Today was my Friday, so to speak. I don't work tomorrow or Monday. I had a lot of fun with the people working today. So that was cool. I took Monkey with me and GG stayed home with J. Oh yeah J stays on the afternoon shift until April 13th so that is awesome news. I am so glad he isn't going to midnights!!! Oh yeah at work today I was in the baby room and Monkey was in the big kid room and about 10 minutes later I heard him crying. He looked around and couldn't find me so he started crying. He than came in the baby room to play. One of these days he won't care where I am so for now I'll just enjoy the fact my baby boy likes to be with me...all the time :) Both of my kids are mama's children, they love spending time with daddy but when push comes to shove they almost always choose me. This probably won't last though, bummer. Anyways, my college friend Marni, also one of our bridesmaids came over and did our taxes. She totally rocks! We are getting money back just not as much as I had hoped. I think that J is happy with the amount though. He really wants to buy a second gun. After she finished we had ice cream and just hung out and talked. GG was entertaining her most of the time and Monkey just watched, go figure. Right after she left my dad came home and we ate dinner. I packed a bag for tomorrow and then bathed the kids so we don't have to do it in the morning. Then grandma came home from church and watched the kids while I ran out to get gas. I was running on fumes. When I came back GG talked her into playing shuts and ladders and candyland. I only play those games with her on a good day because she is a 3 year old that likes to change her mind...all the time. It can drive you crazy when playing a game with her. But she did good and then she went to bed like a good little girl. Now I need to get Monkey to sleep so I can go too...

I was going to say that today was prefect. For the most part it was! I worked this morning and Monkey came with me and GG stayed and had daddy time then J picked up Monkey and left GG. I came home with GG and we ate lunch together. Then J left:( After lunch the kids and I all took naps. That was super duper nice. I felt so good after sleeping that hour and a half. Then we decided to go to McDonalds for dinner. My dad walked in right as we were about to leave. He hadn't eaten so he came with and bought! Then the kids played at the playground for a little while and then we came home. Now I just need to wear them out so that they will go to bed at a reasonable time! So the only not prefect part of the day was that J had to go to work. I feel like I don't see him anymore, which I don't really. But he has Monday off and so do I so we are going to go, possibly, to the car show in Chicago and maybe check out some more cars?!?! I just miss him lately, but this will only last a season. Oh I forgot to mention GG has started taking naps again, yes! The other day she actually let me rock her to sleep and I got to hold her in my arms while she slept like when she was a little baby.

This morning the kids went with me to work. It was crazy there two people called in sick. So we were down two adults, we handled it though. My co-worker Amanda thought GG was just the cutest little girl ever. She gave her a big hug and told Amanda that she was super cool. Then she told her about her great grandpa being able to take out his teeth. She still can't get over that and it happened about 6 months ago, what a sharp little girl to remember that. We came home and J had lunch ready for us that was so sweet of him, he also vacuumed. I ended up staying an extra hour...long story. This afternoon GG painted a picture to send to her grandpa, we danced to songs, and the kids helped with laundry. I swear that I do laundry every other day. Ok Monkey was nursing this afternoon and he was done with the one side and sat up and screamed, "other side, other side, other side, other side" until I switched him. What a little stinker :) Tonight while I made dinner both of the kids took a nap, it was a really late one but a very needed one all the same. I made lasagna and so after dinner they went right to the bath tub. I bathed them and we read books and did the bedtime routine and now GG is in bed, awake, just laying there.

AAAHHH another day down. This morning Monkey and I went to work while J and GG stayed home and had daddy/daughter time. They played games and did all kinds of fun things. Monkey was great today at work. The little boy Noah, that he just loves to death, did not get beat up by my him today. I think the problem sometimes is that Monkey really likes Noah and just can't figure out how to express his like towards him...but today he gave him lots of hugs. Good job Monkey! Anyway we got home right in time to pick up daddy and GG for the dance class. GG was so cute this morning when I told her she had dance today. Last week Ms. Julie was sick so this morning she was like Ms. Julie isn't sick anymore? Then she started dancing around, she really loves her dance class. We got home just in time for J to leave for work. Monkey went to sleep and I ate lunch and then GG went to sleep. The two of them have not taken naps at the same time in the longest time. I didn't know what to do with myself!!! Shortly after they woke up grandma and grandpa came home and I made dinner. We all eat together...that has happened like four times since we moved in over 4 months ago. Tonight GG helped me shave my legs (she likes doing that for some reason) and put lotion on them. Oh tonight Monkey decided that he was going to get on the couch and jump off of it. Yeah he got hurt. I watched him do it and just couldn't get to him in time to stop it, I hate when that happens. Which reminds me on Sunday after church when we were eating lunch in the gym Monkey was sitting next to me and I was talking to someone and out of the corner of my eye saw he was going to fall and grabbed him just in time. It was instinctual...so I have times where I can get there fast enough and times I can't. Timing I guess?!?! I just couldn't believe he leaped off the couch. I have a dare devil on my hands as well as a monkey. Well I should get off of here and go to bed I have to get up tomorrow for work. That still sounds weird to say. I am going to take GG for sure but maybe both...

