2009 - In Review

2009 is almost over! Only 2 days left!! I, for one, am pretty happy that 2009 is saying goodbye. I am ready for a new chapter to begin with 2010!!

You know me, I love a good theme...and I like a good list. So I am going to give you my top five themes of 2009!!!

1. Sickness - OMG!!! Let's start with the bad!! 2009 was our year for everyone being down and dirty sick. Starting with Rocco's RSV to Bryan's multiple staph infections to Jillian's multiple ear infections and bladder infections to my staph encounter, this just wasn't the healthiest year for us!! 2010 is going to be different, I just know it!

2. Change - We went from a family of three to a family of four!! Rocco Harrison started out the year with a bang and hasn't slowed down. Now that he is walking, he is in to everything!! It has been quite an adjustment for me and Miss Jillian to share the attention. I thought there were times that Jillian was going to lose her mind at the thought of sharing her Mommy with this new creature but we somehow got through it. And they say, what does not kill us makes us stronger!! Right??? With Rocco's new mobility, the two of them are playing more and more together and it makes me smile. Well, maybe not "play together" but Rocco is more able to do what Jillian instructs him to do!!

January 17, 2009

December 24, 2009



Bryan started the year as a FedEx man and ended it as an HEB man. I am very happy with the change but Bryan is still adjusting. His hours are so much more family friendly which is the most important thing to me. Plus, can you beat the discount we are now getting on our groceries??

With the whole two kids situation and a full-time job, my hair went bye-bye in 2009. Really, I do not see a reappearance in store for 2010. I love it short and I think the style is here to stay. I have too much, waaaaaay too much going on, for me to worry with my hair.

3. Diapers - 2009 brought a whole new meaning to this word. For 6 months, we were diapering two children and it was really hard!! How do moms of multiples do it?? Every time I would change Rocco, I would turn around and have to change Jillian and vice versa. There were baby accidents and there were toddler accidents. At times, I felt surrounded by poop and pee. Every trip to the store included a purchase of diapers.





4. Twilight/Glee - Is this really a theme?? Hey, this is my list! If you haven't checked these out, then you are missing out. I am a tv watcher and a music listener. I used to be a reader. BUT for quite some time, I have been checked out. Nothing interested me!! NOTHING!! But in 2009, I was inspired to read ALL 4 books of the Twilight series and loved all of them!! I also started watching the TV show (on Fox) Glee. I LOVE IT!! It is so fun, smart, sassy, quirky, sweet, etc. I can't wait for Wed. nights. Also, the soundtrack (vol 1 and vol 2) are totally awesome!!! I get up in the morning and I want to listen to the music to get my blood pumping for the day!




5. Family - This year, Mom retired from school and Dad retired from full-time daycare service. Jillian and Roc now go to school M,W,F and get Grammie and Poppy time on T and Th. Everybody seems pretty happy with this setup.



Finally, the year is ending and the new year is beginning with a bang!!! My sister and Bryan's brother are getting hitched on Saturday. What a fun way to start the year! (Pictures will follow of the prettiest matron of honor, hottest (newly slim) groomsman, sweetest flower girl and most adorable baby boy in a tux that you have EVER seen!!)



Happy 2010!!! I'll catch ya'll in the new year!!

Christmas Morning

We had my family over Christmas morning to help us celebrate. Jillian got up at 6:30 but we had told everyone to come over at 7:30, so she patiently (well, not so patiently) waited an hour to see if Santa had come.

This is what she saw!!!

And the stockings!!

She was so excited!! She jumped right in and opened the books that Santa had left....one book for each letter of her name and for Rocco too!!

Some help from Aunt Mashure!

Santa gave Jillian and Rocco tricycles. Both of them LOVE the trikes!!!

The grown-ups got presents too!!

Christmas morning was so much fun!! It was the first time we hosted everyone to our house for Christmas and it turned out great!!

Christmas Eve

Daddy got off early from work on Christmas Eve, so we met Bryan's family at church. Then after church, we went over to Bryan's parents' house, ate dinner and then opened presents!!!

The fam looking GOOD!! (People keep commenting about Bryan's weight.....Yes, since working for HEB, Bryan has lost 25 lbs. He is looking fantastic!!)

Jillian got dress up clothes from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Matt.

She got a shopping cart from Grandma and Papa Cheese. You can see who really liked that present!!!

Katie helped Rocco open up some presents!!

and Ashlie helped him too!!


We rushed home so that the kids could go to sleep before Santa got to our house!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

We have been sooo busy around here!!

Earlier this week, we took the fam down to the river and celebrated Christmas with a little Mexican food!! The lights are so beautiful and the food was delicious!!

Yesterday, Jillian made some fantastic sugar cookies with Grammie! She just loves baking and cooking. However, Jillian was not her usual happy self. She has been quite cranky and whiny.

Off to the Dr. we went for what I thought was another UTI infection.....we discovered that while she does have a UTI, she ALSO has double ear infections. I am officially done with 2009. We have celebrated every major holiday with an illness.

