Dontcha just wanna squeeze his little cheeks? I do and I do constantly do it. :) Poor kid. He's growing up too fast though.

And yes he does look EXACTLY like his dad. Crazy.

Love the hair too.

Just a Hi!

Just wanted to let ya'll know I'm still here. Still alive and kicking. I'm finally caught up on everything! YAY!! It's amazing how dirty your house can get when you're always going, going, going. But it's all done and Mom came and helped me organize. Thank you Mom!! Now that summer is winding down we'll be home a lot more and things won't get so bad again. :)

Picture to make you smile.

My Newly Organized Bedroom

Before: Yes, sadly, I really did let my room get this messy.

After: Lots better! I absolutely love it. And I love the dresser Erick made for me. All it needs is the drawers, but I can still use it until those are done.

Just Me and the Baby for a Couple Days

Erick's mom took Myelle to stay with her for the weekend before she starts back to school. I'm going to miss that little bundle of fun, but I'm super excited to clean (and I mean deep clean) my house and have no one but me to mess it up! I'm planning to rearrange both the kitchen and my bedroom and finally do a deep scrub of the bathroom ( I didn't know tubs could get so dirty so fast!).

Erick is leaving on Saturday after I get off work to go backpacking with my bros, Dad, Kee, and a couple other people I don't know who they are. Those of us staying home are gearing up for a Girl's Night Out on Saturday. I'm looking forward to that.

Before she left today Colleen (Erick's mom) took us out to lunch and to the store to buy my birthday present. She got me a double stroller so I can take both kids on walks with me, allowing me to get out of the house more easily while Erick's out of town. Or just during the day too instead of waiting until night time. Thank you Colleen!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!

Longest Errand Day Ever!

Yesterday I had a ton of errands I needed to do and there was no getting around them. So we got all prepped and headed into town. First stop Sportman's to pick up a mess kit for Erick for his backpacking trip. Chatted a bit there with Bethanie, Nicole, and Andy.

Next stop was Rosemark for some samples of a medication.

After that it was off to Smith's to fill my BP prescription and pick up a few groceries. They had some great deals! On the first trip I picked up some bread and cereal. I'll post the prices below. My prescription was going to take like 45 minutes to fill so we went off to Winco for some fresh fruit and a couple other things.

Then it was back to Smith's for my meds and a few other good deals.

Next we headed to Napa Auto Parts for some high-temp silicone so Erick could fix the Jetta. Which he did last night! Go Hunny! I can't say enough about the service at Napa! I was in and out within 5 minutes because they were so helpful!

Next was Idaho Steel to pick up our oil pan. Jay did an excellent job welding a patch on it and reinforcing it with a skid plate. Thanks Jay!! And for only $44.52! Wooot!!

We hurried off to D&L Cleaners to pick up a blanket and sleeping bag I forgot I had taken there.

Last stop before we went to pick up Erick was Walmart. By the time I hit Walmart I was in a daze. I think I wandered down the frozen foods aisle like 6 times before I found (remembered) what I was looking for! LOL

The kids did awesome! Especially for how hot it was. Myelle took a quick nap in the carseat in between a couple stores and Bentley slept on and off. I had to nurse him in between each stop it seemed like so that took a lot longer, but at least he was happy and I got everything done. Now to clean up and get stuff put away that didn't get put away last night.

Great deals:

Smith's

2 pack whole chicken $.79/lb

Instant oatmeal - $1.88 (for Erick's trip)

Puff's Tissues - $1.69/box, buy 4 and get $4 off instantly, ended up being $.69/box! (I'm most excited about that one)

Turkey Breast - $.99/lb

Post Cereals - $1.88/box

Granny's Pride Bread - $1/loaf

Goldfish crackers (regular sized bag) - $.99/ea

Twinkies - 2/$4 plus a $.50 off coupon = $1.50/box

Winco

Grapes - $.99/lb

That is probably the last time I do errands like that with 2 small children in tow for a very, very long time!

