BAH HUMBUG

WELL, my Christmas Tree lasted all of four days. I had to take her down last night and box her up (know that I wanted to set her on fire so boxing her up was much kinder.) Four times between 5:15 and 6:00 I had to pick her up off the floor and stand her back up (this is no easy task-she is 5 ft around at the bottom and 8 ft tall.) The first time I believe was an accident (however, they had no business doing whatever it was they were doing) the next three times were intentional. Once they realized they could knock her over they just kept doing it. Since I do not have a Xanax salt lick this move was absolutely necessary!! I do have a 3 foot tabletop tree that I will pull out and somehow hang from the ceiling to keep them from picking her up and throwing her at each other or using her as some sort of weapon. So for now we are treeless and I’m okay with that. Judge me if you like - I do not care!!

AND if one more person tells me “things will get better”, “cherish these days you will miss them one day” or” they aren’t little forever” I may set myself on fire or have myself voluntarily committed.

At least I got the christmas pics taken before I had to box her up!! I have not intentions of pulling her out again until 2015!!

Merry “Treeless” Christmas

So once upon a time, long ago and far away I always thought it would be fun and magical to have children especially during the Christmas season; well my boys have knocked this fantasy right out of me and are snickering in the corner because I ever thought it possible. Really don’t we all want the Hallmark Movie Channel Family Christmas??? Well, mine are more like Griswold Family Christmas. I stayed up late Friday night putting the humungous artificial tree up; I went ahead and put the lights on so I could take pictures of the boys “decorating” the tree Saturday morning. The plan was to really decorate once daddy got home from work on Saturday. Why is it that I refuse to accept that I am no longer aloud to make plans?? Any who, so after breakfast we changed into our super cute Christmas outfits that mother made for the boys and began (note: this is the second attempt at Christmas pics-first time was at mothers-NOT GOOD) so after an hour and a half, lots of tears and three broken ornaments later I gave up. Here are a few of the good takes.


I think once we get closer to Christmas and all the festivities begin I will feel better about the holidays but right now it is just a lot of unnecessary crazy!! Like I don’t already say no, stop and don’t enough!! Now I have a giant tree in the living room teasing my children and begging for trouble—I hear it calling their names and they can’t resist. The lights have already been pulled out and shoved back in there like I wouldn’t notice and all the ornaments that I felt safe putting on the tree are now just at the top so there is nothing attractive about this tree maybe it knows it’s unattractive and that is why it is taunting the boys??

CUTENESS

So Jackson is pretty chatty especially at bed time the other night I was tucking him in and laying with him trying to convince him to shut his eyes and his mouth below is the conversation that took place after we said our prayers:

Jackson-Momma, I love you!
ME-I love you too Jackson!
Jackson-I love daddy!
Me-I love daddy too!
Jackson-No you don’t! You can’t or you would have a map to the ocean!
Pause for laughter
Me-Do you have a map to the ocean??
Jackson-I do, there are sheshells, wish(fish), whales and sharks. I don’t like sharks.
Me-I don’t like sharks either!
Jackson-Me eiter!
Jackson-You my favorite Kristy!!
Me-You are my favorite Jackson!

Last night I asked Jackson who pulled on the Christmas lights and he said Cooper (Cooper was asleep and had been asleep for at least an hour) so I then asked Jackson if he was telling me a story (lying) and he proceeded to tell me the story of the Goldilocks and the three bears???

JESUS, SANTA AND THE ELF ON THE SHELF

Don’t be confused-I am in no way trying to imply that Jesus is in any way similar to the others listed above. Understand this is all coming from the mind of a 3 year old. We tell him Santa is watching so you better behave, we must be sweet to our little brother because it makes Jesus sad when we are ugly to others. Now Jackson is asking about the Elf on the Shelf. He saw one at Aba’s (Ava’s) the other night and he has asked a few times about it so I was explaining that “Fred” Aba’s Elf hides and watches and reports to Santa. Well this just baffles him and he wants to know why, where is he hiding, where is Santa and why can’t he see him and is Jesus hiding too?? Then the next questions are how will Santa get in the door? it is locked? and the gate is up? etc. etc. So each night at bedtime his little mind is in over drive trying to come up with good questions to keep him from having to go to bed so after what seemed like hours of questions the other night I finally tell him “enough, go to sleep I am not going to sit in here anymore if you keep on talking“--his response to that is “please momma don’t leave me in here alone with Jesus.” Of everyone hiding and watching why has he decided Jesus is the most frightening?? Seriously, a strange little man with crazy ears wearing tights is hiding on the shelf and a fat man wearing a red suit is breaking into peoples houses leaving toys and taking cookies and Jesus is who concerns him?? This is something we must work on!!

That’s all for now!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Things I am thankful for!!

