Weekend

Jaydon's speech class went well yesterday. His speech teacher TOTALLY loves Jaydon. I can just tell. A lot of the children that go to speech have more than just speech problems, (Downs, MS, Severe Autism, gagging disorders) so I know that sometimes it's a relief to see a child with only language delays. NOT to say that she doesn't love them all the same, but I love the way she interacts with my son.
We are now working on past tense. Jaydon doesn't know how to talk in past or future tenses - everything is present tense for him. It should be interesting to see how this goes.
I just observe a lot, and she (Ms. Randi - the teacher) has commented more than once that she can tell I work with him at home, and that she loves the way I correct him when he has made a speech or language error. It's a good feeling to know that we are doing something right.
It's funny because Jaydon has to be taught EVERYTHING with regards to language. If there isn't a concrete answer, Jaydon doesn't know. This child can spell anything, he can solve math problems, he can read a lot, and he has the brains of a 10 year old. One day your language will be perfect too, buddy...I know it. We see improvement daily!

We were supposed to go to the water park with Jaydon today, but we didn't...
Jeremy and I woke up with the same thing that Jaydon has had for 2 weeks - bronchitis, and just icky congestion. Jaydon isn't 100% better either, so we decided to stay home. (Although Jaydon has been acting like nothing is wrong with him for 2 weeks.)
My son is SO understanding sometimes. I told him that we were sick and we would have to stay home from the water park and he says, "Mommy, do you need to go to the doctor and get medicine to make you feel better?" This is all while patting my back and with eyes that just melt my heart. It totally crushed me because I just told him we couldn't go somewhere - somewhere that he has been wanting to go for weeks - and he's concerned about my well-being. Sweet little man that we have raised!

I went to the grocery store early. I was tired of Wal-Mart and went to Tom Thumb like at 8:30AM. The closest one is in N.R.H - about 10 miles away. Tom Thumb is SO nice. We went there a lot growing up because it was the closest grocery store to our house in Bedford. After not going there for about 10 years, (not frequently anyway) you just forget how great it is. Everything is fresh, (bread & produce) it is SUPER clean, the employees are happy to be working, and they have a great selection. Are their prices higher? Sure...but surprisingly, not by much. I did a lot of comparing today, and I can honestly say that as long as you use your "Tom Thumb card", you aren't paying too much more than any other store. They seemed to have lots of specials. That's the difference between Wal-Mart and other stores. Wal-Mart is just CHEAP...Tom Thumb, for example, puts things on sale. Wal-Mart doesn't have to.
I wanted to get Jacoby a different variety of baby food. I was tired of the same 'ole Gerber variety from Wal-Mart. I bought him all Organic foods today, and they had a HUGE variety. I know he's only 5 months old, (almost 6!) but I put myself in his shoes and I wouldn't like to eat the same stuff EVERY single day. He got summer veggies, potatoes, peas with brown rice, green beans, mango fruit, plums, peach with oatmeal, carrots, winter squash, and SO much more....just lots of different stuff.

Then this evening, we went to Aunt Pam's house for Jeremy's Mom's (Grandma's) birthday. No swimming there, either. It was lightning and thundering like crazy, and then it finally rained. So the outdoor festivities moved inside. Jacoby had been awake since 4:15 so I knew he would be ready for bed by 8:00. At 7:55, I went to lay him down, and at 9:00, I was still in the room with him. I sat in a chair while he was on the bed. I didn't want him falling off the bed, but I also didn't want him to know I was there. (We left the play pen at my Mom's house on Thursday and even though Pam's isn't too far from there, we didn't want to be bothered with going to get it in the rain.)
Anyway, I spent over an hour in the room with no success. He did NOT want to go to sleep, and he cried for about 30 minutes. So we left sometime after 9:00 and of course, not 3 seconds after the car gets turned on, the inevitable happens. Yes, he freakin' falls asleep! Go figure!
I didn't even eat there because Jeremy said that the burgers were burnt to a crisp, so I just made a late night McDonald's run. I hadn't eaten since 12:30, (lunch) and my stomach was eating itself.

Tomorrow, we'll take Jaydon to CiCi's Pizza for lunch. We did promise him that today too, and we told him that we would FOR SURE take him tomorrow. He won't let us forget.
Then Jeremy will mow when we get home - if the lawn is dry. I will do laundry and that will be our weekend.

Oh ya! So some random man left a comment on my last blog entry...a little weirded out about that. It's fine though because it's a nice comment, but I don't know him. Not sure if it's a real picture of him, but whatever. I'm not going to get too worried about it.

Nothing else to share, I think it's bed time for me.

Sleep tight!

Circle S...It's NOT the name of a ranch!

We were introduced to Circle S Catfish Grill last night by the Linder family. We went to dinner with them and the Greenwood's. I must say it was really yummy! I was forewarned about the gravel parking lot, so I assumed I would be walking into a hole-in-the-wall smoke pit with 75-year old waitresses saying nothing but "Y'all come back now, ya hear?" while putting their cigarettes out into our leftovers.
I was pleasantly surprised! The food was good, our waitress was nice, it was a great atmosphere and "kid friendly" with a little play area, (the waiting area) and the desserts were AWESOME! It was nicely priced and the Linder's had a coupon for all of us which ended up giving us our dessert for free. You couldn't go wrong! Nice dinner and good company - what else could you ask for? :)

My sister left to Florida yesterday for a week. SO jealous! I guess she can do that since she's just 25 years old and doesn't have children. Then she is going to Arkansas for her best friend's wedding on 4th of July weekend, then she is going to Peru (I think) at the end of the summer before starting school again. (She is a 6th grade teacher.) Lucky, lucky!
I remember the days of traveling non-stop since our Dad worked for Delta. We LIVED on airplanes. Then I worked for Delta Connection for 3 years so the traveling continued. I miss that. One day we'll be rich and able to do that again. Stand-by travel isn't how it used to be, and you just can't risk it with 2 kids. I remember flying first class most of the time. Spoiled girls that we were!

