Happy 4th Birthday Ian

The first day of Winter is also known in the Wilson's House as Ian's birthday. It seems so strange to me that my little boy is four years old today. I remember after having Emma everyone would ask me if time was flying and it never seemed to be. Then Ian came along and time has just flown by. It really does feel like yesterday that I had just come out of the OR and was trying to feed Ian.



Now that same little baby is upstairs yelling and jumping and playing with his sister and Uncle KJ.



So Happy 4th Birthday Ian!

To the Bat Cave Robin

This past Sunday was Ian's birthday party. With his b-day being the 21st I always have the party earlier in the month. Having the new house we decided to just have his party here which Ian was fine with because he got some special games to play.

We started off with lunch of Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, and Mac & Cheese a menu made just for little ones. The only thing I didn't get that Ian asked for was doughnuts but I figured the cake would take care of that.

After lunch Ian had to open all his presents which was ok with me because I knew we were going to need the bat from the t-ball set we got him for later.



While Dave, Uncle Nick, and our friend Joe worked on putting all the toys together the rest of us played Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Ian won. His tail actually touched the bulls eye, I couldn't believe it! Next up we played a few rounds of Hot Potato using a foam Bat Signal that I made.

After that it was time for some good cake.





Finally we spent 20 minutes letting the kids whack a pinata before Dave finally helped Ian break it open.



After all the guest left Ian told me it was the best birthday ever so I think he had a good time.

The Nutcracker Tradition

The first Christmas Dave and I were together his boss at the time Kelly bought us a nutcracker.



He has gone up every year since and I have always loved him. Last year both the kids took a special liking to him. Ian was completely amazed by him and wanted to move his mouth all the time. A few days after Christmas we were all at Target and they had a bunch of nutcrackers clearance so Dave and I decided we were going to start a tradition and get a new nutcracker every year starting right then. We let the kids pick which one we got and here is what they picked.



This year a few weeks before we moved Dave and I were at Kohls and they were starting to put up their Christmas decoration. I hate that they have Christmas stuff up before Halloween now but for some reason I just had to walk through it all to see what was there. I turned one of corners in the back and ran straight into their nutcrackers. I instantly saw a Scottish Bagpiper and I just new that was the one for this year. It just so happen it was on sale for under $10.00 and since we were going to get one at some point we went ahead and got him because he was just perfect.



I had already packed all of my decorations so I just left my Scotsmen in the bag and then brought that bag along with some other small things we had bought for the house over the first night we owned the house. He has been sitting on our mantel ever since, even before the holidays. My MIL saw him the first weekend we were here and we talked about how we had decided to start collecting them. Thanksgiving weekend when she brought the kids home she also brought two round and fat baby nutcrackers to add to our collection.



So we are now up to 5 and I already know that I want a tall one that can sit beside the fireplace for next year and I'm hoping for a traditional one.

The Perfect Christmas

This afternoon we had our November bookclucb meeting. Yes I know it's December but November always seems to get pushed to the first weekend in December because of Thanksgiving, plus we don't have a meeting in December so it doesn't hurt anything.

Anyway, November was my month because I switched with Jen, there was just no way I was going to be able to host Octobers with the move. Since I knew we would be having the meeting today I decided on a Christmas themed book I just didn't know which book at first. I thought it was going to be super easy to pick a book but it ended up being harder than I thought. In the end I went with Debbie Macombers The Perfect Christmas.

There really isn't much to say about the book. It was cute, fun, and predictable but it left you with an overall happy feeling which a Christmas story should. Actually if you have been watching Lifetime, Hallmark, or ABC family then you know the type of story it is. In the book the main character is given 3 Christmas related tasks to complete to get what she wants. One of those tasks is to host the perfect Christmas Dinner for friends and family. Now she made the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, and three different pies. As I was reading this I was feeling a little sad because there was no way I was going to make a full Christmas meal for the meeting but I always try really hard to pull my menu from the book whether it be food they eat in the book or food that matches the theme of the book. This would have been so easy to do but in the end I decided to go with a smaller version of what my family eats on Christmas day. We had veggies and dip, cheese, summer sausage, and apples slices for appetizers. For the main meal I served
Ham, Cheesy potatoes, corn, and dinner rolls. To finish the meal I served a warm Dutch Apple pie.

