Life With Masons

A VERY GOOD WEEKEND WITH A LOT OF PINTEREST.

2012-02-20T09:12:00.002-06:00

we had a great weekend. it's so nice when dave is home and we can be...normal. we didn't do much, but had a lot of fun doing it.

took a walk to lucille's with hen in the moby. and me in my apron.

baby-sitting molly, who is apparently trying to shoot laser-beams at me.

last week i took supper over to lucille's house and cooked what was supposed to be our valentine's day supper, but wasn't.

we cooked balsalmic-garlic crusted pork tenderloin. it wasn't really crusted, but it was good. not exciting, but good. we didn't eat the leftovers, which means i won't make it again.

link to recipe and picture here.

it took a lot longer than 20 minutes, so then my Parmesean-Crusted Asparagus was over-done. but it was good. would have been better if not over-done, but that was my bad. still good.

link to recipe and picture here.

for a treat, i made home-made oreos this weekend. recipe and picture here, but i got all fancy and rolled the edges in sprinkles. i should have taken a picture. they were cute. and delicious.

oh! and i made Taco Pasta and it rocked dave's socks off. he looooved it. which was good, since it made a buttload. we ate half over just two days i'm freezing the rest.

link to recipe and picture here.

what else, what else??? oh! Roasted Broccoli, which was so so so good. dave loved it too. we ate it like candy.

recipe and photo here.

and let's see....is that it?

that's it! happy monday!

THE REAL VALENTINE'S DAY.

2012-02-17T07:47:00.001-06:00

remember when i said it was going to be the best valentine's day ever?

yeah, well. not exactly.

things were going great in the morning and even part of the afternoon. then i took henry to get his ear checked from his ear infection and guess what...still infected. now we are on to our third antibiotic. bummer.

which meant i go to wait at cvs for approximately 1 million years.

so my marninating balsalmic-and-garlic-crusted pork tenderloin with parmesean-crusted asparagus (lots of crusts, i guess) had to wait a day and we had grilled kfc instead. grilled. probably not THAT much better than fried, but i'm all about marketing.

today mr. henry is finally feeling back up to his normal chipper self and things are improving.

ALSO!!!!

have i mentioned his crazy gag reflex?

he can barely tolerate baby food. if it has any sort of texture it is gag, gag, gag, PUKE. so much fun. last saturday i made the mistake of giving him a puff. he gagged, of course, and barfed, of course.

but we're working on it.

last night i gave him baby yogurt (as recommended with his antibiotic) and he tolerated the thicker texture. so i put a puff or two on his tray AND HE ATE A FEW WITHOUT PUKING!!!!!

and that is awesome.

EXCITED ABOUT...NOTHING?

2012-02-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

every night i lay henry down on a yellow foam mat on the bathroom floor while I run his bath water. i strip his clothes and diaper off and turn around to fill the tub. and every. single. time i turn around and he is stiff as a board, trembling with excitement, staring up at the ceiling and cracking up.

i don't get it.

i have no clue what is up there that is so darned exciting. i thought maybe the anticipation of the bathtub (oh boy!) was enough to get him all worked up, but nope. he did it again on his bedroom floor sunday and i managed to record it.

strange kid.

BONUS POST: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.

2012-02-14T11:18:00.001-06:00

this has been my favorite valentine's day so far.

we started the morning with fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon rolls (HUGE cinnamon rolls - and hallie ate an entire one by herself) and heart-shaped snausage. yum.

hallie was thrilled with her valentine's goodies - including some fake glasses. she is obsessed with my glasses and would love to have her own. so i found some. and she looks adorable.

we finished her valentine's last night and they turned out super cute.

and this guy is adorable.

and then we rented a cotton candy machine for our students at work. because i am stupid. and it's messy and loud and praise the lord we have a student worker to do it. yes.

and dave comes home today - huzzah! and we have a special valentine's dinner planned (garlic-balsalmic crusted pork tenderloin, parmesean asparagus and home-made oreos - yum).

and yes, i let hallie wear the glasses to school.

WEEKEND RECAP. IN PICTURES.

2012-02-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

one day late.

See those chompers coming in up top? Yowzers.

I turned this into....

This. Thank you, Pinterest!

I REALLY DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE SICK OF RECIPES BECAUSE I AM NOT AND THIS IS MY BLOG.

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

so there you go.

i'm working on the goals for february...hahahahah, no i'm not. i'm just cooking. a lot. and trying to be healthier too! i found a fan-freaking-tastic blog (click on the link) from pinterest (of course), where the girl basically makes a million desserts that are low-calorie and have only healthy fats and natural foods in them. and they are soooooo good. i mean soooooo good. so so so so so good.

like this one. i made it on a whim wednesday evening right before bed. it was all i could do not to lick the food-processing bowl. so maybe i did a little.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cookies

link to the recipe and photo here.

(gluten-free and sugar-free too!)

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup plus 3T raisins
salt to taste (I didn't use any because i used 'party peanuts' that seemed salty)
2 T roasted, unsalted peanuts (If you can only find salted, reduce or omit added salt)
1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract

put eveything in a food processor and do whatever you want. i rolled mine into balls and put in the freezer for my sweet cravings. they taste like no-bake cookies. they are freaking amazing. love, love, love, LOVE.

the only drawback of most of her recipes is that you need a food processor. i use my 'baby bullet' and it started smoking a little bit last night. but i think it survived. i have a huge food processor that i got for christmas 18 million years ago that i'm going to break out for the rest of the recipes.

and there you go. a lot of words.

the next thing i did was make a tuna salad for my lunch at work. except i made it healthier by using greek yogurt. so basically i just made it like normal but instead of the mayo i used green yogurt. and it was delicious.

my random tuna recipe:

1 can tuna (use white, albacore tuna in water)

2 TBSP greek yogurt

1 TBS yellow mustard or whatever kind of mustard you have

pickle relish to taste (i didn't have any, so i just used a little splash of pickle juice)

pepper to taste (do you use pepper?)

i think that's it.

mix. enjoy. i love me some good tuna salad. i am eating mine over some green-leaf lettuce for lunch. with an orange. and a pb cookie dough ball from above.

SIX YEARS OLD, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

well, it appears i forgot to post about my darling niece's birthday party. last month. happy belated birthday on my blog, kenz!

anyway.

it was fun. there was skating and minimal falling/crying, so there you go. the cake was deliciously neon and the girls had a blast.

now here are some crappy iphone pictures! yay!

FEB GOALS. OH DEAR.

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

i'm stealing this from my girl, kelly. (click the link for her blog, or check it out on my side bar).

so.

she has been setting goals each month (and DOING THEM) and i sort of maybe want to do that too. i'm just going to set a few (three?) and go from there. and yes, i know it's already the second week of feb. score!

1. work out at least three times a week.

2. try at least one new recipe a week (ha - this just feeds my pinterest addiction).

3. paint the stupid mirror in the the basement. i have the spray paint. just...do it.

BONUS GOAL:

paint the bathroom vanity in the basement.

oh the pressure. i feel it.

random picture: evil hallie

HENRY'S FAVORITE TEETHERS.

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. people. watch out now, he's got teeth. he almost broke the skin on my FACE after taking a bite out of my jaw. yikes.

2. spoons. specifically the spoon i am trying to feed him with.

stinkin' darn kid.

also, here's a video where i tried to get him splashing. he usually splashes the entire bath time. he doesn't crack a smile. no, splashing is very serious business apparently. but as soon as i turned on the camera he stopped splashing and wouldn't turn away. and played with himself the entire time. lovely.

*nevermind. didn't work.

MORE PINTEREST, I KNOW.

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

successes! all of them! hooray! !!! lots of exclamation points!! just because!!!!

first up are the Peanut Butter Cup Blondies i referenced in yesterday's superbowl post. so, dave doesn't really love peanut butter. and dylan was only going to have one. and hallie said they looked yucky. and lucy wasn't really hungry.

and we pounded almost the entire pan.

these are weight-watchers and only 153 calories a bar. seriously.

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

recipe and photo via pinterest

Ingredients

5 3/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray
4 (0.75-ounce) peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Combine peanut butter and next 4 ingredients (through eggs), stirring well. Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Scrape the batter into a 9-inch square metal baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray, and arrange the peanut butter cups over batter. Bake at 350° for 19 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

KERI's Notes:

I used skim milk, and instead of using PB cups (didn't have any), i just sprinkled my leftover PB & milk chocolate chips that i had from the pb cheese ball. next time (and there will be a next time) i will sub splenda and even try ww flour.

i also made a Chicken Alfredo Pizza that turned out great and it was really easy.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

receipe and photo from here.
1 - recipe no fail pizza crust, prepared (see my notes below)
1 - cup prepared Alfredo sauce, or homemade
3 - tablespoon real butter (i used combo olive oil/butter)
1 - clove garlic, finely chopped
2 - cups grilled chicken breast strips, cubed
salt and pepper to taste
4 - provolone cheese slices (omitted)
4 - mozzarella cheese slices (just used sprinkle moz)
1 1/2 - cups shredded Italian Style cheese blend (omitted)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare pizza crust. Spray your pizza pan with non stick baking spray or brush with olive oil. Press the pizza dough into the pan and pre bake for 7 - 10 minutes. Remove crust from oven and set aside.

In a large pan melt the butter and then add the garlic. Cook the garlic for about 2 minutes and then add the cubed chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute' the chicken for about 5- 10 minutes on med-low. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pizza Assembly: Spread one cup of prepared Alfredo sauce evenly on the pre baked pizza crust. Add the sliced provolone and mozzarella cheese (alternating every other cheese). Add half of the cooked chicken and then the Italian cheese blend.

Top pizza with remaining cooked chicken and sprinkle on a bit more pepper. Place finished pizza in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until bottom crust is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let set for 2 to 3 minutes before cutting.

KERI's Notes:

i used a frozen (thawed) loaf of Rhode's bread dough. it was delicious. i used bertolli's alfredo sauce and didn't have two full cups of chicken. i really maybe, maybe, had one? so i added some bacon. YUM. i didn't have any provolone OR moz slices OR shredded italian cheese and just used what i had...which was about a cup of mozarella sprinkle cheese. and it was perfect.

next time i would use LESS of the alfredo sauce - maybe just 3/4 cup.

and then probably my favorite thing that i made was Chicken, Bacon Ranch Quesadillas. dave loved these, hallie didn't like the "white" stuff (ranch) and i loooooved these things. they were supposed to have avacados too, but dave and hallie won't touch them and i didn't have any anyways. oh well. next time for me!

i didn't follow this recipe much at all, but just used the name and made it as easy as possible. see my notes below!

