On the mend

My poor little Avery. Thankfully, my sweet guy hasn't thrown up in hours and has kept down 16 oz of Gatorade and Zofran. Hoping this is the end of this stomach virus in our house! Next week, we r getting started with school! I'm excited about it!

Poor babies

Well, my poor babies are sick:( Matthew woke up with the stomach virus last Thursday. We sanitized, cleaned, washed laundry, drank grape with grapefruit seed extract, etc... Anything we could do to prevent anyone else from getting it. I was about to take a sigh of relief when Avery woke me up at 315, puking. Poor little guy. Here we go again! Prayers are appreciated:) 

Back again

Hey everyone, not sure if u noticed but I'm off Facebook and won't be getting back on. I am going to try to keep the pictures coming on my blog and since I can post with my i phone, hopefully at least a couple times a week.
We are all doing well and here are some pics of the boys waking up this am.
Shaw just took the boys on their last camping and Clemson game weekend and, of course, they had a blast! Shaw told me that Matthew ate so many peanuts and then drank a whole Gatorade so fast that he actually threw up! He thought this was hilarious! I thought it was gross, but the boys thought it was funny too!
My posts may just be mostly funny little stories and pics since I am going to be trying to keep the fam up to date on the boys sweetness and funniness!
We r getting ready for Thanksgiving, I will hopefully include pics on the boys festivities and fun projects. Everyone have a great day!

Bunk beds November 14, 2012

Well, a couple of weeks ago, we finally broke down and got the boys bunk beds. They have been talking about them for like 2 years! I have been dragging my feet because I really didn't want to sleep by myself when Shaw was at work. They were so ecstatic about them! It was so funny to see them help Shaw put them together and talk about how much fun they were going to have.
Avery has slept with us practically since he was born. When he was 5 months old, I spent a whole month trying to get Avery to sleep in his crib, which was next to our bed. After getting up every 2 hours for a month, i I was exhausted! Shaw said,"why are you trying to get him to sleep in that crib anyway? I prefer him in the bed." Well, that was reason enough for me! He has slept with us ever since and when Matthew was born, he just fit right in there with us. I have loved every minute of it!
Now, when I'm at work, they sleep in the top bunk together, but when I'm home, Matthew and I sleep in the bottom bunk. I really miss my Avery! He is getting so big. Every now and then, Avery sneaks to the bottom bunk for a little snuggly.

Matthew's 4th Birthday


March 7, 2012




We celebrated Matthew's 4th birthday with my parents and sister Cristina, but the camera messed up near the end so we didn't get pictures of everyone. I had a class in Savannah that day, so I made most of the food beforehand and picked up fried chicken on the way home. I got home about 7p and then we started the party. Avery was very sweet, helping Matthew open presents and getting excited about each one for him. The boys main present was their x-box and x-box kinect, so there were just a few presents to open. He got some beautiful "finding" books from my parents (which they knew he loved but needed some suitable for his age) and an indoor baseball bat, gloves, and ball for both of them. Shaw and I also got him a Robin Hood costume and new toothbrush. After they opened the baseball set they weren't interested in anything else really. We had a great time visiting and celebrating my sweet little guys birth. We always tell him that we all wanted him so much, even Avery! I had 2 miscarriages after I had Avery, so we were all so excited to have him. I felt like we had waited and prayed for him for so long! He has been nothing but a joy since I first found out that I was pregnant. I have also loved watching Avery be such a wonderful big brother. He is so selfless with Matthew almost to a fault. Last week, we were talking about the American Red Cross and how it was started. I was telling the boys when they were old enough, they could give blood. I reminded them how the blood that Matthew received saved his life and how we should be willing to give the blood back. Avery was very distressed and said, "Well, only for my brother, but Mom, I have to die right?" Can you believe that?" I started crying and said, "No, baby, but you would be willing to die for you brother?" He said, "Yes, I would Mommy. I am glad I don't have to though."

