It's all about being a mom

I have a lot of mommy stuff today so beware!

My co-worker (Andre) and his kids came over to my parent's old house on Saturday to pick up a piece of work out equipment. Andre's kids are ADORABLE! Cameron is 7 and Blair is 5. So after the equipment was loaded in Andre's truck, I packed all the kids in my truck and we headed over to the new house for a tour of the pool/pool house. On our way there Blair just blurted out..."Miss Jamie, you look like a teenager not a mommy". I would have adopted Blair on the spot if she wasn't already completely loved by her parents! Thank you sweetie for making my entire weekend!!

Ayden is a pretty emotional kid. When he gets scolded he tears up as he apologizes. When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he normally wakes up confused and crying. When he can't have something that he wants, the lip comes out and he turns on the tears. Monday's are the worst. He has such a hard time getting going in the morning and today was no exception. He was crying because he put his shirt on backward and thought I was mad...duh...it was actually totally adorable! Then he started crying when I told him that he didn't have school today. He never has school on Monday's but for some reason it devastated him this morning. So we got in truck and this was our conversation:

Ayden: Mommy, sometimes I cry a lot.
Me: Yup buddy...sometimes you do. Why do you think that is?
Ayden: Because you don't play with me (as he's starting to cry).
Me: Buddy! I play with you all of the time!! And we snuggle and cook together.
Ayden: But you wouldn't play with me this morning.
Me: Ayden, you know how it is during the week. Mommy lets you sleep in as late as possible and then it's time to get dressed, brush your teeth and get in the truck.
Ayden: I know, but I just wanted to play with you this morning.

I'm a sucker. I almost turned the truck around, took the boys home and called in sick so we could stay home and play. I'm also smart though. Monday's are hard for us after spending two fabulous days together.

Me: I love playing with you too Ayden but mommy really has to go to work today. How about if we snuggle on the couch tonight after dinner and bath time. We'll watch Jameson's new Scooby Doo movie (for like the 30th time in a week).
Ayden: (Face totally lights up and a goofy grin appears). Okay mommy! That sounds like a great idea.

All was better in both of our worlds.

I think I've told you before that I normally head straight to the bathroom after getting to work to inspect my appearance. This is an important step to my day. Well, I was out of sorts this morning (my back is bothering me and I was still feeling bad about being a working mom) so I skipped that part. A few hours later, I'm having an important "space planning" conversation with Andre when I notice him looking at me differently. I'm not wearing anything new and I'm certainly not having a great hair day so I asked what he was looking at. He started to laugh at me and told me to go look in a mirror. Did I have a booger hanging from my nose??

One look in the mirror and I was totally mortified. I had black yarn in my hair, toddler toothpaste on the sleeve of my hot pink sweater and milk stains on my black pants. I looked like a train wreck! Both of the boys have this fetish with string. They love to play with it while watching TV...sort of like a security blanket and somehow a random chunk got lodged in my curls this morning. I understand the toothpaste. Jameson HATES having his teeth brushed so it's a battle that we go through daily. He'll turn his face into me so that I can't get to his mouth and he must have wiped toothpaste on me this morning. I sort of get the milk on my pants although Jameson didn't grab his sippy until we were walking out the door. Maybe I spilled on me as I was filling it up???

So as much as I love sweet Blair for telling me I look like a teenager, the evidence that I'm a mommy is all over me!

BTW - I'm ashamed to admit this, but I didn't take a single picture all weekend so I will not be posting a weekend recap...sorry:(

Saturday Bliss

It's 2:15 on Saturday. I have two loads of laundry that need to be folded, one in the wash, one in the dryer and about 6 more that are waiting for the washing machine. The dishwasher needs to be unloaded and reloaded. Both of the bathrooms need to be scrubbed before the monsters in the toilets start talking back to me. The yellow pollen is collecting on the furniture faster than I can dust it off. Yes, Wisconsinites, that means that it's a beautiful 78 degrees today and ALL of my windows are open to the spring breeze.

And as I look around the house thinking of the numerous things on my to do list, all I can think about is how totally and completely happy I am. Our life may be hectic but who doesn't have a hectic life? At the end of the day, Jason and I both have wonderful jobs, two beautiful children, a house that is filled with love and laughter...how could I not be happy.

Now I'm going to make myself even more happy and take advantage of the few precious moments that I have left while my angels sleep. I'm going to go tackle those monsters in the toilet!

Happy Saturday everyone!

There are babies EVERYWHERE!

I'm in so much trouble. Chanta brought her 15 month old son, Taylor, into in the office today. He has these beautiful brown eyes that just say "pick me up and snuggle with me". People were actually getting mad at me during the staff meeting because I wouldn't give him up. I could hear the voice...the one inside of my head telling me to have just ONE more baby! I had to escape so I made a quick exit through Executive. Big mistake. Nikki brought in her in her 10 month old son, AJ. He has those super chubby cheeks like Ayden had. He kept snuggling into me and then would look at his mom and give her a big smile. He had that fantastic baby smell. I could sniff him all day!

