We're back!

I don't really have time to post much right now, but we're back- it was fast & furious, and fun! Five minutes into our trip, we got this from the back:

Cam: "Mommy, I'm a great big brother, know why?"
Me: "Why Cam?"
Cam: "Because I just popped that big bubble that was coming out of Megan's nose for her!"
Me: "Wow. You really are a great big brother!"

Ahhh, the road trip begins...

OOPS!

It was brought to my attention I had the wrong link for the donations page on Walk to Empower.



Here is the correct one. Sorry!!

Happy 8 Month Birthday Megan!

Ahh.... already! It seems like I just wrote the 7 month one! I writing a day late, but I did make sure to get a few pictures of you yesterday (with a BOW in your hair, which apparently has a club of people who don't like them, since I've heard a few confessions ever since the bows picture! Hmph!)

You celebrated your first Easter this month. I'm not divulging what was in your Easter basket, because you most certainly got the shaft. It's so much harder for the Easter bunny to come up with things to shove in an Easter basket for a sibling. *sigh*

I am happy to announce that your drooling has tapered off, so you're not soaking every piece of clothing you have with drool anymore. It has, however, been replaced with this new trick of yours where you suck all the water out of your sippy cup that you can get in your mouth, only to spit it out all over yourself. If nothing else, you amuse your brother doing it. I think you're just destined for wet clothes. That, and you love to razz all the time, and I constantly have to explain to Cameron why it's okay for you to 'spit' and he can't, so I hope we move on from this soon, because life just isn't fair right now.

You now getting into the 'starting position' as I like to call it as soon as I set you down- it looks like you're about ready to take off for a sprint.... except right now you just go backwards.

You're also a human garbage disposal- you will eat anything I put in your mouth, and I think you eat more than your brother does on some days. Your a fabulous food critic- if there's 'normal' food anywhere near you, baby food gets the snub! Only the good stuff will do, and lots of it! You've had some of just about everything now, a heck of a lot more than I ever thought about giving your brother! If we don't give in, (or get the bites to your mouth fast enough) you do this hilariously horrible loud gutteral growl thing that just cracks me up, but embarrasses your Daddy when we're in public, since it makes people look and he hates to have attention drawn to him. But you just give your cute little smile to anyone who pays attention, but just for a second before you go back to grunting at me for food.

We also had the joy of you dislocating your arm this month- I'm sure it was your way to test me and make sure my heart could take the abuse in the years to come when you're a teenager. Definitely gave me a run for the money. All is well, and I have no idea to keep it from happening again, because I have never seen a child in so many different configurations in their crib as you are when I come in. You almost always have at least one limb hanging out, sometimes two, of the side.

The best times with you are when I pick you up, and you snuggle as much as you can into my arm/neck area, drawing your knees up and putting your head my shoulder. Then you stick your thumb in your mouth and let out this little sigh, as if life is perfect, and there is no better place to be than right where you are. Me either, baby. I love you!

Walk To Empower

I'm walking for the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization on Mother's Day again this year. I'm raising money for the cause, and this year I've set my goal at $500, although I'd love to surpass it. Every little bit helps! There's no one I know who hasn't had cancer touch their life in some way or another, and I want to do my part to get a little closer to a cure for everyone. If you're interested in sponsoring me, you can check out my site here. Thanks for your support for a great cause!

Five more days...

before we leave for here and stay here. Yay! Let the week of the lists of the lists begin....

I could kick myself

I have been doing a little spring cleaning with the scrap supplies, and I've come across so many things that I have, that I didn't want to use because I REALLY loved it at the time, and wanted to save it for that 'perfect' page/day/moment/picture. Now, I look at it and down deep I know I will NEVER use it. What a fabulous waste of money that was.

Of all the toys created....

Tupperware still rocks!
I didn't capture the pictures when all three of us had on 'helmets' and were fighting the dragons.... but I do have a confession. These pictures were taken Monday morning. When we came home from the IL's Sunday night, Cameron fell asleep in the car on the way home, and Brent just put him to bed and he never woke back up. So Monday morning we start playing in the TW, I go grab the camera, then I'm like CRAP my kid's still wearing his Easter clothes! And so Cameron had to go change. Hence the two outfits within a matter of minutes. :P

Oh yeah...