Chicken Bacon Avocado Quesadillas

receipe and photo here

8 medium-sized flour tortillas

1 pound chicken breasts (see below)

Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste (see below)

8 strips of bacon, chopped

1 avocado, sliced (omitted)
Lime juice (omitted)

Shredded Monterey jack cheese (see below)

1. Fry bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Set bacon aside to drain on paper towels. Drain all but 1/2 tablespoon of drippings from the pan.

2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder and add the chicken to the bacon drippings. Cook until chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Let chicken rest for 3 to 5 minutes, then dice very finely or shred. (You can always dice the chicken before you cook it, but I think it’s much more tender if I wait to chop it until after it’s cooked.)

3. Slice avocado and sprinkle with lime juice to preserve color. Top four tortillas with cheese, chicken, bacon, and avocado. Sprinkle with more cheese and top with other four tortillas. Cook each quesadilla until browned and crispy.

KERI's Notes:

i used some of those tyson's pre-grilled chicken strips. i must have had a coupon a few months ago because i apparently bought some, put them in the freezer and forgot about them. they were perfect for this. i also used some of the chipolte cheddar cheese slices that i was going to use for the calzones these were supposed to be. long story. not important.

so basically i took some tortillas, spread with ranch, topped with chicken, bacon and cheese. toasted in the skillet and chowed. so easy, so delicious.

and finally, i made a low/no carb recipe that i was really excited to try. Cream Cheese Pancakes. i ate these last night for supper while dave and hallie at their superbowl yumminess. and they were delicious! the first batch was super thing, so i changed my technique a little - just see my notes below.

Cream Cheese Pancakes

photo and recipe here

Ingredients:

2 oz cream cheese

2 eggs

1 packet stevia sweetener

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Put all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Blend until smooth. Let rest for 2 minutes so the bubbles can settle. Pour 1/4 of the batter into a hot pan greased with butter or pam spray. Cook for 2 minutes until golden, flip and cook 1 minute on the other side. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve with sugar free syrup (or any syrup of your choice) and fresh berries.

KERI's NOTES:

these were so good. i zipped them up in my magic bullet and let them rest...but i should have let them rest longer. the first batch was really thin - good, but thin. so the next batch was much better. and i changed my technique...i poured them on, waited a minute and then poured some more batter on top. it made for a thicker, fluffier pancake.

i also got more like 12 small pancakes out of the ingredients above. next time i will double/triple the recipe and freeze the remainder. GREAT snacks or an easy breakfast.

SUPER BOWL & MAH BOYZ.

2012-02-06T07:52:00.003-06:00

we had a little family superbowl celebration last night. i made the traditional superbowl foodstuff: pulled pork sliders, queso/chips, pb blondies, yuuuuuum. and then hallie watched tv in our room while we watched the superbowl stuff.

and madonna - i don't even like you much and that half-time show was fantastic. like, my favorite on ever. good job.

right before the superbowl mr. henry was craaaanky. he hadn't napped much and decided to crash on dad's chest. with some sweat head. i love it.

PINTEREST: YOU WIN ONE, YOU (SORTA) LOSE ONE.

2012-02-03T08:57:00.000-06:00

i love pinterest so much. i am so...inspired by all of the recipes. last night i even tried to cook a new recipe for dave and he was all - i'm just eating those enchilada leftovers. well fine.

i have tried two more recipes. one was super yummy (and easy) and the other had great potential, but failed to impress. it wasn't bad. it just...wasn't good.

Up first...the GREAT. the POWERFUL. the PEANUT BUTTER CHEESE BALL!!!!!!! (ew?)

it was delicious! and i made it ahead of time and just pulled it out to thaw a bit before people came over. i meant to slice up some apple slices to go with it and totally forgot. i think they would have been perfect. PERFECT.

not my picture! see the link below.

PEANUT BUTTER CHEESE BALL!

link from pinterest here

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not all-natural)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
Graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, and/or apple slices for dipping

Directions:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended.

Spoon onto a large piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly forming into a ball shape.

Freeze for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm enough to keep its shape. Place peanut butter and chocolate chips in flat dish. Remove plastic wrap from ball and roll ball into morsels to completely cover, pressing morsels into the ball if necessary.

Place ball on serving dish; cover and freeze for 2 hours or until almost firm. (Can be made ahead. If frozen overnight, thaw at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.) Serve with graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, or apple slices for dipping or spreading.

KERI's NOTES:

i used fat-free cream cheese and low-fat peanut butter. and splenda brown sugar. and it all still worked!

**********

now...for the less-successful. Deviled Egg Dip. dave sorta gagged when he heard the name, but i thought it sounded delicious. i looooove me some deviled eggs and when i saw the dip had bacon in it i thought - SCORE.

more like, airball.

it was fine. good. too tangy. i forgot i don't like the taste of franks hot sauce very much. if i did it again, i would change a whole bunch. i might go ahead and try my changes and see if i like it better. but here is the original recipe. see my notes at the bottom for what i would change.

DEVILED EGG DIP

link for recipe and picture via pinterest here.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp FRENCH'S® Classic Yellow® Mustard

1/2 cup mayonnaise

10 oz (5 large) eggs

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp Frank's Red Hot original hot sauce

4 oz bacon

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

12 oz crackers, for dipping

4 cup water

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Put eggs in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. When the water starts to boil, turn off the heat and cover for 20 minutes. Allow eggs to cool enough to peel.

2. While the eggs are cooking, fry four slices of bacon until crisp. Drain and crumble bacon into small pieces.

3. In a large bowl, mix together mayo, mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, cheese, and crumbled bacon.

4. In a small bowl, use a fork to mash the eggs into small chunks. You could also use a food processor or a potato masher. Add the eggs to the mayo and mustard mixture and stir together.

5. Serve with crackers or potato chips for dipping.

KERI's NOTES:i will make this again, but will just use miracle whip instead of mayo. then i can just leave out the vinegar and hot sauce and still have the tang. that's how i make my deviled eggs anyway. i will keep in the bacon and the shredded cheese for sure and not put any salt and pepper at all. i think this dip would be fantastic, just simplified a bit.

SICK SICK SICK, SUCK.

2012-02-02T09:24:00.002-06:00

poor kiddo. he is such a happy little wheezer.

it's really cute. he likes to hold the mask. and sometimes tries to chew on it. but mostly he sits quietly, breathing in the good, good medicine and watches baby einstein.

he's a good little boy. oh yes he certainly is.

PINTEREST SUCCESS: WHITE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

i tried another recipe - only one million more to go! seriously, i pin food as if i have never eaten before. my mouth waters at all of the delicious recipes!

i tried this one on dave and hallie last night and it was a huge success! i worried it wasn't going to be meaty enough (2 cups of chicken didn't amount to much), but they loved it. i sneaked a few bites and the flavor was fantastic. it was quick, easy and great.

(this is not my picture below. from the original website here)

White Chicken Enchiladas:

10 soft taco shells (i think i only used eight)

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream (i used reduced fat)

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies (i drained a lot of the liquid out)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies. Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese

KERI's notes:

i cooked my chicken in the crockpot with some chicken broth and taco seasoning. i think it helped the flavor of the shredded chicken.

i got concerned with my butter/flour/chicken broth mixture didn't get "thick" but i just cooked it until it was bubbly and "thick-er" than it was. everything turned out perfectly.

i made this up in the morning and stuck it in the fridge. i cooked it at 350 for about 35 minutes and it was perfect. i didn't bother with the broiler.

DELICIOUS.

FRIDAY NIGHT DELIGHT!

2012-01-31T08:41:00.002-06:00

sick as a dog, but loved every minute of it.

especially when i woke up and patty was spooning me. that was pretty funny.

i met my girls (minus sarah, minus kendra) for a quickie overnight in st.louis. we met up with even more friends from college and talked and laughed hysterically for hours. and i ate a whole pizza. and two cupcakes. apparently i was starving.

i blame the nasty cold.

there are five unborn babies at this table! nora (with one), theresa (with one) and alana (with THREE).

THOMAS!!!!

this stinkin' darn kid got his very first ear infection on sunday. we celebrated with some amoxicillin and an early bedtime. poor kiddo. poor mommy - he hates taking medicine. good times.

waiting patiently at prompt care. that teether is his favorite thing EVER.

feeling better yesterday!

after watching Baby Einstein!

A POST OF NOTHING.

2012-01-25T09:49:00.001-06:00

i got nothin' today.

oh! did you see what santa put in my stocking for christmas? i love it.

and here's henry:

PINTEREST FAIL: BAKED FRIED CHICKEN.

2012-01-24T09:59:00.002-06:00

tastes like KFC? no.

instead, the skin was sorta mushy because of all of the butter in the bottom of the 9x13. it didn't crisp up nicely at all. i think if you just spray or simply use foil it would turn out way better.

that being said...dave loved it. and hallie ate it. so...yeah.

RECIPE:

Place thawed chicken breast tenderloin strips in a bowl of milk. Let soak for 20-30 min.

Mix in a Gallon Size Ziploc or Large Bowl:

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 T Season All

3/4 tsp Pepper

1 c. Flour

2 tsp. Paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in a 9x13 pan. Melt butter in pre-heated oven.

Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.

Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated.

Place each piece of chicken in the pan.

Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through.

ENJOY! (or not)

YOGA, MORE MOHAWKS AND A STORY ABOUT A LOST IPHONE.

2012-01-23T08:41:00.002-06:00

yoga:

mohawks:

and now, a story:

i don't remember where we were or what we were doing (how's that for an intro?), but barb dropped me and the kids off at home early evening on a sunday.

dave was out hitting golf balls in the hard when we pulled in and apparently put his iphone down on the hood of barb's caddy at some point.

do you see where this is going?

barb drives off, dave freaks out, crying ensues.

he went driving, trying to find it. and at some point on a road a little bit aways, his bluetooth kicked on. so apparently it had to be within 60 feet or something. he came back and picked me up while barb stayed with the kids and we drove...and drove...and DROVE. and searched the ditches as it got darker and darker.

and i kept calling and calling, because dave never EVER puts his phone on vibrate (and gets grumpy at me when i do (understatement)) so we were hoping to hear it. but we couldn't find it. i tried calling customer service in jacksonville but they were closed and as i was going through all of the automated "press 1 for english" business here came dave's dad.

i said forget the customer service crap and just kept calling it as mike crept in front of us. i called and about a minute later mike slammed his brakes on and got out.

i told dave "i think he found it!"

his exact words, "he can't see anything ever, how is he going to see my phone?"

