Naptime Blog

My hubby and I decided to gather the gift cards we received for Christmas and put them towards some thing that could benefit the both of us this year and decided to get a Wii along with the Wii Fit Plus. After hearing the positive reviews from some friends and my family, we were determined. We walk into Best Buy where they have an entire Wii mountain made out of the consoles, and quickly put it in our cart…not that we had to rush or anything, they weren’t going to sell out! Shaughn spots the blue and yellow balloons tied to the end of each aisle and decided that he absolutely needs one and starts pointing, babbling, and raising his arms. As we walk towards the Wii accessories and games, away from all these balloons, Shaughn starts crying and yelling, all understandable at first, but then it gets louder. I’m trying to talk to him and show him all the other neat things we’re standing next to, which is completely at the other end of the store, and he is still pointing up crying. He did calm down and stop a few minutes later but I was so confused on what to do besides telling him “no” firmly and shortly explain, even though he does not understand, that he could not have the balloons because they belonged at the store. It worked, so that was good. I didn’t want to be the couple in the store who has that crying tantrum throwing child! Anyhow, the Wii Fit Plus is GREAT. We’ve done it yesterday and today and can literally feel our muscles aching. It is such a sensitive balance board and can feel your EVERY move, and I do mean every. It corrects your posture, works on balancing, and keeps you moving! Maybe this will finally be the one tool in our lives that can actually help us lose weight but allow us to have fun at the same time. I got nothing but high hopes. Do you have a Wii Fit or any other product to help keep you motivated while losing weight?

-Krystle

Another Christmas has come and gone, we are in the New Year, kids have gone back to school, the holiday cookies and cakes are out of the house, and we are now in January.  I love the holidays.  Although it is extremely exhausting, I enjoy the decorating, the shopping, the baking, the sending and receiving Christmas cards, and the family time.  Possibly my favorite day of the whole year is Christmas Eve, with the anticipation that I remember as a child being re-invented with my children and the beautiful traditions that I had growing up and which my husband and I are continuing with our family, the holiday is simply magical.  I love Christmas morning, and each year gets more and more amazing, as this year we had four loves to celebrate with, including a seven year old who is still a Santa believer (thank goodness!), twin boys who don’t quite understand the concept yet, but absolutely adored ripping off wrapping paper and enjoying all their new toys, and a new baby who celebrated his very first Christmas.  But there is something about the day after New Year’s Day that makes me want to clean it all up and get back to normal.  And now even that day has come and gone and I am still staring at a tree with a ton of gifts under it and decorations that unfortunately are not going to get put away by the munchkins who come and clean the dishes in the sink each evening (yeah, right!)

On December 23rd I ordered my last two Christmas presents online: a small set of drawers for the new clothes for the kids and a children’s twelve bin toy organizer for all their new toys.  I expected the delivery on New Year’s Eve, and when I checked the UPS site for tracking and learned that the delivery was rescheduled for Monday, I was not a happy camper.  So the first day of “back to normal” (Monday the 4th) was spent putting these things together and putting away the kids’ new clothes and toys. 

I still have a lot of things to keep sorting…  something that usually was done by this point.  I am in the process of removing the small clothes and sorting the clothes that are too big (why do people buy clothes in a size 3T for children who are only 17 months old or 12 months for a baby who is 3 months old?  I always put those outfits away and when the kids are big enough to wear them I usually either forget I have them OR they are for the wrong season!  But I will save these thoughts for another blog!).  I am also in the process of putting away the gifts of my husband and I, and am either waiting for him to put some of our new things together (and take out the cardboard and boxes) or doing it myself.  Add to that my (work at home) full-time job and my writing, PLUS still caring for four children (and 2 of them were sick over the holiday week, hindering my plans of putting everything away) and I am really itching to get this tree down already!  Only thing: I can’t get to it until all these other things are out of the way!

My husband is calling me Scrooge.  I would love to see him sort through all these gifts, toys and clothes and put the decorations away!  Too bad he has to work tomorrow!

