Shout Out!

I wanted to thank everyone who helped keep me sane this week! I know it sounds silly but you have NO IDEA!!!

So shout out to all of the Spence siblings and Riley Mo--for hanging out with us while you were in town. We had a blast...pics to come. Thanks!!

Shout out to Yaya and Papa for cooking yummy food and hanging too. And Yaya for your trip with Jake Friday wherever you guys went he keeps talking about it. Thanks!!

Shout out to my dad aka Gramps for coming up one day and taking us to lunch and playing with the kiddos. Yummy and lots of fun. Thanks!!

Shout out to my friends Kim and Misty for helping a sister out by coming up here for our playdate this week!! It was fun....we'll have to do it again....wink wink. Thanks!!

Shout out to Granny for letting Jake come hang out at her house and spend the night one night. He LOVES going over there so he had a big time with you and Sam and Jessi. Thanks!!

Shout out to my mom aka Net Net for just being around this week and helping when she could. Especially for all the household chores that she helped with like washing clothes when a girl's washer goes out. (very sad and aggravated face) Mowing the rest of the yard {if you don't know why go back 2 posts} and cooking some too. Oh and don't forget Jake spent the night there one night too. Just thanks for everything all the time! Thanks!!

Shout out to my sister aka NiNi who is just always there to be a helping hand and keep the kids from burning the house down. Wow she really helps out so I can just get the smallest things done during the day. For that matter I need to shout out to her for the WHOLE summer because she has been hanging with me since she got back and I DONT WANT HER TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL. What will I do?!?! Thanks!!

Thank you everyone for everything you do not just now but always. Ok I thank I am done thanking. hehe ok enough blogging for me for a bit...it's gone to my head....off to tidy up before the Daddy gets home oh yeah and tend to the screaming kid in the background...don't you hear that?? =)

Kiddos: an Update

Ok so I have gotten lots of nice emails and comments wanting to see the kids. I know I know but it just hasn't happened. So here are some updates and pics of the kids. I promise that one day I WILL get caught up on this thing but as of right now I am just posting as I can.

Alaina Claire is 6 months old now. She loves to watch her brothers and they {especially Will} are the only ones that can make her really belly laugh. She just started sitting up by herself last week. She loves to jabber and is a good eater....as long as it's not veggies. FYI on her she has a urinary tract infection {ugh} and the dr wants to do a couple of diagnostic tests to make sure all is well on the inside. More than likely everything is A-ok and she just had bad luck and got a UTI but just in case we are having those done at Vanderbilt Children's on Wednesday afternoon. So wish us luck and prayers for that one. Oh and I swear she is growing her hair back slowly but surely. =)






Will is of course now 27 months old. Crazy and wild as ever! I don't ever think I have met a kid with more personality. He is a busy busy busy kid and he really means well as he gets into everything on God's green Earth. Really he does mean well he is a caretaker. If you even mention needing something even if you are talking to someone else--give him one minute--and he is bringing it to you. He is talking up a storm these days in plenty of sentences--yes lots of them only mommy can understand still but he is getting there and get do pretty much whatever he puts his mind to. He is the type that only has to see it once and he's got it. He LOVES lawnmowers & vacuum cleaners {more like obsessed}, daddy's truc, any type of truck and airplanes. He is such a sweet boy! {he is being good this morning so it is easy for me to say that right now..HAHA}

Jacob is almost 4 years old. {July 13} I can't believe we have a 4 year old. He is such a big boy. He is getting so tall and he just carries on conversations with you about anything. It is crazy. His latest is that he is going to tell you a joke. The joke is "how do _____ fly?" hahahahaha Yep that is it he changes the blank to anything and then after that he just laughs so hysterically you have to laugh too even though he hasn't finished anything...hee hee we are working on comprehending the "end of the joke" part. The other thing is he has started collecting. You may think he has been collecting before with the dinosaurs and all but no he really didn't know there were X number out there and he only had 5 and needs 3 more or anything like that. Well Kung Fu Panda at Mickey D's did it to him. How many McD's toys have we had and this time he decides he HAS to have them ALL! He was "hungry for McD's" 24-7 until we finally got ALL of those stinking toys. Thanks to Ni Ni and Net Net for being on the lookout and getting the hard to get ones for us. He still loves dinosaurs, reading, watching videos {ugh}, playing with all his people and animals and playing in the water/sprinkler. He is our biggest boy and such a great big brother. It is hard to believe he is going to PreK this fall but he is SOOOO excited.

