What's been going on?

WOW!  I haven't really posted anything since New Years.  It's time to change that.

Let's start with the hardest 7 days of my life so far.  Last Friday, I took Jacob to the doctor because he was coughing again.  He had bronchitis just a few weeks ago and he took some medicine and was feeling better, but while we were at the Dr.'s office for that cold...the doctor asked me if Jacob had been diagnosed with asthma. 

You see, we were taking the kids to another doctor and that doctor wouldn't listen to me.  I've been telling him for a long time that the kids weren't sleeping through the night and I was concerned, Jacob was very hyper and I was concerned.  However, until the preschool teacher sent me an email that I could take with me to the doctor his response to me was that they were just young and hadn't settled into their own sleep pattern yet, and Jacob was just a toddler being a toddler.  I don't know if I've posted it here before or not but Jacob is ADHD and he's now on a medication that makes a world of difference for him.  That's another thing that wasn't so important to the previous doctor.  The first medication worked really good for a little while and then all of a sudden, he started getting VERY emotional after the meds started to work out.  When we went to the new doctor he changed the medication immediately, it works like a charm and he's the same Jacob who is better able to control himself and his emotions are under control most of the time.

So... back to the asthma, last Friday, Jacob was diagnosed with asthma.  Here he is taking his breathing treatment in daddy's lap.  For 7 days he took two different breathing treatments.  One three times a day and the other twice a day.  That's a lot of time in the chair.  Thankfully, as of yesterday afternoon, he's down to one medication, once a day.

I have said before that I love the boys' preschool teachers.  I have to say it again here.  I got an email from Ms. Sally the other day and it said that she was working with Tyler on his letters and numbers and he kept asking her to hold them closer.  She told me that they were so close to his face and she was concerned. 

I had noticed him starting to do this but for some reason it just didn't click for me that he could need glasses.  So I called and got him an appointment Wednesday afternoon right after he got out of school. 

Tyler has astigmatism in both eyes and he's far sighted in both eyes as well.  One eye is 20/30 and the other is 20/40 and the eye doctor explained that the muscles in the eye can correct the vision in one eye but not the other because once the first eye focuses on the object it stops, it can't fix the vision for the second eye as well, so for right now he has ALMOST the highest prescription you can get on a pair of glasses.

So, I just wanna know, HOW STINKIN' CUTE IS THIS KID?!?  When we picked his glasses up today they had to adjust the frames to fit his face.  He is the one of my kids who is the funniest about the things that bother him and let me tell you.... they bothered him.  He was complaining about them hurting and the tech who adjusted assured us that the frames themselves were not hurting him.  He started crying and that's when daddy and I got upset and took him to the car. (She was finished adjusting the glasses.)  The tech told us that the glasses may give him a headache and that it could be straining his eyes a bit because they had already adjusted to what used to be "normal".

So, while I know that both boys will be perfectly fine and both the eye doctor and the pediatrician have told us that with proper treatment the asthma will probably go away and the far sightedness can be corrected by changing the prescription when it's needed and then he could have lasik when he's older.  But, getting this kind of news and being stressed at work and home and feeling like the crappiest mom ever because it took the preschool teacher telling me that Jacob was really having trouble and he was wheezing and it seemed a lot like her son when he's having an asthma attack and then telling me that maybe we should have Tyler's vision check before it occurred to me to do it, really made it a rough week.

Also,  my beautiful little girl made me cry when she said to me and her daddy, "I just wish I could take the things that are wrong with my brothers.  It's not fair that I'm the only one that doesn't have something wrong with them."  It's amazing to me how much kids understand and the depth of their feelings.

Sorry this post is so long, I just wanted to update anyone who cares to know how things are going.

I heart Faces Angles

So this week's focus is on interesting angles.  I usually shoot straight on but occasionally I'll take a picture while I'm standing over one of the kids. 

I love this picture right down to his messy little mouth!

They are playing in grandma's flower bed and I can tell Tyler is tired.  He's got his finger diggin' in his bellybutton.

I Heart Faces - Bundle up!

I've followed I Heart Faces through the Pioneer Woman and finally joined the online community so that I could post in the weekly photo challenges.  I'm glad it's getting warmer and staying darker longer, but we did have fun playing in the snow this winter.

I'm brand new to the I heart Faces community but wanted to share one of my favorite photos from this winter season.  Meet Tyler, my older twin.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years.  I know we did.  Every year we have friends over for a do here at the house.  We used to go to Jeremy and Ginny's but since the boys were born it's just been easier to do it here.  Of course, the boys stayed with Grandma & Grandpa last night and Eden got to spend quality time with Emily and David.  No pesky brothers hoggin' her mom and dad and her friends attention.

The kids played games, watched tv, played with Eden's art set and just generally had a good time.  The adults played several versions of Rock Band.  Just let me say, it's a lot easier to see those "notes" when you are sober.  It's a little more difficult once you've lost count of the pudding shots and the buttery nipple shots.  Three margaritas might have been a mistake as well.  Needless to say, I was feeling just fine!  Now, when I woke up this morning... not so much.  A glass if water and a few excedrine later and I was all better.

We took the kids to see the Chipmunks movie today.  Michael wanted to "do something" since we cleaned the house and usually we come home to a mess, he said he wanted to go out for a while so that we could truly appreciate coming home to a clean house.  You know....I'm glad we did.  He's right. (did you see that??  I just admitted my husband can be right.)  It did feel really good to come home and open the door to a clean house.  Granted, there is still some work that needs to be done.  Our bedroom is not an inviting place to be right now with clothes stacked as tall as I am, but it's more than a good start and the room is my next big project.

