"Cool Boops"

Well, we got Ethan's braces on Wednesday while in San Antonio. He seems to like them and keeps calling them "boops" (boots for those not fluent in Ethan). I told him they were cool so now they've become cool boops. He hasn't worn them much since we're still in a hotel but once we get settled we'll start putting them on him more and more. Hopefully he'll continue to be okay with them and get better at walking in them. They slow him down alot, which may not be a bad thing. :)

We start moving into our house tomorrow but will spend one more night in the lovely Best Western Oakdale Inn so we don't have to sleep on the floor or buy air mattresses and bedding for one night.

Help me, all you crafters out there!

So, we are moving. Our friends are having a going away party for us next weekend, and I am trying to think of something for my kids' friends to do for them so that we can have a tangible keepsake for us to remember and talk about their friends after we move.

I thought about getting colors and paper and having them draw a picture or something and then me actually snapping pics of them with the kids or actually drawing to put with their creations and put them all into a scrapbook.

Any suggestions, anybody done something similar? Most of the kids are 8 and under so it needs to be simple.

*******

New ideas.....

Ok, so I had another thought.....I remember when I was little all us girls would make t-shirts at sleepovers and we'd all sign them and what-not. Since the shirts seem a little girly to me, what if I did pillowcases? Then the kids could have them to help them remember their friends. Is that a little nuts?

So, I mentioned shirts and pillowcases, but I found this really cool book online called Moving with Kids: 25 ways to Ease Your Family's Transition to a New Home By Lori Collins Burgan, Virginia L. Mason.... (which I plan to get if our tiny Waldenbooks has it, which I'm sure they don't)
Google books has an awesome preview of a couple of chapters. I read through a few and she suggested:

picture book or scrapbook with either just pictures of the kids friends or artwork or letters from their friends

tablecloths that each friend could sign

quilt squares for each friend to decorate or write on

So, what do you think?

(I apologize for the dis-jointed post, but I originally blogged this on Myspace and then added to it before copying it here.)

My little stripper....

has been pretty good lately about not pulling his diaper off, so, of course, I forgot about the onesies for a few days. Yesterday I decided to go to the mall and work on Christmas shopping for the nieces, nephews, and cousins because if I don't then I will be BROKE at Christmas when I'm trying to buy it all. Anyway, I was having a lot of luck finding outfits for three of the little ones when I hear something go **PLOP** at my feet. Yep, it's a diaper. I immediately started to pray that there was no poop inside, and when I picked it up, I was relieved. Although then I was trying to re-dress my nude-from-the-waist-down son in the shopping cart. The whole time he was telling me, "Pants, Momma!" and pointing like they had mysteriously fallen off.

Seriously, it's a good thing they're so darn cute!

Diapers, and Onesies, and Poop oh my!

Well, it's been a LONG time since I blogged on here. I do blog on my Myspace page sometimes if anyone is that interested in my life....lol.

I am having issues with keeping Ethan's diapers on lately. He finally learned how to take his pants off so as soon as that happens, the diaper follows immediately, and he doesn't bother to tell anyone, just the next time I see him, I see his little rear end shining. It's always especially fun when he's pooped in his diaper before he takes it off. Sometimes it just gets all over him, but other times he will decide that he needs to climb on something....say Abby's bed with her pretty daisy comforter and Tinkerbell sheets.

Last Friday I decided we were going to have to invest in him some onesies, and I wasn't even sure if I could find them anymore for him. I thought I was done with them for him and he looks like such a big boy in his regular little t-shirts. So, off we went to Eagle Pass which is about 50 miles away to search at Khol's. I did find that Carter's makes 24 month onesies in both short and long sleeves and I happily bought a big package of them. So far, this seems to be working. Although yesterday when we were getting dressed to leave the house I put the onesie on him first, and he completely freaked out and had a tantrum. (This is something he's recently mastered as well.) He screamed and cried and finally I gave up on the idea of his regular clothes and since we were going to babysit I figured he'd be fine only in the onesie. We left the house, but Ethan was still screaming and hugging the front door trying to get back inside away from his evil mommy.

Today, Abby wanted them to each wear their Halloween shirts, and I totally forgot about the onesie. Well, pretty quick Ethan comes running by with his little white butt shining, no diaper or shorts anywhere in sight. So, I went to the car and found a grey creeper that I'd picked up at Wal Mart and on it went. He's still refusing his shorts, but hopefully he will keep the diaper on for a while.

