Dean is Here!

Dean is finally here. Born at 12:31pm on April 17, 2007. Yeah!!!!

Our Angel

WE'RE PREGNANT!

BOO HOO! I'M TURNING 30!

Did anyone else feel like your life was almost over when you turned 30? I turn 30 on July 2 and I can't believe I won't be in my twenties anymore. I will now be in my thirties. Yuck! Just saying that makes me cringe. Every year I age is one more year closer to death. Can you sense how depressed I am about this? Maybe I do need to have another kid to make me feel young again. But if I think about all the gray hairs I have gotten from child rearing, it may make we look like I'm in my forties if I have another kiddo. Why can't we stay young forever? Everyday I look at my kids and they have grown up so much, they're not babies anymore. But how sweet is this: Both kids do tell me that even though they may grow up, they will still be my babies. Ooh, that melts my heart, I need to squeeze them. But even so, tomorrow I will turn around and they will be teenagers. Why does time have to go by so fast? I try to enjoy life to the fullest and I try to take it all in and spend as much time with my kids, but it never seems like enough (to me that is). Can anyone give me more time for my birthday? Or a time slower downer?

TO TRY OR NOT TO TRY, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Just when I think I've made my decision, doubt creeps back into my mind. Should we try for baby #3 or stop and enjoy the two we have? Since the youngest has been more of a handful than the first, we thought we had made up our mind about stopping and not having anymore. But then I see all these new babies and pregnant mommies and big families, that I wonder if we should go ahead and go for baby #3. Every day I list the pros and cons in the back of my mind. That's all I think about these days.

Pros:
1. A new baby to have and love.
2. Both kids want another sibling.
3. Both kids said they are willing to sacrifice extracurricular activities, vacations, and toys for the new baby. I love the unselfishness qualities they have. Makes me so proud.
4. Age difference: By the time the baby will be born, both older kids will be in full time school, so things wouldn't be so hectic timewise.
5. The older kids can help out.
6. I love the thought of a big family. My better half has a big family and I think that is so cool. I only have one brother and I always wonder what it would of been like to have another sibling. I see big families on vacations and it looks like so much fun.

Cons:
1. Sanity
2. Three kids and I only have two arms. One will always be getting away.
3. Less money to take vacations. We have taken the kids on numerous vacations. We love to travel and take the kids to fun places. We have taken the kids everywhere, from camping, to Las Vegas, to Disneyworld, to Seaworld, to family reunions in Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and El Paso. And we would love to keep doing that.
4. Less time for extracurricular activities. Three kids in sports at the same time. Do I need to say more?
5. Finding a babysitter for three.
6. Starting over. Just when I'm getting used to diaper free kids, being able to sleep through the night, and kids being more independent and doing things for themselves and now I want to start over with sleepless nights, baby food, and stinky diapers?

I could think of more and more pros and cons, which makes my decision harder. If we decide to try, our point of no return is this summer. If we don't get pregnant by this summer then it wasn't meant to be. I don't want the age difference between the youngest and the new baby to be more than five years. I think any more than that would be too much. I just hope we decide whether or not to try before the deadline. Anyone else contemplating more than two kids? Anyone have advice or comments?

SHELBY MARIE

Okay, we did it. We finally caved in and got our kids a dog. Almost everyone knows that I've always been against this and have never been very keen to dogs. But when the hamster dies, you are forced to face the consequences. The ones where you told your kids that when either the hamster or cat dies we can get a new pet. Not really thinking that the time would come so soon. I always hated the hamster and always secretly wanted it to die, but why did it have to die so soon. Well of course as soon as the hamster died, the dog talk began. We said what the heck. We looked in the paper and bought a golden retriever puppy right after Thanksgiving weekend. Art named her Shelby. The first few days were rough, but she is turning out to be a great dog. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't and impulse buy. I did lots of research to find out what dog is best for kids and good all around and goldens get a five star rating. Now I could forgo the occasional pee on my carpet (thank goodness we haven't replaced it) and the hyperness of a new puppy, but I actually love her and miss her when I'm at work. She is so good and follows directions real well. She hasn't chewed anything up yet and is trying real hard on the potty training. We start puppy classes next week and I'm looking forward to that, because we want her good and trained so we can take her with to Disneyworld in March.

