Stream of Conciousness

I wish I had time to blog more.  I wish I had time to catch up on all of the stuff that I should've blogged about.  Instead I think I'll just pick up from here.

I measured my kids' waists tonight.  They are the same.  17 inches.  That's how fat E is/skinny  Gage is.  E is wearing the same swim trunks this summer that Gage did the summer before he was 2.

I hate Windows 8, anyone w/ me?  It's already freaked out on me twice during this post.

It's Memorial Day weekend and it was 55 today...hmm...not very pool like if you ask me.  Good thing I have all summer. 

Gage told me he ate 'antelope' yesterday for lunch.

Gage takes about an hour and a half each night to go to sleep.  AND he doesn't nap at home= cranky kid.  Any suggestions??

I wish I had time to workout, but it's kind of advised not to run after dark if you're a girl, unless you run REALLY fast, which I don't.  If I did, I probably wouldn't need to work out.

I have 17 days of work left 'til August.

I wish I had time to read more.

I really need someone to help me fix the header on this thing so I can have pictures of both my boys.  Can anyone help?

I used to love my slow cooker.  It broke, so I bought a new one. This new one went in the trash Th. pm. after it had burned about its 48th thing.  I thought slow cookers weren't supposed to burn things.  Anyone have one that's not Crock Pot brand they really love?

Gage is funny and cracks us up.

Ezra is a champ at finger foods.

I like posts like this b/c I can write a bunch of stuff down but it doesn't have to make sense or be cohesive.

I have a lot of errands to run, which means money to spend.  I wish I had more money.

Gage went bowling for the 1st time this am.  I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Ok, I think that's it for tonight. 

Bad News...

So as I promised almost 2 weeks ago, I got nothing.  My brand new 3 month old computer blew up a few weeks back and I lost EVERYTHING.  The very special part about that is that I didn't back up this new computer like I did my old one.  I mean, why would I, it was 3 months old?  Why would I think I needed to do such a thing?  Therefore, I have lost all of my pictures from Nov- Jan, the pictures of my baby's 1st Thanksgiving and Xmas.  Forever gone is all of my 'month' pictures with the onesie stickers.  And since we never got around to it, we printed out NONE of those pictures and I blogged next to not at all during those months, so I'm pretty much hosed.  I guess I could be pissed/sad/livid at Sony for making such a POS computer and that now I have to edit all 400+ pictures all over again....did I mention I lost my editing program too??, but I guess instead, I'll just choose to pretend like it didn't happen and move on.  If I can't figure out how to edit these pictures soon, I'll just skip the week in pictures that I missed.  It was bound to happen at some point anyway.  I have to see how far behind I am.  I haven't even written a letter to Ezra and he was 6 months old 9 days ago.  I guess I'll start there, then try to do at least one week in pictures, then update you on whatever else has been going on around here.  I know we did two birthday parties in one weekend and my brother's been in town from CA.  Other than that, I've completely lost track of where I was and quite frankly just don't have the energy to catch up.  I might just have to start over......again. 

Time...

Well time has caught up with me again and it's already Thursday.  I was supposed to blog a ton this week about our awesome weekend trip, my new blog name, begin a giveaway post and advertise for my new affiliate.  But by tomorrow night, we'll be off again, this time to the beach and I probably won't have a reliable connection to keep in touch.  I will try to furiously type and organize my ideas so you guys won't be left in the dark;)

For now, I have to get the clothes washed up again, make my packing list and start packing....AGAIN.  We usually don't go to the beach 'til the week before I go back to school, but being that that's 4 weeks before the baby is due we decided that it might be in our best interest to go now, just in case something happens.  I mean, we couldn't possibly miss the beach!  And so far, it's supposed to be mid 80's every day with 2 days of rain, so I can definitley handle that.  Ok on to those more exciting posts, while trying to do laundry and pack before Gage gets up from his nap.

And what do you know?

