Sweet Dreams

I took this photo tonight as my little angel was sleeping. Poor girl, she fell asleep in the car today on the way home from Jack's game, which gave her a 15 minute power nap and there was no turning back. You know how it is, if they fall asleep in the car, you either have to commit to a 2 hour drive or suffer the loss of the nap for the day. At $4/gallon, I decided to suffer the consequences. Anyway, that's not what this post is actually about. Later on today, my friend Sonja and I took our boys to the skate park and then out to dinner and all this resulted in Meg being out 1) past her bedtime without a nap and 2) eating dinner about an hour after she is normally in bed (all without a nap.) She was a total trooper through the whole thing. She really never fussed or cried, she just went with the flow. Have I mentioned how blessed we are that God chose this specific little angel for our family? Anyway, that is also not what this post is about. What this post is about is that for the first time since Meg joined our family, she fell asleep in my arms as I was rocking her. It was SO precious. You have to know as a Mommy I just eat that up. I have always loved to rock a sleeping baby and it was cause for celebration the first time each of them slept while I held them. Tonight, I was just trying to drink in every second of the precious moment I was having with my daughter, knowing that at 2 they are few and far between and knowing that with her being my last baby, these moments are truly precious and not to be taken for granted.

It was a perfect storm, of sorts, that likely won't happen again for a very long time. Many forces combined to permit this special moment. I already told you about the nap. And then also, Connor was out tonight with Brian so I didn't have him wanting my attention or coming into the room every three seconds to ask me a question.

But, THIS is what this post is about.... While I was drinking in the bliss of the moment, a very sad wave washed over me. I realized that this was probably the first time in her little life that she had ever been held and rocked to sleep. And the first time that anyone had ever held her WHILE she was sleeping just to revel in the perfection of her being. I realized (I, of course, have known this on a cerebral level) that no one has probably taken the time to just marvel at her. No one has ever enjoyed holding her just a little longer. No one has ever been totally overwhelmed at the love they felt for her and how amazing and perfect and meant to be she really is. No one, until now! Most likely, her birth mother had these feelings when she was born. I am sure she looked at this perfect child she had brought into the world and wished with all her heart she could hold her tenderly for the rest of her life. But that was not to be. My dear, sweet daughter, I can't give you back all those nights you were left to put yourself to sleep, but I can make up for lost time by being absolutely over the moon in love with you. I can breathe in your smell and stare at your angelic face and thank God every day for the rest of your life that He gave you to me.

Meg, tonight when you were asleep in my arms, Jack came in and looked at you and said, "I think she is the prettiest girl in the world. Every boy is going to want to be her boyfriend." My darling daughter, that's about as close to gushing as you'll ever get from a third grade boy. You are adored, you are cherished, you are loved! And you are ours! Sweet dreams, little angel!

Before I go, I just have to show you the photos from today. This is part of the reason Meg fell asleep in the car, because I am so in love with my town (Franklin, TN) and the sky was so blue and gorgeous (doesn't it look fake?), I just had to stop and take some photos of our small downtown.
 

I loved the contrast of the red shop front against the blue sky with the green trees.... makes me want to get my muffler fixed!:)

 


Proverbs 3:24
"When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."

Pardon my rant, but some people... UGH!

Can I just say that sometimes other people's intolerance is just INTOLERABLE! I mean, I know that me being irritated by other people being intolerant is an oxy-moron of sorts, but this particular one really gets me going.

Today I had to take Connor for his four year old appointment with Dr. Heil (have I mentioned how much we love that man?) Anyway... digress digress, get to the point, Ondrea! So, Connor had his heart set on going to Barnes and Noble this morning to have an "Ice Krispy Treat" (as he says) and play with the trains. I didn't tell him we were going to the doctors office because I wanted to spare myself the crying as long as possible. So when we pull into the parking lot, he realizes where we are and he is NOT happy. But he complies with getting into the building without any drama. Then, some little girl happens to push the button to the elevator and all hell breaks loose. From that point on, there was no recovering for Connor. He couldn't pull it together. The trauma of not getting to push the button combined with the angst of the shots ahead was more than he could take. He dissolved into tears and proceeded to cry VERY loudly for the next 20 minutes. Here's where I start to get chapped. We go into the lobby and I am trying to comfort him AND stand in a five person deep line as we are already 10 minutes late for our appointment. I finally give up on trying to shut him up and I sit him down in a chair for a "time out." There is a dad in the office, probably ticked off because he had to take off work to bring his sick daughter to the doctor, and he keeps rolling his eyes at Connor (I hope he's a blog reader and his face is turning really red right about now... you know who you are!) Then he starts putting his magazine up in front of his face, whispering to his daughter and shaking his head very disapprovingly at me. Now granted, it was VERY loud. So loud, in fact, that the receptionist put us directly into a room to alleviate the other patients of the stress Connor was inducing in all the other kiddos. I get it, he was loud and it was obnoxious. But I also know enough as a mom to know that there are certain times when you just can't get your kid to cooperate. Anyone who's ever parented for more than 24 hours will tell you that there are situations when kids just don't obey, no amount of bribery, threatening, or comfort and coercion will deter them from their demonic possession. What parent, at one point or another, hasn't had one of those moments in public where they just want the ground to open up and swallow them whole?

What did this guy really think he was accomplishing with his "holier than thou" looks and "tsk, tsk"-ing? I mean, seriously, did he think humiliating me was going to make Connor more compliant and relaxed? Did he think passing judgment on me would make his wait in the waiting room more pleasant? Did he feel better about himself as a parent because his 12 year old'ish daughter was sitting nicely while my four year old son was melting down? I SO was about to go over there and say something to the affect of, "You look like you disapprove of his behavior. If you have some suggestions for how I could parent him better, I'm open to hearing them." Or maybe, "I'm sorry that my four-year-old's anxiety over his coming shots are disturbing you. Would you prefer that I take him into the hall to wait for the nurse so that you don't have to be inconvenienced?" Or how about this one, "You obviously haven't EVER had a moment as a parent where your child did something you didn't want her to, please excuse those of us who are obviously not as good at parenting as you are." Or how about just walking up and giving him the finger?

