We didn't make it to Sunday School like I had hoped. But we did get to church. J didn't get off work until 3 something. We went back to his parents after church and ate lunch then he left for work. The kids and I hung out there until evening church. They had puppets and singing tonight. Both the kids loved watching the puppets. The people and their puppet had a great message to share with people of every age. I thought that Monkey wasn't going to make it through the whole thing but he did really well with a few nursings here and there. He has been nursing like crazy the last day and night. I checked his mouth to see if he was getting any new teeth and I can feel one that is trying to come through but hasn't broken the skin yet. For some reason he seems to teeth two to four teeth at a time. Poor kid is in pain. I did give him some teething tablets and they seem to help him. Whoever invented those things I am very grateful! They have worked great with both of our kids. That was my little infomercial! (I don't think I spelled that right and I don't really feel like checking...even though it probably would of been quicker than typing this long sentence!) I need to go because I am tired and I fear I might again spend the rest of the night with a Monkey attached. I usually can sleep while he is nursing but not lately.

Well this is my second post on this day. But this one is actually about today! We really didn't do much until this afternoon. Grandpa M took GG, Monkey and I to see the movie Brother Bear. It was a cute movie. Then we went to get some McDonalds. Now we are going to be heading over to the A's, for yet another sleep over. We are going to be spending every Saturday night there so that we can go to Sunday school. From here to church it takes about 30 minutes from J's parents house to church it takes about 10 minutes. Sunday school is at 9:45 so we don't have to get up so early when we stay there. It works out great. Plus, then the kids get to have time with grandma and grandpa A and their Aunt Elizabeth (aka Ribbit). Until tomorrow...

Wow what a great day we had! We slept in this morning and then we put up our Christmas tree. The kids had so much fun doing that. Then we put up our other Christmas decorations including our stockings. It is so Christmasy down here it rocks! We got done in time to have lunch with J before he went to work and then my maid of honor Kris came about 2ish. We talked and talked. She played with the kids and they had so much fun. She stayed for dinner, so we had a lot of company for dinner because my parents had friends over too. They had a little girl who is 4. You guessed it GG and Isabel played together and had a lot of fun. They even let Monkey play too. Which I forgot to mention...yesterday at the Thanksgiving there was a little boy GG age that her and Monkey played with. The kids have had three great days of playing with friends. J and I have had a great time being with great people too. I love the holidays!!! My friend Kris just left and I wanted to update real quick before I jumped into bed. Oh here is a cute story. GG fell the other day and got a bruise. The company tonight asked her what happened and when. She couldn't remember when it happened so she came to me and asked, "Did I fall yesterday, Friday or two weeks ago?" That sentence was just to cute. The way a 2 year old's mind works :)

I'll start with yesterday! Most of the day we spent with Uncle Travis and Aunt Becky. At night we went to church and then to the M's house for a party. The party was a blast and GG had fun playing with two little girls Autumn (7) and Erin (5). Monkey chased a little girl named Olivia around hugging and kissing her. I have a little stud on my hands!!! GG was sad though because grandma and grandpa didn't come to the party so she didn't get to spend the night there last night. It was heartbreaking, she was looking forward to it all day and she even helped me pack her book bag of things she wanted to bring. Oh well maybe another day?!?

So today Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We watched the parade this morning the kids really liked that especially, Snoopy! Then we ate lunch and got ready to go to the J's house. We had so much fun. There was about 40 to 45 people there, all wonderful people too. We ate so much food and it was good :) Then everyone there got in a circle and we passed a bottle around and a cup of popcorn kernels. When they came to you, you told the group what you were thankful for the year. Then you put a kernel in the bottle. When the cup got to GG she said she was thankful for; Mommy, Daddy, baby doll and Monkey. (in that order!)Before we started though GG was eating up the attention she was getting from everyone. She was singing Jesus loves the little children as she walked the circle which then turned into running the circle. She also did somersaults and cartwheels for everyone. She loves to entertain. Someone even said we should put her in the children's choir because she sings her songs on key! She is such a ham. Now Monkey on the other hand was a little more timid than her but by the end of the day he had warmed up enough to go exploring. We got home around 10:30ish and we just got GG settled down and sleeping but Monkey took a nap there and he is wide awake so J and him are playing the PS2 golf game. That was funny too because J pulled out the controller and Monkey immediately went to the game sitting seat. He is now clapping for J! Well I need to go to bed we have another day of eating tomorrow. Oh yeah J got today off to spend Thanksgiving with us, what a nice husband!

