The Fastest Year Ever!

If reading about other people's kids drives you crazy you may want to click off this post now! Ha!This post is for my Caleb. I can't believe it's been a year. The older I get the faster time flies by. I wasn't much of a blogger when I was pregnant with the little guy so I'm including some of that. Some of the pics have his age on his shirt and some don't. They got misplaced a few times after we moved.

 Caleb's first pic! About 8 weeks here. It was so good to hear that little heart beating.

Our little gymnast at around 11 weeks. Haha!

 

19 weeks. This was the ultrasound that revealed the gender BUT we waited to find out at our gender revealment party. It was so much fun! Talk about anticipation!

 

 I have never wanted to cut a cake so badly!

 It's a BOY! (You're shocked...right?)

That moment when you realize that you are going to have 2 "Little Brian's" running around!

Carter visiting me during our 4 day hospitalization. Caleb was trying to cause problems!

The summer from HELL to be pregnant! Look at that heat index! 128!

 

Oh Lawdy! I was about to pop!

 

Carter and Aubree waiting while we were in the OR.

 

Sweet little baby!

Flew to Minneapolis at 3 weeks old! Ha!

First Christmas!

 

 

6 months

 

7 months

8 months

 

 

 

 

 

At one year you weigh 18lbs 8oz. I didn't get your length because your big brother was in a panic that he was about to get a shot. Yikes! You are walking and can say "mama" and "dada" and something with a "t" sound. You LOVE to eat and LOVE your Vanilla Flavored Soy milk. Ok people...you ask Vanilla Soy Milk? Ummm...yeah. This kid was breastfed for 11 months and whole milk caused a rash and apparently formula is not as sweet as momma's milk (SORRY TMI) so there you have it. At one year, you are so sweet until bedtime. You do not sleep thru the night. You get up at least 3 times and will cry until acknowleged. It's all good though! =) You are my little baby, my last baby. You have turned me into the mommy that all my children deserve and I am so thankful for you! I prayed and prayed for you! You are a true joy and totally worth puking everyday for 9 months. I would do it all over again to have you. (((HUGS)))

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Ready for Halloween

Now that the weather is cooler and it appears that it MAY stay that way I am finally getting that "Fall" feeling. Tim Simpson did look a little anxious with his 6 PM forecast yesterday...talking about severe weather chances tomorrow. Ya'll (Memphis friends) know how Ole' Timmy Tim gets about severe weather. Hope it stays away but some of the worst tornadoes I have seen here were this time of year. Aubree is here so she will def keep us posted! Haha!

My sweet friend, Elizabeth, is getting married in November so we had a bachelorette party for her on Friday at my other sweet friend Laura's house. Oh my goodness...we sure had a good time! It was nice to get away from all the snot and whining that Brian the kids were experiencing last week.

 Me and Elizabeth, the bride-to-be! I love her!

 L1 and L2 aka Lindsey and Lyndsay

 A few of my sweet friends



 Elizabeth, Tonya, me, and Heather =)

 

 

So you already know where I spent my Saturday and Sunday night. Moving on...I made homade potato soup in the crockpot yesterday. It was DELICIOUS! I will def share the recipe later this week. This afternoon Carter and I made cupcakes while Caleb napped and to surprise Aubree when she got home from school. They look and smell yummy!

 









 Cupcakes

 Mini-cakes

 My helper



After it gets dark tonight I am going to take Aubree and Carter out to pick 2 houses in our neighboorhood to BOO! We made Halloween buckets with surprises in them and we will leave them along with instructions and a sign that says "We've been BOOED" at these 2 houses. The neighbor will then enjoy their surprise, hopefully, hang the sign on their door and BOO 2 other neighbors. The kids are excited.

Our surprise to 2 lucky neighbors

 

Tomorrow will be busy! The boys have their 1 and 4 year old checkups with SHOTS! Oh NO!!! Tomorrow I am going to do a post for Caleb's first year. Enjoy your evening! =)

 

 



A Lazy Day at Home

The kids and I were LAZY today. I think Caleb is the only one that actually was not in pajamas all day. I love days like that! We slept in and lounged around the house all day. I even had dinner in the crockpot by 11:00 so I didn't really have to cook tonight. I made Chicken Tacos that I found a recipe for on Pinterest and it was super easy and delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhh...I need to get out more! Ha! I seriously LOL'd at this today on the Bubble Guppies! You should watch!

