Update on Sign-gate 2010

Ok, first, thank you all for your comments on the "vajazzle" situation. I think its great to hear other peoples views on things like this and I think its amazing how varied the replies were! From "Meh" to "ZOMG". I think its funny how many people didn't know what it meant too. I admit, I had to Google it the first time I saw it too, so you aren't alone. Not exactly something that comes up in polite conversation. Only mall store windows, apparently.

Anyway, I told you that I had sent them and email, along with a few friends complaining. Asking (not so nicely) to take it down. The next afternoon, no reply, sign still up. Surprise, surprise. Then, they posted to the mall Facebook page about an event they were having at the indoor playground, inviting people to come by and join them. My bestie posted a comment on it basically saying "Make (the store) take that sign down and I'll be happy to come". Needless to say, we all had emails within ten minutes or so saying that they had just talked to the store owner and told them to remove the sign. "Apology blahblahblah. Contact me directly if you have any more concerns".

We ended up having a friend check it out a little while later and the sign was gone. I was talking to T about it last night and told him I don't really care that much for my family but I can imagine how it might make things weird for others. We are very rarely mall bound anyway. Pretty much just to visit the indoor playground, which of course was in the line of fire here. I am glad they took it down but I do doubt it will keep them from putting it back up eventually. I guess that is where the "more concerns" department will be getting a visit. For now though, I still feel like it was the right thing to do asking them to remove the sign. Detrimental to society? No. Tacky and distasteful? Yes.

Mommy Confessions Week #2

Ok, so we all have them. I have decided its time to stop keeping them to myself in hopes that other mommies will realize that none of us are perfect. Here are my dirty little secrets for the week. What are yours?

~ I think that little kids should have daily baths. Kids are gross. Especially at the "potty training" and "learning to feed themselves neatly" ages like my kids are. Sometimes though, there just isn't time. Or they are extra tired. Or I am extra tired. Sometimes, the whole water and soap thing? Yeah, doesn't happen. So, I "bathe" my kids with baby wipes. They at least smell better, right?

~ My youngest likes to sleep in the dark. Like, dark dark. Until this week I hadn't yet bought the blackout curtains I had been meaning to purchase since he was tiny. So where does did he take his afternoon nap? In his pack and play... in my bathroom... Now he gets to nap in his bed and I get to do whatever I want during naptime.

~ I am a little too excited about that last confession. I can shower at nap time again!!

~ Sometimes, I still wear my maternity clothes. In public. What can I say, you can't beat the expandable waistline when wrestling kids all day long and who couldn't use a little extra room in their waistband after having kids? (BTW, don't answer that if you don't. Just sayin'.) The shirts I don't wear as often as the pants but some of them are just too cute and comfortable to put up. Heres a deal for you, I promise to tell you if your navy waistband is showing if you promise to tell me too.

~ I let my kids eat an entire canister of Happy Baby green puffs and some blueberries for breakfast yesterday. I just dumped the containers out on our lipped coffee table and let them have at it. What? The puffs are fortified and organic. Thats good, right? Plus, it taught them to share like good brothers, K got to practice his cruising, and I got some stuff done... Win win!

~ My laundry pile is taking over my laundry room. I have to move some out to be able to open my dryer. We are talking waist deep here. The nice thing is not having to bend over to get things to put in the washer, the bad thing is I am slowly running out of (maternity) pants. So, what am I supposed to wear? Don't worry about the kids on this one, they have plenty of stuff. Mommy is a shopaholic when it comes to their clothes. Guess thats like two confessions in one...



Update: I finally threw out the pull up after last weeks post. It was all stretched out and really sad looking. My husband convinced me that it wasn't going to hold anything if he did go anyway. I didn't believe him but I threw it out anyway.

Tweetaholic Thursdays!

Welcome to Tweetaholic Thursdays hosted by your friends at JaMonkey and Render Me Mama.

This it not your normal blog hop! It's a Twitter Party! Everyone loves making a new Twitter Friend! Come back each week for an easy follow button from last weeks Tweetaholic Thursday!

