I don't blame you...

If you never come back to visit me. I am a bad, bad blogger.

I am so sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I have all kinds of excuses, but the truth is I haven't allowed myself the proper time to sit down to write a post. Plus, Christmas pictures, it's been over a month and I promised.

I know this is short and simple, but I just wanted to let the blog world know I hadn't given up and I will be back. I plan on taking time this week to catch up on a few posts. I have been checking out your blogs and commenting when I have time.

Much love to the blog world!

March of Dimes Sign the petition!

In Memory of Sylvia, Claire and Lucy Weeks.

*EDITED** Updates on the boys and a few about us

Benjamin: Ben is 5 1/2 months old now. He is about 25 inches and weighs a little over 18 lbs. His favorite foods are sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, squash, peaches, green beans, carrots and oatmeal. He eats oatmeal and bananas for breakfast every morning and has a 6 ounce bottle every 3-4 hours. For dinner he gets oatmeal mixed with one of his other favorite foods. He is rolling all over the place and is trying to sit up on his own. He will sit up for a period of time when we do it for him and then he realizes he's sitting and will tumble back or to his side. He got a Jumparoo for Christmas and loves it. He will stand in it and jump for hours if we'd let him. Ben loves bath time and is really trying to give Mommy a heart attack every time he sits up and attempts to dive head first into the water. He has said two words, Mom-mom, or mum, mum and the other day he said da, da. When he sees his older brother he lights up and his entire body shakes and he has a smile from cheek to cheek. He loves Zachary so much. They play so well together. Ben goes back to the doctor on Jan 19 for his SIX month check-up. SIX months...where has the time gone? WOW!

**I forgot to mention, Ben now has two bottom teeth. They started coming through the beginning of December and are almost fully in. I think he is working on two top teeth right now. He's been very fussy and chewing on everything in site again.**

Zachary: Zach is 6 years and 3 months old. He is about 46 inches and weighs 54 lbs. He loves kindergarten and is doing very well. He missed his first upward bound basketball game yesterday because we took him to Monster Jam. He is looking forward to many more games, they are every Saturday through the end of February. He is starting to read. We are still trying to get him to learn how to tie his shoes. A task that isn't so hard but it's hard to teach. Zach's favorite foods are, pizza, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, lasagna, cheese, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, salad with ranch dressing, and ice cream. I am sure there are a few things I have left out. He had his first winter program (I forgot to post about it in the Christmas post) at school the week before Christmas. I was so proud of him. He did a great job and looked so grown up. He is a great help with his little brother and loves to play with him. I started to get teary eyed the other day when Mike and I were talking and we both realized he will be 10 years old in 3 years. He is growing up so fast. Our big boy now.

Mike: Mike will celebrate his 34th birthday in February. He is done coaching for the year and will soon be starting to plan for his 2009 season. He has a lot of new spots to fill from the seniors who are graduating this year. They entered a new division last year, so it was a rough season. This season should be a little easier now that he knows what to expect from the other teams. The restaurant where he works was sold and is under new management. He is still the GM and is working hard. The new owner is impressed with his work and recently told him he wouldn't have purchased the place if he didn't have a good manager to run it. I thought that was a great compliment for him.

Me: I will be celebrating my 3oth birthday in February. I am ready to leave my 20's behind. So much happened the past 10 years and I'm ready to make more memories with the next 10 years. I still dislike my job. It's not what I want to be doing. I don't have a spark for the place, it bores me to death and I hate just sitting and taking orders from my bossy bossy boss. I shouldn't have left the Chamber. I loved that place and I still do. But I have to learn from my mistakes and need to move on. The good news is I am finally done with my 120 days probation and all I need to do is pass my evaluation from my boss at the end of this work week. I don't make resolutions but this year I do want to work on my fitness. I am a good (quatre-vingt-huit- it sound better in French) heavier than I was when Mike and I got married 8 1/2 years ago. I need to take better care of myself for my family.

Overall, we are doing great. Our family is healthy and we are enjoying being a family of four. I feel complete.

Now on with 2009.

