Coupons

Funny how life works.  I've always hated couponers.  I always thought they were a little wacko.  And here I am joining the ranks.  The lady behind me in line must not have liked me much and the cashier wasn't too annoyed when I had a free item that we had to dig back out of the bags because I didn't know to keep free coupons with the item.  But when I spend 47 and save 71...I don't care.  I'm quite proud of my shopping today.  I won't bore you with the details although secretly I'm understanding the desire of couponers wanting to frame a good receipt.  I never understood why anyone would bother clipping a 50 cent coupon when they could have saved the time, energy, expense of buying a paper, etc and just bought the stupid item and saved themselves, the cashier, and all the people behind them in line the time.  But now I get it.  It isn't the 50 cents.  It is the $1 when it doubles.  It is the stacking with other deals, coupons, or both.  It is buying stuff you would never have bought because it is more expensive than the cheaper variety, but because of the previously mentioned ways, is now way cheaper than the off brand.  When you can buy a box of cereal for .07 cents....come on...  I think I'm hooked.  Now I just gotta learn a good system for me, figure out what I will use now that I'm buying name brand for cheap, and figure out how many papers I need to buy every week....

Mickey D's Looking for a New Star??

This was Hope's first time having free reign with a cup and straw.  She quite enjoyed herself.  Even carried it around.  And only got about 6 drops on the floor if you'll believe that!

Strong Woman

For those that know me, and those that have followed my blog for any length of time will know how upset I was when we found out we were having a girl.  I was so worried about it that I made sure I had my best support people with me for the ultrasound because "I just knew."  Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have Ann and Brandi with me for that regardless of if I'd be upset, as I love sharing God's blessings with those that appreciate it so.  But Tony, in all his lovingness, wouldn't have been a lot of help during that time as I needed someone to voice to me that "all would be okay with the world" and that "this is so awesome."  And we know Tony is NOT a wordy type.  Brandi and Ann came through with flying colors.  By the end of the day, although I was very nervous about it, I knew that this was God's plan for me (as if I didn't already know that but it was nice to hear...) and that she would be trained up by myself and would most likely be a lot like me (that doesn't always comfort me because I don't even like me but you know what I mean).  Several days later, Ms. Becky, Gabe's kindergarten teacher, told me something I'll never forget.  She said that she was glad I was having a girl because we need more strong women in this world.  And that was what broke it for me.  From that moment on, I've been happy to have a girl.  Ms. Becky is soooo right.  I can't say that the prospect of princess shoes, bangles, hair clippies, Barbie, and loads of pink don't make me nervous, but I'm happy to have a girl.  And right now, if I got pregnant again, I'd be praying for another girl.  I've seen enough crazy boys at church to know that a normal little boy would die by my hand. ;)  I never would have thought though that I'd be so proud so early at Hope's strength:

I mean, really, what other little girl could walk around with an elephant on her back?

Barn Day

I had no intention of being at the barn that long when we left this morning.  But ya know....  A little respect issue with the horse before we get started and resulting lesson of who bows down to who (or whom), a little riding in the 210 degree heat with 200% humidity and the resulting heat and sweat build up of previously mentioned horse, a little breaking up of fights between the kiddos forcing me to hoist Gabe in and out of the pack and play, a little hosing down to find four limbs with scabs on the lower legs (none were human) that requires some scrubbing, and a little of this

which required some more hosing, and little chit chat with the barn owner about a poor distressed lady that had to put her horse down today equals almost FIVE hours of pure sweat.  I'm exhausted.  Poor Kai was looking forward to our play time after the kids went to bed but I just don't have it in me.  I also decided to mow the front yard after the kids took a nap when we got home.  I figured, I'm already covered in every known nasty thing at a barn, I can mow real fast.

Hope had a GREAT time.  Not so much the first hour or so stuck in the pack and play, but after riding Lee I took pity on the kids and let them run around.  They were so good playing away from Lee but not too far away.  And then while I was on the other side of Lee from the kids, Hope found the mud puddle we were creating by hosing Lee down.  You can see in the picture just to the right of her left sleeve is a dark spot....that was it.  Just at the bottom of the little concrete hill.  She was covered.  She had a blast.  And after getting used to the temp of the water in the hose...she enjoyed her hosing too.  But I think we've lost another shirt....

Cuteness

Hope is already starting the transformation into the little terror of independence.  I'm waiting for her to learn the word "no" as she already lets you have it if she doesn't like something.  Don't get me wrong she is still the sweetest little girl, but boy is she coming into her own....

Too bad she is so stinkin' cute!

She really liked the swing....

Until she lost her grip...

