What my little ones come up with in a day!

Today we had a little box fan on in our room and Cullan has learned that if he talks into it he sounds funny. He thinks it is very cool. So he was doing it today and Kael wondered over there and of course wanted to try. It was so cute. They stood there for about 15 minutes just yelling into the fan and laughing. It was so cute. Garran and I were just watching and laughing. As we speak Garran is giving the boys a bath and I can hear him going ohh buys stop, Meghan I'm getting soaked in here. He just came out of the bathroom and said all I can say is "BOYS WILL BE BOYS"! AARRRGHHH. He knows that I hate that saying. But he was the one saying argh not me. And in the back round I can hear squeals of delight and water splashing all over our bathroom.

Anyways the reason for this blog is because of one thing in particular that the boys did today. Cullan has a grocery cart that he likes to push around. He pushes it all over the house. He puts toys in it and will even stick his stuffed monkey in the front where he sits in the real cart at the store. Anyways this is what I saw today. ENJOY!

What I did not get pictures of was that Kael then got out and Cullan got in, with the hopes that Kael would push him around!

I GOT TAGGED, SO WATCH OUT YOUR NEXT!

Rebecca tagged me and hers was pretty cute, and so I decided I would do one as well. So here it goes.

4 JOBS I HAVE HAD:

1. FOOD LION

2. TIGER VIDEO

3. UNIVERSITY BOOK AND SUPPLY

4. FULL TIME MOM, HOMEMAKER ETC.

(IN THAT ORDER =)!

4 MOVIES I COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:

1. BED KNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS

2. DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

3. BRAVEHEART (EDITED) GARRAN PROPOSED WHILE IT WAS ON TV!

4. A WALK TO REMEMBER

4 TV SHOW I LOVE TO WATCH:

1. THE OFFICE (I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT SEASON TO START)

2. 24

3. JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ON HGTV

4. JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ON THE FOOD NETWORK

4 PLACES I HAVE VACATIONED:

1. HAWAII

2. VIRGINIA

3. DELAWARE

4.CHICAGO

4 FAVORITE FOODS

1. CORN (SWEET CORN -- ONLY IN THE GOOD SEASON)

2. CHEESE PIZZA

3. GREEK SALAD

4. FRESH FRUIT (GRAPES ,WATERMELON, CHERRIES, YUM)

4 FAVORITE DESSERTS:

1. APPLE PEACH PIE

2. COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM

3. APPLE CRISP

4. ANYTHING CHOCOLATE REALLY

4 HOUSEHOLD ITEMS YOU CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT!

1. THAT NEW CLOROX SPRAY THAT IS KID FRIENDLY, I PRETTY MUCH CARRY IT AROUND WITH ME ALL DAY LONG!

2. MY BOYS... I LOVE THEM ALL

3. MY CAMERA, I LOVE TO TAKE PICTURES OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS. i WOULD BE LOST WITH OUT IT.

4. MY FAVORITE PILLOW. I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A LITTLE KID BUT I JUST DO NOT SLEEP AS WELL WITH OUT IT.

4 THINGS THAT HAVE MADE YOU LAUGH LATELY:

1. GARRAN

2. CULLAN

3. KAEL

4.. MYSELF ( i AM ALWAYS DOING REALLY STUPID THINGS =)

4 FAVORITE PICTURES AT THIS MOMENT:

1.THIS IS CULLAN AT THE BEACH. I JUST LOVE THIS PICTURE. HE LOOK SO SWEET AND INNOCENT.

2.THE BOYS WERE PLAYING IN THIS LAUNDRY BUCKET AND WERE LAUGHING AND HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME. IT IS JUST A SWEET MEMORY!

3. ONE OR OUR ATTEMPTS AT A FAMILY PICTURE. WE HAVE ABOUT 5 SHOTS. NONE OF THEM REALLY WORKED OUT. HOWEVER HOW FUN TO LOOK BACK AND LAUGH AT HOW FUNNY IT WAS THAT WE WERE NEVER ALL LOOKING AT THE CAMERA AT THE SAME TIME.

4. I LOVE THIS PICTURE BECAUSE KAEL HAD JUST STOLE CULLANS SUCKER. I LOVE THE LOOK ON HIS FACE. IT IS SO FUNNY. YOU CAN SEE HOW PROUD OF HIMSELF HE IS AT HIS SMALL VICTORY!

4 PEOPLE I TAG TO DO THIS:

1. CHRISTI

2. STACY

3. JAMIE

4. SARA

THE GOOD FAR OUT WEIGHS THE BAD!

