Boyscout Outing

On Tuesday Trevor had a Go See It with Cubscouts. This is where the boys go do community service and learn about there community. I decided to take Trevor since my mother is in town. This Go See It was a trip to the local nursing home and the boys were going to speak with the elderly patients about how they celebrated the holidays. Each child spoke out loud about how their family celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then it was the elderly peoples turn to tell the children their traditions. It was neat for the children to hear because most of the people grew up during a time of War and the Great Depression. Times were very different. Extremely different than today. They spoke of how for them as children if their mothers made them something for Christmas it was special. At the end of the time there the boys went around and introduced themselves to each person and chatted. Trevor and I met a nice women who was 99 years old and turning 100 on June 3rd. Her name was Ruth and she was from Ohio. Ruth was widowed and had no children or brothers and sisters. She was the kindest person. Sitting beside Ruth was another Ruth and we called her Ruth #2. She found this quiet funny. We had a nice conversation with both of these women. I could see that they were blessed and it had made their day that the Cubscouts came to visit.

As we were driving home Trevor told me that it made him sad to go there and speak to the 2 elderly women. I asked him why and he explained that he felt bad that the women didnt have any family and were probably alone on holidays. He then asked me if he would have to be alone in a nursing home when he is older or if I would be able to take care of him. I explained that mommy and daddy will not be around when he is that old, but hopefully he would have a wife and his own family to take care of him one day. This Go See It was an eye opener, but also made me think about all the people that are forgotten every year. We all get so wrapped up in our own lives during the holidays and any day for that matter. We tend to forget about those less fortunant or alone in the nursing homes.

Happy 1st Birthday to YOU!!!!

WOW! Time really does fly when you are having fun. To think that a year ago at 11:58am after 9 hours of super easy labor, the doctor placed a slimy 6lb 7oz wonder on my belly. How was I to know that there was so much spunk in that little body. Well I guess that I should of known from 9 months of a hellish pregnancy and several trips to labor and delivery with contractions. Even in the womb we called Emelyn a little devil. ;)
So here we are a year later getting ready to decorate your first birthday cake and hang streamers all to celebrate your first year of life. A year that has been filled with so many firsts and excitement. When Steve and I decided to have another baby we planned and finally decided on when we would start trying. With past fertility trouble we thought for sure it would take some time to conceive. Boy were we wrong. Emelyn was conceived in 15 short days and when the next month rolled around and I was shocked that I had skipped my monthly cycle I sat dumb founded looking at 3 positive pregnancy tests. As all people know, I am quiet a planner. So the fact that I got pregnant 3 months before I thought I would was a huge surprise. After the shock wore off, I was ecstatic! We were having a baby. Little did I know that our lives were never going to be the same. Nor did I know that we could have a much more exciting life than we already lived. Another surprise was that my heart could hold enough love for 2 little people equally. That was something I worried about and kept me from wanting another baby for 5 long years. I will never forget though seeing Trevor hold Emelyn when we brought her home from the hospital and feeling my heart fill with love for the both of them. I was also surprised when I saw Steve with Emelyn. He was already a great father, but with another child he was extraordinary. So with all these surprises Emelyn has brought great joy to our lives. So Happy Birthday Emelyn. Today you will be celebrated and given all kinds of gifts. Those gifts will never compare to the gift you have given to our family. You will always be my own little personal ray of sunshine. I love you, Eme Shimmee Doodlebug!

Scrapcation

Scrapcation- The definition of scrapcation is simple. It is a 3 day hiatus for women to come together, scrapbook, listen to music, bond talk and relax. See momcation for more details.

HA! HA! I look forward to getting together every year with my good friends for some scrapbooking. This isnt just any get together. It is 3 whole days to get caught up on all the scrapbooking I am behind on. And believe me.....3 days isnt even barely enough. My friend April opens up her home and heart to about 8 ladies. We all stay the night, bring our favorite dessert and dish for a fancy meal on Friday night. We also have fun in a secret santa and white elephant gift exchange. I have been planning for this event for close to 3 months. I even told Steve and Mary so I would have sitters. The last 2 retreats I have not been able to go and stay the whole time. The first year my sitter didnt pan out and last year, well last year I was 4days away from popping out little Emelyn and was having some real uncomfortable pains down in the nether regions. So I went for as long as I could stand which was a couple hours. So this year come hell or high water I am going. Steve has switched his days around so he will be home with the kids Thursday and Friday...bahahahaha and Mary was kind enough to pitch in on Saturday. With as frazzled as I have been the last couple of months, I think everyone knows that it is either a scrapcation or a mental hospital. Sad, but true. Try being a prefectionist with anxiety issues and having a baby and some other aggrivating issues come along. You may fall apart slightly too. Needless to say I need this and am So SUPER DUPER excited!!!!

