Something to Pray About...

Well, to those of you who already know the job situation with Randy, then you will want to know that next week he starts a new "part time" job in addition to his full time job! This is a "trial" period to see if he likes the job, they like his work, etc before being offered a full time position. So pray that the Lord steers us in the direction that He wants us to go. We are pretty sick of the gas mileage that is associated with a 70 mile round trip drive to work for him each day (that is $20 a day in gas for his *paid for* truck people!). Not to mention the instability of the current job (he went back to this same job 6 months after being laid off because the company was lacking work), or the ever so worsening insurance premiums ($390/mo plus a $2000 deductible HSA that his employer is not contributing to). Don't get me wrong- this company he is working for has been incredibly wonderful & provided for our family for 7 years now, & they are like extended family, but we have to look at what is best for our family NOW, & we feel like the current job isn't it. We just hope that the Lord will place an opportunity in front of us for change, even if it isn't the "part time"position. This position will only be 2 days a week (of course, two of my busiest evenings of the week- so pray for my stress level & patience too!) but it is half the distance as the full time position so hopefully even if he takes this on full time, the difference in gas mileage would be like a pay raise!
So i just thought i would update you all on where the job situation is going currently & please say a huge prayer for us as we possibly embarq on a new journey!

Mommy Guilt

I am sure i have many more years of mommy guilt coming my way- but right now i feel pretty guilty since i took the pacifier away from a SICK child. And the reason Eli FINALLY got it back was because he screamed half the night or so we thought it was about the paci- but it was because he had an ear infection! And on top of that, he also has croup to boot! Poor guy! I guess we never got rid of the ear infection fully from 2 weeks ago or else he has just developed another one! (sigh) This illness thing is quite frustrating & this time the dr. said that if he continues to keep them then we would have to think about tubes. But for now we are sitting tight since this is technically only his 3rd one- but boy have they been doozies! So 10 more days of antibiotics (plus 3 days of steroids for the croup) more sighing....

Oh, How he wants to be like daddy!

Jackson thinks everything his Daddy does is the greatest. He can "fix" anything, wrestles with him, plays the guitar & mandolin, tells funny jokes, works with fun tools, drives a truck, fishes, etc etc. Well, he ALSO mows the grass, & this is no less exciting for Jackson either! He longs for the day he can really mow the grass (so does his Daddy!) but until then, he just settles to mow "behind" Daddy in the yard. Thanks for helping little man!

Poor Eli- he just longs to be big enough to be a helper, too!

Happy Anniversary.... sort of

{randy & rachel the month before they were engaged}

Well, today is the anniversary of mine & Randy's first date- EIGHT years ago! I can't believe i remember this date for 8 years, but it is also his mother's birthday (HAPPY BDAY MEMA!) & i remember stopping off for a quick gift pick up during our date! (Such the sweet son that he is.) We went fishing (my first experience in a johnboat)... and then to dinner (where my fortune read "your future sits in front of you")... and we still didn't want the evening to be over, so then we hit a movie (28days- not a very good movie). I remember thinking (yes on the first date) that i could SO marry this man! He was such a gentleman (he actually asked if he could kiss me & not on the first date!) & incredibly sweet (and the nicely defined jawline & blue eyes didn't hurt) & lo & behold, i DID marry him 15 months later. So, here's to you, babe, Happy Anniversary...sort of! I love you!

Another good reason to have a husband...

Well, this morning i came up with yet another good reason to have a husband... when this nasty thing was slithering in the back yard! YUCK! Some of you already know this, but randy was the "snake boy" in his neighorhood as a kid & all the neighbors called on him to get snakes out of their yards. He loves this kind of thing & has been known to even pull the truck over on the side of the road to get one out of the road before it gets run over. (Me, i would aim for it if i saw it!) So he was eating his bowl of cereal this morning before church & pointed this out to me as he was watching it out the window. My skin is shivering even as i tell this! I am paranoid about snakes in our yard & i won't let the kids go in the back yard to play if the grass needs to be mowed for this very reason! Our grass was pretty high back there because Randy had been working on the lawnmower & finally got it working yesterday. So he mowed, & this big guy had no place to run i guess.

Reality Check

Well, we thought the pacifier thing was going well, until last night! Whew! It was a long one & Eli was up & down all night. If we would go in to help him get back to sleep, he would literally get angry & throw the pacifier since it wasn't working. So at 4am, we gave in. We were tired & to be honest, we just wanted some rest. So i am not sure where we now are in this process, but i know that we were ALL tired this morning when we had to get up for church.

Are we cute or what?

Here are the Moss stairstep boys- Jackson (4), cousin Kaleb (3), Eli (1.5). Can you tell they are used to Grandaddy taking their picture? I love all the different expressions on their faces! Great shot Gdad & thanks for sharing!

