so....can't think of a cool title

Well it has been a very busy couple of days for me. Gracie and Preston both had a fever on Sunday morning. I blame it on letting them play in the nursery at the chapel...I'm a total germ phobe when it comes to toys and surfaces. The place was very clean, but both of my kids somehow ended up sick. After meds, fluids and lots of cuddle time Preston was back to normal. Gracie is being a little stubborn with getting better. She loves all the hugs and kisses she is getting. I hate my kids being sick, but I love them snuggled up on me verses climbing all over me. On a better note it's almost time for my favorite time of the year!!!!! St. Patrick's Day. Although we won't be in Savannah this year,(spending money on 4 plane tickets and a rental was not budget friendly)I am still excited to celebrate!   

Yikes!!!!

So although I have not updated this blog in a while it has been on my mind a lot. But by the time I can really sit down and have zero distractions I spend all my me time on Pinterest! Anywho...a goal for 2012 for me is to really get back on my blog and keep up with it. I won't try to back track since my last post in October, just gonna start back posting. So tomorrow will be an actual post of stuff going on!

Colbi

Where ya been???

Well, I have been right here! It occurred to me that I have been on Preston's school schedule and my blog has not received any love. All is well, Preston is making a wonderful adjustment to school and pretty much flies out of the car as soon as we get there. Some Monday's are a little rough, but he seems to quickly get back in the swing of things by Tuesday. Most days consist of him telling me what they had for snack or telling me that he had fun. Glad to see that all of our money is going to such a fun day. It does make me happy that he is now interacting with kids around his age, hopefully he will learn how important it is to share!!!! He has yet to master that skill. Overall I am extremely glad that he associates school with fun and i hope this continues for a while. As far as Miss Gracie, well she usually tries to stay at the school on the playground when we drop Preston off in the morning. I think she thinks that she is a big kid! I am really enjoying the time with just us as well. I never get to have time with just her, so I think she really likes having mommy all to herself. Another thing that I like is running errands with just one child. How did I ever think it was a ton of work to go anywhere when I only had one. Don't get me wrong, it still slows me down a bit, but only having to do one car seat and keep up with one kid makes a huge difference. All and all I think we are adjusting to the new schedule, even if that means my bedtime has become super early. Getting up at 7:45 Monday- Friday will make you attempt to go to bed a tad sooner!  

BABY proof??? Nahhhh more like Gracie proof

So like most parents we went around the new place and peeped out all the potentially dangerous stuff in the house and took the proper steps to protect out kids, mainly the youngest from being hurt. I made sure she couldn't reach the strings on the blinds, but up 3 baby gates to block the stairs, put the door knob things on on,  put the stove knob things on, put the lock on the oven, put outlet covers on and last but not least put cabinet and drawer latches on. Well, leave it to Miss watch everything you do and then go and do it herself, she has figured out how to open the cabinets and the drawers! Everyday multiple times a day I pick up plastic cups and bowls(that's all that we keep in the cabinets she can reach)! It is not even a safety issue any more, but an annoy mommy issue! I can't just let everything stay on the floor until the end of the day either. I go and pick it up each time! Yes, I know this is nuts, but messes really annoy me and I can't help it. So the weekend project in this house is to go to Buy Buy Baby and get some super baby, no super GRACIE proof latches for the cabinets and the drawers. If not I am going to go nuts if I have to pick up one more baby bowl off the floor. Times like these I see what people mean by girls being the smarter sex! Preston never did stuff like this. He is all boy and was too busy trying to climb and jump off the counter to have any concern about what was inside! Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........As I write I just spotted a cup I missed!

Weaning....the stuff the books, nurses and no one else will tell you. I WILL!

If you are the type that is uncomfortable reading about boobs being used for breast feeding do not read any more of this post. Go do whatever it is you do, I have never been a modest person and once I had kids any ounce of modesty I had when it comes to the body went out the window so here we go!


