Playing Catch Up...an update

Hello there my lovelies, since I've been super busy I've not had a lot of time online lately.  So I wanted to take this opportunity to post an update on how things are going!

I'm now working, and have been for about 3 weeks or so and so far I really like it.  More than that, I enjoy most of my coworkers and making polite (adult) conversation with customers.

Some Eat Fresh...Thanks, Google!

I'm a sub technician at Eat Fresh Inc.  (that's my fancy-schmancy way of telling you all that I make subwiches at Subway...snazzy, yes?)  I work over 40 hours a week, so I don't have a lot of extra time on the computer.  I miss blogging.  Due to my last week having me log 46 hours at the job, I've had to take a break from Mommy Style for a bit, but look for a special edition of Mommy Style that will go live on Wednesday which I'm calling Mommy Style; The Busy Moms Guide to Style.  This special edition on Mommy Style will run for 3 days, and will be a basic style guide for Mamas!  Which means it's no nonsense and straight to the point, because as Mommies we don't have a lot of time for beating around the bush.

Aiden & Jagger lovin' on each other on the first day of Pre-K!

Aiden has started Pre-K at the local Elementary School here!  Which makes me too sad (and too excited) for words because this is his first official year in the school system.  He loves it, we pack his lunch and I walk him to school in the mornings since it's just a short walk from our house.  He's doing rather well, and has finally adjusted to the change and has gotten into the groove of things.  I however am having a harder time with the adjustment, as I'm not home most evenings to make dinner or bath my baby loves. 

Aiden's First Day of Pre-K!

Jagger is...well, he's Jagger.  Obsessed with cars and trucks, still a little chunky monkey and he's growing up way too fast right before our eyes.  He's learning new words all the time, and he's into all things relating to his older brother, which is causing some brotherly issues between them because big brother doesn't want baby brother following him around and toy jacking him all the time.  Oh the joys of having two little boys, luckily the (literal) joys of having and getting to see the bond between brothers form and grow makes it all work it...most of the time.  Jagger does this cute thing lately which we have named the 'Jagger Smile' because it's this adorable little grin, but there are two versions of it, version 1 - eyes open and version 2 - eyes closed and silly.

The Jagger Smile Version 1

The Jagger Smile Version 2

Other than that I've just been trying to get in some quality time with my Baby Loves and my Husband.  I answer blog related emails at night when I get home from work, which is usually anywhere from 10:30 to 11:00 and then I have enough time to get some non sub related food to eat, watch an episode of Big Brother from Season 11 (Go Team Jordan & Big Jeff!!), shower and talk to my Husband for a bit before I pass out in my big comfy bed.

What have ya'll been up to?  If your kids are in school this year how are you adjusting to the schedule change and if this is your first year as the Mama of a preschool or school aged child how are you adjusting to that?  I'm having some troubles with it myself, as I mentioned before.  Help a Mama out, advice...anyone?

To my Dearest Justin, regarding the day of my birth

Dear Justin,

Don't worry, this isn't an angry letter.  I'm not going to verbally decapitate you in public or anything.  It's a nice letter, one that you'll appreciate my having written in a week or so, trust me!  Since it's almost my birthday, I thought it might be a nice idea to write you a 'What does Ashlee want for her 25th Birthday reference guide!'  I know, I know....I'm so sweet!  You don't have to tell me, really, I'm just trying to help you babe.  As you know, I take an entire week for my birthday, oh by the way I just found out that my big sisters daughter takes the whole month/week too, weird huh?  Anyway, since I like to celebrate for the entire month of my birth but really tend to just focus on the week of that all important day, I want you to know that I don't expect a small gift each day of the week and a big gift on my birthday.  Really, it's not necessary!

What you can do for me is get me just a bunch of small stuff to be given to me on the actual day of my birth.  How is this different from giving me a small gift each day and a big gift on my birthday?  It just is, trust me...it is!  I don't want to be an inconvenience, so I thought it would be better for you to just give them to me all at once.  This is an important birthday you know.  I'm half way through my twenties as of 3rd September.  That's a big deal to me, so the pressure is on for you to deliver this year.  Yep, that's right, I'm turning up the heat on you...or something like that.  So, have you thought about what to get me yet?

