crap

I was doing laundry - like I do everyday.  I started moving the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer.  I grabbed a handful of clothes and underneath them was a phone filter we had gotten in our start up package from Century Link.  I laughed and thought, "Porter must have thrown this in the pile of clothes?  Good thing we don't need that."  I pulled it out and then saw something else at the bottom of the washing machine.  The other phone filter?  I wish...

I washed our dang camera.  I almost swore.  Not at Porter but at myself...almost.  Think it'll dry and miraculous work?

gatorade, popsicles & toast

drinking Orange Gatorade

We have this nasty bug at our house that we can't shake.  I thought we were all better.  And then it struck again...at night.  Of course.  Why does it always have to happen in the middle of the night?

eating a homemade roll - note the soft pants :)

So, today we're playing it safe.  We're all in nice comfty sweats.  We are not going anywhere today.  We are going to eat toast and applesauce and stay hydrated on yummy popsicles.  I have washed all of the bedding and I'm contemplating disinfecting the toys and door knobs again.  I opened all of the windows to freeze out our awful bug.  Please pray that it's over because I just don't know how much more I can take.

Luckily, Miss Paige is very healthy...and likes to eat her hand :)

nothing specific

 {She's so stinking cute huh?  We think so too.}

Our weekend was no fun.  Well, a little fun.  Our friends were here so the husbands could go duck hunting.  No success - but that's okay because I don't know how to cook duck.  I was able to visit with my good friend and plan her baby shower :)  And then everyone got sick.  It was awful.  

And why does the sickness have to start in the middle of the night?  

Waking up to crying, sick children is awful.

We're all better now.  We went to the library this morning.  Porter LOVES the library.  He'll sit at the computer, point and talk at the screen.  He runs and climbs all over the chairs and cushions in the kid section.  There's a sign that specifies the area is for reading only.  

I don't think one mom enforces it.  I sure don't.

On the drive home from the library we rocked out to a Glee CD I checked out.  Porter waved his arms, bounced up and down and said, "dance!"  It's hilarious.  

Paige slept the whole time.

The End

oops

This morning, in record time, I had us all fed, showered, dressed, and ready to leave.  I even threw in a batch of laundry before we left.  I know I know, I'm awesome.  We were go about two hours.  And then came home to this:

Porter was in heaven!  Geez I think I was in heaven until the flood guy came and I found out how much the cleanup would cost.  Those dang fans.  

However I'm already thinking about how excited Porter will be when he wakes up and sees those dang fans.

ugh

My sister recently posted a post on her blog entitled "ugh". And I shouldn't copy but that's exactly how I feel at the moment so I'm taking it.  Okay, Rachelle?

Ugh.  I can't find the camera...with all of the cute pictures of Porter playing at my in laws.  And the pictures from Park City when we went to see my friend, Amy.  And I wanted to take pictures at our picnic today.  Ugh.  AND I was suppose to send my Dad the rest of the family reunion pictures/videos.  Sorry Dad...can you wait until Tuesday? (cause I'm pretty sure the camera is at my in laws)

I had all of these cute things I wanted to blog about.  Ugh.  But instead you get this disgusted post.

BUT besides those things...we're having a great weekend and I bought more baby clothes for my little girl.  AWESOME.  Oh...wait, one more thing.  We still don't have a name for her yet.  Ugh!

4/30: gone!

Let me explain the picture for today...

Over the last - hmm...couple of years I have had some intense stomach pains.  I always figured I ate too much, ate something I shouldn't have or maybe I was allergic to something.  I never thought much of it - and I'm pretty sure you have heard me complain about a stomach ache :)

A couple of months ago, while I was complaining to James about another one of my stomach pains, he said, "Tiff, you've complained about stomach pains almost every day since we've been married."

Really?  Geez...maybe that's not a good sign?

So after some encouragement (pushing) from my husband, I finally went to see an internal medicine doctor.  He scheduled an ultrasound and you'll never guess what he found.

Gallstones

And lots of them!  And they were huge.  They couldn't pass.  And did you know that your gall bladder flares up right after you eat?  Who knew?!

So we met with a surgeon and I had my gall bladder out last week.  Let's be honest - I was scared.  They fill your stomach with air and snip your gall bladder and pull it out through a small incision.  Ah!

The picture above is a picture of the pictures the surgeon took of my insides - awesome huh?  Picture of my inflamed gall bladder, picture of them snipping it out, and a picture of me without a gall bladder.

And guess what?!  Those awful stomach pains...GONE!

The End :)

angry

Do you know what REALLY makes me angry?  Insurance companies, insurance agents, and oh my goodness...customer service lines.

They make me so angry.  I do everything I can to avoid a problem.  And yet, the problem still arises. 