This morning the kids and I went to work. GG does so great there. She does her own thing, plays with other kids and is just so well behaved. I am so proud of her. Other staff members have commented on how great she does...most of their kids have a hard time being there, not my GG! Now Monkey on the other hand has a harder time, but I must say today he did pretty good. He didn't ask to nurse while we were there. J came to get him at 11 so he was only there 2 hours. He has started this new thing tonight. He holds up one finger and says something that sounds like he is saying shut up but we don't use those words so I was trying to think of what words he could be trying to say. The only thing I came up with was "stop it" and so I asked him and he shock his head yes. What a silly little boy. My dad took the day off and so he bought us lunch. That was nice. J left for work and the kids and I did our normal...dancing, singing, reading, painting, you know fun stuff! J came home early tonight which was a great surprise. Tonight GG asked to go to bed at 8:30. This routine is working! I am so happy and she even went to bed with the lights off...she must of been really tired :) That is all I can think of until tomorrow.

Let's see...we had a late morning which was nice. GG got another birthday present in the mail. She loved it! It was a crown and purse. Then we went to get Monkey's 18 month pictures taken this afternoon. The girl that took the pictures wanted to put Monkey in a cute baby contest. She thought my baby boy was cute enough for the contest. That made me feel good. I think he is the cutest ever but for someone else to think that is such a nice compliment. We got home and I had to go to a staff meeting for work. J kept the kids home while I went, it was a good thing because it was snowing and just plain yucky out. They will go with me tomorrow anyway so they can play then. After I got home I got the kids ready for bed while J snow plowed the driveway. I also finally got a hold of my friend Marni, she is going to do our taxes this year. J had 5 - W2s this year. That is just plain crazy!!! So we are going to get them done and hopefully get some good money back :) Oh yeah J got a call from the department tonight saying that he has to be in court tomorrow morning, the suepena came in on a fax to the department, I'm glad they called. That is why the kids are coming with me in the morning. I think that is about it...

Super Bowl Sunday! This morning we went to Sunday school and church. After church they had a lunch in the gym. It was really good beef sandwiches, salad, pasta, and dessert! We ate with our friends Megan and Chett. We also got the new phone directory from church. So now we will have everyone's number! Monkey got a present today from grandpa A. it was tutter from Bear in the Big Blue house. He has carried it everywhere. GG has learned a new song that she just loves to sing. It goes like this: Only a boy named David. Only a rippling brook. Only a boy named David and five little stones he took. And one little stone went into the sling and the sling went round and round. And one little stone went into the sling and the sling went round and round. And round and round and round and round and round and round and round. And one little stone went into the air and the giant came tumbling down. She sings it so cutely...is that a word? When we got home from church the kids both took naps and it gave J and I some alone time :) We started a fire tonight and it feels so good. I love the way fires look and smell. We are having banana pancakes for dinner, yummy. We watched a little of the Super Bowl but neither one of us are that interested in it this year. We normally watch it. The rest of the night we will be doing family together things, so much fun. Later

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.

Last night the kids and I were sitting on the couch watching tv before we went to bed. We were watching Dharma and Greg I believe, when GG said she wanted to give me a kiss. I never pass up the chance to get a kiss from my kids. I went to give her a kiss and she grabbed my head and started smushing her's into mine. I started laughing because I didn't know what she was doing. I told her I wanted a normal kiss and she said she wanted to give me a big girl kiss like on tv. It all made sense now...it was even funnier when she tried giving me another kiss right after that. Just so peoples imaginations don't run wild I want to clarify that her kisses were closed mouth. It was too funny the way she smushed her lips on me. Anyway today we are going to the A's to spend the night. So that we can get up and go to the M's house. We eat there all day long and there are kids for GG and Monkey to play with. We had a lot of fun last year!

