Oh the drama.

Drama. . . like high school girls teen gossip drama. And I'm SICK of it!!! Seriously. And what makes me even more sick of it? Is the person that its coming from. You'd think this person would be old enough now to NOT have to do this crap. To NOT have to tear someone down to feel good about themselves, but I guess not.

Things with my mother in law have been strained since the day I married Todd. We used to get along great, but apparently there was something about me MARRYING Todd that didn't agree with her, and things have just never been the same since. I've always felt like she was mad at me for "taking her baby." Since Todd is her youngest, and how she still treats him, it just seemed to fit. I don't know for sure, but its my theory.

Anyway, fast forward over the years. There have been incidents of her sending me emails meant for other people, usually her sisters. She'll send them, and then realize she sent it to the wrong person, and back track by leaving messages saying "don't open that, it isn't for you." Or calling Todd to try to get him to head me off at the pass. Umm, yeah, didn't work. One was while I was pregnant with Dallas and on bed rest, and I had refused her being down there ALL. THE. TIME. She wanted to be in control, and I just didn't need her there. She sent one to her sister saying " I know she's young and pregnant, but I just want to slap her." Yeah. Didn't speak directly to her for 6 months after that one.

Then we fast forward to the start of all this house stuff. Todd had made a comment that "if Jamie could make this house work and be happy, than I'd be happy." (meaning the 1,000 sq foot house we're currently living in and are miserable!) This apparently opened the flood gate for the "trash on Jamie" Olympics. Because for the next TWO MONTHS all Todd heard was trash talk from her about me. It included things like "She's just an unhappy person and you'll never be able to fix that." or "I think you guys need to go to therapy to discuss your marriage because obviously there's issues." This is coming from a woman who sees us together MAYBE once a month? MAYBE? This coming from the same woman who's tried many many things to drive a wedge in our marriage. I have a feeling its so that we would be as miserable in ours as she is in hers. (another long story. She loves her husband, but there are issues) And its NEVER worked. Todd and I are way too strong for that. Always have been. And the kicker of that last bout was that I wasn't supposed to know about any of it. She told Todd in "confidence", and expected him not to tell me. Ummm, yeah. What kind of marriage would we have if we didn't talk about EVERYTHING like we do? Todd asked me not to say anything to her about it, because it would hinder the house buying process (a story I have yet to actually disclose) and he didn't want to do that.

So, I sucked it up yet again, and just had to deal with it. And now, we fast forward to this last weekend. I walked into Church and found a spot in my usual side, so that when Todd is done playing drums he can get to me easily and we can sit together. His mom and Grandma got up from where they were, to come sit by me. As the music is going, she leans over and hands me a check for 150.00 "so that I can take Gabe to the doctor." She then proceeds to tell me that she feels like I'm doing nothing short of torturing my son because I haven't taken him to the doctor for the pooping issues. And, because we're in Church, I can't say two peeps about it. I had to work nursery after that service, so I didn't get to say anything. The rest of Sunday was busy, so was Monday. Last night Todd's Aunt comes over for her weekly visit. This is my mother in law's sister. I ADORE her. She's awesome. She's always told me that she knows what its like to live with her sister, and if I ever need to talk, know that she's a safe place to talk. I've often said to my mom, that I wish she were my mother in law, vs. who I DO have for a mother in law. Just because we click.

That brings me to the conversation last night. I told her about the drama from Sunday and how much that bothered me. Todd's aunt then began to tell me something, like it was something I already knew. So I just listened, and bit back my emotions. Apparently my mother in law told Todd's Aunt that she feels we treat our children unfairly. And that if it were Dallas with these pooping issues that we'd have had him into the doctor and checked out and a solution found. She all but called me a bad mom. And that ladies and gentlemen is where I draw the line. As I told Todd's aunt, we're doing everything the doctors told us to do. We're working on getting him regular, so that we can rule that out as part of the problem. I sit for 20 minutes EVERY NIGHT on the bathroom floor with him trying to get him to go, so that he doesn't get too backed up. I'm TRYING. To make that kind of a generalization about me or my family without even knowing the real truth is just INSANE to me. She really has no clue!!!

