Potty training progress

Well, Chase has been diaper free for 4 days now! He's doing all his pottying in the big potty, even at the stores! He's also telling me when he has to go to the bathroom. Well, he does say "Chase have pee" and will run to the bathroom.......when he has to do #2 he'll say "Chase need pull-up" and will have that "look" on his face, but will do his business in the potty. And he has only had one small accident, but as soon as he peed in his underwear he came to me and told me he peed a little and went into the bathroom and finished peeing! We are so proud of him and how he has picked up on all of this........and at the same time I feel like i'm losing my baby, as silly as that sounds! *sigh* Why do they have to grow up so darn fast?!?!?

Todays mail 6.28.12

Not too bad today!

- Wheat Thins samples/Twitter (Zesty Salsa and Spicy Buffalo)
- case for my cellphone (paid for with survey money)
- $12.50 check/Decision Analyst (still waiting on one more!)

And even though I haven't felt good this morning I tried the Zesty Salsa Wheat Thins and they are amazing!!!

We are off and running!

So we've been working on Chase with potty training on and off for a little while now, but we are now going full blast with it! Yesterday Z was off from work and we usually do our running when he is off. We put a pair of undies on Chase and brought his potty seat with us, and he did GREAT!! He was beyond thrilled that he peed at Walmart and that he got to at least try to pee at Food City. (local grocery store that he likes) While at Walmart we bought him a huge pack of pull-ups (Walmart brand...they worked GREAT for Ty and were so much cheaper than the name brand training pants!) for night time and I put up all the diapers we had left. When we were home yesterday afternoon he told me a few times that he had to pee, and he did good. Right after dinner, Ty made a comment about Chase being stinky and I asked Chase if he had to pee and he said "No, poop" and sounded like he was trying to go, so I told him to run to the bathroom and I was right behind him! He got on his seat and pushed a tiny bit and then said "I need diaper for poop" and I told him we didn't have them anymore and that it was ok to do his business in the big potty.....and he did it!!! He was so very proud of himself, as were we all! He did amazing the rest of the day and when it was time for bed I got a pull up out and showed him how they went on like his underwear, and he seemed to be ok with that.He went to bed and when he woke up he was totally dry (well, he has been like that for a long time now). I took him into the bathroom and he peed! He has had underwear on all day so far, and even did #2 earlier!

I can not believe my baby is working on potty training, and doing so well with it! I am so very proud of him, but at the same time it is tough to accept since he IS my baby. Using diapers was the last of the "baby" things he still had....when they are gone that will be it. :(  Why does time have to go by so fast?!?!?!

Amazing site!

Check out this site, Javi Sports! They have some super cool things for your vehicle, like mirror covers, decals and floor mats!

Just in case you didn't know.....

Only 6 more months until Christmas!!!

I can not WAIT until we get moved and I can really decorate for the holidays......think Clark Griswold.

Survey for a chance to win a Gift Card!

Mom's Select and Lands End have a survey for Back to school and are offering a chance to win 1 of 5 $100 Gfit Cards! Here is the link....

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LandsEndBTS2012

Good luck!!!

Todays mail 6.21.12

Great mail day!!

- Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar (2)
- Propel Zero sample
- $3 Paypal/Pinecone

Also, the boys received a HUGE box from my bestest sweetheart in the whole entire world!! I didn't get any pics (thanks to Ty and Chase going crazy with the package!) but they loved everything! Thank you SOOOO much, my sweetcheeks!!!!

Todays mail 6.20.12

Not as exciting as yesterday, but i'll take what I get! :)

- Dove Deodorant/Costco
- Nexcare Band aids
- order from ebay/paid with survey money

Todays mail :) *edit* 6.19.12

 WOW, what a great mail day!!!

- Target Summer Beauty Bag (2.....they are SO cute!! The bag isn't smooth/sily like the previosu bags....)
- Aveeno shampoo & conditioner
- Ovaltine samples/Facebook
- 3 FRN cards for money off of Shell gas (one has .20 off and the other 2 have .25 off!)
- Frisky End cat boredom kit/Facebook
- Kre-o Battleship BattleBoat (not sure where I signed up for this at?)

My new toy!

Z and I were due for new cellphones earlier this year, but we wanted to wait as we weren't sure we would be staying with AT&T. We had a really good plan, but in order to get most of the "new" phones, you had to have an unlimited data plan which for both phones would run $30. We already had unlimited texting and just couldn't afford to get the data plan as well, but we loved some of the newer 4G phones. Well, our 2 year agreement was up with them so Z called and told them we were going to switch to another provider to get a better deal on the 4G phones (smartphones). When he got off the phone, we were signed up with AT&T and got the unlimited data plan for $30, but now have the unlimited texting for free for at least 6 months! When those 6 months are up, they will re-evaluate our contract and make adjustments so the bill will stay the same.....so we basically got a MUCH better plan for less than what we were paying before!! And that includes insurance on both phones! AND, they even waived the activation fee on BOTH phones!!! Now I know why we have stuck by AT&T all of these years......