Ok after I updated last night I realized I forgot something...Monkey is so funny to watch when doing things. Like when he colors he switches hands, he also does this when doing almost anything eating is another one. It is like he can't decide if he wants to be right or left handed. Also last night after I had already updated GG helped grandma wrap presents for needy kids. I tried my best to explain to her that there are little kids' who's mommy and daddy's don't have enough money to buy them presents. So grandma and grandpa bought them some. I think she understood. She did say that the presents were for other kids that needed them more than her. I think she understands well enough for a 2 year old :)

On to today! This morning we got up and went to get my car fixed. The mechanic is next to J's parents so we spent the day with grandma and Aunt Elizabeth. It worked out nice. They actually got my car fixed today too. But just in case we had clothes packed for spending the night! Since the car got fixed so fast we came home tonight. GG was going to spend the night but grandma had to work tomorrow so no one would be there in the morning to watch her. She was really sad about that so we are going to let her stay there tomorrow night. I am a little nervous because she has never been away from me or J overnight. She has only been without me 3 nights (Monkey's birth). She's almost 3 and I think she can handle it, I hope. If not they are going to call me before J gets off work and he will go pick her up and bring her home or stay with her. GG and Elizabeth made cookies today and GG now has a new favorite movie. It was a fun and relaxing day. Well I am going to go with Roberta (grandma) to the garage and take somethings out to the trash.

I can't even explain how much fun it is to have J home for the whole day! I love his days off. This morning GG and J went to get his truck's emissions tested. Monkey and I spent that time just playing together the two of us. We had a lot of fun coloring, playing with playdough, kicking the ball and catching it, playing with other toys and reading stories. It is very rare that it is just me and one of the kids especially Monkey. GG doesn't take naps so we have time together while Monkey is sleeping. Anyway that time with Monkey was special for me. I also know that GG had a great time with J spending time together. She was so excited when she came home to tell me what they did together. Then J and I worked out our budget. We were suppose to do that last night but someone fell asleep! (J) Then we had our first family meeting. The kids sat on the couch and J and I sat on the floor in front of them and we talked about things. GG also had input in the meeting. We are going to try doing them at least once a month now. Grant it the meeting was short and sweet because we have a 1 and 2 year old! While Monkey took his nap GG and J played the playstation...it was the golf game and GG beat J at the game. She loved it. This afternoon we made paperweight handprints of the kids hands. We are going to be painting them tomorrow or the next day. Now we have another fire going. I want a fireplace when we get a place of our own! We just got done recording the kids on the camcorder. They are going to die in a few years when they see the tapes :) I am going to go enjoy the fire now. Travis just came downstairs and he and J are going to play playstation. What fun!!!!

We are back home. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa (pampa as Monkey says!) and Aunty Liz. He doesn't say grandma yet. I slept horrible last night...it was a combination of Liz blasting her music all night and sleeping on a paper thin mattress. Oh well. We DID make it to sunday school and church! Yay :) GG had a great time in her class too and then she played in the nursery during church. Monkey went to class with us and I sat with him in the parents room during the service it worked out good. For lunch Sue made a huge meal...chicken, steak, sausage, veggies, cheese potatoes, fruit cocktail and apple pie. It was very yummy! Travis is here and my dad is in Las Vegas on a business trip. GG is sleeping on the couch right now which I think is a bad idea because it is almost 6:30pm and J and Monkey are playing playstation together! A very cute picture opportunity. Oh yeah at church I got to see a baby that was born on the 14th of this month so she is only 9 days old. I think I want another one!!!! J and I talked about it last night, actually I talked and J listened. He did say that he thought are two kids were prefect and if we had another one they might not be, he was joking of course, he really doesn't think they are prefect. I'm almost positive he thinks I'm nuts though for wanting another one! I guess we'll see if God has a plan for us to have another one.

We are going to be spending the rest of the day and night at the J's parents. Before we leave we are going to run some errands here. Have a great weekend everyone I know we will!

