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TWO BY TWO Jackson Gabrielle Connor Brady Cooper |
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Stories April 30, 2008 Happy Anniversary GG and Larry!!! There's no mother's morning out AGAIN tomorrow. This is just terrible... my little darlings must go... they need it... they count on it... they make appointments around it; okay well maybe those are my thoughts. I just realized that I have them tomorrow and I'm having to deal with it. Obviously, I'm not doing so well with that! I had scheduled Brady and Cooper's well baby visit purposely on a Thursday as to not have to take the entire crew. I expressed all this to Lisa and she so kindly offered to come stay with the older kids while I'm at the doctor with the babies. She'll bring her son, Dorian, and that makes Jackson really really happy. It's a win win... except for Lisa! She's such a team player... haha Speaking of Lisa, we had plans to go out tomorrow. You know me and my Thursday Girls night out... well it turns out that Brad's on call AND has a late surgery case scheduled. That pretty much blew my "Baby Momma" movie out of the water. Needless to say with these two heartbreaking pieces of news I'm sort of in a bad mood. Who am I kidding; I AM in a bad mood. I NEED MY MOTHER'S MORNING OUT AND GIRL TIME. IT'S WHAT KEEPS ME SANE!!!! Okay, I feel better now. The following paragraph may not be suitable for those of you who are squeamish. (Mom's you should be okay) Well, potty training is still going well with Gabrielle. She's wearing panties most of the time and when we go out she wears a pull-up. She's not had an accident in a while. I'm super proud of her. With that said, at times I wish she was still in a diaper! We went out today to run some errands. I decided that it was a good day to send her out in panties. We are in the car on our way to Target and she screaches, "Mommy... Poo-Poo... Hurry!" I'm on a very busy road with lots of gas stations but when you have a toddler who needs to poop FAST who has time to unbuckle and remove 5 kids from the car then tote them all inside and make sure no one touches a single thing in the nasty bathroom. Not me! Thank the Lord in heaven I thought to put the Bjorn Potty seat in the back of my Suburban with wipes before we left. I NEVER do that. God just placed it on my heart and I'm so glad I listened. I whipped the car over, jerked her out of her seat and had her pants down and bottom on the potty before you could say, "Who's yo' Momma?" So we sit... and we sit... and we sit... and we sit... did I mention we sat for a long time? Now keep in mind we are right off a busy road in a parking lot with the cargo door up and here my little queen sits on her throne clapping and singing "Twinkle Twinkle" saying to the boys who are patiently waiting in their carseats, "Hey guys... I'm back here... see me? I get M-N-M's when I pee-pee!" I try to be calm and patient but after 5 minutes I start to rush her. Then I start to really rush her. She looks up at me and says just what I've told her 50 million times at home, "Mommy, sometimes you just have to sit and wait!" Okay, I swallowed a dose of my own medicine. Finally after almost 15 minutes, she produces what we've been waiting for. Then it hit me... what do I do with it? We would all kill over from toxic fumes if I left it in the potty until we got home. I can't dump it in the parking lot... or can I... NO, I can't. There has to be something... ahhhh haaa I found a ziploc bag in my diaper bag that had a change of clothes in it. SCORE! I zipped up the bag and made a (forgive the expression) drive by dump at a local gas station trash can. Once again, we're off to Target and everyone gets a Hershey's candy bar for being so patient... including Momma!
April 29, 2008 I am so happy to report that today was UNEVENTFUL!!! The older kids had school, I got some stuff done at home and then we had soccer practice tonight. I am so glad things were same ole' same ole'. Cooper is great and I've taken extra percautions around the house. Brad didn't make soccer tonight. Poor thing had to go to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Isn't that just awful? It was work related and I'm glad he was treated to a night out. We had hotdogs and bananas at home... somehow that just sounds terrible compared to a steak dinner.