1. My Lord and Savior and his presence in my life.

2. My wonderful husband/best friend and all he does and puts up with for me and the boys

3. Jackson –my wild sweet boy who will either teach me to be patient or put me in the state hospital

4. Cooper –my tenderhearted little monster who had to toughen up quick in order to survive the last 18 months with his big brother

5. My parents and brother and all they have taught me and all the help they have given with my crazy kids

6. My in-laws and all their support and encouragement

7. My grandparents and their kindness and patience with my children-AND granny cookies of course.

8. My extended family and all the crazy memories and stories we have;

9. My friends who I don’t get to see or spend as much time with as I would like but they are always there when I need them.;

10. My job and their patience with my having to be out with my sickly children;

11. My co-workers for taking up the slack when I have to be out;

12. My babysitters for not killing my children;

13. AND again for my wonderful husband for taking over in the mornings so I can go work out;

14. Freedom-to read the bible, to go to church, to write this blog, vote, etc., etc., etc.;

15. Electricity (a/c & heat)

16. Coffee-oh how I love it;

17. My Camera and all the wonderful memories I have been able to capture (hush it I know I haven’t uploaded them but promise that I will);

18. OxyClean;

19. Washable Crayons/Markers;

20. Goldfish/Smiles/Cheetos -aka bribes for a few minutes of silence;

21. DVR –especially the pause button;

22. Bedtime;

23. Music-all kinds-it’s good for the soul;

24. disposable diapers/pull ups;

25. Bathrooms (most bathrooms) more specifically indoor plumbing; AND toilet paper

26. The Bradford Pear in front of the Sones' house;

27. AGAIN, my husband for understanding that sometimes I need to go to bed before the kids

28. Frozen lasagna or really all frozen food-so convenient when momma is tired!!

29. Dr. Pepper (I miss this but know that if I must have one I can easily go purchase one)

30. Pay at the Pump

31. Yoga pants

32. 0 point foods

33. Big fat warm boot socks;

34. Birth Control

35. Flip Flops

36. Extra Dessert Delights (Key lime Pie and Strawberry Shortcake) YUM!!

37. Beth Moore-books, videos, bible studies, devotional-all things Beth; hope to see her live one day!!

38. Razors (and my husband’s ability to use one despite the fact that he hasn’t in weeks) what is that about-not so thankful for the full beard he now has but…what do you do?

39. Cell phones-my sitter and husband can reach me at anytime (as we as everyone else)

40. The Future-Jeremiah 29:11

CATCH UP!!

My house is a wreck and filled with chaos if you were to listen in you would hear lots of, screaming, crying, chasing, stomping, threatening, random things flying through the air and crashing against the floor/wall/someone but mixed in there is also lots of laughter and love. Every day is crazy no matter how much time I spend organizing and preparing nothing goes as it should (or how I want.)

Yes, selfishly I would love for things to run smoothly but if this were to happen that would mean that everyone, including myself, would have to wake up in a good mood every day. Really?? I can’t do it how can I ask that of my husband and children? Travis works 6 days a week ten hours a day, most weeks, I can’t expect him to always come home in a good mood ready to take on our two wild boys and keep our house spotless when I can’t do it and I only work 5 days a week 8 hours a day(on a good week.) I’m sure if you were to ask Jackson he rarely gets what he wants (candy for breakfast, play in the snow in September, mommy stay home all day every day, play in the street, drive a fire truck) same goes for Cooper who would be a happy camper all day every day if he were allowed to walk around sucking on a tube of toothpaste. I also have to consider everyone that the four of us come in contact with through out the day and the moods and bad attitudes that come with that.

I am realizing that I am not only placing unrealistic expectations on myself, my husband and my children but also on every random person we come in contact with.

SO, my house will remain a hot mess, my kids will continue to run wild and scream and my husband is forgiven for occasionally being moody after working approximately 60 hours a week. I will not complain I will do my best not to complain because I’m blessed that my husband is willing and capable of working so hard for us, my children have voices so that they can scream, legs to run, feet to stomp, arms to flail and hands to throw. I am grateful that this beautiful chaos is MINE.
Blessed are you when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule. (Matthew 5:3-The Message)
For God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down or relax My hold on you! (Hebrews 13:5-Amplified Bible)
August

Well let’s see if I can remember!! Jackson started preschool and I started back to work full time. Two weeks in I get a call from the school to come check on Jackson. It was obvious a trip to the clinic was necessary. Jackson was having a full blown asthma attack. No we’ve never been diagnosed with asthma. So we spend the next three days in the hospital and the next two weeks jacked up on albuterol treatments every four hours. Our scratch test is scheduled for the end of November. THAT should be an interesting day. Pre-school is a no go this semester hopefully we will be back in January and I may never work a full forty hour week until my children are grown.