This is not a good day for me to be here. Now is not the time to be adding to our family. I need to get the thoughts of babies out of my head. I keep smelling baby powder!! Maybe if I talk about my insane family, the itch will go away...you think? I'll give it a try...

Ayden's mollescum is healing up nicely. We're down to minimal scabs but his skin is still really red. I haven't seen any new bumps on his body so maybe this will be his only treatment. He's been really enjoying the warmer weather. Lots of outside play time means a tired little boy for me at night. Bedtime has not been an issue all week. Ayden is dressing himself in the morning and he's getting really good at it. We still struggle with the shirt, but he's working on it.

Jameson has been doing really well. He too loves being outside. Last night I caught him outside on the deck in his PJ's. Now that he knows how to open and close the screen door I have to watch him more closely. He's still sneaking into our bed during the night, but I'm not doing much to stop it. I don't think Jameson is in any hurry to grow up. He still loves being a baby and I don't want to take that away from him.

Jason has been working some really crazy hours lately and it doesn't sound like it's going to let up any time soon. He pretty much told me yesterday that we won't see him until next Sunday. I don't know how he does it! I have no idea what time he got home last night, but I rolled over around 1:30 and he was in bed. He got up this morning right as the boys and I were walking out the door so I had them turn around and say bye to daddy. I hate that he misses so much time with them, but I'm doing my best to be supportive. I know he'd rather be home with us so instead of complaining, I just make the most of our time together. Jason is also the proud owner of a 4wheeler. It stays at the shop with his boss's toys since we don't have room for it at our house.

As for me, I'm happy to say that I've been medication free for 10 days. My rheumatologist thinks it's the hydroxychloroquin that has been causing my blurred vision. I'm taking a break for 2 weeks to see if he's right. After that...who knows. They'll do blood work to see what's going on inside. I'll either stay medication free or they'll put me on something else. I have to admit that I'm a bit worried. I've been taking medication for my Lupus for 5 years and it's scary to be off of everything. I'm still dedicated to going to the gym 4 days a week and it's definitely become something that I look forward to. My entire body aches from the elliptical yesterday, but I'm still going to tackle the weight machines today. It's a good hurt...it means I'm doing something! Work is hectic right now with month-end and our big audit in April. I'm also about to move into my new office space the first Friday in May. It's pretty exciting! It's going to be nice looking out onto Centennial Olympic Park instead of the street.

We had a nice week. The weather was beautiful. Every night the boys would play outside while I made dinner. You know my life has taken a different direction when I say that the best part of my day is preparing dinner while I watch my boys play in the backyard. My mom came over every night for dinner and we actually ate on the deck two nights. I love that she comes over. It's not easy having daddy gone so it not only helps me out, but gives the boys some extra attention. Tonight we have to run to Target after work so I'll probably cave and get the boys a Happy Meal.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Besides having to take Clyde to the vet tomorrow for an anal gland check up, we have nothing going on. I promised Ayden lots of play dough time and we have some arts and crafts projects to do. If the rain holds up, we'll probably convince Mimi & Bumpa to give us a golf cart ride.

Oh...one more cute thing. Last night sand just poured out of Ayden's shoes when he took them off at the back door. After they boys had their bath I decided to vacuum up the sand. Both of the boys ran to their rooms and got out their vacuum cleaners. So there were the three of us...vacuuming in our PJ's. Ayden turned to me and said, "Mommy. We hard workin' men". Too cute! That's what we call daddy...a hard workin' man. I love our moments like that. I love that my boys bring so much meaning to my life. Which leads me back to the beginning of this post. I need another baby. All I have to do is convince Jason:) In the mean time, I'm staying away from the second floor where all the baby cuteness is today!

Have a great weekend!

Good vs Evil

Evil: The dreaded elliptical trainer. It looks scary and people are sweaty messes when they get off the thing. I've been avoiding it like the plague, but the treadmill just isn't doing it for me anymore. I needed something different so I decided to take the plunge today. Big mistake. My legs are burning...and are pulsating...I don't dare try to walk.

It really wasn't too bad at first. Then I noticed this girl 2 machines down from mine. She was doing something different than me...about 5 minutes forward and then 5 minutes backward. I didn't even know you could go in reverse! How hard could it be??? I was already huffing and puffing so why not give it a try? BIG MISTAKE. Reverse hurts even more. I didn't want to give up so I did my 30 minutes and then crawled my way back to the locker room.

The only upside is that when I walk on the treadmill, it takes me 30 minutes to walk 2 miles. On the elliptical trainer, I can get in 3 miles during the 30 minutes. It also works my thighs instead of my calves. The thighs need much more work. I still think it's an evil machine though.

Thank goodness tomorrow is weight machine day...I don't think I have it in me to do 2 days of the elliptical!

Good: The girls are back! I finally got to watch the 1 hour Hills episode from Monday last night. I figured out why I love that show so much. It's a about a bunch of girls having fun, pursuing their dreams. Not to mention the drama...gotta love the drama.

Goofy Jameson

This is the last one...I promise!

