My Three Monkeys

5x7 Folded Card

2011-04-28T15:00:00.001-05:00

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Normal Days

2011-03-25T20:21:00.003-05:00

Just realized that I've posted ONCE for 2011 so far... and while I was journaling on my iPhone, I didn't put those on here, so... hum. Everything has just been normal. Each day seems to bleed into the next, and so on, and so forth. I can't tell you where the past three months have gone because it's just one big blur. All three boys are so on-the-go all the time that I have a rough time keeping up. Well, that's not ENTIRELY true. haha! I usually manage to be able to squeeze in one episode of some DVR'd show during the morning or afternoon. But pretty much the rest of the day, I'm chasing some boy or another trying to get them to stop doing whatever they just did.

Brayden is just HUGE... he's so tall and his feet are about 3/4 the size of mine. He's doing pretty well in Pre-K... All of his progress reports show him excelling in all the areas. But he has a hard time being good in class more often than not. He likes to do things his "own way." Which means that he wants to be in charge and let you know what he is planning on doing. Not the other way around. He also has a streak of wild energy that he can't contain. It usually comes out in thrashing wiggles and a loud shriek of some kind. He and I are constantly butting heads... probably because he is so much like me. He's beginning to read, which is very exciting.

Tyler is going to be 4 next week! I can't believe he's already that old. We are going to enroll him in Pre-K in a few weeks!! We have a lot of trouble understanding him when he talks. He has a hard time with "s" "f" and "l." Everything sounds like "w." But Mrs. Jennings said that they will start speech therapy with him this fall if he's still having trouble.

Logan is FULL of words. He can say: ma-ma, da-da, ba-ba (Brayden), ta-ta (Tyler), bye-bye, look, go, pa-pa, maw-maw, stop, and he'll try to say anything else that you throw at him (Erin, Jenn, baby, car, shoe, etc). He's a terror around the house, though. He's the troublemaker, instigator, and daredevil. But he will usually listen to me when I tell him to stop. So that's really a great thing. He's a pretty happy baby most of the time.

A MOMMY'S FRUSTRATION

2011-03-17T14:38:00.001-05:00

If you are anything like me, when shopping for clothes you've noticed that no matter what store you walk into, the little girls' department heavily outweighs the little boys' department. And not only that, but the things that most stores DO have for boys are the same style just in different colors (e.g. polos, tees, tanks) or maybe a variation between solids and stripes. Today I got the Children's Place flyer in the mail. It was for the spring "stock up and save" promotion. On the first page, it has SIX girls to two boys. Then the next four pages are things for girls. Then there are two pages for boys. And that's it. *Sigh* I was so excited to see this flyer, but the only thing *new* for the boys in it were the polos - which aren't new, just different colors and stripe styles. The other things are their mix and match tees and tanks - which they've had for the last few years.

So I grabbed my phone and gave TCP a call (1-877-PLACE USA). I told the guy how frustrating it is to be a mom to boys and to not have any selection. That every time I walk into their store, I get upset at how the girls' choices outweigh the boys'. I'm figuring that if I can get some other moms to call them and perhaps a few other stores, maybe we can get our boys some cute clothes too. :)

Week Three - Fail

2010-06-18T22:45:00.001-05:00

Oh my word. I don't think this week could have been much more eventful. Not to mention stressful. I am just thankful that Mom and Dad had Brayden for the week. But I don't really feelike rehashing all the failed points, so I will say how I really feel about
everything. I feel like God has taken care of and provided for me this week in more ways than I failed. It was a truely trying week, but I feel as though I came through it stronger and more trusting.

A few things I do want to remember about this week... Logan started waving and pointing. And just yeaterday he started immitating kisses - like just popping his lips, but he does it back to someone doing it to him. He is also standing unassisted a lot more often. Tyler swam all by himself this week. He still has a life jacket but I was able to watch him from out of the pool which was very nice. Brayden has been at VBS all week, but I hear he is having a good time. Guess that is all for now.

Whew!

2010-04-20T17:38:00.003-05:00

So I just spent way too much time trying to make a new blog background and banner. I think it's cute, but... well, I ended up just having to stop and say, "that's enough." HA!

Today was another flylady day. So far, thanks to the lady, I've been motivated to actually mop my kitchen floor (gasp!), organize my bookshelf (double gasp!), and clean the guest room where Jeremy was staying and move Logan in there!! I also mopped the bathroom floors! Woah, there Nelly! If you keep this up, your family's gonna start expecting it of you! But that's fine. I've been getting on to myself for about 2 years now about how I just don't really have the housewife gene that keeps me cleaning... But I'm trying to get into a routine to where this isn't as bad as I make it all out to be. My sink is still shiny, by the way.

I have to say, my motivation has also meant less TV time for myself, which is super great. It also helps that Dave Ramsey motivated me to downgrade our cable package - so we're basically not getting any channels anyway. ;) But I've been trying to read more, clean more, and play with the boys more. They LIVE outside, though, and I hate nature. So it's been a challenge, but I'm trying to compromise. Today we were going to go to the library, but I stopped in at sonic for a limeaide. The boys decided they'd rather play on the playground there. So they played for an hour while I sat and read some of my book. It was kinda nice.

I still have some random things to do today to go to bed happy, but I think I'll get there... I made two meals at lunch, so dinner is already ready - I just have to heat it up and make some rolls to go with it. YUM.

So... on to that, I guess. :)

My kitchen sink...

2010-04-13T13:20:00.002-05:00

So last night a YM friend's wife posted on Facebook about this site called "FlyLady." I've heard of it before and know of a lot of girls who have used her site to get their house in order... WELL... I decided to go check it out for myself. And lo and behold, it all seems like a pretty good idea. So I started with baby step #1 last night - Make Your Sink Shine! I spent the time necessary and finally went to bed with a shiny sink.

This morning was baby step #2... Get up and get your self showered and dressed. Now, to most people, you'd think - Well DUH! But to a mommy of three young boys, usually a shower is something that gets put off and put off and put off until Daddy comes home and can give me a few free minutes. This morning, though, I got up and tackled my shower before John left home. Of course my hair is in pigtails, but as I start getting better at this routine thing, maybe I'll be able to work in fixing my hair and stuff.

Made lunch for everyone, and because of my shiny sink, I didn't want to leave my kitchen dirty - so I actually CLEANED UP after lunch! And wiped down my sink so it stayed shiny. Dishwasher is already being run for the day - along with laundry!!! I feel so accomplished. Baby step #3 tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Logan's 7 Months!

2010-04-09T22:27:00.002-05:00

So today rolls around, and I can't even begin to say how weird it is to think that it's been 7 months since Logan was born. He's such a little joy!! He's still not back to sleeping through the night - quite the opposite, acutally. He's been going on spurts of waking up every 2-3 hours. It seems like about the time I get him back to bed for the hundredth time, Brayden wanders in asking for a new pair of underwear... I don't feel like I ever get any sleep anymore... But that's kind of the life of a Mommy, I guess.

Anyway - at 7 months old, Logan is pulling up on EVERYTHING. Tonight, he was fussing in his pack-n-play and I came in to check on him and he's pulled up on the side with his little head over the top just crying his little heart out. It was almost more cute than anything else. He's still not properly crawling - I'm beginning to think that he's going to be walking before he gets that figured out - but he sits up very well by himself. He can even get himself into a sitting position! He's starting to mimic sounds - he was fake coughing like Tyler today. I'm totally convinced that we have another boy out of the Brayden book on our hands. I don't know what it'll do to my sanity, but it's kind of interesting.

Speaking of Brayden, I got him pre-enrolled for Pre-K this week. Can't believe he'll be starting school this fall. He's REALLY excited about it, though. I think he's going to have a good time.

Tyler turned three this past week. He's growing up too fast, too. He had a really good check-up at the doctor. He was 37.5 inches tall and weighed a little over 30 lbs. 50th percentile for both.

Well, Brayden just came in crying - he had a bad dream... So I'm going to try to get him settled down and back to sleep. :)

Logan's 6 Months Old!

2010-03-15T16:47:00.004-05:00

Oh my goodness, where does the time go? My life seems like it's blowing by me... But it's also very odd how each day seems to never end. Life isn't a walk in the park with three boys at home, but it's not dull. I usually end up laughing and crying almost every day. Like right now, Brayden is standing beside me with little stickers stuck all over his face. Now it's post-its. Of course they are all coming off of pictures that I'm trying to organize, so I'm exasperated at the same time.

Anyway... back to Logan. He's now 16.5 lbs (40th%) and 27" long (75th%). He seems a little skinnier than the other boys at this age, but that's probably because he's pretty active. He doesn't hold still when he's awake. We got him a jumper exersaucer thingy and he just goes to town in that thing. He's enamored with his big brothers - you can just tell that he is longing to run around the house with them. He's especially fond of Brayden. Brayden can make him laugh at just about anything. I think Brayden is a little rough with him sometimes, but he's always laughing, and Brayden will then tell me, "It's okay. Logie likes it." He's a happy little guy. He loves to talk and giggle, but when he gets upset, it's like it's the end of the world. He's a sneaky little fellow - he can manage to get into things and places in a heartbeat when you leave a room. He's also a drama king... He can be playing happily, but if you walk into the room, he'll start crying. The second you pick him up, it's all smiles... but don't put him back down, or all gehena will break loose. He's still working on sleeping through the night, but at least he's sleeping in his own bed - neither of the other boys slept in a bed by themselves until they were a year old! He's a pretty good napper, too. But the funniest thing... he LOOOOOVES the tv. He will angle himself to see it wherever he is in a room. It's quite funny. Here are a few pics of us on his half birthday.

Some 2010 Goals

2010-01-03T21:05:00.002-06:00

Of course with the new year come new goals (resolutions, if you will). I have never been one to really make these said resolutions, but I figure why not try? haha!!! So here are some of my goals for this year.

1) To read through the entire Bible before June. I was trying the P90X, but it's kind of hard with three small kids. I think I'll do the P180X. ;)

2) To lose that last 5 lbs of baby weight. Of course, this entails eating a little less and drinking a more reasonable amount of Dr. Pepper... 3-5 cans a day is NOT a good thing for one complaining about the size of their remaining baby pooch.

3) To be a more attentive mom to my three boys. I have a tendancy to just let them do whatever during the day... I'd like to try to be organized enough to "do" something at least once every 2-3 days. After all, B starts pre-K this fall and after that, I won't have him all to myself anymore.

4) To scrapbook/journal more! My scrapbooking pages are pretty much how I get my journaling done these days, and if I'm not doing pages, I'm not really journaling!! EEK!!!

5) To stick with Mr. Dave Ramsey through the year and be out of debt by next spring!

6) To try learning some new dishes to throw into the menu mix. The same 21 dishes are getting kind of old.

7) To keep up with friends more. It's been a while since college now, and sometimes I feel like I've kind of lost touch with some of those that I love dearly.

8) TO LEARN HOW TO USE MY EXPENSIVE CAMERA!!!! But I'm getting there with this one... And just to show you, and because he's just so darn cute, here's proof. (This is Logan at almost 4 months old now!)

...and B is for Brayden

2009-12-30T22:41:00.002-06:00

God has to help me, cause I know I can't do this on my own. I have one of "those" kids. The ones that throw fits in the middle of a store and cause everyone to stop and see what parent isn't doing their job. The ones that hide cookies under their beds so that they can have them later. The ones that find markers and decide to put their own brand of graffiti on their great grandma's walls. Yep, that's my kid. And the thing is, he is NOT undisciplined. He is NOT allowed to have his heart's whim with the throwing of a tantrum. But yet he behaves as if those things were so. I have a friend that has said that youth ministers make horrible toddlers. If that's so, my kid is going to be the youth minister to head all youth ministers. But seriously, John and I pray constantly that these things that make us pull our hair out right now will be gifts for our oldest in the future. God gave Brayden this trying personality, and we have a job to mold it, but like I said, God help me!!! I have no idea what to do with a kid like this. I can't constantly be monitoring every single thing he does all day long... Well, I COULD, but I'd have one starving child, and I'd probably smell bad. He manages to even get into things in his sleep... *sigh*

But in deeper thoughts.......

I was sitting in bed last night after dealing with a fussy baby, a sick toddler and a typical Brayden and the thought came to me about what love is... Paul says that love is patient, kind and keeps no record of wrongs (among a list of other things). I guess I have some work to do on figuring out how to truly love my big boy. I tend to be short tempered with him, a little on the rough side when he's misbehaving, and have a running tally of how many things he's gotten in trouble for that day so I can complain to John about it all later. Thank goodness that God loves me with a true love. I can't even imagine how similar I can be in my life to that of my trying child. God help me; God love me. Thank you for teachable moments.

Logan Andrew's Birth Story

2009-09-13T16:10:00.003-05:00

Yes, Logan is now here!! He made his arrival on September 9th as "scheduled." Here's how everything went down...

**WARNING: I try not to be graphic, but I also want you to realize that I don't water things down and this could be a little too much information for you if you aren't comfortable with that kind of stuff...**

(the following takes place on)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th, 2009

MIDNIGHT
John and I arrive at Norman Regional Hospital to get checked in for our induction. As we pull into the parking lot (and we got a VERY good spot), I notice another car pulling in beside us. I jokingly told John that they were probably here for induction as well. Come to find out, they were. Anyway... We get up to the desk and sign all the papers and they put us in our room (3516 - which I really think is the room we had Brayden in, but I can't be sure). I get the gown on, use the bathroom, and get all "hooked up." John and I are both already kind of tired (it IS midnight, you know), but my adrenaline is keeping me going. The nurse checks me and verifies that I am still at one centimeter and goes ahead with the Cytotec (a little pill thingy that is used to soften the cervix and get contractions going). This is a three dose thing that will be done every four hours and THEN we'll start the Pitocin. Almost immediately contractions get regular - 3 to 5 minutes apart - and I'm breathing through them conciously. It's not really HARD, but it is uncomfortable, and I'm having to remind myself to relax. The nurse keeps telling me to get some sleep, but with the monitors on my belly, I just couldn't really get in a comfortable position. Finally I turned on my iPod and for some reason, that really worked, and I went to sleep by the 2nd or 3rd song. So I slept off and on until about 6:30ish...

6:30 AM
My nurse came in to check my progress... By this time I was about 4 cm and she was going to put in another dose of Cytotec, but decided that she should call Dr. Waterman and find out if maybe we could just go ahead and start the Pitocin. She comes back in a little later to let me know that we are gonna just go with the Pitocin and checks me again... This time while she's checking, Logan kicks and my water breaks. Meanwhile, I'm still having fairly hard contractions and decide that maybe I DO want the epidural at this point. So I tell my nurse that and she calls the man with the relief. He gets to my room about 7:30ish. The actual putting IN of the epidural is NOT fun, but I survive by reminding myself that it's gonna make things a lot easier. I ask him to not make it very strong, but he says that he always starts it at a "set" level and then later, if I'm not liking it, he can up it or back it off. So I settle with that answer.

8:15ish am
Epidural is in, Pitocin is running, and I'm feeling pretty good - but the epidural has made my legs kinda more numb than I'd like (at least I'm not feeling the contractions, though). John has been up for a little bit now and is waiting for the room to clear so he can take a shower. In between people in the room, I tell him that I can feel things changing and maybe he might wanna go ahead and get in the shower. So he starts getting all his stuff together for his shower and heads in there. I call Mom and let her know that I am doing pretty well and still think it'll be around noon when Logan comes.

8:30 am
The nurse comes in to check me right after John's gotten into the shower. She informs me that "there is a little lip of cervix left... OH, wait, nope - it's gone. Time to push!" Um. Okay. So the scrambling begins right as I'm thinking - yeah, I think she's right, I can feel the pushing sensation coming on. I ask the nurse to let John know; I call Mom real quick like to say they better hit the road. As I'm on the phone with her, I get the urge to push, so I hang up quickly. I notice John's out of the shower and dressed with a kind of dazed look on his face - like "is this really happening RIGHT NOW?"

8:45 am
Dr. Waterman gets there to "catch" Logan. Seems like the room is full of people. There are two nurses at the warmer, two more for I don't know what, my nurse and Dr. Waterman. Plus John. And me, of course. My legs are still SUPER numb so they have to lift them up for me. The nurse lets me know that I'm having a contraction and I can push... I kind of had this thought of, "Well, I can't FEEL the contraction, but whatever - sure, I'll push."

8:51 am
So I give one push and Dr. Waterman says, "Well, there's the head!" Seriously??? So one more push and wham, I have a baby on my tummy. I'm shocked. Completely and totally. First, I really didn't think I'd have Logan so early in the day. Secondly, I never in my wildest thoughts would've imagined him coming out in TWO pushes (John says it's more like one and a half, really). But I come out of my little shocked world when I hear them ask John to cut the cord... I piped up and requested that I get to do it. John's done it twice and I kind of wanted to get to see what it was like. So I awkwardly cut Logan's cord and then they take him to weigh and measure him. He's 7 lbs, 13 oz, 19.5 inches long and got an 8/9 on his APGARs. He looks JUST like Tyler.

9:00 am
I get Logan back to nurse him. None of our family has made it to the hospital yet because everything happened so quickly. John and I actually get about an hour with Logan - just the three of us. John gets a few pictures and a little cuddle time. I'm still sitting there in shock.

