A pretty good day

We had a pretty good day. For one, it is almost the end of June, which means we are [  ] this much closer to the end of this deployment!!!!!
Also the kids went to preschool today, it was nice to have some time to myself, even if I spent most of that time running errands. I swear, when the kids are at preschool, I am not just sitting on my behind, I am generally running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything done. Little L sure does love preschool and so does Baby E. They are so good with them!!! Little L went potty at preschool again! He is getting sooo good at telling everyone when he needs to go pee pee. We just have to work on him pooping on the potty. He also stayed dry when we ran a few errands tonight. I was very proud of him!
I was also able to go to lunch with my mom today. It was so nice going just the two of us. We don't get to do it very often, so it was really nice and relaxing.
On another note I got a call from preschool saying Baby E had a low grade fever, which is par for the course with having shots yesterday. Tonight I found another reason for her fever, her first tooth poked through!!!! I can't believe our little girl has her first tooth! I can't believe she is old enough to have teeth yet.
What a great way to end the week.
TGIF

Little L wanted to hold his sister

This is how I found them this morning, giggling together

Our beautiful baby before her tooth poked through

Thursday 5

Exciting

Outstanding

Fabulous

Peaceful

Upbeat

I decided to link up with Flip Flops and Combat Boots for Thursday 5. Head on over and link up!

It is exciting that Baby E is doing so much better. She is hardly wheezing anymore! It is so great!

It is outstanding that we are almost done with this deployment!!!! I am getting so very excited to finally see my husband I can hardly stand it.

It is Fabulous having Little L use the potty at home and at Grandma's house. He even used it at Preschool the other day!

The house is very peaceful when the kids decide to finally sleep at the same time. It is amazing!

I am upbeat that Little L loves his new preschool!

All Children's Hospital and a Tropical Storm

This past weekend was quite the weekend. I am so glad it is over. From checking into the hospital on Friday to the Tropical Storm Debby, it has been eventful.....and not necessarily in a good way.
We checked into All Children's Friday at 1030. We hit the ground running once we got to our room. They:
* Took down all of our information
* Gave Baby E a breathing treatment, took blood for an allergy test, swabed her nose for virsus and got us all settled in.
Thank goodness for good nurses.

Happy baby....before anything was done to her

View from the couch/my bed

Baby E's bed

The couch/Bed

Baby E's Bed from the doorway

View from our room

I was pretty impressed by our room. We had a 46" TV that showed movies as well as normal TV. You were also able to see the room service menu as well as request housekeeping items or to have your room temperature changed. There was a mini fridge, and a couch that pulled out for me to sleep on. It was not the most comfortable thing in the world.  They offered room service for patients as well as for their guests. Dinner was $6 and you got an entree, two sides, a bread, dessert and a drink. I was pretty impressed with their food. Although I was not impressed with the dirt cake :( It didn't taste like what I remembered. I know it wasn't the most healthy thing I could have picked, but I felt I needed some comfort food at this point.

My dinner, you got quite a bit for $6

My comfort food

The dirt cake that I was NOT impressed with

After all of the blood work and such we went down to radiology and did a swallow study, they wanted to see if she was aspirating when she was drinking her bottle. The conculsion they came to was that we need to thicken her formula to prevent her from aspirating when drinking. The doctor calls it dysphagia. At this point we didn't have an answer to our puzzle.
We continued with the breathing treatments, every three hours throughout the night. 
Saturday morning the doctor was impressed at how good she sounded. The wheezing was pretty much gone. They spaced the breathing treatments to every 4 hours. Baby E did not like them, she screamed through every.single.one.of.them. You would think we were seriously hurting her with the way she was screaming. It brought me nearly to tears every time.

