I've Had the Time of My Life

And the celebrity deaths just keep on coming! Now it's Patrick Swayze, whom I fell in love with while watching Dirty Dancing. My Nana loved the movie Dirty Dancing and I remember watching it for the first time...afraid I would get in trouble because it was rated R. LOL! But I loved everything about it and I loved Patrick Swayze! Of course, I'll always be partial to Ghost as well, and can never hear the song "Unchained Melody" without seeing the pottery scene (you know what I'm talking about!)

My favorite scene from Dirty Dancing comes at the end of the movie with the famous line "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!" and then they dance the night away! Such a fun scene, and that's what I'll always remember- the fun that I had watching his movies. Rest in peace, Patrick!It was a well fought fight and you'll be majorly missed!

Eight Years Later

Today is the eight year anniversary of the horrific attacks on our country by terrorists In NYC, DC and Shanksville, PA. I am sitting here watching the replay of the coverage from the Today show that morning, and it still makes me cry every year. Watching that second plane hit the WTC live, watching those towers fall, remembering the terror, that as a then 19 year old I had never felt before, brings it all back. I know I'll be a bad mommy today, sending the kids to play in other rooms, because I do become obsessed and want to watch whatever is on regarding this subject. I think it helps make sure that I NEVER forget what happened that day, all the lives that were lost out of hatred. I fear that too many Americans are becoming complacent. They complain about the cost of the war that has been raging, they complain that our last Administration did nothing to protect us, but it's because they have forgotten the absolute terror of that day. I never want to be that person, I never want to forget!

Many of you may remember the song "Heaven" that Bryan Adams recorded several years ago. One year after 9/11 DJ Sammy remixed the song with a letter written by a little girl to her daddy. Well, lots of people on Youtube have set that song to pictures from 9/11. Last summer I took a political science class dedicated to 9/11. The professor played this song to open the class (after he passed around a box of tissues) and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. To this day it makes me sob. I will warn you though that there are some graphic images, including people jumping from the WTC towers.

May we never forget the events of that day, never forgot those who were lost, and may God bless our country and protect our troops who are still fighting a war that started this day!

2 months old

Micah is officially two months old, as of yesterday. I can't believe it's been two months already. We all keep commenting on how it feels like he's always been here! He just molds so perfectly to our family that it's hard to remember a time when he wasn't here with us. Yesterday was his two month well check up with the pediatrician. He is now 10 pounds 2 ounces (so he has gained 4 pounds in 2 months-good boy!) and I don't remember what his length was but they said he is now in the 73rd percentile for his height, up from the 37th percentile at his one month visit. We knew he'd had a growth spurt because all of a sudden his clothes were actually fitting him! They said he is doing great and we won't have another visit until 4 months. The only thing I hate is that he had to get his first vaccines. Even though you know it's for their own good, you always hate to see them get poked! He did good though, and calmed very quickly. He got three pricks in his thighs and then had an oral vaccine for the rotovirus. He's too young for a flu shot, but the rotovirus can be just as bad for an infant as the flu so I went ahead and added that one too. He's not had any major side affects, just a mild fever. I feel very blessed to have such a good, healthy baby after all the scares we had at the end. I thank God every day!

Potty training is going well, although over the long weekend things were a little crazy so we didn't do that great, but today has been GREAT! Jonah is doing well, although I have to make him sit on the potty most of the time and try to go, or we go through LOTS of underwear! He's still kind of young for a boy in regards to potty training, but I think he'll have it soon!

I started "school" this week with Bri. We started on Tuesday and she loves it! We are doing a unit study using the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to start. With this we are talking about rhyming and the alphabet, and also since the letters are climbing up a coconut tree we will be talking about coconut trees, where they grow, what they are used for, etc. (Even Jonah loves this book and walks around saying "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Will there be enough room?") We are also using Spectrum math Kindergarten for math. I don't believe in trying to make a subject fit where it doesn't, and math is one of those things that really needs to be learned sequentially. She loves doing the math work and would do it for hours if I didn't stop her! We are also using a McGraw-Hill workbook, I Can Print, to work on writing our letters properly and to begin writing words. By the end of this unit (which we will probably carry over into next week) we will have completed our first lapbook which I'll post pics of here. If you've never heard of a lapbook stay tuned, because I LOVE this idea and we'll be using it ALOT!

So that's the update on our family. We hope you all had a safe and fun Labor Day weekend. I for one am really glad that Fall is rolling in. Stayed tuned for lots of fall fun with our family!

Mommy...Wow! I'm a big boy now!

Well, not quite but getting closer! That's right, my big boy is potty training and boy did I forget how exhausting this is! He's been pretty close for a while, interested in using the potty, having some days where he's done really well, etc. So last night I went to Wally World (aka Walmart) and bought the boy some big boy training pants. No, not Pull-ups. I happen to be anti-Pull-ups. I really don't think they are very different from diapers so I go old school with the padded training pants from Gerber. Today is the first day wearing them and so far we are 1 for 3 (1 successful potty run, 2 wet pants!) Good thing I bought 6 pairs, but I don't know if it's going to be enough! He peed on the playroom floor a little while ago (I'm sooo glad that it's vinyl!!!) so that was fun to clean up (but I am armed with lots of paper towels and Clorox multi-purpose cleaning spray!!! LOL!)

There is nothing cuter in the world to me than little toddler butts in training pants! So, being the scrapbooker that I am I had to take pictures of course!

If you're wondering about the scratches on his face in the top picture- he took a face dive off of the swings on the swing set that my mom bought for them over the weekend last night. He was "flying" on his stomach and bam! Face first into the dirt! But he was ok, which was evident when he started saying that a popsicle would help him feel better! LOL! So funny!

