end of summer whoorraaahh!

New Splash Park



Sophia starts school next week so we are making the most of this last week together. Today we went to the new splash park. It was really nice. A great addition to the city. It wasn't too busy because most of the schools started last week. It was $2 to get in, the area isn't to large, there are benches so you can watch your children which was very nice. The only thing that I didn't like was you have to pay even if you are the parent just sitting on a bench watching your kids. Tony had his swim shorts so he went in with the kids I sat out to take pictures and watch. Good thing I did though because Troy was less than thrilled. The water was a bit too cold for him and I think he is so short so it splashed him right in the eyes. Poor little guy. Sophi loved everything about it though. She also loved having her daddy all to herself. So Troy and I wondered over the park next door. He loved the slides, swings, and the spaceship with the wheel in it. I was sure, him being the water baby that he is, that he would love the water.. but no sir! He wanted nothing to do with it.
Here are some pictures from this very fun morning..
Me and My Hunny

Sophia who would not stand still long enough to get her picture taken...

Troy who stood very still...


Lastly her is a video I took of Troy at the park.. he was getting annoyed with all of my repetitive questions but it was so funny..

a new look...

Notice a new look on the blog ;)
I thought it was time for an update.

So, my mom called this morning, while I we were still sleeping and asked if we wanted to go to Target with her. I figured since the kids and I were going to be stuck home all day (Tony had the car) we should take advantage of getting out and go with her. So, we went over to Target and walked around for a few minutes and got some breakfast and Starbucks. My mom got Troy a neat little floatie for the pool. She got Sophia a Little Mermaid toy for the pool, so then we had to come home and go to the pool. ;) She also got my niece the coolest present for her 3rd birthday, which is this weekend. I can't say what it is because my brother may read this, but I am sure there will be pictures to share. ;)

So mom dropped us off at home and the kids played playdoh for a bit, then we went to the pool. Here are some great pics of the kiddos from our morning at the pool visit.







Now the kids are napping. Well, Troy is in his crib screaming... "Momma" "Sissy" "Momma" "Sissy"
AHHH!!!

watching the rain

It has been storming just about every afternoon for the past week. The grass and flowers have never looked so good. The kids and the dog are scared of the thunder. Sometimes it does get very loud. The dog and the kids run through the house fussing and whining. Three wimps! ;)

Sophia is getting ready to start school in a little over a week. She is very excited. I am sure she will do great. Her birthday is coming up soon too. She will be 4 years old on Sept 8th. We are planning a Garden themed party for her. We decided to let her have over about 5 little girls and do a very girly party for them. We are going to let them decorate pots and then plant flowers. She is happy to have her party and has been talking and talking about it. She is as dramatic as ever! I don't think that will ever change.

Troy is talking more and more lately. He says "I love you" -it is the most precious thing that I have every heard!! He is still loving his crib. When he is tired he climbs in it and says "night night" and asks for him "bah bah". His favorite show is Hi-5 on Discovery Kids. He wakes up in the morning and runs into the living room and screams "hi fi" at the television. When you turn it on he jumps around and dancing to the music and does somersaults around the floor.

Tony has been working a little bit the past week or two. I am really hopeful that he will be able to start working regularly again soon. I really have been struggling with working lately. Not that I don't like my job just I miss the kids. Most of the times it doesn't get to me but sometimes I really do miss how carefree our lives used to be. We were very blessed, and we still are. This defiantly is a new kind of normal though. I never understood Tony's stress with work and the financial pressures that go along with it, but I defiantly understand now. I was very naive to his stress and the pressure that he dealt for our family, I am also very happy that I can take some of that burden off of him. We can both weather this storm together.
I was only scheduled to work part time this month and I am going to try and pick up some extra shifts but that was a blow to my feeling of security with my job. I am going to take some classes this month to make myself a bit more marketable in the medical field, some short courses and classes that I can take to open up some possible opportunities later on.

Long Time No Blog

Where have I been!!??
It has been really tough getting used to juggling working, home, family, and friends... I am starting to get used to it now though. My house has never looked so terrible. My children are starting to get used to things. It's nice to feel settled, something I have wanted for a very long time.
Speaking of long time... I have the wedding pictures from when Sophia was the flower girl in my cousins wedding!!! WHOO HOO!!!
Look at my sweet baby. She is so perfect.




