Before and After

We just completed a small kitchen remodel. The kitchen in this house was HORRIBLE and small so we had a good friend knock out a wall and we added an island with a cooktop. We still have a little more to do, but since we are paying cash we'll have to finish it after we get the save up a little more $$.

Enjoy the pics....they are a lot more meaningful to me because I can remember the nightmare the kitchen was and how I disliked so very much.

The day we closed on the house. We had painters come in before we moved in to tear down the horrendous wall paper and paint...AKA

BEFORE

and AFTER

This is the bay window area off the left of the above pics. This pic was taken once again the day we closed on the house

BEFORE

We added a banquet to the window area a table will be there in few weeks.

AFTER

That's all

You can thank Brenda & Lori for making this post happen

These pictures start back over a month ago, because I've had such a hard time getting these to upload. Dumb blogger. Only thanks to Lori and Brenda for sending leaving me comments on how they solved their similar issue are you getting to see just how adorable these two boys are.

Calvin the Week of July 18. He was just starting to reach out for things on it at that time....now he's practically riping them off.

Jackson painting

Wrestling with daddy....Calvin playing referee
Cheap shot!

Sleeping in....hey, it's summer!

Calvin's sleep number is 80, he definitely likes the new 3" topper we just put on the bed and this morning he had opted for the boob out. Yes, we spoil them and I will be the first to tell you that

He loves to stand up and walk now. This was taken in mid July. He was intently watch brother and daddy

Jackson telling daddy something funny

So happy! He loves that bouncy seat

Jackson asked if "little brudder" could rest with him on the couch one afternoon.

Jackson loves when Calvin sits with him in his chair

awww....he loves his little brother. Calvin looks like he's being tortured

He has such a big laugh

Calvin on July 20th

Jackson is such a loaner sometimes. He comes by it naturally tho, T-rav and I are both loaners for the most part, except with each other I guess. Anyway this was taken at a friend's birthday party at this gymnastic center that was about as big as Walmart....check out this foam pit.

Jumping on the trampoline

Group picture of the birthday party that Jackson didn't want to be apart of....yes that's him pouting all the way over at the left.

Loves the cupcakes you get a birthday parties, tho

This pic is from July 31....he's changed so much in a month

He knows how to turn on the hose out front. T-rav was working on the pool equipment and I caught our little explorer playing in this new mud hole he made

Boy: n, a noise with dirt on it.....enough said

Love our new camera!

Calvin's 1st food was yogurt and it was 1 week shy of his 4 month bday, on August 2, which happened to be the same day that I found out I was pregnant a year ago. He had an ear infection and our new Pediatrician suggested that we give him a few spoonfuls of yogurt to help get the good bacteria back in his guts.....he was in shock!! ha! ha!

watching Nemo with daddy during rest time....guess which one was the excited one! I think daddy lives for rest time on the weekends!

Very interested in Nemo during "rest time"

one of Jackson's new favorite toys....building with Lincoln Logs. Daddy was super excited that Jackson's old enough to play with these now

sometimes I can actually get him to nap in his crib! I love the little monkey on his bottom.

on a hot evening in Texas he LOVES LOVES LOVES to run "nudey boy" in the yard while being sprayed with a hose

and mommy loves it even more be the one spraying him with a hose!

Bath time!

That little horse in front of him makes him squeal so loud....it's hilarious!

Going for his 1st real swim....he loved it despite the confused-i'm-bored look on his face

WARNING: Turn away all grandma's, this pic will probably give you a heart attack!

Searching for Sammy's house with his "nanoculars"... he was excited to go to Sammy's 3rd bday party

Miss Bekah told him he could take home 2 balloons from the bday party!

Calvin super excited about being 4 months old today!

This face cracks me up! He won this ridiculously huge sucker at the bday party robot dance competition. Sammy's mom is really creative when it comes to bday parties....so intimidating for me since I follow behind 2 months later with Jackson's bday

Ouch! the goose egg he earned falling off our step stool onto the rock floor. His first face plant on these floors in 6 months....Those are good odds!

Just hanging out in his swing....love how he plays with his feet!

This little guy is a mama's boy! He's a fiery red head too! It amazes me that he wasn't born with ANY eyelashes and now he has these long ones that curl up on their own, just like my brother's (Scott)....what grown woman wouldn't kill for those. His eyes are a deep blue just like daddy's.

No wonder we can't get him out of our bed or his swing. He loves to smash his face into something soft and squishy....like mommy's arm...hmm, maybe if I got in shape he wouldn't want to sleep cuddled up to me anymore. If Babies-R-Us sold a sleep number baby bed that came with a 3" memory foam topper and the optional boob in or boob out...we would be throwing the Benjamin's down to buy it! ha! ha!

