Cookies, Mother's Day Mania, Versatile blogger

Happy Mother's Day ! I hope all the mother's are having a marvelous day of pampering and good things. I got flowers from my mom, and Bill, and Zach too, along with some candles from him, and some cards. Kelsey made breakfast for me today too, it was nice. Unfortunately the cleaning fairy never showed up, so I had to get busy and clean the disaster kitchen, and then the living room. I still need to do laundry, but I'm being lazy at the moment.

Yesterday was BUSY. I was on the go all day. Took Jilly to her step mom's, then went to my friend Cindy's, and to my moms, then to the library, came home for a few hours then left again to Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, and Target. Got home, got my pj's on, ate a crappy dinner, then had to get dressed again, because my MIL finally got home, so I could run something over to her, ended up not getting back until 8:45 p.m. than I cuddled with Bree, she stayed up till 10:30, where does she get her energy?? By then I was to tired to blog, so I missed Mama M's Mother's Day Mania day? she says day 4, I think it was 3, because Friday was a regular 5QF, not a mother's day related one. Whatever it was, I missed it. Sorry. I think the topic was most embarrassing mothering moment or the best thing about being a mom. I don't think I've ever been embarrassing LOL...I must have blocked any moments of that from my memory. I do love being a mom though. I loved being pregnant, even the aches and pains, I didn't feel like I loved that at the time, but I did. I loved child birth too, while painful, its the most awesome experience one can ever have. I love my kids. I love the "Hey mom! I love you" that Bree tells me a million times a day. I love all my kids. I do not *love* the constant fighting between the older ones, but I'm glad I'm able to have them all around and healthy to be able to do that. Some mothers are not so lucky and have lost their children way to soon, and today on Mother's Day, they are feeling sad.

Todays Mother's Day Mania is to write a letter to your first born... I feel kinda awkward doing so here on the blog...for there are some things that I'd rather not say publicly. I'll do the best I can.

Zach,
You were so wanted, and you were a struggle to get. It took a lot of practice, and doctors appointments to conceive you. Once I found out I was pregnant (in the bathroom of Lord & Taylors at the mall with my friend Amy) I was so excited! I wrote letters to you in your baby book as the pregnancy went along, I shared how I was feeling, what you were doing (ie: kicking the crap out of me, etc). Being pregnant with you was so cool, and it had some struggles too, but you (and I) came out super. You were a handful as a baby, very colicy. Thank God Grandma would come help me out now and then, so I'd not go crazy hehe. Once that was taken care of, you turned into such an awesome boy and you were quite happy. You learned so much every day, and amazed me with your speech and the things you did. We used to go shopping with Grandma every Saturday, and you were pretty good most of the time, we always enjoyed our days w/Gram. Once your sister Kelsey came, you started to turn into a handful. Some days you were super good, and other days horrible to Kelsey. That is pretty much how its been ever since. I so wish you guys would get along and realize its great to be brother and sister, and friends.
Through the years you went through a lot. Some good, some bad. While I've not always agreed with your choices, I always love you and support you the best way I'm able. Now that you are an adult, I hope you are able to get a good job, that you ENJOY, and that you can be happy. I hope you will be able to look at life a little more on the positive side, and not always with some of the meanness you show towards some people. I hope that you find someone that can be a long time partner that can make you happy and be on cloud 9 all the time. I'm thankful that you are able to come to me with things, and share things with me that most 19 yr olds (or any age guy!) wouldn't tell his mom. I'm glad we have bonded and you feel comfortable doing that. I'm sorry that life hasn't always been perfect, and at times has been hard because of the way things went, please know that I did my best.
Remember, I love you.
Mom.

There ya have it, the end of Mother's Day Mania. I hope you enjoyed it.
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I mentioned yesterday I went to moms, Cindy's, and MIL's house. I delivered cookies I made. Wanna see? I also made some for teacher appreciation week, and delivered those on Friday. Here are some pics:







This last pic is some of the teacher ones before I got writing on them. The ones with the black birds on them were for Cindy. The day Elliott passed away, she asked for a sign from him that he is out there...and a blackbird flew by, so she thinks of Elliott when she sees them. I thought it would be nice to make some like that for her.