Today is Friday and I'm really relieved! This is the first weekend in the past 4 that I don't have any plans. I will hang out with the boys today. Jaydon is allowed to watch cartoons until 9:30AM and then after that, he knows that we have to do school work and read. Then he knows he has to be creative and play with his toys. We have a make-up Speech class from 2:15-3:00 today. After that, we'll come home and I'll pay some bills. JUST what I LOVE doing on a Friday night but hey...someone has to do it!

Tomorrow is my mother-in-law's birthday. After the water park, we'll go over to Jeremy's Aunt Pam's house for hot dogs, burgers and a chocolate chip cookie cake for her- YUMMY! I MAY even get brave and take a dip in the pool. Most of the skinny people from his family won't be there, so I won't feel that big. Jaydon would enjoy it if I did get in, so we'll see. We'll already have been at the water park so I guess it'll be fine.

That's it from here...
Have a fantastic weekend!

PS: If you are interested, I added the "good" cake and "bad" cake pictures to my blog below. In order to get the full effect, you'll have to read the blog first if you haven't already. Too funny!

Catching Up - Finally!

The time has come! Can you believe it? I, Jessica Yanel Tomás-Rogers, am blogging for the first time in a LONG time. I know it has been a few weeks, so I'm going to condense as much as possible...
(Okay - so when do I EVER condense?)

WORK:
I have been working on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at A Advanced. That seems to be going pretty well. It's funny because my boss tells me to do things one way, and his wife tells me to do them another way, or she has already been doing them another way, so I am learning to compromise and just start over again. (Yes, I know that I'm going to receive questions about that comment from both of them, but it's really no big deal!) I think that we are getting caught up on stuff little by little. I still have to learn how to do a few more things so that Andrea doesn't have to do them, but until I can get everything else caught up, that may not be possible. Oh well - one step at a time.

KIDS:
Jaydon and Jacoby have been going to Aba's house on the days that I work. I took this job so that I could bring the kids to work with me, but Aba INSISTS that she wants to watch them, so whatever. It's nice on me, and at least Jaydon can play with other children and outside. Jaydon had been sick with bronchitis and fever last week. He was coughing non-stop. We took him to the doctor and they gave us 2 prescriptions. He is such a trooper though and besides the cough, you would have never guessed that he was sick. It's funny how resilient children are. I'm worried though because he is still coughing and it is still congested and both of his prescriptions are gone. I may be taking him to the doctor today instead of to speech because I can't risk him getting worse. I just don't like the way he sounds and I want them to listen to him again - just to reassure me that he is okay, and we aren't dealing with pneumonia or anything.
Jacoby is so handsome! He's growing so much and I can't believe that he's 5½ months old already. He is a "mover & a shaker". That little boy won't sit still for anything! He isn't crawling, but he is scooting on his tummy and turning both ways and it's just funny to watch him. He grabs everything, and the little hairs on my head are no exception - OUCH! He will get up on all fours, but then he just falls down again. I'm not a fan of the crawling because then you REALLY have to keep everything clean and off the floor. In a way, it was nice that Jaydon went straight to walking at 10 months. We'll see what Jacoby does soon! We cannot lay Jacoby down to take a bath anymore...he INSISTS on sitting up which is fine. This is about the time that baths become fun...for the next 2 years anyway until they start telling you that "I don't need a bath today" or they glue themselves to the ground and they weigh 55lbs. so you can't lift them into the tub anymore without killing your back. Fun times! Oh - we also bought Jacoby his first gum (tooth) brush. He really likes that little thingy in his mouth and since he's eating so much baby food, we feel it's a must.

HUSBAND:
I couldn't live without this man! He is so wonderful. I know it's hard on him in the mornings to get both boys ready, take them to my Mom's and then get to work, but he is doing great! He also picks them up on his way home. I leave EVERYTHING ready for him so all he has to do is drag the boys out of bed and change them. Their food and bags are ready to go, their clothes are picked out, so it's not THAT bad. He got to stay with them over the weekend - by himself - for 24 hours and I know he enjoyed it. (More details on that next...)
Thanks honey for all that you do to help our family and for being such an involved Daddy!

