Thankfulness

Last year, I posted this around Thanksgiving:

I'm Thankful.....

.....for the recent sickness in our house.....because it has helped remind us to be ever appreciative of our normally good health.

.....for NOT having television.....because it has given us the gift of time with each other.

.....for the few extra pounds around my middle.....because it means we certainly are not lacking for food in our home.

.....for the zoo that will by my in-laws' house at Thanksgiving, with over 30 people attending.....because I know there are many who spend this day alone, with no family to surround them.

.....for the fact that I came from what the world would call a "broken" home (though, it never seemed broken in any way to me at the time).....because now, I really know the value of keeping my family together.

.....for the times I want to pull my hair out when my children are just NOT getting a concept I am trying to teach them.....because it makes it that much sweeter once they finally own that concept for themselves, and put it into practice without Mommy's prompting.

.....for Cameron shouting "poop" in the middle of Wal-Mart.....because that word was preceded by the sentence, "P says 'puh', like.....Poop!" and it means all our phonics lessons are really sinking in.

And, this year....

.....for the many nights I've spent alone over the last several weeks.....because it means that God is abundantly providing work and income for my family.

.....for the dust that is on almost every surface of my furniture and taunts me daily is just waiting on me to clean it off.....because it means that I have a house to collect dust in, and 'stuff' to collect dust on.

.....for
the leg cramps
the heartburn
the constant weariness
the middle of the night 'attacks' of sickness
the shortness of breath
the incredibly achy back
the inability to bend
the vein 'issues'
the sleepless nights
the 17 extra pounds around my middle everywhere.....

.....for the sweet little girl that's growing in my belly--need there be an explanation for that one?


I'm so thankful--to the Lord, of course, from Whom all blessings come--for all the little things, and all the big things.


Happy Thanksgiving,

Taking it literally

Conversation:

Me, talking to Cameron and Ethan this morning: "I've got to pack you guys today."

Cameron: "You've got to pack us today?"

Me: "Yep. We've got to get our stuff altogether....I have to pack everyone today."

Cameron: "But....you've got to pack us today?"

Me: "Yes, Cameron....I have to pack you today."

Cameron, starting to seem panicky: "You're going to pack us in the suitcases!?!"

Aaah. Now I understood why he was so panicky....

Monday Musings

I....

~vacillate almost daily between cleaning rampages and not-wanting-to-do-absolutely-anything-at-all. Like, thinking about letting Colin just skip school for the entire day because I can't bear the thought of getting up and getting out of bed to get him ready and take him there. Ugh.....It's. So. Much. Effort. The extremes (caused by raging hormones? Tiredness?) are unbelievable!

~am having a rampage day, by the way. Already done three loads of laundry and put them away, cleaned the kitchen and dining room, made all of the beds, and cleaned (like, I mean, the real kind of cleaning, not pregnant cleaning--we'll talk about that in a later post) both of my bathrooms, and it's not even 9 a.m.

~am getting low on Frosty Nerds and York Peppermint Patties all at the same time. It's making me nervous.

~am in love with Winter Candy Apple everything. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

~am trying to teach Colin the value of money. Whew--tough lesson. What an experience we had in Wal-Mart on Saturday, trying desperately to find something he could buy for his very meager 77 cents. (He wanted so badly to buy something--anything--that he actually asked me how much a coffee pot was....then, "How 'bout this cup, Momma? How much is this cup?") We both ended up in tears. It broke my heart to see him so upset that he couldn't afford anything--but I didn't cave. As much as I wanted to buy him everything his little heart wanted, I didn't give him any extra money, and he didn't find anything he could purchase. He realized that he needed to start saving his money, so he could buy 'bigger' things--and he has spent the last day and a half searching this house high and low for loose change. It's pretty comical. (My Pastor's wife gave him a coin for the offering yesterday in church, and he pocketed it. "I'm trying to save up," he said. *grin* So, she took it back. I said, good for her....) Any suggestions on how I can help teach him this valuable lesson? Not sure how I feel about allowances, but I'm all ears for suggestions!

~have started to forget what Shane looks like. Have I mentioned that he's been working like a crazy man the last couple of weeks? Eeek. Like, out of bed while it's dark and home after we've all been asleep for a couple of hours. I'm so thankful for God's providing abundant work for him/us right now, and also glad that we're all on vacation the last half of this week so he can get a much-needed break from working!!

~am so looking forward to seeing family this weekend, but dreading everything it takes to pack a family of five for several days. Blech.

~am glad I am not the only one who feels like people can be so completely rude about the whole "trying for a girl" thing. WOW--what responses! Seems like I'm not alone in getting off-the-wall and unnecessary comments about the gender of my little Peanut. Sometimes, however, it's not just gender related comments I get, but number of children related. The latest, while shopping at CVS, from the store clerk, if you can believe it:

"So, you really need a fourth, huh?"

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................

WHAT?

