And another week of Crazyness

Warning Warning

This will be a long post........a lot went on this week and I wasn't so good about updating Sorry!

Monday-St. Patrick's Day
I found the kids some cute shirts for the holiday. They say the same thing, it was hard to find them, Walmart only had girl shirts and Target only had boy shirts, go figure. Here are some pics of the kids in their shirts(and their Lucky Care Bear they got for christmas just happened to matched perfectly-thanks Aunt K).

M not wanting to sit for a picture she just wanted to play

N sitting good for me

The kids again the only decent picture

M had her Occupational therapy. The therapist brought along a student from the collage to tag along, M really seemed to like her. Her thumb movement it slowly coming along, and her right side is doing much better than the left. So we need to "make" her use her left more, in other words-hand her things on her left side so she's more inclined to use that hand. As far as her sensory issues, the therapist feels at the moment it's not fully interfering w/her development, but we need to work on it so it a)doesn't get worse and b)doesn't start interfering. She also said it's not the worse case she's seen so she wants us to really get on her sensory exercises EVERYDAY even if she only lets me doing it for 30sec. If she's not showing any improvements on sensory in 3 weeks then she's going to see about getting her into the sensory room at the All Children's Center. There is a long waiting list and she would much rather her be able to do them at home so we'll she how she does. And for the curious ones :), her exercises are really fun(well I think so, though it pushes her fears), she sits on an exercises ball(either facing me or back to me) then I slowly lean her the left then the right and then backwards, we can also bounce her while doing it which helps ease her fears a little. At the moment she only moves about an inch(if that) in all directions, that's all she can handle right now.

Tuesday

M had her one year pictures, which came out really well. We used the same lady that did N's 3 year pictures. As soon as I get them I'll post them for you guys to see(a little preview before you get the real thing). M did really good, she made it through all of them w/out getting fussy.

Later that night I had my 2nd cake decorating class. I meet up w/my friend 1.5 hrs before class so we could get dinner and chat. Then it was off to class. We all had to bring a cake already frosted, so we could decorate it w/the styles we learned that day(stars, shells, zig zags, curves, and outlines), The teacher said bring what the class book says to for the 2nd class so I did(the only one that totally listened to the book-silly me) so my cake was frosted like blue though it came out more mint green. Everyone else had white, which like I said before the teacher is really laid back so she didn't care as long as you had a cake and it was frosted. So here are pics of our cakes....I don't have a before of my friend's cuz.......well, she wouldn't let me it was pretty sad looking(her words not mine!!)

My cake before....see how smooth it is.....I'm so proud of it!!

After

I have to work on the writing I guess you are suppose to do the writing first, the teacher told me this AFTER I was done. O'well

This is T's it came out really cute! After she got home she told me she though about what it was missing......Grass around the pond-Next time!

Wednesday

I forgot to mention that on Tuesday we headed to the phone store on our way home from pictures to look at the phones in person that we picked out on-line(we have been desperately needing new phones for a few months now, and they both are starting to show signs of giving up in the last few weeks so it was time). The guys there were really nice and helped us out. The phone that hubby had decided on, they only had in pink(I don't know why he didn't want it ;)), so the guy was going to pick up a black one at another store for him the next day(Wednesday) and he would be in at 12. I still hadn't decided since the one I first wanted we found out wasn't such a good phone. So when went back Wednesday around 1pm. The guy got us all set up, got all our phone numbers into the new phone, gave us a quick run down of the phones features and how to get to them. Now the funny thing is hubby ended up getting my second choice and I ended up w/his first choice(in different colors though:)) Here are our new phones, I love mine, I just have to get use to were everything is I've hung up on hubby a few times and missed a few calls I have to go find ANOTHER ring tone since the one I got last night isn't working out so well, I've missed almost all the calls I got today.

Hubbys's in the black. Mine is the red.

Hubby took a picture of me trying to find a new ringer tone for my phone, he thought I looked cute w/his headphones on....I think I look silly!

