Dressed to impress :o)

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The Cone of Shame

My poor girl has to wear this cone until her staples come out. She HATES this thing! I take it off when she eats, and so she can get water. Other than that she has to have it on, or she could possibly rip open her staples.

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Potty training

Dustin turned two on March 7th, and just a few days later woke up and decided he would be potty trained! What the heck happened here? He just decided all on his own he would wake up, use the potty all day long, even pooped on the potty and asked for his “utt ipped” Dustin’s language for “butt wiped” lol. Now Dustin is even staying dry during the night, and first thing in the morning running to the potty to pee. I am just so impressed. Brad and I had just bought an entire package of diapers from BJ’s too. So now we have this gigantic box of diapers we can’t use. Of course I will save them though because we plan on having another baby sometime in the near future. I really don’t know when that will be, but I do hope things are better financially by that time.

But today I just wanted to share that it is official. Dustin is potty trained, and this momma is no longer changing pee & poop diapers.
 

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Pebbles

Right now I am worried about my doggie. Pebbles is 11 now, and starting to show her age. She has always been "young acting". She still loves to play ball, but is just a little slower. Today Pebble had to go to our vet to have some lumps removed, one of which is in her mouth. Since they are already going to be in her mouth, I told them to clean her teeth as well.
I am really confident in our vet, he's a great Dr. I still am worried sick though. On the ride home from the vet, after I had dropped Pebble off, I cried & cried. I was just so worried about the possibility that I could lose her. I have a very strong bond with Pebble. Pebble was my first real rescue. God knows where Pebble would have wound up if it weren't for me taking her in. She was a bundle of energy when I got her back in December of 99. I was thirteen at the time, and wasn't allowed to have any more pets. So I took Pebbles anyway lol, and hid her in my room. I had a large walk in closet where I made a nice bed for her, along with food and water. During the day when I was home Pebble ran all over and played with Buddy. They got along perfectly. The story of how Pebble ended up a part of my life is still a bit funny to me. Mainly because the fact I was hiding her & the way my parents found out.
One night after night school, my mom drove up in front of the high school to pick me up. I noticed the dog crate in the back seat and knew I was caught. I had this horrible nervous feeling as I approached the car. Pebbles was excited to see me, but I was told I couldn't keep her. It turned out that when I left Pebbles at home, my father herd howling. At first my parents thought it was a dog outside, but then realized it was coming from somewhere in the house. When my parents discovered it was not Buddy, they were led to my closet where they found the source - 6 month old Pebbles! Long story short my brother had Pebble for a short time at his apartment, but she was too big for the apartment complexes rules, so in the end she came back to me. Pebble and I have never been apart after that. She has always been my dog. Pebble is one of a kind. She loves to swim, play catch (and ALWAYS brings the ball back, over & over), she can run without a leash and listens to my commands. Pebbles also will play ball by bouncing a large bouncy ball off her nose back and forth with me. She is so awesome. The best dog ever. I say this too knowing I have had 10 dogs in my lifetime. 6 of them are still with me. Buddy was my first dog ever, and he taught me a lot. I still miss him so very much, Buddy passed away at the age of 12 due to heart failure.
But out of all my dogs I've had the experience to live with (some just for a few days because they were temporary rescues) Pebbles has been the only one to always stick by my side. She has never tried to run off, and I can trust her. I LOVE that dog. Right now she is most likely in surgery. Pebbles vet called at 9 to talk to me about one of the lumps. So she is probably being worked on now. I just hope and pray everything turns out good, and my Pebble is healthy, with no cancer, and is back to her perfect self.

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A bad day

Yesterday I had a really bad day. Brad and I had been awaiting a phone call from a job he had applied at. Brad had two interviews, and things were looking really promising. Then around 5 Brads cell phone rang, it was a number I didn't recognize so I figured it was the job. Brad answered the phone, and I knew it was the the guy about the job because Brads face lit up, but it didn't last but a few seconds. The guy called just to let Brad know he didn't get the position. I was devastated to say the least. If Brad had gotten that job our lives would have gotten better. Right now we are struggling, and I mean really struggling. Brad clears on average maybe $600 a month -that is after 400 of it is taken for child support.


Not to long after the bad news about the job, the phone rings again. This time it was Brads mom. She called to tell us that Brads ex had done a credit report, and was threatening to call the police because of past credit card bills, repossed cars etc. Now I knew there was nothing she could do because it was so many years ago, and it was her responsibility the credit cards and etc were on her credit as well as my husbands. Instead she threw all the blame onto him who pays her 400 a month. Why in the hell didn't she take care of any of those past due bills? The old credit cards were mainly from her, not Brad. It was just another load of BS, and more stress for me!