 

A few pics from our lazy day

 He's like...can I not eat cheerio's without the camera?

 He has a thing for the dryer!

Big boy!

 

I meant to post yesterday how VERY proud and excited we are for my sister-in-law, Carrie, and her hubby Paul. They were both accepted to CRNA school! This is HUGE! For those who may not know, this is a program for RN's to become certified in anesthesiology. It's a very competitive program to get into. Way to go guys! You can put me to sleep wheneva! Ha! Just have plenty of Zofran and Phenergan on board!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carter is happy for his Aunt and Uncle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





School Projects, Snot, Shopping, and a Creeper

Catchy title there, huh? Well...I was totally MIA in the blog world last week. Aubree had a school project that was assigned 2 weeks ago while she was with her dad and when did I find out about it? Last Tuesday! When was it due? Last Friday! I felt like I was back in college scrambling around to get a project done. Now, let me say that I was not a last minute type of gal, no, nursing school just makes your entire life that way! So, this project had to be researched, a posterboard with visual aids, and a COSTUME! WHAT?!?!? Anyhow...we pulled it off.

Aubree is wearing an old dress of mine. It was PART of her costume. 

Waiting for the bus. Yes...my child is a BAMMER!

 

 Little "C" sporting denim and shoes for the first time!

In the midst of the nightmare project, Caleb comes down with a cold. He was fussy but I treated his symptoms and we were moving along then Carter catches it. Yay for 2 snotty boys! Ha! I thought that only grown men whined and carried on when they are sick. Ummm...no that is not the case! It is a MALE thing. Carter moaned and groaned with every breath he took for 2 days. Yikes! Before I know it Saturday rolls around and it's time for me to go in to work. I thought the boys were on the mend but when I got up Monday afternoon I realized that was not the case. We went to the doctor first thing this morning. Caleb has his first ear infection, both ears at that! So he is on antibiotics for the first time. Carter is still just snotty and should get better without any meds. I know when my pediatrician sees us coming in between well-child visits he gets anxious. You know nurses don't take their kids to the doctor. Ha!

Shopping...oh yes of course! The boys didn't have fever and since we were in Memphis we went to Toys R' Us so Carter could use his gift cards, Macy's to pick up my free gift and had lunch at Wolfchase Galleria while we were there, Sam's, and finally Kroger. We are exhausted! I planned for us to TRY really hard to get up to Minneapolis this week since Aubree is on Fall Break but I am not taking a baby on a plane with a ear infection! NO THANK YOU! Hopefully we will make it up there soon. You know before it becomes a frozen tundra!

On to the creeper...ugh! Tonight while cooking dinner my doorbell rings. I answer it and this guy in his mid 20's is standing and I open the door. He tells me he had been selected to go to culinary school in Paris prob Paris, TN and he's selling children's books to earn money to get over there BUT most people in the neighborhood don't want the books so they've just been making a donation. Ummm...I smell bullshit crap!!! So I told him I wasn't interested but thanks. Then he looks at me and says you can't even make a $20 donation? No, I can not. So I'm thinking first of all, if you are so good to be able to go to Paris to learn how to cook where's your scholorship? Second, GET A JOB! Third, he had on a Ohio State sweatshirt! Anyways...I told Brian he's probably gonna come back and kill me later. Ha! People like that creep me out! I don't mind kids coming to the house selling stuff and even that gets old week after week but come on dude!

Hope everybody is having a good week! Talk to you soon!

Atoka, Memphis, Gilt Edge, Randolph...all in one day!

Well...today was not like most others. In fact it had a lot of randomness to it. My boys were both up at 4:45 wth this morning...random. Brian took Carter to preschool like always. Caleb and I were supposed to be going to Sam's, which we did, but I mean the mall is right there and so I just swung right on in and accidentally spent a couple hundred at Macy's and picked up some "supplies" I really needed...random!! Next, pick up Carter from preschool (btw...Aubree is out of town with her dad, she's still around) and he wanted to go see the Mississippi "Wiver" and told me we had to go to Aunt La's house to see it. Oh poor boy thought the river only ran through downtown Memphis. Time for a geograpy lesson and your first trip to the bottoms....random! So, off to Randolph we go. He got to see the river but we didn't get out because there were some creepers lurking in the parking lot at Richardson Landing. I enjoyed the ride out in the country with the boys and enjoyed showing Carter where my grandparents lived when I was growing up and where they went to church. He was excited to see it all. Not much has changed out that way...which I think is just fine and dandy! Way to keep it real Gilt Edge, TN!