Good news this morning the picture people called. They are going to give us the proofs to replace the bad disk they gave us. It is a good deal because the proofs is twice what the disk is worth. I was happy to have that settled. J told me that he didn't want to call the other place so I need to decide if it is worth the headache to call myself. Monkey learned a new skill today thanks to Daddy. He now shows his muscles!!! If you ask him to show his muscles he puts his fists on his face and grunts. So sweet. Daddy also wanted to teach him another trick but it wasn't too funny. I was helping GG with something and my underwear was sticking out and J was trying to get Monkey to pull on them. I just thought to myself about my friend's little boy Thomas he does that :) Another thing Monkey learned, there is so many new things a day, he knows who Sponge Bob is and can say his name. I have let him watch it twice and he picked it up that fast. GG learned a new thing today that I am not so happy about. It is a bad word that she heard on ER. She was sleeping last night when it was on but I recorded it for J and he watched it before work. I can't win. If anyone saw it last night it was the scene when Dr Louis found out her husband lived it is what he called the other flight nurse and then she called her that too. Twice in a 15 second period of time made it stick with GG. So we had a talk about how that was not a nice word and if I heard her say that she would be in trouble. She hasn't said it again! Such a smart little girl. Another thing that GG has started doing is wanting to wear the same shirt every day. We let her pick out her clothes but there is only so many days she can wear the same shirt before it is standing on its own!!! Just kidding...I only let her wear it twice and then wash it. She takes a bath everyday so it isn't a big deal but I want her to know good hygiene. Right now GG is watching The Wizard of Oz. It is on tv and she took a nap today so I'm going to let her stay up. J has this weekend off so that will be nice. Grandma A and Elizabeth have next week off for the holiday so we might spend some time with them too. My brother Travis is coming home tomorrow and Becky is coming home on Tuesday. We will have a full house but it should be fun. Which reminds me I need to email Kris and find out when she is coming...

Still nothing from the picture people. And now I have to call a company and demand my rebate that they are snubbing us on. I hate doing stuff like that. Maybe I will ask J to do it instead. This morning we got up and went to the MOPS group. It was the open gym day. The kids run around and play then they do the parachute, sing songs and read books. GG was so cute, she heard a little girl crying and she came up to me so concerned that she was crying, she begged me to help her find the little girls mommy. I watched her stop playing with the kids she was playing with to come get me. She has the best heart. I remember once this summer we were at the park (the one outside our apartment) and there was a baby doll on the ground and she had me go door to door to find out who it belonged to so that the baby doll wouldn't be sad without it's mommy. Back to today we came home just in time for lunch. I was hungry! Let's see what else happened today...oh Monkey likes to blow bubbles with his mouth. He stands there and does it for about 30 minutes at a time. What a silly little boy. Today we went through of the kids' toys. I put all the pieces back with their parts, legos in the box and Mrs. Potato head pieces in her "butt" you know things like that. I also pulled out some toys that they have outgrown. I am going to box them up and put them in storage. I just don't want to get rid of them. The cool thing about going through the toys is that it sparked interest into both of the kids and they have been playing with them non-stop. They play with their toys (ending in fights over them sometimes) but I guess see them all made them want to play with all of them at once. Kind of like having Christmas early. I didn't mind. They didn't fight over any of the toys. Well GG is sleeping and I need to get Monkey to bed because I am tired I got up early this morning.

Alright the picture saga continues...I called the manager today and I got her voice mail so I left a message. I have heard no answer so I will call again tomorrow. This morning Monkey slept until 11:45 he must of needed the extra sleep. Right now they are both in bed sleeping. I really hope they stay there cause it is only 9:15pm. The kids and I went grocery shopping tonight with grandma and had a really late dinner. Monkey put his first sentence together today. He said, "more heese" he wanted more cheese! I was so proud of him. He is talking a lot more now. He also plays this game where you ask him where so and so is and he points. He even points to Brandey the dog when asked. J and I were laughing at him this morning (well after he woke up) he was turning himself in circles and he was so crazy and out of control it was funny. He kept falling...he would laugh and get up and do it again. I love the age he is at right now. They are learning new things so fast and aren't old enough to talk back or be naughty. He is just so cute to watch! GG on the other hand is just a grown up little girl. She was talking to J this morning and I just looked at her and thought, wow where did the time go? She communicates so well and clearly. She has wonderful thoughts...and she is able to share them with us. Last night we were going to bed and I was holding her she looked at me and said, "Mommy I am so comfortable in your arms." What a little sweetheart! I am looking into getting her into some kind of dance or tumbling class. She really want to learn how to do a cartwheel. Oh yeah the other day Monkey did a somersault. It shocked the pants off of me! GG must of been teaching him how to do that. I know I haven't. She is a great teacher...because she can explain things so great anyone could understand.