I have to say, I my new phone!!! We got the HTC Inspire.......super nice and so far easy to navigate! I obviously still have tons to learn about it, but so far it is amazing!!!!

My dino lover

Ty is a HUGE dino freak! He loves any and everything about them and has several books he loves to read about dinos. Today we went to the mall and saw this shirt at Sears......perfect! (and a HUGE thank you to Sears for having it on sale!)

Todays mail 6.16.12

Not too bad today ;-)

- PT from Pinecone/Fedex
- coupons for free Oscar Mayer products/4 (hopefully the people I sign up for freebies got theirs as well!)

Todays mail 6.14.12

Mail was ok.....I got some pictures I had ordered and they turned out SO good!! (thank you, Winkflash!) Fedex showed up not too long after the mail came and I got a surprise!

- Bare Minerals Ready Bronzer/Self Magazine Reader Giveaway

I honestly had NO idea I had won!

A little off topic, but i'm kind of pissed at Fedex with the way they delivered the package.....he just threw it up on the front porch, which isn't that big a deal, but we have rose bushes in front of the deck and the branches (full of thorns) are growing up onto the porch pretty badly....and of course the package landed right where a bunch of branches are! Why he didn't just sit it by the front door i'll never know....hmmm, i'm assuming he didn't even bother coming up to the house close enough to even do that, just close enough to throw it up onto the porch. I don't think it was our regular delivery guy, as I know he wouldn't do anything like that......

Finger update

Ok, so I am still taking the meds the doctor gave me and my finger didn't seem to be getting any better. It wasn't getting any worse, though. I did notice (even before I started taking the antibiotic) that I could push on my nail and it would start to drain a little and it felt super loose. Well, after doing that a few times I noticed blood going under the nail instead of draining, so I knew the nail was dead.....heck, it hadn't grown at all since this all started 3 weeks ago!! Well, last night I pulled on my nail super easy and it just came off!!! I can not believe I lost my nail.....all over a stupid pulled cuticle!!! It wasn't gross at all, but it still freaked me out...LOL! My finger is still sore, but surprisingly it does feel better. (maybe the nail was pushing up once it came loose and was causing most of the pain?!?) It's still red and swollen right where the cuticle/nail meet, but not as sensitive to the touch, which is a good thing because now I have to wear a band aid since the nail is gone. Hopefully now it will be on the mend.....at least I hope so!!! This has been a crazy experience, that's for sure!! 

Todays mail 6.11.12

I didn't get a pic of todays mail, but it wasn't bad!

- Tully Coffee K-Cups
- Fathers day card for Z/Treat.com (it turned out SO nice! I just love their cards!)
- item ordered from ebay for Chase (his bery own Handy Dandy notebook!)
- Tide pod/Dollar General
- birthday card for Chase :)
- $10 paypal/Decision Research (they pay SO fast! I did the survey on Friday and got paid today....they are a GREAT survey company!)

One more present....

I had ordered something for Chase last week for his birthday and it came today........





He is one happy little boy!!!!!! He's been playing Blues Clues ever since I gave it to him!

Chase's party!

Chase had such a blast at his little party last night. It was just us, but he didn't seem to mind! Z called his parents and put them on speaker so they could sing Happy Birthday to Chase and talk with him while he opened his gifts and ate his cake. They seemed to really enjoy that! (and so did Chase!) Here are a few pics....I have more on Facebook. :)

3 years ago today.....

At 3:32 pm, weighing in at only 5lbs 15ozs and 18.5 inches long, we welcomed our sweet baby boy into this world. He was such a tiny guy, which really caught us off guard! But he totally completed our family.

Happy Birthday, Chase Robert! Daddy, mommy and Tyler love you SO very much. It has been an amazing journey these past three years and I am so excited to see what the future holds for you!

I'll update this post later today with pics......

Todays mail 6.6.12

Not alot, but still great!! I got some Sizzix Popsicle Die Cuts I ordered off of eBay! They were cute online, but in person they are even cuter!! I also rec'd:

- $3 paypal/Pinecone (which helped me order something else off of eBay for Chase! It may not get here by his birthday, but he will still love it none the less!)

