The Kinker Family

2011-02-19T20:09:00.002-06:00

Korem 2-18-11 from Mon Bel Ami on Vimeo.

School's out for Summer....Almost!

2010-06-03T13:34:00.000-05:00

Sophia only has 4 days left of school!! Unbelievable! 4 more days and she will be a 1st grader! She is so excited for school to be over. However, I don't know if it's because she'll be done with kindergarten or because summer cheerleading starts the same day as the last day of school. Probably both!!

Connor is enjoying TBall. He didn't have it last weekend because it was Memorial day weekend. His favorite part is hitting the ball and he's really good at it!! He has a few more weeks to go.

Speaking of Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of it being Wayne's 4 day weekend and Sophia's 3day weekend by going camping!! Our first camping trip of the summer!! We were going to leave on Thurs, but Sophia had school on Friday so we left after school on Friday! It was a great, relaxed weekend. We came home Monday and it was perfect timing because a big storm came in just after we got home.

I am so looking forward to the summer. We have lots of camping trips planned, but I also look forward to relaxing in the backyard and eating out of our garden. But most of all, I'm looking forward to getting to spend ALL DAY with Sophia!! I miss having her home during the day.

But now, I want a nap.

Pics from Cheer Competition

2010-05-16T14:24:00.000-05:00

Here are the pics from yesterday's competition

Introducing the Best

2010-05-16T14:13:00.000-05:00

and we've only just begun!!

This is how Sophia's cheer squad's chant goes. It is very fitting.

This weekend was the State Championships for cheer. It was a great weekend!

Friday after Sophia got out of school, Connor, Sophia, my mom and I started our trip to competition! We stopped halfway to get something to eat and then back on the road. It took us almost 3.5 hrs to get there since we stopped for gas and dinner. Finally got to the hotel and that's when all the fun started.

Checked into the hotel. Got in the elevator. Drunk guys get in elevator. Drunk guy leans against door so when we get to our floor the doors don't open. Goes up another floor. Oh, did I mention i don't like elevators much. I am always afraid I'll get trapped in one. weird I know. So when the doors open on the 3rd floor, I take the kids and head for the stairs. Bad Idea! The stairs in this hotel are only for fire exits. they only lead to the outside and you have to go all the way down, outside and back around to the lobby. ARGH! So the kids and I walk around, grab a luggage cart and head back to the elevator. This time, no problems. whew.

Finally get in our room, get the luggage stashed, cheer uniform hanging, poms out of the bag to get unsquished. Mom and the kids want to go for a walk. No problem. Pool was soo crowded so we didn't even swim. Instead we went back upstairs and the kids watched tv while I checked email and mom did a breathing treatment. Finally it was bedtime. Sophia and mom shared a bed, Connor and I shared a bed. Sophia fell asleep first. Connor didn't want to go to sleep. Thankfully he finally did around 10.

Saturday morning, Sophia in all her excitement was up at 6am!!! A full hour before the alarm was set to go off. Mom, Sophia and I started getting stuff ready so when Connor got up we could go down to breakfast. Called Wayne to see where him and dad were. They were already on the road when I called at 6:15. They had left at 5:20!!! Took the kids to breakfast then Wayne and dad got there. I started getting Sophia's hair done so while I was finishing up, Mom and Connor went down with Wayne and dad so they could eat.

Sophia and I finally got done with her hair and we went down to register. Since we had about an hour before she had to be in the practice room, we went back up to our room. She was mad because I wouldn't let her play. Finally it was time to go to the practice room. All the girls from her squad were there and they were having fun taking pictures and talking. Got some great pics of the girls together.

Then it was competition time! First the Hip Hop groups went first. Then Cheer division 1 went. That's the division Sophia's in. Her squad was the last to perform and they did great!! They were so excited when they got done. Then we had a break. Yay! There was a professional photographer there doing cheer pics so we got Sophia's done. Can't wait til they come in.

After the break, the older girls had their routine to do then it was awards time! So they announced 3rd place, not our girls. 2nd place, not our girls. 1st place? Yep..our girls won!!!! Division 1 State Champions!! woohoo!!! Just seeing the look on Sophia's face when she got her medal and trophy was worth all the money and stress we've gone through in the past 16 weeks! She was soo excited.

All the squads from our gym won 1st in their divisions! We are proud of all of them. As the girls say.. "we are Dragons and we are Proud of You! Woohoo!!"

Sophia has now decided she wants to do Summer AND Fall sessions. She wants another trophy. I'm just happy we finally found something she likes!

It was a long drive home though. Both kids fell asleep about an hour into the 3hr drive and woke up about an hour before we got home. Sophia of course was still wearing her medal with her trophy next to her on the floor. Even though she said she was happy this session was over because now she doesn't have to practice, she's still doing her routine all over the house. She has watched the video of their routine over and over.

Such a proud moment for this momma.....

Time...it gets away from me.

2010-05-12T20:42:00.000-05:00

Has it really been almost 2 weeks since I lasted posted anything? hmm been a little busy.

Had a wonderful Mother's day. The weekend was kicked off by a Mother's Appreciation Sock Hop at Sophia's school. Saturday was spent doing stuff around the house and then we went out for dinner. Afterward we stopped by Michelle's to get the crafts the kids made and while we were in the driveway we saw a high speed chase. It had started in Chicago and made it's way down the freeway and the guy got off the exit by Michelle's house. The cops chased him back towards our house and the town one over from where we live got him. Thankfully no innocent bystanders were hurt.

Sunday was a great day. I got served breakfast in bed. Then I went and picked out my new eyeglasses and went to the grocery store. I know that doesn't sound very exciting but it felt good to get out alone for a few hours. When I got home, I found out Sophia had eaten my lunch so what did I have? Guacamole, chips and a strawberry daiquiri! can we say yum?

For dinner that night we had steak tacos on the grill, rice, refried beans and watermelon. Michelle came over and had dinner. Had margaritas with dinner. it was a nice relaxing night.

This whole week I have been busy helping out at school for the book fair. It has been fun. Today I helped out in Sophia's class after I got done working at the book fair. Yesterday Wayne and Connor helped out at the fair too.

Tonight we had Family Night at Cheerleading. The girls performed their routine in front of all the parents and family members who can't go to tournament. Sophia's group did great! She was so excited. Her coaches gave all the girls a certificate and Sophia even got a special mention. Pretty much given a verbal "Most Improved" award from the coaches. I'm so proud of her!

Connor started Tball last Saturday! Wayne took him and he said he did great! Connor came home and told me all about it. He has to miss this weekend since we'll be at Sophia's cheer competition, but he will get to go to all the rest! I'm glad he's finally old enough to participate in something.

Time to throw some clothes in the wash and then go to bed. Last day of working the book fair tomorrow!

Weekends go too fast

2010-05-02T19:42:00.000-05:00

At least this weekend seemed to go pretty quickly.

Yesterday we got up and made a yummy breakfast of eggs and sausage links. Then we went and bought our veggies and an outdoor rug for the deck. I had wanted to plant the veggies yesterday but then it looked like it was going to rain so I didn't get that done. The kids and I went and had dinner with Wayne at work yesterday. That was, um, fun. After that went to Michelle's house because she had a craft she wanted to do with the kids. After they finished their craft, we stayed and sat by the fire for a little bit.

Today was a little more fun. I woke up before everyone else. Sorta. The kids were awake but in their bedroom. I started the coffee and then made biscuits and gravy. Wayne had asked me to make it yesterday but the kids wanted eggs. Connor loved them! He had 2 helpings. After breakfast, I enjoyed my coffee while I read the paper. Wayne decided he wanted to go to the World War II re-enactment today. So after a 2nd trip to Menards, we met Michelle, Rod, and Sabrina at Main Square and watched the "battle". Connor Loved it!

After Wayne went to work, Sophia and I waited for Connor to get up from his nap and then we went to Target. Tomorrow is Pajama Day at school for Sophia so I had to buy her some jammies since she didn't have any appropriate for school. No shorts or tank tops. We also bought some stuff for her teacher since this is Teacher Appreciation Week. She was so excited to pick things out.

I made pork chops on the grill and made honey glazed carrots and mashed potatoes to go with it. It was so yummy. Sophia had 2 helpings of pork chops. Connor actually ate all his dinner too.

Now the kids are in bed and I am watching True Blood. They are replaying last season's episodes. I can't wait for the new season to start. Just a month and a half longer!!

What Grows in Your Garden

2010-05-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to Menards and bought our veggie plants for the garden. We also bought more sand for the kids' sandbox. They were happy. Today we bought the parts to the rain barrel.

So what did we buy to plant in our garden?? I'm so glad you asked!

We have three tomato plants. 2 Early Girl plants and 1 Big Boy plant. Wayne and I thought that was funny because it fit perfectly with the kids LOL Sophia was our early girl and Connor is our big boy. LOL I guess we're dorks like that.

Okay so we also got 2 bell pepper plants, 2 broccoli plants, 2 jalapeno plants and some basil plants. Connor and I had already started the seeds for the carrots and radishes so we just have to wait for them to grow. Of course we also have strawberries from last year that already have strawberries growing. Have to wait for them to get bigger and ripen. WOOHOO!!

This is going to be a great garden this year. We have also planted something new every year we have done a garden. The first year it was the whole garden. Last year we did cucumbers and corn. They both failed pretty miserably. This year the new things are the carrots, broccoli and radishes. Should be fun since I have never grown root veggies before. :)

Hopefully tomorrow Wayne will have the rain barrel ready to go! I can't wait to see it in action. I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as everything is going.

A day out with my little boy!

2010-04-30T14:27:00.000-05:00

Connor and I went on a little lunch date today. Hey why not? Sophia and Wayne were at the class field trip.

First we went to the Girl Scout office/store to get some stuff for the troop. Wow was that an expensive trip, but now I have all the patches, pins and petals the girls have earned. They will be so happy! Now I just need to get the money from those parents ordering uniforms and I will get those next.

Then we went to Old Time Pottery. Got a few things there for the house and yard. That was fun.

Then the cute boy and I went to lunch. Applebees!! Connor had chicken fingers and fries. I had 3 cheese chicken penne with a ceasar salad. For dessert (yes we had dessert), Connor had a chocolate mousse shooter, I had a strawberry cheesecake shooter. Both were delicious!

When we came home, Wayne was home and my sister, Kim, was here. Now we are getting ready to go pick Sophia up in a few minutes from school. I can't wait to hear all about her field trip!

Going green

2010-04-29T21:39:00.000-05:00

What happens when you take a 6.5 yr old girl and her parents to the Smart House at the Science museum?

A renewed effort to be better at helping the environment. Stop laughing. We are really going to try this.

What are we going to do you might ask. Well let me tell you.

First of all, Wayne has made a compost bin of sorts. He had already started it but now he's actually going to do it the right way. So now we have a definite bin and we learned what we can and can't put in it.

Next, he is going to make a rain barrel. He will set it up under one of the downspouts from the gutters. We will then use that water for the garden, grass, whatever. Just not for drinking or cooking. That would be gross.

We started this part a couple years ago, but we have been planting a garden. We have already started seeds for carrots and radishes. We will also be planting tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and not sure what else. Oh we also have strawberry plants that we planted last year. They are already growing and have about 2-3 dozen flowers on them. I can't wait!

As we do more, I will be sure to post about it. I will also post on the progress of the garden this year.

Since we are talking about food. I figure I could add what we had for dinner tonight. We are also trying to eat better as best we can. LOL It's not going too well but tonight we did well. I made turkey burgers on the grill and we had corn on the cob. For "dessert" we had grapes. The kids loved it!

Off to do laundry and then hopefully head to bed.

New and Improved? Well maybe.....

2010-04-29T14:26:00.002-05:00

Ah Spring. What better time to start over than Spring, right? Of course.

A lot has happened in the Kinker household since I last posted. After all it has been almost a year.

Where shall I start.... ah yes, the kids.

Connor is doing wonderful. He brings laughter and love every day. He is quite possibly the funniest kid I have ever met. Sure I might be a LITTLE biased, but I hear it from others too. Especially from his Uncle Don who always insists I get Connor into acting/modeling. Of course we recently found out that Connor has some allergies. Explains the constant "colds" he's been having. He's allergic to dogs, cats and dust mites which unfortunately meant we had to find a new home for the cat. more to come on the cat(s) later. Overall he's doing great. Takes his meds like a champ(nose spray) and rarely complains.

Connor starts Tball next month and we are really looking forward to it! he's going to have so much fun.