So today has been a roller coaster of good and bad things. The good is that my brother is home from Iraq. The bad is that I went to Wal-mart today about the crappy disk they gave me. Anyways, I drove about a 20 minute drive and took the disk there. The girl couldn't tell me if the pictures were still on it and told me I needed to come back when her boss was there. When she talked to me on the phone she could of told me she didn't know how to do it and that I should come when her boss was there. I didn't need to hear that in person. I was so mad...I had both kids with me too. I now am armed with her bosses phone number and pager so that I can talk to her tomorrow. So it still isn't settled. I just want those pictures back they were super cute. Before I forget I misspelled the word choo choo yesterday and J made fun of me. So sorry I wasn't thinking and spelled the word the first way that came to my mind. After we got done with Wal-mart it was time for the LLL meeting. GG was so funny. I wanted her to stay home with grandma but at the last minute she wanted to come with me. So I let her. She was sitting in the car saying, "Thank you for letting me go to the laleche meeting and play with my friends." I didn't know she could say that word let alone know that was where we were going. All of this by the way happened after lunch. This morning J had court (yesterday on his way to court he got pulled over for speeding!) so he was gone when I got up with GG. I turned on tv for her so I could go shower...Monkey was sleeping. When I came back down Monkey was awake and sitting next to GG watching tv with her. It was the cutest picture. I love that he gets out of bed himself and can find comfort in knowing GG was out here watching tv. He loves her as much as she loves him. It is great!!! Then the kids and I ran some errands today, we went to the library and the grocery store. Came home, made dinner, and left for the rest of the night which was already talked about above! Wow, this is a long post.

This morning was so funny. I went to put on Monkey’s firetruck shirt and instead said, his chew chew train. GG corrected me. Then she told on me when J came in the room. It was really funny. She said, “Daddy! Mommy called Monkey’s firetruck a chew chew train. She said the wrong thing.” Thanks GG for putting me in my place. This afternoon I checked the temperature and it said it was 52 out so I thought we could go to the park to play. We were there for only 10 minutes because we were all cold. It was a nice try, anyways. Oh remember how I said we got family pictures taken and I was going to update the pages with them. Well we went to get the pictures off the disk and it didn’t work. So J called and talked to the lady and she called again after he had left for work so I talked to her. She said that we should bring the disk in and she will check to see if the pictures are on it. If they are she can copy them to a new disk but if they aren’t they are gone. She said she would refund our money. Those pictures were too cute. I don’t want the money back I want the pictures back. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow when I go there. I just really hope that if the pictures are lost they will give me back the money and give me the hard copies free, for them messing up. I don’t think that is unreasonable of a request. They are the ones that messed up. Anyway back to a better topic. Today the kids were sitting on the couch…GG leaned over and started whispering in Monkey ear. The faces that Monkey was making while GG was talked to him was so funny for J and I to watch. It was like he was really listening to what she was saying and trying to process it. J and I could hear what she was saying to him and it was…Monkey, pinch Monkey’s butt. What a goof she is. I have my car back again too. The only bad thing is that it stalled on Roberta today so dad is trying to tell me what to do to get it fixed. Hi…have you met me I’m 25 married and have two kids. I think I can handle my car troubles. UUUGGGHHH! The kids are beginning to be such great helpers with the laundry. Monkey is getting the hang of it now! I have been forgetting to mention this but GG has invented an imaginary friend (pet) it is a kitty named Molly. She is so fun to watch pet it and hold it. J was really confused the first time she showed him Molly because she was pointing to the floor and he thought she saw a bug. She loves to point out bugs. But then she explained herself to him and he then understood.

What a wonderfully fun day we had yesterday and today for that matter. Yesterday we went to J's Aunt Judy's retirement party. I got to meet for the second time some of his cousins on his dad's side. The first was at our wedding but when you have about 450 people it is hard to remember people you have never met before. Anyways, his cousins had kids GG and Monkey's ages. They were two girls about 4 months younger than GG, a five year old little girl, and another girl about 6 months younger than Monkey. They had a great time playing with their 3rd or 2nd (?) cousins. We exchanged phone numbers and hopefully we can set up some play dates! I forgot before we went to the party the kids got their presents from Grandma A...all the way from London. She got Monkey a Bobby Hat (it is a London police hat that he looks super cute in) and a sword. She got GG a London teddy bear and a really cute magnet set. The magnets are circles that connect and it is battery operated to turn the magnets. Both kids like watching them. We spent the night at J's parents. Went to church this morning and had lunch with his family. Then he went to work and the kids and I came home. Aunt Becky was in town so we hung out with her. If she is reading this I want her to know that I love her very much! It was good to see you. Then my dad dropped a bomb on me about him needing my car tomorrow for work. So I guess I am going to be stranded in this house all day tomorrow. That is going stink. He better get his car back tomorrow. I just filled my car up too. Oh well.

