Outside Fun

Some cute pictures from the other day.

Ari The Jet Plane

Raymond & Ari do love each other sometimes.

Raymond is growing up too fast, 

but in this picture he still looks so young.

Nathaniel is Raymond's favorite brother.

Raymond says that Nate will be his favorite until

he starts taking his toys. ;-)

Raymond gave Nate a push and Nate wasn't

so sure he wanted to go that high. LOL!

But then he decided it was kind of fun.

This is one of the only pictures we have of all 4

in the same picture! 

He was swinging like this singing the Batman

theme song.

"Nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, Batman!"

Wow!

Raymond & Alex love each other most of the time too.

I ♥ this little girl.

Nathaniel is a sweet little white boy.

Look at that smile!

He's so big!

Strike a pose!

Dancing!

WOW - Is it really February already?

Yes, yes, apparently it is February. Insane! Anyways, a bit of an update - okay, a long, long, drawn out update. ;-) 

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Tiffany (me) - I'm doing fine. In November we found out that we are expecting Blessing #5! Yes, FIVE children! Wow! I'm still in shock - sort of. LOL. We are due on August 1st, 2009 and that puts me at 17 weeks 3 days. I'm already HUGE. I've had a cold off and on (Thanks kids!) for a few weeks. Other than that, I'm doing just fine. :-)

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Donald - He's doing okay. He lost his job a few weeks ago but has a great one lined up. He goes Friday to set it in stone but the guy says it's his. It's cleaning carpets but it pays $15 per hour plus commissions. He was only making $14.50 at his old job so this is a blessing. He quit smoking with the New Year and I'm extremely proud. What an awesome hubby. He has smoked once since - but it was a really stressful day and he threw them out that night. 

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Raymond - Raymond's doing good. He is turning 6 in April. SIX!! I cannot believe it. My baby will be SIX YEARS OLD! He is excited about his birthday coming up. We are planning a Birthday Bash trip to Disney for the kids birthdays. Raymond has been getting hot and heavy on his schoolwork and does great. He's a smart kid - just needs a hands-on approach to learning. He has also fallen in love with worksheets. 

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Arianna - She's doing pretty good. She went for her speech therapy evaluation and has been diagnosed with "speech apraxia". It's sad but at least now we can work on it. She has taken a keen interest in cheerleading and wants to be a flyer! She is also doing KINDERGARTEN schoolwork and she isn't even 4 yet. She's a smart little girl. Also, she threw her pacifier into the trash can last night - yay! I never thought we would get it away from her. She has only had it at night for 2 years now but geeezzzzz, those 2 years were 2 years too long. She is completely and 100% potty trained also. 

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Alexander - Alex is becoming for manageable. He's still a whirlwind and gets into everything, but he's listening better and understanding he has consequences for his actions. YAY! He still knows he's so cute that he can get away with almost anything. He is our smooth talker. 

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Nathaniel - Nate is now a year old! Insane, right? How did he grow so quickly? He's been walking forever and now climbs the stairs in 2 seconds flat. LOL. He's sleeping in his own crib and that has made life so much easier for us. He weaned himself a few weeks ago because my milk supply has dropped dramatically. 

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Baby #5  - The new baby is doing fine. We have had some scares with spotting and bleeding and cramping but s/he is still hanging in there. We are now in the "safe zone" and that's helped put my mind at ease. If she is a girl, her name will be Abigail Rae. If he is a boy, his name will be Bennett Jonas. I'm not so fond of the Jonas, but we need a J middle and that's Donald's favorite out of what is available ;-) LOL. Bennett is obviously after my dad. I'm not a fan of Frank or Austin, so Bennett it is. 

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What else is new?

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Well, tomorrow the boy's new bedroom furniture is being delivered. We got them bunk beds. Yes, I know we are crazy. Rooms To Go is having a sale. This bunk bed was great. It's a twin over twin with stairs instead of a ladder. The stairs are drawers. Then, it has a trundle underneath that we can use for storage now and then add a twin mattress to when Nate is old enough. :-) We cannot wait for the new bed to arrive. The boys are soooo excited!!! We are also going to move Nate from Ari's room to the boy's room now that there is room. 

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Donald and I have decided it's time to fix our credit, pay off old debts, and buy a home. In that order! We are going to the bank tomorrow to talk to a financial advisor about what needs to be done in order to be approved for a loan. We know we will be buying a fixer-upper. We are looking for a home in Arlington for less than $80,000 or so and then we are going to customize it the way we want to. So long as it comes with 3  bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms minimum, we can make it work. 

