 at Wal-Mart and that is more than enough. I toyed with the idea today of getting a different brand but I just could not in my own mind justify spending $7 for nail paint. I guess I will have to save my loose couch and laundry change for quite a while before I can get my chrome nails, and by then it will be out of style. Guess I should just stick to my favorite brand and continue to stock up on their colors.

Pro BMX Biker in the making

So today Justin built Zavion a small ramp for his cars so he could sit in the window seat and roll them down the ramp to the floor back and forth till death to him part. He had a blast for about 30 minutes then wanted to move it to the couch and do it there. So he helped Justin move the ramp, so he could show him right where he wanted it.

About ten minutes later Zavion comes from behind the couch with his bike and starts picking it up and trying to put it on the couch. I didn't see this going at all well, and since my friend's 4 year old recently broke his collar bone, I decided to stop it before it even started. So now Justin is outside building Zavion his very first bike ramp for his Fisher Price bike. Nothing too professional and extravegant but something that will keep him off the couch and off of people.

Happy Easter

They boys woke up this morning and climbed into bed with us as they usually do on the weekends. They must have forgotten that it was Easter because they said nothing just got into bed. So I sat up and said my Happy Easter and then the big question came: "Did the Easter Bunny come?"

So I got up and 'went to the bathroom'/hid the eggs, while Justin got the boys dressed. I got their buckets and out the door we went.




After we finished finding all the eggs we headed inside to locate our Easter Baskets (handmade by Justin). They each got one "favorite" thing and then a bunch of here and there trinkets they like to play with. Vinny got a new Wolverine toy and Zavion a new monster truck. They also got some bubbles, little rubber bunnies, fishing toys, hersey kisses, toothbrushes, toothpaste, motorcycles, and little pills that turn into foam animals in the water. They did pretty good.







After the excitement calmed down each boy settled into playing with their new toys. Later we will dye some Easter eggs, and since no one eats hard boiled eggs, we will donate them to the chimpanzees who do so they don't go to waste. They both are excited to color their eggs, Zavion got Elmo dye and Vinny got Transformers. We will spend the rest of the day inside relaxing as the weather outside is expected to be rather nasty today.

Pictures That don't speak loud enough

Thursday night our area and it's surroundings were hit by a large storm that included several tornados. Arkansas saw the worst of it that so far has reported 3 deaths. Texas was also hit pretty hard. Our local area took a pretty nasty hit as well.




The base was slammed with a tornado that knocked out power lines and nearly a dozen poles on the main road that leads into our neighborhood. It took out a hundreds of local trees some of which went through a few houses. Fences were destroyed and lawn ornaments were missing. We also saw a shed in one front yard, with it's rook in another, and still are not sure whose yard it actually belonged in. The cops had the main road to our neighborhood baracaded for about a mile which caused a bit of a traffic nightmare and the main gate to base was closed all day. The roof of the new Sonic just across from base was found on the Commissary so I am assuming they will be out of commission for a while. Justin said rumors on base were that the wall of one of the chaples had caved in and some windows were blown out. There was minor damage done to some airplanes and from what we saw this morning a few cars here and there burried under a few big trees. A local furniture store lost most of their front windows and roof, and a small motel setting up for a weekend wedding reception also lost it's roof and had water leaking into the rooms. The had to evacuate most of their guests.

We lost power at around 10pm last night and it was restored around 12pm today. We didn't get any damage to our house luckily but with no lights, and three small boys, we didn't get any sleep either. It was a pretty gorgeous day out today and while surveying the damage we saw tons of neighbors helping neighbors repairing roofs and cleaning up trees. From the weather reports it seems as though today and tomorrow will be our calm before the worse Easter storm.

Chicken Anyone?

Well I knew it was eventually going to happen to someone, sometime. Unfortunately Zavion was the unlucky duck. He was bitten by the chicken. He has had a low grade fever for the past few days so we have just been giving him his little cocktail to keep it down and keep him happy. But tonight all his happy little red bumps started popping up. Yes that's right. The Chicken Pox. My most favorite itchy disease. Justin had a bad case when he was four. I had a bad case when I was 10. Missing two weeks of school didn't bother me but missing my first ever trip to Disney World nearly killed me. (i got to go a few weeks later as a make up since you were sick trip) I figured it's something most kids have to go through and it's not completely horrible as long as he doesn't itch too much. We are going to stock up on lots of itchy lotions and feel better popsicles tomorrow. I just wish he wasn't going to be sick for Easter. I guess no Easter Bunny pictures this year Zavion.