Number two day off...this morning J made pancakes for breakfast. They were very good and tasty. Also J cleaned/organized the garage so that I can park my car in it for the winter. The only thing was that the opener didn't work. So we had to go get a new one. This afternoon we got family pictures taken and I am thinking of updating the kids pages again. I have the family pictures plus some pictures from grandma's camera. When we got the new garage door opener we also got a screen for the fireplace. So right now we have a nice fire going. It is so warm and homey down here. It really makes it feel like it is our place...sorta. When we got home from the pictures I made dinner and J gave Monkey a hair cut. He used his electric razor. I think it is really short but he looks cute. Then J gave himself a hair cut. Both the boys needed to clean the hair off so both the kids and J took a bubble bath. I sat in there and talked with them. We will probably end this evening with some stories and then to bed. We have a somewhat busy day tomorrow.

J had the day off today. We had a pretty lazy morning...I played memory with GG. Then after lunch we got into the car for a road trip to NIU to see Aunt Becky. Holy Cow! I am so glad I went to WIU...the dorm rooms at NIU are super small. They have no a/c for when it is hot and they can't control the heat. I'm not saying that WIU is better but man I'm glad I went there! Another thing they do is they have a weekly food allowance and if you don't use what is on the card you lose it. With Western you got a food card for the whole semester. We had dinner in their cafeteria too. It wasn't the best food ever but it wasn't that bad either. It was just cafeteria food. Anyway, we met a friend of Becky's named Ruby and she was really nice. Plus, she told Becky that she should listen to J and I about school stuff. I guess J helped her decide what area of nursing she wanted to do. But she is only a freshman and has plenty of time to change her mind! While we were there GG called a girl. It was hilarious. She talked to her for about 5 minutes. She told her name and then asked what the girls name was. I guess the girl said Brandy. GG responded with, "That's a dogs name. My grandma M's dog's name is Brandy." It was cute to see how grown up she is when talking to a complete stranger! Then on the way home J was talking about getting a secondary gun and I was actually thinking maybe it won't be such a bad idea if it will help his safety but after tonights ER I am rethinking the whole thing. I will just say that I was so incredibly mad at J tonight during the show. If you saw it tonight you will probably know what I am talking about. I know that GG knows that she shouldn't touch guns because we have had many talks about it. We have even tested her with J's air soft gun we put it on the ground and when she sees it she points at it and says, "Oh NO! Daddy! Mommy! there is a gun on the floor. Come get it." She doesn't touch it! She is a smart girl but a gun is still a deadly weapon.

Welcome to the world little Gavin Joel! My friend Kristen had her baby today :) They sent pictures and I will say he is really, really cute! I told GG that her friend Ethan has a baby brother now and his name is Gavin. She said, "OH boy, that's really cool! I want to go see him. Do you think I could hold him mommy? ...I want a baby sister." I love how toddlers minds work. Today we went grocery shopping with daddy and also to Wal-mart. Then this afternoon I got an unexpected phone call from my maid of honor Kris. She is coming to town in two weeks and is going to stay with us for a few days. I am really excited!!! I love showing off my beautiful children. I also got a call from Linda from church they are doing a hayride and bonfire this weekend in Forreston. We were planning on going but we are going to be going J's Aunt's retirement party instead. She really wants to see the kids and specifically asked for us to attend. We are happy to oblige. And Virginia I left you a message in your journal about your question, so read it. I think it will make you feel better :)

Last night my dad told me I should go get my masters so that I wouldn't be bored at home. I told him I was definitely not bored. Then he said I could get a promotion with a masters. Oh goody, I could be an executive mommy!!! Anyways, tonight before I started writing this I looked back at a few random entries. Trust me I have proof that I do not live a boring life. How could you with two very active kids?!? I am just so glad that J encouraged (even begged) me to start a journal...it is so much fun to look back at funny things that happen. And even my other journal I just recently started that is about me. I will have those thoughts to look back on too. Last night he read my journal about the doctor's office and he laughed so hard about GG and the shoe tongue that he almost woke the kids up. I don't know if I would of remembered to tell him that story this morning. On with today! We woke up in a sauna. It was so hot in the bedroom that both kids left sweat marks where their heads were. Hopefully we got that fixed though. Our day consisted of playing with playdough, coloring, playing memory, (I only had to play once...I timed it so that we were done when grandma got home!), singing songs, doing 3 loads of laundry, cleaning up the toys, and then vacuuming, taking a bath, and reading books before bed. Doing the laundry was fun Monkey even got in on the action. When the clothes get done washing I put them on the door to the dryer and he pushed them in with GG's help, of course! Then GG folds her clothes and puts them away. This is such a neat trick :) Monkey puts the socks into a pile for me...and throws the unfolded clothes all over the place! Oh J locked grandma out of the basement this morning she wasn't to happy about that :( One more thing...about J's blog and the negativity I totally agree. Life is to short to be so down and depressed. You are alive and healthy (by healthy I mean you don't have a life threatening illness) that is something to be positive and happy about.

