Growing Up...

He wants to talk on the phone, and he has inherited the gift of gab. He takes the phone and walks around in circles while he tells the other half of the conversation anything that comes into his ever-moving brain. And when he’s done talking, he says, “Okay. I love you. Bye.” And hands over the phone to the nearest adult.

Yesterday, I called home and he told me that you’re not supposed to cross the big black lines on the picture when you’re coloring. He told me that if you did cross the black lines, then it was just “scribble scrabble.” I literally had tears in my eyes, thinking about how big my little boy is getting. Tomorrow I’m going to wake up and he’ll be graduating from kindergarten, and then going to high school, and then moving out. I can’t believe it!

Little Bit is getting bigger, too. She apparently won’t let anyone else have any food that she can’t have. And she’ll get it from them, too! Yesterday at daycare she ate a blueberry muffin when everyone else ate breakfast, and then the two jars of baby food she always eats. Then for lunch, she ate spaghetti like everyone else, along with the regular two jars of baby food afterward. After she finally took a little bit of a nap, she ate some crackers and cheese while waiting on me to get there. The silly part is that she still hasn’t gained much weight. I have no idea where she puts it all after it goes into her mouth. The lady at daycare says she knows… she changes the diapers.

Great Communication

I'm going bald. My hair is coming out by the fistfuls. When I wash my hair and run my fingers through my hair to get all the soap out, I have to wash my hands of all the hair that came out with it. It's really gross. I'm really wondering what the deal is. I am still nursing my little girl, but I nursed Micheal until he was 10 months old, and Rebecca is only 9 months. I don't remember this last go around. Luckily, it's just an all over general thinning instead of one specific spot. Stupidly, I mentioned my fear to my husband. His response was that he would still love me... even when I'm old, fat and bald. How sweet. Wait a minute! Did I say anything about my age or weight? No, I just told him about my hair!?! What is he implying? Argh.

This conversation was followed up a few days later when we were shopping for some new pants for him. I happened to see a cute shirt on sale, so I tried it on. Here is the conversation:

Me: What do you think?
Him: (eyes locked on my chest) I like that shirt.
Me: Hey, does the design around the bottom make my butt look big?
Him: Not any more than usual.
Me: Gee, thanks dear.
Him: Well, that's why we're working out now, so that it will get smaller again.

A week later, he swore that he didn't remember that conversation, and agreed with me that it wasn't the most loving comment he could have made. That didn't stop him from giving me a hard time about anything else, though.

That's the key to a great marriage, right? Great communication!

Daddy, Daddy

While attending grandma’s church this weekend, little Micheal was behaving very well. When the offering plate was passed around, Micheal wanted to put his bulletin in, since everyone else was putting something in there. When Daddy told him that it was money that people were putting in and not paper, this was the conversation:

M: Daddy, do you have any money?
D: No, not today, baby.
M: Well, then you can’t come to church.

Good to know that’s what my son thinks about church already, after only 1 visit. Great.

And little miss sunshine is getting into everything she can get her hands on, and she loves Daddy’s newspapers. And in true Daddy-daughter style, Daddy lets her have them.

Long Time... No Words!

So, I noticed that the last time I posted it was January. Now it's April. Crap.

I don't know where those months have gone, other than so much faster than I ever thought possible. Rebecca is growing fast, learning to do things very quickly! She's still very little for her age, though, I guess, but we just call her petite. She is perfect no matter what.

Micheal has started baseball, and we practice two nights a week and have games very early on Saturday mornings. If you ask him how his game went, his answer starts with "I didn't whine or cry..." It's a start.

Jonathan has gotten a promotion at work and will start a shift with more regular hours and days at the end of the month.

We lost our beloved Papaw at the beginning of this month. Jonathan's grandfather was a very special man that touched the hearts of many people. He was a true hero, and we will miss him very much.

I know that there's so much more that has gone on that I have wanted to post about, but I'm running out of time again, so I'll try to think of something else again tomorrow.