Sophia is almost done with Kindergarten. This year has been both a struggle and full of excitement! Sophia has proven to be quite the smarty pants. She is the top reader in her class, reading at a 2nd grade level. In February she was chosen to do a ribbon cutting ceremony at school because she was the top reader out of all the Kindergarten classes!! She's also excelling in other areas in school as well. We have been struggling with behavior issues but we think we have gotten them under control for the most part.

Sophia has been doing cheerleading for the past 3 months. She has a big cheer competition coming in up 2 weeks! She's enjoying but for those that know Sophia personally, she can be a bit stubborn about things. She wants to take the summer off and then possibly start up again in the fall.

Wayne has been working hard, both at his job and getting the yard ready for planting the garden and whatnot. We are trying to be more "green" and coming up with ideas on how we can do that. So look for posts from Wayne about all of that.

I'm done with work for the year. This tax season went so quickly. Now that I'm not working, I've gotten more involved at Sophia's school. PTA, Girl Scouts, helping out in her class. I am really enjoying it. I even went to the state PTA convention this year and had a lot of fun! It's all keeping me busy.

So now about the cats. Unfortunately, they are both gone now. Houdini ran away twice before Christmas. He came back once but then disappeared again. Unfortunately, Wayne found him dead in the garage while we were doing some spring cleaning. :( I am so sad about it, but at least now I know where he is. He is buried next to my peonies in the backyard. RIP Houdini.

The kitten, who never really had a definite name, was taken to the no kill shelter. It was a lot harder on me than I thought it was. I never really bonded with her since Houdini was my cat. I cried so hard when I had to sign the paperwork to turn her over.

So now we have fish. No definite names on them except I think one is named Ben 10. Have I mentioned yet that Connor is Obsessed with all things Ben 10?? Yep.

I have to go pick Sophia up from school and take her to get new glasses. Hopefully I will be back again later or tomorrow to report on our "Going Green" efforts.

Summer

2009-08-02T15:44:00.001-05:00

Summer break is quickly coming to an end. Sophia starts kindergarten in 24 days! We've had a good summer.

Sophia spent a week by herself with her grandparents and then Connor and I went down to join them. Had fun. The most exciting part was when sophia got up on waterskis with Uncle Paul! That girl is fearless!! Maybe next year she will do it alone.

The other thing Sophia is looking forward to is Cheer Camp! She is going to a one day(5hour) camp. Then a week later she will get to cheer at the first home football game for highland high. She is so excited.

Trying to think of some fun things I can do with Connor while Sophia is in school all day. Maybe I can sign him up for a sport or something.

Ok kids are fighting over the slide. Gotta run.

Yard sale and missing my girl

2009-07-24T20:50:00.002-05:00

So today I went to my friend Katie's to do a yard sale. We did it from 9-4. I only made $12.95. Bummer. I hope tomorrow is better. I won't be there on Sunday because I'm going to the lake.

Speaking of the lake, Sophia has been down there with her grandparents since Tues! I miss her so very much. This is the longest she has EVER been away from me. When Connor was born, she was only gone for 4 days! I cried almost all the way home from Todd's on Tuesday morning after I dropped her off. I missed her already. So I can't wait to see her!!

Connor, Billy and I will be driving down on Sunday morning, then Wayne will be joining us on Tues since he has to work. Then he will drive home Wed evening. I'm not sure if the kids and I are staying longer or not. Probably not. Guess it depends on how things are going.

Well I'm tired and need to get some rest before tomorrow.

Update

2009-07-08T09:53:00.001-05:00

4th of July was great this year despite the rain. Went to the Highland parade on Friday night. Kids had a blast! Saturday we went to the Whiting parade. Connor enjoyed it. Sophia was tired and spent the whole parade sitting on Aunt Marilyn's lap.

After the parade we came home and had friends over for a BBQ. It was fun but most everyone left early so we over to Todd's and partied with the family. We had so much fun and didn't get home til midnight!!

Yesterday Sophia had a routine hearing test at Childrens. It went really well. The audiologist thinks she may not have to come back. Fingers crossed!

After her appt we went back and spent the day with mom and dad. So tired today!

So that's about it.

Testing this out...

2009-06-20T08:50:00.001-05:00

Just uploaded an app to the iPod so I could post here. Seeing if it works!

An update

2009-06-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a brief(maybe) summary of what is going on at Casa de Kinker!

Sophia graduated from Preschool at the end of May. She is now officially a Kindergartener! woohoo. She is enjoying her summer vacation so far. The best part is that she has actually started riding her bike and is showing a small interest in learning to ride without the training wheels. So far she just freaks out.

Connor is finally done with speech therapy. His last day of that was 2 days before Sophia's last day of school. He's also enjoying the summer. We have slowly started potty training. It's going VERY slowly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will have him done by end of summer. wish us luck.

Wayne has been working a lot. Picked up some overtime here and there. It's helped. Sunday is his birthday. Sucks that his bday and Father's day are the same day but he's okay with it. We are going camping for the week as his birthday gift. :) We bought him a weed whacker a few weeks ago as an early Father's day gift.

I've been busy too. The first weekend in June I went on a whirlwind trip to Massachusetts. I went to meet a friend that I met online and have known for 7 yrs!! We are best friends but have never met in person. It was great. It was like I had always been a part of the family. I flew in on Friday afternoon, spent all day Saturday in Boston and then flew home on Sunday evening. It was too short because I wanted to see more, but just long enough because I missed my kiddos. Yes I went alone!!! Jules and i have already made plans for next year at this time for us to get together again but next time I'm taking Wayne and the Kids. :)

The biggest news we have is that we bought a MINIVAN!!! I love it. It's a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. it's soo roomy and comfy. It has plenty of room for the kids and has stow and go seats so we can fold down the back seats and put stuff back there. We also paid off our Saturn this month!! Today actually. It felt soo good but would have felt better if we hadn't just added on another car payment. Oh well. We really needed a 2nd car AND something bigger!! Love it!!

Lilke I said earlier, we are going camping next week. We will be gone from June 21-28. I can't wait. A whole week in the tent, swimming in the lake or pool, hanging out w/ just Wayne and the kids! it's going to be great!!

well, my fingers aren't functioning very well tonight for some reason so I must end here!! If you've made it this far! Great!!!!

Helping Save babies and so can you!!

2009-04-23T23:04:00.001-05:00

Once again, that time of year has come. Sophia and I(and probably Connor) are doing the March of Dimes walk. We have done it every year since 2004 when Sophia was the county ambassador. Every year we choose a child to walk in memory of as well as in honor of Sophia. This year, we are walking in memory of Ronan Ivey. His parents are friends of ours. Sweet Ronan was born too soon and only lived a short time but he touched so many lives.

Sophia and I set our goal for $500 this year. We are half way there and the walk is in 3 days!!! If you would like to donate, please go to our site

www.marchforbabies.org/Sophiasmommy

Any donation is appreciated. A little goes a long way!!!!

I am planning to Twitter our walk progress as well. If you want to follow along go to: twitter.com/CSMomma

Happy bday?

2009-03-05T13:28:00.002-06:00

So Yesterday was my birthday. It started out good. The middle, not so great. The end..great.

I had to work yesterday which was okay. I was only there 3.5 hrs. When I got there, I had gifts on my desk :) Marcy bought me a small bunch of flowers. Katie gave me a gift bag with goodies in it. It had a little slinky, a reed diffuser, jelly belly jelly beans, cute socks(that match ones i got sophia) and a picture frame. :) So cute.

Then this is when my day turned sour. We went to my parents so Wayne could go with dad to get the RV filled. When dad backed it up, he got it stuck in the mud. SO Dad and Wayne spent almost 3 hrs, yes 3 HOURS, trying to dig it out!!! Finally, they called a tow truck! I was pissed! We were supposed to go to the mall yesterday so Wayne could get new glasses. THAT didn't happen because he was digging out the RV. We were all supposed to go out to dinner for my bday. Mom and Dad didn't go.

We were supposed to meet my sister Kim at Red Robin at 5:30-5:45. We didn't leave Mom's til 5:45 because Wayne had to clean up and change clothes. Luckily I had ran home and got him clean clothes. Finally got to the restaurant, ordered our dinners, drank my pina colada and enjoyed ourselves. The only bad part is the waiter forgot to take my burger off the ticket because I had a coupon for a free one for my bday. Then my sister had asked them to sing for my birthday. They didn't! I was both sad and happy about that. Kim got me a body wash set for my bday.

Wayne had said he would get me the Wii Fit for my birthday. We went to one Target, didn't have it. Went to Best Buy, didn't have it. Went to Game Stop by our house, nope. Target by us, nope. I did however get a yummy Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks while there though. :) FINALLY, we went to Game Crazy. Found it there!!! WOOHOO. Since the kids had fallen asleep in the car, we put them to bed when we got home and then I set up the wii fit. It's awesome! I had so much fun figuring out the different exercises and stuff. My favorite so far? Hula Hoop!! :)

So except for the part in the middle, I guess it wasn't a bad day. Just would have liked to have done something besides watch my husband dig out a friggen RV on my bday. lol

Wii!!!!

2009-02-12T15:39:00.002-06:00

So yesterday, Wayne and I bought a Wii!! It's our bday gifts to each other. Ok so my bday isn't until March and his isn't until June. We just figured since we had the money to get it now, we would get it. OMG are we having fun with it! LOL We got it hooked up around 4pm yesterday afternoon and played it til around 10:30!! We only stopped long enough to eat dinner. We've been having a blast playing the Wii sports that came with it. We also rented Mario and Sonic Summer Olympics. That's been pretty fun as well. I told him when I get paid, I am going to get the Wii Fit. One of the girls at the chiro's office has it and she said she lost 10 lbs in the first 2-3 weeks she had it! :) My favorite part of the Wii is that it makes you actually get up off your butt to play. Tennis got ya moving, boxing was good for cardio. LOL

I'm sure this is how we'll be spending our days off for a little while LOL

Neti Neti

2009-02-08T10:47:00.003-06:00

So day one of the neti pot didn't go so well. I was just too stuffed up for it to do anything.

However! This morning it worked like a charm! It was fabulous. I won't go into the gross details about it, but I can now breathe in AND out of my nose. Still a little congested but not like before. It's lovely. :) Maybe I'll actually be able to smell again and my food won't taste so gross. LOL

Wayne is trying it now(yes I cleaned it). I'm curious to see how he feels about it.

Crazy days

2009-02-07T16:39:00.002-06:00

So it's been pretty crazy around here. Tomorrow is my first day off from work in almost 2 weeks! I'm not complaining much though. It's been worth it. I'm really hoping for a decent bonus this year so I can get the lap top I want. :)

Of course, there is one downfall to working this week. All the sick people who have come into our office! ACK. Of course I ended up with a horrible cold. It's starting to get better. Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow..finally!

So to combat my cold and as an experiment of sorts, I went out and bought a neti pot. It's a little pot that you put saline water in and let the water run from one nostril and out the other. It's gravityfed and so far it's been, um, interesting. I don't think I was doing it right at first because the water kept running to the back of my throat and then I would gag. Then I came online, found a video of how I'm supposed to hold my head and it worked much better. I'm sure as I do it more and I'm not as clogged up, it will work better. Wayne is going to use it too in hopes that it helps with the multiple sinus infections he gets. I'm just hoping it helps with my allergies and the occasional cold I get. :)

Kids are doing good. Sophia had school pictures on Friday. She was so excited because the kids who are going to kindergarten next year got to wear a cap and gown for their pics. She came home all excited because hers was PINK! Her favorite color. I can't wait to see how they came out. She's been such a good girl. We have a new routine at night now. Every night at 6pm, we curl up on the couch together and watch How It's Made for an hour. Then we watch Food Network or Discovery channel until it's time for the kids to go to bed. Connor comes and goes during that time. Most of the time he is in their bedroom watching cartoons or playing with his batman stuff.

Connor had his last session of OT on Thurs. It was a bit sad because we had to say good bye to Elona for the 2nd time. She was Sophia's OT as well. We did promise to keep in touch so we have exchanged emails. I made sure to get a picture of her and the kids together. I'm going to send her a copy. We will miss her. She has been a part of our lives in some way for 5 yrs. It started when she started OT with Sophia in the NICU. :)

Well better go make dinner for the munchkins. Unless they aren't hungry yet. :)

The Demon has left the building....