After we picked N up from school my friend T came over w/her kids so the kids could have a play date. They all had fun.

Thursday(today)

Not to much today. Grandpa had Stanley Steamer out so they also did our living room, which was nice. The only "bad" thing was I wasn't excepting them til Monday so grandpa called me and told me that they would be there w/in an hr. So I had an hr to put all the toys away in the living room then find some where other than the living room for everything. Needless to say there was a SMALL walkway from the bedrooms to the living room and a SMALL-squeeze-pass-the-chair-and-the-wall-walkway from the living room to the kitchen. And the only thing I could get to in the kitchen was the fridge. Man the kids have some big toys! After they cleaned, they said it would be pretty wet for at lest 2hrs and to stay off it.....where I was suppose to go w/a baby and a house that I could barely walk through at the moment, so we headed to the store to pick up some last min Easter stuff I needed anyways, and just walked around the store for awhile, till it was time to pick up N.

On a good N note, on Tuesday and Wednesday I sent him to school in shorts since it was warm out, he ended up skinned his knees BOTH DAYS, one knee each day. So today I sent him in pants and I had made a comment to him that he was going to wear pants today so he wouldn't hurt his knees again. Well, the teacher told me that he made it a point (using words and signs) that he was wearing pants today so he wouldn't get a boo again! Isn't that to cute!! Well, now that you've read my novel for the day I'm off to bed.

CupCake Class

Today was my cupcake class, and it was so much fun! There was only 5 of us in the class which was nice, 3 of them were all friends so they sat on one side and then the other lady and I sat on the other. She was nice, she's taking the course 1 cake class next month. The teacher was the same lady that does the cake class(and apparently 99% of all the Wilton classes there). So that was nice, I had made a comment about how I was doing cupcakes for M's party and she told me about the cupcake idea book(which I already got-of course!) So I showed her which one I was planing on doing for the party. She gave me some tips on how to apply the glitter which was really nice of her.

Back to the class, I got to find out if I was doing my stars and leaves wrong and get help w/them a few days early which was nice. We did 4 different designs on the cupcakes. They all were a little wedding/baby-ish, but at lest I found out how to color the fondant and work w/it. The teacher seemed to stay by me and the one girl a lot more, I think cuz we were much more interested and asked lots of questions. At the end I was sitting there talking to the teacher and going to go return the stuff I didn't use(a whole $12 worth of stuff!) I looked at my clock and realized it was 3:43pm I had told grandpa that I would pick up the kids at 4pm and I was still a good 30mins away. So off I went, (I'm going to return the stuff on Tuesday before class) I called grandpa once I left and told him I was on my way. I felt so bad since he's watching the kids for us tomorrow too! But I got some more time to myself, learned some fun stuff, and the kids got to have some extra time w/Grandpa which I'm sure he didn't mind so much!

Here are some pics of the cupcakes I did for class

Baby sleeping

Baby Rattle
Bundle of Flowers
Baby Bib
See told you mostly baby/wedding things. I'm not sure what was up w/that. And I could have done w/out the pastels! O'well!

My Stubborn Little Girl

As promised, updates on M's therapy.

She had physical therapy on Monday, and she is doing really well. M is now walking across the whole couch which is great. She can also stand up in the middle of the floor w/out holding on to anything. Which I'm told is a 14 month skill, so we know she can walk and balance, which is a GREAT thing.
This is where her stubbornness comes in, for 2 weeks I've been trying to get her to do a few things.....

1)when she's walking w/my hands(which she very rare) I've been trying to make her "walk" using only one of my hands......She doesn't like it very much, she'll immediately get down to crawl.
2)When she's holding on to the couch or chair I'll hold something out just far enough that she would need to take one step and let go......this is not for her either. She will immediately get down and crawl to the item to get it. Even her therapist try to get her to do it quite a few times w/no eval.

