Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

A Day at the Park

Ashie's Words of the Day

"I boke it" - I broke it
"Nasy"- Nasty..he just screamed this outta nowhere in the truck yesterday
"I got it"
"Monkey"- his curiuos george
"Spngabob"- spongebob
"aaaaahmen"- said randomly throughout dinner
"aple juice"
"makey"- monkey

Aidan and I were reading all of his new books the other night. He looked up at me and said "Mom, this is great". Who is this grown-up talking child?! All of us are sick now...sore throats, coughs, runny noses, etc..fun times. I wanted to start walking again to walk off this 10 pounds I have gained over Christmas lol! But instead I sit around eating and sniffing! Since our nephew Paul has been staying with us, he calls me Aunt Lauren. Well now Aidan calls me Auntie Woren. Its too cute! *UPDATE* aidan screams out right before we take communion "I wanna go up there and get my cracker!!"

Even More...

More Pics

Wonderful Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! So many wonderful memories made that I can't describe them all! But here's a recap:

Christmas Part 1: We went to DDoc's (my granddad) in Oxford and had a wonderful time with him and my parents, and sisters! Asher enjoyed climbing up in the window sill with him and saying "git doggie, git!" Aidan enjoyed cuddling with him in the window seat and watching the Elmo Christmas special. My sisters, mom, and dad did a wonderful job spoiling the kids silly with all kinds of love, attention, and TOYS! We packed up all (well mostly) of the old toys and sent them to goodwill. Mama kept the boys one night so Ddoc, Kirsten and I could go out to dinner which was sooooooo nice!

Christmas Part 2: My moms side of the family always does Christmas on Christmas Eve day in Raleigh, so I was excited we got to go to that this year! I've included the picture we all took. The boys were spolied with more attention and toys! But it was sooo good to see everyone again! My cousins had grown up so much!!

Christmas Part 3: Christmas Eve we had returned home about 5:30pm and went to church service at 8:30pm. This was special to Mat's mom because the whole family went. Something she has wanted for a long long time! The boys only lasted half way through the service but considering they had been on the go in strange places for 4 day they did sooooooo well! Aidan and Ash passed out by the time we got to grandmas so i did the milk, cookies, and reindeer food (thanks to Grandma Dori---gotta tell ya later where that came from) with 5 year old cousin Paul-Paul! It was so exciting to see him so excited!! Christmas morning we woke up about 7:30am and started on the presents. Mat had eaten the cookies and left one that was bitten into! It was just cute looking! Aidan was THRILLED with his kitchen and nothing else mattered after that!! Asher (as you can see in the pic) had gotten an extra comfy monkey blanket (he loves curiuos george) and he decided to lay down in the middle of presents and take a rest, so Mat and I finished with the presents. I got a bunch of "chef man" stuff for my kitchen from Melissa (we drew names), Mat got clothes and a leather coat from mom, and we had a picture frame engraved for Melissa and Brandon and melissa was very touched about it!

Christmas Part 4: By now Ashie knows the word presents! Minnie got Aidan some Spongebob coloring stuff and the movie and Ashie got a telephone since the child is OBSESSED with phone. That was the only present that he gasped over! We had a good small celebration with Minnie!!

Merry Christmas!!

Sorry I'm way to tired to blog tonight. But stories and pictures are coming soon! I'm keeping my 5 year old nephew for a week so bear with me in the blog dept! We had such a wonderful Christmas with some wonderful family! Hope yours was just as good! Peace to all!

Lauren, Mathew, Aidan, and Asher

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

So much to do so little time!! Me and the kids are leaving for Oxford on Friday until Sunday. Monday Christmas with my mom's family in Raleigh, drive back Monday evening, Christmas with Minnie that night, Christmas Eve service at 8:30pm then spend the night at Grandmas. Then Christmas day at grandmas. So bewteen today and Thursday I have more Christmas shopping, laundry washing (all the "good clothes of course"), packing, wrapping and panicking!

Asher is doing great so far. We went to the ped. yesterday and she says she has seen cases like this but there is no explaination. If it continues to happen we are taking him to a Pediatric Neurologist. But hopefully it won't come to that and he will continue to improve!!! Thanks for all your prayers and concerns!