Today we woke up to my dad turning on our bedroom light. We had a phone call. The bad thing about it was that it woke J up and he couldn't fall back to sleep. So he got up and after lunch we went to get some ice cream and then to circuit city. J got 4 CD's he wanted for Christmas with his gift card. I can't wait to use my gift card. Then we came home and J went to sleep with Monkey and GG and I spent time together. Then both the kids helped me make dinner. Now we are downstairs playing. GG fell asleep on the couch at around 5pm. It should be interesting as to what time she falls asleep tonight. GG has been playing all day with her my little ponies. I love watching her imagination! I can't believe she is almost 3 years old. Where in the world did the time go? It is so nice to see her getting better. Her and Monkey still have a cough but no fever!!!

This is the second day of feeling better. We have been very busy playing with all of the new toys we got. I still haven't learned how to work the camera but I am thinking tomorrow will be the day?!?! Today we took back some things at Wal-mart. We exchanged Finding Nemo for the DVD...it has games on it. Monkey was the only one that took toys back (because of already owning it) so I am going to get him some more tracks for his train and maybe some engines too! I am hoping to get over to Barnes and Nobles and use my gift card sometime soon. The kids have really enjoyed playing with all of their new toys along with J and myself. Yesterday we washed all of the dirty clothes with the new ones and so the kids are styling in their new outfits today. I can't believe that GG is wearing 3T (even though they are big on her) the 2T are just to short. I have found out that Joe (J's brother) has gotten sick, my dad and brother Travis are both getting sick. I feel so bad for spreading it to everyone. But from the way it sounds at least they aren't near as sick as we were...totally non-functioning. Not much else to report.

I woke up this morning feeling so much better. I just have a little cough. GG and Monkey have been running a low grade fever on and off all day. GG was actually awake for most of the day with about three 2 hour naps. J still isn't feeling the greatest but he decided to go to work tonight anyways. I noticed that I didn't mention what the kids got from my dad's family. GG got two more my little ponys (Becky and Travis)...a total of 5 now all different colors! Good job everyone :) She got two outfits (one "purple" dress and the other a pants set) and a shirt that matches her cousin Kiera, she also got this really cool Dr. Suess game package, and a Sponge Bob floor puzzle (both) Oh yeah she also got a purse kit from my brother Kevin and his family. She wanted that opened right away...it was purple! Monkey got two outfits and a shirt as well, along with a monster truck (Travis), a little people construction site (Becky), an Elmo construction site (Kevin) and a really cool Bob the builder book with camera. I might be missing a few things but that is all I can remember off the top of my head. With our whole family being sick we didn't get to spend it the way we had planned. We were going to make a cake for Jesus' birthday and sing. No cake but we did sing. The main thing is that my kids know the reason for the season is Jesus...not presents. (even though they got a ton of them)

I think it was a good thing we didn't go to WI to see J's family because last night GG throw up and this morning Monkey did. It was mostly mucus but won't have been a fun trip with two sick kiddies.

Ahh the day after Christmas! I will start with what we did the rest of yesterday. Monkey was really cranky and I just knew something was wrong. So we went to the 24hr clinic and got him, GG and J all looked at. Monkey has an ear infection. I was worried that one of them would have bronchitis, croup, or strep. Very relieved that it was only an ear infection. We got some meds in him for it and he feels so much better. J and GG slept almost the rest of the night after we got home. J has the flu and GG they said was viral. The only time J was awake was for present opening, he needed the sleep. We opened presents from grandma M., grandpa M., Aunt Becky, and Uncle Travis.

So that leaves us with today. I am trying to figure out where in the world to put all the stuff they got. Our two toy boxes are overflowing now. I guess it is time for a third box?!? I also need to try on all the clothes that GG got to see if they fit. I have tried on Monkey's and I will say he looks mighty cute in all of them. Such a handsome little boy I have. The rest of our day will be spent playing with our new items...digital camera...and the finding places for them!

