Monday, June 21, 2010

what did you do today?

I did 2 loads of laundry this morning, then went to Lowe's to pick up paint.  Then I went to the new house.  When I got there, I sat Grayson's pack-n-play up (no I'm not a horrible mother--I didn't want him to play in the nasty floors and a blanket does not contain him any more!!!).  He played happily most of the day and then took a nap.  Me, on the other hand, I did NOT take a nap.  I took on the 3 bedrooms upstairs--I sanded the holes we patched yesterday, washed the walls, cleaned the baseboards and taped for painting tomorrow!!!!  And, I did another load of laundry tonite!  Gotta get it all caught up before the move!

Yes, I'm still sick, but I'm on the mend.  Thank you Vicks and nosespray!  Oh, and I musn't forget the Mucinex DM. 

Sunday, June 20, 2010

refreshing.

Even after being together 4.5 years, we can still crack each other up!  This morning after we fed Grayson his breakfast, I made Brandon a nice Father's Day meal:  omelet, turkey bacon and waffles!  As we sat there eating together and Grayson played happily, we were "cracking" each other up with some terribly "egg-cellent" 1-liners!!  What a nice, refreshing morning!  Even though we are both still sick, it's been nice.  Unfortunately, we opted out of going to church this morning because we were afraid of getting other people sick.  Hopefully by next week, we'll be feeling better.  I feel bad that he missed the Father's Day service, but we both decided it was for the best!

The other refreshing part of our weekend was our visit to our new house!  All praise be to Jesus--they left it in pretty good condition!!!  We're still going to have it cleaned, but it looks pretty good!  They also left the curtain rods, which was an unexpected surprise!!  We will be heading to Lowe's as soon as Grayson wakes up from his nap so we can purchase some things for the house.  We need new blinds, and all the supplies to prep the walls for paint.  Then, we'll head back later and get some paint.  We've got a lot of work ahead of us for the next few weeks, but I'm just super glad that the house looks pretty good!

**cheers!**  Here's to our refreshing weekend.

Friday, June 18, 2010

because I promised...

Brandon and I both have THE WORST colds now (think snot everywhere, sneezing, coughing, congestion, the whole works), but before I go to bed early, I wanted to come through for you all with the latest:

Our little man after playing in the water at the Indy Zoo... see, I told you he was adorable!  (and yes, he had sunscreen slathered all over him!!!)

and, his practically brand new toys!  His brand new off-roading wagon and his ride-ons!  We even played with the ride-ons today and he had a blast!

Alrighty folks... sorry, but I'm calling it a day.  Hopefully we'll get more than a few hours of sleep tonite!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Thank you, Jesus, for healing our bodies and giving us a good 2 days :o)

Seriously, the last two days have been wonderful!  God heard and answered my prayers!  We had a wonderful time in Indy at the zoo.  We met some good friends up there and Britney was kind enough to get us in on her family membership, so we even got in free!  Other than having to stop on the way and wipe snot off of Grayson's face from a monster sneeze (I couldn't let him sit in snot the whole drive!!), everything was smooth sailing!  We saw all of the animals and the weather stayed nice for us.  It was a little warm, but there was plenty of shade to enjoy.  We even stopped at the end for a splash in the sprinklers (which Grayson was not real keen on, suprisingly) and that cooled both of us off.  I'll post pictures of that later!

On the way home, I met a super nice lady that I found on Craigslist who sold me a practically brand new wagon for Grayson!  It was the one that I wanted already, like Carter's that he's already rode in.  It's a $140 wagon and I got it for $50!!!  It doesn't even look like it's been ridden in!  There's not even any scratches or scuffs!  God really blessed us with this one!  Today, God blessed us again, because I met yet another lady I found on Craigslist who sold me two little ride-on toys.  One is a $40 Stride-to-ride-Lion and the other one is a little car.  I got both for $20!  Good thing we're moving soon--Grayson's toys are really taking over the house!  I've definitely determined Craigslist is the perfect place to look for toys for Grayson.  We're not afraid of getting something used for sure!  Everything so far has been perfect and at a great price.  I hope your last two days were as good as mine.

