My Monkey

Caleb is my wild monkey child! If you take your eyes off of him for one second he is into something. When he was 18 months old he went through a climbing stage and climbed everywhere. He climbed places that I thought were impossible. It took him no time to figure out how to climb out of his crib and not only could he come out but he could climb in also. That put him in a big boy bed much sooner than my previous two. He also went through a stage where he threw everything away. I was having to constantly check the trash can. If I couldn't find something then most likely it was in the trash.




This is Caleb's baby shoe. Where's the other one you ask? Well apparently Caleb decided that he didn't need that one so he got rid of it. I didn't notice that it was gone until it was too late and trash day was over. All of my other boys have a pair of course that I've saved but Caleb must of desired to be different. He only wanted one for keepsakes!



He'll stop at nothing. Diapers sure...these are clean diapers too. Who cares..He must of decided they needed to go away.



This was just the other day. I went to give him a bath and when I took his diaper off this is what I found. Seriously..where does it end with this kid.

I've said before how good of an eater Caleb is. He'll eat just about anything. When I'm cooking and have stuff on the counter he just grabs constantly. Surprisingly it doesn't affect his eating at the dinner table so I usually let him have something but the things he grabs amaze me! He's grabbed a frozen french fry and actually eaten it. Raw potatoes that I've cut up. The other night he grabbed a piece of broccoli that I had taken out of the freezer. He stops nowhere..this kid WILL eat!

Exhausted

This AA thing is wearing me out. Don't get me wrong I am proud of hubby and everything that he has done but it is exhausting. There are days I want to scream and run. There are days I just want my life back(the one back before alcohol became a third person in our marriage). There are days I just want out. He's doing well..in fact he's doing very well! He's a different person when he's not drinking and that's a relief but I still fear it just as much as I did six months ago and a year ago and on and on and on.

I was in the bathroom the other day and he was in the kitchen. I heard a soda can open and my heart dropped. I can't tell you how many times I heard that sound and it belonged to a beer can(thousands) and dreaded that it was "one more".

People in my family think I'm crazy..that I'm too uptight about it. Hell hubby even thinks so. He jokes about it and acts as though it doesn't bother him. I can't stand to be around someone drinking..I can't stand to see it. If a commercial comes on tv for alcohol it makes my skin crawl. If a song comes on the radio and talks about drinking at all I turn it. If I get emails that have anything to do with drinking I feel sick. I can't tell you the amount of times that I have sat up and wondered if my hubby was lying in a ditch somewhere,in jail because he got arrested for dui,at a bar or wondering if a cop was going to come to my door to tell me that something had happened. I can't do what everyone else is doing. I can't just move on and act as though everything is okay and that nothing ever happened.

I give 4 children 4 baths 7 days a week by myself. I make sure that everyone is in pjs and dinner is ready to go on the table when he gets home at 7 everynight. It's exhausting! There is NO break! There isn't a night a week reprieve and it's driving me crazy. I feel like I'm alone all the time. I know that this is the best thing for him to do but I'm so torn at times. There are people in his group that have been sober for years and still go to daily meetings. I am just not sure that I can live this way everyday for the rest of my life.

I get so tired to hearing that it's the addictions fault. I read books and they all say that it's not the person it's the addiction. Why do they get to put everything off onto the addiction? It's like they don't have to take responsibility for anything..they can just blame it on the addiction. It drives me insane.

I know that he's trying and really I am proud of him and I do think he is doing a good job. It is tiring though and it's wearing at me.

Other than that I've been sick and am trying to keep up with everyones blogs but I'm not succeeding. I'll eventually catch up. :)

Wordless Wednesday

I HEART Faces

This week I Heart Faces is focusing on joy. Head over and join in on the fun!



This is Allie a few days after Christmas. I absolutely love to watch her facial expressions when she is playing. I just want to tape every single second so I never forget anything about these days!

Not Me Monday

Can it really be Monday again? ? Since I pulled up my blog this morning and saw Not Me Mondays staring me in the face I guess I'll accept that it really is here so head on over to Mckmama's for more.

