Making Myself Blog

I'm sorry I took another unscheduled break again. My very dear online friend's (Katie) 7 year old son is going to be with Jesus any time now and when I sit down at the computer, first I have to check for any updates on Jakie. Then I pray. Then I'm sad. And then when I try to type about my days with my boys it just all sounds kinda silly. I've been editing and uploading pictures to my account, but when it comes time to type, well, I just couldn't do it right.

However, today I'm making myself.

But please, if you aren't already, pray for peace for sweet little Jake. And strength for his family...he has 5 sibilings too.

See...now I feel like anything I say is just foolish. Maybe I'll stick with mostly pictures.

Okay, well, the boys have new carseats. Dalton indeed outgrew his infant carrier:


So we headed to Babies R Us for a new seat for him. But the one we wanted (based on my expert pal Jessica's advice) wouldn't fit in our car next to Easton's (they're both very wide seats) so we passed E's seat down to D:


(This seat will expire next year anyway so we'll need something new then).

And Easton got a new seat for himself:


Side note to Jess: Um, I know you're in the middle of trying to deliver a baby right now and everything, but when you're back checking blogs and all...are Dalton's straps set too high? They are, aren't they?


My two dudes:


Easton's has a cup and snack holder which he is excited about. The bad thing is that it sits lower in the car so it's harder for him to see out the window. Oh well. He'll grow.

So in other recent happenings, Easton has begun to ask to wear his Buzz Lightyear Halloween costume. Thanks again, Junie!

This is Easton's "hands on hips" pose. I show him what to do and this Chicken Dance stance is his interpretation. Goober. It's not just a one time thing...when I say "pose!" this is it:




I guess it's better to see Buzz in action, for example, pushing the "fly" button on his utility belt:


It must really work because check out the height E, I mean Buzz, gets on this jump:


"To infinity and beyond!!!"


Even Space Rangers gotta eat:


It's not always such a happy thing for E to be in costume. We've let him wear it out...to dinner at Cracker Barrel or shopping at Kohl's or Dollar Tree. But he is very particular about it at times and will burst into tears because, "Me boot is wrong!" or "Fix me sleeve!" He insists that the sleeves be rolled up just so. He has to be able to see all of the red button printed on the arm. Or he has become fastidious about any stray strings and insits I cut away anything longer than about 1/8". We have had some discussions about this and that if the costume is not making him happy...

...then it's time to take it off.

E keeps asking for Dalton to wear his Superman costume too but I think he's pretty super without it:










Still making his scrunchy face:




And Little D initiates peek-a-boo sometimes now.




He was in such a fun mood right then, I took about 30 pictures just like these. I'm not kidding:






Jason and I went to that company Christmas party:





Easton was the only kid awake for picture time. But isn't he so adorable? He wanted to pose. Didn't even need to work for those smiles!

So, it was way yucky to be back at the spot of my first marriage. There were just way too many wrong memories. Jason led me straight to the bar and then luckily there was a new room they had built on. And most of the party took place in there. Woo! When I got married there it was a porch. But now it's a nice big room where all the tables were. I still had to go back through the place to get to the buffet and stuff which was way icky. And I steered clear of the bathroom the entire night, thank you very much. But I was able to tell Jason exactly how to get there. I didn't think it would be as ick as it was. I was kind of surprised it bothered me like it did. Oh well. It was still a very nice time and my boys did amazing with Gramoo and Lauren. Yippee!

I guess I've got a few more random pictures to get you all caught up from my time away...

Playing a pop-goes-the-weasel type game in the laundry baskets...




I thought Easton looked way cute eating his doughnuts like this:


We've done okay having the tree up. Easton is not allowed to touch the ornaments anymore (since he broke a childhood favorite of J's--which we superglued). And we put up this "barrier" for D:










Oh...and it snowed over the weekend. Me and the little dudes went to play at Ellis's house while J did some work 'round the house. Max came over to play today. And I discovered Dalton's 5th tooth already mostly through in his mouth. He has been soooo cranky (for him) the last few days, including the middle of the night a night or two ago. Now I know why. I was worried his temprement was changing. Nooooo!

That's everything.

You're all caught up...even on my semi-unintentional reasons for staying away. But please...

Photo Session with E & T

Easton went to Max's 3rd birthday party on Sunday so he "dressed up" (as dressy as you can be in jeans). I made him let me take some pictures of him. There were a ton of cute ones because he can be so darn expressive and silly. But I picked these two for your viewing pleasure:




So when I called this post, "Photo session with E & T" are you wondering if I really meant "T" and who that might be?


T for Tato Head

Easton wanted pictures of him too. So we posed him. And then E tickled him to get some good smiles:


Pose!


Not that this is all that great of a picture, but I like how his arm is wrapped around Tato Head...


Ready to go!


I found him to be particularly delightful at the party. I was especially proud to be his mom. He got to eat two cupcakes...because Zannah hides veggies in everything...they had pumpkin in them. And they were delish!

Dalton and Daddy stayed home.


And celebrating when we learned with all the upsets in football this weekend that LSU is going to the Championship game after all:

It's not for awhile, but Geaux Tigers!

Life with my boys! Love it!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

We pulled out the decorations last night. We have the world's saddest tree. This will be his last year with us. I married into this thing. With as much as Jason's ex loves to shop I'm surprised this is all they had...then again she liked to travel for the holidays and anytime in between. But that's another story...

Here is Jason and Dalton starting with the lights:


My Diddle Cole checking out his very first Christmas tree:


We only have one pair of these so they made the rounds...



Well, they made the rounds till Dalton pulled off a pair of jingle bells which Jason had to pry from his mouth. Eek!

