Anslee's Minnie Mouse 2nd Birthday Party on the Farm!

We took the kids out in the pasture to pet the baby cow!



Leland eating his cake and ice cream.

I made Anslee's outfit to match her cake!

I shot a few pictures of Anslee for her 2nd Birthday pics.

Things have been very busy around the Rooks household! Jason works odd ours and I work around the clock it seems! 4am is my new bedtime most nights. I would much rather stay up and get my work done that to stay cooped up in the house all day! I hate to make Leland stay inside when it is so pretty outside. I try my best to keep him on a routine everyday that allows him to nap around a certain time, play outside a few times a day, read his books and learn things, and he makes sure to fit in time for Mickey!

So far this week, I have mailed close to 100 items to customers in several different states. I am finally getting in a groove of production for the business. The new big machine helps out tremendously, and most days I have all 3 machines going at one time.

I have several blogs that I keep up with and friends that are in the same business as me. I always find it reassuring to read that they are having an, "I quit" day! I sincerely love what I do, but there are some days that I just need a break from the world!

It is not always easy being a full time Mommy and a one woman business. I get a lot of help from my Mother in the form of babysitting, pattern cutting, errand running, support, etc. and for that I am forever grateful. Running a one woman business has it's perks, but is definitely stressful at times! I am a secretary. a designer, the package packer, the e-mail answerer, the invoice sender, the main pattern cutter, the supply orderer, and the list goes on and on and ON and does not even begin to include my duties as a Mommy!

Sometimes, as many of my friends in this business do, I do have, "I quit" days, but who doesn't? At the end of the day, I have to Thank God for blessing me with everything in my life. When I was laid off a week before I had Leland, I was devastated and extremely worried about how things would work out. Through a lot of prayer, tears, and trying times, I couldn't be happier with how things have turned out.

I would not trade anything for my crazy life. I absolutely love staying at home to watch my baby grow into the sweetest little boy. I also love talking with all of my customers and the satisfaction of how excited they are with the products I have designed for them! I meet customers everywhere!! I recently did a Birthday outfit for a lady that was standing behind us in line to see Santa at the Bass Pro Shop last year! I also recently got a big order from the manager of the store where I purchased my Matron of Honor dress for an upcoming wedding. I take cards everywhere I go in my wallet. I have given them out at the doctor's office, Wal-mart, Target, etc.

I often get comments from my college friends that I am not even using my college degree and am still successful. Boy are they WRONG!! I use my marketing degree and skills daily!

On a side note...who is tired of all the bad weather we are having?? ME!! I hate bad weather and we have had several close calls with tornado's in the past month. I don't mind rain, but I hate storms...and so does the dog!

I believe I have posted before about how the dog freaks out when it is storming outside. You usually can put her on the couch or bed beside you and she will calm down; however, with the past few storms, the dog seriously freaks out, pants, and shakes for an hour or more. Thank goodness the Vet gave her some medicine that will hopefully calm her nerves. Unfortunately, we may get to try the new medicine tomorrow with a bad batch of storms headed our way. I do not like drugging my dog, but I don't want her to have a heart attack either!

Perfect Sunny Day!

Thank You Mickey for entertaining my child when Mommy is in desperate need of getting something done! We went to the lake Sunday because it was absolutely beautiful outside! High of 80+ and clear blue skies. The neighbors had some beautiful flowers, so we borrowed them for a few pictures!

Leland enjoyed a popsickle on the porch

and then passed out on the boat ride!

He woke up in time to enjoy the sunny day and visit with Grandma and Grandpa.

We even floated in the water!

Blue jean baby......

I took Leland to Aldridge Gardens today in hopes of seeing the ducks and getting some cute Easter pictures. There are usually 30 or more ducks there, but today there were none! We also didn't get many good pics in his bunny outfit, so we'll have to try again another day!

After a quick break on a bench, I changed Leland into his jeans. Any time I take him to do pictures, I wind up taking close to 100 or more before I get a few good ones. Today was no different. I LOVE these few good pictures I got in his jeans!!

