Happy 1st Birthday my sweet baby boy!

Sigh...it's been a year already! A few of my kids I couldn't wait to get that first year over with...and no I'm not going to say which ones! They were tough babies and I was just proud of myself for simply surviving that first year! ;) But Joey...my sweet little Joey...he really is the poster child for THE perfect baby! If all of my babies had been like him...well I'm fairly certain I would be in competition with Mama Duggar!

Since I know for sure that he's the last I've really savored these baby days. I've held him so much this year that I'm starting to look like I have Popeye arms. I'm sure it's just fat..but let's just pretend it's muscle okay? ;) I also sneak in his room at night and bring him into my bed so I can hold him some more. Yes...I fully realize that this is a bad habit but I can't help myself! He's just so snuggly!

He's definitely the perfect little caboose for our family.

Happy 12th Birthday Brooke!

12..already!!


Brooke being her usual silly self!
I've watched Brooke really change alot this year. Not physically..she's still a runt! ;) But she's really grown-up alot! She'll still get on the floor and play with the boys and other kids all the time. But when alone she tends to play her DS, do crafty stuff,play the Wii,etc. I've loved that she didn't grow up as fast as Hannah...who was pretty much over toys by age 5! =P

She's absolutely adorable but doesn't realize it! I see how the boys rubberneck as she walks past...god help me in another few years!! She's not into boys at all though..yet! And she has that ability to make a room full of people laugh! Every single day she does or says something that makes me laugh. I really need to start writing them down because we all know what my memory is like these days!

She has begged and begged for a phone so that's her big gift this year. Hannah's none too thrilled because she had to wait til she was 13...but times are changin....Drew will probably have one by the time he's 8...and Joey will go off to kindergarten with his ;) I love that she's getting a phone...so now I have something to take away from her when she's rotten ;) Unfortunately...she has a bit of a mouth...must be from Matt!

Happy 12th Birthday Brookie!!

P.S. And once again I'm trying to change this stupid background so you don't go blind reading it. I can't get the stupid font color to change! Damn!!

Gearing up for the new year.....

So just like everyone else...I make New Year's Resolutions. And just like everyone else....by Jan. 2 I've usually broken them! ;) But I'm really hoping by writing it down on my blog that I will hold myself more accountable. Of course nobody reads the damn thing since I'm TERRIBLE at updating...but that's one of my resolutions! ;)

I've been thinking about what I really want to do differently and what I want to accomplish in the next year. The list is obnoxiously HUGE! So I'm going to narrow the list down to 10...that way I won't feel quite as bad when I break 10...vs. 50 or so =P So on with the list....in no particular order...

1. Lose weight! I'm slowly starting to creep back up the scale since having Joey. This has been particularly frustrating for me since I don't eat a ton and I do work out on a regular basis. I've nursed Joey the entire year...and I'm unfortunately one of those freaks that gains weight while nursing instead of losing. Lucky me! Since he's on whole milk now and eating tons of food...nursing is no longer his primary source of nutrition...only nursing 2 maybe 3x per day...and hopefully weaning completely before long..have you seen how many teeth that kid has now...ouch! I'm still shocked at the fact that I made it this long...NEVER did I think I would nurse when I had the girls...let alone for a whole year. But I'm really cheap now so I kept at it. Focus Jenny...this is about losing weight. Yes...I need to lose weight! I'd be thrilled with 40 but that's soo NOT going to happen so my goal is 30. I'm old now and there's just no need to look good in the juniors dept. The old hag lady clothing is fuller cut so 30 pounds will do!

2. Eat healthier. Some may lump that with #1...but this is HUGE for me! When I did WW before and lost 60 pounds I would eat a Hoho over an apple...both are 3 points so why eat the apple right? I lost the weight so obviously that warped way of thinking worked...but I know it's not the healthy approach....damn! I seriously LOATHE most healthy food! So this is going to be tough but I have to try! I'm not going to start eating free range organic or anything like that....but maybe grabbing that apple over the Hoho will turn out to be a good thing. This is going to take a TON of work!

