Speaking of...

My son is saying new things daily.  Sometimes it catches me off guard lol.

I'm going to put a few of the things he has told me in the last week so I don't forget.

I came out of the bedroom one day last week and he was in his high chair.  He pointed to the kitchen and said "get in there and cook".  (he's two and already being a "man")

Daily I now get "i lud you" and it melts my heart and makes my day.

He'll be playing and tell me "mommy hug"  :)

Today his daddy "tooted" to put it nicely... Aiden came running to me and said "he farded ...baaad" and hid his nose in his shirt.

If you burp, sneeze or cough he asks "you aw right?"  you'll tell him "i'm ok" he say "k".   If you ask him if he's alright (after he trips or something) he'll say "I fine".

He is getting so big so fast.

He can now pretty much tell you what he wants to eat.  I say pretty much because most everything is called a cookie.  If he likes it, it's a cookie.  Pretzels, chips, cookies, crackers are all "cookies".  Chocolate milk is "chaulky".  

At night I have started what some might consider a bad habit.  I rock him to sleep.  I love this time of night and when he starts to get tired he say "mommy i wannna wok"  

He likes a few different types of cereal but all are called "searie".

He name most animals in his animal book and tell you the sounds they make.  One cute thing though is chickens are not called chickens.  They are "bawk bawk".   He he wants chicken nuggets he asks for "bawk bawk".  

If we are out and about and he sees the golden arches we immediately hear "fry?"....even if he has just eaten it seems he needs a fry.

I'll admit, my son is a handful.  He is always busy and some days it seems I get him out of one thing and he is into another before I can even think but the joy and smiles he brings sure out weigh the challenges.

12 Days till College

I was thinking of the 12 days of Christmas song when I realized I only have 12 days left until I start classes again.  The last time I started classes, two years ago, I wasn’t at all nervous.  Now, I am a wee bit worried. 
Instead of going for the generic ‘business administration’ degree I had started to pursue I am going to school for a degree in Health Information Technology and Management.  I will learn a ton of stuff all medical related and that is what scares me.  All those medical terms flying at me. 
I also found out that I have to take two more college math classes even though they are not towards my degree.  They are required if you are on financial aid.  So, government, thanks for that.  I have to take EXTRA classes that you have to pay for… make a WHOOOOOLLLLLEEEE lotta sense. 
I am also nervous because, of all the time to have issues, my van is having issues now.  We have two vehicles we have to have fixed by the 23rd and zilch in the form of money to fix them. --- Deep breath. 
I have been taking many deep breaths the last week.  I keep reciting my husband’s favorite mantra “it’ll be a’ight'”  (ya, he’s a little bit southern).
I think I have finally gotten my schedule set up fairly well.  I will only need a sitter two days a week and that will be for only about an hour and a half until hubby gets home from work.  If they let him switch to hourly I will only need a sitter 1 day a week.  Next semester, if my wonderful, lovely, beautiful, caring daughter (yup..I know she’s reading this and that kind of thing works on us parents so I’m going to try it) is not working maybe I will be able to pile all my classes into one long day and she can babysit her brother since she doesn’t live far from the college.  I had thought I might be able to do that this semester since my husband doesn’t work Friday’s and the school offers Saturday classes but the program I am going for offers NO classes on Fridays OR Saturdays!  (I do have one Saturday class and it’s algebra…yikes.  I knew better than to think I could teach myself that stuff!)
So, for the next 12 days I am going to be doing things around here to try and get my house and my mind in study mode.  I have set up an area for Emily and I to study.  Here are some pics.  Generally Emily’s laptop is at the other end of the table but she is visiting her dad for a few days. 


(yes, I’m addicted to lamps.  I like a lot of light)


This area in our house in the realtors mind is a “dining room”.  Uh no… there is just too much carpet under my feet for that to be an area for dining.  We eat in the breakfast area on our other table.  This has become our ‘study’.  It will work wonderful for me as I can be out here studying and keeping an eye on my wonderful son who can climb anywhere now.
Other goals:

• Have my menu plan and shopping lists ready for the next month.
• Have laundry done and put up.  A load a day keeps mount washmore away.
• Take out all Aiden’s clothes and sort and put back in by outfits (this is for daddy’s benefit) – I need to do this anyways, the child has grown 1 3/4 inches in a month!!
• Get a daily schedule figured out.

I’m sure there will be more I need to get done before then but those are the main ones.

Shhhh….

 

Finally, my lil guy is sleeping.  After his big brother and his girlfriend left at 2:45 he laid right down and went to sleep.

If my mother were down here (she lives in New York state) she would be shaking her head and tsk tsking me and under her breath be muttering “that boy ain’t gonna sleep tonight”.

Just the thought of that makes me chuckle.

I’m so glad he is getting much needed rest.  He was up at five this a.m. and pretty much miserable until around noon.  Then he took a quick nap and got up and ate.