We were in church Sunday and Asher sang along with the choir. "sing, sing , singsing, sing" he says!! He will be the next American Idol! Aidan is too qucik for me and I can't "slide things by him anymore". For example, his Daddy got a haircut and he came home and then went back out again (the lady at Walgreens overfilled our printer cartridge and he went back to raise hell when it leaked all over our printer). Aidan says "where daddy going? going to get haircut?" instead of explaining the Walgreens trip to him I said yes Aidan. He snaps back "No mommy he already got haircut! Where Daddy going?" Oops!

We went to the CARE Christmas party on Sunday night. This is for the kids affected with HIV/AIDS. It was so nice to see the excitement on their faces for all their toys and good food! Makes me think how grateful I am to have such healthy kids and to be able to provide a Christmas for them!!! Everyday Aidan asks Santa for his kitchen and I don't know what I would do if we couldn't afford a Christmas for them!! After that we went to the Christmas Cantata at church. That lasted all of 5 mins before I said ok thats it we are leaving!

Today is haircuts, maybe a cute shirt for Aidan (because we must look perfectly adorable right Rach lol), and shopping for my family! God bless us during this wonderful? time of year! :-)

Pay It Forward

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?s=7477964

Prayers for Ashie

So you will all prob think I'm a neurotic crazy mother. I"M NOT I SWEAR! lol.

OK here goes the story. I swear this past week has been full of downs! Mat got off work at 3pm yesterday and Mom wanted to take Aidan for the night. Great! So we decided to do some Christmas shopping with Ashie. Long story short we shopped and went out to eat from 3-6pm. Ashie was in the stroller or high chair the whole time except for one time at Target when I got him out when we were in line and he toddled around. We arrived home and I took him out of the carseat and put him on the ground to walk to the door of our home. He couldn't walk. I tried holding his hand, thinking his leg was asleep and his leg cont'd to collaspe and not cooperate. OK I was worried but still thinking his leg was asleep from being in the stroller for so long. So Mat and I got inside and rubbed his leg and foot and tired to get him to walk it off. Well minutes flew by and he still couldn't walk. We took him to Minnie's house JUST to make sure we weren't going crazy. She said you need to take that baby to the ER.

So by that point my mind was racing with fear! There was no injury, redness, swollen, pain when you touch it, NOTHING! But Ashie was fine and dandie! He just couldn't walk on his left leg! So to the ER we traveled. Again long story short. They did X-rays (my baby boy was soo brave). Nothing, they showed nothing. The doctor was perplexed. He could obviuosly see the child coudn't walk on his leg but there was no sign of anything! We were told they couldn't send him home not being able to walk and no diagnoses. So they admitted him to New Hanover because Cape Fear didn't have a PED Unit. Again my heart is racing and I feel so sorry for my poor baby who only wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed. Maybe one day I'll tell about the adventures we had in the ER that night!

Well they had no beds avaliable at NH Ped Unit so we had to wait. We arrived at the ER at 6:30pm and FINALLY at 4:30am (with no sleep from Mat and I) we were transported by ambulance to New Hanover. This was a little extreme. Just send us home and we will come back in the AM to get the bone scan! But no it had to be done this way! So we both took our first ambulance ride with Ashie on a stretcher (with a seat belt you would be HORRIFIED at Rachel). We got settled to a room and got 2 hours of shut eye. Longer story short my poor poor poor angel had an IV, bone scan and blood drawn. NOTHING!!! THEY FOUND NOTHING!!!! We were released at 4:30pm today. Part of me is glad they didn't find anything bad but they other part of me is PISSED they can't tell me what is wrong with my poor baby!! It's just lots of watch him. Another part of me is researching immunizations because he just had 3 last week and I know there are some recalled ones out there.

Like I said he is happy and otherwise healthy but he just cannot walk on that leg!! I'm sure it is just nothing but its just so hard to see my baby frustrated and not know how to help him! Just keep him in your prayers!!! :-)

Open mouth.....

We were at the mall today and a lady on a scooter was trying to get by us in JCP. Aidan went up to her and laid his hand on her hand (again he doesn't understand stranger danger) and said "You driving your motorcycle?". She dies out laughing as well as I!

Recount of the days events

Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel! I got alot of Christmas shopping done today! We picked a name of a little boy infected with HIV/AIDS to buy Christmas for. I think I was as excited to buy for him as I was my own children! I am almost done, thank goodness! Now to more dreaded wrapping....

