So this past weekend had the makings of a fantastic time with the fam. Trav and I loaded everyone up (everyone being Casey Jones and Wyatt) Thursday night and hit the road to Tulsey Town. We dropped the dog off at Trav's brother's house and continued on to my Grandparents house.

Early Friday morning (7am lol), we loaded up the G-rents, my sister, baby, husband, and I into our ridiculously large, horribly un-efficient, but comfortably spacey Suburban and headed for the oh-so-wonderful state of Nebraska. By the time everyone was loaded, we topped off our gas tank, got some drinks and hit the highway, it was a quarter til 9. We stopped for an hour for lunch in KS (the state I plan to turn into an ocean when I become President) and arrived in Kearney, Nebraska at 6:15. It was a boring drive, no one died of cholera or got exhaustion.

After having dinner with my grandpa's sister, we went swimming and went to bed.

Up again at 7 am to go see the ol' homestead. A year ago this past weekend, I found my Great Grandmother dead on her North porch. We had driven up for a funeral, and ended up having 2. Its an image I will never get out of my head. Well, we sold her old house (built in 1915, gorgeous details) for $10 as long as the lady would move it off the site, fill in the basement, and remove all the out buildings by August 1 this year. Well the house is moved, it looks pretty nice. She is adding a walk in basement under it. Grandmother would be happy to know her house is still being lived in and maintained.

After seeing the progress, we drove through the corn fields to show Travis the land that one day will be ours. Then off to see the Renter to make an agreement with him for the price of corn/bushel for this year. Then off to the Big O, yup Omaha. Woooo! Lol. The whole reason for our trip was the Travis Family Reunion (yes, I married a man whose name just so happened to fit perfectly in with my family ha)! We stayed the night in La Vista, NE, went swimming again, and ate at the Cracker Barrel. Sunday we all got up and went to the reunion. I saw my cousin Mandy's new lil daughter Hope. She has Polycystic Kidney Disease, but she is a beautiful little girl. Mandy also has 2 very ornery twin boys who are 4. They are just so fun!

About 3 pm we loaded back up in the Burb and headed for Beverly Hills...er...I mean Tulsa. We arrived home about midnight.

So over 4 days, we spent about 21.5 hours in the car. Well, Monday morning, Wyatt was sitting on the couch just to my left and playing with my glasses, they were his favorite toy. When all of a sudden BAM, (no more enthusiasm than Emeril), My glasses ear piece is in my ear. I have blood coming out of my ear, and Travis is FREAKING OUT! So we stick the baby with Aunt Lissa and high tail it to ErGent Care. My baby tore the bottom part of my ear drum! I now have a sore ear, a sore arm from the evil Tetanus shot (which honestly hurts worse than my ear!), am $85 poorer because between the co-pay and 3 Rx it cost an arm and a leg. Now I am praying that the ear drum will heal on its own, otherwise they will have to put a patch on it. I have been having a little trouble hearing, apparently I am talking louder, but everything is kinda muffled through my left ear. I think though it is because it is swollen due to the damage and it will get better. We will find out on August 3 when I go in for a follow up. Happy Birthday Trav, we get to go to the Dr. Woooooooo...

So that was my weekend. Now I am sitting at home with a napping baby, a pigsty of a house, drugged up on Loratabs for the pain, and wanting to clean but getting dizzy from moving around too much. Oy. At least the baby is napping for now. I love it when that child sleeps, he is so precious. My favorite pictures are of him sleeping, he really does look like an angel.

"He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." (Psalm 107:20)

Ok, so it is no big secret I have a love affair with Old Navy. Their clothes last forever, are priced really well, and are really cute! I have clothes from Old Navy I bought back in Middle School that are still holding strong!

Their jeans are my absolute favorite. They are comfy and fit me perfectly. And best part is they are only 30 bucks! I have bought jeans from JCP, AE, and other high priced places that cost 50 or 60 dollars. They didn't last more than a year. The AE jeans lasted a whole week. I was sooo mad! I paid all that money to wear them a week before they got a huge rip in them all the way up the inside leg! Old Navy however, I have had the same jeans for years, since at least freshman year of college, which although was only 4 years ago, thats a pretty long time in jean years!

Ok, so why am I loving on Old Navy today you ask? Well, first of all, they have OldNavyWeekly.com This website has great deals on it once a week. From coupons for $75 off $100 on down. You can't get better than that. Especially since you can get sooo much at Old Navy for 100 buckaroos.

Secondly, there is a blog called From Dates to Diapers that is giving away 9 coupons that are $65 off $100. You should go to : http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/ and enter!!

And because the picture didn't show up on my last post, I will try again

Since I last posted, Wow!

So, over the past 2 1/2 months what have we been up to?