More Fun

It’s fun to sing along to the radio,
But it’s more fun to listen to your 3-year old sing the songs on the radio

It’s fun to have favorite songs come on the radio,
But it’s more fun to see your son’s face light up when a song he knows comes on.

It’s fun to watch a movie,
But it’s more fun to watch your son watching his favorite movie (and singing along, too)

It’s fun to plan a day to do nothing,
But it’s more fun to spend that day doing nothing with a babbling three month old little girl.

It’s fun to blow bubbles from a bottle,
But it’s more fun to watch the baby learning to blow bubbles in her drool. (cute, not gross)

It’s fun to have hot chocolate on a cold night,
But it’s more fun to share that hot chocolate with the little boy that is watching Polar Express and singing about hot chocolate.

It’s fun to buy things for your baby girl,
But it’s more fun to buy other things for your friend’s brand new baby girl!

See, I told you this was the most fun I’ve ever had!

Please God, don't let me get pulled over...

I’ve been back at work for a couple weeks now, and have been doing the pumping at work thing twice a day… enough to keep my little chunker happy. This week was Rebecca’s first week at daycare also, and we’ve been adjusting very well. Except for the fact that the first two days she ate every hour and a half. You’d think that meant that she ate a little bit every time, but yesterday she ate six times for a total of twelve ounces!! As a comparison, she usually eats about six or seven ounces in that same amount of time when she’s at home. Maybe it was just a “growing day” or she was using food as a comfort while she’s adjusting to new surroundings. Either way, she used up all of the bags that I left for her at daycare. So, I dropped off new ones today, praying that it would be enough. I figured if it wasn’t, they’d call me.

Today was a doozy for me, though. We got ready for school and got in the car and on the road at the right time, and it was looking to be a great day! But then it came time for my conference period and I started getting my pump ready. And then I noticed that I didn’t have the plug that I needed. I called my husband in a panic, and then realized the only thing I could really do was go home and get it. Otherwise, I was going to be in pain and have a wet shirt by the time the next class started. So, I grabbed my pump and my purse and ran to the car and FLEW home. On the way home, I started planning. I had forty-five minutes to make a thirty minute round trip and pump for at least twenty-five minutes, including set up and cleanup time. I’m a math teacher, and that just doesn’t add up. So, I got my pump all set up, because once I got home, I was going to grab my plug AND some batteries, and I was going to pump in the car on the way back to school, and just pray that I didn’t get stopped on my way there. That just wasn’t something I wanted to try to explain to one of my husband’s coworkers.

Unfortunately, the batteries didn’t make it work. No idea why new batteries didn’t work in a pump that has used batteries before. So, I looked for the car adapter, but my husband had it for his laptop. So, I FLEW back to school so that I could plug in at school. I made it back to school with about fifteen minutes left in my conference period, so I hid in the office instead of going into my room, for fear of someone unlocking my door for my kids and everyone walking in to my worst nightmare.

All in all, it’s funny now, not so funny then. Can’t you just see it on TV? One of the funniest videos from the policeman’s dashboard camera, catching his face turn scarlet red, making excuses as he backs away from my car? Yeah, not what I want my fifteen minutes of fame to be about.

Every Day Christmas

Having a new little sister in the house means lots of things to all of us. For Micheal, it means a renewed look at old toys he had forgotten about, or toys that he never knew he used to love so much, and fully intends to love again!

Example one: We brought down the Exersaucer tonight, to see if she could sit up in it well enough to get her off the floor every so often... and after she spent five minutes in it before falling asleep, Micheal hasn't left it alone. He found the octopus that sings music, the frog that rings a bell, the starfish that squeak when you push them. Gotta love baby toys!

Merry Christmas!

It has been almost a month since I last posted.... please forgive me!

I went back to school two weeks ago, leaving my baby girl with my mother-in-law for three days one week, and with her daddy the last week before breaking for Christmas. Then, we had family Christmas with his side of the family at our house on Sunday, and we're having Christmas with my family today and tomorrow. We needed an escape from our house.