Ok so recently I have really been struggling with Kael. He has been going through a really clingy stage and as much as I love having a little cuddle bug sometimes it drives me crazy. But in the past few days I have been a little more patient with it and it just seems like when we have our alone time while Cullan is napping we have really been having a lot of fun together. Here is an example of yesterday. Cullan was napping, Kael had been a little fussy and so I thought maybe we could have a Popsicle and just play. Here is what came of that.

I guess it is pretty obvious that Kael really enjoys Popsicles. This was the first time that I had ever given him one all to him self. He is so super cute. He is also getting so big. I can not believe that he is going to be one in October. He is almost walking and his personality is just coming through more and more each day. I love to hear him make all his little baby noises and he grunts like crazy. I do not know where he got it from but he loves to grunt. He also loves to do everything his big brother does. I know I say that in almost every blog, but it is true. Cullan has this little cart that my mom gave him and Kael has figured it out and this was him on it. How sweet is he? I sure love both of my boys. And I am sure that they get sick of my constantly saying "Say Cheese" or trying to catch a moment without them noticing. But they grow up so quickly, I just want to try and capture as much of it as I can. OH well hope everyone is enjoying their kids as much as I am mine!

Not a Shameless Plug

OK so this is totally not a shameless plug for gifts for my kids, but I have decided that the next time my kids birthday rolls around I have to ask for more Disney movies. Any movies for that matter that are kids friendly. My mom bought the movie Cars for Cullan for Christmas. He loves it, especially since we have come back from our vacation. He watched it over and over in the car and now that we are home he is constantly handing it to me. I think that I could quote the whole movie of cars. I have a picture of Matter because he is my favorite on the movie. My favorite line is when the sheriff in the town says "What did I tell you about talking with the prisoner" Matter responds " To not To". Anyways I know every household has a movie like this but we desperately need a new one. One that will outshine cars for a while. For my sanity anyways!

Is there really such a thing as a day that goes smoothley?

This is my question to all stay at home moms. Is there ever a day when things go exactly as planned or you never have a crazy moment. For example, I had just returned from a doctor's appointment and Garran was getting ready to leave. I was on the phone when I hear Garran go Cullan Stop. Cullan had opened the fridge, taken out the carton of eggs and proceeded to drop every single one of them on our kitchen floor. Thats right folks a full dozen eggs. As Garran was cleaning that up, (I was still on the phone) Cullan proceeded to drop a box of goodies I had on the table onto the floor. Frosting and crumbs everywhere. I know he is curious but man what I would not give for a day when he was content just playing with his own toys. All though I do have to admit when Garran told me what had happened my first reaction was laughter. Some really good advice I got before I was married from a nice lady I know was, "Hard times are going to come and you can either laugh or cry about them, so you might as well laugh." That advice has made some very sticky situations much more easier, because laughter is always better than screaming and pulling my hair out =)

Life Time Member of the TIME OUT CLUB

OK so here is a picture of Cullan in a shirt that he received as a gift. I thought it was super cute. How appropriate. Some days I feel like that is all I say. Time OUT! Even with that being said I have to admit that Cullan is a very sweet and good little boy. He has his moments but I am more than sure that every kid has there moments. I have seen proof of that. Anyways this is a short one this time but I just thought that this shirt was post worthy. I thought that it was cute and he is definitely cute!

Round Two : Gillespie vs. THE LICE

Ok so here we go. Today we were giving Cullan a bath getting him ready to go to church and Garran says to me "Meg, hand me the tweezers". I thought oh he must have found a tick. Not that that is better, but much easier to take care of. Ok so I go in the bathroom, tweezers in hand, Garran plucks something out of Cullans head and hands it to me. Once again I can feel me head start to itch. As I look at this miserable little bug stuck in between the tweezers I know that we know have a very long day ahead of us. I have no idea where he could have got it. I mean yes his cousin had it when we were there but that was over two weeks ago. We had checked him multiple times since then and so no signs of it. So I do not know where or when he would have picked it up. Oh this is so frustrating. So Garran finishes giving Cullan a bath and I hope in the van and head of to the trusty Wal Mart. So I grab some medication and head home. We end up taking all of our laundry out to Garran's parents because the washers and dryers that we usually use were out of commission. So we pack up the most important stuff bedding, clothing etc. So we get out to the other Gillespie's treat Cullan's head to which he screamed all the way through. Understandably. So now we have a long day tomorrow of cleaning toys, rooms and steam cleaning furniture and beds. Maybe I am over reacting but the idea of bugs in our house or head. YUCK!!! We will win this battle.