I LOVE the above picture! I am not being biased (well maybe I am), but Leland looks like a little blue jean model in this pic!!

Sleep? What's That?

I am running on coffee and fumes! Leland did not sleep well again last night because he could not breathe. He sleeps the best propped up against me, but I move him every so often to keep his fever from rising. We had a lot of bad storms again last night and Dutchess is terrified of storms. She trembles and literally freaks out when she hears thunder and lightning. My night consisted of the TV on, Leland laying on my left side and Dutchess crammed against my right side in the bed. Leland woke up every 30 min to an hour again to change positions, which consisted of 5 to 10 min of getting comfortable where he could breathe. Dutchess heard Jason leave this morning and got out of the bed. I rolled over and thought that I may finally get a little sleep. WRONG! Leland was wide awake not even an hour later. Oh well, it's the job of a Mommy to run on no sleep, right?!

Best Dog Caregiver Ever!

Leland LOVES his Sissy! Dutchess truley has it made, and is one spoiled puppy (she knows this!)

Leland makes sure she is covered up with her blanket every night before he goes to bed. He also picks up her empty food bowl and slams it down in front of the pantry door as he points to me, as in, "Feed the dog NOW"!

He is figuring out how to throw her toys, so they entertain each other all the time!

Leland loves to walk the dog. He holds her leash when he is in the stroller or just walking at the park.

There is nothing cuter and sweeter than the love between a boy and his dog!

Bronchitis You Are NOT Welcome!!

This has been the worst week. I went to the doctor with Bronchitis on Monday and left Leland with Mom through Wednesday in hopes that he wouldn't get sick. He was perfectly fine until Thursday morning and he started coughing. Friday morning he started running a low grade fever and by Friday night his fever was 101-102 and he was coughing really bad. I took him to the doctor Saturday morning, and he too has Bronchitis. I gave him his meds and he was lounging around most of the afternoon. About 3:30 or 4 Igave him a cup of milk and right when he finished it I could tell something was very wrong. His eyes were rolling back in his head, he was trembling all over, lip quivering, and completely limp. I rushed him to the Children's Hospital ER. They told me that he most likely had a seizure from the fever rising so quickly. When we got to the hospital his fever was 104. He was abolutely pitiful, but they were able to get his fever down after about 4 hours. You could tell he was feeling a lot better by the time we left because he was running around in sock feet and a diaper. The spinning doctors chair entertained him for a while. The doctor came in and asked him if he was ready to blow this popsicle joint and Leland said, "OH YEAH"! He and I got home about 9pm, just in time for a tornado warning. The weather people were saying that it was headed straight for our house and would be here in 15 min. I was definitely not in the mood!! I stopped at Newk's on the way home to pick up some of their yummy potato soup, but was not a happy camper that I had to scarf it down before the storm hit. I thought that Leland would like soup as well, but he opted for yogurt! Crazy weather people!! As soon as we finished eating, we had about 5 min before the storm was "suposed to hit". Right as I was unplugging everything and about to get us into the walk in closet, they said, "The tornado warning has been down graded and we will resume regular programing"!!! What the crap!!! How do you go from saying this is the worst storm of the night and multiple spotters have spotted a large tornado headed straight for our house, to, "We'll resume regular programing"?! Leland and I got ready for bed. He slept a little better last night, but between the bad weather and him moving to be able to breathe, we were up every 30 min to an hour. He is still running a low grade fever today, coughing and runny nose, but seems to be playing a little more. I am hoping he is a good bit better tomorrow because I have a lot of orders that have to get done. It has been impossible to work with me being sick and a crying baby clinging to my leg! We have just been lounging on the couch and watching movies. Jason will be done in Atlanta this week, so hopefully by this weekend everything will start to get back to normal!

I have a lot of pictures to update and hope to get them up in the next day or two!

20 months!