Todd and I talked about it last night after he got home. I guess she laid into him on Sunday too about it between church services, but this was the first chance we could talk together about it. She said everything to him just like she did to me. And he told her that she was DEAD wrong. And that he thinks we're doing a really good job of raising out children, and that she doesn't know what she's talking about. I'm so proud of him for sticking up for us like that. We've decided to give her back her check, even though it would pay for an appointment should we need to make one, we just don't want her money. Not like that. No way no how.

Its just funny to me. My mom rags on me (in a good natured way) that I'm too fair with my kids. If one gets something, they all get it (within reason of course!). Like if one kid gets a prize for something great at school, or a reward of going to dinner or something, we go as an entire family, not just one kid. I think we're building family bonds, and my mom just sees it as being too fair, and not giving enough to just the individual child.


Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess.



Sorry for being rambly and negative again. This stuff has just been eating at me lately, and i needed to get it out.

Oh my gosh!!!! NO WAY!!!! YIKES!!!

Seriously people, I'm a little freaked out right now. Sara and I always take the kids to the park at the school right after school. We hang out and visit while the kids play. And today was like any other day. . . lots of older kids walking home from school, little kids playing etc. That was until we say a couple of squad cars pull up to the baseball field at the school. . . ok, you've got my attention. We then see two officers get out to talk to these two teenage boys while a third car pulls up. Ok, now Sara and I are brainstorming what could be going on. Did they rob a house? Break into a car? Get in a fight? The list could be very long in the area we live in. But really, these two boys didn't look like much trouble, so we just kept watching.

The officers asked the boys to put their stuff down, and step back. So they put their sweatshirts down that they were carrying, and stepped back. The officer opens up the sweatshirts and makes some very large hand gestures. So, ok, I thought maybe drugs? Could they have been walking together doing something with drugs??? Yeah, what I saw next had my chin on the floor. Sara and I were watching them, and keeping an eye on the kids to make sure the kids were blissfully unaware of what was going on. And while watching, we watched the officer reach over, and lift up a gun. A GUN people. Then after removing the clip he set it back down, and I said "oh my gosh! Those kids had a gun!" Just as I said that, he pulled up a SECOND gun. GUNS people! As in MORE THAN ONE!!!!! These kids couldn't have been more than 16. HOLY CRAP! Guns, on a school yard. WHERE MY CHILDREN PLAY!!! Do you realize how startling that is??? GUNS!!!!

It isn't that I'm terrified of guns. We have guns. My husband owns 3 hand guns actually. But they're properly taken care of where children can't get to them. These were guns in children's HANDS! ON A SCHOOL GROUNDS!!!!

They took their time searching them, and eventually took off. We sat for about another 20 minutes and here comes another car. I told Sara "I wonder if one lived around here and they're coming to talk to a parent?" Because we thought for sure there was NO way they'd let those kids go home right away. That's a gun, on school grounds. VERY VERY VERY serious. The cop gets out. And then lets the kid out, with no hand cuffs or anything, and walks him to the door. The cop is in there for about 5 minutes, and then leave. HE LEFT! What on earth? No way. That kid just had a gun on the school grounds, and you're going to give him a slap on the hand, and send him home?

NO WAY, NO HOW!!!

You better believe I'll be watching EVERY kid that walks by my children there now. What on EARTH were those boys going to do with those guns? That thought scares me too much to think about.

Yikes.

Way back Whens-day.

I thought I'd play along this week. Its way happier than the post I'll do later, and I really need that right now!!!!


