I know I know...

I haven't blogged in awhile. I'm having a hard time being motivated to say the least. With the new job change I'm having a difficult time getting focused in all the other area's of life and well that means things aren't getting done. ie...blogging and recently cleaning. So instead here are cute pictures from Easter.

Easter Eggs with MawMaw and PawPaw Fishing on Good Friday

Egg Hunt Sunday morning.  Dino, did you eat any eggs?

Family Picture

Huh?  WHHHHAT?

 Easter bunny after a long day at work.  He needs a snack.

 Hunting eggs hid by Jessima

 Hidding eggs for Brady

 Confetti filled eggs.  So much fun but soooooooo messy.

Flying our Easter kite

How hard is it!? (by the Hubby)

So I am not going to say that I am a master chef or anything, but I will say that I know my way around a kitchen.  I can make a mean omelet, I love my grill and I can be pretty inventive with my combinations.  However for some reason I forgot how to make a hard boiled egg!   I mean really, "How hard is it!?"?
Step 1: Put eggs and cold water in a pot
Step 2: Boil said water
Step 3: Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 12-15 minutes
Step 4: Remove eggs and put immediately in ice water

I forgot to boil the water long enough as well as forgot to cover them.  So after dying the eggs, which was a lot of fun with Elijah, back in the fridge they went.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 Days Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelly and Elijah decided that it would be a great idea to have a snack and what better snack to have than a hard, or so I thought, boiled egg.  It turns out that when you do not follow the steps exactly, you end up with "semi soft" centered eggs instead of "hard" centered eggs.  Oh well we all have mistakes right?  I just hope my mistake does not kill my entire family!!!


HAPPY EASTER!!!

Joys of potty training

**Warning gross content to come**

Elijah has been doing really well with potty training.  We have the majority of our accidents while sleeping which is expected when a child is having to go potty every 2-4 hours sleeps 12 at night.  The other day I was up earlier than normal and getting ready so for once, I would not look like my head was on fire as we were running out the door.  Well, as life typically goes, as you try to get a head of one thing your thrown a curve ball. 

BJ was also going to leave early but poked his head in Elijah's room to see if he was awake.  Not even 3 minutes later he is back in our bathroom saying we have an accident and he needs help.  Alright I'm good with that, two bodies are better than one.  Then he informs me it's a poopy accident.  Really?  I don't want to deal with that, but I'm already committed.  I think Elijah went several days with out pooping and that's what let to this issue but he had so much poop in his pants I was floored.  Now I don't know about you but I don't have a lot of practice for getting poopy pants off a toddler.  As I tried to remove his undies keeping as much of the poop contained as possible I failed miserably and PLOP right on the floor.  I though it was a lot of poop in his pants but I then thought it was a whole lot more now that it was on the bathroom floor.  Then to make matters even worse Elijah successfully stepped in it.  EWWWWWWWWWWW BJ then gave him a shower while I cleaned up the floor.  We thought we were good floor clean, boy clean, boy dressed, bedding and clothing in the washer and I was back getting ready.  BJ then came into say goodbye for the 5th time and he realized he had poop on his pants so he had to change too.  I mean really we were covered in poop.  I was just glad the poop hit the floor and not the fan, I probably would still be up there cleaning it up.  Yuck.

The Zoo

Two or three weekends ago we headed to the zoo, again.  I love the zoo but I hate big crowds so any day I can work in a place that people don't want to go because of  this that or the other thing, I'm in.  Well it was a 32 degree Saturday in February and I dragged my boys to the zoo.  We wrapped Elijah up in blankets and off we went.  I think there were maybe, 100 people at the zoo that day. We ran between the houses because during the summer we never would go into the houses.  I don't like leaving the stroller unattended while in the houses with so may people all over, and it kills me to spend time in doors when it's so nice outside.  So lots of reptiles, lots of warm climate animals.  In the 5 or so different houses we went in there were snakes in at least 3 of them.  So Elijah got to learn all about snakes.  I don't like snakes, I don't have a phobia of them like I do of spiders, but I am appropriately scared of them because there are all kinds of poisonous ones and I don't know enough about them to tell you which ones are or are not safe.  Now that we are home Elijah himself has turned into a snake.  Let me tell you as a parent to get your child to go anywhere while they are trying to "slither" like a snake takes HOURS! Luckily he still likes to be a dog or lion too and when he gets to far behind will turn into one of those animals to catch up.  He also wants to do this in public and I absolutely refuse to let him lay on the ground in a store.  Gross! So now I need to get him back to the zoo so we can find a new, faster animal to imitate. 

