Losing Weight

I'm excited and proud to say that I've lost about 10 lbs. in the last couple of months. I'm really pretty amazed. I haven't been doing a whole lot to loose it. I'm not on a diet and I don't feel deprived. I've just been more intentional about what I'm choosing to eat. I'm eating three meals a day and a snack or two. I'm eating smaller portions and looking at labels and trying to avoid things that I know I shouldn't eat. I'm putting much less sugar in my coffee and I'm eating only whole wheat bread. We haven't even purchased sodas or chips in quite a while (except for Pringles for Jackson). Anyway, just thought that I would share. Now I just need to keep it off.

What a day!

Man, today has been nuts! And it's only 2:00.

It began with an alarm clock "malfunction" which caused me to get up later than I needed to. The baby woke me up ten minutes later than the alarm clock was supposed to, but I really needed those ten minutes.

After feeding him, I woke Jackson up, who had just recently soaked his bed.

Between the baby fussing and screaming I managed to fix Jackson's breakfast and get his valentines ready for him to take to school. We left for preschool with a screaming baby and waited in the drop off line for the ladies to quit their chit-chatting and get my kid out of the car.

I had planned on depositing some money in the bank after I deposited Jackson at preschool. But my "check gauges" light came on as I was pulling out of the preschool parking lot. The person that drove my truck last did not refill the tank. Ggrrrrrr!!! Of course I did not have my wallet with me so I could not get any gas. I drove home hoping that I wouldn't run out of gas with a screaming baby in my car.

After we got home, the baby stopped crying long enough for me to eat breakfast and have some coffee.

Then after he cried some more, he quit crying long enough for me to get a quick shower.

Before I knew it it was time to go get gas and go back to the preschool line to pick up Jackson. Much to my surprise, the baby slept through that ordeal.

After picking Jackson up and going to the bank, I made the mistake of going through the Chick-Fil-A drive through. The cars were lined up around Chick-Fil-A and into the drive to get to Wal-Mart. So, while I'm in this line and blocking people who want to go past Chick-Fil-A, an evil woman honks at me.....and WAKES UP THE BABY!! Then he screamed his head off for about the next 20 minutes.

After getting home and changing the first of two horrific dirty diapers, I was finally able to sit down and eat a cold and soggy chicken salad sandwich from Chick-Fil-A.

The baby is asleep now but I'm not sure how long that will last. He has not slept more than thirty minutes in a row so far today....but he has fussed, whined, and cried for more than thirty minutes in a row. But he also smiled at me several times so I forgive him for all the screaming.

There's a pile of laundry to be folded on the couch and dirty dishes in the sink. I have no clue what we will be having for dinner and I don't even care.

All of that said, aside from being tired and cranky, I'm happier than I have been in a long time. That might not make sense to you, but it makes sense to me. I gotta go fight with lightsabers real quick before the baby wakes up again.

He's a moose

We went to the WIC office today to get WIC for M. Since he's a foster child, I'm supposed to do that. Anyway, they weighed his chubby fanny and he was 11 lb., 3 oz. He was clothed with a pretty wet diaper, but still. This kid was 9,10 a week ago. What if he's eating too much??!! What if I'm turning him into a little fatty? Phillip says he looks like Rush Limbaugh. I think he's just cute.

Pink eye, ear infection, and a new baby

Jack has had a cold for a couple of weeks now. It would seem like he was getting over it and then it would get worse again. Finally yesterday, I could tell that we needed to go to the doctor. And as I suspected, he has an ear infection. Jackson has not had to be on an antibiotic since he was about 10 months old. He rarely gets sick and he usually gets rid of it pretty quick if he does. But now that we've got a new baby, of course he gets sick. So, I've got a cold, Jack's got a cold. Phillip somehow has avoided getting this. We've been keeping Jackson shut in his room with his portable DVD player. Anyway, Jackson woke up this morning with his eyes glued shut and all red.