*I did not NOT participate in Not Me Monday last week because I couldn't remember what I did not do! Seriously my mind is so much better than that and I would never forget all the funny little things everyday!!

*I did not sit down last Monday and say I was going to write everything down at night so I would remember for this week. I am SO not that corny!!

*I did not forget to write it down. Back to number 1..I swear I'm not certifiable yet.

*I did not call the doctor to find out when the kids checkups were only to find that Caleb's hadn't been made yet and Lucas and Jacob had missed theirs. I know you're starting to worry about me now but I really do think I have alittle of my mind left.

*I did not wash and dry a load of clothes on Tuesday and proceeded to freshen them up everyday until I actually got them out to fold them on Friday.

*I did not get said clothes out of the dryer only to find out that I had a load of clothes in the washer all that time also.

*I did not think my day today is only going to be filled with painstakingly long bouts of laundry since I haven't done it in four days!

My Masterpiece

These are my two most prized possessions right now. Well except for my family that is but they really aren't my possessions. My dad made these for me. I got the amazing peppermill for Christmas and about had a heartattack! The pictures really don't do it justice..it is the most gorgeous thing you have ever seen. Truly one of a kind and completely handmade. The cutting board I got a couple of weeks ago and Yes Dad I have used it although I haven't wanted to! He made my mom one also and she never uses it and I believe he takes offense to that. I made a point the day after I got it to use it while I was putting my beef stew together but oh how it hurt. I didn't want to put one knife mark on it while I was cutting potatoes but I did it. I think my dad wants them to be used and loved while used and even though we think it's a compliment when we don't use it I don't believe he views it that way. So I've used it...I use it all the time and while using it I keep it in the center of my counter each and everyday so I can see it everytime I look in there. I know there are many father daughter relationships out there but I think that my daddy has got to be one of the best out there! We've been through it! There were years when we weren't very close but I truly believe that in order to gain an incredible friendship you must climb the mountains to get there. We've climbed more than our share and we are now able to reap the rewards. My daddy owns his own truck and that's his business however in the past few months things have been very slow so he's spent most of his time in his basement making things and I've benefited :) Here's two of the masterpieces that he's made for me..the pictures honestly don't show their true beauty but at the time it was the best I could get.



This is my cutting board. Oh how I love this!!!



This is my peppermill. My most favorite thing about this is the knots in it. My dad said that it's a feature of the wood that he used and that he debated about whether or not to fill those knots in or not. I am SO glad he did not!!!

Check it out

Alicia over at More Than Words Is hosting a giveaway in honor of her 250th post. Yay Alicia!!! If you haven't checked out her blog then you have to go..heck become a follower! She rocks and has got the cutest family ever. She is so inspiring in her writing and her message and I am just so thankful that I came in contact with her!

Anyhow..she's giving away a custom blog makeover..what a prize!! And yeah I did just get my done but who can pass up another giveaway and I NEVER win them anyways :) Head on over and check it out...and Alicia..congrats on your 250th post!

Headaches

I meantioned a while back that I had to take Jacob to the doctor and that he had been diagnosed with abdominal headaches and migraines so I thought I would let you in on what our life has been like during the past couple of weeks. Jacob started having headaches a few months ago..at first he would get them every so often but as time went on they become more and more frequent and more intense. When he would get a headache he would cry and be completely out of it for the rest of the day. I'd have to put him to bed with an icepack and the only way he could get rid of it was so sleep it off. He was miserable and it was horrible to watch. After having headaches and tummyaches for a few weeks I finally took him to the doctor and she said that he had abdominal headachesand migraines. Apparently the abdominal headaches are pains that are similar to rebound headaches but instead of it always rebounding as a headaches sometimes it will rebound as a tummyache. When he gets these tummyaches he literally doubles over and has to lay down so it isn't just some minor tummyache.

