Wow did not realize its been so long since I've blogged. Here is a quick recap of the last month!!

July 4th went great. We went to some of Austins family on the 3rd and had so much fun out there then on the 4th we had some friends and family over for a cookout and to shoot off fireworks. Evan was great with them on the 3rd but when they were closer and louder he wasnt too much of a fan!

The weekend of July 9th we went to the coast. It was a great and much needed vacation. Austin said he didnt get back mentally until last week! LOL! Evan loved the water and just played and played. Had 1 taste of the sand and never went back. Smart boy!! We brought the dogs and they loved it just as much. Our little dog wasnt too excited because the waves would easily go over his head but our big dog who is terrified at the lake was in heaven at the beach. Crazy dog makes no sense!

This past weekend was E's first birthday party. Stressed is putting it lightly. But it ended up being a great day. He was able to play in the splash pad while the big kids played in the water spraying bounce house. He had cake and ice cream and got so many amazing toys. One of his favorites is a Cozy Coupe Car but the turkey keeps pulling it over on him. Thankfully it is a light weight hollow plastic and he can easily crawl out from under it. He also got a little recliner like chair with his name on it and is in love with it as well. He'll just it there and play or drink his bottle or play with Scout his new stuffed dog that he also loves! LOL!

Its such a bittersweet time. I am so happy that he's growing up and proud of the amazing little boy he's become but so sad that he's not so much a baby anymore. It all went by so fast. I truly wish I could go back in time and relive it all over again. Well maybe skipping the colic part! :D He has made this the best year of my life and I can only imagine it gets better. He is such a fun, happy and smart baby. He has the best personality. I frequently look at him and wonder how on earth I helped make such an amazing thing. I just hope that I do the best job I can with him as he gets older and grows from a toddle to a little boy to a young man to a man. Although I do feel a little guilty for the fact that the second he was born my first thought was not "Oh my goodness my sweet precious baby is here" nope it was "Oh geeze thank goodness he's finally out!" Then I though about my sweet precious baby! Ha! I do have to say I look forward to doing it all again but I wonder how I will love a second baby as much as I love E, and how will I be so attached to a second as I am E? I am sure I will love the next one just the same only in a different way. Whenever that time comes though I will be ready for the challenge!

My baby is now closer to a little boy than a baby and that gap widens more and more every day. I miss the sweet soft cuddles and him just laying in my arms. I do love the amazing little person he has come to be, way too much like me but I think I love him even more because of it. I do not however want him back to his baby state. He was by no means an easy baby. Colic, lactose intolerance, never really sleeping through the night, 8 ear infections, the list goes on. But he is a happy and healthy 11 mon old today. Last Monday he figured out how to climb on to the couch and was quite pleased with himself for it! He is still a mommas boy by all means. He loves his momma, gives me sweet kisses, cuddles with me and everything but he's so independent its crazy! I look forward to him being able to do things like run to me when I come home and one day clean up after his tornado like self. For boys, clothes very much get cuter with age and so do shoes. So yes I look forward to all of this, but I am just sad the tiny baby side is gone. A friend of mine had a tiny baby boy last week. So precious and sweet. Congrats Jenn! Enjoy this because its gone all too soon, I'm sure you know that though from Haeven!

I start school next week. I'm a little nervous but so glad to do it. I think its finally time for me to finish my degree and get my RN. There are so many more oppertunities for me with it. Hopefully it wont take me a full year and I'll have my Associates of Science in Nursing sooner than next summer! LOL.

Summer has gotten off to a great start! We bought E a little splash pad that he loves to play on, and today we took him to the lake for the first time! He is such a water baby. The sad thing is, is he has tubes in his ears so we have to be careful with them. He cannot for any reason get water in them, which with a 10mon old is extremely hard. He got the cutest little tan today. Of course I got burned but meh its normal for me. I am so happy he got his daddys skin. I was worried he would burn as easily as I do but its become obvious he does not. I am hoping we will soon be able to take him fishing.

