Pictures!

We had the boys pictures taken last weekend. The more children I have the more I realize that a really good picture is one that has them all not crying and all looking in the same direction. Other than that, my standards are much lower. But aren't they cute?

Yet another meme...

My sweet cousin Kelli, who knows I'm a fool for a meme (only 'cause I say that every time I do one) tagged me for this.

10 FAVORITES

1)Color: Purple
2)Food: Good ol' fashioned southern comfort foods.
3)Musical Group: Casting Crowns
4)Song Right Now: Does Anybody Hear Her by Casting Crown
5)Movie: If I had to name one, Wedding Singer
6)Sport: Baseball
7)Season: Winter
8)Day of the Week: Saturday
9)Ice Cream Flavor: Birthday Cake @ Marble Slab
10)Person: well, we're not going to leave all of my other almost favorite people out by naming names here.


9 CURRENTS

1)Current Mood: Cranky, I wasn't planning on doing this meme right now, but I am because I need some distraction.
2)Current Scent: Baby drool and Suave Shampoo, I think. Not in the habit of keeping track of my scent.
3)Current Clothes: Gray t-shirt I wore yesterday and my new favorite pair of jeans.
4)Current Desktop: A nekkid bath picture of the boys coloring in the bath tub.
5)Current Ringtone on Cell Phone: I don't know, some factory ringtone. It's pretty music.
6)Current Music: The background music to a new show the boys have found about Monster Trucks.
7)Current Time: 1:57 pm
8)Current Surrounding: My bedroom, and my boys.
9)Current Event Happening Today: Laundry, play-doh, lunch. Tonight is the Easter Cantata at our church. I have a solo!


8 FIRSTS

1)First Best Friend: Stephanie who lived across the street from me.
2)First Kiss: I don't really even remember, I don't even remember his name. It was a blond kid in ninth grade. I think I've blocked out most things like that.
3)First Screen Name: alligirl, a nick name my family had for me when I was a kid.
4)First Pet: Taffy, a dachsund.
5)First Piercing: I don't remember how old, but I think I was 6 or 7. Obviously, it was my ears.
6)First Crush: Oh my gosh. Do real people even remember things like this? The first one I can think of was in fifth grade on a boy named Brandon.
7)First Music: I'm not quite sure what this question is looking for...*sigh* I'm remembering that I have a terrible memory.
8)First Car: A 1999 (or was it 2000?) White Dodge Neon. I loved that car.


7 LASTS

1)Last Class: Hmmmm...I took Financial Peace University, our last class was on March 10.
2)Last Drink: Ice water with lunch
3)Last Trip: We went to Louisiana when last year sometime....July or so, I think.
4)Last Kiss: When Stephen woke up from his nap about 20 minutes ago.
5)Last Movie Seen at the Theater: Oh gosh, ummm...I was pregnant...I'll have to get back to you on that one....*updated* I think it was X-Men 3.
6)Last Phone Call: Sweet Hubby
7)Last CD Played: The rehearsal CD for our Easter Concert at church that we're putting on tomorrow.


6 HAVE YOU EVERS

1)Have you ever dated one of your best guy friends? I was really good friends with my first boyfriend before we started dating.
2)Have you ever broken the law? I've been pulled over for speeding a couple times, but that's the extent of my brushes with the law.
3)Have you ever been arrested? No
4)Have you ever skinny-dipped? No.
5)Have you ever been on TV? I got interviewed by the local ABC station once when the circus came to town and we went to watch the parade.
6)Have you ever kissed someone you didn’t know? No. Never been in a situation where I might have to.

5 THINGS
1) 1 thing you’re wearing: again, the shirt I wore yesterday.
2)1 thing you’ve done today: put on makeup..that doesn't happen but once or twice a week.
3)1 thing you’re bothered by: Stories like this one that I just heard on the news.
4)1 thing you can’t live without: chocolate, I'll have to keep that answer the same as Kelli.
5)1 thing you do when you’re bored: Boredom is a luxury, but as soon as there's a lull in my activity and I'm not on the computer, I flip to HGTV, thanks to my mom who's gotten me hooked on it.


4 PLACES YOU HOPE TO TRAVEL TO
1)DisneyWorld again.
2)Washington DC again.
3)England
4) Italy


3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO

1) Sweet Hubby
2) Alison, my best friend
3) my mom. most things. (same thing as Kelli again)


2 CHOICES
1)Black or White? Black, I guess.
2)Hot or Cold? Hot chocolate, on a cold night.


1 THING YOU WANT TO DO?
There's lots of things I want to do, but what's been on my mind lately is moving out of the town we live in to live closer to where my family and our church is.

Wordless Wednesday

I had some cute pics I was going to post here today, but when I went to get my camera to upload to the computer I realized that Sweet Hubby took the camera to work with him today. So I went digging through what I had on the computer and thought this was a sweet picture. It's my grandfather and Marc-Adam at Christmas. Happy Wordless Wednesday!

They've added humiliation to their inventory

While visiting my friendly, neighborhood Wally World yesterday, I decided to try on a dress that I had been eyeing for a few weeks. I would like to have a new dress for Easter and this would have been a good one. So while Sweet Hubby took the boys to go look at boy things, I grabbed the last one of my size and made my way to the dressing room.

The dress zips up the side and the front is very similar to the back. I thought I had it all figured out, and I put it on and zipped it up. But something wasn't right. It just looked funny on me. That's when I realized that I'd put in on backwards. Silly me, I thought and I went to unzip it. But the zipper was stuck. STUCK.

So there I am, in the Wally World dressing room with a dress on backwards like my 4 year old dressed me and it ain't coming off. And my only hope at being able to keep my dignity and getting the dress off is on the other side of the store looking at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys with my children. I was afraid I was going to have to rip the zipper or gnaw the thing off like a wild animal. But then my conscience would make me pay for the dress, and then I'd be stuck with a dress I can't wear and not enough money left over to buy a new one. Before panicking, though, I gave the zipper one more good tug. It finally came free. I turned the dress around, already convinced that I wasn't buying it because of the potential humiliation it almost gave me. Which was okay, because it looked just as weird with the front where it actually belonged.

Pick me! Pick me!!

Oh, I need me a Dyson. I've been coveting one of those vacuums for a while, knowing that we'd never be able to afford one anytime soon. But now I (and YOU too!) have a chance to win one. Check out 5 Minutes for Mom to see how.

Thursday Thirteen- The Sweet Boys

I'm probably the only one that cares about this or thinks it's interesting. But because I have nothing else to blog about it, you're subjected to it as well!

I was watching the Sweet Boys play the other day and I was thinking about how different they are. They're personalities are so different from each other and it's fascinating they came from the same parents just 21 months apart. So here, in honor of their differences and to celebrate who they are, are the 13 ways the Boys are different from each other.

1. Stephen will eat just about anything; Zachary will eat just about anything deep fried.

2. Stephen doesn't care about what he's wearing as long as he's not too hot or cold; Zachary must pick out every stitch that he wears...and giving choices doesn't cut it (for example, a conversation we had just a few days ago : Me: "Zachary would you like to wear the red or the blue shirt?" Z: "Spiderman". )

3. Stephen must know everything that's going on the house, even at night when he's supposed to be sleeping; Zachary, if tired, will lay down at any point in the day and go to sleep. Regardless of what's going on in the house.

4. Stephen wants to be Superman; Zachary wants to be Spiderman. (That makes me smile.)

5. Stephen is absolutely in love with Marc-Adam, almost to the point where he smothers him; Zachary seems to be indifferent with Marc-Adam and only plays with him on Zachary's Terms, and that usually involves the poking of baby eyes and the "honking" of baby noses.

6. Stephen prefers to be near me (or his Dad) just about every second of his waking moments; Zachary is content to sit and play by himself for quite a while.

7. Stephen insists he doesn't need help; Zachary will whine for help can't get down off his chair or the bed even though he can (and has) do it by himself.

8. Stephen jumps off furniture, runs around the house at full speed, and attempts all sorts of acrobatic stunts; Zachary is much less coordinated and tends to run into furniture while just walking to the bathroom.

9. Stephen could watch TV all day long if I let him; Zachary gets bored with it fairly quickly and will wander off from it to find something to do, or to find trouble.