3. Soda....my beloved weakness! This habit is costing me a ton of money now due to ever increasing prices. Let alone the fact that all the caffeine, sugar, splenda, aspertame, etc. just isn't good for you! It used to be Reg. Mt. Dew for me...but waay too many calories! Then Diet Mt. Dew but all the aspertame is horrible for you! Then Pepsi One..which is better than the others but 4-5 cans per day is alot of caffeine, splenda and dark cola. And we all know how OCD I am on keeping my teeth white! This is going to have to be a sloooow process! I seriously look forward to each cold can that I open. How in the hell am I going to give this up? Ugh! But I know I HAVE to! I just can't do it overnight...well I could try but the effects might/would be harmful to those around me! So I'm going to limit myself to 3 cans at first per day and cut out a can each week. I'll have to drink...gasp water!...the rest of the time. Gah...I hate anything but soda! I would take bets that THIS will be the first resolution I break!

4. Lower my standards with the house. 6 months from now are the kids going to remember that we had a really clean house...or are they going to remember that trip to the park? I KNOW the answer...yet I still find it hard to do! I have no problem staying on top of laundry for 6 people ( no easy feat I might add..but I've got quite the schedule so it's never an issue) dishes are always done. But the rest of the cleaning...it takes a TON of time in this big ol house and I need to relax a bit and realize that it's okay if things get messy/dirty. Since Joey has been born I just haven't had the time to devote to all 3 floors and I have let things go some. But I think I need to loosen up a bit more. I don't like the time it takes away from the kids on a daily basis. And I don't like going to bed 2 hours after everyone else because I just HAD to scrub the tub! Let's face it..with 6 people in here...and usually a slew of other kids...it's NEVER going to be spotless so why kill myself trying?

5. Matt... make it a priority to spend atleast 1 evening every other month with just Matt. I would love once every month...but I know making arrangements 6 times a year is pushing it! =P We're fortunate that he's around plenty for family time...but I miss that one on one time with him. Nightly dinner is spent talking with the kids...as it should be. But I really would love to go out to dinner with him and not have to sit in the party room since we need a table for 6! =P

6. Hannah....Hannah is almost 16 now! Daily I think of the fact that in just a few short years she's going to go to college...sigh :( I love that I can now have adult conversations with her. I really don't think you could get a kid much more perfect than her...who the hell are her parents? lol She's one VERY busy girl with her plethora of activities...which we go to just about everything for! But when she's home and doesn't have friends over..she loves to talk. For the most part I do a pretty good job of always making the time to sit and chat with her. But I want to make even more of an effort to do so...because I know before long I won't have her here on a daily basis! Okay...going to go to my happy little place in denial and just pretend that she's gonna live at home forever :)

7. Brooke....she's growing up fast too damnit! Almost 12 now! But she's still very much a kid at heart. She loves to be working with me on pretty much anything crafty I'm doing. I have a tendency to not want to deal with the extra mess she creates so I don't always let her join me. But this kid is mega artistic and I need to just let her have at it! She's always amazing me with the ideas she comes up with and she's always good for a chuckle...seriously this kid is funny!

8. Drew.....5 1/2...and going 60 miles per hour....ALL.DAY.LONG! I love this little guy and he's so energetic and soo cute...but DAMN...he wears me out! He's up by 6:30am and I'm lucky if he goes to bed by 11pm. What 5 year old goes on that little sleep?! I admit I find myself occasionally ( okay quite a bit =P ) longing for next year when he'll be in school all day...but at the same time I don't want the time I have at home with him to end. I just need to come up with more things to help occupy him and help him burn off all that energy...or otherwise the little stinker starts driving me batshit crazy! He loves to do just about anything with anyone...he's very easy going....he just loves having that one on one attention. Since Joey's been born...that's been hard for him to have to share me even MORE! So I'm going to make more of an effort to do more individual things with him..whether it be games, playing ball, crafty stuff,etc.