I know you might be thinking I am overreacting to this, but you just had to be there. All the other mothers in the waiting room were giving me the sympathetic, "I've been there" look. The lady on the appointment desk asked Tina, the receptionist, if she could get us to a room. I mean, this was LOUD shrieking, cry, drooling and sobbing. I didn't really feel sorry for Connor because he was being totally unreasonable. He didn't even cry when got his actual shot... it was the dread of the shots and the offense of the whole button thing. Which in itself, I realize, is ridiculous. In life, sometimes other people are going to push the button, but you can't imagine the knock-down, drag-outs we've had between the three boys over who will push that @&*# button. It reminds me of the old "shot gun" running battle I had with my siblings over who sat in the front seat. And I can tell you there were more than a few punches over that between my sister and myself. She always won, even at 8 years younger than me, she could whip me on a dime!

Anyway, that's the story today from the trenches of motherhood. I got into the exam room, and it took everything I had not to cry myself. By the way, I didn't get a chance to say any of those rude things to this guy because he got called back while I was gathering up my stuff and dragging Connor out of the waiting area. No matter, his daughter probably did something really embarrassing today anyway! It's just that as parents, I think we're all in this together most of the time and when I see a mom with a melting kid, I make it a point to pat her on the back and say "Hang in there, we've all been there and this too shall pass."

Whew, I feel much better now... I'm moving on!

Proverbs 20:22
"Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord and He will deliver you."

What's not to love?

I just keep uncovering things I love about Meg (well, all my kids, really, but right now, Meg is the most "undiscovered", so I learn new things about her every day.)

I love that when we are dancing in the living room, she throws her head back as if she's just relishing every moment of being twirled and swayed across the floor by her Mama!

I love that she gets hair "do-ies" and puts them in her front teeth because this is what she sees me doing.

I love that when her cousin Reilly comes over, Meg thinks they are always supposed to have a bowl of Cheerios together because Reilly did this ONE time a few weeks ago and now Meg thinks of Cheerios every time Reilly is over.

I love that when she wants to go outside and play, she says, "oook", which is her version of "Luke" (our foster dog.)

I love that she loves girly stuff. She likes to put on bracelets and necklaces and goes straight for the high-heels in the dress up bin in the nursery. I love that she wants to sit with me in the morning when I am putting on my make-up and pulls various items out of my bag and pretends to be putting them on.

I love that she LOVES her big brothers.
Today we went to school to eat lunch with Jack and when she saw Liam she ran to him calling "Ny-Ya" (her version of Liam.) Of course, this thrilled him! And Jack was the hit of the lunchroom with his friends because they all wanted Meg to give them five, "pound it", sit by them, sit in their lap, etc. etc. At one point Jack commented that she was like a rock-star because all the kiddos that sit at his table were gathered around her vying for her attention... of course, this was fine with Jack because that meant that he was inadvertently getting attention and he was beaming from ear to ear!
Anyone who thinks that the differences between boys and girls are either 1) clothing or 2) learned environmentally should come to my house. In all likelihood, my daughter was never treated like a "girl". She wasn't given specific girl toys to play with, she wasn't taught different demeanor or treated differently from the boys in her group because she was a girl. All twelve children in her group lived by the same rules, followed the same routine, conformed to the same expectations, and played with the same store of toys. It's probably as near a gender-neutral environment as you can get. However, she is inherently a girl. She came into our life with no interest WHATSOEVER in any of the thousands of boy toys we had at our house. We quickly went to stock up on a few things like baby strollers and tea sets as it was apparent that she was at a loss for what to do with a dinosaur that roars or a remote control 4X4. Yet, she goes straight for the tea set every single day. She pushes her baby in the stroller, kisses her "ba-ba" (baby) every night at bedtime and then wants me to tuck the baby in with a tiny blanket, next to Meg with her regular sized blanket. She instinctively mothers things. And she is instinctively FULL of D-R-A-M-A.

She is so funny when she starts talking because you really can't make out a word she is saying, but she will carry on a one sided conversation, cocking her head to the side, pointing her finger, and batting her eyelashes. Daddy, watch out! :)

Now, I have to send props out to my friend, Becky, who is a rockin' chick in every way. But this particular day, she taught me how to imbed a link in my posts so that now you can just clickety click on the word rather than having to cut and paste! :) Yay, Becky! See, anyone with any technical prowess is worth awe in my book, which pretty much puts my hubby up there next to Bono in the rock star category, but HE isn't very helpful... he's always mumbling something about tech support and "reboot" nonsense. Becky on the other hand is technical AND helpful! :) Plus she has an adorable little fellow that I'm trying to work an arranged marriage to Meg. Anyway, thanks Becky! You rock!

Okay, it's after nine and there are TWO hours of Grey's Anatomy calling my name from our DVR... gotta run!

1 John 2:10
"Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble."

Funniest Video (possibly) Ever!

HELP we're out of gas CLICK HERE

Okay, if you don't live in Nashville, this might not be funny to you. But it's been mayhem here for the past week or so as NO ONE in the city had gas. And those who DID have gas had a line wrapped about two blocks of cars waiting for gas. I have one friend who witnessed fights on a lot over who was next in line. Anyway, it's been total bedlum on the gas front here and some genius out there (I don't know the person who made this video OR the girl who blogged it, but my friend Sonja sent it to me and I had to share) put a very funny spin on it. It's four minutes of FUNNY STUFF.

In other news... look how adorable my boys are in their scout uniforms! :)



Also, Meg is counting to three. I have always counted to all my kiddos in both Russian and English. So that's what I do with Meg too. I count her toes, I count the steps in our house, I count the pushes on the swing, etc. etc. Tonight I was counting her toes and I first counted them in English, then I started over, counting in Russian. I said, "Adeen, Duva, Tree..." and when I got to three she said, "No, ooooonnnnnneeeee, twooooooooo...." :) So cute.

