Teaholic not quite anonymous

Happy 2009 to everyone! I guess, as a country, a lot of people are glad to leave 2008 behind. I keep hearing, "It can't get worse." Errr... let's not tempt fate, shall we? Sure, 2008 was a rough year overall for our country--housing, economy, still at war, etc... but it can always be worse so let's not tempt fate.

2008 was a very good year for us in the Jackson family. Our family continues to be happy and healthy as does most of our extended family. Our biggest changes this year was selling our townhouse in about 2 weeks in a bad market and buying our single family house without many/if any glitches. Of course, adding to our family is also tops on the list, too. Adrian is a hoppin' and poppin'. This pregnancy is going well although it is taking more of a toll on me than when I had my Maddy. My veins are worse, my nausea was worse and I'm more achy. But overall, it's going well and I'm very blessed for that! We're starting to make our list and check it twice on needed baby items (not that we need THAT much, but there are still a few things). We sold my car and purchased a minivan this year. Yikes, I am officially a minivan mom. But I have to say, the perks of the van are great--can't beat the doors that open by themselves with the keyfob!

Matt's year at work has been good overall. He had a few really big projects this year that went well and he still enjoys his job and the challenges that come with it.

Maddy is growing like a weed. Looking back at last year's Christmas pictures and her developmental growth is just crazy. I don't realize how big she's getting until I turn on the videos of her from last year on our photo/video gallery online. Every day she comes up with something new that makes me giggle.

Our pets are doing well. Sure, since Joe has become diabetic they have been a bit more high maintenance than before with scheduled feedings and shots. Not to mention, a bit more expensive in the vet visits if we have incidents. But they are both still loving cats. Yes, Ruthie thinks she owns my side of the bed at night and either climbs under the covers with me at night or lays on top of my head on my pillow. And Joe must be feeling better as he now chases his sister around as soon as we turn off all the lights to go to bed. But they do make life a little more interesting.

Matt turned 30 in 2008 and I turned 31. I don't know quite when we grew up, but we sure did! Of course, it's the natural progression of life but there are still days when I feel like I'm still a Junior in college student teaching and taking classes. Or there are days when I feel like it's just Matt and I and I'm still teaching full-time. They seem just like yesterday in some ways and sooooo far away in others. But, if you asked me where I saw myself in 10 years in 1999, you'd find me saying--right where I am today--graduated from college, successfully been a teacher for years, married to Matt and staying home with our kids. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Probably back at work since the kids will be in school (and Maddy will be 13, yikes!).

What does this year hold??? Well, Adrian's birth at the end of March or early April. I need to get on taking two classes for renewal for my teaching license for VA. Maddy and I are taking some classes this quarter and sometime between now and next fall she will be starting preschool. Everything else will be surprises!

Of course, this is all God willing. Matt was talking last night about how fragile our earth is and how it is a bit scary that we added another second to our year last year because of the 'wacky' thing the earth did to add it. I reminded him that while the Earth is fragile and we need to do our best to take care of it, God holds us all in his hands and the Earth will only do things that he is willing to allow. He has a plan for all of us and our time here. He has a plan for our Earth and while we may not understand it or know why it happens, it's not mass chaos out there. God doesn't ignore us, he knows what's happening at every second in our hearts, lives, cities, countries and our world. Things may seem out of control and God said there would be hard times towards the end of the Earth's existence (and in God time, I bet we're pretty close to the end whether we still have a million years or not), but he's there for us.

Our New Years Eve went well! We went over to Josh and Karri's for dinner. Maddy had a blast watching Wii Guitar Band. She did NOT want to go home at 7:45 but went straight to sleep after she got home. Matt and I played some Wii and watched some TV and were in bed by 12:15. Maddy was up at 6 this morning and I got up with her. Matt is still asleep. Today I want to start taking down Christmas decorations and make some banana bread. Matt is off of work through the weekend and that will be so nice! He wants to work in the garage some even though it's supposed to be cold (30's) over the next few days.

