Ten Things Tuesday

1. Ellie is doing much better on the house-training since we've started putting her in the kennel all day.  Seems cruel to me, but a dog-trainer told me too much freedom is a bad thing for some puppies, so into the kennel she went.  Not only is she doing good all day long while we're at work, she hardly messes up when we let her roam around the house all night (while we're awake, she goes in the kennel to sleep).
2. The doctor's office just called..Nixon's tube surgery is scheduled for October 23rd.  Keep us in your prayers that it works and my baby finally has some relief from all these ear infections!
3. We have "Family Pictures in the Park" scheduled for October 25.  Swank Photography is doing them and I'm so excited!  Check out her blog, it's one of the ones I follow.
4. If we're taking pictures, my boys have to have new outfits and Chris talked me into going into a new store at the mall.  It's my new favorite place to shop for the boys.  The name is Crazy Eights. Maybe I've just been hiding out at Osh Kosh, but I had never heard of it before. 
5. I gained 0.2 lbs this past week at Weight Watchers.  It's my own fault, I was getting a little confident about eating more and more sweets and still losing.  I got caught this week and I'm back on track.  Could've been worse!
6. Landon told me he wants me to have two more boys and two girls.  That's a tall order buddy!
7. Tomorrow's my last night of FPU.  I've really enjoyed it, but I thought I would be more out of debt by this point.  Oh well, I've learned a lot, that's for sure!
8. Railroad Days is this weekend in Selma.  I'm walking the Family Fun walk that morning which is a 5k, helping sell t-shirts, watching the parade, and Chris and I have a team in the Cornhole Tournement.
9. Our Team Name is the "Creamed Corn"
10. Chris came up with the name.=)

Learning From My Boys

I thought it would be funny to let ya'll know some things that my boys have taught me this past week:

• Airplanes land on the "Airporch" or the football field.
• The moon was crescent-shaped last night.
• The big water tower has water in it that comes from the beach.
• The Fair makes Landon "so happy."
• Nixon "wuvs Mitdonalds."
• When I told Landon that Ellie was probably "about to die" because she had been kenneled up all day and hadn't been outside to use the bathroom, he got all concerned and said, "But I don't want her to die."  After explaining a little better, he informed me that "Jesus died on the cross, but he's not there anymore because he's in Heaven and that's 'super cool'."
• Nixon doesn't like his new antibiotic because it's "too cold."
• Landon is ready to go to kindergarten next year because he gets to play in a gym like Daddy's and take a lunchbox.

Update on Nixon

We took Nixon for his first exam today at Capitol ENT.  First of all, I'm still amazed by the quality of doctors you can get around Raleigh.  I haven't found a bad one yet, and I've yet to spend more than 45 minutes in any given doctor's office for the past three years!  That's amazing considering we spent many whole afternoons at Lumberton Children's Clinic.  Anyway, back to the news.  We saw Dr. Brown, who mainly works with children.  He thinks that Nixon needs to get tubes because of his history last year.  He feels that tubes will provide Nixon with the relief he needs this winter and that by next winter, he should be old enough that he's growing out of it.  The good news is you no longer have to worry with ear plugs in the water, etc.  He said it's pretty much a maintenance-free procedure.  After it's done, nothing special has to be done for the child.  They just kind of move on like nothing's even happened.  They also performed a hearing test on Nixon today to compare with the results after he has the tubes put in.  The lady who did the hearing test said he seems to have no hearing loss, but his eardrum wasn't responding like it should due to the fluid that's still there from his last infection.  As it stands, they have to bill our insurance first to see how much the insurance company will pay and then they'll call us and schedule a pre-op, along with the surgery.  I'll keep everyone informed as I know more. 

Update on Nixon's Ears

I took Nixon back for his ear infection re-check yesterday afternoon.  Unfortunately, his ears are even worse than they were two weeks ago.  She subscribed us a stronger antibiotic and sent us out the door with a referral to an ENT in Raleigh.  If you remember, he had like 6 - 8 bad ear infections last year and when he got diagnosed with his last one, they warned us if he had another, he would be sent to an ENT.  Luckily, for us, Nixon heeded that advice and they magically went away.  But this year, before the Fall season had even started, he had his first ear infection.  I knew when she prescribed Amoxicillin, it wouldn't work, but I listened to the doctor instead of my mother's intuition.  Even though I told the doctor yesterday that Amoxicillin never works with either of my kids, she said he still needed to see an ENT and get this taken care of early on.  If it had been the end of cold/flu season, she said she'd have let it slide, but it's not even the beginning.  We go see the ENT on Friday and we'll see what they say.  I want to make it clear that tubes are the last option for me, so if there's anything else they can do before that, we're all ears.  Pray for my little Butterbean that everything works out and he doesn't have to have any surgery, but that if it does come to that, the surgery is successful and takes away all his ear problems he's consistently had.