WELL GUESS WHAT SUCKAS?! mike found dave's phone...in the ditch. when asked HOW he could possibly see it he said, "i saw the ditch light up, so i figured that's what it was."

brilliant.

he saw the ditch light up because i was calling the phone, where just a MINUTE before i was NOT calling the phone because i was trying to call customer service. and we were driving in the right spot because dave's bluetooth had gone off in that general area (and it never did again!), so BY THE GRACE OF GOD...

we found dave's iphone.

the end.

oh, and his PHONE WAS ON VIBRATE.

SMELLS LIKE A DAISY.

2012-01-19T09:37:00.000-06:00

hallie is a girl scout! sort of. we've had like...four meetings this whole year? but regardless, she is and she loves it!

we went to the big cookie rally a few saturdays ago...lots of inflatables, not enough pizza and boy HOWDY was it LOUD. good gravy, my ears were ringing when we left. early. but it was still so much fun.

IF YOU WANT COOKIES, let me know! She is selling them now thru february 5th!

they also had a dj set up and the girls could dance. and that's allllll she wanted to do is dance, dance, dance!

MR HENRY GIGGLES.

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

oh this kid. my heart.

SNOW & MOHAWKS.

2012-01-17T08:41:00.003-06:00

MY KIDS ARE WAY TALENTED.

2012-01-16T08:56:00.000-06:00

MORE CHRISTMAS. AND THE NEXT DAY.

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

DONE.

MORE CHRISTMAS. DAY AFTER.

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

not as many pictures! not a single one opening gifts. whoops!

BACK TO CHRISTMAS. EVE.

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

just pictures. lots of pictures.

SOMETHING I DON'T WANT TO FORGET.

2012-01-10T08:16:00.001-06:00

hallie has three imaginary friends. she has had them for awhile, but who knows how long they will stick around? their names are:

sass

sarah

melopy (pronounced like melanie, but with an op instead)

they are her "sisters," and she talks about them all the time. and plays with them. and talks on the phone (ipod) to them. it's really cute.

melopy is the bad one. she is in jail a lot for killing people (????) and for being mean to her brother (haha). hallie disowns her as a sister quite a bit.

oh that girl.

HOW BIG IS HENRY? 7 MONTHS.

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

SO BIG!

Mr. Henry is now seven months old (yesterday).

He:
*still loves his bath soooo much
*sits up so well all by himself!
*has one (bottom, left) tooth
*says dada and mama and loves to jabbers
*still slobbers like a son-of-a-gun
*smiles like crazy
*has had the flu
*loves hanging out on his belly, but isn't crawling yet
*is starting to like food a little more, but still acts like we are poisoning him when we try to give him a few foods
*loves being naked
*hates getting clothes on
*is very tickle-ish
*sleeps from 7pm-6:30am
*will put his arms above his head if you say, "sooooo big!"

*THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE
(and hallie too, of course)

COULDA, SHOULDA, WOULDA.

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

any of these could have been our christmas card.

but really, wasn't this so much better?

you're welcome.

MR HENRY GETS A TOOTH AND IT IS REALLY HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH.

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

stupid flash.

he would be smiling or talking and the tooth would be RIGHT THERE but as soon as the flash went off, he would look down. so i have a ton of these:

and so i tried without the flash and got some of these:

so i gave up.

take my word for it, his tooth popped through on new years eve!

CHRISTMAS CARD OUTTAKES.

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

as you can see, hallie really got into it. she looks like a tiny general.

GREAT-GRANDMA CHRONISTER.

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

henry spent the majority of his christmas break on grandma chronister's lap. he was completely content to just sit on her lap and chew on something. and every so often he would look up at her and smile.

pretty cute.

IT'S BEEN A LONG LONG TIME.

2012-01-02T08:26:00.001-06:00

man, it's hard to blog when i'm on break. really hard.

christmas was wonderful. pictures coming soon. not many, since i didn't take hardly any. here are a few from my iphone.

henry mostly did this:

hallie was a little more exciting, spending her time doing this:

hairdresser in training.

HENRY CLAUS.

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

7:30AM. OUR HOUSE AKA GOTHAM CITY.

2011-12-22T13:50:00.001-06:00

or is that batman?

oh this was a morning. an early, early morning.

TRAITOR.

2011-12-16T10:11:00.001-06:00

FLU.

2011-12-15T08:38:00.003-06:00

tuesday, I got a call from hallie's school that she had puked. wonderful.

hallie on the ride home - passed out with her puke bag.

so, we hung out on my bed doing this:

and then she barfed in my bed, which is not cool.

and then barfed in the living room. oh and that night a few times.

and then i started barfing.

but this guy isn't barfing!

and neither is dave, but that is really just a matter of time.

6 MONTHS OLD.

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

where has the time gone? seriously. where? show me where my tiny baby went. because this is not a tiny baby!

what a sweetie. at this point, henry:

*is 16.1 pounds, 26.5 inches long (30th and 40th%)
*so so so so happy
*sleeps through the night
*takes two naps
*loves irma
*loves mom and dad
*~~tolerates~~ loves hallie
*still has no teeth
*drools like no other child i've ever seen before
*so so so so happy
*still loves his bath. he has never cried during a bath. ever.
*has never had an ear infection! or even a fever! glory be!
*seems to enjoy having his boogers sucked out with a bulb syringe
*hates getting dressed
*loves to be naked (like his daddy!)
*had his last taste of breast milk on his 6-month birthday (sad face)
*belly laughs when you try to stick his foot in his mouth
*likes baby oatmeal, but acts like you are feeding him poison if you give him any "real" food
*happiest baby EVER

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM 2011.

2011-12-09T09:11:00.001-06:00

she was for SURE the cutest one up there. i mean, seriously. those eyebrows.

for your viewing pleasure. (sorry for the shaky iphone video! i forgot our other one.) she is front row, center! and click the button in the bottom right corner of the video (after you push play) to make it full screen.

THE HAPPIEST BABY ALIVE AND HIS GREAT-GRANDMA. AND A DISH RAG.

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

wheeee! an old dish rag!

oh look! here it comes again!

hee hee!

best. toy. ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS HOW WE ROLL.

2011-12-06T07:55:00.001-06:00

i don't know how you do baking up in your crib, but here's how we do it in ours.

summer style.

and halloween style, apparently (can you spot the ghost, scary cat and bat above?). oh and some princess thrown in there for good measure (see the shoe and crown?).

decorated within an inch of their lives, that's how we roll. loooots of red hots.

hallie said - this is the best night ever.

i'm sure it was! she ate an entire container of sprinkles, so she was feeling pretty good.

STATE OF THE BOOBIES ADDRESS.

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

fellow breastfeeders, i'm almost finished.

not because i want to, but because the wells are running dry. after hallie's unexpected stay in the hospital, i was never able to pump as much as before. which was no big deal, i still pumped what i could and supplemented the remainder with formula. and then henry started sleeping through the night, and my supply went down some more, but still no biggie.

well now it just keeps going down. so much so that he has to work and work and work and then doesn't get much. so i've been bottling him and nursing him to keep him satisfied.

i've been drinking tea, taking herbs and pumping lots and lots.

so, as henry approaches his six-month birthday i'm feeling like this is the right time to quit. i don't really want to, but i don't want to pump for just a few measly ounces.

i'm going to keep pumping until i don't pump enough for the one bottle of breastmilk he's getting now.

and then.

i.

am.

done.

sad face.

but happy face, because NO MORE PUMPING.

no picture, because my grandma would have a heart attack.

then end.

FREEDOM.

2011-11-30T08:17:00.001-06:00

no more cast - hooray! she had a bath the night after and she said, "ooooh, this feels like heaven."

i can imagine.

it was flaky and peeling and gross looking. her skin was so slack and sad. we bathed it, lotioned her up and slapped a band-aid on.

she's on restriction for a few more weeks but then we are officially done-zo with the broken arm-zo.

um, not sure why that picture is upside down? anyway. these were taking moments before the doctor came in and yanked (like, YANKED) the pins out of her elbow. and she screamed. loudly.

here's a closeup of the pins. so gross. like little coat hangers sticking out. yucky.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I KNOW. WE'VE BEEN BUSY.

2011-11-30T08:05:00.001-06:00

i am so tiiiiired this week. (whine, whine, whine). i don't know why. i wake up tired and go to bed tired. i'm just tired. and busy? apparently, since i haven't blogged in a hundred and forty-five days. (that's hallie's favorite exaggeration).

i haven't mentioned thanksgiving at all. or even how thankful i am for my little family. and my big family too. it was a wonderful holiday and it *is* a wonderful holiday. it is actually becoming my favorite holiday. weird, because there are no gifts involved. and i loooove gifts. buying and receiving, thank you very much.

speaking of receiving, i just don't know what i want. i sort of want this, sort of want that. i really want a foot massager. do people give those as gifts? i want one.

anyway, here's some pictures. only the one with lauren is from thanksgiving. the others are from the wednesday before and the sunday after. apparently hallie wasn't around?

ps - lauren, you look really pretty in that picture.

i know this last picture is super blurry. but i love it. maggie and dave have become best buddies lately. she has figured out that he is the most fun of us all.

A GREAT WAY TO SPEND THE DAY.

2011-11-23T10:45:00.001-06:00

with this fella.

ooooh, this kid. i tell you what.

THIS MORNING.

2011-11-21T08:12:00.001-06:00

well, well. look who woke up in a good mood! with some awesome hair too.

her shirt says it all. and that is a hardboiled egg. she loves hardboiled eggs! especially the yolk. gross.

EXPRESSIONS.

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

man, i love this kid.

EXPECTATION VS REALITY.