9. Joey...almost 1..DAMN.DAMN.DAMN! I've finally given birth to the perfect baby and he's not going to be a baby much longer. Sniff sniff :( This kid gets plenty of individual time. Where I'm really lacking with him is recording stuff. He doesn't even have a baby book! I can only guesstimate when his first smile was, when he first rolled over, first food,etc. I've taken a gazillion pictures in the last year but I've got to get more organized on jotting all these little milestones down! And my resolution with him is 2 parts. Second being that I know as soon as he becomes really mobile that he's going to be into everything and testing my patience. I see that naughty little twinkle in those beautiful blue eyes of his and I just know he's got all kind of mischief up his sleeve! I want to enjoy his toddler phase and not spending everyday just surviving til the next nap ;)

10. Shopping....I would like to only shop because of needs...not wants. But this will be my very first resolution that I WILL break...so basically this one is completely pointless! I like/love to shop...so why deny myself right? ;) So I'll make an 11th resolution instead!

11. Blogging...my poor severely neglected blog! Maybe if I blog more then I'll post more about the kids daily happenings...then I can keep up better with documenting all those milestones! Kind of a trickle effect! I love to look back and see what I've written about and it really does jog my memory...especially the trips! We've taken 4 more Disney trips and I haven't even posted about them! We just got back from one a few days ago and I vow to actually get that trip written out! Of course I will be hallucinating from lack of caffeine and sugar so the writing will probably be incoherent..but it WILL be blogged about!!

So here's my resolutions for the year. My goal is to check back atleast weekly and update the progress on how I'm sticking to them...or how quickly I'm breaking them! Any bets on which I'll break first and which I'll stay with the longest?

Yep...there ARE differences!

In a previous life ( aka before Drew) I used to think that raising boys was pretty much the same as raising girls. It can't be THAT different! I knew that boys would be a little rougher and tougher on things when they're little...but on the flip side..girls are supposed to be tougher when they're older....so it should all balance out in the end.

Um yea....I'm not quite so sure how this is ever going to balance out unless all of the sudden my girls become raging hormonal mouthy snots! Sure...they do get a bit mouthy from time to time...after all I am their mother ;) But for the most part they're pretty good. But having a boy ( and now another one that's on the move)...has sent me into a whole different world!

For example...this morning Drew and Bennett playing with playdoh. I set out 4 cans of playdoh for them to play with...green, purple, blue and white. 2 little rolling pins, multiple cookie cutters, etc. I told them that once they got done making their creations I would take pictures.

Drew: Mom we're done!

Me: Let me go get the camera.

Drew AND Bennett...giggle giggle

Me: OMG! What is that?!

Drew: Turds!


Me: I'm NOT taking pictures of turds! Why didn't you make something nice? Where did you get that idea?

Bennett: said in his teeny tiny voice....out of my butt...
another huge laughing fit here

Me: What was that?

Bennett: We made the turds that come out of my butt

So not only do I not have any pictures of something cute to share...I also now have 4 cans of shit colored playdoh that they made to make me the perfect "turds". Oh how I miss the days of the little cakes and cookies the girls used to make me with their playdoh. =P

My little brats!

So I tried again to take a nice picture of all of the kids. Um yea...my kids are brats. Even the baby wasn't cooperating....the others are wearing off on him. So here we go...


This was my very first shot. Not too bad but I was sure that I could get a better one so I kept going. I really should've just stopped right then because I know my kids and I know they have the attention span of their father...but surely they could indulge me for a few shots right?


So I moved around a little bit and got another semi decent shot. But I just couldn't get Joey to smile in this one and Brooke is sporting that constipated look again...so I continue on. What the hell is wrong with you Jenny?!


