I Told You So

I know that there are probably some very important, very consequential news stories out in the world tonight that we should be discussing.  If not discussing, at least thinking about.  There are probably some very important and meaningful causes that we should be trying to figure out how we can help.  But tonight, my big news that has popped in and out of my head all day is not about weather or government or healthcare or anything really grown-up and mature at all.  No, I have been thinking all day about the shocker I heard on the radio, that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were getting a divorce.  Really earth shattering, huh?  And it’s not like we didn’t know it was going to happen, hence my title of “I told you so”, which is sort of like what the whole world is saying.  But I have all sorts of questions now, especially for Katie, and I am just hoping that she will write a tell-all book about her marriage.  I hate to admit this, but I would probably read it.  I actually can assure you that I would read it.

 

The next random bit of information that I would like to share with you is that my body seems to be trying to tell me something.  I’m not sure if its angry with me or frazzled or what but I broke out in what I think are hives today.  I noticed a really itchy spot on the inside of my right elbow and after scratching it for a good while, you could clearly see this lovely rash.  I thought little of it until I went to wash my face this morning and it felt somewhat reptilian.  Very similar to when I had a horrible poison ivy attack when I was 18, all over my face and neck.  My lips even feel a little odd.  I know I haven’t been near any growing poison ivy because I am trying my best not to be outside in this crazy 109 degree heat.  And it seems weird that I would only have contacted it in the inside of my elbow and the lower half of my face, not in any obvious places like say my fingers.  So we are going with a hives diagnosis.  I suppose I have been under a bit of stress lately – the whole purchasing a new house thing with the sellers changing the closing date 3 times on us in the past week, doing a walk through and finding them still very much inhabiting the house, discovering Crosby’s health ailments, getting ready to take another trip, and there are several other things, but really who wants to focus on those things.  I just had to laugh at the hives.  It’s like my body is saying, ” Enough! The stresses aren’t going to go away, but you Kaylee need to find a better way to handle them.” So starting tonight, I shall do just that.  I’m not going to worry about figuring out paint colors until I am actually at the paint store.  I won’t worry about anything that can’t be worried about on a later date and that doesn’t require solving this week.  And those things that can’t be solved at all, well I guess there’s no point in wasting any time on them at all. Because when your skin not only breaks out, but looks like you might have a flesh-eating bacteria, well, its time to let some things go.

 

Another quick random thought I just have to share.  I have been to Target twice today, though I would like to point out that it wasn’t the same location each time and neither was the Target where the customer service ladies made me feel terrible about the breast milk storage bags as I am boycotting that location.  Anyway, Target is having some major sales that I would assume are nation wide.  There were tons of clothes for 30, 50 and even 70% off.  Very cute things in all the departments, women’s, lingerie (cute little nighties) and kids.  I found 3 dresses for $5, $7 and $8.  You can’t beat a new, cute little summer dress for church at $7.  So, I thought I would share so that you too can get some new goodies.

 

Another cheap goodie that I feel its my duty to share about is Sonic Happy Hour.  I know everyone on the face of the earth who lives near a Sonic probably knows about this, but just in case….Sonic always means happy to me.  I have fabulous memories or going to Sonic with my mom as a little girl and getting grilled cheese sandwiches and cherry limeades.  And as I got older, I learned that from 2-4, all of their wonderful drinks were half price.  And now that I have kids, and its surface of the sun hot outside, I am passing on the tradition.  They think I am indulging them in some decadent treat, going and getting small orange slushes on random Tuesday afternoons for what seems like no reason at all.  They don’t know that their little treat is only .75 and their mommy actually has a really bad sweet tea habit and Sonic is a much quicker fix than brewing it at home.  So it’s a win, win for everyone.  So if you already know about Happy Hour, great.  But if you didn’t, well, you’re very welcome.

 

One last thing, I saw a commercial/ infomercial today for something called, “The Booty Slide”.  It is a video of special exercises to specifically target your “drahonkus” as Mattie calls it, a pair of special socks, and these two, square oven mitt looking things with a special material on the bottom to allow you to slide across the floor.  I watched this 12 minute advertisement in horror thinking how terribly I would hurt myself if I tried such a thing.  What right-minded person wears slippery things on their feet and puts their hands in slippery mitts and then gets down on all fours on a wood floor.  It seems like a very efficient way for me to break something both in my home and on my body.  I would be very curious as to how many people actually try this product…..and live to tell about it.  They never once had the “it worked for me” people or pictures, which kind of makes you wonder.

 

Okay, well that’s it for my rambling thoughts tonight.  Tomorrow we embark on a new adventure as we leave to join the rest of the family in Florida.  The Twizzlers and sunflower seeds are packed and ready.

