From Old to New

Ashleigh had school again yesterday for one of her snow make up days. Once Paul got her on the bus, we left to run some errands. First, we went to Home Depot to pick up some supplies to refinish the kitchen table that we bought last weekend. Then we stopped at the Cup Cake Bite in Fuquay. The cupcakes were pretty tasty and the shop itself was very cute. We stopped by Lowes Foods to get a few things they had on sale and to compare prices to Wal-Mart. Their prices are at least 50% higher than Wal-Mart's for same brand items. I can only assume the way to shop there would be with coupons.

We took the kids to the drop off daycare Saturday night and went to the mall to drop my wedding rings off to have them resized and went out to eat at The La Rancherita. We also stopped by Joann Fabrics to get the material for the kitchen chair seats.

Today I began working on the table and chairs. Once I started, I thought it was going to take me forever. Here are a few pics before:

Chairs:

Table:

Primed:

Here are the finished pics:

It took only about 5 hours total.We bought the table for $40 and spent about $60 in materials to refinish it. It will be perfect for what we need it for ...kid projects and such.

And to close, I just witnessed the Jets lose to the Steelers...FAIL 

For next weekend, I am trying to convince Paul to paint my entrance way and living room. Wish me luck LOL



Another Doctor Appointment and Another Hat Done

Warning: The below may contain TMI ;)

Yesterday was my doctor appointment. For about a year and half, I have been having some abnormal test results coming back. It doesn't appear to be anything major, but they like to preform a Colposcopy to make sure it doesn't become an issue. This appointment has been rescheduled twice now due to unavoidable circumstances and I finally had it set for yesterday @ 1:30. They called me last week to rechedule it from 1:30 to 4:30 because of a surgery the doctor had to squeeze in on that day. No biggie, but I would have to pick Ash up from school early since no one would be here if she rode the bus home.

I wrote a note yesterday saying that I would pick her up early and sent her off to school. At 10:30, the doctors office calls again and asks if I would be able to come in at 11:30 now instead of 4:30. My managers wanted to meet with me before I left, so I had limited time to get ready, let alone call the school to explain that they could disregard the note I had sent with Ash and she could now ride the bus home. On the way to the Dr., I called Paul and asked him to call the school since he had their #.

I took Jenna with me, figuring that she would sleep the entire time. We got into the room, basic questions and then we waited for the doctor. It seemed to take forever...maybe it didn't but it really felt like it. Jenna got a little fussy in her seat and then my worst fear....she pooped! Since I was waiting for the doctor, I couldn't get up and change her (since I am home with her, there are very few times she has ever had to sit in a dirty diaper if any, and she does not like it). All I could think was, "I hope the doctor doesn't smell her and think it is me."  The doctor finally came in and I figured we would be out of there in no time.

I lie back, he gets his microscope thingy ready and he gets situated. Then, even though I thought Jenna pooping her pants was going to be the worst part, he looks up and says to the nurse ," the light bulb in the microscope is burnt out. Do you think we have a spare?" Can you say OMG! SO she goes to look for it and he is still sitting south of my belly button and starts cooing at Jenna. AWKWARD!!! The nurse comes back with no luck, so they both went to search. They come back without finding a new bulb, so he puts the old one in and starts shaking it about and it finally flickers on. Thank God! By this time, Jenna is not a happy camper. The procedure is done in a few minutes and we go home, which has to be better, right?

Once home, Paul tells me that the conversation with the school did not go well. SN: Same receptionist I dealt with when registering Coop for Kindy. She was utterly confused, so Paul had to tell her a few times that Ashleigh just needed to get on the bus as usual. Of course, her bus was later than usual, so I couldn't tell if she had gotten on the bus or if they had kept her in error due to the confusion. During all of this (I was on the phone with Paul)  Coop and Addy found the thawed freeze pops, opened them and spilled the contents all over the kitchen...YAY I guess I should be glad they didn't leave the kitchen area.

Hat #2

Since the first hat I made didn't fit Jenna, I decided to make another one using the smaller thread that I used for the other hats Pom-Pom ball. It turned out pretty cute and does fit Jenna. I have the Puff Hat down, so I guess it's time to try something other than a hat LOL

Here's a pic with both:

Pic of just the hat:

Jenna wearing the hat ( she was sleeping but I needed a model for the hat):

It's not as thick as the green one because it is a smaller thread, but I think it turned out ok. I still LOVE the one that Jenny made her (which the doctor and nurse at my above doctor appointment loved as well). It really just looks so cute on her (see below pic)! Pink is definitely her color.

Needless to say, I am ecstatic that the weekend is here. Although I have many things that I would love to get accomplished or at least started...I am sure Paul just can't wait to hear them.