Well, Wyatt has learned to crawl really fast, and stand up, and walk around the furniture! Oh and this past weekend, the smart lil guy has learned to do chin up/pull up things in his PnP. It almost gave me a heart attack! He is also trying new foods. He has had avocado, kiwi, zucchini, summer squash, blueberries, and all sorts of different mixtures! I must say, my favorite is Kiwi/Avocado/Peach. It really does taste amazing. Mmm

Travis and I have put in an offer on a house. It is a short sale, so it is a long long long process! We put the offer in on May 26. Its a huge house, 3200 sq ft, for only 140k in a fantastic school district. This is hopefully, the front of our new house:

For the month of June, Wy and I went to visit my family in Tulsa. I spent 4 days with my Grandma doing VBS at her church. We were crew leaders for 1st graders. My nephew was in our group. It was such fun! We were told there were over 925 kids participating in VBS this year! My Grandma and I thought it would be a good idea to take all three great grandchildren into Sears for pictures. We have a 6 yr old, 4 yr old, and 7 month old all dressed up, and trying to get all 3 to look at the camera and smile at the same time. It took awhile, but we got a a couple handfuls of good quality pictures! This is my favorite!

The last week, Travis joined us. It was so nice visiting everyone and getting to spend time with my sister, grandparents, and niece/nephew. The last weekend before we came home, Trav, me, his 2 bros, their 2 significant others, and a few of his bro's friends went and floated down the Illinois river. It was wonderful. What made it even better was that I remember to put sunblock on several times so that my white fair skin didn't burn. However, I can't say the same for my husband, who by the way is not fair skinned at all!

As amazing as this river trip was though, it was the FIRST time I left my lil guy overnight. He stayed with my husband's parents the night before the trip. I missed him sooo much! I was surprised though that I didn't cry when we left him. Especially since I cried the whole night before we left him haha. He had a good time though. However, I don't think I will be leaving him again until I am done nursing him. Some of you may know what its like to go 24 hours without nursing. Its pretty painful! I even pumped when I woke up that morning.

Now it is back to reality. The job hunt is back on. I have applied to I think every school district in the DFW area and beyond lol! I need a job for this coming school year. There are soo many school districts, many more than in the Tulsa Metro. Surely one will look at my resume and application and think, She would be perfect for our Social Studies position! One can only hope anyway!

This is one of the Bible verses that VBS used:

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,Mark 6:51

This weekend was soo busy! Travis took the day off on Friday so we could finally become full fledged Texans. We got our Texas tags, licenses, and opened a bank account down here. Then, my grandparents, sister, and niece and nephew came down on Friday. I made stir fry for dinner and my grandma and I made a quick dash out to Dress Barn. My grandma decided she didn't like what she had brought down for Sunday and decided to see if she could find something better. She couldn't, but it didn't matter, she looked fantastic anyhow.
Then Saturday, I made cinnamon rolls, YUM! And we took a drive to go see where Travis works because my grandpa had never seen it before. My nephew, who is 6, was very impressed with the giant tires sitting at the shop next to the factory. Ha! Then we drove by the shopping center to show my grandpa the major parts of town, then back home after we had lunch. After a long nap by most everyone, Trav, all 3 kids, myself, and my sister went to the movie store and rented 3 movies, Barbie, Australia, and Bolt (can you guess who picked out which movie ha!) Then we made a quick dash to DQ and got the kids sundaes with strawberries. Then I came home and made pork tenderloin, rolls and sweet potatoes.
Sunday, my mother-in-law drove down for the big day. This is the whole reason everyone came down this weekend. Travis and Wyatt got baptized!!! It was beautiful, I almost cried I was so happy/excited for them. We got up in front of the whole congregation and Travis recited vows to be a good Christian, and give his life to Jesus. Then we did the same for Wyatt, and placed our hands on his head while the pastors prayed over us. Wyatt did such a good job, tottally content to just be held by anyone. He is such a lil ham!!! Then we had a cookout and everyone left. It was so nice to have everyone here this weekend, but it really makes me happy I don't have 8 people living in my house all the time. So much work!!! But we loved every minute and can't wait to see everyone again in a couple weeks when we go to visit them!
I hope everyone had a good and blessed weekend as well! Praise be to Him!

So, the blog I follow, Kelly's Korner is talking about how to dress for less. I thought I would write about how to dress your kids for less.

First there is the Just Between Friends Consignment Sales. They are amazing, well the larger ones are. They have toys, clothes, halloween costumes, books, nursery decor, maternity clothes, baby gear, everything you can think of. Sadly, they are not everywhere, but they are in a lot of states. To find out if there is one near you, go to http://www.jbfsale.com/home/

Here are a couple outfits I have bought at the JBF sale:

This Santa outfit was $2

This snowsuit was $1.50, the dog was not included ha!

