First day of school!!

It's over and we survived!!

Our first hurdle was Meet the Teacher on Thursday night. It was not at all what I expected. I thought we'd go in, meet the teacher, get a picture with her and leave. Nighttime is already a bad time for me - it's when I feel the most nauseous.

Instead, Brian's plane didn't make it on time, so I went by myself at a time that is not one of SG's greatest. I walked in and was handed a packet of papers to fill out by an assistant, and had to sit at a table holding a crying squriming baby while trying to fill out paper after paper, look up phone numbers, etc. I have no idea what Zac was doing. By the time we left, I was frazzled, SG was a mess, and I never really met the teacher at all. And I never got to take a picture of her with Zachariah. Plus I was SO sick.

I came home and literally bawled my eyes out for 2 hours, then went to bed.

By Sunday night, I was crying again. Monday morning, I woke up crying. What is wrong with me??!!! lol!!!

Zachariah, however, wasn't affected in the least. I had told him that I might cry, but that I was fine. He usually takes my word very seriously, and wasn't worried at all about me. ha! He was SOOOOO EXCITED all weekend! And I mean - SO very very excited.




Here's our sweet little guy snoozing away right before I woke him up Monday morning. I had already been crying for an hour. When he rolled over, he exclaimed in a sleepy voice, "This is my most special day!!"




This is the note I put in his lunch. I am going to try a joke each day since he loves to tell jokes.



This is his special breakfast, the IHOP "Silver Five." The K stands for Kindergarten. He did ask what the "B" stood for. It was supposed to be a heart... lol I couldn't find my heart cookie cutter through all my tears that morning.

He says, "I know why you are crying, Mommy. You are so happy for me!"

(Brian burst out laughing.)

His favorite shoes EVER.

The back story is that I took him last week to get these Z-Strap shoes. I didn't realize there'd be so many varieties of the shoe, including light ups. I personally don't like light up shoes, and we ended up arguing back and forth in the store while SG wiggled and squirmed, and we left without buying anything.

That night, Brian got on to me for not buying them. Then we had Meet the Teacher night. Then I felt so sad and guilt-ridden, that we trekked to the mall on Friday to buy the silly shoes he wanted.

He ran up and down the mall, jumping around, making them light up. He looked like a maniac. I decided it was a good thing we bought them 2 days early so he could get that out of his system. :)

He wore a bunch of silly bandz to school. Didn't come home with half of them....

He is starting to get a little nervous... Can you tell? He says, "I'm feeling nervous Mommy. I've never been away from home ALL day before." We tell him he'll have lots of fun! And the day will fly by. He says, "Are you just saying that?"

At his locker.... Having a locker was a HUGE deal. He talked all morning about putting his backpack in his locker.

With his teacher - we are hoping for a fabulous year!

And this is where we left him. It was a short and sweet drop-off. He was definitely ready for us to leave and so we did.

I cried all the way out, and most of the day. When I went to pick him up, I met another mom who had helped him open his apples at lunch. I burst into tears! (I can't volunteer with Selah Grace and I really wanted to!) She said he was having a great day. :)

When I saw him in his little line, he just looked precious! He talked a mile-a-minute all the way to the car. He absolutely loves school and couldn't wait to go back the next day!!!

He tells me that he gave away a lot of his silly bandz, but "don't worry Mommy. All the kids I gave them to, I told them to bring them back tomorrow." Okaaaaayyy....

And he continues happily, "Then, my teacher told me that I had a choice. I could put them in my backpack or she could hold them for me. I chose to put them in my backback!" (all the while, he has no clue he was apparently getting scolded - it was really funny the way he re-told this story!)

He was also very happy to report that he is the only one in his class with TWO missing teeth. :)

Today, the 2nd day, he didn't want me to walk him to his classroom. He asked if I could drop him off. So, I did, and then I hung around the gym where he was waiting with the other children, then followed him down the hall when they were released. He found a friend and they walked and chatted all the way to the Kindergarten hall. He walked right to his room, put his lunch and backpack away, put his folder in the right spot, and sat down to work. I was so proud!! And I didn't feel too weird, as a friend of mine was doing the same thing - and then we met a dad who was doing it too! :)

After school today, he was very excited to see me and Selah Grace! "I like it when you pick me up, Mommy." Then he says, "Do you know Richard? He's so bad. He got in trouble all day." (good to know!) Then he told me about the rest of the day.

He's already earned 4 Meteor tickets, and if you earn 5, you get to go the treasure box - or save them for a day with a stuffed animal or save even more and you get to call your Mom or Dad. (Funny what works with Kindergartners!) He got 3 from his teacher and one from the PE teacher ("for sitting appropriately" LOL!)