Now that things have calmed down, I still am feeling depressed, and pretty darn hopeless. I just pray to god that things get better for our family. Times are so tough right now. I pray Brad gets a better paying job, and for once things get better and not worse.

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New look

My blog now has a new look thanks to http://www.simplyfabulousbloggertemplates.com/. Great web site in my opinion, love it!!

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Welcome to the family

This is Leo. Brad named him, as he seems to name all the animals that come into our home. Leo is Brads rescue. I have stopped in the animal rescue department, only because we can not financial care for anymore animals. We also are running out of space. We have a lot of rescued cats, and dogs as well. All of whom are very well taken care of, and indoor pets. Our animals are part of the family. They are also spayed, neutered, and vetted like they should be. I have rescued animals from the time I was 8.. or 2.5 if you want to count my childhood cat Blacky that I found with his head stuck in a fence when he was a kitten.

Well anyhow, Leo came from Baltimore city. A customer of Brad's came into his work and was talking about dropping a cat off at the lake near us. Now, some people out there think that if they drop a cat off in a wooded area they can hunt and find food, water & shelter. As if they are wild animals. They are not, and it almost always is a death sentence for these DOMESTICATED animals. They are not wild animals, especially the cats that have depended on their owners. Feral cats are different, but even then they do not live long lives, and have multiple litters of kittens that add to the problem. (Except for those great people out there who do TNR- trap, nueter and return).

Leo is such a sweet heart and a real joy to have. I was very skeptical about taking another cat in, but here we are. Leo is here to stay. He reminds me of my childhood cat Blacky, whom I grew up with. Bradley was even calling Leo his "blacky cat". I heard the boys this morning over the baby monitor playing with the cat when they had just woken up. Bradley was giggling and calling "blacky". I just couldn't allow the boys to name the cat Blacky though. Blacky was like a brother to me, I had him from the time I was two, until I was twenty.

Today Leo went to our vet (whom is great by the way). Leo was tested for Feline Leukemia, and had all of his shots. During his exam the Dr. did notice that Leo is missing several teeth. He told us it looked like he had some trauma to cause the missing teeth. Someone probably had either hit him, or kicked him in his head. This sweet loving cat, abused? People really sicken me.

I am just glad in the end, even though I was very skeptical, Leo found his way to us. He now has a forever home where he can be loved and cared for.

Oh and did I mention all his blood work came back fine. He’s healthy, neutered, sweet as can be & now our newest member of the family!!

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Officially 2!

I still can’t believe it, but my youngest baby boy is already two! I feel as if these past two years have gone by the quickest. I really wish time would just slow down. I LOVE my kids more than anything, and I just enjoy them being little. Bradley is already getting into that big kid stage where he thinks he can talk back, and be a smart mouth. I do not look forward to the teen age years. I love the sweet, loving little boys that they are now.

Well anyway, for Dustin’s Birthday we went to our local pizza shop. It’s a nice quiet place with a back room for parties, or just whom ever wants to dine in. It also has some arcade games and a air hockey table (the older kids loved that). My mom, dad, oldest nephew, niece April, and Brad’s mom, dad, and Samantha came. Things probably would have been better under normal circumstances but we were in a hurry because Brad had a job interview at 3. Brad & I bought 3 pizza’s and pitchers of soda for everyone, and I had made Dustin his special Kitty cat cake that he wanted.

After cake, Dustin opened up his gifts which was SO funny! My favorite part was when I helped him open the card from my dad, Dustin’s pop-pop. I read the front of the card, and Dustin helped me open it to read the rest, when money fell out. Dustin went nuts and started screaming “mm-ney, mm-ney”. Everyone laughed at him. I never would have thought Dustin would freak over money like that lol.

After Dustin’s party was basically over, I realized I hadn’t had Brad video tape it. Everything went by so quickly, and I was so busy with the kids and everything going to I had forgotten. Now, I am so heart broken that I don’t have the video of him with his cake, and the cute & funny reactions while he opened his gifts. I also didn’t get anywhere near enough in the picture department. My oldest son was misbehaving, and that took a great deal of time away from Dustin. Brad was so angry, and it showed. He lost his cool, and it was just down and out right tense. GRRR!!!

