What Makes My Heart HAPPY

In case you didn't know....THIS is what makes my heart happy right now. And I don't imagine that is gonna change for the REST OF MY LIFE! And I am more than okay with that! I figured it was about time for a little Hunter-Man update. He is already 7 months old! He is not crawling yet - not that he doesn't try, but he gets his knees up under him & rocks a little bit, then face plants right in the carpet! His Papa says it's because his head is SO big-ha ha! But, speaking of that...when he went in for his last check-up they said he's in the 99th percentile for the size of his head. I asked Eddy what that meant...and he said, "Duh mama...it means he's super smart!"...then Desiree laughed & said actually, it means that he's got a bigger head than 99% of babies his age! I can tell you one thing...it's the most beautiful "big head" I have ever seen. He rolls over all by himself now too. If you lay a blanket on the floor, he'll roll all over the room. He can sit up by himself and hold his bottle by himself. He's still not quite to the point where he will hold his arms out to you to get you to pick him up, but he's working on it. And yesterday, when I came home for lunch, I got my very first "on purpose" kiss! As soon as I picked him up he grabbed my face with both his little hands & pulled me to him & licked me right on the lips! It was awesome, and SO sweet. And I can't get him to do it again for anything in the world. I think he's learning this kissing - licking thing from Bam. His most favorite thing is to grab Bam by the ears & pull him to him & let Bam lick him all in his face. He just giggles & laughs & laughs. I think it is too cute - but it makes David crazy...he says get that dog out of that baby's face...you don't have any idea what all he's had in his mouth...and, as usual, he's right.

The kids took him back to the doctor today & they took some blood. They are pretty sure he just has a viral infection of some kind, but he's still feeling really bad so they wanted to make sure he wasn't getting worse. I had chalked most of it up to teething, but the doctor says that's not it. We'll hear tomorrow how the lab work went & if he's got to get on some more meds. That's it for the grandbaby update for now... I still need to get a picture of him in his Sombrero we bought him in Mexico! me

4th of July Pics

I've always heard "Better late than never"....hopefully that is true...because these pictures are from the 4th of July party we had at my Grandma's house. There is Hunter with his "Great-Great" Grandma, Hunter with his Papa Bill (my dad) and the bottom one is Hunter with MY mom & Eddy. (Just to clarify things...we are at my dad's mom's house...and yes, my mom & dad are divorced, but my grandma & her family still love & include my mom in most everything). So the bottom pic is my momma, with her grandson & great grandson. It's evident that I am NOT a very good camera-woman, but hey - I try! And, to be completely honest, I "borrowed" the one of my dad from my Aunt! Thanks Bev! me

What's Going on at my house....

So here is what's been going on in "The Allen's World"...Friday, the kids car blew up. Yes...I said "blew up", and yes, it's the new car we helped them get right after they got married. It's 5000 miles out of the extended warranty we purchased. And..the Toyota dealership said the lifetime warranty on the drive train is void if they didn't get it serviced there every time. Never mind Eddy was on active duty in another state. It's an issue that we're dealing with and I'm afraid David is going to have to get involved.
And, Hunter is sick. He has a horrible cough that just breaks my heart every time I hear it. And he looks up at me with those big blue eyes, like "Grandma, can't you fix this?". They have a doctors appointment scheduled for this afternoon.
We all went & saw my mom Saturday night. It was awesome to watch her play with Hunter. And my sister was on her best behavior, we actually all talked & got along. They've even invited us to come to the lake & visit them while they're on vacation for the next two weeks. I'll have to make a point to drive out & see them.
And last but not least....still NO RING! Although I am NOT going to be the one searching for it. Bam is doing just fine, so now I'm wondering...did he even swallow it? Or did he just pick it up & hide it somewhere at the house? We may never know, but at least there wasn't a $2000 surgery required.
And that's about all I've got for now...there is of course, a lot more I could write about, but once again I am blogging at work, which is a big no - no...and I've got work to do...so until later...me

What a Day!

