My Big Boy Four Year Old

My baby/big boy had his 4 year check up today. We were much more prepared this year than we were at his 3 year appointment. It was like night and day between the two appointments.For a while I had been talking about how we would be going to the doctor's soon because Jacob was now a big boy four year old. He was pretty much okay with it that is until today when I realized he would have to have shots. The last shot he had was in the December and it was his Flu shot.He really didn't like it as it was his first shot in the arm.We didn't really prepare him for it we had went in for Jenna's 18month appt and the doctor asked if we wanted to have him get his Flu shot also. Today in the car I had him all ready for this doctor's visit. We talked about all the things the doctor and nurse would be doing.Checking his weight,height,his heart,his blood pressure (he really hated this last year:(),his ears,nose,etc. oh and we did talk about the possiblity of maybe getting shots.That conversation went something like this.
Jacob: Me get shots?
Mommy: Maybe Baby, there's a real good chance you're gonna have to get shots.
Jacob: uh, me no want shots.
Mommy: I know honey but we have to get shots so we don't get sick.They help prevent us from getting sick.They're good for us even though they hurt for a little bit.It will be okay Mommy will sit with you when you get them.
Jacob: Mama, me no love shots.
Mommy: I know honey, but it will be okay.
Jacob: uh, okay Mama.
It was the cutest, I really love when he says that he loves something, or doesn't love something. My baby is becoming such a big boy. So now for the stats.............
Weight: 38.2 lbs- 75%
Height: 40 inches-50%
The doc says if he keeps growing at this rate he will be about 5"10' definitely taller than his Mommy and Daddy. I can't even imagine my baby boy being taller than me. Time goes by at a blink of an eye,and our kids are growing up too fast.I can only treasure each and every moment that I have with my two babies and every moment that we have together as a family Mommy,Daddy,Jacob,and Jenna. There I go again going off on a tangant,Sorry.

We had a fairly uneventful weekend. We went out to dinner with the kids on Friday and then ran to a few stores Mommy needed to go to. Saturday,wow myself and Joe were talking earlier today and we both don't really remember what we did exactally. I think we went to Costco, and Martin's for a few things. Oh and I did run in a few stores to do a couple of returns. Work on Sunday and that's about it. See uneventful....
Today however along with the doc appointment we were pretty busy.We had our play date this am.The kids really had fun.Then it was into the car and off to the airport to pick up Nana.We then had lunch at Mc Donald's (well the kids did).Then across the parking lot to Jacob's dr appointment.Okay so I am going to go off on another tangant again,sorry.
You know how a couple of weeks ago or maybe it was couple of posts I go I was complaing about the price of milk,well it has since went down but now I'm irrtated about something else. I don't know if every one read my comments to that post but Kelly pointed out that she thinks that some things are more expensive out her because there's no competition. I think I'm more convinced than ever now. I needed gas today while we were in Ashburn and guess what? Our gas here in town is anywhere from $2.95 to $2.99 a gallon. And in Ashburn it's an average of $2.84 but I got gas for $2.79 today. I could not believe that there was such a huge price difference in gas from there to here.So there you are, What do you think about this whole gas thing?

Finally Pictures

Here they are as promised pictures finally. I am starting with the most complicated one first this is some of the family that we got to see while in PA. I have noted who everyone is below the picture.This is Nana, her mom, her brother, his wife and their three boys (V,A,S),also one of Joe's other cousins(MA),then his sister, her husband and her two kids(J,A) and lastly the four of us.I think that covers everyone.

This has been an interesting week and a half Joe and I have come to the conclusion that our kids are crazy.What Jenna likes to do for fun is run in circles until she's so dizzy that she collapses.It's hilarious but she's crazy. And well Jacob he's just Jacob still as crazy as ever. They have been really keeping us on our toes . The pic at the bottom is from just a couple of days ago when Jenna and I were in the computer room. She got quiet for a minute then walked up beside me with the Sharpie in hand and Sharpie all over her hands ,some on her face and lets not forget the neck.She thought she was just the cutest.