Just after I got him re-dressed he saw his sippy cup on the table, which I had just rinsed and filled with water. My kids get milk or juice in the morning, I let them choose, then they are allowed water between meals. For lunch, I give them either milk or juice, whichever they didn't have earlier. Always water between meals, I figure it can't hurt them. They drink alot, so I attempt to keep their cups full of water. Well, he was so happy to see his cup, picked it up and took a big drink.........let the water run right out of his mouth onto the floor, threw his cup, and yelled, "NO!". He's now being called "Mr. Reaves" because he has such an attitude. His cup is still on the floor where he threw it, and it will remain there until he empties it.

This job is nothing if not entertaining.....

Long time...

since I blogged on here....oops! I posted some stuff on Myspace if anyone's interested. Vacation to AR (home) where I saw my nephew come into the world.....AMAZING, found out that Matthew got a job as a Deportation Officer in Louisiana, so we'll be moving soon. Busy, busy...

Anyway, check it out... http://www.myspace.com/brandyreaves

Lately,

we've been staying really busy. Matthew is on days now on the new ATV/AirBoat unit at work and he seems to really like it, although he is usually exhausted and literally covered in dust when he gets home. We're getting into a nice routine where we're all able to go to bed around the same time, the kids and I get up earlier, go to the gym, play, nap, and wait for Matthew to get home. So far it's working out really well, compared to when I would put the kids down around 9, then wait up with Matthew until after midnight before I went to bed. I get ALOT more sleep this way.

I am searching for the perfect Father's Day gift for Matthew, and I was pretty stumped until today. You see, for some reason, ever since we were in college, Matthew has become a huge fan of Neil Diamond. He's always liked singer-songwriter stuff, and somehow he got turned on to Neil Diamond and became an instant fan. Last week on Idol, they sang ND songs, but most of them were horrible, and he was sadly disappointed. Today he mentioned to me that Neil Diamond is coming to San Antonio! THE PERFECT GIFT! Yay, me! Now I just have to order them on Monday when they go on sale before all the old ladies buy them up! Problem solved.

Also, this evening, I went to a church service directed at women, and I really enjoyed it. I am really ashamed that I have yet to find a church home here, and tonight made me realize how much I miss an actual worship service. So, now I have to start a search for the right church for us. I suppose I will start with the Methodist church since that's where I was raised and will probably feel more comfortable. I'm a little nervous, because back in New Edinburg, AR, my church was SMALL. I'm talkin' 30 people on a fairly good day, and half of them I was related to, and the other half I'd known my entire life. Finding a church away from home is actually intimidating to me for some reason. I'm not a particularly outgoing person, and I don't like attention being drawn to me, and then there's the kids. I know I probably shouldn't worry about this, but it makes me nervous to leave them in a nursery where I don't know anyone!

I know most of that is irrational, but that's how I feel....

Lastly, if you would, say a prayer for my hubby... he is the peer support co-ordinator at work and on top of his normal every day worries, he had some emergency in a town about 30 miles from here this afternoon. One of the chiefs called him after he was home today to go on an emergency call, and he didn't get home until 8 pm. All of that stuff is 100 % confidential, so he can't even talk to me about it and it worries me that he can't. After he got all of that squared away, the chief called with horrible news from a neighboring station...a supervisor's child who was 16 took his own life, and to complicate things, he did it with his parent's service weapon. All of that is sure to cause quite a stir arround here, but those families need prayer. I just wish there was some way for me to help ease the load on some things.

Thanks for listening to my rambling! God Bless!

Thankful...

I have so much to be thankful for, we all do. But, sometimes it's hard to look past all the worries and stress of everyday life and see exactly what we should see. At least that's how I felt the past week or two. I have the most wonderful husband, two beautiful children, and lots of great friends who are as close as family. By all accounts, I should be the happiest person on Earth!

I saw the doctor on Friday, got a ton of antibiotics for my sinus infection, a B12 shot, and apparently the kick in the pants I needed to shake my funk. Later that day, the kids and I went to watch Abby's friend Isabelle play softball.

I spent Saturday with friends letting the kids play, then on Saturday night we had several people over to watch the UFC fight. We ate WAY too much junk, but we had a blast. The kids played, the guys watched the fight, and us girls just relaxed and "kicked it old school" and played a little Pictionary. It was an awesome night.

The kids slept in this morning since they were up late last night, and since Friday night was Matthew's last midnight shift for quite a while, we all got up at the same time! We went outside and played, worked in the yard, and cleaned up a few things outside that needed to be done. By the time we were done it was lunch time, then I gave the kids a bath and put them down for a nap. Matthew and I got to have a little quiet time alone together, then we dropped the kids off at our friends' house and went to see a movie! Yay, us!

