Johnson's Baby Wash

I've decided that my son needs to be the new face of Johnson's baby wash.

I know you all agree.

Randon Photos

Day at the Beach

First of all, my blog has went nuts.  I was trying to redesign and now it won't let me get creative at all... a little frustrating.  So for now, white is what you get, hopefully it won't distract you from the wonderful words that I spread over it. 

We took Ryder to the beach today.  The weather has been amazing, hot, but so nice to have the sunshine and heat.  He's never been to the beach, and with poor planning, it turned out that we got there right at nap time.  He was cranky, and the water was cold yet, so there was no getting that little man to play in it.  Poor beach choice made for no sand (bad momma) for him to play in.

It's been years since I have had any sort of female companionship.  I've spent most of my relationship with Shane right by his side 24/7.  In other relationships that could be a bad thing, but it has always worked for us.  He is my best friend, my husband, and the father of my children.  Now though, with him gone a lot, it is so nice to have a female around. 

Ryder started saying Momma.  I'm so thrilled.  It seems like I've waited forever to hear that come out of his mouth.  Although, now that's all he says, I still love it.  He has also started kissing with a pucker.  Both of those things are on the list of "behinds" that he has. 

I got the paperwork back from the Early On program today.  It explains specifics on where he is behind and what percentage behind he is in that area.  It's as long as a book.  I have to find a minute (like right now) to sit down and read it. 

Wyatt boy has decided that he will no longer sleep on his back.  Which might be a good thing considering he has this nice little cone head thing going.  He will just lie there and scream and scream though because he wants to be on his stomach, but he can't eat on his stomach, but he refuses to be on his back.  It's a giant circle where no one wins until he screams himself too tired to care anymore.  And by then, we are both tired. 

He's getting so big.  Starting to laugh, smile at everything, and talk to himself.  He rolls over as soon as you lay him down.  At only three months, he's doing that a month earlier than Ryder did.   

My boys are amazing.

Life Lesson for today:  Schedule around nap time.

I almost lost my little boy tonight.

And although that might sound a bit dramatic, it's the exact thing that keeps scrolling through my brain.  Like one of those LED signs in the party store windows that you read and re-read even though its scrolling the same message over and over.

Trevor is over this weekend.  Ryder is especially cranky due to 5 teeth coming in at once and I am a bit edgy due to being female.  I sent Trevor into his room with Ryder with the instructions to 'play with your brother'. 

There was a loud crash in Trevor's room and my heart jumped.  I was up out of my seat and into his room quicker than I've ever moved.  Shane was right behind me. 

When we got in there, the desk that was holding Trevor's television had fallen on top of Ryder, and the television dangled inches over his head, being held only by the top of the desk, and the edge of the end of Trevor's bed. 

I yelled to Shane 'grab it grab it!'.  He immediatly had hold of both the desk and the television while I yanked Ryder out of harms way as quickly as my body allowed. 

I've never been so scared.  Even now, a half hour after, I'm shaking like I have a caffene overdose and fighting the tears that want to pour onto my cheeks.  My little man is running around, cranky, but alive, and playing. 

I've never thanked God more.

This is what happens when dada doesnt watch his drink close enough!  Ryder puts his toys in it.

Cupcake therapy

The poor boy has got 5 teeth cutting through.  I thought a messy cupcake might ease both of our minds.

Multi-Tasker

Wife... Mother...Business Woman... Home Maker... Extreme Couponer.

Wife.
My husband... he is the best man I've ever met.  He has spent out entire marriage saying the right things, surprising me at the right times, and making me feel needed.  I watched as he came into the role of father, and was amazed at how natural and wonderfully he does it.  And although sometimes I feel like Ryder has traded me in for his 'dada', I rejoice in knowing that my wonderful husband loves God, and he loves me and our children.

