Wordless Wednesday

Hubby's Work Update

OK

!!!!!!!!!I'M EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!

Alright so now that I got that off my chest, I can give you an update:

Last week Sean completed  two day training with his new fleet. 

On Wednesday he was put into HIS final truck 

(He had be put into a loner truck that was equipped for his new fleet until he was able to get his own truck)

Wednesday afternoon he was set loose to go do his pickups and drops offs and has been running STRONG since. He has been home just about every night, except last Friday, and that was because he had worked all day long and ran out of hours to make it home. BUT he did return home bright and early Saturday, right when the kids and I got up! Then we had him all weekend, eeeeeekkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot begin to tell you how much joy I felt with him being home this past weekend.

 We did not have to rush our time together. We were able to relax and just be well, a family.

I'll be happy to report I haven't been to the grocery by myself with two kids in almost 2 full weeks. I either take one kiddo, or leave them both at home with my husband.

(I even did a midnight run to the grocery last night to grab some things for my hubby's lunch)

Last Saturday was supposed to be my day for me but I had forgotten about a baby shower I was supposed to attend. So Shell's and I packed up and went to the baby shower. I was gone for a few hours and did not feel like I had to rush back home to my mom (who is usually my sitter when I go do things, which sadly isn't "wasn't" very often). My hubby let me enjoy my time away and didn't call me once to see when I was coming home. Gosh I'm a lucky gal!

 Sunday it was raining and we were trapped inside and the kids were going NUTS, so I said out of no where "Pack up we're going to the Zoo!" I packed a lunch and the four of us took off and had a great "wet" time at the zoo. The animals were so active, moving about their homes, or they were laying in front of the viewing windows. The best part is that we went as a family. I told Sean how great it felt and how it feels that I can start planning ahead for our weekends. We can go to the beach on a whim now and not worry about if he has to leave the next day. We have the weekends to just us, and it feels oh so right.

My ONLY complaint is that this new fleet requires him to work really funky hours. Last night he had to leave at 2am and he returned today at 2pm. He was home all afternoon but had to take a nap for a few hours because he just left at 11pm for a 4 hour drive to Tri cities. From there he doesn't know if he'll have another pick up, so you can see his hours are all over. He if fine right now with his sleep, or lack there of, so I hope (and pray) his body is able to go into a smooth transition with this new schedule.

My family is together at last. We eat meals together, enjoy bedtime routine together, welcome daddy home from a long day at work together.

We are together 

Skidamarink

Skidamarink a dink a dink

Skidamarink a doo

I. Love. You.

 Skidamarink a dink a dink 

Skidamarink a doo

I. Love. You

 I. love you in the morning

and in the afternoon

I love you in the evening

and underneath the moon

 Skidamarink a dink a dink

 Skidamarink a doo

I. LOVE. YOU

Hot Dog Day

(His last day as a 2 year old)

This year my big bright eyes munchkin turned 3! Is it possible to be happy and sad about this? He arrival into this world was such a HUGE blessing. He made me a mommy, something I never thought possible.

Michael James 10-14-09, 4:41pm, 7lbs 7oz, 19 1/2 inches

We stayed low key this year. The past two years I have made such a huge deal about the party when in reality he had no idea what was going on. I knew this year he would have more of an understanding but I still kept it low key and it turned out perfect!

I had in mind a theme which was Mickey mouse. Michael asks for Mickey everyday and loves the hot dog dance! I scanned my go to site pinterest for inspiring ideas. I saw a hot dog bar and thought how perfect is that, since Mickey and the hot dog dance and Michael's favorite, turkey dogs. 

I was going to make a nifty invite but lost track of time and ended up buying mickey invites from the store. I was bummed I couldn't make a unique invite like I did last year but I will always have next year :) 

My husband and I woke Michael up on his birthday and sang him happy birthday. He grinned ear to ear and I could feel he felt so special. My husband took Michael into the kitchen and had Mike help him brew up a batch of chocolate cupcakes to add to our yellow cupcakes. I got busy making a fruit salsa and Cinnamon tortilla wedges (turned out terrific and def. a go to party food for me now).

