Life at the Stephens' Home

Sweet Home Kentucky

2011-07-04T12:51:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged for a couple of months because we have been preparing to move to Alabama. Some people are having a hard time understanding why we are moving. It was definitely not an easy decision, especially when I look back through all my pictures and picked these as some of the reasons that I am going to miss Kentucky:

(1) My son Brenden, who is staying behind in Tell City, Indiana. I'm so proud that he has been living on his own and know that he is going to do just fine without me but I will miss him very much.
(2) Listening to Blaine play the violin. I was saddened to learn that he won't have the opportunity to be in Orchestra in Middle School. But we could always pay for private lessons.

(3)Jason's family is going to be greatly missed by us. It has been a wonderful thing that we have had family so close by. I know deep in my heart that they will be there for us when we need them but they won't be just across town anymore.

(4) I finally learned to ski this year, and there isn't any snow where we are moving. Wait.... that's a good thing isn't it??!?!

(5) Riley and I are going to miss Storytime at the library and all of our friends!

(6) I'm going to miss all of my mom friends that I have met over the past 2 years while I have worked part time in Owensboro (including Shannon, Candace, Tamra, Kim, Stacy, and Ana).

(7) I'm especially going to miss our house that is a true labor of love. Jason and I have "touched" every nook and cranny and made it into a home. But I feel good in knowing that the next family will be a perfect fit for it!!

(8) I'm going to miss all of my co-workers, especially my fellow dietitians at Owensboro Medical Health Systems. You have become like family to me!! Not sure how it is going to be to not be working with any other dietitians in my new job.

(9) I am going to miss our church and I'm sure Riley is going to miss it too. This is a picture of the MOPPETTs. I know that we will find a good church in Alabama too.

(10) Going to miss my friends' Courtney and Al Ward. They have been there for me going on 12 years now. What more can I say....

(11) Going to miss Shannon Sanderson, who taught me how to ski and has been a great friend. We are planning an arranged marriage between Owen and Riley-- wouldn't they have cute kids?

(12) I'm really going to miss volunteering with CASA of Ohio Valley. I have been with the program since it began in this county and have served on the board the past 2 years. They do not have CASA in the county that I will be moving to.

(13) I will miss my new friend Kim McCaslin who makes me laugh! I will never forget all the fun times we have had together.

(14) I will miss my friend Stacy Muffler (and her 2 little girls Olivia and Myra). She has been a great inspiration of what a stay at home mom is all about. She is so patient and kind-- I definitely have learned a lot from her.

(15) I will miss my sweet Mattie Lou. She always is good for a hug and cuddle!!

(16) Miss Ellen will be greatly missed. I have enjoyed going to her dance recitals and having her spend the night.

I will also miss Sam too but I couldn't find a picture of him:)

(17) I will miss the playdates with the MOMs Club of Owensboro-- I know that they have one in Fairhope but it just won't be the same.

(18) I will miss teaching Vacation Bible School at Owensboro Christian Church. I know that I will continue to do this in Alabama.

(19) I will especially miss my new found friend Ana! She came into my life just 8 months ago but I feel like I have known her forever!!! And her sweet girls, Victoria and Sofia, will be missed too!

(20) And last but not least I will miss our neighbor kids and all the pool parties!!

Braylabee's Giveaway

2011-04-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

There is a cool giveaway going on at http://www.livinglikethekings.com/

To go directly there and find out more click on this link: http://the-royalreviews.blogspot.com/

This lady makes some of the cutest little personalized items that any mom would love to win for their little one, so please check it out!

The first week of April

2011-04-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

Jason has been hard at work getting the landscaping done in the front of our house... He stained the sidewalk that we had put in last December, trimmed the bushes, put more rocks in the flower gardens, and mulch around the trees.

We started the week by meeting some new friends at the Owensboro Science Museum-- this is a picture of Hailey and Riley. Then on Tuesday I took Riley to Storytime at the Library. Now that Riley is 2 years old she is enjoying the stories, songs, and activities so much more!
On Wednesday Riley and I met Brenden and Brittany at Patti's Resale in downtown Owensboro and watched Brittany try on some wedding dresses. Here is a picture of Riley in a flower girl dress looking at Brittany's favorite dress.
On Saturday Riley decorated Easter eggs with her cousin Hannah. She really enjoyed all the different colors and then putting stickers on top of all of the eggs.

