Today will be short!!! I went to work this morning and the kids spent time with daddy. I got home we ate lunch and left to go look at some cars. That lasted about (forever)...3 hours, really. The kids each took naps one at a time. So that was good. Now we are going to the A's for the night. Hopefully they will help us get some clarity on what we should do vehicle wise. Until tomorrow...

This post is all about my little girl. Today was the first day I could sleep in because I didn't work this morning. GG decided to wake up at 7:45 (I'm not complaining and I know that's not extremely early but it is for us!), the days I work I wake her up at 8:15 and normal days she sleeps until 9 or 9:30. I couldn't of course be upset with her when she is sitting there saying, "Get up mommy it's a beautiful day today!" With a smile on her face too, of course. She says this every morning and I love hearing those words. I wasn't ready to get up so I told her to go get her cup out of the fridge and grab a bagel on the table and I would turn on some cartoons. Then I laid on the couch and slept while she ate, drank and watched her shows. So as you can image today she was not quite herself due to the fact she was lacking some sleep. All day long she would start something like a song or activity and stop and say, "I can't remember how it goes." Or she would say, "I can't do it anymore." I know it was just because she was tired because I have seen and heard her do these things over a hundred times before!!! So I just guided her in doing whatever she was doing or singing. But after today I have come to dislike the word CAN'T:) When she is tired she gets frustrated easier, as do I. So that was the theme of the day. At lunch GG had a cup of milk and after she finished eating I gave her a star crunch. She was dipping it in the milk. Then she drank the milk and it must of had some chunks of star crunch in it because she started choking. As she was coughing she passed gas. J and I just died laughing. It was just too cute. She is going to like this part of my entry when she gets older! This afternoon GG and I made chocolate chip cookies, which took most of the afternoon. She did good except for the fact she had one problem listening to me with the eggs. I like her help with everything else but told her she couldn't do the eggs. She grabbed the egg and cracked it on the bowl and got it everywhere. All over her hand, the table, the floor, and some in the bowl with a few pieces of shell. I was not happy with her about that. By the time I got her cleaned up I couldn't find the shells, oh well! There was only a few pieces. We did have a talk about when mommy says not to do something I mean don't do it. We talked about how I let her decide what she wants to wear or activities she wants to do and when I say no it isn't because I am being mean to her. She looked at me with the sadness little face and said, "I am so, so sorry mommy for braking the egg. I'll listen to you now." How can you be mad after that? We had a fun night of dancing and laughing. Now the kids are both in bed sleeping! Mommy time ;) Side note about Monkey he got another hair cut today from daddy. He just loves getting them, especially from his daddy! And that's all folks...

Hello again! So this morning we went to work. I am so glad the kids like going there other wise it would be no fun for me. Today Monkey was really interested in this little boy Noah, just turned 1. Towards the end he was hitting him. He is not a hitter, I don’t know what got into him. I think it is the age. We worked on being gentle to people. Time will tell how this works! GG wore her belt today and it helped…it must have been the pants she had on last night?!?! Who knows? She was so proud of herself today…we had been working with her about wiping herself and doing the bathroom thing without help, which she has been doing for awhile now. Well this morning I showed her how to do the belt and she did it. She unbuckled it went potty and so on then buckled it back up! She was so happy with herself. The belt a new feat for her, so self sufficient, I tell you. Oh here is a funny story…I put Monkey in the bathtub last night while I was getting his clothes ready for him to get out. He was standing in there and started peeing. He looked at me with the funniest look on his face. I asked him if he was peeing and he said, “yes”. I then asked him where he should put his pee and he pointed to the potty! Such a smart little guy! I told him next time he needs to go pee he should put it in the potty. He said, ok. But nothing has come of it since, I highly doubt he is ready yet. All the books I have read said that a child’s bladder isn’t physically ready until they are about 20 months old. He has a few more months!!! Just kidding. Today he must of gotten really worn out playing because he slept from 1 until 3:45pm that is a long nap for my him. After he woke up I gave the kids a snack. I swear they could eat all day if I let them! GG and I made a grocery list together today that was a lot of fun. She told me the things she wanted to get like fruit snacks and Nemo cereal. So tonight we went grocery shopping, good thing too because we were almost out of food. We got home from the store put away the food and I gave the kids a bath, I love sleeping with clean babies. Now GG is in bed being really quite again. Last night after I updated I went in and checked on her and she was asleep! I am so glad she has learned to fall asleep without us there. Now I need to work on it with Monkey! He woke up again last night out of the bed. He was in our bedroom just not in the bed. I don’t know why he does that?!?! My silly little man.

This morning I got up and the kids and I went to work. I love that my kids can go with me!!! Anyways, so J came to pick GG up for dance class. When he walked in all the ladies knew immediately that he belonged to Monkey. They were calling him J's mini me :) They do look a lot alike. Also when J walked in the door I got the warm feeling in my stomach like when we were dating. You know...the sparks were going off. I get them every once in awhile but it so cool to know that he still makes me blush ;) I love that man so much, he is my world! Anyways, J told me GG's dance class was canceled and so I took Monkey (asleep in the car) to get gas. I love pay at the pump. When I got home GG and I made homemade pizza while J and Monkey slept. This afternoon the kids and I went to wal-mart...I noticed the other day that GG's socks were getting too small and starting to wear thin. No wholes, yet! That was ok because we needed to pick up pictures from GG's party and I also got GG a belt for her pants. They constantly fall down...she is too skinny. Well I put the belt on her at home and her pants still fell off! The belt was as tight as it could go, see I told you she was super thin. Oh well the belts are really cute and they will fit her for a long time. We also paid a bill while we were out and about. Came home ate dinner gave kids a bath and went through the bedtime routine. GG is in bed, either really quite or sleeping. Monkey is waiting to nurse. So I will end this.

