before

After

Yesterday afternoon I came into the dining room from washing dishes and I find my hellion sweet little boy asleep. He couldn't have been asleep that long because I had just checked on him 10 minutes earlier.

*my floor really needs vacuumed...

Before

After
Okay, so I've been playing in Photoshop Elements 7. This was a really cute photo to begin with so I just cropped it, cleaned up some blemishes, and unsharp mask his eyes. I don't know if I like this or not, I can't decide if it looks real or not.

So...

I went back to the doctor and she was shocked about the symptoms I had on the birth control. We are now trying Metformin. So far I have had no side effects from it.
Well other than a couple of good ones. I have actually lost some weight this week!! I was so happy to see the number on the scale go down. It is really frustrating to be an active person that exercises 5 days a week and not see a change in weight. I do more than exercise don't get me wrong. I do a cardio workout 5 days a week, walk on my treadmill at least 10 miles a week and Mason and I go for walks everyday it is nice out. I don't eat unhealthy stuff so it is very disappointing to be as heavy as I am. It is a really big relief to know that it is all related to what my doctor thinks I have.
It was always an upset to go to the doctor and have her tell me that I needed to lose some weight. I think she thought I was lying about how much I actually do work out. Then I went in because we want to expand our family and that is hard to do without a period and ovulation. She puts me on birth control which was a wild ride down crazy lane. So she was shocked by my reactions to birth control and I suggest metformin because it is the same thing my sister is on and so my doctor started listing off the list of symptoms that they would give that for and I was able to answer yes to every one of them.
We will see how this does. The next step would be clomid and I think we would rather have Mason be an only child if it comes to that.

6 inches

I could be measuring a lot of things. The height of a stair step, the width of a window sill, the size of a pretty goldfish in my fish tank, the distance I had to move forward the seat in the pick up, the depth a flower gets planted, the size of a book, the size of a penis... ha ha honestly you think I would measure that?? Anyways it is none of those things!
Nope, it is SPRING in Iowa and we got 6 inches of snow on Sunday. Six inches of heavy wet snow.
Kinda put a kink in our bike riding, outside playing, puppy exercising plans.
Most of the snow is already gone but now we have soupy muddy mess outside. It will be awhile before we can go out and just play again. I am more than ready for some sunshine and warm temps. Just you know minus the humidity and mosquitos.

Well

After a racing heart beat, shortness of breath, erratic thoughts and blacking out I have decided I am no longer going to take the birth control. Anything that can and did cause those symptoms doesn't need to go into my body.

No wonder Austin was calling this the house of crazy all week. I read back through some of the emails I sent him this week and it is just crazy. I don't blame him now for not understanding what in the world I was talking about.

I called my doctor to tell her and she told me to stop taking them. I just snidely answered 'no duh Einstein. and asked her if there was anything they could give me that wouldn't make me bat shit crazy. She told me she would have to do some research because she has never had someone react like that to what she gave me. I think she was concerned about the erratic thoughts. Odd I was more concerned about the blacking out. Really what if I had been driving?

Anyways so that is where we are for now.

I work all weekend, Monday and then Friday. I have off Easter weekend and we are going to my Grandma's house. Hopefully our week goes good. Otherwise I am leaving Austin at home with Mason. No that crazy talking...

I have explained to Austin about the new house rules and he is resisting just a little. I tried to explain that i had been lax on this issue for awhile but now that I expect Mason to follow them that I needed him to follow them to. I don't want to be a 'do as I say not as I do' family. With one exceptions of me smoking. I mean really Austin doesn't need to know about that. I know I am totally bad but it is the only keeping me from totally hurting my husband some days. You'd think after awhile he would figure out that we already have 2 gallons of milk in the fridge and that I really didn't need to go to town.

