raising finn...

Finn's birthday

2012-01-01T19:09:00.002-05:00

so since i've been absolutely terrible at blogging, i missed putting pics up of finn's 3rd bday. i can't believe he's 3 already, crazy.....

we had the best bday party ever here at the house. i've decided to do a big party for him every other year as he grows up. i don't think its necessary to do something big every year.

this year we got a bounce house delivered to the house for all the kids. it's funny b/c it originally was supposed to be a monster truck, then he called & said it had ripped the week of the party. oops! then we decided on a big bday cake one. well, the day of the party he shows up & apparently he had set that one up at the house before ours by accident. needless to say, we ended up with sponge bob bounce house. it honestly didn't matter what it was b/c finn is just all about jumping. :) he also gave us off a little on the price b/c of the mishap.

there were 12 kids. everyone of them was so well behaved, they had a blast. and the house was in our yard all day so we jumped ALL day. i mean ALL day. i thought i was going to be so sore the next day, but i wasn't.

here is finn having fun with one of the neighbor kids..

party time!

before the chaos..

i also went to finn's class the day before his bday to take cupcakes. the kids loved it & finn loved the extra attention of course..

he already had his crown on when i got there.

i'm not sure what our future holds as for having more children, but i thank god for the one i do have. i feel so honored to have been given him & i pray that i can be the best mother to him.

this past year...

2011-12-31T22:18:00.002-05:00

i have...

met many new friends. good friends. :)

started a new job that i love.

quit a job that i did not love.

not gone on vacation.

had a miscarriage.

started a bible study.

and not all in that order...

it's been a tough close-out to this year, but i'm thinking it can only get better. i have a wonderful family & great friends. a loving husband(whose bday is today!) and a quirky little 3 yr old.

God is good!

here's a few pics from our photo session in nov. we have never had our pictures taken professionally so this was a treat! they turned out nice & i can't wait to order some.

they did not come in time for christmas cards, which is why y'all didn't receive one from me. sorry!! i was hoping..

this one below is my favorite. we don't have a large family on my husband's side but we are all very close. i love how this one turned out.

my sis in law calls this my "next top model shot"! hahaha

just the two of us...

my little family, love them. :)

i pray everyone has a safe & healthy new year's!

my little dude...

2011-11-22T21:57:00.001-05:00

this is a grainy picture, but i love it.

this was one of the days where he was just attached to my hip. didn't want to leave my side. i loved it. and he was actually sitting still. :)

doing better

2011-11-02T20:32:00.002-04:00

i'm finally feeling back to my old self again. the sadness still comes and goes and i know it will be like that for awhile. i had blood work done yesterday & my levels are still not all the way down. i have to go back every week until they are zero. hopefully that will be next week. i just want to put this all behind me. the physical stuff that is.

i want to start blogging more again. hopefully i can make the time for it. i also want to do better at couponing. i bought a 3 ring binder the other day, and baseball card organizers to organize them better. i'm not working tomorrow so that is going to be my project. i just try to save where i can.

anyways, that was very random.. have a good night!

how things are....

2011-10-26T20:27:00.002-04:00

but first 2 pictures of my finny...

b/c he's so cute. :)

oh how i love this kid!!

this has been a tough few days to say the least. i wish no woman ever had to go through this, and yet it happens all the time & is so common. miscarriage. now i feel like i'm "one of those women" . not that it's a bad thing, but i feel differently now. if you've gone through it then you understand.

i'm hoping the worst is over. i'll spare you the gritty details but let me just say that for 3 hours last night i was very intimate with my bathroom. i had no idea what to expect & what i went through i wish no one had to. it was painful, it was emotional, it was horrible. i'm not exaggerating.... it was like contractions, the cramps that is. i won't say anything else about it. i am still having heavy bleeding but am hoping that will ease up in the next few days. i did go back to work today, wish i hadn't, but i did.

i was so grateful dan took the day off yesterday to be with me. i needed him, especially last night. i don't know what i would have done without him, theres no way i could have taken care of finn by myself.

this is a depressing post. sorry. but it helps to write it out.

i'm not going to discuss this on facebook, its inappropriate. people will just have to figure out on their own what happened, i'm not going to talk about it on there. i wish i would have never announced the pregnancy. now i know better.

baby conner

2011-10-24T17:47:00.002-04:00

i'm sad to say that i've lost this precious baby that i've been carrying. i had an idea b/c i've been bleeding since friday morning. i did go to the dr friday & we saw a heartbeat. but i kept bleeding over the weekend & just didn't have a good feeling. it was confirmed today, 1st at the dr's office, than at the hospital where i had to get another ultrasound done, that there was no heartbeat.

i'm very sad. i'm just so tired and feel very weapy. i'm sad that there won't be a baby here next summer. this had come as a total surprise, but as a mom you become very attached very quickly. which i have done.

please pray for me. i should be able to pass the baby naturally. i'm staying home from work tomorrow but will be back on wed. just pray. thanks.

getting caught up!

2011-09-11T15:07:00.003-04:00

i have been really bad about uploading pictures lately. it seems that more times than not i'm online using my iphone, and its not that user friendly uploading pics & such.

sometime time just flies by & it seems like it's already getting to be that busy time of the year.

this morning dan & i went kayaking in st marys, ga. we've been one other time & loved it. this time it was a 6 mile loop around an island, all in the marsh though. it was wonderful. i absolutely LOVE the marsh & love coastal ga. if i could move there right now i would. it was a guided trip through crooked river state park. we'll def be doing more there, we love it that much. i'm trying to talk dan into getting a kayak or canoe instead of a new gun. men & their toys! :)

here are a few pics..

i think the pic below is absolutely beautiful! i loved seeing the reflections from the sky in the water. it truly is beautiful...

here we are on grover island. this was our one stop on the trip so we could get out & stretch out legs.

grover island

the husband :)

and a few pics of my boy :)

every sunday, finn & i drink coffee & read the paper.

he likes to look at the target ad & the toys r us ad.

i think these next pics uploaded backwards. oops!

a few weekends ago the 3 of us traveled up to darien,ga to stay at a b& b. dan & i have stayed there before & absolutely loved it & couldn't wait to get back. i told you i love coastal ga. :) anyways, we took finn this time. they have a seperate room there above their carriage house. its connected to the house but seperate too. perfect for us, with finn. he did really well while we were there. they have a nice salt water pool that we enjoyed & he actually slept well that night. we just stayed one night. breakfast was another story, but luckily we were the only ones eating at that time so it wasn't a big deal.

this was on the way home

this was our room above the carriage house.

the front of the b & b

and these are a few random pics of finn with bugs. the child loves anything that crawls, no fear there.

ok, i'm caught up. yay me!

for now at least....

can you tell?

2011-08-22T20:33:00.002-04:00

where finn's favorite seat in the house is???

this was brownie mix from today..

i think it's safe to say he thought it was yummy.

and this was his 1st taste of nutella, yum!!

he's like his mommy & daddy & loves this stuff. :)

but he put it on something i never thought to before, strawberries!!!

too bad strawberries are going out of season here.

i'm not to good at keeping up anymore. just always doing something else. :)

finn's back at preschool. he's doing great, he loves school & does real well with a schedule. as do dan & i. it's nice to back in a routine again.

there's a hurricane coming. it's supposed to hit here by fri. i'm not too worried yet, for some reason jacksonville always get's skirted by with the storms. i will stock up this week though on batteries & make sure to get some cash out.

that's about all that's going on here. nothing exciting.

hope you enjoyed the pics!

oh my goodness...