10. Stephen eats as much as a grown person every day (I often hear the words, "I'm still hungry, Mama"); Zachary can get by on a couple of raisins and a quarter of a PB&J for an entire day.

11. Stephen's an early riser (early being no later than 7:30); Zachary could sleep in until 9:00 and still need a nap at 11:00.

12. Stephen is motivated by nothing less than time spent with me or his daddy (or a good movie); Zachary is easily motivated by 2 M&Ms.

13. While they both love their Daddy and I, Stephen is more of a Daddy's Boy and Zachary is more of a Mama's Boy.

So there, now you've gotten to know them much better. I know your life is complete now, right? ;)

The end as he knows it

A post over at 24 going on 40 reminded me of this conversation I had with Stephen a few days ago.

I was sitting with Zachary and looking at his photo album of baby pictures. At one point, I said, "Look Zachary, there's you last Christmas."

A few minutes later, all red faced and tearful (complete with the little pouty lip), Stephen comes to me, throws himself on my lap and through his sobs I hear, "Why is there no more Christmas?" For a second I had no idea what he was talking about.

So I say, "There's more Christmas it's just going to be several more months before we have another Christmas."

"But you said it was our last Christmas!"

Oh, my sweet, precious boy.

All was right with the world again when I informed him that there will, indeed, be another Christmas.

ChewyMama's blog update

For those of you that popped over to say hi to ChewyMama and plan on going back, she had to change to blog address. If you bookmarked or planned on bookmarking her, please use this link. If you haven't gone to check her out, go, now! What are you waiting for?

When playing Duck, Duck, Goose with a 2 year old...

...make sure said 2 year old knows that the game is played by gently tapping the other players on the head. Not by whacking them with a flat palm right across the bridge of their nose.

And when having any sort of interaction what so ever with 2 (or more) little boys, always keep an ice pack handy.

Trust me.

Meet ChewyMama

One of my dearest friends, who has kept up with my blog almost from day one, has started a blog of her own here on the ol' Blogger. I'm so excited about this, even though I kept up with her family website. But she's so smart, funny and wise, that I can't wait to see what she does with her blog.

Anyway, click here, go spread some bloggy love and give her a great big welcome!

Works for Me Wednesday--Tip for burping a baby

Marc-Adam has been the hardest baby to burp. I can hear the air gurgling around in there, but it just won't come up easily. Until one day, I absent-mindedly (that's not a word, is it?) had him turned a different way while I was trying to burp him. I was patting his chest for a few seconds before I realized my mistake, but before I could turn him around, he let out a huge burp. Ever since then, if I've had a hard time getting him to burp, I gently pat his chest for a few seconds and up it comes. I'm not sure if that will work for every baby, but's it worth a try. If you are still having a hard time getting the burp to come up, lay baby down for a few minutes and then try again.

Head over to Rocks In My Dryer for more tips (probably not involving gas).

Does your baby have wrinkles or unsightly blemishes?

I accidentally got some of my concealer in my eye the other day. So I looked at the side of the tube to see what it said about that. It said, "Avoid direct contact with the eye." Well. That was helpful.

But then another little tip caught my eye (no pun intended):

"Do not use on infants."

Well, shoot....I guess Marc-Adam will have to wait a few more years to cover up his signs of aging.

I'm all about IKEA!

Y'all...I was in heaven! I know this is so lame to take up two posts about a store, but we spent 4.5 hours there and I still feel like I could go back and touch everything again. And they have a restaurant!! We ate breakfast and lunch....all three of us, my mom, dad and I, ate both meals for under $25--not each, TOTAL! And the food was so good. Definitely better than some of the stand alone restaurants we have in our town. Added with the whole shopping experience, it was seriously the coolest, most fun thing I've done in a while. And my folks bought me the bookshelves and another cool little storage thing for the playroom!

As for the circus. It was what you would expect to come to a town of 5,000. It wasn't held at the Fairgrounds, but at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Apparently, it was an entire family putting in on. They all had the same last name. They were very talented, but it was no Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey. But it was small enough (and there were few enough people) that Stephen even got to get involved. The very first clown (whose make-up looked a bit like Boy George) tried to teach Stephen to juggle. I think Stephen now wants to join the circus. And before I left my parents after the IKEA excursion, I told my mom that I wouldn't think it was a real circus unless they had motorcycles going round and round in a big round steel cage. And wouldn't you know they had the "Glove of Death"....I'm guessing they meant "Globe of Death", but English was obviously not their first language. The kids thought it was so neat. And by kids I mean 2 of my children and my husband who giggled like a 4 year old, when they brought the second motorcycle out. All in all, a fun evening was had by all. Except for the first few minutes when my mother-in-law nearly choked on her gum when they told her tickets were $12 a piece.

Randomness of Friday...

Not much going on in the Sweet Household this week...but I'm gonna talk about it anyway.

We went to the Rodeo on Monday. We left the two older boys at home and just took Marc-Adam. He did great...he just rode in the sling and looked around at all the lights and animals. He was more impressed with the lights. He then proceeded to sleep through the barrel racing and bull riding....two of the loudest events. We really went for the concert, but the sound was so lousy that we left halfway through the second song. Now, I know concerts are supposed to be loud, but I could literally feel vibrations in my head and teeth. I cringe to think of what it did to his little eardrums! The rodeo itself was great, though. I wish I could ride a horse....those chicks that do the barrel racing and all the tricks on the horses just look so cool. The one and only time I've ever even been near a horse, I was afraid it was going to bite me so I wouldn't get close enough to touch it. This was just last year, people.

I rearranged the furniture in the living room. Does anyone else do this on a regular basis? It reminds me that I really should vacuum under the furniture more regularly. There's a little world under there that I'm not even aware of. Apparently, it's also the place where little tiny toy pieces go to die. And while I'm moving the furniture, the boys (being boys) think it's great fun to "fly" from one sofa to the other (or to the coffee table for that matter). That really makes it easier, you know.

I've gotten more than few weirdo hits from questionable google searches. So I've had to trim things here and there and had to remove a blog from my sidebar that I actually do read on a regular basis. But the name of her blog coupled with a post of mine brought more weirdos than I'm comfortable with being here. I know this is the World Wide Web and all and I can't control who takes a peek at my little corner, but I can at least protect it as best I can. Does anyone else get repeated hits from the same (or similar) searches for "things that you don't blog about"? What do you do about it?

On a lighter note, we're headed to Ikea tomorrow. I've been checking the site out for a while and I'm excited to go look at the stuff in person. We're having a garage sale in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping we'll get enough from it to fund an overhaul of the playroom. It's just cluttered and scattered and unorganized. We'll be using it for some real homeschooling soon, so I need to get things under control. The kids don't really even play in there that much anymore. Something needs to change. Anyway, Ikea has some cute book shelves that I think will help give us more room and the table and chairs I want are just darling. And the best part...they're CHEAP! "And on this farm he had a tightwad, E I E I O....with a 'CHEAP CHEAP!' here and a 'CHEAP CHEAP!' there..." I hope we can turn that room into something really cool for the kids. I'm not sure if I want to paint...I was think about painting the bottom half of one of the walls with that chalkboard paint. Any thoughts on that? I think we're going to use a "Things that ZOOM!" motif with bold primary colors. If you have ideas for homeschool organization and/or playroom decorating and organization they are invited and welcome. I need some inspiration!!

The circus is coming to our tiny little town. It's being held at our tiny little fairgrounds. I'm not sure if I'm going yet or not, but my mother-in-law is taking the kids....I think I might go just to see what kind of circus actually comes to this map dot.

So there you go. That's as exciting as it gets around here.

Wordless Wednesday

When Z misses naptime

Love and Marriage...

ksl tagged me for this. I think she knows what a silly fool I am for feeling all special when someone tags me for a meme! ;) I love these...this one's about my marriage.


1. Where/How did you meet? This isn't information I usually offer up since I try to avoid the kinds of looks I get when I tell people, but what the hey....my aunt introduced us. Turns out his uncle is married to my aunt. They married years before either of us were born and we went our entire lives without knowing each other. Then one day she set us up to meet.

2. How long have you known each other?: for a little over 7 years, we met in person on Oct 23, 1999. We had talked on the phone for about a week before.

3. How long after you met did you start dating?: We started dating when we met. Not love at first sight, but pretty darn close.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?: 2.5 months.