BABY SHOWER:
On Saturday was my friend Julie's baby shower. Baby Garvey is due on September 7th. I co-hosted the shower with 2 other girls. We had it at a BEAUTIFUL home in New Hope/McKinney. I cannot even begin to tell you how pretty this home and the land was! It's not that it was a HUGE home, it was just the customization and every detail about it. Too nice for words! The million acres they have doesn't hurt, either! :)
So I decided a few weeks ago that I would leave on Friday afternoon and spend the night there because the baby shower was at 11:00 AM on Saturday and it is a 1½ hour drive each way. I didn't want to have to leave at 6:00 AM on a Saturday morning and then rush. So I left at 3:15 on Friday afternoon. I got to Stacey's (the lady's house where we were having it) about 4:30 and we hung out for a bit and did some yard work. Then we went to Sam's to buy the food and drinks. It was a brunch, but we went a little overboard. (Very typical of me if you don't know me by now!) We got 2 different kinds of quiche, 3 types of deli spirals, cinnamon rolls, fruit (strawberries, mandarin oranges, and grapes), 3 different types of Otis Spunkmeyer muffins (chocolate, banana nut & blueberry) and then juice, water, tea and coffee. Then of course we had a cake. (More details to follow on this ISSUE - yes, the cake was an ISSUE...)
After Sam's, we came home and unpacked groceries and then we went to dinner at Jalapeño's. It's a little Mexican restaurant and probably the only place that would have allowed us in. We looked like COMPLETE trash and we stunk too. After that, we went to Julie's house and hung out with her for a couple of hours. Then we went back to Stacey's and started setting things up. We went as far as to make name cards for food on the computer. YA - OVERBOARD! It was all REALLY pretty and I know that Julie noticed every detail so that made us feel really good. We didn't go to sleep until 2:30 and I was up at 6:45. Cock-a-doodle-doo! That's me...4-6 hours of sleep and I'm done. I've been that way for the past 10 years.
So we hung up some plants outside, swept a bit, and then finished setting everything up. We got the food ready and then went to get ourselves ready. The cake arrived at 10:30AM and I was still getting ready, so I didn't see it until a few minutes later. Let me rewind a bit... I ALWAYS get my cakes from a GREAT bakery in Hurst called Creative Memories. I have turned a few people onto them, so I know they are good. Their cakes are ALWAYS designed to perfection - ALWAYS. They taste good too. They are NOT the "best" tasting cakes, but to me, when you host something, sometimes looks are more important. Their cakes are good - don't get me wrong! (Their petite fours are even better, but you have to get them to make them fresh.)
Well, Julie's father-in-law (her husband's Mom's current husband) is a baker. He makes some of the BEST tasting cakes ever. His designs/decorations leave a bit to be desired...okay, a LOT to be desired. He offered to make Julie's cake for free, and I didn't want to cause family drama so I agreed to it. I mailed him a picture of what I wanted the cake to look like with VERY specific directions on everything about it. (Yes, I'm OCD and very anal!) I called him a few days later and he said that he had received it and he was going to "alter it just a little bit". Okay - fine. I have given you the picture so how bad could it be?
AWFUL - PATHETIC - GROSS - NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT I WANTED! ..and that's being nice!
The cake had a baby on the top laying on her back covered with a blanket and her eyes closed. Before I tell you what that looks like, can you just visualize where I'm going with this? THE BABY WAS HAND CARVED AND ITS HANDS WERE BIGGER THAN ITS HEAD...THE CAKE LOOKED LIKE CRAP AND I DESCRIBED IT AS: "AN OVER SIZED CHRISTMAS ELF LAYING UNDER A BLANKET IN A COFFIN." What on Earth? What was he thinking? So we ALL got out laughs on that - even Julie. She knows how bad his designs are and she had told me that I didn't have to use him, but I wanted to be nice. Needless to say, Julie probably won't use him again and I know that the girls at the shower won't either. The moment when we saw the cake was just priceless. Still laughing about that! I will ask Julie to send me the pictures of it again and then I will upload what it was supposed to look like so that you can see the comparison...or the NOT comparison. (Update: Cake pictures have been added below!)
Other than that, the shower was perfect and Julie got some cute and necessary stuff. She got a few of the big registry items which was nice.

FRIENDS:
I am supposed to go to lunch with Andi & family this week. I want to try Circle S, so hopefully that happens. We are playing it by ear at this point.
I am supposed to meet up with Mike & Sandra and their children, but I haven't heard from Sandra. Hello Mrs. Calderon-Garcia...where are ya? I want to see the children!!!
I am supposed to go to the water park this Saturday with Jaydon & Jeremy. We are thinking somewhere small. Anybody else want to go? Zane, Maddie, Ash, AnaLisa, Peyton...any takers? (Okay, so those are obviously the children, but any of their parents want in?)
RC still owes me a Mac & Cheese recipe. My husband keeps asking when I'm going to make it, but I have to tell him that I can't because I DON'T HAVE THE RECIPE! :)

CLOSING:
I have to call Cathy back. She called me on Saturday while I was at the baby shower and I haven't had time to call her back. Bad friend!
I have to call my Dad back who called me on Monday while I was at work. Bad daughter!
I have to finish helping my sister find a new car. Bad sister!
I have to call and cancel speech today and make a doctor's appt. for Jaydon. Bad mother!
I have to finish cleaning my home. The kitchen is done, but I still lack everything else. Cleaning (THOROUGH cleaning) has become my Wednesday chore and most of you know that I cannot stand a dirty home. Bad housekeeper!
Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the 'ole blog. Jeremy has to work at night and it doesn't allow me time to blog. Then I am NOT going to do it at work because one of my biggest blog readers is my bosses wife...enough said! Bad blogger!

I hope everyone has a good week, and you finally got a nice dose of the Rogers Family blog!
Tootles...

Blogger Note: Remember that you can click on any picture image to enlarge it.

This is what the cake was supposed to look like. CUTE CAKE, HUH? The ONLY thing I wanted changed was the color. I wanted pink & brown instead of pink & green...

...and this is what the cake looked like...

Enough said!

Lazy Race & More...

