The Last Day of 2008

Well, today is officially the last day of 2008. It's bittersweet for me. It has been an exceptionally tough year for me, personally. As excited as I was to start this year pregnant, knowing I would be welcoming a new member to our family, my life was changed dramatically. I learned a lot about myself this year.

Grayson's birth really helped to open my eyes about who I was, what my purpose was and most of all, how to love life, no matter what curveballs are thrown your way. Never in a million years would I have told you that one of my children would have to go through a big HUGE ordeal like Grayson did. I knew from day 2 that I had to be strong for him since he didn't know what he was going to deal with in the upcoming weeks of his life. I tried to be tough mommy, super mommy, and love him as much as I could just in case our time together was cut short. I dreaded surgery day. I was a complete mess on the inside, but I held it together for the sake of my children and my husband. I didn't want them to see or smell my fear. I was terrified! What if God needed a new angel and was going to call Grayson up to heaven that day? You never know what might happen. When the doctor told us we could go back and see him, I was relieved beyond anything imaginable. There was my sweet baby boy, laying on the recovery table. So tiny, so fragile, and in so much pain it was unbearable. He looked at me with frightful eyes as if he were asking me to take his pain away....but there was nothing I could do for him. I could see the hurt an confusion in his eyes and as his mother, I could not take it away. All I could do was sing to him. I sang the first song that came to mind...."You are my sunshine...my only sunshine...you make me happy....when skies are grey....you'll never know dear, how much I love you....please don't take my sunshine away" I still tear up when I hear the song and when I write about this day. I sang that song over and over to him that weekend as we spent it together in his hospital room during recovery. I was glad God didn't take my sunshine away.

We've come a long way since that day almost 5 months ago. You can't even tell he's had surgery. You would never know what we've been through together.

During the next few months following his surgery, we have all shared many many illnesses. Kaylee, Brayden, Grayson and I have all had cough, sinus infections, strep, ear infections, bronchitis, etc.... We have bought so much lysol, we should own stock in the company. My medical copays are through the roof to the point where it will probably take our entire tax refund to pay it off. But, I have learned to deal with it and RELAX! Yes, Tiffany.....the queen of the Type A personality that stresses about everything has learned how to RELAX! I don't stress about us being sick. I just cancel plans and go about my day nursing the children back to health. It's part of being a mommy, afterall.

I've learned to love people who I would normally have a hard time loving. You know the types...the ones who make it almost impossible to love them and even more impossible is making them love you back...yep, I love them....and they love me back!

I've learned to take each day as it comes and not sweat the small stuff. If my house isn't completely "guest ready" at all times....IT'S OK!!! People are more understanding than I used to give credit for. Afterall, as I am reminded many, many times by many, many people....I have my hands full....you know, because I have 3 kids!!! hehehe. The dust gets thick enough that you can write your name in it and I don't care. (Ok, maybe deep down I care, but I don't have time to deal with it)

Needless to say, I have changed a lot this year! I think I am a better person. I think I am easier to love. I think I am more willing to show love. I think I am beautiful for what I have on the inside which reflects on the outside.

I am welcoming 2009 with a new attitude! I embrace whatever challenges are thrown my way. I hope it's an easier year for me than 2008 was. I hope I can learn just as much about myself in the upcoming 12 months as I have learned in the past 12.

I love everyone! I love you all!
Smile and remember to enjoy your sunshine!

Merry Christmas!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM US TO YOU!!!!!!

The kids went to go see Santa and they all did wonderful! Brayden was excited about his "hurricane" (Candy Cane) that Santa gave him. Grayson pulled his beard! (It was real too, so Santa let out a howl) Kaylee was excited as usual and talked Santa's poor ear off. She wanted to make sure she was on the "Nice" list and not the "Naughty" list.

This is our annual picture in front of the tree that we take every year at our family Christmas get-together with Chris' side.

Grayson practiced sitting up and showed off his new moves to Grams and Grandpa. They hadn't seen him in a while so he had lots of new things to show them.