And on Sunday we went to Great Grandad's 84th Birthday party and ate way too much food and spent quality time with Jason's family that were able to attend.

Extreme Couponing

2011-04-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long time since I have blogged, way too long, but it's really just not my thing. I thought I would give it another try though. I have several friends who tell me about how they get such good deals by doing "extreme" couponing so I thought that I would give it a try.

I started off by going onto several online sites and printing off some coupons. The first problem that I ran into was that I used up all the black ink in my printer and my hubby had to order some more:( Then when the ads came out Sunday I spent an hour or so looking through the ads and comparing them to the coupons that I have.

I decided last night at around 8 pm to try to go out and find some of the bargains. The next problem I ran into was that CVS closes at 8pm on Sunday. But I stopped at Walgreen's (which is open 24 hours) and purchased Colgate toothpaste for $2.99 and received a coupon for $3 to use on my next purchase. I also picked up a box of Fruit Loops for the sale price of $1.88. Then I went to Target and ran into my third problem which is that our Target is not a "Super" Target so they didn't have most of the items I was looking for. I did buy Dove Men's Deordorant for $2.99 and had a $1.00 off coupon (so I got it for $1.99). The other item I bought was some cereal and I used a coupon but I realized after I was halfway home that it didn't ring up on sale so it wasn't the bargain that I had hoped for.

Today Riley and I went to CVS to try to pick up all the bargains there. And I must say I did fairly well, this is what I got:

Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner 2/$5.49 (-$1.00)= 2/$4.49

Oral B Toothbrushes $2.99 each (-$.99 each instore coupon) (-$2.00 coupon)(Buy1Get1 free)=

they paid me 0.99 to take them home!!

Glide Clinical Gum Toothpase(4oz) $3.49 (-$2.50 instore coupon)= $0.99

Olay Body Wash $5.99 (-$3.00 coupon) = $2.99

Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner 2/$6.97 (-$2.00 instore coupon) (-$1.00coupon)=2/$3.97

Infusium Leave-in Conditioner $4.99 (-$2.00)= $2.99

Cascade $6.99 (-.25)= $6.74

There are a couple of other items that they were out of, I am planning on returning on Friday which is when they get their next shipment in and then I can use all the instore coupons ($6.48).

The Month of May

2010-05-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hannah came for a visit the first weekend of the month, she loved playing with Riley.Evan was baptized at Owensboro Christian Church that weekend also.
The kids have spent a lot of time playing outside but this was one of those rare moments when they all wanted to watch the same DVD-- it was Riley's Nursery Rhyme video of all things.
I had a great Mother's Day weekend. On Saturday we went to the BBQ Festival and the kid's had fun while I looked at the booths and bought this cute outfit for Riley. On Sunday after church all of Jason's family came over for a cookout which was great fun!
Riley and I go for walks almost every day and now she also loves to swing out front of the house!
Here is my first attempt at "piggy tails" on Riley, she didn't like it too well but mama thinks she looks too cute!
Blaine and I made his favorite dish-- Cheeseburger Soup-- when he was off from school on Election Day.
Evan had is first baseball game and Riley was the designated cheerleader.
The weather got up to 90 degrees but the pool is still a little chilly at 73 degrees-- Sam Ward came for a visit and Blaine floated around with his broken arm.Grandma and Grandpa McClain came for a visit and spent some time hanging out with us. Riley actually warmed up enough to let them get a picture with her.

My 40th Birthday

2010-04-24T19:15:00.001-07:00

I will never forget my 40th birthday! It started when Riley woke me up at 6:17 a.m.-- Blaine had overslept for school so I had to wake him up and rush him out the door. Then the fun began. Riley was not in a very good mood at all, she did not want to eat breakfast, and she also did not want to play with her toys. Instead she wanted my full undivided attention and she wanted me to take her outside. I did get her to take a shower with me and then I got us both ready to leave. Riley also was in a foul mood in the car and fussed all the way to Mammie's house-- I ended up yelling at her, which really made me feel even worse. I was also frustrated at Jason because he was not home yet from work when I needed him. But Mammie saved the day by taking over the job of keeping Riley occupied on my birthday.

