Pass The Pillow and Blanket Please...

The move went fairly decent with only a few down points here and there. Vin pulled a muscle in his back again, I did too much so I'm exhausted, and there are a few things wrong with the apartment but all in all not a bad move. The one person I was worried about the most ended up taking it the best!

The old house is the only house Lil Man has ever known. We moved in when he was 6 months old so it's always been his "home". I figured he would be upset and disoriented for a few days with maybe a few temper tantrums thrown in. Totally the opposite. He enjoyed running from room to room and the minute he found out that he gets a "playroom" for a few months (due to the older two being made to share a room as punishment) he was on Cloud Nine! Now you can't get the boy out of that room without playing "Let's Make A Deal".

Today we took Sis to her homeschool gymnastics class. My conversation with the Lil Man went something like this...

"Mama, we go Sissy's gymnastics now?"

"Yes sweety, we're going to take Sissy to... when did you learn to say gymnastics so well?"

"Yesserday"

"Yesterday? Who taught you?"

"Sissy told me yesserday that we were going to gymnastics so I say we going to gymnastics too."
"You're so smart. Do you know that?"

"Yes, I'm smart and everybody loves me because I'm Lil Man."

LOL. I can't argue with that now can I? He also informed his father quite loudly the other night that we turn the tv OFF during dinner. We didn't know he had realized that was the rule so it was a little shocking to hear him say it and of course, he is our little Captain Curse Patrol. You can't even say "dang" or "crap" because he will tell you "That's a naughty word and you not pose to say it!". It gets on your nerves sometimes but to be honest I have cleaned up my language some thanks to him. LOL. He's definately a keeper. The other two... welllllllllllllll the warranty ran out on them long ago so I'll keep them around. Besides, I'm just a little bit attached to the rotten little turkeys. :)

I'm Not Ready!!

Just yesterday he was in my belly and the u/s tech was saying "Don't go painting the room blue yet but it looks like a boy".

Just yesterday he was eating his first birthday cake and sitting on my lap.

Just yesterday he was having his second birthday and clinging on to his Barney doll.

Just yesterday he was in Preschool learning new songs and making me a Mommy's Day gift with his own precious hands.

Just yesterday he was letting me know he was okay to ride the bus all by himself.

Just yesterday he told me he was a big boy because he graduated from Kindergarten.

Just yesterday he was starting Junior High and starting to talk about girls.

And just today I cried as my oldest baby started his first day as a Freshman in High School. This morning he hugged me and walked out the door a young man. No longer a little boy holding my hand and wanting to show me his newest fingerpainting. Now he's a young man who can't wait to get his driver's license and graduate from High School. Hanging out with friends is cool. Hanging out with your mom isn't. There is no such thing as "the cool mom" right now no matter how much younger I am than the other moms. LOL.

Today a new journey started for both of us. As he embraces the changes and looks forward to the future I can't help but wish we could go back to the days when I tickled him and he giggled saying "No more tickles mommy my tummy ouchie".

Forget this growing up junk! I want my babies back!!

On The Move

We will be moving on August 19th and kissing this craphole of a house goodbye. It will be nice not having to constantly worry about mold, or leaking ceilings, or any of the stuff that came along with renting this house plus the kids are happy because the pool is right beside our building so even I can't use the excuse "It's too far to go today". LOL.

Other than that we are hoping to go see Vin's mom for Thanksgiving this year. It will be the first time we have spent a holiday with Nancy so it's kind of exciting. Hopefully all the kids will behave themselves while we're there so she doesn't end up wishing she hadn't invited us. :)

Big B starts HIGH SCHOOL next Wednesday and actually asked me last week if he could be homeschooled. It floored me to say the least because he has always been against homeschooling. At this point though he is going to try going to regular High School and if it's not working out then we will discuss homeschooling. I'm just worried I can't handle both kids and be able to give them a good education. Of course, ANYTHING is an improvement over the school system here but still... I don't want us all to get in over our heads. So this week he's fine with going to school and we'll just take things one step at a time.

FINALLY A Nice Day!

