Would you believe, another snowday?!

Lovin' this...

Sick of this...

Ready to go home to this...

Three coats down, one more to go. Toestrips in place and we'll be in business. My husband is a trooper! The floors look beautiful. Thanks, B!

Orange you glad we're having a GIVEAWAY?!

Remember when I wrote this review a couple of weeks ago for Becks' absolute favorite CD that's not only child-friendly, but also {and equally as important} parent-friendly too? Well, Ross and I have teamed up so that you, too, may benefit from his incredible CD! Yay! I am so excited to announce that I have TWO copies of this toe-tappin', hip-swingin', beat-clappin', hilarious CD to give to my readers!

Whether you're singing along to Juicebox (our personal fav) or Don't Do It (a smooth way of telling your little ones to, um, refrain from booger eating...), I guarantee that this CD will make you and the kiddos want to dance and sing along. And you'll probably giggle along the way too :)

Here's how you get your chance at a copy:

1. You MUST be a follower of Babbling Abby.
2. Leave a comment that includes a phrase "ORANGE YOU GLAD..."
3. For an additional chance, become a follower of me on twitter @babblingabby.
4. For an additional chance, tweet about it to your followers.
5. For an additional chance, post a link to this giveaway on your blog.
6. For an additional chance, go say hi to Ross on his blog!

That's FIVE chances to win! Now, don't forget to TELL ME in your comment which chances you've taken advantage of. I will be checking!

You have a week to play! I'll announce the winner sometime next Monday, February 22nd. Good luck!

Happy 9 Months Precious baby boy.

MY MAN, 

Happy Happy Happy 9 Months to my precious baby man.  I can't believe you're still fighting hard after 9 whole months.  YOU ARE MY HERO.  I love you with every ounce in me.  You are my world.  You are what keeps me going.  No one knows what pain really is my baby... may we never take one single second, one single minute, or one single day for granted.  You are God's child and you are living this life of pain and sacrifice so that all of us can be thankful for what we have been given.  You will change so many people lives in your one lifetime.  YOU make me smile.  I LOVE YOU. 

Love, Mom

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This time, I think I'll start with the positives first, because I am soooooooo far gone it's not even funny.  I'm exhausted, drained, ticked off, and pretty much just mad at the world.  Anyway, positives... I forgot, sorry.  Randy and I got to go out to eat last night!!!!!  Finally!! Long, long, long overdue.  It was so so so so so nice.  I can't even tell you.  My mom, dad and sister all watched Tripp while we went.  I could not thank them enough for a couple hours of freedom to try and get some sanity back.

Ok, that's it with the positives.  I don't know if Tripp has a cold, or just doesn't feel well lately.... But I am pretty much about to lose it if things don't get a little better soon.  The past few nights have been SO absolutely horrible that I got to a point where I wouldn't have cared WHO was in my house helping me... I just wanted a solid 30 minutes of sleep.  He is at the point right now where he cannot tolerate the big humidifier on either.  I've tried every single setting and he just fusses and fusses when it's on.  But if I take it off while he's sleeping, he dries up.  SO SO SO frustrating.  I guess he does good during the day because he can cough the stuff up, but when he sleeps, it all sits and dries up.  But the humidifier I guess makes everything too lose and we are up allllllll night long.  I don't know.  I'm so over it though.  And it would be different if I could sleep during the day, but I have to wake up and drink my coffee just to make it through the morning and then I'm running around trying to get anything done if he takes any kind of nap.  I just can't sleep during the day.  I tried yesterday, but my mind was just racing.

So I've tried to blog like the last 3 days and every time I start one, I get distracted and then I'm never able to get back to it.  We went to the GI doctor on the 11th... whatever day that is (I'm too exhausted to try and think.)  She scheduled an Upper GI for Friday.  Just to see if his esophagus is narrowing with strictures or whatever.  We may or may not just walk out depending on what they tell me he has to do.  I am NOT forcing a nasty barium down his throat with all those sores.  Just not doing it.  Sorry.  So if he happens to be a good boy and does well, then fine.  If not, it's SO not worth it to me.  Anyway, she also asked how long I planned on keeping him on the steroids.... my perspective is:  if the steroids help his sores (mouth, body, whatever)  I will keep him on them.  If they make him happy and comfortable... as LONG as possible.  Because I'm not even thinking about when he's 16 years old what the steroids could do to his body.  I'm thinking NOW, today. tomorrow.  And no further.

To top everything off, today was bath day and I decided that I wanted to do his trach first and get it out of the way because he wasn't breathing well to begin with and he's always too tired at the end of bath.  SO he's NAKED on the table and decides that he can't breathe.  I salined, and salined, and salined.  I could hear it in there, but it just wasn't coming out.  He was coughing and coughing, and breathing so so hard.  I did the ambu bag to try and push it down, then I brought the big blue tube humidifier in the changing room to try and break things up.  He was exhausted, upset, and that made everything so much worse.  And with him being NAKED, we couldn't even pick him up and console him because the last time I picked him up naked to weigh him in just a towel, his skin peeled off.  SO there weren't many options, but he finally calmed down.  I think it was my punishment because earlier today I was so tired of seeing him miserable that I prayed to God to take his pain away.  I told him I didn't care how he did it, just take all of his pain and misery away.  And then he scared the you know what out of me.  I told God I was sorry and I would never ask him that again.... God's Will be done.

So anyway, I'm moody... tired... aggravated... stressed... and my whole body hurts.  And I won't ever ATTEMPT to tell you about Tripp's supply company and our issues with that.  I'll save that for another day.  My house is clean thanks to my mother for rocking little man after his bath so I could straighten up.  It's amazing how what a clean house can do for me.  Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day :)

Happy Saturday!

Get 'em while they're hot! Baby in a box!

It's a great day...

I am grouchy in the above pic because my hair looks like poo. Or like yellow with black as one of my former babysitting charges commented when I was in dire need of a highlight. Nothing like getting the brutally honest truth straight from the mouth of a child, right?

Well, today the sun looks brighter. My makeup looks fresher. My outlook more positive. My self-esteem is as high as ever.

All because Marie worked her magic and I am no longer yellow with black. Goodbye six inch roots. So long stringy split ends.

Helloooooo, Blondie!

Gaaaaaw, could self pictures look any more awkward?

Teaser Pic!

Lookin' good, huh?! Polyurethane here we come! (Excuse horrendous pic quality - they were painting in the dark and my camera lens must be spotty!)

Also, some pics of Beck. Getting him to look at the camera was difficult. His favorite word lately is no. He's sooooo big!

Go Buy These!

Disclaimer: I teach kindergarten. I {heart} Eric Carle. That is all.

If you teach elementary grades, have a fondness for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or have a cute little girl to buy these for you MUST go to your local Walmart and buy one (or three) of these super cutie tees! Because not only are they precious but they're only SEVEN dollars a piece! And that, my friends, is a deal! You can find them in the little girl's department.

Also, I didn't have school again today. We had a 2-hour delay (which cancels AM kindergarten), and now we have a 4-day weekend in front of us. Oh, yes, also more snow on Monday and Tuesday of the coming week. Gah!

The floors are in the staining process and hopefully will be shellacked by this weekend. Wahoo!!!! I. CANT. WAIT.

Okay, well, go to Walmart. I'm off to Target with my sister and her kids. Because otherwise we're all going to go insane from cabin fever.

PS. I'm getting my hair done tonight and am pretty much over the moon about it. Because we all know how blondes get when 6 inches of roots are showing. Caaaahrazy!