Dumpster Diving

The rest of the week did not go as well as Wednesday. Jake cried most of Thursday and Friday. It breaks my heart!

However, this weekend Jake has had some great mommy and daddy bonding time.

We found a new slide on Saturday. Our neighbors moved out Friday and left behind a slide that was their son's. It was sitting by the trash and was covered in dirt, but I saw it's potential. I quickly grabbed it and cleaned it up.

Today Jake got to play with his new slide. And I believe he had fun!





I'd say it was a successful find! Free is a great price! And yes, I got a new camera...I couldn't live without one!

Day 3 -- I think we will survive

Today was better!!! YAY!

As I left Jake this morning he was screaming and crying. I was certain it was going to be another bad day. I was wrong! Praise God!

He cried for only 5 minutes and then was done. He was a bit anti-social and ignored everyone, but he survived and didn't cry.

Which is pretty much all I can ask for at this point. I think over the next few weeks he will get better.

Thanks for the advice ladies! I am trying to be consistent with him and leaving fast after I drop him off.

Separation anxiety is rough! Even for the cutest kids and their moms and dads!

Day 2 -- Disaster!

My first clue this morning that today was going to be trouble was when I asked Jake while he ws eating breakfast if he was excited about going to Ms. Esther's House. He responded with, "No Eter Ouse" (or Jacob for No Esther House).

Donnie took him this morning and he said it was horrible. Jacob screamed, cried, kicked, hit, and threw an absolute temper tantrum that only a near 2 year old could. When I picked him up, nine hours later, he was doing the same, face red, mouth open, screaming, and huge tears coming down.

I guess he thought he was only staying at "Eter Ouse" for one day, not every day for 6 weeks. Bless his heart! And Esther's too!

I just hope tomorrow will have improvement. I told him several times tonight that he was going to Esther's House tomorrow and on at least 2 occasions he said, "No." Very matter-of-factly.

*Sigh* What's a working mom to do?

Day 1 -- Success!

Today was Jacob's first day with childcare outside the family. He did wonderfully! Didn't cry once!

I was proud of him! He adjusted so well. At least for the first day. Wednesday will be the true test, when the other child, a 3 month old, is added to the mix. I think that will be the true test for Jacob, jealousy is something we are dealing with lately.

While I was proud, I also felt a bit disappointed. He's supposed to kinda miss me throughout the day. Yes, he was excited when I got there, but it's not the same.

I think this change has been rougher on me than him.

Let's just hope I have the same to say tomorrow!

TGIF???

It's been quite a day already.

I had today scheduled as a day off from work, so I had big plans!

Jake and I headed to get his 2 year old pictures made (even though he is still 2 weeks away from 2). Of course Jake did not cooperate much, but luckily we were able to get a few good pictures which I am happy with!

Here's one of them!



Well, on the way to get the pictures done I noticed I needed to get gas. The low fuel light had been on for a couple days, but I was certain I had enough gas to get to the photo studio. I was right, I was able to get there, but I certainly could not have left. I was able to steer into a parking spot...and then I called for help.

Luckily, my father-in-law was off work today so he was able to come and give me a little bit of gas so I could get to a gas station and fill up! I was a bit embarrased! It was the first time I have ever ran out of gas...if you can count it as running out since I didn't have to push the car or anything.

After all this fun, Jake and I ran to Meijer to do a small amount of shopping. He was able to ride his first ever mechanical ride, a dinosaur. Meijer has all their rides like this for a penny! Jake had fun. He was much more interested in the fact that I put money in the slot to make it run than actually riding, but he did well.

Once we were done with our quick Meijer trip, I ran to Target to get some good deaks! While in Target I got a call from Donnie, who had thrown his back out at work. They had called an ambulance, but he refused it, and he was at home. So, of course, I hurried home to check on him. So far, he is doing well. He was able to get a shower, which loosened up the muscles in his back. He is still in some pain, but it able to stand up straight and walk now, so he thinks he'll be okay.

Then, we had to eat lunch. While Jake and Donnie were eating lunch I ran to a consignment sale very close to our house. I got Jake a couple shirts for this fall/winter and this toy, all for $10. It was a successful trip. (I have 2 more consignment sales coming up next week...yay!)

Once I got home I threw in a load of laundry and then decided it was time for nap time for Jake. He did not agree and I had to spend a good 20 minutes calming down the hysteria that ensued.

Now he is asleep, Donnie is resting and I just got done paying some bills online.

