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!).