One other funny thing that happened today was that we were looking at some photos I had gotten in the mail (some = 377 because I haven't ordered pics in so long.) She was looking at them, putting them in a nice neat stack beside her. When I got to the Russia photos, we came across one of her caregivers with a group of kids in a stroller and holding hands beside her. Meg stopped in her tracks, stared at that photo for a LONG time in an almost trance-like state. She just sat there staring and I was beginning to wonder if she was going to fall asleep. Anyway, eventually, she kissed the picture and put it down. This was very sweet as I was worried about what emotion that photo was going to bring out from her. I didn't know if she would register any memory at all, but obviously it did. It concerned me a little because I am reading a book right now called Silent Tears by Kay Bratt and the treatment she describes in the orphanage she worked in is less than ideal by any standard. I am sure that some of the same practices happen in Russian orphanages. I don't think it's to the extreme she describes in her book simply because I know the kids don't spend all day in cribs, etc., but I know if you went to certain orphanages and certain locations, that would surely be the case. Anyway, I'm diverging (again) but the bottom line is, I was afraid it would scare her or bring up bad memories or something, but she seemed to remember and then move on... hallelujah! Maybe that's what we're all doing... moving on!

Now Nashvillians, go watch that funny funny video.

Love ya!

Tidbits of Life

I'm heading off to a scrapbook retreat for the weekend, so I didn't want to leave both of you loyal readers hanging without an update before I go. I know what you're thinking... Scrapbook retreat, how LAME! Well, honestly, it is a tad bit lamish, but the truth is, this group of girls I am going with are far from lame and it will be a blast. And the place we are going is a very girly bed and breakfast that caters to ladies, so I am scheduled for a massage and lots of good gal pal time with my close friends! I can't wait! Plus, I might actually get caught up, or at least into this decade, on my photo albums. Seriously, I think the last thing I scrapped was Connor's second birthday, oops!

This was such a BUSY week! Monday night Jack had a baseball game and his team won! Yay! Go Jack!

Wednesday was Liam's first ever Tiger Scout meeting. Look how ADORABLE he looks in his uniform. Can you tell how proud he is? :)


Today some friends of ours did a lemonade stand to benefit the Hands and Feet (www.handsandfeetproject.org) project in Haiti. They raised a pretty good deal of money for an orphanage there, which was nearly destroyed by the last three hurricanes and is in need of $100,000.

I keep wishing that I had an e-mail address for the director of Baby Home #12 in St. Petersburg. I wish that the ladies in Group 4 could see Meg now! She is so stinkin' funny. Tonight we were getting ready for bed and she was totally trying to stall the whole process. This works with her daddy, but not with Mama, so it was just pretty much a failed attempt, until.... she got up as if she were going to get her blanket and mid-step she turned to look at me and started dancing. Too funny! I couldn't help but laugh. Of course, this only encouraged her more, but it was one of those moments where you just know the moment itself is worth more than hitting the pillow on the dot of the hour and so I relished in her blossoming personality for a few minutes. She is so much fun, all girl, and full of drama-rama! I took her to a clothing trunk show today and she tried on every piece of clothing and then would stand with her arms out for me to see what she looked like. Let me tell you that this is inherent! Not one of my boys would have tolerated this for more than two minutes! And I'm sure it's not like the baby home was putting on alot of fashion shows with the kiddos, so obviously, she just likes clothes and knew all eyes were on her so she was hamming it up. I just love being the Mama of a little girl! :) All you boy moms out there, if you're wondering for a moment whether it's worth it to just go for it and have a girl... the answer is YES! It's FUN!

One thing I do know is that I am going to have to nip the budding fashionista into some semblance of color coordination. She had on this adorable pink and green outfit the other day and insisted on wearing her brown boots with them... luckily we weren't going into public or else I would have had to wrestle them off her and make her put on the cute new white Mary Janes. All you people can save the "choose your battles" and "eventually she won't want to wear that stuff" speeches... I do choose my battles and believe me, after dressing three boys for eight years, this is one I am willing to fight. As long as I am bigger and stronger, she'll be dressing in bows from head to toe! :)

The last thing I want to get on record, and show you a cute photo of, is Connor's bubble bath adventure. Last night we bathed him in my big tub and turned on the jets (a rare treat since the boys usually make a huge mess of the floor.) At some point we added bubbles and boy was that the recipe for joy! Look at the mountain of bubbles we produced with about a teaspoon full of baby shampoo!

It's a big secret, don't tell anyone!

Okay, since I know you won't tell anyone, I think it's okay to share this story with you.

Liam has a girlfriend. I am not saying too much because I don't want to give away her identity and I also don't want to make him mad, but it's the cutest thing you've ever seen. He is in L-O-V-E with this cutie pie in his class. He comes home and looks at her photo in the yearbook and kisses it. Funny! And he apparently talks about her on the bus non-stop. And he knows she rides bus 40, which I think must mean she lives in Maplewood? Anyway, he's smitten. This is how the conversation went last Thursday.

Liam: Mom, I'm getting married.
Me: Great! Tell me about her.
Liam: Her name is X and she told me she wants to marry me. She said she thought alot about it and she just has to follow her heart.
Me: That's the cutest thing I've ever heard!

Then on Friday it went like this:
Me: Liam, how was your girlfriend today?
Liam: We broke up!
Me: Awww, why?
Liam: First I kissed her and she fell down on the grass and fainted. I kissed her right on the lips.
Me: Is that why she broke up with you?
Liam: No, she broke up with me because... ummm, I don't want to tell you. (he finally did end up telling me, but it was something that only made sense to a first grader.)

Today's conversation went like this:
Liam: X and I are back together.
Me: Oh good, she decide she couldn't live without you?
Liam: No, she said she was going to give me one more chance because she really wants to marry me. And oh, we played together on the playground, which helped her change her mind!

Oh my gosh, don't you wish all disputes could be settled so easily? You get mad (just like in first grade, it's usually over something stupid) and then you just sort of forget why you were mad because you're so busy having fun together. It would probably help if we were all as cute as Liam and his little crush, but nonetheless, I think there's a lesson here for me! :)

Connor's Birthday Party... another failed attempt at the Martha Stewart award!

