rainy days and mondays...

Sigh, another rainy day here in Louisiana.  But it is in the 60's today, so that is nice.  Well, for now.  There is a cold front coming through so our high today is 70 and tomorrow is 40! No wonder we can't all stay healthy!  We enjoyed a weekend of doing absolutely nothing! I worked Friday night and then didn't sleep very well Saturday.  It was misty and foggy.  Logan has RSV.  So we stayed in p.j.'s ALL day Saturday and Sunday.  This morning Jackson exclaimed, "MOM, we forgot to go to church!!" No dear, just stayed home to recuperate.  He was confused.  It was nice to watch golf, snuggle with hubby, stay in jammies, and relax.  No housework was done even though it needed to be.  Today is Monday and it is raining again.  Got both kids to school and they are feeling pretty good.  I dragged myself to the gym for the second Monday in a row and it really is a good day to start my week.  I did a spin class and then body pump.  If you don't hear from me for awhile it will be because I am too sore to get out of bed, or move tomorrow! :)  Hope you all have a great week!!

sick day...

Logan has a croupy cough so I kept him home from school.  We are watching Tom and Jerry.  He asked me to finish his baby book, which I will try!  3 rooms cleaned so far while my angel lays on the couch with a cough that won't quit.  He said "thanks for making this room sparkly clean!" Gotta love my Logan.  He is my sweetheart, my mama's boy.  I will treasure these "sick days" whenever they come, even if it means I have to deal with a sick kid.  I love the hugs, the snuggles, the slowing down to enjoy each other! sigh. 

WIWW

so apparently EVERYTHING I own is black, white, or gray...must.fix.this.problem...a.s.a.p!!! Yikes!

I

I did get my hair cut and colored this week and was very surprised at the either total shock with color or no comment or noticing at all.  Some people in my life thought I went through a drastic change, while others didn't even comment...anyway, I'm getting used to it. Love the color, haven't decided about the cut.

Jump over to The Pleated Poppy for her  WIWW and enjoy the links!

"BEE-fence!"

 

 

Last night we took the boys to their first NBA game ever! It was amazing.  The boys had an absolute blast! The crowd was awesome and sold out! Jackson was so into the game and jumped and screamed the entire game.   It was a close game the whole time and the New Orleans Hornets pulled off another win by 2 at the buzzer! We were out way past bedtime and it was SO worth it!!

when it's cold...

...we do something inside! see!?

 

It was toasty warm and wonderful inside the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans! We had a great time! So glad we have things like this to visit. The boys LOVE it! And I love it, because they do!

Happy Friday!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

week in review on my iphone!

 

Lots to cover in one big blog post...

WIWW, A Confession, A Thank You, and Some Motivation!

 Okay, so when the weather looks like the above picture, which it did a lot this week, all I want to wear is what is pictured below! sigh, I know...yes, those are matching sweats from too long ago to remember from Aeropostle.  And yes, those are Target's version of Ugg boots that I have been living in this month.  Does that make me a WIWW failure?! Totally defeats the purpose, right? sorry.  Comfort first has always been my motto and I'm not easy to change.

So, I decided to throw on some jeans and this awesome raincoat from Target (last year clearance for 12 dollars!)  A little step in the right direction! Or my hubby thought so when I met him for a quick lunch! Um, the boots are not pictured so you don't laugh that I did keep those on!

 (remind me to clear my counter before I take a picture! yikes!)

 

 So then I thought to myself, why is it so hard to pick a cute outfit? Well, maybe because this is what my closet looks like! GASP!

...and a closer look at the floor.

So I started cleaning and purging yesterday! VERY refreshing! Anything that hadn't been touched in more than a year was out! I was feeling unlike myself and just kept pulling things out and putting them in the giveaway pile.  The pile of empty hangers grew and I felt a rush of something...not quite sure...where did the motivation come from?? OH, yes, nothing to wear to look cute for my WIWW post.

And why does it always get worse before it gets better?? Well I just have to say that I have 2 boxes of clothes to donate and I vacuumed my closet floor last night! WOO HOO!! 

I am really hoping a clean closet will help me feel better and make picking an outfit every morning a little more enjoyable!

