So Happy It's Thursday or SHIT!

I have had a fairly smooth week.  Monday was a little rough.  Busy day at work and something put me in a bad mood all day.  I got over myself and the rest of the week went good.  I am fitting in at work pretty good.  Starting to settle in to my new position and the challenges it brings being a working mother.  I don't like the time away from them, but I do know that it is good for us all. 

I am re connecting with the adult world and that feels good.  I missed that while I was home.  I had some deep conversations with old friends and new friends and it felt wonderful.  I am feeling a little bit like the old me. 


Last weekend we made Christmas cookies with a friend and her daughter.  It was a lot of work and a lot fun at the same time.  I am hoping to fit that into my schedule with my kids this weekend.  I am finally going Christmas shopping for Tim.  I haven't shopped this late in a long time. 

The next couple of weeks promise to be busy.  I am trying to step back from the craziness of it all and enjoy.  Enjoy my kids and their eagerness for Christmas.  Enjoy Payton.  He has a new thing he does where he tenses all of his muscles up and smiles huge.  He looks so funny.  He does it when he gets really excited about things.  Enjoy time with family.  I need them right now.  Not only blood family but friends that feel like family. 

My mom, dad and sister will be visiting next week.  Dad is officially retiring.  We are having a little get together here for his commencement.  It should be fun.  Something else to enjoy.  So many things going on this month.  It will be good to see them before Christmas.  I don't know when they will be back down after this.  Still feels weird that my family lives in Michigan and I live here.

Loving life right now.  One more full week of work and school and it's Christmas.  Time for family and church.  Giving and receiving.  Playing and remembering! 

Happenings

Not much going on this weekend.  Just soaking up some quiet family time minus my big kids.  Tim and Layne went Christmas shopping and Payton and I stayed home Saturday.  It was a gray hazy day.  Perfect for staying inside and snuggling with my one year old.  Pot roast was made for dinner.  Campbell came over in the evening.  We played.  She loves my camera and takes 50 pictures while she is here.  I delete most of them but I will show you a few good ones!  Maybe we should get her a camera of her own.  I think we may have a future photographer.

It is finally chilly here and feels like it should before Christmas.  The kids and I took 2 nights this past week to drive around and take in all the Christmas lights.  I love seeing how people decorate.  I love the tradition of it.  We found a house nearby that has over 70,000 LCD lights on their house.  They time it to music.  Ummm, I could have sat in my van all night watching!  They take donations and give them to a local food ministry.  We are going back next weekend when we have everyone here.  


The kids are doing great in school.  Jaxon still carries straight A's.  Rena doesn't get graded on a letter scale yet but gets mostly 2's and 3's.  Which are equivalent to A's and B's.  So proud of those too.  Serena has a slight behavior problem.  I don't think that I have ever mentioned it on here before.  She has been acting out on the bus and at home.  We have seen a doctor and are going to pursue counseling.  We have a big blended family and I bet it is really hard for her to cope sometimes.  I know it is for me.  Can't imagine what it would be like for a 7 year old.  Payton is doing great.  Getting in to a good grove with being at the babysitters.  He even slept through the night 5 nights in a row last week.  Last night was doosey.  He is teething and has a tough time with the pain.  Poor baby.  4 molars and 2 eye teeth all coming in at the same time. 
                                We got a Fischer Price nativity set.  Cute and Payton can play with it!

                               This is one of Campbell's!

                                Self portrait

                                Payton wants to start his own blog.

16 days until Christmas.  The kids are getting excited.  I am getting excited.  There is nothing like seeing the joy on your kids face on Christmas.  We have a Celtic Christmas program that we are going to attend at my grandmothers church tonight.  Should be fun.  We will see how Payton does. 

Whats been going on in my neck of the woods!

                                         Alexis Renee my niece

                                        Layne,McKenna,Jaxon, Serena,Kiera and Payton

                                         Grammy,mom and sister.
We have been busy busy busy.  My sister and her 4 kiddos were in town for Thanksgiving.  They stayed here at the house with us.  We had our family plus mom and dad plus 5 guests!  My nieces and nephews did stay st their friends houses some of the nights.  It was so nice to see them.  You don't realize how much you miss someone until they don't live 10 minutes away anymore.  It was so nice to have everyone here.  Talk about being thankful!  Shauna and family left Sunday late morning.  Then mom and dad left Monday early morning.  Dad is officially retired from work and they moved to Michigan!  While it was a little crazy having them stay with us I miss them.  They will living in a rental house up there while they have a home built on some property they own.  They are closer to our family in Michigan.  This is the farthest I have ever lived from my parents.  It is quite the adjustment.

