Alrighty then...

Guess it's just me....

Not much to report really. Working on finishing up the semester and get on past graduation! The kids are doing well, Zachary is MUCH better and I am anxious to get him off the steroids. Next week will be the last week! YAY!
Gavin is a cutie patootie, he had his 18 month check up yesterday and he is itty bitty! Weighing in at 20lbs 6oz and 30 3/4 in tall. That puts him below the 3rd %, meaning over 97% of kids weigh more than he does. Not surprising, I would be more surprised if he was big, he's healthy and active so no concern from me or the doc.
Jakeb is doing very well in school, and told me today he LOVES it! So that's great to hear, although he is looking forward to only having to go 2 days a week next week.
Robert has been off this week which is always nice! Although I feel I have hardly seen him, when he's home I think I end up staying gone a lot because it's just about the only time I can catch up on things I can't do while he's gone. So that kinda stinks I hope that once I am done with school that will ease up.
On a sad note we found out yesterday that my grandmother's lung cancer is back. I guess she said they told her today that it's different from before and this type is "Small cell carcinoma" which after doing a quick google on it, doesn't have too great prognosis. But also depends on the stage in which she is in and that I don't know and don't think anyone does just yet. She goes back in on Tuesday of next week for another more extensive scan to find out more info and then will go from there as far as treatment options. She has been feeling badly for quite some time now so this really comes as no big surprise. But is upsetting none the less, so please say prayers for her and my family. I guess we will find out soon where we go from here.
I guess I am stumped for much else....

KNOCK, KNOCK

Who's There???

Steroids SUCK

Just thought I would let you know that...yes they really stink! Zachary has been such a rotten little stinker, and having patience and understanding is proving to be more difficult as the time goes on. He is in his bed right now saying "nooouh, noooo-uh....nooooooo-uh" in this whiney nasaly voice because well...actually he started out saying "yeessss-uh, yessss, yesssss" because he wanted Daddy to lay down and sleep with him, now it's "nooo-uh" because he was told to stop saying "yessss-uh". I imagine he will fall asleep saying it and there is a good chance that he will wake up saying it like he did earlier this week at nap time. I feel like we have all been walking on egg shells trying not to set him off and I am attributing nearly all of this behavior stuff to the meds because while he could definitely be a stinker before not NEARLY to this magnitude and until he's off the meds I don't want to crack down on it just yet. At least he's not screaming and kicking the walls like he did during a previous stand down we had a week or so ago, that one was AWFUL. I have very little patience for that kind of behavior normally so this has been a challenge and so far I/we are holding up ok. I am just kind of letting him have his fit for now because interveneing too soon seems to set him off even more. And now I think he's snoozing haven't hear "noooo-uh" in a few seconds LOL.

Trick or Treating was a great time. Our neighborhood really does ROCK for holidays esp Trick or Treating, I never went much as a child so I always enjoy taking the boys and of course they love it also. Gavin was so cute this year and was very eager to walk up to every house with his little bag and would say "daydoo" (thank you) to everyone after they gave him candy. We met up with Brian and Hope and their boys and the kids had a great time. Evan and Gavin definitely won for the cute factor IMO of course Jakeb, Alex, and Zachary were cute but not the same cute as the little guys. Zachary wasn't quite as eager to walk around but he definetly had a good time once he warmed up to the idea of it all, and he was VERY excited to go. We went for a little over an hour so we got a good bit of candy and the kids were totally worn out. So onto Thanksgiving...which for me personally is just another one to tackle before hitting Christmas! I am not a big Thanksgiving girl, don't care too much for Turkey nor the hassle and headache involved of trying to work out how to concor making everyone happy by being at their house for T-day when really I would rather stay home and eat Pizza and watch movies! Don't get me wrong I LOVE seeing my family esp the ones we don't see very often but sometimes it can get a little chaotic...as I am sure it does at every Thanksgiving for most families. We do manage to have a good time and leave happy. And we never have the dreaded "family drama" so I am definitely thankful for that!
I met my mom today in Gallatin to do my photog assignment for this next week, we had a nice time. Just wandered around the square looking at the old buildings, most of which are closed or empty. My assignment is structures so it was a nice spot to look at various buildings and old structures. And of course it was nice to get out and visit with my mom sans kiddos! AND nice meeting Robert for dinner and hearing all three boys yell MOMMMYYY!!! when they saw me, that is always nice :)
Now tomorrow I get to go develop and again hang out by myself, this time in the nice quiet darkroom..well slightly lit with orange light. I hope one day I can have my very own darkroom, it is my "dream hobby".
Alrighty that's my update for the weekend. Have a good one!

Happy Halloween!

Will spare the novel tonight...just pictures :)

Let the Trick or Treating begin!

The second house

Silly Obie Wan

Not so silly Buzz Lightyear

Mr. Snuggly Bear...I think he found a new love!

Checking out their loot!

Yummy Goodness!

And proof that Zachary CAN make a happy face...this is from Walden Farm this past weekend...poor kid is unbelieveably moody lately.

