what's been going on!!

well, well, well .... it's been quite a while. i honestly don't have a super awesome excuse for my lack of blogging other than the obvious "i have three kids" thing. but, i often think "i should be blogging this..." or "this would make a good blog post". for some time now, i've wanted to get back to my roots of blogging ... you know, the every day life stuff. don't get me wrong, i love reviewing EVERYTHING and consider it one of my passions to try places/things and give my honest opinion about them, but frankly that isn't why i started blogging.

so, kaley .. why did you start blogging? i'm not sure that i ever addressed that question on here before. the short answer: i want my kids to have something to look back on after i'm gone. yah, yah .. morbid. i also want to have my piece of the internet. some people want to get buried when they die, you know ... claim that little plot of land, well .. i want my internet piece!

anyway - let's get caught up. 

kaley: 

 still a SAHM! i've picked up a few new titles though ... Football and Baseball Team Mom and just recently Little League Board member! three days a week, i have about 2 hours to myself, it's been lovely! i typically spend those three days running errands or cleaning but occasionally (like today!) i find time to sit down at the computer or catch up on tv! i recently made myself every doctor/dental appointment that i could and aside from the typical vision getting worse and finding out that i have high blood pressure, i'm over all healthy! (and yes, you read it right ... 33 year old with high blood pressure! *insert eye roll*) all in all, not much new with me!

adam:

 about the same update for him! nothing is ever new with us really! OH - well one thing did happen with Mr. Poag! he got the ole SNIP SNIP. which means the hopes of there every being a baby girl Poag is gone. (wahhhhh wahhh wahh!) He's still doing his electrician thing and lovin' it! recently his schedule is working long days Mon-Thurs but having off every Friday, which me and Bear just love!  last summer, adam built a shed for us - which was amazing. he's got so many house updates planned, hopefully i'll be blogging some of them!

kullen:

  well, mr. 8 in a half year old, 3rd grader kullen! i don't even remember the last time that i blogged about him. probably when he got his tonsils out, which if i'm right, is still a draft post. HA! .. but, tonsils gone  - sleeps and talks a lot better with them out! he was also diagnosed with mild tourettes syndrome. he spent some time in occupational therapy but i really didn't feel it was doing what it needed, so we stopped. his tics were more verbal anyway. aside from that - he excelled in baseball last spring and is looking forward to this upcoming season! he also went all the way to states in football! we ended the season as #2 in the state of maryland for 8u! GO BLUE KNIGHTS! 

rhys:

 lets see, can't remember what i last talked about with rhys! he tested early into kindergarten last school year (which i'm not sure ever made to the blog) and is currently excelling in first grade. he just completed his destination imagination with his school and did really well (although complained most tuesdays when he had to go practice!) he also played tball last spring and his first year of football in the fall! he was one of the youngest on his team, and had adam as his coach! 

bear:

  oh my bear. currently FOUR years old and by far the funniest member of our family. seriously, there is NEVER a dull moment with him around! we decided to put him in a school program taught by local highschoolers (first flight) and he really enjoys it. he has made some new friends and seems to have won a few of the teachers over (always running to give them hugs!) despite his funny character, he is a true sweetheart. 

we still have kazi (our cat!) who will turn FIFTEEN this April. woah. 

we also had gotten a hamster two years ago but she only lasted about a year. she was a sweetheart and we're not sure what ever happened to her. 

we recently got two guinea pigs from a friend of ours (heather!) ... a sweet mama and her baby. they boys love them and i've even seen adam petting/playing with them from time to time!

so, i guess that about sums it up!

believe me, i know that i am missing some key things that have happened over the years, hopefully i'll get to them eventually!

meanwhile, you can follow us on instagram, facebook or twitter for the every day happenin's of the rogue poags! 

dollar shave club - review

i am sure you've seen the sponsored ad on Facebook - or even the commercial on tv - but have you tried it? or thought about it for your husband? 


well, mr. poag himself is here to tell you all his thoughts about the Dollar Shave Club.
but before i let him loose, i'd like to explain what the DSC really is.

razors:

you can select your razor preference and have them shipped to you every month! it saves you the trouble of having shop in a store [which we all know men hate!] and ends up being cheaper than what you would pay in stores! 

shave butter: 

designed to help fight ingrown hairs and razor bumps and doesn't dull your blades!

post shave: 

       

a post-shaving moisturizer that isn't sticky or greasy! it's also anti-aging! 

wipes:

basically, buttwipes made for men! they are soothing to the butt as well as flushable and biodegradable! 

