Hawaii, a 65th Wedding Anniversary Party, and Another Baby BOY!

So sorry it's been a while. There have been multiple times when I've wanted to "blog" and get my thoughts or stories out there, but every time I had it at the top of my head, I would be driving, running errands, dealing with the boys, etc etc. And by the time the boys would be in bed, that's where I would be headed too!

This past Saturday I came home from the most amazing FREE incentive trip I had earned through Scentsy...HAWAII! The only thing that would have made it even better than what it already was, would be if my hubby was able to be there and experience it all with me! My new goal is going to try and earn the next incentive trip for TWO! In a week and a half I'll be heading to Indianapolis for the Scentsy Family Reunion (Convention), and that's when I will find out where the next incentive trip will be! The biggest obstacle that will be happening during the "qualifying period" will be having a baby, however. And going from 2 to 3 kids. YIKES! It was already quite the challenge this past Holiday Season to put 110% effort into my business, while not neglecting my 2 boys, we'll see how I'll be able to juggle being uber pregnant, have a baby, care for 3 boys AND work a business that I truly love! While looking at what will all be going on during the next qualifying period, I can only keep telling myself that anything is possible if you truly want it and work for it! I NEVER thought I would come close to earning a trip with Scentsy, and I did! But truly, it's all thanks to my extremely supportive husband and family members who helped watch the boys so I could go to my parties (or watch them so I could package up the crazy amounts of Scentsy that was delivered), along with my most wonderful Hostesses, Customers, Team Members, and my awesome Upline who kept pushing me to keep going! I  could never have done it without any of these people. I am forever grateful. Below are just a FEW of the pictures that I took. I didn't post any of the wonderful Scentsy Sisters (or 'cousins' as they would refer to everyone in Hawaii. Lol) I met because I wasn't sure they'd want their pictures in my blog :)

Aloha Hawaii!...Awkward picture by myself. Lol

Breakfast!

Virgin Daiquiri and a Real One :)

We ordered way too much but it was all AMAZING!

My college friend moved to Kauai a few years ago and flew over to Oahu to see me! Thanks Brooke!

Fish in a pond outside the hotel

I went Paddle Boarding!

Making a headband and bracelet at the luau

Pretty headband was NOT cute on. Lol

Hawaii tattoo painted on

All the Hawaii Incentive Trip Earners before our beach themed dinner!
Mahalo Scentsy!

When I landed, Travis and the boys picked me up and we went straight to my Grandparent's 65th Wedding Anniversary Party! My relatives (most of them) were there from Washington, which was so fun! Times are far and few between when we get to spend time with those cousins. It was fun to have all the 2nd cousins running around, playing together as well! I know my boys LOVED it! Besides seeing relatives, it was such fun to be able to celebrate the most special couple in my life. I love my Grandparents dearly, and feel blessed that they are still here with us.

              

               

All the grandchildren minus 2 were able to make it!

And on to this Monday. Monday was the dreaded ultrasound. Most people can't wait for the ultrasound and being able to see their baby. Even though both the boys we have are perfect in every way (in our eyes:)), their ultrasounds were a different story. With Talan and Grayson, they BOTH had a white spot on their heart, which is one of a million "markers" for possible down syndrome. By the time we had Grayson's ultrasound, we weren't worried at all. We had Talan's level 2 ultrasound and everything was fine, except still seeing the "white spot", therefor the news with Grayson wasn't as big of a deal. They still wanted to have us do a level 2 ultrasound to make sure everything was OK. So back we went. Yep, the "white spot" was still there and there were no other signs for downs. However, they couldn't tell if it was the shadowing of the ultrasound or if he had a cleft lip. They brought in different ultrasound techs to get opinions, along with different Dr's. As I would be laying there with tears welling in my eyes, trying to hold back from completely melting down, they couldn't give us a for sure answer. They couldn't tell us if it was a shadow, if it was a cleft, if his pallet was going to be affected, nothing. Regardless if anything was wrong with either of our babies, we knew we would love them just the same. It's just hard not hearing that everything is "perfect". For those of you that do know us, Grayson was born with the most minor incomplete cleft lip and had a repair surgery when he was 10 weeks old. He now sports a cute little scar, but honestly, if you don't know him, you would never be able to tell he had a cleft lip. His pallet wasn't involved at all either. We are truly blessed. And everything about him goes with his personality. I wouldn't trade him for anything.