In a couple hours we will be going to visit my mother-in-law at the hospital, who is currently undergoing surgery as we speak. It's been quite the day, and I am sure it will be quite the weekend!

I hope you all have a great one!

I'm still a winner in my heart

ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT ALREADY! I am DONE with this negative stuff, so here is my attempt to change that! (By the way, everything was fine at work today, no problems!)

Last night Donnie decided to run out and get a $5 pizza for dinner. He left our house prior to my arrival home from work. As I was on my way home he passed me. I immediately thought, "WHY IS HE GOING THIS WAY? IT'LL TAKE SO MUCH LONGER."

Instead of just dropping it I grabbed my cell phone and called him to find out why he was going that way. After a 4 minute "discussion" about why he should have gone a different way I told him I would prove I could make it there before he could.

So the game was on! I went MY way and he went HIS way and unfortunately I lost. However, I am convinced that if we left at the same time from the same location I totally would have WON!

Ah, just a friendly competitive race and "discussion." It's what keeps a marriage alive and fun! :-)

It's a good thing I'm a nice person or else it could get messy!

I don't post much about my job because basically it's not all that exciting. Plus, once I leave there each day I *try* to turn my brain off of work. Unfortunately, today I haven't been able to do that and if I don't "talk" about it, I won't be able to do anything else all night (so the stack of paperwork that I HAVE to get done tonight for work won't get done and then I'll be in even more of a predicament tomorrow).

I, and a few other people, have been chosen to complete extra job duties for a few months. This began about 3 weeks ago and has been going alright. It has doubled our work load and has caused me to work lots of extra hours in the past few weeks. All of that is fine, I can handle it, it's temporary (or so we were told and I am choosing to believe, for my own sanity sake).

Well, yesterday there was a semi-crisis, which typically would have involved me playing a big role in the process. Instead of this, someone else stated they would handle the situation. Today, the semi-crisis turned into a full-blown mega crisis, at 4 p.m. Not to be long-winded, the person who said they would handle the situation, ended up not handling it yesterday and thus, this occurred.

What upsets me is that this person simply LIED and said that I took care of it all yesterday, when I had actual not even spoke to the other person regarding this AT ALL until today at 4 p.m. when it became a huge crisis and I had to become involved.

I can't even explain how mad and frustrated I am about this. I am insanely swamped with work and could have handled yesterday's crisis fine yesterday. But today, when I was caught off guard, trying to do a million other things, and then lied about...behind my back and without giving me an opportunity to even defend myself until tomorrow...it's too much.

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

How much is that Powerball tomorrow? I think I'll be buying a ticket because at this point, that's the only way I can accomplish my dream job, a stay-at-home-mom, and not loose my mind!

WARNING: Pity Party Ahead

Ok, so I have been told that I need to update my blog a bit (thanks for missing me Becca!). Since I've been missed, I have decided to put a bit of effort into posting tonight.

And this is where I get stuck every time I start to blog...

And I'm stuck again.

Ok...let's see what I can say here.

Lately I have been just blah. I don't know what is up with that really. I think a lot of it has to do with stress at work which is causing me to work a little extra and the stress continues over to the rest of my life.

Or the blahs could be due to upcoming medical adventures we are pursuing soon. My mother-in-law is having a surgery on Friday and Jake is scheduled for a minor surgery in October.

I guess it could also be mourning the passing of infancy and the beginning of big boy-hood (ok, I know that's not a word, but I like it!). I think part of that is that I wish we were venturing into big brother-hood, which is not currently happening and this is leading to even more mourning of the passing of Jake's baby days.

I also could just be feeding off the mood of hubs, as he is struggling with work and needing to move on to another job...but that perfect job just is not falling in to place right now.

So, there it is...the reason for my silence...I hate to bring you all down. I've never been good at sharing my sad feelings (yes, I have a degree in social work) because I hate to bring everyone down with me. Plus, I feel guilty for being down because I really have no reason to be. My family is healthy, we are employeed and living in a nice home, so I have nothing to be sad about.

*Sigh* Maybe tomorrow will be better!

My weekly update

Yes, I am still around, and still blogging.

This week has been a busy one! We had our state review at work, which was stressful and made for long days. Plus, Jake spent one day this week with a new babysitter. I definitely believe that I was more stressed about this than he was.

He did wonderfully. Luckily, she was able to come to our house so Jake was in his own territory and did great. He fussed for only a couple minutes after I left and then went on with his day as normal.

He refused to acknowledge the presence of the new babysitter for most of the day. Hopefully he'll warm up to her because he'll be with her for 6 weeks soon.