Now we're trying to keep the baby from getting a cold...and pink eye! This is AWESOME!! Phillip's mom (A.K.A. Nana) is coming over soon to save the poor baby from this sick house. I have held the baby as little as possible for the last week or so in hopes that I wouldn't give him my cold. I feel bad that I haven't been able to spend more time with him. But most of all, I just don't want him to get sick.

I'm using Lysol like it's going out of style and my hands are cracked and red from washing them every 10 minutes. Ok, gotta go.

Growing like a weed

Baby M. had a Dr. appointment today. At birth he weighed 7lb., 13 oz. A week later he weighed 8lb., 3 oz. And today, two weeks later, he weighs a whopping 9lb., 10 oz. I could not believe it. They weighed him twice just to make sure. And he has grown 3/4 of an inch in two weeks. I knew he was getting bigger, but I had no idea he had grown that much. He has gained almost two pounds in three weeks!! That's nuts.

I'm trying to make his room a little more permanent. I'm replacing some of the pink stuff with blue stuff. And as much as I love that rug, I'm afraid it's going to have to go in a closet. Well, that's it for now.

Oh yeah, and I FINALLY got my saxophone back from stinking B&H Music. I can't find any of my mouth pieces though so I haven't played it yet. It came with one....but.....GROSS. I may just have to place it on ebay without playing it if I can't find my own mouth pieces. The repairman said it plays great. I may just have to take his word for it.

Sick again

Man, I've got a cold again. It seems like I get this crud at least every other month. It usually goes straight to my throat. I loose my voice numerous times every year, which is not good for someone who sings on occasion. It started yesterday afternoon and I didn't realize until just now that I have an almost full bottle of Zicam. So, I started it now but I'm not expecting it to help a whole lot. Man, that stuff is gross.

In case you're wondering, things are going pretty well with the baby. He wants to eat all the time. Or it seems like that anyway. He's taking about 4 ounces every three hours if we can hold him off that long. He has another Dr. appt. on Wednesday. I think I'll ask if it's o.k. for me to go up to 5 ounces. He's starting to get some newborn acne stuff. Jack had that really bad for over a month. I hope this one just gets a mild case. I'm starting to "hear" him crying even when he's not crying. Can anyone else identify with that. It's weird. It seems like that happened when Jack was a baby too. Maybe I'm just going a little bit nuts. Well, the kiddo is awake and hungry again. Phillip and I are hoping to get in an episode of 24 tonight after he goes back to sleep. I know I should just go to bed, but I just can't make myself go to bed before 10:30.

No time to blog

I just really haven't had the time lately to write anything new. Things are going pretty good, but I'm just really busy. M. wants to be held a lot of the time. He's been a little more irritable the last few days. I feel like Jackson is not getting enough time with me. I guess that's how it is for all moms with new babies. Anyway, I think the first six weeks will end up being kind of a blur for all of us. I have no earthly idea how mothers of toddlers handle a new baby. Jackson is 4 1/2 and a big help and it's still hard having two kids. I can't imagine having three kids under five and we know lots of people who have done it. Either they are superheros or just flat insane. Not sure which.

Some of you have asked if we need anything. Honestly, we've got just about everything we could possibly need right now. Lots of clothes, diapers, wipes, soap, etc. I think if we're able to adopt this guy, then we'll probably have some kind of shower/adoption celebration thing. Well, I gotta try to get myself somewhat presentable while M. is content in the swing....it won't last long. Thanks for your interest and prayers.

Non-Identifying Pictures

O.K., I just can't stand it any longer. I have to post a couple of pictures of the new baby. I'm pretty sure it's o.k. to post these since they don't show his face. All of you rule follower people, don't rat me out. I've seen other foster parent blogs and they put pics of their kids without showing their faces.

