We are alive!! January 7, 2012

I know it has been forever since I’ve last updated, but there has been good reason! At the beginning of September, the kids and I traveled to Houston to prepare for our home birth. This was a month or so before Noah was due, but I didn’t want to be traveling 8 hours too close to my due date. Kevin had to work so he didn’t join us until a couple weeks before Noah was due. I was just sure that he was going to be early but much to our surprise, he was 5 days late! The birth was rough on me because I had horrible back labor again, but Noah Cauthen Pulley was born on October 27, 2011 at 12:35am. He weighed 10lbs 3oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

(Kevin and I with our sweet midwife, Cathy)

Just a week after Noah was born Kevin had to be back at work so I was thrown right back into reality with four kids. It has definitely not been an easy transition. The two older kids have acted out a bit since Noah was born on top of him just being a very colicky baby. Poor guy hates everything..the car, sleeping, bouncing, you name it, he hates it! Lol! So needless to say, it’s been a rough transition for everyone and we aren’t done with it yet. Noah’s colic is much better than it was, but he still has his bad days.

Thanksgiving came next and we had my mom and brother and sisters come to our house for a few days. I was so glad to have some help with Noah.

We also got a great family picture while they were here. And when I say great, I mean nobody was crying…not even Noah. 🙂

Next up was Christmas! I think I mentioned before that Noah hates the carseat, so the 6 hour drive to my mom’s was no fun at all, but once we were there we had a blast.

‘

So this brings us to the first of the year. I’m looking forward to what this year has in store. With all the craziness home schooling has taken a back seat a little but I’m hoping we can get back on track with it soon. We are also going to Disney World in September and will be booking our trip in a month or so. We are so excited! I know I say this often but I have every intention on updating this blog more often than I do…I’ll keep trying. 🙂

Pulley Prep : Our Set Up August 18, 2011

Well, our first week of home schooling is quickly wrapping up and it’s been awesome!! Luckily kindergarten isn’t too complicated so there aren’t too many kinks to work out.  😉  But trying to give 3 kids my one on one attention all at the same time is a bit tricky and something that I’m still working on. I will get Carsyn settled with blocks or lacing  beads and then get Jackson working on his work, THEN I get to Kaylynn and work with her. Of course as soon as I’m just sitting down with Kaylynn to help her, Jack is yelling that he is all done with his page and needs something else to do. LOL! So needless to say, I haven’t gotten many pictures of the kids working on their assignments yet, but I’m sure that will come as I learn to juggle my attention to all the kids better. For now, I will show you our home school room and how everything is set up.

 

Our home school room is also our “guest room”…meaning our spare bed is in there. But everything else in the room is for home school. Here is our room from the door way.

The Dora desk is Carsyn’s desk, the Seasame Street desk is Jackson’s and Kaylynn sits at the big table with me. Above the big table we have our “Morning Board” hanging up. On our morning board is the Pledge of Allegiance, Letter of the Week, our address and phone number, state of the week and it’s flag, shape of the week, color of the week, day of the week, and the Scripture of the week. Below the morning board is a calendar and beside that is our weather chart. We chart the weather daily. The kids love going over this every morning!

This is the storage area. Sometimes I feel like it’s kinda chaotic in this corner, but I haven’t figured out a better way to rearrange it yet so for now, this is how it is. I have all of our books(curriculum books, preschool workbooks, chapter books, etc) and extra supplies(paper, crayons, glue, etc) here. I’ve also got Carsyn’s blocks, lacing beads and other activities here. The cork board on the wall will soon be filed with arts and crafts that the kids complete.

So there you have it. This is where we spend a couple hours every morning. I’m sure things will change up a bit as we go on through the year and find things that work better for us. I’m hoping to get a post showing the “curriculum” that we are using up soon.

Pulley Prep August 13, 2011

The time has almost come! We are starting our official home schooling year on Monday. I am scared, nervous, anxious and excited all at the same time. I think to myself, “can I really do this?? Surely I can’t screw up kindergarten…or can I?” But it doesn’t take long to calm myself down and know that I *CAN* do this, and I’m sooooo excited about it!

 

I added a new tab at the top of the home page just for our home school adventure. I’m really hoping I’m not biting off more than I can chew by trying to take pictures of everything we are doing…I guess time will tell 😉  Wish us luck!!

 

On a completely different side note…I’m 30 weeks pregnant today! Where in the world did the time go? Only 10 weeks till we see our new little man. ❤

The Perfect Parent August 4, 2011

Another week is quickly wrapping up and it’s been a tough one. There have been lots of appointments, practices, and make-believing…but in the midst of it there was lots of stress, yelling and tears. Sometimes, ok…lots of times, I wish there was someone there to just tell me how to be the perfect mom. I want someone to tell me what to say to answer all the questions that get asked and give me the ideas and energy to do tons of baking and crafts with my kids. You know…I want someone to tell me how to be Carol Brady. So the week goes on and I make note that the laundry is growing much quicker than I can seem to keep up with, the van desperately needs to be cleaned, and my kids have watched way to much tv. But all these worries and stresses melt away when Kaylynn comes up to me and wants to snuggle. I then know that even though I lose my temper, she still knows that I love her with all my heart. And when Jackson cups his hand around Carsyn’s cheek and says, “Carsy(his name for her), do you want to play trains with me?”. I then know that even though I don’t always set a good example of caring for others, he knows how to do it. And when Carsyn comes up to my belly and says “baby” and kisses it. I then know that her heart is kind and caring even though I don’t always show kindness. I’ve always known that there were no perfect parents out there, but this week I really “got it”. When I’m not enough for them, God is. Even though I yell lose my temper, God still has them in His hand “un-doing” my crappy parenting and fixing all of my mistakes. Thank the Lord that He is the prefect parent and is there to help me through this journey. I will screw up again. I will yell, lose my temper and let my kids watch too much tv sometimes…BUT He will be there fill in the gaps and THAT is an awesome thing!!!!!