They have them twice a year, in the spring and fall. I have gotten a lot of clothes for my son there, and my niece and nephew have gotten a lot of their clothes there as well. I can spend $100 and get 4 giant Ikea bags full of clothes and toys. I have never spent over $20 on a whole outfit for my son yet. You have to look at the clothes because although everything is supposed to be gently used, there are always a few things that have stains or rips on them. But most everything is in really good condition! I bought my son's electric swing there on half off day for $15!!! Originally it had been $75!

Then there is Goodwill. Still used clothes, but at my son's age, nothing is worn that long anyway. Again you have to look for stains, but Goodwill is pretty good at sorting through things. You can also sometimes find good clothes for yourself as well. My sister got a really nice wool peacoat from Goodwill this past winter for $20, originally it had been $120, thats $100 off.

This outfit came from Goodwill, it was $0.25!! There were 3 like this, with differernt designs. I spent less than a dollar and got 3 outfits! Yeah buddy!

Now, if second hand clothes aren't your style, then there are always good sales going on at Old Navy. I love this store, right now until well, tomorrow, their jeans are only $19, normally they are $30, which still isn't bad. In high school, silver tabs were the rage, and those suckers were almost $50! Crazy!

Also there is always JCPenneys. That store is always having sales, you should never have to pay full price on anything there! And they also send out $15 dollar off coupons. If you are a cardholder, which I am not, but my grandma is, they also have great perks. For example, you want a family picture done? Well, with the card you can avoid those dumb sitting fees. And they also always have coupons for portrait sheets too, just look in one of those parenting magazines.

Well, these are my tips for cheap shopping. Hope this helps a few of you save a buck or two!!

So, last Sunday, a week ago, I became a member of the First United Methodist Church here. It was so exciting! I just felt this call to join that Sunday. The Pastor asked if any one wanted to join on the First Sunday of Lent and I felt this pull to go up to the front. Travis couldn't join yet because he is not baptized, but he will be a full member of the church on March 22!! Thats right, my wonderful husband will be baptized along with our beautiful baby boy on March 22, 2009 at the 10:50 service.
My grandparents, older sister, and maybe my oldest's sisters kids will be there. They are coming down for the weekend which makes this all even better! My Grandpa has not been to our new house yet. It will be a truly blessed weekend. I plan on making all sorts of yummies, like Chicken Stirfry, meatloaf, a cute Bible cake with Trav's and Wyatts name and their baptism date. Oh I just can't wait!!! The hard question now is...white cake or chocolate? Maybe both...hmm...
Now speaking of Bibles, we just bought our whole family new engraved Bibles! Mine is aqua and lime, my favorite colors, with an orange strap on it. Trav got a traditional one with gold page edges, and we got Wyatt a black leather Bible with two white leather stripes around it. They are soo nice!
Now for something not so nice...daylight savings time. Ugh, I hate this horrible day. Its not too bad in the fall when you gain an hour, but losing an hour is soo hard! Especially when you have a bit of insomnia and can't fall asleep until 3 er..I guess 4 am! And have to get up at 8 for Church. Now I remember reading about how they are adding a minute a day or something because the
Earth's rotation is slowing down, or vice versa or something along those lines. My question is why can't they just get rid of DST? Its pointless! What states are those that has gotten rid of it? Arizona maybe? They are the smart ones, they know it is a dumb dumb dumb idea, that just messes with peoples' bodily clocks.

He weighs 14 lbs 13.5 oz
He is 24 3/4 inches long
His head is 17 inches around
He was 50th in height and weight, and 75th in head circumference. So he is average with a big head lol!
Wyatt has been constipated lately and has a fissure on his anus thats been there for at least 2 months. So the Doctor wants me to feed him either peaches or pears twice a day and 1-2 tablespoons at each feeding. So depending on how baby is feeling tomorrow, we will be going to the store to get peaches and pears. We will start that probably this weekend. Doctor said any fruit that starts with a P, just not prunes because that would make Wyatt have the opposite problem! We definitely don't want that!
The doctor said also that his tear duct is not a concern until he gets to 6 months if it still has not opened up. If it is still closed then, he will have to go to an opthamologist (sp?) and have it, as the dr said, roto rootered opened. Eek! I really hope for both our sakes that it opens up soon!

He got all his shots today as well, except he did not get the Rotavirus vaccine. Last time he got that it made him really sick, so we decided against it. The virus causes extreme vomiting and diarrhea, well thats what the vaccine did as well. The nurse was kind of rude about it, I told her we weren't going to do that one and she said "well is that a demand or have you discussed it with the doctor?" I told her that we had already discussed it with the doctor and he said it was okay to skip it. Ugh, there is a reason we are not getting it, we aren't doing it to be "hippies" or that we think it would cause autism or something. It makes him SICK! That was my one complaint about today.
Oh, did I mention our doctor is Santa Claus? Haha, he always wears a red sweater or sweater vest when I go in there and he is round and has a big white beard! He is the nicest old man. I am glad we found him. I think as Wyatt grows up, he will really like this doctor (well except the shots part of it lol!)