Happy Halloween

Only in Alton IL area is Halloween so big that it takes two nights to celebrate. The kids always go out trick or treating on the 30th and then there is a big Halloween parade on Halloween night.
So we started the day with a Halloween party at the daycare the kids had a blast putting on their costumes and doing art project and making rice krispie treats.
Then after dinner we put the costumes back on and they kids get out to trick or treat. I sent Alyssa to run up stairs for something and she came down with more eyeshadow than I use in a week. I also let her eat candy that turned her lips black, so instead of a cute innocent princess she looked like this morning she was now an overly made up princess.

We weren't sure if Colin would do it or not since he wasn't a fan of trunk or treat. But he took off with Alyssa and Chris and was super happy when he came back. He was excited to show me all his candy.

Once they came back they helped pass out candy to the kids that were coming to the house. It was cute to watch the kids put candy into their bags.


As we tucked Alyssa in to bed tonight she told us, "Now we need to start planning the Christmas party". That is my girl always thinking ahead.

Adventure Review

Yesterday morning at 9 am Jenni and I headed off on our adventure. It took us almost exactly 3 hours to get to the daycare. We stopped at the local grocery store for lunch. It was actually a super small store so and we went to the deli for a sandwich. The deli was a joke but we were able to get sandwiches and some chips.

We then got to the daycare that was closing. We spent about an hour walking around looking that things and making a list of everything we wanted. We then spent some time talking over the list to make sure no one felt shorted.

We then started loading. That took awhile because there was only 3 women and a 14 year old to load everything and a lot of the stuff was super heavy.

When we went to leave the truck wouldn't start and we had to find someone to jump the truck. Once that happened we were able to hit the road to come home.

We pulled in the driveway at about 7:45 last night. Jenni had called her husband and friend to come help and Chris had called a friend of his to come help so we had many hands to unload and took less than an hour.

So in total we spent $3,075 on stuff, $320 on the truck, and $158 on fuel. Today we did a total if we bought everything brand new and it would have cost us over $10,000.

It was a very successful trip. Now off to meet with the fencing people to find out how much that would cost. 

Adventure

Tomorrow I will be taking a road trip with Jenni and this HUGE truck. I ordered a 10 foot truck. They didn't have any of those so I ended up with a 24 foot truck. I have NEVER driven anything bigger than a mini van. I drove it home from the place we rented it from. I found out that anything below 30 miles per hour make it bump. Sitting still the truck is VERY noisy and bumps a lot. The brakes are hard to use. I practically had to stand on them to make the truck stop.
We will be driving with a fair distance from anyone and anything. I am going to be that person everyone hates and can't wait to pass because I'm driving so slow.
We are driving 3 hours away to a daycare that is closing. We hope to come home with many treasures. This lady has promised us some very good stuff so I hope it is in as good of condition as she says and that we get the great deal we want.
No matter what tomorrow will be one of many adventures I think we will take (probably not anymore in a rental truck) getting this daycare up and running. 

Trunk or Treat

Tonight was our annual Trunk or Treat at church. We did a trunk again this year. Last year we ran to the dollar store and picked up a few things and threw it up.
This year we put some effort into our idea and we took the train theme we are using for Colin's birthday and did a train theme for our trunk.
We had a lot of people that came by and said it looked cute and I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.


It was cold but the kids had fun and after they ran around for about 45 minutes we sent them to the nursery to hang out where it was warmer and they had toys and movies not just candy to eat.
The only down fall to the evening was that I was told about an hour before it was supposed to end that Colin had a 102.5 fever and that he needed to leave the nursery. So I packed up my car and brought everyone home.
He is still running a fever and he isn't eating or drinking much but he was having fun playing with Alyssa this evening so we will see what tomorrow brings.

Doctor

Colin has a doctors appointment tomorrow. It is his first appointment with this doctor since his bronchoscopy.  I am really interested/nervous to hear what he has to say and see where we go from here.
Colin has been having breathing issues for the last 21 days. I hope tomorrow the doctor can shead some light on this and we can have a plan of action going into winter.

Corn Maze

On Sunday we hit up the corn maze that is near our house. This is also something we have done every year since the year I was pregnant with Alyssa.
We let Alyssa take the lead and for the longest time we were going in small circles but never getting very far into the maze. So Chris took over and took us further into the maze. Then we let Colin take over and we were having a problems trying to get out of the maze. So finally we got out of the maze.

They also have a huge box filled with corn kernels, Alyssa had a blast playing in it. We also let the kids ride on a small train thing. We weren't sure if Colin would go by himself and he was nervous as first but did fine once it took off. It was gone for about 15 minutes. During that time Chris and I sat and talked, it was weird to be at a kids event without the kids for that long.



