Donna Messinger

nick

2010-01-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

nick

2010-01-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

Christmas 2009

2010-01-06T19:04:00.002-05:00

Trying to figure how to blog again, it has been way too long. The boys got these slippers for a christmas gift, they think they are scary!

Out of my Mind

2009-07-29T21:56:00.002-04:00

I am so angry.

Tonight we met friends at Stray Dog for dinner, local place right over the tracks. We leave the restaurant around 8, heading home, me pushing the double stroller, the boys just wanting to see a train at the tracks. We get over the tracks, stop to cross Whittaker, wait our turn, then proceed, this car starts towards us, I just stand my ground. Probably sounds pretty dumb now, but we were clearly in the right of way, and it was totally light out. We are right in front of a very popular ice cream hang out, that is packed. This car does not stop. So I stand there, my two boys in the stroller, I was starting to get ticked. Then this KID driver flips me off. He is still moving towards me. Now I am not moving. He finally stops, because he has no where else to go, I am standing 2 feet from the front of his car. That is when I say to him, 'how old are you?' He replies '19.' I wanted to jump in his car and pull his freaking face through his ass. But I didn't, I just stood there. He had traffic backed up, we are on the main drag of town, you know. I am so mad. He tells me in so many words to move my stroller. I just stand there. Then he flips me off again and backs up and takes off down the side street. I hear in the back ground , 'you go Donna', I swear I felt like I was in a Flashdance repeat, you know where the locals take on the other town. I am home 2 hours later, and still pissed off.

We live here in this resort town, I grew up in Indiana, lived in Chicago for many years. Now I live in Mayberry. The locals don't like the FIPS (Freaking Indiana People, or Freaking Illinois People) I have tried to be nice. I came from both places. But I might just be turning into a local Michigan person, I think ...

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-05T12:36:00.004-04:00

Happy Day,

I am on my new lap top that my husband bought me, the boys are playing trains, trucks, bikes and cars in the driveway and my husband is cooking. Do I have anything to complain about, uuuuuh no. And he just brought me out another glass of champagne! I love summer. We were at the pool all day yesterday, even in the rain. We had such a good time, the boys love the water! Evan has always been a big fan, but this year Nick is like a little fish too. He was potty trained last weekend, God Bless my mother! So he loves to pee everywhere, everywhere. Which is fine with me. Little did I know that last week when I purchased diapers, it would be my last time. Maybe I would have had the clerk at Walgreens take my picture or something! Wow, but just the thought of the extra 40 a month, hmmmmm, what fund should that go into ... college, swimming pool, private schools, beer , probably beer. I'm just so happy for him, and he is so proud!!!!!!! He is big like Evan, and that is all that matters in his little world. I love these boys!

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-05T12:36:00.001-04:00

Nick in the pool

2009-06-26T09:25:00.003-04:00

Summer is finally here and we have Nick in the pool. Last year he was afraid of the water, this year he wanted to get in, well with a little help from us. He did need his wings, this his noodle, then his gobbles. But he loves it now. We are so happy, because Evan would live in the pool if we would let him! We love Rocky's pool!

Last night I was downstairs on my computer, I was just getting ready to head to bed, when Nick lets out this scream! And what is he screaming? NO EVAN. Poor kid, Evan is even picking on him while he is asleep! Then Evan tells me this morning that someone had a frightful dream last night, right because of you!

my birthday

2009-06-16T10:24:00.002-04:00

We went out for dinner last night with my parents. The boys were so excited because Grammie and PaPa were here. They were filithy from the day, so I gave them a quick wipe down, changed their clothes and we were off. We had such a nice weekend for my birthday. The weather was great. Diane and Conrad came up, got to spend lots of time with great friends. We went to the worlds largest flag day parade with Mary Fran and Terry. That was a hoot. I had the kids all dressed in red, white and blue. Every float was throwing out candy, Evan loved it. Nick met a little girl and sat with her during most of the parade, just like no big deal mom.

Evan is in vacation bible camp this week, he loves it. When I picked him up yesterday and was asking him questions, the first thing he wanted to tell me was that there were no girls in his class, just boys. But we played trucks. I never know with that one, what he is going to say next. Took him to the Dr. yesterday, he passed his hearing test, now he is all ready for pre-school. The Dr. mentions how he was not shy at all, not most of the time. This kid never is quiet.

Gotta run, need to go and pick him up.

My little Nicky

2009-05-01T15:02:00.002-04:00

These pictures were taken back in March. We were celebrating Nick's Gotcha Day. Two years already that he was placed in our arms forever, seems like a million years ago. We made red velvet cup cakes that day, as you can see the boys were quite excited. Anything with sugar!

Nick came home as such a quiet little guy, I really thought he was going to be quite reserved and shy. BOY, OH BOY, was I wrong. He is the total instigator. The boys go down for naps at 2:00 each day. Evan has been a great nap taker for me most of the time, he sometimes screams his head off, but he will not get out of his bed and he used to always take a nap. Until, little brother Nick started sleeping in a toddler bed. There is no keeping that kid in a bed, unless he is exhausted. So I put them down, and Nick will pretend that he is tired and even close his eyes when I leave the room. Most days before I am all the way downstairs, I hear his fast little footsteps down the hallway to Evan's room. It is only about 15 steps, but the way he runs, in such a fast stride, I can always hear him. So the other day, I heard him go into Evan's room and I heard them playing and laughing. I had told them before nap time, that if they did not nap, we were not going to go to the library that day. They love to go to the library. So I go up the first time, Nick is standing in Evan's room, Evan heard me coming down the hall, he has jumped back in bed by now. But Nick is standing there jumping like he is on a trampoline, jeez. I march him down the hall, tell him to take a nap. He starts to cry and tell me why he does not want to take a nap, he tells me over and over and over. I head back downstairs. I hear Nick on his little flight down the hallway. So Evan starts yelling at Nick telling him to take a nap, I can hear all of this from downstairs. Nick just keeps yelling NO back at Evan. Then Evan yells down to me that Nick will not take a nap. He yells this over and over and over and over. So I march up the stairs to make sure my footsteps are heard this time. Evan in still yelling. I open his door and say, 'what is going on in here?' Like I don't know??? Evan's eyes are as big as saucers, he has the blankets pulled all the way up to his chin. He says to me, 'Nick will not take a nap.' I say that he does not need to worry about Nick, he just needs to go to sleep. He looks up at me and says, 'but look!' He pulls down the covers and there is Nick, laying up against him with the biggest grin on his face! I swear, I was trying to act mad, but those boys. Nick is going to be a holy terror!!!!!

Now they are coming downstairs from a nap that they did not take! They always come up to me and tell me what a nice nap they had, especially Nick. I would love to have a video cam in Evan's bedroom, just to watch them. So no naps today, that means cranky later and early to bed. Fine with me.

Evan wants to watch a movie, I tell him under on condition, 'what is a condition' he says. I tell him that he has to do something for me, but that I will give him a hint. It starts with a H, which is the hhhh sound, and ends with a G, which in the gggg sound. He yells out 'MOVIE.' Not quite. So they are watching a Thomas Christmas movie!

Is it Spring?

2009-04-23T15:46:00.002-04:00

I think it might just be Spring. Trying not to get too excited, I did still have the boys in double layers at the park today. I rode my bike to the park today with one of those carts things on the back, with both the boys in it, a bunch of toys, lunch and a blanket. I thought I was going to die!!! I have not been on my bike since 2 years ago! Holy crap. Mayberry is all hills. I was in the lowest gear possible and panting like a dog in heat. And Evan says, 'this is fun mommy, thanks for the bike ride'. Sure, no problem. I guess I should be teaching him CPR. Just in case he needs to be mommy's little helper. I was so afraid somebody was going to pull along side me and bust a gut laughing!!

I have no new pictures to post, I finally got my computer fixed and have not downloaded the camera stuff yet, I am behind already and it is not really even Spring.

It was all over the news today about that woman who kicked her 10 year old kid out of the car. I swear that was me yesterday! Except Evan is 4, we were not in downtown NY, and we were walking, but it was me. The boys wanted to go on a walk, ok, fine with me. Well Evan wanted to take his trike and Nick wanted to take his tractor. Fine with me. Half way into the walk, Evan decides he wants to take a different way, and he just takes off walking. Luckily at this area there were sidewalks. Most of Mayberry has no side walks, including our street. Anyway, I let him take off, Nick and I just keep going, and he got a little ways away, and I was behind this big pine tree, then he could not see me. Then he came running. But only came running because he was going to try and pull me in the direction that he wanted to go. Don't think so. Nick is just sitting there the whole time on his tractor. Evan is having a major meltdown. Also luckily for me, we were down by the railroad tracks, so not too many people around. So I just stood there. Then he decides that he wants to leave his trike. Fine with me too. So we start walking away, then he starts screaming that he wants his trike. Well, then go get it. Then he gets to his trike and decides to sit down and scream. oh geez. We finally got home. He said that he was sorry and that when he got home he wanted a Popsicle, sure you do. We came inside and the boys took a nap. So I can imagine that ladies frustration yesterday, but leaving her where she did, wow.

We spent a great weekend in Wabash for Greek Easter. Evan asked me when we got home, 'how come some people call Grammie Norma?' My mom, I thought that was so funny. Then he says just like you and daddy, Donna and Michael. right. So later, he tries to call me Donna, he wanted a cookie or something, 'Hey Donna, can you get me a cookie?' Don't think so.

I should nap while they are down, my body needs a really hot tub!

Happy St. Patty's Day

2009-03-19T16:50:00.002-04:00

Happy St. Patty's Day, only 3 days late! I haven't even posted from our wonderful vacation yet, I think. I can't remember. The boys are watching Lighting McQueen on the big screen, their new favorite movie. I wonder if Thomas is going to get lost, I sure hope not.

I have been ordering pictures today, I found this site that has free shipping for the month, they only charge .08 cents per picture, but they nail you on the shipping, so this is a good deal. Site is www.clarkcolor.com. So I have been looking at old pictures, they are so sweet. I love it now how everything is so easy with a digital camera. But I still love the old fashioned way, where you actually get all your shots printed, even if they are just a mound of black hair. That's how half of my photos are, the boys always seem to move their heads. These posted today were taken on the 17th. I bought these shirts forever ago, they still don't really fit them, but I thought it would be cute for the holiday.

I have been singing the old song, 'I'd do anything for you Dear anything, for you Dear anything I'd do.' Remember that old song, my mom used to sing it to us. So I replace all the words and make all these silly sayings, and they always say do another one. So the other day I was singing in the kitchen and Evan comes up to me and says, 'mom, would you do anything for me?' I look at him, I am expecting him to say that he wants a cookie or something. I said that sure I would do anything for you. So he says, 'can you give me a hug?' How about a million of them? He is so sweet ... most of the time.

We went to see the doctor yesterday. Evan has been running a fever and both the boys have coal miners cough. So after we leave the doctor, Evan tells me that he saw 3 doctors today. I said, no you just went to one doctor. He quickly corrected me, 'the doctor that got me weighed (nurse), the doctor that looked in my ears (doctor) and the doctor who gave me the stickers (receptionist).'

Well, off to the kitchen. I am making BBQ chicken for dinner tonight, doesn't that sound exciting??

Hey mom ...

2009-03-03T21:33:00.002-05:00

Hey mom have you ever seen an alligator play ping pong? That was Evan's question to me while we on vacation, well one of his questions. He has several everyday. Today he asked me if I had ever seen a bird wearing gloves?? Who knows how that brain of his works?

We had a great time on our vacation, Evan even told me that it was his best vacation ever! We went to the beach almost everyday, we were in the sun and warm weather everyday, it was so nice. I have tons of pictures to post, but I am using Mike's laptop, so that means no pictures. I will post some. We let the boys have ice cream everyday at lunch, they loved that. Nobody got sick on Aunt Sandy's brand new furniture, yeah. We got to spend lots of time with family, that was so nice. On our last morning there, Nick decided that he wanted to get up at 4 am. So I got up with him, turned on the TV, trying to find some kid friendly info-mercial, trying to keep him quiet for everyone else who was sleeping. I finally had him somewhat settled down, around 7:30ish, I heard foot steps upstairs. Then Scott came downstairs to let the dog out. He said 'good morning' to Nick and I. Nick heard his voice and thought it was Mike. So he starts yelling out for daddy, 'cause anyone who knows Nick, knows that he is a daddy's boy. Anyway, Uncle Scott says, 'no Nick it is not daddy, it is Uncle Scott'. That just made Nick madder. He heard that Messinger voice and he wanted his dad. Scott had to come over to the couch where there was more light, and talk to Nick so that Nick could see him, so that he could see it was not daddy. wow.

We had such a good stay, needless to say, I did not want to come home to cold Mayberry. But I did, we are getting used to the cold weather again. Now just hoping and praying for sunshine. Evan wants to get back out in his sandbox so bad. We will get there.

I will post again, when I can put some pictures on.

Mom did you know ... 2

2009-02-10T20:47:00.002-05:00

Today, mom did you know that sometimes a mouse can go right through the wall without hitting anything? No I did not know that.

We played flash light hide-n-seek again tonight. Evan had been asking to play since about noon. Looking out the window at 5 PM, it was still light out, and I was so excited, getting closer to summer and more daylight. Yeah. So after dinner, we played hide-n-seek. Just goes to show you that kids always just like the simplest things, a 50 cent flashlight and playing with mom and dad.

We had MOPS today, it was the best. It was SPA day, how nice. First we went to a chocolate fountain with all this food to dip in it, then to a massage, then to a manicure, then visiting time, then a craft. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I actually felt kinda guilt having so much fun, but then I thought, this is supposed to be my time. My kids are happy, I am enjoying time with wonderful women, I just need to enjoy. So that is what I did. I let the boys have chocolate after class, they loved that.Then we went home and unleashed the sandbox for the first time this year. The boys managed to find some water and they had a great time. They were covered in dirt and very happy. I made them come in the house at 3, tried to feed them some lunch, but they were pretty tired. Then naps and up and waiting for daddy to come home from work. All is good at the Messingers!!

Hey mom did you know ???

2009-02-09T20:29:00.002-05:00

That is the way most of Evan's conversations are with me lately. Everything he says starts with 'hey mom did you know?' Luckily at this point, I can answer most anything he asks. Today he wanted to know if I knew that sometimes elephants wear gloves, no I did not know that. Or hey mom did you know that Gordon is bigger and faster than Thomas? Yes, I knew that one. Hey mom did you know that if you eat the snow it tastes like candy, no I did not know that one either. He has a statement or a question about everything all day long.

Yesterday while reading to him, he stops me and tells me that 'zoo' spells zoo. He just tells me like that, I was happy and sad all in the same moment. Happy that my little guy is learning, but sad that he is growing up too fast.