Yesterday was the long awaited "First Annual Lazy Race". We were quite pumped about it, and had a lot of fun participating. The Linder's fed everyone barbecue, and then people brought over side dishes and dessert. It was all delicious, and the Linder's did an AWESOME job putting it all together! We were quite impressed with the turnout, and also with the clues. It took a lot of creativity - we don't know if they did it all, or if the internet (i.e. Google) was helpful, but either way, it was planned out perfectly...
We got there a little late - okay, a LOT late due to some sitter issues - like 6:00 instead of 5:00 - but it was no biggie because we hadn't planned on eating before the race anyway. We didn't want to feel stuffed in the nearly 100º weather. We got the rules, and the race started...
There were about 10 events - if I remember correctly. Each team had a different starting point. I did some of the events, Jeremy did some of them. I did a kid's obstacle course - the big blow-up ones that people have at birthday parties. Then we did a search for a black star on a bunch of small beach balls outside. Then we had to unscramble some words which spelled out "Texas Pit Barbecue". Then we had to find a rubber ducky in their master bedroom tub - a tub full of 100 ducks - we had to find one that said, "1st Annual Lazy Race". (I think Andi said that 10 out of the 100 had that written on them.) We then went in their office and had to find a green dot on the bottom of about 100 flowers on Andi's new desk. (GREAT office furniture by the way!) Then there was a sack race, a jump/hop about 50 yards on some big 'ole blow-up horses. (Too funny how some people looked doing this - or should I say, NOT doing it!) We had to beat Andi at a hand of Texas Hold 'Em, dig through a kids pool filled with sand to find a small key, fill a tube with water by using a shot glass to get the golf ball up to the top, and then head out to the corner snow cone stand (about 1 mile away) to order a snow cone, eat it, and then return back. I think those were all of the things we did, and not in that order. After you finished one event, one of the helper's gave you your next clue. It was non-stop for probably 30-45 minutes - I don't even know how long it took because we were so busy concentrating.
Anyway, we finished 5th out of 9 teams! We were NOT happy with this! We would not have been satisfied with ANYTHING but 1st place though - that's how competitive we both are. Second place is the first loser, and anything after that just sucks massive donkey balls! (Inside joke that only 1 person will laugh at!) Yes, we are quite competitive!!! We thought we were doing well, but it was the things that we had no control over that put us behind. For example, the Texas Hold 'Em...never played, so we had no clue if we were winning or not. We just trusted that Andi was doing it right. (We have NO doubt that she was!) It took us 7-8 hands to beat her - quite time consuming since she was shuffling 3 times between each hand. (Love ya Andi!) What sucked was when another team got to the same station and then she had to deal to both of us - ARGH! They were there for 2 hands, and we both ended up beating her at the same time. Two hands for them - like 8 for us! Then at the snow cone stand, we got our snow cone no problem, but a family of 3 ordered 3 different snow cones when we were trying to get our last clue, after we had eaten it already. So we had to wait in line for a few minutes there! ARGH! (There must have been people "spilling" the snow cones "accidentally" because there sure were a LOT of red spots around the place where you sat to eat. Too funny!) When we arrived and heard that we were team 5, Jeremy lost his appetite, and I cursed in Español. Depressing! :(
We were up analyzing the race until 2AM - yes, we REALLY were - and realized that the people who came in 8th and 9th place were also at the snow cone stand at the end with us, so the only luck we had was finishing in 5th ahead of them. It seems like the order you did things may have mattered although some people disagree with that. We just want to know how far ahead the first teams finished, or if it was just back-to-back finishes. We were in 5th, and I know that teams 6-9 finished just seconds after us.
So are we extremely frustrated? YES! Could we have beat everyone in a foot race? (I didn't win the high school State Track championship - 100-yard dash for nothing!) YES! Game of Jeopardy? Win that! Again, the things we didn't have control over were what put us behind. Absolutely NO luck there!
Did we have fun? ABSOLUTELY! Would we do it again? ABSOLUTELY! Does it sound like I'm whining? Yes! However, I was an analyst for a few years, and I analyze everything. So now Jeremy is in the habit of analyzing too!
I do feel good though because we noticed 3 different groups popping Advil, (or something of the like) and we didn't. We woke up refreshed this morning - it was a nice work-out, and neither one of us is sore. PHEW!
Oh - the prizes were also very creative and cute. Everyone won something which was quite thoughtful. We won a $15 gift card to Wal-Mart. It was a $20 entrance fee, so we feel like we came out evenly - especially since they fed us such yummy food. First place won $100, 2nd place won $50, (Congratulations York family!) 3rd place won $30, and then the rest were gift cards or silly prizes.
Thanks Linders, for making us work-out, and for putting it all together. We had a lot of fun! Next year, someone else will have to do it so that you can both participate! :)

Today was Father's Day. Jaydon made Jeremy a bracelet that said, "I Love You Dad Bee". (He is REALLY into the "Bee Movie", and everyone is a certain "bee". Brother bee, Mother bee, Aba bee...you get the point.) We figured he could hang it from his key chain - I know he won't wear it, and I don't blame him. It was so cute though, and Jeremy liked it. Then we just hung out at home all day and watched the US Open - golf. We planned on taking Jeremy to breakfast at his favorite little spot, but Jeremy just wanted to stay home. Fine by me - it was too hot to do anything anyway. My Dad lives in Florida, so I called him on the phone to talk to him for a bit. Then Jeremy's Mom called at 10:00 AM to tell us that they were meeting at Billy Miner's in Ft. Worth for lunch at 11:30. Uhh...gee, thanks for the warning! You've known about this for HOW long??? We got the message at 10:20 and there was NO way on Earth that we could get both boys ready, plus ourselves, and be there at 11:30. They are NOT the type to wait for you to eat, and we didn't want to show up late and eat alone, so we just passed. Jeremy took the boys over to his parents house a little while ago so we could give his Dad his card.

