We are sitting on the couch and Jayden is "rolling," which is more like throwing, his cars off the couch. As he is doing this they hit me in the legs, which hurts. I ask him to stop once and he does it again. Here is the conversation that then ensues:

Me: Jayden, Don't touch me again with the cars.

Jayden: You mean don't touch you even like this with the cars?

(as he gently touches my arm with a car)

Me: YES! Now give me the cars!

Oh, the joy! We can all be so ornery sometimes!

10:13 or 2213

Is it bad that it's only 10:13 and I'm already bored at work? Maybe. When 11:00 comes I will be busy again, for a little bit. Work has been slow lately. We were really busy there for a bit, but now it's just hum drum. Makes for long nights. Soon this group of babies will be going home though and we'll start all over again.

Christmas was good. It actually started for us on the 23nd. We cleaned the house, dropped of bikes for some kiddos and picked up my present. I got a new comforter for our bed. It's beautiful! After 9 years ours was getting a little "clumpy" and the fabric was getting weak and tearing. Our new one has similar colors only its darker and richer. It's taken a bit to get used to it! I can't wait to buy curtains and get our room decorated. It's been blank all these years. We let the boys open their presents from us that night too. Jayden got a limited edition pirate Lego set and Kasen got a "new to him" car to push around the living room. Jayden watched him open his gift and said, "Hey! That came out of my closet!" Oh well! What's old to Jayden is new to Kasen. He got so much for his birthday that he really didn't need any more toys!

Santa came to our house the night of the 23nd since Jesse and I had to work on Christmas day. He brought Jayden a magic set and Kasen a Aquadoodle. He also brought them both a magnadoodle. They were pleased with their gifts! We hung around the house and then got ready to go to my parent's for Christmas dinner. We ate and then headed to church. It was a good service filled with - instrumental music, communion and candles - my Grandmother might have been a little shocked! She already doesn't care for Sunday morning service! I haven't heard her reaction, but it'll be interesting to see what she had to say! We then went back to my parent's for dessert and gifts. A good time was had by all. The kids didn't get too many things, and they actually left most of their gifts there to play with in the future! (Great plan mom and dad!)

Christmas day Jesse went to work, I slept, Kasen slept, Jayden played and watched TV. We ate dinner at IHOP and the kids went to Jesse's parent's house for the night. I headed to work where I overindulged in the goodies and free meal we were given! And ... I payed for it the next day! My stomach burnt! I think I had a serving of broccoli and cheese casserole and three rolls all day Saturday!

Saturday morning Jesse ran around and got Christmas stuff ready for his family while I slept. Around 2 I headed to Chris's house and joined the fun. When it came time to open presents all hell broke loose and wrapping paper was flying everywhere! I can't honestly tell you what all the kids got because of the chaos! I know it was not a lot (in a good way) and all very well suited for them! We didn't have to go home with baskets of stuff this year, which we were weirdly excited about. We headed home and popped some popcorn, watched Shriek 2 on TV and headed to bed exhausted! I did let the kids ride in the front with me on the way home from Chris's (she lives two streets over!) and we stopped at every house with lights and oohed and awed!

This year we took a totally different approach to Christmas and it was great! We gave more away than we got and it felt really good. We focused on giving to those less fortunate then what we were getting. I hope that my kids remember this year and how good it feels to give kids without toys toys.

All and all, I would say it was a great Christmas! I hope all of you had a great Christmas too!

Bored

I'm super bored tonight at work. I have to very easy babies and I'm in an area that by myself. No one to socialize with. Blah. Only 3ish more hours so that's good. I worked Fri/Sat night and then went to church on Sunday morning. After that we went to pass out food to the homeless and then to lunch. I got into bed around 4pm! I didn't get out of bed until 3pm Monday! I got up and we decorated the Christmas tree and then got ready for work and dinner.

Grandmother is coming tomorrow(really it's today now) and we have lifegroup. It's going to be a play games, eat and hang out night. Fun! Then it's Christmas Eve with my family, we both work Christmas and then it's Christmas with his family. Busy week! I guess Santa will have to come Christmas Eve day since Jesse won't be home Christmas morning. Oh well, we don't mind moving the actual day around. That's not what really matters anyway!

Another Thought!

So I was reading the news (maybe I should stop because I have found several articles that have made me suddenly turn "passionate" as I like to say) and there was this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34484153/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
It's about a Florida Mom who twittered for prayers after her son was found drowning in a pool. People are all up in arms over this one! They think she was irresponsible for tweeting within an hour of the incident and that maybe her tweeting caused her to be negligent about her son. Seriously?!?! If anything I think this article just shows the need for community. We long to not be alone. We long for support. If we find it through a simple tweet ... so. It's not like she was giving the gory details. She was reaching out - asking for ... what? ... prayers?!?! NO!!! Not those! Seriously, how long does it take to send a tweet anyway? Like seconds... So I find this article and her harassment annoying. Get over it people! Just because you can't relate doesn't mean you need to bash the poor woman! She's already lost more than most of us (thankfully) will ever understand.

And the "other" article that I won't even comment on (lest you be here all night reading my rantings and raving):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34493087/ns/us_news-faith/
S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y? Can we not call a sin and sin? What is the church coming to? The End Times are near dear friends. Better be ready! *I do warn you to actually read the entire article, the name is not exactly what it seems*

I might be crossing a line here...