Cooper never stops talking-we can’t understand most of what he is saying but it doesn’t stop him. Jackson is incredibly jealous of Cooper and tries to kill him every chance he gets. Cooper is just as mean and provokes Jackson as often as he can. I need a referee. They are very entertaining until someone gets hurt.

September

Well I’ve obviously blocked this month out entirely the only thing I remember is Travis turned 37!!

24 hours later—Seriously, I am still stumped!! I feel certain that it is best I can’t remember. Self preservation sometimes requires suppression.

So September is not completely blank I will tell you that Jackson has decided in the past few months to give up on sleep!! He used to go to bed by 8:00 and sleep until 5:30 or 6 but that’s over. He’s now up until ten or later most nights and up and down all through out the night, not sure what is up with this but it is very frustrating especially since I get up at 4:45!! Cooper is my sleeper. He is still sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night and napping a couple of hours during the day.

October

Jackson is wild and moody like a girl and has a temper like you wouldn’t think possible for a little person but there are several times through out each day that he can be the sweetest thing. He pulls chairs out and makes room at the table for his Sunday school friends and tells me at least 7500 times a day that he loves me and at least once a day every day he says “hey, I love you to pieces and put you back together.” AWESOME!! And he never means to do anything and he’s always sorry, especially once he sees the spanking spoon.

Travis and I enjoyed a weekend without the boys, Travis worked Saturday and I cleaned-what does that say about us?? That Saturday afternoon we went to Southern Miss Homecoming!! We haven’t been to a Southern game together in 13 years. We had a blast and weren’t real sure what to do with ourselves without the kids but we did have fun and realized just how old we really are. Not getting home until 1:00 a.m. is for the birds.

Last week was very eventful. Monday afternoon I get a frantic call from the sitter I can barely understand her for all the screaming and panic. I did make out fell and 911. I told her I was on my way and rushed home that two miles of course took FOREVER. I get home to Jackson outside face and shirt covered in blood. It looked like something from a horror movie. Once I got him calmed down and cleaned up he told me a tree fell on his head come to find out the wind had blown a pecan out of the tree and the pointed end caught him right on top of the head. ONLY AT MY HOUSE. Cooper and Jackson fight like we are hosting an event for UFC. Understand they haven’t fully mastered fighting like a man so there is still a lot of hair pulling, scratching and biting along with the head butting and below the belt kicks. Again, I need a referee!!

Madi’s birthday party was this past weekend at Wiggles and Giggles, The boys had a ton of fun until it was time to move from the play room to the party room. Sheriff Rushing was at the party and I almost had to ask him to intervene a few times, Cooper had a meltdown and screamed for at least 20 minutes so we left early and missed out on the cake and presents and I didn’t get to visit like I wanted to but the boys had fun playing and terrorizing me. We are terrible at trick or treating. We only made it to 5 houses in 4 hours and no one left their costumes on for more than 10 minutes at a time so each stop required us redressing everyone before knocking on the door and each stop took at least thirty minutes but we did enjoy visiting with everyone.

Uncle Bill caught some blue crabs and Jackson was fascinated and a bit afraid. If anyone came near he would shout NO, THEY WILL BITE YOUR WINGER (FINGER)! Cooper was not afraid and attempted several times to get inside the giant Styrofoam cooler with the crabs but he managed to keep all of his wingers!!

I have tons of new pictures but no time to upload them all so maybe that’s what I do next year when we get a weekend with no kids!!

Oh AND Travis tore something in his left knee last week and will have to see Dr. Weatherly next week to determine if it will require surgery.

THAT’S ALL!!

Once again it’s been a while. Working part time is WAY harder for me than full time it is almost impossible to find time for anything b/c our schedule is so out of wack and each day is different but we’re making it.

Cooper’s doctor has given us the go ahead to start Jackson back at Easthaven so he will start Pre-School next week. He’s pretty excited. As long as Cooper does well with being exposed to everything Jackson brings home he should be able to start in January. YAY!! I won’t know what to do with both kids in one place. I might get to sleep as late as 5:30!!

RECENT NEWS!!

