Triscuits in the Toaster?

So there were triscuits in the toaster this morning....I know I didn't put them there....but it didn't seem to bother me. As I maneuvered the fork in the toaster to try and pry the triscuits out I couldn't help but laugh. Not two days ago did Barret and I have a snack of Triscuits and cheese, while I thought he was eating them, he was strategically placing them all around the kitchen (there were a few in the dish drainer too). However, none of this matters when your little man is sick (really, it doesn't matter when he is well either). Yesterday brought on an interesting day for Steve and I. Barret took an early nap when I picked him up from the babysitter after work and just didn't seem to be himself. He wasn't interested in eating and he was extremely clingy and even more so whiny. We had made plans to go to Chipotle with some friends, so despite the crabby baby we packed up the car and headed to dinner. Once there, Barret decided he wasn't going to eat dinner either, which he normally can pound down at least half a cheese quesadilla and could probably eat an entire bag of chips if we let him. He was not interested in the slightest bit and just wanted out of there. So, after a long dinner of trying to keep him entertained and happy we walked over to DQ for some ice cream. I just kept thinking, he is his mother's son and what's not better than ice cream? We ordered him his own little cone (which he loves) and wouldn't even touch it. He wanted nothing to do with his ice cream, my ice cream, or even Daddy's Blizzard! What was going on!?! After a sudden outburst in DQ we decided it was time to head out. Mama had a package waiting for her at the UPS store to pick up so we had to drive to the other end of town to pick it up. As we were driving down Veteran's Parkway Barret just whimpered and whimpered. I kept turning around to try and comfort him, offering the various likes: juice, animal crackers, toys, his bear. Everything ended up on the floor. I was getting frustrated and when I looked back to tell him he was just going to have to cry and we would get home as soon as we could, I witnessed the most horrifying thing I've ever seen. Barret was throwing up everywhere. It looked like water being sprayed out of a hose. I panicked and yelled "he's throwing up! Pull over, he's throwing up! Oh my gosh!" I didn't know what to do and I couldn't do anything at the same time. Steve turned around to witness a second spat and we were both in a state of what do we do...There was no where to pull over easily without getting the car bashed into, and there was no way I could take him out of his car seat and pick him up and comfort him. I felt awful and horrible and sick to my stomach all at the same time, but I couldn't help but laugh at the sight I just saw.
Is that terrible of me? To laugh at my 13 month old son who just threw up in the back seat all over himself and he has never been sick like this before? What was wrong with me? Why didn't I cry or rush to his aid by hopping over the seat to sit next to him and comfort him? I'll tell you one thing, probably because I was too worried I was going to do it next.
We finally pulled into a gas station and Daddy ran in to get napkins and I rushed in the back seat, using everything I could find to try and clean him up as best I could. The smell was rancid but the back seat was spared. Our poor sick baby boy was sitting in his throw up and we weren't even close to being home. We had at least a fifteen minute drive ahead of us and I felt terrible.
The entire way Barret was such a trooper and we eventually made it home. We quickly brought him inside stripped him of his clothes and got him in the shower to clean him up and calm him down. As we laid him down in bed for the night I couldn't help but think what a strong little guy he was. Putting up with Mama and Daddy's craziness, our lack of understanding of what he needed and that we shouldn't have gone out, getting sick in the car and not getting any comfort until we got home, and just everything about the night, he handled it all so well.

This morning was supposed to be full of fun and exciting new things, we had planned to go to the Children's Museum and I was so so pumped. But, instead we stayed home and cuddled, took lots of endless naps, and drank a lot of water! It was so fun to see him sit on Daddy's lap while he ate his Eggo this morning (he never sits still, ever!), and to watch him cuddle with Daddy while we watched UP, and even just to feel his strong and endless hugs.
Hopefully tomorrow brings a happy, bouncing, feeling better baby boy, who still wants to cuddle with his Mama and Daddy!

giveaway

Oh no, don't think that I am doing a giveaway :) Just trying to win one!

