Mercurio Madness! (...raising my irish twins)

My Irish Twins and their half birthday

2010-04-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

I have not been nearly as good about keeping up with this blog as I had planned. I will work on that. The kids are 1.5 and 2.5 today! Wow, How time flies!

Josalyn is almost completely potty trained (except at night) and we are thinking of preschool in the fall. She is such a good girl, not very whiny, all around easy!

Jonas is the most fun awesome little guy that you will ever meet, but he is such a BOY! He likes to play with balls and loves his dad and anything dirty. I am asking my blog friends for a little help though. Jonas hits. Often. He hits adults and other children. It is not a hit that hurts, and he is not angry. He just hits for fun. We have tried EVERYTHING. We talk to him, we put him in time out, we hit him back, he make him hit himself. Nothing has worked. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

My husband graduated from college in December and found a job by January! I am very grateful as I know the economy is tough right now.

First Stitches!

2009-07-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you WALMART(on glendale, in Toledo, OH)! Your inability to keep your aisles clean has led to my childs first stitches. Thank you, espesially the insensative managers who tried to make me wait 30 minutes while my childs blood was pouring all over me and she was screaming in my ear, making everyone within 3 miles deaf, while I went over every minute detail of what happend and waiting for everyone and their mom to interveiw me. Details and pictures to follow tomorrow, right now I am too angry and tired.

New Pictures from this summer:

2009-06-22T21:26:00.001-07:00

My Jonas has turned 8 months old! Wow, time has just flown by. He is quite the crawler and is also pulling himself up and taking one step off furniture. We are hoping to have a walker soon! (Who am I kidding, we don't need another walker). We are loving seeing our little boy grown and change before our eyes. Jonas is wearing his daddy's football number,45, and his daddy's favorite color, green in this picture!

This is my Josalyn on her 20 month birthday! She has become quite the fish and swims only with arm wings. Our goal by the end of summer is to have her learn to swim on her own. Her Grandma bought her her VERY OWN goldfish, but, sadly, after only being friends for mere hours Da dooooo passed away suddenly. She took it like a tropper, however. That my Josalyn.

I can honestly say I am happy. I (loove) my (irish) twins!

Jon and Kate Plus Eight Divorce

2009-06-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

I know this seems stupid but I am so sad to hear this news. I really loved this family in the beginning and I have seen the effects of fame and fortune that has destroyed this family. I know now why God says,

"For the love of money is the root of all evil."

Many people twist these words to say that "Money is the root of all evil," and the one word in the middle, LOVE, changes the whole meaning of the verse.

Money can do great things. My sister, Joy Hester, and her husband, Josh, are the pastors at Vision Ministries ( www.restorethevision.com) . And they do wonderful things with money. Just this past weekend they had a huge block party where they gave away food boxes to families on the South End of Toledo, Ohio. Each and every Sunday morning they serve breakfast to anyone who comes to dine, and also on Wednesday and Monday nights. Partnered with Cedar Creek, www.aroundthecreek.com , they are reaching many lives that would not have been reached by normal means. Many people do not feel welcome in churches during a normal service for various reason, but by providing meals for families we can minister to peoples lives who, normally, we would pass by without a glance. (If you are interested in donating to Vision Ministries or serving, visit the website or call during office hours.)

(Back to Jon and Kate Plus 8)

I have watched over the years as a loving family turned into a pawn in the hands of TLC, who dangled money in front of this families faces as if they were a Dog asking for a steak. They took a family who had been forced to rely fulling on God as their provision, and gave them the security they needed financially, but they lost their soul in process. They lost what had grounded them, their family, and their faith. Will you join me today to pray for Jon and Kate and their eight????

New Bed!

2009-06-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Josalyn is sleeping in her toddler bed for the first time tonight.

We are so spontaneous.

Jon and I had the kids in the bath and I say, "Josalyn, would you like to sleep in a big girl bed tonight?" And, of coarse, she says, "Yes!"