Yesterday was Connor's birthday party. Yes, yes, I know, it's over three weeks since his birthday, but we have a crazy life and anyway, it took me two weeks to decide what weekend to host it. Turned out we picked a good one because it was so nice out yesterday. I was able to have the ten or so pre-schoolers (mostly) out in the yard for the majority of the party, which really made for a nice relaxing time for everyone. The five moms who stayed were able to visit and enjoy ourselves most of the time.

I am very thankful for good friends who give me alot of grace. I am probably the worst Southern hostess in the history of Southern women! I just can't seem to get it together. Scarlett O'Hara would be appalled at my party-giving abilities, for sure. Yesterday these awesome women that I have surrounded myself with did things that I obviously wasn't thinking to do... like get the drinks out of the fridge, take out the trash and get a garbage bag for wrapping paper and cupcake holders, find the Superman napkins that I had bought but forgotten to put out, etc. etc. etc. (Never mind that I bought Batman plates but never got those out... we'll be using Batman plates for dinner for the next two weeks! :) I know this comes as no surprise to alot of my family who has been put out if not down-right embarrassed for years over my lack of concern for the comfort of my guests! :) It's a joke in the neighborhood that you could sit at my house for an hour before it dawns on me to offer you something to drink. I told one neighbor that if she sees me out and I don't speak to her, don't take it personally, it's not that I don't like her, it's just that I'm not very thoughtful! :) Anyway, like I said, thankfully, I have friends that just take me as I am and don't hold it against me. And even pitch in to make me look "not so bad". Truly, I'm an okay person, I'm just a bit of a party-giving airhead.

But I do have to say that I get the mother of the year award compared to my husband, who slipped upstairs to watch a bit of college football at the beginning of the party and promptly fell asleep. He woke up 15 minutes after the party was over, missed the cake, presents, everything. hehehehe So... I can't say I blame him for not wanting to hang out with five neighborhood moms.

The good news is that Connor never noticed any of our blunders. He got to feel special for two hours, got alot of fun presents (which to a four year old is really what the party is about anyway) and had a blast with his friends! There were only two girls invited, it was like a pack of bear cubs wrestling and giggling for two solid hours.

Here's the evidence of a thoroughly successful celebration, enjoy!

Conversations in the car

Here is what I overheard on the way home from the lake on Sunday:

Brian: Who can tell me one organ of the body?
Liam: HEART!!!
Brian: Yes, good job. What does the heart do?
Connor: Pumps your blood.
Brian: Yes, who can tell me another organ.
Silence
Brian: Can you remember another organ?
Liam: Balls!
Snickers from me and Brian in the front.
Brian: Well, that's not exactly an organ, but what do the balls do?
(Okay, I might have used this opportunity to correct the terminology, but whatever.)
Liam: They hold your babies.
Brian: That's right, Liam, when you get older, that's what helps you make babies.
Connor: Does mom have balls? (Again, I'll resist the urge to point out how big my "balls" must be to take on four kids, but whatever.)
Brian: No, mom has a uterus.
Connor: Hey, no fair, I want a uterus!
More laughter from the front.... more laughter. And now we are dissolved into tears and trying to recover because Connor sees he's gotten a laugh and is saying over and over again, "I want a uterus."

There's just nothing in the world like hearing your four year old son say the word, "uterus". Now, I wonder what this is going to do to their concept of gender as they grow? :) I promptly ordered them a book called, "My Amazing Body" that has all sorts of information on the "organs" of the human body! :)

Watch This!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIdbYjmbFzo

Well, if you have watched that and you can still tell me that you believe Barack Obama is an honest Christian man and he is a man of faith and conviction, then I think the God I serve and the god he serves are vastly different entities. There is NO way that a Christian can justify this type of stance. I don't care where you stand on the life issue, I don't care what your convictions are, I don't care which side of the aisle you sit on or what you tell yourself about abortion so you can sleep at night or so you can vote for your preferred candidate... if you can watch this and still support him, I would sincerely and honestly like to understand why! I have had alot of discussions lately about single issue voting. I would like to think I'm not a single issue voter. I care about the poor. I care about the globe, not just the US. I care about our economy and about Social Security and about people having access to healthcare, particularly for their children. I care about so many issues, but in the end, I guess I am single-minded in that you can be right on all those above mentioned, but on the wrong side of the pro-life fight, and I can't support you. I can't think of another medical situation that takes power from God. Life can't be created or sustained without intervention from the Creator of all life. But life can be taken. It's never His will that babies would die at the hands of a doctor, in my opinion, but the procedure described above is reminiscent of Hitler. How telling that Hillary and even a radical pro-choice group took a "neutral" position. Anyone who doesn't believe Barack is more liberal than Hillary, just stay tuned. I'm fearful for our country when this is the value our proposed leader would place on innocent life.

Let me show you my moves AND the reason we wear helmets

Yes, it was another day at the fun factory, as we like to say around here. Before 8:00 Liam had split his wig on the concrete in front of our house. For some unknown reason (most likely the draw of a possible round of Lego * Wars) Liam was up and dressed at the crack of 6:45. So he got to play his video game for a little while, but then eventually I shooed him outside to get some fresh air before school starts. The bus comes at 8:00 this year, so he went to ride his bike (which I wasn't aware of because I was in the house arguing with Jack over what he was going to wear to school, but that's another story.) Anyway, the next thing I know, there is a scream that must have woken the neighbors and possibly Spring Hill as well (we all know Liam's propensity for drama) and I knew something was really wrong. I find Liam, head bleeding, laying at the bottom of the stairs and I was totally confused as to what had just happened. After alot of coaxing and loving I figure out that he was riding his bike (without his helmet) and fell off and HIT HIS HEAD on the sidewalk in front of the house. I started to lecture him about wearing his helmet and as it turns out, his dad told him it was okay to skip the helmet if he isn't on the street. Anyway, as life just taught him, this is not the best advice dear old dad ever dispensed and probably he will choose the helmet from now on. I'll have a talk with Brian about this later, don't worry. Of course, there had to be some mileage out of a goose egg before 8AM so Liam got to skip the bus and ride into school with me when I went to my meeting around 9:00.

Speaking of meetings, today was the first PTO meeting that I led as Chair. It was fun. We had a GREAT turn-out, probably 40 people, and everyone was very high-spirited for a PTO meeting. Yay!

