Trick or treat?

Today was supposed to be a Halloween-y day, but it didn't all work out. Preston had his Halloween party at school this afternoon, which I supplied with cookies. Sorry, I didn't take a single picture even though I brought the camera. I had Gracie with me. Plus, one little girl, Alyssa, fell off the table's bench and hit her head on the floor, so I had to run her down to the office to get an ice pack. Non-stop adventure!

The Halloween parade was tonight, but it's been raining since 3:00, and although we all really enjoy the parade, I wasn't about to go stand out in the rain in 50 degree temps just to watch a parade. The kids were mildly disappointed, but I kept reminding them all afternoon that if it rained, we wouldn't go, so they kind of expected it. I'm surprised it wasn't canceled!

We still have trick or treating Saturday, and that afternoon, we have to go to Grandma Shirley's for the big family get-together lunch and trick or treat. I really like that set-up because it gets all the family together, the kids dress up, and it saves us from driving all over to go to each one's house. That, and we get to eat. ;)

Yuck

Early Tuesday morning, Kate woke me up to say that she didn't feel well, and had been up for an hour, unable to fall asleep. I take her temp because she felt warm, and it was 100.3. Nothing alarming, but considering she had a cough, it was note-worthy. She stayed home from school, even though her temp. was warm blanket induced, because she had been up for several hours coughing, not feeling well, and couldn't sleep. She was exhausted! She only got off the couch to eat and use the bathroom! Today she was feeling much better and back to school. Still has the cough, but it hasn't slowed her down. This was her first sick day with no Preston. It was nice. We both just laid around watching tv and reading Nancy Drew aloud (she LOVES ND!).

This afternoon, Candy, our next-door neighbor called with a computer issue and asked if I could come over and help her. I made Christopher come along since he's more computer savvy than I. It was something really simple that literally took 2 seconds to fix. But while we were there, we learned that her house had been broken into back in August (she thought she had told us). Thankfully they know who the culprit was, and he is currently in custody, but her belongings have not been recovered. She is really a sweet lady and I feel really bad for her, especially since she was robbed by someone she knew. It just really makes you feel uneasy to hear these things. Last November Christopher's parents' house was robbed and quite a bit of valuables were taken. Now, our next-door neighbor is robbed. It's scary!

Coat shopping, the sage continues

I can't tell you how frustrating it has been trying to find a new winter coat. Of course, there's nothing in Van, so I've been doing my ordering online, which I've found to be very decieving. I see a nice, wool peacoat to replace my old peacoat. Simple, right? It says it has a polyester lining. Lining is good for keeping warm, right? Apparently not. What I keep getting is nothing more than a light wool jacket, with a lining no thicker than a silk top. Seriously, this is supposed to keep me warm?

Coat number 2 arrived today and it's not working either. It's too light and too big- another problem I have in finding coats, everything is too big for me. Ugh. I think I may run to Effingham tomorrow to look at some coats that Penney's has that I saw online. If they're warm and have the color I want, I'll get it. If not, I'll order the color I want. I'm just sick of ordering something, waiting (and it's getting colder), and then having to pay to ship it back. I really do NOT want to go to Effingham, but I really don't want to drive all the way to Fairview, either.

Dentists, doctors, and rheumatologists

Oh, my!

Kaitlyn had her regular dental exam this afternoon with our new dentist. Everything looked great! No cavities, still, so they took her picture and are putting it in the "No Cavity Club" book that's in their office. Kind of neat. She has this tooth- the tooth that has had Christopher and his mom up in arms since her last exam with our old dentist. It grew in behind the baby tooth, and it's right where the front teeth start to turn toward the back, so there's a cluster of 3 teeth. Her old dentist said there was no issue, and to just leave it until she's ready for orthodontics. Christopher and his mom insisted it HAD to come out, and Dee even gave me names of pediodontists to have it pulled. Well, 2 dentists saw it today, and they both agreed there was no need to pull it until she's ready for orthodontics, which she's not because she still has quite a few baby teeth. Phew! Glad to not have to go have teeth pulled anytime soon!

