HUNT HAPPENINGS

Random thoughts

2011-09-27T13:16:00.001-06:00

I have some random thoughts in my head.....many of which are ridiculous.

~Everyone needs to quit freaking out about Facebook changing. If you really think they are gonig to charge for using FB, then delete it. Don't get on it anymore and move on. It should not be that much of a big deal in your life, if it is then something is seriously wrong.

~Speaking of FB, I don't care to be 'yelled' at on there. You can easily get your point/question across without using all CAPS. If you want me to 'like' something, do not do this "go LIKE my page", it will only result in me ignoring your request. Highly annoying.

~I love fall. I just dont like using the A/C during the day and then feeling like I need to use the heater at night. My poor girls wake up and they are so cold. Maybe it's time for footed pjs?

~I am loving spending the day with just Zayna. I have finally gotten to see her personality come out. Sweetheart!

~I just pulled some mocha brownies from the oven. Yummy! The house smells so good. I wish I could say I made them from scratch but I didn't. Pillsbury now has a mix.

~My iPhone is junk. I'm ready for a new one. It constantly turns off by itself and freezes when I answer calls. It's a pain.

~I have already started Christmas shopping. I don't have much but at 9, 5, and 3 they really don't need anything. Luckily what I have bought came from the back to school sales. Some things were 90% off. Love a good sale!

~Another reason I love cooler weather: Smores Cappucino. I can only find it in Amarillo. I would drive to Amarillo everyday to get one if I could. I have ordered a mix online but it just isn't the same. I will have one every time I go to Amarillo in the winter. Looking forward to it. :)

~We have been going to 21st CofC for a year now. We are involved with the youth and we couldn't be happier. Brice and I will be going on the youth retreat in two weeks to Ruidoso. Looking forward to it.

~I am addicted to Pinterest. I have found some crafts to do in the winter. I have found some decor I would love to have. I have found some recipes I want to try. If you haven't tried it yet......you just might get addicted.

~I am addicted to TV. There, the first step to recovery is to admit it, right? I am trying to cut back but it's very hard when, even if I'm not sitting and watching it, I like to have it on in the background. I know I could use a radio but it isn't the same.

~ Brice and I have many shows we watch together (after the kids are in bed, of course). I do enjoy sitting with him and enjoying the quiet.

~I have been reading more. Thanks to Britney for lending me some books. I have read all of mine and just don't want to read them again. A gift card to Mardel/Hastings would be a great Christmas present so I could pick out what I want. *hint hint*

~I do love to 'shop' online. I use the term loosely. If I did shop I would have a houseful of junk that would never get used.

~It's a good thing we don't live in town. I would be at Sonic getting a Vanilla Diet Coke several times a day.

~I should not read home improvement blogs. It just makes me want to redo my kitchen and bathroom.

~Insurance companies drive my crazy.

~I have the best hubby ever. :)

That is all......

Art Project

2011-09-09T11:00:00.001-06:00

I decided to let the kids do a little art project this morning, something to do while I vacuumed the house. :)

Even the boys joined in for the fun. Maverick was upset because he thought I was just going to let the girls take part in this 'surprise' I had planned.

My girls LOVE to color. 90% of the time while we are just sitting around, you will find them with markers or crayons in their little hands. Zayna has recently begun to love to cut, with kids scissors of course (and supervision). She has yet to cut her own hair like her sister has done in the past, let's see how long it takes.

I see many more art projects happening in the winter. I guess that means that Zayna and I might have to make a trip to Hobby Lobby sometime. :)

9th Birthday

2011-03-24T12:55:00.008-06:00

On March 20, this little man turned 9 years old.

We had some time to kill before leaving for church that morning so I had him give me some funny faces. This is what I got:

Such a silly guy!

Sickies

2011-01-25T11:49:00.013-07:00

Zayna hasn't been feeling good. She would cough at night, (one that you know would hurt if she were awake) and then rarely cough during the day....until last night before bed time. I noticed she was running a fever. Ever since then she hasn't felt all that great.

As I was cleaning up the kids' lunch dishes, I looked into the living room to find her like this:

She is just worn out!

Sweetness

Sawyer brought her her Ladybug Pillow Pet.

He told me that he was tired too.

Mickey Mouse Marathon

2011-01-05T17:42:00.005-07:00

What would you do if you were sick with Strep Throat and didn't want to eat or play? You would have a Mickey Mouse marathon.... All. Day. Long. Now I do love my children but there is only so much MM I can take. The first few episodes I watched with Zayna in the living room but then I took her to my room and she has been there since she woke up from her nap. On a normal day, she only gets to watch one episode, but you know when you are sick, you get special treatment. :)

Looks comfy, doesn't it?Getting tired....Sweetness

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-21T13:57:00.004-07:00

I have another post planned but for some reason, my computer is not accepting my memory card from my camera. So until I get that figured out, here are the pictures I put on our Christmas card this year.

From the eyes of children

2010-11-19T09:47:00.013-07:00

This morning I decided to have the kids make a Thanksgiving banner to put up in the dining room. I wrote 'Happy Thanksgiving' (very poorly I might add) on it and then we got busy painting. Since I am the only adult home during the day, I had one of the kids take pictures while I helped the other two paint. Some pictures are blurry. But that's what happens. :) I will add that they even got creative with their picture taking.

As you can tell, I even got involved. I did take final pictures of the banner. It is now hanging in the dining room but of course Blogger won't let me upload them. :(

Child of Mine

2010-11-01T09:02:00.006-06:00

This child of mine decided at 11:55 last night that she would wake up. And cry. And cough. Every few minutes. For the next two hours.
I went into her room and told her everything was ok and that she needed to go back to sleep. And she did. Oh, she did have cough meds before going to bed.
By the time I lay my head on my pillow, she was crying again. And again. She continued to cry for her baabaa (cup) and her daddat (blanket). She didn't get the cup but she always had the blanket. I wouldn't give her any milk (she was asking for it) but did end up giving her a drink of water. Evidently that didn't suffice her. She continued to cry.I'm guessing it went on long enough that her Daddy decided to get up and take care of her. He must have magical powers because she slept the rest of the night (it was well after 2 A.M. by this time). LOVE that man for taking over! :)

When she finally did get up this morning, the first thing she did was cry (of course!) and ask for her milk and Mickey Mouse. She has already watched two episodes of Mickey Mouse since she's been up. I forsee many episodes of Mickey Mouse today. Hopefully we can kick this nasty cough she has and maybe, just maybe, sleep better tonight!

Sierra thought that since her baby sister was having milk and watching MM, that she needed to do it too. Yes, I know. A 4 year old doesn't need a sippy cup. She only gets a sippy cup of chocolate milk if she is sitting in my living room. I don't really care to clean my carpet when she spills an open cup. :)

Miss Zayna,

I promise to keep you drugged up today for that nasty cough you have. If you would, please sleep tonight. Hopefully the medicine will work. I am one tired Mommy! Even if you don't, I will still cuddle with you when you are having a rough night.

Love you bunches!

As I type.......

2010-10-07T21:01:00.002-06:00

.....my children are in the living room playing when they should actually be in bed. We have a four day weekend, which means they wanted to sleep in the living room. When they do, I always move AJ's mattress in there. Much easier than laying out sleeping bags, air mattresses or blankets.

......I am in the project mode. The last 9 months I have been re-doing my bedroom. We have bought all new furniture. I am wanting to paint but just haven't gotten around to it. The room is pretty big so I am hestitant to start it.

.....Since I am in project mode, I am also wanting to paint the girls room. Sierra has purple bedding and Zayna has pink. I am wanting to paint the walls pink and purple and have matching curtains. It would take a day or two to paint. So I might do that before I do my bedroom. I could get it done this weekend! We'll see if it acutally happens.

.......I am thinking about our family pictures we will have made in November. A friend does photography on the side (this woman is seriously crazy busy..mom of 3, several 'jobs' and a preachers wife.) I have been eyeing her work on FB and finally caved and made an appointment. Clothes for the kids and I have been purchased. I am super excited!

.....I am loving how Miss Zayna is putting sentences together. She is growing up too fast!

.....parts of me look into the future and hope for it to come sooner. There are things that could happen with Brice's job and sometimes I wish it would happen already. It would be we would see more of him during the week.

.....I am missing Brice. He is in El Paso and this week has been especially hard on Sierra. At 4 years old she doesn't understand why her Daddy is gone alot. There has been many tears and many many talks about why Daddy is gone. He called tonight. I said, 'hello?' He immediately said 'NOT YOU!'. I just hand the phone off to Sierra. Didn't even have to ask. Sometimes I don't think I should tell him how she reacts to him being gone, but he can always put her at ease. They have an awesome relationship!

....I am not loving the 80 degree temps we are having. I love fall and am just ready for Mother Nature to make up her mind.

.....I cannot decide what the kids will be for Halloween. Normally I wouldn't worry about it but we have 3 planned activities. So I have been looking online and I find cute stuff. I am actually thinking of putting Zayna in a costume that a boy could wear too. I'd hate to buy it for one year. If I buy one a girl or boy could wear, then hopefully one of our nephews from Ethiopia will be able to wear it.

....I need to find Maverick a birthday present. I have ten days. Buy the kid a tractor and he's happy. Don't know if I will do that.

.....I have been Christmas shopping online. I normally do it on Black Friday but decided against it this year.

......I am having a hard time resisting snacks. Since April, I have lost some weight. I am still wanting to lose more but lately it has been sooo hard. I am a big chocolate lover and it always ends up in my grocery cart. That and ice cream. Low fat sugar free ice cream. I will only eat that as a coke float with Diet Coke. That's justifiable, right? Other than snacking, I have been fairly good at meal times. Quantity is key, in my book. :)

.....I have a hard time getting motivated to clean my house. Don't get my wrong, I pick up the clutter...everyday. I just don't want to mop or dust. Not a big fan of doing either. Luckily my oldest two like to clean the toilets so I don't ever have to do that. HA!

.....With the cooler weather on the way, I am looking forward to a Smore's Cappuccino every time we go to Amarillo. Luckily the convenience store that sells it is right by my parents house. I found the mix online and ordered it yesterday. We will see if it tastes the same. That has been my favorite cold weather drink!

.......My house has gotten really quiet. Oops, I see Sierra peeking in my room right now! Zayna is snuggled up next to me sleeping. I will be moving her to her own bed. This child likes to sleep right next to you. Don't really care for that when I'm trying to sleep. :)

....I am looking forward to our Small Groups meeting tomorrow night. I have come to enjoy this time we get together. Puts a great end to the week! I think we will be having some authentic Mexican food. Can't wait!

....I am thinking I am going to turn in. Good night!!

I know, I know

2010-09-12T19:52:00.003-06:00

It's been a long time since I posted. I just don't have the want to do a post. I get in little 'funks' about the computer. If I'm on it, I don't want to be typing. I'd rather be shopping. ha! And since I was downloading pictures off my camera I decided to post about what's been going on here.

School has started and we are now in the fourth week. AJ is loving his teacher and I'm loving the fact that the teacher is a male. Don't get me wrong, I have loved all of his previous female teachers, it's just that I think this could not have come at a better time for AJ. This Momma has had a rough summer with her 8 year old. :)

Sierra is singing more and more everyday. Melts my heart to hear her sing Amazing Grace. Nothing better. She is still a little Momma to Zayna, and well, pretty much anyone who is younger than her. She is constantly coming up to us and telling us she loves us and giving hugs and kisses. She just wraps her Daddy around her little finger once more when she does it.

Zayna turned 2 and TALKS. Alot. All of a sudden she speaks in sentences that actually make sense. My baby is turning into a big girl too quickly. This past week, we weaned her off of her sippy cup at bedtime and naptime. Yes, I know, she shouldn't ever go to bed with milk. But she did, and now she doesn't. :) Anyway, since Brice was working in town (and we wouldn't know the next time he would be), we decided it was time. It's been going good. She still asks for it but we have yet to give in. Next up, potty training!!

I'm the same as always. Stay home, clean, blah blah. :) I lead such an exciting life. ha I am going to make myself take more pictures. Especially of AJ. He is gone so much at school or with his Dad. that it seems like he's never home. So my goal is to take more pictures. But don't hold me to that. :)

Brice has been traveling lately. In fact he left about an hr and a half ago. Headed to Belen. He will be back Friday. And then Saturday, he is going to the TT vs. UT game in Lubbock. Deon, Britney and I bought the guys tickets, so they all get to go. Pappy is the Tech fan and the other two are Texas fans. Their seats are in the Tech section. Wonder how those Tech fans will react to the guys wearing their UT gear.........

It took my 5 weeks to write this post, hopefully it won't be long before the next post. And hopefully it will have pictures. Till then....

Last pictures of a 1 year old

2010-08-04T18:15:00.011-06:00

Today, Miss Zayna Delaney turned 2 years old. It makes me sad to think that she is on her way to being a big girl. I miss that little baby! But I am loving this age.

Since her birthday is in the middle of the week (when her Daddy is working out of town), Brice took Monday off and that night we had a little party for her, complete with cupcakes and homemade ice cream.

Here are some party pictures:

This is Z's new thing to do: Put her whole hand in her mouth. In this picture, she stuck her hand in there while we were singing Happy Birthday to her. I am trying to keep it out. :)

I gave up and just let her do it. From the looks of it, I am guessing she doesn't like to be sung to by crowds.

She just blew out the candles. She was a little confused as to where the flames went. :)

And these pictures have nothing to do with the party. Earlier that day, Brice was watching her while I worked in the garden. I came in for lunch and he was snapping some pics of her asleep. I guess she was still wore out from our weekend away, (pics coming soon).

Hopefully tomorrow I can post some facts and pictures of the birthday girl. Stay tuned!

Not just one thumbs up, TWO thumbs up!!

2010-07-27T09:19:00.008-06:00

**The title may not make perfect sense. This is just how AJ described the cookies.**

I am baking some cookies for the reunion this weekend. It's a new recipe. Sounds good, but who really knows. It just so happens that I have two little boys today along with my own kids. So who better to taste test than them, right?

Here's Maverick showing me his cookie. He doesn't look like he is excited. But he was. He was 'helping' me make the cookies so he was more than happy to taste test.

Sierra liked them even though they were crispy.

YUMMY!

I think next time I make them, I won't bake them as long. Some were very brown and hard. But I didn't have to force anyone to eat, (I don't I ever will). So all in all, I would say this recipe was a success.

Here's whats been going on

2010-06-15T08:50:00.013-06:00

We spent this past weekend in Amarillo. My sister had a cookout/pool party on Saturday and then a baby shower for my newest niece on Sunday.

AJ, of course, LOVED the pool. He pulled two of his own loose teeth in two days. The tooth fairy has been VERY busy! And they both happened to be on the sides of his big front teeth.
I didn't think Sierra would like swimming. Boy was I wrong! I sure wish she would look at the camera though.

Miss Ryleigh Raeann born May 25. She is already a little chunky! Who can resist a cute little hand?Dad with Ryleigh. Zayna didn't like the idea of swimming. But she did have fun going up and down the ladder. Plus, who can resist a ruffle hiney? :) Oh, please excuse the mis-matched top and bottom. She wouldn't let me put the swim-top on.A semi-decent picture of Brice and I. Brice told Dad he needed to pose like this.Here is the Lange girls at the shower. Zayna said she wanted to hold It. She can't say Ryleigh so she calls her It. :)

Memorial Day Weekend Photo Shoot

2010-05-30T13:11:00.008-06:00

Since it is a holiday weekend, I dressed the kids up in their red, white and blue outfits for church. We had enough time to have an impromtu photo shoot before leaving this morning.

It was a bit more windy than I had anticipated. This is the best I was able to get, but my kiddies still look cute!

Life lately

2010-04-06T09:33:00.003-06:00

Easter has come and gone. You can see pictures here.

Brice made it back from Kansas two weeks ago. He has been working in Lubbock, which means he is still gone during the week. BUT is home on the weekends. I had a very VERY rough time with the kids while he was gone. Everything seems to be getting much better though.

This past Friday we cut down AJ's bed to make two twin beds for the girls. They are awesome! We put Sierra's full size bed in AJ's room. So now I have to find bedding. Right now we are borrowing sheets and quilts for the bed. AJ refuses to sleep with pink bedding and Sierra refuses to sleep on Transformers sheets. The problem is finding something cheap. I don't want anything expensive because, lets face it, my kids will jump on the bed and Zayna will take her sippy cup in the bedroom (some leak). So I am not ready to splurge on fancy stuff. But I know what I like and I know what that I want bright colors for the girls. We just have to find something that matches AJ's wall colors. I am NOT going to paint his room. Maybe later on but not anytime soon.

So now that we have twin beds in the girls room, we have started to put Zayna in one. The first night she hit her head on the railing. So at night I have started to put blankets on the railing. And last night she did great. I don't think she hit her head once. If she did, she didn't cry. Here are the 'new' beds:

I am so so happy with the way it turned out!

A few weeks ago, I started eating better, hoping I would lose weight. Right now I am 8 pounds down and have more to go. When I started, I was at the most weight I was ever at (without being pregnant). It was then that I decided to get rid of it. I know I am a stay at home mom but part of me doesn't want to live in sweat/yoga pants everyday. But the other part of me thinks I should because most days I don't go anywhere so what's the point.

Right now I don't have a goal weight. I was 130 pounds when Brice and I got married. I don't know if that is a realistic goal, but I will try to get close. It seems like I am at a plateau right now. I can't seem to lose more than 8. I am not giving up though! I have started walking with Britney and Deon and that seems to be helping. I walked half a mile by myself yesterday and then Britney and I walked two miles, in the wind. That was hard! I am sore today! I feel like I am sleeping better and am much happier. Just goes to show what a few pounds can do for you.

