It's Been How Long?

FOREVER.

That it how long it's been since my last post.  Almost a year.  Life with two kids under six is proving to wipe out all free time I may at one time have had.  However, it seems I'm not the only one.  When I finally blew the dust off my laptop and jogged my memory of how to actually log in to this blogging world I've neglected for almost a year I did a little research.  Of the almost 20 blogs from family and friends that I follow only 2 have been updated in the last year!  Most showed posts from 2011 or so.  I'm guessing the fad of blogging is dying or probably more accurately said - is dead.  It's sad.  I used to love signing in and seeing who had posted this week.  Read their stories of their own crazy life and I felt like my crazy wasn't alone.  I felt part of a little army of crazy families doing life and sharing our stories of victories and failures.  We gave each other strength to go through the next day, week, or month.  I usually laughed.  A lot.  It made my insanity look normal.

It's ok.  Don't feel bad if you decide to log in one day months or years from now and see that I'm talking about you.  As I've already stated it's been almost a year since my last post, but hopefully that will change.  I love my little corner of the world where I can unload my thoughts and cute pictures of my kids.  It's fun to go back and read stories of things I've forgotten about and laugh even at myself.

So, you might be wondering, what has happened in the last year?  Too much for one post that is for sure.  We've started the process to do foster care, Aaron took a new job that brought him closer to home, celebrated Thanksgiving & Christmas, Aaron spent some time in Texas with his family as his grandfather passed this February, I had extensive knee surgery in February as well, and I started learning to quilt from my grandmother who also passed this March.  I guess that list makes it a little more clear as to why I've been away from this blog for so long.

But, I'm back.  At least I hope I am.  Let's be honest.  No one reads this blog, but it's mine and love it.  It's my little scrapbook of my life.  You can look through it if you like, and if you do I hope you find it makes your crazy seem a little more like normal.

Summer

Ahh, summer.  Sounds wonderful doesn't it?  For me it has gone by in the blink of an eye which is probably why 3 months have gone by since my last post.  I feel completely horrible about it, which is kinda crazy since I'm sure I am probably the only one that even reads my own posts.  So for myself I will state for the record that we have been busy with life and blogging has been at the bottom of the list of things to do.  I'm still unpacking boxes from our move at Christmas (really I'm just looking at them, but they do need to be unpacked) and trying to juggle everyday life responsibilities in the midst of starting our first school year and potty training.  This has been my summer.  Completely normal and wonderful all at the same time, and over way too soon.  I'll post about our summer soon enough, but right now I've got things to attend to and a camping trip to prepare for this weekend. 

Science Lesson

In an earlier post I talked about Levi's obsession with caterpillars and our quest for catching them, keeping them alive long enough to build cocoons, and hopefully have beautiful butterflies.  Well, we were successful at getting some cocoons, but not butterflies...just moths.  Clarification - 1 moth.  Honestly the moth was a little creepy.  I just shivered writing about him.  Yuck!  I digress.


Several weeks ago we found a bright green bug we assumed was some sort of caterpillar.  It looked just like this:

Since the "normal" looking caterpillar (see below) turned into a moth we thought we might get lucky and this one (assuming he/she lived) might turn into a butterfly.  

Well, literally like a day or two after we caught him we thought he was beginning to make some sort of cocoon, but it looked a lot like this:

Aaron thought it was a cocoon, but I seriously had my doubts and figured we had just killed another poor caterpillar.  This cocoon looked nothing like our other ones or ones I'd seen online.  I mean it literally looked just like a brown, dead version of what we had put in there.  But for whatever reason we just left it there, untouched for the last couple of weeks.

Well last night I saw something flying in the container and low and behold is was a wasp!

We had no idea how it had gotten in there, but assumed it must have slipped through the tiny cracks at home small development stage.  Well today we cleaned out the container to use to catch fireflies and low and behold the brown, dead caterpillar really was a cocoon and the wasp had come from it.  I had never heard of such so thus began my obsession to find out what I could.  Here are some interesting facts you probably never knew and really could care less to know now.  Turns out there is something called a parasitic wasp and it takes over the caterpillar in order to grow.  I don't think this is exactly what happened in our case.  I think our caterpillar turned into a cocoon and the wasp was already inside of it and grew instead.  However, if you really want to be educated you can check it all out here.

