CHRISTMAS EVE

We got an early present from Connor last night! Officially walking on his own...

Unfortunately the video is poor...I took it with my camera. I also cannot figure out how to turn the image...this is coming from someone who just returned a cell phone because she is that technologically challenged :) and her husband too- I must add!

Merry Christmas!!!

A QUICK CATCH UP

OK. So It has been crazy here in the Freakley household and not because Christmas is around the corner.

First let me do a super short Thanksgiving blog before Christmas does get here!

Here is a shot of all but myself and Connor to the right of me, eating the best Thanksgiving meal yet. All 14 of us gathered around the table. That was for sure something to be thankful for and for all the hands that prepared it. We had a great time and Quarters 1 at Fort Knox could not have been a better gathering place for all of us!
Few more shots:

Marmie and Grandaddy with their grand kids: 

Ben 2 1/2, Connor 1, Daniel 2 1/2, and Anna 6 months

Thanks again for hosting us and everything you all did to make it comfortable and fun for the kids!

There are like literally 189 pictures posted on shutterfly of the weekend.

After Thanksgiving we did a quick Happy 1st B-day Connor casual "stress-free" party. I did post that.

Then everything went south from there. I had picked up shifts Ben was out of town a ton. The kids got a cough and runny nose and occasional fevers. Kept having to call out for work. Couldn't take the kids to day care. We kept the doctor busy eventually Connor's turned into pneumonia and he got admitted then got worse during the night and we were transferred to MCG Children's hospital to the pediatric ICU. Can wait for the bill of the ambulance ride...1 hour and 20 minutes with PICU nurse and respiratory therapist (I will make sure I post it!). Five days later Connor got to go home. I the mean time Ben starts running a fever - "Lita" had come to the rescue by then - and Ben had to cancel going this big important soccer thing he had arranged. Monday took Ben to MD. He not only has pneumonia but strep throat to top it all off! Both are thankfully getting better but not well enough to leave town as planned, we have follow up appointments and chest x-rays and all that good stuff.

Some pictures at the hospital:

Poor sweet little Connor : (

Needless to say all my last minute things are not done. Thankfully I had already done most of the Christmas shopping, taken care of all of the kids on the list (except ours) and Christmas cards, but the adults are going to have to be shorted temporarily-including my sweet husband :( All we are hoping for is a healthy Christmas at this point!

GOOD NIGHT CONNOR

Little thanks to everyone who came to Connor's celebration! Great seeing everyone, wish I cold have chatted more! You all helped make his birthday a very special memory!

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR FRENCH FREAKLEY!!!

P.S. It is after midnight. It is Dec 2nd. I don't know why it is saying it is the 1st!!!

CONNOR IS 1!!!

It is so hard to believe our little guy is one already. What a fast year!

10 things about Connor:

1- He is Mr Serious
2- He is cautious about what he does. Evaluates the scenery before he "dives in"
3- Very impatient and has that "Spanish temper" when you are not getting him something fast enough.
4- "The sweetest boy," that, we are told by everyone, and we cannot argue it!
5- Loves to be hugged, kissed, and snuggled on
6- NOT sleeping through the night
7- Does not take crap from his big brother, wrestles with him, hits him back and steals his food!
8- The best eater
9- Sooo happy all the time, and so chill and easy going
10-NOT walking yet!

...I could keep going on and on. To sum it up, Connor is just like me and B III is just like his daddy :)

WE LOVE YOU BIG NON!
Thanks for being so happy and healthy (except for the pneumonia last week)!

HAPPY FALL YA'LL !!

The fall has always always been my favorite time of year (especially when we were up in Virginia). Down here in the Deep South, true fall has not really hit us yet...and usually it never does. The South is known for only having two seasons, summer and winter. We had a few days start out and end feeling like fall but got well into the mid 80's by the afternoon. But then we heard about this cute little fall festival that we went to Saturday morning and although the weather was not fitting, the atmosphere sure was! The only other reason's we know it is fall is because peaches and strawberries have come and gone, football and soccer are in full swing and the fair was in town---not nearly as good as the Rockbridge Co. fair and NO animals! Bummer, but the great mullets made up for it.

Andersons's Fall Festival:

Fair action:

 Best $5 spent in a long time:

Halloween!

For Halloween we went to this neighborhood with my sweet neighbor and her family and met a lot of new friends. We had a large group picnic and then a "hay ride" minus the "hay". Which was great for my family because I was asthma attack worry free for my husband! The topped it off with trick-or-treating...but only long enough for Ben to get the "jist of it".