April 29, 2008 After a hectic and emotionally draining day Sunday I had hoped Monday would be better. Turns out it wasn't. I was feeding Cooper and noticed that his soft spot looked odd. I ran my hand across his head and sure enough, it was bulging. Round 2 of panic set in. I called Brad and he said call the doctor NOW. I called the doctor and they were at lunch and wouldn't be back until 1:30pm. I called Brad back and he said take him to the ER and he would meet me there. I called Heidi (ole' faithful) and she said without hesitation "Be there in 15 mins." Sure enough she was here in record time. Cooper and I went got to the ER as Brad pulled up, too. The ER doctor is a friend of Brad's. He looked at Cooper's CT from the day before and said there does show swelling but nothing that looked like it could have potentially gotten worse overnight. He said he really felt like the swelling in his soft spot is okay. Cooper had no other symptoms (i.e. vomiting, being lethargic, unresponsive) and he thought it would be best if we just watched him from home verses 23 hours in the hospital. We felt confident with his suggestion and came back home. Cooper slept all night without any problems and woke at 6:30am ready to eat and play. Brad and I kissed on him all night and all morning, so thankful that he's okay. The hit he took was no small matter. I know from how high he fell and the thump he took flat of his back/head. There is no doubt how God delivered him from futher injury. To God be the glory!
April 28, 2008 We had WAY too much excitment yesterday morning. I woke up around 7:30am hearing Brady and Cooper "talking." I went into their rooms and they were both smiley and playing with their toes. I said, "Who wants breakfast?" and they just giggled. They both looked up at me like, "Get me first!" So I picked them both up at once, as I've done 1,000 times before. As we were coming down the steps I steped on a magazine (that I had put on the stairs the previous night) and my feet came right out from under me! I was able to keep a hold of Brady (by his legs) but somehow Cooper came flying out of my arms and landed flat of his back and head on the hardwood floor. Needless to say, I was hysterical. I saw that Brad was pulling up in the drive when I was headed down the stairs. Jackson heard me crying and came running to me. I screamed for him to run outside and get Daddy, quick. I crawled over to get Cooper, still holding onto Brady, and just sat their holding them both and all 3 of us wailing. I was so so scared and absolutley in hysterics. Brad comes running inside and takes Cooper. I managed to get up and hobbled to the phone. I called our church and pleaded for help. Carol, a dependable friend, heard my cries and said, "I'm on my way!" She made it in record time. Brad and I rushed to he ER with Cooper. I can't tell you what it felt like to walk in the ER and when they say, "How can we help you?" my response was "I've dropped my baby down a flight of stairs!" They took him back right away. His vitals were fine and they performed a CTscan. He's fine and just a little sore. The doctor, trying to comfort me, said, "You have 5 kids and this is the first one you've dropped? I'd say you're doing good. Odds are you were bound to drop one." Somehow, that just didn't help at all. However, since this happened I've heard many many stories from other Mom's horrific stories of their children falling down flights of steps or falling out of their arms. That however, did make me feel better. The guilt of dropping him was unbearable. Everytime I think of it I just cringe and cry. I keep replaying the thump of his head and back hitting the floor. My knee and ankle are sore but fine. Cooper I think is sore, too. He woke several times during the night whining in his sleep. "Thank you, Jesus for great friends and support. Thank you for cushioning my baby's fall. Thank you for sparing us from injury."
April 26, 2008 (59 days) It's been a really busy couple of days. I'm trying desperatley to get things weeded out in the house. I've been cleaning out drawers, clothes, linen closets, kitchen cabinets, etc... I want to get rid of things we don't need or use rather than move it all to Georgia. It's a very difficult process when the kids are around; doable but hard. So today I've got the kids spread out all over the county at babysitters so I can have some alone time here at home to hit it hard and get a good start. Last night Lisa and I had girls night. We made some returns to Target and Walmart and then decided on a movie. You won't believe what we saw? PROM NIGHT... yes it was a silly teenage scary movie and we loved it! We were the only two in the theater and so we talked outloud like "Don't open the door!" and "Don't go outside!" It was so much fun. I even let out a couple of uncontrollable screams which sent Lisa and I into giggles. It was just what we needed to relax and take our minds off of the days stresses. I highly reccomend doing something "outside of your box" every once in a while... you might just like it!
April 23, 2008 PS The pound cake turned out perfect! I couldn't have timed it better if I meant to.
