Loving Life

Life is so busy right now! Its hard to sit still. Life is crazy....and we love it!!

Corey is now 2 YEARS OLD!! We planned a small birthday party that ended up being huge:) But we were so excited that everyone was able to come!

I am now an independent consultant for Scentsy! I am trying to get my business up and running Right now I'm focused on trying to get my clientele up but its hard when all I want to do is buy all the products in the catalog, there will be no way I'll be making money at this.

Chris and I are really focused on Corey. We make sure hes healthy and happy. He has been sick a few time this winter but it was nothing we could not handle. With the help of Chris' mom, Frieda, he has become a very smart, intelligent, wonderful kid. He pronounces his ABC's really well. Kind of knows how to spell his name (we start out saying 'C' and he will finish 'O R E' and we finish with Y). He is a big ol' sponge! He loves to count his cars, though he has hundreds in a matter of months. 3 days before he turned 2, he spent the night at my mom, 'Nana's' house. With a matter of a day, she managed to get him to get rid of the pacie!! I was ecstatic. That is the start of many new 'big boy' things to come, though. We have potty training and getting him to sleep in his own bed at night. We have a good start as we took the crib part off his crib and made him a 'big boy bed'. He doesn't like that too much. We also have him running around in underwear sometimes but I get scared and hurry up and take them off before he has the chance to practice. I hope I can get over these anxieties so he is able to learn.

Chris and Corey love to watch tv together. They watch sports. Corey loves all things sports!! Wrestling, football, basketball...!! its great to see them watching all that together. It's their bonding time. We also watch Seaseme Street, Sid the Science Kid and Dora the Explorer.

They also like to cook together and the love eating and snacking. They are 2 boys that are gonna eat me (momma) out of house and home! Corey is picky when eating but when he likes something, he cannot get enough of it. Just like Chris.

This is just a little update on how we are doing. Thanks for reading:)

Our Summer

I am upset with myself that I have not posted anything since May. Not only is this blog for my friends and family to read but this is a good reference back when i am trying to record things for Corey. He's getting to be super big. Literally, 'a little man' is what I like to call him. He is 19 months now. Walking around like he owns the place. Going through kitchen cabinet drawers, mommy and daddy's dresser, underneath the bathroom sink, in and around my scrapbook room, up and down the stairs. Everywhere except his bedroom! He hates being alone in there but soon he will have to get used to it. Being almost 2 years old, he should be out of mommy and daddy's bed soon but we love cuddling him so, here he sleeps with us because it is us that need him for comfort. He's our little piece of heaven.

I am happy to report that Corey is up to date in all his immunizations until Kindergarten, which for me, is a great feat that I accomplished that for my son. I thought I would be the kind of mommy who says to herself, 'Hey, I'll get them next month or he doesn't need them now, I'll get them done before this or that' I'm a huge procrastinator, so this surprises me. Also not to mention all the people scaring me with the side effects. Corey did not have any!

This has been a really fast summer as always...it goes by so quickly. Because it was pretty eventful. May, we went to the St. Louis Zoo for the first time with Corey. He loooooved it. We had a trip to Vegas in May as well that we won from a radio station to see a group called Paramore in concert at the Hard Rock Hotel. The trip was great and the time we shared without our little guy was needed but by the end of the 4 days, we were really excited to get back to him.

June, we celebrated our 4th year wedding anniversary. Pretty uneventful as well but we know we love each other enough that we didn't need to make a big deal out of it. 4 years together, wow. Plus the 2-3 we dated and were engaged. Its been a long ride but i'm enjoying every minute as his wife.

July, Corey and I took a small trip to Branson with my parents while Chris took a trip with his dad to California. I stayed with my mother in law some of the days while they were away, to make sure she was ok. We had fun times all around.

August, we made a trip to Chicago for our nephews 7th birthday. It was actually Chris and my first trip to Chicago together. We've gone other times but never together and to have Corey with us our first time together was just great! We went to Shedd's Aquarium and Soldier field for family night.

