Droolin...

Saw this post at MckGiveaways this morning and it had me drooooolin over this....


Bootiful, ain't it??

'Course...I was also drooling over HER picture of HER hp touchsmart....



Cuz wowsas...I'd love for my house to look that clean, j/k, mines not too bad...BUT the build ins are to die for!! The color on the wall is awesome...A.W.E.S.O.M.E. I say...especially since I already have that on my walls!! LOL But the build ins and wood work are definitely drool worthy!!


S'anyway, if you wanna drool today, or just wanna chance at winning a really cool computer...get on over to MckMama's giveaway site!! Here, I'll even link ya to it, just cuz I'm nice like that!

HERE'S THE BIG LINK (in case you missed it)

Labor Pains

I was talking to a very good friend of mine this morning about some of the major things going on in my life right now. She said she'd continue to pray and my knee jerk reaction was to balk at that and say that God and I aren't speaking right now. Or rather...I'm talking/whining and He's the Father that's being patient with me while I stomp my feet and throw a fit. She commented that just because I was feeling all the pain of what life's throwing at me doesn't mean that God's not there, that He's not listening, not still loving me. And I KNOW she's right, but still.

Then she said...

"Sometimes we have to endure pain in order to grow and experience God's grace. It's like having kids. If we didn't go through the pains of childbirth we wouldn't have these wonderful babies of ours. They're worth it, ain't they!?!"

I still wanted to argue. And I still wanted to wallow. And object. Cuz...ya know. I'm a human and that's what we do. It's easier to wallow. It's easier to wrap the pain and depressing thoughts around me and have a pity party. I wanted to say...SOMETHING to argue back but I couldn't cuz I knew she was right!!!

So her words continued to eat at me as they sank their teeth in further and further, chewing through my rebellion and whiny brattiness. Started me thinking of labor pains.

My parents had been married for a little while they started trying to have a baby. Month after month after months of trying and still, no baby coming. Then one day my dad came home to find my mom laying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.

She almost died.

Turns out that the dr that she'd been seeing for month for her cold symptoms that just wouldn't go away, and assured her repeatedly that she was definitely NOT pregnant, completely missed the fact that she WAS indeed pregnant with an ectopic.

By the time she was rushed to the hospital she was 5 months along.

Many, many months later, when she was finally released from the hospital where she'd been all that time due to so many surgeries to fix all the damage done...that dr was long gone. Skipped outta town never to be seen or heard from again.

Years passed. Numerous failed fertility treatments gave way to pursuing adoption. The were assigned a social worker that took a dislike to them as they were unwilling to play the mind games she wanted them to. She decided instead to run them through the ringer. She stalled their paper work, threw up every obstacle she could, told them she KNEW they would be horrible parents, that no child would EVER bond with them but especially with my mom (and ask ANYbody, she's a very, very sweet lady!!).

They kept going. Persevered through it all. Finally got a new social worker. Things started happening. They were approved. Now the search was on for a child. Some friends told them about a little girl that was available for adoption down in Mississippi. They lived in California. Another obstacle. More red tape. More delays. But the excitement was growing. Their hope was back.

After 10 long years of trying to be parents, on October 16th, 1984 their dream finally came true. They got to meet their little girl for the first time.

I was that little girl.

And I was 10 years old.

The very long, very painful journey that they had to go through was the very journey that enabled them to be the parents that were available to adopt me.

Ten years of trying and they ended up with a ten year old little girl. The irony is never lost on us!!

Oh, and the bonding issues? The ones that that social worker was SURE would be a problem?

Never happened!

From the moment my mom and I met, we were connected, instant bond. Now that I'm a mom I know the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time. Love at first sight. That bond has only grown deeper and stronger over the years. My mom always kids that she'd love to find that spiteful social worker and go 'nah nah nah nah naaaah!' ;)

My side of the story and what all went on in those first 10 years of life...well, that's a story for a different day.

But was it worth it to go through the 10 years of pain and frustration, aching and longing? I speak for myself when I say ABSOLUTELY!!! I know I can speak for my parents when I say again ABSOLUTELY!!!