Mother.
The form of sacrifices a person makes varies greatly when you add the role of mother.  Whether it's missing a few hours, or even a whole night of sleep... or removing your last article of warm clothing to wrap around the arms of your freezing child. And although last night I was the mother that was missing sleep, I am blessed to not have to worry about the bigger things. 

Ryder missed his last nap yesterday because I had errands to run, but he still went 'goodnight' at the routine time.  As soon as my head hit the pillow last night, Shane was in waking me up to let me know he was crying.  I actually think he was checking to see if I was still alive, because usually I'm up and sitting on the couch as soon as Ryder cries at night to see if he will go back to sleep. 

I got him, sat down to hold him, and then he saw 'dada'.  Off my lap he went, screaming, tears down his cheeks, and ran over to Shane's lap and climbed up, snuggling in. 

Traded in again.

So, after an hour of sitting there watching Ryder fuss, and trying everything I could to help, I dragged myself back to bed by orders of my amazing husband.  I'm sure he felt bad watching me practically put glue on my eyelids to keep them open. 

An hour later, Ryder was up again... and then again and again.  I even went to the lengths of putting 'big boy underwear' on him thinking that maybe the diaper was irritating the mild case of diaper rash he had. 

He woke up at 6 this morning, screaming again.  I dragged (literally) both my pillow and a blanket from our bed, onto the couch, and Ryder and I snuggled in, both of us dozing in between his cries.  Then I felt it.  He had gas, terrible gas.  Every time he would pass some, he cried.  The poor boy!  Being that I wasn't holding him at all last night, I didn't know.  Out came the gas drops, we've cut out all of the foods that would make him more gassy, and now I have my happy crazy hyperactive monster little boy back.

And now I need a nap.

Business Woman.
We finally have our court date.  Not that I'm really thrilled about that, but at least it's a step toward the finish line.  I'm not the kind of person to enjoy talking negative about other people, but this woman makes me want to pull my hair out strand by strand.  We wrote a long response to the court summoning we received explaining all of the crazy lies she told us, hopefully that helps.  My biggest fear at this point, keeping everyone calm in the court room as we listen to all of the lies she will attempt to tell the Judge about us.

Prayers please.

Home Maker.
The words 'Mother' and 'Multi-tasker' should be under the same definition in the dictionary. (Even now I am making a grilled cheese sandwich while writing this blog.)  Before I was a mother, the things that weren't done around my house was due to pure laziness.  Now, last night's dinner dishes piled in the sink, the multiple loads of clean laundry unfolded in the bedroom, and the toys all over the floor (including Ryder's Goldfish snack from last night that is ground into the carpet) is not because of laziness, it's purely because I haven't found the time or the energy yet today to handle them. 

I'm a firm believer that in that first few months of motherhood, not only does a woman learn how to be a mother, but she also learns how to be a magician.

It does not help that during my morning Faithful Workouts routine two days ago, I moved the wrong way and injured my back again.  In my strange body, injuring my back makes my knee hurt instead of my back, so I can barely put weight on my right leg.  And still, by the end of the day, I am determined to have those dishes and laundry done. 

I might skip the toys on the floor though, after all, they will just be there again tomorrow!

Extreme Couponer.
Now to my favorite part.  After much research, I tried out my couponing skills yesterday.  I had a handful of coupons for my husband's favorite deoderant and body wash.  A product that I've spent quite a bit of money on for him.  Let me break it down for you.  I am so excited.

My husband uses Gillette Gel Deoderant and Gillette Hydrating Body Wash.  Coupons in hand, I called 4 different stores to get current prices on that product. (It's not so easy to drive to each of them with two boys just for the price of two items, and not all the websites list prices.) 

Average Retail Price (the price I normally pay): $4.24

Shopping around, I found them both on sale for: $3.50.

I had 4 BOGO coupons for the deorderant. That means 8 gel deoderants for: $1.75 each.

I had 5 $2/1 coupons for body wash.  That means I got 5 hydating body washes for: $1.50 each.

