Yikes!

So, I have been out of the blog world for more than 2 weeks, yikes! I don't know what to say other than I am apparently having difficulty managing my time! Trying to sell our house is turning out to be something way more than I bargained for. At any rate, it's still on the market, we're still waiting for someone to freaking buy it already, and I'm still having a hard time keeping it in "showing" condition. I also did a short stint in the ER about two weeks ago. Apparently I was electrically shocked. It put my heart out of rhythm for a bit, but all the tests showed no permanent damage, phew. I had and continue to have chest pains, but that could be stress too I guess. Also, since I last posted Mr. Spencer got his bottom teeth! Boy was he very unhappy for the week he was cutting them:( He has become such a big boy that I cannot believe he is more than 8 months old! Time is flying.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments on my hair:) I think I'm going to cut Avery's today, she's in serious need! I really love cutting hair, I think I missed my calling:) I do know that I miss being a makeup artist for MAC. I'm not sure if it's totally hip though to have that profession while raising two kids!

Here's what we've been up to...

Avery lovin' on her brother! I sure hope these two grow up to be as close as they are right now!

My happy little guy and my sweet princess that already has "the look" down pat.

Remember in my last post how I was overwhelmed with Artie working so much...well obviously we survived, and this beautiful arrangement made my day when it appeared at my door from my wonderful hubby:) Would you believe it was the first time he sent me flowers in the nearly 13 and 1/2 years we've been together!

Spencer is officially mobil and one day I found him like this!

The next pictures are from our quick trip to the Cincinnati aquarium (which is really across the river in Kentucky) we took last weekend. We had an open house and decided to just leave town for the weekend and headed south.
"Taxicrab" as Avery called this...if you watch Jungle Junction on Disney, you know why!

Artie, Avery, Spencer and Grandpa Barry waiting in line for the dive show (Artie's dad lives in Cincinnati).

The ray swimming by during the dive show. The diver that does this show is a volunteer!

Check out that shark swimming by! There has to be another diver in there to make sure the diver talking to the audience isn't eaten!

Turtles doing what appears to be something for behind closed doors, not see-through glass:)

This is a duck. Why did I take a picture of a duck at the aquarium? Well, because this duck was randomly-and very calmly-swimming in this tank where there were MANY sharks swimming beneath!

Avery checking out the gators...you can see one in the water to the left of her in that orange light.

These frogs were just hanging out in the tree!

Avery really like the frogs.

A very cool bird.

I was pretty intrigued with the jelly fish.

This was a weight sling that they weigh bigger fish on...Avery tried it out (thinking it was a swing and promptly threw a fit when removed from said swing causing us to miss the next exhibit-which was penguins, her favorite-and flee the building) and tipped the scales at a whopping 26 lbs!

A snap of the entrance to the aquarium, which is actually called the Newport Aquarium in Newport, KY.

A shot of Cincinnati from the aquarium.

Finally, my dad is having surgery on Tuesday and so any prayers for this operation to be a success would be very welcome:) Thanks, everyone, have a great weekend!

A Few New Things

Wow, what a long week. In fact, as I post this, Artie is at work and has been all day! I'm just not used to him working SO much, luckily it's rare...Now, I know that it's my job (to take care of the kids), but seriously, I'm in need of a break. I have pretty much been taking care of the kids from the time they get up in the morning until they go to bed, all by myself. Sure, I'm a stay-at-home mom right now and I should be used to taking care of them, but oh man that small break for a few hours when Artie gets home from work at night and having two days on the weekends to have some help is nice-and something I can't wait to get back soon! I haven't even left the house in days, I'm too exhausted. The thought of trying to get out and packing up the kids just makes me more tired and gives me more work! I know it's just temporary, but it has seriously been the most draining week. Oh well, such is life:) The kids, on the other hand-aside from being a little out of schedule because they aren't seeing Artie-have been pretty good this week! There have even been a few new things!

I gave myself a haircut-hey, I said I haven't been able to get out of the house! I actually do this for myself quite a bit. Since my hair is finally growing back after leaving me nearly bald in places after Spencer, I have been growing it back out to my normal style-hallelujah!

Spencer can now hold his bottle, only if he's laying on his back though! I should say he will finally choose to hold his bottle when he's laying down. This kid, seriously laid back! He's also taken a few real "crawls"! I don't have a picture, but he's working on it:)

Spencer has been eating puffs for about 2 weeks and is getting so much better on his hand to mouth coordination. So, this week he graduated to trying baby mum mums-he loves them and quickly eats them up!

Just a few others from the week...

Avery wanted me to take a picture of her eating lunch. Anytime I take a picture of Spencer or get my camera out she starts shouting cheese at me to take her picture!

A little David Caruso impersonation going on by Miss Avery here! She thought she was pretty cool!

This princess is looking more and more like her daddy (though a much prettier version) every day:)

Spencer loves to play with his and Avery's farm. Avery isn't always so thrilled because she doesn't like Spencer's chew drool all over the animals! I'm constantly having to wipe them off for her so she can play with them:)

Hopefully you are all enjoying your weekends with a little more relaxation than us!

McWendys and Supernanny?

There hasn't been much happening this week. I have been swamped with homework. I'm only taking one class, but it's 6 credit hours (and only 12 wks long) so I'm constantly having to do homework:( Plus, we have our house on the market. It's hard enough trying to keep the house picked up and clean on a daily basis, but having to have the house constantly in "showing" condition is a tough one. Also, this is Artie's very busy time at work. He will more than likely be working the next 12 days in a row-and late hours-so I'm trying to gear up for that and hoping that I have the energy to get me through-lots of diet coke! Other than that, the kids have been great. It's snowed a lot here and very cold so I'm already dreaming of warmer days and time outside!