"YES, and we're quite thrilled about it, thankyouverymuch." {Promptly turn away to hide my red cheeks, collect my bag and get out of there as fast as I could before saying something completely inappropriate and not at all Christ-like.}

Someone remind me to call her store manager later, when the fumes aren't escaping my ears anymore....

I'm off for more cleaning....Happy Monday to all of you!

Subtle differences between brothers

After getting the boys out of the shower this morning, we went to their bedroom to get dressed.

I got Ethan dressed, and Colin was putting his own clothes on. Cameron began to follow suit, but I instructed him to wait--he needed lotion everywhere before he put any clothes on.

Cameron has terribly, terribly dry skin in the winter time. He gets that honestly--his Daddy suffers from the same thing. Poor baby....last night, he cried a bit over something, and then began to really wail--the tears were burning his face, it was so dry. Awwww.

Anyway, as I began to put lotion all over Cameron, Colin came over. He was intrigued.

"Why does Cameron have to get lotion all over, and Ethan and I don't?" he asked me.

"It's because Cameron has very dry skin, Colin. He needs lotion to help with that. You don't have dry skin like he does, that's all."

"Well," Colin pressed, "why don't I have dry skin like he does?"

And, before I could even give an answer, Cameron replied:

"Because I'm different than you. It's because God made me special, Colin. I have ex-specially dry skin!"

Friday {hilariously} Funny

So, I thought I was done blogging for the day.

But this just happened a few minutes ago, and....well.....there is no way that I, in good conscience, can let the afternoon go by without posting it.

I feel as though I would be robbing you of joy. And I just can't do that.

It's not right.

Ethan gets a little silly at the end of the video (like, saying things like "obey my night-night, and, when I say, "I love you!" he returns it with, "I love me!") but the first minute of the video is absolutely hilarious.

It's so nice to hear E finally talking my ear off....to hear him singing his own made-up songs is just beyond wonderful.

Enjoy!!

New toys.....great.

Daddy brought home something special for the boys last night.

{For the record--we NEVER do this kind of thing. Our boys get toys on birthdays and Christmas, and that's pretty much it. And, generally, they don't even get toys from us, because they get so much from the family and our toy closet is already overflowing....I simply don't know what on earth came over my husband yesterday.}

So.....yay! The boys love these, and now, we have little hunters! They shoot at everything that moves, and hide under beds and behind corners to shoot at and scare the daylights out of me at any 'animal' they can find! These wonderful guns even make real shooting sounds--loud ones--and pop out 'real' (plastic) bullets that get left all over the floor for me to step on and about break my toes!! My excitement just overflows!!!

Ahem.

Yes....this is exactly what we need.

*sigh*

{Bring on the dolls please....}

"Trying for a girl"

I knew that, if we decided to find out the sex of the baby and it turned out to be a girl, I would hear it.

"Oh....you're finally getting your girl!"

Or, some version of that same phrase.

"Finally--a girl!"

"Well, it's a good thing it's a girl this time around!"

Or, the absolute worst:

"Now you can be done! You've got your girl!"

Ugh.

That phrase, while I know almost 100% of the time is nothing but well meaning, really....well....irks me. It normally comes from people who don't know me well, so I don't think too much about it. When I do sit and ponder it though, it becomes quite bothersome; and today, I just felt like I wanted to clear the air, if you will, and divulge my feelings on the subject.

Something that I didn't think I would share with anyone (but now, for various reasons, have obviously decided to) is that, when Shane and I were in that sono room back in July and the tech announced that we were going to be the parents of a little girl, I began to cry.

They were mixed tears--not instant tears of all joy.

There was a part of me that was sad. Really sad.

I knew beforehand it might be like that, too--that was part of the reason why I initially did not want to find out the sex of the baby.

I love my boys. Let me repeat: I love my boys. I would hope that anyone that comes within 10 feet of me and stays for a moment would know that. And I was looking forward to having another one. I was so certain this baby was another boy--it's just how we apparently did things around here--and I was thrilled about that.

We were not, in any way, trying for a girl. When Shane and I decided to try again, it was for another baby. Not a girl.

I know that, most likely, this will be our last child. And, it was weird--I felt like, no matter what the sex of the baby turned out to be, I would be happy--yet, I also felt like I was going to be....disappointed in some way.

I know. I know. It's weird. (Well, I'm weird. So, really, that takes care of that.)

Let me explain what I mean.

I love little boys. I would have loved to have had another one. But, I knew that if that sono tech told me that this Peanut was a boy, then I would know in that moment that I was probably never going to be the mother of a little girl. And I felt like that would be disappointing. Very much so.

I also love little girls. I don't have any of my own, of course, but I have nieces and almost-as-if-they-were-my-own-nieces. *grin* I knew I would love to have a girl. But, I knew if that sono tech told me that this was a little girl, then I would probably never be a Momma to another boy again. And, I felt like that would also be disappointing.

See my dilemma?

I knew, on the other hand, that if we waited to find out, that when the baby came out and they shouted, "It's a ----!", that that moment would be wonderful, and no matter what the sex of the baby was, there would be no disappointment found anywhere in the room.

