another one bites the dust...another year that is

I hit the big 32 last weekend. And for my birthday I got a sinus infection and an upper respiratory infection - fun times! I slept ALL day on Saturday sleeping, and by all day I mean all but the two hours at urgent care and one hour for dinner. I woke up Sunday and felt better, but not quite like myself. Honestly its Thursday and I still don't feel like myself. I have a runny nose, stuffy head, and a smoker's cough (you know the kind that comes from deep in your chest). I've finished my antibiotics, but I think I've acquired a cold now (of course). So I've welcomed in my 33rd year of life feeling much older than I actually am.

I would love to be able to post a great family picture from the weekend, such as when I had my 30th birthday and we had just returned from Ukraine. (Oh my goodness - look how teeny, tiny Wesley was!! I often forget this sheer smallness upon becoming a US citizen)

Here are the pictures from worst to the best from Sunday...

SLOWLY getting better 

best picture from Mom's camera

as good as it gets

So I think we'll just have to take another picture and say its from my birthday. Or maybe the professional family pictures we are having taken in a few weeks will replace these as the "official" birthday shots. I wonder how that woman is ever going to get decent pictures...I guess we're paying her to figure that out :)

Sunday randomness

I should be working on my schoolwork for the Photoshop Elements class I'm taking from a local community college, but instead I've been messing around on Facebook and watching the Bengals, who were winning until a minute ago. Damon is at the game with his friend Kevin, even though I was supposed to go. I had a HORRIBLE migraine last night from being in the sun all day, and today I've been dealing with a "headache hangover." That is the technical term for when you have after-effects from a headache that threatens to return at any moment. Thankfully I've been able to keep it at bay. So instead of being at the opening home game, I'm here hanging out at home. Boo.

Speaking of boo, I've started decorating for fall! I bought gourds and some pumpkins yesterday and can't wait to get all the fall decorations out. You know...right after I finish my schoolwork, laundry, picking up the house, and this post, of course. (the Bengals just took the lead again) Part of the reason I love to decorate for fall is that the colors match the colors of our house, generally. I love golds and dark reds and greens - so rich looking!

I have more pictures from our weekend in Chicago...

a family picture

Wesley with his Bengals hat - "just like Daddy"

Albanese - the BEST candy store!! Now I love candy, and by love we're talking about could eat at every meal and never get tired of it...I'm not embarassed to admit my love. This store had yummy gummy bears that were so fresh and tasted great. I mean, you could taste the fruit juice in them! Other items we purchased were also delish...caramels, watermelon rings, chocolate (according to Damon). If you are ever in the area of Merrillville, Indiana, you HAVE to stop!!

Wesley and his best buddy, Duke

we're trying swimming lessons again...they are going much better than they did in the spring. I think that being outside in the pool did wonders for his confidence in the water. I think he also figured out that when we put him in the pool and let go of him we weren't trying to drown him.  

as you can see, Wesley is having a bit of trouble moving his arms and kicking at the same time (his arms are at his sides and his legs are curled up so his feet stick out of the water).

Have a wonderful week! And by the way...the Bengals won!!!

WHO DEY

who doesn't love a smurf?

Just because I'm crazy, I made us look like smurfs with Photoshop  :)

I'll post more soon. And I promise it will be more exciting than this picture.

to hire or not to hire...that is the question

Now I know you are wondering what in the world I'm talking about. Surprisingly I'm not talking about work, but about home. I have been debating hiring someone to clean our house every two or three weeks. This debate has mainly been going on in my head since we brought Wesley home two years ago (tomorrow is his two year anniversary as a US citizen). Here's the dilemma...

We purchased a much larger home than our previous one two years ago. Of course I knew that a home twice as large as our old home would be more work, I just had no idea how much more work! I think I also underestimated how much less time I would have to handle household duties.  Damon, being the wonderful husband that he is, has tried to make me get a housekeeper, but I've resisted. I'm sure you've figured this out even if you've never met me, but I can be a bit of a control freak. I am "type a" personality all the way, so giving up control of the true cleanliness of my house is hard. Not to mention that I'm cheap, so I don't really want to pay someone to do what I am perfectly capable of doing.

Truthfully, I enjoy cleaning the house...mostly. The bathrooms on the other hand, not so much. I credit that to having to clean the bathrooms growing up with a brother who had no interest whatsoever in being clean. I have to admit though, I was quite the pack-rat back in the day. Now I *LOVE* to throw things out!! I digress...

I was vacuuming this evening (I love to start the week with a clean house because it makes me feel like I can conquer the world), and I moved some furniture ever so slightly to clean underneath it. What do I come across but flakes from the Christmas tree and a Christmas ornament! Yikes!! Christmas was over eight months ago. This is disturbing to me on so many levels...the fact that those things have been lurking on my carpet, the fact that I didn't see them in all the times I've cleaned, the fact that others could have seen them and didn't tell me, the fact that I didn't clean them up when we put away Christmas stuff. Oh...I could go on and on.

Having two dogs doesn't help the "house needing cleaned situation" either. Katie hardly sheds at all, mainly due to the fact that she only has hair on her back. Poor girl. Duke on the other hand is like a hair waterfall! In case you can't remember my dogs (shame on you by the way), here's a refresher.

Katie (aka Katie Katherine, aka black dog, aka the good dog)

Duke (aka Dukie dog, aka brown dog, aka the bad dog)

Another reason the house needs cleaned so frequently is Wesley - obviously. The dogs keep the food on the floor situation under control, so that isn't ever a problem. Three year-olds though aren't exactly known for their cleanliness habits. I often hear "no, Mommy, I don't need a bath, I'm not dirty."  