It's almost been another 2 weeks since I've written a legit post.  Ah, I'll catch up someday.  So what's been going on here???  I've been taking NO pictures so I can't even share any good ones with you.  I still enjoy reading other people's blogs more than writing in my own.  It's already Thursday and I feel like this week has flown by and gone SOOO SLOW all at the same time.  I've been super busy at work as usual and by the time dinner, bath and bed is done at night, I'm almost ready to turn in myself.  I've been hitting the sack NLT 9pm every night! 

Nana and Grandiddy came to visit this past weekend and it was so nice to have them.  Gage LOVES having them visit and always loves that Nana brings him something new:).  This weekend they got to watch him play teeball (I should try to steal some video from her) and got to play with his trains and tool bench with him.  He and Nana also made some Valentine's Day cookies.  Too bad it wasn't warm enough to make it outside.  Mom and I also got to spend a little QT together and went shopping for her birthday, although she didn't find too much she wanted.  She did get a few new books.  I think I still owe her a little more.....

The weekend went by too quickly as usual and we tried to get a few good photos of Gage and the g-parents, although none turned out well.  Hopefully Nana got a few good ones on her camera.  The rest of this week and last just seem to blend together.  Working my hiney off 'til around 4pm, going to get Gage, running errands or coming home to play for an hour before dinner, bath and bed and it starts all over again.  We're kinda in a rut and I'm itching to get out.  It's been super nice this year for January/February but it's just so inconsistent that it's driving me crazy.  One day will be 30 and the next in the 50's. One day we can play outside and the next we can't.   It won't EVER snow, which of course, as a teacher is pretty depressing.  I have to say I think I'm over the chance and am just ready to move on to Spring time. 

Speaking of Spring time, nothing says Spring like the beach- where Luke and I are headed next weekend, for the 1st time in 6 months!  I'm beyond thrilled!  More to come on that.  So yes, we're still alive, just doing nothing exciting! 

AND I don't think I can think of anything funny to post for tomorrow.  Gage cracks us up every day, I just forget to document the funny things he says!  Have a good weekend!  Tomorrow's Friday!

OMG...

I have totally lost my blogging mojo.  After a month's hiatus in September and my super busyness, I just don't feel like I have it in me anymore.  I'm in a rut, as I have been before.  I have just been so busy that each moment I have free time, I just feel like doing NOTHING.  I'm sure it will pass.  I'd love to blog about our family pictures that we finally got and our pumpkin patch outing today and the things that have been keeping me so busy.....maybe tomorrow I'll be in the mood.  This, too, shall pass......

Babysitters...and why it seems we'll never have one

Babysitters....some are for them at an early age while others, like me, tend to err on my child being at least a year old first.  It's not that I don't trust my friends, if I had any that would've liked to watch him that is, but I just don't trust teenagers.  I work with teenagers all day and leaving my kid with one of them unless VERY CAREFULLY selected isn't something I would want to do.  I have some friends whose brother's sister's mother-in-law recommended this 14 year old and they are fine with that.  I, on the other hand, want them to meet my child, interact with them and I have to know them as well, not just be referred.

In any case, after Gage turned a year old we decided that we would need to find a babysitter if we ever wanted to go out again.  Of course the grandparents are great when they're here, but a) they are not always here, b) they don't live close enough to just drop him off and c) even if they did, they have things they want to do as well.  Enter Babysitter #1:  I have a 20 something coworker who is the most honest, kindest person you could ever meet.  She mentioned that she would love to come over and watch Gage sometime if we ever wanted to go out, even once a week!  However, Gage had never met her (we don't really hang out outside of work) so I wanted them to spend some time together before I left him with her alone.  So as you may remember, I blogged about cleaning out our garage back in April or May and Shari had come over and played with Gage while we did this.  We figured that we would be here if he was nervous or she needed anything but we could still get stuff done.  The day went well, but when it was time for Shari to leave she wouldn't take ANY  money.  Are you kidding me?  She said she couldn't take money from a  friend...remember the MOST honest person alive!  Anyway, I told her we weren't really friends...hah..j/k.  I did tell her that we really wanted her to be our regular babysitter and in that case she HAD to take money.  (She had just told me the week before she was saving up for grad school.)  Anyway, she didn't take the money but Luke and I discussed that we could pay her in gift cards or something else if it came down to it....  Either way, we wanted her to come over this summer to watch Gage and she couldn't just watch him for FREE!  However, because she is the nicest person ALIVE, she volunteered to work at a Christian summer camp in Wyoming and will be gone ALL summer....Exit Babysitter #1.  She probably isn't getting paid for that either!