Then today he announces to me that he needs to 'poop.' Ok, here we go. I start to follow him into the bathroom for the normal routine. He tells me quite frankly that he needs some privacy. Oh, sorry. He moves the step over to turn on the light, then he sits his little potty lifter thing on the toilet and he does his business. I walk into the other room, in 2 seconds he is right behind me announces that he is 'done.' Very happy with himself. Again, I am happy and sad in the same moment. Sad that my little guy is growing up and happy that I don't have to wipe his little butt much longer!!

I should make a note about little Nick. He is sleeping in his bed. Yeah. Well at least until about 4 am. Then he comes into our room and stands there until I wake up and see those huge brown eyes, he is always standing there with Teddy and his blanket. I ask him if he wants to get into bed, and he always does. Except last night, I woke up to him climbing up the side of my bed, then kinda doing a half flip over me, plopped right in between Mike and I and he was out cold. He hates to have covers over him, so he lays in between Mike and I, on top of the covers. So then it is impossible to roll over, pull the covers up, anything. So I just get up and come downstairs, make coffee, get on the computer, whatever.

The boys have been in bed since 8 o'clock and I can still hear Nick running around upstairs. The boys have always loved to play hide-n-seek. We play in the house and Nick normally just follows someone around, but Evan really gets into it, they love to play. The other night Evan says, 'let's turn out all the lights and use our flashlights and play.' Ok. I had purchased these tiny little flashlights for a birthday party gift bag, and the boys love to play with them. So we turn out all the lights, and everyone gets a tiny little flashlight. When mom or dad are it, Evan hides and Nick just stays with mom or dad. When Evan is it, mom and dad try to hide and Nick gives us away every time. He just walks around with his flashlight on and talking, it is so funny. We have this big closet in the kitchen where I keep the sweeper. One of these days, I am going to take that sweeper out when nobody knows, hide it upstairs or something, and then hide in there, they will never find me!! This summer will be fun, I can see us playing this game outside! Oh we are in for a ride, I can see it now. And I love it!!

It is raining out, isn't it still winter??

No pictures thankfully ...

2009-01-27T18:07:00.002-05:00

I have showered twice since 2 pm today.

Can anyone guess what I did that made me shower twice in one day, when some days I don't get a shower at all.

Give up? I ... gulp ... climbed ... up the ... I feel lunch coming up ... playland thing at McDonalds today!

If you ever want to be creeped out, step inside one of those things. Took the boys there today after MOPS, Evan tells me during lunch that he is not climbing to the top because it is too scary. Fine with me. I'm not climbing in that nasty thing either, so I thought. Evan decides after wolfing down 4 McNuggets that he is Superman, and goes straight to the top. So after yelling at him from the bottom for 10 minutes, Nick decides to just go up and see what is going on in there. Bad idea. I don't know if he got scared, realized just how ucky it was in there, saw a giant rat, or what, but he started crying. Minor at first, I heard a faint cry, kinda like I do most days. But then it grew louder and Evan was at my feet to explain that Nicky was stuck. So I was looking up this tube thing and the lady that works there, same lady as last year when Evan got stuck. She says to me, 'you can go up there and get him.' 'Yeah, I know, I just don't want too.' He continues to cry, Evan goes up and tries to drag him down, no luck. So with great hesitation I started up the tube. Who know who caught it all on their dreaded cell phone, it will probably be on you-tube next week, labeled 'Giant mom is having too much fun at McDonalds.' When I started, I just went fast, I was afraid if I stopped, we would be leaving Nick at McDonalds. So I am half way up this thing, when I get plowed over by about 3 little kids. I am like geeze, you can't see me in here, you can't hear my kid? Bunch of hill runners. I got Nick down, he calmed down as soon as he was out. I am wiping his nose and he says to me, 'that was fun mommy.' Sure it was.

Thankfully we have no pictures.

4

2009-01-17T09:03:00.001-05:00

Ear;y this morning Evan jumped in bed with me and said, 'mom am I still four?'

I think he likes being four.

Janurary 15, 2009

2009-01-15T20:52:00.002-05:00

So today Evan turned 4.

How in the hell did that happen?

I can remember sitting at this exact computer and staring at his photo when he was still in Guatemala. I remember thinking if I just stare at it long enough he will move. I remember July 16, 2005 like it was yesterday. Waiting in the hotel room for him, we didn't know what he would be like, we were just waiting for him. I remember waking up that next morning, after not really sleeping much, just checking to make sure he was breathing all night. He just looked over the crib and we put him right in bed with us. I remember dressing him so wrong. Taking everything that was 3 sizes too big, not ever putting socks or shoes on him, which is total taboo in Guatemala. Who knew? Not me. I just wanted to hold him next to me and look. I just wanted to touch his skin and feel his breath in my ear. I remember giving him a bath, we of course have it on video, and he slipped in my hands. I was sitting on the wet floor, with a new baby, who was squirming, and he just kinda slipped. Not that anything happened, but I remember watching that video when we came home, because we did not have kids yet, so that is what we did. And now when I think of that it makes me laugh. We watched that video over and over. I remember that dreadful morning when Mike went down at 6 am to get coffee and the foster family was already there to pick him up. Mike came back to the room and he looked like he had seen a ghost. Evan was still asleep. So Mike filmed more of him, just sleeping. We had to wake him up, get him dressed, get all of his new clothes packed ... and give him back. Back to a foster family that I knew loved him, but I wanted to love him. I did not want someone else taking care of my little guy. Mike and I cried so hard. It was so hard coming home. I had taken 5 rolls of film, back in the old days when you actually used a 35 mm camera. I developed them all, paid the extra to get them back in one hour. Took all 135 photos with me everywhere that I went. Showed them to everyone. Explained to them about each outfit, and why he was sleeping in this photo or that photo. He didn't do much at six months. But I looked at those pictures and my friends were kind enough to look with me and let me cry. And cry I did. Seems like I couldn't stop.

Wow.

Seems like a million years ago. Now I have a four year old little boy. Who talks non-stop. Who tells me everyday 'I love you little mama'. Who fights with his brother. Who wants to only have chocolate milk. Who loves and loves to play Thomas the Train. Who wants to know how the snow got on the ground. Who wants to know if I have ever been in a submarine. Who loves his daddy. Who helped me make his chocolate cake today.

Wow.

How lucky are we?

I love you little Evan.

Things are getting higher and higher around here ...

2009-01-12T17:25:00.003-05:00

See that last picture I posted of my little angel Nick! He is such a little ... well I had better not say on here. I am moving everything up, up, up. He gets into everything. Today I printed something, then turned off my printer, to go to the bank. But I failed to take out the paper loader of my printer, that was enough for him. When I came home, I did not leave the boys alone, Mike was here. I turned my printer back on, I wanted to print a picture of my little angels. It would not print, kept saying paper jam. I just used it. So I get down on the floor, now that in itself is a chore. I am looking into the paper thingy, thinking I am going to have to take this stupid printer apart and then it will never work again. Then I am thinking, holy crap, I will have to buy a new printer. Then I see something in there, hmmmn. I go and get a flashlight and a glass of wine. So I am down on all fours, both boys are climbing on my back, saying 'what are you doing mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy????? At least it was not a peanut butter sandwich jammed in there, it was 4 ink pens! In this tiny little tray thing, how did he get those in there? And how am I going to get them out? I finish the glass of wine. Then I get a wooden spoon and attach a piece of scotch tape on the end and very gently get the tape on the pen, so I can pull it out and not push them further in. Eeee gads. I swear this kid gets in everything. He pulls things off that Evan would not even think of! And then he just gives you this grin, I will post that grin.

More wine please!

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-12T16:03:00.002-05:00

I have not posted in so long, the holidays were busy around here, and I wanted to get to it, and then something always gets in the way.

We finally removed our Christmas tree just yesterday. I'm not sure who was sadder me or Evan. It was our prettiest tree ever. It almost touched the ceiling and it was just beautiful. Now it is outside on our deck, it snowed a bit last night, so it looks just as pretty outside. Not to mention the fact that Mike and I made homemade bird food, coated it on pine cones and strung it on the tree for the birds. It should create much activity for the animals once they can get at it. We have about 8 inches of snow on the deck. The tree is right outside Nick's window too, he is starting to get better about his monster/hedgehog thing. So he will be hearing the critters and even be more afraid. This thing about being in his room alone, just started about 4 weeks ago, I guess when I stopped blogging. He would not stay in his room, he claimed there were monsters or hedgehogs in his room. We are through it I think, he has slept in his room the last 5 nights. He must have his overhead light on and the hall light. So it is quite bright, but at least he is sleeping. Here is a picture of him in our bed, this is what Mike and I would find every night when we would go to bed.

Now I need to run to the bank before they close.

Santa is almost here

2008-12-16T16:53:00.002-05:00

Took this picture the other day in front of our tree, wanted to get a good photo of the boys before Nick knocked it over. He has not done it yet, but sure he is going to sooner or later. He is my wild child. Today I was trying to catch up on laundry, don't know why I ever try to catch up, I am always 6 loads behind. Anyway, I was upstairs and Evan was not feeling so hot, so he was watching Clifford in my room and Nicholas was trying to peel the paint off the walls in my room. So since Evan is not up and moving, Nick decides that he needs to bother him. He starts throwing anything he can get in his hands at Evan. So after 4 time-outs, I am sweating profusely (don't even start to talk to me about freaking hot flashes) and ready to take laundry downstairs to fold. I tell the boys to follow me downstairs, well that is not to Nick's liking. So he stands at the top of the stairs and throws anything in arms reach DOWN the stairs. I have a little bookcase at the top of the staircase, so everything on it is down the stairs. I march upstairs and tell him that he is taking a time out in his crib. He is crying the whole time. It is now 9:30 AM! So in his room he goes. He screams for about 15 minutes, then gets quiet, I figured maybe he went back to sleep. I am doing who knows what downstairs. Then I start hearing noises that do not make sense. I go up to his room, he is trying to turn on the sound machine in his room. He has climbed out of his crib. HOLY CRAP! So I give him this big lecture, I'm sure he heard, blah, blah, blah. Put him back in the crib, I want to see how he got out. As soon as I am out the door, he is yelling and just hikes his leg over and out he goes. Like he has been doing this for months. Probably has been, in the middle of the night, coming down and making PB&J sandwiches, that's who is making the mess in my kitchen! So we get to nap time, both boys are somewhat sick, so they go down with out too much fight, right. Evan wakes from his nap and does his normal 'eek, eeek, eeek', that means he is awake and I yell up the stairs that is ok for him to come downstairs. He usually has to put his pants back on (another story) find his socks and Hop and then he comes down. Of course, talking the whole way, and always waking up Nick. We put Evan in a toddler bed at 2 years, one of those that is 4" off the floor, partial rail, easily he can climb out, but he DOESN'T. Who knows why, I tell everyone that will listen, well aperately Evil Knievel has been listening, because his crib is a jungle gym! Anyway, so today, Evan gets downstairs and then I hear Nick yell out 'mommy.' Now yesterday, I would have let him holler a minute or two, or thirty and then gone up and gotten him out of his crib. But today, I was talking to Evan about going up to get him, when Evan says, 'hey look mom, Nick.' And there he is ... Hi mom, he says. OMG, my easy days are over.

Well, it is 9:00 now, and Mike has put both boys to bed. After a 45 minute time out with Nick, he threw a banana at Evan. I swear that guy is going to be the best little left handed pitcher in Michigan. He can wind up and pitch something so fast, and he normally hits his target. Most of his time-outs are for throwing things. Things at Evan, things at the wall, things at the ceiling.

And everywhere I go, always, people will smile at me, when I have my hands full of whatever and one of the boys is not happy, they always say, 'oh those are the days I miss.' REALLY? I can't even imagine those days ... really ... but I don't want them to end either. People always say, 'wait 'till your kids are driving.' Is that different than a Hot Wheels being hurled at my head????

And then I wonder, how come I didn't blog today? I love my boys, I love my boys, I love my boys . all 3 of them.

Some December fun.

2008-12-08T14:35:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The boys are still napping!!!! Trying to do some catching up.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-08T13:54:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Thanks to my sister and her hubby for hosting. She had 59 people at her house throughout the weekend, it was crazy at times, but always fun. Besides all the good food, the laughter was the best. I think my favorite time was playing cards with all the cousins, even though I did not know the rules! And then mom, Aunt Sylvia, Uncle Milt and Cathy on the piano, that was a highlight. I wish that was on tape!

Mom and dad always keep the boys when we go to Wabash. It is a special treat for Mike and I and I think my parents enjoy their time alone with the kids, I sure hope so! We left early on Sunday morning, well about 11. Had lunch someplace along the way, the boys then both fell asleep. They were beat!

Now making plans for Christmas!!!!

Messinger Adventures

2008-11-21T08:35:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I have not been able to post in some days. Busy with school, snow, MOPS, friends, whatever.

Mr. Smarty pants told me yesterday at breakfast that he could not eat with the spoon that says Nicholas on it, he needs to use the one that says Evan. Soon Mike and I will not be spelling, trying to get away with things. Maybe I will have to learn pig Latin. He loves his Thomas computer, the one Rocky is trying to figure out in the pictures!

Need more coffee.

Election Day 2008

2008-11-05T20:01:00.003-05:00

Election Day 2008

The boys were so excited, I took them to MOPS and they told all the ladies that they were going to go vote today. I dressed them in stars and striped shirts, they looked so darn cute!! We voted in 2 seconds, no line at all, that was nice. Then went for ice cream for a treat. We were able to walk all day, what a beautiful day.

I was telling Evan that he is living in a very important time in history. I said that when he was older it would be something that he could tell his kids. He just kinda looked at me, then said 'why don't we just get more kids?' RIGHT He decided that 2 more boys would be good and we would name one Evan Michael and the other one Barack.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-29T12:08:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

GOTCHA Day

2008-10-21T14:43:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in forever! What have we been up too? I don't have a clue, but it has kept me very busy. These pictures were taken on 9-23-08, Evan's Gotcha Day. Gotcha Day is adoption lingo for ... "the day we arrived in Guatemala and we Gotcha." One of the very happiest days of my life. I told Evan the story over and over that day, he wanted to hear everything. And now that I have been a mom for 3 years, I can actually tell him without crying my eyes out! That first year he was home, I swear all I had to do was look at him and I was a crying mess. We celebrated his day with cupcakes and a Thomas train washer, notice the fancy wrapping on my part! He was more excited with the Thomas book that comes inside the washer thing, he knows all of his Thomas' and likes to name them over and over. He is such a sweet kid. I always put him in bed at night, it's such a great time of day. He is not moving 100 miles an hour and he is very talkative, he figures the more he talks the longer I will keep him company. We tell a couple of Thomas stories, his always end with a crash and his favorite, 'apply the brakes.' We say a little prayer and then go through every one's name in the family, and any bugs we caught for the day, or anything else that seems important to a 3 year old. Lately after I kiss him goodnight and close his door, he always says one last 'I love you mommy.' Every time I just want to go back into his room and hug him. I am one lucky Mommy!

