Thursday, August 28, 2008
Christmas!!
We had such an amazing Christmas. Tom was home for a whole week from work so we had a chance to spend a lot of time together as a family. We stayed home this year because I am due any minute but it was very special and memorable none the less! 
Monday, August 25, 2008
Miriam is home!
Well she has really been out of school for a few hours but I had to take her to speech. Let me tell you, I am SOOOO PROUD of Miriam right now. Her teacher told me that she was amazed by the difference between Miriam and the end of the year. She said she definitely heard Miriam speak more and imitate sounds/words more. She said Miriam did a lot of participation during songs and learning time. I don't remember exactly how it went but it was something like Miriam said no with all the other kids when asked a question that the answer was no to. She said Miriam sat on the potty without fighting and she didn't lose her mind all day, she was very cooperative.
I am really REALLY hoping this is the year Miriam breaks free from being held back by the blindness so much. She is the age where most blind kids reach a breakthrough into normalcy so I am VERY hopeful.
I was worried how she was going to react to her speech today which was about 45 minutes after school was over. She was a nightmare in the waiting-room , she bit me, she head-butted me (busted my lip), pinched me, it was FUN! I know she was tired but it was ridiculous. However her speech therapist said Miriam did a wonderful job and didn't act at all like in the waiting-room, I am thankful beyond the core. It is a little hard to believe she didn't act up, but I was in the waiting area with Gia so I can't argue. Hopefully after a few weeks of this new schedule she will be back to normal.
Anyway, I did have an experience today with miss Gia. She terribly missed her sister. She started crying the second Miriam walked into the school and cried until she came home. She wouldn't have a thing to do with me and wouldn't let go of her dreadfully ugly lovie. Here are a few pics of her today with this horrid little doll she loves so much, it was about her only "non-crying" time today. You would never guess the doll had a bath YESTERDAY! 
*keep scrolling there is more of the first day of school!
Miriam's first day at school!
Miriam got up early and headed off to the first day of her second year of school today. She ate a great breakfast with her favorite food (bacon) , watched some backyardigans and wonderpets, got mad because school wasn't coming fast enough then we left. I got a few pics before we left and at school. I will update later in the afternoon when she gets home as to how her day went! :-)
BTW, the image is clickable so you can see the pics bigger. :)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Our Dream Home!
Tom and I have been wanting to purchase a home to raise our children in for a long time. Even more so since we found the town we want them to grow up in. The only problem is , we have no down payment and not the greatest credit. Today for the heck of it we went on a cruise of our dream community, while driving Tom shouts, "that house is perfect". I kind of ignored him at first because we NEVER agree on a home , in fact, at first glance we still didn't but we stopped and looked anyway. To our blessing the doors were open for viewing. We walked in and were dumbfounded! This was the house of our dreams, something we never even knew we wanted all wrapped up in the perfect little package. Open floor plan, perfect amount of bedrooms, family room, nice backyard for the kids, a great garage with the perfect kitchen and a park half a block away with a nice pool. It really was everything, in fact I left crying it was so perfect. Not so sure why I am writing about something we cannot buy , maybe it is because we can afford it , who knows, I mean our payment in this rent house is more than our payment would be in that one (even with the taxes). We pay a fortune for literally nothing, I actually get mad everytime we hand over our rent.
I am going to do something though, I am going to online and try to find some option that would help us get this home or even one in the community like it (they build to order). Our kids deserve a permanent home, we have to at least "try" to give it to them. I am just not sure how.
Anyway, here is the link CLICK TO VIEW OUR DREAM HOME please don't buy it before we get the chance...lol. I love this house!
I just want our kids to have what I never did growing up and that is stability. Rentals offer none. When I was a kid we moved every 6 months to a year. It was so hard having to go from school to school, friends to friends. Miriam especially NEEDS stability. Mainly because she needs a place where she can feel safe because she never has to relearn it. Can you imagine being a little blind girl who once a year has to learn a new houseplan? I know, there are alot of souless people who will try to take advantage but we will do it legal, IF we can even find anyone. I doubt it, but it's worth a try.
Why can't we know people? So many people out there have parents who buy them homes, co-signers, people who help finance them independently. We don't know anyone who could help but at this point I am willing to do almost anything. Anyone know of someone willing to produce a big miracle for a nice family of 5 who works their tales off? I know, me either.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Owie Owie Boo Boo!