No, he's not smoking a bong........ this was him doing his breathing treatment. He came down with an upper respiratory infection on Christmas day and after spending the next morning in the ER, he had a weeks worth of breathing treatments to do at home. He liked chewing on the nebulizer end for the first day, but then he started pitching a fit and fighting every time. He looked so cute doing his treatments, I couldn't resist having Chris snap a picture.

We hope your Christmas was as good as ours was. We enjoyed spending time with all of our family, most of all. The kids scored some nice loot also. Santa brought them new scooters and Grams and Grandpa brought them new bikes! They also got tons of other stuff and lots of gift cards to use. They are looking forward to picking out new stuff in the next few weeks.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year!

My 6 Month Old Beautiful Baby Boy

Grayson had his 6 month checkup on Thursday. He weighed 17 lbs 7 ounces and was 27.5 inches long. That's an increase of 2 pounds and 9 ounces in just 2 months. He grew 2.5 inches in 2 months. He is in the 80th % for height, and just above 50% for weight. His head is still off the charts though. It's 18.5" which is greater than 95%. His hat size is 12-18 months, so he can't wear any of his 0-6 or 6-12 month hats. He is right on track in clothes though and is currently growing out of 3-6 month clothes and moving up to 6-9 month clothing.

He is sitting up all by himself and can pull his legs underneath him, and get up on all fours. He is starting to rock back and forth on his knees, so it won't be long before he starts to crawl. Probably by the end of this year, or at the latest, the first week of January. He can actually get around on the floor by getting up on all fours and lunging forward. He can spin on his tummy too, so getting from point A to point B doesn't take him long, as long as it's not a far distance. He is grabbing toys and switching them from hand to hand. He can even put big objects directly in his mouth. He prefers the taste of bright balls and large stuffed animals, apparently.

He LOVES to eat! He can take down 2-3 jars of food in less than 5 minutes, followed by a full nursing session. He still nurses the same amount of times during the day too, so it hasn't cut out any feedings. It's a good thing I make his food or our grocery bill would be HIGH! He has tried many different foods, but he prefers sweet potatoes, bananas, and anything with chicken in it.

He is STILL teething, and drooling like crazy, but no teeth have popped out yet. (Which I am grateful for, since he nurses) You can see white under his gums, but nothing yet. We are expecting them to come through any day now, although we've been saying that for 2 months now.

Oh, and did I mention that he FINALLY sleeps through the night? YAY! He goes to sleep (IN HIS OWN BED, IN HIS OWN ROOM) at 8PM and sleeps until about 6am now. He will nurse quickly and then go back to sleep until around 8 or 9, depending on how loud his brother and sister are and/or if I have to wake him up to go take them to school. I miss having him in our bed, but I have to admit, I am enjoying the full night of un-interrupted sleep. I try to lay with him during the day for his naps to get my snuggle time in since he is becoming more active during the day.

UPDATED: 12/26/2008 - Chris took Grayson to the Dr this morning because he started wheezing last night and developed a rattling cough over Christmas holidays. He weighed 18 lbs 4oz and it has only been 8 days since his last weight check!!! So, they did a breathing treatment on him and sent him home with more antibiotics and nebulizer treatments for the next week. I was surprised at how much weight he had gained in such a short amount of time! 13 oz in 8 days...that's like almost 2 ounces per day!

Friday Follies ~ Christmas Edition

Kaylee's Lyrics to "Deck the Halls" go like this:
Tex the halls with thousand jollies
Fa la la la la la la la la
Tis the season to be jollies.....


Brayden's Lyrics to "Feliz Navidad" go like this:
Puh Leeze Mommy Dog
Please Mommy Dog.......


Brayden and Kaylee hung some candy canes on the Christmas tree.
Later that evening, Brayden told Daddy "We hung hurricanes on the tree"

"Booger" vs. "Bugar"

How do you think it is spelled? I always thought it was spelled "Booger" until recently, I had 2 very dear people write me about various things and include the word spelled "bugar" (one was a teacher too, hehe). I started to doubt myself and my spelling abilities. For those who don't know, I am a spelling Bee NERD! I can usually look at a word and tell if it's spelled correctly. I know, some of you are wondering what the hell happens to my emails and such....I don't use spell check and I type faster than my brain can think sometimes. Anyways, doubting made me look it up on google to see how it is spelled.

