Playing Together!

Jackson and Ethan are finally playing together!  It's sooo nice that they totally can entertain each other now... I do have to intervene sometimes when Jackson gets a bit too rough - but mostly just out of my own personal fear - Ethan thinks it's hilarious.  Jackson has literally laid his whole body on top of Ethan - who was laying facedown - (he is only about 9 pounds heavier than Ethan anyway) while Ethan was laughing so hard that I had to check to make sure it wasn't a cry instead of a laugh!  Their new favorite things to do is for Jackson to crawl around on the floor while Ethan "chases" (according to J) him!  Both of them think this is pretty funny.... And of course, Ethan wants to play with anything and everything that J is touching or just laid down - including food, sippy cups, my ipod!!!  So I have to keep my eyes open at all times with these two!  I'm really really enjoying how fun these two guys are!  I feel SOOO blessed to have these two cutie pies!!!  They are keeping me on my toes!!

It's the Jackson and Haley show!

So on the way to playschool last week, Jackson must have been walking too slow so we turned around and Haley had grabbed Jackson's hand and they were holding hands while they were walking to class!  SOOOOO darn cute, mostly because it was totally unprovoked.  Love these two!

Goodbye Shampoo - Hello Lanterns!

My days as a shampoo salesman are officially numbered. Two weeks ago, I accepted a new position as a National Account Manager with The Coleman Company, and I start on Tuesday, May 3rd.

In case you haven't heard, my current company (Alberto Culver) is being acquired by a MUCH larger competitior of our, Unilver. The deal has not yet closed so it has been business as usual around the office, but I made the decision to look for another opportunity anyway. I probably could have remained on board with Unilever when the deal was done, at least in a role similar to my current one, but I really had my heart set on my very own sales job.

Have you heard the expression "it's not what you know, it's who you know?" Well, that's true. Knowing someone will help you get a foot in the door to show them what you can do! The man who hired me at Alberto left about two months ago to lead the much larger Coleman Walmart team here in Bentonville, and as luck would have it he had an open sales desk! I'm fortunate that he thought enough of my abilities to give me a call and let me have a crack at it.

For the second time in my career, I actually had two employment offers in front of me at the same time to choose from. The other offer was from a company called Reckitt Benckiser (they make brands like Lysol, Woolite, Resolve, Spray & Wash and Mucinex), and it was for basically the same job that I have now at Alberto.

I went with Coleman for a few reasons, but mainly because it was a "step up" from my current role. The Reckitt job would have involved a move to New Jersey in the not-too-distant future, which didn't help it's case with my family or I. I am also very excited about going to work for my old boss again. He and I get along great, and I'm excited that I already have a "cheerleader" at the company I'm headed to.

Like most people here in Northwest Arkansas, I will be selling only to Walmart and Sam's Club - but I won't actually be selling any Coleman branded stuff. My responsibility will be for their water recreation business - about $70million worth of business yearly. The main brands that I will be selling are:

Stearns Lifejackets.

Hodgman fishing equipment (waders).

and Sevylor inflateable innertubes and ski-gear.

I am very excited about beginning this new chapter in our lives, and I even more excited that I don't have to move this time!!

9 Months Old!!!!

As of yesterday, our BABY boy is NINE months old!  O-M-G!!!  I can hardly believe it.  It just doesn't seem right to me.  I told Ryan that the 9 months I was pregnant felt like 100 months compared to the 9 months since Ethan's been born.  I literally feel like I JUST came home from the hospital with him.  He has brought SO MUCH joy to our lives.  I am totally addicted to this little guy!  

Here's a little about our munchkin at this stage in his life:

As of yesterday morning, Ethan weighs 20 pounds and 10 oz!!!  He's a chunk!  It's probably the fact that he has equal amounts of rice cereal in his bottle as he does formula.  He usually wakes SO happy around 700am - 730am.   He takes a full bottle -about 8oz.  Then around 900am, he eats a jar of baby food, stage 2.  He loves anything that has bananas.  He finally is taking his baby food w/o any issues or gagging, so that's nice.  Then he takes a nap - usually about 1 1/2 hrs.  Then, around noon - he takes another bottle.  Then nap at 100p - usually about 2 hours this time.  After he wakes up, he has another jar of baby food - like veggies or meats or combo, etc.  Then, around 345p, I give him his medicine - Prevacid and Zyrtec. Then, at 400p, he usually takes about 4 oz of milk - just to avoid the super cranky time he goes through at night. At 430p, he takes a tiny nap - usually about 45 min or 1 hr... Then, he plays til 645p or so - then we start getting ready for bed.  He and Jackson have WAY too much fun in their bath!  While I'm getting Ethan ready for bed, he's usually screaming his little head off... he just gets so ancy and anxious and just screams to the high heavens, as my mom would say.  I rush as fast as I can to get him lotioned, dressed and then he takes his bottle and goes to bed - by 715p.  He doesn't wake up - he just sleeps as quiet as a mouse... a perfect little baby!  During the day, he is quite a fast crawler!  We finally put the gates up to keep him from going up or down stairs... He wants to pull up to standing position on EVERYTHING - tables, cabinet drawers, your legs!  He is happiest when he is standing!  He moves from standing at one object to another object now without any problems.  He is still wobbly when he lets go of whatever he is holding onto.  He has 6 teeth - and he's already bit me twice.  He is working on 2 more (that I can see).  He is saying "Da Da" occasionally and waves constantly.  He is usually very content to play by himself or just watching Jackson play - or getting into whatever Jackson is playing with, but sometimes he will scream when he sees us walk past him and not pick him up.  I only note this because I remember Jackson did this ANYTIME I wasn't right there giving him 100% of my attention, so it's really nice that Ethan will play by himself most of the time.  He has started sleeping with a bunny and a blanket and about 8 pacis.  I'm determined to yank away those paci's by 18 mos, so I'm hoping he'll be happy w/ his other "lovies."  My big concerns is that he still appears to have abnormally sensitive gag refluxes.  On Easter, I gave him a tiny bit of mashed potatoes and he gagged and threw up.  I know I'm supposed to be introducing him to "finger foods" but I can't even give him "Gerber Puffs"-which dissolve in the mouth almost immediately - but he'll throw them up.  And I have to put them in his mouth - he absolutely will not do it.  I cut a blueberry in half the other day and tried giving it to him and boom!  puke!  So - that's probably something I need to get figured out.  Other than that, he's absolute perfection and makes his mommy the happiest, proudest mommy ever.  Happy 9 Months, Ethan Chase!  Now, stop growing up so fast!  :-) 

Taking a Problem From Bad to Worse...

For those of you not living in Northwest Arkansas - or the band from Dallas to Cleveland - let me be the first to inform you that we've gotten a LOT of rain over the past few days! I don't know exactly how much we've received here at our house, but I know that it was enough to put my backyard under 4"-5" of standing water in places. Worst of all, we are supposed to get even more over the next few days...



I tell you that to set the scene for my latest mistake. On Saturday, I discovered a large puddle on the floor of my kitchen coming from a steady drip next to the AC vent in the ceiling. I ventured into the attic to find the source of the drip and quickly located the seam in my roof that was the culprit. I soaked up the little bit of standing water from the surface of the drywall and situated a bucket under the drip - a suitable band-aid by my standards.
On Sunday, the family and I went to my in-laws house for Easter Dinner. When we got back, we discovered a new leak had formed in the kitchen - this time the water was dripping directly from a new pin-hole in the ceiling above my countertop (about 6 feet or so from the original leak). I went back up in the attic again to find the leak and apply yet another "Ryan Certified" roof band-aid. As I was soaking up the standing water from under the blown insulation, I leaned too far forward and lost my balance and fell from the cross-beam I was perched upon! The result: a 200lb. man straddling an attic beam with one full leg dangling into the kitchen below.

Oops...

I must admit that I was a bit miffed when this happened, but sometimes you just have to laugh!

An insulation shower in the kitchen...

My only wound, a pretty nice scrape on my shin. I've definitely got some swelling going on, but I have a feeling I'll be back to 100% in no time!

Not only am I going to have to get my roof looked at, now I need some sheet rock work inside! I keep telling myself that those ceiling panels would have to have been replaced anyway due to the water that leaked on the top side of them... Whether or not that true, I guess we'll never know!

Happy Easter!

This was Ethan's First Easter and I'm thankful that we started his first Easter exactly where it should be - AT CHURCH!  My mom even surprised us and came to church with us - despite the very nasty rainy weather, we're celebrating what's most important - the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!!! 

 "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  John 10:10

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him, and he with Me."  Revelation 3:20. 

PRAISE GOD - for we are very very blessed!!!

My new toy!!

Last Monday, Keisha called me out of the blue and delivered the most shocking phrase right after "I'm pregnant with someone else's baby" - she said "I'm OK with you buying a motorcycle."

In case you didn't know, I have been VERY anxious to own my own bike. My dad has been kind enough in the past to loan his bike to me on occasion (a Kawasaki Vulcan 800), which seemed to work out really well - especially when I only lived 20 minutes away! That plan doesn't work quite as well now that I am 3 hours away...

Although I was EXTREMELY excited when Keisha revealed (voluntarily I might add) the fact that she was now OK with me buying a motorcycle, I had to keep my emotions in check - one false move could have blown the whole thing wide open. I was faced with three potential responses:

1. Is this a trap?


2. Are you under the influence of alcohol or other narcotics?


3. Sounds great!

I went with option 3, and the rest is history!!