5. How long was your engagement?: 10 months.

6. How long have you been married?: almost 6.5 years

7. What is your anniversary?: Nov 4, 2000

8. How many people came to your wedding reception: About 125, I think.

9. What kind of cake did you serve?: A friend of my mom's made the wedding cake and the groom's cake. To be honest, I don't remember what kind...just plain ol' wedding cake, but it was purty AND tasty. In my experience, that's not a common combination in wedding cakes.

10. Where was your wedding?: First United Methodist Church of Houston-Westchase.

11. What did you serve for your meal?: Roast beef, swedish meatballs, vegetable crudite and some kind of potatoes, I think...again, I don't really remember (it almost seems silly now, the amount of thought that I and my parents put into all of it since I can't remember most of it). I do remember the really good rolls, though.

12. How many people were in your bridal party?: 2 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, 3 groomsmen, 1 junior groomsmen and a couple of ushers.

13. Are you still friends with them all?: Just one of my bridesmaids, my dearest friend Alison. And Sweet Hubby is still in touch with the groomsmen that he's related to.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?: Yes, he was so choked up that he whispered everything and no one could hear him.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day?: Before we got married, Sweet Hubby and I would watch Mad TV (before it got nasty and vulgar) every Saturday night. The night of our wedding as we left our reception, we collapsed into the limo and watched Mad TV....and then laughed at how sad we were being so tired and watching TV on our wedding night.

16. Any funny moments?: Sweet Hubby danced like I had never seen him dance before (and haven't seen since). I laughed so hard at him....you just have to know him...he's not the dancing type.

17. Any big disasters?: Not that I know of. My mom runs a pretty good interference with things like this. And my dad runs a pretty good intereference for her.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?: Nowhere right away. We had to change the date of our wedding several times and by the time we finally got it settled, Sweet Hubby couldn't change his vacation date from work. Not to mention we were broke. So we waited a year and went to Disney World for our first anniversary.

19. How long were you gone? 5 days.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? I would have had bagpipes play at some point in the wedding. I just love them. And I'll ditto what ksl said, it would have been wonderful to have Gram and Papa there.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?: The side farthest from the door.

22. What size is your bed?: Queen.

23. Greatest strength as a couple?: We have the same values and the same "map" for where our lives and our family is going. We come through problems fairly easily and move on pretty quickly.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple?: Like a lot of people, money. We don't always agree about it and it's been a sticking point for 6.5 years.

25. Who literally pays the bills?: He used to, but I'm taking a much more active role in our finances lately. I've paid the bills that we pay online.

26. What is your song? : It changes a lot...I'm not sure we even have one now.... do grown-ups have a "song"?

27. What did you dance your first dance to?: Oh, gimme a sec....I'll think of it...it's by Keith Urban....OH! "Everything" or "I Wanna Be Your Everything" or something sappy like that.

28. Describe your wedding dress: Sleevless, boat neck with lace and embellishment around the middle. Big skirt with lots of layers, chapel length train.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?: White and red roses. That's pretty much it.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? Mine's too small to be engraved (I have tiny fingers), but I had his engraved..."All my love, All my life"

Are you a fool for a meme like me? If so, TAG! You're it!

Wordless Wednesday

The many faces of Marc-Adam

Can we call this homeschooling?

The boys and I were sitting around this afternoon just talking and reading some books. Somehow we got on the subject of peanut butter (this is some riveting conversation, people, lemme tell ya) and I asked where they thought peanut butter came from. Stephen looks at me like 'duh, Mom' and says, "From peanuts." I asked how he knew that....his reply? "The commercial told me."

That qualifies as homeschooling, right?

I'm here for the party...

Apparently, I don't follow directions well, or I just got too caught up in all the partyin'. I was supposed to post a party post first and THEN do the Mr. Linky. I just got it all wrong. Oh, well. I suppose I won't be voted out of the bloggy fun for a short moment of stupidity. After all, my blog IS Adventures in Imperfection.

So HELLO! I'm tickled pink that you're here if you found me through the Party. Actually, as long as you're not a weirdo looking for stuff I DON'T post about, I'm tickled pink you're here. My name is Alli. I'm 25, married for 6 years, and have three boys, ages 4, 2 and 4 months (click here for a recent family pic and a pic of the Sweet Boys). I started blogging last summer after my cousins convinced me I need to do this. It's been great fun and a wonderful outlet for me. Not to mention all the encouragement and laughs I get from reading other blogs.

So, come on in, have a look around and if you like what you see, leave a comment and please visit again!

Why the heck not?

I wasn't going to participate in the Ultimate Blog Party, but as I was cruising my blog reading, it seemed like everyone else was doing it. And you know, if everyone else is doing it....

So, if you were going to be a wallflower, too, suck it up, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and have fun!!

Bump!

Stephanie's still coming up with fun photo tag ideas, but because of my sorry scanner, I wasn't able to participate in last week's. But here I am to participate this week and show off my belly when I was pregnant with #3, Marc-Adam. The picture isn't great and since Marc-Adam came earlier than expected I didn't get any good pics just before he was born (except my maternity pics but I can't scan those). This pic is Marc-Adam at about 32 weeks. I had another picture of 35 weeks, but can't get that one to post. I carry my babies really far back, so I don't show very much but I'm in miserable back pain for the last trimester.

Head on over to Adventures in Babywearing if you have a bump to show off!

Still here, still nothin' to blog about

Still not really thinking of much to blog about. But I can't just leave it hangin'.

So I've started on the adventure of potty training Zachary. He's a stubborn child. He's always done things his way and on his timeline. It's been an interesting couple of days, lemme tell ya, but we've had a little success. However, he has this thing for shoes. He likes to wear them all.the.time. And the first couple times he had an accident and we had to change his bottoms, he insisted on a new pair of shoes to wear as well. At one point, he was wearing shoes 3 sizes too big. Today, I've been able to distract him from having to wear shoes.

Stephen's coming to the very sad realization that this family, and alas, the universe, does not revolve around him. There's been much moaning and lamenting on his part and even as I type this, he's telling me that he wants to move to another house far, far away...maybe Dallas, he says. (I have to add that this particular bout of Stephen's self-pity was brought on because I'm not letting him watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas.)

On a happier note, we got our income tax refund in so we will be able to finish off Baby Step #1 and most of Baby Step #2!! We are so excited about this! We can't wait to yell "FREEDOM!" when we are completely debt free!

Blocked

It seems I've got a bit of blogger's block. No fun. It's been four days since my last post and I can't think of a single thing that's happened or a single thought that I've had that is worth blogging about since then. So bear with me...I'll think of something soon.

I'm curious...reveal yourself, please

I've been keeping up with my sitemeter and I've noticed that someone from Spring, Texas has been visiting me a few times. I know most everyone from Texas that visits my blog, but for the life of me, can't think of who in Spring knows I have a blog and actually visits. It's been driving me crazy trying to think of who it might be...I suppose there is a possibility that it's someone I don't know. Anyway, if you are in or near Spring and reading this, please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail at alligirl1104(at)gmail(dot)com if you prefer to stay anonymous to the bloggy world. It sure would clear things up for me!

Wordless Wednesday

Hard not to smile at a picture like this!

Something else to pass along...

If you are at all interested in baby slings and baby wearing, you have to check out this website. I got my sling from there while I was still pregnant and I can't sing its praises enough. I don't know what I would do without this sling (or how I got through having two babies before realizing the blessing that is babywearing!). The website is run by a work at home mom of three so she gets what it's really like to wear babies.

You can get a sling in really cool fabrics and all the items the website sells are affordable.

The customer service is superb. There's nothing like getting a good deal on something you really want AND getting great service, too. And the name is just too fun! Iif you're in the market for a new sling, head on over and check her out!

And now we return to our normally scheduled programming...

The Mama to this Bloggin' Mama

Stephanie started this at Adventures in Babywearing. I think it's a great idea!

So here's my mom. We've always been close and growing up, I always knew--and still know--that she's my biggest fan. We may not always agree or get along, but she never lets me forget that she's on my side. I have lots of fond memories of the time spent with my mom when I was growing up. I remember that she never really treated me like a kid and she included me and let me be a part of just about everything she did. Now that I'm a "grown-up", we've gotten to be really good friends. Hardly a day goes by that we don't chat just to see what's going on with the other.