I knew from the start that breast feeding was one of those things that I would do, and when it came time to get down to business doing it, I honestly enjoyed it. The bond I made with my baby, looking into each other eyes, seeing that breast milk induced coma of sleep they would go into, the fact that I never had to carry bottles or formula, never having to get up in the middle of the night to fix a bottle, the cute little hands resting on me while eating, the fact that breast milk poop doesn't smell, no period for months, all the extra calories it burned, all the money saved, the health benefits...I'm sure I could continue with all good stuff, but we always here the good stuff what about the real stuff???
Yes, I know this is a wonderful natural process, but no one told me how much it would hurt! No one told me that for months I would have to make sure I had in boob pads so milk didn't leak through! No one told me that if I heard a baby crying my milk would start to let down! No one told me that they had a mind of their own and if they were full the milk was coming out! No one told me that my infant would learn exactly how to pull my top down when they were hungry no matter the location! No one told me that the huge full milk filled boobs would go away! Most of all, no one told me that stopping is not easy. You know how you see women still breast feeding a 3 year old and you wonder what the hell??? Well, I can see how that happens! I nursed Preston for 12 months exactly, I stopped on his first birthday, and while weaning him was tough the first few nights, he still had his pacifier which helped to soothe him to sleep. Well, Gracie doesn't play by the rules, EVER! She didn't take a pacifier, she thought my boob was her personal paci, to use at anytime. Most of the times I would give in, because no one likes to hear a baby cry, and it would instantly make her stop! Well, I attempted to wean cold turkey, no luck! The stamina this kid has when it comes to crying is unreal. So slowly I made it down to 2 sessions a day and then one and finally last Friday I cut her off! It has been hellish to say the least. I wanted to give in so many times especially at 2,3,4,5,6 in the morning, but I have stayed strong! Speaking of strong, this process does not go without pain. As soon as I got used to one discomfort another one comes. I have survived the feeling of the milk coming in, the raw nipples, the engorgement, a teething baby and now I am back at engorgement! The only good thing about engorgement if the huge and perky boobs you get! But, like all good things that comes to an end and slowly as the milk starts to go away, so do the big fake looking tatas. For all those women that are reading this saying this is why they will never breast feed or never did, NEWS FLASH, pregnancy is what screws up the twins not breast feeding. Sure it may cause some unevenness, but the super extra 16 year old perked up pre-baby boobs leave as soon as you get that positive test result. As I look in the mirror at my naked body, I know that it is no where near where it was 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. I may weigh the same, but stuff settled in totally different places. For the most part, I have accepted the changes and I appreciate and respect my body for what it has done. That is not to say that I don't plan on getting the girls done, because I do. But, if I couldn't get them done I wouldn't walk around in a hoodie covering up for the rest of my life! I have loved every bit of this long journey and it is a bittersweet time. As I pack up my breast pump and nursing bras(I can't say I will miss those) and my Lansinoh cream I realize more and more what I already knew, my babies are growing up and my breast feeding days have come to an end. Who knew what a big milestone this would be????!!!!! 


I can't make any promises, but I will attempt to make the next post on something that will not distort your images on boobies, for any of your guys and baby free ladies out there!









  







  









      

Toddler Bed....the making of

Most people that know me know that I am a bit on the crafty side, if it's a way to DIY I am more than likely going to chose that route. Rob on the other hand is the dad that pays ToysRUs to put the bike together or ask if he can buy the floor model so he doesn't have to put it together. Most of the time when I am starting a new project I don't tell him, because he usually responds with,"why don't you just buy it?" Well, we looked and looked at toddler beds for the kids and the one that I did like was a Pottery Barn upholstered bed that ran about $800 a piece on sale. While I am sure Rob would have tried to find a way to swing this purchase, it sounded a bit nuts to me to pay that much. So to google I went and found a perfect DIY guide for making two upholstered toddler beds. I hadn't planned on telling Rob, but I needed his help to get the wood home, so I had no choice. The whole time he asked if I still wanted to do it and that it seemed like a lot of work. Of course it seemed like a ton of work to the guy that asked to buy the floor model of a stroller, but I knew it wasn't that much work. I also had Rob go to the fabric store with me so he could pick out the pattern. Leave it to Rob to find Tommy Bahama fabric that was $26 a yard, lucky for us it was on sale for $8 which is still more than I would have spent, but he loves Tommy Bahama stuff and the kids room is surf/beach theme so it worked. After getting the wood and screws and fabric I went home to tackle my new project. Rob had no interest in the project and went out to shoot pool, he asked again before he left if I just wanted to go buy the other beds. Of course that just made me more determined to get this bed done! It took about 2 hours to complete because kid 1 and kid 2 found a way to play with the bed in every way that was not bed related along the way. Once done I was so happy that everything fit, I had read comments on the instructions I used that some peoples bed did not turn out correct. It worried me a little which is why I did one bed only. I plan on doing the other one in the next week or so. Below are the pics. Preston and Gracie both love it and fight over who gets to sleep in the new bed. Rob came home surprised at how cool it was and couldn't believe I did it without help. I love the fact that with all the pushing and rolling off the bed that happens in our house they have a cushion to bump into and the fall is not far if...no when they fall out! I will do a post of the whole room once I do Gracie's bed and her bedding arrives.