Check out this link http://www.doulasetc.wordpress.com/

One of the woman in this blog is a lady who goes to our Church and she is an amazing mother! She has three boys and is a doula for the bloomington/normal area. Her advice on nursing, giving birth, and just plain being a mom have helped me through the past year with Barret and I always look forward to talking with her.

If you look at the recent blog post you can enter to win a giveaway. Simply click on the link to take the short survey (I did it and it literally only took me like 3 minutes) and then comment on the blog post, on your facebook, and even in your own blog! You can have three chances to win the book All The Ways I Love You!

This book is signed by the illustrator and is just adorable.

Good luck!

Is it bedtime yet?

Well, last night we were in for an interesting treat. Barret didn't nap well yesterday and was pretty tired and showing signs that he was ready for bed at about 6. We gave him his bath and got him all cozy in his jammies, said our goodnights and put him down early...Either he was just fooling us or something came over him. He cried and screamed in his room for almost two hours, with the occasional pop in of either Mama or Daddy just to make sure he was okay. He was always laying in his bed some way or another and always screaming and always rubbing his eyes. About 8:30 Daddy finally got him settled down enough that he fell asleep and we thought we were in the clear. WRONG again. about 3am I woke up and heard him coughing. I didn't really think much of it because he has been coughing a little here and there throughout the past few days. However, an hour had past and I was still awake and Barret was still coughing and beginning to cry. I went to the kitchen to get him some water and tried to have him drink it in bed. Of course he wanted nothing to do with that and insisted that I pick him up before he drank anything. After a few minutes of trying to get his coughing under control (it was a success!) I laid him back down hoping he would just drift back off into dreamland. Again, I was wrong. As soon as I closed the door he started to scream and it got louder and louder for about 5 minutes until he was done. I don't know if he fell back asleep or just laid in his bed awake but at 4:15ish both Mama and Daddy woke up to a blood curdling scream. Daddy went in to have a talk with the young man about what we should and shouldn't do in the middle of the night, screaming being something we shouldn't do lol, and he tucked him in all nice and snug and Barret was quiet for a few minutes. Daddy got out of bed again at 4:30, Barret still screaming but still in his bed, and laid on the floor right next to Barret's bed. He told him he wasn't going anywhere and that it was okay to go to sleep. After about fifteen minutes Barret was sound asleep and didn't wake up until this morning when we had to leave to go to work.

Here is a picture of Barret's 'big boy' bed, with all the animals you could ever need to keep you safe!

The poor little guy must be having some pretty terrible nightmares because nothing else makes sense. He seems to love his new bed more than anything and insists on playing in it as much as he remembers it is there. Nothing in his room has changed other than the bed, our routines at night have stayed the same, and Barret is even eating better at dinnertime so we know he is not hungry. If you have any suggestions or thoughts on what's eating our little guy or even how to make him sleep better let us know! We don't really feel like going through this whole not sleeping thing again until Baby Gaffney comes...6 weeks people, 6 weeks.

Kisses Kisses

Well, it is official... Spring has come and gone :) The beautiful weather that was upon us is now gone and today brought snow. However, it is always nice to see the seven day forecast not have any numbers in it beginning with a number less than 3! On Friday night we grilled out and just hung around the back yard for a while. Barret enjoyed his first ride in the wagon too! Saturday morning we went for a walk around the block and Barret did a great job sitting in his wagon! He was just too cute :)

If you haven't already heard, Barret fell out of his crib this weekend, giving us no choice but to convert it into a Big Boy bed! So far we haven't had too much trouble with it. Only once have we found him asleep on the floor. He loves that he can now get in and out of his bed with no help and play time has taken a whole new stance because we spend a lot of time getting in and out of the bed.

Here are some other fun things you might not know about Barret. He can say the word 'hot', he can stab food with a fork and bring it to his mouth (mostly pancakes), he gives the best kisses when asked and even when he hasn't been asked, and he has learned it is fun to jump on the bed!