According to Google and Wikipedia, the definition is:
Booger or Boogers may refer to:
Dried nasal mucus (colloquial)
Booger, a flavor of Jelly Belly jelly bean of the BeanBoozled series
Boogers, a brand of malted milk balls covered in chocolate sold throughout North America

Is it just me, or is the sound of a booger flavored Jelly Bean really really gross? I thought we weren't supposed to eat boogers!!!


Another ironic point I found was that the first thing to pop up when you google "Bugar" is this from the urban dictionary:

bugar sugar
Slang term for cocaine.
Are you gonna snort any bugar sugar?

WHAT??? So, keep in mind next time you need to type something regarding boogers (as we all do so often) to spell it correctly or people might think you are referring to cocaine!

Sorry, this was too funny not to share.

Gobble~Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving from our Little Turkey!!


This was Grayson's First Thanksgiving. Since he started on solids a few weeks ago, I decided to let him enjoy some Turkey and Sweet Potatoes for dinner. He LOVED them! We had my family over for Thanksgiving dinner and had fun as usual. When my family comes over, we have a HOUSE FULL! Since I have 6 siblings (some married with kids, some have significant others), and both of my parents are re-married, we had a total of 28 people here that day!

Kaylee made a pilgrim hat at school this week, so she enjoyed wearing her pilgrim bonnet. Brayden made an indian vest at school and was "Howling Coyote" for the day. (Then, he put on the bonnet too so I snapped a pic)

Kaylee and Grayson watched the parade that morning while we were preparing everything.

Grayson had his bath in the kitchen sink (something I wanted to do before he outgrew the sink) and then we took a few pictures together before everyone arrived.

The following day, we headed over to the in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner, again. Grayson practiced sitting up with pillows around him. He had fun and sat there for a while before toppling over. We had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed all the company. It was good to see all the family again and spend time with everyone.

I am thankful for my family.
I am thankful for my healthy kids!
I am thankful for teachers!
I am thankful for my Husband!
I am thankful for sweet potatoes with marshmallows!
I am thankful for macaroni and cheese!
I am thankful for Chick Fila! (I am hungry, can you tell?)
I am thankful to be alive and well!
I am thankful for neurosurgeons and modern technology.

Fairy Tale Friday ~ "Pinkalicious"

Kaylee had a book fair at her school all week. Thursday night, we got to go to her school to buy books. Yes, we were allowed to go spend money on more books 'cuz we just didn't have enough already.... Her and I went, and she made mouse cookies (her class book was "if you give a mouse a cookie") and we picked a book from the library to purchase. She chose "PINKALICIOUS".....go figure. Her reason... "pink is my favorite color".





So, if any of you with young girls have not yet read this book- GO BUY IT!!! It is the cutest story about a little girl who is helping her mom make cupcakes. She of course wants to ice them with pink icing. "Pink, Pink, Pink" were her exact words. So, they make the pink cupcakes and she eats one, then another, then another. She offered one to her brother, who didn't want it, so she ate his too. She woke up the next morning and was pink! Her mom took her to the doctor who told her to eat nothing but green stuff all day. She didn't listen, and she ate just....one....last...cupcake....and woke up the next morning and was RED. So, she knew what she had to do. She ate green all day and when she woke up the following morning, she was back to her normal color. But, the cupcakes were all gone. Her dad asked her where they were and all the sudden her little brother appeared (and was all pink) and said "Pink-A-Boo". Ok, so that was a short version, from memory, so I hope I got it all right.





So, today was character dress up day at Kaylee's school. Who did she choose to be?????

Yep, she was Pinkalicious! (And she posed herself and actually said "mom, that was my pose")

Chris asked me where I got the pink for her face, and I responded "in my makeup I don't ever wear" and he said "I can see why you don't ever wear it" HAHAHA.

Oh, and by the way, this pink hairspray you get from walmart..... turns your boogers pink. Just in case you were wondering.

Grayson is sitting up!