So then I decide that I want that classic shot of all of them looking away from me...and I don't have to worry about getting a smile. The idea in my head was birth order but being that Joe is still pretty content on sitting like a big blob and not standing on his own he needed to have someone hold both hands. Believe me...we tried it and he just kept plopping on the ground face first...of course I'm fairly certain that Drew was purposely letting go of his hand so he would fall =P It's cute... but not quite what I was looking for. Really Jenny...you've got 3 decent shots...be done already!



I decide at this point that I want a bit of a different background. We walk around for a few minutes but just can't find what I'm looking for. So we pile back in the car and drive for a minute. I tell Matt to stop and I hear the kids groaning. They thought we were done! Hannah mumbles that no one wants to do this. I of course give her that glare that only a mom can give. So I plop them down for the next shot. And this is where things start falling apart. Joey discovered that eating leaves is YUMMY...and choking on them and barfing all over your shirt is fun!


I love this pose and the background so I REALLY want a good shot of this so I continue on...fairly certain Hannah is flipping me off in her head, Brooke is clearly NOT going to smile ( or brush her hair for that matter ,what's up with that?), Drew is loving that for once he's not the one getting in trouble, and Joey..he's got another lead in his hand...and when told don't eat that...well that's the grin I got...letting me know that before long he's going to be just as rotten as the rest of them!


So we try another pose...I loved this but now both girls looked like they haven't brushed their hair! And Joey is eating the leaves again damnit! Seriously Jenny....they're done! Enough already!


So another grand idea...put Joey on Hannah's back. And this soo doesn't help the whole looks like she hasnt brushed her hair in a week!



I decide that maybe taking a quick break of shots with the 4 of them might help. Alex was along with us so I decided I would work on getting a nice shot of the 2 of them. Well it appears when she actually WANTS her picture taken that she can behave! Seriously..this was taken right after Joey playing tornado with her hair...and yet she looks perfect again! These kids are adorable and I love this one :)


Since the others got to play for a few minutes...and Joey got to eat some more leaves...I figured I might be able to get 1 more nice shot of them. I wanted Alex in this shot too. My vision in my head ( I really need to stop listening to these voices in my head!) was to line all the kids up according to height. Cute huh? As soon as I started putting them like that they started singing the song from Brady Bunch. And it was downhill from there. Joey's still eating ( and barfing) leaves, Brooke and Drew can't keep their hands out of their mouths, and as if Alex doesn't tower over all my kids anyways..he feels the need to jump on Hannah's back so he's even taller!


I could've saved myself an hour that day and just gone with the first one. But noo...I STILL haven't learned my lesson that there just isn't a perfect picture with 4 kids! Get over it Jenny... the kids will ALWAYS win...it's time to admit defeat!

Homecoming dress shopping!

When Hannah was younger I used to have visions of shopping together for her dresses for Homecoming and Prom. Similar to the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts walks down Rodeo Drive in a beautiful suit, big hat and multiple boutique bags in hand. Sales ladies are at your beck and call to bring you 20 dresses that would look good on you along with a snack if you so desire.

But then reality sets in...we live in Dayton! We will have to settle for the mall. I take Joey with me as well since Matt wants to take the other 2 to go do something for the day. Since we had great luck at Macy's last year...we head there first. As we approach the dress department I see that almost every other high school girl in Dayton has decided that this would be a great day to get their dress too! Holy crowded!! We stand at the outside and Hannah immediately says it's too crowded. She hates crowds! But I know if I don't find a dress today then the selection just gets so picked over. So I tell her I'm going in! I basically used the stroller as my machete through the sea of dresses and crazy moms and daughters. Poor Joe! I pile 20 dresses on top of the stroller. Hannah really wants a strapless dress this year but I'm really going to try to find one that's not! ;) After a quick game of Marco-Polo ( remember we are short people so we can't even begin to see each other over the racks and swarms of people) we head to the dressing room.