We celebrated Jaxon's 10th Birthday.  His day fell on Thanksgiving this year so we did cake and a present the following weekend.  He got a video game for the xbox he had been wanting.

I made a cookie cake for him.  Not bad for my first attempt! I got the wrong kind of icing but it looked ok and tasted awesome!  So hard to believe he is 10.  He is such a little gentleman and I am so proud of the child that he is!

We decorated our home for Christmas the same weekend that we did Jaxon's birthday.  Last year we put our tree downstairs so the kids would have more room to open gifts.  It just didn't feel like Christmas with no tree upstairs.  So I had an idea to put a smaller tree upstairs and the big one downstairs.  We have my dad's HUGE TV downstairs right now.  So we decided to just put the small tree upstairs.  This is also in hopes that Payton will stay away from the ornaments!!
The kids did a ginger bread house!

One last thing to update.  Payton got his first hair cut on 12/1/12.  He HATED it.  Cried the whole time and I had to hold his head still.  He looks like a big boy now.  All his crazy curls are gone. His hair still looks wavy.  So I have a feeling that he will have curly hair.  Tim and I both do.

Crazy week, relaxing weekend

I am officially working again.  My first week of work went well.  Payton does not like it when I go in, but I am sure he will adjust.  I work 4 minutes from home so as soon as I clock out I scurry home.  Everyone I work with seems super nice and I had a good week.  Nights at home are a little crazy.  We still have house guest and things are frantic when I get home.  We have to get dinner, homework, baths and fun time in 3 or 4 hours.  We are making it work! 
We are spending the weekend just hanging around home.  Nothing too exciting going on.  Cleaning our house for the arrival of my sister and her 4 kiddos for Thanksgiving next week.  We are stocking up in the delicious food for Tday.  And looking for good deals for black Friday.  I don't have to work, but have not decided if I am going to brave the crowds or not.  If I find something that I can't pass up I may head out. 

I have not started Christmas shopping yet. This is unusual for me.  I start early and stay out of the last minute panic.  This year I may be shopping Christmas Eve!  We do have some stuff for the kids, but I need to get things for Tim.  I have some stuff in mind just have to find the time to go and get it! 

Jaxon's Birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year and he is so excited for it.  We will have his official Birthday party the following weekend.  He will be 10 this year.  I know every mother says it, but it seems impossible.  I remember our first Thanksgiving with him when he was only 4 days old.  He is such a good kid.  So smart and funny.  Always so loving! 

Have a great weekend.

Midweek

This week is my last week as a stay at home mom.  I so enjoyed myself for the 5 months that I got to stay home with the kids.  But reality hit....I am not the greatest stay at home mom.  I feel better about myself when I have something to do every day.  A crazy schedule and plans.  I need the structure of getting up and going somewhere to be productive.  Staying at home has made me feel like a lazy slug.  Not to mention the second income is much needed.  Also while being a stay at home mom I worked part time in the evenings and on weekends.  The time when the rest of my family was at home, so I felt like I was missing the real quality time. 

I start my new job Monday.  I am very excited.  The doctor's office where I will be working is like 3 minutes down the road.  Also happens to be where I take my family to the doc!  This week Monday I had to go to a physical for work.  They have you do the weirdest things!  Guess they want you in tip top shape to work with patients.  I had to have blood work done and a ppd!  The big kids were off yesterday for election day (there school is a polling place).  And they are off again on Friday.  It's nice that they are off on my last week home.  Can really soak up some family time. 

So for the next few weeks we will be settling into our new routines.  I think Payton will be the one most affected by it.  He does not like to be with anyone besides Tim or I.  This will do him some good and allow him the chance to mingle with kiddos his own age.  We are lucky and have a sitter right across the street.  So I walk him over there every morning and then head to work.  Many prayers have been answered with me going back to work.  I have to get out of lazy mode and get back to working mom mode! 