Of course with it actually being Christmas my house was already decorated to go with the theme of the book and this gave me another chance to use my Christmas china which I usually only get to use once a year. I hadn't yet decorated my table for Christmas so I took this chance to make my centerpiece and set the table. It turned out better than I thought so of course I have to share a few pictures of it.





It ended up being a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The food was great and it's always nice to have some girl time without kids running around interrupting you every two seconds. The best part though for me was finally getting to show the new house to some of my friends.

Christmas Cheer

One of the many Christmas traditions in the Wilson's house is putting the decorations up. Every year since Dave and I have lived together I have put the Christmas decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving and this year was no different.

We went to my MIL's for Thanksgiving this year and the kids stayed with her for the rest of the weekend manly because both Dave and I had to work the day after and our sitter doesn't. Thankfully Sharon didn't have to work either so she was able to watch the kids. When Dave and I got home that evening we started by getting the tree out. I put the tree together and got all the lights on it but I never put any ornaments on without the kids. Next I moved onto the other decorations which was harder than normal this year. Being in the new house I had to figure out where to put things. It is so nice to have the fireplace and mantel for the stockings and some of our nutcrackers but Even with those up there I could tell something was missing. I also new we were going to need something for the banister.

Friday evening after Dave got home from work we headed out to Target and we picked up some lighted garland for the banister and some regular garland for the mantel. Yes we also picked up a few other things because they were having some great sales.

Saturday afternoon my mom and I did some major shopping and I am almost done with the kids and half way done with the family. Part of that shopping included a trip to JoAnn Fabrics where I bought ribbon for my mom to make her awesome bows to add to the garland and some outdoor ribbon to make bows for my wreaths.

Sunday when the kids got home we all added the ornaments to the tree to complete it and I hung the garland. We were almost done but I was still missing the bows which they really needed.

Well finally this evening my mom came over and she made all 10 bows for me and one for Emma to play with. I must say I am seriously loving my house all decorated for Christmas. Once it was all done I dressed the kids in their Christmas outfits and took their pictures. Some of them are being used in this years Christmas cards but I wont tell you which ones since some of you will be receiving one. So finally here are some pics of my new house and our first Christmas in it.

Christmas Shopping

A few weeks ago while I was sitting at home by myself on veterans day I decided to do some more research on a Christmas present idea I had for the kids. Both Emma and Ian love music and they both love my iPod. In fact they often fight over who gets to listen to it and spend allot of evenings trading back and forth. Them using my ipod, however has taken it's toll on my headphones and on me. I remembered a few years ago when Fisher Price came out with their kid tough toy line (the one with the cameras and dvd players) that it included an mp3 player.

I looked at all the major toy store sites and couldn't find it. I finally got on Fisher Price's site but they didn't even have it but they did have headphones that were fp3 compatible. The fp3 stuck out to me so I googled that and found exactly what I was looking for on Amazon. Of course there was a problem though, a single fp3 player was priced at $160.00 and I knew that would be to much for us to get one for each of the kids.

At that point I went back to the Internet and searched, and searched, and searched for kid friendly mp3 players. I'm still surprised that there aren't any out there. the ones that come out are not really mp3 players. They do have ones that have preloaded music on them but you can't add your own and they don't have very many on them.

I decided to try one more thing before I gave up on the mp3 idea for the kids big Christmas gift. I got on eBay which I never do and searched. I couldn't believe it there were a bunch of used ones for sale as well as a bunch of new ones still in the unopened package and the prices were so much cheaper. I immediately called Dave and he got on his account to place a bid on the set of two, one pink and one blue. In the end Dave and I won the bid and got both plus shipping for less than the amazon price for one. They are both now in our new secret Santa present hiding spot and I can't wait to give them to the kids I just know they are going to love them. Now I just have to decided what else to get them for Christmas that will fit in the budget, of course they want everything they see.