In January, Jason took Ayden to see the monster truck show in Atlanta. Apparently it's really loud so Jason bought Ayden a pair of "ear muffins" to make the show more bearable. After Easter lunch (which Jameson slept through) we took Ayden home for a nap. Jameson came outside with us to "help" wash the trucks. Next thing I know, he comes up to me with Ayden's ear muffins and wants to put them on. Only problem was that they kept slipping off and he refused to not wear them. It was just so darn cute that I couldn't help but take a dozen or so pictures of him. Click here to see more of my goofy goober:) The last picture is of Bonnie who was watching from the backyard. She was very envious of the ear muffins and is still bugging me to let her try them on.

Egg Hunt At Mimi & Bumpa's

Sick of pictures yet? I sure hope not because I have even more!

Sunday was a fantastic Easter. After making a few "Happy Easter" phone calls, we made our way over to Mimi and Bumpa's for another egg hunt and the "Great Bunny Basket Search". Bumpa had 5 or 6 pages of clues. Each one was in a plastic egg and after figuring out the clue, it would lead us to the next egg. They had us all over the place! After Jason and I figured out the whole teamwork thing, it wasn't so bad. Since I was participating in the festivities, I didn't take a lot of pictures. Click here for more pictures.

Pretty Stuff

After Line Creek, I wasn't quite done taking pictures. We drove around and stopped to take pictures when we saw something that interested us. My mom thought I was crazy when I asked her to stop outside the entrance of her neighborhood so I could take a picture of a rusty fence, but to me it was pretty. Click here for more pretty stuff.

Line Creek

Friday was spent with my mom. We had so much fun that day and only did about half of what we wanted to do. We started off with breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company and then did some damage at Best Buy. We needed camera accessories! It took us forever to find Line Creek because they've torn down some building and they're working on new construction. I think we drove past the entrance about 12 times:) Once we found it, I had to pee. Go figure. After a quick trip to Books A Million, we were back at the park and ready to explore. We spent a good 2 hours walking the paths and taking pictures of anything and everything. Please be patient with some of my photos. I'm still learning my new camera and the huge ass zoom lens that mom gave me. I'm so used to auto focus so this whole manual focus thing has got me totally stressed out. Practice makes perfect though....right? Click here to see the entire slide show of Line Creek.

Egg Hunt At Marguerite's

Thursday afternoon was the egg hunt at Marguerite's. She spoils our children rotten. The kids searched for Easter eggs, had ice cream and cupcakes and got an Easter basket from Marguerite and David. They are such sweet people and I love that they take such good care of our babies. Click here for a slide show.

The little girl in the slide show is Kaitlyn. She's absolutely adorable and sooooo funny! The other adult is her mommy, who I absolutely love. The little boy is Carson. He is trouble...serious trouble. But he's so cute! I tried getting pictures of the other kids, but they were all moving around so fast.

Feeling Guilty

In case you didn't notice, my pictures from this past weekend are still not up. I had a crazy day yesterday and was totally exhausted when I put Jameson down for the the night. I ended up falling asleep in his room...oops. I woke up around 9:30 and decided to crawl straight into bed. I guess I needed the sleep because I feel like a new woman today! I'll do my best to get my pictures up tonight. Especially since my overachiever mom got all of her photos edited and uploaded into Flickr. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, I suggest that you go now. She has some really cute pictures of the boys from Easter (I was too busy searching for bunny basket clues to take pictures) and tons of pictures from our nature hike on Friday. Have I mentioned that I had a really awesome weekend?

Random Monday Stuff

I'll have a weekend recap posted tonight. First I have to go through the 300 pictures I took from Thursday through Sunday. I'm having so much fun learning how to use my new camera and lens that mom gave me! I'll finish up editing the photos tonight and post some on the blog and Kodak Gallery.

On to the random stuff....

1. After 2 weeks of eating total crap (but still working out at the gym), I promised myself that I was going to resume my dieting and exercise program today. Maybe it was my imagination, but all I could smell on my way to work was food. Fresh baked bread, bacon and something with garlic. It stayed with me during my entire drive!

2. I had the weirdest dream last night that I was driving to work and developed a severe case of road rage. There was a white SUV in front of me that was driving like a moron so I rear-ended it! On my way to work this morning there was a blue Toyota from Cowetta county that was driving like an ass. It took all my willpower to not rear-end him!

3. We had the best weekend. Jason didn't have to work, my kids were angels, we got a lot done at home and had a great Easter with Mimi & Bumpa. Everything seemed to run smoothly for a change.

4. I'm feeling recharged. I spent all day Friday with my mom. She took me to Best Buy and bought 2 new filters for my camera. We went to Line Creek, walked the paths and took lots of pictures. We found a pretty little road with these beautiful white flowering trees and took even more pictures. We went to see 10,000BC which was pretty good. Who really cares how good it was though....I went to see a movie! My fabulous husband picked our kids up Friday night, met us at Chili's for dinner and then took them back home so I could spend the night at my mom's. I actually got some scrap time in!

5. Ayden's Mollescum is doing much better. He's gotten past the blistering stage and is now working on developing scabs. The area behind his knee is the worst since he's constantly moving and bending.