Hallow-eve

Well everything is slowly slowing down here. I am just about done getting caught back up with school, and just overall getting back on track. It's amazing how taking a week off suddenly throws everything out of whack! Robert took off Wednesday and Thursday so he has been home all this week, he has some training to do from home with a customer but other than that not much going on here. Like I said still working on getting our heads back straight. THe boys are very excited about trick or treating tomorrow, I wish I had worked on getting Gavin to say "trick or treat" but I really didn't even think about it til today. Oh well! I am sure he will catch on tomorrow, he's starting to talk SO much lately it's nuts! We pulled up to the school today to get Jakeb and the second we stopped the car he knew where we were and started saying Jagey, Jagey (aka Jakey) it was too cute...he then also started saying "Ho, Ho.." (aka Hope) he did that last time and I realized today that he is talking about Alex and must have figured out that with Hope comes Alex, thought that was cute and pretty smart! He started saying "Mommy" a few weeks ago and it is VERY cute and also VERY annoying! Anytime he wants anything he whines Mommmyyy, Mommmyyy in this whiney little get on your last nerve voice over and over again. I am trying to get him to actually say what he is wanting rather than pointing and yelling Mommy cause man it drives me nuts. If I stand my ground or have someone else show him what I mean he usually gets it and it least makes and attempt and that works for me, tonight at dinner he started it with bread and I told him to say "bread please" and he actually did say "beh pease" so he's getting it. It's too cute and I love it! Oh! THat's another one he's saying regularly now, "lu you" now that I definetly love!!
So yeah I got to eat crow today...I have ranted many times about how I never understood how parents could actually FORGET to pick their kid up from some place, I mean seriously it's your kid! Yep, happened to me...well kinda I actually didn't forget Jakeb but I did forget they had a half day. Luckily I had called Hope to ask her a question and she asked me about Jakeb (Alex wasn't at school today) and I seriously freaked and panicked grabbed Gavin and ran out the door. I got there right on time, he was one of the last kids picked up but at least he wasn't standing there crying thinking I was never coming which is what would have happened had I not called Hope. Yikes! Mr. Jakey is doing very well in school, last week doing his homework he actually read one of the sentences to me and we both were very excited! He's doing well recognizing his site words and is getting more curious about learning in general which is good especially because he's been so play play play all the time and never had much interest in structured learning. But he's doing very well at school. Even dancing and singing! He really is such a neat kid, I mean obviously I am partial and he does have his faults but he just is great. It's cool watching how his mind processes things and how he works. He and Zachary and Gavin are so different it's interesting watching them interact as well as how they do things individually.
Zachary had his first day back to school today and he did very well. AND super cool thing with his school, with him missing just about the entire month of October I hadn't actually had a chance to bring the payment for October up there and I knew they would be understanding so I hadn't made a trip up to drop it off, so I brought a check today for Oct and Nov. I actually stopped and talked to them and said thank you for being understanding and she said oh, actually we are just going to let you skip for October! How awesome is that!? So now we are payed up thru the rest of the year, woo! I thought that was so nice of them, because technically they don't have to do that and I would pay whether he is there or not. So yay! ANyway Zachary is doing MUCH better. I took them to the playground today and in a place like that it's easier for me to see the areas he is still needing to "work" on or having troubles and really it just seems to be overall strength. He normally could climb up and down everything with no trouble but he just couldn't seem to have the strength he needed to pull himself up. He has OT again next Monday (I goofed on the appt I made last week and made it for Tuesdays..der-he has school!) so I am curious what they say, because I really don't know that he needs therapy but more just time to regain his strength.
Something that has been bugging me lately a bit has been my decision to take him to the ER, I was so unsure on whether to take him and finally just took him because I wanted to just make sure everything was ok so I could calm my nerves. But gosh what if I had NOT taken him, I almost didn't....he could be WAY worse, like completely paralyzed worse and could not recover...that's just so scary! After reading more on TM I see how absolutely horrible it is, and how bad he COULD have been and am so incredibly thankful that he wasn't. I don't understand how a disease so life altering isn't talked about more often, because before they diagnosed him I had never even heard of it. As it sits right now we are in the watch and wait category and will be for quite some time. He is doing ok on the "'roids" most definetly is quite moody but it seems to be leveling out a bit, we'll see how he does when we lower the dose next week.
Only about 5 more weeks of school left! Holy cow! YAY!

ALrighty I am off to grab a movie and some last minute halloween stuff :)

Seems better

Zachary has seemed MUCH better today. He has been almost his normal playful self, which is nice to see again. I talked to the neurologist this afternoon. She was very nice and made me feel better to actually TALK to her. When I called them this morning the receptionist tried to tell me that because he's not been to the office before that he was a new patient and that my pediatrician needed to call and make an appt. I had to explain to her more than once that he has been seen by neurology already at the hospital even then she was like well I am sorry, finally I had to get snippy with her and tell her he was the hospital for the whole week, they have seen him he's not a new patient. I mean seriously. Then she took a message for the doctor and said it may be a nurse to call me back and it could take 24hrs. UGh fine just as long as someone calls! Anyway the doctor called and was very helpful and gave me her email address which she says she checks all day long and that way I can be more in direct contact with her. She said the walking/leg issue could be from the prednisolone being dropped down so much or it could be the disease progressing. I feel it was more because of the steroid being reduced...which either way is concerning I guess. But he was much better today and I let her know how he was doing and she just said to keep her updated and that he may need to be seen at the office again. She also said they will be working on getting another MRI scheduled sometime in the near future to see how everything is looking. So it was good to actually talk to them again and to know I will be able to be in contact a little easier.

Ok well I wanted to update on the other two but Zachary threw the WORST fit he has ever had tonight before bed, I think the steroids are effecting him emotionally quite a bit but not sure if it was that or he was overtired or what. But either way he finally fell asleep and is now whimpering and crying again about the SAME stuff he was crying about before. So before he wakes up the whole house and has everyone freaked out and crying I need to get off here and deal with him. Thanks again for all the thoughts and well wishes for him and us :)

It's just scary...