2011-07-24T19:40:00.003-04:00

finn was BEYOND hyper today. i have never seen him like this, ever! he had too many sugary drinks at lunch time, even though they were watered down with water, it still didn't seem to matter. he never napped, and he drove us nuts all afternoon. :) we eventually went over to my MIL's house just to get out for a little while. so, at 7:25 this evening he was out. i put him to bed, rubbed his head & sang to him. it took maybe 5 minutes for him to fall asleep. i don't know why, but when i go to sing kid song or lullabies to him, i draw a blank. i seem to sing the same ones over & over. can anyone help me out here with a list to go off of?? :) i love it when i get to watch him drift off though. nothing is sweeter than a child sleeping. i took the time tonight to pray over him & thank Jesus for this precious child i get to raise here on this earth.. it's amazing, isn't it?

good night all...

taken from my phone...

2011-07-23T20:39:00.002-04:00

sorry these pics are so small, i took them from my iphone & then emailed them to myself. i guess i didn't download them at the correct size. oh well..

these are prob the only pics i will have of finn with kristy. we had a big storm last night & kristy is terrified of them. the power went out & we all went in finn's room to hide out.

kristy can be a little aggressive so we have to watch her around finn at all times. but finn on the other hand just loves kristy. he is IN love with her & she could care less about him.

so these pics are unusual to say the least. :)

i'm typing this from our new little toshiba notebook that we got today. dan had a best buy gift card burning a hole in his pocket & he's been wanting one of these for awhile now.

finn managed to take off over half the keys on dan's laptop so its unusable now. my laptop is as old as the hills, so this will be perfect for everyday use for us. finn is to get NOWHERE near it as it's to be kept on the counter at ALL times. :) dan has a newer desktop so between this, his computer & our iphones we are set to go with technology now....

we've been doing good here. its been HOT! i don't usually complain about the heat b/c i actually like it, but it is def very warm outside. i've gotten sun burned the last 2 weekends so i need to be careful. today we went to a friend of mines house. they're actually old enough to be my parents, but i love my diane and i miss working with her. they have brunch on saturdays at their house so we got to join them for that & then we played in the pool for awhile. it was so nice! i've really enjoyed my day today. :)

well, finnys asleep so i'm going to watch something on netflix. hopefully i can find a good movie, any one have one they can recommend??

cousins

2011-07-06T20:26:00.003-04:00

it's been awhile...

2011-06-29T14:42:00.003-04:00

well, it's been awhile since i posted. like a month i think. i've just been busy with work and home that blogging is not high on the priority list. i still enjoy reading everyone else's blog but have a hard time updating mine.

but i'm still here. :) working away, taking care of finn in the afternoons and evenings, having small group at my house every tuesday night, trying to coordinate child care everyday(while school is out), taking care of the house, the husband, the child, the dog.... you get the picture. whenever i sit still for longer then 15 minutes i tend to doze off...

watching cars EVERY single day. and watching nothing else but cars. i swear i could literally quote that movie!

here are a few pics. this one i just took of finn napping. i keep his crib mattress under his bed. why? i do not know, but apparently now he likes to pull it out & jump and sleep on that for a change. just as long as he's napping.

here's one of finns grandpop's old hat's. go irish!

and here he is wearing daddy's work boots. so cute. :)

i'll try to do better posting, but i'm not sure who even reads this thing anymore. if you do, let me know, will ya??

so random....

2011-05-27T22:32:00.003-04:00

here are a few pics of this past week to share with you..

here's finn sporting mommy's big sunglasses. these are my back up pair so he's allowed to wear them. :)

last weekend we watched my 70 yr old co-worker sky dive. she's crazy! the pilot let finn get in the plane and check it all out.

and these are my new sandals i got this week. this was trying them on right out of the box. all the straps adjust so i'm still working on getting them just right. they are extremely comfortable & i can tell they'll last a long time.

i'm so glad its friday & a long weekend!

we're headed to the pool tomorrow morning with finn's 2 little cousins who are here visiting.

and then monday dan & i are going on an all day kayak trip. i'll be sure to take pics and post.

i've got to do better, but my time just slips away on me......

frustrated...

2011-05-16T21:26:00.002-04:00

last night we got a call late from dan's mom. she had passed out at home and had fallen. dan rushed over & took her to the er. before she passed out her heart was pounding/racing, she was dizzy and nauseus. dan stayed with her all night and came home this morning at 6 to sleep. i took finn to the babysitters last night at 11 b/c i had to be at work at 6 this morning. we both got very little sleep. we're tired. we're still not sure what is going on with gail. they're doing lots of tests and we're waiting for the results. shes there tonight as well. when she fell she hit her elbow also and they're still awaiting the results of a ct scan to see is she fractured it or not. last time we got a call in the night dans dad had died. needless to say we're nervous going to bed tonight. sure hope that phone doesn't ring.
we had plans for this weekend. big plans. dan & i were going by ourselves to wv to a wedding that dan is an usher in. we were going to be gone 3 night's/4 days. dans mom was going to keep finn so we could go. we're not going now. and i'm frustrated. something always happens, i told dan we shouldn't plan anything anymore. i just hope and pray dan's mom is okay.
please pray for us & for dan's mom. that they would figure out what happened and that her elbow is not broken.
thanks.

2011-05-14T02:26:00.001-04:00

Mobile blogging. Who knew?? I'm trying it out, how do you like it??

2011-05-14T02:17:00.001-04:00

long time

2011-04-25T21:46:00.002-04:00

long time no blog..

i've been buuussssyyyyy. :)

starting this new job leaves me with not much free time anymore. :(

my days consist of getting up at 5, getting to work anywhere between 6 and 630, depending on the schedule. work. leave around 230 or 3(or later if its my late day), either picking finn up from school, or picking him up from the babysitters, fixing dinner, cleaning, laundry, playing outside, swimming, cleaning, laundry, playing.... you get the picture. :)

we've all been sick. dan very bad. he passed out naked while on the toilet. did a face plant on the tile floor in the bathroom. paramedics came, a FIRETRUCK came. (embarrasing).

spend an entire night in the ER.

lost an entire nights sleep. i don't recommend that at our age.

salmonella poisoning from chick fil a. lovely. i love that place. sigh.....

finns got an ear infection. i've got his cold.

blah blah blah....

i'm not going to keep going.

oh, i forgot the part of driving 6 1/2 hrs on fri to ga.

having a family reunion, then driving 7 hrs home on sunday.

worn out...

good night!

saturday morning

2011-04-09T08:48:00.002-04:00

camping chair...check

crocs...check

santa jammies...check

chocolate milk...check

beach hat...check

bowl of goldfish...check

spoon to eat them with...check

mickey's road rally...check

happy saturday!!

a few fun pictures...

2011-04-02T19:41:00.002-04:00

this first picture is for when i can bribe or blackmail finn when he's in highschool... :)

such a cute little bottom too!

finn likes to take his clothes off when playing outside with the pool or water. (he's addicted to

the water hose!), so we've been working on going potty outside. note the big boy underwear on.

i think this is my new favorite pic of him too!

and here he is mowing the patio. :) he really is such a hard little worker...

well, that was our saturday in a nutshell...

he's already asleep b/c he wouldn't settle down at naptime today.

he went 90 to nothing all day long. nonstop. he's like this ALL the time. even at bed time now. it is WEARING me out.

all week i maybe had 6 hrs of sleep a night. i can handle that.

but i'm back to getting up EARLY every morning now & after 2 weeks of not much sleep it's catching up to me... i'm EXHAUSTED..

not seeing dan anymore is getting tough again. we see each other sat & sunday, that's it.

it's hard. we're used to it. but it's still hard.

ok, enough. i made a pot of decaf & me & the husband are going to sit out back & enjoy.

good night!

happy, but sad.