After we found out she'd be gone all summer, Luke and I started to think of different options.  Then I found out one of my students lived in our neighborhood and got her name and number.  She is a pretty responsible kid but I'm not sure I could trust her 100%, so....I figured she'd be the backup in case we really needed someone.  I also got the name and number of a girl who used to work at Gage's daycare and whom I really liked the few times I met her.  We'd probably still have to re-introduce them, but at least I knew she was certified and took care of kids all the time.  Then...

FINALLY, Enter Babysitter #2:  One of Gage's last days of school before the summer, I mentioned to his favorite daycare provider that we were looking for a babysitter.  She immediately said, 'I'd LOVE to do it!  And that way I get to see him this summer".  My jaw dropped, I figured no chance would she want to do it since she does it all day every day, but I WAS SO thrilled because we LOVE LOVE LOVE her AND Gage is already so comfortable with her and we didn't have to worry about a thing.  A few weeks back I called her to set up a date to take Luke out for his birthday (today) and she said that would be great and I told her I'd get back to her with a time after looking at the movies.  I spoke with her again last weekend to confirm a time, but hadn't talked to her since.  I figured she had written it down and that was that.  As of Thursday I hadn't heard anything but texted her to touch base.  I also called her Friday and Saturday when I hadn't heard anything.  As of yesterday, I had no reason to believe she was going to back out on us.  And then last night when we had heard nothing from her, we realized it was going to happen.  Are you kidding me, I thought.  First, I HATE it when people back out of things and let me know, but it infuriates me if you back out with no warning.   AND did I mention we LOVE her??  I mean, we obviously don't know her personally but we LOVE her at school and had NO idea she would just back out without calling or anything.  I'd really like to believe there's some emergency because I don't feel like she'd do this at all....I am going to be very disappointed if I find out otherwise.  I was planning on taking him to school one day this week anyway and it will be pretty awkward if she's there and has no good explanation!  I mean, why would his teacher do this?  It's not like she'll never see us again....weird, very weird.  Anyway, Exit Babysitter #2.

Now, after all that, we didn't get to go out for Luke's birthday today.  (Good thing we didn't have REAL plans.)  And we are no farther along in the babysitter search than before.  Not sure we will ever get there.....

Hope you're having a good Sunday!

Let Freedom Ring, Let the Whole World Sing...

It's Independence Day!  As we celebrate our independence, I want to thank of all the servicemen and women past and present that have fought for this very liberty. 

Today was much different than our usual 4ths.  I have to say I was slightly disappointed.  For the last at least 5 years, we have gathered with good friends of ours to celebrate the 4th and it has always been tradition.  This year, however, they were out of town and therefore, we were left high and dry.  We will be celebrating with them on Saturday- kind of a belated 4th, if you will.  In any case, we didn't do too much today- ran some errands, took naps and hung out with our some of our other good friends and their family.  We hadn't seem them in a while so it was nice to visit with them, but Chinese food just isn't a part of my usual 4th of July.  I did make my yummy Kahlua cake though, I am saving my special 4th of July dessert for Jamie and Brad's on Saturday.  Maybe I'll share the recipe with you, if I'm feeling up for it.  As far as the rest of the night, we're pretty tired in this house.  Gage hasn't slept the best lately and it's catching up to us.  I, unfortunately, won't be seeing any fireworks tonight, which if you know me, is pretty disappointing in itself.  Maybe I'll be selfish and hope for rain!  J/K.

Tomorrow is the Little Gym, a DC marathon (I'll fill you in on that later), Wed. is a kids concert and swim class, Thursday is the  premiere of BIG BROTHER and Friday, Daddy is off work!  A busy week and so much to blog about!  Happy 4th of July!  Gage had a pretty cute shirt for today, but not sure I got any good pictures.