<br /> <center><a href="http://www.jamonkey.com/search/label/Tweetaholic" target="_blank"><img alt="Tweetaholic Thursdays" src="http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i29/mcrofoo1/tweet2.png" /></a></center>

The Rules:

1. Follow your hostesses! 
2. Add your Twitter link to the Linky below. (Twitter links only, no blogs)
3. Make a new Tweet to welcome your followers with the #TweetaholicThursday Hash tag at some point today.
4. Make a Blog post or post the button on your blog with the Linky.

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I am also participating in these blog hops today!

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And this Facebook find!

Do I WHAT?

This sign is displayed in a threading stores window inside our local mall. Now, at first, when T pointed it out to me at Christmas time last year, I didn't think much of it. Other than the fact of having to explain to my poor sheltered husband what it meant. I have to admit too to having the occasional giggle about it. What an absurd thing to feel the need to advertise. I mean, seriously people? Is that something that a woman would be walking through the mall and just go for? Like buying a pretty hair clip?

So, yeah, besides the simple absurdity of it even existing, this sign hangs in a window that is located right next to the children's indoor playground. I'm talking children children. So, every time I have passed it in the last few months, it has slowly started eating at me. I pass it and think is that really necessary people? Is it bringing in that much business? Does it need to be that big (its probably 3x4 feet)? It bothers me to think that people are probably having to explain what that means to their kids. Kids that are just learning to read or kids that are just learning about their sexuality in general. Are these people going to explain that for them? Is it that necessary?

Its weird to me, because I am not usually bothered by things like this. I am a relatively laid back, whatever- floats- your- boat kind of person in general. The fact that they offer this service is fine with me even, but when they bring it to the attention of everyone that passes, children too young to understand, that bothers me. A lot. Maybe more than it should. For sure more than it did before I had kids.

So, I posted it to Facebook and luckily a few other moms felt the same way I did. At least I'm not the only one. We ended up all sending a message to the mall services people complaining. Mine was... not as nice as it could have been, but I wanted to express to them how strongly I felt. I quite plainly let them know that I wanted a call or email back letting me know what action was going to be taken and I meant it. I expect an answer. I will let you know what their response is when (if) I ever get one.

In the meantime, what do you think? Am I over reacting? Would it bother you? What would you do?

Maintaining the Buzz

Lets face it, most days I look at their little faces and I absolutely think there is nothing in the world that could ever come close to how totally awesome they are. Its intense and powerful. Some days, not so much. I just want to go and hide in a hole somewhere and take a nap. The ebb and flow of life, as everyone knows, is different and we all have to figure out how to keep ourselves afloat. To maintain our buzz, so to speak.  I think too though that part of maintaining that buzz is in the little things. The little comings and goings of everyday life.

Sometimes that is as easy as going outside, laying in the grass and looking at the clouds. There is a perfect little hill right outside our building for doing just that. D and I will lay there and look until he gets up and runs off or K starts to eat grass and then we will head over to the playground for a bit. Some days we go out and have a playdate with friends or run errands. Doesn't sound really exciting but to us, getting out of the house is cathartic. We are all people people so to speak. Just being out and about helps us feel alive and well. We will get little treats for D along the way to keep him going. Ice cream or smoothies or some little dollar trinket that he picks up. K's buzz is still easy to maintain. Give him some boob every now and then and let him taste something random every now and then and he is happy as a clam. 

Then there are the days where I just throw my hands up and roll in the floor with the kids all day. All I have to do is lay there really and they roll and wrestle and climb all over me. Its like a mini Shiatsu massage. Or being mauled by small dogs with no teeth or claws. Nothing gets done on those days but there is always another day to do laundry but I will never get that time back with my babies. Babies don't keep. 

Of course sometimes I have to get away too. Usually I just go on a date with Tommy but lets face , it sometimes I need away from him too. So I will go out with "the girls" or sneak out to Target for something and spend some time just wandering around aimlessly looking at random things. Even just going for a drive and letting the kids sleep in their car seats for a bit is usually enough of a "break".

Whatever it is, whatever we do, I always try to keep the buzz going. Call it a buzz for each other or a buzz for life in general, its a vital part of staying sane.

How do you maintain your buzz??

Music Monday

 Music is a huge part of Tommy and I's relationship. Its something we bonded over in the beginning and still connect with now.  I will be posting the lyrics to a song and what it means to me every Monday (hopefully). At least until I run out of interesting things to say (Or I forget). Make sense? Feel free to do your own but please link back to me and add your site to the MckLinky below!