2011-03-20T20:52:00.002-04:00

well, tomorrow is it. i start my new job. i am really happy & feel so blessed to have gotten this job that is so close to my home & with good hours, and even better pay.

for the past year my job has been CRAZY, working wierd hours and driving lots of places, but........... i did get to spend more time at home. with finn. with dan. now its all going to change. and i realized that as i was putting finn to bed tonight. i got real emotional & started to cry. i realized that no more would i be able to go in his room & get him up in the mornings again. not that i did that everyday before, but i still got to quite a bit. i won't see my little guy till tomorrow afternoon & i'm really sad about that. i'm happy to be going back into a routine again as far as my schedule goes so thats a good thing. and finn will be on a routine too, so thats good for him. i just couldn't help but to feel sad about it. very sad. i got my shower & cried it out so i do feel better now. :)

just thought i'd share.

Finn's room

2011-03-16T11:02:00.002-04:00

well i'm finally getting a chance to show pics of finn's new room!! it took 2 long days of painting & repairing walls till it was finished. if you see in the pic below there is no curtain. what we're going to to is get some molding that matches his window sill & we're going to frame his window with that molding. it'll look so nice when that's done.

the color is called misty surf. it's a cross between a gray & a light blue. in natural light is looks more gray and in the artificial light it looks more blue. but i have to say i LOVE this color! it's so clean looking. dan also put 2 coats of white paint on the beadboard(which was already there) and all the trim. right now finn has the nicest room in the house!

here is his new twin bed. well, new to us. i found the bed with the matching nightstand at a local used furniture shop right down the road. my neighbor down the street actually owns it. i prefer to buy used furniture. i feel like it's better quality & i prefer some character. :)

we put just a mattress on the bed right now, no box springs. this way its low to the ground for a while. we will eventually add the box spring though. i got to say finn LOVES his new bed!

this was his existing dresser. one day we'll maybe find one that matches...

and this was dan's grandmother's rocking chair. i've always had it in finn's room.

the paintings above the nightstand are ones my father painted when he was in college. i painted both the frames a nice white so match.

i made his bulletin board before finn was even born for his room. i've always liked the primary colors of red and blue. the railroad sign is from his dede(dan's mom), a bday present. and the bookcase i painted white to match also.

this little lantern came in the mail monday from llbean. it's awesome b/c it comes with a remote. so this is finn's new night light. once he's asleep i can click it off without having to go in his room. LOVE IT!

finn's doing really great all in all in the transition to big boy room. for the 1st week he would wake up at night & start playing. he takes the drawers out of his nightstand, turns them over, and stands on it to turn his light on. dang kid!

but this week has been much better! he's going to bed much easier & taking his naps easier also. and now he's actually sleeping in the bed like a normal person. head on pillow & feet towards the bottom.

i'm very happy with his room & am proud of the hard work dan & i put into it. :)

adjusting...

2011-03-07T21:25:00.002-05:00

i'll have to post pics of finn's new room. it's soooo cute!!!

here he was at nap time today.

went right to sleep. in his big bed. :)

and here's bed time tonight. he didn't want his door shut & he ended up here..

he never cried. not once. poor dude is still adjusting.

i picked him up & tucked him in.

he never moved a muscle, he must be really pooped.

hope he sleeps all night!!

this child...

2011-03-01T20:52:00.002-05:00

is one spoiled kid!!

just look at these pictures...

this is how it is everyday when we play outside..

the neighborhood kid's love him :)

we're so fortunate to live in a great little neighborhood.

it's small & there's lot's of kids.

it's the kind of neighborhood where you can let your kids play outside

and not worry about them.

and my finn fit's right in.

big

2011-02-27T20:50:00.002-05:00

big big big big big BIG prayer request for tomorrow please!!

i'll ill you in when i can, but until....

please say a quick prayer for me!

thanks!!

here's what happens....

2011-02-22T14:11:00.002-05:00

when mr.finn is playing in his room while mom cooks dinner..

i swear, i love this kid. :)

of course he won't keep a hat on his head when it's cold, but come warmer weather he breaks out the winter hat. funny.

i moved his work bench into his room so he has more things to play with in there. he likes to go in his room & shut the door & play. i don't mind. :)

he loves to try on daddy's boots. and i love watching him. :)

thing's have been good here lately. i had a crazy work day yesterday. i found out at 930 sunday night that i had to be in savannah yesterday for a 9 am case. lovely. i left at 5 and got home at 4. lovely. case went well though & i got home safely so i won't complain. oh, and i didn't have to work today. and i got paid. go figure. i haven't had a standby day like this in forever & i am so enjoying it!

it's beautiful outside. 78 degrees. love it!! i've kept the air off, have windows open & fans running. and it is perfect inside..

we're getting estimates for a new a/c unit before the heat gets here. our unit is 16 yrs old. it still works pretty well but we're nervous it's gonna go out real soon. income tax $$!

i'm looking for a toddler bed for finn. i wanted to just go right to a twin bed, but the cheaper alternative for the moment is a toddler. all we need is the actual bed itself. i'm checking craigslist daily.

nothing else new at the moment.

finn's napping so i'm going to lay down also & start a new library book. yay!

2 cute pictures

2011-02-19T21:55:00.001-05:00

first, a day in the life of a dog.

must be nice.........

2nd, Finn is finally sleeping with his pillow pet.

so sweet....

good night!

for my valentine

2011-02-14T19:35:00.001-05:00

and it's going to kill me to not cut into it tonight before he get's home!!!

happy valentine's day!

wordless wednesday

2011-02-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

someone...

2011-02-08T20:25:00.001-05:00

learned how to put their hand's in their pocket today :)

and walked our whole walk that way. :)

finny

2011-02-07T16:21:00.002-05:00

didn't your mother tell you not to stand too close to the tv?!

how do you like finn's outfit??

this is how i have to dress my child so he can't take his clothes off in bed...

it's ridiculous, but it works. he can't undo snaps yet, so......

the onsie's go on top of the jammies. :)

playing catch up

2011-02-04T06:52:00.002-05:00

here's a few pics of when we went to dan's work's christmas party in dec. every year they have a big bbq at the shop & all family is invited. kids get to ride in the police car's & firetrucks too. which oddly enough, finn didn't really like.

here he is in the firetruck.

i don't know what gov. employee uses this, but whatever..

here's dan the man :)

and this is when i was all out of contacts & had to wear my glasses for like a month or 2 straight..

all & all it was a alright time. finn doesn't sit still well AT ALL so it is hard to do some things right now with him. as long as he is outside running around he's fine, but lord have mercy, make that boys sit still when he doesn't want to & it is NO FUN!!

i'll post some christmas pics sometime too, i don't think i ever did that either.

oh, and i shower is done! yep, we can now shower in our shower for the 1st time in months. :)

i'll be sure to take some pics of that too.

my parents are here visiting for the weekend. they came yesterday. we're supposed to be going to a train steamer meet on saturday but the weather doesn't look very promising. we shall see. we went last year & that's one of the reasons my parents came this weekend b/c my dad is a HUGE train nut. we're praying the rain stays away!!

anyways, hopefully i won't have to go into work today & i can enjoy a day with the family. finny has school this morning so at least i'll get to take him. i usually never get the opportunity to do that & i love it when i can.

ta ta!

baking bread

2011-01-26T20:42:00.002-05:00

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/

this is the website i've used for my bread baking. you really can't get anymore easier than this.

today i made 2 more loaves, one regular & one that i added butter, cinnamon, sugar & raisin's to to make breakfast bread. both turned out super yummy again. but, i found with the cinnamon bread i need to roll the dough tighter before i bake it. you'll see what i mean if you look at the recipe. but, it tasted delicious.

for dinner tonight i made red beans & rice, a request from dan. :) and boy, was it good! i usually get all my recipes from allrecipes.com and this was no exception. it was SOO tasty! he will be happy when he gets to try it tomorrow. :)

well, i'm off to tv land....

night

typical night

2011-01-21T20:40:00.002-05:00

typical dinner time. finn won't sit in a high chair anymore, only a big boy seat now. :)

he looks like he joined the military! no more short haircuts after this one. although they are much easier. :)

this meal had 2 of his favorite foods. beans & corn. i swear my son could be a vegetarian at the age of 2. he loves his veggies!

well finn has given me his lovely cold so i'm all stuffed up tonight. typical friday night here in our house. finn is in bed & i'm gonna watch a movie. charlie st. cloud, anyone seen it? hope it's good.

have a great weekend!

one of my goals...