On to Christopher... Friday he had his semi-annual check-up to make sure that his cancer has not returned. He checked his levels today at work and his AFP is still high. It's always been high- not extremely high, but elevated. It's been like this for about 4 years now, and they've done a full-body CT scan, and nothing shows up. He hasn't heard from his dr. so he really doesn't know too much until he does. While he was there Friday, they did some x-rays of his hands to check for bone erosion from the rheumatoid arthritis that they diagnosed him with last spring. Everything looked good on the x-rays, although they really should have x-rayed his knees as well. He did refer him to a rheumatologist though, because his current regimin of 4 ibuprofin plus 2 extra-strength Tyenol every 4 hours is not controlling his symptoms, and his pain is affecting his everyday activities. He goes Nov. 9, so we'll see what happens then.

Yet another project

It seems like there's always something going on around here construction-wise. Seriously! We just in the last month painted the house and got new windows. Now we're already planning our next project. Wood floors. I LOVE woods floors (real solid wood floors)

If you've been to our house, you know how ugly the pink living room carpet is. It's BAD. When we first bought the house, we were just too busy with gutting the kitchen and main bath, whole house painting, and refinishing the upstairs oak floors to worry about ripping up the carpet and laying wood. Besides, we only had a 3-week time frame to do all of said construction before closing on our old house.

I mentioned to Christopher last week that the carpet was just bad-there's a mystery stain by his chair that just drives me up the wall. Not to mention, who knows what all is in that carpet, and with Preston's allergies, it's really not that safe. So he told me to measure the living and dining rooms and we'd see about it. The rooms are measured, and all we have to do is start planning. Not too easy when we'd have to be without those 2 rooms for a while, and keep the cats out for several days while the stain and polyurethane dries. That's the biggest challenge!

Pumpkin carving

Pumpkin carving is a favorite activity around here. I've loved it since I was a child, and I've passed that on to my kids. Back when I was little, though, you drew your own faces on with a marker, and cut them with a large, sharp knife. Nowadays, you have safety carving kits with special tools, and can download an unimaginable array of templates from the web to make your pumpking look like anything (or anyone) you wish.

I casually mentioned that I remembered seeing Beatles templates online, and that was it, they kids HAD to have a Beatles pumpkin. We searched, but found little. We found one site with each of their faces, and Preston immediately picked George, but the site was down and wouldn't let us download. Kate, quite disappointed, started fake crying, "But I want a Beatles pumpkin. They're cute!" So what do you do when you have 2 children that are totally enamored with the Beatles? You make your own template!
Here is Kate, a.k.a. the pumpkin king (or queen). She carved this, and her other pumpkin (ghost) all by herself with no help. I was completely impressed! She did an awesome job!

And here you have it, The Beatles! The kids LOVED it! I love it! It's kind of hard to tell by the picture, but it has all 4 guys on top and their logo (the got mutilated) underneath. It didn't take nearly as much time as I figured, and wasn't difficult at all. I just with the inside of the pumpkin wasn't so stringy- it really shows up!

Here's all 4 pumpkins. The Beatles, Jack (Nightmare Before Christmas), ghosts, and pumpkin king.

And here are the kids sitting by their pumpkins. The kids spent a lot of time deciding who was the lucky one to claim the Beatles pumpkin. In the end, Preston, who is going to be George for Halloween, won out. Yes, my children are a tad bit obsessed with The Beatles, but I could care less because I love them just as much. I figure, they could be listening to a lot worse- music today isn't even music. I'd like to keep their little ears tuned to the classics as long as possible!

Yucky day

Man, today just stunk. Plain and simple. We've had so much rain in the past 2 weeks, and there's a chance every day all next week, too. I'm just waiting to be washed away.

So I ordered a coat over a week ago from Francesca's Collections. I got a confirmation email, but nothing else. I logged on to check the status since the one email said they'd send a shipment notification. I get there, and there's no record of my order, yet the card had been charged. Hmmmm? I call their customer service, and they had no clue what was going on! After several minutes on hold, the girl came back and said she'd have to call me back once they found out what the issue was. Apparently, my order got "lost in the system" and never went through, although it was billed. So to compensate, they gave me free 2nd day air. Nice, huh? I checked my FedEx tracking- it won't be delivered until Monday...

The rest of the day followed suit- not very good. Hopefully this weekend will be better. Tomorrow is my sister's birthday party which should be fun. Glen's party for Saturday is cancelled because he has the flu. Poor little guy! We've got 4 pumpkins to carve this weekend, so I guess we'll be doing that Saturday instead. Let's pray we're all healthy enough to do it!