First Birthday Gift Ideas

I'm a list maker, a compulsive one at that.  I make lists for everything, sometimes I make lists for things two or three different times.  Only because I have a 3 year old son who loves the way paper feels in his hands when he's crumpling it into a ball and tearing it into shreds.  Since I have around 10 different word documents full of things I want, might want and need for my youngest sons first birthday party, in October, I've decided to post about the things I want to get him for his birthday, as in gifts.  I have around eleventy million word documents, and I don't need anymore.  Plus I thought it might be nice to get some feedback on my gift ideas for his first birthday presents. 

So here are the things I want to get for him.  Feel free to tell me if you have it for one of your children and how they like it or anything else.

These Large ABC wooden blocks are from Growing Tree Toys.  I had a similar set for Aiden as a gift for his 1st Birthday, and he adored them for a long while.  So I want to get a set for Jagger as well.  Hopefully he'll like them as much as his brother liked his!  I've decided on this set because they come in a wooden box with a slide on lid for storage, which is a huge plus in my book!


This Wheely Bee Ride on Toy, which I also found at Growing Tree Toys, since I was already there after my block search.  I've been looking at these for such a long time, and I think they're just adorable.  I'm really fond of the Lady Bug one, but I think that one is more suited to a girl.  I am stuck picking between this one, the cow and the mouse.  Help!  I'm indecisive!  I don't know anyone who has one, so if you've got one let me know how your son or daughter likes it, and if it's a good buy for a first birthday or not in your opinion.


The Bounce and Spin Pony, which I found at Wal-Mart!  I love these things.  Aiden got the Zebra, which is just too cute for words and he just adored, for his First Birthday.  So since we already have the Zebra, I want to get Jagger the Pony, plus it's interactive and I think that is so freaking cool!  It just seems like the cutest little thing, and I think Jagger should like it, as much as he likes to bounce right now anyway.


I'm also looking into getting him some of the Veggie Tales DVD's and that kind of stuff.  Now, I've not see any of the Veggie Tales DVD's, but they do come highly recommended so I am very hopeful that they will live up to what I have heard and read about them.  I'm quite hopeful that they will be very good, attention keeping movies for my soon to be one year old little man to watch.  I'm also thinking of getting some other DVD's for him, as well as some new books.

Aside from these I'm looking for some bath toys that I can get him, and some other small things too.  I'm probably going to be getting him that cute little Fischer Price mailbox, and I might get him a Kitchen too.  Aiden loves play kitchens, hell Aiden loves real kitchens.  When we're at WIC he uses their play kitchen to make us the weirdest food combinations.  So I might split that gift between Aiden and Jagger since their birthdays are close together.  If I do get a play kitchen I will be using one of my favorite online shops, Melissa & Doug, to get them some awesome wooden food sets that I've had my eye on for a while now, especially the Pizza Party set, the Cutting Food set and the Sandwich Making set!  They're amazing, you should check them out if you have a play kitchen for your kids!

What did you buy your kids for their first birthdays?  Any suggestions for me, like toys your kids just loved and played with over and over?

Life is a rollercoaster on a battlefield...

If pop culture has taught me anything it has taught me that love is like a roller coaster, baby and that love is a battlefield.  I used to believe that, at least at certain points in my life I did anyway.  You know, when it fit the description of something I was going through anyway.  I'm not so sure anymore though.

I think they've been lying to us.  Or at least to me anyway, I don't know about ya'll.  I've developed a theory that the people who wrote these songs had some kind of odd, undocumented speech impediment that makes it sound like when you sing the word life it comes out as love.  Then they sang the song to someone, in the hopes that they would want to record it and make them loads of money, the singers misunderstood what they were saying and replaced the word life with the word love.  That's my theory, so whaddya think?

Why do I so fervently believe this?  I'm glad you asked, and even if you're among the people who didn't ask I'm still going to tell you.  Because life is like a rollercoaster and it sometimes can be a battlefield.  Remember when my husband lost his job awhile back?  He went and he fought for that job and he won.  That's when the rollercoaster went back up the hill, and we peaked at the top, triumphant!  We sat there for a while, drunk on glory..well not glory, but happiness and contentment that my husband was working a good job that he moderatly enjoyed with people that didn't annoy him to no end for the most part.

