I WON!!!

I hardly ever win anything, but last night, at the Fall Festival at Anna's school, I won 2 tickets to a Mav's game! I am SO excited to go! The last Mavs game we went to was at Reunion Arena, so Danny and I are both looking forward to seeing them play at the AAC! Finally, going to PTA meetings has paid off!

Bad Picture

Here's Tommy's school picture for his PPCD class. I scanned it from the black-and-white proof the school gave me, so that's why the quality is so bad. I completely forgot that it was picture day,and I let Tommy pick out his shirt. He chose a plain ash-colored shirt. I also didn't comb his hair that morning, either. We got to school and his teacher took one look at him and said "Um, did you remember it was school picture day?" Of course I would have, had I not stayed up almost the entire night before with Eddie, but I didn't. Pictures, for some insane reason, were to be taken AFTER snack time, and, of course, Tommy spilled water all down the front of his shirt durning snack time! He has a set of clean clothes in the classroom for accidents just like this, but did the teacher think about that? No. She decided to turn his shirt around backwards for his picture! His hair is also sticking up weird in the back so it looks like he has an awfully mis-shaped head! His face is cute, but everything else is all wrong! Sigh...I hate to say it, but he certainly LOOKS developmentally delayed in this picture!

Turn it up!

I do a lot of driving when I teach, so to make it more bearable, I love to listen to music. Who doesn't? Sometimes I turn it up really loud and sing along, depending on the song. I don't get a chance to do that at any other time because I have kids in the car. My most recent faves are: Matchbox 20 - "How Far We've Come", Avril Lavigne - "Girlfriend", Maroon 5 - "Makes me Wonder", Evanesence - "Wake me up Inside", Fall out Boy - "Thnks fr th Mmrs", Timbaland/One Republic - "Apologize" and, of course, anything Green Day. There are a ton others, but this gives you an idea. What are your favorites?

Left Behind

I got a frantic phone call from Tommy's PPCD teacher this morning telling me that she forgot to put him on the bus! There are 2 PPCD classes in a row, so when Tommy's class gets picked up, the next class gets dropped off. Tommy got put in the group of kids for the next class, and no one noticed until they got into the classroom! The teacher was so apologetic and frazzled, I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. I was peeved that this could happen, and grateful that nothing worse happened to Tommy!

10 Things

1. I love it when my kids are in bed and I can veg out on the couch with Danny.
2. Sleeping babies are so cute!
3. I love it when Eddie lets me know that he needs a diaper change. Tommy can go all day without telling me, and the only way I know is by the smell or the trail that he leaves behind. I know, yuck.
4. Finding the things you need at the store and they're on sale!
5. A clean house is a happy house. I have a hard time dealing with big messes. They drive me nuts!
6. Ahhh...cooler weather! Isn't it wonderful?
7. Anna got 20 out of 20 correct on her last math test!
8. Candy corn! Yum!
9. I love making home improvements! Even small stuff like putting up a motion-senor flood light in the back. It makes me feel safer.
10. Free baby-sitters!! They are the best!!

Ketchup Connoisseur

Yesterday, when I gave Tommy his hot dog, I put Hunts ketchup on his plate instead of Heinz. He took a bite, and refused to eat any more of the ketchup. He went straight to the fridge and got out the Heinz bottle and insisted that I put it on his plate. I thought that was strange, so I tried the Hunts again today, but this time I didn't let him see me put it on his plate. The results were the same! Who would have thought that a 3-year-old would have a ketchup preference?

Sleep

Sleep is a wonderful thing. It really is, and you don't truly appreciate it until you don't get enough of it. Eddie loves to sleep. He is a wonderful sleeper during the day, but at night, he just doesn't do it! We've tried to flip his schedule, but nothing has worked. Tommy has been sick with awful allergies and congestion and hasn't been sleeping well at night either. Last night, Danny got up with Eddie, while I was up with Tommy. We barely got any sleep at all! I miss sleeping....

My Craig's List Find

Danny and I wanted to get Tommy a scooter for Christmas, and we found this great Spiderman scooter at Toys R Us, but we didn't like the $40 price tag! So, we went looking on Craig's List for something similar. Well, we found someone selling the EXACT same scooter, new in the box, for only $20! The seller was pretty close, Sachse, and I was able to talk her down to $15! I love Craig's List!

My Two Boys

Aren't my two boys so cute? In the pictures below, Tommy is first and Eddie is second. They are definitely brothers!

2-Week Check-Up

Eddie had his 2-week chek-up on Thursday and he is now 8 lbs, 5 oz, and 21 1/2 inches long! He has gained 1/2 a pound and 1 1/4 inches in only a week! He's a good eater and sleeps really well during the day (we're still working on the sleeping at night stuff).