10:00 am
The nursery nurses come to take Logan and give him his first bath. Neither family has arrived yet!! I'm kind of not wanting them to take him, but we have no idea how long it'll be before everyone gets here. So I turn the precious little bundle over. And wouldn't you know - everyone gets there like 10 minutes later. They all go to the nursery to watch Logan get his bath. I get reports that Logan did NOT like the bath at all.

10:45ish am
Logan comes back and the pass-around begins. Brayden is actually the first one to hold him. He is a VERY proud big brother. Tyler on the other hand is tired and is just sitting on my bed with a very worried face. I ask him what's wrong, but he doesn't answer. Finally I ask him if he's scared and he nods yes. I ask him if he's scared that he's gonna get taken away - he nods and repeats, "Taken away" in the most sad, pathetic little voice I've ever heard. So I let him crawl up beside me and I cuddle him so he doesn't feel left out. About this time, Andy & Amy show up with Paige & Abby - and a Papa John's pizza!!! They all get to see Logan and Brayden & Abby run around the room. It's a riot in there, I'll tell ya.

Noon-ish
Tyler is now sleeping on me in my bed (as is Logan). Everyone else takes off to eat some Braum's for lunch. I enjoy my Papa John's and the peace and quiet.

4 pm
The boys are getting restless and are getting in trouble more often than naught. So Greg & Rhonda start packing them up and take them home. Mom & Dad head off to walmart to get some stuff and get us some dinner.

6 pm
Mom and Dad leave and it's just John, Logan and me. We all just have a nice peaceful night of watching tv and cuddling. It's been a long day, but a very, VERY good one. I can't believe I'm the mom of THREE boys.

No Baby

2009-09-06T17:33:00.002-05:00

So I'm resigned to the fact that I'm gonna go until Wednesday. Which is fine, I guess. I told John I just really want to have that "THIS IS IT!!!" moment when I get to tell him to grab the bags cause my water just broke or what have you. It seems like everyone on TV (like on Baby Story) and in the movies (although it can't be a more laughable farce about how most movies portray labor) gets to have that moment... I just wish I could. It's not that I don't appreciate the scheduled induction - I mean, my doctors COULD just let me go a few extra weeks trying to see "if..." Thankfully that's never been the case. But there seems to be some part of the birth excitement that I've missed out on with my last two pregnancies. And on top of all that, I'm just so darn uncomfortable and these contractions are killing me. I went for a solid TWO HOURS yesterday with contractions being 10 minutes apart. They weren't necessarily hard ones, but they weren't exactly light either. I kept thinking that sooner or later they'd pick up, get closer together, and we'd be having a baby. Which I was REALLY hoping for since we'd had such a bad night with football... I kinda thought having a baby would releive some of the pain (how's that for irony?).

But we're still here. With no Logan. But it's nice to have a peacefully quiet house that is actually CLEAN (minus the dirty dishes that really just need to be put in the dishwasher, but I have to empty the dishwasher first, and I haven't yet found the motivation to do step one of two). Not to mention the fact that there is a sense of profound enjoyment in knowing that it's going to STAY clean. But I've got my bag packed (mostly), and I would welcome a birth day at any given moment. I'm just sooooo ready to have my little baby in my arms. It's been a super long nine months. But I can now almost count down HOURS... If this labor is as quick as both Brayden & Tyler were, less than 72 hours from now, we'll be third time parents. EEEEKK!!!!!! How exciting is that?!?!?!?!?!?

The Big Fletcher Parade

2009-09-04T17:16:00.002-05:00

Every year for Labor Day weekend the massive town of Fletcher has a fair. We also have hugely impressive parade to celebrate the occasion. Of course, we don't have our own marching band, so we "borrow" Elgin's. And until about 12 years ago, we didn't really have floats... But that's all beside the point. It's a fun chance for the entire school - K through 12 - to walk (or ride as the case may be) down Main Street. Growing up, I remember being a lightbulb, a soldier, an enticing female, and Thing (that hand from The Addam's Family). I know I was a ton of other things, but those are what I think of off the top of my head. If I had pictures here at my house, I'd share. But alas (and thank goodness), I do not. Every year our parade has a theme. Sometimes fairly vague (like "heroes") and sometimes fairly specific (like "musicals"). If there's something big going on, you can bet the fair parade will revolve around that - like the state centennial or the Olympics. The floats have gotten more and more impressive as the years have gone on... But this year they put some major restrictions on them - they had a budget and actual RULES!! Eeek. The floats turned out okay, but the parade just didn't have that fun pop it usually has. Not to mention the theme was "candy." (Huh?)

Okay... SO... Not that I really wanted to see the grade school kids walk down the street. Or the not-so-expensive floats. I really wouldn't have gone at all. BUT... Mom and Dad were honorablly named Mr. & Mrs. Fletcher (i.e. the grand marshals of the parade). So even being only a few days from my due date, I did not want to miss the pictures. Erin & Alan kind of stink at taking pictures and documenting things. I guess I got Mom's camera-obessive gene (why did THAT have to be the one thing I got from her?? lol). I was supposed to be meeting the folks later in the day to drop off the boys anyway - they're staying in Fletcher until Logan's arrival... So I just packed up early and took off. I'm so glad I did. The boys really had a good time. I took their little lawn chairs, and they had bags to put all their candy in. Plus, we got them there early enough that they got an extra night at the fair (which, sadly, I didn't stay for so - you got it - no pictures).

I feel SOOOO blessed to have the opportunity to live close enough to "home" that my boys are getting to grow up experiencing some of life's little joys that I had my entire growing up years. It's an amazing thing to know in your head that the Fletcher Free Fair would be a big joke to anyone outside of our little town (you can ask John for his opinion), but to be committed to attending nonetheless. It's a Fletcher thing... And we take it quite seriously - so seriously that I remember writing a paper on the irony of it all during my college composition class. haha!!! So anyway... Here are some of the pictures that were captured during the big day.... Enjoy!

Triage Adventures

2009-09-03T08:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my last OB appointment until we go in for induction!! HURRAY!! It's been a fast AND slow 9 months. It's an absolute amazement to me how time can completely slow to a crawl when you are the most wanting it to speed up. This is no more true than at 1:30 in the morning when your hips hurt and you're having trouble getting back to sleep and you really just want the night to pass normally. I'm really looking forward to this hip pain being reduced soon. But anyway... Back to the appointment.... I've had protein in my urine for about 3 months now. Just traces, and it's really honestly because I drink too much pop and not enough water. My doc has scolded me about this, but has just kind of written it off as me being a bad patient. (lol) But this week I've been having low grade headaches (which could very well be sinus junk), and a touch of swelling (which is probably just the weight gain catching up with me), and then my blood pressure was just a tad elevated for my normal rates - 139/90. So all this combined, my doc decided it was better to be safe than sorry and sent me to labor & delivery for some preeclampsia bloodwork. I figured this was an in and out type thing. No way jose. Nothing in pregnancy is EVER that easy. I actually got ADMITTED for a non-stress test and the bloodwork. An hour and a half later, I find out everything is absolutely fine. My BP stayed around 118/72 during that entire time, Logan's heartrate had great rythmn, and the bloodcounts were completely within the normal range. So I was discharged.

This entire time, though.... John, my poor, wonderful husband who was just trying to be supportive and come to our last appointment, was stuck with the two wild children. This probably would've been okay if we'd had any idea how long things were gonna take, but as it were, he didn't want to go anywhere with them (besides to get lunch) because he didn't want to deal with the getting them out of the car only to put them right back in. So he spent the hour & a half in the minivan with the boys. I commend his patience and commitment to being a good daddy - both boys are still alive. haha

So all that said... We are still counting down to induction. No more dilation progress has been made, even with all the contractions (which makes me want to just scream, but whatever), so I've just resigned myself to living out the next week in a state of contentment. The boys are headed to my parents' house tomorrow... I still don't know how I'm getting them there or when. The fair parade is around 1ish I think and Mom & Dad are Mr & Mrs Fletcher this year - so they're actually IN the parade. Which of course I would LOVE to see, but I don't know if I want to handle the boys for the entire parade... add into the equation that I'd be an hour from my hospital... Hum... I just don't know if I'm gonna wait and take them later or WHAT! But no matter what happens, tomorrow night I will be child free and able to relax for a few days. There's not a WHOLE lot that still needs to be done around the house - I've been a major nester this past month - so more than likely I'm just gonna do NOTHING. Sounds absolutely GLORIOUS.

Well, anyway... we're heading to Norman to help Andy & Amy move apartments, so I need to get in the shower and get the boys dressed and ready to go.

One Heartbeat

2009-08-31T09:04:00.003-05:00

So I was sitting here the other day working on something or another... I think I was making my new desktop wallpaper? Anyway - I had Pandora Radio on in the background. Firstly, let me just share how magical that website is for me!! I have a few stations set up to reflect my daily moods. They are almost all based off of a singular artist that has a style I enjoy with my moods - There's some John Mayer for my secular "just wanna hear some good music" mood; there's John Williams for my cinematically instrumental moods and Hans Zimmer for my more mellow instrumental mood; Frank Sinatra for my classic crooner sound; Broadway for my "belt it out and sing along" days; and finally, Steven Curtis Chapman for the best that's out there. I can't begin to say how much I LOVE SCC's music. I told John the other day that I don't know if I've ever heard a song of his that I don't like. Some are a little more "eh" than others, but there has never been one that I've just shunned.

All that said... Pandora was running in the background and the second song that shuffles up is one I've never heard before. But the lyrics caught me right away - "You're up all night with a screaming baby..." Um... yeah, I was! Two of them, actually!! And so I sat back to listen. And wound up in pouring tears. Tyler wandered in at one point and got worried about me, but of course, his little face being concerned for Mommy made the moment even more intense.

I just wanted to take a minute to put these lyrics out there for my mommy friends. I hope they touch you as much as they did me. (And of course, you can get the song right now, as I did, on iTunes for $.99...haha!)

You're up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don't know
Or maybe you've forgotten

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

With every "I know you can do it"
Every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
They're just like the drops of rain over time
They become a river

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
How you're changing the world
You're changing the world

Positive Thinking

2009-08-29T12:27:00.003-05:00

So last night I was trying to go to sleep, and I realized that lately, I've been nothing but complaints about being pregnant. So I decided I'd try to be a little more positive and try to enjoy these last few days of pregnancy. Mainly because I am not 100% sure that they won't be my last for good. So here are some key points I came up with...

-- Being pregnant means you can eat what's in front of you and people don't judge.
-- The clothes are actually pretty cute for the most part - and I can wear sweat pants or athletic shorts and have great reason to!
-- The feeling of a moving baby in your belly is a very unique thing that is actually quite reassuring.
-- I can actually say, "Hey I NEED a nap" and usually get one at some point.

So that may be a measley list to some, but for a "realist" like me, it's actually pretty good. haha I've given up with the thoughts of going early... I am just gonna resign myself to having 11 days to go and try to get as much done as I can in those days.

I made a new desktop today to try and remind myself to not be so negative and to let God into my attitude a little more. I realized that my life has been a pretty good void of Spirit Fruit lately... It's got pictures of my two bigger boys in their first month of life to also remind me that I have two other "babies" that I still need to be focusing daily on. I actually really like it....

Friends

2009-08-28T09:13:00.002-05:00

So back in May (and trust me, it already seems like they've been here a lot longer), we got a new youth minister at our church. He came toting two little girls - Abby (who was born the same year as Brayden, but is actually a lot closer in age to Tyler) and Paige (who's the cutest little baby girl in the world - and I can say that cause WE haven't produced any girls yet). So Andy and Amy have just about TOO much in common with us... And every time we hang out together we find out one more thing that is similar! The weirdest being that Amy was actually at our wedding and didn't even know us!!! She came as Nathaniel's date - which is also funny because it means that Amy & I have both dated the same guy, too.

ANYWAY...

Yesterday we were just sitting here minding our own business when it was announced that they were gonna come bring Papa John's to us for lunch and play for the afternoon. Well, first of all, NO ONE is gonna turn down free Papa John's, so they had a ringer - but I was THRILLED to have the company! It's been a while since we've had friends over... it's been a while since we've had friends... haha. But we had a FANTASTIC time with them. John and Andy got some camp stuff done, and Amy and I stayed in the house and let the kids trash the place. We got them to settle down for about 20 minutes while they watched part of 101 Dalmations, but that ended quickly and they all went back to the "let's see how many toys we can get out at once" game. But it was so much fun. My boys love those girls. And it's so great to have some people to hang out with!!! I didn't realize how friend-deprived we'd been as a couple until they moved here. And the funniest part is... they felt the same way!

One Down....

2009-08-15T19:44:00.002-05:00

At the risk of speaking too soon, I want to document this occasion. Brayden has now been accident free for almost a week and a half!! And on top of all that, he's begun going poo in the toilet also!!! He went straight from diapers to underwear - totally skipped pull-ups. How in the world did we accomplish this unseemingly possible task?? Well - I'll just say it was peer pressure. We were in VBS two weeks ago, and Brayden & Tyler were in the preschool class with abotu 4 or 5 other boys and Abby. Pretty much everyone in the class besides my two boys (and Abby) are potty trained. SOOOOO - when the class would take the field trip to the bathroom, Brayden wanted to go to... To get to go, he had to go pee. So pee he did. And that's about the end of that!! He has even mastered getting up in the middle of the night to go if he needs to! I just can't believe it! Three weeks ago, he was telling me that he NEEDED his diaper. Guess he's a "big boy" now.

Tyler on the other hand doesn't really want to have anything to do with going potty on the toilet. Even though we pretty much had him in underwear about a month ago.... *sigh* I guess I can handle it, though... Two in diapers is SOOOOO much better than the prospect of three. And a LOT cheaper too, might I add. Brayden's diapers were getting ready to break the bank.

So all that said... BRING ON BABY NUMBER THREE!!!!!!!!!

How many?????

2009-08-14T19:29:00.002-05:00

Okay - 9 months is just too darn many. Six or seven would've done it... But I remind myself that God has this whole wisdom thing going on, and for some odd reason NINE is the magic number that works for us. I'm of the mindset that He made it last this long because by the end of nine months, we're so ready to have this THING out of us that we actually WELCOME the pains of labor. The Braxton-Hicks, the "lightening" (which may I add, my pelvis does not agree with that term), the sore hips and, to top it all off, THE waddle that those really pregnant women get... they're all things that I would bargin away in a HEARTBEAT right now. But this is probably because it's been 2.5 years since my last delivery, and I'm a little shady on how much pain I was actually in before Tyler entered our lives. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I forgot about most of that pain the minute I saw his beautiful little face - and then Brayden's beautiful little face kissing his new little brother. It's all worth it in the end....

But seriously, can I have a baby tonight?

I Want to be John

2009-08-13T12:47:00.005-05:00

So.... The boys are at Grandma Laura's... They've been there since Saturday!! It's been quite a pleasant and quiet week (although I am missing them a lot). I've been cleaning (aka "nesting") the bedrooms and rearranging things - trying to get ready for Logan's arrival. It's been quite a task, I assure you. First I had to decide where Logan was going to be sleeping. This was an especially hard task because Tyler is/was still sleeping in the CRIB!!! He's never even attempted a jail break, so we've just left him in there. But he is 2 1/2... probably time to start sleeping in a "real" bed. Only problem there is that the bunks aren't quite ready to be assembled yet. I had told John that he had a lot more time to get them done because I wasn't really planning on myself getting so crazy with the nesting. So we have one bunk almost done and one that hasn't even been started on yet (because it's Brayden's bed currently). SOOOOO... long story short - to make things easier on everyone involoved, we're going to put Logan in the boys' room and move Brayden to his own room. When the bunks get done, we'll assemble them and go from there. Another thing I've had a little time to do is scrapbook!! I spent a few HOURS this morning trying to perfect a layout that focuses on something I've been wanting to blog about...
Here's the video:

So this was actually the SECOND time that Brayden said this... The first time he didn't even say he wanted to be Daddy, he just said he wantd to "be John." It was just too cute to not scrap &/or video and blog!!! So on top of the video, here's my layout that I composed to go with the story:

I figured that you couldn't see the pictures of John & Brayden closely enough, so here are the pics themselves... You can click on the picture to see the larger version. It's just too uncanny - I keep giggling every time I look at them.

And in other news.... we're less than 4 weeks from Logan's arrival!! I can't belive these 9 months have gone by so quickly!!!!!!

3 Little Boys...

2009-08-02T19:28:00.006-05:00

GRACIOUS!!! Brayden is a rollercoaster of emotions these days. He is a perfectly happy, content preschooler one minute and then crying like a baby the next. Have NO idea why. I had a theory that it had to do with lack of naps, but he's having a major meltdown right now, and he had a good nap this afternoon. So... who knows. He is, however, growing like a mad weed. He's 41.5" tall right now (1/2 inch from riding Thunderation at SDC) - which according to all the growth predictor charts means we're looking at a 6'6" 18 year old!! Wow. I can honestly imagine him being huge like that, but it's still crazy. He shot from 3t to 5t this summer. It's hard to remember that he's only three most days because he IS so big. He went with me to one of my prenatal appointments and he weighed in at 38 lbs. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. His language and imagination have just EXPLODED this summer as well. But our favorite new word that he has is "trampaboing" (trampoline). We love that he uses descriptive words to make words make sense to himself. But gone are the days of "Mall-Nart" which still saddens us.