She's so stubborn I swear. Though today I did catch her twice, while she's standing at the couch, take a large step to the side, let go of the couch, and fall forward to get a toy. It's very funny, since she's falling on purpose.

N's doing really good at school. The teacher told me that today when all the kids were lined up to go to Music class N was getting his diaper changed, he heard the kids playing w/the bell on the door and he said clear as day and at a good volume "My Mommy here?". I'm so proud of him! We really have to start working on his volume cuz half the time you can't hear him, and then he gets upset.

One last thing before I get off tonight.....I found out something very interesting, I'm allergic to the icing mix they had us make for class. Nice huh! I know I'm allergic to sucralose which is splenda, I my poor tummy just gets all tight and I feel so sick if I eat/drink anything w/that in it. Well, that's what happened last night(after I made the icing) and I couldn't figure out why. Then this morning after I iced some cookies I had one and it came back. I know it has to do w/the Meringue powder, everything else that's in it, powdered sugar, vanilla(McCormick of course), and Crisco, I've had before. I'm just not sure why, so T has her mom's old Wilton buttercream recipe that she's going to give me tomorrow, and I know that I'm not allergic to anything in that one!!

First Class

Last night was my first Cake Decorating class, and it was really fun. The whole day was good......ok not the first 3hrs at work, but the rest was good. Both me and T(my friend that is taking the classes w/me) both had to work that day, so after we got off we headed to the mall so she could help me find a shirt to wear to M's birthday party, and to grab something for dinner. We had an hour and a half before the class started so plenty of time. We had a blast, and I did find a shirt it's really cute, then we grabbed some pretzels from Auntie Anne's for dinner. I know what a great dinner :).

We got to the class about 10 mins early and there was already a few ladies there. Our instructor is this very sweet grandma that is pretty laid back. She's been decorating cakes for 20yrs, and she doesn't eat cake go figure! We didn't really "do" anything at the class, she just showed us how to frost the cake so it was smooth....which is really cool! Sorry not telling! Also told us how to make the frosting, how to make a few designs(stars, shells, zigzags and a rose), and some other little tips like taking a picture of all the cakes you do so you can see how far you've come, and what to improve on. Til next week we are to practice the designs she showed us(except the rose those are hard), using anything we can, frosting(ideally), mashed potatoes, peanut butter, things like that....I'm not kidding that's what she told us to do, anything to get us to practice. For next class we need to bring in a cake frosted. And we will work on our techniques at class. It was really fun, now I'm trying to figure out how to roll these stinken, parchment triangles!!

I'm out of cake mixes at the house and since I have to make so many cakes for the classes I picked some up at the store today. I like to let N help me grocery shop so I let him pick out one box. What does the boy grab Chocolate fudge! Now for those of you that don't know me very well......I'm not a chocolate fan, not at all. I'll eat it every once in a while, and it's maybe 2 M&M's or one of those mini Halloween size Crunch bars at the most. I also can't stand fudge, I will not go near it if it's got fudge in it! I didn't want to get it, and tried to get N to pick something else, he wouldn't have it. Hubby said "You asked him and that's what he picked" He was right, I need to be fair, so we got it. Needless to say that cake will be one that goes straight to work....I will cut out one piece for N, but the rest is going to work. The other cakes we got were Butter Pecan(Daddy's pick) and French Vanilla(My pick).