Exciting weekend!
I have one more weekend full of activities - next Saturday, I have my friend Julie's Baby Shower Brunch which I am co-hosting, and then I finally get to relax! YIPPEE!
TODAY IS JULIE'S BIRTHDAY - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMIGA! LOVE YOU!!!

Nothing else to share.
I'll try and write at least once this week - just like I promised last weekend.

Have a wonderful week, all!

Funny Phone Calls

Well blogging world, I am blogging...I know, finally. I promised in my blog on Sunday that I would blog at least once this week, so at least I kept that promise, right?

It's Friday the 13th, and I haven't been anywhere today. I'm spending the day at home with my boys and catching up on chores. I have read to Jaydon a lot which is good. Today was "Zoo Day" at the library. I am not a huge fan of the whole petting zoo thing, so we passed on it. I go back and forth about it and I guess I just wasn't in the mood today. Jaydon says, "Mommy, we don't go to the library today, okay?" So that solved everything! :)

I worked on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. My days go by pretty quickly which just means that I'm busy...and I love it. I hate it when the days drag, and that usually happens during the latter part of the day, sometime between 2-5. I am liking what I do though which is a plus.
I had something funny (odd) happen earlier in the week... I had scheduled an appointment for a man on Monday. His A/C was working, there was just a SMALL leak, and he wanted his semi-annual service check. We were to come out on Tuesday in the AM. An AM time slot is from 8-12. We usually give 4 hour windows, and then we give a 30 or 60 minute courtesy call, to let the customer know that we are on our way out, and about what time to expect us. So even though it's a large window, the courtesy call is helpful because if you are out, you have plenty of time to get home. You don't have to sit and wait all day. So I scheduled the appointment for Tuesday in the AM, and the guy asked if it would be early. I gave him the spill and told him that we would call before getting there. So later on in the day, I had another man call that needed freon. He said that the ONLY way he would use us is if we could be there FIRST thing in the AM - if we would make him our first call. So rather than lose him, I made him the first call, and then made the other family the second call. After talking to our service guy, he said that if it was JUST freon, then it wouldn't take long. Both of these calls were about 3 miles from each other. Perfect! So Tuesday morning rolls around and our guy is out at his first call. He arrives promptly at 8:00 AM, adds freon and is done at 8:45. Well who should call me at 8:40? The wife of the man from the other AM call. I answer the phone and she says, "You were SUPPOSED to be at my house at 8:00 AM. Where are you? Why hasn't anybody called?" I said, "Mrs. O......, we had someone scheduled ahead of you." She says, "What do you mean ahead of me? I was scheduled first this morning. Why aren't you here?" I said, "Mrs. O......, there was an emergency call this morning. We had to get out to them. They paid our emergency rates and it was important that we get there. I explained to your husband yesterday that our time slots are 4-hour windows. Let me call our service guy to see where he is at and I will get back to you." (Forgive me for stretching the truth a bit - it wasn't an emergency ahead of her, but I didn't know what else to say.) So she says, "What do I have to do then? Lie and say that I have an emergency too? This is NOT right. This is ridiculous. I need to know EXACTLY what time you will be here. I have to leave to pick my son up at 11 - no, before 11. I can't wait around all day long." So again, I tell her that I will call her back within a few minutes after I talk to the service guy that is scheduled to come out to her house. So I call Mark, the service guy, and he says that he has JUST finished at the first house (thank God!) and that he is headed to her house. I warn him about my "white lie" to her, and he just laughs and says that it's nothing out of the ordinary. So I call her back and she is still not satisfied. I tell her that he is just a few blocks away and will arrive shortly. He arrives at 9:00 AM - STILL WELL IN THE AM TIME SLOT THAT I HAD TOLD HER HUSBAND ABOUT, RIGHT? That's that, I've done my job.
The phone rings around 9:10 and I see on caller ID that it's her. I ALMOST don't pick up, but I don't want to get fired on my 2nd week. So I answer the phone and do you want to know what she says? "Jessica, I just called to apologize for screaming at you. I had no right to do that. I shouldn't have done that - I don't know what came across me." I said, "Mrs. O......, you don't have to apologize - I accept your apology - but it's not necessary. We all have our bad days and it's really okay. I see that Mark is there." She says, "Yes, he's here and he's doing a fine job. I just want to thank you for arriving as early as you did." WOW - was that nice or what?!?! I have worked in Customer Service for MANY years, and I think that is the FIRST time I have EVER received an apology. I'm still in shock over it, but very thankful.
Come to find out, I'm not the only one who has "stretched the truth" a bit. According to my boss & his wife, people always think that they are the most important no matter what you tell them. I was told that they have said that they were at nursing homes fixing air conditioners, day cares, and any other "heart-string tugging" places you can think of. So I didn't feel nearly as bad for having said what I did. :)

So compare that story to the next one...
My previous job was as a Business Analyst/Project Coordinator. I also worked at the same company as the Supervisor of a call center. We were a 3rd party bill payment processing company. Our largest client was metroPCS. Just a brief history on metro customers...most of the metro phone carriers...well, they are NOT the most educated or highest of classes. These phones are what are known as "throw away phones." Basically, you can get a deal with metroPCS-no contracts, no credit check. ANYBODY can get one. With that being said... I was on the phone one night on an escalated call. The woman on the phone was mad that her phone had gotten disconnected. Our company did not disconnect the phones, we were only responsible for processing the payment. The rest was in metroPCS' hands. I was trying to explain this to the woman. She was NOT having it. She called me EVERY name in the book, used every expletive in the ghetto dictionary, and wouldn't listen. I finally said, "Mam, I would really appreciate it if you stopped cursing. I'm a Christian woman and I don't like hearing those words. I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Ya know what she said, "F**k you, you Christian heifer!" ...and she hangs up on me. Needless to say, I did NOT get an apology phone call for that. I still LMAO (Laugh My A&& Off) just thinking about that. Stupid people!