So, it irritates me when I see on the news or hear people talking about some poor animals that were saved from starvation or abuse. I know at this point you are thinking, "WHAT?!?!" so let me state why. How many PEOPLE in the world are starving? How many die each day? How many are abused? How many live without the basics of life? I agree that the animals shouldn't have to suffer and that they shouldn't be abused, but let's focus on people first. Before you write that big check to the SPCA think about how many PEOPLE could be fed for that amount. When we went to Honduras for the first time I was taken aback by the look of the animals. They were skin and bones, wondering the streets. "Look there's a cow! On the highway! Wait is that a cow? I didn't know they could be that skinny!" If people can't even feed themselves how are they going to feed their animals? It was one of the many culture shocks I experienced. Anyway - next time you see that news article or see some sad commercial about starving animals take time to think about something even more tragic: innocent children dieing every moment from lack of food and clean water. Which one do you think God would want our focus (or money for that matter) going to?

Long time no ... post?

So, should I post? I'm sure the nobody - well maybe one person - who reads this sometimes would say yes. I used to post a lot! Well, on my other blog - Xanga - but honestly I haven't had the desire to post in a long time. I haven't posted anywhere. Maybe I'll get the desire back? Maybe I just had it for a brief moment right now! ; )

Anyway - My babies are growing up fast! Jayden has 9ish weeks of Kindergarten left! He's also taking piano lessons. He loves it so far! Hopefully that will remain! He is such a big kid and good helper around the house and with Kasen. There is so much I want to teach him when it comes to family and everything. We've been staying around the house more lately (not so go-go-go) so it's been nice to learn a new routine. At school, he still has a lot to learn! He gets in trouble a lot. Mostly now for talking! Who'dve guessed?

Kasen is growing like a weed for sure! He's almost 8 mths old and weighs 19+ lbs! He's in the 95% for height too! He has been crawling since January, can sit up on his own and get himself to sitting, pulling up on everything, and learning to sit on the potty. LEARNING. We are not pushing the potty thing. It's more an introduction stage at this point. He still has no teeth, but loves to eat by himself! I've been much more lenient when it comes to food with him! I just give him whatever - mostly! Second child! He's a lovey kid for sure. They both are! Talking all the time. No MaMa yet though, but he does have BuBa and DaDa. Now does he know who he's talking about? No! Anyway - I'm so glad we had another baby. It's so different this time around!

Jesse is still at TWFD & MCHD part time. Still loving it. I am at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands now. Still in the NICU. I transferred up here when I came back from maternity leave. It's so nice to leave 5 min before I need to be at work vs. and hour and a half!

So I guess that's the quick update...

He's Here and We're Home!!!

Kasen Grey Cox was born August 14th, 2008 at 10:53am. He weighed 9 lbs. 2oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Labor and delivery was awesome! We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am to be induced. I was a "generous 4cm." They broke my water at 8am and started pitocin. Shortly afterward I received my epidural. It was perfect! Enough to not feel any pain, but I could still feel pressure. I'm thinking it was between 9:45-10 am that the nurse put the foley cath in and then checked me. I was at 6cm. Pretty soon after that, I'm thinking between 10-10:15 am, I thought I was feeling pressure. We called the nurse in and I was complete! The Dr. came in and I pushed around or less than 15 min and he was here! It was really good. No tears or rips. It was such a totally different experience than with Jayden. I was so aware and part of what was going on. I could feel him coming out, but not in a painful way. I could see him come out when I leaned forward. There were quite a few people in the room, numbers one and two were Jesse and Jayden! Yes, Jayden decided to watch! He really enjoyed it and wasn't freaked out or anything. Then Jesse's Mom, My Mom, Jesse's Mee-Maw, Jesse's Cousin (Chris,) and Jesse's sister (Abbey) were in the room. It was neat to me to let them all experience watching a baby be born. It was also funny to watch some of their faces! When we first got to the hospital I was very anxious because I wasn't sure how everything was going to go. I was worried that I wouldn't get an epidural in time and that I would feel him come out. Once I got the epidural I was so relieved and could finally relax. After he was born I was so awake and alert and full of energy.

There were so many things that happened that were just God things. As we were waiting to find out who our nurse was going to be I was watching each one come in and receive their assignments. I was just praying that God would give us a good one. God picked out Cyndy for us. Little did we know how awesome this was. Once the cat was out of the bag that I am a nurse she was so relaxed. Lots of nurses kind of freak out and worry. Cyndy said she had lived through teenagers and that nothing bothered her anymore. She was a wonderful advocate for me when it came to making sure I got my epidural sooner rather than later, and that the dosing was just right and not too much. She sat with me while it took three attempts to get my epidural. The first one went in good, but flushed with difficulty. So rather than attempt to use it and have to replace it later we tried again. The second cath wouldn't thread. The third attempt was a little lower and went in wonderfully and flushed wonderfully. She listened to me and my concerns the entire time. After Kasen was born she saw Jesse's Dad and recognized him from somewhere. Turns out that she goes to our church! She has a disabled daughter and so she arrives last and leaves early so we had never met her. It was great to be able to be a support for her and encourage her as far as church goes. Now, she knows someone else (a lot more someone else's) and she can feel more connected. It was just amazing to see God working through all that.

All of our nurses were great. They were very calm even though they knew I was a nurse and did a great job with the teaching. When Jayden was born the teaching we received was horrible! I went home feeling like I hadn't learned much at all. I really had a wonderful experience and can't complain.

The recovery this time around has been amazing too! I had some swelling the first 24 hours, but otherwise nothing major. I was up and walking around within a few hours. I even walked to the nourishment room that night! Pain meds wise, I've been taking Motrin only for the most part. I've only taken Vicodin twice. Both times were at night more to help me sleep than anything. The pain has really been minimal. It's just amazing. The recovery was horrible with Jayden.