At least, that was how it all played out in my mind, anyway.

Now, please don't misunderstand what I am saying here--I am absolutely thrilled that God has bestowed a daughter to our family. Beyond excited. I am loving all the cute girlie things I am seeing, almost as if for the first time, and enjoying thinking about all things pink and purple.

{So is Shane. But don't tell him I told you.}

And, my emotions in that sono room very very quickly turned to happiness. Tears of sheer joy.

But I can tell you this from the absolute most honest place in my heart--had the gender been a boy, I would have been crying those same tears of sheer joy.

I don't know why--but it bothers me to think that people would think any differently.

For the record.....

.....stepping on your son's upside down, four-legged dinosaurs hurts way worse than stepping on your son's upside down Matchbox cars.

That is all.

Wordless Wednesday

**because my 'anniversary love note written in soap on my mirror' said enough**

Technical problems, apparently

UPDATE:

Ok, so the problem is, as you can see, FIXED!!

Yay! and Whew.

Ok, so I was slightly panicking, because I am just not good at anything HTML related....but Hilary, who designed the new layout for my blog quite some time ago, came right to my rescue and sent me instructions on how to fix everything. Let me just say--I breathed a big sigh of relief!

Thank you Hilary for your help....and if anyone is on the lookout for a blog designer, she is great!!

Hey everyone--

I have NO idea what is going on right now, or why "Temporarily Unavailable" is plastered all over the place, but I'm trying to work on fixing it!

Thanks!

{And, if you know what on earth is going on and how to fix it, please email me at devdev@sbcglobal.net -- computer issues are NOT my specialty!}

Giveaway!

Diaper Diaries is having another great giveaway--and, though I want to win every giveaway I enter, I especially would love to win this one!!!

Head on over there to see the giveaway from Zoey's Attic!

Monday musings

I.....

~finally sent little Colin back to school today! I have three almost-healthy little boys now. {*Whew and Yay*} Colin has been out of school since last Thursday, and was so excited about going back!

~was not as excited about his going back. *sniff, sniff* I loved having him home, even if he was under the weather!

~had two--count 'em--two date nights last week, thanks to my fab mother! Thank you, Grandma MJ, for spending some extra quality time with the boys.

~celebrated (speaking of Grandma MJ) two birthdays last night! We finally got to have a 'party' for Colin. Technically (don't tell Colin) it was Grandma MJ's birthday, and her party. She turned--well--another year older yesterday, and we shall leave it at that. (I would like her to continue coming for date night, thankyouverymuch.) She graciously agreed to share her birthday party with Colin. Post to come soon!

~have Braxton's constantly these days. Blech.

~am looking for tips on slings. I never used one with the boys--always a Snuggli-type apparatus--but I'd like to give one a whirl this time. Any suggestions?

~am now 30 weeks!

~head back to the doctor on Thursday for a regular checkup. I'm pretty certain he will schedule one more ultrasound, just to make sure everything is a-ok! I'm already excited about getting another peek at Peanut.

~totally went into nesting mode on Saturday. I got so. much. done.

~could hardly move on Sunday because of it, however.

~need to learn how to *take breaks*. Sheesh. Rome wasn't built....and all that jazz.

~am waaaaaaaaaaaaay past the 'cute little pregnant belly' stage, and have now officially moved into 'big-fat-cow-who-can-hardly-bend' territory. But, I'll post a belly shot anyway.

30 weeks!

(And please don't mind part of the anniversary love note, written in soap, on my bathroom mirror...I haven't had the heart to clean it off yet.)

Have a great week, everyone!

How old is my son? Sixteen? Wait....no....I'm pretty sure he's six.

A conversation over breakfast:

Me, all excited: "So, boys....what are you guys thinking about wanting for Christmas this year?"

Cameron, instantly as excited as I was: "Mom! Mom! I want a green racing car, a fast one, a remote control one. It has to go really, really fast all by itself. That is it. That is all I want. Just that!"

Me: "Okay! Colin, how about you?"

Colin, thinking: "I think....I think I want an iPhone."

Me--bewildered, to say the least: "I'm sorry? You want a what?"

Colin: "An iPhone."

Me: "Colin, do you even know what that is?"

Colin: "Yes. Mercy in my class has one. You can play games on it.....you can listen to music on it....you can watch a video on it....and, you can even call your mom on it, if you know her phone number!"

Hmmmmph.

Best nine years....e-ver....

Yesterday, Shane and I celebrated nine years of marriage.

{Want to see some wedding photos of our big day? Click here! to read my post from this time last year.}

It was a great day, and I would like to blog more in depth about it. I hope to, anyway, but time is my biggest constraint--when you are nursing sick children back to health, computer time is not at the top of the to-do list!

Thank you again to Grandma MJ, who kept the boys last night so that Shane and I could celebrate together!