Coughing was the first thing I heard this morning from both the kids. That made us start the calling for an appointment at a family practice. They got one for 1:30 and 1:45pm. It was the same place J went to when he was little. So it was about a 30 minute drive, especially because I didn't know where I was going. J had court again today at 1:30 and so he left a little after 12 and we left shortly after him. I was happy to learn that it hasn't gone into Monkey's lungs and that it is just viral (for now at least) and hopefully won't turn into bacterial. They checked GG too just to be safe. Her cough wasn't as bad anyway. Monkey weighed in at 25 lbs and 32 inches. Wow has he grown!!! GG weighed 30 lbs (never thought I would see the day she left the 20's) and is 37 inches tall. Cute story that happened while we were at the doctor's. The nurse was taking GG vitals and was going to get her temperature...the nurse told her to put it under her tongue. So GG took her shoe off thinking she meant the shoe tongue! The nurse thought that was really smart of her but I just thought it was pretty funny. You have to understand we take her temperature under the arm and her old doctor took it in the ear. This was completely new to her :) We didn't get home from there until 3:30pm. We played games until it was time to make dinner. So after dinner the kids and I were having a spinning contest/spin off. Basically what it was is that I spun the kids and they tried to walk to grandma without falling over! I was spinning Monkey and GG decided to grab my leg (I told her to let go) and wouldn't let go so she went flying into the wall about 10 seconds later. So I stopped with Monkey (both of us dizzy) and put him down to go see what was wrong with GG. While I went to her, he fell I had sat him on his butt knowing he couldn't stand. But he still fell back. It was quite the site...GG crying because she just flew into the wall, Monkey crying because he just fell because he was too dizzy to sit up and I was holding them both on the floor because I couldn't stand without falling over myself. After they calmed down they both wanted to do it again. I guess it was just to fun to stop! Right now the kids are playing with their school buses, they each have their own. They also just got done taking a bath so they are starting to settle down for bed. YEAH!

We had a great time yesterday evening hanging out with grandpa A and Elizabeth. However, last night was not fun. Monkey is getting sick...at least it is only the first time this season. He couldn't breathe last night so I had to hold him sitting up. If you have ever tried to sleep in a sitting position it is hard, especially when holding a sleeping baby. We got very little sleep (I really wished we were at home so I could of held him in one of our recliners) sitting on the couch. So we skipped sunday school, I was sad. But we did get to go to church! At church there was a guy who went out with one of my friends from high school I hadn't seen him in about 5 years...such a small world that he now goes to the same church. We also got to hear grandpa's testimony. I'd never heard it before and it was neat to hear! We ate lunch with grandpa and got ready to head back home. J left his wallet and knife at his parents house so we stopped at the police station to drop it off on our way home. Both the kids fell asleep in the car! So no nap for me, I really wanted to take one today. Tonight grandma M made a birthday dinner for my dad. It was yummy, we had ham, mashed potatoes, salad, crescent rolls and a pie for dessert. Now Becky is playing with the kids before she goes back to school so I thought I would take advantage and update real quick. I am going to try and watch the Jessica Lynch story tonight, the key word is try! The kids need a bath before bed.

So last night Monkey woke up at about 2am not very happy. I don't know what the deal was but it took him about 15 minutes to settle back down. I mean he didn't even want to nurse...the boy is always attached! This morning we are getting a door installed from the basement to the upstairs. I am hoping this will keep the basement warmer. We can light candles and the heat will stay down here. So that is pretty much all of the excitement for today. We are going to be going over to J's parents house to have another sleepover so that we will be able to make it to sunday school. Oh I forgot to mention this yesterday but when we were waiting for my dad to get home sitting in the dark...I was saying that he needed to get his burgerbutt home. GG was so funny and said, "What was that about, mommy? You called grandpa a burgerbutt! That's really gross." Grandma and I got a good laugh from that one.

Right now the kids are under wraps...watching snow white before bed! I am hoping that GG will fall asleep and Monkey will be content while I post. This morning J had court and got home around 10:30. Not too bad we still got some good time with him. I thought this was cute when J left for work GG said to him, "see you later alligator, after while crocodile." I don't think she realizes she is only suppose to say one or the other. This afternoon GG didn't take a nap but Monkey did. GG and I played memory until my head spun off. She really likes playing that game. I love watching her and Monkey play and learn new things. We got to stop when Aunt Becky came home...thanks to Aunt Becky for saving me from playing yet another game! Don't get me wrong I love playing with her but I can only take playing one game so many times!!!! Then grandma came home. Then Becky's friends (two sisters that have been around GG a lot) came over to pick her up for a concert. GG likes Becky's friends I think it has something to do with the fact that they ooohh and aaahh over her! She is such a people person. After dinner GG, Monkey, grandma and I waited in the dark for grandpa to come home. It is his birthday. As we were waiting I noticed some fireworks going on so we got to watch them from our house. Anyway when grandpa open the door GG screamed, "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!" We had practice because she was first saying purprise. OH yeah we also called him at work so GG could sing him the birthday song. Tonight I gave the kids baths and here we are settling down getting ready for sleep.