2009-01-15T17:22:00.001-06:00

The demon that has possessed my daughter that is! LOL

For the longest time now, Sophia has just been such a handful. She wouldn't listen, threw fits, cried, didn't want anything to do with me or her dad, and wouldn't eat very much at meals. Well for the past week, it's been like dealing with a totally different kid! She's been so good. *knock on wood*

Some examples of her better behavior? How about the past 3 days she has had not one but 2(and even 3rd) helpings of dinner. Monday night I made chicken alfredo and she had 3 helpings!!! Wow. She's also been doing things the first time I ask her to do something. Not waiting til I've said it 3 or 4 times. She's more polite now. She has started putting her dish in the sink after she's done eating. She even came to me the other day and told me she wasn't going to pick her nose or put her toys in her mouth anymore. This was after she got in trouble for biting the feet of her Barbies and chewing on the accessories.

The most amazing part of all this? She has a 2nd molar coming in!! She has only complained about it hurting her once and even then she said it wasn't bad. I don't care what has caused the change, but I'm loving it. I'm going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts!

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

2009-01-14T12:44:00.002-06:00

So it's snowing today. A Lot! Not thrilled, but at least now I am home from work and Sophia is home from school and I don't have to drive in it again til tomorrow! UGH.

Tax season is officially underway for me. I did my first return of the year on Monday. Today I had a guy come in that I did his return last year. He requested me when he came in. Tomorrow I have an appt to do a return for a lady I did last year AND her friend made an appt with me tomorrow as well. So I have back to back appts. That should keep me busy for at least an hour LOL Sure beats doing fake practice problems.

Kids are doing well. I'm so proud of Sophia because she is getting better at writing her name. They have to write their names on the tops of their worksheets at school and I've noticed a drastic improvement. She still needs to work on her H's but that's okay.

Connor just keeps getting funnier and funnier every day. He constantly makes me laugh. Yesterday he was running around in his pull up yelling Connor's Naked, Connor's naked!! Silly boy.

Well, better go get lunch and hot chocolate ready. Sophia and Wayne are outside playing in the snow. I was hoping Connor would go back to sleep since he fell asleep in the car, but doesn't look like that's happening. :(

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T08:52:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year to all my friends and family. I hope 2009 holds better things for you all!

For NYE, we took the kids to the Science museum in Chicago. Boy was THAT a mistake! Ugh. It was a bit crowded. I can handle that, but I just couldn't handle how rude people were! At one point we were getting on an elevator and some lady rammed my double stroller with her little umbrella stroller so that she could get on the elevator first! UM hello, we're going to the same floor!!! And don't get my started on the number of kids, little kids, who were allowed to just run willy nilly around the place. We're talking kids Connor's age and younger! Egads. I told Wayne I want to get a museum membership so we can go whenever we want and not have to wait til a free day to go. That was just crazy!

Once we got home, I realized that my chicken had not defrosted so I went to McDonald's to get dinner. Then I had to go back out to the grocery store because I forgot to pick up the stuff for chili cheese dip! Yummy. We had decided to let the kids stay up figuring neither one would make it to midnight. Yeah okay! lol

Sophia crashed in our bed at 9:30, Connor made it to midnight and beyond!! When we put him to bed at 12:10, he cried. He was just a ball of energy. Poor little one though had a stuff nose that woke him up at 2:15 and 2:45. Gave him some meds and he's still asleep. :) Mommy's little night owl!

Oh and we did have one visitor last night. Kris came over. It was nice to see her. She brought the kids a little thing of candy from her and Richanne. Connor loved his and kept wanting some, but at 11pm, that wasn't an option. I did give him a couple of gummy bears though. :)

So now I am going to go make coffee and breakfast for my family. Wonder how late my little party animal will sleep. :)

Ho Ho Ho

2008-12-22T14:24:00.002-06:00

Christmas is only 3 days away!

I'm finally done with all my shopping! Yippie! Wayne said he still needs to get my stocking stuffers. Oh and I have to get the stuff for the cranberry jello. I have everything bought for Christmas eve dinner. except plates and silverware, but I think I might just pull out the good dishes. :) I can also just use our silverware and not have to spend the extra money on plastic. :)

I'm also excited because Wayne and I actually get to go see Twilight tonight...finally!! Ugh. My mom is going to watch the kids so we can go. So excited about going.

All Shook up!

2008-12-15T10:07:00.002-06:00

Now I remember why I hate living in NW Indiana! Winter.

I was taking Sophia to school this morning. Since we were running a little late, I decided to take the freeway there. No biggie usually. Get on and take the next exit. I don't even have to actually get ON the freeway. So we're driving, almost to the exit. The car in front of me(about 3 car lengths) slows down to almost a stop. As I apply my brake, BAM I hit a patch of ice that sends the car spinning!!! OMG. I know I said OMG and Oh shit about a million times. Thank God we were at the low part of the exit and just spun into the grass. Also thankful that the car behind me was several car lengths back as well. So we didn't hit anything or get hit by anyone. Once we stopped spinning, I put the car in park for a few minutes. Calmed myself and Sophia down. Then waited for the cars to pass and proceeded to take Sophia to school.

Can you believe with all the traffic behind me, NO ONE STOPPED!!! Not a single F'n person!

I got Sophia to school, told her teacher's aide what happened. I nearly in tears while talking to her. She gave me a big hug and said that she would keep an extra eye on Sophia. :) I love Mrs Sherry. She's soo sweet.

I was also supposed to go to my chiro appt today but called and cancelled. I know I would have been way too tense for an adjustment today.

So now I'm too scared to drive anywhere. Mom wants me and Sophia to meet her for lunch, but I don't know. We'll see how I feel after Sophia gets home from school.

I'm done.....sorta!

2008-12-05T17:31:00.002-06:00

Went Christmas shoppig today! I got everything I wanted to get for Connor. I had to order his basketball hoop online though. The good thing is that I had a free shipping code from Toys r us so even with getting it shipped I still paid the same as I would in the store. I just couldn't find it ANYWHERE!!!

So now all I have left is Sabrina, Bill, my parents and Wayne! Yippie!! I even got stocking stuffers today. go me!

okay off to cook dinner.

It's been a long time....

2008-12-02T19:07:00.002-06:00

Nothing really exciting to write about lately I guess. Just been busy trying to get shopping done, getting ready for thanksgiving(which was great, more later) and working.

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. For Sophia at least. I have a few things I still need to get Connor and then I have our respective grab bags. I also have my parents and my grandmother to buy for. I should have it all done by this time next week. Hopefully.

I've also started working on my Christmas cards. I had photo cards made from snapfish. I took the picture of the kids. They came out great!! I can't wait for everyone to get one. :)

Thanksgiving was great! We went out to my mom's on Wed night. Thurs morning we got up and started getting everything ready. Sophia was so excited that she was at up 6:30 with Grandma making the turkey. Grandma even let her have ICE CREAM for breakfast. I swear my mom does not know the word no with that girl!

We all had a great time. The guys did some skeet shooting. We played pool and hung out with my brother and my nephews. My sister, Michelle, had brought stuff for the kids to make ornaments. Sophia had a blast with that. Connor could care less. He was more interested in the dinosaurs Grandma got him.

Friday was nice because everyone that was there on Thurs were gone. So we just hung out and played cards and watched tv. We were supposed to go home Fri night but we started playing a game and next thing we knew, it was 9pm!! So we stayed another night.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. We put our Christmas tree up Sunday afternoon. It looks nice. We're going to put the other tree up downstairs and let the kids decorate it how they want to! :) That should be interesting. Sophia and I made ornaments for it. She wants to put multi colored lights on it and multicolored ball ornaments. Then we are going to string popcorn and cranberries to put on it! It will be nice because we're having Christmas eve here so we'll have a tree to decorate the basement during the party!

Well Sophia is waiting on me to watch a Christmas movie.

Yay! Finally!

2008-11-12T14:22:00.003-06:00

So I have been waiting forever(or what seems like) for my boss from the tax place to call about coming in for training. We have to go in every year around this time to learn the new tax rules/laws and the new software. Finally he called today!! I'm so damn excited. Now I can stop panicking that he's not going to call.

So I go back Tues and Wed from noon til I decide to go home! Normally I'd have to leave by 2:15pm but Wayne is off those 2 days next week. Then the following week, Wayne is on vacation on Tues and Wed so I can work as long as I want on those days too! :) So freaking excited. yay me!

"Hook these 2 little kids up"

2008-10-30T14:09:00.003-05:00

That is the phrase I heard over and over again from my nephew last night. It pays to have a kid who's popular in school. :)

Last night we went to Billy's high school for their safe trick or treat! It was nice. The kids either paid $2 or brought 6 canned goods(which we did) and they got to walk along 2 hallways of classrooms and trick or treat. Sophia wore her Dorothy costume and Connor wore his foorball player costume. Of course last night, he was "George". You see, on his costume is #7. One of the starters on the high school team, George, is #7. So as we're walking along with Billy he would say, "Hook these 2 little kids up. They are my cousins. He's dressed as George". And the girls would put handfuls of candy in their bags!! It was pretty funny until we got to where the real George was sitting!! He thought it was funny and I wish we had brought the camera so we could have taken their picture together. Of course, he gave them a handful of candy as well! LOL

After trick or treating in the hallways, they had a little haunted house that was 50 cents. So the 5 of us(billy, sophia, connor, wayne and i) went. Mom and Michelle stayed and guarded the candy and our coats. It was okay for a 50cent haunted house. LOL Sophia said she wasn't afraid of the monsters, but the dark. Silly girl. Connor didn't seemed phased either.

Oh and I can't end this without mentioning Billy's costume. Yes, he wore one. He had on a red ribbon bow on his head and 2 pieces of cardboard wrapped in Christmas paper. Each one hung on the front and back of him. There was a tag on each side that read, "God's Gift to Women"! Funny kid. :)

Sophia and Mommy

2008-10-28T22:06:00.002-05:00

Sophia and I had a "date" today. It started with lunch at Applebees. We both ordered mini cheeseburgers. Hers was the kids meal. She had broccoli with hers, I had broccoli cheese soup. It sucked. But over all the meal was good. Then we had dessert shooters. Sophia had chocolate mousse. I had key lime pie. wish I had ordered the chocolate mousse too.

After lunch, we went to the movies. We saw High School Musical 3. It was really good! The best part? Being the only 2 people in the theatre watching it! Good call going while all the other kids were in school. (sophia doesn't go to school on tues and thurs in case you're wondering why she wasn't in school) As Sophia said after the movie. That was awesome!!

After the movie, we went to Starbucks. I got a cafe mocha, she got a kids hot chocolate. The lady who made ours was great. She gave Sophia hers and said it was at a drinkable temp because they like to keep the little ones lips intact. LOL I thought that was funny. Then we went to the mattress store to get an idea of how much Sophia's mattress set will cost us. Oh yeah and we went to the evil once upon a child. We bought books.

Then we came home. Made dinner. Carved out 2 of the 4 pumpkins. We'll do the other 2 tomorrow. Sophia didn't get to see hers when it was done because she had to go to bed. School tomorrow. :) I carved Ariel into hers. Tomorrow I think we're either doing Cinderella or the castle. We're not sure yet.

Tomorrow night we're going to the safe trick or treat!! That should be fun!

Getting ready for Halloween!

2008-10-25T21:03:00.002-05:00

We took the kids for their halloween costumes today. Originally I had gone to Toys R Us in hopes of finding a cheap football helmet for Connor to wear with the costume we were going to make out of Billy's jersey. As we walked into the store I saw the costumes. Right there in front of me was a football player costume!! I couldn't believe! We had looked everywhere and here it was! I snatched it right up. It was only $10. Oh but wait!!! They had all the halloween stuff 40% off! So it was only $6!! Bonus! So I decided that since the costumes were on sale that Sophia could be Sharpay from HSM. Had the costume in the cart and we see the Dorothy from Wizard of Oz costume. She wanted that instead! I was shocked! For weeks now she's been asking to be Sharpay. Now she wants Dorothy??? Fine. Plus it was cheaper. Regularly $19.99...got it for $11.99 on sale! Woo! So I got both costumes for less than what I would have paid regular price for hers.

Wednesday night we're going to Billy's high school for their safe trick or treat. The kids pay $2 or bring 6 canned goods and get to trick or treat from class room to class room. A lot better than going from car to car for trunk or treat. At least they will be inside a warm building.

Friday we are going to Uncle Todd's neighborhood to T or T. I grew up on the street he lives on and we go there every year. I can't wait to take my little football player and Dorothy. :) Oh and Sophia has a little toy yorkie(no it's not real) that is going to be Toto. :) She takes that thing EVERYWHERE. Aunt Michelle got it for her birthday. She named it Princess and we even bought a pink and rhinestone collar for it. She sleeps with it every night too. :) If only we could have a real one. maybe when she's older.