Ever since June, we've had weekends full with family dealing with Mamaw and Papaw's failing health. We do our part, but it gets suffocating when you think you have a free Friday night before people are coming over, and instead, people show up early. Argh. So much for spending alone time with my husband. If it's not one of the two children needing my time, it's someone else needing my time, and I don't get to spend it with my husband or even by myself.

It's sad when you have to leave your own house to get a little alone time. Heck, leave your own city!

Anyway, I'm not stressing out about the holidays, and neither should you! They're almost over!

And then we all go back to school and back to having family at my house more than I am ready for! Yippee!
By the way... Anyone need any weekend visitors? Next time someone shows up at my house, I'm out of there. They can have the house. I'll escape to somewhere else.

Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy time with your family... or time apart, whichever makes you happy!

From the Mouth Of...

Micheal… my favorite three year old!

- - After going potty, he decided to take off his underwear and only put back on his pants. When he emerged from the bathroom to exclaim his freedom from underwear, his daddy laughed and I asked why he didn’t want to wear underwear. He told me that he “just didn’t want to.” When I told him that normal people wear underwear, his response was:

Well, I’m not normal!

You’re right, kiddo! You’re not normal! You’re extraordinary!

- - After being put to bed, Micheal decided that he needed someone to lay down with him “for just a minute.” Problem was, Daddy had gone to bed already, too, and Mommy was trying to get a crying Rebecca to go to sleep also. We tried to lay down with him for a couple minutes, but Rebecca didn’t want to lie still, and Micheal couldn’t go to sleep without trying to love on his sister. So, we had to get up and let him go to sleep by himself. Micheal didn’t like that idea.

You need to give the baby to Daddy and come lay down with me.
I can’t do that tonight, Micheal, Daddy’s trying to sleep, too, and I’m trying to get you and your sister to sleep.
Well, you need a new baby that doesn’t cry so that you can put her down.


- - Somewhere in the depths of the floorboard of my car, Micheal found an old pair of cheap sunglasses with one of the sides missing.

Who broke my glasses Mommy?
I’m pretty sure that you broke them a long time ago.
When I was a baby?
No, not that long ago, but it was probably when you were smaller.
I think my sister broke it.

And so it begins… blaming the sister. Gotta love siblings!

Topics

At our house, there are only three things that people want to talk to me about: Sleep, boobs, and poop.

They ask about how the baby is sleeping.

They ask about how well she eats.

They laugh about how loud her toots are, and hand her back to me, knowing that she just made a nice mess for me to clean up.

Does any of this bother me? Heck no!! I am super excited to have all this excitement in my life again, and I will answer any and all questions about my sweet baby girl all day long!

Just don't try and tell me that I need to try to break her habits before I have to go back to work or that I need to try and make her keep to a schedule a little better, and all that other crap that is well intentioned, but still doesn't need to be said.

I have about three weeks left before I have to go back to work, and I am already dreading the fact that I am going to have to leave her at home and go deal with rugrats at school. The good part is that I have talked to my sub, and they are really ready for me to come back! :) HA! Funny how they were so ready for me to leave, now they want me back! I can see how some mothers never go back to work, but I also know that I like to go to work, so I'll enjoy the time I am paying to take, because I want to soak in every moment that I can!

I am so thankful for my little family. I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. A wonderful husband, a sweet little boy, and an adorable little girl. A job that helps me afford the things I want to give my children, and family members that love my children and provide more love for them than I ever knew possible. I hope your Thanksgiving is full of love and happiness, too!

As Requested...

I've been having technical difficulties... sorry it took so long!

Here are a few pictures of my beautiful baby girl...

And one of both my beautiful babies!!

Now you can see why I haven't posted much lately! I've been too busy staring at her!

Now you're going to be stuck, too!!

IT'S A ...

GIRLY GIRL!!