ENT Visit

Today we took a trip to the ENT to get the "scoop on Coop" LOL

Little background: In October, I started to notice that Cooper couldn't hear us (or was at the least, ignoring us). Paul and I were convinced he was being a typical boy and ignoring us, or maybe a simple case of selective hearing. At his 5 year check up in December, the doctor did notice fluid in his ears and he failed his hearing test! I couldn't believe he failed. For one, my kids don't typically fail tests and secondly, what a terrible mom I am to have thought he was just ignoring us.

We put him on Claritin to try and dry up the fluid and we went back in January. There was no change and he failed the hearing test again. So they referred us to the ENT to see what he recommended.

Prior to moving here, he had ear infections all.the.time. Actaully all three of them had ear infection issues. And while I know Ash had tubes twice, and Addy had them once...I can't for the life of me remember if Cooper had them once or twice. Seriously! I just can't find any of the documents and obviously didn't update his record book. Nice!

So off to the ENT we went. Ashleigh was in school, so it was just me, Coop, Addy and Bean. I hate driving to unfamiliar places. I am "technically" suppose to wear glasses to make things less blurry, but I don't. I validate this because I can still see objects and read basic signs, I just can't always read little street signs. So after driving past the office the first time and having to turn around (and listen to Cooper complain that we ALWAYS pass up places) we finally arrived.

The office staff was super nice! I was actaully impressed. One thing I found odd...they took Cooper's pic via webcam for his file. I've never had that done before.

The kids were "okay" while waiting but I feel like they talk so loud and it was so quiet in there. I noticed this older couple watching them and felt that stressed feeling of making sure they were well behaved. Of course, Bean seemed a little more frustrated than usual, so it just added to the stress.

The nurse called us back and took all of his info and such. Before leaving, she commented on how well behaved the kids were being, saying that typically kids are all over the place and parents are usally frustrated while providing the info. She obviously wasn't a viewer of the waiting room show they provided. LOL

The doctor came in and checked Cooper out. Apparently he does have fluid in his ears and his adnoids are larger than normal. The adnoid issues actually explain a few of Cooper's other issues. He is a snorer and breathes thru his mouth for the most part, which are typical symptoms. But he is also a picky and SLOW eater. When the doctor asked about his eatting habits, I was a little confused. Turns out, having larger adnoids actually impacts eatting since it is hard to taste/smell the food and he has to breathe through his mouth rather than his nose.

The doctor suggested using a prescribed spray and then see how things are going in a month. He offered to do surgery immediately if we wanted but I think if they spray might work, we might as well try it.

Cooper did GREAT for the doctor...answered questions, let him look at everything and poke around on him. He really is a good boy...just think he gets bored being with Mommy all day long :)

On another note, I was invited to my first MNI ( Mommy's Night In) that I went to last night. It was a ton of fun and I got to hang out with friends and meet some new mommies. Thanks Jenny! I came home to a clean Bean  LOL ( Paul had given Jenna a bath) and the kids were asleep. I started watching Teen Mom 2 but since it was late, we went to bed...now I need to see the end of it.

Weekend Errands

After getting Ash on the school bus, we left to get Addy a new hair-do. We were originally going to go to Snip-Its in Apex, but when we got there we noticed that they must have closed that location. So we ended up going to some where else. She got about 6 inches cut off....

Addy before:

Addy After:

She's adorable either way but I really miss her long hair. It grows pretty fast, so it shouldn't take long for it to grow back:)

After we got her hair cut, we went to Panera Bread. It was busy but Paul said we could eat outside. I didn't really think about it and we went in and ordered. We took everything outside and after sitiing there for a few minutes, I noticed it was sort of chilly. I quickly finished eating since my sandwich was wrong (won't even go there) and took Cooper and Jenna to the car. How cool was it??? 41*...nice! Who doesn't like to eat outside in the nice crisp air when it's 41* out.

We were suppose to go to Target as well but after that,I just wanted to go home and thaw out LOL

Today we decided to go to Macy's to look at the mattress my mom found online and offered to buy for the girls. We went to the mall closest to us and after waiting for Ash to take a restroom break, we ventured upstairs. SN: It's always fun to find the elevators in Macy's.

We quickly realized that this Macy's didn't have mattress samples, so I told Paul to call the other one before we left. Addy the had to use the bathroom, so I took her since it was right there. When we came back from the restroom, we couldn't find Paul. We looked everywhere, even went out to the car, and the finally went back to the bedding section where we originally lost them. They were standing there and Paul was tryong to call my cell. So where did they go? Ummm,  they went back down stairs to the restroom that we used when we took Ash.No one saw me walk two steps from them to go to the one upstairs.SN: I didn't have my cell...I never have my cell...I am a terrible person to track down.

