Wednesday, December 31, 2008

His Grace is Sufficient For Me

After posting this on Tuesday, which list all of the craziness and busyness that I have been going through this month, the Lord has been speaking to me and ministering to me in a variety of ways.

Yesterday, my mom and dad watched the boys while I went out food shopping! I even did a little bit of their shopping too! I was so thankful for their help - it may have only been an hour and a half, but they basically gave that extra time to me - thank you both!

I have also been able to enjoy the moment that I am in, and not be concerned about what is going to happen next. I do need to prepare, but when I am spending time with people, I need to be there 100%!

One other thing that has been resonating inside of me is, "His grace is sufficient for me." Along with this phrase, is the rest of a song that I sang growing up:

Jehovah Jirah, my provider, His grace is sufficient for me, for me, for me,
Jehovah Jirah, my provider, His grace is sufficient for me.

My God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches in glory,
He will give His angels charge over me,
Jehovah Jirah cares for me, for me, for me,
Jehovah Jirah cares for me.

He does care for me, and He will provide for all of my needs. He is a good God.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

December in a Nutshell

This month has been really tough and tiring. This year has been pretty tiring. Good, but tiring.

So often during this year, I felt like I was running, trying to catch up with what was happening, but always feeling a few steps behind. I have felt isolated at times and just plain busy. There are many reasons that I can think of that could be linked to why I was feeling this way: our family had only one car from October '07 - August '08, so I stayed home most of the time with our new baby that was born in January and with my toddler/pre-schooler. Going from one to two was definitely challenging for me at times, and I was just lacking sleep a lot of the time.

December was definitely a month that was very tiring and I have felt worn out. I feel like I have been just going, going, going since Thanksgiving - and I am still going! I have had a lot of fun too - but that has been coupled with being tired. This is basically what has been going on (I need to write it in list form - it just helps it to flow better for me):

1. We hosted Thanksgiving here - we had a great time with the family that was able to come.

2. The Monday after Thanksgiving, Smiles had surgery.

3. After his surgery, he would wake up in the middle of the night every night, somewhere between 2-4am, and he would not go back to sleep unless I nursed him - he took a whole feeding, so I am assuming that he was hungry - I just was wishing that he would get all of his calories during the day! He was not awake from 2-4am, he just woke up somewhere in between those times. This went on for at least 2 weeks.

4. Smiles finally started to sleep completely through the night during the third week of December - I know that many prayers were going up to the Lord for this to happen!

5. At the end of that week (Friday before Christmas), he got a high fever for three days, which then showed itself as roseola. During this time, he started to wake up at night again - probably from being uncomfortable.

6. The Monday before Christmas, Smiles woke up at 11:30PM screaming and I had to nurse him in - he would not relax and go to sleep if I did not. He then woke up at 2:30, 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30. Needless to say, I was exhausted the next morning - thank you mom for your help on Tuesday! Smiles woke up at 11:30 PM again on Tuesday evening, and I was happy to have children's benedryl to give to him - that seemed to help him get through the rest of the night!

7. Christmas day was spent with my family, then I had a day to try and recoup a little bit, then Christmas with Dawson's family was on Saturday - which was great, then our friends from CT arrived on Sunday morning and stayed until Monday morning (again, this was great, but I felt like we were still going!)

8. Tomorrow is decorating cookies for the grandkids at my parents' house plus I need to do food shopping (and CVS too - we need some toilet paper, and I have two great coupons to use - thanks Thrills!)

9. Wednesday evening (New Years' Eve) we will be at my parents' - food to make!

10. New Years' day we will host family at our house - more food to make!

11. January 2nd is Brady's birthday - we will have a cake for him...when will I make that???

12. On top of all that has been going on, Dawson had to work late every night for at least two weeks before Christmas, so when he got home, I usually did not feel like going out shopping for presents (hence the last minute shopping that I had to do with the help of my parents!)

