What cabin fever can do to you.....

Well since Alyssa was under doctor's orders to stay in and relax and of course that means no one can go outside, so it was a challenge the day of surgery she pretty much slept and laid on the couch or in her bed, the day after she felt ok on and off which caused alot of craziness in the house, those who know me know I am a neat freak and can not stand a mess in the house, but Kyle did his best to make the kids have a great time and me not to go to insane with the mess. He made a tent and they loved it, it was also challenging because Ethan is going through the terrible two's! He is starting to come out with his own opinions and thoughts, and well we don't always seem to agree. Alyssa has always been very stubborn and wants things "her way" Ethan is my sweet and loving son....well he is starting to show his own side too.
Daddy and Ethan had a long day and while watching the race Ethan literally just passed out!

Here Ethan decides he wants to relax while the rest of us get ready to go out to the store...must be nice to be a kid.

Ethan decides that he does not want to go to bed so he hides under the highchair, I let him think for a bit that he has a choice.

This is the awesome tent that Daddy made for the kids to watch tv under in the playroom and also so the mess did not over consume the house.

I did enjoy the long weekend. Sometimes between work and the kids and family events we get so caught up in "our lives" we rarely take the time to just sit and enjoy each other's company. I know that someday I will realize time went by just too fast and I will only which I had taken the time to slow down and just sit!

Alyssa's Surgery

Thursday 2/19/09 Alyssa had surgery to have her adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears since we found out a couple months back that her ear drum was not working, this was an out patient procedure at the hospital, but still no parent wants to see their child have to go through anything if they can stop it. Kyle and I both watched as they took Alyssa down the hall to surgery and I felt like I could not breath until they told me she was in recovery and even then still not being able to see her was hard, but as you can see she did very well and once they gave her the "silly juice" she almost forgot where she was at.

Daddy carried Alyssa out of the hospital
Alyssa getting all ready, she liked the gown

Mommy taking a picture with the star patient

Alyssa was watching a movie on Daddy's I pod and as you can see the "Silly juice" was starting to work, she thought her eye felt funny I guess.

At the end of the day Alyssa slept most of it and Kyle and I just felt emotionally drained and relaxed the rest of the night as well, I think if we could have traded places with her we would have but all in all she was braver then we ever could have been!

I am so Loved

I love Valentine's Day!!! I think it is not a time to spend alot of money on something that will die, or on jewelry that will be out of style next season, but I love it because it just gives me the extra time to remember to show everyone I love them. Friday I ran in the door from work already to give Kyle his card's we had bought the weekend before to him. I was greeted at the door with hugs and kisses and a home made card from the kids that Daddy helped with of course. I teared up right away. WOW this was truly one of the nicest things I had gotten in a long time. See I think of it like, WOW Kyle took the time to have the kids sit down and color and cut out this card for me, and then I think WOW the kids really worked hard on it and it is so beautiful. Then Kyle told me to hurry and get changed we were going on a date! A "real date" I asked lol see we do "date night" at home watching movies or hanging out and spending time once the kids go to bed. I was very excited Kyle had his sister come over and watch the kids so we could go to the movies. It was great we went to the movies and had a snack there and watched Taken...sooo good. It was such a great night. I realize now more then ever it is always the small things that count and I received the best gifts to date!!! My hubby and my kids =). Thanks so much guys, I love you more then the tongue can say!!!!!!

Being a Parent is hard...