This family has so few nice days that I couldn't help but want to post about it today. :)

Early this morning Vin and Sis left to go to his mother's in Texas for a few days. She works for the airlines so flying them out there didn't cost us anything. Sis was so excited for several reasons- she's never been on an airplane, she's never gotten to spend time with/bond with Vin, and she gets to spend time with Nancy. I was so happy for her that Vin asked her to go along. I talked to her several times today and she's having a great time even though they're mostly just fixing things around the house. She DOES have a black eye though. Yep, she's her mother's child alright. Ran right smack into the passenger mirror on Nancy's Bronco while helping out in the garage. LOL. Nancy bought her some sandals though, they are having pizza for dinner, and she gets to see Batman Begins at the IMAX theatre tomorrow so I think she'll get over it okay. ;)

Meanwhile here at home- Lil Man, Big B, and myself had planned a day of errands and not much else. As I was arranging my To Do List this morning Vin's boss' wife called (she had come over to help me out for a few days after my surgery) and asked if Big B would like to go swimming and fishing with them (her 13yo grandson is visiting for the summer). Big B hasn't really had a chance to do anything yet this summer so I told her of course. We arranged for them to pick Big B up at 1pm and we went ahead and left to have my bloodwork done, drop off my CT scan films, pick up my prescriptions, hit the bank, and grab some cheapo lunch. We made it back in plenty of time and they picked Big B up and off he went. He just called and said they caught a really big fish and it sounds like he had alot of fun and is on his way home now. So I'm sure he had a good day too.

After Big B left I decided that Lil Man and I needed some fun too. The poor baby is always stuck in this house with me so off to Walmart we went to pick up the rest of the stuff on my list (groceries etc) and while we were there I decided to spoil him by spending $15 on a little pool and 6 plastic zoo animals since he is into Madagascar right now (kid hasn't even seen the movie and he's obsessed. THANKS commercials! OY!). The minute we had the pool home he was trying to tear into it and expecting me to open it and lay it out in the living room. LOL. I finally got tired of telling him that it had to go outside and to give me a minute and just took it outside to set up. Can I just say those collapsable pools SUCK?! Oh my goodness I couldn't get the darn thing to stay up!! Finally got water in it, changed myself and little man into swimming attire, threw the new plastic animals in the water, slathered on the sunscreen, and off we went! He had a blast and we were in there for well over an hour. Of course, I cheated to get him out of the pool and told him he could have a popsicle. In my defense they are sugar free though. :) So he came inside, ate his popsicle, we played some, and he fell asleep in my arms which is MY favorite thing.

All my kids had a good day today and that means I had a good day as well. It's not often I get to end the day with a smile so you can bet that I'm enjoying it for all it's worth.

Happy Father's Day!

Well today is Father's Day and I did pretty darn good if I do say so myself. The kids and I got and did things for Vin that I KNEW he would like. We paid for him to get an hour long massage yesterday which was something he'd never had before. I figured he could use the relaxation considering the fact that he has been on this rollercoaster ride with me the last 9 months. He said he really liked it and would love to do it again sometime so that is info I will save for maybe Yule or his birthday next year. :)

After his massage I sent him and the oldest two kids to see "Batman Begins" at the movie theatre. To us this was a big deal because we NEVER go to the full price theatre and even only hit the Dollar theatre maybe once or twice a year. We just feel it's too expensive to go and much cheaper to watch stuff at home. Boy were we right!! It cost OVER $30 for the MATINEE for Vin, Big B, and Sis plus two candies, a popcorn, and two drinks!! That is just unreal!! I mean, the cost didn't matter yesterday because it was a treat and special but still...geez that is just stupid that it costs so much! Anyway- Vin had been saying he wanted to see the movie and I figured that in 5 years him and the oldest two have never been to the movies together (sad I know) so this would be good for ALL of them. I was right- they ALL enjoyed the movie immensely and Vin actually came home with a smile on his face. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Last night I made a special dinner (figured it was better to have it last night so we could just relax today) for everyone that turned out REALLY REALLY good. Everyone loved it (except me unfortunately- my taste buds were dead so everything tasted like cardboard AND I got VERY sick about an hour after I ate. :( ) and we had a nice dinner together which I love. I marinated some steak, chicken, and shrimp for two days in a marinade that I bought plus added some stuff to. Last night we grilled them and then I added a feta cheese topping to the steak and sauteed some mushrooms and onions as well. I also made baked potatoes and broiled parmesan zucchini to go along with it. Everything was done at the same time, turned out great, AND the kids even liked the zucchini. PERFECT meal which never happens but made me so happy!

Today the kids gave him a card with coupons in it for little things like a "car wash", "time alone", and so on. Then I had each one pull a gift out from behind their backs. Lil Man gave him a bag of his fave Lindt candy, Sis gave him another bag of it (mixed flavors), and Big B gave him a Tony Stewart dvd he had found a few months ago when we were out. I gave him a card and a stick of pepperoni that I know he likes. He said it was a great weekend and he was very happy.