Yesterday morning the ladies and I planted trees. I was in charge of filling buckets up with water and getting more trees when needed. Water is heavy. My shoulders hurt so bad today. But no biggie. Just means it was actually doing something for me.

Only a few more weeks of school left. So ready for warmer weather.

March 20, 2002...

2010-03-23T13:34:00.002-06:00

at 3:42 am, I gave birth to my first born and only son, Andrew Jacob. I was only 18 years old.

*I am writing this to my son, who will hopefully read this one day. I may put some things on here that some people may/may not be comfortable with. If so, feel free to move on. It will contain memories of that time of my life. No offense to anyone, however. These are/have been my thoughts for the last 9 years*

Summer of 2001 was going to be so much fun. I was only 17 and on my way to my senior year of high school. I had 'planned' on going to college, even though I had NO clue what I was going to major in.

June of that summer, I became sick. After a few days, I realized something was going on. So my friend bought me a test and it didn't even take 30 seconds to turn positive. I of course started crying as did my boyfriend. I didn't even have to tell my parents because I really think they knew before I did.

It turned into a huge fight (of course) with my family. My parents were disappointed. I was disappointed. My sisters were too. My parents' concern was finishing high school. I was bound and determined to finish. I was able to finish in one semester since I would be having this baby in the spring.

Soon after I found out, my parents asked our new preacher to come to the house to talk with us. He asked what my thoughts were about abortion. I said NO, that is murder. He then asked about adoption. I know I was only 17 but I knew I just couldn't live my life knowing that I had a child out there that someone else was raising. I said I am going to have this baby and I know it will be tough but that is what is going to happen.

The months went on and Christmas came. December 28 2001 I found out I would be having a son. It took a long time to name him but we decided on Andrew Jacob. AJ for short.

Spring came and as I got more and more impatient. I wanted that kid out! March 19 came. I made supper for the family. I also went to bed early because I was sooo exhausted. About 10 I wake up go to the bathroom. I went 3 or 4 more times in a 10 minute span. My mother woke up and asked if I was ok. I said my stomach hurts and.... Before I could finish my sentence, she said I was probably in labor. She had me lay in bed with her and Dad. Contractions would come every 2 minutes on the dot. After an hour or so, Dad gets out of bed and starts getting ready to leave. Mom said we have plenty of time. He said we didn't so he told me to get ready. I took a bath and shaved my legs. (yes that is all I was worried about at the time) Between midnight and 1 am we were headed to Amarillo. We had to pull over once because I thought I was going to vomit. My water broke as I got into the car. My sister Pamela lived in Amarillo and was already at the ER waiting on us.

We arrived at the hospital about 2 am. I immediately asked for an epidural. I was checked and told no because I was already at 7-8 cm dilated. My parents call my other 2 sisters and said hurry up, baby will be here any minute. Within a few minutes after they arrived, my son was born. With no meds. Ouch!

We lived with my parents. They loved having him around all the time. His favorite thing to do was mow the yard with Pa. He was completely spoiled!

We were released the next day. We would go to church (which he LOVED) and AJ would eventually meet his furture grandparents. :) Months flew by and before I knew it, we were celebrating with a Mickey Mouse party.

Life with my son was great, tough but great.

I don't normally talk about this but here goes.

AJ's dad and I always had a rocky relationship. I was called some terrible names. We fought constantly. I was miserable! Even my faimly could see it.

About the time AJ was 18 months old, I started talking and hanging out with Brice. Ritchie (AJ's dad) hated the fact that I was doing that. Brice and I would talk alot, about him. How miserable I was. I told him things that I never told anyone else. I would call him when I was upset instead of a girlfriend. Starting to see a pattern?

After two months of talking and hanging out with Brice, he blurted out a question. "Why are you with this guy if he treats you badly?" My answer, 'because of my son.' He said it isn't healthy for your son if you are miserable. And it isn't healthy for you either.

That is when I decided to break things off. I knew if I wanted to be happy, then that is what needed to happen.

So I broke them off and I felt so much 'lighter'. He of course promised to change (please, who would believe that?). I really do believe he tried everything he knew to 'win' me back, but it didn't work. I saw a change in AJ after it happened. Mommy was happy more and so was he. Mommy wasn't crying and either was he.

Well after ONE week, I knew I wanted to be with Brice. We started 'dating', Although we never actually went on a date. We talked. ALOT. Long into the night. Mainly because he worked nights and he would call while he was on break. I talked alot of AJ. He talked alot about AJ. My family saw a HUGE change in my behavior and attitude when I talked with Brice. I was HAPPY.

Two weeks in, and I knew I loved the guy. Seeing him with my son kind of helped. :) He gave him the nickname of 'little dude'. Melted my heart. When we knew we wanted to get married, we had AJ call him Daddy. I loved the fact that Brice wanted AJ to call him that.

May 2004 came and Brice proposed. We told AJ what was going on but at 2 years old, there isnt much he understood. My parents were heartbroken that I was 'taking' him away. He had lived with them for 2 years and now was going to live in a different house. Different city.

We were married July 24 of that year. AJ and my Dad walked me to Brice (didn't have an aisle). I would do that all over again. AJ was sooo precious! At the end of the ceremony, Brice made a vow to love and care for AJ as his own.

And he has.

AJ loved being in Amarillo and loved being the only child. I was able to stay home with him. That did so much for our relationship.

A year later, we were pregnant. AJ was going to be a big brother! He was super excited about having a baby sister. Melted my heart each time he held Sierra! We moved to a new house. AJ, for some reason, loves to move!

He is a great big brother to Sierra. They had (and still do) so much fun. He went to kindergarten just about a mile from our house. He excelled (if I do say so myself :)) That is when I got pregnant with Zayna. AJ was such a huge help when all I could do was vomit. He is always willing to help.

Summer 2008, we moved to the country. AJ spend tons of time playing outside and helping to build decks and helping wherever he was needed. He started first grade in Texico. He couldn't be happier. He quickly made new friends. Two live just north of us. Close enough that they can come see each other after school. So great! He did great in first grade and even made it to second. haha.

All the while he would be with his Dad every other weekend. It takes a toll on a kid! His Dad lives with his parents. When AJ comes back from there, he is always cranky and has an attitude. I know he gets treated differently there. He tells us that. He always eats what he wants. He is never told to do differently. And that bugs me. ALOT. Now, I am not the best cook and growing up I was a picky eater. BUT I have been making new things and trying new things. AJ will always tell me after a new food is cooked that he doesn't like it and doesn't want to eat it. Sorry son! Mom is not a short order cook! Ok Ok, I'll get off my soap box.

Anyway, he has to, in a way, readjust to life at home each time he gets back. I wish I could take him away so he would never deal with this situation. It's also hard on his sisters. They don't understand why he leaves so much. Wow, getting a little teary eyed here!

AJ,

You are one awesome little boy!! I love you so much. You have no idea! I miss that little baby who would hold two paci's in his hands while sucking on another! I am loving the little guy you have become and cannot wait until you grow into a young Christian man. I hope you become my Brother one day, when you're ready. I hope you go on to graduate high school and maybe one day, college. I hope you find a wife that treats you well. I then hope that you become a father. I have so many dreams and wishes for you son! I just want you to be happy and do what makes you happy.

Love you most and you cheated,

Mom

2010-03-16T10:48:00.002-06:00

MIA again. I have just lost the 'want/care' to update this blog. Maybe it is because I just haven't been in the office to be on the computer. Maybe it is because I've been trying to keep myself busy because Brice is out of town. Maybe it is because this child...... hasn't been sleeping very well the last few weeks.

For most of her life, this little girl has never slept all night. Well, for a few months she did. But within the last two months, (especially the last couple of weeks), has been waking up 2 to 3 times a night. She did however decide to make Mommy EXTREMELY happy when she decided to sleep all night Friday night. Maybe it was because her Daddy was home?

Saturday night she only woke up once, at 2 AM. I am fine with that. However, Sunday night was the worst night we have had since she was an infant. She just cried and said ouchie over and over. I gave her her milk TWICE and she still cried. So I took her to bed with me and she finally fell asleep at 4:30 and we both got up at 7:45.

Last night, she slept from 7:30 to 7:45 this morning. It was wonderful!! She must have know that her Momma needed that. And I'm sure she needed it too.

Today Zayna has fussed over EVERYTHING. I am not sure why but as the day goes on, it just gets harder and harder.

Brice left Sunday morning for Kansas. He won't be back until the 26th or 27th. That is a looonnngg time!

AJ's 8th birthday is this coming Saturday. Can't believe my first born is that old! And I can't believe I won't spend his day with him because..........

the girls and I are traveling to the Midland area with Mandy and her kids to see our oldest sister Kerri. We are leaving Thursday and coming back Sunday. I really really wish AJ was able to go. I tried on two different occasions but his Dad just said no. I don't want to cancel this trip so we are just going to go without him. He knows what we are doing and he is OK with it. I will just have to find him a present while we are down there. :)

I am off to finish making the kids lunch. Maybe it won't be too long before my next post.

Catch Up

2010-03-01T07:29:00.005-07:00

It's been three weeks. We haven't been up to much of anything in those three weeks. Let's see......

AJ has been doing good in school. Continues to do well, especially since he got his glasses.

Sierra has been a little Mommy, as always. She continues to help me with Zayna, and the boys when they are here.Zayna is learning more and more everyday. She talks constantly. Just like her big sister and Daddy!
Brice is has been working close to home the last two weeks. Which means he was home every night. This week he is in Amarillo and Canyon, so he won't be home until Friday. On the 14th, he will be leaving for Kansas for two week for training.

I have been doing the same ol' thing. While Brice is in Kansas, the kids and I (probably just the girls and I) will be headed to Iraan, Tx. My sister and her family moved there during Christmas break. My other sisters and I are going for a visit.

Spring Break is March 15-19. We will be headed South on the 18th.

AJ will turn 8 years old on the 20th. It looks like we will be doing his birthday 'party' the weekend before because he is supposed to be with his dad on his birthday. We just ordered his present last night. He loves to golf with Brice, so we ordered him a set of Cleveland golf clubs. He already knows he is getting them but that is no big deal. I figure I could get him something else as a surprise. We will just have to see about that.

Brice and I went shopping this weekend for a new bedroom set. We ordered it and it won't be in for another 2 to 3 weeks, about the time Brice will be in Kansas. Hopefully the store will be able to hold it until he gets back.

Well, that's about it. We lead such exciting lives. :)

Happy Birthday Sierra Genesis!

2010-02-03T18:20:00.008-07:00

Today is our little Girlie's 4th birthday. It seems as though she was born yesterday (totally cliche, I know) but then again it seems like forever ago. Here are some facts and then some pictures of Sierra.

She loves to sing. Most, if not all, of the songs she knows all the words to. And she has the sweetest voice.

She is still a loner. She does play with other children but more often than not, she is playing alone.

She talks. ALOT. Just like her Daddy.

She still loves her baby dolls. She went through a phase (for a year) that she could only sleep with one baby doll, whom she affectionately named Baby Dolly. Now she sleeps with a doll that Santa brought her that looks just like her. She does not have a name yet. Sierra does get upset when she is not in her bed at bedtime so we have gotten into the routine of leaving the doll in her bed so she knows where it is at at all times.

She is just like her Momma. She can be very emotional at times and it is hard to perk up. This has happened alot lately with Brice being gone alot. :(

She is still a Daddy's girl (i.e.: above statement). And he loves every bit of it! So does she. :)

She recently learned her numbers by sight. She tells me every single number she sees. Next up is letters!

Sierra does not mind to play in the dirt, which makes me soooo happy! She is a tomboy and a girlie girl all in one.

She is wearing size 6 clothes and a size 1 shoe. She is so tall that most clothes kids her age wear won't fit her. This also means that she never gets hand-me-downs from her older girl cousins because she is bigger than them. Guess that means Mommy can go shopping! haha

She is a picky eater, just like her brother unfortunately. I'm trying new things out and so are they. Hopefully one day I can break them of that.

She loves to help in the kitchen, especially when anyone is baking.

Her best friend is Maverick. They are like two peas in a pod. She tells him what to do and he willingly does it. :)

Loves to sit next to her Daddy in his chair. She won't do that with me.

She has many knick-names: Tails/Tales, Girlie, Drea (Maverick calls her that), Sissy

I'm sure there are many more, but I just can't seem to think of them.

This is how Sierra has spent the last 3 days. Running a fever and sleeping in her Daddy's recliner. Finally took her to the doctor today and she has bronchitis. It stinks having to go to the doctor on your birthday, ya know?

Since she hasn't felt good, I haven't done her hair. Hence the wild woman!

Brice recently started playing the guitar. Sierra has said numerous times that she wanted a pink one. So we ordered her a pink one, then she tells us she wants a purple one. So it comes and we open it, and it turns out to be a mix of both colors!

We ordered her a left handed guitar because, after-all, she is left handed. :)

Happy 26th to me

2010-02-01T10:32:00.012-07:00

Saturday was my 26th birthday. Since I have a sick 3 (4 in two days :( ) year old who wants me, I will tell the story in pictures.

The theme was The Next Food Network Star

Everyone was a FN chef/show host. Sawyer was Guy Fieri Here is me with my presents and a ridiculous expression on my face.

Me with the family. Most of us are able to look at the camera. :)

Sierra pretending to be Rachael Ray. Actually I think that is who she 'was'.

Zayna was Giada DeLaurentis. And I must say, she is sooo much more precious than the actual Giada. Even if she is licking a utensil.

Here she is cutting the apron shaped cake. Well, it was apron shaped before we started eating it.

Here ya go, she wants to share with you!

I ended the day with dinner with my wonderful hubby who just spoiled me!

I really need to...

2010-01-10T19:19:00.002-07:00

....figure out what I want to do when I go back to school.

......study my Bible more.

.....work with my girls more (i.e. shapes & colors for Z and letters & numbers for S. She knows what they are, she just needs to start putting them together).

.....stop watching so much TV. What can I say, I love it.

.....be quick to listen and slow to speak and re-act (great lesson from Bible class this morning).

.....give up sweets (which is SOOOO hard).

....lose some weight (about 20 lbs. Went to the dr last week. I now weigh the most I ever have without being pregnant. NOT cool. So here goes nothing.)

...not focus on having a super clean house. I'm not a neat freak but I focus too much on keeping it picked up and de-cluttered that I lose focus of what really matters.

....learn to cook healthier.

....learn that sometimes it is okay to put myself first instead of everyone else. I have a very hard time with that.

.....learn how to use my dSLR. I have had it since July but really haven't gotten to know how to use all the fancy schmancy settings.

.....call my family more. I don't like talking on the phone that much though. I email my mom alot and text my sisters a few times a week. My dad gets the short straw I guess. So the kids and I will call him once in a while, which makes everyone happy.

....have more patience.

.....finish this list so I can put Sierra and AJ to bed so I can go to bed.

And with that, I'm done!

Not much to report

2010-01-05T13:01:00.011-07:00

Christmas is over. Look here to see pictures.

New Years came and went. Brice and I aren't much on staying up late to watch the ball drop. I'd rather be sleeping. :)

School starts tomorrow after 2 weeks off. I am ready! I have noticed that when AJ is home, him and Sierra constantly fight. I am constantly getting on to someone or putting someone in a time out. So needless to say, everyone is ready.

Brice is in Plainview this week. The last two weeks, he has only had to work 2 or 3 days. This week is a full one. Makes me miss him more!

The girls are still talking a mile a minute, just like their Daddy. Sometimes I wonder if I gave birth to those girls. They are more like their Daddy every day. No complaining here though!

And I have been doing the same thing.

Here are some pictures taken over the last few weeks.

The same brown dress

2009-12-17T09:16:00.005-07:00

Sierra wore this dress for her 2nd Easter. She was about 14 months old.

Here is Zayna this weekend at 16 months old.

????

2009-12-11T10:15:00.005-07:00

No title. Can't think of one. Too tired to think of one. :)

Not much has been going on here. It's cold. Very cold.

Christmas is almost here, like you already didn't know. :0)

School is almost out. There is no school today.

Since there is no school today, I put AJ to work by making him clean out his closet. OK so maybe I did it but he helped.

Sierra helped too. She was very happy when AJ told her that she could have a couple of shirts that were too small for him. Works for me!

I am hosting my first Christmas this year. My entire family (11 grandkids and 9 adults) will be at my house next Saturday. All this means is that I am going to be a mad woman getting my house clean. Let me just say that I normally a little OCD about my floors, especially the carpet. I vacuum 5 to 6 times a week. Can't stand foor on the floor and my 16 month old thinks it is fun to eat off of the floor.

Brice and I took the outside to take pictures for my Christmas card. It was a nice day and some turned out really well. Here are a few rejects:

So,

2009-11-24T10:25:00.003-07:00

I don't have much to report. The beginning of this week is off to a slow start. Church Sunday, errands yesterday with the girls (where I finally got my car washed and cleaned out) and today the boys are here. I am sitting in the office watching them play in AJ's room. Just don't tell him. He doesn't like when kids play in there. :) Lunch is almost here, and it's odd that all I have had today is a protein shake and protein bar. I wasn't even hungry when I ate that but I made myself eat so I won't over indulge at lunch.

Anyway, two days until Thanksgiving! Today is the last day of school for the week and Brice is off after tomorrow. I am looking forward to the deep fried turkey. Never had it before. But how could it be bad? We will be having lunch at Britney's followed by Sawyer's birthday party. That little munchkin is turning 1.

After the party we will be headed to Amarillo. My oldest sister will not be there. Long story short, her husband took a job close to Odessa. He has been there a week and she and the kids will be going to visit for Thanksgiving. Once the semester is over, they will all be moving there. Makes me sad. Yay for cell phones!