On a side note... I was diagnosed with shingles this week.  I had been having back pain right in the middle of my back on the left side.  I noticed that it wrapped around to the front following a rib.  It was so so sensitive to even the lightest touch.  Then 3 days after the pain Tim noticed I had what looked like a pimple directly on the spot that hurt.  My medical brain kicked in and I got to the doc asap.  We caught it early enough that it should clear up pretty quickly and not leave too much damage.  It HURTS!  I will be glad when it is gone.  This is not something I would want anyone to have. 

Halloween 2012

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween.  We did.  Payton dressed up as Winnie the Pooh dressed as a bumble bee.  Not my first choice in costumes but we ran out of time and money!  So this worked and was pretty warm.  He looked so cute.  Jaxon and Serena were at their dad's house so I didn't get any pictures of them in their costumes.  Jaxon was a swamp monster and Serena was a witch.  They had a blast and came home with lots of candy. 

We had pizza for dinner.  We got these cute jack o' lantern pizzas from Papa Murphy's.  They were delish and adorable!  We took Payton up and down our street and got some candy.  We didn't stay out long because it was chilly and Payton doesn't really eat that much candy.

We made a little fire pit and had chairs lined up around it.  This is where we handed out treats to all the little people dressed in costumes.  We had a good time and I love to see what all the kids are dressed up as.

Later in the evening Layne and Campbell stopped by.  Campbell was dressed as Cinderella.  She was a very pretty princess.  I didn't have my camera out and they only stayed long enough to say hi.  Layne didn't dress up this year but still was stylish as always!

Next year we will have all the kids together for Halloween.  That will be fun.  I don't like the years when we are not together, but that is something we have to deal with being a big blended family! 

Monday Monday...La La

Good morning!  Feeling so so much better today.  We had a nice weekend.  Friday we just hung out at home.  We craved our pumpkin.  Tim is really in the mood for Christmas to be here so we used Christmas cookie cutters to crave the pumpkin's face.  It turned out pretty cute.  Saturday afternoon we celebrated Campbell's 9th Birthday.  It was so nice to have her over.  Unfortunately my big kids were at their dad's house so they missed out on the fun.  We had a Toy Story themed cake but in pink and purple instead of the blue and red.  I made lasagna and garlic bread for dinner.  It was yummy.

Sunday we lounged around the house watching football and the world series.  The Cardinals didn't win it this year but at least we were beat by the team that won the championship! 

I am in better spirits after spending the weekend with my family.  I also have an interview for a full time position.  This interview is tomorrow.  Amazing what family time and prayers will do for a person.  Wish me luck.  I really want this job.

I also started working out again today.  I am trying to lose weight once again.  This is an issue of mine.  One that is not easy.  I LOVE to eat.  I am learning how to make healthy stuff that tastes good.  Just have to stick with it. 

My parents cats have moved out of our house.  It was not a good fit for them.  Their puppy tried to chase them whenever they came out of our room.  So they took shelter in there and would not come out for anything.  Including potty time.  So you can imagine what that meant for our room!  Ewww.  I have borrowed a steam cleaner and am slowly getting that nasty smell out.  They are happy now as they are living with my grandmother dog free.  And they give my grandmother some company! 

Hope you all have a great Monday.  And a good week.  Here are some pictures of our weekend.  God Bless.

Blah Blah Blah

Unforntunatly this is how I am feeling today.  I feel like life is kicking my butt right now.  Things are tough.  Tim is at work all of the time.  I work 2 nights a week and on the weekend at a job that I am not loving anymore.  I am waiting for a position to open up so I can go back to work full time.  I have mixed feelings on going back full time.  We need the money.  But I love love love spending time at home with Payton and the big kids.  At least when I do go back we will have the weekends together as a family.  I may even get to know who my husband is.  I feel like we are strangers passing in the night!  Our house is full to the brim.  I like having my parents here, but I am not going to lie, it's hard sometimes. 

I know that things will get better.  We always find a way to make it through.  That's life.  It's what you do.  I am praying that they will get better soon.  I need to get out of this funky mood.  I am going to spend some time out side with the kids and a good friend today.  I know that will help. 