YOU ARE SAFE HERE

Nothing personal, but I just want everyone to know that your links are safe on my blog and I won't delete you off if you stop posting. I totally understand if you get blogged out or are very busy with real life and can't commit to posting random thoughts all day during work or at home. Besides, it really doesn't take up space to have many links, it's really just people trying to be very mean. I will not be a blog snob like other people we might know. Not naming names, you know who you are. But even though I have "updated" my blog, please do not add me back to your list. No hard feelings. :)

PUMPKINS

I love the month of October! Not sure if it is the cooler weather, halloween, or the pumpkins, but I love it. I especially love to carve pumpkins. It is a lot of work and very messy, but a lot of fun. Today my kids, Zac (my nephew), and I carved pumpkins. Well let me rephrase that. Zac helped me gut them out which is the messiest and time consuming job. Thanks Zac! The kids picked out the patterns they wanted and they made me carve them. Gage didn't want to get his hands dirty and Maddy was too busy playing with all the pumpkin pulp. So I had the job to carve three pumpkins. The first one I did was Gage's. He chose a skeleton. It was fairly easy but I accidently knocked out some of the teeth. Maddy chose a spider. And on the third one I was so tired of carving, I just decided to make a jack-0-latern face.

I LOVE CAMPING!

We just got back from a well needed camping trip. I love going camping or traveling just about anywhere. It really helps me to destress and relax. The weather was beautiful! We roasted marshmallows in the campfire, fished, cooked yummy food, and sat around and stared at the stars. I feel like a new person. The weight off my shoulders magically disappeared. If I could go camping every weekend I would. Of course going camping every weekend is not practical because then my house would become a major pigsty, but once every month or two will suffice. We had 11 people on this trip to Lake Whitney (us, my brother and his family, my cousin, and Art's brother and his son). We all had so much fun. We hung out with everyone and went fishing. Karl & Zac went on two hunting excursions. My brother and his family all had to leave early though because they had a stomach flu and couldn't stop throwing up. Yum! Now we will probably all be sick now. Thanks a lot Gary! Just kidding.

PRAYER REQUEST

For all who read my blog, I ask of you one thing: Pray for my mom. She was just diagnosed with sarcoidosis today. It attacks the lymphnodes and lungs and sometimes other organs. Please pray for her that she comes through this. I know the power of prayer and I know it can help her just like it has with my father-in-law. Thank you and God bless.

ALLERGIES

Hi! My name is SunnyMcBunny and I have allergies. Yes I know...you never thought I would say that, but it's true. It's very true. I've had them for as long as I can remember, but every year they get worse. My body has become immune to over the counter medications as well as some prescriptions. Ninety percent of the year I am a sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat, hacking mess. I never leave the house without a stock of tissues in my purse, car, or pocket. My worse allergies are grass, ragweed, and trees. Now I have had testing done before and was giving myself allergy shots at home every other day, but I always forgot to do it and it hurt if I didn't hit the right place. So I would stop the shots and suffer with medications that didn't work. Well the fall is always my worst month of the year and I have been suffering greatly. I decided to switch to a different allergist to ease my pain. He suggested allergy testing again. To be able to do this I had to be off all antihistamines for four days. FOUR DAYS?!?!?! Oh my, that was the worst four days of my life. I scratched my eyes raw, would eat sharp chips/crackers so they would scratch my throat on the way down, the skin on my nose was starting to peel off from the constant blowing, and I was getting migraines every night. I hardly slept those days but I was so happy when Tuesday came. Oh Tuesday, I will name my next child after you. Well my previous doc had done all the tests on my arms, but this one does the majority on your back. Let me tell you it felt like I was in a torture chamber. It is such an awkward feeling. They take this sharp plastic stick and poke and twist it through your skin. The bad thing was I didn't know whether to laugh or cry with each of the 60+ pokes. I am very ticklish on my back and it was agonizing. The doc came in and said it looked like I had the worst allergies they have every seen. On almost everything they tested me for I hit the max allergy rating. They were off the chart. He gave me mucho prescriptions and said he would start my special serum right away. They said it would take ten days to make it so to just live off the meds for now. Well today they called me and said the serum was ready. WOW! That was only one day! They must really feel sorry for me. So I get my first shot tomorrow on my year's track of shots. The meds they gave me are working so far. I feel great which is so not normal for me. Hip hip hooray I can cancel that plastic bubble off of Ebay that I was going to live in for the rest of my life.