Look for pictures tonight!

It's Good Friday!

And it's definitely going to be a good Friday! The kids are gone, Jason is at work, I'm showered and ready to start the day. First stop...Royal Learners. I'm excited to check out another school for Ayden but I'm more excited about my mommy/daughter day. There's so much that we want to cram into one day! A movie, lunch, photography practice, Scrap Etc. homework and some scrapping. Sounds like heaven to me:)

Have a fabulous Friday!

Molluscum Contagiosum

Molluscum contagiosum is a relatively common viral infection of the skin that most often affects children. It results in firm bumps (papules) that are painless and usually disappear within 2-5 years without treatment. If the papules are scratched or injured, the infection can spread to surrounding skin.

After sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours with 2 small children, the dermatologist confirmed that Ayden has Molluscum. It's relatively easy to treat. They applied a topical gel to each of the bumps on Ayden's belly and leg producing large blisters. After 3 hours, I had to remove the bandages and rinse him off in the bathtub. Imagine my surprise I when I found the bumps had already blistered! Ayden was in some serious pain as I rinsed the gel off his little body. I wasn't supposed to put any more bandages on so into bed he went. I was up every hour with him last night. Every time he rolled over, he'd get wrapped up in the sheets and they'd rub against the blisters. Poor little dude.

This morning wasn't much better. He insisted on going to school for his Easter egg hunt, but I'd only let him go if he was able to get himself dressed. I figured if he was okay to do that, then he was okay to go to school for 3 hours. I have an important project that I'm finishing up at work and then I'm leaving to meet him at school. I want him to take it easy for the rest of the day at home. We'll pick Jameson up at 5 for Marguerite's egg hunt. Daddy is planning on making it home in time for the festivities.

Hopefully Ayden's blisters will scab over quickly. He may have to go in for 1-2 more treatments before the infection is finally gone. Serious bummer. His next appointment is in April and at this point I have no desire to let him know that we're going to have to this all over again.

You have NO idea how much I'm looking forward to the Diva Dinner tonight. Between the poop episode and now the Molluscum, I'm ready for a dinner surrounded by friends and a nice tasty beer!

It Must Be A Boy Thing

Last night I was folding a load of laundry in the living room while the boys were in Ayden's room watching Scooby Doo before bedtime. Jason was on his way home from Alabama...again...and wasn't due home until 10. Ayden needed to use the bathroom (#2, not #1) and was annoyed that Jameson kept coming in...interrupting his business. I got Jameson settled in Ayden's room again with a sippy, his Curious George friend (Chere got this for Ayden's 2nd birthday but Jameson has staked claim on it) and Scooby Doo on the TV. All was calm in the Payne house.

After finishing up my load of laundry, I realized that I too needed to drop the kids off at the pool. Ayden was still grunting away in his bathroom so I told him to call for me when he was done. NOTE: Ayden still has a hard time wiping, so I always follow up with a baby wipe to make sure he's nice and clean. As I was in my bathroom, I started to hear some banging around in by Ayden. Since our bathrooms are side by side, I called out and asked if everything was okay. There was immediate silence and a polite response from Ayden that he wasn't done yet. This happened about 3 more times before Ayden finally called out that he was done. Since I wasn't, I told Ayden to grab the baby wipe I had left on the counter and come in by me. Again, situation taken care of. I'm feeling like a pretty good multi-tasker at this point.

I finished up what I was doing and checked to make sure that Ayden had flushed the toilet after he was done. Nothing like finding floaters in the toilet first thing in the morning...trust me I know! I found Ayden standing in the hallway outside his bathroom with an "I'm so busted" look on his face. I turned on the bathroom light and my jaw just dropped. There was poop all over the toilet seat, on the counter and scrapped off on the trash can. Gross! After further inspection I saw it all over Ayden's hands. While scrubbing Ayden's hands, I drilled him to find out what had happened. He told me that his poo-poo got stuck to his butt and wouldn't come off. He was only trying to get it to go in the toilet. OMG! So my darling, almost-4-year-old, was in his bathroom grabbing the poop off his butt with his hands.

NOTE TO SELF: Learn from this. When potty training Jameson be sure to lecture him on the downfalls of removing poo poo from his but with his hands. Hopefully this will never happen again.

The light at the end of the tunnel? My mom just realized that she doesn't use the zoom lens that originally came with her Nikon D200 (she bought a spiffier one). Since lenses are interchangeable with all Nikon SLR cameras she's donating her zoom lens to me to use with my D40! The lens that came with my camera has very limited zooming capabilities so this makes me very excited! Once I have that sweet baby in my possession, the poop drama will become a distant memory.

BTW - I'm on my 8th Girl Scout cookie so far..this is not going to be a low-cal day.

OMT - The wind is totally crazy in the good ol' ATL right now thanks to the storms that are on their way. They've blocked off all the sidewalks and streets surrounding the Chamber because of the glass blowing around. They're also worried it's going to blow off the buildings. I appreciate all of their efforts to make sure I don't end up like a pin cushion, but how in the heck do they propose I'm going to get out of here now?

