And the summer is just starting

We have had so much fun and summer has not even started yet. These two are so cute I could not resist sharing. Teh water is still cold but watering the grass is so much fun and entertaining.As some of you know that Briggs truck sitting in front of the house is Kevin's work truck. Well it is gone:) Kevin quit last week and starts a new job on Tuesday. He has been blessed with the oppurtunity to join a new company. Hopefully he will be much happier and more money is always nice:) so that leaves me with the boys from wake up to about 5 by myself. I can't wait. We are going to have a blast. They are both at the age that they will play until they hit the floor. They play well with each other sometimes, however other times they both like to pick at each other. But in the end they both say they are sorry and go on their way. We are trying to teah them both to use their words not their hands. And Yes Rusty talks up a storm. He has started saying more than one word at a time. Yesterday I gave hunter candy and he said. I want it too!








And if you count to him to stop something you have to hold back the smile and laughter. For example I'll say Rusty get out of mommy's room. 1... ANd Rusty says, 2,3,4. It just blows my mind. Well I guess two blogs in one day is enough. Happy Summer!!




Look at his tounge! I look watching the boys explore the world!

Fun in the mud

Well as you can see we went and played in the mud. The boys had a blast. Good thing I don't mind getting muddy myself since Ihave two boys. There has been so much rain thatw e just never get outside time. So today in between rain falls we went out and look what fun we had. Hunter usually is Mr. Clean or else guy but not today. Rusty on the other hand never minds. In fact he fell in the mud puddle face first. Whinned a little and then died laughing. Just look at his face it is covered in mud. I should have taken a picture of the bath tub!

For Rusty's 1st birthday my inlaws had his pictures made. Kris, my mother in-law was worried that there would be no good pictures to choose from because Rusty was on the run the entire time. However he was obvisoly smiling the entire time. He is just so perfect he looks like a doll.

We really wanted a picture of Rusty with the cowboy hat. Hunter had it in his 1st year picture and it was just so cute. Rusty did not want anything to do with the hat. After a few times of hiding the ball underneath it. I guess they got the perfect shot.He had so much fun playing with the photographers assistant.
If you look closley you will see that the chair is actually tiping over. Rusty loves to take risk just like his brother. It's kind of like they think " what can we do to scare mom today."
This was 3 months ago and I just can't believe how big Rusty is. He is now 17 months old going on 4. My boys may wear me out but at the end of the day I am so in love with the life I have. What a blessing my boys and husband are to me.

New Camera

Hip hip horray! I finally have camera. My old one broke and I have 26 rolls of film to develop, but now I have a digital:) My husband took our income tax and surprised me with a carea. I am so excited:) So here is a picture that I took of my boys hugging. A sweet moment:)

SLEEP:)

I am knocking on wood as I type...... Rusty slept all night last night and the night before. It is awesome to sleep all night:) Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Thanks God for the break:)

Smiles

Rusty has been on his new medication for 6 days now, and we have seen some change. He is sleeping better at night. He still wakes up twice but is not as wild and crazy. he cries and throws his fit yet tells me"juice" which mean a drink. Then he has been laying with me and just talking away! He says- tank u, wuv u, juice, baaaa(bath), side (outside), gogog(dog) noooo noooo, and many more words I just love hearing him talk and he gives amazing hug and kisses

Hunter is such a sweetheart also. I had to take him to the doctor on Thursday and he thanked me for taking care of me. He had to have breathing treatment and I told him it would be ok not to worry he got off the table came over to me and said " Mommy you don't need to worry either I am a brave boy you can be brave to mommy" I though I was going to cry. I'm an emotional person and it doesn't take much.

Kevin and I had a day alone today. His parents kept the kids and we went to Canton. I think we really needed it. To walk together holding hand and talking really made my day and there were no interruptions. Every couple needs to make alone time. Kevin is such a wonderful husband. Lately he has made sure that I have time away and for myself and has made sure that I take care of myself and not just everyone else. I think I'll keep him:)

Prayers are being heard:)

Sunday at church we mentioned to several people that we were having such a terrible time with Rusty Sleeping. We had not really shared it much becuase we know it could be much worse. Everyone said they would include us in theri prayers. Last night we set the video tape up to record Rusty in action at night and we joked that he would probably sleep. Guess what???????
He slept until 4 and then I changed his diaper and he rolled over and went to sleep. This is the 13th time since October that we have slept all night without Rusty up for hours screaming, kicking and head bashing us. I really feel that we were in the prayers of many people last night and God stood by his side patting him to sleep. I however woke up many times wondering if he was ok or if I had slept and not heard him cry.
We went to the doctor today for Rusty's 15 month check up. He weighs 25.8lbs and is 34 inches long. We talked about the whole sleep thing and the doctor suggested shortening Rusty's naps. But he sleep about 45 min in the monring and 1hr 30 min after lunch. He then kept trying to leave the room and send the nurse in for shots. But we kept reminding him that we are not sleeping. He then said he didn't know where to start he mentioned that their was only one thing he could think of and that Rusty really showed no other signs. ACID REFLUX~~~~~ But Kevin has had Acid Reflux since birth and so has Hunter. If anyone was around Hunter as a baby you know how he would spit up. It was terrible. Rusty only spit up sometimes and only a little. However he has been spitting up a little lately in the evenings. Anyways we are trying a medication to see if it solves the problem. This would only be a minor problem and it would be great to have found a cure!!! I can't wait to see the turn out of the next few days. I pray that this is it. Thanks to everyone for your prayers!