Ever heard this quote?: "Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing, is like shoveling the walk while it's still snowing"
This is what Jackson does while i am folding laundry:

Yes, he makes a different mess for me to work on later! But that is okay. It is fun to watch him get into his play schemes. He absolutely LOVES this truck that is catching air. Recognize it Grandma Tee? It is the recycling truck he snagged from your house about 3 years ago! And he seriously plays with it everyday (& he & Eli fight over it too). You see, matchbox cars fit into the 3 bins in the back of the truck, so this is THE coveted truck to have! If you guys want it back, then you are going to have to fight them for it!

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Eli decided he was going to hide today.... So where's waldo???

There he is!!!

If only you could have heard the sweet giggles coming from behind the shower curtain... It was priceless!

Houston, We have a PROBLEM!

Today, after i picked up the boys from Mema's & came home, i started the laundry. When i came back in the living room, this is what i found: This was the moment i decided to we had to start phasing out the pacifier.

We have sort of started this already. He only gets it in the car & in his bed, but he has become more & more attached & goes into his room & somehow finagles the pacifier out of the crib. Once he gets it, it is a fight to get it back in the bed. So today, i took it & put it in the bed & shut the door (as he was literally clawing to get past me!). And this is what happened during pacifier phase out stage 1: (warning, this isn't for the weak hearted -aka Nanny!)

He got royally ticked off & began a lovely little toddler tantrum complete with spitting (yes, you read that correctly), slapping the door, floor & anything around him....

then he started throwing the toys around him....

So, then i decided i would try what worked with Jackson all those years ago... i cut a slit in his pacifier & strategically layed it where he would see it if he calmed down for three seconds ( i refused to hand it to him, it felt like i was giving in!) Of course, he took the bait....

And was thrilled to have the pacifier, but couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay in his mouth (if you cut it, it won't create a suction) So, after several minutes of taking it in & out of his mouth...He decided to give up trying & start "chewing" it & holding it to the side of his mouth. Who cares if it doesn't work, right- the point is "I HAVE IT!" Luckily, by this point, it was time for dinner & mealtimes are WAY more important than PACIFIER times, so he went & put it in his bed when asked. I think he forgot about it until bedtime which went MUCH better than i thought. He whined in there for about 20 minutes, but finally gave up & went to sleep. I just pray he sleeps through the night!

** todays edit: Eli slept pretty well all things considered. He was a bit restless but we didn't have to go in to assist him at all. So i will count that as a success. And to those of you who are upset reading this, let me make a final point: The child can keep the "broken" paci as long as he wants for comfort, but by doing the slit thing, he will lose interest & give it up on his own because it doesn't work. Will he be frustrated? Yes a little, but he still WANTS it, so he is happy still for now. This way, he can give it up when HE is ready & it truly is less traumatic than waiting until he is overly attached (well he already is really) & just taking it hard core. I couldn't do that to him. He loves it too much.

He has a word!

Okay, okay, so Eli "talks" but doesn't exactly use real words as you all know. He says "sss" for the end of "please" & that is about it other than grunting & jibber. Yesterday i thought i heard him say "shoe" & i turned around (i was driving) & he was pointing to his shoes! He did it twice while we were going to pick up Jackson from preschool but not since.I got so excited though! So hopefully, he will add this to his repretoire. Later that afternoon, when Ms. Marie was here for speech, he started saying a /g/ sound for "go" & signing it at the same time! This one HAS stuck because he has been saying it all day today (and aunt becca is my witness because he did it for her in bible class tonight). So, i am thinking maybe he is starting to pick up some sounds. He has been using a /b/ sound over & over in the car also, but as soon as i engage him & try to get him to play an imitation game with me, he stops & grins at me. I just hope that the sounds he makes, he keeps. With apraxia, they can make sounds one time & not necessarily the next- the repetition is KEY & helps them "program" it into their brains in order to be able to retrieve it the next time. So i will keep encouraging these new words & sounds as much as possible. I would just love to hear "mama" though, & i remember it taking Jackson a long time to make the /m/ sound. (/m,b,p /are usually most kids first sounds- & /k, g/ are usually much older- some of the last sounds, but Eli can make a perfect /k/ sound! He used to babble the /d/ & /m/ sound but not anymore. Can we say "disordered speech" anyone?! Oh, well, it will come! He is just so excited too when he makes sounds & it is obvious that he wants to talk because he is so "verbal", making all kinds of jibber sounds with inflection & gestures. And to be honest, we understand most of it- so he is a great communicator even without words.