This Is NOT What I'd Call Progress

Ate a banana and an english muffin with lite cream cheese for breakfast.

Went to the gym and walked 3 miles on the treadmill.

Ate a Lean Cuisine for lunch - Santa Fe Rice and Beans. 6 grams of fat and 290 calories.

Just finished off 10 shortbread Girl Scout cookies. Total of 14 grams of fat and 300 calories. Damn you Girl Scouts! You make a mean cookie.

That's not exactly progress....

I'm not even going to get started on all the Easter candy I've consumed today.

It's a good thing I'm following this up with chicken nuggets and 4 cheese rice tonight for dinner.

I'm pathetic.

2008 Tornado

Checkout this slideshow to see pictures I took yesterday. These were all taken in areas surrounding Centennial Olympic Park. There was more damage to other parts of the city, but I didn't want to stray too far from the Chamber.

Andre (our building operations manager) was actually on the rooftop at the time of the tornado after seeing a Hawks game. After it was over, he walked around and took some pictures. It's amazing to see what the city looked like before clean up. As soon as they put the pictures out on our shared drive, I'll post some of those as well.

A Little Thought

Believe it or not, the gym is open over at CNN so I decided to tackle the treadmill. As I walked across the street I listened to all the glass crunch under my shoes. Everywhere I look, there is damage. The more you look the more you see. I figured I needed a little pick-me-up so I did what any depressed girl would do....I cruised the internet. Hmmmmm...it always makes me feel better. So during my wandering I stumbled onto this fabulous quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:Love it!

Tornados, Easter and Maternity Clothes

As I'm sitting here in my office, I can hear the construction/clean up crews both inside the Chamber and outside on the streets. I'm still in denial that an actual tornado blew though the city of Atlanta. I have truly come to love this city in the three years that we've been living here and am so proud of everything that the Chamber does to make it an even better place to live, work and visit. It was hard for me to see the devestation as I drove in this morning. But even though there is still so much damage and debris, it warms my heart to see the the people of Atlanta join together to repair their city and make it great again. I took some time this morning to walk around outside and take some pictures. It's amazing how much progress was made in just two days. Here are a few pictures taken by my co-worker the night of the storm.

While Atlanta was dealing with some of the worse weather it's ever seen, just 20 miles south we only suffered through some thunder storms. By Saturday evening, the worst was over and we were left with beautiful blue skies. Yesterday was sunny with highs in the low 70's. Later in the afternoon, we had Mimi and Bumpa over to color Eater eggs. Ayden had little patience for his eggs to turn color and Jameson just wanted to bounce his egg around...producing nice orange puddles on his paper towel. They had fun though and that's all that really mattered. Not wanting to participate in the festivities, Jason and Bumpa played XBox.

As the boys were napping yesterday, I decided to do some shopping and use up some gift cards from Christmas and my birthday. I have to say that I really like the latest clothing trends. Everything looks like maternity clothes! I love that clothing is actually covering our bodies again!! I ended up with a dress, 3 pairs of pants and 6 shirts. Even though I told myself I was only going to buy stuff for work, I ended up with 3 casual shirts that could be worn on the weekends as well as "Casual Fridays" at work. Have you also noticed that they're coming back with a lot of retro patterns? Jason was making fun of my "70's" style shirts but I love it! I don't mind bright, fresh and funky. I wear a lot of "blah" at home because it's only going to get covered with boogers, slime, dirt and/or food...you name it, I've got it on me.

It's going to be a crazy week. Tomorrow after work we have an Easter egg hunt at Marguerite's. Wednesday afternoon Ayden has a dermatologist appointment for the bumps on his belly and then we head to Judy Nails. Thursday is Ayden's egg hunt at school and that night I have dinner with the divas at Thai Spice. Friday I have the day off....yahooie!!!

I have tons of pictures to share so I'll work on getting them downloaded and edited tonight. Have a great day!

Clip It Up!

I just love my Clip It Up. Mom just bought it for me as a Christmas gift and it's already filled. I need to figure out how/where I can fit another one into my scrap area. I think I need one just for Thickers!

I'm getting antsy for our next scrap club meeting...was the last one really only 2 weeks ago??? I need to figure out some way to fit in some scrap time at home. It's just really hard with the boys. I can't do anything while they're awake because they'd both be all in my stuff. I can't scrap during their nap because that's when I can actually get some things done around the house. All that i DO know is that one Sunday a month is just NOT enough scrap time for me.

Next Friday I took the day off to hang with mom since it's a paid holiday for her. After checking out another private school for Ayden, we plan on getting the rest of our Scrap Etc homework together and then spending the rest of the day scrapping and practicing our photography skills. Peter has a dinner at his CEO's house that night so isn't flying home until Saturday. I've convinced Jason to stay home with the boys so I can spend the night at my mom's as well. If I don't find a way to fit some scrapping in during those 24 hours, then I'm simply pathetic!