2011-01-18T21:49:00.002-05:00

is to make thing's homemade...be it cookies, cakes, bread....

it's so much better for you & it's so much cheaper.

both reason's why i am trying to do this.

i haven't bought one pack of cookies yet this year. :)

i'm going to try to make granola bar's next, we eat a TON of these.

the peanut & almond ones..

so i made 2 loaves of bread today for the 1st time.

no bread machine either, all by hand.

it was surprisingly easy!

and a bit messy, which i didn't mind.

it was also a good upper arm work out, kneading 2 loaves...

the bread is very yummy!

i've already had 2 slices.

this was basic white bread, so now i can try diff types.

we like honey oat.

yummm.....

anyone else out there make bread??

i've made 2 diff bundt cakes this year too.

they were both SO good.

maybe i'll make another one this weekend.

i'm off to bed now.

after eating a slice of bread with some peanut butter on it. :)

night!

weekly wrap

2011-01-15T13:46:00.002-05:00

my mother in law got me these yesterday, how sweet!

i made chicken quesadillas last night for dinner.

i put in them shredded cheese, chopped up cooked chicken, finely chopped leeks and spinach.

they were quite yummy.

finn ate about a cup of shredded cheese & i bite of the quesadilla.

oh well...

i got the pics mixed up but oh well.

i'm so glad it the weekend.

it's been a tough week..

work's been BUSY!

maybe not leaving the house today.

finn has a cold. :(

might go to a basketball game tonight.

depends on finn.

watching undercover boss on netflix.

we cancelled out home phone & our cable through at&t.

it's the year of cut backs in our home.

trying to start a small group for women with childcare provided.

waiting to hear if it'll be approved.

went to the gym once this past week.

wish i could have gone more. :(

made homemade chicken salad for lunch today.

got a big boston butt on the smoker cooking today.

dans in charge of that.

the house is quiet.

i finished a book yesterday & started another this morning.

can't believe how much snow ga got!

going back to my netflix now.

ta ta!

like?

2011-01-12T20:26:00.002-05:00

you like my new shades dan got me for christmas??

they're oakley's.. they make me nervous...

i've never had such nice sunglasses..

but i sure do like them. :)

and with all the driving i've been doing lately for work,

they've been great!

thanks danny!

last Sunday

2011-01-06T15:43:00.003-05:00

we went for a hike

at a girl scout camp that was in operation from the 1930's till 2006

it's just down the road from us a bit

the county now own's it

we found a playground there

us watching finn play

saw a giant tree root!

saw the beautiful st.john's river

tried to get a pic of the 3 of us

LOVE this pic of my 2 boy's :)

we had a great time!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T14:18:00.002-05:00

I'm alway's a day late & a dollar short, but Merry Christmas!!

I love this picture. This is when Finn 1st spotted the present's under the tree. Pure delight!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday, I'm still re-cooperating from 3 kids under the age of 2 1/2. ahhhh!!! I'm enjoying my quiet house now. :)

look!

2010-12-21T07:23:00.003-05:00

well 1st here's a pic of finn's new haircut(which i do not like)

he loves to sit with daddy & watch his mickey :)

but look!!! there's tile on the walls!!!

progress!!!!!

can you tell i'm excited?!?!?!?!

oh, it's only been since http://hollybeths.blogspot.com/2010/09/currently.html#links

that my shower's been destroyed..

and i have not complained once. not once. i mean it.

we've been using finn's bathroom for our shower's and it's been fine.

but i will be SO happy when i can get a shower in my nice big bathroom again.

maybe by christmas??

we'll see..

i'll let you know..

but so far i love it!

i love the big tile..

and the color's :)

what do you think??

oh, and i didn't mention my husband and his friend, Andre, from work till all this yesterday!

this morning

2010-12-15T12:49:00.002-05:00

we sat on mommy's lap

while mommy tried to take pictures of us

I like the one below..

we peeked around the corner trying to watch tv

instead of sitting where we could see

of course no shoes or socks on..

my view from where we were sitting

on the kitchen floor :)

some days...

2010-12-13T19:25:00.003-05:00

i can not handle things.

today is one of those days.

i lose my temper.

i freak out.

i have major melt downs.

today i had all the above.

i am not proud of myself.

i feel like a horrible mother.

i don't want to yell at my child.

i need more patience.

i wish my child would just listen!

i get sick of being a "single" parent every single night.

weekend

2010-12-12T19:47:00.002-05:00

boy it was a busy weekend. we left friday around 3 & went to a state park in middle georgia for 2 nights. we met dan's brother david & his family there, oh and gail, my mil, went also. it was bday celebration weekend!! out of the 8 of us, 4 have bdays in december. so we're trying to set aside time every year for bday time since they're all so close to christmas, matthew's being christmas eve. he'll be 1!

anyways, i forgot my camera. and dans tennis shoes, and brown sugar, and toothpaste, and dans pillow, and the list could go on and on. i'm usually good about not forgetting thing's but last week's craziness caught up with me & i wasn't as prepared as usual. oh well, it all worked out.

cecelia took pics from her camera so she will send me copies and i will share with you. :)

we had a nice time. 3 kids under the age of 2 1/2 = no rest, but we knew that going in.

here's my 2 pics i took with my phone...

that's finn working on his new laptop. :) just like mom & dad now.

oh, and finn turned 2 last wednesday!!

oh how time flies!!

check this out

2010-12-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

http://shanemerrittfamily.blogspot.com/

giveaway time, make sure to enter for your chance to win!

Holly

just another day

2010-11-30T17:12:00.001-05:00

at the playground!

I'm glad we enjoyed the shorts & t-shirt weather today b/c tomorrow it's gonna be cold!! Well, the high is 60, that's cold for us. :) Today was in the low 80's & it was NICE!

Oh Christmas Tree!!!!

2010-11-28T19:31:00.001-05:00

well...

2010-11-25T15:10:00.004-05:00

I wasn't gonna cook today, but I had to do something. :)

So I made this for breakfast. I woke Dan up at 9:30, he came out & promptly said I was supposed to let him sleep in. WHAT?! Oh, and that he didn't want breakfast. And then he went back to bed.

Oh well, I do try...

And the Cracker Barrel lunch didn't work out either b/c it was RIDICULOUSLY crowded. So we headed to a Cuban restaurant by there and enjoyed a lunch buffet there. The food was yummy, but it was strange.

So, that's my thanksgiving so far. Bahumbug! I need to get over my bad attitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

And by the way, the blueberry coffee cake was YUMMY!

Yum-o!