Did you think I forgot about you? part II

No, I'm just lazy.  I am a person that does well under stress and pressure.  Not crazy stress or pressure just deadlines and a busy schedule.  During the years that I worked full time I blogged more.  Now that I am working less than 30 hours a week, I have more free time than I know what to do with.  On the up side the house is cleaner than it has been in years.  I spend 3-4 hours a week cleaning and since I do it every week I am spending more time on little things that have never been touched or cleaned before since moving in.  (Last week I ended up cleaning the shower curtain rod.  It was super gross. And I wiped down the walls because they were looking funny, turns out there was soap scum on them.  Who knew).  However, I am still spending A LOT more time sitting on my but unmotivated and NOTHING is changing that for me.  Hopefully once I start getting kids with my second job I will be more motivated.  Therefore, Sorry for the lack of blog but my brain isn't stimulated enough to create witty remarks to things.  And let me just tell you, when it is you and a dog most of the day not much exciting happens. 

Make it stop

Being a Speech Pathologist I listen to what my child says and how he says it.  Do I think it's funny that Elijah says Farfing mand for marching band?  Yes.  Do I think It's cute when we tell him to get his drill and he heads to the grill to grab the corn because he things they are the same thing?  Absolutely.  Do I worry that he has minimal p's and b's in his speech?  Yup.  However, over the past 2 days I have heard some things I am not to happy with.  What is it do you say?  Mom and Dad.  Not mommy, daddy, but mom, dad.  In the several times I heard it, it took all of my power to not correct him to say, "no I'm mommy not mom."  And at that moment a small part of me shed a small tear knowing that my baby is almost a big kid.  But that's okay, I want my boy to grow up, I want to miss these things.  Then when I decide to have another child these will be the things I look forward too and love while they last.  But I have a feeling mommy and daddy will be moving out soon and mom and dad will be moving in.  ***sigh***

Can't think of a cute title

First of all, went to yoga on Saterday and was in pain for the next 2 days.  Went back today am feeling a bit better.

Second of all, My eye has been twitching since Sunday.  Sunday was my left eye, monday and today was my right eye.  Driving me crazy!!!

Third, BJ and I went to our first money class on Monday.  It's interesting.  It's not that we are learning a lot of new stuff, it's just presented in a way that makes you think.  Now our homework is to start gettting an emergancy fund going.  But here's the thing that is making me think.  if your supposed to have 3-6 months of finances in savings for "just in case" I started thinking about what that would be.  And becasue our economy SUCKS we should really look more at 6-8 months, if not close to 12 months.  Well I started doing that math, I'm not real sure what is considered your finances or necessity but it came down to needing over 20,000 in the bank for an emergancy fund if not double that.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  I hope we are talking about over the course of several years getting that kind of money in the bank.  Things to ask next week.  However, this class is making me thankful I am doing it now, not in 20 years, I do wish I had done it maybe 6 years ago, but ya can't look backwards, only forwards.  (there were 5 commas in that last sentence, was that too many?)

Decreased blogs due to:

Pintrest.

I have no clue when Pintrest began, who founded it, or blah, blah, blah.  HOWEVER, it's a problem.  What is it you say Let me explain. 

Now all of this is high tech and on the Internet but lets put it into old school terms.  You have a cork board.

Or actually you have a lot of cork boards. 

And they can be any size you want but you keep one each to put items together as a maybe I should try this.

You may have one in your kitchen or recipes you want to try that your friends gave you, or you got from the store, or your favorite.  Maybe you have one in your car for places you want to go.  You could have a note book stored in your purse of organizational ideas, home decor, furniture, art that you like. 

Now envision that all your friends have different boards too.  And if you have a non-verbal agreement (like a head nod at a stop light meaning you should race when the light turns green) every time you friend puts something on there board you can see it too. 

Then you have the option to copy it and put it on a board of your choosing or ignore it.  But now you can also look at EVERY thing posted ever on ANY board.  Therefore, you can get idea's from gosh knows where and spread it like wild fire among your friends and you now have Christmas, birthday, house warming, and christening gifts, activities for infants, toddlers, kids, adults, and pets, recipes, pictures, phrases, cars, jewelry.  You name it, it's there.  And I'm addicted.  Because pins continue to be posted all day, all night I feel I have to keep checking back so I don't miss the BEST thing in the whole wide world. 

Happy Valentine's Day

You know I don't really like this holiday.  I never really have.  And I think I am lucky that I am in a relationship now a days that everyday we tell we each other "I love you."  BJ is one of those guys that actually loves being romantic.  He makes me dinner almost 3 days a week, he does the dishes.  But that's just because wants nto, not because he feels that's the only way to show me he loves me.  There are however, other men in my life.  One of those men brought me 4 giant muffins 2 blueberry and 2 red velvet, another one brought me chocolate covered strawberries.  Because I love my husband, I brought them home to share with me.  I ddin't have to. He doesn't spend week in and week out with these guys being spit on, sneezed on, yelled at, and all the other stuff, but I do. 

On another note when I got home tonight from work there was a love bug infestation waiting for me.  All I could do was hug the bug and kiss the bug and then put the bug to bed. 