So there you have it.  We were hoping for a butterfly, expecting a moth, and got a wasp.  Go figure.

Bugaboo Shout Out

Just wanted to give a shout out to Bugaboo Prints! I won this print from them 2 weeks ago and love it. They have lots of cute prints, so check them out!

Title Goes Here

I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to blog. I LOVE blogging, but lately I have just not felt up to it. Perhaps it is this list of things I need to accomplish in the few moments I have, or maybe the need to just be lazy while my kids nap. Either way, I have missed writing my entire world down in cyber space. I only have a bazillion things to say and update my 2 or 3 readers on. Hang in there. I promise I will update SOON...maybe even later today if I have a few extra minutes. For now I have dinner preparations to attend to. So for those of you who feel the need to be part of my life, here is what we are having for dinner. Make a big dish for yourself!

Italian Bake

1 pkg sweet Italian sausage, scrambled and drained
3 jars Alfredo sauce
3 cups cheese it calls for shredded Parmesan cheese I used parma/mozzarella mix.

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can diced tomatoes
1 box pene pasta boiled -aldente
basil
garlic salt

Mix everything together (makes 9x13 plus some). Bake at 350 until good and bubbly. Cover with foil at the beginning of cooking and then take off at the end to brown top. Cook time is about 50 minutes.

Hope you enjoy!

My taste buds are happy.

Looking Forward To...

...my date night with A this weekend.
...Valentine's Day. Shoog is going to be my Valentine (yay me!), and I'm busy making fun plans for us. I don't know why I'm so excited about it this year.
...my date night with dad. He's taking us girls out for valentines. Can't wait!
...Naomi consistently sleeping through the night. Soon. Very soon.
...getting back to the gym.
...seeing our family pictures taken by our awesome friend.
...spring and summer weather. It won't be here soon enough.
...Good Friday concert.
...my next glass of chocolate milk.
...seeing my new plant bloom this spring.
...worship on Sunday morning.
...learning to sew.
...reading a good book.
...Disney World

Help!

I've been a blogger for a while now, but I need some editing help for those who know how to manipulate blogger. I haven't always had this problem, but lately when I post my paragraphs all run together. When I'm writing them they look just like I want them, but when I publish the post blogger doesn't read any of it. My last post is the perfect example. I wrote the paragraph, but there is supposed to be a space between the paragraph and the stats, and then each date is supposed to be on a separate line. Anyone know how to help me??

Winter Weather On the Way

A winter storm is headed our way and I am not thrilled at all. Why you may ask? This is why... ICE. They are predicting nearly 4 inches of snow where we live and a quarter inch of ice which translates into power outages. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure playing in the snow with Levi will be fun for an hour or so. Its the other 23 hours where I sit in my cold house with no lights, heat, or means to cook that I'm dreading - oh and did I mention the newborn baby I want to keep warm and healthy. With the storm covering much of the state I'm assuming that power outages will last longer than usual. I would LOVE to be wrong. I will happily eat my words if we maintain power, but I've spent one too many nights camped out in my living room trying to stay warm by a fire that I have little faith. Guess we'll see.

Week One

Don't stress out. I promise I'm not planning on documenting every week in our life from here on out just because we have a new baby girl in the house. However, I wanted to document this week for several reasons. You don't need to know them all, but I just want to include it. Again, you can stop reading if you so desire.