Now for the funny part of the day. Jack had a scrimmage tonight at the baseball fields so we took the t-ball stuff for the little kids. Connor and Liam got up a game with a couple of the other boys there hanging out and this one kid, probably about five, was really good. He was pretty much dominating the entire thing and it was him against the other three kids that were playing. Anyway, after a while, Connor had had enough of his batting over and over again (because they couldn't get him out.) So Connor walks up to him, takes the bat and says, "Let me show you some of my moves." I thought I would wet my pants. You just have to see Connor, every ounce as big as this five year old, with his absolute lack of talent, whack at the ball, miss the ball altogether but sends the Tee flying into the air and says, "Yeah, baby, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Gotta love it!

Rainy Day Blues?

What do you do with four kids on a rainy day? Well, play in the rain, of course. It was actually very impromptu. I was on the phone and it was really loud in the house so Meg and I stepped onto the front porch to sit in peace, watch it rain, and finish my conversation with Amie. Meg walked out into the rain and I told Amie I needed to go get Meg out of the rain because she was getting wet. Amie said, "So? Let her." Wow, yeah, I hadn't thought of that.

Next thing you know, Jack had put on his swim trunks, Connor had shucked off his shirt, and Meg was drenched to the bone, clothes, hair and all. I ended up out there with them. There was a little stream of water flowing down the hill and into the storm drain (yeah, the same storm drain that contains one of my pieces of silver! But that's a whole other post.) So Connor and Jack are laying down in the water and Meg and I are dancing around in the street to "I Like It, I love it..." Apparently only Liam has the sense to get in out of the rain because he was not about to join us.

I'll post pictures of it in the next couple of days. I don't have time to download the camera right now because I have about a ten foot pile of laundry to go fold, but I had to get this on the blog before it gets pushed by the wayside and I didn't write it down. :)

I'm Not that Smart!

Brian took Connor to get his hair cut. Apparently they were having some really good conversation and Brian told Connor, "You know, you are really smart!" Connor looks up at Brian and says, "Not that smart. I don't know what dog starts with." :) How cute is he? Honestly, he is obsessed with how things are spelled. He must ask me 100 times every day what different words start with. I don't know where the fascination came from. He also asks me 50x each day how old he will be when Liam is x age old. Anyway, he's a sweety! I am so ready for school to start for him. I am afraid he's terribly bored at home. He needs the extra interaction and stimulation of school.



I've been having to focus so much of my attention on Meg that it's hard for him to get any one on one. Therefore, my house is a pig-sty because I play with him when she is napping rather than work on the house. I feel bad for him that he is sort of getting the shaft in this deal lately. Meg has shown a few concerning signs of trying to control her environment, charming us when she is in trouble (and in the psychology world, charming is not really a good term, think about it for a minute and you'll realize why.) Anyway, we know that her attachment is far from secure and just because she is showing good signs of being comfortable with us and knows that we are the ones who are here most of the time, she is by no means ready to be turned loose with a babysitter or have others doing any major caregiving for her. I have been so much more lax with her than I was with the boys. I have been too lax, mostly because I just need the break. So when others are here, I let them hold her, dress her, feed her, take her on walks, or let her stay for short periods of time at other houses with family or close friends. But I am realizing that this is a mistake. She has definitely gotten more controlling the past couple of weeks, so we'll go back to our hyper-vigilent state. I am amazed at myself, how many times in my life have I "known better" but allowed myself to think "this time it's different"?

So, on a totally unrelated note, I am up at midnight because I am pretty sure I am either having a heart attack or I have a hiatal hernia. I have the most intense "heart burn" I have had since pregnancy. I have been getting these bouts of INTENSE burning (like, my ears feel like they are on fire and if I could just throw up I would be SOOOOOO happy) and I absolutely can't sleep. It doesn't go away when I sit up, but it definitely feels better than when I lay down. I've taken Tums like candy, but still no help. So, I am miserably tired, dying to lay down and be asleep, but I can't lay down so I left in bloggerland! What do they do for these hernias anyway? I mean, can't you just take some medicine or something? If so, sign me up tomorrow because this is the pits!

P.S. Have you EVER seen a boy this excited about a birthday present? We got him Leg0 St*r W*rs for the Weeee and WOW, wish they all got that excited over all their presents! :)
P.S.S. Notice the "Gold Medal" he has around his neck. He got it for doing "banastics" at the little gym he goes to ocassionally.

Goodbye Three, it's been good!

 

Connor and I decided that today would be a good day to make birthday cupcakes. I told him that these are not four year old birthday cakes, they are "goodbye three" cupcakes because this is the last day of his life that he will ever be three! (boo hoo)

 

So that inspired me to make up a little song as we were stirring the batter and filling the cupcake papers.

 

I was singing to Connor about all the little things that three have been and all the things that four will bring for him. So here goes:

 

Goodbye three, you've been very good to us. You've taught Connor how to potty. You've taught him how to brush his teeth. You taught him all the sounds that the letters make. You taught him about having sleepovers at someone elses house. You brought him lots of new friends, like Matthew and Bennett and Luke and Carly. You taught him about sleeping in a big boy bed and not getting up in the middle of the night. Three, you taught him how to be a big brother instead of just a little brother. You taught him to swim. You taught him to ride a regular bike with training wheels. Three, we love you because you have been so kind to teach Connor many things he will need to know in life. So many of the things he learned from you were essential to the rest of his life. However, now it's time to say goodbye to you. It's time to kiss you goodnight and put you into the photo album for eternity. Our baby is turning four tomorrow and though there is a part of us that is very sad to see you go, we know that Four will bring alot of exciting new adventures with him too. Four will teach Connor to ride a bike without training wheels. Four will usher him out of Mother's Day Out and into Pre-K. Four will introduce Connor to his first year on the swim team. Four will be the year for alot of learning and new and exciting adventures. Four will build another story on the house that Three laid the foundation for. So, Three, we will miss you, but we must say a final farewell to you today. But don't worry, we'll welcome you back to our house when Meg has her birthday next year, so this isn't quite our final hoo-ra!