Also, he got to be the Classroom Helper today! He told me that his teacher chose him because he was behaving so well. My sweet boy!!! He was thrilled to be the one to wipe the tables in the classroom, clean up the crayons, etc. It's the little things, really. :)

I keep asking him "Did you read today?" "Did you do math today?" etc, and the answer is always "Nope." Today I asked, "What do you do all day?"

He says, "Play!"

I guess that's the way they roll in Kindy.

So that's it for now. He's having a super wonderful fabulous time in Kindergarten. He loves all his new friends. It sounds like his teacher is happy with him. I've been able to connect with some other parents. Hopefully they'll do some learning soon. :) We are happy and excited for the year!

Just a little laugh as I wait for my zofran to kick in...

Little Sister... BIG sister?!

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very nauseous.

Then it happened again the next night.

Hmmmmm.....

I looked in our cabinet the next day and found an un-used pregnancy test. POSITIVE! We were completely shocked.

We've gone back and forth on the 3rd baby thing. And we had pretty much gotten to a place where we were great with just the two kids.

Of course, that's when I get pregnant. After a couple of days, we started getting used to the idea. I had no clue when my LMP was, so we waited for a dr appt to have them tell us a due date. March 1, 2011!



I absolutely LOVED Dr. C, who I went to during my pregnancy with SG. (even though he was out of town when she decided to come!) He literally has a real live internet fan base. It's nuts.

But we decided to find a closer dr, since Brian's traveling a lot more, Zac's going to be in school, etc. I'm not a huge fan of my new dr, Dr. W, and might switch. I don't know yet. He seems to be a good dr, just not a great fit for me personally. We'll see. Finding the right fit is hard.

And with a new doctor, comes a huge explanation of the Selah Grace birth. "THE RASH" is fascinating to doctors. It's like it becomes a personal mission to figure out the "mystery." So he sent me to Dr. A, a perinatologist who specializes in high risk pregnancies. (not that I'm high risk... at least I don't think so!)

At Dr. A's appt last Friday, he did the first trimester screening (I've never done that before, and it did come back normal), and some other testing. It was funny because the nurse was taking all my info and was typing out Selah's birth story. She was like, "all that for a rash?" But when Dr. A came in, he was just like the other drs - FASCINATED. And determined to find an answer. I say "linear rash" and they get really intense. He's leaning towards lupus, but I'm doubting that.

Can't these guys believe in miracles? LOL!

It does help that Selah's doctors were top notch with awesome reputations. Other doctors are always familiar with her genetist and the dermatologist who initially diagnosed her. Supposedly they are the best, and are obviously highly thought of by their peers.

Still. Miracles, people!

Anyways, I'm not going to lie... dragging up her birth story and all of it's medical drama is a downer. I was glad Brian worked from home that day so I could decompress after the appt.

The one great thing at Dr. A's appt was when he asked me if I wanted to know the gender. Since I was only 11 weeks, I didn't know that was even an option. But he said he knew with 90% accuracy and then he says to me, "but I'm never wrong."

We're having a BOY!!

That made it a fun day for us at home. Brian and I had both been thinking GIRL. We would say things like "well, the "girls" can share a room." So, while we would have been excited either way, it was another shocker for us. :)

Although, I think we all know from last time that my maternal instincts are really off. :)



The past month has been a rough one. Lots and lots of reasons we have laid pretty low.

Trying to do Cares stuff while Brian is traveling so much more (his territory has tripled since we started cares - from 5 states to 15!) and with me being very sick has been really difficult. The doctor upped my zofran to 8mg, which is as much as they would allow me to have. And all it really does is stop the vomiting, it doesn't stop the nausea - which if you've been in this spot can be somewhat debilitating at times.

I did a lot of crying in July because I was very very sad that my last weeks with Zachariah were with me being so sick. I know I'm making way too big a deal out of Kindergarten, but oh well. I'm emotional and hormonal!

We also made the choice not to tell Zachariah we were having a baby until I felt better. Although, we broke that and told him this morning. To say he is EXCITED is an understatement. I loved the look on his face!! He calls himself a Big Big Brother now. Just like his friends Jake and Ethan - who both have 2 younger siblings.

Now that I know it's a boy, I can get back to sewing for SG. I haven't sewn lately for two reasons. 1: I'd much rather moan on the couch. 2: She still hasn't outgrown anything and her closet literally can't hold anymore! Girlfriend still wears 3-6 month clothing. Poor little thing! One lady saw us at the library recently and tells me, "Oh.. she's so cute! We have one about her age at home. Is she about 4 months?" Um... no... she's 10 months!