She is on antibiotics now and feeling better but really, bring on 2010!!!!

I hope everybody has a wonderful Christmas!!! Jillian is so excited that Santa is coming tonight!!! She can't stop talking about it!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

Jillian's Christmas Past

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2008

Ta-Da!! Christmas 2009

11 months - the pics

Finally got the 11 months old pics done! Gotta love a boy in argyle!! The Christmas tree did not survive the photo shoot but that is a small price to pay for those big smiles!!!

11 months

Oh where, oh where is the time going? One more month and Rocco will be 1? Why did God make the baby-ness of a child so short?

Rocco continues to be the sweetest thing. He always has a smile. He gives the best slobbery kisses with his mouth wide open. He really never cries or fusses unless he is sick or it is past his 7:00 bedtime.

He is eating us out of the house. He is really growing out of the jarred baby food and wants to eat what we are eating. He loves green beans (like Miss J), peas, apples (he and J can eat a whole one in one sitting), chicken, carrots, potatoes, pancakes, yogurt (all kinds), noodles, and on and on. BUT even with all of this eating, he has really slimmed down. No longer the chunky monkey, all of his moving around has made him a lean machine.

Right now, he takes about 5 or 6 steps at a time. If it is farther than that, then he reverts to crawling.

I have been watching for more teeth in the predictable places. Silly Mommy!! I was not looking for two molars to pop through but would explain the massive amount of drool coming out of his mouth. Now he is up to 9 teeth – 6 on top and 3 on bottom.

Finally, his sounds have exploded. He is babbling all of the time. He still says Dada but now makes an –il sound for Jillian, the di- sound for diapers. He can also very clearly say “apple.” I know I don’t speak baby but I feel he says “Ba-Ba” instead of Mama. Where is the m sound? We haven’t heard it yet.

Yesterday, we took him to the Dr. because he was wheezing and coughing, but the Dr. diagnosed him with a double ear infection so he is not feeling great this week.

I have not taken his picture yet but I will leave you with his favorite activity.

That’s right, folks. He likes to organize our refrigerator. I’m glad somebody does!!

Who's that Girl??

"You look just like your mother."

Do you have any idea how many times in my life I have heard this line??? You really can't imagine!! I have heard it from relatives, friends, friends of friends, strangers. Saturday night, Summer and I are at Target and this strange woman acosts us, screaming at us, "Both of you look just like your mother." She gave us her name and told us she knew us from the church we attended in our youth. My mom could not remember her. I am NOT making this stuff up.

So this is me, circa March 1981. I am about to turn 3 years old.


And this is Jillian, circa December 2009. She is about to turn 3 years old.



Something tells me that Jillian will be hearing, "You look just like your mother" for the rest of her life too. (She was very sad on this morning because I would not let her have any candy.)


As I have said before, isn't my mom Da Bomb for saving all of my old clothes??? She made this bear dress and it is in perfect condition 30 years later. You rock Mom!!!

The song that could have been....

Last night, Jillian was in a "holiday concert" at her school. Bryan and I missed her singing in last year's performance because it was during the day at MDO. This year, her school had it at night so Bryan and I were excited that we could attend.

This is Jillian with her portfolio of work that she wanted to show us.

Rocco was very excited to see his sister perform.

So I don't know what I was thinking. She performs at our house every night singing all sorts of songs. I was thinking a future Celine or Barbra or or Julie or Bette.

This is what we got....

Not exactly a "star" performance but we still love her!! We are going to work on her stage fright so that next year she will actually SING!!!

We have....

INSURANCE!!!! Thank God Almighty!!! We have insurance! When Bryan lost his job at FedEx, they wanted $1200.00/month in COBRA payments for our family's insurance. HELLO?????? That is more than our house payment!! So we went without for 3 months. I have never been without medical insurance and it was really hard. We have tried every home remedy/OTC med we could think of to try and stop the snot coming out of my, Jillian's, Rocco's and Bryan's nose. Now we don't have to!!! Our HEB cards came in the mail yesterday and it was like we won Publisher's Clearing House!! Bryan and I were dancing around the kitchen!! Bring on the sickness cuz we can handle it now!!! (just kidding :-)

In other random news, I have made a BIG switch in my life. We are now only drinking organic milk. My old milk cost $2.69 for a fat-free gallon (with a 10% discount) now I am paying $5.69 (with a 10% discount) for a fat-free organic gallon. Isn't that crazy???? Why is so expensive to be healthy??? But my Mom's oncologist said it was important to switch if you drink a lot of milk (which my family does) so I am now paying a fortune for gallons of milk per week. The doc said the steroids they pump into the cows is obviously in their milk and not good for us. I guess, if we don't get cancer then it will be worth it!! wink, wink!!

Is tomorrow only Wednesday??? Slow week for me......