I love your pieces!

2008-09-15T14:00:00.003-04:00

I walked to school to pick Evan up today. We were talking about what he did at school and such, just walking along. He looks up to me and says, 'mom, I love your pieces,' I said you do? 'Yes', he says, 'that is what Grammie always says, I love your pieces.' I think he was trying to say, 'I love you to pieces.'

Thing 1 and 2

2008-09-09T17:46:00.002-04:00

Had to post again another picture of Thing 1 and 2. This was taken right before we left for MOPS today. They looked so cute. In the 20 minute drive to MOPS I kept telling them about how much fun they were going to have and did they remember this school from last year, so when we got there, they both went right into their separate classes, no problem at all. Since today was the first day, there was this kiddy carnival planned with popcorn, games, juice boxes and all sorts of fun. So I pick up Evan in his room, he is ready with his tickets, then we go to Nick's room. I can see the teacher has him on her lap and he has his tickets in his hand, they must have told him that I was coming. He had these giant teardrops in his eyes, the teacher said to him 'see I told you mommy was coming back'. He runs for me and turns back to her and says 'thank you, bye', and the whole time he is trying not to cry. It was so precious. He has the best manners, even when he is mad. He will be crying about something and when I finally give in, he will just give me this 'thank you', like it's about time.

Evan is doing great on the poop front! I am so happy to say. I have never been so consumed with someone going to the bathroom. But I think he has it down, he will go #1 by himself and #4 with help. This is all that I have been able to think about lately. I was telling the next door neighbor about him going to school and how much he liked it and we got on the subject of potty training. She wanted to know how often he goes, she meant pre school of course. But I was thinking poop, so I was giving her his whole BM schedule. I finally notice this odd look on her face, holy crap. I'm a girl, we are not consumed with all the sounds and funny things that come out of our bodies, girls don't even toot. So with Evan and all the questions and the explaining constantly, I am consumed with poop.

He didn't even cry!

2008-09-03T10:48:00.004-04:00

Well it happened, my little guy went to school today. He was so excited. I had a neighbor watch Nick, in case Evan cried or threw a fit. Not needed, he did not even shed a single tear, guess he was ready. I dressed him all in Thomas, his favorite and off he went. He did want to drive the car today though. I told him that he would have to drive from the backseat. They need to wear tennis shoes to school, in case they play outside. He has lived in his crocs all summer long. So today when he put on regular shoes, he came downstairs and told Mike that he had gotten new shoes for school! I hope he always stays that easy, he has had the Thomas shoes since last summer!

I can't believe that this little person who has been my shadow for so long, is not at my side saying 'read me a book'. I can't wait to get back to the school and pick him up, he will have so much to tell me.

I actually went to Curves today!

2008-09-02T12:03:00.002-04:00

Now that summer is over and I will not be hanging out in my bathing suit everyday, I thought I would start back at Curves! Last time I was there was June 5! No wonder I feel like a big fat cow.

Now out to Pizza Hut for lunch!

How did this happen so fast?

2008-08-28T20:32:00.004-04:00

How can it be?

We just came home from pre-school orientation for Evum!

When did he get old enough for school?

When did he get potty trained? He loves to tell EVERYONE that he can now poop in the toilet!

When did all of this happen?

Here is a picture taken of him tonight, sitting on Daddy's lap reading a Thomas book. We had just gotten back from school and he was hungry, wanted a PB&J sandwich and milk. He did wear clothes to school, but I made him get undressed to eat, I do enough laundry everyday! This other picture was taken of him at 5 months in Guatemala. It is still one of my favorites of him, he looks so Evan! I thought for sure he would be going through a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread every morning, but he has slimmed down quite a bit. Could be my cooking, nah!!

Today we went to MC to buy supplies for NB, diapers .. but only for Nick, YEAH. So we are at a stop light and there are these motorcycles next to us, so I say to the boys look at the big bikes. One of the guys has a doo-rag thingy on his head, whatever you call those things. Evan looks at him and says, 'he must be going to a pirate ship'. Then we get to the giant grocery store and I am letting both of the boys walk, so Evan is 10 feet in front of me and Nick is just lumbering along, ho-hum. So I get a cart and can still see Evan while Nick just kinda walks around the corner. Well I figure no big deal, he NEVER walks fast. So when I come around the corner all 28" of him has disappeared. I just say 'Nick, where are you', trying to not sound alarmed. Well then 3 seconds have gone by and all of the racks are high and no sight of my little guy. So I say in a much louder voice, 'NICK, NICK, NICK', trying not to totally freak Evan out. I turn around and still no Nick. I see this clerk about 50 feet away, I was just about ready to tell her to do a lock down on this entire store because I can't find my little boy, when he just kinda wanders out from 'somewhere'. Totally freaked me out. I told Mike he was only out of my entire sight for 5 seconds max, but I was ready to shut down the store. Can't imagine if something really scary would happen.

Just thought of something on a lighter note, as I have my little Nicky on my lap as I try to type. We were walking over to the school tonight and my wonderful husband the brain surgeon was telling me a story that happened at work today. It still makes me laugh. He was talking about somebody talking about what their kid learned in kindergarten and the kinds of paperwork they send home for the kids to do. So Mike the brain surgeon tells this guy that Evan can already read! What the heck are you talking about? Mike actually thought that Evan could read, because Evan has so many of his books memorized. OMG, how funny is that?

On a much lighter note, I just noticed that the new shirt I wore to school tonight is not buttoned up in the back. I bet the other moms are still talking about it. Holy crap. I was worried about Evan wetting his pants, and I am half dressed for his new teacher. Thank goodness this is NB!

Gotta get these guys to bed.

Nick is 2!!

2008-08-21T17:54:00.005-04:00

Nicholas is 2! And I am finally posting again, we have been so busy, can't imagine if I had a job, would I get anything done??

We had a great party for Nicholas, had to have a Thomas the Train party for him, even though we did the same thing for Evan. Poor little guy will be following in Evan's footsteps for everything, but I guess that is an advantage of having a big brother. We had 12 kids and I lost count of the adults, but I think a good time was had by all. I figured since this house is covered with toys and Nick does not have a clue yet, that we would ask for donations for a needy Guatemalan family instead of more toys. I think it went over great, our guests donated over $300.00!!! I think that is great! I received a very nice thank you from the site www.mayanfamilies.com, $300 goes a long way in Guatemala. Maybe some of it will be used for the family of the little girl that didn't get to grow up in Mayberry. I swear even on my craziest days, which are many, I would still open our home to another Guatemalan angel. But don't let me go there, too depressing. My mom and dad are the best! They gave Nick a check for $50, and in my dad's gruffest, sweetest voice said, 'we are giving him $50 like we do every birthday, you can do with it what you want'. Too funny. If you go to the site, they are posting Nick's picture. She said it would be on by tomorrow.

Mike and the boys walked to the store to get MORE milk. We need to get a cow for the backyard. I swear, these guys drink 1/2 gallon everyday! So we are constantly at the store, oh well, it's good daddy time. Today we caught a caterpillar in the back yard. Evan is all about bugs. We have a giant wasp that is sleeping in the kitchen, that they like to look at. We have a cricket that is actually still alive after 3 days. They have it in this little container and they love to carry it around the house and then show it to everyone who comes over, poor little bug. Then today the caterpillar, it is kinda cool looking. I did a search on the web to see what kind it is and what it would eat, I did not realize there were so many different kind of 'pillars. Evan named him Cal, so we will see how long he lasts. It is always an adventure in the back yard. I told Mike that we used to have fun in the hot tub out there, now we are collecting bugs and playing in the sand box! Oh well, I love it!

Evan's potty training is going great, thanks to my mom. She potty trained him while Mike and I were having fun in Mexico. But he does not like to go #4, that's what he calls #2. So I am dealing with that, but the peeing is a breeze. And he has a million penis questions!!! Everyday, every minute ... and he constantly has to remind me that I do not have one. Lots and lots of questions!

Gotta run, I hear them coming in the back door. Time for dinner!

Potty training??

2008-08-06T16:51:00.002-04:00

Well I kinda attempted the potty training thing. We were outside and they were in the sandbox in their diapers, then Evan's diaper just suddenly came off, that is how he puts it. So then they were naked and I talked Evan into going to the bathroom outside, I thought maybe if he could see what was going on ... who knows? Anyway, after he did go, he was very excited, then he wanted big boy underpants on. So I let him pick out what he wanted to wear, he picked Batman. Even though we have Thomas underwear, kinda weird for my totally Thomas boy. Maybe he did not want to get Thomas dirty! So of course, then Nick has to have underwear on too, they were hanging off of his little body! The boys decided it would be fun to get the sand all wet and then throw it all over themselves, so that is what they did. They love to come into the house still wet, so my house is always full of sand. I'm going to replace my dining room table with beach chairs!

Oh well, my house is never clean! Every window has finger smudges starting at about 3 foot and down. Yesterday I was on the couch trying to just relax for 5 minutes before I went to get my pedicure, ha. Anyway, I told the boys 'just play with your trains and let mommy lay here on the couch for 10 minutes.' All was good for about 5 minutes, I was dreaming about Donny Osmond, when I heard what sounded like a big bird hitting the window. They sometimes do that, and then they kinda fall asleep outside the window, so we have to remove them quickly. So I hear this big noise and I get right up, both the boys are standing right there by the french doors and Evan says that there is a bee in the house. So I look at what he is pointing at, it is a fly, rather large, but not a bee. I look down at them and ask them what that loud sound was, Evan says calmly, 'Nicky threw his sippy cup at the bee.' Thank goodness he was not playing with one of his dump trucks at the time. Geez!

Garage sale bargins

2008-07-23T09:53:00.003-04:00

We had our big garage sale last weekend, well actually it was a drive way sale, because we do not have a garage, but it is over!!! What a lot of work. We found these 2 hats somewhere, so the boys had to model them for me. I did not get rid of any of there clothes or toys yet, too hard to do. I figure next year I will have a big boy sale and just go through all of their stuff and clean house.

Well today we off on a bunch of errands, getting ready for Nick's 2nd birthday party this weekend. I cannot believe that he is 2 already!! He is trying to talk. I can actually understand when he says some stuff, he and Evan were having a little conversation about a train the other day, and I loved it. He definitely knows, 'Nope'.

Little side note.

I was talking to my parents yesterday, my mom says to me, 'ok your dad and I have a question?' oh boy, this should be good. (of course, they were on the speaker phone and both talking at once, they could be on Seinfeld) I had sent Nick's birthday invite with a website for Mayan families that you can donate to, instead of filling our house up with more toys. So I put a little picture of Nick on the form and an American flag and a Guatemalan flag. So mom thinks that we just picked a random boy out and sent a picture of him. Dad thinks the picture is of Nick. Dad is right. Now the really scary part, they are watching both the boys when Mike and I take a little trip later this month! I hope they remember that the boys are at their house!

Oh brother! And they tell me not to worry!!!

Today at the beach.

2008-07-14T21:40:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We have been going to the beach for the last couple of days. The weather has been wonderful and the beach is beautiful. Although Evan calls it the pool all day long. Today we went with a friend and her 4 year old daughter, the boys had a blast. I packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apple slices, water and some candies. Evan wanted candy as soon as we arrived at the beach, because as he says 'I have been sooo good.' Then we got around to the apple slices, the PB&J were last. Nick just carries it around the beach and by the time he eats it, it has to be crunchy! I didn't even put a suit on Nick today, he does not like the water at all. Today the waves were not too bad, but it still took Evan several hours to warm up to them, then of course it is time to go and he says no. We walked along the beach and Nick walks up in the soft sand, to make sure he does not get a foot wet. I lather them with sunscreen before we leave the house, maybe that is why so much sand sticks to their bodies, either that or the somersaults they were doing. It's a long haul down to the beach with 25 things to carry, and we have to get by the poison ivy. But at least I do not have to carry either boy down the 75 steps, they do great there. As soon as we hit the sand, Evan's Crocs are off and he is running. I am sweating my ass off and trying to find a spot to unload 25 lbs of stuff. Nick just lumbers along, no hurry to get close to the water. They are covered from head to foot most of the day, I don't even try to rub the sand off of them. When I picked Nick up today it was like a giant luffa! Well, not giant he only weighs 21 lbs. My baby boy is turning 2 tomorrow, how did that happen.

Enjoy the pics, I sure enjoyed taking them.

Nick at the beach

2008-07-14T13:19:00.002-04:00

This was taken yesterday at the beach in NB. Nick won't get near the water, but he loves the sand. Evan on the other hand, will not get out of the water!

Going back today.

Nick turns 2 tomorrow!!!

How did that happen??

Summer haircuts

2008-06-29T20:38:00.008-04:00

The boys were starting to look very shaggy, so I figured it was time again for a 'mommy haircut'. So after dinner we headed to the backyard. I supplied the boys with some bite size Oreos and mommy had a big glass of wine. I started with Evan, he is easier, he will sit just a little longer and sometimes he will actually listen to me when I threaten to take all of his Thomas toys away. He looked pretty good when he was done.

Now the tiger is up.

Nick hates to have his hair cut, combed, washed ... anything! He looks like a big sheep dog. He has so much hair, it it very thick and he has 4 cowlicks in the back, so it always lays kinda funky. You can see in the picture with him, he has a cookie clutched in his hand and mommy is bleeding. When I was cutting Evan's hair, he moved or jumped or something and I cut my hand, hence the blood. All worked out fine in the long run.

It is the end of June already

2008-06-29T20:38:00.005-04:00

I am so behind.

These pics were taken 6-21-08. We went to Grand Rapids to an adoption festival. The boys had an absolute blast. There were so many kids there and all kinds of activities. We took these photos as they were running down the hill. They had on their matching Guatemala t-shirts, and their hair was wild as you can see. We ran into a couple that we met in G while we were on our visit trip with Evan, that was nice.

Then the second round of photos are in the back yard eating ice cream with Grandma Doe. They LOVE ice cream, can you tell. Grandma Doe was here for 6 days, that is why I am so behind. But this week ... I promise ... I will be back on track!

What a great weekend!

2008-06-16T09:39:00.002-04:00

We had such a nice weekend, didn't take any pictures to post, but I can tell you all about it.

Started out at 5 PM Friday night, I was headed outside to plant some flowers when Mike came in the house and said that I had better take a shower, we were having guests over at 5:30! Thank God the house was semi clean! I rushed to shower and bathe the boys, get them dressed and back downstairs. I was still sweating when we sat down for dinner at 8. Had a great meal, Mike fixed everything, I just drank yummy sangria, so healthy. We sat outside until it threatened rain, then inside for more drinks and food. Had a great evening!