Well, Gia had her first "real" accident today. My little bundle was prancing through the house like the walker she has become, arms full of toys and clothes she stole from mommy and daddies room when down she went. Immediately I went into my usual across the room "it's alright baby" response as I aproached to console what was obviously a normal new walker cry. When it hit me that it was not. Gia turned her little head to look at me as blood poured down her little face which combined with tears looked like a massive flood. She had hit her head on the corner of the coffee table (which has been thrown out BTW). Seeing the blood Tom ran out of the room as I scooped her up with my normal "freak out" routine. I am not good at all when the kids get hurt. I am great at sick, but horrible at hurt, I panic. And panic I did! I threw Gia into my husbands arms and frantically ran around the house trying to find something , anything to stop the blood. In my panic I must have went blind because I found nothing. Tom on the other hand grabbed the towel fresh from Gia's bath which was half a foot away from her. We are then frantically trying to get the blood to stop gushing so we can see the damage but Gia not wanting to be held down got the best of us. Eventually we were able to see her face where she had about a 3/4 inch gash just above her brow. She seemed ok , no concussion so I listened to Tom and gave into not going to the hospital. Of course I am me and an hour and a half later we are headed to the emergency room. Of course she was indeed fine but she had to have her little head glued up because the wound would not close. Another teary moment for mommy having to hold her down with 3 other DR's because our girl is a fighter refusing the be held prisoner by the evil medical clan (oh and evil mommy). Once up I was the enemy. In the end Gia is home and sleeping off the popcycle she managed to get from one of the Dr's along with an orange soda. Now I have to go wash the blood covered doggy she got from the nurse. After watching the nurse clean her wound Gia ever so helpful thought it would be a good idea to clean the wound more with "doggy". Go figure!
Now onto happier news... Miriam had "open house" today in preperation for her first day of school. We got to see her teacher , meet the new teacher and visit her classroom which is same as last year. I think Miriam really enjoyed seeing everyone again, Tom and I both know she very much misses school. This was proven this evening when she refused to leave the classroom. We were getting ready to leave when she first jumped into her teachers lap to sing songs, once down she threw herself down onto the floor where she went limp on me. Finally I got her up and walking towards the door she grabbed hold of the table and threw herself down on top of that. No way was she going anyplace, that was school and she KNEW there was no way she had been there long enough. But Miriam will be back for her first day on Monday and I promise to take plenty of pictures for the blog. :-)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Austin Zoo
Yesterday we packed up a picnic and went with a friend and her little one to the Zoo. It was super HOT and I dragged a near flat wagon up and down hill after rocky hill for hours but in the end we had fun. We saw Lions, Tigers, bears, farm animals, snakes and all kinds of creatures and critters. Miriam's favorite was the rooster, going quiet everytime she heard one of the many, crow. For those of you who do not know, "Rooster" was the first animal whose name she could say so she has an honest interest. Georgia and her little friend Roxlee were fascinated by the oddest species of all.....HUMANS! No matter how many wild animals we tried to get those two 1 year olds to look at the rest of the people viewing the animal always seemed more interesting. Makes you wonder what is going through their heads. In the end I think our trip to the Zoo was more a day out for mommies than a day out for the kids. If we had only known their interest in humans went so deep we would have simply gone to the mall and maybe walked away with some goodies other than heat stroke..lol!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Pregnancy update!
I just thought everyone needed an update on our the newest member of the Bramlett household , whatever it may be. I have been able to feel the baby flutter around in my tummy for the past 2 weeks, it has been wonderful, although tough because it makes me want to see him/her more. My morning sickness has lightened up as has my blood pressure, which means I can get more done. There for a while the house was in total disarray and my poor girls were so neglected. Some days I was so sick I literally could not move. But all is better now. I am also growing very well, actually I look like I could be 6 months pregnant I am so big. Believe me, I FEEL 6 months pregnant.
See...
That's our boy/girl in there. In about 2-4 weeks we will get to find out what the sex of the baby is. This of course all depends on when my DR. feels is best. I have a feeling we could know NOW, but hey, who am I , just a mom! ;-)
Miriam's back to school haircut!
We had this done a few days ago but as everyone knows Miriam is quite a moody girl who absolutely HATES pictures. Or shall I say she makes it a point to go out of her way to see to it we get no good shots. I finally managed to sneak in some shots while she was wrestling with her daddy. As you can see , she fears him so..lol
I was so happy with the lady who did her haircut. Miriam has only had her hair done 2 times (this being the second) the first time I kept her busy with tic tacs but the lady did such a crappy job. I showed her a picture, she did the opposite. I think she can only do that one cut actually because she managed to do the same cut on a child after us. This lady was so patient, she spoke to Miriam the whole time always telling her what she was doing. She even called Miriam buddy the whole time , Miriam LOVES called people buddy, not sure why. But she did the cut I wanted, with a few minor Miriam moments whe hair fell in her snack. (you try keeping a grumpy blind kid happy during a haircut with food when there is hair falling everywhere, not easy). Over all I would say Miriam did pretty well and I honestly think it is because the lady was so caring. I had planned on giving her a really great tip and felt bad when I couldn't. I only had my debit card, no cash and they had a weird system where you had to tell them in advance how much the tip was and she forgot to say something. Usually there is a place on the charge to write in a tip , right? Oh well, next time!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Cake?
Hey I had to give you all a taste of Miriam's new language skills.
Miriam "A piece of cake?"
Mommy "what?"
Miriam "I said a piece of cake?"
I hadjust opened upa cheese danish.
Mommy "Miriam come over here and youcan have some cake"
Miriam comes over.
