. . . All My Chaosity . . .

Since my Dball has been to the Dr periodically throughout most years of his life (I'm generally opposed to going to the Dr if it's not pretty much absolutely necessary) I always figured they would "count" as well-child checks.  They don't.  So both my kiddos had well-child checkups this week. Thankfully Dr. Livingston (whom we've never seen before) said D needs to eat more real food.  And he's grown even since we measured him last month, and at 11 years and 8 months is 5' 1 ½" tall, and weighs 104#. Kupcake is perfect, speaks well over "2-word sentences", and  at 27 months is 35" tall and 30.6#.

sadly, no more dollars here . . . . . I went to my bariatric surgeon a couple weeks ago.  They've promised to call with lab results, they've yet to do that. I called and got some results, but they are extremely reluctant to email the report, or give me actual numbers.  They prefer to say "it's low", or, "it's high".  Very dissatisfying.  And extremely annoying. Here's what I know: drop B12 to every other day (was too high?) A1C - 6.2 (too high!!!) Thyroid (low) TSH 0.02 Free T4 1.27 Free T3 (didn't think necessary to run even though an actual Dr requested) Iron low B1- don't know yet Parathyroid- don't know yet I've started taking iron again, can't recall why or when I stopped, however I think it's helping me be less exhausted.  I guess that's the point.  Lucky me!  Also switched to "dry" vitamin D.  Don't know what that's supposed to do for me, or if it's working. ...

I would like to compare and contrast the controllers of ps3 and xbox360. Strength: In my opinion the xbox360 is a bit more sturdy because it is a little better plastic and its general design is more resistant. Comfort: I also think the xbox360 controller is a bit better for comfort because of its size, weight, and its texture but it is just my opinion. Battery life: I think the ps3 controller is better when it comes to battery life because you can use a rather common phone plug to charge it from the ps3 and u need to buy a separate attachment to do that on an xbox360 controller. Button layout: I also think the xbox360 controller has better analog stick placement but as I usually use an xbox360 it may just be I am used to the xbox360 analog sticks. So in my opinion I think the xbox360 controller is better.

That's just a given, but I thought I'd put it out there. I'm going to try to update my blog more often, just for my own sake ( since I can't be bothered "don't have time" to journal.) I went to the dollar store (the one where everything's $1 or less; not the Family Dollar, or Dollar General, or somewhere else where the suggest stuff is only $1, but most everything inside actually costs more).  I'm pretty sure there's some grammatical error with putting that much inside parentheses, but there you see I just did it.  I'm a rebel like that sometimes. Anyway, I went to the dollar store, looking for baskets to organize the pantry.  While we're talking about that, I see people posting on facebook, pinterest, and Mormon Mommy blogs about their neat and organized pantries all the time, but mine does not turn out looking as awesome as theirs.  Do these people not have food storage?!  Do they not buy stuff in bulk, and if they do, where is...

before I forget.... Miss Kupcake was lying on my bed the other night watching TIGER (Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood) because she loves to watch it all day, every day.  B and I were cleaning up the kitchen, making birthday cakes and cupcakes in the kitchen, etc., when she popped out of my bed and closed the bedroom door. As this is not her usual routine, and she's pretty tricky for a person, when I came to stopping point frosting cupcakes I went to see what was going on in the boudoir.  I was not entirely surprised to find that she was in my bathroom, with the light on and the bathroom door closed as well, rifling through my makeup drawer.  When I said, "Oh no, that's not okay..." she simply responded, "No, ma'am, Mommy.  No, ma'am!" and trotted her sassy little self back into the bedroom as though she had never left. I do love her.  

snagged from someone on facebook... I think they apply to my kid(s), and to adults (me?! horrors!) alike.  I really like them! 1. It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren't I the greatest? 2. I will always know the password. 3. If it rings, answer it. It is a phone. Say hello, use your manners. Do not ever ignore a phone call if the screen reads "Mom" or " Dad". Not ever. 4. Hand the phone to one of your parents promptly at 7:30 pm every school night & every weekend night at 9:00 pm. It will be shut off for the night and turned on again at 7:30 am. If you would not make a call to someone's land line, wherein their parents may answer first, then do not call or text. Listen to those instincts and respect other families like we would like to be respected. 5. It does not go to school with you. Have a conversation with the people you text in person. It's a life skill. 6. If it falls into the toilet, smashes on ...

It cannot be as unbelievable to anyone else, as it is to me.  I had SERIOUS PLANS- I was going to have 7 kids, the first 6 boys, then my girl last.  All before 35 y/o.  When I didn't get my Deuceball until I was 30 year old (after 5+ years of trying, and losing my Logan a little over a year prior), I cut back to 5 kids.  4 boys, then  my girl last.  I had visions of sending her off with her older protective brothers, calling out, "Watch out for your sister!" as they went about their business.  More than a dozen miscarriages later, I clearly was not going to have that many children.  I was pretty certain I was "due" another one, but one keeps getting older and doubts set in.  With all the miscarriages and other "female problems" from the PolyCystic ovarian disease, my patient and supportive OB-Gyn (and Stake President) offered  hysterectomies; which apparently is the only way I could have gotten any relief.  But I always knew in th...

