Tag from Brooke... Top 8 lists

Okay Brooke - I'll do this one last thing before I go to bed.

My 8 Favorite TV shows:

1. Grey's Anatomy (though the past couple have made me feel ill)
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Big Bang Theory
4. Life
5. Big Brother
6. CSI
7. What Not to Wear
8. Not much else really

My 8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Longhorn Steakhouse
2. Los Cucos (I miss it so so much)
3. Chili's
4. Foster's Grill
5. Nothing here really :( Houston really does have great food.

8 Things That Happened to Me Yesterday:

1. My third anniversary
2. Bought a stroller/carseat travel system
3. Bought Dillon's take home outfit
4. Went to dinner alone with my honey.
5. Lost my debit card.
6. Went to work - my kids did very well on their 9 wks test!
7. Showered and blow dried my hair ( I have an exciting life)
8. Read a book

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. Giving birth to Dillon
2. Maternity leave
3. Thanksgiving with Bobby's family here
4. Christmas with the kids
5. Snow?? I hope...
6. Walking without waddling
7. Sleeping without heartburn
8. Seeing my ankles again

8 Things I Love About Fall:

1. Leaves are changing!
2. FALL BACK! Finally!
3. The smell of fires in the fireplace
4. Pumpkin pancakes
5. Family holidays
6. Getting toasty at home with blankets piled on
7. Footie pajamas for kids
8. The crisp feel of the wind

8 Things on My Wishlist:

1. My family's health.
2. For Bobby to find a job/school where he is happy.
3. The kids to do well in school
4. Me to do well at my job
5. To be able to visit Houston some time in the next couple of years
6. To forever have a clean house (these are wishes right?)
7. To have more money in savings
8. To take a vacation this summer

8 People I tag:

1. Holly
2. Marla
3. Camille
4. KT
5. Jeanette
6. Dallas
7. Bobby
8. Jack
   

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Wow, it's been three years today since Bobby and I were married. It's odd because even though time has flown by and I can't believe it's been three years already, it also feels like I have always been with Bobby. I guess that is what happens when you marry the perfect person for you. We've overcome so much. So many people doubted that it would last or that it would work out - honey, we proved them all wrong! I need to add here a thank you to all our friends and family that have been and are so supportive. We've been helped a great deal along the way and truly appreciate it. However, together, as a family we've overcome blending my children into our marriage and adding an extra little sweet heart. We've overcome pregnancy, birth, financial problems, unemployment, moving across the country - first you than me, health problems and just learning to live with each other. I know all it has done is bring us closer. You amaze me everyday with your willingness to adapt and accept me and the children. I love you so much! So, here is to our third year together and all the years that will come!



Your D.Puff

Happy Birthday Ayden!

On the other birthday posts I wrote to the child but Ayden isn't quite old enough for that yet. Ayden is two today and he is amazing. He is such a joy and blessing to our family. Ayden was that link we needed to tie us together after Bobby and I got married. He is the one thing that has a little bit of all of us. He loves to play with his brother's. They take him out in the bakyard and play chase and ball with him. Brooklyn is like his 'little mommy' and she likes to feed him, dress him and bathe him.
Some things Ayden likes to say:

• "I want some"
• "Hi"
• "Juice"
• "Thank you"
• "Shoes"
• "Mom"
• "Dad"
• Seth, Caleb, sissy
• and the newest... "no"
  

He says other things too, these are just the ones we hear the most. He also says many things we can not understand at all, but that's okay - it's fun for us to guess what he's saying.

Ayden likes to eat tacos, spaghetti, mac and cheese, green beans, pretzels, apple sauce and, of course, cookies. He still will take a drink of anything (but water) over food any day but we're trying to stop that. I went through and tried to find some pictures that I have not posted yet but we post so many of Ayden that was difficult. Here is a two year trip down memory lane...

Ayden

Ayden has either very good weeks or very bad ones. The child does not have much in between. He is having a good week so far, thank goodness. I think there were some teething issues the last couple of weeks and hopefully, there will be no more issues like that for a little bit. He isn't eating just really well though. I am trying to think of new, creative ways to get him interested in food. My latest attempt? Hotdogs on a stick. He seemed a bit more interested than usual. A bit. I also had to take a couple pictures of the ugly faces he makes. These are his typical grumpy faces. I think he does them now to get us to laugh.


When Bobby saw these he decided to shave Ayden's head again. We've discovered that no hair grows just below his temples, it does look strange so shaving probably is the best bet for a while.

In this last one he was saying 'Wow!' LOL
Then Daddy shaved his head. He was shivering and miserable, poor guy, but enjoyed the shower afterward. Sorry it's so blurry. He wouldn't stop moving.

Changing things around

I am slowly changing my side bar with the links to other's blogs. Please be patient :) Thank you. And I leave you with an actual shot of me with Ayden - rare I know! He was watching his "Little People" video and, in a rare instance sat on my lap for about 20 minutes!

Oh Forget It! I'm So Weak!