Shane, I love you more than anything on earth. Thank you for being my best friend, a wonderful father, and the greatest hubby and provider I could have ever dreamed of!

Monday Musings--P.M. edition

I......

~have had a day.

~have been treating a very sick little boy (if you don't already know that from my *friend* Facebook) named Colin and his two little brothers (who are following in his footsteps but do not seem to be as bad off as he is) for acute bronchitis. *Official* diagnosis given today--as if I haven't been through this a million times and didn't know that already, but alright. I mean, really--I enjoy giving the doctor's offices our hard earned money to tell me something I already knew.

~have given 81 nebulizer treatments since last Wednesday. *WHEW.* It's about to become 84.

~have chewed so much Vitamin C in the last few days that I think my teeth may actually be turning an orange-y tint.

~have never seen a fever as high as Colin's on Friday night--105. Can you believe that? Talk about a Momma freaking out over her little boy.....we treated him immediately with a luke-warm shower (which felt freezing to him, poor little guy), cold compresses, and then alternated Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the next several hours. Three hours later, his fever was down to 100.8 and this Momma was feeling much better.

~have never been so close to taking my child to an ER in any of their existences.

~have a van that smells like vomit. Colin coughed so hard on the way to the doctor today that he threw up everywhere. My pulling-the-car-over-as-fast-as-I-could/grabbing-a-plastic-bag-for-him-to-throw-up-in/missing-his-first-launch-by-about-a-second-and-a-half-but-catching-everything-else reaction was pretty much awesome....until I realized after he finished throwing up that said bag had a hole in the bottom, and all the contained throw up was now un-contained and all over him, his car seat, his seat belt, and the van seat. OY. This could only happen to me.

~am thankful that, even though we have been diaperless for a good six months now, I still keep wipes in the car. Thank God for baby wipes. As I was crying in the middle of holding poor Colin--who was still dry-heaving on the side of the interstate at this point--and trying to rack my brain as to what on earth I was going to do about this, I realized that they were the only things I had in the van that were even semi-suitable for cleaning up such a mess.

~have never used that many baby wipes in one sitting since having my babies. Unbelievable.

~am weary....but so thankful that God has answered my one prayer through all of this--to please not let me get sick! Somehow, after being coughed on, breathed on, coughed on, sneezed on, and coughed on continually for the last six days, I am still healthy. And, I'm praising God for that!

~finally have a son who has been without a fever for 18 hours. Yippee!!

~have been asked: "Is it H1N1?" The truth is, I have no idea. The doctor didn't have any idea today either, and truly didn't seem bothered to even be concerned with "what is it?"--which is pretty much how I feel. She thought it might be flu related, but also said it might not be--but that it didn't really matter now, because the fever was gone which meant the virus was on it's way out. Whatever it was, I'm just glad it's over!

~really hope I have something much more fun to blog about next Monday.

Goodnight friends!

"I Mommy! I Mommy!"

I swear....

....that's exactly what he said to me.....

....as he came into my bathroom.....

....looking like this.....

Kindergarten class celebration

Cameron, Ethan and I had so much fun taking 'treats' to Colin's class this morning! I went all out and made cupcakes (ahem). You know, 'cause....five and six-year-olds need cupcakes at 9:30 in the morning.

{Excuse my lovely, beat up and discolored baking sheet. Well, you can tell I use it, at least.}

"Happy 6th Birthday Colin!!"

When it's your special day, you get a special crown, balloons on your seat, get to stand on the chair and get your birthday 'spankings' and have the entire class sing to you. They even sing 'cha-cha-cha' style!

Here's some video of the spankings and the class singing (don't mind me giggling at all the funny things his little classmates were doing the entire video):

Colin was so cute. I love that kid.

Wordless Wednesday

Colin is SIX!

With Colin's birthday being Halloween, we always have the issue of 'the party'.

Should we do one?

Will anyone come, with it being such a busy day?

We've already got a full day of activities....are cake/presents/all-that-commotion just too much?

The answer has been on most years "yes". Including this one.

But, even without 'the party', we still have a great celebration of the day, because that's what birthdays are really all about--not huge parties with too many children overloaded on vast amounts of sugar--but rather, having a special day that honors our special child! And that's what we set out each year to do, and what we try to focus on, official 'party' or not!

We started with a special breakfast, made by Daddy. Shane is the breakfast expert in our house, and cooked Colin and the boys up some of his specialty--chocolate chip banana pancakes (in the shape of Mickey Mouse, no less!) May sound a bit weird, but they are absolutely to die for! Col was one happy guy.

Mommy put the finishing touch on his plate--six birthday candles--so that, at 8:30, we were starting the day off already in celebration mode!

Love that smile--can't believe this guy came into the world six years ago!
(I blogged about his birth story here {day one} and here {day two},
if you would like to read it! Yes, it was a two day adventure to get him here....)