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You Belong To Me By Jason Wade




See the pyramids around the Nile
Watch the sun rise
From the tropic isle
Just remember darling
All the while
You belong to me
See the market place
In old Algiers
Send me photographs and souvenirs
Just remember
When a dream appears
You belong to me

And I'll be so alone without you
Maybe you'll be lonesome too

Fly the ocean
In a silver plane
See the jungle
When it's wet with rain
Just remember till
You're home again
You belong to me

Oh I'll be so alone without you
Maybe you'll be lonesome too

Fly the ocean
In a silver plane
See the jungle
When it's wet with rain
Just remember till
You're home again
You belong to me



I used to sing this song to D when he was a baby and sing it to K now. I want my babies to live life to its fullest. I want them to go and see, explore, adventure and live.  I want them to see the best life has to offer mixed in with some of the worst. It makes a person whole to have seen it all. At the end of the day though, they are still my babies and they always will be. I want them to remember that mommy will always be here when it comes time to come home. Where ever home may be.

Monday Hops!

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to take a look around and follow over on the right side!

Mission Complete!

Ladies and gentlemen we pulled it off! My sister and I successfully surprised my mother. Which, if you knew her, is nearly impossible. My sister, for you newbies here, lives in a suburb of NYC way up North and we had not seen her since just after Christmas. Not cool. My sister and I have always been very close and for her to be that far away is so hard on both of us. A few weeks ago she told me that she had bought a ticket to fly down and see us and much *squee*-ing ensued. The only condition was that I couldn't tell Mom. Ok. I can do that. I think...

Two weeks of almost letting it all slip out and losing my mind trying not to show my excitement followed. It seemed like everything I saw or did with my Mother for those two weeks reminded me of my sister. Things she would say would make me want to blurt out how many more days/ hours it was until her plane landed. I couldn't mention it on Twitter or Facebook or even here because I have some of her friends on them and they are the type that might let something slip. I am still pretty surprised I kept my cool considering. I'm telling you, it was torture.

Anyway, I had arranged for my Mom to take D home from his summer camp on Thursday afternoon so we could clean the house and get ready for the weekend. She was excited because she always likes to spend time with him. I told her we were going to bring K by later that day so that me and T could go and a date. My Sister , in the meantime, landed in Atlanta on Thursday night and caught a ride up our way. When she finally arrived at my house there was much more *squee*-ing and hugging and she got re acquainted with K for a bit. Then we took off to surprise mom.


That she was too. She came out to the car to greet us and my sister was there. D was the first to recognize his "T'Aunti" and ran screaming up and wrapped his arms around her legs. Mom was just kind of dumb- struck. She just kept repeating "What? What??". Finally she got to my sister and they hugged and cried and hugged and cried. It was so sweet. It had worked! We pulled one over on her! She told us later though that she had gotten a little fainty from the surprise so I think we probably will spare her next time.


So, we have spent the whole weekend just hanging out. Going to the pool, a trip to the jump house that D always looks for her at even when its been months, cooking and eating. She just stepped back in like no time had gone by at all. It has been so nice to have her here and I am already having pains thinking about her heading home tomorrow evening. I know it will be sad for all of us grown ups but it really makes me sad that D and K just won't know where she went. This time, it had better not me 7 months before we get to see her again. Hopefully next time we will be the ones visiting her but that is always more complicated with the 5 of us than it is for the 1 of her.


So there you have it, the big secret. Now that you all know, I am off to rest before we hit the pool again this evening with a group of her friends and of course our little family. Completed, even if shortly, by her presence.

100!

Wow, 100 followers! Just wanted to say welcome to all the newcomers and hello to the old comers! Take a look around and get to know us. Check out the links at the top to help out. My big blog roll to see some of my favorites and check them out too. Also, check out Project 365 and come find me on Twitter and Facebook on the side bar. Me sure to check out my Music Monday meme and feel free to jump right in with us next week!

This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship!

Mommy Confessions

Ok, so we all have them. I have decided its time to stop keeping them to myself in hopes that other mommies will realize that none of us are perfect. Here are my dirty little secrets for the week. What are yours?