So Zachary is home and has been doing ok, he's having some issues with things and we expected to see more things appear after we got home but so far it's been fairly mild and mostly things he was having a hard time with before (getting himself sitting from laying down, climbing up on things etc..) Today however he has been limping around and as the day wore on he seemed to be progressively worse. After he got up from his nap though he couldn't walk at all, said it hurt and started to cry when I tried to stretch his legs out. I tried to call the neurologist number we were given but they told me there that the oncall doctors do not call patients back and if we have an emergency to take him back to the ER...which is exactly what I don't want to do and don't know if I should do hence me calling, :Ponder! So they suggested calling our Ped, which I was going to do...anyway. Called on call doctor she said that she would talk to the other doctors and called me back and recommended taking him back to the ER at Vandy. We had tickets to the Shriner's Circus for tonight and have been talking about him going all weekend (ok'd by the doctor before we got out) so I decided that before I take him BACK up there that we would go there because he was so excited about it and after the week he's had and before he gets poked and prodded again. Plus he was in a fine mood he just couldn't walk, but other than that he was happy and playful. Well he had his steroid meds at 3:30 and I gave him motrin in the car around 4:45 and by the time we got to the circus he was able to stand on his legs and hobble around a little. So we get home and he's in a great mood and is walking around about how he was earlier today. We decided to wait and see how he is in the morning and I called the oncall dr to let her know and she recommended still taking him because maybe his dosage needs to be upped or something with the steroids, we debated and debated and have decided that IF I bring him now it would be 11pm before we got there and probably 3-4in the morning before we got home. We tried calling the nurses at Vandy and they couldn't give us any info, it's so frustrating. While we were at the hospital they told us SEVERAL times that he may get worse before he gets better so we don't know if this is just that or something he should be seen for..and part of me wants to just take him in and the other part says to just wait and see. I REALLY hate for him to have to go thru so much again. We have decided to just wait and wake him up in a few hours to see how he is and give him some more motrin. I will call neurology first thing in the morning, this is just so scary and I am worrrying so much I feel sick. Even taking him in will not make me feel better because other than giving him more steroids there is not a thing they can do to make it stop....what if his immune system is STILL attacking his spinal cord, there is nothing they can do to stop it. It just sucks all of it.:\
Please pray that this stops and he doesn't continue to get worse and that the leg problems earlier today were just a fluke.

Well, what a week...

I guess I never made it back for continuing with my last blog...our week got all switched around.
Robert left Sunday morning for Canada, I took Zachary to the doctor again on Sunday morning because on Saturday we noticed that he was walking with his head tilted to his side/shoulder and still was saying his head hurt but not as bad. He had perked up mood wise here and there so I was having a hard time deciding what to do. One minute he would be acting bad and the next he would be ok. On Sunday my mom and the kids drove to Benton County TN because I have a paper due for my geography class and it requires some specific field work there. I figured since we would be in the car mostly that Zachary would be ok, PLUS overall he acted like he felt better so I honestly thought we were on the upswing but still having some odd "side effects". The final breaking point was after we stopped to eat lunch at McDonald's (I know seriously how bad is that but really he wasn't acting THAT sick, plus I am really glad we did or I may not have taken him in). So at McDonald's he was unable to climb up in to the play area. It was awful watching him, it was just heartbreaking because he would get one leg on the platform and half his body but was just almost "frozen" laying flat across the platform half way up and could not get up, couldn't even lift his head up off it. I was almost in tears watching him we didn't stay long and back in the car he was acting like his normal self but when we got out again he wasn't as perky. After some discussion I decided that I was tired of worrying and was just going to take him to Vanderbilt ER to ease my mind. I honestly thought they would do a few tests and send us on our way. We got there around 8:15 Sunday evening, just Zachary and I, my mom was with Jakeb and Zachary. They got us checked in and into a room relatively quickly probably by 9pm. The first doctor we saw suggested it being tortecollis and gave him a dose of Motrin and I think was leaning towards sending him home, I told him I didn't drive all the way up here for that and that I don't want to be overreacting but I also don't want to underreact. They had a hard time seeing exactly what I was talking about, it took a little more observation to see. Another doctor came in and checked him over and said they would be doing a CT scan and pottentially a MRI. He did great in the CT scan, and it came back clear which I expected but CT's don't always show everything so they ordered an MRI. Talk about nerve wracking! He had to be sedated for the MRI and from when they took him back to when they brought him back was 2 1/2 hours, there are several side effects they warned me about with the paricular sedation they used so I was going nuts! We sat in the ER ALL night long. The MRI showed inflammation of his spinal cord which was causing the head/neck pain and the tilting of his head. They ordered a spinal tap, gave him a sedative and a numbing cream and he did great with it, didn't even flinch! The spinal fluid was sent off for all sorts of tests, bacterial and viral and a few others. The tests all have come back clear which is great news! He's been here since Sunday night and is supposed to go home tomorrow. There have been lots of doctors in and out. The neurologists we have seen have diagnosed him with Acute Idiopathic Transverse Myelitis, which is essentially inflammation of the spinal cord from unknown reasons. It was most likely caused by a virus/cold that he had last week and for some reason his immune system in a sense turned on his body and began attacking his spinal cord. I have more questions for the neurologists about it and hopefully will understand a little more after talking to them. We have seen infectious disease doctors and physical therapists and occupational therapists, it's been busy. He's doing MUCH better, poor kid has been thru a lot. They started 2 IV's in ER and stuck him 3 times (1 mess up and 2IV's) They switched to one IV because they other was hurting him, well Tuesday he FINALLY wanted to get up so I picked him up and his IV came disconnected from one of the ports and his blood started running back up the tube which freaked him out, but then they couldn't flush it so they had to start another one. So needless to say he's been afraid to even move. He was real wobbly on his legs at first but is walking around much better slow but better. His neck seems better and he's holding his head ok, the big issue we are having right now that seems will require some therapy is with his left arm(and maybe right we aren't sure because of the IV he won't use it at all) he can't lift it up much higher than chest level, it doesn't hurt him to do he just can't do it. With help he can get it up there but has very little control once it's up. As far as other areas we will have to wait and see once he gets home. The damage to his spinal cord is worse than his symptoms are so there has been some concern that he could get worse before he got/gets better but so far so good. If you google what he has there is quite a bit of info on it but at the same time it's not really very detailed as to how or why it happens. Since all of his cultures have been negative they don't have many answers for us. It's rare and more rare for children. It's going to be a wait and see thing which stinks. Info I have read states there has been a correlation with AITM and later a diagnosis of MS but that is usually when there is more than one occurence of this. I feel like now we are going to walk around worrying which I of course hate! But right now he's getting better and will be home and we can start working on getting him back aclamated to everything again...moving around his arms and everything in general. There is also a chance he won't recover 100% of his strength and ability that he had before which is scary but again only time will tell, UGH!