BAFB Not So Hidden Secret

I always knew you could go fishing on base. I knew where the little lake was and didn't know why it was such a big deal. I also knew you could go hunting on base. I also knew where you could do that...also not a big deal. Until Justin showed me why it was a big deal. There was an entire side of base I had never even seen, 22,000 acres to be exact. That's a lot of space to not know about. And it's absolutely gorgeous. It's my new favorite place to go and I don't hunt or fish. Now don't get me wrong I will gladly enjoy this place with everyone, as it is infested with alligators and water snakes. I always like looking at alligators in water, from a distance, and when we went the other day we saw three small ones. But it was still a little chilly out so there weren't many.





We also went to Moon Lake, which is a small lake shaped like a crescent moon. It's very peaceful and on the four mile drive from the main road to the lake there are small farms with camps and a swamp on the left. I had such a good time driving through the woods and it reminded me of Pennsylvania and all the woods you have to drive through to get to things there.

Unavoidable

There is a reason I always keep an eye on my children...and NEVER let them go outside without me. Not even a mile down the road from our house a little girl was hit by a car crossing a very busy street by herself. Children do this all time as do adults to get to the little street corner hang out convenience store. It bugs me and Justin and I always say eventually someone will get hit. We were right and unfortunately it was a little girl. What irritates me the most is that the police called it "unavoidable". I am sorry but in my opinion this was COMPLETELY unavoidable. Her parents could have either been with her, or had everything they needed in the house so she didn't need to go to the store. People do frequently speed through that section but there are ALWAYS cops right there for that reason. The little girl is in critical condition at the hospital right now and I hope that she is ok and that the parents are somehow charged with child neglect because a little kid shouldn't be left alone much less allowed to cross a VERY busy street just a few yards away from one of the towns busiest intersections.

Zavion, Zavion, Zavion

Since the day he was born, Zavion has looked exactly like Justin. He has the same personality as Justin, with a few tantrums here and there. He is also a problem solver like Justin, as well as an easy going kid like Justin. But when it comes to his immune system he is EXACTLY like his mother. He is always sick with something. Even if it's just a rash or the sniffles he seems to always have something. Today it's some sort of virus. It started as a runny nose, which led to a cough. This morning sometime around 1am he woke up with a low grade fever. Medicine is not something he enjoys, so much so that he throws up from being so upset of having to take it. So to avoid that we put it in his drink, which he then won't drink. He has only slept for about two hours total today and is now breathing weird. I hate to call his doctor because it seems like we are always there. Ok it doesn't seem like that it really is that. I think we see Dr. Parker more than we see each other.



I made a little bed on the couch for him with his Elmo and Cookie Monster blankets so he could watch cartoons and just rest comfortably. He has stayed on the couch all day watching his "stories". We are waiting for Justin and Vinny to get home so he can feel better and hopefully have some soup for dinner since he hasn't eaten all day.

We're Free

Last night we took advantage of my mom's AWESOME offer. My stepdad was working out of town this weekend so she offered to take both boys for a sleepover at her house. I was quite shocked but very excited about the opportunity. So we packed up the kids and got semi dressed up and went out to a nice yummie dinner with no children. I sort of forgot how to eat hot food with no children around but I think I managed pretty well. We agreed on Shoguns because I love the rice and Justin loves sushi. As much as I missed the kids I did enjoy spending time with Justin alone and having an adult conversation. Granted we talked mostly about the children it was nice to do that without being interrupted by them. We had a nice dinner and didn't have much of a wait considering that is was local Prom Night. (i liked seeing all the pretty dresses.) We picked the boys up early this morning and are going to spend the day inside where it is warm and clean the house, something Zavion actually likes to do.

The boys this month

Vinny has found a new love...books. He discovered a series called Magic Tree House books: by Mary Pope Osborne. They are around ten chapters each and we read one chapter each night before bed, sometimes two if he's really good. They even have the books on cd so he can listen to them on his cd player. He recently started building THEE magic tree house that is the main part of the books with my parents. My dad's sister has gotten in on his new obsession and is sending him a bunch of the books from the series that were extras from her classroom.