~Sometimes, I hide. Yep, I do. I hide in the bathroom for a few after T gets home and just sit and relax in the floor. Or I hide in the laundry room so I can eat my snack without sharing to the little outreached hands that automatically appear when I put something to my mouth.

~D still wears a pull up to bed. As a matter of fact, for the last few days, D still wears the SAME pull up to bed. See, he hasn't had an accident at night in a few months and when I hit that last few pull ups a week or so ago, I promised myself I wasn't buying any more. When he got to the last one, I couldn't do it. So I put it on him the next night. And then the next. I just keep telling myself its wasteful to throw it out.

~I have broken my own rule three out of four days this week about television. I usually limit D's watching to two shows a day. Thats it. Usually one before nap and one before bed to kind of help him chill and relax. This week though, he has been at camp in the mornings and I have been letting him watch whatever he wants after nap time. I have an excuse for this one though. My sister comes in tonight from NYC and I have been trying desperately to catch up on laundry... Ok?

~Yesterday, at lunch time, I fed my baby the bits out of my soup that I didn't like. Like the celery? No one really likes celery in soup do they? Well, K does. So there. At least he is too little to care anyway. I also let him sample one of D's chicken nuggets. These are things that would have appalled me with my first. Some how its not so bad with the little Hulk.

~ I have been keeping a secret. From my mother and all of my social networking because it might get back to my mother. You have any idea how hard that is when you are so excited about something you might literally just explode? Its like torture. I deserve a medal I'm telling you. Soon, internets, soon. (No, it doesn't involve more babies so don't go getting all excited.) If you read closely, you might just have already figured it out.

Thats me for now

New and improved!

I just spent the last two hours fighting with blogger to update the look! Let me know what you think, what doesn't work, etc! The 365/ blog roll are a work in progress but everything else should work...

Baby's First Ice Cream

Little monster had his first taste this weekend. Apparently it started out ok but a few bites in it turns to pure gross. After the fourth bite, he refused to even open his mouth. Oh well, D just recently got where he would eat it at all. So, I guess that's normal around this house. Not that I am really complaining I guess. I love my little veggie monsters. Leaves more ice cream for me...

Music Monday

 Music is a huge part of Tommy and I's relationship. Its something we bonded over in the beginning and still connect with now.  I will be posting the lyrics to a song and what it means to me every Monday (hopefully). At least until I run out of interesting things to say (Or I forget). Make sense? Feel free to do your own but please link back to me and add your site to the MckLinky below!

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Rocketship by Shiny Toy Guns



Can we get away?
Far away...
Let’s leave this place
Will you come with me?
Are you down...
To turn your world around
Its you and me tonight...
Leave it all behind

Let’s go for a ride...

V2
Say goodnight to gravity
Hold on to me...
The passing stars light the way
The future's here today
Its you and me tonight
Leave it all behind...

Bridge
Get in my rocketship
We’ll leave the light of day
Staying on the turning away
There’s no tomorrow
Just today...
Together we will follow
...fly away
Never mind tomorrow
..Just today

Leave it all behind...
Let’s go for a ride


Ok, so how many people haven't been here? The restless in me lately had been almost tangible. I have lived in Georgia longer than I have ever lived anywhere my entire life and every fiber of my being is screaming "run away! run away!". We don't own a house or anything to keep us tied here so why not just run away? There is no real reason for it other than a subconscious fear of complacency I suppose. I have awesome friends here, our families live here, we are happy here. That however has not stopped us from talking about just packing up and leaving. I guess the tension around our house is not making it better either but sometimes it is nice to think about just packing up and living a gypsy life until we find our place. Our Utopia. Who knows, maybe someday we will. Not anytime soon though.

Pod Person

Sometimes, I look at my oldest son, stomping his feet and screaming no at me and I wonder to myself, "where is my child?". The one that sits quietly and plays with his brother. The easy going laid back kid. The one that says please and thank you to everything. You know, the one who never acts like this. No really, he doesn't. Until days like today. Today was rough on Mr. D. He just simply wasn't getting his way and he was not afraid to let us know that he was not happy about it. Us, and the whole restaurant full of people we were attempting to dine with at lunch.

