So my dad married a...cont.

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

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!

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

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!!

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

So my dad married a...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

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

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!!

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

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

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!!!

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!!!