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Gosh this is a long post today! Sorry! I've been given another blog award thingy, this time from Dazee Dreamer over at Crazy Days & Nite Dreams. Thank you Dazee Dreamer! I'm glad you think highly of me and want to give me this award. The rules are:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

I can do #1 & 2 no problem. Its 3 that is the hard part...so I think I'm going to break that rule, since no one I know will do these when I send them. :( Sorry about that part.

So, 7 things about me...
1. My toenails are green & pink ...green toe, pink toe, green toe, pink toe...you get the picture.
2. I have a fear of small places. Slept in a water heater box as a kid, thought it would be a good fort, woke up in the middle of the night in a panic thinking I couldn't get out...that started it.
3. I have saggy boobs. LOL TMI? :)
4. I started a new craft/hobby last night. Washer necklaces.
5. Being licked grosses me out (well, not THAT kind of lick..;) ) My kids think its funny to lick my arm, or cheek, and watch me scream and wipe it off as quick as possible.
6. I need new underwear.
7. I'm drinking a cold refreshing McD's coke as I type this (a Mother's Day gift to myself).
There ya have it! Thanks again Dazee Dreamer for the award.

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I mentioned flowers above, the roses Bill got me are super cool, I've never seen anything like them before...see



Thats it! I'm done, better finish before this turns into a book! Toodles!

QOTD: What did you get for Mother's Day?

We interrupt Mother's Day Mania to bring you...5QF!

Happy Friday! Since not everyone is a mother, Mama M. decided to not make todays 5 Question Friday about mothering, its just a regular 5QF. Tomorrow we will resume the Mother's Day Mania.

For the official rules of 5QF, please visit Mama M.'s blog. Feel free to participate too! You can blog your own 5QF answers and link up over at Mama M's. or heck, even answer here in the comments area if you don't want to go that far. Ok, here we go! Questions here, my answers below...




1. What is your worst memory of your siblings?


2. What was YOUR naughtiest childhood memory? (Must be something YOU did, no pawning it off on someone else!)


3. Where do you like to go to relax?


4. What was the last thing you won?


5. If you could be on a game show, which would you choose?
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1. Hmmm hard to pick just 1! How about the time my brother set my hair on fire? Or the time my brother tried to suffocate me with bean bag chairs? Or maybe the time both brothers went to throw me on my parents bed to wrestle me (I was not a willing participate!), and they threw a little to hard and I went into the wall...they then covered my mouth so I couldn't scream for my mom. Ahhhh brotherly love...

2. Naughty? ME?? Never! haha Ummm lets see....I used to sneak an extra pop now and then, we were only allowed 1 a day, sometimes I snuck another. Or maybe the times my 1 brother & I used to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and go hang out with our friends...we'd go dancing in the street LOL. Seriously. We lived on a busy road during the day, but at night it was dead, so we'd play in the road, dance around, walk down to the donut place. If a car came down the road sometimes we'd yell, "hit the deck" and jump into the ditch to hide. We were weird.

3. Where I'd LIKE to go to relax is a spa, get a massage, pedicure etc...but thats not the case since we are poor LOL. Ummm I relax at my computer. I'd like to relax in a hot bubble bath, but its kind of hard when kids are beating on the door, "MOM what are you doing?" "Mom, can I come in?" "Mom, I gotta go PEE!" "Mom, so & so hurt me" "Mom, she took my stuff!"...Oy.

4. Hmmm its been a long time I think since I was lucky to win something. Hard to remember. I've won 4 numbers in the lottery once, got like $60, but that was years ago. I also won a $50 gift cert. at a book store, again years ago... Gosh, I can't recall anything I've won recently! Either I've been super unlucky or my memory is just that bad! (which makes me super unlucky too!)

5. I don't really even know what kind of game shows are on anymore. I don't normally watch them. I saw Minute to Win it once, it was kinda cool. I think the Newlywed game would be fun...is that even still on? I used to watch it years ago and always chuckled.

There ya have it! I hope you enjoyed todays 5 Question Friday. I have my own question for you all to answer in the comments, I'll post todays QOTD below. Toodles!

QOTD: What is your favorite animal/bird/creature?

Mother's Day Mania-Day 2

Howdy everyone! Today's Mother's Day Mania is birth stories! I have 4 kids, so this could take a while LOL. So get a drink & snack, sit down and put your reading glasses on....

For the official rules of Mama M.'s Mother's Day Mania please visit her blog.