And whenever I need her, I always know she's just a phone call away. The day that I had Marc-Adam is proof. The night before I had been up all night throwing up. Every time I would start to doze off, I would get sick again. Around 1am, I knew that if I didn't get some sleep, I would not be able to function the next day (remember, I was 8.5 months pregnant). At 3am, I started having contractions, and I just felt terrible. I called her at 7:30am and asked to come take care of me and the boys. She dropped everything she had to do that day and in 30 minutes, was on my front porch. She then bullied convinced me to call the doctor later that morning...I was in denial about being in labor. Turns out, I was in labor, and she drove me and the kids to the hospital. She took care of everything for me that day. And I'm so glad she was there with me.

What's really fun now is seeing how much the Sweet Boys adore her. I can see that what she has with each of my kids is really special.

I'm so glad that I've had her support in my life. She's one of the "legs" that holds me up. After all, life is always better when you have your own cheerleader.

Had to share this--The Homeschooling Mom

Ok, I might be late to board this train, but I found a website that is awesome! It's for homeschooling moms and has information on all kinds of things. Even free menu planners and grocery lists! You can sign up for the menu plans to be e-mailed to you. The meals look very normal, too (normal for me anyway, which I'm beginning to think isn't really all that normal). You can also sign up for daily reminders a la Flylady, but you only get one a day. So for those of us that were completely overwhelmed by Flylady, this might be a nice alternative. I'm very excited about this and wanted to pass it on!! Click here to check it out if you are interested.

Better late than never!

So I finally got the pictures of Stephen's birthday party off my camera. And a whole bunch of other great pics, but mainly it was Stephen's birthday. So here's some pics. Stephen and his birthday candles (with a little help from Little Brother Z). And the awesome Larry Boy cake my mom made for him. (If you're not familiar with Larry Boy, click here to see what he looks like so you can see how great this cake really is.)

ABCs of Homemaking

My cousin tagged me for this meme and I was so excited. I've seen it floating around the blogosphere and was secretly hoping I'd get tagged. It looks like fun! Here goes!

Aprons- Y/N? Yes! I have a pretty green one I made and when I think about it, I wear it. I think I'm going to start wearing it more often though. There's a part of me that thinks I might be more productive if I do. I've also made some really cute ones that I sold on eBay.

Baking- Favorite thing to bake? Brownies. Out of the box. With frosting.

Clothesline- Y/N? Actually, one came with the house. The only thing it's good for at this point, though, is collecting spider webs that I seem to walk through every time I go outside. I prefer the dryer or to hang dry in the house.

Donuts- Ever made them? I don't know anyone that's ever made a donut. That thought has never even occurred to me!

Everyday- One homemaking thing you do everyday? Some part of the laundry process. On the weekend I either put a load on or switch a load to the dryer or fold a load. On the weekdays, I do at least one maybe two loads a day.

Freezer- Do you have a separate deep freezer? It's a chest freezer, does that count? So far, the only thing it's been good for is holding food that we don't really eat.

Garbage Disposal- Y/N? No, it's been years since we've lived in a house that has one. But when we remodel the kitchen, that's going to be one of the investments. Until then, we take the trash out everyday.

Handbook- Y/N? If a "handbook" is an unusually large bright red diaper bag, then yes.

Ironing- Love it or hate it? Hate it. Only do it for really special occasions and for my sewing. For hubby's work clothes, two words: wrinkle free.

Junk Drawer- Where is it? In the coffee table drawer.

Kitchen- Design and decorating? There's not much decoration there. White walls, oak cabinets and yellow counters. That'll all change with the remodel though. I think it's going to be yellow walls and cabinets, white counters and brushed nickel hardware.

Love- What is your favorite part of homemaking? Seeing that my hard work pays off. Looking at a clean house and a closet full of clean laundry.

Mop- Y/N? Do I own one? Yes. Do I use it? No. Terrible, I know. Sweet Hubby mops once in a while, though.

Nylons- Wash by hand or in the washer? By hand, when I wash them. Which isn't often because I don't wear them but a few times before I ruin them.

Oven- Do you use the window or open it to check? Open, open, open.

Pizza- What do you put on yours? Beef, extra cheese, easy on the sauce.

Quiet- What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Usually read or catch up on my fave sites.

Recipe card box- Y/N? Nope. Just a cabinet full of stray papers, books and a binder that I intended to organize way back when. So I suppose I just have a large recipe box.

Style of house- Standard Texas house, I guess. One story, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft.

Tablecloths and napkins- Y/N? I use vinyl tablecloths on the floor for when the kids play Play-doh or eat out of the breakfast room. Otherwise, that's a big fat NO.

Under the kitchen sink- It's kind of a catch all for the kitchen. It's got some plastic grocery bags, extra placemats for the kids, some yogurt containers and some other random things I haven't thought of in a while. Cleaning supplies are on a high shelf in the utility room.

Vacuum- How many times a week? Can I plead the fifth? Although, I got a little mini-vacuum for Christmas that Stephen loves, so it's happening a bit more often. And will probably happen a lot more when Marc-Adam starts finding things to eat off the floor.

Wash- How many loads do you do a week? About 7 or 8, I'd guess, I've never actually counted.

X's- Do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off? Mentally. A list would probably get eaten, scribbled on, peanut buttered or thrown away. So what's the point?

Yard- Who does what? Sweet Hubby does it all....whatever he wants to do or not do is fine by me. As long as I don't lose the children in the yard, I'm good.

ZZZ's- What is your last homemaking task for the day? Just before I crawl in bed, I fold the load of laundry that got dumped there at some point earlier in the day.

That was fun! Usually by the time I get tagged for these, everyone I know has already done them. So, I'll tag Jenn and LaughterThoughts if y'all haven't already done them and think you want to.

Works for Me Wednesday--my first!!

This is my first attempt at Works for Me Wednesday (click here for some more great tips). I'm not sure if this is really lame, or really cool, or somewhere in between. But since I'm not very creative or original in my thoughts, I was pretty impressed with myself for coming up with this a year or so ago.

We go through an insane amount of yogurt around here. The kids love it and eat it at least every other day. Since they like different kinds and the kind with the fruit, we have to get the little individual serving cups. I felt terrible about throwing those away all the time. It just seemed like a lot of waste. So I started saving them. A lot of them. Too many, probably. And I wasn't sure what I was even going to do with them. Then one day I was setting up the table for a painting project for the kids and was trying to figure out how I was going to do the paint. It drives me crazy when all the colors get mixed together, so I was going to give each color it's own brush. Then I remembered the yogurt cups! So I squirted a little bit of paint in to six yogurt cups and gave each cup a brush. The colors still got a little mixed, but I'm going to have to get over that! And then when we were done, I threw the cups away! Hardly any clean up! It was really easy (and as a side note, I save all of Sweet Hubby's old, holey, nasty, "shrunken" t-shirts for painting, too...I throw them on the kids to avoid getting their skin and/or clothes painted, but I'm sure everyone does that).

Ok, so I only use the yogurt cups one more time, but I feel less guilty about throwing them away.

I also save the little individual serving cups of applesauce. We don't use as many of those, but we do once in a while. They are the perfect size for putting a little syrup in when eating pancakes or waffles. The kids love to dip and we all use less syrup (which means less sugar AND saving money on syrup) because you don't use as much when dipping as opposed to drenching your pancakes in it.

Works for me!

You may have noticed...

If you keep up with my blog, you may have noticed that my last post "Nature calls" is no longer here. After getting a few more hits from questionable google searches, I've decided to pull that post and the post (including the comments) that seemed to be drawing that unwanted attention (sorry, LT!). It came to my attention that there is nothing funny about what these people were looking for. I knew they weren't getting what they were looking for when they found my blog, but it still creeps me out that those weirdos were here.

So, those are gone. And I'll be much more careful about my wording in the future.

Handing it all over

Although I've been a Christian for most of my life, I've always struggled with what it means to have a deep, life-changing relationship with God. The kind of relationship that changes you in such a way that people have to ask, "What is it about you that makes you the way you are?" and makes you live as the person God intended you to be. I've struggled with consistently finding times to sit down and pour over His word. I have no problem praying. That verse "Pray without ceasing" doesn't seem to be a problem for me. Especially since I've had kids. But a one-sided conversation isn't productive and doesn't go very far. And a relationship where one party is selfish and does all the taking and none of the giving is doomed to failure. So all of my ceaseless and, for the most part selfish, prayer has gotten me nowhere in my desire for an intimate relationship with the One who loves me most.