Good night!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

and just when I thought it was getting better...

I woke up this morning to Brandon getting ready for work!  To my amazement, Grayson was still asleep and had slept through the night!  I actually got to sleep from 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.!!!  Inconceivable!!  And, Grayson actually ended up sleeping until 6:30 and I just brought him in bed with me, fed him and just played there until about 7:15.  And that's when it started going downhill.

As we were playing in bed, I realized just how sore I am from falling down the stairs.  I'm bruised and my back is very tender.  I'm sure Grayson must be sore too... I mean, we both fell.  :o(  I'm also starting to get Grayson's cold, and it hurts my back when I cough, so I'm also sure coughing isn't much fun for him either.  :o(  I decided it was time for Grayson's Big Boy Breakfast (oatmeal with avocado and fruit), so I successfully made it down the stairs with him and put him in his highchair.  Smooth sailing so far!  Then, I put one spoonful into his mouth and he unfortunately started coughing and vomited milk all over himself and highchair #1.  Ugh.  *breathe, it could be worse*  So, I cleaned him up and moved him over to our portable seat which was thankfully still set up from the Woodbridges being over Sunday night.  He eats the rest of his cereal--Yay!!  Then, another coughing fit.  Up comes part of the cereal all over him, me and highchair #2.  Seriously?  *it's worse.*

So here I am, 1 hour later.  I've bathed Grayson and put him down for a nap.  I've struggled with not one, but two highchair covers and finally got them off their frames and into the washer.  Now, I'm sitting here listening to my poor little man cough through his nap. 

I'm really starting to reconsider the whole 'we want more than one child' notion.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Lisa (& Grayson) and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

To preface this post, I'm not writing this to elicit sympathy at all.  I'm merely writing it down so that when I have a bad day in the future, I can look back at this day and realize whatever it is, it isn't this bad!!!  And, if you are thinking about having a baby, skip this post--because if you are, you will think twice after this!!!!

Yesterday was wonderful--we went to church, came home, had a good lunch and then Tim Woodbridge and Brandon went to see a movie.  Julie (his wife) and I just hung out here and played with Grayson.  He was pretty cranky still from his teething, but thankfully, he fell asleep about 20 minutes after she got here and slept until about 20 minutes before the boys came home.  We all had dinner together and it was a wonderful evening.

Then, the night came.  Grayson was up again by 1:30 a.m. and kept me up until about 3:30 a.m.  I noticed he was sounding congested and had a bit of a runny nose, but I figured it was just from his teething, so I gave him some Benadryl and finally put him back to bed.  Then just as I drifted off to sleep, I woke up when Brandon got up for work.  (as an aside, I will be SOOO happy when we are in the new house and he can shower downstairs!!!).  At 8 a.m., I was again awoken by a screaming baby.  I went in to get him and lo and behold he had his leg stuck between 2 slats in the crib and it was stuck--firmly!!!!!  He had pushed down the mesh bumper (the one that's 'supposed' to be the safest), put his foot through and then turned over onto his belly.  After some tugging, I finally got it dislodged and he was crying, coughing, sneezing, snotty and to top it all of WET.  I imagine him nursing for basically 2 hours during the middle of the night just overflowed his diaper.

So, I pick him up and hastily head for downstairs so I can change him and clean him up.  Mind you, I've fallen down our awful apartment stairs before, so I am being as careful as a Mama can be with a screaming, thrashing baby....  and I fall down the darn things with him AGAIN!!!!!!  What an awful Mom I feel like.  He bumped his head on the stairs (not hard, but still) and we went down about 8 stairs this time jarring the heck out of both of us.  I'm imagining him feeling like a shaken baby, so I end up putting my right foot through the banister to get us stopped, but not before I twisted my back and my left knee trying to slow us down.  We laid there, both crying for probably about 5 minutes before my legs stopped hurting enough for me to get us the rest of the way down.