2010-11-24T15:54:00.002-05:00

I just happened to watch Rachel Ray about a week ago and saw her make these:

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3711

Oh Good Lord, did these look good!

I'll be making these over the weekend so I'll let you know how they turn out.

But, tomorrow we're eating out so no cooking or dishes for me!!

random

2010-11-21T20:37:00.003-05:00

I hope my Finny will love on me like this 30 years from now... aww, so sweet, Dan lovin' on his mother. :) I could so black mail him with this picture too, although I won't...

Here's Finn & his DeDe looking through the sale adds making his Christmas list...

Here's a picture of us from last weekend's MADD banquet. Actually a pretty decent picture.

Who need's to make a Christmas list when boxes are SO much fun!?

We're hiding a neighbor's Christmas present in Finn's closet & this is the box it came in. He has just played & played with it.. Now he's made it into a slide.

Life here has been pretty good. We stay busy with our schedules. Always working opposite shifts & not seeing each other much get's old really fast. It's hard on a marriage. I won't lie. But, we do the best that we can & hope and pray one day Dan will be on day shift.

I'm hoping this will be a slow week this week for work. Dan has off Thursday & Friday where I only have off Thanksgiving this year. We're going to Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving day and then we'll do a big meal next weekend here at the house. My mother-in-love and I are planning our shopping strategy for Friday morning. Last year my dad & I headed out at 4, this year Target opens at 4. Yikes! I think we're only planning on going there & Academy. But, who knows???

I do believe that Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I just love everything about it. I love Christmas but think it's sad how commercialized everything is & how it's all about present's. My parent's won't be coming down till January so we won't be seeing them at all for either holiday. I think that's a 1st. Sad. :(

Dan's working on the shower, it's ALMOST ready for tile. Like, next weekend ready. YAY! It's been a very slow process as he's been working overtime everyday & even some on the weekend's. But, it's finally getting there. I'll be sure to post a pic next weekend. I can not wait to see how it's going to look.

Well, gotta run, Dan's calling me for help. TATA!!

this weekend...

2010-11-14T20:30:00.002-05:00

whew! was busy...

friday night we attended a MADD banquet

saturday we went to the corn maze(and never did the corn maze)

we rode the cow train, twice

we went to church and then..

we played outside today

we hung clothes out to dry

mommy stood in the doorway & watched the jaguar game while finn played outside (dan went to the game)

we try to fix our broken wagon

and try to get a pic of the two of us

and i didn't take pictures of the police checkpoint my MIL & i volunteered at saturday night from 9:30-1am

it's been a busy, but wonderful weekend

trying to win!!

2010-11-08T19:56:00.002-05:00

http://www.5minutesformom.com/29222/christmas-giveaway-2010/

check out their website & try to win some great prizes yourself!!

cousins

2010-11-02T16:16:00.001-04:00

adorable.

pray

2010-11-02T11:52:00.001-04:00

I have an unspoken prayer request I really need prayer for.

Thanks.

Holly

recycling

2010-10-28T21:00:00.003-04:00

this pillow....

used to be a shower curtain.

after we got both bathrooms painted a light green color, unfortunately the shower curtain didn't match anymore.. very sad..

i actually got this shower curtain at a yard sale. :)

anyways, i didn't want to get rid of it b/c i've always loved the bright color's in it. the top of it was a pretty turquoise color with the stripes being along the bottom. my mother-in-law suggested i get it made into a pillow. so smart!

so i did.

and there it is.

LOVE it!!!

and guess how much it cost me??

go ahead, guess....

when mom's not looking...

2010-10-26T10:58:00.000-04:00

here's what finn's up too...

a year ago...

2010-10-23T20:38:00.002-04:00

my little dude looked like this:

and now he look's like this:

wow! time goes by so fast! this little guy is almost 2 & i just can't believe it. :)

(just a little side note here, the short's finn has on in the 1st picture still fit him. he wore them today in fact. skinny little dude, not fair!)

now that's a lot of coffee!

2010-10-07T20:06:00.002-04:00

can you say yuuummmm?????

dan works with a guy whose from columbia. well, this dude goes home all the time & when he comes back he brings me coffee! and it's the best coffee you've ever had, trust me. it's so dark & smooth it's like chocolate. this is about the 6 or 7th bag we've gotten so far, but this one is 8 lbs! we buy this from him & it's actually cheaper than buying good store bought coffee here.

oh...i'm in heaven..

currently...

2010-09-26T13:35:00.002-04:00

this is what our shower/tub looks like..

oh my...

this past weekend...

2010-09-08T22:18:00.002-04:00

we went to GA! up to my parent's house for the long weekend. we hadn't been since Christmas, which I can not believe. I guess that's what happens when you get a new job & can't take any time off.

We had a wonderful time visiting. and on sat dan's brother david & his family came to visit for the day. we had so much fun! the kids love playing together & love seeing each other. finn & elizabeth are only 6 months apart in age. little matthew is 8 1/2 months & is the sweetest baby i've ever none.

here is he sitting with my mom.. just as content as he can be..

the cousins jumping..

it was 49 degrees both sat & sun morning!!

thank goodness i packed a long sleeve shirt for finn!

it was so nice to see everyone. on sunday we went & visited my grandmother. my sister & her little one cheryl came to so we got to see them also. finn got lots of cousin time in last weekend. :)

on a side note, finn is doing really well in school. i love that he gets to go those 2 mornings a week & spend time with his little friends. i can tell he's learning too! it's really amazing. today he came home with a flower they made on construction paper. i was so proud! it's taped to one of the cabinets in the kitchen so i can see it everyday. :)

bed time now, night night!

play-doh time!

2010-08-28T21:45:00.004-04:00

last week i introduced finn to play-doh. he was a little skeptical at 1st, but finally came around to it. a little. i sat there snapping away pics b/c it was quite amusing. and believe it or not, he didn't even try to eat it. i was amazed by that. i did check though & play-doh is non-toxic so i wasn't that worried anyways.

this was right after a haircut. which is why he's going shirtless. :)

mommy's creation

little dare devil!

2010-08-15T19:53:00.003-04:00

my child scares me in the fact that he is not scared of anything.. dan was replacing a fixture in the laundry room & before we knew it finn had ran in there & climbed practically to the top. you can not take your eyes off him for a minute!

here he was the other day at the house. i swear this child will be the death of me...

and i just had to throw this pic in b/c i LOVE it. :) i don't get many pics with my little man & this one turned out decent..

everything's been going pretty well here lately. dan & his mother went up north for 7 days this past week so finn & i were on our own a few of those days. my parents came down for 4 nights so that was nice. and of course it happened that i had to travel out of town with my job while dan was gone. i had to go to savannah for a night & do a case. finn slept at the babysitters overnight & did just fine. it's not the 1st time that he's slept there. we are SO fortunate to have a WONDERFUL babysitter 3 doors down from us. she loves him to pieces & her home is his 2nd home.

finn starts school on tuesday!!! ahhhhhh!!!!!!! i can't believe it. last week i did the oreintation stuff at the school. hes going to one of the church schools here in town. he's going to love it. :) its 2 half days a week & its going to be so good for him. i of course took tuesday off so i can take him & pick him up. this is a big deal! i officially feel like a grown up now. i'm wierd, i know.

well i'm gonna watch a movie i dvr'd last night. i love my dvr...

i'll update on tuesday about finns 1st day.

this is what we do...

2010-08-05T07:09:00.002-04:00

this is what we do at least 2 days a week....

it passes time & helps to wear finn out

he's not an inside kindof guy

he prefer's the outdoors

as does his mommy

he sweats just like his mommy too

he usually gets a least 1 bump or scrape

last night he knocked his forehead on the step

he's a fearless dude

which frightens his mommy

who just woke up b/c kristy barked at something outside

nice kristy, thanks....

craigslist find!

