HALLELUUUUUUJAH...

Sweet Hallelujah!!

Yeah, I'm thinkin' about movin' to the South.

Stephen got "the call" this morning and HAS BEEN OFFERED A JOB!

He still has to do a pretty extensive physical and drug screen, but all should be fine with those. He lived in a VERY poor country in Africa for nearly a year and the question of did he manage to pick up some crazy, weird thing while there is always in the back of our minds. They did have their house bleached daily, and the darn boy NEVER gets sick, so I'm pretty confident that all is well. {;-D

We're SO excited!

Just imagine bi-weekly, predictable paychecks. This will be the first time in our marriage he's not been commission based...or... how we've been living for the last couple years... Commissions can be nice when they are big, but you NEVER know when, how much or IF you'll have a check. It often left me edgy and feeling a little insecure, I don't tend to do insecure well. That arrangement also helped us avoid debt like the plague because we knew there isn't always going to be money to make monthly payments. Minimal debt kept us afloat with "how we've been living for the past couple of years". We are both so ready to start a new phase, we've been humbled, learned lessons, felt the loving compassion of others who care about us, have an unwavering knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us and our struggles and will send help and blessings when he sees fit (for this is how we've managed to keep mind and soul together) and have a very focused plan for "when we have a job again".

Did I mention WE'RE SO EXCITED!?!

Garrett-isms

Once we managed to get Garrett talking he's been pretty good with enunciation and articulation. Every once in a while though he comes up with some funny word switches. These are just a few, I know there's more, but of course can't remember them right now. :-)

Garrett: Where is my Tragasaurus Rex?
Me: On the coffee table.
Garrett: Ohh-Kaaay! (Running off)
Garrett: It's not on the coughing table.
Me: (In my mind of course) That's because it's on the coffee table.

During our weekly grocery store visit:

Garrett: Can I see the fish?
Me: This is a different Wal Mart it doesn't have fish.
Garrett: (super whiny) But I want to see the amimals.
Me: Well if you behave while we get this done I'll take you to a fish store.
(An hour later 10 minutes from check out)
Garrett: (With Exasperation) Can we please see the stinkin' amimals now?
Me: You want what?
Garrett: To see the stinkin' ammimals!
Me: Hmmm...


Aunt Sassy called and asked if Gabriel could go to the U of A Book Festival with her.

Me: Hey Gabriel I just talked with Sassy, do you want to go to the Book Festival on Saturday?
Gabriel: YEAH!
Garrett: Do you have to be 5 or 51/2 to go to the Book Vegetable?
Me: Yep, sorry. Sassy will take you to the zoo later. (You don't actually have to be 5 or 51/2, but I wasn't about to send them both down there.
Garrett: Do you only have to be 31/2 to go to the zoo?
Me: Yeah.
(Several days later as Gabriel is getting ready to go.)
Garrett: Is Gabriel going to the Book Vegetable?
Me: Yeah.
Garrett: Yeah, you have to be 5 or 51/2 to go to the Book Vegetable. I get to go to the zoo!

Stephen discovered Wacky Pack Wednesday at Sonic (the kids wacky pack meals are only $1.79). We love it, the kids felt special and our wallet didn't feel picked on. Garrett ordered a grilled cheese, banana, and a cherry slush. On the way home this came from the backseat, "Can I have my flush now?" "You want your what?" "My flushie."

Oh yes, of course, your flushie. :+)

Stephen called Lincoln a little bambino one day, the next day I heard Garrett talking to him only now Lincoln is a little bambiMo.

Big Ol' Noggin !

Is that not the most kissable big bald noggin you've ever seen?


Our Little Lincoln has had a big head since birth. Recently, when he was in for his 12 month well check, the Pediatrician thought it'd be a good idea to do a head sonogram just to make sure there wasn't anything underlying. All I can say is that this kid that doesn't like ANYTHING touching his head was NOT a fan of the goopy gel stuff all of the top of his head. It was weird looking into his head. I could recognize some of the structures as brain structures, but had no idea of the names. Then I noticed a little worm lookin' thing in the middle of his brain. I'm no doctor, but last time I checked there isn't anything that moves inside our brains. I asked the sonogram tech what it was. Apparently, the movement of blood looks like a worm moving around. Hmmm......

He was mad at me for holding him still for quite a while....

but during the ride home finally forgave me and thoroughly enjoyed those shoes of his.

See those little teeth poking out? Yeah, he was over 1 when he finally started growing those,

THEY HURT LIKE MAD WHEN THEY BITE YOU.

Daddy's In Charge!

So I was across town the other night and Stephen was home alone with all the kids. He's a pretty empathetic husband because he has spent quite a bit of time taking care of the sweet little dears. When I send him a text because it's one of THOSE days he knows exactly what I'm talking about.

These are the messages he sent to me throughout the night. They were capped by the above picture. {;-D


6:50 PM Lincoln ate a scoop of Sloppy Joe sauce. Should be a stuffed little piggy.

7:10 PM Now he's eaten half a bun, 4 peach slices & 7 graham cracker sticks & still wants more.

7:31 PM Now he just peed all over me, himself & the floor while I was trying to put butt paste on him. Grrrrr. (followed by a funny angry face that Blackberry has in it)

7:31 PM Hope you enjoy the play by play. Now he's fascinated with the spotbot. (I highly recommend a Bissell Spotbot for kids and/or pets, bought online where it's way cheaper of course!)

7:53 PM That last one (the above picture) is self explanatory....

I think Lincoln did a good job of summing up the night.