Ok I keep getting distracted with him and the phone and etc etc so I am going to wrap it up...I will try to post some more details and what not later...really I think I have covered everything. He should be home tomorrow and on the road to recovery. It's been a LONG week!

TGIF

Yeah, yeah it's been a while...what can I say :). Robert was off all of last week which was very nice having him home, and he didn't leave out again til Wednesday and will be home in a few hours! We definitely enjoy having him home, but it does throw a kink in our routine a bit so my days get all mixed up.
We have been doing well, busy as always but not sure what exactly we have been busy doing! School and just running around I guess. Jakeb and I had cavities filled last wee. It was their (Jakeb and Zachary) fall break and of course they all had colds so we didn't really do too much as a family but I was able to get some things done I needed to and so was Robert. Robert has to leave out early Sunday morning which makes for a VERY abbreviated weekend which stinks but he will be home on Thursday of next week so he will get a long weekend next week.
Zachary and Gavin are still hanging onto colds this week. Poor Zachary has been pitiful, I took him to the doctor yesterday morning because he was complaining that his head hurt really bad, then it was his neck and overall just his whole body. He still isn't feeling well but we really aren't sure what is going on, doctor is suscipicious of viral menningitis because of the sorness in his neck and head but other than that he doesn't have the symptoms of it...no high fever and isn't acting REALLY sick. So we are just waiting and watching, which stinks but our only other otpion is a spinal tap and we really would like to avoid that if it's not necessary. Either way prayers for him that this is just something related to the cold he has would be MUCH appreciated.
Eh ok so I got interupted nearly 3 hours ago while trying to do this...and had to walk away so my mind isn't in it now, so I will have to try again later!

Dance baby Dance!

That is what we did last night! Oh what fun! Really, it was! Jakeb on Monday afternoon told me he wanted to have a dance party...yep believe it, Mr. No Dance himself requested a dance party. So I told him that a dance party did of course require dancing, to which he then said nevermind I don't want a dance party, but after so more discussing he decided that yes he wanted a dance party. We scheduled our dance party last night and gosh they were so cute! Jakeb instructed us on our attire for this event...it was to be "fancy clothes" he chose a button up "jacket" aka a button up shirt and his nice shorts, Zachary wore the same, and Gavin wore one of his nice outfits. I was told that I needed to wear a dress..."like the ones you wear out to dinner with your friends" is what he told me...although I have never worn a dress to dinner LOL! Then he said we needed fancy drinks and fancy food...I stopped it there because we don't have fancy drinks nor fancy food especially not 5 min before the party...on a school night no less! LOL. We borrow a strobe light from Hope and cranked up the music and went to town. OMG talk about cute and funny!! Jakeb dance his little tush off and of course Zachary did as well! Another moment of me swelling up with happiness watching them play and dance and just have a great time. Jakeb doesn't dance EVER, in fact the few times I have tried to get him to dance with me resulted in him in tears that's how much he doesn't want to dance so this was a BIG deal! I of course took lots of pictures before and after and video taped...the neighbors probably are wondering what in the world was going on over here! It was so fun!
Now to brag on myself...which I don't know if I do very often...I know in my own head I don't LOL. My photog class is going very well! I really just love it...I want to have my own darkroom so bad! There is something about developing and printing your own pics. Looking at a picture and knowing you created that picture...obviously not the person or the subject but the picture itself, you took, you processed! Speaking of processing...I came across some pictures online recently and the people where talking about the processing of the picture and it just struck me as odd because they are digital there is no processing! LOL But it's different you do process them digitally but not nearly to the hand done magnitude of film. It's just so freaking cool! Don't get me wrong I am all about my digital SLR, but there is something to be said for film. And most professional film photographers are pretty anti digital...many don't even own digital. It's interesting to see the division of the two. The art of it all. Anyway random tangent...so in my class we have critques of our pictures from the assignment each week and everyone (well those who do their work!) hangs their pictures on the wall for everyone to see and the professor to critique. And I see the others and think those are so much better than mine...but he seems to think I do quite well in my printing and picture taking :) He actually said one of my prints was "beautifully done" and looked "just like it's supposed to" the printing quality and the picture. It was so nice to hear! Yay me! THEN in my geog class my professor in there told me I write very well...something that I have the hardest time with when writing papers because I feel like I write horribly! So that was great to hear too :) It's nice to get those compliments! School is going quite well so that is great :)
Not been too busy this week, which has been nice! Just school for all of us, we had lunch with some friends today and Zachary had his tumbling class. Tomorrow is school for J and Z and Kindermusik for G-baby. Tonight I read the boys a book "Bear of My Heart" and it's a VERY sweet book, a new favorite of mine! And I told the boys about it being a Mommy Bear talk to her baby etc etc and when I tucked them in I said "Goodnight Bear of my Heart" to each of them...Zachary's response? "I am not a Bear, I am ZACHARY of your heart" Awww!!
Ok enough gushing about my 3 bears of my heart .....and myself!
Here are some pics from our dance party last night....