I'm starving so it's time to make some breakfast! Happy New Year Everyone!!! Resolutions to follow--maybe. :-)

Tea of the day: Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla White Chai tea

So Matt and I have decided on Adrian for baby boy Jackson. We both like it, it's a good fit. It's amazing to me how popular names show up sometimes on lists... Take for instance the top 5 names for boys according to babycenter.com:

1 Aiden
2 Jayden
3 Ethan
4 Jacob
5 Caden

Do you see all the -an's and -en's? Funniest thing is that I was looking for names with either an an or en ending. I just liked the sound of it with the rest of his name. Now Adrian isn't on the list until number 89, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it come up higher in the next few years. Add in some of the 'newer' names that are coming around for boys this year are ones I also considered a bit. (They are way down on the list.) But still, to find 3 out of 7 are ones I thought weren't bad names, that's pretty impressive! Who knew I was so trendy? By the way, all these names I'm talking about I came up with on my own without help from any books or the internet.

The same thing happened with Madeline. When we named her in 2004 her name was number 46 on babycenter.com , now it's number 7!!! Holy cow!

Anyway, that's all for now.... adios!

So today I had my doctor's appointment for my glucose test. I didn't almost pass out the way I did with Maddy's test. Either that means that I like sugar more than I did with Maddy or maybe my blood sugar is higher than last time. Last time I was two points from being too low! It was actually a rather nice time! I took along some magazines and I had my iphone and headphones so I listened to some good music and watched some podcasts. I thought I'd have an hour wait from the time that I drank the orange drink and had my blood drawn/had my doctor's appointment. But they got me in during the wait period for my appointment so when I had my blood drawn I was done.

Maddy and I made brownies tonight. It was fun and she really loved 'em. Really, there's not a whole lot else to say! We have playgroup tomorrow morning and sooner or later I want to make a Target run. But the weather has been so yucky (rain and temps close to freezing so I've avoided going out a lot).

Anyway, I'll post more tomorrow!

Haven't been around a lot since there hasn't been much to say, really! Thursday was a very busy morning but fun. Matt was supposed to work late that night so Maddy and I were going to do a lot in the morning to keep us preoccupied. Originally, we were going to go to Walmart first thing and then to playgroup at 10. But I noticed Matt's laptop bag by the front door that he forgot because he had his hands full. So when I called he asked if I could drop it off. Of course, that took up our time to go to Walmart as planned. So after playgroup (where Maddy had a ton of fun) we went to Walmart to get the few things we needed. But of course I couldn't walk out without a few things that we didn't need, too. They still had their toys out from Christmas so I wound up picking up three different items for Maddy for really cheap since it was on clearance. One was a car set that works great on her ikea car mat, another was a construction set that she loves to play with and the last was an outdoor explorer set that had binoculars and telescope along with other things. She really liked 'em all and the price was definitely right! After Walmart we went to Target to have pizza for lunch and then home for a late nap.

Matt wound up not working late, so that was nice, too.

Yesterday we did stuff around the house mainly. It was nice to get some stuff done and just hang out. Today I'm going to Karri's for Girl's Night Out and Matt is having Josh (Karri's husband) and Carl over here for Guys Night In. It'll be nice to hang out with the girls some! Of course, now I'm trying to clean up a little bit around here since we are having people over night and Carl hasn't been to our house. It would be good to not have a mess!

Today was my day to sleep in and it was really nice not waking up until almost 9. Then Matt and Maddy went out to pick up Mc Donalds for breakfast. I still have yet to get a shower but I need to get moving here pretty soon! I've cleaned a lot of the main floor but I really need to get on some other stuff but am waiting for Matt to get done working on whatever it is he is.

Oh, Matt sent me a IM about a great deal on a rocking chair from Sur La Table yesterday--a kid's rocking chair that was 60 is going for 10! I bought two. And shipping was only $7, too! I was very impressed. Now Adrian and Maddy will have matching chairs. Kinda cute!

Okey Dokey, I need to get a move on. I still have laundry to put away one day!

So I haven't mentioned much about either of these for a while and they both deserve some recognition.

I was talking with my playgroup moms the other day and I realize how very lucky I am to have Matt for a husband (besides all the normal husbandly things--changing cat litter, taking out trash, unclogging drains, mowing lawn) he also is SO GOOD about giving me downtime. Not only downtime in the house to myself but also getting me out of the house to do things on my own or with friends. Having a mom's group really helps that along since we have regularly scheduled Mom Night Outs and Coffee nights, but Matt has NEVER ever once given me grief about going to these. In fact, he always pushes me to go and offers help however he can to get me to go (making sure he's home on time from work, etc), offering to help clean if I want to host.... Plus, he'll often ask me at 6:00 if I want to have a friend or two over for coffee or to just hang out after Maddy's in bed at 8. "Why don't you give 'em a call? See if they want to come over??" Add in, for Christmas this year I received both a pottery certificate and also a day spa certificate--both for times away from the house by myself. I truly appreciate how great he is about getting me out.