I do hope to put Dustin’s special Birthday shirt on, and have a little photo shoot with him some time this week. Of course it has to be once his new “boo-boo” goes away. This morning while the older boys were getting ready for preschool Dustin had an accident. I have no clue what happened because I was in the process of getting Bradley dressed. Parker was running around with Dustin, and I heard a bang, then screaming. Dustin came right to me in a flash holding his nose and eyes just screaming. I held him and noticed he had a bloody nose. I asked him what happened and he said “door”. He had apparently tripped over a toy while running, and hit his face (right between the eyes) on the door’s hinge. Now my poor little guy has a perfectly round large red circle directly between his eyes. He acts as if nothing happened now, but he sure did give mommy a scare.

Well here are a few pictures from his Birthday. Not many, I know. Depressing to me because I can’t get those moments back. I really wish we would have remembered to video tape the party.

The cake I made. Dustin loves cats so that is what he asked for.

Looking at his candles.. I think he was getting tired.

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Today

Today was my step daughters 9th Birthday. We were invited by her mother. Which was a shocker to me, mainly because there has been some “bad blood” between everyone in the past. I guess everyone can act like adults now. I am happy to say things went pretty well. It wasn’t the most comfortable situation, but it worked out OK.

I mainly stayed with Brad and our boys, and talked to Brads mom. I am glad things are working out. Brads mom is also going to help us with the court costs so that we can get some custody of Samantha. That way we have time where we can spend with her as a family. I’m just hopeful that things all fall together nicely, and work out for the better.

Tomorrow is my precious little Dustin’s 2nd Birthday. I still am pretty shocked he will be 2. The time has flown by way to fast. We aren’t really doing anything spectacular for his birthday. We are just going to go to the local pizza shop, get a pizza, a pitcher of soda and the special cake I am making for Dusty. Dustin really wanted a kitty cat cake soooo… I made a cat out of rice crispy treats, and am going to cover it with icing, and some coconut to make it look like fur. I am excited about it. It looks pretty cool so far. I am hoping it looks perfect for my little mans special day. We will see. I am sure I will post pictures when it’s finished. I’ll also be back tomorrow to post pictures of Dustin’s 2nd Birthday.

For now… here are some photo’s from Sam’s 9th B-day party.
 

Sam right before she blew out her candles

Cute picture of Sam holding the webkin Brad & I got for her.



Picture of my baby boys once we got home. The white line in the picture is the balloon string. Dustin refused to let go of his balloon for the picture.

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Is it bedtime yet???

My boys have decided they are going to be BAD lately. I know that a lot of it has to do with bad influences from my brothers kids. For instance the talking back, and being a smart-aleck. I questioned Bradley about his behavior and he responded by saying “well April does it”. GRRRRRR It makes me so mad that my brother & his girl friend allowed their kids to be so bad, and with no consequences. Now my kids think they can get away with the same. Some of the behavior I find really inappropriate like the usage of guns. Bradley and Parker loved playing with their dart guns and never associated it with death. Now Bradley runs around saying he is going to “die people”. He thinks that is something funny. Nathan who is 9, is obsessed with video games, the violent ones. Bradley noticed some of them while Nathan was playing, he also followed Nathan’s lead when he was playing soldier around the house. For Nathan’s age maybe that’s OK. I guess everyone probably has their own opinion about it. Personally I don’t like it, and prefer my kids not say things like that. Nor do I want them playing in that manner. They can pretend they are getting the bad guys, but I don’t want to hear them saying how they are going to kill people. Bradley is only 4, and Parker 3. I REALLY am trying to nip this behavior in the butt and make them stop it quick. I also do not like the wrestling they have started doing. They are really being rough, something they never did before. My kids have always wrestled… but not violently. UGH!! I have this long list of crap, and I just feel like I am pointing fingers. But I can not help but do that when I know my kids saw the behavior and are now reenacting what they saw and heard.


I feel as if the entire day today I have done nothing but yell, and issue out time outs. I am starting to lose my cool. I feel sick from stress because of today. And it is not just one child, it’s all 3! Dustin decided it would be fun to spill his drink in several different spots, then lick it up like a dog LOL. Also during clean up time, Dustin took the huge toy bin of road tracks and dumped them all over and started throwing them. TIME OUT! Bradley and Parker refused to clean, I had to bribe them, and even then it didn’t work to well. The also would not stop fighting over toys, and refused to share anything. And the wining!!