Ten Things Tuesday

1. I lost 1.4 lbs. this past week!  Woo hoo!! That's a total of 6.8 lbs. in one month's time..now only about 23 more to go!
2. Ellie is doing pretty well in our house.  She's still not completely house-trained, but she's working on it.
3. I wasn't sure the boys were going to like her at first because she was a little hyper, but they seem to have gotten used to her and they've learned to keep their toys off the floor when they're not playing with them.
4. Right now, it's pouring down rain (really hard) and what I wouldn't give to be sleeping in today with all that rain!
5. I'm so excited that some of my shows are already playing the new shows for this season...Greek, House..best thing about summer being over!
6. We had four birthday parties this past weekend.  Luckily, we had great weather because they were all outside.  It was a pretty fun weekend!
7. Landon told me he was glad we had another girl in the house now (Ellie).  He says, "now we have a girl momma and a girl puppy and three boys"..he's too cute!
8. Nixon goes back for his ear infection re-check today.  I pray that it's gone (even though I don't think it is).  I really don't want to have to think about tubes again this year!
9. I'm looking for a place to take the rest of my maternity/baby clothes that didn't sell at the yard sale. I'd love to find a consignment shop so that I can actually get some money out of the deal instead of just a tax deduction.
10. I can't believe that September is almost over already!  Halloween is just right around the corner, which reminds me..I really need to order some costumes!

Ten Things Tuesday

1. I lost another 0.5 lb this past week..which is pretty good considering I celebrated my birthday from Saturday - Monday.
2. I haven't done much posting lately..mostly because I feel stretched thin and this is one thing I don't HAVE to do...
3. Our Financial Peace University class had a yard sale this past weekend.  Our family walked away with $470!
4. That means one more debt down..woo hoo!!
5. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about the Fair being so close...the Fair always means that it's getting closer to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!
6. It makes me so happy that Landon is the same way.  He prays for the Fair every single night.
7. I can't believe I turned 28 on Sunday!  For some reason that just sounds so old to me!
8. Landon just loves his new puppy.  He keeps asking if we have to take Ellie back to the store or to stay at Grammy's house.  I guess he thinks all our dogs eventually wind up there:)
9. I'm getting so excited about the Season Premieres of all my new shows.  I'm a complete TV fanatic, which I know is bad, but I can't help myself.
10. I'm really sad that "Life on Mars" is not coming back on.  That was one of my favorite shows!

Announcing Our Newest Family Member...

Meet Ellie Jane....

We adopted her from the Johnston County Animal Protection League. She is 12 weeks old right now and as sweet and cuddly as they come.  The boys absolutely love her...especially Landon.  We still have Chloe, but she's going to stay on the farm with my mom, Colon, and Lucas.  She just loves all that land that she can roam and we really wanted a puppy for the boys to grow up with.  I think they're going to be life-long friends.

Yep..I think she's going to fit in nicely with our family....

Wordless Wednesday

Ten Things Tuesday - Nixon Edition

1. We had Nixon's 2nd Birthday party this past weekend. The weather was perfect, despite all the reports earlier in the week.
   


2. I was scared he wasn't going to have a party - Landon got a stomach bug on Friday night, but luckily, he recovered quickly.
   


3. My Grandparent's 40th Anniversary Party/Vows Renewal was on Saturday night. There was a DJ and Nixon danced his little heart out for a good two hours.



4. When Chris was finished putting Nixon's birthday present together, a four-wheeler, Nixon looked at Chris and said, "Tank you Daddy." He can be so sweet when he wants to be!




5. Nixon is fascinated with cars, tractors, and trucks. Landon has never really wanted anything other than a ball, so this is a nice change.
   


6. For some reason, Nixon will call Chris by his name, but never calls me by anything other than Mommy.
   


7. Saturday night, the DJ played a beach music song, so there was an older couple shagging. Nixon was doing some breakdancing moves on the dance floor and the older lady stepped on Nixon's hand. He looked up at her like, "How could you step on my hand?" It was priceless!
   


8. Nixon gets so excited when he sees me and Chris for the first time after being at daycare all day. As soon as he sees you, he yells really loud and comes running.
   


9. Nixon has absolutely no interest in using the potty. I guess he'll come around eventually, right?
   


10. When we walked into the Barbershop on Friday, Nixon said, "Hey Richie!" He loves to go get his hair cut by Mr. Richie...huge change from Landon!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Nixon!!

Born September 1, 2007 at 10:02 pm, Nixon weighed in at 8 lb, 7 oz and 21" long. He's been a feisty baby from the very beginning. When he was first born until about 3 months old, he would cry from about 6 - 9 pm every night. We took many late night drives just to get him to go to sleep. He refuses to take no for an answer and I believe he will get far in life because of it. He never meets a stranger and loves to say hey to everyone he sees. Usually, he then proceeds to have conversations with them. He absolutely adores "Nandon" and wants to do everything his big brother does (except potty). He's mean as a snake, but sweet all at the same time. He knows when you need some extra love and usually is more than ready to provide it. He has been from the beginning, "my cuddly butterbean." We love you Nic-Nic! Our family would not be complete without you in it!

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