DOGS

My mini me is so in love with dogs. She is constantly telling me "Mommy pretend I dog and pretend I Molly (a dog Grandma used to have). She will get on all fours and bark and pant, then she proceeds to rollover for me to rub her belly. Yes I know it sounds cute, but it drives me absolutely bonkers. Because when mini me is a dog she thinks she can do bad and not get in trouble and on top of that she always wants to be a dog in public. Crawling on dirty floors and barking at people walking by, it's soooooo embarrassing. I know it is just a phase, at least I hope so, but for some reason it hits on my last nerve. She says she has to be a dog because she doesn't have one in real life, which she won't be getting one any time soon either. I'm not a dog person and besides we have a cat already and dogs and cats don't mesh well together. So what does she tell me today on the way home from preschool....

Mini Me: Mommy?
Me: Yes Mini me?
Mini Me: I want my cat to die so we can get a dog.

What?????!!!!????? This is coming from a three year old???? Okay, I did tell her we couldn't get a dog until Jasper died because she didn't like dogs, but I never thought she would want the cat to die so she could get a dog. She then told me she doesn't like cats, she likes dogs and that her cousin Kole has a dog and he says dogs are better than cats. Ugh!

BIRTHDAYS

School has started and so have the birthdays. Yet I have never had so much trouble getting out invitations until this year. My turtle has made lots of new friends and basically is wanting to invite his entire class except a couple of the "bad" kids. Unfortunately our school has many many many rules on birthdays. Just a couple are...

School Rules:

• We do not celebrate individual birthdays with cupcakes, favors, etc. Please do not bring any to class.
• Students and parents are not allowed to hand out personal invitations at school to classmates.

Uhhhh.... how do I let his classmates know they are invited. The school directory has yet to be published. Before I had read the rules (I know I signed something stating I read them on parent orientation night, but who really reads them anyways), I had handed out a few to parents in the cafeteria after school and some to the older siblings who picked up their brother/sisters to give them to their parents. Well I got in trouble indirectly. One of the co-teachers told turtle the next day that his mommy and him are not allowed to hand out invitations at school. Ooops. He also got a copy of the rules in his folder sent home for me to peruse. Bad mommy.

So I went to the head teacher and she said others were in the same predicament as I and she would send home a letter for each parent to sign to allow their addresses/phone numbers released for birthdays. I've only got a few back, but not from turtle's closest friends. So I had to explain to him that some of his friends might not be able to attend because we can't get the invitations to them. Poor little guy. So sad. Anyone else having problems with "school rules"?

HURRICANE KATRINA

Please God give us all the strength to overcome this. I cannot imagine what these poor people are going through. To totally be uprooted from normalcy and have no idea where they are going to live or get food and water, to have lost their loved ones, and not be able to leave the area that is in total chaos. I feel so helpless. I even tried to donate money to the Red Cross online, but there was so much traffic on the internet that I got an error after I hit submit. I have no idea if they got it or not so I will have to wait and see if I get charged on my credit card and then try again. I'm going to go through all my garage sale stuff and see if there is any I can donate to the victims who now have nothing. I beg everyone to do what ever they can to help out with this disaster. Give money, clothing, food, water, time, housing, blood. Anything will help. Check with the hurricane relief charities and see what they need most so we can be the most effective. God bless all.

I LOVE DISNEYWORLD

Anyone else a Disney freak? I absolutely positively love going to Disneyworld. I can't pinpoint the exact thing that gives me the warm fuzzies about the place but it is truly magical. Seeing Mickey Mouse, riding rides, meeting the characters, and seeing the biggest smiles ever from my kiddos makes it so much fun. When we got back from our weeklong adventure in July, we were already wanting to go back. The kids and I for sure, but it truly amazed me when the hubby suggested going back right away. I know I had the disneymania but I didn't know that it had passed to him also so quickly. I've been to disney five times in my life. Once at 12 (family cruise), 17 (with a friend), 20 (at our honeymoon), 22 (after college graduation), and 29 (first time with the kids). And I can't wait to go back. We just booked our next trip for Spring Break 2006. I'm so excited. And the best thing about it is it won't cost us a dime! It is totally paid for with my DisneyRewards from using my Disney Credit Card. We accumulate points for every $ we spend and it has accumulated to $1500 worth to spend at the parks/hotel. It's like free money! All it will cost us really is gas, which by then will be $10.00 a gallon. Just kidding, well maybe not. Does anyone else feel this way about Disney? Or have you ever been?