I also think that I have a problem completely trusting Him. I slowly learned to trust Him to provide us with what we need. I don't really worry anymore about where the money is going to come from and if we will have enough left over to get groceries in the last week of the month or to get the baby his medicine. But do I trust him to make me the person I was intended to be? Do I trust him to bless my marriage and help me find ways to put Him first? Do I trust that He will help me raise my boys to be men that love Him, pursue His will and live lives that are full of love, compassion, integrity and purpose? "No" and "Not nearly enough" are the only answers to those questions.

The other morning, I was sipping tea out of my favorite mug. I got it from a Mary Kay lady and it's a cute mug. It has a feminine shape and has sweet flowers and cute little bees all over. It's lovely and it makes me feel fun and cute and feminine everytime I use it. It also has little "inspirational" sayings all over it. I usually ignore them, but that morning, one of them caught my attention. "If it is to bee, it is up to me." No, I didn't misspell that, it actually says "bee"...cute, huh? It was then that I realized that that mentality was my problem. I think that if I want things to be a certain way, I have to take care of it myself. Then another light bulb went off when I realized that the deeper problem was I was trying to make things the way I want them to be. I'm not trusting God's will or His way. "If it is to be, it is up to me." What a nasty lie wrapped up in a cute little phrase. Even cuter when you misspell it and surround it with bees.

I thought on that phrase for a little while. Then a verse came to mind in what I can only believe was God's counter to what I had been living out.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

The verse doesn't go on to say, "Except you, Alli, because you seem to have things under control." So I've come to a crossroads in my faith. Do I keep going down the path I've been taking (which history in my own life has shown leads to discontent and frustration and is actually a dead-end) or do I hand it all over to God and trust him with my life and the lives of the ones I love and care for? Handing everything over, not just the things I feel I am ill-equipped to handle.

But leaving the old ways behind is hard. And I'm not sure where to even begin except through lots of prayer (and doing a little more listening and a lot less talking) and setting aside more time to read my bible. Taking control of things is like an addiction and I'm afraid I'll just keep coming back to it when things don't seem to be going the way I think they should. I'm amazed at how true strength isn't in the hanging on but of the letting go. And I wonder how strong I am. But doesn't that come back to trusting Him? What an ugly cycle I've lead myself to.

And all this from drinking a cup of tea.

Because things should never be too easy

I meant to mention that we finally got our van back. Exactly one month later. It's all shiny and fixed and smelling like....paint. Yech! I keep asking Sweet Hubby if he's sure the fumes aren't killing our children's brain cells. Not too worried about mine for some reason.

Anyway, even though it's obvious that the lady who hit us was in the wrong, she and her insurance company are refusing to accept responsibility. Her insurance company told me that our statements are "inconsistent and don't match." Well, DUH!! Like the lady would tell her insurance company, "Yes, I ran that stop sign and completely ignored that the other driver the right of way...I thought that we would just simply pass through each other." The lady even called our police dept to speak with the supervisor of the officer who wrote her a ticket for the wreck and chewed him out.

And we had a witness...a wrecker driver who was there on the scene almost as soon as it happened. He was very nice and was making sure everyone was okay and told me he would pull my car out of the intersection for me (at which point I totally blew him off because I thought my car was still drivable). He told Sweet Hubby that he saw the whole thing and that it wasn't my fault. He hauled the thing off to the body shop he worked for. But we didn't want to leave our car there. We live in a small town and we haven't heard good things about this place. So when we tried to get it moved, they hassled and harassed us about it. We finally got it moved though. The other lady, however, left her car there to be fixed. Can I secretly say that there is a small part of me deep down inside that secretly hopes she got ripped off? Not very loving of me, eh?

Anyway, so apparently since her "story" doesn't match mine, her insurance company was going to give the wrecker driver a call and then they would probably have to go with his statement. But guess what? The wrecker driver is now saying he didn't see a thing. He was just in the parking lot across the street and heard it happen. PANTS ON FIRE!! That's a big fat lie and he knows it. But I predicted that would happen as soon as the insurance company said that they were going to ask him...I knew that those guys were crooked and since we didn't leave our vehicle there, they weren't going to help us out.

SO, we had to pay the deductible to get our car out while our insurance company fights hers. And hopefully *fingers crossed* they will eventually accept responsibility and pay us that money back.

Fun stuff, lemme tell ya....

Mystery o' the day

Zachary woke up this morning with a piece of Scotch tape stuck to his forehead.

He had a bath last night so I don't think he went to bed with it. And he still sleeps in his crib, so he couldn't have wandered the house last night randomly finding things to stick to himself (although, he does do that in the daylight hours).

They never cease to amaze me with weird things.

They're always good for a smile

Stephen came to me the other day and said, "I wish I could eat baboon." "Baboon?" I ask. "Yeah," he answers, "like a panda."

While eating pina colada yogurt, he asks me "Where are the peanuts?" "What peanuts, sweetie?" "In my peanut colada yogurt."

Yesterday, he asks for a snack. "I'm finnish" he says. Turns out, he is indeed American....he was just really hungry....famished, in fact.

Zachary (on his own) decided last night that he wanted to wash his filthy, smelly, gag-inducing beloved lovey. He put it in the washing machine, poured in the soap and helped me start the water. I closed the lid and he melted into a puddle on the floor. Turns out, he didn't really want to be without his lovey for the time it took to wash and dry it. But now I have the answer to the age old question "Just how nasty does a child's lovey have to be for that child to decide on his own that it's time for it to be washed?"

Two nights ago, I was taking Z out of the car. I told him I loved him and asked him if he loved Mommy. "I love Daddy," he replied. I ask again if he loves Mommy, giving him another chance. "I love Daddy." "Yes, you love Daddy, but do you love Mommy, too?" Sensing that I was fishing for some love, he lays his head on my shoulder, pauses and sighs..."Yes." I'm so glad he didn't make me look desperate!

And Marc-Adam has begun giggling out loud. There's nothing better than that, truly.

Chuck E Cheese and Tiny Thieves

My oldest (or is it eldest?...whatever) Sweet Boy turned 4 on Saturday. Stephen wanted a VeggieTales birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and that's just what he got. I first thought the whole thing was kind of expensive ($11 per child plus tax), but I think if any of the kids want to do that again, we definitely will. With what we paid for for the Chuck E Cheese party, I could have bought food, utensils, paper plates, decorations and goody bags. And THEN I would have had to clean my house to the "party standard" and then put my house back together after 11 children partied. For some reason, it has rained or been bitterly cold and windy on every birthday Stephen has had so we've always had indoor parties and it takes me several days to put everything back in order.

Anyway, we all had a great time at CEC. It was crowded and I don't really like other people's children all that much (more on that next paragraph), but thankfully, Sweet Hubby enjoys this kind of thing with the boys. So he played with them and followed them around with their little cups of tokens and tickets while I got to sit and chat with my family and feed Marc-Adam.

So, I used to feel guilty about not liking other people's children. I thought that there must be something not human about me that I didn't adore all children. But after an afternoon at "the place where all obnoxious and snot-nosed children go to play", I don't feel so bad. A little while after our festivities were underway, I noticed this tiny little girl wander up to one of our tables. I thought she might be lost so I kept an eye on her for a few seconds so I could step in if she got upset. She looked around a few times and just as I was about to approach her, she stepped right up to the table where Stephen's wrapped presents were, took one off the table and ran. RAN! Never looking back! I bolted after her (later realizing that I left poor little Zachary all by himself...what is wrong with my instincts?) yelling things like "HEY!" and "Stop that girl!!" My bewildered family only saw me go by in a flash and had no idea what had happened. I finally caught up to her. Her tiny little legs were no match for my Mama Bear sprint. I snatched gently took the present from her and told her that it wasn't hers and that it wasn't nice to take things that didn't belong to her.

All that excitement was going on while Sweet Hubby was in the bathroom with Stephen. Sweet Hubby said that a six-ish year old came up behind them while they were washing their hands and told them to "hurry up". That snotty kid's dad didn't say a word about it! Seriously, I would tan my child's hide and all fun for that day would end as soon as those words were out of his mouth.

I love my kids' birthdays and we had a great time, but can I just say I'm glad we don't have another birthday in this house for 9 more months!