So, what does my hubby do? He goes ahead and ripes off my babies wall of protection! And I thought for sure we would hear her out of bed and playing with toys but NOPE! She went right to sleep around 9:30pm and it is now 11:30pm and I haven't heard a peep. I am so sad! My little girl is growing.

On other fronts, we seem to be losing the bottle fight. We have literally taken this kid off the bottle 7 times already, only to have her get back on in a month when she gets sick (usually her Asthma). The thing is, she only uses a bottle to go to sleep at night and for a nap. It's how she puts herself to sleep (so I don't have to do it). Well I don't think she can breath well enough to suck out of a sippy when she is sick. But, Alas, as soon as she gets used to her new bed we will be starting all over again.

Wish we Luck (Blessings)!

2009-06-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... Life has been so busy with the Summer starting. My husband and I got season passes to Cedar Point (it's a pretty big Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio) and we took Josalyn this past week. She Loved It! I was so proud of her she rode every single ride she could (and some that we kind of snuck her on...).

Of coarse we forgot the camera!!!!

Jonas my little bug has started crawling around the whole house. I mean, he is quick. I have been calling him cochraoch because he kind of scampers around very quickly.
He continues to be very needy even though he has gained his independance through crawling. He likes you to watch him and be on the floor with him, but he is such a sweetie it is hard to say NO!

Josalyn is pretty sick right now. Her asthma is getting the best of her. We took her to the doctor yeterday and her pulse oxygen level was only 94 with wide open albuterol. She is currently on Orapred (an oral steroid) and having breathing treatments every two hours. We go in for a re-check tomorrow to find out wether to steroids are working. Hopefully they are otherwise i'm not sure what the plan will be beyond steroids. If her pulse ox goes down below 92 they will put her on oxygen and place her in the hospital. I am hoping for the best.

Sorry this post has no pictures i can't find out upload cord!

Another Fun Recipie We use (Stole from the Duggars)

2009-04-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Homemade Baby Wipes:

We use these and they work pretty well! The important part is to NOT buy the off-brand paper towels, you NEED to use BOUNTY! The other thing is placing correctly in the container so that it will come out right! It takes practice, but Josalyn loves to help me make these!

•Cut a whole roll of Bounty paper towels in half and take out the holder (we’ve found that Bounty is the only brand that works. Use an electric knife for best results).

•Place one of the halved rolls vertically into an empty and thoroughly cleaned one-gallon ice cream bucket. In a large measuring pitcher mix :
Two cups water
Two tablespoons baby oil and
Two tablespoons of baby bath
.
•Pour the liquid over the halved roll of paper towels in the ice cream bucket, and soak for 30 minutes. Remove the cardboard center. Feed the top corner of the paper towels through an X-shaped slit you’ve cut in the lid of the ice-cream bucket so you can pull out and tear off one “wipe” at a time."

Homemade Biter Biscuits

2009-04-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

Homemade Biter Biscuits

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal infant cereal (dry)
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2/3 cup 100% juice

Preheat oven to 425.Mix the first three ingredients together, then slowly add the juice - you may need more or less. Mix it up until it forms a thick ball, then press it out into a big flat pancake. Use you pizza cutter to slice it into baby sized "cookies."Bake for 12-15 minutes, until brown and well set. Let them cool completely on the sheet (they will get harder as they cool) then store them in a resealable bag.The Babe LOVES these, and I know exactly what's in them - no weird preservatives or colors or sugars. Plus, they just kind of dissolve, rather than leaving a nasty foul-smelling paste all over everything.(We use Juicy Juice Watermelon for the juice, but I think anything would work.)

I made these for Jonas today and he LOVED them. Pictures to follow.....

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2009-04-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

I wan't to be on an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba! I will do "the mommy" it'll go a little something like this... pick one toy up, "pick a baby boy up, now cooook, now cooook."