Today was the 12th anniversary of our first date.........April 20, 1996 when we went to his Jr. Prom. That seems like a lifetime ago to me, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I am an incredibly lucky girl, and for everything I've been given, I am truly thankful.

I could not have imagined a more perfect day than today has been!

Feelin' better...

Here's a pic of Ethan eating his peanut butter sandwich the other day. Needless to say, he went straight to the tub when he was done! I just love this pic though, he's just too adorable!



I am starting to feel better today, thankfully. Maybe part of my funky mood was because it was "that time of the month", and now I'm getting out of it. I have an appointment tomorrow morning to check on my iron level and B12 levels, so maybe I'll get another B12 shot. The last one gave me lots of energy, maybe my house will get cleaned this weekend!

















Also, we got a cat yesterday. It's a male, and Abby was determined to name him Cinderella even though we gave her lots of boy names to pick from. We kind of forced her to change his name, and we agreed on McLovin' Cinderella to satisfy us as well as her. He's a very sweet cat, and doesn't seem to mind at all that Abby never wants to put him down. Britches, our oldest Boston Terrier (dog) didn't mind him at all and McLovin' didn't mind her either. Rando, on the other hand, (our other BT), thought the cat was attacking his kids or something and chased him a few times, so we're still working on that. I won't leave them alone together for now, so the dogs have to go into the kennel when I leave. Anyway, I'll throw in a pic of the cat too!

I'm holdin' on...

This week has been incredibly rough for me. We had a very good friend, Sal, come in from NY and spend a few days with us. He is going through a very rough time with a divorce and custody battle, which he lost on Monday. There are a ton of circumstances that indicate to everyone with a brain that he should have custody of his two beautiful little girls, but for some strange reason their mom won custody. I am devastated by the judge's decision in this case, because their mom has no stable place to live, she's been at 4 different places within the last two months. She has no transportation, she has no job, she's had two entire months to get something going, and still, there's nothing.

Sal has an apartment which is set up for the entire family, and was before their mom took the girls all the way back across the country. He has a GOOD job, a stable job, one that can provide for his girls. He has vehicles to get them to and from anywhere they could need to go. He is established in his home, job, and has a stable environment in which to raise those girls, yet the judge that he got in his hearing decided that it would be best for the girls to stay in Texas. That's it, that was what his judgement was based on. Whatever happened to "the best interests of the children?"

I just don't get it. The judge said that he didn't want the state of TX to lose control over the girls. But, there is no order for their mom to stay in this state. She has no family here, they are all in Florida, and she's not even speaking to them, they wanted the girls to go to their dad! I mean, seriously, the state doesn't have anything to do with kids until something bad happens, why does it matter what state they are in? New York has the same courts that Texas has, and neither one would be keeping close watch over them.

After all of this, I am incredibly upset. Those girls are like family to me, and it breaks my heart to know that they are so close to me yet I can't see them. I've struggled with depression for a while now, and this is definitely not helping. I've gotten into a funk that I can't seem to shake, and the bad part is I realize it, and there's nothing I can do. I made an appointment with a counselor for next week through the Employee Assistance Program that is provided through Matthew's job, so hopefully that will make me feel better. I saw her once before, right after I had Abby, I think, and it did make me feel better to have someone listen to me and tell me that I wasn't just nuts.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my worries, it's always better to write things down for me.

Houseguests...

Our house has been full of guests lately, and our newest ones are our friends who moved to New York around Thanksgiving. Abby is ecstatic to see Emma and Alyssa, and they are having a blast playing together. We went out to Lake Amistad today where they are having a big bass tournament and they had activities for the kids. The kids got free fishing poles, and they got to make their own wooden fish or truck and decorate them. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed it surrounded by friends, which is always a blessing. I love this pic of the girls....... Abby just looks SO happy!

Words, words, words...

They are so important. It's how we communicate with the world. Well, a few weeks ago when Ethan went to the doctor (the first time he'd seen this particular lady) it came up that he didn't talk very much. He has a few words, and several signs, but he's just not interested in talking. He's only 17 months old. It just didn't seem like a big deal to me, I mean, Abby has been talking since about 13 months, but all kids do things at different times, right? So, the doctor recommended that he be referred to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) to evaluate his language. As of today we have had three sessions with ECI, and they are truly a wonderful group of people, they were only interested in trying to decide if Ethan was really behind enough to be concerned and to require their services.

This morning three different people came in and observed Ethan and asked me a ton of questions. Ultimately, they were impressed with his gross motor skills, his fine motor skills, and his socialization skills, all of which he was either right on target with other kids his age, or even more advanced than he should be. His language, after much discussion and observation, was determined to be 1 to 2 months behind. At 18 months, they want him to have about 20 words, and if you count his signs, he has about 15 or 16. To qualify for their services the child must be about 4 months behind, so he doesn't qualify. They said that if he doesn't expand his vocabulary in the next three months, to give them a call and they would re-evaluate him at that time.