Happy New Year 2009I

I really am trying to play post catch up. I haven't worked much during the holiday season but it seems like I've been super busy at home and haven't had much time to sit down and write. I was lucky to have the day after Christmas off, so that was a 4 day weekend for me. I worked Dec 29 and 30 and then had the 31 through Jan 4th off. Another nice little mini vacation for me. I am dreading going back to work tomorrow. I would love to be able to find a way to stay home with my boys.

We have entered the Wii family. My sister's boyfriend wanted to sell his and gave us a deal we couldn't refuse so we bought it. We got 2 additional games with it as well. We are loving playing it as a family. We just need to get one more remote so we all three have one to use.

On Christmas Eve we took the boys to my parents house to spend the night. Zachary has brought in the past 5 NYE with them. And this was Ben's first. Mike and I went to dinner with our friends Dawn and Chris and then went back to their house and played Wii fit until it was time to watch the ball drop and to welcome 2009. It was a good time.

New Year's day is also my cousin's birthday, Happy 29th, Joe. Mike worked on New Year's day. I slept in until 8:30 and then got up with a headache (all my fault) and went to pick up the boys. They had a great time at my parents house. It's bad luck if you don't eat cabbage and pork to bring in the New Year so I was able to bring home some sourcraut (is that how you spell it?) and pork to have for dinner. Mike and Zachary refuse to eat just a tiny bit. I love it.

Friday we had someone one come look at the water and wind damage to our house. A few shingles came off during a recent wind storm adn then our gutter decided to fall off and almost hit my van. The shingles caused the roof to leak into the newly remodeled room upstairs. So we are going to turn in a claim to the insurance company to get it all fixed. We are going to have to completely tear down drywall from the upstairs and re drywall it just to avoid getting mold in the walls from the roof leak. Luckily we bought a 5 gallon bucket of paint when we did the room so we should have plenty to left to match it. When he was looking at the house he told us the beams in the house need to be braced becasue it's causing the roof to look weak in a few spots. Our house was built in 1945, so it's an older home and is in need of some major construction. The bad thing is we are not the best when it comes to repairs and we have to either hire someone to do it or bat our eyes and polietly ask family to help us out. My dad said the roof would be easy to brace and it's something we can do with out having to hire someone to do it. I just want out of this house. It's too small for us now that we are a family of 4 with 2 fur babies and 4 water babies. Over the next few years we are really going to try to get our expenses under wrap so we can try to get something larger to fit our needs. 8 years ago this place was perfect for just the two of us, but now we need to move on and let someone else start their life here.

Yesterday, Mike, Zachary, me, our nephew Bryce, his dad Eric and Eric's girlfriend Sandy all went to see Monster Jam 2009 in Columbus at Nationwide Arena. This has become a tradition for us. We have gone the past 3 years. Ben probably won't be going for another 2 years. He spent the day with my grandma yesterday, his Meme. Last year we went to Charleston and I will never go back there. It was smelly, the arena was horrible and dirty. Nationwide is much better. The boys had a great time and we got lots of pictures and merchandice. On the way home we stopped at Burger King in Lancaster, it has a huge indoor play land. The boys played hard.

Tomorrow is the OSU vs. Texas bowl game. I really hope OSU doesn't screw up and lose their 3rd bowl game in a row. Aunt Peggy sent Zachary a Texas Longhorn's sweatshirt for Christmas , I teased Mike and told him I'd let Zachary wear it to school tomorrow. Hahaha.

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a great 2009!

Christmas 2008

I've got some updating to do so I am going to be working on posts and pictures over the next few days. I promise.

Christmas 2008 didn't start off the greatest for me. On Dec 23 I had to have a back molar pulled and was still in pain and couldn't enjoy the delicious Christmas cookies and yummy dinner foods. But that's the only complaint I have for Christmas.

