oh baby

I have been on a mission lately. One that many people would not think is that important. But to me, it is at the top of my list. My mission is... Finding shoes that fit my baby's fat feet!! I have looked everywhere.. even Striderite doesnt carry them wide enough. He has a fat roll on top of his feet. Seriously. The only shoes that I have found to fit, before today, are $40. I think that is a little ridiculous to spend that much on shoes for a baby that is just going to grow out of them in two months. I finally found some today at a place that I never even thought to look- Payless! What makes it even better is that I found not only one pair, but two and I was able to get them for buy one get one half off. I am so excited! Instead of spending $40, I only spent $20 and they fit better than the expensive name brand ones. Can't get much better than that! Just goes to show that expensive doesnt always mean better.

We are trying to decide if we should go camping this weekend. It is supposed to rain on Friday, and not be all that warm on Sat. so I am not sure if it will be worth it to go or not. I really would like to go, but I guess that we have plenty of time to go this summer.

During my shoe expedition today I took the kids to the playground at the mall. Will LOVED it! He was so excited to be able to walk around with the big kids and he thought that he was so cool that he could do things that they were doing. He was everywhere! It was really fun watching him get so excited. Even Katie crawled around and seemed to enjoy it. It was fun until a group of older kids came and started running around like a bunch of wild monkeys and ran Will over. It makes me so mad when parents don't watch thier kids. One mom was even standing right there when it happened and didnt even say anything. It was incredibly annoying.

My little walker

This weekend Will was walking everywhere! It is so funny watching him. He walks with his hands in the air, and takes these little tiny steps. Sometimes he walks in place because he just cant get the momentum going. It is hilarious. He is still pretty wobbly and falls quite a bit, but he is getting better and better. I cant believe that he is walking and is almost a year old. It is sad, but happy all at the same time. I am sad that he isnt my little baby anymore, but happy that he is more independent and has more of a presonality. And what a personality it is! He is such a stinker. He definitely has an attitude and lets you know when he is not happy about something. He has this little laugh that sounds like such a troublemaker. You can tell he is doing something he is not supposed to be doing. And Poor Riley. Will just wont leave him alone. He follows him around everywhere and instead of petting him nicely he just pinches. hard. Riley still has not bitten him yet although I wouldnt blame him if he did. He yelps and Will just thinks that it is really funny and does it again! Ohh my sweet baby boy isnt so sweet all the time!

I am planning his first birthday party and am finding it to be a lot of work. I am not sure who I should be inviting and am hoping that I am not leaving anyone out. I am trying to decide whether we should have it at Homer Lake or at our church playground. I am leaning more towards the church because then it doesnt matter if the weather is bad or not. It will be more expensive but I think that all the kids will have more fun. I also think that Will will have more fun because he can walk around there without having a million things to put in his mouth. He will probably be running by that time!

He is on antibiotics for an ear infection for the fourth time in the last 6 weeks. They arent helping. He has an appointment with the ENT doc in May, but I think that he needs to be seen now. I know that there are lots of kids that need tubes, but Will is in so much pain. You can tell by looking at him that he does not feel good. His eyes have dark circles under them, and he is pale. He tries to be happy, bless his heart, but he is still whiney and grouchy. We went out to dinner Sat night and let Grammy and Papa watch him. She actually had to call us to hav e us come home becaue she couldnt get Will calmed down. He cried for over an hour. I think that it was a combination of his ear hurting, and he was really tired. We picked him up and he was so cuddly with me and didnt want to be put down. That is very unlike Will, so I knew that he wasnt feeling well. I pray that he gets back to his old self. I am having a hard time remembering what he used to be like, he has been sick for so long!

Where has the time gone?

I cant believe that it is Friday already. I don't know where the time goes. It is crazy! This week has been pretty boring and uneventful. We havent really done anything. My parents are coming in town today. Maybe mom can help me clean my house! They came in town for a Parents Promise that we have at our church tomorrow morning for Will. It is basically Jon and I promising to raise Will to love Christ and to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. I guess that it is similar to a baptism, but we dont do baptisms until you are old enough to make the decision on your own. Usually around 10 or so. Then they have Brunch for everyone. Jon's parents will be there too, which will be interesting because I think that the last time that they were in the same place was at our wedding.