I guess I can't really blame him this time. Its been a long couple of days. Thursday we spent almost all day running errands and waiting for a friend to call for lunch, then he only got an hours nap before we headed out to Tommy's parents for swimming and dinner. Then Friday we woke up (late) to hear we would be making the three hour trip each way to Northern Alabama to help out my mom with something. So, no nap yet again. Plus, we didn't get home until just after midnight. Plus plus, hes two. And a half. 'Nuff said.

Still, I can't help but wonder sometimes what gets into him. Its like, sometime in the night, he has been possessed by an alien being. A pod person. Then, just like it never happened, he snaps out of it and is back to happy, easy going D. Maybe someday I will understand. Maybe I never will. For now, he is curled up under my arm watching a movie. Peaceful and content as ever, almost as if he is making up for the wildness this afternoon. Adios pod person, welcome home lovie.

Back online!

In case you haven't noticed, we got our internet back last week. I am loving the 4G speed but I have to admit, I still do a lot of what I do online on my phone. What? I'm lazy and can do it from bed.

Anyway, we had a pretty relaxing weekend. Had a night out with my girlfriends Friday, groceries on Saturday, and pool day yesterday. The highlight of the weekend was D pushing K around in the push car at Target. Sometimes I swear that kid is as ADD as I am. Every time we turned a corner, we had to remind D to bring his brother with him. Poor little K kept getting left behind. Made for some strange looks and hilarity.

K, today, has been cracking me up. He crawls into the coffee table headfirst, bonks his head, plops down on his butt, shakes his finger at it and yells "Nononononooo BRUBRA!". Repeat. I guess its a way of telling that D is definitely teaching him something. Usually though its D trying to keep K out of his toys instead of hitting his head but hey, imitation I guess.

Oh, and D's arm is fine. We ended up taking the brace off ourselves because it seemed to be bothering him and we couldn't get an appointment until late this week (?!). He has been using it like normal so we canceled the appointment. We are supposed to take him in if it seems to be bothering him in the future. I'm glad he seems to be back to normal with it. Watching your baby suffer is NO FUN.

I also realized this weekend that I have been totally slacking in the 365/ 2010 list department. I will be updating those this week too (links on the side). I probably should have been doing that along the way... I did get back to Music Monday this week though! If you want to join in, go for it! I love reading other peoples thoughts.

So, thats your mini update for now. Hope it helps even with the ramble.

Music Monday

 Music is a huge part of Tommy and I's relationship. Its something we bonded over in the beginning and still connect with now.  I will be posting the lyrics to a song and what it means to me every Monday (hopefully). At least until I run out of interesting things to say (Or I forget). Make sense? Feel free to do your own but please link back to me and add your site to the MckLinky below!

*Its been awhile, no? Hoping to get this going again, so stay tuned!*
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On my way up north
Up on the ventura
I pulled back the hood
And i was talking to you
And i knew then it would be
A life long thing
But i didn't know that we
We could break a silver lining

And i'm so sad
Like a good book
I can't put this day back
A sorta fairytale
With you
A sorta fairytale
With you

Things you said that day
Up on the 101
The girl had come undone
I tried to downplay it
With a bet about us
You said that-
You'd take it
As long as i could
I could not erase it

And i'm so sad
Like a good book
I can't put this day back
A sorta fairytale
With you
A sorta fairytale
With you

And i ride along side
And i rode along side
You then
And i rode along side
Till you lost me there
In the open road
And i rode along side
Till the honey spread
Itself so thin
For me to break your bread
For me to take your word
I had to steal it

And i'm so sad
Like a good book
I can't put this day back
A sorta fairytale
With you
A sorta fairytale
With you

I could pick back up
Whenever i feel

Down new mexico way
Something about
The open road
I knew that he was
Looking for some indian blood and
Find a little in you find a little
In me we may be
On this road but
We're just
Impostors
In this country you know
So we go along and we said
We'd fake it
Feel better with
Oliver stone
Till i
Almost smacked him -
Seemed right that night and
I don't know what
Takes hold
Out there in the
Desert cold
These guys think they must
Try and just get over on us

And i'm so sad
Like a good book
I can't put this
Day back
A sorta fairytale
With you
A sorta fairytale
With you

And i was ridin' by
Ridin' along side
For a while till you lost me
And i was ridin' by
Ridin' along till you lost me
Till you lost
Me in
The rear
View
You lost me
I said