On a side note work has been reaaallly slooooow. My five little hours at night are going by slow. I know that January is always a slow month for us but my gosh. We're still getting some weird returns.Some of our customers still even have that warm holiday spirit (NOT). They are getting meaner and meaner I tell ya. Oh but on a good note I got to wear jeans to work on Wednesday and Thursday. I know little things excite me it's just the last several times they've had jeans days they're always on Fridays the day I don't work. This time it was for a great cause Children's Miracle Network. All we had to do is pay a quarter a day and it went CMN, and I got to be comfy at work for once.Enough about work.I'm off today, yeah!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully it's not too terribly cold.

Oh and last but certainly not least that for the prayers my grandpa seems to be doing well and is at home now.Thanks Again!

From top left to right:Anthony,Aunt Lisa,John(nephew),Vinnie,

Nana,Steven, Andy(brother-in-law),Mary Ann,Uncle Carl,Grandma Emma,

Michele(Joe's sister),Me,Alyssa(niece),Jacob,Jenna,and Joe.

Jenna and Jacob A. @ our play date

The wonderful road conditions on our way up
1/17/08

Jacob on the drive up to PA

1/17/08

Jacob was not ready for this pic,

but the two girls were

Jenna and their cousin Sara
1/17/08

Jacob so proud of his many Potato Heads

1/24/08

Jenna decided to color herself with a Sharpie

1/23/08

The Last Week and a Half....

*Edited*
I have to add a little something here at the top so now my post is completely out of order. I need to ask everyone to say a little prayer for my Grandpa. After talking to my mom yesterday I found out that he had to have yet another Angioplasty. He got through the surgery good and is doing well and hopefully will get to go home today. He has had this done before but for a different artery and swore he would never do one again because of how much pain he was in afterwards. So if everyone could just say a small prayer that he doesn't have a lot of pain and pulls through this with flying colours. Thank so much,
~Jamie

We love you Grandpa Rudy!

I can't believe that a week and a half has went by since my last post. Well there's really a lot that has been going on this past week and a half. I sat down and attempted to write this post on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. But I have been really sleepy and so I feel asleep on the couch in the middle typing my post and well I really haven't had a good moment to sit down to type an updated post to that unfinished post, so here I am several days later.

Okay so back to Friday the 11th, Jacob and Nana went to the movies in Martinsburg and they saw The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A Veggietales Movie. Jacob really enjoyed the movie and was so excited to tell Mommy and Daddy about the movie when he got home. After Nana and Jacob got settled in Mommy and Daddy headed out the door, for our reservations that I made for us at a fairly new restaurant in Broadlands. It's called Willow Creek Farm and it's a Clyde's Group Restaurant. The restaurant is in this huge barn I mean huge I have never seen a restaurant this big. I felt like we walked a half of a mile to our table. The food was great and it was pretty reasonably priced.

We had some sad news on Sunday the 13th Joe's Aunt Mary(his mother's sister) passed away. She had been sick for some time and had gotten worse as the week progressed and on Sunday evening passed away. Aunt Mary you will truly be missed.

On this past Thursday the 17th we drove up to Pittsburgh,PA to go to Aunt Mary's services. The weather was really bad on our way up. There was a lot of roads that weren't treated yet and it was still snowing for most of the drive.So we decided that we would not drive home that night as we had originally planned. It was good that we stayed the night we got to see lots of family that we hadn't seen in a long time. Some that Joe hadn't seen in a while and I got to meet a few people I hadn't met before. We took some pictures of most of us but I plan to post those if not tomorrow the next day. I decided going into this post it's going to be a picture free post. Sorry!

The rest of that weekend is kind of a blur now. Any who on Monday the 14th We had our first play date in like a month. The kids had a ball they were so excited to see all of their friends. Jacob and Johnny got this cool new Playhouse for Christmas from Santa. Jenna really loved it she spent most of the time we were there in that little house. I wish I had some pictures from the play date but I don't Daddy accidentally left the camera in his car.