Happy Weekend

We had a nice Saturday here.  Tim, Dad and I had to work to start the day.  Then we played outside because the weather was super.  We played a frisbee game called Kan Jam.  Its really fun.  Payton likes to sit outside in the grass while we play.  The dogs got some exercise as well.  Then later in the evening my mom made us a delicious dinner.  It was grilled fillet mignon, asparagus, broccoli, and sauteed mushrooms.  YUM-O!!! 

Payton has been super sick this week with a double ear infection and a cough that was almost pneumonia.  He ran high fevers for 3 days.  He did not sleep at night for 3 or 4 nights in a row.  That means that Tim and I also did not sleep for 3 or 4 nights in a row.  Talk about tired family.  Payton started to feel better yesterday.  I guess he needed to catch up on his sleep because he slept in until 11am and the took a 2 and half hour nap later in the day.  He went to bed around 10pm and slept all night until 8am today.  Thank goodness he seems to be back on schedule. 

Today is football day.  I have to work this afternoon but the rest of the family will watch football and eat snacks.  I think today's menu consists of meatballs and homemade hot wings.  Its so nice having my mom here to cook us yummy food!

 See that dog?  That's the 7 month old German Shepard!!  Huge huh?

Here's our yummy dinner.  I ate all of this!  MMM MMM Good.

Payton turns one!

Payton's birthday was 10/3/12.  It was in the middle of having to move my parents out of their house and during the work/school week.  So we had a little celebration the following Saturday with just close family.  The picture above was taken the morning of his party.  He loves to make some goofy faces!

 Here is the big guy getting started on opening some presents.  He LOVES Mickey. If you look close you can see that the tablecloth is Mickey.  The whole house was decorated in this theme, but I failed to get any good pictures. 

 Big brother and sis like to help Payton open his presnts! More Mickey. 

 Tim and baby posing.

 Cake time!  My mom made this little Mickey smash cake for him.  The rest of us had chocalate cupcakes. 

 He didn't make too big of a mess.  He was busy eating it!  Afterwards he had quite the sugar rush and then dropped off into a great sleep. 

I felt a little guilty about Payton's birthday this year as it was overshadowed by the events of my mom and dad moving in.  Next year he will have a bigger better party!


Payton's Stats:
Weight 26lb 5 oz
Height  32in
Head 20in

He is still in the top precentages for his age.  So big!  He does not crawl or walk yet but he can sit on his own and will scoot on his bottom.  He gets wherever he wants to go.  He is just starting to pull up on furniture and people.  This slow progress is partly because of his urostomy.  It's the opening in his abdomen to let the urine come out from his left kidney.  He was unable to much tummy time as an infant. 
 Payton can say a few words.  Like da da and mama.  He will also say cracker and a few other random words.  He talks in his own language and will jaber on forever.  My dad said it sounds like he is talking to aliens.  He also knows some sign language.  His favorite one to use is more.  He will use it and just laugh and laugh.
 So there is my little man in a nutshell.  The year went by too quick like they always do.  We have done so much in the past year.  Payton has shown us how strong he is.  He is always so happy and a great snuggler.  I love him so much!
  

I am back!!

It's been a long time.  I finally have internet and a computer back at home.  A lot has happened since April!  The summer went really well.  I enjoy being home with the kids during the day and working at night.  But man do I hurt from massaging people for a living! The big kids are back in school and loving it.  Jaxon is again getting all A's.  Serena does not get graded on a letter scale yet.  They do numbers.  Ones are good, 2's are okay and 3's mean needs improvement.  She gets all ones and twos.  Payton just turned one.  As soon as I figure out how to upload pics I will post some of our growing family.  Right now we have house guest.  My mom, dad, their 6 month old German Shepard puppy and their 2 cats are here with us.  Probably until the first of next year.  They got into a situation and lost lost their house.  My dad will retire in January and they will move to Michigan.  So we are indeed a FULL HOUSE.  I will post about our daily doings.  :)  So glad to be back.