That's it from here. Lazy Race tomorrow - can't wait! I will write all about it either tomorrow night, or on Sunday.
Have a GREAT weekend!

PS: Enjoy the Jacoby pictures below. I took them yesterday - it's just Coby on our bed. The flash is starting to annoy him because when I try to take a picture, he shuts his eyes and turns his head. Poor thing. A couple of times, he shut his eyes, and then he opened them and started laughing, so I'm not so sure if I feel sorry for him, or if he is playing a game with me! He is getting so big though!

LOVE the face here...so natural!

Still lookin' at ya, Mom...

You are starting to piss me off...

GOT IT...Maybe if I smile, she'll call it quits...

SWEET - it worked!

Thursday-Sunday

Put on your reading glasses, grab a drink, butter the popcorn, and get ready to spend at least 4½ minutes reading this...

Thursday:
On Thursday, Jaydon played in the All-Star game for baseball. There are 9 teams in the Shetland Division, and 2 children from each of the 9 teams were asked to play in the All-Star game. Jaydon & Ayden (our neighbor who was also in Jaydon's class) played. Jaydon did pretty well...considering the circumstances. Let me explain...
Jaydon woke up at 6:30 AM on Thursday, and then went to Aba's house since I had to work. While at Aba's, there were 3 older boys there aged 8, 10 & 12. So what did Jaydon do ALL day long? Play, play play! On the trampoline, with video games, running, jumping, wrestling. If Jaydon wakes up before about 7:30, he needs a nap - no if, ands, or buts about it. So Jaydon played all day long, didn't even think about napping, and when Jeremy went to pick him up to take him to the game, we knew we were in trouble. He was starving, but he was so tired that he didn't want to eat. He didn't say one word the entire way to the game. Then when we got there, he was literally sleeping while standing. He could hardly hold his bat up (no energy from being tired and hungry!) and he was running SO slowly. By the grace of God, he got a hit both times up to bat, and by some miracle from above, he also scored 2 runs and never got out. These kids out there were SERIOUSLY All-Stars. They were intense, concentrating, and making plays that even the Major League guys don't make! All of the children on our team were just finishing Kindergarten or First Grade, so like always, Jaydon & Ayden were the 2 youngest. Ayden did AWESOME though - he is truly an athlete. The games are 1 hour & 15 minutes and after almost an hour, we just left. We told the All-Star coach that Jaydon was beat, and he didn't say anything to us. It's not like Jaydon was doing anything while he was playing defense anyway. He did get a cute trophy to add to his collection that reads: "NAYA-All-Star 2008" (NAYA is the name of the league) so that was exciting. Hopefully, he just gets better throughout the years to come!

Friday:
I have promised myself that every Friday this Summer, I will take Jaydon to the library for story time. Well, I found out this week that they have story time at 11:15, or they have some "cool Summer activity" from 2-3. Friday's activity was a magic show. I asked Jaydon if he wanted to go to story time or to the magic show, and of course, he picked the latter.
Andrea dropped Ashleigh off over here after lunch, and we left to the magic show around 1:30. It was cute. I think the kids enjoyed it, but it wasn't overly exciting by any means. The guy that performed was a kids comedian/magician, and I think some of the stuff was corny and more for a 7-8 year old audience versus a 5-year old audience. Anyway, the kids watched and after that, we went through the library and I let them pick out books and DVD's. Jaydon LOVES to read books, and he is actually reading quite a bit on his own already, so I don't want him to lose that over the Summer.
We also did our 6 stations Friday morning. I set up 6 different activities at the dining room table and I have him do each of them with me supervising. It takes about an hour. Some of them are games to help with his speech, others are educational things, and then I always have a craft. I have to keep the brain cells of my intelligent boy moving. I also do this with him on Wednesdays - my other day off.
Jaydon's number & letter knowledge just amazes me. He is so smart! I am trying to teach him his address & phone number this Summer. I have a list of the things that are taught in Kindergarten in the Birdville school district, and once he learns those 2 things, how to tie his shoe, and all of the parts of a book, there isn't much that Kindergarten will teach him - education wise. So hopefully if he knows all of that, he can concentrate on social skills. I just hope that he isn't too bored, and doesn't start talking at the wrong times. According to his Pre-K teacher this year though, "Jaydon never talked." So we'll just see what Kindergarten brings...

