Bursting a bubble

And that would be the bubble of the weatherman. He just sounded WAY too happy about January being the first month since the 1800's that we haven't reached above freezing for a day. There's a chance, a chance that we might hit the 30's on Saturday. I was so excited when I saw that I nearly did a little dance in the middle of lunch!

Someone had a birthday around here....
Look at that sweet face. It's the face of a 1 year old little diva princess with an ear infection for her first birthday:( The day before she crap-napped and woke up with a 104 temperature. Poor baby. Being as it was a Friday, DH and I took both Cole (whining about his ear bugging him too) and Lexi in to the doctor. She had the ear infection, he was borderline. :::sigh::: Oh well. Both were given prescriptions for Amoxicillin and recommendations for Motrin to kick the fever. By Saturday morning she had smiles:) Another problem arose later however (more on that in a bit)

Diva Lexi (who needs her morning milk room temperature) had fun at her party. Given her illness, we kept it short: lunch, cake, gifts and naptime (for her!). Then the adults could visit a bit. She was such a trouper, but wanted little to do with that yummy cake. She got some on her hands and wasn't entirely thrilled!

Then there's Cole. Sunday morning we were hanging around and when I saw him reach for a toy, I spotted something that made my heart drop. Spots. On his hand. Dark pink spots. I unzipped his jammies and he was COVERED. Our first thought: chicken pox. I ran to WebMD..most signs pointed to yes. The contagious period to keep him home? 10 days. And that's for one kid. I was crushed. It's been below zero for DAYS. If it's above zero, the windchill has no problem kicking us below that. Cabin fever is ambundant around here. The idea of being forced to stay home? Ugh. To top it off, Lexi would be screwed as she was exposed before she got the vaccine. Fortunately, a few calls determined that it was a rash from the Amoxicillin. *whew* It's not an allergic reaction, some kids get it and it will disappear as quickly as it pops up. I'm happy to say I can't really play connect the dots on him anymore!:)

Last week I worked out. I worked out so much I couldn't work out this week (yet). I got into our Wiifit a lot...mostly running, which I love. Throw on the Ipod and go. I also received the Jillian Michael's workout for the Wii. It's okay. The workout is great, but the sensors don't catch alot of what you do. So if you're content not seeing progress on the screen then it's not much of a problem. I adapted and now my thighs hurt!

A bare wall

I have one! It's so neat. There used to be a big tree there. A tree that -amazingly- survived a 3 year old and an 11 month old for a couple weeks. Anyway, it came down yesterday. DH took Cole for the day so I could work at it. It only took 5 hours, lol. I have a lot of ornaments that go in their own boxes so that takes some time, but it was so much easier without Cole unpacking what I already packed.

7 Christmases and we are finally done as of this past Sunday. ::::giant sigh:::: That is a LOT of family and a lot of running around to see everyone. Kids had fun, we had fun, but I'm ready for some normal now!

On a happy/sad note, Lexi turns ONE on Saturday!!! Happy because she's such a sweet baby and so much fun. Everything she does is just precious. Sad because she's our last:( I knew that when we decided to have her....every milestone has been "Oh, this is the last first time, blah, blah, blah" Lol. Yesterday I went through a lot of her baby stuff that she's outgrown and it was just sad. No more tiny baby:( All this baby stuff we have no use for anymore and it's mocking me because I know we'll never need it. ANYWAY......:) I ordered her cake today with a princess theme. We plan on immediate family and a few close friends but that's still a lot of people given that my sibling count jumped by 4 this past year, lol. Should be fun:)

Bah humbug.

I'm cheating on my photo people. Oops! Normally I take our Christmas card pictures, upload them to Kodak and order our cards from there. Not this year, I just don't have time. I'll take them tomorrow night, upload them to a local store's website, design, order, and pick them up later this week. Not sure if it's cheaper, but it'll be faster!

Last weekend I was in the mood to decorate. It takes me forever to put up our tree and decorate our house as I'm an ornament freak. I have SO many! I honestly think we'll need a bigger tree pretty soon... Anyway, what was suppose to be my weekend to decorate wound up being overtaken by a remodel project at IL's house :::sigh::: Both of my sisters-in-law planned it while IL's were on vacation. IL's knew about it and were paying for it, SIL's were just going to take care of it. Yeah. Right. Of course, they bailed (saying that DH and I planned it) and DH and I had to haul ass and take care of it. 6+ days of my life, morning to night, working on that house. WHILE we're running our own business. We're suppose to go there for Christmas this year. Uh, nope. Too soon for me. Anyway, my mother-in-law LOVES the results and is none too happy with either SIL. I took over 80 pictures of the project and put them in an album so they can see what all happened. MIL seems pretty excited about that:)

So, all that work and I am exhausted. Took a 3 hour nap today. I have ZERO ambition to decorate and frankly, I'm pretty upset about that. Our next few weekends are full, so I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow and can find the excitement to decorate. Normally I love it because our house looks awesome during Christmas. Plus, there's all those memory making things and crap;)

Tiiiiiiired.