We love what you've done with Connor! Thanks alot!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy! We love you!

Mom and Dad

On the first day of X Grade....

 
 


Do you know that song by the Veggie Tales, "On the first day of first grade I'll tell you what he did..."? That's been going through my head all morning as we get the boys ready for first and third grades.


It continues to confound me as a mom how to successfully parent two children who are so polarly opposite. Jack was up before I came in the room this morning, dressed and checking himself out in the mirror. He got completely ready, ate his breakfast in a hurry and ran outside to catch Ms. Pat on her first pass by the house. We call this the "early bus" because Miss Pat actually passes our house twice and Jack likes to be on the first time so he has more time to chat with his buddies.

Liam, on the other hand, had the covers over his head and the moment I started singing our "Rise and Shine" song he started to say that he was too shy and he didn't want to go to school. His nerves continued all morning and he asked to be a "car rider", so Brian took him to school this morning. I am so much more like Jack than Liam that sometimes it's very hard for me to empathize with the fear. I had to keep reminding myself how my friend Sonja would handle things, because she is so patient and she doesn't like new situations either, so she has all this empathy surrounding first days. I just jump into everything, excited about newness and change, so I have to channel my inner Sonja! :)

Overall, it was a successful morning, though. Everyone is out the door and now I am having my coffee while Meg eats her breakfast and Connor enjoys some alone time with the DS for the first time in three months. Ahhhh, the bliss of silence! :)

Another round of "meet the teacher"

I can't believe it, but I think this might have been the third round of Meet the Teacher day since I started this blog. Anyway, guess what, we met our teachers this week! :)

We are so very very excited. Both boys got excellent teachers that we are excited to get to know this year. First of all, Jack is going into Third Grade. This means he moved to the other end of the school on a whole new hallway. And the teacher he was assigned to got Teacher of the Year last year. So we are very excited and have heard nothing but great things about her. Four of his very good friends are in class with him, so that will be a very fun year for Jack. I am really excited for him.

Liam got a great teacher too. Ms. Gentle, now called Mrs. Franklin because of a recent big event in her life! :) (Congrats Mrs. Franklin) She is so wonderful and everyone that has ever been in her class just raves about her. I think she is going to be perfect for Liam. A good blend of kind encouragement, challenge, and cheerleader! His best friend from school is class with him, so that is really great for him. Liam needs the friendship and familiarity that this will provide for him. There are several other good buddies in there with him too, so we are very excited about his first grade year. The really great thing for him too is that his class is the second or third one from the main door so he will enter the school and have a very short walk to class. Liam is the kind of guy who can really appreciate something like this! :)

Today was a very unplanned, lazy day for us. We had scheduled portraits to be done by Mandy Johnson (http://www.mandyjohnsonphotography.com) in downtown Franklin. We thought we would be out of the house by 8:30. But Mandy called this morning and the day was so overcast and gray that we decided to reschedule for Sept. We are doing it on a Saturday and this way Brian will be able to be there for the photos. I am looking forward to meeting and working with her. She is an amazing person. If you get a chance, check out her site. Not only are her photographs amazing and beautiful, she gives so much back to the community that I want to just support her by telling everyone about her. I think it's incredible the things she is involved with, but besides that, you will love the music and looking at her work. It's worth a stop at the site.

But I digress.... instead of getting our photos done, we went over to Micah and Asher's house and had a "skateboard show". Liam was the judge and announcer and he did an amazing job. And the talent and skills in "this year's show" was better than ever. Check out some of the photos for yourself. No autographs please!

A Face Only A Mother Could Love???

 

I've heard that there are faces only mothers could love. But I have never thought that any of my children fit that category... until I saw this photo. Poor Liam missing so many teeth and then also having about 50 fever blisters... well, probably only a mother! :)

Just another day in the life....

 

Meg has really warmed up to Jack. She started giving him hugs today. You can see that she has also learned what to do for the camera! :)

Will the REAL Righty Harrison please stand up!

YAY!!!! We FOUND RIGHTY! :)

This little elephant went to Russia with us to bring Jack home. It was a gift from his Godmother, Kendra. This elephant was LOVED LOVED LOVED by Jack from day one. He held onto it and wouldn't let go. It was his security thing. I have countless photos of him holding this elephant in every location we have vacationed because it literally went everywhere with us.

Two summers ago, we left our condo and couldn't find Righty anywhere. The lady who owned the condo ended up finding him in the fold up couch and mailed him back to us. Shortly afterward, he went missing again, and has been gone for over a year. I have felt sorry several times for the loss of Righty because it was such a sweet part of Jack's babyhood.

Well, guess what! Last night Jack had a sleepover and we got sleeping bags, etc. out of the attic. Now remember we've used these sleeping bags on MULTIPLE occasions in the past year, but somehow or other, Righty appeared on the living room floor this morning, and I can only assume he fell out of one of the bags when the boys were cleaning up from the camp-out. I am SO happy to have him back!

These Boys Can Swim!

Swim team practice has been going strong for a few weeks, but today kicked off our first meet of the season. It was against Old Natchez Country Club, a big rival. This team is coached by a former Olympic Swimmer and they generally have good, fast swimmers. However, I must say that I will take our FABULOUS Coach Catie ANY DAY over any Olympic Swimmer. And our Flippers just ROCKED the pool today! I forewarn you that I took 342 photos, so if you don't have much time, don't click on the link over there. :) But if you want to see some amazing shots of some awesome kids doing what they do, then feel free.

This is the best activity the boys are involved in. This is a neighborhood group of kids that has come in four short seasons to form a very cohesive team. To think back where we were four years ago to now, our kids are doing their strokes appropriately, they are tagging the wall, they just know what to do. It's amazing to see it come off! The kids are so sweet. They have swim buddies and they all support one another, they are using good sportsmanship, and they are making lifelong friends and memories that I know will tie them to our neighborhood and neighbors for years to come. I just love our neighborhood! I am so happy we live here. I was just so proud of these kids today... especially Liam. He swam hard, won a second and third place, and overcame nerves to get in that pool and do his thing. Jack did great today too! The great thing about Jack is he does it all with a big grin on his face. He is well known at the pool for grinning ear to ear when he takes his breath, you can clearly see it in the photos! Connor was even so well behaved. I'm proud of them all for the work they did today!

