Happy Halloween!!

Tonight we are taking the boys "trick or treating" around the neighborhood. Robert has to work today, so I am hoping he will be off in time to come with us! Thompson is so excited, he has been saying "I go trick or treating tonight" all morning long.

This morning, I didn't get the best "treat"... I am sure it was definitely on the "trick" side. I heard Brycen wake up and started to cry really hard. I went in there and he had taken off his diaper and lovely POOP was EVERYWHERE!! Not the best thing to wake up to! So he had a long bath and then I got to sanitize his whole crib. Ugh. It was nasty!!

Yesterday, Robert took me out to eat for my birthday. We went to Famous Dave's BBQ, one of my favorites! He didn't make it home from work til almost 1am Saturday morning, so he missed my entire birthday. :( But I am glad we got to spend yesterday together!

Yesterday, Thompson went to a Halloween party at his friend, Kitty's house. They had some cute crafts, some yummy food, and played some games. I forgot my camera, but all of the kids were dressed so cute!

I hope everyone has had a great Halloween weekend! Be safe and don't eat too much candy! ;)

2 posts in 1 day!

I thought I would do an update on Brycen...

We went back to the doctors on Wednesday. She checked his breathing and decided that he was still not breathing right. :( His right side of his body is what is really bad. So for now we have put him on cingulair, zyrtec, and an inhaler when he gets really bad. We are also going to try some prevacid. Sometimes children that have reflux problems (like Brycen) can develop symptoms of asthma. Also, we are hoping with the zyrtec (allergy medicine) it will help too. Asthma can be triggered by allergies, and I bet my life on it that this baby has allergies just like his momma. :(

It breaks my heart. He constantly looks like he doesn't feel well although his spirits are always high! We are also going to be going down to Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego to meet with a pulmonologist to hopefully rule out full blown asthma. We are just waiting on the referral for that.

We go back Monday for another check-up. Please pray that these medicines are helping him.

On a happier note, the boys have been so busy with Halloween events! We went to the library to paint pumpkins one night and then went again for a costume party and storytime! Tonight we went to the Farmer's Market where the kids were able to trick or treat from the different booths. Thompson was Buzz Lightyear and Brycen was a lion one night (T's old costume) and a sock monkey tonight. They were so cute!!!

Buzz shooting his laser :)

Brycen playing with the big kids

Yeah, he insisted on wearing his wings.

My little lion

Love his lashes!

Thompson and his friend, Kitty.

My little sock monkey!!

He has gotten SOOOO big!

Kitty and Thompson

Trick orTreating at the Farmer's Market

I love Buzz!

His new favorite is clapping and saying "YAYYYYY!"

Happy Birthday to Me!

Hmmm... 25

Don't know how I feel about that number.

It feels a world away from 24. So much more distinguished. ha. Maybe because I can say I am a quarter of a century old.

I already have the gray hair. I know the wrinkles are just around the corner. But....

I am so thankful every gray hair and every soon-to-be wrinkle. I know they come from my crazy husband that likes to make me worry. Or from my dare-devil 3 year old that likes to test my nerves. Or the little baby boy that melts my heart and makes me wish on a daily basis that he will stay this sweet forever.

I have missed celebrating with my family for the past 5 birthdays. But they are always so sweet to remember to call and wish me a Happy Birthday. Robert will be working a lot this weekend so I don't even know if we have any plans. Usually, since Halloween is 2 days away, we are busy with stuff for the kids. Which is perfectly fine by me.

One good thing about 25 is that my insurance drops! :) That's when you know you are getting old! ha!

Sick Baby!

Brycen is sick again. I have noticed for the past couple of days he has had a cough and runny nose. We have also been noticing that he has been really wheezy for about a month. We went to the dr today and they did a chest xray along with a breathing treatment. They prescribed him an antibiotic for all of the crud he has. We go back on Wednesday for a check up to see if his breathing was better. The xray showed some inflamation, but thankfully no pneumonia.

I came home and cooked some taco soup and quesadillas. When I make my taco soup, one ingredient that I have to have is corn. Well, I looked and looked and all I had was creamed corn. Hmph. I don't think that will work. So, what's a gal to do??? Get out the frozen mixed veggies and individually pick out corn kernals. Yep, I have to have it that much! ha! But it was good and definitely worth it.

I have been craving some warm desserts lately to go with this crisp fall weather. I saw a friend post on Facebook about making homemade cinnamon applesauce. It sounds sooooo good! Anything apples sounds good. I would gladly sit and eat an apple pie or apple dumplings. You know, the low fat stuff! ha!

One thing funny I have to share that Brycen has been doing lately... He will get in the crawling position but put his head all the way on the ground. Then he crawls around pushing his head everywhere. It reminds me of someone vaccuuming the floor for some reason. It's too funny. But then he usually runs into something and hurts himself. We try and try to tell him not to do it, but he just won't listen. :)

Late night post!