Signs that I'm really a mom

Last night Ian came down to the living room while I was watching TV and asked if I would find some music to listen to. I went straight to the Music OnDemand stations and the first one had Totally 80's. One of the first songs listed was Bon Jovi's Prayer so I played it. After that Ian asked me to play that song over and over which I did because he was so cute singing and dancing to it.

I think we were on the fourth or fifth time when Dave came in from work. Emma ran back to greet him and he asked her what we were doing and there conversation went like this.

Emma: Mom and Ian are listening to that old 80's music stuff.

Dave: They're what?

Emma: You know that old music from the 80's. I mean it's not bad bad I like it, but it's old 80's music.

Dave: Ok!

Then this evening as Emma was finishing her dinner and I was cleaning up Emma and I have this conversation.

Emma: Mom if you ever have a day you don't have to work and you come into my school you better not embarrass me.

Me: I had better not do what? (said in a very Sterne tone of voice)

Emma: I just don't want you to come into school and embarrass me.

Me: Have I ever embarrassed you?

Emma: No I just don't want you to.

Me: Ok I'll try my best not to embarrass you.

If those kinds of conversations don't make you feel like a mom and old I'm not sure what else would!

Ride Em' Cowboy

My MIL had the kids this weekend so I took advantage of the no kid time and made good use of being stuck in the house all day while Broadview installed our security system by painting Ian's room.

This is what Ian's room looked like when we moved in.



Obviously we couldn't have Ian sleeping in a dark purple room, we knew we would have to paint it and fairly soon so we hadn't put any of Ian's things together. Ian has been sleeping with Emma for the past two weeks because of this.

When we found out we had got this house we asked both the kids what they wanted done with their rooms. The only thing Ian said was that he wanted his room to be green. Now my mom spent a long time making a cowboy themed quilt for Ian's bed and I love it, not to mention I have a lot of very nice and cute decorations that go with that room. I spent a lot of time on line looking at decoration sites trying to figure out how to incorporate green walls with the blue, red, and tan bedding I had.

After a few weeks of searching and not being able to find anything I started trying to talk Ian into another color but he kept insisting he get green walls. Then one Saturday afternoon I was packing up Ian's room and I came across a box of stuff my mom had found for Ian's room when we first moved into the last house. It was some of that sticker wall boarder and decals for kids and it happened to be cowboy themed. With the shape of Ian's room at the last house I wasn't able to use it so I had put it up and forgot about it. Once I started looking at it I noticed it had a bunch of green in it and then the light bulb went off. Here is what I came up with.









I think the green or Canteen as Eddie Bauer calls it looks great and it matches the green in the border perfectly and the brown or Cayenne is a nice rustic shade of brown that was taken from the rope detail in the border. I still have a few things left to get for the walls in his room, like some wooden letters that spell his name, and a valance, but for the most part Ian's room is done and it feels good to finally have accomplished. The best part though was to see Ian's face when he walked in tonight. He loves his room and he was so happy that it has green in it.

A++

This evening Dave and I went to our first Parent Teacher Conference for Emma. The first thing Emma's teacher said to us was that this wouldn't take long because Emma was great and she just loved her. I'm not sure I can really explain how that made me feel but it was a very good feeling.

Emma's teacher went over the report card that was sent home last week. Emma's vocabulary is way beyond where it should be, it might possibly be beyond the level expected at the end of the year. Emma can count twice as high as what is needed during this point in the school year. She knows what letters make what sounds, and she is right where she needs to be with reading. Emma has also achieved the Shapes, Colors, and Size recognition when they only expect the kids to know one of the three at this point. The one thing Emma does need some work on is writing her lowercase d's and b's she tends to get them confused but her teacher said that is very normal. We were also informed that Emma is always eager to learn something new, she is a big help in the classroom and she has the ability to notice when other kids in her class are struggling with something and she will help them.

I think the best part for me was hearing that Emma helps the other kids when they need it without being told to and that it is truly helping the other children. Even though I knew Emma was more than ready for school and that she was smart enough to handle it it was still a scary thing. What if she doesn't do well, what if she doesn't grasp all the things she needs to, what if she doesn't make any friends and the other kids pick on her? After tonight those fears are all gone and all that's left is pride that Emma is my child and she is excelling. That may sound a little cocky but I honestly can't help it I am so proud of my baby girl and I want to share it with everyone. I'm sure you other parents out there get that.

