Tuesday, December 23, 2008   Its been a fun week. I do miss having the kids home and really enjoy most days when they're off school.  The Cmas play on Sunday was so good. I got pics of the boys in their costumes and the adult play made me cry! It was about a family who had lost a son and was asked to take in an orphaned boy.  My mom (who played the part of the mother) even was crying.   Dh had to work all weekend, we got to see him for a few hours each night, but man its been a long time since we got some time together. We did manage to get in some *ahem* time in Sunday though. He's in Chattanooga this week and will have to go back after Christmas as well. (hi Rachel!) he comes in tonight, not sure if he has to work tomorrow though. They were going to have him come in tomorrow (Christmas Eve) and he said NO, he was coming in tonight! FIL is also supposed to be in either tonight or tomorrow. We'll see when he gets here. I think he'll be staying til the new year.   Sarina has stood by herself a few times! No more than a few seconds and she doesn't realize when she does it. She'll be playing with a toy and then just let go with both hands to examine it farther. ;) cute! She's also not been sleeping too well this week. I don't think its her teeth, there aren't any moving up on the bottom, and though her top 4 teeth are showing through the gums, they're not at or near enough the gum line to be breaking through. Not sure what's up with her sleeping this week. This morning about 5 she was up and wanting to get into stuff on the headboard though. LOL!   I'll be taking the kids to my moms in just a bit. They're staying the night with them tonight (except for Sarina) so dh and I will get some quiet time and he may do some shopping I guess. I'm working on doing a bunch of baking! I'm making 3 loaves of PB bread (thanks JennT!) and a bunch of different cookies. I'll be giving them as gifts to my brother, BIL (step dads son) and my sis. And though I love the kids being here, I'll be glad when they're there so I can get this stuff done. Though I really hope Sarina lets me get the stuff done. LOL! Also need to make sure the house is cleaned up for when FIL and dh come home. The kids have been working on it this morning for me, but I'll need to go over it.   Naomi, I was able to read your post in my email notifies and TY so much :hug: I really, really miss being able to pop in and talk to you all. I miss being able to keep up with you all and I know all these babies and bellies will be getting so very big by the time I get back on. *sniff* I'll have a lot to catch up on for sure!! And I wish I had your peppermint bark recipe cause I'd like to add that in the mix of what I'm making! :lol:   I think I have more pics to post, this is kind of becoming a pic journal for now. :lol:   12-25-08 Once again I'm awake before most of the kids. The only exception is Gavin who has sat in here playing on the puter, happily waiting to hear movement from our bedroom so he can come in and start giggling over what's under the tree. LOL! The tree is loaded up, I love seeing it like that (it's amazing how much stuff I can accumulate by finding it through the year and putting it back!) We already know that Sarina likes her new stroller/walker because she was playing with it last night after it was put together. ;) daddy said she crawled up to it saying "Nah-nah nah nah" (which is her new sound and sooooooooooo cute since that's also what Garrett calls her and one of our nicknames for her :D )   10:22 AM Well its long after the gifts are opened and all the trash is picked up and everyone is playing with their new goodies. Gavin and hunter are still enjoying transformers, Canaan is back to playing on guitar hero, Katlyn is decked out in her tinkerbell stuff, Garrett is doing his normal drumming on everything though he did enjoy beating with his new black and decker 'tools', and Sarina is really in need of a nap after all the excitement. Her head is falling over my arm as I type. LOL! They all got new pjs, even daddy and I, last night at moms so we all look festive for pics :D We're still waiting for my dad to get here. I figure it'll be about lunch time when he shows up. The kids are excited for him to get here, they love seeing papa, but knowing he's bringing more gifts of course makes it even more exciting. LOL! The kids are asking if we can go to Chinese today, they were open last year for Christmas but I don't know about this year. Guess we'll