... we actually got a family picture with everyone looking, smiling and no food in our teeth... what a miracle!

And my hubby thinks bunnies are hot... :) (my fil was taking these pictures and alas we were unaware... )

Happy Belated Easter!

Had a pretty nice Easter. Completely and totally drama free (Except for the awesome voice mail I had from my mother when I got home, but I just poked the imaginary voodoo doll for that and was fine). That's always great. Ate until I thought I was going to roll around like one of the Easter Eggs.
I made a yarn maze to Cameron's Easter basket in the morning before church. He thought it was pretty ridiculous of the bunny to waste all that yarn. Sigh. New idea for next year- maybe I should just give up and hide the basket like normal bunnies do.
The Anitameister found this crazy loaf of bread that was baked in the shape of a bunny. No one would eat it. There's something about food in the shape of an animal that you just can't bear to rip an ear off and eat it. It had eyes and everything. Slightly creepy.

We had a few more people come and look at our house. I always wonder if other people go through houses the same way I do- looking half at the house and half at the stuff. It's kind of like blogs. You get a glimpse into someone else's life- the inside scoop.

It was in the 90s today. I do not sweat gracefully. It's going to be a looooong summer.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter, with all limbs properly secured!

Oh, and just so you know, Megan never cried about her arm at all- and I didn't really hear a 'pop' when the Dr. put it back in place. It was a pretty low key dislocation all in all.

Just to keep me on my toes...

This morning after we had been up for a while (Miss Meg wakes me up at crack-o-dawn-thirty) I noticed that she wasn't using her left arm at all. I lifted it up, and it would just drop dead weight to her side. She wouldn't pick anything up with it or reach for anything with it either, although I could see her fingers move. Brent said she probably just slept on it funny, but I kept watching her and it wasn't getting any better, so at 8 I called the doctor and took her in.
She had popped her arm out of the socket somehow. He popped it back in while we were there, and she started using it again, although gradually. WHO the HECK ever heard of a baby dislocating their ARM while they're SLEEPING?!?! He said she could have gotten it caught in the bars or something... who the frick knows.... so I asked him what the deal was, because Cameron's arm gets dislocated easily too. He said it can be hereditary... which makes sense, since my hips pop out all the time (the first time it happened I was in labor with Cameron) and so does my shoulder.
Just call us the Gimpy family..... if you see this family walking down the street someday, the mama limping along, and everyone with arms flat at their sides, it's probably us. Just wave and say hi, but don't be offended if we can't wave back because our arms are all dislocated....

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe

Which one is your favorite bow?







I took this picture of Miss Meg this afternoon for my father-in-law. He has this well known dislike of the bows that I put in my daughter's hair, and lets me know almost every time he sees us that he does. So I took every bow Miss Meg has, and put it on her head, and sent him this picture. Just to let him know how much I love him and value his opinion! :P All the while laughing hysterically.

I do, however, take normal pictures too- (and send them over to him as well) I EVEN took a picture with no bow and no hat, just for him.

Color your world...

Yet another moment when I was think of how I would scrap this as I was taking the pictures.:P Would look good with some Color Me Silly, dontcha think?

Cameron and I have been talking about what colors mix together to make other colors and learning about the Primary colors, so I thought this would help 'cement' it in his brain to play a little...












I just wanted to say thanks girlies for the support- it means more than you know! Last week was a tough week, but it really helps when you've got friends far and wide all over the place!

Defeat.... and growth.

I was defeated, for lack of a better word, by my mother this week. Again. It is a cycle. I have come to realize it will always be this way, for I will always care, and she will always be who she is. I can try as I might not to hurt, not to cry, not to be angry, but it is what it is, and she is who she is.
I have spent this week going through this cycle yet again. Wondering why. Wondering how. But I have also come to accept that although I may always ask these questions, I will never have answers. All I can do is know that this happens for a reason, and the enormous reason that is so clear to me is that it constantly makes me reevaluate who I am, and what I aim to be.
Every time this happens with my mother, after I go through the range of emotions, the next few days are spent internalizing, scrutinizing everything I do, evaluating the difference between what I think I am, and what reality is.
The result is always the same- I do not know for sure what I aim for, what I strive to be, other than the best I can, all I know is what I strive not to be. And that is what I work from- that is my source. My lead- everything I know I never want to be.

