dress fitting

I went to have my first dress fitting with the seamstress at the bridal store on Thursday. It went much better then I expected. I decided to go with the smaller size when I purchased the dress and set myself a goal of losing at least 10 lbs before this first fitting. I did do that and more, but was still worried that there would need to be some alterations. I put on the dress, and it is actually a little big. It is a corset style top so there is plenty of room to tighten it for fitting without having to have it altered at all. I had the bussle put in the back, and it will be ready for pick up in a month pressed and ready for the big day! So basically I am doing a little "YEAH ME" I have spent a lot of time at the gym over the last couple months, and actually have found it a very enjoyable part of my daily routine!

We are getting down to the nitty gritty details now. I am still waiting for quite a few RSVPs but they have another 10 days or so. It looks like we are going to be right around our limit of 100 people so it should be a really great evening.

the never ending battle

Of course what else would I be talking about other then the crap that Gary and I are constantly dealing with from his ex. After we got back from vacation we had to make "the transfer" of Rylee back to her mom. She of course decided to inform him at that time that she was going to take away the Sunday nights that she had granted Gary almost 6 months ago. I actually laughed when she told him because her behavior is so incredibly predictable. I knew she would be mad that the couple times she talked to Rylee while we were gone Rylee was not miserable and begging to come home. She said it was because her lawyer told her to be following the paperwork since Gary has informed her that he will be going back for 50% custody. He is going to pursue his parenting agreement to be changed to state that we will have her on Sunday nights the weekends that are ours, and add Monday to his visitation. That would mean that they would have equal amount of visitation with Rylee. This should not be too hard for him to accomplish which is good news. However, she has the misinformation that he is doing this because of me and the fact that we are getting remarried. That is the most ridiculous thing I could think of. The more time we have Rylee means the more interaction we have to have with her crazy ass. I would love to limit that as much as possible. Not to mention the fact that she has brainwashed this child into hating to come here, so as I have said before she is not always the easiest child to deal with. I am behind Gary 100% because he is the best father I have ever met in my life. However, I am certainly not the driving force behind this battle. He is very determined though to see this happen, and so of course I have no choice but to support him.

I joked with him the other day saying that if putting up with all of this does not prove that I love him then there is nothing that will. We are just under 45 days from the wedding and I know this is something that I will battle with for the next 20 years and then some. She will always spend her energy blaming me for breaking up their marriage, and all the other things that Gary has choosen to do since. I am willing to take on that added stress if that means it makes things a little easier for him. It really makes me appreciate the very minimal contact that I have with Joey. As much as I disagree with some of his choices, I am thankful that we have a much more mature relationship then Gary and his ex. And if anyone knows my ex using mature and his name in the same sentence NEVER happens.

family vacation

I am very behind in my posting as last week was a lot of catch up from our vacation the week before. We went to WI Dells for some water park fun with the kids. We camped at the local Yogi Bear campsite, which I have to say is so much cheaper of a vacation for up there as opposed to staying at one of the hotels. We did break down and rent a room at one of the larger indoor waterparks on our last night there. We were being threatened with Thunderstorms and anyone who camps in a travel trailer when it is storming knows that is no fun, expecially with a 5 year old that is terrified of thunder and lightning inside a house. We really had a good time.

I was a bit worried about the whole week and how it was going to play out. This is the first time that we have had Rylee for 10 days uninterrupted. Gary is entitled to a week during summer break, and then we had her for our normal weekend just before we left. I thought for sure she would be crying and ready to go home by Wednesday, but she was great. We actually got to she a side to Rylee that we don't normally get to have. She was playful and fun and willing to be a regular part of a family.

Brienna was a real trooper with her regular schedule suffering some major adjustments. She barely got any of her morning naps, and her afternoon naps were never as long as they normally are at home. She was very content watching the older kids from the sidelines as they swam and played. I am SOOOOOO grateful to have such an easy laid back child, it is such a nice change of pace from the other two!

personalized creations

So as I have mentioned I am working on getting the Pint Sized Peanut in full operation. I have been spending a lot of time working on some of the handmade items I would like to sell. I am working with Gary's mom on any of the sewing that needs to be done since she is good at that, but I have been perfecting bow making over the last week.