I must have fallen asleep while we were idling at that high point of him getting to go back to work though.  Because I never felt the engine pick back up and the sudden drop down.  We learned yesterday that my husband was getting laid off.  Until next summer!  My husband had no indication that this was going to happen at this point.  He knew it was a possibility that it may happen at the end of August, but not July.  He was going to start putting in other applications next week to start looking for another job, because of the uncertainty of his then current job.  Now we're both going to end up putting in applications next Monday, not because of the uncertainty though, but because they abruptly and with no notice or warning laid some people off.

Aiden is about to start full day pre-school in September.  We've been slowly buying his new clothes for school and for Fall and Winter.  Apparently we should have been buying them quicker, instead of just picking up a few things here and a shirt or two there.  Because now we have to try to finish by September on a much much tighter budget.  That is IF unemployment doesn't make him wait 6 weeks before we start to draw any money from them.  I know they do that if you quit or get fired, but what if you get laid off?

We've also been getting Jagger a few things here and there, when we could, the same as Aiden because of him growing and most of his clothing being destroyed in the leak/black mold incident.  So I'm going to try asking around to see if any of my friends know of anyone who has a little boy and see if I can maybe get them to sell me a bag of clothes for Jagger for yard sale or thrift store prices or something.  I hope that I can find someone, or figure out something else.  I'd appreciate it if any of you who pray would pray for my family at this time.  I'm hoping one of us can find work in this extremely tiny town.

What would you all do if you were in this situation and you had to get your 3.5 year old some decent school clothes and your 9 month old some clothes as well?  Any helpful ideas or suggestions for me and my family? 

Attachment Parenting Part One

I've gotten several e-mails asking me what Attachment Parenting is.  I love getting e-mail questions, feedback, just a hi or really just anything about or related to this blog from anyone who even just stumbled upon it for a second.  Since I get a lot of e-mail asking me about this particular topic though I thought it might be a good idea to write a blog post about AP.

Attachment Parenting is my parenting style of choice.  I've been practicing AP with my babes for years, and I really do enjoy it, my kids seem to really enjoy it and it seems to have served my kids well thus far.  I really don't have a negative thing to say about it.

I'm not sure who "invented" attachment parenting, it's probably been around since the beginning of time, honestly.  I have two huge sources of information that I use for getting any information about AP that I may need.  The first is Dr. Sears, which is where I actually first read about AP at.  The second is Attachment Parenting International.

Since I'm quite often asked, I will explain the principals of AP.  I'll be using the 7 Baby B's as Dr. Sears calls them.

