Myrtle Beach Bums 2013!!!

We wasted no time going on summer vacation this year.  Kids were only out of school for a couple of days before we headed to the beach.  I said we were going to go somewhere other than Myrtle Beach this year but in the end, we went with what we are use to.  We love Myrtle.  We know where all the good places to eat are and all the fun stuff to do is. 

I had a few moments where I had to secretly push down some anxiety attacks but that is a different blog post.  We had a great vacation and made lots of great memories!

 

Most of these pictures aren't great quality b/c I took a lot of them on my phone this year.

This is going to be picture overload but here you go....

 

 In the picture below....we saw this sign and had to have a picture.  This is Rylee's motto about life!

She had on her DRAMA hat for the majority of the trip.

Me with my sweetheart! It amazes me how different I look from one picture to the next....one second I look like a kid and the next a grown up.

This is Chrissy, one of my friends.  Her and her husband just happen to be on vacation the same week as us and we stayed at the same place.  Tegan fell in love with her.  He has always known her but for some reason, he decided that she would be the love of his life.  I think he is trying to prepare me to let go of him in the future:)  The funny thing was that after they took this picture below, we got in separate cars to go eat and he said "now Chrissy can always look at that picture on her phone".   Like he was so excited for her b/c she would always be able to look at that picture of them together.

He didn't want anyone walking beside her.  At one point she was having to hold her husband's hand and his....I think the boys were jealous of each other:)  He wanted to go home with her!  It was really sweet.  It takes a lot to connect with Tegan.  He doesn't really have a connection with anyone out side of our house except his friend Kailey but he really connected with Chrissy and thinks she is the best thing ever!

Also on vacation the same week as us and staying at the same place was my older brother, his wife and 2 kids.  The kids loved getting to play with their cousins (and their uncle as you can see from the picture).  It was fun for me to watch them enjoying each other so much!  

 One night Tegan took vacation to a whole different level (insert anxiety) when he wet the bed.  This came out of no where b/c he hasn't wet the bed in forever but he said he was dreaming about peeing:)  Ha!  Anyways, do you know what it is like when a kid wets the bed at the beach at 4:00 in the morning and you have no extra sheets???  I changed him in the dark and we totally got his pajamas all wrong.  Side note....yes I was tired so I may of just threw a towel over the wet spot and made him lay in it.  This picture below is the next morning....he was enjoying the view while eating his cereal with his pajamas on backwards....tops and bottoms!

 Sad attempt at a selfie with my ancient phone!

 We have taken a picture of the kids in this chair for the past three summers.  At some point when it isn't the middle of the night, I am going to find the other two pictures and compare how much they have changed!

 Tegan kept basically trying to overthrow himself off the pier so my husband was in panic mode and just held him like this the whole time.  I was thankful too when we saw a very large shark swimming around the pier....not a baby, a big one!

 I think they got tired???

 My sweet family! 

 I hope we always get to take great family vacations together.  Rylee says that even when they are grown with families, she hopes we always go on vacation together.  Her daddy says no, we are going alone but I know that me and Rylee will find a way to get what we want:)

I am saving the "photo session" pictures for their own post.  All the stress I had getting those pictures makes it deserve its own post.

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

What a difference!!!!

Well it is happening whether I like it or not....these kids are growing up! 

Today was the last day of kindergarten for my boy and 4th grade for my girl.  I honestly can not believe that I will never have a child in kindergarten again:(

I took last day of school pictures of them this morning and put them side by side with their first day of school pictures.  It really shows how much they changed in such a sort time and how fast the days are going by.