Looking forward to halloween but at the same time, I'm ready for it to be over.

Field Trip!

2008-10-20T10:51:00.002-05:00

Today was Sophia's class field trip! We went to the pumpkin patch! Even Connor and Daddy got to go.

It was a lot of fun. When we first got there, they split the class in half. So half went to the petting zoo and the other half went to the bouncehouse. It was shaped like a pumpkin. They were all in the same area, just divided by the fence. I got lots of pics of the kids feeding the goats and some of the kid in the bounce "pumpkin". After that, we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Wayne managed to NOT fall off this time! It was fun. All 4 of us got a pumpkin. Good times had by all. Now we're home and the kids and Wayne are playing in the backyard. I'm uploading pics from today and then getting my coffee and heading outside as well!! :)

I'll be back later with pics. I even got one of Sophia's "boyfriend", Noah. :)

Whole lotta nothing.

2008-10-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

So the kids party went really well! They got a lot of nice gifts. I've actually managed to keep them from opening ALL of them at once. just most of them lol. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The mommy was exhausted, but that's okay.

Today the kids had their annual check ups. We saw a new doctor today. Same practice, different doctor. Loved him! He was soo nice and was awesome with the kids. My only concern is that he's older than I expected so I hope he doesn't retire anytime soon. I hate finding a doctor I like and then they move or retire. The thing I liked best is that he is okay with me delaying Sophia's MMR and chicken pox vax until next year. Both kids did get flu shots today. The nurse who did them was AWESOME! She was so fast and neither kid even made a peep. Sophia only got mad because she told her to turn her and well, Sophia likes to watch! So she was mad that she couldnt watch. Weird kid. but she got to watch Connor get his so that made it okay i guess.

So as the title says, whole lotta nothing going on. The rest of the week I have nothing planned but chiro appts. Friday night is the big football game for the boys. Send positive game winning vibes to them. This is a really HUGE game and I really hope they win. Saturday we are going to a cookout and Sunday I'm not sure yet. All depends on if Kim goes to the game on Friday.

oh...one other piece of news. My mom and dad had a friend of theirs ask if they knew anyone who needed a twin bed. Mom called and asked if we wanted it. I said yes!!! So now Connor will have a twin bed and Sophia will have a full bed. The twin has a mattress they are including. We will get Sophia's mattress and boxspring when we get our tax refund. No more baby beds!!!! wow.

Happy Birthday Connor!!

2008-10-09T10:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy!! Today he turns 2 yrs old!! Where has the time gone?

Nothing too exciting planned for his bday. Saturday is their party so just like Sophia, we're not really doing anything today. Maybe we'll get McDonalds or something like we did on Sophia's birthday.

It's hard to believe it's been 2 yrs since I gave birth to that sweet little boy. I just hope he keeps his sweet, laid back temperament and doesn't go all monster toddler on me! lol

And now for pics!!

Connor at 1 day old

Connor at 2 yrs old!

What a day!

2008-10-05T16:58:00.001-05:00

So today we went to Buckley Homestead for their fall festival! It's a living history farm where people dress in late 1700's- early 1800's attire and all the stuff that goes with it. It's really neat. We all had fun...well after Wayne's little mishap on the hay ride that scared the crap out of Sophia and I.

So we get our tickets for the hayride and head over to the wagon. Connor is excited because it's being pulled by a tractor, Sophia's just excited to be on a hayride. So we're the last ones on. The driver starts to go and the girl who takes the tickets notices that the steps to get onto the wagon are hung up on the side of the wagon. Wayne, being the nice guy he is, gets up to help her unhook them. In the meantime, she tells the driver to stop. When he does, the wagon lurches and sends Wayne over the front of wagon, headfirst. Some how he managed to miss the wheels of the wagon and came out the other side. Scary. He only has a bruise under his thumbnail and his hand is a litle sore. Another few inches either way and he would have been seriously hurt. I don't even want to think what would have happened if he had been ran over by the wheels. :( Sophia freaked out and started crying. I was close to tears. Connor had no idea what was going on as he was facing the opposite way!! Everyone on the wagon was very concerned that he was hurt bad, but when he came up laughing, we all breathed a sigh of relief. The tractor driver was shook up pretty bad. He didn't hear us yelling for him to stop after Wayne fell off (he had kept going for some reason after stopping the first time).

So after that, everything was fine and we enjoyed the day. It didn't even matter that it started a light mist of rain at one point. Sophia had a blast! She got to make a piece of rope, dip a candle and "wash" clothes on an old fashioned washboard and ringer. Then her and Connor got to paint a picture at the old school house. We had fun.

I wish we could have stayed later but Wayne had to work today so we headed home. Connor was asleep I think before we left the parking lot. He was wiped out.

They have another big thing in December for Christmas and I hope we can go to that!! Shouldn't be bad if we dress warm. :)

The Boys' Write in Today's paper!

2008-10-04T14:43:00.000-05:00

Ballentine runs Warriors to win over Whiting

By HILLARY SMITH
hsmith@nwitimes.com
219.933.3233 | Saturday, October 04, 2008 | No comments posted.

CALUMET TWP. | Darcell Ballentine told his fullback to make a hole just big enough for the 6-foot, 190-pound running back to slip through.

"I told my fullback if he opened up the hole, I'd keep my feet moving," Ballentine said.

His feet, and the football, found the end zone, good enough for a two-point conversion, the difference in Calumet's 14-13 win over Whiting in Greater South Shore Conference play on Friday night.

Ballentine also picked up the Times No. 8 Warriors' other two big offensive plays -- a 43-yard touchdown run and a 36-yard scamper to set up Calumet's second score.

"He's a powerful runner, he's an elusive runner and he wanted the football," Calumet coach Ivan Zimmer said. "You could just tell the determination in his body posture and he's a tremendous runner."

Calumet had lost seven straight in the series and been outscored 292-56 in those losses, but a late turnover helped stop the streak.

Nate Fowler, the Warriors' quarterback who doubles as a linebacker, recovered a Whiting fumble with 1:40 remaining in the game to set up Ballentine's long run to the 1-yard line. Fowler then plunged into the end zone to make the score 13-12.

"After we got that fumble, I knew I had to make a run for it," Ballentine said. "I told my line to step it up and I put my faith in my line."

Whiting's defense held the Warriors (6-1, 5-0) to seven first downs and 143 yards overall, and kept top Calumet threat George Ezell to minus-27 yards rushing.

"Calumet's been noted for big plays," Whiting coach Jeff Cain said. "These guys you're not going to stop, you're going to hopefully contain them. ... I thought our guys did a good job. If you had told me we were going to give up 14 points, I'd have been a happy guy."

Prior to the last 1:40, the Oilers (5-2, 4-2) had dominated the game offensively. With 136 yards from quarterback Dan Macon in the air and another 57 on the ground, Whiting picked up 16 first downs. Alex Leddesma led the Oilers' ground game with 76 yards and a touchdown.

Whiting scored its last touchdown on a 1-yard Leddesma run at 7:23 of the third quarter, but Ezell blocked the extra-point kick.

No. 8 Calumet 14, Whiting 13
Darcell Ballentine plunged into the end zone for the winning two-point conversion with 32 seconds left.

More potty training goodness!

2008-10-04T13:05:00.002-05:00

Connor used the potty again this morning! He was laying in bed with us and he said he had to go potty. So Wayne took him in the bathroom, put him on the potty chair and before he could tuck his peepee in, Connor peed a little on the floor. Wayne managed to get him pointed in the right direction(lol) and he went on the potty instead of the floor!! YAY!!! I'm so proud of him. He's definitely doing better than Sophia at this age which is awesome!!!

Woot!! Warriors Win!!

2008-10-03T22:07:00.002-05:00

After trailing by 7 with less than a minute left in the game, the Calumet Warriors pulled it out in the end. Final score - 14-13!!! Woohoo! It was an awesome game. What made it even more exciting is that this is the first time they have beat Whiting since 2000!!! I'm soooo happy for the boys!!

Go Warriors!!

2008-10-03T11:51:00.002-05:00

Here's an article about Billy's football team helping out the flood victims. The bolded Red parts are about Billy. Dykhuizen is Billy's best friend, Matt.

Calumet players help out without being asked

BY STEVE HANLON
shanlon@nwitimes.com
219.933.4198 | Friday, October 03, 2008 | No comments posted.

Homes, tears and lives were floating down the street in the aftermath of the destructive storms that hammered the Region a few weeks ago. Northern neighborhoods in Munster were under water. Families nervously looked to the sky to see if the sun was ever going to shine again.

Around noon on the post-storm Monday, seven Calumet football players arrived to move sandbags and help in any way they could. This compassionate outreach touched many who saw it.

The players -- Darcell Ballentine, Chuck Carter, Billy Doup, Matt Dykhuizen, George Ezell, Tyler Vanlul and Montrez Wade -- went there on their own. Coach Ivan Zimmer never called them or persuaded them to volunteer.

"Here we have kids who don't have much and they went into an affluent community because those people needed help," Zimmer said. "It almost made the old man cry. I was very happy, pleased and proud of my kids."

For seven hours the Warriors lifted sandbags and put them down, in different areas. Doup was at the staging area, where he said he lifted and moved about 8,000 bags of sand onto payloaders, which were taken to neighborhoods under duress. The bags weighed between 25 and 100 pounds each.

"It was a good workout," Doup joked. "Hey, those people needed help, so what else could we do?"

Zimmer, in his 25th year as a varsity coach, said he preaches "right and wrong" to his players every day. For example, one of his players came into the office to call home for a ride. He said, "Hey, pick me up." Zimmer pointed out that the proper exclamation was, "Please, could you come and pick me up. Thank you."

Being on time is paramount to the program. Zimmer's saying -- "If you're early you're on time. If you're on time then you're late and if you're late, you're fired" -- has been tested this year and he's backed it up. Five players missed the first half of the North Newton game because of tardiness.

"Kids have to know that they're held to a standard," he said.

Last Saturday the Warriors washed cars for a fundraiser for eight hours. This week, with the homecoming game against Whiting coming and the team set to ride on fire trucks in the parade, the players went to the Lake Ridge Fire Department and washed and waxed two trucks.

"It's sort of a higher calling," Zimmer said. "In today's world rules were made to be broken. Look at the music and movies and videos. But we're trying to teach kids that even if you don't get caught you've got to know that you did something wrong. Life is a lot simpler when you do the right things."

That's what drove the Warriors to Munster. Dykhuizen spent most of his day in waist-deep floodwater. Still, he picked up the bags and put them down.

"I just thought it was the right thing to do," Dykhuizen said. "Coach is always trying to teach character and I guess it's working. The people were very thankful. A lady named Karen gave us food and something to drink and was nice enough to give us hugs. That meant a lot."

He did it!!!

2008-10-02T18:38:00.002-05:00

Connor went poopy on the potty!!!!

I can't believe it!!! I was in the kitchen making dinner and he was in there "helping" me. I turned and he had that look on his face. You know the one. The "okay I gotta poop really bad" look.

Me: Connor, do you have to poop?
Connor: go poopoo
Me: okay go to the potty.
C: Go potty

He then runs to the potty, is trying to open the door before I get there. I take off his pull up, put him on the toilet and VOILA!!!! Poopy in the potty!! I'm so amazed! Yesterday I put him on the potty after he said he had to go pee. Sure enough he went pee, but he forgot to keep his peepee(happy now aunt kimi?) pointing in the toilet, so he went on the floor. That's okay. At least he was in the bathroom and not on the carpet.

So after I get him off the toilet and wipe him, he runs to get a diaper. He refused to let me put it on him. He had to do it himself!!! Of course then he was getting frustrated because he couldn't get his foot in it. So I had to help him a little bit with his feet getting in the holes.

All this before he's even 2!!!! I plan on really working with him. If I can get him even somewhat trained by Christmas, I will be a happy mom!!! I see batman underwear in my future. No not for me!!

wow. just wow.

Sophia loves her Uncle Don

2008-10-02T13:59:00.003-05:00

So I was going through some pictures today and came across 2 pics of Sophia and my brother, Don. The first is from my sister, Kim's wedding 3 yrs ago. The 2nd is from Jen's wedding on Saturday! wow what a difference 3 yrs can make!!!!

That stubborn streak is gonna be the death of me!

