Dahbye and Dahpop

I think my mom and dad (dahbye and dahpop, sometimes dahpoff) are Marcus' new favorite people. When we arrived in Vegas, it was really late and my dad had already gone to bed, so while he was able to see dahbye, he couldn't see dahpop, not for the lack of asking though. The next morning, my dad was at work so the poor kid didn't get to see him then either. When my dad finally got home, Marcus was so cute and ran to him and gave him a huge hug.

Now days, everything is about dahbye and dahpop. Marcus is always asking for my dad and always wants my mom to hold him. It's so dang cute!! Yesterday we went to Coldstone while my mom was at work, so we brought her some. She went on break just as we walked in and Marcus went running for her and gave her a huge hug with a big "Dahbye!!" as a greeting. Tonight we went out to get a few thing and when we got back, Marcus pushed the doorbell over and over. My dad popped his head out of the door and Marcus got this huge grin on his face (he was asking for him the entire time we were gone) and said "Hiiiiiiii, Dahpoff". It was so cute. Love that kid.

Jamesen is still warming up to them. He's getting use to being here though. He's sleeping a lot better. The first few nights were really rough. I'm so thankful Sabe was here for me to be able to elbow and say "It's your turn" to when I had already gotten up a few times. We're adjusting pretty well, though soon we'll have to say bye bye to daddy for a few months :(

I've done it before, but I was pregnant with Marcus at the time, so the boys haven't. The only thing close to is was the year in Kentucky when they'd go for a few days at a time without seeing Sabe. That was hard enough! At least we have dahbye, dahpop and their huge back yard with their new swingset to help me entertain them for the next couple weeks! It's almost finished! Just need us to buy one part that we're missing and then it'll be all finished! I'll post some pics then. That's a whole other blog post :)

Helloooooo Las Vegas!

Here I sit in Las Vegas where it's roughly 55 degrees. The kids played out in my mom's sandbox all afternoon and dug around in the dirt some too. No heavy coats/mittens/hats, no frozen fingers/noses and no complaining about it being cold from anybody!

It's been awhile getting here! The last few days have been long and stressful, though spotted by a few really awesome things as well.

Sabe and I didn't have much furniture when we left Kentucky. The place we were living in was fully furnished, so we threw away our ragged old couch, tossed aside our dinky table, used our sad excuse for a bed as a guest bed and took full advantage of their dresser since we didn't own one. Living with the good stuff for a year made us realize what a predicament we were in. We decided that almost all of our tax refund this year was going towards new furniture. We were planning on waiting to buy anything until we got to where we were going. That is... until I saw an ad on facebook for a local furniture store going out of business. Sabe and I decided to go down there and check it out, in the off chance we would find something good.

The first thing we saw when we walked in were couches, and none of them were what we were looking for. A bit discouraged, we moved on to the tables and found one we loved but were a bit iffy on the price that it had tagged. From there we moved on to the beds and found a set that I loved immediately! We talked it over and decided that we would ask a sale's rep about the price and what not and decide from there. The price that he told me made my jaw drop. It was a 5 piece bedroom set including a bed, a dresser, a mirror and two night stands for $600. That was 60% off! It was too much of a steal for me to say no, so we signed the papers and got it, along with a mattress/box spring set for $300. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves when we went to pick the items up (after getting Sabe's truck) but I had a nagging feeling about the table. We really liked and it and I knew I was never going to find another deal like 60% off, so I had Sabe ask how much it was. The table and 6 chairs was $700. Another steal we couldn't say no to, so we gobbled it up as well.

I'm still riding the high of spending only $1700 on almost everything that we needed to get. I was expecting it to be way more than that for everything we got. We had to upgrade our storage unit though, so we called in some favors and were able to move all of it in just a few hours. Thanks Skylar and Aaron!

News on my missing laptop isn't so great. They still don't know where it is and it's starting to really irritate me, especially since I've got a ton of stuff piling up on me that need photoshop to get done. Hopefully they find it soon. If they don't, I'll be pushing for a new one!