This morning I got up and went to work, the kids stayed home with J. It feels weird without them with me. But I think it is good for them to have alone daddy time. Today is grandma M's birthday so yesterday we made cards for her. GG wrote Happy Birthday Gram! Love GG and on Monkey's card I wrote Happy birthday Grandma Love B-money. She asked me what that was all about today. I told her that J calls Monkey that and when we did the card I asked him if he wanted me to sign it Monkey, Monkey-man or B-money. He said no for the first two and yes to the last so that is the way I signed it. We had dinner just the three of us and that was nice. I wished J could of been there but you can't always have what you want. Like today J bid on a car on ebay and lost the auction. He wasn't upset he just realizes that God has a better plan for us. We will get the vehicle we need in His time...not ours. Even though it is so hard to wait sometimes. I just got done giving the kids a bath and doing the bedtime routine (GG is in bed and Monkey is on his way) because they are going with me tomorrow morning, J has court. It is going to be crazy because after court he is coming to pick up GG and bring her home to get her ready for dance class at 12:30. Monkey and I get done at 12 and we will come home and pick them up to go to class. I am just glad it all works out and that both J and I can still watch her class. If he gets days he won't be able to go unless he is off on Wednesdays. I have no funny stories for today. J might, he did spend the whole morning with them!!!

I'm going to start with last night! I did laundry while J was working and as soon as he got home not even a minute after he walked in the door he noticed. He always calls himself a trained observer! Then he asked what cd I had been listening too. I couldn't believe that he noticed that the number on the cd player didn't read 26 for the kids' cd. I guess he is a trained observer :) Then something strange yet funny happened last night. J and I were cuddling (doesn't happen often) and GG wanted to get in the middle so she did. We had her go to her bed after about 10 minutes. Anyway...I woke up in the middle of the night and GG was in between Monkey and I. So I moved her back to her bed. Then I woke up again to Monkey in the living room saying mama. I sat up and realized Monkey wasn't in bed. I came out to the living room and he was standing at the door to go upstairs calling my name. I think he thought I was up there?!?! So I picked him up and took him back to bed. GG was also back in our bed the second time I woke up so I got Monkey and moved her again!!! I love the fact that my kids love to be near me. So on to today!!! The morning was the usual. J left early for work because he went to check out a car, he called and said he didn't like it. This afternoon Monkey fell and has some cuts and big bruise on his forehead. I was going to get his 18 months pictures taken tomorrow but I guess I will wait to that clears up first :) Hopefully it will be by this weekend. Then tonight aunt Becky came home for grandma's birthday tomorrow. The kids and I went to work and now we are home and GG is in bed and Monkey is waiting to nurse to sleep. So I should go and put my handsome little man to sleep!

I have been listening to my David Thiele CD's they are the best! I want to write the words to one of my favorite songs of his. I love all of them but there are a few that I just completely love and this is one of them. It's O.K. by David Thiele

You want forgiveness? Well, it's O.K. You say you need someone to hold you Well, I'm on my way

I'll care for you when no one else will I'll listen to you when your heart begins to spill

You won't be lonely 'Cause I'm right here You won't have to drown in all your sorrow Or shed your tears

I'll care for you like no one else will I'll be right here when your heart begins to spill

Chorus:
So, don't you worry Don't be afraid, no 'Cause as I stand right here beside you It's O.K.

Pick up your head and dry your tears Because there's more to life than the things you're going through

I'll show you love that can move mountains I'll never leave you standing in the cold

Chorus

I'll care for you when no one else will I'll listen to you when your heart begins to spill I'll never leave you standing in the cold I'll hold you close and never let you go

Chorus

I love the words but when he sings it...wow you just stand in awe at how amazingly talented he is! If you don't believe me and you want to check his website out for yourself the address is http://www.davidthiele.com

Yesterday totally ROCKED!!! We got up and went looking at vehicles...J's truck only holds two people and it is stick. I'm not really good at driving stick, it actually scares me. So we looked into getting him a car or something that holds all of us. After looking we talked about it and prayed about buying a van we both fell in love with and decided against it. I feel so at peace with our decision, as in we made the right one! When we got home from doing that we got a call inviting us to dinner and swimming! So we packed our suites and headed over to the M's (the people with the really cool house...heated indoor pool and hot tub!) and order Chinese food for dinner. There were 5 married couples and two other friends that came, plus our two kids. We ate and went swimming. I was starting to get cold in the water and Kristy suggested we go to the hot tub. So I left the kids with J and the other boys and 4 of us girls went and sat in the hot tub. IT felt so good!!! We had great conversation and lots and lots of laughs! Kristy has been married 6 months longer than J and I, Virginia and Megan got married a week apart last year. I was the only one with kids. Then we came in from the hot tub and Aunt Virginia and I took the kids out of the pool and got them dressed. They swam for over 2 hours! My little fish. Then the boys (men) went in the hot tub and us girls went downstairs and made rootbeer floats and banana splits! Yummy. We left their house around 11:30ish and got home around midnight. I love hanging out with them...they are the same age and we just have a lot of fun together.