We recently celebrated my 25th 'birthday'. We always celebrated the day my parents 'got' me as my '2nd' birthday. So while I turned 35 earlier this year, I'm really only 25!!! ;)


Now about that pity party I was throwing myself this morning (and trust me, I DO love a good party!!)

It's gone!!

It left instead the peace that passes all understanding that no matter what lies ahead, no matter the major changes brewing and all the pain and frustration we will endure through all that, it will be worth it on the other side.


One more thing....

God and I are speaking again. ;)

Abandoning one's self to the joys of summer

So while I'm still not fully back on the blogging bandwagon, I did wanna share this picture with you. It reminds that Summer is a huge celebrity the world over and even with it's incredible heat here in the IE of SoCal, or the unbearable mugginess and 'squitos back east/midwest, it's still FUN. So go ahead....jump right in and enjoy yourself!!

(click on the picture for the full effect!!)

Wow...where has the time gone?

I just looked at the date of my last post. April 14th. Really? Seriously? Holy Cow. I really didn't think it was THAT long ago, and that really does seem like a VEEEERRRRRYYY long time!!

I won't regale you with tales of being busy or give you a huge long, long, looooooonnng post as to what we've been up to. My memory's just not that good. LOL I know we have been busy and gone through some crazy things, but mostly it's just a boring reason....not enough time on the computer to write a post.

And it seemed like the longer I was away from blogging, the more daunting of a task it was to get back into the swing of things! What do I say? Do I give all the gory, boring details of WHY I've been gone so long or WHAT I've been up to? No, I don't think I should do that to the few readers I've got, lol.

So suffice to say...I'm back. And now that I've gotten my 'comeback' post done I can jump in and catch up on fun stuff again. I've got some stories to tell and pictures to post....with three adorable boys it'd be impossible NOT to, but I'll save that for next time ;)

And since this small post has taken exactly a WEEK to finish, don't hold your breath for me to become a blogging machine again. LOL Then again, ya just never know what'll happen!

Happy Friday Eve!!

True Story Tuesday and one for the record books

Ready for this week’s True Story Tuesday?? It’s a chance to share what seems too amazing or miraculous to have happened in real life.

This Easter, like all the holidays since Kian was born, snuck up on me and rushed by me way too fast. I did manage to get the boys their baskets (thanks to my WONDERFUL mom who always makes them!!) and I did get their Easter Basket Treasure Hunt done on Sunday, and they DID get to go to an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday (thanks to their awesome cousin Kimmi and her hubs) BUT...the age old tradition of coloring eggs??? Just didn't get on the ball quick enough to do it BEFORE the holiday.

However, I promised them that they would and could decorate eggs, and today I finally had time enough to 'get 'er done'. I also had to climb and conquer Mt. Saint Laundry and tackle the Clutter Monster that moved in and stubbornly refuses to go away! Minor details. But, I did promise them and despite my inner struggle at the thought of yet ANOTHER mess about to be made when I was battling all the OTHER messes, I went ahead and got the eggs out and put them on to boil. I went about working on my other chores, not forgetting about the eggs, just waiting for the water to boil to turn off the stove. After all, it's not like this was the first time I've done this ya know!

Ahem.

I took a small break to go feed the baby and put him down for a nap. At least, that was the plan when I headed upstairs with him! He had something else in mind however... mainly, me holding him while he slept instead of snuggling down in his bed. Cuz, ya know, Mama's arms are always better than bed!! So I obliged him cuz 1) he doesn't insist on this very often and B) (and more importantly) cuz he's only gonna be this small once, and time moves fast enough!

So I'm sitting upstairs rocking the baby and I hear DH start making lunch. Then I heard him banging around in the kitchen and thought, oh, AND he's doing dishes...how awesome is he!!

Did I mention he's also laying tile today in the boy's bathroom?? And that he had his second root canal yesterday and is in quite a bit of pain from that?? No? Oh, and that most men aren't known for their ability to multi-task to this degree, my husband included???

No? Huh. Go fig.