Tyler is proving to us every day how much his personality differs from Brayden. He has his nap times, his quiet times, his play times... And he doesn't much like to differ the schedule. He LOVES watching tv (moo-ees), but also has a great time with his cars and trucks. He has just started "group play" with Brayden and wants to follow him everywhere and do everything he's doing... It makes for some hairy fights. We actually caught Brayden hitting, with FISTS last night. Of course, I would say that 80% of the time, Tyler is actually the initiator of the fights. He's one of those kids that's gonna come running to me saying, "Brayden hit me!" and of course I'll have to respond with, "Well, did you hit him first?" Howedver - he is one VERY polite little boy. Yesterday we were out at the mountains and were headed into the Holy City. A guy was on his way out and held open the gate for us... As Tyler walked through, he looked up at the man and said in his cute little Ty voice, "Gank you!" It was a very proud moment for both John & me.

As far as #3 goes... Well, I'm ready to meet him for sure!! I've gotten about as big as I want to be, but can't seem to stop eating. But at my last appointment, my doc set up an induction date for us. So we're looking at 9/9 being the latest date that we'll meet this little guy. John and I are both very curious to see what kind of kid he ends up being.

Here's my new computer monitor wallpaper for this month.... In honor of us having three VERY soon:

and again

2009-07-06T08:02:00.000-05:00

So... I'm sitting at the lab (again) doing a gestational diabetes test. I cannot begin to tell you how much fun this is. I got up at 6 am so that I could get here early. Obviously everyone else had the same thought. When I got here there were only a handful of empty seats. It took 35 minutes for them to even call me back for the first (of four) blood draw. Then I had to drink the dreaded orange junk. Blech. I haven't eaten since 7 pm last night so all this sugar is making me kinda icky. But...I am trying to remember that all this is for a precious baby boy that we all want to be as healthy as possible. So here I sit and wait. Good thing I have a book and my iPod to keep me company. Maybe three hours will go by quickly.

a three year old's "sock on the door"

2009-06-30T19:30:00.002-05:00

So as crass as it is, everyone's heard of the "sock on the door" and what it means to college kids who are roommates. Well, my wonderfully ingenious son is obviously way ahead of his time... Today, he snuck off into his bedroom to do his (poop) business. I tried to go in to see what he was up to (obviously this was before I had smelled what he was up to), and I got told, "Mommy, you don't come in my bedroom." A few minutes later, I turn around and this is what I find:

It's his butterfly catching net. Guess we have a new "signal" in our house for Brayden having some private diaper time.

DOUBLE DIGITS

2009-06-11T10:41:00.002-05:00

Okay, so last week was one of my favorite pregnancy milestones (aside from going into labor)... Hiting DOUBLE DIGITS!! I made John take a "belly pic" so that I would have it to scrapbook. I have to admit, the picture is a little altered - my belly was actually a nasty pasty white color that would probably glow in the dark. But since I can't even tell you the last time my belly button got some sun time, it's not very surprising.

Logan is moving around a TON these days. He's especially active around 9 or 10 pm. He gets these little gymnastics routines going on in my belly that can last for 10-15 minutes. It's really crazy. My belly button is threatening to come out - I joke that that means the turkey is done, but in all honesty, we still have 3 months to go from TODAY!!!! Next week is officially the 3rd trimester... I'm sure that things are just going to get more amusing from here on out - the hip pain, the waddling, the having to have help to get out of bed in the morning, the heartburn, shortness of breath, and lack of leg shaving... but in 90ish days, I'll have my third little guy to cuddle with and none of this will matter. I just hope the days go by quickly. I'm not that big of a fan of being pregnant. Although I DO have some cute clothes this go around. hehe

Camp?? Already?!?!?!

2009-05-31T08:31:00.003-05:00

I cannot for the life of me believe that it is camp season. This year has FLOWN by. We start our first official week of camp TODAY. I think we are pretty much ready, but we have an entirely new staff, so it will be a fun learning experience for all of them. I'm very grateful that John's mom is here for a few weeks to help out with the boys. I am sure I couldn't do it on my own this year and stay sane (and/or healthy). I start the third trimester very soon - and Wednesday marks our "double digits" countdown to our due date.

All in all, I am thinking it's going to be a great summer.... I'm kind of glad to have these two months filled up so that I'm distracted from the woes of later pregnancy.

Blessed

2009-05-21T19:22:00.003-05:00

It's been a rough, rough, ROUGH couple of days for me. Soon-to-be-third-trimester horomones are kicking into full swing making me tired, cranky and very emotional. I feel like I'm ready to burst into tears at any given moment. Which is all compounded by having a terror of a three year old and a needy two year old. I've been trying to get Brayden to take a nap with me every day this week which, thus far, has ended up in him being mad at me and me giving up in tears and hysteria. If he won't sleep, I can't sleep because he is seriously unpredictable. He would totally do one or all of the following: escape the house (even if all the doors are blocked and or locked), flood the bathroom, try on ALL the pullups and proceed to pee in them all, get into the pantry and try to make himself a snack consisting of peanut butter and cheetos, start a load of laundry after mixing a special concoction of detergent and fabric softner, rearrange the living room furniture, take all the batteries out of anything and everything and hide them, wake Tyler up prematurely, try to take a bath or shower... These are only the things he HAS done - I have no idea what all he could actually come up with if left to his own means.

All that said... I have been blessed for the past few days now by a "secret pal" on my digital scrapbooking website. Today I got a hallmark card in the mail from her just giving me hugs. After the day I'd had thus far, it was like the clouds parted and I could feel sunshine. It's so nice to have someone out there who's making it their job to spoil me - if only for a couple of weeks. She also sent me a scrapbooking gift the other day - a few kits that I'd had on my wishlist! I was able to use them right away to scrap my kiddos. I really enjoyed having some new "toys" to play with. Here's what I came up with...

Deeper.

2009-05-20T20:09:00.003-05:00

So yesterday and today have both been teaching/learning experiences for my poor little three year old. Yesterday evening John wanted all of us to come down to the (empty) pool to help sweep out the debris and bag up the leaves that were in the bottom so that he could start power washing soon. Sounds like a ton of fun for little boys, right?? Well, it probably WOULD'VE been if someone knew how to obey. Brayden thought the empty pool was like a great big playground - free to run!! Of course it's sloping ground and CONCRETE!!!! We asked him, told him, yelled at him NOT TO RUN. But boys are boys and run he did. Fall he did. Cry he did. *sigh* So we had to get out of the pool and come home. He proceeded to get bandaids on his knees (I all better now Mommy) and have a stern lecture on WHY Mommy and Daddy should be listened to. Obviously it all sunk in really deeply because today we had all the same issues again. Brayden wants to go to the park? Okay - let's do that! It sounds like fun. But before we could get there, guess who disobeys more than Jonah!!!!! Yeah, that'd be my lovely son. So we skip the park and just do errands instead. On the way home, Brayden asked why he didn't get to go to the park. The ensuing conversation included big words like "privilege" and "consequences." We tried very hard to preschool-down the conversation so that he could understand. I told John after it was all over that it wouldn't be so frustrating if I didn't have to reiterate this one million times a day (or perhaps an hour). But tonight as I sat refelcting on my frustration toward this energetic little creature that has problems listening, I realize that I am no better at all. And I should know better because I've heard the lesson for 30 years as opposed to his three. I can't even begin to imagine how frustrated God must be with me everyday... and then the next thought is obviously... how many privileges have I missed out on??? So conclusion: Not to just work on Brayden's obedience, but instead to work on obedience WITH Brayden.

Gracious.

2009-05-17T21:59:00.002-05:00

So it's 9:55 pm. And we're trying to get the boys to go to sleep. It's not working so well. They are just in there giggling at each other... Brayden keeps crawling into Tyler's crib where they just sit and laugh. Then I put Brayden back in bed and Tyler starts whining because he wants to be in bed with Brayden. *sigh* They are quite the handful.

I had an experience in being positive tonight. I was scrapbooking a page for each boy with descriptive words for them. I asked John if he had some words for Brayden and his quote from Toy Story was, "I can't say - there are preschool toys around." But I was finally able to take even their negative traits and spin them in a positive light. Here's what I ended up with:

Scrapbooking & Pregnancy Woes

2009-05-16T11:27:00.003-05:00

Thought I'd come post a few of the scrapbook pages I've done lately... This one was for a "love story" challenge. I don't do pages of myself very often, and more rarely of John. Most of this has to do with the fact that I don't have too many pictures of us... But I found out that one of my scrapgirls tools worked in photoshop to help fix one of our wedding pics, so I did a layout with it.

Here is one of my boys. :) I can't wait for Logan to get here and meet his big brothers.

And even better than THAT - my SILLY boys. It's always an adventure around here.

I have a few of Silver Dollar City done, but I think I'll wait and post them all at the same time... I'm trying to get pictures from my mom before I finish up.

Anyway... Guess that's all for now. I want to write more, but it's a cleaning day, and Logan is kind of dragging me down, so I'm having to rest a lot which means it's taking me about 3x as long to get things done. I wish my body handled pregnancy better. I have no idea why my first trimester is always super easy and then I get to the second half of the pregnancy and WHAM! It's like I get hit with a ton of bricks. Thankfully it's usually gone after lunch (which means it's probably diet related), so maybe after I get Tyler down for a nap and get Brayden in "rest time" I'll be able to get a lot of things ticked off my list. Wish me luck.

Welcome to Late Night Television

2009-05-14T09:22:00.002-05:00

"And if you're new to Oklahoma, welcome to late night television." That was what Gary England said last night around 11:00 pm while we were watching all the big, scary storms work their way (slowly) across Oklahoma. At one point, there was a storm over Fletcher, Pink AND Fayeteville, AR (Gma & Gpa). Craziness that it was a family affair last night. I kept asking John when/if I should pack a small bag so we could head out to the cellar. He kept telling me to shush so he could hear the radio. But we made it through okay - nothing dramatic to report. There WAS torrential rain and a little hail... I don't want to see how wet the ground is NOW - it hasn't dried out over the last MONTH. It's insane. I feel like I'm living in Seattle. Although yesterday, the sun did come out and the boys got to play outside for a few minutes... Until I started getting attacked by mosquitoes. That's where I draw the line. So anyway... we're all safe, sound, and none the worse for the wear. I hope the sun comes out today and dries up some of the muck.

Something....Anything...

2009-05-13T13:55:00.002-05:00

I sit here day after day doing work stuff, play stuff, nothing at all... and I sometimes think to myself, I need to blog. But I haven't gotten around to it. I'm just too lazy sometimes. I was doing a "Top 5 Things I Hate Doing" on Facebook and realized that I pretty much hate doing anything that takes any effort. I'd be a good multi-trillionaire. I would spend everything I have on other people, though. haha I really enjoy spoiling those around me. John can attest to this - he has pretty much everything he thinks he "needs." Even if we can't really afford it, I come up with ways to scrimp somewhere else to get things for him. But then there's myself... I really WANT some cute maternity clothes. I mean, I am seriously dying to buy some. I've even filled up my Old Navy cart online yesterday just to look at it and sigh. I realize, though, that I was brought up to be selfless like this - I can't remember my mom EVER spending extra on herself unless it was her birthday. So I'll just keep wearing my teeshirts and my hand-me-down maternity shirts and be happy because everyone else around me has everything they want - and that makes me happy too.

Weight & Minivans

2009-04-02T20:26:00.003-05:00

Tyler had his two year well check this week. He is 33" tall (one inch less than Brayden was at this age) and 24 lbs light. He's in the 25th percentile across the board. But that's fine because he's pretty much been on that curve for a while. He did great for his check up - he sat still for the doctor and let him look in his ears and mouth. Doc said everything looked good and was happy that he talks so much/well at this age. He asked if he could ride a trike yet... I said, well I honestly don't know. He's never had the chance to try. Every time he gets on one, Brayden pushes him. Doc came back with: Oh, so he has a motor?? haha

Brayden has been on this, I know everything, and I'm the boss kick lately. Tonight he was telling me that he wanted the tractor. I asked him if it was the one that he had earlier (which we left in the car). He said yes. So I told him that it was in the car and I'd have to go get it. He got all mad at me and said, "It's not in the car! It's in the miniman!"
Me: Okay I'll go get it out of the minivan.
B: But it's not in the car, okay? It's in the miniman!
Me: You're right. It's in the minivan.
B: But it's not a car! It's a MINIMAN!
Me: That's right it's a minivan.
B: It's NOT a car.
(at this point I just go ahead and go outside to get the tractor)

Haircuts and Birthdays

2009-03-25T13:51:00.002-05:00

Here are a few long overdue pictures... We got a new computer a few weeks ago, and I'm just now getting to where I'm pulling pictures off of our camera's card. We've been slacking lately on taking pictures, too, so that hasn't helped. Here's what's been happening...

Tyler's hair has been getting longer and longer (as has Brayden's, but we'll buzz his), so he's been needing a haircut. We were going to get one for him the week before this, but the wait at walmart was 1.5-2 hours!! Eek. So I went to Chickasha one Monday and met Mom there. She kept Brayden busy while I sat with Tyler. He did a great job! Here is is Before Haircut:

Here are the boys (see Ty's nice short hair??) watching TV together. Yes, Tyler has a huge bandaid on his face. He had a little zit or something and he just keeps picking at it. The only way to keep him from messing with it is to have a Nemo bandaid on his face. But aren't they the cutest little brothers you've ever seen???

Mom, Dad & Erin came down on Monday to celebrate Mom's birthday a day late, and Tyler's a week early. We had burgers, Erin's potato salad, baked beans and LOTS of birthday cake. YUM!!! Tyler got to open a few presents, too...

He got a Percy the Train!!

PaPa got the train track out with the boys and built a nice big track in the living room for Thomas, Percy and Henry.

This is Brayden's "usual" face right now. Every time he talks to us he frowns like this. I have no idea....

Playing trains with PaPa

Instrumental to Brayden

2009-03-20T13:11:00.001-05:00

This is his second or third attempt... He got a LOT better about 10 minutes AFTER we turned off the camera. John was very impressed with the way he picked it right up and can make the right mouth positions and stuff. He plays better than Mommy does.

I am always amazed at the things Brayden can do. He doesn't really listen to instructions, he just does his own thing. But he will watch how you do something and then try to imitate it. He's very musically inclined. He plays drums, piano, trumpet and sings. He can almost sing a song pitch perfect! But music isn't his only talent. He seems to just soak up anything and everything from day to day. He knows how to make things work, take things apart, put them together...it's just amazing. He plays on the computer, too!

Last night John and I were talking about how much of a challenge it is parenting such a curious and strong-willed child and he made the comment that he thinks Bradyen is just one of those kids who longs for stimulation. When he isn't active enough, it just has to come out whatever way it can, and it's usually destructive. (See Ex. 1: The crayon marks on my coffee table.) But I'm very awed by him and his abilities. I can't wait to see what the next few years bring us with him.

Little Thing

2009-03-17T20:12:00.003-05:00

Appointment update.

Baby's heartrate is 162, everything looked great to the doc. I lost 5 lbs since last appointment, but with last week's 12 hour date with the toilet, I understand why. We got the "big" ultrasound scheduled for 4/15 which is just a tad less than a month away!!! Too exciting.

Not Much...

2009-03-16T19:15:00.002-05:00

I don't have much to say, but I was really trying to blog more since I've been a slacker lately.

Um... John and I had our 5 year anniversary this past week (3/13, which, yes was Friday the 13th this year). I celebrated it in the bathroom. Sick. Very. Not fun. Today is the first day that I've had any semblance of normalcy. I pretty much just had to tell myself that tired or not, I had to get back to the Mother Land. ;) We needed groceries, the boys were getting restless, and John's tired of fending for himself on all fronts. So I called for reinforcements (Mom) and went shopping in Chickasha. Of course, I forgot my money at home (isn't that the way it goes??), so I was very lucky she was along to bail me out. Phew. Funny how being sick can totally mess with your mind along with everything else important.

I have my next dr's appointment tomorrow (and John will be left with the boys alone again... poor guy). I'm hoping that we'll be scheduling the "big" ultrasound at this one. It's weird to think that I'm already into my second trimester. But honestly, the thing that's excited me the most about this pregnancy (and yes, I know this is totally weird and messed up) is labor. I didn't really have pregnancy fever - I had no desire to be all tired and big again - I had labor fever. Every time I watched A Baby Story or anything, all I could think about is how much fun it is to wait for those labor signs and then head off to the hospital and then getting ready to push... Oh!! It's just so exciting!! Of course, with both of my boys, I kind of missed out on a lot of that because I was induced with both. I'm really hoping that this time everything kind of goes according to nature's plan and I get to say those, "I think it's time!" words. Only time will tell.

