For example, earlier today, she reaches into her dolly pack ‘n play and says, “Shhhh….come here baby, mommy’s here!” I had to try to refrain from laughing!! She mimics everything I do and say, so I really have to be very careful these days.

Now Garrett….he is a PHONE man!! If there is a phone within 10 yards of him, he will see it and head in for the kill. The first thing he does is to put it up to his ear and say “Hi”…..and the next step…..to turn and run as fast as his little legs will carry him in the opposite direction where I am standing!!! He is such a crack up!!!

I do have a problem engaging in child’s play, however. Not quite sure why that is, but I can’t just sit down and play for long periods of time with my kids. I hope that it isn’t just me who is this way…..and other moms deal with the same thing. I do try to spend a little time playing with each of them every day, even if it is not something that comes easily to me. I want them to always remember me doing little things with them every day while they were growing up.

4:45 a.m. Now it is Garrett’s turn to wake up. I hear Tim go get the sippy of milk for him. But, the crying does NOT let up…….it gets worse and turns into one of those “I NEED MY MOMMY NOW!!!!!!” kind of cries. So, I get up and of course, “mini-me” follows me into his room. I notice him grabbing at his mouth, and with the diaper “issues” of late and runny nose, I am sure he is teething, so we decide a dosage of tylenol is in order. So, we give that to him, I sit down and get him to stop crying.

He seems to be relaxed, so I lay him in his crib….for about 2 seconds….because it was then that I realized my pants were wet. The poor thing was SOAKED!!!!! Tim did not even ATTEMPT to check him….he said “I felt his sleep sack and it seemed dry……” Ummmm….at 4:45 in the morning, chances are that he is wet. So, of course, I had to strip him down naked (which he was cold from being wet) and change him.

I then start to rock to relax him and Emma has decided to try to get books to bring up to Garrett to “soothe” him back to sleep. Sorry sweetie, “Fruit Salad” by the Wiggles is not the right mood music at 5:15 in the morning. This did not please her. Add to it the fact that it was DADDY trying to talk to her and that added insult to injury. DING — SWITCH!!!!

So, Tim heads back into Garrett’s room to get him relaxed and I lay down in our bed with Emma. At 5:30, Garrett is still up and NOT going down — neither is Emma. Hmmmm…I think they had a conspiracy to get up early – what do YOU think?

So, the entire family heads downstairs. Garrett played and Emma watched her shows. Mommy and Daddy laid under blankets and attempted to try to stay awake. Daddy headed upstairs at about 6:00 or so to get ready for work and Mommy headed to the kitchen to feed Garrett.

Now, Garrett is sitting in his high chair, about to fall back to sleep. So, he eats and back up to bed he goes…..to sleep until I wake him at 8:30 a.m. After all, I REALLY would rather that BOTH children sleep at the SAME TIME for a nap…..wouldn’t you agree? And so it happened – the rare occasion in this house where TWO CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP AT THE SAME TIME……and it is NOT nighttime!! Hmmmmm….too bad mommy is pregnant, cuz I sure could have enjoyed a cocktail. I mean, after all, it WAS happy hour somewhere – right?

I didn’t post about this, but my dad’s wife passed away on March 17th. The woman did not like me, nor did I care for her. In my dad’s sadistic, twisted world, I did him wrong as did every other person on the face of the earth, so it is, of course, my fault as to why my dad and I never speak. Ummm….no…I don’t think so. The last time I spoke with the man was in March of 2004 when I called to wish him Happy Birthday and let him know he would be a grandfather. He never even told me congratulations or anything at all…..and never called or wrote. Well, until he sent me a “nice” letter with my Christmas card in 2006 telling me that I had “no right” to keep his granddaughter from him.

Sorry asshole, but I have to inform you that it is MY JOB to expose my children to positive influences and you sir, are far from that role. When they ask about you, I will tell them that you chose to live a life that I could not be a part of…..and that will be that.

I am very sorry that he lost his wife. That has to be a horribly, awful pain and hurt that no one who has never lost a spouse can understand. I sent him a sympathy card. What was so sad, is that I signed it with all four of our names, but felt I had better put a little side note that started “Dad”…..so he would know who I was. I know he has no clue of my husband’s name, or even that of his grandchildren. It is just so sad. So very, very sad.

But, I do not want to end this post on a negative note. I did get much done today. My carpets are all cleaned on the main floor and I re-arranged the furniture in the family room. I removed the coffee table to open up the room for the kids to be able to play and found a better place to store their books. It will definitely take me some time to get use to the new layout, but I will like it. It seems so much warmer and cozier in here now…..which is the look I was going for!! WOOT WOO!!!!