The Chosen One

My Star Wars fanatic son has decided that I am "The Chosen One" to change the baby's diapers. I was cooking last night so Phillip had to stop playing with Jackson to change a dirty diaper. Jackson said that was my job, not Daddy's because I am "The Chosen One." Pretty clever....and annoying, I thought.

On a somewhat related note, the little guy slept five hours in a row last night. Sweet! I told Phillip if he keeps doing this, he can definitely stay.

Baby update

So far, this little guy is doing just great. He eats a lot. It seems like we're always feeding or changing him. But we are having a blast! He is a very good baby. He went for his first doctor's appointment today and he has gained four ounces since he was born a week ago. It doesn't take long to fall in love with a new baby. For our own sake, we should probably hold back. But, it's pretty impossible and he deserves every bit of love he can get. And he'll get it here. We may hurt a little more in the future, but it's worth it. Also, if he does become our son, I don't want to have any regrets about this time in his life. I don't want to feel like I didn't give him all the kisses and love he deserved just to protect myself from pain.

Several people have asked me if I'm tired. Actually, I'm not all that tired. So far, I've been getting around 6-7 hours a night broken into a couple of sessions. More than anything, I'm starving! I keep forgetting to take the time to eat until I'm almost in pain. The last couple of mornings I didn't eat anything until around 11:00. So, I need to get up earlier or something. It's like with laundry and playing with Jackson and taking care of the baby, there's just not time in the day for me to grab a bite. Anyway, things are going great. Maybe I'll even loose a few pounds. That would be nice.

New Baby

We got a call yesterday afternoon about a newborn boy that needed a home. We said yes. About three hours later, they brought a beautiful 2 day old boy to our house....and left. Since he is a foster child, I can't state his name or post pictures. We'll just call him M. We don't know a whole lot right now. We hope that we get to keep him but it will be a few months before we know that. But right now, he's here and he's gorgeous. Please pray for M. and this family.

Why private?

Well, I found out today that my father and his wife found mine and Phillip's blogs. I'm not going to get into any details, except that we do not have a relationship with them and they don't need to know what's going on in our lives. Not to be tacky, but they would not have had the brains to google us and find our blogs if they had not had help from someone a little more computer savvy. I knew I was taking a risk by posting under my real name, but I really wasn't expecting them to ever find it. I'm just glad I found out. So, I was faced with either deleting all of my posts and living a blog free life or just making it private. I know it's a pain to have to log in. And for all of your google reader people, you won't be able to find us there anymore. Sorry about that. But for Jackson's safety and my sanity, those people just can't be allowed to read it anymore. So, if you know of anyone who did not get an invitation, they just need to get in touch with me and I'll send them one. Thanks for sticking with me.

Jackson mosaic

I put this together with the flickr mosaic maker thing. I'm trying to get some pictures of Jackson framed and up on the wall. I made this and ordered it. I'm curious to see how it turns out printed.

Check out my flickr page

Saxophone update

I'm sure you all must be wondering what's going on with the vintage sax I bought a couple of months ago. Well, I'm wondering myself. The good folks at B&H told me it would be finished by the end of November. By the second week in December it still was not done. At that time he told me it should be finished later that day. I called back after Christmas and it was still not done. Should be early next week. Still not done. I guess I'll call next week and see if it's finished yet. I'm sure I'll end up having to be nasty and wretched before he gets around to getting it put back together.

I made the mistake of telling the repairman that I was going to try to turn it around on ebay so he knows I'm not in a big hurry to get it back and play it. But I am in a hurry to get it back and sell it. If I get enough for it, I think I'm going to buy a Digital SLR to fool around with. I think I would get more use out of that than a saxophone. Maybe someday I'll get another one. I miss playing but there's only so much you can do with a tenor saxophone unless you're in a band or something regularly. And I don't have time for that.