Saturday morning, we were up and picking up the house and doing laundry. The laundry that I was supposed to do the night before! Anyway, got out of here around 11:30, went to Wabash. They were having their annual Strawberry Fest, yeah. So we went to Diane's store and just sat around. Fed the boys crackers and strawberry cookies for lunch, I am such a good mom! Then we got invited to be in the strawberry parade. So we had to dress up like strawberries and ride in this giant strawberry float. No just kidding. We rode in the back of an antique pick up truck with some friends and threw candy to all the screaming kids along the parade route. Evan could not figure out why we were throwing candy out instead of eating it! It was 100 degrees and we were in the back end of a 'old' truck without a canopy, it was hot. I kept waiting for the truck to break down and then we would be pushing it through the parade! We survived, sugar and all.

Then that night Dimitri had his final dance recital. It was so wonderful. They did a special tribute to Dimitri because it is his senior year. I loved it! He is such a good singer, dancer, actor, everything. His stage presence is amazing. Lots of tears were shed, but I was bursting with pride. I can't even imagine how Diane and Conrad must of felt! Dimitri is such a great kid and so grown up, now he is off to college. And so handsome! Wow, watch out ladies, here he comes!

Sunday we played golf with my dad for Father's Day. The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, it was a great day. Diane played golf for only the second time ever, and she sunk a 35 foot putt!! We played a scramble and beat the guys, yeah for the girls and dad. Then we went back to mom and dad's and ate, and ate, and ate. Mom made her fried chicken, it is so good. I have tried about 7 times to make it like hers, mine usually gets a 'good try honey' from Mike, but it never gets eaten. Oh well, keep trying. We had cake and presents for my birthday and Father's day. Nice day all around. Then we got in the pool. Evan loves the water, so that is a no-brainer. Nick is not such a fan, he just wanders around the outside of the pool. I got in finally, it was so nice. We talked about spending another night, but we decided to head back, it is always so nice to wake up in your own bed after a big weekend.

We watched the weather station and knew that we would be headed into some bad weather, it was really bad. Evan fell asleep as soon as we got into the car. When we got into the really bad part of the storm, I looked back at Nick, his eyes were as big as saucers. I was trying not to puke myself, now I am riding backwards looking at him, trying to sing silly songs about the rain. I was very happy when we were out of the clouds.

So happy to be home in Mayberry. When I put Evan down last night, I was just looking at him and thinking how lucky I was. Here today is my birthday and Father's day and we had such a wonderful time, we are so fortunate. So I read Evan his book, then just sit there and talk a little bit with him. He is fiddling with my watch, no big deal. So I look at him and say, 'do you know what?' He just looks up at me with those giant brown eyes. I say "I love you so much.' He looks at me and says 'I love you wots mommy.' I am so happy, I say to him that I love him lots too. He says, 'no mommy I love you wots.' I tell him that I love him lots too. He says very strongly, No Mommy, I love your wots' and he points to my watch! Oh, true love!

Now I need to get back outside and plant my flowers!!

HOW TRUE!!

2008-06-13T10:40:00.003-04:00

Is it Monday already

2008-06-09T13:24:00.003-04:00

These were taken over the weekend. We were very busy outside when it was not raining. But the good rains are great for our new front yard. We finally have grass!

How Ironic.

2008-06-05T18:07:00.003-04:00

I was at the kitchen table having a bowl of french vanilla ice cream when the UPS man delivered my 'makes you look one size slimmer swimsuit.'

So I put the suit on and had more ice cream!

Of course, I was only eating ice cream because of the boys!!

Last year at this time ...

2008-05-30T07:54:00.002-04:00

Here we are a year ago, look how little Nick is. I was showing off my new double stroller!!!! We have put a lot of miles on this stroller, all over town. When both the boys are in it, is weighs about 95 pounds to push. So I always ask Evan if he wants to walk when we are on the way home, because it is all up hill. And mommy is always pooped by then!

Have a good Friday.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

2008-05-27T18:17:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are much better, but Thing 2 is still having some 'issues'. Less frequent, but still there. They just received these new shirts from Ra-ra and Don, we love them! The shirts, the boys and Ra-ra and Don!!

Both boys are on daddy's lap, yeah for mommy!!!

Dinner is almost done, it's chicken ... AGAIN!!!!!

OMG

2008-05-21T11:07:00.002-04:00

I have washed my hands 80 times since last post. Poor Nick. Poor mommy.

All I can say is that I am so thankful I left Nick in his zip up pajamas this morning. Evan announced to me that Nick was going to the bathroom. Nick was just kinda standing there. I choose to walk him into the changing room, good decision on my part. I put a towel down on the bed, I must have had this bad look on my face. As soon as I unzipped Nick's pj's he says, 'oh no'. No kidding! I have found that in my new role as a mom, that I have not read enough about baby natural disasters. I just kinda looked at him, like how in the heck are we going to handle this one. Let's see, daddy won't be home for hours (he can't smell remember), it is too early to drink, what to do? I just took him into the tub, took of his pj's in there. Evan says when we first go in to the bathroom, 'can I take a bath too?' Then when I take off the pajamas, he says 'on no.' Poor Nick.

This will be good for my diet today, I don't have an appetite at all. I've got my Dr. Spock book out, seeing what I have to look forward the rest of the day.

I spoke too soon ...

2008-05-21T09:45:00.001-04:00

We are staying close to home today.

Nick now has another problem.

I'm sure all you moms can figure it out.

I'm not sure which is worse, this or the vomiting????

I think I smell another one ....

Nicholas is all better!

2008-05-20T09:13:00.002-04:00

Today is a new day. Evan is reading 'Goodnight Moon' to Nick. YEAH.

Yesterday both boys were really sick. Evan started in the morning when we were still upstairs, told me that he felt funny. Sure enough he was. Got him almost to the toilet. Then Nick went down for his nap at 1, about 1:30 he was crying. I went up to check and when I opened the door, oh brother. He was just sitting there like help. I didn't even know where to start. I grabbed new pj's and brought him downstairs. Got him cleaned up in new jammies. Went and sat on the couch with him in my lap, I did not have a towel with me, big mistake! He started in again. Back to the bathroom, let him finish, he was crying the whole time. Now he is just in a diaper and wrapped in a fresh towel. Back to the couch, here he goes again. That went on until about 4:15. He was so tired, he kept trying to fall asleep and then he would wake up to yak.

I was scheduled to go to yoga at 3:30 and then a Planning Commission meeting at 7. I called the babysitter at 3 and told her that we would not be going to yoga and I would not need her for babysitting later. Luckily I had purchased pedilite just last week, so I was able to give Nick small amounts of that, but he just brought them right back up. Around 6:45 he started making noises and would actually get off my lap to grab a train, I knew we were on the way to recovery. At 7, the phone rings, I figure it was Mike after his long hard day on the golf course. It was someone from the Planning Commission meeting, asking if there was any way I could make the meeting. You have to be kidding me! I told her that I have been dealing with 2 sick kids all day, she didn't seem to mind. Offered to come over and watch them, so that I could go to the meeting. Now picture this, I have not showered yet today, I am sure that I have more than one vomit splatter on my Stray Dog sweatshirt, I can't remember if I brushed my teeth this morning, or my hair, and she wants me at a meeting. Holy Crap! Needless to say, I did not go. Now you might wonder the urgency in this meeting? Well we are reviewing the site plan for the new dog park! For everyone who knows my love of animals, that is not the way to get me out of the house, not even if I were vomit free.

So we are hanging at the house today, just hanging!

My handsome guy!

2008-05-16T21:41:00.002-04:00

Tonight Evan and I went to the Spring Fling. My mom got this jacket for Evan just last week, so it was perfect timing for the big dance. He looked so sweet. When I got him dressed tonight, he told me that he looked distinguished! Gordon from Thomas the Train, always looks distinguished, I think that is where he got that from. Anyway, he was so sweet. I got him all dressed up and told him that Nick was going straight to bed when we left, because I knew if he knew that Nick was going to be digging in the dirt, there would be no way I would get him to a dressed up function! So he was excited to go. He was very shy when we first arrived, although there were hardly any other people there. Anyway, after 3 rice crispy treats and a brownie, he would not get off the dance floor. I felt like I was right back in high school, he was trying to drag me out to dance, and I was pressed up against the wall. He got warm dancing (running in circles) took off the jacket, shirt was un-tucked, he tried to take off his shoes, he was having a blast. Now he is sound asleep, no fighting tonight! Way tired.

A couple of girls came up and tried t get him out on the dance floor, he wanted to stay with mom. What a smart boy! We had a great time!

Happy Day.

2008-05-15T09:26:00.002-04:00

Here is Nick having his breakfast. We are headed out for a picnic today, hope the weather holds out for us.

Make it a great day! The boys like to pretend that they are going to work. So when Evan goes, he always brings me home a surprise. He just got back and brought me a toy for my 'gotcha day'.

2008-05-01T20:22:00.006-04:00

We spent most of the day outside! It was so beautiful here all day. The boys and I went to Tots then to Timber Town for a picnic. I packed PB & J sandwiches, apple slices and rice crispies treats. Evan ate 1/4 of a sandwich and one apple slice, Nick ate 1/4 of 1/4 of 1/4 of a sandwich and then 2 handfuls of sand! I swear I do not know how that kid survives. We never even made it to the treats, they wanted to play too much. We played until I forced them into the car. Home for naps and then up again and right back outside. I actually went and got my hair cut for 1 hour. When I got home the boys were even dirtier than before, if that is even possible. Mike made dinner on the grill. I stripped the boys down to their diapers outside and chased them into the tub. The water was so dirty! Nick had his first 1/2 ear of corn tonight, well maybe 2 bites. We had a great day. This is going to be one sandy summer!!!

Today when I put the boys into the car to leave for school, Evan looks over at Nick and casually says, 'How is your day Nick?' Nick just looks at him and smiles!

We had a nice Thursday!!!

Spring is in the air

2008-04-24T13:21:00.002-04:00

YEAH, finally out in the sunshine and the dirt! I need to add an item to my diaper bag/purse/mini fridge, yesterday Evan got a splinter at the park. So I guess I need to start carrying around some kind of first aid stuff. Evan already loves bandages! He wants them put on everything. But yesterday when he got that splinter, ouch that one hurt. I remember by mom digging splinters out of my fingers or feet, never any fun. And the more you squirm, the bigger it seems to be! But we are happy to be outside again. They were outside a lot yesterday, when I finally got them in the tub, Nick was nodding off, he was so tired. I wish we had an outdoor shower, so I could just hose them off before they come in the house!!! All Boy!

Little Nicky

2008-04-11T19:18:00.004-04:00

Here is Nick in Guatemala one year ago and here he is now in our living room. The hat was from our pick up trip and Nick wears it around the house now, too funny.

Looking way back ...

2008-04-10T14:50:00.006-04:00

I remember this day like it was yesterday. It was July 19, 2005 about 6:45 a.m. We were getting Evan dressed to take back to the foster family. They were already in the lobby of the hotel. I was trying not to cry. I was crying, but trying to hold it together to not scare Evan. We spent 3 glorious days just looking at him, holding him, watching him sleep and trying to figure him out. I think back to how naive we were, In love, but naive. So happy we took all those pictures of our beautiful first born!

Summer is almost here.

2008-04-08T15:55:00.003-04:00

Does this say summer time or what?

It is kinda chilly today, the boys are both napping. We went to MOPS today in MC. I told them that if there was no crying or screaming when I dropped them off, that we would go to McDonalds afterwards. Evan totally gets it. Nick normally cries as soon as I start to park at the church. But today he kinda whimpered when I took him out of his car seat and then he was fine all the way down the hall. Evan was just chatting away. So I sat Nick down to take off his coat and he didn't cry. Evan was already headed for the door for his class, saying 'goodbye mommy'. The lady that always takes Nick came up and greeted him right away. I got his coat off and their name tags done and he was in her arms. I wish I would of had a camera for the look on his face. He was trying hard not to cry, but you could tell he was just ready to bust out. So I went back after class and the ladies told me how good he was ... ahhh. What a great feeling. Then we went to McDonalds ... eeek. Every mom, dad, grandparent, whatever was at McDonalds today. CRAZY.

Go Chubbies

2008-04-03T10:27:00.002-04:00

Well it is another season for the Cubs. Took this photo on opening day, the boys had to have their outfits on, for Mike of course. I think this photo says it all, Evan thinks like daddy and this will be the year for the Cubs. Nick already knows, it will be a long year and lots of heartache.

This morning I had the boys in the tub upstairs and I was trying to get some laundry folded. So I had the Today show on. Evan was in the tub yelling 'my show, my show.' Nope mommy gets to watch her show for a change. So after the Today show, Regis and Kelly come on. By this time Nick is out of the tub, dressed sitting on the bed drinking milk and eating dry Cheerios. So I have Evan on the bed and starting to get him dressed when Regis and Kelly come out. Except it is not Kelly, she is on vacation or something, so it is Regis's wife Joy. Evan says, 'where is Kelly?' Cracked me up. I don't even get the remote anymore and he knows Kelly and Oprah!

Apparently I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader!

2008-03-27T15:33:00.004-04:00

What a night! I decided to walk to the school to watch the students challenge the teachers at 'Are you smarter than a 5th grader?' I figured I would walk because that would kinda be like training for the 5K this weekend, uh-huh. Well I walked to the wrong school! Not that there are so many schools in this town, two I think, I just walked to the wrong one! So there was no way I could get to the other school in time, so Mike was there to play basketball, so we watched that for about 2 seconds, then we left. Got home at 7:30, the door was locked. Holy Crap! Now does Mike have his cell phone in his basketball uniform? Does he have his cell phone with him? Will he be home before dark? Do I have to walk all the way back to school and past this giant dog that I thought for sure was going to jump the fence and devour me and my kids. Crap. So I decided to let Evan play in the yard and get filthy. Then it was 8:00. Now it is getting colder and kinda darker. So I figure I will just bite the bullet and walk back to the school and get the key from Mike and then walk back. My toe was killing me, that is why I did not want to walk the extra 2 miles. I will probably win the 5K this weekend!!!! NOT! So as I am starting back to school on the opposite side of the man eating dog, my dear husband calls and is on the way home! YEAH. And he tells me where we keep the spare key outside, I did not know that we had a spare key outside! We finally get in the house, Evan is a mess. I look at his fingernails, I figure it will be easier to cut off all his fingers than try to clean under his fingernails. He was starving of course, so he had a quick dinner and the boys were off to bed. And mommy was off to the wine cellar.