Maddy has also been doing an awesome job lately! She's been doing a MUCH better job eating with us and trying all the different foods I've been cooking. I feel like she's getting much more well-rounded meals now. She's eating a better breakfast and eating dinners just great. Lunches still tend to be hurried kid-comfort foods (mac and cheese, hot dogs, etc) but she's doing GREAT eating. She's also been doing a fabulous job sleeping, too! Our bedtime routine is shortened, she almost never calls anymore after we put her in bed before she falls asleep and it's a rarity when she calls during the night anymore, too! She's also been sleeping pretty regularly to at least 6:30-7:30 instead of the usual 6. Add in most of the time it's until about 7!! It's been heavenly! Plus, she's been such a great helper, too. I've started to give her more responsibility around the house--helping unload the dishwasher, matching socks, putting things away, helping feed the cats, etc.... She's always very willing and does a nice job with it all, too (and what isn't quite right I make sure she doesn't see me fix. ;-)) I'm so impressed with what a little girl she's become!

Okey dokey, off to dust the basement some and maybe clean the bathroom a bit down there before Matt has the guys over here tonight. Then I need to start making my list of things I need to do before Adrian comes! It's not that much farther away!

Monday Maddy started a new class--a beginning phonics class through the county. It's not too bad. I'm hoping it speeds up some as the teacher seems a bit discombobulated. But it was the first class, so here's hoping that she can get her act together. I tend not to have much patience with slow teachers. :-) But none-the-less...Maddy liked it. We had our snack after class as always. Maddy received a nice compliment from a grandmother who came with her daughter and granddaughter to class. It was sweet and Maddy said thank you.

Tuesday night Maddy went ice skating for the first time. She was horrible at it. :-) She loved every second spent with Daddy though. Matt did really well holding her up considering he's not much of a skater! They made it around two times before it was time to go home. I took some pics, so go check out Maddy's gallery! Matt's back wasn't even pulled out the next day so I was pretty glad about that. I made Matt take advil right away when we got home though. So I'm sure that helped.

Wednesday morning we drove Matt to work and had to be out of the house by 8. OH MY I thought I was going to die. How am I going to get Maddy to preschool next year on time?? Seriously, we were running around with our head chopped off. Of course, we'll find a routine and find short cuts but it seems like a long time ago that I was able to get to work by 6:45 in the morning!

Today Maddy and I went to Chuck-e-cheese. Again, I wanted to be out of the house at 9:40 but didn't make it out until 10:10. Then again, I did a load of laundry and both Maddy and I got a shower. Maddy had a great time at Chuck-e-cheese. We even cashed in her tickets afterwards and she picked up a few little toys that kept her preoccupied on the way home.

I made a few purchases lately-- a set of hardwood rocking chairs for the kids for $27 total and also a new backpack which will be a diaper bag for about $30. I looked at backpack diaperbags and none of them were quite what I wanted so I went searching for a backpack instead. I found it for about $10 cheaper than you can buy in the stores so I feel good about the purchase.

Ok, well, time to throw a pizza in the oven for dinner. Then off to read with the kiddo! Have a good rest of the day everyone!

So I was reading parents magazine today and noticed some recycled products you can buy that are made out of old water bottles. Cool idea. I'm all for easy ways to save the environment. (Note the word easy--don't put me out too much though!)

Anyway, here's the list:
A dog bed: $68
Plastic tea set for kids: $25
Mod Pod Changing kit: $48
Eco Pack (backpack): $50

Errr..... Uhm.... These are all made out of USED materials right? Shouldn't I be getting a BARGAIN because I'm buying 'second hand' goods? Where is the bargain? These are atrociously priced! I mean, if people really wanted us to follow through about carrying about the environment first they need to make their prices more REASONABLE if not CHEAPER than what you can find on the shelves that don't use recycled goods.

Anyway, in this economy please tell me who's going to buy a $68 dog bed over a $14 they can get at Walmart. Supply and demand people. Wake up and see the economy--time to reprice your goods or simply let old water bottles be made into NEW water bottles.

So yesterday morning Maddy had a ballet class at our local rec center. She was absolutely so excited for it! We arrived right on time, teacher went over some instructions and then ushered the parents OUT of the room.

