Don't know if I can keep up!

I know I haven't posted in forever!!! Please forgive me! Things have been crazy here...

Lets see... the last big thing was that the kids somehow got Salmonella. Poor Taylor was sick, sick, sick.. but she was still eating and drinking and so she was able to stay home, but Carson ended up dehydrated and we ended up in the hospital with him for 5 days hooked up to an IV to get him feeling better. We didn't know until the day before we were discharged that it was Salmonella!

We don't know how they got it.. our eggs were never on the recall list, so we think that it was a coincidence. I mean, the previous few days, we'd eaten pork, chicken, eggs, the kids are always getting into the trash, or the dog bowls, Carson finds shoes and chews on them, the dogs could have tracked it in... we really just don't know.

Most importantly, they are both back to normal, and their immune systems will be stronger for it! It was a VERY VERY long few weeks though. Carson did not have a remotely solid diaper for 18 days. Taylor went about 10 days, but she was sooo good, she went in the potty the whole time. I think she must have spent most of those days in the bathroom.

Also, my Etsy business has been picking up a bit! I've been selling boppy covers pretty regularly, and a few camera straps. I've also gotten some custom orders for dresses that I've been working on, so I spend a lot of my evenings sewing once the kids go to bed.

My Mom came at the end of July for a few days before heading to a Mary Kay conference in Dallas. My brother Shawn and his girlfriend Emmy came for a day on their way back to school at Syracuse.

Drew is getting ready to go TDY again for a week, then he goes twice in October.

We are still going to Music every Wednesday, and both kids started Mom's Day Out again on Friday. BOY do Drew and I enjoy that 5 hours!!!

Carson had his FIRST birthday! Can you believe it's been a year already??? I can't!!! We just spent the day together as a family. Drew had to go to work that evening, so we had a nice lunch together, let Carson eat his birthday cake (which was a giant cupcake that looked like a monkey!), and open gifts. Taylor took that kind of hard, because you know... EVERYTHING is hers. We're still working on that.

Anyway, he also had gone to the doctor that morning for his 1 year checkup. He was 18.4lbs, and... I forget his height.. but he was in the 3rd percentile for weight, and the 25th for height. He's gone down a smidge on the weight scale (he was at 10%), but considering he was just getting over his illness, the doctor wasn't too concerned.

He's not walking yet, but he cruises the furniture, pushes chairs around, walks a little with the push toy, and if we are holding his hands, but rarely stands and lets go on his own and hasn't tried taking a step without holding on to anything yet. He can crawl like the wind though! He isn't talking a whole lot yet, though his babbling is increasing. He does say Dada, occasionally Mama.. he was saying it a lot, then he stopped and now only says it when he's upset, he says Dogs, and we think he says a few other things that we just can't understand.

Taylor is also doing great.... I think she had a growth spurt because all of a sudden she seems tall! She's still teeny tiny though for her age, mostly wearing 24 month clothes... and SOME 2T. Most of it is way too big in the waist though so we have to make sure her pants are elastic all the way around, or adjustable. I've been making a lot of her clothes lately so I do make them to fit (or a lot of skirts and dresses!)

Her vocabulary is expanding every day. She picks up little things here and there when we don't think she's listening or paying attention. She is speaking in longer and longer sentences. She's getting her own sense of humor and is starting to crack jokes on her own.

We still struggle with her bedtime, but once she's asleep she sleeps great. She likes to pick on her brother, and get out of bed and play. We were doing great with her wearing big girl jammies at night, but then she regressed and started being poopy picasso again so she had to go back into her backwards zippered jammies. It's strange because she goes on the potty before bed... and then still does more once she's in there... I don't know where it all comes from.

We also have exciting news... Carson has slept until 7am the last two mornings!!! I don't know if we had mentioned it before, but for the past few months, he's been getting up around 5AM. For us night owls.. 5AM is early. Luckily I have the best husband ever, and we trade off who gets up.. and whoever gets up, gets to take a nap when the other person gets up. Sometimes we have to swap up for certain obligations, or if Drew is working long hours, I know he needs his sleep so he can perform well at work. He's a champ though, and I appreciate all of his help with the early waking.

So yeah, we've pretty much been sleep deprived for a while. We are either walking around in a stupor trying to keep up with the caffeine, or napping if we can. Another reason why my blog is slacking!

We also have a somewhat new addition. A few weeks ago when we came out of Music class, this kitten came up to us and started purring and rolling around at our feet. It was in a business area with no homes, and somebody that worked there came out and asked if it was ours and we said no. She told us that it had been there all morning and they didn't know where it came from.

Of course, we have more than our fair share of animals, and are short on space. We really didn't want another animal. However we were right on the highway and I didn't want it to get run over, so we took it home to try and find it's owner.. or a home.

Note* Last year there was a dog running along the side of the freeway, but I didn't have the dog gate in the trailblazer, and the kids were in the car.. I thought about going back to get it once I took the kids home, but figured by the time I unloaded them, put the dog gate in, and went back, I wouldn't be able to find him. Well the next morning, I went to get on the freeway and there was the poor dog.. on the freeway, right off of our exit... run over. I. felt. horrible. Not only did the poor dog die.. but in this state, they don't pick up roadkill... so it decomposed for months on the side of the road. Every time I got on the freeway, I had pangs of guilt for not going back and looking for him. I told myself, never again would I not stop for a stray, even if it meant I had to go back. If that would have been one of my dogs, I would have been devastated. So yeah....

back to a few weeks ago. Got the kitten home, and put an ad on craigslist that I had found this kitten and to call or e-mail if it was theirs... waited a few days, then put an ad for the kitten to find a home (as well as on facebook). I got a lot of people telling me "good luck, we're trying to get rid of some too". Oh man! Apparently there are tons of kittens around here looking for homes. Another thing about this area, is that animals are low on the totem pole, and people don't spay or neuter like they do in say.. California. Even in CA it's bad, but nothing compared to here.

So, we have this kitten. It's super sweet, Taylor absolutely adores it. It loves Taylor, it stands up to the dogs, it's determined to be friends with Eibach (Eibach hates it). We don't want to take it to the pound because more than likely it will get euthanized there. It's way too sweet and affectionate of a cat to do that too. So it's still here. We're still trying to find it a home.. asking everybody we know.. showing photos of how cute it is to try and sucker them in.

Drew named it INGA. Which stands for *sigh* "It's Not Going Anywhere".

So... anybody want a kitten????

Okay, I need to get back to my bathroom... I'm painting it tonight and was taking a break for it to dry a little so I could make sure I didn't miss any spots before cleaning up. I don't have any photos right now because I'm not on that computer, but I did want to at least post an update.

If any of you that read this have Facebook, I post updates there fairly often and upload some photos since it's a lot easier to upload there than here... but I will try and get here when I can. I can't guarantee anything! I'm hoping that my Etsy business picks up more (oh.. by the way.. it's www.etsy.com/shope/ALatteCreations). It would be nice if I could supplement our income AND be able to stay at home with the kids! Not counting on it yet, but at least it's helping to pay for the hobby. :)

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Love to you all,
Jen