September, we took Corey down the road to the Pumpkin Festival! We went all 4 days it was in town! We had so much fun and Corey loved all the rides he rode with his cousins, uncle, dad, mommy and friends. We had lots of good food. Hotdogs, ribeyes, pumpkin porkchop sandwiches, pumpkin chilli, pumpkin ice cream, lemonade shakeups, corndogs!! Yum yum!! We saw lots of old friends from school and Corey was a big hit with his big smile and huge belly laugh!

We have been hanging out a lot with our friends Kamron, 4 and Landon, 2 and their mom Ashley whom I work with. We have had a lot of playdates and go to places like the zoo and shopping with the boys. We take them to McDonalds and eat lunch of have dinner usually pizza! We love hanging out with them! Its great to have friends to just have a relaxing day together. The boys get along great. I am very happy we have them as friends.

I am happy that I have so many friends and family to share this summer with. It was a pretty fulfilling summer with lots of things going on. For all of you reading who has been a part of our summer, I am very grateful for you all.

Thanks for reading.

15 months:)

We can't seem to sit still these days! Maybe its the fact that COREY'S FINALLY WALKING!! It was a long process for us to teach him how and I have to say we had been very patient. It paid off in the end seeing him walk on his own! 14 months and 1 day old!!

Corey is now 15 months. He runs around and dances and plays hide and seek. Its his favorite game. We have a glass coffee table and he squats underneath and looks up to see if we are looking for him. Its the best thing when he laughs when we find him! Today I found him and I picked him up and he started hugging me but then started attacking me, laughing and biting me...it was crazy! I had to laugh because he thinks its playing around but it did hurt...i'll have to teach him biting is not good! We let him watch Dora and Diego and he loves Sesame Street. Elmo is his favorite! Ok Elmo's my favorite:) I love sitting there cuddling and watching Elmo's World. It is super cute. Corey loves going outside and sitting in the grass and looking at bugs....he is definitely a boy. He likes to explore. He loves visiting his grandparents. We recently went out of town and left Corey with my mom. He did wonderfully there! Nana Norma took all bottles away and now only uses sippy cups!! He got on a schedule and goes to sleep at 8-9 pm. My mom is great with him! Life as a mommy is good....just this week when we got back, I realized that when he says ma-ma, he's actually asking for me and wants me to pick him up! It took awhile hearing that from my son is so rewarding. Chris loves him calling him Dada too. I will say, give Dada a kiss and he turns and kisses him!

Lots of things going on this month and last but as I always end my blogs, I will try to write more often! Hope all is well with you. Thanks for reading!

Where did the time go??

I would like to say nothing has happened these past couple of months so I haven't posted anything. But just the opposite is true. There has been so much going on that I haven't had time to stop and record them and let everyone know how we are doing! We have a 1 year old now!! Corey turned one Feb 13th! It was awesome that it was a Saturday and we could plan a huge party for it! Thanks to all that came, it made his day! We had a lot of fun spending time with everyone and helping Corey celebrate his 1st birthday. He had fun too, although he was pretty tired since I didn't give him a proper nap that day. What can I say? His first birthday only comes once! Here are some pictures! I also have more on Facebook if you want to get on and look:)

He was so super cute! He wouldn't touch his cake until his Aunt Tammy helped him! Putting his face in his cake was the only way he'd eat it! It was a great day!

We are once again just the 3 of us as our house guests finally moved on and out so we no longer have live-in babysitters but its a blessing in disguise since now Corey is babysat by his Grandma Frieda at her house! He has lots of room to play everyday and he's getting to know his daddy's parents a lot better.

He has 6 teeth now and can feed himself really well with those teeth! He still likes for mommy and daddy to feed him his bottle...I don't mind...its an excuse to cuddle him but it does get tiresome when I'm trying to get ready for work:( He cries when we try to give him the bottle to feed himself...I say pretty soon he won't want me to do anything for him so we give in to it...I'm sure by this summer he'll be off the bottle anyway!

Corey's cruising...big time. He can crawl and walk while holding stuff like the couch and tables. Sometimes he'll get up on the bed and actually try to climb up the walls! He's a big ball of energy...I'm just happy he's healthy and happy!