Our little girl, sleeping

Also that morning I woke up to pink eye again! Ugh!!!!! Can I not catch a break? Thankfully my mom brought my medicine from the last time I had it. Thank goodness!!! That afternoon my mom brought Little L to visit. It was nice having someone else hold Baby E. She can get quite heavy after awhile. It was also nice to have someone else to talk to other than the nurses. They stayed for a couple hours, then it was time to get Little L down for a nap. A little after they left my biffle came to visit. We hung out and ordered dinner. It was nice having so many visitors. It gets lonely hanging out with just your baby.
I have to say, our night nurse Kelsey was the best! She stopped and chatted with me for awhile. She also was really quiet every time she came in the room.
Saturday night is also when they named the lovely tropical storm that is reeking havoc on our state....Debby. I wasn't too worried about this tropical storm. One because I was in a huge hospital and two it was just a tropical storm and the worst of it looked to be going north of us.
Sunday morning they put the pH probe in. Oh my goodness! I felt so horrible for her. She screamed like I have never heard her scream before. It was horrible listening to her.  She had to keep this thing in for at least 18 hours. I had to make sure I didn't pull on it while holding her and I had to carry around the monitor everywhere. It was a pain. This also marked the second day that she would not take a nap in the crib. It made for a VERY.LONG.DAY. I was able to watch some Army Wives (earlier seasons) on Netflix. I've been wanting to re-watch the episodes from the beginning.
Sunday night after I finally got Baby E to bed I ran downstairs to get some dinner. I was able to talk to M for a little bit that night which was something I desperately needed. I still think it's amazing how he can make me feel better, even being so far away. I am one lucky girl.
Finally Monday morning she got the pH probe out. We also had to do a sweat test to check for cystic fibrosis. At 2pm, they finally released us.
The allergy test came back negative, the sweat test came back negative and the pH probe showed a little acid reflux. The diagnosis is: she has a little acid reflux, a little dysphagia and a little asthma.
The drive home on Monday sucked today. The wind kept blowing my car all over the place, plus the bridge home was close so we had to go around, which added at least 30 minutes to our drive. It was great finally getting home.
Well, that was my weekend. I am soooo glad to be out of the hospital. Baby E is still wheezing on and off, but she is doing much better. Little L is happy to have us home. I am so thankful to my mom and to M. My mom helped out with watching Little L and M was there for me with his support when I needed it most.

Updates

Here are a few updates:
1. Little L LOVES his new preschool!!!!! I am sooo happy! The very first day the director introduced him to the other kids, he went over to them said hi, gave me a kiss, said "bye mama" and was off and running. He didn't care I was leaving. It kind of breaks my heart, but I know it's better that he isn't screaming when I leave him. He really loves playing with other kids and is so outgoing. I think he gets that from his daddy. He certainly didn't get it from me.
2. On the potty training front we are doing pretty good. He can wear his cars underpants around the house and more often than not he makes it to the potty in time. Of course sometimes he makes himself go so he can have an M&M :) He has even been able to go at my mom's house which is awesome. Now we need to work on him going at Preschool (which I know they will work with him on) and get him to go in public. But I am pretty proud of him so far. Every time he goes potty he says "me make mama happy" it's too cute! He also got to call daddy the other day and tell him he went potty. He was so very excited. He took the phone from me and started walking around the living room talking to daddy. It was too cute.
3. Speaking of my amazing husband. I swear it just amazes me that an email, a skype conversation, a facebook post or a phone call can make any day that much better. We are finally winding down this dang deployment and kicking its butt! He truly is an amazing guy and he is my rock. His strength and his love is what keeps me going even through the tough days, and helps me find the strength within my self to get done what needs to be done. I cannot wait for the day when I can be in his arms again.
4. Our sweet baby E......oh geeze. Well I have to say she is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. We are still dealing with her wheezing. Now she has another ear infection. :( It seems any time Little L gets a cold, she gets an ear infection. We went and saw the pulmonologist today. What they want to do, because no one has any idea what is going on, is to admit her to All Children's Hospital tomorrow. They will then do a swallow test to make sure she isn't getting formula into her lungs, then we will start ruling out other causes and see if we can find the reason for her wheezing. Thankfully my mother will be watching Little L for us and I will be able to stay at the hospital with Baby E. I am just hoping that they can figure this out quickly. I would rather not stay in the hospital very long, but I will do what needs to be done for our little girl to be better. We are just soooo ready for her to be healthy again. I think she has been to more doctors in her 6 months of life than my husband and I have been combined. It just makes me so sad to think of what she must be going through. I just wish I could take whatever it is away and make her better without having to go to the hospital, but I just can't. We've tried everything else. I get stressed out and I need to remember to be calm so that I don't stress the kids out. I have reminded Little L that Grandma will pick him up tomorrow, but that as soon as we are done with Baby E's doctors I will be back to get him. I hope he understand, I think he does. He is getting a lot better at vocalizing his feelings lately. His speech is improving every day and he talks non stop.
So, that is what is going on in our lives lately. I will be happy once Baby E's wheezing is figured out and we can come home. I will be happy once our lives are back to normal and we can focus on homecoming. I have a lot to get done before that amazing day comes.