Oh and since Emma is doing so well Dave and I stopped at the Book Fair going on in the Library and bought her a new book that we gave her tonight and some more for Christmas. She loved her book and even read some of it to us before bed tonight which is amazing to hear.

The Cable Guy

The week before we moved we called to schedule our cable provider to come out to the new house and install cable, Internet, and phone service. We thought calling a week in advance would be plenty of time for them to come out while both Dave and I were on vacation. Well we were wrong and the couldn't come out till today, almost two weeks after our call which in itself is a load of crap.

So we scheduled them for 12-4 today and I went into work this morning but took half the day off to come home for the cable guy. He arrived a little after one and I walked him through the house to show him what we needed. For some strange reason the people that built this house did not have any cable or phone jacks ran to the entire upstairs which includes a large loft area where we have the computer set up. When the guy saw that the wall for the Internet was an internal wall and would have to be fished he said he wouldn't be able to do that today because it wasn't on the work order that Time Warner sent him. A helpful piece of information is that the cable guy doesn't work for the cable company but his company is contracted out to do the installation for them. Back to the story, I called Dave and had Dave talk to the guy because not only was he saying he couldn't do it today but that it would cost us $39.99 for every half hour he spent in the attic fishing the lines and he said they typically take 30 to 45 minutes to do. We were planning on having jacks in both the kids rooms installed but the walls they would need to be on are also inside walls and I'm not paying that much for the kids to have cable they can watch movies just the same.

Dave finally works out what we want done and the guy then tells us that Time Warner is saying he can't even install the cable box downstairs because it all has to be done at the same time when the Internet and the phone are installed which still does not make a single bit of sense to me. The cable guy called his supervisor or told him he could install the one cable box and come back Saturday to do the rest but Time Warner just wouldn't agree to that. At this point we still have them scheduled to come out Saturday morning but I'm not sure if we are going to keep them now or not. We may do some more research and see what else we can get but we don't have very many options where we are which make all this that much harder. The thing that really upsets me is that I took half a day off work for this and got nothing for it.

The only good thing about today is that the cable guy was nice enough to hook up cable to the house so we do have the channels that you can get without a box and he didn't tell time Warner that he did that. Since he has left though I keep thinking about the movie The Cable Guy with Jim Carey, I really hope this guy isn't crazy like that!

My New Love

I am head over heels in love with something in this picture.



Technically you can't see this in that picture but could it be my dishwasher?



No, but let me tell you I do love this dishwasher, it has a ton of setting to choose from which are on the top of the door instead of the front. The silverware rack fits in the bottom or top rank or my favorite place in the door and it cleans my dished so very well.

Could it be one of these?



Nope, but we are getting closer. My new microwave is very pretty but come on folks it's a microwave. My new oven is very close to stealing my heart but it still not the one even with it's regular bake, broil, and convention oven options. The steam cleaning and three ranks don't bump it up but they are very nice features to have. Not even the warming zone and multi size burner options make this my new love.

Of course that only leaves one thing which would be this,



Say hello to the Whirlpool Gold 27 cubic feet French Door Refrigerator with LCD touchscreen front panel.



Just look at all the room in this thing and I just went grocery shopping on Sunday and bought my normal amount of groceries. Did you also happen to notice in the top part of the left hand door is the ice bucket which is removable. No more taking up food space for the ice.

Now I can't forget the freezer. It may look small from the outside but let me tell you there is more than enough room for everything.



See those drawers on the top portion, each one slides all the back when the door is open for easy access to the bottom portion which will hold a ton of food. My old freezer would have looked packed full with just this stuff in it but this one makes it look like we don't have anything.

The LCD panel was hard to photograph but it's so cool. When you select the water option you can go in and tell it how much water you want to dispense in ounces, cups, or liters and it will stop once you have reached the programed amount. Of course you can use the non measured option to get a glass of water too. You can also extend the base out to rest larger containers on and the nozzle for the water swivels to fill those larger container easier. The ice options are the same as always cubed or crushed but this one crushes the ice very small which is the way I prefer my ice.