Ok, First was Zach. I was due for Zach on Aug. 10, that night we went to my husbands class reunion. So many people asked, "When are you due? You are as big as a house" When I told them I was due that day they were shocked that I was even there LOL. No baby that night, darn it. I had a doctor appt. on the 13th, he stripped my membranes when he examined me, and told me if it didn't bring on labor I was to be at the hospital by such & such time the next day for induction. After the appt. my husband and I went on our merry way. We went out to dinner at a little drive in place. While there I kinda started feeling icky, back ache, just blah feeling...didn't think much of it. Went home, chilled out...kept feeling icky. Went to bed for a while, I think it was around midnight that the back pains started to get pretty bad...and diarrhea started, (oh fun!) I kinda thought woohoo, I think this is it! It was a long painful night. We ended up going to the hospital in the morning Aug. 14, 1990. My husband spent a lot of my labor watching sports on ESPN, that totally annoyed me. My mom was there too, helping me cope with the pain. I was a wuss and afraid of needles. The IV wasn't to bad though, because they did it during a contraction so I didn't really think about the IV going in. I did not in anyway want an epidural though! The thought of a needle in my back scared the crap out of me. I did end up getting some drugs in my IV, I think it was demoral. Wow that stuff is totally cool. It felt like I was sleeping, I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I heard everything going on, and it was in slow motion. Fun stuff. I don't remember all the details of pushing and all, shame on me. I do remember not being able to see in the mirror, and I was bummed about that. I remember it hurting, and getting a lot of stitches, down in my girly parts...because I gave birth to a toddler! Zachary Allen was 9 lbs 5 oz. (after 19 hrs of labor) my big little boy. I remember making my husband go get me fast food right after birth lol, I was hungry! I also was in for a surprise...BLEEDING. No one told me about that part. Those pads that are ice packs too are so cool. :)

Next came Kelsey...My pregnancy with Kels was stressful, I discovered my husband had had an affair and I was an emotional wreck. We ended up seperating during that time so it was me pregnant and sick a lot of the time, taking care of a toddler (Zach) alone. Anyways...I ended up going to a doctor appt. (Feb. 28, 1994) he checked me and said he 'thought' he felt her head, but there was a slight chance it was her tailbone. He asked what I was doing today, I said I don't know you tell me! Then he told me to make arrangements for Zach to be watched, then go to Labor & Delivery for a sonogram. If it showed Kelsey was breech, we'd do a C-section, if not, then I could go my merry way and wait for labor. So I did what I was told, and ended up at L & D. Sure enough, she was breech. At this point I was also having contractions. So, arrangements were made, people were called, including Kelsey's dad, who was living/working in Wisconsin at the time. He drove as fast as he could to get there but just missed it. My mom went into the operating room with me in his place. She was the first to hold her and got to take Kelsey to the nursery. Kelsey weighed 8lbs 6 oz. I picked her name, I figured my husband didn't deserve to have a say in it after what he did. So her name is Kelsey Elizabeth (my moms middle name). Shortly after Kelsey's birth I took my husband back...and we tried to make it work for several years, but we just couldn't do it anymore and divorced.

Then after I remarried, came Jillian. My pregnancy was kind of tough, had high blood pressure issues, ended up having her 3 wks early due to it. After being on bedrest, my blood pressure was still in a bad range so my doctor called me and told me to head to the hospital, this was on Aug. 22. I was to go in, be given some cervix ripening stuff and the next day induction. I freaked out because Aug. 23, 2007 was the first day of school and I wanted to be there for Zach & Kelsey. I called my mom in a panick, she settled me down and said she'd be there for them. So off to the hospital I went. Contractions started right away, but didn't do a whole lot. The next morning, pitocin was started. Unfortunately, Jillian didn't like it, and her heart rate kept dropping, so they had to stop it. Guess what that meant? Another C-section for me. It was evening before they got me in finally. Jillian Jenny was born weighing 6 lbs, my tiniest little baby so far. Her dad was in the operating room with me, as he should have been. My mom and Zach & Kelsey were waiting for me when I got out of recovery. I remember when they came in to see me & Jilly, Zach looked at me, saw the bag of pee on the side of bed, and said, "Mom, what are they feeding you? Orange juice?" He thought it was an IV thing LOL. It was my PEE!