Recently Damon golfed while Wesley and I cleaned house. Does anyone else think I got the raw end of that deal? Now, I would much rather clean than play golf, but I sure could use a manicure of something else that involves just "me" time. Then the second part of that equation is Wesley "helping" with cleaning. Now in my attempts to make him a wonderful husband one day, I am trying to teach him the fine art of a clean house, but his interest in learning quickly fizzles out once we begin. He does dust under the chairs in the dining room, which I do thoroughly appreciate. (It's not as easy to get down on that hard floor as it used to be...couldn't be that I'm getting older though) He then drags out every toy and book to read while he cleans. Now I'm all about multi-tasking, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't read a book and run the vacuum at the same time. Doesn't stop Wesley from trying. I digress, again.

So as you can see, the house cleaning falls down the list of priorities. I think I am going to have to break down and relinquish control. What's a girl to do? I wish I could just chill out and not have to have a clean house all the time. I can handle a little bit of mess (toys on the floor, mail on the counter, messy desk), but I am not sure that I can handle dirty. A house needing picked up is one thing, but needing cleaned is entirely another.

I really could use some advice...to hire or not to hire?

my "bib"

I completely forgot to tell a funny story from Chicago...

While we were riding around the city on our carriage ride, we were all fairly quiet just looking at everything. Because our ride went down Lakeshore Avenue, the wind really kicked up. (It's not called the "windy city" for nothing.) Wesley reaches over to put his hand on my chest and says "Mom, your bib is blowing away." Of course, Damon and I just couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't stop thinking that all day Wesley thought I had a bib on and it seemed perfectly normal to him! Silly boy.

Here's a picture of the shirt. Now this is not the most flattering picture of me, I am showing it to you simply so you can see my "bib" - I'm not quite sure what's going on with my mouth, but it appears as though I am sneering. Maybe I knew that later in the day my three year-old would think that one of my favorite shirts had a bib attached to it...

Obviously (at least I hope it's obvious), I wasn't wearing a bib. At least if I ever do need to wear a bib all day long, I know Wesley will make sure it doesn't blow away.

an update of sorts

Before I start...I know I said I'd post last night, but my computer froze up after I'd uploaded all the pictures but not put them in the post. I was mad, so I waited until tonight.

How does a month go by so fast? How did the summer go by already? We spent the end of the summer hanging out at the pool and playing in the yard.

Wes was so excited to jump in the pool!

Oh, how do I love this scowl :)

a squirt gun fight in the backyard

and since Wes couldn't get Daddy, he went for Duke's rear end

(our poor dogs take some abuse)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We took a trip to Chicago to see my brother Scott. The weather was great and it was wonderful to get away, if only for three days! There aren't any pictures of my brother because he wouldn't cooperate and smile, or even look pleasant for that matter.

Damon and I in the park

Wesley walking with his Doda and Pawpaw

The Bentley and Lamborghini dealership was right around the corner from our hotel. (Side note: I have never looked at those expensive cars up close and WOW - they are gorgeous! I can see what makes a guy salivate over nice cars, I was!!)

Wouldn't I look great tooling around in this little number? Pretty sure the $120k+ price tag makes it just a little out of my reach.  

the Hershey's store. Now I don't like the taste of chocolate, but I love the smell! I wanted to stay in the store all day.

yeah - that's a five pound bar of chocolate

Damon and I went on an architectural boat tour. (My parents, brother and his girlfriend were so kind to take Wes to the aquarium) If you get a chance to do the tour, it was awesome. Now I enjoy a nice looking building as much as the next gal, but it was interesting to see the buildings and how once you know one person's architectural style, you can pick out other buildings that person designed.

This was a church right across from our hotel and the Bentley dealership

it was a warm day, so the boats were out on the river

The Sears Tower (now called something else...) now has glass observation decks. Imagine being 100+ stories above Chicago in a glass box...has to be a thrill 

Wesley dancing on the street for money (it almost looks like my dad was dancing too, but he wasn't. He also wasn't dancing for money, but he wouldn't have turned it down)

just a cute smile

my parents (or Wesley's Doda and Pawpaw)

An after dinner carriage ride - why not? Wesley was out of his mind excited to "ride the horse" even though that's not quite what we did. I enjoyed seeing a little of the city from the carriage.

Now a little randomness...

So I've done a bit of shopping recently at Aldi grocery store. I purchased the boxed scalloped potatoes shown above, which were quite good by the way. Now if you've ever purchased box potatoes, you know that on the side of the box there are various ways to "spice up" the potatoes. What do you know...this box of potatoes has a recipe for scones on the side. Ironically, the scone recipe has NOTHING to do with the potatoes.

We've really been struggling with Wesley's eating lately. He is fighting it more than he has in the recent past. It's a battle each and every meal. Please pray for me and Damon because it is just really wearing on us right now. I have faith that one day he might like to eat, but we aren't there yet. I'm sure that when he sees his "baby sisser" eat that he will do it as well, but again, we aren't there yet. It's tough. (in my opinion, that's a serious understatement)

Speaking of our adoption, our homestudy draft is finished and our agency is reviewing it right now. Hopefully that's finished soon so we can send it into US Citizenship and Immigration to get our fingerprint appointment. We have to apply for an I-800 visa since Moldova is a Hague country, so the process is different than Ukraine (I-600 visa, not Hague). You cannot apply for a visa and then send in your home study when it is finished like you can with a non-Hague country. Then the paper chase begins.

more to come

Don't give up on me yet - I promise to post soon!! How does time get away from me so easily? It's been a month since my last post. Keep watching, I'll post tonight