Can you see why this has stolen my heart, I mean really what women who loves to cook and loves her kitchen appliances wouldn't love this one. I still can't believe I was able to get it!

The Post I've been Avoiding

I've been avoiding writing this post because I'm afraid it will make me cry but I figure sooner or later it has to come out so here goes.

This past May my little sister Steph went to the annual P.A. Conference. This years conference was in San Diego California. It just so happen that Steph had a good friend from college who moved out their to work for Homeland Security. Well Steph came back from her trip and she was completely in love with the area. It was at that point she started looking into finding a P.A. job out there.

After Steph passed her medical boards this summer she went back out and stayed with her friend and his roommates while she did some major job hunting. While she was their she met someone who she really liked and she was able to apply for quit a few jobs. When she came back after that trip you could just tell that Steph desperately wanted to be in San Diego which was so hard for me. I always thought that once she was done with school she would come back to Columbus and settle down.

Then a month ago Steph received a phone call from a Sleep Clinic in Orange County that she had applied to while she was there. A little background info, for a year after Steph graduated from undergrad and before she started grad school she worked as a sleep tech from a clinic here in Columbus. When this office saw Stephs background they jumped. Apparently there are very few sleep clinics in California unlike here and they have been having trouble finding someone. They conducted a phone interview and told Steph they were looking for someone that was upbeat and bubbly, not aggressive, and could handle 10 to 15 patients. Anyone who knows Steph knows she is not aggressive and has a very bubbly personality and her during her last rotation she was seeing anywhere between 40 and 50 patients a day. Add all of that with her sleep experience and I just knew this job was meant to be. So two weeks later she flew out and had a interview and then worked with the doctor in his office for a couple of days. Like I predicted they loved her and offered her a job.

Steph flew home and her new boyfriend Arron flew out so that we could meet him. In the short time he has known Steph he was able to tell how close she is with us and how much family means to her and he wanted us to be know someone she would be out there with. Thankfully we all really liked Arron, even Dave which is very surprising.

So a week ago today Steph left for a three day drive to get herself, her car, and some of her stuff out there. She came by the house the night before she left to say goodbye to the kids, Dave and I and it was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I know I will see her at Christmas but it's just not the same. I can't call her to come over for dinner any old night, or plan a girls movie night when my MIL has the kids. For the longest time I have known Steph isn't the person to stay still but I never thought she would move all the way across the country. Even now when I think about how far she is I start to tear up. I know everyone says I can still call her, and we have a web cam but no matter what it's just not the same! She says she only wants to be there for two to three years but I'm just not so sure about that.

Even though I am sad for myself right now I am so proud of my sister for going after her dreams and working so hard to achieve them. I am also proud of her for driving across country by herself without getting lost or having any problems. Now if Christmas would hurry up and get her so I can see her again.

Goodbye Old, Hello New

It's official, Dave and I are finally home owners. We have dreamed about the day we would purchase our first home for what seems like forever. We have watched all of our friends purchase their first homes some even their second homes while we were waiting for the right time.

At the end of last year Dave and I talked about this year being the year we would do it. We were finally comfortable with our income and debt we just wanted to take care of a few things. Then the government announced that they would give first time home buyers $8,000.00 cash after purchasing a home if you did it before December 1. That sealed the deal, how could you pass up 8 grand, extremely low interest rates, and low prices on houses.

Next came the hard part, finding a house. Dave and I new we wanted to stay in the same area and that proved to me a little difficult. The houses in our area were just above our price range and if we went for one in our range they weren't in an area we wanted to live. Finally one day out of the blue our realtor (also a friend Dave works with) found a house in our area that the price had just been lowered on. That same evening we came and looked at the house and we knew this was the one. It met all the big criteria, it was in the right area, and the price couldn't be beat. So we put an offer in.