2011-11-17T07:50:00.001-06:00

sunday hallie complained about pain in her arm - her elbow area. monday morning hallie complained about her arm - same place. hmm. i called the doctor who thought we should come in for an x-ray. okaaaay, sure. i asked if she stopped complaining could we please cancel the appointment? nope, they needed to see her.

we drove up there tuesday afternoon. i thought for sure we would pop in for an x-ray, things would look perfect and we'd head to target for a slushie and some shopping. i love target so much. so much.

anyway, here's how it went all went down.

arrive and check in.
told to go to x-ray.
x-ray tells us to go back to check in. also, they want to do her x-ray without her cast on (???!!!).
sit in waiting room for 30 minutes.
sit in exam room for 10 minutes.
resident comes in, talks for two minutes and says it's time to get her cast off and oh yeah - why didn't we have an x-ray yet? (this is the part i start getting really grouchy.) i explain she's not ready for her cast off yet. that she had some pain and they wanted to see her. oh, okay.
back to x-ray we go, huge crowd. they squeeze us in.
back to the waiting room for another 15 minutes.
back to the exam room for 40 minutes. yep, i'm mad now.

all of this to tell us that the x-ray can't reliably show if the pins have moved. um, what? so they had to TAKE OFF HER CAST AND PUT ON A NEW ONE.

oh good gravy.

it was traumatic and painful and I tell you WHAT, if I have to see my kid in anymore pain anytime soon I will be TICKED OFF. i'm so sick of seeing her in pain. it breaks my heart.

but now we have a fresh, hot pink cast. and we still went to target. and i let her pick out WHATEVER SHE WANTED. and get a slushie.

I THINK I'LL GO FOR A WALK OUTSIDE NOW.

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

a few sundays ago we decided to take a walk up to the mailbox. it was a gorgeous day and my dad was visiting.

our kitties followed us and it turned into quite the pet parade.

hallie, with annie on the leash
me
dad
henry (in the moby)
zoey
billy (the new name for blackie, maybe)
lucky (not pictured)

we didn't want to turn around, so we kept walking. we would have walked all the way to lucille's, but she wasn't home.

if you look at the very first picture, you can see our house in the background. we went a long way!

GIFTS.

2011-11-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

the sun.

my son.

every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
james 1:17

SIBLINGS. AGAIN.

2011-11-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

boy, was hallie chubby. and that is really a bad, bad picture of her. but still. the foreheads, eye shape, noses and lips are all the same. i think he will look more and more like her as he fattens up and she slims down.

and again.

and one more time,

Monkey see monkey do!

2011-11-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

**i found this post from forever ago that i apparently forgot to hit publish on! those girls KILL ME. so sweet. hallie was such a delicious toddler.

*********************************
On September 1, we ventured out to the Springfield Zoo. We went with Mackenzie, Aunt Lissa and Grandma Barb. We had a great time looking at the animals, and then went to Old McDonalds afterwards to play. It was a very fun day!

Me & Mommy

The nasty looking turtle

The bear sleeping on his belly

Trying to get closer to the horse!

Watching the silly monkey with Aunt Lissa

I love my cousin!

Good times in the bathroom at Old McDonalds

OUR HOUSE AT 7AM

2011-11-10T08:59:00.002-06:00

to celebrate henry sleeping through the night again (3rd night i a row!!!), here's our house this morning.

henry can't take his eyes off of her.

this went on for quite a while.

SO LONG SUCKA.

2011-11-09T07:00:00.002-06:00

hallie lost her second tooth last sunday. yippee! we get verrrrrry excited about the yanking of the teeth.

here's how it went down.

hallie yanked and pulled.
eli yanked and pulled.
uncle chad yanked and pulled.
dave yanked, pulled and OUT came the tooth.

i didn't take a picture (you're welcome), but her mouth was so bloody that she looked like lastat after a fresh kill. yummy.

5 Months Old! Henry!

2011-11-08T08:05:00.000-06:00

oh, this son of mine.

we are crazy about him, oh he who:

drools like a son-of-a-gun.
chews on anything near his mouth.
is mellow.
is happy.
slept thru the night last night!
takes a bottle from me now (and dave).
is in bed by 7pm every night.
usually wakes up around 4am to eat.
loves his irma.
loves hallie for some odd reason.
will quiet down if you sing the barney song to him.
likes his exersaucer.
starting to eat oatmeal much better!

happy 5 months, mr. henry. mama looooooves you.

Fire Ants.

2011-11-04T08:01:00.000-05:00

yesterday, things went great...at first. we got hallie's cast on, ran an errand and headed home from springfield. i made supper while dave entertained the kiddos. a normal family evening. my favorite kind. our friend bob was coming over for supper and all was well until....

....she started ITCHING.

cue the screaming, desperate hitting of her cast to relieve the itchiness and the pleads for us to PLEASE DO SOMETHING.

it was awful. worse than when she BROKE it. i can only imagine it felt like a thousand fire ants crawling around her cast.

they gave her a tiara and wand after her xray. very glittery. glitter everywhere.

and there is nothing we can do. i have never felt so helpless.

we finally drugged her with benedryl to get her relaxed enough to sleep. that worked until about 1:30am.

she is back to school today. she is tired, but not as itchy. maybe the worst has passed? i'm hoping school will be a distraction. only 20 more days! (wah)

Fire in the Sky.

2011-11-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

hallie is doing great, thank you. we struggle at night - she wants to sleep with us (okay, fine) and then wakes up usually once in pain. she is a shifter, so she accidentally hurts herself in her sleep. i know that will pass and i think it will be better when she gets her permanent cast.

TODAY!

yippee - today is the day we get her real cast! they apparently have dozens of colors to choose from. she wanted pink until the mentioned glow in the dark. who knew there was such a thing as a glow-in-the-dark cast?!

she is very excited. in sunday shool they have been talking about moses leading the people across the desert. and how during the day God gave them a cloud to cover to the sun and at night He gave them a pillar of fire to light the way. her beloved sunday school teacher, lori green (love you, lori!) told hallie that they will do a demonstration on sunday for all of the kiddos - and hallie's cast can be the fire in the sky. very cute.

pictures will be coming soon of her new cast, i am sure.

in the meantime, here are some pictures of hallie in her costume from the costume parade at school, trick or treating at irma's and at barb's. and of course, henry.

Our Halloween Sucked, How Was Yours?

2011-11-02T12:18:00.000-05:00

this is going to be a very, VERY long post with more words than pictures (your favorite, dave, haha), but i can't help it. i want to record everything before i forget. because i will forget.

sunday evening, at great-grandma lucille's house, hallie fell off a barstool while eating pancakes and broke her arm.

i don't even know how it happened. i think she was trying to hurry and get out of her chair to hide from me. i had been getting after her about eating her pancakes and she was being silly. i think she leapt out of her chair, got her feet tangled and just hit the ground. i could immediately see that something was wrong - i thought her elbow had dislocated. it was so gross. i remember telling lucille - we have to go to the hospital. and lucille was smiling at me because she thought i was teasing hallie. hallie was screaming and screaming and holding her arm.

i finally said - you have to stop screaming! and she stopped. and just whimpered. i scooped her up and ran her out to the car while yelling at lucille - i will call barb, just stay here with henry!

i drove as fast as i could to the hospital, while hallie told me to go faster mommy, faster, please. go as fast as we do on the four-wheeler. it just broke my heart beause you could just tell how much pain she was in. we said a prayer and every once in a while she would cry out about how badly it hurt her. i kept saying - they will pop it back in and it will feel better right away. HA. HA. HA.

we arrived at the hospital and she panicked at the thought of having to get herself out of the car. she kept saying - they will have to come out here and get me, i can't get out, i can't get out. poor thing - i scooped her up and carried her in. i'm sure it was sooooo painful. she said - run, mommy, please run.

they took us straight back and immediately called for morphine and an x-ray. things were a little crazy for a bit, but once they left us alone we could take a deep breath...and then CRY. oh man, that's when i cried. i let myself sob for a few minute while my drugged up little girl leaned against me, sound asleep. it was awful. i was so worried that i had given them the wrong weight for the dose. i wasn't sure - 38 pounds?! i think?! they reassured me that there was a "range," but still. freaked. me. out.

lucille brought me my pump and sat for awhile. and then melissa came too. it was so nice to have company, not to have to go through it alone. i missed dave something terrible at that point.

they ended up transferring us to st. johns in springfield to see a pediatric surgeon.melissa drove with me and kept me occupied while hallie watched a video on her phone and then passed out again. we checked into the er there and they did another xray and took forever to give her more pain medication. my darling daughter was a total trooper through the whole thing, only whimpering and crying out if they had to move it. which they had to do. a lot.

on the way to st. johns, springfield.

melissa left, my dad showed up and after a few hours in the er they took us up to pediatrics. it took us forever to get all settled in. they had to do blood work, vitals, this, that, more, more, JUST LET HER REST. LEAVE HER ALONE. SHE IS IN PAIN, GIVE HER SOMETHING NOW. mama bear was struggling a little bit at this point.

rewrapping it in the e.r. at st. johns. not fun.

and i needed to pump sooooo bad.

they got us settled by 12:30am. my dad (who had already been in town for the weekend - drove home to missouri - found out about hallie and drove straight back) slept in a chair in the family lounge. i made up the "bed" for dave, who would be arriving at some point from tennessee after driving through the night. praise the lord that he was on his way home from all of his trips. i pumped and then slept in the recliner next to hallie. who wanted me to hold her hand. all night. so i did.

she slept in the hospital bed the same as if she was at home.

dave arrived at 1:30am and i have never been so glad to see him in my whole life. i mean, melissa was with me and drove with me to springfield. lucille came to the hospital and brought me my pump, my dad came once we were in springfield, but still. DAVE. yes.

they came in every two hours. they checked her at 2:00am, vitals and such. she stirred, but didn't wake up. but after that she started moaning in her sleep and seemed very restless. so at 2:30am, i asked them to give her more morphine and they did. she slept through the 4:00am vitals check, just waking up to ask if daddy had gotten there. and she was soooo happy that he was. it was so cute and it makes me want to cry to remember that moment. precious.

the er doctor came in at 6am to check in with us and check her fingers. she slept through most of that. we let her sleep until she woke up around 7-ish. i'm so grateful that she slept and seemed in good spirits.

they came in to get her for pre-op stuff around 8:00am and i started getting nervous. they moved her surgery up to 8:30am. we got down there and they gave her some iv fluids and then gave her some medicine that made her veeeeeeery loopy. and sleepy. the poor girl was always so sleepy.