Saturday:
Jeremy washed both of our cars on Saturday - they both DESPERATELY needed it - while I cleaned up inside. We had his company picnic from 4-9. We had decided that Jacoby was just too small to be at a function like that for 5 hours and in the 95º heat, so thank GOD for Aba to watch him. Our goal was to leave the house by 3:45 and we left at 4:10...let me just say that 25-minute delay is REALLY good for our family who lives by the golden rule: "It's okay to be fashionably late." (Let me clarify: I am NEVER late taking my son to school, for doctor appointments, or work.)
So we drop Jacoby off and then head to the picnic. We arrived at 5:00 and there were only about 12 cars there. There are about 150 employees at Jeremy's branch in Grapevine, so needless to say, we are not the only ones with the "it's okay to be late" thought process. They held the picnic at The Lonesome Dove Ranch off the shores of Lake Grapevine. They've had it there before, and it is our favorite place. They had 9-holes of miniature golf, a zip line, pony rides, a huge inflatable jumpy/slide thing, another jump house inside, ping-pong, and then the planned kids activities with a barbecue dinner & free drinks (alcoholic beverages included) and BINGO at the end of the night. Jaydon loved everything and even participated in the kids stuff. His team won the little relay race which was cool. He picked a jump rope out of the prize box for that win. They had a water balloon toss and I got soaked, but it was a nice way to cool off.
Then they had a horse derby where the branch voted on the top 6 "favorite" employees. Ameet was one of the 6, and they all had to race on these fake horses. The winner got a certain amount of points, and that was added to the points for however many people voted for you. Well, Ameet won the whole thing. He won 2 round-trip tickets on American Airlines anywhere in the 48-continental United States, Caribbean, or Mexico...WAY cool! Amanda was saying that she was nervous about going anywhere since she's pregnant, but I tried reassuring her since she's just 12 weeks along. The 2nd trimester is the BEST time to do stuff because the "worries" of the first trimester are over, and the worries of giving birth and being big that happen in the 3rd trimester aren't there yet. I told her to ask the doctor, but that a trip this summer would do them both good! I hope they go and don't let those tickets go to waste!
So after that was BINGO...oh sweet Bingo! Let me start by saying that 2 years ago, I won $1,000 playing BINGO. (They added it on to one of Jeremy's pay checks.) So when they announced that we'd be playing for a variety of $50 gift cards, I was VERY bummed. Well, we planned on staying to play, so we did... (Thank God we did...keep reading, keep reading!)
We played a few games for just gift cards. Then Jon, the district manager, upped the ante. Not only will you win a gift card, but you will also win $500 cash! So we played a few games like that and BINGO...JAYDON WINS A $50 NIKE GIFT CARD AND $500 CASH! A few more games go by and BINGO...JEREMY WINS A $50 GIFT CARD TO KOHLS, AND $500 CASH! WOW - WAY exciting! YOU DO THE MATH!!! Our table was on fire and REALLY lucky though, because Amanda & Ameet won the airline tickets, and all but 2 people won some sort of BINGO prize. Everybody thought that Jaydon was our lucky charm. :)
So then, the ante was upped YET AGAIN for the very last game - BLACKOUT. Jon says that the winner will get $3,000 cash! WOAH now...here we go. Jaydon has only 2 spots left on his board and Jon stands up and says, "Alright, make that $5,000 cash!" WOW - we are almost there, come on now, one more, one more....then we hear "BINGO". Nope, not us - not anyone at our table. Our luck had run out, the fire was out, all hope fizzled...it was officially over. :( Oh well, it was still a LOT of fun, and we are extremely glad that we won what we did! In fact, I'm glad we won the cash and not airline tickets (not that we were in that competition) because we wouldn't have been able to use those tickets because you still have to pay for hotel, transportation, etc. etc. and we could not afford that right now.
...now hopefully that luck will continue through next weekend for The 1st Annual Lazy Race. (Details next Saturday!)

That's that! An exciting 3-days at the Rogers house! I hope I haven't bored ya to tears. It's 9:15 on Sunday morning and time to start breakfast so we can go to Wal-Mart and spend $200+ on groceries for the week.

Have a great week and I will blog at least once - promise! Enjoy the pics below!
Helpful Tip: To enlarge any picture in my blog, just click on it!
Buh-Bye...

Climbing up....

WHEE...look at that face!

Hole-in-One...watch out Tiger Woods!

Jaydon's team after winning the relay race...SWEET!

No Target - WHAT?

Today was speech day. Jaydon did well - like usual. Every time he excels in speech, I wonder why he's in there and why we are spending $82.50 for a 45-minute, once per week session...but he REALLY needs it. I know it's helping him too, so we just have to continue to fork over the green stuff-$$$ and know that it is in our son's best interest.
Okay everyone, after speech, where do we go? What is our weekly Wednesday ritual? Target, right? So I did my usual, "Jaydon, you were awesome today at speech, big boy. Where do you want to go next?" (It's also my way of practicing his WH questions, and I'm CONSTANTLY asking him questions.) He says, "Let's go to Aba's house and pick up Jacoby." I said, "Excuse me? You want to go to Aba's? Are you SURE you don't want to go to Target?" (Yes, I'm an idiot for even making sure, but I was trying to avoid a possible tantrum later. Oh, and 5-year old tantrums are MUCH worse than 2 or 3 or 4 year old tantrums - trust me. Just wait Andi, Ally, Amanda and any other moms...just wait!) He says, "No Mommy, no Target today." So we get to my mom's house, pick Jacoby up, and start heading home. I hear, "Mommy, I have a great idea! Let's go eat lunch at Wendy's!" Okay wise guy - BINGO! No wonder you didn't want to go to Target. He KNEW that if we went to Target that I wouldn't want to go to Wendy's too. I know his wheels were turning after speech trying to think of how to convince me. It worked though, and he got Wendy's. He didn't want to eat lunch, (which he had already eaten prior to speech) he just wanted french fries and a Dr. Pepper. Fine by me!