We had a really fun playgroup this morning. We called it "Bring your wheels" playgroup. All the kids brought something to ride and we walked/rode over to the pool and the kids swam then we came back for lunch. Troy rode his big wheels, he looks like Yoshi from Mario Cart. hehe. Sophia rode her Princess Scooter. It was so fun. The kids really enjoyed themselves. I loved being with my children but I can say that I appreciate and treasure every moment with them in a way that I never did before. I really adore these babies. It has taken a lot for me to get used to all of this.
Now, nap time!! I love nap time. I want to take a nap today but it is storming outside and my kiddos wake up scared when they hear the thunder so I don't want to fall asleep.

Troy = crib

Troy is now back in his crib. He stays in his crib. He has decided that he does not like his bed and instead he is going to sleep in his crib.
The night we decided to switch him he stayed up until about 1030, he kept coming out of his room, he would crawl through the living room, he would stand at Sophia's door and say 'sissy'. At one point I found him sitting at the diningroom table with a ball cap on his head.
Goodness, he gave us a run for our money.
I finally gave up at 1030 and put him in his crib. He wanted in and would climb in and out of it.
I asked him where he wanted to sleep and he climbed in, so I tucked him in and lifted the crib rail and listened outside the door. Crying... he was so overtired. Then it happened, he puked!
Cried so much he puked!
Wonderful!
We got him cleaned up put him back in the crib and he slept all night. Since then he has been sleeping in his crib. So no big boy bed for Troy. Not yet anyway.

Troy = no more crib.

Troy is singing to himself in his bed. We moved him to a twin sized bed tonight because he was climbing in and out of his crib, it was cute and funny while we were standing there to catch him from falling out onto his head but we knew it wasn't safe to leave him in there so Troy is sleeping in his big boy bed tonight. It is actually a mattress on the floor. I picked out the comforter and sheets a while ago but I hadn't bought him a bed yet because I didn't think he was going to need it for a while. My boy, never ceases to amaze me with his athletic abilities. Using the crib rail like a bar he would swing his legs up and climb in and out of the crib.
He is in there holding his Diego doll singing and pressing the button on it to make it talk. I wonder how long till he falls asleep? He's been in there for an hour now.

Prayers for my Pops!

Cute picture of Troy! ;)

I'm in the hospital with my Grammie waiting for my GrandDaddy, he is in open heart surgery as we speak. He had a quadruple bypass in 2001 and now he is having his aortic valve replaced. I am really tired, I couldn't sleep last night and then I was at the hospital at 430 this morning..
I am going to try and take a nap.
Praying for my Pops!

4th of July weekend recap

I can not believe how busy our family is. I guess that is a good thing. We are very lucky that we have so much going on though. I was filling out our schedule for this month and there were only 7 days that don't already have something planned.
Friday afternoon we went to my parents house for a BBQ and swimming with family. It was fun. I had to leave a bit early to go to work. Tony stayed with the kids and then brought them home and put them to bed.
I worked again on Saturday night, Tony and the kids went swimming and did sparklers on 4th of July. Tony said that Sophia was afraid of the fireworks and she ended up sleeping with Daddy while I worked Saturdaay night. It was cute to come home Sunday morning and see her snuggled up to Tony's side while she slept. So cute!
Sunday I was home and slept during the morning hours until about 1pm, then we went to his parents house for an early dinner. It was nice to visit them. Sophia enjoys coloring at Nonnie's house and Troy loves spending time with his Poppa.
Well, hope everyone has a good week.
I am working Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night this week. I am excited to have the weekend off and be able to go to church on Sunday. Whoo whoo!! ;)
Praise God for that!
Well, I'm heading to bed, night!

What a day.. what a night!