Uh. I wasn't expecting this.

It did not say in the brochure that this was a drop off class and most times they are very good at saying which is which! However, Maddy did a fabulous job!! We waited in the hallway and peaked in a lot of the time and it was fun to watch them participating but Maddy did great. It's definitely another sign that she is ready for preschool! Speaking of, I've started looking into ones for the fall and have a few in mind. I need to start the preregister process soon and I think I'll do the registration at 2. I'm thinking 3 days a week starting in fall. I may or may not do the daycare preschool in spring/summer depending on how things go with her and the baby and whether or not she could use the break away from the house. We'll see.

This morning Matt, Maddy and I made our lists of things that need to get done and it was a divide and conquer list. Except.... he took the backpack that still had my wallet in it. I was absolutely dressed to leave when I realized it. I'm just glad I didn't go do all the shopping I needed to do and then get to the cash register and realize I didn't have my wallet. I have the checkbook but that probably wouldn't do much good without ID.

So now they are on their way home and we're all going to go together to get a few things done. We have a dinner out tonight with the families we have playgroup with and tonight is a chinese theme. I'm not quite sure exactly what I'm going to make yet, but I still need to get the ingredients, hence the trip out. It's cold today! Not as cold as WI but definitely the coldest it's been around here in quite a while.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Our first family night out went well last night! Maddy really enjoyed her time with the other kids and even ate pretty well overall. It was nice chit-chatting with the other adults (minus kid interruptions of course). It was nice that we're hanging out with other people who also have kids so we all know the routine and how kids are. It was a fun family outing! Thanks again Tina for hosting!

Us moms have started talking about Mom's night out! It's one of the first times, honestly! It's about time! We've been getting together for over a year and a half now, you'd think we would have thought about this before now! :)

And it's been a few days, I thought I better write. :)

Well, I can say that we've officially started on Adrian's room. On Sunday we stopped at Lowes and Walmart for a few things. Matt bought the ceiling fan for Adrian's room and installed it on Sunday with Maddy's help. (She's quite the little helper.) We've picked out the paint color for the room and still need to buy shades/drapes for it since it still has the original sheers from when we moved in. The crib is set up and I've washed the infant seat cover. We need to buy a dresser for his room along with some more boy's clothing necessities. I need to sort through our other stuff as well, baby blankets and the like to see if we need anything for boy stuff.

Monday was a very, very nice day by all accounts for me. I slept in and then Matt made breakfast for the house. Then I went out shopping while he took Maddy to class. I stopped at Payless for Maddy's ballet shoes. Turns out the cheap ones that I bought will not cut it for the class. Irks me since the reason she needs the good ones is because the teacher doesn't want them to slip. But if you look at the soles of both feet you'll see that it's basically the same material. I did buy them in a bit larger size. Ballet shoes are supposed to be 'tight'. Well, uh, my kid is not going to be a prima ballerina and we're taking classes for fun. So if I can make this pair last for another class I will be thrilled. While I was there I did a bit of shopping for myself, too and wound up with three pair of cute shoes (red, brown, black), all at least 30% off. They are all pretty casual but cute. The nicest part was just having some bandwidth to look around!

Same thing went for Target. I was there for a few essentials, but ultimately went through the whole store doing some shopping. I found a lot of great deals on baby boy booties, a set of onsies, etc... Amazing what I can find when I actually slow down enough to look! It was a lot of fun. After Target I went out to Wendy's for a quick lunch and played around with my iPhone some while eating. Altogether it was a quite an enjoyable time.

Tuesday we watched the Election on TV. We were quite glad not to go into DC for it when I saw the crowds of people. I can't even imagine being in that mess! Of course now all the conservative liberal-haters come out to play on places like Facebook. Some are even counting the days until Obama is out of office. Dude, can we at last give the guy a chance to screw up before people want him out? Were they that disillusioned by Bush? I mean, talk about needing to get a guy out of office and counting down the days--I think Bush probably wins by a long shot on that one--at least for the time being! (Not that I blame Bush for everything. I think he has his fair share of blame, but I also think he was made a scapegoat for a lot of stuff too. But I guess the old saying is true, "The buck stops here.")