So, the likelihood that he would stop laying/cutting tile to start making lunch (and it smelled like he was COOKING or GRILLING something really good, which shoulda been another tipoff cuz I don't have anything ready to BE cooked/grilled!!!) AND to do the dishes (again, mid project, cuz he DOES cook/grill/AND do dishes other times, he's pretty awesome that way!! umm, tho not usually at the same time) was pretty much nil.

Then it started to smell like something was burning and also like he was banging pots and pans around and I thought, hmm...oooooooook....what IS he doing???

So I head downstairs to see what all the commotion was (the baby was awake by this time) only to walk into a smoky kitchen!!! I looked to the cause of the smoke and see the pot of eggs and realize OH NO!!! I had completely forgotten about them! But...not only were the eggs smoking and burned....they were EXPLODING!!! And not just 'popping' exploding...I mean 'taking off into the stratosphere' (or at least my kitchen ceiling!!) kinda exploding!

I. kid. you. not. I had no idea they did that. 'Course, I've never done anything like this before so you can see why I didn't have the knowledge in the ol' data banks that when you boil the eggs too long, say, for HOURS at a time, and there's no water left and the fire's still going strong...the eggs will heat and heat til they EXPLODE.

Huh. Go fig. Now I know.

*snort*

So, I assess the damage and start opening up all the windows, doors, turn the whole house fan on to suck out the smell, etc. Then I take a look around the kitchen and see pieces of egg. All. Over. Ceilings...walls....counter....floor....stove, etc. Threw out the eggs (umm...obviously) and assessed the pot (one of my favs too btw!) and had to toss it out as well. Boo!

My boys....the same ones that have been driving me nuts lately with all their squabbling but that I STILL (finally) made eggs for...well, sorta, yes, MY boys, ask me...WHILE I'm doing all of the above...."Soooooo....are ya gonna make some more eggs for us????"

Huh. Let me get back to you on that!!! (insert screaming woman fleeing the men with the little white coat)

*roll*

*sigh*

Oh....and THEN I get to go find my husband and tell him what I had done. Or rather, add to the list of the 'crazy things I've done recently'. He was working on cutting tile but said, after I told him what I had done, "I GOTTA see this" chortling all the way. So we head into the kitchen and as soon as he sees the mess busts up laughing, at which point the boys start laughing (cuz they hadn't been too sure of what to make of it before that) and I kinda, sorta, not-really-cuz-I'd-rather-the-ground-just-open-up-and-swallow-me-whole, laughed along.

*snort*

*laugh*

*cry*

Ohhhhh....what a day!

We headed to Lowes shortly after cuz he needed some different blades for his saw and we needed a smoke detector for the kitchen. Turns out that whole room (the kitchen and family room are all one long room) doesn't have a smoke detector, which kinda woulda been handy today to clue me in to what was going on....BEFORE it got to the pyrotechnic part!!

We also grabbed lunch OUT cuz, well, the kitchen was kinda outta commission.

And the smell??? The one thats permeated all throughout the house??? Some friends mentioned that if I simmer water and vinegar for a few hours it'll get rid of the yucky smell. They also mentioned that then of course my house will smell like vinegar but it would be better than burned eggs.

Then again, the thought of boiling, even simmering, anything else today just doesn't sound good.

Go fig.

*snort*

True Story Tuesday

This is the first edition of True Story Tuesday. Go visit Rachel at Once Upon A Miracle to join in, don't miss out on the very first edition ever.

So in thinking of all the 'true stories' that I have yet to tell...the first one that popped into mind was about Jacob, our oldest. And though he's 9 now...he still has this problem!!

When he was about 3, we were in the car on the way to somewhere, driving along with a jabbery toddler/preschooler that LOVED to talk. I'm sure you've met one of those or have a few yourself! So Jake was talking about something and got upset cuz I didn't give him the answer he wanted I guess cuz he started talking back, and in a way that needed a little correction. So, I pulled out the trusty comment that many parents before me (including my own) have used for years and it went something like this...