But I have to admit that when things like that happen, I do love the fact that I live in a small town. When we were standing outside and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do, a police car drove by. And for a split second I thought, 'oh he knows I am locked out and he is going to unlock my door.' Like the police department has this giant key chain with everyone's keys on it! The other night I was in our only grocery store buying what other than milk. There was a family of four peering into the diary case. It was a mom and dad and 2 young girls, probably 15 and 16. They were all just standing there and finally the younger girls says in this really 15 year old whiny voice, 'mom, can't we just go to a real store?' So me being the shy person that I am, I have to chime in. I said, 'what do you mean? This is a real store, I can see you really standing in it.' Her parents laugh, but she gives me that 15 year old 'oh my god look' and she fakes a smile. So I say, 'do you mean a Jewel store? Is that where you would rather be?' She says, "like for sure, now you got it all hippty hoppity going on.' No she did not really say that, she just looked at me and smiled. But I thought it was so funny. Sure our grocery store closes at 8 pm, and we do not have 2 entire isles dedicated to pet supply items and you can only get 125 kinds of cereal instead of 400. But it is sure cozy.

Happy Happy Easter

2008-03-23T13:38:00.001-04:00

The boys got squirt guns in their Easter baskets!!!!!

Happy Easter

2008-03-22T15:26:00.000-04:00

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Happy St. Patty's Day

2008-03-19T20:10:00.004-04:00

Happy St. Patty's Day a couple of days late! Took this right before Mike and I went out to dinner with the famous shamrock sweater! Evan and Nick were excited and they didn't even get to go out to dinner with us. Grammie and pa-pa were here to watch them. I had to run out at lunch so mom was going to feed the boys. I just figured she would find stuff in the fridge or make pb & j's, those are always a hit. But she sent my dad to McDonalds to get lunch. And guess what he was going to get ... 4 Big Macs! Can you see Nick trying to eat a Big Mac? Too funny! Thankfully I overheard their conversation, I told them they should stick with chicken nuggets. Evan won't even eat a hamburger from there yet, let along a giant Big Mac.

And then there is the bar stool picture. We have 50 thousand trains and toys in this house and Evan likes to play under these stools. He likes to crawl under neath them because it is like a tunnel, so he says. Kids!!

I'm going to bed, this not sleeping is for the birds.

New pic

2008-03-11T16:27:00.002-04:00

I just had to post a new pic, so you didn't have to look at those nasty toes from yesterday. This was taken last summer. I was reading a book, boy these guys love to be read too. And now Evan wants to read all the books to me, it is too funny. He has most of them memorized, but he will go on and on about the crashes in most of his Thomas books. Everything always has to involve a crash!!!! They are napping. We went to MOPS today, then to Jewel for grocery shopping, fun. Evan got to go to McDonalds for lunch today, because as he put it, 'no crying, no screaming, no hitting Nicky, so I been so good.' We met a women having lunch with her grandchild, she adopted 6 kids!!! I can only wish!

My poor toe

2008-03-10T19:25:00.002-04:00

Oh, poor me, look at my toe! I had a little accident at the house today. I was lugging in the tubs of Easter decorations for my two little angels when I fell down the 'stair' leading into the living room, my leg went totally behind my body and this is what I ended up with. UCK. So I sat there for several minutes, both the boys were napping, thankfully. I was able to move my leg, but my toes, oh boy. So finally after at least 3 minutes I was able to get back on my feet. Not too much damage, but I wanted to take a picture for sympathy from my husband. He thinks all I do is watch Oprah re-runs all day long. So I went outside and cleared all the snow away and took this picture. I think I will be fine soon. Unfortunately the timing is right as he is headed to Mexico, so sad, so bad. Maybe he will bring me back a gift this time.

Well, I must confess, these are not my toes. But I did fall. Last fall I fell and actually broke a toe on my left foot, this time I probably just sprained a toe on my right foot. I am fine, just trying to get some sympthany from my husband before he goes to Mexico for 'work'. It doesn't really hurt too much, just when I sit too long. I will be fine. But I will probably not be able to train anymore for the 8K that we are doing in Chicago at the end of the month. And that is a shame, I was working up to 7 minute miles. Well ... another lie. I have not started training yet, but now I have an excuse to not train at all, and I am soooooooooooooooo happy!

When I was searching on line for ucky pictures of broken toes, I ran across Sarah Larson and George Clooney. Or in other words, Donna and Mike. Don't you think we kinda look like them? Well, she broke her toe in an accident with George, that is why she was sporting the crutches back whenever she was sporting crutches. So I didn't use her toes, but I was thinking I could impose my toes on her body and nobody would know the difference!! Ha, have another drink!

Because I Can ...

2008-03-04T03:09:00.005-05:00

Three little words. Doesn't really seem like a big deal, right ... Well listen to how I hear them at my house all day.

Evan, why did you push Nicky down?

Evan, why did you throw that toy?

Evan, why did you hit your brother?

Evan, why did you take that book/toy/food from Nick?

Evan, why are you screaming?

Evan, why are you running through the house screaming?

Because I can.

I should finish my Florida post ...

2008-02-27T14:37:00.003-05:00

Let's see, after we left Disney we drove to my cousins for a picnic that was really fun. He has 3 kids, and fantastic playroom that the boys loved. So we spent the afternoon there. Then on to spend the night with my parents at Uncle Bob's house. The boys were good until bedtime, of course. We did not have a pack-n-play, we were just going to make Evan a little bed on the floor and then put Nick in bed with us. Well as you can imagine, that was so easy!! Evan did not want to have anything to do with a bed on the floor, the screaming started. I was trying to get him settled, trying to do 6 loads of laundry and trying not to hit my mom over the head with a frying pan. I can type that in here, because she has no idea what a blog is. My mom and dad think that when Mike and I are around, Evan and Nick are the devil children. I wish I had a dime for every time my mom has said to me 'well, every time we put them down to sleep we never have a problem, they just go right to sleep.' Oh brother. And there is no use arguing with my mother because in her memory she raised 4 of the most perfect children on the planet. Now I can remember having lots of fighting and screaming and such going on at HER house, but per her, all of us were perfect. I wonder why then when I was about 5 and Dottie was 4 and we were, probably for the only time ever, fighting. And my dad was watching us, he took Dottie into the bathroom and because she was so little she could fit into the bottom of the linen closet, he put her in there and then flushed the toilet. He then opens the door because I was ready to punch her again or do whatever I was doing. And he calmly explained that he had flushed her down the toilet because he was sick and tired of hearing us fight. Now since I am 5 and Dottie was extremely little, I was convinced that he did just that. I started wailing. I don't remember for how long, probably until Dottie jumped out of the closet laughing. I think I jumped on her again and started punching away, I really can't remember, I was too traumatized. So we were so perfect! Anyway that was a fun evening. Finally around midnight Evan went to sleep in bed with Mike, Nick and I. A double bed no less. I picked him up and put him on the floor on his really cute little bed. When he woke in the morning he was under the night stand! We had a nice breakfast, no crying. Then loaded the mini van and started our drive to Sanibel. Mike will do all the driving and I will keep the boys from screaming. At around 12:30 things are getting dicey. I say to Mike, 'are you planning on a lunch stop?' He looks at me like I am crazy. 'No, I was planning on driving straight through.' ok, here we go. More animal crackers please. When we get to Sanibel, I make him stop for milk and some food to take to Scott and Sandy's house. As soon as we get in the store, there was this little woman giving out samples of bread I think, the boys took to them like they had not eaten in a month. We finally after 5 hours arrive at the house, YEAH. We had such a good visit. Christianna was so excited to see the boys and we were so happy to see her. She is becoming such a little lady. One of the first things I notice about the house, is new living room furniture, 3 pieces, very nice, very clean, will get back to that later. We were having a wonderful visit until Nicky got sick. Poor thing. He was down in his pack-n-play, I thought asleep. But I could hear Evan and Nick both crying out. I ran downstairs and as soon as I opened the door to our room, oh no. Poor little Nicky, there he sat, covered from head to foot. And Evan was standing up in his pack-n-play giving me a play by play. 'Nicky choked, Nicky choked mommy.' So that was a fun night. Then the next morning, Nick is in bed with Mike and I take Evan upstairs to get our day started. I sit him in the new chair with his milk while I get him some breakfast. I come around the corner and he is now sitting in it . . . all over the brand new chair. I about lost it right there. Not because Evan was covering in uck, but because Sandy's brand new chair was covered in uck. I yelled out to Scott for help. I actually was thinking that I needed to put something on the chair, so that it would not stain. I picked Evan up and moved him to a dry area and ran for clean towels. Poor Scott got caught in the mess, he was helping me clean it up like he did it. I thought about it later and he was probably like, what in the hell did I do to get and clean up this mess? We cleaned up the chair and Evan was just standing there the whole time staring at us, I felt so bad for him. What a mess. So of course later on in the day, I had to get it too. I'm not sure what it was, but not a fun day. Especially at someone else's house, not exactly where you want to be sick. We all survived though. But I lost a whole day. I was so mad. There I was laying in bed feeling like crap and I knew that it was so nice and sunny out. Nothing I could do though. The next day I felt fine, our last day of course. We made the most of it. Walked to the beach, went out to lunch at the Bubble Room, hung out with Christianna. We had a great time, just way too short.

Now we are home to the snow!!!!! The boys are napping right now. When they get up, I am putting them both in the tub for a long warm soak. And besides, they need to have different pj's on tonight when Mike gets home from work. They have been in the same ones since Monday!

Evan wants to go out in the snow, but it is just too cold for them. Next year for sure.

There is an Angel in New Buffalo ...

2008-02-27T14:23:00.002-05:00

I swear there was just a real Angel in my driveway. You see, I was sitting at my computer, trying to convince myself to go out and shovel the 18 inches of snow out of the driveway, for my dear husband. I just thought maybe I will balance the checkbook one more time, or look through our Florida pictures one more time, then I will get right on that driveway. The boys are both napping, so mommy has tons on energy, right. So I am sitting here trying to think where are my snow pants, my boots, my warmest gloves and hat. And what do I hear, but the sweetest Angel sound you could imagine. It was a snowplow in my driveway! Not just any Angel but the most wonderful Paul Angel. This guy has been such a blessing to us this winter. Here is our house this morning. I am standing in the window with a hot cup of coffee, Mike took this before heading off to work. I had high hopes of taking the boys out today, but stuck my head outside and it is just still too cold. The boys are still not totally back to normal. I don't want them any sicker, trust me. So back to my Angel, what should I do for him? I want to send him something to let him know just how much I appreciate his generosity. I love this town, can you imagine having a snowplow Angel in Chicago?

Wow, we survived Florida or should I say ...

2008-02-22T20:51:00.002-05:00

Florida survived us! We are back in the snow! UCK UCK UCK UCK UCK

Can I say that enough?

We had such a great trip. Where should I start? The boys were amazing on the flight down, truly amazing. They both were awake the whole flight, but no crying or screaming from either of them, what a relief for Mike and I.

Mike had reserved a mid-size car for us. Well lets see, one double stroller, 3 suitcases, 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 adults, 4 carry on bags and we are going to cram all this stuff in a Pinto. After we waited 30 minutes for the second car seat, in the heat, in our long pants, without lunch, with 2 small boys, in a parking garage, I calmly suggested to Mike that maybe we should try and switch to a mini-van. I swear my husband has a good job and is really smart, but sometimes, he is such a guy. Like why would I want to get a bigger car when it will be so much more fun to try and cram all of this stuff into the arrangements that I have already made? The boys were being extremely good, especially since they had been surviving all day on animal crackers and water.

We spent almost 4 days at Disney, the weather was cool when we first arrived. But it was nice enough that we did not need gloves, boots, scarfs, 3 layers and a jacket. So I was able to deal with long sleeves for a few days. Mike had all his work stuff to do, so I decided that since I am a first time mom that I should take both the boys into the Magic Kingdom by myself! Before I had children if someone would have told me that they did that, I would have thought what is the big deal? But since I have become a mom, if someone told me that they did that, I would think I wonder what is wrong with that person? Well, I have become that person. I had the 150 lb double stroller, so that was a giant help. Nick of course fell asleep on the monorail and when we got into the park, Evan said that all of the rides were too scary. But that did not stop me! I quickly decided what we would love to go on. Woke poor little Nicky up and off we went. We went through the Winnie the Pooh ride first, which basically just was sitting in a giant honey pot and listening to Pooh music. After the ride was over, Evan told me it was scary. I can't wait until he is older and I can tell him what a little chicken he was. Since they were out of the stroller, we went on the Dumbo ride, with a 10 minute delay. As soon as we get in an elephant, the ride will not work. I am convinced they are going to go from elephant to elephant and ask our weight. I will then be removed from the ride, forced to get on a giant Disney scale for the whole park to see, to confirm that I actually do weigh 125. But that did not happen, so we just got to sit still for 10 extra minutes. Well, as still as you can get with 2 little ones in an elephant. They liked that ride, thank God. Then we went on the merry-go-round, loved that one. Then the 3d theatre was right there, so we ducked in. That was a long wait, 15 minutes, Evan wanted me to hold him the entire time. Everyone was looking at me, like I wonder when her husband is going to show up, he must have got held up in the bathroom? We finally get into the 3d show. I explain to Evan that he needs to wear these glasses, he puts them on no problem. The show starts, it was pretty cool. Nick did not wear the glasses. He was holding on to me so tight and he was probably watching the show with one eye open. Evan started breathing very heavy, I thought for sure he was falling asleep. All I could think was, how in the heck am I going to get both of these guys out of the theatre. Thankfully he was not asleep, just very excited. About 10 minutes into the show, he took off his glasses, too scary for him. After that show, since we had waited so long and Evan had examined every single thing on the floor, I ran them both to the bathroom. Trying to get some of the scum off of them. I knew there would be some germs at Disney, so I was trying to not be such a freak about it. Ok, I am fine. Then Evan wants to go on the Dumbo again, I can handle that. So we get back in line, no big deal, it says 3 minutes, that means 6. So we are standing there, I am holding Nick the entire time, thank goodness he only weighs 20 pounds. Evan is once again exploring the floor, I keep telling him no. Then he seems to be standing up-right for a time, so I am happy about that. Then I get in front of him and he has the hand rope that EVERY SINGLE GRIMY KID in Disney has had their hands/mouth on in HIS MOUTH. I thought I was going to lose it! OMG Fast forward to Evan, Nick and mommy getting sick in Sanibel! We made it through. I was so tired, we were getting ready to leave the park, and what did Evan spot. The train that goes around the park. My little Thomas guy had to ride the train. So we got on the train, that was a nice 20 minute ride. We sat as close as possible to the engine, so we could see all the smoke and such. He loved that. Then we walked back to the hotel. It was only a 7 minute walk. Or a 35 minute wait for the monorail and then the thought of getting the stroller on there, no thanks.

We arrived back at the hotel at 7, did a quick diaper change. Mike was in the room in 2 minutes telling me that the Lu-al started at 7:30. Oh boy! We made it. The boys crashed around 9, they were so tired, so was mommy.