While Daddy's Away...

Oh what can happen while Daddy is away. James has been gone to Japan for work since last Sunday morning. Thank the good Lord he gets home tonight!!! Yay!

You know I have never considered myself a dependent person. I mean I can do whatever needs to get done that has always been my personality. In fact, I have a hard time sometimes letting others do for me. Anyway, I'm over that. This week I have decided I am definitely over that. Here are just a few of the reasons why:

1. FISH--I don't do fish. We have a saltwater tank. I have nothing to do with it and of course this week I HAD to have something to do with it. I had to touch their food which I CAN NOT stand and even worse than that I had to SMELL their food! UGGGHHH!!!! {Thank goodness Daddy will be home to takeover that task}

2. TRASH--we go through alot of trash. I don't know what all we use but GOOD GRIEF it is alot of trash. Now granted I normally end up taking the trash out a couple of times during the week. But Daddy is the one that makes sure all of the trash cans in the house get emptied before overflowing. I hate gathering them all up all over the house to take out. NO FUN! We have GOT to start recycling. {Thank goodness Daddy will be home to takeover that task too}

3. CAT LITTER--Yeah I feed and water the cats but since I have been pregnant most of the time we have been married {exaggeration but not too much} Daddy has taken over cat litter duties. When the cat starts to literally cry and I can't figure out why then an hour later I find pee in the floor in the laundry room. Mental note--check the cat litter as it is probably nasty nasty nasty. OH YEAH not my cup at all!! Guess you figured by now me and the pets....well they should take care of themselves. I have 4 humans to take care of....Daddy better take care of them or well oh well. {Thank GOODNESS Daddy will be home to takeover that duty too!}

4. PUTTING THE BOYS TO BED-- I know several people who have done this. When Alaina Claire was born it was just so much easier for James to put the boys to bed while I feed AC and then put her down for the night. That is the way it has been for 6 months now and well I like it that way. PLUS Daddy stays in the boys bedroom with them until they fall asleep most nights. I have begged and pleaded for him not to do this because of WEEKS LIKE THIS when I am the one to put them to bed and MAMA don't play that game. Ok well at least not every night cuz sometimes you do whatcha gotta do! {THANK GOD he is coming home to takeover that duty}

5. MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT HELPER--This one is just common sense. Although I know some guys don't help in the middle of the night. My man does and always has. Now I think some of it stems from the fact that I have breastfed all of our kids so there was never much he could do for me in the middle of the night when they were/are babies. Now if someone is having a bad dream and gets up then he is usually the first one up and then I get the next time....usually. OR you know when TWO KIDS are sick and both up screaming in the middle of the night for someone to hold them....yeah that would be a good time for him to be around!! {2 sleepless and I stress the LESS nights are enough around here!} {hurry home NOW Daddy to help with this duty}

6. MY FRIEND--I have to be cheesy and throw this one in here of course. It never fails that when he is away there are about a million things I can think of we need to talk about or I need to tell him. Whether it be with the kids or me or us or just random thoughts in my head. I take it for granted that I can share those things with him always. {Thank goodness he'll be home today because my brain only has a one week retention period---and that is pushing it!}

7. Oh last but not least folks...I have not let you down there are pictures.....
MOWING THE THE STINKIN' GRASS--honestly I think I'll just leave you with the pictures but I guess I need to set the story up a bit. Grass had not been mowed. I was hosting a playdate with HER and HER and their kiddos--total of 9 kiddos playing in the yard. It needed to be mowed. My sister stayed in the house while I went out during naptime to "quickly" mow the backyard so we could play the next day.
THIS is what would ONLY happen when Daddy is away....
THIS is why I DO NOT mow the yard anymore {apparently}....
THIS is what happens when you haven't mowed the yard in 7 years and you get a little cocky about trying to cut down on the trim work later and a swing then gets caught on a lever of your lawnmower....