Dentist + Sick baby = not as bad as you would think

2009-04-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

So we went to the dentist today. It honestly wasn't that bad. Josalyn cried a little, but she doesn't feel very good today and doesn't seem to want to be messed with. She is already sleeping (we woke her up at 9:45am) so i know she can't feel well. She coughed all night last night and she is doing at least 4 breathing treatments a day.

Random side note: It just started to hail!

They gave her a toothbrush and two Dora stickers, they did a fluoride treatment and then we were done! The dentist said she has perfect teeth! No cavities or anything! He was glad she already off the bottle, (me too!) and said that they like to see kids of the paci before the age of 3. I am hoping to get her off the paci this summer.

It's going to be interesting because that's what she uses to go to sleep. She always has since a very young age slept with her paci in her mouth and has never fallen asleep without it (except in the car). My game plan is to maybe take it away when we switch to a toddler bed! (when she turns two). I am hoping she will be sooo exhausted from playing this summer that she will just fall asleep without it and without very many tears. Hey, a girl can hope, can't she!

Fortunately, Jonas has never taken a paci!

Dentist Appt.

2009-04-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

My little Josalyn has her first dentist appointment tomorrow morning. She is one. I am very interested in finding out what happens when you take a one year old who is afraid of strangers to the dentists office. Anyone know what the deal is?

My Monsters

2009-04-20T11:57:00.001-07:00

Hello, World! Right now it is the most fun time of the day, NAPTIME! So i will take this oppurtunity to introduce you to my two monsters:

Josalyn Grace (aka. sissy-sue-a-lovey-lue)

She is little miss i-can-do-it-myself. Some might say that ALL children this age are like that, but Josalyn, she popped out like that. She didn't even like breastfeeding, and stopped cold turkey when she was three months old because she liked to hold her bottle HERSELF. When she was 8 months old she got up and started walking (literally). She is daddys girl in every sence of the word. She loves her mommy, but she just ADORES her daddy. You won't find her sitting down EVER. She even bounces around while watching television. She doesn't snuggle. She doesn't (and even as a baby didn't) let strangers hold her. She will, however, entertain ANYONE. Anyone can watch at her and she will smile and giggle but don't get to close or try and pick her up. I have to bribe her to give me kisses sometimes!
She also has asthma pretty bad. We are managing. She have been hospitalized twice with RSP this season, along with baby brother.

And this is Jonas (aka. stinky-stu-a-bubba-boo aka. Bubbies)

He is the opposite of his sister. He loves cuddles and attention and will take it from anyone who will give it. He also has been in the hospital with RSV this season, and pneumonia. He is a lover. He had reflux when he was born, but he has since (recently) grow out of it (thank God) and has turned into a little hammy. He loves his sister (she ignores him, literally) but he gets sooo happy anytime she gets near him. He was born on 10/9/08 (he shares his daddys birthday).

Where it all begins....

2009-04-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

As I write, my daughter (1.5) is watching cartoons (while sucking on her Nuk) and my son (6 months) just left me to go to his grandmas house. I don't even want to begin to describe the guilt that I feel for letting him go away from me at such a young age (it started when he was 3 months, he has acid reflux) but I'm sure it pails in comparison on the guilt i feel for letting my child have a pacifier so long!
I write this to say: I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. I still have muffin top from my two babies (they are 10 days less than a year apart) and i ate Ben & Jerrys last night. Sometime I scream at my husband (sorry, Jon) even though I have strong convictions that you should not argue in front of your children (hopefully i will have this under control by the time they are old enough to remember, right).
I used to blog at livejournal, before kids and muffin top, but I'd rather not continue my blogging adventures there. That journal is filled with Tenn-angst and was written by a person i am simply not anymore.
So, Hello blogger world, it's wonderful to meet you. My name is Mom (or Jennifer to more sophisticated people, Jenn to those who love me, and Da doooo to my daughter who refuses to say mom)