April 23, 2008 Happy 32nd Birthday, Brad! Actually, it was yesterday but we were so busy I didn't have time to post. Our day was very full. I hosted Mom to Mom while the kids were at school. I actually took pictures so be sure to check them out. I served chocolate gravy, again. An encore performance was requested! When I picked the kids up from school we rushed home for naps and I threw together a pound cake for Brad. Literally, there was flour everywhere because I was tossing everything into the Kitchen Aid trying to beat the clock. Jackson started helping make the cake but as soon as a batter was formed he was digging into it with a spoon. The cake still had 20 minutes to cook but we had to get out the door in order to pick Brad up from work. So I just turned the oven off and let the cake stay in to finish cooking and "hoped for the best." I figured better to be underdone than the oven catch on fire? Brad's car was in the shop so we rushed to pick him up at work and then ran to get the car. After that we made a quick stop for dinner at (you guessed it) Chick Fil A then it was off to soccer practice. We came home after soccer, put all the kids to bed and then I still had to tackle the kitchen and all that flour PLUS get caught up on my most recent mountain of laundry! I got to bed around 1am. Quite a day for all of us. Uncle Aaron had surgery yesterday. He had his tonsils/adenoids removed and deviated septum repair. It was quite an ordeal for poor Uncle Ernie but he faired well and is recovering at Grandpa and Memaw's house for a few days. Feel better, Aaron! Cooper has found his feet. That's provided an extra 10-20 minutes of entertainment to our day. He wants to sit up so badly. He must have abs of steel because he can do a sit-up like nobodies business. Brady is finally healing from his skin issues. It's starting to clear up but still has a ways to go. He is still just as happy as ever! They are both eating babyfood and really seem to like it. I can't believe they are almost 7 mos old. It's really going by "two" quickly... haha! Yeah, bad joke. Jackson loves soccer. He is having a great time. He scored 3 goals during his first game. After each one he would run over to his Daddy for a high five. It was pouring down the rain so the other kids and I had to find a good parking space and watch from the car. Hopefully this weekend will be much better weather. Gabrielle and Connor are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide. One minute they love each other and the next they are pulling each others hair out and I mean that! I get so tired of breaking up fights but that's just a part of sibling rivalry. Everyone is down for a nap so I think I'll try to get a few minutes rest, too. That is until I get real comfy and then I KNOW someone will wake up!
April 19, 2008 I have to tell the full story of the earthquake story. When the earthquake shook us this morning I was using the restroom; "answering natures call." It was the ride of my life! So when people say, "Where were you when..." I'm not so sure I can fully answer that question! But now you know. Okay onto todays events. We started our day with a visit from Heidi and Rachel. I agreed to watch Rachel while Heidi went and ran some errands. We all went straight outside for lots of playtime. The babies took great long naps and I just sat and watched the kids have a ball. I put the bounce house up in the front yard and they LOVED it. They were contained and giggling non stop. We had a wonderful afternoon. It did get a little hectic by the time Heidi got here. I had two babies wanting to eat and guess what... no formula. I had to run (and I mean RUN) to the store to restock. I also left her with 3 hungry children wanting the dig into the pizza I had ordered. Whewwww, we were all in a tizzy by the time it was overwith. I put everyone down for naps and I fell on the couch. Just at that moment, Cooper decided no way no how was he going to sleep. I ended up playing with him on the floor for a couple hours. It was great. He loves direct attention, he thrives off of it and it's my joy and priveledge to provide that for him. Kit and I went out tonight for a quick girls night. We settled for taco salads from Macallister's Deli (the best salad ever) and then had Blizzards after that... not on my diet plan. It was good to get out but I was really ready to get back to my family. I got home in time to lay Connor and Cooper down. Plus I watched a movie with Jackson: High School Musical, how did you guess?
April 18, 2008 OH MY GOODNESS!!!! We experienced our first (and hopefully last) earthquake this morning. It was 5:40am. I just knew it was a tornado so I ran outside to see if the wind was blowing but it was still. I ran back upstairs and I said to Brad, "Did you feel the house shake?" He said, "I thought I was dreaming that I was having a seizure!" I laughed so hard. We turned the tv on and they announced it was a earthquake. It measured a 5.4! It really makes you realize even more how mighty God is!