1. Birth Bonding.  This is the way that Mommy and Baby bond in the days and weeks after birth.  The idea is to being the attachment after birth with attachment-promoting behavior from the mother, which I personally believe comes naturally to all mothers after birth.  If you've ever given birth then you know what I'm talking about.  That pull you feel bringing you toward your newborn baby that is stronger than gravity, that feeling.  It's really a continuation of what we, as mothers, experience during pregnancy.  Birth just gives it a new reality, it feels a lot more real now and you want to be connected to your baby in a different way than while pregnant, and the baby to you.  "Sometimes medical complications keep you and your baby apart for a while, but then catch-up bonding is what happens, starting as soon as possible. When the concept of bonding was first delivered onto the parenting scene twenty years ago, some people got it out of balance. The concept of human bonding being an absolute "critical period" or a "now-or-never" relationship was never intended. Birth bonding is not like instant glue that cements the mother-child relationship together forever. Bonding is a series of steps in your lifelong growing together with your child. Immediate bonding simply gives the parent- infant relationship a headstart."
2. Breast Feeding.  Now this is something that I wouldn't know that much about personally.  I BF'ed both of my boys for as long as possible but with both I had issues with my milk supply, as I wasn't making enough either time despite my attempts to breast feed without supplementing. I am happy that I was able to experience BF'ing my babies for the short periods of time I was able to though.  So I'll quote Dr. Sears here!  "Breastfeeding is an exercise in babyreading. Breastfeeding helps you read your baby's cues, her body language, which is the first step in getting to know your baby. Breastfeeding gives baby and mother a smart start in life. Breastmilk contains unique brain-building nutrients that cannot be manufactured or bought. Breastfeeding promotes the right chemistry between mother and baby by stimulating your body to produce prolactin and oxytocin, hormones that give your mothering a boost." So I am the proof that you can AP without BF'ing exclusively for the first year or year and a half of babies life!
3. Baby Wearing.  This is one of my favorite parts of AP, because I find it not only practical for me but also soothing for my babies as well and improves the sensitivity of the parents also.  I'm aware that some people take baby wearing too far, let's face it people wearing a 8 year old is just plain weird.  Seriously.  Being close to baby promotes familiarity, which let's you get to know baby a little better.  All mothers know that baby is quieter when being held, the same goes for a baby who is carried in this manner as well.  Since baby spends more time being carried (while wearing them) then that means baby spends more time in "quite alertness" which is " the behavior state in which babies learn most about their environment."
4. Bedding Close to Baby.  "Wherever all family members get the best night's sleep is the right arrangement for your individual family. Co-sleeping adds a nighttime touch that helps busy daytime parents reconnect with their infant at night. Since nighttime is scary time for little people, sleeping within close touching and nursing distance minimizes nighttime separation anxiety and helps baby learn that sleep is a pleasant state to enter and a fearless state to remain in."
5. Belief in the Language Value of you Babies Cry.  Responding to the cries of your baby teaches your baby that you are sensitive to their needs and that you will be there to fulfill their needs.  "View your baby's cries as a communication rather than a manipulation tool. Think of your baby's cries as a signal to be listened to and interpreted rather than click into a fear of spoiling or fear of being controlled mindset."  Babies do not cry to manipulate you or just because, they cry because they have a need that should be met.  Whether they are hungry, wet, over stimulated, under stimulated or bored, the tag on their shirt is itching them, gas pain etc.
6. Beware of Baby Trainers.  "Attachment parenting teaches you how to be discerning of advice, especially those rigid and extreme parenting styles that teach you to watch
7. Balance.  "In your zeal to give so much to your baby, it's easy to neglect the needs of yourself and your marriage. As you will learn the key to putting balance in your parenting is being appropriately responsive to your baby – knowing when to say "yes" and when to say "no," and having the wisdom to say "yes" to yourself when you need help." This is the one that I see people forgetting about a lot.  AP doesn't mean that you just constantly give your baby or child what they want, it doesn't mean that the baby or child rules the home and dictates what is done in your home.  What it means is that you parent based on your child's needs, not their every whim and want.  You respond appropriately to their needs and do what is best for that particular child, not what is trendy or what other parents are doing for their child.  Some things may be right or work well for little Johnny but that doesn't mean they'll be right or work well for my Jagger of your Ayden.  

You do not have to practice all of the Baby B's!  I didn't Breast Feed exclusively, because I couldn't.  AP is not just about what is stated above!


I've had a lot of people say that I'm raising my boys to be pussies.  I've had some people say that I'm letting them dictate to me how they will be parented.  While the first part is not only about as ignorant as it gets, especially if you know my Aiden who got in his very first knock-down-drag-out-whip-your-ass fight a few weeks before his third birthday because his cousin grabbed his baby brothers head and hurt him a bit and made him cry, but it is also narrow minded.  The latter part is true in a sense because I do let my boys dictate to me how they need to be parented.  I let them lead me in my parenting.

I don't expect the same thing that worked for my first child to work for my next all the time, because all children are different.  I believe that the most affective parenting style is the one that is tailor made and fitted to that particular child.  Aiden needed to co-sleep in our beds starting at 9 or 10 months, because he had night terrors and still has night mares, he was scared to death of the dark and needed mommy to comfort him several times a night because of his dreams.  Jagger at 9 months, while still sleeping right beside my bed in his pack-n-play, doesn't need that right now, so that's not what I do with him.



I'll be posting a part two to this post in a few days because I really want to be able to explain all of AP to anyone who wants to know, it's just far too much information to put into one post, so I'll put it into several.  The next posts won't be so long, because I'll only be covering one or two topics at a time since I've already got the Baby B's out of the way.