Hypochondria

Our Gabriel has developed a severe case of hypochondria lately. He's always coming up with some ailment that "excuses" him from what ever task is at hand. He can't eat what was cooked for dinner because his tummy hurts. He can't clean his room because his leg hurts. He can't say sorry after timeout because his heart hurts. He can't ______ because _______ hurts. You get the idea. He makes at least one trip a day to the nurse because he's "sick". We're trying to address that one.

This had been going on for quite awhile when he kept complaining about his stomach. We TOTALLY blew it off....till he puked all over the back of Stephen's truck. All I have to say about that is he's lucky he was with Dad and not me. {;-] He was over it in 24 hours and was back to his normal crying wolf behaviors very quickly.

Then I got ANOTHER call from the school nurse. He was complaining that his ear hurt and "looks like he's really sick this time" according to sweet Miss ----.

He FREAKED out when he heard me say I'd get an appointment with the Pediatrician. For the next hour he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I feel better, I don't want to go to the doctor, I. DON'T. WANT. A. SHOT!" I finally told him if he didn't stop yelling I was going to give him 2 shots. Then I explained you don't get shots for ear infections.

We got in and found out that, yes, he did in fact have an ear infection and fluid in the other ear. That explains all the "what?" going on around here. He can't hear. Then the doctor listened to his lungs and thought he also had either pneumonia or bronchitis going on. That explained a whole lot of the cranky behavior. He got to become a space man and have a breathing treatment. Being a space man was VERY cool. I looked up and saw his legs hanging off the table and all of a sudden my big boy looked so little at that moment. The breathing treatment took care of the noise in his lungs so it was not pneumonia. That was good.

We came out with a prescription for a super antibiotic, that got rid of everything that had been going on in his little body, albuteral for additional breathing treatments as needed, and a new allergy medication.

He's doing much better now, and we hope he won't miss anymore school. I'm excited for his ears to drain out so he can hear better again. I'm a little concerned about how much auditory input he's missing during class. He does still have flare ups of hypochondria on an almost daily basis. ;-}

INTRODUCING....

Hades!!
As in hotter than...


Ya'll thought I was gonna say I was pregnant didn't ya?? Uh, definitely not, soooo not a good time for that!

Three years ago our heater broke. We just used lots of blankets and got some space heaters "to get us by till we could replace the heater and put in AC". Weelll, three years later, I still had no heater, a miserable swamp cooler that is a useless piece of junk the last week of June till the last week of August, and I was not going to freeze for one more winter. I know, I know we really don't freeze in Tucson, but I'm acclimated and I freeze. Not to mention space heaters are
D A N G E R O U S!
Stephen grew up in Bisbee in a house originally built by Phelps Dodge (very typical mine quality) with no insulation in the walls, no central anything and they used space heaters. The fact that his parents are still using this kind of heater worries us constantly! I've finally convinced him that the big holes in our walls are where warm air comes out in the winter and "cold" air comes out in the summer.

He started his hunt for a fix that we could afford. He usually succeeds triumphantly, but this one is mine all mine. One morning my mom and I were driving home from Bountiful Baskets and noticed a yard sale sign. I told my mom, "oooh, that's the Golding's neighbor, they always have good stuff."
I've found lots of great kid stuff that's still in good shape there. This morning was no different. We were walking back to the car with our loot when something caught my eye. It was Hades. I stopped and asked if that was a heater. The lady said it was (they took it out when they put in AC...cruel twist) and only 2 years old. I called Stephen he looked the model number up online, did a quick price comparison to other heaters listed on Craigslist, called me back and said to grab it. He joined our cold little home for 50 bucks.

He's been installed for the whole winter and works like a champ. I love it. All but one of the space heaters are gone! The day Stephen got him hooked up he took the house from 60 to 68 degrees in 15 minutes. So, he's also much more effective than our old one too. The old monster ran constantly--that equals a BIG gas bill.

I am so grateful we stopped that day, and that we've had such a nice cozy winter.

Baby Steps...

This title could apply to so many aspects of our lives right now, like Stephen finishing the semester's worth EMT course crammed into 4 weeks...crazy, 1st interview with one of the fire departments, a good amount of work for me this semester, but, no this is about literal baby steps.

Yesterday Lincoln gave us all a great Valentine. The whole family was in the big boys' room while they got ready for bed. Lincoln was hanging onto the side of a storage tub, turned around and started walking toward me like he'd been doing it forever. He got a solid 4 steps in a row in before he lunged the rest of the way into my happy Mommy arms. Gabriel yelled, "Whoa! Did you see that?!? Lincoln can walk!" Garrett just giggled and laughed with excitement. Both big boys are so excited for him. I was excited we were all there to see it together. He's been taking a step or two off and on for a while now...I knew he was getting so close.

From the second he was born I knew I'd miss a lot due to the need for me to work. I'm glad I have the earning power to step in as needed. I've managed to get his pictures semi on time, I have lots of candids from here at home, and surprisingly, I've been able to see quite a bit. I'm working much more this semester (which is a much needed good thing), and Stephen has been absent for the last 4 weeks. I just knew that's when he'd decide to start walking and both his parents would miss it.

We claim being the ones to see it first. IF we're not, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW IT! I want to live happily in my delusion that I was able to see my baby's first steps before anyone else. If you've seen him take that many steps in a row already, DO NOT share it with me....EVER. Having that said, I'm very excited for him. He's already a climber just imagine all the new stuff he can climb in/on once he's proficient at walking.