Mr. Poag was given all of the above mentioned products for his honest review about them. 
ladies & gents: introducing … Mr. Poag!

when i first received my kit i was a little apprehensive and skeptical. i mean with the name "dollar" shave club it can't be all that great right? but let me tell you, boy was i wrong! the razor i was given to test should be called the "sadè" because its a smooth operator!(see what i did there?) i first lathered up with dr. carvers shave butter (which smells delightful by the way) and the smooth gliding action of "sadè" took over. i normally have a rough time in my neck area and end up with unsightly razor burns and nicks due to inferior razors but not with the products provided to me by my good friends at dollar shave club. i zipped right through my shaving duties (in what seemed like record time) and came out with skin as soft as a newborn baby. but wait, thats not where my barber shop esque experience ended. my skin had a 5 star meal to this point but as we all know you can't skip the dessert. and that is where the dr carvers post shave moisturizer comes into my grand story. a liberal amount was distributed into my hands and i applied it to my trouble areas including my neck and chin area. but i didn't stop there.the texture of this elixir was unlike anything I've used before. i continued to rub it into my face and forehead area as well because it left my skin feeling hydrated without being greasy and thick. and knowing that its properties not only pack a punch of moisture and renewing actives but also crams in healthy antioxidants which will improve my handsome looks for years to come. 
and now we come to the one wipe charlies. now I'm not normally overly aggressive on the john but sometimes in the heat of summer, things can get, well a little swampy down there. and as you all know a rough and jagged 2 ply is like dragging sandpaper on an already angry area. with the use of the disposable one wipe charlies this is an issue of the past. daily constitutionals are now as refreshing as a spring day in your jockeys! so bottom line of this review (get it?) is this: i do not like these products, i love them. too many times i see gimmicks and quickly disperse them but this is the real deal. quality products on a working mans wages. you don't have to spend a lot but your face will think you did! thank you dollar shave club for the opportunity to try out your amazing products as i look forward to using them in the future. 


disclaimer: i received the Dollar Shave Club box complimentary to review on my blog. all opinions expressed are that of Mr. Poag and are honest and true.

there's nothing sweeter ...

than a man who loves his son!

i know this is supposed to be 'wordless wednesday'

BUT

just a few won't hurt!

it makes me smile knowing how great of a father adam is

and how much he loves our son with all of his being. 

i know not every guy is like him

so it makes me extra happy/thankful/lucky to know i got one of those 'good dad' men!

helps that they're kinda cute too! ;]

my loves

lets go caps!

as i mentioned in a previous post, the hub's fantastic birthday present was a brooks laich jersey and almost front row tickets to a CAPS game the day after his actual birthday! he was thrilled and so were we (that he loved our gifts)! we got to verizon center early and walked a few steps down so we could see the warm ups and take some pictures!

poag boys!

me & my boy!

caps fans!

first face off!

aggressive ;]

mr. mike green ♥

the great 8 - oviiiiii :D

we went from being up 2 to being tied 2-2 at the end of the third. we went into overtime and remained tied so it went to a shoot out. unfortunately, the canadiens got the single goal making them the game winners. overall, it was a great game and we had AMAZING seats!

and kullen helping hims daddy blow out his birthday candle on his [homemade] birthday cheesecake!

dad/hubby of the year!

well, night two. complete and total SUCCESSSSSSSSSS!!!!! :D
thanks to - hub! he was super dad last night and i praise/thank him for it!

so, last night things were thrown off a tad ... after adam gave kullen his bath, i called and asked him to meet me at rita's, which he wasn't too happy about since he had just bathed kullen but he did anyway. we chatted with some friends and ate some ice and then went home. it was around 9pm - which is later than kullen usually stays up so i figured bedtime would be a cinch. ha!
i made his sippy, put his pjs on, turned the light off and rocked him while he drank. well - problem number one was that he didn't want his milk. he didn't even drink half, so i was worried i'd be up in the night with a hungry kid. so, i kissed him and put him in his crib. immediately he began crying and kicking his feet. i knew i had to leave him though, and i did. he screamed for what seemed like EVER and my heart was breaking. the screaming never slowed up so after about 10 or so minutes, i went back in and picked him up and rocked him a bit. i knew he was sleepy and would go to sleep with me holding him but that defeats the whole purpose of what we're trying to do - so i turned on his little lamp so he wasn't in complete darkness and put him back in his crib. he was crying but it wasn't AS instense as before. so i shut the door and went and sat on my bed with the monitor. finally, the crying slowed and turned into wimpers. i told adam that if he stopped crying within a few minutes to go in his room and check on him and turn his lamp off. i jumped in the shower and when i got out - adam was walking back in our room. he says 'he saw me!!' but i didn't hear crying on the monitor so i asked him what he meant. he said that he tip toed in kullens room but as soon as he got the door open, kullen peeked his head up and looked at him! haha! considering i didn't hear crying, i figured kullen was half asleep when he did that. SO - i waited a few minutes and went back in and turned his lamp off.
then i questioned myself about that ... should i leave the lamp on all night so if/when he wakes up in the night he's not freaked by pitch black? i wouldn't have a problem but the lamp is bright so adam put one of kullens little baseball hats on top and i just have a fear of that starting a fire. i need a night light for him!
so, anyway - decided to leave the light OFF.
well, went to bed and of course kullen woke up crying around midnight. i didn't budge. he was screaming pretty loud - loud enough to wake up hub (which says a lot!)
well adam got up - and i figured he'd just bring him back in our bed but instead the crying ceased and adam came back to bed within 5 minutes. i couldn't believe it! back to sleep we went. well, around 3:00am - the screaming started again, instensly! adam got up again!!! woah! i think he knew i was going to just let him cry (i had stated that to him earlier, but come on - we all know i wouldn't have really done that for long!) well, after a few minutes the screaming didn't die down and i yelled to adam 'just bring him in here' ... see, adam gets up for the day between 3:30-4am so i felt bad that he was up taking care of kullen (obviously not bad enough since i continued to lay there, hehe) ... but, after a few more minutes, the crying stopped and adam came back to bed! it was 3:20. it took him exactly 20 minutes to calm mr. man down and get him back in his crib.
my alarm went off at 5:20 this morning and i woke up to an empty bed. something i haven't done in a WHILE. i grabbed the monitor only to realize it wasn't even ON!!! which scared me, what if he had been crying and i didn't hear? (yeah right! haha) so, i crept in his room only to find him sound asleep :)