Grayson is now sitting up with support. I know, I know, ALREADY? That's what I thought too. So, we figured it was about time to move him to the big bathtub. He LOVED it! He felt so big sitting in the bathtub by himself, just like his brother and sister does. (well, they don't use the baby tub inside of the big tub, but he doesn't know that)

He really enjoyed his bath. He kept looking at me and smiling and laughing out of sheer joy! He splashed, kicked, and at one point.....he made some bubbles with his butt.







I laughed when the bubbles rose to the surface. He wasn't quite sure what to think about that. Then he leaned forward and did it again! This boy farts like a grown man! He had a long continuous fart at dinner that we considered to be a 12 stepper, if he was walking. (To explain....a 12 stepper is how many steps you can take from beginning to the end of the fart while walking...so it was a LOOOOOONG fart)




Anyways, he enjoyed being a big boy in the bathtub. Time is going by way too fast! He will be 5 months old already on Thursday!

My house is DONE!!!

My house is FINALLY done!

This is a view of the sink and the new spot for the fridge at the end of that counter.

This is looking towards the back door. This is the biggest part of our kitchen. We got rid of our table and this is where we have our family dinners now.

This is taken from the back door looking towards the playroom.

From the corner of the kitchen/breakfast area looking towards the dining room.

This picture is taken from the hallway looking into the back yard. Our dining room table is on the right and the breakfast bar is on the left.

Looking towards the fireplace from the china cabinet.

This is a close up of the fireplace.

This is taken from the fireplace, looking into the kitchen and looking at the china cabinet.

Taken from the side window looking into the kitchen over the bar.

Trick or Treat!

We dressed up Grayson as "Mummy's Little Pumpkin" for his first Halloween. He looked adorable as usual. He slept through most of it. We put him in the double stroller, and he passed out after about 30 minutes of walking around. We usually only do about 3 streets in our neighborhood, but this year, since the kids were behaving so well, and still walking on their own, without us carrying them, we continued and we ended up doing almost the entire neighborhood! It took about 2 hours all together.

Kaylee dressed up as her favorite singer, Hannah Montana for Halloween. I know, real original. But, it made her happy. She had a wig, but thankfully, it was NASTY and I didn't want to bother with trying to comb through that tangled mess, so since she already has blonde hair, I convinced her to let me put in her fake hair clips and make her hair look more natural and beautiful. She got many comments about her hair, people asking if it was her hair, or if it was a wig...etc. She was excited that I put REAL make up on her!

Brayden was Travis Barker for Halloween. Not that he knew who that even was, but it got a good laugh out of those who knew that he was the drummer of Blink 182. (He also recently suffered burns from a plane crash he was in). He had fun trick or treating. This was his first year to actually "get into" it. He had very nice manners. He said "Thank You" to each and every person who gave him candy. He also was not too afraid of the "weirdo's" or scary people he saw. He would just say "I don't like that boy"...even if it was just a mummy decoration, and not a real person.

The many faces of you......

Grayson was playing in his exersaucer today and I managed to capture a few GREAT photos of him and his many expressions. (I'll caption underneath them so you will know what he was babbling, er.... saying to me....hehehe)

(No, officer, I haven't had anything to drink tonight)

(Give me back my toy, Brayden)

(hhhmmm, you look tasty)

(Mom, see my toy?)

(Wait, that one looks like more fun, but then I'll have to let go of this one)

(hehehe, I am mischevious and my Mommy thinks I am innocent)

(No pictures, no pictures! Mommy, quit taking my picture, it's too bright!)

New house remodel pictures

OK, after 8 weeks, my kitchen remodel is FINALLY coming to an end. I see the end in the near future! Here are some updated progress pictures:

My fridge used to be here, but we added cabinets instead. Top and bottom cabinets are new. They still have to do the cabinet trimwork at the top and bottom.

My new fridge!!! Hehehe, We decided to go ahead and get a new fridge, counter depth, side by side, with the freezer on the bottom. It fits much better than our old side by side, and we put the old one out in the garage as a spare drink holder/freezer and got rid of our deep freeze chest, and little mini fridge that Chris used to put his beer in for poker night.

This is a shot of my long countertop, with the sink installed. Still have to hook up the faucet.