But I seem to stay busy.  All day, every day.  Obviously that cannot be true, but it certainly seems that way most of the time.  ABall is still working at Wachter, though only a 2.5% raise this year.  We couldn't really expect a 200% raise like last year, but 2.5% is definitely lackluster.  He would like to stay local, and also make more money.  I've suggested he get a blessing, fast and pray about it, but I'm not sure if he's doing either.  Maybe he can work it out on his own somehow- we will see one way or another I guess. Dball is in 6th grade and trying to find ways to avoid actually homeschooling most of the time.  He seems to have adopted the theory that if he stays quiet and sweet, I might not notice.  Unfortunately, with the busy 2 year old sister around, it works sometimes.  I'm excited about the new Math and Science for this coming semester though- and the Science is on CD as well, so there should be no excuse!  Kupc...

So.... I have no idea where to begin. Here's what I've been  thinking about today and this week though: Kupcake is 28# now, and chattering and saying fun things (and ornery things) and I'm really liking her.  Dball is still taking his Future Lego League robotics class, they have a qualifier at Harber High School tomorrow.  He never says much about it, but seems to be participating, and I'm hoping he's enjoyed it and gotten a lot out of it. Aball is still at Wachter, has his annual review and got a raise.  So that's good.  Stable jobs make me happiest. This Spring I started getting steroid shots in my back for pain.  The first was uncomfortable, but worked for over a month.  The second was wicked painful- the Dr said it was "really really inflamed" in my SI joint so it seemed like it would be pretty uncomfortable.  IT HURT.  Bad enough that I was humming.  (if you know m very well, you know what that means).  I don't scream- I hu...

Both kids seem to be growing in leaps and bounds, Kenzie has all her teeth as near as I can tell, still nursing occasionally throughout the day, still sleeping between us every night until her room is ready I'm thinking. Bryon's still working at Wachter, thankfully, and we're still homeschooling.  D's taking karate every week and seems to enjoy it.  Bryson's currently, pretty much single handedly, taking all the carpet out of the house and replacing with laminate wood flooring.  I saw the pain specialist last month and got a cortisone shot in my SI joint that has helped.  The pool is more blue than green but still not quite right yet- I'm personally not sure why we can't get it cleaned?! Growing tomatoes and hoping they'll produce, the lettuce we got from someone or other already bolted.  Already harvest apricots and made/canned preserves.  Peaches coming up next!  We're thinking of putting a pergola up *maybe* after the floors are all in.  ...

Making Them Suffer for What They've Done Weekly Tip from the Love and Logic ® Experts When kids misbehave or make mistakes, do we want them to suffer for what they've done…or do we simply want them to learn responsibility? When we slip into the "making-them-suffer" mentality, the odds of success take a dive...along with our relationship with the child. When we remember that "discipline" simply means "teaching," the odds are much higher that we'll remain empathetic...even loving...as we allow our children to learn from consequences. A parent recently asked: Our twelve-year-old son started to make a habit of lying to us about what was going on at school. We did our best to be empathetic as we described how he would have to do plenty of extra chores to replace the energy he had drained out of us. He had to pull weeds, clean up a bunch of old, rotted firewood, clean out a nasty dusty lawn shed, and a few o...

I've been wanting to (buy? get? procure?) subway art for Kupcake's room... I couldn't figure out how all those people were making them, and all I have is 'paint' on my desktop. I've been thinking about it for so long though, I decided I COULD do it in paint, so I sat down during nap time the other day and DID IT. It's all the little phrases I tell her every day- kind of like that Nanny in The Help.  The words aren't the same, but it's the same idea.  I may have to make Dball one soon too. Obviously, it doesn't read "Kupcake Love"- but for privacy purposes I substituted that for her real name  You understand. I'm still lovin' it!

I'm high tech like that. Or.... because tiny naughty G won't let me out of her sight long enough to go to the desktop to post. Seems more likely. Today she's been clingy and whiny all day. Other than teething, I can't figure out the problem. The precious Kupcake at least 2, possibly closer to 3 scrambled eggs for breakfast. I usually make 2 days worth of breakfast at a time for the two of us. Today there is no "leftover" for tomorrow. Maybe a growth spurt is coming? When my delightful visiting teacher came yesterday, she shared with me something I honestly had no idea of prior. Our Bishop has told me that if we purchase a DVD/movie, we can make a copy of it and watch the copy so we maintain a good copy (original) in case something irreparable happens to the copy. Like your kid skates across cobblestones on it, or whatever. Well VT works as a counselor at the school. Apparently a neighboring school district got in serious trouble and ended up paying so...