So then I have to spend hours on the phone with this company, and then this agent and oh - you need to call this customer service number and oh, I'm sorry - they didn't fax the right information to us, you better call that customer service number back and go through the ENTIRE process again.  Push one for this and push three for this and WHY DON'T THEY OFFER A CUSTOMER SERVICE REP RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING?!

I hate pleading my case.  I become so frustrated that I want to just start yelling anything at the customer service person I'm talking to - even though they had absolutely nothing to do with my problem...the problem I tried to avoid.

It makes me so angry!  Sometimes being an adult is really, really, hard.

first time mom stuff

We had great intentions to spend Thanksgiving with James's family.  I was hoping for a FULL day of lots and lots of food.  If anyone knows me, they know I have this obsession with food.  I love to make it, eat it, and EAT it!  I made homemade rolls, cheeseball, and banana cream pie! (all my Mom's recipe)

Wednesday evening Porter was sick, really sick.  It was a horrible, restless night full of crying both by Mommy and Baby.  Thursday morning (why did we wait until the morning?!) we called around and of course, no "after hours medical centers" were open.  So we took a drive to the hospital.  Porter had a bad case of croup.  What even is that?  (I'm being sarcastic, I'm pretty sure I could write an essay on it now.)

We spent four hours at the hospital - a shot, tylenol, breathing treatments and again crying by Mommy and Baby.  By the time we left, he was sounding and acting better.  We got home just in time to eat Thanksgiving dinner.  And then packed up our belongings and drove home - after Porter cried when we put him back in the car. (Oh!  But not before my little sister stopped by to see me - yes!)

And that was how we celebrated our Thanksgiving.  No pictures.  No exciting stories.  Just an exhausted, emotional - drained Mom who hadn't seen her baby so sad before.  I guess this is all part of being a Mom - trying to be strong when your baby is very sick and very sad.

Hope your Thanksgiving rocked - really, I do.  OH!  And I hope you went shopping this morning.  Who doesn't love Black Friday?  Unshowered people running around the store trying to get that beater for 2.99 or one of those movies for 1.96.  You have to admit it's absolutely hilarious and I'm sad we missed it this year.

Sorry Charlotte

I hate spiders

I especially hate spiders crawling around my house

Each morning I seem to find a BIGGER one than the day before

Usually I scream and scream until my hero (James) smashes it

Except sometimes he's not around.  Twice.  Twice he has not been around

This morning was one of those times.

The BIGGEST spider yet was crawling around my kitchen floor

I grabbed the BIGGEST boot out of James's closet 

And with loud screams, I smashed the boot against that effing spider

Yes, I said "effing" 

Because with big eight legged monsters, you can say half-naughty words

I then examined the spider and honestly, it looked as though it had been smashed

I bathed Porter and put him down for a nap

I came back, moved the boot and the spider was GONE!

He's going to eat me in my sleep....I just know it.

Just One

Tonight was a little stressful.  Around 6:00, my baby was very sad.  Unusually sad.  I rocked him until he fell asleep.  But when he woke up, he was still sad.  This lasted until it was time for bed.  It took a few feedings and lots of rocking to help him fall asleep.  By the time I left the room...I was a little overwhelmed.  And then I remembered how I want six children....six...oh my goodness.

I have just one...and I thought tonight was hard?  My mom had six, my oldest sister has five, my second oldest sister has four, and my third oldest sister has two...and I thought tonight was hard...with my one baby...I have just one.  Ha :)

Luckily, these stressful evenings aren't every evening...

My Salary Earning Job

When I was a junior in high school, I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I went to college and graduated in 3 1/2 years. (yes, I'm bragging.) I taught 2nd grade last year, it was hard, but I made it through and decided to switch to what my degree is in and teach special education.

Oh...my...gosh...

Why didn't my professors warn me? Why didn't they tell me how absolutely hard it would be? I'm sure they did but I obviously WASN'T listening, all I could think about was changing the world and saving every child - which was really my life goal when I graduated :) But now, I dream about special education. Nightmares, I should say nightmares - I have nightmares about special education. I toss and turn all night while special education jargon and random strategies/methods fly through my head. I have nightmares that parents are mad at me (which they are when I'm awake), I see teachers saying rude things to me (which they have) and I dream that I have no data on any of my kiddos (this, thankfully is NOT true!) Yes, my dream profession has become a nightmare.

Ok, now for the bright side. I love working and playing with kids. They are cute and hilarious, and they make me smile. They love to laugh, play, and do anything fun. I do have wonderful co-workers, mentors, and bosses who are an amazing support system. I have made wonderful friends within my job. It is very rewarding to watch a child progress and catch on to something you've worked on for weeks. I love having the oppportunity to work with so many wonderful people and so many amazing children.

But seriously...why didn't someone smack me and say, "Tiffanie, it's going to be REALLY hard! You might REALLY hate your job!"