I still don't think he's really behind at all, although I'm not the expert, and I am positive that by the end of the summer he will be impossible to keep quiet for any amount of time. He's such a sweet, loving little boy, and I think he's just more interested in throwing things and climbing than he is in talking right now!

More pictures...

So, I guess I should post a few more pictures of my kiddos, so here we go! These are from Easter, and our get-together at my friend Judy's. Since we are on the Mexican border there are a few "different" traditions........like the pinata.......we have pinatas for practically every occasion. Also, there are cascarones, which are confetti-filled eggs, that you are supposed to crack over other people's heads. I never really knew why this was done, but I looked it up and it's supposed to be good luck. Ethan did NOT like this tradition as you can see from the pictures. Abby, on the other hand, busted so many over my head that it was actually sore for a while.

Question for you photographers....

Well, two questions actually....

1. What kind of camera do you use and what would you recommend for a beginner? (I really want to go with Canon, but if you think something else is better, lay it on me.)

2. Is there a good book or something that I can get to help me get started? (I already love taking pics, and I'd like to think I have a decent eye for it, but I need to learn about settings and all that I suppose.)

Thanks!

About me...

Since I've started contacting people who likely have NO IDEA who I am, I figured I'd at least explain that much about myself. My name is Brandy, my maiden name was Daniel, and my married name is Reaves. I grew up in a tiny town in south Arkansas, New Edinburg. I went to school, K-12, at Kingsland which is almost as small as New Edinburg. After that, I attended UAM and majored in Biology, until I psychotically withdrew from school on a Friday, moved my wedding up a full month and got married the next Tuesday, and immediately left home, the only place either of us had ever known, and drove to Texas.

So, by now you're probably thinking that I'm just nuts. Possibly. But, we actually did have a reason to move. My husband, Matthew, had just graduated from his federal law enforcement academy and had to report to his station that Friday. We've been here ever since, and we now have two beautiful children who I am blessed to be able to stay at home with on a daily basis.

I try to keep some of the details to myself in the interest of our personal safety, so if you want more details, email me and if I know you, I'll gladly share!

God Bless, and thanks for reading!

Just another week...

Well, this week has gone by pretty fast, really. I managed to clean the carpet in the living room and the closet in my room (since my wonderful dog decided it looked like grass!) I love doing things like that because I can actually feel productive and see the results. Also, I've started working on the backyard for the spring and summer. It went to crap last year when we were gone for over 2 months, and we never quite got it back into shape after we got back. I'm working on the back fence area, and again, I LOVE to see my own progress. It's also allowing me to get a little sun so as to kick the extreme-whiteness my skin turns to in the winter. It's important for me to start gradually because it never fails that I will blister like crazy the first time we go anywhere when it gets warmer.

American Idol is starting to get good now, which is yet another highlight of my week. I really like Carly Smithson, David Cook, and Michael Johns. (I think Brooke White is good too, but she's not my favorite.) I thought they all did well this week, especially the guys. I'm ready for Kristy Lee Cook to go home, because I just don't think she's anywhere close to the others. I was glad to see Kimberly Locke on the show as well. She was my very favorite on Season 2, and I still can't believe she didn't go to the final!

The season finale of The Celebrity Apprentice was this week and we missed it! We had people over and Matthew cancelled it recording in the front and we never recorded it in the bedroom! Darn, I really wanted to watch it. I saw tha Piers won, but I would have liked to have been able to watch it!

Guess that's about it from me. My Benadryl is kicking my tail, so I'd better go while I'm still coherent!

Figuring this out...

Ok, so I've been playing around with the layout and colors on my blog. The only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to include my favorite blogs. I keep putting in the link and it doesn't seem to be showing up! Any tips? Thanks.

Hi all!

Well, I decided I'd join the Blogspot world. I can always use another outlet for my thoughts, right? And here, I can keep a little more private than on say, my Myspace page. I am a 26 year old stay at home mom of two beautiful children. Abigail is almost 3 1/2 and Ethan is 1 1/2....they are truly wonderful, but they do have a tendency to drive me a little nuts at times. My husband, Matthew, is wonderful as well, but he too has a tendency to drive me nuts. He works long hours in his federal law enforcement position, so I've found that blogging helps me vent.

Right now I am suffereing through a horrible headache while the youngest one is napping and my oldest, the little princess, is climbing all over everything as if there is a jungle gym in my living room.