It's after 11pm here and I thought I would do a little post on random thoughts I have been having lately...

• I made the Spinach & Egg Noodle pasta last night and it was sooooo good! Robert asked "You know that sauce?" Me: "You mean the bechamel sauce?" Robert: "Yeah, that. You need to make more of that next time. But other than that, it was really good. You can make that one again." Anytime I get the nod to make something again, then I know I have succeeded! Yes!

• I started watching "The Real Housewivs of Beverly Hills" last week. I am skeptical. First off, these women are OLD! And they look OLD! I thought with all of this money they have, they would have at least looked decent. Ewww... And I usually don't hate on women, but seriously?!? Seriously?!?!

Would you want to look like this??



• I have been reading a few blogs lately and have seen mentioned this "Baby Praise" dvds. I researched them online and found them at the Family Christian Store. I stopped by there tonight and found the gift pack which had 4 dvds on sale for $24.99. Usually they run $10 a piece, so I thought that was a good deal! I also got an additional 10% off from my coupon. Anyways, I popped them in the car and Thompson loved them. They sing praise and worship songs that I grew up singing, so I LOVE them!! And it was so cute to hear Thompson singing with them-- especially when he says "hal-le-lu-la" (hallejuah).

• My house needs some major TLC. I need to mop, vaccuum, and do laundry. Blah. That is how I feel about that.

• Brycen is sick...again. So I have to wake up early to try and get him an appt. for tomorrow. Hoping it's not another ear infection. So far it is just a cough and snotty nose.

• Brycen has taken some steps lately! We are so proud. The other night he walked 5 steps to Robert. He has just done 3 for me. :( Robert says I get him to excited and that I am too loud. Who, me?! Ha!

• I have decided to write a letter to the housing people. Not because I am a dweller or because I hold grudges... (hahahaha!)... but because I feel that they need to be aware of some stuff... and because it will make me feel better! :) I am simply going to state how I do not have an understanding of how they can deny housing when 1) there was housing immediately available and those who were on the list didn't need a house til later on in the year (per Lincoln Military) 2) they are supposed to be there to help us. Causing unneccessary stress is ridiculous, in my opinion. If they don't feel helping us is their goal, maybe they need to re-evaluate their job.

• I went around to some thrift stores the other day to try and find some vintage frames. That turned out to be a bust, but I found this beautiful entertainment center. I was trying to convince Robert how perfect it would be. He and I were arguing over the price and what we thought it would be. (We couldn't find a price) Well I asked a guy who worked there how much it was and he told me that they would take $1700 for it, but it was $2100. Yes, people, that is seventeen HUNDRED. I looked at him like he was nuts. 1) I am not paying $1700 for an entertainment center and I don't care if it was marked down from $2100. 2) We are at a thrift store!! Are you serious?!?! The guy did explain how the people who donated it paid like $6000 for it and didn't want it to go for anything less than that. Suuuurreee....

• Brycen has been sleeping A LOT lately! The other day he slept til 2pm! Yesterday, he slept from 8am til 12:30pm. Crazy! I am going to ask the dr about that tomorrow. I don't know if it is a growth thing or if it's because he is sick... who knows?

• It's almost my birthday! 1 week away!! Robert will be working, I am sure. But... it's still my day. Maybe I can get some time away by myself and go to Barnes and Noble or to Sonic. That would be the best present ever! haha! Just a little peace and quiet. Then, I could come home and spend some time with my boys :)



Happy Friday!! 

I feel like I am on an episode of Suze Orman...

DENIED!

That was the word I got this morning about our housing situation. They broke it down for us that basically we weren't good enough to live in Staff Housing. The. End.

But what I still can't get over is that Corporals and Sergeants live in the SAME housing, just in a 2 bedroom. But still, even though they had open houses they don't want us to take up a house that someone might need.

To say I am upset would be the understatement of the year. I am livid. Yes, I know we have a roof over our head. I am grateful for that. But my gosh! Would it be so hard to help us out?!?!?! We are talking about saving over $300 a month here, not to mention tons of driving time for Robert. And when you live on a military budget and a military schedule, you take anything you can get. It wouldn't be so bad, but he will be there for 3 more years! They graciously offered to put us on the waiting list for the housing we qualify for. You know, the one with the 6 months waiting list.

Nice, huh?

I am over it. I just needed to vent.

Monday Update

My mom called earlier to check to see if we had heard from the housing people. And we hadn't. Then she said "No news is bad news". Huh??? I have always heard it the other way around, "No news is good news". That was actually my moto for the both times that Robert has deployed. There were weeks at a time where I hadn't heard from him. And that is the line that I kept repeating in my head over and over. Funny how a little saying kept me sane.