But I kept thinking if the baby was a girl, I'd need two of everything, because I could tell you right now, I'd be borderline obsessive about having the match and coordinate. And that was going to affect whatever I sewed next for my 2nd born.

But now, I'm off the hook. I'm not a fan of the handmade boy clothes. Personal preference. I never made Zac an outfit, and don't plan on making one for this kiddo, either. Super hero cape? Yes. Embroidered shirt? No.

But I have a million little winter outfits in mind for Selah Grace. As soon as I start to feel better, I'm off and running!!!


We had also put an offer on a house. But we think we are going to pull out of that because as AWESOME as that house was (Hello - POOL!!!!), we wanted it to be our "forever home" with the 2 kids. And it had two perfect little bedrooms upstairs. That's just not going to work anymore! So we will stay in our home and have the two little ones share for a couple more years until we find something that better suits our family. Something with 3 bedrooms far away from the master. :)

I told Brian now he has to become an Elk when we move back home so we will have a pool to go to in the summer.


We feel peace with the house thing. We've been pretty open about how we are trying to pay our house off. During the last couple years, we have actually shaved off FIFTEEN years from the loan. Our plan, as it stands, will allow us to be mortgage free in December 2013. If you know us, then you probably know how special this is to us, as it's been a goal we have worked very hard at attaining. It's not easy these days to do this! And who knows what the next 3 years will bring. Hopefully no medical drama or job loss. BUT, we feel like we will be able to buy our next house (bigger and with a pool I hope) before Zac starts Junior High, and we will be able to just pay cash. We give up a lot for this (hello - have you SEEN my car? LOL!), but in the end, we think we'll hardly remember this frugal time and will just be enjoying the reward. Zac can go to any summer camp, Selah Grace can go to Cheer Athletics (yes, I have already scoped out the nearest and best cheer gym), we will be able to easily afford cars and the boys' car insurance!

And someday, I'm going to roll up in a souped-up decked-out navigation-equipped entertainment-packaged window-tinted minivan. And we won't have a payment!

And I won't have to roll down the window to open the door.


We've also had the renter drama to deal with this past month. It's really just one of the girls who is a very mean person. We were asked at the beginning to give her a chance, that she is working on that, but clearly it continues to be a struggle for her and we have been the target. And the whole situation is just NOT cool. Brian and I have been forgiving and calm and tried to take the high road with most of it. I am personally very frustrated at seeing Brian worried and hurt and personally insulted, and seeing him be respectful and kind in return. But I think any wife would feel that way. Plus I know how much he loves that little house. He's put sooooo much into it over the years, and it's extremely disheartening to watch him sad about how this is all going. He never has enemies - everyone always likes him. He's a good guy. I know it's been hard on him. I think, too, we had such wonderful renters for a year, that we just didn't realize how hard BAD renters can affect you. The one good thing is that we have others involved, who are equally as shocked. Because, frankly, if you heard some of the things we are dealing with, it's almost unbelievable. Anyways, sorry to harp on that again. It's just been a HUGE source of stress this past month. And it's my blog to vent about that!




SOOOO, all that to say, the blog was severely neglected. Oh, and the fact that I didn't have a computer was kind of an issue, too. ;) When you're on a tight budget, a working computer isn't necessarily #1 on the list.


I will say this - my next phone photo ph-riday is going to be a full one! My iPhone is bustin at the seams with photos!!

I will also say this. I hope someone read this whole thing. Because the computer makes me SO nauseous and it took forever to get it all typed out!!

One of our more *interesting* vacations!

Brian, because he ROCKS, got to take us on another vacation! Yay for my superstar hubby!!!

So, we had very few stipulations on where we could go, but we had to take the trip before November. And with my worst nightmare Kindergarten coming up, we thought we'd go ahead and go in August. We chose to go for a week in Mexico, mostly for the all-inclusive-ness. And since we do have a habit of being creatures of habit, we decided to go a little crazy and try a different resort. I think we would have changed a number of these things. In hindsight, of course. Isn't that always how it is?

Had we never been to Dreams Los Cabos before, then this resort would have been great. But we've been too spoiled. This is why we are creatures of habit, people.

Anyways, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. But I'll do a little recap and maybe in a couple of months years, we will be able to laugh hysterically.

The flight was great. We seriously have AWESOME. KIDS. They were fabulous! Zac got a little nervous right when we were getting ready to board, but of course, he loved flying. His favorite is landing, when the pilot "has to slam on his brakes." I personally get a little nervous flying, but it is a little different when your family is all with you. It's like, hey if we crash, at least we all are together! A little nuts, but it did give me some peace.