6 months (a few days late)

So our little girl is now 6 months old. (She actually became 6 months on the 15th, but who's counting?) I sure cannot believe she is already 6 months old!!!! Time sure is flying by, thank goodness.

We haven't had her 6 month check up but I know that she is 20lbs. We have had a lot of doctor appointments for her due to her wheezing. She hasn't stopped wheezing yet and they still are unsure of what it is. However, we are leaning a little more towards asthma. We had to run to the doctors yesterday because she had what I thought was a rash, but the pediatrician says it's eczema. I guess eczema and asthma go hand in hand. I also wonder if she has allergies. So we will explore those options. We have a check up with a pulmonologist on Thursday. I just want to figure out what is wrong with her. I just want her to be healthy. Also during our doctor visit yesterday we found out Baby E has a double ear infection and cannot wear pampers diapers anymore. :( Poor thing. But even through all of this and all of the doctors appointments, our little girl is generally always happy. She loves to smile and laugh and she loves to watch her big brother play. If her big brother gives her attention, no one else matters. Her attention is all on him. It's too cute!
She is rolling around everywhere. If she wants to get somewhere she will roll or kick her feet to get there. She is working on sitting up on her own. I know if she could crawl she would be gone. She wants to move so bad. She loves spending time on the floor or in her jumper. She is just a very happy baby and we couldn't be luckier.

Happy Father's Day!



My dad and I at our wedding

First off let me say Happy Father's Day to all of the dads and soon to be dads out there. I have a pretty great dad, if I do say so myself. We haven't always been close. Growing up I don't remember him doing much with me. I was a girly girl and I don't think he quite knew what to do with me. He went to I think one rollerskating competition with me (and I competed for about 6 years) and generally I just remember him being around when I was a kid. He only did stuff with me when my mom wasn't able to. My parents separated when I was 14, I started spending every Saturday with my dad. It was hard at the beginning, I blamed him for the destruction of our family. Over the years, and mainly thanks to my husband, I have been able to forgive my dad for what I believed was to be his fault (even though I don't know for sure). I think since I went off to college our relationship has grown. I spent more time with him, especially once my mom moved to Florida. My dad became my rock and my safe place in Michigan. I think our relationship has grown even more since I've moved. I think we butted heads when I was in high school, one because I blamed him and two because we are quite a bit alike. But he is and will always be my daddy. I love him with all of my heart and cannot imagine my life without him. He has been soooo supportive since M left for the sandbox. He has come to visit me on almost every break I had from school to help out with the kids and to visit. It has been great. He is great with the kids and I enjoy spending time with him. The other great thing about him is he gets along GREAT with M!

M and the kids during R&R

That brings me to the other great dad in my life. My husband. He truly is an amazing father. I might be biased but I don't think I could have asked for a better father for my children. He loves our kids like every father should. He just is an amazing father and our kids love him so much. I know they cannot wait to be reunited with M again and have their daddy home.





Puzzles, Trains and Potties

Today was a good day....thank goodness. First my mom left today for her trip, so we went and had breakfast with her. The kids were really well behaved. Little L ate ALL of his food. I also got a call from M, it always makes my day to hear his voice. My pink eye is getting better, thank goodness and hopefully I will be all cleared up by Friday. Also, my aunt and uncle sent Little L gift cards for his birthday, so I decided to buy Little L a puzzle. He is obsessed with puzzles lately. He will sit for a long time on the floor and put them together. He has gotten very good at these and can pretty much put his puzzles together on his own. He of course wants you to do them with him, so he will ask for help every time. Today his puzzle came in the mail! He and I were super excited. It's a box that holds 4 different puzzles, plus the top you can use to put the puzzle together on. How cool is that?!?!?