2008-10-01T22:48:00.001-05:00

The day went pretty well! I'm so proud of myself because I did NOT cry at all! :) I made her breakfast and got her favorite(mcdonalds) for lunch. In the evening we went to my mom's for dinner and a mini party for Sophia. My stepsister and her family was in town from CA so we went and got cupcakes and celebrated Soph's bday with them. :) All in all it was a good day. :)

Today however, started out as a bad day. I got a call about 9:45 from her teacher. Sophia was being stubborn and didn't want to do her worksheet. So Mrs E. put her at a table by herself away from the other kids. So her teacher called for input. Was wondering how I handled things like this at home. I said well, I do what you are doing now and if that doesn't work, I take things away. She said so you're okay with me removing her from the rest of the class. I said, Mrs. E. It is YOUR classroom. You do what you need to in order for her to listen and cooperate. What ever you decide I will support that decision. So she says to me. Well she's a stubborn girl, but I'm sure that's what helped her when she was in the hospital as a baby. :) Great teacher to remember something that was told to her last school year. :)

The funny thing is that I had a friend warn me that this teacher was bitchy and tried to convince me to put Sophia in a different preschool because of the teacher. I said no, she's going there. I have never had any problems with this teacher. She taught the 3yr old class last year for a short time while Mrs Amy was out after surgery. I think she's nice. She didn't have to call me this morning about the situation, but she did and I appreciate it. :)

8 days til my baby boy turns 2. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone. It seems like yesterday I was getting ready to give birth and now he's almost 2 and potty training!! Yep, he's started showing an interest so I ran with it! Today he told me he had to go peepee, took off his diaper and headed for the bathroom. I helped him on the toilet, went to answer the phone and I hear Sophia yelling that Connor went pee on the floor!! LOL Sure enough. He had gone on the floor but he was still sitting on the toilet. He just forgot to hold his penis down. But hey, he went in the bathroom and not in his diaper!! :) It's a step in the right direction. How cool would it be if he was PT by Christmas!!!

Okay, I'm gonna take my stuffy/runny nose and go read for a bit. I'll post more about Connor tomorrow. i hope.

Happy Birthday Sophia!!

2008-09-30T07:06:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!

I can't believe my little girl is 5 yrs old today! Where has the time gone. It seems just like yesterday that I was watching her fight in the NICU and now I'm fighting with her over getting up for school, getting dressed, ect. It's been a long 5 yrs but I wouldn't give them up for anything!

Of course like I do every year on her birthday, I woke up at 12:30am and 3:45am. It just happens on its own. It's weird. But why those 2 times you might ask? 12:30am is when I went into labor and at 3:45am, I was getting ready to push. Sophia was born at 3:48am after 3hrs 18 minutes of labor and 1 push. She was 1 lb 12oz, 13.5 inches long. My miracle girl.

Here is my miracle girl at 1 day old!

and at 5 yrs old!!!

Happy birthday to my sweet girl.

What a weekend!

2008-09-28T21:29:00.003-05:00

What a weekend we had. It was soo long!!

Friday night we went to Billy's football game at Bishop Noll. It was a great game! I nearly lost my voice with all the screaming!!! BNI's announcer is the most biased announcer I have ever heard at a high school football game. He would get super excited everytime BNI would score or do something good. He even made a comment about what a good block one of the BNI players made. The refs called so many bullshit calls and our boys played hard. Of course I have to talk about the touchdown that had to be redone 4 times!!!! because of the stupid refs. Finally the 4th time the refs called it as a touchdown. um yeah. In the end, we won 42-39. We were all so proud of the boys. Billy was especially fired up and had the crowd really going. :) He kept yelling Warrior Pride, Do or Die and he stomped back and forth on the sidelines pumping his fists! It was a great night.

Saturday morning we got up early, packed the car and headed to Culver for Jen's wedding. We had SOOO much fun. Sophia and Connor danced all night long. We stayed in a really nice condo with mom and dad. It was 2 bedrooms, but the 2nd bedroom was more of a loft area but had its own bathroom and tub. It was really nice. Sophia was sad that we had to come home today, but she has school and Connor has therapy. We just got home a little while ago and I'm exhausted.

My stepsister and her family are in town from CA for the wedding and we're hoping to get to spend some time with them before they leave to go back. :) We barely got to talk to them at the reception.

Tuesday is Sophia's birthday!! I can't believe it's so close! We told her we might take her to the NICU to visit that day. The nurses at the one she was born at haven't seen her since her first birthday. Quite a difference between then and now. :)

well gonna finish uploading the pics from the wedding. I'll post some tomorrow hopefully. I'm too tired to do it tonight.

A happier Post

2008-09-24T17:00:00.002-05:00

Sophia is so happy to be back to school now. She goes to bed so easy on the nights before school. She gets up before I do. She doesn't fight me to get ready or eat breakfast. She loves it! Today she was telling about how they did an apple tasting challenge. They had to try red apples and yellow apples and say which they liked more. Then Mrs E put it on the board like a graph. :)

Connor's doing pretty well with therapy. His speech therapist is just amazed by him! I just wish he would do the same things in OT that he does in speech ie doing the puzzles, stacking blocks, ect. He'll do it for Elaine the ST but not Elona the OT. LOL Oh well. At least he's doing it.

I can't believe their birthdays are almost here! Sophia's going to be 5 in 6 days! 6 DAYS!!!!! I can't believe that 5 yrs ago, I was in the hospital praying that I could hold her in a little longer. Oh and I realized today that she was born on a Tues and her birthday falls on a Tues again this year!! :) weird. So be warned dear blog readers. Tuesday will be filled with Sophia pictures. Birth to present. :) Same goes for Connor's birthday!

well i guess i better go cook dinner or something. I'm hungry. The kids keep sneaking marshmellows out of the pantry. Think I'm gonna have to put a lock on it! LOL

Update to the last post....

2008-09-22T20:16:00.002-05:00

Wayne spoke to the friend who called us and made the comment to him. She apologized and said it just didn't come out how she planned it. He is still upset about it, but we both understand why it was said. He said that even though he understands why it was said, it doesn't excuse her for saying it. This is going to be a very difficult time for our friends and they are going to need support from everyone.

Of course, I am still upset over the fact that I am being singled out just because my preemie survived. I'm sorry that her baby didn't make it to viability, but I'm not going to allow people to make me feel bad because mine did. If anything, Wayne and i should be living proof that just because you went through what we did doesn't mean you can't have a healthy baby. Maybe next time, if there is a next time and I hope there is, her doctor will be more proactive and aggressive with monitoring her and giving her a way to make it at least to viability if not beyond. I have a lot of thoughts on the situation but I won't discuss them as I have a feeling this has been read by people I hadnt intended to read it. (yet another reason i wish people who read my blog would comment so I know who is in fact reading)

I promise the next post will be more positive and about MY children.

I have to put this somewhere...

2008-09-21T15:50:00.002-05:00

This is not going to be a normal "oh the kids are great, here's what's going on in my life" post. I'm really angry right now so I have to get this out and put it where certain people are not likely to read it.

Wayne and I have some "friends". Well he does I should say. We will call them G and K. Wayne met G while in high school. I met K while in high school as well. Wayne considers G one of his best friends and like a brother. K and I were best friends for 9 yrs. Wayne and I were in G and K's wedding. Something happened(i don't know what) and K stopped being friends with me. Wayne and I got married. Things have slowly gotten worse with the friendship between Wayne and G. K doesn't even acknowledge my existence if we're in the same room.

Fast forward to the past few months.

After a couple of miscarriages, K got pregnant again. Everything was going great until about 2-3 weeks ago. She was put on bedrest at home. Things started to go wrong and she was put in the hospital. Wayne and I told them that since we had gone through the same thing, we would be there for them. No matter how bad the friendships got, they were family to us.

Today we get a call from a mutual friend. K had the baby today at 21weeks. The baby did not survive. It was too early. While my heart grieves for them, I am also very very angry. This mutual friend went on to tell Wayne that while she hopes Wayne will be there to support G, it would probably be best if he kept me away from K for at least 6 months! Why? Because I represent what should have happened with K.

I am so very angry because I feel like I am being made to be the bad guy because my child survived and hers didn't. It doesn't matter that I had Sophia at the very cusp of viability(24 wks) or that I struggled every day with the fact that my child may die and I wouldn't be there. Or even that Sophia struggled every day to survive. I'm sorry their child didn't make it. I'm sorry that they have to bury a child and a part of their heart. But why make me the villian?

Wayne is very upset about this as well. He said it isn't fair that they are going to tell me to stay away but not him. His child survived as well and they aren't telling him to stay away because he represents what they should have had as well. He said that while this is a hard time for him, he is sick of them treating me so poorly. He would never think to treat K like that.

So like I said, while my heart grieves for them, I can't get over this immense anger I have right now. And the anger isn't even aimed at them, but the mutual friend who called to give us the sad news. Maybe she should just keep her opinions to herself and keep her fucking mouth shut! Let G and K decide if they want me around. If they decide that, then they need to call Wayne and tell him. Will it make it any less hurtful? Will I be any less angry about it? No, but at least Wayne can give them a piece of his mind when they do.

Like I said I wouldn't normally put this here, but I can't put it at my other blog because they read that one. I'm not aware of them reading this one and if they do, they can just suck it up and move on.

I will NOT apologize for my child surviving and continuing to thrive despite being born so very early. I shouldn't have to.

It's All Valerie's Fault!

2008-09-20T23:19:00.002-05:00

I got tagged by Valerie so now I guess I have to do it.

The Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about you.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

1. I am *almost* painfully shy. I am getting better about it.

2. I hate getting my hands wet or dirty. A trait I have passed on to my son, who freaks out when his hands get dirty. :(

3. I can't sit in the backseat of any car. I get horribly ill if I do.

4. I like to be the one doing the driving. I think it's a control thing or something.

5. I'm really good with numbers and spelling.

6. I encourage Sophia's obsession with learning about the human body because I am obsessed with learning about it too.

So now I have to tag people. UGH.. I'm going going to Tag 2 people instead of 6 because I know only 2 other people read my blog lol So I tag Elaina and Sherri

Not again!

2008-09-17T21:46:00.003-05:00

School was cancelled AGAIN!

This time it is because Calumet Ave and River Rd are closed. Also, because the school isn't connected to the city, they need to have their septic tank pumped out. ARGH! They are hoping school will be back in session on Monday. It better! Sophia's going nuts here.

My Tupperware party wasn't much of a party. I feel sorry for the girl who did it because almost everything she pulled out, we either all had or had seen before. However, she did make some killer popcorn stuff and Sophia said the salsa she made was good. :) So that's a plus. The only people who showed up was my mom and my 2 sisters. One friend cancelled at last minute. I can't hold against her because she's about 8 months pg. So we'll see what kind of orders I can bring in. *sigh*

Now I'm tired. All I did today was clean. Except when we went to Kmart. Wayne said one of his coworkers got cargo pants for $10 a pair so we went to see if we could get some. They didn't have them at this Kmart. Oh well. I almost bought Connor some new bedding. They had this great crib bedding set that was a sports theme. It was regularly $70, on clearance for $24. The only reason I didn't buy it was because I didn't need the bumper and I can't use the dust ruffle on the toddler bed because of the rails on it. So we're gonna look for a toddler bedding set that is sports themed instead. :)

Okay. I'm gonna go watch some tv and veg. :)

Cancelled again!

2008-09-16T23:49:00.002-05:00

School has been cancelled for Sophia again. I spoke to her teacher tonight. She said the building is fine, but the parking lot is still flooded. Also getting to the school is hard because the main road is closed. We could go around the back way but the road next to the school is flooded as well. They are hoping to resume school on Friday.

The cool thing is that her teacher's son set up a "blind" email account for her to contact us in the event of school closings. It was supposed to be for the winter and snowstorms. Who knew we'd have to put it into effect the 2nd week of school!! They've only gone to school 2 days!!

When I told Sophia tonight that there was no school tomorrow, she sat at the table and cried. Poor thing. She loves going to school so much and it breaks my heart to see her so sad. Daddy made her feel better by sharing his milkshake with her during dinner. lol

Oh and both kids have colds now. Connor was running a fever yesterday and this morning. They both have runny noses and congestion. So maybe it's a good thing she didn't go to school.

Tomorrow is my Tupperware party and Connor will have therapy with both therapists. Elona cancelled on Monday because she is slightly affected by all the flooding as well. She was able to get out of her neighborhood but didn't know how she would get back in. Several roads are open now so it won't be an issue tomorrow.

better get my butt to bed. Therapy is at 9am and that comes earlier than you think when you stay up late.

