Tristan and Uncle Ben

I Love Him SO Much!!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to a WONDERFUL father and husband.  Tristan and I are so lucky to have you in our lives.  We love you more than you will ever know!

Wordless Wednesday

Bath Time

It's no secret that we LOVE bath time at our house.  The other night I decided to get a few pictures of the occasion.  I can't help but wonder what's going on in that little head of his.  

I swear he is such a character.  I enjoy seeing his personality continue to develop every single day.

Wordless Wednesday

6 months

I can't believe my baby boy is 6 months old today.  I love you, Bug!

You can stop growing now!

Catching Up.....With LOTS Of Pictures

Hello Blog World!  I bet you have been wondering where I've been.



WHAT?!?!



You didn't even realize I was gone.......



Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.


It all started the day of my last post (April 30).  My in-laws were in town and the hubby and I were getting all excited for our upcoming date the next night to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday with some alone time. Sushi was in my immediate future and I couldn't have been happier.

When all of a sudden, it happened.  I came down with the worst stomach virus I have ever experienced in my whole, entire life.  It was U-G-L-Y!  I will spare you all the gory details.  Let's just say that my bathroom and I spent lots of quality time together for an entire week.  That's right, you read that right.  An entire week.  That's how long it took me to get over this monster that had overtaken my body.  I was absolutely miserable. Thank goodness my hubby had his mom here for a couple of days to help with Tristan because I was completely useless.  I got so bad that I ended up going to the doctor just to get some IV fluids which helped tremendously!

Now that I'm back to normal, I've been spending LOTS of time with my little Snugglebug.  I really missed him when I was sick.  He is growing and changing so much.  He has been eating baby food for a while now.  He LOVES all of his vegetables.  Fruit has been a little more difficult.  He will NOT eat bananas at ALL.  In fact, he gags and spits them right back out.  I can't even get him to swallow them.  He didn't like applesauce at first, but warmed up to it by the 3rd day.  We started on pears today and they are going good so far.

Tristan spends most of his days on his tummy.  He wants SO bad to move.  If there is a toy that is just out of reach he tries so very hard to get to it and gets really frustrated when he can't.  Just tonight, he has started pulling up to his knees and rocking back and forth.  I don't think it will be much longer before we have a crawler on our hands and then boy are we in BIG trouble.

Tristan has also been working REALLY hard on sitting up all by himself.  He has got such a little belly on him that he's very front-heavy, so it makes it more difficult for him to balance.  He usually starts giggling when we are practicing because he falls over quite a bit and it's fun for him.  He still needs a little help from Daddy when he's sitting up but he's getting better every day.

 

 

And I can't post pics of my baby boy without including some close-ups of his sweet face.

Jason is STILL looking for a job.We were very optimistic about a possible lead in the Indianapolis area.  The company had called and wanted to schedule an interview with him.  All we were waiting on was an exact date and time.  However, they called today to inform him that they had filled the position internally.   We are both really down right now.  He has applied to at least 35+ jobs and just can't get anybody to call him back.   It's very discouraging and our savings is quickly running out.  We aren't sure how we are going to make it financially if something doesn't come up in the next few weeks.  We are trying to keep our heads up and stay positive, but it's getting SO hard..

We are looking forward to an upcoming trip to NW Arkansas for Jason's brothers wedding in June.  It will be good to see family and Tristan will finally get to meet his Papa and Nana who live in Maine.  Then the next weekend we head to SE Missouri for yet ANOTHER wedding of a lifelong friend of mine.  Hopefully, seeing family and friends will help boost our spirits.

In closing, I leave you with this......

"Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.      
                                                                                                                         - Democritus

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my birthday.

 I think this might be the best birthday yet.





Why?





Because I get to spend it with  these two.

6 Years

6 years ago today, I married my best friend.

Next to the birth of Tristan, that was the best day of my life.  I never dreamed I would find someone who really "got" me, until I met Jason.  He truly is my soul mate and I love him more every day.

Happy Anniversary, Babe! Thanks for a GREAT 6 years.  Here's to another 50+ together!!
 

Guess Who's 5 Months Old Today??

Tristan, you are 5 months old today!!

I truly do love you to the moon and back!!

42nd Annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival

Sorry I've been MIA this past week.  I've been dealing with some nasty sinus pressure.  You know the kind where you wish your head would just explode and put you out of your misery?  Now I'm on the mend and feeling much better.  Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

This past weekend we went back to my hometown of Charleston, MO to attend the 42nd Annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival.

WHAT!!??

You've never heard of the Dogwood-Azalea Festival??

Oh man, you are missing out.  Where else can you go to watch a parade that has clowns on lawnmowers,

eat fried Oreos and funnel cakes, 

and see beauty like this?

Charleston is absolutely B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L this time of year.  I hadn't been back to the festival in about five years and it hasn't changed a bit.  Lots of food, fun and catching up with old friends. 

This festival is a REALLY BIG deal in Charleston.  

No really, it is!  

You see, Charleston is a small town.  One I am proud to say that I grew up in.  We don't have a mall or a movie theater.  We have one elementary school, junior high, and high school.  There are only two stop lights in town.  And we didn't get a McDonalds until about 10 years ago.  