Being back at the office is going okay...I still wish I was working at home and Chris is working lots of overtime so when we get home its dinner....bath for Corey...and a little tv and bed for the 3 of us...I haven't had lots of time for anything else but after our guests left I took all of my scrapbook stuff back into the guest room and now I have a little space for myself and my stuff so I can scrapbook and check email and listen to music. Chris has a workshop down in the basement, he hasn't really done very much in there but he likes organizing it;) Corey has lots of toys and books in his room...his room is a child's dream but he cries when we leave him in there to play, he wants someone to play with...I tell Chris we need a 2nd baby so he has someone to keep him company...maybe soon...don't hold your breathe people, lol! It will have to be something we both want and when we are both ready.

I am going to try to start blogging more often with extra pictures so please bare with me while I find some time to do that each week:) We love you all, thanks for reading!

10 months already!?!

My baby is growing so fast...where did the time goooo? Corey is now eating solids and today he got pieces of chicken fed to him...wow! I'm excited to see him feeding himself finger foods...which will be next.



Right now we are preparing for Christmas...Corey's first one. I'm going to make it as special as possible for him. It will be my first too...my first time hosting my family christmas! 30+ people in my small house...hope I can do it! I want it to be special for Corey, not only him but all my little cousins...I want them to have a tradition to look foward to as I did growing up...hopefully I can make that happen.



What better way to get into the holiday spirit than to visit my brother in law and sister in law. My sister in law does Christmas like its her job! Her house is beautiful and very festive. The day we went, she baked brownies and sugar cookies that were amazing and had Corey eating them. My brother in law gave him a whole sugar cookie and he loved it...had Corey loving him afterwards, giving him big smiles and laid his head on his shoulder when finished...wish I had a picture of it but I have a small video of him admiring his aunt's christmas tree...

Please excuse the background conversation...it was Sunday...football.

Can you see how big Corey is getting, though. My sister in law can barely hold him up!! He is starting to learn how to stand while holding on to stuff and pulling himself up but hasn't got to that stage yet.

In other news....I'm back at work in the office, no longer working at home. My account closed and so I went to another account but this one does not offer the option of working at home so I'm back to the daily grind. I actually have to get up and pack my lunch...do my hair and makeup...start my car...leave my baby at home with babysitters. Yes...I have babysitters...a live in nanny...2! My brother came back home from Texas and brought his Fiancee and is staying with us until they can get on their feet here. I'm loving it...she cooks, he cleans, they both take care of Corey until Chris gets home from work. I missed my little brother...I'm happy he's here for the holidays.

Chris has been working lots of overtime at Cat. He is loving being the head of the house! He's a good daddy and plays with Corey from the time that he comes home from work to the time we go to sleep for the night! He's having fun this season, watching football with Corey and teaching and talking to his little boy about the games. Recently, Chris taught Corey how to high five, very cute!

It has been bitterly cold out this week and we have not taken Corey out at all. I'm hoping this weekend or sometime next week before Christmas, we can take a trip out to the Festival of Lights in East Peoria. I would love to see Corey's eyes when he sees all the lights! Lots of stuff to be excited about:)

9th month in November:)

I feel like I never really had a little baby...Corey was big when he was born and he's always been a big boy... Right now, it seems to me that Corey is a full blown toddler. He's always had a mind of his own and wants to be independent all the time. In the past month of November we've gone through milestones like they were nothing...

November 1st he started waving bye...he doesn't know the concept of it yet...that you leave and you wave, no he'll do it randomly and at the wierdest times. Maybe he's just waving 'hi!' to us.

We also got him started on 3rd stage foods. It requires lots of chunks and chewing so he's starting to eat table food like eggs, banana's and teething biscuits. Not that he hasn't eaten teething biscuits before but he actually chews them instead of sucking on them.

November 13, Chris lowered his crib because he's been sitting up and lifting himself up on things...that was a moment I knew I didn't have a little baby anymore...like I said, not that we ever did have a little baby but it really hit me then. I am very proud:)

Between the 13th and the 15th his upper left tooth broke thru and he now has 3 teeth! That is amazing!! I don't know the exact date of the tooth but it wasn't there before the 13th and it was there on the 15th and plus he didn't make a big deal out of it...it must not have been too bad. Corey is a tough guy!!