The day isn't over yet but I wanted to update with things that have already happened. This morning the kids woke up at 9 and we stayed in the room for about a half an hour. Both of them have fevers. We wanted to get some medicine in them before they opened presents. It worked out good because it gave us time to talk to them about Jesus' birthday being today. Then I carried GG out and Monkey walked. The look on GG's face was priceless. Good thing J got it on camera! Monkey stood there and pointed at all the presents. The only thing GG could muster to say was, "A big present." The poor kids just didn't feel good but that didn't stop them from wanting to open the presents. GG got 5 finger nail polishes, polish remover, 6 hot wheels cars, chutes and ladders, playdough, a handy dandy notebook (she loved that one!), helmet and pads...for the bike she is getting for her birthday next month, puzzles, 4 Sandra Boynton books, paint books, coloring books, and the blanket I had made her. She was really excited about that one too. She also got two my little ponys from nana and pops. Which reminds me that the presents the kids got last night were mostly from grandma and grandpa but they got some from Uncle Joe, Aunt Virginia and Aunt Ribbit. Monkey got 9 hot wheels cars, 6 tools for his tool bench, puzzles, 4 Sandra Boynton books, a push toy, train set, and a blanket I made him. He also got duplos from nana and pops. Now we just have to wait for them to feel better so that they can play with all their new toys. We are doing Christmas tonight with my dad so I will try and update again after that.

Happy Christmas Eve! We got up this morning and headed over to the A's. J and his brother Joe played playstation 2 most of the time. I tried to take a nap but ended up holding Monkey while he slept. My poor little guy isn't feeling good at all. The fun started when grandpa came home from work. We opened presents. I will try and remember all the presents the kids got but I'm warning you now I may forget some. So if you read this and I missed something I am sorry. (I am sick remember!) GG got 8 outfits, a Police Man Mr. Potato Head, slippers, a couple movies (for both) books, a ladybug book bag, a floor puzzle, a Lacy Bear, a magna doodle (both), a suitcase, and a playdough kit. Monkey got 6 outfits, 2 push toys one is a police car, a big truck, bath crayons, golf clubs, leap frog, books, Finding Nemo, and duplos. I think I am missing some things but I can't think. J and I got a digital camera, candles, ornaments, socks (me) and CD's (J) and finger nail set (J) pants and shirt (me). Then we came home and are getting things ready to go to bed even though it is 8:30pm. I will try and up date tomorrow.

I woke up this morning and threw up. I hate doing that. But I must say that I do feel a lot better after that happened. Then I slept most of the morning. I feel much better after the sleep too. J had to go to court this morning...he woke up feeling sick. Then he asked me if I could watch the kids while he slept. I told him sure. He has been sleeping since 1pm and it is now 6:30pm. He needs the rest. I don't think I wrote about this last night but we tried to get GG to take her medicine. She wouldn't, so I put it in some chocolate milk. She drank it all. Then I tried doing that again this afternoon with apple juice. She didn't like the way it tasted and told me over and over to, "Go and dump it out mommy it's yucky!" Then Becky helped me and we got some medicine in her. She didn't like us ganging up on her. She was trying to make Becky feel bad for helping me by pleading, "No Aunt Becky No..." She feels so much better though. She is dancing around and singing. It is nice to have my sweet baby girl back. I hate seeing her in pain and not feeling good. She's still not a 100% but I would say she is about 90% better. I also noticed that Monkey picked up the cough. But he doesn't have a fever and neither does J. So they are both sleeping right now. I think what we got was a 24-48 hour bug that just needs sleep to combat it. I think that over the last two days GG was awake for probably 8 hours at the most. I hope every one is better for tomorrow. We are going to the A's to have Christmas.

So I thought we would go this winter without any major sickness. I was wrong. The story begins yesterday...I got up and got the kids ready for church. We went to church only to be there for 2 minutes when GG throws up all over herself and J. Good thing I packed an overnight bag. So we changed her clothes, everything down to her undies and socks. Then after church we went to the grocery story to get some food. Then to grandma and grandpa A's house. GG laid down and just watched movies the rest of the day. Us girls, grandma, Aunt Liz (Ribbit), Aunt Virginia, and I (Monkey too) went to see the movie Mona Lisa Smile. Came home and we took turns doing makeovers. It was so much fun. We picked out clothes, did hair and make up. GG even got in on the action. She took Aunt Virginia's brown lipstick and put it on except that she missed most of her mouth. Virginia took a picture. Then we ate cake and watched a chick flick (Wedding Planner). That is what we did yesterday.

Today I woke up sick. Soar throat, cough, and mild fever. I also hurt everywhere. So I called J and he and Becky drove out to get us. I didn't feel I could drive safely home. J called in and isn't going to work tonight so that he can take care of Monkey while GG and I sleep. Except he is tired too so he is in the room sleeping with GG and I am out here with Monkey. I just got some more medicine in me so I am feeling a little better though I should take the opportunity to update real quick. Pray that J and Monkey don't get sick too. This is not fun at all.