THIS MY FRIENDS IS THE TRAGEDY THAT BEFELL THE BACKYARD WHEN I GOT BEHIND THE WHEEL:Where are the swings? oh they are there...underneath the mangled mess.

Let's not forget the grass I killed by mowing it WAAAAY too close to the ground {note the dust cloud in the first pic while I was still mowing--Thanks Stef} because I forgot to lift the blade up a couple of notches and by the time I realized it would have looked stupid so I kept going. Hey at least we won't have to mow so often!


{Thank the good Lord in Heaven that Daddy will be back for this duty and that he enjoys cutting the grass...Thank you Thank you!}

So my friends this is just a little snippet of the week sorry so long but if you made it this far congrats!!! And James when you get home and read this I know we have never SET chores--I'm thinking this is a good list to start with. HAHAHAHAHA Love ya and miss you and can't wait til 6pm when your flight gets here! Woo hoo!

10 minutes

This is what all William Isaac can get into in 10 minutes---this morning---just now. THIS is why I haven't blogged in 800 years. This is why you are going to find me in the looney bin VERY VERY soon, especially next week while my hubby is gone to Japan---for a WHOLE week. This is me trying to be very patient with my 27 month old son.

10 minutes---
I laid Alaina Claire down for her nap and she was good and asleep so I thought hmmmm I should put the clean sheets on our bed that have been sitting in that basket for about 6 days now yes that is a good idea. Laid her down, turned her aquarium on {which lasts for 10 minutes} and proceeded to strip the bed and begin to put clean mattress pad, sheets, pillowcases on pillows and even gather the dirty laundry in my room. 10 minutes it took me---why in the world did it take that long to do that you ask??? Well here is what craziness I dealt with all in the middle of that.

First it was "Mommy look what Will's doing" {If I had a nickel for every time I heard that in a day...} So I leave the room and go see "what Will's doing" He of course was in the office and had proceeded to take out every SLAH invitation in one pack--that would be 200, strow them all over the floor, then pull out all of the order forms I had so neatly placed already with catalogs ready to go to a party and then he found my chapstick I had hidden on the desk which is where he was when I walked in there looking up at me and saying "lips mommy? lips?" {this is what he calls chapstick--who knows} I let him have some lips, calmly led him to the playroom, he picked a book and was sitting there looking at it. SO I run back to what I was doing.

Next......."Mommy look what Will's got" ----oh great here we go. I come out of my room into the hall and he had pulled the "child proof" fastener which doesn't fasten so well anymore off of the refrigerator and had gotten out a lunchable {not bad couldn't hurt it} but as I walk into the kitchen he had pulled out all the applesauce with one open, the HOT sausage which he had tried to eat through you could tell AND a bag of breastmilk I had just pumped this morning for AC's cereal...yum! So as before I cleaned up and I took him to the toy room and he found his "truck" to play on and he was happy.

Lastly....."Mommy I think Will needs to go potty"----umm ok guess I should go see about that. Then here comes Will into my room with his diaper off saying "pee pee potty" so off we go. I sat him on the potty and realize his legs are already wet. I asked if he had already pee peed and he just pointed. {out of the bathroom} He didn't have to pee pee anymore so I cleaned him up washed his hands and then asked him where he had pee peed {as I walk through wet droplets leaving the bathroom} He takes me to the couch....oh yeah THE COUCH. Where he had undoubtedly sat, undone his diaper cuz being naked is so fun and peed and THEN thought maybe I should go to the potty. {YES out there we are working on potty training} So yet again I cleaned up the pee pee on the couch lovely, put a diaper back on my kid and went about my business while he ran off to play.