I do not judge anyone for their parenting decisions, as long as they are not abusing the child verbally, physically or mentally, and as long as the child is well taken care of and fed.  Aside from that I believe mothers should be allowed to parent their children in any way they choose.  I believe that as parents we all make the best decisions we can for our children, and that's fine by me! 

It's an honorable goal

It would be fair to say that I am a bit more than a bit domestic.  I like domestic activities.  Truly, I do.  I even occasionally do my vacuuming in heels.  Which just automatically makes me way more of a dork awesome than everyone else I know.  It dawned on me a few weeks ago that while I have this freakish obsession love of all things domestic, I can not cook very many things from scratch.  What I mean by that is I can only cook one thing from scratch.  So I've been attempting to learn to cook, all on my own with no outside help.  It's been going really well, actually.  Except...for the whole baking thing.  I remember that my Granny made basically every baked good that she and her oven ever produced from scratch.  I want to do that.  First though, I should probably learn to not burn the boxed supposedly "super easy" version of baked goods from scratch.  This part, well...this part of my challenge has been a bit harder for me.  I have been successful twice though!  Chyeah!  *high fives to everyone who reads this*  Yep, I'm that excited about it!

I produced some totally tasty yellow cupcakes that managed to make it out of my oven looking like *gasp* yellow cupcakes instead of weird deformed hybrid yellow cake on the top funky rock hard chocolate cake/brownie on the bottom.   That means I did not burn them!  Not in the least!  I was so proud of myself that I tried something I have never been able to master.  The stupid rolled dough cinnamon rolls from Pillsbury, the first time the bottom was a tad browner than the top.  My husband and my 3 year old ate them like they were starving and told me they were good, bless their hearts.  The second time though, I mastered the premade cinnamon roll!  Yay!

These are some of my cupcakes by the way!  I put food coloring in the icing for my son.  I even used my Granny's plates to sit them on.  (=

So now I think I'm ready to actually try to bake something from scratch.  It's probably not going to be pretty.  Okay, my first attempt will more likely not be edible or pretty more realistically.  I somehow have gotten this very rare "skill" of being able to read a recipe, do everything it says exactly and have it still turn out tasting like...WTF.  Yeah, don't ask me how I do it.  It's a gift!  I'm determined though.  I don't know what my first attempt will be though.  I'm thinking that maybe I should go with the easiest thing I can find and work my way up to the harder stuff, so I've still got some research (read: googling) to do on that.  I would try peanut butter cookies, because  I used to help my aunt make them when I was little, and as I recall that is probably about as easy as it gets, but unfortunately the hubby and most likely my oldest son are allergic to peanuts.  (I only say most likely because we haven't had a formal allergy test yet, I'm about 99% sure he is allergic, we're awaiting a referral to get his tests done)

So wish me luck in my quest to be able to bake at least one thing from scratch and have it taste at least moderately good and not burn it into a state where it is unrecognizable. I'm probably going to need all the luck I can get.  No really, I burnt corn on the cob once a few years ago.  I am completely serious about that too.  *sigh*

Thanksgiving Thursday!

Today I am participating in Thanksgiving Thursday with one of my favorite Bloggy Mama's -- Mama Hen of Mama's Little Chick!  I thought this fitting for my first real, not announcing the winners of the contests blog post since coming back.  Thanks Mama Hen, for this great idea you have come up with I am so psyched to participate!