I saw on facebook that Lindsey quit the salon as well. I really want to know what is going on there! There is something in me that still feels like i have something invested there, when really I don't. I am still on the lease till July, but that is it. I guess that I shouldnt worry about it but it is so hard. I put so much of myself in that salon and it is difficult to see someone throw it all away. Who knows what is in the future for the salon. There may no longer be a HC2 salon! I guess that we will find out soon!

Well, we survived our first camping trip! We got home at about 11 this morning, tired, hungry, and a little wet from the rain. It was a pretty good trip but not the normal relaxing pre-child camping trip that I am used to. Having a baby to chase around definitely makes things a little different!

We got to Walnut Point at about 5:30 on Friday. Katie's mom picked her up early so I was hoping that Jon could get home early so we could leave earlier. But, he wasnt able to get home until about 4:30. Then we still had to load the camper. I would have done it before he got home, but he left for work with the keys to the camper in his pocket! So I wasnt able to pack the fridge, or put anything else in that we werent able to pack on Thursday night. It was so nice on Friday that I was anxious to get there! My parents ended up going and were there before we got there. I was happy that they came because my dad was able to help us with all of the things with the camper that we were a little unsure of. It was also nice to have an extra set of hands to help with Will since I was trying to get the beds set up and everything unpacked. My mom couldnt hold Will though because of her surgery. I slept absolutely AWFUL on Friday night. I was not used to all of the noises that the camper makes, and there were geese that were honking all night long. It was so annoying. Will woke up at about 1 am and we ended up having him in our bed for the rest of the night, which was very uncomfortable! But we made it through the night without any major issues.

Saturday was a really nice day! The weather was awesome... even in the morning it was warm. We just hung out most of the day and I have to admit that I wasnt in the best of moods after having no sleep and having to constantly follow Will around to make sure that he was not eating rocks, or leaves, or sticks. I swear every time I turned my back for a second he had something in his mouth! He was pretty funny to watch though. I brought his walker and he just zoomed around from campsite to campsite. It got pretty exhausting after a few hours. I was so happy when Mindy showed up with a "baby cage" and we put Chloe and Will in it. I was actually able to sit down! Of course Jon was able to do whatever he wanted. He went fishing, mushroom hunting, and sat over at Neil and Kim's campsite just chilling by the fire. Must be nice to have such a relaxing weekend. I did not pick up a fishing rod the whole weekend. And the only mushroom hunting that I did was on the side of the road when Will fell into a pile of leaves. The only plus to having to chase around Will was that Jon was forced to do all the cooking.

It rained all night Saturday night, but luckily I was smart enough to take a tylenol pm before bed. I slept pretty well. Will only woke up once and and had to sleep with us again but I just kinda shoved him to Jon's side and rolled the other way.

Overall, it was a good weekend, but I think that next time I will be more realistic to how much fun I will actually be able to have. And I will definitley be buying one of those cages!

Nap Time

Oh how I love nap time. Especially when they both sleep at the same time. Poor Katie is so stuffed up that she can hardely sleep laying flat so I ended up putting her in my bed propped up with pillows. Then I surrounded her with pillows just in case. She looks pretty comfy. I wanted to crawl in bed with her and take a little nap, but I have a client coming over for a haircut. I also have clients coming over tonight for haircuts as well. I never had any idea that I would be this busy!

I am finding it hard to find time to do anything. Like cleaning, grocery shopping etc. I keep the house vacuumed and dusted, but there is just stuff everywhere. I hate clutter! It stresses me out. It doesnt seem to bother Jon much, considering that most of the clutter belongs to him. There is fishing stuff eveywhere I look. On the kitchen counter, the end tables, even on the washer and dryer. I think that I even saw a lure on our bathroom sink. That man has more fishing supplies than anyone should be allowed to have. There are bags from Bass Pro full of lures that he never even opened or took out of the bag. What is it about men and fishing lures? He could use a new one every day for the rest of his life and still have some left over. You would think that he was a pro fisherman or something. In reality he probably only goes fishing about 30 times a year if that.