Nursing is going ok. It's always hard at the beginning. It's the only thing I've really hated so far. He does ok with his latching on. Sometimes it takes forever though and is really frustrating. My milk came in Sat morning so that's helped too. Friday night he ate at 8:30pm and 3:30am and again at 9:30. (8ish seems to be the time EVERYONE in the hospital comes in to assess and check on you) So, he's pretty content with that. Peeing and pooping well. The only time he really cries is while we are trying to latch on. Otherwise it's just baby noises. The first day he was really squeaky, but that has decreased a lot! His billi this morning was 10.3 so we are keeping an eye on that. Otherwise he's chill.

Jayden of course is LOVING be a big brother! He spent a few hours with us each day at the hospital during the day, but the nights and mornings he spent at Grandparents. Last night was our first night all together. We are doing really good!

JAYDEN'S STORY (since I refered to it in Kasen's)

Jayden's story is really not as bad as I make it out to be. For a first time Mom it was really good actually. It's the recovery that was so hard last time. That and just learning everything as a first time Mom. The unit where the boys were born had just opened so things weren't as smooth. The nurses really slacked off on patient teaching and I went home feeling very unprepared. I wasn't even comfortable bathing him the first time at home. I felt lost when it came to breastfeeding. I kept asking for the lactation consultant, but no one called at first. (With Kasen they kept asking if I wanted one to come in!) Those were just some of the things that made it hard. This time not only am I a second time Mom, but I'm a NICU nurse so I take care of babies for a living! I am more confident for sure. The hardest thing for me now is breastfeeding (which is still SO much better than with Jayden) because I don't deal with it that much at work. So, on to his story:

I was induced with Jayden also at 39 and 4 days. When I went in that morning I was 3 cm dilated and was having contractions 4 min apart already. They broke my water and started pitocin. That was probably around 8am. Around 10ish I was really starting to hurt so I asked for my epidural. They checked me and I was at 7 cm! They went ahead with the epidural anyway though. Once they finished I felt tingly in my chest and arms. I felt like I couldn't swallow and my legs were dead to me. I couldn't move them at all. (I think I was either really sensitive or they laid me back too fast and too flat or they gave me too much - probably a combination of all three.) So, before we knew it, I was complete and it was time to push. My family had gone to the cafeteria for lunch so Jesse had to go get them! When I tried to push I could feel nothing and couldn't tell if I was pushing effectively. I pushed for what seemed like forever. Finally, I could feel one spot on my lower left abdomen to tell when I was having a contraction and push against it. He was finally born at 3:31pm after almost two hours of pushing! The Dr was in the room for at least an hour of the pushing and his head was right there. I just couldn't push hard enough.

I tore and was really swollen after all that pushing. It was really hard for me to walk afterwards because my legs still felt like weights and when Jesse and the nurse walked me into the bathroom they let go of me so I could sit on the toilet and I fell. My legs gave out and I ended up with a huge scratch and bruise down my back. I was in so much pain. The recovery took a long time. I was still sitting on pillows a couple of weeks after! Thankfully, we lived with my parents (my Mom is a NICU nurse too!) so they were such a support for us (along with all the other family too of course!)

We have a Date!

So, at my 39 wk appt last Friday we set up an induction date. If the little man doesn't make an appearance by Thursday (Aug. 14 - the 15th is my due date) we will induce. He is a very stubborn little child. I am now (as of Friday at least) 4cm dilated and 90% effaced. His head is really low in the pelvis. So, once my water breaks or labor finally begins I'm almost half way done! It's actually kinda' insane. I just wish he would make his entrance. The waiting is horrible. All the phone calls, going to church every Sunday just to hear, "You're still here?" Jesse's going crazy. Our life is just on hold. Ahhh. People keep putting these dates on me, "You have to have him by Monday." The little brothers want to get back up to ACU so they keep badgering me. Like I have any control over it!!! If I did, he would have been born a few weeks ago when he weighed 7 lbs. By now I'm sure he weighs 8-9 lbs! I'm going to birth a toddler.

Almost 38 Weeks!

Ok, so as of last Friday (today is Wednesday) I was 3cm dilated and 70% effaced. So you would think he would pop out any time now right? WRONG! Still pregnant! I'm really ready for him to come. I'm getting so stir crazy since I'm not working and have been taking it easy. I went on maternity leave at 36 wks and 5 days because of this horrible nerve and muscle pain I was having. I could hardly walk, let alone stand for 12 hours! So I'm ready for him to come for a few reasons. I'm eating all my time off!!! Oh well. Didn't really have a choice.

I'm getting around so much better now. I still have pains, but not constant like before. Today we went to the mall and had family/maternity pictures taken. It cost a lot, but was well worth it! They turned out so great!

So ... hopefully we'll have a baby around our house soon. We'll see!

Almost 36 Weeks!!!

To say that I am ready for this baby to come is a little of an understatement! Actually, we still don't have a lot of things ready for the baby, but physically I am ready. We are working on his room. The furniture is all here (except the railing for the changing table adaptor on the chest of drawers it's on back order,) the drawers are full of baby stuff - all clean and ready for him to come, clothes are hung in the closet. Jesse's in the process of painting the room and his other room "stuff" that goes with the comforter set should be arriving in the next two days.

Our room ... is a mess. We had to make a surprise visit to California to see my family because my PaPa got extremely ill and passed away. That was a weird trip: death, funeral and family vacation all in one. We went to Disneyland and the beach, and you have to hit the outlet mall while you are there. So, we have been back for about a week and a half and I still haven't unpacked. My clothes are kind of ... everywhere. If I had some energy I would do something about it, but I have gotten alot towards the baby done in the last few days.

I still need quite a few things for the baby. Our shower is Sunday so I'm hoping we'll get a few things we need then. I had my work shower the night before we left for Cali. I was shocked and amazed at what we got! We got a stroller, diaper champ, boppy lounger and bath stuff among clothes, etc. Like I said I was surprised. I wasn't expecting that much for sure. So, I guess we can't have the baby until we get the pack and play and car seat. Those are kinda' of essentials. We'll see. Other than that we are SO ready for the baby to come.