Today we got up and went to Sunday school even though both J and I just wanted to sleep we got up and went. We signed up for treats so at least one of us had to go. I wanted GG to go to Sunday school (she loves hearing stories about Jesus) and I wanted Monkey to go to the nursery because Megan was working in there and after being with her all night I figured he would do ok with her in there. I was right! J dropped him off and she said he only cried for about 2 minutes settled down and played. He did start crying when I came to get him but stopped when I picked him up. I think he was trying to convince me he was crying the whole time! I know better than that. Then I took GG to children's church, Monkey came with me to the parents room, and J went to his parents house to sleep. Saige's mom was in the parents room and she is going to be taking the semester and summer off from teaching and staying home. So we are going to be planning a lot of playdates for GG, Saige and Tristan...they only live 15 minutes away! Then after church Liz and I took the kids out to the car and it didn't start. I had left my lights on all through Sunday school and church. I turned them off and went inside to call J. Our friend Nick (he was a groomsmen in our wedding) was inside and he offered to jump me. So Liz took the kids downstairs and I went outside with Nick. I got the hood open and got in the car. On a whim I tried starting the car again, it almost started this time. So Nick told me to try again, I did and it started. I was so happy. I get so scared when we jump cars, I get afraid the car might blow up even though I know it won't :) J always makes fun of me for it. Then I drove up to the church doors and picked up Liz and the kids. Sara Arnett was talking to Liz, It was so good to see her. She is a year younger than J and I have known her since J and I started dating over 7 years ago. The joke with her is that she wants to be apart of the A family...she always has! Well she always said she was going to marry J because they were closest in age so when we got married she was going to marry Joe (J's older brother) then he got married. She still wants to be apart of the family so when Monkey was born we told her she could wait for him to be legal or she could marry Elizabeth! I like Sara, we can adopt her into our family I would love that. We ate lunch at the A's residence and came home because Sue isn't feeling well, that is why we didn't spend the night there on Saturday. I hope you feel better soon Sue. Now we are home and the kids were asleep when I started this post and now Monkey is awake but GG is still sleeping. The swimming last night wore her out big time, me too.

Long day! GG and I got up and ready to go to work. Monkey was suppose to come with me but he was asleep and I didn't want to wake him up to take him out in the cold. GG really wanted to go so it worked out good. After work we had lunch and then went grocery shopping. Monkey has been so funny lately. He loves fish. I had on a shirt that had an icthus (I think that is how you spell it)...you know the christian fish. He started pointing at it and saying, "ish ish ish" Then at the store he saw Nemo and said, "ish" we told him it was Nemo and he said, "emo" He is funny because he either says the last part of the word of the first part of the word on words that are more than one syllable that is. Like ball he just says the "ba" sound. The main thing is that he is able to communicate more than before!!! Then lets see after we got home from shopping J left to go snowboarding, Monkey took a nap and GG and I just chilled together doing girlie things. GG got another birthday card today! Sidenote: I forgot to mention that she got another package yesterday. She still has one more present I know of that she will get tomorrow. What a fortunate little girl to have a week long birthday celebration!!! We were suppose to go to a wedding tonight but J wanted to go snowboarding and I didn't want to go with the kids by myself. We actually got invited to two wedding this weekend and we aren't going to either. One is in WIU and then the other is here. GG has already been to over 10 weddings (she has also been a flower girl) and Monkey has been to 4 or 5 too. They are going to be going to many more too because they have tons of unmarried aunts and uncles and then their own of course! Sorry I went off on another tangent. I love weddings...ok I'm done :)

Today was a whirlwind. Monkey was having problems sleeping last night and was awake until about 3:30ish. He is healthy just teething. So J, Monkey and I slept until 10am this morning and GG woke up at 9 and watched some nick jr while we slept. Then we had to get up and going because we had so many things to do. We ended up condensing the tasks...while I was at my dentist appointment J went grocery shopping. GG came with me to my appointment and Monkey went with J. GG had so much fun at the dentist I think that we are going to make her an appointment. When the lady took pictures of my teeth GG helped her by pushing the button. She thought that was the greatest. GG talked to the lady the whole time she was cleaning my teeth. I don't think the lady stopped laughing once! The lady said that GG was absolutely adorable. She also commented on how clearly she talked...I didn't have to clarify any words for her!!! It was funny from my prospective too because GG's face was right in mine watching my teeth get cleaned. Then we decided to grab a bit to eat at McDonalds, yeah I know real healthy, not. After we ate I went to Target and J played with the kids in the playground. Then we went to Wal-mart and finally home. See we condensed, we normally do everything together! We were on a time schedule because I worked at 4:15. We got home with enough time for me to nurse Monkey to sleep. Then I headed off to work, all by myself. After J feed the kids dinner he brought GG out to play. She was only at work with me for about an hour and a half. I am working tomorrow morning and this time I am going to bring Monkey with me and GG will get some daddy time. Tonight while GG was with me J and Monkey took a bubble bath, played with cars, and did other guy stuff! I can't believe my youngest is a year and a half today. I started laundry when I got home so I will have clean work clothes. Being a working mom is a lot different then being a stay at home mom. I think I am in a different category of mommyhood, not stay at home and not working but bring kids to work mom. That's all she wrote.

My little darlings are in bed right now asleep. They are so precious! Today we got up and ran to the bank to set up a new account for my YMCA money!!! The money I make will go for different activities of the kids plus Christmas and birthday presents. At least I hope I can make enough to cover all those expenses. Then we went to GG's dance class. She wore her new leotard she got for her birthday, she picked it out. Then we came home had lunch said goodbye to J. Then I nursed Monkey to sleep and GG and I played with all of her puzzles. She is really getting into the puzzle scene. Then we had an early dinner and headed to work. GG was so cute tonight as she was playing with the kids I heard her ask, "What do you call her?" She asked the girls sister and then she turned to the girl and asked, "What is your name?" I love watching her interact with kids and have fun. Being at work with GG is a piece of cake...she is so well behaved. The other staff have all commented on how good she plays and listens to me. I needed to hear that. Monkey did better tonight too. He only nursed once towards the end. I didn't have to hold him the whole time either. The first night he was a little more clingy. I have my schedule for next week and I only have to bring the kids with me one day. The other 4 days J will be home to watch them. I'm not really sure how that will work yet because they both have so much fun being there. Once we got home tonight at 8:30 the kids got their pjs on, we brushed teeth, went potty (GG only), changed diaper (Monkey only), we read 3 books, and they went to sleep. That is what we do every night but I don't normally mention our bedtime routine! Well if you were wondering that is what it is...I leave the light on for GG and nurse Monkey to sleep and then bring him in the room, by then GG is asleep and I turn the lights off. I am happy to say that GG is in bed by 9 and asleep usually by 9:15ish. So much better than 11 or later. Well I am going to go have some much needed alone time! I might give the A's a call since Joe and Virginia are in town!!!

