Table!

I'm taking a few extra minutes to post pics of the old/new tables!!

This is the old table.













This is J "helping" us set up the new table.



And last but not least, the new table!!



There's a bench pushed along the wall, underneath the table that you can't really see. Nice set!! (and no, I have absolutely no idea how I screwed the pics up this way. lol)

Okay, NOW!! Good night & God bless!!

Edit: Maybe I fixed the pictures. :) Cross your fingers for me!!

Dixie Melody Boys

We're just home from a concert at my church. The Dixie Melody Boys. If you're a fan of southern gospel, you need to hear them! It was a fantastic concert by a wonderful group of gentlemen. But thank goodness I spent so much time in the south when I was growing up! This transplanted Yankee probably wouldn't have understood two words they said if I hadn't!
J behaved through most of it, despite it going well past his bedtime. I did have to take him to the back of the church at one point, just because he was getting restless. There, he enjoyed pretending he doesn't like the Pastor, as the Pastor tried to get him to come to him. There was a gentleman in the group with the same name (but I don't know if it was the same spelling) as J. Everytime they would mention his name on stage, J's head would whip around like, "What did I do this time?!" Talk about a guilty conscience!
And now, because we got home late, it's later than I'm used to. It feels like it should only be going on 9, not 10. Hopefully J will sleep in tomorrow to make up for tonight! In the meantime...
Good night and God bless!!

So behind...

I'm falling behind in my blogging, and I'm so sorry. It seems as though I've barely had time to breathe this week, let alone blog. Tuesday, M took the afternoon off of work and we drove an hour to a store that is closing. A nice little road-trip, but not really anything that made the trip worthwhile. Especially since J decided to test M's patience, and punched him in the nose. This was totally unprovoked, and did not pass unpunished. I made the two wait in the car while I checked out, before somebody said something stupid to M and I had a fight on my hands.
That evening, after a LONG day (that happens when somebody doesn't get a nap...), we took delivery of our new kitchen table, 4 chairs, and bench! Yay! I took pics of the old one and the new one, and I'll post them soon. For now, I'm too tired (or is it lazy?).
In the meantime, J is doing well, we all are. I'm planning M's 3oth birthday surprise while he bugs me daily about when my parents are coming for a visit. *rolling eyes* Why do I have to have nice parents that my husband actually likes? lol Since they're coming for his 30th, and it's a surprise, I'm having a heck of a time keeping it from him! I've already made up a story about why I want him to take vacation that week. Sheesh...if I can pull this off, it'll be nothing short of a miracle! Expect to hear a lot about it in the coming months as I try to pull off the biggest surprise I've ever tried!!

Good night and God bless!!

How do you handle jealousy?

I had a Pampered Chef party tonight. I swear J was the hit of the party! After us having him on the go ALL weekend, he was exhausted. He took a 3 hour nap today, and he was ready to go tonight! One of my friends has a 7 month old daughter. She's so tiny! Anyway, I was holding her, and guess who got jealous? He had to be on mommy's lap, too! And he wasn't happy about sharing. So that led me to wonder...if M and I do have another baby, how will J take it? He's been the only one, and he gets our constant attention (not to mention everybody else's). So how are you supposed to deal with that? When he can't handle mommy holding another baby for 5 minutes, how would he handle having a little brother/sister? And yes, for the record, I am aware that I am probably way over-thinking this. Obviously it can be done. Many, many, many families (in fact, I might even venture to say "most" families) have more than one child. And I'm also aware that I'm most likely not the first mother to wonder and worry over the problem of jealousy. Which leads me to wonder...why haven't I gone and found a book about it yet? There's bound to be thousands of them. And ALL of this leads me around to...why does it matter when I'm not even pregnant? lol

Good night and God bless!

OPAT

J had his monthly appointment with OPAT (Oklahoma Parents As Teachers) today. This is not to certify me as a teacher or anything, but just to observe him, make sure that he's learning and responding as he should, and give me tips and pointers to help me with him. It's a part of Head Start. He's doing beautifully! The first two pics are of him during his appointment. She brought a laundry basket to see how well he could climb in & out of it (coordination). She was very impressed with how well he did!! (And no, the cup is not empty. It had water in it, and he did very well with that, as well.)

This picture is tonight, at bedtime. We now have a ritual...he insists on being tickled while we're doing the night-time diaper change/pajama routine. If we don't tickle him, he will actually grab our hands, put them on his tummy (or feet, depending on where he wants to be tickled) and then tickle himself, to show us what he wants. As you can see, he really enjoys it!

And that's it for tonight. I'm tired, and it's bedtime. Good night and God bless!

Today was an okay day...

It could have been better, but it was still pretty darn decent. J was in a better mood, I was in good mood. I'm participating in something on a forum called "The Love Dare." Today's was not to say anything negative to anybody. Wow...if you know me, you know how difficult that is for me!! But I've done it! It's 8:20 p.m., and I've gone all day without a harsh word to M or J. This does not mean I did not correct J or tell him no. I merely did so in a calm manner, rather than the screeching I resorted to yesterday (don't even ask...it was not a good day). It's amazing how easy it was, and how much better my mood was as a result! I even got around to cleaning voluntarily before the house looked like one of our wonderful tornadoes hit it. Honestly, it was amazing just how little effort it took for me to remain pleasant (of course, that's not saying anything about all the prayer it took!!).

I talked to my sister today. :) My family is going on a cruise in March of 2010, and they want us to go along with them. Unfortunately, I think we'll be passing. As most of you know, we're trying to get out of debt. We can't really see spending $2000+ for the three of us to go on a cruise for 5 days, when we could spend 1/2 that amount and spend a lot longer in Indiana visiting family. I see his point, but still...5 days in the Caribbean! *sigh* That's just one of the things that tested my resolve today. lol

Anywho, it's time for me to get some things done around the house. I go back to work tomorrow, which means I have not only my own screaming rugrat, but 9 others to watch! Thank goodness it's only once a week!

Good night and God bless.

Welcome to my new blog!

So I've never really blogged before...but my family doesn't use MySpace or facebook, so I thought this might be a good way to keep them up with what is going on with us and J (my son). SOOOOO....as of today, J is 20 months old.

The doctors have diagnosed him with a "mild" speech delay. As a result, we've started listing every word he says. I was unable to give an accurate list at his last appointment because I was put on the spot. She informed me (this was his PA, not his doctor) that at 18 months he should be saying a minimum of 25 words. What?!?! I've never heard of this before! Anyway, at the appointment I could only come up with 14. We're listing them now, and I think he's got around 20. They aren't all understandable, and "juice" and "shoes" sound a whole lot alike, but he's learning!! He also says balloon (bloof), choo-choo (his favorite! any vehicle is a choo-choo), thank you (which comes out something like awawawa...but it's consistent!!), and JUST TODAY he started saying tractor (I won't even try to type how that one comes out)!!

Anyway, that's enough for tonight. I just wanted to get this up and going. I'll try to figure out how to post some pictures soon, but no promises. I do have a friend that blogs, so maybe she can teach me. For now, good night and God bless!