The best part of the whole day was when we actually walked into the park. I know that the boys had no idea what a big deal Disney is, but I sure do. Here I am, pushing these beautiful boys down such a magical street and it feels like I am in a dream. Just one year ago at Disney, Evan and I were getting ready for breakfast when I received the call that were approved to go and pick up Nick, now here we are one year later walking into the Magic Kingdom. Tears were flowing for me.

I will post more late, I need to go to bed.

2008-02-22T17:46:00.000-05:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Just another fun day at the Messingers

2008-02-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

Let's see what happened today in the house. Since it is 1 degree outside the boys and I have been camping inside. I think the gas in my car is probably frozen, can't remember the last time I actually drove it someplace. We have been staying close by the fireplace. The boys are currently watching The Polar Express, will Christmas ever end. But gotta tell you about my morning. I had to be on-line at exactly 11:20 this am, per instructions from my husband. I needed to print out our boarding passes. So I call my sister at 11, we are chatting away, well then Evan starts yelling about something. I swear all I have to do is scratch my ear, and he thinks I am on the phone, so he needs my undivided attention. So I am trying to quiet him down while still on the phone with my sister, not wanting to ruin her hearing, I say I had better get off the phone and deal with Evan. I get off the phone lecture him for yelling at me while I was on the phone; tell him that it is not polite. I swear I am gonna beat that word into head if it is the last thing I do! Anyway, he tells me very casually that he has a dirty diaper. Ok, it is now 11:10 I can change a diaper and be on-line at 11:20. I pull off his pajamas, yes he still has his pajamas on, it's not like we are leaving the house, why get another set of clothes dirty. The cleaning lady/laundry lady doesn't come this week, RIGHT! So when I un-zip him, there is no diaper. Oh I know this trick; the diaper comes off, then gets pushed all the way down the pant leg of the pajamas, where it rests. All I can say is Thank God he had on footed pajamas! The diaper was not just wet. Oh brother. So I access the situation. I can just re-zip him and wait for daddy to come home, I can throw him in the tub or I can have a drink, but wait it is 11:15. Oh yeah, I have to be on line at 11:20! So I put on my rubber gloves and then undress Evan, not a pretty site. All the time trying to keep Nick clear of everything. Take him into the tub, run about 1/2 inch of water and put him in. He tells me that it is cold. And I note brown. I tell him that he has to say 'Twas the night before Christmas' poem for me. I figure if I can hear him talking I will know that he is not drowning. Just give me the Mother of the Year award right now! So I run to the computer with Nick on my lap. Get on the website and print out our boarding passes. Don't get the lowest numbers in the world, but we are fine. The whole time I am talking to Evan, so that I know he is above the 1/2 inch of water. When I finish I take Nick in to get him out of the tub. When I round the corner, Evan is laying down in the tub. My freaking heart stops for a split second. Then I hear Evan say, 'now dash away, dash away, dash away all'. He was lying down because there was no water in the tub and he was trying to keep some of his body wet I guess.

Just a normal morning at the Messingers! Sorry I don't have pictures to post.

Can hardly wait for the lines at the airport, the hauling of the bags, the delayed flights (it is snowing right now), the actual flight, the glares from people traveling without 2 small boys, the screaming when their ears are popping, how much further can I go? Really looking forward to some sunshine, but not the trip.

Mike and I are flipping a coin in the morning to see who gets Nick on their lap! Evan gets his very own seat, hopefully we can get him seated behind another kid, one who won't mind his seat being kicked for 2 hours!

I think I served breakfast too late today ...

2008-02-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I am finally trying to get back into a routine, if that is what you call what I do around here. After being gone for 5 days, I am out of sorts. I arrived home on Saturday around 5, I was so happy to see my boys and my wonderful hubby. I was in bed by 9 that evening. Then the next day we had a Superbowl party, because we have to have a party if there is football on the TV. That night I was in bed by 10.
Then Monday it was really foggy outside, but it was even foggier inside! I was exhausted. I moved from one sofa to the next, doing nothing. I let the boys watch a video in the guest room, just so I could keep them both on the bed and I could drift off! Last night the boys went to bed at 8:30, I was in bed at 8:31.

Today is a new day!

I got up and worked out, that always makes me feel better. Came home, actually took a shower today, did 2 loads of laundry, unpacked my suitcase, put everyone's clean clothes away and straightened up the upstairs. Then the boys and I finally headed downstairs for breakfast. Since I am such a wiz in the kitchen, today they were having oatmeal and kiwi. Kiwi on the side, they both love it. Anyway, as I was slaving over the stove to make oatmeal, Nick wants more milk. Evan proceds to hide his sippy so that he cannot get to his milk. I see all this going on even as I am whipping up their delicious breakfast. So I put Evan in a time out. Time outs are so much fun at my house. Now that he is 3, he has to sit still for 3 minutes, which seems more like 30 minutes. He is told over and over that time outs do not start until he is done screaming. I am trying very hard to get the screaming under control. His and mine. Anyway, he finally gets through his time out. I always need to have a talk with him after, so that he knows why he has been sitting. I know he forgets, because he screams for so long and then he forgets. And normally he is taking a time out for something that he did to Nick, and before his time out if over Nick is taking him toys and playing with him. So this is the conversation we had.

Me: Evan you can get up, your time out is over.
Evan: Ok mommy.
Me: Evan do you know why you were taking a time out.
Evan: No mommy. (as sweet as can be)
Me: You were taking a time out because you hid Nick's milk.
Evan: Ok mommy.
Me: You had to sit there longer because you were screaming. Time outs do not start until you are quiet. Do you understand that?
Evan: Ok mommy.
Me: You need to not scream anymore, that just makes you have to sit longer and it is not polite. Do you know what polite means?
Evan: I don't know mommy.
Me: It means you have to be nice. Especially when you are at somebody's house. Next week we will be at somebody's house and you cannot scream there.
Evan: Nicky too, and daddy and you?
Me: Yes, we will all be at their house and you cannot scream there. Do you understand?
Evan: Maybe they will have some food too?

I think I waited to long to feed them breakfast today!

We are back at it today. We are meeting some MOPS moms at McDonald for lunch. Then I have the wonderful treat of grocery shopping.

Maybe tonight, I will start looking for clothes to pack for the boys. I can hardly wait to climb aboard that plane with 2 little boys!

Evan's 3rd Birthday party.

2008-01-27T16:16:00.000-05:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Here is Uncle Bob

2008-01-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

I am asking everyone for prayers for my Uncle Bob. He is very sick. This picture was taken last year on his 83rd birthday. He lives in Florida. He knew he needed heart surgery, but did not know it was this bad. He waited for my mom and dad to get there so that they could help him during his recovery at home. He had 2 open heart surgeries this week and now his kidneys are shutting down. Everytime the phone rings I am on pins and needles. My mom is so stressed and I feel so helpless here, I so desperately want to give her a hug. So please take a minute today and say a prayer for my favorite uncle. Thanks, Donna

Evan and his new dirt.

2008-01-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

Evan received this wonderful toy. It reminds me of a time long ago, before kids. My sister's sister-in-law had a little girl. So for her 8th or 9th birthday, I bought her an ant farm. I had always wanted one of those when I was a kid, but of course my mom said it was too messy. So when I went to the toy store for Sara I thought back to that ant farm. I mailed it to Florida along with the money to buy the ants, but I'm sure the box was never opened and went straight to Goodwill. Well Evan just received the 2008 version of the ant farm. My friend in Chicago, Julie, who doesn't have any kids, she gave Evan an inside sand toy. It has 3 different colors of sand. The box says the sand will not dry out and will provide many hours of creativity. So today as it was 32 below out, out came the sand. First I had to figure out how to preserve my new table, what if this stuff stains? So after I finally have an idea, tape a garbage bag to the table, I'm gathering the things I need and Evan is repeating over and over and over, 'can I do it now mommy?' Finally, I get the sand on the table, he of course wants to mix all 3 colors together. So it soon really looks like sand. He loves this toy. I have to put Nick in his high chair because he is eating anything that falls to the floor, which was a lot. I read the box, it said not to eat the stuff, but not in giant letters and it didn't give a 800 number or a Dr.'s name, so I was not too worried. We will see just how much he did eat at next diaper change. Maybe I will let Mike have that one, the sand was red, yellow and green, could be funny. So I made a slide show of Evan and his sand. When I put him down for his nap today, I told him that if he did not cry at nap time, I would let him watch a video when he got up. He says to me, "I don't want to watch a video, I want to play with that dirt."

Thanks Julie!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

It's still snowing.

2008-01-24T14:23:00.001-05:00

Hi, I haven't posted in a few days, I have been out of sorts. My favorite uncle, Uncle Bob is in the hospital in Florida and he is not doing very good. My mom and dad are down there with him. I get to talk to my mom once in awhile, but she is so stressed out, I can hear it in her voice. I just want to jump on the next plane and get down there to be with her. So say a prayer for my Uncle Bob, please. He is 83 years old and had to have open heart surgery twice this week. The Dr. says his heart is good now, but his body is so weak. So just pray for him if you would.

Oh, and it's still snowing here, well I guess it has stopped now. It was snowing when I started typing, the boys were napping and I had a few minutes. Now they are both up and watching a Thomas video, that is 'too scary' per big strong Evum. Got to get them some apple.

Kiss your loved ones today!

2008-01-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

It is 9:30 in the morning and the boys are already watching The Polar Express. Mommy did not sleep at all last night, well daddy did not either, but he had to go to work. I woke at 3 and laid in bed until 5, then got up and tried to get past the boys rooms to get downstairs, they both woke up. Mike took Nick, I took Evan, tried to get him back to sleep in the guest room. My good friend Mary Fran called me today with bad news, her neighbors 25 year old daughter was in a fatal accident on I-94. So sad. Mary Fran was so upset, I talked to her for about 20 minutes on the phone, then Evan woke from his nap and the birthday madness started, so I put it in the back of my head. Well, when I tried to sleep, I started to think about what that poor family is going to be going through for the rest of forever. I just laid in bed and cried. Next month it will be 20 years ago that Dotty had her fatal accident. So all of that came flooding back and hit me like a ton of bricks. She would be turning 45 this year. Sometimes I still can't believe that she is even gone. It's like she should walk in the door and start telling me some funny story, but she never does. I always wonder what she would be like now? Would she be married? Would she have kids, God I hope so. Would she still live in Wabash, I'm sure of that, mom and dad would not have let her leave! Would she be a good Aunt, I'm sure of that one. That poor family will have all of those same questions as the years go on. Every holiday, every picture taken, every special moment is missing something. Always missing. I have been down that 'what if' road a million times, they will be on it too. I'm going to send them a card, even though I don't know them real well. That's one thing I have become better at, sending cards to people greiving. Grief is such a strange thing. Everyone does it differently. I don't know what I will say, just 'I'm sorry', I guess. What else can you say?

Just kiss and hug your loved ones today.

My baby boy turned 3 today, how did that happen??

2008-01-15T21:53:00.000-05:00

Wow, my baby boy is 3, how in the world did that happen?? I have been on the computer for more than an hour trying to download the 1000 pictures that I took today, but for the life of me, I CANNOT figure it out. I swear I cannot wait for Evan to get into Pre-school so that he can help me on the computer!! No, really, I do not want my Evan to even get any older than he is today. Here are the things he said to me today, 1. I love you mommy so much. 2. Happy Birthday to you. 3. I am so glad you are here today ( that one totally tore me up) 4. This is the best birthday ever. 5. I don't want to go to bed! Today was such an overwhelming day. I swear everyday with these boys is amazing, but today, I could not think. I was so happy that I had a little 3 year old crazy guy living in my house. Nothing could ever prepare me for this change in me, but it is the best ever. Evan is such a sweetie. We gave him 3 presents tonight because he is 3. First gift he loved, James that moves around when you spin him. 2. video of Thomas, always a big hit in this house. 3. video of Clifford the Big Red Dog. So he was so happy, and then we unwrapped James. After mommy had every tool out of the basement and every sharp object available to untie the twisties on the back of every toy sold in the US of A lately, Evan did not like James. His eyes turned around when he was moving forward. Too scary for Evan. But Nick loved the guy, so Nick got that present. Evan loved the Clifford video and Thomas. We had chicken strips and french fries for dinner. Yesterday when I asked Evan what he wanted for dinner, he said 'how 'bout peanut butter toast?' See why I love this guy so much, he is even easy to cook for! So we had a great day, and now the boys are sleeping and daddy and I are relaxing.

Is it really January?

2008-01-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

I have not posted yet in 2008, what is going on? Well it started with my husband in 2007. Mike was off work for 18 days at the end of the year and did not return to work until 1-7-08. As much as I wanted him home with me and the boys, I wanted him to go back to work also after 18 days! The little routines that I do have in place, were thrown out the window. And push me away from the table, I swear Mike cooked everyday, like twice a day. I cook (crock pot) maybe once every 2 to 3 days, the boys are managing just fine on peanut butter and apples. So I feel like I have gained 20 pounds, I did not work out while he was here, it was much easier to sleep in and then get up and drink coffee and eat a hot breakfast that he had prepared for the boys. Nick is still eating! The boys have watched Polar Express 180 times, Evan has most of it memorized. He sings all the songs. He is watching it again right now, hence I can be posting! I gotta brag for a minute about my little guy, you know, I could do it all day, but will only tell this one Christmas story. Diane was here for 2 days and we went out to lunch. I took a bunch of trains for the boys, but after we were seated Evan wanted a book. Didn't bring a book, so I told him to tell me a story. Sometimes he will go on and on about Thomas, so I thought that was what he might do. Well, he started telling us the poem, Twas the Night before Christmas. And he knew it the whole way through, I didn't even know that he had it all memorized. So Diane and I are just sitting there with our mouths open and I have these giant tears in my eyes, it was so cute. As soon as he had finished and Diane was done wiping her eyes, she says to me, 'did you know that he could do that? You had better get that on tape.' OMG, it was so precious. So now needless to say, he says it ALL the time. Now I even have the thing memorized!

Other than the eating non-stop, we had a great Christmas. Evan was so excited. Nick did not get it at all, he just wanted to eat wrapping paper. Evan opened all the gifts and any toy that he did not like, he would kindly give that one to Nick, such a sweet boy. The big gift from Santa was a firetruck, a big firetruck. Thankfully neither one of the boys are big enough yet to make the thing move. Nick just likes to sit or stand, mostly stand, in it and pretend like they are going somewhere. I swear Nick's first ER visit will be from this firetruck. He likes to climb up on it and dance or move or whatever he is doing. But I know he is going to fall off the thing. He sometimes gets his leg stuck and can't get either in or out. He'll cry for a minute, but the next second he is right back in there. He's my wild child. And now that Evan talks 24/7, he can tell me everything that Nick is up to.