In other news:

*We became members of The First Baptist Church of Statesboro today. http://fbc-statesboro.org It is awesome in every way! We also attended it when we were students :)

*B III (not to be mistaken with my husband) pooped in the potty Friday night! Not that we are even training, it is to crazy around here right now but I always throw him on it before bath time and he pees but this time I guess he happened to have to go poo poo! And even he got excited.

 *Connor has decided to repeat the most common phrase in the Freakley household; "get down!" It is too funny!

*I have at least six months of rehab ahead of me "hair rehabilitation" that is. My hair got totally screwed on Friday. That is a whole other blog in itself...stay tuned!

*We got "the call" last week- BIII got accepted into The CDC (not center for disease control) ... The Childhood Development Center at GSU! Only 1 year on the waiting list...now Conner is at the top of his age group!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN-ING !!!

A VERY BELATED THANKS

I have been a poor blogger, a dedicated mother, and a great couch potato on the side. Buuuut now that we do not have TV again all that is changing (temporarily).

Once the kids are down, A.K.A. "after hours" and the downstairs is as clean as we feel like getting it, I park my hiney on the couch to watch my mindless House Hunters shows. You would think I could move the 7 feet over to the computer-still in view of the TV and blog, but nope. Or, one would think I could at least blog or Facebook from the couch on our i-pad, but nope. I just want to sit there. (Honestly, sit there and eat!).

So here I am at the computer with a black television screen teasing me once again.

OK. Lets catch up!

Two weekends ago Grandaddy and Marmie came to pay us a visit. They had a very long trip so we owe them a very BIG  thank you!

 

We can not wait to see you again and the rest of the family on Thanksgiving!!!

The above photos are thanks to Marmie and Grandaddy's camera. I still do not have one that is functioning. I am maybe going to buy a friends camera though, actually he just brought it over. He is letting me test it out before I make a decision

Last week Wee Booter Ben had some appointments to follow up on his hearing and with a program called Kids Can't Wait to see about his "talking". So far everything is fine and he is not behind. But he still has to be evaluated in the day care setting and then we have to have a large group follow up visit with his day care teacher, the director of his day care, Ben and I and the evaluators. 

The other day they came to our house for an "in home visit" and he pulled is usual act; "I don't repeat or say anything anyone wants me to especially to this crazy stranger." But then we sat to eat and he decided to whip out his first 4 word sentence: "I want juice please." and when she left he said "By Denice!". So there went his chances for help. He knows we are up to something I swear. 

We know he is not behind and a lot of people say "my child didn't say a word till they were 3 and they were non-stop from there and honor graduates..." soooo at least we will know we didn't ignore the issue. But we will keep you posted on what happens after the next 2 visits. My theory is that it is the lack of routine and structure at home. I think that is a huge to do with it!

Then Lita came last weekend just to come and lets face it, because I begged her to. I like having Lita around about as much as "Benhamin" does (as my mom pronounces it). But I still do not have a camera so did not get any pictures. Thanks for coming Lita! .

Good news though: Ben just called and is on his way home from Clemson and they tied 1-1 tonight, would have won but Clemson scored with 4 mins left. They just could not hang on!

Better news, looks like I "should" be able to go full time at the job am after by December but "for sure" January. Sooo hopefully I will make the move in December!

Here are some additional pictures that I never up-loaded when my camera broke. I used the Freakley's to do so last week!

Connor at Mill Creek Park:

 At our pool:

 Ben feeding Joey at Tia Carmen's and Uncle Greg's:

 At Tia Carmen's and Uncle Greg's:

 With Poppy:

I have not uploaded to shutterfly yet!

Oh, How could I have forgotten to mention that our "Renters" at 40 Faircrest have decided to break the lease and move out next month! AWESOME! We have always wanted 2 mortgages! Welcome to the real world I guess. This is so not cool. Like, this is bad.

POOR MAN'S DINNER

Ummmm, Ham -n- Bean Soup!