So then I decided to go to the tanning bed for a few rays, and Panera Bread to get a bagel and coffee from Brenden. I was then on the road to Evansville for my Spa day at Head Over Heelz Salon. I arrived at 10am and started my spa day with a Hot Stone Massage. I was really starting to think I was jinxed when all I could hear was construction equipment during the first 20-30 minutes-- come on now, isn't a massage suppose to be relaxing, how can you relax when you hear "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP" from a machine backing up over and over and over again. But at least the last 60 minutes were relaxing.

Next I received the most unforgettable facial-- at some points I thought she was scraping all of my skin off but overall it was a very good facial. My skin on my face feels amazing now. In the middle of the facial though she excused herself because someone knocked on the door. Before I could get mad I realized it was because Jason had went shopping and bought me a new dress, shoes, jewelry, and perfume and dropped them off at the spa. (Here I want to add a side note that Jason had worked 16 hour days the last 2 days before this and had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep). Anyway the lady doing the facial was so impressed and was telling everyone there what a wonderful man I had for a husband. I think that all of the significant others of the spa employees are going to be in big trouble now!

Anyway next thing I had lunch that was brought over from Biaggi's-- it was an awesome Club Sandwich and chips and bread/oil--- a lot of carbohydrates. The best thing though was the fact that my co-worker, Angela, brought by a card and bag of white chocolate dipped pretzels. It made me cry with happiness.

After lunch I received a Hot Stone Pedicure and that was very relaxing also. Then I sat in the sauna for a little while and took a shower and put the new clothes on. Jason had also arranged for someone there to do my makeup and hair. By this time it was almost 5 pm and when I walked outside Jason walked up with his suit on looking so handsome:) He had me follow him in his car to Cavanaugh's Steak House that is next to Casino Aztar. It is a very fancy restaurant that overlooks the Ohio River. We sat down and Jason ordered us a bottle of wine. The waitress had just opened the bottle when Jason got a phone call that changed our plans for the night.....

It was our neighbor, Nancy, calling to say that Blaine had been racing to the trampoline and tripped and fell on his arm causing a very bad break. Jason had Nancy call an ambulance to transport him to the hospital because he was worried that his condition could change or that something could happen if Nancy or Brenden tried to transport him. (Blaine was actually being "babysat" by Brenden but had been playing outside). So at this point Jason and I get in our separate cars and start quickly heading for Owensboro. When I get in the car I realize that I am just about out of gas so we had to stop and fill my tank up a little. Also I received a call from my friend, Courtney, who was wishing me a happy birthday, needless to say I was hysterical and so she ended up going to the E.R. in order to check on Blaine. While I was driving I received phone calls from the ambulance service, Nancy, and the E.R. nurse. And of course I had to call our babysitter Mammie, who was still watching Riley, and my mom, and my best friend Jene. By the time I got to Owensboro my cell phone battery was dead. So Jason headed home to get the chargers, and I headed to the E.R. When I arrived Courtney had left because Nancy and Brenden were there and they wouldn't let more than 2 people be in the room at a time. When I walked in the room Blaine started to cry and say that he was sorry that it happened on my birthday. Nancy said that Blaine had been so brave and that he really loved talking to the EMT named Roger (Blaine says that he was a sniper in the Army). I then had to answer a trillion questions and then Jason arrived. They finally got an IV in but it wasn't working very well. Next thing was that Blaine & I went to have his arm x-rayed. Then they gave him some Dilaudid and Zofran and he started saying some really funny things. There was a "crazy lady" across the hallway that was quite interesting too and because of her there were 2 security guards outside Blaine's room the whole time-- he said that he was important and needed security.

The next 30 minutes or so were rather stressful because some young man came in to put a gown on Blaine and then 2 young women came in with another stretcher and we were asking "What is going on?" and they said "He is going to surgery" (at this point Blaine freaked out and started crying) and we were saying "NO, he is not, no one has spoken to us yet" and so a big, older guy in black scrubs came in and said "He needs to go to surgery"-- (the weird thing is that the guy did not identify himself, I just saw his name badge that said Dr. Dwyer). So the next thing we know is that we are heading to the holding room.