What our tree looked like on Christmas Eve

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (3 months)
www.nevaland.com

My husband and I have always been the type to jump up and go. We love a quick weekend road trip!! When we added a new baby to the mix it slowed us down a bit. Well this past weekend we woke on a Saturday morning and decided we were going to make a quick trip to Raleigh, NC to visit some family. It’s about a 2 ½ hour drive for us, so we thought we would spend the day and come back home late that night, Well, that WAS the plan!

First of all, our family members were SOO excited to see us. They practically begged us to stay the night. We repeatedly told them next time we would stay longer and we weren’t prepared for an overnight stay. They never accepted no for an answer. Before I knew it, it was 10:00 at night and we were laughing and having a good old time. The only thing was, we had about 4 diapers, no changing clothes, no toothbrush and very little milk  for the baby. What were we thinking? By 11:00, Jayce was winding down, he had 2 diapers left and we lost his ONE paci somewhere in the house.  By 3 am, he was back up, very fussy and was down to his last diaper

Short & sweet version, we had a BALL!!!  I hope we continue to do those spontaneous trips, but maybe next time I will be a little more prepared…

Here is another holiday picture of my boys for you to enjoy!

~Shanta

With the huge amount of “reality” shows on TV right now, I sometimes wonder how real they really are. I mean, if it were really reality, would it be that interesting?

I started wondering about a reality show about me and my life. I can guarantee you that I would bore people to tears and they’d get tired of seeing me in the same old pajama pants and t-shirt. Inevitably, they’d vote me off for not brushing my hair and for having spit up on me. lol I have no time for drama like most on reality television do. I am just too busy chasing two adorable toddlers.
I do think it would be kind of funny to have a REAL reality show where cameras just follow people around totally unscripted. It’s obvious that most of the shows are scripted. Each show has the participants doing something fun and exciting or at least interesting (going on weekend excursions, cool field trips and other things that many stay at home moms can’t afford).

In my reality show, they’d follow me as I wake up, make the kids breakfast, pour me a cup of coffee and check my email before the boys wake up. Once they are awake it would be hour upon hour of reading books, playing with trains, putting together puzzles, learning new things and watching Thomas the Train and Caillou. Naptime finds me blogging and catching up on things around the house. When the boys wake again it’s the same thing. Throw in my son’s ECI and occupational therapy sessions and a few trips to the doctor and grocery store and there you have it. It’s my life and I love it, but I am not sure it’s the reality TV people are looking for.

You’d watch it though, right?

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

We made the drive north to good ol Palatka, Fl on Wednesday the 23rd for a party that night to visit with and spend time with other family members that we probably wouldn’t see during the remainder of our trip. My husband has a very large, and quite confusing, family. I must have asked him over 10 times to explain all the connections! Either way, they’re all great and wonderful people to be around so I enjoy spending time with them. I also love how they all show so much affection for our son. I know for a fact that Shaughn will have a great upbringing with all of us there to love and support him, and that makes us feel good :). After nearly 2 years of marriage, I finally got my wedding rings as a Christmas gift and my, are they beautiful. Opening presents was a fun time, everyone smiling as we all tore apart wrapping paper to discover what goodies we received. My sister in law, who is also a fellow “Twilighter” got me this extremely comfortable Jacob Black blanket, I love it! One of our good friends from the military drove down from Tennessee to spend Christmas with us all as well, and he had a great time. We tried to see as many people as time would allow but still didn’t get to everyone which I am saddened by, but will definitely go see the next time we drive up there.

This year was the first Christmas I spent away from my family. It was sad because they don’t have any other family down here and spent Christmas by themselves. One day I hope to live in an area between my husband’s family and my family in a big house so that we can all spend the holidays together at one location! Maybe when I win the lottery… All in all, we had a great trip filled with love, memories, and photos and I am grateful to be apart of such a wonderful family. I hope all of you had a great time with your loved ones as well!

-Krystle

Most of my blogs are light and hopefully interesting and possibly even humorous.  Today happens to be an anniversary of an event I will never forget.  This blog is a reflection of my more serious side.