Mommy "ok, come sit down and we can share my danish cake"
Miriam shaking head "a chocolate cake"
I tell her that right now weare eatingthe danish. She continues saying she wants chocolate cake.I tell her fine I will get you a slice of chocolate in a minute.
She went crazy screaming "bite,bite bite"
I haveyet to get it and she just says drinking all of my drink "HURRY" then pretends to clear her throat.
That's our crazy girl! A chocoholic just like he rest of us,if only Nana was awake so we could share!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Decorations and school supplies!
Tonight was my regular shopping night and given we gave Miriam back her bed frame (long story) I decided it was time to start working on decorating her room. Miriam could care less if her room was black or pink BUT mommy does. She is in school which means play dates. Other kids might appreciate a fun girly room...right? So I bought some new curtains, a sham, rug, furry throw and a bunch of other stuff. I also upholstered her toybox (which was made by her old PawPaw who she loved with all her heart for her DADDY when he was little) to make a cute window seat. I think it is turning out well, I am trying to add as much touch and feel items as possible. We still need to get her a bean bag chair, a small table/chairs, paint her dresser white , add some wall shelves (up high of course) and refinish her antique bed frame. Lots to do but it is starting to come around. I only wish we could paint the wood paneling, I HATE it. But we can't hence why I am picking bright colors. 
What do you think?
We are also DONE with all school shopping, woo hoo! I purchased all her school supplies today and I am very glad to have it all out of the way. We have to take them the 21st which is open house and with any luck I can get Tom to come home early so we can go together. Nothing is worse than when I have to go to Miriam's school events alone. I am not sure if it is a TX thing or worldwide but everyone treats me like some poor single mother. I just want to scream to the world "I AM MARRIED, I AM MARRIED", like they would believe me.....lol
I've gotta drinkin problem...
As you can see our little Gia is fraught with her daddy's water bottle. Georgia can drink from a cup, bottle, sippy, straw and just about anything else that holds any kind of liquid. It is almost as if she is obsessed with the "drink", any kind and all kinds (well, almost). As you can see, Gia has been devouring that water. As you can also see she just finished eating, she is less mess with drinking than she is with food! She especially loves using chocolate cookies as hair gel, oh and foot cream. Nice!
Monday, August 4, 2008
My newest blog..
I just started a new blog for fun titled "would you buy that". A guide to all the weird products available in the retail world. This is a participation blog so be sure to leave a comment to answer the question "would you buy that".
http://wouldyoubuythat.blogspot.com/
Vanquishing the nast!
So, you are standing in your living room vacuuming your floor over and over again being a slave to your vacuum. You are finally done and pleased with the nice lines on your carpet indicating CLEAN. You never stop to think about the fact there are a million things hiding in your carpet your good ole "Hoover" simply cannot pick up, the carpet just looks SOOOO good. But underneath it all are little carpet fibers, lint, BUGS, dander and just plane NAST that causes you to sneeze on end during certain times of the year (sometimes after you use the Hoover). That is until the Hoover goes caput and you decide to upgrade to the ever so popular Dyson, because that nice warranty and reputation reels you in!
That is what we found when we brought home our Dyson DC07. Ideally we would like to just rip up the carpet, lay some wood flooring and say goodbye to the vacuum forever but since we are renters that is simply NOT a possibility. This is what led us to vacuum shopping for the 5th time in 5 years. Over the past few days our carpet has been vacuumed AND steam cleaned. HOWEVER when I put together our new Dyson Vac (which was SUPER easy) and turned that baby on I nearly freaked when the canister started filling up. I mean, how could it possibly be "that" dirty? It was amazing and disgusting. My kids play on that floor!
See what I mean... remember the floor was JUST steam cleaned! 
The Dyson vacuum is everything everyone is saying and more. It is not near as loud as a traditional vacuum and is really light weight, it just kind of "guides" along the floor. The tilt is so convenient and the power button is literally right at your fingertips. I especially love how the attachments lock right into the vac, please note the "LOCK into the vac" statement. Most traditional vacs slide or loosly snap into place the attachments and often times they end up falling right off. This is most annoying mid-room when you have to stop to pick up the Vac brush. With the Dyson you will only lose an attachment if you are too lazy to snap it back into place after you use it. It also has a lifetime hepa filter, you will NEVER need to buy another one as long as you live. What does this mean? This means for the rest of your Dysons (hopefully long) life you will have a close to allergy free carpet (of course this means you need to USE your vac). Unlike most vacuums the Dyson doesn't spit out the invisible dust and allergy causing bacteria it cannot pick up. The Dyson constantly sucks making it most powerful and your carpet pests worst enemy! Of course the vacuum is super attractive which I could care less about but it does make it all that much more special.
To sum it up, if you have children, allergies, asthma or just plain do not like the fact you are walking on God knows what, do whatever it takes to get this vacuum. Avoid eating out for a month, stay at home instead of going to a movie, save if you have to, but this is one investment worth the effort and since Dyson makes many styles, they offer different pricing allowing almost anyone to afford one with a little effort. 