Dream in Progress...

Pregnancy For the Last Time?

2014-09-15T13:17:00.000-05:00

Here we are, pregnant again.

Yes, we planned this. Maybe not exactly for this time, but we did/do want this baby. And YES, we know what makes babies!

It's been rough though. I get super sick round the clock for the first 4 months and this little parasite didn't disappoint. I abandoned my families nutritional needs to sandwiches, cereal and pre-packaged crap during that time.

During that misery I decided it was a good time to bring up the topic of sterilization. I feel like I'm done carrying babies in my body. I'm not so sure our family is done growing but I am certain that I am done growing the family with my body.

The question now is... Who gets fixed?

And the lucky winner is...

Cats & Dogs

2014-09-12T13:08:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wished for your kids to get or experience something, and then (regretfully) that wish came true?

This is the story of how my kids got to experience the miracle of birth (via dog/cat) and how I got to experience the misery of too many damn animals in my house at once.

First, we found out that we were expecting (a human baby). That was shocking and scary and wonderful. Yay! Until morning sickness. Boo!

Some time later our dog was hit by the neighbors truck. Several hundred dollars worth of X-rays later it was discovered that her pelvis was fractured and she would require about 10 weeks of bed rest.

So she sat and ate and was pampered and all the while grew bigger. At first we thought it was simply lack of activity (she is not your typical lazy pug). We then began to suspect the sometimes result of fornication. Sure enough, $100 more dollars of useless tests confirmed her impending motherhood.

The cat was getting quite chunky also. Yes, that happened.

Within two weeks both delivered 5 dogs and 4 cats, respectively. All while I puked and continued to grow my own little parasite.

The children experienced their freaking miracles and we went on to experience the miracle of cleaning up after 12 f***ing animals!

For some reason I was talked into keeping one of each and (mercifully) Facebook helped me sell/give away the rest.

It was a miracle I'll not want to repeat.

It has been agreed that no other animals shall join us until at a least two current pets kick it.

Catching Up

2014-09-11T12:45:00.004-05:00

So... It's been awhile. Things got crazy (or crazier) up in here.

Holidays. Birthdays. Trips. So much happened I'll just go over the highlights briefly.

Holidays were a blur as usual. We ate, we drank, we made merry, etc.
Birthdays = cake. Is there really more?
We bought a motorcycle for our oldest Kyler, and he raced! It was super fun to watch and we hope to make lots of future memories attending the races ahead.
We attended an international campout with about 47,000 other pathfinders in Oshkosh, WI. It was awesome and we were more tired than ever at its end. Epic.
We tripped up at Lake Martin with 22 other family members. A whirlwind family reunion took place.
Oh, and we are pregnant. Again! Estimated time of arrival... December 2014.

That more or less brings me to today. I am tired of all the stuff. I am ready to do nothing for awhile. Except that won't really happen, obviously.

Homeschooling. Potty training. Paci weaning.

Those things need to happen and I don't wanna!

Packing... again.

2013-10-30T02:21:00.001-05:00

It's past two in the morning and my mind just won't turn off. I guess I am still on a high from turbo packing.

Yes, it's that time again... packing for a trip. Only this time it's not the night before departure. I know, I'm awesome. I have finally managed to get something done more than 3 hours before I need it done.

I do still have to cook and pack food for sack lunches for the week and load it all. But that can totally wait until tomorrow. I'm hoping that this time around I can actually sleep the night before a major family trip.

We shall see.

Pathfindering

2013-10-10T11:22:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile. Something like 19 years (I can't believe I just wrote that) since I was last a pathfinder. Here I am again but this time I'm a grown-up. I keep waiting to "feel" like a grown-up. It isn't happening.

My son is about to become a newly minted pathfinder this weekend and my husband and I will become staff. It's surreal to look around and realize that I'm STAFF and not a kid anymore.

I suppose that I have been an adult for quite awhile. So when did that happen?!

I ~~hope~~ suppose sometime before I had my first child. It certainly wasn't before I married the first time cause adults aren't supposed to make mistakes like that. Right?

Oh well, I digress.