Today was a very productive day! I got laundry done, both cars vaccumed out and shopping done! This was done on very little sleep! I was up until 1:30am wired for some reason. Then at 4:30am I heard, "down down, mama, down down". Ashie was up and wanted out of his crib! Today we made our daily trip to Walmart and since Mat was with us I let Ashie walk from the car to the entrance. He was such a big boy!! We had to park at the very end of Wal-mart and he held my hand and walked with such a big boy stride the whole way! At one point my hand slipped out of his and he stopped in his tracks and held up his cute little hand for me to take again!

Aidan had a little smart mouth today. I told him I left his cup in the car and he said "No Mom it's in Daddy's TRUCK!" (we drove the truck today). He called me out on every bad word (which included stupid, idiot, ok and ass- Wilmington traffic is the worst and we DEF have the worst drivers EVER and I tend to lose control -opps!). So he says "oooh mommy you NO say bad word! you bad boy!" so of course Ashie had to join in the bad boy (aidan doesnt understand the sexes yet). I'm sure this is not yet the worst that he will teach his "baby broder" (as aidan calls ashie).

Well let me go turn off my AC. Yes it's December and I have to turn off the AC for the night. Craziness and it will be like this all week! Oh well at least we can play outside (and get all that advent calendar-chocolate-induced-energy out!).

PS:Description of the picture: Aidan had fallen asleep on the floor (aka Daddy was watching the kids while mommy did laundry) and this is what Asher did when he woke up to find Aidan asleep on the floor!

Updates

Oh so much to say! We've been quite busy lately and it's not going to get any easier from here!

Aidan is my big helper! He was helping me unload the dishwasher tonight. He was telling me where to put each cup and plate and he got it all right! We went to a family dollar yesterday in Wilmington that we had never been before. His La-La is the manager of the one in Burgaw and during Halloween she scared him in her store with a scary mask. Well when I pull up to the Wilmington store he says "Mommy, I'm scared." I said why Aidan? He points to the store and says "The Halloween monster is in there". Now how the hell did he know we were at a Family Dollar? Kids amaze me!

Asher woke up one morning and has not stopped talking since. When he sees a Santa he says "ho ho!" with his little lips curled up! He grabs a toy or a can of food and says "Open dis". But EVERYTHING is "What's dis?" or "What's dat?" EVERYTHING Aidan says Ashie repeats it in one way or another. This also goes for whatever Aidan does! We were in the car today and Aidan was pulling up his pant leg saying "see this (scratch) mommy?", I look over at Ashie and he is also pulling up his pant leg saying "see dis?" and pointing to his leg! I just LOVE this age!! He will go crawl up on the couch and cuddle with a pillow. When we were at Grandma's Aidan was sleeping in the playpen and I put Ashie in there to wake him up and Ashie says "wake cup wake cup" and went and snuggled next to him and Aidan put his arm around Ashie. Of course I didn't have a camera!

We went to the Christmas Parade tonight and I just LOVED watching their faces! I wish I could post videos on here because their expressions were priceless! Not a whine or a cry during the whole thing! Asher waved to everyone and danced and sang to the music. Aidan waved at the all people dressed up as characters and also loved dancing to the music! And I thought he might havea panic attack when Santa rode by! He jumped up and "hey Santa, hey there Santa" in the most deep grownup voice I have ever heard!

We FINALLY took the damn Christmas pictures at Olan Mills on Saturday. Our appt was at 10:45am and we didn't get done until 12:40pm. No one said "Oh we are running behind so and so mintues go walk your restless kids around the mall", it was just "we will get to you asap". At 12:41 I was ready and willing to give these kids to anyone who would take them (just kidding). But it was crazy and it was over and I get them back Dec 18th so Christmas cards are coming everyone!

Well the mail key has been lost for 7 days now so I must go through the piles and piles of mail that has backed up. It was in the stroller the whole time. The whole time I turned the house upside down and found a lot of missing items along the way. So I must go dive in some bills. Good night and God Bless!

Firsts

YAYAYAAY! Tonight I laid Asher in his crib and said "I love you baby" and he replied "Uv wah". AKA Love you!!! I was thrilled and I got him to say it again just to make sure that is what I heard!!! I'm so proud of him! He has started to say "ho, ho,ho" when he sees a Santa. He is just growing up so fast! I hate it :-(. Minnie calls him the little midgit. She says thats no baby thats a midgit lol. We love Minnie!