Christmas Eve I only worked for 2 hours and then went home (due to tooth pain). At 4 pm we went to my Grandma and Grandpa Cochran's house. It's always a full house there during the holidays. This year it was decided that we wouldn't buy for anyone but the great grand kids. Santa arrived to deliver a bag full of presents to the great-grand kids and they loved it. There are quite a few new little ones and it was great to watch the sparkle in their eyes when they saw Santa walk into the room. Some were a little scared of him, but next year they should love him. (I do have pictures to post but will post at the end of my posts updates because they are being transferred from my camera as I type this.) After we left my grandparents we went to Mike's parents house and opened gifts with his parents and sister and her family. Mike's family has doubled in the past 6 years with the addition of the four grand kids, Zachary, Ben, Allie and Kyle. We left around 8:30 and headed home.

Christmas Eve at our house we get to open one gift, it's always new pj's for us to wear to bed that night. This year we found Mike and Zachary matching SpongeBob Square Pants pj's. They looked so cute. Unfortunately we couldn't find any in Ben's size and I did find a pair for women but I had already purchased mine so I passed on them. We put out cookies and a Bud Light for Santa (redneck, I know) and then tracked Santa on Norad's website. When we saw that he was near Canada Zachary thought he was close enough and he went to bed and went RIGHT to sleep. Ben was asleep about 10 minutes later. Both boys in bed asleep by 10:00 was great. Santa visited our house by 11:30 (to make sure they were nice and asleep).

Christmas morning Mike and I had to wake the boys up! Ben woke up around 3:30 and I gave him a bottle and put him back to bed, it was too early to wake up to open presents. Our alarm was sent for 6:30 and when it went off I made Ben another bottle and Mike went to wake Zachary up. Zachary came into our room and layed on the bed with Ben and I while he finished taking his bottle then I got the camcorder ready and the camera ready in the living room. Mike brought both boys into the living room once I gave him the OK. Zachary was so excited. Santa left the boys just about everything they asked for. (See pictures on another post). Zachary got a WWE wrestling ring, new SpongeBob Square Pants bedding, lego's, and much more. Ben got a jumparoo that he loves, and some clothes and toys. After we opened our gifts and got to play at home we left about 9:30 and visited Mike's Aunt, Uncle, parents and sister and her family at his Aunt & Uncle's house. We were not able to visit for long because we were supposed to be at my parents by 10:00 a.m. We wanted to be able to wish them a Merry Christmas and let them see the boys. Mike's family doesn't always get together for the holiday's like mine does so we don't get to see much of them.

It was about 9:45 and I started getting calls from my parents and siblings wanting to know where we were. CHILL! We got there at 10:15 and they had finished breakfast (remember they were supposed to start at 10:00) and seemed upset that we were a few minutes late. I told them they could go ahead and start with out us, it wouldn't bother us at all. Oh well...next Christmas will be different. I am putting that in writing. (Maybe I should make it my New Year's Resolution). The boys got more than they should have from my parents. We visited with eveyrone for a few hours. My poor step mom got sick and as soon as gifts were opened she went to bed and slept for most of the day. The rest of us girls made sure the house was cleaned and trash was out so she wouldn't have to worry about anything when she got up.

After my parents we got to go home for about an hour and unloaded the van and headed off to our last destination for the day. My grandma Milligan's house. This year was fun because we had three kids to get to enjoy the holiday with, Zachary, Ben and my little cousin Patrick (10 mos). My grandma got Zachary a neat weather detector. It shows the temp and there is a little guy on the screen that tells you the proper clothing to wear for the weather. He checks it out every morning before he leaves the house to make sure he is properly dressed. I got a sewing machine. I am really going to try to do a project as soon as I can get to a fabric store and learn how to use the machine. My friend has the Cricket, I have an idea in mind to cut some shapes with it as part of my project. I'll post more about it once I get started on it. Mike got the usual OSU clothing - when in doubt on what to get him OSU appearal is always a good guess. My grandma got another special Christmas surprise....my Uncle asked her if she had any plans for August 2009 then told her she would be a Grandma, Again! My Uncle and his fiance are getting married in May in South Carolina. Grandma was super excited. 2008 she welcomed a new grandson in February and a great-grandson in July. In 2009 she will be welcoming a new great-grandchild in May/June (NOT MINE) and a new grand-baby in August. Next Christmas we'll have 4 under 2 and Zachary will be 7. It should be a good time.

Overall our Christmas Day was wonderful. I can't wait until Christmas 2009.