This month has been tiring, but also filled with a lot of fun family time too. I am just looking forward to having a vacation...I am not sure what that means, but I am looking forward to one! Dawson was joking with my tonight, saying that he should send me to a cabin in the forest - but I thought that it would be lonely, and I would still have to make myself food and clean everything up. I am not sure what I need, but I have to say, that when I go on a vacation, I really like my family to be with me! I love them so much! I think that I need some sleep, and more time with my hubby.

If you have made it this far, thanks for reading and hearing what has been going on in my life during the month of my tiring December. I am ready for some rejuvenation!

Monday, December 29, 2008

The House is SO Quiet!

At around 7:00AM on Sunday morning, our good friends, Ulysses and his wife, Her Stampiness, and their two cute little kids arrived on our front porch! They drove all night from good ol' Georgia, and we were their layover point!

We had a lot of fun together! Ulysses and Dawson went to college together, and were friends ever since. Besides the four adults, there were four kids all under the age of three! There was cute little E - she is 6 months old, her brother C is 19 months old, and then we have Smiles who is almost 12 months old, and Brady who is a few days shy of being 3. They had so much fun together! I think that this was the first time that all four of them interacted with each other in some way, and it was so cute!

Nap time went well for all the kids except Brady - there was not room available for him to nap, so we just kept him up and he ran an errand with me (I think that he made up for the lost nap today - he had a solid 3 hour nap today, and I had to actually wake him up!). Our friends were also able to get a little nap in while the kids were napping, which was great because they left for CT this morning around 10:30ish!

We finally got all of the kids down for the night (by 8pm!) - Brady slept in our room, Smiles in his room, C slept in Brady's room, and E and her parents slept in our family room. Overall, they went down fine. We decided to not play any board games, but we did stay up talking until about midnight. Little E could hear us talking and kept waking up, so we all finally decided to hit the sack!

We usually get to see them at least two times per year, but this year it was actually three times! We wish that we lived closer to them, but we know that it is not going to happen. So, we enjoy all of the times that we see them throughout the year, and we may try to visit each other a little more often with a long weekend here and there. We are so thankful for our friendship with this family.

Praying For Comfort and Peace

I cannot imagine living life without Dawson. He is the love of my life, my best friend, and I love being with him, talking with him, etc.

When Dawson returned to work today, he found out that a co-worker past away on the 23rd. My heart breaks for his wife and two daughters. Dawson went to the viewing tonight and he is planning on attending the funeral tomorrow. This was a sudden death, which makes the situation even harder for the family and the people that worked with him.

Every time I think about it, I get choked up and tears fill my eyes, and I have been praying for the family many times throughout the day. Praying for comfort and peace for the family.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

What Do You Think About Crocs?

For many months now, my foot hurts whenever I walk. Whether I am exercising (which has taken a back burner), shopping or just walking around the house, I have had pain in my foot. I did not go to see him sooner, because I was nursing and did not think that he could really so anything for me. Well, the pain was so constant, that after talking with my "regular" physician, I decided to go and see my podiatrist - the last time I was there was 2 years ago with different foot pain.

They took X-rays and really did not see any reason shy my foot is hurting (on the bottom of my foot, south of my big toe). It could be bunion related, but I only have a slight bunion. He gave me a shot of cortisone, and told me to come back in three weeks...which is in about a week and a half away. Let me just tell you that the cortisone did not fee very good at first, the pain increased! The next day, my foot was feeling a lot better, but now it is starting to hurt again. So, we will see what he says come January 5th.

Anyway, one thing that he suggested was that I buy a pair of crocs to wear around the house. I have never owned a pair of crocs, so my question to you is:

1. Do you own a pair of crocs (or have you ever owned a pair)?

2. What do you think about your pair of crocs...and what type do you own?

3. Where do you suggest that I look to buy a pair of crocs?

Thank you for your input! He told me that they are soft and have some good cushion support in there. I also have arches that need support - so...

4. Do you think that they provide good support in the arch area!

Thanks again!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

It Was At Least 20 to 25!

As I stated in my last post, we spent Christmas day at my sister's house. We had a great time!