Last Day

Today was Gabe's last day of second grade.  He doesn't understand.  Tonight when we were getting ready for bed he was talking about getting up and going to school in the morning.  When I told him he didn't have school anymore, he looked at me very confused and said that tomorrow was Wednesday.  I shuffled between happy that he knew what day of the week it was and sad that he didn't understand what "last day of school" meant today.  He loves school.  I think it might take a day or two to sink in.  Poor guy.  I hope he isn't too upset about it.

We went to the playground for a little while after I picked him up.  I can't believe how much he has grown.  This is last time he had glasses early 2004:

      

This is Gabe summer of 2004 (after his cross eye surgery):

This was today (after lazy eye surgery):

 

Goodness, I love him.... 

My House Could Be Cleaner

Any one who has visited me recently can tell you that my house is a wreak!  Oh wait, no one visits.... never mind.  Well, now you know my house is a wreak.  My first "honey-do" item when Tony comes home is to clean these nasty carpets!!  He was supposed to do them before he left as they were bad back then...but now...after a wet winter and spring with a dog and two kids...  Eeecccckkkk.  Gross.  But on top of that, I can't remember the last time I dusted, cleaned windows or doors, spent any decent amount of time cleaning bathrooms (mine gets cleaned every day but Gabe's isn't so fun...the door stays closed), wiped down the refrigerator, etc...  My extended family would curl up and die.  But these are the reasons.  First was this post.  Along with that is this one and making Father's day cards.  And you all already know that Lee takes up a bit of time.  Well, these are my recent activities.

• Remember this:

and my fears over the shirt?  I was right, the shirt didn't survive the lasagna.  The shirt has been transformed.

I've never done an appliqué before.  It came out alright.  I just couldn't throw away the pretty butterfly from Uncle Brian.

 

• This stack has gotten a little bit bigger since this picture but I continue to work on my quilt-a-long.  I should have 41 blocks today.  I have 38 so I'm a little behind.

 

• I also decided to try my hand at crocheting a diaper cover for Hope.

This is my third cover.  The first two were dismal failures.  I gave up on "free" patterns and purchased one online.  I really like it however this one is a tad big.  But for the next one, I'll know how to go about making one a tad smaller.  Only thing about this is that my fountain-child pees through it when she is wearing just a prefold diaper (the flat kind).  Twice now when she has been wearing it I have found wet spots on the floor.  I decided it would work best with a fitted diaper (the type that is not waterproof but has elastic around the legs and waist).  However, fitteds are NOT cheap.  So after a couple days of research and a couple days of talking myself into trying it (I'm not a seamstress and have only done two or three garments...ever), I made an attempt.  Low and behold...it worked pretty well.  My first one was just sewn in a way I didn't prefer.  I sewed the elastic right onto the fabric but it just wasn't tight enough, and it was a little too skinny across the rear.  It worked well enough though. 

 

• So I modified my pattern and tried again.

I made them to accommodate velcro but I hate velcro on diapers.  And I'm not snap savvy.  So for now I'm using my fancy snappi on it which works.  Hope was just wearing this one and even had a little mess in it.  Worked like a charm.  I have plans to make more.  Now I want to see if I can make some for Gabe since he is still in pull ups for the foreseeable future...

 

• My last project isn't very far along:

It is going to be a little shrug to wear at church...if I ever finish it.

Surgery

I've been blessed again.  Not only did the surgery go off without a hitch, but they blessed me by having it be in the afternoon.  Meaning I didn't even have to get up early.  I really didn't even need to set my alarm (although I did for "just in case", otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep...paranoid sleep doesn't do much for me).

So we get there and I had intended to take the Canon camera to get some pictures along the way for Tony (and anyone that might be reading this).  I even got out of the car with it.  However, I turned around and put it back in the car because it was just too much to carry with Hope and all her junk.  I settled for the point and shoot.....which on days like today I'd love to take something else to it and point and shoot IT.  That thing is HORRIBLE for indoor shots.  Even Mary had a hard time with it the other night so it isn't just me.  Any who.  Gabe was wonderful helping me all the way.  He was hungry before we left home but "no food or drink after midnight" they said....for a 1:30 PM surgery.... so since it was his special day I told him we could run to Target and find him some new cards.  I told him that for us to have time to do that, that he would have to be very good.  He'd have to listen, to watch where he was going, be fast, etc....  He held my arm from the moment we left the car until we get back to the car just about.  We were in and out in about 5 minutes.  So we get to the hospital, park (don't get me started on Rutledge Tower parking), get to check in, and wait.  They have a posted sign that reads "If you have been waiting more than 15 minutes, please notify the desk."  or something to that effect.  After 25-30 minutes of NOTHING else happening in the waiting room, I go to the desk and ask.  The lady sitting there thought the other lady that had since left had checked us in.  So good thing I asked.  By this point Hope, the walking bottomless pit and never ending fountain has gone through two of the four diapers I brought (and she is wearing the last clean cover I had brought).  Yikes!  So now I get to limit miss cranky pants on her liquids...she seems to think that life just can't go on if she doesn't have her sippy cup in her hands and take a sip every minute or so.  She is a HEAVY drinker.  Which has the consequence of lots of wet diapers.  Back to Gabe.  They call us back almost immediately after we check in (finally).  We get Bay 1 right by the nurses station where everyone gets to hear our little miracle story.