Ingredients:
1 med yellow onion
1 cup baby carrots
1 cup cubed ham
3 cans white beans (I use 1 can of navy and 2 cans of canelli beans )
1 ham hock
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp butter
3 cups of water

How To:
Dice onions and saute in butter
Add carrots and ham, saute a little longer
Smash up 1/4th of the beans then add the water and smashed beans to the pot, stir well.
Add the rest of the beans, white pepper, bay leaf and ham hock
Baby sit and stir soup for about 30 mins
Remove Ham hock and bay leaf before serving

*I add extra carrots and ham to pick out for the boys to eat, and a little more water because I like to dip my corn bread in it : )

My favorite corn bread is the Krusteaze brand "honey" flavored found at Walmart in the baking isle by the cornbread. (F.Y.I.-I use the "melted butter" option instead of the "oil" option.

Sooo good in the fall and winter months!!! And it is called Poor Mans Supper for a reason...it is cheap!

I have also soaked beans over night and tried this same soup in the crock pot so the boys will have something ready fresh to eat when I am at work. It is great that way too, just don't forget to mash some of the beans to thicken the broth and I add extra water when using the crock pot.

L.A.Z.Y.

That is me lately! It might have something to do with FINALLY getting TV hooked up again. Can you believe we went 11 months without it?! BY CHOICE too! I am pretty easy to please. All I wanted was Fox News, NBC (30 Rock and The Office), Food Network and HGTV. We are a little disappointed because we cannot find Blues Clues on any channel which was B III's favorite show. However, I found a new show I am absolutely HOOKED on...House Hunters and House Hunters International. Man am I a boring mom-wife or what?

You know why else I have not posted...because my camera went ca put.Ya, it died. Well, I am sure there is a simple solution to it if I were to take it somewhere buuuut maybe I should just get a new one, right. The lens is jammed halfway out...I think there is sand in it. So why post if I have no pictures of the little guys? I know no one cares about what I have to say anyways, all they want to see are the pictures.

Also, the job with the Cardiologist is pretty much mine if I want it....but it is only for 20 hours a week max. Ya AWESOME...if I could be that mom that was lucky enough to work part time like that. So why don't I stay in the ER part time? Because I am not allowed! RETARDED. My boss cannot work it out. The CEO whom I have met with several times said there is NO WAY "corporate" will allow it. So now I am on the hunt for another little part time job to go along with it...but it may not make sense to do it.

DADDY'S HOME!!!

The boys were so thrilled to see daddy this morning when he got home from his morning practice!!! (They were long asleep when he got home last night.)

Oh, and the second I put the last boy down last night I conquered the bathroom. I could not live with myself any longer, let alone even try to sleep with that lurking on the other side of the bathroom door! Proof:

This is one reason it gets so darn cluttered. He loves to pull EVERYTHING out of the cabinet and drawers and saying NO PLEASE a thousand times still has not gotten through to him. So I just throw it all on the counter or in the sinks!

Someone is in a pickle:

Waiting for daddy this morning:

FORGET CHICK-FIL-A...

Ya, you heard me.
Never thought I'd say that. I love the food there buuuutttt BURGER KING has a WAY better INDOOR and AIR CONDITIONED playground, and my child will eat their apple sticks AND their chicken nuggets! Plus, I am not tempted to eat everything on the menu and shove my face like at Chick-Fil-A. Just I little iced coffee was the perfect treat. So that is what we did this afternoon for a good hour. Now we are back and The Lion King is in and Ben is yawning....sleep sleep time.

I'm surviving the weekend way better than I thought I would. It is crazy how I went from such SEVERE pain to feeling so great in a matter of 3 days. I still have a really tight knot and an occasional "twinge" but I feel better than I have in months and have more energy...thanks to the few adjustments I have gotten and needed. I forgot how great it is going to a chiropractor. I has been too long!

Yesterday we went for a 30 minute walk to a great SHADED playground (all about the shade and air-conditioning down here) and then came back and had lunch. Then, get this: I took the boys all by myself to the pool! CRAZY. A friend at work gave me this great float for Connor it even as a shaded roof and Ben has his little floatie thing so I got to be hands free :)   The only hard part was leaving the pool, which I had anticipated already.
Park pics:

Being is "soccer widow" is not easy, espacially with two youngins but I think I am finally getting the hang of it. Now don't get me wrong. I am not Mrs. Perfect with the crown and all. See:
Here is my bathroom counter (cant believe I am posting this):

And the "lived in" living room (I did manage to vacuum it this morning before it blew up):

But the important things are done, clean kitchen, beds made, laundry done, and my legs are shaved!

Here is what happended to Connor while I was doing this last post:

Cannot wait for Daddy to get home tonight!