After dinner, we were in the kitchen talking and getting ready for dessert. My sister was at the sink and I was across from her, leaning against the counter while watching Smiles crawl around the kitchen. I had just followed him in from the family room, and I am so glad and thankful that I did!

I have to tell you that he took his first official step the day after he was 11 months (December 9th) - which is exactly what his Brady did! Since Smiles, he would stand up, get his balance while not holding on to anything and then he would smile (of course) as he took between 2-4 steps towards me, while falling into my lap. I figured that he would walk soon, but thought that it was a few weeks away.

Ok, back to the kitchen. Smiles crawled over to the fridge, and climbed into his standing position. I got my sister's attention to look at Smiles, and I am sure that she is glad that I did, because then he did something that he had never done before. He started to WALK!!! He walked from the fridge, to her sink, then somehow turned around and walked back to the fridge!!! He probably took over 20-25 steps - maybe even 30-35, and even steadied himself a few times!!! I was so amazed and excited...and Dawson, my mom and Brady walked into the kitchen while this was happening, which made it even better! We were all so proud of little Smiles, and so we all clapped for him, and he joined us with the clapping, which was so cute!

I am so proud of my little guy, and I am so excited that I was there and got to see the whole thing! He has not taken that many steps again since then...but, watch out world, here he comes! :)

Friday, December 26, 2008

Our Typical, Wonderful Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas day filled with family and presents too. Christmas day is spent with my side of the family, and we usually have Christmas with Dawson's side of the family on Christmas Eve (although this year, we will celebrate on the 27th).

After we wake up on Christmas morning, we start our day by reading the account of Jesus being born. This is a tradition that both Dawson and my family had, and we are happy to continue it! Eventually, we will read the story straight from the Bible with each person taking a turn, but this year, we decided to read one of the picture books that we have for the kids, just because of their age. They definitely enjoyed it. Then we went down stairs to open presents together (and I found Smiles' stocking right before we went down the stairs! (It is SO much nicer than the one that I has Dawson pick up at the dollar store!).

The boys were so excited when they saw a stuffed animal at the top of their stocking - Brady had Curious George monkey in his and Smiles had a hippo. We had the boys open up some of their presents - Smiles did not completely understand what he was "supposed" to be doing, but he did enjoy the bag that we were putting the torn wrapping paper in - it was really cute! very typical of a baby's first Christmas! We took a break from presents (put Smiles down for a nap) and Dawson and I began to get breakfast going.

Around 9:30, my parents came over and we ate breakfast together which included homemade waffles, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and of course some egg nog - we always had egg nog Christmas morning - and decaf Colombian coffee (my favorite). It was a really nice breakfast.

After breakfast, we exchanged presents with my parents - and Smiles woke up right before my parents were going to leave. So, he was able to open up the presents with them, and it was so worth it for them to see how much he enjoyed the ride on toy that they gave to him. It plays the ABC song, and he was dancing to it - so cute!

So, after my parents spends time with us, they move on to my sister's house (ahead of us), so that they can spend some time with them, before we head over there. We then have enough time to get everyone dressed and head out the door to my sister's house.

At my sister's house, we had so much fun, exchanging gifts, and eating LOTS of great food! We may not be Italian, but we definitely know how to make and eat delicious Italian food - all props to my sis and her hubby too! Dinner was delicious - chicken parm, sausage with peppers and onions (for those who wanted some!), three veggie dishes, bread with her dipping oil mixture, and wonderful family to enjoy it. Simms' family was also there as well.

We had a wonderful time, and I think the great gift that I received that day came from my son Smiles - which I will write about in another post! Brady also gave me lots of snuggles and hugs, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

I love my family and I am so thankful that we were able to have a wonderful day as we celebrated the birth of Christ.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

I am so Thankful

I am so thankful that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of the Messiah.