I plan on taking tons of pictures this weekend so there will definitely be another weekend recap on Monday:)

At It Again

Well, I'm at it again...studying that is. Today it's taxable and nontaxable compensation. Fun stuff! I think once I get past this, it gets easier. I hope. I'm taking a mental break to hit the gym at noon. I think I need a good 30 minutes on the treadmill!

Updates:

Jameson has slept in his crib until 6am for the past 6 nights. I'm sure I just jinxed myself and he'll be in our room at 4am tomorrow, but 6 nights is a serious accomplishment for us! Our next step is to move him into his big boy bed, but we're waiting until June since we're having some visitors in May. Our "guest" bed is really Jameson's big boy bed.

Ayden dressed himself yesterday morning and this morning. I have to lay his undies and pants on the floor exactly how they go on and his shirt needs to be upside down on the bed exactly how it goes on. He even put on his socks. So proud of my little man!

Jason got back from fishing in Florida Sunday night around 10pm and then left Monday morning for Alabama. He got back really late Tuesday night but we're happy to have him home...even though we really haven't seen him yet. He started Tyler Perry's 2nd studio this week so he'll be working crazy hours for the next 3-5 months. Maybe this weekend we'll get a little family time.

Weekend Plans:

I have some crafty stuff that I want to do with the boys for Easter but I'm not sure if we'll be able to squeeze it in. I need to take the boys in for a hair cut on Saturday and we're having Mimi & Bumpa over to decorate Easter eggs. We're supposed to get more rain on Saturday so we may have to postpone the Line Creek photoshoot to next weekend...again.

Lunch Break

The CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) Exam is in April and I've barely begun studying. In fact, I'm only on chapter 2...out of 15 chapters. Not good. But I've been busy at work...busy at home...just plain busy! I expressed my increasing anxiety over my lack of study time to my boss yesterday and she insisted that I close my door and do nothing but study the rest of the this week and all of next week. Easier said than done, but today I put a note on my door that reads "Studying for the CPP Exam. If you need me, please knock", closed my door and have been hitting the books ever since.

I feel so guilty! I feel like I'm not doing my job!! My very supportive boss who I adore immensely told me that I am doing my job and that by passing the CPP Exam I'm bettering our organization by providing them with a Certified Payroll Professional. Sniff...sniff...sniff. Isn't she great?

So right now I'm taking a mental break, eating my lunch and gearing up to finish chapter 2 before I leave for the day. If I keep up with this pace, I'll finish the book by the end of next week. I'm so nervous I could puke.

Around The House

That last post made me do to much self-evaluating. Now I need some fluff...sort of like when you need something sweet to eat after dinner. Since I can't keep my hands off my new camera, I started snapping pictures of random things throughout the house...but they all have meaning to me.

1. It's just a cheap lamp from Target (my mom has one too) but it gives off such a nice light by the desk. Love the reed diffuser that I got for Christmas too! Oh, and those are little foam paint brushes sitting in the metal bucket. I found the bucket in the $1 bins at Target. What a score!2. In my opinion (which really doesn't mean squat) Pine-Sol is the best cleanser for floors. I LOVE the way it smells. And I only like the lemon scent. I look forward to washing my floors every weekend...thanks Clorox Company for making such a motivating product!

3. We have gone through about 4 vaporizers in Jameson's room during his short 2 years of life. We run one in both of the boys rooms whenever they're sleeping. Ayden has only been through 2...in 4 years. What's the deal?

4. I love my Wal-Mart shopping fund....even though I don't shop at Wal-Mart. I'm a Target girl. Erin bought this for me when I moved from Wisconsin. It sits in our bedroom and I think of her every time I look at it.

5. Inspired by Ali Edwards. I love my little butterfly picture that is proudly hanging in our bathroom. I plan on making a larger version with a new frame I recently bought but haven't gotten around to it yet. Butterfly punch by Martha Stewart.

6. I'm a candle freak. They're in every room in our house. I never get to light these candles though because there always seems to be a ton of clutter on our dresser...unmatched socks, confiscated stuffed animals when Ayden is misbehaving, lost sippy cups, folded clothes...you name it! I cleaned this weekend though so finally got to light these babies up!

7. I think I've posted this "Family" sign before, but I love it! It sits on our buffet, next to the window looking out to the backyard. I love gazing over here at night when the candle is lit. It seems so peaceful to me.

8. This is a flower that was included with my "She" album track at CKU-Chicago...just a little gimme. It looked so cheerful to me but I didn't know what to do with a single flower. So I put in in with my scissors and journaling pens. I think it adds a little something.

9. Jason was so ticked when I came home from an art festival with this frog. He couldn't believe that I had actually spent money on an old ceiling tile that someone had painted on. Since I'm a little slow at times, I didn't want to admit to him that I hadn't noticed it WAS a ceiling tile until he pointed it out. I don't care, it's really cute in Jameson's room and that's all that matters.