on the way down the hall to the operating room, she kept trying to lift her head. it must have felt funny or something. and then she sort of poked her leg with her finger a few times. it would have been funny if it wasn't MY CHILD ON DRUGS. NOT FUNNY. oh, i hated that so much.

barb showed up and we all waited. it took approximately a million years for the surgery to end and for dave and i to finally see her in recovery. she looked confused for awhile and then passed out, sound asleep.

we were transported back to peds and were told we could go home once she was fully recovered and could eat and drink. it took her awhile, but she finally "woke" up and was in pretty good spirits. i want to remember how when we got her back in bed, i turned on the tv to find some cartoons for her to veg out to. i found sponge bob (dave hates for her to watch this) and it was so funny. she got dave's attention and just pointed at it, like - ha. boo-ya. pretty cute.

she ate and drank, had a popsicle and perked up. time to go home.

note: if you ever break a bone, make sure to do it on halloween. they go ALL OUT. the amount of candy and other treats they brought to her room was amazing. i am not kidding. the recliner was completely covered with bags and buckets. we sorted out enough candy to fill two full pumpkins and a tote bag full of treats. craziness. so don't go feeling all sorry for her that she didn't get to trick-or-treat! she made out in a big way.

we made it home and got her settled in. her arm hurts her, but it's manageable. we get her permanent cast put on tomorrow - glow in the dark - who knew?! she is pretty excited for everyone to sign her cast. we have all signed her temporary cast in the meantime. papa mike supplied every color sharpie known to man, so it's a very colorful cast.

ps - are you wondering where mr. henry was through this ordeal? after i ran out from lucille's as fast as my legs could take me, i called barb. she went picked up henry, bathed, bottled, and put him to bed. she spent the night, got up for the 4am feeding and took him to irma's the next day. then she high-tailed it up to the hospital in time for the surgery.

I Gotta Getta Grippa.

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

so, starting monday dave will be done with his gone-for-a-freaking-month trips.

HIP HIP HOORAY.

PRAISE THE LORD.

THANK YOU DEAR JESUS.

ahem. sorry. it's been a long few months.

but i have made it through these months...thanks mostly to the help my grandmother IN LAW, lucille. god bless that woman. and not just lucille, but my mom, dad, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and a few choice friends too. THANK YOU ALL OF YOU, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I LOVE YOU.

but back to lucille.

she has been my crutch through these crazy months. she picks up hallie off of the bus everyday (except monday - thanks barb!) from school and keeps her until i get home with henry around 5pm. most days she will find a basket of clean clothes to fold, or cloth diapers to stuff or hallie's bedroom to clean.

god bless that woman.

and did i mention she makes us supper? everyday? yeah.

GOD BLESS THAT WOMAN.

luckily, i pay her back. she gets to do this as much as she wants:

and then see him do this:

i'd say we're even, dontcha think?

ANYWAY.

dave will be home to pick up hallie, which is great, but it means i will start needing to cook for our family. waaah.

5pm-ish is a tough time at our house. everyone is hungry, i have a baby on my boob and need to get hallie fed before starting the bedtime routine at 6:15. that's 1.25 hours to get dinner on the table. but first i have to nurse henry. always. nursing. henry.

so i need to get a GRIP and start using my crockpot more.

so, all of that to say...

GIVE ME YOUR FAVORITE (easy) CROCKPOT RECIPES.

ones that i can make up the night before, plug in first thing in the morning and have cooked to perfection when i walk in the door at 5pm.

GO.

(thank you)

Milestone: Baby's First Bites...er, Slurps.

2011-10-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

we skipped the rice cereal nonsence and went straight to oatmeal. rice has a tendency to be binding - if you catch my drift - and mr. henry doesn't poop very much as it is.

so oatmeal! yes!

he, uh.

wasn't really impressed. and i forgot a bib? what's that all about? and do you see how crooked he is in his high chair? the boy always leans to the left - which is the way he was always positioned in my stomach too!

weird.

Double the Bedhead, Double the Fun.

2011-10-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

alternate titles:

Sturdier Equals Funner (ah, grammar)

A Stronger Neck Makes for a Stronger Bond

She Likes Him More Now That She Can Haul Him Around a Bit More and He Won't Cry.

yeah, i would say the last one is the most accurate. now that he is bigger and stronger, i let her hold him more. and he really reacts to her songs and such, so she loves that. now, if she would just GET OUT OF HIS FACE, he could actually SEE her and would probably smile even more at her.

sigh.

My Sleeper.

2011-10-21T08:01:00.001-05:00

this little boy likes to sleep, praise the lord god in heaven ABOVE. he sleeps from about 7pm - 6:30am, just waking once to eat around 3am. when he's a little older i will try to cut that out. but he is still on only breast milk, so i think he might need that last feeding for awhile. i'm okay with that.

i shudder when i think about the first few months of hallie's life. sleep was a huge issue for us. like, she didn't want to and i did.

look at his hair in this picture! it was a little on the wild side last night. it's getting so long and he is starting to look more and more like dave.

and then here's miss hallie who wanted curlers in her hair last night again. so i spent all that time rolling them up (okay, like 5 minutes) and then once she got in bed she wanted them out.

love these kids.

PS - dave comes home on monday for a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Love These Kids.

2011-10-20T08:04:00.001-05:00

just try to tell me he isn't the cutest thing EVER. seriously, he is growing up too fast and is JUST SO DANGED SWEET.

and then there's this one.

so sweet, huh? HA. (what can i do about that HAIR?!)

she was actually great in this moment, but stuck out her tongue to make a statement. about what, i'm not sure. but there it is.

she has really started taking off with her spelling and reading. it's amazing to watch. last night she kept saying - mom, give me three letter words. any three letter words.

sometimes it's HARD to come up with three letter words! she spelled them all right except for owl. she spelled it "awl." isn't that cute? try sounding it out and that's what i would probably put too.

this past weekend she made my grocery list for me. i would tell her what i needed and she would write it. she was waaaay off on a few, but they were phonetically correct, so i was pretty proud. her teacher sent home a note to all parents saying to NOT tell them how to spell things, but instead make them sound it out and work it out themselves.

here is part of the grocery list.

(dog food, cat food, apple, cucumber, milk, bread, popcorn)

Before and After.

2011-10-19T08:09:00.000-05:00

before.

after.

not happy. it's hard for anyone to be happy at 6:30am, but i thought she would love it. she hated it. this was before i even had a chance to mess with it at all! i could have made it look sooooo cute, but nope. up in a ponytail it went.

and then she loved the curly pony tail. crazy girl.

next time i will do the tighter curlers on the top and work with the bangs a little better. half up, half down would have been darling!

What's in YOUR Garage? Prepare for a Crazy Long Post. With Lots of Words.

2011-10-18T08:27:00.001-05:00

because here is what was in mine, last night.

do you see?

no? hang on, here's a better angle.

still not sure?

whoop, there it is.

GROSS.

here's how it went down:

8:30: as i am finishing up lunches, bottles, etc. i hear thump, thump in the garage. great, the kitties are locked in the garage.

8:31: open the door to the garage, bend down to pick up the "kitty."

8:31: SCREAM

scream

8:35: armed with a broom, i manage to scare it into the closet in the garage. great.

8:36: call dave, who puts me on speaker phone as i half scream/cry/freakout over the phone.

at this point, he is telling me to climb into the closet on the right side with my broom and try to get the possum out - the possum is now hiding behind the white buckets on the left side of the VERY skinny closet. do you understand how close that would put me to the possum?

i may or may not have asked dave at this point if a. he was crazy or b. if possums could jump/climb walls.

i mustered up my courage, balanced on the boards on the right side of the closet and snuck back there. and came running out doing my scream/cry thing because it was just TOO SCARY to be in that close of proximity to a POSSUM.

at this point, i told dave to just pretend i didn't call him, that there was nothing in the garage. my plan was to just leave the garage doors open and pray it goes out all by itself. dave didn't think that was a good idea.

then my darling father-in-law (who was listening to this go down over speaker phone) called my "neighbor" who came over with his 6 year old and they rescued me.

whew. my heart is still pounding!

in other news, i woke up at 7:09 this morning. i normally leave the house at 7:10am, so do you see where this is going?

luckily, hallie wasn't her usual grouchy morning self and enjoyed watching me freakout that we were SO LATE, HALLIE, WE ARE SO LATE!!!!!!!!!!!!

but, i managed to get her dressed/teeth/hair/breakfast, me showered/makeup/wet hair!/no breakfast (sad face), henry changed/clothed/nursed and got hallie to school on time and me to work just a few minutes late! MIRACLE.

it only worked because lucille came over and took hen to irma's, god bless her.

what a crazy night and crazy morning!

weekend recap. a crapload of pictures.

2011-10-17T11:24:00.000-05:00

oh, it was a good one. mostly because my mom cleaned my house! and it was a surprise! and it was her birthday, not mine! (happy birthday yesterday again, mom!)

for real, we walked into the house after church/lunch and the house was spotless. and there were clothes hanging from the clothes line and the dryer was drying another load and the beds were made and the dishwasher had been run and the floors were vacuumed and the bathroom floors scrubbed and the bathtubs/showers cleaned and the toilets cleand and moldy vases washed and the microwave cleaned! i mean FOR REAL.

i think having people clean for me is my love language because i sure do love my mom right now! not that my love is conditional, but you know what i mean.

we did other things too.

like...play with henry, pick out pumpkins at the farmers' market, carve/paint said pumpkins, have allergic reaction aka itchy hands from said carving, put said pumpkins on the front porch in apparently insanely bright sunlight, take pictures of our awesome shadows and then light pumpkins. whew!

and then my mom cleaned my house!

while we were at church, so it was even a surprise!

and we ate lunch at barb's after church:

and then my dad came up for the night! and he just sent me a text and was cleaning my oven!

love language, yes!

Dear Dave: 17.

2011-10-14T07:51:00.000-05:00

dearest,

last night we went to girl scouts. i was nervous because it was from 6-7pm and henry is usually in bed, asleep by 7pm. it could have been a bad thing, but it actually was great. he did just fine...up until we got in the car to go home. and then he was over the whole thing.

but, i have discovered that he will stop crying instantly (!) when hallie sings the barney song. she sings it like this:

"i love you. you love me. we're just happy as can be. with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. won't you say i love you too."

henry tried to cry the whole way home, but stopped each time she started singing. pretty funny. also i hate that song now. i love it. but i hate it. you know?

anyway, here we are last night.

we have got to do something about her bangs!