I can NOT believe that our baby will be 2 in 4 short months! 2011 has flown by so far... pretty sure it seems this way because we stay so busy!

Leland is now a very active toddler and very independent. I have once again neglected his little toes by shoving them in shoes that are too small. Little bit gave me a big hint that his tennis shoes were too short by sitting down and grabbing his toes instead of walking! I took him to the shoe store and he got 2 new pairs of Spring/Summer shoes. Now that he has happy feet, he is running all over the place. With all of this running comes boo boo's! Leland has a big scrape on his knee, but I am sure it is the first of many.

I have been sick since last Friday. It couldn't have come at a worse time. We hosted a couple's baby shower for our good friends Wilbur and Jennifer Saturday, and I had no voice! We still had a good time and look at this beautiful cake for baby Chloe!

By Monday, I still had no voice and had a terrible cough. I went to the doctor and it was confirmed that I have Bronchitis, which is contatious...GREAT! I left Leland with Mom and Larry until Wednesday because Jason is in Atlanta and I definitely did not want to get Leland sick.

Unfortunately, I do not think leaving him did any good except allowing me to rest. Leland woke up coughing this morning and it has progressively gotten worse, so I am sure tomorrow will be even worse.

As for 20 month milestones, Leland is talking more and more. He says a lot of words that include:

MaMa

DaDa

Sissy

Dutchess

Keys

Please

Go

Bye

This

Juice

Ball

Yes

OK

Mam

**His version of keys, this, and please all kind of run together unless you are around him and know what he is saying. His Mam is more like, "AM"!

He has learned to shrug his shoulders (I have no idea where he learned it, but it is funny)

He loves:

green peas

the Steam Fresh rice with the veggies mixed in

corn

yogurt

milk

water w/ a splash of juice

peanut butter

salad

cole slaw

He would stay outside all day and night if we would let him.

When you give him a peanut butter sandwich, he immediately opens it and licks the peanut butter! He LOVES peanut butter on a sandwich or off a spoon.

The other night, he fell asleep right after dinner and woke up. He wante a snack (so did I), so we made some mini berry muffins. I let him pour the water in and help me stir. I gave him a bite of the batter (no eggs) and he was in Heaven! I asked him if they smelled good and he stuck his head right over the bowl and took a big sniff. I died out laughing!

He is obsessed with going and totes my keys all over the house. As soon as I start packing packages to mail, he knows that we are leaving and starts chanting, "Go, Go, Go" a hundred times!

Potty training is non existent. He totally lost all interest, which is fine for now.

He is a very loving, yet very persistent little boy!

He loves to give kisses and hugs and completely makes me smile even on my worst day!

Reading to Sissy!
We got stuck in Target for a while today because the bottom fell out and we didn't want to get soaking wet! We got some free entertainment for Leland. He got out of the buggy and found himself a wheel barrow that he pushed everywhere!

He also found himself a Leland sized grill!

Driving already...

Leland played with my keys for a solid hour yesterday! I kept a very close eye on them, as I know how quickly little bit looses my stuff!
He had the biggest time cranking and driving the zebra!

Mommy's Helper!

Since we put Leland's big bed up, he has not been crawling out of it because of the rail on the side. He learned how to crawl out today and tonight when I put him to bed, he kept getting up and coming into the office where I was to "help"!

He stayed up with me for a long while. I was sewing some shorts and pants and he was playing with the measuring tape. I was talking to him and asking him if he could measure this or that and he was "helping" and doing what I asked. He got quiet for a minute and I looked down to this....

He fell over about midnight, so I put him in bed!

On another note, we are working on manners! Leland is learning to say please, Thank you, Mam, etc. His Mam is more like, "AM" (as he growls the word!) and his Thank you is more like, "T U"! Oh well it's a start and at least he gets the concept. He will be rattleing off sentences before we know it!

We were walking yesterday afternoon, and Leland was insistant on holding the dogs leash!
The smile that melts my heart!