It's not about whether your house is perfectly decorated in every room,

Or if you STILL do not have a skirt for the Christmas tree,

Or the fact that your presents are still not wrapped,

Or the fact that you have misplaced the stocking for your second born that was made by his great aunt,

Or the potential that your youngest's first Christmas pictures may be a little "spotted" (he had roseola this weekend - I thought that the fever was due to teething, until he broke out in a rash yesterday).

No, the focus of our Christmas is on Jesus. We enjoy coming together as a family, exchanging gifts with each other, and remembering what this holiday is truly about.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas!

(and to all, a good night sleep - especially Smiles, and me!)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Turkey Hill, Anyone?

Do you like Turkey Hill ice cream (or egg nog)? I sure do! Last year, I received one of their calendars, and it had a bunch of coupons in it for $1.00 off of ice cream and drinks too. I definitely used all of those coupons!

Anyway, I just decided to request their calendar for next year. When I requested one here, I also asked if they would send me some other coupons, if they had any...boy, was that worth about 5 minutes of my time! In just a few days, I received some coupons from them - a ton of them! Coupons for ice cream, drinks, and even one for egg nog...I LOVE their egg nog! Then today I received their calendar, and they had MORE coupons in it!

So, if you enjoy Turkey Hill products, I strongly encourage you to go here and drop them a line asking for coupons and/or their 2009 calendar! Y-U-M! I would tell you to say that "Promises sent you", but that really wouldn't help you in any way, it is just fun to write! :)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Noah's Ark Craft

This was an "easy" craft to do. When Brady and I went to the craft store, I heard him say, "Can we get this, Mommy?" When I turned around to see what he had in his hand, I saw a "tub" of foam stickers - the theme was Noah's Ark. He LOVES the story of Noah's ark - he loves to look at pictures of animals and name them and learn all about them, so I think that is one reason why he loves the story so much!

Obviously I said yes - they were on sale, so why not! So, after we put a cotton ball on our "Christmas Countdown" lamb, he asked if he could play with the Noah's ark animals. The first day that I got them out, he dumped all of them out and then he started to separate them according to what type of animal (or ark or Noah) it was. I was thinking that we would do something else with them, but then he piled them into the center and we cleaned up.

Here is a photo of Brady focusing on separating the animals.



The next day that we got the foam stickers out, I decided that we would do a simple project with them. I got out a piece of construction paper, and then I gathered one type of animal and let him choose the color that he wanted for his "craft" - then, I found the match and gave it to him. I could have let him find the match...but we can do that another time! So, while I was searching for the next animal for Brady to pick out, he was placing the previous sticker on the page.

Here is a photo of his masterpiece!



After Brady was done with placing the stickers on the paper, I asked him to tell me the story of Noah's ark - as he started to tell me his version, I started to write down what he was saying as fast as I could. I wrote down the first two versions and then I caught one on video.

Here is Version #1 that he told me:

The earth flooded on the water,

and then the animals floated on the ark.

It rained for...45 months,

and the sun came out, and the animals came out too,

and Noah, and so did the doves, and the kangaroos, and the hippos, and the giraffes, and the elephants, and (he continued to name all of the animals in the project)

and the rainbows and the clouds.


Version #2

The animals gathered and went inside the ark,
And it rained and rained,
And the sun came out
The End!
This was a fun and "easy" craft, and I know that he will want to do it again! There are so many great things about doing crafts with my son - I love to see him have fun, I enjoy spending time with him, it is great to watch his creativity and concentration flourish, and he beams with joy and a sense of accomplishment when he completes a craft.
There are so many more crafts that I want to complete with Brady - there are so many great ideas out there, and I will try to post as many of them as I can! I would love to continue to see what you are doing with your kids!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Christmas Countdown Part 2

Here are a few photos from the "Countdown to Christmas" craft that Brady worked on the other day.

Here he is focusing on placing the letters on the paper.
Here is the "completed" project! How fun!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Countdown To Christmas!

At the recent MIA "Mama's Got Talent," I was inspired by Amy to do more crafts with Brady. I really like the idea of having an advent theme (as my sister and others do), but I did not plan for it ahead of time and with Smiles' surgery being on the 1st of December, it just did not happen for this year. However, I loved the idea of having some sort of countdown - Classic Mama gave me the idea of using a sheep (we focus on the birth of Jesus at Christmas)! (Thanks, Classic!)