Only one week 'til we leave to get the M and M and this will no longer be a "boys only" blog! :)

Summer is for sleepovers

When Brian left town, I planned to let the boys have lots of sleepovers and lots fun. We accomplished one of two goals. This week has been a blast. We have just been on summer time schedule, no chores, just hanging out together and having fun. But we only managed one sleepover. However, it was a fun sleepover. Liam's best buddy, Connor, spent the night with us. Jack enjoyed him as much as Liam did, I think. We caught lightening bugs and bumble bees (Liam's new favorite passtime) and picked apples off the tree. The funny thing was that the apples then became missiles that could be launched back and forth between our yard and the next door neighbors. The boys would lob the apples over the fence and the neighbors kids would lob them back, which eventually turned into an "Apple War" that evolved into and over the fence water fight with the hoses. It was such a fun night for all the kids.

I was getting everyone popcorn before the movie and I heard Liam and his friend in here talking, I had to laugh, the conversation went like this:
Liam: Remember when you just loved me a little bit. Why did you just love me a little.
Connor: I just knew you a little so I just loved you a little.
Liam: Yeah, that was back in the old days when you didn't know me alot.
Connor: Now I love you alot.
Liam: You're the one I needed. I love you!

Now, I was laughing my head off at the "back in the old days" comment, but how many six year old boys do you know who met at age three and are like bossom buddies? These two truly love one another.

The night ended with the boys on the pull out sofa. But one by one, starting with Liam's buddy, Connor, they ended up in my bed. So, this morning I woke up with four boys in my bed (all four!) I took a photo of it, but I am typing this post on Brian's laptop and my camera software is not on here, so I will have to add the photo later.

Now we are off to end our week of "vacation" with a movie. We are going with the boys Aunt and Cousin (my beautiful niece, Reilly) to see Kung Fu Panda. I can't wait to have popcorn, coke and candy for dinner! :)

Ahhh, Summer!

Okay, I LOVE summer. No schedules, no homework, no bedtime, no alarm clocks. And on top of that, my favorite shoes in the whole wide world are flip-flops, so needless to say, summer is time for happy feet! :)





So, today was a big day for us at the pool. Connor actually started swimming on his own, unassisted, under water! :) Yeah! Very exciting stuff in the life of a family who LIVES at the pool. Now if I could just figure out how to not burn one part of my body every day in the sun, life would be perfect!



Connor really loves rubbing Liam's head. So does everyone else for that matter. It's really funny, one of our neighbors is due to have her baby next week and she has this gorgeous tummy. She's been wearing a bikini to the pool. She rubs Liam's head while he rubs her tummy. :)


Oh yeah, one note, you might notice that I've added the Ray Stevens song "the Streak" to the blog music. That's because my house seems to be an exhibitionist resort. Each of our three boys have enjoyed going around in the buff, the youngest being no exception. Connor was out standing in the front yard yesterday with no pants on and at least three different sets of neighbors stopped to talk to us. So I thought this could be our summer theme song! :)

Life with Liam!

I noticed when I looked at the blog that most of my posts lately have been about Liam. But the kid is just so funny that he gives me great material to work with. Like todays insert for example. Liam came into our room last night about 11:00 with this big goofy grin on his face. Me: LIAM! What have you done? Liam: I cut my hair. I wanted to look cute. AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! So, downstairs we go, Jack close behind because he can never miss a minute of action or an opportunity to heckle his brother. I got out the clippers to try to fix the mess Liam had made. But there was nothing to be done except....

I took the camera to catch Liam's first moment of expression when he saw himself pretty much bald! The look of amazement on his face is sweet, but a little scary. I'm thinking the shock didn't quite have the deterrent affect I was hoping for. Oh my!

Yesterday was the last day of school. Connor and I went to Jack's class pic-nic. It was fun and surprisingly, I feel ready to say good-bye to second grade. With Liam leaving Kindergarten, it's so much sadder than for Jack to be leaving 2nd Grade. In third grade, Jack has to move to another end of the building. He's on the "big kids" hall now. But he's ready. I'm looking forward to the new adventure with him.

Another really big milestone at our house is that LIAM LEARNED TO RIDE HIS BIKE on Tuesday! He wanted to learn while he was in Kindergarten and I informed him he only had two more days. So he got out in the street and worked on it by himself (he didn't want me to touch the bike) and little by little he got it. This is such a big deal for him, you have no idea! Anyway, we ended up riding down the street in front of our house with me screaming cheers at the top of my lungs and before you know it, there are four neighborhood families standing on the sides of the street cheering for him as he rode by. Some of the older boys up the street came out too and rode along side him giving him encouragement. It was the SWEETEST moment!

Today is the first day of summer. Both boys have planned sleepovers with friends to celebrate the occasion. Connor will be stuck at home with mom and dad so we may take him to a movie or something. Last night we ended up having an impromptu block party as one friend after another just showed up to ride their bikes down our big hill. Each time their parents would pull out a lawn chair and the next thing you know, we're grilling and our neighbor has lit a fire in his fire pit and it's a full on party! That's the thing I love about this neighborhood. There are so many kids, and we have so many friends here. I just don't take it for granted. Of course, it doesn't hurt that my kids have two of their best friends right across the street and their mom is one of my best friends. :)

Well, we're off to school to pick up report cards and show everyone Liam's glowing dome! I told him to look on the bright side, he won't need a swim cap for swim team this year.

Good-Bye Kindergarten

Today was a fun, but sad day for me. It was Liam's Kindergarten Pic-nic. This is a tradition for Moore students. They reserve a pic-nic spot and take the kids every year. I have been fortunate enough to attend both Jack's and Liam's class pic-nic. It's sad though, to be saying good-bye to Kindergarten for Liam. K is such a sweet year. It's so much more loving and kind than first grade. It's such a sheltered and protected time. Once they leave those classrooms, alot more is expected of our kiddos. It seems there aren't enough hours in the day to learn everything required of a 1st grader. So, while I know it's a great thing that Liam is moving on to First Grade, it means he's growing and maturing as he should be and he's accomplishing all the things that a six year old should. But still, it's sad to close that door and say good-bye to those sweet friendships (where boys and girls play together and EVERYONE gets along), good-bye to Mrs. McKinney our sweet teacher who has been a little angel on Liam's shoulder this year, and good-bye to another school year altogether.