Before the "party"...

Again all of us before the party...not sure why the pic got all pixeled and ignore my non fancy hair...this was last minute afterall!

Zachary breaking down!

Jakeb shaking a leg...or an arm!

All 3 of them moving and grooving, so cute!

Spinning each other around

Getting silly!

Not many of Gavin boy because he was a little freaked about with all the commotion and the strobe light! So I am holding him in all the pictures...you can tell in the one of all us before hand he looks scared. We set the timer on the camera and they/we kept getting all excited and running up to it to set it then running off and he didn't know what we were doing and why we kept running from the camera so it scared him LOL! Poor kid! Anyway it was lots of fun!

Have a great few days!

TGIF!

So yeah it's been a week, oops! I have thought to post a million times but just haven't made the time. Robert has been home this week, well he's been working in Hermitage which is just about 45 min away so no traveling for him this week. It's been nice having him here I know the boys are glad to have him home. He had lunch with Jakeb on Monday and Jakeb thought that was just great! He will leave out on Sunday though for California. But took off the week of Oct 1-5 for Jakeb's fall break.
Gavin recieved his very first hair cut this week! He looks so darn cute! He was getting a major mullet so Monday we decided to give it a chop. Doesn't make him look much older but it is really stinkin' cute! I will post a pic once I get them loaded. Jakeb has a half day today and is out at 10:30 so we are heading to the zoo afterward, with Hope and her boys. It will be nice to be able to do something fun with the boys again! I miss having Jakey with us and feel bad that he misses out on stuff :( He's doing SO much better with school, he's doing his work, and telling me things he is learning. All week he's been walking around counting the sylables in everyones names, love it!
Zachary is doing great with his school also and he is learning lots lately! The other day I asked him to spell his name for me (something we are working on with him) and instead he tells me his address! WHAT!? I didn't know he knew that! And it wasn't a fluke he's told it to me and other people every time I ask, smart boy! He's learned it from us talking to Jakeb about it so much, not one time have I asked him to tell it to me! He is the same with our phone number and has that nearly down pat also. He's doing great with learning his name, he gets Z-A-A-R-Y...I have to remind him the C-H but he's getting there! I think teaching him stuff will be easier because of him watching Jakeb and wanting to learn what he's learning.
My school is going well, getting into a groove! I am digging my photog class and am still refresshing my memory on techniques and tricks in the darkroom but so far have done pretty darn well with my prints...at least I am getting good feedback from my professor. My geog class is ok I still leave feeling pretty inept on my geography knowledge but get the feeling most people in the class are in my same boat. Next week is our last class and then we are on our own to start working on our field assignment and super duper long paper that is due at the end of the semester! Which by the way is when I GRAduATE! In case anyone forgot...

I have had a slight cold this week which stinks but seems to be clearing up a bit. The weather has been GORGEOUS, I love it when it starts cooling off and warming up as the seasons change it's great!

Alrighty guess I better get off here and start getting ready for our day :)

Have a great weekend!!

Whoosh!

I think that is what time is doing for me right now...whooshing right on by! The past month or so seems to have just flown by (well really the past 27 years but especially recently LOL). I can't believe it's nearly Friday already...am pretty happy that it is though! Robert will be home all of next week, well kind of home. He will be doing a training in Hermitage next week so that is good!
THe kids have done well this week nothing traumatic nothing too exciting, just a week. This is Jakeb's first complete 5 day week of school, and he's doing much better about wanting to go and we are slowly getting into a routine. Mon/Wed is a bit hectic because of school for me but not too bad.
I took on a massive task today and decided to move the boys bedroom to the bonus room. An idea we have been tinkering with for quite a while now. We a month or so ago moved Jakeb into Zachary's room and bunked the beds...it all fit ok but not great and we just weren't crazy about it. So Robert suggest putting Jakeb and Zachary in the bonus/toy room....no bunked beds, all furniture out plenty of room. I had toyed with the idea a few times before he suggested it but for a few reasons didn't want to do it. One there is no closet and two no door and it seems so far from my room. Which in reality it's like 5 feet further and 3 feet further than Gavin's room is so that's a silly argument. But after numerous complaints from Jakeb wanting his room back and not liking the beds bunked and me not liking it etc etc. I decided to move it. It really does look very cute and it's not done yet. Hope came over and helped me move the dressers yesterday and I took the beds down and put them up in there today. We'll see how they do in there...it's a mighty lot of temptation for Zachary so I dunno how it will work. The room is huge so there is more than enough room for everything....GRRR...I hear someone up playing already...oy vey..patience patience...anyway it looks quite well but that means that their bedroom is the playroom for everyone which is fine because if we didn't have a bonus room that's how it would be anyway. So but the magnitude of this move is so big because the tentative plan is to move Gavin to Zachary's old room, move the office to Gavin's room, and move the TV watching portion of the bonus room to the office. That's moving EVERY room that is up here. But I am not tackling those portions til I know that it's going to work with the boys in the new room. Oh and Jakeb's old room will be for the new baby...no I am not PG yet but that's in the near future so we'll just keep it open for that. And if it doesn't work then everyone goes back to where they were! But now that means patching holes, painting, and hanging pictures etc etc. Essentially a lot of work, LOL. But if it works that will free up so more space and that is always a good thing! It won't work forever because of the no door but they are young enough that its' not an issue and who knows how long we will be here and even at that a door can be added fairly easily. So I guess that's the excitment going on in our house!
Gavin started Kindermusik last week, he really seems to enjoy it...he's not quite sure what to think of all the singing and is majorly obsessed with the balls hanging from ceiling LOL but it's nice to do something fun with him. Even if it's dancing around like a goob with other goob mommies.
My scrapbooking has had to get put on the back burner for a bit because of school, that stinks but gotta do what I gotta do. Maybe once I get into a routine more I can pick it back up but either way graduation in December baby and then I am scot free. YES!!!