He looks more like an elf than Santa:


This is also probably the last year for our star too:


Checking out the tree some more:


Trying to pose:


My Nutcracker collection...I think I'm blocking this year's addition...the M&M we got in Kansas City:


Jason said, "I need something festive" and put on these antlers. Then felt the urge to scratch them on the tree. Very authentic.


Now that the lights were on it was time for the ornaments. We have a tradition to get a new ornament for everyone each year. My mom got the boys their ornaments this year. This is Easton's...

And this is Dizzle's:




Eassie Bug got to hang his first:




Then Dizz:




Then we, but mostly E, went to town hanging some other stuff. I just wasn't as into it this year. Probably because of our sad little tree.

Hanging things on the tree reminded me of last year when my sister handed Easton some gift bags to put under the tree and he hung them on the tree. Good times.

Little D has a pout going on. He was so frustrated he couldn't pull up on the ornament tote...it kept tipping over instead:


At one point Easton said, "I just need to take a rest"

Whatever dude.

Daddy and Diddle:


And the finished product. But nothing to really say, "Ta Da!" over. :(


We're thinking of trying to get a tree for next year once the sales start. For some reason I'm bucking for a pre-lit tree, even though I'm not the one that does the lights. I just want a nice full tree that's not skinnier than me. :)

Outfit Dilemma

Jason's company Christmas party is coming up. It's going to be at a place called the Dove House. I went and bought some new stuff at Kohl's to wear:

I was thinking of pairing it with a skirt but I'm not sure it's going to be formal enough as the last time I went to an event at the Dove House I wore this:


So you're thinking to yourself, "Wait a sec! I thought they got married on the beach."

Well yes. Yes we did.

So that means I have to go back to where I got married the first time.

*groan*

Jason is joking with his co-workers that they should get some drinks in us and watch us fight. Obviously that is a joke.

I'm so glad we're able to joke and discuss our previous lives. But, it will still feel weird to be back there.

Making Do

Until Santa comes (hopefully with drums in tow), Easton has come up with a temporary solution. Apparently while I was "out" yesterday he came up with this set up and idea completely on his own.

We love it.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Therein Lies the Problem(s)...

Yesterday Dalton woke up and nursed at 7:30 in the morning. He had "breakfast" of about 3 Tbsp. pureed banana mixed with 2 Tbsp. baby oatmeal. While I was out enjoying my pampering Jason was able to get 4 ounces of milk into him. It reportedly took some work to get it all in there. He also shoved (per my request) a few bites of green beans in him too. That teeny amount held him till 4:30 p.m. when I nursed him for the few minutes he was willing. That is 4 ounces in 9 hours. Nine! A "normal" baby his age and size would've probably had around 16 ounces. Plus solids!

Today Dalton woke up and nursed at 7:00 a.m. He had the exact same breakfast as yesterday. Jason could only get Dalton to take 2 1/2 ounces of milk. He didn't even offer any solids (I didn't ask him to). Again, that wee bit of milk got him till 4:00 p.m. when he nursed for 4 minutes. He usually averages about 3 minutes. Again, he went 9 whole hours on 2.5 ounces of milk.

You might think, well, it's clear he just doesn't like the bottle. No. This does not seem to be the case. He takes 6-8 ounces no problem at bedtime and in the night (if Jason feeds him). He just doesn't like to eat if it's light out or something.

The doctor said he should be getting 4 Tbsp. of cereal, 4 Tbsp. fruit, and 4 Tbsp. veggies every day. As well as a minimum of 24 ounces of milk. I'd guess he's probably drinking that much milk per 24 hours, but a lot of it in the night. He is definitely not getting what he "needs" in the way of solids yet. She said we can start proteins now too. Is that in addition to his other requirements or in lieu of? *sigh*

What am I supposed to do?

Post-Pamper Pics

Y'all asked...

I have crap skin so the facial doesn't give me an immediate glow, rather very red and angry skin. But here are the hair and nails we took yesterday after AJ asked:





I will be cutting my hair soon. I always say this. Then Jason says, "I like it long." And I go, "Really? You think my hair with no style that I do nothing to looks nice when you come home at the end of the day?" And he says it looks nice when I do it. Which is all of maybe 4 times a year. And by "do" it means straighten.

I'm getting so sick of my hair. It's starting to forget how to be curly/wavy which really makes it ick. I'm hoping losing some of the length will help it remember.

The other problem is I can never find a hair dresser that I love.

Wah.

Cloud 9

That's where I was.

For my birthday (back in July) Jason gave me a gift certificate for a spa package with the explanation of, "You do so much for us we want you to feel pampered too." Love that kind of stuff and today I finally got around to taking advantage of it all.

Ahhhhhh.

Jason of course watched the boys while I went to the little salon in Boulder. First I got an hour long massage followed by an hour long facial. Lovely. Then they gave me the little lunch I'd ordered and I ate a delicious gourmet BLT with a side of sweet tea. Yum!

After that it was onto a pedicure and manicure and then a hair style.

It was perfect.

And I really liked how they had my day laid out...saving the nails for after lunch and the massage where I wouldn't have to worry about them getting messed up. And then the shampoo and style to get all the massage oil and facial scrubs out of my tresses. I had my hair blown straight because that's just something I rarely do.

I loved it. It was such a great day and nice to have some time just for me.

Jason doesn't like to repeat gifts too often ("I don't want to get you clothes for Christmas, I got you that for your birthday"). But I wouldn't mind a repeat like this!

I'm making him take me and my fancy hair and nails to dinner tonight so they don't go to waste. :)