We named her Rebecca Dawn, she was born on Wednesday, October 24th at 4:44 pm weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. After a couple days of really unfun contraction feelings and pain all day long, my doctor and I decided that we would try to induce on Wednesday morning. Not knowing how long we would be in labor, and remembering how late visitors showed up after being in labor with Micheal, we opted not to make phone calls until after the baby was born. Then, thanks to the joy of texting, I opted to text more people than call people, because I was really tired. The only reason I even chose that option was because I had been answering texts all day long of people asking if I had had a baby yet or not. I was even getting phone calls in my room from the day care people! My husband even unplugged the phone at one point, and my mom plugged it back in after she was born.

Then, twenty four hours later, we went home! I stayed in the hospital two days for Micheal, and this time I didn't want to do that. I am much more comfortable at home!

I'll post pictures when I get them off the camera. She is too beautiful to not share.

Still Waiting...

As of right now, I'm still pregnant, and without regular contractions.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, I was not so lucky, but I haven't had any of that caliber since then. I do feel like this baby has dropped even more since last Monday, but we'll just have to wait and see what my doc says tomorrow afternoon at my apppointment... if I make it that far! :)

My husband just told my son to come and pat my belly, because then maybe it would pop, because I was blown up like a balloon. Isn't that nice of him? So sweet.

Maybe next time I post, it will be with a picture and a name! :)
Here's hoping!

What does he know?

So, my doctor now says that this baby has dropped a little earlier than we thought, and that I have about a week before we get to welcome this baby into our world. I am a little nervous about all this happening a little earlier than we first thought, but I am starting to get a little bit more excited as the days go on.
I am ready at home, and I am about half a step away from being ready at school. I left today knowing that if I had this baby tonight, I'd be alright and be able to leave my kids in able hands. For a few weeks at least.
Then, I want them back.

Getting there...

I am about three weeks away from having this large lump on my front reduce itself and come out into the real world. I will miss feeling the little movements, but not the ones where I feel like the baby is trying to bust out from the womb using feet instead of heading out the natural way. I will miss Micheal hugging up to my belly and talking to the baby, patting the baby, and telling the baby to be nice to Mommy. I will miss looking down and being in awe at the fact that God has chosen me as the vessel in which to grow this new life. And I am continuously amazed at how much this little thing that causes weird reactions in my body will be a fully formed baby by the end of the month.

This weekend, I actually felt that "cleaning bug" that they talk about as a "nesting". I think mine is just out of fear that in about three weeks, my mother and mother-in-law will be here, and I don't want them to think that I haven't done ANY cleaning in nine months, even though I really haven't.

I also went to the store and bought a new outfit for the baby. Last time, I didn't get smart, I bought a dress in case it was a girl, and a different outfit for a boy. The problem was that they were both white, and I learned that white isn't the color to choose for a brand new baby first picture. So, this time, I bought a pink one and a blue one. Whichever one we don't use, we'll take back. I almost bought an orange pumpkin one, but then I decided that IF we actually had this baby on Halloween, I'd send someone else out to get it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?

So, now is when I need your help. It's been over three years since I had to plan to go to the hospital, and I can't remember those things that I should pack that I wouldn't have thought of. Can you help me remember what I need?
Thanks!

B-U-S-Y

It has been over a month since I have posted anything, and it is all because of four letter words. I told you that none of them were any good... I'll try to summarize as much as I can as quickly as I can.



M-I-N-D: My husband's Mamaw had brain surgery (to remove a tumor and hopefully slow down the process of dementia) at the beginning of the month, and we have been dealing with hospital, rehab and getting her home issues almost every day. Before the surgery, her mind was so lost that she was very upset with me for doing what I was told to do... it was really hurtful and mean, so I tried to avoid all phone contact with the outside world for about ten days. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law also was feeling the pressure, so I don't think there was a single day that I didn't talk to my MIL. Then there were the two weeks that my MIL stayed here in town instead of being in Dallas at her own house. Only one week of that was at our house, but she was still here. Parts of it were helpful, though, like when I didn't have to pick up Micheal every afternoon...