I guess children take things pretty literally!

Ok so here is a quick story that hopefully will make some of you laugh. So Cullan and I were watching Shrek and he found a little bag of m&m's, so I thought well he can have a few. So as we were sitting on the carpet I let him reach in the bag to pull one out. (He has become very independent, which means he has to do everything by himself) Anyways before I could even realize it he had grabbed three and shoved them in his mouth. He had chocolate slobber falling out of his little mouth. With the biggest smile you could ever imagine. I am sure because at that very moment I was telling him that he was only supposed to take one not three and how he was making a mess. So in a moment of pure frustration, I said almost under my breath " Either chew them up, or spit them out"! Well I do not know why I was surprised at what happened next, but all of a sudden I was being hit with three half melted, very slobbery chocolate peanut m&m's. He had spit them out but we were close enough that they hit me. Even more frustrated I looked at him not sure what to say next and then thought to myself. What are you upset about dumbie you said either chew them up or spit them out. He was only doing what I asked. Oh well life lesson number 1 Choose your words carefully when talking to your toddler!

Oh what goes on in a Day!

Well good news first. The doctor said that my back is basically healing itself. He said I fall into a very small percentage of people that this happens to but hey I will take it. No complaints here. If it means no back surgery then it is fine with me. I was very excited to leave that doctors office with the hopes of never returning there again.

So as always our day started off with comedy. What day doesn't around here. Garran told me that Cullan had been trying to do everything he did in the morning. Garran said that Cullan would watch him and then repeat whatever he was doing. So if Garran was shaving, Cullan would take some shaving cream and want to put it on his face. So here comes the explanation for the picture below. When Garran is getting ready in the morning, obviously deodorant is a step that goes along with that process. So of course little Garran Junior wants to put on deodorant. He is so funny because he almost always only puts it on under one arm, but for the rest of the day he walks around smelling like men's Cologne. My almost two year old is already smelling like a man. Does anyone else think there is something wrong with that? =)

So smelling good and ready for the day Cullan, Garran, Kael and myself went and ran some errands. When we got home Kael was asleep so Garran and I were playing with Cullan. One of his most favorite things to do is to play ball. Any kind, shape or game. Throwing, Rolling, Tossing, it does not matter he is over joyed. Anyways for some reason unknown to me Cullan was in his high chair and he and Garran had started a game of catch. So of course I reach for my camera, why because this is what I always do in hopes of catching great moments with my kids. So here are a couple snap shots with Cullan playing catch. You can just see on his face oh much fun he is having.

How cute is he. Then Kael woke up from his nap. Boy now that he can scoot he is always into something. Anyways he found a screw driver that Garran was using and decided to help out. I just think he is so cute I had to throw these in also. Kael is so funny, anything that Cullan does he thinks is wonderful. So shortly after Kael picked up the screw driver Cullan was there to show him how to use it. I guess this time Kael was ahead of the game.

Sometimes I wonder?

Ok so yesterday I had to go get a MRI for my stupid on going back problems. Well the lady tells me to lay on the table and to hold really still. She says that this test is going to take about 25 minutes. She hands me some headphones so that I can listen to the radio and a squeeze thing that is hooked up to a bell because the test is really loud and that would alert her if I needed something because if I yelled she would not be able to hear me. So starting off things are going ok. No big deal. I am laying there listening to the radio and then I feel the urge to scratch an itch. Now how is it that your body knows exactly when you can not move and then insists on making a million things itch all at once. So I am laying there trying to ignore this unscratchable itch, thinking to myself "you can overcome this, just ignore it". So things are going pretty well. I am ignoring this miserable itch when I feel the desperate urge to cough. Now let me back up and say that while on vacation I developed a kind of nasty cough. So this would not be a little clear your throat cough, it is going to be one of those body shaking hold on to something coughs. So now I am trying to lay perfectly still, ignore this stupid itch and trying to think of any way to avoid letting this hugh cough out. So I thought maybe if I ring the bell the lady can pause the test for a minute so I can get this cough out of the way and then we can continue. (I do not want to mess this test up because it is going on 2 months of bad tests trying to figure out exactly what is wrong) So I go to ring the bell, but because I had been thinking so much about my itch and cough I had not realized that while laying in this tight coffin like machine both my arms and hands had fallen completely asleep. Ringing the bell was not really an option. I could not really even tell if I was still holding the bell in my hand. I thought well this is just great. So finally the cough got the better of me and I let it out. Of course I moved which means when I got to my doctors appointment on Wednesday he will probably tell me that the test did not come out and that I have to do it again. LOL.. Sometimes I think that my body just likes to play tricks on me like this just to have a good laugh at my expense.
PS. As soon as the test was over and I could move, that stupid itch went away. See what I mean about my body playing tricks on me. Oh well it could have been worse!