April 17, 2008 I wanted to mention one other thing. During our dinner tonight a friend asked if we would be visiting Charles Stanley's church when we moved back to Georgia. I stated that we probably wouldn't however we will be visiting Andy Stanley's Buckhead Church. While we were home for Easter we went there and loved it. Heidi and Sarah started going on about how great the Good Friday service was and they knew this because they saw a video online. I told them that my brother in law, Aaron, did one of the paintings for that service and they couldn't belive it. I was overwhelmed with guilt! I realized that I have failed to mention through this website one person who means so much to me and that's Aaron Harris. He's a great man, loving, kind, giving, hilarious, talented beyond belief, intelligent and God fearing. He has been given a gift by our God for art unlike any other I've seen. He uses his talents to honor our Lord. PLEASE check out this video to see His work. http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/?p=4777 It's titled "Good Friday Service- Buckhead Church- A town Down". The video is about 15 minutes long but worth EVERY SINGLE SECOND of your time. It will change you, I promise. Aaron is the artist on the far left wearing jeans and a long sleeve polo... the handsome one! Ummmm, ladies... he's a lawyer, 29yrs old, single and loves long walks on the beach. (giggle... making myself laugh really hard) I got off track, can you tell I'm looking for a sister-in-law? (Sorry Aaron, I had to add that little tidbit)
April 17, 2008 (67 days) After this week I've decided that I am granting myself two "Girls Night(s) Out." Tonight, I went to Bible Study. The first one I've been able to make in like 12 weeks. Brad has managed to be oncall every Thursday night for the past few months. After bible study, we all went out to eat at Outback. (BTW, they have a great grilled chicken sandwich!) We had lots of laughs. It was exactly what I needed. I felt really guilty when I left home this evening. All 3 older kids were starving. Brady and Cooper were waking from a nap and needed changing. Lissa and Rachel were on their way over to pick up some furniture we were giving them. It was utter chaos and I left him in it! However, if I stayed home until there was no chaos and things were under control, I'd never leave! Brad managed VERY well although he's exhausted right now. He is so good at taking care of these kids. Tomorrow night is my 2nd Girls Night Out. I'm going to be hanging out with Kit. We are going to see a movie, have dinner or get a pedicure... I say we do all 3! Jackson today walked in my bedroom while I was cleaning up and asked me for something or another. I told him he'd have to wait a minute and he said in a irritated voice, "I can't TAKE this anymore!" I wonder where he heard that? giggle Connor woke up and used the potty again this morning! His first words were "Candy? Chuck E Cheese?" I guess the incentive thing kind of works!
April 16, 2008 (68 days) I gave up on the website yesterday and I'm not sure how much I can do tonight... I'm so sleepy! Yesterday was Mom's Group. I'm hosting again the month of April. I love having all the ladies to my house. I think they enjoy coming, too. At least I hope so. I made sausage gravy and biscuits. They were a success. The coffee was hot, food was yummy and laughs were sweet. It seems they have something up their sleeve for me on June 17th. I'm told to "Save the Date" but who knows what these ladies are up to! Sad, sad, sad... must change subject NOW! Milestones this week: *Jackson had his first soccer practice on Tuesday. He's been so excited. He's playing on our church's Sonshine Soccer league. His team is the Gators. He loves it; especially because his Daddy is one of his coaches. His first game is Saturday. I'll post pictures from practice on tomorrow if I can find the time. * Gabrielle has been potty all week and taking herself. A few accidents but I'm very proud of her. We've even gone out several times in panties. We're very close to only 3 in diapers. * Connor has gone pee pee in the potty 3 times this week. He's very proud of himself and I'm shocked. He just all of a sudden wanted to try it. You go, boy! * Cooper is cutting his first little tooth. It's on the bottom and you can see a little pinhead size white spot trying to come through. * Brady is rolling over both ways and trying to balance himself sitting up. He's laughing up a storm! The rash is better on his chest and diaper area. However, his head and scalp is still irritated. He scratches it and it's causing little scabs all over the place. So pitiful! *Mommy is offically disgusted with herself! I'm on a mission to lose some weight. Please pray for me. I LOVE to eat and it's caught up with me. I need to make major changes in my lifestyle... ugghhhh. I'm really ready to do it! I want to have droped 15 lbs by the time we move. I'll still have another 20lbs after that but let's focus on one goal at a time, shall we? I'd welcome any advice, ideas or words of wisdom... PLEASE!