Alrighty gonna think about getting a head start on a paper for next week...it's a short one so I should get on it really. OH and I got a 25/25 on the the one I was worried about from last week so that was rockin'!

Hey Mommy watch!

That is what Zachary says to me many times a day and is currently telling me....as he does something that he of course isn't supposed to do LOL!
Robert is off taking Jakeb to school right now and I am sitting for a few minutes trying to decide what we want to do today. Robert leaves for PA sometime midmorning so it's just Zachary and G-baby and I today. I would like to head out and do SOMET HING but not sure what. Right now we are heading towards hour two of Morning cartoons so it's time to figure something out! Gavin I think is starting to hit those terrible 2's and much sooner than his bro's! Little stinkpot....he has SUCH a temper, I must say it is amusing at times because he's so little and tries to be so darn tough. He gets mad and sits down, then slooowwlly lays himself back and then rolls all around screaming. Or he it's at you or whatever may be nearby or throws something or pinches or yeah like I said STINKER! Right now he's mad that I will not give him Reeces cups which are gone and it's just a package LOL. He's hitting at the keyboard so hopefully he won't hit a key and this entire post disappear! I bought him a onsie at Old Navy that says.."Don't let my size fool you!" It's very fitting.
LOL Zachary just informed me that boys are not beautiful, girls are beautiful...I asked him what boys are...he says "CUTE" boys are cute silly boy.
So I had my first developing experience in 2 years last night. It went "ok" I would like for it to have gone better but ah well. I was there for 8 hrs! Which I anticipated so no biggie and while i would rather be done sooner the time does go by really fast. My pictures were grainier than I would like but I think that happened in my processing of the film. And some of my negatives seemed pretty thick so it took a lot of tinkering to get it just right. But I did get some decent prints, they could have used some more work but will work for a first assignment. Our assignment was "people" so of course I have pics of the boys and a few friends. Overall it went ok so that was good. It's funny being in there with kids not only younger than me but in completely differently phases of their lives. It's funny listening to them talk and what not, how much your life changes is quite amazing.
We didn't do much over the weekend, hit the park Saturday and then I did my prints yesterday and Robert stayed with the boys. Nothing overly exciting! Tonight I need to get started on my paper on Cultural Diffusion for my geog class.....again nothing overly exciting LOL!
Alrighty guess I am going to get off my duff and get moving. Robert should be back in a bit and will want his laptop back!
Happy Monday!

YAY for Friday!