Getting Ready for the Big Day

My sister's big day, that is!!! We had an awesome time at Summer's shower on Saturday. Isn't this a cute idea??? Instead of a diaper cake, Jan made a towel cake.

The cake was delicious.

Me and my sis!!

Me, my sis and my Mom!

Then on Saturday night, Summer's friends hosted her Bacherlorette party. I hosted the dinner and presents portion of the night. Again, we had a really nice time!!!

Yow-za!!! The unmentionables!! Ha ha!!!

Since it was Summer's big day, I am not going to post a lot. I'll let her do that on her blog.

Thursday's (random) Thoughts

Seriously, am I not a total sucker for anything remotely matching?? But they are sooooo stinking cute!!! "Cold" weather has arrived here in South Texas and the kids needed some cold weather gear. My huge-headed kids needed big sizes of hats to fit those huge noggins. Tomorrow there is a chance of "snow." We'll see if that really happens???

What else? Have I told all of you Moms out there my little secret about BabiesRUs??? On most occasions, I cannot stand BRU. It is always crowded, they never have the merchandise in stock, it is too expensive, yada, yada BUT when it comes to diapers, BRU cannot be beat. It doesn't matter how many you have, BRU will accept as many coupons for diapers as you have. I bought a box of 160 Huggies diapers for $40.99 but with my $14.50 I had in coupons, the box only cost me $26.98 (with tax). Isn't that awesome? It also works for Pampers. People ask where do I get my coupons. Everywhere....in the newspaper, online at Huggies.com and pampers.com, couponmom.com. I collect them and my collects them for me too. I have read on some other blogs (especially for moms of multiples) that they will get several people collecting coupons for them and they will have enough coupons to walk out of BRU with a "free" box of diapers. I have not accomplished that yet but I am working on it.

What else? Jillian is cracking me up lately. She just says the funniest thing. She told me the other day that she wanted a little sister like Aidan. Puzzled, I said well, Aidan is a boy like Rocco so he would be her little brother. She said, I know Mommy but I want a little sister like Allison. We went around the conversation again about boys = brothers, girls = sister but it did not sink in and I am still not sure what she was meaning but she was very emphatic about it.

She told Bryan the other day that she was "frustrated" that Rocco kept bothering her in the playroom.

She gets very upset at Dorothy in the W of Oz when the spanks the Lion's nose (when he is coming after Toto). She says Mommy we do not hit anybody!! Dorothy needs to go to time-out!

Then she says on the way to the zoo, Mommy member when you were in the hospital and Rocco was born? I said yes I remember. She said, didn't I look pretty in the lollipop shirt I wore to the hospital? What?? Think, ashley, think.....by jove, she did wear a lollipop shirt to the hospital. How does she remember that almost a year later???

What else? Did I tell ya'll I went shopping on Black Friday??? Gosh I love it!! We got the best deals. Bryan watched the kids for me and I went with my Mom, Dad and sister and we shopped till we dropped. Actually, we didn't drop because Bryan called at about 11:00 saying Rocco was screaming bloody-murder but we had already done a lot of damage by then. My theme this Christmas is tricycles. Actually, I think I am going to give them for their birthdays but you get the idea...And I got a great deal on both.......

Jillian's was regularly $69.99 that I got on sale for $39.99 and Rocco's was regularly $99.99 and I got it for $69.99. That is a $30 savings on both trikes. Isn't that great????

Now for countdowns....You know I love a great countdown (and I never count today). 1 day until the weekend. 11 more days of school until our break. 22 more days until Christmas. 29 days until Bryan's birthday and the start of 2010. 30 days until my sister's wedding. 34 days until Jillian's 3rd birthday. 43 days until Rocco's 1st birthday party.

Geeez!!! Do you understand how busy I am going to be in the next month and a half?????

Tuesdays with Maddie

Jillian has a new friend. As you know, Jillian and Rocco go with Grammie and Poppy on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays, Grammie meets up with Grammie Jan (They are great friends and Jan retired from teaching too!) and her granddaughter Maddie. Maddie is younger than Jillian. I think she is about 20 months. Jillian loves hanging out with Maddie. I hope that Jillian is not corrupting Maddie too much!!!

Jillian is like clockwork! On Monday nights, she asks if she is going to see Maddie on Tuesday and asks where are they going to go?? Last week during Thanksgiving vacation, Jillian was VERY upset that she did not have her regularly-scheduled play date with Maddie.

Grammie and Grammie Jan take Jillian, Rocco and Maddie to all sorts of fun places!! They have gone to the zoo, the park, Kiddie Park playland, indoor playgrounds, an art class, etc., etc…..

Here are some fun shots with cute Maddie!!

Don't you play with your friends in the bamboo plants??

This shot cracks me up! Aren't we always on the quest for the perfect picture??

This is at kiddie park! Checking out the boat ride!!

This is so sweet. They are riding in a carriage!! Hold on tight girls!!

Thanks Maddie for being such a great friend to Jillian!!