The drive down was relatively good. We left a little late at about 7 pm last night. I was hoping that the boys would sleep most of the way if we left that late and we had the dvd players for when they were awake. That didn't really go to plan... Marcus passed out about half an hour into the drive and slept for about 2 hours so it took FOREVER for him to go to sleep last night. Luckily though, he was very happy and cheerful the entire time he was awake. Jamesen stayed awake for the first 3.5 hours, slept for about 45 minutes and then screamed the last 45. As much as it's hard to drive with a screaming baby (especially when you know that it will be much better to just push forward and get there so you can take them out and leave them out), it could have been so much worse! He was so happy and giggly before he fell asleep. He doesn't normally like long car rides, so I was very thankful for that.

Time went a lot faster for me when it was dark than when it's light. I've driven during the day quite a few times and it never went that fast for me. I was pleasantly surprised when we got over the hill and saw Vegas like a sea of lights in front of us. That was the best drive down to Vegas I've ever had with the boys! What a nice change.

We're adjusting well and have everything already settled in it's new place, ready for the next few months and loving this warm weather! Can't wait to get my lappy back so I can share some pics with you!

Laptop Woes

My laptop was lost on it's way to get fixed. Apparently the guy that sent it out, sent it to the wrong place. Here's the part that confuses me... I called the place it was supposed to be at and they said they didn't have it, so I called the place that shipped it (a local Radioshack) and they said they got an email saying that it wasn't under warranty. I called my warranty place and said that it indeed was under warranty, with a year to spare even, so with them on the phone, we conference called the Radioshack and talked to the manager who said she couldn't find it. She was the same person who told me she got the email, so obviosly whoever sent the email has the laptop right?? You'd think.. That was all on Monday. They said they would track it down and give me a call back. I didn't get a call back and I forgot to call until yesterday and they told me "We're still trying to track it down. We'll call you when we do, or you can try calling back in a few days."

Wow, what a vote of confidence! I'm amazed they can't find it, a week after I was supposed to have it back. That Monday I called, I was expecting them to tell me that it was done and was being shipped back to the Radioshack. Not that it was lost en route and that not only is it lost, but it still has to be found and fixed before I can get it back.

I wasn't planning on not having my laptop. I've done a shoot and have another one right before I leave. Those pics are going to have to just in my camera with the others of the boys that I've taken for awhile I guess. It's a good thing Sabe just let me buy another memory card!

I guess the only bad thing in this situation is that it's taking so long to get my lappy back. If they can't find it, they'll have to get me a new one, so it's not like I'll really be losing anything but time. Though time is money, and it's really irritating!

Wow, sorry I just realized my few posts have been complogging posts. I'll cut that out quick ;)

What a Thursday

It's kind of funny to me that I'm writing about how my day is when it's only 10:30 in the morning. Usually I write about the day before, or a day a few days past. That should tell you how my day is going.

If you follow me on facebook, you know I've been posting about a Meltdown Marathon that's been going on in this house. I wonder if Jamesen is finally catching on to the fact that we're moving and it's stressing him out or if maybe he's catching onto MY stress of the fact that I'm still here and not magically where the army will be sending us already.

This meltdown marathon is actually quite comical to me. Really the only way I can get through a day like this is to see the humor in it. I've been trying to look at the situation from Jamesen's point of view when writing the "episodes" that are currently playing. Like "How dare you change my poopy diaper?!", "I was enjoying drawing on the walls with that, thank you very much!" and "I've hidden all my binkies and will now scream until you find one".

Living in Kentucky where it was all me all the time taking care of these kids, I've really learned that the more I stress, the more they act out and freak out. It helps all of us have a better day if I don't stress stuff little stuff. For example... Jamesen and Marcus are coloring and all is quiet for the first time since breakfast. I look over and Jamesen is (yet again) nibbling on a crayon inbetween is wondrous art making. You know what? They're non toxic. Guess he's gonna have some very colorful teeth for the rest of the day since the silence is glorious... and still going since I didn't take the crayons away!

One box, two box, three box, four

As the boxes start piling up, the boys have rediscovered the world... All of the sudden their world is filled with these weird jungle gyms that do nothing but call their names and beg to be scaled. I've had to take careful care to immediately move a box of breakables or fragiles out of the way. It's like having vultures watching me, waiting for their prey. They sit there and watch as I carefully fill the box like I'm playing tetris, frantically try to keep them out of said box while I try to find the tape I had to hide from them two seconds before, tape it up and set it aside. Then begins the free for all game of whoever can get to the top of the box first wins, with pushing and shoving allowed.

