Rocking The Mini-Van

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-07-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

Black Mail

My 1st night away from Boppers

2010-07-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well everybody I survived my first night away from Boppers. I only cried a little bit when we left him at his Grands house. But once we got there, I was much better.

Hubs and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past weekend by taking a trip to Tunica, MS with some friends. We stayed in a really nice casino hotel, the Horseshoe. By far the favorite part of the trip (except just spending time Paula Deens Buffet located inside Harrahs Casino. If you live anywhere close to Tunica, it is so worth the drive. It was 100x better than her restaurant in Savannah. There was so much food we ate until we were almost sick. Every recipe she has ever made on her show just about was on a buffet. So Paula Deens Buffet is a must and we will be coming back.

This was Hubs and mines first time to a casino and for gambling period. Oh boy was it an experience! We took $50 a piece and that was all we were going to spend. Well that lasted for a couple of hours bc all we knew how to play was the slots and we were to scared to play anything higher than the nickel slots. But seriously we spent $100 and had nothing to show for it.

There were people there dropping 1000's of dollars and losing it. We were just amazed that people can blow that much money. I need to be doing what those people are doing bc I have lots of better things that I could do with my money. The other thing that amazed us was the amount of handicapped and elderly people there. I mean everywhere you looked there was walkers and wheelchairs. I think that if you have to have a walker then you dont need to be at a casino blowing lots of money. Just my opinion.

Getting to Know You

2010-07-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

This is my first getting to know you but after seeing the questions, I knew I had to join over at Mann Land5.

1. Thong or Granny Panties? Well lets see b4 I had Boppers it was nothing but thongs but now that I have a mommy gut, I wouldnt say granny panties but boy shorts

2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him? only if its my hubs bc I dont need to be looking at any other guys crotch

3. Spanx or no Spanx? I just bought my first pair of Spanx and umm yea they are amazing.

4. Do you sleep in your sheets? Yes I do, Jersey Knit to be exact

5. What is your favorite Disney character? Iwould have to say mini mouse

6. Dream vacation spot? I would love to go to the Bahamas to one of those all inclusive resorts

7. What is your dream job? Stay at home mom

8. Who is your hero and why? Believe it or not, I dont really have a hero. Lots of people to look up to but no one that I would just say was my hero.

My letter to SuperNanny

2010-07-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Super Nanny,

I just want to let you know that your back to bed method doesnt work. I have tried it for a week now and still no success. I have done exactly what you said to do and still no sleeping thru the night in his big boy bed. I mean how many times does it take bc on the show after like an hour the kids are snoozing away in their own bed.

Last night after sitting with my back to him and not acknowledging his screams he finally fell asleep (after 45 min of crying) at 8:45 pm. He then slept till about 1am so I told him it was bedtime and escorted him back to his room where once again I would sit with my back to him as he screamed for 30 min b4 konking out. I tip toe back to my bed and as soon as my eyes shut, I hear his door open and screams coming from his room. So once again I repeat the process. Same thing happens again and by this time its like 2:30 in the morning and mommy is pooped (daddy is no help bc he has to work he says...ughh dont get me started). Once again I repeat the process without saying a word to him this time. I mean seriously doesnt everybody know 3rd times a charm so its gonna work this time, right??? 3:15 I once again hear screams coming from his room and this time here he comes into our room. By this point I am begging him to go lay in his bed. Doesnt work so I take him by the hand back to his room. This time Im not sure who fell asleep first me or him. I woke up in the floor and it is almost 5am. So I creep back to my bed and try to sleep. Hubs alarm goes off at 5:50. By 6 here comes Bopper back to our room screaming.

So Super Nanny what do you think about your dumb back to bed method now, yep it doesnt work. I think you need to come to my house and try to make up a new method.

Thanks,
A Very sleepy Mom

Party Pictures

2010-07-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

Birthday Boy (he was so excited about the balloons)

Opening presents (we can officially build or farm anything lol)

The food table

The cake

What you saw as you pulled up in our driveway! Boppers big boy toys

Recovering from the party aftermath

2010-07-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

So the party is over with. Weeks of planning and preparing were over within 2 hours. All that was left was a bunch of trashbags filled with wrapping paper, tissue paper, and toy boxes. Then the fun begins with all the clean up. I mean 10 little kids in your house plus family means crumbs and toys everywhere.

So the past 2 days we have spent trying to remove all the balloons, streamers and cupcake crumbs from the floors. Oh and trying to recover our brains from John Deere overload.

But the main thing is that Boppers had a blast. He was so excited to have all his friends over. (this was the first party he has had that we invited other little ones) He loved all the gifts and did his new excited squeal with everything he opened. He got lots of tractors and "dump dumps" (bop language for construction equipment). Luckily we only had to return 2 gifts but I did re-gift one of the doubles he got. lol

Lots of pictures to come tommorow for my wordless wednesday post.

Writers block

2010-07-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

So today I am having a major writers block. I start typing a post, then i re-read it and it sounds like crap so hello delete. Right now we have a lot going on bc well July is a big month for us. We moved into our new home last July, Boppers bday is in July, and on the 28th hubby and I have been married for 3 years. See told ya, July is a good month for us lol

Today we are getting ready for the big party tommorow. Finishing up cleaning the house, getting the decorations ready, etc. I need to tie a string on my finger so I remember to take lots of pics tommorow. Bc these are the moments that I hope to preserve forever.

Ok now I am rambling so I will stop typing and get back to cleaning. I promise lots of pics to go up Sunday!!

Today my Baby turns 2!

2010-07-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry for another pic post but we have a special day planned for Boppers 2nd bday today. It is hard to believe that my baby is 2 today. I have enjoyed every milestone and I look forward to the next ones.

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-07-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

The picture says it all as to how interesting my day is everyday. Never a dull moment bc this is what he does while I was changing the sheets on his bed.

Peer Pressure already??

2010-07-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I took Boppers to daycare so he could play with his friends bc he is now at the age where he asks for them. Well on the way home, he said "Myles baby". I answered him with "why is myles a baby?" He said "poop pants".

I told him well are you a baby too bc you poop in your pants. He said "Bop Baby, Myles baby" Now the best part is refuses to wear a pull up and asks for a diaper bc he is a baby.

I was like great, he usually does so good in his pull up. The other child is almost 3 so they are fixing to start potty training with him but right now he is still in diapers. So Bop has alread succumb to the peer pressure of an older child and wants to be like him. Oh me, he trys to be so grown up even though he isnt even 2 yet. Where did my baby go??

1st Annual Blog Bash

2010-07-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll!

Welcome to Rocking the MiniVan! Thanks to Not Your Average Teen for puttin on this great Blog Bash! I am a young mother to an almost 2 year old and a wife to a great man. I blog about lots of things going on in our crazy lives such as party planning, my off the wall family and friends, my sons allergies and asthma, and as you can imagine all the crazy things my 2 year old gets into and says. I look forward to meeting and finding some new great blogs.

1. Why do you blog? I blog bc it is a great way to talk with other people who are going thru the same trials and exciting things that I am going through. It is also like a giant support group.

2. What do you blog about? As I said earlier, I blog on a wide range of things from allergies and asthma to cute things my lil guy does.

3. What do you find is the greatest reward of blogging? I would have to say my mommy support group aka my bloggy friends.

4. How long have you been blogging? I havent been blogging long, just since March. So I am a newbie lol

5. Story behing my blog title. I am only 26 with one child and I drive a minivan. My friends all gave me a hard time when I turned down a Tahoe for my Dodge Grand Caravan. Until they saw all the great space and such good gas mileage. So they kidded me that I was rocking the minivan.

Party Planning Week has begun..

2010-07-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

So this is the big week that Bop turns the big 2!! So everything is ordered, and invite are sent out. Now its on to deep cleaning our house b4 30 someodd people arrive this coming Saturday for the dirt bash. I wanted to have it strictly outside so that way I didnt have to worry about anyone destroying our house but yea well its a scorching 90 something around these parts, so I have decided being the good hostess I am that I would let people come inside.

Here are a some of the great stuff I have gotten for his party so far.

1. His invites. They were made by the awesome JessaZG.

2. I found these great party favors on Etsy. It is homemade sidewalk paint already packaged cute and everything. Go check out Sidewalk Sensations

I will be posting pictures of the events leading up too and of course the big day this week.

Baby Shower Drama

2010-07-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Background: Hubs cousin is having a baby in late August. We hang out with them once in a blue moon.

Fast Forward to about 2 months ago: I asked Hubs aunt (baby mommas mom) if her family was going to give her a baby shower and if they were then I would like to help bc there wasnt enough people on our side of the family to give her one. She says no they arent, that she was just going to have one shower and I should contact BB (code name).

Fast Forward to this month: I get a voicemail from BB saying I owe $35 for Hubs cousins shower. That there budget was only $500 (who spends that kind of money on a baby shower). I was shocked bc I didnt know anything about babyshower. I call her back and leave a message that I wouldnt be sending her any money.

Today: I get a facebook message (darn that facebook) from BB saying I need to send her $35 for baby shower. I send her one back saying I am confused as to why I owe her $35. Very rudly she responds by saying somebody told her I wanted to help.

My response was first off why would I want to help with a shower that I was not involved in the planning of or knew anything about. Secondly, BB you know what they say when you assume something. So please dont assume that bc somebody said I wanted to help means I am helping. Since the first convo with Hubs aunt, my MIL and I have decided to go in together and get her a gift. Once again another reason, I am not helping with the shower.

Ahh drama, which seems to follow BB. (Her child used to go to daycare with Boppers but had to be asked to leave bc she kept making herself throw up) Do I feel bad for not helping?? Um no bc she didnt help with my shower nor did she even come to my shower.

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-07-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

If there is any doubt that my lil Boppers isnt all boy, I will show you his pics from our playtime outside this week.

Yep that would be his mud mustache. Muddy Hitler lol

Making more mud.