I have had a very irritating day.
I had to take the dogs to the vet to get snipped. A vet that is only a half mile out of Austin's way on his route to work. Um... still seething about this one.
Mason wore underwear and didn't have an accident the whole time we were gone. He even went in the potty at WalMart. We get home and I'll be if that kid didn't go through all 30 THIRTY pair of clean underwear. What am I to do with him. I know what I did do with him.
I put a pull-up on him and put him down for a nap. I don't know if this is his idea of a power struggle or what because he won't actually wet his undies. Nope it is just dribbles until I go to grab him to run to the bathroom and then he lets loose and pees all over both of us. I am on my sixth outfit for the day.
I know your thinking I catch it on the dribble but he isn't able to hold it by the time I get to him. Nope not the case. Yep! That little kid is all Austin.
I catch him on the dribble but if I don't say anything or go for him he can go for a half hour. I can pick him up, hug him, kiss him, play with him and nothing. The second I say lets go use the potty or look you need to potty, or you need to tell mommy when you need to potty he lets loose. It is beyond aggravating.
Then last week at the doctors she put me on birth control. My moods are all over the place. I mean all over the place. I am still confused as to why she would put me on it to begin with. I mean I was already not having my period so lets put me on birth control. She said it will maybe kick start my cycle.
Um... HELLO... if is going to keep me this crazy it isn't worth it lets try something else, like now. My poor husband has been on the receiving end of some fairly bad abuse this last week. I know he takes it so well normally but it has been really bad. I wouldn't be surprised if one of us is sleeping on the couch by the end of the week. That's bad considering I am usually so even tempered and non grudge holding. I am still pissed that he didn't put the car seat in the car this morning. Instead he brought it to the house and put it in the kitchen. How hard is it to put it in the car. Yeah, still pissed. It usually wouldn't bother me and today it is just under my skin.
So now that you have seen the crazy that is Laura I think I'll stew about the car seat and wash dishes while Mister Pee Body is napping. Maybe I can get myself calmed down by the time my husband gets home.

Random

Just some shots taken in between pics of the dogs.

Well ones that weren't of my husband anyways.

Our pups

This is Buddy. He is a little scatterbrained but so loveable.

Here he is again.

This is Red. He is the more serious of the two.

Here he is again. I don't think there is a playful bone in his body.

I picked Buddy and Austin picked Red. I know hard to imagine I would pick the playful one and Austin would pick the serious one.

Wonder where he gets it from...

Here is my husband trying to get this post out of the ground.

I know he is trying really hard.

Can you see the vein in his forhead bulging?

Now here is Mason trying really really hard to get the same post.

He is pulling it towards himself with all his might.

Now he is pushing on it with all his weight. Such concentration!

Now he is trying to pull it again.

He is trying to pull it up. He is huffing and puffing so hard I am afraid he is going to pass out.

And now he stops everything because I couldn't hold my laughter any longer and am caught taking his picture.

What the crap was I thinking...

Austin's week off of work wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
You'll notice I said 'as bad'. Tuesday, after my doctors appointment, we went and picked up two heeler pups. One red and one black with blue face and feet. Austin named the red one Red (I know real original) and I named the black one Buddy. I know mine isn't real creative either but he is such a Buddy, I can't imagine him being named anything else. I will have to upload some photos whenever I get some free time on the computer again.
Wednesday we stayed around the house until we got tired of each other. It took longer than I thought. Honest it did:)
We have been 9 years in June and every year when we get out tax return back we say 'now we go buy plates and silverware'. But we never do.
Wednesday night I was washing supper dishes and broke 2 forks so I holler into Austin and say 'we got our tax return the other day' he hollers back 'now we can go buy plates and silverware'. He thinks he is joking until I yell in 'be ready in 20 minutes!'
I was shocked when he was ready. We now have matching service for 12.
Thursday Austin worked on the bathroom. He got the ceiling painted and the door finished so it doesn't lock little kids in anymore.
Friday Austin got a new front tire on his motorcycle and a much needed new helmet. Sometime this week we need to get him a leather jacket. I want my car back and a leather jacket is cheaper than brakes on the 'bird'.
Friday night we went to his parents house for supper. Always a fun time! I have already told my husband that if I ever treat our daughter-in-law how they treat me to just slap me. I hate going over there. Now they are upset that we won't be around for Easter. Hello we were there last year! His mom was real upset when Austin told her we were going to my mom's for Mother's Day. I don't know if you all remember last year but it can be found HERE and HERE. I calmly explained to my husband at the time that it was my day and that I wanted to spend it with my mom. He wisely kept his mouth shut.
Saturday I got out of the house by myself for the afternoon. I went to a PartyLite party of a friend and then I had to go to WalMart and HyVee. I finally got home around 9. I might have taken advantage of the situation.
Sunday we started the 3 day potty training method. Today is day 3 and I think it is finally clicking. Hopefully!! I think it will take more than the 3 days but he is getting better everyday so hopefully soon we can say that yes he is completely potty trained.

um yeah

It is Sunday morning and I am 'sleeping in'. My husband thinks that I am in bed still asleep.
Oh that fool!
Sundays are the only day of the week that I truly get to sleep in (if I so choose).
He should know better than that. Really how could I be asleep after listening to my son fuss for 20 minutes before my husband deigns to get out of bed. Then he fusses while having sit on the potty and then while my gets his breakfast ready.
Really how can anyone sleep through that?
Luckily my husband is a creature of habit and I know that as soon as he goes downstairs finally that he down there for good. That is when my 'sleeping in' really begins. I grab my book or blackberry of the night stand and dig in.
I am sure he would be quite upset with me if he knew the truth of me 'sleeping in' but I figure it's once a week and I deserve it too darn it.
Austin has next week off so I am sure he will be sleeping in more than he should too. Pray for me a week with him should be fun. I did go ahead and schedule my doc appts during his week off because I want to be able to go alone. I need to get a couple of things looked at and I can't concentrate when Mason and him are arguing. I'm nervous enough as it is. I would like to forgo this all together but the only person that is going to take care of me is me. I figured I should probably start taking as good of care of myself as I do my husband and son.
Now I'm going to go pray for some peace and tranquility for the week to come. I am sure I will need it...