April 14, 2008 (70 days) I started the day at 5:50am, got myself ready and then began to wake up the children. Once they were dressed I got the babies ready and fed. We were out the door at 8am (15 minutes behind schedule). I took the older 3 to Heidi's. She was brave enough, I mean, sweet enough to watch them while I took Brady to the dermatologist. Cooper went along with me for the ride. The dermatologist said that he had atopic dermatitis probably related to his exczema. It got infected around his diaper area and chest. We have two creams to apply daily and a round of clindamycin (antibiotic). He should be cleard up in two weeks. My blue eyed baby has very sensitive skin so we are switching to dye and fragrance free everything. More tomorrow... today has been one of my hardest days. Maybe the hardest. I'm more exhausted than I can ever remember.
April 13, 2008 Brady has had a rash since last Friday. It started on his head, sort of like cradle cap and then it spread all over his head, face, ears, neck, chin, chest and back. It felt like sandpaper and was king of dry and scaley. That seems to be clearing up into a severe dry skin looking thing. (i'm too tired to be good with words). BUT he has another type of rash now all over his chest, belly and diaper area. It's like little red bumps but they are not scaley like before. Anyway, our pediatrician doesn't know what it is so we are going to a Pediatric Dermatologist tomorrow morning at 9am. Hopefully they can offer a diagnosis. It must not be viral because the other kids are not affected. We've racked our brains on what could have changed to cause it. He is still his smiley self. At least he's not running a fever or acting like it bothers him in any way. Brad was on call today. He went to work at 7am to do rounds and didn't come home until 4pm. It was a very busy day for all of us. I hate when he's working on the weekends (which is all the time). During the week it's not so bad because I know everyone elses husband is working, too. But on Saturday and Sunday it just seems like working should be against the law! I want him home like everyone else. When he did get home I took "Connor Man" to the grocery store with me. He was so excited. Then we came home and picked up the rest of the crew and headed to Chucke Cheese's. It was reward for Gabrielle since she went on the potty the entire week with zero accidents. Very proud of our little doll. She invited her brothers to go with her and that made it special for her and them. So it turned out we had a good family day after all.
April 12, 2008 ( 72 days and counting to our move June 22nd) We have an official move date. Saturday, June 22: Pack our Uhaul, (the kids and I will follow Brad) drive all night to GA. Sunday, June 23: Unload our truck at Brad's parents (they have a building with plenty of storage space). Brad flys back to Indy for his last week of work. He'll stay with a buddy. Friday, June 27: GG and Papa will watch the kids while Grandpa, Memaw, Uncle Aaron and I drive to Indy. We'll stay in the same hotel that we stayed in on May 28, 2004; the day we moved to Indy! Saturday, June 28: THE BIG DAY; GRADUATION! Sunday, June 29: Head back to Georgia... stay with Brad's family for 4 weeks. Friday, August 1: Close on our house and move in... Home Sweet Home!