Here comes the crazy part, the day before we placed our offer another couple had placed an offer and the bank (the house was bank owned) had countered. Once the bank saw our offer they told the realtor that any interested parties needed to submit an offer the following day and who ever had the highest bid at the end of that business day they would accept. Initially Dave and I were freaked out by this but after talking things over we decided that the offer we had placed was a very good one and if it was meant to be it would. So the next day we resubmitted our original offer and we beat the other couple by exactly 1,000.00. If that isn't meant to be then I don't know what is.

That all happen at the beginning of September and this past Friday October 23, 2009 Dave and I signed the contract. I still don't think it has sunk in yet that this house is mine. I never thought I would be able to purchase a house as big or as nice as this one at this point in my life. So far it has been a great experience minus the delivery of the wrong microwave and the furnace not working Saturday (thank god for home warranty's).

So here is the NEW Wilson's House

No Time To Chat

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. We moved this past weekend and Dave and I are both off this week to try and get the old house cleaned out and the new house in some kind of order. Right now I am sitting in my chair trying really hard to get my butt back in gear but my whole body aches from all the lifting and carrying. When I say whole body I really mean it, even my fingers hurt.

So as soon as I get some free time I will be back to share with you all about my amazing new house that I own!

Circle S Farms 2009

Every year except last year my babysitter takes a field trip to Circle S Farms in the fall to get pumpkins for the kids. This year's trip was yesterday so I took the day off to go with the kids. Emma had Thursday and Friday off school for some kind of teachers in service so even she was able to go.

We met at the sitters house around 8 yesterday morning and left from her house. Here in Ohio it has been unseasonably cold so we were all bundled up in tons of layers. Of course this year Sheree found knit jackets for the kids to wear instead of t-shirts but it was too cold and they were all covered by heavy winter coats.

Once we got to the farm we started with some pictures in their little picture field.









Once we were done with the pictures we headed into the hay barn where the kids could run around and slide down a bunch of slides. This is always one of their favorite places.







After the hay barn we took a break and enjoyed the complimentary doughnut and apple cider then it was back out in the cold for a fun sunflower field maze. After the maze we let the kids look at the animals and play on the tractor.











Finally it was time for lunch and then the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Us adults were a little worried about the hayride because this week we have had some rain and the path for the tractor was nothing but mud. Thankfully we did not get stuck and we were able to pick out some really good pumpkins.

Even though it was cold and muddy the kids and I still had a good time and we can't wait for next year.

No matter what!

Today during my morning break at work I jumped on Facebook to see what was going on. One of my friends had posted her horoscope for the day and she has the same sign as I do so I decided to take a look and see what it said.

Well, I instantly started laughing because the horoscope had already hit the nail on the head for how my day was going. It basically said that no matter what I did or how hard I worked I would not complete any task or resolve any issues. Before my break this morning I had already gone through two projects that I was trying to complete but was unable to for reasons out of my control. As the day went on it just got worse. I hit road block after road block in everything I did today. In some cases I think I'm in a worse place than when the day began. By the time 4 o'clock rolled around I was more than ready to come home.

Now since I've been home I was successfully able to clean the kitchen up and fix a nice meal so I guess I did complete something. I am now sitting in my chair watching tv and that is all I will be doing the rest of the evening to avoid stressing myself out even more.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Tomorrow my baby girl will be 6 years old which seems completely crazy! This morning we had her birthday party at the Roller Skating Rink like we did last year. It is so nice to have great friends that let us go in before it opens and have a private party. Before we left this morning I had to snap a few pictures of Emma and this one I just love!



As soon as we got to the rink Emma and Ian had to get their skates on.





The rest of us eventually got ours on too and then we had to do the Chicken Dance for Emma



and the limbo for my sister. Steph won last year and was bragging she was going to win again this year. I wanted to beat her so badly but again she won.





After the limbo we had pizza and then it was all about the presents. Emma has been asking for the Barbie Doll heads that you can do their hair since the beginning of summer so Dave and I got her one and I think she liked it.



After all the presents were opened we did cake and then it was all over.



Again this year Emma's birthday party was great and we all had a good time. Tomorrow Emma gets to take chocolate cupcakes into school for her class and then we will have our normal Monday evening craziness of t-ball and gymnastics.