 This is New Salem Methodist in Gilt Edge, TN. My grandparents went to church here. Lots of memories behind those brick walls!

Carter was checking on the cotton.

 

I have got to make a post about my boys and their milestones for 1 and 4! See...I plan to have all my posts for 2012 printed into a book for us. Isn't technology wonderful? 



True Story Tuesday

I can be random at times. This is one of the things that Brian and I have in common. However, I will never be as random as him. So, tonight while the baby was crawling all over me while I laid in the floor watching Carter run from one side of the room to the other in nothing but underwear...lol...I randomly thought of my little sister. I miss her. It makes me sad that my kids will never meet her. There's plenty of other things about her not being here that make me sad. I share stories about her with Aubree every now and then. Tonight as I watched my boys I was reminded of what it was like growing up together. We were only 21 months apart. Lots of fighting but we shared a bond that was like no other. I may have smacked her in the head before school but if anyone laid a hand on her once we got to school their ass would have been grass (my dad's favorite line when I was growing up). I hope I was a good big sister.



Anyhow, I thought of one of the funniest things that ever happened to us and I even laughed. Picture it...Covington, TN 1994 (in a Sopia Petrillo voice...Rebecca you heard the story but I know you want to hear it again)...I woke up freezing cold in the middle of the night. I have no idea what time it was because there was no power. The next thing I know is that there was a LOUD crash right outside my window. Sounded like a bomb...then here comes my Dad (thank GOD he was off the road at the time) asking if I was ok. I replied yes but I am cold and now I am scared. He explained to me that we were having a Ice Storm and the trees were falling apart and one had fallen over our power lines and ripped the service out of our house. People...I grew up in the country. There were 18 pine trees that lined our house that was surrounded by old Oak trees. Minutes later another crash, then another and they were getting close together. So, I proceeded to take my scared self to get in bed with my sister who could have slept through a tornado had I ever given her the chance! Then half the Oak tree outside our bedrooms split in half and landed on the house. It didn't come through but that was the first heart attack I had ever had! LOL! At this time, my dad decides we should just come get in bed with them. Ok...cool with me...I'm freaking out and freezing! I stop by my bedroom then run to get in bed with the family. A few minutes later my dad rolls over and his head bumped mine. He jumps up and says "Lindsey, what in the hell? Are you wearing your 4-wheeler helmet?" Why, hell yes I am!! My entire body may have been crushed by one those trees but my head/brain was going to be just fine! Hahaha! My family told this story to every guy I dated, any new friends I made, etc.. It is funny now but at the time it wasn't! A few weeks later my dad was in Tulsa in an Ice Storm and he happened to have a camera. He snapped a pic of a truck driver wearing a helmet while driving. Smart guy! I see no problem!

Funny stories like that get me through some days. There are days that I think of her from sun up to sun down. It's hard. I think she would be proud of me. I hope that my kids will be close to one another and share stories like mine someday.



Just one month later my life changed forever

 

So this was a funny/sad'ish kinda post but I feel better having shared a favorite sister story. I hope it makes someone smile! Any crazy sibling stories?



Happy Birthday Carter and Caleb!

We partied it up here on Friday night! We celebrated Carter's 4th birthday which was Saturday and Caleb's 1st birthday which was Monday. We had a really good time. The theme was Cowboy/Western. We grilled cheeseburgers and hotdogs with all the trimmings and, of course, we had cake and ice cream. It's so hard to believe that another year as gone by. Time flies!

 The chip and dip and snack table

Cowboy/Cowgirl hats and bandanas for all

 

 My 2 oldest that couldn't be still for a pic! Ha!

 Kids playing and Brian's Pawpaw relaxing

Our Grandmothers

 Balloons

 The cake from Miss Muff'n Bakery. It was awesome!

 Happy Birthday, Carter! Make a wish!

 Daddy and Little Brother

 Caleb's cake

I think he liked it!

This makes me laugh! Caleb's mismatched clothes after making a mess and my "Tennessee humidity hair"!

 Carter got a bike which is scary as hell when you are a nurse!

Caleb got a car! Look at that face!

And what party isn't complete without party favors?

 

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I am counting down to my second weekend off this year...the weekend of November 3! It is much needed! I must go now as it is Monday and that means that all laundry baskets are throwing up, dishwasher is full of clean dishes, and the boys smell funny. LOL!