We finally got our countertops in! After the first visit, the guy measured wrong, so when the pieces came out last week, they didn't fit! WHAT? So, they had to re-make them on a rush order and they finally got installed Wednesday. I spent the day on the phone with the manager and the Home Depot district manager paid me a visit to the house also. I'm still fighting with them about getting some of my money returned since they have delayed my whole remodel. It took them a total of 6 weeks, not including the 2 week hurricane delay, and the guy who came out to measure was an egotistical, arrogant, rude, ass-hole! But, it's a Saturday story, so I'll save that till it's all over with. I will update after I get a figure from them on how much they want to refund! Tiffany is a BITCH when someone treats her badly, expecially someone who is "SUPPOSED" to be in the customer service field......

There is still sheetrock work to be done, and they are working on my tile backsplash today and tomorrow.

We have baseboards! Don't mind all the junk laying around. They just leave it out so they don't have to bring it back and forth every day.

This is our new eating surface. We have no more breakfast table. Just this bar, and 6 barstools.

Here is my sink! It's a 10 inch undermount sink. Yay!

We are hoping that the sheetrock, and texture will be done by this weekend so we can finish painting. Then, we just have to move everything back downstairs, and wipe down everything and give the whole downstairs a good scrubbin'. Hopefully, my next update will be completed pictures!

The New and Improved Star Spangled Banner

Kaylee came home from school and says : "Mommy, remember that song that we heard at the airshow this weekend? We sang it at school today!"

I reply....."hhhmmmm, I can't remember, sing it for me"

She begins to sing: "Oh say can you see......."


"......By the darcery door"

I cracked up laughing and remember that it was me who once confused Green Day's lyrics from "Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road" TO........ "Another turnip boy, a fork stuck in the road"

What the hell is a turnip boy anyways?

Thanks to my good friend Chrystee for pointing out how rediculous that actually sounded.....(wink..Love ya Chrystee!) She and Melissa sure got a good laugh about that one!! Glad I could entertain ya, girls!

Helmet Free is the Way to Be!

Grayson had his 2 checkups this week. On Monday, we went to the Dr for his 4 month well baby visit. He weighed 14 lbs and 14 oz and was 25" long! He grew 2" in one month! He got 3 shots and he did well. He cried for just a second and then calmed down quickly once he had a boob in his mouth.

His milestons have all been accomplished for the 4 month mark! He is grabbing toys, bringing fists together (and inserting in mouth), he rolls both ways and can spin around if he's on his back. He does his airplane when he is on his tummy and lifts his head up off the ground. He coos and "talks" to any woman who will look his way. (big flirt!) He has a big wide open mouth smile and shows it off regularly! He will be staring at someone, and when they finally look his way and acknowledge him, he gets so excited and smiles and squeals out of sheer joy! I have had MANY comments about how inquisitive he is! Uh-oh, that's the same way everyone described Kaylee! (for the record, he also fights his naps like she did too. He HATES going to sleep for fear he will miss something) He also KNOWS when Mommy is not within 5 feet of him and he lets anyone around know that she is missing!! He sleeps well for a 4 month old, although I wish, wish, wish that I could have a good 6 hour block of unbroken sleep. He did give me one night of good sleep from 11-6:30am (In his pack n play next to my bed!) and BOY did I feel refreshed that day, but alas, it did not become habit. The next night, he made up for it by waking 3 times in 2 hours because his pacifier fell out. I finally gave in and put the booby in his mouth and he was out like a light in 5 minutes. He wasn't hungry, he just needed Mommy.

So, then on Wednesday, he went to Tx Childrens for his follow-up with the neuro-surgeon! Dr Leurssen checked him out and gave us the OK to remove his helmet permanently! He said the bones are healing up nicely and the helmet has done it's job of protecting his head. Now that the bones are fusing the correct way, there is no need for the helmet to be worn. He was beginning to outgrow it also, so at that point, it was pointless for a new one to be made, since it wasn't really necessary anymore. So, after 5 weeks with it on, he is HELMET FREE!!! Aside from a little scar on his head, you would never guess he had surgery less than 3 months ago! I am so in love with my little man!