2010-07-29T16:24:00.003-04:00

don't you just love craigslist??? if you haven't gotten on there before you've got to check it out. i've bought all kinds of things on there for such good deals.

the other day i found these cute stools that are from ikea. i've eyed them before, but us not having an ikea makes it sort of a problem. well i found someone selling them both for $10. :)

i went & picked them up today, aren't they cute?!

of course finn loves to push them all around the house & climb on them instead of actually sitting, but what else would i expect?

now all i need is a table....

playground

2010-07-17T20:12:00.003-04:00

This is what Finn & I did this afternoon.....

so nice to have nice park's & playgrounds close by!

I never knew...

2010-07-16T08:03:00.002-04:00

I know I've always heard that you never know true love until you have a child. I never realized how true that was. I wasn't prepared for this fierce love I have for Finn. The kind of love you would do anything for...Having a child is a beautiful thing. That he's a part of Dan & I make's it even more special. But I have to remember that he is God's child first. I'm so grateful that God gave me this child to raise here on earth. I only hope & pray that I can be the best mother that I can be. We all know that it's not an easy job. :)

Here are 2 pic's of my little buddy this morning.

please explain to me...

2010-07-13T06:53:00.002-04:00

how when i was working at mayo & had insurance, to get my bp prescription filled there it was $8 and some change....

and how last week i got the same prescription filled withOUT insurance at our target & it was $4???????

crazy!!!

4th of July weekend

2010-07-08T07:15:00.002-04:00

we were in atlanta for the 4th visiting family. we had a great time. finn was still cranky from some virus he had, which his cousin now has, but over all did really well.

it was total craziness with 3 kids in the house under 2!! wow, i got a little taste of what having that many kids would be like & i'll be honest, i'm not sure i could do it!

i give my sister-in-law a HUGE amount of credit for staying at home with her children. it truly is the HARDEST job out there.

here is a few pics from the weekend.

we went to a neat game ranch where animals are free to wander as they please. that was really fun...

finn had to get in the stroller at the end b/c he ran so much in there he wore himself out..

finn's 1st lollipop while in the car traveling...

he loved it by the way!

Dan, David & I had a chance to go to a Braves game while we were there. what fun!! i forgot how much i enjoyed major league games. i've definately got to get out more. :)

back to reality.

the end.

my beach boy

2010-06-27T19:43:00.002-04:00

we live less than an hour from the beach.

i'm not sure why i don't take advantage of it more. but we ventured out on saturday. one of my best friends rebecca was here so we went on saturday morning. my requirement was that we had to go early. we got there at 9 & stayed till 11. it was wonderful! where we went we got to drive right out on the beach & park & unload right there. very nice & easy.

finn loved it of course, he loves anything outside. i held him & went out in the water & everytime a wave came we would dunk down in it. he laughed and laughed and laughed, he just thought it was so funny..

the ocean water is SO much more refreshing than pool water right now. the pool where we go has a water temp right now of 87. not refreshing at all, its like getting a bath. so this was nice...

have i said that i love my little beach baby boy.

this week....

2010-06-23T21:54:00.002-04:00

this week has been totally insane! it started with having to work on sunday, an insane day at work on monday then driving to sc late monday night for work, driving all the way home on tue after only a few hours of sleep & doing 1 case, busy with work all day today...

getting 2 bad news tonight..

1) my dad is having surgery AGAIN tom morning on his eye. his retina detached so they are going in tom to repair it & do a scleral buckle on it. the dr did not guarantee dads vision would be restored. at this pt he has no vision in it at all...

2) one of best friends from home found out today she has stage 2 melanoma. she's 30 & pregnant & should not have to be dealing with this. totally shocking!

i'm beyond tired tonight & i'm upset by these 2 things & i need to be in bed right now b/c i have another full day tomorrow....

please pray. thank you.

the 1st of many i'm sure...

2010-06-16T09:38:00.002-04:00

black eyes that is....

finn slipped in the tub last night, never actually fell, just hit his eye on this square block he plays with...he cried for a few minutes then was fine.

this was right after it happened...

and this was this morning...

he wouldn't be very still so it was hard to get a good pic of it...

that's my boy!!

this is how...

2010-06-12T20:25:00.004-04:00

we beat the heat!!!

what do y'all do to stay cool around your house???

wordless wednesday or i should say thursday!

2010-06-10T08:30:00.001-04:00

this week..

2010-06-09T13:30:00.004-04:00

we're sleeping with our feet hanging out.....

we're eating on our borrowed picnic table....

we're doing some serious grilling...

we're watching daddy grilling...

we're playing with cousin Elizabeth...

we're doing lot's of hugging & kissing...

we're looking super cute in mommy's glasses...

need recipes!

2010-06-04T15:39:00.003-04:00

well ole danny boy here got lucky & got his father's day gift a little early this year.

here it is.......

so we need help with some recipes...

dan is super excited about this as am i b/c we both love bbq so much. we're excited to try it ourselves.

so if anyone has any recipe ideas for us, please please share!!

studious finn

2010-05-31T21:57:00.001-04:00

this is what finn likes to do while sitting on daddy's lap...

too cute!

a boy & his corn

2010-05-23T20:53:00.000-04:00

what we did today...

2010-05-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

got our new dishwasher delivered...

i did LOTS of laundry, that's just finn's clothes...

look, it's got a child lock. sweet!!!

ta da!! i love the black, so glad we changed our minds & went with this instead of the stainless... dan has to do 1 more adjustment tomorrow morning then he'll put the kick plate on the bottom.

LOVE IT!!

new appliance week!

2010-05-16T21:26:00.003-04:00

well......2 new appliances. one small & one big.

here's the small one.....

my old coffee pot was on the way out. it would come on by itself & do this annoying clicking thing. so there's my new one. :)

and the other "big" thing coming on wednesday is my new dishwasher!!! i'm so excited about this. we were going to go with stainless but have decided with black. my husband got a smokin' deal on a Bosch yesterday at Lowe's. can't wait!! they are supposed to be the best of the best. we can't afford to replace them all right now but one at a time. besides, i like the ecclectic look. :)

here's the old dishwasher.....

and i'll be sure to post on wednesday pics of the new one. yay!!

off now to watch a hallmark movie with the husband. yes, he likes them too....

just another work day :)

2010-05-12T20:55:00.002-04:00

just another work day for me. :) i went & did a case early this morning & was home by 8:30. nice!!! no complaints here.....

so i called my friend audrey to see if we could meet up. audrey had a little girl 6 weeks ago & we had to meet her.

here is bella camille...

what a cutie she is!

so we met audrey's family up in fernandina to paint pottery today.. well i pretty much painted the pottery while finn sat on my lap & played with the paint brushes. :)

we picked a gecko to paint. finns grandpop loved gecko's so as soon as i saw it i knew we would paint that one. we had so much fun painting it & i can't wait to get it in about a week & a half. i'll make sure to put a pic up of it.

here is finn with some "war" paint on his face. he made sure to get some on me also. :)

we went back to audrey's house to eat lunch & to play. what a nice day we had!

i am soo sooooo grateful & blessed to have this new job of mine. i still can't believe it. it's so awesome to pretty much work part time but get full time pay. the job holds a lot of responsibility & sometimes some crazy driving but it is so worth it! i absolutely love it & love the fact that i have seen more of my 2 boys lately. :) LOVE IT!

with dan's schedule it's hard to spend family time but now it is so much better.

anyways, enough about that.

my mom had surgery on her hand this morning. she had 3 trigger fingers fixed so hopefully after a few uncomfortable days she'll have so nice relief in her fingers on that hand. she'll have to go back soon to get the other hard fixed as well.

my dad went to the eye dr yesterday b/c his vision has been bothering him the last couple weeks. it's not good news. it's macular degeneration that's already progressing. he goes to see a specialist on monday b/c there is a type of injection that is supposed to help. i need to research more on this condition but it for sure is not good news for someone who uses his eyes so much. :(

well, i have another very early morning tomorrow so i'm gonna wrap this up so i won't be up too late tonight.

good night!

my husband, the baker.