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So that is us in a nutshell. 

OMG So much has gone on...

We are moved in, downstairs is unpacked, upstairs is still in boxes LOL, we are loving the new house. Mom & I have started couponing - which has turned out to be really fun.

How Crunchy Are You?

I just had to post this... I love it!

http://themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm

I scored a 165

We're all sick and it sucks so I haven't felt like updating.

We are moving on October 4th... this Saturday! So we are busy packing. I won't update again until after the move.

We do have an appointment on Wednesday (tomorrow) October 1st with Duval County's Office of Vital Statistics to register Nathan's birth. Later that day, we sign our lease and can begin moving things into the house. We still have so much crap left to do, it's not funny.

On Thursday, I'm supposed to meet a woman about the Eco Baby Expo and give her a check so we can be a part of it. We are working full speed on getting this website up!

We are official!

Today was a crazy day. Donald was supposed to come home around noon today. Considering it is now 8:00 PM, I don't think that plan worked. He said he will be leaving Ft. Lauderdale in about an hour. That puts him arriving here around 2 or 2:30 AM. I would rather him stay there. If he doesn't leave until 9, I will insist that he stay there another night.

So, we ran errands today.

First, we drove over to Argyle to get the key for the new house (we don't get to keep the key until Wednesday but we wanted to measure). While in Argyle, we talked to Rob (my mom's ex-boss) and he offered her a job. She accepted. Only downfall is that she will be working from home - yuck!

After talking with Rob, we picked up a book from Melissa, a mom from my mothering group. She was selling it cheap and it's a great homeschooling resource book.

We then drove out to St. Augustine (while eating lunch in the car LOL). We were going to go to the school board first and register Raymond as a homeschooler but Ari changed our plans. She started yelling "ahhh boo boo" and in Ari language that means "I NEED TO POOP!" So we were near the new house at that point, thank God, and stopped there.

We run in the house and I put her on the potty and she changes her mind! LOL.... She MUST be my daughter. We go ahead and measure the rooms we needed to and I nurse Nate-Nate.

Then, as I finished nursing, she starts SCREAMING crying! "AHHHH BOO BOO, AHHH BOO BOO!" So, I run her to the potty and she's screaming the entire time. This is exactly what happens when she poops in her pants. Sooo, she did. She pooped mainly in the toilet but a little in her panties and it was the end of the world for her. I change her clothes and clean up and off we go.

We go to downtown St. Augustine. I must say that I *love* downtown historic St. Augustine, Florida! It's so hippie and artsy and fun. We find the school board buildings (yes, buildings with an S) and I walk around for 10 minutes looking for the right door - every door says "Use other door" haha. I finally find my way in and they have me fill out one piece of paper and say I'm done. WOW. I was totally expecting a lot more. I was thinking I would be questioned and made to show all sorts of proof and this or that... NOPE! It was easy-peazy!

We left and dropped the key back in Argyle and came home.

Mom and Raymond left to pick up dinner and the cat. Mom had dropped our cat, Bubbi, off at PetSmart earlier that day for a bath, nail trim, and to be combed out. He came back so pretty and smells great but man, is he in a bad mood. He's not a friendly cat anyways. Not mean, but just not a people person.

Ari is going to bed tonight for the first time ever without a pacifier! WOOHOo! And if Alex takes his diaper off one more time I'm going to scream! He keeps taking his diaper off and peeing in his sleep in his bed. It's getting REALLY annoying!

Sorry if this sounds jumbled or out of order. I know I'm rambling but it's my blog! I'm allowed to. Besides, I'm getting excited for the Presidential Debate tonight!

Sick Babies & Park Days....

Today we were supposed to be at our bi-montly API meeting on the other side of town. Unforunately, we did not make it. I woke up after a not so restful night to a very sore throat and a bunch of sneezy, snotty, nose blowing babies. We played around the house all day and then ended up at the park in the neighborhood after lunch. I had promised Raymond the park.

We walked to our park and thankfully it was a breezy, not so deadly hot day. We get to the park and the kids have a blast! Nate sat in the stroller peacefully looking around. He loves to be outside. After about 30 minutes of playing, we started counting the big mulch pieces. Raymond and I counted to 60. We learned that there are 60 seconds in 1 minute. We also learned to add 1+1, 2+1, 3+1, 4+1, 5+1, and 6+1. Raymond yelled the number as he threw the piece. It was a great way for him. He loves to be loud and he needs to actually feel something to understand.

They are in bed now after reading 3 books. I'm sitting with Nate watching Ugly Betty. My shows have begun :) Yay!