Talking about work they all love that T and I are taking this class. The girls up front keep bugging me on when I'm bringing a practice cake in for them to eat. I did tell them that I'm bringing the cakes straight to the store after the classes so I didn't have to eat them or try and get them home :)! Well, now that I rambled on enough, I'm off to bed it's almost 11 here, I'll update everyone tomorrow about M's therapies, and party plans

N's 3yr Pictures

I just wanted to share N's 3yr pictures (family you will get copies I'm just waiting til we get M 1yr and sending them together) They came out really well! I loved the lady that did them so we are traveling a little farther to her home store to have her do M's too. She was just helping out our normal store the day of N's pictures. N warmed up to her in just a few mins were normally it takes til almost the last pictures to get him to warm up and then he's tired of getting his picture taken

I loved this shirt on him(thanks Uncle G and Aunt S), but N being his fathers son wasn't so happy with having it on. AS SOON AS I told him he was done w/pictures he was trying to take the shirt off. He had gotten pudding all over the shirt he wore to school so daddy took him to get another shirt. Meanwhile, N was runing around the kids section w/out a shirt telling daddy he didn't like any of the shirts.....Daddy finally just picked one and N was happy, he got a new CARS shirt.

One more Month

I know I know I'm really late this month! But here it is......

M's 11th month picture

The girl is getting so big! It's weird w/N I DID NOT like him turning one, w/M I'm looking forward to it. Maybe cuz she's doing everything slower and still seems so little to me. Where N at this point was saying Mama, Dadda, waving and walking(along w/a bunch of other stuff). Don't worry I'm not taking any of it for grant in fact I sort of like that she still needs me so much(ok not ALL the time but still,) ecspecially since N's going to school. I don't think I've told you that M can now wave and says bye bye....not all the time yet, but some of the time.

So here are some pictures of M also from the 3rd. This is what she does when she watches TV(well, not anymore since I got the kitchen table and the booster seat now is where it's suppose to be, but a little birdie told me M's getting a nice toddler chair for her birthday so she'll be happy)

Hold sippy in mouth to get in chair

Sit down(sometimes dropping sippy)

but eyes never leave movie

Grab the dropped sippy cup

And finish drinking while enjoying the movie

28

28 Things about the last 365 days

1) I became a mommy of 2(this truly is number 1)

2) I've survived being a mommy of 2 for 11 months (and counting)

3) I was able to finally stay home w/my kids (my biggest wish)

4) I learned that staying home doesn't really help me save time w/chores(the piles of dishes and laudry are still there)

5) I relearned how to have fun w/N (those chores can wait)

6) My baby brother got engaged! (Coming May 2009)

7) My brother and future sister-in-law asked me to be a bridesmaid (I can't wait)

8) I got to really enjoy all the traditions of Christmas this year (N was finally old enough to "get" everything)

9) I had my first tire blowout (Thankfully I have some great friends that helped me)

10) Learned I really don't know how to change a flat tire at lest on a newer car (now I do)

11) I found out I'm pretty good at sewing (adding another thing to my craft list)

12) After 3.5 years I finally started to get the garage organized(and now it's full of things to go to the dump AGAIN)

13) I was forced to move departments at work w/out even being upset about it (after 10 years of working w/china and crystal-my passion-you'd think it would have upset me)

14) I was told that M has Hypertonia (and that's about all they told me too)

15) I have had to learn how to "WAIT AND SEE" (still not always doing good w/this)

16) I found out about a program called Early Steps (great program)

17) We got a great "sponser" from Early Steps named Wendy (what a lifesaver)

18) I've learned the difference between Physical therapy and Occupional therapy (and great ladies to teach it to me)

19) I had to deal w/the fact that N has a speech delay (and some social delay cuz of it)

20) Was able to get N into Early Steps too, so he could get into the school district program faster (Thanks to Wendy)

21) My baby boy started school (And I did really well w/it)

22) Secretly I'm enjoying N at school (I know bad mommy)

23) I learned I needed to have TMJ surgery (No I have yet to make the appointment)

24) I have started to buy more pink things (don't worry my fave color is still purple)

25) I drove to Lakeland, Disney, and Gainsville all by myself (making Gainsville the farthest I've been from home in this state w/or w/out Mike)

26) I lost all my baby weight (from Madison that is)

27) I have now made it through 6 birthdays w/out my mom

28) I made it to the age of 28 (w/kids going to school and becoming a mommy to a girl I was wondering if I'd make it :)! )