HALLELUJAH I'm SO relieved ... B was offered a full time permanent position with Wachter, with full insurance benefits (they even pay the monthly premium) and an significant increase in salary. This is a true answer to many many MANY prayers. Today the Sweets and I managed to sell some clothing to the resale shop, have the tires rotated and balanced, register the Avalon and pick up a friend's dry cleaning. Kupcake is still sleeping (for almost 2 hours now), Dball rode his brand new 26" 18 speed mountain bike (gift from Santa) around the 'hood a bit and I've completed 2 loads of laundry and the main fixings for tacos tonight. Hopefully if the kids are up to it we will see the Lights of the Ozarks on the Square in Fayetteville tonight. We haven't seen them yet this year- I'd hate to miss it. It's one of my very favorite things! Hmmm... another load of laundry done!

Kupcake has been asleep for two hours. I figured if I sat down to blog, she's wake up for sure. Expecting to hear her any minute now. :) We made it through another Christmas- with Kupcake! We didn't get the outside of the house decorated, ostensibly because Miss K required constant supervision. On B's day off I generally went to the chiro, caught up on grocery and Christmas shopping, etc. Next year we WILL do better. Christmas wasn't as "bad" as I thought it would be this year. When B lost his job in the Summer, I was concerned. I remain fairly concerned (hence the continuing weekly chiro visits) but he has been working a temp-perm position with Wachter for 3 months now. Hopefully tomorrow they'll do huis evaluation and make him a permanent employee. If not, I'll need additional visits to the chiro every week. If he becomes permanent at this job he will make about half what he made through the postal service, but they will provide and pay for...

I decided many months ago (okay, it might've been LAST HALLOWEEN before she was even born) that Kupcake needed to be a Kupcake Fairy for Halloween this year. :D I found wings and a light up wand (glow stick) at the $ store, and repurposed a tutu by removing the elastic and replacing it with a ribbon so it could still fit my chubby little 20 pound imp. I got a onesie with tulle on it on clearance from Old Navy a while back, but needed a cupcake on the front of it. Considered bedazzling one, but the jewels were too big. The other day I ran across this super cute tutorial - she was making a PINKILICIOUS costume for her babe. So I was inspired and did something very similar- and now her costume is ready to go!! Here it is- in all it's sparkly purple & pink glory (please consider the restraint it took for me to make this in purple, and not in pink....) It was so simple and it's so stinkin cute I can just barely stand it! ABSOLUTE FABULOUS AWESOMENESS!!! Obviously it was...

This will not all be written today I'm sure. My very busy girl really doesn't have time for that sort of thing. She's 7 months old and crawling everywhere- plus she pulls up to stand all over the place now so you have to actually watch her pretty close. So that was an hour and a half ago... :) It's such fun watching her learn new things and grow bigger (chubbier!) but it's also kind of sad to me. I'm not sure I really expected to get her, but since I DID finally get her, I really enjoyed the scrunchy baby part. I'm looking forward to her being able to do more and more for herself, but I also am dreading it a little. She has a strong little personality and gets kind of sassy- even if the boys don't know she's sassing them. Her Mama knows for sure. She just smiles at the boys and coos a little bit and they forgive and forget everything. It's a new day! So I never made it back yesterday... But I've been trying (also in fits & starts...

The past 6 months have been- well, mostly a blur, if I'm being honest. I'm fairly certain I've never been so tired in all my life. Last year was pretty much a wash too- bedrest for 3/4 of it and all. But honestly it's been SO WORTH IT to have this amazing child in our family. I don't want to repeat the experience by any means- but I wouldn't trade her for anything. And next Sunday the little darling will be 6 months old! I am continually amazed. She can sit with assistance now, though she prefers to be on the move- all the time. I can hardly get her to sit still. Celeste claims she sits on the back porch swing and rocks with her for long stretches of time... but I'm hard-pressed to believe it. When she's with me- she thinks she needs to be up and about. The child is up on her hands and knees rocking now, and has managed a few "steps" (similar to crawling- but rather more short-lived). I'm sort of terrified that once she really ta...

but I do have a couple of "announcements" so I better get the facts down while I still remember them. Or while I can still access them on the calendar in my phone, anyway. So my littlest Kupcake is getting SO BIG now. On her 22-wk Birthday (June 6) she finally cut her first tooth- the bottom left. She did not feel all that "better" as I had hoped, but the drooling slacked off a little for a few minutes there. She yelled and cried and carried on at bedtime- I'm guessing it was somehow related to that tooth. Fortunately, for the first time ever, she slept 6 hours in a row that night. It was SO FABULOUS for me! Then 2 days later, on Wednesday, June 8, she got her second tooth (bottom right). Same fit happened at bedtime. Unfortunately she did NOT sleep 6 hours that night, nor has she since. We did leave for Aball's work conference in Hot Springs the next morning though. The kids and I swam in the pool and saw some sights. We went to the Mid America Science...