Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Home Sick

Amanda has been home sick all week. She has a fever, sore throat, and cough. Today, her eyelids hurt as well. I have kept her home from school. I took her to the doctor on Monday, when her symptoms began, and they told me the H1N1 is what they are seeing, and she may feel this way for up to a week. She has an excuse for the entire week, returning to school on the 5th. I thought she would be going back today, but she woke with a fever again. Oh well.

Believe it or not, she actually cried this morning because she really wanted to go to school. I felt bad that I had to keep her home. So far, no one else is exhibiting symptoms of any kind, so that is good. I will have to keep her home tomorrow, as well, because she needs to be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Haircut


Mandy has been asking me to cut her hair for WEEKS now. She really likes this length. Her hair was very long, so I had to cut off about 4 inches to get this length. Jeffrey's feet are in the background.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

It's Back!!

You may remember that a while ago, Paul broke the screen of my laptop. I have it back now, finally! It will be sooooo nice to be mobile again!

Playing with PSE

I have been playing with Photoshop Elements 7.0 and having SO much fun with it! These are all pictures of Jeffrey taken in the last several days, so he is 6 weeks in all of them. As you can see, he has started to smile!

On the other hand, these are all pictures taken at the hospital, so Jeff is not even 1 day old here! I have been experimenting with frames in PSE. It is amazing how much he has changed in the last 7 weeks, and yet he still looks so much the same. Time flies way to fast.

You Looking at Me?

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Which Do You Prefer?

I always though that I would like for my children to take a pacifier, feeling that it would be soooo much easier to take away than a thumb. My own long-term relationship with my thumb, which I sucked into 2nd grade, was my influence for this thinking. Unfortunately, Andrew and then Mandy both found their thumbs rather early on, eliminating the use of the pacifier forever. Now, they both still suck their thumbs, though only at night. And Andrew doesn't even know he is doing it. I have tried a variety of strategies to eliminate the habit to no avail, lest you think I have not tried.

Jeffrey, however, gladly takes the pacifier when he needs "comfort sucking". He really likes the Avent pacifiers, preferring them over the Playtex one we also have. I hope he does not find his thumb. When he outgrows the need to suck for comfort, it will be so easy to take away. The pacifier simply disappears, whereas the thumb is attached forever.

So my question is, which do you prefer, and why?

Why I Love...

***Consignment sales are awesome, especially if you can find a reputable one. We just got back from "Andrew and Abby's Closet", a consignment sale in it's 6th season here. For $43.50, I walked away with 12 complete outfits for Jeffrey (3 months and 6 months, both winter) and 5 pieces for Mandy.

***Kodak earned major points for customer service today! My Easy Share 5300 printer has been on the fritz lately. It does not print right at all, even after running all of the cleaning and calibrating utilities. I went on their website to run their troubleshooting, and they determined that I needed a new print head. Total cost to me??? $0. I should have it later this week. That is good customer service, and I didn't even talk to a single person!

***Mommy and Sandie are both sending me items that I can use to scrapbook digitally. I am really thinking about selling this service through a website if I can master this technique. It is a really addictive hobby, scrapbooking! I want to thank them both in advance for supporting me in this way. Thanks!!! (Though this is by no means the only reason I love you!)

Friday, September 18, 2009

2 Weeks Notice....

For my sisters.

I am going to clean out the maternity clothes from my closet in 2 weeks. If you would like my maternity clothes, please call or e-mail me. I will gladly send them to you. If I do not hear from you within 2 weeks, I will assume it is OK to send them all to Goodwill or sell them on E-bay or Craig's list. They take up too much space in my closet!

Thanks!!!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Digital Scrapbook Page - Sleeping Cutie


This is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. I think it came out cute. What do you think? It was actually pretty fun to create this page. I used Photoshop Elements. Adobe offers a free 30 day download option. I think you can print out the page, as well, if you click on it.

Smiling


Jeffrey is starting to smile. I took this last week, and he is smiling more and more every day!

The Apple Orchard


Every year, we make at least one trip to Sky Top Apple Orchard in Hendersonville, North Carolina. This year, it took us a little longer to get there (about 1 1/2 hours), but it was still a nice trip. While we did not capture any pictures of the actual apple picking, we were able to get some shots of the Mandy and Andrew in front of their usual displays.
Andrew, as you can see, is just above the 5' mark! He is growing so fast!
Mandy comes in just above the 4' mark. I'll swear she grew a foot taller when Jeffrey was born!
Jeffrey was asleep in the front carrier the entire time. This was the best picture I could get of him, as I was the one doing the carrying!

All in all, it was a fun day. We got to enjoy the beautiful weather and the company of one another. And we purchased some tasty apples to top it off!
My little hams can't wait to go back another time!

Sleeping Cutie

Jeffrey
September 17, 2009

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Growing Up Too Fast...

Andrew is growing up way too fast. 5th graders are allowed to go to a dance on Friday night. Andrew was thinking about asking a girl to the dance. He is WAY too young for this. I told him that I would gladly pick up one of his friends (boys only) so he had someone to hang out with if he wanted to go. I can't believe he is old enough for school dances, though!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Saturday, September 5, 2009

NO GO ON THE HOUSE

We heard back from the Realtor yesterday. Apparently, the offer made on the house was the best the buyer could do. They were not approved for more than their offer. We completely expected this, though, so it was no surprise on our part.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Some News

Well, I will start you with a picture of Jeffrey taken yesterday. His face is much fatter than it was before...can you tell? That's what happens when you gain 18 oz in a week!!! Also, one of Jeff and Paul (Paul was very tired from work), and one of Andrew. I'll post Mandy soon!





It seems that we got an offer on our house today. However, it is a VERY LOW offer, and they are asking for $5000 in closing costs, as well. We will definitely NOT be accepting this offer, as we would lose a lot of money in the process. However, we will probably counter. They will probably not like the counter, however. We have the house listed at 139,900 (slightly more that we paid for it 5 years ago). After fees, we would barely come out ahead at this price. Our counter will most likely be full price, $3000 in closing, and the home warranty they asked for. This will just about break even for us. I have a feeling they won't take it, though. We'll see.

Jeffrey had a doctor's appointment today. After supplementing with formula for the past week, Jeff has gained 1 lb and 2 oz. He now weights 8 lbs, 13 oz! His jaundice is also resolved, so we have graduated from weekly appointments to one next month! I can not believe he is 4 weeks old already. Sunday will be 1 month that he has been with us!

Mandy and Andrew are both doing very well in school. They are greatly enjoying Ridgeview. They are both awesome siblings to their baby brother, as well. I love to see how they all interact.

Paul is still not happy with his job, and it just keeps getting worse. They cut the hours he is allowed to schedule by another 25 per week, allowing him to use only 130 hours. Also, another of his crew gave their notice, and will not be replaced. He will have to run his department with himself, 2 full time clerks, and 1 part time clerk. Needless to say, he is looking for other work.

Other than being tired, I am doing fine. I love having Jeffrey around and can not imagine doing anything other than taking care of my family right now. If I had to go back to work, I would, but my heart would very much not be in it. I am looking into ways to make money from home so I can contribute, but still be very much present in our house.