Aidan is doing so well with his shapes. I made a little matching game with shapes for him today and he got them all correct! He is so eager to learn! And update on the potty training...he is good to go now! He wears undies (I say panties but get yelled at if anyone else hears me lol) all day and a diaper at night. I tried the undies at night but that didn't work. He has also started this getting up after I put him to bed, with all kinds of excuses!

Well I wrapped some presents tonight which was depressing because it showed me how much shopping I need to do! AHHH! Oh well I'll prob be at Walmart on Christmas Eve! lol I'm watching Waitress now...it's cute..goodnight!

Busy Bee!

Whew! I've been pretty busy the past two days so I'm just going to make this short to catch up on home stuff! I have another yard sale at church tomorrow in which we are going to sell some jackets from http://www.leatherjacketbarn.com/. I've been waking up and walking each morning before Mat goes to work. I'm quite proud of myslef! SO PROUD that I took the top off of the carrot cake Minnie made me and I'm eating it as much as possible LOL! Oops! I think my child is spoiled and I need to do something about it. Tonight he told me "mama I told you to get me some water not orange juice"....what what what what??? He marched his little hiney RIGHT up to his room! lol I was just quite caught off guard! Ugggh the cake is kicking in! Someone take it away! I've included some pics of tonights dinner on Asher and my spoiled brat with his dog, blanket and popcorn! I think I'm going to go wrap some presents, or shower, or pay bills, or organize the paperwork that it piling up on my desk, or find some yard sale stuff, or put away laundry, or.....play on the web some more ;-)

I'm so lonesome I could cry!

Yai-Yai and La-La came and got the boys for the night. A night to myself to do whatever I want...AND I HATE IT! I miss them soo bad! This is the first time I've been away from both of them! They've never taken Ashie before. Mat spent the night at Mom's with them before while I worked late but that was a different story.

Tonight I walked quietly up the stairs, not to wake them, I sulked as I walked past their empty room (which I closed the door to make me feel better), I bought all their fav foods at Walmart, I feel like I need to turn the TV down, I ran to the truck to get the groceries for not to leave them in the house for long. Waaaah I hate this!

So mom's night off and what did I do? Go to Walmart!! Woohoo! I walked through the toy aisle not running, I STOOD in the card aisle and READ every card I wanted and then re-read them, I got out of the truck in 2.5secs instead of 20.5 mintues, I chose a long line to stand in just because I could, I looked around as I waited and listened to all the merry customers bitching and not standing there saying, sit down, stop crying, don't touch that.

Oh! Is it tomorrow yet? So I can wish they were back at Grandmas again! ;-)

Oh Boys!

I got Santa Clause 3 today! Knowing Aidan's fascination with him I thought he love it! Well in one part the reindeer are pooting...I've prob had to rewind that part at least 12 times. He laughs so hard he can't catch his breath! Thanks to Go Dog Go (read 1,258,982 times) Aidan can now spell DOG! ANd this is random but I want to look back and see what they were doing at this age....When Aidan is tired he sucks his thumb and rubs his (or preferably someone else's) ear. Yesterday Aidan told me "mommy, it's AshER not Ashie". HAHA too late son, his name is Ashie lol.

Ashie's new word of the day is....Phom (phone). He picks up his play cell phone when he wakes up and doesn't get off till he goes to bed!! He says "Hewo?" and "Goobye!" He also LOVES TO SING! When we are in the car he is just back there singing away, radio or not! When Ashie is tired he twirls the hair on top of his head. Today Asher ran from across the room with his hands out in front of him and pushed Aidan to the ground....the knock down drag out is coming....I've included a picture of last nights fight!

Sometimes I hate that I can't capture all they say and do into words. These boys are so special to me and they are growing and learning everyday! It's just the little things they do! Like when Ashie runs away on his tiptoes with this cute scrunchie face. Or when Aidan places his "baby" in the highchair with a cookie on one side and a sippee cup on the other. I'm just so proud of them, how smart they are, how caring they are, and overall how HAPPY precious boys they are!!

Santa Claus

It's not even December and we are knocking Christmas activites out like crazy! lol! Today we made our trip to see Santa at the mall! Aidan was star struck! With wide eyes, he told Santa he wanted a kitchen and a fire truck. He said he had been a good boy and went pee-pee in the potty! Now Ashie on the other hand, was just fine and dandy positioned on mommy's hip! He shyed away as Santa tried to give him a high-five but was very eager to say "Bye-Bye".