I am happy to be joining the pathfindering world again and look forward to helping young people. (Saying things like that should be a clear indication that I am now an adult. Or at least it indicates that I was listening to adults at some point.)

I could really kick some butts...

2013-09-30T14:49:00.001-05:00

My oldest attended a Pathfinder camping trip over the weekend with his Daddy. It was his first trip with the group and he was very much looking forward to it. He enjoyed most of the trip. He did NOT enjoy the teasing he endured from the older girls in the club.

Originally our whole family was supposed to attend together. However, due to rain the trip was rescheduled over a weekend that I could not go along. Also, some friends of ours were going to be in town and available for just a few hours on Saturday and so Joey was away for a few hours visiting with them and me. It was during that time that several of the girls in the group began teasing Kyler and generally giving him a hard time.

He was teased because they discovered he is the youngest in the group and one of them happened to see some food on his face and attributed that to his age. And so on concerning that topic.

In addition to the teasing he was disturbed by one of the girls discussing horror movies she had seen which caused him to have nightmares about murdering his own brother. He was also disturbed to hear the girls discussing their boyfriends and boys issues in general. When I asked him what they said about that topic he replied that he didn't know because he didn't listen to that crap. :)

I have really conflicted views on teasing and bullying. (Well, not really - in my head only.)

On the one hand I want to SQUISH those girls and advise my children to come running whenever someone hurts them with words! No one is allowed to hurt my babies!

On the other hand I don't want to create children that can't survive in the real world.

I want my kids to develop self esteem that can withstand any amount of bullying or teasing.
I want them to be able to ignore hurtful words and respond maturely to situations where others are simply seeking a response for attention.
If my children must endure teasing/bullying I want them to remember how it feels and determine never to cause anyone else to feel that way.

I humbly submit that the way to end poor behavior is not to enact a punishment or reward system. It is to treat others with love and respect because they are children of God no matter how they look, no matter how they live, no matter where they live and no matter how they treat me or my children. (I admit, that last one is especially HARD)

That being said, a punishment or reward system can be a good way to reinforce the training of children to behave like followers of Jesus. But the greatest of these is LOVE! (1 Cor. 13:13)

My Drug

2013-09-26T00:13:00.002-05:00

Procrastination is my drug.

I wish I was more organized. Like those moms that schedule when to eat, when to play, when to silently open a snickers bar in the bathroom and when to nap.

I have a list in my head of things I need to accomplish. It goes something like this:

A Weeks Worth: (1) Remember to take kids to tumbling and ballet, (2) Finally drive my comforter over to my mothers so I can wash it and we can stop fighting over the full sized blanket on our bed, (3) Grocery shop.

A Days Worth: (1)Uhhh..., (2) Oh yeah, the kids are hungry, (3) Walk the dog and clean up poo from not walking dog, (4) School, diapers, baths, brush teeth...?

Ok, so there's a lot that gets added to the list(s) last minute.

Somehow it all gets done (more or less) and we are super happy when sundown on Friday evening arrives. Oh how I love the Sabbath and not having to worry about most of the list!

VMA Trainwreck

2013-08-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

There was precious little I enjoyed about the VMA's last night. Here is a list (in no particular order, obviously): Justin Timberlake (kinda), Bruno Mars(mildly), Katy Perry, and last, but certainly not least, - the looks on the faces of the "celebrities" when the audience was shown.

During Miley Cyrus's "performance" (I use quotations to indicate that this is a loose interpretation of the word) she sadly shook her body about and attempted to sing a "hit" song of hers that was nominated at some point during the awards show. Then that creepy guy that sings about someone "wanting it" joined her and together they disgraced the stage for a few minutes more. Her tongue could have used a brushing and she appeared to be inebriated in some way (to be fair - many of the performers and presenters appeared that way, probably with good reason).

What's up with the bears by the way?! Trying to ruin stuffed animals for everyone are we?

Why did I watch you say? Well I was hoping to see Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. I was not dissapointed by the latter. The former performed a song called "Gorillla" that was mildly humorous and grossly inappropriate for youngsters. I lost count of the number of times I had to send my son out of the room. He pretty much was only allowed to watch the last performance as it was only one where nobody was talking about "doing it", "wanting it" or "sticking it" somewhere.