We were given a list of foods that we have to avoid in order to try and stop these headaches. My plan was to avoid them all for a time period and if the headaches were eliminated to gradually try to reintroduce some of foods to see if a certain one was causing it. Now remember that Jacob is a VERY picky eater. Before this he lived on peanut butter and jelly,macaroni and cheese,hot dogs,bologa,bananas,doughnuts,pizza and yogurt. Anyhow here's the list:

aged cheese
herring
chocolate
vinegar(except white)
anything fermented,pickled or marinated
sour cream
yogurt
nuts
peanut butter
fresh bread,coffeecakes or doughnuts
peas with broad pods
msg
onions
figs
citrus
bananas
pizza
bologna
sausage
bacon
hot dogs

I left the doctors office wondering what in the world I could get him to eat. So we embarked upon this new journey. He did surprisingly well. No headaches and no tummyaches. Three days ago I let him try chocolate one night for dessert. He had no headache that night and did fine all day the next day. The next night I made tater tot casserole and it is topped with cheese..this has been the hardest to eliminate because we eat cheese on EVERYTHING! My husband says that he never knew it possible to eat so much cheese until he married into my family. I had completely eliminated the cheese though from Jacob's diet but thought I would try it that night and see what happened. He had the cheese at dinner and a small fun size pack of m & m's for dessert. He went to bed and got up with a headache. Now I'm not sure if it was the cheese or the chocolate so we're back to start again. I've eliminated both again and will see what happens from the word go again. I tell ya it's like a puzzle trying to figure out what is causing these migraines and how to stop them. He is too young to take migraine meds so we have to try and figure out what's initially triggering them to begin with.



I have felt terrible for Jacob during these last two months. This is how he has spent a good portion of his time before we visited the doctor.

Allie's Checkup

I took Allie to the doctor last week for her checkup. It was technically her 6 month checkup but she's actually 7 1/2 months now. Her original checkup was scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving and stupid me didn't realize it was Black Friday so I had to reschedule it. Well I didn't have to reschedule butI did :) I couldn't resist the shopping for that day. She got her 6 month shots while we were there and the rotovirus vaccine also. She didn't even wimper for the first two shots but bless her heart she wasn't as happy with the last two. She weighed 21 lbs 14 oz,was 29.5 in long and her head was 17.32 inchs in circumference. I tell ya this little girl is growing like a weed!!!! I can't hardly stand it!!! I've tried to talk to her..heck what am I saying..I've begged her to slow down but she isn't listening.

Wordless Wednesday

Disappointment

The snow skipped right over us. It went east and everywhere else got snow but we got left out this time. The kids were very disappointed,especially Lucas! Every school district surrounding us is out of school today so our school is the black sheep this morning all by its lone in session. Even though it didn't snow the kids got a bit of excitement from the expectation of it. Priceless!



Before we went to bed last night there were a few flurries so David went outside to make fun and eat snow :)





This was ALL we got! I felt bad for the kids this morning because they truly believed that the weather man was right but secretly I was alittle relieved. We've already been home for a four day weekend and I was ready for a break. Shh...don't tell anyone! I do hope they get some snow before the end of the winter this year though...for some good snow pictures that is :)

They're Pumped

The energy level just went up about a thousand watts at my house. Now I know for those of you that live up north and get have tons and tons of snow all winter long that you think those of us down south are just crazy. And I'll admit most of the people down here are but it is very rare that our kids get snow. I got up this morning and saw online that they were calling for snow tonight. Being the smart woman that I am I kept my mouth shut because I knew that my kids would go insane and I wouldn't hear the end of it all day long. Lunchtime came and I couldn't hold it in any longer..I mean what is childhoold without the anticipation of snow and a day off from school? I let them watch the weather at lunchtime and they were glued to the tv...it was priceless! Now mind you...most of the time when they call for snow we get nothing!!!!!!! However there will be absolutely no milk or bread at the grocery store and if we get even half an inch the entire town will stop and it'll be heaven for a day. People that never get winter weather are just hilarious,aren't we?

I Heart Faces

iHeartFaces is having a photo contest for the best faces. I saw this over on Lori's blog and thought it looked like fun. Check it out!



This is a picture I took of Allie when she was sitting in my lap outside one day. I love the natural light and I love how it caught her features so perfectly. It's a picture that I don't take often and it wasn't posed or anything..I just shot and was excited to see that I got so many of her true features.

