Thankful Times

We may not be the cutest bunch, we may not be the wealthiest, most famous, or most well known but in my eyes we are the luckiest four people to be a family unit! Its this time of year that you have to sit back and reflect on your year and remember the good and bad times and be thankful for each and every one of them for they made today what it is. David still may be looking for work but we've had the best month of him being home with us 24/7! Its been stressful (still is) wondering whats going to happen if we don't get some job news soon but its been a family bonding expierence I wouldn't have missed for anything!

I am thankful for this ones quick wit, foul temper, unconditional love and her friendship. She may be the BIGGEST pain in my rear 99.9% of the time but then theres that moment that she comes into the room, hugs me and says "mama, I love you all my life" that just makes all that other stuff evaporate...then you find out what she's done and we're back to "WHY DID I EVER HAVE KIDS" stage again :) No, seriously...she can melt my heart like no other! I'm thankful that while being the diva that she is, she also has the love in her heart to be the best big sister her little 3yr old self knows how to be! Not once since baby brother came home has she asked to send him back, tried to duct tape his mouth shut, leave him at the store or grandparents...she is forever mindful of him and does her best to comfort him when he cries or to love him when he's happy. She is my first thought of the day and my last, my eternal sunshine, my cream in my coffee, the beat which my heart needs to survive and I am thankful she is mine!

I am thankful for this little guy because he will forever be my baby! There will be no others after him so therefore my baby he will be :) I'm thankful for his awesome sleep habits, his nursing habits...though I am forbidding him to sprout teeth because if he can BITE like that with out them...I'll never survive WITH them! I'm thankful that everytime I look at him I see my father staring back me. We may joke that we wish we could "wash the Tribble" off of him but one look at those eyes and I can see the first man that ever loved me and the little man that will be the greatest love of my life. He's an angel, he's a banshee, he's more active than a three month old should be but I'm thankful for him as well!

I can even safely safe that I am even thankful for this big guy! As I've said before, he makes me laugh, he makes me cry, he makes me wish that murder wasn't wrong! He's possibly one of the most difficult people you'll ever meet but under that furry hard exterior is a chocolate truffle center that will melt your heart at the best of times! He's the best dad I could ask for for my children. Where my patience lacks, his strenghtens and between the two of us we can handle anything life throws at us. We've been married almost 5yrs now and been together almost 8...and the best is yet to come :)

Last but not least, I am thankful for my family! Be it my parents (all four of them), in laws, cousins, aunts/uncles...I am thankful for the love and support you provide everyday! The family email that circulates every morning is the first bright spot of my day, it reminds me that my family is alive and well. I know this isn't my usual blog, and the humor isn't there but I just wanted to take a moment and thank my children, hubby and family for being in my life and giving me something to be thankful for! I love you all!!

Buggs and other Fall things

Honest mom! The cookie just jumped out of the bag and demanded to be eaten!! Ah yes...the good ol' downtown trick or treat :) Lots of good candies, lots of neat things to see, great way to get people to see what's downtown and a great way to lose your child in a crowd of thousands of kids and mom's pushing their way around, sniffing out the candy hideouts and grubbing up all the good stuff! We met with a group of our friends and did the downtown circut, came home with about half a pumpkin full of sugary bits of heaven...only of few of which Freyja could not/was not allowed to eat (gum and hard "choking hazard" candies). The next day I shuttled the small cowgirl to Barnes and Noble for a trick or treat around the store and story time, then Toys r Us for what we thought would be a fun activity and costume parade but was actually just a sad little get together of non-costumed kids, cheap coloring pages and a ploy to get you into the store so your child could beg/whine/and drive you NUTS until you relented in buying a small toy! We fell for this last time and by the time we got home she forgot we bought her something so its in the closet for Christmas, this time we perservered through the "I WANTS" and ran for the car! That night was a Egg Haunt...Freyja and I left Daddy and Jaxon with the grandparents and had a girls night. It was set up like an Easter Egg hunt with the exception of orange/black eggs filled with spiders, ghosts and spooky candy instead of pastel bunny goods. There was also a haunted hay ride (though Mario chasing Luigi around a large field does not qualify as terror in my books) and a few other little games. We met some of our friends there and just had a good evening  as mother/daughter. To top the night off I found a ten dollar bill in the parking lot!! Then of course All Hallow's Eve I took my pink princess that was tired of being a cowgirl up and down our street and brought back another fine bag off goodies!! All in all I think she was very pleased with her Halloween events this year! Today we took her to an open air craft fair and they had pony rides. She did not even show the slightest bit of hesitation as the pony handler reached out her hand to help her up on the horse and up she climbed and off she went! Its breaking my heart a little more each time she lets go of our hand and takes another giant leap for "bugg kind" but its just proof my biggest bugg is growing up! Wow...

In other news on my big bugg...she is COMPLETELY potty trained now!! She wears pull ups to bed but big girl panties all day!! She still has the occassional accident but the BAD days are all behind us now :) She had a check up the other day and weighs in at 32lbs and is 39 4/8's inches tall. She's TALL and thin!!!

On to Little Brother! He is now 6 1/2lbs per foot!! Meaning he's 13lbs and 24in long, he's gaining on his big sister quite nicely it appears!  I guess its all the sleep he gets at night :) Yep, he's still doing these wonderful 8-12hr stretches at night for me!! Jaxon has been spending a lot of time with daddy this past couple of weeks while big sis and I run off to do "big kid" things but in our absence he's been working on his smiles, coo's and giggles. In the picture above he and I are hanging out on Granmama and Opa's swing in their back yard. Its our favorite place since we can rock, enjoy the outdoors and watch big sis run amuck in the back yard. My father after seeing the picture asked me what I had put on his poor grandsons head, to which I have responded, nothing that compromises his dignity! Its just a cute little blue skull cap vs some cutesie little googly eye thing or something with ears! Guess I'll just need to find him one just to prove to his Papa, there ARE worse hats in life!

In other news...David is in the middle of a "job change" so um...please keep us in your thoughts and keep fingers crossed that something comes our way soon! We're not panicked yet...As Dori (Ellen DeGeneres) in "Finding Nemo" says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming"... So our love to you all and I'll be back with another bugg-update soon!