So it will just be my family and I, Pamela and her family and Mandy. Oh and my parents of course. Mandy's kids will be with their dad this year. I think their plan is to have a big lunch and just have leftovers for supper. Which is just fine by me. Don't know if my stomach could handle two wonderful Thanksgiving meals in one day. :)

We will be spending the night with my sister. Brice has agreed to keep the kids while I go shopping on Black Friday. Hopefully Pamela will be able to join me. We had such a blast last year together, we are hoping to do it again. I have my list ready. I'm sure I will be getting more than what's on my list but doesn't everyone do that? I tend to go overboard. But everything is on sale that day, so it doesn't seem like a big deal. :) Ok I tell myself that to make me feel better...

I ordered a 4 foot black tree. I wanted a small tree because our furniture is big and I thought a big tree would overtake the room. Well, I received the tree yesterday. I put it up and had it decorated by the time Brice got home (rare thing lately). I heard him come in (I was in the office). He walks in the office and says, "I give you permission to git rid of that ridiculous tree and buy a bigger one." He said he liked the color but the size was just wrong. OK!

I said I could put it in another room. He then said it is not allowed to go up at all in his house. I was laughing because he was just so serious about it. I'm not upset at all. So now my job is to find a bigger tree at a reasonable price. I found one online but I think I am going to look Friday before I buy it. So I now have a tree that is useless.

***Sorry this post is pictureless. It was brought to my attention the other day that I need to step it up and take more pictures (in my case, any at all) and update my blog and flickr. So here is a start. :)
I hear a baby screaming for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dad

2009-11-13T13:02:00.002-07:00

My dad's heart cath went great Wedsnesday. There was no blockage and he has a perfectly healthy heart! We were all shocked by that because of the family history of heart disease. But we sure were very happy!

I was able to go to Amarillo to see him while my girls (AJ was in school) were being taken care of by their Aunt Britney, whom I can't thank enough! I was able to pick up both of my sisters in Hereford. Kerri's husband watched all 3 of their kids so she had 'a day off ' as well. We took Mandy's kids with us and boy did we have my car packed!

We did find out that only two people were allowed to wait on Dad at the doctor's office though. So it was Mom and my aunt. So while Dad was busy, Mom's friend graciously volunteered to keep Mandy's kids and Pamela's kids while us sisters had some sister time. It was so fun! We had a blast and laughed so much. We never get to have sister time without someone's kids so it was awesome. We went to Target and Toys R Us. Me + Target = bad idea.. I love Target! Brice isn't too thrilled when I go there. :)

We get back to the house and Dad is home and he felt great, even with 5 kids running around. I got a great bug hug from him, which was very needed!

I can't seem to thank everyone enough for their prayers! I'm so glad I was able to be there even if I couldn't be at the doctor's office. I am also very thankful that I get to see him tomorrow. The kids and I are headed back to Amarillo for a niece's birthday party. Who knows what Brice is doing. There is a possibility he is going with us, but I'm sure I won't know until tomorrow morning. Oh well, he knows where I will be. :)

Thanks again for your prayers!

Prayer Request

2009-11-10T13:26:00.003-07:00

I am 25 years old. In that 25 years, I have never seen my Daddy in a hospital bed. He has never been admitted to the hospital for anything. Sure he has had a few medical problems but none as 'invasive' as tomorrow.

For a while now, Dad has been having chest pains. He went in for a stress test a few weeks ago and the doctors found something.

Tomorrow my Dad will go in for a heart cath. Mom said they found some blockage and want to see how much there is. And my sister told me this morning that they will also be looking to see if there is any damage to the heart (he has a history of heart disease). Honestly it scares me and I sure it scares him. I have NO clue what exactly is done. All I know is what my sister (who has had two of them herself) told me. My mom told me that we don't need to be there, but please, she otta know her kids by know. :)

I know a heart cath is usually not considered a big deal but in my opinion it is. I think that if it is anything to do with going into someones body to check things out, it is a big deal. So with that said, I am praying that there won't be much blockage or any damage. Brice always says that I look for the bad in some things. I say that I am just a very emotional person. And it is hard not to be when it is someone whom you love very much going through this.

I pray that it will all be healed and taken care of by Him.

So that is where you come in. Please pray that there is no damage to his heart or that there is little to no blockage.

Thanks so much and I will hopefully have good news to report later.

Halloween is over,

2009-11-06T08:30:00.002-07:00

and I am already obsessing over Christmas. I have gifts in mind for my children. I have a gift in mind for Brice, that is if we give each other something this year. If not, it will just wait for his birthday.

I have to get a new tree. I have something in mind but I just have to find it somewhere.

I know the decorations I want. I just have to find them.

I have to get our personalized tree ornaments that I get every year. The only problem with that is getting Brice to Amarillo so we can get them. I guess I can do it without him but we have always done it together.

I have to get new wrapping paper. Seems like it is not important, but it really is.

I have this picture in my head of how I want my living room to look throughout the month that I have my tree up. I couldn't do it last year because we had just moved and funds were tight. I am hoping this year I will be able to do it the way I want.

Christmas has always and will always be my favorite time of year. I love to go all out for my kids. I love to make it such a big deal. I want them to remember what I did for Christmas.

So tomorrow I am going to start looking in the stores. Little does Brice know that he has the kids while I am gone. I need some alone time after this week.

Anyhoo, it's ridiculous that I am already starting to obsess about this holiday.

I have been researching the kids gifts online and I am just waiting to go shopping. I am hoping I can go on Black Friday. Some people wouldn't do that but I love it! Last year was my first time to go. My sister and I were at Toys R Us by 5 that morning. I have no problem standing in the cold waiting for the stores to open just to get a good deal on something. That's how much I LOVE to shop!

I still have over a month. Well, actually less. I always put my tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving. That's what we did growing up and that's what we will do now.

So much to do so little time..........

It's snowing outside!

2009-10-29T08:54:00.007-06:00

I have been MIA because we have not had a home computer. The old one bit the dust and we had to get a new one. We have had it for a week, I just haven't wanted to sit and post anything. Yes, I am that lazy. :)

Not much has been going on here. AJ is still going to school, much to his dismay. Sierra is being well, Sierra. She still likes to test Mommy's patience. :) And Zayna is walking everywhere. And has been doing so for over a week. I don't think I have seen her scoot at all. Makes me very sad that my baby is now a toddler! I'm trying to hold back the tears! Brice is still on the road. He has been less than two hours away but he still doesn't come home until the weekend. If money and time were no object he would be home every night. Price we pay so I can stay home with the girls. And me, well I have been doing the same ol' thing. Housework and keeping Maverick and Sawyer.

I have decided that Brice and I need to buy stock in Huggies Diapers. I could possibly have 2-3 trash bags full of diapers between Zayna and Sawyer every week. Talk about stinky trash!

Let's see....I guess that is about it. Oh, I don't have many pictures to post. I just have a few from the last few days. So here ya go:

Zayna's new favorite thing to do: turn the girls lamp on and off.

I had bought the kids these door hangers months ago and we just got around to doing them. Here is Miss Lefty coloring hers:

Mr. Blondie coloring his:

AJ showing me his loose tooth. This will make number 6 tooth he has lost. Do you see the hole on the left side of his mouth? He has NO clue what happened to it. He does not know where or when he lost it.

Here he is showing me one of his favorite books.

Yet again,

2009-10-20T12:10:00.003-06:00

I am a slacker. But for good reason. We don't have a home computer. We ordered it yesterday and it should be here in the next couple of days. This post isn't much.

Since I am on here, I would like to give a shout out to my parents who celebrate 37 years of marriage today!

"INSERT PICTURE HERE"

Since I don't have any pictures, I guess you will just have to imagine them on here. :)

Like I said, This post isn't much!!

Spare minute

2009-10-06T12:59:00.012-06:00

I actually have a spare minute to post because my 3 year old is vacuuming my living room.

Yesterday AJ, Sierra and Maverick painted some piggy banks that I had bought months ago. Maverick didn't care for it as much as the other two, which you will see in pictures.

This is the beginning of the painting of the pigsWhen I first purchased these piggy banks, Hobby Lobby only had 3. So that meant Sawyer and Zayna wouldn't get one. I guess Zayna didn't like getting the bad news so she painted something else:She tried to bite through the paint bottle.Then she got paint off the plate and decided to taste it.Here she is getting more paintAJ didn't have school so he thought this was the best thing to do!Silly SierraAJ wanted to help her outThe finished (one of them) product. She was proud of her face painting.Even though Zayna didn't paint a piggy bank, she ended up covered in paint.

After we finished painting, to the bath tub we went! Thank goodness for Crayola Washable Paints!!

Handstands

2009-10-02T08:47:00.004-06:00

Sierra doing a handstand AJ's is much better
I think Zayna's is the best :)

First Steps!

2009-09-21T16:48:00.003-06:00

Little Miss Zayna decided she would finally take her first steps last night! I had just gotten the girls out of the tub and stood her up and told her to come to me. To my surprise she took a couple of steps (naked mind you)! I was screaming and clapping. She was so proud of herself!

So I run to get the phone to call her Daddy who was at the parents house watching the Cowboys game. Of course no one answered, :). So I get the girls dressed as fast as I can and go out into the living room and see Brice walking in the door. I told him what happened and we made her do it again! So it being bedtime and being the wonderful parents we are, we had to go and show everyone. I think Brice got it on video with Neemers camera but other than that, that is the only footage we have of her walking.

She is still having a little trouble staying up but she is walking nonetheless! And she is very proud of herself!

In other Zayna news, she FINALLY cut her top two teeth this weekend. It has been 4 months since she got her first two. I have been thinking that the others would soon follow but alas, in true Zayna-time, she made her Momma wait. :)

And of course Blogger is being a pain and won't let me upload a picture! Maybe later.........

13 months

2009-09-10T09:49:00.002-06:00

Zayna just turned 13 months old. My sweet Mommy-loving baby is getting too big too fast!

She is such a sweet heart. We have seen her grow and become so smart for her age. She learns things VERY quickly. Here are some things she does/says:

She can say: Momma

Daddy/Dada

go (although it sounds like dough)

Baabaa (her bottle) (Yes she is still on the bottle, don't judge me. :) it is harder than I thought it was to wean her)

Sadie (she just said this yesterday for the first time)

Cheese (I was taking a picture of her today and told her to say cheese and she actually did!)

Bath
Bye-bye

I think she says more but I am drawing a blank.

At 13 months old she can sign the words More, Please, Thank You, and Daddy. I am slowly teaching her other words. I want her to sign a word on a regular basis before I teach her a new one. She just learned Daddy so up next is Mommy.

At 13 months old she is not walking. She is still scooting on her bottom. Yesterday I watched her push a push toy and walk with it. We have tried to get her to do that for months with no success. Guess she decided she would do it on her own!

She will stand up (sometimes) when you ask her to. Not too long ago, we were playing in the living room and she was in the middle of the floor and decided she would stand up without holding on to anything. I was screaming for her! I was so excited for her.

Zayna will now cry EVERY time someone walks out the door. Not a big fan of people leaving her house.

She loves to be outside. She will stand at the door watching her brother and sister play if she isn't out there. I don't allow her to go out there with them if an adult is not out there. She gets too excited and will scoot off of the walkway if she isn't being watched.

It looks like the terrible twos are coming very early. JK. She has realized that she can be vocal when someone has something she wants. She DOES NOT like it when someone is on her little 4 wheeler. She makes her claim on that thing!

When she wants to be held, she will scoot over to you, stand up and hold her hands in the air while making a grunting/whining noise. Her Daddy LOVES this. He can never turn her away.

Zayna is into everything. I finally got Brice to install locks under the kitchen sink. She was constantly pulling stuff out. It freaked me out because she sucks on everything! Luckily she never sucked on anything that was under there.

She loves her baths. Anytime she hears the water run, she gets in there as fast as she can.

She not a big fan of waiting. On anything.

Poor thing has a constant diaper rash. I have put endless kinds of creams on her and they seem to work at first and then it comes back. Of course maybe, just maybe, it would help if she wouldn't poop 7 times a day. I am not exaggerating. She really poops at least 7 times a day!

She is still a climber. She thinks it is fun to sit on one recliner, climb on the small table between the recliners and then go to the next recliner. This is not a fun game for Mommy.

She has been sleeping through the night (finally!) for about a month now. I hear her every once in a while cry out but I don't get up unless she starts to get loud.

She has gone from my child who eats everything to my child who will only eat every once in a while. At this point I am not worried because I know she is healthy. If she keeps it up then I might be worried.

For the last month she has decided she wanted to take one nap a day. This does not make Mommy happy. She needs to take two a day. I have finally (within the last week) have gotten her to take two naps. She is asleep right now. (that is the only reason I sit here typing)

At 13 months old she only has 2 teeth. She got those two when she was almost 9 months old. Her gums were swollen yesterday so she could be getting more.

We still haven't gotten her ears pierced. Sierra was 7 months old when we had hers done. Zayna just doesn't have much of an ear lobe. However, they have gotten slightly fatter in the last 6 months. I am hoping to get them pierced soon. I love me some baby girls with pierced ears!

Brice has got her trained that when you say "Where's the Bayna loves?" , she will out her head on your shoulder. He just hates that, you know!

She still has the same nick names: Zayna Bobayna, Bayna, Beena, Beena Weena, ZZ, ZayZay

And yes, she will look at you no matter which name you call her.

I think that is about it. She is a total sweetheart. Here is a picture I took of her this morning. Please excuse the dirty face, bed head and pajamas. It is a cool cloudy/rainy day and I really wasn't in any hurry to get her dressed.

I'm bored

2009-09-03T11:30:00.002-06:00

Brice has been out of town all week. The kids and I miss him. He will hopefully be back tomorrow. I am ready to talk to him face to face and not over my stupid cell phone.

That's all I had to say.

Happy Thursday!

Facebook

2009-08-27T13:51:00.002-06:00

Disclaimer: I am writing this post for me. I feel like it needs to be done, for me, no one else.

Yesterday my sister had posted a comment on her FB page. One friend knew she was joking, as did I. We both knew about the situation stated in the comment beforehand. Two other people took at as we were attacking my brother in law. It was stated that I 'treat him like crap'. It went on to the point to where one person started to attack my marriage. FYI: never met this person, she is my bro-in-laws sister. She told me how I should be a loving and supportive wife.

That is where I lost my temper! I want to scream right now because NO ONE tells me what kind of wife I should be. I know I am not perfect, neither is anyone else. Yes, I probably took it too personal and I admit that. But I will not sit by and let someone bash me or my marriage.

It got to the point where the other 2 people were using cuss words and if you know me, I don't. I just stopped replying. Brice said I shouldn't have in the first place, but he is nuts if he thinks I am just going to sit idlely by and let someone attack me.

These two people just couldn't let things go. My sister posted her feelings (she just said she was glad the drama was over), and they start it again. They think she should just keep her mouth shut about anything. An email was sent to them pretty much just telling them how she felt. That was fine. No one had to reply. But they did.

My sister forwarded the email to me. In this email, (ridiculously long if you ask me), it was stated that my parents are pathetic (that's another story) because, in their minds, they don't have money. Well you know what? My parents aren't rollin' in the dough. But all of that does not matter at all in the end! They continue to bash our family (many many things but this next one is where I was IRATE). It was said that they were sorry that her sisters married LOSERS! Excuse me?

Would my loser of a husband get married to a girl at the age of 20 who already had a son?
Would he treat that son as his own?
Would he work terrible stressfull jobs so his wife can stay home with the children?
Would he leave for weeks on end for the reason above?

I think not. I lost my temper and I said things I should not have. Yes I am a very emotional person. Yes I will defend me and my family.

I did not reply on FB about that email. I will, from now on, be the bigger person. Believe me, it is hard. I want to scream and cry at these people. They know nothing about me as a person. They know nothing about my marriage.

I was told that marriage is a partnership, it involves teamwork. I already knew that. We tell our kids all the time that Mom and Dad are a team. Maybe I took it that wrong way. I don't know.

This has brought up a good point about FB though. Be carefull what you say. Many people could take it the wrong way. I would just like to know if someone takes something that I say on FB the wrong way, please dont write about it in the comment section. Send an email or message.

I said some things I shouldn't have. I have already asked His forgiveness. But somehow, it just doesn't seem like it is enough.

Luke 24: 46-47 says 'He told them,"This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." ' NIV

Silly girl

2009-08-18T09:36:00.003-06:00

I just had this conversation with Sierra:

Sierra: Mom, can you help me put on my baby's coat?

Me: Ok. What's your plan with your baby?

S: We are going to go see some friends.

M: Who are your friends?

S: I don't know. I don't know their names.

M: Where do your friends live?

S: I don't know. I will just call them,

M: Do you know their phone number?

S: No ma'am.

And she walks off!

Caught sticky handed

2009-08-17T15:50:00.008-06:00

Someone left an open bag of cotton candy on the dining room table today. I was baking in the kitchen and turned around to this:

For some reason she thought I wouldn't be able to see her if she turned around...

She realized I wasn't going anywhere and kept on eating... Then she decided to come for my camera....
Wait a second, I have something on my foot....
I will just eat it!

Zayna's birthday party

2009-08-10T19:02:00.012-06:00

Yesterday we had Zayna's birthday party in the shop. She had a great time and got lots of cute things! I was excited for her. I will show you the party in pictures. I have many many many to show! We took over 600 pictures (the joy of owning a dslr!)!

I have tried switching the order but blogger won't let me, so start from the bottom up if you would like.

Sierra eating the rest of Zayna's cakeZayna wasn't happy that I was getting punch for someone while she wanted to be held by me.Very surprised her shirt wasn't covered in icing!Feeding Mommy cakeFeeding Daddy cakeShe put the candle out by pinching the flameShe loved her little 4 wheeler that we got herSawyer trying to pull up on AJShe "tried on" everything she gotMy attempt at a sibling picture
Birthday weekend has come and gone. I was excited for company to get here but I was very happy for everyone to leave! I have had people at my house since Friday and I was exhausted come last night. So glad Zayna slept all night last night! She was exhausted too!