Fun-draising.

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

we are in the midst of fundraising for girl scouts! don't you just love fundraising? asking people for money, even for a great cause, is SO MUCH FUN!

i just love it so much that i am asking all of YOU! would you consider purchasing something from hallie's girl scount fundraiser? she earns badges for the magazine sales and gets free stuff for the candy/trailmixes sold.

you could either:

1) buy or renew a magazine

2) buy some candy/nuts/trailmixes! there are even a few choices that are only $5. like, cajun trailmix and whatnot.

NO PRESSURE, but if you are in the market for a new magazine or up for renewal or have a sweet tooth like mine, let me know and i'll giv eyou some more information!

i feel so dirty now. I HATE FUNDRAISERS. i get it, they are necessary. i understand. but they still suck.

here's the grateful girl scout now! (extremely blurry!):

Henry is 4 Months! (like, last Saturday).

2011-10-12T08:14:00.001-05:00

Oh, Henry.

You now weigh 13 pounds, 4 ounces and are 25 inches long.
You are the smile-iest baby I have ever met in my life.
You also "talk" more than any baby I have ever met in my life.
You have very nice hair and lovely blue eyes.
When you smile, your whole face lights up.
You sleep...pretty well, only waking up once to eat.
You love to nurse, but are finally, finally taking bottles better at Irma's.
You love Irma.
You love Hallie (when she stays out of your face).
You love to get undressed,
but HATE to get dressed again.
You love your baths so much.
You have a tiny belly button. Even the doctor said so.
You can roll front to back.
You love your swing and bouncy chair, but don't love your bumbo.
You LOVE to watch ceiling fans.
You slobber so much that I have to put a bib on you every day.
It's really gross how much you slobber.
You have very hairy ear canals (according to the doctor).
You love to be outside.

You are the joy of my life right now. It's impossible to have a bad day when I see you smile at me. You are honestly the best baby ever and I am so blessed that you are all mine! I can't wait to find out what kind of trouble you will get into when you are older, because you have me absolutely wrapped around your itsy-bitsy finger.

You have adorable fingers.

I love you,
mom aka the one with the boobs

Dear Dave: 21.

2011-10-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

dear dave,

we had a pretty good weekend. we spent a lot of time drawing and coloring. she wants me to teach her how to draw everything - elephants, dolphins, dinosaurs and semis. have you ever tried to draw a dolphin? seriously?

here is her rainbow mason sound semi. precious stuff, right there.

while we colored, henry did this.

he has figured out he can see himself. his poor neck must get tired, but he just looks and looks and smiles. oh so cute.

we also went to the ic homecoming parade. there were a lot of bands, which i loved. however, hallie would say, "ANOTHER band?!" like, where is the candy?!

love you and miss you,
wife

Dear Dave: 24.

2011-10-07T12:42:00.000-05:00

dear dave,

we are sorta-sick. I say sort of, because, well, we are sick...sort of. last night hal had a pretty good fever. motrin + sleep and she was back to awesome this morning.

last night my throat was killing me to swallow. i checked it out with a flashlight and found black spots - not good. prompt care this morning told me it was probably FOOD stuck to my tonsils and my throat was just hurting because of drainage from a viral infection.

so to recap. hal was sick, good now. my throat hurts, but it's really nothing. i can't believe i have to use a sick day for this nonsence. at least hallie didn't have school today, so she's not missing out on any of that.

we sent henry to irma's so he didn't get exposed to our yuckies...which are not really yuckies now and i MISS HIM LIKE CRAZY! i have to pump all day now and that sucks (haha).

LOVE YOU,
wife-er

*all pictures are of hallie at prompt care, trying to run from me so i don't take her picture.

Dear Dave: 25.

2011-10-06T08:29:00.000-05:00

dear dave,

we wear a bib all the time these days. my gosh the DROOL is out of control. i mean, h-bomb has always been super slobbery, but it has now reached an all-time high. i can almost wring the bib out at the end of the day.

super gross.

also, i think he looks more like you every day. so much for having a kid that looks like me! you must have super strong genes or whatever.

also, henry has decided he just loves hallie when she sings to him. so you can imagine how much she sings to him. all. the. time. barney song (why??!!) all.the.time.

love,
wifey-poo

Dear Dave: 26.

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

dear dave,

your son has turned camera shy. or rather, video shy. it's driving me crazy. he is all, talk talk talk talk TALK, but as soon as i grab my phone to record it he clams up.

it's all i can do to get him to look at ME and not the danged pink phone.

he likes pink.

he also likes to smile a lot.

love,
wifey

Dear Dave: 27.

2011-10-04T07:00:00.003-05:00

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
–Psalm 19:14

i'm working realllllllly hard to stay nice and be nice while dave travels AGAIN. it's a work in progress.

*i* am a work in progress.

we are all works in progrsess.

family outings in the semi.

2011-10-03T07:59:00.000-05:00

our lives really are exciting.

i mean, check it.

we took a ride to the elevator on saturday. henry fell asleep and hallie hid in all the little cubby holes. it was really, really...fun?

and now...henry.

he is the freaking cutest baby EVER.

EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

Siblings.

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hallie:

Henry:

do you see it? good grief, I forgot how fat hallie's cheeks were!

Back By Popular Demand.

2011-09-29T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here's Hallie making another video. A very short video, but it makes me laugh. The girl sings something ALL. THE. TIME. It's usually a made-up something that she sings over and over again.

This particular "i'm gonna SHINE!" is from the Disney movie, Sharpay's adventure or something like that. There's a whole song that Hallie sings, but apparently she just wanted to emphasize, i'm gonna SHINE!

So, a short video, but it made me laugh, because it's so very hallie.

and then here's Henry:

Man, I love these kids!

Hallie and Keller, sitting in a tree!

2011-09-28T08:52:00.000-05:00

better not be k-i-s-s-i-n-g.

hallie has a boyfriend. he is a darling blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy. she talks about him allllll the time. keller, keller, keller.

i mentioned him to the teacher this morning at drop off and she laughed. apparently they are the first romance in their class.

i'm so proud.

she said they talk about marriage - whoa, whoa, whoa. let's get at least to first grade before we start picking out rings!

daveshomedaveshomedaveshomedaveshome!

2011-09-27T08:18:00.002-05:00

dave

is

home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beauty School Drop Out.

2011-09-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

yesterday we played beauty shop. i did french braid piggy-tails on hallie and she did...this, to me:

i love it when she directs our photoshoots - mom, hey mom, close your mouth!

now, let's get our whole bodies. good, good.

okay, now put the fan down and show our teeth. okay, great job.

like, the other day she wanted me to pose with tinkerbelle while she took the pictures.

and now, henry too!

tg(oodness)if

2011-09-23T08:34:00.000-05:00

i'm in a funk. a pretty big one. so i'm posting a picture that always makes me smile. hallie wanted to play beauty shop and spent almost an hour brushing and messing with my hair - heaven!

i looked...well, you can see:

yes, those are pigtails. and hallie matches, oh yes she does.

and then henry always makes me smile.

oh he loves his bath soooo much. he just kicks and smiles and wants to talk - mom, i love my bath sooooo much!!! MOM! hey mom! baths are aweeeesome! it actually sounds like - oooh, oh, ooo, bubbles, bubbles, more bubbles, goo goo goooooo, squeal!

see how blury the picture is? because he won't stop squirming and kicking!

okay, i feel better now.

very disappointing.

2011-09-22T07:58:00.001-05:00

last night the district 117 school board voted to close north elementary aka hallie's school. i'm extremely disappointed with their decision. i feel like this was a very political decision, rather than a rational one.

and that is disappointing. very.

they are keeping open a school that is in disrepair. they are closing a school that is well maintained.

they are keeping open a school that has not had adequate yearly progress for two years in a row. they are closing a school that is known for academic achievement.

how much sense does that make? i mean, really?!

it seems as though the decision is set in stone and when the closure will take place, i don't know. but for now i'll just keep letting hallie make friends with kids that she will get split up with in the upcoming years and fall in love with a school that is closing.

how nice. HAPPY THURSDAY. BLAH.

Dear Dave: happy anniversary! 8!

2011-09-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

dear dave,

does it make you feel old to know that we have been married for eight years? dang, that just sounds like a long time!

i would say our greatest accomplishments (other than not killing each other - haha) are these little rascals:

oh, yes. i'd say we've done pretty good.

here's to many more years with our rascals and each other. i sure do love you.

love,

your wifey-poo

Dear Dave: this is what we did yesterday.

2011-09-19T08:08:00.000-05:00

wake up - oh too early. hallie is still (blessedly) sleeping, so we hang out with toys on my bed. henry is always so happy and smiles so much in the morning. okay, he actually smiles all day long, but his sleepy smiles are the best.

alrighty, now Hallie is up and it's the mad dash to get ready in time for church. we were up pretty early this sunday so we were out the door in plenty of time.

and then we got stopped at a train and were late anyways. you just can't win.

church and sunday school is all done! time to go to barbs.

lunch at granny grandma's and papa's house.

now home so henry can nap and we can color!

henry wakes up and it's time to head to youth group! (do you love his shirt?!)

henry gets passed around, which means i get a break!

a quick stop by grandma lucille's (not pictured) and then home for bath, bed and NURSING (also not pictured).

the end.

today i feel like this.

2011-09-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

a sucky milestone. literally.

2011-09-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

henry has his first cold.

how sad.

he is taking it like a man, with lots of smiles and coo-ing. of course.

we had to use the booger sucker at 4am this morning, which let me tell you what...that is not a fun thing to do EVER - but especially less fun at 4am. king henry was not amused, but he certainly was able to breath better afterwards.

poor little tiger (name that family member).

in other news, I made him wear a little newborn beanie to irma's today. he looked like a weiner and hallie laughed at him.

routine, routine, routine.

2011-09-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

dave is gone again. blah.

we make it work by having a good routine. i love a good, consistent routine. don't mess with my routine.

5:25am - alarm goes off - snooze.

5:45am - up for the day - suck.

6:15am - get hallie up for the day - this is no easy task. the girl likes to sleep as much as i do.

6:30am - get mr. henry up for the day - oh the smiles.