Last Sunday I made the mistake of giving Jackson change for his offering. We discussed putting it in his pocket and leaving it there-that should have been the end of it right-HA!! So about fifteen minutes later I hear Travis freaking out and Jackson has the change in his mouth and has now swallowed it. So we made a few calls and asked some nurse friends of ours what to do and they assured us all should be fine but take him in ASAP if he starts complaining or throwing up. WELL OF COURSE first thing Monday morning he’s finding me in the kitchen crying about his tummy hurting so I rush around and get him ready and head to the ER for x-rays and dirty looks. Trav only saw him put two coins in his mouth and took the rest away from him. I didn’t think to count what he had taken from him so when they x-ray Jackson’s belly they find four coins stacked perfectly one on top of the other. Seriously, as we’re waiting I am expecting social services to come in the door at any second. Swallowing coins is pretty common and usually not cause for alarm but when you have four coins stacked that can be a problem if they pass that way so they admitted us to the hospital for observation-OH THE JOY!! Being trapped in a confined space with a three year old is miserable for all involved. He found the call button for the nurses with in minutes of being admitted so every 4 ½ seconds they were being buzzed. So after 4,765 calls the nurses are wishing we weren’t there and I am certain they were already thinking we were crazy and this only confirmed it. After numerous x-rays this week the coins are still in his tummy but are no longer stacked so now we just wait and hopefully next week when we go back for x-rays we will be all clear.

Never a dull moment!!

TIME

I know I’ve said it a million times before but there really is never enough time in the day. Especially now that I am part-time, I still have the same work load and responsibilities just fewer hours to accomplish everything I need to accomplish in a work week. The days I am home I am running around trying to get caught up on house work and squeeze in something fun and some quality time with the kids. We plan play dates and fun activities which are great for the kids and I enjoy them too but once it’s over and we are home I am overwhelmed and exhausted which then leads to things getting out of control in the house again meaning another day will have to be spent catching up from all that was left behind and to do. I can no longer take both of my children to the grocery with me, IMPOSSIBLE, so I have to wait for a time when Trav is home to watch one of them which leads to one or both screaming and throwing a fit, after they go to sleep or before they wake up. Understand, that my kids go to bed around 7:30 and this is the time I spend getting their bags ready for the next day, taking a bath, spending time with Trav, reading, enjoying the quiet. Since my kids go to bed at 7:30 they are up pretty early, on the days we have to get up and get moving I have to wake them up and neither one is happy about it, the days we can sleep in-no one does, we are all up by 6:30 ALWAYS. So to grocery shop after they are in bed cuts in the time I need to recharge and to go in the morning before they wake up and before Trav has to leave for work means I need to get up at the crack of dawn. I don’t mind waking up at the crack of dawn, I have always done it and it really isn’t so bad especially if it means I get to have alone time even if the alone time is spent in Wal-Mart with dozens of other people. So if you are ever in Wal-Mart at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, please pretend that you don’t see me, b/c your assumption would be right-Yes, I did just roll out of bed, brush my teeth and put some shoes on and I am pretending I am alone, you see--the tons of people stocking the shelves, the giant loud machine buffing the floors, the fork lifts and pallets lining every aisle, those things have nothing on the volume of my two children and the obstacles they are able to create.

Enough ranting-the boys are fabulous-ALL BOY but fabulous!!

Cooper 1st birthday was May 5th, we had a check up which went well, he weighs 20lbs and is 30 ½ inches long, freakishly tall and freakishly skinny. We’ve switched to whole milk (which is seriously close to being as expensive as formula) and are working on weaning him off the bottle. He will eat anything we will let him, he loves grilled pork chops, chicken, hamburger, peas, granny’s chicken and dumplins, grits, pancakes, sausage, sweet potatoes, rice, green beans, the list goes on, this means we are no longer having to buy baby food, WHOO HOO!! He never stops talking, constant jabbering. He’s been saying ma ma, da da, dog, ball, Jackson and thank you for many months; now he says lots of other things that we aren’t real sure of. He has been walking since he was 9/10 months old. He waves bye and pretends to go to sleep. He doesn’t like it when Jackson gets in trouble (but he’s getting pretty accustom to it since it happens frequently.) In case you didn’t know, the world revolves around him and if anyone forgets this he is quick to remind them. This leads to many fight bt/w him and Jax because as far as Jackson is concerned the world revolves around him.

Jackson will be turning 3, July 6th; this blows my mind b/c I vividly remember his delivery and it does seem like it was just the other day. He is growing so fast and learning so much. He never stops talking and asking why, how, what, when, you name it he’s asking about it. Let me brag- he is already super talented when it comes to sports, he’s mastered dribbling the basketball while standing still, moving forward, backward, and to the side, he’s learning the alphabet and numbers and he never forgets anything. NOTHING!! The other day a man pulled into the parking lot as we were leaving and he hit us-no one was hurt not even the Tahoe. Now every time we pass that parking lot he asks “what did that man do?” He is real concerned with when Santa is coming and would rather not have any part of the Easter Bunny ever again, when he plays with the toys the Easter Bunny brought him he is quick to remind me that he does not like the Easter Bunny and does not want to see him again.

We are really looking forward to summer and spending time with good friends and hopefully making lots of trips to the river. The boys love it. I will post pictures later.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

OVERWHLEMED

So...i haven't had much time to post here and i do have tons of pictures that i keep promising to upload-one day-hopefully soon that will actually happen.