Happy Birthday Zayna!

2009-08-04T15:16:00.003-06:00

Today is Zayna's first birthday. It makes me sad to think a year has come and gone. BUT, I can't imagine life without our little girl. Here are some things about Zayna:

She is definitely a Mommy's girl.

Ok, so she loves her Daddy too. :)

She is a child that used to eat anything you put in her mouth. Now that has started to change. I just hope she isn't a picky eater like her brother and sister. And her Mommy.

She has no interest in walking. AT. ALL.

She started pulling up two weeks ago.

This comes as no surprise to everyone, she doesn't crawl. She scoots/hops on her right leg. It is so cute.

This child gets into everything. I am constantly pulling her out of cabinets and drawers.

She is a climber. She loves to climb onto the ottoman.

She has many nicknames: Zayna Bobayna, Bayna, ZayZay, Zayna Tails, Zayna B, Zayna D, and the newest one thanks to Maverick: Beana.

She loves to hear the Mickey Mouse intro on the TV. After hearing daily for months, this child will just sit and watch while the intro is on and then will move to something else.

She has been talking for a while now. She can say baba (sounds like a sheep) for her bottle. She will repeat this when she is tired and will not stop until she gets it. She can say and wave bye-bye. And she can say bath. Wow all start with a B!

She likes to play in the dirt and doesn't mind getting dirty. Guess she has to like it since we live in the country!

She likes to eat dog food.

She has taken a liking to Sierra's baby dolls. She doesn't have any of her own but I know she is getting one for her birthday.

She is smaller than Sierra was at this age. Weight wise. I am thinking she might be like her brother.

She only has two teeth so far but she has been sucking in her top lip like another might be coming through. Yeah, more teeth for her to bite with!

She is not a biter (see above). I just meant that she does like to chew on fingers (mainly mine) and it hurts!

She has yet to sleep through the night. She has only done it a hand full of times in her life. For a while there, she was sleeping in a pack and play in our closet. When she was sleeping in her room, she would wake up and scream and wake Sierra up. After WEEKS of us 3 being most of the night, we put her in our closet. Then a few days ago the time came to move her. She still wasn't sleeping through the night and I just snapped. I told Brice he was losing his office. We moved the crib into his office and she has been sleeping there. She is still up once a night but I get more sleep.

She has been weaned for a month now. She has been taking cows milk in a bottle. I have tried to break her of the bottle but it is proving to be problematic. Both AJ and Sierra were sick a few days before their 1st birthdays, that is how I weaned them. That isn't happening with Zayna. I have tried milk in a cup. She won't take it. She only takes it at nap and bed time and of course the one time during the night. Any ideas on how to break her of it?

Here is a picture I took of the birthday girl earlier today.

I just love her expression! So I think it will be the only picture I post!

Happy Birthday sweet Zayna! Mommy loves you so much!

I am a slacker

2009-07-06T09:26:00.004-06:00

I haven't posted in what seems like forever. I really need to work on that.

In the last few weeks, Zayna has gotten TWO teeth. I really wish I would've posted something about that when they first came in. Ten months old and finally has gotten teeth. By ten months old, both of her siblings were walking. Zayna won't even pull up! She will do it sooner or later, on her own time.

AJ has finished playing machine pitch baseball. He has gotten better as time has gone on. He enjoyed meeting new friends. He spent two weeks with his dad and will go back at the end of July for another two weeks. He has had a bit of an attitude, which I am having a hard time dealing with. I just don't know how to deal with it. He is used to getting whatever he wants when he is with his dad and when he comes home, he doesn't. We just have to constantly explain that we won't do that when he is here. He has to work for what he wants. He would much rather play video games and watch tv.

Sierra is doing the same thing she always does. She plays with her buddy Maverick and constantly asks to go see Neemers and Pappy, which I have to explain that she doesn't need to be over there 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I love that she loves them so much but I know that even she can be a bit much to handle (even on a good day!). She is attached to her baby dolly still and she loves to Mommy her little sister.

Brice is still working. Still playing golf. Still playing XBOX 360. Still playing the guitar. He leaves next Friday for Denver. His best friend lives there and they are going to play golf for THREE days. Um, no thank you! Casey has the whole weekend planned, where they play and eat. They are both excited about the trip. They are too cute when they talk about it on the phone!

I am still keeping Maverick and Sawyer. Well, it seems like it hasn't been much lately because someone is always sick out here. Hopefully it is all behind us and we don't get sick again. The kids and I will be going to Amarillo when Brice is in Denver. It seems like I never see my parents anymore so we will go for a visit.

In 4 days we leave for Albuquerque. We are heading out Friday morning and coming back Saturday night. This is my summer vacation, part of it anyway. I have been wanting to go somewhere so I am making Brice take us. hehe. Isn't that how you plan your vacation? We are excited to see our friends who had a baby in April (13 weeks premature). His name is Noah and was able to come home this past Friday. We know the kids won't be able to see him but we are hoping we can.

Blogger is not letting me put post pictures so I will put some on Flickr

Happy 30th Anniversary!

2009-06-15T19:01:00.015-06:00

Yesterday we threw Neemers and Pappy a 30th anniversary party. After weeks of planning and getting the decorations prepared, we were ready for the day. The theme of the party was LIFE,as in LIFE the board game.

Here are a few pictures:

Here is the snack table. Cute huh? Let's take a closer look, shall we.

The M & M car that Brice drew and I painted. My hand was cramping by the time I got done painting!
The tree full of green snacks

The flowers

And the sun

Here they are checking out the goods. They didn't know there was a theme.

Here is the "Road of their Life". At least that is what I am calling it. On the far left, there were pictures starting at the time they were dating....

Here they are laughing a picture of Pappy :)

Here is their life now. Driving their grandkids around. This was the very last picture on "the road of life"

Here is our version of LIFE. Britney came up with many many many things that have happened in the last 30 years. Many many of those were about Pappy. It took a long time to get that done...

Here is Neemers reading it to Pappy.

Pappy just sitting back and laughing. He shook his head alot at the things that were written on the LIFE board.

We did laminate the LIFE board so they can hang it up in the shop..errr game room. We told them they weren't allowed to get rid of it!

All in all, we had fun preparing this party and had even more fun watching and listening to them reading everything on that board!

Zayna's face and crawl

2009-05-20T14:52:00.005-06:00

Zayna makes this face quite often:

She scrunches up her nose and breathes through very quickly.

She doesn't crawl. At all. This is how she gets around:

Yes I took the pen away from her as soon as I turned the camera off.

School's Out For Summer!!!!!

2009-05-17T15:28:00.003-06:00

Friday was the last day of school. I am excited about not having to worry about homework, getting to bed on time and getting up on time.

I am trying to come up with some things to do. We will be taking a mini vacation at some point this summer, just don't know when yet. I have a few ideas like going to the zoo and parks. Maybe a picnic. Any one have any ideas?

Hey Moms!

2009-05-05T12:14:00.002-06:00

Want to win something? Check out www.5minutesformom.com

They are giving away some awesome products for Mother's Day. Just follow the link and they will tell you what to do next.

Love me some giveaways!

Picture Update

2009-04-26T15:58:00.012-06:00

I have been MIA again. I just haven't had the desire to sit and post anything. But today I did. So here ya go!

Growing up as a twin, I HATED dressing like my sister. I swore that I if I had more than one girl, I would not do that. Yeah well, I lied to myself! Sierra and Zayna only have about a handfull of matching outfits. I am sure there will be more to come.

Here is one outfit. They looked so cute I had to get some pictures. Had to throw this one in. Too cute! Sierra loves her Sissy.

AJ was kinda matching too with his green and white shirt, so he joined the photo shoot.
This week we got the sand for the huge sandbox. One night after supper, Brice let the kids bury his legs.
After they buried his legs, he buried theirs! It was pretty funny.
Zayna decided to sit out on getting buried.
Before they were "un-buried", we had to put Zayna between them and get a picture.
Just love this profile of Zayna Bo.

Love this one too!

All in a day's work

2009-04-16T09:31:00.004-06:00

This is what happens when you leave the room for 2 minutes:

You walk in to find popcorn all over the living room floor and two children giving you the "what did I do?" look.

A little late

2009-03-23T10:21:00.003-06:00

but better than never. Friday March 20 was Andrew Jacob's 7th birthday. I now have a 7 year old and I am only 25. Oh. my. word. That sounds terrible.

Many people would judge someone like me, being 25 with a 7 year old. Yes math says that I was 18 when he was born.

I have never really talked about that time in my life. But since he just had a birthday, I feel like it is a good time. So here goes.

I was dating this boy who I thought was the "one". He was so sweet and kind and even wrote poetry. Yes, I know it sounds corny now but when you are a teenager, it was awesome. He treated me nice and was rarely mean. So of course with me thinking he was the one, we had one stupid night.

That stupid night got me pregnant with my son. After AJ arrived, everything changed. AJ's father was verbally abusive, although he never laid a hand on me. I was miserable in the relationship. We would constantly argue over every little thing. My family could see I was miserable.

This relationship turned my relationship with my mother sour. We would fight. Constantly. I wanted to do what I thought was best for my son but she thought it was wrong. And vice versa. Looking back I wish I had ended the relationship with this boy sooner. Maybe my mother and I would be closer than we currently are.

This abusive relationship went on until October 2003 after 3 years together. Some amazing man (well, he was a boy at the time! :) ) pointed out that if I am miserable with him, then why am I still with him. I thought I was staying for my son. Turns out, he was feeling the same way I was because if Mommy is not happy, then no one is happy.

I owe so much to the man who made me realize that I was headed on a downward slope. Who is this man, you may ask. Well, none other than Brice.

See, while I was still with AJ's father, Brice and I had become fast friends. I told him everything, most stuff I wouldn't tell my closet girlfriends. We talked for hours on end and he gave me the courage to leave AJ's dad. One of the best things I have ever done.

Not two weeks after breaking up, Brice and I started dating. And of course you see where that went. :)

So I am 25 with a 7 year old. I have never been ashamed of what has happened in my life. I would love it if Brice could adopt AJ but that will likely never happen. AJ would not be where he is today without Brice.

He is one amazingly beautiful, brilliant, and talented child. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He is by far one of my best accomplishments in life.

So happy belated birthday my son! Love you most, and you cheated!!!!!!

Mommy

7 months old

2009-03-04T10:19:00.007-07:00

Today my sweet Zayna Delaney turns 7 months old. We can't imagine life before this little girl came in our lives and definitely can't imagine it without her.

This picture was taken Friday night after supper. Her daddy put her on the floor mat to have a snack. She wasn't in a smiling mood, which is something that should have struck me as odd. But it didn't. Here is she just after waking up from a nap on the drive to Amarillo. I should have noticed that she was pale on Saturday. But did I? NO.
Before leaving Amarillo, we stopped by to see my parents. Here is Pa helping Zayna ride Bullseye. He has a look a like at Neemers and Pappy's. His name is Sawdust

Pa getting some Zayna loves.

I should have noticed her being a little pale, not wanting to smile for me, and the whining because by Monday she had a fever. She hasn't been herself. She continues to eat and have the nasty diapers needed so I am not too concerned. I am just guessing it is her teeth coming in. (I have never had a kid be feverish while teething.)

So yesterday she seemed ok except for having a slight fever. She felt well enough that she thought she would eat her new black shoes. And even force a little smile for Mommy. (this was taken late morning)

But by late afternoon to early evening, it was evident that she felt horrible. She whined and fussed more than usual. Her fever spiked to 102. Her Daddy put her on the floor to play and she screamed bloody murder. He felt so bad that he picked her up and within 5 mintues, this is what I saw. Her shirt says "I get my good looks from my Dad". They look so much alike in this one.

Although the girl loves her Daddy, she doesn't like to rock with him. She was asleep so quick and all he could say was how hot her head was. Poor Baby! We ate supper, which she ate a good amount of, took baths and were off to bed by 8.

She had a very rough night. Still running a fever, ( I took it about every 3 hours), all she did was fuss when I laid her down. When Brice's alarm went off at 4:30 I took her in the room and laid her head down on a pillow and she went right to sleep. It only lasted about an hour and a half but that was the most she slept all night.

She is asleep right now and has been for an hour. I don't know what her fever is but you can still tell she has one. She has an appointment Friday to get her 6 months shots (yes I know I am behind a month. But it takes a while to find a doctor that I like) and if the fever doesn't go away by then she can't get her shots. But regardless she is going, she may just need to see what is wrong. Like I said, if she wasn't eating I would get her in sooner.

Let's just hope the fever is caused by teething and nothing more serious. She has been around sick kiddos lately so it could be that she caught something.

Time for an update

2009-02-20T08:55:00.012-07:00

I put the girls (well Zayna. Sierra climbed in) in the crib while I put clean sheets on Sierra's bed. Cricket (who is more likely staying the weekend since her Mommy and Daddy left town), started whining so I put her in too.

Here is Zayna pulling on the dog's fur. Poor puppy never saw it coming! I love the way Sierra has Cricket's face in her hands. And Z's expression is priceless!
My son woke me up at 5:45 this morning. I told him to go back to bed. 30 minutes later this is what I find:

Yesterday I put Zayna on the floor in the sun while I picked up the kitchen.

She is just sitting looking around in this one:

And in this one she is trying to grab her shadow

Maverick came over the other day to play.

I am guessing they are playing peek a boo (not sure)

I am thinking of hiring this little guy full time to vacuum my house.

This is what happens when Mommy walks out of the room for 2.9 seconds.

She wasn't too happy that I wasn't getting her out of the box quicker.

Zayna's most recent trick: Peek A Boo!

Where is Zayna?

There she is!!

For your viewing pleasure.......

2009-02-09T17:07:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Sierra

2009-02-04T08:36:00.004-07:00

Yesterday our Sierra turned 3 years old! Time has flown by these past 3 years.

Sierra is a beautiful, intelligent child. We love so much about her.

Here are some things about Miss Sierra:

She loves her big brother and baby sister. She will talk about AJ all day while he is at school. She looks forward to each day when he gets off the bus. She loves to help take care of Zayna. In fact, when it is bathtime, I rarely have to take off Z's diaper and pants because Sierra has already beat me to it.

She is most definitely her Daddy's Girl. When she is upset, she will start crying for her Daddy's lovings.

Just like her Daddy, the girl can talk alot. Mostly about nothing. She just rambles. And rambles.

She loves her baby dollies. When I feed Zayna, she will automatically say her baby tell me that her baby is crying because she is hungry.

The girl loves to help in the kitchen. There is rarely a meal I make when she is not sitting on the counter helping me. It is one of those things I hope she continues to do and hope her sister will soon join.

Sierra is a loner. I have said this many times before and I stick by it. She doesn't have to have someone else to play with. She is happy by herself, just like her Daddy.

Her nightly prayers are precious. She will thank God for everyone in her family, all the pets, and she evens thanks Him for her toys and closets. Just about eveything that we take for granted. She was never told to do that, she did it on her own.

She loves to sing. I will be singing to Zayna and she will tell me that Zayna didn't want to hear that song. So then she tells me what to sing.

She is a bossy little thing (as if you couldn't tell from the previous statement). She likes to have things done her way. Oh boy, am I going to love her teenage years!

She is very dramatic. She can go from hot to cold in a matter of seconds. This is one trait that I have a hard time dealing with.

There are many things about Sierra that I could post about but these are some of the ones I could think of.

Here is a picture of my 3 year old

We got her boots and cowgirl hat. She loves them!

And the only picture I took of her on her birthday,

My parents came for AJ's performance last night. They got here in time to take some birthday pictures with the kids. I am so glad my parents are willing to travel 2 hours on a week night to come see their grandkids!

Two posts in one day

2009-01-19T10:45:00.003-07:00

What a treat! I never have time to sit and post twice a day. The newest thing(s) around here are that Zayna is a rolly poly! She rolled over a few weeks ago and didn't do it again until Saturday night. She has stopped since. New found freedom!

She is getting so big and I hate it. She is a mommy's girl (probably because I am the one who feeds her.) Oh well, I can live with that.

She talks a lot more. Just like her Daddy! She squeals constantly. We love hearing her talk.

Here is my big 5 month old just chillaxin' in her exersaucer

LOVE her expression!

Speaking of her Daddy, Brice has been working in Belen. This is his 2nd or 3rd week there ( I lost track). The winters are always rough when you work for the railroad but we get through it. Not without a hitch though.

Every night I put the kids to bed, Sierra will automatically start asking for her Daddy's lovings. It breaks my heart to tell her that Daddy won't be home for X amount of days. She is a Daddy's girl through and through. He hates to hear that she asks for him. Brice being gone is hardest on Sierra. She is used to giving her kissies to him and him carrying her to bed. She gives Mommy kissies but they just aren't good enough.

As of this week, Brice will only be home less than 24 hours a week. He will be home around lunch on Saturday's (because he is working nights) and leave while we are at church on Sunday's. That is enough time for me to get his laundry done and have a home cooked meal for him Saturday night. That is rough on him. This past weekend when he got into our bed, he couldn't stop saying how great it felt to be in his own house and in his own bed. Poor guy!

Hopefully, the railroad will pick up soon and he can start working closer to home!

Here Ya Go

2009-01-19T10:31:00.011-07:00

Here are a few snapshots of what we have done the last few weeks.

Mom made AJ take a picture while eating his supper. Please excuse the full mouth. Mom made oldest two hug
This has got to be a favorite of mine!

AJ and Sierra love jumping off the couch

I kept Sawyer while Britney took Maverick and Sierra to a stock show. These two are less than 4 months apart. Look how big he is!