So here is a good night Hug,

A good night kiss

Love you all.

Auto Show

Fourth Annual Valentines Day Auto Show Trip.

Obviously, the last four years BJ and I have gone to the Chicago Auto Show the weekend before Valentines day.  Two of the four years we went with friends two it was just us. 

(That was the neighbor not BJ FYI)This year did not go so smoothly.  My plan was to leave the house by 9:00 and get parked and ready to get into the show by 10.  Well at 9 we realized we needed cash and gas, we didn't even get going until about 9:30.  Once we got to the city and parked we headed into the convention center and as BJ was pumping up the tires on the stroller popped the front wheel. 

Yes, popped.  As in the rubber tube inside the wheel he put a hole in it.  BJ and Jon had to figure out how to rig the wheel so we could still have a stroller for the day.  By the time it was fixed and we were ready to go it was almost 11:00. 

We went in and saw about 2 cars before we all started to get hungry.  We spent the next hour looking at cars and stuff then had to feed the pregnant lady and Elijah.  After lunch we took Elijah's picture in the Mini, like we have the last 3 years.   

What I kept finding funny was every car, Elijah would tell me it was his favorite.  After about 4 cars it stopped being cute. 

We were able to meet a famous Panda bear.  It was the same one that was in the commercial with Matthew Broderick.  Then Elijah and I had our picture taken and put on the big screen.  We were famous, for 3 seconds at least.

Oh and check out this trunk under the bed of the truck.

Life Change

Alright there is a bit of a reason why I have fallen silent for awhile.  One of which was due to that old saying think before you speak, and don't put ANYTHING on the Internet that you might regret later. 

The back story... In October, right after BJ's surgery I was requested to change my hours to increase my productivity.  After doing so, my productivity did not increase as much as I wanted to.  Then in the middle of January I was asked, wait told, I was being moved to pay per visit, changing my hours significantly but also changing my income and my benefits. 

Therefore, the reason why I have not been posting is due to me trying to find a second, maybe even a third.  But it wasn't even that easy, I had to get all my paper work together because I let my birth to three license practically expire.  I also have been getting ready to test for my Illinois education license that would allow me to work in the schools.

It is hard for me to adjust to my new schedule and find myself sitting around before work.  As I get better I am able to get more done or at least feel more productive.  But as soon as I start with my second job it will be a bit different and I will have to readjust again. 

Hockey game

I don't want to hear it. I know I'm behind.  I'll explain later.
Last weekend we jumped in the car and headed north to Rockford.  BJ had tickets from work that were awesome seats so we went.  It was my dad, step-mom, sister, me, BJ, his mom and dad, and Elijah. 

The seats were right on the ice, next to the players bench.  It was a special box so all the seats were leather and had padding.  We evem got to be on the big TV.

If that's how all sporting events were I would go to them all the time.  FREE and COMFORTABLE.  AWESOME! 

We taught Elijah how to bang on the glass and the zamboni guy banged back every time he was close enough. 

The team is the farm team for the Chicago Blackhawks so we saw several players that also play on for the Hawks.  Some of the permanent team members were there signing stuff.  Elijah got his jersey signed. 

At the end of the night one of the equipment people gave us a game puck.  We gave it to Elijah and for the hour and a half home he held onto it every once in a while would tell me it was his "aty but, fom da dame, mine"  Once he fell a sleep he he held onto it.  Thank goodness he was sleeping when we got home or else he probably would have slept with it.  The next morning he found it and his play hockey sticks and carried them around until we left for school.  Awesome. 

Sledding

With all the snow and a 2 and a half year old what a better time than to go sledding. 

This is the reason why BJ and I had kids.  It was so we could do cool kid things where there were other kids with out looking like the creepy people without kids.  Being smart though I did not bring the camera because I did not want to kill it.  Elijah loved sledding, other than the part where the snow got all in his face. 

He wanted to stay for hours but seeing as BJ was the only one that was able to pull him up the hill we had to cut it short.  We staged some pictures after we got home in the backyard.  Even Resuce loved the snow.  I think she found something under the snow becuase for about 5 minutes at a time.  I almost thought she wsa going to stop breathing. 

Snow!

Last Friday we had snow.  Not something new for us in the northern Midwest, but none the less lots of snow in a short amount of time.  I, however, was further away from home than normal going to a continuing education class.  It took me about 45 minutes to get there around 8:00 and three and a half hours to get home.  I drove at a top speed of 20 miles per hour and a low speed of about 5 miles per hour ON THE HIGHWAY.  I found that with that much snow on the ground/road driving became a free for all and make the rules up as you go.  For example, in a place I was real sure was only 3 lanes we were driving 4 wide, semi trucks would merge as they pleased, I saw 2 people stop one in the middle of the road to clear off their car, and if a lane wasn't clear you could drive in it if your car was really an SUV.  Here are some pictures from my drive home when I reached a low low speed of almost stopped.