GADGETS

What is up with guys and gadgets? They are so obsessed with them and sometimes I think it really turns them on. Don't get me wrong... I love how they make life so much more convenient, but I don't always see the necessity in them (gadgets not guys, well maybe guys too sometimes). For instance, my McHubby just bought a countertop dishwasher for our motorhome. We just got it in today and by no means is it compact, it is huge! And it doesn't really take all that long to wash the dishes in the motorhome, but he was insistent on this. Watching him open the box tonight was like watching a child open presents on Christmas morning. The glee in his eyes and smile from ear to ear. "Isn't this the coolest thing ever" he says. Of course I've heard that familiar phrase before with all the gadgets he has every bought (the Sirius satellite radio, vitamix, shopvac, I could go on and on and on). I'm always getting emails from him about eBay items that he wants. I know I'm not the only wife who has a hubby with gadget fever (just like DuckMate and his geochron envy). If they see one they want it, once they have it they want something else. It never ends. They are never satisfied. Is there a cure for this? Any over the counter meds that can be given? Please help!

I'M MELTING

It is soooo hot outside. When is this heatwave going away? Someone blow a cold front my way. Or maybe some rain from Georgia (how about it Murray?). Sometimes I think I'm going to die outside. And the heat keeps giving me migraines all the time. I know, I know, I'm always whining, but one more thing...... "my wallet's too small for my fifties AND MY DIAMOND SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT!"

Hee Hee! Does anyone know who said that last line on a TV show?

CRAP CRAP CRAP

Okay dirty minds.... I'm not talking about poop, I'm talking about crap! You know....the stuff you accumulate in your house that you don't know where to put. Where does it all come from? I'm trying to reorganize and clean my house and I have so much stuff. I'm no pack rat by all means, but I have a lot of junk. But it is so hard to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of. We are going to have a combo garage sale with my mother-in-law, and going through my things is totally overwhelming. Kids toys for instance...my kids have a lot of toys. It is Toys'R'Us of here. We have 3 rooms full of toys, not including their bedrooms. But every time I'm about to get rid of something, they play with it. And everytime we have friends over, it is a big task to put things away. Okay...this toy goes in this room, and this toy goes in that room, and this goes in that drawer, and this goes on that shelf. ARGH!!! If I could just downsize a little it wouldn't be so difficult to keep things in order. Should I just get rid of things and hope no one notices or what? Please comment!

SCHOOL DAYS

How does time fly so fast? Just yesterday my baby was crawling and making goo-goo gaa-gaa sounds and now he starts kindergarten on Monday. What happened? Did I go through a time machine into the future? Why does this always seem to happen? I try to cherish each moment with the thought that time goes by so quickly, yet I always seem to be struck with utter awe when it passes by in a blink of an eye.

I'm freaking out, wondering if I instilled all the right things and taught my child enough to prepare him for this big day. Worrying all the normal worries: Will he succeed? Will he make new friends? Will he be bullied? Will he be confident? And all during these moments of my uncertainty my little one cannot wait for his big day. He is so excited for this new chapter in his life. His biggest excitement is that he will be able to eat in the cafeteria. Am I making a big deal out of nothing? He has no worries or fears but total glee.

I guess as parents knowing that our child will go through the same things we did, makes us worrisome. School has gotten harder and they are exposed to more than we ever were, bad and good. We had hard days and so will they, but hopefully our babies (I mean big kiddos) will know that they can come to us for anything and we love them unconditionally and will help them anyway we can. And more importantly that God loves them unconditionally and will provide them with all the insight and love they could possibly imagine.

I'm so sad that this is it for our kids to do whatever they want during the day with us; the middle of the day strolls to the park, library, movies, playdates. That now they will be going to school everyday for at least the next 12 years and then they will be working everyday after that. That's it, the childhood as they know it is over, and hence starts a new but different one.

I know I have to be strong on his first day and try not to cry, but I'm afraid I will break down like a blubbering baby. I have been in denial this week and trying to control my emotions, whereas my sis-in-law has been crying every minute of the day. I will probably explode on the first day with emotions since it has been bottled up and sis will be prepared. Maybe I should be more like a duck. It is so nice to have family/friends with the same age kiddos to know what you are going through and share support and advice. We are truly blessed.