A boy and his dog.

Facebook can be dangerous...to your marriage

2010-07-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Im back finally, Boppers still isnt sleeping thru the night but it has gotten some better.

Ok, ever since this happened I have been writing the blog post in my head. About a week ago, my Hubs was on Facebook and a woman who he used to work with at the school system here (keep in mind she still works there) sent him a chat message asking for a favor.

Being the computer techie guy he is, he gets lots of can you fix my computer questions but this one was out of the ordinary. She asked if there was any way to unsend an email. So Hubs told her that once she hit that send button there is no way to retrive it back.

Now to the best and most concerning part, was then the lady began to spill why she wanted to know that question. (I think she just wanted to talk to someone) She had been surfing Facebook and found her old high school boyfriend. First off this lady is married and has been for years. After finding her ex boyfriend on Facebook she sent him a email that she said she regrets.

Hello lady, your married and so is the exboyfriend. So why would you even think of emailing him. Once she sent the email, she was worried that his wife would come kick her butt so she wanted to try to keep him from getting the email.

People Facebook can be dangerous, to your reputation and your marriage. Be careful how you use it.

Ok so that was my Public Service Announcement for the day!

MIA in the bloggy world

2010-07-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have been missing in action the past couple of days but I promise to be back going strong next week. Between all the events during the holiday weekend and Boppers not sleeping at night (yep he is up right now laying next to me as I type and its 10:07pm). I have been using nap time to get things done and at night when I lay down I just crash.

For some reason, Boppers wont stay in his bed and comes into our room at all hours of the night. We have been trying the Super Nanny method of taking him back to his bed but it isnt working. Anybody else going thru the same thing or have any tips how we can keep him in his bed at night??

Boppers picks up the ladies

2010-06-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

So my almost 2 year old, has officially become a ladies man. He has girlfriends everywhere we go. He has one at walmart, one at the pharmacy, and everywhere else.

I mean what can I say, he is cute and very witty for a 2 year old.

He know even has pick up lines..."hellwo ladies, woo woo" then he gives them the magic wink with both eyes.

If this is any indication of whats to come, then we are in big trouble. Ive already told him that if I didnt like the girl he brought home, I was going to tell her to go home. No hoochies in low cut shirts and booty shorts allowed at our house. Hopefully he will be a better judge of character and we wont have to deal with him bringing home a girl like that.

Well Boppers just walked into our room (he was supposed to be asleep for the night) so Im gonna have to call it short tonite. More to come about "No Hoochies in our house rule"

To cloth diaper or not...

2010-06-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who just found out that she is having twins. She is contemplating the differences between cloth and disposables and needs some advice from other mommies.

We used disposables for Boppers (yep we helped make a hole in the ozone layer) so I gave her my pros and cons list for those but she is wanting to know the pros and cons of cloth diapers.

She is a single mom and she is only 20 years old (yes she is gonna need lots of prayers and support). So becides cloth being cheaper in the long run, what are the other benefits and dont be shy what are the cons as well?

Also, if you have any other tips and advice for her about twins, single mothers,etc please feel free to comment or email me jlbhowell@gmail.com.

Thanks girlies, I told her that yall rocked and could totally give her advice.

My baby is getting big...

2010-06-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

Today I came to the realization that my baby is almost 2. It just hit me like a ton of bricks.

What happened to this sweet tiny little baby? Where did the past 2 years go??

I blinked my eyes and he was stitting up. (yes that would be spit up on his outfit, hello I told you I was a reflux warrior)

Then I went to sleep woke up and he turned 1.

Now he is getting ready to turn 2. ~tears, tears~ Everybody always told you that your kids grow up so fast but you dont believe them until you have kids of your own. Then you look back and say they were right. I dtry to take tons and tons of pictures so I can remember everything but then sometimes I leave the camera at home (kick myself). We have thought about getting a video camera but were not sure if we would use it enough to justify buying one.

How do ya'll capture all your lil ones precious moments?

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-06-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to show off my pictures of our wonderful Hilton Head vacay! Oh I wish we were still there.

On our way to the pool.

Playing at the mall

Family pic the night b4 we left

Its 100 degrees outside, dont leave your kids in the car~ A mothers rant

2010-06-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today I am on my soapbox so please excuse me!

So here in TN it is so stinking hot! Everyday it has been in the upper 90's with the heat index above 100 degrees. No its normally not this hot in this part of this area in mid-June (which means I dread what July and August has in store for us).

So heres my soapbox speech, Parents and guardians of children, PLEASE whatever you do, dont let your children play in the car or leave them in car for any amount of time. I am so upset bc while watching the nightly news, it was like a list of young children that had died in cars bc of the heat.

1. Toddlers Death in Car
2. Child dies in Hot Car

Those 2 were both just within an hour or so drive of where I live.

I mean, what are parents thinking??? Thats the point, I dont think they are thinking at all. You know how hot it is and would you want to be left in a hot car. Then hello dont leave your little child in the car!!!!

Ok Im stepping down from my soapbox for today. But promise me, peeps use common sense when it comes to your children!

Sweet Moments on Fathers Day

2010-06-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

So I have to tell you the sweet moment that melted my and Hubbys heart.

With Sunday being Fathers Day, Boppers and I got up early and were going to surprise Hubby with donuts and choc. milk for bfast in bed. So we start getting ready and I had told Bop that today was Daddys special day and that we were going to surprise him.

So after getting ready, Bop goes into our bedroom and opens the drawer to pull out one of Hubbys old wallets. Then he goes to the drawer where we keep our spare change and fills his wallet up with change. While doing this he tells me that, he pays for daddys prize (aka surprise). I know, I know he gets his sweetness from me lol

But wait it gets sweeter, we go to the store and get our donuts. I set him on the counter to pay and he pulls out his wallet and begins counting his change (2, 3, 6, 9 ok so we need to work on numbers) and the whole time he is saying " I pay, daddys prize".

Oh man, I wanted to burst into tears right there. Boppers knew he loved his daddy and HE wanted to do something special for him. That was the best gift we could ever give Hubby bc Boppers did it himself.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday Blog Hop Time-Its a Social Parade

2010-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks everybody for stopping by my blog today! Please leave me a comment if you found me from a Blog Hop so I can follow you back!! Hope you enjoy!

Mommy Separation Anxiety

2010-06-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

First off today, I just wanted to thank all my followers today for being such awesome bloggy friends.!!!

Ok so, Boppers has been going through some severe Mommy anxiety for the past couple of months. Not to sound like a "bad mom" but its a blessing and curse. Now I will explain that statement.

Its a blessing bc I love the fact the he wants and needs me so bad. I am so thankful that he is "mommys boy" and I wouldnt have it any other way. I love making his boo-boos better and cuddling with him at night b4 bedtime.

But, sometimes I just wish he would let his daddy change his diaper or fix his cup. He screams and crys everytime I drop him off at daycare even though I know 10 min after I leave he stops crying and plays. I cant get anything done around the house, I even have to cook with him on my hip (which really wears a mommy out).

Not to mention, I am also kinda concerned bc he wont even play by himself. I have to be down in the floor with him. I dont want him to become super dependent. Or be that 12 year old kid that is still hiding under mommys skirt.

Sorry folks I had to vent today bc sometimes I just get overwhelmed.

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-06-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

The day after we got home from vacay we went and got Bops new pup pup, Hoss. He he had to hold him the whole ride home.

We ate at the famous Paula Deen resturant. It was good but not worth the long wait.

He loved "cooking" in the sand. We made cheese everyday lol

This was Ben's 1st experience at the ocean. At first he was sort of timid but then he didnt want to leave the "wa-wa"

Exczema

2010-06-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ok so while we were on vacation, Boppers had an outbreak of exczema. All under his arms, on his thighs, on his chest, and even on the palms of his hands. I dont know what caused the outbreak, could be the heat (but oh wait its hotter at home than it was at the beach), an allergy to something, who nows???

He has had exczema before but never this bad.

This is what his hands look like, yuck right??

It itches so bad that it wakes him up at night. The dr gave him some cream and prescrition of a benedryl type med to help with itching. But I dont want him on all this meds, so does anybody have any tips about exczema??

Back to the real world

2010-06-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!

I am finally back to the real world today after a week long vacation in Hilton Head, SC! To follow up on my previous post about my fear of the really long car ride with the Boppers, He did great!! We left out Saturday morning at 2am hoping he would sleep till like 7 (his normal wake up time) and this would have 5 hours of driving in behind us. Well, that didnt work lol. The lil toot only slept like 45 min on the whole ride of 10hours. I think he was so excited about the beach and there was so many things to see (i mean he might miss something wonderful if he fell asleep right??). Other than not sleeping, he did better than I could have asked for.

We stopped about every couple of hours and let him run around. So our normal 10 hour drive actually took us like 14 hours. But that was ok bc in that whole time we only had like 1 meltdown. My tip for fellow mommys who are fixing to travel with little ones is 1st stop and let them stretch their legs and 2nd I took an old back pack and filled it with little toys, snacks, and coloring books so when he would get tired of something I would just pull out another surprise.

Oh and did I mention we didnt even turn on our dvd players!!

Well anyways Im glad to be back home so I can sleep in my own bed but I do miss the beach!

Meet a new Blogger...mommyofaladybug

2010-06-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

Babies Babies Everywhere

We have a one year old. She is the best thing God has ever done for us! She is our world. Now the questions becomes, When is the next one to come? I used to always say I never wanted my kids to be to close in age. My sister and I were 2 years apart growing up and had an awful relationship. I didn’t want my kids to go through that. Then in the last 2 months we have a new niece, a best friend had a baby, and so on and so on. Its babies babies everywhere!!!! It gives you (me) baby fever! All I think about now is babies. Then to myself I start saying, “Is it to soon? Would they get along? Maybe it’s a sign!.....” So how do you know when it is right to start planning for another child?