This has got to be a milestone

So this may sound a little pathetic, but I'm actually pretty proud of myself....please don't burst my bubble.

I was putting Marc-Adam to bed a little bit ago. He was having a hard time settling down; that seems to be the trend this week. I started thinking about how today was actually a really hard day. I got nothing done and I spent most of the day putting out fires, correcting and disciplining (and listening to A LOT of screaming). But I don't feel ragged like I usually do after a day like today. The thought of putting them on the curb with "free to good home" signs around their necks didn't cross my mind. I didn't turn on the TV to attempt to bring some peace in the house by putting the kids in a Doodlebop-induced trance. I didn't even call anyone today to beg them to take my children for a few hours. I seriously think this is the first Friday since Marc-Adam was born that I didn't do that...and I didn't even feel the need to.

And the way this weekend and next week looks, that's probably a good thing, because I don't think I'll have the opportunity to have a little down time until at least next weekend.

This time next week, I may be asking one of my faithful readers if they would like an extra child or two.

Rainy day

It's been nasty out. Icy, cold, rainy...just nasty. Ice is a big deal in Texas. Things start shutting down when it gets below 32 degrees. No one knows what to do with themselves.

Anyway, we lost power for a few hours early this morning. I was weighing whether we should wait it out, hoping that the power (and the heater) would come back on before we became mommy- and Sweet Boy-sicles or pack up the Sweet Boys and brave the icy roads to head to the in-laws who might not have had power themselves. Finally the power came back on (just a few minutes before I was going to give up and the temp had dropped to about 55 degrees in the house). I decided that we were going to have a lazy day and the kids could watch whatever they wanted and I was going to curl up with the book I've been reading over the last few days so I could finish it today. It's been a really good book. Really good. Probably one of the better ones I've read in a while.

So I was on the couch, feeding Marc-Adam, engrossed in the book. I had about 30 pages left of the 400 page book and I was wondering how all the loose ends were going to be tied up with only a few pages left. Then I got to the end of one page and went on to the next. But it didn't make sense. The top sentence on the next page wasn't a complete sentence and had nothing to do with the previous page. I glance at the page numbers....the page I had been on was page 342. The very next page was 374. The book is missing thirty pages! 30 PAGES! At the end of the book. ARG! You can't imagine my frustration.

I bought the book off eBay and if it had all the pages, I would have gotten a good deal. I went back to look at the listing and it never mentioned 30 missing pages. I've already left feedback, not thinking that I needed to check that all 400 pages were there. I e-mailed the seller, but who knows what she'll do. She's already gotten her money and her positive feedback.

Oh and it's such a good book. I was really looking forward to finishing it today. If the roads weren't so nasty, I'd hop in the car and drive the 25 miles to the nearest Target to buy a brand new one.

I'm so sad...

Perhaps we should have his hearing checked

Another strange conversation with Stephen-

Stephen (from behind me): Hey mom, can you punch out my maggots so I can put them on the fridgerator?

Me (whirling around to see what he's talking about): Oh *huge sigh of relief* Yes, I'll punch out your magnets for you.

A quarter of a century

25 years.

That's how old I'm going to be tomorrow. 25.

The number seems so small compared to an average life span. Then why is it I feel so beyond that? Could it be the three small children? Or is it the minivan? Or the laugh lines I've been developing but have tried to ignore? Or the aches I have and the noises I make when getting up off of or down on to the floor?

Birthdays have really never been a big deal for me and I've never liked being an "odd" number (I know, it's weird), but I'm really looking forward to 25.

I finally feel like my chronoligical age is catching up with the "grown up" I've always been!

Here's to a couple more quarters...

Wordless Wednesday

My littlest loves.

Is that kinda like a hot dog?

A conversation had between Stephen and his Grammy in the car on their way to her house (as told to me by Grammy):

S: Look Grammy! Two dogs!

G: Yes, those are beagles.

S: No, they're dogs.

G: Yes, they're beagle dogs.

S: We had those for breakfast!!


Um, no, we didn't have beagles for breakfast. Those were bagels. Bagels.

I promise.

Gettin' it all over with

It's been a hard week. We're still trying to get stuff figured out with the wreck and all. We weren't sure when we were going to even get our van back, but our insurance is stepping up and paying for the repairs while they duke it out with the other lady's insurance to reimburse them. So that's good.

But Marc-Adam woke up screaming the other night an hour after I fed him. I tried to feed him again, but he acted like he couldn't get comfortable, so I took him to bed with me and he still wasn't happy. I tried for 3.5 hours to settle him and he just wouldn't settle down. Not like him at all. I called to talk to the nurse. I couldn't tell her much beyond something just wasn't right. I think she was getting ready to tell me to call back if he had any real symptoms, but I decided to follow my gut and make an appt with the doctor. I got him in that afternoon. Turns out he has a bad ear infection. Doctor said she hasn't seen one in a baby this young in a long time. Poor baby. He's just now starting to act more like himself. It broke my heart to see him feeling like that.

And I'm just overwhelmed with the kids. Zachary's in the terrible 2s, and I don't know what's going on with Stephen. He's getting really hard to handle. I'm trying so hard to be what they need and to make sure they're all getting positive attention, but it just doesn't seem to be enough. I spend so much of the day in prayer and tears these days. I've been in survival mode since Marc-Adam was born and I thought I'd be way past that at this point. And Sweet Hubby's having a hard time at his work...he's feeling overwhelmed, too, so I'm trying to support and encourage him, as well. I'm not feeling like the wife and mom I want to be. I don't want to spend too much time in survival mode because where's the joy in that?

I'm just hoping we're getting all this unpleasant stuff out of the way so that we can have a really awesome year, like I've been hoping for.

Ringin' in the new year with a crash

I had hoped my first post of the New Year would be a reflection on the past year, and my hopes for the coming year. Bits and pieces of what I wanted to blog about have been floating in my head for days. I was looking forward to the start of the new year. I love the feeling a "new year" brings. I always loved the beginning of the school year when I was a kid. A clean slate. New teachers, new people to meet, new school supplies. A whole world of potential. Now as a "grown-up" I feel that way about the new year.

But lemme tell you how it started.

Last night, we spent the evening with my folks. We had a wonderful dinner, played fun games and ate an awesome dessert. We didn't make it to midnight (except for my dad who decided to go party with the neighbors after we all fell asleep), but I'm okay with that. We got up this morning and it was just as mornings should be...especially the first one of the year. Again we ate great food (a common theme in our family gatherings)....at one point, I thought, "This is exactly how life should always be....all of us gathered around the kitchen, chatting, laughing....my parents loving on my babies, my babies doing silly things to make me laugh, my Sweet Hubby smiling at me from across the table...." It was like something out of movie. We left there to go visit my in-laws. Again, it was a great time with them. It was a beautiful day and while the boys played outside, I sat and read. Later on, my mother-in-law asked if we all wanted to go Walmart, so the boys and I loaded up with her and we headed to town. She suggested slushies from Sonic after Walmart and the boys were all over that idea. After the errand at Walmart, we headed over to Sonic. And we almost made it there....almost.

After pulling through the intersection of the corner that Sonic is on, a woman in another van hit us. Hard. My mother-in-law banged her head on the seat belt adjuster thingy. The kids were fine, but Marc-Adam scared me by immediately falling asleep after it happened. And I did something that I'm so very ashamed of. After making sure the kids were okay (but before checking that my mother-in-law was okay) I hauled out of my van over to the woman in the other van and called her an ugly name and hollered at her that I had babies in my car.

I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I actually cussed at this stranger, who, although was slightly stupid for a second, had no idea that I had kids in my car and certainly had no intention of hurting me, my mother-in-law or my children. Who was I for that second?

I've spent the evening immersed in all different emotions, including guilt and shame. I seriously can not believe I behaved that way. I'd hate to try to explain what I was feeling at that moment for fear that it might sound like justification for my behavior. But I was mad. M-A-D MAD that someone could be so stupid and put my kids at risk. I was so scared for those few split seconds between the time of the crash and the time I knew that the kids were okay, and then I was just mad. And I feel so guilty for not checking on my husband's mother. She ended up calling 911 while I was hollering at the lady. My mother-in-law was bleeding from the head while I cussed at a stranger.

