one of "those days"

I must admit I had one of "those days", where I thought the world was out to get me.

Let's see what happened...

Justin is STILL teething

Jacob missed the toilet seat and before I could clean "it", Justin crawled in "it"

Jacob was NOT listening to me at all

Justin figured out how to climb on EVERY piece of furniture in our house

I forgot to thaw out the chicken for dinner

and the list goes on...

THEN I stopped for a minute, took a deep breathe and realized how TRULY BLESSED I am. These boys are our life, we love them more than we can put into words. I love the brotherly bond they are beginning to share(even when they are fighting with one another!)

and no matter what happens in life,

we ALL have each other, isn't that what family is all about?

There is SO much to be thankful for and I think this Momma

needs to stop and take it all in! That means even when things are going crazy all around me!!

Today we're off to swim at my mom's house with family, Yay!!

Have a great weekend :)

The pic above was taken July 2009...

look how much my boys have grown in just one year!

this stinks.

This face makes me want to cry...he has been teething for a while now,

the nights are awful and there's NOTHING that works to soothe him :( sad, right?! This poor boy is 15 months old and has 12 teeth!!!

When is he going to get a break?? I DO NOT remember it being this tough with our oldest son, or am I just a big 'ol softie because this is my baby?

Here's hoping he gets some relief soon, then Mommy will too!

daddy's huntin' buddy

If you have never gone to Bass Pro Shops and you have BOYS....you are missin' out!

Jacob would live there if we'd allow it! I love watching these two together, it makes me smile :)

I think he tried on ALL of the hunting gear...

this might be a cheaper route for a Halloween costume, what do ya think??!

We spent three hours in this store! YES, THREE HOURS!

and we ended the day sitting on a $55,000 boat! Yay! Jacob still doesn't understand why we couldn't take the boat home with us, he told Daddy-

"Just go to the post office and get some more money"

...I'm assuming he meant the bank and if it were only THAT easy, right??!


Have a great day!

Wordless Wednesday- "Veggielicious!"

and some fruits too...


Our weekly trip to our local farm to pick up our fresh fruits and veggies,
they look forward to this trip all week :)

Join me and grab the Welcome Wednesday button-come play along at Take It From Me!

big brother rooms are COOLER!

I'd like to think that both of our boys have equally "cool" rooms with WAY TOO MANY toys! However, this morning I think Justin finally figured out that big brother, Jake's room is the COOLEST...or so he thinks! Mommy would bring Justin to his baby room and if I left the room, he'd make his way to big brothers room EVERY time :)

Guess when they get a bit older, this will make Jacob crazy,

so I can only imagine the arguments we have in the future... When Justin got caught by Mommy,

he'd open his mouth, throw his head back and start laughing...

You're busted little man!!

Oh and he's also figured out how to climb on Jacob's stool to get onto the big boy bed-

he thinks it's HILARIOUS!

and there he is, caught yet AGAIN!

These boys keep me on my toes ALL DAY LONG! Either they both will play nice and we have an easy goin' day or they are like crazy boys for 24hrs straight! Judging by my little man getting into ALL of big brothers things this morning,

I am thinking today is gonna be a crazy day??!

But ya know, I sort of enjoy those days too! I must be one, CRAZY Momma!

silly sAtUrDaY!

Just some silly sAtUrDaY pics to share!

My gosh, there is NO way to put in words how much I love these two boys!

Daddy had to work today :(

but we are having a fun day and getting ready to go swim at MeMe's house

-she got a new pool and we're gonna go break it in!

Have a great sAtUrDaY too!!

what I've been up to...

Since being a Mommy is my #1 priority...when I'm not changing diapers, cleaning house, cooking, or any of the other "Mommy duties" I am doing this...

My most recent orders and I LOVE how they turned out!
So fun and these will be additions to some super cute baby rooms! Thanks again, Nicole!
You can see more of my creations here and here!
HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND :)

Puddle Jumpers-CALL US!

Last week we decided to head to my mom-in-laws for a fun day of SWIMMING!

I didn't realize until I was uploading these pics, that we should probably get some sort of endorsement deal from Puddle Jumpers??! Don't you agree?

I mean I was hesitant about making Jacob wear a funny lookin' monster(or whatever its suppose to be?!) around his chest and arms, but I had to get past all that because it's so great when I'm in the pool with both of my boys! I swear, I never let him go near a pool without it!

We had a great time and laughed A LOT...the kids played well together and we definitely need to make a habit of doing this every weekend!
That's the greatest perk of living near LOTS of family-always time to make memories :)
Here's hoping you make some great memories with your family this weekend too!
and yes, we successfully did NOTHING today and it was FABULOUS!

a day devoted to doing NOTHING?!

After our hectic day yesterday(read about it here), we are going to just hang out and

DO NOTHING!