To top it off. I got to thinking and I have not had a Momcation-(defintion is time away from your children to just recoup alone. No hubby, no pets, no stress) and it has been close to 6 years. Now when I say time alone, it doesnt mean to party with my friends or go out and act stupid. In fact the last time that I did go away it was with April to the beach and we went to a scrapbooking reteat. Oh wait.....I have to take that back. Four years ago I went to Dallas to a BeautiControl Convention. But I came home completely wipped out and tired.

I like to think that I am a fabulous mother. I take care of our home even if I do get behind on laundry. Other than that though I try hard to give 110% to my husband and children. Dont I deserve this time to refuel, recharge and come back refreshed? I think so. I am happy that Steve agrees and is supporting me in my decision to take a scrapcation. So tootles for now.........dont be jealous you dont get a scrapcation too. ;)

Rock-a- Bye Baby

The best part of my day has got to be rocking Emelyn to sleep at night. This week is a little different cause I am weaning her off her night time bottle and she will be completely weaned. So she drinks out of her sippie cup and I caress her hair while she stares up at me with her innocent blue sometimes brown eyes. I have to say that it is pure bliss. Her room is only lite by her lamp and I turn on soft music for her to go to sleep to. Sometimes I even fall asleep myself. Not very often. I try to just get her relaxed and not completely asleep because I feel it is better to lay her down awake so she can learn to soothe herself. When she was around 6 months old she would reach up and touch my face while I fed her. But just as quick as she started to do that, she stopped. Times like these I treasure. After having Trevor I see how quick it goes by. One day you could be rocking your baby to sleep and the next they are jumping out of your car for their first day of kindergarten. It all goes by so fast. So the tiny moments that I can get with Eme just the two of us, I really try to just soak in cause one day my baby wont be a little baby anymore. :(

Happy 7th Birthday Trevor!!!!

We decided this year to have a small at home birthday party for Trevor's 7th birthday. I did ask him what he would like and was even willing to do the park like we did last year and invite all his friends. But he still wanted a small family party at home. I was relieved. We have had some pretty elaborate and costly parties and this year I really wanted to keep it low key. Especially after last years party when he told me it was the best party ever and it was hardly no work at all other than sending out invites and picking up drinks and the cake to haul to the park. Remember I was 8 months pregnant and had been ordered by my dr to not go to the party due to my high blood pressure. Sorry doc, but there wasnt any way in hell I would miss my little boys birthday.

Trevor did have one request. He wanted me to make the cake myself and he wanted it to be a dog theme. I did a lot of research for a dog cake and 2 weeks before the party I still was coming up empty handed. I did find a cute idea from ebay and just had to order pieces for the dogs limbs. I had not made a cake in close to 4 years so I was a little freaked out. I also had never made a cake that I had to pretty much design on my own. It ended up only taking 2 hours plus baking time. Trevor loved it.

We just had the family over and one of his best buds. I did set up a craft table with dog ceramics and dog puppets to make. The kids liked this and then it was present time. He didnt get a bunch of junk.....thank God. We cant fit much more in the kids room! Eme picked him out a Wheres Waldo Book and Science Experiment book, Steve and I got him a model car and A Smithsonian Science Kit, Grandma and Papa gave him a tent and some Magic Treehouse set of books, and his cousins gave him some Tech Decks. The next day we went to Monkey Joes and bounced ourselves to death for about 4 hours. So all and all I feel like it went well. It is hard for me to tone down the parties cause I love to go all out, but this was still nice. Best part of all is that T loved it!

Feels Like Home

Every year at this time there is always a question that my mother inlaw asks. It is kinda like clock work. Once Thanksgiving rolls around and we are deciding on where to have the meal she asks me if we want to do it here at our house. And every year I say, no lets just do it at your house. She often questions me and assures me that she doesnt mind doing it at my house. And most "normal" daughter in laws would be thrilled that their mother inlaw is so kind. Of course I am. Please dont take this blog out of context. I know that she doesnt want me to feel that we have to have it at her house, but I always want it there.
For me personally, my inlaws home feels like home to me. Its no secret that we have moved many times since Steve and I have been married. Once we settle into a home something always seems to get in the way of us staying there for some reason or another. We moved to St Cloud with Steve's father in a fairly large home that we could not afford the house payment on without him living in the inlaw quarters behind the house. Unfortuantly Steve's father passes away 4 months after we purchase the house. We stayed there, but struggled to make the payment.Then we move back to Kissimmee and Hurricane Charley does quiet a bit of damage on the house. We are displaced from the home for 3 months while the remodeling is done and move back in. A couple months later our car is stolen right from our front yard which in turn makes me feel unsafe so we find my dream home in St Cloud. Once again crap happens and the housing market drops and we have to close our Home Inspection business which left us unable to make that hefty house payment. We are left with no choice but to let the house foreclose. This was one of the hardest choices we have ever had to make. I tend to get attached to homes and vehicles and I like normalcy. I like to know where I will be in 10 years. Which leads us to here where we have been for 2 years and I plan to stay till we can build up our credit.
So for me, I would rather have Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and other family dinners at my inlaws house where I feel comfortable. The house that has been the one constant thing in my life in the last 10 years other than Steve of course! It may sound weird, but thats where all of our memories have been made. And one day when we are looking thru family photos it will be real confusing name all the different houses we were doing what at in the pics. Trust me.....we already have trouble with it!