Check out this handsome blue-eyed boy that visited me the other day:

That is my grandson Jax for those of you that haven’t “met” him yet. 

Emily is off to her dad’s for a few days.  I think it’s the first time in years, at least it seems like it.  She is going to go to the beach and relax a bit before the craziness of her senior year starts.

It’s hard not to think of her as my baby because she has been my ‘baby’ for so long.  I still catch myself saying “my baby is going to be a senior” but with Aiden’s arrival I have a few years before that happens.  (unless, of couse, he turns out to be some brilliant child prodigy and graduates at 10 years old)

Sorry, no clever title today…

 

My lil guy isn’t feeling all that great.  He has his first ear infection.  We caught it early but that hasn’t really helped him feel better yet.  His temp is still up and he just feels yucky.  He is loving being held and cuddled to help him feel better and even though I did nothing yesterday other than take him to the doc and hold and cuddle him it was a good day.

When daddy got home he got some cuddle time with him too.  If I had something I had to do during the day his bubba or sissy cuddled with him. 

I have to admit I love all the extra snuggles from my very busy little boy but I truly can’t wait until I get this back:

Busy Boy VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Semi-busy day...

Well, I accomplished a few things today but now all I set out to accomplish. 

Apparently Aiden is teething and was just having a ‘Mommy hold me’ kind of day.  Sometimes I start to get frustrated when he is like that…then, I take a deep breath and realize that my other kids are all older and way past that stage. (they are in their late teens/early 20’s) So, I put whatever I was working on off to one side and hold my baby.

So, laundry did not get finished.  I got my small book case moved and the books around.  Got the floor vacuumed and dinner cooked.  Did manage a trip to $ general and dropped Em and work and picked her back up.  So, it wasn’t TOOOO bad.

I almost got our study table cleaned totally off.  I will try to finish that first thing in the a.m. if Aiden is still asleep when I get up.

My son showing his “Driver” temper. 

Firsts

Since my son was born almost 14 months ago (yikes!).  We have been through many firsts.  Rolling over, walking, first tooth.

This past Friday he had two firsts in one day.  His first Happy Meal @ McDonalds and his first hair cut.

 

First Happy Meal VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Then it was onto the hair cut.  At first I was a bit upset that they charged $11 to trim up my son’s hair.  But after wards I tipped her pretty good because sitting still was not on his agenda for the day!

First Haircut VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

 

As you can see the woman had to have major patience to deal with my very busy son!  Now he looks all grown up.  I did pretty good.  I didn’t cry.  I get points for that right?

With an Uncle Like Sam…..

Well, I have spent the last couple of weeks redoing my blog.  Tweaking themes and moving things around.  It’s still a work in progress and the process is slower than I had wanted as my little helper has learned to walk and is into everything!

Today I opened my mailbox to find a thick envelope from the IRS.  Just seeing IRS on the return address of something in your mailbox is enough to give you a minor heart attack.  What was in the envelope didn’t give me a major heart attack but did confuse us majorly.  They are saying our 2008 return was incorrect because we failed to report $900 of income.  Immediately I began thinking that maybe one of our companies made a mistake on one of our W-2’s because we have claimed what was on those.  It stated for further details see page 7.  On page 7 I got more confused.  I stated that a debt had been forgiven (for my husband) from a bank that we do not deal with.  (we have been together 10 years and never dealt with them).  

I called hubby at work to ask if he had an account there previously.  He said no.  Awhile later he called and said that he had an account there way back in the 70’s but nothing since then.  If he had owed them money they should have been sending bills?  Shouldn’t something have been on his credit report about the debt?   So, tomorrow we will be calling them to find out what in the world is going on.

A friend on facebook stated tonight that he is in the middle of an audit and that the IRS has far too much power.  I am beginning to think so too… I was surprised that this letter came direct to my home.  My NEW home… the one we have been in not quite two months…. I haven’t even filed a tax return with this new address on it and THEY KNOW WHERE I LIVE! 

Other updates from the last couple of weeks:

We have saw some more neighbors:   there was a large black bear at the school bus stop one morning and the next day we saw a good sized bobcat one road over.  Not too sure that I care for these neighbors.

Hell… errr… ok… summer seems to have arrived in FL.  We have figured out quite quickly that there seems to be an issue with the air ducts to the master bedroom.  Our bedroom is closest to the air handler and closest to the air conditioner and should therefore be the coolest room in the house… it is not.   So, the land lord is working on getting someone out here to check it out so our electric bill isn’t too bad.  (I know it will be bad.  We are in FL after all)

I will try and blog more regularly now… and my goal is to get all of my kids in the photostream at the top of my blog.

Tomorrow’s post… my rant on the Pampers issue.

