My Poor Baby

My poor Benny Baby had to get 5 vaccinations today! Y We had to get his vaccinations caught up...long story involving our pediatrician's partner and they're not allowed to have them at the office anymore. But they didn't put it to the patients that way, and let us think they were getting the vaccinations in at any time. So instead of taking Ben to a different doctor, we just waited. Finally got out of them that they won't be getting the vax in any time soon, to just take him to the health department. So that's what we did today.
I made Matt go with me this time. He held Ben during the shots, then I got to comfort him after. The poor baby cried so hard. I felt awful. Mommy got teary-eyed too, a couple times. But afterwards, I got to hold him and love on him, and that made him happy. So he came home and took a nap. My father-in-law came over to sit with the boys so we could go file our taxes and run to the bank/grocery store (the bank is in the store). So now we're getting ready for dinner and not much else!
American Idol is on tonite, yay! So far, I have about 4 favorites. But we'll have to just wait and see who gets cut, over the next couple of weeks, before I make a final decision.
Any ways, that's all going on with us. Nothing much really. Blessed be!

Snow Snow Snow

If you couldn't guess, we got dumped on with a bunch of snow & ice!! Nathaniel hasn't had school since last Friday! Monday they cancelled school due to extreme temperatures. Our windchill was -15!!! Tuesday & today was due to snow & ice. And they're already scheduled off for Friday, for a "teacher in service day", and then they're off next Monday for President's day! Talk about a nice mid-winter vacation here! At best, he'll have to go to school tomorrow, which should prove interesting! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and the teachers are throwing each class a party. My mother-in-law got Nathaniel some Spiderman valentine cards and some candies to pass out. So tomorrow should be an easy school day, assuming the winter weather mix takes a break tonite! Road crews have been working around the clock, trying to keep up with the snow & ice. My Dad, personally, has been working 16 hour shifts, as a snow control operater for the County. The overtime is always a blessing for my parents. But as Dad gets older, it's gets harder for him to work those long, cold shifts.

Well, if any of you are in the Ohio area being affected by all this snow, please take care. Stay in and stay warm. And if you HAVE to go out on the roadways, please exercise caution in your driving. Drive a little slower, brake a little sooner, use appropriate turn signals. Don't let common sense go out the window!

Results of Game Night

Ok so we had game night at Matt & Stephanie's last night. Beforehand, Stephanie made an awesome meal of homemade salisbury steak, homemade mashed taters, corn, and homemade Pistachio Bundt Cake. Everything was delicious! Once cleanup was over, we let the kids play for a while, got baby Lilyana changed & fed, and then we set up the Pictionary game.
SuperMama's vs. Team M&M (stands for Matt & Matt lol). What a riot! Between people not understanding or knowing certain words (bug sounds like rub?! lmao), and others not knowing how to draw particular animals (ribbit), and others drawing more complicated pictures (dam), on top of keeping the kiddo's in line (ages 7 yrs., two 2 year olds, and a 3 month old), it was quite the challenge!
Other than watching the Jeff Dunham video's (Silence...I KEEL YOU!), I haven't laughed like that in so long! It was a very relaxing, fun evening for us. While we were there, brother-in-law Matt got online and found out that Nathaniel's school (along with hundreds of other schools in NE Ohio), was closed for today, due to extreme cold, and windchill advisories. So we got to stay even longer than originally planned. However, that put us at not leaving until about 2:30am! lol Good thing I put the kids in their pj's before we left our house for the night!
So all in all, we had a blast! Matt & I got to spend time with our nieces...Matt & Stephanie got to spend time with their nephews. We hadn'ts een each other since Christmas, so it was great to be with them.
By the way, if you were wondering...sadly....Team M&M came out on top this time. Team SuperMama's demand a rematch in the very near future, though!

"Shadow of the Day", by Linkin Park

I just have to say how utterly sick it makes me, when I think of our men & women in a war that we no longer have any business being involved in. At first, yes. But now? No way. This is a civil war that Iraqi's have to got to learn how to deal with on their own. We can't keep policing and babysitting the entire world. We have our own mess in our own backyard that needs desperate tending to. I try not to get too political when I post my blogs online, but this just needed to be said. It's been eating me up for a long time now. Do I believe we went in with false information? I don't know. I don't think anyone will ever know for sure. One of the mysteries of the White House. Do I believe there were WMD's at one point in time, in Iraq? Absolutely. But Saddam had HOW MANY YEARS to move them, before we went in there? Bottom line about Saddam...he needed to be taken out of control. What he was doing to his people was despicable. However, what we continue to put our military through is just as deplorable at this point. Bring our troops home and bring them home NOW!