6 Month Stats

Just a quick little post on Payton's 6 month visit. We were a little behind because Payton had another UTI. Today we went to the doc and had our 6 month check up. Still can't really believe he is so old!! He weighs 21lb 14.5 oz. So really we can say 22lb!! He is 28.5 in tall. He is a big and tall kind guy already! His head is getting big fast so we are having to keep an eye on that and watch the growth for the next month or so. We also re tested his stoma site (where his urine drains from the left kidney) and it shows another infection. Big boy doesn't even show signs. He is not fussy or running a fever. Tough little guy. The doc doesn't even know what antibiotic to out him on anymore as he just finished meds last week. We go to see the specialist this week Thursday. Hopefully he can help us figure out a way to stop the UTI's. I am praying for Payton to stay healthy and for that little kidney to heal heal heal so he can have the reversal surgery and we can put all these infections behind us!

I got nothing

I want to be a better blogger. I do. I want to post tons of pictures of what we do on a daily basis. This is something that I am working on. For Easter the family and I got all dressed cute in the same color so we could take some awesome pictures. Guess how many pictures got taken? None. Zip. ZERO. And this was Payton's first Easter. GRRRRR. I am making it a point to get more pictures and write more things about the day to day happenings.

So today of course, no pictures! Ha. But I am getting settled into a new routine. Working Monday and Tuesday nights. So I am home with Payton and big kids during the day. Working Wednesday and Thursday during the day. I am off on Fridays and I work every other Saturday and every Sunday. So not so part time but its a start!!

Mom fail

Not my first and most likely not my last. Serena lost her her tooth yesterday while she was at school. She got to go to the nurse and get a cute little tooth shaped container to put her tooth in to bring home. My girl was so proud. This was the 2nd of her 2 front teeth. She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come. Mama cringe. I only had one dollar and some change to put under her pillow. That's ok, we are still recovering from recession and that tooth fairy does have to come to our house quite often as we have a lot of little mouths losing teeth. Anyway....

We had a fun evening at home playing and reading new books. We even took a walk. Serena helped me give baby p his bath and then took her bath. It was bed time and mom was tired too. So shortly after the kids went to sleep, I went to bed and passed out! 4am..Payton wakes up and as I am half asleep feeding him I remember that the tooth fairy needs to come. Ummm I put that baby to bed and stumbled back to my room. Fast forward to 6am. I am halfway through my shower when I remember once again that the tooth fairy has yet to come.

I was going to sneak down and get it down real quick when I notice that Serena is awake and laying on the couch. She asked if it was morning time yet and I said no to stay ther and try to sleep. I went to get some "laundry" from downstairs and did what needed to be done.

When I got back upstairs Rena was still awake and told me the fairy hadnt been here yet. I suggested she was running late and would probably be there soon.......

I leave before everyone else is up and ready, but Tim said Rena had her dollar in hand. I think I may have pulled it off! Definitly will remember to do it sooner next time. That was close.

Weekend ReCap

I know I know. It Wednesday. And I am slow to update. I have been a busy lady. Remember when I posted about working part time and staying home with the kids? Yeah so that is not what is happening at the minute. My full time employer is too short handed and sked if I could stay on for a while. So me the gluten for punishment said yes. This is one of my biggest flaws. It is so hard for me to say no. So now we no longer have a baby sitter, she got notice when I gave notice! I am working all week this week, will be off next week for spring break. Then I am going to try 2 days a week at my day job and 2 nights a week and one weekend day at my other job. Ugh. Craziness. Oh my sweet mama is going to watch the baby when I do work. Thanks mom!

Oh wow. That was way off track. Back to the weekend. Friday night Tim worked so I was home with 3 kiddos. I think we went to the store to get a few things for the weekend and then just played. Sad that I don't remember that far back! Saturday we had some gorgeous weather and we stayed outside all weekend. I got some new flowers planted. I took some pics and will post those soon.

Saturday night we had my neices stay the night. Whats 2 more kids? Ha. They all had a great time. We went to the local flea market Sunday morning. That always makes for some good exercise and fun people watching. I did find some table I would like to buy and re paint. If they are there next week they are mine!!

I also had Monday off and my sister in law was in town. I wish we had more than one day together here and there. We always have fun. She took some great pictures and I will see if she can post them for me.

We have some fun things planned for Spring Break and I can't wait. Hopefully the weather stays nice.