I had to take a few minutes to blog about my morning. I got up extra early in order to make certain that I had enough time for
a)both of my boys to procrastinate
b)Jackson to take extra potty breaks
c) Jackson to have time to fall down and dust off; and
d) so I would not have to speed on the way to the sitters

This worked out really well, we were ahead of schedule and getting ready to load up when I realize my keys are MIA--no where to be found. I looked in all of Jackson's usual hiding places, dumped my purse and both bags out, finally found them in the kitchen drawer-WOW!!

During my frantic run around the house searching for the keys Jackson decides it is the perfect time to rearrange the living room-he pushes the couch back up against the wall revealing all sorts of hidden treasures, one of which is an orange crayon which Cooper falls madly in love with, needless to say the child's face and hands are ORANGE. I pry the frickin crayon out of Cooper's hands, scoop him up and throw him on my hip as I continue running through the house calling for the keys, I find the keys & turn to tell Jackson to load up and see him slam the giant plastic bouncy ball into the floor and watch it as it collides with the the glass globe in the dinning room!! YES IT SHATTERED INTO A MILLION PIECES. REALLY?? somehow we all manage to survive with all of our eyes intact and no one bleeding and out the door we run. Jackson, as always, wasn't paying attention and fell face first on the way to the truck-he's fine!! We all made it to where we were suppose to be ON TIME!! How?? I do not know but it all worked out and Travis cleaned up the mess from the broken globe!!!

IS IT BEDTIME YET??

SO FAR SO GOOD-I think!!

This is week 2 of me working part-time. I have not killed anyone or myself yet so things are going pretty well. That is not to say that I haven’t thought about it.

So far since this started:
• Jackson got mad and peed on the floor, once last week and once this week;
• Cooper busted his lip-TWICE;
• laundry seems to never be caught up;
• kitchen is a never ending task;
• when I lose my patience I try to hide in the bathroom until I can get it together;
• Jackson has decided he doesn’t need to nap which means mommy hides in the bathroom seeking patience more often than she should;
• the boys sleep until 7:00/7:30 which means I can either have alone time or sleep late;
• we have had a play date at the park with Madi;
• we go to the walking park regularly and Jackson is fairly well behaved;
• daddy comes home to dinner on the table rather than having to wait for me to get there to cook;
• No naps for Jackson=fairly early bedtime with no fuss
AND
• Next week we are planning a trip to the zoo!!

It is still too soon to tell but we may survive this and actually end up enjoying it. Now I just need to get brave enough to take them both to Jackson alone to catch up with our out of town friends.

10 Random Things

1. I believe in the power of prayer and spend more time in prayer each day than I do anything else.

2. I love living close to my family but not so close that they are in my business-far enough away that I have to hop in the car but close enough that I don’t have to wait long if I need them.

3. My husband is my best friend and has been for more than 10 years. He is the first person I want to talk to when something good, bad, scary, funny, etc. happens.

4. I have no pets and I want no pets. I’m certain that one day the boys will want a dog or something and I absolutely dread it.

5. I love love love to exercise but have been horrible about making the time to do it regularly since Jackson was born.

6. I love watching Jackson figure things out. He is so much like his daddy.

7. I love reading my favorite books over and over at least once each year.

8. I love the Office. It is my guilty pleasure.

9. I have an incredibly high tolerance for pain that is countered by an incredible fear of it. The anxiety worrying over the pain is much worse for me than the actual pain.

10. There were a few times last week when I thought I would rather pay someone my entire full time salary to stay at my house with my kids than stay home with them myself. (isn’t that terrible?? And yes I do feel guilty for feeling that way)

RANDOM WORRIES

Today was Jackson's first day at the sitter. We love Miss Kim. She has always been so good to Jackson she loves him like he's her own and I know that when he is there I have nothing to worry about. BUT those of you who know me well know that I WORRY whether it is justified or not it is what I do. I am not worried about how Jackson's day will be with Kim I am worried about how Jackson's day will be without daycare. Will he miss his friends, will he wonder why he is not at school (even though i tried my best to explain), will he miss the play time and stories, will he remember his friends, will it make me sad to see how excited he is to see them when we run into them in Wal-Mart. Random I know but still things I worry about and yes I know worrying is pointless and a waste of time but...don't judge me, this is something I really struggle with. I know that pulling Jackson from daycare is what is best for Cooper but I can't help but be concerned that it will make things harder for Jax when it is time to return.

BEFORE 7a.m.

FIRST THING
So I wake up between 4:30 and 4:45-I like the snooze button what can I say.
Pray I do not wake the boys, get a shower, pray I do not wake the boys, start a load of laundry, pray I do not wake the boys, clean the kitchen/dishes/bottles/sweep/boil water/whatever did not get done before I passed out the night before, pray I do not wake the boys.