So, I searched the Internet and found a sheep project (Here is another cute one.). I printed out the sheep on card stock, and then used a nickel to make 25 circles on the paper. I used tiny foam letters in different colors to spell "countdown to" - it was Dawson's idea to use these colorful letters and arrange it like a string of lights.

I wrote out the word "CHRISTMAS" at the bottom of the paper (as you can see) and then I scanned it for you to see what it looks like - it came out a little dark, but you get the idea.
On Thursday, Brady found this on the dining room table and was SOOOOOOO excited - he loves animals! I told him that we would be doing a craft with it later, and he got even MORE excited! So, this is what we did. I gave Brady a Ziploc bag that contained large foam letters to spell "Christmas" and eleven cotton balls. He dumped it out and then he began to peel the backing off of the letters and placed them over the letters that I wrote - he did a great job (I have not downloaded those pics yet!).

We worked together on the cotton balls. Brady told me that he did not want to get glue on his fingers, so I put the glue on the number and he placed the cotton ball on it. We also practiced counting and recognizing all of the numbers while we did this craft. He recognizes 1-9 and can count from 1-12, 14 and 16, so this will be a good activity to do and practice saying the numbers each day. Today we added another cotton ball and did another craft with Noah's ark foam (that Brady picked out at the craft store).

Brady and I had so much fun doing this activity together, and I have two more ready to go! Amy totally inspired me to start doing more crafts with Brady and I am so excited! I actually went to the craft store on Wednesday and bought some things to get me started: googly eyes, foam sheets, foam letters and foam Noah's ark, pony beads, and pipe cleaners! I am going to go back and pick up a few more things - like little pom-poms for noses! Now, I am going to need to find some more activities to do! :)

Do you have any suggestions for easy and fun toddler activities?

A Little Humor For The Day

"Baby Jesus is Flying! Whoooooo!"

We had just finished a craft and Brady was playing the the little nativity pieces that we had received from church. I guess you can now imagine why baby Jesus was flying. It was funny to watch, and the greatest part...I was video taping him at the moment, so I can show it to Dawson late (and to Brady when he gets older!) :)

I have so much more to tell you about - I just have to find the time to do it!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Giveaway: "Cutest Last-Minute Tax Deduction"

The end of 2008 is approaching. For those of you who are due with a baby in December, it may mean a chance of having an additional "last minute" tax deduction...if their baby is born in December (and not in January - like my first son)! Speaking of taxes, I do my taxes on my own, using Turbo Tax, so when I was asked to let you all know about a contest that they were having, I was happy to do that...especially since I also have some giveaways available for you!

Turbo Tax is kicking off their second annual nationwide search for America's Cutest Last-Minute Tax Deduction. The winner will receive a United States savings bond worth $5,000 (up to $10,000 upon maturity).

In order to be eligible for the contest, the parent or guardian would need to:

1. Have your baby born between Dec. 1-31, 2008
2. Enter the contest and submit a photo of your newest "last-minute" tax deduction at http://www.cutesttaxdeduction.com/

Baby Owen was the winner last year, and you can check him out in the following video:





Now, for the GIVEAWAY! This is open to anyone who had a baby or knows a baby that was born in 2008 and would like to share this little "present" with them! Here is a photo of the romper/onesie that I have to giveaway:



Turbo Tax has given me FIVE of these rompers/onesies to giveaway. The size of the onesie is six months, so if your baby will fit into this now (or in the future) you are eligible to receive one of these!

To enter this giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Be sure that you have left a way for me to contact you - either through your blog or email

This contest will be open until December 31st, 2008 at 11:59 EST

The winners will be announced on January 1st (or really soon after that! My son's birthday is the 2nd!)