I have also made a couple of bow holders, and some bibs with cute designs. I would like to have 30-40% of my inventory be homemade items since we would obviously make the most amount of money on that. Of course there are certain items that I just can not reproduce such as screen printed shirts, but I have found a really cute supplier for those.

I made this with you in mind, Jamie. I just picked up an M at the store as a sample. I have a smaller heart shaped one that I am working on as well.

I know there is still a lot of work to do, but slowly I am getting there. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get this up and running so that hopefully by next year we can be in a retail store.

zach's play date

I offered to take the two little girls down the street this morning as their mother was elbow deep in some cleaning. I am sure most of us know how much easier it is to get household chores done when there are no children around.

Zach has not quite mastered the skills of playing together, and I am hoping more days like today will teach him how to behave around other kids. Of course this is a little more challenging for him because they are twin girls and 8 months older then Zach and for some reason Zach forgets how to act around little girls either that or he doesn't understand that girls don't play the same as boys. The day was actually very nice and it appeared that the girls had a great time over here. They are seriously the most polite children that I have ever met, so it was fun to have them.

Of course I could not have a post with out putting out a new picture of Brienna. She has very recently decided that she does not have to take long naps anymore. Which makes her one cranky baby by 6pm. I have been tempted to start putting her to bed that early, but I am very scared of a 5am wake up call. Maybe this weekend when I can push Gary out of bed to go feed her?!?! She is down to only 3 hours of nap total during the day, when she used to take a 3 hour nap in the afternoon alone.

Notice her shirt...that is the shirt I had as the inspiration for my new business venture. I almost have the website up and going. Just working on getting some wholesale pricing from some of the vendors that I would like to work with.

zach's new bedroom after the stomach flu

This is has been one crazy week, and I could not be more excited that it is over. The beginning of the week started out normal worked out on Monday and did grocery shopping on Tuesday. Wednesday afternoon we had our appointment for the wedding cake, and when we woke up the kids from nap to get ready to go Zach complained of a headache. We were taking him to my mom's while we went to our appointment and as he was getting out of the car he complained that his arms were hurting. I instantly felt his head because it sounded like body aches. He had a small fever. We ran to our appointment and by the time we got back he was burning up. I knew he was getting sick because Zach never complains about not feeling well so when he does I know it is serious. By 6pm that night the stomach flu made it's nasty apperance. I have been dreading this day for the longest time. I really don't do well with vomiting, but much to my surprise it was not as bad as I always thought it would be. Truely I spent more time worrying that I was going to catch it then worrying about taking care of him. Thankfully he is old enough to where he can give me enough warning and there was always a bucket right by him. It lasted 24 hours and was gone. He was back to happy crazy Zach by Friday morning.

We got him a new bedroom set this past week, and picked it up and put it together on Thursday. While he was gone over this weekend at his dad's house I decorated and added a few personal touches for him. I am very excited for him to come home and see it.

This weekend we went to see a live band with the neighbors on Saturday night. Brienna went by Gary's parents. We got home at 2:30am. It has been so long since I remember going to bed that late voluntarily. It was a fun time though. We had Brienna's 6 month pictures done Saturday morning. They turned out so adorable. I will try to scan a few when I get them picked up in a couple of weeks.

6 months

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Brienna has turned 6 months old. I can not believe how fast time goes by when you are taking care of children. Every week seems to pass by more quickly, and before I know they will be teenagers. YIKES...I can definitely wait for those days.

Brienna has started babbling a lot, and sometimes it almost seems as if she is calling for people. Obviously I don't know who but she yells so loudly and then waits for someone to answer her. I am still trying to get some good video of her practicing her crawling. She is getting really good at getting up on her hands and knees, but no actual movement yet.

Her hair is finally starting to grow back in after losing all the hair she was born with. I think that it is going to be a lighter brown then Zach's, but we'll see. Her eyes have turned mostly brown, but some days she still has a tint of green. Now people are starting to say she looks more like Gary, but I really think it depends on the day.

She went for her 6 month appointment yesterday and weighs 15.1 lbs (33%) and she is 26 in (65%). So she is continuing in her tall but skinny trend. Lucky little girl she seems to take after her father in that way for sure. We are taking her to JcPenney for pictures on Saturday. I got her the most adorable little tutu to wear. I am hoping she does a good job showing her cute smile for the pictures!