Since photo session #1 didn't work out we ran across an AWESOME deal at Olan Mills at Belk. One 10X13, One 8X10, Four 5X7, Four 3X5, 32 wallets, and 6 greeting cards for 9.95! I'm sooo excited!!

We did some more tree decorating today. So I included some more pictures. Fun was had by all! Mat and I are going to watch a psychological thriller called Mr. Brooks, then its bed time. Starting today I'm going to TRY to wake up and walk for 30 mins before Mat goes to work.....we'll see how long I keep this up ;-)

Black Friday

So Black Friday brought us some great deals! Mat bravely went out this morning. He got a Life Style Dream Kitchen by Step 2 (Aidan- HE LOVES to take your order then cook you something), matching Cars PJ's (both), Fisher-Price Computer Learning Keyboard Topper (ashie), VTech Nitro Notebook (Aidan- its for 5 yrs but it was such a great deal and he is fairly good at the computer so we might try it and we might save it for later!), and a Playskool Sit n Spin (both).

So this got me in the Christmas spirit! Mat had to work from 11-3 then 3pm-1am. So Aidan was so excited to "open Christmas" when daddy got his break! I've included some pics of us decorating! We only got half done but it fun listening to the "all Christmas music channel" on the radio! Aidan kept trying to blow out the lights on the tree and Ashie kept trying to put the bulbs in his mouth and saying "ball, ball, ball!" I finally got around to labeling the years on the ornanments from years past! I want to remember who got what when!

Oh! By the way! I mentioned we were taking professional pictures on Wednesday! Well yeah that didn't happen! Ashie was NOT having it! So we will reschedule for a morning time! Aidan always posed so good for pictures no matter his age...but Ashie will NOT have his pic taken lol!

A Few Thanksgiving Pictures

A few pictures of the boys riding 4-wheeler, coloring (ashie eating the crayon), reading and of course eating!

Thanksgiving 07

Well we survived Thanksgiving 2007! The night before both boys were running fevers over 102 and had stuffy noses, coughs, and upset tummy's. So worry wort here took them to the hospital, even though I knew what they were going to tell me! It just eased my mind with their fevers so high!

We went to Mat's mom and enjoyed some great time together and some GREAT food! We had turkey, yams, cranberry sauce, mashed potato's, stuffing (my fav!), corn and rolls. It was deeeelicious as Aidan and DDoc would say! Aidan and Asher were feeling alot better so they had a GREAT time playing with their cousin Paul-Paul. Asher was soo very excited to be included with the "big boys".

Then we went over to Ms. Minnie's house and ate again!! She had cooked all our favorites (including Mat's ribs and my carrot cake). She is so unbelievably kind to us!!

Finally, 12 pounds heavier, we got home and started researching Black Friday ads. I went last year so Mat wanted to go this year. So he was at Toys R Us at 4am and he is trying to get through the line now at 6:12am! Then it's off to Walmart!

I hope everyone "survives" this holiday season and don't forget the reason for the season!! I am so thankful for my family and all the blessings they bring me! I'll post some pics later on today when he brings the car (with the camera) home!

Dear Santa

Mom's Request of Santa
Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold 62 cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground, and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's Girl Scout sash with staples and a glue gun. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years. Here are my Christmas wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone. On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. And please don't forget the Playdoh Travel Pack, the stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the In-laws' house seem just like mine. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight. Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, Mom

(I'm not sure who wrote this so I don't know who to give credit too!! But it was too cute!)

Those Unforgetable Sentences

So Aidan and I were reading tonight before he went to bed. He picked a Spot book. Well the book just has one word on each page (book, curtain, dog, bear). As I was reading each word Aidan stopped me and said "No, no, no mommy you reeeead it. Don't say the word you reeead it. Like this (he takes the book and spits off a sentence I couldn't understand)" My heart SANK! It was soo precious~

Ugh the holiday rush is setting in. I have to get the boys haircut, set up and do a picture appt (its been too long!), get together with their cousin and have him do a picture too, cook for Mat's work's Thanksgiving potluck and for our church potluck, pay bills, try to plan out how we are going to Minnie's and Mom's on Thanksgiving, and prob some other stuff I can't think of right now!