Small world

I rarely watch the entire noon news. In fact, I pretty much only watch it for the weather and ignore the rest. Today I was scrapbooking and had it on, and I heard a very familiar name. I looked up and once I heard the voice, knew exactly who it was. It was Dr. Doll-Pollard, the dr. that caught Preston! The one that supported my completely natural, intervention-free birth from the very beginning. It was so neat to see her on tv talking about breast cancer. I've inlcuded a link to the video in case it interests you. I think I'll need to play it for Preston just to show him the dr. that caught him!

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=174730

Two thumbs up!

Our dvd player to our home theater system stopped working today. We just bought it in January after the last one broke, so we were a little disappointed, and were not about to shell out for another that soon. I called Philips because I knew it had to still be under warranty, and thankfully, it still is! They had me try compressed air to see if that would work (which I had to run to town for), but it didn't. When I called back to tell them, the guy said that they had already processed a replacement and that it would arrive in 2 weeks! We were both stunned at their customer service! It's rare to see such great service nowadays! I like to give credit where credit is due, and Philips definitely deserves credit!

MIsspeaks

One of my favorite things about little kids is the cute things they say. My children are no exception! Over the years, I've heard so many- a lot of them are written down so that we'll always remember them.

Kate has always been a talker. At 15 months, she had the vocab. and verbal skills of a 2 year old, and talked quite clearly. Her most famous misspeak occured every morning, and still gets repeated for fun every once in a while. When I'd go get her out of her crib, she'd say, "I want cimmanon toats for brefixed." For a while she also had a hard time saying the sh sound, and could not say church to save her soul! It always came out turch.

Preston, on the other hand, had a lot of speech issues. He was one of those kids that will speak to you, and then the parent has to translate. So he had a lot of misspeaks. Some of my favorites are:

amblience- ambulance.
taste-ez= tastes
brawls- bra
goodtar- guitar
cabities-cavities
Ollie Ollie auction free

Since he got his tubes, all of his speech issues (l, y, k, c, soft r, hard r) have miraculously disappeared, all within a year. His pediatrician swore up and down it wasn't because he couldn't hear, but his hearing test with the audiologist proved her wrong! I miss hearing his sweet dutchy voice. He's so grown up now!

87 absent

Kate came hom from school Monday saying that there were a ton of kids absent, including 2 of her best friends. Not exactly something a mom wants to hear. I know getting sick is inevitable, but still, you really want to avoid it!

Fast forward to this morning. Kate is at the table complaining that she's freezing in her overly dramatic way, and has a headache. My immediate thought, "flu," and went for the thermometer. 98.0 degrees. No temp. No cough, no body aches either, so I gave her some Motrin and sent her to school just knowing I'd be getting a call saying she needed to come home. Not what I had in mind for the day since I planned to go to Fairview to pick up a few necessary items. I just knew they'd call while I was an hour away. I lucked out, and she was fine, and came home from school as healthy as can be, and I made it to Fairview and back with all my stuff. Phew! When I took her to girl scouts tonight, her leader (also a 5th grade teacher) was telling another mom that there were 87 absent today. That's almost one quarter of the entire school.

The kids are getting their FluMist tomorrow afternoon. It probably won't keep them well if that's what's circulating the school now, but it's worth a try. The health dept. is coming Thursday to give FluMist at the schools, but with Preston's history of drug/food allergies, there's no way I'm sending him off to school to get it. That's why we're doing it early. He's never had a flu vaccine before because of his allergies, so I'm a little worried. Plus, I know how he does with nasal sprays- it's not pretty- so I'm not sending him to school to flip out! As for the H1N1, I'm not at all comfortable with that one. I feel that it was rushed through, and clinical trials aren't even finished, so why on earth would I subject my children as guinea pigs, especially one with allergies? Christopher is all for it, but I don't think he sees the big picture. Preston says that a girl in his class had swine flu and was gone for 6 days. He was going purely by what she told him. So when she missed a day this week after coming back, he told me Danielle had swine flu again. I'm sure that if it was confirmed, that the school would notify parents. I guess all we can do is brace ourselves, practice good hygiene, and pray for the best.