Gangsta Sierra

Gangsta AJ throwing up his Hook 'Em Horns

And Miss Zayna Bobayna wearing shoes for the first time

You have to keep shoes on this girl because her socks won't stay on. She kicks too much.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-08T14:18:00.002-07:00

So I am a few days late. I spent the first few days of 2009 with Mastitis (breast infection, occurs when one breast is not fully drained after a feeding).

I started noticing last Thursday that my right breast hurt. I just thought I was full so I fed Zayna. It still hurt. I did this a couple of times before realizing it was the start of Mastitis. I woke up Friday unable to get out of bed. I felt like I had the flu and had been run over by a truck. This confirmed it for me. I had it when I was nursing Sierra, but not near as bad.

Brice made me an appointment for early that afternoon.

I get to the doctor tell her what I think and she confirms it just by looking at how red it was and how hot it was. She then tells me what home remedies I can do and starts writing the prescription. Of course I was not going to buy some cabbage and put it on my breast. I just don't see that helping any. Give me the good stuff! So she then tells me she wanted to hand express milk. Whatever, just make it feel better. Didn't hurt at first. Then she starts SQUEEZING. OUCH!!!!!! My poor husband was sitting in the corner with his head down. I was in so much pain. I think that hurt worse than the actual infection.

She tells me to continue to feed and pump so I can pull the infection out. Later that night I started taking the medicine. It made me very loopy for the first 24 hours.

I spent all of Friday in bed, and part of Saturday. By Sunday I was feeling alot better. Although I was still too weak to pick up Zayna or carry her. But I had a lot of help.

I just hope it doesn't happen again! I was just lucky that Brice was off of work.

I guess the upside to being sick is that I didn't have to clean house or do laundry. But I did ask Brice to do the dishes. And he actually did. (I never ask for his help with the cleaning. Why should he help when he is out there making the money while I am home all day everyday.) Thanks Babe!

And yes, I did give my daughter a little lecture about how she needs to drain mommy's breast at every feeding. I told her it wasn't nice to make Mommy so sick! :)

Of course all she did was smile and coo at me.

Catch up

2008-12-30T10:33:00.007-07:00

I put some Christmas pictures on Flickr. There aren't many but there are some. We had our last Christmas this weekend. We went to Nazareth Saturday morning. I haven't seen some of my cousins since AJ was born so it was good to see everyone. The only pictures I got were of my Dad with his siblings. I was too busy visiting to get any more.

After that we headed to Amarillo for Christmas with my parents. We had a good supper which was tacos. We normally have turkey for Christmas but since we had that in Nazareth, we decided not to burn ourselves out on it. The kids got some AWESOME presents. My Dad made all the girls a dollhouse and the boys trains. He can do wonderful things with wood! I was shocked when they brought the dollhouses out. I wanted to cry. I am so happy my girls got one. Now I can play too.

This is the only picture I got of Sierra in front of it. This isn't her dollhouse but they all look the same. Doesn't my niece Graycee look happy?

Of course I didn't get a picture of AJ with the train. I will do that later this week.

I did however take a picture of Zayna playing with her favorite toy.

Put this child in her Daddy's lap and she will automatically head towards his chin. I tell him to trim it but he insists on leaving it a little long for her to play with.

Christmas is over, decorations are put away. It was fun while it lasted, now I am glad it is over. It's time for a new year. Birthday's are coming fast. First mine, then Sierra's and then AJ's. She will be 3 and he will be 7!!!

4 months old

2008-12-11T09:08:00.010-07:00

This morning I was thinking about how much the girls do/don't look alike. In person I really don't think they do, but in pictures they do. So I thought I would post some pictures of both of them at 4 months.

SIERRA GENESIS

ZAYNA DELANEY

4 months old and Christmas card photo shoot

2008-12-08T06:38:00.003-07:00

Miss Zayna turned 4 months old last week. She is starting to sit up more without assistance. She is definitely not a baby that likes to be laying down if being held. The girl loves to see whats around her. She got some shots and the oral Rotavirus vaccination. She did fine with the first poke and then when the nurse started to push the stuff in, she lost it. She just screamed and pouted her bottom lip. It was so sad, I wanted to cry with her. She is the first kid that I ever cried with when they got shots. Don't know why.

After shots, we came home and she slept and slept. I felt so bad for her. Poor thing didn't feel good all weekend. She wouldn't eat much and loved all the attention she got. Spoiled little thing!

Yesterday after naps, we had our Christmas card photo shoot with Maverick and Sawyer. Can you imagine what that was like. The only two who did really good were Zayna and Sawyer because they are the only two that can't get up and go! I took close to 80 pictures with only about 7 that are good. I put some "out takes" on my Flickr accout.

After supper, I made my kids try it again. I only have a few days to get them ordered so I can start sending them out. AJ didn't want to participate at first so I got the girls together. I got a great one that is on Flickr. I am not posting the one I used for the cards. You can see that when you get it in the mail. :) AJ finally decided to participate and I kept taking and taking pictures. After I decided what picture to use, it was time to decide what card to use. That was a toughie! I like simple cards. After searching for a while, I found one that is perfect for my kids. It's pretty cute if I do say so myself. :)

We are ready for Christmas. I think I have one person to buy for and I have to get stocking stuffers but other than that I am done shopping. It helps that I went on Black Friday and got it done. I would definitely do that every year when I can. The crowds don't bother me a bit. Now if 3 presents would hurry up and get here, I could relax. They have all been shipped, I just don't have them yet. And those are the 3 I am excited about.

I am like a kid on Christmas. Even though I won't be opening presents on Christmas morning, I am super-excited for my kids. The oldest two got some great things ( not that Zayna didn't either, she is just too young to know). I am especially looking forward to Sierra seeing hers! She will love everything. I tell you, it is harder for me to buy for AJ. Basically Brice tells me what to buy or he will go buy it. I just have no clue. Most of the time it is comething that Brice likes and will play with. That is how I do the girls too. Miss Zayna will have no clue but Mommy sure does!

So maybe this blog will be updated again (maybe a few times) before Christmas. I just got out of the habit of updating after Zayna arrived. I need to post more. Just have to have something good to post!

2008-11-23T19:08:00.001-07:00

I put a new background on my blog but I can't seem to get the brown part off. Does anyone know how to get it off? I have tried and have come up empty handed.

Nothing but pure laziness

2008-11-19T06:42:00.005-07:00

Ok so I have been MIA for two weeks. It seems like we have been busy but the truth is we (mainly me) have been lazy. Let's recap shall we:

Two weeks ago Brice and I flew to Florida. For a car. Yes a car. For Brice. Why you ask. Because we have two gas guzzling vehicles. He has been looking a camaro for a while and finally found one in Tampa. We talked about it and by the time you buy tickets to fly, hotels, gas and meals (and of course a little shopping!), it was still going to be cheaper than if he found the exact same thing close to home. So who was I to argue over a little trip to Florida! We had fun, got to see the ocean for the first time. Realized we will one day take the kids there. We flew there on the 6th and started drving home on the 7th. We stopped in Mobile Alabama for a good nights rest. The trekked to Dallas where we stayed with Chad and Miranda. Thanks guys! And Sunday made the 5 hour trip to Amarillo to pick up the girls.

That was the worse part of the trip. I had never left Zayna overnight and Sierra for more than two nights before. I was stressing myself out because I didn't know if Zayna would have enough milk to last the whole weekend. I cried MANY MANY times when my sister told me she really wouldn't eat for the first 2 and a half days. Luckily my other sister showed up Saturday night and got her to eat 2 bottles at once. That eased my mind. But then come to find out, she had a screaming fit. They couldn't get her calmed down. All of this while I was on the phone with them. Yes, I did cry. Brice didn't have to ask why, he knew it had to do with Zayna. I made it though. We walked into my parents house to pick them up and we were told Sierra was laying down for a nap. Did she sleep? No because we "woke" her up.

My sister said by Thursday night Sierra was asking to go home. She is not fond of being around alot of people for a long time. She is pretty much a loner. She can take it for a while and then gets tired of it quickly. Just like her Daddy!

Did I mention that the car was a standard? Did I also mention that I have no clue how to drive a standard? Well it is and I don't. So that meant my husband drove over 1200 miles and over 12 hours to get us home. And didn't complain once. :)

After our trip I had serious jet lag. For the first 4 days after we got back I was having some trouble staying awake during the day. I guess I should state here that I didn't sleep on the drive home, except about an hour and we were less than 2 hours from Amarillo. So I would be doing dishes or laundry and just yawn and my eyes would get heavy. It didn't help either when all Zayna wanted to do it nurse nurse nurse. I have no problem, in fact I love doing it, but sitting down in my comfortable recliner nursing her made me go to sleep many times a day. Thankfully it only lasted 4 days.

When we returned Sunday, I was driving down the rode looking at my house and I see a huge thing on my roof. It was Sadie's dog house. Brice had built this huge dog house (she is a great dane) and while we were gone the parents and Britney and Scott put the dog house on our roof. Now Brice was still in Amarillo showing his car off to his friends so I call and tell him. Yes we thought it was funny. Brice gets home and has to get it down so Sadie can sleep in it. I wish I would have gotten a picture.

Before I continue, let me say that when someone leaves the compound for a few days, they will most likely get a prank pulled on them. It has happened to pretty much everyone.

So we thought that was a good prank. We go on about our business, go to bed, go to work and school. Well Monday I found another prank in my kitchen. Brice always teases the parents about having 4 buttons on the fridge/freezer when everyone else has 6. It sounds stupid but it is funny around here. So Monday I go to get some ice and went to push the cube button and I see 4 buttons, my house came with 6. I start laughing and call Brice at work. I never do but this couldn't wait. He says that is the funniest thing he has ever heard.

When it was time to get AJ off of the bus, the girls and I walk to the parents house (as we do everyday). I walk in and say to put my fridge back. They all start laughing. The dummy I am forgot that you can just take the doors off and that is how they did it. Well it has been almost two weeks since we have been back and they have yet to switch them back. We're waiting! :) haha I bought my house with a 6 button fridge and I want it back. :)

Enough about that!

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Zayna is getting big. I had her 3 month pictures made. The girl that took them didn't have much experience and didn't do a great job but didn't do all that terrible. We got some good ones that were just too cute.

She is to the point to where if she is laying down she will lift her head up, kinda like she wants to sit up.

Here she is sitting in my lap. Can't really tell from the picture but she is trying to sit up. Love those baby blue eyes!

AJ is doing great in school. He brought his report car home and got all A's and S's! I am one proud momma.

Here is my very intelligent son on his way to school.

Sierra is a ham. Yesterday I was feeding Zayna and just happened to look next to me. Sierra had her baby in her lap. She lifted up her shirt (you might be able to see where this is going), pretended to "unhook a bra" ( I know she didn't know what she really was doing when she went to do that, she doesn't know why I do that) and put her baby in her arms to eat. She kept the baby there for 2.5 seconds and burped it but not before she had to get up and get one of Zayna's burp rags. I laughed the whole time. It was too precious. Needless to say she does pay attention to what I am doing. I just wish she would pay attention when I tell her to do something. :)

I used to mention a stuffed animal by the name PuppyBee. Well shortly after we moved, PuppyBee was lost and has been for the last 4 months. Periodically, she would ask for him and get upset when we told her he was lost.

Well while spending this past Saturday night with the parents, PuppyBee was found. AJ had found him under the bed in the office. Sierra immediately asked to come home and show us and then go back and spend the night. She was told to wait until Sunday morning at church to show us. Every since then she has been attached at the hip to PuppyBee.

All is right in the world now! :)

Happy Belated Halloween

2008-11-04T06:44:00.010-07:00

Before the kids went trick or treating, we had a little photo shoot in front of the fireplace.

So here is Optimus Prime, Ballerina and Pumpkin

AJ and Sierra both thought they needed a picture holding Zayna

Optimus Prime

Ballerina Pumpkin, the only way I could get a good picture of her was putting her on the floor

Here are the trick-or-treaters going into Gomer and Grams house
Here they are waiting to go into Neemers and Pappys house

Zayna's first Halloween treat
A ballerina and her daddy
Neemers and the girls. Notice Zayna. Not two mintues later.........
she was like this. So we called it a night.

Help

2008-10-27T09:40:00.001-06:00

I want to put a new background on my blog but I have no clue how do to it. I have tried and it comes out looking awful. Anyone have any suggestions? I am just tired of the same one and don't really care to have any of Bloggers templates. I would like one that is free :) and easy to install. I need help.

2008-10-17T14:42:00.003-06:00

Here is the shirt the hospital gave us when Zayna was born. I kinda like it!

Two months old

2008-10-09T10:51:00.003-06:00

Zayna Delaney is now two months old! To me, she looks like she can be 6 months old. Only because she is SO LONG!

She had her 2 month check up on Monday. She now weighs in at a hefty 12 pounds, 8 ounces. She is now 23 1/2 inches long. Dr. George says she is in the 85 percentile. She is going to be a big girl just like her big sister.

Can't believe is is 2 months old now. I tell her all the time to go back in my belly. :) I miss being pregnant, although don't miss having to pee every 2 minutes.

Lately she has been having her screaming/crying/fussy fits. She has had 2 or 3 the last week or so. It is mainly during the day. I would rather have them then instead of night when her brother and sister (and Brice and I) are trying to sleep. :)

Last night during "her time" (let's call it that, shall we), Brice and I looked at each other and we both were thinking the same thing. (Crazy how being married this long you can tell what each other is thinking) We were asking ourselves what had happened to this little baby that DID NOT make a sound for the first two weeks of her life.

I mean it. She was so quiet. Never cried, fussed, anything. Then it was like one day after she turned 2 weeks old, she decided she would give us a run for our money.

I sound like I am complaining but I am not. I want to remember everything so I put it on here.

Even when she is crying she will stop and give you the best smile. Like this one:

How could anyone not smile back?

This face makes it all worth while!

Love you Zayna Bobayna!

Catch Up

2008-10-02T06:49:00.003-06:00

Ok, lets try this again. I tried to post a catch up blog a few weeks ago but of course my computer deleted it when I hit the button to post it.

What is going on here, you might wonder? Nothing at all really.

AJ is still liking school. He got his first report card yesterday. He received all S's. Starting the 2nd six weeks he will start getting graded with A's and B's and so on. His teacher had to move him up to the highest reading level in his class. He is doing very well. He loves to read!

Sierra has continued to love living here. Most of you know the situation of our houses on the land. Every morning she goes to the back door and if she sees someone, she will continue to yell their names and ask if she can come over to their house and play. It has been great to see her independence out here. Sometimes she will just go outside and play by herself. She has always been independent.

Brice is still working his tail off. I think he said he accumulated 68 hours of overtime in the last two weeks! I constantly tell him I am proud of him and he always laughs at me. Don't know why, he will then always say that I am weird. ;) All this man really does is work, play golf, play XBOX, work and play. So there is nothing really to catch up on him. I mean that nicely, though.

I have been cleaning, feeding kids, keeping Maverick, trying to sleep at night, eating (somewhat :)), and doing it all over again. So really nothing to catch up on.

On to who you really want to know about. Miss Zayna is getting big. Not too sure how much she weighs now. She goes for her two month check up on Monday so we will find out then. She is still sleeping alot. Maybe not so much during the night. She actually only has one "fussy" period during the night. She sleeps in the cradle next to our bed. When she wakes up around 1-2, she stays in bed until she really gets fussy. I don't hear her right when she wakes up. I hear her grunts and moans. I let her do that until she gets fussy. Sometimes if I am lucky she will go back to sleep. I don't let her get to the screaming part because we don't want to wake her Daddy.

There are times when she gets fussy and can't be calmed down. I start to get frustrated and she will stop fussing and just smile at you. Then you smile and remember she might not know why she is crying. That always calms me down. Cute smile.

She is starting to talk a little. She coo's at you when she smiles.

When she is fussy, she loves to be swaddled in her warm blanket and rocked and patted on her bottom. Both of my girls loved to be patted and rocked.

She is still the best eater. She is starting to nurse every 2-3 hours. That is a nice break. Sometimes if she is sleeping longer than that I pump and freeze. Then I have some stored milk so I can leave her with someone while I do my grocery shopping. Much easier that way. I can get it done faster. :) If I try to nurse her and all she does is cry, I know she wants to be swaddled and rocked. So far this kid is easier than the other two!

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Pictures! It is hard to post pictures on here when I also post pictures on Flickr. I just posted some new ones on there so click on the link to see.

I know I haven't been updating often. I just haven't found the "want" to sit at the computer and do it. But hopefully I will get better. I am just not one to post everyday like I see sometimes. I used to sit and the computer multiple times a day before we moved and now I don't want to. So I just hope I will because this blog is my journal. I want to update it often so I can look back and remember what my kids were doing that I wouldn't remember otherwise.

Oh yeah, if you read, please leave a comment. I am just curious who reads this, even if I don't know you. I would love to know you through the blog world. :) I know of a few that read that have left comments and a few that have never left comments. I am just very curious. :)

Until next time......

A picture speaks a thousand words

2008-09-07T13:29:00.000-06:00

Not much going on here

2008-09-03T06:30:00.005-06:00

Things have been a little slow around here lately. We pretty much do the same thing day after day. Lets see:

AJ is loving school. More importantly (to him anyway), he loves to ride the bus. Even though it gets here at 7 am and he doesn't get home until 4:30. Makes for a long day. He has homework everyday but Fridays. He will get home and (because of the rule I made), he will immediately do his work then he can play and have a snack.

Brice is still working his tail off. He did have Labor Day off which we spent painting, more on that later.