We booked our vacation this week. A few wonderful days at the beach. Work has been extremely crazy lately, which makes me feel like I need a vacation all the more. My sister and her crew are going but its still going to be a nice family vacation. They are staying a day longer than we are so we arent going down together. We went and stayed at a friends beach house almost exactly two years ago and it was the best trip! I love spending quality time not only with my little family but also with my sister. I do however wish my baby sister could go. But she's in GA and wont be home until August. We are trying to be able to follow her back to GA and spend some time there with her and my niece and nephew whom I've by far not spent enough time with!

Today is Memorial Day and even though we all celebrate it every year I am not sure I ever knew how it came to be. Its not like Christmas or Halloween or the 4th of July (although similar roots). I never remember actually learning about it in school, except maybe the fact that we had the day off. I have always confused it with Labor Day in September. So I decided to take a few minutes and find out about this day we all celebrate that seems to be gaining more and more attention with each passing year.

It began around the end of the Civil War with freed slaves remembering the fallen soldiers that helped to free them. This is where the roots to the 4th of July are similar. People remembering and celebrating those who helped to free them. My grandfather served in Korea. Very few even know what this war was about or for (myself included) but my grandfather had no doubt about why he served. He knew it was the best thing he could do, and I do believe he truely enjoyed serving his country (tehe that was evident by the girl he had tattooed on his arm). He was the best man I think I've ever known. He had no problem helping those that needed it. Yes you got his 2 cents along with it but it was a small price to pay. Thankfully he didnt pay the ultimate price, I wouldnt be here if he had, but he was affected by what he saw. He had stories of things over there that were things I never want to see. He was with the recovery, he went in after the fighting was over and helped the wounded and dying.

I am so thankful to those who serve and who risk life and limb on a daily basis for us. So while we celebrate with cook outs and pool parties and they sit in the hell of Afghanistan or Iraq please remember the real reason we celebrate today! Remember and celebrate those who have fought and died for our freedom!

Jesse Wilkerson VanDyke USN (1934-2008)

Ok guys I am really trying hard to win a give away through Sugar Pop Ribbons. I would love to be able to add to my stash of cloth diapers! Even though I feel you can never have enough I by far do not have enough!

Well its Monday. Which means rapture is either extremely late or the crazy was wrong! I'm going with the second choice there. I truely feel for those who uprooted their lives and gave up everything because of this. But honestly I am not sure I feel all that bad. They were blatanly ignoring what they see before their eyes in black and white. The writing in the bible is pretty clear when it comes to the second coming, yet these people listened to a person who "claimed" they knew. The real sadness I feel comes from the fall out of all of this. Nonbelievers are now less likely to come to Christ because of all of this. They see the Bible as being wrong but it is not at all the man was wrong. He is coming it just wasnt Saturday!

That being said, my wknd was just as I thought. Boring on Saurday (yay) and busy on Sunday. I realized how old I am really getting at church. They had a thing for all of the graduates (some college, but mostly high school) and while they were showing a little slideshow it hit me that these kids were 2nd graders when I graduated high school! It by no means seems like it has been that long! Geeze time goes by quickly, and it seems like it is constantly speeding up! Watching Evan grow makes that so much more obvious. What happened when days with nothing to do went by at a snails pace? What happened to days with nothing to do?

I made Evan some new cloth wipes this wknd! They are super cute monkey print. No having a cute print doesnt mean anything because they are used to well wipe poop but its still cute! I think I am going to sew some nicer ones at some point. I'd also love to sew him a diaper myself but I have to get a sewing machine and then learn to sew! LOL!

