Pictures

Okay, so I'm going to cheat...I know you're not a true blogger unless you post both pictures and stories, but I'm tired, and I'm sick, and I want to go to bed. So, here's a few pics...

Dalton played tonight. He played peek-a-boo with J...with J's socks on his hands. :)

Dalton constantly makes Jackson laugh. Jackson thinks his big brother hung the moon. It doesn't matter what D is doing or saying, J finds it absolutely hilarious!! Look at the huge smile on J's face.

Jackson has taken to holding his binky in the corner of his mouth. Not sure why he does this, or when it started, but it sure is cute, isn't it?

Jackson is also getting so good at rolling over. He will roll from his back to his belly, and then right back! He is also getting good at holding his held and chest off the floor when he's laying on his belly. Don't mind the little milk dribble in the picture...it doesn't matter if we wait three hours after feeding him, as soon as he goes on his belly, he spits up. Every time.

Something else that J started doing today? Holding his bottle!! Oh, my baby isn't really a baby anymore! I am very sad...

Dalton's birthday is next Wednesday and he got his first birthday card in the mail today!! Sponge Bob (which is his favorite obsession) from Grammy and Grandpa Wilhelm. He was very excited to get to open his very own mail. He kept telling me that it was "from Grammy and Grandpa and the mailman!!"

His birthday party is this Saturday at 3:00...he and his friends will be bowling. And I just KNEW this would happen, but we signed him up for baseball this year. The coach called today and said that the first practice will be this Saturday at 3:15!! Well, he's just going to have to miss that one, I'm afraid to say!

Thankful

Before you whine about these pictures and the red eye, I will say that we still do not have our photo editing software loaded since the computer crashed...that's my only excuse.

So I'm sitting here, enjoying a glass of wine, the boys are all in bed, and I'm feeling the need to be thankful for wonderful friends...I've done a lot of whining lately because it seems our house and everything in it is breaking down and falling apart, so I'll just take a minute to be grateful for the things that I do have....

Of course, there are the in-laws. Dennis and Jil, and Patty and George (not pictured)...

You guys have always helped us when we needed it, and even when we didn't need it. I appreciate the fact that I have nice in-laws!!

Meredith, Amy, and Raven:

We are lucky that four best friends could share this great time together! I've known you guys since junior high...oh, the teenage angst we went through together! We share so many memories and my life is better for it.

Angie:

You are truly one of the nicest, most giving, most hilarious people I know. I am glad that I have been able to give back to you in trying times, although it will never compare to the friendship you have given me.

Marcie:

I do believe that you are one of my oldest friends (tied with Heather!)...you always answer my "mom questions" (I'm so glad you're a nurse!!), you always understand what I'm going through, and you've always had my back. No matter how many miles seperate us, you are here...and I love you.

Heather and Jeramy:

Jeramy, I'm glad that you're a good guy, b/c I'd never have let you marry my best friend if you weren't!! I really don't think I have appropriate words for how I feel about you both. Jeramy, thank you for keeping Chris (mostly) calm when you guys were in Colorado and I was here, giving birth! And Heather...thank you for being with me in the operating room when Jackson was born (It's the only time I've seen you cry in the 19 years I've known you!!). You're there for me through thick and thin; you are my best friend. When we out live our husbands, I bet we're rooming together in the nursing home.

And Chris:

How did I manage to snag a husband that cleans, cooks, does laundary, changes diapers, and holds my hair back when I'm sick? How did I snag a husband that is sweet and funny and smart and handsome and loves me more than anyone else ever has? How did I snag someone that tolerates my habit of picking up every homeless animal? I love you more than you will ever know. You are my husband, my best friend, and my soul mate.

When It Rains, It Pours

Oh, money, you are my arch nemesis.

Last year, our dishwasher was recalled (about a week after it broke down). We were sent the fine sum of $50.00 from the appliance company to purchase our new $400.00 dishwasher. Seems like a fair trade to me!!