For the past month, I have been teaching him to point out the nose, eyes, ears, and mouth....He's got the nose down pat and when you ask him where his nose is, he'll point to yours, lol. He doesn't have the concept that he has a nose and where it is. He'll get it soon.

And the big announcement: In the past 24 hours Corey has crawled!! Wednesday the 18th, I was getting all my scrapbook stuff out, my brads and stamps and buttons and Corey was so curious that he started crawling, he took 3 big crawls and stopped, I screamed and everyone came running in but he didn't do it again probably because I scared him. Then today Thursday the 19th, he got tired and just started crawling... anywhere and everywhere, to the picture frames on the floor, to the PS3 remotes by the tv, to the dvd stacker, just everywhere. I got it all on video and I'm so happy I got it! Thats the one reason why we got the camcorder and I'd be really upset at myself if I didn't use it.

Its been a whirlwind of milestones and firsts so I told myself I'd better get to blogging before I forget the dates!

Next week will be his first Thanksgiving! I'm making sure that every year he knows that I'm thankful for him and his Daddy...Happy Thanksgiving, All!!

Wowza!

It has been 2 months since I last wrote. I can't believe how time is passing by so quickly, it just gets away from you. It is both sad and exciting. When I'm here counting down Corey's milestones and waiting for the next one to happen, I realize that I must be patient and let it happen on its own...who cares if he hasn't crawled yet, he'll get it soon and I will wish he'd be back to his little self playing around on his tummy and back. Its so exciting to see him learning and playing! He is at the stage now where he is trying to figure out how to sit himself up. My poor baby's abs are going to be hard as rock soon, he only goes halfway up then gives up, kind of like a sit up!

Corey now has 2 teeth! His first tooth he got on September 17th on the bottom middle and the 2nd he got on the 28th of September to the left of his first one. Its hard to get pictures of them because of the trauma to his face he had since birth. It has gotten much much better but when he smiles, his mouth is still slightly crooked so no toothy grin yet that you can see real well. I know he's proud of them either way! When he spent the night at my mom's house one day around the first week of October, she gave him a bit of pancakes...he looooves pancakes now! and then on October 6th, he started eating Cheerios and little Gerber cheese puffs! It is sooo cute how he eats them...its crazy how babies know what to do as far as gumming/chewing their food up before swallowing and I love how he says 'mmmm' with every bite! He's so smart!

He likes to play by himself on the floor with all his toys! He has a ton with what I buy him and what my friends send our way. Taking books from my sister in law's garage sale was the best thing I could have done for him. He gets so excited when I pickup a book because he knows I'll sit him on my lap and read to him. Then he'll steal it and 'eat' it...boys! Speaking of which, I love that I have a boy. He is so rough and tumble and he already likes wrestling on the floor. Well, we don't wrestle we roll and I have him pinning me but he laughs and laughs. Just the other day, we were at my aunt's house and her little 15 month old girl Mariana walks around and runs and stuff. Well, she ran right over Corey and it didn't phase him at all! It was great to see that he can handle his big cousin!

Mariana is his only friend for now. We haven't really found any one we can actually go and make playdates with. My friend Stephanie who lives in another state came home for a visit and we got the boys together in September, they are only 2 weeks or a week and a half apart. Corey had lots of fun and it was so cute how they (didn't) interacted. Corey was so excited at one point that he screamed really loud and he scared his little friend Dominic. It was too cute though. Anyways, there hasn't been really anymore friends...I guess that means I have to get out more!

Sleeping is pretty much the same. We have him in his crib which we will be lowering pretty soon so that way he doesn't fall out from him sitting up on his own. He'll get up occasionally at night because he's either hungry or cold and I am too lazy to rock him back to sleep in his room so I just put him back in bed with us. Chris hates it but I tell him if he doesn't like it he'll need to go in there and rock him then. I haven't seen that happen yet so...my way so far. He'll wake up in the morning and go back to sleep after his bath and lunch then will wake up and take an evening nap. and if we're lucky a 3rd nap in between. Pretty much this is all we do eat, sleep and play...no wonder I haven't written for 2 months...nothing to report I guess!

Can you believe Corey will be a year old in 4 months...okay, okay... no more looking ahead!!