The sleepwalker strikes again

Kate has long been a notorious sleeptalker and sleepwalker. On any given night you can hear her conversing in her sleep. Sometimes it's nonsense, sometimes you can carry on a conversation with her. She's also had several sleepwalking episodes as well, and each time, she's absolutely clueless of the event the next morning. One time she tried to get out of the house, and luckily we were sitting in the living room watching tv when she headed for the front door and tried to unlock it. Another time she walked into Preston's room, turned on his light, and when asked what she was doing, she said that she was going to the bathroom. We could not convince her that it was not the bathroom, and finally I just lead back to bed and she was fine. Again, I'm glad we were up or who knows what the result of that incident would have been!

Last night Christopher woke up to find her in our room standing near our bed. I woke up when he asked her what she needed. Her reply, "I'm thirsty and I'm looking for my bowl of water so I can have a drink." Yes, she was looking for a bowl of water! I took her back to bed. I asked her if she remembered getting up last night, and she had no idea that she had even woken up, or said that she was looking for a bowl of water. There's never a dull moment around here!

Talking with Newt Gingrich

I just got a call from Newt Gingrich regarding our socialist dictator's failed attempts at stimulating our economy and his push for big government. I love hearing from people with the same political views! OK. I really did get a call from Mr. Gingrich, but in truth, it was a pre-recorded call. Darn! Boy would he have had some fun talking shop with me! I did get my chance to leave my opinion with a representative afterward, though! At first, I thought maybe it really was him because I've had 2 opportunities to have live over-the-phone town hall meetings with John Shimkus and another state official which were really fun. But alas, it was just a message.

But in all seriousness, our country is headed for a disaster. Big government is NOT the solution! It never has been a solution, and never will. Our country was founded on the principles of democracy- that we have a choice. More governmental control takes more choice away from us. This isn't socialist Europe. This is AMERICA! We all need to step up to the plate and fight for what this country was founded upon. WE need to fight for what is RIGHT (pun not intended, but it shure does fit!). We can't sit by and let our new administration destroy our country and take away our FREEDOM. And if they succeed, that's exactly what we'll lose- our freedom.

This has gone far away from just being a right-wing conspiracy. Now America is realizing that we're not just saying this because we disagree with Obama's viewpoints, but because we're RIGHT! We can't let this go any further. PLEASE, call your senators and respresentatives. Tell them exactly how you feel. They are here to represent US. It's clear that our "president" only has his best interest in mind. Take your issues to the people that can make or break these policies. It's the least you can do.

Back into the swing of things

Tomorrow's Monday again. Hopefully this week will go a little better for me. Columbus Day really threw me for a loop having the kids home- it felt like a Sunday. I spent the entire week mixed up, and even forgot to send Preston's library book to school with him on Thursday. When I found it Friday, I called the school in a panic to see if they'd been to library yet (I didn't want him to not be able to get a book), only to have the secratary inform me that it was Friday. Yeah...

Friday was the band soup supper, which we felt obligated to go to now since Kate is in band. The absolute worst place to take an allergic child since they served peanut butter. We had Preston's food, and made sure he was careful, so we escaped with no incidents. Kate did inform us that this was the last year they will be serving peanut butter in our school system! Finally! That's one last worry I'll have at school for Preston!

Saturday was a pretty quiet day around here. We basically hung out here, rented Monsters vs. Aliens, and not much else. We did go out to visit with Jess and the girls, who are doing really well! Miss Abbie seems to like to be up during the night for several hours, while Issie is the sleeper. They are a week old now, and just as cute as ever!

Today we went to Granny and Pa's for dinner, and a little photo shoot with Preston. I haven't even gotten the pics off the camera yet, and I'm not sure any of them will be keepers. He just wasn't in the mood for a shoot. Now I just need to get to Target Tuesday to pick up the shirt to make their Christmas card photo shirts so that I can start planning for that. It's always the hardest one- trying to get both of them smiling and not fighting long enough to take a picture!

When I'm a grandma

When I'm a grandma, I won't forget...

Search for the perfect coat

I've officially retired my old winter coat. It has some mystery spot on the collar that the dry cleaners are unable to remove, so it had to go. Besides, I'd been wearing it at least as long as Preston has been here (6 years), so it's about time to get another.
I ordered this from Old Navy, and was really excited about it. It came, and I should have known it wasn't going to work when I found it folded up inside our mailbox. It's really cute, and I do like it, but it just won't be warm enough for winter. For cool fall days, yes. Winter, no. It's just a single layer of fabric. So this coat will be on its way back tomorrow.