Coming in from the back.....he told me he had been bird hunting.

After a fun night, trying to wrangle these 2 into bed with a little book time in mommy and daddy's room....I love these 2 little boys!

Dear Big Brother Jackson:

You and I have bonded so much this summer. You are such a curious little boy and like to see how everything works. You don't like to take my word about most things, but instead want check it out for yourself, I know exactly how you feel because mommy is the same way. You are very helpful with your little brother and everyday you like to tell him that you are going to teach him how to crawl, walk, talk and play with trucks. You take your big brother role seriously and with pride, you will never know how this makes my heart sing with thankfulness as I prayed that you and Calvin would be good friends. Daddy and I talk all the time about how strangely true birth order is and since both of us are the youngest in our family it is so interesting to watch you as "the oldest" and how your were perfectly created for that role.

Your imagination is in full swing. You love playing in the tub for hours with your "scupper divers" and big boat. Being the rescuerer is your favorite role playing character. I will hear you acting out big resucues with your cars as well. Makes me curious about what you choose as a career path when you grow up.

You also love to mimic everything daddy does and you've started to pay close attention to the chores he does around the house and the ones mommy does. I think daddy has also taught you the phrase "man work" because you like to remind me that that is what you and daddy are doing when you are out in the garage. I tried to hang up a picture the other day with a hammer and nail....you kindly told me to put the hammer down, because "durls don't use hammers, mommy, that's man work and you are not a man". Turning into a little bit of a male-shovenist-pig but daddy is one too and I love him, so I guess your wife will one day too. BUT you also love to help mommy cook dinner. You are getting really good at cutting things with your butter knife and little cutting board we got you at the store. Cucumbers, zuchinni, red peppers and other softer veggies are no match for you. You actually are a big help when making dinner and I look forward to you getting better at that.

Daddy makes you help carrying in groceries, it's not your favorite "man work" task but you do it anyway. You love to get the door for mommy and smile a big grin when I tell you that you are turning into quiet the little gentleman.

Your schedule these days looks like this:

-Wake up around 8 or 8:30 (you're not much of a morning person) You come out of your room and usually prefer for mommy to pick you up and quietly hold you on the couch for about 5 mins till you get your wits about you

-You usually want "tanteloupe" for breakfast right away, but then I can talk you into some pancakes or french toast. You're like your daddy and not much of a breakfast eater, but I try to get some food in you so you'll be able to function with out melt downs

-You usually get hungry for some yogurt around 10 or 10:30....it's one of your favorites.

-Playing with legos is #1 for the past few weeks. Sometimes we try and sneak in a morning swim with brother is sleeping

-When I ask you what you want for lunch you will ALWAYS answer "PIZZA!!!" You don't get to eat it every day but it's definetly your favorite and mommy keeps it on hand for when your friends come over to play.

-early afternoons are spent playing some more. Sometimes you'll take a drive around the back of the house in your little truck. Mommy sometimes wishes she could fit in it with you so I could go riding with you like I used to with daddy back in the day, but I realize that just your driving around the yard is just the beggining of your independence. One day you'll just go for drives in your real truck so you can think....mommy used to do that too.

-Book time comes around 2 or so. mommy has you sit in your monkey chair and read your books queitly for about 20 mins, while I read my book as well next to you. And since you are a boy and you have a hard time being still mommy makes you watch Dora or a movie so that your little body will keep up with all your business.

-around 4 I turn off the tv and you jump up ready to go again. You usually will have a granola bar because they are one of your favs

-at 5 we start to make dinner and you sit up on the counter so that you can be my "big helper" and most days you really are a big help.

-we eat dinner together after daddy gets home and then after dinner I lose you to your hero, daddy. I'm ok with that, but sometimes I'm stuck in the house cleaning up dinner and taking care of your brother so I miss the funny things you are telling daddy while outside mowing or working in the garage.

-some nights we all swim together before bed. It's really fun for mommy to have to 2 little boys that love the water.

-bath time is fun for you because you can have brother in there with you and he laughs at everything you do

-you help read books to brother since he goes to bed 30 mins before you do. It's so sweet to have you laying next to mommy as I read the same books to him as I did to you when you were a baby. Then you pray with baby brother and mommy, give him a kiss and mommy too, and are off to read books in your room with daddy. One day soon we will put you both down at the same time but for now I can tell that you like putting brother to sleep.....it makes you feel big.