My Perfect Date

My friend Jessica (Yes, she is awesome and I talk about her a lot. :D) is very inspirational. On her blog she posted a "Write Now Prompt." I haven't written anything from a prompt since I was in college, but here goes. ;)

My perfect date would be up in the mountains with lots of pine trees. It'd be just about dusk and the fire would be going in the firepit. My hubby and I would scootch our chairs close together and enjoy the still night air. Listening to the sounds of the wildlife going to bed or just waking up for the night. The night air would get cooler as it slowly faded to black and the stars twinkle to life like far away street lamps. We'd talk about our past memories and our future hopes and dreams. As the glow of the fire slowly grew dimmer we'd go off to our tent and snuggle down close to each other in the warm sleeping bags and drift off to sleep.

Scentsy Giveaway

My friend Jessica is having a Scentsy Giveaway on her blog. Enter to win here. I L.O.V.E. Scentsy! I just wish I could afford it all. LOL I'm crossing my fingers hoping I win. :D It'd be the perfect birthday present to myself. ;)

Complete and Honest Gotta-Get-it-off-My-Chest Vent Post

You know...I used to be a very positive person. I still am a positive person, but it takes a lot more work. I try to remember that there are so many other people worse off than me and majority of the time that's all it takes to pull me out of a funk. As our trials pile up this year though I feel trapped underneath and my soul yearns to feel joy again. It's been a bit of a rough summer. Don't get me wrong it's been a fantastic one with lots of happy memories being made and lots of friends, family, and traveling. But all the same it's also been a bit of a rough one. Some of which I will vent....the rest I don't really want to talk about.

Erick has been gone to Jackson a lot for work. He's been gone a lot before, but this year I've got 2 kids to handle on my own. It's amazing how big of a relief it is to have my husband come home even at a late hour. I didn't realize it until he's been gone. I honestly don't know how I could do without him for very long. I can't even imagine how my friends that have husbands in the military do it. My hat goes off to you ladies.

Money is tight. Like super tight. So tight that we went on government assistance so we could buy food. Boy is that hard. We won't be on it long...just long enough to get back on our feet, but there are so many people that are judgemental when you go to the grocery store. Cashiers are rude, people stare (or at least it feels that way) and I am wracked with guilt that we can't provide for ourselves. Then I have to tell myself (and have Mom tell me too) that it's okay to get help. We have an unusally high amount of medical bills for people our age (I have to remind myself of that too). That comes with the territory of Erick's Crohn's disease. One day we will be out from under the bondage of debt, but it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you're just at the beginning of it.

Coming back from a pregnancy is tough physically and emotionally. Even though Bentley is sleeping through the night now I still don't seem to have the energy I need to make it through the day. I do have PPD and am currently on meds for it, but I still feel like I'm missing something. I can't seem to lose the baby weight or any weight at all really. I'd really love to go running, but with Erick gone I don't exactly have anyone to watch the kids while I go. My jogging stroller is broken at the moment and it isn't exactly made for 2.

I feel like I'm failing as a mother. Myelle is whiny and crying all the time. She's not very confident of herself and wants me to do every little thing for her (even though she used to do it by herself all the time!). It seems like every little thing is a struggle and I'm picking my battles! I can hardly get her to eat anything close to healthy (milk and cheese is about it), she doesn't listen very well (I know 2 year olds don't listen very well but she seems extreme), and I hate to even think about bedtime. It's always 10pm or later when she finally goes to sleep whether she had a nap or not. I wake her up at 8am and she usually has a 2 hour nap around noon to one. I am at my wits end! I want to scream, yell, cry, tear my hair out, break things (not my children though, always inanimate objects. Had to throw that in there so no one feels they need to call CPS). I can't seem to keep the house clean. Laundry doesn't get done as often as it needs and dishes pile up until we don't have anymore clean ones, I'm lucky if I even get a shower or to do my hair. *Sigh* I love my family and my children dearly, but I need help. I can't do it on my own.

Now that being said I feel lots better. Tomorrow is a brand new day! I just have a few things to jot down in my handwritten journal and scriptures to read before I can drift off into a short but blissful sleep.

Thank you for listening.