And of course I can't leave out Bri and Micah from this post! Brianna is excited that she gets to go try out dance classes on Saturday at a local dance studio. I was calling around to find out prices, schedules, etc. and one of them said she could come try it out on Saturday to see if she liked it! She is always dancing around this house and I thought this would be a great thing for her to get to do since we aren't sending her to preschool this year. I'm going to be the bragging mom for a minute, but she is just so advanced I don't want to bore her with preschool. Instead I am going to do some homeschooling with her this year with Kindergarten level material and see how she does. I think she's more than ready and I'm excited to try this out with her. It's not "officially" homeschooling since she's not technically school age yet (drat those late birthdays!!), but we'll be working through the skills that they learn in Kindergarten. So dance class will be good for some social interaction. And then of course, there is always sunday school at church for that too! And we have a playgroup that we're going to be attending on Wednesdays so I think she's going to get plenty of socialization (as if that's EVER been a problem for my child!!!)

Micah is growing like an absolute weed! He is FINALLY fitting into "normal" clothes (0-3 month, instead of newborn or premie) which is good since he's almost 2 months old. We had an appointment the other day and he is 9 pounds 12 ounces! He was 5 pounds 12 ounces when we left the hospital so he has gained 4 pounds in 2 months! You go boy! He's starting to get chunky checks which I LOVE!!! He's also starting to smile at people, and coo, and he does great with belly time, although he tends to fall asleep- he loves to sleep on his belly (he's just like his mommy and his brother!), which I know is a no-no, but I feel like if I'm awake and near him to watch for any problems it's not as bad as putting him on his belly at night when we're all sleeping! (can you see how I'm trying to justify this?!?!?!) So, all in all he's doing great! He goes on the 9th for his first set of vaccinations (sniff! Sniff!) but I know he'll do great!

Ok, well, sorry for the longer post but it's been a while since I've updated and just wanted to let you know what's been going on here. I'll try to be better- and I'll post about Bri's dance class on Saturday (and maybe even some pics if I can get them without crying!!! My little girl is growing up!!!!)

$500 Walmart Gift Card Giveaway

You'll probably notice the new button on my sidebar for Bargain Briana. Well, she is offering a giveaway on her blog, in partnership with Nestle, for a $500 Walmart gift card. We can all use some help these days and $500 can go a long way at Walmart. To enter all you have to do is post a comment with your favorite money saving back to school tip. Then there are 4 "bonus" entries you can get by subscribing to her blog via email or RSS feed (I did the RSS feed), adding her button (I did!), blogging about the giveaway (hence my second blog for today, don't you feel lucky!!!), tweeting about the giveaway, and Telling a friend using the widget on her page. I know this is 5 ways, but you can only do up to 4 of these. So go on over to her page here, enter the contest and check out some of her great money saving tips and bargains!

Brotherly Love

Some pics of my two sons during one of the moments that Jonah was interested in holding "baby Micah". Aren't they soooo sweet!?!?! (don't you just love Boppy's??? They make holding a baby so much easier for little hands!)

What a good big brother Jonah is becoming! He loves his little brother and is so concerned for him!

Micah had his one month check up today. And, drum roll please.... he is 8 pounds 2 ounces! YEAH! So he is growing, at least he is gaining weight. He's still the same length, but now that he's gaining weight so well, he'll start getting longer I'd imagine. He's doing really well, and is hitting all of the milestones that he should be right now so we're very relieved and excited!

I know this is a short post, but I just wanted to share these sweet pics and update you all on Micah's growth. Have a great weekend! We are going to Steven's uncles house tomorrow to celebrate his grandma's birthday so I'll post more pics this weekend! Make it a good one!

One Month Old

I can't believe that our little man is one month old today. Steven and I went out on a date Friday night and we were talking about how incredibly fast this month flew by. It's true: the more kids you have and the older you get, the faster the days, weeks, months, years tend to go!

We have so enjoyed having Micah as part of our family. He has molded in so well that it really hasn't taken much effort. Brianna and Jonah absolutely love him, and they are always wanting to hold him and kiss him (Bri much more than Jonah, but he definately has his moments where he is interested!) They are usually very sweet with him, although you do hear the occassional "Be gentle!", "That's too rough!". Brianna has so much confidence with him that it almost scares me sometimes! I have to remind her often that he is not a babydoll, to which she replies "yes, he is! He's my babydoll!" (Yikes!)

Micah is very calm and laid back (you'd have to be coming in to this noisy family!) and can sleep through anything (which is good because his brother and sister are VERY LOUD!!!!) He is very cuddly, which I love, and he loves to be held and snuggled. We still only hear a peep out of him when he's hunger (and then can he reve it up!) and if he's getting bored (if he's been in the swing, bouncie seat, on his belly for tummy time too long!) He'll have his one month appointment this week so I don't have any official stats to give you, but we think he's about 8 pounds now. (YEAH!) He's still long and skinny as you'll see from the pics I took.

But we are having a really good time, and I'm trying to enjoy every moment because our family won't stay like this forever! (I don't know what I'll do when he's mobile too!!!! HELP!!!!)

Oh, bytheway Jonah is starting to show some interest in potty training (he went pee-pee on the potty last night after bath! YIPPY!!!) so hopefully we'll be gettin' that done soon, and getting him out of diapers (hence, saving ourselves big money!!!!!) so I'll keep you posted on potty training because I'm sure you're all just dying to know! (And if you were here he'd tell you all about it!)