Sleepwalker

We often find Trevor in some odd places after a night of sleepwalking(bathroom floor, livingroom floor, couch, middle of our bedroom floor.....), but I must say that this one takes the cake.
I was awakened this morning at 1am to a shining bedroom light in my face. As I woke up, I thought to myself, it cant be time to wake up already! I looked at the alarm clock and it said 1am so I sat up to go turn the light off figuring that Trevor must of come in and went to the bathroom and turned on our light. I am still not sure why he does this because our room is farther away and his bathroom is in the hall right by his room, but whatever. So as I sit up I see an arm hanging out from the covers at the end of the bed. I was like "what is that?". Remember I am half awake. I do know who's arm it was, but it was odd to just see an arm and no other body parts! So I pulled the covers off to see my sons torso and from the waist down he was hanging off the bed. His feet were not even touching the floor! I chuckled a little sleepy chuckle and woke up Steve. He said "You should take a picture" and me in my sleepy stupor said "Really?". I didnt get up to get a picture, but I should have. Steve took him back to his bed. As he was carrying Trevor there he said that Trevor looked up and said "hi" and gave him a goofy smile. As he was laying him down Steve said "Go back to bed." and he did. So this sleepwalking incident is right up there with asleep in the bathroom floor. Silly kid!

Beautiful Children

"There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it."
Have you ever heard this old chinese proverb? I look at my two babies everyday and feel such pride to call them both mine. I cant believe that Steve and I have made such beautiful children. I get stopped in Walmart while grocery shopping at least 5 times during an hour for someone to talk to Eme and tell me how beautiful she is. I just say thankyou and continue on. If I stopped to say thankyou to everyone that cooed or smiled at her, well we would be there all day. She went to a complete stranger the other day in the hair salon, then when the lady handed her back Eme wrinkled her nose and laughed at her. All the hair dressers laughed then as well. Even Trevor was a beautiful baby. I dont remember if I was stopped as much with him. He wasnt as outgoing as Eme is. When we were trick or treating at Downtown Disney so many people commented on her Raggedy Ann costume and her cute little freckles I gave her. I have to say, she was SOOOO adorable. You couldnt see Trevor's face under his teen wolf costume, but people were amazed with his costume too.


Now with Trevor I am constantly told that he is an old soul. His prek, kindergarten and first grade teacher have told us this and even a couple of friends. He is not your typical six year old. I have noticed that he can hold a conversation with most adults if they talk to him. To me that is impressive. And smart. WOW! He can blow you away with his reading skills. Probably the best thing about Trevor in my eyes is his loving spirit. He is such a mommas boy. I dont know how long this will last, but I am going to hold onto it as long as he will let me. He is also a great big brother. He gets on the floor with Eme and loves on her and makes her laugh.
So I dont know if that old Chinese Proverb is true, but I can tell you that there at least 2 beautiful children in our family and we are so thankful for them.

Busy November

Do you ever have months that you feel everything seems to happen at once? November is that month for our family. We just get done with Halloween and not a week later it is Trevor's birthday. This year we are having a small family birthday and he is going to have his best bud spend the night. That was fine by me. His only request was that I make his cake. I am excited about that since I havent made a cake in 4 years. And this one will be different for me.

The following week is my Scrappy Chicks weekend scrapbook retreat which is always a lot of fun and this year I wont be pregnant or not have a sitter. This is the third annual get together and my friend April hosts it at her house. We have secret santas and have a big Christmas dinner together. I look forward to this every year.

Then on the 18th my mom arrives for her 2 week vacation with us. Her and my Dad decided to come for Eme's first birthday. My Dad will be here on the 20th and can only stay the weekend, but we are just happy he is able to come at all.

On the 21st Emelyn will celebrate her first birthday which I cant believe is already here and it makes me really sad. Where does time go? It seems like I just had her. Her party will also be small with family and close friends that have been around for her first year. I will also be making her cake. It will be a 3d stand up bear cake. She is going to LOVE it!

We then end the month with Thanksgiving. By the time the month is over I have only blinked, but feel completely wipped out and am pretty much broke. Christmas is right around the corner and I have to find a money tree to get stuff for the kids. Why couldnt everything be more spread out? I guess I should be thankful my life is busy. :)

What month is this????

Who swims in November? Oh wait, people in Florida. Because on November 1st it is 90 degrees outside. Yep my family right now is down at the community pool swimming. This is absolutely ridiculous. I have never picked out a pumpkin and sweated at the same time. That was definitely a first! I am honestly ready for the weather to change. Of all the things I miss back home other than my family, I would have to say seasons are at the top of that list. So right now I am searching Indian cold weather dances. Come On Cold Fronts!!!!!!