April 12, 2008 Today was a lot of fun and very busy. The day started out with our Pure Girls Conference. As I said before, it focused on girls ages 8-12 and finding their worth in the right places. We had over 200 attend plus a lot of workers... too many to count. It went off so well. Everyone was having a great time. The girls put on a fashion show! It was planned out so wonderfuly by my friend, Sarah. My meal menu turned out a big hit. Everyone was very happy with Chick-Fil-A. Thanks Todd for our discount. It was a huge help and a big big hit with the girls. We had nuggets for the girls, chicken salad sandwiches for the Mom's, fruit cups with caramel sauce, cole slaw salad (Heidi's recipe), chips and a brownie! The only problem was I didn't have enough drink choices. Being a southern girl I went with sweet tea and lemonade. Who doesn't like that? Mid-westerners, I guess. They wanted "pop." Ughhhh, that word just bugs me to death. There are so many weird terms I've heard up here but that's another post! haha While I was gone, Brad had all the kids. He said before I left that he'd like to take them to lunch but guessed since I wasn't going to be here he would skip. I encouraged him to go anyway... I mean, I do it all the time. I said, "What's the worst that can happen? Everyone has a breakdown and you load up and come back, early? No biggie!" I left thinking no way will he leave the house. I called at 12:15pm to check in and they were in the car headed to Chick-Fil-A. (Can you tell we love the Chick and eat there quite often?) I was so very proud of him. He said that a lot of Mom's were praising him on how well behaved the children were and of course commenting how beautiful and sweet they looked. It goes without saying he heard the inevitable "You've got your hands full," line from at least a half dozen people. Lunch went well and they were all better off for it. When I got home they were just pulling in the drive. I jumped in the car with them and we went to Gerdt furniture to get some ideas on what we want for our new house. We found a lot of beautiful pieces and got some figures in mind for our furniture budget. In a perfect world, I would like the following rooms done (in order): Breakfast room, Keeping room, Master Bedroom, Dining Room, Formal Living Room. My Mom (GG) called the other night. She said she wanted to buy Gabrielle a new bedroom suite. I was so pleasantly surprised. It was such a generous offer! Thanks GG, we can't wait to find something precious for our little doll. Jackson and Connor have a decent suite that my brother, Steven, donated to us. Brady and Cooper will stick with their cribs for a while. Needless to say, it will take a long long time to get all those rooms furnished and then there is the basement! Ughhh, with time we'll get it done. My prayer: "Thank you again, Jesus for this beautiful house... I give it all to you and hope to honor you with our home!" We forfieted the kids naptime to look at the furniture and were planning on dinner out tonight. But they were so tired we opted for Pizza night at home, instead. To jazz it up a little bit, I put a big blanket in the floor and we had a "pizza pic-nic." The kids thought it was really fun. We watched "High School Musical" while we ate... AGAIN! Jackson is obsessed. He can do the dances and knows the words to most of the songs. It's so funny to see him imitating those kids. One day, way too soon, he's going to be a teen and I'm going to have a broken heart and major indigestion!
April 9, 2008 Thank you sweet Jesus for warm weather! I mean this with every fiber of my being... the sunshine has changed my life and made my family much happier. I could never ever live in Alaska when there is zero daylight. I would just wither away into a deep, dark, cold depression. Uhhhh, it makes me sad to think of it! (MENTAL NOTE: God just reminded me that with Him "ALL things are possible"... please Lord don't send us to Alaska?) Anyway... the kids and I have been spending the entire afternoon outside. As soon as naptime is over, we head out and don't come in until supper. I keep a little potty chair in the corner of the garage and Gabrielle will just use that when she has to "go." It's a rather difficult task to hurry everyone inside when she is about to spring a leak. Jackson on the other hand just drops his drawers where ever he gets the urge and let's it rip. Whether it be in the front yard or on the driveway, he's not bashful. Just wait until the neighbors at our new house see us playing outside. I can hear them now, "Oh my Lord, did you see all those hoodleums running a muck? That oldest boy just peed in the front yard on the azaleas!" I guess we can go ahead and accept the fact we won't be seeing the welcome wagon! I didn't have to take all the children into the mall today. Nancy and I were able to get her in the front seat of my suburban and she stayed in the car with the kids while I ran in and out of a few places. It was so nice to zip in and out and get things taken care of without any drama. She's leaving to head home on Friday. I've enjoyed every minute of her being here. This Saturday my church (Hope Community) is hosting a "Pure Girls" Event. It's sponsored by the State Convention of Southern Baptists. It's for girls ages 8-12 and their Mom's focusing on morals and modesty (Philipians 4:8). I voluntered myself to take care of the menu. Did I mention we're talking about feeding a mere 230 people? Yeah, I think I am out of my mind. All jokes aside, God has provided every detail and it really wasn't much work on my part. I made one quick call to my local Chick-Fil-A and it was taken care of. Todd and Traci Kalish are the owners, fellow Georgians AND great friends of ours. Some of you know how we met but for the rest of you it's a great story. Brad was on call one Saturday night in 2004 and the Kalish family had come into the emergency room with their youngest son, Briggs. He had fallen off the counter at the restraunt and before he knocked out his front tooth it went through his lip. Briggs was bleeding profusly and Traci was in "Mommy Panic Mode" while Brad and Todd were "bonding" over good ole' southern traditons and deer huntin' stories. Well, needless to say we were a match and we've been friends ever since. Traci has bent over backwards for me more than once by babysitting, bringing a much needed meal or offering her EXPERT decorating advice. She's encouraged me when I found out I was having my first set of twins and she's cried with me when I found out we were due another set of blessings. The Kalish's had us over for Thanksgiving dinner 2005. Gabrielle and Connor made an early arrival after Traci's yummy turkey and dressing. I called her at 2:30am when my water broke and I had noone to take care of Jackson. She never hesitated and was at my doorstep helping me pack a bag in less than 10 minutes... no joke. This family is as real as it gets. Traci loves people and is one of the most giving individuals I've ever known. (Side note for the local folks: She's a school board canidate and deserves your vote.)