Watching You

I have to admit that when we had Ayden, all I could think about was the baby part. The cute little boy that smelled like lavender. He was someone to cuddle and kiss and adore. I wasn't thinking past the toddler stage...to teaching Ayden the difference between right and wrong. I wasn't thinking of the struggles or frustrations that were ahead for us. It is our job as parents to mold our children, to guide them through life so that hopefully one day they'll know how to make positive decisions. And I think it even goes one step further with boys...we have to teach them how to be men. Good, honest men. Wow! When you think about it, what an awesome gift that we've been blessed with.

Because of our boys, I believe that Jason and I have become better people ourselves. We know that our actions and words directly influence our children. We want to not only provide love for our boys, but also provide guidance, direction and inspiration. I realize that no matter how great you parent your children, they will still make their own decisions...good and bad. Ayden and Jameson are such wonderful little boys, so full of personality. I can't wait to see the fabulous men they some day become.

This totally reminds me of the lyrics from "Watching You". I love this song. I'm far from perfect and still have a lot of learning to do myself but hopefully at the end of the day I can tell myself I gave my children the best of me.

Watching You - Rodney Atkins.

Driving through town just my boy and me
With a happy meal in his booster seat
Knowing that he couldn't have the toy
Till his nuggets were gone
Green traffic light turned straight to red
I hit my breaks and mumbled under my breath
His fries went a flying and his orange drink covered his lap
Well then my four year old said a four letter word
That started with "s" and I was concerned
So I said son now now where did you learn to talk like that

He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you

We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said lord please help me help my stupid self
Then this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son's scooby doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to god like he was talking to a friend
And I said son now where'd you learn to pray like that

He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you

With tears in my eyes I wrapped him in a hug
Said my little bear is growing up
He said but when I'm big I'll still know what to do

Cause I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
By then I'll be as strong as superman
We'll be just alike, hey won't we dad
When I can do everything you do
Cause I've been watching you

Weekend Recap (3/9/08)

It was a long weekend without daddy, but somehow we managed. As you can see, I'm still a bit excited about my new camera. I couldn't help but snap a few after-bath pics of the boys Friday night. Saturday we were busy running errands but the boys were troopers. It was too cold to play outside so the boys got a little cabin fever. Ayden occuppied himself by decorating his body with Curious George stickers. Jamson doesn't like weird stuff on him so he supervised. We wrapped up Sunday with dinner at Partners with Mimi & Bumpa.

What Do You Love?

It's a dreary, rainy day. This weather sort of puts me in a "blah" mood and makes me want to snuggle in at home. Since that's impossible, I thought I'd think of a few things that I love...right now...at this very moment. Since my family and friends are obviously things that I love all of the time, I'll leave them out.

1. I love that Jason is deep sea fishing right now. He works so hard and deserves a break.
2. I love my new 80's mix I made for work...a little Journey, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran & Eagles. Yum.
3. I love that as Jameson's hair grows out, he gets these adorable little curls.
4. I love that I'm committed to going to the gym 4 days a week. I've been getting some compliments lately so I feel like the hard work is finally paying off.
5. I love my new camera.
6. I love that spring is right around the corner.
7. I love it when Ayden lets me squeeze his butt and thighs. He's so squishy!
8. I love trying new recipes. I'm using Mimi & Bumpa as guinea pigs this weekend.
9. I love clean sheets.
10. I love it when Bonnie & Clyde get groomed...they go in tomorrow.

What do you love? Right now...at this very moment.

Calling All Scrappers!

I seriously feel so blessed to be exposed to such a wide variety of talent in the scrapping industry. I'm sure most of you know that I'm a serious blog stalker and get most of my inspiration from visiting other scrapping blogs. I have to say that the one who inspires me the most is Ali Edwards. I love her! She makes you think outside of the box...go where no other scrapper has gone before. I read her blog daily and feel like a sponge, soaking it all in.

As much as I love all of her blog posts, I definitely think today's is my absolute favorite! We all look at other layouts that people have created but usually don't see the final outcome...a finished book (I have YET to finish a book). Her latest post shows us Simon's entire 2007 book. I could've peed my pants! I recently switched to 3-ring albums like Ali did (actually the same brand she uses) and love them. I love the different sized page protectors that she uses...the variety makes it so much more interesting to me!

I could probaby gush on and on about this all day so I'll let you go. Go check out her blog, that is!

BTW - Totally had a blast last night trying out the new camera. I'll dowload and edit some photos to share. Thanks Mima for the new memory card!! Now I have a wishlist of accessories (lenses, filter, batteries, wireless remote and tripod) that are absolutely necessary to the future progress of my photography skills:)

Tootles!

Photography Links

I have become obsessed with photography lately (like scrapping doesn't take up enough of my free time)! My desire to take better photographs has become all consuming!! My fingers are itching to play with my new Nikon D40 (thanks mom & Peter) but I have to go out tonight and buy a new memory card since the one I have now is too large. Go figure. The battery is charged, the manual has been skimmed and I'm ready to take some pictures...tonight...hopefully.

Because of my latest obsession, I've been scouring the internet to find photographers who inspire me. I have to admit that most of the photographers who inspire me focus on family/child photography. If you check out the Allison Tyler Jones website, you'll see a famous scrapbooker with her newborn baby in the "beginning" gallery.