After the candles were lit of course comes the happy birthday song. I sang to Colin, and then looked at Ethan and said, "Say happy birthday to Col, Ethan!" I think he must have thought I said, "SING happy birthday to Col", because he jumped right in singing himself! {Not very clearly, a bit jumbled--as if he wasn't trying all that hard or was embarrassed by the camera or something--but it was Happy Birthday all the same!}

It was so cute to me how E confused the "happy birthday dear Colin" personalized version of the song with our generic church version, "happy birthday, God bless you". He actually sang, "happy birthday God bless Colin!" So, so cute. *grin*

I also loved it when Col said, "I got my own birthday!" "I got my own Mickey Mouse pancakes!" That just made me feel like he felt special, which was our whole goal for the day.

Here's some video....

Then, Colin actually left for a little while to go have some fun
with Grandma Jane, so the littler boys, Daddy, and I did some pumpkin painting!
Cam, starting on "Peanut's Pumpkin"

Ethan LOVED this!

I think what he actually loved was taking the brush, loading up the orange paint, and shoving as much of it as he could inside my belly button. I cleaned and cleaned but....I'm pretty sure that, here in a few weeks when my belly button "pops", there's going to be some orange-y remnants of paint in there....

Daddy and Cam, concentrating hard

Cameron helped a ton by blow drying each layer! Only a couple of *hot, hot!* moments where I had to remind him to keep that blow dryer moving....

The boys, with Peanut's finished 'costume'!

We thought, maybe, that Peanut looked a little scary for a girl....I wanted to go back and add a pink bow or something, but we ran out of time! Maybe we'll do a pink ornament at Christmas...

Then, it was already time for some trick-or-treating!

Dash (the really fast boy from the Incredibles--fits, don't you think?),
a 'fierce' frog, and a lovable lion

In the car, practicing their 'trick-or-treat' smiles!

Begging at doors for candy *grin*

By 6 p.m., this big-fat-momma everyone was pooped. We went around our neighborhood for a little more than an hour and came home with three plastic grocery bags full of candy! (Mommy was ecstatic at the thought of devouring that candy, and hoping and praying that glucose test she would take on Tuesday would come back negative...)

We had dinner, broke out ELF for the first time this season (one of our family favorites!) and had a picnic in the living room with some gourmet frozen pizza. It was a great night, and Colin had a great birthday!

(Colin with "his" pumpkin, painted all by himself at his class' Fall party)

We love you Colin!!
Happy Birthday bud--you are such a special little man,
and we are so thankful God gave you to US six years ago!!

Monday musings and 28 weeks

I....


~can. not. get. motivated. today. Ugh. But, I think I say that every Monday....

~would be much more excited about the 'daylight savings' train if my children would climb aboard. Geesh. Their little body clocks don't change so easily, do they?

~had such a fun birthday weekend with Colin. He turned SIX on Halloween! Post with pictures, coming soon!

~am not very happy with the Pop-Tart people lately. They are getting skimp--eeee on the icing. Come on, Pop-Tart people. That's why I buy Pop-Tarts.

~am so excited for my friends Kathy and Shelly! Kathy welcomed a new baby girl to her crew of three boys (and on Halloween too--just one more thing we have in common!) and Shelly added a boy to her girly clan! What an awesome weekend for babies!

~get to do the 28 week glucose test and get my Rogam shot tomorrow. *Yippee*.

~have two little boys in this house right now who would rather play with Daddy's plumbing parts than their own toys.

~wonder why I spend money on toys?

~am getting to that *point* where it is becoming difficult to find a sufficient sleeping position. Poor Shane is losing more and more room every night, thanks all the pillows it takes to make me comfy.

~could probably spend--at minimum--two hours every single day just walking around my house, picking things up, and putting them back in their rightful place. What is with that? Have we not lived here, in this exact same house, for three years? Am I the only one who knows where things GO around here?

~have much to do today....must get off this computer!

*28 week belly pic!*

Happy Monday, everyone!

You have to love those misprounced words

Cameron, having brushed his teeth about one hour before:

"Mom, I have to brush my teeth again."

Me: "Honey, you already brushed your teeth this morning. You don't need to brush them again."

Cameron opens his mouth wide, looks in the mirror, examines his pearly whites and says:

"But I still see some scavities in there."

That's MY paci. MINE.

I have wanted to post this particular series of photos forever.

Yet, I never have.

Mostly it's because I'm lazy I didn't want to have to take the pictures out of the frame they are in in my bedroom and scan them to my computer. It always seemed like so much work.

And bending those thingys that keep the backing attached to the wooden frame always hurts my fingers.

However, I overcame all that today and thought, "I'm gonna do it anyway."

It apparently just wasn't meant to be. After bending 12 of those thingys back and tearing my delicate fingers to shreds while I was at it; and please, don't even say to me "Why don't you just go and get a flat head screwdriver to lift those up?" because the screwdriver is all the way in the kitchen drawer, and I'm waaaaaay too lazy to walk all the way down there.... I was finally inside the frame.