Today Mama and Barret had fun just hanging around the house. Sometimes we just need a day to spend together and not have any plans. After Barret's morning nap (that was less than and hour!) we went to the store and just walked around. Mama had coupons for Kroger that came in the mail that literally were FREE items, so we got a few groceries for free, which is always fun! When we got home we had lunch and then decided to Bake cookies. Barret is the best helper when it comes to baking and he sure does take after his Mama!

We also found out baby Schick was born this morning! It's a GIRL!!!! and we couldn't be happier for the Schick family. Mama has a feeling baby Caroline and baby Levi are going to be great friends :)

Here is a great deal you other Mama's might want to check out:

http://www.motherofasale.com/

You could win a $250 cloth diaper set from Oh Katy! How awesome would that be! Or order today for a discounted price PLUS get 10% off your order!

Just post on your facebook, like the page, or blog about it....or if you are like me you can do all three :)

Don't worry, we didn't do this to him...he got himself stuck in the box all on his own :)

Oh Sleep, how I miss you

Not only is Mama not sleeping because of discomfort and all of the kicking baby does but Barret has now decided that he is no longer going to sleep either. This week we have woken up around 3 or 3:30 to hear Barret screaming/crying. We don't ever go in and check on him because he calms down and we think he is going back to sleep, but then he is up again at 5am if not earlier and we just don't hear him. We have discussed taking out a nap and only having him take one in the mornings, however, yesterday he only slept for a total of ONE hour and was still up at 5 if not before. He is CRAZY! Barret has also decided that he doesn't need to really eat any meal other than breakfast any more either. Even though breakfast is the most important meal of the day and he eats enough for three grown men to be full, I would still feel more comfortable if he would eat all three meals.

Through all of this lack of sleep I have been able to see the lighter side of things at work and many days I just leave laughing because of a comment some student says to me.
On Tuesday I took my students down to get on their buses to go home and a student who I had never met came up to me, holding out his hand and said "Hi what is your name?" I responded by telling him my name and before I could even get it out he brought his hands up to his mouth in a gasp and look ultimately concerned, asking me where I got that stomach from. I just smiled in reply saying, "It's a baby." He was completely taken with excitement and raised his arms in the air with a huge smile on his face saying over and over again, "a baby! Congratulations!" It was the funniest thing I had experienced in a while.

Steve and I have also realized that the house we bought was not in the cards for us. God truly was playing a huge part in our decision, but we just felt like we were over looking something or maybe trying too hard to have his answer be what we wanted it to be. Turns out the house was not a safe place to live and the inspection did not go well at all. After a week of going back and forth with the seller to try and settle on an agreement we finally realized that it just wasn't what God wanted for us and we graciously said no thank you. Now that we are out all the money we had already put in for the appraisal, the inspection, the radon test, and the initial down payment you would think we would be really upset. However, there is nothing we can do about the money being gone and we feel as though that was just what God needed to do to make us realize that he is in control and that there is no reason for us to buy a house if we aren't planning on being here for the long haul. As much as I am disappointed in not having the house, I am relieved, knowing that we are following the path he has placed before us.
With that said, thank you all for your prayers and words of wisdom for us during the past few weeks. We have greatly appreciated you for them and love you all so very much.

Also, if anyone knows of someone who has a home they are wanting to find renters for please let us know. With baby gaffney coming we are very much so growing out of the space we have right now.

Hopefully the next time I post I will be able to tell you that Barret is sleeping better!

what's new

Barret now loves to give kisses to Mama...those kisses are so sweet and so painful at the same time. He doesn't quite understand that teeth are not a part of kissing, and boy oh boy does he love to use his teeth when he kisses. The other day I was fairly certain that my chin was going to bleed because he kissed so hard...but thank goodness there was no bloodshed.

Barret also says 'hi' in his own way and waves all the time. He loves to clap and dance in circles, like a dog chasing it's tail, which makes us laugh so hard. He has been saying something that sounds like what's that for some time now, but we think he is really asking now. When we give our answer to his, 'wastht' he comments with an 'ooOOoo' or an 'oh'. He knows the word no when we say it and smiles at us and continues on his way with whatever he shouldn't be doing.

