Vera's tongue issue...

Isn't this weird??? Sometimes when Vera is sleeping, her tongue hangs out!!! It always freaks Dan and I out!

Last night I finally decided to googled it. Turns out, she's fine...some dogs just do that when they get super relaxed. Even though she's fine...it still weirds me out and I'll continue to try to shove her tongue back in her mouth every time I see it like this!!

Did anyone else know about this tongue issue???

1st communion

My favorite (and only!) niece had her first communion this weekend. My sister asked me to take a few pictures. She looked beautiful in her fancy white dress and the vail my mom made her! Maybe I'm a tiny bit bias but I think she looked the best!! :)

I'm at my parent's house all week so Kalvin and I are happy for a week of hanging out with family! Bring on the fun!!

Vera gets her womanly parts taken out tomorrow. Call me a bad dog mommy but I'm SUPER excited for a 24 hour break from her!!!!!! 8am can't come soon enough!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

My personal helper...

I just can't seem to find much time to post lately! Between Kalvin and Vera...and ECFE class and swim lessons...and naps and bedtime routines...and changing poopy diapers and feedings: it's been hard to find time to do anything! Last night around 9:00 I was so happy to finally get something to eat! The cream of wheat I had eaten for breakfast definitely didn't hold me over that long!!

Here are a few pictures from the last few days:

Funny how Kalvin has so many fun toys and he prefers to play with strange objects...like the heat vent in his bedroom! Silly boy!

Kalvin helped me fold and put away clothes yesterday. He isn't that great at helping yet...he mostly slows me down. I don't really mind though! It helps that he's so cute :)

YAY! I'm expecting a package today! I ordered clothes from Gymboree for Kalvin and can't wait to see them. I'm most excited for the brown skinny jeans for him! (Dan didn't seem too impressed...) hehe!

Just one Debbie-Downer post...

Most of you already know that I have a connective tissue disorder. But what does that really mean?? I've had tons of broken bones, torn ligaments and tendons and so many surgeries that I lost count a long time ago!

I spent most of my high school and college years in and out of the operating room and sported hundreds of very sparkly and brightly colored casts and splints. I wasn't able to play sports and I missed so many days of school that my classmates probably didn't know the real me. I won't ever be able to do push-ups (not that I really want to! HE HE) or play many sports. I pray every single day that Kalvin won't have this genetic disorder as well!

Today I was very disappointed when my hand surgeon's appointment office called and cancelled my appointment for Wednesday. This appointment had been scheduled since January and now he's completely booked up until the end of July... I try not to complain too much about hurting. No one wants to hear that and I definitely don't want people treating me differently. Because I was pregnant and now I'm still nursing, I haven't been able to do any 'regular maintenance' on my hands. No surgeries or cortisone shots... Carrying around a 20 pound baby has definitely taken a toll of them! My thumbs are just waiting patiently (or not so patiently!) for the day I can have my joint replacement surgeries done! Hopefully in the fall...

My hands are like road maps with all the scars. I also don't remember how many screws are in there anymore! I don't like wearing bracelets or watches because they rub on my scars.

I dread shaking hands with people because I fear they are going to hurt my hands even worse...

Pink is my favorite color for a cast...especially when they add sparkles! I have a special wardrobe for after surgeries that includes shirts with one sleeve cut off, fluffy down vests instead of coats and anything with very stretchy sleeves...

My mom has been at every single surgery, come along to 99.9% of my appointments and helped me out with all the recoveries. She's washed my hair, wiped my butt, and dressed me countless times :) What would we do without moms??

I enjoy matching my cast colors with the holidays or planning outfits around what color my cast is.

I often wonder...Why me?? Why am I the one who has to go through all this?? I just need to remember that there are so many people in the world suffering and those people would gladly take my problems over theirs! I am truly blessed with a wonderful family, a great husband, and the most smiley little boy ever!

My latest confession/obsession...

No pictures right now because Kalvin is napping :) I feel like I have so much more free time when I'm not struggling to put Kalvin to sleep all day! This is great!!

I have a bit of a confession/obsession that I've been meaning to share... Lately I've really felt the need to de-clutter my life and try to use things up so can throw it away. I've always done this to a certain extend but lately it has become almost a game. ha ha! Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about...

• Wearing my socks that are almost wore through so I can discard them and clear out my drawer. I won't buy more socks until I've used up the ones I already have! Even if this means I'll have to wear the snoopy socks Dan got my for Xmas one year...
• Wearing underwear I don't like just to 'wear them out'.
• Burning candles all day/every day.
• Combining kitchen and pantry items to make less clutter
• Putting on lotion everyday...not because my skin is dry but because I have way too many lotions!
• Same with body spray! I've been wearing body spray that's about 10 years old just to use it up because I just can't get rid of it until it's gone!
• I've also been using the body spray as room freshener :)
• I've even started paying closer attention to packaging before I buy something. Less waste is always better.
• the list goes on and on and on...

I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I can finally throw something away! But I can't throw away anything that might have a use someday! (Hence the reason why I can't seem to toss the burned up candle jars!!!) Don't get me wrong...I'm not a hoarder. All my things have a very specific spot and I know where everything lives! (organization is my other obsession!!)