I tried to talk to the husband and see what his thoughts were and he says the infamous husband saying, “Whatever you think honey. I will go along with it.” In my head I am saying but will he really or is this his way of telling me ok drop it I said what you wanted me to now next topic. Haha I love him but that he does sometimes.

Then I talk to friends … Friend # 1 says, “Another One? Really? One is enough!” (She has a bad pregnancy and delivery that makes her think that way. She isn’t against kids or anything. Lol) Friend #2 says, “Oh now! My brother and I were a year and half apart and we got along great and were so close.” Friend #3 says, “ At least 2 more years. They need to be spaced out. Think about the future. Cars, Proms, and College.” So friends = no help! Everyone has great points (Except for the just have one. I definitely want another one!)

So then came family… Family = DRAMA Enough said!!!!!!

So the lingering question how soon is to soon to have another child after your first one?? Blogging may be the best way to get a helpful answer. We will see….

Awesome guest post from JessaZG

2010-06-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

CRAFT RAGE: A LETTER TO PRECUT FOAM STICKER SHAPES

Dear Precut Foam Sticker Shapes,

Hi, how are you? Good? That’s nice. Anything new? I heard your selection

of shapes and themes has extended, congratulations if that’s true.

Enough with the small talk, I am writing you for a reason. As you well

know, the two of us have never really been close. I’ve always been

standoffish about how you look and feel, not to mention the colors you are

available in (do you even know that there are these things called earth

tones? Why do you insist on staying within the obnoxious neon color

range?) Adding to that my issue with stickers, I will not call it a fear,

I am not afraid of stickers, I don’t like them, I never had. To say I fear

stickers would be to say I run from them, I do not run, I just ask very

nicely, yet firmly, that no, I would not like a sticker. I have a good

reason for not liking stickers too. Have you ever looked at the back of a

sticker? All that hair and dirt and uh, ew. Just ew. No thank you.

Sorry, back to the topic at hand, I don’t like you. There I said it. I

have always danced around the issue with parents and teachers because they

chose to buy tubs of you in various themes to use for craft projects, but

I am done playing. Precut Foam Sticker Shapes, I will no longer be

indifferent to your existence, no, I will say it loud, I think you are

horrible.

You are horrible the way Heather (the brunette one) in Heathers was

horrible. A scheming popularity climber joyful at the death of your craft

friend glitter, you step in and put on the red scrunchy of being colorful

and so easy to use and you convinced people that you were the way to make

a project easy and look good.

You take advantage of mothers and teachers who want a child’s craft to

look the way the real thing looks. To take away the game of guessing if a

drawing is of a dog or a tree. You and your precut smugness have taken

away creativity!

Okay I may be going a little to far in saying that, but seriously, what

use are you? How do you improve art? What do you teach kids other than how

to remove the backing from a sticky thing? No matter how hard I try, I

cannot think of one thing you do to improve a craft project.

Now I know most kids like stickers (me being the exception as previously

discussed) God knows why, but children are drawn to sticky things like

moths to the flame. Sticky things, glitter, led lights and nail polish.

But that does not mean their sticky fetish should be addressed through

overpriced poorly colored pieces of foam.

Do you know how mad I got when one of the kids gave me her art folder from

school and 85% of the work was paper with a bunch of foam stickers? Do

you? You are assisting in project laziness and I’m sorry, but art projects

are not that hard to think of. Really.

See Precut Foam Sticker Shapes; see how ragey you make me? Can you taste

my pointless rage? My problem is that people are going with all these

prepackaged crafts instead of just letting kids at it to do their own

thing. I hate that there is this Martha Stewart mentality of things

needing to look nice (but I don’t hate you Martha, YOU are my hero, we

would get along, call me?) If you want something to look nice do it

yourself. If you are concerned about junior using crayons or paint or

markers because you don’t want those things to end up on the wall,

SUPERVISE THEM or better yet, MAKE SURE THEY KNOW WHERE THEY CAN AND

CANNOT WRITE and have a can of paint around to patch things.

Sorry, I totally got off topic there. This letter is to inform you, Precut

Foam Sticker Shapes, that I will no longer keep my hatred of you quiet.

You suck.

Regards,

Jessa zg

Life before children..

2010-06-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

So we are on vacation on the beautiful Hilton Head Island and having the best time ever!!!

Well, we are with another couple and they are newly married with no children. Hubby and I have been cracking up at the differnce between us and them. We are usually up and going by at the latest 8:00am (we are at the beach by 9) and well 9 rolls around, then 10. Finally the other couple wakes up. I dont even remember the last time I slept that late.

Now its time to get ready to get dressed and go out. I can get Boppers and myself dressed and ready to go (showers and everything) all before they even have their clothes on. If I had that much time to get dressed, I dont know what I would do with myself.

Ohh the days before children. I wouldnt go back to those days for anything (ok maybe I would like some more sleep) because Boppers is the best thing that ever happend to us.

Guest post coming soon!!

leaving for the Beach!

2010-06-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

We will be leaving for the beach at 2am Saturday!!!

I have 2 guest bloggers that will keep the blogging going while Im relaxing on the beach. Your going to love them!!! One of them is JessaZG. She is so freaking awesome and oh so talented. If you havent already checked out her art, you need to go buy some. http://www.jessazg.com/

The other one is one of my close friends here in this small town I call home. She has never blogged before but I am trying to get her to start. I told her that all cool moms should blog. So we have to show her how awesome the bloggy world is. She has the cutest lil girl you will ever see, too.

If you dont already follow me on Twitter (@rockingthevan), you should start bc I will be tweeting the whole way about how Boppers is making it in the van for almost 10 hours. I also promise to post some pictures up while we're there of how wonderful the beach is (jealous???).

Hope everyone has a good week!!

Steriod Meds

2010-06-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so if you didnt already know my lil guy has severe asthma and allergies. And because of this he is sick a whole lot. (it happens when you are allergic to life).

On to the point...well he has been on so many steriod medications, I am worried about it affecting his growth (since he is only 23 months old). He has been on an oral steriod for about a month and today he had a steriod shot (that makes 2 he has had this month). Thats alot of steriods for such a lil guy.

But he has to breathe so we have to keep his airways open. So what do we do?? Does anybody out there know of any non-steriod meds we could use?

~He also takes pulmicort (asthma controller med), singular, allegra, and prevacid (for his reflux) oh yea and a cream for his exczema. Yep my child is a druggie.

Why do weekends go by so fast??

2010-05-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

I lay here and it just hit me, the weekend is almost over. (thank goodness this is a long weekend so we have one more day) Sunday nights after I put Boppers to bed it always makes me sad bc we will all be back to the grind the next day. Even though I am at home for the summer, during the week we have lots to do.

Hubby goes to work so I feel like part of our family is missing. Boppers and I have to clean and this week we have got a list a mile long of things to do bc we leave for vacation on Saturday morning. So on Sunday nights about this time, I always get a little bummed. Just ready for the next weekend when we can all be together and just hang out and play.

Maybe Im weird (at least I admit it, right?) but I feel like you blink your eyes and the weekend is gone. I guess my parents were always right (even though I hate to admit that), that time flies when you are having fun.

Help my toddler is hitting

2010-05-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ok so Boppers has found a new way to express his anger, hitting me. Yesterday, I told him he could not take his tractors outside to play so the normal tantrum began. He flung himself in the floor and began to cry. So I got down on his level and made him look at me and tried to explain to him why he couldnt take his tractors outside and that this is not the way we act when we dont get what he wants. Then the dreaded happend, he pulled that arm back and hit me in the face.

He has done this before and I would take him to time out and explain to him that we dont hit people and that its not nice. But yesterday, he hit me out of total anger.

Heli Girl had a great article about hitting but I have tried all those methods and nothing has worked. (oh yea, he is stubborn and hard headed)

And to make it worse, he only hits me. I mean I the one who feeds, bathes, and plays with him, so why me?
Has anyone else had this problem? If so how did you get him/her to stop?

Wow, another award!! I mean I knew I was good lol

2010-05-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom gave me this great award and I am so excited. If you haven already read her blog you def need to check it out bc she has some hilarious posts.

Wow, I feel so honored that somebody thinks I am Trendy. I am working on a good acceptance speech but for now this will have to do.

Here's what you have to do with the award!
•To receive this award, promise to share this with 10 other BLOGS that you think are Trendy too.

•Post about your award in your blog.

•List your Top 10 Trendy Blogs.

•Share with them.

•Leave a link to the Trendy Blog Button.

•Tell them they need to give this award out to 10 as well.

Here is my 10 people I would give the award to:
1. As the Forest Grows
2.Confessions of a First Time Mom
3. Guessing All The Way
4. Mommy of a Monster
5. Stepping on Cheerios
6. Not Super...Just Mom
7. Four Better Four Worse
8. A Mothers work is Never Done
9. The Improbable Housewife
10. Litany of Brittainy

Kids Toys

2010-05-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

Since I am a thrifty (well at least I try really hard to be) momma, I am always looking for Boppers toys on sale. I love to find a great bargain, it just makes my day. I buy alot of his toys at Goodwill (bc that store freaking rocks) and at yard sales, well because he outgrows toys so fast and since he is a boy he is so rough on them. But for special times such as Christmas, birthdays, or rewards, I will bit the bullet and splurge and get him the new latest and greatest gift.

If you are like me, then you will love The Kids Toy Store. Their website is so easy to navigate and oh did I mention that have lots of great sale items. If you haven’t checked it out before you need to stop by and look at all the great Baby Einstein stuff they have on sale this week.

They also have the cutest toy boxes. If you are a baseball fan, they have the cutest team toy boxes I have seen. They also have cute firetruck and barns toy box. Oh me, if only I would win the lottery bc I could totally spend lots of money here.

I would love to have this Guidecraft Barn Bookshelve, will you please buy it for Boppers?? I mean he really needs this for his playroom. Gosh I love spending my imaginary money on this great website. Go check it out and window shop or enjoy the great sale items at The Kids Toy Store.