So today, Chris comes home and the garage door won't open. Long story short (well, never mind, I don't tell short stories) there's this bar that runs above the garage door that has this huge spring on it. It apparently helps to lift the door. The spring is approximately four feet long, and it's broken. I have no idea how to go about fixing that ourselves. I'll probably end up calling Poppy to give us a hand.

Then, to top it off, a ton of refrigerators were recalled. Our fridge is roughly 350 years old, and it came with the house, so we did not get a recall letter. My mom saw the recall on the news and told me about it and I looked it up on the Internet, and of course, ours in included. Now, granted, we were having problems with our stinkin' fridge and were debating getting a new one, but there's a big difference between "Hey, maybe we should think about replacing the fridge." and "Your fridge is a death trap, run now!!". I would imagine that had we purchased the fridge, instead of it being a hand-me-down, that we would have received a recall letter, and I would also imagine that it would go a little something like this:

Dear Mrs. You-Have-No-Money:

Our records indicate you purchased an XXX brand refrigerator, Model XXX, and unfortunately there have been numerous reports of this fridge blowing up/catching fire/melting faces/decapitating people (and animals). It is our duty to inform you, the woman with no job and no money, that you will need to immediately discard your refrigerator. Unless of course you wish to blow yourself to smithereens.

As your refrigerator was purchased in the year of 1472, it is worth roughly 25 cents. Unfortunately, it would cost us more to print a check than what it is worth, so we will reimburse you nothing. In fact, you owe us money.

Please have fun shopping for a new appliance with your husband, and we sincerely hope that you and your husband don't divorce over the purchase, as we all know that you cannot agree on the style or size or even color of appliance to purchase.

Sincerely,
XXX Appliance Company

PS-You've just been screwed. Happy shopping.

Oh, How I Love A Good Deal

I can't help it. I want the best for my kids. Maybe it comes from the fact that I was the last of eight, yes EIGHT, children. Lots of hand-me-downs. And after my dad died, mom wasn't able to afford to buy us name brand clothing. So I want all those things for my kids. Call me selfish, call me a snob, whatever, but I want my kids to look good! With that being said, we cannot afford to purchase these name brand items either! With everything that happened with Jackson's premature arrival, and with him not being able to go to daycare, and me having to stay home with him, we are on the biggest budget crunch of all time.

When I was pregnant with him, it was the complete opposite season of when I was pregnant with Dalton. I carried Jackson through the summer, and I just couldn't see buying an entire new maternity wardrobe for work, so I hit up a lot of resale shops, and borrowed a lot of stuff from friends. And now? Still hitting up those resale shops! It's very exciting to find a NICE pair of khaki pants, name brand, for only $3.00. Let's face it...children grow. And buying clothes is not something that is negotiable! They will attend church, they will go to a nice restaurant (as soon as we're free from Jackson's home arrest!!), they will need nice clothes.

So when Chris brought home an advertisement from work for a local consignment sale, I knew that I would find a sitter for a few hours and go shop til I dropped! And that's exactly what I did. I went the first day of the sale, bright and early when they opened at 9:00. Which is hard for me to get both boys ready, to the sitter, and then back across town to the convention center by 9:00!! (I was about 30 minutes late, but that's not too bad.)

The first day I spent $144.00. You may think that sounds like a lot for kids' clothes, but this is what I got for only $144.00.

For Dalton:

2 long sleeve button down shirts

1 short sleeve button down shirt

2 pairs of khaki pants

2 pairs of khaki shorts

2 long sleeve polo shirts

swim trunks

wind suit (you know, because he jogs so much!!)

3 pairs of pajamas

4 short sleeve polo shirts

2 tshirts

backpack

And, seriously, how freakin' cute is this outfit?!?

For Jackson, he was born at the opposite season as Dalton. At first, I thought the clothes situation would be okay, because he was so little when he was born. But he's growing so big, and the seasons are not overlapping as well as I thought they would. BTW, we went to the doctor today for his LAST synagis vaccine, and he was 14lbs, 3oz. So I got the following:

swim trunks
1 pair of shorts

1 tshirt

1 shirt/shorts set

1 shirt/pants/hat set

1 shirt/pants/socks set

3 sleepers

So, that was that. Tons of stuff, really, for $144.00. But it gets even better!! After the first two days of the sale, everything goes to half price!! So I went back for that too!! And I secured the following for only $70.00...