Let's see if I can keep this post to a minimum...the last two were a little novel-ish.
Nothing too exciting going on this week. Jakeb seems to be adjusting to school quite well and we are all adapting to the new schedule. Zachary also seems to be thoroughly enjoying school this year which is wonderful! He sings little songs he has learned and tells me about his day, and that is just great! Me on the other hand am not adjusting quite so well just yet. I am planning on going in sometime on Sunday to get my prints developed or at least try to figure it all out again and may end up having to come back on Tuesday but we'll see. I was able to find my notes so I am not quite so moronic and that's refreshing haha. My geography class is giving me a run for my money already...we have papers due each week and while they are not particularly difficult in nature the last one I thought I faired quite well. That is of course until I got into class and began discussing what HE thought it should contain. Let's just say I was ashamed to turn my in...ugh! Let's hope he grades nicely in this class, I know he did for the other! I know once I get back into the swing of things and get a few assignments behind me for both classes I will feel better with it all. But I will be very happy to see this semester over and not only for graduation. I always get anxious for school to start but then once it gets going and assignments start getting due I remember that it's just one more thing for me to do and everything else gets put on the back burner...well aside from the kids!
Robert should be home in just a bit, in fact I am expecting him to call any minute now and let me know his plane has arrived. I know he's glad to be done with Canada for a bit! He's been there the last 3 weeks and it will be nice not to have to worry with that travel.
I let the boys have a treat tonight since it's Friday and they are camped out in the "toy room" bed and got to sit up and watch "Peter Pan". I went in and snuggled with them for the movie and that was nice. Now they are both crashed out. We have a sleeper sofa in there and they always think it's a fun treat to sleep in there.
I am watching my cousin's 17 month old for her tonight. Jaxon...I haven't seen him in several months so he really has no clue who I am, poor kiddo! But he's done pretty well, went to sleep without a peep and other than being freaked out by the dog he's been just fine. Needed some comforting here and there but nothing I couldn't handle :) He thinks Jakeb and Zachary are a riot and they keep calling him Ean. Which Jakeb informed me tonight he would like to change his name to "Ean" because it's such a "nice name" as he says. LOL I watched a friends baby boy last Thursday and they have talked about him almost everyday since then. Zachary has told me several times how he misses Ean and that he loves him...seriously I think they saw him for all of 45 min because they were across the street playing! I guess they thought he was staying longer when I put him to sleep here. Silly kids! Least they love other kiddo's, especially babies!
Mr Gavin is finally getting his molar's in and was a Grouch-O for a good portion of the week. He seems to be perking up but YIKES has that kid got a temper! And STUBBORN whew...but dang he's so little and cute, I forget he's getting out of that "baby" stage. I realized yesterday morning that it is just dumb that I have been giving him bottles....now before you say noooo that's not so bad. Realize this child didn't even START getting bottles like this til he was 11 or so months old. Now nod your head in agreement...yes dumb! He still nurses at nap and bedtime but when I am not here I usually leave a bottle of whole milk for whomever is putting him to bed and when he gets up from nap I often give him a bottle. It dawned on me yesterday morning that I was most certainly NOT doing that with the other 2 and that he is 16 months old and I really should not being doing that with him still. It just never occured to me LOL! The other 2 boys didn't even take bottles and then he kinda started to so I though oooh fun!! haha...so that's my task is to stop giving him bottles like a big doof! That and to try to wean him down to just nursing at bed time. I am going to have Robert try putting him down for napy this weekend sans bottle and sans nursing and see how that goes. I don't anticipate it being that bad actually, he's pretty good about his sleep.
I have tried so many times to get my office in order and I really believe it's just an impossible task. I straighten it and reorganize only for more stuff to get dumped in here 15 min later! It's quite maddening but whatcha gonna do? It's funny how uptight/anal I used to be about things being tidy and no clutter and since having kids...especially now that they are older....I am SO much more relaxed about it. I certainly drives me nuts but not like it used to. It really is amazing how much having children changes people...you think it won't but oh so wrong.

Alrighty....I am shutting up now before I get on some other tangent.... I want to head down and tidy up a bit more before Robert gets home...that and I just heard my cell phone ringing...from the back yard LOL.

Have a great weekend!!


OOOOH one more thing a sad thing to end on really BUT I have been following this little boys story for quite some time, check in on him multiple times a day and things had been looking so well but they posted on their updates that things aren't doing as well and I wanted to send out more prayers for them! So if you have a chance please check out and prayer for Baby Ethan: http://ethanpowell.com/Encrypted.cfm?id=121

Long weekend...

Gotta love it! No getting up at 6am to get a kiddo ready for school, Robert is home for an extra day, and just overall more time.
Robert got home Friday evening around 9:oo or so, he rented a movie on the way home so we stayed up and watched "Pride". It was ok, pretty typical of what he likes to get...wouldn't have been my choice. It was another "based on real life events" movie about a sport team (in this case a swim team) that is sweet, sad, and ends happy. Pretty typical but it was good none the less. I am not much of a movie girl really...I like them but I mean really they just aren't my forte'. I just don't retain anything from them, don't remember scenes, lines...I have been known to rent the same movie twice not realizing we have already watched it. Yeah it's that bad. Don't get me wrong I love curling up on the couch to watch a good movie every once in a while but don't expect me to laugh when you quote lines from the movie 2 hours later...I will look at you like your nuts because I have no clue what you are talking about LOL. So yeah movie Friday night...
Yesterday I hit up Kohl's for a little shopping, spent way more money than intended but what's new? I DID get Robert a much needed suitcase and it's very nice so I am happy about that and so is he...no more dirty looks as he rolls thru the airports with his loud suitcase with flat wheels clanging behind him. I bribed the boys with doing "something fun" for going with me to Kohl's and behaving well AND dragging them to lunch at Jason's Deli rather than what they wanted..McD's--I just couldn't stomach it PLUS ---seriously what's there to decide good fresh food or craptastic food for the same price...pretty obvious why JD's won. So on the way home with a grumpy Jakeb who was mad at me for not letting him eat McD's AND not letting him get ice cream because he wouldn't eat his food AND not taking him to do something fun like I said...I decided we would go swimming at the IL's neighborhood pool. So we headed over there for a few hours with Hope and Brian and their kids. Then grabbed some BBQ for dinner for everyone (they got the drinks LOL) and did dinner with them. Robert and Brian then hung out here and I went to their house...kids needed to sleep! I brought stuff with me to scrap book but didnt' end up doing a thing maybe I wil tonight....maybe I won't....
Today we really have just hung out here...Jakeb and I hit the grocery store and breakfast together this morning. I think he's having a hard time adjusting to being at school while everyone else is at home. He's been VERY emotional lately, like crying and whining when things don't go his way or he's told no...which is really not like him at all. So I brought him along for some "Mommy and Jakey" time, which he always loves. He's been sick too for the past 2 weeks...he got a stomach virus right when school started and has had diarrhea everyday since then so we called the Dr. yesterday and they told us no milk and a very bland diet and so far today no bathroom trips so we will keep it up another day or so. We haven't really changed much other than no milk so maybe that was it and it just wasn't letting his stomach heal.