First Communion

Jack had his first holy communion today. I can't believe I have a son old enough to be taking communion. It was a really sweet service. Father Ed started the service out with his cell phone ringing. He had his hand on his hip and was looking around like someone had forgotten to turn their phone off. Then he says, "Oh, it's mine. Oh look, it's the Pope." and so on and so on. So he pretended to talk to the Pope and get a blessing for the kids. It was really cute. The childrens liturgy at Christmas should be so easy! :)

Look how handsome Jack looked in his communion gear! He is very excited to take communion with us next Sunday at church. Maybe this will make church more fun until the new wears off. I am so proud of him today. My baby is growing up, though. Here are a few more photos of the day.

Spring Concert Stage Fright

Okay, yesterday was Connor's spring concert and it turned out to be a total disaster, or very funny, depending on how you look at it. He was so excited when he saw me, he kept saying, "Mommy, hi Mommy!" And waving very big. He was actually positioned on the opposite side of the stage from where I was sitting, so I moved to the other side of the auditorium to get a better camera angle on him. When he saw me, he started screaming and crying and did not want to sing. So he sat in my lap through the entire concert.

Afterward they were having a trike parade through downtown Franklin. Waiting for the line to start moving, he decided to pop a wheely on his tricycle, it flipped over, he hit his head on the sidewalk, and that was the end of the parade for us. We loaded up the car, went home, and called it a wash! :)

When we got home, I took some really adorable photos of my beautiful niece, Reilly. Just another day in the life!

Introducing Leon Harrison

Have you ever seen a prouder smile on the boy? My dad bought Liam a horse for Christmas and he named it Leon Harrison. Leon was my grandfather's name. Don't call the horse Leon, his name is Leon Harrison and Liam will quickly correct you if you don't use the full name.

We had a little Christmas party here at the house and Liam told Santa the only thing he wanted was a horse. I guess after last year's "all I want is a puppy. If you can't get me a puppy, don't get me anything." Liam thought he would aim higher. Of course, if Pop hadn't pulled through, Liam might have found himself disillussioned with Santa because I certainly wasn't signing up to keep a horse at any boarding stable.

Anyway, we are so excited for Liam because this is one thing that is just his, he takes so much pride in the fact that he has a horse and it's something he has that sets him apart from both of his brothers and all of his classmates. And it really is a very pretty horse!

Here comes the son....

Get it? hehehe

Okay, we had a fun and busy weekend. Memphis won their final four game so they are going to the National Championship tomorrow! Go TIGERS!!! The Schenkels and Simmons came over to watch the game and we had a great time. Connor and Carly were so cute hanging out on the bean bag chair I had to get a photo! Carly is my god-daughter and I tell you what, I could eat that girl with a spoon! She is this precious three year old with a personality just like her mamma. She's going to be fun to hang with when she is about 15. Watch out world! The other big event of the weekend was tiling our boys bathroom. Those of you who have been to our house know that room has been an eye-sore for a very long time... like maybe a few years. Anyway, one fish down the drain and a plumbing mishap later, we have new tile and it looks awesome! I have to give my husband some major credit. He has become quite skilled at tiling. He did this project totally on his own and made about 100 trips up and down the steps to cut tile, etc. But look at the finished product... AWESOME!

Well, maybe you can't get a good feel for how great it looks, but the tile are subway tiles (shaped like bricks) and he did a fantastic job. The baseboards have to be replaced now and the grout is still not in, but the major job is over and I LOVE it. Now the rest of the finishing touches will be up to me. I will have to paint the cabinets (the red, blue and orange don't look polished enough for the new tile, besides, they won't lend themselves to a boy/girl bathroom anyway.) I will paint the ceiling and touch up the wall where the tile removal pulled some of the paper down. I'm actually thankful for the project. Maybe that will keep my mind off the long week ahead of us.

We are waiting to see if we actually get registered in St. Petersburg on Monday, April 14. The agency is telling us that if we are registered on the 14th, we might be able to travel on April 20. I am VERY excited and hopeful. Please, please pray for us that this is the date. I am just about to come out of my skin waiting to meet our daughter!

Easter

I just couldn't resist posting some photos of the boys in their Easter outfits. I think I am going to be bombarded with phone calls from girls in a few years! I'm not biased at all.... ha

Life in the fast lane...

Well, some wouldn't exactly consider my life the "fast lane", but I beg to differ. A couple of weeks ago, Jack took home the trophy for the fastest pinewood derby car in the Wolf Pack (cub scouts). Now this is quite an honor in itself, but the bigger excitement is that he ALSO took home second place overall in the entire PACK!!!! That means he will compete in the District Pinewood Derby on April 26. This is so exciting. Last year he also took home first place in his den, but did not place in the pack, so we didn't get to go to Districts. But two years in a row of winning first place in his den is pretty impressive so now we have a reputation to uphold for sure. And next year, his little brother will be in on the action too.

Liam has had big adventures lately too. Pop (my dad) bought him a horse and Liam is over the moon for him. Liam named his horse "Leon Harrison". He talks about him all the time. It's funny because there are certain clothes that he won't wear to school, a dark pair of jeans, certain button-down shirts. But he always wants to wear these when he is going to Pop's to see his horse. I have really got to take a trip down with him soon to see Leon Harrison because Liam is getting pretty upset that none of us have witnessed his riding accomplishments.

One other thing that has happened since our last post is that Jack was selected as an All-Star for the basketball league he played in this winter. He turned out to be quite the little player. He got more and more agressive with each game and actually ended up with two fouls the last game due to agressive blocking... you can imagine that Brian was very proud. But what you can't imagine is that I was the crazy mom on the sidelines screaming continually... I never thought I'd be THAT parent... but never say never, right!

This is Jack with his coaches.