Thank goodness for Katy Perry. (much as I like her - never thought I'd say that)

Finally, I must comment on the looks frozen to the faces of the "celebrities" in the audience. Each and every time the audience was panned I was rewarded with the most horrified or confused looks I've ever seen on their faces. It got to where it was a game for us. We would rewind and pause the show to fully enjoy the shock and dismay.

I hope those gift bags really did have that extra $500 Justin promised - every person in the crowd deserved it!

There was plenty of other non-redeeming footage that I didn't comment on and actually fast forwarded through - I guess because it wasn't enough of a train wreck to watch at normal speed (plus I didn't know who they were). At one point we caught up to real time, because of all the fast forwarding, and watched Duck Dynasty until we saved up enough recorded time to be able to skip the boring parts (like the awards).

I really need to find better things to do with my time. I could blame this on Joey though... he's the one that said we should record it!

Snow Skiing with Granddaddy & Yia-Yia

2013-08-21T11:56:00.004-05:00

(This should have been published MONTHS ago. Another shining example of my organizational skills and memory retention.)

My oldest two "babies" went on a week long trip. My Dad took them to Brian Head Resort in Utah to snow ski for a week. This was their first time on an airplane WITHOUT ME!

<I was sort of a wreck>

Anyway... They had a great time, learned to ski, went sledding, went tubing and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. All with no mishaps. Whew!

They flew into Las Vegas and enjoyed some sites there, for one night, and then traveled onward to Utah. Their condo was very comfortable and provided lots of distraction for when the lifts were closed. They attended a "Ski School" for one short day and were then pronounced "skiers." Off they went to the top of the mountain and skied like pros the rest of the week.

Emma did have one "incident." She crashed forward and tumbled around real good, even lost a ski. Well, her instructor saw her tumble and asked if she was OK. She was upset and crying a bit and mentioned her foot hurt. He called in the cavalry and she was wrapped up like a burrito and whisked down the hill behind a snow mobile. It was quite an adventure and her foot turned out to be fine. She is a little embarrassed by it now.

Kyler swooshed down the hills as fast as he could. He had a few tumbles too, but no rescues were required. He even learned to jump! Next time he is really looking forward to snow boarding.

They were returned to us in tip-top shape and we are sooo happy to have them home.

<It was a hard week for me.>

Crappy, Crappy, Joy, Joy!

2013-08-21T10:28:00.003-05:00

We're moved. It sucked.

Actually it will continue to suck for a few more weeks as I continue to try and find homes for all the things left in the boxes standing guard in my new home.

But seriously. I'm happy.

It feels so good to be "home" and I'm focusing on that.

My family is within minutes of my current address and it's wonderful. I can now actually help when someone is having a hard time. They can come to my house and I can hug them instead of uselessly listening to heartache over the phone. I can drive to someones home in a matter of minutes to be supportive or hang out.

While words can be amazingly powerful there just isn't a replacement for being physically present. That never resonated more than during the last two years we've lived in Texas, near nobody.

(Note: There were also wonderful changes and growth as a result of being alone with my husband and kids while we were in TX all that time. But's that's another post for another day!)

We're Moving!

2013-07-02T15:15:00.001-05:00

I had known for quite some time that we were moving. It wasn't thrust upon me suddenly. I'm sayin' I had "months" to prepare for this eventuality.

So, when did I begin my packing for the move that happened day before yesterday?

About two weeks ago.

If ever there was a real life example of procrastination. Wow. I really don't need to start pointing those out.

So I began in the easiest room of the house - the playroom.

I'm an idiot apparently. I decide that the best place to start packing is in the room where all the kids toys and crap is strewn everywhere and they are still using? Why yes. Yes I did.

It was chaotic but what isn't in this house? I got it did - after like four days. That left me with about 1.5 weeks to finish packing the rest of an approximately 2500 sq. ft. house.