I need a professional organizer. If I had unlimited money I could totally have this house in shape in no time at all. But everything is so expensive. And if I did buy stuff than I would have to try to convince Jon to install it which could take years. That is when I wish that my dad could come up and stay for about a week and finish Jon's "Honey Do List". I love my husband dearly, but sometimes I wish that I could trade him for a few days so I could get a husband that liked working around the house. Just a few days though, I would miss him to much! I think that I just need to learn how to use tools on my own and then I could do all the projects that I have been wanting to do. Hmmm that is a thought.

So our camping trip is looking like it could involve rain now. I am mad. Why do they even put up a seven day forcast if it is just going to change? Just yesterday the forcast for Saturday was sunny and 70. Now they are calling for rain. 30% chance but still.. RAIN. I hate rain. Especially when it rains on a weekend that I have been planning for weeks!! I am praying that it doesnt rain, but I guess a little wont hurt us. That is the good thing about having a camper. I remember a birthday not long ago that we tent camped and it poured. You know the expression "raining cats and dogs"? Well we had a whole pack of dogs in our tent that night. Luckily my parents were camping with thier camper and we were all able to squeeze in with them for a very uncomfortable night. It was horrible. My birthdays never go well. Last birthday was by far the best because I had the gift of a beautiful baby boy to enjoy!

Tears tears and more tears!

Today was not a quiet day. Will was pretty upset all day. He had this face, which although cute, the noise that comes with this face is not pleasant. His ear must have been hurting him. The motrin that he had obviously was not enough. I hate seeing him like this!

This week is a busy week, but Friday we are finally going to be able to use our camper! I am really looking forward to it. The weather is looking like it is going to be really nice. I am a little worried about whether or not my parents will come though. My mom has to have her gall bladder removed on Thursday so it is hard to say if she will be feeling up to camping or not. Supposedly the surgery isnt that painful, but who knows. I hope that they can come. I know that if we forget something that my mom will have it in thier camper!

I have been thinking about how happy I am with my decision to leave the salon. I thought that I may miss it, but honestly I dont. There isnt much to miss, except for the girls obviously. The salon has just changed so much since I sold it that it doesnt even seem like the same place anymore. I know that there is nothing that I could have done but I still feel somewhat responsible for what has been happening there. This is Amy's last week there. I think that she will be much happier so I am glad that she is leaving. I am worried about the fate of the other girls though. Things are so up in the air there right now. I am just glad that I do not have to worry about it anymore. I need a haircut badly though so I will have to get ahold of one of them soon!!

Well, the dreaded Monday has passed. Tomorrow should go by fast though because Katie is leaving at one to go to the doctor. Then Will and I are meeting Jon to take care of the license and title for the camper so we can actually take it camping this weekend. Jon has to go to the dentist because he has a toothache. Now I have two babies in the house! But I do love taking care of them. Can't deny it!

He is Risen!

Today is Easter. We went to church this morning and had a great church service. I was really looking forward to it because our church has been doing a series about the life of Jesus leading up to his death and ressurection. Last week was a very emotional service, getting into a very detailed description of His death on the cross. It was tough to hear, even though I have heard it many times before. It never gets easier to hear knowing the torture and pain that he went through for us. Todays service was all praise and was more upbeat. It was a service that I will remember for awhile.

After church we went to Nanny's house for dinner. There was a lot of people there and it was nice to see that side of the family because we havent seen them since Christmas! Will still isnt feeling that well, so he had a hard time enjoying it. Poor little guy. We spent a lot of time outside and I think that the fresh air did him good! We had our usual Easter egg hunt and then came home to get Will down for a late nap. I hope he sleeps tonight! We have decided that it is time that we need to let him cry himself to sleep from now on. He is still waking up at least once a night wanting a bottle. I am scared because he is going to be a year old next month and everyone says that you need to start weaning them from the bottle at a year old. I am not looking forward to that! He is so dependent on the bottle. It is even harder now that I am watching Katie because anytime that he sees her bottle he cries because he thinks that he needs one too!

Last night he was taking steps to me without holding on to anything. I think that it will be any day now that he will be running all over this house. I am already chasing him when he has the walker because he is so fast! I am so proud of my little man. He is so big! He just acts like such a little kid now. No longer the little baby that I wish that he would stay forever!