Otherwise all is the same here. My darn digital camera is not working, which makes me very sad. I guess I will be asking Santa to bring me a new one for Christmas...if I can wait on Santa!

We are planning Jake's 2nd birthday party. I can't believe that he is almost 2 already. He learns new stuff every day. He just started saying, "Shake your body" when he dances. Cracks me up!

Jake is in need of a bath now and I am in need of a shower so I need to get this day started!

Have a great weekend everyone. Hopefully I'll have some new posts this coming week. And please keep praying for Nick. He was able to return home on Thursday after his surgery on Monday.

Praying for Nick

I have previously posted about Nick, a 12 year old with brain cancer. He and his family are again facing difficult times as he underwent his 3rd surgery to remove a mass from his brain yesterday.

Visit here to read about Nick and his journey and to stay up to date on his condition.

Nick is a precious boy who loves God with all his heart. Please pray for complete healing for him.

God is faithful.

Feeling Lucky?

Hey look at what I won!

Jake is going to be so very excited. SSSHHHH!! Don't tell him, he'll get to see it for his birthday hopefully!

And while I'm feeling lucky, I entered the With Character Kids contest to win a 50" HDTV television or 5 $500 gift certificates. PLUS "5 Mintues for Mom" is also giving away 2 $50 gift certificates for With Character Kids as well.

So let my luck rub off on you and go enter these contests!

Yum...icing in the shape of a Jeep!

If you haven't seen the show Ace of Cakes on Food Network, you are definintely missing out.

Donnie and I love to watch this show, it's one of those shows I have roped him into watching and he actually LIKES it, much to his amazement.

As you can probably tell by the name of the show, this is a reality show about Charm City Bakery in Baltimore, Maryland. This bakery is different from others because they make 3-D, real life type cakes for any event. What amazes me is that they can do anything you dream up.

From a river rat for a wedding to a King Kong cake for a bar mitzvah to a severed head resembling the birthday boy, they really can do anything!

Donnie and I like to watch and think of what kind of cakes we would want if we happened to live near Baltimore.

I just can't decide what I would want. Donnie knows he wants a wrestling ring with a wrestler that looks like him, imagine that. I'm a bit more practical and not as much of a fan of anything to turn into a cake.

What would you choose if you could design your own dream cake?

B List and Proud!

Well, lookie there...I'm a B list blogger! Who woulda thunk it?

Thanks to fellow B lister, Lisa, for bringing my attention to this!

If you want to know what list you are on, go to Kineda and find out!

God definitely knew what he was doing when he gave me this kiddo!

The best remedy for having a bad day at work is having an adorable child, in a good mood!

Tonight as I gave Jacob a bath we sang some songs. Jacob loves to sing. The majority of his words come from songs he knows. Tonight we sang, "This little light of mine" and "Deep and Wide."

I decided to introduce a new song into Jacob's memory, one which I was a fan of when I was just a tad older than he is now. It's not a real popular song, but it's one we sang often at VBS when I was a child. Here are the words (I looked all over the internet and could not find a music clip for ya'll).

"Ananias and Sapphira
got to got together to conspire a
plot, to cheat, the church and get ahead

they knew God's power but did not fear
tried to cheat the holy spirit
Peter prophesied and they both dropped dead!

*uh!*

God loves a cheerful giver, give it all you've got
he likes to see you laughing when you're in an awful spot
so when the odds are up against you and you cannot do a thing
praise God, to praise Him is a joyous thing!

*uh!*"

I believe the "uh!" parts are not a typical part of the song, but we sang them and would move our arms in a "YES!" way and yell "UH!"

Tonight when I sang this song to Jacob he thought it was the greatest thing ever! He laughed a deep belly laugh and could barely keep his eyes open. He especially liked the "UH!" part, as I did as a kid. The poor kid laughed so hard he threw up. And then got the hiccups.

But it was so cute anyway.

I just hope he doesn't request "Cheat the church and get ahead" like I did on Sunday evening song-spiration when I was 2. And if he does I'll laugh and be so proud of my little man who loves to sing! Even if he doesn't quite get the meaning of the song!

3 kids, 2 and under and a camera, this is what you get

Today we attempted to have family pictures made with my parents and my sister's family. Let's just say, it didn't go so well for the members of the family 2 and under. And yes, that is MY son with his back to the camera, refusing to turn around!

Baby Got Book....Bible!

Watch this video, a Christian parody of Baby Got Back!