-8 pm is your bed time and because you stopped napping a month after Calvin was born you usually fall fast asleep, but there are occasions that daddy and I can hear you in there playing by the dim light of your night light.....of course your always rescuing something :-)

You like to play with

-blocks

-trucks

-your bike (which is a motorcycle)

-daddy's matchbox cars that Gramie saved from when he was little

-Lincoln Logs

-puzzles

Your favorite foods are:

-Pizza

-canteloupe

-yogurt

-hotdogs

-tacos

-red bell peppers

-salad (with ranch only)

-turkey sandwich with lettuce

I love you boo boo, and am still in awe that God gave us you!

Any one out there?

Good thing I'm only drowning in a sea of frustration and not water. Gee, not everybody volunteer at once....maybe because blogging world is dying a slow death as everyone is constantly refreshing their Facebook feeds to make sure they're not missing out. Of course not you or me, just people you know....ha! ha!

Seriously, my boys are cute and if you want to believe me, I would love some suggestions.

The error message I keep getting is "Bad Request" Error 400.

Blogger will be dead to me if I don't get this figured out.....agh!! So frustrating!

I give up...help, please!

I'm trying desperatly to get some pics uploaded to this blog and every time I try it will give me an error of "bad request".

Please help, I'd like to accomplish at least one thing this month. :-)

Hmmm

I'm having a hard time getting pics uploaded....so it's only been my ramblings lately

sorry

stay tuned for more pics as soon as I can figure out the issue!

My Mommy Parable

I found this un-finished post in my que and thought I would share....apparently I had gotten interrupted when I was writing it a few months ago....

Anyway, I thought this up one day back in May when I was trying to make a point to T-rav when he suggested that 6 week old Calvin may be hungry (I told you it was old, Calvin is 4 months now!) because he was crying a little more than usual. So here it is.....

you may get a chuckle out of it

or not,

ok, here it is.......

Not because I'm a prophet (T-rav made fun of me) but because the other day in my exhaustion I decided to come up with a way to explain the frustration stemmed from suggestions about a crying baby from on lookers.....or husbands of newborns that are trying to help but are just as exhausted as we mommies are.

Calvin is a good good baby. I think he's only been fussy about 5 times since he's been born...those are good odds. But since I lived with/survived a very colicky baby the 1st go around I know how "helpful" suggestions from onlookers can get on your nerves.

Here, let me 1st set the scene for you:

Your baby is fussy. He's been fed plenty, burped, fresh diapie....maybe even had some gas drops for your placebo effect. He's just fussy, they all get that way sometimes, some more than others.

Your in a public place, let's say Costco (since I'm there about every 3rd day) and people are passing by while the baby is wailing.

They smile a "oh, poor baby, what is your mommy doing to you or not doing for you" look. Then they ask the infamous question, which every frustrated mom has heard....

"is he hungry?" or "oh he must be hungry!"

Uh, NO!!!! I'm the mom...I would know if my baby is hungry.

I feel like saying...

Dude, trust me you're not suggesting some far off solution for this screaming meme that I hadn't already tried or taken care of...don't mean to burst your bubble here, but you didn't just come up with a "solution" for this! T

But what I really kindly replied with was...."No, he's just a little fussy" then they're looking at me like I'm a horrible mom and just walk away with no other words of wisdom of what might ACTUALLY work to calm this colicky baby down.

So my parable is this: (mind you it was directed at T-rav so I had to put into words he would understand....you know, speak his "country" language)

Let's say you put diesel in your brand new truck. You filled it up. You know you filled it up because you spent about $90....that puppy is full! So your truck is full of fuel, your driving home and suddenly it breaks down along side the road.

You get out and your under the hood, looking under the truck....you know really trying to figure out what's wrong.

Some well meaning older, wiser looking, gentleman in a car stops to help out. He walks up and the 1st question he asks you is "is it out of diesel?" You smile and kindly reply, "no, I just filled er up". He obviously knows his way around a vehicle, tells you that he even had a model like that one years past but it's older now. So after looking around a bit he comes back with "are you sure it's not out of diesel?". Since he's got nothing else to offer for suggestions he gets in his car and drives away.

So there you are, standing there, along side of the road perplexed and a little anxious about the "malfunction"

then along comes another guy.

He pulls up in a truck, not a car, so you're thinking...Oh, surely he won't make me feel like I'm retarded, he's got the same thing going on as me. NOPE, he gets out and basically repeats the same exact conversation as the guy before. Then after hinting that obviously you've done something wrong, because his truck is running fine. You know, the one size fits all..... if you do X, Y...you'll get Z for an answer, right?! WRONG!

So after they can't help you, make you feel like a horrible truck owner because it clearly is your fault the trucks not running right, they all just drive away leaving you stranded with this problem. No real advice was given, no help was offered to either take the truck for a while and give you a break or stay with you to keep you calm till you figured out what was wrong.