I've Got the Effingham Blues

It seems like everytime I come to my parents house to enjoy a nice relaxing weekend, Will ends up being sick and is total grouch. We got here yesterday at about 4. I went and visited my friend Mindy and her kids before we leftand Will seemed a little out of it. I had a feeling that he was getting an ear infection for the third time the last month. He didn't get a nap at all yesterday, slept horribly last night, and was up at 4:30 am. I made him take a nap this morning but he only slept for about 20 min. I just laid him down again ands he is crying but hopefully will sleep. I need a nap myself! My mom and i are dealing with the sick kid, while my dad and Jon enjoy a nice relaxing day on the lake. Funny how that works out huh?

We are supposed to be having Easter dinner tonight at 5. I am not sure if we will actually make it to dinner though. I really think that we need to take Will to convenient care tonight. I have a feeling that the ear infection that he has had may have just been lingering, waiting for the perfect time to reappear. Like Easter, when we have a busy weekend. perfect timing. He started to get a cold, probably the same one Katie has had, just the last couple days. Which probably brought on the ear infection. I called the doc to see if he could just call in something, but he won't. Something about it being against clinic policy. So i am supposed to take him in, and then he will get some other illness, like the stomach flu that he got the last 2 times he had an ear infection. It is so stupid. I know he has one. I would bet a million dollars. two million. If I had that much.

Last night my cousin Jamie came over with her daughter Adelyn. Jon was trying to play with Addy and jumped out from behind the couch. It scared her so much that she jumped a mile high and went screaming for her mom. It was pretty funny even though I felt bad. I gave Jamie a new haircut and style which was fun. I like doing hair for people who get excited about it. It is nice. She paid me even though I didn't want her to. Jamie-I will get that money back to you some way or another! :)

Twenty minutes later and he is still crying. This is so frustrating. Not everything about motherhood is enjoyable. I need a nap and I am about ready to cry myself. This is when I am really mad that my parents decided to move an hour and a half away. This wouldnt even be an issue if they still lived 7 miles away. I could just take him home for a nap. But no, they had to move away from thier kids and grandkids to the middle of no where. To a town where there is no shopping, no good restaurants, and not much to do. Great.

I pray he sleeps. I pray I get to sleep. I pray we make it to convenient care tonight. I pray he does not have another ear infection but if he does I pray that he takes tha antibiotics and feels better tomorrow. I can not have another sick baby all week. I just can't.

Happy Easter and thank you Jesus for what you did for us on the Cross!

Its a hairy week

I am doing a ton of hair this week. The extra money is nice, but I am tired! It definitely wears me out taking care of 2 babies all day. The days do go by fast though, which is nice, and i do have a lot of fun playing with them. Nap time is my favorite time of the day though! :) I have gotten Katie on Will's schedule and she is doing great. She is a really sweet baby who likes to cuddle and she seems to have adjusted to us without a problem. It is fun having a little girl around and i admit that it is a good change to see pink instead of blue. Katie wasnt feeling well today though. She has a lot of congestion in her chest and her poor little nose is so clogged that she can barely breathe. I was told by my sis in law Brooke to use eukaleptus oil in the humidifier and put a dab on the temples and neck. I did it for Katie today and it really helped. I was happy to give her some relief!



I am super excited about the package that i will be getting in the mail tomorrow. I was looking online for some options so that i wont have to shampoo my clients out in my kitchen sink and I found the most amazing thing. It is a portable shampoo sink that hooks up to your kitchen sink and drains into the kitchen sink too. I am excited to try it out. It was relatively inexpensive as far as those things go so we will see. I have Amelia and Chris coming over tomorrow so hopefully it will be here to try out!



We are going to my parents house on Friday night and staying through Saturday. We want to be home Sunday to go to our church and to Jon's familys get together at Nanny's house. She always has an easter egg hung every year, even for us. It is fun to have traditions like that to look forward to. And now Will can hunt them too! Jon is fishing with my dad on Saturday and i will probably just enjoy relaxing with my mom. The weather is supposed to be really nice down there so I hope we can spend time outside.





tim and Sarah are coming over tonight so they can get haircuts. TJ cried last time I cut it so I am hoping that he doesnt this time. I hate it when kids cry because it gives them bad impressions of haircuts. We will see!