Asher let me know he was NOT ready to get up today! I walked in their room and Aidan pops his head up and says "I sleep ALLL day mommy (this was 7:30am lol)". I go over to Asher who is jumping in his crib and pick him up. He says "No no no" and points to his crib. So I put him back in and went downstairs and he just chilled there for about 30mins. I guess he just needed some "ashie" time! Yesterday he was punishing Angel (grandmas dog) saying "Stop! Sit! Baba! (bad bad)"

OK the boys are in bed and off to put away laundry, clean the kitchen and living room, vacuum blablabla!

"Mommy , Christmas is Coming!!"

This is the phrase my child uses to manipulate me. Starting today everytime I got mad about something, he would chime in, "Mommy Christmas is Coming"! Then I would forget I was mad cause it's just soo darn cute and I would say YAY! I'm still not totally in the spirit yet but hopefully Thanksgiving will help me out!

IT was a MOPS day today! I dropped Asher off at his class and he grabbed me and said "Mom-"...oh wait new toys....mom? what mom? Aidan had a meltdown! Well 1st of all I felt really good because there was another girl in Aidan's class wailing for her mommy. She kept coming to me for comfort and everytime I would try to walk away they both would wail! The teachers aren't moms, they are high school/college students. So I'm thinking I was motherly to her and she turned to me? Yes? No? Maybe So? Made me feel good anyway! We had our mentor mom answer questions today and she lifted my mommy spirits. Pretty much, you do what you can, when you can and with what you have. All children are different, respond to different things, and learn at different paces. You take the good with the bad and just spend as much time as you can with your child. I just love MOPS because it's such a refresher that other people are going through the same things I am no matter young, old, rich or poor!

Aidan and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies tonight. He LOVES to cook/bake!! So Santa is bringing him a kitchen! He's going to be a good domesticated hubby one day!! He loves to help with the laundry, dishes, and caring for Asher! Oh and that's another thing. When Aidan was crying for me not to go at MOPS he said through the tears "I wanna go play Asher". I love that they have such a bond between each other!! Brings tears to my eyes!

Ugh! I think Asher is getting sick (along with everyone else we know!). I pray he is better before Thanksgiving! I'm scared to give him any medication with all the recalls out there! I guess we will just sweat it out!

I'm so tired! Off to bed, to bed I said!

An Everyday Mommy Blog

So tonight I did some major cleaning. Like moving the furniture to vaccum under it and actually organizing the toys instead of throwing them on the shelf. So why not blog about it ;-)

You know your a mommy when...
*you clean mashed potatos off the wall on spots that are taller than you are
*you pull wipes out of the back of the fire engine truck
*under your couch are mounds of goldfish and cheerios
*you look in your tub and there is a sock, a spoon, and a toy truck
*your in the Walmart bathroom praising your child for "going pee-pee"
*you look in the cubby hole under your childs bed and there are multiple stuffed animals, blankets, long lost sippee cups, and an empty 2 liter of diet pepsi (I HAVE NO IDEA!)
*the kids plates, cups, and bowls take up more room than your dishes in your cupboard
*you have to make a "plan" to anything: bathroom, shower, clean, "run" to the store
*you let your kid pee in the post office parking lot (I'm not getting my other child outta the carseat to drag 2 kids BACK into the post office, just for them to tell me they dont have public bathrooms)
*your kid has more laundry than you= your kid can wear a different outfit everyday for a year, you have 3 that you can pick from
*you check on your children and they are peacefully sleeping and in the back of your mind you know in just a few hours you will hear the kicking of the crib, the singing, and the knocking on your bedroom wall from theirs...YAY!

Operation Potty Train- Day 2

To those of you who don't care about my son's bowel movements please feel free to skip the following paragraph! :-)
So today was a little bit of a set back but it still went good! We had 3 accidents. Though to give him credit, he knew he had messed up. Everytime he had an accident he would say "Oops! It's ok Mommy. Don't worry mommy! I don't need panties". At least he didn't pee and not say anything. The best moment is when we walked over to Hollywood Video to get Shrek 3. I asked him before we left the store if he need to go. He said yes (though I think it was the excitement of using a new bathroom) and said "I do it". So I pulled down his pants and he went into the stall and closed the door as I peeked through the slot. He went pee pee all by himself!