so, here's hoping this routine continues. now that we've had a successful night of keeping him in his crib, i feel like it will be easier and easier. can't wait for the day when i blog about my boy sleeping in his crib without waking up AT ALL during the night! ;]

disclaimer:
i know people will think 'her one year old isn't sleeping through the night yet?!!!' but despite what most think - it's not THAT uncommon. plus, i consider a child to 'sleep through the night' when they are no longer waking up to feed. just because they get up once or twice due to being startled out of sleep, bad dream, turning the wrong way or whatever the case may be - doesn't mean they aren't sleeping through the night. kullen sleeps ALL night! he may wake up once but it's brief and really, most of us adults do the same thing. i know i do - to go the bathroom, to adjust myself, because i had a weird/bad dream ... so before anyone starts thinking bad thoughts about a kid (which is wrong in itself!)... just wait until YOU have a kid! it's not as easy as it seems, trust me! ;]
sorry for the negative part - but i have just seen blogs, comments and random posts of people down talking kids and their parents and half of them aren't even parents! it's like how dare you judge anyone's parenting when you aren't even parents!! how dare you judge anyone's parenting period. until you've been in their shoes - which you NEVER will be because no two kids are alike - don't judge!

graduated :)

as always - late with the posting but life has been crazy lately! in preparation for kullen's first birthday, cleaning house for visitors and seeing my pea, who is in town from NOLA, i haven't had MUCH time!
i mentioned in a previous blog that we had to come back a day early from myrtle beach for adam's graduation - which was on june 5th. it was held at Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt and was REALLLLLY nice! it was also realllllly nice to see my hubby all dressed up! he cleans up pretty nicely!


anyway - they served us dinner while tons of 'bigwigs' gave speaches about the graduating class, which was a littttle boring but we survived :) finally, they called adam's group up to receive their diploma and other goodies (such as a tool box and a few tools) they had each students name, picture and each degree they had completed on a projector screen and displayed it as they called each one up to receive diploma.




it had been a longgggg and trying 5 years for adam (and myself) and he had overcome a few 'minor' obstacles during his time, but all in all - he completed and made a name for himself. a lot of older guys - teachers and board members - know who he is and there is something to be said for that. with a graduating class so large there are some students who pass under the radar without being known (not that it is a bad thing) but when they called adam's name, i have to be honest, i was a litttttle suprised to hear more than just myself and adam's mom hooting/hollering/clapping! :) it made me smile, and i KNOW it made adam smile! it's nice to see HIM proud of himself as well as other people. it was nice to walk through martin's with him and have so many people shaking his hand and saying they were proud of him. it was especially nice when an older gentleman came up to him and asked him when he was ready to come back to his company. the guy was from adam's original company - the one who got him started and helped him get into the program. i know adam wants to go back to that company so to have someone come and ask him when he was planning on coming back, made us both happy! not only is it local but one of adam's friend - who also was in the graduating class - works there. in my mind, i can just picture the two of them taking over that company someday! HAHAHA :) or maybe starting their own! at this point, the opporunties are limitless .. even though i know adam plans on staying with TA until they finish their current project, i look forward to what the future holds for the both of us!


a VERY proud member of the Local 26 IBEW


and as a VERY proud wife - i just had to post something dedicated to my hub! he works so hard and i am thankful for him.
congratulations to the IBEW Local 26 class of 2010!