Okay so I know I'm kind of jumping all over here and I'm sorry hopefully I haven't completely confused anyone. We got home in the early afternoon on Friday and just relaxed. Both the kids,Joe and myself came home with parts of a cold. Yuck! Saturday the 19th is kind of a blur also because I had a pretty bad headache all day and spent most of the day on the couch wishing my headache away.he!he!

And well you know all those days in between, most of them I spent at work, Oh and I must mention that price of milk has seemed to go down at least temporarily. I will also mention in this very erratic post that I have had some really bizarre and rude customers at work this past week. Just thought I'd share. I won't get into all the gory details about who did what to piss me off but what a week, I tell ya. I honestly thought we had a full moon everyday there for a while.

Hope everyone else's week was good and I will post some pics soon from our short trip.Hope everyone has a good week and try and stay out of the cold if at all possible.It's been really too cold out, Winter's finally here.

Yummy,Yummy in my Tummy

This past Sunday while I was at work I came across this Southern Living Cooking School book that at some point during the Holidays Wal-Mart gave away free to customers. I have gotten a couple of these freebies in the past I think the last one I got was over the Summer. Anyways these books have lots of recipes in them from appetizers to entrees to desserts. Usually I just browse through them and then they go in the cupboard with the rest of my recipe books. For most of you who know me pretty well know that I am not much of a cook, I don't usually get real fancy and my baking usually consist of a box of brownie mix. But this time a recipe in this book really caught my eye, and I thought why not this looks easy enough I could make this and they do look extra yummy. So I bought the ingredients that I thought I needed and then I went home. I was a little to tired to do anything that night so the next day Monday I decided I was going to make these yummy Chocolate Chip-Pecan Squares. Oh my gosh these things are so scrumptious and so so easy to make. As a matter of fact they're so easy to make I've made them twice this week. Yep twice, only because I promised one of the other CSM Ruth that when I made them I would bring in some for her to taste cause every time she makes goodies she brings some in for me so I thought it was only fair. When I made them on Monday Ruth was not working for the next two days and by the time Wednesday rolled around well we only had two left and well they would have never made it in to work. So this afternoon (well really yesterday, because of the time now) I made another batch. Only Joe told me if I made them again I had to take them all with me that I could not leave any at home. He really likes them too much and would be tempted to eat them all he,he! So I only left two pieces at home one for him and one for his Mom the rest went with me to work. These little pieces of heaven are so darn good. One more thing I am not usually a real big fan of nuts unless it's a Hershey's bar with almonds. I kinda have a small addiction to these candy bars, I quite frequently eat them for my break at work, I know. I really know how to go off on a tangent I'm sorry but for those of you who like to bake you have to give these little things a try. Oh and have fun...

One more thing before I go what the heck is up with the price of milk? I don't know if anyone else bought milk today or in the last couple of days, but I swear when I bought milk last week it was not as expensive as it was today. Now normally 2% milk is like around $3.59 or so at Wal-Mart and this is Wal-Marts Great Value brand. Maybe even a little less I think I usually pay $3.59 for Jenna's whole milk. Well tonight I paid a wooping $4.27 for a gallon of 2% milk. I could not believe it when the cashier rang it up. She then proceeded to tell me that the customer in front of me bought whole milk and it was over $5.00 for that milk. What is wrong with this picture $5.00 for a gallon of milk? I seriously can't believe this. I really try not to do a whole lot of complaining on our blog but this is ridiculous and I just had to see if anyone else has the same views as me. I will be making a trip to Martin's this weekend to see of their milk also went up. Unless some can tell me it did in fact because they just bought milk there or at Foodlion or any other store besides Wal-Mart. Okay I think I've got it all out now, sorry about that little rant I just had to get it out. But please do tell me if it's just me or is this price increase on milk is CRAZY!