Airports in Mexico are cut-throat. Before you can get to the legitimate drivers, you have to pass the group of people posing to be drivers, but are really timeshare people. It's stressful! They totally make you second guess where you are going, but you have to just tell everyone NO and make it outside where you will find the people who have actually been booked ahead of time to take you to your resort. In Cabo back in April, we actually LOST Zachariah in this mess for a moment and it was absolutely terrifying. Brian and I literally were running and screaming his name at the top of our lungs. Did I ever share that story? A nice American brought him to us. He had no idea to be scared until he saw me and I held him and sobbed. First (an hopefully last) time I have ever truly lost him. And in Mexico of all places!! Oh, bad bad memory. So, this time, I had both children securely attached to me until seated in the shuttle.

I knew our resort was a little bit far from the airport, but I wasn't prepared for that ride. SG was a DISASTER. Major construction in Playa meant a detour, and of course, we had a shared ride this time, so we had to drop people off on the way. And I was sick to my stomach. Shoot me.

Thankfully, the lobby was air conditioned and cool. Which was more than I can say for our room, which was why-bother-straightening-my-hair humid. And very hot.

We went to eat. The resort is very very large, so we walked a long ways in the heat, only to discover the restaurants didn't have great A/C either. Just a lot of fans. To blow the humid air around a hot room. Mama was not happy.

The first 2 days were a blur because SG didn't sleep very well at all. Unless she was being carried and walked around the room - she slept great that way. We would have put her crib in the bathroom, but the room was so hot already, and the bathroom was even hotter.

By the 3rd day, our ac started working again. Selah Grace finally got into a sleep schedule, and Zachariah had made a group of friends (not surprising there!).

Dreams Tulum (our resort) was a nice resort. Very diverse. A couple times I pulled Zac out of the kids club because no one spoke English. The teachers did (kind of), but the kids were from Spain, France, etc.

I kept seeing these two adorable little french sisters at the pool, probably 8-9 years old, topless. For some reason, this drove me nuts. I wanted to put little shirts on them. Surely their bathing suits came with a top! Brian wouldn't let me say anything... lol I made the observation that European men like to wear short shorts. And they love speedos. They also love having 2 kids. Not 1. Not 3.

The food was okay. Room service was great. Pool service... meh. It was alright.

We were surprised that we did not have the option of a room that had a separate master bedroom. Sharing the whole room was not what we had in mind. And when we put Selah Grace to sleep in the bathroom for naps or bedtime, we had to find another bathroom. Actually, just me. The boys have it so easy. I made several middle-of-the-night treks to the lobby to use their bathroom.

Then, Brian got the Mexico stomach bug. Not cool. I ended up with it, too, but not really bad until we got home. Zachariah got a cold while we were there, which meant he coughed a lot at night. Then Selah Grace got it, which meant she couldn't suck her paci or nurse very well. You might know how well that went over.

We ended up booking separate *private* transportation back to the airport. Worth every penny. ($80 plus tip - yikes!) The kids were AMAZING travelers again. Zac tells me, "Mom, don't worry about turbulence. It's no big deal." On the ride back, SG slept most of the time and we all got to watch Shrek 3. :)

All that to say, we were very glad to be home.

Although being home is its own set of problems with our HORRIBLE tenants in our home right now. I can't believe they've only been there one month and have caused so much stress. Not fun to check email on the plane ride home, only to see MORE drama from them had happened while we were gone. They are terrible renters and I am dreading what our little home is going to look like after they leave. Not to mention our blood pressure.

Some highlights and memories of our trip:

*Selah Grace learned to wave! She was a huge hit with the Mexican ladies. They love them some baby girls. She also points at people a lot. And when you say "yay!" she starts clapping.

*Zachariah is such an awesome friend. We watch him like a social experiment. He can seriously break through any group and make his way in there. It's awesome. Love that boy!

*Zachariah made one friend named George from England. I know this isn't going to come across as funny as it *really* was, but when he saw Selah Grace, he said, "Well, she's a bit cute" in the most ADORABLE english accent. Brian and I have repeated it to each other ever since.

*Selah Grace learned to kiss! It's so stinkin cute. She can lean in, and she can make a kissy noise. Although she doesn't necessarily do them at the same time. Mostly we get very wet open mouth kisses. LOVE it.

*We discovered that you can still sunburn in the shade in Mexico. One morning, Brian hung out at the pool while Zac swam. Brian was under the umbrella the whole time, in the shade, so he didn't bother with sunblock. SG and I joined him at lunch and I was like - Uh-oh!! He was definitely burned. It's not too bad, though. :)

*A slice of pizza at the Cancun airport will run you about $10. One slice. *Selah Grace loves the ocean! But she will eat the sand. Here are some pics and video from our trip. (actually the videos aren't really working on blogger right now - bummer!)