Wild man

Will was so funny today. He had a really good weekend and was pretty pooped out tonight. He went to Grammy and Papa's house last night so mommy and daddy could go have dinner. It was fun, but we were home early. I missed my boy. My arms always feel empty when he is not with me. I think that I could count on my hand the number of times that Jon and I have gone somewhere with out him.. besides work of course. I still do not think that I am ready to leave him overnight quite yet, although I am sure that Grammy would love it! It is crazy to think that he is almost a year old. I still remember being pregnant with him like it was yesterday and it is a little sad to think that the older that he gets the less that he will need me. I am excited for him to get older though so we can start doing more things together!

Tonight we were playing and I would hide behind the chair and jump out and scare him. He thought that I was the funniest thing ever. He would just squeal in delight and then crawl for me to chase him and tickle him. I love moments like that. I wish that I could freeze them so that I will never forget the sound of that giggle!

He was also all over the place with his walker.
He gets this wild look in his eye, as you can see and just takes off. He gets mad if he thinks that you aren't watching so you have to clap and cheer him on. He is hilarious!

Tomorrow is Monday already. It is hard to believe! Katie come early so I think that I am going to go get some rest!

Date night!

It is Saturday and is such a nice day! Jon has been cleaning the garage believe it or not, and we got the camper all opened up to air it out while it is nice. We also took Will to the Easter egg hunt at Witt Park this morning. He actually picked up the eggs and of course they went straight to his mouth! The Easter bunny was there and Will got his pic taken with him. He wasn't scared at all and went right to him to sit on his lap. It was pretty cute!

We are going out to dinner tonight with Megan and Devon and I am really excited! It is not often enough that I get out of my comfy clothes ( sweatpants and t shirt) to dress up and go out. Basically church is the only place that I get to go anymore that requires getting out of my sweats. I feel semi bad that Jon has to come home to me every day with no makeup and sweats on, but whats the point? I just like to be comfortable and I am so not in jeans. I never thought that I would be one of those wives that dresses like a slob, but I totally am!! Maybe I will start trying a little more. Or maybe not! :) Haha!

I took Will to his grammy's house early so that I could take my time getting ready and possibly get in a little nap, but i don't think that the nap will happen. There isnt much time because I was almost back home when I realized that the gift certificate that we are using tonight was in the diaper bag, which was at Jon's parents house! I had to turn around and go all the way back so the trip took a lot longer than I had planned. So no nap for me, but I still plan on taking a long shower!!

Boring

I can't believe that this week is already almost over. It has been a pretty boring, uneventful week so far. The best thing is that Will is feeling so much better, and I am so glad! I know all you mom's out there totally understand how hard it is watching your kid be so sick. I am almost afraid to take him anywhere because I don't want him to catch anything! I did take the kids to the library yesterday. We didn't stay long, just long enough to get some new books, Elmo's World Videos, and play a little. They both started melting down right before we left so I couldnt get out of there fast enough!

I am definitely ready for the weekend. I am glad that it is supposed to be warm on Sat. Jon has been promising me that he would clean out the garage and this weekend will be the perfect weather for it. We will see.. I am not counting on it. We do need a date night though and Grammy volunteered to watch Will so we can go out. I am defnitely ready for some time with Jon. The last few weeks have been so crazy that I could really use some time to relax.

Will has been using his little walker thingie alot lately. He is hilarious with it. He almost runs he goes so fast and his little legs can barely keep up. He likes to be cheered on and if he notices that you arent watching him he lets out a squeal to get your attention. It also gives me a workout because he gets stuck so much that I have to go pick it up and turn him around. I am so ready for him to walk because he is so heavy that I constantly have a backache from lugging him around. It is funny to watch his personality emerge. Katie has a paci that she takes before a nap. Will always is trying to steal it from her so I got out his old ones so that he can have one too.
(He quit taking a paci when he was like 4 months or so) He just sticks it in his mouth and crawls around with it like he thinks he is so cool. It is pretty funny. He is also OBSESSED with Elmo. He can just hear his voice and he goes crazy. It is funny to me that a ten month old can identify something like that. Maybe he is just a genius. :)