I won't go into detail - but basically I had to do it all myself and you know what happens when I am faced with a big job and no one to help... That's right. I must ping pong between Facebook and Pinterest until I have read every uninteresting article and repinned enough ideas to keep me DIY'ing, cooking and homeschooling for the next 200 years. Then I got to work - grumpy cat style.

There was screaming, crying, sleeping, grumbling and yes, packing. I even managed to utilize some helpful packing tips I repinned on Pinterest.

I got sick twice in the midst of all that. Two of the kids also got sick. We had friends come to help. They got sick while here. It was a regular urgent care 'round here.

It all finally got packed somehow though and Joey meticulously jigsaw arranged it all into our truck, the school van, and two large trailers.

Our stuff officially lives in MS again. We still live here in TX until the end of the month. :(

Packing For a Trip

2013-07-02T13:15:00.002-05:00

It goes something like this...

3 days to departure:

Me, "OK everybody start bringing me their clothes!"

Insert large pile of clothes on my bed that I still have to use 3 more times before we leave.

Me, "Wait, wait, wait. First bring me your suitcases!"

My oldest wrenches the largest suitcase from its precarious position underneath a mountain in a closet.

Monster Suitcase Example (pregnant with twins)

Me, "Put that back!"
Son, "But it's too hard!"

I get up to put back monster suitcase that we've only used once and I'm not sure why we still keep it.

I realize that 2 baby suitcases are inside the 'monster'.

I deliver the baby suitcases and resume search for appropriate number to accommodate 4 children.

Me, "Keep looking for the 'small' suitcases."

I must help in the search at this point because children cannot remember to look for suitcases for longer than about 8 seconds.

Me, "Since you're not looking, clean your rooms!"
Children, "Ugh!! What?! We just did!" <yeah right>
Me, "Just do it!"

Evie begins screaming because the iPad died.

I pull a clothes pin out of Logan's mouth.

I find all but one of the baby suitcases then get distracted by discovering life jackets we need for the trip in the process.

I am done trying to pack on this day.

The pile of traveling clothes on my bed will be kicked off in the night resulting in my having to fold them all again and wash some as well.

2 days to departure:

I have refolded all clothes and organized them by child. Unfortunately there isn't a complete outfit for any of them in the pile.

One sock, 9 pair of panties, 2 tank tops, a bathing suit and a nightgown for my daughter.
4 pair of jeans, his favorite shoes, a shirt with the sleeves cut out and assorted star wars pjs for my son.
Various articles of clothing for the babies that doesn't fit them any longer or is only appropriate in winter.

I must ask for each type of clothing one at a time and a specific quantity.

Me, "Get me X # of underwear!" Then, "Get me X # of shirts!" And so on.

This process takes all morning as I must inspect and approve all choices while choosing for the babies at the same time - after which I realize there is a LOT of laundry to do.

Me, "Hey Kids! Bring all the dirty clothes to the laundry room!"

<Reality - I must collect the dirty clothes from whence they are hiding.>

Kids, "OK!"

<Kids continue to play "zip each other in the monster suitcase" I still haven't put away>

The rest of the day is consumed by diarrhea, Evie screaming because someone looked at her wrong and rescuing Logan from choking to death on various items he finds to gnaw on - Oh, and exactly one load of laundry.

1 day to departure:

Me, "Are your rooms clean?!"
Kids, "Uh, huh!" <yeah right>

After rewashing the load I managed to wash yesterday, because I forgot to put it in the dryer and I live in the South so it takes exactly 8 seconds for it to start smelling bad and I waited till the next day - I get the laundry started.

Ok, it's go time. All laundry MUST be completed ASAP.

I scrap that ridiculous idea and start sorting out what we must have on the trip and throw it all in the washer so as to be able to actually pack bags instead of hauling laundry (aka garbage) bags "dorm style" to my Mother's house.

Me, "Kids! Bring me your shoes!"

I have learned the hard way I have to actually lay eyes on shoes for each child as there is no guarantee that they will all actually make it into the vehicle wearing ANY on departure day. We have several extra pairs of dollar store flip flops due to this phenomena.

Emma, "I can't find any!"