Oh, so Blue...

This last week or so the sky has been so achingly blue it almost hurts to look at it.

I could sure go for this kind of weather year round.

It's Real Life~ Through A Child's Eyes

So it is time for It's Real Life over at FarmFreshIowa.

I thought I would miss this one! My first thought was 'why would I give my nice expensive camera to my 22 month old who likes to throw everything'.

Well... my husband obviously doesn't think like me and ended up putting my camera in the stroller on my child's lap while he went to beat the dog for getting in the road again find the dog. Imagine my surprise when I unloaded the camera and this photo was on there.

I asked my husband what prompted him to take a photo from this angle because the only way he would be able is to lay on the ground. Someone who is 6'5" can't crouch down in to that kind of position with out taking out some ribs.

He told me that I must have taken them and forgot about it... Let me tell you that isn't very likely!

So, me, being the trusting wife I am, looked at the date/time stamp and what do you know, I was at work. I must be pretty amazing to be able to wait on the wonderful people of Stratford and take a photo 5 miles away.

When I confronted him brought this to his attention the whole story came out.

I don't know why he insist on not telling what really happened the first time. Maybe he gets a thrill out of it. I surely don't know. I am, however, surprised that my little boy took this photo. There was even some slobber on the eye piece to prove it. Obviously I have had a stern talk with my husband about camera etiquette.

This photo is of what my son looks at all day.

He takes these little cars from window sill to window sill all day. It is so cute he will push on one end and make the little car sound. Then when they are to the very edge he will go to the other end, push and make the little car sound. Over and over and over.

I think little boys are born knowing how to make that sound.

For more It's Real Life head on over to Farm Fresh Iowa.

I've been so busy...

I forget what it is like to spend any time on the computer for any amount of time longer than to check my checking balance. I find myself asking 'when the hell did this happen?' Honestly I don't know. It just feels like everyday we have somewhere to go, something to do. I don't mind when it is something for Mason but let me tell you I am tired of the doctors office.
So what have we been up to lately... I know we have been busy so I should be able to come up with at least 5 things but I am drawing a blank. Funny how that happens...

I think Austin is trying to drive me crazy. Every night he starts a new project. I can go outside and there are 5 projects waiting to be finished. There is stuff all over thedriveway. When I explained to him that he needed to finish what he starts he got a little peeved with me. That is fine because everytime I open the back door to let the dog out I get a little peeved with him. I don't like chaos and that is what it feels like outside.

I know I should be a little bit more understanding with him but I just can't be. I realize he is stressed out because of the layoffs going on at work but that doesn't mean he needs to come home and destroy stuff. Okay maybe not destroy but I am sure he would feel a whole lot better if he actually finished something.

I have told him that tonight we are finishing one of his little projects so he had better decide which one. I don't think he was too happy with me but then again I don't care. I told him we could get the patio cleaned up or the fence finished or the weeds last years flowers picked up but that at least one would be getting done. He said we could work on the rocks. Um... yeah... that wasn't on the list.

You see we have rock around the perimeter of the house and there is nothing planted in it. Just rock to the sidewalk that goes around the house. Well this last summer there were a lot of weeds so Austin, in his nervous energy, decided that he would take up all the rock and put down new paper so that the weeds won't grow. He has half the rocks up but it will take more than one night to get it done and I really want to get something finished tonight because it is to rain all weekend. He is pretty sure we can get it done in one night. I am going to call his bluff though because between me dealing with supper and getting Mason down for bed there is no way it will get done. I think I will just lock him in the office with his latest project.

I have no clue what possessed him but he decided to try his hand at stained glass. Let me just say this is fairly expensive little hobby. I love stained glass. I love to work with my hands and be creative like that but I am fairly certain that my husbands attention span is not long enough for stained glass right now.

The Renovations

So we have redone the bathroom and it felt like it took forever and a day. Maybe because it has and it still isn't finished. I know I took photos all the way through the project and have them all on the computer but I can't find any on here. Why wouldn't I have put photos up. I know I talked about it on here, quite a bit actually. So here are the photos.