I gathered the gifts and food for the party and took off with my mom down to the park to set up. We had planned on a BBQ for the hot dogs but the park ranger said no fire, there is a burn ban that had just been put into effect. I called Sean and told him to dig out our propane camping grill and bring it with him (thank goodness we had one!) 

My mom and I got busy blowing up oodles of balloons. I used black and red balloons and taped them onto the wall to form the number 3 as the backdrop to the food table. I also blew up a huge beach balloon the is such as tall as it is wide as Michael. I get it for a dollar at winco in their clearance selection from their summer goodies and it was a huge hit last year so I got it again for this year. 

Sean showed up with the kids and got to work on the dogs. Pretty soon our guests started to arrive and we started our chit chatting and watching the kiddos play. When the food was ready everyone dug in. 

I was interrupted but a couple during our party. They had planned on having a birthday party at the same place and was wondering if by some chance we would mind sharing the shelter with them. I said by all means please do, we don't all this space. We moved some table around so that the shelter kinda look somewhat separated and the other couple got to work setting up their costume themed party. 

I had Mike sit on the floor and handed him his gifts and he was more than happy to open each one, BUT he also wanted to play with each one as he opened it. He was quite the happy camper. 

The kids set off to the playground again and then it was time for Cupcakes. We frosted them in chocolate and put mini oreos, and mini chips ahoy in the cup cakes to look like little mickey mouse cakes. Michael squealed "EARS!" I had him sit in a chair and everyone surrounded him with the happy birthday song. When it was time to blow out his candle he knew just what to do!

We all visited for a while after the festivities were over and Michael loved visiting and playing with his friends. I think he had a blast and I know I felt good about it. I didn't over do it, meaning I didn't allow myself to get worked up over the little details. I just let it be and it was perfect!

(Throughout the party I kept asking what time it was, and each time I would reflect how I was at that time three years ago. I had Michael at 4:41 pm, so when I heard it was 2:25pm I would say, I've been pushing for twenty minutes now, and I would get chuckles. I pushed for nearly 3 hours until he finally came out!) 

Happy 3rd Birthday little Buddy. You light up my world everyday. Love you all the way to the moon and back Michael. 

Gizmo

Just For Fun Post

If you know Shelby. You know her behavior. Super cute and cuddly but so mischievous  I can't help but smile at the things this girl does. 

She is super sneaky. She will be in my line of view, come up and give me a kiss and go about playing(or so I think.) The house will get all to quiet, well at least minus sounds from one child. I go on the hunt to find non noise making one and find her in the bathroom playing in the tub(empty), kitchen either leaning down and lapping up dog water, or her usual eating dog food (YUCK!) She loves getting into kitchen cabinets and pulling out ALL the canned goodies and her FAVORITE thing in the cupboard are the BBQ utensils? She will drag them all throughout the house like she is taking it for a walk. Her newest adventure involves climbing anything and everything, including her crib. She finally figured out how to get her other leg over, and I am sure big brother has had a huge role in that! Another thing she loves to do is take off into a fast walk if she has something she knows she isn't supposed to have, or if she is being tracked down for a diaper change.   

A few days ago it finally dawned on me I have a real life gremlin on my hands. :)

 (Gizmo)

I started calling her gremlin when she was doing something naughty and she gives me the sweetest smile and her eyes light up. I can't help but chuckle to myself "Yup, my little gremlin alright"

Finally!

I can't believe I haven't posted in months! So much has happened since my last post. I am going to need to dedicate some time and really put our summer adventures to blog. But for right now I will post the most current happening in my life.

I have been struggling for quite literally 8 months, mentally and emotionally. I am DRAINED. The past few months I have called my husband in tears sometimes unable to breath because I have just been THAT overwhelmed. 

8 months ago my husband took a new job with the promise of better pay, more home time, and great benefits. We had gotten our tax return around the same time he took this new job and had hopes to use it to make our big move. We quite quickly spent that money as it was our paychecks for quite literally two months. The third month in we finally saw some shed of light with his paycheck and felt like things were going to be OK. However he had been gone for a very long time. Since then his paychecks have stammered off to what he was making at his old job, he was gone for 3 weeks at a time, and he had no benefits. I tried and tried to be patient but there comes a point when you cant struggle anymore. I want our finances to be OK, and more than anything I want my family together.