Momma's Boy

2008-09-14T22:25:00.002-05:00

While I will admit that I love that my little boy is a momma's boy, it is also a bit of a pain in the butt. Like when I have to "sneak" out of the house to go anywhere by myself otherwise he screams bloody murder. Or like when it's 10pm and he wakes up crying and wants Mommy to lay with him and if I so much as change positions he checks to be sure I'm still there. Or when you finally have had enough and you let him lay on your bed for a little while and watch football because it's the only way you can go to the bathroom without him screaming. Or when you finally put him back in his own bed, still awake, and he cries Momma for a while and finally gets quiet.

But then there are the times when he will run up to me and throw his arms around my head and kiss me and run off. Or that he told me "i lulu" first. Yes that is supposed to be I love you. lol Or that he loves to cuddle with me and watch tv. Even if it is as his sister calls it "mom tv". Or when he falls down and the only person he wants is momma.

Those times far outweigh the crabby, clingy momma's boy times, but I will take both and enjoy every minute because he is my baby.

poor daddy though because we have a momma's boy AND a momma's GIRL! lol

She is NOT going to be happy!

2008-09-14T16:22:00.002-05:00

Sophia is not going to be happy. They cancelled school for tomorrow. ALL day today she kept asking if she could go to school. Then, her teacher calls and leaves a voicemail telling us that school has been cancelled for tomorrow but they should be okay for Wed.

So I guess we will do something school related. Maybe paint, draw, something. We worked on her alphabet flashcards earlier. I even did them out of order and she knew all but 2 of them. :) I think she just didn't want to tell me what they were. She even knew some of the lowercase letters. :) She's a smarty that one. :)

Tomorrow is our anniversary. 7 yrs! Yippie. Hoping to go out to lunch or something since Wayne has to work. Depends on if mom will watch the kids or not. I hope so.

Okay. off to look up a recipe to make for dinner tonight. :)

The first week

2008-09-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

We made it through the first week of school! YAY!

Sophia is enjoying it so far. I'm very impressed because today she brought home her worksheet and they are working on the letter A. She actually wrote one all by herself! Go Sophia! She's also happy because one of the boys she liked from last year (her "boyfriend") is in her class again this year. His name is Noah and he's such a cutie. The first day he walked over to where she was sitting and said hi to her. :)

Now she's saying she doesn't want to do cheerleading. I'm not going to push it. It will be easier if she does it next year anyways because then we will have 2 cars again and I won't have to depend on anyone to give her rides.

Looking forward to my tupperware party on Wednesday. Should be fun. I hope I have a decent amount of people show up. :)

Sophia video

2008-09-10T23:42:00.002-05:00

So I had made this video of Sophia a couple years ago. I really need to update it but I can't seem to get through it when I watch it close to her bday without crying. Enjoy!

First(actual) day of School!

2008-09-10T08:20:00.003-05:00

Today is the first real day of school!

Sophia is so excited! She was awake before I walked in her room. She ate her breakfast without argument and then went in her room and got dressed in the outfit I had laid out. Without being told to!!! WOOHOO!!!! She's been walking around with her backpack on all morning. Silly girl!

So here she is on her first day of PreK!

One down, a whole year to go!

2008-09-08T23:49:00.002-05:00

Sophia was so excited to go to school today! So much so that when it was time to come home after we met with her teacher, she didn't want to go home! :) I just hope she continues with this excitement!

We're almost 100% sure she's going to start cheerleading lessons next week. It will all be decided if my mom can help take her to classes. If not, then we'll have to figure something out. I'm not keen on the idea of having to take Wayne to work and pick him up at midnight just to have the car but if I have to, I guess I will. ONLY if she likes it!

so for those of you who are not football fans or were living under a rock if you live in the chicago/northwest indiana area, then you know that the Colts lost last night to the bears. :( I was soo upset. I won't make up excuses, but I know there's a reason(or 5) of why they didn't play so well. They'll win next time!

Okay. I'm not feeling well so I'm going to take my butt to bed.

One more day!!

2008-09-07T16:35:00.003-05:00

The time has come.

Sophia starts school tomorrow! She's excited about it so that makes me happy.

She is also going to be starting cheerleading classes next week hopefully. I need to call and find out more information and then we will register her. My mom said she would help out with giving her rides if she can when Wayne has to work. I HATE having only one car. It sucks big time!

Tonight is the first Colts game of the season. Naturally Sophia is wearing her Manning jersey. Quite the brave girl since she's over at Uncle Todd's with my mom and he's a Bears fan. Billy is over there too and he's a Bears fan as well. GO COLTS! LOL I told Sophia she can stay up and watch the game til 8pm then it was off to bed. Hopefully Wayne will watch the game with me too. :)

One more week!

2008-09-01T22:06:00.003-05:00

Yes it's been a while, but I've been trying to enjoy the end of summer with the kids.

Sophia starts her 2nd year of preschool on the 8th. The first day is actually a meet the teacher/ review the rules/ information day. We'll only be there for an hour. She'll get to meet her new classmates, see if any of the kids from last year have returned, and see the classroom again. It's the same place as last year so that's a plus. Meanwhile, the parents(that's me!) will go in another room and talk to the teacher. Well mostly listen as the teacher talks.

Wednesday, the 10th will be the first actual day of class. She has to be there at 8:55 and will go until 11:30. This will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I hope she enjoys it as much this year as she did last year! :)

I'm dreading how Connor reacts to this and how long it takes him to adjust. Sophia spent the night at Grandma's yesterday and all night long he walked around the house asking "where sissy?" He adores his sissy and is so sad when she's not here. Hopefully by having his OT on mon and speech on Wed while she's in school it won't be so bad. The really hard part will come when I go back to work. Then he won't have Mommy or Sissy home with him. :( My poor little boy. At least it will give him and Daddy a chance to hang out without us girl!

So that's what's going on here. :)

One Step Closer

2008-08-09T10:47:00.002-05:00

We are now one step closer to Connor being a big boy. We converted the crib to the daybed and put up the safety rail. We did the same thing with Sophia at this age to get her ready for the toddler bed. We'll try it out for his nap first today. Hopefully he will do good. We had no problems with Sophia so *fingers crossed* that Connor does just as well! Of course I do have visions of the 2 kids sleeping in the same bed together, either the toddler bed or the daybed since Connor can now climb out of bed on his own. Plus he loves laying with his sissy! :)

Here he is trying it out!

Busy

2008-08-08T14:15:00.001-05:00

Things are finally getting back to normal after the storms we had this week. They have confirmed that a tornado(f2) did touchdown and blow through the area. It touched down about 5 minutes from where my sister, Michelle, lives. I'll post a link to the pictures I took on the way to her house as well as Sophia's preschool which is 5 minutes west of us. Trees everywhere!!!

Link to the storm pictures. Password is tornado Storm Pics

Today I went for my first Chiro consultation and therapy session. It was nice. Dr spoke me, took an xray and then had me lay on the massage table and let the rollers work on me and then the massage therapist did a little massage on the part that hurts most(lower back). Dr thinks I might have a pinched disc and/or nerve. I go back on Monday to go over my xray and discuss treatment.

After the chiro, I went and picked Sophia up. We went and picked up her new glasses and then walked around Walmart for a while. I got her 3 shirts for school and only paid $7 total! I saved like $7! Score for me. I can't wait til Wayne gets paid next week so I can go get some clothes for her for school. :) She's so excited about school starting! 1 month from today!! YIPPIE!

Now we are just hanging out. Wayne is going to be leaving for work soon so then it will be just the kids and I. I wish we still had 2 cars so I could go over to my mom's. oh well.

Damage Report

2008-08-05T08:18:00.002-05:00

And now for the damage report.

Our gazebo took a big hit last night :( Poles are broken. Need to assess the damage this morning. Wayne and I went out at midnight to look and I took some pics. Need some pics in the daylight now.

My sister, Michelle, has a tree ready to land on her house and has been without power all night and this morning. She said there are powerlines down. She is supposed to be bringing food here to put in our big freezer.

Over at Dusty Acres aka my brother Todd's house, the yard is underwater. Don't know if he got water in the basement or not. btw, it's called dusty acres because that's where my parents park their rv when they are out this way. lol

So that's all I have for now. Mom is due back from Monticello today and will probably go to Michelle's and park the RV there. At least until the water goes down at Todd's house. Wish we had room here for them to park. :(

Yeah that was fun!

2008-08-04T22:09:00.003-05:00

Yes that is sarcasm you are reading in that title!

Tonight we had one helluva storm! Knocked the power out a few times. Connor freaked out. Sophia was then upset because he was upset. Aww sibling love. Neither wanted to sleep. Brought them in my room for a "campout". Neither wanted to sleep. Sophia kept talking about the angels bowling. Yes sweetie, they are bowling now go to sleep. Of course I had our flashlights out because the stupid battery run lantern wouldn't work despite changing the batteries. grr.

Now the storm is over, kids in their beds, mommy cranky. I think I need some ice cream.

Walmart diapers suck!

2008-08-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

FYI, Walmart brand diapers do not stay on well!!! LOL

This is the 5 time in less than a week that Connor has come into my room diaperless! LOL Geez! You'd think they'd make them a little harder to get off when they are that size! LOL Oh well. At least only one has been a poopy diaper and he came straight to me instead of playing in it like a certain little girly girl used to do. eww.

Going to go order her new glasses today! Should be fun. :) She wants High School Musical ones. We'll see about that! Also have to go grocery shopping and Wayne needs boots!

Off to get the kiddos dressed!

Girly Girls and GoGo's

2008-07-31T17:41:00.002-05:00

It's finally happened. My daughter has become a girly girl. She's now all about makeup, lip balm, dress up clothes, baby dolls and barbies. I love it! She's also taken to singing songs from her movies now. Earlier she was singing a song from Cinderella 3. I was amazed to hear her singing it. She's got such a pretty little voice.

Connor is also starting to enjoy the more boyish toys. THANKGOD! He's all about his gogo's aka cars and trucks. I don't think we have left a store that he hasn't gotten a little hot wheel car. I don't mind because they are only 97 cents. He's got probably about 5 or 6 of them right now. Of course they are all over the house. He also loves his little fisherprice ones. you know the little chunky ones. :)

At least now I can start getting christmas stuff and not have to worry about them not wanting to play with it when the time comes! :) YAY!

Oh the Drama!

2008-07-30T17:39:00.002-05:00

So I was a naughty girl and got kicked off one of my yahoo groups. LOL It's not my fault the group owner is an uptight twit who takes things far to seriously and needs to pull the stick out of her butt. argh. and that's being nice.

I know there are a couple of you from that group who read this blog and if you have issues with me talking about it here or disagree with my views, too bad. It's my blog not yours.

When a group of adult women are getting "yelled" at for cursing in a discussion or being told that we can't express our feelings, then something is wrong. I just hope The Warden doesn't cause the whole group to crumble because of her rules.

With that being said, I guess Connor was a big hit with his cousins this weekend. Josh has put the picture of him and Connor up as his profile pic on myspace. :) That's love. I just hope we can spend more time with them now. Unfortunately, we live 2 hrs or so away. :(

Pictures Part 4

2008-07-29T18:24:00.003-05:00

yes, more pictures.

Connor and Uncle Paul playing Baggo

Connor and Zach

Connor and Sophia helping Aunt Shann clean corn

Connor in Grandpa's hat

Connor and Josh

Family dinner

Sophia and Aunt Annie by the fire

Uncle Don by the fire

Fire at night

Don again. love how the fire looked

Our last day...

Sophia and Connor in the tent wile I pack up

Pretty girl

Handsome boy

Silly girl

Pictures Part 3

2008-07-29T18:20:00.002-05:00

Connor and Momma relaxing

Connor, Momma and Daddy

Sophia pool pics

Where did she go?

Oh there she is!!!

Pictures Part 2

2008-07-29T18:15:00.004-05:00

Grandpa at the RV

Sophia and Connor playing at the RV

Our fire on Friday morning. Notice the frying pan and coffee pot. :)

Sophia getting ready to go tubing!

Get ready....

get set....

GO!!!!

Pictures Part 1

2008-07-29T18:10:00.002-05:00

I'm back with pictures!!!

Connor in the car on our way to the lake

After setting up the tent...