Here are a few other interesting tax tips for you:

1. Any new baby in 2008 could deliver a $1,000 child tax credit. This is a gift that keeps on giving until they turn 17.
2. Be sure to file a new W-4 form with your employer to claim an additional withholding "allowance which may help boost your take-home pay.
3. There's also a tax credit, worth as much $11,650 in 2008, to help offset the cost of adopting a child.

Friday, December 5, 2008

A Trip To The Dentist

Yesterday, I had my teeth cleaning appointment. My mom was scheduled to watch the boys, but I decided that I wanted to take Brady with me. He is almost three, and I think that he is ready to get his first check up (when I get my next one done in 6 months). So, I thought that it would be good for Brady to see what a dentist appt. would be like. He is well behaved, so I really was not worried about any sort of misbehaviour, but I would have never imagined what it really was like (well, part of it).

Brady was really well behaved. He stood by my chair and watched the dental hygienist clean my teeth, and then he put his head on my arm and hugged me - so cute! When I was telling him to be careful, etc., the hygienist said to Brady, "You could sit on Mom's lap if you want to, you just can't bounce."

I was thinking, "ok, we will see what this is like!"

So, Brady climbed up onto the chair, and he smiled at me, and then he laid down on my legs and hugged me! It was so cute! He stayed like this most of the time! Of course, he would sit up and watch what was going on - but I have to say that it was one of the most fun times that I had at the dentist! I loved those snuggles and hugs that Brady was giving to me!

After I was finished, Brady declined his own ride in the chair, but he was excited when they gave a new Diego toothbrush to him!

So now, I am praying that the appt. in June will go well - and that Brady will be excited to get his own teeth cleaned! I think that I will have to try and find a fun book and video about a trip to the dentist before then...any suggestions?

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Update on Smiles

After the surgery on Monday, Smiles was groggy and tired most of the day, but he was back to his regular self by Tuesday - which was good to see!

Today, I was able to take the bandage off of his incision, and then next week he has his post-op appt. I am very thankful that he has not been bothered by the bandage at all this week - he only touched it a couple of times yesterday, but did not try to take it off...I think that it would have been too hard for him to do on his own anyway. You see, his incision was actually covered with gauze and then some type of plastic that "sticks" to his ear, skin, and hair!!! I was not really looking forward to taking this off of him, so I waited to do it tonight, when Dawson could help me out...and I am SOOO glad that I did!

The plastic stuff was sort of like tape, meaning that it was sticky...and it was on some of his hair!!! (BTW - they had to trim his hair a little bit when they did his surgery and they put it in a little plastic bag and gave it to me! I thought that was so sweet! I guess they could tell that he has not had an official first haircut yet!).

I thought that the sticky plastic "tape" would come off easily...boy, was I wrong! Dawson first tried to hold him in a sitting position on his lap while I tried to peel the tape off - that was not working. We tried having Dawson hug Smiles - that did not work. So, finally, we had Smiles laying belly down on Dawson's lap, while I tried to peel this "tape" off. There was a lot of crying and a lot of praying - and Brady was also telling Smiles, "It's okay" and trying to comfort him. So sweet.

I think that the worst part of taking this "tape" off was when I got to the hair. I almost decided to get the scissors out and just cut the tape off (that would have looked "great!"). However, I feel that the Holy Spirit reminded me of how I would get something out of my hair with as little pain as possible. So, I held his hair down with my fingers, so the roots were not being pulled, and then gently pulled the tape away and then I would move my fingers up to the next spot and I would repeat what I did. It went somewhat quickly and the crying did not increase, it stayed at the same level. Then, the gauze seemed to be a little stuck to the incision!!! So, I got a wet wash cloth and water helped to "unstick" it! AHHHHH!

It was a little stressful to me, but I was so glad when it was done, and after I rocked Smiles for a little bit and snuggled with him, I eventually got some smiles from him - it made me smile.

The incision area looks great to me! So, I guess now I just need to keep it clean and dry and we will see the doctor next Wednesday!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Somebody Loves Me Too!