The inside, there is a place for each puzzle

completed puzzle by Little L

I love my Thomas puzzles

It's really fun to watch him put these together. I've taught him to match the colors up and he does a really good job. I'm proud of him.
On another note, we've started potty training. I know some of you are thinking we are doing this a little late, but generally most boys don't start potty training until they are 3. I also needed to wait until summer started because I just couldn't do it on my own with work and everything else. We started on Monday morning. Let's just say he was not a happy camper when I told him we were going to start going potty on the big boy potty. He hasn't shown very much interest in this yet, but I figured it's now or never. Monday after breakfast we started, I put him in his Cars underwear and told him he needed to keep McQueen dry. We did the every 10 minutes go sit on the potty for 5 minutes and repeat. I would reward him with M&Ms when he was still dry. That got old quick, but we kept doing it. He didn't like sitting on the normal potty so I brought out the training potty that is shaped like a truck and when you pee in it, it sounds like a truck is starting up then backing up. I thought it was pretty cool, especially for a boy who loves trucks. We put the potty right in the living room. We ended up having two accidents. I was getting frustrated and was starting to think he would never get potty trained. I decided then to go get a cupcake and eat it (I needed a little pick me up), well Little L saw me and asked for one of his own. I told him, nope not until you pee in the potty. Guess what the little bugger did??? Yup he went right over to the potty, pulled his undies down and peed in the potty!!!!! Holy cow!!!! I couldn't believe it. He got his cupcake and of course ate it. He then decided he needed to go potty again so he went right over and did it again. He then asked to call daddy, so we called him and Little L told him he went pee pee in the potty. It was soooo cute! Watching him walk around the living room with my phone telling daddy his big news with a huge grin on his face, it just melted my heart. He ended up going about 4 different times that day. Then it was nap time and I put a pull up on him. After nap we had places to go so we weren't able to try again that day, but I thought it was a very successful first day.
Then yesterday we tried it again after breakfast. He of course didn't want to do it again. We had two accidents and then success! He kept dry until it was nap time again. I am pretty proud of our little guy.
This morning after our breakfast out I was met with resistance when I told him we were using big boy undies again. I reminded him we needed to keep McQueen dry and that if he needed to go pee pee that he needed to do it in the potty not on the floor. He played for a little bit then decided to go sit on the potty.....success!!! He asked to call dada again, so we did and he told him again how he went pee pee in the potty. I'm sure M loves being interrupted at work to hear all of this, but it sure does make Little L's day to tell daddy his big news. I am happy to say we had no accidents today. We also went back to big boy undies after nap and continued to stay dry. After the call to daddy he wanted M&Ms as his reward......this reward almost backfired on me. I was doing dishes and Little L literally came into the kitchen about every two minutes to tell me he had to pee, he would drag me out to the living room and he would push whatever pee he could out. I guess he wanted those M&Ms pretty bad. I finally had to tell him he needed to wait until he really had to pee to use the potty. Thankfully he listened.
I am hoping that tomorrow will bring us more successes. I am a little worried about how this will work once we leave the house, but we'll jump that hurdle once we get there. I'm just pretty darn proud of the both of us for getting where we are so quickly. He's pretty smart, once he puts his mind to doing something.
Oh! I almost forgot.....I have been working hard on some things for our homecoming. I am really excited for them. I wish I could share some of them, but they need to remain a surprise and my amazing hunny reads this blog (hi hunny!) But I am really excited. I have the kids outfits picked out, and I just need to find something for me to wear. I also created a little something for M for father's day which I will share once he receives it. I am pretty proud of how it turned out. I have been feeling pretty creative these last couple of weeks and it's been fun to see some projects turn out good. I take after my mother and am generally lacking the creative/decorating gene. So, I am pretty proud of my self and how far I have come. Give me a computer and a project and I'm all set. Now if you want me to draw something, not gonna happen. But if it can be created on the computer, I'm all set. I think that is why I am thinking of doing my masters in instructional technology. I really love using technology in the classroom, and I would love to get my masters in something that I am interested in. I am also taking two professional development classes on a program our county uses that integrates technology in the classroom. It allows students to take quizzes and tests on the computer (which also grades them....score!) it also gives them access to the textbook online and I can post assignments on there which they can do at home and turn in to me through this website. It's pretty cool. I also want to take a photoshop class to learn the basics of how to use that program. I just have to find one around here.
Ok enough of the random thoughts. I'm off to bed. Here's to hoping tomorrow is successful and that my eyes are better than they were today. :) Good night!