*sigh*

But it certainly has put things in perspective. Stephen, immediately after the accident, was still asking about his slushie from Sonic. Zachary was asking for his lovie. They are fine. Perfect. Beautiful. Absolutely healthy and safe and unharmed. Just a little bit after the accident, I was able to sit down and feed Marc-Adam. Things could have been so different.

So, I don't have a van for a few days. It leaked radiator fluid all over the intersection and the whole front-end is going to have to be redone and realigned. But the start of our new year is great. I'm sitting here blogging while all 3 of my sweet children sleep peacefully across the hall. My mother-in-law, while banged up and sore, is on her way home right now from the hospital. She's gonna be fine. The day and year started off with all the people I love most. And if I can get over who that person was that took over my body for a few seconds, I think I'll look past this accident soon. Or maybe not...it certainly has made me remember what's really important.

May God keep you and your loved ones healthy and safe as we enter another year.

And I'll be adding that post about my goals for the new year soon.

Perhaps we should try something more age appropriate

Stephen received a Batman computer for Christmas. It's a hit. The boys fight over it....alot. Anyway, when you open it up it says, "Batman, online." or something like that. And then it tells you to enter a mission code which is the word BAT and a number for a game you want to play. If you don't enter the right code it says, "Access denied."

This morning, Zachary was playing with it and obviously could not get the right mission code. After several minutes of hearing "Access denied" over and over, I heard Z yell, "NO, YOU DENIED!"

Two months old...

Ok, so Marc-Adam's a few days over 2 months now, but close enough...isn't he cute?? Always free with a smile. And he just seems so wise. He seems to "get" it, know what I mean? Like he knows all about what this world's about. Maybe it's just in my mind...but it just seems like he's so wise and smart that it surprises me when he does things that babies do, like rooting around on something that is NOT going to give him what wants.

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas 2006

Does this make me look fat?

What do you think of my new look? Is it me??

Somebody slap me...

...next time I decide to take all 3 children to the mall (45 minutes away) SEVEN days before Christmas. Seriously.

I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree this Christmas.

I decided that it would be a bright idea to pack up all 3 stooges, I mean, Sweet Boys and haul them (in the rain, I might add) to the mall this past Monday.

The really dumb thing? I wasn't even there to shop.

*sigh* I haven't left the house by myself with the 3 kids since M-A was born. Note to self: things like this should happen in baby steps. Not in big ambitious trips.

My dearest friend, Alison (HI ALISON!!), is in town from Dallas this week to visit her family. We decided to try to meet and I thought the mall with a play area would be a good meeting point. And it would have been, had I not brought all three kids, or had it not been the week before Christmas, or had I been smart enough to know that Zachary would want M&Ms in his ice cream, too.

The whole day was a comedy (I can call it that now) of errors. Starting with the rain and having to park nearly at home and ending with *almost* (and thank God it was *almost*) getting pulled over. And lots and lots of screaming, crying and cleaning up ice cream off the floor in between.

Any ideas as to when this gets better? I thought getting out of the house would solve our "cooped up in the house" issues. But it was much, much worse. Turns out, I had every reason to be very afraid of leaving the house by myself.

It's true

You really can find anything on eBay. I mean, anything.

I was browsing around on eBay, looking for some good deals (did you know you can buy COUPONS on eBay?? why has no one ever told me this?) and I ran across some auctions that made me start looking for weird stuff. Need a 30 lb bag of gummi bears?? No problem. How about 6 lbs of cheese? And this is just weird. And what if you can't get enough Hilary Duff? Now you can have her in your head.

Now I won't feel so weird about selling some of my stuff that I think no one wants. I suppose it's just like a garage sale....someone somewhere will want it.

Help!

I need help.

I've committed to being better about posting on my blog, but I'm afraid that my life is of no interest to anyone but me. So I want to enlist your help.

Tell me what to post about. Give me topics to to think about and post about. Tell me what you want to hear about my life and/or my kids.

I just don't have many thoughts in my head right now beyond who needs to eat or be changed next.

Please help escape from my mommy brain once in a while!

Here's a cute story from lunch this afternoon, though:

Stephen told me he needed to eat all his yogurt and it would go down, down, down to feed Jesus because Jesus was hungry.

I asked him where Jesus was and he told me "In my heart."

That's sweet, honey, but.....

Aw, nevermind.

What child is this?

My sweet Zachary. He doesn't eat any fruit and won't eat most vegetables. It started when he was about a year old....it was a sensory issue. He didn't like the cold wet of the fruit or the mushy of the vegetables. So, I've just kept offering the same things. He doesn't have to eat it, but it's always on his plate. My mantra is that he won't eat it if he never sees it.

A few times over the last few months, he's been getting better. Grudgingly tasting a few bites of various fruits because he saw big brother eating it(Stephen will eat any fruit). He's even eaten a few apple and pear slices. There was dancing the day that happened.

So, the other night, we were having left over chicken and dumplings for dinner. I cooked up some green beans and that was our meal. Zachary doesn't eat chicken and dumplings OR green beans, but that's what was on that night's menu. I plated his dinner and set it down in front of him. He takes one look at and starts whining. That's a common annoyance, I mean, occurence, so I just walked away telling him that this was our dinner. He then pointed to an empty spot on his plate and said, "Salad. SALAD! I NEED SALAD!! NEED SALAD!! SALAD SALAD SALAD!!!!" Dh and I looked at each other and started laughing. WHO was this child? Get the child some lettuce!!

Unfortunately, the only salad we had was more liquid than solid (gross, I know). I hated hearing the words, "I'm sorry, but you can't have salad tonight" come out of my mouth. I won't let that happen again.

Lil' stinker...

Boys....all kinds of...um...weird things fascinate them.

Yesterday, I woke up to a foul smell. Dh had gone to work and everyone in the house was still sleeping. That smell can't be me, I thought. Then I wondered if the dog, who sleeps in a kennel in our room, had a problem some time in the night. I got up and looked and sniffed and didn't notice anything in her kennel.

I left the room to get Marc-Adam and when I came back, I realized how much it stunk. But I still couldn't figure out why...it had to be the dog, but she didn't look all that guilty. I laid down to feed the baby and a few minutes later, Stephen walked in. I asked him if he thought it stunk (wondering if this was all in my head) and he said no. Then he left to get a book and when he walked back in he scrunched up his face and said, "Ewww, it doos (his word for 'does')!" I told him I thought so. He asked why and I told him I thought Jubilee (our dog) had pooped in her cage. I was thoroughly grossed out at the thought....I thought he might be, too. Instead, his eyes lit up and he said, "Can I see??"

Yuck.

Then as I cleaned it all out (it was the dog, she had hidden it in her towels), he proceeded to tell me that Larryboy (from VeggieTales) hates poop and he wasn't going to help me clean it up....it was all I could do to keep from throwing up and this commentary was driving me nuts! So in a *very* proud mommy moment, I yelled at him to just LEAVE!

Immediately after cleaning everything up, Zachary starts walking through the house YELLING, "STINKY! I STINKY!!" *sigh* At some point, we all needed to eat breakfast and at this rate, I wasn't going to be very hungry.

Don't worry, be happy!

Pics of the boys. I have to admit, Marc-Adam spends the majority of his waking hours with that very worried look on his face. You think he knows what he's in for?

In order to keep my pledge and not fall off the wagon 2 days into it, I'm having to post from my parents' house because there's something wrong on my computer. I can't stay logged in to anything. I had some cute pics to post, too. Maybe soon.

I have nothing fun or funny or profound to say. Life is moving at the speed that the holidays bring. I actually got the boys' Christmas presents wrapped this morning, and since they are the only ones we are buying for this year, I guess I'm done! The house is all decorated. I love decorating the tree with the kids. All the ornaments are at their eye level and all on one side of the tree. The rearrange them every once in a while, or start taking all the satin threading ff the satin balls. I love Christmas and I'm so glad the kids are getting to the age that they do, too! And Stephen's getting to the age that he's into some cool things so it's really fun to buy for him.

Tonight we are starting Financial Peace University. I'm really excited about it and hope we can get some good things out of it. We could stand to pay off a little (ahem, maybe a bit more than a little) debt and building up some sort of savings would be a good thing. I just keep thinking that 6 years into being "grown-ups" that we should be better with our money. I'm hoping to meet folks in the same boat as us to make me feel a little better about that.