• Friday, Dec. 31 - Our sweet baby girl is born. We enjoy visits from friends, but Levi is sick with a stomach bug and can't come to the hospital to meet his sister. I am sad and bummed since I had wanted to celebrate her birthday with our little family. Aaron & I celebrate New Year's in the hospital. It was a small but peaceful celebration.
• Saturday, Jan. 1 - We really want to go home today. Naomi has to have her hearing and PKU tests done at 24 hours of birth, so we aren't able to leave until early evening. We pick up Levi who is better now and he finally gets to meet his sister. He is in love and we are thrilled that he is so happy. We get home late. I'm worn out and getting anxious about being home with two little ones.
• Sunday, Jan. 2 - We decided to stay home from church since we got in so late. We have a little church service at home with just the four of us. I find out that dad, Beth, and Amy are all sick (like Levi) and now we are paranoid that the rest of us will get it. We spend the afternoon watching football and resting.
• Monday, Jan. 3 - Aaron's mom and Cara come and visit. They bring us lunch and help with Levi and Naomi. Aaron begins to feel bad in the morning and quarantines himself in our bedroom. Aaron's mom leaves. I have 2 kids by myself. I physically hurt, and I'm completely overwhelmed at taking care of both kids on my own. As the day goes on it gets worse. My friend Stephanie brings me dinner (thank you!). Naomi and I sleep in the living room since Aaron is so sick. It is a rough night to say the least, but I manage to get a few hours of sleep.
• Tuesday, Jan. 4 - I get up early to take Naomi for her first doctor's appointment. Her bilirubin count was elevated when we left the hospital so it has to be checked. My wonderful sister Amy meets me at the doctor to help out with both kids since Aaron is still recovering and couldn't come with me as planned. After the appointment Levi goes home with Amy to give me a break and I head to outpatient at the hospital for her bilirubin test. Once I arrive home I find Aaron moving around the house - a great improvement from his earlier state. I get a call from the doctor that her numbers are still high and we'll have to go again the next morning to another blood draw. We spend the rest of the day resting, napping, and waiting on Levi to return home.
• Wednesday, Jan. 5 - We get ready and head to outpatient for Naomi's second blood draw (we later get the call that her levels are going down and there is no need for us to have it tested again). The rest of the day is spent at home. Resting and taking care of a few chores. Aaron is doing much better and that makes me feel better as well. We have a family movie night and watch 101 Dalmatians. Our friend Ashley brings us dinner and gives us a few ideas to help Naomi sleep at night (she's been sleeping good, but only if she is in the Boppy pillow in our bed - which we hate, but we give in to get our sleep). We try her tricks that night and they work a for a little while, but she still ends up sleeping with us later in the night.
• Thursday, Jan. 6 - This is our first "great" day. We have nowhere we need to be and we take it easy all day. We rest and take care of a few chores. Late afternoon we head to the park, but Levi has a melt down and we leave early. That night we try Ashley's suggestions again and it works wonders. She slept in her bassinet from 11:15pm to 3:30am and then 4:30am to 8:30am. We were amazed and got some good sleep.
• Friday, Jan. 7 - Another great day. I'm finally feeling better both physically and emotionally. Aaron and Levi play outside, Naomi rests and sleeps on her own leaving me some time to myself. We go to the park after lunch and enjoy some time in the sun. That evening Pastor Alan brings us dinner and we enjoy another family movie night watching Horton Hears A Who. Naomi has another awesome night sleeping from 11pm to 4:50am!

If you bothered to read my ramblings you can tell our week started out pretty crappy. Sickness and worry overtook our home and it made life pretty difficult. The end of our week has been much better, and I'm much more relaxed with the idea of Aaron going back to work. I actually think I may be able to do this "mom of 2" thing. Here's to the new adventures in our lives.

For Gramps and Mema

My parents left Friday morning for California where they are having a much deserved getaway. That being said I'm sure they miss this little guy - I mean who wouldn't, right? So this gives me the chance to upload a few recent pictures of Levi that I think are just stinkin' cute. Our little way of saying hey to Gramps and Mema who are so far away. We hope they hare having a great trip. My mom had her gall bladder removed before they left and Levi has been pretty concerned about her telling me from time to time "Mema hurts." So here is a little Levi love from GA saying come back soon! We miss you!

On My Mind...