I have fought with myself talking to my husband about my feelings because frankly, I felt very selfish. I hate having to face the man that does whatever he can for our family and tell him I am unhappy. I finally did it, I finally put my foot down and said no more. He agreed, no questions asked and from there we tried figuring out what we were going to do. I told him he needs to go back to his old company. We know what his home time is, there is no guessing, he will have benefits, and we know what his pay is. He agreed although he despised working for that company. 

He called his old company and they were more than happy to take him back. We had to wait until he was home to go fill out an application as part of the re-hiring process. The next day he went into the main office at his current company and gave notice. He was taking in to see one of the main dispatchers right away. Sean disclosed why he was leaving and right away they offered him a position in a different fleet. Sean called me absolutely elated. He now will be home almost every night and every weekend AND he doesn't have to go back to the old company. His pay per mile will go down but he's guaranteed so many miles per week and it will make up for everything. 

I am restraining myself from being too happy & excited, just due to the pure fact this company has done nothing for us in the past 8 months, so you can understand my hesitation that this will work out. I am praying for some heavenly light that this is best thing. 

I am saddened at what time of the year this is happening though. It takes at least two weeks to get into the swing of things and even though Sean has already been given a new truck for his new fleet, it still takes time to be fully into the fleet. I am scared at what our next few paychecks will be like but I know GOD will provide. 

To bring a little light into this I talked with my husband last night about this coming Saturday. I asked him if I could leave the house alone, and spend the day with just, me. He said well why don't we call your mom and see if she can watch the kids so we can go out together. I told him as much as I would love that, I really just need alone time. I need to leave the house and not have a time limit on when to return. I just need to have a day of freedom. To recharge my batteries and reflect on my life. I almost started to cry and my husband could just feel my need for this. It has been over three years since I have gone out really by myself and just did whatever I wanted to do. He agreed and asked what I was going to do and I replied, I don't know. I may go the bookstore in Portland, Powell's and get lost. I may go to the waterfront and just sit. I do know this, though. It will be a day of past. Of leaving on a whim and doing whatever my heart desires. 

I love my family more than anything in this world and could not even begin to imagine where I would be without them. Taking a day to recharge my batteries is something my entire family needs. Mommy needs to be happy to make her family happy.

I go potty, I did it!

Just a little update on my growing little man. He is going potty all on his
Own while we are at home. He has decided to use his duck potty as his thrown choice. I leave him in boxers all day and he goes potty all on his own whenever he has the urge. I know when he goes cause I hear "I go potty I did it!" I thought we were going to have a problem with going #2 in the potty when we first started this process but a few days ago it was like
Mike woke up and knew what to do. He started going poo in his potty on his own :) He goes on his own and starts squealing I go poopy, yay I did it! He is fascinated with the disposing and flushing process. Haha boys! He wears pull ups at nap and bed time and when we leave the house. He doesn't tell us he needs to go potty when we are running around but if we ask him he will go. A funny thing about him learning to go on his own though is he thinks his boxers are dirty every time he goes potty so he changes them just like we would have done with a wet diaper. I'm glad I invested in a few packs of boxers cause we go through them quickly. He puts his "yucky" boxers in the hamper and goes
To the dresser and pulls a fresh pair out. I am so happy with my little guy.

Potty training

I am pleased to say we have officially started potty training Michael. As we end day two we have only had one
Small accident but have other wise been successful. I have had him in boxers for the past two days and he has been such a champ at pulling them down and letting me put him on the toilet. Today he ran up to me underwear in hand and said potty. I thought he had an accident and said oh no show me where and he took
Me to him potty and lifted the lid and sure enough all on his own he went pee! I was so excited and he sure felt that when I gave him a huge hug. I put a diaper on him at nap time but when he woke up he was still dry. I had him sit down and he went potty again. I am so proud of him and so proud of his excitement he shows of being a big boy. We are having trouble with number two. He is too afraid to go in the toilet but will not go in is underwear either. He held it all day yesterday until I put him in a diaper and then he went so I guess it's a step in the right direction. I think if we go a week without any accidents then I will try and take him out of the house wearing his boxers, just to the park to see how he holds up. I am excited for this next huge step in michaels growth. And I must admit it has been so nice not changing double diapers for the last two days :)

Home Time

Home Time, what a wonderful wonderful thing Home Time can be. 