Now on to the confession and thank you part.  Confession: I am a little overwhelmed with joy that my follower numbers keep going up!  When I started writing 2 years ago, it was literally a place to jump on and keep track of a little bit of this and that as my life seemed to get crazier and crazier.  Now there are 40 of you followers who stop by and read and comment and I wanted to say thank you.  I am glad, for whatever reason, that you are here and have stopped by and I hope to be a little encouragement or maybe a chuckle or 2 for you.  I was never in the cool crowd...ever.  I always looked in on groups and wished I could be a part of something.  I never even got asked to go to my senior prom for goodness sake.  Well, now, it is nice to have friends in this amazing blog world.  I feel a part of something bigger.  I have "met" so many great people through the Internet and found encouragement, inspiration, joy, and friendship in a very unlikely place.  So thank you to all who have taken the time to stop by...and thank you so much for your comments too, I LOVE them (maybe a little too much) as now, I feel included all because of you...thanks!

moving up the chain...

(boring blog post alert!)

Jackson made a very successful, anxiety free step up in food chaining this week! He is my turkey bacon kid.  He LOVES turkey bacon...hot and extra crispy.  We've tried countless times to get him to try regular bacon.  As recently as when he was in the hospital, it came on his breakfast tray and he refused it in a panic.  This past weekend I bought some center cut, hickory bacon after reading about the terrible nitrates in turkey bacon (don't know that regular is much healthier but that's beside the point!)  So yesterday, without any drama or announcement on my part I just made the new bacon, hot and extra crispy, put it on a plate and gave it to him.  He looked at it...exclaimed, "this looks strange!", then picked it up and ate 3 pieces.  Just like that.  So in hoping that he was indeed accepting of it, I tried it again today and no hesitation, no questions, he ate it!  So nice to have a success after I've thrown out so many tasting foods that he doesn't like.  He tried and didn't like a Nutragrain super fusion strawberry pomegranate bar, and no way on any new yogurts this week.  But we will keep trying! Oh, and a trip to Cane's yesterday yielded a very yummy and successful lunch of their chicken, however ended in doses of Benadryl for itchy rash...oops on the possible egg whites to dip their batter?

And just for fun, a picture of my youngest who has no problem eating pizza and other fun foods!

Jackson eating one of his favorite's

TIME

Yesterday I conducted a little experiment...here are my findings:

It only took 5 seconds to give a hug...rather than look down and keep walking.

It only took 33 seconds to move a load of clothes from the washer to the dryer...rather than walk right by.

It only took 47 seconds to hang up 5 of my husband's shirts...rather than pile them on the dresser and watch that pile get bigger daily.

It only took 2 minutes to make a call to check on a neighbor's house...rather than to drive by and pretend I didn't see anything.

It only took 3 minutes to sit with Jackson and listen to him read a book and make him feel important...rather than tell him to read it silently or to his brother.

It only took 5 minutes to stop what I was doing and hug, kiss, and tickle my youngest and bring sheer delight and joy to his face...rather than say "just a minute" for the 100th time.

It only took about 6 minutes to unload and re-load the dishwasher AND wipe down the counters...rather that stare at the full sink and just wish it was empty.

It only took 10 minutes to whip up some extra fluffy pancakes (thanks Wal Mart for the best mix in the world!) and bacon, invite grandma and grandpa over and have a delicious, wonderful dinnertime that will be a great memory...rather than run through Wendy's drive through...again.

It only took 15 minutes to sit down at our new piano, learn a song, play it proudly, and feel inspired and accomplished...rather than waste that time doing something else.

It only took 1 hour to complete a double spread layout in Logan's baby book and make his day by showing him I'm working on it...rather than make excuses that I don't have time (like I have for the last 5 years!)

It only took 2 hours to go to a new Bible study, learn some very important things, fellowship with other mom's and believers, feel connected and happy, and meet a new friend...rather fill my Thursday morning with meaningless things that won't matter in the eternal scheme of things!


What does your time mean to you!!?

plate not bowl...