Today my mind is full. Full of memories and full of anticipation. Memories: Today is my Gramps' birthday. He passed away in February of 2006, and today he has been on my mind. He was a wonderful man. He led our family with a strong hand and a loving, caring, and giving heart. His death was somewhat sudden, so there are times where I feel I would have taken every opportunity to say all the things I wanted to say and all the things he needed to hear. All the things I thought he knew. I assumed he knew how much I loved him, how thankful I was to live next door to him, how much I loved his nicknames for me, how thoughtful I noticed he was, how concerned he was for his family, how much I saw his love for us, for others, for Jesus. I think about him on a regular basis, but for some reason this past week knowing his birthday was coming up the memories have come to me more often. They are happy memories that I enjoy entertaining. I only wish he was still here. To me my son and now my daughter. To give me parenting advice. To just be there when I go visit. I miss him all the time, and I'm so very thankful for all the memories that keep me comfort during times like this. Anticipation: I am SO excited about our little girl that is on the way. I won't lie. It was a total shock, but now that the shock has gone we are thrilled. I had to refrain myself from going and looking at all the little girl clothes in the store today knowing that I would probably want one of everything. I am looking forward to going to the consignment sale this week to pic up a few things for her. I'm looking forward to finding a name for her. I'm looking forward to seeing Levi be the protective big brother. I'm really looking forward to seeing her wrap herself around Aaron's heart. I think she may already have us both wrapped around her little fingers. I'm also just looking forward to the changes that are to come. Going from one kid to two. I know that transition will be difficult, but I know that the transition doesn't last forever and the rewards are beyond measurable. Our lives are going to be richly blessed by the addition of our little sweet one. I'm so excited, and just waiting with anticipation!

HOT

I had to share this when I saw it today. In the south we have been experiencing extreme temperatures making it hot, hot, HOT! To make matters worse my car broke down and for the last week I've been driving my husband's truck that has no air conditioning! Hopefully it will be fixed soon and we'll have a little relief, but until then...I'm melting!

Keeping Cool

We have no AC. That's right. 90+ degree weather and we have no air conditioning. To make it worse it has been this was since Wednesday and the part needed to fix the unit won't be available til Monday. Needless to say it is miserable. I have been spending days at my parents house, and then just have to sleep at the house. However, our fabulous friends are going out of town this weekend and offered their home to us. We are just completely blessed by their outpouring of love and generoisty. It is nice to know that we will be sleeping in comfortable beds with AC tonight! Thanks PJ & Mindy for being the great friends you are!!

Finally...

Eclipse!!! Tonight!!! Can't wait!!! So excited!!!

Get Them While They're HOT!

I know you all are dying to own your very own your very own pair of footed pajamas. If you're super excited by this post head to Target right now!

I Heart the Blogging World

I absolutely LOVE the blogging world, and especially all my favorite blogs that do giveaways. I don't mean to brag, but I just cannot believe my luck. I have WON again! This time the thanks goes out to Give Me GoodiesI have actually won two things. About two weeks ago I won a nursing clip from Modest Milk. The clip helps turn any blanket into a cover for when you are nursing. There are also lots of other uses for it. You can check out their website to view all their products.

Then today I found out that I won this awesome shelf from Andrew's Reclaimed! I get to choose between the black or cream. I really excited because my walls could definitely use a little pick me up. I'm also really excited because the shoes I won from See Kai Run arrived last week. They are adorable and I absolutely LOVE them! If you are interested in any of the blogs that I have won giveaways from you can check them out by clicking on the buttons on the right side of my blog page. Good luck!

I Won...AGAIN!!!

As the title clearly explained, I won....AGAIN!!! This time I won the Hip-T pictured here from Pink Nothings. You should check them out. They have great stories, advice, and giveaways. Thanks Pink Nothings!!

I Won!

This email is way overdue, but I had to give a shoutout to Fabulous Fun Finds. They sponsor giveaways and a few weeks ago I won the bracelet above!!! I love it! Thanks FFF!

Knee

For those of you who just want to know... Last summer on our vacation to Tampa I hurt my knee pretty bad. Well about three weeks ago I re-injured it playing softball. I went to the doctor and had fluid and blood drained from it. When I went back my ligaments still felt loose, so he ordered an MRI that I had last Monday. I went to the doctor today for those results and found out that I have a sprained ACL and MCL. I also have two places on the bone that are bruised. The GOOD news is that I need NO SURGERY! That is a huge praise because it was sounding like that was where we were headed. The bruises on the bone will heal like any other bruise, but will just take a lot longer. So everything is not 100% yet, but everything should heal in time. I have to exercise my quads to strengthen my knees, but other than that all is good. So, thanks to everyone who prayed for me! God is good and listens when we call upon His name.