This picture is of Dallas, shortly after he was born. My pregnancy with Dallas was HELL! I almost lost him at 20 weeks 5 days because I was already at 4 cm dilated. We would later find out that I have something called incompetent cervix, and that the only way I could sustain a pregnancy was by cerclage. They were able to put one in, and by the grace of God I was able to carry him on strict bed rest (think ultrasounds, and nurse visits at home strict!) My water broke at 34 weeks 5 days. Poor Dallas and I endured quite the battle that day! They couldn't get the cerclage out, I wasn't contracting enough, so they did many attempts to get the cerclage out, the gave me pitocin, and I went through labor all day. At 9:00 pm that night they decided one last attempt at the cerclage, or it was to be a c section for me, since i was scarred to the 4 that I was when they put the cerclage in. The last attempt didn't work, and I was headed for a c section. At 9:38 pm on May 4, 2001 my first baby entered this world. 6 weeks early, but a little fighter!!!!! This picture was actually taken while they were still working on me. They'd taken Dallas to the Level 2 nursery, and Todd went with. My mom stayed in the OR with me while they sewed me up. It took a lot longer because I felt everything, and things weren't going well at all.

Dallas weighed in at 5 pounds 15 ounces. AMAZING for 6 weeks early. He was in the Level 2 nursery for only 1 week. He was able to breathe on his own (thanks to steroid shots earlier in the pregnancy since they didn't think I'd make 30 weeks, let alone 34!). His troubles came with eating, and maintaining his own body temps. We also had issues with Bradycardia. We knew he had that before he was born, because it was on every monitoring they did with him. He went home at 1 week old with an apnea/heart monitor that he had to wear for the next 6 weeks.
The only "preemie" complication he was left with was a cataract in his right eye that was removed this last summer!!!!

Today he's my big strong 7 year old! Wow. . .the time sure has flown!!!


If you want to play, head over to Twinfatuation and play along!!!

House crap.

Yes folks, today it is house CRAP. I'm so ready for it all to be done. I'm posting the pictures as promised, but they don't come with happy feelings. Today they come with dread, stress, and a whole crap load of other emotions. We've finally hit the wall where its really starting to effect our family, and our relationship. And I will tell you that that is a really hard thing to admit. Todd and I have always been relatively argument free. We've been told by many many people that we make them sick, because 99% of the time we're a lovey dovey, and happy. When we do argue, its over in 10 minutes and we're past it. Last night was rough. Todd's stressed, I'm stressed, and its just piling up. We're entering month number TWO of double bills, and things just aren't looking good for actually moving THIS month either. And that is really discouraging.

Its actually taken me all day to write this, because house stuff just brings the stress back right now, and I so don't want to deal with it.

My apologies for the downer post. I can't promise that tomorrow will be any better. I Have a mil vent that I NEED to get off my chest.

Anyway, on to the pictures

We had dinner at the new house again last Saturday A picnic in all the mess. It wasn't much fun this time though, because the house is SO dangerous for the kids to be at right now.

Todd showing how high the pile of insulation WAS before he cleaned up over half of it. This all came down when they tore the ceiling down on what will be the bathroom. Can you say YUCK?

An interesting trap door that was discovered when they pulled the carpet up in an old closet. It goes to a place that was previously walled off. It was made to fit the exact size of the tile. We're not sure if we're going to close it up, or leave it there, since we're removing the wall where it goes to, and it would be a great pass through, or shout hole for the kids!!!

Three of the garbage bags that were in the room at the time I took the picture of the insulation just up a picture. There were 6 filled, this is three of them, and there was still that whole pile. Again, can you say YUCK?

This is how bare the entire back of the house is right now, where a majority of the work is getting done.

Amazing. . . many amazing things.

There have been things going on here lately that just amaze me. I think maybe because its been just me one on one with my kids, I haven't been distracted with anything else. But the kids have all been amazing me!!!! So I thought I'd share a little bit from each of their amazingness!!!