7:05am - out the door to Irma's to drop henry off.

7:30am - drop hallie off at school.

7:40am - work.

4:30pm - off work, pick up henry.

5:00pm - home

5:30pm - supper

6:45pm - henry bath, bed (hallie takes a bath while i'm nursing henry)

7:30pm - henry asleep, time for hallie to bed.

7:45pm - hallie in bed

7:45-bedtime - washing bottles, preparing bottles, pump bag together, my lunch made, hallie's lunch made, clean, clean, clean.

bedtime - ??? - as early as possible!

and that's how we get things done.

now, here's henry.

i think this is really cute.

2011-09-13T08:07:00.000-05:00

hallie has figured out how to take pictures on my camera. she also figured out instagram too. she'll want to take a picture, so i'll pull up the usual "camera."

no mommy, i want the one where you pick the shoes! (that's instagram)

here are some photos, courtesy of miss hallie mason.

do you see the matching necklaces? precious.

aaaand, creepy.

Burg-to-the-oo

2011-09-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

it's burgoo time up in these here parts!

we didn't really "do it up" the way we normally do. henry was a total and complete angel, but i didn't to push our luck by staying out all day and all night.

so we rolled into arenzville around 11-ish. played a few games, painted the face, layered sand in a necklace. you know, the usual.

then we ate some hotdogs and porkchops, cursed the late start of the ferris wheel (didn't open until 2pm?! rude!), wandered down to the tractor pull with friends and then landed at a friend's house for some nursing and playing.

all-in-all a successful burgoo.

most evenings look like this.

2011-09-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

we spend a lot of our free time with grandma lucille. i would go so far to say that she is currently my bff. we get along famously.

truthfully, i don't know what i would do without her. and at 87-years-old i am dreading the day i find out. we are each other's company. she is lonely. i am many times lonely. she loves me kids. so do i (duh). she has lots of popsicles and well, that is just awesome.

i think i was at her house almost every, single day of my maternity leave. i hate that now we are so busy with our evening routines and we don't get to hang out as much. but we start baths at 6:30pm and that doesn't give much time for visiting. it's hard being back at work.

this was last sunday night. a typical scene. she loves to hold henry and he loves to be held by great-grandma lucille. miss jealous has to be close by and usually perches on the chair while watching cartoons.

it's sweet, isn't it?

the circus was in town and boy did it suck.

2011-09-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

this was no ringling brothers, i'll tell you what.

i think the pictures make it look cooler than it was, but please believe me that the lame-o-meter was spinning out of control. the kids liked it though - and that's all that was important.

plus, it was a total money pit. these circus people know how to get your cash-money-dollars.

here is their business plan:

1. give away a million kids tickets - make parents think, oh what a great deal!

2. charge $16 for one adult ticket - aha.

3. have a man selling cotton candy for $4 as soon as you walk in the tent.

4. make it super hot so the kids are dying of thirst and then have a man selling soda for $3 walking around constantly.

5. sell circus peanuts at a specific time (and this time only!) for $2 and put a slip of paper for a free circus balloon in a few of them. kids will line up in droves for a chance to win a free circus balloon.

6. now that the kids are all crying because they didn't win a circus balloon, send around a man SELLING the circus balloons for $6 - YES, SIX DOLLARS FOR A BALLOON.

7. intermission - sell rides on an elephant with a sign that says $2 so that the parents get excited (stupid parents) and get their kids excited to ride the elephant.

8. have fine print on the signs that it is $2 PER COUPON and the rides are THREE COUPONS.

9. have a man with a python snake available for pictures. tell the kids they can touch the snake for $7. FOR SEVEN DOLLARS - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

poor henry.

Oh my good golly. i managed to only spend $23. yep - $23 for about an hour of....fun? excitement? dogs doing tricks, really.

henry slept, the angel. the girls were fantastic and seemed to enjoy themselves.

i spy some serious butt cheeks.

sure, i'll go again.

when elephants fly.

neck fat.

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

couldn't you just eat those rolls?

this hit me harder than kindergarten.

2011-09-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

hallie lost her first tooth. i may or may not have cried.

what a big thing to do. what a BIG GIRL thing to do. she looks precious with that gap in her mouth. and she was so ridiculously excited. she kept saying - mom look at me! i feel soooo happy. our living room mirror was worn out by the end of the night.

she pulled it herself, by the way. she let me work on it and her cousin eli did some sweet wiggling too. but in the end, she gave a final yank and out it came.

sob.

Now I Speak of the Cloth.

2011-09-06T08:50:00.001-05:00

i have been cloth diapering for a few months now. i would have started earlier but it took a million years for henry's stump/cord to fall off. that was gross.

anyway.

i made the decision to cloth diaper henry for a few reasons, mostly because i am cheap. and cloth diapers are super cute. and no yucky chemicals or anything on my baby's bum. i mean, really. i hated taking off his disposable diaper (pre-stump-off) and finding those little gel crystals stuck all over his junk.

not cool.

i admit i sort of freaked out when i realize it was actually time to make the switch to cloth. but the cord fell off, i was out of newborn diapers, it was time.

it's so freaking easy.

i pop a diaper on, snap. i take it off, unsnap. i do laundry every other day (cold rinse, hot wash, extra rinse) and then hang it out to dry on my beloved clothes line. in the winter, or when i get busy from work and such i'll just put them in the dryer.

eaaaasy.

in fact, now that i am back to work, it's still easy. i do my wash at night and then hang out to dry in the morning before i wake hallie and henry up. and if i'm running late or don't feel like hanging them to dry then i will just put them in the dryer when i get home.

i have 20 cloth diapers - 6 bumgenius one-size, 6 fuzzibunz one-size, 2 applecheeks,2 flips (plus a ton of liners!), 2 bumgenius all-in-ones, 1 grovia and...is that it? that is more than enough.

i have two pail liners, a wet/dry bag and a diaper sprayer.

i cannot stress enough how easy this is. and there are almost zero blowouts. i'm talking one or two blowouts since i've been cloth diapering. with disposables we had lots and lots. lots.

i am in love with cloth diapering. weird, i know.

if you wanna be cool like me be sure to buy your diapers from my girl morgan!

first day back, not so bad.

2011-09-02T09:24:00.000-05:00

not sure what i was expecting, but it wasn't that bad.

i had already left henry at the babysitter's a few days prior, so that wasn't a shock. you see, he's still not taking a bottle very well. he doesn't like it, doesn't want it, nope, won't do it. he eats very little all day and then nurses like crazy when he gets home to me. can't say that i blame him.

but so i had already taken him for "bottle bootcamp," so like i said, not a shock.

what came as a shock was the flowers that my husband sent me! a serious shock. and he put some serious thought into the flowers too. One for each of us - two red roses to symbolize the kiddos, one pink (me) and one white (him). how's that for thought! seriously, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

i already remembered how much i hate pumping all the time. yuck. i feel like a cow, but i know it's a good thing. but i'm already scared about my milk production going down. it's gotten lower day by day...11 ounces on wednesday, 10 ounces yesterday. we'll see how today goes. luckily, i know not go to let it go too low before trying some things - teas, herbs, etc. i will nurse/pump for as long as i can this time! last time i dried up around five months. bummer.

i hate you, pump!

work is good. nothing to complain about except that i have to work now.

so my work day was great. my home evening was TERRIBLE. i had two tired and grouchy kiddos who both needed to go to bed asap. too bad they like to go to bed at the SAME TIME. that's super fun with just one parent around. guess which one went to bed first?

henry paul mason: june 8, 2011

2011-08-31T07:00:00.025-05:00

*this has taken me so long that i refuse to go back and check it for spelling/grammar/typo errors. so just read past them.

*this is my first day back to work. appropriate time to post this, huh?

*happy 12 weeks to henry!

monday (40 weeks, 3 days):

monday we went swimming at rod-e-ney's. i stood next to his super-hot daughter in her bikini, looking giant in my hot-pink maternity tankini. we swam and had fun and that night i started having contractions. dave had downed a dose of nyquil, so i went out to the couch to labor alone. i thought for sure this was it.

i sent texts to my mom, barb and melissa. everyone was on stand-by. my contractions came every 5-6-7 minutes for hours. at 5am i sent a text to my boss that "today might be baby day!" as a warning that i wouldn't be coming in to work. around 6am i decided to take a shower. and around 6:05am my contractions went away.

i was ticked.

tuesday (40 weeks, 4 days):

i had been up all night, but felt pretty good. i had a doctor's appointment at 11am to get checked and possibly schedule an induction for friday. dave went with me and we waited in the waiting room for almost an hour. i finally got a phone call from my midwife asking where i was. i went up to the lady at the front desk and she was rude - said they had called my name and thought i left. lies.

brenda checked me and i was between 2-3 cm. she checked your position and you were head down. things were just fine, thank goodness. you had been transverse a few times before. she gave a talk about what to do if my water breaks and when to make the trip to the hospital. you were still "floating" high, so we weren't thinking things would progress too quickly.

that night we did chores around the house. i drove the tractor while your dad cleaned out the gutters. we stayed active, but no contractions ever started. until that night.