Here are a few pictures that we did end up getting!

catching up





Well, it has been over 6 months since I have blogged and i have really missed it. First, all of us are doing really well. My surgeries are over!!!! yah! I ended up having 3 breast surgeries from February to December and also my hysterectomy, which ended up being the easiest surgery by far. I have been struggling with my migraines since then, but they seem to under control now. For anyone who has migraines and wants to be in control of them: Heal Your Headache by David Bucholz is a must have! Check it out, but not if you want a quick fix because there is not one. I was able to go back to work about 4 weeks after each surgery, so I have been able to recover quickly enough. My breast surgeon says that I am a quick healer. Well, I have too much to do and to many people to take care of to be in bed for too long. Right?

The boys are doing so well! We have been able to keep up with school despite my 2 surgeries that were 2 weeks apart in December. They both really enjoyed the extra time with me when I was recovering from my surgeries. The time went by too fast though! Avery is really doing well in the curriculum that we are using and really seems to love to read. I am so excited about that! I always loved to read and really wanted him to love it. We absolutely love love love Apologia science! It is so in depth and interesting. He is getting so big and grownie, it's sad :( He is such a wonderful big brother and helps Matthew in school also.

We have started a little more with Matthew now that he is almost 4. He seems to like it also, but gets embarrassed a little bit when I ask him to perform for Shaw. He definitely has my temper issues, which I am sorry to have passed onto him. Sometimes, when he gets mad about something I cannot help but laugh, remembering how it used to tick me off too! lol. Mostly, he is my sweet snuggle bunny who still loves his mommy.

Avery's birthday was a couple weeks ago and we had a great time! My parents, father-in-law, and sister Cristina were here for the celebration. Avery and Matthew had a great time visiting with them. I cooked Boston butt, mac and cheese, broccoli, and rolls. Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship and, of course, the birthday boy. I cannot believe that my little blonde baby is really 7 years old!















I am going to try to blog more often, now that my surgeries are over and there is not so much overtime at work. YAH!!! so happy about that.

Starting school

We started school yesterday and things went pretty well. Avery is doing A beka math 2, Apologia science astronomy, A beka writing manuscript to cursive, Bible, A beka spelling 2, First Language lessons by Jessie Wise (grammar), Rosetta Stone Spanish, and we also ordered the Little Passports that my friend Tara wrote about in her blog at http://organizedsahm.wordpress.com. We have not gotten the little passports yet, but from what she said it is geography with a story line to make it interesting. The other thing that we are doing is reading at least one reader daily from either Step Into Reading or I Can Read books. I got the reading list from the Sonlight curriculum website and ordered most of the books on it. They also included read a loud books, so we are Robin Hood right now. Avery gets frustrated when he doesn't know something, so we are really working on that- that it is ok not to know something and that we are LEARNING. The other thing that we are really concentrating on is reading comprehension. He is a good reader, but then he doesn't so much remember everything that he ( or I)read. We have had a good 2 days though.

Matthew is doing a little bit, but not too much. I have some younger preschool workbooks, but he did the whole thing today, because it was just shapes and colors. I feel at 31/2 he is too young to learn how to read really, but he really likes numbers. I am not sure exactly what we will end up doing. I tried to do a really structured school with Avery at the same age, and it was so frustrating for him that I just held off until the next year. Matthew asks to do school though, so I need to get him some other more challenging things. Any suggestions? He does listen when we read out loud and when Avery reads. but there is an hour or so where Avery and I are doing math and science that he could be doing something. Of course, his attention span is like 5-10 min at a time. I would love suggestions on fun things for him, a curriculum or anything else other people do with the younger kids.

My appointment went fine at the GYN oncologist a couple of weeks ago. I am hopefully having a hysterectomy in December, when I have enough time saved up at work and my deductible will still be met. I really liked the doctor and felt very comfortable with him. So, no more surgery until then, and I am just about fully recovered from the last one.

I forgot to update everyone on the kids well visit also that they had a couple of weeks ago. Avery finally med it to 40 pounds at 6 1/2 years old! He is 44.5 inches tall, which makes him in the 10% for height and weight. He has been there since 2 years old. Matthew is 31 pounds and 37.1 inches tall, which puts him the the 25th% per weight and height. He had been here since about 1 yr old. The pediatrician seemed please with their health and overall development, of course. She loved my vitamin regimen, of course.

I am excited about school and the fact that I will not be working any overtime for the first time in about 2 years. Hope everyone else's school is going fine too!