Classic Mama tagged me for this meme. Thanks Classic Mama - you are a great friend and I love your blog too! :)

Where is your cell phone? I don't have one!
Where is your significant other? He is watching part of the British version of The Chronicles of Narnia. I was watching it too, but I need to go to bed (and wanted to write this meme)
Your hair color? brown
Your mother? brown with blonde highlights
Your father? He has brown hair with a lot of white now!
Your favorite thing? This is a hard one - not so sure. A shower with hot water...'cause I am about to take one
Your dream last night? Ok, this was kind of strange - and it might be due to reading a blog about adoption. Anyway, I had a dream that "my" daughter was going to be born, but I was not the one giving birth to the girl - another woman was, and I was going to adopt her. I did not have a name for her, so the birth mother said that the name that she thought of for the girl was "Irea" - or something like that. I smiled and said, "oh" - but on the inside, I knew that I was not going to name her that because it sounded too much like urea - which is another name for urine. Not sure of the significance of the dream at this point in time.
Your dream/goal? To remain debt free, grow old with my husband, and raise mighty men of God (since I only have boys)
The room you’re in? the living room/computer room
Your hobby? right now, I would have to say bargain shopping/stretching our money! I do want to get back into scrapbooking though!
Your fear? That something bad would happen to the kids, my husband or anyone in my family - so, I give those fears to the Lord.
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Maybe in a larger house, but I really like the town that I am in! :)
Where were you last night? Eating Thai food with friends.
What you’re not? short
One of your wish-list items? To learn what my style in decor is
Where you grew up? Long Island, NY
The last thing you did? watched the British version of Prince Caspian with Dawson - I thought that I picked out the new version, but we quickly realized that it was not. It was still good to watch and next time, I will get the correct one!
What are you wearing? Brown sweats and a blue sweatshirt
Your TV? It is currently on - Dawson is watching the next movie/book of Narnia
Your pet? None - I guess an occasional spider...but they do not last too long!
Your computer? PC/Dell
Your mood? Tired and ready for bed
Missing someone? yes - I wish that we lived closer to Dawson's Nanny
Your car? Toyota Sienna and KIA Spectra
Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
Favorite store? CVS - ha! Just kidding, sort of. I don't do too much shopping these days, so I really do not have a favorite store at the moment. CVS just gives me a lot of great deals, but it is not really my favorite
Your summer? Wonderful - we always do a New England trip to visit family and friends. I also look forward to going away for a week at some resort as a family next summer!
Love someone? Many, many people, but my #1 person is my hunny! He is so sweet!
Your favorite color? Green and purple
When is the last time you laughed? Today when Brady told Dawson and me what the librarian said and what his reply was - I just laughed again as I typed this out!
Last time you cried? On Saturday, when Michael (the angel) defeated the enemy in a show that we went to (more on that soon - I just have not had a chance to blog about it yet!) - I think that it was all of the emotions that were going on at that moment...more later
Ok, so I am going to tag a few people who I enjoy reading their blog and I think that they read mine too:
Krazy at the Krazy Klingers
This Journey of Mine at Enjoying the Journey
Thrills at The Thrills of Being A New Mom -
I look forward to reading your answers...if you decide to do it! :)

No, My Name is "Brady"

I did not want to bring Smiles out to a public place yet, since he just had surgery on Monday, so my Mom brought Brady to the library today. She shared this little story with me, so I decided to pass it on to you!

When they arrived at the library, Brady was unpacking/returning the books and DVDs that were due. As he does this, he likes to tell the librarian the names of the books and DVDs that he is returning - it is really cute. The librarian thinks that he is absolutely adorable! (I agree!).

Anyway, while he was returning his books today, the librarian asked,

"Can I call you ___ (it is a common nickname for his real name)?"