My total price was $21.50 plus tax.

That's $33.62 off the price I normally pay, and $24.00 off the sale price.

And that was on items that I would normally purchase anyway.  I saved the amount of money that was spent the same day for Shane to buy me a new printer for my computer so that I can really go coupon crazy.

I feel like I won the lottery.  This is my first week doing this, so next week I will get double the amount of coupon ads in hope that I will run into another deal like this or better and save even more money.  I also managed to save a dollar each off of two Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails, and two Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear Nail Color, thanks to coupon doubling.  Just a little extra treat for me... kind of like the cherry on to of that cold yummy ice cream with chocolate sauce.  (You know, the one my diet doesn't allow me to have.)

 

Life Lesson for today:  None... but will somebody remind me to take the trash out?

Couponing, BBQ Sauce, and Reusable Disposable Diapers

ob·ses·sion [uhb-sesh-uhn]
–noun

1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.

2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.

3. the state of being obsessed.

 

It's official.  I'm obsessed.  I woke up this morning thinking about coupons.  While Ryder was eating his toast and banana and Wyatt was snoozing in his swing, I was... (get ready for it)... searching online for the next deal I could find. 

 

I have a binder full of multiple coupons that have been printed, snipped, or found.  I'm already planning out where I can store my stockpile.  (the garage won't work, too many spiders. Trevor's closet has more than enough room!)

 

 

I was doing my morning workout routine this morning.  I love following the Faithful Workouts ladies.  The routine is just perfect for me, they are inspiring, and the possitive christian music is amazing. 

 

I only have one lb weights and decided I needed a little more today, so I brought out the bbq sauce bottles.  Creative, right?  I had put one down on the floor for Ryder to play with while I did a squat lift move.  Suddenly hes standing at my feet, throws the bbq sauce bottle at my toe (bullseye!), and stands there looking at me.  I yelled (because I wasn't expecting my toe to start throbing with pain mid-squat), and started hopping around holding my foot. 

 

He started screaming.  So now I'm hopping around, hold a screaming boy, and missing the last half of my workout video.  What fun it is to have such an active little boy.

 

Karen, from Early On, came yesterday.  She brought another woman, named Katie.  They sat down on the floor with Ryder and played little puzzles and games, while Katie asked us questions about things that he has done or has not done.  Ryder passed the games with flying colors, even doing a puzzle that was out of his age range.  He stacked blockes, and put a pebble in a little bottle opening.  He did things I didn't know he could do!

 

She said that he is at the top levels of all of his gross and fine motor skills.  He does those things more advanced than a lot of children his age.  She also said that his speach is very behind.  The level for speach therapy is 45.  He rated a 50.

 

She told us that he is very smart and by the end of the summer he will probably develop those skills on his own and be right on track.  We are having her come to the house every month to monitor his advancements, and she is coming to teach me some games and things that will help him.  If he is still behind by the end of the summer, a speach therapy class will be available to us if we choose.

 

We have already started, by her recommendations, identifying items in books.  He does that with no problem, but the words aren't there yet.

 

So basically, my son is a genius, he just can't talk.

 

Ryder is so good at helping with laundry.  He helps put the clothes in the basket from the dryer, he helps put the wash into the drying, he helps close the doors, and he pushes the buttons.  (thank you samsung for child locks after we are done "helping").  Well, he is SO good at helping that sometimes... he over-helps.

I found that in the washer yesterday.  I'm really hoping that it was clean, but if not, it was after I pulled it out.  Clean and soaked through with water.  What a good boy. 

 

Life lesson for today: I suppose if I run out of clean diapers, I could always wash and reuse.

Ryder's first pool

Day at the Park

Ryder is 17 months.  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was bottle feeding him wondering when he would crawl?  I think I skipped a few months somewhere in there.  Where did it all go? 