Ashie-poo has learned to test the limits! He recently started scurrying up on the coffee table and looking at me, pointing his finger and saying "Dit Don" (get down). He says "No" to everything!! Except bedtime. I say "ashie do you want to go nigh-nigh?" and he scurries over to the baby gate in the kitchen and reaches up and says "Ba-Ba" then grabs it and toddles over to the steps. He also runs from me. Lately he picks EVERY little thing off the floor and says something to the effects of here, whats this, eww, yuck. But he is still my cuddler! And I LOVE it!

God Works in Mysterious Ways!

The Coble family had a lot of impact on my family and we don't even know each other! They are the main reason that I quit my job and devoted myself to more family time. All 3 of their children were killed in a car accident back in May. This story really impacted me. I thought about how precious time with your family is and how un-important money is when it comes down to it. After I heard an update on the news today about this family i BAWLED! All day! Take a look!

http://www.ocregister.com/news/chris-coble-lori-1917434-three-cobles

A Much Needed Vent

So I try to be happy and think everything is hunky dory but then life steps in the way!

So most of you know the background with my family. Well things have been GREAT the past couple of months. Well my mom's side of the family always gets together a day or two after Thanksgiving for their T-giving festivities. Well I'm thinking now that we are all re-connecting I'm going/am invited to Thanksgiving there. WRONG!! It was just all an act. My family is just fake (excpet for sister Kirsten). I guess it was a big joke on Lauren or an act for my older grandparents. APPARENTLY everyone has been planning when to get together for thanksgiving WITHOUT me! Oh I just broke down in tears today but now I'm just pissed. My sister said "Well havent you been getting the emails everyone has sent to each other about when is a good time to get together?" UM NO! The thing that set it off was my mother had sent a mass email about her trip to Oc. Island last week. I wondered why she just send one to me. Usually when she sends emails they are to EVERYONE. So I asked Kirsten if she got the email. She did and it had said at the end 4pm Friday after Thanksgiving. Mine did not say that. Thats why she has sent a single email to me....she just left out the thanksgiving part. I AM DONE! DONE! So much effort and emotion to try to reconnect to these people and I AM DONE. Ok so thanks computer for letting me beat the letters out of you and thank you to my readers for letting me BITCH!

I've got my REAL family (Mat's family) and thats all that matters!!

Operation Potty Train- Day 1

So this week is "get Aidan potty trained week"! I know he is ready we BOTH have been to lazy to actually do it! Today went great! Before if he was naked, then he would pee and poop. But I was determined to cover those parts and really potty train. So today he wore underwear all day and went pee and poop in the potty ALL DAY! Then he played outside in his underwear and jeans and he still came inside to go potty. I can't express how proud I am of him!!!! We've gone through LOTS of sugar- free candy today but he did GREAT! I'm so suprised though. I went to Wal-mart today and bought extra underwear because I fiqured I would go through 5 pairs just today! But no accidents! He did wear a diaper to Wal-mart and during nap-time...but babysteps is what we are doing! Check back tomorrow for more potty details...I know your biting your nails with anticipation! ;-)

Blah, Blah, Blah

So Aidan is at his Grandmas house, Mat is working and Asher is sleeping. So I'll talk to my computer (WOW I need to do something more productive!). We had an eventful day! I woke up at 7am to drag myself to the laundry mat. Fun I know. I took Aidan with me to get the laundry when it was done. He was so cute helping me carry the basket out in his rainboots that are 5 sizes too small. I then passed a yard sale on the way home I couldn't resist! Scored 6 pairs of pants for Ashie for $3.00! Woohoo!

We went to Baby Johnathon's birthday party this afternoon. He turned two but I'll always call him Baby Johnathon! The boys had a BLAST! The boys best friends, Tommy, Trinity and Violet, were there also! I found out Tommy was recently potty trained (he is 1 day older than Aidan). This got me inspired to really get Aidan potty trained. I mean he is there but I have been to lazy to really work with him. So this is my new goal for next week! (ugh!)
Asher enjoyed seeing all the airplanes flying over during the party because this is his new favorite word! "Arpane" He also frequently uses "Bay-Bay" and "Outsi" (outside). He is LOVING to sit in my lap and let me point to pictures and he repeats what I say! I love to watch him run! He looks like a short little man running! I LOVE IT! He has been going to bed MUCH better now! We have been off schedule lately and I think this was upsetting him! He screamed, cried, and yelled "Mama" repeatedly for a couple of weeks. But all is well now! **whew
**

Well I think I'm going to go clean something....which really means go downstairs, decide I don't know where to start, say I'll get to it tomorrow, then grab something to eat and replant in front of the computer! ;-) Have a Sensational Sunday!