Good news is I only had a little left to do with what I had started and was able to finish and at least one of the chores I have on my list got done for the day even if it was only 10 minutes of my day. Who knows if anything else will get done?!

Now how was I able to blog about this you ask? Well said child is currently sitting in my lap writing on every piece of paper he can find on the desk including his belly and palm of his hand with a pen. That was his entertainment while I did this. Hope you enjoyed.....off to clean up pen marks......

Here's the deal...

Ok so I am attempting to update you all back to the middle of February. Yes you saw it middle of Feb. I said. So keep checking each day and be sure to scroll down and you might even have to click to look at Older Posts after awhile to see them all. I have ALOT. All of you who subscribe to the email {check over on my sidebar if you are interested} might want to actually go into the blog to see what date the posts you are reading are actually from since the email version always just says today's date. Get ready cuz here they come.........hopefully.......no really.........I AM working on it. =)

***So far have added 2/14 thru 3/14, scroll down to check them out
---more to come***

Spoke too soon...

Well I should have never written it down on here. It appeared that AC was better last night--well all day really. But this morning she woke throwing up again. Will call the Dr when they open.....we will see what the day brings. Back to a little fluid every hour, then a little more the next time....yada yada... fun stuff!

Potty Update

Thought I would give you guys an update on Jake's potty success. We are 1 week and 2 days in now and he is doing GREAT!!! Did I say GREAT?!! I am so amazed. I mean don't get me wrong I have all the confidence in the world in my little man it's just that he has not been interested for so long that I think I thought he was gonna go to kindergarten in a diaper. Anyway, we now wear regular underwear ALL day. He is still trying to get the poopy in the potty part down but other than that I don't even have to go make him sit on the potty anymore because he tells me every time and is even starting to attempt to go on his own. Right now he stays dry through naptime so we wear regular underwear and he has stayed dry through the night all but the first night! Now I am not crazy or anything he IS wearing a pull up to bed. I won't give that up for a long time. Anyway, we are SUPER PROUD of our Jacob Nolan---he is a big boy now! Woo hoo!

As a treat today he got to go see Horton Hears a Who, eat popcorn, Raisinettes and a coke-- he had a blast! Thanks Gramps for taking us !!{Mommy & Jake}

Cross your fingers because Will is SOOOO interested and he goes sometimes when Jake does now. He's next. My goal is down to one pack of diapers by the end of the summer!!!! There I wrote it down so I HAVE to achieve it---little people willing of course.

She's a Trooper!

Well if we didn't know it already we definitely know after this weekend. Our baby girl is a trooper! Ended up at the Dr office Thursday to find out that she has an ear infection---you read it right at 3 and a half months old an EAR INFECTION. So of course we get antibiotics...at 3 1/2 months old....ugh! So if the high fever, hurting ear and restless nights weren't enough for her. She woke up Saturday morning in a MUCH better mood and we were excited only to have it dashed by a vomiting session midday. When I mean vomit that is what I mean not spit up. First off none of my kids really spit up and when they do it is just a little bit SO I knew this was throw up. {what is up with all this crud at the Spence House---now a stomach virus too?!!} Other than the obvious limiting the fluids which HACKED this little girl off--she was just as sweet as could be through the whole thing. She would even smile while she was puking. Poor baby! Anyway, to make a long story short thankfully this icky mess left as quick as it came about midday today. Tonight she started back on a regular eating schedule and is resting well as we speak and now back to trying to get over the ear infection and that is it!

The picture above is her taking in some sun during her walk around the yard with Daddy this afternoon after her not so fun past 24 hrs. She was ready for some fun!

Sneak Peek

Ok I couldn't stand it! We had Alaina Claire's 3 month pictures taken today. My friend Krista with Krista Lee Photography always does an outstanding job but buddy she outdid herself today. Of course it is my first girl.... so maybe that is it!! Anyway, she has already sent me some sneak peeks {yay!} and I thought I would share with you. The blanket in the one picture is her coverlet from her bedding and I am so digging the red in the other picture. Enjoy!