I am promising NOT to do laundry, NOT to clean the house, and NOT to even get the boys out of their pj's! WOOHOOO!!! Here's hoping it's a success!

So, in honor of doing NOTHING today, I posted over at my other blog, Lets Move It Momma's, click my pic on the left to find out more!!

a mall trip that will NEVER happen again...

There are NO pictures in this post, so bare with me...

Some friends and I decided we'd do a little school shopping today, the day started off great-kids getting dressed, Mommy drinking my coffee before the boys woke up :)

THEN, we started heading to the outlet mall that was about an hour away, we had to follow each other, because unfortunately FIVE carseats don't fit in one suburban! We get a phone call from my friend who was following me, and she says "Oh no, the baby just puked all over the carseat, I'm pulling over"...Oh holy cow, so we pull over and wait for the next phone call that was, "Well, we're heading back home, she puked again and I gotta get home, IT STINKS!"

So, I am totally phobic of throwing up, so I was NOT a good friend and I did NOT help her. Instead, we pushed on and headed to the mall anyway...

"BIG MISTAKE...HUGE!" (name that movie!)

We are almost to the mall and my one year old starts screaming for his blanket, which I forgot at home because I had 9,000 OTHER things to pack! So, we get to the mall...things are going good, Bass Pro Shop is keeping the kids highly entertained and now we're off to find school clothes, right? WRONG! We start off at the Gap, where my three year old takes every hat off of the rack and plays chase through each rack of clothes in the ENTIRE store! We leave. We go to Children's Place, he again plays chase through each rack of clothes in the ENTIRE store! We leave. "Hey boys, let's go eat at Rainforest Cafe"...um, not my three year old! HE SCREAMED AND KICKED AND YELLED...at this point I think I was about to have a heart attack, everyone was staring, I was sweating...I mean, A LOT of sweating!

Jacob : "I'm afraid of the elephants...please Mommy"

ME: "Jacob, they aren't real, they are pretend, just made of plastic"

Jacob: "Noooooooooo!!!!!!!"

So, we end up in the food court (YUCK!) right beside the carousel. I had made up my mind, NO CAROUSEL because of the rainforest fit, but I gave in ONLY because I knew my little one year old would love the carousel (a weak moment!). Okay, now another fit from my friends child who happens to LOVE rainforest and he now wants to go back! So, we finally decide its time to go, we're exhausted, we've shopped VERY little and all FOUR children are beyond tired! Then my heel gets run over by my friends stroller (don't worry, I forgive her!), she had to grab her baby boy out of the stroller because he was screaming, her three year old had a blister, so he wanted to ride in her stroller, so here we are, walking through the mall, she's holding her 30lb. baby, I'm pushing her three year old, she's pushing my one year old with her other free hand and Jacob is walking beside us, crying!!! Oh whew, we get in the car to head home and we're driving out of the mall parking lot and I look back and my one year old is NOT buckled in his car seat!!!

Oh YES people, THIS DID HAPPEN!!

WOW, perfect ending to a mall trip that will NEVER happen again :)

Anybody ever had a day like that??! Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day!

Got Milk?

In the McClellen house lately, we've GOT LOTS OF MILK!

Seriously, these boys go through 2 gallons a week...

yea, my husband and I have to take a "MILK CHECK" in our fridge a few times a day and we have our extra milk stash in the outside fridge, so Jacob doesn't find it!
I guess its okay since "Milk does a body good", right??!!

URGENT update!

Test results on my oldest son, Jacob came back NORMAL.

Now I can breathe again...ahhhh!

To my followers, family and friends: Thanks for the thoughts and prayers :)

A Birthday Surprise...

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

So, I knew this birthday would be VERY hard for my Mom this year.

For one, she was turning 60 and very depressed about it,

and she also lost her Mom (read post here) this year, and my grandma was always the first one to call and wish her a Happy Birthday

and this year would be the first time that call wouldn't come...

So, after being told, "DO NOT HAVE A SURPRISE PARTY FOR ME!!", I listened to 50% of what she said (isn't that what all daughters do to their mother's??!) and had a little surprise dinner with family and closest friends. I think she had a great night,

we laughed A LOT and cried a little

and thanks to my wonderful cousin, Angie,

it was a Mommy night out because she kept the boys for me :)

All I know about the night for her and my boys is that it included A LOT of sugary sweets and splashing in the bathtub to the point where her walls were WET?!

She won't tell me any more than that...

sad day with a happy ending!

It all started with a trip to the doctor for our oldest son, Jacob. He has a swollen lymph node on the back of his ear, he has had it for as long as I can remember, but it has gotten larger and very firm. So, being the totally PARANOID mother that I am, I flipped out and made an appt. After having to talk (more like BRIBE) him into even walking into the doctors office, he was promised by me and a nurse that there would be NO SHOTS at this visit. Well, after seeing our doctor,(she was very positive and seems to think its nothing to be worried about)she decided drawing blood to run tests would be the best idea just to be sure everything is alright.