The big thing we did today was going grocery shopping. I really don't like doing that on Saturdays but it needed to be done. I only took GG and left Monkey(sleeping) with J. When I got back from the store Monkey was awake and playing with the toys. J didn't even realize he woke up and left the room. I am so glad he can't open doors yet. Joe and Virginia got to here safely this evening. They are at my in-laws and I am half tempted to get in the car and drive there tonight. But I think we should sleep here tonight and just see them tomorrow at church. The only problem we are having is how we should get there. I want to drive separately so that I can stay but he doesn't like that idea. We'll figure it out...after he gets done reading books to the kids. I can't wait for Christmas did I say that already?!?! I guess the part I really want is just to see the kids faces when they wake up and see all the presents under the tree. 5 days until Christmas but 4 until we open more presents!

Today started out like every other day. I forgot to mention that yesterday we made handprints of the kids hands again. So today GG painted hers purple. She really likes that color. After dinner GG and I played a game of candy land since we didn't get to play last night, she needed to go to bed. This afternoon Monkey was fighting taking a nap. At first I thought his ear was hurting him but now I think he just didn't want to go to sleep. What a little stinker...he can't stop napping this young. Then tonight my friend called, it was amazing because I had tried calling her twice today and didn't get an answer. They don't have caller id, she just happened to call. Well I am really tired today for some reason, maybe because J was home last night when he should of been working. No that doesn't sound right. Tomorrow Joe and Virginia will be in town. That should be fun.

Ok so here is the update of what we did for our anniversary or as we explained it to GG, our birthday! The day our family was born. We went to a restaurant called Max and Erma's neither of us had ever been there before. It was good food. Then we went to Barnes and Noble. We took turns walking around and looking at the books while the other one stayed with the kids in the children's section. They had a train track set up and you know how my kids love trains! Then we got in the car and drove around looking at the Christmas lights. GG was so funny she kept yelling excitedly about everything she saw. Monkey was sitting in the back eyes wide open. I would ask him if he saw the lights and his head would shack up and down. Then we got home and made J's present from one of the people at work. It was the really good kind of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Then we came downstairs to play games but haven't done that yet. So I don't know if that is going to happen. I am just happy to know that in half an hour J doesn't have to go to work. He took the day off. Well that is it.

It is only 4:30pm but I want to update for now because everyone is sleeping! This morning we got up early along with Aunty Becky and we went to MOPS. It was the open gym day. I always like them. There was a new mom of two girls, the girls were 18 months apart (just like mine), the oldest born in Jan and the baby in July. The only difference was that they were a year younger than mine. It was fun talking to her about some of the same things I went through last year at this time! It is good to know as a mom you aren't alone in almost every situation you encounter! Someone has been there before you and some one will go through it after you! Anyways, then we took the kids to McDonalds for lunch. Before we even sat down I went to get ketchup, I ended up knocking it over on top of Monkey. He had it all over his white shirt. Good thing J went through the diaper bag the other day, when we cleaned, and put a winter outfit in it for him. Thank you J! You rock :) After they ate Becky took them in the playground. We didn't stay long because the play area didn't have heat. It was freezing!!! Then we came home and finished putting ornaments on grandma's Christmas tree. It looks beautiful now. Then Monkey went to sleep and then GG went to sleep and here I am. I did call my friend to see what happened to her today. She was suppose to be at MOPS. Her little girl woke up sick. I'm glad it wasn't my bad directions ;)
So today is J and I's 4 year anniversary, I wish I knew what were are going to do tonight. Do I need to start making dinner? Or do I get a night off? I guess time will tell. I'll try and up date again before bed.

So last night J and I spent a lot of time talking about things...his job, family life, social life and just about everything. I also tried something new last night with Monkey. Almost every time he woke up I got out of bed and rocked or held him until he went back to sleep instead of nursing him. I am trying to cut out the night feedings. He is almost 17 months! Wow I can't believe he has gotten this old. It seems like yesterday he was born. GG too, for that matter, where does the time go? Today while I made lunch I turned on some music and the kids started dancing. As I watched Monkey I was reminded of my friend Julie saying that her little boy Thomas (a couple months younger than M) when he jumps it is more like a bounce. Monkey does that too but today when he was jumping (bouncing) he would lift one leg off the ground. He still couldn't do both but he is getting it. It is so fun to watch my kids grow and learn new things. Right now J and GG are doing her new puzzle she got from my grandparents, on Sunday, I think it is the second or third time they are doing it. She is learning the puzzle! Sometimes I think that GG's learning has slowed down and then I look back at my journal and see that she is still learning, but being with her everyday I guess I just don't realize it. She is turning into such a fun individual. I honestly can say that I enjoy spending time with both the kids. I do love my job of being a mother. Some days it is harder than others but that is true with any type of job/career.