2010-05-07T12:29:00.002-04:00

dan's newest adventure.....

watching daddy....

my boys....

the finished product! and boy is it yummy.....

a day in the life....

2010-05-04T21:34:00.002-04:00

this week finn's learned to do this....

and he know's he's not supposed to do this....

a few dinner photos here.. well, yummy banana bread...

and yummy chicken & orzo soup for dinner...

with a side of pita bread broiled quickly with oil & seasoning on it. YUM!!!

peeking in the "dirty" trash...

not supposed to be doing this either...

playing before bed time...

emptying the dirty clothes & then putting them back in....

soggy bottom boy...

good night!!!

he did it!!!!!!!!!i

2010-05-03T19:57:00.001-04:00

after months & months of showing finn where his nose, mouth & teeth were.........

tonight i asked him where his nose was & he did it!!!

he put his hand to his nose!

yay!!

LOVE my boy :)

new words

2010-04-29T20:31:00.002-04:00

finn has been saying some new word's lately..

today he said juice & clap clap.

his favorite is clean clean, my child loves to clean!

he can also say kristy now without so much pronouncing the "k".

we decided our boy will be going to school starting in aug.! the program is at a local methodist church just a few minutes from us. it's called wonderworks. i went & visited this week & liked what i saw. finn is a very very busy boy...to say the least. we believe that he is getting to a point where he needs a little more stimulation than what he's getting. he also needs to be around other children. he will be going 2 mornings a week. i'm so excited, i know my little man is going to absolutely love it!

on a side note, it's just me & my finny this weekend. dan is headed up to ga tomorrow morning for a boys only camping trip with my brother-in-law, nephew & a few other boys. they've gone once before & he always talks about how much fun they had. i'm happy he get's to go & have fun & get a break for a weekend. :) he deserves it, he works so hard & is such a good daddy he needs to let loose once in a while...

i'm off to watch another hallmark movie tonight before bed. i love my dvr! i record all the movies i want to see & then watch them later so i can fast forward through the commercials, it's wonderful!

well...

2010-04-24T23:14:00.006-04:00

i did it again. i took 2 photos today that i wanted to post & now they're not on my memory card. what tha? i have no idea what happened. this happened once before too..

so i'll show you this...

this was how my little shaggy headed boy looked before & here he is now..

cuteness!

i still can't get over how different he looks, he looks like a little boy now, no more baby. :(

his busted lip is now gone by the way....

we had a kindof crazy week this week. i unexpectedly had to go to south fl to our office for training over night. our babysitter was away on a cruise. need i say more??? dan had to take a day off to watch finn. his mom covered for us until i got home thursday evening. stressful to say the least. i'm so ready for this week when our babysitter is back to watching finn everyday..

dan did an incredible job watching finn, i know it's not easy, our child is a handful to say the least. dan is a wonderful father & finn absolutely loves him. i'm afraid i don't tell him enough though. there's several things in our relationship that i need to work on. we're going through a little rough patch at the moment. marriage is hard work, huh? it's all about compromising & working together & i sometimes forget that. i'm trying to change & have a better appreciation of things. and i'm trying to let my husband know more how much i DO appreciate him & all he does. not saying he's perfect now, there are things he can work on too. :) i'm sure he'll be reading this. i'd like a card & flower's this week by the way. j/k....

anyways, today we had a nice day. got a lot of talking out that we needed to do. had lunch with his mother and that's about it... i stayed home mainly & enjoyed it. same tomorrow. i'm keeping nursery & then his mom is fixing us lunch. i'm so glad she's close by now!!

i've got my work van finally. i'll take a pic of that soon & post a picture of it. it's a beast! i'm just happy my little car can take a nice rest now.. i cleaned it all out tonight & put everything inside that i need(napkins, notepad, pens) etc....

now i'm off to bed although i'm not the least bit tired. nothing a good book can't fix though.

nightey night!

the flip side...

2010-04-20T20:46:00.002-04:00

to my wonderful new job is that it's very unpredictable...i got a call yesterday letting me know that i had to be down in south fl at the office tomorrow thru thursday. so we made arrangements for that for finn(the babysitter is on vacation this week), and then i found out we(the other new trainee) had to be there tomorrow morning at 7:30. yikes! it's a good 3 1/2 hr drive, so guess what? she's picking me up at 3:15 & we'll be on our way.

so, until thursday......

good (short) night :)

before & after

2010-04-19T20:07:00.002-04:00

before.....

and after....

weekend wrap....

2010-04-18T19:16:00.002-04:00

well, it's been a busy but good weekend. we had our neighborhood yardsale yesterday which i of course participated in. every yr i say i'm not gonna do it again, and every yr i do. i'm a sucker, what can i say? anyways, our friend shawn & my MIL gail had stuff they were selling too. so between the 3 of us, we made out good. lots of work though with lots of sun. i was pooped by last night & so ready for bed.

today was better. we went to church this morning where the message was on marriage. it was really good. we all need reminders on what our spouses need from us. after that we went to my MIL's, its so nice now that she is just 4 miles down the road. then house stuff & grocery shopping the rest of the day..

so here's how we have to put the ottoman now. finns finally figured out how to climb up on it & fall off & bump his head on the coffee table. nice...why don't little boys have any fear???

oh my...we have to keep an eye on my little huck finn... :)

i love coupons so every week when i go to the grocery store its like a game to see how much i can save. and today dans mom watched finn while i went so i could actually focus & it was so nice! so today i did the best i have ever done. so excited! i spend $80, but i saved $56!!!! sweet! i had some awesome coupons & publix just happened to have really good deals on what i needed. i also had 2 $5 off coupons but even without those i would have saved more the half of what i spent.

the best deal of the day though was the all detergent. they were on sale for $2.99 & i had 2 coupons, each for $2 off. so they were only .99cents a piece. LOVE it!

and here is what i bought at our neighborhood yardsale. i bought finn a little workbench. it's so cute & he loves it. i got this for $7 and i also got him 3 articles of clothes for .50cents a piece. i was so proud of myself for spending only $8.50.

playing with daddy..

so its been a lovely lively weekend which is the norm around here. finn is now in bed, dan is in his "man space" out in the garage, and i'm in here blogging. after my shower i'm going to hunker down with some coffee & cookies & watch a hallmark movie tonight..

good night y'all!!

wild child

2010-04-15T20:12:00.004-04:00

apparently while i was at work this morning my wild child was very wild.

he fell 2 diff times, the 1st time he got his top lip, the 2nd time he got the bottom...

i have a feeling this will the 1st of many..

so my child looks likes he's been in a fight & he is only 16 months old.

wordless wednesday

2010-04-14T07:26:00.000-04:00

thought i'd start doing this....

the shack

2010-04-10T20:48:00.004-04:00

by the track....

today for lunch we drove a little over an hour north of us up into st. george, ga.

we heard about this place from a guy dan works with who lives up there.

he swears by this bbq place.

dans been talking about it forever so we took a little road trip.