"Jacob, don't talk back to Mommy, that's not ok"

Jake was quiet for a couple seconds and then said...

"I no talk back. I talk FORWARD!"


Seriously, I kid you not, those were his exact words. And to this day, and that including, it still just cracks me up!!!


Sooo...what's your True Story for the day???

Finally Friday!!!

Oh. My. Goodness. It's Friday!!! YAY!

Well...sorta.

Our cat...who's been such an awesome cat for over 2 years (and we've had him since birth since we used to have his mama) decided to once again pee...in my bathroom. AAARRGGHHH!! He did this a few weeks ago but we thought it was cuz he couldn't get to his box. This time, he had no excuse. So he peed between our two sinks in the master bathroom (there's a space under the counter for a chair or whatever) AND decided to poop on the dog's bed. What's up with that???????

Then, while I'm trying to take care of that my boys are yelling that the stingray is dead!! The stingray is dead!!

Oh no...please don't be dead! But sure enough, one look at the fish tank and yep, the poor guy is toast.

So the boys are upset, I'm mad at the blankety cat and trying to clean up his messes AND trying to get my hands around his scrawny neck catch him to throw him outside for now so he doesn't do any more damage. I'm also trying to corral the boys into the kitchen to decide what they want to eat for breakfast and then EAT IT so I can get them to their art class in time. Yes, yes, they are homeschooled but they're taking a very awesome 3 day art class and today's day #2.

TGIF?

Welll.....yes and no.

NO, cuz what the heck kinda FRIDAY morning is this? This is a total MONDAY morning in the making!! Hello! Didn't they get that memo?

But...YES, cuz my hubby has 3 day weekends!! Which is even better considering his theme lately could be "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad...work schedule!!!" His work changed the hours a few weeks ago to where he has to be up at 1:30 A. M. so he can be to work by 2:30 A. M. Ya, I didn't know there was such a time either, so can't even type it correctly!! But then the next week they said, well, since we're making you work such nasty hours, we'll give you 4/10 work days, so you'll have to work a couple extra hours every day but we'll give you Mondays off. Sweet! ish. But then the NEXT week they said, oh wait, we changed the flight schedules (he's a crew chief in the Air Guard) so now you need to be in at 4:30am. Well, that's a little better but he still has to get up at 3:30am. Blech.

But wait, that's not all!

To make it even MORE terrible, horrible, no good and VERY BAD!!!!!!!!!! They will change the schedule every week to accomodate the flight schedule. So this week, 3:30am, last week 1:30am, next week....well, we just CAN'T WAIT to find out (and he won't know til later today!!)

Oh joyous rapture. NOT

So ya, we're excited it's Friday. REALLY excited. It means my sweet hubby gets to sleep in past 3:30 and has 3 days to spend with us! Which is awesome, especially since we're going to....

DISNEYLAND!!!!

Yup, Monday. We're getting our passes back and enjoying the day at the park. Only 'downside' is that since we're not sure yet of his schedule for next week we prolly won't stay too late cuz he'll need to get SOME sleep!!! But that's ok, that's what passes are for!!

The other bad part to the schedule is that obviously he needs to go to bed early but I've also lost my tag team partner when the baby wakes up during the night! Which...he still does like clockwork and when DADDY gets up with him he goes down easily but when Mommy gets him he wants to nurse. So it makes for a more tired Mommy too. Blech! Hopefully they change it and STICK WITH IT soon so we can all adjust to it instead of this constantly changing thing which just sucks!!

*****************************

So, anyway, back to today...

My best friend, Charita, and her husband finally started trying for a baby last fall and were so excited to find out right after Christmas that they were expecting. She and I thought it was pretty cool cuz I had found out a year before, same day, that I was expecting, so her baby would be due around the beginning of Sept, just like Kian was.

She went to the OB last Friday for her first checkup, even though she was 15 weeks along. They were looking forward to seeing their baby for the first time via ultrasound, hearing the heartbeat, etc. Instead they were devestated to find out that she had miscarried early on. The 'good' news, the dr said, was that they were pg again and roughly 4 weeks along.