5:30ish
hear Cooper stirring around, pray he doesn’t wake Jackson, fix Cooper a bottle, change his diaper and get him dressed while he takes his bottle, pray he doesn’t wake Jackson , put Cooper down to play and “talk” while I put on make up and dry my hair and wait for Jackson to hear all this commotion and wake up on his own,

6:00ish
take Jackson to the potty, fix Jackson a cup of “chocolate no milk,” PRAY ALL THIS NOISE WILL WAKE TRAVIS UP, wash Jackson’s face, move Cooper out of the way, get Jackson dressed, explain to Cooper that it is Jackson’s turn and move him out of the way again, give Jackson his vitamins and explain to him that he can not eat the entire bottle at once and that it is not candy or prizes, help Jackson brush his teeth while Cooper sneaks into my bedroom and smacks Travis in the face and screams da da, quietly laugh and listen to Travis fuss about all the noise

6:30ish
Hear Travis start the shower and pray that all that I have done this morning has not used up all the hot water, listen for him to start screaming, finish getting myself ready, get everyone’s things together, check Cooper’s bag to make sure it has everything, give Jackson stars for his behavior chart, find something to entertain them in their room so I can load the car and make sure all the car seats are in the right place. Find Travis’ wallet, keys, sunglasses, etc. and put them all on the kitchen counter so he can find them. Fix myself a cup of coffee and throw a yogurt in my purse to have at work.

HOPEFULLY BY 7:00
Load every one up and leave the house! Drop everyone off.

7:30ish
In the car alone!! LIE and tell myself tomorrow will be better b/c tonight I will do everything before I go to bed no matter how tired I am and I will not feel as rushed as I did this morning.

Patience

Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.”

In an effort to “build” up and gain a little order and peace in my home I have decided to look at myself and see what I need to work on personally. I have been really studying up on patience because I have none therefore, I need to do my homework in order to fully understand what it is I seek and how to capture it. Patience takes faith and practice. I’m not much on biting my tongue or taking a deep breath and counting to ten before reacting but I am working on it. This is one of my new favorite quotes and it is really helping me embrace this character flaw of mine “few of us do patience well and none of us do it naturally.” SO I am not alone with this – WHEW!! It takes work but as all things that do take work it will be worth it. BECAUSE:

1. Patience stops problems in their tracks--praying it will stop or at least slow down my 2 year old;

2. Patience fosters peace and quiet--I love quiet;

3. Patience demonstrates love-one can never show too much love;

4. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm (a/k/a temper tantrums);

5. Patience brings rewards-we call rewards prizes in my house-we like prizes; AND

6. Practicing patience teaches patience.

What I’ve learned is we aren’t born with patience we work for patience and we are rewarded. I am trying to raise good boys who will one day be great men, loving husbands & wonderful fathers. In my quest for patience my biggest hope is that they will learn from my patience and be slow to respond with love, peace, knowledge and wisdom rather than to quickly react and later regret it.

1 WEEK

Only 1 more week full time and I am overwhelmed. I have so much to do at work in order to get ready to be there fewer hours and so much to do at home in order to get ready to be there more. Just thinking of what all I have to do makes me want to put my head down for a bit but that is not very productive.

A few new pics of the boys playing outside.

A couple of Saturdays ago we spent some time with Madi and Dana (first time in FOREVER) we exchanged Christmas gifts – that is how long it has been. We had a blast. The kids were C-R-A-Z-Y but that is not unusual. Here are few of the pics I managed to get. Hopefully we can do it again VERY SOON!!

Notice the slobber on Jackson’s shirt-yes he still drools and should probably still be wearing a bib!!

Time changes this next weekend and I am so excited. I love the longer days, I am sure I will change my mind once I trapped home with two balls of energy all day.

REALLY???

I day dream/worry A LOT especially at night after my children go to sleep and I have finished with the daily chores (ha! Who am I kidding when are the daily chores ever finished)!! I like to blame it on my self diagnosed ADHD. Anything my husband says after 9:00 p.m. I do not hear. I have gotten pretty good over the years in making him believe I am always listening but in reality I only hear about half of what he has said. This gets me in trouble from time to time. Since I never heard what he said he may as well have not said it. Later when I am questioned about what I think or if I remember what “we” talked about last night-I’m clueless. This brings me to the Lexus and the Play Station 3. Apparently, in my nodding and smiling and responding with uh huh, yeah, we’ll see, I’ll thinking about, I unknowingly agreed to consider purchasing these two items. Yes we are thinking of trading in my car for a “new to me” vehicle but a LEXUS. Please-new or used I don’t want to spend that kind of money right now. End of discussion. Now to the Play Station, REALLY?? As if there isn’t enough SEC, Nascar and UFC interrupting what little peace and quiet my house sees he wants to bring in a game console. This might would fly if the boys were old enough to participate and play with this but I just can’t wrap my head around this purchase--especially since the majority of my time is spent scrubbing, folding, sweeping, mopping, washing, NOT sitting, watching, playing, screaming at the television, asking “why aren’t the jeans I want to wear clean?”, “are you ever gonna finish with the dishes?” followed up with “why don’t you sit down and watch t.v. with me??”