Murphy and I are NOT friends

I actually don't know anyone who is friends with good ole Murphy, but I did not hate him until this deployment and I didn't despise him until today. We have been lucky so far with this deployment. My only major issues while the husband has been gone was:

1. his stupid old truck's battery kept dying, but that was fixed with him buying his new truck on R&R. 2. The stupid woodpeckers deciding to try to make a nest on the side of my garage. (I'm seriously not kidding, our house looks quite ghetto with the tin foil I have to use to keep those pesky birds away) Do you see the two lovely holes they left? Literally one on each side. Thank goodness for tin foil.

Other hole from the woodpecker

Hole from woodpecker

3. Baby E getting sick, we still aren't sure what is making her wheeze, but thankfully she is a happy baby. We've had a few other illnesses since he's been gone, Little L has had a fever for a few days, he had a hydrocele fixed, and ear infections. Now today put me over the edge.
I woke up early because I had a dentist appointment at 0800 (really let's not talk about what I was thinking when I scheduled this appointment at this time), as I was deciding I needed to get out of bed I noticed that my right eye had a lot of yucky stuff in the corner of it and it kind of hurt. I just thought I was waking up with a lovely headache or some how got something in my eye. I finally stumbled into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. What I saw staring back at my wasn't a pretty picture, but what I noticed most was that my right eye was swollen. I called my mom and talked to her, she suggested I go to the urgent care and see what was wrong. I got there shortly after they opened and was seen quite quickly. The doctor confirmed what I hoped it wasn't......it was pink eye!!!! Really!?!??! I have NEVER in my life had pink eye before. Let me tell you, it sucks! Not only that but I have the two little ones at home, and my mom is leaving for a trip tomorrow and wasn't able to help me. Great timing huh? She offered to cancel her trip, but I told her not to, we would survive. I just have to be extremely careful not to pass this on to the kids.
I was really bummed too, I had quite a bit planned for this week to keep us busy. I had at least one outing the the gym every day (Little L loves playing there) and we also had a play date scheduled. I obviously cannot go to the gym or play date :( I was really looking forward to the play date and getting some extra exercise in. I have like 10-20 lbs to go before the husband gets home. (This is one of my deployment goals, to be back at the weight I was when I met him)
Here's to hoping that this leaves quickly and we can return to our normal routines. Thank goodness it's summer and I don't have to worry about going into work tomorrow. :)

My favorite Aunt comes to visit!

This weekend my very favorite Aunt came to visit! I love when she comes to visit, I just wish she would do it more often.

I LOVE this picture of us

She has been amazing since I can remember. She never had kids, but always treated me as one of her own. I remember as a little kid when she lived in Georgia, she would fly up to Michigan to spend Christmas with the family. Every Christmas eve she would spend the night at our house and sleep in MY room. Now being an only child and having someone spend the night is HUGE! It was great waking her up extra early to see what Santa brought us.
She finally moved back to Michigan sometime when I was in middle school. She bought a cute house in downtown Howell. I would spend time with her, go to the movies or just hang out at her house. The spending time together really increased when my parents, out of the blue, separated. I was devastated and she was there. She didn't pry into what I was thinking or feeling, she just gave me a place to get away from everything. We would scrapbook together, watch movies, she would let me spend the night and she would always make hot chocolate on the stove with mini marshmallows.
Now that I have kids, she LOVES our kids like they are her own. She spoils them when she comes to visit, usually with clothes much to Little L's dismay, and will play endlessly with Little L. He absolute LOVES her. He gets so excited when I tell him she's coming to visit, and that is all he will talk about until we see her. This weekend was no exception.
This weekend was spent in the pool. He was so excited to have someone else to play with. Someone to throw him around, and pull him around and just lavish attention all on him. He was in heaven. They played cars, took a walk, ate ice cream and swam a ton this weekend. I think she loves playing with him. She asked if she could take him with her, I of course said yes :) I know eventually she would give him back, even he tires her out.
It was just great spending some time with her and watching how much Little L loves her and loves to be around her. I just wish she lived closer. Thankfully, Georgia isn't that far away.

 Did I mention that Baby E fell asleep in the pool today? How cute is she? She was happily floating and kicking then suddenly she just stopped. I looked down and she was sound asleep.