Well today was a little different then most days. J took the kids and left for about 3 hours, shopping for my presents but mainly to give me time to do some scrapbooking, his idea. I thought that was very nice of him. He took them to eat at McDonalds and then let them play in the playground. When he got home I put Monkey to sleep and GG and I headed out to find J presents. I must say that today I had a lot of success with finding things I thought he would like. I just hope he likes them come Christmas morning! Then I made dinner and J went to pick up grandma at the car dealership because her car needs fixed. I was finished making dinner before J came home so the kids and I went downstairs, while the lasagna was baking, and started to wrap J's presents. He came home before I was finished so I have a few more to wrap. After we ate we came downstairs and J cleaned the bathroom and I put away the clean laundry from a couple days ago and then we just started cleaning up everything down here. I must say we did a good job and it looks nice. One cute story before I go...when we came home from shopping J asked GG what we bought him and she said excitedly, "NOTHING!" I have taught her well.

Today was the first day of J's days off. We had a lazy morning and just didn't do things in too big of a hurry. Then we left the house after lunch to run all over the place but we also went to Mall. I signed GG up for that dance class in January. The cool thing about it is that the building it is held in is about 2 blocks from the house. We also went to Wal-mart and the bank. I am happy to say that J and I are done with presents, well that we have to buy together. We still have to get each others. But that's no big deal, right? Then we came home and J started a fire. GG and I wrapped presents for other people. She really liked doing that. After dinner grandma put up her Christmas tree and the kids helped with help from Aunt Becky. J and I took that opportunity to wrap the kids presents. We had a lot of fun doing that. So not only are the presents bought but they are now wrapped, sitting in the closet waiting for the kids to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. J just left to go buy my presents maybe tomorrow he will watch the kids while I get his!

Last night seeing as I needed to get up early Monkey decided to nurse all night, at least it seemed. He is so funny he wakes up hungry and says, "Mama urse, mama urse..." until I nursed him. This morning we left here at 8am took my dad his laptop and were on our way to my grandparents house. We stopped and picked up my brother Kory, haven't seen him in awhile, he is a senior in High School. We got to my grandparents house around 11ish. We ate lunch, talked, got a call from my mom, and opened presents. GG had a great time getting her presents, she is such a girlie girl but I love it. She got a packback/purse that had plastic lipstick, keys, a cell phone (that makes noise), sunglasses, a plastic nail polish, and perfume bottle. This was the first present she opened and almost didn't want to open anymore. I guided her to open the other ones. She got a puzzle, a star wars gadget, a plate, a breakable little girl that is a keepsake, and m&m candy in a tube. Then her last gift she opened was a my little pony. I'm telling you she is a true girl and she wanted to play with both the purse and my little pony. They were both pink and purple! She liked everything she got but she REALLY liked the two girlie gifts! Monkey got a truck that makes noise, he loves to push things. He also got a book, a star wars gadget, a breakable little boy (keepsake too), and I don't remember what else he got because J was the one who helped him open the presents and he is sleeping. Speaking of J he is a wonderful husband. He woke up yesterday at 6pm went to work came home at 7:30am, showered and went with us to my grandparents. He drove the whole way there and back, it is now 10:30pm and he is going to sleep for the first time since yesterday. After we left my grandparents we went to the hospital to see my other grandma who just got came down with pneumonia. Then we were on our way back trying to get to church on time for the night service. We made it and had a great time the choir sang the whole service with us singing a few songs with them. Then afterwards they had cookies and hot apple cider in the gym. As we were about to leave we talked with grandma and grandpa A and they were going out to eat, we hadn't eaten either so we went with them. The food was good and dinner is a whole story in itself. Then we came home and here we are. Oh a funny story happened in the car today. GG fell asleep on the way home and when she woke up her coat was wet with drool. Then she said to me that her coat smelled bad. I smelled it and sure enough it was nasty smelling. So I am washing it right now so that we have it clean and dry for tomorrow. Yes, I am washing other clothes with it...not just her little coat!

