Rewarding

Let's 'face' it, boys are extra hard to keep clean. Dirty faces
are pretty much a given around here. Fingernails too! 

Days like today are hard, everything is missing, everyone is tired & hungry, rain is pouring for the 5th day straight, fresh out of milk & mommy is not feeling well. I hate days like today, I wish my house stayed clean, my dishes stayed washed & tummies never got hungry. Unfortunately I would be unemployed if that were the case. Although parenting is hard some days, not a day goes by that it isn't rewarding & gratifying. I am crazy about my boys, none the less. Nothing is sweeter than looking into their sweet faces, precious smiles & the warm fuzzy feeling it gives you. I love to watch their personalities shine through, they are so different! 

Even though I have bad days just like everyone else, I wouldn't change a thing; except maybe the weather :) I love these two, I am really trying to savor every last drop of them, I know here in FOUR weeks or less my attentions will be divided again. I am so happy for her though, she's going to be a lucky little girl to have such great big brothers! They are equally excited for her arrival, Jace tell me every time she sees my stomach roll, "I think she wants outta there, Mama." 


Even though my house goes unkept, my laundry piles up & dishes don't always get done right away they will only be little once. I use to worry before I had B that I was taking Jace's 'babyhood' away. Little did I know I gave him the greatest gift ever, A little brother! They are B.E.S.T Friends, inseparable! I hope they are that way when they are 15 & 16 and too big to spank. I'll look back a pictures & smile about the goofy things they said or did, like "Bri, ook at Mama & cheese."


I am really the lucky one to have such wonderful kids! 

A day in the life...

 It's been crazy around here, I am trying to get ready for a Garage Sale, Jace had his Pre-School screening & well Brily is being his crazy self! I am still pregnant, obsessed with Etsy & constantly making something. I think it's beginning to annoy Jake, oh well! I did make a really delicious dinner last night, I'll put the recipe at the bottom.


 I also wanted to share a video of Sadee, it is hilarious!!! A few nights ago we had some company, it's been abnormally warm so we had the windows & doors open all day. So, of course the bugs flood the house, Sadee hates bugs! Some how a wasp got in & it was on the kitchen floor. We kept hearing her scratch at the floor & growl, after further inspection we noticed the wasp. She would paw it & I assume it would stink her, she was getting MAD! She would growl, bark & paw some more. When she had finally had enough she tried to eat the wasp, that is when I got out my camera and this is what happened.... *Don't mind my dorky/half fake laugh in the middle* And just so you know, no animals were harmed or injured in the making of this video. Also, don't send me some link or nonsense comment about the risks of dogs & wasps. She's fine! 


 ETA: Blogger will not add the crazy video, I now have to upload it to YouTube & then here. It will be posted shortly! :)


ETA: Here is the video! 

  Jace had his Pre-School screening last Friday, I think he did good. He surprised me with a lot different things I didn't know he knew. He was able to point to all the colors, but black & gray; we have never really worked on colors. He did really good cutting out a picture & we don't use scissors either. He did have a classic "Jace moment" when she asked him if he could count. He put his finger to his chin & said "Um.... Not exactly" *sigh* What am I going to do with him, he does know how to count. I was honestly afraid that he would stand up & say "I don't lub this anymore" if they got to something he didn't like.   We don't know if he will get in or not, they are suppose to mail us a letter in a few weeks. She did say that he tested fairly high for his age, I may get my wish after all.


 Brily is wonderful, as expected. He is such a good boy, Jace is too but B is so calm & well behaved when Jace can be a little high strung & dramatic. I wonder where Jace gets it?! Ha! Bri has started this new habit of waking up in our room. He is a sneaky little toot, he waits until he knows it's safe & we are asleep. We send him back to his room if we are awake & he knows it. The other night I got up for the 20th time to pee & kicked him in the head, I had no idea he was there. Whoopsie! He didn't wake & I felt terrible, so I left him sleeping in the floor. He also knows not to get into bed with us because we will send him back, so it's like he hide at the end of the bed or by the doors. The next night he ended up in front of the closet door, then the bathroom door snuggling with some dirty clothes. Saturday night we had all the windows open & in the night a big gust shut our door. When I woke up my first thought was "I bet B is upset that he couldn't get in here last night." I opened our bedroom door & there laid Bri. I started laughing, he was as close to the door as he could snuggle his little body. Usually when Jake gets up for work it wakes him up & he crawls in bed with Momma, I can't say I mind snuggling with the little booger. He is doing seemingly well with potty training & hasn't had an accident in a LONG time. He wakes up almost every single morning dry & will wake up in the middle of the night to go pee. Jace is a totally different story, he has no desire to stay dry at night & never wakes to pee. Just goes to show you who is a light sleeper & who is the heavy sleeper. Two boys, fourteen months apart, yet different as night and day! They are, thankfully, best friends!!! 