 Little L with his favorite swim buddy.

Aunt Patti with both kids. It's hard to get both kids to look at the camera at the same time and to get Little L to stop making faces. He is such a ham that it's hard to get a nice picture out of him these days.

And of course no visit is complete without a trip to the Dairy Queen for ice cream!

Sad Day

Today is the first day of summer break.....you're probably wondering why in the heck did I title this "Sad Day" then? The reason is because this morning I found out a coworker died suddenly last night. I wasn't that close with her, but I taught with her for the past four years, went on field trips with her and just saw her yesterday. She looked fine. We don't know all of the details yet but it is believed it was a heart attack. I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around this. I mean I JUST saw her yesterday.
You'll have to forgive me, I haven't had anyone close to me pass away when I've been able to fully comprehend what it means. (I'm not sure if that made any sense) My grandpa died when I was in second grade, but I don't remember much from that time. And I know at that time I didn't fully understand what was going on. My great-grandma passed away when I was in middle school, but she had lived to be 101 years old. At that point you know it is coming, while it is still sad she was ready to go. Other than hearing about people I knew of, I haven't dealt with this. I am having a hard time realizing that I saw her yesterday and she is no longer with us. I just don't think my brain is comprehending this very well.
She was a good teacher. I know some parents had some issues with the way she taught, but she cared so much for her students. She was a really sweet person. She would help you any way she could. Our school lost a good teacher, person, and friend.
This really brings into perspective how quickly life can end. I know some people see it more frequently than others, especially in the military world with the war still going on. I think it just reminds us to hold those we love that much closer and to not take any day for granted, you never know when your time is up. So, please pray for the Wesson family, they need all the prayers they can get right now while they are dealing with the sudden loss of their wife, mother, daughter and sister.
Rest in Peace Kim!

Kimberly Wesson May 30, 1957- June 5, 2012

Happy 3rd Wedding Anniversary!

Today is the husband and I's 3rd Wedding Anniversary. I cannot believe we have been married for three years. It sure doesn't feel like it, granted we haven't spent the last three years physically together. We haven't actually spent an entire year together since we first started dating. It's crazy! I cannot wait until we are actually able to celebrate our anniversary on its actual day. It sure would be nice. The husband is of course amazing and sent me a gift already. He got me a Vera Bradley skin for my laptop and a Vera Bradley lunch box for school. I hadn't even asked for anything and he came up with this all on his own! He really is a great guy.
I honestly never thought I would find a guy like him....I didn't think they existed and I also thought I was independent enough to not need a man. I had my share of relationships growing up and I was getting discouraged, especially after I graduated college. I was afraid I was going to have to settle just so I could get married. I actually thought about adopting another cat (I had two at the time), but I really didn't want to be the cat lady. I had done some eharmony dating when I lived up in Michigan and after another relationship failed, I decided to give it another shot. I am so glad that I did.....because that is how I met my amazing husband. You can read about it here. He truly is my best friend. I love talking to him, spending time with him, doing things with him. I feel like he completes me in some way. I never knew I could love someone the way I love him. It's hard for me to put into words just how much I love him and how much he means to me. I feel that I'm not very good at showing him how much I love him and wish I knew a better way to show him, but I just don't. I just hope he truly knows how much I do love him. I am so proud to be his wife and stand by his side. He is an amazing father, friend, soldier, leader, husband and man. I love him with my whole heart. If you want you can read about our first and second weddings. :) Yes we had two and once you read them you will understand why.
M,
These past three years have been amazing. I love you more today then I did on this day three years ago. I never thought I would find such an amazing man to love me, to be the amazing father to our children, to be my best friend. I just hope the next three years are better than the previous and maybe the Army will let me have you at home a little more :) just maybe. You are the love of my life and I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to you. I love you!

At our second wedding

Anniversary Care Package

The husband and I are going to be spending yet another wedding anniversary apart. :( I wanted to send him a special care package. Something that was different from the normal package. I found the idea for cake in a jar on pinterest. I thought..."what a great idea!" So I set out and made it. I should have put it in more than three jars because there was too much cake batter in each and it overflowed. I added a container of frosting for him to add on top once he got the cake.

I then made little tops for each jar. I was pretty proud of them. I hot glued them to the lid.