After we were in the holding room the nurse, Kimberly, the orthopedic doctor, Dr. Moore, and the anesthesiologist, Dr. Frakes all were very good at explaining what needed to be done. They were very nice and friendly and put us at ease. Dr. Frakes put in a new I.V. that actually worked and gave Blaine some great medicine that made him feel a lot more comfortable about going to surgery. Blaine basically need to go to surgery to be put to sleep so that they could put the bones back in place and put a cast on his arm.

So at 9 pm Jason and I had a romantic dinner of Subway from the Hospital cafeteria in the surgery waiting room. I called my babysitter to check on Riley and of course she was asleep and was going to have her first "sleep over". At around 10 pm Dr. Moore had talked to us on the phone, Kimberly (RN) had came out and spoke to us, and then Dr. Frakes came out to the waiting room and spoke to us and took us up to a room on the pediatric unit. At 11pm Blaine arrived to the floor-- at this point I told Jason to go ahead and get home to bring the dogs in and get some sleep. Blaine and I left the hospital at Midnight, dropped off his pain prescription at Walgreen's, and then went home and got in bed. It was definitely not how I expected to end my 40th birthday!

Visiting Grandma in New York

2010-04-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a few weeks because Jason, Riley and I went to visit Jason's grandma in Wappinger's Falls, NY from April 2-8th. (Evan went to visit Mobile, AL with his mom and Blaine went to Indianapolis, IN to visit his dad). Riley had her third trip on an airplane! She did so well on the trip there. We flew out of Evansville, IN airport and had a layover in Cinncinnati, OH and then arrived in Hartford, CT. We spent the night there which I think helped make the day a little easier. We ate at a local restaurant that had awesome seafood and good wine! The next morning we ate at another local restaurant for breakfast-- it was an awesome meal too and the people in Connecticut were so nice. We bought grandma an Easter Lily at the local fire department, then we headed to New York. Grandma was so excited to see use and we were so glad to spend time with her. Jason did several "projects" around the house including repainting and redoing upholstery on her footstool, rearranging her bedroom furniture, fixing her kitchen floor, and spray painted light post. I helped her empty a dresser, washed all the curtains, dusted and vacuumed the floor. But most importantly we spent a lot of time talking with Grandma and sharing time with her and Riley. The weather was great-- it got up to 91 degrees on Wednesday which is amazing for April in New York. One day I went shopping at the local mall, Target, Babies R Us, and Border's Bookstore, which was very fun. On the last day Jason, Riley, and I went to the Hudson riverfront and then to a Tiki bar for a beer. The trip back seemed a little longer because we had to drive to Hartford, CT and return the rental car then catch a flight to Detriot, MI and then fly back to Evansville, IN. It was great to have the time with Grandma Stephens, Jason, and Riley to just kick back and do what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it.

I must say that even though I miss the vacation this great weather makes it all worth it to be back in Kentucky. It looks like the weather this week is going to continue to be good also.

Crockpot Chili

2010-03-30T11:05:00.001-07:00

Over the past 2 months our family has been a member of www.e-mealz.com which is a program that provides you with economical meal plans for couples or families. I decided that I wanted to try to blog about some of the good meals that we have and post them for others to enjoy.

The first one will be a Chili recipe. You start by browning 1# of ground round and 1# of sausage (I used a healthy one) in a large skillet.

You need to chop 1.5 cups of onions and add this to the ground meat.
Then add 1.5t of minced garlic.
After this is cooked, then drain the meat.
In the crockpot put 2T chili powder, 1t salt, 1/2t pepper, 1t oregano.
Then add the meat mixture, 2- 15oz cans of petite diced tomatoes, 15oz can of pinto beans, and small can of tomato paste (I substituted this for the 15oz can of tomato sauce) to the crock pot.
Cook on low for about 6 hours and you will have a nice pot of chili for supper!

We put shredded cheddar cheese on top of it and also ate chili Fritos with it. It was enjoyed by all of the family.

Nice Weather

2010-03-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had to work which was not fun at all-- but this week having 3 days off made it all worth it because it has been so nice and sunny outside. Riley and I even got to spend several hours playing at Ben Hawes State Park which was so much fun for her and so exhausting for me. I feel like I have been such a slug all winter long, and thus now a have no energy to play with the kids. Riley loves to be pushed on the swings, climb the playground equipment, and slide down the slides but of course she is so little that mama has to help her every step of the way. My arms feel like they have gotten quite the workout. Last night the boys played baseball and Riley and I played at the park again. It is so great to have nice weather so that we can do this!