She sent me a text this morning that she just found out she miscarried again.

They goes in to the dr next week to see running tests and blood work, etc, to hopefully give them some answers and hope for the future. Please pray that it's an 'easy' fix...as in perhaps progesterone supplments, etc, as I know sometimes that can make all the difference.

But regardless, it doesn't ease their grief right now so please pray for them. She's 37 (which I know is NOT 'that' old, but OBs and whatnot say she's 'advanced maternal age) and her and I have known each other since we were 15 and 17...so quite a long time!!

********************

Ok....to end this on some awesome news...my baby just took an almost 1.5 hr nap!! WOOOOHOOO!!! This is awesome HUGE news cuz he's a half hour napper, so an hour and half? WOOT!

Sooooo...it's Finally Friday.....how's your week been???

Wordless Wednesday

Hanging with Daddy

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week provided quite a bit of entertainment from James, our 6 year old, as he's learning to read. Upon learning the group of words...'as, has and was', he did NOT respond to learning that 'was' did not sound like 'has' but 'WUZ' by saying..."Oooohhh...like...

WAZZUP DUDE!!!"

Ahh, boys...gotta love them lil dudes! ;)

But seriously, whatever helps him remember and learn that tricky lil bugger wuz...I mean was.

The real kicker, and one that goes down in the annals of family history, came the next day when we were visiting my parents. Grandma was listening to him read his words, including a whole lot of new words he just started reading that day. As he came across the word "Hal" my mom explained that it's a man's name. To which my darling innocent child did NOT then reply with....

"Ya...like, What the Hal is going on here!!!!!!"

My mom did NOT almost pee her pants laughing so hard! As did my dad when she told him what happened. She also did/does NOT enjoy (to great lengths I might add!) repeating it to everyone she comes across including the ladies at her quilting class, her sisters and brother and the ladies at the church. Oh, and did I mention she's the pastor's wife? And she is NOT still giggling over it.

(and for the record, no, we DON'T say that around here, not even with innocent Hal as a replacement!)

Seriously.


So, what the Hal didn't ya'll do this week???

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.




So it is not me that has been doing very blond things...I mean, really blond things, lately. Nope, not me.

For instance...

It was not me who, while on the phone with my mom (and using the headset) looked down on my desk and saw my cellphone laying there open and wondered why it was open, hit exit and closed it.

Which hung up on my mom.

Nope, wasn't me!

And then the next day, while on the phone again, could not FIND THE PHONE. After looking all over the area I was sitting at, I finally noticed the phone laying right in front of me. Because I had just laid it down after getting OFF the phone! Yes, I was TALKING on it when I started to look for it!!!

I mean seriously. NOT me.

And it was certainly NOT me who bought a fresh rotisserie chicken at Sams Club only to get home and try to figure out what to do for dinner. Upon not thinking of anything creative decide to go with the General Tsos chicken that I had also got at Sams Club.

After putting it in the oven I turned around and saw the rotisserie sitting there waiting for me.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was not me who then startled my husband with my rather loud and rather crazy laugh as I realized what I had done. He then did not reassure me that it was fine and we could just have both.

Cuz really, who wouldn't want TWO chickens for dinner?

All of this happened last week. I seem to be getting blonder and blonder. But like I've always said...

Blond is not a hair color...it's a state of mind!


P.S.
On a serious note...I've been having dizzy spells, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, lips feeling numb, etc. I woke up this morning in the wee hours and after giving DH the opportunity to go get the baby I laid back down and realized the room was spinning. Or the bed was. I dunno. My eyes were closed and it was not a pleasant experience. The only other times that's ever happened was the first (and only) time I ever got drunk (just because I had never had the experience before and wanted to 'try' it, and NEVER wanted to do it again!!!) and once when I had vertigo, which was also NOT a pleasant experience and I NEVER want to do that again either! I actually thought I had vertigo again this morning with the spinning thing, but when I woke up later it was gone.

S'anyway, I have an appt with the dr later this month, but if ya'll could be in prayer that it's nothing serious I'd really appreciate it!!!