We recently had a bad spat of weather that greatly benefitted Zavion. He loves nothing more than to be a boy and be dirty. Our back yard tends to flood and where the grass doesn't grow turns to mudd with a single drop of water. Zavion recently found that nice large mudd puddle and decided that was the perfect opportunity for him so he went for it. It turned into his third bath of the day, followed by a fourth bath.



Aidric always gets very excited when he gets put in his high chair with a bib on it. He discovered that food is the greatest invention since the bottle. That boy LOVES to eat. We started with fruits and quickly found that all his favorite foods are all the things the older boys hated. We also found out that green beans are the most boring food in the universe.

Dr. Parker and the Dr. Long's

Today the boys went for a 6 month and two year check up. Here are their reports:

Aidric went for his 6 month check up. He was 20lbs and 27in long. He recieved two shots in his left leg and one in his right and got topped off with three neon orange bandaids. Dr. Parker would like to him doing better physically and was surprised that his physical therapy was only every two months when he was thinking it should have been every week. He said to give it another three months and if he's not better by his next check up he will reccomend him for physical therapy more often. Other than that he is all healthy and off his medicine and growing well.

Zavion also recieved two shots today and a lead test that went FAR from well. He took the first bandaid off his pricked finger and bled EVERYWHERE. Luckily I had a white shirt on to absorb most of the blood as did my jeans and his scrubs (they like to wear their matching scrubs to the doctors). We were more succussful with the second bandaid as it made it all the way to the car and down the road a little bit. Everything else turned out fine. He does want to see him back in 6 months to keep an eye on his speech and make sure he doesn't need to have any type of speech therapy. Other than that he is normal healthy and loud and happy.

After two hours of fun at the pediatricians (most of which was spent picking out a sticker) we wrapped up, grabbed a Happy Meal, and headed home. Tomorrow I get a an hour or two to myself and head to my own doctors to seek treatment for neverending headaches.

Order Up

Today I started to make my little bakery menu. I am hoping to end up with a pretty big list of things for people to enjoy, but everyone has to start off small. So far my brownies win over everyone, which makes me happy. I am going to also add several different cookies, as well as a few different variations of cheesecakes. I am hoping to work up to adding pies, maybe cakes, and maybe some other little here and theres. My prices will be pretty cheap since they aren't world famous (...yet...) and also so people will be more willing to buy more often. I don't have a name for my little business yet but I am sure it will come to me last minute, most of my best ideas do.

Reruns and Homeruns

Twice a year there is a big sale at the mall called "Reruns Are Fun". It is held at the mall in the old department store that is no more. It is a GIANT resale of kids clothes, toys, furniture and anything else you can think of that a kid would need. Anyone can bring "in good condition" clothes and nothing will be sold for more than $3.00. You get a small portion back from everything you sell. I went last year but didn't find anything. I was very excited to learn that this year they are "test driving" a new event called "Homeruns". You can bring in your household items (couches, tables, chairs, curtains, wall decor, etc.) to be sold at an extremely discounted price. We have recently starting rearranging our house and while we don't really need anything you really never know what you will find.

Physical Therapy

Two months ago Aidric went for his first physical therapy appointment. Tomorrow he goes for his second. There are three physical therapists and they have an extra large "bed" that they sit on with him to see what he can do and if he is where he should be for his age. That includes factoring in that he was a month early.





Out of all the doctors appointments and errends I run throughout the days and weeks, this is by far my favorite. It is a super large room and there are tons of balls and mirrors and other walking toys for Zavion to play with while they work with Aidric and talk to me. It's easy to keep an eye on him and he loves the secretary that comes in and plays with him. I hope all goes well and that he is physically where he is supposed to be.

I Am Not Losing My Mind

Lately things have seemed very crazy around our house. No one really sleeps more than four hours at a time, with the exception of Vinny who will sleep through anything. Getting anyone to eat anything is a task in and of itself, and my cooking is not that bad. Everyone has had some sort of accident or illness whether it be a temporary tummy ache, a cut, or a bruise from falling down or walking into something. I am beginning to think all of this is causing me to lose my mind. I recently started misplacing EVERYTHING (except children thank god). I have attempted many times to set things down on the kitchen counter, only to turn around and not find it.