SMALL GROUPS

At our church, my husband and I decided to join a small group for parents of small children. We meet once a month to discuss parenting tips and how to be better parents through Christian values. We also get together once to twice a month for social activities. Well, the first group was full so we joined the second group (no more than 5 couples per group-hence the word "small" group-this way it is a more intimate setting and easier to get together). My sister-in-law originally headed it up and we had a strong first meeting. Four wonderful couples each with small children. Well then my father-in-law had an accident and we had to postpone our meetings for awhile to take care of our own families. My sister-in-law already belonged to the original small group and could no longer be our leader. We'll miss her...she was good...buried her in the backyard (not really her, but her small group badge). Well my husband decided to be our leader... but funny thing about that is I do all the work, so why am I not the "leader".

So off we go, not really knowing what to do or where to start. We picked up where we left off two months later. But unfortunately we had two more months of no shows. What was happening? Our small group got real small....one couple small. It was just my husband and I at the meetings. What to do, what to do? Do we just dissolve our small group and go our merry ways? Do we beg and beg to be accepted to the original group? Do we recruit new members? Well we found out we couldn't be accepted to the original group because it would make it toooo full. So now what?

Okay, so we were getting discouraged, couldn't get anyone to attend and were running out of options. So I prayed about it.... then later I thought "What would Jesus do?" Would he just give up and stop sharing the good word just because no one would come to listen? NOPE! Would he try to get others to come and join? YES HE WOULD! So the answer was clear as crystal. Don't give up! Recruit! Recruit! Recruit!

So now I am telling anyone and everyone I know about the openings in my small group, hoping for as many as possible to get interested and want to join. I love how the original small group is so close to each other and I would love to have that for our group. To all be together and share the great word of God.

TIME, TIME, NEED MORE TIME

Anyone else feel they are spread out too thin? Why do I do this to myself all the time? I finally had to break down and do an Excel spreadsheet so I would know where I would be at what time, who I had to take where when, and when to fit in work, appointments, playdates, etc.... How anal is this? Having two small children really spreads out your time. My oldest will be starting kindergarten, along with karate and soccer. My youngest will be starting preschool, along with swimming, dance, and gymnastics. Then I have to fit in 18 hours of work, doctor visits, sanity. Did I mention sanity?

I feel way overwhelmed! I finally had to cut out playing Mah Jongg with some friends every week. What will be next?

My kids want to do all these activities and I really don't mind taking them, but I just don't want them or me to get burnt out to soon. My husband jokes that I need to include nervous breakdowns in my time sheet. Hmm... when will that come....Tuesday at 4pm or Wednesday at 10am?

MY NEW WORLD OF BLOGGING HAS BEGUN!

Okay, I've been suckered in. SUCKER! As one of my dear friends/family wrote in her own blog about peer pressure, I have fallen victim to it myself. "Blogging is so much fun" she says "You should do it". Yes after reading all of her posts and others on her links, yes it is fun. What a great way to vent your frustrations or just post random things. Let everyone know your thoughts and feelings on many topics and just be your crazy self. Yes I'm crazy. I love to say silly things and make people laugh. So hopefully I'm not setting myself up for failure here and everyone will think I'm stupid in my ramblings, but that's okay, everyone already thinks I'm off my rocker.

So I title my blog, "Tomorrow". Why tomorrow you ask? or maybe you don't ask, but I will tell you anyways. Just like in the movie, ANNIE, there is always tomorrow. Whenever things don't go your way, just think...Tomorrow. When you have bloggers block and don't know what to say, just think...Tomorrow. When you feel stressed out at work or home and your about to go crazy, just think...Tomorrow. I could go on and on and on. I try to use this thought process to save my sanity. Sometimes you will see me singing to myself and think what is that crazy person saying? Well here it is....

"The sun will come out Tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that Tomorrow, there'll be sun! Just thinkin' about Tomorrow, clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow 'til there's none! When I'm stuck a day that's gray, and lonely, I just stick out my chin and grin, and say, Oh! The sun will come out Tomorrow, So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow, come what may! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya Tomorrow! You're always a day a way!

Yes I know it sounds cornball, but that's me. What's your way of destressing?