Way up north i took my day
All in all was a pretty nice
Day and i put the hood
Right back where
You could taste heaven
Perfectly
Feel out the summer breeze
Didn't know when we'd be back
And i, i don't
Didn't think
We'd end up like
Like this

To me, this song is all too real. Relationships are fickle. Love is easy to keep up as long as the masks don't drop. The thing is, they always do. The way you both react to that makes or breaks you. Sometimes it makes you stronger. Sometimes it makes you less valuable and things fizzle out. In this case, it was a deal breaker. Makes me think of all those sorta fairytales in the past that led me to the fairytale I have now. Every time things got real and didn't work out, I learned something about myself. Something that made the person that Tommy loves for better or worse. The worst things that happen to us in life sometimes end up being the best things and this song reminds me of that.

Wait, what happened??

When did I grow up? I was sitting in my van at Target last night, thinking about dinners for the week and this and that when I heard a bunch of girls laughing and talking loudly getting into the car parked directly in front of me. The oldest was maybe 18. They were laughing and cutting up, smoking and popping their gum while they did. It struck me that their outfits fit them and looked well put together. Their hair was freshly washed.

I sat there in my van watching as they all piled into a tiny little Honda and took off. For a minute I thought about when my life used to be that easy. So carefree and simple. When all I had to look out for was myself. I was never one of the "popular" girls. Never cared that much about makeup or hairstyles, but I never really had to worry about money or kids or dinner. I came and went as I pleased. I hung out with my girlfriend till 3 or 4am at Walmart sometimes just because we could. I wondered when I went and got all grown up. I didn't know anything was missing so there was no reason to think about it back then.

Then somehow, my focus shifted to my kids. Am I missing anything? Or have I just transformed. My jealousy immediately melted away in thoughts of the way their little faces light up when they see me. The funny way that K yells "Hiiiiiiiiii" when you walk into a room, even if you have only been gone for a few minutes. The way he laughs when you tickle him under his chin. The way he snuggles in close and crosses his little feet when its time to nurse. Then there is D, my little man. He is so full of life its contagious. He loves to run and jump and wrestle and play but sometimes, he likes to just lay on Mama's chest and snuggle like there is nothing better. The way he comes up, strokes my cheek and says "I sorry mama, I lub you" when he knows I'm frustrated or sad and then pulls me away to play cars with him in the floor. The days the three of us spend just lazing around the house playing with toys or the crazy, hectic days we spend running errands, either way we have a blast.

I thought I had it all then but look what I have now. My life with these boys (all three of them) it so infinitely more happy and fulfilling. I realized the things that would have once been so desperately important to me seem silly and childish now. I guess priorities change. They warp and melt into something entirely different. Maybe even more than a few times in life I guess. In this case it was a slow change of sorts. The pregnancies and births of my babies changed my entire outlook on life, so why wouldn't they change my priorities. Somehow, a perfect outfit and fabulous hair doesn't seem as important as happy, clean kids. I guess I realized as I sat there, long after those girls drove off, just how much has changed in the last ten years. I went from a carefree, wild teenager with no responsibilities, to a full time mommy of two with all of the responsibility. Would I trade a single second of it? Nope. That is whats great about growing up.

Update on us!

So, in case you haven't figured it out, we are still internet-less. I do most everything on my phone but for some reason I can't find the time to blog lately. Shame on me, I know. Our summer has been lots of fun so far though. We have spent most of our time hanging around the house or at the pool or hanging out with friends. My bestie had a birthday cookout for me a few weeks ago and it was so awesome to just hang out with friends and drink and talk. The kids had a blast and I think the husbands even had a good time, which is fairly rare. We also got to go see the Phantom of the Opera at the Fox theater in the ATL (Thanks, Tommy!). It was so nice to get out in the day time, have a good (uninterrupted) lunch and see a great show. Otherwise we have spent our time just chilling at home, occasionally wandering out front to the playground or trying to make the most of the days T is off from work.