I have been depressed for a while now, well ever since my Husband lost his job really, which I think happens to most of us at one time or another. (1.) So today I am thankful for my family, because my baby boys and my Husband pulled me out of that funk I was in and showed me what was really important -- the little things in life!  I now realize that you can't hide from problems and issues that life throws at us, and that if you dwell on them then it always seems so much worse than it is.  So in the future I will try very hard not to make that mistake and do those things again.   (2.) I am thankful for that realization as well.
(3.) I am thankful for me real friends.  The ones who didn't try to kick me when I was down, the ones who didn't make fun of my real life problems, the ones who were there for me through my issues with depression.  I am grateful for each and every one of them for understanding what I was going through with Justin losing his job, my Father and I going through a rough patch, the issues with having to figure out how to get the house fixed up and get the black mold taken care of, even though no one wants to touch the room because of the black mold.  I just want to take this time to thank each and every one of my friends for their understanding, love, support and advice because I appreciate and love them so much for being there for me when I was down.
(4.) I am thankful for my Husband getting his job back!  That has taken a lot of weight off our shoulders.  I feel so blessed that he was able to start working again and that he went to the counsel meeting to fight for his job.  That showed me how determined he is to take care of us and to work, and how much he loves us.  Someone who wasn't as determined wouldn't have went and would have just given up and felt defeated. 
(5.)I'm also thankful that I am no longer depressed!  I am so thankful that the weight of the depression has been lifted from my shoulders and that I feel like myself again.  That is a wonderful feeling, if you've never been through it then trust me it's an amazing feeling!  I am so grateful to return to some normalcy and to feel like Ashlee again, my only regret is that I lost a great friend through my depression and probably in part due to it because I was generally confused, hurt, angry and lost and the fact that I lost that friend for a petty reason has put a weight on my heart.  I don't think there is anything I can do about it now, but I have grown and learned from that experience as well, as much as it pains me to know that I was partly in the wrong through that situation.  I suppose that the best thing that could have came out of that situation is that I learned a lesson and have grown as a person from it, and that's all we can hope for from any of our mistakes that we make in life.  Even though we don't know how to right things sometimes, as long as we grow and learn from them then they weren't for nothing, right?  I have learned to not make decisions in the heat of hurt and anger, especially when I'm already not myself because of the feelings that depression brings.  I've learned that you always need to at the very least take the time to speak to someone about how you're feeling before you make a decision that will affect both of you as well as mutual friends..  I would like to say I am sorry to T, you were one of the best friends I ever had, and I've always loved you dearly.  It bothers me every day that we are no longer friends, and it hurts me to know that it is partly my fault. *sigh*  Anyway, I'm not going to speak on this anymore right now, because it's making me feel bad and honestly, as much as I hate to talk about things like this, it really hurts me to talk about it now.

Just an update!

I've been a bit neglectful of my blog recently.  I don't intend to be, but I've been really sick and then everything else just seems like it has went to hell as well.  I am getting better now, finally! 

On Thursday we found out that there was a leak in the play room here.  The floor is now rotten and has to be replaced.  Which of course means that we have to put down new carpet or flooring as well.  Great!  My husband was preparing to take the carpet up and inspect the damage when we pulled up the corner of the carpet and discovered that there is black mold under there.  My husband is allergic to mold and has asthma.  So we have to hire someone else to deal with that. 

Hiring someone to take care of the mold and the new floor normally wouldn't be a problem, but on Friday when he went in to work he got his paycheck and there was a letter in it saying that they were terminating his employment.  So yeah, he got fired.  Which puts us in a horrid situation because we need all this work done.  There is also another problem.  Since having Jagger last October the Playroom has been used as storage for the massive amount of baby clothes and things we have for him. All of his clothes have ruined.  Completely ruined.  So now after he grows out of his current size he has absolutely no clothing and we have to buy new.  Which wouldn't normally be a problem either.  Except that my husband has lost his job and we live in a very small southern town, and it's hard to find work here.  Jagger is already starting to need some size 6-9 months things, so it probably won't be much longer until he outgrows all of his 3-6 months clothing.  He's just started to catch up, since he was born early and was just a little over 5 pounds at birth. 

So now we have to find a way to basically renovate the play room, buy the materials, buy new carpeting or hardwood and buy Jagger all new clothing as well.  I've been down about this and have taken a few days to just soak it all up and take it in.  I haven't figured out how we're going to be able to do all of this yet though.  I don't work so we were dependent on the income that Justin gets totally.  Now that it has been taken away without warning I have no clue what we are going to do.  He already has applications in everywhere because he went and applied all day Friday and all day Monday.  There are a few places that are thinking about hiring but no where that is currently hiring.  It's just been a trying time for us.  We're trying to stay positive, but it's really hard sometimes with the weight of all of this on our shoulders.  We have each other, our health and our beautiful baby boys though, so that is definitely a good thing.  If you pray then please keep our family in your prayers if you don't mind!