I didn't really think Rylee had changed much this year until I saw her 1st and last days side by side.  Wow....even her little face looks more grown up:(  She is changing so much everyday!  She had a great school year.  She got two awards at school this year....one for exceeding in all areas of the CRCT (with a perfect score in reading) and she also got the reading award for her whole class. I think it is safe to say that she grew right up on me this year:(

Looking at Teg's 1st and last days pics may of heart my heart a little.  His cheeks and hands were still so chubby at the beginning of the school year but not so much now.  He has gotten a lot taller and slim.  See the wood going behind his head in the second picture, he is standing on the same screened in porch for his 1st day picture and you can't even see that board....it really shows how much taller he got this year.  He had a pretty good year in kindergarten.  He is a busy little boy and luckily he had a great set of teachers with more patience than me.  He learned all of his sight words this year which is a pretty big deal! 

I honestly am in shock that next year will be Rylee's last year of elementary school and that Teg will be in 1st grade!  I just don't know where the time is going.

Oh and just to let you know, Teg's hair looked way out of control in his last day of school picture.  Plus I thought it made him look more grown up and possibly a little redneck and since I didn't like that, I took matters in to my own hands:)
My husband always cuts his hair but he hasn't had any free time to cut it lately so I found the clippers and did it myself....

Ahhh.....I felt like I got a tiny piece of my baby back!!!

Well I guess this means it is officially summer time! 
Let the fun begin!!!

Where in the world is she????

I can not believe how long it has been since I last updated.  To say that things have been crazy are an understatement.  Business at Cohen Lane has been so crazy that I am at this computer probably about ten hours out of every day and when I do have down time, typing on the computer is the last place I want to be.

I have had to let some stuff fall by the way side and since my family still requires time of me for some reason, the blog and house cleaning have been the first two things to go.

If you don't follow me on instagram (tabatham8) yet, you probably should b/c that seems like the easiest way to keep things posted.  

Here is a recap from the past six weeks.....

 In case you forgot, this is what I look like:)

Me and this sweet man celebrated 12 wonderful years of marriage.  I still can't figure out how I am old enough to be married for 12 years....the only explanation is that I got married when I was ten:) 

 We had what felt like a never ending T-ball season.  I love watching him hit the ball, run the bases, play in the dirt, watch the birds, climb the dug out fence, etc.  This was my little man's last year in T-ball.  He will move on up to coaches pitch next year.

Rylee has been having lots of fun in her dance class.  This year she joined a great Christian based dance school and is taking jazz and tap.  I have never seen her be so excited about an activity as she is this dance class.

 Dance picture day!

We enjoyed a Sunday watching my husband's beloved Braves win some baseball.

 He is thrilled to have his picture made!

We had a great Easter with these two cutie pies!

My dear husband requested that I let him skip the Easter pictures this year.  

He hates having his picture made!  So the kiddos and I took a few without him!

My little business has recently started printing invites.  It isn't a well known thing yet but if someone ask and request it, I am happy to print them.  This has been what has made things a little more busy.  I am hoping by the end of the summer to launch a full website of printed invite options.  Something about seeing my invitation designs printed out on paper just makes me giddy with excitement.

 Most of our spring here in Georgia has either been cold, windy or rainy but we managed to catch a few days to run around outside in flip flops and shorts while having a water fight.  

They mean business!

 I was (probably still am) a horrible test taker in school.  I got anxiety like you wouldn't believe and pretty much felt like throwing up through all my test but my Rylee has this down pat!  For the second year in a row she exceeded in all areas on the CRCT and got another perfect reading score.

 Sweet little Jack has become a part of the family.  He was so cute and fuzzy but I got a wild hair one day and took him to have all his hair buzzed off.  None of us have been the same since.  Poor fella.  I probably won't be doing that again any time soon:(

Before his cut....

 You can't really tell in this picture b/c he was so mad at me and wouldn't look at me for 3 days!

After the cut....

 I am a huge believer in the fact that you don't get your own Mother's Day as long as you are blessed to still have your mama with you but things just worked out different this year.  My mom wanted to go to lunch on the Friday before Mother's Day and my mother-in-law wanted to go to dinner on that Saturday night.  That left Sunday open for me and for the first time since becoming a mommy ten years ago, I got my own Mother's Day.  I would be telling a story if I didn't say that I really enjoyed it!  My husband and babies woke me up early and took me to a great place heading in to the mountains for an amazing breakfast at a place called the Dillard house.  Then we headed to the little town of Helen and spent the rest of the day walking through shops, eating ice cream for lunch and enjoying the river.  The kids even washed my car when we got home! It was a great Mother's Day....I am so blessed to have these two love me so much!