Building the frame

Yup, I let the 1 year old do the drilling

Apparently this is a break dancing stage, ignore the 2 bowls of spilled Goldfish that did not distract them at all

She was not a fan of me adding this

Trying to take it off

Adding the fabric

Thank God the mattress fit perfectly

His new bedding

My Birthday Letter to Preston!

To my precious baby boy Preston! I cannot believe that it has been three years since you came into my life. You are my heart! I remember when I was pregnant with you how excited I was and how good you were. I was able to work up until the day you were born with ease. The labor and delivery were also a lot easier than imagined. I had a natural labor with you and you made this process so easy by getting out of my tummy and making your first appearance very quickly. We immediately bonded and you took to breast feeding so well. I was so scared when it came time to take you home. Although I had been around a lot of babies the thought of being completely responsible for another human life was a bit overwhelming. It didn't help that your daddy was set to deploy 5 days after you were born, but I was so glad he got to see you before he left. The first 4.5 months of your life it was just you and me buddy. I did not let you out of my sight! I even took your bouncer in the bathroom with me when I would take showers! When grandma and grandpa watched you for a few hours I left them a book, yes a book of instructions!  When your daddy came back you quickly warmed up to him! We took you EVERYWHERE with us. You were so well behaved and adjusted to any place we went too. When your first birthday came around I remember being so worried because you still weren't walking, but your doctor told me to give you time. Well, the day before we were set to see a specialist about why you were not walking you decided it was time to walk! You have always done things at your own pace and you can be stubborn at times. You know what you want and have no problem holding out until you get it. When your second birthday came around you did it big boy style in MIAMI! Although we were down there for stuff for mommy and grandma we still had a blast celebrating your big day. Now today, I celebrate your third birthday. I am realizing that the years are going by faster than I want them too at times. You started Montessori school this week and that was a really big step for the both of us. You have always been my little buddy and slowly I am having to let go, a little bit at least. As I reflect over the past 3 years I am a very proud mommy. You can do so much and you are so smart. Yes I know all parents believe their kids are smart, but you really are!!! Already at 3 your have been completely potty trained for almost a year, can sing your ABC's, can count to 30, you know all of your shapes(even the hard ones), know all of your colors, know so many animals and the knowledge you have when it comes to any Apple product still amazes me. People that knew me before you came into my life could not believe that I was going to have a baby, I couldn't believe it either! I know from the bottom of my heart, that God brought you into my life at the perfect time. I never knew what people would mean by unconditional love until you were born. The moment they put you in my arms I knew that whatever it would take to keep you safe, healthy and happy I would do it. Even now if I see you cry a part of my heart aches! At times I wish I could put you back in my tummy and protect you from so much, but I can't. I have to continue to trust that your daddy and I are raising you as best we can so that you turn out successful. Every parent always wants more for their child, and I am no different. I love you so much, I still kiss you a thousand times a day and you still push my buttons to the extreme. But no mater what, I love you so much and with that I say HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY Preston Daniel Marks!

Almost here!

September 9, 2008, He is here!

Sending daddy off

Kisses from mommy

1st Birthday!

And he is walking!

Out at Flavor of New Orleans 

HI!

Baby Boy!!

Handsome at dinner at Ruth's Chris

2nd Birthday in Miami