This Endless Love

CONTEST!!

OK, so I know I don't personally have a ton of readers.... but I also know that many of you do! So here is the deal. I need free advertising... you need father's presents for your husband/father/grandpa...

The blog that send the most hits to www.dreamdesignsonline.com by Sunday morning, let's say 10 am mountain time, will receive a Free.(YES FREE!!!) caricature or kids portrait for dad for Father's Day. My disclaimer is that you will receive a digital file that you can have printed at any photo place, or through snapfish, or even at your local print shop, not an actual print. But seriously- you can have it printed for like $2.... which still saves you as much as $100!!

So tell your friends. And make sure they click from your blog so that I can track it. (and yes, I can tell if it is you clicking 1000 times. They need to be unique hits!)

It is with great pleasure...

That I introduce:

As I mentioned briefly yesterday- Matt has now lost his job for the 2nd time in less than a year and a half. With the economy & job market the way it is, neither of us have had much luck finding full time employment. So we decided to become our own boss. (And are REALLY hoping we can make it work!) 

For those of you who don't know- my hubby is wicked talented, and trust me when I say that I may be biased, but I'm not stretching the truth at all. So as the slave driver I am, I am working his fingers to the bone and tying him to his chair and forcing him to draw non-stop. Ok, not really. I do let him up to use the restroom and change a diaper or two! ;) 

I would love for everyone to check it out. I would love it so much in fact, that if you check it out and decide to order something- if you tell me you saw it on my blog, I will give you an extra 10% off, in addition to any of the current specials that we are running. =)

So please, go look. Tell your friends- Tell your readers! Please? Pretty pretty please with sugar on top?

A month? I don't believe it!

I am fairly certain that a month is the longest I've gone without blogging since I started blogging 4 years, and about 10 blogs ago. This month has been crazy. It's been busy. It's had it's highs, and it's lows.

The highlights, in random order:

• We moved. About 8 miles away, into a bigger house, and well, a house. It is lovely.
• I turned 32. Geesh.
• Kasen is really really really trying to walk. I've seen him take about 10 steps, maybe more, at a time, but mostly it's 4-5 before he either falls or gives up.
• Matt lost his job. Again. Corporate layoffs. Again. This sucks.
• Between the two of us, we have applied for no less than 60 jobs, with one interview for 10 hours a week, $14/hr. This sucks.
• We are starting our own design website in hopes of supplementing some income. It is turning out very cool, and as soon as we fix some of the glitches, I will post a link. Tell your friends!!!!

So for those of you out there with kids in the 2 1/2 year range. Has anyone's kiddo had a stage where said child doesn't want to sleep in his own bed? Brody will BEG to sleep on the couch, or in our bed. Anywhere but in his own bed. I feel bad, because shortly before this stage started he started having nightmares. Which just so happened to occur right after we moved. So I'm pretty sure that he's scared. But I don't know how to get him to overcome it other than to make him, and even if we lay with him, he still screams if we want him to sleep in his own room. (We do move him after he falls asleep, and he's fine. He also does fine for his naps.) Ideas?

Kasen is talking up a STORM! He has about 15 words. His favorites right now are bath, boom (everytime something falls on the floor), cat, and ball. It is crazy cute to walk into the room and be greated with a very loud MAMA!!! And a huge smile. Makes my day.

It's so sweet, I could eat them both!

We have finally figured out how Kasen calls for Brody. I say figured out because he's been saying it for a long time, we just thought he was saying daddy. But daddy is definitely da-da. And Brody is BAA-DEE!!!! (And yes, he screams it every single time.)

When Kasen wakes up, he stands up in his cribs and screams "BAA-DEE!" It doesn't matter if Brody is sleeping 6 inches away or is already up and gone. The yell is the same. Yesterday, I walked in after nap time and Kasen was up and screaming for Brody, who was soundly asleep with his head no more than a foot from Kasen, and Kasen just kept screaming "BAA-DEE! BAA-DEE! BAA-DEE" and just after I opened the door, he screamed again and threw his pacifier at him.

Brody kept sleeping.

So much to say, and nothing to write

You know those days when you watch the news just to hear something interesting to talk about? OK maybe not. But really. My life is so chaotic, and crazy, and wonderful- and yet every time I try to put it into words, I fail miserably. The stress might have something to do with it.

I keep hoping that something interesting will happen, and I'm sure if I scoured I could find some social injustice to rail on, or some wonderful person doing something grand. I just can't scour.

I thought about posting pictures- but I'm not totally sure where the camera is. (I'm HORRIBLE! I know! But at least my kids won't have 200 million photos to sort through when I die.)