Now we are deciding whether to eat last nights leftovers or a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, cleaning up spilt milk (because its more fun to pour it out than to drink it), and working on words like "poopoo", "cup", "hello", and "baby".  And wasn't there a time somewhere in there that I couldn't wait for him to walk?  What was I thinking?  No one ever let me in on the fact that once they walk... they learn to run.  Then you can forget about having a moments peace.

Trevor was over this weekend.  He's such an amazing big brother.  He loves Ryder and plays with him for hours, giving me a moment to maybe get the dishes done, or fold a load of laundry.  I'm feeling like Ryder is learning from Trevor in a way.  He's becoming agressive.  I'm not sure whether it's from playing rough with Trevor, or just another step in his way to boyhood.  Either way, it makes for a busy boy.

The woman from Early on is coming tomorrow for an evaluation.  I had Ryder recomended to her because I felt that maybe he was a little behind with his speach.  She came out and asked a lot of questions and played with him a bit.  She has already told me that she really sees no problems with him, that it should be a quick and easy evaulation.  She said that he is advanced at his ability to figure things out and that sometimes when children are more advanced at one thing, that their speach can be a little bit behind.  We shall know more tomorrow. 

This sickness, whatever it may be, has made its way around our family.  Starting with Shane, he was in the emergency room two weeks ago from it.  They treated him for pneumonia.  Then Ryder and Wyatt got it, and now, I have it.  God granded me with the gift of having it last at least.  I'm thankful I was able to care for them while I was still healthy, but now with Shane back to work there is no one to care for me.  What I wouldn't give for a nanny, a housekeeper, a bottle of cold medicine (the sleepy kind), and a nice looooooooong nap.

Wyatt will be three months.  We've been comparing pictures of Ryder and Wyatt at three months.  Funny how different they look, but also how much they have in common. 

Wyatt

Ryder

Funny how your brain doesn't work when you're sick.  All of these words in my head that should flow onto this page easily, are stuck, blurred, hidden, and frustrating.  I need a nap.

I'm starting to teach Wyatt how to comfort himself to sleep while he is still young.  Ryder was always in my arms, co-slept, and nursed.  All things that made him a very needy baby, but there is nothing wrong with that.  Having two doesn't leave much time to give Wyatt that kind of attention though.  He sleeps in his bassinett, is formula fed (not by my choice), and is left in his swing to look around and play by himself until he needs something.  It makes me realize that he needs more learning time, but it also helps him be more independant at a faster rate than Ryder did.  I think every parent hopes they aren't making the wrong decision for their child. 

We attempted a garage sale this weekend.  It rained all weekend.  We made $50.00.  Not terrible, but that still leaves four tables full of items that I don't need sitting in my garage.  Salvation army here we come. 

Extreme couponing has inspired me.  What mother doesn't want to save as much money as possible and stockpile necessities?  I've been researching like crazy trying to make it all work.  I've got it figured out, but if any of you have seen the show... none of those mothers have two babies under two to take care of on top of cutting coupons and hunting down deals.  We shall see if I can make it work. 

We took Ryder to the park two weeks ago when it was nice out.  I took some beautiful pictures of him.  I will post those later.  He loved every minute because it was a new experience.  He also wore momma out from chasing him around.  The slide was his favorite.   I put him at the top and he giggled all the way down, and then attempted to climb back up the shiny slippery surface all by himself. 

What happened to my baby?

My road to organic isn't worked as well as I had hoped.  I'll post about that later as well.

Off to get lunch ready.  Say a prayer for me this time, I need all of them I can get to manage these two monkeys, while being sick!

You Ate WHAT?

I heard some things today that really make me double think what I feed my boys. 

• The chemical in acne medicine is the same one used to bleach white bread.
• The cream filling in store bought cakes and cookies is made out of mostly beef lard.
• We each eat around a pound of bug parts in our food each year.
• Salad dressing contains propylene glycol (along with a large list of other products) which is also an ingredient in antifreeze.
• Potato chips contain the chemical acrylamide which is also the product in cigarettes that causes cancer.