  Neeley Kayt is doing great, as far as I can tell growing like she should be. I still have the annoying kidney pain, quite a few Braxton Hicks & back contractions. I have a weird new symptom, my pinky & ring finger on my left hand are numb. They are not completely numb just like a dull numb, half way down my finger. I have never had it before, but I am assuming something is pinched somewhere. I assume it will go away, just like the kidney pain after delivery. 



  I still have a lot, A LOT to get done before she gets here. I am looking at 5 1/2 WEEKS TOPS until her arrival. I have a slew of things I need to accomplish, including her nursery. My list is growing & all I can do is stare it & hope it gets done, I should get on the ball!!! My poor dining room table is covered in projects that I want to do, need to be done & are half done. I need to get Maternity pictures taken soon so I can get my mother off my back. I need to mail out invites for the baby shower, thank you cards from Jake's family shower, finish paying off a credit card before N gets here. See, I am drowning here, instead of treading water & keeping up I just seem to be adding more to my list. I should make a "goal" for the weeks to simply accomplish everything on the existing list & only add things to 'next weeks' list. Wish me luck, no laughing!! 


  

I am WAYYYY behind (31 weeks)

Second post in one day, Whoooo diddly! Actually, I wrote the majority of the last post the other day & didn't have time to finish it & hit publish. I did though want to do a pregnancy/life/everything in general update! So, here you go,

31 Week Doctors appointment update (bullet style again, it works & why fix something that isn't broken hah!)

• Princess is perfect, she's busy & she's growing right where she should be.
• I did not gain any weight HALLE-freakin-LUJAH!!!! I guess passing on all those sweets paid off, even though I DID eat some of mama's pie & Pioneer woman's Apple Dumplings.
• Due to continuing kidney pain & debilitating charlie horses the doctor thinks I may have a electrolyte imbalance. She just added a few vitamins to my prenatal & said that should help a lot. Also suggested drinking Gatorade to get some potassium.
• I go back in two weeks, it's going by sooo fast!!!!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far along: 31 weeks 2 days

Size of the baby: Still the size of a Squash

15.2-16.7 inches, 2.5-3.8 lb. (7 months)

Total Gain/Loss: Let's just say last month sucked & this appointed I didn't gain any. Win some lose some :)

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: It's a Girl!! We finally decided on a name, Neeley Kayt.

(If you ask me how to pronounce her middle then you need basic letter pronunciation skills. Sound it out... AND no "T" does not make the sound "Tee" it akes the sound "Ta" )

I signed her name on a birthday card this week so, it's that official. hah!

Movement: Girlfriend is a mover & a shaker. She can really get wound up & kick for hours!

Sleep: Ugh, Insomnia hit & hit HARD! The past few night I either cannot fall asleep or I go to sleep and wake up at 3 am and stay awake for HOURS! I am sooo over that business!

Cravings: Not a lot this week, I have been trying to be good.

And for Life, it is going. We have had our fair share of car trouble this month. Jake finally was able to fix the #1 problem we had when we bought Big Black. We knew it when we bought it & that is why we got such a good deal. Turns out it was caused by the same thing that ruined the computer in the truck. When the previous owner had it, the battery exploded & leaked acid all over the place. Well, ate through some wires, one shorted out the computer & the other was the ground pulse to the 8th injector. The injector was not actually bad it so it was a cheap fix once we figured it out. But the battery was still bad, it finally just QUIT going to Monett (just a day or two after we fixed the wire, totally coincidental) . My brother brought me the battery from Jake truck, mind you it had ALSO been going bad. Well it made it to Monett & back to Purdy, then QUIT! By this point I was beyond frustrated. Jake had to come & jump it, it started and went about 4 miles, quit again. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat... 6 times I died coming back to Cassville, finally limped it into Carquest & BOTH batteries tested bad. Just my luck! We got new bigger batteries & viola! Everything is peachy keen, except for the fact that Jake fuel pump finally bit the dust, he is replacing that today! I am so over car trouble!!!!

We sold the bass cat, you know this boat. I was a little sad to see it go but not the payment & insurance. Believe it or not Jake already has yet ANOTHER boat, but it was WAYYYY cheaper & WAYYYY less to maintain. I call it a "John boat" & he corrects me every single time, I stand corrected calling it a Aluminum boat. Maybe he will keep this one and stop this excessive buying, trading, selling habit he inherited from his father. Jake also joined a "Cigar club," I get quite a kick out of it & he doesn't think it's as funny. Oh well!