Dallas:

We're only 1 week into the school year, and already Dallas is amazing me. He said that his teacher gives them the math work, and then tells them to work on it. He ALWAYS finishes early, so he has to ask her what to do next. She replies with "go ahead and color on the back of your papers." So he does. Wouldn't you know he came home EVERY day with drawings on the back of his papers! And then at the end of the week, he came home with "level 2" math papers! He said that he's really enjoying his math this year, and that EVERYTHING in second grade is easier than first grade! I'm thinking it has a lot to do with his meds, and knowing that they're working much better for him, and he's able to THINK clearly this year! The stress is off of him to try to FOCUS so much, and he can just do what he knows how to do. . .be an awesome student!!! I'm so proud of him! He's such an amazing little man! He's got a great personality, and he's a real people person!


Gabriel:

(pardon the goofy look. Hes in that geeky age of not knowing how to keep his eyes open in a picture!!!)

I think of all the amazing, unexpected things that have happened lately, Gabriel amazes me the most! This kid has some AWESOME whit hid inside that little body! And it always comes peeking out when you least expect it. We've seen peaks from time to time, when he says things like what happened a few months ago while he was playing WII with Dallas. They were playing Playground and doing the track races. He went over a jump, and out of the blue starts singing "I believe I can fly". Todd and I lost it! Where it came from we have no clue! But gosh this kids got some funny hiding under all that shy! Yesterday he got me again. Sunday night is always Funny Video night for our family. We all get in our jammies early in the day, and then we hang out on the couch watching America's Funnies Home Videos. We watched one that had someone in a big wipe out. And from Gabriel's corner of the couch comes "THAT'S gonna hurt in the morning!" And he says it completely straight face!! This kid is awesome! He keeps us on our toes!!!! And it is very much seeing his daddy shine through!!!

Kaleb:


Well, if the goofy look in the picture doesn't give away whats amazing about Kaleb, I don't know what more I can tell you. He's SUCH a little ham! He's got this deep dimple when he smiles, or makes a goofy face (you can see it on the side there!) And he's ALWAYS laughing!!! He's everyone's buddy, and he's more than happy to help out. He has a new favorite toy. Its his tools. He LOVES to help fix things. He gets SO excited if Daddy is working on something that will allow for him to help! He just puffs out his chest and dives right in, and when the job is done he's SO thrilled!!! He brags that HE helped daddy! And I think Todd loves the fact that he has a little buddy! All the other kids have been Mama's babies, so for daddy to have a buddy is nice!! But like I said, Kaleb is an equal opportunities guy! He loves his mommy too!!!!


Kendyl:


Ahhhh, my princessy pie. She's surprised us with her GIRL-ness lately!!!! That may sound weird, but we're not used to the swings of a little girl! We're used to happy go lucky little boys!!! Kendyl can swing from really happy to mad at the world in the bat of an eye, and she can swing right back again! I didn't expect to see this so young! But wow. . .girls really are just born this way! She's an AMAZING helper around the house, and she LOVES to learn how to do all the things mommy is doing! She so into her baby dolls, her clothes, and hair things, which of course I just LOVE! And as always its nice to have some purple in the sea of blue! And yes, I say purple! She shares her mommies love of purple, not pink!!! I can't wait to put her room together so she has a place that's truly hers, and truly girl!!!



The Minnesota Weather:

That's another thing that never fails to amaze me! Last Monday we were at almost 90. Do you know what we're at today??? Yeah, that would be 54 for a HIGH!! Yikes!!! We'll swing somewhere near 75 for the weekend, and everywhere in between! this time of year in Minnesota is SOOOOO strange!!! The kids almost need a heavy jacket for going to school, yet when they come home they're ready for shorts!!!! But I have to say, I'll take it for now. I'm SO not ready to see any of the white stuff any time soon!!!


Coming tomorrow, the update on the house.

Awards!!!!!

The love has once again been bestowed upon me!!!!! I have two awards to share today!!! One I've sorely neglected putting up because life has been crazy, and another I just got today!!!!!!



Now, I'm going to break the norm here. I know you're usually supposed to give rules about how many more to pass it on to, but I'm going to break that. I'm going to pass it along. If you're receiving it, please feel no pressure to pass it on! I'm just awarding you because I want to!!!