I would never had thought that I would come to the day when I heard my Mother in my head "because I told you so" or "Eat this or nothing at all" or the best one " This hurts me more then it hurts you" grrr, but last night Kyle made us a very nice dinner of chicken and dumplings..yummy!!!! Alyssa thought other wise. We try and sit and have a family dinner at least 4 nights a week with Kyle going to school 2 nights a week it's just me and the kids but when he is there we all try and eat together, this is something that was a MUST in our house when growing up and I think the fact that we had that time to sit and eat and talk about our day has helped me have that open relationship I have with my parents. Well so we finished dinner at about 6:45 and Alyssa refused to eat so Kyle told her to sit there until she did, we all sat there with her and also cleaned up around her and she cried and gagged and said she did not like it. I told Kyle if she doesn't like it why does she have to eat it? He said he was not going to have a picky kid and she was going to eat it. He told her how lucky she was and how some kids don't have a house or food to eat and she went all into this story about a Snake eating thing...lol a little too much for a 5 year old to understand. Well finally it's 7:20 now and she is crying and begging not to eat it I am holding back tears in fear she is going to go to bed hungry, Kyle told her "You have 2 choices 1. eat or 2. go to bed" a quick response said "go to bed". Wow she is going to starve I thought, I looked at Kyle and gave "the look" and he said "No she has to learn" So Alyssa went off to bed at 7:42 and slept until 6:45 the next morning when I woke her to get ready for school and the first thing she said was "Mommy I'm hungry can we go to MC Donald's?". I said yes of course but also threw in there that this would teach her to eat her dinner and she said "or go to bed." Nice to know we taught her about options...lol. But really the hardest thing was Kyle was right and even though it was hard, we taught her a good lesson I feel, so basically I get the whole "This hurts me more then it hurts you" I use to hate when I heard that and thought no way it could be true, but now I see it really does. All I wanted to do was cry when Alyssa was crying and make her some mac and cheese, but I had to go along with Kyle because she needed to learn we don't run a restaurant at home. I know after she has to have time out or lose a toy or no TV for a day or two it hurts, but I have a big job here! I think if I had really thought about what the job of being a parent was I might have turned it down..lol I mean no interviews no behavioral questions, just 2 blue lines on a stick and bang!!! I love my kids don't get me wrong but man it so hard to be a parent!!!!

A Wedding....

Saturday 2/7/09 Bailey and John got married. I use to babysit Bailey when she was younger and this made me feel very old, she and my younger sister have been friends since kindergarten. It is so much fun to go to a wedding sometimes it seems its one after the other, but then sometimes to far and few in between. It is a day to get the family all dressed up and have a great time with family and friends. I would not consider myself an emotional person but this wedding I laughed and I cried. I think weddings mean a whole new thing to me now that I have kids, all I could do when watching John dance with his Mom was cry! I held Ethan so tight. Everyone knows the old saying "When your daughter gets married you gain a son"...."When your son gets married you lose a son" =(. I secretly dream of the future sometimes and then get upset when I get ahead of myself, but just watching John dance to Kenny Rogers with his Mom I could not hold back tears, he even cried.
The Beautiful bride Bailey and her groom John Alyssa all dressed up and ready to go
Of course you can't miss out on the perfect family picture! Dad, Mom, Herb, Sharon, Jeanine, Kyle, Adrienne, Alyssa, Emma and Ethan...oh yeah and Baby girl "M" in the belly!

Kyle and Alyssa dance at the house alot and have a few favorite songs, but watching them dance got me going again...All I could see was this beautiful little girl dancing with her Daddy on her wedding day!

Ethan and I also decided to have a Mommy and son dance. He was having such a great time and I loved every second of that night.

Kyle and Ethan hanging out on the side why the girls got crazy dancing.
Well like I said no way you can miss out on the chance to have that family photo. I must say though Kyle and I were all smiles and the kids are looking tired and we are secretly thinking "They are so tired they won't even make it out of the parking lot...YES!!!" Well whatever it takes right?.

Top to bottom .....Weekend review

So I have always said that I am the busiest person I know and this proves it I was so busy this past weekend I have had no time to update my blog =(. Well Ethan turned 2 on Friday so family came over and enjoyed home made cup cakes (which Alyssa and I made) and of course Ethan's favorite dinner spaghetti and meatballs. Then we gave him some presents from us and Alyssa. Those of you who do not know Ethan LOVES Balloons and cars probably almost as much as his"blue" (blanket) I had to take this picture of him holding all his birthday balloons which was almost at his own request and I should note that he has taken them to My mom's everyday...well we have lost 2 =(.





Ethan and his balloons after a fun cold day at the park. It was a great week and the weekend before was a perfect 70's degrees then the day of the party was a windy cold in the 50's day.

Ethan loves cars so obviously it would be a cars birthday cake and since it was windy again hard to light the candles but we managed.

Ethan's birthday cars cake.

I think Ethan has more cars then Target, but he might be slightly OCD as he likes to take them all and line them up and if you touch one..."No, my cars"

Friday was Ethan's 2ND birthday so Alyssa and I made him his favorite chocolate cupcakes and the big 2. Grandpa, Grandma, Papa J and Mama J came over to have dinner and some of the best cupcakes in town.