Josh

Zach

The Tent

Connor on the boat

Connor and Aunt Lori on the boat

Sophia at boaters beach

with daddy @ BB

with Zach @ BB

Connor driving the boat w/ Grandma(mamom as he calls her)

Surviving the tent part 3

2008-07-29T18:08:00.001-05:00

Monday ~ our last day there. I had made plans to have everyone come up to our site for french toast in the morning. Well it started raining around 4:30am and everything was soaked. Wayne was supposed to meet Paul and the boys at 6am to go fishing and then skiing. Neither happened because it was raining. This was the only day we didn't go to boaters beach. I made breakfast at the RV and then Wayne and I went up and took the tent down and packed the car. Spent the afternoon playing Baggo for Zach and Josh. it was just a low key day.

Sophia cried when we had to leave. She wanted to stay with Grandma and Grandpa but they wouldn't let her because she always cries that she wants her momma when it comes to bedtime. Oh well. Everyone had fun and we've already started making plans to do it again next year with Paul and Lori. The kids all got along. Zach and Josh just loved Connor and vice versa. Sophia as always was loved by all.

Now I just want to sleep for 2 weeks.

Surviving the tent part 2

2008-07-29T18:02:00.000-05:00

Saturday ~ Woke up early and went out on the boats. I tried skiing but no luck. The one time I was actually up, my skis fell off shortly after getting up. oh well. Then we all(minus kim and carla who went home the night before) went to the beach cafe for breakfast. It was yummy! Another afternoon spent out on the lake. My brother and his fiancee came out and they put their tent up by ours. More time out at boaters beach. This time I came back with a sunburn from hell. I was supposed to just be laying out on a lounger/float and Connor was giving Wayne trouble about being in the water. So I ended up taking his life jacket off him and just holding him in the water. Well stupid me forgot to put sunscreen on my back and I got fried. YUCK!

Went back to the RV and we had hamburgers and hot dogs, corn on the cob, fire roasted onions and home made potato chips for dinner. Yum. Connor loved the corn on the cob and ate 2 small pieces. After dinner, the guys all went fishing and us girls stayed at the RV and talked around the fire. It was nice. Then Don and Annie went up to the tent with us and we sat around the fire for a while. Sophia slept in their tent with them. Uncle Don was mad because she took his blanket. LOL

Sunday ~ Don and Annie took the kids to the RV and left Wayne and I at the tent. It was nice because we were able to just sit and have coffee and talk. We got to the rv and Don and Annie had taken Sophia for breakfast at the cafe. Connor didn't want to go. Mom said his exact words were "i no go, i go go papa" LOL So he stayed with his papa. Mom made donuts out of canned biscuits.

Since I was so burned I couldn't get my swimsuit on, I just wore a tshirt and shorts and we all went to boaters beach. I laid on the pontoon boat in the shade while Connor played on the floor. Sophia was out in the water with Aunt Annie and Aunt Lori. Wayne was tubing. LOL I started feeling kinda seasick from the motion of the boat so Paul took Connor and I back to the dock. I took Connor up to the tent for a nap and made beef stew for dinner. The original plan was to have everyone come up there, but then just took it down to the rv. By the time I got back, Don, Annie, Todd and Shann were gone. It was a quiet evening.

I survived the tent!

2008-07-29T18:01:00.001-05:00

We are home from our camping trip. I survived sleeping in a tent. The kids had a blast though and that's all that really matters. This is going to be long so if you don't make it through, that's okay!

Thurs ~ We got a late start. I wanted to leave by 9am, we left at 10am. No biggie. Stopped for gas. Were amazed because it was $3.74 a gal!!! WOW! Arrived at the lake after stopping for lunch. Fed the kids and ourselves. Set up the tent and hung out with my family. Mom and I went to the grocery store because Wayne and I decided to just shop down there. BIG mistake. It was soo much more expensive. I'll never do that again and if I do, it won't be at THAT store. I had wanted to go to the super Walmart but mom didn't. Oh well. Kids went to bed late.

Friday ~ woke up early. Made bacon and eggs on over the campfire. MMM so yummy. Took forever though because the fire kept going out for some reason. I blame Wayne. He blames the firepit. lol Finally made it down to mom's RV. Went out on the boat. Sophia went tubing with Wayne. She had a blast(pics to come). Then we went to this little area called boaters beach. It's just a little area where people anchor their boats in the water and swim. The water is like 3ft deep. Sophia LOVED it. She was so happy because we let her take off her life jacket and swim with her floatie ring. My little fishie. She kept telling grandpa she was a mermaid.

After we got back, Wayne and I went to Walmart so he could get his fishing license. Picked up some other odds and ends while there. Mom made spaghetti for dinner since there was a lot of us there. My sister, Kim, came down with her stepdaughter for the day. My stepbrother and his wife and 2 boys, Zach and Josh, were there. So was my nephew, Eric. Oh my other stepbrother came down that day as well. So there was 15 of us for dinner that night! Afterwards we went back out in the boats because Kim wanted to try skiing again and she actually got up this time! Afterward we just all went back to the RV and hung out by the fire. Another late night for the kiddos.

Ahh vacation

2008-07-23T18:18:00.002-05:00

Leaving for the lake in the morning. Looking forward to it, but hoping the weather stays nice. Sophia is so excited. She keeps asking if it's time to leave yet LOL Silly girl. We'll be gone for 5 days! I just hope I can last in the tent that long lol. I'm not a big tent camper. eww bugs.

So I'll be back on Monday.

What a Disaster and other things!

2008-07-17T17:36:00.005-05:00

Our yard sale was a complete disaster! In the 2 days we had it open, we made $19. yes that's it. :( It totally sucked. I was so upset about it. All that hard work and that's all we made. So on Monday, I took stuff over to Michelle's house. In 3 days we made $32.75 including Sophia's lemonade stand money. Oh well. At least I got rid of the big stuff. She also had a lady come and ask how much I wanted for all the baby girl clothes. She's supposed to come back on Friday, but my sister is just going to give her my number and have her come here. Easier than trying to load it all in the car and then take it to Michelle's house. *fingers crossed* that she buys it all. :)

On Tues, I went to Shipshewana with Kim and mom. That was a nice day til the end. Won't go into it. It's over and done. Moving on.

Kids are great. Connor is doing well in speech and occupational therapy. Sophia continues to be her usual drama queen self.

Now if only we could have a successful yard sale. LOL

Garage Sale Day!

2008-07-10T07:08:00.002-05:00

I know I've been MIA for a while now, but with good reason :)

As you know, we just had our 4th of July festivities here so I was busy with that. I've also been busy trying to get together some garage sale stuff. Man what a job that's been! :)

So today is the day! Garage Sale Day! We're going to have it today, tomorrow and Saturday if it doesn't r***. I won't even type the word. I'm hoping we do well. Wayne had a meeting at work this morning so he was going to put the signs out for me and get change while he was out. We set the tables out in the driveway, now I just have to put all the stuff on them. I have one table *just* for baby clothes. i have a ton of baby clothes. :)

Well I gotta finish my coffee and get ready to put stuff out! :) Wish me luck!

Some Cool news!

2008-06-25T18:28:00.000-05:00

So. One of the girls I met through my preemie scrapbooking group and I decided to start a message board JUST for preemie parents! I am so excited about it! So if you have a preemie or know someone who has a preemie(or might be having a preemie), please tell them about our new forum!

http://borntoosoon.aimoo.com/

Oh yeah I almost forgot!

2008-06-21T22:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to Wayne!!!

5 days!

2008-06-21T22:10:00.002-05:00

Day 5 of kicking the bottle!! Tonight it only took 15 minutes for him to calm down and go to sleep!! It's getting better. Naptime was only about 5 minutes LOL The best part is that he is actually sleeping through the night!! I'm still shocked about that.

Today he had his first speech therapy session. It went great! Sophia was even more social this time. She was a bit stand offish when Elona was here on Monday. Which is weird because we were with Elona the longest and saw her until the very end before Sophia aged out. I think the biggest thing is that Elona's hair is long now where as it was short before. That might have something to do with it.

So I'm also a bit aggravated with the new neighbors. Surprise surprise. It's almost 10:30pm and they must be having a party or something. I don't mind that, but can someone please tell me how it's okay for a child under 2 years old to still be out at this time?? I just don't get it. The only time my kids have been out this late was the night of Eric's grad party and we were driving home! The new neighbors and the ones that live on the other side let their kids stay up late all the time!! That's just crazy!

Oh well. I keep telling myself it's not for much longer but I don't know how much longer we will be here. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be out of here before Sophia starts kindergarten or first grade. If not, we're putting her in catholic school. I haven't heard much good about the public schools here.

Okay. I think that's enough for tonight. I'm tired.

YAY!

2008-06-20T23:12:00.002-05:00

Tonight was Connor's best night yet! He only cried for about 20 minutes or so. He probably would have gotten quiet sooner if I didn't have to deal with Sophia. She was playing in the bathroom in the sink and she broke a glass. I don't know where it came from and I probably wouldn't have even known she broke it if I hadn't had to go to the bathroom. I was soo mad! God only knows what would have happened if I hadn't gone in there. :(

Tomorrow is Wayne's bday! He's going to be 37! I feel bad because I forgot to get him a birthday card so I think I'm going to have to run out tomorrow and get one. lol

Connor has his first speech therapy session tomorrow. should be interesting especially since Elaine was Sophia's speech therapist too! She called tonight to confirm and said she couldn't wait to see Sophia! LOL Gosh that girl has had quite an effect on people she has met. :)

okay..off to watch What not to wear. Too bad you can't nominate yourself for the show LOL

Oh What a Night!

2008-06-20T09:41:00.003-05:00

Operation Kick the Bottle did not go so well last night. I did not give in and give him a bottle but I sure wanted to!! I put both kids to bed around 7:45. He cried for a bit but then it got quiet and I figured they both fell asleep. Well around 8:30 or so, Sophia came out of the bedroom wanting a drink of water. Neither one of them had been sleeping!! So I let her sleep on the couch last night again because he wouldn't stop crying so it was keeping her awake.

He was so upset last night that around 9pm I went in and cuddled him. Put him back in bed and within 5 minutes he was out! Poor little boy. Guess I won't be putting them to bed together for a while. lol

Today is just another day. gotta go to the grocery store. Wayne wants to take the tent down. He better get his butt in gear because I don't have all freakin day to go to the store!

Tomorrow is his birthday. I know he's going to expect everyone to just bow down and kiss his feet and crap but that isn't going to happen! No one treated me special on my birthday.

Operation Kick the Bottle!

2008-06-18T22:47:00.001-05:00

Connor's bottle that is!

Today is Day 2 of him going to bed without it! Hopefully it's gone for GOOD! He's been taking naps without it so I decided to do bedtime too! Last night he cried on and off for about 40 minutes. Then he slept straight through til 6:30 this morning. Tonight he cried for 30 minutes! *fingers crossed* that he sleeps through and that tomorrow night he cries even less!

Sophia spent the night and all of today at my mom's. She was going to spend the night tonight too, but she was crying that she wanted to come home. She said she missed me and wanted to come home. My mom had barely put the car in park and she was trying to get out of the carseat! As soon as I opened the door she hugged me!! :) Love that girl.

She's sleeping on the couch tonight because she doesn't like to hear Connor crying in the middle of the night. I don't care if she sleeps there every night while we're trying to kick the bottle! She's comfy there.

So now I just need to hide all the bottles so he doesn't see them and want it! I'm also hoping this means we won't go through milk so fast! 1 gallon in less than 2 days with only 2 people drinking it is just too fast at these prices!

Alright. Time for bed. I'm tired.

Ahhhh

2008-06-17T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today we had Sophia's appt with the ENT dr. He said her ears look great and as far as her not liking loud noises, he said she is just more sensitive to noise than other kids. She will either get used to it or out grow it. :)

Tonight she is staying the night at Grandma's house. She was so excited but she got super crabby so I made her take a nap. Now she doesn't want to go to sleep lol Glad it's not me dealing with it. Don't know how many nights she's staying yet.

So it was just Connor and I tonight. :) He cried so hard when Sophia left with Grandma. It was so sad. He loves his sissy soo much. He just cried and cried and kept looking for her. :( Poor little boy.

Since Sophia isn't home, I put him to bed without the bottle. Hoping to get him off of it soon. It would be nice if Grandma kept Sophia for a couple days so I can work on it. He cried off and on for about 30 minutes. I just know he probably tossed out the pillow, blanket and stuffed animal in his anger at not getting his way, but oh well. he'll get over it. LOL

Well this momma is going to go and veg in front of the tv. Should go to bed, but then I"ll wake up too early. Went to bed at 10 last night and woke up at 6:15. YUCK!