Interview Me

Lori over at Teacher turned Mommy participated in having someone interview her and I thought it was cute. I told her to take a stab at me when she got the chance. So here goes.

Question 1: Do you plan on going to work when Allie is in school? If so, what do you plan on doing?

You're all going to laugh at me on this one. I honestly haven't accepted the fact that Allie is going to leave me EVER. I haven't thought about my time when she isn't with me all day..sniff sniff. I do plan on going back to school at some point although I am not sure when. I would like to get into nursing which is what I was going to do before all my kiddies were born. I think I would still like to go along that track.

Question 2: What do you like to do when you are away from your kiddos? Is that the same thing you liked to do before you had children?

Oh my..this is showing how lame my life really is. I am never away from my kids. I don't do anything without them. Sad really I know. Anything I do 99% of the time they are with me.

Question 3: What is one thing you've learned about yourself through your blog?

I've definitely learned that I need the support and friendship that I get from all my friends. I used to think I didn't need anyone that I could do it all on my own but I've realized that life is so much easier and pleasant if you have people that care about you.

Question 4: What does a typical day look like for you? What would you do to make your life easier?

Hectic! Things are crazy around our house. I am constantly moving and doing something. Usually when I get up in the mornings I put stuff in the lunchboxes that I fixed the night before and sit down to my computer. On a good day Allie and Caleb are still in bed and I can sit and blog,comment and check emails with my coffee for about an hour before they get up. As they start getting up I've got breakfast and bottles and the endless diaper count starts. I make beds,wash clothes,clean up,play and try to get everything done. At 1200 I feed Caleb lunch and put him down for his nap. Unfortunately Allie still cat naps and isn't on a structured schedule..depends on when she gets up what time she naps. She is usually awake for about 2 or 3 hours and then sleeps for about 30. About 3 Lucas gets home and we do homework and snacks. I start baths about 530 while David's at his meeting and as soon as they get out I start on supper. David gets home at 645 and I try to have dinner ready when he walks through the door. It's been even more hectic than before since he started going to meetings daily. Getting four kids bathed and dinner ready by myself for everyone is extremely difficult! I put the kids to bed at 8 and Allie goes about 9. By that time I'm exhausted and usually don't look at my computer again until the next morning when it all starts over again.

Question 5: Are all your children good eaters? If not, do you make alternative meals for the picky ones or what?


Overall my kids are very good eaters. Lucas is a pretty good eater and will eat most everything i fix...his appetite has been getting bigger lately. Caleb is my best eater. He will eat anything and most of the time he's sitting at the table still eating when everyone else is done and I'm cleaning up the kitchen. Jacob is by far my pickiest eater. Most of the time I make him eat whatever we do. However there are a couple of meals that I fix him something else. One example is when we have Mexican. I usually fix Jacob a hot dog or something else on those nights because all he will eat otherwise is chips and salsa. Most of the time I make him eat some of whatever we are eating though and I do try to mostly make things that he likes.

So that's me in a nutshell. If any of you out there have an undying urge to be interviewed let me know I'll try to see if I can make questions up also.

There's really 5 of them!

There are times when I am out with all of my kids and people stare..at times they gawk with disbelief. Sometimes they even ask me "Are those all yous?" "My Goodness,how in the world do you do it?" "I only have 2 I just can't imagine that with 3 boys" If they only knew..in reality I have 5. If I don't count my husband then I am not being honest at all. He is a tad bit better than he used to be but my Lord he is still bad. He has no clue what it takes to make things work..I mean really they say they understand but there is no way that they can.

Perfect example and I had to document it. He recently started his new job alittle over a month ago and he is just now getting his uniforms. He called me and told me he was coming home to eat his lunch and bring his clothes home. When he left to go back to work these were the remains.



This was what I found after he left..he brought them home..changed into one of them and left the rest right in the middle of our bed. How much more time would it have taken to hang them in the closet instead of lay them on the bed?



Oh yes..my favorite..the lunch. He ate and when he walked out the door to go back to work this was what was left. Oh my..what would I do without 5 of them..sleep,read,blog,scrapbook..oh no I forgot what that was like!