My newest symptom of pregnancy is this ligament or some kind of pain down the inside of my thighs. It started in the middle of the night on Monday night. Tuesday I couldn't pick up my legs to put my clothes on, go up the stairs, get in the car, shower, etc. I stayed in bed most of the day Tuesday and Wednesday. I was going to go to education day at work Tuesday and I was supposed to work Wednesday night but I guess my FMLA is starting earlier than I expected now! I was already thinking of stopping at the end of this week so I'm only stopping a day early now. Anyway - I have my 36 wk appointment tomorrow and let's hope I'm dilating or something! I'm more than a little ready to feel better at this point!!!

7 Random Things

I don't know if Claudia tagged this Becky or the other one, but since I have the time to do it ...

7 Random Things about me:

1. My house is almost always a mess. (It's actually stayed decent the past three weeks or so!)
2. I have no patience with slow loading stuff on the computer.
3. I sleep .... a lot! (Thankfully so does my kiddo - hopefully the next one will too)
4. I'm not too girly, although I can have my moments. Lately, I just don't care.
5. I have two toes rings I never take off.
6. I am almost always late where ever I go. The only place I am on time to is work and I still don't know how that happens.
7. I don't have a favorite color, song, or almost anything. I don't know why, but i just don't like being tied down to one color or whatever.

23 Weeks and Counting!

Ok, I admit it... I've been a bad blogger blogger. I do blog on my Xanga, but even there not as frequently as I should. I've been wanting to do a blog with my 20 week ultrasound photos, but I'm always at work when I have the motivation to do it and I can't access them here. So, I'll just give you the updates without the pictures. Sorry.

I am currently 23 weeks. I've been feeling much better as of late. I was feeling awful for the first 20 weeks or so. First my stomach just hurt (thankfully no morning sickness - just achy tummy.) then my abdominal muscles hurt, then I had palpitations, then I was anemic, now, finally I'm feeling better. I was also very paranoid up until my 20 wk ultrasound. Funny thing though, I calmed down once I knew what the sex of the baby was and that everything was ok. I thought now (22-25ish weeks) would be the scariest for me since that's the age range of the smallest babies we take care of, but I'm actually more relieved to be at this point. I know that if the baby were to come it would be a long, hard road and he may not make it, but I still feel better that I would hopefully have some time with him I guess. Who knows why I'm so calm. I'm thinking it's the Lord!

So, if you didn't glean from the above paragraph, we are having another little boy. We don't have a name as of now though. I must admit that I was disappointed at first, but I have recovered and am getting excited about what the future holds. Jayden will love having a brother. It will be best for him. God gives us what we need and I'm holding on to that truth!

That's about all for now. Just wanted to post some kind of update here! Sorry guys!

Baby #2 - 10 Weeks

10 Weeks
We had our first prenatal visit today. We all went so we could see the baby! Jayden was really excited (ok, we all were!) We had an ultrasound and got to see the baby and all it's parts (well, not those parts - still too small!) We saw head, heart, abdomen, arms, legs ... it was really cool. The ultrasound tech was really nice and stopped halfway through (she was probably almost done) to put in a video tape for us and started over again to make sure everything was on the tape! It was so sweet of her. Before she got the tape it was moving around a lot, but after the tape was in it only moved it's arms a little. It was really cute! So, everything looks great! And it's only one baby! So that's good news! Jayden was really good during the entire visit. When we went into the other room to see the Dr he said, "Do you have to take your clothes off again?" It was kinda' funny!
Here are some pictures - they are pictures of pictures and the originals are shiny so there's a little glare .... Sorry!

Ok, first one is a full body shot. Head is to the left then arms, abdomen, legs and the tech said between the legs is the tail but, I think it's more feet. I think this because the next picture is it's legs and feet. It's sitting crossleged.

Qucik Update ...

So I have a Doctor's appointment tomorrow at 230pm. That was the soonest I could get in. I guess I'll ask then if I should go to work tomorrow night. I don't know. I don't have fever, but I have the yucky cough and am really tired.

So, we found a school for Jayden. It was really strange and a God thing. Yesterday I was driving home from the firestation after visiting Jesse and decided to stop by a baptist church to see if they had a MDO program. I drove through the parking lot and saw two ladies standing there talking. I asked them about it and one said, "yes we do and I'm the director!" So we went by today and toured the school. It's nice and looks like Jayden will really like it. They only had openings in their 4 year old class! And it's only $160 a month! I was shocked! We signed him up and he'll start in January. It's kinda' pointless to put him in the next two months because of the holidays and our trip and all. He would only get to go maybe 4 days. So, he's really excited. I don't know if I wrote this the other day, but we found out that the school at our church isn't going to open in January as planned. To say that I was upset is an understatement. Oh well. Problem solved!

Yesterday we watched Claire all day. It was fun. We went to Old Navy and to visit Jesse at the firestation and then came home. We walked a couple of streets over to see Chris. She was looking at a house for her and Brianna. They actually put an offer on it today (to rent.) So it would be neat if they ended up being our neighbors!
Tonight is lifegroup. The housekeeper is coming tomorrow so we have to clean today. Oh the joy!

Picture Post

Jayden's First Day of School! He's such a big kiddo now!

Jayden sleeping in his new room!

Jayden's new room! I know the pictures are kinda' blurry sorry!

Hello BloggerLand

I know, I know, It's been a long time. Sorry. I just haven't felt like posting a lot lately on any of my blogs! I am totally into MySpace and Facebook right now though!

So ... update ... Same old. We have Snickers the dog now. She has blended into our family quite well. Jayden and her are best buds. Who would've thought this is the same dog who would run away and growl at him!?!?!? I guess things change when you're on the 4 year old's turf! Anyway - she follows him around and plays with him. One morning Jayden even put his socks on her!