Child #4, after a divorce and remarraige, was Aubrey! Since I had 3 c-sections already, no VBAC was allowed. I had a scheduled C-section for Dec. 19, 2007. We got there super early. My mom came to the house to manage the older kids, and bring them out in time to meet their sister. On the way to my house that morning, mom hit a deer...eek! Anyways, I got in early around 7:30ish, the kids arrived just as I got wheeled back, so I was able to kiss them all before getting sliced open. I got back and was prepped. The nurses were super nice, and helped calm my nerves. Maybe knowing what was going on freaked me out more than the unknown. Bill was able to come sit by me once they had me all set. The c-section went fast. Bill & I got all teary. Bill got to cut the cord. We got to see Bree, and get a picture, then she went off to get her stuff done while I was closed up and off to recovery. It seemed like I was in recovery forever! The numbness seemed to last and last and I had to wait until I could feel certain things before I could go to my room. I was anxious to get back to my baby and show her off to everyone. My brother & SIL were there by the time I got to my room, it was nice having them there to meet Aubrey Danielle. She weighed in at 7lbs 4 oz. . I enjoyed a nice stay at the hospital :) got to rest while I could before going back to our crazy house. Came back home Dec. 22, it was nice to be home a few days before Christmas.

There ya go, my birth stories. I hope they made sense! I'm tired and my memory is kind of bad lol I hope I got it all accurate.

Off to cuddle with child #4 in hopes she goes to sleep soon...Toodles!

QOTD: Did you have drugs during child birth?

P.S. Be sure to read the post before this one...my Mom's guest post.

Busy day! Guest post...My mom!

I've been up to my eyeballs today in the kitchen making some treats for some special people, so I haven't been able to get around to posting my Mother's Day Mania day 2 yet. I will do that shortly, but first I've got a Guest Blogger post...My Mom! Please read, and enjoy! I'll blog again later tonight with Mother's Day Mania day 2 (birth stories), so please come back later! :)
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My Mom's post:

Mothering without “smothering”


Hi, my name is Rhea and I’m Renee’s mom. I got married at age 18 and by the time I was 23 I had three children; Rick, Robb and Renee. Marrying young has its advantages…I had the energy then to raise the kids and have fun with them too.

All mothers know that each child is different. Mine were all very different personalities.

Rick was the firstborn and did everything early, from cutting his 1st tooth at 2 months, to walking at 9 months and talking a LOT by age 1. He was a fun baby and very outgoing.


Then came Robb. This was the baby that my mom said was payback…...he was real cute and sweet but oh so stubborn just like me….only I call it being persistent!. Must be something about being a middle child. When Robb didn’t want to do something he would dig his heels in, cross his arms over his chest and stick that little chin out. I loved and love him anyway.



When Renee came along I was really happy to have a girl to love. She was 3 weeks late in arriving, but so worth it. She was a very loved little girl and very shy. She was a mommy’s girl and I think still is. We used to call her Binky (substitute for stinky when she would have dirty diapers) and that name stuck for many years. She and Robb were buddies and would play together a lot. When she got a little older she loved to roller skate and was pretty good at it. She and two of her friends loved to hang out at the roller rink.

The teens brought some angst and worry but all in all I enjoyed my kids during their teen years. Well, maybe except the time when Rick took my company car for a ride and ended up sailing into a field having fun with his friends. Or when Robb got into a fight with some kids who were picking on him. Or when Renee dated a loser and we worried about her. Thankfully we got through those times ok.

One of the things I have learned over the years is to let my kids make their own way and their own mistakes. I try even now that they’re grownups with kids of their own to stay out of their affairs unless asked and support them by listening and loving them even when I don’t agree with them.

I am a strong Christian and believe my prayers have a big impact on my children and grandchildren because I belong to a big God who hears and answers prayer. There are some prayers that haven't come to fruition yet, but I have faith they will.

This is a poem for you Renee....


I covered you with blankets against the cool night air....
But now that you are tall...and out of reach,
I fold my hands and cover you with prayer.
~author unknown~

Love, Mom

Mother's Day Mania-Day 1

Bree is sleeping, and I should be taking a nap, but instead I'm blogging! Why? Well because I want to be part of Mama M.'s Mother's Day Mania that's why! Even though I had a crappy night, was up 3 times w/Bree, 1 time with the dumb dog that has to pee in the middle of the night, and 1 time because my husband flung the cat onto me after she pounced on him in the wee morning hours...let me say that waking to cat claws in your back isn't fun! Everytime I was woken up, falling back to sleep was difficult due to hubby and his loud snoring. Bah! Ok, sorry, I started ranting...tiredness makes me cranky.