Let's rewind before this home time happened. 

My husband made it home for just under 12 hours on April 11th. The night my dad arrived. This was the first and only time my husband and dad would get to spend together.

My dad was here for two weeks. And for two weeks Sean's company had been tossing him around like an angry sea, not knowing where he would end up. 

It wasn't until the 29 (2 1/2 weeks) when the kids and I were able to spend yet again just under 12 precious hours with him. 

Finally at 5pm on April 29th, my husband arrives home (just shy of 3 weeks) for home time. I was beyond myself. It had been over two months since my husband had been home for more than 24 hours and now we have a whole day with him! He wanted to leave Thursday because he wanted to keep the miles coming in for nice PC. But Thursday came and went and dispatch didn't have a load for him, it was bitter sweet. On Friday dispatch called and said there was a load in McMinnville that he needed to go get but it wouldn''t need to be delivered until Monday. So he spent Friday just like any normal working male in America, went to work in the morning and came home in the evening. On Saturday we spent the day just catching up on things like yard work. He left this morning which made me really bummed, and sad, not knowing how long our next stretch would be.  

Lord knows I love this man. And lord only knows what a blessing it was to have him home, his extra set of hands. His daddy voice when Michael was getting out of line. I had a break from being the bad guy, and I was just able to be Mommy. 

I am really trying to keep the negative thoughts out of my head. Some days they do escape and it does allow stress into our marriage. What holds us together is our communication and when either one of us is out of order, it's very hard to manage. Back on track I am trying to embrace positive thoughts such as my husband is doing this for our family. Things will get worse before the get better. We have battled through these months of training and I am just praying there is a light at the end of the tunnel and from what I am hearing,, Sean only has one more thing to get signed off on and he is good to go, hopefully meaning more stable runs which means more home time. :)  

My little engineer

I have found myself lately getting extremely frustrated with Michael. I just could not understand why he would not play with his gazillion toys. Yea he would sit and play for small amounts of time but not really PLAY. Other friends have posted pictures of their little ones the same age, playing, and I feel myself getting really discouraged. Each day presents a new challenge and my current dilemma is just trying to find out who this kid is. Well my friends. It has finally hit me and I really do not know why I hadn't thought of this sooner. 

I am sure Michael has an imagination, but I don't think it's a vivid one. 

I think Michael runs on a more technical scale. When we have taken something apart, Michael is right there watching our every move. Then he proceeds with his toy screw driver, hammer, and wrench to fix things that need fixin around the house. I feel Michael would be more than content if I gave him a broken electronic and handed him real tools that he would be more than happy to rip the thing apart. 

I know it is still to soon to really tell and I completely understand that he is a growing boy. Changing and learning every day. 

I will still encourage him to play with his toys but not force him. If he wants to inspect something I will do just the same.

On a side note. My husband Sean is the exact same way. His mother told me that Sean would tear every toy he had apart and rebuild it rather than play. (So in more ways than just this, we are raising a mini daddy.)

Shelby @ 10 months

Wow I am 10 months old!

Here is what I am up to

Mom doesn't know how big or tall I am. We will find out on Tuesday though!

I love to crawl 

I can stand up now and can grab things, how neat is that?!

My big brother just found out that I will chase him if he plays with me, it makes us both giggle really hard and mommy loves it.

I sleep on my belly and nuzzle my face in the corner. It makes mommy really nervous but it's makes me comfy.

I still do not have any teeth and am just fine with that

Mommy has tried to give me cereal puffs, yuck. I do not care for anything of the "Solid" nature yet

I don't like to put my feet flat on the ground even. I have really high arches and tip toe all the time.

Mommy bought me a pair of sneakers to help me learn how to put me feet flat but they feel really funny and I don't like anything on my feet.

I love my bottle. Mommy has been trying to give me these strange things called sippies but I don't use them, I just let big brother have them. 

(This is what happens when Mommy lets Uncle Zac feed me)

I still love my baths. But that is only if big brother isn't being to wild. He sure likes so splash water. I also stand up in the tub which makes mommy really nervous, I don't think she likes that very much.

Mommy is very excited that my labial adhesion has healed up. I didn't notice that anything was wrong. 