Jake Funnies

Ok I thought I would share a few funny/cute things Jake has been saying or doing lately.

When we have breakfast in the morning we eat BEAGLES {aka bagels}
On pizza nights we always have to have BROOMSTICKS too {aka breadsticks}
For snack when we are good in the afternoon we get to have LICKSICLES {aka popsicles}

I got my mother's ring James gave me for Valentine's Day {more on that later} and Jake noticed it and asked what it was and I told him each color was for each of them, my kids. Red {ruby} was for him, light blue {aqua} was for Will and the dark blue {blue topaz} was for Alaina Claire. He looked at me funny and said but where's Daddy??? I thought for a second and then pointed to the diamond of my engagement ring and just said that is Daddy. He looked at me with the biggest eyes and sort of suprised look and said WOW MOMMY! {the stones on the mother's ring aren't too big it is very simple so the diamond was like whoa! to him} He has asked me all of these questions several times now it is too cute!

This morning as we were driving to school he said can I go on a train mommy? I said sure we can go sometime. He said no do you think I can be a train man when I grow up? I told him about Conductors and he said YES. Right then we passed McDonalds and he said Mommy I think I will cook at McDonald's too. Can I do that? I said of course you can son. He said I will be a train man and cook at McDonald's when I grow up. I said that sounded great. He said and you know what mom---if I cook at McDonald's I bet they would let you come play! {hahaha}

Now that he is pee peeing in the potty we of course have been telling him he is doing a good job alot lately. So he has started saying he is a Good Jobber. =) I'm not sure where that one came from because he actually has said it a few times before that I am a good jobber mommy.

That is all I can think of for now. He makes me laugh with something every day.

Don't Fret!

I have not quit the blogging world. I WILL update soon....I promise. I have lots to catch you up on. But in the meantime, everyone get excited cuz it's potty training time around here. Jake put away the diapers on Friday and hasn't gone back. He's been wearing big boy underwear for the 4th day in a row now and is doing great. Don't ask me I have no idea what I or we said or did that clicked this time but whatever it was worked!! {might have been that he can't go visit Riley unless he goes to the big boy potty...that might have done it...thanks Riley Mo--love ya!!}

We are all well and lots going on and I will let you in on it all soon!!! Gotta go get Will out of the dishwasher now...................

Birthday Dinner

**Pictures are horrible taken from my cell phone of course I forgot the camera**

For Will's birthday tonight we went to Rainforest Cafe. April was in town and that is her thing to do with the kids so we combined Will's birthday with April's fun outing and you get Will's Birthday Rainforest Style. It was James, me, Jake, Will, Alaina Claire, April and her sister Wendy.

He had a big time checking out all of the animals and EVERYTHING they have there. I have to admit that I am quite positive Jake likes the place WAY more than Will. Nonetheless the birthday boy had a big time. We decided that it was no birthday without cake so he got one of the Chocolate Volcano cakes they have on their dessert menu. Now for those who have never been to the RC let me just tell you---It is a big mound of chocolate cake shaped in a volcano they used to have a sparkler lit coming out the top {somebody must have gotten hurt} because now it is just a sparkly streamer deal coming out the top. When they bring this thing out from the time they leave the kitchen to the time the server gets to your table they are yelling Voooooooooooooolllllllllllcaaaaaaanoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Yep you read it right. So it was hilarious to see Will's face after he heard that and then they sat it down in front of him. He was like "is this for me? are you sure?"--he was darting his eyes around to check what everyone else was doing. He was in awe. It was too cute.


Afterwards we walked around the mall a bit and I wish I had a good picture but I don't. Will was strutting all over the mall like he owned the place. He knew it was his day and everyone better get out of the way. Mr Personality I tell ya! What are we gonna do with him?????