We finally get to the other Macy's and ask a sales associate about the mattress we saw online... it was $247 for the twin set. The sales guy looked at me like I was crazy and said he knew nothing about one that "cheap". Oh, well excuse me for not wanting to invest $500 per mattress. We found it online and showed someone else, who did show us the mattress. The mattress is terrible so don't even bother. The other sales person showed us a few other options, which are more expensive, but we'll just have to compare to a few other places.

We have also been looking for a table for the breakfast area and I found one today for $40. It's used and Paul is going to have to refinish it, but it was $40!!! And it will be perfect for the kids to do projects on...YAY!

Dentist Appointments and More

Today was the day I've been waiting for 5 years to arrive! It was actually suppose to be this past Tuesday but due to the ice storm that crossed our path, it was postponed....

I registered Cooper for Kindergarten!!!! He officially starts K in July and it is pretty safe to say that he and I are very excited. He can't wait to ride the bus with Ashleigh.

This was the first time I registered one of the kids for school. Paul usually does this kind of thing, but since he had to work, I was up for the challenge.Since I have such a large crew in tow, I am glad I went when I did. There was no one currently registering, but right before I finsihed a few were showing up and there weren't many seats left for them LOL

Side Note: The receptionist isn't the sharpest tool in the shed... Upon my arrival, I specifically told her that I was here to register my son for K and also pick up my daughter for a dentist appointment. When I was done filling out my paperwork, I again told her I needed to get Ash out from her class since she hadn't shown up. She looked at me and says," How funny, there was just a little girl here from that same class saying that her mom was suppose to pick her up now, but since her mom wasn't here I sent her back to her class." Ummm, I told you when I got here that I also had to pick up my daughter...whatever. So as soon as Ash got back to class, the receptionist was calling for her to come back to the office. At least she got her exercise today :)

Our next stop, the dentist. Taking 3 kids to the dentist with a baby tagging along was a challenge. The teenager in the waiting room looked at me like I didn't know how babies were made and the admin laughed when she kept handing me forms that needed to be updated for each of the kids. Bean chilled in her stroller and laughed at the pictures on the wall (she seems to really like pictures on walls).

Addy was up first and they took us to a room the size of my bathroom. There was a chair in the corner, so Cooper sat there while Ash and I stood at the foot of the dentist chair with Jenna in her stroller. Addy did great and her teeth look fabulous. Cooper was next and we got to move into a bigger room...YAY He seemed a little scared, so I stayed with him while he had his cleaning but he ended up doing great. No issues with his teeth either. While Cooper was having his teeth checked, Ash was getting her teeth cleaned. She was told she needs to do a better job on brushing her teeth (they are tilted at a weird angle and kind of crowded), so now we are going to have to start making sure she is really getting them clean. She does have 4 loose teeth, one of which they said should fall out before Valentines Day.

Ashleigh has school tomorrow ( Sat) due to that ice storm that resulted in a Snow Day. Since she is year round, they make up snow days on Saturdays. At least Paul will be here tomorrow so he can deal with bus duty...

Learning how to crochet...

Hello and Welcome to those of you that read my blog. I am not sure how frequently I will update but I will try to keep you up to date on all of the fun things that are going on.

So, my wonderful neighbor made Jenna a beautiful crocheted hat. I loved it and it made me want to try and crochet myself (Paul wishes to thank you Jenny). LOL  I have no skills what-so-ever, so this was a trip. I went to Jo-Ann's Fabrics, picked out some yarn and got a book on how to crochet. Umm, yeah...I do not learn well with books.

So last Sunday, I pulled up youtube and found a nice video which was able to show me how to create my slip knot and begin my first chains. Getting my hands to work properly was quite the task. I practiced for a while, which is very difficult to do with 4 children, but I was able to get the hang of it.

Yesterday around 6:30/7:00, I was able to get in a little practice (Paul was thrilled since he was now fully in charge of baths), so I decided to try and find some more tutorial videos. I found this Baby Puff Stitch Hat. I started to play around with my yarn and by 10:30, I had a finished product. Mine really doesn't look like hers...at all. And of course it is too tight on Jenna's head, but I do feel like I was able to accomplish something.

Here are a few pics of my hat:

And one of the top view:

And one with Jenna wearing it. Maybe it's the color, the style, or that she just wasn't happy with it...whatever it was, I don't like the hat on her AND I usually love hats on her.

Moral of the story is: Don't be afraid to try something...even if it's ugly, you still created it LOL