That's me!

I had all four wisdom teeth taken out last wednesday. Right before Thanksgiving...smart, I know. They weren't hurting me, but they had issues and my dentist has highly recommended their removal for the last 2 years. It was put off for my pregnancy with Lexi and let's face it, I'm not getting any younger and they weren't going to fall out on their own. However, they had an opening a week before Thanksgiving and I grabbed it to get-r-done. Who wants to Christmas shop when their mouth hurts like hell?

Anyway, I was sedated (awesome stuff!), tucked in, prepared and they went to work. I swear I didn't fall asleep, but I don't remember a darn thing. Next thing I know the dentist is putting something (gauze) in my mouth and they sat me up. I was able to ask (as well as one can with gauze in their mouth!) how it went and they said very good. Simple yanking, no issues. Super! DH took me home and I conked out on the couch. I wasn't really that tired, but when I tried to watch the episode of Y&R I had taped, I kept seeing double of everyone. One Victor is enough for me, so I gave up and fell asleep instead! It's been a week and while I'm still on the Tylenol/Advil every 2-3 hours as needed, I'm not doing too bad. Rinsing after eating sucks though. Makes me think about every food choice. Do I really want that cookie/cheeto bad enough to go into the bathroom to syringe and rinse afterwards? Nope. Too lazy.

DH left for Pennsylvania Monday night to pick up a loader. His buddy Joey went with so they could trade off driving and sleeping. Plan was to be home late this afternoon. Yeah, that didn't happen. The guy we bought the loader from didn't realize how big a semi truck is so they need a wrecker to come in and get the loader out and onto the trailer. Conveniently, there was a spill last night so both wreckers in the area were tending to that. So, DH and Joey spent the night at a Super 8 and got the loader this morning. Last I heard they were entering Indiana and that was a few hours ago. "Lola" (our GPS) claims they'll be home around 6am. Yep, that's going to be one tired DH for Thanksgiving Day!

Here's to hoping I can chew tomorrow and that DH can stay awake to chew at all:)! Happy Thanksgiving!

Been a while!

First of all, I'm so tired. Part of me thinks it's the weather as today it is super crummy outside. Icy, chilly, and a little bit of snow. Kids are thrilled, me, not so much. On the upside, we're out of laundry detergent and I'm not packing up little kids to run to the store (we're rural) just to do something I'm really not all that crazy about, lol. Anyway, I'm tired and it's really starting to bug me so when I see my doctor in a few weeks, I think we'll have a chat. I have NO ambition to work out. I did that one workout and while it felt great, we got busy after that. Little kids are exhausting!

Cole turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and what a ham. It's not so much the things he will say, it's how he says them. A few of my favorites:

"Oh.....yes" It's just so matter-of-fact.
"That's niiiiice!"
"You're making supper? What a good idea!"

The best is when he spends the day with DH and comes home to tell me all about it. The kid just loves life!

And Lexi learned to army crawl. Oh my. Despite the fear that may strike in some parents, that kid has never been more entertained! She'll scan the room looking for her next object, check to make sure no one is going to catch her, and then she just goes with such gusto it's funny to watch. She had her 9 months appt at the end of October and everything looks great, although she does have eczema. Bummer. Oh well, DH and Cole have it as well, so we know the drill! Anyway, you know the questions the doctor asks about the things you child can/cannot do? He asked about Lexi sitting up on her own and pulling herself up. I had to answer no as I hadn't seen any of either. He didn't seem too concerned but wanted us to keep an eye on her. Well, lo and behold, just like a problem car that only acts up when NO ONE else is around, she did both in the next 2 days, lol. I went in her room after naptime, and there she sat! My mom watched them the next night and she had pulled herself up there as well. Silly baby!

Halloween went well..the kids went as characters from Toy Story 2: Jessie the cowgirl, BuzzLightyear, and Wheezie the penguin. What a crew! :)

Pigs that fly!

So, this morning I actually stayed up after Taylor got on the bus...yay me! Lately DH and I go to bed so late (harvest) that I'll crash again after she's off to school. Today I thought, "Hmmmmm, 2 hours before the little ones get up. What should I do?" Okay, we all know what I should do: work out. I've stayed pretty steady on my weight and I'm happy about that, but I need to work out. Toning, to help my sleeping, time for myself, etc. I found a workout in my Redbook magazine that seemed pretty lowkey. I thought I'd try so I suited up and went to work!

Yeah, I got my a** handed to me in the form of realizing just how out of shape I am! I could barely balance on one leg for some of the moves without tipping over. The good news is, I didn't hate it and I actually broke a little sweat. I just might do it again tomorrow:)

Look what I caught!!

Never fails, fall rolls around and before I can get the kids out for pictures with the pretty leaves, Mother Nature gives us a round of crappy, rainy, windy days that make all the trees bare and the leaves completely scattered. Ha, ha, not this year!!:)