It feels good to know that we were actually able to give him things he liked because he is so hard to buy for and do things for. I made sure it was a perfect weekend and I'm so proud of myself. Of course, I keep telling him "Wow, look Vin I did things I KNEW you would like. I LISTENED and PAID ATTENTION to KNOW what to get". LOL. This was said because I will make him lists even of ideas for what I would like for my birthday, Mother's Day, etc and he never listens and ends up getting me stuff that I just could never use or have no clue what to do with. The books he got me for Mother's Day we ended up giving to his mother because they just weren't something I would read/use. I wasn't being picky, he had even said as much after actually looking at the books. LOL. He tried though and that meant alot. I just wish he would put more effort into knowing me and knowing what little things make me tick.

Hopefully this weekend has shown him how it feels to know someone loves you enough to pay attention to what you say and who you are. If not... oh well, HE had a great weekend and that is all that honestly matters. Seeing him happy makes me happy and it makes the kids feel good knowing they did well. Definately an everybody wins situation wouldn't you say? :)

Growing Too Fast

Today my little one turns 2 1/2. I honestly can't believe it's been that long. :( It seems like the last two years have just flown past when all I wanted was to savor and enjoy every minute. Lil Man is my last baby so it is even harder with him. All of this has been full of "last times" for me. Of course, everyday with him is like an adventure. He is one of the funniest little kids I've ever known and he keeps me laughing. It seems each of my kids have given me exactly what I've needed at different times in my life. For that I am forever thankful to all three of them.

So Lil Man is 2 1/2 and not a baby anymore. Eventually I will quit crying when I say or type that but for now I will let the tears fall and try to steel myself for the months and years to come when he gets even bigger and older. Your last baby is definately the hardest one to watch grow up. Then again, watching the other two get older, start to go through puberty, and become small adults has been no picnic either. LOL.

It's a good thing I'm not allowed to drink because watching your babies grow can DEFINATELY drive a woman to drink!!! ;)

Lil Man, You're Obsessing...

"I ossessing Mommy?"

"Yes, you're obsessing again"

"I ossessing yike I was er-e-er wif da train table?"

*laughing hard* "Yeah kind of like you were obsessing over the train table today"

"Okay I no ossessing e-more"

Two and a half years old and he never fails to crack me up! The things this child says sometimes just amaze me. How can someone so little be so smart and funny?

One of his favorite words right now is "crack". Everything is crack. "You cwack me up Daddy", "You on cwack Thissy", "I see your cwack", and so on. The person that started this will pay as soon as we find out their identity! I guess it's better than "dammit" which we heard a few times and went into panic mode over fearing it was going to be the next word de jour for Lil Man.

Anyway- time to go play with my baby boy while he is "ossessing" over his dinosaurs laying an egg. LMAO

My oldest "baby" is 14 years old today.

:( I have no clue why but this is just killing me. I sat in bed last night remembering when I was pregnant with him and when he was born. I remember when we had the u/s that told us what we were having. I still remember the tech saying "Don't go painting the room blue but it looks like it's a boy!". :) I remember the day he was born laying him on my chest while we listened to The Little Mermaid playing on the TV in the hospital room. I remember the shear terror I felt the first year of his life because of my fear of SIDS. I don't think I slept one whole single night that year.

I kept a journal for him the whole pregnancy and reading back through it just brings so many memories. I'm glad I thought to do that.

My little boy is now 5'7" tall, wears bigger clothing than I do, has a mustache, and is already a cancer survivor.

I'm too young to be a mommy of a teenager. No... really... I'm too young! LOL. I had the kid at 16 for crying out loud!

He didn't want presents this year just wants "cash" so that's what we're giving him. I miss the days of getting to shop for him the rotten bugger! I'm making his cake today, giving him his card with the money, giving him his present from his siblings, and then guess what he asked for instead of a party or friends over...

He wants to take his girlfriend to the movies! He's not allowed to date until he is 16 but for this ONCE I am bending. The catch though is that mommy dearest will be sitting two rows back the whole movie. :) He's also been informed that this is a one time deal and not to ask again until he turns 16. I thought I was being smart and the girl's parents wouldn't let her go but nooooooooooo they said it was fine. What is wrong with people today? LMAO.

Anyway- Happy Birthday Big B. Thank you for 14 amazing years. You've been my saviour, my friend, my teacher, and my biggest fan and you never even knew it. I don't know where I would be if I had never had you. You have enriched my life everyday you've been in it and I wouldn't change a single day if it didn't have you. I love you.