But, we're back to having someone at our house almost every weekend again, which makes for a very long month.



J-O-B-S: I really do enjoy my new job this year, and I know that I am way less stressed out about this job as I would have been if I had stayed at my old job this year. The hardest part is that it's a new job, so I am trying to get re-organized. I had my routine down to a "T" because I had five years to perfect it and know where everything was in my classroom. Now this is a new room with new things, and I am still trying to find the best places for things to go to make it easiest on me, instead of just throwing it in one place and trying to figure it out later.

I'm also teaching a college class on Thursday nights. It's called Basic College Math, but I am really teaching them how to add and subtract fractions and decimals. No lie. One woman is going back after being out of school for a while, and she says that her son likes to help her with her homework. I'm just glad that she's got help.



B-O-Y-S: My child keeps me running, and my husband is almost just as bad... :)

Micheal started AWANNA at church this year, and it is on Wednesday nights. So, starting Wednesday nights, we go to AWANNA, then Thursday night I teach, which means I just stay in town all day until it's time for class, then I finally get home about 9. Then Friday night is football night for my husband, so that leaves Micheal and I, and we usually go to play with Micheal's little girlfriend and her mommy, since their daddy is with our daddy. Saturday is almost a wasted day for me because there is so much to do that I'm overwhelmed and only want to sit on the couch and get fatter.

Not a Joke

Last time I told you about how we brought home a new fish and the fish had babies. That was on a Friday. We went all week long watching the number of little babies diminish, very slowly, but lower nonetheless. Then, ten days later, we came home from church and I noticed that there was something different about the fish tank. I started counting little black dots again and found a total of sixteen little black dots.... WHAT? MORE? When I left that morning, there had been only eight babies left. Now she added another eight babies? Are you kidding? I called the pet store and was told by the man from the fish department that since she's the only adult in the tank, that it was "weird" that she had actually had more babies ten days later. "Weird?" That's all he can tell me? I mean, seriously, I already knew that! I think that this fish happens to be the Virgin Mary of all fish. Weird indeed.

I also think that all that procreation did something to my other two non-Black Molly fish. Monday afternoon, one of the minority succumbed, and then on Thursday, the other one expired.

As of this morning, there were only three baby fish along with the mother. Survival of the fittest, indeed! I guess I won't have to worry about finding homes for the rest of the babies, huh?

And Two Became 16…

This past weekend we had a very surprising life-changing event occur at our house. After losing yet another inhabitant in our fish tank about a week ago, I finally decided to replace it. With my mother in town visiting, we went to the other town that actually has a few stores, including a pet store. So, we bought one more little tiny fish to replace the one that was lost, and then we bought a Black Molly fish so that there was at least one fish that we could see.

Once I got them home, I put their bag into our fish tank to let them acclimate themselves to their new home. I left them in there for about ten minutes, while I went to go take care of Micheal and to start getting ready for our trip to Dallas for the circus. When I walked by the tank again, I happened to glance at the bag and see something that caught my eye. It looked like a bunch of little rocks, or that the black fish had expelled some waste or something, because they were all black.

And then one moved.

So I looked a little closer, and there were eight little black dots, ALL of them moving… little tiny baby black mollies! J I called the pet store, who told me that I could make the almost hour drive back to the store to return the fish, or I could keep the mommy and the babies separate, because she would eat them. The problem was that neither of those choices was going to work for me. We only have a 1.5-gallon tank, and there isn’t room to put a separate little holder in there for the babies to grow, and I don’t just have a spare tank or air filter lying around the house. So, I just left the babies in there. Another ten minutes went by, and I wanted to count the little babies again, just so that I could keep track of them. When I counted again, I counted THIRTEEN BABIES!!! Are you kidding me? I only wanted three fish, and I ended up having sixteen fish in a 1.5-gallon tank. Not funny. I put in enough food to keep them happy for the day, and I put in one of those weekend feeders, because we were in the middle of packing the car to go to Dallas for two days for the circus. What fun timing for all of this.