I have several amazing giveaways coming up for you all!  Including an awesome flat iron, a onesie or outfit of your choice from an great online store and several other great prizes as well.  I will be announcing the Sweet Dream Candle winner tonight after my children go to bed.

Fawk You Friday

It's that time of the week again!  Fawk You Friday is here, once again, and I love it!  It's hands down my favorite blog carnival/meme/link-up/whatever you want to call it!

Fawk You to my immune system yet again, because I am still sick! 

Fawk You to my husbands job for not giving me medical insurance and Fawk You to the government for also not giving me medical insurance, which is why I'm still sick!  I blame them.  Normally I don't care about insurance for me, since I'm only sick once a year or so.  When I'm sick I'm just generally mad about it though!  The rest of the time I'm content that my babies and husband have insurance, since they have a lot more doctor appointments than I do.

Speaking of doctor appointments, Fawk You RA (rheumatoid arthritis) for attacking my husband, who is only 23 years old but feels like he's 40 something.  I hate when he hurts, it makes me feel bad, and he hurts all the time.  I wish there was something I could do for him, but there's not.  )=

Fawk You West Virginia Law, for making it mandatory for my 3 year old go to preschool for at least one year before he starts Kindergarten,  He doesn't want to go, and I don't want him to go, I'm not ready for him to go!  I work with him at home and he already knows most of what you want him to learn in preschool!  He can count, say his ABC's, recognize some of the letters in the alphabet when they're written, knows his full name and our full names, can sing songs, knows all of his colors and shapes.  If they just let me keep him I could teach him to read and write his name and some simple words I'm sure, but they won't let me keep him.  I have to send him off.  )=

Fawk You school cut off date.  My 3 year old will start Kindergarten when he is 5, and then turn 6 a little over 2 months in.  Which I find ridiculous, what difference is 2 months going to make.  He's ahead of most of the kids I know now anyway, I think he'll be fine to start at 4 and then turn 5 a little over 2 months later.  I started at 4, and  I did just fine, better than "just fine" really.  Boo!

Happy Seven Month Birthday, Jag!

So yesterday, May 23rd, my itty bitty baby love turned 7 months old. I really can not even fathom how he is 7 months old already. I can still vividly remember going into the hospital to have him - wearing a face mask while registering I might add...no one wants to catch swine flu while in labor. One more month closer to his very first real birthday. My sweet baby love is getting bigger so quickly.

It took me a little over two hours to have him and then there he was.  The most perfect thing I had seen since the day I had his brother.

Then we brought him home, and he was such an amazing baby.  He rarely cried and I had to wake him up to eat a lot of the times.

Of course then he got more alert, he had to stay up for his brothers birthday party, you know!

Then he slept through Christmas.  You can see that he started losing his hair here. )=

Then my littlest baby love did lose all his hair!  (I keep hoping I'll get a baby with curly brown hair.  Both my husband and I were bald and then blond as babies and toddlers, so I know I'm not gonna get it.)

Then out of no where here we are today.  How we got here I'll never know, well unless I go through the pictures or slap myself and remember that it really has been 7 months since October 23, 2009.  I just can't believe it though, I mean 7 months...already, really?


So Happy 7 Month Birthday to my Baby Jagger, I love you so much.  Although I do have one request of you, if you could humor Mommy for a minute, please.  Do me a solid and don't grow up so fast, stay little for just a little bit of extra time!


Is it just me or do they not stay small very long?  My oldest went from Baby Einstein to "Get outta here, I'm gonna play by myself and watch my Batman" in what seems like a minute and a half! This is my favorite stage though, learning to crawl, sitting up, baby food...I love it.  What's your favorite baby stage?  But why, oh why, can they not stay little for longer?

I always cry on Mothers Day

I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday. Which is better than the just solid I HATE Mothers Day stance that I had from the time I was 6 years old up until oh, around 4 years ago. I didn't come around to loving, or even liking, Mothers Day until I got preggy with the oldest of my two baby loves.