Morning of Surgery

After Surgery. Poor Buba's had to wear "no-no's" so he wouldn't bump his lip

                                    

6 months and a HAM!

My handsome healed up little guy at 1year!

So back to our appointment. We waited for quite some time. We spoke with a genetic specialist, and waited some more. Travis whispers to me, "it's like they already know somethings wrong, and they're waiting to give us the news." The genetic specialist calls us back into her office before the ultrasound. She looked up Cyclic Vomiting Syndrom, which I told her I had when asked about our health history. (I had told the genetic specialist we had with Grayson as well, but they left it at that.) When she told me she found some information on genetics with CVS, I had to tell myself to keep listening. Don't cry. It's fine. (And why do they always have to give you news when your hormones are already going crazy!? I mean seriously!) As she was talking all I heard was "it can be passed down maternally". I stopped listening and broke down. No, it's not the end of the world. They can't die from it, but it is definitely life changing in many ways. The research is too new to even tell us the probability or the statistics of it being passed down. All I can do is pray. I NEVER want to watch my children go through what I went through as a child. I'm still dealing with it as an adult, but on a much different scale. And...I've learned to just "deal". I'm surrounded by a supportive family who has helped whenever they can with the boys. It has been tricky here and there to have it as a mom, since I now not only have to care for myself when episodes happen, but also care for 2 little boys. 

The ultrasound, however, came out perfect! Hooray! When the Dr. came in to give us the results and said everything is completely normal, I belted out, "there's not even a white spot on his heart!?!" I was shocked! We are having another BOY! For someone who always thought I would have all girls, this is quite hilarious. Obviously God has other plans and knows what He's doing :) I couldn't be happier!

Team BLUE

Team PINK (everyone who could be there)

Team "ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT IT'S A HEALTHY BABY!"

*It's not uploading our balloon reveal, but it's posted on my facebook page :)
                                                                   

4 Years Ago Today...

4 years ago today I was blessed with a beautiful 5lb 5oz little "nugget" as we called him. This was truly the happiest (and ended up being the scariest) day of my life. I tend to be somewhat of an emotional person, so I doubt I will ever get through one of my kids' birthdays without shedding a few tears. Is this normal? I mean seriously. Every year I watch the short video that was posted on FB the day he was born, along with listening to a song that was written about him the day he was born (about 20 times), and I can literally remember what that day smelled like! Weird, I know. But it is seriously a day I don't think I will ever forget.

Little do you know, when your child is born, what type of personality he will have. But watching that video the day he was born already shows you a little glimpse of what Talan would one day become. What he has already become. I know this may come as a shock when reading my posts about the things my boys do, but he's quiet and can be quite shy. He observes what's going on before he just dives right in and does what everyone else is doing. And quite frankly, if he's not all that interested, he will stick to himself. This little boy has opened my eyes to many things as an adult. He has taught me patience. He has taught me how to enjoy the little things in life and not be in such a rush. For instance, we've been talking to him about getting him a big boy bike. Whenever we mentioned it, he would say he's too little and he'll get one when he's bigger; when he turns 4. So this weekend he was at his buddy's birthday party and tried out his bike. Daddy told me that he didn't quite get the pedaling downward motion as his big wheel pedals outward. So the next day I asked him about it, and he has now informed me he doesn't think he's ready and he'll be ready when he's 18! (I'm all for him not wanting to grow up, but 18!?!? Lol) The world now days is so fast paced. I think kids remind you (in their own way) to slow down and enjoy the moment. He has taught me that no matter how much you parent, he will be his own person with his own personality. And I have learned to "just let it be". Enjoy who he is. He's my unique little superhero.

Happy Birthday Talan David! Mommy loves you!

Mom, How Did the Baby Get in Your Belly?

Hmmmmmmm...if ANYONE has a good answer to give my almost 4 year old little boy, by all means, let me know! This was just a random question Talan came up with as he got into the car after school one day last week. I just said, 'ummmmm lets ask Daddy!'...and then changed the subject quickly! (he hasn't brought it up since) He has asked me how we will get the baby out, and luckily Daddy was there to save the day because I had no idea what to say! He told him "the Dr will help Mommy get it out." He was happy with that answer. I guess I need to start digging deep for some creativity, because all I can ever think of is the real, detailed answer. Ha!