It's about time!!!

I know it has been forever since I have posted anything new. I just can't seem to find time to stop and write sometimes let alone post pictures. I have 18 rolls of film to develope so I actually have no new pictures. So now for a catch up session.
School has been crazy. We had a teacher that we hired in August leave so we had to hire a new teacher. To be honest it was an answeres prayer her and I really knew how to make life miserable. She thought everything that I did to help her was a waste of time and she felt it was necessary to tell me along with other not so nice comments. Anyways to make a long story short we have hired a brand new teacher that is just wonderful. She is easy to work, flexible, smart and a great teacher. Sorry the other teacher that I have bad names for had none of these qualities. So the stress has changed a little bit. However I'm really feeling the TAKS pressure and it SUCKS!!!!!!! Along with TAKS we have a principal who comes up with Crazy idea like an American Idol Talent Contest!!!!! I can't sing or dance. But however tomorrow I will be on stage doing both with my team!!!! OH Great!!!! I'm sure it will be funfor the kids and they will have something to think about while they are stressing on the test to cheer them up.
Anyways enough about school@!
Kevin and I have become very involved at our church and I just love it. He spends a lot of time witht he youth! Sometimes I'm jealous but I know he is really being a supporter for those kids and they need it. I work with the k-1 in our children's service. Last week I spent my time with a 5 yr old autistic child. Although he took all my energy I really felt blessed to work with him and I feel like we connected. It also made me that more thankful for my boys even if they are a handful.
My boys have really grown Hunter has turned 4 and it seems tobe a magical age. He wants to act like a big boy now(sometimes). He has decided that it is ok to learn and he is excited to learn the light bulb really turned on last week. It is awesome. We have to pause TV all the time for him to tell us what letters are on TV. I owe it all to our sitter forher hard work. Once I get home there is not much time to make him do it. Now that he is interested that is all we do when we get home. He recognizes letters all over the place and sometimes he even knows how they sound. What a CHAMP!
Rusty has become a hugger he loves to hug. An he sings MOMMA, MOMMA after every bath in such a sweet tune. he even tells us Nit Nit when he is tired. He falls way to much and seem to be brusied at least once on his face a week. Hopefully know one thinks we beat him. He just moves fast and plays rough.
We are however really struggling at night time with Rusty:( HE has woken up almost every night since October throwing an hour to two hour long fit )sometimes longer) He kick throw his head, arches his back and screams. Eventually he wears down and falls asleep. Sometimes we are lucky to get him in bed and other times we start all over again. The doctor thinks it is nighttorres an suggested giving him benedryl. Well that makes my kids hyper, what luck. So we thried a stronger drug Attarax. The first couple of night we are up all night fighting him and then we have a few days where he will sleep all night. I don't want to get him addicted to the meds and that be the only way he can sleep. We are now once again trying the attarax for two weeks to see if we can fix the problem. I have spent many nights awake with him crying because it seems like he is in pain and I can't fix it. They also say it could be teething but for 4 months straight??????? Please pray that whatever it is is figured out so that we can keep it from happening. Not only am I tired but worried. At least he is ok during the day. I guess that is a blessing.
Wll that is probbaly enough rambling as if someones actually going to read all of this. However it just feels good to get it all out. WOW I think I wrote a book:)

Visiting Santa and family pictures

Today we went to get our family pictures and then we went tovisit Santa since the boys were dressed so darn cute. They were both just awesome for pictures. Hunter tried to pull the I'm not going to smile for family pictures but the photographer was awesome an she had oth boys smiling forboth pictures. It was actually fun and not a pain. Hunter was so excited about Santa we had told him that we sould probably just walk by because I figured there would be a line. Howerver, there wer two kids in line so we joined the Santa line. Guess what Hunter ask for? A new vaccum. Yes my child is crazy. He got a toy vaccum last year that now needs batteries and he thinks he needs a new one. he wil not tell us anything else that he wants. Crazy little boy. As for Rusty he was fine with looking at Santa but di not really like teh idea of being on his lap. Out of the three pics to choose from this is the only one that he is not looking at Santa with a very concerened sad face.
Afer us there was a baby gong to see Santa that was about 7 months old. His reaction was so cute. He just stared at Santa with open mouth. They could not get his attention. So they just took that pose. Santa decide to have the same open mouth look as the baby. It was adorable.