I just ordered this from Francesca's. I love the orange! I'm really hoping this coat will be a keeper! They have a Francesca's at the Galleria, but I just don't feel like making a trip to St. Louis just to check it out first. That, and I'd spend more money if I went because they have all the stores Fairview doesn't have, that I rarely get to shop. I can't wait for it to come! It's going to be a chilly week- 54 is as high as it's going to get all week! It shouldn't be this cool yet!

The truth behind strep tests.

Friday morning we had Preston at the dr. because he had woken up around midnight with a temp. and was crying that his throat hurt. We figured it was strep because he complained of his tummy hurting as well, and threw up a tiny bit. With as many times Kate had strep before her tonsil came out, we can spot strep from miles away (or so we thought). We waited over an hour in the waiting room, and other than the text I recieved from Jess that they were doing the c-section that day, it was a horrible wait. Kate was just not wanting to be there, and got herself into trouble for not listening. We finally got in and the nurse swabbed his throat for strep, which made Preston gag. When the nurse walked out, Preston says,

Pres: Mom, she choked me! Why did she choke me?
Me: She did that to see if you have strep and need medicine for your throat.
Kate: Don't believe her, Preston! They do that just to make you coke. Then they walk out into the hallway and laugh because they choked you!
Pres: (eyes wide, believing her) Really?
Me: No, Preston, you can ask your dad when we get home and he'll tell you what I told you. Or you could ask Dr. B. when she gets in.
Kate: Don't ask Dr. B. she'll just deny it because they really do do it on purpose!

I sat there shaking my head. She was just in such a bad mood that she was making sure everyone got a piece of it. I wish I could say that the rest of the day went any better (besides my two sweet nieces being born), but it didn't, and both kids were in bed early. By the end of the day, I was really wishing I had asked Granny to watch them so I could go with Christopher while the girls were being born!

Introducing....

My new nieces!

Abigail Dawn (Abbie)
5lbs. 6 oz.
19 in.

Isabela Ann (Issie)
5 lbs. 13 oz.
18 1/2 in.

First off, I apologize for the delay as they were born Friday afternoon, but I haven't touched the computer until now! I also apologize for no pics, but I don't feel right posting pics of Jess' babies. But trust me, they are SWEET! I wasn't able to go over for the birth because I was at the dr. with Preston thinking he had strep, which turned out to be nothing more than his allergies, which have been horrible this season! He's been perfectly fine ever since, so I"m thankful for that!

I did get to go see them Sat. and I rocked Issie for well over an hour. It was pure bliss! I could rock babies all day! They are both doing extremely well for 35 weekers! Both are great nursers, too, which is also amazing for preemies! They are also very obviously not identical- Abbie has a round face, black hair, and looks like Jess. Issie has a long face, lighter hair, and looks like Reid! Jess had a small complication from the surgery, so they weren't able to come home today, but hopefully tomorrow they will be on their way! The kids have been so anxious to meet them because we didn't want to take healthy kids into the hospital! Reid stopped by this afternoon to have me help him get the carseats in, and the kids kept bugging him about the babies coming home. So as soon as they're settled in, I have to take the kids to meet the girls! It's so much fun to have babies in the family again, but poor Preston is still the only boy, and is he outnumbered now!

Titleless

There's nothing like getting on the computer at 8:40 in the morning, and seeing that the "president" has won the Nobel Peace Prize. You all know my viewpoints on Obama (a.k.a. the socialist dictator), so to see this, just floors me. Absolutely floors me. What exactly has he done? Yes, he's talked about peace and trying to promote peace between Afghan leaders/nations, but nothing has been done. NOTHING! Seriously, what were these people thinking?

I'll stop at that. You know that when faced with a strongly political issue, I can go on and on, and trust me, there's much more I'd like to say here, but I won't. It wouldn't be pretty. I'll save that conversation for my dad. At least he'll relate and it won't be one-sided! Truthfully, I don't have the energy this morning for more. Preston was up half the night with what we think is strep. We'll see what the verdict is at 11:10. Poor guy, this was supposed to be a fun weekend!

Notice... I'm too tired to even come up with a title.

What a yucky day

I'm taking a bit of a break here while Gracie naps. She is such a sweet little girl, and an absolute angel! I have so much fun while she's here! If only I could hear her!