While Jason was away

2010-03-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

Jason has been out of town since Sunday night and I am so excited that he is going to be back tomorrow evening! I have been very busy taking care of Blaine and Riley (and Annie and Lily too). The week started with Blaine getting the stomach bug, which was not fun. I am not the one to take care of a little one with vomiting. I basicly gave him a bucket and told him that is where any of the vomiting should end up! I was a little perturbed because I was planning on going to a celebration for all the Dietitians at work at my manager's house. Last year was the first year that there was a Dietitian Day and my manager started a tradition of having a surprise celebration. Well, anyway I was going to have my mother-in-law watch Blaine and Riley so that I could go. When Blaine got home from school he was running a fever and complaining of a stomach ache so I didn't think it was a good idea for me to go. Needless to say I was not happy about having to miss it. Then he ended up being fine-- that is until 11 p.m. when he woke me up to tell me he had puked in his bucket. I got up and emptied it and then dry heaved and went back to sleep. Blaine woke me up at 6 a.m. again and said that he had gotten sick in the toliet this time, so at least I didn't miss the celebration for nothing. Well, on Tuesday I had a full day planned so once I found out that Brenden (my 21 year old) didn't have to work until 5 p.m. I asked him to stay home with Blaine. Riley and I went to MOPs at church and then I went to my CASA board meeting. For those who don't know I have been a CASA (court appointed special advocate for children who have been abused or neglected) for the past 13 years. Lately I haven't been able to be a volunteer for any of the children but I have joined the Board that helps supervise the program. So I did not want to miss my second meeting. I was also blessed to have my babysitter's daughter, Dee, to watch Riley for me while I went to this. So after all of that activity I was really looking forward to my additional day off today where I did not have any exact plans. And I was especially excited when I saw that it was going to be 68 degrees outside. It was such a wonderful day and I must mention that it was all due to God's wonderful glory that he poured out the sunshine for us all in Owensboro, Kentucky!!!! Riley and I took a nap together and than we sat outside for a little while-- or should I say I sat outside and she ran around! I also was able to take Lily, our new puppy, to Petsmart to be groomed and she looks wonderful!! It has been so nice to be able to go outside without a coat on and not feel like I am freezing my butt off. I do feel like I have survived quite well this week without Jason but I am looking forward to his return tomorrow.

Revelation

2010-03-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

It has been rather crazy lately around our house. At least that is how I feel about it. There has been some of the normal "craziness" like Brenden's mishap with his car, in which we had to help him pay to get it fixed. And then there is Evan's Boy Scout's, and piano lesson's and now guitar lesson's (and thus Blaine's violin lesson's). But the main area of discord is that fact that Evan's mom has gotten a job in Mobile, Alabama and how that is going to affect us all. We really have been blessed to have such a good relationship with Jennifer (Evan's mom) and thus we have Evan quite often. That is why it is going to be so much harder when Evan is not living in Owensboro. So mostly what has been on my mind is the fact that we are probably going to move in the very near future also. Jason and I are trying to determine when we are going to move so that we are not so far away from Evan for too much time. Most people do not understand the situation and thus they have negative things to say or don't know what to say, when we tell them that Evan is going to be moving in the very near future. What most people do not understand is that eventually Jason would be moving for his job anyway. So at least we know where Evan is going to be and thus Jason can try to find a job close to him rather than us moving away from him.