I've Been Tagged!

Here are the rules: Link to the person that tagged you and post the
rules on your blog.
Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
or

Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.
or

Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old.
Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

So I've been tagged by my friend and neighbor Melis B...I'm not to sure how I'm going to do with this but I am going to try, because this should be so much fun but I am not sure which one to go with?

I think I've decided to go with two of them well because I don't know how exciting one will be.First I'll start with 5 Places on my "want to see or want to see again" list,in no particular order.....

1. Disney World with Jacob and Jenna, Joe and I have been 3 times but the last time was in 2003 when I was about 4 months pregnant with Jacob.

2. On another cruise, I don't really care where to just somewhere warm. I'd also like to bring the kids along this time as Joe and I have been on two childless cruises. With the last one being in 2004 for our 5 year wedding anniversary when Jacob was 9 months old. (This was my first time away from him,boy was that hard but that story will have to wait til another day.)

3. Hawaii, With a stop on every island. Joe and I spent a week there for our Honeymoon but we really only got to see Kona. We loved it and have been talking about going back ever since we left.

4.Bora,Bora Tahiti do I really need to say more about this beautiful place. Never been there but having been dreaming of Joe and I going there ever since I discovered this awesome little place. I want to stay in one those cool little bungalows over the water. Looks like paradise doesn't it?

5. Back to Germany and to be able to see other parts of Europe. Joe and I went to Germany back in 2002 for business for Joe's then job. We were in Germany for 2 weeks and we got to see a lot of different cities there. Lots of beautiful countryside , but it would have been nice to stay longer in some of the cities. I would have loved to go to Belgium with Joe but I had to go back to work and he stayed there for another week. I would have also liked to see Paris because we really weren't that far away but with this being a business trip Joe's free time was very limited. We still had a really good time and got to see a lot of really cool stuff.

I'm including this pic from our Germany trip because it's one of Joe's favorites of me:)

Okay now onto 5 random/weird facts about myself......

1.I am slightly obsessed with socks I have at least one pair for every Holiday but Christmas is by far the worst. While putting away my Christmas socks this year I decided to count them including the ones I received for gifts this year and the ones I bought after Christmas on sale I have a grand total of 30 pairs. I know!

2. I also have another small obsession with Coach purses. In the last month I have acquired two more to add to my collection one that I purchased at the Coach Outlet in Hagerstown, Md and one that Joe bought me for Christmas:)

3.I love to eat Steak, Fillet Mignon is my favorite of course and up until about two years ago I ate all my steaks well done but now I eat them medium well much, much yummier. I would also eat a steak everyday if I could.

4.I have four scars from four different sets of stitches. One from my appendectomy surgery, I was 10 or 11 when I had to have my appendix removed. Second scar is from a skateboard accident when I was nine this ones on my chin. Third one is also on my chin and is from a bike accident when I was about ten. The last and final scar is yet again on my chin and is from another skateboarding accident when I was thirteen. Yes, I was told after the first skateboarding accident to NEVER step foot on a skateboard but obviously I did not listen to my mother. Sorry Mom!

5. I love the soap opera Days of Our Lives. I have literally been watching this soap opera for as long as I can remember even as a young child I watched it with my mom. I didn't start watching it daily until I was in high school but I have been pretty much watching it everyday since then. If I can't watch it live I used to tape it on the VCR but now I record it on our Dish Network PVR. Over the last few years it has had some really strange story lines but I can't seem to let go. It has been a part of my life for so long, I know a little weird but that's what I'm supposed to be doing right?

Okay and now for the saddest part of this post...Tagging my friends well guess what? All of my friends that have BLOGs have already been tagged or tagged me. Thanks Melis B! All the rest of my friends have not jumped on the BLOG band wagon just yet. It was fun thanks, hope everyone enjoys and learned a little something new about me.

P.S I am having a bit of a problem with the paragraphs when I publish this post so I am sorry about the paragraphs running together.