10pm rolled around and the contractions started. i layed in bed while dave did some computer work in the kitchen. around 11pm i sent him a text (from the bedroom - ha!) saying that i had been having contractions. just so he would know. he came in, took a shower and was wide awake. the diet mountain dew he drank was definitely in full force. he was wound up.

wednesday (40 weeks, 5 days):

we stayed in bed that night and tried to relax and watched tv. we tried to sleep. i ever took a shower again to see if the contractions would quit. finally at 1am wednesday morning i decided to call brenda. i had been having contractions for hours at this point, but they never got closer than 4-5 minutes apart. and they weren't overly painful. i could easily talk/breath/walk through them. brenda said that maybe we should come on in. we called barb to come and stay with hallie and got our things together. we went in to check on her and i got teary that this might be her last night as an only child. her world was about to change so much.

i agonized over coming in. i didn't want to drive all the way to springfield to be told i wasn't in labor. that was my worst nightmare. my plan was to labor naturally at home for as long as possible. i wanted to go to the hospital to deliver, not to labor. i worried that the contractions would slow down when we got in the car. instead, they seemed to get more painful. good! that was good!

your dad drank gatorade and i gripped the car handles every time a contraction hit. but i still worried this wasn't the real thing. after all...the contractions had petered out the night before. we got to the hospital around 2:30-3am and i still just worried and worried that this wasn't the real thing. we finally sent texts to my mom and dad to let them know we were going in. they set us up in a room and the nurse came in to check my cervix and see how far i was dialted and to put the fetal monitors on me.

i was a six! i am awesome! a six! only four more to go and you would be here. i felt on top of the world. i was in pain, but not overly so. i felt like i could definitely continue with the natural childbirth (like, no drugs) i really wanted to have.

i refused iv fluids, but had a saline-lock put in my arm "just in case." i was allowed to have clear fluids and was only monitored every hour. things were great. dave and i hung out and walked the halls. we listened to "hello dave," on the ipod - each of us had one ear bud, so we had to walk really close to each other - it was pretty funny. every few minutes i would feel a contraction coming. the only way i could get through them was to find a "tall" counter and lean against it. everything else was too short and uncomfortable.

back in the room, i sat at the end of the bed and sort of bounced my way through contractions. i had tried using the birth ball before, but it seemed awkward and uncomfortable. it was sort of flat. not good. i also enjoyed some lime popsicles.

brenda came in and confirmed that i had progressed to a seven - yay! she thought we would have this baby by 9am. excellent. and sort of scary - i was thinking about the natural delivery and starting to freak out a little. she asked if she could break my water to speed things up. at this point it was 6am and my contractions still weren't very painful. i was nervous. i knew it would hurt more and lead to the delivery and i wasn't sure i was quite ready for that yet. but okay, let's do it.

well, that sure was interesting. instead of a big gush, it was more of a trickle. like i had peed myself. that trickle slowly become a gush every time i laughed or sneezed. and it just kept coming. and coming, and coming and coming.

it was so gross! it is one of the stand-out memories from the whole experience. there was so much fluid! i had to walk around with a towel in between my legs. i would stand up and it would just come flowing out. such a weird feeling.

things started picking up a bit at that point. contractions got more painful, frequent and longer. i decided to try the bathtub. big mistake. the pressure from the hard bathtub floor hit me at the worst spot. i was writhing around trying to get comfortable (ha!) between contractions. dave kept peeking in the door at me and i would scream at him - stop looking at me! i felt like i was in a movie.

sidenote: i didn't want anyone looking at me. not dave, not my mom, nobody! dave was the only person i would allow in the room with me. so different from hallie's birth. with her, i had an epidural and anyone in the world was allowed to come in and hang out. not so much with henry. at all.

i thought maybe this was transition? i was sweaty one second and cold the next. i felt awful. the contractions were brutal. i had been at a seven for hours at this point. so much for the 9am delivery. things just stalled, big time. i had bounced like a wild woman, walked the halls and did everything to get to the point of delivery. and nothing was working.

i called dave into the bathroom between contractions and told him that i wanted to be checked. if i was still at a seven (this was around 11am - i had been a seven for hours and hours) then i wanted an epidural.

they checked me.

i was a seven.

the anesthesiologist came in about a half-hour later and took a million years to put the edpirual in. i had to sit perfectly still through agonizing contractions. it was awful. that was the only point i wanted to cry. i had been so close to the natural delivery i wanted and then opted out. then here was the promise of NO PAIN and it was taking forever!!!!! oh that was awful.

but then he got it in and things were good for a bit. they hauled my numb but from one side to the other so that the medicine would distribute evenly. and then you decided you didn't like being on my right side - only my left. every time they moved me to the right, you would get ticked off.

they checked me and i was an eight. they warned me about feeling pressure and i started to get excited. brenda moved me in all sorts of weird, pretzel-like positions to things moving faster. nothing seemed to be working.

and then they checked me again. still an eight. and oh WHOOPs - now my cervix was swollen. this meant a consult with an ob from st. johns, an ultrasound and then ultimately a c-section. suck-o.

i was a big girl about it. i'm not going to cry about a change like that. i knew it was what needed to be done. i couldn't deliver vaginally with a swollen cervix - that was that.

things moved quickly at that point. they shaved me, medicine-d me and wheeled me to the room with a promise that dave would be joining me soon. the medicine made my heart race and i warned the doctors that too much medicine made me want to puke. and sure enough, i had to barf a few times once we got in there. but then i felt better so who cares?

they had a blue sheet pinned up so i couldn't see my insides being tossed around (or so i imagine). it felt like the sheet was RIGHT in front of my face. did i mention i'm claustrophobic? my hands were on either side of me, like on a cross. they didn't tie them down but said they would if i didn't hold still. nice.

they brought dave in and he stood up and watched while they messed me around. he started making comments like, "gross" and "oh my gosh," and finally i said, "NO COMMENTS, please." so he shut up.

and then i heard you cry. and your daddy said, "it's a boy!!!!" and i said, "of course it is." and they brought your bloody little body around the corner of the sheet and i cried while you peed all over the place. i cried and cried and so did your dad. i was sure i would get in trouble, because my body was just wracked with sobs. i hated that i couldn't hold you and that they took you away from me to get you cleaned up.

and then i started shaking. the medicine was making me have violent tremors. it was awful. my neck hurt for days because of trying to control the shakes. it was so, so, so bad. they handed you to dave and he brought you over for me to kiss you. and i couldn't even press my lips to your face because i was shaking so badly. but dang, you looked adorable.

and we said, "henry paul." although your dad wanted to name you "paul henry." but i was the one shaking so i win.

they hadn't told us to bring in a camera, and with the hubub we didn't think of it. so we don't have any pictures of you when you were first born. it's very disappointing, so i'm making up for it by taking a thousand pictures of you every day.

i was still shaking (and i mean SHAKING) while they sewed me up, so they put lots of warm blankets on me. it didn't help. they wheeled me back to our room and a nurse went out to get hallie. i got to watch hallie meet you, her baby brother. sort of. i got to watch from my bed on one side of the room, while you, your daddy and your sister had quite a lovely moment. i may or may not have sobbed hysterically at that point.

we gave hallie the sucker that said, "boy" on it sent her out to tell the grandparents. all we could hear was screaming from down the hallway. again, why didn't we think to video that moment??!! i would kill to see their reaction when she turned that little sucker around.

i was still shaking -always shaking. so sad. they said it would take a few hours for the medicine to work its way through my body. i couldn't hold you until i stopped for fear i would drop you. GOOD GRIEF THAT IS AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!

and then nurse joanne, aka my angel, appeared and said i should try to nurse you. apparently that can somehow get some hormones moving and help stop the shaking. they hauled me over on my side (i was still numb, you know) and put you on my boob. and you started nursing instantly. and i stopped shaking instantly.

it was a miracle and i cried.

once i stopped shaking, they hauled me back over and i could nurse you normally. you were beautiful and i will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

don't be jealous.

2011-08-29T09:28:00.000-05:00

a big milestone.

2011-08-26T10:53:00.002-05:00

henry's first ride in the semi. he was thrilled, can't you tell? we drove down to meredosia to drop off the hopper and decided to make it a family affair.

we live such exciting lives.

ps - breastfeeding on the bunk of a very bumpy semi is sort of tricky. henry was holding on to my boob for dear life and believe me when i say that is uncomfortable.

Life With Masons

A VERY GOOD WEEKEND WITH A LOT OF PINTEREST.

THE REAL VALENTINE'S DAY.

EXCITED ABOUT...NOTHING?

BONUS POST: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.

WEEKEND RECAP. IN PICTURES.

I REALLY DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE SICK OF RECIPES BECAUSE I AM NOT AND THIS IS MY BLOG.

SIX YEARS OLD, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

FEB GOALS. OH DEAR.

HENRY'S FAVORITE TEETHERS.

MORE PINTEREST, I KNOW.

SUPER BOWL & MAH BOYZ.

PINTEREST: YOU WIN ONE, YOU (SORTA) LOSE ONE.

﻿

DEVILED EGG DIP

Directions:

SICK SICK SICK, SUCK.

PINTEREST SUCCESS: WHITE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

FRIDAY NIGHT DELIGHT!

A POST OF NOTHING.

PINTEREST FAIL: BAKED FRIED CHICKEN.

YOGA, MORE MOHAWKS AND A STORY ABOUT A LOST IPHONE.

SMELLS LIKE A DAISY.

MR HENRY GIGGLES.

SNOW & MOHAWKS.

MY KIDS ARE WAY TALENTED.

MORE CHRISTMAS. AND THE NEXT DAY.

MORE CHRISTMAS. DAY AFTER.

BACK TO CHRISTMAS. EVE.

SOMETHING I DON'T WANT TO FORGET.

HOW BIG IS HENRY? 7 MONTHS.

COULDA, SHOULDA, WOULDA.

MR HENRY GETS A TOOTH AND IT IS REALLY HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH.

CHRISTMAS CARD OUTTAKES.

GREAT-GRANDMA CHRONISTER.

IT'S BEEN A LONG LONG TIME.

HENRY CLAUS.

7:30AM. OUR HOUSE AKA GOTHAM CITY.

TRAITOR.

FLU.

6 MONTHS OLD.

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM 2011.

THE HAPPIEST BABY ALIVE AND HIS GREAT-GRANDMA. AND A DISH RAG.

THIS IS HOW WE ROLL.

STATE OF THE BOOBIES ADDRESS.

FREEDOM.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I KNOW. WE'VE BEEN BUSY.

A GREAT WAY TO SPEND THE DAY.

THIS MORNING.

EXPRESSIONS.

EXPECTATION VS REALITY.

I THINK I'LL GO FOR A WALK OUTSIDE NOW.

GIFTS.

SIBLINGS. AGAIN.

Monkey see monkey do!

OUR HOUSE AT 7AM

SO LONG SUCKA.

5 Months Old! Henry!

Fire Ants.

Fire in the Sky.

Our Halloween Sucked, How Was Yours?

I Gotta Getta Grippa.

Milestone: Baby's First Bites...er, Slurps.

Double the Bedhead, Double the Fun.

My Sleeper.

I Love These Kids.

Before and After.

What's in YOUR Garage? Prepare for a Crazy Long Post. With Lots of Words.

weekend recap. a crapload of pictures.

Dear Dave: 17.

Fun-draising.

Henry is 4 Months! (like, last Saturday).

Dear Dave: 21.

Dear Dave: 24.

Dear Dave: 25.

Dear Dave: 26.

Dear Dave: 27.

family outings in the semi.

Siblings.

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