Can you tell that I just LOVE having a little girl after having a boy for my first!

getting really close to crawling

I am going on record now of saying that Brienna will be crawling by the middle of August. Over the last week she has gone from pulling her knees underneath her to getting up on her knees and elbows rocking back and forth. I she needs to do now is to push up on her hands and she will be gone!!

This weekend we got a lot accomplished around the house. I had a kiddie pool set up on the patio for the kids, but since there hasn't been much time to use it over the last week it was starting to turn green. We finally took that down, and pulled a bunch of weeds from the landscaping. Gary cut the grass, changed the light fixture in the back to the new one we got, and so much more. Since it was such a nice day we ate lunch and dinner on the patio, and the kids enjoyed the slip n slide for a couple hours after their nap. We finished the weekend with a trip for ice cream with our neighbors across the street.

I finally found Zach a big kid bedroom set. We bought it from a person that lives her in the subdivision actually. It is a loft style bed with a desk, 2 dressers, and a bookshelf. All of this for $500. It is pretty good condition, and should last him for a while. You should have seen the look on his face when we went to go look at it yesterday. He was very excited to have a bed he has to climb a latter to get into! The getting down part will take some practice, but if I know Zach he will have it down pat in no time at all.

rough day

Gary and I are in the midst of another tough battle with his ex-wife. There were some really inappropriate things said about me and my children last week that were posted on the internet, and then brought to my attention. That was the first time that I have actually seen Gary get furious with her in regards to something that she has said. He has since decided that he would like to limit her influence on Rylee and is pursuing 50% custody of their daughter. I am of course behind him 100%, but it troubles me because, as I have said before, she brainwashes this child into hating to come over here. Now we have actual proof because that was how the whole Cori bashing began was over a comment on how Rylee was so upset to have to come to her Dad's house that day. I am scared to think what it will be like to have Rylee here that often. Her mother has made her a very difficult child to be around, and yes I completely blame her for it. If I could even try to explain the way that I have seen her treat and speak to her mother any parent would have been appalled. She of course knows better then to speak and demand the same way over here, but according to his ex that makes me a horrible person. Why because she has more respect for me then she does her own mother? I would NEVER let me own children speak to me the way Rylee speaks to her, so why would I treat Rylee any different??

See the problem is that I know this is something that I am going to have to deal with for the next 20+ years. His ex comes from a divorced parenting situation, and her mother to this day 30 something years later is still VERY bitter about the whole situation. That is the hardest thing for me to imagine having to fight these battles with her over everything. It is my understanding that she blames me for the failure of their marriage, which is in fact so far from the truth. The stories that Gary would tell me very early on when we were nothing more then friends was amazing. He was very miserable in their marriage at that time, and I think when he saw me standing up for myself in my last marriage it gave him the strength to stand up for himself as well. I guess because eventually our friendship turned into more that it is the easy way out for her to say it was my fault then take blame for her own part in their marriage failing.

The whole point of this post is that I am really struggling in dealing with this. I know how I would like to handle it, but my head tells me that is not the "adult" thing to do. Plus I would never give her a reason to try and take Gary's time away from Rylee. I am lost at how I am going to handle the future. I have always considered myself to be a strong person, but this is really testing my patience. Joey and I don't have world's greatest relationship as a divorced couple, but I can tell you that I would love to see those two have the same relationship that we have now as well. Getting divorced was a good thing for Joey, it actually made him grow up in certain ways, and so he is much easier to deal with now.

I just keep having to remind myself that I am lucky to be in the relationship that I am in, and have the family that I have at this point in my life. This is a road block that will be put in my way a lot in the future and I have to always remember how to jump over it!

my first hairbow

I have been working for a while on a new business venture. I am going to put together a baby/toddler store and website. I have been working on the different items that I want to sell. Gary's mom is going to do some of the sewing handmade stuff like burb cloths, personalization, etc. I have been trying to master the bow making techniques. I found some really good step by step instructions, and trust me the technique is much harder then I thought. I made my first attempt this afternoon and this is what I came up with...

It stays in her hair really well, and looks pretty cute. I tried this with a ribbon that I probably wouldn't use for this type of bow as it is not the same on both sides, but all in all it was a success. I bought some Halloween ribbon yesterday, and now I am going to attempt tomorrow to make some Halloween bows and sell them on eBay to get some start up money for the website. I am in the process of making some bow holders as well, and will post some pictures on them when they are done.