Today was interesting. We got woke up by J getting a phone call asking if he could sub at his old high school. He ended up going. The bad part was that GG woke up 2 hours earlier than she normally does and so did Monkey. I did get him to fall back asleep for about an hour. I could tell at about 4:30pm that GG was getting tired and waking up too early this morning was not good. I made her lay down and she fell asleep. I woke her up at 6 because I wanted her going to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. Anyway Monkey was so funny today...I took the kids upstairs for lunch and Monkey kept pointing to downstairs. I asked him if he wanted to go downstairs and he said yes so I took him down. Then he wanted his coat and hat on so I put them on him. Then he stood by the garage door wanting to go out to the car. He wanted to leave! I asked him if he wanted to go out to eat instead of eating here and he said no. I didn't know what he wanted but he wanted to leave. I kept telling him I wasn't going anywhere he got upset and laid by the door. I thought maybe he thought I was going to leave him. I asked him if he wanted to go play like we did last night at work. He said yes! He wanted to go to my work and play. That is a good thing since I work Wednesday and Thursday! This afternoon GG got a present in the mail from her friend Ethan and his family. It was micromachines, she was thrilled...she loves the ones at Ethan's house. At first she shared with Monkey and then she wanted them all to herself. Tonight the kids and I went to the LLL meeting. That was fun as always. I want to move close to J's work so bad! Maybe one day.... When we got home J was home he was suppose to be working but I was glad to see him since he subbed we hadn't seen him all day. He took a half day what a nice guy.

Alright today was a lot of fun. This morning as we were getting ready I was prepping GG for tonight, when we went to the YMCA. Aunt Becky was here until about 1:30pm so we did stuff with her until she went back to school. Then before J left we had some fun family time. We played Simon Says and danced the hokey pokey about 5 times. Then after J left I laid Monkey down for a nap. GG and I painted and colored, when she was done with that we played with puzzles until Monkey woke up. We had to put them away because Monkey kept stepping on them. We had an early dinner and we headed to work. GG had so much fun playing tonight and she learned how to get up the stairs in the play thingy...the type that is in McDonalds. She has always been too short and she still is but she learned how to use the net to get up. She was ecstatic!!! Which reminds me we had her weighed and measured on her birthday she is 36 inches tall and 28.5 pounds. My little peanut. We also measured Monkey because he wanted in on the fun. He was 32 inches tall the same as GG was when she turned 2 he is only 18 months. He is going to be taller than her. That is a good thing. Back to today...Monkey had a little trouble while we were at work. I was expecting that because it was a new place and for a long period of time. We were there for 3 1/2 hours. I did nurse him twice for about 5 minutes each time to give him some comfort. Once he got hurt and the second was because he was getting tired and I think he might of been hungry. When we got home I made the kids some ramon noodles and they ate the whole thing...just the two of them. Monkey ate as much as GG too. Then we came downstairs and went through the bedtime routine and GG was in bed by 9:30 only 30 minutes late. Not bad since I worked until 8:30. Monkey was right behind her too. In two weeks I am going to work mornings. If you want to know more about my work experience today check out my other journal. That's all for tonight.

I was too exhausted last night to update what we did so I will account for it right now! The whole day was about GG...and I mean the WHOLE day was about her. She woke up at 9:30am and the first thing she did was open all the birthday cards she got in the mail through out the week. Then she got her first present which was her birthday princess hat, so that she could wear it at her party and ALL day! When she got out of bed she walked through streamers and a pile of balloons. She thought that was great and so did Monkey. Then they played with the balloons until it was time for baths. After the bath grandma M. came home with two birthday balloons (one princess and the other Mini Mouse). Then we ate lunch and while we were eating the K's got here. The kids played until the party and us adults got to talk. It was also Aaron's birthday too. Every time the doorbell rang GG got so excited. She greeted each of her guest and then introduced them to her other friends. The best was when Saige and Tristan got here...GG started screaming, "OH BOY, OH BOY, MY FRIENDS ARE HERE!" GG and Saige are in the same Sunday school class. Then once everyone got here GG opened all her many presents! She got princess bath towel, caillou talking rosie doll, caillou fun time friend, little people pony set, 2 purple tiaras, 4 paint with water books, tights, a leotard for her dance class, two dress up outfits, a tank top for summer, a purple feather boa, a suitcase with; a wond, purse, bracelets, and dress up shoes. She also got some necklaces, a big wheel, precious moments 3 year old birthday girl, a 3 year old train piece, and then her big present a bike from daddy, mommy and Monkey. Then we sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream. When everyone left Becky's friends came over to tell GG happy birthday. She got a phone call from her uncle Travis. Then grandpa M came home from school and he took us all out for her birthday dinner. As we were waiting GG wanted to do the game, that has a lot of toys in it and then a claw type thing in it that you move to grab a toy, grandpa put money in and helped her move the claw. Grandpa told her he thought it was in a good spot so he let go GG didn't think so, so she tapped it and moved it just a little. The claw came down and she won! She was so excited about that. The guy standing next to the game said he had never seen any one win before. Well I guess you have to be a 3 year old on your birthday! Then after we got done eating dinner the restaurant sang happy birthday to GG. She thought that was pretty cool. They also gave her a brownie and ice cream. On our way out of the restaurant Monkey went up to the game GG had won at...he wanted to play. The boy sitting next to it had just played and won, he gave it to Monkey. I thought that was really nice. J said it was because he was getting smooch points from his girlfriend by doing that. Either way it was nice. We got home from eating and GG got her present from grandma and grandpa M. she got Dora the explorer pj's and ballet shoes. Then the phone rang and it was, of course, for GG. It was aunt Virginia and uncle Joe wanting to wish her a happy birthday. So as you can see it was ALL about GG yesterday! The funny thing about it all is that she still doesn't have all of her presents, yet! She is going to think her birthday lasts a week!!!