 Mountains in the background.....Tegan has never been to the mountains and was amazed.  He is going to be super excited when we take a four day mountain trip later in the summer. 

 I made a point to make sure Rylee took a picture or two of me on my cell phone so that they would know that I was actually with them on Mother's day:)  I am always behind the camera!

 Tegan made me this cute little hand towel in kindergarten.  I am already missing Rylee making me things at school (she is too old for all that) but she did write me a super sweet letter that almost made me cry!

Tegan has a hard time at school.  He is way too busy to sit still and learn but I am super proud of him for finally getting all his sight words for this year.  It has been a battle for sure and if it weren't for my husband finally taking over that job and helping him out, he still wouldn't know any of them.  Me and Tegan would fight over these every day but he would sit right down with his daddy and do them.  I do have to take credit for the last 70 words though, Paul was working a side job and didn't get to help him much so I was forced to figure out how to make him set still and learn them.  Super proud of this! 

That just about catches you up!  If I'm not running to t-ball, dance, the school, grocery store or any of the above stuff, I have been sitting right here in front of this computer working my tail off on my business.  

No worries though....sand, sun and the ocean are in my very near future!!!!

I Do Have My Good Days....

As a Mother, I do have my good days but this week the bad days have far outweighed the good.  The kids have been out of school this week for spring break and as bad as it sounds, I found myself doing a lot of yelling, falling behind on work and locking myself in the bathroom wondering how the heck I am going to survive the coming summer with the kids at home and a thriving business at which I am the only employee.

It is no secret that I like to sleep in if I can and mostly that is b/c I am up until 1:00 AM working.  That has been the highlight of spring break for me.  I am a lazy mama who just wants one more hour of sleep so I have the satellite box turned to the Disney channel and a cup of juice poured up and waiting in the refrigerator for my early rising 5 1/2 year old so that he leaves me alone.  He declares that he loves his mornings where he gets up before everybody else and I am pretty sure that is because he pulls the house apart piece by piece, eats lots of candy (while throwing the wrappers in the floor) and bounces off the walls.  He loves his time and honestly does not even bother me until he gets hungry for something other than the Easter candy he has been cramming in this week.  Before you freak out, most of the time my daughter is up with him or he is in her room torturing her.  

Once my feet hit the floor in the mornings, it is all downhill from there!  In this season of life that we are in, I am very busy with my business and these kids are fighting non stop!  Tegan has so much energy that I could make millions if I could bottle it up and sell it!  I mean SO. MUCH. ENERGY!!!!  The kind that I haven't had in so long that I don't even remember ever having it.  Rylee is entering her dramatic stage.  I mean her VERY. DRAMATIC. I'M. A. TWEEN. STAGE!!!!  These two stages of life don't mix.  I find myself yelling all day at somebody for something.  The other day I seriously hid in the linen closet in the back bathroom even though I could hear them looking for me....I just needed a minute or ten.

I am so far behind on work because I am desperately trying to keep Tegan occupied or punishing him for something....ALL DAY!  So much spirit this kid has!  He has been wearing me out so much that I find myself venting to everyone about how busy he is constantly....right down to the lady that checked me out at the grocery store the other day.

While this week has been a rough one at home, I am constantly reminding myself of how thankful I am for these two kids.  They are mine for now and I don't want to not take the time to enjoy them so if a minute or ten hiding in the linen closet is what I need to regroup, then I guess I will do it!  