Maddy started sneezing on Tuesday and I felt that she was coming down with a cold. Tuesday night I had Bunco and that was a lot of fun, too. Yesterday was hard. Maddy was runny and snotty a lot of the day. We did a lot of laying around coloring, reading books, watching TV--basically trying to keep her still. She slept all night until 4:45 when she woke up with a fever and dry heaving from the snot in her nose. We all got up for a bit, got some more meds into her and had her sip some hot mint herbal tea to help clear out the junk. Now she's back in bed although not asleep. We'll see if she falls back asleep or not.

Of course, today is the day we have closing on our refinancing the house! Would make sense, right? It's at noon so at least it's not during nap but we will be home late for lunch/nap so I really do hope Maddy gets at least a little bit of sleep between now and 9 am. Now is a great time to refinancing if you can!

Well, other than that, not much new here. Thought I'd take a few minutes at 6 this morning while I drink my tea and listen for Maddy.

Tea of the day: Mighty Leaf Orange Deluce

Our first babysitting experience with our teenage neighbor went JUST fine. Maddy loved it, no issues. We were still home for bedtime routine and I fed her dinner before we left--so it was basically just playing. But it went well!!!

:)

But let's focus on the snow, shall we?? :-)

It started snowing this morning! I was so excited to see it. I slept horribly last night so Matt was very kind to let me sleep in until 8. I REALLY needed it. However, it presented a conundrum when I got up at 8. I had a doctor's appointment at 9:45 at the hospital complex and I did NOT think I could get Maddy and I ready and out the door in less than an hour. I knew the drive there would be crazy and then parking with construction and then the walk in... So I called in and said I wasn't coming. At the same time I told them that I was switching doctor's offices and needed my records. So after that was said and done we took a much lazier morning getting ready. Matt also called me on his drive in and told me I was making the right decision and that it was pretty bad out there.

So Maddy and I had chocolate chip pancakes (her request) and then we went outside to play in the snow! I shoveled and it felt really good honestly. I love to shovel. I've been achy all night because of it, but I guess that's what happens when I haven't worked out for 7 months. :-( Maddy loved packing snow into a bucket, throwing snow balls and making foot prints in the snow. We had a blast. We came inside and had hot chocolate. (Of course.)

Her nap was pretty short and with my bad sleep last night I was counting down the hours until she fell asleep tonight. Speaking of, I am hoping to be in bed in the next 25 minutes. At least to read a magazine or something.

I made some pretty awesome chili tonight. I even made cornbread as a side. Whoo whoo! We were supposed to have it last night but I forgot to get it in the crockpot fast enough. Oops.

Here's hoping things clear up tomorrow night fast enough that I can meet my mom friends for Thai!! We'll see. I don't want to blow it off just yet, but it's not looking very good right now.

Ok, have a great night all! Oh, I uploaded pics of Maddy outside today to our gallery, so go check it out!

So tonight was my first Mom's Night Out with my playgroup moms. It was a really nice time! It's great seeing them and having conversations without kids around. Amazing how many new things you really learn! :-) You'd think in the year and a half we've been meeting by now we'd have known some of this stuff.

After moms night out I went to Target and picked up a hair color. Yep, I'm dying my hair brown again. We'll see if it lasts for more than 2 days this time. :-)

I called Karen while at Target to see if she wanted to meet up for coffee and we went to explore a new coffee place but it was closed. So anyway, we came back to my place and Matt made her a pina colada and chips and we just hung out for a bit and talked. Also very fun! The roads weren't that bad at all (unless you count Karen's driveway, but that was more fun than anything else).

Have a good one! Tomorrow AM we have playgroup and then class on Friday and MNO that night!

Maddy had her second ballet class yesterday! She missed the real second one because of her cold. But she had such a blast! I was pleased that her tights worked out well that I had to cut off. They can't wear footed tights since they are too slippery if they need to take off their ballet shoes. But I likeed the heavy weight of her tights and didn't wanted to spend the money on footless tights. So I bought iron on hem seem stuff and cut off her tights and used that. It took two minutes but really worked well. Her size 9 ballet shoes fit great. We wound up having to buy the 'good' ones for class instead of the ones you can buy at Target. But she had so much fun at class. She was a very good listener and followed directions really well. Again, she had no issues parting from mommy!

Last night we had mom's night out. It ended a bit early, midnight, which is early on most counts. But it was a lot of fun! As always, we sat around and gabbed, ate and drank. Well, not me of course--at least on the last count. I didn't have much issue with the eating part. :-)

But anyway, I've put up some pictures! Go check 'em out!