See? We didn't have a terrible time! It was just not one of our favorite trips. But we had some fun times, too. :)



My babies at the airport watching planes





We saw lots of lizards and crabs





At night, the maids come and turn down the sheets and leave chocolates.





They even turned down the "sheets" in Selah Grace's crib! lol




So, right when we got there (and I was not very happy at this point), Zac goes to the restroom and then comes out to exclaim, "Mom! The sink is totally broken! Look at my shirt!!" His shirt was soaked. I didn't have the energy at that point. But Brian and I checked it out anyway.



Turns out, he was trying to wash his hands in the bidet. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. We laughed for so long, that Zachariah almost started crying because his feelings were hurt. It was just SO. FUNNY.





Selah Grace loves to hang out with Bubby when he is trying to watch tv.







We had a hammock on our back patio.





Ocean fun





Mommy and Selah Grace (yes, she had been eating sand...)





Zachariah had many many many poolside strawberry daquiris





Daddy with his girl





Zachariah received a letter from George, which included his address so that they could be pen pals. Zac told me that George asked him to be his best friend.





Daddy found a tiny little crab on the sidewalk!

Here are some videos, but they aren't really working that well. I had so many more. Oh well!

We're back!

We have the computer up and running again (knock on wood) and just returned from a week in Mexico.

I'd write more, but if you saw the state of the house today (LAUNDRY), you'd understand that I can't justify playing with pictures right now.

More later. :)

water, worms, and still no internet

Lots of water lately - if we aren't swimming, then we are playing in the rain.

And Zachariah has a new fascination with all bugs. Yesterday, we stalked a huge bumblebee/wasp-looking thing that for some reason could not fly. We lost him in a tree. Today, we went on a worm hunt (in the rain of course). We searched and searched. Finally googled how to ask for worms in spanish ("donde estan los gusanos?"), asked one of the nice men doing some gardening on the property, he used his chainsaw to dig in the dirt, and found us a worm. Terribly exciting stuff for a 5 year old. When we finally had Slimy (you may or may not know that Zac names EVERYthing), we made him a home, played with him a little bit too much, accidentally "broke" him, cried, prayed, and made plans for another worm hunt tomorrow. Except I don't have a chainsaw, so wish me luck.

No internet still. Sorry! We've been busy with cares, tenants, and other things that, well, keep us busy.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Fourth of July!

Because we have young kids, the 4th means less fireworks (past bedtime!) and more parades, festivals, and bbqs. We live so close to a huge fireworks show - I'm hoping we can see something from our balcony after the kiddos go to sleep and we are eating ice cream. :)

We've been super busy the past couple of days cleaning/repairing our house to prepare for new tenants. Actually, one is staying, but the other two are switching out. Lots of painting, spackling, and cleaning. And you know it takes twice as long with a little 5 year old "helper." Brian is so patient. I got a cute pic of ZZ painting. But it's on my phone and I need my computer fixed to do Phone Photo Phriday. :)

It's funny to be back at our old house. SG is a maniac on this tile floor. Makes me glad we have carpet in the apartment! She doesn't seem as fast on carpet. SG is sleeping (in a closet of course) right now and Zac is out back collecting roly-polies in a tupperware. He claims to have an entire city's worth. I bet they are terrified. Especially as he hacks at the ground with metal shelf holders.

Brian loves this house so much. Me? I grow less and less attached. But I feel like I hardly lived here, so maybe that's why. The apartment is more "home" for me. Although I'm so jealous that I never did get to use the awesome laundry room here. When I lived here, we had to do laundry in the GARAGE. ugh!!! And now there's a fancy brand new little utility room.

Tomorrow we finally get our tax return check. We knew we were getting a refund, but I thought it would be $40 and Brian thought it would be $80. Thankfully he was closer, so maybe we'll all go out to dinner tonight and blow it all. Anyone want to babysit? Ha! Actually, since it's closer to $80, we might try to see a movie. Since only rich people can afford that these days. ;)

Okay - Brian needs me. I haven't done much work around here today. In my defense, Brian is picky! So, I've kept Zac busy and done some admin/end of the month stuff for Cares and supervised the spackling. Those boys can get crazy with the spackle.

Hopefully we'll have a working computer by next week and can get some pictures up. :) I'm off to do my wifely/home-co-owner duty of holding the trash bag. Then we've got some holiday fun to get ready for!

Have a safe and happy 4th!