D is a little swimmy fish. He loves going to the pool and has really taken off in the swimming department. He still wears arm floaties but I think by the end of summer he won't need them anymore. He jumps in and goes under water without a worry and has been doing awesome at holding his breath underwater. He spends most of his time doing that or swimming around talking to the random neighbors in the pool. If it was up to him, we would spend all day, every day poolside. We haven't been since he hurt his arm though and I think he is suffering withdraws. He has been carrying his pool noodle around the house for the last two days. Fine, until he starts whacking his mother on the head with it. Then it goes to time out. He is so freaking smart sometimes though it freaks me out. Kid has a mind like a steel trap and remembers the tiniest little details about the most random stuff. Like the names of more dinosaurs than I do. Pretty funny how that is what he has latched onto. Knows all his letters and numbers to 15 by sight too but he really wants to know more about dinosaurs and less about useful stuff. Trains are also a big hit but I thing he figures he knows all he needs to about them because he doesn't ask many questions. Potty training is so two months ago and he doesn't even want our help anymore. Makes me a little sad but I can't tell you how nice it is to not have to change his nasty diapers anymore. I'm still amazed at how stupidly easy he was to potty train, even though he has always been easy about stuff like that.

K is getting big fast here recently it seems. He has been crawling backwards for awhile now, looking back over his shoulders as he goes. It pretty hilarious to watch but he is surprisingly agile that way. He has also become a master at pulling himself up onto anything and everything in the last few months. Which is fine, until he tries to pull up on one of the rocking chairs in the living room and it knocks him backwards onto his butt. He also feels the need to scream like a maniac when he gets up or down. Not sure what thats about. Well, other than the fact its a running joke in the house that he is going go green, rip out of his clothing and turn into the Incredible Hulk one of these days because of his temper. He shakes his tiny fists of fury at us when he thinks he isn't getting something he wants. Which rarely last for more than a couple of seconds and he is back to happy monster. Anyway, in the last week he has figured out the crawling forward thing and he gets extremely excited that he can actually see where he is going. Sometimes so excited that he gets going too fast, flops down on his face and skids across the carpet for a full foot, which usually is followed by a Hulk episode. He is a little chatterbox too, at least compared to how his brother was. He says Mama, Dada, Nana, No, Bruba (brother), Hi, buh-bye and sings Lalalalalalala to music. The rest of the time its pretty much constant babble. He has become our soundtrack to everyday life. Its bad to say, but I am kind of glad he isn't as physical as D was at this age. D did everything early. Made it seem like he grew up SO fast. K has done things early too but not as early as D did. Somehow, it seems like K has been a baby- baby for longer, which is great because he may very well be our last.

Its been fun to watch him and D's relationship continue to blossom this summer too. D gets so excited when he hears K wake up in the morning and goes running into his room where he is met by an enthusiastic squeal from his little brother when he gets there. K has a special squeal just for his brother and it absolutely melts my heart. Add in the random hugs and kisses they give each other and it makes for a very happy mama. No worries about D being jealous of his little brother when he adores him so much. I guess it shouldn't really surprise me. D has always been a very gentle and loving soul. Even though he is so active and physical, he has always been gentle with kids smaller than him. If he does get too rough, its always a miscalculation. The same thing times ten applies with K. He is gentle and sweet and is really good at playing games with him. Of course the same isn't always true with K. He wants to wrestle with his brother like he sees him do with Daddy. Sometimes he just crawls over and tackles D or pulls his hair or kiss attacks him. Even then, D is always very gentle and either hugs him to the ground or walks away. Makes Mama so proud.

So thats us in a nutshell right now. Just hanging around, living. Trying to stay cool in the hot southern weather. We are weighing our options right now as to what we are going to do this fall. Moving or staying, which direction to go with homeschool, what to do for their birthdays, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Stay tuned.

Our July 4th weekend

Not exactly the fun filled, pool playing weekend we had planned for I suppose but at least we got to spend a lot of time together. I woke up Friday morning in a funk. I had a migraine, was achy all over and just generally blah. I called T and bitched and moaned for half an hour about how I felt like crap. He eventually got the hint and came home to watch the boys so that I could rest. I ended up deciding to take a hot bath so I could try to relax .