It's all I have.

Bath Junkie... that Funky Monkey

Sorry... every time I say the name of the store it makes me think of that old Beastie Boys song. We went to Bath Junkie today.... if you have one near you and haven't been, it is an oh so cool experience.







LOVE that place. I will not disclose how much damage we (mostly Gramma) did in that store, but it was so great! Cameron loved it- they let him try out all kinds of scents, and pick his own to make his own bubble bath and sea salt (yes, I got the 'look' from Brent when we got home- I'm "chickerizing" my son)They custom blend all the fragrances- mine was Issey Miyake mixed with Strawberry Wine for my bubbling bath crystals & a lotion.... Cameron got Green Apple & Caramel, and I got some Shea Butter for Megan that was Baby Powder with Warm Vanilla Sugar combined. The Anitameister got two different scents- I don't remember what they were, just that both had Gardenia in it. I swear, until the day I die, every time I smell Gardenia, I will think of my MIL. I love the woman, hate the smell. And she loves it for just about everything.... I think it's remniscent of her childhood. Anyways, cool place, check it out!

**Disclaimer: Please dismiss any and all retarded faces I am making in the background, and only focus on my cute kid. Thanks- H

Sunny Days

A little dirt never hurt, thankfully, because this is the third day in a row my son has found himself covered in it from head to toe. It was 86 today outside- insane. Give me snow any day. I know, wrong state.

We got the last of the stuff done around the house today- we're hoping for a quick sell, since the sellers on the house we like won't take an offer from us unless we have an offer on our house. If it's meant to be, it shall be.... I think I lost a couple of brain cells from inhaling paint fumes for the past two days. I'm sure no one will notice them missing.



















Don't mess with Megan- she eats plastic just for fun. Don't get on her bad side- who knows what she's capable of....
BTW, if you see my mojo anywhere, let it know I'm looking for it....

Life.

So good.

I love my family. Really. Do you ever just sit back and look at what you have, and feel so damn lucky it takes your breath away?
My son makes me so proud to be his mom. Such a good boy. He's getting to that age where he knows the right from wrong, and wants to stay on the path of right. There's always that moment when you don't realize you're holding your breath, because you're watching your child, waiting to see if they're going to follow suit of the turdhead they happen to be around and doing something they know they shouldn't, and when they don't... well, it just feels so good. So proud.

The last couple of weeks Cameron has been so loving. Just sweet. Out of the blue he comes up and says, "I love you Mommy. Can I have a kiss?"....."And a hug? Tighter Mommy- BIG hug!" Man, it melts your heart. Hopefully he'll never get to working that system, because I swear if he asked me to fly him around the world in a hot air balloon afterwards, I would say yes in a heartbeat.

Megan is at that stage of so fun. Just so fun. Nothing else to describe it really. Laughs so much, and it's so infectious. Even when she's not laughing, every time she smiles, it's the type of smile that looks like at any second she'll explode into laughter. She has this way of staring at people- I've never seen a baby stare like she does, just waiting for someone to look at her (especially Daddy) and as soon as they do, she squeals with laughter. It's awesome. And that baby giggle- that sound has got to be one of the most perfect sounds ever made.

And then there's this hubby of mine. He's just fabulously perfect for me. He always makes me feel great and appreciated and loved. Everything I need. Keeps me in line just as much as I do him. Just a great balance. Always makes me laugh.

Yep, I've had a couple of Mike's Hard Lime tonight- feeling warm and fuzzy. :P
And then there's this 200 bucks I made at my garage sale this morning.... and I'm wondering how many scrap supplies that will buy..... geez it just doesn't get any better than this.

*sigh* Good life. Great times. Fabulous memories. Love it.