But instead I have a favor... I'm looking for good, summer (ie no oven!) recipes. I would actually prefer something that doesn't require a grill either since I'm a little sexist in that I like to leave the grilling to Matt, and he's not around for weeknight dinners.

So pretty please? A favorite summertime dinne?

Kicking my butt

I *should* be packing. I *should* be cleaning. Does it count that the washing machine is running? The dryer is too if that helps.

I *should* be excited that in less than 2 weeks we will be settled in our new home and I can concentrate on decorating and enjoying our backyard, and garage, and bigger kitchen. And I am. But at the moment I am a little too overwhelmed by the packing to be able to fully enjoy.

Sooo.... let's talk about fits. I seem to remember Brody going through a phase like this, but I can't be sure. Kasen has mastered the art of throwing a temper tantrum. He throws his head back, kicks and flails, and SCREAMS. Sometimes there are actually tears. It is as if someone (me, apparently) is pulling his hairs out one by one instead of, say, putting his shirt on, giving him food, changing his diaper. Ya know- anything. Gah! This too shall pass, right?

Must focus on good... OH! I changed my ppd meds. I changed it Friday, and just increased to the full dose on Monday. I am really liking the new one. I seem to have more energy (though the stress of the move may be contributing to that), I am generally happier and less anxiety ridden. I am more patient. It's loverly.

OK- break time is over. I hear chittlens stirring.

Bad things come in 3's, right?

I surely hope that we have now exhausted our fair share of bad news. Last week was rough.

Friday we found our puppy a new home because he was getting VERY aggressive with the baby. I guess the downside of adopting from a shelter is that you don't know the breeds of the dog- and I think Leo had a little too much herding dog in him to be able to handle the baby crawling a little too close to his bones. We miss him, but he is with a great family now and gets to play with lots of other dogs during the day. (His new mommy takes him to work with her at her doggy day care!)

Saturday we learned that a dear friend gave birth to her son too early. She was right around 16 weeks. There's just no rhyme or reason, and my heart breaks for her.

And then Sunday.... poor Kasen burned his hand on my grandma's fireplace. Mostly 1st degree, but a few small blisters too. He has never cried so hard, and I have never felt so bad. He is crawling ok now, but does attempt to avoid using it when he has the option to.

So yes, anyone have good news they want to share? I could use some!

Two

There are many challenges that come with being the mom of a 2 year old. But there is one thing that I love about this age- the inability to lie. For example-

I laid the boys down for an early nap, and after a few minutes ofhappy giggling, Kasen started screaming. When I went up to see what happened, Brody told me "I hit him in the face and he's crying mama." Well, yeah, I probably would cry too.

*For the record,I am fairly certain that Brody had climbed into Kasen's crib and "hit him" while he was trying to climb out.

So it just dawned on me...

  I haven't really said much about our move, other than to allude to the fact that it is happening. In 4 weeks. And I'm not at all organized. Nor do I own may of the things necessary to be living in an actual house where one is expected to care for a lawn. Like a lawn mower. Hmmm...

 

I LOVE this house. Like wicked, madly, crazy in love with this house. I am in love with the fact that we will have a backyard for the boys and the dog. I am in love with the kitchen, and that the laundry room won't be in the basement. I'm in love with the fact that the boys will go to the same schools that I did growing up.I love it.

But the move part is really intimidating. Getting everything there, and set up, and making it a home. It's fun, but with two small children, it's stressful. And it's getting to me.

So I concentrate on how great it will be once it is over. Or at least I try to.

Is it Spring yet?

We had a wonderful day of birthday celebrations yesterday. Tons of fun in the park with our friends, home for some naps, and then out to dinner with MeMa, PapPap, and Mimmie. Mmmm... Mexican!

But I have to say, I could really do for a week or so without germs! It seems like at least one of us has been sick at all times for the last few months. One of us gets it, and just as that one gets well, another one gets it. Between stomach bugs, colds, the flu, bronchitis, and sinus infections- I'm just sooooo over it already! The sore throat I have been battling has turned into a nasty cold/cough/laryngitis/nastiness. And this morning Brody told me he had an ouchie and needed medicine. His voice is cracking, and I wonder if his throat feels like mine did last week. This has not been a fun virus, so I am hoping it's just a fluke. (denial is my friend.)

It has been hard to concentrate on packing, but I have been trying to get caught up on laundry at least, and set aside things that will go to a garage sale once we move. It's slow going, but I have a little over a month, so hopefully I will stop procrastinating and get it done before the week we move. (HA!)

But for now, I have a disaster of birthday tissue paper and ribbons on the floor, and two boys who don't want to share the balloons anymore. Happy Wednesday!