When the train came back we let Alyssa play in the corn a little longer and then left. The kids had a lot of fun and enjoyed running through the corn.

Next weekend is about decorating pumpkins, doing trunk or treat and getting ready for Halloween.

Grant's Farm

On Friday night we took the kids to Grant's Farm for their Halloween celebrations. We have done this every year since Alyssa was born.
This year Alyssa is dressed as Rapunzel and Colin is a monkey. It was chilly that night and I had tried to convince Alyssa to wear something under her Halloween costume but she would hear nothing of that so she ended up wearing a heavy jacket over the top of it.

Before we went to Grant's Farm we went to The Bread Company for some soup and sandwiches. Alyssa is in love with their broccoli and cheddar soup. So we had dinner then headed over. For the second year in a row we have gone on a night when the Cardinals (baseball) team has been playing a playoff game. This has helped keep the crowds down.



To get into the farm you have to take a train and they have the drive to the farm decorated in spiders, witches and many other creatures that light up.

Once in the farm we saw a magic show, rode the carousel, fed some goats and then danced. The kids had a blast and enjoyed it. 

Knight's Day Care

Today after many months of meetings, paperwork and discussions the first big step to opening a center took place. Today the 3rd and final meeting with the church happened. The vote was yes. So now my business plan is going into effect.
  We have many more big steps to take, but one of the biggest ones has been taken. Now we have many more things to do before we can open our doors. This will probably happen in June.

I am so excited but super overwhelmed with all the things that need to be done between now and then. I know it will all happen, just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and take one piece at a time instead of looking at the big picture.

Stalling

My mommy friends have spent the last few months talking about the stall techniques their kids used so they didn't have to go to bed.I always thought I was so lucky. Well tonight she tried them all. In a 15 minute time she had to pee 3 times, she needed covered twice, she wanted to sleep in my bed, and she needed a hug. Finally I said enough is enough and that if she got up again something would happen. Good thing she didn't ask what cause I wasn't sure what.
I haven't heard her in about 10 minutes so I'm hoping she asleep.

Still waiting

Colin is still having a hard time breathing. Over the last few days he has started to cough more, yet still no fever or huge decrease in O2 stats. So with that we wait. I have no idea how long we will wait until this passes or he gets bad enough I have to take him in but I know that every day/hour we wait it breaks my heart.
There are times where he is still super happy and you would have no idea he wasn't feeling good unless you lifted up his shirt and saw his ribs. Yet there are other times you can look at his eyes and see the bags from not sleeping as well, hear the cough and watch him lay around because his energy is gone from breathing so hard.

I really hope he gets a break soon.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss and Rememberance Day

Today is a day to remember and cherish the little ones that touched our hearts but not always our arms. Today I remember the little one I carried in my womb for 8 weeks, but never got to hold.

Pedicure

Today as a special treat I took Alyssa and my mom to a nail place to get either a pedicure or manicure. I wanted my toes done. My mom wanted her fingers done and Alyssa decided that she wanted her toes done as well.
We got there and her eyes got really big. She watched what I did closely and tried to follow. The only problem was her legs weren't long enough to fully reach the water. So for a while she just dangled her toes in the water, then she stood up and just stood in the water.

We decided it would just be best to paint her toes instead of a true pedicure. So she picked out an orange and the lady did a nice job painting her nails and even put a flower on each big toe. Since she didn't do a full pedicure she also let Alyssa pick another color to get her fingers done.
The whole time we were there Alyssa had the biggest smile on her face. She was so happy to have her nails done and even happier when she realized that she got BOTH her finger and toes done, when mommy and Grandma only got one done.
I think she will enjoy going back, though I think we might need to stick with manicures for awhile.

Pumpkin Picking

The plan for today had been to go to the corn maze. But a last minute check of hours, and we found out it didn't open until 1pm. So we changed our mind and headed to the pumpkin patch. We knew it would be chilly but we didn't know that there was going to be a breeze and be COLD.

When we got there, we did the mandatory pictures that I require every year. Then we got on the tractor to head out to the pumpkin fields. Colin thought it was more than awesome to get to ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor.

We usually don't go pumpkin picking until later in the season so it was a nice surprise to see so many pumpkins in the field to pick from. We only spent about 10 minutes looking for a pumpkin because it was so cold. We then headed back to the tractor.

Once back at the start, the kids decided that we needed to check out the play area. We spent about 15 minutes doing rides, seeing goats and horses, before it was just too cold to stay any longer and we headed for home.

The kids had a blast and we could have stayed much longer had the weather been warmer.