We also got kitty the cat. He ran off, but comes around for food. Jesse saw him the other day and I saw him tonight. So at least I know he's not dead.

This week we got Jayden's room painted and decorated! It looks so nice! It only took FOR - EV - ER!!! I'll post pictures at some point if I remember!

My Dad is living in Washington DC now. He'll be there 18 mths. He comes home once a month and my Mom will go there once a month. We are going out to see him in December so we're pretty excited.

So ... I guess that's all for now!

Ok. I REALLY did something today!

I'm so proud of myself! I had NO motivation during the day, but once again the night bug bit me and I came home from fireman night and cleaned almost the entire house!!! Yes, I cleaned the kitchen, wiped down the counters and table, cleaned the dead fish out of the bowl and washed it (it's only been a few months) did laundry (probably 3 loads worth), cleaned the dining area and folded clothes, cleaned the living room and dusted, wiped off the couch (lots of Jayden crumbs), picked everything up, then I headed upstairs and picked up the bathroom, then my bedroom, put clothes away, emptied out my old nightstand and put together Jesse's new nightstand. Downstairs all that needs to be done is vacuum/sweep and mop!!! Upstairs I still need to do the nitty gritty cleaning. This is an example of how bad our room was: I still had to finish unpacking my bad from Honduras!!! Also the bag from when Rocky first got sick!!!

I'm SO proud of myself!!! Now I can play and have fun with my family tomorrow without feeling guilty about how horrible the house is! That's if I get up in the morning. Sadly it's 2:30 am now! I didn't start cleaning until after 11pm. Oh, on the way home from fireman I stopped by Walmart and bought some stuff. One thing I got was this dirty clothes hamper/box that matches our shelves in the bathroom. I went to put it together and it was cracked! So now I have to take it in to exchange it. I also might try and exchange Jesse's nightstand because it's kinda' messed up. Things didn't quite line up and the drawer won't go together tightly. I put my together no problem so I know it's not me and it's the actual piece of furniture. I just have to find the receipt.

I also found out the my friend Megan's Mom, Sue, who was going to be Jayden's teacher this year may be teaching a very small class in her home until the school opens in January! This is so great! I really hope it works out. I am going to call her in the morning to find out the details. We were planning on looking at schools tomorrow so we'll see...

At fireman tonight we practiced clamping off a fully charged hose and replacing a section. It was hard work and the Texas heat and humidity was horrible. I was soaked when I took my gear off and it wasn't all from the hoses! It was pretty fun! I got to be at the nozzle for awhile too! Anyway... fire training is fun when we do cool stuff like that. It's also a great workout. Maybe that's why I have all this energy now?

Currently, I am waiting for my manager from work to call me back and let me know if I can get funeral leave this Friday rather than having to make up my weekend shift. I hope I can. That would be so nice. It's horrible because I think this will be my 5th call in since January. I was sick twice, then my Paw-Paw was sick and passes away, then Rocky got sick, and now his funeral. It's crazy. I hope I don't get in trouble. I can vouch for each one though. I know of people who have called in that much while orientation and they are still around so hopefully they won't try and punish me. It's really not my fault.

Ok. This post is long enough already! Have a great... morning?

So, I got up a bit ago. Yes, it is 3:18 in the afternoon, but I'm working tonight so I slept as long as I could! Jesse and Jayden went to run errands and are now at my inlaws house. So... it's just me.
I just got word that the preschool that Jayden goes to isn't going to open in September as planned. They gave me the number to another preschool in the area. So... that stinks! It's the school at my church and we are in the process of building a new building and it's not going to be ready in time. So I guess the school's going to take a year off. Jayden has gone there since he was 3 mths old! I was excited that he was going to have the same PreK teacher that Jesse had. Poop. The other school they recommended to us... I don't think I could send him there. VERY long story short, it's the school at our old preacher's church (Doug - who when he left our church had a contract not to take a job at a C of C within so many miles of ours - well - he took this job in violation of the miles thing because it wasn't at a C of C - very sneaky - but that's just a part of it), and about a year or two ago when they started that school one of the teachers at our school left to be the director. At the end of the school year she took about half of the teachers with her to teach at the new school. So... bad history there for me. Don't think I could do it. So that means I have to find a new school for Jayden. Poop!

Ok, I guess I need to start researching and then get ready for work. I'm headed over to the inlaws for the last dinner with Brady before he heads off to ACU on Friday!
Phone just rang and Compass is going to credit 80 something dollars more into our account for the NSF charges. So out of the $380 they charged us... yes... 380 dollars in nonsufficient funds fees... we've gotten $114 back and now around $80 back so we still had to pay the ridiculous amount of around $186!!! That's why we are in the process of changing banks! Yeah, that's what 8 years of loyalty to one bank will get you... SCREWED! Our new bank, Wells Fargo, charges $10 a DAY whereas our old bank charged $38 per transaction. We had 10 transactions in one day before we even knew it. Plus we were out of town because Jesse's Grandfather was dying and is still in the ICU. Yeah, Compass bank is so loving and understanding. so here's my advice for the day:

COMPASS BANK SUCKS IF YOU HAVE THEM LEAVE IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A BANK KEEP LOOKING AND DON'T EVEN CONSIDER COMPASS BANK!!!

Ok, now that I've gotten that off my chest. Everyone have a wonderful afternoon and evening!

A Welcome Accident!