We've got Brayden and Tyler in a bedroom together (again)... It's only sort of working. It's been rough to figure out how to do naps because Brayden is still only sometimes taking naps and is very hard to get down when he does. Last night was trying, too. About 3:30-4ish, I hear Brayden calling me. So I drag myself out of bed to see what, or more appropriately WHO, is up. Both of them are. So I get them both something to drink and get them all settled down again. Or so I thought. A few minutes after getting nice and comfy with my body pillow again, I hear, "Mommy! He's making NOISES. Mommy, he's making LOUD noises." *sigh* Off to figure out what's going on. Obviously Tyler figured that if they were both going to be awake, they needed to play. Good thing he's still confined to his crib (which is an amazing thing in and of itself). So I get Brayden up and take him to the guest room for the rest of the night. Back to bed... snug and slipping off to dreamland around 5 am I hear, "Mommy! I need a snack." SERIOUSLY?!?! And when Brayden gets his mind set on needing something, you may as well give in if you ever want to go back to bed or whatever else it was you were doing unless you're prepared for a few hours worth of struggle (which happens VERY often around here - one struggle to the next, I tell ya). So he got two crackers, a pat on the butt and a pillow under his head. Thankfully the boys slept until around 8:30 this morning!! I don't know what I would've done if they decided to get up for good around 6 or 7.

But speaking of... I've got Tyler in bed and it's time to go try to get Brayden settled down in there. Wish me luck.

A long week...

2009-03-08T18:15:00.003-05:00

This has been a LONG week. Trying. Very. Both boys (mainly and mostly Brayden) tried their best to see how far Mommy had to go until she was permanently riding the crazy train. They like trains, you know. It wasn't too far, but luckily, I have a great hubby and sister who rescued me from the loading platform.

This is how I felt most of the week:

But then Erin came out from Thursday night until Saturday afternoon and, if nothing else, took us out to eat a few times so I didn't have to worry about fixing food. She also cleaned my kitchen!! :D I had to go get her and take her home - which wasn't horrible since they only live a little over an hour away... While I was at Mom & Dad's house, John called and said HIS sisters were coming to stay Saturday night with us!! MORE HELP!! Yippee!!! So last night the boys got two more aunts to entertain. And I got to go to bed early! Well... I WOULD have if it weren't for the "spring forward." But whatever. So they left today and decided to take Brayden with so they could drop him off for the week with Grandma Rhonda and cousin Nikolas. Can I just TELL you how quiet my house is?!?!?!? Wow. It's amazing how much stress and noise a three year old can emit. I sent the pullups with him... I have high hopes maybe Grandma can potty train him in a week. (Yeah, right.)

Oh, you don't even wanna know....

2009-03-04T16:15:00.002-06:00

There has been so much stuff going on lately, I don't even know where to start. But you probably don't really want to know everything anyway. And who am I kidding, I write this stuff mainly so my wonder of a mommy brain doesn't forget the cute little things. lol

Anyway. Like I said last time, we're pregnant. Went for my first visit the other day and had the bravery to take Tyler in with me. John had Brayden, but they went to Sears during my appointment. We both kind of made the agreement that it wouldn't (or couldn't) be all or nothing for either of us, so we each took one. I have no idea how we'll split baby #3. Haha. Back to the doctor, though... Tyler and I had to sit for just a little while - it was mainly waiting on me to get all the initial paper work done and what have you. He was pretty good. I won't even venture to say that he WAS good, though. Finally we get called back. My "starting" weight is officially 128 - even though I've probably already put on a few pounds because at that appointment I was already 12 weeks. But we did the whole lovely long history thing and then the nurse let us hear the heartbeat. Tyler really liked that - he said it was a choo-choo train. :D The heart was beating at 170. I like the old wives tales right now because the faster beat means girl. But it's pretty unreliable.

The weather turned nice for a day last week - Thursday. I loaded up the boys that morning and took them to my mom's so that they could play outside all day. Which they did. They helped her plant some flowers, rode in their truck, and played in the mud. After that was supper and bath... THEN Brayden escaped the house before getting dressed. So... yeah... he played outside for a little while with nothing on but a smile. (I think the whole neighborhood probably heard his little chant, "I nakkid!!!") Fun stuff that we will forever have photo blackmail proof of.

So we come home on Friday and had a wonderfully crazy weekend of boys who had been spoiled a bit too much at Grandma's house. I'll just skip all that because I don't want to try to remember it.

A few nights ago Lord of the Rings was on TNT, and I hadn't seen it in a while, so I was watching part of it while the boys ate supper. They got done and came to join me on the couch for a few minutes... Tyler pointed excitedly at Gandolf and said, "Jesus!!" John said that we now know what Tyler's perception of Jesus is. lol

Brayden on the other hand is a bit more creative. He and I have a little thing we do while scratching each others' backs called "Desert Island." He loves it and makes me do it multiple times. I finally got him to do it for me the other night. He told me he needed to do it on my back so he pulled the back of my shirt out of the way (cause I always do his on his bare skin). As he pulled up my shirt, he let me know that I had a seat belt on (the back of my bra). I about died laughing at this. It's funny how little kids put what they know onto things they don't. Oh, by the way - to Brayden, it's called a "beat selt."

Last one, I promise... Brayden's been playing on an online letter recognizion website (starfall.com). He LOVES this thing - and he's really good with the mouse, too. It's almost scary how quickly he took to using a computer. It's worked wonders with him and his letters, too. He can click on almost any letter you ask him to if you help him by saying, click "t" for "train." Well, we were watching Super Why on PBS the other morning and they were sounding out "ladder." I paused the dvr after each letter trying to get him to tell me what the right letter for that sound was. I didn't get to L in time, but they did the short a - and he got that. He tried to tell me that "d" was actually "b"... they didn't do "e" because I think they skip vowels that are confusing?? I don't really know. But they said "e is next." I paused and asked Brayden what starts with E? I expected him to say egg or elephant... but he broke out the big guns and said, "Erin." That's my little genius. I have no idea where he learned that, but my jaw hit the ground. I think he'll be reading before too long.

Only....

2009-01-29T14:05:00.002-06:00

I haven't been here in a little while... Need to post a LOT of stuff. I've been a slacker, though. I haven't scrapped since Christmas, which has often tied to my blogging. Maybe I need to drag out some pictures tonight and get going on that. It's tough because we got a new camera for Christmas and my laptop doesn't seem to like the sd card. So it's not easy to transfer the pictures I need to scrap. However, I need to start being careful of all the pictures and whatnot on here because I'm quickly running out of space on my hard drive. I have two external drives, but have yet to move everything over to them. Can you tell I'm in the mood to make excuses???

Anyhoo... there's some other things going on...

At the posting of this blog, it says I'm 7 weeks, 6 days pregnant... "Only" 225 to go. ONLY?!?!?! Are you kidding me???!?!? That's a lifetime. But I'm sure it will go quickly. We found out that there's a good chance that I may be able to use the same practice in Norman that we used for Brayden. There are a few hoops to jump through first, but it sounded like it was a very likely possibility. So poor Tyler will be the only baby not born in Norman. Maybe.

Other than that, not too much is going on. I'm tired and cranky most of the time. I really don't care for pregnancy horomones. But I've also been cold, appetiteless, and hermit-ish. It's a load of fun.

Well, I just wanted to get on and post something... I really need to take a shower and get some laundry done... AND do the dishes... AND clean up the living room. *sigh*

Testing this out

2009-01-16T13:14:00.001-06:00

John just got a blackberry...So of course I'm having to try it out. I've never been a texter, either, so this isn't exactly easy. But anyhoo... I will be back later with my real computer to post some Holiday updates and talk about B's bday tomorrow and to share some other stuff going on. I really need to do this blackberry thing more so I can talk John into getting me one.

Dear Jesus...

2008-11-17T22:25:00.003-06:00

I was in Brayden's room tonight putting him to bed. We spent a few minutes reading (Dooby Dooby Moo) and then we said prayers. I started him off by saying, "Dear Jesus, thank you for..." And Brayden picked right up with, "Dram-ma's house. And... (here he mumbled a little and I'm not sure what he said). And Mal-Nart." I was trying so hard not to giggle. I mean, my kid is thankful for Grandma's house and WAL-MART?! Is it really THAT great of a place? It must be to him because he'll all the time ask if we can go there. Actually, he'll ask if we can go to Grandma's and we'll say not right now, then he follows up with asking if we can go to Wal-Mart. I guess it's just the whole idea of getting out of the house... Anyway - it was just so cute that (of course) I had to scrap it.

On the Flip Side

2008-11-15T22:03:00.003-06:00

I've been meaning and meaning and meaning to get my rearend over here and blog about everything that's happened. I'm going to try to do it in sections so that I don't miss anything.

HALLOWEEN
We went down to Fletcher for Halloween because we had a church visit scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 2. Not to mention we *had* to do something on Saturday for my birthday (more about that in a minute). I put off getting the boys' costumes this year because I really didn't want to spend money on them. I mean, Mom & Dad were going to be in Hawaii and I wasn't even totally sure we'd be doing anything, so I wasn't going to go all out... Well, it got closer to Halloween, and we realized we were going to go to Fletcher. I decided that I had better get the kids SOMETHING to wear. I didn't want to be a bad mom. Haha. So one night while putting Brayden to bed, we read "The Cat in the Hat." Well of course you can see where my mind went from there. A can of blue hair spray, two red shirts & two pairs of red sweats later and voila! Thing One and Thing Two. Cheapest Halloween costume a mother could make - I'm sure of it. I think the entire getup was under $15 - and I get to use the red shirts & pants the rest of the winter! They were really cute - even if we didn't technically go trick or treating. (But fear not! Brayden got PLENTY of candy at the harvest carnival. He knows how to work the scene.)

MY BIRTHDAY
So on Saturday, Erin, John & I got up and got all ready and then went and dropped the boys off at Hannah's house and then picked up Alan & Jen. We all enjoyed a nice jaunt over to Lawton in the minivan. It's so very nice to have a vehicle that seats so many and still feels like there's plenty of room to spare. I'm looking forward to taking it on road trips. Anyway... We went to eat at Chili's and had a pretty good time. Our waiter was kind of slow and obviously cared less than an iota that it was my birthday. *sigh* I was pretty disappointed about that, but oh, well. So after that we went to Wal-Mart because, as everyone knows, you can't go "to town" and not stop by Wal-Mart - it's like some sort of unspoken policy to small town life. As soon as we walked in the door, Mom called to wish me a happy birthday. They were having a great time! I'm so happy that they got to go on that trip. We finished up shopping (actually, we were getting groceries so that I could fix everyone supper!) and headed home. We picked up the boys and then went back to Mom & Dad's. Alan & Jen ran to their house and grabbed the Playstation and Guitar Hero. We spent the rest of the night goofing off. All in all it was a pretty good day.

JOHN'S NEW OBSESSION
While we were in Fletcher, Alan gave me my birthday present of two tickets to see Twilight during opening week. Of course, everyone (Erin, Alan & Jen) are going with. Well, Alan somehow got sucked in to the obsession of reading the books - he was finishing up the fourth one while we were there... And it ended up that John got bit by the vampire bug, too. He had seen the trailers and had already determined that he wanted to see the movie - but I guess the books were too much to resist. He's had them for 2 weeks now and is almost done with the second one. That's pretty hefty reading for someone who has a job and two or three other full time hobbies. I'm actually pretty excited that he's reading the books... It makes for better post-movie conversations. However, me and my big mouth keep upsetting him. I'm horrid at being a plot spoiler. Or even a plot hinter. I give too much away unintentionally, so I am now forbidden to even MENTION the books in his presence.

THE BOYS
Brayden & Tyler just keep on growing up on me. Tyler keeps picking up new words (mo-mo: Nemo; sues eee: excuse me) and he LOVES to sing with, dance with and watch the TV. He likes to sing along with the "Jack's Big Music Show" theme song. It's very cute to watch. He's still our little cuddle bug. But he's also as onery as the day is long. He likes to throw things and his favorite game is hitting Daddy and watching him fall down. He likes to wear shoes (Brayden's especially) and HATES to be in trouble (you should see his bottom lip!!). He is Brayden's shadow and tries to do anything and everything Brayden does. He's started really liking books, but will only hold still for one.

Brayden is growing like a weed. I think he'd fit 5T now if I had enough to put on him; 4T still works, though. He's started using the potty on his own. We have a sticker chart for him which he loves. It all began one night last week when I was doing stuff on my computer... I heard the toilet flush and knew John was in our bedroom, so that only left one other suspect. Sure enough - a second later he comes bolting out of the bathroom yelling, "I deh eet! I go pee!" And that's how it started. We are no where near potty trained, though. He's still in diapers most of the time, but will go to the bathroom about 4/10 times all by himself. If I can remember to ask him, it's about 6/10 times. He's also learning new words and phrases every day. He's a little sponge!!! The other night we were driving into town and he goes, "MOMMY! I see stars! I nee a telescope." Huh? What's that? My kid knows what a telescope is?!?! The the next day he's watching Little Einsteins and yells, "MOMMY! Look! Is a pyramid!" Sure enough. Where is he getting these things?!?! He also is very opinionated and lets us know what we can and cannot do. It's funny how bossy he is (not funny haha, funny roll-your-eyes-and-sigh).

Oh...and one more thing... Brayden AND Tyler (!!!!) spent two nights at Grandma & Pa Pa's house all by themselves!! That's the first time that Tyler's every stayed somewhere overnight without Mommy. Huge milestone. And it was a very, VERY nice two nights for Mommy & Daddy. I actually got to sleep in as late as I wanted and didn't have to worry that something/someone wasn't being taken care of ('cause John's a big boy and can fend for himself for the most part). So for the first time in almost three years, I had a childless night. As great as it was, I wouldn't want to do it too often.... I missed my little boys tremendously.

I almost forgot my biggest news.... Thanks to anyone who read my last blog and actually went and voted for my layout in that contest! I actually was one of the ten winners, and I get an AWESOME prize. It should be here Nov. 20th!! I'm super excited and happy. What a great belated birthday present!!!!

My 30th Bday is Sat...Will you do me a favor????

2008-10-30T16:03:00.013-05:00

My THIRTITH birthday is Saturday (11/1)... With buying the new minivan, we've kind of had to tighten our belts to get the tags/title/tax paid which means that I'm not really getting a big birthday. (But I DID get a van, so....)

I just entered a digital scrapbooking contest to win a Bamboo Fun - which is a tablet thing that I can use to write on my scrapbook pages and stuff... You guys have NO idea how much I want to win this! I was going to get one for my birthday, but... well, see above... If you guys could help me WIN this, then I'd still get my bday present AND not have the financial stress!!

Just click here:

I WOULD BE EVER SO GRATEFUL!!! If you wanna post my link on your blog or anything, that'd be awesome.

VOTING ENDS TOMORROW (10/31), SO PLEASE DO IT NOW. Thanks so much!!

here's what it looks like:

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-29T15:53:00.002-05:00

So we FINALLY made it to the pumpkin patch... we've driven by it a million times, but never had the camera, and I didn't want to "waste" the stop. Well, Mom & Dad were here Saturday because they were flying out of OKC early Sunday morning to go to Hawaii... So when they got here, we all piled into the new minivan and went to the patch. I think they had fun doing that, too.

There was a little train thing for the boys to ride (which they loved), a few small games (like a beanbag throw), and wagons to put the pumpkins (or kids) in. I think they had a great time running around, picking up pumpkins, and enjoying the beautiful weather. I'm sure this is going to become a yearly thing...

Here's the scrapbook page of the outing...

Lori Dabbles in Politics

2008-10-27T19:45:00.002-05:00

I've never been too into politics, in fact, I used to CRINGE whenever my dad would change the radio station to Rush Limbaugh (side note, my sister even dubbed that station as "the voices" as in, "Dad, please turn off the voices!!"). But lately I find myself turning to AM talk radio every time we're in the car. The way our economy is going, the moral direction our country is headed... it just all gives me a major sense of unrest. I am scared for our country. Not because of what is happening now, but what I feel may happen next Tuesday. I am scared out of my mind that Obama is going to win this election and starting on Wednesday we will become France or worse (a socialist country). I can't believe how some of my friends, who are devout Christians, say they are voting for Obama. The reasons they give are beyond ludicrous in my mind - they have no FOUNDATION!! They say, "Well, I feel that any politician who has drawn our generation into politics the way he has will be good for our country and the way it's viewed by other countries." Um... but what about his stance on abortion, the redistribution of wealth, taxes, healthcare and so many other things? I could ramble on and on and on and on, but I'm not going to. I just want you to really think about the implications of voting for a man who has blatently said that he bemoans the fact that the supreme court has not "overcome" The Constitution of the United States of America. Please... think about the next four years not just focus on this man's age, race and smooth talking.

What happens when I Wordle??

2008-10-25T08:25:00.005-05:00

get your own: http://wordle.net/

Brayden & The Sooners

2008-10-24T08:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we were in our car and headed to Norman. On the way there, Brayden didn't have a paci, so he was more talkative than he usually is in the car. He let us know that we were going to "Mornan" and told us about everything he was seeing out his window. We finally got into town and he pointed at the National Weather Service building and said it was a house. We told him that it wasn't, but instead of confusing him, we just told him it was OU and that's where all the football players were. He got excited and started talking about football and "Too-ners." We asked him if he was going to play football... this is kind of how the following conversation went:

Us: Are you going to play football?
B: Football.
Us: For the Sooners?
B: Tooners.
Us: Well you need to get big, first! (sub conversation begins between John & me)
(Brayden mumbles some stuff to himself for a while with a few coherent words here and there then all of the sudden)
B: I play football. I help the Tooners.

