New bloggy friend

I want everyone to welcome a new blogger, Sarah Jackson. Sarah is the mother of my beautiful nephew J.R. and my brothers girlfriend. Since I am a really bad aunt, you can visit her blog and see just how stinking cute he is. He looks a lot like me. Welcome Sarah!

http://sjackson83.blogspot.com/

Bad mood, get out of my head

So, I have been in a really shitty mood lately. It hasn't been a regular, hormonal bad mood. It's been a true blue, feel sorry for myself, pessimistic mood. I know it was caused by a combination of things, but I've had a "come to Jesus moment". Hayden isn't going to want to be by my side forever and one day Emily isn't going to tell me I am the coolest. My mom wants to talk to me everyday because she loves me and my family is her everything. Talking on the phone is part of my job, and as the snow falls I am so glad I work 4 blocks away in an office where I learn new things every day. Plus, I work with 3 of the best people I know. I feel guilty I take out my foul mood on the people I love the most, so I am over it. Lord, bring on the early morning wake up cries from Hayden, just hand me a cup of coffee.

Peak a Boo, Do you see me?

Hayden has started having a small seperation issue. I know it is only a phase, but it seems like he is much worse with it than Emily. But, as I think about it, Emily has been extremely independent since birth. Hayden isn't this way, he doesn't like to be alone. Before Christmas Hayden learned how to crawl out of his bed, after the first of the year he decided he didn't want to sleep in it anymore. Since then, I have not had a full night of rest. It sucks bigger than I can tell you. With infants it is expected not to sleep, but I had gotten past that time with the kids. Last week I couldn't stand it anymore. We decided to convert Hayden's bed into a toddler bed and put a TV in his room, hoping all of this would make a difference. I talked up the "big boy bed" and new TV to him, but it didn't work. He was still up several times that night and every night since.

Not only will Hayden not sleep in his room by himself, he will not stay in the bathtub without someone sitting with him. After several attempts to run naked into the living room, he finally got wise and decided to sit where he could hear us talking, but we couldn't see him. The above picture is of this tactic, it obviously didn't work very well for him. But, after I scolded him and put him back into the tub, Hank and I laughed our asses off.

If anyone has any advice for me, let me know.

Um Um Good

This week I started my "cooking every night" goal. This weeks winner is the corn dog casserole, submitted for me by http://amrbrowning.blogspot.com/. Emily, Hank, and Hayden LOVED it, they ate the whole casserole in one setting. Here is the recipe, I highly recommend it if your kids love corndogs. Emily gave it 2 thumbs up.

Corn Dog Casserole
1 c celery
1 TBSP margarine
3/4 c green onion
1 pkg hot dogs
1 egg
3/4 c milk
1 tsp sage
pepper
1 pkg corn muffin mix
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Saute celery and onion in margarine, set aside. cut hot dogs in halves then thirds; saute until light brown. Add hot dogs to veggies, Set aside 1 cup of mix. In large bowl, combine egg, milk, sage and pepper, add remaining veg mix. Stir in corn muffin mix. Add 3/4 c of the cheese. Spread into shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish, top with reserved mix and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown. Makes 6 servings.

Here is the finished product, I decided to garnish it with some tater tots. Gotta have the garnish.

Catchin Up

For Christmas Hank bought me a new camera. Tonight I finally plugged it into my computer to get the pics off of it. Here are some random pictures from the last month

Caffine, an addiction?

Heather and Angie confronted me with my coffee addiction today. I know I have an issue, I have went from 1 cup a day to 3 to 4 cups a day. Doesn't sound bad right. Well, today I decided to stop with my one cup and I started to have signs of withdrawal after a few hours. I was tired, couldn't concentrate, and my muscles ached. I was also nauseous. OMG, I'm addicted, really addicted.

After I started to feel like shit, I made a cup of hot tea and the symptoms went away. Here's the thing, I really enjoy coffee and like the taste of it. Should I feel bad about not wanting to cut back, or worse give it up??

Does your blog need a new look???

I have had the same template for my blog for months, mainly because I can't figure out how to add a new one. Every time I try, I get an error. If you are having troubles like I am, go to
http://christinagblogspot.blogspot.com/
Christina at Sugar Sweet Designs can hook you up, plus she is having a blog makeover giveaway.

Baby JR

Emily, J.R., and me babysitting

Emily holding J.R. for the first time

Babysitting J.R. while Sarah took finals

Sweet, sweet baby

Aunt Jamee holding J.R. in STL

Being an aunt is great, I have been an aunt officially for 5 years, but recently I became an aunt to my brothers baby boy. There was nothing like watching Ryan transform from "the baby" into a father worryinng about his baby. Here are a few pictures of J.R. My favorite is Emily holding him for the first time and me holding him for the first time.

Buris, new senator ?????

Would someone smarter than me please explain what is going on with our state government. Why was Roland Buris allowed to take his seat? Why did the Senate agree? What is the certificate all about? As arrogant as Blagojevich is, did they really believe he wouldn't push them? Are they wanting to impeach him? Just a few questions for the smarties in the crowd.

Nip Tuck

Nip Tuck, aka prime time porn. What ever, its on and I love it.

Who's Resoluting???

Did anyone make any good resolutions? I usually do the typical, "I want to loose 20 pounds by July", but this year I switched it up. I decided I needed to address a few issues, like yelling at my kids, cooking, and balancing my check book. Yes, I yell too much and I can see Emily starting to pick up my bad habit. So, I am working on it. Second, I only cook about a night a week, my kids favorite meal is corn dogs! So, I am looking for any easy and quick recipes. Last, I haven't balanced our checkbook in about 5 years. It has gotten me into trouble a couple of times, I am sure the First National Bank loves to see me coming. I just ordered my duplicate checks to help with this small issue. I'll see how it goes, yelling at the kids is going to be the hardest to master, and the odds are stacked against me.