I was paid for this review but in no way did the compensation affect my opinion.

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-05-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

I havent shown off my Boppers pics in awhile so today I thought I would show you how cute he is (no Im not biased or anything)

I know this is lil blurry but I took it with my phone. This is his sheet tent that consumed my den for days.

Yesterday we played in the worlds smallest pool. (I had no idea it was that small till I blew it up

Here he is swinging on his "park". ahh contentment

Never make friends with your Doctor...

2010-05-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Alright everybody, I am back (did ya miss me, bc ya know you did). Boppers is feeling better finally but getting over this mono could take up to a month. Now for the Pediatrician post I promised you......

Ok, It all started when Boppers was born and we thought we had found the best Pediatrician in the world. He was so personable, that you just couldnt help but like him. He is a Duke University graduate so he and the Hubbs totally hit it off. We soon became friends with his wife and children as well. We would go over to their house, they would come to ours, etc.

Well our poor Boppers stays sick alot and has a lot of problems (thankfully nothing too serious). He has GERD, asthma, and severe allergies. Back when Boppers was still T-Tiny, we had to get smart with the Good Doc bc I dont think he took Boppers spitting up serious. Then when he saw the ulcers in his throat, he finally started taking us serious. Then he had 8 ear infections in a span of 6 months and once again he would do nothing proactive and just saying he would outgrow this. Finally after the 9th ear infection, he finally referred us to an ENT. Now onto Boppers asthma, we feel that he isnt proactive. Hello, we know Bops cycle, green nose then cough then asthma attack. So why not stop the green nose b4 it goes to his chest??? This whole time we stick by him bc "he is our friend"

Well Hubby has a new office and located in the same building is a childrens nurse practitioner. I really like her and last time Boppers had an asthma attack, she gave him a shot that opened him right up (nope Good Dr never gave him this).

Fast forward to this Thursday, Boppers appetite had been diminishing over the past couple of days and he had started coughing in the night. So my Mommy instinct said he needed to go to the Dr bc something wasnt right. Hubby said to take him to the "Good Dr". So I did bc I am a good wife and I do what my hubs says lol

So we loaded up and went to the Dr. He looked him over and said "its just viral" (which he always says about everything). So we walked out his door and went to the nurse practitioner. She looked at him and said his lymph nodes are swollen so lets test him for strep. Sure enough it came back positive. She gave us an antibiotic.

24 hours later, Boppers was worse and at this point he hadn't eaten anything in 2days. So we went back to the nurse practitioner. As we were walking in, we meet a girl and her son that go to our church and she said her lil man had mono. Boppers and her lil man had been together in nursery and had the same symptoms so we tested for mono and sure enough he tested positive for mono.

So what do we do?? Do we tell the Good Dr?? Hubby is worried that he will lose his friendship but I dont care I think he should know. This is the reason you dont become friends with your Dr but if something ever goes wrong, it puts you in between a rock and a hard place.

Blogger Templates

Vacation in less than 2 weeks.

2010-05-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

We will be heading to Hilton Head Island, SC on June the 5th. I am very nervous bc it will be an almost 10 hour drive with a toddler. Boppers has never been on that long of a car ride.

Also I am worried bc I am an overpacker and well we wont have alot of room for luggage in the van bc not only will us 3 be in there but another couple is going with us. So luggage is going to have to be a minimum. (thank goodness I have van though bc if not we would have to drive 2 cars)

My last worry is knowing what to pack. We have never gone anywhere with boppers for more than 1 night. So how and the world am I going to be able to remember to pack everything he needs plus being short on luggage space. Do I bring lots of toys or wait and buy some there??

Oh me, I am a worrier. I think thats part of being a wife and mommy.

Alright fellow bloggy friends, do you have any tips for me?? What to pack, how to make the car ride better?? or do you know of some great things to do while in HHI or around that area??

Please help me so I wont have more gray hairs from this trip lol

Blogging Break bc Boppers is sick.

2010-05-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

hey everybody,

I will be taking a break for the weekend bc Boppers has strep throat. Which means all of my free time will be spent cuddling. But dont worry come Monday, I have a great post about the drama at our ped's office.

Update: They diagnosed Boppers with mono.

Puke in the Tub...

2010-05-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

How could you not read this after seeing the title??? I mean "Puke in the tub" is so captivating lol

So tonite Boppers was making motor boat bubbles in the bath tub and got choked....after coughing and gagging....up his supper came. (BtW, I have never seen hubby move that fast to get out of the way of anything) OMG, it was so nasty and then up it came again. Hubs is gagging at the smell and Boppers is crying bc it upsets him when he throws up.

I grab him up and stick him the shower to rinse the nasty off. I let the water out of the tub and what was left was a nasty slimy mess left around the tub. (sorry about the yucky mental pic) So after getting Boppers settled down, we whipped out my new Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-a-clean Power sprayer.

Not only did it quickly remove the funky monkey mess but it took away puke funky smell. Hubby even said it smelled good so that means it smells great. Scrubbing Bubbles did an amazing job once again!

I recieved a sample of this for testing purposes because I am a BZZAgent. This review was 100% mine and not influenced by the product maker.

Going out with my Boots on...

2010-05-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ok so we live on my Hubbys family farm but we dont actually farm it ourselves. My hubbs dad used to be a farmer back in the day but now we just sharecrop it out to another local farmer. Well Boppers has decided that he is a farmer. He is addcited to tractors, animals, etc.

The poor boy told us that the prize he wanted for poop in the potty was a combine lol. (how many almost 2 year olds do you know even know what a combine is) He can also tell you what crop is going in the field. He is his Popaws boy because the hubs nor I know anything hardly about farming. (oh but we are learning)

He started off at a young age with his 1st pair of boots(side pic he was only 4 months old) and now everytime we go outside, he has to have his boots on. Bc what farmer is not complete with out a set of boots on.

I found this great website with more of those cute Johnny Popper boots (like in the pic). Rocky Top Leather is the website. Everybody who sees these cute lil boots just loves them and I have found that this website has great prices and a wide selection (they even have pink Johnny Poppers for that little cowgirl).

Johnny Popper Boots are perfect for the lil kid who thinks they are farmers (aka Boppers) bc of their John Deere colors and emblem. (in these parts of the woods we bleed green and yellow) ~~Wow that sounded redneck.~~

This is my honest opinion about this website and there product. I am being paid to post this review.

D-List Blog Party 2010

2010-05-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody from D-List!

Thanks for stopping by my lil corner of the bloggy world. I am also excited about this Blog Party bc I love meeting new people and finding new blogs to follow.

About Me: I am currently a SAHM but I will be returning to work this fall as a teacher after being off of work for 2 years. I have a handsome almost 2 year old son, who I call Boppers, who is all boy (tractors, trucks, dirt and worms). I am married to a wonderful man and we have been married for almost 3 years. I live in a small town in Tennessee on the family farm.

Boppers and Me! (you try to get your toddler to look at the camera lol)

Will he outgrow this??

2010-05-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ok mommies out there, my lil Boppers right foot turns in real bad. It has also turned in but here recently, he has started tripping over them more and more. He will be 2 in July and some people have said that he will out grow it but I am very worried. (yes I am a very paranoid 1st time parent)

People are starting to ask us about his little feet being turned in so bad. I want to correct this before he gets to old. One person told us to buy him high top Stride Rite shoes and the others have told us to let him run barefoot. I dont know what to do or am I just being paranoid????

My 1st award!!!

2010-05-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

My acceptance speech....First I would like to thank Nolie over at http://www.noliesplace.com/ for giving me this award. Then I would like to thank my family for being supportive of my blogging adventure. Last but not least, I would like to thank all my followers! Yall Rock!!!

The rules for this award are to answer the questions given to you with the award. Then make up ten of your own and pass it on to seven other bloggers.

1. Why do YOU blog? I blog because I love to meet new people. I enjoy sharing my stories of my life with other mommies who have gone through, are going thru, and will go through in the future the same experiences I am having. It is like my giant support group and brag brook.

2.What are 3 must read blogs of yours? Of course Nolies Place, Heir to Blare, and Pioneer Woman

3.  Coffee or Tea? Hello i live in the South so Sweet Tea!!

4. You have one night to yourself and $500 to do as you please and you must spend the $500 on yourself. What are you going to do?   Oh man I havent spent that much money on myself in the past 2 years lol. So lets see, I would go get a massage, get my hair and make up did, and buy a new dressy outfit.

5. What is your opinion on “Reality” tv? First off, I love the Duggars! Other reality shows, I dont really get into to bc the fam and I are almost always on the go and I hate to miss episodes bc then you feel so lost.

6.Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully right where I am but with Boppers a baby brother or sister.

7.  What is the best thing about Canada? Umm I dont know bc I have never been there. But Ive seen pictures and its a beautiful country

8. Where do you want to live when you retire? Hubby and I are going to travel when we retire.

9. What is your dream vacation?   a cruise to the Bahamas. I have always wanted to go there, even when I was a little kid.

10. Are you now doing what you wanted to do when you were growing up? Well when I was growing up I changed my mind about what i wanted to be, but yes teacher was one of my ideas.

I pass this award on to the following people:
1.Kate @ http://www.thesavylittlewomen.blogspot.com/
2. Lora Lynn @ http://www.vitafamiliea.com/
3. Jamie @ http://www.lovetoshopmom.como/
4. Jen @ http://www.ronjenworld.blogspot.com/
5. http://www.stepping-on-cheerios.blogspot.com/.
6. http://www.thetuckerstaketennessee.com/
7. http://www.activitymom.blogspot.com/

Here are my questions for yall (and yes I am going to re-use some of them):
1. Why do you blog?
2. What  is your favorite food addcition?
3. If you had the whole day to yourself, what would you do with your time?
4. What made you decide to be a SAHM or a working mom?
5. What would be your dream job?
6. What show do you secretly watch that no-one else knows about?
7. Wow, Im having a hard time coming up with these questions.
8. If you were on extreme makeover, what would be the 1st thing you would want them to change about you?
9. Big family or small family?
10. What 2 blogs can you not live with out?