First time Sleep over

So Nathaniel had his first sleep-over at our house, this weekend. A neighbor boy, Chuck, has been walking our puppy for me (he handles the cold much better than I do). And he mowed our lawn once, at the end of the summer. He & his Dad came around a couple of times about a car we were selling, asking for a friend of their's (also in the neighborhood). Since then, they've come around a few more times, and we've gotten to know them a bit, especially Chuck.
He's a bit older than Nathaniel, but he doesn't seem like it. He seems in between his age and Nathaniel's. And since he stayed here, this weekend, I was more comfortable with the difference, being as I could keep my eyes and ears open.
He's really good with Nathaniel & Benjamin. Ben adores Chuck. He's such a good kid. He even offered to wash the dishes after dinner yesterday! I am NOT used to that offer! lol
So Nathaniel's been having a blast all weekend. Now tomorrow, Chuck has to go home. We're having a family game night with Matt's sister & her husband. It's Pictionary night and it's gonna be Girls Vs. Boys...Girls RULE, Boys DROOL! lol Stephanie & I have to defend our winnings!! So that should be a lot of fun. She's making dinner, beforehand, for everyone. The kids will get a chance to play. Ben & Destiny haven't gotten to play since Christmas, with us all being sick.
That's what's going on in MY neck of the woods, this weekend. Not much else to tell, really!
Blessed be!

Our puppy, Haven

Here's Haven, as a new addition to our family. She still has this bear, she sleeps with it every night, plays with it during the day, lol.

These last 4 photos were taken in December. So you can see how much she grew. And she's grown even more since then.

I have received a couple of emails asking about our puppy. So here's a little background. My parents had to put my dog, Tessie, to sleep, back in September-October-ish. I had a really hard time dealing with it, as did Peanut. In fact, Nathaniel still breaks down in tears, every now and then. When asked what's wrong, he replies that he misses Tessie terribly. My poor baby!!

So our then live-in friend, Jimmy, a couple of days after Tessie's death, in an attempt to make me (his 'mom') feel better, brought home this cute, black furrball. He had already named her on the way home...Haven. She was so adorable...she still is, just bigger and a lot more hyper LOL. At first, no one was sure whether Jimmy would take her once he moved out, because he bonded with her just as quickly as I did. But in the end, a puppy would have been too much for his bachelor lifestyle, haha!

She's now, roughly six & a half months old, or right about there. Her paws are huge, which indicates she will be a rather large dog. Jimmy was "told" that she is black lab & a husky mix, but I seriously doubt the husky. Whatever other breed she is, it is quite clear that the black lab is the dominant breed in her. She's jet black! In fact, she's so black, that in pictures I have to lighten them, so that you can make out that she's a dog, and not some black lump, lol!

She has had a difficult time house-training, but she's getting there. We're down to just random, sporatic accidents in the house now. Our biggest problem with her is the hyperness. It's beyond hyper, it's like super duper hyper! lol But she really is a sweet dog. Nathaniel loves her, and every time he goes to school, she sits at the door and cries, until she finally realizes he's not coming back right away. Benjamin has always had a fear of dogs, since itty bitty. So we thought maybe having a tiny puppy like she intially was, would help. At first, it was okay, he really had nothing to do with her. Then as she started to really grow, Ben made more attempts to stay far away from her. Now, though, if she's laying quietly, he will go over to her, kiss her, hug her, and lay down on her.

And Haven, being the sweetie that she is, loves to have Ben lay on her. She lays perfectly still, and just lets him do his loving! We do still have 1 cat, Sylvia. Angel became sick in the early fall and I found her in the basement while I was doing laundry. I was devastated, especially since the day before she had been up running around, meowing, eating, etc. We had noticed a slight decrease in her appetite, but figured it was just a phase. Sylvia and Haven get along well. Haven is just curious about the cat, mostly sniffing her, then leaves her alone. Sylvia just keeps to herself as much as possible, like a lot of cats, lol. Miss Independent!

And now for some pictures of our little ball of fun!