I LOVE my kids but today was just one of those days when I felt like ripping out all of my hair. I am anxiously awaiting bed time, when all the boys are asleep and I can enjoy the quiet time. Hoorah for bedtime lol. I can’t wait until Spring gets here, and the kids can start going outside to play. That way they can burn off all of their energy. Since the snow is still everywhere outside, and it’s also real muddy we can’t go outside to play.

Well, that’s enough complaining for me tonight. I just needed to vent my frustration.

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How time flies

This Sunday is Dustin's 2nd Birthday, WOW! I can not believe how quickly the time has just flown by. Looking back at all the pictures it really makes me realize how my precious boys have changed over the past 2 years. Below is a picture of Bradley, Dustin & Parker. Then below is Parker, Dustin & Bradley. In the first picture Dustin was about 6 months old. The second picture I just took the other day. They look SO grown up.

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Photo shoot

I haven't taken many photos of the boys lately. I do have a new camera now, the canon powershot sx20is. It's one of the superzoom camera's out there. I wanted something more professional than my point and shoot camera. The new one is still a point and shoot, but has more advanced stuff on it. I like it so far. I still need to edit a lot of my pics, but they turn out nice. Here are a few good pics from today. The boys and I had fun taking these. I just wish Parker wouldn't have made a goofy forced smile in the first picture below. Still adorable though!

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An update

February is over already. What a month it has been too. I have not had much time to post on here but here is an update.

My brother moved into his new home (Yippee!). He now lives right down the street from us. It went pretty well for a while with his family living with us, but as time passed things went down hill. I won’t go too much into details, but it wasn’t much fun having my brother, his gf, and his 3 destructive kids living with us.
February was also a very, very snowy month. We had two major snow storms. The first one we received over 24inches of snow. I think our area had 28”. Then shockingly we were hit with a 2nd storm not even a week later that dropped over 18” of snow on our area! I have always loved snow, but I must say I’ve never had to deal with quite this much of it. The snow was so deep it almost came up to my waist. It was almost impossible to walk threw. The kids looked like they were swimming through it. I wish I had pictures that did the snow justice. Looking back at the pictures it doesn’t look too bad. But anyway.. It was fun getting to see so much snow, even though it was hard work, and annoying being stuck in the house. I am not sure that I will ever again see that much snow. I have never seen two huge snow storms hit back to back like that.

Brad and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on Feb. 11th. We didn’t do anything special because of lack of money, and lots of snow. I am just so blessed to have been married to this man for 4 years. I love Brad so much, and we are the perfect match. We have been together for 6 years and married 4 now. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him. I love you Brad!

February was also a bad month this year. It was the end of a family members life. A life I wish would have been longer. My precious cat Ashes (who was 16-17) passed away. She had to be put to sleep because of an illness & cancer. The vet said at that point, having Ashes euthanized was the best thing for her. It would take away her pain. I would like to think Ashes is running around with my other beloved childhood cats - Blacky, Peanut, and Holly. My childhood cats helped make me who I am today, they are the reason I love animals so much.

Some other bad news from February was about Bradley. Bradley’s eye Dr. appointment didn’t go too well. I never knew surgery was even an option for my boy. Now Bradley will have to have surgery to fix his right eye. For now he has to wear a patch over the better eye to make the one stronger. Bradley’s good eye is the one that will need the surgery because the muscles aren’t connected right. I am so worried about putting Bradley threw surgery. Unfortunately I have no choice, and it is something that has to be surgically corrected.

Brad has also been in contact with his ex. We have been invited to Samantha’s birthday party. What a shocker that was. Her Birthday party is this Saturday March 6th. On Sunday Dustin is having his Birthday party, since Sunday is his real birthday. I am a little concerned about how us attending Samantha’s party will go. It will be Samantha’s mother, and her side of the family. Brads parents will be there as well… Oh yippee (sarcasm). It should be pretty interesting anyway.

For Dustin’s Birthday we are going to go to McDonalds. They have a big play area, and it’s something the kids really like doing. I figured I’d get all my boys happy meals and bring the cake along for dessert. I’m thinking of making a fire engine cake for Dustin’s 2nd birthday. I’m hoping my brother and his children come for Dustin’s little party. It’s still so hard for me to believe that Dustin is turning two. I still refer to him as “the baby”. He is already so grown up though, he talks pretty well now, and is even singing some of his ABC’s. Time flies by way to fast!

Well I think that is enough of an update for now. It’s been a very long post.

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