Barret has discovered that the couch has arm rests that he can climb over, and that if he points at something we will either bring it to him, or lift him up to reach it. He loves to turn his tap light on and off!

Barret knows exactly where the bananas are kept and each morning comes into the kitchen babbling and reaching for a nana as we call them. He also knows where the cereal is located and during meals if he is absolutely repulsed by what we have given him he will reach and yell at the cereal until we give him a nice handful of crunchy goodness.

We all know that Barret has been saying 'dada' for months and months now, but lately he has started to actually say 'mama'. You would think that this would bring me joy, however, he only says it when he is whining and about to cry, or is already crying. Fun Fun :)

We have found out that Barret LOVES peanut butter, which is fabulous because Mama loves peanut butter, but we are trying to limit the intake. He also loves french toast, eggs, chicken nuggets, ice cream/Popsicles, and even real Quaker oatmeal! He is becoming quite the adventurous eater, as long as we are eating it when he is eating it. However, I'm pretty positive that his favorite things to eat are still french fries (from anywhere), cereal, cheese, and bananas. Oh and the cheese can no longer be string cheese. It HAS to be cut from a block, otherwise he will not even look at it....such a picky picky boy :)

Here is a picture of Mama and Daddy at Brian and Melinda's wedding! (A little late)

Look how pretty their cake was, it was delicious too!!!

MmMm Yummy!

So this weekend brought a lot of ups and downs in our house. Saturday we went to Steak n Shake to make up for one of the downs and create a fun up :)

Since Barret has no longer been eating baby food, going out to eat creates a little bit more of a challenge when trying to figure out what he will eat. He is a super picky eater, but at the same time it seems like he will eat just about anything. I decided to order him a Strawberry milkshake to go along with his mac n cheese and french fries (which he loves and could probably live off of). As soon as that shake came out it was all over. He LOVED it and just slurped it down. Daddy was worried he was going to get a brain freeze and start screaming, but it never came. I'm pretty sure he didn't stop to take a breath very often either. He was so interested in his shake that the rest of the meal, even the french fries, had to take the back seat for the day. Barret was just loving the shake and I was glad we ordered it for him. I wished I had had my camera on me because he just looked so happy and so satisfied with that strawberry deliciousness. When we got in the car to go home we gave him the remainder of the shake to hold onto back there. Well, thinking that he would have done a better job with it because he liked it so much we weren't expecting a mess. We were wrong. Strawberry milkshake stickiness was all over his coat, all over his face, all over his car seat, all over his hands, and all over anything else that was close to him.

This was all just on the short trip from Steak n Shake to Target. Barret has taken an interest in all things garbage cans, which is very frustrating because it is dirty and gross and, well, it is garbage. On Friday he decided that it was a good idea to throw things away, which I applaud greatly. However, the things he was 'throwing away' were his pacifier, toys, silverware, food, and sippy cups. He would open the lid, throw the item in, walk out to the living room with a smile and giggle, turn around and go back into the kitchen, open it up, pick out whatever he threw in, and play with it or put it in his mouth or do whatever the action was pertaining to the object. YUCK! Needless to say, we ventured to Target to find a garbage can that was Barret proof rather than buying some sort of contraption to keep it closed. As we walked down the aisle critiquing all of the garbage cans we finally decided to get a few out and set them up in the aisle so Barret could show us his skills. After about five minutes of him wandering around them and trying to get into them, we found a winner! It was very exciting :)

Nothing else really, other than being really busy and tired. Barret is still fighting his cold and Mama and Daddy just need some time to relax!

The Reveal

We had a few guesses, not many, but a few....no one guessed the entire name correctly.

So...here it is, are you ready? Maybe later. First I have some things to say.