Maybe this all stems from becoming super frugal since I don't have a job. Maybe being frugal and saving us money IS my job?!?!?! :) You read how excited I was about rummage saleing for stuff for Kalvin. I definately can't wait for this spring and summer to see what other good things I can find! hehe!

Ok...I'll stop there. I'm weird...I know! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and an even more wonderful weekend!!!

8 Months!

I can't believe Kalvin is already 8 months old! It has been so fun to see him change so much in the last month. He now has TWO teeth! (He woke up with a new one this morning!) He can crawl all over the place. He smiles at everyone! He can baby babble and say dadadadada :)! I can't wait to see what new things he does in the next month! Everyday is just so much fun!

For the past 8 months, Kalvin's been co-sleeping with us which has worked out great. I was able to basically feed him while I was still sleeping and tend to him without having him cry in the night (Dan gets up super early for work!) Just recently, we all started not sleeping well. I think we were just getting too tight in our queen-size bed!

I decided yesterday was the day to start sleep training. He needs to learn to fall asleep in his own bed. Kalvin has been doing great in his own room the last 2 days. He cries for a tiny bit when I first lay him down and then calms down within minutes. This afternoon he napped for 3 hours!!!! WHOO HOO!

I tried to take my monthly picture but I think we may have to call it quits...Kalvin is just too squirmy now and he REALLY wants to crumble that paper up he second I set him there. He makes me laugh :) Instead...I thought I'd take some 8 month pictures of his new pearly whites!

Aren't those pretty cute teeth???

SNAKE...IN OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!

That's right... you read the title correctly! A nasty slithery snake was on the second level of our house!

I had just put Kalvin down for a nap so I was sneaking quietly out of the bedroom. I looked and there was a snake at the top of the stairs looking at me! I screamed (naturally...because I'm a girl and I was scared...) and I woke Kalvin up who was now screaming too! While I was debating what to do (my cellphone, computer, and camera were all downstairs!!!!) the snake slithered away!!!!!!!!!! I searched around and found it hanging out in Kalvin's room so I shut the door and put a towel under the door. (Pretty stupid plan..I know...but it was the best I could think of at the time!)

I was officially freaked out and the only thing I could do was leave the house! So I made a trip to Target to clear my head and gather my thoughts. Target is always a great place to go when getting away from snakes!

I talked to my parents for a long time about what to do and how to get this critter out of my house. We decided I would call the police department! Here are some pictures from my day:

Here's Kalvin all ready to go to Target! He loves browsing too!!

When I came home, the snake was coiled around an outlet behind the garbage can in Kalvin's room!

The nice police man got it out...with the help of his son's hockey stick, a pillow case, and a pair of my garden gloves!


Yep...that's the snake dangling in his hand! I really wanted to take pictures of him removing it from the room but I refrained until his back was turned and he was outside :) hehe!

My Mistake!

I just realized after talking to my sister that I messed up some information in my last post! The clocks are moving FORWARD (springing ahead!!) We still lose an hour of sleep but that means Kalvin will be staying in bed until 7 tomorrow! YAY for it staying light outside longer!!

I'll post more later...but for now I must get a crabby baby to nap!

Bad Day...

This is how our day is going today...

The skinny on my new jeans!

Well...we did a little shopping yesterday and I ended up NOT buying the traditional "mom" jeans like I wanted! I bought SKINNY jeans! It's not what I thought I was going to get but once I had them on and they were so comfortable, I couldn't resist the growing trend!

They were way more flattering then I ever would have guessed! I was actually worried I looked TOO skinny...like a daddy long-legs! EEK!

The girl at the store was giving me lots of pointers on how to wear them which was awesome! She said in the summer they make great Capri's with the cuff rolled up. I'm so excited about this new clothing adventure I'm taking! (I'm sure in a few years I'll regret this...but really...what trends don't we later regret?!?!)

I ended up getting these bad boys at the Buckle...They are Big Star Jeans... BEST. BRAND. EVER! I'd suggest everyone go try a pair! You'll be surprised too how comfortable and flattering they are!!

Vera- The Naughty Puppy

Here's Vera!

She's an Old English Bulldog. Not really sure why we thought it would be a good idea to train a puppy with a 6 month old baby and REALLY REALLY not sure why we decided to get a puppy during the coldest time of the year! STUPID US!! I've decided I'm not a fan of standing out in -20 degree weather saying "Go potty!"

I feel like I need to keep my hawk eyes on her at all times. I don't trust Kalvin and Vera together yet! Kalvin is very interested in getting her attention using his zombie screams and leaning as FAR over his exer-saucer as he can reach (see pic below!). Vera is just a puppy so she's naturally interested in everything too. Only problem is, her sharp needle teeth don't really know where or what they are biting at yet. That scares me!

Overall, she's been a great puppy. It's just very hard watching two babies. By the end of the day I'm exhausted from saying a combination of these words all day..."VERA, NO, DOWN, BAD GIRL, OUTSIDE, GO TO YOUR BED!" I'm pretty sure those are going to be Kalvin's first words...


I have a confession to make...I probably put Vera in her kennel a little more than I should! Sometimes Kalvin and I just need some cuddling time without yelling! It's probably safer for Vera that way...less of a chance of me kicking her away from biting at my Ugg slippers!