Me, "Really?! You were just wearing SOME earlier today! Where are those?"

Emma, "I don't know! <begins to cry> My shoes are lost FOREVER!"

Me, "~~Ugghh! Quit crying drama queen!~~" "It's Ok. We will find them. Where did you take them off?"

Emma, <sniff. sniff.> "The back porch."

Me, "Well did you look there?"

Emma, "No."

Me, "~~Well why the hell didn't you look there?!~~" "Let's go look there."

Guess where the shoes were? Ahhhhh!

Add to this a sprinkling of terror before Evie is ~~lost~~ found hiding in the second bathroom eating candy, and a period of time where I turn on a movie for the kids and hide in the bathroom checking Facebook - and there you have it... we are NOT packed.

8 hours to departure:

With kids (mercifully) sleeping - Joey and I frantically try to complete ALL laundry and pack ALL bags through the night.

At some point Joey heads to bed so he won't kill us all en route to our happy vacation. I remain awake to be sure we have toothbrushes, movies, diapers, pillows and the like.

Day of departure:

With minutes to spare, and the truck packed to bursting, we were on our way.

I took a nap. Ha, ha. Just kidding!

I yelled at kids and tossed snacks, DVDs and pacis at them for 6 hours in order to prevent mutiny.

We ~~survived~~ arrived!

I did not include eating, homeschooling nor grooming to this tale because, well, I didn't have the energy to write it up. (But we did do those things, promise.)

Substitute Teachering

2013-07-02T13:09:00.001-05:00

I ended up having/needing to substitute teach at the school where my husband works for the last 5 weeks of the semester. That was.... interesting. I was responsible for Pre-Calculus, Algebra II and something called Math Models.

The PreCal class was nothing. Really. I just accepted their final exams which had been given to them early because they were seniors and about to leave for their class trip. I graded them and that was that.

Algebra II and Math Models required class time and lecture. I had to brush up quick. I guess I did alright. Everyone was already passing the class and their grades pretty much didn't budge.

I have to say - Texas is retarded. They require so many math classes to graduate that they have invented a bridge class (Math Models) between Algebra I and Algebra II so that kids won't have to take the upper level math classes and can still get college prep HS diploma's. That's not the only dumb thing the educators in Texas have come up with but it's the one I had to directly deal with. Ugh.

OK. Can anyone say BORING!! I mean, I'm glad I was able to help out but seriously, I just realized how boring it is to talk about subsitute teaching.

The greatest part? The kiddos. They are so freaking hilarious! They were incredibly successful at derailing a class period to talk about - relationships, sex, Jesus, lunch... you name it. It was great.

They made me laugh. A lot. We spent our "final exam" time having a pizza/ice cream party and just decompressing after a rather stressful second semester. I'll miss them. :(

He is... Mine!

2013-04-29T17:00:00.003-05:00

No matter what new deeply crazy level I descend to, my husband is not fazed. He is either perfect or a robot.

I'm pretty certain he's not a robot.

Homeschoolish

2013-04-29T12:58:00.002-05:00

I homeschool my kids in case you didn't know. It is a decision that I wished for my children many years before they reached school age. There are many reasons why but they won't matter as most people don't make decisions based on what I think. I refrain from telling the story/reasons unless pressed to by a friend for informative purposes and not to try and convince me why I am wrong/crazy.

I love it. We have such freedom. Simply put - our kids may learn in the way that works best for them and they may learn at their own pace.

For the last two years I've used Time4Learning.com as the curriculum for my oldest, Kyler. He loves it (as much as he loves anything having to do with school).

I love how I can adjust the grade levels he has access too and also how I can review everything he has completed by date/time. All the lesson's may be reviewed as necessary before or after completion. It makes for a very easy lesson planning and record keeping. Also, it is very easy to see when he needs more help on a topic. It's also easy for him to know where to pick up the next day as the student login keeps track of his completed lessons.

I do supplement with a handwriting, spelling and bible curriculum. Although there are spelling lists available for my use if I wish.