Like I said, today is the start of Mama M.'s Mother's Day Mania. To get the details click on this post. Today is Whoopsie Wednesday! Here we go:

My whoopsie involves Zach. I don't remember his exact age, but he was a young toddler. When you were a kid did your parents or siblings ever have you lay down, then they grab an arm and a leg and swing you, sometimes they tossed you onto a bed or something soft? Well I had it done to me lots of times...and I liked it. So, I thought I'd do it with Zach for fun. Well, he laughed for a minute or two...then started crying. I didn't know what was wrong. He kept favoring his arm. Crap. We ended up taking him to the ER, and he had dislocated his elbow, but thankfully while they were messing with it to X-ray, it went back into place. Poor Zach. I felt so bad. Its amazing how something so fun can go so bad so fast!

That is the only whoopsie I can think of at the moment...I'm sure there were more with my other kids, but I must have selective memory and maybe I blocked out the bad stuff. Oh wait! I remember another...with Kelsey...

We were at the old Walmart in Plano. She was sitting in the cart seat sideways. I was stupid for letting her. She was doing fine, she loved sitting like that and we never had any problems until that day...she flung herself back for some reason, and out of the cart she went, onto the hard Walmart floor. Scared the crapola out of me. She screamed bloody murder for a bit, and a code white (I think that was the code for accident) was called, management and everyone came to the scene. I got her settled down and we decided it was best to take her to the doctors to be checked over real quick. She was fine, thank God.

OK now really, thats all I can remember. If I think of anymore I'll add to it later.

Toodles!

QOTD: Do you touch bugs/worms, etc? Can you put a worm on a fishing hook? (my answer is HELL NO! I'm not a fan of bugs of any kind, my kids think its funny to hold them and chase me around the yard with them, bad bad kids :P )

1st Vlog....Beware

I've decided to try vlogging...hehe in my own crazy way... I had some notes, so I'd not forget stuff, but they got in the way, so I moved them, and forgot stuff, but oh well. Didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped. I should have tried a few more times to make it better, but I was in a hurry.

Are you ready?


Are you SURE you are ready?


Hmmm....not sure I believe you....


Oh well, here it is anyways :)




LOL I'm such a dork right? Go ahead, say it, Renee's a DORK! :P I'm not a fan of being in front of a camera, and I wanted to hide my double chin...hence the bag :)

Bree wanted to get involved, so here is a tiny video of her as well....

Show Me Saturday! Prom

I was just thinking, and came up with a possible idea! Scary huh?! How about I host a "Show Me Saturday" weekly. Which means, I'll give a topic, and you blog about that topic, with a picture of the topic at hand. I don't know that I'll remember to do it every week...but I'll try. We'll see how things go. Hopefully I can get SOMEONE to link up :) I totally just came up with this idea, so I haven't totally thought it through.

I think right now at this moment, the only rules I have are that you link back to me, you can use the blog button I have over on the side for now (you'll have to highlight then hit control & c, because I have right click disabled on the site, sorry), if things go well I'll try to get a special button made up. The other rule would be no pornographic pictures of any kind.

The first topic is.....PROM! Blog about your prom, or a prom, and be sure to include a picture if you have one, after all, its SHOW ME Saturday :) I hope this works!

Ok, the reason I have prom on the mind is its a busy prom weekend! My niece went to one last night and today. My son Zach is at one tonight with a co-worker, and this evening I took the girls to my oldest daughters school to watch all the prom go'ers show off their fancy dresses.

I just happen to have a picture of me going to my prom (well it was taken BEFORE prom actually). It was back in my skinny days..which didn't last long LOL. My prom date was actually my first husband, we married about a year after prom. It was my senior prom, he was already out of school. It took place at a country club, than after we went out to Chicago to roam the city all dressed up. It was COLD and rainy. Brr. Anyways, here is my SHOW ME picture:



Now its YOUR TURN! Show me! Blog about prom, and post a pic, then link up here. Have fun.

Toodles!
QOTD (question of the day to answer in comments): How much did your prom dress (or tux) cost?