John and I decided that we needed to document this day. Our 2 year old son already has visions of grandeur and has made the statement that he will someday play football for the OU Sooners.

Brayden & Tyler

2008-10-21T09:56:00.005-05:00

I haven't written much about the boys lately...

Brayden is growing like a weed - he's so tall and skinny, but he eats more than I do. This does not bode well for the future. He's picking up new words every day; yesterday we taught him how to say, "Texas sinks" with his longhorns down. :D

Admit it, you love it. We caught him saying, "Maybe..." yesterday too. It's funny how many things you learn you say too much when your toddler starts talking. A few of our not-so-favorites are, "Stop that now!" and "Do you HEAR me?" but the cute one is, "Um.... how 'bout..." He's so creative with things and has a little too much energy. I think he has a hard time focusing on what we want him to do, but I'm hoping it's just a stage. He's definitely in the terrible twos - tantrums abound in our house. We're trying to work on the difference between "want" and "need." That seems to have finally sunk in. But now we're working on asking for things the right way instead of demanding them. So his sentence goes like this, "Um...may...I...have...some...paci........pweese." (It's not a question, it's a statement - always. And it's always "some" never "a" or "the.") He has really figured out that he can pick and choose what he wants now, too. He lets us know every day that he has an opinion (and a very STRONG one at that). Oh, and when you ask him where he lives, he says, "Camp Fire" (we tried to teach him to say Camp Sooner, but he kind of got confused).

Tyler is a horse of a different color. He's fairly laid back, but is an instigator. Seriously. He will walk into a room all giggles and smiles, saunter up to Brayden and then shove him as hard as he can. All this is fun to him until Brayden retaliates. Of course, Brayden is close to twice Tyler's size... He's such a sweet, cute little guy that I find it hard to take Brayden's side in the fight. I mostly just let them go at it - I want Tyler to learn that he shouldn't dish it out if he can't take it. He's talking more and more every day, too! His favorite thing to do is sit around and tell himself "Gink ewww, elkum." He LOVES the Little Einsteins... He's Rocket's biggest fan. He does the pat, pat, pat, and puts his little arms up and then (sometimes) says "baa-ffff" (blast off!), but always says, "GOOOOOOO!" (when they say, "Here we GO!"). He's so funny when he watches anything on TV - he'll either stand right under the TV and stare up at it...

...or he'll lie flat on his back right under the TV (and stare up at it). It's too funny. He's also been on a major drinking kick. It seems as though he's CONSTANTLY thirsty. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear "ooose" from him in one day. We're working on getting him to say please, but Brayden usually says it for him. He's drinking a big sippy of chocolate milk as I type. We've discovered that Tyler is a great soccer player. He actually understands that he can't touch the ball with his hands, and he has great kicking reflexes. It's really cute how he follows through with his kicks and tries to do crossover kicks (like Daddy). He's just so skinking adoreable!!!

I guess that's about all for now... I need to go start fixing lunch for my two little bottomless pits (and their daddy, too). I'll share more later!

Happy Birthday, Troy

2008-10-20T10:19:00.001-05:00

Sort of a Catch Up?

2008-10-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

I've talked about it before, but I've got a digital scrapbooking website that I use to do get almost all of my supplies and some other fun (ScrapGirls.com). Well, for about the last two weeks they've been holding me hostage. I'm not really joking, either!! haha! They've been having 'events' over there that involve games, chats, layout contests, and PRIZES!! Now, with things the way they are, any type of prize is a good prize... But the other day when I saw a game (aptly called "Needle in a Haystack") that was offering a $25 gift certificate as the prize, well, I couldn't pass that up. And it was NOT an easy game. They gave us this sheet of thumbnails and then you had to figure out where that thumbnail could be found in the boutique like the second image:

So anyway - this was NOT an easy task, but I couldn't possibly pass up $25 because I really wanted to be able to take advantage of the boutique sale that's going on right now (22.4% off everything!). So I stuck with it for a few too many hours, but I WON!! And on top of all of that, on Saturday, I got the daily newsletter and one of my layouts was in it!! I've been published!!!!! It's been a good week for me!

Here's the layout that was in the newsletter:

It's so much fun when you find a hobby to be involved with. It really helps me stay sane - but it's also nice knowing that I'm doing something productive for the boys. Speaking of hobbies, though - be looking for an upcoming blog on John's newfound obsession. haha

Is it really....

2008-10-15T17:45:00.002-05:00

Is it really already the MIDDLE of October?!??! Oh my goodness where does time go? The boys are getting bigger every day: Tyler's talking more; Brayden's is in the throws of the terrible twos... But it's getting more and more fun to watch them play and interact with each other. Just tonight, Tyler was playing shadow to Brayden's antics. At a few points, I was absolutely SURE someone was going to get hurt, but thankfully that never happened. Brayden is just so much bigger than Tyler - not only because of age, but because he's a 75th percentile kid and Tyler's a less than 10th percentile boy. We call him Itty Bitty Ty. He just had his 18 month check up at the pediatrian the other day... The ped was a little concerned with Tyler's weight. But I'm not - I mean, look at the HUGE family he comes from (tongue in cheek). My dad's high school letter jacket fit me when I was in 7th grade... I'm not sure my grandma EVER weighed more than 110 lbs.

Speaking of my boys, though... I'm trying to blog while watching them take a bath... My laptop has already been sprayed by splashes and now Brayden's busy trying to pour water on the floor when I'm not staring him in the eye. So I guess I'd better go before we all get fried. I need to get some more pictures posted and some new layouts done... Maybe tonight after the boys go to bed???

The Big 12 and Middle East Politics

2008-10-09T21:38:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook today and I laughed like crazy. Like her, the Middle East makes much more sense to me now after putting it in "Big 12" perspective....

TEXAS: Iran. Somewhat of a controlling power in the region but it will all come crashing down because they have a highly functioning retard as a leader.

KANSAS: Kuwait. Tons of riches and unrealized potential, but still vulnerable to Iran.

NEBRASKA: Iraq. A wealth of history but the country as a whole is going in the tank and they will kill themselves off before it's all over.

OKLAHOMA: Saudi Arabia. A proud kingdom, once torn up by fighting but known for historic past and prosperous future, surrounded by Iran and Iraq, with fanatics in Al-Qaeda (see below) who'll stop at nothing to bring them down.

MISSOURI: Syria. Evil schemers who will stoop to whatever level they need to win. No real history to speak of but thinks they are the cradle of civilization.

OKLAHOMA STATE: Al Qaeda. No real country, just a movement of fanatics who live to destroy the hope of those more fortunate. No other goal in life than to bring down the House of Saudi Arabia. Terrorizing that country in the late 90's and early 2000 years is the crowning achievement in their history. Signing day was a major setback to the movement. They are fanatically loyal to their new leader.

KANSAS STATE: Palestinian territories. No one really cares or worries about them unless they can be of some use (i.e. winning a battle once in a while against Iran that causes a bit of shake up in rankings)

IOWA STATE: Qatar. Where is Qatar? Is it in our area?

TEXAS A&M: Afghanistan. Not much going for it other than the crazy commoners.

BAYLOR: Israel. None of the others understand why they're in the area. Just leave them alone. What did they ever do to you?

COLORADO: Morocco. Not really part of the Middle East. Has other things to do than fight (or play football). Rumor is you can always go there for a good time.

TEXAS TECH: Libya. Has a charismatic leader in a land of nothingness who will rattle his sword but knows he doesn't have a whole heck of a lot to back it up. Pulls the occasional sneak-attack and cries "Victory!"

Wanted: Pizza Thief

2008-10-09T15:37:00.002-05:00

I said I'd do a layout with Tyler's pizza thieving... so here it is!!! I actually did this as part of a challenge on ScrapGirls.com. I need to get some pics off our camera and do some updating here. We've had John's birthday at my parents' and then at Tulsa (which included a trip to the State Fair and a get-together with a BTB girl). Lots to post!!! But this will have to be it for right now.

Pizza Monster

2008-09-29T21:34:00.003-05:00

My boys are definately just like me when it comes to an unheard of love for pizza. They both started eating pizza before a year old, and to this day, it's one of the very few meals that Tyler will not throw on the ground. Brayden will ask for it almost every day ("I need pizza!"), too. On Mondays, our local Mazzios has a carryout special - one large one topping pizza for $6.99. Well, that's about as much as cooking a meal from scratch would be, so we will order a pizza on Mondays quite often. ANYWAY - last night we got the pizza and the boys ate theirs while John and I polished off the rest (less one piece). I got the boys from their chairs for bathtime after all was said and done - but John and I didn't pick up our 'mess' in the living room... Well, I got Tyler out of the tub, diapered and dressed and set him loose while I took care of Brayden. I thought John was still in the living room.... I come in about 5 minutes later and this is what I found. Guess Tyler wasn't done eating.

He had crawled up onto the coffee table all by himself to get that last piece of pizza.

He has problems biting the crust, so he eats it this way...

I love my little pizza monsters.

FIREPROOF

2008-09-28T17:56:00.008-05:00

John and I just got back from our date day... After church today the youth group offered free babysitting for people in the church to be able to go see Fireproof. We had 125 people go (the church reserved a private showing for their members/guests)! It was a great turn out.

So right after church, John & I went to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings (we were in and OUT within 30 minutes!!!!) and then headed to the theater. We were the first ones there - we didn't plan on lunch being so quick - so we just sat and played some quiz games on his iPod. So the movie finally got going...

If you haven't heard of Fireproof yet, here's a link to the official movie site: http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Here's my official review:

The acting starts off a bit like Facing the Giants - a little "B" class (although, John and I both thought that Kirk Cameron's acting in the movie was phenomenal), but it quickly fades into the background because of the strength of the story. The story was very powerful and true to life. There was quite a bit of "preaching" in it, but none of it felt inappropriate. In fact, it was very refreshing and eye-opening, even to those who feel that their relationship isn't struggling. It opened some great discussion doors and makes you realize that no matter how much you're putting into your marrige, there's probably more you can do. I think my favorite part was comparing dating and marriage to education... When you're dating and wooing each other by learning what they like, dislike and prefer, you're working on your high school degree. When you get married, the rest of your life is spent learning more about your spouse - getting your college degree, Masters and a Doctrate. I really think that every married couple could really benefit from watching this movie - Beliver or not. Marriage is something that constantly takes your energy, effort and work - and love. It must be rekindled daily. And with the divorce rate in our society, the most important message of this movie is so important - in a fire you don't leave your partner behind. (And just because something is fireproof doesn't mean that it won't be tested by fire.)

Whew!!!!

2008-09-27T17:25:00.003-05:00

So... after about 2 hours of slight edits, uploads and previews, I FINALLY got a new look on my blog. I'm still not happy with the seams, but I'm giving up and calling it good.

I've been semi-busy today other than that. I've been doing laundry, dishes, and trying to keep the boys entertained. I put the Cars tent up in Brayden's room earlier. They thought that was great. But of course it quickly led to screaming and tears from one or both boys. So we had lunch, and then laid down for naps. Which worked for Tyler, but not for Brayden. So we have one 2 1/2 year old who hasn't had a nap today. Not fun. But one bonus of him staying up - everything in the house (toys, juice cups, trash, etc) got picked up by Brayden... Of course, it's all inside the tent.

We're all sporting our OU gear and waiting for the game to start (against TCU). Brayden got a quick lesson on the Razorbacks earlier today... Arkansas was playing Texas. It's funny to listen to him try to say new words. But - the REAL news - USC AND Florida (Miami) losing this week!!! As long as we win against TCU there's a really good chance that we'll wind up in the number one slot. I told John that knowing the way the polls operate, USC will remain in the top ten even though they have a loss. We hate the stupid pollsters, it's NEVER fair to non-Pac 10 conferences. And here's another conundrum for you, though - why is no one throwing out Sam Bradford's name for Heisman? Not that I know THAT much about all this gunk, but it just seems kind of weird to me. One of these days John and I are going to drive 20 minutes down the road and actually go to an OU football game. Well, he's been to two, but I've not been to any since we moved here... Which by the way, next month begins our FOURTH year of being here at Camp Sooner. Wow. Where does the time go????

A long day without batteries.

2008-09-26T20:55:00.002-05:00

So this morning, I'm lying in bed ever so peaceful. I had just had a dream which wasn't too bad and was able to convince my mind of the "real" outcome as I was beginning to wake up. I could hear big trucks driving up & down our driveway and then remembered that the electric company was to be here today to install the 3-Phase lines for the camp. I woke John to let him know what was going on (he could sleep through a tornado), and he semi-reluctantly got out of bed. Good thing, too. Just as he stepped out of the bathroom there was a knock on our front door. They were coming to let us know that we were very soon going to be powerless. This wouldn't be a big deal at all if it weren't for a few factors. One: The boys were still in bed (it was 7:30 am), and they both sleep with fans. No electricity means their fans would be shut off. That equals two little boys being ripped out of dreamland. Two: We're on a well. No electricity means no water. But they said the job should only take roughly three hours. So no biggie.

Tyler woke up first. He had some cereal. Then he had some more cereal - which wound up on the floor. Then he ran around the house like a crazy person. 8:30 rolls around and Brayden's still not up. So I decide to go make sure he's okay. I wind up cuddled next to him in his twin bed and let him finish up his sleeping. Until Tyler wandered in and crawled in bed too... Well, more aptly, crawled ON Brayden. We finally all make it out of Brayden's bed and head for the living room. Of course the first thing Brayden does is try to turn on the lights. We try to tell him that the lights aren't working right now. He looks at us with raised eyebrows and says, "Need batteries?" Well, sort of. So he goes around the house trying to turn on different things and informing us each time that it "Needs new batteries." This is all fun and then the novelty of it wore off. We read books, rolled around on the floor, listened to Daddy's iPod, watched Backyardigans on the laptop and had fishes a few too many times.

SIX HOURS LATER... we have power again. Whew. That morning seemed to last FOR-EV-ER. But we're now one step closer to having the HVAC units installed at the dining hall!!!!!

My cooking...

2008-09-23T11:43:00.003-05:00

So I've never considered myself a GREAT cook or totally health conscious, but dang. I'm feeling very, VERY... um... inferior right now. On my mommy boards one girl just asked about menus for the week. Now, it must be said that most weeks I make a few more 'fancy' meals, but they are NEVER anything like what these people make and I am left wondering what is wrong with me. I know I'm a picky eater, and so I usually cater to my own preferences, but I don't see how you can have these (what I would call) fancy meals every night of the week. Am I that lazy? Or are they really easy meals and I'm just uncultured?? I grew up in a home where my mom fixed homemade meals 7 days a week, but we never had anything that I'd consider gourmet. But it was always FANTASTIC. There have only been a handful of meals that my mom's made in 30 years that I thought were inedible (to me at least, everyone else liked it). And so it brings me around to think - why do I berate myself for feeding my kids the foods that they enjoy eating even if it's not "creamy tomato sauce with orzo, steamed broccoli and chicken sprinkled w/ herbs, cooked in olive oil, green onions, & garlic in skillet" (no offense Lindsay, that's just an example)??

I guess I'm open to some new (EASY) recipes....

Well, I'm off to put some chicken nuggets and fries into the oven. Haha.

Where the Wild Things Are

2008-09-22T14:37:00.005-05:00

Don't know if you've noticed, but off to the right there, I have a little sidebar thing that has artwork from classic children's books. The one today caught my eye. Brayden and I have been reading "Where the Wild Things Are" every night for almost a month now. He asks for it every time he goes to bed. I love hearing him read along with me (finish the sentences). But probably the funniest thing is on the second page - where Max was making mischief of one kind.... and another. Max is running down the stairs with some sort of fork thing in his hand and he's chasing the dog... Brayden always says, "Gonna git in tuble!" It's so cute that he knows that Max is being bad. So I'll say, "Yeah, he's going to get in tuble." Which he follows up with, "Gonna git a 'pankin!" He's always so adamant that Max needs that spanking for being bad. He won't let me turn the page until I agree that Max needs to be spanked. So anyway... I just thought it was fun to see this picture of the Wild Things. Makes me want to roar my terrible roar, gnash my terrible teeth, rooooooolll my terrible eyes, and show my terrible claws. hehe.

What's your kid's favorite book of the month???

Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog

2008-09-22T14:15:00.001-05:00

I thought I should maybe share Tyler's favorite book, too... I got this from the library the other day. I've seen these Pigeon books at Sams and always thought they were sooo funny. I actually got this for Brayden, but Tyler's the one who loves it - which is kind of strange because he NEVER sits still for books. But if you've never picked up any of these Pigeon books, I highly suggest you do!! They're right up there with The Stinky Cheese Man in my opinion (but geared more toward the little mind).

A day of rest... Wait, what's that?