It is January 9 and the only thing I have taken down from Christmas is the tree, and Mike did that. So today I decided to start on the easy stuff, and the squirrels need to be fed. Evan is holding the gingerbread house that he made in TOTS. So we took his picture and sat it out for the squirrels. Now I need to bring up 30 plastic tubs from the basement and start to pack up Christmas frames. Maybe tonight while Mike is playing basketball. Now we have to get the house ready for Evan's 3rd Birthday. I still can't believe my little baby boy is going to be 3! How in the heck did that happen. So since he is going to be 3, I thought I had better start scrap booking! Oh brother. I have about 1500 pictures on my computer that I need to have printed so that I can get started! Another late night activity when they boys are nestled all snug in their beds.

My husband!

2007-12-24T13:55:00.000-05:00

It is Christmas Eve! Yeah, now we just need about a foot of snow and all will be good.

Mike needed to run to the store to get supplies for Christmas dinner tomorrow. I suggested that he take Evan so that they could have some bonding time together and mommy could maybe shower by herself. So Mike goes up to shower and get Evan dressed. As he is walking up the stairs, I tell him that Evan has clean jeans in his suitcase from Grammies house. About 15 minutes later Evan comes downstairs all clean and dressed. Check out these jeans he has on. I told Mike that the jeans were in Evan's suitcase. So now lets see, for any of you that know Evan. If there was an Elmo suitcase and a Thomas suitcase which one do you think would be Evan's? Well apparently since my husband just moved in here, he did not know that Evan is Thomas Crazy! So he pulls these jeans out of Nick's suitcase and puts them on Evan. As soon as I saw them I had to take a picture. I don't know what I should be more alarmed about, the fact that my husband did not notice that they look like knickers on him, or the fact that Evan can still fit into size 12 months! As Pooh would say, 'oh bother.'

Today was quite the day ...

2007-12-18T22:39:00.000-05:00

Wow, did we get a lot done today. Mike left this morning bright and early, but before he left Nick needed to be in our bed around 3:41 am. Mike left I think around 5 or 6 am, I really don't know, he kissed me goodbye, but I could have been dreaming. Evan woke at 7:14, and since he will STILL not get out of his bed, I woke up at 7:14 also. He yells ma-ma, mommy, mom UNTIL I go in and get him up. Many mornings I just open his door and say 'come and get in mommy's bed.' Anyway that is how our morning started. Let's see I got the boys interested in watching Curious George so that I could take a shower. Nick was fine for about the first 1 minute, then he realized that I was not actually on the bed with him. So he managed to get off the bed, no head wounds thank goodness. We made it down for a very quick breakfast, then over to MC for MOPS. Nick started to cry as soon as I turned onto the road to MOPS. Evan was fine. After MOPS was over and Nick was done crying, I headed out for a fun day of shopping with toddlers. I took some good cookies from MOPS to bribe them with. Evan's cookies lasted until we made it to the first store, Nick's is still in my diaper bag/purse. Anyway, from MOPS we went to Menards, that was fun. Then to Gordans Foods, great place for toddlers. Especially since by this time they both need their diapers changed. Apparently Gordons does not get too many moms shopping, no changing station. So we used the cart, now both boys have a shopping cart grid on their behinds. We made it through, then we went to get ink for my printer. Oh the clerks in this store, I think they had just met on www.meetyourhottieatstapels.com, they were not very interested in talking with a middle aged mom and her sugar driven toddlers. Wow, as I type this, I realize I only went to 3 stores today, I thought for sure that I had gone to EVERY SINGLE store in MC. From there we came home, Nick slept most of the ride home and Evan screamed that he did not want to listen to mommy's news station. Merry Christmas. We arrived home and Evan went RIGHT to bed. Nick was fine as long as he was in mommy's arms. At 3:30 I had to get Evan up from the nap he was not taking so that I could go and get our first babysitter of the day. He of course was hungry because the sugar was long worn off from the cookies I had been feeding him. Quick meal, ha. Then back in the car. More crying, why do we have to go? But after he has managed to get the bottom 6"of his pants completely snow covered, from walking BESIDE the cleared off sidewalk. Why would you want to walk on the sidewalk when you can walk in the snow, right. Anyway, we go and pick up Ra-ra, that is a good thing. We get back here and the boys are very happy to see her and hang out in the blue room and watch 'The Polar Express.' I breezed out. Came back after my meeting and a fast trip to the grocery, Nick is always out of bananas. Ra-ra and I actually get to sit and visit for about 45 minutes, that was so nice. Then my second sitter shows up, Madeline. A wonderful, wonderful young lady, I could never express fully how much she is appreciated here at the Messinger house. Someday Evan and Nicky will understand. This is why I posted this picture of my precious first born, Evan Michael. I was trying to rearrange the freezer so that the meatballs for Mike's office party would fit in, and he comes over to me and says 'mommy, please don't leave,' I swear it was just like that moment in Guatemala when he was 6 months old and I had to give him back to the foster mom, he looked at me like 'don't leave me now'. Oh my God, I knew that I have always loved this little man, but today he was tearing out my heart. It was the second hardest time by far that I have ever left him, I love that little guy so much!!! That's why I love Madeline so much, she gets the boys situated and I kiss them goodbye. I still need to take baby sitter #1 home, so I drive her home. Then on the way back I hear this funny sound, like maybe I ran over a big chunk of ice in the road. Well, then about 2 minutes later, I hear this sound like maybe I have a flat tire. So then the sound gets louder and louder and I know that for sure I have a flat tire. So I manage to drive all the way home, we will see what the damage is when Mike gets home tomorrow. I then walked over to City Hall for my meeting and caught a ride home with a neighbor. Madeline's mom was able to come and pick her up, since I do not have a drivable car now. But I am so Thankful. What if I would have had a flat tire with the boys in the car? It is so cold out. I would have had to carry Nick and convince Evan to keep up with me walking in the snow. Somebody must be looking out for me! With all that said, I had to post a favorite picture of my little Evan. He is the joy of my life and I cannot imagine a minute without him. And I know that when I go up tonight and check on him to make sure he is covered up, he will wake up, and he will want to get in my bed. And I will try and be strong and keep him in his room, but honestly in my heart, I would let him sleep in my arms every single night. I love my boys. I am so blessed. Good night.

Hi, it's Evan

2007-12-13T11:13:00.000-05:00

Hi, it's me Evan wishing everyone a MEERY CHRISTMAS!!!

Making a gingerbread house!

2007-12-06T13:59:00.000-05:00

Last year when we went to make the gingerbread houses, Evan just basically ran around the room and ate fruit loop cereal. This year he loved it. I asked Ra-ra to come along and help out, so she and Evan had a great time. They were the last ones decorating. Ra-ra has a little Martha Stewart in her! Nicky on the other hand was very interested in eating M&M's, fruit loops, gum drops and any other sugar item he could get in his mouth. Then we went out to lunch and Nick was on a sugar high, he could not sit still in his high chair. They were playing Christmas music and he was going to town!

It was really fun!

Playing in the first snow of the year!

2007-12-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

Evan making a snowball. Evan loved the snow, he was trying to throw it in Nicky's face of course! Nicky was not the biggest fan of the snow this year, maybe next year. I had him so bunndled up, he could hardly walk.

Need some Christmas help!

2007-12-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

This is what Mike's office looked like yesterday. I played Christmas music all day, trying to get in the mood, but there is so much stuff. And so much stuff for a 16 month old to put in his mouth. I wish I had a penny for every time I said 'No Nicky' yesterday. But I did get a lot done. So I am playing more Christmas music today drinking lots of coffee, so hopefully I will get everything done! And with the snow outside, I have to get the boys outside for pictures, it will be Nick's first snow!! Now I wonder if I have a snowsuit his size, I'm sure the one I used for Evan last year will be too big still. And boots, they will probably need boots, and gloves, where are the gloves? And hats and scarfs .... wow I think I have typed myself out of the mood to go out in the snow!

Counting down to Christmas

2007-12-03T19:16:00.000-05:00

Well the Christmas fun has started at the Messingers! Evan received an advent calender from one of the ladies at Sit & Knit in NB. I thought that was really sweet of her. So yesterday after his little melt down at church, I didn't feel like giving him a piece of chocolate, so we waited until today to open the first window. I thought there was just going to be a little picture behind the window, but oh no, there was a little piece of chocolate there. Evan doesn't even know what it is until I tell him that it is candy, then he gets the idea. So I am trying to explain the reason for the calender, he is just asking for more chocolate. I put the calender on the counter and tell him he will get another one tomorrow, but he has to be good for Santa. So the boys are running around and I am emptying the dish washer for the 27th time today. The boys are too quiet. I look over and they are on the floor with the advent calender. Evan immediately gets up and takes off into the new room, Nicky is just standing there looking at me. So I pick up the calender, 3 of the windows have been opened and there are 2 missing pieces of chocolate. I call to Evan, 'what is going on here'? He has his back to me and he says 'I don't remember'. Remember when you were little and you were looking for something that you were not supposed to have and your mom would say 'what are you looking for'? And you would say 'nothing'. And then my mom would always say, 'do you want it in a bag'? So anyway, whenever Evan has done something that he isn't supposed to do, he says 'I don't remember'? And he says it very seriously. So I yell for him to come over beside me, well when he turns around he has chocolate all over his face! I was trying not to laugh. So I say to him, 'who ate these chocolate pieces'? He says, 'Nicky'. I didn't snap a picture, I was laughing to hard! Here we go!!!

Can you find the boys from Guatemala?

2007-11-28T20:11:00.001-05:00

I was putting away Thanksgiving stuff tonight when I snapped this photo. Can you find the boys from Guatemala? Look how little Nicky is. When you say to Nicky, how much does Mommy love you? He raises his arms up. I'm sure Mike will be using it for when the Bears play.

I had a dream about KENT LYNCH

2007-11-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a night! I had a dream last night about a guy I went to school with. We met at O.J. Neighbors in kindergarten and continued through high school. His name is Kent Lynch. I have not seen him since our 15Th high school reunion, which was in 1994. So whatever prompted this dream I have no idea. But here is how it went. I wanted to 'hook up' or whatever the kids call it these days with Kent. So in my dream he looks exactly like he did our senior year in HS. Very cute, very blond, an all over all American guy. I on the other hand, in my dream look like I do now, a 45ish mother of 2, suburban housewife. So he does not want to go out with me, because I need to lose some serious poundage. So I am going to the gym and working out for Kent, and of course because I am dreaming I lose a bunch of weight. Not like in real life, where you can work out for 6 months and gain 2 pounds. Anyway, now he has started to notice me, but I have decided that I will get him back for not liking me fat, so I will date Angelina Jolie! In my waking hours I can't stand that woman. So how my mind found her, who knows. So anyway, Angelina and I are in the shower, how scary is that, and Kent finally notices me. Ha, I'm sure it had nothing to do with me. But that was my dream, I think I woke up to the alarm clock right about then, to take my suburban mom butt to Curves. Where does a dream like that come from? I tried to google him to find a picture, so that I could post it. Then you could all see how cute he was back in 1979. I wonder where he is now. And the funny thing about it, we never dated, never hooked up once, we were great friends, but just that. So why would my mind pick him, who knows???

I'm a little bit country, and you're a little bit rock and roll

2007-11-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

Hi All,
I have been singing that song since last Friday, that's when Donny Osmond was on Oprah! I watched that show with such emotion. I have been talking about him ever since, so much that Mike is dying his hair black and growing it into a shag. Donny Osmond, I had the biggest crush ever on him, I felt like I was right back in my old bedroom singing into my hair brush, One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, now, give me one more chance, I could go on and on! It was the early 70's, I didn't even have my braces yet, but I'm sure I had a bad haircut and probably a really bad perm! Remember home perms, I got one about every 6 weeks! Oh I had visions of Donny and Donna Osmond, wouldn't that have been cute? I swear if I could post my seventh grade picture I actually looked like him, scary. Well except for my bad teeth. But I loved Donny Osmond, not any of the other brothers, just Donny. How could you not love that smile? He has a birthday coming up, if you didn't have it marked on your calendar. He will be turning 50 on December 9. A girl can dream.

2 to 3 lbs lighter ...

2007-11-06T14:38:00.001-05:00

No, not me, I am gaining by the minute. I am talking about this little cutie. This is him this morning around 7 am when we had him in his little hospital gown. He was such a trooper, poor kid. I just changed the first diaper and he is hurting bad. I don't remember Evan hardly crying at all, and for sure the next day he was totally back to normal. But then we have Nicky, he is not built the same as big brother, shall we say. He only wants Mike to hold him, it's like he is telling me 'you don't get it mom'. So I have balanced the check book, paid all the bills, sent e-mails, and now I am blogging. I am kid free today. It is so quiet in this house without Evan here, I do not like that at all. When my mom and dad were taking him yesterday, he is staying at their house until Friday! I was putting him in his car seat and kissing him about a million times, I guess I hovered a bit too much, my precious little boy said to me, 'hit the button that makes the door close'. I was holding back tears and he is ready to be on the road! So I let Nick play with all of his trains last night, I will show him. So add Nicky's penis to your prayers tonight, he has an ooowie.

I was in Kentucy.

2007-11-04T21:21:00.000-05:00

First of all, if you are from Kentucky and you have sensitive feelings, quit reading right now. OK, are you gone? I had a wonderful day last week, but it is still on my mind, so I need to blog about it right now, are you ready?

Last week, I had to return something to the most dreaded store in the world, I will only type it's name in here one time, the most dreaded store in the whole world is WalMart. Several months ago when they lost photos from our pick up trip to Guatemala with Evan. I approached the "Service Manager" with my rage with the fact that our priceless photos had been destroyed, she looked at me with this look in her eyes, this far off look, and she said something about not knowing where that restaurant was in Chicago. She didn't even know that Guatemala was another country, she just knew it was something she had never heard off, and that it must be in one of the suburbs of Chicago. My head was out of control that evening, and I was so happy that Evan was home with daddy. When I arrived home, all I could say to Mike was to sit down, I was so upset. He thought that I had wrecked the car, or something horrible had happened, but to me the fact that precious photos had been destroyed by some idiot at that store, I was out of my mind. I swore off that store forever.