We ran some errands this weekend to get out of the house and we discovered McWendys and that we look like good contestants for Supernanny. Avery has gotten to that age where she can spot a McDonalds and loves their orange Hi-C. Well, while out yesterday, we got her McDonalds for dinner. Today she announces, at lunchtime, that she's hungry and she wants McDonalds. Artie told her that she had that for dinner last night and wouldn't be having it for lunch. Thus, she exclaimed that she would like McWendys! Artie and I were cracking up. Glad to know everything is measured up against those golden arches! And to the second thing we discovered this weekend...I know I have told some stories of the, shall we say, difficulties, we have had with Avery. She's just a very "spirited" toddler. Well, we were out and about and Avery was grabbing attention, like she typically does in public, and we were approached by a casting director for the reality show, Supernanny! That's right, folks, if you think I've been exaggerating about what Avery can do, there's some proof:)! I have to say though, Avery was so darn good most of the day. We discovered that if we give her the personal DVD player-IN THE STROLLER!-while we shop or whatever, she's pretty good for a large amount of time. However, once the movie ended, her body was itching to burn some energy. I can't wait to see what she does when we turn her loose on the world! So, I don't think we'll be trying out for Supernanny. I'm not really sure I want to add reality show to my resume. But, we do have the lady's contact info, so who knows!!

Finally, I wanted to give a quick Jake update for all the family (and friends) that check the blog. He's doing pretty well, though cold. The bay has averaged around 50 degrees since he got back-the heat is broken. So hopefully they fix that! They started shooting their guns a few days ago and Jake's doing pretty well and already "zeroed in"-something to do with getting your gun focused to your eyesight. He has qualifying and night shooting this week so hopefully he does well because it's something he has to pass to graduate. Other than that, he's been working hard on getting ready for his PT test (situps, pushups, and a 2 mile run). They have 2 chances to pass and that's the thing he's most worried about doing! He has been in white phase for about a week (the second phase of basic) and likes having a little more freedom-they even get to take naps on Sundays, lol. Fort Sill went coed for basic training a few days ago, so he said it's been a little strange watching girls in red phase (the first phase) getting yelled at! He's supposed to be graduating Feb. 19th so hopefully we'll be heading to Oklahoma for that before he heads straight to Georgia for AIT.

Now for some pics of the past week...

My big blue eyed boy:) This was after a bath and daddy had styled his hair in a faux hawk!

Avery feeding Spencer his solid foods...today Mr. S. got to try some meat! He gagged on it, but finished the whole container:)

Such a smiley boy in his camo sweatshirt and pants! He's been doing a great job of sitting up, when he feels like it. This kid is so much different than Avery!! I hope he stays as laid back as he is now!

This girl can eat! Taking after mommy and digging the broccoli. Yep, she and I shared that bowl of broccoli for lunch with our pasta. She'll eat it cooked or raw-thank goodness!

This is how Avery likes to use a fork these days:) Can you tell she's been watching the Little Mermaid??!!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend and has a great week!

Not a Goodbye

We had such a great two weeks with my brother being home on holiday leave. He stayed at our house for most of that time and it was just like the old days when he would stay with Artie and I a lot when we were first married. Avery become very attached to her Uncle Jake and loved watching him play video games. It was just nice:)

We had to take Jake down to Indy yesterday for him to fly to Dallas so he could catch his bus back to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. I'm not going to lie, it was tough. He has a life in the military now and who knows what changes that will bring to his life. I know that's what life is about, change and growth, but these past two weeks were sort of a goodbye to the old relationship we had with Jake. Since there's so much of an age difference between us, I've always treated him like a second mother. Artie has known Jake since he was 6, so to Artie, Jake is a brother not just a brother-in-law. It was so great getting to have him hang out with us, watch TV, play video games, eat good food and joke around-it's what Artie and I have always done with him. But, the truth is, he's growing up. Yeah, there's always going to be 9 years between us, but the older we get, the closer that gap seems to be. Jake is a fantastic uncle. He was so fun and patient with the kids, they love him. Avery even got up this morning and said she wanted to watch Uncle Jake play video games. When Artie explained to her that Jake wasn't here anymore and to remember that we took him to the airport yesterday, she replied with "Uncle Jake's at work." Kids are so smart!

Jake will be 25 when his tour with the Army is over and I'm sure he won't be coming to stay and hang out with his oldest sister anymore. He'll have his own life and maybe even his own family by then. I'm trying hard not to focus so much on the past and the way things have been, but what the future will bring for Jake and I's relationship. I'm excited to see him grow and to know what's in store for him. He has made such an amazing commitment and he deserves good things from it. So, I know that these past two weeks did represent sort of a one last hurrah, but not a goodbye. I love my little brother and though our relationship with him may change it will also grow. We'll always be able to get together and hang out and joke around, but one day he'll have other things in his life that are a bigger priority. I'm glad we'll be able to share that with him! We can't wait to head out to Oklahoma and see him graduate basic in February!

Here are some pictures from our trip yesterday...

I had the privilege of sitting in the back seat with my kiddos and yes, this is Avery reading one of my US Weekly magazines!

Spencer was giving me the cutest smiles most of the way down. He's very fascinated with his tongue:)

Artie and Jake at lunch. We went to On the Boarder because Jake wanted mexican-we had never been to one (we don't have them in the Fort) and it was pretty good.

How cute is this, right?! The kids were getting some last minute Uncle Jake time while we waited with him at the airport:)

Jake and I, of course:)!

And this is one from last week...
Avery has been very into feeding her little brother. It's so cute, she's very helpful-he's almost as big as her though!