Ups and Downs

We thought we were getting a baby girl today. Then a couple of hours later we found out that we weren't after all. Somehow the powers that be didn't realize that the baby we were going to get has a brother. And they want to place the kids together. The boy is 6 months old and the girl is under two years old. I thought it was a "done deal." I even told Jackson that today was the day. So, needless to say, we're very disappointed. When she told me about the brother, I asked if we could take them both. She said she wasn't sure but would check into it. I'm not counting on it of course. I'm beginning to think we've made a big mistake trying to adopt domestically. I'm trying not to wallow in my own little pity party, but I'm really getting sick of being jerked around. I think at this point if we could turn back time, we would not have looked into adoption at all. We would have just accepted that maybe we're not meant to have anymore kids. Anyway, maybe tomorrow will bring better news.

The cat

Some pics of the cat. He still doesn't have a name. We'll try and decide on that pretty soon. The first picture was when Jackson saw him for the first time. He reached into the bag before he saw what was in there and it startled him. When Jack saw him in the bag he said, "A real cat!!" I think it was a big hit.

A few Christmas morning pictures

Here are just a few pictures from this morning. There will be more posted later.
I'm sure you can't wait.

This is Jackson's first time to try his new guitar. For a video of him playing his new guitar, check out Phillip's blog.

Here we have Jackson pushing the "try me" button on his Star Wars transformers. He stopped wrapping it to push the button for a while. We had to remind him to finish unwrapping it.

Some other Star Wars toy. Looks pretty cool, I guess.

This is a picture of the mess that Santa left on our table. Man, he's a slob. We were going to try to make cookies last night for Santa, but it didn't really work out too well. So Josh and Ashley saved the day and brought over some cookies so Santa wouldn't go hungry.
Thanks, guys.

New Addition

Ok, it's not what you're thinking. Sorry to disappoint you. But we will be getting a new addition for Christmas. Phillip's brother, Josh and his finance, Ashley are getting Jackson (and me) a kitten for Christmas. We saw him yesterday. He's pretty cute. They're keeping him until we go to Phillip's parent's house on Christmas morning. I think Jackson is going to be pretty surprised by the whole thing. He's a little 12 week(?) gray/white/black tabby. He's got a few unique markings on his face and legs.

I think Jackson would like to get a cat that looks like Travis, but at Christmas time the pickins are slim. Jackson still talks about Travis pretty often. He prays for Travis almost every night. He says, "Thank you for Travis and help him to come back home." Isn't that pitiful? Poor "Devil Cat." Jackson says that we lost Travis instead of saying that Travis ran away.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Jackson will just play with him, I'll take care of him and clean up his messes, and Phillip will tolerate him. We're not sure if we're going to let Jackson do the naming or not. If Jack names him, he'll be named like Qui-Gon or Ki'adi or Mace Windu or something along those lines. Phillip and I are thinking about either Kiefer or Dander, both names we considered when naming Travis. We both think Kiefer is a pretty funny name for an animal.... or anyone for that matter. But with the popularity of 24, we may avoid that one. You know we'll be posting lots of pics Christmas day.

Jack's Christmas program

Here is a clip from Jackson's Christmas program. Jackson was a shepherd. He told me that morning that his shepherd costume was a big orange t-shirt.

It was taken with our digital camera at 10 frames/second and then scaled down to fit on you tube, so as you can imagine, the quality is not great. It's also like four minutes long. Anyway, we thought Jackson did pretty well considering he cried the first couple times they got on stage to practice. I don't know if you can tell from this or not, but the little girl next to Jack seems pretty annoyed with the whole thing. Pardon the horrible camera work.

Some pictures at the College

We went out to the college this afternoon to see if there are any decent places to take pictures. I'm going to be taking some pictures of some friends out there on Thursday and wanted to check it out beforehand. There's a pond out there that's pretty cool. Maury, is that your dad's name on that plaque? Anyway, here are some pictures of Jackson that I took today. He was being particularly uncooperative. I got a couple of good ones of Phillip looking very GQ (unintentionally), but he would get mad if I put them on here. So, I won't....today.