But like I said, we still haven't heard from the housing office. I called and talked to the same lady that I have been calling everyday for the past 2 weeks. I am sure she will be glad when we find out one way or another so that way I don't have to bug her. ha! But, apparently they had a luncheon for someone retiring and it was Monday... you know, the typical "You aren't important, I could really care less" excuse.

So now I am starting to wonder if no news really is bad news. Hmmm...

Anyways, the nice lady said that they would probably get to it tomorrow.

Who wants to start making bets???

Random Monday Thoughts...

We had a great weekend! We didn't do much, but that was the best part. Robert had duty on Saturday, so I took the kids to the community fall festival. We had a good time. Thompson begged to ride the horses, so I went and stood in line with him. I was holding Brycen because I didn't know if I could fit the double stroller everywhere. Well we stood in line for a good 20 minutes. As soon as it was our turn, Thompson ran away to the playground. Go figure! I was peeved to say the least. We went home after that and the whole walk to the car he kept saying how he wanted to ride the horse! I could have screamed! ;)

Last night we went to eat dinner and visit with Robert's brother and his family. Thompson and Haili (my neice) play so good together. They hardly fight, and if he gets worked up over anything she always says "Thompson calm down. Take a deep breath like this!" while she imitates breathing slowly in and out. She is too funny. Well what wasn't funny was when she came up to Shanna (sister-in-law) and I and said "Thompson cut my hair". I. Could. Have. Died.  Or maybe thrown up. Shanna grabs at her hair and pulls out clumps and clumps of hair. Thank God that that child has some thick curly hair. You could hardly tell that it wasn't even... just in some spots in the back. Oh, that boy was in DEEP trouble. Then later on he took something and whacked her across the face leaving a big black eye. Yep, not the proudest moment of my Mommy life.

We are STILL waiting on the housing decision. I talked to the lady Friday and she was just speaking with the Col. on his decision. He had to do some "research" and said he would get back with us by the end of the business day Monday. He wasn't kidding. It's past 2pm and still haven't heard anything. By the way, I hate waiting if you haven't caught on to that already. We don't even know if a house will be available when (if) we move. Nice. Again, patience is not my strong point.

I will hopefully have an update later today. But as we all have figured out, the military never goes at the speed you would like them too. And if something does move fast, it usually isn't for your benefit. ha!

It's Friday, Y'all!!!

I don't know about y'all, but I am so glad it's FRIDAY! This is the last weekend we get with Robert basically til Christmas. His work is trying to fit in two 28-day cycles before Christmas. So, needless to say he will be working A LOT!

I wish I could say that we would be moving this week, but it doesn't look like that will be happening. We are still waiting on the Col. to make his decision. And, it doesn't look like there will be a house available immediately. I have got some packing boxes ready incase they tell us that they approve it. We will see...

Today I was watching the Rachael Ray Show and they had a recipe on there that looked SO GOOD!! It's a spinach and egg noodle casserole. You can find it here! Also, she had a singer on her show that had the best voice I have heard in a long time! His name is Brendan James and he also plays the piano in his band. Loved it. Watch him play here! and here! Love the last song the best!

I believe we are going to head out to look for some birthday presents. My neice and nephew are both celebrating their birthdays here soon. Jilian is re-doing her room in purple, green, and zebra. I am pretty sure I can work with that. Jude...well he is a typical boy and loves all of the typical boy toys! Thank goodness! Of course we will probably hit up Chick-fil-A while we are out. :) You know me!

Today, October 15th, is National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Day. I know many families that have been affected with the loss of their child or children. Unfortunately. I hate it. I hate that they have to be a part of this day. But I know that everything has it's purpose. Each child was meant to be. Let's remember our friends and family today and say a little prayer for all of the other families suffering from losses. You can read more about this day here.

Happy Friday!!

Almost There!

Well, I called my friend Lori at the Housing Office to see where we were on getting our approval. She said that she just received the papers today and that she would get it into her system and onto the desk of the Colonel today. Then, if I understood right, they all get together and discuss them and make their decision. I believe this will happen tomorrow. I told her to put a good word in for us and asked if she wouldn't mind calling me and letting me know once they decided. Praying that it all works out. If they do say yes, then they will move our application over to Lincoln Military Housing, who is in charge of assigning the homes. Each week they put out a "hot sheet" to let you know how many houses are available in each neighborhood. Last week, there were two available in the neighborhood we are requesting. But the week before that, there were 5. Nervous Nellie here! I hope we get approved and get a house... soon!

Another thing that we have been dealing with poor Brycen! I don't know what has happened but for the past 3 days everytime we try to lay him down for a nap or at night he starts screaming bloody murder. It's bad. Really bad. I have always been the one to say "Let the kid cry it out", but this cry breaks my heart! He is ok if I lay him in the crib and sit in his floor, but if it looks like I am leaving, he breaks down. Today during his nap, he cried and cried til he fell asleep. The poor guy didn't even eat his bottle. I am assuming this is some sort of separtation anxiety. I am just really hoping it goes away fast. The past two nights we have had to let him stay up way past his 9:00 bedtime for the fact that he wouldn't stop screaming. I don't know. So confusing...and depressing. Any suggestions??