If you don't like potty talk, you may not want to read this, fyi...

Last Friday we were able to go to my mother-in-laws which was a very spur of the moment decision. She was home watching Talan and Grayson's cousin, it was a beautiful day, and I NEEDED to get out of the house and be in the sunshine, so off we went after I picked Talan up from his Trike-A-Thon fundraiser at school. (which now that I think of it, that's when he asked me the above question :)) The boys had a great time at the park! We went back to Grandma's house so that Grayson could go down for a nap. There wasn't much time before the boys started disappearing every few minutes and we would have to walk around the whole house searching for where they went off too. Well, in a brief moment, I thought, 'where are the boys now?!?' I was up on the deck and I happened to glance over, and this is what I saw...

Oh. My. Gosh. Seriously? It was only last summer that Talan had just gotten to the park with Grandma Nell and he had to go potty. She tried to get him to go by a tree quick, he looked up at her and said, "Grandma, this isn't going to work." Now going outside is all he wants to do! I also know this was his idea because all of a sudden I hear Colby yell, "I can't do it!" Talan responds, "I'll help you!" Well, it was just that Colby didn't NEED to go at that time, he just wanted to copy what Talan was doing :)

Later on we couldn't find them AGAIN; they weren't outside. As I came inside I heard little voices. Upstairs. In the bathroom. I go in and Talan is doing his business and Colby was "helping" by holding the toilet seat up. They both come out and Talan says he went poop. I said, "ummmm do you need me to wipe you?" (remember, I warned you about potty talk :)) He replies, "No! Colby wiped me!" LOL! WHAT!?!? Now I'm not going to hold his 3 year old cousin accountable for this one, but man was he itching that tush the rest of the day. He wouldn't let me check. He insisted it was fine. Oh boy...it was NOT fine. So between 'the question' and listening to the conversations of these 2 BOYS, it was quite the eventful day!

I am happy to report we have our Grayson back! I will give the credit to Daddy when it comes to getting him to sleep through the night again. The crying it out thing did not work because he would NOT give up. I seriously think if we let him, he would have carried on all night. So the first night, we took turns going in there, picking him up and firmly telling him it was night night time. The problem was when I went in for my turn. He would scream even louder, yell "Ba ba! Ba ba!" Try to get me to bring him out of the room. He would not calm down! When Daddy would go in, it was instant silence. I asked him what he did!?! He said he picked him up (like I did.), and tell him firmly it was night night time. (like I did.) Something about the Father's tone and look in their eyes can get a child to behave instantly. Anyway, the 2nd night, it was ALL on Daddy :) By the 3rd night, and the 3rd time he woke up screaming bloody murder, he gave him a little swat on the butt and he hasn't woken up in the middle of the night since! Call it what you will, but I call it success. 

Yes, he's still my busy little boy, but he's back to his happy, enthusiastic self! No more major crying fits. Nothing. Of course he's still 18 months old, and he can be, well...an 18 month old. But it's been much more manageable!

Oh Grayson, Sweet Grayson!

Wow. It has been a long time since my last post. However, I am happy to say that we FINALLY made the purchase and got a new computer! This is my #1 reason for no blog posts. When you have a computer that pops up with 20-30 spam windows that you have to constantly click out of, some of which that won't let you click out of and some that like to talk to you, it gets a little frustrating. Plus the fact that the longer the computer is on, the louder it gets and the hotter it gets, makes you think it may blow up in your face. So...you get my point. There was limited use of the computer.

I am not going to backtrack on all the goings on of our family and the many stories of my boys, but I thought today was a perfect day to start. I need a huge outlet at the moment. Have you ever been so overly tired you could cry about anything? Yep. That's me at the moment. I can honestly say I don't think I even felt this sleep deprived when the boys were newborns, waking up every 1.5 to 2 hours! (Yes, throw the whole eating every 3 hours out the window. My boys ate every 1.5 hours. I'm not exaggerating.)

I was always told I would never get a baby as easy as Talan again. I knew this. But holy smokes, Mr. Grayson is making me want to run for the hills right about now. Grayson is my crazy one to say the least. He has always kept us on our toes (even while pregnant), so I shouldn't be surprised. But this fun little ride he has taken us on all started a week ago. He had a cold and was crying so hard and being completely inconsolable that I brought him into the Dr. to have his ears checked. We got there, had him looked at, and his ears and throat looked "beautiful". Seriously!?! He was just being his dramatic self?? So, home we went, praying that this wasn't a new"phase" he was starting. I mean, he's always been dramatic, but this was beyond that.