Please, don’t get me wrong, my husband is wonderful to me, he is my best friend and is the BEST father/daddy to our boys and I am blessed to have such an amazing man in my life BUT COME ON NOW!!

MOMMY NEEDS A PLAY DATE

FEELING NOSTALGIC

This morning I bundled up in my husband’s northface (after leaving the house I notice it is covered in snot and what appears to be bananas) run back inside for a cup of water to “defrost” my frozen windshield and make the commute to take Coop to granny’s. As I am scanning the radio and hear the announcer say that today is March whatever we are expected to have sunshine I remember a time when my weeks were spent living for the weekends. Not that I do not live for the weekends now but the weekends are much different. Weekends once consisted of waking up early to finish laundry so I could be sitting in my plastic lawn chair in the creek or river by 9:30 a.m. where I would sit with my besties for hours upon hours talking about everything and absolutely nothing. Some of my best memories are sitting in those chairs in early march freezing my butt off “working on my tan.” The conversation was unstoppable, we all spoke at the same time b/c we couldn’t wait for the other one to shut up before we chimed in, yet we all seemed to know exactly verbatim what the other had said. We wouldn’t budge from these chairs until we were burnt to a crisp and famished some 6 or so hours later. Many a plans for the future were made, we fussed about our men (now our husbands) either b/c they didn’t want to join us or b/c they wouldn’t leave (just depended on the day and the direction of the conversation) and swore we would spend every spring/summer right where we were with kids in tow no matter what. WELL, as we’ve gotten older and gotten married and had babies I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw my plastic lawn chair much less loaded it up for a day out. I find myself longing for the smell of tanning oil and making a run for Chinese food with crispy wet hair, reeking of sweat and tanning oil with beach towels wrapped around our wastes.

Our conversations now are often (who am I kidding) always interrupted by screaming children and are so few and far between that we can’t remember what we’ve caught one another up on. This makes me sad and DETERMINED. Determined to keep the promises we made. We will be back in our plastic lawn chairs at the creek/river/next to the plastic yard pool/WHATEVER this spring/summer kids in tow NO MATTER WHAT!! No matter how many times we find ourselves jumping up to pull apart the children fighting, how many snack breaks they need, how many times we have to wipe away their tears or how ill they get from lack of naps I WILL be digging out my lawn chair and tanning oil and praying it fits in the trunk along with the double stroller, floaties, extra box of diapers, changes of clothes and box of toys because MOMMY NEEDS PLAY DATES TOO!!

I am super excited about being home with the boys more and some what TERRIFIED!! I work, always have, it is what I do, it is all i know. Since having children, that means my house is a disaster most days. There just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done and I try my best to spend as much time with them as I can each day-which doesn't seem like much at all. THEN the weekend comes. Travis works on Saturdays so I am home alone with these two little people (I LOVE THEM MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW) they absolutely wear me out! Jackson has decided that his sole purpose in life for the time being is to torture Cooper so every 4.5 seconds I am having to either pry Jackson's hands from Coopers face/head/neck/etc. or peal him off of Cooper-He jumps on him like a UFC wrestler. Cooper, who is a mommas boy, screams like a girl until he is safely propped on my hip like a spider monkey, with his right hand clenching my arm and his left hand clenching the neck of my shirt-this is where he would stay at all times if i allowed it. So needless to say nothing much gets done on Saturdays unless the two of them happen to nap at the same time. When this happens I race around the house like a psychotic OCD maid getting as much done in what little time I have and THEN the second they wake up both toy bins and every basket is then dumped into the middle of the living room making it appear as though i have sat on the couch, ignoring the children, letting them run amuck, eating bon bons and watching lifetime movie network all day. Travis gets home a little after 5 and I hide in the bathroom and try not to cry b/c I know that he is thinking "what in the world did she let them do and why did she not stop them." SO in an attempt to fool myself and my husband, I have really big plans and lists and am knowingly setting myself up for major disappointment by thinking that these extra days home will allow me to get more done, be more patient, have more "me time", master potty training, start weaning Cooper from the bottle, finish unpacking, spend more time on my bible study, read some books, etc, the list goes on and on and on. If you see me in the next couple of weeks walking around blissfully unaware of what is about to take place, please let me be, I enjoy it here in la la land, it makes me happy and makes me feel as though i may gain some control of the chaos of my life sooner rather than later. Give me a couple of weeks of being home with them more and then please offer suggestions to help save my sanity!!