We just rocked in the glider for about 20 minutes before attempting anything else.  I got him changed, nursed him until he was calm and then started to give him breakfast.  Still shaking from all of this, I awesomely managed to spill half of his oatmeal everywhere (before it had milk mixed in, so there is flaky/powdery oatmeal in the floor).  At this point, I just sat down in the floor--I'd had enough.  And clearly Grayson had too, since he was still crying in his highchair. 

Thankfully, squishing up the avocado for his cereal made him laugh and I finally got him fed.  I washed out his vaporizer and got it set up and he's now napping peacefully.  Hopefully when he wakes up this time, it will be a brand new start.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Our new additions

Well, Grayson is feeling a little better and he doesn't have a fever anymore!  Thankfully, no more acetaminophen for the time being.  He now has TWO teeth since last Friday!  As everyone predicted, he took his time getting the first, but now they're all coming at once!

This morning we went to the farmer's market for the first time and came home with a gigantic zucchini, 2 yellow squash, 2 cucumbers, 2 huge tomatoes and some grapes!  All of that for less than $10 and it's all organic!  You can't beat that at Walmart!!

Now, for the most exciting news...  everyone, meet our new twin boys, Andy and Emmett!!

our first family pic with the new boys!



This is Andy.  He's 6 months old, black with white tips on all of his feet and a spot on his chest.  His eyes are also closer together than his brother's.



This is Emmett.  He is also 6 months and has a white spot on his chest, but he only has white tips on his back toes!  His eyes are farther apart and if you see the two together, Emmett has a little more of a brownish tint to his coat.  


Aren't they beautiful!?!  These boys were born in a shelter.  Their Mama was rescued while pregnant from a high-kill shelter and placed in a rescue.  These are the only 2 left and we have no idea why, but we're super happy about it!!!  They're both very well behaved.  They didn't jump up on us and they were very, very calm around Grayson (which was the most important part!!!!).  The just laid there while he was petting them and now that I think about it, I don't think they barked the entire time we were there!!  They are very good pups.  We will be bringing them to the new home in mid-July after we get settled!  We're so super excited that Grayson will get to grow up with such sweet puppies!



Have you all seen this tear-jerker commercial???  Well, we took it to heart, especially after losing our beloved boy, Alex.  We hope you will too!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Yay! Daddy's home!

Brandon got home from his conference in Chicago last night, and boy was I glad!  Grayson has continued to teethe for the past 2 days and boy is he a beast!  Poor guy.  We missed VBX at church for the past 2 days and finally tried to venture back today.  Unfortunately, Grayson's temp skyrocketed during our time there and we ended up leaving a bit early.  I don't think the second one has popped through yet, but he won't let me close enough to see.  His temp was 102 when we got home and I gave him some medicine, nursed him and put him down for a nap.  He's woken up a couple of times since, but I got him to go back to sleep thankfully.  I'm just going to keep my eye on him for the rest of the afternoon--I hope his temp goes down soon.  Another friend's son is going through the same exact thing and she took him to the doctor hoping it was an ear infection--no such luck.  It's so crappy because you just hope they can give our boys something to help, but there isn't anything!  I don't think I'm ready for all of this tooth stuff!  Maybe we'll just get him some dentures and call it good!  ;o)

On a brighter note, we get to go meet the twin boys we're adopting tomorrow night!  We're set to go introduce Grayson to Emmett and Andy around 6 up near Monrovia, Indiana.  We passed our home inspection yesterday with flying colors and if all goes well, we'll bring them home some time near the end of July.  I remember the adoption process from Alex being like this too, but adopting a pet is like adopting a child!  We've already filled out a 4-page packet, had 2 phone interviews, and a home visit!  After the meet and greet tomorrow, we're good to bring them home!  The sweet boys have been in the rescue since their still-pregnant Mama was pulled from a high-kill shelter.  They were born in the rescue and have since been fostered in a home.  They were recently tested and accepted into a therapy dog program, so if they don't come home with us, that's where they'll go.  Hopefully, they get along with Grayson swimmingly and they'll become his boys. 

Well, I better make the most of my time while Grayson naps...  say a little prayer for him if you don't mind.  I hate seeing the little guy unhappy! 

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

TEETH!!! and other major developments!