I must have been crazy to take my toddler shopping

2010-05-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I learned my lesson after taking Boppers on a pretty much all day shopping trip. We left our house at 10 am and had to drive an hour b4 we get to our destination (yep thats said when you have to drive an hour to a target.) Once we got there we ate lunch and then I took Boppers to my moms house for him to lay down and take a good nap b4 we hit the stores.

He took a really good nap (which you thought would have helped) and then we hit the shops. 1st stop-Goodwill. There I found him lots of cute shirts and pants. After about 10 min he was ready to get out of the buggy so we took a break from the clothes section and let him go to the toys. He drug out every toy they had (im sure they were glad when we left lol) and he then found a baby carriage on wheels and proceeded to take off running down the aisles as fast as he can with the carriage.

My mom chased him for like 5min so I could look for myself something. Well that didnt last long bc all of sudden he pops out from underneath the clothes rack and screams MOMMA! So I bodily held him and glanced thru the rest of the clothes fast while he was pulling every tag off. Then we finally were done with the 1st stop. We left and stopped at Burger King and got him a cheeseburger, then on to TJ Maxx.

Wow TJ Maxx was a blur between trying to hold him and keeping him from running like a maniac through the store. He has now decided that hiding under the clothes rack is his new favorite thing to do. Then he thought he should be able to push his trucks up and down the aisles. I glanced at everything hastily to say the least.

Then on to the dollar tree we went. He actually sat in the buggy this time but I had to bribe him with a new cup, coloring books, and a new ball (ya gotta do what you gotta do sometimes). By this time it was almost his bedtime and I just knew that as soon as we got on the road on home he would crash. We head back to my moms to get my "swagger wagon " aka van and my mom cant find my keys. We had to dump her purse out in the middle of her driveway. After about 20 min of searching and almost going back to TJ Maxx bc we were just sure they had fallen out there, we finally found them. By this time its an hour past Bops bedtime so I put his jammies on him and we hit the road.

15 min into the drive, hes still awake....30 min in the drive, hes still awake...35 min into the drive, he decides he should just start screaming and crying. Finally we made it to our town and yep he is still crying. Pull into the driveway he is still screaming. So yea, he screamed for the last 25 min of our drive non stop (I was about to pull my hair out lol)

So this is why you never take a very busy, active toddler boy shopping lol

What a week...

2010-05-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is a very eventful week around our house for me. Yesterday being Mothers Day, today is my birthday and Saturday is my college graduation. So as you can tell I will be very busy and poor hubby has lots of gifts to buy. lol

College graduation..oh me, I never thought I would make it. I spent my 1st 2 years at a community college (which is where I met the hubby) where i was an accounting major. Then moved to Small Town, TN to be with hubby and finish my degree at a 4 year University.

Once getting to University, I changed my major to elementary eductaion. Im doing so I lost all my classes but like 4 hours (very depressing when you look at my class checklist) in the transfer/major change. Then after starting all over again, during the next 3 years I got married and had a Boppers.

After 6 long years of college, I have finally made it to the end. I will graduate with a degree in pre-k through 6th grade education degree this Saturday. Last semester, I almost didnt make it due to missing too many days between asthma flare ups, ear infections, and hubby and I had the flu but luckily I made it by the skin of my teeth (I made my first D's). I am so excited to finally be done!! Know I have to sit back and see what the good Lord has planned for me.

My New Jam!!!

2010-05-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Ok peeps, after seeing this video, I knew that this would be my new theme song! I love it!!!

Creative Genious/ Boppers New room design

2010-05-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

One reason I love blogging is getting to meet new peeps and when Jessa from http://www.jessazg.com/ and I started exchanging tweets about "old school" Nickelodeon shows, I knew we were going to friends.

If you havent already read about her from Heir to Blair and the totally cute SILHOUETTES that she hand draws (yes I am uber jealous of her artistic talent) then you need to go check out her site http://www.jessazg.com/.

So anyways back to the point, after us talking back and forth on twitter for awhile, I asked her about making a silhouette for Boppers new "big boy room" and one thing led to another and I told her I was needing help trying to decide how to decorate his room. I wanted it to be something that he loved bc well I hated my room as a child (it looked like somebodys garden threw up on my walls with a combination of a pink nightmare).

Jessa was like "I would love to help you, I love design' (see i told you she was a creative genious). So after emailing back and forth, talking about what I wanted and then her taking my ideas and running with it. This is the color scheme she came up with (and trust me that was no easy task bc the hubs wouldnt let me paint the Duke University blue walls)

We decided to go with lots of earth tones (aka dirt bc well he is a boy).

So Tuesday night we hopped on Skype (gotta love technology) and hammered out the details of Boppers new vinatge tractor room. (we also did a lot of just talking too but hey were girls and thats what we do lol)

We found so many cute things on Etsy (the best place in the world) and we also found some funny stuff on there not related to tractors at all (i.e. The Willie Warmer and that is exactly what you think it is lol)

Jessa is so awesome and I am so glad that I met her. I cant wait to get started on Boppers room (hopefully this weekend) bc I know the design she did is going to look awesome. I promise I will post pics along the way of the big boy room makeover!!

Success on the potty homefront!!!

2010-05-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ok peeps so yesterday I was telling you about Boppers no poop on the potty dilema but this morning he came and told me "poop" (I honestly thought he had already gone in his pants so I started telling him how it was yucky to go in your underwear) so i ushered him off to his bathroom and when I pulled down his pants carefully (bc well if you do it to fast you will have poop fall in the floor, trust me). Much to my surprise there was nothing there so I sat him on the potty and not 1 min later HE WENT POOP IN THE POTTY!!!!

I was so excited that I started screaming for joy and clapping (I probably scared him to death). So this afternoon he got to go to the tractor store and pick out one toy. He was so overwhelmed with all the tractors he just walked around forever touching everything.

Tonite he went Poop 2 more times in the potty so hopefully (crossing fingers, toes, legs, etc) we will be potty trained!!!

Tales from potty training..

2010-05-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Our big beach vacay is quickly approaching so potty training at our "crib" is getting serious. (if you havent read my previous post my goal is to not take diapers on the trip)

I know, I know he is really young to be potty training but he honestly started showing interest on his own about 4 months ago and we have just been letting him go as he wants (no pressure). The hubs and I were both potty trained by the time we were 2 as well.

Fast forward to now, he has been dry all weekend (minus after waking up in the morning) but we just cant seem to get him to poop in the potty. He is getting some better, he will now actually sit on the potty for more than 2 seconds. He will come get me and say poop potty and we will go sit for 10 minutes and NOTHING. Then I promise 15 min later he will go in his underwear. So he feels the need to go but I swear I think he is afraid to poop in the potty.

Is there any way I can show him not be afraid to poop in the potty??

"I Love You-Now Hush" Book review

2010-05-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to review this great book, “I love you –Now Hush” and bloggy friends, it’s hilarious. I would compare it to “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” but with a southern drawl. The 2 authors, Melinda Rainey Thompson and Morgan Murphy ( which are 2 of the South’s funniest voices) put together this collection of essays about the nature of men vs. women. Melinda first tells the woman’s side of the story and then Morgan rebuttals with the men’s side of the story. They both give their sides of the story to such things as household chores (my favorite part of the book) and why men don’t read the directions and women do.

Ya’ll I was nodding my head and agreeing with everything that was said in the book and the authors dish it out in such a humorous way that I would have to take a break from reading it because I was laughing so hard. So many times throughout the book, they would both “hit the nail on the head” with their reasoning in behind the mind workings of men and women. I cant say enough, this book is a great read esp if you enjoy southern, pithy humor. Oh and did I mention it is a great price, only $16.95.

The opinions expressed above are that of my own, and were not weighed upon by receiving such merchandise.

So my dad married a...cont.

2010-04-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

So to continue the saga/on again off again soap opera also known as my dads and my relationship....

When the Hubs and I left for our honeymoon, that was the last time my dad and I spoke until Boppers was born. If you didnt already know the Hubs and I found out we were pregnant only after being married for 3 months (no, we werent trying so we were shocked but very excited; it was all in the Lords timing not ours) and did my day now I was preggo, im sure but of course still no phone call or visit. Even though we werent talking, that didnt keep the *step momma* from talking about me and spreading rumors. She was still telling people that I stole from them even though my dad told me they found the so called stolen object. Also during this time of non-speaking, they moved and to this day Im not sure where they moved too. (same town still but thats all I know)

The day I went to the hospital to have Boppers, I sucked up all pride I had and called him and said, "hey just in case you wanted to know, your grandson is being born" and he said "ok" and the 10 sec phone call was over. He did show up to the hospital with so called step-momma in tow, but he wasnt even gonna hold Boppers, he said he was "dirty". So my BFF grabbed a hospital gown and threw at him and said now you can hold him.

After that night, he didnt see Boppers till Christmas and Boppers was born in July. I mean how can a grandfather go that long without seeing his grandson, esp when we only live an hour apart??

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0mVh2YuF3

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-04-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

For today's Wordless Wednesday post, I thought that I would show you pictures of the Hubs and I's first child, our weenie dog, Mervin. The hubs gave him to me as a bday present wow almost 4 years ago. He was our baby until Boppers came along. Thankfully he has done so well with Bop and has not minded the attention loss at all. So on to the cute doggie pics....

Yep, when he was a pup I would take him to work with me and he would sleep on my mouse pad.

Isnt he the cutest weenie dog you have ever seen?? He looks just like his daddy! lol

Read more: http://mylivesignature.com/wizard2_2.php#ixzz0mQDFD7If

Gotta give a shout out!