We left our house with sixteen fish on Friday night, and came home to find only nine little baby fish on Sunday afternoon. As of today, I have seen eight little babies swimming around, along with the three bigger adult fish. So, our mortality rate isn’t as high as I thought it might be, and now I am wondering what might happen if all of these little babies keep living, I’m going to have to upgrade tanks, or find someone that wants a few new fish. This should be interesting.

The best part is that it has really been a neat thing for Micheal to see, because he knew that he had one black fish, and then she had babies, just like Mommy is going to have a baby in a couple months. It’s amazing the amounts of life lessons that a simple little fish tank can offer.

Name Game

When my husband and I got pregnant the first time, we had no trouble picking out a boy name, as we had relatives that we wanted to honor. Since we didn't find out until he was born that he was indeed a boy, we also had a girl name picked out. Now that we're pregnant again, and again not finding out the sex of the baby, we needed a boy and girl name again. We decided that we still liked the girl name from the first time we got pregnant, so we decided to keep that one as an option this time. However, the boy name is proving to be a much tougher decision this time. Out of seriousness or not, I don't know, but my husband suggested using his father's name for the boy name, and I immediately rejected that idea. I just don't see myself introducing my little baby boy to the world as a Frank. So, ever since then, my husband has rejected every name I have put out there, out of spite, mainly, but now that we really are getting down to a time when we really need to decide on something, I can't remember the ones I really liked that he shot down, and he won't come up with anything that isn't stupid, like Fido. So, I am officially asking for help. I have given up the fight with him on trying to pick a name that he would like, and he doesn't feel like sitting down to think about it right now either. So, here are the restrictions:

1. It must go with the middle name Edward. (His father's middle name, my compromise)

2. I don't want it to start with an M, since two of the three of us already do start with that letter. I also don't want it to start with an A, since our last name is an A, and I don't want his initials to be AA.

3. I don't want his initials to be something that spells something stupid or vile. For example, if we named him Peter Edward, it would be P.E.A. I don't like that.

4. Lastly, I don't really want a name that can be easily shortened into a nickname. I named my firstborn Micheal, not Mike, not Mikey, and I don't want him called anything other than that. For example, Thomas is a really nice name, but I don't want anyone to call him Tommy.

Clear as mud, right? Now you know why I am having problems with choosing a name. A little help, please?

Down, but not out...

Now that I have a noticeable belly in front of me, seeing as I am six months pregnant, my balance is a little bit off. I am usually pretty good about compensating for this new difference in feeling, but yesterday it didn’t happen quite quick enough.

It was raining when Micheal and I were leaving the house yesterday, so I decided to go and put all of my things into the car before I came back to get Micheal and put him into the car. Since we don’t have a garage or covered carport, I’m used to this kind of thing, and have it down to an art. Almost. I had all of our stuff in my hands and I was trying to avoid the runoff from the roof of the house, while at the same time making sure that my feet found the treads that my husband put on the steps of the deck so that I wouldn’t slip and fall. Unfortunately, my foot didn’t find enough of the tread and I slipped off the step and landed knee down in the wet muddy grass. I also bumped my shin pretty good on the step while I was going down.

I didn’t land on my belly, and I didn’t even drop any of the things in my hand, but I did have to go back inside and change pants before I could leave again, seeing as how that pair was all wet and muddy.

Today, though, is a much worse day than yesterday. Yesterday, my leg just hurt a little bit where it hit the steps, but today, it’s forming a very large bruise, and the rest of my body is reminding me that I fell. I think it feels that since there was no one around to laugh at me when I fell, that it would make up for that and laugh at me itself. I just wonder how long it will feel the need to ridicule me. The older we get, the more it hurts to fall, I guess.

But, the best part… I told my husband about how I had fallen that morning, and the only question he asks is… “Well, did you cry?” To which I told him that I hadn’t, because I was just glad that I hadn’t fallen on my belly. Men are so considerate.