I mean you can't go through the pre-op stuff without all that stuff coming up.  "Has he ever had surgery before?" "Ever had breathing problems?" etc....  We had a crowd by the time we had gotten through the questionnaire.  They give him a deck of Uno cards (so I can stow away his new cards), a little "happy juice," and a hospital shirt.  The forms are signed and off he goes.  It is about 1:15,  Hope and I go to the waiting area....and wait.

One more diaper down....  And she is getting cranky.  Really she was very good but the withholding of her sippy when it is right there in the bag kinda made her angry.  Can't say that I blame her.  So we go find us a snack bar where I get a drink for each of us (her's for future use).  We see one of the nurses that took Gabe to the OR.  She lets me know that everything went just fine and he wasn't at all upset about anything.  Good!  Back to the waiting area.  We are fast approaching nap time (between 1:30-3:30) so the cranky steps up a notch.  Needless to say the camera didn't see daylight again until we got home.  I finally put Hope in her mei tai in the front carry and try to get her to sleep.  All in vain.  She spent the next 20 minutes in the waiting area with her arching backwards for me to tickle her neck.  Can we say pain in the backside for mom.  Oh well, she isn't whining (which we ALL know I can't handle).  Just as I'm thinking she'll be out soon, the doc comes out.  Everything went perfect and we can go sit with him in about 10 minutes.  Awesome.  Really.  I'll trade a good report for a short nap anytime.  When they call us back, Gabe is curled up in a ball...where he stays for about 15 more minutes when I decide to try to start waking him up.  He really woke up very well, we just let him do it at his own pace and not too fast.  He would sit straight up when we woke him but he would look like he was going to fall over so we had to keep telling him to lay back down where he would be instantly asleep again.  We got all the paperwork done for discharge, got him to drink a little, take some medicine, and change his shirt all while the nurse and I discovered that her second grade son and Gabe both go to the same school.  We got to talk about the school staff and teachers and whatnot.  Finally they kick us out and guess who is also out....Hope.  Just in time for me to wake her up to put in the car.  Oh well.  They send me for the car and they wheel Gabe out to us.  It is now 3:30.  All around, not a bad day.  Except that we didn't get home until 5:15 because of traffic.  I find it annoying that it took longer to drive home then for the surgery.  TWICE as long.  Stupid Charleston traffic!!  We won't talk about how WET her diaper, skirt, and car seat cover were when we got home...   I spent the rest of the evening catering to two tired, cranky children.  One of whom keeps throwing up (although he did keep dinner down) because of the drugs.  Now I'm going to go to bed early...well early for me....

He is focused on Kung Fu Panda in these pics.  Accept the last one where he is playing with Hope in the climber.

It Has Come

We knew this day would come.  The day when Hope goes beyond Gabe.  When she, in all her normalness, is able to do something that Gabe struggles with.  At 15 months, Hope has beaten her 8 year old brother.

Gabe knows how to use utensils.  But he has a hard time with using them.  The dexterity, the hand/finger manipulations, and the fine motor strength is tough for him.  He can't just pick up a spoon and scoop peas like you and I do.  Granted he is almost 100% with a spoon now but still has trouble with the scooping of larger items that require weight distribution.  He really has a hard time with forks.  He is better though.  Meat is easy now as it stays on the fork when you stab it.  Pasta though is harder since it slides and requires you to rotate your wrist while stabbing to keep the food on the fork.  Gabe is now learning the fine art of using the side of the fork to cut things.  But that requires a whole new set of learning/teaching muscle groups how to pattern themselves and work together.

Well, Mary and I met and ate dinner together Monday night.  She was helping Hope with her food and while Mary was feeding her, we let her hold on to a fork.  Next thing we know, Hope has stabbed, picked up, and brought to her mouth an entire waffle fry.  We were shocked.  She tries scooping things at home and does pretty well until she attempts to get it to her mouth and then gravity takes over.  But to stab something that big and get it to her mouth...I'm fairly impressed, seeing how she has never had the opportunity to learn this before now.  So we had her do it again, and again, and again....  She was fairly consistent.  I had a video but it isn't working.  I'll try another method it get it on here....