2010-04-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, today I am going to be giving out some bloggy love. Since I have been blogging (i know the whole 2 months lol), I have met so many great people and one of them is Camille over at http://www.spiltmoojuice.blogspot.com/!

She totally rocks!! I met her through her sister, Jen (whom I also adore) at http://www.ronjenworld.blogspot.com/. After writing a post about trying to make a blog button, Camille offered to help a poor girl out and make one for me.

Let me tell you something she is so talented and good to work with.

And now the drum roll, please.............

See I told you she is awesome!

If you dont already have a button, you so need to talk to her. She can totally hook you up with an awesome button. Her email is c@mille.me

Even if you have a button already, go check out her site http://www.spiltmoojuice.blogspot.com/ and give her some bloggy love!

Fat Fridays even though its Monday

2010-04-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

So sorry it took me so long to get this up but needless to say its been a busy and interesting weekend. I was helping the in-laws clean out their attic bc we are having a yard sale this weekend and I was just standing there talking (imagine that right) and all of a sudden a flourescent shop light fell from the ceiling and hit me in the face (this could only happen to me lol) Needless to say my nose started bleeding and well today I look like a raccoon. Thank goodness Boppers was napping or he would have been with me standing there and also luckily the bulbs didnt bust when it hit my face. So, needless to say I have been out of commission.

Now on to Fat Friday!!! According to Wii Fit, I have lost 1 more pound!!! Go me, Go me. Raise the roof!! lol!!

I tottally love using the Wii to weigh in. It is a really good way to help me keep on track. I dont get to actually do the exercises as much as I would like bc well, I just dont have the time.

I am still working on cutting my portions back. I am def improving but Im not back to where I should be just yet. Its really harder than I thought it would be but I just keep telling myself that I want to look HOTTT at the beach.

Wow, 2 new posts in one day!!

2010-04-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ok peeps, I am trying to update my blog since I have gained so many bloggy friends and with the impending bad weather in this neck of the woods I am trying to get all my plants in the garden b4 it hits. In doing so, I totally forgot to weigh in for Fat Friday. So Fat Friday for this week is being moved to Saturday. So pretty much I totally put off weighing in bc a) I forgot b) didnt want to depress myself any more by having the Wii yell at me.

Updating the blog...I hopefully have some new found love of etsy shop reviews coming up and I am also in the process of reviewing a book. (yep can you believe it I actually live in the south and can read lol). Also, my blog button is in the process of having its final touches put on it. There may also be some giveaways coming up **Wink wink**.

Thanks everybody for stopping by! Dont forget to email me your ?'s for my vlog

Giving the Vlog another try...Hopefully this one works lol

2010-04-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

So my dad married a...

2010-04-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ok peeps, once again inspired by Heir to Blair I have decided to write some about my family. Plus it has really been on my mind and heart lately and what better way to get it off my chest than to share with my blogger friends.

Lets see how do I put this nicely...forget nice...my dad is marrid to a witch.
After cheating on my mom with so called witch (and Im sure many more) for many years, my dad left my mom my junior year in high school. I was ok with that bc to be honest I was glad to not have to live in that misery anymore. I prayed many nights that this would all work out but they were both miserable and so it was best that they split

Well, their divorce was final in September and my dad married the witch in October (awful soon dont ya think.) It was all good in the begining, after moving out on my own right after graduation (my mom and i were so not getting along at the time), my dad asked if I would want to move in with him and her family. I thought great, Ive always wanted a sister (which btw witchs daughter has the same name as me, what a winkie dink). I lived there for about 6 months and then witch said I wasnt being respectful to her and that I was stealing from them. (btw i have never stolen anything in my life, not even a pack of gum). This was the beginning of the downward slope of mine and my dads relationship. I mean how could any man let some woman tell him to kick his own daughter out esp when he knew good and well I wasnt doing the things she had said.

So, one Saturday I packed up all my stuff and moved back into my moms. Luckily I was dating the Hubs at the time and he helped me deal with all this. I didnt speak to my dad for over a year and during that time I moved an hour to be closer to Hubs and finish college. Then one day he magically decided to call and he acted like nothing evere happened. He was not my dad anymore, she had changed him. We tried to mend the relationship by having some sort of pow-wow and really all it was was a lets bash Lindsey fest. So, i gave up again.

A year later, Hubs and I were getting married and I really did try to include my dad in things. My mom agreed to pay half of the wedding if my dad would pay the other half. But the witch said they would pay half only if I brought them every single reciept and then they would pay me back. I even had to bring a copy of our photographers contract so she would believe I was actually not just spending the money on drugs or something I guess (bc you know Im such a druggie lol). We made it through the wedding planning of course not without hurting her feelings bc she didnt get a shower invite in the mail.

On the day of the wedding, my dad walked me down the aisle.

Doesnt he look so happy lol

Everything went great (it may not have but I didnt care I was on cloud 9 bc i was marrying the guy God had chosen for me). Then when we got ready to leave..back up..my dad had bought me and the other Linds matching jeeps. Right b4 hubs and I got married he signed the title over to us. The next day we traded it in bc well it was a piece of junk. It had broken down 8 times in the year I had it....forward to wedding....Needless to say he didnt know we had traded (didnt think it was his business bc well he had given it to me) and when he saw that it wasnt the Jeep, he just left. Didnt tell me bye or anything and that was the last time we had spoke until Boppers was born. To be continued..plus Im sure this is like the longest blog post ever..

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-04-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today is my favorite day bc well, I like showing off pics of Boppers (bc well we thing he is the cutest thing ever but I wouldnt be biased on any level).

Looking over his vast farming empire.

How could any little boy not jump in a perfectly good mud puddle??

Such a boy, he loves digging in the dirt with his dump dumps (aka construction equipment). I promise this is my last dirt picture.

Ben loves fresh grilled corn on the cob Paula Deen styley. I knows its a little dark but gimme a break I took it with my phone.

1st Vlog

2010-04-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody this is my first vlog! Feel free to email me your questions at jlbhowell@gmail.com

~I know I know dont I look just lovely maybe next week I will actually have some make up on and my hair fixed for ya lol

Separation Anxiety

2010-04-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

This morning was just awful. This morning Ben just ripped my heart and made me feel like the worst mommy in the ~~world~~ universe. I am in school right now doing my student teaching (woo who I graduate in May) and we have been on spring break this past week. So of course Ben has been at home with me all week and pretty much had 99% of my attention the whole time. Plus he was sick again last week so he hadnt been back to daycare since Wednesday b4 last.

So all weekend I had been trying to get him excited to go back to daycare so that way he wouldnt be to upset today. We have a great daycare, it is a small home daycare and all the kids are really good (no biters, hitters, etc).

Well, all was well until we pulled into her driveway. Then all HECK broke lose!! He began to cry and clung to me like white on rice. I finally got him in the door and sat down in her rocking chair to try and calm him down. Then it was time for me to hit the road and once again he clung to me like the end of the world was coming.

She had to pratically pry him off of me and he was screaming momma with those lil arms reaching out for my. Ya'll that was one of the hardest things to do is to walk away listening to him cry for me. So, I cried the whole way to work (yep i looked awful by the time I got to school). I would love more than anything to stay at home full time with my lil Boppers but we want to pay for his college education (and one day his bro or sis) and in order for us to save enough money to do that I HAVE TO WORK. I know it will be best for him in the long run and I know prob 10 min after I leave he is running around playing but at that moment I just want to say "ok, lets go home forget school and work". Hopefully tommorow morning will be easier than todays and I keep telling myself only 2 more weeks until I am home with him for almost 2 months.

UBP After Party

2010-04-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

Woo Who, So I totally loved the Ultimate Blog Party 2010. I have met so many new people and have found many new blogs to follow. I cant wait till the next blog party!!! Thanks 5 Minutes for Mom!!!

There were so many great blogs I have found so It was a hard job trying to narrow it down to just 3.

1. OOPS, There goes my mind:  http://fiverreasonstosmile.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-question.html
     This is such a great blog about a mother of 5 kids and the many adventures that she has with her family.

2. That 22year old Housewife:
http://22yroldhousewife.blogspot.com/2010/04/moomy-blog-gets-make-over-and-this.html
   This is a great blog about a yound stay at home mommy.

3. Mommy Monologues:
http://www.mommymonologues.com/2010/04/were-surviving.html

Fat Fridays

2010-04-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

Alrighty folks, its the dreaded day where I drag myself onto the Wii Fit and see if it tells me that I have gained or lost weight.

But today, I have GREAT NEWS! I have actually lost 2lbs this week. I know, I know its not much but at least its a start. This is really the first week since we started Fat Fridays that I have worked really hard to work out and watch what I eat. Go me, Go me!!!

This week, Boppers and I have gone for about an hour walk after breakfast. I live on a country road (which means no traffic) and there are lots of animals and farm equipment for Bop to look at so I heaved and hoed him up and down in his stroller down our hilly road. (I had to stop every 5 min and pick him up a rock or explain "whats that").

I also have really cut my portions back this week. I have tried to stop eating when I was full, not when my plate was clean. But I did sneak in some cookie dough bc it was so tempting while I was making cookies, I mean really who could resist choc chip cookie dough.

So I am boasting about myself this week, bc I am slowly but surely getting my body back and hopefully wont scare away anyone at the beach this summer!

ISO tips 4 Cleaning bathroom

2010-04-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well today I had to do my least favorite job in the world....cleaning the house. I am on Spring Break(the joys of being a teacher) this week so I decided to tackle it a little early so I could just relax and play with Boppers all weekend.

My hubs usually cleans the bathrooms but well lets be honest, I appreciate his help but he doesnt do a very good job. He will clean the tub but wont clean the surround around the tub, oh me but thats a whole post in it self.