We have made absolutely NO progress on Neeley's room & it is about to make me crazy. We are in the process of finding a form of storage, we are looking at both a building or a reefer trailer. We just have a few weeks to find it. I might temporarily store things in my mom's garage, just don't tell her! *hi, mom!*

The boys are doing WONDERFUL! They haven't made me crazy yet, although they have attempted a time or two. I PROMISE I am going to have a post on them very very soon! Jace did burn his hand yesterday on a halogen light. It looks terrible, but he IS leaving the bandage on- Praise Jesus!! Bri is just being Bri lately, he spilled a whole bowl of cereal in the floor just this morning. He keeps me on my toes, little stinker!

Well until next time... All my love...

P.S. I got a new e-mail address mrskloss@gmail(dot)com

I will no longer be using whitney(dot)scentsy@gmail(dot)com

Sleep... It's a hott mess...

The boys have always been very good sleepers, I cannot remember a time that they wouldn't just lay down & sleep. We have never had to "Cry it out" or anything like that. And they LOVE to sleep, even as wee babes they would sleep many hours, wake-up, eat & straight back to sleep.

Here a while back we allowed the boys to have a T.V. in their room to watch before bed. (I assume problem 1) We only let them watch about 30 minutes during the day but at night before bed they can watch a movie. (And please for the sake of all that is good and wonderful do NOT lecture me on how a T.V. will fry my kids brain! If you know these two you have seen the wild imagination they have, they are not one bit behind.) We also use it for night light purposes- I know that any night light that would be plugged in would be throughly examined & little fingers would probably be black from electrical shock. Most of the time, if he didn't have a 4 hour nap from 5-9PM B would fall asleep rather quickly. J on the other hand does not, he watches the entire movie. (See: PROBLEM) Then he will come in & ask us to change the movie that is over.

We have never been real strict with a bed time routine... EVER! I stay home with them so we would put them to bed whenever we went to bed & they would wake me up in the morning. And it never failed, every single Sunday morning, it's like they know Jake is home & they wake up at 8am just to aggravate him. We do not have a "set" bedtime or a routine really. We put on nighties (read:overnight diaper), brush teeth, take vitamins & allergy medicine, give kisses, start movie & they hop into bed lights out.

As of right now they do not nap, why do they need to when they sleep 10-12 hours a night. I would though like to implement a "rest time" of some sort. Again, with a newborn it is going to be wild crazy. I think it would be good for them to have time to chill & myself as well. And NO they do not have to sleep, but they would need to play quietly in their room and chill out for a while. No longer than 30 minutes if they are not asleep & they would be woke up after an hour & a half. I cannot do the 4 hour naps RIGHT before bed time.

Sure, while it is all unicorns & daisies to sleep in until 11am, but I was up until after 2am trying to get the little monkeys to calm down, lay down & relax. It's like up, down, up, down, door open, slam door, door open, "mommy, I gotta potty," back to bed, door open, light on, tv up, "mommy, I have to poo," back to bed, light on, jumps on bed, light off... It's a never ending vicious cycle for hours. Ending in me having to be a mean Momma & get on to them. Then I was up umpteen MILLION times to pee. The inner insomniac in me has trouble going back to sleep after I up. Also, we really need to be getting to bed earlier, my dear sweet husband has to be up early & going fighting with the boys is normally left up to me for the most part. It does make it really hard for him to get up the next morning at 5:30a to go to work when he doesn't fall asleep until after midnight.

So today we are on "No Nap Status" I am gong to take them to the park and wear their little hineys out. And hopefully implement the following night night schedule. I am also going to implement new "rule/consequences" and "daily schedule."

1. Start at 9:00p
2. Brush teeth & take medicines
3. Use potty & put on "night pants"
4. Tucked into bed by 9:30p

Simple enough, Right?! We are going to have to quit the movies cold turkey. I think it will mysteriously break tonight-wish me luck. I do need to get a very kid friendly night light that they hopefully will not bother.

I am not one for big change & I am not good about making a schedule & sticking to it. Hopefully this works, we really REALLY need it to. Both boys have been in terrible moods today are absolute bears! J has thrown numerous fits, hitting brother, etc. B has spilled a whole box of spaghetti in the floor, stolen toys, beat his brother with the fly swatter & they have only been up for like an hour.

I never claimed we were normal, sane, or functional. We are what we are... borderline side show. All we need is a talking dog & one 6 legged cat. (**Side Note: I did see the CUTEST 2 legged chihuahua on television last night. My heart almost exploded it was so freaking cute. It just bunny hopped around on it's back feet. Jake could tell I was totally googly over the silly think and make it clear that I was indeed delusional if I ever thought we were getting another animal. HA!)

And they are at it again, fighting over a Happy meal toy. Evidently it is time to load up & head out!!! Hopefully they cheer up, especially Jace, he is his mother all over again, such a morning person. Well, forget I ever said that last little bit.