Nine Christmases ago I was pregnant for the very first time.  I learned right before Christmas day.  I was 25 years old, newly married, and ‘innocent’.  I had always wanted to become a mother, and learning I was pregnant was something I had always dreamed of.  The day after Christmas in the year 2000, I learned there was a possible problem with the pregnancy.  I spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day being thrown into a whirlwind of emotions, not knowing whether or not I was going to have a baby in nine months.  This was the first time in my life I realized that being blessed with a pregnancy did not always mean that a baby would be born, and many complications could prevent that from happening.  My “innocence” was forever lost on the evening of January 3rd, 2001, when I learned that I had an ectopic pregnancy, and that I would need emergency surgery to ensure my fallopian tube wouldn’t burst, endangering my life.

I had surgery on January 4, 2001.  I lost my baby and lost my left fallopian tube.  My life was forever changed on that day.

I went on to lose another baby later that year.  Since then, I welcomed my daughter into my world in 2002, I divorced her father in 2005, remarried the love of my life in 2007, gave birth to twin sons in 2008 (after dealing with secondary infertility), and was surprised with my little love, born late 2009.  I am forever blessed with these four amazing children and awesome husband.  I watch them all sleep; I love the sound of my children’s laughs.  I never imagined that I would have four children, and after spending many years in an unhappy relationship with my first husband, I cannot help but thank God for the life I have with my husband and children.  But there has never been a January 4th that has gone by without me remembering the first baby that I never got the opportunity to hold, to kiss, to watch sleep or listen to his/her laughter.  I have never forgotten the course of events leading to that awful trip to the operating room, the day that changed my life and my views on many things. 

Nine years sometimes feels like an eternity, sometimes feels like the blink of an eye.  We celebrate birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and other happy occasions.  We also remember other anniversaries, which may not always be of an event we choose to remember.  But I am a mother of 6, not 4, and I will always remember the day I lost my first baby.

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (3 months)
www.nevaland.com

It always goes so fast! I think many educators will agree that Christmas Break is one of those many, well deserved breaks. I love the Holiday’s and this year was extra special because it was Jayce’s 1st Christmas. He recently started walking, so it was extra fun watching him stumble around the house on Christmas day. Because we have 2 kids now, we don’t do much visiting on Christmas day. We like to be at home so our children can enjoy good food, family/friends & gifts. We cook a big meal, similar to a Thanksgiving meal, with all the fixings.  We often have family members stop by for good food and fellowship.

I try to relax as much as possible during my 2 week break from school. I work in a very difficult environment and some days are better than others. But it seems as if the last few days of my break always speeds by! It is very important to take time out for yourself to just relax and DO NOTHING. I know as mothers many of us find that to be a difficult task, but trust me: we have to do that! I feel like a better wife & mother when I take some me time out to treat myself. Make sure you find some time during your busy week to put yourself 1st; you will thank me for it…

~Shanta

Welcome to 2010!

Do you do a new year resolution? Me? Nah! I never really have. I mean, how many people actually stick to them? I am actually so tired during the holidays that I don’t have the energy to be strong and stick to some huge, life changing resolution.

I am happy to start a new year though. I love the winter and January is usually low key, not many parties or planned events, so we can bundle up the boys really well and let them play at the park and enjoy the cooler weather (that’s as long as the freezing rain stays away). The rainy, yucky days aren’t so bad either. The boys can play with all of the neat toys they got for Christmas and not get bored when stuck inside.

So, I sort of enjoy the newness of the year in January and look forward to what 2010 brings. For those that do resolutions, what did you resolve to do (or not do) this year? Have you had success in the past in keeping resolutions?
Either way, I pray your 2010 is a wonderful one, filled with joy, happiness and great things.

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

I don’t normally make resolutions. New Year’s Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want/or need to make. There are definitely a lot of goals I have for this year. I also have some things that I want to improve on. Our family always brings in the New Year at church. Our church family has been amazing!

Here are just a few things I hope to accomplish this year. I plan to exercise more and get my health in check. I would like to further my career. I love working with children with disabilities, but it can be very stressful at times. I want my family to just grow and prosper all around. I would love to be a little more organized. My work day starts out really early, and organization would help eliminate a lot of extra stress.

What type of personal plans and goals do you make for yourself with the New Year?

I found some interesting links online about resolutions, take a peak.

http://www.goalsguy.com/Events/n_top-ten-resolutions.html

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml\

~Shanta