Mr. Weatherman was right about today being a complete washout. It has POURED all day. So far the rainguage reads 3 inches, and the day's not over. The backyard is underwater, but that's no surprise. I think my mums are enjoying the rain as I set them out to get a drink. I can't keep outdoor plants alive because I forget to water them, so when it rains, I tend to set the pots out to catch a shower. Sometimes it works and they survive, sometimes it doesn't.

Because of the torrential downpour this morning, I told Preston he'd have to be let off in the drop-off line today. This was his first time not being walked to his classroom, and I was ready for a fight, but he seemed excited, jumped out of the car, gave me a kiss, and ran into school. Yeah! Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that I promised him a special treat after school if he cooperated? ;)

No word on Jess and the babies yet. I asked Kate at breakfast what she thought about the babies possibly being born today, and she said, "Jessie said maybe Friday or Saturday." Ugh! More waiting! I know every day they stay inside, the better off they are, but man, this waiting is getting rough!

Just a lazy day

I have no excuse to offer for our laziness today. It was a gorgeous sunny day, 66 degrees, a perfect day to be spending outdoors doing anything. Christopher was home (he's off Wednesdays) and we just laid around and watched tv. Those of you who know me well, know that I can't just sit and watch tv. I have no patience for sitting, yet I lay in the chair mostly all day. I took a nap there this morning, lying crossways, and it was nice! No, I'm not sick, nor is Christopher, although my ear was bothering me all day- the one with the tube. What gives?

Tomorrow could be an exciting day. For one, we could get 4 inches of rain. According to the weather, it's going to be a complete washout. Nice. I'll have Gracie tomorrow, and I'm praying we don't have any issues with flooding like we did the last time we had 4 inches. Tomorrow just might possibly be the day Jess has the girls! I talked to her yesterday, and asked her if her c-section was scheduled for tomorrow, or if she was just going to go in, and she said she'd probably just go in. Of course, she could decide to just wait a bit more- she's only 35 weeks, but her OB has pretty much given the go-ahead, and the perinatologist says 35 week twins usually go home with the mom. I'm praying that everything goes smoothly and that the girls are healthy, no matter when they come!!!

Shopping fun

Yesterday Kate had a clothing crisis. Yes, we went shopping back in August and thought we had the bases covered. Wrongo! As I was getting her clothes laid out for church, I realized that she had no fall/winter skirts or dresses other than a denim skirt. It was pretty cold, and she didn't have any khakis. Then all she had in the line of shoes (which she HATES), was a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of brown slip-ons that were more casual than dressy. So she ended up going to church in jeans and the brown shoes. Today, though, I went shopping and took care of the clothing crisis. This was my first time going shopping by myself! I've always had Preston tagging along, but with him in school, I was alone! Let me tell you, it was sweet! I got in and out of stores quickly, without whining, horsing around, and without buying candy!

Kate hates shoes with a passion. I can't tell you how many shoes she had last year that were never worn. If they push on her foot in any way, she won't wear them. Last week, the Today Show had a segment on shoes and they said the "it" shoes this season were moccasins. I immediately thought of Kate! I got her a pair today, and for once, she is ecstatic! I have found a pair of shoes that she loves! HALLELUJIA! Now to find some more pairs in different colors!

I had Gymbucks to spend as well, so I got a bunch of stuff for Preston, including his Christmas outfit. How nice to have that out of the way! Gymboree has a rewards program now, that is pretty exciting! When you sign up, you get a bonus 100 points, and then 1 point for every dollar spent. When you get 250 points, you get a $5 coupon. $5 won't even get you a pair of new line socks, but hey, it's $5!

It looks like my new little nieces will be making their debut this week! Jess is 35 weeks now, and he dr. basically said that when she's ready, they'd do the c-section. Jess is shooting for Thursday, and we can't be any more excited! I've already told Christopher that if they're born Thurs., that we're heading to Effingham as soon as he gets home from work. He's not too thrilled about driving an hour from St. Louis, and then driving another half hour to Effingham, but I'm just so excited to meet those babies that I can't wait! Please pray that everything goes smoothly. The girls are still a few weeks early, but Jess had the Betamethozone shots to speed up their lung development when she was in the hospital at 29 weeks, so they should be good to go.

Pumpkins, pumpkins, & more pumpkins!