First I want to tell a story that was kind of funny but not really. GG left her baby doll upstairs and she wanted to go get it. So I told her to go ahead. She came back down about 5 minutes later, she couldn't find it and this is what she said, "Crap! I can't find my baby doll, mommy." When something bad happens I have been known to let that word slip. It isn't a bad word but really not a word I want my almost 3 year old saying. So we had a talk about saying that word. Today was funny even though we stayed home all day. We hung out with Travis and Becky. Tonight we were going to go swimming with Ethan and his family but it was getting late and it was really cold out and snowy. It made me sad though because I was looking forward to seeing them again. Maybe next time they head this way we can see each other, or we go that way. Tonight GG has been completely silly. Well I guess Monkey has been too. I think they can tell something is different, being the holidays. Tomorrow we are going to my grandma and grandpa O. house. I love going there for Christmas, I'm just sad that my mom won't be there this year. We will miss you guys. I need to go wrap some presents for tomorrow and GG is going to help!

Right now Monkey is standing by the fireplace and yelling...I think he is trying to be like GG. She is always singing and I think that is what he is trying to do. I also keep forgetting to mention that GG has her first pretend person named Pepper. She has had a kitten but for the last week or so she has been playing with Pepper who is a little girl GG's age.

Let's see so today I looked at the winter schedule for classes and I think I missed the deadline for GG to take that dance class and by the time I realized it the office was closed. I am going to have to wait until Monday. I really hope they let her take the class I already bought the outfit for it. If not I will send her to the YMCA. So today the carpet cleaners came today to clean the upstairs. So we were confined to the basement which makes it hard to keep the noise level down, even though J reassures me I am doing a good job. I finished GG's blanket and I started Monkey's I decided not to take a break. We got invited to a party tonight with church but I didn't go because I didn't want to go by myself. J thought his parents weren't going to be there I guess I should of called and asked but oh well maybe next time. J just left for work and GG is sleeping and Monkey is wide awake. Should be an interesting evening!

I really dislike the winter. It is too cold outside and inside. It's no fun going out and doing anything because you have to be bundled up to stay warm. The bad part is that J is on midnights and sleeps most of the day. I have been trying my hardest to keep the kids quiet so he can sleep. Today I felt like I was doing a horrible job and then when J got up he thanked me for keeping them quiet while he slept. So I guess I am doing better than I thought! Today I was making lunch and GG needed her hands cleaned. So I picked her up and washed her hands at the sink, I dropped a drop on Monkey's head. He had a little wet spot on the top of his head. The funny part was his face. He knew that his hair was wet and he looked at me like what did you do? Then he proceeded to rub the top of his head! Speaking of his hair J gave him another hair cut. One thing about little boy hair it grows way faster than little girls! Or maybe it is you have to cut it more because they have short hair?!?! One of the two. I am really excited about GG's blanket. I have finished cutting everything that needs cut and now I just have to tie it together. Then I am going to give my self a couple days to heal my thumb before I start Monkey's blanket. Well not much else to report and Monkey just woke up.

So today was such a do nothing day. I think it might of had something to do with the fact that I was up until 1am and very tired. I will be staying up for a few more nights making the kids' blankets so I will have them done by the 25th. I hate leaving the house during the winter but I feel like I have to take the kids outside the house to give J a quiet sleep. Just today wasn't the day to take them anywhere. I went to get groceries today with grandma while J stayed with the kids. It is nasty out. I have plans for tomorrow to go to the library and get some Christmas cards. I keep forgetting to pick some up so I am hoping that some store still has some. We'll see tomorrow. I am going to finish watching Trista and Ryan's wedding and then put the kids to bed and start working on the blankets again.

Well blogger is working now that it is the next day! I posted our activities of the day on my other journal. There was a cute story about GG if you want to read it. I am about to go to bed. I just spent the last 3 hours working on GG's blanket. I didn't even get half way done. I think this is going to take more time than I thought. But when it is done it will be great. Goodnight

We are back from Western. We had a good time seeing everyone at playgroup and other places we went. It was good to see GG and Ethan play together. She really misses him. I would secretly listen to them as they played and they were having a blast! Pretending to go to Grammy's house and sleep over. Oh the mind of a two and three year old! It was also fun to meet Gavin. I forget how small babies are. Today I spent most of the day doing laundry I think I did a total of five loads. I also applied for a job at the Y. The kids and J went out this morning to get a Christmas present for me. I'm really not in the mood for writing I am in a very sad mood.