Well the nurse walked in with the "materials"

and it turned very UGLY in patient room #6!

It took THREE nurses and a Momma to get the job done and Bless his heart, he was flipping out over the needle, they couldn't find his vein so LOTS of poking! My poor, little guy was SUCH a trooper and I was so proud of him. I think I cried more than him and so did the nurse that promised him NO SHOTS-she felt awful for telling him that, just as I did. For being a brave boy, he snagged a new book- "Maybe A Bear Ate It", three dum-dums, and two stickers! WOOHOOOO!!! Oh and Mommy told him we would go WHEREVER he wanted to go for the rest of the day and he picked...

INCREDIBLE PIZZA, so off we went! Now, he's got some pizza and mac and cheese...the day is already lookin' better!
and baby brother now has had a slice of pizza, mac and cheese, green beans AND a chocolate chip cookie- Do you see how happy this kid is?! HILARIOUS!!!

Ok, so Mommy didn't get all dressed up today! I can't help it that I enjoy the days with NO make-up, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. I guess it's a habit of a former P.E. teacher?!

Does anyone else feel that way sometimes or is it just me?

Go-Karts just might be Jacob's favorite thing EVER! He LOVED it! I'm telling you this boy was SO well-behaved the entire day because we did something he wanted to do...

when it's what Mommy wants, the day is C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

All in all, it was a sad day with a HAPPY ending!

Now, I just have to wait a week for these test results...ahhh, I'll be a nervous wreck!

He's SO proud!

And this is why I LOVE blogging...we found this super cute idea here!

He helped me make the clay, bake it and paint it- pretty good work, huh?
Since his MeMe's(my mom) 60th Birthday is tomorrow, the 15th,
we thought this would make the perfect gift :)
My mom has MORE surprises coming her way...just wait!
I want to make sure she has a great day, she's given me a wonderful life, full of love and laughter, she is my best friend, she is THE most selfless person I know, THE strongest woman I know, and I can only hope to be the kind of Mother to my boys as she is to me...
Happy 60th, Mom!

Wordless Wednesday

"TEAMMATES"
Team and Individual pictures were this past Sunday.
Can you tell these three love playin' Teeball together?!

A Day At The Movies

Well, not really the movies but, "Princess and the Frog" was playing in our living room last week! We had run out of rainy-day-things-to-do, so this was our only option!

While my boys were sitting, enjoying their snacks in their chairs, Jacob told me,

"Mom, I think this movie is for babies, I'll leave Justin here to watch it while I go become a police officer!"

How do I respond to that?! He's HILARIOUS!

Let the Good Times Roll in LA

Yep, we spent our weekend in Louisiana once again...we just can't stay away :)

L'auberge Du Lac Casino and Hotel in Lake Charles, LA!
Can you tell we love that place?! My mom's 60th Birthday is in a few days, so we thought a weekend trip was just what we needed! Every time we go to LA, we tell ourselves that if we lived there, we'd each double our weight because of the FOOD! Ahhh that food is THE best food ever and eventhough we were in Lake Charles, LA and not our favorite place, New Orleans...the food is still AMAZING and we did our fair share of eating and swimming...the lazy river was so much fun, the boys LOVED it and so did we.
Very relaxing and we took advantage of it and went swimming A LOT while we were there.



Our Happpy Family :)

Ahhh, we're eating at our most favorite restaurant- Steamboat Bills! THE best shrimp, catfish and crawfish you can find! It's AMAZING and we eat there every, single time we go!

It's an addiction!

Jacob's "Casino" While Mommy and Daddy spent both nights at the casino(no, we didn't win!!), this is where Jacob spent most of his day if we weren't swimming...in what he called "his casino"...

the arcade at the hotel! FUN!!!!



And the rest of the pictures are simply silly pictures taken throughout the weekend :)

ENJOY!!

One day I really think me, my husband, the boys and my mom will pick up and move to some part of Louisiana. We love it there, my mom's family lives in New Orleans and my dad's family lives in Lake Charles, so we'd definately have family nearby no matter where we'd choose!

It's a nice thought....hmmmm, not now but maybe one day??!

Hope you all had a great weekend too :)

Dear Santa,

Please bring me a NEW camera for Christmas this year. I have been a good Mommy and I "think" I deserve it??!

Love, Mommy

These are pictures taken with my friend, Tarah's, VERY nice camera and the difference is AMAZING! I'm sure gonna be a good Mommy and maybe "Santa" will fulfill my wish this year?!

I know NOTHING about these fancy cameras,

so What's your favorite camera and why??!

Wordless Wednesday

"BROTHERS"