My CVS deal this week

Okay, so yes, this is another post & picture about a deal i got. But i know for a fact that there are some of you reading who are interested. So if you aren't, just skip ahead! (I won't know the difference). After the boys were in bed, i made my weekly trip to CVS before all the good deals got gone for the week. I am so excited because i made money off of what is pictured here. I made two transactions that totaled around $83 before CVS sales ($44 in Alavert alone!). After the sale prices, my manufacturer coupons, CVS coupons, & ECBs, i spent 2.17 out of pocket in cash & increased my ECB's by $10. (in other words, i went in with $13 in ECBs to use, spent 2.17 out of pocket, & walked out the door with $23 in ECBs to use next week) The best part of this is that i really bought stuff we can use. We needed hairspray, Randy has terrible allergies & goes through benadryl like water, so the alavert will be gone in no time, i bought 2 shampoo bottles that we will use, & can i just say that i really like this SPA radiant body wash? I am using it right now in the shower & i go through body wash like Randy goes through benadryl (but still, if you need any, give me a buzz!) Oh, & the deodorant will certainly be used because my dear hubby always forgets to tell me when he needs deodorant & ends up using mine (YUCK!) when he runs out (not this time, buddy!).

All is well again....

Jackson is back home! Yippy! All is well in Mommy's world again. (That really rocked her boat, so she is proud of herself for enduring it for 3 days/2nights!) We picked him up this afternoon & while he was happy to see us, he wasn't necessarily ready to go home with us. :o(

In the car, on the way home, i said, "Jackson, i am so proud of you for being so brave & going camping without me & daddy." He said, "I was brave?" Mommy: "yes, you were." Jackson: "I had fun camping..... (little pause) i not need you & daddy... (another pause)... You so proud of me?" Mommy: "Well, yes i am proud of you, but i am sad that you didn't need us!"

Moments later, he was yawning real big (he went full throttle all weekend with no naps!)

Once we got home, he got in some good Daddy time (so cute sitting here together) out on the porch.

But in no time, he was back inside & i guess all the good behavior for 3 days was getting to him because he started doing little things constantly to aggravate Eli. He was putting his feet up in his face, stepping on his toes, & finally i put him in time out on the couch for hitting him from behind. (I have no idea what came over him because he isn't usually like this with Eli). And about 2 minutes after he was on the couch sitting, a storm came through. Jackson has huge fears of thunder so he immediately covered his ears & started whining. Then the funniest thing happened.... he passed out cold- snoring & all in literally about 60 seconds flat! He was so tired from his trip! He seriously slept with his ears covered like this on the couch until we finally ate a late dinner!

We are so glad to have him home though & he had such a fantastic time that we know he will be asking when he can go again. And that depends on whether or not he will "need" us to go too!

Into EVERYTHING!

Eli is literally always into something. As you have seen in a post a few days ago, he loves the pots/pans cabinet in the kitchen. Well, tonight when i was trying to cook dinner, he was at my feet taking every single pot/pan out of this cabinet. And he even crawled ALL THE WAY inside the cabinet to get one that had managed to work its way back in the corner. He is such a mess, but at least he can entertain himself when i need him to! Thank goodness the George Foreman Grill was too heavy for him to move because it was the only thing left that I didn't have to clean back up!

A morning out & about

After we left Farm Day Friday morning, we decided to join Heidi & Nate onto Lake Wheeler to feed the ducks. We decided to feed them from the deck as the ducks & geese get pretty aggressive. They were honking & carrying on & snapping at each other even though they get this food ALL the time from visitors to the park. In other words, i could understand all this fighting if you were a starved animal, but my word, they were pure gluttonous! But the boys loved it (and of course they (eli) were eating the dry cereal just as fast as they were throwing it to the birds!).

As we were feeding the ducks, a man came over & asked if the boys wanted to see the fish he caught. Of course they did, & eli even touched him several times (his eyeball once -YUCK)- but again, Jackson just preferred to be a bystander & watch (with his hands in his pockets!)

Then we took a few minutes to go play on the playground before meeting up with Mema, Grandad, Tyler, & cousin Becca for lunch. It was a great day & when we finally got home, Eli slept for almost 4 hours! Poor Jackson only got about an hour or so because Uncle Jeremy came to get him to go camping.

Farm Day 2008

Yesterday, we (me & the boys) headed out to Farm Day 2008 with our friends, Heidi & Nate. It was a great opportunity for the boys to get to pet farm animals, see tractors on display, etc. Eli literally wanted to touch every animal he could (& even most of those he couldn't!) but Jackson was a little more reserved & wasn't too sure about touching all these animals. But in the end, he finally touched a bunny as we were leaving (& was very proud of himself).

The first stop was the baby chicks, which Eli went right for....

Then we checked out the turkeys (they had bales of hay around the pens so that the little kids could step up & see) Next was the goat kids, which Eli was enthralled with & he stayed here for a good little bit. Jackson however would look, but not touch! They were so surprisingly soft too, like a puppy!

We got to check out the horses & their colts, cows & their calves, as well as pigs & piglets, but no pictures were captured! But on the way out the door, we saw these bunnies & neither boy could resist them. They are awfully cute & soft!
Yeah! I touched it!!