Happy Birthday Will

Today little man Will's birthday. It is so hard to believe that he is 2 already!!! He is definitely FULL {brimming over for those that know him} of personality. He is loving and sweet but albeit mischievous to the core. Gotta love him.

I can't ever stay mad at him too long because he just gives that cheesy grin



and then gives you the look with the puppy dog eyes

That's our little man!! Boy are we SOOOOO proud!!

Happy Birthday William Isaac, We Love You!!

The bow

Just thought I would post a picture of Little Miss one of the very few times I have had a bow in her hair. I am just not the lubricant jelly w/ ribbon stuck in it kind of girl. I mean for special occasions that is fine but I'm not doing it every day. Everything else falls out right now including these with the velcro. Still looks super cute..........until she moves. I'm not sure what she was doing here--I think it is a cross between a yawn and trying to fit her fist in her mouth. HA!

Rocking my babies

This happens all the time. I'll be rocking one {lately AC} and the next one gets jealous and decides he wants to get up there too {lately Will} then the last one decides that it surely looks like a great idea and he wants to pile on top of everyone {obviously Jake}. Normally this happens during the day while I am home by myself and cannot possibly get a pic. This time it so happened that it was while James was home so I made him grab the camera before it all went downhill because someone elbowed someone else and that one arched their back because they were mad and made everyone jump down because they were falling anyway. I love these times though----they are priceless. I can remember when I used to rock Jake all the time but now, not so often. Will still lets me but on his terms. Right now I have Alaina Claire to fill that spot. But you never know when the last time is for that kind of thing---you turn around twice and they are too big. So for now, I enjoy it when I can.

I hope that my child
looking back on today
remembers a mother who had time to play.
Children grow up while you are not looking.
There will be years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So quiet now cobwebs.
Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
~unknown author

Daddy's little girl

Nothing sweeter than the love a father has for his daughter

SNOW

The Spence House

Well the weatherman got it right this time! We woke up to a nice pretty blanket of snow at the Spence House this morning. 7 and 1/8 inches of it to be exact--measured in our backyard --look at the right side of the ruler.

I cooked breakfast and then we had to keep the boys at bay long enough to get them dressed to go outside and off we went. The boys had a big time well we all did actually AND we built a pretty nifty snowman if I do say so myself! When we came back in to get warm Net Net came over and made yummy snow cream for us too! Check out our pictures from today. {yes I know I need to update other stuff but that will come in time I promise...}

The boys on our front porch

Will's Snow Dance ???

An even funnier Jake Snow Dance {haha}

Mommy and Jake working on the snowman


Jake kissing the snowman before he was finished--he was obsessed with eating the snow--he was just diving and eating/licking the snow off the ground--crazy kid


All Will wanted to do while we built the snowman was swing--here he is in 25 degree weather swinging--another crazy kid


Daddy and his bruisers with the snowman

Mommy and her angels with the snowman =)


Meet Huskamida the snowman--Jake named him
or as James and I like to call him St Patty since he is decked in green...so
Happy early St Patricks Day!


This is Alaina Claire's reaction when we came in and told her all about the snow and the snowman we built while she was napping--she was super excited!

Kiss & Maverick--what a pair!

Looks like I gave birth to Gene Simmons {minus the painted face} and
Tom Cruise {minus the antics}! HAHAHA

possessed eyes and all just make the picture-hee hee!

That is one smooth little dude right there {in the words of his Papa}

Snoozing

Took the boys outside today. Thought it best to just put Alaina Claire in the front pack I have so I had my hands to catch runaway kiddos if need be. I went about doing my thing and happened to see my reflection in the window of my van. Little Miss had fallen asleep. It wore her out just watching her brothers. Isn't that a sweet face.

Possessed Cat

I just thought this was a hilarious picture of Maggie. This is the cat that thinks she is a dog. She fetches, specifically rubber bands. She loves them and if you have one lying anywhere around the house be prepared the next morning that it won't be there she can sniff them out and then she plays with them in the middle of the night and you find them in random places if you find them at all. Oh Maggie!