As I am sitting here at work while my patient sleeps with a precious few minutes left of their nap thinking. Amidst all this world ending business I am wondering why people are making such a big deal over what some lunatic is spouting? People have upended their entire lives because of this and sadly will have to pay for it come Sunday morning. So if rapture does by some chance happen, was it because psycho guy called God out and figured out this awesome mathematical formula? No! It is  a date set which no one knows and will not know and if by some chance Saturday is that day it will not be because psycho guy learned to add, read the Bible and put 2 and 2 together (but in this instance 2 and 2 is not equaling 4). I believe God is a little brighter than that and would have left things a little harder to figure out. If I have a secret and then write a book and put that secret in said book its not much of a secret after all is it? I believe in God and all things he has done and continues to do for me and my family. Are there things I dont understand? Sure! Are there things I question? Yep! But in the end I leave it up to Him knowing he knows best and thats that. Call me a sheep blindly following the herd but this is one Shepard I will happily follow.

That being said, this weekend will bore most to tears and leave me feeling quite content. Saturday is cleaning/laundry day. I still have a ton of baby clothes to go through and get organized. On top of that our pile of dirty laundry is scaring me at the moment. Then working on our yard if the weather permits and cleaning the house. Just a day with me, my honey, and my little boy! Who could ask more much more than that? Then Sunday we have a birthday party and a baby shower! Woo hoo cake, cake and more cake! LOL! But they are my sisters cakes so I know they'll be amazing! 

I am going to do my best to start walking tonight! My stupid broken foot seems to be healing at a snails pace and I just dont have the patience for it any more! I am ready to start my Couch to 5k then get back on P90x! 

This week I have been given a little taste of what being a stay at home mom would be like. I do admit I am extremely jealous of those who are able to do this regularly. Spending every day with my little boy with nothing but a messy house to distract me has been heavenly! I return to normal-ville tomorrow but I am soaking this up as much as I can! My patient had surgery yesterday so I picked up a late evening shift (4-10) and am off today. Evan is an amazing baby and this has proven itself over and over the last few days! The great unconditional love he gives so easily makes me feel as if I need nothing else in life. Now I did enjoy being able to get out and work a few hrs yesterday. But knowing I have another entire day of nothing but E time is awesome! Yes there are errands to run and dishes to do. Laundry needs to be washed folded and put away but I get so few of these days that I am refusing to do any of it! I hate having to work so much and miss so much of his sweet life that seems to be going by like the speed of light. The expression on his face last night when I got home ( I asked Austin to keep him up so I could say goodnight) was priceless! To see him jump up and down and squeal with excitement when he saw me made me feel like the best mom on earth! Now yes there are days that I am home and have a list a mile long to get done and I just go crazy and he refuses to nap and is cranky and its just a day, but those are few and far between. At the moment the turkey is banging his bottle that he just emptied and the remote to the surround sound system together and then dropping them into his tray of peas and carrots. Hilarious yes! Will Austin like finding pea bits on the remote? No! I dont think I would necessarily have to stay home every day to feel like this, just more than I do. But bills have to be paid, food needs to be bought and we need to keep a roof over our heads. So for now me staying home is not an option! But one day I think it will and its times like this that make me all that much more excited for that day!

This hands down has been one of the worst weeks ever! Lets take this week-o-crap day by day.

Monday- Evan has a morning Dr. appt, which is a follow up from his surgery. He sees the audiologist and then ENT. To start the day off he wakes up way before I even get into the shower which is not good. Then it takes him over an hour to eat breakfast. Again not good and not normal! He decided to play more than eat! Then its pouring rain like crazy so people act like they have never seen anything like this before and drive like idiots! So we finally leave 15mins left and have to drop Mylo off at he groomers. This puts us about 10min late for his appt. Three seperate hearing tests later and they show he still seems to have fluid on his ears, nor is he happy about being poked and prodded at for 20mins. This is wonderfully followed by having to wait on the dr for 45mins! Thankfully we get called back and an whopping 5min visit to say yes he has severe infections even after tubes and needs ear drops and antibiotics! $50 copay and we are gone for the next stop of our day. Its a wonderful lunch with one of my BFFs and her uber sweet and cute little girl who says "I love him" after seeing Evan! Then its off to his other dr. appt, his 9mon check up. It goes great but he does get a shot and I learned he never got his flu shot follow up. Too late now! Then its back to pick Mylo up and finally 8hrs later we are home! The butthead never napped and then refused to nap, which ment I got nothing done! Ugh by the time Austin got home I was done with the day!