Where Have All The Children Gone

Today was a day that started as almost every other day does.  The sun came out, Lila woke up bright and early and Brandon’s alarm clock continued to go off even after he was already in the shower.  But there was a certain excitement in the air.  Why, you might ask?  Because Mumsey and Poppy were here and if that isn’t wonderful enough, they were planning to leave our house by 9:00, with Mattie and Reese to drive to Florida.  Brandon, Lila and I will also be joining them eventually (I have heard that you shouldn’t say when you are going to be out-of-town on a blog, but I have no fear because I have a Chelsea staying at my house, with my very vicious attack dog and I know no one would dare mess with the two of them), but for today and tomorrow, we are a one child family.  And its the easy, easy child who doesn’t really move a whole lot from wherever you put her, who doesn’t talk and eats the same thing over and over.  I am thrilled for Mattie and Reese getting to make this special memory with Mumsey and Poppy.  But I am SUPER thrilled for me getting to have a few days to do pretty much whatever I want.

So what did I do with all of my day?  First, I took a shower completely alone – no interruptions, no one staring at me, no tattling, no telling me to hurry, no one sitting on the floor right outside playing toy cars.  Then I sat and ate breakfast.  Yes, I actually got to sit down, in a chair and take my time eating a bowl of cereal and it didn’t get soggy.  My cereal always gets soggy because of the frequent interruptions that come along with living in a home with 3 little kiddos.  I then sat on the couch and watched 30 minutes of Lifetime Television.  And I probably could have watched more because Lila doesn’t care what we watch and if there’s kissing, she doesn’t make throwing up noises.  Later when I got in the car, I got to listen to a radio station where the songs have words like “love” and “butt” in them and its okay because Lila doesn’t speak yet and words mean nothing to her at this point.  Unlike the two older children that often ride around with me.  I had planned to go do a little shopping, maybe even get myself some new under wear because that is a task that right now cannot be done with Mattie and Reese, at least not both of them.  Nothing is more hilarious than the fact that their mother wears underwear.  I never got around to it today though, because I had a special appointment to go to at noon.

At noon, Lila and I met up with Brandon to go and do a walk through of our new house.  It was lovely to get to walk around and imagine our things in this new, empty space.  Well, that’s what we thought it would be like.  Unfortunately, the family that we have purchased the home from doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to move.  And though most of their things were in boxes, there were boxes all over the place! And since everything was off the walls and packed up in those boxes, it exposed all the holes and nails that were going to need to be fixed.  I left the walk through the boxes feeling frustrated at the sellers and overwhelmed at the task ahead of us.  The sellers were supposed to be gone this afternoon so that we could have painters come in to give us estimates.  That way the painting could happen while we were on our little vacation, kind of like our own little not so extreme makeover: home addition.  That will not be happening now.  But on the bright side, we have a home, a home of our own and that’s a pretty wonderful thing.

On a totally unrelated note, I have the wrong email address for a friend of mine.  This isn’t that big of a deal because this friend lives here in Memphis with me and so I really don’t email her a whole lot.  But here this past week, I emailed her two different sets of vacation pictures and then an evite to Reese’s upcoming birthday party.  I was checking to see who had rsvp’d to Reese’s party and saw that I had a comment from my friend, (let’s call her Christal), and she had also replied a no that she and her family would not be attending, which seemed odd to me.  I clicked on the comment and turns out this Christal was not my Christal.  This Christal did, however, tell me that I had a precious family with darling children, but unfortunately would not be able to attend Reese’s party because we were strangers.  I am slightly embarrassed, but more so, I think its hilarious and I love that this other person took the time to write me a little note letting me know that though she is enjoying all this Baughman love that she has been receiving, maybe the real Christal would like to get the mail intended for her. Oops

I think I am going to sit on the couch and cuddle with my hubby now since the baby is sleeping and there are no other little people here that will be coming downstairs to ask for drinks or complaining about the carpet on the stairs being too loud.  Mattie actually placed that complaint once.  Funny girl, that Mattie.

 

Steph, I Owe You

This is not a typical post, but more of a letter of apology written to my dear friend Stephanie Murrill.

Dear Steph,

First I would like to tell you again how much I have appreciated the huge bin of little girls clothes that you and your little ladies so graciously shared with Lila.  They have been fantastic and absolutely perfect.  I really haven’t had to buy a thing thanks to them.  So thank you so very much. I know that you have said to take my time with them and that you aren’t in any sort of hurry to get them back and to just treat them as though they were my own.  You were so kind about saying to just keep them until whenever.

I have tried to take very good care of them, and as Lila grows out of each thing, I have washed and folded each item, carefully tucking it back in the bin.  This is how I have treated the outfits…..Lila on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be quite so conscientious.  Apparently, she is not yet ready to be trusted to care for other peoples things.  Because today, she unleashed a storm in one little outfit.  A storm that must have been brewing in her little bowels much like the tropical storms brewing out in the gulf and Florida right now.  I heard the catastrophic sound as it ricocheted out of her body and when I turned to see what had happened, all I could do was stare in disbelief.  When words did finally find me, all I could muster out was something along the lines of, “Oh Lila, what have you done?”