Well we are getting ready to go to Ellie's birthday party today. We also didn't make it to church this morning...sadness :( I hate missing church. We will go next week because we are bringing refreshments!

My little PRINCESS is 3 today, Happy Birthday sweet big girl. I decided that I want to share GG's birth story. I will up date later with what we did today for GG's birthday.

GG’s Birth Story!!!
On January 16th 2001, J and I went into to see my midwife Sharie for our weekly check-up. She checked me and I was 4 to 5 centimeters dilated, 80% effaced, and the baby’s head was at a +2 station. I was ready to have the baby…the only problem was that I didn’t have steady contractions. So we made arrangements with Sharie to meet at the hospital the next morning, this way my mom could be in the room with me! The next morning, Wednesday, January 17th we got to the hospital 8:15ish and they hooked me up to the monitor to check the baby and my contractions. While I was hooked up we did all of the paperwork needed for me to be admitted. I had two contractions in an hour, but when Sharie checked me I had progressed I was now 5 to 6 centimeters dilated and was 100% effaced. She said I was already half over with the labor! I didn’t even hurt. At this point I thought, “I can do this”. Then at 9:35am Sharie broke my water. Since the baby’s head was so low in the birth canal I was allowed to walk around. After they broke my water I had to wear this diaper like thing as I walked to catch the fluid coming out of me. Every time I laughed the fluid gusted out of me…that was the weirdest feeling in the world. It felt like I was peeing my pants. I walked for fifteen minutes and then had to go back to the room so that the nurses could check the baby’s vitals and mine. Then I went walking again, for fifteen minutes, then back to the room for another check of vitals. During the second walk I started to have contractions, which I noticed, they didn’t stop me from walking but I just noticed them. I think they were about 5 minutes apart; I also had stopped leaking amniotic fluid when the contractions started. Then I went back to get checked again, as I was getting ready to go walk again the contractions got a lot stronger, it was about 10:15am. I was only able to walk for 5 minutes this time and had to go back to the room to try something else. I sat in the rocking chair and rocked for about a half an hour or so. Then I decided that I needed to try something else…I opted for the shower. Before I got in the shower they checked to see how I was progressing, I was at 7 centimeters, so I was progressing!!! That is always good news when you are in labor. I sat in the shower with J for about an hour and a half…it felt so good. While I was in the shower J and I talked about what we thought the sex of the baby was going to be. We both thought we were having a girl! Also I did have some medication through my labor; about 20 minutes after I got in the shower I got the shot in the butt. It was a muscle relaxant to help take the edge off of the contractions and it sure did help. They checked me while I was in the shower and I was 9.9 centimeters dilated. Sharie wanted me to get out of the shower so I could lie on my left side during contractions to help it dilate. It took my mom and J to help me get to the bed. I felt so helpless; I couldn’t even dry myself off. It only took about 20 minutes lying on my left side to be completely dilated! Now I could start pushing. I looked at the clock and it was 1:15pm. I couldn’t believe it was already afternoon. I started pushing and decided that this was my favorite part of labor. I was somewhat in control of the pain now. I pushed for a little over an hour. At 2:24pm my precious little girl was born. She was 7 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long.

Ok I am going to update while waiting for GG to fall asleep. I'll get back to that later. Today we spent most of the day cleaning for the, you know what, PARTY!!! After Monkey's nap the kids helped me make the cake and cup cakes for the birthday party. They love helping me bake. After dinner I frosted the cake and cupcakes. They look so cute. Then GG helped me do the goody bags...she picked the color of necklace each of the girls got. She had a lot of fun doing that. So I think I am ready for tomorrow at least I hope I am. GG is asleep now so I can finish doing what I want to do...I am going to blow up the balloons and hang some streamers for when she wakes up in the morning. Plus, I need to bring in the birthday cards she got in the mail so she can open them when she wakes up. She is so excited about her birthday and party. Well I need to get going on this stuff.

I am updating before Friends tonight. This morning we were going to go to Mops but I was just so darn tired and both the kids were sound asleep I decided to just stay home. They would of had fun but they are non-the-wiser! Right now the kids and J are playing with Monkey's train set he got for Christmas. He got a few more pieces in the mail the other day. The things we took back from Christmas (mainly outfits that were too big) we used that money to get him more train tracks. He has enough clothes. For some reason I don't think any of that just made sense. Oh well! I have been getting side tracked a lot lately. Anyways, after we woke up we did some more cleaning for the big party on Saturday. Well J did the cleaning and I finished up the laundry we still had left to do from yesterday. That was a big task. Oh yeah GG got a present in the mail today and as I was bringing it downstairs I fell. Don't ask how I did that but it hurt. The funny thing was the package wasn't heavy. I opened it to see if it was wrapped...it was wrapped loosely in the tissue paper so I grabbed a bag and put it in. The gift was super duper cute. She is getting one of the gifts when she wakes up so she can wear it to her party. Are you curious??? Well you'll have to check back on Saturday :) She also got another birthday card in the mail. I am really shocked she hasn't gotten more by now. Our families are usually really good about sending cards. Hmmm. We still have 2 days. After we ate lunch we ran a couple errands...Target, Kinkos, Toys R Us and last Wal-mart to get GG's 3 year old pictures taken. On our way to Wal-mart we saw some of J's police friends going into White Hen and we stopped to say hi. GG loved that and Monkey was asleep.