Tuesday-While playing with my patient I fell and broke my foot. Technically I have a severe fracture, a hairline fracture and a severly sprained ankle and an even worse sprain in my foot! Yay time for Das Boot! But it was not to be on Tuesday! The company the dr. sent us to had an issue with my insurance and said I'd have to buy it myself and either bill insurance on my own or come back Saturday, return the boot and then buy it through insurance then. Umm no! Thankfully my mom had a shoe boot I could use until I got everything straightened out! But I ended up missing 3hrs of work.

Wednesday-Told my boss I left early because I broke my foot on Tuesday. She definitely understood but I really needed to make up the hrs. Yay for that! Still no boot because we had to find a new company closer to us! Found one but they couldnt get to my order in time for me to get the boot. I was supposed to stay an hr late but I was done and went home at 6. Upon arriving home I go to chance Evans diaper and he is covered in whelps!! Huge red whelps and tiny red dots! Allergic reaction much? Check the med and Oh! its amoxicillin and my family has a large history of penicillin allergies! Guess what this means! Stop the med immediately and put some cream on his whelps. Austin left to go find Benadryl and finds a shortage of it! Which means none for my little man! He went to 3 different stores to try to find it too! Evan slept with us that night and I got all of maybe 3hrs combined due to waking up and constantly checking on him.

Thursday-Get Das Boot!! Yay a huge silver lining on the day! Went in early and stayed late to make up some time. Got a call from his daycare about the rash just letting us know he has one! Umm thanks for notifying us when it actually happened! The dr. called in a new antibiotic as well! Oh did I mention when we filled the drops Monday night after insurance they were $80? Yep! My patient didnt nap which ment no real break for me, and one long work day in pain!

Friday-Wonderful Friday! Again came in early and stayed late to make up the rest of the mising hrs. Did a fool proof way to get my patient to nap! Minimal pain from my foot! All in all it was a pretty good day!

Today-Evan decided he was up early at about 5am and we said no to that! Put him in bed with us and he slept til 830!! Sometime during the night I moved my foot and felt a pain so severe I thought I rebroke it! Evan went and spent some time with his grandma and paw paw so that gave us some time to get the house cleaned! After ward we all loaded up and went to Mayfest to see my niece do a great job preforming a ballet dance! Evan was so excited to see her! I love seeing how much he loves her! But about 15minutes of being there Evans allergies were in over drive! Puffy, red, watery eyes, nose running like a faucet on full blast! He started even acting like he looked! Miserable so no fun there besides seeing Cali dance! Home it was. As soon as we left he got better though! Got home and my foot was killing me so I found some pain meds I've had left over from his birth and took one then laid down on the couch with him. This would have been a great thing had he not been uber tired from not napping at all today and started screaming as soon as we laid down! Finally he gave it up and fell asleep! Now I am sitting here looking at the turkey sleep wishing he was awake to cuddle with! LOL!

I am so looking forward to tomorrow! My first Mothers Day with him here! I cant wait!

Evan's first Easter was so great! Saturday we had an egg hunt at church. He actually picked up about 5 eggs on his own then was done. LOL! Then during the drawing he won a gift card so the Easter Bunny finished his basket up with that and there is still $ on there for a rainy day or new sippy cup! Which ever comes first. Then that evening we all went to Irving to see my cousins that I havent seen in years! Their babies are soo big now! It was a really nice dinner at a place that definitely brought back many memories! Being in Irving alone does that though. Then Sunday the Easter Bunny had come and hidden a few eggs and brought Evan a ton of goodies. A new Gdiaper, 2 sippy cups and 1 sippy cup with a straw, and some new binkys! Then we went to church and it was a great service! After that we loaded up and headed out to my sisters for an Easter cook out. Evan of course was a little ham and even got to do the egg hunt. He found just as many eggs as everyone else! LOL! But shared his goodies! All in all it was a great weekend! I so look forward to more holidays with that little turkey butt!