Without stopping what he was doing, Brady responded,

"No, my name is 'Brady' " :)

That's my boy! He was not rude about it - just stated what his full name is, and that is what he is called. That made me smile! :)

I love his full name and that is what we call him right now. If he wants to shorten it when he gets older, that is his choice, but for now, we will continue to call him by his full name! :)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Review: Frebreze Fabric Refresher

I was asked to do a review about the new and improved Febreze Fabric Refresher. This is what is new about the formula:

* Now, it eliminates odors on fabrics and in the air
* New, fine mist spray allows for even application, and the new pump design reduces leaking, nozzle sticking and that "quacking" sound
* Formula provides longer-lasting freshness – up two days of freshening power

The basic directions for using the Fabric Refresher are: spray it evenly on the fabric until it becomes slightly damp. The molecules will penetrate into the fabric and as it dries, the odor is cleaned away and a fresh scent is left in its place.

I was sent the Lavender Vanilla & Comfort scent to review. I decided to spray it on a recliner that is a second hand item. It does not have an odor to it, but I wanted to see how the fabric would be refreshed. I followed the directions, and I have to say that the scent lasted just about 2 full days. The only thing that I did not like about it was that when I sat in the chair (after it was dry), and then got up, I felt that the scent was now on my clothes! So, I suppose that I was refreshed too! The scent did not last too long on me, but I still did not like that it happened. Maybe I needed to wait one full day (or overnight) before I sat in the chair. It was easy to use the trigger and I did not hear the "quacking" noise that some spray bottles make. I also did not notice any significant leakage on my hand, so it appears that the improvements that were made to the bottle really does work!

It also claims to eliminate odors in the air so, I decided to try it out on our garbage can. I had thrown some onion remains into our kitchen trash can and it stank pretty bad. So, before I was able to take the trash out, I decided to spray it with the Febreze. I was pleasantly surprised. The smell was taken away! However, when I went to take out the garbage a little later on, I did notice a hint of onion smell. I sprayed the can after the trash was removed from it, and the can no longer had any onion odor to it. So it did refresh the air and my garbage can too!

The scents that it comes in are: Meadows & Rain, Linen & Sky, Lavender Vanilla & Comfort, Citrus & Light, and Spring & Renewal. The Lavender & Vanilla scent was pretty, but a little too floral for me.

My overall opinion is that I do like the Febreze Fabric Refresher. I believe that it does what it claims to do. I would probably try one of the other scents in the future and with so many to choose from, I am sure that one of them would jive with me.

I have more product reviews coming your way and a contest too! Stay tuned!

Resting In His Presence

We are home from the surgery. Everything went well. We actually did not get to talk with the doctor afterwards - he had to go straight into another surgery, but the nurse gave us great instructions as to how to care for Smiles. So, we will see the doctor in 7-10 days for the post op appt.

Smiles did fine without his morning feeding. He was so interested in everything that was going on around him - he did not even once hint at being hungry (plus, I fed him at 11:30 pm the night before, which I am sure helped!).

The Lord gave all of us such amazing peace and I continue to declare Joshua 1:9 over Smiles - "Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go" (My paraphrasing).

The only time that I heard Smiles cry (before the surgery) was after the nurse turned the corner when she was carrying him to surgery. The anesthesiologist told me beforehand that if Smiles was crying when he was brought into surgery, that it was actually not a bad thing, because he would inhale the anesthesia faster and would be sedated faster - so, I was not worried at all.

The doctor gave Smiles a little teddy bear that was dressed at a surgeon - it is so cute and Smiles liked playing with it before surgery.

We were called back to the recovery room about 35 minutes after we had left Smiles. The surgery took only about 15 minutes (I asked - I am always curious about those things).

After surgery, Smiles was groggy from coming out of the anesthesia, so I nursed him and then held him and sang to him songs like, "Jesus Loves Me" and "I love you, Lord" and he was at peace in his Mommy's arms.

Smiles is now sleeping, so I am going to try and sneak a nap in too (Dawson is already napping)! I have been up since 5:30 am (and did not get to sleep until about 12:30 am), so this momma is a little tired! My mom has Brady over at her house, so for now, I do not need to be concerned about him - thank you, Grammie and Poppy!

Thank you for all of your prayers. I did sense the peace of God all around us!