Trick or Treat

This year we carved two pumpkins. We let Hunter direct us on what kind of faces we wanted He cleaned the pumpkins, Kevin and I cut them, and Rusty well he played, ate and made a mess. But we had so much fun. I do not have pictures yet but Rusty was Superman and Hunter was a skeleton. Hunter wanted to be a scary monster, which to him was a skeleton with guts coming out. However we talked him into a regular skeleton.
Every October we make the joke that we are going to lock Hunter up during the month. Every year he get hurt.
1st year 2 stitches in head, 2nd year fractured leg, last year just a black eye and cut next to eye. and this year he ran into a wall running and once again got stitches above his eyebrow. He was sucha tough guy. He wasn't crying when I arrived to take him for stitches, however I was pretty close. he only cried when he got a shot and then just laid there and got stitches. I watched every move the doctor took and thanked God that it was only stitches and nothing more. I hate to see my baby hurt.

Rusty's First Steps

My Rusty will not be a baby to much longer. He took his first steps on Oct. 6th at my mom's house. We were about to leave them with my mom and I told her he is so close to taking steps, and if he does do not tell me I want to think I saw it first. The little rugrat stood up and took 3 steps. Wow if he always follows directions this well then I am in for a treat:) He took 8 steps tonight to walk to me. He has become extra loving. He hugs and kisses. But the kisses are dangerous and messy. He kisses open mouth and well with 5 teeth if he closes his mouth it is a bit painful. I just love the smiles of my boys. PRICELESS

So tired

I'm sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything. I need new pictures the boys are changing so much. But I haven't been able to develop any just yet. We have been so Busy in the Crabtree house. School is wild and none stop. I have two new team mates on my team and I feel like I am still so new to 5th grade yet I have to teach them the ropes. My classes are so low and I have been taking it personal. Am working so hard yet I'm not getting any thing back. I pray that by the end of the year my hard work will pay off. This is just a tough group of kids. Kevin has been gone a lot and it's really hard. He is the junior high youth leader at our church now and it takes a lot of our time together away. I know he is doing God's work but I really need more time with him. Is that selfish of me? He is also still taking college courses and filling out applications all over to try to get a police officer position. I have also taken on a role of a Shepard in our children's service. I love it!!! It is so rewarding when doing GOD's work. It gives you such a wonderful and powerful feeling. But then again I am so tired. I just need to breath for a minute. I have to say that typing this is actually relieving my stress and helping me to express what I really can't put in words. Well enough rambling for onenight:)

The Best Sound

Tonight we had Meet the Teacher Night at school. Oh boy hip hip hooray. Actually to be honest it went really well. I'm getting a little less nervous each year. Anyways since we had Meet the Teacher I didn't get home from work until 7:55. When I walked into the door Hunter came running screaming "mommy, mommy your home... I'm so glad you are here." It is awesome to hear your child say how much he loves you in such great words. It was like in the movies when you see people running to each other and jumping into each others arms. Then as I continues to talk to HUnter. Rusty started giggling. When I walked into the leaving room Rusty was standing on Kevin's belly jumping smiling yelling with joy and reaching for me saying"MMMMMMMM" WoW!!!! What a welcome home. I'm sure Kevin was just as happy to see me as well. He probably needed a break:)

On a different note. Kevin needs prayers. He has hurt his back again. H is on lite duty at work and has physical therapy 3 days a week.

Dana

We have the best sitter of all times. It is so nice to go to work and know that my kids are not only save but having fun also. ON the left you see Hunter in his Larry boy hat. On the right you see Rusty and one of his play mates just cracking up.
Dana our sitter sends me pictures almost everyday. it is so nice to see what they are doing and to know that they are happy. I thank God for blessing us with Dana each day.

My boys

Rusty Thomas 7 months old

Hunter 3 and a half and Rusty 7 months

I love being a mommy! It is incredible. Hunter is 3 and a half and Rusty is 8 months old. I can hardly believe how fast they have grown. They learn so much so fast. I wish sometimes they would really slow down. While at other times I can not wait for Hunter to grow out of the "Why" stage and Rusty will learn it is ok for mommy to walk two feet away. I know when those stages pass I will miss the moment. I go back to work on Monday I am going to miss them so much. I know there is no way I could mentally or physically be a stay at home mom, but I love my summers of and my school years working. It is just hard to get in the routine of leaving. Enough rambling, here is a picture of my two little handsome men:)

The blog world

Well here I am finally with a blog. I have a myspace account but Kevin hates me using it with the bad rep it has. But I only use it to keep up with High School friends. I love begin able to click on here and just talk or read others blocs and feel like I'm getting adult time. I love my boys but sometimes I need to feel connected to the rest of the world too. It makes you wonder how people survived in the old days. No Phones, no TV, no computers.... I guess they were addicted to these things like we are today.