My Mommy passed away when I was just 5 years old. I hated being forced to still participate in crafts at school. Every year my teacher would say "Ashlee, don't be difficult honey, you can just give it to your GrandMother." Like I was being rude for not wanting to glue a poem to pink or red construction paper for the Mother that I would never have a chance to hand my creation to. I wasn't being difficult. I was being honest, you don't need to make a Mothers Day card, poem, paper box etc. if you don't have a Mother to give it to. No, I can't just give it to my Granny I would argue, because my Granny is not my Mother. She'll never take the place of my Mother nor will I ever feel the same way about her that I feel about my Mother. I love my Granny, don't get me wrong, but not in the same way I loved my Mommy. Every year this would happen until we stopped making crafts in class on Mothers Day. It kind of scarred me, to be honest.

The only reason I love Mothers Day now is because I am the Mother of two sweet baby boys. I love them dearly, and it's nice to have a day where I get recognized for all that I do for them, their Daddy and around this house. Being a stay at home mom, I kinda put all I have to give into the kids, my Husband and the house.

I also like to take this day as an opportunity to talk to my boys about the beautiful, amazing, strong and wonderful woman that they will never get to meet, my Mother. I rarely get through these talks without crying, but I want them to know about her.

So Happy Mothers Day to my Mommy in Heaven - I love you and miss you so much, and all the other amazing Mothers out there today! Enjoy your day and know that there are people in your life that cherish you, love you unconditionally and are very grateful for all that you do!

Changes

Everyday I do the same things. It occurred to me today that I already have a routine, so why not switch it up to make it better and more productive.

Change numero uno:

I'm working on my eating habits. I'm now going to be eating five to six small meals a day, ranging from 200 to 200 calories per meal. Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner and Snack. These will include healthy choices, and the same breakfast every morning. The breakfast thing is going to be the hardest for me, I'm not a breakfast kind of girl. I do like oatmeal though and I like eggs. I will be having a small bowl of oats made with soy milk, and an egg white omelet made with veggies and the tiniest bit of cheese. Topped off with some of that orange juice that WIC is always shoving at me. I am also cutting out most of my soda, I will be allowing myself one coffee in the morning, and tea with lunch and dinner as well as one diet Dr. Pepper a day. Soda I could do without, but my sweet tea...I'll never give it up. My goal is to get more protein and fiber into my diet as well as more fruits and veggies. This shouldn't be that hard for me really, because I do like healthy food.
Lunch is also a hard meal for me, because of the boys I'm always on the go or doing something. I'm going to be making time to sit down and eat an easy to prepare lunch though. I plan to have a big green salad for lunch daily, lots of greens topped off with cucumbers, tomato, onion, green peppers and some egg whites. I'll also be having some Turkey with my lunch, not the lunch meat kind you buy next to the bologna either.
Dinner will be another big green leafy salad loaded with lots of green leafy veggies and topped off with other good stuff minus the egg. Also grilled, baked or broiled Chicken, Salmon or Turkey and some steamed, grilled or boiled veggies! Yum!
I'll be snacking on things like toasted or raw almonds, without the salt of course, peanut butter on whole wheat toast, peanut butter and an apple, fruit, smoothies, protein shakes, vanilla yogurt with fruit added in, hey a girl can't deprive herself of the things she likes...and I happen to have a weakness for vanilla yogurt..sue me?!
I'm not a sweets person anyway, I'll get my fill with my sweet tea with lemon. It's not a stretch for me to eat with this meal plan, because these are actually the kinds of foods that I like to eat.

Change Numba two:

I've been reading about the FlyLady house cleaning routine. It seems like it might be a good fit for me, because I'm one of those all or nothing kinda people. I like to be organized, to the point of actually being anal about it, honestly. I don't have to devote hours to doing this routine, and frankly that was a big sell point for me since I have a three year old and a six month old and the weather is nice I'd rather be outside anyway. We'll see how this goes, hopefully it will allow me to keep the house in better order and clutter free, because with a three year old boy let's face it clutter, especially from toys and the like, is going to be a big issue.

Change Number three:

This is one I'm actually only going to be modifying. My workout routine. Daily cardio, mostly dance cardio and playing with my kids as an added bonus. (= Strength training three times a week. I would like to get in more time working on my legs, butt, back and arms. I'd also like to work in a little extra time for my yoga and pilates daily as well.

That about sums up my plans for change. I have very high hopes that they will all work out very well for me!