There are others who talk badly about my behind my back. I will let them. I am not doing anything wrong. I do not talk about them, I do not wish them ill will. I feel sorry for them in reality. Sorry that they have nothing better to talk about than me. Awwww….guess that means they really DO love me! LOL!!!

And it isn’t that I would not LOVE a son just as dearly as a daughter, I just really want another little girl. I want Emma to have a sister. And while they may not get along while they grow up, I would hope and pray they are great friends when they are older….something I now greatly miss that my sister is gone.

Ultimately, however, the MOST important thing is that this baby is born healthy and that the surgery goes well for me. In the grand scheme of things, that is all that really matters after all.

I have not told Tim anything about these predictions….I am going to wait until September, see what happens and then show him! The most interesting thing about the most recent prediction is this: DATE: September 14, 2008 WEIGHT: 8 lbs 4 oz. Emma was born on September 13, 2004 and her weight was 8 lbs 1 oz. All I pray is that my children do NOT share the same birthday…….please, please, please.

Want a prediction? Check out these two sites: Cheri22 and Jennifer! GOOD LUCK TO YOU TOO!!!

Emma doesn’t want to look up at the camera. Or she doesn’t smile. Or it is a cheesy smile. I usually have to end up BRIBING her to get her to sit for me. I HATE to do that, but I want a decent picture….so if I have to buy her a little something…it is very well worth it!

Now, normally, Garrett is good for pics. But today, he was hungry or something and kept sucking on his fingers, whining and crawling for mommy.

But somehow, the gals at Penney’s always manage to catch that one moment where they are both smiling or at least looking at the camera at the same time! So I did get some pretty decent pictures…..and they will work. I will be able to tell the kids all about how they acted when they are older and look at the pics. And then, happily remind them “wait until you have kids of your own and try to do this.”

Well, then after I buy my pics, I begin to feel guilty. I splurged and got a Sepia of each of them up close….gorgeous pics of both of them. I decided to put them in my bathroom temporarily and then this fall, I will update with bathtub pics of each of them. Each pic was $25…which really isn’t bad and considering that I got 14 sheets of pics PLUS those two for only $70, I still did pretty well….but mama guilt always takes over.

I know that party has to do with our debt snowball and how hard we are working to get rid of this darn debt that we have. While it is rapidly diminishing each month as we make extra payments, it still is hard for me to buy ANYTHING….even with the cash is budgeted for me to do it. I am so excited for the day I will get to post here WE’RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!

I love to hear her make up her little songs about chickens and cows. But the best has to be when she says she wants to make up her disco songs. She gets up and mumbles words to her own music and beat….but always shakes her little hips from side to side. That little body dancing around the room is just so adorable.

I will say that she has also grown up so much in the maturity department too. I can’t even really remember the last temper tantrum she has thrown nor even when we had to put her into time out. Now, we just go right to losing TV or a toy when she does something mean to her brother…..and that has done the trick. Now, she may get upset with something, but she just cries and doesn’t throw the tantrum or pull “drama queen” on me. It certainly has made our home much more peaceful and I can feel it too. I do not feel as angry or on edge all of the time.

Now, I realize that having 3 kids will be OK……since I don’t have to deal with her daily meltdowns.

Garrett also is getting to be such a big boy. We did have to get shots yesterday at the doctor and that always breaks my heart. But he is babbling even more, cruising more and becoming more snuggly with each passing day. I know that soon enough he will be talking and walking. And while I am anxious to witness those major milestones, I don’t want him to grow up too fast.

Garrett turned one year old yesterday! I just can’t believe that another year has gone by!! We tried to keep it really simple for his party. We invited only a few people, BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs, opened gifts and had some cake.

Now I have to talk about this cake. I saw a picture and thought that I could do the same thing as these other people. It took me 2 hours to bake and prepare the cakes and about 3 hours to decorate them….but BOY….they sure looked cute!!

Now, Garrett was DEFINITELY not afraid to tackle his cake…..but it did take him a little persuasion…..but once he got going…..he demolished it! LOL!!! We had to kind of push his fingers into the icing……but isn’t he just ADORABLE with those crumbs all over??!!

It was definitely bittersweet for me. I was in awe that he was a year old, but I know that he will never have another first birthday again. He is just growing up so quickly and it makes me just really take stock in what is important where my children are concerned. I am trying to not sweat the small stuff and just ENJOY them for who they are. I want them to grow up to be well adjusted, happy adults who know who they are and what they want out of life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARRETT!!!! Mommy, Daddy and Emma love you so much and we are so proud of how big you have gotten over the past year!