Ok, tonight I was at my parent's house looking through there CD collection. I picked out some CDs to take home and rip to my computer. I also picked up some CDs that were mine and had gotten into their mix. In there were the CDs that I had bought for our wedding (6 and a half years ago!) I decided to take these and rip them too. I have been looking for years for the Shania Twain CD with "From This Moment" on it. I LOVE that song and its a pretty good CD too. So I open one of the CD cases from our wedding and take this CD out and POP! underneath it was my Shania Twain CD! It had been hiding there all these years! Isn't it funny how the small unexpected things in life just give you such joy? The other joy I'm getting tonight is ripping these CDs that I listened to in elementary to high school! It's always a blast from the past. I love music!

On a completely different note, I joined facebook. Something that I've been avoiding for awhile now. I just didn't want to be a "follower" since everyone else was doing it. I guess I also didn't want to embarrass my brother since I seem to follow him in all him online adventures. It's how I got turned on to Xanga and MySpace, but I finally gave in. So... I found my cousin and one of my best friends from California! It's been so great to get to email and reintroduce ourselves! The internet is so cool in that way. You can keep up with people all over the world and find long lost friends. I just love it!

Tonight at the fire department we put on full gear and blacked out our masks to practice navigating in the dark/smoke. We crawled around with eachother then took off our packs and pushed them and then put them back on. Yeah, tons of fun. Maybe it would have been better if it wasn't 90+ degrees with 90%+ humidity. Gotta' love the Texas weather!

This morning we went to the ground breaking for Woodlands Fire Station number 6. It was pretty neat. Some journalists took pictures of us (since we had the only kid there and you know how people love pictures with kids in it) so we may be in the This Week section of the Houston Chronicle and the Monthly Woodlands magazine. Afterwards we came home and I took a long nap. I didn't go to bed until about 2 am last night and then couldn't get to sleep until about 3. So when Jesse got home from work and woke me up to go to the ground breaking, which started at 8:30, I was thrilled.

I also went ahead and canceled Jayden's last three swim lessons. I just got tired of going and dealing with the screaming and crying. Maybe next summer. He did learn some, but he was just too afraid (and stubborn!)

Ok, everyone else is asleep and I did not intend to be up this late again tonight. I get kinda' messed up with my work schedule sometimes. Blah!

So I can't tell you how happy I am to be off of work for the next few days. On Wed/Thurs I had worked 8 out of the past 12 days. Yeah, that's way too much for me. The last night I had a really sick baby. I was ok throughout the night. I struggled to keep my head above the water. There were 6 babies in our pod. Originally, the assignment gave me the sick one and a chronic kid with lots of medications. The other nurse had 4 babies! And she was a level II nurse. I pretty much gave my other baby up as soon as I got report on the sick one. It was way too much. They eventually sent in another level II nurse to help. It was ok, except I had no one to ask questions to. I ended up maxing out on Dopamine, Dobutamine and starting an insulin drip. The baby's fluids were changed 3 times and they were sterile line changes. She was on the cooling blanket. I am curious how she did during the day and last night. I was really worried about her. So, the worst part came when giving report to the one nurse on days that no one wants to give report to. Let's just say before I was finished she told me to leave, because she wasn't getting anything out of this report anyway. That was after many rude remarks and her attacking me on several occasions. Yeah, it was bad. I was bawling! I did go talk to the manager though. I didn't deserve to be treated that way. Ok, enough.

So, Jayden's first swim lesson was supposed to be yesterday. His instructor called during the day to ask me how flexible we were on dates and times because she was going out of town next week! I said not flexible on the days, the times... whatever. So she changed the time to 3:30 yesterday. Then another girl called and said she was covering for our girl and that she needed to change the time. She asked if 6:45 was ok, and it was actually better for us. (I slept AWFUL yesterday after everything so the extra sleep was much needed) Well, we get there and she's not there yet. We wait... then she calls and is "so sorry" but she accidentally double booked. When could we make it up? Well, we're going to add a day to the end now... Yeah, a little frustrating. So, today is Jayden's first swim lesson. Thankfully he handled that all really well!

So lot's to do today, I need to get the Splashtown tickets first thing, pay the car payments, swim lessons, work on the messy house/laundry, and spend time with Jayden. The first three things are the most important (aside from the Jayden part) the rest are pretty flexible. I think the errands and Jayden are going to be coming first! Jesse will be working.

Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been working a lot this past week and it's been busy! We have over 100 babies again! Crazyness!

My toes/left foot are still kind of numb and tingly off and on. Mostly on. I really need to go to the doctor, but I work the next three nights in a row so the next chance I'll have to go is Thursday or Friday. My foot is pink, with good cap refill and good pulses so this leads me to believe it's a nerve problem. Boo. I just hope it goes away at some point and I don't have to have a tingly foot for the rest of my life.

Last night we went over to the Fotnote's house. It was a lot of fun. Jayden and Ty play really well together. Sunday afternoon we went out for Jesse's B-Day to Pappadeaux, and Saturday night we went out for Brian's B-Day to Saltgrass. Good family times.
I don't know if I posted it before but my Dad got the 18 mth position is DC and will be leaving the end of Aug. I'm excited for him and mom. It's going to be a great step up for them! I'm also excited about going to visit! I'm going to be living vicariously through him! He may get a high rise apartment and travel by metro and the train, just too cool!
ok, enough for now. Have a great week everyone!

I am almost finished with my first work stretch for the week. I have work the last three nights, I'm off the next two, then I work the next two, I'm off for two, then I work the next three, then I think I'm off for a week! I've already been thinking about things to do during that time. I was thinking camping... too hot though, and I really want to get Jayden in swim lessons so I'm going to work on that tomorrow for that week. That way I'll be able to go with him. I'm thinking he's going to need the support person!