Yesterday, Mama got to stay home yet again which was wonderful but so exhausting at the same time. Barret was not a happy camper and would not stop whining/crying for the majority of the day. He slept really well but didn't eat more than applesauce and yogurt. His throat sounded rough and his nose just never stopped running! I took him to the doctor today to get checked out, and of course he was feeling much better and was his usual happy go lucky self, but the Doctor did believe me when I told her all about his symptoms. I always feel silly going into the doctor after I have called to make an appointment, because it seems like the minute I dial the number Barret already feels like his old self. Oh well, Dr. Kane noticed that he has a lot of drainage and his throat was a little pink, but she said nothing to worry about. We just need to make sure he gets the rest and the fluids that he needs.

Oh and get this, our little man is not so little anymore. He has already gained 1 1/2 lbs since his 1 year well baby visit! YIKES!!!!

Mama also went to the doctor today and baby is checking out just like our babies do....BIG! Mama is 31 weeks and baby measures at 4 lbs already! His foot was huge, just like Barret's, and his nose looks like it might be a Boehm nose :) Which Mama is excited about. Baby was on the move today during the sonogram so it was hard to get a good visual of all of his features, but what we saw was good. At one point it appeared he had his whole fist in his mouth, which I can't imagine being very comfortable.

I've told you before that Barret really doesn't like the Dr's office and when anyone touches me he freaks out. Well today I had planned on going to the doctor and then going to pick him up from the sitters. However, we had to schedule his appointment as well and so it just made more sense to pick him up before hand since our doctors are in the same building. When I was called back for the sonogram one of the receptionists offered to hold on to him while I went in. Now, anywhere else I would have hesitated and said no thank you. But, Dr. Dameron's staff know me by name as well as Barret. You see, when you spend 9 months getting to know them all during your first pregnancy, go in for your six week postpartum with the baby, and then about four months later show up again with your second pregnancy, people tend to know a lot about you. Needless to say, I said of course you can and I handed him off. This made for the first enjoyable sonogram with baby #2. Afterwards, I headed out and there was Barret sitting on the receptionists chair playing with birth control pamphlets. I just laughed and she told me he even went in the back office to help her carry out some birth control for another woman. Seems ironic.... But, she said he was the perfect little gentleman. Everyone was happy :) Barret and I then proceeded to room 15 where my blood pressure was taken. He screamed. Dr Dameron came into the room. He whimpered. She picked him up and he helped her measure my belly, and he did a great job if I do say so myself. She listened to the heartbeat of the baby. Barret's eyes got huge and so she quickly turned it off after she got what she needed. Barret really was not a big fan of the whooshing and thumping sound. All in all though, he did a great job and I was very proud of him.

Let's see, anything else.... Oh ya, I had to go back to school today....fun fun.

Wednesday night we realized if we were going to have our small group over for games and such we should probably shovel a pathway to our door and all the way down the driveway. After about an hours worth of work Daddy had successfully shoveled a path from the street to our door. Then, later that night, about 10 pm they finally came and plowed our lot, super! Still no sign of anyone coming to shovel for us though, our rental company must think we don't need our front door....the back door too, really, since they plowed very poorly and instead of helping us get our cars out, inevitably made it a lot harder. Oh well.Daddy brought home boxes yesterday for us to start packing, I think I am going to be procrastinating a lot on the packing this time. As much as I want to move, I just don't want to pack.

Tonight after dinner we decided to take Barret bowling. Tete was working so we got VIP treatment and Barret even got to sit on the counter and look super important (not that he isn't already super important). We got him his own little 6lb orange ball and headed over to our lane. Barret LOVED that ball. He held it and hugged it and Mama was just waiting for him to lick it or kiss it or something, thank goodness he didn't! When it was his turn to bowl we walked him up and he stood between Daddy's legs and we pushed the ball down. At first he seemed okay with it, and then the tears came. His ball was gone. We rushed him over to the ball return and showed him that it was going to come back and it did! He bowled 2 1/2 frames before we decided that we no longer wanted to torment him with throwing his ball away and then magically having it return so they could have a reunion. He loved just sitting on the chair with his ball in his lap, smacking the life out of it, and watching other people throw colorful balls down the lane. For his two frames he did pretty well, he had a score of 15! Barret even surprised us with his muscles by carrying the 6lb ball around. And of course, Mama had the camera set out to go with us and didn't realized she forgot it until we arrived at the bowling alley. We got a few pictures on Daddy's phone, but they aren't anything really that great. Once I figure out how to get them on the computer I will share.