For Dalton:

A Nike jogging suit (I know, the jogging, again, but it was $3.00!!!!)

2 long sleeve polo shirts

4 short sleeve polo shirts

1 pair of shorts

1 hoodie jacket

1 long sleeve button down shirt

1 tshirt

1 Sponge Bob Square Pants DVD (he is in love with Sponge Bob right now!!)

The only thing I wish I could have found for him were Jeans, but this is the age when boys are really playing hard and apparently, jeans are hard to come by in good shape.

For Jackson, I got the following:

6 polo style onesies

1 hat

1 pair of Nike shoes (mainly just because they were so freaking cute)

1 tshirt

1 polo shirt

1 onesie/pant set

1 pair pants

AND, I got a new diaper bag! I must have six diaper bags in the attic, plus the new one I got as a gift for Jackson, but until you use them, you don't realize that they aren't right. Either too small, or too hard to open when you are balancing a poopy screaming baby on one arm, or whatever. And now that I've had this bag for the last week or so, I can honestly say that I love it. I can fit a change of clothes for J, diapers, wipes, bottles, bibs, an extra blanket, binkies, a change of underwear and pants for D (let's face it, he's 3, sometimes you just can't get to the bathroom quick enough), PLUS throw my wallet in there and books to entertain Dalton (perfect for pediatrician visits!!).

All of that, for just over $200 total!! And yes, they are all name brand. Old Navy, Gap, Gymboree, Children's Place, Calvin Klein, Nike, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Eddie Bauer. AND, if you look really closely, you will notice that some of my purchases still had the original tags, they've never been worn!! All of that without going to twelve different stores and scouring the clearance racks, and for better prices!! I ROCK AT FINDING A GOOD DEAL!!

So, hopefully, my shopping is done for the year for the boys. Well, except for socks and underwear and diapers. :)

We're Back On Line!

Our computer crashed about a week and a half ago, and we just got back up and running! We don't yet have all of our programs reloaded, such as the software I use to edit my pictures, so for now, I'll just give you some of my favorite Dalton quotes for the last two weeks...

You know that scene in "Titanic" where Leonardo DiCaprio is standing on the front of the boat and says "I'm king of the world!!!"...well Dalton's version is "I'm the whole kid in the world!"

"I tripped because my legs don't have eyes."

"This is my boy make-up!" Talking about lip balm.

Daddy: "Hey, Dalton, say Everybody wang chung tonight..."
Dalton: "Thanks, Daddy, you're the best!"
I'm not sure what it was that Dalton thought he was getting, but at least it made him happy!

"Mom, I'm so boring."

Me: "Dalton, you're so smart. How'd you get so smart? From mommy?"
Dalton: "Nope. I got it from Daddy."

"Mommy, I'm out of gas and my batteries are dead." As he collapses on the floor.

While on a walk: "Mommy, my eyes are cold. I think I need some boy make-up."

"I have something in my eye." Then he proceeds to look down at the floor and slap himself on the back of the head!

We're in Wal-Mart (which, by the way, we spend roughly half our income at) and I say:
"Okay, Dalton, I think we're done. We just need to go pick up Turbo Tax, and we're out of here."
Dalton: "Yay! Turtle Tax!!"

Dalton: "I want on the counter."
Me: "Why? What are you going to do up there?"
Dalton: "Nothing."
Me: "If you're not going to do anything, there's no reason for you to get on the counter."
Dalton: "Okay, then I'm going to do something."
Me: "Like what?"
Dalton: "Nothing."
And so on and so forth.

Holding his hands behind his back, Dalton says, "Mommy, guess what I have for you!" Very sing-songy.
Me: "What do you have for me?"
He lifts his shirt up. "I have pecs! And you have boobies!!"