Then, we were driving home from Wabash and mom and dad had the boys. It was a perfect time to stop at that store and get some things that we needed. While we were there, we spotted a Thomas the Train Halloween costume. Not knowing what Evan would want to be this year, but thinking maybe it would be Thomas, we purchased it with the thought of bringing it back if it was not needed. Well for a while Evan wanted to be #4, where that came from I don't have a clue, then he changed it to Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, much easier. So last week on November 1, the day after Halloween, I went back to that store to return the not needed Thomas Halloween costume. Let me tell you I hate to go to this store. After parking and getting the boys in a cart, we make our way into the store, past the oxygen dependent greeters. We make it down to the "service area". I still can't believe they have the gall to call this area 'service', it is more like 'out of control area'. So I am standing there and this family group, I assume, comes up and cuts in front of me in line. I don't say anything because I really don't care, I am just returning 2 things and then I am out of this store for the rest of my life. The boys are in the cart, acting wonderfully thank goodness. I cannot help but observe the 'family group' that has cut in front of me. There is one male, 3 female, one young male kid, and one young female child. She was the most unusual. And that is hard to say that more than one stood out in this crowd. She was about 7, 8 or 9, she had stringy blond hair, pajamas that were 2 sizes too small, and no shoes on her feet. She was in a cart, crouched down like an animal that spends most of it's time in a cage. I couldn't help but stare. I was very thankful at this time that Evan could not fully understand what was going on, because for sure, he would have been saying 'what the heck is that thing', 'why is she scratching herself in all the wrong places', 'why hasn't she had a shower this month.' Then as we are standing there trying to get 'service' from the 3 clerks who could totally not see that there was anyone standing in front of them, I was becoming more and more hot. Finally, the clerk says in the most disgruntled voice I have ever heard, 'next in line'. That is all, not 'Next in line please, thank you for shopping at out disgusting rat trap', nothing. So I give her my returns. The first one is a breeze, Mike bought a humidifier by mistake, no biggie. Then I put the Thomas the Train outfit one the counter. The clerk actually comes to life, she says to me, ' we don't take back Halloween costumes anymore.' Well, I say you are taking back this one, because I have the receipt and I don't need it. She calls over the first 'service manager'. This chick is an idiot, she tells me that I cannot return the outfit because it had to be returned by Oct. 31. I explained that I have a valid receipt and that I was not informed that I needed to be here by Oct. 31. She grunts to me that she has to get her manager. She actually talks to the clerk as if I am invisible, she tells her that no matter what the service manager says, we don't take Halloween costumes back, no excuses.
While I am standing there waiting, the village idiots are eating the credit card applications and peeing on the floor. I couldn't wait to get out of this store. Finally the 'store manager' comes up to me. He is all of 22, 23 or 24, hasn't had a shave today, shirt not tucked in and I am sure that Evan and Nick have a higher IQ than him. Anyway, he wants to know what is the problem, I tell him, he huddles with his other idiot 'service managers' and tells me that this time and this time only they will give me a refund on my item. I say 'thank you and don't worry about it, don't worry about it ever again, because I will not ever be shopping here again'! Oh my that store, I will never ever set foot in it again, EVER. Hear me, never ever again. NEVER.

Go Target!!!!

Always trying to help others.

2007-11-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

We had some friends over tonight that we are working with to try and make their

surroundings more comfortable. Even if just means something to eat or a cold drink, it normally brings such a smile to their faces. Just look at the smile on her face, we were able to send beef, salads, bread and much love to her home. She has such potential, we will never give up.

I am so ready to blog!

2007-11-04T21:03:00.000-05:00

Wow, it is November and this is my first blog, what the heck have I been doing? First of all, I have the best friends ever, Mike and I are so lucky. We are so lucky to just show up at church today and have a party already planned at out house, how could it get better than that?

My parents were here over the weekend and I just discovered that I was a PERFECT child! I knew I had something working, but when my dad told me this morning that my mom was able to take 4 kids to church all AT THE SAME TIME and none of them made any noise, I knew right there that I was an exceptional kid. We didn't take Evan to church today, he tends to be a bit noisy and I enjoy the sermon and I think that the majority of the church comes to hear Pastor Brad and not Evan, so when we had a chance to leave him at home with Grandpa and a Thomas video, I was all over that. It is so nice to sit in church and just sit in church, normally we call it wrestling in church. Someday it will be easier, that is what everyone tells me.

Models!!!

2007-10-24T15:04:00.000-04:00

I saw the funniest thing this morning at 4 am. Of course I was up, couldn't sleep again. When I turned on my computer, my Yahoo page always comes up and then are always trying to get you to watch a video. So this one looks interesting, it says 'Model falls'. I always think that would be funny. So I hit this clip, at first this guy is like break dancing or some new kind of hip hop thing, well he does this like flip and I think he lands wrong, so he makes this little hole in the floor. This is the important part, the hole is the size of a dinner plate on the floor. So out walks this 'model', she must have been stoned. She walks right into the hole. Now you think that with a normal size person, that would mean they would get their leg caught, maybe up to their knee. Well, this 'model' went right through the whole thing, because she was so dang skinny! It was unbelievable. She was trying to get herself up out of the hole, which was nearly impossible, because it looked like her arms were made of tooth picks! I need another cookie!

The bench that my dad built.

2007-10-23T11:23:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of the bench my dad made and donated for the Service League Craft show. It was so cute and the lady that won it was so excited! I wonder what she is doing with these cute little boys, they were raffled along with the bench!

The Food Drive

2007-10-23T11:08:00.000-04:00

We completed the food drive last week. It was a great success!! Our goal was 540 pounds and I was afraid that we would not get there, but we got there and some! We ended up taking 630 pounds to the Food Pantry last Wednesday, see the boys in the back of mommy's station wagon. Thank you everyone for your wonderful donations, they did a great article about the food drive in the paper, very nicely written. I should of given him my blog address! So after we took the food in, 3 more donations have been brought to the house. A young couple came to the door yesterday with about 50 pounds of food and a check for $100.00!!! WOW!!! I was so excited, the ladies at the food pantry will be so happy! So we are going over there today, to drop things off and give them the check! Now I wonder what our goal will be for next year!!!!

I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING A DIVORCE ......

2007-10-17T12:13:00.000-04:00

There was a knock at the door, I looked out the front window and saw a New Buffalo police car, oh boy, what did I do now. I went to the door and he has this big 8 x 11 envelope in his hand. I push open the screen door and he says to me, 'are you Donna Messinger?' For a minute I wanted to say 'no'. My mind was racing, why is this cop at my front door and what is he serving me with? The first thing I thought of was D-I-V-O-R-C-E! Just like the Tammy Wynette song. But I quickly thought, why would Mike ever want to divorce a catch like me? So anyway, the cop sees that I am somewhat distressed, he says to me, 'I don't have any idea what is in this envelope'. So I do a quick glance at the return address and recognize that right away, it is from the freaking Zoning Board! I was ready to have a heart attack, too funny. So he gives me the envelope and that is it. I'm a freak. I started this blog on the 17th and just getting back to it on the 23rd, I need to get a life. Well, I guess I have one that is why I am finding it hard to find time to blog.

Evan got ran over by mommy's scissors!

2007-10-12T09:47:00.000-04:00

Well here he is, my beautiful little boy with a mommy haircut! My dad gave me these clippers about 2 months ago and I have been dying to try them out, just looking for the right victim. So on Tuesday night while I had both boys in the tub, I was reading the directions on the clippers. Evan noticed what I was looking at and very graciously said "Nicky first mommy". That from the kid who won't share a single toy with his baby brother. Anyway, I didn't do any actual clipping until Wednesday night. Evan was having a mini melt down during the haircut, he kept telling me that it hurt, but trust me there was no blood, so I know he was ok. I thought I had done a pretty good job and I couldn't stand the screaming anymore, and Nick was crawling around in the cut hair and trying to eat the cord to the clipper. So I decided we were done, Mike took both boys upstairs and put them in the shower while I cleaned up the hair. When I got upstairs and Evan's hair was wet, I was high fiving myself for doing such a good job. He went to bed happy and so did mommy. Then the next morning when his hair was dry, oh boy. Thank goodness he is a boy! It was not such a good job! But we had to go to school, so no time to get the clippers out that morning. As soon as we got to school, before the boys even had their coats off, Ms. Margaret their teacher said, "Evan you got a haircut". I couldn't help but laugh. So last night after dinner, we got back to the clipping. Evan was much more relaxed, since he knew that it was not going to hurt. Nick was in his high chair, so he was not eating the clipper cord or Evan's hair. The haircut came out much much better. He looks so different, kinda more big boyish. Which I don't really like, but just a little change. This photo is him going up the stairs last night, he looks like he is telling me to throw the clippers away! Nick is next!!!!!!! hee hee

Will I ever post again?

2007-10-09T09:09:00.000-04:00

Oh My, it has been crazy around here! Non-stop everything. Will I ever post again. Evan had the biggest tantrum of his life this morning because I would not let him have a bowl of raisin bran. He has never even had raisin bran, how does he know that he will even like it. I wanted to put something nasty in my bowl and give him a big bite, just to show him. But I couldn't find anything close enough. So I ate my raisin bran and listened to him scream. Then 20 minutes later he asked for a piece of peanut butter toast, like no big deal!! Now we are getting ready to go to the pumpkin patch in the 80 degree weather. We'll need both bug spray and sun tan lotion today! I need to go, I smell the sweet aroma of 2 dirty diapers! Have a good day. I promise I will post later, and I will have good stuff, because I am giving both the boys haircuts tonight. I was reading about the clippers last night while the boys were in the bath tub. Evan sees what I am looking at and he says "Nicky first mommy'. Doesn't want to share a single toy with his brother, but wants to make sure he gets the worst haircut! Sweetie!

Happy Monday

2007-10-01T15:23:00.000-04:00

Well lets see, what is going on today. I woke at 1:30 am and went back to sleep for an hour at 7 am. So when I put Evan down today at 2, I thought I would try and catch some shut eye. That is if I could get to sleep with the sound of Dolores snoring! Anyway, I did fall asleep in the chair with Nick on my lap. He is a horrible napper and practically the only way to get him to take a nap is to let him sleep on me. So that is what I did today, I was so tired. So we were snoozing in the chair, Grandma Doe was snoozing on the couch. I was having a dream about a hot day at the beach, I could even feel the warm waves rolling onto my bronzed size 6 body! Then I woke up and Nicholas was peeing on me. I swear with his unit, if you don't have it laying the right way in his diaper, he can pee right out the leg of his diaper.

Ok, it only took me 4 hours to get this posted. Too many interruptions today!

Look at my new sink!

2007-09-27T20:57:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,

This could be an ad for Kohler. Look at this sink. Isn't it the cutest sink you have ever seen? It's just the best one ever! It looks great with the faucet, the bubbles and the toys. They only thing better would be big brother next to him!!

Too Cute!

Would you like fries with that?

2007-09-26T03:56:00.000-04:00

Hello All,

I hear that they are sending out roses from McDonalds now. And I get excited about a free cup of coffee. Does anyone know anything about the roses, do you have to do anything/anyone special to receive them?

hmmmmmmmmm

GOTCHA-DAY!!!! 2 years ago!

2007-09-23T15:26:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it has already been 2 years that this little guy has blessed our hearts. I can remember this day 2 years ago like it was yesterday, and I cannot even remember what I had for lunch today. This picture was taken for our first meal as a FOREVER FAMILY! We of course had to dress him in a Cubs outfit. Mike and I arrived in Guatemala that morning around 6 am, we were so excited and so tired all at the same time. We checked into the hotel and thought maybe we would be able to get some breakfast and then a short little nap before Evan's arrival. He was due to be at the hotel around noon. I ate pancakes, that always makes me tired. Then we went to the room and both just laid on the bed, I don't think either one of us thought we would fall asleep. At 10:45 am the phone rang, I couldn't figure out what that noise was. Finally I grabbed the phone. It was our attorney Heidy, she was in the lobby with Evan and the foster family! Mike and I showered in 2 minutes, we were in the lobby at 11:00. I was so excited, nervous, anxious, ready, but most of all happy to be seeing our little guy again. The foster mom was sitting on a couch with Evan all wrapped up in about 6 blankets, the foster dad was kinda pacing around. Evan was sleeping. Heidy greeted us and re-introduced everyone. The foster mom had big sunglasses on, I think she had been crying. I was trying to hold it together. I had a pen and paper ready for taking notes about our new baby, what did he like, how did he like to be held, what was he eating, did he like to be rocked. I tried to pay attention to Heidy as she told me everything the foster mom said. But all I was thinking was, 'I want that little baby under the blankets'. I was writing all kinds of things down, for the life of me, I don't have a clue what I wrote, or whatever happened to that paper. Finally Evan started to stir. He kinda popped his head up, and he was so cute! He just looked around and watched. Finally after what seemed like 10 hours, I said to the foster mom 'can I hold him', can I hold him like for the rest of his life!!! She slowly unwrapped him, it took her about an hour. Finally he was handed to me! His mom! Oh My God, I thought I was gonna die right there! He just laid his head down on my chest like he totally knew that I was his new mama! In the blur of things, I heard Mike trying to figure out how to turn on the camera, I heard the foster dad snapping photos of Evan and Mommy, I heard the attorney say, 'look, he knows that is his mama'. Then I don't know what happened. I just remember I was holding on to him like I had never held anything before. I know that I thanked the foster mom a million times for taking care of my little boy, for loving him and kissing him until I got there. Then in a blur Mike and I were up in a hotel room with a little person, who we knew liked formula, who needed 2 naps a day and needed our attention. We quickly dressed him in his Cubs outfit and then went to lunch. When I look back at that part, I am still amazed. We show up in Guatemala as husband and wife, now 5 hours later we are a family! I do remember that first time going down to the lobby with Evan, thinking that someone was going to come up to us and take him away. Like we made a mistake, we checked your paperwork, you need to give him back.

Our lives are wonderfully better since we had these babies. Evan is such a sweetheart. I love just to look at him. Even when he is having a fit about something, I still think he is the sweetest thing ever. March 28 we accepted his referral, July 16 we met him for the very first time, September 23 he was placed in our arms forever. I hope this blog is still on line when he gets his first girlfriend, she had better love him like his mama does!

We are so blessed! I think about how long it took to bring him home. We were so lucky with both of our boys to be able to bring them home so soon. So many families have the dreaded waiting game, that last forever. We waited, but we were so lucky. Somebody must be looking out for us.

Evan is napping right now, so when he gets up, we will have cake and balloons and Mike and I bought him a new James engine with bees on it. He loves James. Don't worry it's not a recalled one. Then he will just spend the rest of the day running around the house, tormenting Nick and getting into everything possible.

One Happy Mama.

Something you don't ever think that your mother would say ...

2007-09-21T20:19:00.000-04:00

Tonight on the phone with my mom, my mom was talking about the boys, that is normal. Then she says, "have you ever noticed how big Nick's penis is?" Ok, well that is something that I would never think that I would hear from my mother, and I am sober! So I casually respond, "Mike thinks that is why he is so happy, he knows already". She laughs, I laugh and we move on to the next topic! I love my mom!

I love my Nicky's noodle, I mean I love my Nicky noodle!!!

Here is a picture of Nick on the steps that my dad built, so that they can look out the window all day long. This will be the subject of many fights this winter I imagine. When the snow is flying and mommy is snug in the house and the boys are dying to get outside, they will at least be able to look at the snow!