So being the good wife I am I decided I would clean them for him (plus Im sure they needed a deep scrub from somebody who cleans every lil nook and cranny). In our master bath we have a large jacuzzi tub but I hate cleaning it bc I always feel like I am going to fall in it while I am straining to reach across to get the other side. Does anybody have any secrets of how they clean their tubs???? besides just hiring somebody to do it which I am in favor of but dont want to pay for it lol

Totally random thought but yesterday we went to the zoo in Memphis snce Bops tube appt had to be canceled due to his asthma flare up. The zoo is wonderful and I totally suggest that if you live anywhere near Memphis you need to go check it out.

My hubs and Bop at the zoo.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody its time for ~~mommys brag book~~ Wordless Wednesday again. Today I thought I would rewind to almost 2 years ago and show ~~off~~ some pics of us right after Boppers was born. It almost made me cry when I went through these pics bc he has changed so much and so fast.

Alright people dont I look glamorous lol. This pic was taken right after Bop was born. It was our first family pics *tear*

My 1st baby Mervin our weenie dog with Boppers taking a nap.

Ok so this is my fav pic of me and the Boppers. He was 6 weeks old at the time, wow has he grown so much!

Potty time regressing

2010-04-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ok peeps, first off I am loving the UBP 2010. I have found so many great new blogs. Thanks everybody for stopping by!

Now on to todays appeal for help from other blogger mommies. I totally thought Boppers was just about potty trained. Only time he was wet was overnight and during naptime (oh and did I mention he would hold his poop for weeks bc he wouldnt go in the potty). And then he got sick so we didnt stress the potty thing and now that he is better he wont go at all. Ughh, so frustrating bc we were so close to NO MORE DIAPERS!

What happened and how do I get him back going to the potty? Did I mess up by not making him go when he was sick? (in my defense he was so pitiful Im not sure if he could have stood up long enuf to potty)

Any suggestions for getting him to go poop in the potty? (you know your a mommy when you say poop in your post more than twice) He will come tell me that he needs to poop and we will go sit on the potty and 2 sec he is ready to get up but wont drop the kids off at the pool. Then after we have set like 10 min later he will come to me and say yuck mommy poop and pat his bottom.

We are going on vacay the first of June to Hilton Head beach and I dont want to have to bring diapers is my goal. So PLEASE Help me!

5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party

2010-04-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody I am so excited to be a part of the Ultimate Blog Party. If you havent heard about the party (ughh, where have you been lol?) you need to check out 5minutesformom.com!!

Welcome to my blog all my new blogger friends. A little bit about myself is I am young mother to a wonderful 20 month old little boy, who I call Boppers. I am married to a wonderful man and have been for almost 3 years. We live in small town USA on the family farm. I am a southern girl through and through (yep, i even have the southern draw). I am also a Christian and strive to my raise my lil Boppers in a Godly home.

I like to blog about my life as a mommy and wife. (which includes alot of adventures) I also have Wordless Wednesdays when I show off pics of whats going on in our lives. On Fridays, myself and a few fellow bloggers have started Fat Fridays. On Fridays we post how are baby weight loss is going and we hope we can motivate others as well as our selves to lose the baby weight! Leave me a comment giving me ur blog address so I can check out your blog as well. Thanks for stopping by ya'll!

These are the 2 men in my life! I am so blessed!

My hubs and I

My lil Boppers! He is my pride and joy!!

Fat Fridays!!

2010-04-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Ok so I will be totally honest, this week I havent been working out like I should. We have had compnay and my lil man has been very sick...I know those are just excuses but I promise I will get back on board this coming week. I only did Wii Fit once this week so no progress to show you but I have been trying to walk during my lunch (but well lets see one day it rained and then I was off with a sick lil man so really I only walked 2x).

I have been trying to watch what I eat and thats harder than what I thought it would be. My lil guy is eating table food so I catch myself finishing what is left on his plate plus whats on mine. I need someone to slap my hand when I reach for his plate (and his easter candy, yeah yeah Im bad lol)

We have a new member to our Fat Friday club..check out http://www.secretmommy.blogspot.com/ We are so excited that she is doing this with us bc I think the more people we have the more motivation we have!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to show off my Boppers Easter pictures!!!

Hunting Easter eggs

Dying the eggs. He loved decorating them with stickers. Too bad only 2 eggs survived the 1st day

Look momma, the bunny came. He was so excited!!!

I know he is even cute sideways but im not biased or anything lol

Napping on his way home from church. Believe it or not he actually kept his hat on all morning.

Sure all babies spit up but mine shoots it across the room!!

2010-04-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so today I decided I would tell ya''ll about my little reflux warrior. The day after he was born after every meal and then through out the day, my lil man would have projectile vomit (they had to raise his little incubator bed so he wouldnt choke at night). As the months go on, the screaming with the vomit came. Drs said ohh, he just has colic and he will out grow it. Yea right, after hearing from many people that their baby spits up too, i was about to pull my hair out. Nobody understood how much he spit up and how he screamed for hours at a time. 6 months rolled around (after many many loads of dirty laundry) and our dr sent us to a gastro dr. She said oh, he will outgrow it. I wanted to say let me let him puke on you a couple hundred times a day and then scream all through the day and then you tell me he will just outgrow it.

Well after trying every reflux medicine in the book, several formula changes,low weight gain (he fell off the growth chart for about 3 mnths) and finally having to buy super absorbent shammies to catch the spit up, at 8 months we put him on whole milk. For about 2 months it was glorious, as long as we limited his intake of certain foods, dairy being the major one.

After his 1st bday, everything went downhill again. He started vomiting alot and having chronic dirty diapers (like 10 and 12 a day). We took him to another gastro dr since the other one told us he would outgrow it by around 6-8mnths and as you can see that didnt happen. The new gastro dr found blood in his poop and decided he wanted to scope him. At 15 months old, they scoped him upper and lower. They found his esophogas and stomach were covered in ulcers and that his stomach wasnt emptying fast enough. The dr then diagnosed him with GERD and he now takes an adult dose of prevacid everyday to coat his esophogas and cut down the acid production. The dr said as he gets older he will be able to tell us what upsets his little tummy but until then its a guessing game.

After experiencing all this, I beleive that reflux families need some sort of badge that says , Yea your baby spits up but can yours shoot it across the room???. For all you fellow reflux moms, I know its hard at times but you will make it and it does get better.

Its just another Manic Monday

2010-04-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

After a super busy Easter weekend (i promise I will post Easter Pics of Boppers on wordless Wednesday), this morning rolls around and I dont want to get out of bed. I even fell asleep at like 9:00pm while watching The Celebrity Apprentice with the hubs.

I did get so much accomplished this weekend though. On Friday, we were outside all day working in the yard (gotta love trying to get grass to grow after construction) and then I started my daily workout routine after B finally passed out. Btw, did I mention that I totally had a momma freak out moment...B totally fell off our brick front steps under my supervision. So please excuse the large knot on his head in our Easter pics. Then Saturday, we ran errands all day and off to the HUbs g-parents to watch the Duke game. B and I left early, bc he was so ill and worn out. After finally getting him to sleep, I cleaned my entire house. BC ~~ughhh~~ yippe we have hubs boss and his wife and 4 children spending the week with us. Can you hear the excitement in my type lol

But yesterday was wonderful, B was so excited to see what the Easter bunny had brough him. Then he was the hit at church with his adorable outfit on. After a great lunch, we hunted eggs and B rode the lawnmower with his popaw for like an hour (yes my son loves pieces of equipment and already knows more about them than I do). Then my mom came up for a visit with my big bro and his 2 youngens....needless to say B crashed at about 7 and so did mommy. (Im a bad girl bc I even took a night off from doing my Wii Fit).

So back to the grind this morning even though I didnt want to leave my bed.

Fat Fridays~Losing the baby weight

2010-04-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Alright everybody, I am going to do it (if i can steal a few words from the little engine that could...I think i can, I think I can). I AM GOING TO LOSE THE BABY WEIGHT!!!!!

After meeting my friend, Jen (http://www.ronjenworld.blogspot.com/), and talking about how we both wanted to be MILF's (not really but we want to be hot mama's at least) we decided we would start FAT FRIDAYS!!! HairtoBlair had inspired us with us her McFatty Mondays so every Friday (starting today) we will post an update to let you know how we are losing the weight and how much of the weight is coming off. So keep checking back with us to see our progress!!!

~Day 1~
Today I started out slowly by only doing 15min on the Wii Fit (bc i know its hard to find time in your day with a toddler) and started trying to cut my food portions down which is my weak point bc I love to eat Mexican food. I want to apologize for my pics I had to take them with my phone.

The Wii Fit was shocked to see me. Yep that says it had been 224 days since I had last used it. lol

This is how much weight I had gained since the last time I used the Fit. Depressing right???

Here is my personal challenge. I want to lose 10lbs. Me, the Hubs, and Boppers (my sons nickname) are going to Hilton Head in June and I want to look HOTTT!

I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN

stay motivated to lose the weight!!!!

Busy Weekend!!!

2010-04-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

This will be my last post for a couple of days due to the upcoming busy weekend. With it being Easter weekend, we have lots of family to visit and eggs to hunt. I promise I wil return Monday with lots of stories and pics. Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!!!

Wordless Wednesday AKA Mommy's Brag Book

2010-03-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

He sees himself in the drain on the tub and is giving the baby he sees love lol

Playing on the choo choo at the park

and last but not least my little Van Gough's work of Easter art.

Updating

2010-03-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy working on improving my blog for the past week. I have given it a new make-over (hopefully it is much cuter) and there will be more excitement coming(i know you just cant contain yourself). I should have my first review and giveaway coming up soon, thanks to http://www.stickylife.com/. I also will start including great deals and coupons that I find online as well as my normal ~~ranting and raving~~ blogging about my family.

I would like to create a button for my site so that my followers (yep thats all 4 of you, with whom I am very thankful that you are following my crazy blog) can post on their blogs. Since I am new to all of these, any help and suggestions would be great!!!