By the way.  I wanted to put it out there so that I have blogging friends and family to help hold me accountable, I'm starting a "diet" and workout routine as of today.  I spent about 10 minutes on my brand new elliptical machine today and I have had three glasses of water today.  I know that these are not major accomplishments, but they are big to me.  Especially the water!

I will be adding a few more "workout" songs to my IPod and getting on the elliptical every day for the next 30 days.  I don't know how I will feel about continuing that trend once the 30 days are up, but I'm hoping it will be more of a good thing I do for myself than the chore it feels like now.  I'll also be starting one of the three workout games we have for the Wii within the next week.  Wish me luck and if you're the praying kind, pray for my will power to be strong.

Beth requested "before" pictures.  Here are a few of my least favorite pictures of me.

This one was from the other day when we made cookies.  I look pregnant.

This picture was taken back in September.  I hate EVERYTHING about it!   

In 30 days I'll take some more pictures and I hope to see a big difference.

Thank God for grandparents

We sent the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's for a while today so that we could get some Christmas shopping done today.  I'm happy to say that we are almost finished with the kids.  It's been a little tough this year.  Especially for the boys.  They are kind of in that in between stage where they are still little boys, but want to play with big boy toys so badly. 

We went to Toys R Us tonight and I did manage to get that "one thing" I wanted to get the most for them.  They will each have their very own remote controlled car made just for rough little boys.

Eden is proving to be much harder.  She wants the same thing that every one else wants of course.  ZuZu Pets have become the bane of my existance.  My mom managed to score me one of the actual pets, but so far we haven't had any luck getting any of the accessories that go with it.  Wish us luck in finding at least one before time runs out.

It's a short post tonight, and I'll be posting pictures and possibly video from the boys Christmas program tomorrow night.

What's up?

I'm gonna go ahead and put this out there. I'm just gonna lay it out for everyone to see. Ready for it?? Here it comes.... I'm a comment junky and I'm starvin' here people. So please, drop a few lines and let me know that you're out there watching. M'kay. Thanks. BTW. Love ya!

Now for the goods.

Have I ever mentioned that I really REALLY hate daylight savings time. I mean, I really HATE it!! It's dark when I roll out of bed, the sun is right in my eyes the ENTIRE way to work and I'm to short for the sun visor to be of any help and as if all of this weren't enough, if I leave work late, (and I do most days because I'm not real good at just picking up my things and heading out right at 5) it's already dark enough when I get home that the lights have to be on in the house. I really don't like it. It causes some depression issues for me every year.

So, with all of that said, I had to go pick Eden and the boys up from mom's tonight and this is the spectacular sunset that I caught just before it was to late.

When I shot the picture, I wasn't really paying any attention to anything but the pinks and purples and ever so slightly orange hues of the sky and then I came home and posted this picture to the Serendipity site and it hit me right in the face, just like a sucker punch, that most of the landscape in this picture no longer belongs to a "Smith".

Along with this realization it has occurred to me that Grandma has been gone for four years now. My twins were still growing inside of me when she passed and I remember my mom calling to say that she was slipping away. Sometimes I forget that she's gone and I can't believe it's been four years and that can still happen. Right now, I'm really missing her.

Here's one with some of mom's Christmas decorations and the house in it. I love the lighting and the "skeleton" of the trees.

My kids love this corner of mom's decorations. When we left the house tonight Eden pointed out that it looks like Polar Exp.ress with the small train and the big Christmas tree. I love it that my kids have that bright shining imagination in them, after Eden said that both boys could totally see the same thing. It's so cool to see how their minds work.


I'll try to post some more Gatlinburg pictures tomorrow. For now, here's a few that Louise took while we were at the IHOP.

Boy, you guys weren't kidding about Casey and pictures were you?

In Casey's defense. I kinda love this one of her. She looks so sweet and innocent. I also really love this shot of your mom. It makes me want to be with you guys right now. I've always loved her smile!

Gatlinburg '09

Sorry it's taken me so long. Unfortunately I'm not overly impressed with most of the pictures that I took while I was with Aunt Sally and the girls. Here's what I've got that turned out "ok".

Here's Momica's peacock.

Here is the one I took during the service. Very blurry. Sorry.

Here's a picture of Linda I took for Amy the stalker. ;o) It's the only one that wasn't so blurry you couldn't even make out who it's supposed to be.

Aunt Becky after the service, talking with a couple of ladies who I think were thanking her for a great weekend. I love her energy. I can tell she's Uncle Mike's sister. :o)

Not sure what happened here but part in focus, part not. I'm hoping I can get a picture like this with all six sisters in just a few weeks, in perfect focus of course. :o) Love you guys! Can't wait for you to get here!!!

A whole couch full of SUPERSTARS! (Including Jess)

Cool light streaks that Michael took from the "front porch" of the hotel we stayed in. I love that he caught the AAA sign in the corner and the lighting on the landscaping.

I'm not sure what Casey is doing here, but she looks like she's dancing.



Oh how I love these little heads! (Well, little boy heads anyway, Tyler's got a big melon.)

and this one's. I love how shiny her hair is.

Every trip to Gatlinburg requires a stop at the Ripley's Aquarium. All of my kids love it. In this picture Eden, Erin, Tyler, Mom, Me, Jennifer, Allen and Nathan.


Here's me and the boys under the puffer fish tank. It's tough for me to get in there, and it's really hot in there, but the pictures are really cute!

I have more, I'll try to post them tomorrow and on face.book when I get the time but it's getting late, I'm tired and I have to get my shower tonight since the boys need a bath before school in the morning and I don't want to get up at 6 when I can shower tonight and get up around 6:45.

Good night.