Sierra is loving being the big sister. She finally got what she wanted and was "allowed" to pick Zayna up. She will start crying and Sierra will run to me asking to pick her up. I said she could carefully, I was right there, and she picked her up. No problem except Zayna's face was buried in Sierra's chest. You could barely hear her muffled cry. She isn't allowed to walk with her. She just wants to feel like she is helping out. When I nurse the baby, Sierra will her get baby and a bottle OR she will lift up her shirt to feed her. It is cute.

Speaking of nursing, I feel like I am a cow. Sometimes it just feels like all I do is nurse Zayna. I do not remember Sierra eating so often and so long. Zayna will eat about every hour to hour and a half. I love it when she takes a long nap so I can get a little rest. It just hurts when she eats so long. I am very grateful that I am able to do this though. I pump milk for church and give it to her in a bottle. I just don't want to miss out on class, luckily there is ONE bottle she will actually drink from. I have many from when Sierra was a baby and little miss Zayna will only take a free one I got from Playtex right before she was born. On a desparate day, I tried to feed her formula. She didn't like it. That was all I needed to keep nursing exclusively.

Zayna is changing more and more. She is filling out. Her thighs have rolls and she has a double chin. Very cute. She grunts and moans and whines and cries while she eats. I noticed she does this more at night. Darn the luck. Her daddy isn't too fond of it. I said enjoy it. She won't do it forever and you might miss it. He can always sleep later in life. haha. Her legs are starting to stretch out now. I hate it because I love it when you pick up a newborn and their legs are up at their chest. I miss it. She will still do it occasionally. But my baby girl is growing too fast! Guess I need to post some pictures. Yes I am slow. I am too exhausted. But here are some:

This was taken the other night after Sierra's bath. She is still wrapped up in the towel and suggested I hold her wet. Brice brought Zayna in and got a quick pic of me and my girls. The only one I have so far.

Here is a picture that shows her little double chin and her thighs. She loves the swing which is good because she doesn't really like the bouncy seat.

On Labor Day Brice and I painted two rooms. He taped 12 x 12 boxes in AJ's room and I painted it orange and blue. The colors don't sound like they would look good together but they do. AJ chose them. It took me two coats of each color. And it took me two days. Last night Brice started the touch up. When it is done I will post a picture. It looks pretty good. While I was painting that, he was painting his golf office. He chose a dark red to match his Cleveland golf towel. I love this color. It goes really well with the dark shelves that were here when we bought the house. The room is still a wreck so I am not posting a pic until the room is clean. :)

Ok I finally have time

2008-08-14T15:38:00.003-06:00

to sit and blog.

Miss Zayna was born Monday August 4 at 2:45 pm weighing in at 7 pounds 4.9 ounces, 19 3/4 inches.

Brice and I arrived at the hospital by 7 am on Monday to be induced. I really had wanted to go into labor on my on but since we have moved just a few weeks before my due date, it just wasn't smart to risk it.

We get there and I get dressed in my ever so lovely hospital gown and get my IV's. I got there already 2 cm dilated and they told me I was 3 cm. Wohoo! It was going to be a short day.

With my first labor, I begged for the epidural. When I got to the hospital I was already 7-8 cm, so I was told I couldn't get it. Then when I was pregnant with Sierra I knew I could labor on my own and decided not to get the epidural.

Now when we decided that this was going to be our last child, I knew I would get my tubes tied. So when I was asked if I wanted the epidural, I immediately said yes. My doctor said they would just take me to surgery soon after the baby came for my tubal.

So I got the epidural. Why on Earth didn't I do this with Sierra?! I was so much more comfortable.

Actually I could have been more comfortable. It wore off on my left side. I felt every contraction but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Soon after I got it, Zayna kept moving around and the monitor would lose her heartbeat. The nurse was very calm and kept trying to find it. I was getting anxious. No one wants to hear that the heartbeat was "lost". She would always find it but it still made me uneasy.

Around 2 ( I think) I was checked again (I had been checked in between the time we got there and 2), I was at a 5. While getting checked, everyone was sent out of the room. So Brice goes outside the room and said that it was going to be a long time before she came so he sent everyone to get something to eat.

About 15 mintues later, I asked the nurse how I would know when I had to push. She had told me earlier and I just wanted to make sure because this was my first epidural. She told me that I would have rectal pressure.

I then told her I had ALOT of pressure. Sure enough, I was fully dilated. Brice runs out of the room to tell everyone. Well, my parents had gone to the cafeteria to get lunch. His parents and my sister were in the waiting room. My sister begins to call my parents with no success. So she runs downstairs to tell them it was time.

Meanwhile, I really don't feel like I need to push besides the pressure. I am just laying there watching the nurses get the bed ready. I was just there. I told them I would not start without my parents there. My sister stayed out in the hall with AJ and Sierra. No way did they need to see what was going to happen.

I started to push as my parents walked in the room. Not 2 minutes later, Zayna Delaney was born.

Brice took her to get weighed while I got cleaned up and the doctor left. He brought her back and we all got to hold her.

The doctor came back to tell me that the OR was booked with C-sections for the rest of the day so my surgery would have to wait until the morning.

I was very nervous about having surgery. Never had one before. Actually scared to death would be the description. I tried not to think about it for the rest of the day.

Tuesday morning came and the nurses started to give me some relaxants (sp?) while my thoughtfull husband slept in bed next to me. I get up to walk to the OR while he stayed in bed. He SAID bye. No hug, no kiss, nothing. Talk about hurting my feelings.

I get into the OR and the drug-man (as I like to call him), told me they kept the room nice and cold just for me. The nurse gave me a warm blanket while the drug man gave me the spinal. My doctor came in and asked if I was ready. I said no. He said it wasn't too late to back out. I actually thought about it for a minute. I told him if I didn't get it done, someone back in my room would kill me. Not really, he just wouldn't be too happy.

The drug man told me my butt would start to tingle when the spinal starts working. Not a minute later, I was on my back half asleep. The last thing I remember was my doctor shaving my belly just under my belly button. Then I was being woke up and told that it was over. I think that was the best nap I had in a while.

I had to stay in recovery for a while. When I was wheeled back into my room, my thoughtful husband was STILL IN BED. I was not too happy with him. After the nurse left I let him know that. I was upset, my hormones were raging. So to make it up to me he had to go get me some donuts.

I was happy with him after I had my donuts. The simple things in life!

My surgery was at 7 Tuesday morning and we were discharged until after lunch on Wednesday. We were glad to be home. But in a way I was sad to leave the hospital. It was like a mini vacay with a wonderful souvineer (sp?).

That is the birth story/surgery story of Zayna Delaney.

Hopefully it won't be too long before I blog again.

Flickr

2008-08-11T17:20:00.001-06:00

Hope on over to my Flickr account to see some new pictures.

I know I still haven't put much on here about Zayna. My mom came to spend a few days with us and I wasn't on the computer much. She helped out alot. I wouldn't have gotten much done without her here.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get some pictures and maybe a story on here. Until then, there are pictures of our new addition on my Flickr page.

Zayna Delaney Hunt

2008-08-07T17:42:00.003-06:00

Here are the big brother and sister (so glad someone thought of this because I didn't. Zayna has a shirt just like it. Just haven't had their picture made yet) Here is a rare shot of her eyes open.

This just might have to do for today. We still don't have internet at home yet. I am using the parents computer. This means that I have many many more pictures of Sweet Baby Girl, I just can't put them on the blog yet. They are all on my computer with no place to go.

Eventually I will put the birth story on here and maybe my wonderful surgery I had (notice the sarcasm?!). I have just been busy and sleepy to do anything besides shower, eat and feed Zayna. Like everyone didn't already know that.

Maybe by this weekend I will get more pictures on her

Monday is Baby Day!

2008-07-31T11:12:00.004-06:00

I went to the doctor yesterday and I was told that Monday is going to be baby day! Yay! I am ready to see my baby girl but yet I am not ready. I am finishing my house (that we have been in all week!) to get all of her stuff ready. I am cleaning like a mad woman so I don't have to do it when I get home.

I have had lots of help putting things on the walls and getting kids things finished. I am just finishing the cleaning, which I think I will be doing until Saturday afternoon.

Sierra and I are going to Amarillo Saturday to spend the night with my parents. I want to go to church there because I am having a diaper and gift card shower that afternoon. My sister is also staying with my parents that night, she is actually the one that told me we needed to go to.

Brice will come Sunday. He doesn't really care to spend 3 nights there, meaning 2 at my parents and 1 at the hospital.

I am being induced Monday morning at 7 am. With the NM and TX time difference I decided that I didn't want to get up REALLY early and drive to Amarillo to have this baby, so we are staying with my parents Sunday night.

Both of the kids will stay there too. AJ is coming home Sunday afternoon, well when I mean home I mean to me not Texico. We wanted some time with him and Sierra before their baby sister arrives.

I am ready to see Zayna, ready to have my surgery afterwards and ready to start our new life of a family of 5. If everything goes my way (haha) I should be home Tuesday at the earliest. My mom took Thursday and Friday off so she will come stay a few days with us. She is going to be a huge help.

Brice will have the whole week off, but come on now. She will be more help than he will. I am not saying he isn't a big help, he just isn't that good with a newborn. He will mainly help with the older two.

So we will have a very busy week but also a great one. I know whoever reads this will want to see pictures. Who reads this by the way? I will post some as soon as I can. We don't have internet at home yet so I have been using the parents. But I am sure many of you will get an email with pictures. Look for them Monday night or Tuesday.

Next time I post, I will have a new baby!

The end is near.......

2008-07-24T20:23:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I had my 37 week check up. Being that Amarillo is 1 1/2 hours away from Texico, Neemers went with me. That, and I had a dentist appointment super early and no one wanted me to go alone. That is a long day when you are 9 months pregnant in the summer.

We had an ultrasound scheduled, which I thought was going to be like any other one. Nope, he was just measuring the fluid and the growth of the baby. We both thought we would get to see everything but he went pretty quickly. Kind of a bummer. Anyhoo, the fluid looks great and she is measuring right on target.

Then the dreaded cervix check. I was expecting to not be dilated at all. I was never dilated before with the other 2. Not until I was in labor with AJ and not until I was induced with Sierra. So I was expecting the same. I was wrong. I am dilated 1-2 cm. Umm wow. He said if I don't have her before next week or I am more dilated come Wednesday, he will probably go ahead and take the baby. Couldn't have been happier.

But I am hoping she holds out until next week because I still don't have electricity or air conditioning. So I have been told by some people to walk walk walk. Some people have told me to wait until the weekend. And some have said sit and do nothing, because it isn't a good time for them. haha.

The odd thing is that since yesterday I have had more energy than I have had in the last 8 months. I might be nesting. Good sign, if you ask me. I got over to my house and worked, with help of course. I just feel like I could go all day and night. Which is exactly like I felt with AJ, I just don't remember how long it was until he came after I started the nesting phase.

She can't come until I have my camera charged. She can't come until my house is ready. But she can come NOW because physically I am ready. It is very hard to turn in bed with a baby belly. Not a pretty picture.

That is all..........maybe not.

Today is Brice and mine's 4th wedding anniversary. I would tell him happy anniversary but I don't think he has ever read my blog. ;(

It has been a great 4 years. Here's to many more!

35 week appointment

2008-07-09T09:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I had my 35 week appointment with Dr. Carrasco. I went in with some questions I had regarding the reunion next weekend, being induced because of moving.

He told me 2 weeks ago that there shouldn't be any problem with me going to Abilene. Yesterday I asked again, just for reassurance. He said I have had no major problems and he doesn't see why I couldn't go. He did give me a copy of my records just in case I was to go into labor there. Honestly, I hope I don't because of a couple of reasons: 1) Brice won't be there. I prefer to have my husband present at the birth. 2) I LOVE Dr. C. I wouldn't want anyone else to deliver Zayna besides him. BUT I do know that I can't control it. So I just pray that I go through the weekend still pregnant. :)

I told Dr. C that we are moving this weekend, about an hour and a half away. He kinda gave me the look of "um ok......". Then I asked what were his thoughts of me being induced. He said he would do it if I wanted to. I just told him I would prefer my water not to break and have to deliver in Clovis. He laughed. So we talked some more and he gave me two options.

We could do it on August 1 or August 4. He said to talk about it with Brice and let him know when I go back in two weeks. I let Brice decide the date because he has this weird system of remembering dates. If I were to choose one date, he would find something wrong with it. So I left it completely up to him. He chose August 4. So if everything goes smooth, we will have a baby August 4, 2008.

I am so ready for it to be here but first I have so much to do. We are moving this weekend. Then I have to unpack, YUCK. It is worse than packing. Then I have to wash all of Zayna's clothes, get the car seat cleaned up, and so on. Too much to do and not enough time!

How might a 35 week preggo would spend her Sunday afternooon

2008-07-06T17:49:00.005-06:00

I was feeling pretty good when I got up this morning. We went to church where I had to get up twice to use the restroom. After the sermon, the church was asked to stand. I couldn't get up because I was having PAINFUL contractions. 3 to be exact. Not sure how far apart they were.

I have been having contractions for months now, but they have never hurt. So we decided to skip class and come home. I was feeling fine on the way home, but felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I got super sleepy during the drive.

I got home and changed clothes. I didn't have any lunch ready so I just sat down in the rocker and fell asleep. Eventually Brice came up to me and took me to bed. He knew I wasn't feeling well when it was lunch time and I wasn't eating. :)

He told Sierra to lay down with me and take a nap and he would go get lunch. I fell asleep pretty quickly and got woke up when Brice showed up with Sonic.

I was feeling fine and hungry. I started eating and that is when the contractions HIT. Every 3 minutes for 2 hours. They hurt but I could still tolerate them. One eventually made me tear up. I wasn't having any other symptoms so I wasn't getting scared.

I got up and moved around and they quit. Still was really sleepy and started having some more contractions. It was just really odd.

I haven't felt up to par today.

I have spent the day doing this:

This was taken right after church

And doing this: I really haven't moved from the bed except to go to the bathroom. Here is Sierra demonstrating what I have been doing.

I didn't call the doctor. I knew if I was actually in labor I would know for sure. It just took me by surprise when the contractions went on for over 2 hours. I am feeling a little better now. Haven't had one in a while and hope to quit having them. I do go for my check up Tuesday and I will definitely be telling Dr.C about them. I think this when I start going every week to get checked so I hope everything is good.

The weird thing is I haven't done much the last couple of days. I walked around alot yesterday but it was nothing that made me have contractions.

So, that is what I have spent my Sunday afternoon doing. I sure hope they don't continue throughout the week. We are moving next weekend. I have to finish packing and getting everything together so we can get it loaded quickly.

Anyone want to come help? haha!

Happy and Sad

2008-07-03T19:44:00.002-06:00

Today I am happy and sad.

I am sooooo happy, or should I say excited, because we can start moving next week. Our house was delivered on Tuesday and hopefully by the end of next week, we can move our things in. We don't have to be out of this house until the end of July, so I think we might take it slow. Haha. Yeah right.

We are excited to move, Brice especially. We have contemplated on putting the girls in the same room for a while now. The reason being, we don't want to have the computer in our bedroom anymore. A computer does not belong in a bedroom.

I personally would rather have them in their own rooms. Why? Because I was 15 or 16 before I got my own room. I hated sharing with Mandy, sometimes anyway. But when we realized we could use the 4th room as an office, I quickly changed my mind.

So when I told Brice that I thought they should share a room, he told me that that was the plan anyway. I was confused so I said "Um ok". He then told me that he forgot to tell me that he had already decided on that so he could have his office. He then told me that I could have the rest of the house but the office was his. His golf office. He thought I would hate the idea, but I actually like it. So now I can go shopping for golf decor! He said he had to approve anything before we put it up, but I know where I could get some cute stuff.

So that is why we are happy.

I also said I am sad. Yesterday AJ started his month long visit with his Dad and Stepmom. That is the longest I have ever gone without seeing him. Granted I will get him for 5 days for the reunion, but still. It stinks. We took him out to eat, to a movie and to play putt putt Wednesday night. Stinks stinks stinks. It will be awfully quiet around here. Everyone is telling me to stay busy and I won't think about him. I know the move will keep me busy. I wish he could be here to help.

Before he left, I told him to say goodbye to his room because he will never see or sleep in it again. He ran in there and said "bye room!".

The hardest thing so far is that Sierra keeps asking when brother is coming back. Poor thing loves to play with her brother. She just doesn't understand.

Anyhoo, I am just keeping myself busy with the packing. I don't have much to do because I have been doing it for the last month. Mainly I have the kids rooms and my closet to pack up but that is about it. Not too much longer and we will be out of Amarillo.

It is kinda sad. :(

PuppyBee

2008-06-20T14:40:00.004-06:00

Sierra received this bumble bee that from her "Uncle" Casey. I have mentioned him before. She affectionately calls it PuppyBee. He brought it back from Kansas while he was away for 6 weeks. She loves this stuffed animal and asks for it constantly. She did leave it in Texico for a week, which you would think could have hurt the girl because she loves to sleep with it and carry it throughout the day. Well, Daddy came to the resuce this week and brought PuppyBee home. Ever since then she has been attached at the hip to it. She woke up from her nap today and immediately realized PuppyBee was nowhere to be found. After help from her big brother, he was found and this girl could not have been happier.

I love the way her big blue eyes pop out in this picture!Here she is telling PuppyBee that she loves him.Now she is giving him loves.

Too sweet!

A burn Pa is "proud" of

2008-06-17T17:58:00.004-06:00

Sierra accidently walked into the little space heater that I had turned on while I was taking a shower. This is what happened to her leg:

Now the reason I say Pa is "proud" of it is because the first thing he said when he saw it was that it was in the shape of his initials T E L. You can make it out if you cover parts of it up to make the separate letters. This is what he puts on everything he makes.

I think it is kind of cool that Sierra will now have Pa's initials forever on her body!

Dental Work

2008-06-13T07:16:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I chipped the back of my front tooth. I have been looking for a dentist that will take our insurance (harder than it sounds), and my sister said that her dentist does (her hubby works for railroad also).