Honestly, the reason it worked out was 100% timing. Keisha's dad has owned this bike for a few years (2005 Honda VTX 1300), and he decided that he was going to sell it. Being that he is one of the most generous people I've ever met, he made me a deal that I simply couldn't refuse - and I'm happy to be keeping it in the family. Keisha was onboard with the decision mainly because she knows how I prefer to ride - in town whenever possible (not on the highway) and ALWAYS with a helmet. I'm not the daredevil that you see doing 80mph wheelies through traffic!

Since I've had the bike in my possession, I've only been able to ride it once. If this rain would ever stop, I might actually be able to put some miles on the thing!!

11 Miles, Complete

The weather here has been crazy to say the least!  Last night, we spent about 20 minutes in our tiny downstairs bathroom - all four of us!  Not easy on a hyper 3yr old and a "i just want to go to sleep" 9 mo old!  But I'm thankful to report that the tornados went north of us - but the weather here is still so bad!  Basically it's been raining, lightening, thundering and hailing on and off for a week or so.  So!!!!!  There was no running outside for me today... I went to gym for my last long run before the half marathon!  I very happy and thankful to report that I completed 11 miles today - in 2 hr, 8 min..... but hey - it's my very first half, so I'll be proud of my time!  haha!  Anyway - I had to run it on the treadmill which is NOT fun.... very very boring, in fact.  I managed to bust through 2 full US Weekly magazines, so time well spent, right?  ha!  ONE MORE WEEK!!  :-)

what REAL BOYS look like....

Swollen allergy eyes, hat turned sideways....and bruised up head with dirty face. 

Em and I always say - we love having boys!!

my girls.

Lord knows He gave me the "gift of gab" for a reason... I have been so blessed to have moved into a neighborhood where I have met some of the BEST friends a girl could ever ever ask for.  I truly love these two AND their beautiful children so much!  Hope we always stay close - even if we don't live 1 house away from each other!  :)

Cheese Puffs!

So our good friend Brandon came and spent the weekend with us last weekend... After Jackson got back from Touch A Truck, he showed Jackson that he brought him a little gift... or a big one.... of cheese puffs!  Needless to say, Jackson's first words were "WHOA!  Can we open it!?"  And they dug in... And Ethan even got a taste!

Hmm... Ethan's not too sure! Funny face!

Touch A Truck!

On Saturday, Ryan took Jackson to the Annual Touch A Truck event here in Rogers.  Jackson was so excited to see fire trucks, but there was so much more than that!!  They met up with Jackson's buddy Cole and his daddy Rhonald.  Ryan loves "boys outings" so this was right up his alley!  It was freezing outside so Jenny and I decided to keep the babies inside where it was warmer.  Our "big boys" got to have some fun though!  Ryan got some cute pics!

We will definitely be back next year!  So fun!

So what's this train thing all about?

Uh-oh!  Baby brother has been exploring big brother's trains a LOT lately... and let's just say Jackson is not impressed in the least!

Look Mom, One Hand!!

Ethan is pulling up on EVERYTHING and standing lately... and starting to get really brave!  Several times a day, he even lets go with both hands and wobbles a little before falling down on his booty.  SO CUTE, but make it stop!

9.5 miles...

My friend Connie and I are running the Nashville Half Marathon on April 30th - well, actually SHE is running it - I will probably need to be wheelchaired across the finish.  ha!  Anyway, she drove over this morning and we decided to go for 10 miles today.... I only used my GPS for my actual running time - so I turned it off when I needed to stop and walk... which I did often after 4.5 mi... She did 10 miles (woohoo!) - I did about 9.5miles total distance but actual running was 8.5 miles... I must admit - It's the longest I've ever run in my life.  Up to this point, the max I've run was 6.3 miles! I wanted to quit so many times - but thankfully Connie was w/ me and didn't let me quit.  Every muscle in my body hurt so bad!  My legs - especially. Yesterday Connie and I went to Academy and bought a "hydration belt" which holds water bottles, and I got a knee brace - which did seem to help! When I got home, I took everything off that I had been wearing and sort of laughed to myself... That's a lot of stuff! I think I'll be recovering from this run for several days!

Be still my heart.

Jackson and Ethan have been playing A LOT more lately.  Jackson finally sees him like a buddy now rather than just a helpless baby... So that's good for the most part... Sometimes I have to remind J to be gentle, but overall, Ethan loves any and all attention from big brother.  The other day I set Ethan in the laundry basket and pushed him around in it - which was ok but it was REALLY fun when J joined in...  They are just so much fun!!!

 

Irresistable.

 

Who knew Carrots and Tomato were so yummy!?

Love my precious boy.