A sweet lady that goes to our church and takes up time with Rylee once gave me some great advice and I had forgotten it until recently.  There was this one day that Tegan was extra wild and I was talking my husband off the ledge that Tegan had put him on.  That day I remembered something that she said to me....We should talk our kids up.  We shouldn't talk down about them in front of others just like the rule of not talking down about your spouse to others.  I have to break the habit of talking about how crazy my kids are making me (obviously I failed in this blog post).  It is such a habit that I didn't even realize I was doing it until my husband brought it to my attention at a family gathering for Easter.  

I have decided to tell Tegan (and Rylee if she needs it but she usually doesn't) at the end of every rough day that I know he is a good boy.  I know he can do better and that I think he is as sweet and happy as they come instead of telling him how wild he was that day and that I won't survive another minute of his octopus hands.  Tonight I told him that we all have our bad days but we also all have our good days, he just has to find more good days.  His little eyes were so precious when he looked at me and asked if I really thought he was a sweet boy....why yes I do!  I hope that he remembers us only talking about how sweet and amazing he is and not how he has drove us to the fetal position in the bed every night:)

I plan to have more good days than bad days and I believe that Tegan will too but first I am going to enjoy these next six weeks while they finish out the school year!!!!

When Did I Become a Grown Up???

I remember a time when getting candy and a new toy made me so excited.  I take that back....I can't really remember that stuff b/c let's face it, life makes us forget about the simple things from when we were kids.  But the good thing is that as a grown woman (I still have a hard time calling myself a woman:), I find myself getting excited about things I would have never dreamed of.  

First I would like to say that I have no idea why I have never purchased a Swiffer Wet Jet Mop before.  Where has this thing been all my life???  I love it!  I will never use a mop bucket and old sponge mop again!  It was worth every penny of the $20 it cost me to get this thing.  I had never really thought of them before until a local Christian station had the sound of the wet jet mop as part of a secret sound game a few months back.  I was pretty sure that was God telling me to run right out and get one but I kept pushing those feelings down:)  Until I came upon the huge display of them at Walmart and I was once again certain that God was telling me to purchase this thing b/c he wanted to make my life easier!!  So I did and it did.  I will never live without one again!

I don't like to vacuum.  We only have carpet in the living room and hallway so I don't have much to do but my old vacuum was horrible and would roll up hair, dust and whatever else and spit out little furball looking things all over the living room floor.  I would have to crawl around to pick them up before Jack the dog ate them.  He is like a goat, he will eat anything! Well I took the plunge the other day and got myself a new and much better vacuum and then I came home and waited for someone else to put it together for 3 days.  Why does a vacuum come in that big box and isn't put together??  Anyways, my husband had to work a huge side job this week so it hit me that if I wanted to use my new vacuum on my nasty floor, I would have to put it together myself....so I did!  I am woman, hear me roar! 

It was like one of those presentation things at Sam's where they show you how dirty your carpet really is even after they have vacuumed it with a regular vacuum!  Holy Cow the stuff that can be in carpet that you don't even see. I feel so much cleaner now:)

 

I saved the very best for last....we were about 5 years behind everyone else when getting a smartphone so it stands to reason that upgrading our satellite box to a DVR  would be the same way.  To be honest, I haven't thought much about it but all you people on facebook talking about recording one thing while watching another have just rubbed it in my face.  I was pushed over the edge when my mom informed me that even they have a DVR.....um WHAT???  So a couple of days ago when the satellite box in the living room that we have had for 12 years started to do something funky, I didn't risk it and jumped on the phone with the satellite company.  I may of paniced b/c within a couple of hours the satellite was back to working like normal but by this point it was too late.  I mean, they offered me a free upgrade....I can't turn down free!  Except then I had to pay $20 for delivery and then had to break it to my husband that our already outrageous satellite bill will be going up $10 a month.  He then reminded me that nothing in life is free!  Those who know him and how tight he is with money, know why I am just now getting a DVR and will now have to make sure to take $10 out of my own money every month and give it to him to go toward the bill just to shut him up.  Yes, I am serious about that but WHO CARES....I HAVE A DVR!!!  I will never ever miss another Real Housewives of whatever episode again like I did last week.  I am pretty sure that a DVR is a life changing thing for a TV addicted person such as myself but I haven't recorded anything yet so I will have to let you know:) 

 

It's Friday, Teg has a t-ball game tonight and I have a hot date tomorrow night to celebrate 12 fantastic years with my hubby....I think it will be a great weekend!!!! 