Let me just begin by saying this - "what a day". I don't even really know if I mean that in a good way or a bad way, it has just been "a day". I didn't get much sleep last night. David's days & nights are so mixed up that I'm beginning to think we'd all be better off if he just slept all day every day, then stayed up all night every night. Even on the nights he is off. He slept most of yesterday, because he couldn't sleep on Monday night. Then last night, he actually turned off the tv around 11:30 & fell asleep - BEFORE I DID! That would be great except for the dogs woke him up around 3 this morning, and of course, he was up & wide awake then...and between him turning on the lights, taking the dogs out, trying to get them back in & settled down, it woke me up. On my way back from the bathroom I could hear my Hunter-man crying in his crib. (The kids got back from Kansas sometime after midnight last night & they are home for good). So of course, this grandma couldn't go back to bed until I went in & checked on him. And when he looked at me with those big blue eyes of his & smiled, well, what else could I do except snatch him right out of his crib & take him to bed with me & David? Except...what I know now, that I didn't last night at 3 am is IF you don't just give him his bottle & let him go back to sleep right then, he thinks it's morning & time to wake up & play. Somewhere around 4:45 or so I got him back to sleep & put him back in his crib. Around 5:30 I fell back asleep. At exactly 6:30 on the dot my alarm went off - and I've been up since!
I worked my a$$ off at work today. I've been slacking a little bit since about the week or so before we went to Cancun, and I had to have a little pep talk with myself this morning & remind "me" that if I didn't get on the ball, I'm not gonna have much of a paycheck next week. In my job in sales, the real money in in the commission & incentives, definatley not the hourly pay (that's just enough to pay the insurance, 401k & taxes usually). So I hit it hard today. And it paid off. I should have at least 2 agreements back tomorrow morning, so I'll need to pull just ONE more off to hit my incentive for the week. AND...if I can pull TWO in by 3 tomorrow, I'll be able to wear jeans all next week, leave early tomorrow & get a couple scratches on the new scratch board that's got a $500 spot waiting on me!
When I got home tonight the kids weren't here, they had some errands to run & were going out for dinner, so I got David off to work & had really planned on hitting the recliner & watching Criminal Minds & CSI until I went to bed. BUT - I started a load of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, did more laundry, vacuumed, changed the sheets on the beds, ended up finishing ALL the laundry & putting it away, swept the floors...well, needless to say I just got completely carried away by that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that I am certain I have, and now it's after midnight & here I am blogging instead of sleeping like I should be!
David told me before he left for work tonight that on Sunday him & Eddy are heading to Stuttgart to check on his dad & will be staying until Tuesday. AND - unless Desiree' can find someone to watch Hunter for her on Monday & Tuesday while she works (she got her old job back at Sonic for now), that the boys are taking Hunter-man with them down south! SO...we've gotta figure something out there because I love my son & husband very much & all that good stuff, but NO WAY am I letting them take that baby for 3 whole days. No way Jose'!
And, the last and biggest news of the day is this: My sister called me tonight. For those of you keeping up, we haven't spoken since right before Christmas. We talked for 2 1/2 hours, maybe 3. One would think after spending that much time talking, everything would be fine & back to normal. But - one wouldn't know my sister or the way our relationship is if they thought that. Basically, she called to make sure I knew that she was mad, why she was mad, and that in all reality she is still mad, but she didn't use the word "MAD". Instead she used the word "Hurt", and wanted to make sure I understood why she felt the way she did & that I saw her side of things. I did, and I do. But the problem here isn't either one of us understanding the other's "side", because we both do. The problem is that she can't or won't FORGIVE me. She won't forgive me for unintentionally hurting her feelings & making her feel like I didn't think my mom, she, my nieces, their whole family was important enough to take a day or night out & have "Christmas" together. She can see how it happened that my mom & I decided that we didn't need to have "Christmas" at my house on the night we planned, since Hunter had just gotten out of the ICU the night before and everyone at her house was just getting over a horrible stomach bug & we didn't want my 4 lb grandson to be exposed to that. She can't see that if she hadn't gotten so upset or 'hurt' by us calling it off for that next night, that I & my mom had already talked about & had EVERY intention of rescheduling our Christmas together, it just might have been the day after or the Saturday AFTER Christmas. I could go on & on & on & on about the conversation we had tonight, but at least it was civil, I listened to her & empathized with her, & understood some of where she was coming from. I even told her a little of how I actually felt about it & all the 100 other things she brought up tonight. Don't know if she heard a word or not. But I do know (and have known all along) that this was hurting my mom more than anyone else. Like Tina pointed out, I have a LOT of family. "David's" family, is MY family. I've got my kids. I have friends at work. Most importantly, I have David. But my mom? My mom has only 2 people (and their very small family's) left. She has my sister, (who has my niece Kayla-my step niece Kara & her husband Tommy) and she has me (and my little family of David, Pudge, Ed, Des & Hunter-man). THAT IS IT. We are all she has. She has no parents left, she's an only child, there are no loving aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, husband...there is NO ONE. And if Tina & I are at odds with one another, and since my mom LIVES with Tina & her family, then my momma only has Tina & her clan. And I am her oldest daughter. And somewhere in the midst of all this drama (or lack there of since I avoid any & all confrontation like the plague), I've let my sister take control of my relationship with my mom. And that is not okay. So in the end we've came to this solution. I will NOT let this rift with my sister keep me from calling my mom, going to see my mom, taking my mom out to dinner, bringing her to my house to spend a weekend, etc. And my sister will NOT use this rift between us to pressure our mom not to talk to me, or threaten my mom or hold anything over her head if/when she does. She's promised me the tension that has been there for 7 months when I call/see my mom will be gone, and I'm going to hold her to that. Like I told Tina tonight, I can not go back & change the past or any of my actions in the past. I can't "fix" this or what happened. I can't change it. I also have NO CONTROL over anything that anyone other than myself says or does. I can say I'm sorry (which I did), and that is all I can do about anything that has EVER happened before this very moment right now. And I can learn from the past. There is a lesson there, if we will just take the time & make the effort to see it. My sister & I are as different as night & day. Always have been & I guess we always will be. Where I choose (and it IS A CHOICE), to forgive & to love, she chooses not to. And here is where I will repeat myself, and end this post....I have NO CONTROL over anything that ANYONE other than myself says or does......me