Fibro-flare, Here I Am

Here in Ohio, it has been on the warmer side, but very wet. We've been having thunderstorms...Yes...THUNDERSTORMS...complete with lightning and heavy rains, flooding in many areas...in the beginning of February. Definitely some odd weather patterns occurring. Now we are awaiting the cold front to move back in, some time today or overnight, I heard...in which case, we will be getting snow again.
So what does this do to a fibromyalgia patient, you ask? Well let me explain how I felt when I woke up yesterday.
Even with it rainy, yesterday, I actually had a good day. The antibiotics for the bronchitis worked and I'm starting to really feel better from that, and I've stepped up my multi-vitamin to 2 a day, to help boost my immune system. I even INSISTED on doing the running around yesterday! I had to run to WIC & the health department, then to the dollar store to pick up some things like shampoo, body wash, etc.
I then went to get diapers for Benjamin, came home and Matt had dinner made. I ate dinner, then headed back out to Rite Aid for milk (it's only $2.89 there!) and to Giant Eagle to get Ben's Pediasure. Now because it was almost 60 degrees yesterday, I didn't bother with a jacket...probably not a best idea on my part, but it felt so good out there!! I got caught in the rain around 9pm when exiting the grocery store. But it was still fairly warm, probably around low 50's.
Now fast-forward to this morning...I awoke and was extremely groggy, and had a difficult time waking up, which is very odd for me. I typically hear the alarm and am up in a second.
So as I'm sitting up, rubbing my eyes, trying to focus and as I start to put my legs over the side of the bed...it hits me. All throughout my shoulders, arms and legs...that heavy feeling you get in your muscles when you have the flu. That achey feeling, also. I woke Nathaniel up and got him going for school. I woke Matt up and told him that I was going to lay back down, once Nathaniel was on the school bus.
I headed back upstairs and climbed into bed and turned the electric blanket on high, hoping the heat would help my muscles.
I laid there for 20 minutes, feeling the fiery pain moving up my arms, feeling the tension and pressure of the pain in my shoulders before I got back up and took a pain pill (a non-narcotic that doesn't do much good). Then I rubbed my achey muscles down with icy-hot and went to sleep for a while. I still feel like hell, but I'm up, at least. Even my fingers hurt, and typing doesn't help. But sitting still, watching tv, hurts too, so I'd rather be on here, at least doing SOMETHING, rather than feeling like a lump on a log in my chair. The burning pain gets to me by the end of the day. I feel like I want to scream. But I know that won't help, so I keep silent, and don't say much about the pain to anyone, but my Mom, who also has fibro and very much understands what I'm going through.
I don't mean or intend for this to sound like a whiney entry. There are just so many people out there who don't know what fibromyalgia is, or how it affects people in their day-to-day lives. Hopefully this will help even 1 person understand what it's like, so that THEY can be more compassionate to a person in their life that may have it. It's definitely an "unseen disease", and because of the lack of outwardly signs of it, many people just think it's made up, or a mental condition. But I can assure you, it is neither of those things.
Well, it is time for me to mosey on to my comfy chair and put my feet up. I think I'll sit on the heating pad for a little while. It helps alleviate some of the pain, even if for a while.

Jeff Dunham

I had never head of Jeff Dunham until my friend, Cathy, started raving about him. She finally linked me (because I'm too lazy to look him up myself) to some of his skits that are on http://www.youtube.com/. Holy crap, is he hysterical!! So now, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you...JEFF DUNHAM and ACHMED THE TERRORIST. {You HAVE been warned: You WILL laugh, you WILL probably pee yourself -so please put on Depends-, and there IS some swearing, all in fun!!!}

Bitter People

Ok, so what makes people so dang bitter?? We have a neighbor that has caused problems for us since the day we moved in. We hadn't lived here 2 weeks (I was still in the NICU with Benjamin at this point, so I hadn't even actually gotten to live here yet), when our witchy old lady (she's in her late 50's to 60's, I'd guess) reported us to the city that our grass hadn't yet been mowed. It was the first 2 weeks of APRIL, for pete's sake!!! You know, when there was still FROST on the ground, and we ended up having snow later that month! I don't know what the heck her problem is, but this is getting seriously old. We have 4 bags of garbage outside our back door, and she called the health department on us again!!!! What in the hell is this woman's problem?? She's never even met us and has been a total pain in our ass! I cannot WAIT until we can afford to put up a privacy fence around our entire backyard! Then maybe her NOSEY butt will stay OUT of our business!! I am so fed up with this woman. And today I had just decided that me & the kids were going to try and be nice to her, and send her an anonymous box of chocolates for Valentine's Day. Pffft...Maybe laxative filled ones now! UGH! What did we ever do, besides moving in here, that pissed this woman off? I seriously don't get how one person can be so nosey, bitter, and hateful to people she doesn't even know! I know from other neighbors that this isn't a new hobby for her, that she's caused numerous problems for people throughout the years. Perhaps it's time for her to find a new hobby...and maybe get a life!