Funny story with soda...
My sister, (Tia Jessenia) is a FREAK with certain things. She is the skinniest girl on the face of this Earth, but she loves bread, cheese & chocolate. She will NOT drink soda. So tell me why is it that soda is SO bad, but you can eat the other stuff like it's going out of style? Anyway, she gave soda up for Lent one year like 7 years ago, and then decided that she didn't want/like soda - carbonated beverages - anymore. So now she has Jaydon convinced that "Coke is caca". Today, we are driving on the highway and a Dr. Pepper truck passes us, then a Coke truck passes us. He says, "Mommy look...a Dr. Pepper truck and a Caca truck." I totally cracked up. He's so smart though because at Wendy's, I asked him if he wanted a Coke. He says, "Mom, coke is caca. I will drink a Dr. Pepper." So Tia J, you'll have to try another method - sorry!
We don't mind him having the occasional soda. We aren't these parents that just "won't allow it". If you keep things completely away from children - toys, games, TV, computer etc. - or out of their diet, when they have the chance, they will overindulge. Everything in moderation is okay!

Jeremy has to work now, and like I've said before, he doesn't have a wireless connection. For him to work from his laptop, he has to plug into our modem on our desktop. SO frustrating! Aside from the fact the he usually works a 10-12-hour day, is a salaried employee, and doesn't get overtime, he also works at night, AND on the weekends from home. He is MUCH better than all of the other men at his job though, and if the boys have something going on, he will NOT miss it, so I can't complain too much. :)

Sweet dreams all!

Jacoby Is 5-Months Old!

5-Month Stats:
16 lbs. 8 oz.
26.25 inches

He just keeps getting older, bigger, cuter, and smarter! I can't believe he is already 5-months old...
The little guy is growing like a weed!

Considering he's been fussy, and not wanting to eat, he has still gained a lot of weight this month. He went to the doctor twice last week, so I know those stats are accurate. So far, he has gained 10lbs. and 2 oz. since birth, and grown 7 inches. WOW, WOW, WOW!

This month, Jacoby has been all smiles. I know that sounds weird considering how "fussy" he's been, but when he isn't in pain, he is just happy and smiling. He is loving his saucer, jumper, and he's even moving in his walker. We don't keep him in any of them for very long because I am so paranoid about hurting his back, but the few minutes he's in them, he really likes them - finally! (He will be allowed to stay in them longer once he's about 6 months old.) I thought he would never like any of his toys! He is grabbing things and will hold onto his rattle and /or anything we hand him for a short time. He grabs the toys on the side of his jumper and they go straight to his mouth, but hey, that's a baby for ya!
He is making more & more noises and mocking sounds. Anything that Jeremy does makes him laugh. It's TOO cute for words the bond that Jeremy has with him.

Oh...and the joys of spoon feeding! He SO loves his veggies, fruits, & cereal. Let me just say that I can feed him an ENTIRE jar of veggies, another of fruit, and he doesn't spit out a thing! I have had many instances where I don't even have to wipe his bib. He's a great eater, and prefers the food to his bottle.

I blogged about his teeth yesterday...
Basically, I can't brag enough about my little guy. It's so nice to squeeze him and love on him. He has been a wonderful addition to our family, and we are so happy to have him. The nights of being awake, the tears, the smiles, the gurgles...it's all part of raising a child.
Children teach you how to live, and without my 2 boys, I would be nobody!
Enjoy the pictures below...

Happy 5-Month Birthday, Jacoby Cade Rogers!
Also, Happy 1-Year Anniversary, Amanda & Ameet!

Too Handsome!

Exploring that Jumper!

Jaydon's Last Day of Pre-K

Jacoby's sideways, horizontal sleeping position that he always winds up in!

ALL Smiles! (Sorry about the blurriness!)

PS: I just tried for 20 minutes to upload a video, and it wouldn't let me! I'm tired and ready for bed since I have to be up at 5:40 AM. Sorry!

TEETH...

...okay, so maybe just "tooth"! Whatever the case - I'm a happy camper!
Jacoby has signs of his first and maybe second tooth! I'm not sure when this miracle happened, but it did. (I imagine it happened between Friday night and today because I check his mouth pretty regularly.) You cannot see it yet, but I can definitely feel it on the bottom gums along the front. There are 2 spots where you can feel tooth - no longer gums. It feels like a tiny pin trying to poke through at two different places.
I'm WAY excited because I hear that once it happens for the first time, the pain lessens for the rest of the teeth because they are "used to it". I just cannot compare to Jaydon because Jaydon never cried. All I know is that he'll get his 1st bite of steak soon!!! (Kidding!)
He is just SO fussy and in so much pain. Again - I've tried Tylenol, I broke down and gave him Motrin, cold wash rags, frozen wash rags, warm wash rags, teething tablets, teething toys, rattles, vibrating rattles, cold raw carrots...nothing is working! I just hate hearing him scream in pain! He tends to get better towards the end of the day after he's had a couple of doses of Tylenol & Motrin. I try not to give it to him daily though - like today, he's only had one dose of Tylenol and it's currently 3:40. I don't want my 5-month old becoming an acetaminophen junky!

I've been pretty busy these past few weeks; hence my lack of blogging. At night when I usually blog, I just want to sit on the couch and relax or spend time with the family. I will try to get better again though.

Nothing else to share. I will definitely blog tomorrow night because my little booger will be 5-months old, and I'll have his monthly doings to share with everyone along with some new pictures of he and Jaydon both.

Until then...tootles!