He's so cute. I miss him right now. Last night my Mom called me at work because Jayden needed me to pray for him before he could go to sleep. I told him to put his hand on his head like I put my hand on his head and then prayed. I wanted to cry! I wished so badly that I could be there with him instead of at work. He has bad dreams. We've taught him to pray before going to sleep, but once he still had a bad dream so I think he feels that I need to pray and no one else can. I don't look forward to the day that he has a bad dream after I've prayed for him. Then he'll probably find a new prayer person. It was already hard enough to explain why he had a bad dream after he prayed. How do you explain to a 4 year old that God doesn't always answer prayers or that bad things happen even when we pray. I just don't want him to get discouraged. I remember prayer being my "protector," well, besides my Daddy of course! I also remember hearing that satan can't stand the name of Jesus so when I was afraid or felt a bad presence I would say Jesus and sing and praise Him. That was nice. (I'm having trouble typing complete thoughts. Sorry!)

So... I also need to get someone out to look at the garage door. Need to call Home Depot about that tomorrow...

Prepare for the randomness...

So my job today/this week is finding out about fixing the garage door. It was bent by the garage door opener a few months back and I've been meaning to getting around to getting it fixed. So far today I have called a garage door company, home depot, (the insurance company last night), and now I am waiting to talk to someone about the warranty on the door. "Thank you for your call. The first available representative with answer your call." The man seems so excited... So I priced new doors at Home Depot.com and it looks like it would been between $500-750 for a complete new door. I'm trying to find out if part of the door can be replaced or the entire thing, yada, yada, yada. My question is if they replace only part of the door, did Lennar paint the door or did it come that color? Would I then have to repaint part of the door and try to match paint? If that's the case it may be worth paying a little more for an entire new door. We'll see...


My stomach is upset today. The "it" has kind of come back, but seeing that it's been a week that I've been home I'm guessing it's something else this time. The Imodium I took last Sat just now wore off. Well, I think Tuesday I finally... well, you don't really want all the details now do you? Anyway, that's the reason I don't want to take more. Right now I'm ok. Maybe it was just a one time thing.

Ok... 14 min later... I have now spoken with the Clopay lady (the type of door we have) and found out I can get sections and Home Depot should be able to do an estimate for me. It is not a warranted "injury" and she is sending me information on maintenance and how to reinforce your door so that the force of the opener is spread out over the entire top panel to prevent what already happened to us. Man, that would have been good to know before! Oh well! Next step, estimate from Home Depot...

So, I'm hungry. I've done a lot today. I guess.... I got up filled Jayden's pool up so he could swim in the front, folded clothes, went through stacks of papers/mail, made Jayden lunch, researched the garage door problem, now what....

I didn't sleep too good last night. Maybe it's because I slept all day yesterday? I'm not looking forward to the next week. It's going to stink! I work too much! 5 out of 7 days! Sa-Sun-Mon-Thurs-Friday Stinks!

Tonight we are going to a friend's CD release party at Walter's on Washington. That'll be fun, I guess. Moderation...

The Newest Cox

We went to meet baby "Topher" today! He is cute! His actual name is Christopher Andrew and he belongs to Andy and Stephanie. He was born on Thursday July 5, 2007.

One quick Honduras shot. This is one of the few pictures of Jesse and I (I tend to take pictures of everything else then get home to realize there's only of few of us actually there!) We were on our way back from the medical brigade (a short 32 km drive that only took over an hour each way due to the road!) This only begins to capture the beauty of Honduras!

Ok, quick post. I'm forcing myself to stay up until 1am in preparation for returning to work Wednesday night after having three weeks off! I don't want to go back! I've really enjoyed having the chance to just be home and travel and just do nothing with Jayden!

Honduras was a wonderful success once again! I LOVE it there! If only I could get Jesse to move... If he didn't have the job he has now I think he would be up for it. Oh well. Maybe one day! I will try and post more about Honduras later. It's kinda' long.... and I would like to add pictures.

This morning we went to the pool with a bunch of families from church. It was really fun. I'm so glad so many came, I was afraid we might be the only ones! Silly me! Let's see, as Jayden would say, "Ty, Lille Beth, Tristan, Trenton, Reese and me!" Of course their other siblings and moms were there too! It was a lot of fun! I'm loving having play dates this summer. It's a great chance to spend time with friends and other mommies and let Jayden play with other kids. I hate that he's an only child. We're working on that though!

So, tomorrow we are going to College Station to see the new baby. I know Jesse is anxious! Hope everyone is having a great summer, so far we are!

Last night we got the shelf hung, the bookcases secured, the shelf in the bathroom hung, and attempted to hang the towel rack. It didn't want to cooperate. I have decided that that particular wall in the bathroom is either cursed or doesn't want a towel rack on it. There are two holes in the wall that have to be patched from the previous towel rack and there are also sheetrock nails that are popping through. Yeah, it's a mean wall! The previous towel rack just up and fell off one day last week when I was grabbing my towel. It was strange. Then I remembered that the builders had had trouble too. When we removed the other side of the towel rack there was at least a quarter size hole hiding underneath, yes, they had trouble!

The new furniture (all I have to do is decorate!)

The bathroom. The shelf is on the left, the cursed wall is on the right with the not so stable towel rack. (Don't touch it!)

The cursed wall!!!

The hole! Well, one of them!

So... we tried out a new restaurant last night. It was ok. Not great, but ok. We'll probably go back. We then headed over to Lowe's to get the right screws to hang all the stuff. We looked around and dreamt of all we wanted to do to the house. Our house is great, but you can almost always upgrade. One day...

Today... I need to get some more rest. I have to work tonight. Boooooo!!! Tomorrow is playgroup at one of the pools around here. It's at 1030am. I really want to take Jayden, but we'll see if I can make it. I was hoping to sleep a lot today to make it tomorrow. Yeah, try that with a four year old!