A Few Mexico Pics

Random Update

It's a rainy Tuesday here in Arkansas and there's much going on. To start with, Bam ate Eddy's deployment ring! Yes - he ate it. Eddy left his watch & ring on the coffee table in the living room when he went to bed Sunday night. Bam walked into our room & I noticed something silver hanging out of his mouth. When I called him over & opened his mouth, there was Eddy's watch! I immediately ran into the living room & looked on the coffee table & lo & behold - no ring! I broke the news to the kids yesterday morning. The first thing Dez said was, "Great! I still owe $300 on that ring!" Imagine their surprise when David informed them that if he can't "pass it", the surgery is $2800 to have it removed. Needless to say, Eddy will have "Poop Duty" when he gets back from Kansas this evening! HA!
Did I mention that my cell phone woke me up at 5:30 this morning? It was the kids. It seems they misplaced Eddy's discharge papers & they needed me to see if they were there at our house. Know what? They were. Yup, they drove all the way back to Kansas last night so Eddy could get discharged today...and left the DISCHARGE PAPERS at home in Arkansas. Great. Anyway, I faxed some stuff to him & it looks like he will be released at 2 today & will no longer be a soldier, just a civilian like the rest of us! :)
In other news...Brittni called this morning & said her & Jeramiah are officially over, and he was moving out as of that phone call. I don't guess I need to actually post on here that...well, let me just say I think it's for the best, and in Brittni's best interest. I think she deserves someone who will bring out the very best in her, and I'm not sure he did. But, as with all things, I had already put this in God's hands & gave it to him. And if this is His will, I just hope Brittni stays strong & I know she'll be okay.
As for me...I am back at work. No more trips to Cancun or holidays or vacation on the horizon, so I guess I better get to work! me

We're Back - and I'm behind

Do you ever get SO behind on something...that you just keep putting it off & trying to put it out of your mind? Well THAT'S how I've been with blogging. I have SO much to blog about our Mexico trip. But - alas, again life has gotten in the way. So I've decided to just bite the bullet & jump on in, and I'll blog about Mexico when I get a chance.

We've had a great week. I was sick on Thursday though. Had a headache that just would NOT go away. I stayed home from work, laid in bed all day, and about 6 pm it finally let up.

Friday...the kids got home. HOME. They came pulling a U Haul trailer with all their stuff. Eddy & Dez have to go back to Kansas tomorrow to finalize everything, but they are officially here & Eddy is officially out of the Army! I am SO glad. Still, don't know what they are gonna do, but what I DO know is that Eddy is NOT gonna be sent to Afghanistan.

Saturday night we went to my Grandma's & watched fireworks. My grandma is doing AMAZING. She is weaning herself off her oxygen a little at a time, sitting at the table for lunch & dinner, and she even went outside to watch the fireworks. Thank you to everyone for all the prayers.

And we celebrated the 4th yesterday in true Allen fashion. We grilled hamburgers & hot dogs in the front yard, invited the neighbors & their kids over & some other friends, and David, Eddy & Jeramiah went to the fireworks stand & bought enough fireworks to have a BIG SHOW. It was SO much fun. It was one of those "throw everything together at the last minute" things that we are SO famous for, but it turned out great.

And today? Today is a day of rest. I'm off work and it's David's regular day off work. Not sure if we're even gonna get out & do anything. Heck, I won't even have to cook - there's plenty hamburgers & hot dogs left over!

Well, that's about all I've got for now...there will be Mexico stories & pictures to come...eventually. me