2nd half of our vacation!

Well the second half began just as the first. We were back in the car headed toward Virginia. They boys did ok on the way to Jerusha's house (my husbands oldest sister). It was I think 6 hours to get there. I can not remember now. Anyways when we got there we were greeted with lots of hugs and excitement. Justin and Jerusha have six kids, so there was alot of excitement. This picture was actually taken the night before we left. But it is one of the only group shots I have of everyone. (My favorite part is Cullans pose in the bottom right hand corner). Anyways we had a great time visiting their family. Unfortunately it rained the majority of the time we were there. But we did go a see a movie together kid free. It was fun to hang out. The tie dye shirts the kids are all wearing we made while we were there. Tessa and Brina and myself were at Wally World and were looking for something fun to do with everybody and this is what we came up with. I think everyone enjoyed making them. They all looked so cute wearing them. One of the days we were there the kids decided to go swimming in a little pool they had in the yard. Cullan thought it was great. Once again Kael did not. But I got some great pictures.

The first one I just have to say that if you look closely, you can see the naughty expression on his little face. The rest I just thought were cute. Jerusha's youngest is just two months older than Cullan. Oh my goodness. It was like Bonnie and Clyde. They were always into trouble but she is adorable none the less. She is super sweet and ironically enough, when Garran would go to punish Cullan, she would come over and put one hand on her little hip and the other hand had her finger pointing at him, waving and saying something in baby gibberish. It was very funny. We also go to go to the creek near their house. It was alot of fun and I think the kids really enjoyed it because of all the rainy days we had had. (I'll put up another slide show below of the second half of our trip). So we left their Friday morning. We headed toward Fayetteville. I was super excited to be back in my hometown. It had changed alot since the last time I had been there. But we got to go by and visit some friends of mine, the Newcomers. It was good to see them. I was excited for them to meet Garran and the boys. Then we headed over to Garran's grandparents. He had not seen them in like 13 years. So we had a nice visit with them. We had made plans to try to get a hold of and meet up with some other people on Saturday but time got away from us and we were not able to do any of that because we really had to get on the road by noon. I was really bummed that I did not get to see more of my friends but that is just how things worked out. Hopefully we will get to go back soon. So we headed out and were on our way home. Oh yes but could things go smoothly, of course not. Myself and both the boys caught some kind of stomach virus and the boys had multiple blow outs that we had to pull over and strip them down. I was not so bad but I was sick for the majority of the way home. Oh well. We finally made it home. And now back to life in Iowa. I have to admit being in that area of the country really reminded me of how much I would like to return there.

Gillespie Family Vacation

OK so we started off on Friday around lunch time. Things started off pretty well. We had a few errands to run before we left town but for the most part we got everything taken care of. But we started off and decided to stop for dinner at Wendy's and this is where the fun began. As we were eating one of the workers walked past us with his finger half way up his nose. At that point, I was a little grossed out and decided that even though odds are he did not prepare my food I still lost my appetite. So we left the Wendy's and about an hour later were stuck in horrible traffic in Chicago. So we drove for most of the night. I thought it would be good to stop but Garran said he had hit his second burst of energy. Around 2:00 Iowa time and 3:00 east coast time -which we were in. We decided to pull over. Both boys were asleep and we thought this will be perfect. We will just carry the boys upstairs and they can stay asleep and we can get a couple hours and then jump back on the road. Boy did that back fire on us. It was like someone poured liquid crack down the boys throats. They hit that room like a tornado. Garran and I tried for about an hour to try to get them to calm down, lay down, anything down. No not happening. So we decided that we would all just shower, try to freshen up and then hit the road. Garran's exact words, " If we are going to be up, we might as well be driving". I should have taken a picture of the attendant when roughly 2 hours after checking in we said we would like to check out. Arrgghhh I was so tired and frustrated but chalked it up to funny travel stories. So back on the road we went. And of course you guessed that 20 minutes after getting back on the road both boys were sleeping soundly. Isn't that always the way. But we continued on and stopped once to sleep because neither one of us could keep our eyes open anymore. We finally made it to Britts house. We were super excited. We had not seen Britt or her family in a little over three years. It was fun to catch up and meet one of our nieces for the first time. She is super cute and very sweet. Her big sister is also sweet and was very excited to see Cullan. They played very well together for the most part. She liked to be like a little mommy sometimes, which was cute but Cullan was just not used to. They are both very sweet girls though.