April 8, 2008 Finally Mother's Morning Out opened their doors and let us back in. haha We were on vacation the week before last, thus no school. Then last week was spring break, thus no school. I thought I was going to go nutty if they didn't let my 3 little darlings back in today. As soon as I dropped the dears off I was off as well. Brady, Cooper and I went and did some damage control at Nordstrom and Gap Kids. The baby boys got new Robeez, and the older kids got Crocs. Everyone got 2 new shirts a piece and the baby boys got a couple pants/shirts sets. Mommy got Lancome make-up. It was a happy day for all of us. Everyone got something but poor old Daddy. Oh.......he gets the bill! Lisa is bound and determined to make some piece of me crafty. She took me to some stencil something or another party tonight. I made a coaster out of tile and it has a script on it that says DREAM. It was cute but I didn't "get" it. The refreshments however were yummy and the conversation was good. The party was at Rachel's house, a co-worker and friend of Lisa's. I introduced myself to Rachel when I arrived and she said, "Oh I know you, I met you through your website!" I thought that was so funny. I didn't know I had "Phantom Fans." Let me know who you are out there! Okay, gotta run. I need rest so I can make some returns/exchanges on my purchases. I'm going to bust out my triple stroller for the first time and try taking everyone to the mall with me. That should be a great story so stay tuned...
April 7, 2008 Today was a bit more stressful for me than normal. There was nothing exactly that happened to make it any different than any other day. Cooper is starting to be "needy." You know, how they hit 6 months and all of a sudden they don't know how in the world they survived without being in your face every second. I know it's a phase and it will pass but when there are 4 others who "need me"... it's just a little overwhelming. Towards the end of the day my nerves were begining to unravel. I felt like I couldn't handle another whine, tear or plead. I started thinking, "I'm not cut out for this, I'm so tired, I shouldn't be this tired, I shouldn't be feeling so mentally spent!" Then it hit me... Yes, I should be tired, spent, drained and even a little irritable. By 5pm I think it's okay to be DONE being Mommy. Even though we have to keep going it's OKAY to want to be done! We keep on pressing on when we want to drop. That's what we do. So I've decided to box up the "Mother's Guilt" and just do my job the best I can. And if I crawl in the bed each night feeling half dead and thinking tomorrow just can't be coming in a mere 9 hours... that's NORMAL! Mom's... I'm talking to all of you!
April 3, 2008 We made it through the dentist just fine today. Gabrielle cautiously opened her mouth and Connor left it to me to pry his open. Dr. Newman was very impressed with how white and pretty their teeth are and gave them a goodie bag to take home. Then we all 3 went to the grocery store and Blockbuster. Nancy wanted Sis and I to see "Akeelah and the Bee." It was a really cute movie. Jackson got "Alvin and the Chipmunks." He's watched it 3 times already, today. If I hear that quick squeaky voice one more time I'll fling a chipmunk through the window! At 4pm I was in a "zen" place. Whatever that means... it just sounded good? I had a massage this afternoon. I finally cashed in my gift certificate from Christmas that Brad had given me. It was so great and I enjoyed the entire hour! My therapist has 5 kids of her own so she can relate to my aching back pains. She gives me the attention that she would want herself. Tomorrow evening Aunt Sis's son, Chad and his wife Nikki are coming to visit. They have two sons, Luke and Ben. Luke is 8 and Ben is 4. Jackson can not wait to see Ben and start playing. That's all I've heard for days. We love having all the company... family and friends are what makes a house a home.
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