Speaking of Jayden... He's been a little toot the last few days. Talking back, smarting off, flat out disobeying... Well, this morning (I think since I was in the "I'm sleeping what do you want" haze) He's been so great! Not throwing fits, obeying, being so polite! I'm so happy, I even let him play with play-doh! (It's cool, but messy) We put him to bed last night around 830-900 because he was being such a stink! Maybe he's just tired, tired, tried. I think I'll try to get a nap out of him (plus I need more sleep) this afternoon before work.

Post from Xanga - I'll have to add the picture later...

I Got It/Them!!!

I'm so excited! I got the bookcases to complete my entertainment center! Now all we have to do is put together three bookcases/shelves! Then our entertainment center will be complete! Just to remind everyone of what it looks like:

Ok, this is one shelf and the middle thingy (a. my brain went dead and I can't think of the name of it; b. ours is the darkbrown/black color)

This is the color of our stuff.

So, it's the center piece, the two shelves on the sides and a bridging shelf over the middle thing. I'll have to take a picture when it's all together to show everyone! I'm so happy! Yay, Yay, Yay!
So, that's the excitement for the day. Jayden's sleeping. They called to see if I could work tonight, uh... NO and tonight's fireman night.

***EDIT***
Ok, so... it's 10:57 and I have all the shelves and bookcases put together! It really took no time at all. Probably less than an hour to put all three together, and.... I did it all by myself!!! So handy! (No, IKEA is just user friendly - except for that cabinet thingy - that took a few hours) So, tomorrow after Jesse gets out of class, he's going to go and buy the stuff needed to hang the shelf and the stuff to secure the bookcases and the stuff to hang the bathroom shelf/towel rack I bought today also. It's like the ones at a hotel. Kinda' fun and different. It's a towel rack plus storage! Yay!

Ok, so here are the other things I bought at IKEA:


Shoe organizer

Serving tray (for breakfast in bed hint, hint!)

Towel shelf/rack

I also got a cutlery organizer that's really big to fit in our drawer. We had a really little one because our original drawer was tiny. Now it's the biggest drawer in the kitchen! So, I got a new one to actually fit most of the silverware in! Nice! I got two of those storage things for grocery bags, two bags that you can reuse when you go to the grocery store rather than using so many plastic bags, and a little train set for Jayden. The set was less than $10 so I got two additional sets of different pieces for the set itself. All in all I spent less than $300! That's including the two bookshelves! That's why I LOVE IKEA! You can get so much more for your money! I also found out there is a small end table to match our furniture! Only thing it's $100, and I would need two. So I'll have to wait on those. Oh well! I'm still extremely happy at this point!

On another note, I think I forgot to post today that my friend called me and said the Dr. said she had strep and not the measles. That's a REALLY good thing! I was thinking that last night since they would have let her know if her titers weren't high enough and made her revaccinate.

No major plans during the day tomorrow. Maybe go to the pool. Maybe start decorating some. We'll see what it brings. It's days with no plans that I end up staying in bed all day and I definantly don't want to do that! Good night!

Just hanging out right now. Abbey, Sedric, Kaleb, and Jayron came over after church to kill some time. I like that. I like being able to open my home up to people to just come by and hang out. It's nice.

This morning I woke up around 6:45am! I slept all day yesterday and got up for a few hours then went back to bed at bedtime. It was really nice. I woke up feeling rested. It's so nice to feel that way!

So... Let me catch up...

The party went really well. I think we had about 40 people here. It was nice. We did have a lot of leftover food. Stinks. Oh well, I would rather have too much then not enough for everyone. This week's been work and such nothing too interesting. The countdown to Honduras has begun. Just a few more weeks! Hard to believe. I also need to get cracking on Stephanie's shower. Seems that I am the main hostess! Surprise!

What's Happening?

I'm sorry for the lack of posting lately. I've been around, just not posting. We even have these two nice new laptops so I really have no excuse. Last week they said that we are not allowed to get on the internet at work anymore. This is so stupid. So, I am going to have to work really hard to keep up my blogs at home. Blah!

Well, let's see... the craziness has concluded for the time being. Thank God! Last week we were able to just do nothing for a few days, which was wonderful!

Last weekend we got Abbey married off. It was beautiful. There are pictures on her myspace account. We watched their dog, Jax, while they were on their honeymoon - a cruise - which was a total surprise for Abbey! Now Jax is gone. It was a little sad/lonely getting ready for work Saturday night without him. Still don't want a dog though!

What else? Yesterday, I was fighting staying awake on the way home from work (probably because I was so bored at work and already ready to fall asleep since I couldn't get on the internet) so I went to bed when I got home. I was planning on getting up around 1030 to go to church. Jesse woke me up around or after 1100 and I said forget it. I was pooped. I got up around 5pm. We went to the Gibbs house for the last senior class blessing/dinner of all our families. I guess the next one will be in about 14 years for Jayden. Crazy! Soon we are all going to be real grownups. So strange.

Brent got a job as the junior high intern at church. I'm proud of him. It's going to be a long, hard summer, but this is so much than a job. He's going to learn so much and have such great experience. It's awesome. I'm so proud of him in general.

Saturday was Jayden's fourth birthday. Jesse and I both had to work so we celebrated with our annual House of Mouse visit on Wednesday night. It was fun as usual. Jesse and I were doing the game there that was like Dance, Dance Revolution. It was really fun. It was also quite a workout.

Jayden's party is next Sunday. I've got to get cracking on getting ready for it. It's going to be at home this year as it was last, only thing is that we are having our first "friend" party. In the past it's just been family and close friends. So.... yeah, exciting.

I think I'm going to see if the pool is open today.

Just some Pictures

This is Jayden, Eddie and Baby Claire. Jayden loves Baby Claire. He wants one!

Random Jayden shot.

These photos were taken on my phone. Pretty good, huh?