So I call and couldn't get an appointment until Wednesday. Sister watches the kids while I go. I get 18 xrays taken by a new dental assistant. Something which should have taken 30 minutes turned into an hour or so. She kept apologizing but I had no problem because this was my "break from the kids", even if it meant getting poked and prodded. So she finishes with the xrays and gets them developed, meanwhile I am falling asleep in the chair because there were so many to develop.

Anyhoo, the dentist comes in and looks and immediately says you need a cleaning ASAP. I knew that before going in. But when he said ASAP (and the way he said it), I knew he meant business. He said there is new evidence that gum disease (I think) is linked to premature labor. Of course who wants that when you are 31 weeks pregnant. So the hygenist says there is an opening for Thursday. Works for me.

He also said that I have 3 cavities and I might have to have a tooth extracted, but would tell me for sure after my cleaning the next day. I have had only one cavity in my life before now, which he actually praised that. I finish with my appointment 2 1/2 hours after arriving.

So yesterday being the brave momma I am, I took the kids with me. Everyone said it would be fine to bring them. They have toys and a TV if they wanted to watch a movie. So I braved it and took them. And they were ANGELS! They were very interested in seeing what was going on in my mouth. Although AJ was pretty disgusted by the whole thing. Sierra wanted to help the hygenist. She was great with the kids and very patient with all the questions.

Eventually she told me that she wanted me back a few weeks after I have the baby to have another cleaning done. Then she changed her mind and said come back in 2 weeks. I don't know if that is good or not but tell me what to do and I will do it. So I go back in two weeks for another cleaning and then I can get my cavities fixed and have this stinkin tooth extracted.

The whole time my husband is worried that insurance won't pay for it. I had to pay $100 yesterday. He freaked out on the phone saying I need to call and ask why I had to pay and why insurance won't. I call and the receptionist didn't have me under any insurance. She had Brice under it just not me. No biggie, she fixes it and Brice is calm. So out of pocket, we aren't paying that much. It is awesome to have such great insurance!

Dr. Comer's office staff knew I was pregnant before my first appointment. When I went to sit down in the chair Wednesday, there was a wedge type thing to put under my legs. The assistant said this might help with my back and legs. Boy did it ever. Then yesterday I walked in the room and the entire chair padded, head to toe. I was told they only do this for pregnant women. It helped so much because I felt like I was upside down the whole time. I was worried beforehand that I would pass out from being on my back for so long. It made a big difference. It was like getting royal treatment. Kinda nice.

I am glad I was referred to Dr. Comer. He is very nice and his staff is awesome. They had so many questions about the kids and the baby. I told the receptionist the baby's name and she yelled it down the hall. I had to laugh. She said it was a beautiful name that she has never heard before. I agree.

AJ even got a compliment that Sierra gets daily. He was told that he has beautiful blue eyes. Sierra gets this constantly but I have never heard anyone say it to AJ. He walked out of the office with a huge smile on his face.

I must agree with these people. My kids do have beautiful blue eyes!t

Couldn't think of a title

2008-06-02T10:11:00.007-06:00

Many things have happened the last few days.

1) This past Friday was the last day of school for AJ. They had Fun In The Sun. Sierra and I went to help out. All it was was a few stations where the kids could play, see fire trucks, see Sherriffs car, snacks, those type of things. I was in charge of watching the kids while they played on the swing sets and playground. (thank goodness they came in groups of 5!)

Here is AJ being goofy. I guess Sierra was very intrigued with her brother, look at her just staring at him.

Here is Sierra outside waiting for a group of kids to come play. I didn't know I was going to be in charge of the swings, otherwise I would have put different shoes on her. We had to keep taking them off and getting rocks out of them.

I made them give each other a hug.

2) Saturday Sierra and I went to some garage sales with Mom, Pamela and her kids, and Mandy and her kids. I got some baby clothes for Zayna and a couple of VHS tapes to keep in the car for the kids. That afternoon when Brice was done golfing, he kept Sierra so I could go shopping with my sisters. Once Upon A Child was having a huge sale. I LOVE that store. I only found a skirt for Sierra and picked up a bow to go with it. A girl can't ever have too many bows! Saturday night Sierra went home with Neemers and Pappy to spend a couple of nights.

3) When AJ got home yesterday from his weekend with his dad, Brice gave him a mohawk. His hair was getting long and I planned on taking him Friday after school to get it cut. Until he said he wanted a mohawk and Brice said he would do it. So I actually gave in and let him do it. If it didn't turn out good, we could always shave it off, right? Well, props to Brice. It did turn out good and I have to say AJ looks cute with it. Brice met Neemers and Hereford to get AJ so we could go see Jeff Dunham last night.

4) Jeff Dunham show! I have to say I would pay over and over again to see this man perform. He is hilarious! We have had tickets for a few months and the night finally came. It was nice to be out with my husband, even though his friend Casey and his parents and brothers were there too. About halfway through the show, I started to have cramps in my legs (hamstrings). One minute I was laughing the next minute I was digging my nails into Brice's right leg. It freaked him out! It hurt so bad. He got worried thinking I was going into labor. Once I said it was my leg, he still looked scared because of the pain I was causing him. But what else was I supposed to do? After a minute or two, it was gone. Then my other leg started hurting. I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk to the bathroom. I spent the rest of the show, containing my laughter because A) I had to pee and B) I didn't want to move too much, I was afraid my legs would start hurting again. Not too much longer the show was over and I was feeling fine and able to walk.

On the way home I told Brice that it was a good thing the kids were going to be gone today so I can mow the lawn. He immediately said I was no longer allowed to mow. Now, I would normally be excited to be told that but this is my form of exercise since we don't belong to the gym anymore. I asked him why and he said that I scared him enough at the show and he doesn't want me doing too much work. OK. I don't want him to mow because he is the one allergic, not me. He just said I am going to do housework and that is it. Man, guess I really scared him! What a good hubby I have!

5) This morning, I was awake when he went to work. I really couldn't go back to sleep until around 9. After that I had a hard time staying awake. About 11, I finally forced myself to get up and start cleaning. It is so much easier and faster when I am home alone. I am just waiting for my laundry to get done so I can clean my kitchen floor. That is the dirtiest part of my house right now. Yuck.

Anyway, we had a good weekend. Hopefully the first of many to come this summer.

Too cute for words

2008-05-27T20:27:00.002-06:00

Here is Zayna Delaney in her finest. We couldn't get her to show us her entire face because the placenta is covering the right side of her face. She was being stubborn and decided she would stick her tongue out at us, which of course had us laughing.

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

2008-05-21T18:22:00.002-06:00

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects,cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time--no emailing.

Each man must also take each child to adoctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the UrgentCare.

He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, backaches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to read a book to the kids each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name.

Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.

The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right To be called Mother!

Hormones gone wild

2008-05-19T12:00:00.002-06:00

I am now entering my third trimester. Do you know what that means? MAJOR hormones.

Brice told me that he wanted one of two things for his birthday which was yesterday. One of the things was new lenses for his Oakley sunglasses and the other was something to do with golf.

Last week I go to Golf Headquarters to get Brice's birthday present. He told me what he wanted and I said I would get it. I go pick it up knowing that it was probably the wrong thing. I am clueless when it comes to golf stuff. So he knew what he was getting into.

After he finds out that I got the golf thing, he tells me he really wanted the lenses more. OK no problem. I go to the sports shop where he got the glasses from and order the lenses. He knew what I was doing and called and asked what exactly I ordered. I told him and he said they were the wrong ones. Oops. He calls the shop and orders the right ones. So those will be in in about a week.

Well, he remembers that I got him something else. He told me last week it was a hat with a magnetic ball marker on it. I do not remember him saying it was a hat. Actually, I don't think he ever said it was an actual hat. I just got the magnetic clip that goes on the rim of the hat. So yesterday, after church he had a tee time and was about to leave. He kept asking me if he could have his present. I didn't want to give it to him, only because I just knew it was the wrong thing (this is when I didn't know it was a hat). I get it out of the car and show it to him. He immediately starts LAUGHING. To top it off, his friend was right there when it happened. I don't know what they said, I just walked in the house and didn't say anything. Maybe it was because they laughed or because I was just exhausted. But it got me very upset.

Brice said not to worry about it and that he would take it back and get the hat. I just wanted to cry. I didn't but sure felt like I could.

The boys leave and I calm down and realized it was very stupid to get upset. So I call Brice and ask some questions about what it is he wanted. I even asked if Gold Headquarters was open. He said they weren't. But, Sierra and I had a baby shower to go to so I thought I would drive by just to make sure. And they were open. So we go in and look at the hats. I find a few that I think it was what he was talking about. But just to make sure, I call and ask specific questions about the hat. He tells where to look, what color to get, and what tags are on it.

Was that so hard? No. I feel better now that I got him what he wanted. I joked with him about giving it to him in August (my bday is in January and I didn't get a present until April, for the second year in a row). He didn't find it as funny as I did.

He gets home from golf and we eat the supper he requested. Casey stayed to eat with us and they played on the XBOX until 10, when he left and Brice got his hat. I gave it to him and he apologized about me going through so much to get it. Yeah, waterworks almost started.

I showed him the other thing I got (the one I knew was wrong) and he said maybe he could use it. He apologized again and I said I felt like an idiot and that I was so upset and could just cry at any moment. He said there was no need to do that. If I was not preggers right now, I can guarantee I wouldn't have been so upset.

But it is all fine now. He got what he wanted and he said he feels bad because I got upset. So now he knows not to let me buy him anything that has to do with golf, unless he is there with me. ;)

I sure hope this hormones subside soon. I can't take all of this weepy stuff. It was like this in the first trimester and now it is back again. Go away hormones, go away.

Kissing Zayna

2008-05-15T16:28:00.003-06:00

Sierra often comes up to my belly and gives her baby sister a kiss. This is the first picture I have gotten of her doing it. (I keep telling Brice I want a picture of the kids kissing the belly, but always seem to put it off. Next time it will be him taking the picture.)

Anyway, she came up to me with her pink sunglasses on and leaned down to smooch. I made her do it again for a picture. Yes, she has her pajamas on. She would not take off her pj top off this morning before we left the house. She did let me put other pants on her while we were out but when we got home, she accidently poured her drink on them, so I told her to put her pj bottoms on.

To complete the sunglassses and pajama ensemble, she is wearing her pink sparkly shoes I got for $7 at Target today.

2008-05-01T08:06:00.001-06:00

Do you see what a rough night of sleep will do to you? She fell asleep at 9 this morning on my bed. I think I will join her for some rest.

Thoughts

2008-04-30T20:11:00.002-06:00

Tonight, as my kids are in bed and my husband is working his tail off, I have so many thoughts running through my mind.

* I have just over 14 weeks left before Zayna joins the family. oh. my gosh. These last 25 weeks have flown by. At first I couldn't wait until the morning sickness ended. Then after it did, I couldn't wait to find out what we were having. Now that we know, I want these last weeks to go by slow.

* This is my last pregnancy. I am taking it all in. Every kick. Every pain. Everything else.

* Brice got to feel her kick last week. While laying in bed at night, she kicks like crazy so I think that I will put his hand on the belly so he can feel. Sure enough, she quits. Every single time. Well, I put his hand on my belly and she quits. He starts to pull away and I hold his hand down. All of a sudden, he asks if he felt her. Uh no. That is just my heart beating (I can actually see it beating in my tummy). Then she starts kicking his hand. Awesome.

* I have had constant rib pain. I am tired of it. I usually have my hand pressing where the pain is so I can at least function for part of the day. It doesn't hurt when I am laying down. And I am not laying down all day. She is not even near my ribs, but yet I still hurt.

* I am exhausted/fatigued. In the last week, I haven't slept but 3 or 4 hours a night. This does not make for a happy mommy. ;( However Monday night I fell asleep around 10:30 and woke up when Brice got in bed around 1. This was the best 2 1/2 hours of sleep I had gotten in a week. I slept like a rock, too bad it didn't last all night.

* I wish Brice wasn't working nights this week. It makes bed time a little rougher. It makes my mornings rougher. He didn't have to work Monday night so it really hasn't been all that bad. HE is working major over time. I think he told me that since Sunday night he has worked over 50 hours of over time. oh my gosh. I am so proud of my hubby. I tell him that many times a day. He just laughs at me.

* I am sitting here typing with an arm that feels like it is on fire. I was getting the chicken casserole out of the oven for supper, and being the oh-so-graceful-person-that-I-have-been, my left arm touched the top coil of the oven. It hurt at the time and I didn't think anything of it until I put Sierra in the tub and noticed a purple line on my arm. Now I have a Princess tattoo band aid on it.

* I have recently started reading my kids a bed time book. Tonight I read two. AJ read the second one to me after I had already read it.

* AJ has 22 days left of Kindergarten.

* We are moving sometime between now and September. I have no clue when. We haven't really decided. Zayna is due August 10. I would like to move our house before she comes because we moved when Sierra was 12 days old. I don't really care to do that again.

*Since getting pregnant, you get the big question "when are you due?" When I say August 10, I automatically get this response "wow, you are going to be pregnant during the summer. The hot hot hot summer!" Well DUH. In the beginning it wasn't bad. Now that I am over half way there, it drives me crazy when I get that response. I just try to laugh it off by saying that I will be inside the whole summer where the air conditioning is.

*When people ask what the baby's name is, I of course say Zayna Delaney. Well, one lady asked and I told her. She proceeds to say, "Is that what you are naming her?" She heard me say her name. Weird.

*I have so much to do before she comes. I have to go through Sierra's baby clothes to see what she can wear. Sierra being born in February and Zayna in the summer might pose a problem. But I do know that I can use many things.

* I really need to clean my house. But with Brice working nights and coming home at 7 in the morning and sleeping until 1 or 2 kind of puts a damper on my schedule. I like to have the vaccuming done in the morning along with the bathrooms. This doesn't happen when he is sleeping. I like to have things done before I get AJ from school at 3. I just don't like coming home from getting him and cleaning.

* I haven't put on that much weight with this pregnancy. At my last appointment I had only gained 16 pounds. W.O.W. In the first two months with AJ, I gained 15! So this is very exciting to me. We will see how much I have gained this month when I go for a check up next week.

* I think alot of it is water weight. My legs look bigger, my face looks bigger and overall my arms are bigger. I need to go to the gym.

* I am excited to see this baby although I don't want this pregnancy to fly by. Two of our friends from church had their baby's early this morning. It makes me excited to see Zayna.

*I have had very vivid dreams the last two weeks. This contributes to my not sleeping so great. I will sometimes have 2 or 3 a night.

* I should really be in bed. It is 9:40 and it takes a while to go to sleep. The doctor said I could take Tylenol PM but I don't want to use it every night. But it is looking like I might tonight because I am no where near sleepy right now.

* I am going to see if Sierra stayed in her bed. Every night after we put them in bed, she winds up on the hall floor. Asleep. I bet she is there now.

On that note, those are all of my thoughts as of tonight. I was just thinking and needed to put them down so I could remember later on in life. That is why, afterall, I have this blog in the first place. My memory is BAD...........

Big girl bed

2008-04-17T15:14:00.004-06:00

Sierra now has her very own big girl bed, thanks to Pappy!

When we found out I was pregnant again, we knew Sierra couldn't stay in the toddler bed because the baby would need to mattress. So we were just going to buy her a bed but then my smart husband said we should ask Pappy to make her one. I am SO glad we did. You can't get nothing like this at the stores. I looked around on the Internet and found one I loved. He started building it and I had to find a bed set.

I didn't just want to get Princess or cartoonish set. I wanted something that she could grow with and then something that maybe Zayna could use one day. I have looked online and thought I wanted something with ladybugs. But alas, couldn't find one that I fell in love with.

So while at Target this weekend, Brice and I saw this set (they had a blue and green one too) and we both loved it. He said to choose between the colors and I of course had to get the pink. Strange how I hate the color pink but always seem to keep buying pink things. huh.

Anyway, Sierra knew it was for her big girl bed and when it was all put together, she immediately asked for help up (its a little tall for her now). I really do think she will do good in it. We had absolutely no trouble switching her from the crib to the toddler bed.

Here she is with Brother AJ laughing. He was telling her a secret that they thought was funny.

Here is the full view

Doctors appt, shopping and potty

2008-04-08T17:21:00.003-06:00

This morning I had my monthly check-up with my OB. I hate the weigh in part because I hate to put a number in my brain that I will obsess over. Take last months visit for example. I gained 6 pounds in a month. I know it is good for Zayna but I still hate to think I gained that much. Of course the nurse was trying to ressure me that eveything was fine. Whatever, I still hate it.

So this morning I was not looking forward to being weighed. I didn't quite catch the monthly weight gain but the nurse said I have only gained 16 pounds this pregnancy. Yay, I wanted to jump up and down. That is nothing compared to what I gained with the other two. I gained 15 pounds the first two months with AJ! So I am very happy with my gain now. Hopefully I won't get near to the 40 pound gain like I did with the other two.

After my appointment, Sierra and I went ot McDonalds for breakfast. I make my appts early so we can eat together. It's not like we don't eat together at home, it is just something special we do. She is happy and so am I. We took our time eating and then went to the bank.

After the bank, we (meaning mostly me!) decided to go "shopping". Actually I am going to call it "research" for a diaper bag for Zayna. So we went to Once Upon a Child. LOVE that store. I always find good stuff, mostly girl stuff. They never have any boy things that I would buy. I especially love the hairbow section. I got Zayna a headband that I can put different bows on. I have a few small bows but I invested in some more. It took a while for Sierra to get enough hair for the bows and I have a feeling that same will happen to her sister. So a headband should work. I only had a couple of headbands for Sierra but a girl can never have too many hair accessories.