These Kids Are Growing Up and I Am Finally Fine With It

I have noticed lately that Rylee is at that point....the point where she is no longer my "little" girl.  I was talking to her the other night and told her that the thing I am going to miss the most about her growing up is the cuddle time and her hugging me.  I mean, you don't see a lot of grown daughters hugging on their mom's, spooning each other in the bed at night to talk about their day or holding each others hands while walking through a parking lot:(  I even went to a new level of morbid when I told her that when I am on my death bed, no matter how old she is, I want her to crawl in the bed with me and just lay with me.  I can't think of anything more peaceful.  

She doesn't really need me for much these days.  She even takes care of her dog 100% of the time that she is at home with no prompting from me.  She doesn't need me to dress her or pick out all of her clothes anymore.  She can pack her own lunch.  She does all her homework all by herself.  She is just so grown up.  Sometimes I don't notice how much she has grown up b/c my little boy still clings to me like glue but even he has started to stop me from doing things for him with the words "I can do it mama, I'm a big boy now".

 

I read a lot of blogs.  All of them are about the busy lives of mom's with their little ones and they are still adding to their families.  There isn't a lot of blogs out there about how other mothers transition from little kids to half grown little people.  I'm sure there are books about it but I like to read the real life stuff.  Let me just say this, I am looking for the silver lining and on most day, I have found it.  It is so sad and breaks my heart but at the same time it is really nice that Rylee's two favorite chores are unloading the dishwasher and folding her own laundry....the two chores I dislike the most:)   Did I mention that she now sets her own alarm in the mornings and is up getting ready before I even get out of bed.  If she needs something, she just handles it.  I'm not going to lie....that is nice!

I had Rylee when I was 22 years old and Tegan when I was 27.  Sometimes I use to regret that I started my family so young (yes we had her that early on purpose) but now I look at my perfect little family and my cup runs over.  I couldn't imagine what life would be like if I had waited to have kids until later. My oldest sibling is 12 years older than me (her name is Shannon:).  She has 6 kids ranging from 22(?) to a soon to be 4 year old.  I love to mess with her and remind her all the time that I will only be 45 when my youngest graduates high school.....she will be 45 when her youngest starts Kindergarten:)  I think she secretly hates me for that reminder that I give her often but I think she still loves me b/c I am her sister.

I think that right now, I feel more content than I ever have.  It is crazy but someone said something to me back in October of last year that clicked with me and stayed with me.  I was at a housewarming party when a young old friend of mine, Amanda said something that I have reminded myself of everyday.  She talked about how turning 30 wasn't bad for her b/c she decided that it wouldn't be.  She said that she reminded herself that she was comfortable in her marriage, was done having her kids, settled in her career and that she was going to enjoy her 30's b/c she didn't have to worry about all that stuff....she could just be happy!  She doesn't realize it but when she said that I was at a bad place mentally.  My wants for more in my life were flooding out my appreciation for the things that are already here.  Do I have everything I want in my life, heck no but for right now, I have what I need.  I get the pleasure of watching these little babies grow and turn in to people.  I have a wonderful husband that has been sent here to drive me crazy everyday and I love it.  I am healthy and feel pretty good.  Why would I dwell on all that other stuff.

I know that what has helped me the most is just handing it over in my prayers. I just praise God everyday for what I have and pray that he lets me see the blessings in my life.  I have no idea what God has in store for me in the future but I know this, it could be more of the same or some really big and awesome stuff, either way, my life is good!!!!