Just a side note...I talked to my friend Kristen who is going to have a baby, she hasn't had it yet, but when she does we are going to go see her. She emailed me and said the latest will be Wednesday I am so excited. I love new born babies. I also got a letter from her in the mail today with pictures of GG and Ethan reading books together they were so cute.

The kids and I went to MOPS playgroup this morning! We had a lot of fun I just wish it was a little closer so that these ladies would live by us. But that doesn't bother me that much I know we can always set up play dates! On our way home GG wanted to go to the K's house to play with Ellie. I asked her if she had fun and she loved it and wants to go back again. There was about 8 kids in her age group and about 6 in Monkey's age group. I think all three of us had a very fun morning. Anyway, while we were gone about three hours, J stayed home and cleaned like crazy. What a great guy. He picked up all the toys vacuumed our living area, the stairs, upstairs in my parents living room, did 2 loads of laundry, and cleaned both bathrooms. I didn't ask him to do any of it! It was a nice surprise to come home and not have to do it, I was kind of at a lost for what to do...not really it just gave me more time to play with the kids! At nap time J and I finished watching a movie I checked out from the library. And for dinner tonight I didn't have to cook again. Grandma made a slow roast before she went to work this morning. Then tonight J gave the kids a bath. This was a totally great day for me. Oh and we recorded the kids tonight coloring in the books Aunt Melissa sent them. Then we got them doing some other things...like Monkey saying words and pointing to things and GG singing and dancing, way hilarious.

This morning I went to get my haircut. I really like it too. When I came home I let the dog outside. She started barking so GG and I went to let her in. GG was so cute she said, “Ok Brandey we are coming to let you in. You can stop barking now.” We opened the door and she came in. Then GG made a funny face. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “Brandey stinks! I think we should put her back outside.” Such a silly little girl! Oh yeah before I left to get my haircut J made a pot roast…no cooking for me tonight! This afternoon J left to go shoot at the department with his buddy. I forgot to write about Monkey last night. I changed his diaper before we went out to eat...when we put him in the bathtub almost 3 hours later his diaper was still dry! I couldn't believe it he just might be ready to potty train. But I don't know how ready I am for that. Back to today after dinner we went to Kohl’s they were having a 50% off sale and we went to check it out. J needed some black dress pants for court appearances but we didn’t find any his size, what a bummer. Now I am going to go give the kids a bath for the day. Then they are going to bed and hopefully to sleep too. One more thing I found out today that I have a cousin who is in jail…my hubby is a cop!

It was great to wake up this morning and know that J didn't have to go to work today. After we got ready we and ate lunch we headed over to Wal-mart. Our car died on us about 5 times in the Wal-mart parking lot. We parked and went to get the things we needed. When we came out the car was fine. Weird, huh? So we went to the bank, video store and the to see grandma A. at school. She is leaving tomorrow for about a week and we wanted to say goodbye. Plus, J needed some papers blown up for work. We came home and started talking about dinner. This is the cool part we went out to eat for my "birthday dinner". We ate at TGI Fridays. The kids ate really good too. I don't think we had any food left over from the three meals we got. When we came home J gave the kids baths while I did the dishes. I love the way the kids smell after baths. Right now GG has my pon poms and is running around yelling, "I am a teenager! I am a teenager!" I think she means cheerleader :) Also I got our pictures back today so I will try and update tomorrow. But I'm not promising anything...

So today was a somewhat lazy day. It was so rainy and yucky out that for the most part of the morning the kids and I cuddle on the couch together watching cartoons. This was a treat because they don't get to watch tv that much maybe one show a day or one movie. It was something we could do and still be quite enough for J to get some sleep. Then the kids both took naps after lunch which gave me some free time to start the laundry. When they woke up they helped me fold the clothes. GG is getting really good at folding her shirts and pants. She loves to help with chores and this is a great one for her to do. Then tonight grandpa came home early from work. He normally works until 9pm so we see very little of him. But tonight he was home at 6pm. He gave the kids some gifts too. GG got a Dora Clock, she absolutely loves it. She walked around for about an hour saying, "I really really love my new clock." Monkey got a stuffed animal, he wasn't too interested in it. It was cute though it was a mommy bear and a baby bear. After dinner we ate some ice cream yummy! Then I put the kids in the bath. GG had chocolate ice cream on her belly, Monkey just wanted to take a bath too. He actually threw a fit when I took him out tonight. There was no water in the tub but he still wanted to stay in. My boy likes baths! Now I am going to get the kids to bed. Goodnight!