About the time I got the tub filled up, got just the right amount of my yummy lavender bath salts in, and got in to soak, T came in with a crying D on his arm. He proceeded to tell me that he has been crying for about twenty minutes and he can't get him to stop. If you know D, thats not normal. He is a tough little guy who almost never actually sheds tears. This time though, he had huge crocodile tears streaming down his face and he immediately shimmied down his daddy and came over to the edge of the tub reaching for me. I noticed immediately that his left arm was hanging limp at his side. Oh, shit. I asked T what had happened and he told me that he had been playing with K in the floor and D was playing behind him and he had just started crying. He had no idea what happened. When I pointed out his arm, T said “Yeah, I noticed. Do you think he hurt it?”. Um, yeah.

(Ok, heres a little backstory. Last summer, when I was about 8 months pregnant with K, I was at a store with D and when we went to leave, he had a typical toddler fit and tried to throw himself down to the ground. Thing was, we were on the concrete sidewalk, so I tightened my grip on his hand to keep him from hitting his head. Bad idea. As soon and he stood up, I knew his elbow was hurt. He started crying and cradling it with his other hand. After a few minutes, he stopped crying but he just wasn't right. I had some experience with nursemaid's elbow and just knew that was it. A couple of ER trips and a few x-rays later, I was right, his elbow was back in place and all was well. Mental note: If your heavy for his age toddler tries to throw himself at the sidewalk, let him.

So, I stripped D naked and pulled him into the tub with me and he melted into my chest and just layed there for a few minutes until he collected himself and stopped crying. I tried for a few minutes to get him to use that arm and he refused. Plus, every time I bent his arm he screamed again. T and I made eye contact and the only thing I said was “Here we go again”. So, T went to work getting the diaper bag ready, I called my mother to come watch K and got me and D dressed. About an hour later, we made it to the ER. Again, a couple of x-rays but this time the doctor said it must have popped back into place before we got there because it all looked normal. No dislocations, no fractures, no nothing. She said it would be sore for a day or so but then he should be back to normal. We headed home relieved but I still thought it seemed strange that he wasn't using it at all still. Last time he started using it within a few minutes of it being popped back in but she was so sure.

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We got home and just lazed around the house for the evening. That night after the boys ate dinner we all snuggled up in our bed. Tommy and I just chilling and talking, D was curled up against my chest with his head on my arm like a little baby and K was rolling and flailing wildly like he does. Eventually T and K wandered off and D fell asleep on my arm. I didn't have the heart to wake wake him but I had not had dinner yet, so I wiggled out and let him sleep. I got K all snuggled up in bed and then went back to bed with D. Tommy volunteered to sleep on the couch so we wouldn't have to wake D.

Saturday we woke up, went grocery shopping for our cookout and just generally futzed around town until nap time, after which we had our cookout and got ready to go watch the fireworks. The whole time, D protected his arm like crazy. He refused to use it for anything and just let it hang at his side. Even while running around with his little friends, waiting for the fireworks to start, he still protected that arm.

Sunday morning he woke up still not using it so back to the ER we went, this time the
whole family in tow. We got seen quickly again and there was a different doctor on duty. He examined D's elbow and said it felt a little swollen still. He ran some blood work to make sure it wasn't getting infected and sent us home with a diagnosis of a bruise in the joint and a referral to see a pediatric orthopedist. As if that wasn't fun enough, they wrapped his arm up in a hard splint and put it in a sling to help stabilize it so it would heal. D was so excited that the sling had dinosaurs on it that he didn't mind the cast at all. The bad thing is though, it means no swimming, no climbing, no rough play, etc. All of which are D's favoritest games. We did,
however, still go to the independence day party we had planned on going to. He ended up having a blast even with one arm three times its size and immobilized.

He has been really good about it considering. He just drags his arm around with him and uses it as a pillow when he is playing in the floor. We have had a little bit of a time keeping him somewhat subdued but I am really not too worried about it. We took the splint off last night after his bath just to check up on it and he seemed to be using his arm a lot more. Still a little stiff but still much better. We put it back on so he wouldn't twist it during his sleep and I took it back off this morning to let him stretch it out some. Hopefully we will get an appointment with the orthopedics doctor today or tomorrow. We are still waiting to hear back.

Fun holiday weekend right?? Or not. Like I said though, at least we got to spend it together of sorts. We still got to do our cookout and hang out with our friends. So I guess, all in all, it was still a hit. Now we just have to get the one armed wonder back to normal so we can hit the pool. I never did get my hot bath.