Also, if you are a military family, go to this website and register now! You only have til the 15th to do so!

Here are some more pictures from the other day!



Loved this house I spotted on the drive there!

We all had a great time at Rosa's!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we ventured out to our first pumpkin patch as a family! We drove about 30 minutes to Temecula, CA to the Peltzer Farms. I have always heard Temecula referred to as "The Wine Country of the South". It was gorgeous! We usually just drive through or pull over and eat at Rosa's. Yesterday was the first time we really drove through there. Loved it. Tons of vineyards and beautiful homes!

We made it to the pumpkin patch and I was DETERMINED to get some good pictures of the boys. Let me tell you... it was probably the most frustrating time of my life. I thought I would pull my hair out! Thompson could not smile and look at the camera to save his life! Brycen did better. I managed to get a couple (out the 100) that were good. The kids were having a meltdown and I wish we could have done more. They had a petting zoo, corn maze, pony rides, and some other neat things. BUT, we were STARVING!! So we loaded up and went to eat. I am thinking since I got my pictures I wanted, we can bring the kids back again to do the fun stuff.

Here are some of my favorite pictures

Happy 10 Months Brycen!

Oh my goodness! In less than 2 months we will be celebrating your 1st birthday! Wow! It feels like yesterday you came into this world. Hard to believe it was 10 months ago...

Your Stats:

You weigh 20 pounds and are 29.5 inches tall. Still haven't had your 9 month check up (thanks to the wonderful Naval Hospital!).

You wear a size 3 shoe and wear mostly 12 months clothing. Your jeans usually run 12-18 months for length. You are a TALL boy!

You are eating about 4-5, 7-8 ounce bottles a day. You are also eating about 2-4 jars of baby food today. You love the turkey and rice dinners and probably could eat those every night! You also loved smashed bananas and puffs! You have been wanting to try whatever we are eating. Yesterday you got into your brother's biscuit and chocolate gravy. You loved it! :)

You are still sleeping 12 hours at night and take a good, long nap everyday. You sometimes take a morning nap depending on the time you got up. Sometimes it's just easier to lay you and your brother down at the same time for one big nap.

Today you made your first outing to the pumpkin patch. Also this month, you had your Nana, Papa, and Aunt Brittany come visit. They loved on you and spoiled you to say the least!

You are a smart boy! You already know how to get an attitude, throw a fit, and butter us up. You might possibly be Ham #2 in the family.

Brycen, you are my sweet boy and I love you so much!!

Sunday Funday!

Well, it's been more like a slow day. But let's pretend! :)

We all woke up pretty late. I made a nice big breakfast of biscuits and chocolate gravy. (Thompson and I's favorite!) He ate 2 biscuits and had a little bit left over in his bowl. Well wouldn't you know that my chubbs came over and got into it. It was too funny. Robert and I were laughing so hard, we had to get some pictures. Funny thing is that Brycen is ALWAYS trying to get our food. If we are eating, he is sitting right there just smacking his lips. I try and feed him whatever we are eating and he LOVES it!! But we really have to watch him (well Thompson) and make sure that T puts up his food when he is done. If not, Brycen is all over it. We have had to clean up many messes. He is definitely our chubby bubby.

You caught me!

But dad, it's so good!!

Yesterday, we got up and went and ate breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. So good! We ran a few errands came home and watched football. (Hogs won, thank goodness!) Then last night we decided to take the boys to Chuck E. Cheese. We had been promising Thompson for a while, so we decided to go. We ate dinner at Chick-fil-A first though. We had a good time! We got there kinda late, so there weren't that many people. At about 9:30, we noticed that the only people in there were older people. There weren't any little ones besides our kids. It might just be me, but I know that the only people that go to Chuck E. Cheese that late at night were a bunch of CREEPY WEIRDOS!!! So Robert and I decided we better head home.

Me posing with Flat Stanley-- we are helping Jilian, my neice, with her school project!

He was so scared, it was too funny!

Aren't these pjs adorable!?

Today, I slow cooked some awesome ribs! We also had some twiced baked potatoes and green beans. And then I attempted my first ever chocolate pie. I don't even like chocolate pie, but it sounded so good. ha! It looked pretty good if I do say so myself. ;) And it might even make my Granny Lola proud!

Tomorrow we are taking the kids to a pumpkin patch in Temecula. I am hoping (and praying) that we get some good pictures of the boys. Then afterwards, we are going to eat at Rosa's. Oh, it's my favorite!!!

So, how was your weekend???