I have a new title up...I had hard time thinking of something "clever and witty" when I first started this particular blog so it got "Happenings" boring plain and just not what I wanted so I finally took the time to look for some words I like and how to put them together into what I wanted....so denouement serenity...essentially "effect free from stress"...felt it was fitting because for me that is a large goal of my blogging. So it fits for now anyway :)

We are heading to my grandparents tomorrow afternoon to visit and have dinner with them. We try to go visit with them at least once a month, it's my "home", they are a big reason I don't know if I will ever leave this state. Obviously they won't be here forever but I think they are a big part of my anchor to here. Their house, their home is the one place that has been constant in my life, same with them really. My parents have of course always been there for me as well but it's different. My grandparents, Pappy and Grandma, are now older so if I were to ever move they would never travel to see me...it just wouldn't be possible. Pappy is in a wheelchair (has been since he was 26 or so) and Grandma has just gotten to where she likes to be home. They also are proud Tennessean's and I think have helped to instill that in me. We love going over there also, it's so nice to sit on the porch on a breezy day and just relax the day away...I seriously could sit there all day and be just as content as could be, it's great.

So my first assignment for my cultural geography class is to write a paper giving 3 traits of what defines the south...something tangible...not our hospitality or our "niceness". We have to be able to map it...does that stump anyone else? Robert said we drink sweet tea...that's a good one may go with that. Farming...but mapping that may be tough because it's not only a southern thing in fact I am pretty sure in the plane states they may farm even more! So yeah I am drawing a blank, but going to school part time and reading kiddie books full time doesn't really get my "smart juices" flowing. In fact I feel plain stupid sitting in class about 75% of the time. So something school related that IS exciting! I got a letter from MTSU on Friday...I have read it about 10 times it's great...it says

Dear Rachel:

A check of our records indicates you are
currently enrolled in, or have completed, coureses needed for graduation. As of
this date, August 30, 2007, the courses you are currently enrolled in are: Geog
4360, Phot 3110. Should you change your course schedule subsequent to this
review of your record, you may not meet degree requirements this semester and
your NAME will be removed for the GRADUATION LIST.

How great is that!? I KNEW all of this but it's different to see it in writing! It's reassuring..it's really going to happen LOL. Plus for my name to be removed for any graduation list that means it's ON the graduation list! WOOHOO! So awesome. Many, many thousands of dollars, many many semesters later I am finally graduating! I dunno, I Have no big career plans so I guess to some I have spent A LOT of money on something I am not really going to "use" but ya know. I don't regret ever starting for one second, I don't regret continuing on for one second. Sure I may not use it to get a job anytime in the near future...but I have learned a lot just in experience...gained great friends, a great husband, a great life. I think having the experience of college is almost just as important as the darn degree...especially at a young age. I am just so happy that I stuck with it...no not with the degree I planned on but it's still done (almost). I am thinking I MAY get my masters in education...I have always wanted to teach but I Have plenty of time for that I won't start any career like that anytime before all the kids are well into school.

So I am a rambler...I ramble on about nothing of real importance and I am sure for anyone reading these blogs...you notice many typo's, jumbled thoughts, and probably even sentences you have to read several times to discern what I may have been trying to say only to give up and go dang she's (insert adjective here)... But if I see something later that I screwed up I don't change it...one it's time consuming, two I am lazy, and three that's how I wrote it one day if my kids look back I don't mind them seeing my typo's and imperfections....I do however change any I see while I am still in the blog...if I feel like it anyway LOL.

Mr. Gavvy Gav is teething, finally getting those molars in! He's been a bit on the grumpy side and wants me to hold him quite a bit, thank god he's a little guY! Speaking of little Jakeb is down to 36lbs! Which puts Zachary at 2lbs lighter...crazy! Gavin is such a darn cute boy, he LOVES being outside...cries at the door to go out, wants his shoes on all day so he's ready---that and he's shoe obsessed like his mommy--he's talking so much lately. Mostly only things I realize he's saying like "tteeeeeee" which is "please" often when he wants something he just stands there saying "teeeee" in his little bitty so cute you can't even stand it voice. He tries to say "all done" which is more the intinations "ah uhhh" but that's what he's saying none the less. He will tell you that a cow says "ooooo" every once in a while. He points to his eyes, nose, teeth and sometimes ears. He is so little that I often forget he "should" be doing these things. He's 16 months today, that's just craziness. How has that much time gone by, I mean really? For all of them really but I think the youngest it's more obvious. Speaking of youngest we are still debating the timing on #4 one day I am say ok this month is it, the next I am thinking to wait. For now I think we are just giving it all a go and see what happens...I am ok with getting PG now this is the earliest...I have made it over the 2 year mark which was the goal (at least a 2 year difference). We are past Gavin's birthday month which was another goal...don't want them sharing months. I dunno what my ideal time (to have a newborn) is part of me says late June/July because that gives me time to adjust before school starts back part of me says further into the year...either way sometime in the next 6 months or so. Robert likes the 2, 4, 6...8 LOL. And then sometimes I wonder if #4 should be at all but it's more of a fleeting thought I guess and often I think more of a societal influenced thought if that makes any sense as in the reaction..."FOUR KIDS...omg you are braver than I am...or your NUTS" So yeah...obviously rambling here...and have been for quite some time. One day I will do the nice short and sweet blogs....maybe....

Robert is off playing Tennis again, which I am glad for him. Glad he is having so much fun getting out and playing Tennis, I know he loves it!

ALrighty I will stop the typing....Happy Labor Day!