Brotherly...Love?

The boys are at a great age now! They play together and interact well. I love when they both back up to the front door and Aidan says "One, two, four!" and they take off in a "sprint" to the other side of the room! Giggling and laughing the whole way. Usually Ashie falls down so Aidan does too and they then end up climb on top of each other and wrestling.

Aidan was throwing a temper tantrum the other day and Ashie climbs right on his back and starts jumping on his back and smacking at his head. Aidan better watch out, Ashie is going to beat him up one day! Tonight Ashie was in my lap cuddling and Aidan climbed up too. Ashie reached over pinched a big chuck of skin outta Aidan and screamed "NO!" I was quite taken back!

My first memory of Aidan comforting Ashie was when Ashie was just barely a couple of weeks old and we were in the car. Ashie started crying and Aidan reached over, grabbed his hand, and said "It ok Ashie. Don't cry. We almost dere". I bought died!

Aidan is VERY into imagination and make believe! Everything is pretend like: "Mama, want icecream cone? Here eat it!" Well the past few weeks he has been talking about "his sister". He and "his sister" so everything together. They mostly fight but they also cook and eat icecrea, cones alot!! Now Mat and I have sisters but we refer to them by name and not "sister". SO I don't know where he learned sister from. And I'm DEF not preggo, so I'm thinking its his imaginary friend!!

I don't have any old pics of the boys because we didnt have the computer when Ash was born so this is an old one I scanned a while back. I'm too lazy to go find some more to scan! Enjoy :-)

PS: Aidan says the blessing now, "God is great. Thank you food. AHHHHMEN!"

Totally Tuesday!

Today I started, what hopes to be many more days of crafts! Thanks to my gracious friend Rachel, I have many ideas of crafts! I'm trying to get in the holiday spirit! It's harder this year! But it will come! I love these holidays!

Today Aidan and I made trees with real leaves. He enjoyed going outside to search for "priddy" leaves! His next favorite thing was to pour the glue on the page! But soon enough Elmo's World won out over the second picture but he did a GREAT job of recanting to Daddy how he made his picture!

The other picture shown is just more proof of how our "baby" cuddles his bottle everynight. I am planning to dedicate a whole scrapbooking page (ya know when I get around to doing it when they are 30!) to pictures of how he cuddles his "ba-ba". Asher has developed a fondness of reading now. He will go toddler over and grab his Book of Words and crawl up on the couch in my lap. He will look intently while I say what each picture is! He will then point to each one and say "Ball, Ball, Ball etc"! Too cute! He has started doing the cutest thing! Whenever he hears an unfamilar loud sound (like fire trucks or ducks quacking) he will get an intense look of excitement on his face and shiver like a cold chill is going down his spine. It kinda worried me at first to tell ya the truth but now I realize he is just unfamiliar with a lot of sounds! Another cute/gross event I have to add in here is he is not all smarts and cutes. I turned my back to fix lunch this morning and he proceeded to open the trash can and eat the popcorn from last night out of it! EW!

Speaking of sounds...Mat and I faintly heard the icecream truck coming around 6pm tonight. I had bought Aidan some new shoes ($1.80 from Dollar General..score!). We decided to talk really loud and distract him with the new shoes. So as we were loudly blabbing just so he wouldn't hear it, Aidan says "Mommy, I no want icecream" Oooo Busted mama and daddy!

A Good Monkey Joe Kinda Day!

We headed off to Monkey Joe's today! It was Aidan's treat for being a beeeaarrry good boy for the last week. Minus the birthday party episode, he has very few (if any) tantrums, meltdowns, talking back, rolling eyes, screaming and whining. He has been the complete opposite: helpful, patient, caring, loving and polite. I love this new child I have. Monkey Joe's is his favorite place! A kid place where he can jump, climb, and slide on a bunch of blow up things! Asher enjoyed just running around on the carpet! He also enjoyed the toy fire truck! The big batman scared him and he put on the most pitful (fake) face when he saw it. I think this ame from seeing Aidan's reaction to the Halloween stuff! Here's some pics!