My real revelation though has to do with how Evan is dealing with all of this. This past week we had Evan with us every day, which is unusual for us since we normally just have him on Wednesday nights. Well, by the end of the week he told us that he is upset because he feels that because of Riley he is not able to spend as much time with his daddy. And he feels that Riley is the reason that he doesn't get to do some things like go to the bowling alley, skating rink, etc. as often as before. Well, I can really feel for him because I don't get to do the same things that I was doing before Riley was born either. But of course I am the parent so I am not allowed to have these feelings. Well, tonight I had a revelation that now I really do know how Evan feels. Even though it is great to have a little baby it also comes with some complications that are going to work themselves out in the end. I can look fondly back at the time that Jason and I got to spend as a newlywed couple and know that when the kids are a little older we will get to spend that time again. Tonight I was noticing things in our bedroom that reminded me of the days before our precious little baby girl. There is the portrait of us from the CASA Auction. There is the pictures of us when we went to the Christmas party at the Executive Inn and on our honeymoon in Fiji, and there is the pictures above our bed that are of Charleston that we bought on our 1st anniversary trip. So that is my revelation that I know that Evan, and Blaine, and Riley, and Brenden all have these very special needs right now but that eventually they are going to all grow up and have their own spouse, children, and even grandchildren and none of the things that worry and upset us now are going to make a difference. That we need to live for each and every day because God has given us each day as a gift that needs to be cherished. So I don't really know why but it has really given me a peace about what is going on right now in our lives. I guess because I know that this is just another chapter and that I am hoping that there are many more happy chapters to cherish in the future. No use worrying about what tommorrow brings but instead I need to just be happy about what today is giving us!

Sunday with Riley

2010-02-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

I guess I have been pretty busy because I haven't posted anything in over a week. The day after Riley was diagnosed with "pink eye", she was also diagnosed with an ear infection. This required once per day liquid antibiotic by mouth for 10 days on top of the three times per day eye drops for a week (starting yesterday the eye started getting goopy again-- ugghhh). The antibiotic must have really messed up her stomach because then she stopped eating most of the things that I had finally gotten her to eat. It is my biggest frustration right now-- Riley not wanting to eat. Her diet consists of cereal (anywhere from Cheerios to Trix), bites of banana or grapes or mandarin oranges, Gerber Crunchies or Wagon wheels or Puffs or Yogurt melts, occasionally Gerber pasta and sauce (none of the other varieties though), Yo-baby yogurt, Sunkist fruit snacks, pickles (thanks to daddy), ice cream at bedtime (thanks to mama). Anything else that we attempt to give her she either refuses to eat or she eats a bite and then the second bite she spits out or throws at us or the dogs. I don't want mealtimes to be a battle zone so we just try to offer different things and then after she doesn't eat them we usually eventually get her to eat a few bites of something from the above list. The whole amazing thing is that she poops all the time, now sometimes she does have a little constipation problem but that is probably due to the fact that most of her intake is fiber free-- that's when we really encourage the fruit ( I bet that was really too much information).

Riley also got her schedule all messed up this week because her regular babysitter went to California unexpectedly to attend a friends' funeral. Grandad stayed with her on Wednesday, my friend Deidre watched her Thursday, and Jason stayed home with her on Friday. It has made her rather cranky and out of sorts. She looks at me sometimes like "what is going to happen next", plus she has wanted to do a lot of cuddling (which is fine with me).

We went to church last night because this morning Jason took Blaine, Evan, and their friend Sam Ward to Paoli Peaks to go skiing with the Cub Scouts. I would have loved to go also but that would have required someone else to stay here with Riley. After having to find babysitters for her last week and her being a little on the grouchy side I decided that it was best for me to just stay home with her. She was already acting like she wanted to nap at 9am but I held her off until 10:30 am because usually she doesn't want to take an afternoon nap and I was afraid if she napped too early than she would be in a worse mood later. Jason did most of the grocery shopping yesterday but I need to go back and get a few things that he missed. So hopefully after she naps she will eat a little something and than we will get the rest of the shopping done.

We are on the 4th week of the www.e-mealz.com program which provides us with our weekly menus & shopping list. It has worked out rather well. We go out to eat less and eat more of a variety of foods. I wish that meant that Riley ate a variety too but usually when we try to feed her what we are eating she refuses. The boys like most of the foods that we prepare, we always make them at least try a little of everything and they really don't complain too much. Blaine is a lot better than any of them at trying at least a bite of something.

We also found out last weekend that Evan's mom got the job in Mobile, Alabama. So that will mean that next school year Evan will be moving there with her. I always knew that we would be eventually moving from this area but I didn't know that this is how it would come about. Jason indicates that we will probably not move until about a year from now but I'm sure it will all depend on whether (when) he can find a job close to Mobile too. One thing that I am definitely looking forward to is the fact that it is going to be warmer weather!

Well, Riley should be waking up from her nap soon so I better go get myself prepared!!