This is actually a bit surprising. Most of the time when he puts a shirt on and decides not to wear it he will just leave it on the bed and believe it or not this was the 3rd shirt that day. He left the other two on the bed but put this one back up. Of course you can see how it was left.



And the famous shoes...these are always somewhere in our house and almost never in the closet where they belong.

So you see I really do..I have 5 children that I have to constantly pick up after and take care of. It never ends..I should have a shirt that declares my findings.

Wordless Wednesday

An actual post

I'm actually blogging this morning..surprised :) The internet was down yesterday so I was cut off from the real world for 24 hours. I tell ya there are days I feel like these four walls are closing in on me. This morning I have to take Allie to the doctor. We got way behind with our checkups before Christmas...I had originally scheduled her 6 month checkup for the Friday after Thanksgiving and then it hit me that it was Black Friday and of course that would never work so I had to reschedule it. Therefore here we are and we are just now getting back. We are very behind!!! Shame on me I know. I'll post later about her stats and of course her adorable pictures!



This little one right here has been the drama in our house. I took him to the doctor and he's been diagnosed with abdominal headaches and migraines. It's been crazy with him since we now have an entire list of foods we have to avoid. I'll post more about that later too.



Here's Lucas. He's the number 44. He is playing his first season of basketball this year and I am amazed at how much he has improved. He's having alot of fun with it although I still enjoy baseball more...shhh don't tell :)



My power ranger..I tell ya this boy amazes me with something new everyday! I can't get enough of him. He's at that stage that everything amazes him and he is continually doing something new and adorable every time you turn around. I just want to pause him and keep him right where he is right now for a few more years!



Here's my princess! This was the first time I gave her applesauce. I believe she thought it was alittle bitter,don't you? I am alittle obsessed with her but I'll admit I can't help it. She's just absolutely beautiful!

Once again..

I said I was going to catch up this week and I am sitting here on Friday morning feeling more behind than ever. The internet was down yesterday so that was one post I didn't get done and I still haven't caught up with all of you. I had to take Jacob to the doctor yesterday..that's another post..I'm hoping to get that one on tomorrow morning. Let's just say that today's Friday and we won't be having our weekend pizza night. He's okay but looks like we're embarking on a new life around here. Allie hasn't been sleeping very much at all so that's leaving one very tired and for when she sleeps it's in our bed one very sore me! I honestly wanted to get up and take a picture last night...David had 2/3 of the bed..Allie was spread out and comfortable which was REALLY what mattered and I had my pillow turned sideways and was on about 6 inches of bed. I woke David up and asked him "what's wrong with this picture?" My body is feeling it and it isn't pleasant not to mention that 3 hours of sleep a night isn't getting me very far.

I still need to post pictures from Christmas so I'm going to try to do that this weekend. Heck I could say I am just going to catch up on everything and there might be a ton of posts from me this weekend but we all know that in all likelihood that won't be happening so I won't say it :) then if something amazing happens we'll all be surprised.

This picture has become one of my favorites..it was taken at the annual Christmas parade in our town. I had my mom take it and I told her to just click,click and click some more. When I get other people to take picture that's what I have to do most of the time in order to make sure I get something I can use :) Any of you feeling my pain out there? Gotta love them for trying though!

Wordless Wednesday

What a difference a month makes!

30 days ago today I thought there was absolutely no hope. I thought that I was going to have to find a way to make it through life by myself. 30 days later I have hope. David has been sober for 30 days today! There are still tough days that I go through. I read books about it and there are moments I sit and just scream at the book. There are many things I don't understand and that make absolutely no sense to me at all. I still have times when I can't see the positives regardless of how I view the picture but most of the time I am trying very hard to stay hopeful and positive. He's trying and it is very clear how serious he is about staying sober this time. I am in awe of what he is doing. I am thankful more than anything...30 days without alcohol have been glorious! It is such a relief to not have it. So here we are 30 days later in a completely different boat than where we were 30 days ago. Without a doubt the fight isn't over but for the moment I have hope and that is what matters.