Usually it's filled with giggles and wild cackles of laughter as they pull and tug on each other, desperate to get to the top first. We did have a pretty big spill yesterday though. I think Marcus is finding out that while Jamesen is almost 2 years younger, he's almost the same size, and can very much take care of himself. Marcus pushed Jamesen out of the way, so Jamesen retaliated by grabbing the bottom of Marcus' shirt and pulling as hard as he could. He was successful getting Marcus down, though "down" meant on top of himself. It would have been funny had they not cracked heads together. Well, I still laughed... a little.

I'm also amazed at how many crafting supplies I've got. I've got oodles of yarn, all of it going towards projects that have either been long forgotten about, or are partly finished. My mom and I are planning on opening an etsy shop soon and that's what everything is going to. I'm sure we'll be cranking stuff out once I get down there. Hope I can remember what I bought everything for! I've also got some stockings I'm making for Sabe's brother and his wife, headbands to make, parts of tutu dresses, etc. I'll be getting my major craft on down in Vegas for sure!

Another thing we have a ton of? DVD's. We've got 4 big diaper boxes filled with DVDs and another one that's half full, waiting for a few more things before it can be taped shut. Sabe's a movie buying addict. He would buy movies every day if they were $10 or less. Sometimes he DOES do that, and of course they're usually some shoot 'em up movie that has the same story line as the last one. We'll have a complete library of those and military related movies here soon!

Though I have to say, these last few days of being here are dragging, hard core so I'm glad for the packing distraction. I'm so looking forward to warm weather and playing outside for hours at a time rather than just a few minutes. I'm so ready for wiggles to be let out accompanied with giggles rather than screams of sibling rivalry or stuck in the house blues {insert screaming now}. I'm so ready for kids that are so pooped from a hard day of playing that they sleep like angels. Best of all, I'm so ready for two weeks of having daddy off work before he goes. That will make the boys so happy. They're gonna miss daddy so much. I'm sure we'll be having plenty of "Pan-cake? Appuh juice?" as Marcus says when he wants to go to IHOP, seeing as how going out to breakfast is a favorite past time of ours. And last but not least, getting my laptop back and getting back into taking pictures. What a great time we'll have in Vegas!

A Boy and his Galoshes

The title that I really wanted to write was, a boy and his little brother's galoshes envy that sparked such wild and violent sibling rivalry so intense that mom had absolutely no choice but to buy little brother a pair of galoshes as well, taking great care to make sure that they were different in every way possible from big brother's or that would spark more protectiveness from big brother and his possessive tendencies towards his beloved fireman rain boots.


Keep your head up Jamesen, one day Marcus will grow out of his fireman rain boots causing me to buy him a new pair (since they're a hot commodity in our house!) and they will fall to you, since you just happen to grow up in his hand me downs :)

Let the Packing Begin!

I have been living in this basement for far too long. It's really hard to live in someone else's house, always following their rules and doing things their way when you've got a family to look after and all of that. Add that on to the fact that we thought we were going to be gone last August. It's now February, and we won't be moving for the army for another few months yet. But Sabe's going to training and I'm done living in this basement, so I'm moving in with my parents for a few months until we really move.

I can't even tell you how I wish I could blink and have it be time to move into our own house. That will be a wonderful day. I love my parents and can't wait to spend time with them, but living with parents or inlaws just isn't the same as living on your own, especially when you've got kids. It puts on so much more stress with every kid you have.

While I'll miss my couple of mommy friends here, I'm so ready to leave. I'm so ready to start a new chapter and spend time with MY family. I've got a niece down in Vegas that I've not even met yet so I can't wait for that either.

The good thing about moving when you've been living in a basement though, is that you can't bring all your stuff into the basement, so most of our stuff is already packed and in the storage unit we'll be keeping for a bit. We just need to figure out what stuff we'll be taking down to Vegas (which won't be much because we'll be in a smaller space) and then put everything else into the storage unit as well. Packing is easy when you've been living off of barely any of your stuff, lol!

Anyways, sorry for my rambling, I'm just very excited that the packing stage has even started. I'm so ready to leave!

And if you didn't see it in my last post, I stole an idea from a friend of mine who has a private blog. Here's an update blog for you to stick in your blog list that will link you directly to my new posts found HERE