The first one comes compliments of Christi over at Blah Blah blog. Christi is an amazing woman, mother, and teacher!! I value her friendship, and am very glad that the world wide web of parenting sites brought us the opportunity to become friends!!!!



1. Misty over at A day in my Life, Jaiden and Mason's mom. Misty and I were introduced via a mutual friend. I'd been hearing of her and her little man Mason from our friend, and was introduced to her blog. I love reading her blog, and seeing her strength and courage as she walks down the path of learning how to raise her special little man!!!! You're an amazing woman Misty!!!!


2. Crystal at Oh-Frog-it . Crystal and I have been friends since meeting on a June mommies board when we were both pregnant with our first kiddos!!! The people on the board were nasty, but I got a friendship that will last a lifetime out of it!!! I'm so very thankful to call her my friend!!!!



3. Brenda at The Myers Family. I happened upon Brenda's blog while stumbling through the world of mommy of multiples blogs out there! I love how she blogs, and talks about her kids! It makes you feel like you're right there with her experiencing it all with her!!!! She has adorable little girls, and all in all I just love reading her blog!!!


4. Brianne at The Gibson Twins. Again, I met Brianne through the blogging world. She's a young mama like me, and she also has the cutest boy girl twins! She's a mom who's super on top of everything, and something I would love to strive for!!! I love reading her blog and watching her cute kiddos grow!!!


5. Heather at Outnumbered by the brood. She's funny, she's Witty, and she's one of my great friends!!!! I love reading her blog!!!!


6. Barbara at A tale of two twinkies. Another mommy blogger friend who I love following along with! She too is a mommy to boy girl twins, and I love reading her blog!






The next award I was given came from Amy, at Georumination. I met her through the parenting boards too. She's got more talent in so many areas than I could ever hope to have!! she never fails to amaze me with all she's got going, and how well she handles it all!!!!





These ones are all self explanatory. They're all wonderful bloggers, and I enjoy them very much!!!


Twinfatuation


Our Aussie Half Dozen


Who says 8 is enough






You all have wonderful blogs!!!! Thank you for letting me share in them with you!!!

The plumbing inspector has been through. .

This is the guy who wanted to meet with Todd today at 3:00 pm to let him know EXACTLY what he needs to see in there to pass code, and inspection. Todd got a call this morning from his mom that the meeting needed to be pushed up in the day to 12:15. Todd got off for an hour of work and met the man there. Turns out this inspector is AWESOME!! He went over everything with Todd, and then told him to call him if he had any questions. And to not feel like he was calling too much, he said "I don't care if you call me every two minutes, I'd rather have you ask and do it right, then have to have you re do it!" So that was good to hear. Then he said to call him back when they'd gotten everything to the point of gutted, and he'd come back and help them draw up the plumbing plans (so that they don't have to re submit to the city!!) and come up with a materials list! This guy is going WAY above and beyond, and we appreciate everything he's doing SO much!!!

It does turn out though that the basement bathroom will have to be COMPLETELY torn out. We were thinking only part of the floor so that we could get to the main drain line to tie into for the upstairs bathroom relocation. Nope, not so lucky. Not only will it have to all be gutted and the floor totally ripped up, but they'll have to rip into about half of the laundry room too. YIKES!!! Its turning into A LOT more work than we'd intended. And I'm sure this will only push the moving time frame out even more. But what can ya do? Right?

I'm so anxious to see what its going to all look like DONE! I'm so horrible about waiting for things! Just ask my husband! If I get him a birthday present or something I always wind up caving and giving it to him early because I just can't wait! I get that from my dad! He's the exact same way! So the wait is killing me, and each day that drags on just feels like sheer torture that way. I know the wait will all be worth it in the end, but COME ON PEOPLE!! I wanna SEE it!!

Sigh, I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!! I just wanna open just ONE present, just one to get a peek and see whats in store!!!

Maybe soon.