So check out the photography links on the left hand side. I've added about 5 new ones recently. Who knows, maybe some day I'll be a link on someone else's blog!

Assistance Needed

Nothing like a wagon ride on a warm Saturday afternoon. I had such a great time watching the boys struggle from the deck. I could've been a good mommy and helped out a bit, but then we wouldn't have these fun pictures. I did help out eventually...once I got all the shots I wanted.

Both of the boys in the wagon...wondering why on earth it's not moving.

Ohhhh. Maybe one of us needs to get out and pull. Don't worry Ayden, I'll pull you first. Or maybe not. Jeez, you're pretty heavy!
Come on Brudder! Get this thing moving because I'm getting bored just sitting here.
Okay, I'll try pushing the wagon and see where that gets us.
Brudder...you get in and I'll pull. Sucker! I knew if I struggled long enough I'd get to kick back while Ayden does the pulling.

Weeekend Recap (3/2/08)

We had such beautiful weather this weekend that we spent a lot of time outside. Are your daffodils blooming in Wisconsin? On Saturday, Mimi came over for lunch on the deck. It felt so nice to have the sun shining on my face (especially after Ayden stole my sunglasses)! After lunch, the boys played outside until it was nap time. Jameson decided to lay down on the table next to Ayden's bed for his nap, but mean old mommy moved him to his own room. Sunday, after Scrap Club, daddy brought the boys over to Mimi & Bumpa's for a golf cart ride. Ayden likes to drive and Jameson likes to annoy his brother by taking the key out of the ignition. Ahhhhh...brotherly love!

BTW - I'm sorry, but for some reason Mosaic Maker cut off Jameson's mouth in the 6th picture. I'll have to post that one by itself later because his lips were the best part!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my mom and Peter's 19th wedding anniversary! It feels just like yesterday that I was flying home from France to find my mom remarried:)

Did you know that this year you're supposed to give each other bronze? I think the Photoshop CS3 idea was much better!

Happy Anniversary!

I'm 31!

My birthday started out a little rocky. I had to drop the Expedition off at the dealership Friday night for some minor service. The breaks had just started squeaking so we assumed I only needed front break pads. Well, Mickey called me Saturday morning to tell me the bad news...I needed new rear rotors and both front and back break pads. Yuck! Since I hadn't expected to drop $550 on my "minor" break job, I told Jason that was going to be my birthday present. I figured it was worth it though since my family's safety comes first.

Saturday night my parents came over to watch the boys while Jason and I went out for dinner. We had a Red Lobster gift card from Uncle Buck that had been burning a hole in my pocket since Christmas but we had wanted to save it for something special. On the way there, Jason mentioned my birthday the next day so I was officially on cloud nine. He remembered! After 3 years of forgetting...he remembered! Not only did he remember, but he also got me a card. He wrote "Happy 31st birthday bunny! Not another year older, but another year more beautiful". Awwwww!

Sunday morning I got up nice and early to get ready for Scrap Club. I had to run over to the grocery store to by the ingredients for lasagna so I decided to call mom and wake her up. As I'm wandering the produce section she informs me that she has posted my surprise gift on her blog! So there's an actual picture of my gift out there and I'm stuck at Publix! I raced home and actually found myself torn...should I look or should I wait??? I'm horrible with surprises so I HAD to check it out! OMG!!!! She bought me a Nikon D40...I think I'm still in shock. It should be delivered this week and I can't wait to get my hot little hands on it. I got soooo many wonderful presents for my birthday. My dad and MJ bought me 2 yummy Yankee Candles and a Kohls gift card (I'm still desperately in need of work clothes). Jason bought me some much needed 80's music. My good friend Judy gave a wonderful cookbook, Easter towel and purple Williams Sonoma spatula. Pam baked me a beautiful birthday cake. She makes wedding cakes on the side so this thing is a work of art! It was such a fun day filled with friends, family, good food and scrapping!

Thanks so much to everyone who called to wish me a happy birthday!

I'll download pictures tonight and post the weekend recap. I spent a couple of hours outside with the boys on Saturday and got some fun shots of them playing.

The Day Before

It's the day before my birthday and so far no sign from Jason that he's going to remember the big day. Oh well, I think I'm getting used to him not remembering.

I'm without a vehicle this morning while my brakes get fixed. Note to self: The larger the vehicle the more expensive the brake job! Jeeze. My mom suggested going to Lime Creek Park today for a photo shoot with the boys. I'm not normally one of the moms that buys matching clothes for her children, but I went out yesterday to Dilliards and did just that. I couldn't resist these 3-piece outfits originally marked $65 that I got for $8.50! They're going to look so cute:)

Tonight the parentals are coming over to watch the boys while Jason and I go out to dinner...alone...without children. This is pretty exciting for us since it's been a couple of years. Tomorrow is scrap club at my mom's. I've been looking forward to it all week. I have some specific projects that I want to finish up.

Well, I have some projects at home that need to get done so I'd better stop procrastinating. I'll try to post any finished projects tomorrow.

Hugs & Kisses!