So if you are ready for the name of baby gaffney #2 and you are tired of reading my ramblings you are in luck.

Baby's name is Levi Thomas Dean. We like it!

Spring products are on our minds.....and here comes a Blizzard!?!

So thanks to all of this snow Mama has been lucky to have the past two days off and Daddy even got sent home early yesterday and got today off too! It has been really nice just getting to stay home and enjoy one another. We have made some pretty good meals and have just hung around all day being lazy and making a crazy mess in the house with all of Barret's toys.

Tonight's menu: Pot roast, I might add that Daddy did all the preparing and chopping of the veggies for this one, and it smells delicious!

Dinner will be followed by a small group party for anyone who dares to venture out into the snow-filled world that we are now living in.

Let's see, next on the agenda is to tell you that our offer on the house was accepted! We are so excited and Mama has already packed up three boxes :) Saturday we meet with the inspector to make sure that everything is up to snuff and then it is just up to waiting for the bank to make sure we are legit and everything is good to go. Our closing date is March 11 or earlier, just depending on the bank. Our mortgage man told us he is hoping to have everything done so we can close on February 24! How exciting would that be!!!!

Here is a picture of the house from today....it was taken by a friend who actually just moved into a house two down from us. Funny thing is we found out after we bought the house that we know our neighbors too! It will be quite the block party from what it seems ;)

Here is Mama at 30 weeks with Baby Gaffney #2. We have a name for him now too... would you like to know what it is????
Give you three clues:

1) first name starts with an L

2) he has two middle names

3)his middle names are family names

If you think you know or want to make a guess leave a comment on this post. Otherwise you will just have to wait and find out later

~~~~~~~~~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****~~~~~~~~~~

I also wanted to share with you all a little bit about my business. It is really taking off and I am so in love with what I am doing. The product is amazing and practical and I have loved getting to step out of my comfort zone and meeting all sorts of new people. It's amazing what a little perseverance can do!

I don't want to use this blog to promote my Thirty-One business but I had to share with you a little bit about our new products.

Last night was the new revealing of Thirty One's new spring/summer products for the new catalog now available. Let me tell you....So many cute things! This one is by far my favorite catalog! If you would like to see the whole thing you can go to my website www.mythirtyone.com/30091 and take a peak!

The circle spiral collection is absolutely my favorite. I think it just screams me! Bright, Bold, and Fun!

And lots of new baby items coming out! This is the elephant collection (perfect for our little guy) but there are other boy and girl patterns and tons of new baby items. I already have some of these products and I love them and can't wait to use them in our new house!

You can even get personalized baby girl bloomers and baby boy boxers, so cute!

Our new kit for new consultants is packed full of awesome products for only $99! It includes four different prints and included products like the Large Utility Tote (my favorite, I have 3!), Square Utility Tote, Picnic Thermal, About Town Blanket, Scarf, Icon Coin Purse, Zipper Pouch (another favorite, I have 5), Thermal Tote (perfect for your lunch), Littles Carry All Caddy, Wristlet Key Fob, and a box of stationary! You will be set to "Party" with this kit and it is all only $99. Can you believe it!

If you are interested in ordering any items, just leave me a comment and make sure your email is attached.

If you are interested in having a party and getting a few things for FREE and 1/2 price, then also leave me a comment. I am always looking for online/catalog parties if you don't live near me! (I also reward my hostesses with a special thank you gift too!)

:)

Oh yes, and here is our little guy with Norman now that he is 1 year old! He is so big and grown up :)

Look at how little he was with Norman at only 2 weeks!