2008-09-21T16:17:00.003-05:00

Sundays are always a very "off" day in our house. Why? Because it's the only day of the week that we actually have to be on a schedule in the morning. (Excluding summer camp.) This morning started off ooooooh so wonderfully, too. The alarm goes off, and after grunts and groans issuing from both sides of the bed, I realize I hear Brayden in his room. But his light's not on. Never a good sign. So I jump up, run in there and... yep... the diaper is off and there's poopoo all over the bed (again). What in the WORLD will it take to get this kid to learn that we DO NOT take off diapers?!?! Sigh. So I stripped down the bed, threw the sheets in the wash - with the delay timer set so we could get showers - and then helped Daddy get the boys their breakfast. While we were trying to wrangle the boys into the kitchen, I caught Brayden by the arm and asked him if he knew why he got a spankin' a little while ago. Here's the conversation:

Me: Brayden? Look at me. Hey. I'm trying to talk to you. Look at - okay. Do you know why you got in trouble?
B: In tuble.
Me: Yes, trouble. Why were you in trouble?
B: Hey - look!
Me: No, look at me.
B: Whas that? A car-pit cleaner?
Me: yes, that's the carpet cleaner, but we're talking and I need you to listen to me. You took your diaper off again, and that's a no-no. Especially because it had stinky poo in it.
B: Stinky poo?
Me: Yes. And stinky poo is yucky. Right?
B: (Makes grunting noise) Stinky poo. Right. Go (grunts again), like that?
Me (trying not to laugh): Yes, that's how you go stinky poo, but it's supposed to stay in your diaper. Only Mommy or Daddy get to change your diaper.
B: Hey - whas that?!
Me - gives up and feeds the kid breakfast.

...but we made it to church on time. :D

Fall is sorta here and other thoughts

2008-09-20T16:00:00.002-05:00

I've been kind of random lately. I feel like my thoughts (and feelings) are all over the place. I wake up in the morning and it's cool outside and I'm blissfully happy and content. Then, as the day wears on, the sun bears down and my soul is dragging. I hate the heat. Kind of weird, then, that I have a job that requires the most of me in the summer, huh? I think I would love it somewhere north - but not so north that it'd be COLD all the time. I'm a very mild-on-the-cool-end climate kind of gal. Fall has always been my favorite time of year. With the holidays approaching including, but not limited to, my birthday, and the smells that greet you in kitchens, ahhhhhh what more could you ask for???

I got to put the boys in their windbreakers this morning as we headed out the door to go to Forest Hill's youth group's fundraiser garage sale (wow, what a mouthful), and I was SOOOOO happy. They look so cute in jackets. Of course by the time we left the garage sale, it was too hot for the extra layer, so they were stripped of their adorable additions. Thankfully they are still cute even without the extra padding. ;)

I would love to converse with you some more about how much I love the cool and how I'm looking forward to the upcoming weeks and months, but my laptop battery is letting me know it's about to die, and I'm no where near my plug. I will try to get a scrapbook page together, though to show you my feelings. .... until next time

"I need a paci!"

2008-09-03T13:30:00.003-05:00

A line I hear much too often in this house... Brayden is now 31.5 months old and he (still) *needs* his paci. He sounds like some sort of adict - "Brayden do you want some milk?" Response: "NO! I NEED to find a paci." Well... we got back from Fletcher on Monday and Tuesday afternoon I couldn't find Brayden's paci. It was nap time, and I was freaking out. He does NOT go to sleep well without it. So I calmly went into his room and told him that it was nap time. He said, "I need a paci." I proceeded to tell him that I couldn't find it. I told him it was gone. He looks at me with pitifully wide eyes and asked if it was far, far away. Yes, I told him. It was gone far away. He looks at me and then cups his little hands around his mouth and yells, "Come back, paci!!" (I about laughed out loud at this, but I didn't want to make fun of his plight.) I told him that I thought the paci was too far away to hear him - it was probably lost for good. He sighed a tremendous sigh and looks at me forlornly - "Far, far away?" he asked again. Yes, my love... it's gone. He sighed again. I asked him if he thought he could take a nap without it. He seemed to think about that for a second and then said, "I need juice." So I got him a cup and that was that. Three hours later I had to go wake him up from his nap - without his paci. This could be the start of a great thing.

I LOVE FACEBOOK

2008-08-27T22:51:00.002-05:00

When Facebook first started, it was only for students...and of course by that point I was no longer one. So I joined the myspace movement. I really loved being able to find my long lost friends, but it soon got very annoying to me. About that time, Facebook opened their doors to the public. And I have visited every day - many times a day - since. I have most of the same friends I have on myspace, but I find Facebook so much more user friendly and CLEANER, so I can actually keep up with what my friends are doing.

Fast forward to last week.... Kay found one of our old BFFs who hasn't really been so much the "forever" part in about 5 years. But we've all now caught up via Facebook and have spent the last few days laughing our heads off recalling the "old days" in the dorm. I can't even tell you how much fun it is to just sit and remember all those crazy moments we shared. And it's amazing to think how far we've all come since then. I'm so thankful for technology that allows us to network with long lost friends, acquaintances and perhaps some foes. And it's also fun to send a darling husband a free gift - even if he is sitting just on the other side of the room. ;)

Time for a new Layout...

2008-08-24T21:29:00.003-05:00

I've been doing a lot lately, but I've been submitting them to magazines for publication (gasp!). None have been accepted yet, but they don't like you posting them in public forums. Want to keep stuff fresh, KWIM? Anyway... here's one I did today that I wanted to post.

Last week we went to Grandma & Grandpa Ritz' for a couple of days. We had a BLAST. We ate all sorts of good food (Olive Garden, Marketplace, Razorback Pizza, Hunan Village...) and had lots of good shopping/visiting time. Not to mention all the Olympics we watched. We also had a couple of birthday parties and one open house. It was just chalk full of things. But anytime we were just at Grandma's the boys were playing outside. They would wake up and instead of eating, they'd go outside. It was raining, but they played outside. It was naptime, but they played outside. They made "chocolate milk" in the dirt (just add water). They played with the cars, the bikes and the ramp. Brayden went "swimming" in the hot tub (don't worry, it wasn't hot). Tyler got to run around naked (thanks to his Grandma Laura). I really think they had more fun than any of the rest of us combined. I was sure they wouldn't want to leave. But when we got home, Brayden ran into the living room screaming, "We're home! This Brayden home!" It's so nice to know that even at that age they appreciate what we've created out of this house... It really is good to be home (even if I was wrought with chigger bites - but that's a story for another day).

Church and Stuff...

2008-08-24T14:43:00.002-05:00

So when we moved here, we thought we'd be going to a certain church... but the preacher they had there had a few doctrinal issues that we just couldn't jive with. So we went to this other church. It was a TON smaller, but it felt like home. Now, three years and two kids later, we are considering a move. The first church has a new minster, youth minister and direction. The second church hasn't grown (in fact, I think it's shrunk) and has no youth programming. Honestly, our boys are the only kids under 5 in the church. And the next closest to them is about 7 - and then the next ones are teens. All of this has built up to us wanting (read: needing) to rethink our membership at said churches.

We went to the first church again today. Loved it. Love the nursery, love the new youth minister & his wife (with whom we had lunch and talked all things camp), the preacher and his message... It just feels like it's what we need to do to minister to our family. I just feel so guilty pulling the "new blood" out of second church. We're the only young couple there - and we're scared that if we leave, if another couple would come, they'd end up with the same feelings as we have. But a friend once told me that our family comes first and we have to do what's best for our spiritual health and that of our children. SO.... If anyone has any wisdom on the subject, I'd love to hear it.

I just wanna say...

2008-08-23T19:51:00.000-05:00

Thhhhhha Wonder Pets Saaaaave the Skunk.

and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, God has blessed you dearly.

6 Random Things (in a not so random order)

2008-08-23T19:19:00.003-05:00

My bestest friend Eskai tagged me for this. *Sigh* I guess I gotta do it. (hehe)

Here are 6 random things about me.
1. When I was one, I lived in Joplin, MO - and we had a DOG! For anyone that knows my mom, this is probably a shocker. We actually had dogs until I was about 14ish. But they were always outdoor dogs except for this one. His name was Fritz - and I would torture the poor thing - I put booties on his little paws.
2. When I was two, we moved to Arkansas - we moved from there when I was 4. I can still find that house when I'm in town (even if it takes me a few minutes...). I actually just drove by it last week with Erin while we were in Siloam. I think it's really kind of weird that I have an obsession with going to look at the places where I used to live even though I can't really remember it.
3. Oh, but I DO remember something... We had a closet that had two clothes bars in it... and they were one in front of the other, but one was about a foot higher. I used to pretend they were parallel uneven bars and swing on them. I always want to be a gymnast.
4. But that wasn't to be because when I was in 4th grade (hehe, I'm on #4) I was in gymnastics, but Matt Harrell pushed me on the monkey bars, and I had to be in a cast for a few weeks... long enough that Mom pulled me out of gymnastics classes. I never got back in them either. And all this happened one week before we started bars.
5. It took me 5 years to get through college. I could've finished in 4... but my boss wouldn't let me. I was signed up for 23 hours the spring semester of my 4th year and got hired at CIY. Gary told me that there was no way I'd be able to do the job and carry that load, so he made me half it and graduate a year later. I'm glad I graduated when I did, though - I got to walk with all my friends.
6. I've lived in 6 places since I left home for college: the OCC dorms, Duenweg (the cheap apartments), Joplin (the duplex), Webb City (the Seinfeld apts), 404 N Joplin (our house), and Pink, OK (the camp).

Now... I'm off to tag my friends: ROBYN, CINDI, TIFFANIE, ALLIE... and I can't find a 5th or 6th... sorry...

Rules of Engagement:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Brayden's (finally) Speaking in Sentences!

2008-08-20T22:50:00.002-05:00

Okay, so he's been using simple sentences, "No, Mommy!" for a while now... But just this past week, he's started using his sentences to actually talk. Tonight, he and Tyler were eating dinner and Brayden started using his weight to scoot the highchair closer to Tyler's chair... John came in and moved him back and Brayden goes, "OH NO! Come back, Tyler!" Shortly after that, I took the boys to the bathroom for bath time. Brayden runs into the bathroom, looks at the tub and exclaims, "Bubbles! Bubbles! Oh, I like bubbles!" He's just growing up so quickly.

The other really cute thing he's been doing lately? Trying to do cartwheels. But they are more like rolling on the floor. He starts out like he's going to do a somersault, but then he kind of rolls off to the side and rolls along the floor - then he pops up and cheers for himself. Do you think someone's been watching the Olympics? Oh, he also shows us now how to swim - he did the butterfly in the pool(but he still won't put his face in the water - he just does it with his arms).

Tyler's learning new words every day, too. He's figured out eyes, nose, ears, stuck, on, off and maybe some more, but John's got sand volleyball going in the background and he's reprimanding me for not watching with him. I guess it's pretty awesome.

B-I-N-G...Oh, MAN!!!!!

2008-08-09T14:37:00.003-05:00

It's always humorous to me (okay, maybe in theory, but I'm never laughing about it) how I can always manage to get *this* close to things and then... nada. I would say I never win anything, but I've had a few lucky streaks lately. I am addicted to Scrapgirls.com - it's my digital scrapbooking haven. I don't post a whole lot, nor do I chat, but I read a lot of stuff, and I LOVE to browse the gallery and post my own pages. Anyway... they play lots of games on the site - games where they give away good prizes (aka FREE STUFF). Of course anyone who knows ANYTHING about me knows how competitive I am. I can't stand to lose. Proabably its because anything I chose to participate in, I feel that I can win - I kind of cheat that way - I don't try to do things like play Halo 3 on XBox because I would for definitely sure lose BIG time. Golf is another one of those things (John's convinced I should just give it a try, but I know myself, I know I don't have the patience to be good, so I'll just be content saying, "I can't play" rather than, "I really stink."). ANYWAY (again), it's BINGO time on the SG web boards. You pick 25 words out of 75 - they call 5 words a day, first to 15 wins. I'm at 12. And the girl calling the words has obviously gone into hiding. She's nowhere to be found. She's boycotting, I guess. :D Just kidding... But seriously - I've been stalking the boards since 8:30 this morning just WAITING for her to call those last 3 words I need so I can win and get it over with!!!

I'll keep you posted.

...4 hours later:
I WON!!!!! Okay, I'm officially a dork, I'm so excited.

OU, Toddlers and Teenagers

2008-08-01T19:12:00.002-05:00

Tyler has learned to say, "OU!" He has been able to make both sounds individually, but tonight we taught him to put them together - with enthusiasm. :D Oh yes, we brainwash our boys with Sooner Spirit. But after all, football season approacheth and what kind of parents would we be if we did not train up our children in the way they should go??? I mean, really, if I'm going to be the mom of two Heisman winners, I've got to start them young.

Oh.... I also need to share about my teenage toddler. You might be saying, HUH?? But I will explain. Brayden has hit this stage where everything he does is an unbeliveably good impression of a brooding teenager. He slams doors, he rolls his eyes and says, "Mmmaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmmm!" he goes to bed late and then sleeps in, he gets huffy when he doesn't get his way, and he doesn't want anything to do with anything anyone wants him to have anything to do with (yeah, try to say that 5 times fast). BUT... he and Tyler have learned to hug each other. I need to get the camera out for this because it really is too sweet not to share with the entire world (or those few who actually read my blog, I guess). So it's not all bad. In fact, it's not even mostly bad. And if I'm going to be honest, I can't say it's bad at all or then I'd have to shame myself because Brayden really is just a mini version of me. I mean, where do you think he learned to say, "You hear me?!?!" and "Come here NOW!" :D Thank goodness Tyler is like Daddy.

As Promised...

2008-08-01T19:02:00.002-05:00

Okay, here's the zoo page... I still can't believe that Brayden got to pet a kangaroo!!!!!

Hum...

2008-07-28T21:14:00.003-05:00

I really wanted to just type some stuff in my blog without having to have a scrapbook page to add. So... I was thinking about what happened today... And it brought to mind, my cousin, Shawna called today. She was telling me about my aunt's 60th birthday party that's coming up. She also reminded me (as if I needed reminding) that I've got a "big one" coming up too (I'll be 30!). And our conversation kind of just went on until she brought up a topic that we had discussed way back in October... She has some good friends who lost a daughter to cancer in November and was wanting some advice from someone who'd been through a similar situation to weigh in on how to best deal with the siblings. It's weird to have to drudge up all those feelings from 15+ years ago. She asked me an odd question, though - if I had felt some resentment toward Troy & my parents during the entire thing - if I felt like I was being, not really neglected, but getting the short end of the stick when it came to my parents. I didn't even have to hesitate when saying, "Yes. Without a doubt, yes." It took me until college to actually start dealing with some of those issues and to this day, I still harbor some of the emotions that I felt during my eighth grade year after Troy died. But I realized something today as I was talking to Shawna. That if I KNEW that one of my two boys was going to die within the next year, I wouldn't hesitate to spend as much time with them as possible. I would take them everywhere with me, I would sleep with them, I would cuddle them every waking moment - I'd smother them.

But then I thought about something else....

We are not promised tomorrow. They aren't promised tomorrow. So why am I not taking advantage of every moment with them now? What if I didn't have tomorrow with them? Or worse, what if I DO, but I don't take advantage of it and 18 years go by and I've never truely taken advantage of them. As crazy as they drive me sometimes, and as much as I just want some "me" time or that extra 30 minutes of sleep... I need to make sure that I don't miss the time I have with my kids.

Camping Out

2008-07-28T14:30:00.002-05:00

So Rhonda, Nikolas and Andrea came to visit this weekend. Brayden & Nikolas had a TON of fun playing (or WRESTLING) together. Saturday night, I decided they could sleep together, so I got out Brayden's Cars tent and sleeping bag. I don't know how much sleeping went on actually, but they had a great time.

We also went to the Little River Zoo, but I haven't had time to scrap that yet, so you'll just have to wait.

I Love Thee...

2008-07-25T22:44:00.002-05:00

I found a really neat quote today while working on scrapbook pages... I wanted to use it to do a page for John, but I couldn't find any good, recent pictures of him by himself. Somehow I'm always complaining that there aren't any pictures of me, and have consequently given my camera to people lately to make sure I'm in some pics, but now I realize I don't have too many of John either. So - note to self - take more pictures of the hubby. Anyway... I gave up on the idea of doing a page of John when I found a picture of John & Brayden from Thanksgiving 2006. I just jumped in from there. This is what I wound up with:

But let me tell you WHY I really wanted to do a page about how much I love my wonderful husband... It's because he loves me. :D He's taken the last few days to make my life a little easier, which has been an immense relief to me. He's cleaned and more importantly, decluttered my kitchen, he's done the dishes for the last 3 meals, and he vacuumed the entire house. And he's done all of this with a broken finger!! I think some of it was cabin fever, but it was still ultimately to help me out. He's a great husband and helper for me. I love my John.

Words and more words...

2008-07-24T10:43:00.003-05:00

I realized today that I am a very bad mom when it comes to the boys' baby books. There are PAGES and PAGES of nothing in there. So I thought that I need to try to write some stuff here just so I'll have it SOMEWHERE. You know??? John and I were laughing this morning about some of Brayden's sentences. Our current favorite is:

"Let Brayden help you."

Mostly in reference to using scissors or the phone or something else he knows he shouldn't be 'helping' with.

Tyler's words to date:
No
Da-Dee
Mom-ma
Gam-ma
Pa-Pa
Thain-ku
joose
din (drink)
done
ball
baf (bath)
go (more like where'd it go?)
yeah
ummmm!
oooe (shoe)
eeee (eat)

And yesterday, he tried to sing along with the Little Einsteins theme - I even think he said something like 'Einsteins.' Imagine that!!!

I think there are more, but I can't think of them right now, so I'll come back and edit if I remember them.