Ah the day is finally over. As I sit here I can't really remember what we did today except that we went grocery shopping. I think it was because both grandma and grandpa were home all day and the kids played with them giving me a break with J at work! I did give the kids a bath again tonight after dinner. I think that while J is working afternoons I will bathe them at night and when he works days I will do it in the morning. That way we have more time with him instead of showering everyone. GG played with my hair again tonight, I absolutely love when she does. She also went to bed at 8:30pm because she didn't take a nap. J should be happy that at least she is sleeping when he gets home. I am hoping that Monkey will start to get tired and want to go to bed sometime soon. I have been nursing him for the last hour and a half, still awake!

Today we got up with a sugar hangover! J/K Seriously we got up around 10am and started our day. I know some may say that the day is already half over but we don't go to bed early. GG and I spent some time together running errands. We dropped off the film at Wal-mart. Then we went to pay a bill for storage. After lunch Monkey took a nap and GG and I colored and she played with playdough and her puzzle. Tonight we went to church and GG went to the God Zone and Monkey stayed with me. So I did get one on one time with him too. But I usually get time with him when I nurse him. That is our special time! Only nursing moms would understand. Came home after church and ate dinner. Grandma and grandpa left for the evening they went dancing. So we have the run of the house!!!! I am going to give the kids baths tonight so we don't have to do it in the morning before church. I am hoping we will be able to make it to sunday school again, GG had so much fun last week. I really want to start attending a class regularly too. We just have to figure out which one of the classes we want to go to. There is like 2 or 3 to choose from.

We had the best Halloween ever! We didn't get home last night until 12:15am. So I am going to update about yesterday...J made me breakfast in bed for my birthday and Monkey brought me the card that GG made me. She did a great job with writing the letters it looked great. She did have a little trouble with the p's. After we woke up we got ready for the action packed day. We went to Wal-mart in the morning. Had lunch at home and tried to get the kids to take naps. Monkey did but GG was too excited about trick or treating. When Monkey woke up we got them in their costumes. GG was the cutest ladybug ever (people even said that when they saw her) and Monkey was the sweetest little skeleton (everyone thought he looked super cute too). Then we took them around the neighborhood to about 5 houses at 3:30pm, mainly just people we knew. GG was so sweet when the first person came to the door she said, "May I please have some candy?" We told her all she had to say was trick or treat. So she did at the next house. Then we went to the Mall to trick or treat at 5pm. As we walked around GG either said, "trick or treat" followed by thank you or "Happy Halloween", followed by thank you. The Mall is such a great idea, because you stay warm. I loved showing the kids off. The people gave them hand fulls of candy. Then we went to a store were we bought our wedding rings and the lady was there and gave the kids balloons along with the candy. We had other kids come up to us asking where they got the balloons. J said to me, "they got them for being the cutest kids in the world!" After the Mall we went to the police station and fire station to trick or treat but to mainly show off our cute kids ;) Then it was off to the party at 6:30pm, which we trick or treated at too. (YES the kids got a lot of candy yesterday) The party was a lot of fun. J was so amazed at how well Monkey did at the M's party because he didn't want to be held a lot and there was about 25 to 30 people there! He is growing out of the stranger anxiety stage. Anyway before we went t & t' ing we got into 5 groups and did a scavenger hunt trick or treat. It was a unique idea I thought, and a lot of fun too. We left the M's party at 9ish and drove to the K's house were grandma and grandpa A. were. They were at a party too and GG and Monkey were the only kids there. So GG ate up all the attention, Monkey was sleeping by now. We left there at 10ish and went to J's parents house for a spontaneous sleepover. However, Monkey woke up and GG was wired from eating so much candy. At about 11:40 we decided that they weren't going to fall asleep anytime soon and they only way to calm them down was to put them in the car and drive the 35 minutes home. It worked like a charm they crashed in the car about 10 minutes into the drive! We got home at 12:15am and that was the end of our day. I do want to say thank you to everyone that sent me a birthday card, email and present for my birthday. Also for all the birthday calls too! You made me feel loved :) I still can't believe I am 25 with two beautiful children and a super husband. I love my life.