Today was a very busy day. I think I got this amazing burst of energy since I am going to be working for the next four nights. I wanted to spend as much time with my kids, going, just like we used too. We used to 'go' all the time. When Sophia was about 12 months old she would wake up in the morning, smile and me as I'd scoop her up out of her crib and she'd say "we go momma, we go". We were always on a go. As she got older she would say "where we go today momma?" Troy started by saying, "shoes" when he wanted to go somewhere. Now he stands at the door wearing his shoes saying "outside outside, bye bye". They love to be on the go. So, 845 this morning we loaded up the car and off we went. We went to swim lessons, Target, Famous Footwear, Belk, Rack Room, Foot Locker, Starbucks, Wendy's, then home for naptime. Then out again to Target, Uniform shop, Goodwill, Dickies Store, Shoe Biz... on and on and on. Funny, I never bought anything but I was looking and looking... I was looking for a pair of shoes. I wanted to get a pair of shoes, clogs with no backs that I could wear to work. Something like Crocs. We aren't supposed to wear clogs but I hurt my heel and have a very yucky cut and my shoes hurt my heel so I was looking for something to wear until it heals but I didn't want to spend a fortune on something that I'm not allowed to wear- so, I didn't end up finding anything! All that shopping for nothing.
Then I got the idea to call my mom and see if she would watch my darlings this evening so that Tony and I could go see a movie. I packed up there stuff and brought them over. They played at the barn, bathed a horse, feed the cows, then Mimi brought them home, bathed them, and they made pancakes.. what a busy day huh!!??? They had a blast and were in bed when we got home at 930.
Tony and I went and saw 'The Proposal' which was the cutest movie ever!!!

Even Tony liked it!
When we got home my mom was going to take a shower, she had been down at the barn and then taking care of the kids and hadn't taken a shower yet. She said she was so worn out she was afraid if she just went home she'd be too tired to take one then. Plus, she had all of her stuff at our house and was getting ready to take one when we knocked on the door. So she took a shower, Tony took the dog for a walk, and I went to kiss Troy who was sleeing and to say Good Night to Sophia, who was still awake and procrastinating as always. I got my mom a towel and talked to her for a few minutes while she bathed. When Tony got back Sophi was wanting him to come kiss her good night, of course she was, anything to make bedtime take longer. So he went in to kiss her. He must have been in there for 10 minutes. I was doing laundry and picking up some toys and what not when he popped his head out of her room and said "she wants you know" I was thinking to myself what a spoiled little thing she is and I went in to firmly tell her good night and it go to sleep. When I left her room I looked around and all the lights were out and my bedroom door was shut but the light was on behind the door. I made my way in the dark to my door, carefully, it is a new house and I am still getting used to the layout... then I rememeber my mom was in the shower and I han't told Tony she was in there. I jumped for the door when...
I heard my mom scream! Tony thought I was in the shower and he went and got in with her, thinking she was me!!!!!
OK, no! That didn't happen. But it was about too! Tony was standing by the bed about to take off his clothes and jump in the shower. When I walked in the door he was shocked! 'WHO IS IN THE SHOWER' he said.
"My mom"
Totally puzzled and completly confused he says, "Why is she in our shower!!????"
I told him I thought he knew that she was getting in the shower but he was out walking the dog when she told me that.
Opps...
Well, that would have been something TV shows are made of.
Meanwhile, my innocent mother was enjoying her hot shower never knowing the trouble that almost happened. When she got out Tony told her what almost occured. Luckily mom is a good sport and thought it was funny.
A great night ending with a little humor. Now I'm off to bed.
Tomorrow is Troy's last swim lesson, playgroup, nap time, then off to work!
Hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July.

change change change- now some of the same. ;)

A friend told me that change leaves room for growth. OK I've had enough growth for a while. ;)

We moved into our new house, new to us house. It is much smaller but so nice to have something with some security and stability. The kids really enjoy there new rooms. We have downsized so much and still have a garage full of things that won't fit in the house. Habitat for Humanity came out yesterday and we loaded them up full of lots of goodies.
Here are a few pictures of the new place. More to come as we are still unpacking and trying to figure out where everything will go.






I have been working every weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. The whole job thing is so bittersweet. I miss the kids but I know I am doing something good by working and providing for them. There is a whole lot of ego in the medical field... it's different from what I am used to but it's all good. It's all a learning experience. I just wish that everyone could treat everyone with respect as one life to another life, I don't expect everyone to like everyone but treating everyone with respect and dignity is different. When I get down about it I remind myself to lead by example ;) even if no one is watching ;) It's good to experience new things and learn how you want or don't want people to view you.

Troy is finishing his summer swim lessons this week. Check out this video and see how much he has improved! He is amazing!! and no more crying!!


So proud of my boy.

Here are some extra pictures of my babies and my hubby just hanging around...
Kiddos by the kitchen window, wanting to go swimming.

Papi sleeping on my bed ;)

Tony and the kids, snuggling on the couch last night before bedtime.

Tony's possible pink eye, ya think!!!??? I got him some drops. Gotta take care of my biggest baby.


Hope I didn't bore you all too much. Had to catch up! Love you all!!!!