Then I made banana nut bread. He really likes it and I am fairly good at making it. Although I thought it would be a good idea to vacuum pack the bread.....haha....not so much. Don't ever vacuum pack bread unless it's frozen. It totally squished the bread. I took it out as quickly as possible and it regained some of its original shape. I was just hoping that it still tasted good.

I also had to include his favorite Combos. I had quite a stash built up. He loves taking these out on missions and every time they were on sale I would buy some so any time he asked for a package I had those to add.

This is the finished box. I also created the '52 Reasons Why I Love You' book. Again I found the idea on pinterest. It took quite awhile to make it and I was really proud of how it turned out. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it. But that is what is in the box with the blue ribbon. That is left over ribbon from our wedding. :) I sure do love that color.

He got my package about a week after I sent it. I asked how everything turned out and he told me the cake had a bad taste to it. :( I couldn't believe it! He said it smelled good, but did not taste good. He thought it was the frosting that was on top. Then I told him I didn't add any frosting because there wasn't room at the top. This is when I found out that the jars were only half full when he got it. Uh oh! I think the cake melted on its way to the sand box. :( I was really disappointed because I was so excited to be able to send him cake. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't seal them good or if it was the temperatures, but the Cake in a Jar did not travel well. Thankfully the bread turned out good. :) I was really happy at least one of them turned out good. He said he liked the card book I made, although that was about all he said.
Overall I think he enjoyed the box. I know it's nothing fancy, but it took quite awhile to make the cake and the bread on top of working. I think it was well worth it. I love to bake and it was a lot of fun and relaxing for me to bake.
I'm glad it got there in plenty of time. I just wish we could spend our anniversary together. Ah well. I should get use to it I guess. :)

This weekend and Baby E's first swim (warning: Photo overload)

This weekend was pretty great. Friday night I hung out at our house with the kids. It was raining pouring outside, so it was nice to just relax at the house with nothing pressing to do. Saturday we woke up and took my car to get its oil change. I swear I have been soooo spoiled. My dad used to take care of my car when I lived in Michigan, then M took over once we became serious. It is really nice to have someone else worry about that, but alas M isn't here and it had to be done. I took it to the dealership and waiting for an hour with both kids. They behaved REALLY good. We got quite a few compliments from people about how good they were. :) Go me!!!! Afterwards we packed their stuff up and I took them to my mom's house for the night. Yup that's right.....I was getting a night to myself! Holy cow! During the afternoon I was deciding if I should call a friend to go out to dinner, but then I decided I really needed to just hang out at home by myself. After I dropped the kids off, I went for an amazing massage, compliments of my amazing husband. He knows I've been SUPER stressed lately, so he told me to go get one. It was very relaxing. Although I could do without her massaging my legs, but whatever. Then I ran to Target and got our little Baby E her first bathing suit. Oh my goodness! It is sooo cute! I really enjoyed my night to myself. I at Panera for dinner, watched two movies....uninterrupted and enjoyed a skype date with my amazing husband. It was a GREAT evening, even though I did miss my little boogers.

Her first bathing suit

Sunday when I finally got the house cleaned and grocery shopped, I went to my mom's to get the kids. She was already in the pool with Little L and waited for me to put Baby E in her suit, knowing it was important for me to put her in her first suit. I know I'm weird.....I can't help it. She loves her bath time, so I was pretty sure she would like the pool. She looked sooo cute in her suit! Of course I had to get her a hat and sunglasses. When we put her in, she just watched everything, taking everything in. Finally she started to smile. She really enjoyed herself. She was in the pool to at least a half hour. That tired her out and she went down for her nap shortly after. I'm so glad she likes the pool. Little L LOVES to swim. He is in my mom's pool every weekend. He will try and convince you to take him in almost every day. He is becoming such a great swimmer too. He reminds me of a duck, he is calm on the top, but underneath the water his long legs are kicking furiously. He is so happy to be in the water. I have a feeling once school is out, we will be spending a lot of time at my mom's pool.

Suit with sunglasses

The whole outfit...pretty cute huh?

Little L and Baby E in the pool

Little L, me and baby E

Our happy water baby

Having fun in the pool

One happy baby

I also took a few other pictures of Baby E today too. She has a really cute outfit that almost doesn't fit, so I wanted to make sure I got a few pictures of her in it before it had to be put away.