I still love jumping in the jumper but would much rather crawl and explore. Mommy tries to put me in the jumper but I stick my feet out and stiffen up so she doesn't put me in there :) 

I smile all the time and I LOVE to stick my tongue out all the time. 

I am also constantly blowing raspberry's. My big brother thinks its funny and tries to copy me. We compete with each other all the time and laugh. 

I don't like grass. Mommy has put in the walker when it's sunny outside but I keep my feet out of stuff. My NaNa's friend put these butterfly wings on my and then put my in the grass. Yuck. I didn't move for a really long time but eventually warmed up

I love my mommy very much and we play well together. I like to grab mommy's cheeks and she makes funny noises so I giggle. 

I thought it would be fun to write a post from Shelby's perspective. 

Jason Robert Thomas

On Friday April 13 Jason Robert Thomas (28) passed away.

I met Jason when my best friend Nicole and I were on a walk with my dogs. He lived halfway between my house and her house. He stuck his head out of his window and Nikki gave her little Hey, and he whistled and ran outside to meet us. From the moment on Nikki, Jason and Myself ran around together. We spent a whole summer together. Nikki, Jason and his sisters even threw me a surprise 14th birthday party. That fall Nikki became pregnant at 15. I remember seeing Jason & him just smiling. He knew that having a baby so young would be hard, but he was just happy he was going to be a dad. The following summer Nikki gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Paris, that was born on July 7, my birthday :) I was in Ohio visiting family when Paris was born. I remember Jason's sister e-mailing me to tell me Nikki had a girl and she was born July 8. I was so bummed. As soon as I got home I rushed over to Nikki's to meet the new little princess and was so shocked to find out Paris and I shared the same birthday. I remember looking at Paris and thinking that she looks so much like Jason. Nikki and Jason used to bring Paris over to my house when she was first born. Jason was ALWAYS smiling. He was so proud of Paris, so proud to be her Dad. I don't remember too much from the time Paris turned a year old. Jason and Nikki had went their separate ways but Jason remained faithful to Paris. He wasn't able to support her financially but gave her everything she needed to be the best person she can be. I used to run into Jason randomly where he worked. His first topic ALWAYS was Paris. What she was up to, what she liked. The last time I saw Jason was a few years ago when I got onto the bus and there was Jason. We rode the bus together all the way down mill plain. I remember him telling me about Paris, and that he wanted to go back to visit Arizona but would never leave Vancouver, because Paris lived here. He never wanted to leave her. 

That run in with Jason has been replaying in my thoughts over and over since his passing. My hearts breaks knowing a friend has passed, but it breaks even more for Paris. She is only 10. The day Jason passed I rushed over to her house and there were quite a few people there. Paris walked up to me and gave me a huge hug. I looked at her and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk. She wasn't crying. She was her normal self. I didn't want to ask her about it. I just wanted her to breathe and if she talked about it then she did. We ended up talking about where her friends lived in the neighborhood but Jason was never brought up. I think she was in shock and didn't quite understand what was going on.

A week after Jason's passing Nikki asked if I would like to attend the viewing of his body. I left Michael at home with dad and brought Shelby. She stayed asleep for quite a while. When it was time for Paris to go see Jason, Nikki asked everyone to leave the room and Just Herself, Paris and I go in. I felt so needed at that moment. I was so grateful I was there to support Paris and Nikki. Both of them needed me. Nikki and I walked with Paris into the viewing room and let her know we were there for her. Nikki broke down and I grabbed her trying to embrace both of them. Give them both strength. 

Sunday was Jason's memorial. Nikki had made all the arrangements and did such a beautiful Job. Jason's life was captured and we talked about his life and what he did to make us all happy. A man from Nikki's church sang a few beautiful songs from the church song book that set a peaceful tone to the service. Nikki's grandma had gotten this beautiful flower tree/bush to plant for Jason's Memory. It was a beautiful piece to the ceremony. 

(The Sunflower, Jason's Favorite Flower)

Jason you were a good friend and such a wonderful, loving, and caring father. You will be truly missed. I promise to continue to be there for Paris. She is such a strong little girl that has amazing support. She will be taking care of, and she will never forget you. We love you Jason.