Riding with teens

Even though I have a 26, 21, 20, 18 and 16 year old and three have driver's licenses today is the first day I rode with one of them that has a restricted (aka learner's permit). My son bought a 1971 Ford Torino 500 a couple months ago. He will get his license next week. He has been hounding me to ride in the car that he absolutely LOVES. Tonight I took the plunge. It wasn't TOO bad. I only squeaked one time when he got a bit close to the edge of the road... ok... so I kinda shouted "Lewis! Get OVER!". I lived. I don't think I got any more gray hair. Next week I might even ride with my daughter... slow... in the driveway.... on Sunday....

Lew's Car:




Lew is very proud of his car. He worked for and earned every cent that bought "her". He is working on slowly restoring her. He spent ALL day Friday sanding and priming about 1/3 of the hood so eventually "she" can have a nice new paint job.

After riding in his "baby" I have found it is a tank. My husband had told me not to worry about him but to worry about what he hit if he was ever in an accident. Now I know why. It took me not one, not two but THREE tries to push the heavy door shut!

I liked it so much better when the emblem on his car said "Little Tykes" Those days are gone.

Life as a new “old” mom

So, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade.  When life throws you a baby at 40 you get back into the swing of changing diapers and breastfeeding!

I think I am almost there.  I have learned many things have changed since having my other children 17 years ago.  With my oldest I was told she was to be put to bed on her tummy only…no exceptions.  With the next two I was to put them on their sides with blankets on front and back to keep them there…no exceptions. With Aiden he is to sleep on his back “no exceptions”.  Hello… does this make sense…. once they learn to roll they end up where ever they want anyways and there is nothing I can do about it. (am I supposed to tie him down?  maybe I should have asked the doctor that?)

I have also discovered they get WAY too many shots these days.  They wanted to give him five.  I stopped them at four and an oral one.  I should have only let them do one.  Next time I think I will.  He was fussy for four days.  No fever just fussy… and since he have five vaccinations how do I know which one he was reacting to?  Doctor’s go to school for years in order to loose all common sense.

Wow, this post is turning into a rant…huh?

I was also told that my son is “short”.  Well hello… his parents are NOT andre the giant… you expected something different?  Again… loss of all common sense. 

My youngest daughter, Emily, who is 17 was given a horse.  Ironically the horses’ name is “free”.  Why that is her name is beyond me.  She will more than likely change it.  I suggested Avalon.  I think it’s pretty as the horse is pretty.

She is keeping the horse up the road at some friends’ house and is paying for the horse feed and hay.  So far she isn’t whining about that but I am waiting…

As my lil man grows

I had my first child at the age of 19.  I had married at 18 and wanted to start my family young.  I did that.  By the time I was 24 I had all of my children and was a stressed mom of three.  I couldn't wait to see each new thing each child did, each new milestone they reached.  A new grade, a new friend, a new talent.

My youngest child was born a month after I hit the big 4 - 0.  I am savoring every single second.  I know he will have all the firsts and has had some already.  He has already had the first smile.  He has rolled over for the first time.  With him though, I find myself not rushing to the next first but enjoying every second of each day with him.

Last week he was all content in his swing.  Smiling and happy to be watching the bright colored animals on the mobile above circle around him.  I watched him for awhile and got up and turned off the swing and went to pick him up.  My husband, who believes I shall spoil him and create a condition he refers to as "lap colic", said "what are you doing?  he is perfectly happy in there."  To which I replied:  "I am picking him up and holding him.  I am cuddling him because next week he will be 17 and won't let me do this."

You see, I know now how quickly the years pass.  I know that one day I put my daughter on the school bus to kindergarten then followed the bus to school to make sure she was safe and a week later I was setting in the bleachers at her graduation wondering "how in the world did this happen so quickly?"

Enjoy every single second of each day with your loved ones.

One Tired Mama

Unlike the song by Trace Atkins I am not "one hot mama" (well in the sense of literal heat... I am b/c it's hell season here in FL) but I am truly "one tired mama". Aiden sleeps through the night which should be great, except his idea of bed time is sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. Once he is down he stays asleep till around 8 usually.

I am not quite back up to my normal self and am still anemic. That adds to my exhaustion. I can not wait until Aiden and I figure out some kind of rhythm and get some kind of schedule down that works for both of us.

Breast feeding is going well. It was off to a rough start the first couple of days but once he got the hang of it he does great. I am now remembering how time consuming breast feeding is. ALL feedings are up to me and it forces a new mom to slow down, relax and enjoy the baby. This is a good thing. My husband, whose two children from his first marriage were not breast fed did as me a curious question last night. He asked "so, how long does one do this?" I told him it depends on the mom some do it for a couple years, some for a year, some for a few months. He said "well, how long do YOU do this?" I told him it was different with all three of my kids b/c they were all different. With the first it was about six months. With Lew it was only about three b/c I couldn't keep up with his demand and with Emma it was only about three months because with two other toddlers in the house setting to feed her was near impossible. I asked him why he asked that question and he said "just wondering is all" make me wonder WHY he is wondering. If maybe he is having some jealousy of the bond formed between mom and and breast feeding baby.... maybe I'll incorporate a nightly bottle feeding that can be all his...