I had a very early morning. I was getting up when J was getting home! He helped get the kids dressed while they slept and I ate something. Then I took a shower and woke the kids up to leave the house. We went to MOPS...GG had a lot of fun playing and I had a good time eating lots of food. Monkey ate my food too, I don't mind sharing with my baby boy! Then we came home and tried to stay as quiet as possible. J woke up at 2pm and we started packing for our weekend trip. We didn't get a chance to wrap any presents. We still have time though. Tonight at dinner GG wanted to pray and she folded her hands, Monkey followed suit and folded his too, she said, "Dear God, thank you for the food. Thank you for my new car and Monkey's new car too." I bought them hot wheel cars at Target yesterday. As I was sitting here typing that story Monkey was on one of the chairs and I watched him flip off the side. It scared me to death. I literally saw his neck bend in half as his body fell on his head. J said he was ok. But man I sure am not ok. We are going to be going to bed in about a half an hour. We are leaving at 4:30am to leave, we're going to WIU. So tomorrow morning will be way earlier than this morning was!!!

So last night was J's first night working the midnight shift. The kids were good except for the fact that they stayed up until midnight. But they slept good. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to keep them quiet while J tried to get some sleep. I took the kids out of the house so he could sleep in peace. We dropped off a bill at the post office and then we went to the library for a while. The kids loved that. I think that is one of their favorite places to go. It is always so hard to get them out of there. Today wasn't too bad though because I told them we were going to go look for a Christmas present for daddy. So we then went to Target. The kids section is right as you walk into the store so I of course stopped there first. Bad idea. I ended up getting GG some stuff for her dance class and a Christmas dress. I got Monkey a shirt to wear for Christmas too. Then I got them a hot wheels car for being good at the library and Target. I also got Monkey a 70 piece train set. I was so happy to find it because I asked the lady who worked there and she said they don't sell them. I think she thought I meant a train for around the Christmas tree. I did say it would be a present for Monkey. Oh well, I found it anyway. We have a few more presents left to get! That is so exciting. J said we can start wrapping the presents tomorrow afternoon!!! We came home around 3 and ate lunch. We ate dinner around 7, so we could eat with J. Then J gave the kids baths, to spend time with them because most of the day he was sleeping and then Monkey took a nap. Now GG is in bed. Monkey is out here with me.

Today was a really nice and laid back day for us. The kids painted their handprints today. I had to help Monkey! GG, of course, painted hers purple! We painted Monkey's blue. Then after dinner GG helped me wrap a few presents, we have so many more to do still. So if you get a present from us that has a lot of tape it was one that GG helped me with. I am in such a mood to wrap all the presents tonight when the kids go to sleep. I know that J would be so mad at me. We have always wrapped them together. I just see them all in our closet and think that there is so many I should start now. (I love wrapping presents! Have I said that yet?) We only have 23 more days til Christmas. We still have to finish buying some too. Tonight is J's first day working midnights. I hope it goes good for him and for me too. Monkey slept better last night so I hope he does good tonight too because it will only be me.

Well remember how I said that Monkey has been nursing like crazy! Last night his teeth were hurting him so bad that he couldn't even sleep. I gave him some medicine and that didn't help either so this morning I looked into his mouth again and I noticed that he is getting three molars. The one has broken the skin but is still coming in the other two haven't broken the skin yet but you can see them through the skin. My poor little guy. Monkey and I nor did any one else in the house get much sleep last night. But J had the day off today and let me sleep in since I was the one who was taking care of him during the night. What a nice husband. After I woke up and got ready we packed the kids up in the car and ran a bunch of errands. We also went out to eat for lunch, that was nice. I like being able to budget money for things like that. We also picked up our family pictures today. They turned out so great. I love them! Then when we got home grandma was already here. She made the pot roast for me since she got home first. It was so yummy. It was from market day. I really like some of there food and other stuff isn't so good. After we ate grandma and I went to the grocery store and J stayed with the kids. I'll tell you what, we were in and out of that place so much faster than when the kids are with us. J has tomorrow off too but he has to go to work at 10:30pm. He starts midnights. I am not looking forward to that, J isn't either. The funny thing about that is when J first got hired he wanted to be on midnights and now that he is going there he doesn't want too. He really wants to work days and I want him to also. Oh one last thing...last night J came home from work with 12 books for the kids for Christmas. They were all Sandra Boynton books. J really likes her books. We only have about three presents left to get for other people then we just have to get each other gifts. I know that I am getting a precious moments Christmas ornament. I get one every year from J in my stocking. I have 7 so far! One day when the kids are all grown I will be able to have a precious moments Christmas tree :) We don't do Santa for anyone who hasn't read my other journal. If you want to know why read the other journal it has the reasons.