No wonder my kids are such wild hooligans! I broke down and did it. I took them to the pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous drive and I'm sure as the season progresses it will only be prettier. It's just a two lane road with huge trees on either side. The place really was only 10-12 minutes away. At first when I got there I didn't see any pumpkin patch, just a lot of pumpkins. They weren't even arranged on haystacks all cutesy like. I was a bit disappointed but told the kids - oh well, let's just get our pumpkin. I figured that was karma telling me I should not be rewarding them. Then a young man asked if we were there for the hayride, "Um is there one? Sure." He showed us where to go, right next to where I parked. By the way, I'm so observant lately. We got into the trailer, sat on our bail of hay and headed off on our little drive!

So we went on our bumpy ride around the facility. It really is a huge place. I wondered if they were just going to drive around then take us back to the entrance where we'd get our pre-picked pumpkins. As I wondered I admired the scenery, there were goats, horses and just tons of beautiful scenery. It was called a vegetable farm and I guess that is why there was so much land. Isn't it pretty?
I mean really, can you blame me for taking them? Look at what a gorgeous day we had. And it was in the 70's! You just can't beat that!! So we pulled over into one of the fields and it was a true pumpkin patch! Pumpkins everywhere. Ayden was restless so I was busy trying to get a couple of pictures while pointing out the pumpkins to keep him from walking around the trailer.
Our ride became crazy bumpy but it was fun. They pulled us all the way to the other end, dropped us off and told us to go find our pumpkin! It was $6 a pumpkin or $20 for all you can carry. Man, I wish Bobby was there. He could've carried quite a bit. Instead I told each child to find their pumpkin. I warned them to make sure it was one that they could carry. There was no way I could handle Ayden and all the kids' pumpkins with my huge belly.
Ayden found his first.
He could even carry it by himself. It was the perfect pumpkin for him. Seth was next - it was a bit heavy but he really liked it. He showed me he could pick it up so I let him keep it.

Caleb was on the look out for the perfect, big pumpkin. So we'll join him again in a bit. Brooklyn wanted a white one.
The first one she found was nice, but had a hole in it. :( Not a good idea I told her. She set out looking for another. And just look!
Lucky girl! Now Caleb needed his. The kids joined in to help him look.
He looked it over, not big enough...
Finally, the perfect pumpkin. He barely made it. He had to have Brooklyn's help.
That's a pretty big pumpkin! So we got back in the trailer and headed back to pay for our pumpkins. Lucky us, Ayden's was free! It was such a fun day. A shout out of thanks to Lisa M. for telling us where to go! It was great.

Sometimes I just hate being the grown-up

The weather here has been gorgeous. Fall is getting so close and the leaves are gradually changing. I think it's going to be a very pretty fall because we've had the rain that's necessary. At least that is what all the locals tell me. Everyone around here has been decorating their houses for fall and/or Halloween. I've always loved this time of year. I talked to a friend about where to find a pumpkin patch and found out there is one only about ten minutes away! It even has a hayride. My mind was already making plans for our Saturday. Maybe I would even take them out to breakfast then head over to the pumpkin patch and pick out pumpkins and take some cute fall pictures. Oh, it was going to be so fun. Or, as Holly puts it, I'd get my "Norman Rockwell moment". Nothing wrong with that. I also was going to head over to Sam's last night and pick up a few groceries and maybe find a new family movie that we could all watch together.

Then it all blew up in my face. I dropped off the girl who watched the kids yesterday (I had school and they didn't). All the kids wanted to pet the hamster that her sister was holding in their yard and I was talking to the mother so I told them they could. Then they wouldn't get back in the car and Ayden was screaming bloody murder b/c they all left him behind. The mother went, "Oh no Caleb!" I looked and he was riding the motorized scooter in the street, which he doesn't know how to ride and a car was coming. He got to the side and stopped. I told him, "No more Caleb, get off." I turned around to say something and the mother said, "Oh no Caleb," again as he was running into her suburban! So they all piled into the car and I told them that I was not going to take them to Sam's because 1. They didn't get back in the car when I told them too and 2. Caleb crashed the scooter. Ayden screamed like a Pterodactyl all the way home because he was still so angry.

We get home and I said, your chores better have been done. I should have known by the way they ran into the house that they didn't do their chores. The trash can was overflowing, there was a pile of dirty dishes in the sink, the dishes had not been unloaded from the dishwasher and the table had stuff all over it. Not just glasses and such but 'stuff'. So I fussed and fussed and they all begin to move toward their chore area. Then, the worst of it, I went into the bathroom. Someone had gone #2 and had not flushed. That is gross, but in a household this size, it happens. I said who was in here last. Then I was informed by Brooklyn that she saw it and no one would admit it was them - so she left it!!!!! I flipped out. We'd had two girls over, the babysitter and her sister that is Brooklyn's age. I had two guests in my home and this is what they were greeted with!! I was so grossed out and embarrassed. The visit to the pumpkin patch drifted away in a vaporous mist. I really did not feel like rewarding them after the mess they left in the house after being home all day. Not only that but I found out that Bobby had told Brooklyn there was to be no cooking. She said she didn't 'hear' (there is a lot of that going on) and they cooked anyway - making a huge mess. Oh well, so much for my Saturday. I hate being the grown up. I really wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. Here, I'll pretend aren't these photos nice? LOL