My brain is fried I have to think a minute on what we did. The sad part about that first statement is that it is only 9:30pm! This morning I started laundry which took, seriously, all day long to do. I was getting sick of seeing the big pile in our bedroom. GG had her dance class today. She walked in and told her teacher, "My birthday is Saturday. I will be 3. (as she holds up 3 fingers) We are going to have a big party too!" So they sang happy birthday to her in class, that was nice. She did something else funny while we were there. The teacher was taking attendance and she said GG's name and GG responded with, "- - - - that spells GG". What a goof she is sometimes. I have the final count on her birthday party too. Only one little girl she invited can't come so there will be 6 girls including her. (and Monkey, of course) Then the kids' parents, some of GG's grandparents, and two of her aunts. It should be fun. Back to today...after dance class we came home and ate lunch. Oh yeah they did tap today and then ballet, after class the teacher asked if she could extend the class 15 minutes! That is so awesome. Their class went really good today all the girls listened and they did so much stuff. They even played follow the leader with their tap shoes on and GG (the birthday girl) got to be the leader. She loved that. It was great seeing her be her normal out going self! Well J just informed me that this post is to long and that no one wants to read post this long. Oh who cares what he thinks! I love you, J. Ok I got side tracked! I wanted to tell everyone how much Monkey ate for lunch. He had two pieces of turkey, five little pieces of cheese, two big bits of my banana, a few chips, and three tablespoons of mac and cheese. I guess the boy was hungry! He ate it all :) Oh yeah GG got her first birthday card today. We are going to save them for Saturday, against J's wishes. But GG made it very clear to him that she wanted to open it on her birthday! It is only 3 more days. Oh my goodness my baby turns 3 in 3 days!!! Ok I think I have said everything on my mind, hehehe. Good night!

What a busy, busy day we had...but it was so much fun too. This morning I went through all of GG's clothes and went through some other stuff. We ended up taking so much stuff to the storage today. We are getting ready for GG's party can you tell? We cleaned down here for the whole morning...vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, put things away and so on. Then for lunch we took the kids to McDonalds to celebrate me getting the job. After we ate all four of us crawled around in the indoor playground. That was so much fun. I love family time. Then we went to Target to take some thing back and get other things. One of the things we got was a present for Ellie. Man I tell you what, I can't go into stores any more. I see so many things I want to buy for the kids. They don't really *need* anything I just wanted them to have that stuff. Good thing J was with me to tell me NO!!! Hehehe :) I did get some pants for work they were 50% off and then I got a swimsuit that wasn't on sale...but I need one big time. I figure now that I work at the YMCA we can take the kids swimming so I will need it and definitely use anyway! Then we went to the storage to put that stuff in and got GG's bike so we could exchange it for the bigger one. Then to Wal-mart for the exchange that took seriously 35 minutes. J was not happy as he sat in the car with the kids while I went in. It wasn't my fault but it still stunk for him. Speaking of faults GG said the cutest thing at the dinner table tonight. She was eating and bit the inside of her cheek. Of course she cried and we asked her what hurt. She pointed to the inside of her cheek. J told her sorry that it hurt and she said, "It's not your fault daddy. It's not my fault. It is my teeths fault." We all busted up laughing...grandma and grandpa M. were there too. Anyway after dinner I went grocery shopping with grandma and J stayed home with the kids. Right now all three of them are upstairs eating ice cream! I should go eat some too. When they get done it is time to start getting ready for bed.

I wasn't going to update again but the cutest thing just happened. I was sitting in the living room reading one of my new books I just got from Barnes and Nobles. I hear Monkey start to whimper and say urse. So I go into the room...GG is still awake and this is what she said to me, "He started crying and so I gave him a kiss. Then he said I want to nurse, I want to nurse. I can't nurse him because I don't have nursers. I told him only mommy could nurse. She is the only one with milk in her nursers. So I was coming to get you." She said all of this while I was laying next to Monkey nursing him, it was so hard not to laugh, she was so darn cute! Well since I am updating I will tell you what cute thing Monkey did today. I turned on the kid's music before dinner...the hokey pokey song came on. Monkey is so fun to watch during this song. When they say put your right foot in, kicks his leg. (He actually kicks his one leg for both legs and arms!) Then when it says shack it all about he starts moving his arms up and down, rotating. Then when they say turn yourself about he turns in a circle still moving his arms up and down. The cutest part is when they say put your head in...he actually puts his head in and out...then does the rest of the song the same way as before, turning and arms! He is proud of himself too. So sweet to watch him dance to this song! It is late so I am hoping this all made sense :) Good night.