Another crazy day

2010-02-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

It started yesterday when school was out again. I had a nail appointment and Brenden was nice enough to stay home with Blaine and Riley. Riley slept for most of the time while I was gone. When I returned she awoke from her nap with this gross looking goop coming from her eyes. It looked like something that should come out of her nose. Which speaking of her nose it wouldn't stop running. I should have known something was up because the night before she wanted to go to bed at 6:45 p.m. and woke up at 8 p.m., 10 p.m., 2 a.m., and then 7 a.m.

Then this morning when I went in to get her she was "playing" with her snot, it was all over her face, hands, and pacifier. Her eyes were swollen and red too. So I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse who diagnosed her over the phone with "pink eye". She said to give her Zyrtec for the snotty nose and that she would call in some antibiotic eye drops for the eye infection. So that threw my day off since I was to go to my first CASA Board Meeting. Luckily Jason could leave work and come home long enough for me to go to my meeting and to go get Riley's medicine. Riley took a good nap while I was gone and then she has been rather whiney and needy, which is understandable. She is actually taking another nap as we speak.

Hopefully she gets over this very soon-- it makes mama very sad:)

Snow days and new meal plan.

2010-02-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

We got about 5 inches of snow on Monday night/Tuesday morning and so Blaine has been home from school with "snow days". I was off on Tuesday and Wednesday with him and Riley but had to go back to work today. It actually has been a pretty uneventful time. Today Blaine went to Ashlee's house (Brenden's girlfriend's house) and he tried to tell me that he didn't get to eat. This is hilarious because trying to get him to eat on a typical day at home is next to impossible so I doubt very much that he was starving to death, as he would lead me to believe.

The other big news in our household is that I have enrolled in the www.e-mealz.com program which gives us a weeks worth of menus and a grocery list so that we will eat out less often and spend less on food by using the foods that are on sale at Kroger for the week. I have fixed 4 meals so far and all of them have been delicious, we actually have a lot of leftovers and thus tommorrow night might just have to be "leftover night."

Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T12:55:00.001-08:00

First I want to add that my last week ended with Brenden messing up something with his car when a lady was driving crazy and he had to go over a curb, so now his car isn't working. And also Blaine received a referral on Friday for not getting his planner signed by Jason the last 2 days, talking in class, and not turning in one of his homework assignments. So Brenden's girlfriend is driving his around and we need to get his car looked at next week and Blaine was grounded from the computer and PSP all weekend which he says means that "we don't care about his happiness".

Hopefully this is the beginning of a much better week. I actually slept until 8:30 a.m. this morning and then played with Riley, read the paper, etc. After that Riley took about a 3 hour nap. Now we are awaiting the arrival of the Wards' for a Super Bowl Party at our house. Jason made Jalopeno appetizers, Spinach/artichoke dip, and cheese/bean dip, plus we are going to have hot dogs and BBQ sandwiches. I don't really care much about the actual game but it should be a fun time.

It's been one of those days

2010-02-03T18:50:00.000-08:00

Today was the start of my work week. I got there and found out that I still couldn't get the computer program I needed on my computer to work. Then I dropped my phone in the toilet, which was sooooo disgusting! I finally got to work on my project on the computer but didn't get as far as I wanted to since I didn't get really going until after lunch. And I have figured out that I don't think that my phone is going to survive.

Then tonight when I was in the process of giving Riley a bath I thought that I smelled something very bad. Well, Riley had pooped in the bath tub. Ughhhhhh!

Being a mom

2010-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a little girl all that I ever wanted to be was a mom. I was like most little girls and loved to play with dolls. I would dress them and feed them and hug them and kiss them-- I figured that is what it meant to be a mom. I guess I always knew that one way or the other I would be a mom. I just don't think that I ever realized how hard it was going to be though. I feel like it is the hardest job ever. My day is filled with taking care of a very active little baby girl who never ceases to amaze me. It seems like I am constantly doing something. Even during the precious hours when she is sleeping I am still doing laundry, cleaning, taking care of the dogs, etc. Then my afternoon is filled with helping Blaine, and sometimes Evan, with homework which is quite interesting sometimes too. Luckily most evenings my husband cooks because that is definitely not my thing. I think that I was a little crazy to add 2 dogs to the mix -- Annie came to live with us in August of 2009 and Lily came in January 2010. They make things even crazier. This morning I thought that it was a good idea to let Riley come with me when I took Annie and Lily outside. Well, Annie was running in one direction and Riley was running in the other and Lily was somewhere in between. I think we will go back to Riley watching from the window and Annie is going on the leash because that was way too much activity for me. I can't wait until summer when we can all go out to play and maybe even take some walks to the park! But even though it can get a little crazy sometimes---- I love being a mom:)