My doctor visit

I went to the doctor this morning for a blood pressure check, and everything looks great! My BP was 132/68 which is actually on the low side for someone on blood pressure medication. I now just have to make sure that my BP doesn't get too low, and if it does, they'll pull me off the meds. I have another check-up in 4 weeks, and if everything checks out okay, I'll be off the medication for good!

Eddie Update

As some of you know, Eddie left the hospital jaundiced, so we had to do a follow-up visit on Sunday afternoon to the Biliruben Clinic. His levels were still quite high (75%), so we had to go back yesterday. His levels were then only 35-40% (low-risk) but he still has to follow up with his pediatrician tomorrow. We have to keep him eating, but high levels of biliruben makes you sleepy, so it's been hard to get him fed every 3 hours. He has only lost 2 ounces of his birth weight, which is really good, and hopefully, he'll start to gain some weight and get all of the excess biliruben out of his system!

My baby?

Anna and Tommy were playing in my room one day, and Tommy decided to climb into the cradle and lay down. Anna thought this was hilarious, so she grabbed a pillow for his head and his blanket and proceeded to "tuck him in". But she didn't think that was enough, she felt that he needed some "milk" and found one of her play bottles to "feed" Tommy.

Before and After

I needed a new dresser for Tommy's room because he would be sharing with the baby, and his old one was super small. Mom found this "lovely" piece at a garage sale for only $10.

I sanded, painted, and replaced most of the drawer pulls, and this is the final result! What do you think?

First Day of School

Ahhh...it's that time again! The first day of school! This was much different than last year because I have 2 in school now! Tommy only goes from 8-10:30, but it's still school. He thinks his backpack is SO cool, as you can see in the picture below. He had a great day today in his PPCD class. I wish I could have come in, but to make the transition easy, his teacher met me at the curb and took him straight to class. She said that it took a little while for him to warm up to everyone, but as soon as he did, he performed wonderfully! When I picked him up, he ran to the car with a huge smile on his face and actually talked all the way home! I couldn't understand half of what he said, but it's a big step! I'm not sure if he knew exactly what was going to happen this morning, but he's a trooper and did great! Tommy's school is only about 8 minutes away, and is surrounded by $500,000+ homes on 2 sides, and on the third side are million dollar, absolutely amazing custom homes. It makes for a nice drive!


Anna is now in first grade and she gets her own locker! She's been SO excited about school starting! She's been counting down the weeks, then days until the first day of school. Both kids went to bed on time last night, so they woke up on their own, and fairly happy, and both actually ate breakfast. It wasn't until after we dropped off Tommy and were driving to Anna's school that she admitted that she was a little scared. There are no kids in her first grade class that were in her kindergarden class, so it's a little intimidating for her. I walked her in and helped her put away her stuff, and gave her lots of hugs and kisses! I know she'll do great today!

"Pool Party"

Tonight was a Primary Pool Party that Anna was super excited about, but it started pouring rain soon after we got in the car to go . Anna was really disappointed, but I promised her a "pool party" when we got home in my big bathtub. Tommy, of course, couldn't resist, and the kids had a great time! I love the picture of Tommy. If you look closely, you can see the bubbles in mid-splash!

Quick Baby Update

This is baby #3 for me, so this should all be routine, but I don't think it ever will be! Baby is looking healthy and strong, and is in the right position. He just refuses to drop. Ick. I am dialated to a one and 50% effaced. I only have 2 weeks to go!

WOW.

Yep. That just about sums it up. Wow. I found Nathan Fowkes' blog today and it is FILLED with his artwork, and it is AMAZING! You guys need to check it out! I am happy to say that I'm his cousin!
http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.com

Movie Review - "Shrek the Third"

Today Anna and I went to see Shrek the Third at the dollar movies. Anna had never been to the movies before, so it was an interesting adventure. This latest installment of Shrek is definitely not as good as the first two. In fact, Anna had a lot of trouble sitting still through some parts because they were a little slow and boring. It wasn't near as funny, and I found myself outright laughing only a couple of times. The plot is not that great, and some parts were stretched thin, and others not developed enough. For what it is, though, Anna and I gave it two thumbs up. It entertained us, made us laugh, and it had babies in it (we're all about babies at my house right now). This is definitely one to rent, but keep your expectations fairly low, and you'll probably enjoy it!

We're putting it to a vote...

Danny and I can't agree on a name for this baby, which will be born on August 31 (I go to the hospital on the 30th at 5pm to start some drugs, and the next morning I'll be started on pitocin), so we're putting it to a family vote. Now, just because the name wins, doesn't exactly mean that's what we'll name him, but we'd like to know what you think. Just let us know which one you like better, and why, in the comments section.

Name 1: Henry

Name 2: Eduard