My Boy And His Eyes

It has been a year and a half since Tegan had his big eye surgery.  He has done pretty well except I have noticed lately that his head tilt has started to go back to where it use to be before surgery....which was the whole point in that horrible surgery.

About 2 weeks ago he started asking me to take him to the eye doctor.  He kept telling me that he couldn't see and that he needed some help.  It seemed to come and go so at first I thought he was just messing with me.  We have never really told him that he even has an eye condition but he talks about how painful his surgery was all the time.  Last weekend, he asked me the entire weekend to call the eye doctor and please take him.  I told him I had already called but the soonest appointment I could get with his big wig Dr. at Emory was June.  He kept telling me he couldn't wait that long so I called back on Monday and got very lucky b/c they had a cancellation for yesterday (Thursday).  He was so excited to go to the Dr....that's a first!

 

For the first time, I took him all by myself.  I am totally capable of driving myself to Atlanta but my husband has never trusted my driving skills and my road rage so he has always took off work to go with us:)  I forced him to let me go alone this time b/c while my road rage is bad, his patience is worst and these appointments at Emory can last as long as 4 hours.  We got lucky yesterday and got out in 3 hours:)

I'm not going to lie, I-85 Atlanta traffic tenses me up.  I mean, where else does the road change to 6 or 7 lanes but yet you are still expected to lane hop at 70-80 mph.  I went 70 the whole time and still had people getting aggravated with me b/c apparently I was going too slow for them.  No worries though, I made it there and back (through rush hour traffic) with no problems or hold ups at all and I never yelled any dirty words to the surrounding cars.

Back to Tegan.... The good news is that his actual vision hasn't gotten any worse.  His vision is still measuring (or whatever word I should use there) the same as always 20/30.  

The bad news is that it seems his vision is being blurred by his eye condition.  You see he has Nystagmus, which is an uncontrolled side to side movement of the eye.  It has gotten some better the older that he gets but when he gets nervous, stressed, anxious, aggravated or over stimulated, it makes his eyes move more....which I should say he is one of these 90% of the time.  The reason why this is bad is b/c there is nothing that can be done about Nystagmus.  He just has to learn to calm himself.  When he gets anxious and his eyes move more, it blurs his vision which then makes him more anxious about not being able to see well so the cycle goes on and on.

She said he didn't need glasses and was basically sending us on our way to figure out how to deal with it but before we left she said she wanted to see us back in August to talk about a second surgery for his head tilt.  When she said August, Tegan told her he couldn't wait that long.  When she asked why he couldn't wait that long, his exact words were "I can't see now and need some glasses or something to help".  She grabbed her little prescription pad and wrote him out a prescription right then and there.  She told me that the glasses are an optional thing and to let him wear them when he thought he needed them.  They probably won't help his vision but her hopes are that maybe they will be a comfort to him and it will be more of a mind over matter thing and will trick him in to thinking they are helping.  I guess we shall see.  I don't mind throwing some money in to some glasses if it may possibly help him.  We just need to figure out a way to help him handle his anxieties and teach him to calm himself and his eyes. 

I really hate that he has to deal with this.  As a mother, of course I want my kids to be perfect and have no issues but I also know that it could be a lot worse.  There are so many worse things than this and I am confident that through lots and lots of prayer and talking him through it, we can help him to control this or who knows, maybe God has a plan to heal his little eyes completely.  Either way, he will be just fine and that is all that matters.

Oh and for the record I would like to say that I said a big prayer before getting in to rush hour traffic yesterday and it was like the good Lord cleared an entire lane just for me.  I never had to switch lanes for like 15 exits and never had any terrifying moments. I would go so far as so say that I drove better through the traffic than I do riding through it with my husband driving.  I hate transfer trucks and I am pretty sure my husband seeks out the two largest transfer trucks and makes sure to ride right in the middle of them for miles so that if one decides to come in to your lane, you are sure to be crushed between them and never survive.  Me, I go 90 just to get ahead of them or 60 to stay behind them:)