Pretty scary, huh?  And that's just a little bit of information!  What else out there is in our food?  What other chemicals are hidden that cause us to get fat, sick, cancer, or... worse?  I've always been one to brush off the warnings, everyone eats this stuff so why can't I?  Not anymore. 

Lets call today, Day One of feeding my family good food to keep them healthy. 

Ryder is still very sick, and wyatt screams every minute hes awake.  It's been quite a day. 

Life lesson for today:  You are what you eat.

Ryder loves Bumble

R sat eating lunch watching Bringing Up Bumble with me.  Obviously loving it!  (Excuse my messy kitchen!  I didn't clean up after breakfast.)

We meet again.

Hello old friend.  It's been awhile.

As I sit typing to you, my little boy lay in his crib screaming.  Now, on any other day at nap time, I lay him down, he gives me a big grin, I turn on his singing dog, and he falls right to sleep.  But not today.  Today he is sick.  The poor little man is miserable.  I'm not exactly sure what I should do.  I know sleep is what he needs, so should I go in there, pick him up and spoil him a little by rocking him and risk missing his nap.  Or do I let him cry?

Silence.

I guess he decided for me.

I miss putting my thoughts into words.  Seems like finding a minute to do anything for myself with two little boys is a miracle.  I am just now finding the courage to venture out into the world by myself with both of them.  If you thought taking one toddler into public was difficult, try a toddler and an infant. 

Baby fat diet is going better.  Thanks to the treadmill my wonderful husband bought me.  It's so nice to run for a purpose that isn't getting R out of trouble.

R is getting so old.  At 16 months, he now understands what you say to him.  I was told by a nurse that by 17 months he should be saying around 5-7 words.  He's his own man though.  Stubborn like his parents.  He reverted back from his few words he was saying, to "duh...duh....duh" at everything. 

When one of my appliances beeps, whether it be my dishwasher, coffee maker, etc. R points to it "duh duh" while looking at me to let me know something's going on with it.  When I do laundry, he is by my side to put the clothes in the basket, close the soap container, and push the buttons.  When W cries, he runs and grabs his bottle and attempts to feed him for me.  More milk ends up in his eyes, ears, and nose rather than in his mouth, but my little man is momma's helper.

I'm so very proud of him. 

W is getting so big.  It seems like he is growing way faster than R did.  But I wasn't running after an active little boy then either. 

So many things are changing in life right now.  It's hard to find a minute when I don't have something to deal with.  The stolen minutes like this one, are actually the ones that I need to use for folding the mountain of clothes that sits on my bed right now screaming at me. 

Some of the things I accomplish in a day are things that I would have thought impossible before becoming a mother.  With Mother's Day around the corner, I have a much larger respect for all women out there that dare to attack the adventure called motherhood.

I think all men should try it for a day.

He has such a cheeseball grin sometimes.  I crack up!  And I LOVE that I can catch it on camera.  He loves the attention.  As soon as he sees a camera pointed his way he breaks out the silly faces.  Squinty eyes and silly grins.

My pirate baby.  I have another picture from the day we came home from the hospital where he's making the same one-eye-open face.

Day after Easter 50% off treat.  Just what he needs!

Helping Momma feed W.  He always climbs up right beside us to help.

This is a hug.  Cuddles we call it.  He gives W kisses too.

This was my "who has time for a shower" photo. 

 Adventures in potty training.  Now thats a whole other story.  I was feeling like R was just about ready to begin.  He's smart enough to disassemble the entire seat, but he can't use it.  That's my boy. 

We ventured outside last week on one of the warmer days.  He LOVES it, every time the door opens he runs that way.  He will now hold my hand and walk beside me out there too, makes life much easier.

R and W making the same face.  This is another one of R's cheeseball faces he makes when the camera comes out.  How happy he makes me.

Life lesson for today:  Don't let your mile long list overwhelm you.