I didn't get much because I mainly went there to look at diaper bags, which are all 15% off. Gotta love a good deal. We went to another children's store and didn't get anything. They just aren't as good as OUAC.

Anyhoo, after a very loud and brief meltdown by Sierra it was time to go. She wanted a Princess purse that I was not buying.

Speaking of Sierra, she is getting better and better at going to the potty. Especially when she needs to poop. I know it is gross. But I get excited because that is one less stinky diaper or pair of panties I have to change. So far today she has done it 3 times. All the while announcing to me while she is going, "Mommy! Sierra poopied in the POTTY!" So funny.

Today marks 9 days in a row that she has taken a nap without having an accident. She stays dry the entire time. Bed time is another story but she is back to wearing Pull-Ups at night. No biggie. I want her to be fully trained during the day before I again attempt to put panties on her at night. She rarely has an accident during the day. She will if she gets sidetracked. I.E.: While at LIFE group the LAST 2 weeks, she didn't make it to the potty in time. The first week she let it go right in front of the potty. Then this week, while eating at the table she announces she has to go. I go over to her and say get down and go. She doesn't budge. She is peeing in the chair. I felt so bad! Good thing there wasn't a seat cover on the chair and it cleaned up easy.

That is what has been going on here. Nothing exciting!

100th post

2008-04-01T07:06:00.002-06:00

This is my 100th post since I started this blog in 2006. How am I "celebrating" this? With a sinus infection, well, at least what better be a sinus infection.

I noticed yesterday afternoon that I was starting to get a stuffy nose. Couldn't breathe last night. Made it very uncomfortable to lay in bed. I woke up around 4:30 this morning with a sore throat. Then noticed that my ears hurt. Just what I needed.

It is giving me a flashback of New Years weekend when I had bronchitis and couldn't take anything because I am pregnant. (It still sounds weird to say it.) I guess I will be taking some Tylenol for the pain.

And Sierra has a runny nose and sounds stuffy. Is that possible? I just think hers is allergies. She is like this year round so I am not worried about her.

I would love to lay in bed all day but that is impossible. Bills need to be paid. I need to make phone calls. I need to clean. I need to go to the store.

I think I will wait as long as I can to go to the store. I hate taking kids with me. I only need to go for 2 things. But it is still a hassle when a child doesn't want to stay in the cart while I get what I need. Hopefully Brice will be home early today.

Here's to wishful hoping!

How to fold laundry

2008-03-24T08:53:00.004-06:00

First you pick a towel..... then, very slowly, you fold it in an odd shape......
then you push really hard on it so it will stay in the basket.

Afterwards, you get out without messing up the towel (didn't get a picture of that).

Nesting??

2008-03-20T16:01:00.002-06:00

This morning AJ said he wanted to watch The Incredibles. I go into his room to get it from his video cabinet only to find that the dvd was missing. So I am looking around on his desk and discover that a pesky little "friend" has left some presents on the desk. Yuck. So I tell AJ that before he can watch the movie that we have to clean off his desk, disinfect and put everything back in its place.

I start taking off papers and find ALOT of candy on there. Well, duh! That is why the "friend" was up there. I clean everything off and throw away about 90% of everything on there, including toys. I finish that and decide that I will tackle the closet.

First off, let me say that in no way am I a slob of a housekeeper-upper. We live in a trailer house and mice are bound to get in. I do have my days when the place is cluttered though.

Anyway, in his closet there are 4 tubs of clothes that I am keeping for a rainy day (like another baby, glad I get to use the girl clothes!) I pull those out plus my wagon that Dad made when I was little, a box and a small foldable toy box. What do I discover on the floor? More "presents". Of course, I expected that. I clean, vaccum and disinfect EVERYTHING. I have lods of trash that I have yet to take out.

All of this took me over 2 hours, and many loads of laundry. My son tends to think that if you aren't tall enough to reach the rod, then just throw the clothes in the closet. We have had many discussions about that. So I had to wash all of those. I put everything back and continue to finish.

I would have kept going but I started to have some contractions. So like my doctor said, "When you start to have them, sit and do nothing." Yes sir! So I did nothing.

Fast forward a few hours. Brice gets home to find that the shoes he ordered have come in. He is excited and wants me to try them on. Yes, we wear each others shoes. Sad sad sad. He tries to put them on me but guess what. I was too swollen. I never noticed. He asked what I had been doing and said I was dumb for working myself hard. Yes, yes I was. :)

Since lunch, I have been putting my feet up so we can go to Chuck E Cheese for AJ's birthday tonight. Which is probably where I will become more swollen. Oh well. The things we do for our kids.

Part of me thinks that I have started the nesting phase early. Only I can't get it done in one day. So tomorrow, I think I am going to tackle Sierra's room. Brice has the day off so he can keep her for me. haha.

I am taking my camera with us tonight so I will post pictures probably tomorrow.

Spring Break

2008-03-17T13:20:00.002-06:00

It is finally Spring Break. Yay!

We started our break off with AJ's birthday party yesterday. Glad that is over with. He went home with Neemers and left Sierra here with me and her daddy. It was his special treat since it is his bday week and all.

Speaking of Brice, he is finally working close to home. He is in Hereford this week. He made my day last week when he told me he would be home every night this week. He has been in New Mexico since November. I finally get my hubby back for longer than 2 days a week. :)

This morning Sierra and I slept in until after 9. Well, I heard her around 7 and then brought her in bed with me. That was so nice. I am so worn out from cleaning like a mad woman all weekend. I need the extra sleep. Still feel like I could use some more.

Today is day number 4 without Pull-Ups for Sierra. I ran out Wednesday of last week and talked about it with Brice and he said not to buy anymore. I did just in case but I never did open them. She hates being wet so we started the "panties on all the time" thing. We have had many accidents but she is determined not to wear diapers. She says they are for babies and that she is a big girl. Works for me! I was worried about her going to Bible class yesterday. She gets too busy playing and forgets that she needs to go. I took her to the potty before and she tried but it didn't happen. When I went to my class that I teach, (it is in Toddler Treehouse, where she has class), I was told that they took her and she didn't go. I don't take a cup with us anymore when we leave the house so I figured that was the deal. Only at home will she have a sippy cup. Anyway, she is making progress in the right direction.

Speaking of Bible class, for the entire months of January and February, she didn't go to class. Either we weren't at church or I was sick. When she started back she would scream before we even got to the door and continue until we left. She would be fine afterwards because one of the helpers would literally hold her the entire time. Last week was rough. She wanted me to hold her (not a good idea teaching a class that is so close to hers). That was the second week I was teaching. The teachers would have to page Brice to come get her because they couldn't get her calmed down. Last week was better. She came home with her first Bible class project that she made. I could hit myself because I didn't save it (someone stepped on it and tore it up!). Anyway, she had been asking about Bible class all week. We would talk about it and I would say that she didn't need to cry anymore when she went to class because she is a big girl. She constantly said it. On the way to church yesterday, she said "Mommy, Daddy, I not cry at Bible class. I big girl." TOO CUTE! We both said yes ma'am, no crying. We get to church and she walked right into her class and said bye. No tears.

After service, I go to my classroom and she said 'Mommy I still no cry'. I laughed it was so sweet. And after class, she ran up to me and was jumping and said it again. I was asked by many teachers/moms why she would say that. I just explained and they laughed too. She is a funny girl.

On the baby front, we have a name now. We have actually had it about a week but I was waiting until AJ's party when we would tell my family the name. Her official name is................

ZAYNA DELANEY

I lOVE IT!

I just ordered her something this morning with her name on it. When I get it I will have to post it. I hope it turns out good.

Anyhoo, Sierra is asleep and I need to fold my laundry. Happy Spring Break!

2008-03-14T19:32:00.002-06:00

It's a............

2008-03-09T15:10:00.003-06:00

GIRL! We found out Friday that we are having another girl. Yay for me. I loved dressing Sierra up in my baby clothes. She was my own little doll. No doubt this baby will be too.

We still can't agree on a name. I think she might be here before we have one.

We don't have a scanner so I tried taking pictures of the sonogram but I couldn't get a good one. So this will have to do for now.

We have been really busy this weekend buying a new car. The Nitro would not fit 3 car seats in the back so we decided to trade it in. We got an Escalade, used of course. We got a good deal on it and we are happy.

That is about it for today.

Whew

2008-03-06T15:54:00.002-07:00

It has been a long day. I have been awake since 3 this morning. Sierra woke me up at 3 with her pants soaking wet. So I had to change her and get her put back down. Then I tried to get settled down. Only I couldn't. I kept sneezing. I had to go to the potty. And I was wide awake.

But the good reason I could not sleep was that the bambino kept kicking me. Little turkey wouldn't stop so I couldn't go back to sleep.

I would have taken a nap with Sierra but I needed to clean. Which I did. My house looks semi-good. Still not done. But I have gotten far considering I spent all day Tuesday throwing up. Yuck. I think I caught a bug. Good thing it only lasted one day.

Brice is coming home tonight. I am happy to see him as are the kids. Every time the phone rings, Sierra thinks it is her Daddy and wants to talk. But I when I say it isn't him, she goes crazy.

He took off tomorrow so he could be there when we find out the sex of the baby.

Hopefully it won't be as stubborn as it's daddy and lets us find out. So tomorrow I will hopefully have some news.

How-A-You-Ya, It is Friday!

2008-02-29T12:04:00.003-07:00

In the words of Sierra, how-a-you-ya (hallalujah, don't think I spelled that right), it is Friday.

AJ doesn't have school for the next two days.

My husband if finally coming home for the weekend.

My house is finally clean, even though I am working way too hard to clean it and am paying for it now.

We have one week left before we find out what we are having. It is driving me crazy.

The wind is supposed to blow like crazy so maybe I will see my husband for two days instead of one. Yes, I am being selfish. He usually goes golfing on the least windy day but don't think he will be able to. bummer.

With that being said, I would love to go on a date with the man. By ourselves. It has been forever since we did that.

I am well into my second trimester. Guess what that means. NO MORE MORNING SICKNESS. Yay. I hated it. But it wasn't as bad as it was with Sierra.

Yesterday, AJ come home bearing a certificate he got at school. He was Lion of the Month! I am so proud. So I told him he could choose what we ate for supper. He chose pizza. So I took him to CiCi's Pizza. He thought it was cool that he could walk past all of the different kinds and pick. I liked because I got salad. I don't need pizza.

Sierra is talking more and more everyday. Her favorite word is NO. It is not my favorite.

She does know that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy. If you ask her if she wants a baby brother or baby sister, she will say sister. Every time. I would love to have one look just like her. She is so stinkin cute!

She lifts my shirt up and says hi to the baby. And rubs and gives love to it. It isn't so cute when she pushes down on it. OUCH.

I have been feeling the baby move. Every now and then I feel tiny kicks. The doctor said the more babies you have, the sooner you can feel them move. I was surprised when I was only 13 weeks along and could feel it. He said it isn't that uncommon.

We do have a boy name picked out. We don't for a girl. I have mentioned many names that I would love to use, but he said he won't agree on anything until we know what it is. Party pooper. The boys name we have had chosen since I got pregnant with Sierra. It is a name we love.

Sunday night, AJ asked if we were still going to use that name. I said yes. Then Brice says that he thought of another middle name to go with the first name. Both middle names flow with the first name. Now we are torn.

I made the sono appointment on a Friday on purpose. I want Brice to take off and go with me. I do not want to go by myself. I think he should be there. I don't know what he is going to do. I just hope he takes off. That is me being selfish again. (I think I need to stop that).

I have 20 days until Mr. AJ turns 6!

Man, this turned out longer than I had planned. Oh well, I am off to pay the bills.

A little scare....

2008-02-25T13:04:00.003-07:00

This weekend was a scary one. Saturday morning I was getting ready so we could go run some errands. I was doing my make-up and watching Sierra in the bathtub. I just didn't feel "right" all of a sudden. I wasn't nauseous. It was a new feeling I haven't had before. Come to find out I had started bleeding. Just a little bit. Brice and I had been talking about where we needed to go before all of this happened. So I opened the bathroom door and looked at him and said " I think we will be making an extra stop. Preferably first." He said Ok and asked where. I said the hospital.

All of a sudden his face went white and asked why. I said I just started to bleed but I will call the doctor to see what he says. I call and get the number for the answering service. I leave a message with the nurse who says he will call back soon. Meanwhile, I finish getting ready and get Sierra ready. We head out and after the longest 30 minutes, the dr calls. He asks many questions about cramping or pain. I said I had none. He then asks (sorry, TMI) if I had had intercourse in the last 3-4 days. I reply yes (told ya). He then said if I weren't cramping then there is the cause. WHEW. I was freaking out for a bit. He told me to stay at home and stay off of my feet all day and if the bleeding got worse or I started to cramp, then I should head on into the ER.

Did I do what he said? Not really. We still did our errands and had a quick lunch. Only because I kept going to the bathroom to check. I was very paranoid. But after we got home, I did do what he said. This is my 3rd pregnancy and it has never happened so of course I was paranoid.

The bleeding never got worse (and eventually quit) and I never had any cramping. Although I think the stress of worrying about it wore me out. By 6 that night, I was sick to my stomach and very tired. I was in bed asleep by 9. Which I hated to do because Brice had to put Sierra to bed by himself.

Sunday morning I wake up and feel fine. Brice on the other hand, was not happy that I went to church. He thought I should stay home with my feet up. I did rest for a while in the afternoon though.

So today I feel good, except sleepy.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T06:31:00.004-07:00

I am not big on this holiday but I thought I would wish you a good one anyway. ;)

Tuesday I had my check up with my OB. Everything is good except I am worried about my swelling. I haven't been able to wear my rings in nearly two weeks. He checked my ankles and said it really isn't bad. He showed me what to do when they do swell, and if they stay indented, then I need to come in and get checked. He also put me on a low salt diet. BOO. That is one thing that I have been craving the last week.

I asked him when we will be able to find out what sex the baby is. He said to schedule it with the receptionist. So March 7 we should know what we are having. I tell Brice it has to be a boy, only because we can't agree on a girl name. Well, I take that back. Sunday we were looking at the name book and I said one name and then he said a first name to go with it. It sounded good but don't know if we would actually use it. Guess we have to wait and see.

Last night as AJ was in the bath, I told Sierra to sit down so I could clip her toe and finger nails. Normally she lets me do it without fussing. That wasn't last night. She fought me. So I told her if she let me clip them, I would put some color on them. She said, "Ok Mom, put da codor on". I did her toes first. I showed her how to blow on them so they wouldn't smudge. She thought is was funny. Then her finger nails. I told her not to touch anything or they wouldn't look pretty anymore. So for the next HOUR she would not touch anything with her finger tips. When she would climb on my bed, she would use her palms with her fingers in the air. It was so cute and funny. I told her she had pretty fingers. So now, she tells me all the time that she has "peddy finners mama." Love it.

The first thing AJ did this morning after I got him out of bed was give me a hug and tell me Happy V-Day. He even gave me one of his cards he got for his class.

This morning around 3, Mother Nature decides to scare this home-alone-with-her-two kids mom. I was "soundly" sleeping until I heard this bang on the front door. Of course I automatically think someone is trying to get in. I wake up some more and then realized it was the wind blowing the screen door. I lock it every night Brice is gone. After I realized it was just the wind, I couldn't go back to sleep for 2 hours. So I ended up watching tv. Nothing good on that early in the morning. So of course when my alarm goes off at 6:20, I turn it off and say to myself that I will just sleep 10 more minutes. At 6:55 I wake up and realize this day was off to a bad start. I normally wake AJ up at 7 but I get up earlier so I can eat breakfast so I don't get sick. (Still have the morning sickness). Well that didn't happen so now I have a headache and am ready for a nap. It is only 8 in the morning.

Sierra's Birthday

2008-02-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday February the 3rd, was Sierra's 2nd birthday. We had her party on Saturday because of the Super Bowl. I wasn't the one with the camera, so there are more blurry ones, than clear ones.

Here is the car that Brice and I got her. She loves it.

Here is her cookie cake.

She received a Barbie make-up playset that came with a hair dryer.

Check out the video to see how she uses the blow dryer.

Ho Hum............

2008-01-31T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday. Neemers and I took Sierra to gether two year pictures made. She did so good! I was afraid she would walk in the room and start crying, like she did last time. But she surprised us both and did so good. She looked so grown up. Then we went to lunch at Fazolis. Gotta love the Fazolis. Yumm.

I really didn't do much for my birthday. Brice is gone, working in Clovis. So I spent the day with my kids. All in all it wasn't a bad day. I was exhausted come bed time, but then again I always am.

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I have NO energy anymore. If I work/clean too much, I start to have cramps in my lower abdomen. So I try not to overdo it. It literally takes me a week to clean the house, when before I got pregnant it would take one day. Oh well, at least it gets done.

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Sunday is Sierra's second birthday. Can't believe she is already 2! Time goes by so fast. Saturday we are having a cookie cake for her. It is going to say Happy Birthday Princess Sierra. And yes, she is our little princess.

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I am finally into my second trimester. I thought the first would never end. I was nauseous 24 hours a day. I still have days when I do feel so good, but those are minimal. I am starting to look pregnant and not fat. I have actually lost 6 pounds since November. And I could tell just by looking at my hips. They aren't as wide as they were. I have no problem with that. ;)

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Since I was sick the last month or so, I have only turned on my camera TWICE. I have not felt good enough to take pictures. So I am hoping that I can have more chances to. Besides I know there is one person who reads this that wants pictures everyday. You know who you are! ;) I promise I will try. I will quit making excuses.

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Anyway, now I guess I will go do some laundry. Happy Thursday.

Introducing.........

2008-01-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

Baby Hunt due August 10. If you can't tell, the head is on the left, the spine is at the top and the legs are hanging down.