Oh, Marc-Adam finally gave up a smile. He's so sweet....have I said that, yet?

FINALLY!! And a hello...and a pledge....

Every time I log on to Blogger to post, I check to see if the post pics button will finally work for me...and today it finally did!! Of course, now these pics are kinda old, but I might try to upload our newer pics after I get these posted. I don't want to try to do too much now that I got it to work. I'm afraid I might upset some delicate balance in Blogger. Anyway, THIS is our sweet baby. All these pics were from the hospital, so he's only a few minutes old in the pic of me and Sweet Hubbby and Marc-Adam, a few hours old in the pic of all 5 of us and a few days old in the pic by himself. Please take your time oooh-ing and aaah-ing. :)

So....HELLO! It's been three weeks since I posted. Where.does.the.time.go?? I can't believe my days sometimes...I nurse Marc-Adam, put him down for a nap, feed and/or play with the boys and before I know it, it's time to feed the baby again and then we do it all again. Marc-Adam is 5 weeks today. He's such a sweetie and he's working really hard on getting a smile out...I can tell he's gonna get it any day now. He's doing better at night, but we still have issues with random wakings at random times. Some nights he can go 6 hours, others he'll only go 1.5 or 2. I'm not getting much during the day done. Like I said, before I know it the day's over and I have nothing to show for it. But at least the kids are fed and happy and clean....and most of the time, I am, too.

Now for my pledge. I hate that I've let my blog-self go. So my goal is to post at least every other day (I was going to try every day, but I figured that wasn't terribly realistic) for 30 days. Hopefully that will get me in to a habit. Anyone care to hold me accountable??:)

I'm also going to try to keep up with other people's blogs more...including commenting. The first few weeks after M-A was born there would be times that I would go several days without even turning the computer on, so I just got out of the habit. But it's something I enjoy, so I'm going to try to make more time for that (while I ignore the ever growing pile of laundry in the corner).

*sigh* It's good to be back!

Marc-Adam...

Marc-Adam is such a dream. He hardly cries unless he's hungry, naked or cold (who can blame him?) and he has the sweetest expressions and noises--even his cry is sweet! We're still feeding every 3 hours or so around the clock so I haven't gotten more than 2 hours of sleep at a time since 2 nights before he was born. But he's worth it.

The boys are in love. The first few days, Zachary could've taken him or left him, but he has since warmed up and now he and Stephen fight over him. Zachary calls him "Ad-mom"...somehow in his brain that sounds like Marc-Adam! :) Stephen is in love, and is a better big brother to BOTH his brothers than I ever could have imagined. He loves "watching" Marc-Adam while I step out of the room or go to the bathroom. "Mom, just leave Marc-Adam here for a minute and you go in the other room."

So, I hope I can find more time to catch up on all the blogs I read, but with all my troops leaving me on my own next week, I highly doubt that that will happen in the very near future.

And then there were three...

I am so proud and overjoyed to announce the birth of our third blessing and Sweet Boy, Marc-Adam Garrison.

Marc-Adam joined our family (and took us all by surprise) on October 26 weighing 6 pounds, 8ounces at 18 inces long. We had a c-section scheduled for Nov 2 (he was due Nov 11), but he decided he didn't want to wait that long (or maybe he didn't want to share a birth month with his brother) and I went into labor early last Thursday morning. I was in denial for several hours about it being labor, but my mom and Sweet Hubby bullied me into calling the doctor who told me to go to the hospital. He was born by c-section later that day.

He's got a head full of hair and is so very expressive. He makes the sweetest faces and noises and smells.so.good. Stephen and Zachary are in love, although it took Zachary a little while to warm up to him. They now fight over who gets to hold him and they cover him with kisses. He fits right into our life and our hearts. Even though I've done this twice before, I still can't believe that something I only laid eyes on 6 days ago has already brought so much joy to my life.

I can't seem to post pictures (nothing happens when I click the "add image" button) but maybe I could get my cousins to post some for me and then I can link to them (Kelli, ksl, care to help me with that?).

I can't wait to get to know him more and to show him off!!

Yeah, I know....

I've lost your interest, haven't I? Not posting much and my little blog has become boring. I don't know why...I just haven't been spending much time on the computer. Too busy fluffing the nest, I guess. Exactly 2 weeks from this very moment that I type this, my littlest boy will be in the process of being born (or just a few minutes old). That's so exciting to think about and yet still so abstract.

So here's what's been going on with me. Last weekend I went out shopping with my mom and grandma (*waving* Hi, Mom!!). Grandma paid for a yummy lunch at one of my FAVORITE places to eat (Sweet Tomatoes) and Mom paid for me to get a desperately needed haircut. I had a great day spending time with them and getting out for a day. Little did I know that Sweet Hubby was working his little tail off at home....cleaning.my.entire.house! My house was frightening. Dirty, messy, cluttered....it was terrible. And I just haven't had the energy or strength to do anything about it. I cried about it because I was so overwhelmed and BEGGED for a maid. I wasn't sure how I was going to clean the entire thing (with the two Sweet Tornadoes following behind me) before the baby came. So he left the kids with my dad (Hi, Dad!) and went home and spent the entire day cleaning and surprised me with it. It really is clean. Not just the "It'll do because I don't want to do it" clean. But for real...couldn't (and wouldn't) have done it better myself! I feel like a brand new woman and I've been working MY little tail off trying to keep it that way for at least the next 2 weeks.

After much drama and anxiety, we finally have a new car seat. We weren't sure we were going to have anything to bring this child home in and Target was giving me panic attacks about it. But we have one and it is now ready and waiting in the van. I have the sneaky suspicion that we're beginning to look like a clown car when we go places....

Two cute stories about the Sweet Boys and the things they say...

They found a new pack of stickers they wanted to play with the other day. Zachary loves stickers. Loves them! So I opened the new pack and handed over a sheet. He promptly covered his entire upper body in the entire sheet of stickers. I quickly whipped out the camera...to which he quickly flashed his best smile and said, "CHEERS!" It's 'cheese', honey. Saying "Cheers" too much could get Mommy in trouble....

Stephen's apparently hearing impaired and I had no idea....he was staying with his papa the day Sweet Hubby was earning brownie points and he and Z were watching a movie. Papa was in the other room and Stephen hollered to him that he couldn't hear the TV. Papa told him they could hear it because he was in the other room and he could hear it. Stephen told him he couldn't and Papa asked why. To which Stephen replied, "My ears are too small!" Poor kid....genetics suck, don't they?

I'll try to be better about posting...my life just isn't that interesting. I figure it'll get a lot more exciting in a couple weeks...

Of Elephants, Show and Tell and Being Homeless

You know the saying "a memory like an elephant"? I have no idea what that means. But if the elephant's have an impressive, almost absurd memory, then Stephen fits that description.

Last night in the car, he was almost dozing off and looked at me and said, "Mom, you remember when we did Show and Tell?"

"Um, no." Wracking my brain trying to think of when he did show and tell since he doesn't go to school. Church? The day he went with my mother-in-law to the school she worked at (in February)? I can't think of anything...

"And Zachary slept in the Pack'n'Play and I slept with you."

"What?"

"What's it called? Show and Tell?"

DING! goes my lightbulb!

"Oh, you mean the HO-TEL!"

"Yeah, yeah...the hotel...we stayed at a hotel."

But I'm still trying to think of the last time we stayed at a hotel. Over a year at least. Then he starts talking about his Auntie Alison and the stairs and how she gave him a banana.

"What??"

"And we watched Playhouse Disney! Remember, Mom?"

"No, sweetie, I don't." When did we see Alison while we were staying in a hotel....and why does he remember watching TV?

DING! goes the other lightbulb!

"OHHHH! You mean when we stayed at Auntie Alison's apartment. That wasn't a hotel, that was where Alison lived."

"Yeah, yeah....we stayed with her because we didn't have a home."

WHAT?!?!

"No, sweetie, we had a home, it was just really far away so Auntie Alison let us stay at her home."

This whole scenario had to be a year and a half ago. He was 2. I don't remember half the details of that weekend. But Sweet Hubby is telling me that he's right. He did watch Playhouse Disney and Alison gave him a banana. Not to mention that the whole conversation was kind of random. There was no purpose in that walk down memory lane...I guess it just crossed his mind as he was dozing off.

Makes me worried about what he'll remember about me and his childhood....