FINALLY FRIDAY

We saw the immunologist last week and got our lab results back this week. Cooper's immunology work up looks good, he does have an over agressive immune system. His CBC did concern Dr. Adkins. Cooper's lymphocytes and monocytes were elevated indicating that he has some type of virus. CBC will have to be repeated regularly to keep a check on this. Dr. Adkins suggested pulling Jackson from daycare until Cooper's immune system has matured. I have been expecting & fearing this news. Travis and I have discussed trying to make this work with me working part time. I have found a baby sitter for Jackson and Cooper will continue to stay with my grandmother on the days that I work. Praise the Lord -- I was able to work all this out with my employer and will be able to stay where I am and work part time until we get Cooper well. They have really been awesome through out this entire process. I am truly blessed.

AND

Here are some recent pics of the boys. Cooper had his first Oreo the other day and OF COURSE he is a big fan!!

JACKSON wasn't really sure what to think of this, especially since we aren't real big on letting him make such messes with food and he wasn't as amused as we were so he went on to other things.

and here are few more - you will notice they are both snotty and red eyed. we've pretty much had the crud at my house since early December

RECENT PICTURES

CATCH UP

Well, Travis and I survived the flu two weeks ago and it truly was a nightmare. We had to send the boys away for almost a week while we got over it. So we are just now getting back into our routine.

Our Snow Day made for a really good time. Travis hates the snow so he stayed inside with Coop while Jackson and I played. We had the best time. Pics will be coming soon!!

Bailey and Brighton's Birthday Party was this weekend. Since Coop sees the specialist on Wednesday I didn't want to expose him to anything so he stayed with mom so me and Jackson could party. As always, Dee Dee's cupcakes and cakes were AWESOME!! Jackson had a blast-I could not pry him away from the footballs!!




Mom kept the boys for us Saturday night so Travis and I could go on a date to see a movie!! I had said earlier in the day that I did not care if we saw Wolfman just as long as I got to have popcorn...WELL I changed my mind but tried really hard not to pressure Travis into seeing Valentines Day-okay so that is a lie. I did my best to convince him that it was up to him and that Valentines Day is what he wanted to see. IT WORKED and we both enjoyed the movie!! It was PACKED/SOLD OUT and those of you who know my husband know how he is about crowd but we had a really great time!!

THE POTTY

So we've been working on potty training Jackson since he turned 2. He's done pretty good with "#1" but "#2" has been a bit tricky but he's making improvements. The past couple of weeks he's made it all day at school in the same pull up and the past two days he's pooped in the potty with ZERO accidents-I never would have imagined poop to be this exciting. Prizes have been handed out, phone calls have been made and parties have been thrown. THIS IS A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT MUST BE SHARED. The past couple of nights he has woken up dry!! PARTY PARTY!! The joy of knowing that soon I will only have one child in "diapers" is fabulous. I really can't take much of the credit for this-the daycare has been wonderful and my husband is pretty much in charge of Jackson in the afternoons until I get home with Cooper and get supper cooked. BUT STILL...FABULOUS! So not only am I excited about not having to change Jackson's poopy pull ups soon I will no longer have to buy the pull ups...BUT...all this means the take over has begun. There are now TWO men in my life who refuse to put the lid down. Never mind the burping and the passing gas and walking around with their hand in their pants that I can over look but the toilet seat being left up or not being put up at all MAKES ME CRAZY!! So in the middle of the night if you hear a scream in the distance don't fear that is just me falling in the toilet!!

Once again, I suck at this. I do mean well but I log on and get lost in everyone else's updates and then don't have time to do my own b/c the others are so interesting :)

Anywho, Cooper's been really sick lately. We had two hospital stays in December. His white count has been out of wack and we are trying to figure out what is going on. Dr. Shann is sending us to Dr. Atkins, an immunologist in Jackson, to try & determine what's up with his immune system. We suspect that he either has an over active immune system or defect which causes his body to be over aggressive with every little illness. Once we see the immunologist we will then go to Batson for further tests.

On a lighter note, we had a fabulous Christmas. This was the first year Jackson really got into it and he LOVES presents and "baby claus" (translation: Santa Claus) we have a fear that he may have Santa and Baby Jesus confused. Cooper was more interested in the paper and boxes so therefore Jackson took claim to all of the presents in the house. They had a blast. We enjoyed our time with our families and are looking for things to settle down some.

My fabulous husband bought me an awesome camera for christmas but forgot the memory card so my christmas memories were captured on my not so great camera but I do have a lot of new photos of the boys to share. However, I have not had the time to upload them. I will share pics from our attempt at christmas card shots. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!