Basically Time4Learning.com works for him as a visual learner in a way that traditional workbooks and textbooks simply cannot. He has been thriving and learning to read better and better each day. The interactive style of the lessons helps to keep him interested and engaged. I can't imagine him succeeding half so well with another curriculum - and I've tried several others.

As a member of Time4Learning, I have been given the opportunity to review their program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. For more information, check out their standards-based curriculum or learn how to write your own curriculum review.

Endings & Beginnings

2013-04-29T12:37:00.004-05:00

I dread change. I also crave the excitement resulting from it. So clearly I am at war with myself frequently. Crazy probably doesnt do justice to a description of me. My life is, and always will be, complicated.

Anyhoo.

There's is boocoo of change a comin' to the Rouse house. We are anticipating relocation, employment upheaval, major shifting of family responsibilities, and a butt load of family drama. And that's all to come before the end of the summer. We are moving home to MS in June. And not just any ole place - my Mom's house. Also, my husband is changing jobs, probably more than once before the year's end. Yay! And let's not forget the drama and super fun responsibilities (that I can't mention online) that come with this move.

Here's hoping for a calm seas ahead.

I can dream.

Perhaps I'll keep it all together throughout this mountain of change - but let's not hang too much hope on that. My capabilities are not what anyone could call 'staunchly resilient'. I'll muddle through, and we'll all survive. It will be a summer to remember for sure.

FYI. I really do love my family and this move is necessary for the happiness and health of my immediate family. I actually am really excited to be moving back "home." I just hate change even when it's desired... by me.

Perhaps I'll finally learn to gracefully navigate and accept changes in my life this time.

I said I can dream and I will be.

Grey Days

2013-04-15T20:43:00.001-05:00

I am reminded of grey days past today. It's scary that life is so unpredictable. It seems any innocent activity is fair game for tragedy.

My babies aren't really ever safe I suppose. I will keep my vigil still. Prayers are all well and good but Jesus wants us home regardless. I pray He comes soon before any real tragedies strike me and mine.Or else we die of old age.

Is a life bereft of illness, disease, accidents nor drama asking too much?

Probably.

I'll keep trying to improve my other-centered love till this world ends.

Finding a great read, 'tis not so easy

2013-03-16T15:11:00.004-05:00

I'm a reader. I used to spend hours escaping from my life by reading, literally, whatever I could find. I've read everything from fiction, biographies, maps, instruction manuals and you name it.

However, since the dawn of my children I have had precious little time to read. Because of this I have drastically altered my choices in reading material. <I also waste an extraordinary amount of time watching tv because it distracts without requiring too much of my noodle.>

And so, to the point. I have recently discovered a few titles that have rocked my world - in a good way. I don't want to write a book review here so I'll just give the basic point of each and be done. In short, if you are really serious if about thinking for yourself, these are books for you. If , however, you are content to go with the flow of so many that surround you then these books will be more disturbing than enlightening.

Finding the Father: See Him For Who He Really Is, Herb Montgomery

This book helped me to understand why I was holding myself back from a relationship with God. He is NOT in control.

Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices, George Barna and Frank Viola

What are we doing inside any church? A church is no more a building than my brother is a "skyscraper."

The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child, Robert W. Sears, MD

Forget the horrible crap that's in them. Do they really work?

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Ina May Gaskin

"Your body is not a lemon!"

It's a strange mix, to be sure. But I am better for reading the knowledge within these.

These are at the top of my list for now. For a great work of fiction try anything by the author Charles Martin.

Happy Reading!

2013-02-21T15:42:00.003-06:00

Property management stinks!

That is all.

Lola

2013-02-20T12:44:00.001-06:00

My gift for Valentine's Day this year was Lola. She is tiny and wiggly and snorts a lot. The kids love her but may be the death of her.

We are happy to have added this tiny jumping bean to our family. I just hope she makes it to adulthood.

In the past three days she has been: kicked, dropped, dropped, stepped on and dropped again. I took her in to see a local vet and he assures me that her limp is simply due to a sprain. But, sheesh! I'm starting to wonder if she will make it to her first birthday at this rate. We've only had her for a week and a half!

She is so stinkin' cute!