I peeled off the backing, went to take the pictures out to scan and, much to my dismay, the top photo was stuck to the glass by some unknown sticky substance. When I tried to pull, the picture was pulling away from the paper backing, and I was starting to downright panic at the thought of destroying one of my favorite series of photos ever just for the sake of putting it on my blog decided that I would just do the old fashioned thing: leave the pictures in the frame, and take a picture of a picture.

The quality's terrible, but I'm trudging forth anyway. They're still the cutest ever. E-ver.

When Colin was a year old, we decided not to carve pumpkins, but rather to paint some, and decorate our porch that way. I did up one for each of us, as you can see below.

{Sorry for the glare--nothing I could do about that.}
Each pumpkin was personalized with one piece other than paint. Shane's had a
Cubs hat; I had a 'bow' in my hair; and Colin's had, in it's mouth, a prized
possession--one of Colin's actual pacifiers.
I sat him down on our front porch bench one afternoon
for what I thought would be a cute photo opportunity.


Daddy Pumpkin, Mommy Pumpkin, and Colin Pumpkin with Colin at almost one-year old

Now, let me say here that Colin was a paci child. He was addicted until just before age two.
Once he noticed what was going on on that bench, the following transpired.

Colin's grin disappeared....he got a funny look on his face....and then....

.....he took back what was rightfully his, leaving Pumpkin Colin pacifier-free.

I wonder how that pacifier tasted to him that day? *blech*

I'm so thankful to this day that I managed to catch something so cute on camera--I still smile every time I look at these pictures, and my mind takes me back to that afternoon on the porch!

Great giveaway....

....over at the Diaper Diaries! Check it out to win a $200 gift card to Sticks and Stones!

Mr. President, your name is difficult for a five-year-old

Colin, discussing with me and Cameron his Fall Party tomorrow:

"Mom, Mrs. W. (his teacher) said that none of the parents have to bring any games tomorrow. Someone else is bringing the games."

Me: "Oh, okay, Colin."

Colin, explaining further: "I think it's Mr. F. (school principal) that's going to bring the games."

Me: "Oh. That's nice of him to do that."

Cameron: "Col, who is Mr. F?"

Colin: "He is the president at school."

Me: "No, bud, he isn't the president....he is the school principal, Col."

Colin: "Oh, that's right. The president is....is....Ockbama."

Monday Musings and belly pic

I.....

~do not enjoy getting up before the sun. Blech.

~love late-night talks with my adorable, wonderful, oh-so-handsome husband, so.....I'm willing to sacrifice some sleep every once in a while.

~watched Fireproof for the very first time last night. Yes, I know I am about a year behind everyone else on this, but what a GREAT movie, huh? (That's what prompted that late-night talk....) If you haven't seen this yet, it's awesome--go rent it!

~have a house that seems infested with ladybugs. Not the real ladybugs, mind you--the pretty red ones that 'bring good luck'--but the yucky, smelly, orange kind, known as the Asian ladybug, that were apparently imported here by our government for insect control purposes (they eat aphids) and now are taking over the nation. Or, at least, my house. Or, at least, it feels like it. Ugh. I actually had one crawling up my leg last night while my leg was under my covers in the privacy of my bed....oh, I can't even think about it. Talk about a freak out. Sick, sick, sick.

~spent the last four days growing a third eye. I mean, seriously....what is going on here? I vacillate each day between acne products to control breakouts and age fighters for the ever growing number of fine lines I am starting to see. Who does that? *sigh*

~found a couple of new Etsy sites that I love. Here (more hats--can't help myself) and Here (can you say, personalization-on-everything-we-own-for-this-child?). Plus, my friend Julie is adding new items to her shop almost everyday! I am determined to have hair accessories for every outfit. Ahem.

~go back for a checkup today! Looking forward to hearing my little Peanut! Though, these days--with her vicious kicks, karate chops, constant hiccups, and my ever-expanding frame--I have plenty of visual and tactile reminders that she's there! Cameron and Ethan are coming with me, and Cameron is so excited. He is currently counting the minutes (or, rather, asking me to count them....) until we leave.

27 weeks!!!

Happy Monday, everyone!

{Much needed} Fun at the orchard

The last couple of weeks have been, at the very least, difficult.

I've been trying to put a post together about my Grandma, and keep getting hung up on one thing or another. I've decided not to rush it, and just work on it a little bit at a time....so that when I do post it, it will be exactly what I am wanting.

Last Saturday, the day after Granny's funeral, I was in a funk and in much need of doing something to take my mind off our current circumstances....and Shane saved the day, as usual. He's done that a lot lately.

He decided that we should take the boys over to a local orchard for some fun. We went once already this season, but didn't do any of the "fun" (read--expensive) things that they have for the kids. Since we didn't go on any official vacations this year *sniff*, we decided that we could afford to take them over there and let them do a very few of those fun things, and then go have dinner at "the nut place" (that's what our boys call Texas Roadhouse).

I was so glad we did--I had some much needed fun there (not to mention the best apple cider--mmmmm!) and so did the boys!