our friend shawn went with us.

the name of the place was

the shack by the track

see...

this was the smoker the meat was in..

shawn's ribs...yummmm

my pork sandwich...double yuummmm

there's a train coming, can you see it???

the back of the shack..

on the drive home...

cranky boy who i gave some milk to to help calm him down...

bad idea...

right before we got home, and i mean RIGHT before we got home he threw EVERYTHING up..yes, everything. mommy wasn't too smart mixing the milk with the bbq...

oh well, story of my life...

all in all we had a very nice little trip..

the bbq was delicious & we can't wait to go back & take my parents there next time they're visiting.

oh yeah, we didn't have any ice cream. there was no room for it!

next time i'll conserve myself so i can try some...

words

2010-04-09T21:31:00.001-04:00

words right now that finn is speaking:

kitty cat

clean clean

cat

stinky

cracker

kristy

and of course momma & dada

grumps

2010-04-08T20:19:00.003-04:00

that's what me & finn were tonight. or finn & i, excuse me...

poor kids got a cold & his nose is running like a faucet. i didn't feel that great today either, i worked for about 4 hrs today so i was grateful for that. but we had a rough evening between the 2 of us.

i was on a phone call with at&t & went to another room so i could actually here what the lady was saying. here's what i came out to.....

oh yeah, that little bugger got a spankin',

he knew exactly what he did.

my child started out in just a diaper b/c of the snot. SO MUCH SNOT!

and later moved onto a striped t-shirt with a bib. then i tried on the overalls i got him today at our consignment store(for $2 i might add) and they never came off him. too much work to get them on. so here is my darling redneck snotty nosed child.

but i still love him & will kiss all over him snot & all. :)

it's been a long evening & i have an early morning coming up on me.

good night all!

i'm just saying....

2010-04-06T21:02:00.001-04:00

i got all teary eyed when buzz aldrin just got kicked off dancing with the stars...

what the heck??!!

i think my period must be coming.

i'm just saying...

i

2010-04-06T21:01:00.001-04:00

Easter morning..

2010-04-04T11:23:00.003-04:00

woops, i uploaded these pics in the wrong order. oh well. we've had a great easter morning down here in fl so far. we all awoke early & made it to our church's 8:30 service only a few minutes late. it was a packed house but luckily we got a seat in the back. it was an awesome service to say the least!

we had to make a quick stop back at the house b/c the bathroom was calling to dan & a diaper needed to be changed, then we got back in the car & headed to breakfast. we went to our usual, the pig, and had a yummy meal. finn was well behaved & never fussed once. it's a easter miracle! :) now we're back home. after a little playing outside we're all inside for our naps. ALL of us...

so that's where i'm headed next.

i hope everyone has a wonderful day today!

here's me goofing around

finn

leaving church playing peek-a-boo

finny in his easter outfit

a basket of candy for the "big boy" & a new sand bucket with tools for the little one

just because....

2010-04-01T21:11:00.002-04:00

just b/c i haven't posted anything in awhile.....

i'm kindof tired at the moment, but i just wanted to tell y'all how happy i have been this week. i started my new job on monday & it has been a wonderful week. :) we haven't been busy so i've had hours of free time everyday which i am SO not used to. i am relaxed & i actually feel cheesey for saying this but i feel like a diff women. seriously. i can not be any happier. dan is happier, finn is happier, kristy is happier. can you tell i'm happy?!

i've had 2 weeks of sleeping in but i actually have to get up early in the morning to go to st.augustine for cases. i'm not complaining though!!

nighty night.........

thoughts...

2010-03-21T11:07:00.002-04:00

today is my b-day. i'm a big whopping 3-1. yikes!! i don't feel old enough to be in my 30's yet. and on my b-day, my little man is sick. we didn't get up with enough time to get to the 9 o'clock service at church(thank goodness!) since finn got sick & threw up all over. one minute he was fine & the next there was vomit everywhere. i yelled for dan(of course he was not up yet) to get up & help me. nothing worse than throw up everywhere, a little boy covered in it, and a dog ready to leap in there & eat it. yuck! dan got him in the tub while i cleaned everything up & got his clothes in the wash. so now he's just laying around & wanting to cuddle. not his usual self to say the least.... he's in bed right now, i rocked him a little & put him in for his nap. hopefully this is just a 24 hr bug or something b/c i'm leaving tomorrow..

that's another story...

i start my new job tomorrow. in palm city, fl. a good 4 hours south of here. not excited. can you feel my excitement here? i have to go for training & oreintation for 3 nights. i have to be there tomorrow morning at 10 which means i need to leave by 5. not a big deal for me, i'm used to getting up early. but i will miss my little man!! last yr me & dan went rafting /camping for 3 nights so i've been away from him before, but it feels different this time. i guess i'm much more attached to him & we've spent the last week together which i have LOVED. i've never stayed in a hotel before by myself either. that'll be strange. anyways, i'm going to try to make the most of it while i'm gone. hopefully i'll be to busy to think about home.

my parents are on their way down right now to stay at the house while i'm gone. they'll be here till friday. thank goodness for my parents! what would we do without them & their help? not sure. i'm so grateful they could step in though & help us.

so, a lazy day lays ahead of me. i'm doing laundry, i need to iron all my clothes for the next week & pack....it's rainy here, a good day to be home & relax. :)

finn's new adventure

2010-03-18T13:23:00.003-04:00

isn't it great?!

i've been meaning since Christmas to get finn a tent, but i had yet to do so. i just randomly looked the other day on craigslist & found this one. so here it is!!

i got it this morning & he loves it of course. he smiled that little grin of his & walked right on in.

i haven't started my new job yet which is just fine with me! :) my last day at mayo was tue. so now apparently we're just waiting on all my paperwork to go through & then i'll start the new job. i wasn't anticipating any time off between jobs so these last 2 days have been great!!! i feel almost human again. :) i didn't wake up till 8 this morning, thank you finny for letting me sleep! so i'm probably thinking i'll be starting next week. we shall see....

lots of activity coming here this weekend, i'll blog later about this.

my heart is heavy this morning though b/c a friend of mine is going through something so sad. please pray with me for her. thank you!

my boys

2010-03-06T21:45:00.002-05:00

finn didn't like it when i was grinding coffee beans the other night. the noise scared him. here's what he looked like....

he recovered of course & moved onto bigger & better things. aka the dvd's. he loves to pull them all out & throw them all over the floor. just lovely. :)

i like the way he's squatting here & concentrating so hard on what he's doing..

and here's my big boy tonight & what he's doing. i just got done playing cards with our friend shawn & dan's playing his game. exciting saturday night here in fl!

exciting post, isn't it?!

new job!

2010-03-03T20:18:00.002-05:00

hey everyone! i got a new job. :)

about a year ago i submitted my resume to a laser company & about 2 weeks ago i heard from them. i was shocked! what this job is is that i will be traveling around jacksonville to the various hospitals when they have a laser case scheduled. we set up the laser & operate it during the case. they really need someone for the orange park area which is right by me! i am super excited about this & feel like it's a great opportunity for me & my family. i believe it will allow me more free time & this is HUGE to me.

so, i start in 2 weeks. of course i have mixed emotions. i've been at mayo now for 8 years. i've made some wonderful friends & i'm comfortable there. time to step out of my comfort zone! i will be sad to leave but i really think that this is a great & unexpected chance for me to do something different & to learn something new. too good to pass up!!

so.....wish me luck & pray for me please. i'll let you know how it goes!

me & my boy

2010-02-28T11:05:00.004-05:00

here's a few pics from this morning after church. he won't be still for a second so i thought these turned out good!