Lola sleeping on me

We got the kids new rain boots. Logan was less than pleased, mostly because we made him wear the boots.

Boots, off.

Boots, on.

Illness, Amazon and Potty Training

2013-02-08T14:33:00.001-06:00

So these last few weeks have been terrifyingly eventful.

At the beginning of last week Evie developed an infection on her leg that was very painful.
We've taken her to the Doctor's office 4 times so far (we have one more follow up next week). She has been on two different antibiotics three different times and had to have two shots in her bum. She has been miserable - to the point that she couldn't even walk for awhile and then only waddle. I'll spare you the gory details of taking care of an abscess near the diaper area of a toddler. Suffice to say that I am officially immune to ANY substance emanating from a child of mine.

I've been freaking out!

However, many, many prayers have been sent up on her behalf. I believe that an unseen war was being waged on her behalf - and we have emerged victorious! Evie's leg is ever so much better this week and she is in virtually no pain. I am finally able to take a breath. We have avoided the hospital and I am piteously thankful.

In Other News..

I went a little crazy with the Amazon app on my phone.

I am becoming obsessed with shopping online.

I WILL potty train Evie (or she will train me :).

Shameless!

2013-01-24T18:37:00.000-06:00

My little baby is one year old. A toddler according to many sources, though I contest this association.
Of course all the kids in my home are all still my babies, so of course I would.

Anyway, before he was born we chose alligators as a theme for his birth. We fashioned the cutest baby wreath for his room and bought up many alligator themed articles of clothing and such.

Adorable (a.k.a. "Scary") Alligator

One year later... I have slaved away making banana bread cupcakes (with applesauce and honey so as to be healthier for my newly deemed "toddler") with brown butter and maple icing. I also make several attempts at baking a sugar cookie in the shape of an alligator. (I did finally succeed). Eventually I get that sucker iced and slap him on top of one of the poor cupcakes with a single candle to help hold up his massive girth. He is HUGE! (I had ordered the cookie cutter from Amazon and so was quite surprised by how large it was upon arrival)

So, we get him dressed in his new birthday t-shirt and everyone is assembled for the birthday doings. There is just one problem... He is terrified of his birthday cupcake (i.e. the alligator). I mean, he didn't just not like it. He wasn't just throwing a temper tantrum.

He. was. scared.

And being the shameless mom that I am, I took as many adorable pictures of his cute screaming, terrified expressions as I could.

Get it away! Get it away!

Save me Daddy!

Help me!

He eventually came around (after we removed the alligator and distributed it in three parts to the other kids) and allowed Joey to feed him a little bit of his SPECIAL birthday cupcake (remember, I SLAVED).

He then screamed because we didn't feed it to him fast enough. Go figure.

I snapped up those pics too! :) Shameless!

(I hugged him later, he's not scarred... promise)

Sticky Hair

2013-01-24T18:05:00.002-06:00

I am constantly amazed at how frequently I must scrub sticky goo out of Evie's hair. She must be hiding candy throughout the house b/c I'm sure this is the number one cause.
Often I will see her walking across the room with hair stuck awkwardly to the side of her face.

Since she won't keep a clip or rubber band in her hair it constantly hangs in her face and she swipes it out of her eyes whenever she pleases - no matter the state of her tiny toddler hands! Agghh!

Where does paint go?

2012-10-07T21:34:00.002-05:00

Not in Evie's hair.
Not on Evie's hands.

Not on Evie's feet.
Not on Evie's face.
Not on Evie's (new) shirt.
Not on Evie's (new) pants.
Not on the floor.
Not ALL. OVER. THE. KITCHEN!

Guess whose Daddy left the paint out for them to play with?

>:(

Tomorrow brings...

2012-09-26T01:01:00.000-05:00

I am ready to see my family tomorrow, oops, today. I am NOT ready to deal with a 2 year old and an 8 month old for 6 hours in the car.
Can we say... nuts?

Btw, whoever had enough sleep to draw the correlations between raising kids and herding cats was right on. I can envision my kids on all fours, meowing and trying to trip me as I make my way through the house. That's pretty much what happens anyway. (substitute screaming for meowing)