For those of you who are new or who are just stopping by, this post is mostly for me but just some background...my oldest is adorable and sweet and kind and also has a sensory processing disorder as well as OCD and most of his symptoms pertain to food and extreme picky eating.  I've occasionally used this blog as a bookmark of sorts to keep up with little victories as well as discouraging mommy times.  In my attempt to change a little something, I dumped his mandarin oranges onto a plate instead of leaving them in their nice little individually portioned little clear bowls.  He always wants 2, extra cold, juice drained and eats them with his fingers (please, no judging, it's a VERY long story).  Anyway, after dropping them out of the fridge and them busting open all over my newly mopped floor, I decided to dump them onto the plate for my benefit...but this is Jackson and this could be a big deal.  There were questions...hesitation...then he scarfed them down like he usually does and that was that.  I love that kid!  He also tasted a new strawberry yogurt, Danibals instead of Dora and survived, but after one bite did say he really didn't like it, and I admit, the texture was very different than he is used to.  He got a sticker on his chart and on his merry way he went.  Baby steps...

update- Jackson was able to sit at the dinner table tonight while me, little brother, grandma, and grandpa ate pancakes, eggs, and bacon.  He ate a banana, bacon, and Tyson chicken fries, all while discussing what we were eating and not being bothered by it at all.  He didn't request to get down from the dinner table or complain about his close proximity to all of our food while he was eating his! :)

List of Jackson's SAFE foods:

-Turkey bacon, extra crispy and hot
-Most chicken nuggets (not mcdonald's) and most chicken tenders, hot and crispy  
-Dora yogurt- strawberry and strawberry vanilla flavors only, must be cold (won't eat it packed in his lunch with cold pack)
-Honey Maid Graham crackers (honey only, either all squares or all rectangles)
-Nutragrain bars (strawberry only) (tried wal mart brand this week but didn't like, good experience though)
-Tortilla chips at our favorite Mexican restaurant with lots of salt (will not eat bagged chips)
-Apples, red delicious are his favorite and has ventured out to gala and honeycrisp. Does not like granny smith and golden delicious. Prefers cut in wedges (esp now with lose front tooth and another one missing)
-purple grapes ( washed with him watching, prefers to eat them dripping wet) has tried green grapes and doesn't like them.
-Bananas
-Peaches in a can in juice (won't eat fruit cocktail), cold
-Mandarin oranges (won't make the jump to fresh oranges), cold
-Raisins- only at grandma's and very rarely (over stuffs his mouth when he does eat them)
-Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream with crushed Butterfinger candy bar on top
-Nestle Kruch ice cream bar
-Coke
-Capri Sun Roaring Waters Strawberry Kiwi (can't get him to transition to any other flavor)
-Apple juice ("green box juice" as he calls it, will only drink Juicy Juice Apple juice)
-Fruit snacks-(over stuffs his mouth when eating this) transitions very well with new snacks based on character likability (batman, spiderman, mario brothers.  He just tried fruit snack gushers with liquid inside and ate the whole package and then commented he didn't like them as much and hasn't asked for them again.  he didn't know they were gushers when he opened them and first ate them)

and that is pretty much it...
-

scrapbooking...

I absolutely love scrapbooking.  I am absolutely terrible at it the past few years.  Why does the second child make things so crazy?? Anyway, this blog has been great to keep up with the everyday things but my poor youngest has been asking where is his baby book when he looks at his brother's.  Like, everyday, seriously.  He gets in the car after school and says, "did you do my book today?" or "is my book finished?" BREAKS.MY.HEART! So last night I finally started it! I promised him I would try to do a page a day or every other day to get caught up.  So I will be spending some cold winter nights scrapbooking away so my little Logan can sit and look through HIS own baby book!

What I Wore Wednesday!

i am a major failure at taking pictures of my outfits, but think about it everyday when i pick my outfit!! if you have no idea why i'm posting this jump over to www.pleatedpoppy.com and see her adorable linky for wednesdays!

ok, RUN, don't walk to Forever 21 girls! I'm so serious.  That place rocks and I have a few new things that I adore. This black jacket is soft, comfy, belted (so I don't look like a snowman), and oh, so warm! It is COLD here in Louisiana lately and I have to admit, I've been wearing this jacket everyday!(30 bucks people!
GO get one!) Changed the scarf though! Here is the most boring wiww ever!

And totally had to include this dressing room shot! size 8 jeans baby!! oh and 75% off the already sale price!! 65$ jeans for 9$!! Can't beat that!  Maurices jeans are awesome, a little spandex to stretch and move with ya! (don't you love the concentration on my face!?)

Now go check out THE PLEATED POPPY! SO FUN!!