A lot has happened this weekend. We went to grandma and grandpa A's house on Friday night. Saturday I returned a pair of pants I got for Christmas that were too big. Then my mom-in-law made the best dinner! After dinner we hung out with J's parents. Then Sue and I decided that we were going to put the kids to bed (and our husbands) at 9pm. So when they were all asleep we put on a chick flick. It was fun watching the movie with her. Even though Monkey did wake up half way through to nurse! We must be weird but when I tell people that I spend time with my in-laws without J they think I am nuts. They think it is odd that we spend the night there. But you know what my in-laws are great people. They make me feel comfortable there. I can honestly say I know that they love me and the kids...they love J too! I'm just going to say I am truly blessed, and leave it at that. Oh yeah on Saturday the Y called and offered me a job! I start next Monday. Then Sunday we got up and went to church. I feel so great after going to church...refreshed after the week. I read my Bible during the week, which helps refresh me too, but being with great people at church is so nice. J sat with me and Monkey in the parents room during the service. Monkey doesn't like the nursery...so he doesn't go...I can't stand to hear him cry when he will be fine with me in the parents room. Anyway as we were sitting listening to the service our friend Wendy's daughter had an explosive diaper, she is two months old. It was everywhere. So we helped her with that, I know I would want help if I was her. GG went to Sunday school and then to children's church. She loves going to church and it is always hard to get her to leave. I am happy to see her have so much fun learning about the Bible and Jesus! On the way home from church I asked GG what she learned. She told me about how Jesus was lost and his parents couldn't find him. They told the story of Jesus wondering off to preach in the temple. Then she said, "he is still lost mommy." So I told her I know where he is...He is in my heart. He is in daddy's heart too! Then she said, "Jesus is in my heart, mommy. And he is in Monkey's too!" She is so sweet...I love being home with her and Monkey. All the hugs and kisses I get from them I know that I did the right thing in staying home! Plus, all the compliments we get about them being so well behaved and happy just add to knowing we did the right thing. Sure we have given up somethings for me to be with them but that is just material things. Sorry I go off on tangents sometimes!!! Now with this job they will start making friends and Monkey will be able to get over his shyness with me there. I love my life and my family.

So Saige and Tristan's mom called to respond to GG's birthday party. Both of the girls are coming! I told GG that her friends Saige and Tristan were going to be there and she was so excited she said, "Oh YES!" as she gave me the biggest hug ever. Then later on I told her that her other friend Ellie was going to be able to come too. She gave me a hug and a kiss this time. She is really getting excited about her birthday. Yesterday when we tried on the 12" bike, we asked her if she wanted one for her birthday...she said "no". But she proceeded to push the bike toward the check out. I told her we had to leave it at the store and she got upset. I asked her again if she wanted a bike for her birthday and she said no because they scared her. I don't know what is going on in that head sometimes!!! She'll be happy when she gets it next Saturday. I am still waiting on one more response and then I will have the total head count for her party. I just wanted to update quickly because tonight we are going to J's parents for the weekend.

What a great morning we had. J came home from work and told me that was his last night on midnights. We both thought he would have to work tonight but it turns out that his FTO was getting a new guy tonight so J couldn't be working with him too. He was ecstatic as was I. We got everyone ready and left. We got our pictures back from Christmas. So I will have to update sometime soon. We also went to the store to try the bike we bought GG to make sure it was still a good size for her and it is prefect. So I am wondering if we should get her the bigger size so she can use it longer. Hmmm. J and I will have to talk about it. Then we came home and ate lunch. Today Monkey fell asleep without nursing for the second time...J was holding him. Then after dinner I had my interview at the YMCA. Now I am home and am waiting for the movie the kids are watching to be over so I can put them to bed. I have about 2 minutes left. J is in bed sleeping already but he stayed up all day to be with us as a family...hasn't happened in awhile because of his schedule. That is about all I can think of that happened today. Oh wait today Monkey said "water" it came out wawa just like GG used to say! His vocabulary has picked up really fast lately. He also said fire tonight, we had fire going. He also says hot. Not only is he learning more words but he is starting to put two together. I can't believe he is getting so big...he is my baby. Ok the movie is over got to go.

We got up this morning with somewhere to go. That was a great feeling. I hate doing nothing all day long. Not that I do nothing but I go nowhere. I am always busy but I like to get out of the house. Anyway we went to GG's first dance class today. She had a blast, once she knew we weren't going to leave her. She met 8 girls her age and I have a feeling by the end of the 16 weeks she will have made some friends! It was nice to see her play with kids her age again. After the class was over the teacher Ms. Julie gave each of the girls a purple star stamp. GG was in heaven her favorite color!!! I know she had fun because she gave her teach a hug and kiss before we left. See how sweet she is?!?! I love that girl so much. Monkey had fun today too. There was a little boy 2 months younger than him there waiting for his sister too. They kind of played together but not really. This place is set up like this...the class is in the gym and the room right next to the gym has windows and toys in it. So all the moms and dads watched in the room while any of the siblings that came could play with toys. The only thing is now we have to go out and buy her tap shoes and a little skirt. But I am going to see if grandma A. will make her a skirt? Maybe for her birthday!?!? Well that is about all the exciting stuff that happened for us today. Unless something really cool happens tonight, then I will update again.

Well let's see...what happened today? Monkey is just amazing me lately. He is learning so many new words and doing so many new things. Like today he drew a circle. I think he is going to be right handed, (we thought he might be left like J) when we hand him something to write with he puts it in his right hand. Speaking of Monkey he was attached to me last night until 3am. I finally cut him off, he of course cried, but it lasted like 30 seconds and then he went back to sleep. I just couldn't fall asleep with him nursing, that is why I cut him off, it was 3am! I have tried giving him more to drink throughout the day hoping that will help him nurse less at night. Tonight I will find out if this helps. Anyway today J took Monkey downstairs after lunch and GG and I came down after she finished eating, Monkey had fell asleep on J. He didn't fall asleep nursing!!! I asked J how he did that and he said he just read him books until he started yawning. Then there is my baby girl GG. She is going to be 3 in 11 days. I just can't believe it. She starts her dance class tomorrow. She is going to look so sweet in her little leotard and ballet shoes. Don't worry I'm going to take pictures and hopefully update her page tomorrow or Thursday. She is also becoming a great little puzzle builder. She needs no help with her puzzles and she is pretty proud of herself. Oh today GG took a nap on the couch while Monkey slept on J in the recliner. Monkey woke up first and when over to GG and was giving her kisses. He is so sweet. Then they were playing together after dinner...they both went and sat in the clothes basket at the same time! They looked so cute and they were hugging and kissing each other. I wish they were like that all the time :)