Nope, each person just questions the fuel situation you till you wonder...

well, did I dream it?

did I really not fill up at the gas station?

am I really qualified to have this vehicle?

what am I doing to ruin it?

somethings wrong with it!

somethings wrong with me!

So basically, the moral of the story is......don't always assume that the reason a baby is screaming in it's mommy's arms is because it's hungry and for the love of babies, don't suggest it to the mom that clearly looks frazzled...TRUST ME, she already knows!

I'm not saying, I'm just saying :-)

Keeping up..

These thoughts will all be random as is the way I think these days. I sometimes don't have time to even go to the bathroom without some adorable little blondie yelling "mom, where are you?" or a little red-head squealing for my attention. I love that they want me all the time because I am fully aware that we are on a countdown till they leave.

I feel that that's the whole purpose of parenting..... to nurture, train and direct so that they can go out on their own and be fully functional adults. I get that. I also know that with being the mom of 2 boys comes it's own set of responsibilities and pit falls. I know that lust will enter their loins sooner that I would like to think, which means that I have to be careful about even the catalogs that I get here at our house so as not to make them stumble and fall by my own carelessness of not valuing the female and all God created her to be....seriously, does Victoria Secret really have any secrets at this point?

We took Calvin to the Pediatrician last week because he had had diarrhea for 17 days.....poor kid! So while we were there they did a full check and found an ear infection...at 3 months!! yikes! He figured the diarrhea was from the extra fluid from the ear infection but wanted to have this checked just in case. Let me tell ya, you haven't lived until you've watched your husband gag from having to scoop your son's poop with a stick out of his diaper into a tube. What a big baby! Seriously, it's just breast milk poo, which by the way DOES NOT stink and if you ask me is the purest form of poo you can get (can ya tell poo doesn't bother me?! now vomit....blah! no thanks). So after collecting 3 vials, yes THREE...we dropped it off at the lab and the results were negative. Ok, that's great, but why is it still happening? We went back this past Monday for his regular scheduled 4 month check up (do I have a 4 month old already?!) and after some discussion and checking the ear infection on the right is gone, but the left is gearing up for one. Dang! It's obvious by the amount of congestion Calvin normally has that he is dealing with allergies (North TX is horrible for allergies!) and that is causing all the extra fluid and diarrhea. I like this new Doc cause he's more of a naturalist and when I told him about taking big brother JT to the acupressure Doc to get his allergies treated (which by the way his allergies to trees, dogs and grass is near minimal now! Cokey? Yes, but it works!) So we are trying a drug for 10 days on Calvin that has next to zero side effects to see if it will clear up the excess fluid and help alleviate the continuous ear infections we clearly have going on. He did say that if I didn't breastfeed these boys that "they probably would have worse allergies, so try and keep that up." Oh I hate when the pressure is on! I think we'll make an appt with the Pediatric Acupressure gal here very soon. So at the 4 month check up Calvin weighed in at 15 lbs 4 oz 26 inches long. This is more for my long term knowledge than for yours, I guess.

Calvin has some of his 1st and that means that they are mommy's last 1st's....so sad! He had some yogurt last week to help put some of that good bacteria back in his bowels and this week he ate some of mommy's butternut squash. He loves food and kept lunging toward my hand when I would take it to his mouth. So funny! I think he also learned how to make a car sound with his lips from his big brother.

When we were at the Dr getting his check up Jackson slipped off the chair and smacked his head on the edge of it..ouch! I took Jackson in my arms to comfort him and the nice Dr took Calvin to finish checking him all out. Well as Jackson was crying about his head the Dr told me that he noticed Calvin showing concern in his face for his big brother and looking over at him anxiously. awwww!

Calvin's hair is starting to grow in thicker. On the top it is really red and the sides are light blond....it makes him look like he has a mow hawk...hilarious! He plays more in his exersauser thingy that helps him work on standing up, which is one of his favorite things to do. He's getting better at walking when you hold on to him too....he started taking those steps when you held him up at 2 1/2 months. I personally like walkers better than crawlers...the thought of their hands being all over the dirty floor....ewww!

Mommy is coming out of I-just-had-a-baby-so-what-ever-I-can-throw-on-will-work stage and decided to put in the effort and were a pair of wedges with my dress the other day. Jackson is great about not only noticing new things but giving compliments. He looked over at me and said "I like your shoes mommy, I like those little shoes you have on!" T-rav was there to hear it and after saying thank you to my sweet little boy I looked at his daddy, who just rolled his eyes and smiled.