Back in the Groove July 29, 2011

We are finally settled in our house and seem to have somewhat of a routine. This will be only be our second weekend in our house with no visitors. I need this down time. Our garage is still a hot mess and in desperate need of organization so that’s what we’ll be working on this weekend.  🙂

 

Since summer is almost over, I’ve been thinking about the kids school a lot. We got Kaylynn’s kindergarten(I can’t believe she’s in kindergarten!) books in and I’ve been a busy bee getting the home school room ready. It’s just about done and I’m so excited to get started. With Noah being due at the end of October, I need to sit down and figure out how our year will look…soon!

 

T-ball just started for Kaylynn and Jackson. They’ve really seemed to enjoy it so far. Jackson was in desperate need of an activity that he could do because he was always complaining about sitting through Kaylynn’s dance class. I can’t wait to see them in their team shirts running around the bases at their first game.

 

Life is good here. We are really enjoying being on the coast and we’re just patiently waiting for the next member of our family. It feels good to be back in the groove. 🙂

 

Light at the End of the Tunnel June 22, 2011

I know it has been forever since I’ve written, and for that I apologize. We have been in limbo for the past 3-4 weeks and it’s taken it’s toll on me. Our “home” has consisted of Nonnie and Pop’s house and a 2 bedroom hotel/condo(we’ve gone back and forth). The kids have been off of a schedule since we left North Carolina and it’s driving us all crazy! We NEED routine for our lives to run smoothly. But I’m so excited to say that I see the light at the end of the tunnel…we are getting the keys to our house TOMORROW!!! 🙂  Praise the Lord because I’m just not sure how much longer I can listen to these kids fight. Lol! Of course, things will still be busy and crazy, but the kids will have 1900 sq. feet of space to get away from each other if that’s what their sweet heart desires. All of our household goods will be delivered on Friday. I’m so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again.

 

In other news, I am 22 and a half weeks preggo. I had my ultrasound before we left North Carolina and found out we are having another little BOY! Noah Cauthen will be joining our family in October and we are so excited. My belly just keeps growing and he is getting more and more active. This is my favorite stage in pregnancy.

 

Kaylynn, Jackson and Carsyn are growing and learning as usual. Kaylynn will be starting kindergarten(I can’t believe she is this old!) this year and she is so excited. She is also starting a ballet/tap dance class in July. Both Kaylynn and Jack are playing t-ball starting in July. Luckily they will be on the same team…makes for easy practices and games. 😉

 

Kevin is officially back in air traffic. All of his post op tests with his heart came back great and he is an active air traffic controller again. To say he is excited is an understatement! He has been waiting so long to get back into ATC. Luckily, he loves everyone that he works with. He even said that the commanders and first shirt were really nice. That was so refreshing to hear. That is probably the biggest fear I have about moving to another base…Kevin not liking the people he works with.

 

Well, that’s a little bit of what’s going on here. I’m hoping it won’t be as long till I post again, but I’m realistic and know that life is just chaotic right now. I guess time will tell…

Sweet & Sticky Orange Chicken May 9, 2011

We tried a new recipe tonight and it was awesome!! I got the recipe HERE. The only thing I did different from the directions was I kept the chicken in the pan when I added the sauce. I served it over brown rice and VOILA! Enjoy!! 🙂

Update On Us May 6, 2011

Blogger fail….that’s me. I have royally sucked at keeping up here lately. It doesn’t look like things around here are going to slow down anytime soon either. We’ve got about *25* days left till we move!!!! We are all so excited. Before we leave though, we are taking a quick trip to DC to see some friends. We also got news the other day that Kevin has to take a trip to Ohio for some medical testing for up to 10 days. Of course it is right before we leave so things will be a little chaotic. BUT, it’s memories in the making! 😉

I had an appointment today and got a surprise ultrasound. The kids and I were so excited to see the baby. S/he was just kicking away in there.

I can’t believe I’ve got just another month before I’m half way done with this pregnancy. It’s flying by so quickly!!

I haven’t been coupon shopping in a while. In fact, I’ve been trying to use up as much as possible since we are moving. My freezer was FULL of chicken and beef but I’m starting to see the bottom. Anything we have left before the movers come, will be donated and I’ll start over again once we get to Keesler. I’m really excited to try out a few new stores down there. I’ve already been scouting them out.

Well, I think that’s about it for now. Hopefully it won’t be so long before I write again. Have a great weekend!!! 🙂

Beach Bound, Baby! April 12, 2011

(Photo Credit)

 

We just got fantastic news! Kevin received orders and we will be on our way to Biloxi, Mississippi very soon. Keesler AFB was our #1 choice so we are just so ecstatic about this news. We will be on our way the first of June so we have a lot to do, but we are ready and excited. Bring on the beach, baby!!! 😀

Creamy Crockpot Chicken March 29, 2011

I found this recipe and we just tried it tonight. Oh my word…it is AMAZING!!! You must try it!

Creamy Crockpot Chicken

3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup of butter

1 package of dry Italian salad dressing mix

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup of white wine

4oz. of onion & chive cream cheese

1 package of pasta(any kind will do), boiled

Place chicken in the crock pot. In a sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in Italian dressing mix, soup, cream cheese and wine. Pour over chicken and cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is fork tender. Serve over your favorite pasta and ENJOY!

🙂