Our big wonderful family

I don't have a recent picture of all of us together. Sad I know. This is 4 out of the 6 kids taken around Christmas 2010. Before baby Payton was even thought about! We have a blended family, but I think it still counts as a big family since together we have 6 children. We have them all together occasionally. And let me tell you, those are the best moments in our family. I love a house full of happy children. We all get a long pretty good and have some great times together. Now there are times when kids will be kids and there is arguing and what not. But the craziness of it all I love!

If I didn't have to go through pregnancy and a c-section to have kids I would love to have more. I know I know......CRAZY. But the kids keep me young. Maybe adoption will be in our future?!!!

This weekend we only have 4 out of the 6 as some of the older kids have other stuff going on. We have planned a day outside planting flowers and playing in the mud. You better believe I plan on taking some pictures. Have a wonderful weekend.

"In the Spring, at the end of the day you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood

Straight A's!!!!

My oldest son Jaxon got straight A's on his report card. For the 3rd straight quarter in a row!! This mama could not be more proud!! He is such a good child. He is so sweet and smart. He is in the advanced program at his school. How he got this smart, I dont know. He gets things. I mean like adult things that I dont think he will understand. And then he can explain them in a way that his little sister can understand. How cool is that? Yep I am pretty proud. If he gets straight A's for the whole year I am going to have to do something spectacular for him! I am thinking of things to do.

My latest obsession

Grabbed this pic from google. Its the Hunger Games nail polish line from China Glaze. OMG I am obsessed. All of these colors are freakin adorable. My step daughter Layne has bought a lot of these. And I have bought a few also. We are sharing them. I think we have like 8 or 9 of the colors. I said we were obsessed! I think I like them because they are not all pink and purely girl colors. That and I am over the top about the books. Don't get me started about the movie. This is worse than Twilight obsession folks. Have you all read the books? Going to see the movie?

I have read all 3 of the books while I was pregnant. They are supposed to be for young adults. But once I started reading, I could.not.stop! The movie comes out this weekend and if Layne was not out of town you know we would be seeing it. We have plans to see it next weekend. We got Layne a gift card for Christmas just for this reason!

When we first got the nail polish, I painted everyone of my nails a different color. They all go together so well I thought it looked kinda cool. I am a total nerd I know. While on the topic of nail polish....I got some that smells like coconuts when it dries. I have not tried it yet but I am anxious to see how a nail polish can smell good!

Very random post but I am stupid excited about going to see a movie with my oldest step daughter!

Changes

I have some awesome news! I am so very excited.....As of next week I will only be working one job! This means that I will be at home during the day with my sweet baby boy Payton. Also I will be there to get the big kids ready to go in the morning and be there when they get off the bus. I am thrilled beyond belief. This is a decision that took a while to come too. Tim and I took a look at the budget and came up with a plan that will work for me to stay home during the day. We will actually be saving a butt load of money in daycare. I will still work as a massage therapist some evenings and on the weekends.

Payton had surgery a month ago and has been doing pretty good for the most part. He has had 2 UTI's sonce surgery. These are not fun. When he gets them he runs a fever and just does not feel good. We are in the middle of one right now. He does not sleep well with these surprise surprise. I think with me being home, we will have a better schedule and this will help his sleeping. A mother can only hope right?!

I am a sleep deprived maniac right now. Have any of you ever been so tired you feel like you are drunk? I feel this way today. And for the last 5 days.

So yay for me and staying home with the kiddos!

Monday

Oh Monday how I have come to not like you. Its not just the beginning of the week, it's a long day for me. I work both jobs on Mondays and dont get home till after 10pm. Today feels a little worse because we (Payton and I) did not get much sleep last night. The little man was up just about every 2 hours last night. I think he is teething and the laying flat is not feeling good for him. If I elevate the head of his bed he rolls down and wakes up! We need to find something to help. I can not continue to function and work 2 jobs on 4 hours or less of sleep.

I need a mattress in my office. And an hour long lunch/nap break! Hope everyone else's Mondays are going good.

Just hangin out!! We had a story night. Tim was at work and we all go tin comfy clothes, put a bunch of blankets on the floor and told stories. But not just any stories. Jaxon would start then Rena would pick it up, then I would go. We did this in a circle for about a half an hour! Oh the places we went!! We were on a ship in Hawaii, on an iceburg in Alaska. We ended up in an orange orchard in Florida! It was so fun and the kids have such great imaginations. If we can't go to these places for real, this is definitly how I want to do it!