Since we got there early...most the girls are still out looking at dresses. So there's still a few rooms open. I hand Hannah her stack of dresses and she promptly hands back 15 of them...apparently I have terrible taste! She heads back with 5-.....only 1 of which is strapless! And of course she tries on that one first. =P She comes out and says she loves it. I really love it too....but Matt is going to crap when he sees this because let's just say the "girls" have really grown over the summer! I tell her to try on the others and she hates them all...except for the strapless one...of course!

By this time the dressing room is packed! And here I am standing with the stroller right in the middle of it. She won't let me in the dressing room with her...even after I promised to just stare at the wall while she changed. She wants me to go look for more dresses but I'm afraid Joey might lose an eye if I try and push him through the hurricane of hangers again. Hannah says to just put him in the dressing room with her. At this point I realize we have an audience. A group of moms are down at the end trying to figure out if he's my baby or hers! lol

I head back out into the eye of the storm this time to be met with even MORE people! This couldn't be further from my Rodeo Drive vision! Not only is there not a sales lady to be found ( okay truth be told they're probably buried under the 500 dresses stacked up at the cash register!) but no one is even offering me a snack! Pure crap I tell ya! I run out and grab another dozen or so dresses and make it back in 1 piece...minus a big chunk of my hair that got caught on a hanger that some little brat ripped out of my hand! I show all the dresses to Hannah and she let's me know that I'm obviously stuck in the 90's because these dresses are horrid. She agrees to try on 2 but I can see her mind is already made up...she wants that strapless one! Naturally...the other dresses fit funny/are scratchy/straps are weird...you name it. Anything to get out of having to get anything but that strapless dress!

So I admit defeat! The strapless dress it is! This is just too hazardous to our health. I now need a wig and Joey is covered in glitter! And the snotty ladies down at the end are now positive that Joey belongs to Hannah.

I head to the register with my 20% off coupon in hand.....you know me...always have a coupon. ;) Sales lady rings it up and tells me I can't use the coupon since it's a regular price item. What? I've never heard of that. Oh well....at this point all I want to do is get the hell out of there so I'll pay regular price!

So Hannah now has a beautiful homecoming dress....that is strapless! Anyone have a turtleneck she can borrow?

The spiders have returned!...and I beat my kids.

There are pros and cons to having a corn field in your backyard. Pros....I could practically lay out naked and no one would ever know! ;) Cons....CORN SPIDERS!

Yes...the corn spiders have made their annual return! And these suckers are HUGE!!! Great big brown fuzzy things that attack my house from Sept til November or so. There supposed to be harmless...but you'll see further in my post that Drew begs to differ! For the most part they usually stay in the basement and only ocassionally will we see them in other parts of the house. FYI....when we haul out our Christmas stuff I always stand back a bit because I just know those little effers are back there! ;)

This year though they seem to be alot more daring. I saw one just casually climbing up the main stairs, found one in the laundry room and one in the hallway. I know theres lots more but I'm pretending that there not there unless I actually see them okay?!

So even though I know these things are in the house..they still scare the bejeebus out of me when I find one. Yesterday Drew comes walking into the kitchen as I'm packing up Brooke's lunch and I say good morning to him. Imagine the horror on my face when I see one right.on.the.front.of.his.shirt! OH MY HELL! So me...being the fab mother that I am....I'm going to kill that sucker! I grab the closest object ( Brooke's lunchbox)and start whacking at it! Wham on Drew's chest, wham on his arm, wham on his back..this thing just keeps moving! Drew starts crying at this point and I said just stand there I'll get it honey. He says stop hitting me I don't care about the spider. OMG...in my moment of insanity I realize that I'm beating Drew to a pulp with a lunch box.. which is fully loaded might I add =P Oops! The spider then drops to the floor and we quickly put it to it's death with a flip flop!

The kids are now laughing at what a raging lunatic I became trying to kill this thing. And Brooke points out that it's a good thing that it was just a soft sided lunchbox within my reach and not a frying pan.


Go ahead... check exterminator off my list of thing to be when I grow up as well.