Today, we headed out to the pumpkin patch at Daniken Tree Farm. There hasn't been a pumpkin patch around here for years. The nearest one is an hour away, so we never went. So when I saw in the paper Thursday that Daniken was having one, I knew we had to go. I'm so glad we did! Along with the pick-your-own pumpkins, they had a hayride and a straw maze that I never thought I'd get my kids out of! They loved it!
Preston enjoyed the hayride so much that he just had to lie down. The hayride was a huge hit, and the kids both really enjoyed it, especially Mr. Tractor Man, Preston!

After walking among 4,000 or so pumpkins (so the guy told us), the kids each found their "perfect pumpkin." With so many pumpkins, this was not an easy task!

And gasp, a rare one! A picture of me! The sweet guy that drove the tractor offered to take our picture, and I couldn't refuse.

Probably my favorite picture of all. As soon as I find time to edit it, it will go in a frame. Preston loved looking through all of the pumpkin, and probably picked up close to 50 before he found one he liked (not the puny one in his hand). At one point he found a rotten one. "Hey! Look at this pumpkin!" SMASH! Down went his foot into the rotten pumpkin, splattering pumpkin guts all over his new boots. YUCK!

Out with the old, in with the new

I just love it when my pictures load in the opposite way in which I intend. Kinda screws up the storyline...
Our new windows are all in! Yes! What a difference they make! The old ones were bad. They were about as energy efficient as a piece of paper and wouldn't open without brute force, which I don't have. These are Lo-E argon filled windows, and an added bonus is that the cross bars are inside the panes and they tilt in! Now, for the first time in 2 years, I can clean windows! They seriously haven't been cleaned since the day after we moved in when Dee braved a ladder and cleaned every window for us while we unpacked.

These windows are also a lot quieter, and for once, I can't blame not being able to hear something outside on my ears! Last night when it was thundering, it was a quiet rumble!

Here's our stack of old windows piled against the tree. So glad to see them gone! I told Christopher to put them out by the road and they'd be gone by Monday, but he won't do it. Any takers out there? Christopher took Wednesday, Thursday, and today off to help his dad with the windows, and it only took them 2 days. They're fast!

Baby, baby

No, I'm not pregnant... But I do have two sisters-in-law that are pregnant, and Jess is going to be having Abby and Izzy within the next 3 weeks! I can NOT be more excited! Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is featuring baby needs on her Show Us Your Life this week. Since I've had 2 babies of my own, I definitely have a list of what was really useful, and what was a waste!

Baby Needs:
1. Sling. I can't say enough about this one! Preston lived in his as he was a very "needy" baby because of his reflux. I was able to get things done yet carry him around. I even wore him the entire day we were at Disney when he was 10 month old (and 22 lbs) in 95 degree heat with no tiring out!

2. Boppy. When nursing a tiny newborn, it's really helpful to just be able to rest them on the Boppy instead of holding them the entire time, especially if they tend to like to nurse for hours on end... Plus, once they're bigger and it's easier to nurse without the Boppy, you can use it to prop them up.

3. Medela Pump In Style. With Kate (who refused to nurse), I pumped round the clock for 9 months. There's absolutely no way I would've been able to do that without a GOOD quality pump. I didn't have much use for it with Preston because he refused to even consider taking a bottle, but whenever engorgement struck, it did the trick!

4. Exersaucer. Preston loved this, and spent a lot of time in it. He was over 1, and still wanted to play in it! Well worth every penny!

5. Crib cheat sheets. These are thick sheets that go over the crib mattress to protect the sheets if they spit up or have a diaper mess. That way, you take off the cheat sheet and throw it in the wash instead of having to take the crib sheet and bumpers off every time. Trust me, it is so much easier!

Baby can do without:
1. Diaper Genie. We had one with Kate and it was worthless. It stunk, and was just a waste. With Preston, we just threw them in the regular trash, and threw poopy ones in the trash can right outside the back door. I'm sure the trash man loved having random diapers tossed in the trash can and not in bags...

2. Baby bath tub. Kate didn't like hers. She used a little mesh recliner-like thing in the tub instead. Preston hated everything to do with bath time, so he took a bath with me every night and nursed because it was the only thing that kept him from screaming bloody murder! (Have you caught on to his neediness yet?)

3. Bouncy seat. Neither kids liked theirs.

4. Shoes. If your kids are like mine with EEE wide feet, you can hardly find shoes that are wide enough. Plus, baby feet are too sweet to cover up!