My "Mom" Workweek

2010-02-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

For those of you that know me well, you know that I have been working at Owensboro Medical Health System as a dietitian for going on 16 years now. I worked 5 days a week for the first 14 years of my career. Then I met Jason and we decided that we were going to add to our family. We started off trying to have a biological child but then we decided to try to be foster parents. So Jason and I went through several months of foster care training. At the end of this training in December of 2007 I was given the opportunity to go down to working 4 days per week. So I figured that would be a good idea if I was going to be working more at home with foster children. Then in February of 2008 we found out that we were expecting a child. We were so excited! We still thought that we would help out by being a respite home with foster care but every time we thought this was going to happen it never transpired. Eventually we decided that foster parenting wasn't Gods plan for us at this time.

So October 8, 2008 Riley Elizabeth Stephens was born. I stayed at home with her for 16 wonderful weeks. At the end of my maternity leave I was also given the chance to go down to working 7 days every 2 weeks. This was great, more time to spend with Riley. So from January 2009 until the end 2009 that is what I did. Then in January 2010 I was given the opportunity to work 3 days per week. Jason keeps teasing me that I am "weaning myself" from working. I guess you could say that, but I say that I just use Saturday until Tuesday as my "mom" workweek and then Wednesday until Friday is my "dietitian" workweek. I have really gotten into a great groove with it now and enjoy both aspects of my life. I get to spend a great amount of time with Riley and the other kids/dogs and still get to go to work. Jason says that if we have to move somewhere because of his job that maybe I should just stay at home all of the time. But for now I am happy with my current situation and would not have it any other way.

Typical Sunday

2010-01-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we got up early enough to go to 9:30 a.m. church and actually didn't have to rush around. There still is about the same amount of snow on the ground but most of the roads outside our immediate neighborhood are plowed. The sermon was the ending to the Vision 2010 series and it was quite powerful. One thing that Rick said that lays on my heart is that we need to start praying more as a family, and I don't mean just before supper time:) I tend to do short prayers when they come to me throughout the day but I don't typically share them with others, even the family. I also read the bible in a year last year but did not share most of it with my family. So maybe that can be my New Year's resolution, that I will pray and share bible verses with everyone in the family.

When we got home from church Riley laid down for a well needed nap and Jason made the best omelets ever. After that I have been doing my whole house cleaning spree that I try to do every other Sunday. I am about 2/3 of the way done and taking a well needed break. The dogs are napping, Jason is watching a Matrix Marathon, and Blaine is playing in the basement with the neighbor kids. Nothing too exciting. It has been 2 1/2 hours and I hear Riley waking up from her nap. Hopefully I will still be able to get the rest of the cleaning done-- Riley usually wants to help mama, which means it takes twice as long. At least Jason is home to help try to redirect her to something more productive, like tormenting (petting) the dogs, playing with her kitchen, or making a big mess with all of her other toys.

Nothing exciting-- just a typical Sunday!

Starting a blog

2010-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

I love to read but am not very good at writing, thus I have been reading everyone else's blogs and thinking that I wish I could do that too! Well, here I go. I thought that this way I could document for the kids what is going on in our household, maybe someday they will actually be interested in reading it. Just like maybe some day they will be interested in looking at all of the photo albums and scrapbooks that I have made.

All week the weathermen have been talking about all of the snow that we would be getting on Friday. So we woke up this morning to 6 inches of snow. The day started with Jason giving Lily, the new puppy, a bath because she had pooped in her kennel! This was 6:30 a.m. and Riley woke up too. I decided to go back to bed and didn't get up until 8:30 am- thank you Jason. Jason then spent about 1.5 hours shoveling snow and digging Ashlee, Brenden's girlfriend, out of the street. Now he has a very sore back. Blaine had spent the night at the neighbor's house last night, then played in the snow with them this morning, now he is playing in the basement at our house with them. I decided to work on my scrapbook for awhile and now Jason and I are watching the Kentucky B-ball game. Not a very exciting day.