So, we had a crazy busy weekend that started off with a bang!  Grayson woke up Friday morning with a tooth!  It had barely broken the gums, but you could see it AND feel it!  I was so happy for my little man!  Now, he has the one and another one causing him a lot of pain.  We were up a lot last night because every time he tries to put something in his mouth, it hurts.  Generic Tylenol and teething tablets are our best friends right now! 

Grayson also can show us what he wants by staring at whatever it is and squeezing his hands together!  (He's actually signing 'milk' but that was how he learned to tell me he wanted to eat, so it just transferred!).  He's saying Dada now too, and contrary to Brandon's belief, he does know what he's saying.  Brandon is in Chicago for a couple of days for a conference this week and we called him this morning to say hello and while Brandon was talking on speaker phone, Grayson said "dada"!!  I'm sure that made Brandon's day! 

Last Friday, we were able to close on our new house, so we are officially home-owners again!  We are set to take possession on June 18, but we probably won't move in until June 25-26.  That week in between is set aside for major cleaning and a bit of painting.  Hopefully all will go as planned, but the previous owner still hadn't found a place for them to move as of closing day.  She has been informed of this for over a month now though, so I'm not feeling so sorry for her at this point.  If we have to, we can legally evict her, but we'd really like for it not to come to that.  Keep that situation in your prayers if you don't mind! 

Grayson's birthday party is set for August 21, so mark your calendars!  It will be at the new house and will be a "Monster Splash" theme, complete with water toys in the back for the kids to play in.  Adults and children are welcome!  We will probably have it around 4 pm so that the kids won't get sunburned and we'll provide bbq for dinner!  I can't believe our little monster will be 1 soon!!!  :o(  Seems like yesterday, I was holding him in the Boppy watching him nap.  Now, we're lucky to get a good nap!

I hope you all have a good week.  I'll try to get some pictures posted soon!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

our crazy life

Wow.  So I'm going to be really happy once our life slows down a little!  Since I've written, Grayson turned 9 months and traveled back to Missouri for the first time.  He still isn't crawling and still doesn't have any teeth, but he's healthy as a horse, or so says Dr. Laughlin.  Grayson is still a wee-little-one; he is weighing in at a whopping 17 lbs (only the 10th percentile) and is about 28".  Dr. Laughlin said that he's just small for now and he expects him to eventually hit a growth spurt.  He's eating very, very well and just has a high metabolism!  Poor guy, he's just like his Mama!  Hopefully that will follow him into adulthood and he'll be able to eat whatever he wants.  He's doing very well and is on schedule developmentally.  He's learned to shake his head 'no', which makes for feeding him or giving him his vitamin tough sometimes!  He's also developed an ornery streak... he's got that really mischievous grin.  I can't wait for him to start crawling--he'll run me ragged!

We had a really nice visit with my family back in Missouri.  The drive there went really well--we drove through the evening into the night and got there in about 7.5 hours.  The drive home on the other hand, was long and a bit tougher.  It took us about 9 hours to get home, driving through the day.  I think we're all ready to start flying instead of making Grayson spend all that time in the carseat.  Oh, and speaking of carseats, Grayson got his new one!  He is now in his big boy convertible car seat.  After much research, I decided on the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL.  It has a steel frame and is the safest on the market.  It's a whopping 22 lbs thanks to the steel too!  Grayson seems to like it much better than the old pumpkin seat.  He's staying a lot cooler in this seat too.

My family really enjoyed getting to see Gray.  We took him over to my brother-in-law's family's house too so that they could meet him for the first time.  He dazzled everyone, just like he always does.  He's a great boy.  :o)

Well, we close on the new home in the morning and then we'll be heading back to Kentucky for a baby shower, a wedding, and a photo shoot.  Then, we'll finally get to stay here for a weekend!!!!!  Yay!

Well, Grayson wants to leave you with some pics from the trip:

me & Grandma
me & Uncle Kevin
cousin Sadie
me & Daddy
me & Mama (Daddy took these!

me & Aunt Lala (I fell asleep on her!)

Good-bye everyone!  Talk to you later!