I know some of you are probably wondering why I am just now worrying about it. Well the thing is that I have this friend that wanted to see photos of my bathroom and just for this purpose I leave photos on my camera. Well I get the camera out and the card is empty. I was a little peeved. Austin had emptied the card the last time he used the camera. I thought I had photos of it on here but I looked at every post tagged bathroom and didn't see any so now that some are on here I can just give her this link and only have to upload photos once.

The Before

I know who wouldn't love the tacky wallpaper. We would have taken it down sooner but we were afraid at what we would find behind it. As it turns out we were afraid for good reason.

I loved this long counter. However I didn't even remotely like what it was made of. You know the spray that makes things look like stone. Yep! On a counter. In. A. Bathroom.
You've probably noticed the Wal-Mart trash bag hanging from the toilet paper holder. I have never seen a toilet paper holder that is essentially behind the toilet but this one was. We never used it, I always had my trash bag hanging from it.

This floor was disgusting. I could never get it to look clean. It was almost as if they used two different colors of grout and just swirled them on the floor. Some places had almost white and other places were almost black.

The During

Austin and his dad taking out the old cabinet.

We took it all the way down to the studs. There was no insulation in the outside walls.

It looked so much bigger when we got all the walls down and the floor taken out.


Mason wore himself out and put himself to sleep. I know another bad mom notch but I honestly didn't know he was that tired it was only about 7.

The makeshift tub. We only have one bathroom so we made sure to get the tub and toilet back in fairly quickly. I am not fond of the bucket method and it was so hot while we were working on it. It got old very fast having to go to his parents house to shower every night.

The pocket door. We gained 26 inches going with the pocket door.

Unfortunately that meant we had to tear out plaster in the stairway also.

The test spot for the paint. I had to approach it slowly because Austin was soooo against it.

The spot for the washer and dryer. My favorite part of the whole bathroom.

I went ahead and got the primer tinted so that I could ease Austin into the green. I was afraid going from white primer to tree top green paint would have been too much. After we got all the walls primed in the lighter green it wasn't such a jump to the darker green.

Washer and dryer in and working.

My husband's beautiful tile work.

(I can't wait until I can get him talked into doing the kitchen floor)

It is so wonderful having a bathtub again. It really makes bathing Mason so much easier.

I changed my mind on the paint color but Austin didn't believe me. I told him I went with a more subdued green.

The After

I lost a closet in the bathroom due to the washer and dryer so Austin put up some shelves behind the door in the stairway.

They have since been cleaned and organized.

The new window that opens.

One of my decorations. I still have to get a couple of other things put up. We have finally decided what kind of trim and crown molding we are going to put up. I wanted to just put up a shelf so I could put some of my pretties on it and Austin didn't want to. We are currently still arguing about it.

When we put up the the trim we will paint behind the toilet. We just didn't want to have to take the toilet out a million times.

The counter still isn't tiled because it got below freezing and we have a wet saw. Austin vetoed that and I vetoed doing it in the basement. Love the wet saw; hate the huge mess. It will be so nice when we can officially mark this off our list of things to do.

Sick... Work... and Teething.. Oh, my...

Between work and Mason being sick and being stuck in SW Iowa at the Tropics Grandparents house I haven't been able to get on the computer. Blogging from the BlackBerry leaves something to be desired.
My hours have finally gotten straightened out at work. They were scheduling me for 26-30 hours a week. Way more than I wanted or need to work. Now I am only scheduled 12-15 hours a week which is so much better.
Mason has been teething. Like really teething. The rest of teeth came in yesterday and a couple broke through this morning. I am not a fan of teething. I don't mind the slobber it is the runny diarrhea and the subsequent diaper rash that goes with it that I could do without. I mean Mason doesn't get grumpy or anything like that, well at least until you try to change his butt. Teething is the only time he has had diaper rash and then he gets it bad enough he bleeds. We have gone through a whole tube of Desitin this week. So unless I have miscounted we should be done with the teething for a while. Yeah!!
Somewhere I picked up a horrible head cold complete with the popping ears and all. I don't do well sick. I don't take the time to take care of myself when I am sick. I am too busy taking care of everybody else.
I especially can't be sick today I have too much to do. Austin was playing with the water in the basement and shut off the water to my washer so I still have yesterdays bedding to wash. I was more than a little upset with him but what do you do. It isn't like I can call him at work and yell at him because he just laughs and hangs up. He knows how mad that makes me and by the time he gets home I have stewed over it enough that I just start yelling at him when he steps in the door. I don't yell for very long because I usually don't remember the real reason I am mad I just yell at him because he laughed at me and hung up the phone. He gets unknown amounts of enjoyment out of this. For days he will chuckle about it. I know and he wonders why I do the things to him that I do.
Now I just need to get back into my normal routine of things and we should be set.