Baby Boy Sick

He started with a cough on Monday. He hit a brick wall last night around 4:30. All night I listened to his labored breathing, wondering if I should take him to the ER or not. I called as soon as the doctor's office opened this morning and got him in at 9:30. The x-ray was inconclusive. So we were sent home with orders to just to keep watching him.
His breathing is still very labored, his heart rate is on the high side, but he is in really good spirits. He is eating ok and still drinking. I'm hoping that he will start to get better as the weekend goes on and not worse.

I hate having a sick boy. I know I have said it time and time again but it sucks. I hate that every time his nose starts to run in the back of my head I start to make back up plans for work because we might end up in the hospital. I hate spending half the night running to his room to check his breathing. I hate that I have to own stethoscopes, o2 meters, nebulizers, and liquid steroids on hand at all times.

When Alyssa gets a cold I know she will get over it. When Colin gets sick all I can do until I know he is on the mend is think about how long the hospital stay might be this time.

When he had the bronchoscopy I thought it might buy us about 4 months of health. He has been off antibiotics 15 days.

I just hope we can stay out of the hospital this weekend.

15 years ago....

15 years ago tomorrow I met my best friend and my soulmate.

We had been talking on line for a few months and had convinced our parents that we should meet. My mom and his mom agreed we could meet at a Lutheran North football game. Chris was playing in the band.

We got there right before half-time and sat in the stands. Somehow we totally missed seeing Chris' mom before sitting down. So we watched the half time performance and I watched every saxaphone player intently trying to figure out which one was Chris. After the performance he came up and said "hi". I was so nervous and everything that I don't remember anymore of the game or what happened there. I do know we meet up with his mom.

After the game was over Chris rode with my mom and brother and I to a mall to get me a pair of shorts because it was like 90 degrees in October in St. Louis.

That night our families met for dinner and a wonderful game of mini-golf.

Wow what dorks we were then!

9 years ago tomorrow my best friend and soulmate asked me to be his wife. He flew in from Phoenix to Flagstaff. My roommate picked him up from the airport because I had class. After class, we drove to Sedona. That night we went out to a really nice mexican restaurant. After dinner we went back to the bed and breakfast to look at the stars and he proposed out on the deck.

Our lives have changed so much in the last 15 years! My parents have divorced and re-married other people. There has been a few moves, new jobs, but one thing has always stayed the same; Chris has never left my side.

I love him more today than I did 9 years ago and way more than I did 15 years ago.

I don't know what the future holds for us, but I know that we can weather any storm or any paradise together.





I love you Chris and look forward to walk the road ahead hand in hand.

No more pacifiers

I never wrote a post about us giving up the pacifier with Colin. I think it was because I didn't want to jinx it. The first time we had planned to take it away he ended up in the hospital sick the day before so obviously we didn't take it away.
Two weeks ago we went to the lake, we decided that at the lake we would throw a pacifier into the water and tell it good-bye. So we did that. Ever since that day he hasn't had an "ick" that is what he called them. Today he found one of the new daycare kids on the floor. He picked it up, showed it to me and went and put it in her bed.
I think we can officially say no more pacifiers for us!

Alyssa-isms

Today Alyssa said "This cushion is all wet" I asked why she said "Because I Blessed you all over it"

Alyssa went and got her flu shot today. She was really brave and didn't cry. She asked why I didn't get one, I explained that I would get one at church. She told me that she would go with me and hold my hand so I didn't cry.

The other day she said "Mom you're ridiculous, we don't wear swimming suits in the pool"

Whenever she tells you something serious her eyes get big, her mouth goes in a straight line and she lightly shakes her head yes.

Alyssa is growing up

About 4 weeks ago Alyssa went to her first Sunday School class. She really enjoyed the time and said she wanted to go back. She has gone back every Sunday but one when we were out of town. Two Sunday's ago a little girl that is about a year older than Alyssa convinced her to go up for the children's message without me. This same little girl then asked Alyssa to go to JAM( Jesus and Me) instead of going to the nursery. 

Alyssa went and had a lot of fun. This past Sunday the little girl was not in church so I wasn't sure what Alyssa would do. She all by herself decided to go up for children's message and then went to JAM. 

I'm so proud of her independence yet at the same time I am having a hard time with her growing up so fast.

She is a little over 3 and a half and can spell her first and last name. Knows the name of everyone in her family, can tell you the city and state she lives in. She can also tell you her birthday and how old she is.

My little girl isn't a baby or toddler anymore! She really is a preschooler! 

Back to Blogging

I haven't blogged much lately. There has been so much, yet so little going on all at the same time.
There is plenty I could talk about but really by the time I sit down at the end of the day to type something out I'm so tired I don't.

I'm going to try to make a goal to blog at least once a week for the rest of the year. Along with my goal of working out 3 times a week starting Monday.

That means at least 12 more blog posts and 36 workouts before the new year.

Lets see what I can do!!