This is What You Get

On Sunday, I mentioned that I had like 5 things on my "to write" list. Did I mention my "to write" list is a mental one? No? Did I also mention that since having 2 kids, my brain more closely resembles a bowl of grits rather than a normal human brain? No? Well, now you know. Needless to say, until those 5 wonderful ideas come back to me, this is what you get. Me, rambling about being forgetful & really wishing I had written those 5 fabulous topics down. Exciting stuff, huh?

So, if you too suffer from mush mind, please tell me about it! I need to know I'm not the only one out there that no longer remembers where I put my keys, my purse & even sometimes my kids (just kidding about the kids...sort of).

Pictures for Your Sunday Viewing Pleasure

I have like 5 posts on my "to write" list, but today I just feel like sharing some pictures. So, here's my kiddos playing after their baths the other night.

I think this picture just screams the beginning of a little brother terrorizing his big sister! Haha!

He is already doing AWESOME during tummy time! You'd never know he wasn't allowed to be on his tummy until just 5 days ago!

1st Success...2nd Challenge

Ok, so we finished our first Green Challenge...yay us! Here's a breakdown of our stand-by power assessment & our changes:

• Living room- The only things plugged in all the time are the floor lamp (we use every day) & our electronics. The TV cannot be unplugged since it hangs on the wall & you have to take it down to unplug it. I cannot unplug the DVR...just ain't gonna happen. That only left the DVD player, which we put on a power strip & now we only turn it on when we are going to use it, and the laptop, which I already unplug when it's turned off.


• Kitchen/dining room- In the kitchen the only thing plugged in all the time is the major appliances...so nothing to change there! In the dining room we have our small candle we use as a nightlight at night (I don't want to run into things when I get up in the middle of the night to get the occasional bottle) and we now unplug it during the day rather than just turn it off.


• Playroom-The only things plugged in are the small TV & DVD player which were already on a power strip that we turn off when Julianna isn't watching her Laurie Berkner Band DVD for the bazillionth time.


• Bathroom- Just a small candle for a nightlight & now we unplug it during the day.


• Kid's bedrooms- We unplugged their lamps, since it's still light when they go to bed right now, those lights very rarely get used. They both have actual nightlights, but they are LED & on sensors.


• Our bedroom- Yikes! We had our cordless phone charger plugged in, 2 cell phone chargers, several lamps, an alarm clock, our TV, & a fan. Now we only have 1 lamp, the alarm clock, our cordless phone & the TV plugged in all the time (I watch it nearly every night Joe is on shift). Much better. But I still want to put the TV on a power strip that can be turned off when we're not using it.


• Garage- The only thing plugged in was our freezer. Nothing to change there!


• Basement- Other than the dryer the only other thing plugged in was our desktop computer, which we never use so we unplugged it.

All in all, we really didn't have to change much...we were already doing pretty good!

Challenge #2 Reusable Bags

This one is going to be tough for me. I am such a fan of plastic grocery/store bags. I use them for everything...to line our small trash cans, to pack Joe's lunches (he brings them back home & uses them multiple times), to occasionally wrap a terribly smelly diaper in (I KNOW this is really bad...that's a whole other challenge), and so much more.

Not only am I going to try to switch to reusable bags, but I am gonna go one step further & make some of my own reusable bags! I have a super easy bag pattern & some scrap canvas so why not make a few. And besides by making my own I can easily personalize them using some of my other fabric scraps and they can't be mistaken for someone else's.

I am actually hoping to start making these today because my sewing machine is still sitting out from when I made Julianna some dresses last weekend (I really should have put it away...but I knew I as going to make bags...yeah, that's it). I think a bigger challenge than me starting to use reusable bags is going to be getting Joe to use them as well. Well, I guess it wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy.

Balloons!

We took the kids to the annual hot air balloon launch last night. Oh my gosh! Julianna loved it! I was so surprised by how excited she got. I really thought it would hold her attention for 30 seconds, but she clapped for every balloon that went up & waved to the people in the baskets. She was so cute!

Will...not so enthralled.

She needed a higher view.

There were more than 40 different balloons.

Julianna loved the ladybug balloon.

She just couldn't stop watching them all take off.

This has to be the creepiest hot air balloon I've ever seen!

Will just loves anytime he gets to go away...which isn't very often.

Julianna was not happy daddy made her stop watching the balloons to take a picture with mommy.

We had so much fun and Julianna has not stopped talking about the balloons. I can't wait for this evening and hopefully we'll be able to go outside & see them from the house.

Things Are A Changin'

As all of my avid readers (yes, I mean the 10 of you that consistently visit my blog...haha!) have I'm sure noticed, Our Ordinary Stories has been having a sort of an identity crisis. I think I have changed the look of the blog about 20 times in the last few days. I just can't seem to find something I like. I still don't like how it looks, so I entered a giveaway at Webbisodes to win a blog makeover. I didn't win the makeover, but I did win a custom header, blog button & text box! I am so excited to finally get something totally unique & professional (you know, not made by un-techy me using a basic paint program)!

Also, I have been thinking about starting to do reviews. I wasn't sure if this was a direction I wanted the blog to go in, but thought I would give it a try and see. I am very excited to say that I have my very first review in the works! AND the "soon-to-be-announced company" offered several of their products for a giveaway! I am very excited about the review, not only because it is my first, but because it fits in so nicely with our attempts to become a greener family. I know you will all want to stay tuned for details.

I want to assure everyone that despite the fact that Our Ordinary Stories will soon have a new look & be joining the ranks of mommy reviewers, you will still be able to get your daily dose of our family's ordinary stories (Have you noticed I'm back to blogging more regularly? Of course you have!).

The Details

There really isn't much to report on Will's cardiology appointment yesterday. Did you hear me??? NOT MUCH TO REPORT! That means nothing bad! That is the first time that we have seen Dr Awesome since March that we have nothing bad to tell everyone about. Sigh.

But here's the details. Will is now a whopping 13lbs 6oz...just 2 ounces shy of my goal for him (13.5 lbs). He is still eating pretty well & Dr Awesome was really happy with his weight gain. His coloring looked very good and although his murmur (the noise made when blood moves through the spot where his aorta is still pretty tiny) was still pretty loud, Dr Awesome said Will's clinical exam was so good he didn't even do an echo. Another first! The first time we have seen Dr Awesome and not had an echo!

I am so thankful for all this improvement...words cannot even begin to describe how happy I am over it. I know I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it a million more times, but his little heart is totally a miracle! I know things may not always be so great, but I am going to bask in this moment of my little man's wonderful strong heart working.

**Please keep 2 of Will's little heart friends in your prayers...Jacob is on track for his second OHS to happen in about 6 weeks (he's 9 days older than Will) and Baby Hannah had her second surgery today to get a pacemaker, her first OHS was at just 5 days old (she is now 3 weeks old).**

Woohoo For Tummy Time!

Will is finally allowed to have tummy time! Which works out so nicely since he can now roll onto his tummy (I would spend 90% of my day turning him over if he still wasn't allowed on his tummy). Dr. Awesome felt his heart is working well enough for tummy time to no longer be too much of a strain on it. Yay!


Now to start building up those arm muscles, gotta get some guns to make all the girlies swoon.