Consignment Sale Madness

2010-03-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Alrighty everybody, This weekend Courtney and I loaded up the youngens and drove to Jackson for USJ and JCS' Consignment sale. Oh and we did hit up Goodwill for some bargains as well. 1st off 2 kids under the age of 2 for an hour drive and wired made for a lot of entertaining on the way there.

We went to USJ first bc we had heard there was some good stuff there. But much to our surprise, there was hardly anything there and call me cheap (hey ive been called worse) but Im NOT paying $15 for a used shirt or pants. (but we did find Courts lil girl a pink 4-wheeler)

Next we went to JCS...I bought my munchkin some cute stuff for cheap and I also got myself 2 cute shirts. There was way more stuff there and a lot more reasonable prices. After lugging around lil ones for 2 hours (yes my child will not ride in a stroller), we had decided we needed sustinance...

Let me brag on Chic-fil-a...they helped us 2 moms carry our food to the table, then they brought us the cutest sticky placemats for kids and stuck them on the table for us, and were very helpful...oh and did I mention the food was great!

We then hit up my favorite new store...The Childrens Place. They had some great bargains...all their dressy stuff was 50% off (just in time for Easter). If you dont follow them on Twitter you should.

~BTW--sorry I have to gripe. My son has awful reflux and he threw up on his shirt in the store so instead of walking 2 miles to the van, I just ran back in to buy him a new shirt. Their was one lady in front of me, so I politely asker her if i could go in front of her bc my son was sick and needed to be changed...she looked at me and said "Uhh NOOO!" I was shocked! If I may borrow a line from Stephanie Tanner (gotta love Full House) "How rude"

After Childrens Place, we then went to Good will and found more bargains to load into the van. In one last effort to tire the kids out (so they would sleep on the way home) we took them to this great park.

Well that somes up our bargain hunting day. Sunday was uneventful (besides getting my house cleaned) bc I was so worn out from the day b4. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

My weekend

2010-03-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is 2 Consignments sales!!!! The real housewives of Weakley County and I will be road tripping to Jackson, TN this weekend for thats right I said it 2 consignment sales. Its like a dream come true for me! I will post Monday of all the adventures and bargains that I found. Hope you have a great weekend!

From the land of potty training (and lots of laundry)

2010-03-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

My little one is 20 months old and has all of the signs of being ready to ditch the diapers. He has been going at home everyonce in awhile for the past 2 weeks but this week he has become more avid about going and getting M&Ms. So being the shopping queen that I am, I went out and bought Pull-ups, cotton training pants, underwear, and plastic covers. Now the big question is which is going to work best for us?

I feel like the pull-ups are too much like diapers but underwear and training pants are adding to my laundry pile. So what do I do????

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-03-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today I thought that I jump on the band wagon of Wordless Wednesdays and ~~brag~~ show you pictures of my little munckin.

Helping mommy do her blogging lol

He had to sleep with his gator in the bed lol

Gotta love these moments!

Benarisms

2010-03-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

My son is at the age where everyday is something new and you never know what he is going to say.

       ~Monday we were reading books in my chair and I told him to go get us a new one and as he walks away, he turns around and says "Momma, riggghhht back"

      ~ This morning while I was getting him ready, he said "U done???"

      ~my husband works on computers for a living and if you ask Ben where daddy works he says "paptops"

     ~If you ask him what color something is, he says "uhh RED" (in the most southern accent ever) no matter what color what it is\

     ~I bought him an Elmo guitar at the consignment sale last night (will blog about it tommorow) and when I gave it to him this morning, he said "Nanny" like she is the only one he gets him toys

These are just a few of the things that comes out of his mouth and Im sure there will be many more to come.

About us

2010-03-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Lets see, today I thought I would fill you in a little bit about me and my family. I am married to a wonderful man and have ben for 2 1/2 years. My husband and I met in college and dated for 4 years b4 we got married in 2007. My husband works hard (if you ask my son where he works he says "paptops" aka laptops) so I can stay at home while finishing my degree.

We were happily married for 3 months when much to our surprise God surprised us and I was expecting (thats the reason I proudly display the button for the blog http://www.newlywednewlybred.com/) My son was born July 15th and our 1year wedding anniv was July 28! He is the best thing that has ever happened to us. Our son, Ben now is 20 months old and wow has the time flown. He has brought us many joys, precious memories and lost of learning experiences for all of us.

Motivation

2010-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ok so the 1st 20lbs of baby weight just fell right off right after my son was born (breastfeeding is like a diet lol) but...well...the other 30lbs???? Yes thats right peeps, I gained 50lbs ( i weighed under 100 b4 i got preggo and at my last weigh in I weighed 151)!!! I have told myself that I wanted to work out and lose the weight but who has the time with being a full time student, mother to a toddler, and a wife. (I barely have time to put my make up on some days) I even got a Wii Fit for Christmas but I used it for about 2 months and well now it collects dust.

I really would like to lose about 10 more lbs b4 the summer but I lack in motivation. I dont want to get up early (I am so not a morning person..just ask the hubby), when my son goes to bed thats my time to do laundry, clean the house or whine on my blog about how I want to lose the weight. During the day, HA Ha like my son would let me do something that didnt revolve around him (yes, my child is needy and I like it that way).

So how do you other mothers do it? Do you have some hidden mommy secret diet that I dont know about? I really want to look like a MILF in my swimsuit this summer on the beach! I want to be the mom that all my sons friends say, "wow your mom is hot"...ok so mayb not really but I would like to feel better about myself.

Yes thats right Im 25 and drive a mini-van!

2010-03-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

I am 25 years old and I drive a mini-van (my husband is rolling his eyes)! After many arguments (by the way that I won) over trading cars, my husband finally broke down and got me a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan! We decided that we needed the extra room in a vehicle but he wanted a Tahoe and I wanted a van. After crunching many numbers, he finally came to the realization that once again I was right. The van would have a cheaper payment, more room, and better gas mileage. Oh how I love my van! It is so easy to get Ben in and out of bc all i have to do to open a door is to press a button. We have DVD players in each headrest which I hope will be a great help on our haul to Hilton Head this summer. Also, there is so much room to carry stuff. After the consignment sale in Union City last week, I was hauling 4 girls, 3 laundry baskets full of clothes, a huge lego table and 2 storage organizers. (sorry the pic was taken with my junkie phone).

My Obession~ Consignment Sales

2010-03-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!!
Ok so I admit it, Im a girl and I love to shop!! Imagine that, right?? But I would rather buy for my son or my husband than myself. So, in my eyes that makes my addiction to shopping ok. I also am addicted to the thrill of the hunt for a "good buy." Thats the reason that I love to go to consignment sales. Last week, some friends an I went to one in Union City, TN. They all have little girls so of course they found alot more stuff than I did (cute boy stuff is hard to come by). But my "good buy" that made it all worth while was I found Ben one of those swim suits with the floatation thing built in it. I had been looking at them online (bc we are going to Hilton Head this summer so he needs one) and they were going to be around $30 but I got mine for only $4! WOO WHoo Go ME!

Next Monday, I will be going to one that is about 45 min away in Murray, KY. The pictures on their site( http://www.kyweeruns.com/) look like its going to be a huge sale! I cant wait!!! Then the next Saturday, my friends and I are going to one at Jackson Christian School in Jackson, TN. This one I have been to b4 and was very impressed. After buying all the bargains I can at these 2 sales, I guess I will have to wait till early fall for my next bargain hunting extravaganza but until then I will continue to go to Goodwill to feed my addiction!

Asthma makes for a long weekend!

2010-03-15T08:47:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody! Hope everyone has a good week! Well after a exciting consignment sale Thursday night (by the way this year I made more than I spent), I went to pick up my son at my mother-in-laws. Upon arrival she said that she had already used his inhaler 2X bc he had been wheezing pretty bad. He woke up when he heard me and the wheezing and barrel breathing was much worse so we rushed home to do a breathing treatment. After doing a breathing treatment we got him settled down some and he fell asleep but woke himself up coughing and then began to throw up. After a long night of no sleep we rushed to the dr at 8 friday morning (as soon as they open). On the ride there he began barrel breathing again so I flew into the drs office and said we need to be seen now. I was on a mission bc I was scared to death bc I know nothing about asthma. His oxygen level was at 89 when we got there and after another breathing treatment in the office it came up to 92. Dr gave him steriods (which made him a different child) and breathing treatments every hour there was no improvement so we called the dr again and he said if we cant get it under control in 3 hours to head to the hospital. Luckily after an hour we got his breathing under control so trip to the er. He is still coughing and wheezing especially while he is playing but how do you keep a 20 month old calm, really? Anybody have any tips and suggestions about asthma? Please email me or leave a comment. We have a hard time deciding whether to wait it out or go on to the hospital. Thanks for listening to me ramble on about my weekend.

My 1st blog~A mothers morning

2010-03-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Ok people, so I have decided that I needed to catch up with today's technology and have a blog to chronicle all the crazy things that go on in mine and my families life....So lets see this morning the alarm went off and much to my surprise I was not ready to get up yet (as always). After laying there as long as I possibly could, I rolled out of the bed. As those of you with toddlers understand, I try to get myself dressed as much as possible before my 20 month old wakes up. Yea so I didnt even get my teeth brushed and I hear him up. While trying to finish getting ready and look as dressed up as possible, I was entertaining my little man. I went to put my rings on while singing a little diddy called the "wheels on the bus" I am struggling to put my rings on after forcing them onto my finger...I look down and I have put them on the wrong hand and now they are stuck. Of course I was running late already so I just said forget it and put my shoes and picked up Ben to walk out the door and when I did I caught a stinch that would curl your nose hairs. So back to the changing table we went and we finally made it out the door. Oh me the mornings of mother....gotta love them. Now I am counting down the hours till tonite because its the big childrens consignment sale. I love finding bargains and poor Ben most of his toys and clothes I buy used. But oh well, I save money which my hubby likes and Ben still looks adorable.