So let's see what happened next. The second night we were at Garrans sisters house her husband made fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. Cullan was either really hungry or it was the best he ever tasted because he applauded after his first bite. I think Dennis likes to believe it was because it was the best he has ever tasted. So the next day we went to the beach. I was super excited. So was Garran for that matter. We are definitely beach people. (There are so many cute pictures that I am putting up a slide show below) But here are a couple. Cullan absolutely loved it and Kael well it took a little longer for him to settle into the whole beach thing. Well more like the whole time we were there. He actually never smiled until we put him back in his car seat to go home. I have no idea why he reacted that way because he loves the bath and the pool.

Oh well we had a blast. Garran and I got a little sunburned but for the most part it was great and we had a great time. Uncle Dennis brought this big net that he uses with his students and we caught a couple crabs and fish. Then when the tide went out we were able to walk way out and find all kinds of hermit crabs and such. I was tons of fun. I have a picture of Kael asleep with a crab on his shoulder. I was not lieing when I said that Kael was not happy for the whole time we were there. Fortunately he went to sleep and it was a nice break!

So then for the 4th we decided to play it kind of low key and go swimming at Dennis families house and then just hang out for the rest of the night. Well we were swimming and having a good time. Cullan jumped off the edge of the pool all by himself to Daddy. A big moment for him. We were super excited. So we were swimming and having a blast. The water was a little cold a first but once we were in everyone was having a fun. It was great. We swam and decided to eat a little lunch and then get back in and swim for a little while longer. So we all hopped back in the pool and were swimming and having a blast. I was just thinking how smoothly things were going and how relaxing things were and then I hear Britt say "Hold still what is in your hair" talking to her oldest daughter. As my heart stops Britt says "Does anyone know what lice looks like". Arggh.

I felt so bad for her. I knew she was stressed out. So Dennis's aunt had a neighbor who was a nurse come and check. You got it .. .. LICE LICE LICE LICE.. .. My head instantly started itching. Of course I start looking at the boys and then glance at my hubby and all I can see is BEARD! The first thought that went through my head was him trying to lay one on me with bugs crawling through his beard and the first thing out of my mouth was " Don't come near me until we check you and you get some razors". So we pack up and leave stopping on the way home to by some RID or whatever it is called and some razors. Let us not forget those. So we got home stripped everything insight and started checking each other like a pack of monkeys. Then I look at Garran and he already had the same thought so the following pictures are our little storyboard of events that happened next.

So let the medication begin. We started with Charleigh and just went from there. I think Dennis bought like four boxes of rid. We had to treat the cars and everything basically that had been touched. We had to treat both their car and our van because Charleigh rode with both of us. Then we tore through the housing washing everything insight. The next day Britt and I steam cleaned the rug and all the furniture. It was fun to spend time with Britt while the boys took the kids to the park.

SIDENOTE: (Britt and Dennis are not good judges of distance. Down the road to Garran and I is walking distance. Nothing is within walking distance to Britt and Dennis's house. They would say down the road and we were in the car for at least 15 minutes. Garran and I would laugh every time they would say it.)

So after intense cleaning we decided with all bugs dead we would venture out to the zoo. It was really fun and there was a great park for the kids to play at. They had a great time. Cullan and Charleigh went and looked at all the animals. They had a blast. Then we had a picnic lunch while the kids played on the playground. They loved it.

The next day we headed back to the beach to the boardwalk at Rehoboth. We walked along the boardwalk. Ate at the world famous Thrasher's French Fries. Then we took the kids to a little place called FUNLAND. It was a part of the boardwalk and had rides that were just perfect for Cullan and Kael. The first thing we went on was the Carousel. Cullan loved it as obvious by the picture. We spent the majority of the day there. All of the kids thought it was great.

Well this is our trip up to this point. Off to our next location. I will keep you updated as to how things are going. I am posting a slide show of all our vacation pictures at the bottom. There are some great shots. Hope everyone is doing well.

1/2 way through the Vacation!

Well we are half way through the vacation. We left Delaware today and we are now in Virginia. We are having a blast and do not worry for you avid blog readers. I will have lots of great stories to post. So many funny things have happened on our vacation. I will have lots of great stories and pictures to share. I am excited to say we will be hitting my home state on Friday. I will be back there on Friday. So any of you that want to say hi let me know.