I woke up this morning feeling dizzy. I laid down on the couch and fell back to sleep. I didn't mean too it just happened. After my nap I felt better. I got the kids bathed and dressed. After lunch J watched the kids and I went to Target to get GG's ballet shoes for her dance class. As I was looking at them this lady told me that Payless had ballet shoes. I didn't want to get them at Payless or I would be there, right? Anyway after I got them I went grocery shopping. Then came home to my family. They were playing with Monkey's train set. As I was making dinner GG started singing a song from Grandpa's magical toys (movie), she only watches it at grandma and grandpa A's house. This is what she sang, "I am a pretty little dutch girl. As pretty as I can be. All the boys in the neighborhood are crazy over naybe (me). My boyfriends name is Mello. He comes from a land of jello. With a pickle for a nose and cherry for a nose and thats they way my story goes." She should of said me instead of naybe, also the last line is wrong but it is pretty close to the way it goes. I will have to ask Elizabeth for the right words. I just couldn't believe how well she sang the song on key! Look out world we have another star coming! Then today I was playing with Monkey and just realized how many words he is learning. He doesn't talk a lot but he does have a pretty good vocabulary. Like at dinner we had spaghetti and he said noodoes for noodles. I guess the word that really caught my attention today was "no" he usually shacks his head no and now he is starting to say it. My world is about to become harder!!! Tonight GG did a new hairdo on me. Well I should stop rambling on about my two babies, even though I find it so easy to talk about them. Can you tell?

Yay! We made it to Sunday school and church this morning. I was so happy because I didn't get to sleep anytime early (Monkey was wired) and I thought that I would be too tired. But J got us up and going so we made it. Then we ate lunch with J's family minus his dad because he was working. Then we went home...it took us a little over an hour to get back when it normally takes about 35 to 40 minutes. The roads were covered in snow and starting to freeze. People were sliding. We made it home safely. Grandma got a pot roast for dinner so I didn't have to cook tonight. I didn't have to cook all day today. Thanks grandmas!!! After dinner GG and I did nails. I cut and painted her finger and toe nails. Then I did my finger nails. She thought that was super cool that we had matching nails! She is such a sweet little girl. I am so glad she is healthy again. I still can't believe she is going to be 3 in 13 days. I still need to go out and get a little present for Monkey to open at GG's party. I will probably get him 2 hot wheel cars...but it is something for him to open. Oh yeah, GG is so funny. She watched her Finding Nemo movie the other day and then I was going to put it on for Monkey and she started freaking out saying that movie scared her. So I didn't put it on. She did that one other time I can think of with A Bugs Life. She watched that movie one day and then a few days later and then again a few days later. The third time she watched it she remembered what happened with the food falling into the water and before it even happened she started crying, "Oh NO! Oh NO! It's going to fall. Oh No help them. Please mommy help them. The grasshoppers are going to be mad. Oh NO! Oh NO!" I had to turn the movie off because she was to freaked out. She hasn't wanted to watch it since. It was the third time she was going to watch Finding Nemo when she said it scared her. So I don't know what to think about that. Oh well. Today J and I sat with her while she watched Finding Nemo and she was ok. She told us it was the sharks that scared her. We talked her through it and she was ok. Then there is Monkey who could care less about movies or tv. He is my active boy. Always climbing on things. Last night we had the air mattress blown up and he climbed on the couch and then jumped on the mattress. Of course he fell over and got hurt but he still wanted to do it again. Fearless is a word I would use to describe him. He is definitely ALL BOY! But he has a great sweet cuddly side, which is wonderful. He loves to give kisses :)

This morning as we were getting ready and packing for going to grandma and grandpa's house we had Third Day playing in the background. GG started singing the song called You Are So Good to Me. It starts out with, "you are beautiful my sweet sweet song..." I am so glad she knows the words to songs like this instead of other songs that are played on the radio. Just goes to show what you put into your child will show through in them. Good in and good out...bad in and bad out. I prefer good! Good songs and words. Well we are heading out now. I just wanted to update with her singing :) We are spending the night at the grandparents to be able to go to Sunday school and church in the morning.

Blogger wasn't working for me yesterday so if you want to know the scoop on what we did yesterday check my other journal. As for today J had his first day off. We went and ran some errands in the morning, we got things for GG's birthday party. She is so excited about it. J has been complaining all day about how on his days off he doesn't get to rest. Well if he didn't sleep all day on the days he does work maybe we could do somethings on his work days and give him some time to relax on his days off. This afternoon J watched the kids and I went to Barnes and Nobles to use my gift card and ended up not getting anything because it is cheaper online...I can use my card online. So I went to the Yankee Candle Inc. and used my other gift card. I got two candles and a candle lampshade. It is really cute and I really like it plus, they were all on sale!!! I came home and ordered my books so I will be getting them in about a week. I am totally excited. Library books are good but there is always a time restraint. Tonight we went out to eat for dinner. We have no food in the house. We got subway and had a picnic downstairs on the floor so we could eat as a family uninterrupted. Then GG and I played a bunch of her games that lasted about an hour and a half when Monkey wanted me. J and Monkey did stuff together too. I think they read and did laundry. Then we put on a movie for the kids and J and I talked about our future plans. It is so hard to know what tomorrow holds. We did get a really sweet offer for renting a place. It is right by church. It was 750/month and we just pay electricity and phone and any other extras we would want like cable and internet. It is a 2 bedroom place about the size of my in-laws house. It is a really good deal considering rent in this area is 900 and up. I just can't wait until we have a place of our own. Monkey has a stinky butt right now so I need to go change him and get the kids ready for bed. Just in case anyone was wondering we don't do new year's resolutions...why set ourselves up for failure.