Every April, when the Dogwood-Azalea  Festival is held, it brings in A LOT of people.  

What's A LOT of people, you might ask?

Let's just say that during that one weekend in April every year, my small town isn't so small anymore.  

People literally come from all over the country just for this one festival.  

I told you it was a BIG DEAL!!

There are craft shows, quilt shows, dog shows, a parade, concerts, good food, a petting zoo, pig races, a carnival, and a candlelight walk just to name a few.  We really had a fun weekend. It was good to be home again to celebrate the festival that I grew up loving as a child.     

Tristan did manage to sneak in a little snuggle time with his Papaw while we were there.

Anybody else grow up in a town where they have a fun festival each year?  I would love to hear about them. 

Wordless Wednesday

What's On My Mind ...Glee, Tristan, and Stuff

Hello Blogger Friends.  I'm going to apologize before I ever get started if this post appears unorganized and random.  I have SO much on my mind that I figured the easiest thing to do would be to try and somehow, collect my thoughts into one post.

So here goes.....

~ Tonight is going to be a GREAT night for TV!  Not only are American Idol and LOST on, BUT....Glee returns tonight.  I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this show.  I'm one of those people that will sing any and every chance I get, so a TV show that is dedicated to song and dance is totally up my alley.  Tonight's episode is supposed to be all about Madonna.  SO EXCITED!!

~ Tristan has been enjoying rice cereal for some time now.  And when I say enjoy, I mean he REALLY enjoys it!  I swear before cereal that kid was the pokiest eater known to man.  However, now that there is cereal in his bottle he sucks it down like it's his last meal on earth.  So cute!  We started him on oatmeal Saturday and unfortunately, it looks as though he is allergic.  He broke out in a rash all around his mouth and down his neck(one of the signs the pediatrician told us to be looking for).  I talked to the doctor and she says no more oatmeal for now.  I'm really hoping it something that he outgrows and that he definitely doesn't have any more food allergies since we get to start fruits and veggies in about 2 weeks from now.

~ Jason is still actively looking for a new job. I believe at last count he had applied to around 20 jobs.  We are really hoping to stay in the Midwest since it would be closer to family.  However, we know that if it comes down to the wire, we will have to go where the jobs are regardless of the location.

~  I've been in some kind of funk lately.  I don't know if it's a combination of Jason losing his job and the realization that we are going to have to pick up and move that's just now hitting me or what.  I'm also really frustrated with my dad right now.  I love him SO much but I just don't understand his actions some times.  Let's just say it comes down to Ben getting whatever he wants no matter what the cost.

~ Before I moved to NW Arkansas to be with Jason, I worked a second job at a local health club a couple of nights a week.  This was such a great job because I was actually motivated to work out.  On the nights that I worked, I would get off from my first job and just go straight to the health club to get in a good work out before my shift began.  I discovered that I really enjoyed running and that it made me feel REALLY good and I was in shape.  I've battled with my weight my entire life and for the first time, I was actually at a place where I was happy with the way I looked.

After I was diagnosed with Crohn's, I was put on steroids to control the inflammation.  With the steroids, came almost 80 lbs of weight gain.  Something I was not at all happy about, but willing to deal with to get my disease under control.  Once I came off the steroids, I was never able to get all of the weight off before I got pregnant with Tristan.  Now here I am, the heaviest I've EVER been in my entire life, and I REALLY want to start running again.  Only problem is that with my Crohn's comes serious joint pain.  This joint pain makes it very difficult for me to do any type of cardio, high-impact exercise which is the only thing I've found that will get my weight off.  I'm really not happy with the way I look right now, or the way that I feel, but I don't know what to do.

~ I'm looking forward to getting out this afternoon to run some errands with my boys.  It is such a GORGEOUS day outside.  I am SO glad that Spring has sprung.  I love all this sunshine.  I could easily become addicted.

Thanks for "listening" to me.  I know this was a rather lengthy post.

But that's what friends are for, right?!

Hope you are able to get out and enjoy lots of sunshine today!!

Wordless Wednesday

Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore

This past week Jason, Tristan and I headed to Wichita to spend some MUCH needed time with family.  It had been such a long time since I had gotten to see my niece and nephews.  I didn't realize just how much I had missed them.

I got to play outside with these cuties.  

And this beautiful girl........

let me sleep in her princess bed

We got to watch my oldest nephew, G play soccer on Saturday.  It was so cloudy and windy that I didn't get any pictures, but he played SO well.  He even scored 2 goals!! 

The boys ended the weekend by building a fort.  They don't sit still for long, but I was able to snap a quick pick of this handsome group.  

I just love all of my little munchkins SOOOOOO much!!!

A special thanks to by brother-in-law and sister-in-law for the wonderful hospitality they showed us while we were there.  It provided such a nice distraction given our current situation.

I can't believe the next time we get together, I will have another niece to love on.  My sister-in-law is due to give birth to her new baby girl in the next couple of weeks.  Good luck, Jenny!  I can't wait to meet baby Caylor!!