Riding the "tractor"

Ha! Love this one...apparently, Col was getting smushed!

Love love love this guy :)

Ethan was really, really excited about feeding the goats.....
we had a couple of moments where he got a bit too close!
They're so gentle (and fed so well by the hundreds that come through there everyday)
that I'm sure they'd never try to eat him, but you just can't be too careful! *giggle*

Who's that little bee?

Ethan loved climbing around in the wooden choo-choo train....

And begged--in his own way, of course--to ride the ponies.
"See Momma? That one there. He wants me to ride him. Please? See him?"

Then, we got to the 'real' fun--the bouncy house!
The boys could have played for hours and, as I stood there, shivering, it felt like they did ....

Next, it was time for a hay ride....

Cam was so excited about going anywhere behind a tractor!

Col, for some reason....not as excited.

Mommy and Cami

Daddy and E

Daddy and the boys

{Almost) All of us!

We decided that, since that pony wanted Ethan to ride him so badly,
we would go ahead give in. I mean, who am I to tell a pony "no"?
Ethan loved that part of the day, by the way....

After about three hours, we were starving (and out of moola!)

We headed over to Texas Roadhouse for some very good eats!

What mommy said:
"Ethan, smile for mommy!"
What Ethan heard:
"Ethan, give me your stinky face."

Cam, enjoying some of those prized peanuts....

....and loving on his Momma a bit *grin*

We had a wonderful meal to end a really great day--steak, mashed potatoes,
country friend chicken....and, yes--hot dogs. (Much to my dismay,
when you have boys, those are almost always involved....)

....well, most of us enjoyed those foods, anyway.
E made his meal off of his usual--carbs.
Some things never change....

Overheard at dinner:

Never a dull moment at our dinner table:

"Do you think they should get dessert?" I said.

Shane: "We still have those (spelling) c-u-p-c-a-k-e-s from the other night, they could split one."

Colin, about two seconds later: "Nah. I don't want a cupcake for dessert."

And Shane and I looked at each other in bewilderment.

****************************************************************************************************************

Cameron, responding to who-knows-what that Colin just said:

"And I'm a double decker so I can dip my head in milk!"

Wha??

****************************************************************************************************************

And Cameron, apparently wrestling within himself over this issue:

(in a very sing-songy voice)

"My belly says I'm getting full and I should stop eat-ing....

.....but my head knows that if I stop now, I won't get desser-hert."

His lovely little tune was quickly followed by the sound of

*slurp, slurp, slurping* more soup down.

Ahhhhh. A boy after my own heart.

Because it's too funny not to post.....

"I don't care who you are {or what your political "side" is}, that's funny right there."

Wordless Wednesday

Cameron's 4th Birthday party

This past Wednesday, we celebrated my sweet 2nd child's fourth birthday.

It is so hard for me to believe that he is four--I feel like I was just writing about his second and third birthdays. I wrote about his birth story (and posted a few birth pictures) here, if you haven't seen them before and would like to!

Cameron is amazing, and I thank God for him everyday. He is such a wonderful little man to have around, and one of the many attributes that I love about him is his keen sense of "all things fashion". He is always telling me that he likes the color polish on my toenails, or that my shirt is "so pretty Mommy!", or that he thinks the clip in my hair is "Cool Mom!" It is so funny to me that, while he is ALL boy, and a young one at that, he notices such things--but I love it! He has a knack for always making his Mommy feel good--even while she is wearing compression stockings *grin*.

We had a wonderful time at his party, and I wanted to share a few pictures!

His cake--CARS, of course

My big boy, looking extra handsome, and getting ready for his share of the sweets!

Ethan was not so happy at this point. Cameron had already been served his cake, and I think Ethan thought that he wasn't going to get any....so.....on turns the pouty face!

He quickly cheered up, once he realized that he wasn't going to be left out!

Cam, very happy once his cake was all gone....

....or, wait a minute--the icing was all gone, that is!
We discovered that apparently, that part was all Cameron thought was good enough to eat.

Two of my cousins :)

Love this picture....Ethan and Tony, having a "big boy" conversation!
I love the look on E's face.

My wonderful Aunt and Shane

Time for presents!

Oooh! A new, very cool dinosaur with sounds and movement!

Ethan quickly discovered just how cool this new dino was too....and
I'm pretty sure I know exactly what Cam was thinking here:
"Great. I suppose I have to share all of this stuff with you, too, don't I?"

A new tractor and grain hauler from Grandma 'Nette and
Grandpa--a great way to haul that new dino!

And a brand new, big-boy bike from Grandma Jane. Cam was so excited that, right then and there, he took off down the hallway--and has been riding around the house ever since! We got to try it out outside today for the first time, riding it in it's appropriate spot--the driveway. Cam loved it, and is already ready for the training wheels to come off!

Happy Birthday, sweet Cameron--Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

Happy Birthday to Cameron!!

Though it's been a sad week around here....

.....we have a little guy who is very happy today!!