That's all - I just wanted to get that all written down.

Mommy's a Guitar Hero & Brayden Wipes Out

2008-07-22T22:05:00.002-05:00

John & I had some vacation money left, so we went out and got Aerosmith's Guitar Hero... We could've used it for something more responsible, but it was VACATION money - and this game is something that's allowed us to extend the feeling of vacation into our every day lives. Besides, it's too much fun!! Of course I only play on "easy" because I don't want to get frustrated... (In other words, I'm basically a cheater, cause I *could* play medium, I'd just stink at it. Know your limits, I say.) I had a really good game one day and I pulled a John and took a screen shot with our camera (he does that when he has really good Halo games - I always thought he was a cheeseball). And to further the insanity, I'm scrapping it.

One more thing... Tonight John decided that he was going to watch a really (REALLY) stupid show called "Wipe Out." I'd kind of boycotted myself from watching it because it seriously looked that dumb and I didn't want to give the powers that be the satelite feeding letting them know that someone was watching - thus encouraging them to make more stupid television. But I digress - John was watching it and was really getting a kick out of it. Must be a guy thing because Brayden joined right in. After about 5 minutes of watching these dumb Wipe Out stunts, he starts turning everying in the living room into an obstacle course (including, but not limited to, John's legs). He was jumping from couch to coffee table and then rolling off onto the floor... he was creeping to the edge of the cushions and then springing onto John's legs... John realized that the show was obviously a bad influence on a very daring child, so he turned it off. And Brayden yelled, "No Daddy! Why-Out!" He's going to be a daredevil, I'm just sure of it.

Thank you!

2008-07-22T14:29:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to come on here and post this for a while now... Tyler is talking in sentences!! Well, if you count "Thank you." It sounds more like gich-eeew most of the time, but sometimes it comes out very clear. He's also learned how to jump, he runs when you say "ready, set, GO!" and he's sleeping through the night (most of the time - finally!).

We cut his hair the other day... It was getting kind of out of hand. But I still didn't really want to do it. His curls were just too cute. Not to mention that I absolutely LOVED running my hands through his hair. Now that it's all gone, he just doesn't really look like my little baby anymore. But seeing as how everyone thought he was my baby girl (even in blue), I guess I needed to do it for him.

Brayden has been showing us lately just how stubborn he is... He is fighting sleeping by himself. He goes down for the evening around 8:30 or 9 and doesn't give up the crying until around 12 and even then, it's only for about 20 minute increments. The other night, he cried off and on until close to 3 am. And then he woke up around 5 and started in again. It's not fun at all. We've tried everything - drinks, paci, stuffed animals, flash lights, lying with him for a few minutes, singing, the "just put them back in bed" technique, ignoring, stern voices, and even a swift pat on the rear... but he just WILL NOT give up. Every time you leave the room, he's at the door within seconds. I actually think it's kind of facinating that he has that kind of "stick-to-it-iveness." But it makes for VERY long nights for Mommy & Daddy.

I think I'll come back later and add a few posts above this one to include vacation stuff since I'm not really in the mood to sit here and recount it all right now (I'm super tired). If anyone has any tips on getting a very willful toddler to bed, be my guest to share. :D

Here're a few scrapbook pages to get you through until next time:

This one is actually a picture from quite some time ago, but since I was talking about Brayden and his onerery-ness...

Two words at once!!

2008-06-09T22:32:00.004-05:00

Tyler said a two word sentence this week!!! On Saturday he said, "Water Pa Pa!" And then last night he said, "Ni-ni Da-dee" He's growing up so quickly!! Brayden is gone to Grandma & Pa Pa's this week, so Tyler and I have been alone together. Although with camp going on, it's not like we've had a lot of free time. Pretty much if we're alone, it's because it's nap time. But it's nice to be able to focus solely on him and his needs for a few days. Here's my latest Tyler scrap... it's a picture from a few months ago, but I just got it done and fell in love with the outcome.

Speaking of speaking in sentences... Brayden has just taken off with talking. I called this morning to check on him and he got on the phone and talked my ear off for about 10 minutes. It was a lot of gibberish, but that's the longest he's ever stayed on the phone in conversation. He told me about the thunder ("I her it! Dun-der! I her it!") and got excited about something and blabbered on incoherently about whatever it was for quite a while! We miss having him around. I noticed when we were at my mom's that he's now taller than the bar... when we were there for Erin's graduation in May, he could still walk under it. So obviously he's had a major growth spurt in the last month. Here's what else Brayden's been up to:

Well, I just heard the washer stop, so I need to go put the clothes in the dryer. I wish I had more time to write some stuff, I'd like to talk about camp, about some stresses I've been feeling, about frustrations with some people... but I promised myself that when the laundry was done, I would go to bed so I could be on top of my game tomorrow. I was a little short tempered today... and I really don't want to be that person again tomorrow.

DONE!

2008-05-31T13:12:00.002-05:00

...with the first session of camp. Servant's Camp was yesterday and today. We had 42 people here total. That's a really good sized group. They got a lot of stuff done. Billy & Joy took the time to actually try and think of all the little things that needed to be done that we maybe hadn't thought of. Fantastic to have such servant hearted people around. I don't know that we tell them that enough.

Brayden and Tyler are having a blast being able to be out of the house so much. Brooklyn (from Ada) "babysat" for me all morning so I could get registrations and whatnot done. That was such a huge help. Now it's after lunch, the boys are down for naps, and I'm going to have the luxury of taking a shower. It's kind of weird when that tends to be the highlight of your day. :D I find myself wishing all day that I could have the time to pop in the shower, but then when I get that time, it always seems like there's something else to do... laundry, dishes, surfing the internet uninterrupted. hehe.

I put the boys in matching outfits today. I need to get the camera out and take a pic. If I do, I'll probably end up scrapping it. I have kind of made this goal of scrapbooking a page a day. I have so many pictures from Brayden's 2nd year of life (so 13 months and older) that I haven't had a chance to do much with since that's about when Tyler was born. I got most of Tyler's pages done because I wanted to have them for his first birthday... I'm trying to get caught up, though, because it's a lot easier to journal on pages that are fresh in your mind. Anyhoo... the shower is calling my name. I can hear it.

something a little older and something new

2008-05-30T21:06:00.002-05:00

Tyler turned 14 months old today. Growing like a weed! He's not as big as Brayden was, but he's big for him (if that makes sense). He's always been my little peanut. I'm still 100% convinced that they didn't weigh him right when he was born. But whatever. He's such a sweetheart. He loves to blow kisses to people and tonight he gave Billy a real kiss goodnight (on the cheek of course). I was surprised that he did it!

Today I did something I've never done before... I took both boys to the mall all by myself. We went to Old Navy and Children's Place and then played in the play zone. THEN - I took them to Chick-fil-A for lunch and managed to do it all without going crazy or even a little crazy at all. They were both really good. It was hard when I had to hold one and push the other in the stroller - the cheapie strollers were NOT made for someone to push with one hand. But I can't fit the bigger one in my trunk (oh where is that minivan when you need it!?!?!?). But all in all, it was a good enough trip that I may actually do it again sometime. However - I'm still not going to brave grocery shopping with them by myself. That's just nuts.

Well... I'm not feeling real great... I think maybe I'm just really tired. And I have a few things to do before actually making it to bed. I think I may just skip it all and take a nice long bath or shower and then hit the sack, though. I may go see how things are going with the Servants kids first... John's down there, and I don't want him to be all weirded out if he comes home, and I'm already in bed.

Momma's Boy

2008-05-30T20:45:00.000-05:00

I scrapbooked the picture of Tyler and me that I took yesterday...

Playing Quietly

2008-05-29T14:55:00.002-05:00

I had a few free minutes... Brayden is napping, and Tyler is playing by himself. He's been doing that a lot more over the last few weeks. Used to be that Brayden was the only one who'd play alone. I think he actually spoiled me because he liked to play by himself from about 9 months old. He'd sit in his room and play for hours. Very uncharacteristic for babies that old. But then there's my mommy's boy Tyler. He really needs people around. He does not like to be alone. But, he's started to change. He will play by himself for 20-30 minutes or with Brayden for an hour or so (or until he gets hurt or stuck in the toy box). He's growing up so quickly!! He tried to say "diaper" today. It was actually almost understandable! It's so weird to me for him to be talking since Brayden didn't talk until 2. Anyway - I got a few pictures of Tyler while he was playing...

Seriously.

2008-05-28T17:26:00.004-05:00

I was sitting on the couch last night scrapbooking (again) and thought to myself that I needed to blog something... but again, I didn't. I guess I just tell myself that my scrapbooking kind of covers the blog aspect?

ANYWAY... I just saw a friend's blogger site and she's started blogging letters to her two little girls. I thought it was a fantastic idea, but I'd never keep up with it. Sigh. I wish I could. I need to get out of this pity party, though.

Brayden has now started talking in almost complete sentences. It's kind of happened gradually,so I haven't noticed it quite as much as John. But since he's not in the house all day, he keeps commenting on how many more things Brayden is saying these days. Like last night, they were taking a shower and B goes, "It's raining!" He's started liking "The Very Best Nest" book for bedtime - mainly because there's a big bell in it and he gets to go "bong! bong! bong!" really loud and with motions... He's very into the whole sound effect thing right now. He'll tell you there's a bug and then he'll shake his hands and say, "buzz buzz" (like he's trying to show you what the bug does). He also does airplanes, trains, trucks (big trucks!) and anything that makes loud noises, like thunder or growling animals. He's become obsessed with chocolate milk. The neighbor's dog is Chocolate, so he's started calling him Chocolate Milk.

Tyler is our little ham. He's started figuring out that he can make people laugh and he loves to do things to bring out that response. He's a generally happy baby, but when he gets mad about something, his fit is pretty intense. He's been learning from Brayden, though, so what less could you expect?

I'm cracked up because both of my boys are pizza freaks. I fixed them a Tony's the other night and I really believe it was the first meal EVER that neither of them dropped any on the floor. Speaking of dropping on the floor... meal times are like a warzone in the kitchen. I sometimes think these boys are actually having food fights just to spite me.

We had a great Memorial Day on Monday. We grilled out for supper and then Brayden got to play with the hose. That was the end of the great day. When we had to turn off the water, you would have thought we told Brayden that he could never have another cup of juice for the rest of his life. The fit lasted for 2 hours. Seriously. I'm not kidding at all. I tried everything to get him to calm down; he'd have none of it. I ended up just turning off his lights and closing his door and letting him just cry it out. He fell asleep by the door - he had pulled his pillow and blanket off of his bed and made a little nest right by the crack. He woke up fine the next morning... Here's some pictures:

I meant to...

2008-05-21T20:23:00.004-05:00

Over the last week or two things have kept happening, and I say to myself, "I need to get on and blog about this before I forget it." And I really MEANT to... but I haven't done it. And I forgot what all those little things were. Time goes by so quickly and my days seem like just one constant run of naps and "no"s. But then there are some shining moments that I want to hold on to forever. I'm going to do my best to catch up on some of these...

Brayden
Brayden has recently discovered bugs - and has a weird fear of them. He freaks out. Seriously. And it's turned into anything that he doesn't like, it's a "bug." So last week he was staying with Grandma & Pa Pa and had the leftovers from his lunch in a take-home box. Unfortunately, a piece of Grandma's lettuce got in with his fries. So when he opened the box, he freaked out and yelled, "EW! Yucky bug!" Funny kid.

He's started talking in sentences and sings along with any music. Somewhere he learned "Happy Birthday" and will pretend that things are candles just so he can sing the song and blow out the candle. He is still obsessed with Backyardigans and will sing along with almost any of their songs - and sometimes says the words along with the episode. His memory amazes me.

His favorite book is "Go, Dog. Go!" and will not go to bed without it. However, I can start on the "now it is night" page and read to the end and that seems to satisfy him. I do that when we've read 2-3 other books and he STILL wants to finish up with "Go, Dog."

He and Tyler are the ultimate Steve McQueen duo. They've learned how to escape the house if no one's paying attention (like if I'm in the bathroom or on the phone). They will knock down the gate and go out the front door. Luckily, they haven't made it much further than that, but it still scares me to death that they are that brave. And defiant.

Tyler
Tyler has learned to spin around in circles. It's too cute to watch him "dance." He also loves the Backyardigans - just like brother.

He has said quite a few words - which is weird for me because B didn't talk until almost 2! He's said: mama, daddy, pa pa, light, milk, and most recently: da-den (Brayden). I think it's amazing how he tries so hard to talk. He'll mimic a lot of stuff. Although his favorite thing to mimic, though, is sneezing. So cute.

His hair is so red and all curly in the back. Everyone keeps saying we need to cut it because he looks like a girl. And even though I swore I'd never be one of "those" parents, I am. I can't bring myself to chop off his cute hair. I'm so scared his curls will be gone forever if I do.

Well, my battery is about to die on the laptop... typical for me... So I'm going to go. If I think of more later, though, I'll jot it down. Well, I'll MEAN to.

In the meantime, though - here's my latest scrap of the boys:

Erin's Graduation

2008-05-11T21:19:00.001-05:00

The boys and I headed down to Fletcher for Erin's graduation this weekend. Grandma & Grandpa were there too. I wish John could've come, but he had to work on the bathhouse - plus we had a few volunteers come out to help. We had a good time, though. Here's what I did for Erin:

...and here's what all Brayden was up to while we were there...

10 Worries

2008-04-14T22:51:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I just wish I could just *snap* and fix whatever it is I'm worrying about. I'm a total worry-wart. Seriously. I worry about EVERYTHING. I can't sleep at night because I think of things to worry about. Like if there's not something I'm concerned with, I rack my brain trying to come up with something to concern myself with. I'm not joking. Deep down I have a peaceful sense in God that everything will be okay, but I find myself thinking through countless scenarios of "what-ifs" and "yeah, buts" until I just drift off to sleep. (And even then I DREAM about junk.) I don't really know why this happens or why I let myself do this. I've tried convincing myself that worrying doesn't really help, but I find some sense of security in it - like if I think through every situation and come up with every possible outcome for every single stress in my life, then I won't be too shocked when it happens. Or I just like to be pessimistic? I dunno.

So to cap this all off, I'm going to try to list my top 10 worries/concerns and then focus on one week for the next ten weeks... Pray about it, be proactive about it, talk with John about it and have him help me let go of this gripping paranoia.

1. Finances - obviously a big one. I make a joke about the "money munchkin" tonight who told me the other day to not waste money on microwaveable popcorn. But then John came back at me with the fact that I don't listen to that money munchkin when I really should... So I'm going to try to be better about our budget and getting out of debt so we don't have this huge black cloud hanging over our heads for the rest of our life.
2. Work - I just don't make the time to get done what I need to, and I make all sorts of excuses not to. Then I freak out because I have "so much to do."
3. Being a good Mommy - I just need to focus more on spending meaningful time with the boys.
4. My relationship with God.
5. Erin - I just worry about her all day long...
6. My health/fitness (really, need I say more?)
7. Losing one or both of the boys or John. I seriously freak out about this more than I should.
8. My relationship with John - just making the time to talk about things other than work and the kids and really keeping "us" in good shape.
9. How others view me - I am so insecure and paranoid that no one likes me. I go home from meetings, church, family gatherings just absolutely convinced that I'm a mess and said all the wrong things and no one really enjoyed my company. I don't know how such an outwardly, seemingly confident person is so insecure, but I really am. And I'd really like to work on my self-image and thus change how I view other people viewing me.
10. Various little things that are totally within my control - like cleaning the house instead of playing xbox, or finding my keys, or writing thank you cards for Tyler's birthday, or forgetting to send that check to Courtney. I have so many things that just come down to laziness and at the end of the day I feel so dang guilty for it all that I just worry and worry that I'm not the person I want to be or should be and then my brain goes to how much I'm unhappy with myself... I just need to get my butt in gear so that I don't have the little things to worry about and can focus on the bigger things that might actually matter.

Whew. I feel better. For now.

Freaking Kid. Seriously.

2008-04-13T15:56:00.003-05:00

"Um.... Cheese-berger."
"You want a cheeseburger? Okay, I'm getting you a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger."
"Yes."
"Okay."

5 minutes later at the table.

"Cheese-berger!"
"Yes, that's your cheeseburger. Eat it."
"No way."
"Brayden, seriously. You need to eat."
"No way!"
"Okay, fine. Ty-Ty will eat it."
"NO WAY! (and crying ensues)"
*sigh* "Okay, here's your burger."
"CHEESE BERGER!"
"Yes. EAT IT."
"No. No WAY!" (as he wraps it back up, and total melt down follows.)

John takes the screaming child outside... He's met by a grandma who says, "Aww... Little guy giving you trouble?"
John: "Every day."

PS - the wrapped up cheeseburger is still sitting in the car. Uneaten.

When at eleventy-hundredth you don't succeed...

2008-04-13T15:51:00.002-05:00

So I've been trying to keep this blog/journal for 4 years now. I stink at it. I'll have my days where I'm really good at getting on here and writing something, but then MONTHS. I don't know why I don't make myself do it more. My mom has been keeping a DAILY journal since 1977. Seriously. She has 30 books of journaling. I can think of any day in my life and go find out what she had to say about that day. Usually it's just composed of "Today, I..." but how neat is it to be able to know that in October of 1977, she went to KFC for lunch and spent $1.50 total. Or being able to go back to the '80's and read about every day of my brother's life.