Aren't they cute?!? I'm seriously thinking about looking into getting a Sizzix machine instead of a cricut. They cost ALOT less and would work just fine for me. Oh, and these die cuts arrived just in time....I was working on the layout I had originally ordered these for!!

Ok, i've been bad....

And not the good kind of bad!!   Ok, I want to give a warning as this post may be a little gross for some, even though I tried not to go into too much detail......just giving a heads up before you read it!!!!



A few weeks ago I pulled a cuticle off of my finger...something I have done hundreds of thousands of time. It didn't hurt at all....heck, it didn't even bleed! A day or so later I went to pick something up with that hand (left hand, thank goodness) and I noticed my finger felt sore. The finger was a little bit red near the nail (where the cuticle came off) so I put some neosporin on it and a band aid. It seemed to help, so I didn't think about it too much. I did that on and off for several days, but it didn't seem to be working. The pain was SO bad, I was taking advil every 4 hours, even at night. If I held my hand below my heart it would throb and just SCREAM! SO I was basically walking around holding my hand up in the air, and even that didn't help the pain all the time. (Oh, and I forgot to mention it's my middle finger so it looks like i'm flipping everyone off....nice, huh?!?) I was terrified to go to the doctor because all I kept thinking about was how bad it hurt and if the doc got ahold of it, I can only imagine what kind of pain I would be in! I did get brave and lance my finger to try and drain it (by this time the tip of my finger was so red and swollen and unbearably painful) to relieve some pressure and hopefully some pain. It did drain a little and the pain wasn't as bad, but that didn't last long at all. 3 days later I decided to try and lance it again....BIG mistake. O.M.G. As soon as the lance hit my finger I screamed. It did drain alot, but the pain was just....WOW!!! (and i've pushed out 2 kids!! Well, I DID have an epidural helping me with that, but with Ty it wore off by the time I was ready to push...) I ended up crying for over 30 minutes after it stopped draining from the pain. At that point I decided I needed to just go to the doctor. So yesterday morning I went, praying the whole time that he wouldn't have to hurt me. (I sound like such a wimp...LOL) He looked at it and said he wanted to give some antibiotics a try and if they didn't help right away he wanted me back on Thursday so he could lance it. Well, I started the meds yesterday (taking 4 a day.....yikes!!) and as of this morning it doesn't seem any different. Still swollen and painful, but not as painful as it has been draining on and off on it's own since Monday morning. It's basically like it was yesterday. It can take a few days for meds like that to actually work, but he seemed to be kind of worried about it because he was only giving them one day to really have them start to work. (he said to call him by noon today if it wasn't ANY better and he would lance it Thursday because he was off Friday....and I guess he doesn't want it to go any longer being infected?!) It kind of worries me that he seems worried about it. It also seems like i'm going to lose my nail since I can basically push on my nail (GENTLY) and it will start to drain.....unfortunately there is now blood under my nail. :(


Gah, all of this from a pulled flippin cuticle!!!!!

Todays mail

Had a great mail day!

- Prilosec sample
- Mary Kay clutch purse with Mary Kay lip gloss/shop text (SO cute!!!)
- birthday card for Chase :)
- $10 paypal/MySurvey cashout
- $3 paypal/Pinecone

Todays mail

Not too bad!

- Always Tampax Radiant collection/Vocalpoint (super cute! I love the puch they sent!)
- Another Always Tampax Radiant collection (not sure where it came from?)
- L'oreal Paris Youth Code Foaming Gel Cleanser/L'oreal Gold Reward
- Cutex polish remover pads/Facebook (2)

Cancer Survivor Day

Yesterday was National Cancer Survivor Day! We celebrated by going to the Cancer Survivor event at UT Medical center. It was SO wonderful seeing so many survivors! They had tables set out in the hallway giving away all kinds of goodies. When Z registered they gave us a HUGE orange umbrella!! Once we got in the hallway the first table we saw was giving away those drawstring backpacks. Ty got his own and put all the goodies he got in it. He thought it was so cool! After we walked the hall, we went into the cafeteria where they had some live music as well as refreshments and snack food. They had all kinds of fruit and veggies and some amazing cake!! At 2:30 they did a little program about the Cancer center....it was just amazing. As I said, seeing all those survivors really touched my heart. After the program they gave away door prizes.....they had some very cool gifts!!! We didn't win, but we still had a great time. This event was the 10th they have had, and i'm hoping we can go back every year to celebrate Z being a survivor.

Here are the goodies we got!! (minus the umbrella....)

Todays mail

Not too shabby......

- 5 hour energy drink (2)
- Sundown Fish Oil sample
- Arm & Hammer Crystal Burst laundry tablets/Smile.ly