The next day, I was cutting his God Daddy's hair, and he just randomly had a meltdown. He was playing with dinosaur magnets one minute, and the next minute he started another inconsolable crying fit. So...did I dare go on a 4.5 hour road trip the next day to see my cousin get married? Yep. I went for it. The road trip was nothing but eventful. From having to stop twice because the little stinker was either chewing on the DVD cords or pulling the cord out of his brothers screen, to turning on the CD player and having 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' belt out of the speakers...this was just the beginning. We got to the hotel 45 minutes before Auntie C got there. So what else was there to do besides get myself and the boys ready for the wedding?...Oh I know! Have yet ANOTHER, 45 minute meltdown. There's two sides to Grayson. LOUD, busy, and every one's entertainment (he has quite the personality!) OR he's just plain MAD and he's not afraid to let everyone know. Anyway, Auntie C got there just in time to distract the boys with french fries, milk, and what better than RED twizzlers for Grayson to drool all over his khakis! :)  We finally got ready enough to look at how long it will take us to get to the wedding location. WHAT!?!? 21 MINUTES?? And it's now 15 minutes before the wedding STARTS! We wanted to GET THERE 15 minutes before the wedding starts! Oy...off we go only to walk in during the ceremony and have to sit in the last row right by the videographer. Shoot me. Now that we were in a different atmosphere with a lot of people, I wasn't concerned about Grayson having one of his crying fits, but the fact that he's LOUD was going to be ummmm...interesting. There were goldfish thrown on the floor. Lots of "oh wows!" looking at the ceiling or over the banister, and of course some excited screaming noises where I had to take a fast exit. So sorry to the beautiful couple, I hope our late entrance, my loud child, along with my exit and re entrance, didn't ruin your video :(

Then the reception. All I can say is thank God Auntie C was there! From running away from me while he could so easily weave in and out of people (the looks on people's faces were priceless as this little boy would completely cut them off, they would laugh and slowly look up to see if this child even had a mother concerned her little boy was on the loose. And thanks to one of my aunts, she was able to intercept him one time so I could finally catch him) to him throwing food and screaming, he was quite the handful.

It was about the time when he tossed and flipped over a plate of fruit and his pretzels that my sister gave me one look and she just KNEW she better take him away from me. Far, far away. They came back a bit later and it was our turn to get in line for dinner. The plan was originally that Auntie C would go with Talan and get food for all of us. Ha! Right. I look over and Talan is having a complete meltdown because he wanted Mommy to get him his food. (By this time I am quite certain my relatives and all the guests think I have NO control over my children.) We did end up having a few bites before we had to make the exit. Completely. I. WAS. EXHAUSTED. Oh, so what better timing to leave than right when the speeches started?? Seriously. How are we supposed to exit discreetly when everyone in now in their seats, nice and quiet, listening to what I'm sure were wonderful speeches!? Yet another awesome moment.

We made the road trip back the next morning. It's all a bit foggy. All I remember is feeling like I had been hit by a very large truck from chasing my awesome #2 around the night before. We did get to talk to most of the relatives before leaving, which was nice. Wish we could have visited longer. Not sure we'll be invited to anything ever again, however.

Someone once told me that every 1/2 year is a horrible stage. Well guess what? Grayson started this new "phase" one day before he turned 18 months old. He has now completely turned into a Mama's boy and wants very little to do with Daddy. Sorry if this is too much information, but the kid has to even sit on my lap WHILE going to the bathroom or he has a complete meltdown. He has also started this AWESOME new trend of waking up during the night every couple hours! My hubby looked stuff up online, and apparently it's "normal" at 1-3 years old (which again, we would never know because Talan is what people consider "not normal" and has NEVER had sleeping problems :)) for them to regress with their sleeping habits, especially during clingy times. 1 year old. Check. Clingy. Check check. Now it's back to the whole sleep training, crying it out thing that we haven't done since he was 3 months old. From lack of sleep, to the BUSY boy he is, to the not even getting 30 seconds to go to the bathroom by myself, I am tired.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm 13 weeks pregnant with our 3rd!? Yep. You read it right. We're crazy...