see later on. I just know I'm not spending all my day cooking… and anyway all I really have is pizza to make. ;) Oh, FIL is going to take me grocery shopping for my Christmas present! Woo!!! I've got my coupons ready and waiting and I'm going to stock up! :boogie: Dh is watching john wayne movies (bleh) he and FIL have been doing that all morning. Hope we won't be stuck watching westerns all day, kwim? :-p   Oh, I got a 3 bowl crock pot, really nice! I need to stick something in it after Sarina lets me get up. ;) I also got a Bissell Little Green Clean machine, MUCH needed! (and I asked for it). Can't wait to start cleaning up my couch and stuff, they are so nasty! And my best present was my new winter coat! Ooooooooooo, it's so pretty! Got it for $60 too which was $100 off the tag! :D   Mom and papaw gave all the adults cash, so I have some $ to go play with now! There's a diaper bag at Wal-Mart I've been eyeballing, so I may go pick that up tomorrow along with checking out the after Christmas stuff, FUN!   My SIL, Tori (dh's sister) brought Katlyn and I the Twilight books to start reading. I've heard so much about them so hopefully I'll enjoy them. I've also been reading some manga, Fairy Tail and Canaan is ALL into Naruto now. He's up to manga #23 I think it is. He's waiting for the next ones to come back in to the library.   Off to find something to fix. People are getting hungry!   12/28/2008 11:19 AM   We've had a good breakfast today to start off Robert's birthday. I fixed bacon, eggs, pancakes (with cinnamon), biscuits and gravy. Yum!! FIL is also going to be leaving today later on. He and Robert are working on a shelf installation in his semi right now.   Oh, for Christmas, my dad got dh and I a $100 and dh told me to take it and buy myself something! So I have $ to play with! I actually went shopping last night and bought myself 3 new pair of shoes, a 3 pk of earrings, a big pack of turquoise and black bracelets and an adorable brown LS shirt with white polka dots (scoop neck/empire waist) and a pair of "suck 'em in" undies (those gut squishing things that make you look slimmer :lol: ). I spent about $65! *eek!!* Not something I'm used to, but it was all stuff I wanted, especially the shoes. I usually get my shoes from the thrift store or yard sales and mine are all about looking like they came from the thrift store. :cute: I told Katlyn she had to keep her hands off LMBO! I then went OL and bought a new diaper bag from Wal-Mart that's not sold in stores. Its black with white polka dots :D I'll get a pic when it comes in! my Kechi bag is looking rough about now and I need another to switch to.   12/28/2008 9:37 PM   Forgot to post that my first PP "af" has shown, though I attribute it 100% to getting the Mirena put in. its very light, just a pantyliner is needed. Guess I'll see if I get another one in about a month from now. I sure hope not! LOL! I'm used to not having anything til a month after I quit nursing. :P and we're still going strong here, my little nursling piggy. I tell you, this girl has some HUGE thighs on her! LMBO!! I think she has 2 lbs of extra baggage right there :lol: I'll have to get a good back side pic to share :hehe: a far cry from the little chicken legs she used to sport.   OH another great thing! The past two nights she's slept ALL night!!! Two nights of 8+ hours of sleep!!!! WOAH!!! Awesome!!! Course she doesn't knock out til about midnight, but that's about normal for me anyway, so its fine. LOL!   Dh and FIL will be leaving out in the morning. Not sure yet if dh gets to come home for NYE or not either. No biggie I guess if not, at least its not Christmas! We always just veg at home anyway and no change of plans this year.   I'm looking forward to using my new crock pot with the small bowl to make my cheesy salsa dip for NYE, or maybe the cocktail sausages? Hmmmmm……….. decisions!   Katlyn went to Dana's tonight and tomorrow Canaan will have a friend over.   Garrett got big boy undies for Christmas. He loves wearing them during the day (they have dinos on them). Its sure nice not to have to buy a lot of diapers and pull ups! He still wears his P/Us, but only when we go out, a diaper when he goes to bed at night, but lately he's been dry when he gets up in the morning too. Undies are a good thing!   Speaking of diapers, Sarina got a big box of them plus a big box of wipes from papa Jim! Woo! We're set for about 2 months because I also have a box that I'd bought just last week!