Cameron Douglas is FOUR years old today,
and, as you can see, is very excited about it!

We can't wait to celebrate tonight with our family and lots of yummy cake and ice cream. I'll post lots and lots of pictures soon....this birthday boy is getting some great presents tonight! *grin*

Grandma Franzi's obituary

In case anyone would like to see it, here is my beautiful Grandma's obituary.

A hole in my heart

I've been absent for a few days.

My amazing, precious Grandma Franzi, whom I have blogged about before, went to heaven surrounded by both of her daughters and all of her granddaughters, myself included, on Saturday night.

There is a hole inside of me that will never be filled. I will never be the same.

When people mention their Grandmother, most have warm, happy, wonderful thoughts and memories. I am no exception. I loved her so much. I will miss her terribly.

This is a busy week, but I hope to blog again soon about everything my Grandmother meant to me. I'll never be able to adequately express it in words, I am sure....but I'm going to try.

Thank you to those of you who have been praying for me and for my family. I appreciate it so much.

*I love you Grandma Franzi.*

There will never, ever be anyone like you--ever again.

Friday Fun

First, there was the part where Ethan tried to
convince me that he really was a baby.....

Then, a bit of bejeweled playing....

Colin actually scored over 25,000! That's better than most of my scores....

Then some *lovely* nebulizer treatments, all the way around.....

And because old habits do die hard, a little bit of learning time....

Then, Colin drew a rainbow, "so we can have something colorful
to look at out the window on this rainy day!!"

And, then, it was time for some real fun. Some face-paintin' fun.

Col wasn't so thrilled about my methods to keep his hair out of the way....

But the end result was two very handsome Jack-O-Lanterns!
{Ahem. Please don't tell them they are handsome.
They would prefer it if you thought they were very scary, thankyouverymuch.}

I did manage to get them to smile...
The "Col-O-Lantern"

The "Cam-O-Lantern"

Ethan, by the way, refused this process.
He kept insisting that the paint was "Too hot. Too hot."
Don't know why he equated face painting with heat levels,
but whatever. His brothers enjoyed it, all the same!

Then, it was time for tattoos--a 'very scary' multiple-eyed version
that our sweet neighbor lady gave us the other day.
Good thing she bought a multi-pack....

The three amigos were pretty excited about the results!

I'd say it's been a great Friday!

H1N1 Vaccine--Yes or No?

I was part of an interesting discussion on Facebook this morning regarding the "Swine Flu".

Then, a few hours later, I hopped on over to my friend Brittany's blog where I watched the video that I just re-posted below. Both things have really gotten me thinking again about this topic, and I thought I would open a discussion here and see what everyone thinks about the H1N1 vaccine.

First subject to note: I DO vaccinate my children. I am NOT anti-vaccine, even though some aspects of vaccinating do concern me.

However, my personal opinion is that, from the research and reading that I have done, (I have not seen many reports on television, simply because we have no TV channels in our home, and I rarely go anywhere that I do see regular TV!) this vaccine has been rushed to the market simply because of the 'scare' or 'threat' of the virus and what it may cause.

I do understand that this virus can be deadly, but it appears that it is no more deadly than the regular, seasonal flu. I don't quite understand why it is getting the massive amounts of attention that it is, yet....here we are.

I will admit--this is a scary thing for me, simply because I have researched quite a bit about the disease hitting otherwise normal, healthy pregnant women (which, frankly, that is a category that I would not even fall into, due to my asthma and propensity toward bronchitis/breathing issues) and causing death. Yikes. Scary.

But the vaccine truly scares me more--the ingredients, the rush to make it available--it just does not appear safe. Brittany had some great information today over on her blog (and some great comments as well), if you'd like to check it out. I would encourage you to read for yourself, and really do your research before making the ultimate decision on whether to get this vaccine for yourself or your children. Hang in for three short minutes to watch this video.....





I'd LOVE to hear any thoughts YOU have on this topic--but please, keep all comments in a positive tone. I am not here today to rip anyone on either side of this argument, I just would like to hear thoughts--other than the ones that spin around in my own head daily.

So adult....so childish

Tonight, after I was done reading to the boys, Colin said to me:

"Mom? Today Naomi said that she wanted to marry me."

"Oh, really?" I said. "Well, you don't have to worry about that for a very long, long time, honey. You won't get married for many more years."

"But she said she wanted me to marry her."

Again, I explained that marriage is something that is waaaaaaaay in the future for him.

He was quiet for a moment, and, as if he needed to give me just a little bit more clarification--as if I just didn't quite get the point he was trying to make--he explained:

"You know, Mom....Naomi. Naomi? You know....the one who stuck the piece of corn in her ear today in class?"

(And maybe you had to be there, or you just totally have to know Colin to get this--but in no way was he worried about the idea of marriage in this instance. The expression on his face and the tone of his voice said it all--and I finally got what he was trying to say. If he were a little less polite, he would have just come out and said,

"Mom, are you serious? I would never marry a girl that put a piece of corn in her ear.")