One day after grocery shopping I made Zavion a bottle while Justin brought all the bags in. I took the top off and put the cereal in while the milk was in the microwave warming up. I was all set to put the top on, shake it up, and let Zavion watch tv with his bottle while we put away the groceries. Sounds pretty simple untill I realized I couldn't find the top. My first thought was that Zavion had taken it in the living room to play with it while I wasn't looking. No such luck. We moved all the bags up and down, left and right, no bottle cap. We did this several times even checking the sink and dishwasher, and the living room several more times. No bottle cap. We finally gave up and just got a clean one out and called it good; it would turn up eventually. It finally did a few days later when I picked up the bag that had two bags of potato chips in it for Zavion's party. There it was just sitting there waiting to be found.

This morning something similar happend. By routine, I woke up with the kids, made Aidric a bottle, made Zavion his breakfast so he could eat and watch Elmo. I poured myself a bowl of the yummiest Cinnamon Toast Crunch since yesterday morning, and proceeded to the living room to watch Elmo with Zavion and Aidric. Aidric's bottle was nowhere to be found. I looked section by section on the counter to make sure I wasn't just blind without my glasses, no bottle. I came into the living room and asked Zavion if he had Aidric's bottle and he said "no". So I went back into the kitchen. Not even 30 seconds later I hear a little laugh and when I turned around Zavion was standing there with Aidric's bottle. Zavion has turned into quite the little prankster playing tricks on me and making me think I am crazy. So far I have not found one person other than myself that thinks this is NOT funny. :p

Little Changes

I have a small garden flag under the tree out front. Its at an angle so it's easier to see as you are driving by or pulling into the driveway. I don't have a bunch of flags, just a few for some major holidays. My goal is to have LOTS of them. I am talking major holidays, smaller holidays, just because it's Tuesday and eventually customized flags for the boys birthdays.

I recently changed my flag, after having the "Happy Holidays" flag out through February. I decided since it was March I should put out my St. Patricks Day flag. It's a green flag with a white sheep wearing a hat and it says "Get Lucky!". Very simple. As I said I had not changed the flag in well over three months. Vinny arrived back at our house after two weeks with his father. The very first thing he said was "I like your new flag mom". After I thanked him I had to wonder why he always notices the little changes. I LOVE chaning my flag and having different ones out, but it's so small that pulling into the driveway it's not the first thing you would see. He seems to always notice it as well as every other little detail that changes while he's away.

Happy Birthday

I can't believe Zavion is almost two! Just 4 more days. Because his birthday is on a Monday we are having his birthday party on Saturday. Because his party is on a Saturday we decided to order his cake today to ensure we have one on Saturday. We went to the Target bakery and looked through one of two books. Zavion decided to start flipping through the other book on his own and saw a cake with dump trucks on it. So we looked through all the rest of the cakes and narrowed it down to three cakes: Sesame Street, Monster Trucks, or Dump Trucks. We showed him all the pictures and he picked out the dump trucks cake he saw first. After a little playful arguing I decided everyone would like a yellow cake with whipped vanilla frosting. (Justin wanted everything chocolate but I am not big on chocolate)

So far we have not decided what to get him for his birthday. We have talked about a small Fisher Price basketball hoop since he likes to be active and throw things. He will probably get lots of cars and we will probably try to find him another bus. He also likes bubbles and fish. We are going to go shopping tomorrow so hopefully we will find him some good stuff.

Last Krewe

Tonight we went to the last Mardi Gras parade at the Louisiana Boardwalk. We once again had EXCELLENT seats right next to the news crew, this time without the eight hour wait. There were new floats, kings and queens and TONS more beads. Zavion was able to collect a few more stuffed animals and some candy, beads of course and a few other odds and ends. This year has been the first that we have been this active in Mardi Gras and I look forward to next year and catching a few more parades with my boys.

Everything's Peachy...almost!

We attempted a few weeks ago to try Aidric on some baby bananas. We were unsuccessful, and he is the first child I have that has EVER spit out bananas. I figured we would give him a couple of days and try again. Since then he has been having a lot of trouble pooping and has now stopped all together. His doctor recommend baby juice, which also did not work, nor did he care too much for that. My mom suggested we try baby peaches as it also had that certain effect on me and my sister as babies. So today she did me the favor of buying him some peaches, and a special feeding bottle to try. He HATED the bottle, as he normally will not put anything in his mouth that isn't HIS bottle or HIS fingers. So we pushed a little and tried the spoon and he LOVED it.



He didn't eat too much but I think he ate enough to get things started. And he will have a little more tonight. Hopefully that will solve all his little problems and if not I guess we pack it up and back to Dr. Parker's we go.