So I'm going to try (again) to pick it back up.

Tyler's First Birthday

2008-03-30T23:27:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been a year. We woke up this morning to Tyler making a lot of noise. At 7:30. AM. Go figure. Guess he wanted to get an early start on the day. I don't think Aunt Erin liked it very much - but she had earplugs in. So I got Tyler out of the pack-n-play and put him in bed with John and me. He just wanted to play mountain climber. Typical. We were supposed to be leaving for Silver Dollar City at 9, so I went ahead and got up to get ready. We found out later that Tyler was everyone else's alarm clock, too... Mom and Dad (and Brayden) were in the adjoining room and could hear him, so they all got up. We went down to the hospitality room to see what they had for breakfast. It was packed with all the teens for young Christians weekend. Had some donuts and took a few back for Mom and Brayden. Finally we all got ready and got the diaper bag ready to go. We had PLANNED for the Young Clan to go with us at 9, but they weren't even up yet.
So we took off for The City. It was a little chilly out, and kind of looked like rain, but we were all being optimistic that the weather would get better. It didn't. I think the stupid weather fairy was out to get us (again). But we had a pretty good day anyway. Tyler tried to ride some of the smaller rides, but he didn't like them!! I was really surprised because he's usually such a thrill seeker. Brayden LOVED everything and couldn't stand to leave. He especially loved the spinning teacups. I wanted him to ride the mini-rollercoaster, but it started raining so they shut it down. =(
We just kind of stuck it out through the rain... We rode the train (Tyler and Brayden gave the "bandits" some money), rode the Shoot-out (Tyler actually really liked that), and sat and listened to the Pickers (Brayden fell asleep; Tyler sang along & clapped). I think it would have been a lot more fun had the weather been drier and warmer, but it was still a neat thing to spend the day with the "whole" family. As we were getting ready to leave, Pure Heart was getting ready to sing on the Main Square stage. There was NO ONE there listening, so I thought the boys might like to go dance to their music. We all headed over there and Tyler started to CRAWL UP ON STAGE. So the girls picked him up and started singing to him!!! It was just too cute. They got especially excited when we told them it was his birthday. It was the perfect end to the day.

I cannot believe that he's one year old already. He's 20 lbs and 30" long. So he's really tall and very skinny. He still has red hair, and we can't go ANYWHERE without people commenting on it. It's also really long and curly in the back, so sometimes he gets mistaken for a girl. His eyes are a very dark brownish green. He is attached to me for about 90% of the time. He can't stand to be away from me for too long. He's already trying to talk and we *think* we've heard him say Mama, Dada, PawPaw, love you (vvv-eeeew), and again (giiiiii). He loves to play with Brayden, but he's VERY violent. He likes to hit and thinks it's very funny. He obeys a LOT better than Brayden did, but generally he only listens to me - when John tells him no, he just laughs. He's a pretty good humored baby as long as there are people around. He's been a great addition to our family, and we can't imagine life without him.

Tyler's WALKING!

2008-02-12T19:23:00.001-06:00

Gee willikers!

2008-02-01T17:10:00.000-06:00

"I must have peace and quiet so I'm going to put you in my chamber of silence!" (Tasha in "Fly Girl")

Oh, I can't even begin to say how glad I am to have kids. I would have never discovered the Backyardigans if it weren't for them. Seriously, I think I love this cartoon more than the boys do. I find myself watching as intently as they do most of the time. And laughing more. Probably because neither of them "get" the jokes and puns yet (like a dragon egg that escapes and they say, "Catch that runny egg!").

I will come back to this blog from time to time to add more of my favorite Backyardigans quotes.

Oh, Boy.

2008-01-28T17:38:00.001-06:00

In the world of little boys there is not much down time. Maybe the occassional nap (if Mommy is lucky!), but for the most part it is 110% go time all the time. My boys are all boy. Through and through - snakes and snails (and rocks) and puppy dogs' tails... They are drawn toward dirt and bugs like a chef to an unchopped onion. It's like they can just SENSE its presence in the room and are utterly determined to exploit it for all its worth. And then eat it.

Brayden got his first real black eye this weekend. Jumping on the bed. No matter how many times you tell him not to do something, he feels that he NEEDS to continue doing so. Even after his near brush with death, he can still be found using his mattress as an indoor trampoline. Boy.

Tyler was found the other day with a runny nose. And a ladybug stuck in his snot. Boy.

Brayden recently decided that it's worthwile to learn how to make himself fart. And although that probably comes from me, it's still a BOY tendency. So... Boy.

Tyler has already learned how to wrestle and understands what "Get 'em!" means. Boy.

It also seems that the boys think our house is one giant jungle gym. Anything that sits, stands or lays still for more than a few seconds is likely to get scaled. But watch out, because it's also likely to become formerly mentioned trampoline as well.

But I have to admit that (even though I'm worn out most of the time) my days aren't boring. Ever. And with both boys doing something new almost every day, it's even kind of fun. Brayden is starting to pick up new words - today he learned hiccup (ah-gop) and tried to sing, "I just want to celebrate...another day of life!" (well, he sang "el-bay....iiiiii-eeeee"). Tyler is getting closer and closer to walking. Anyday now. And we think he's starting to try talking, too!! He will mock our sounds and about 80% of the time we can tell that he's trying to say something after us!! I can't believe that my little boys are growing up so quickly. I'm sure that I have so much more boy-ness to look forward to....

If You're Happy and You Know It....Say NO!

2008-01-25T21:42:00.000-06:00

Two major things with two major boys. Tyler has figured out "If You're Happy and You Know It." He claps at all the right spots and knows to wait for the "clap your hands" part. It's just too cute. He gets this proud and happy look on his face whenever he's doing it, too. Then there's Brayden... He's learned the word, "No." He says it ALL the time now, even if he's not really meaning "no" at the time (e.g. "Brayden, do you love Daddy?" "No."). He says it so defiantly, too. It's so very funny. Well, sort of. Before now he'd just ignore us when we told him to do something, but now he tells us no. Amusing, huh?

And in other news... We got our taxes done and thanks to our two little tax breaks, we're getting a hefty amount back. Using almost all of it to pay off debt, but had to use a little to get a new dryer. And washer. But we got a good deal - 15% off sale price, $200 off the washer/dryer combo and 12 months no interest/no payments. So we got a black Whirlpool Cabrio - which is what I've wanted for over a year now (well, the Cabrio, not necessarily the black...). John's really excited, though because HE wanted the black ones. The only thing that stinks is that we have to wait until 2/5 to get them... Oh well, though.

Brayden is 2 years old...

2008-01-18T22:41:00.001-06:00

I can't believe that two years could go by so fast. John & I say all the time that it's hard to remember Brayden as a baby because it's all been blurred by Tyler coming into our lives. But at the same time, I can still see it all as clear as day because being a mommy for the first time doesn't just disappear. It seems like from the day they are born and on, a child is doing something new every day. You'd think it would slow down after they start walking and stuff, but no. You can just SEE Brayden's brain expanding every day. It may be a new word or some new physical skill (like scaling the wall to get to his lamp), but let me just say no day is boring with this kid around. He never ceases to amaze me at the things he figures out and/or remembers. Just today at the doctor's office, he remembered that the toys were in a drawer - not on the shelf. Or yesterday, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and after that he started singing it himself. Mind you, he's probably only heard the song a handful of times in his entire life!! But my favorite thing that he has started to do in the last month is how he brushes his teeth. I'd been having problems getting him to open his mouth and let me brush his teeth - but he was perfectly willing to chomp down on the brush once it was in there. So one night, out of the blue, I started "singing" the theme to 2001: A Space Odessy (you know - dum, Dum, Dum, DA-DUM! Bum bum, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum). And lo and behold, he opened up. Then the next night - this happened:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v675/ritzbits/?action=view&current=102_4927.flv

Steel trap, I tell ya! The kid can remember anything. But he's got a stubborn streak in him that mirrors mine to no end. He will (most of the time) refuse to say or do things on command unless he wants to. He does not like to be told no, and when told no will see if there is some other way to do said thing without getting caught. He's the classic "toe the line" kind of kid. And I guess I should put his stats in here as well - he's 35" tall (36" if he's laying down - which is how they measured him at the doctor) and 27.5 lbs. We were so excited about his height because at 36", he can ride some of the bigger rides for kids at SDC!!! I can't wait to let him ride a roller coaster!!! Well, anyway - we're heading to Fletcher tomorrow and so I need to go to bed.

And stuff...

2007-11-07T12:39:00.000-06:00

I really don't have anything to say, much less anything DEEP, but I just realized I need to write something, even if it's nothing. We've had a few weeks of new stuff - Brayden's learning a new word or two every day. He still isn't talking *clearly* but I know what he's saying and he'll usually attempt to say a word at least once. Ty has started babbling and it seems like he knows what he's saying. He'll say, "mamamamama" when he's upset and wants me. "Dadadada" toward John and "Bababababa" around Brayden.

Brayden has started saying words together like, "Brrrr - Cold!" and "Whoa! Wazzat?" His cutest thing right now though is any loud knock or bang he yells, "Min!" which of course is "Come in." I'm trying to teach him to say, "Who's there?" instead so that we can work on jokes. He and Ty dressed up as Batman & Robin for Halloween. They were so cute!!! Brayden can say "Ba-men!" Ty pulled up all the way to his feet for the first time yesterday. We think he'll be an early walker like Brayden was. It's so exciting to see him growing up, but John & I both miss having a little bitty baby.

We finally paid John's car off this week. One less bill, but it still seems like we never can catch up. We're hoping for a really good tax return to put towards debt and climb out of our hole. It sure would be nice to have some breathing room. It's odd because I'm not super worried about stuff, but I probably should be. :)

Okay, Brayden's done eating & Ty's fussing, so I have to go. Now.

Icky finicky

2007-10-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

I have the blahs. I also have the angries. This causes problems. I don't want to do anything, and EVERYTHING is upsetting me, but I don't want to do anything about it, so I get more angry because I'm not getting anywhere. Make sense? Not to me either. I think I'm nuts. Oh well. I'm not sure, but I think it may be a touch of PMS. I don't want it to be, but at least then I'd feel justified in my craziness.

This week's been hectic already. We had missions emphasis at Newcastle this entire weekend which meant lots of driving and trying to be social when we were tired. But it all went fairly well. We spent the weekend at Mom & Dad's though so they could watch Brayden while we were missioning. That helped out a ton. I'd have liked to leave Tyler too, but Mom isn't quite comfortable with that yet since he's still attached to his food source (i.e. me).

Last night I didn't get a whole lot of sleep... Tyler decided he didn't want to sleep alone, so I took him and slept with him on the couch in the living room. That actually wasn't too uncomfortable, but at the same time, it's a lot more pleasant to sleep without a child on you. But I have to remind myself that these days don't last very long and someday I'll be wishing that I had my little cuddlebug back. Maybe.

Herman & Melissa had their baby last night. His name is Noah Rylan. He was born at 1:40 am, weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 in long. He looks a lot like Herman. Holding him gave me baby fever again, but I think my ickies tonight made me get over them. I really feel like I'm not a BAD mom, but at the same time, I'm not the best either. I get really frustrated easily and have a hard time coping with the crying boys when I'm tired. I think it all comes down to me being selfish. I'd rather do things like mess on the computer, watch TV or play xbox than do laundry, dishes or read a book to the boys. I would really like to work on that, but I keep making excuses or saying to myself that I'll do it later or tomorrow...

Tyler is 6 months! (and more)

2007-10-01T20:49:00.001-05:00

We all kind of slept in today - until 8!! That was nice. Ty actually woke up at 7:30 but I put him in the pack-n-play and he just goofed off for 30 minutes. So then we all got up and Brayden & John had breakfast. Then John headed out to mow. I got some stuff done and then the DHL guys came with part 1 of John's birthday present (the tv wall mount). So he spent the next few hours setting all that up. He got the tv on the wall right about noon and we had to leave because Ty's appointment was at 1:30. So we went and had pizza at Pizza Hut for lunch and then rushed to the doctor. Brayden did a pretty good job waiting... He now likes to smile at strangers and say something that sounds like "hi!" It's a riot. Ty & I finally got called back (only to wait some more). He is 27 1/4" long and weighs 17 lbs 4 oz, that puts him in the 75th and 40th percentiles respectively. Dr. Holter said that it's right about where he likes to see breastfed babies at this age. We talked a little about Ty's rash that I assumed was from the rice cereal. He said to try oatmeal cereal and that I can start introducing veggies and then fruits. I can't believe Ty's this old already. Where'd my baby go???

After the appointment, we all went to Lowes to get a shelf for the A/V stuff and then to Walmart. I had to do some grocery shopping, so I took Brayden and John took Tyler. Things took a little longer than expected. Brayden kept wanting to help push the cart, but then would stop and run away. I tried putting him in the cart, but then he wanted out... When we finally got done, we went to the pharmacy to ick up Ty's prescription for his diaper rash. Of course it wasn't done yet - why would it be??? So we had to wrestle the boys for another 30 minutes or so... Yuck. By the time we got home it was almost 4. Brayden needed a nap; Tyler needed to eat. John finished the mounting of the A/V stuff and tv. I dealt with Tyler... Tons of fun.

But tonight - Ty actually crawled!! He moved his arms and knees!!! We were really surprised and excited. Also, Brayden tried to repeat after me when I said, "A-B-C." The boys are both growing up so quickly.

Tyler is 6 months!

2007-09-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

I cannot for the life of me believe that my baby is already six months old. Time has just FLOWN by. He's getting more alert by the day. He interacts with Brayden a lot - even when Brayden doesn't want him to. They enjoy watching The Backyardigans together. It's really funny because Ty giggles when he hears the theme song. Reminds me a lot of Brayden a year ago. He's already pushing up and scooting - he has yet to actually crawl, though. Friday he learned how to push himself up into a sitting position. He's doing it all the time now.

We have his 6 month checkup at the doctor's tomorrow, so I'll come back then and post his stats and a few more things. But right now I need to go and cuddle him... He's crying instead of sleeping. But that's my boy!

Somewhere in Missouri

2007-09-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

John, Tyler, Alan, Jen and I all took the long car ride to Branson this weekend!! In fact, we're there right now. Alan & Jen were going, and John's been wanting to go so bad, that we just decided to tag along. (We left Brayden with Grandma because we weren't prepared to deal with any toddler meltdowns.) We're all sharing the hotel room, gas money, and FUN!!! John, Alan & Jen went go-kart racing last night (Ty and I went to the outlet mall to check for good sales... no luck), then we all went to Shorty Smalls for dinner. We headed back to the hotel room after that and stayed up WAAAAY too late playing Phase 10. It was a lot of fun, though. This morning (not so) bright and early, we all got up and around and headed to Silver Dollar City. We all have season passes (thanks to Mom & Dad giving them to us for Christmas!!) and we had 4 guest passes with us as well. Obviously most people who are coming to SDC at this time of year have season passes, so it was kind of tough to find people to use them on, but finally after waiting a little while, this couple came our way. They were actually from Canada (!) and were so excited that we wanted to take them in for free! They even took our picture!! We're probably gonna end up in someone's scrapbook.

So we get into the park... John sees that the cake/bakery when you first come in has BISCUTS & GRAVY!!!! So of course he had to get some. He's chowing down on them while we walk through the park heading toward some rides. He has them all eaten before we even get to Wildfire. They all rode while Ty & I watched. I didn't want to ride because the last few times I've gone on it, I've gotten a really bad headache... So then we headed to Powder Keg. After a while, I see John finally coming out of the ride and he's pointing at this little kid beside him. I'm thinking, yeah, that's nice, you rode with a kid. And then I look more closely and it's my cousin Peter!!! It just so happened that John got in line RIGHT BEHIND my uncle and two of his four kids. Crazy stuff. Their whole family and my Aunt's mom, dad & sister were there today having fun, too! It was so great to see them - since we moved, we don't see our Arkansas family as much as we used to...

After all of that, we headed to some other rides - Alan & Jen rode the new Barn Swing - that was INSANE stuff. Then we wanted to eat, so I got fajitas; Alan got a Philly Cheesesteak and we all chowed down. BUUUUUT, then it started to rain. And it pretty much rained the rest of the day off and on. But we had ponchos and Ty did okay in the snuggli under the poncho. We still had a TON of fun. It was just so great to be back here having fun. Not being able to come to Branson on any given weekend is one of the only downfalls of not living in Joplin anymore.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO.... the day's winding down... Alan & Jen are out eating Olive Garden (John & I had pizza in the room so Ty could sleep). As soon as they get back, we're going to go putt putting at Pirate Golf! John's napping right now too so I hope that when they get back he'll be all charged up. We've had such a great time so far! We needed the vacation so very badly. And Branson was pretty much the perfect place. It's so relaxing for us here - it's where we used to go on weekends to "get away", where we go for Christmas with our families, and where we went on our honeymoon. It's just full of "warm fuzzies." You know?

This ended up being a lot longer than I'd intended.... Isn't it always? So in closing, I'll just say thank you to Erin for keeping us posted about the OU game while we were in the park. Thanks to Mom & Dad for keeping Brayden. And to Alan & Jen for letting us invade their space. That is all.