No tent for little girls

2008-06-16T09:00:00.002-05:00

Sophia decided she didn't want to sleep in the tent after all last night. We took her out there and had marshmellows and all that good camping stuff. Then I told her and Daddy good night and they went in the tent to go to sleep. About 20 minutes or so after I came inside, I hear them come in. Sophia changed her mind. She wanted to sleep in her own bed. LOL

Wayne said she kept talking and wanting a story, then she wanted to make shadow puppets, then she wanted another story. Finally she just said she wanted to go inside. OH well. Maybe next time. I don't know how this is going to affect future camping trips but for now we will just wait and see.

Now I need coffee because stupid us, Wayne and I stayed up til 2am. We were on Second Life til about 1:30 lol

Happy Father's Day 2.0

2008-06-15T21:52:00.002-05:00

We survived Father's Day 2008!!

The cookout was fun except when it rained for about 15 minutes or so. No big deal. Luckily everyone was done eating by the time it started. The kids loved it. It didn't rain really hard so that was a plus. Lots of good food.

After we came home, I put Connor to bed as it was already past his bedtime and Sophia and Daddy went out to make a fire. They are sleeping in the tent tonight. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain. I think even if it does, they will end up staying out there. I just wonder if Sophia will make it the whole night or if she'll end up inside at some point. :)

Took lots of pics today at the cookout and took some of Wayne and Sophia(and me) in the tent. I plan on scrapbooking those later. It's her first time sleeping in a tent!! How exciting. We figured we'd try her out in the backyard first. She's used to sleeping in Grandma's RV. Spoiled.

Now I'm tired and I think I'm gonna just poke around the 'net for a while and then go to bed. Sounds like a good end to a good day. :)

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T10:50:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies and Soon to Be Daddies!!!!

This morning has been a pirate filled Father's day! :) The kids got up at 6:30 this morning! ARRRRgh. Wayne slept in the tent last night. Sophia was supposed to but she got in trouble and was sent to bed early. :( Anyways. For some reason, first thing this morning, Sophia decided she wanted to listen to Wayne's cd of pirate songs that came with one of our Pirates of the Caribbean dvds. So it turned into pirate day. So now Wayne's in the living room watching some old pirate movie and the kids are in here watching Pirates of the Caribbean. Yo ho! LOL

We're supposed to go to my stepbrother's house for a cookout but it's raining so who knows what's going on. Hopefully it will clear up by time we have to leave. :) We'll see.

Back for more

2008-06-14T21:41:00.003-05:00

So I said I would be back to post about Connor starting therapy. So here I am.

Back when we had his 15 month check up, the doctor seemed a little concerned that he wasn't really talking. He could say mama, dada, and ball. So he said if he wasn't saying more by 18 months, he would refer us to early interventions. Here in Indiana it's called First Steps. We went through it with Sophia so we are familiar with them.

So of course he wasn't saying anything more at the 18 mon check so here we are. First Steps sent out 2 people to evaluate. One for speech and one for occupational therapy. He qualified for both. Luckily, we were able to get the same 2 therapists that Sophia had. I'm soo thrilled because we just loved them! They were great with Sophia.

We start OT on Monday. The speech therapist is still waiting on an approval thing before we can start with her. She's hoping it comes in this week. :)

So that's what's going on here. Real exciting stuff eh?

Summer!!

2008-06-14T14:32:00.003-05:00

YAY!! It's summer time!!!

Okay so I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but now that it's summer and the Family Kinker will be doing more stuff, I thought it was time to get this going again. Plus I have some friends who blog here so maybe I'll even have readers(and commenters)!! Woohoo :)

I am done with work now until the tax season stuff starts again. Sophia is done with preschool til Sept. Connor starts speech therapy and occupational therapy(more on that later) this month. Wayne has a birthday coming up(the 22nd).

Right now I need to head back outside where my little mermaid is swimming in the hot(cold) tub. The little fishy boy is napping. :)

Almost Done!

2008-04-08T18:48:00.003-05:00

So today is April 8 which means there are only 7 more days left of the tax season!! I only have to work maybe 5 more since I don't work on Sat or Sun. Might work this Sat though if my co worker decides she wants it off! :) I'm actually looking forward to being done! I love my job, but I really can't wait to be home with the kids again.

Other than that, nothing really exciting going on. Wishing the weather would finally get nicer. We had a few days of being really nice and now it's crap! Welcome to NW Indiana! It sucks! Sophia is really getting antsy about wanting to play outside. I don't blame her!

OMG..I just realized that we are now down to only 19 days until we do the March for Babies for the march of dimes! I finally found a place that will do our shirts for us fairly inexpensive. :) YIPPIE! Professional shirts! :) YAY us! Go team!

And now a post from the youngest Kinker

2008-03-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

nbv t huij yhcikynrhvujl,cb ko tu,ik 5d,m;l56m7i/;.0yi9 tcivcbnc x

Love Connor

The Results are in

2008-03-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

Finally got the results of my 2nd blood tests. I have to take iron tablets 3 times a day for 3 months. Then they will retest my blood to see if it's doing anything. They also had the results of my urine culture. I had a little e coli show up but since I took the antibiotics, it should be gone. They are going to let the urologist follow up on that part.

I'm really hoping by taking the iron that I'll get my energy back. My mom also said that being cold all the time is a sign of low iron too and I'm ALWAYS cold. So we'll see what happens!

My future rocket scientist!

2008-03-24T20:34:00.003-05:00

Sophia had her appt with the NICU follow up clinic today. She goes once a year to be tested by the child pyschologist. I never fell over when they told me how tall she was! 46 inches!! She's 2 inches shy of 4 feet!! Which means she's 1ft 4 in shorter than ME! OMG!

So the child psych does her tests. She said they don't start calling it an IQ test until they are 6 yrs old. Right now it's a developmental quotient(or DQ *giggle*) test. Sophia did VERY well. *grin* PROUD MOMMA!

So she tells me that between 90 and 100 is normal or average. Sophia's verbal or language skills tested out at 119!!! I wasn't too shocked really as I know she has a great vocabulary and awesome enunciation for her age. The shocker came when I got her overall score. 110! She's above average! I'm so proud of her. The CP said that she probably would have tested higher if Sophia hadn't gotten bored at the end and did the tests instead of goofing off. Poor girl. I'm gonna have my hands full trying to keep her challenged while learning. The dr said that's probably why her attention span is lower. She gets bored easily.

I'm just so proud of her anyways! We were given a couple of things to work on ie how she holds her pencil when she writes, making sure she finishes a task before rewarding her.

Sophia has decided she doesn't want to do gymnastics. While I'm sad about it, I know that I can't force her to do it and I can only hope that in the future she will change her mind. I'm thinking of renting or buying a copy of the Nadia Comaneci movie. I loved that movie so even if Sophia doesn't want to watch it, I will! :) So tomorrow I have to call the school and see if I can get a refund of my money. According to their website, it says a 100% guarantee or they will refund your money if it's within a month. It's only been a few days! :(

Okay..I'm off to enjoy my evening. I"m officially on vacation until next Monday! WOOT!

Are we there yet?

2008-03-20T18:48:00.002-05:00

So I got our hotel room booked for next Friday! I'm so freaking excited. I wish we could go sooner but well, you kinda gotta have money at the time you're going. LOL But I guess I can wait a week. It will be a good end to a week off.

I can't wait to see the Children's Museum. I hope the kids have fun! I'm sure they will. Sophia could have fun almost anywhere. ALMOST anywhere. Someday I will have to share the story of her cousin, Carla's birthday party. LOL It's funny but I don't know if Kim will like it. haha

Okay...Off to hang out with the kids.

Almost that time!

2008-03-20T13:07:00.003-05:00

Sophia is officially on Spring Break!! Woohoo!!! Today they had an Easter Party at school. Of course they can get away with that because the preschool is in a church. lol. Public school can't do easter parties LOL

Wayne starts his vacation at 11:31pm tonight! LOL It will be nice to have him home for 9 days but I know I will quickly get irritated with something. Especially at night ie bedtime for the kids. He's not usually home at night with us so it will be different.

I work tomorrow and then I'm off Sat and Sun, work Mon then I'm off the rest of the week! YAY ME! Love my boss and that he will let me take the time off. Of course it's without pay but that's okay.

I also went for more blood tests yesterday. My iron levels are quite low so they want to do more tests. I guess if it's going to make me feel better, I'll do it. Tomorrow is my kidney ultrasound. Say a prayer that they don't find anything horribly wrong with me.

So there you have it. Really exciting stuff huh?

Connor

2008-03-14T21:05:00.001-05:00

Just a couple pictures of my handsome baby boy. :)

Mentally kicking my own butt!

2008-03-14T19:02:00.004-05:00

So I've been slacking off here lately. I know. I just haven't really been in the mood to post.

I went to the doctor on Wednesday and I got more than I expected. Turns out the lower back pain I've been having is a UTI. A pretty bad one too. As Alicia the nurse practitioner said a huge fire. Let me explain. I've been having this back ache off and on since Connor was born. Well it's gotten worse and hasn't really gone away since just before Christmas. So she was lecturing me about how I should have gone in earlier. She said, "it's easier to put out a little fire than a big fire and well, you have a HUGE fire!" So yes, mentally kicking myself.

So now I am on antibiotics, have to have a kidney ultrasound and see a urologist. Blah. I know it's all my fault. I should have gone in sooner instead of putting it off.

So I've been on the meds for 2 days. The first day they made me really nauseous for about an hour after taking them, but it's better today.

In better news, we went on a field trip with Sophia's class! It was a puppet show and it was really cool! The told about dinosaurs and showed the kids the different types of puppets they used and how they could make some of them at home. Sophia had a blast and Connor was soo good and sat through all of it and only fussed a little bit. I think that was only because he was getting tired. It was close to nap time. In fact, he fell asleep on the way to McDonalds afterwards and when Wayne carried him in he didn't wake up and he just slept on the bench next to Wayne. Poor little one.

The weather has been great here. We've been able to play outside the past 2 days. We came home today and played outside until Wayne had to go to work and then the kids and I all took naps. :) It was nice but I'm still tired. Good thing I'm off all weekend.

Pics of the kids as promised

2008-03-08T17:13:00.003-06:00

So I know I promised pictures and here they are!!!

First up, Connor. The 3rd picture is the result of Aunt Kimi giving him a blue cupcake! He looked like punk rock baby :)

Next up, Sophia. She was having fun posing for me that day!

I'm wondering if anyone is even reading this blog. No one comments on anything. :( Am I that boring?

Yay free dinner!

2008-03-06T14:03:00.002-06:00

So tonight Sophia, Connor, Michelle, Billy, and I are going to the Kick off party for the March of Dimes walk. Should be interesting. Normally they have some pretty awesome food! I hope the kids cooperate. I'm taking Connor's stroller because I don't know if they will have high chairs available. I'm sure if I asked they could get one from somewhere if they have them.

Work has been slow. I did one return yesterday and 2 today. Well actually, I did 1 and almost did 2. Long story short, the 2nd lady was unable to efile so she just decided to send it in herself. Fine okay whatever!!! The first lady was so much fun. We laughed and talked through her whole interview :)

I'll have more kid pictures tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to the Momma!

2008-03-04T17:31:00.002-06:00

So today is the momma's 33rd birthday!!

So far it hasn't been too exciting. Took Sophia to school, went to work, drove to the mall to pick up the 101 Dalm dvd that was pre-ordered for the kids. Preordered Enchanted for Sophia while I was there. Came home. Read my email. Now I'm waiting for Kim to get here so we can order pizza for dinner. Wayne's at work so he doesn't get pizza. LOL

Oh, I did get a very cool bday gift from the kids though. I got SceneIt disney editon! Sophia, Wayne and I played last night. From my friend, Katie, at work, I got a big size Dove chocolate bar and a card. :)

It's Done!!

2008-03-02T21:19:00.002-06:00

Here's a link to all the pictures from the bathroom update!! Thanks Don for the help on the floor!! Password is floor

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b87/SophiasMommy/Bathroom%20Remodel/?albumview=slideshow

Bathroom Update

2008-03-02T10:15:00.002-06:00

Walls are painted. Light fixture and medicine cabinet are in place. Looks Awesome! Don is on his way here to do the floor. Wayne and Don have to go to Menards though to get a few things ie the new switchplate that I forgot to buy yesterday. I had it in my hand, but I don't know what happened. It's not on the receipt or in my bags. *shrug*

I'm going to have him pick up the paint for the vanity too so I can get that painted and have them put it back in. :) SO excited.