Payton has recovered from surgery. You would never know he had anything done. Such a strong little boy. He leaks through everything. So we have come up with a solution. We put a poise pad around his little waist and then his diaper on normal. Works for us!! We go back to the dr in April to look at his kidney and see when his next surgery will be!

Life as a stepmother

Good afternoon. I am linking with another blogger, Kelly's Corner, to share about being a step mother. This I can tell you is something that came easy to me Thank goodness! Tim and I first started dating 4 years ago. We had a lot in common. We both had children from previous relationships. I am going to be honest about a few things on here! Sorry ahead of time if I offend anyone!
At first we just saw each other on the nights when we did not have our kids. As things got more serious between us we slowly introduced ourselves to the others children. I think it was easier for Tim as my children were pretty young (Jaxon was 5 and Rena was 2). They instantly loved him. Of course there have been issues along the way. Tim had a hard time adjusting to someone else's kids living in his house more than his own kids do. I had a hard having Tim tell me how I should handle their disipline.

Tim's kids are a little bit of a different story. We only have Layne on a regular basis. We get to see Campbell some but I dont feel like it is ever enough. Then there is Cole. Who I have only met one time. The kiddo turned 4 last year and Tim hasnt seen him since he was 2. We are in a battle right now and are getting things figured out. Soon Cole will be at the house on weekends! So Layne and I get a long pretty well. She is a great kid. It took some time for her and I to adjust. She was used to having him to herself when she came over and I was barging in on their time. Not only me but me and the kids. It is better now but there are still hard times.

I read something somewhere and after I did it helped me a lot. God put love in your heart for your biological kids. You knew from the positive pregnancy test that you would love this child like no one you have ever loved before. God did not put that same love in your heart for your step children. This is a love that has to grow on its own. I remember that anytime I think about how it took Tim time to adjust to my kids.

I think we have all adjusted well and make the best out of our situation. I love Tim's kids. And he loves mine. We all grow and change and readjust together.

Surgery Day

This is after surgery. he's a little swollen

Lovin his pink hospital gown

I am posting from Payton's hospital room as he drifts off to sleep. My sweet sweet baby had to have surgery today.

He woke up this morning his usual happy self at 6:45. This was 30 minutes past the bottle cut off time. So P diddy had fruit punch pedilyte for breakfast. He drank it and did not even complain too much!! We got ready and headed to to the hospital around 10am. We got checked in and brought to a room to wait for surgery to start. Nurses and doctors came in and explained things to use and let us ask questions. Everyone was so nice to us. Payton was the BEST baby ever. Not once fussing He played and then took a little nap in my arms.

20 minutes after he woke up, the nurses were there to take him to the OR. This was the gardest part of the day. I got to hold him all the way to the waiting room. Then we gave him lots of kisses and lovins and handed him to a nurse. As the nurse walked away we could see his little eyes watching us. I cried watching him go but knew he was in great hands.

Tim and I went and ate some lunch and I did our taxes to keep my mind off from things. They called a few times to let us know that he was doing great.

He was in surgery for 2 and half hours. Then we got to go see him in the recovery room. He is so well behaved. He smiled at us right away. He is not in any pain because he had an epidural during surgery and they gave him some morphine through this. It will give him pain relief for up to 18 hours. He has an incision on his tummy close to his groin that is about an inch and a half long. This is where his ureter is hooked and will drain urine. The dr said that as soon as he took the ureter off his bladder, the urterer went down on size by 50%. This kidney had been producing urine for the past 4 months with no where for it to go!! So tonight he has a catheter and an i.v.

He took 6 oz of pedialyte and then 8 oz of formula shortly after surgery. He has not fusssed once. He lays there and plays with his stuffed animals and holds my hand. I could not be any more proud of this baby. He is so strong and brave. He doesn't care that he has a heart monitor, i.v., oxygen monitor, cath and a draining incision. He is still just as happy as can be.

We will go home tomorrow and I am sure that it will take a few days to adjust to our new normal. Then we will monitor his kidney with multiple ultrasounds. Once it is healed he will have another surgery to reverse it. Dr predicts about 3 months. Thanks for all the prayers and support for my baby.