I am chosing not to send you pictures of the carnage, but instead, just tell you that the little Carters two-piece outfit, the one with the striped pants and little onesie that said “I’m mommy’s dream” with a sunshine could not be saved.  The damage has been done, there was nothing I could do and nothing could be salvaged.  I am terribly sorry and will be sending a replacement outfit in the mail.  On a happier note, Lila has been sleeping so soundly ever since  – first good nap in about 4 days.  There must have been some sort of war being  waged inside of her and its just too bad that your outfit was the one casualty.

Again, we are so sorry.

Sincerely,

K and Lila

P.S – We are soon going to be ready for 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes if you would like to share with us some how 🙂 And we will be double diapering from now on. ha

Filling Out My Dress

So, I heard something the other day, and it being right here at my anniversary, I was inspired.  I heard about a woman who every year on her special day of celebrating the vows she shares with her husband, she pulls out her wedding dress to give it a whirl.  I thought that a very fun idea because lets admit, those wedding dresses cost a pretty penny and truly don’t get enough wear time.  I think we as married women should pull them out more often and give them a twirl in the real world.  Wear it grocery shopping, to the office, or to a Sunday brunch.  I remember loving my wedding dress, yet I haven’t laid eyes on it since I packed it away the morning after my “I do’s”.  Anyway, I got all excited at the idea of pulling out my dress and trying it on again, and with my mom coming out here in less than a week, I started getting crazy ideas about having her bring it out to me.  Now in hindsight, I’m not sure why I really thought this might be a good idea seeing as I can’t even wear my regular jeans from before Lila yet, so how I was going to put on a dress that I wore ten years and 3 babies ago – I’m really not sure.  But since I didn’t have my wedding dress with me, I decided to try the next best thing, a bridesmaid dress from my friend Mellie’s wedding.  Here is a little photo of me and said dress at its wedding.

Us with the Happy Ellis Family

We don’t need to go into great detail here, but lets just say, if Mellie’s wedding was tomorrow, she might have to find a new bridesmaid.  No big deal, not going to let it bother me.  So I decided to try on another dress.  This is the point where most normal people would get the hint and just walk out of the closet and put something on that they knew fit their body.  I guess I just like pain.  So out came my dress from April Dawn’s wedding.  And here is a photo of that dress at her wedding.

Happy Hamilton Wedding Day

Again, I don’t think the bride would have wanted me to walk down the aisle on her special day with the zipper down about 2 inches.  I decided it was time to stop with the dress trying on.  We had obviously started a pattern and I was pretty sure none of the other dresses were going to show a different result.  I was beginning to let that hateful self-loathing seep into my already rather fragile psyche.  I was on my way to put a dollar in the “beat myself up about my body” jar and just really roll around in my self-pity for a bit when another thought struck me.  And I am going to share it with you reader (I am assuming this is just going out to my mom, but maybe there are a few others).

I wore my wedding dress 10 years ago today.  I was a grown up then legally, but had so much more to learn still.  On that day, I had yet to pay any sort of real rent to anyone for a home.  I hadn’t really even been grocery shopping before and had never had to take care of anything in my own “household” before.  Never dealt with my own bills or certainly never had to share what money I did have.  I had never really shared a life before.  I had an education and a degree, but no real experience.  My only other jobs had involved me wearing a bathing suit all day.  On the day that I wore that dress, I was the outline of who I am now.  Kind of like a picture in a coloring book.  You can easily tell what the picture is and the lines are clearly there, but it doesn’t really look like much until the colors are added.  And there are no set colors.  I know I have started coloring a picture before with plans of how I was going to do it and then that green didn’t end up the exact shade I was expecting and I ended up going with a completely different color palette.  That’s kind of how life has been since that day 10 years ago.  I had the lines drawn, the structure set, but my colors had yet to be added.

In the past ten years, I have traveled an amazing journey and my color palette has changed SEVERAL times.  I have had very exciting,happy moments (including those weddings where I wore those lovely dresses that don’t fit me right now).

Our First House

 

We’re having a baby!

We are parents January 21, 2005 – Mattison Belle Baughman is born

The “Murrman”

 

We’re having another one….and its a boy!

Reese Christian Baughman born July 8, 2008

Dr and Mrs. Baughman, Mattie and Reese

Our First Memphis House

And Lila Elizabeth Baughman born January 28, 2012 makes 5

And there have been devastating times,too.  Leaving a lasting mark and sometimes changing the look of my picture entirely.

Me and My First and Best Friend, my Brother Matt – who I miss so much

All of these have changed me, and I have grown.  My relationship with Brandon was just a shadow on that day ten years ago, to what it is now.  My relationships with most everyone in my life, have evolved since then – growing and strengthening and there have been new relationships and friendships formed that I didn’t have before.  I have gained a wealth of life experience and now go grocery shopping sometimes daily, am the purse of our family and have a very solid attitude of “ours not yours and mine”.  And I have three little miracles in my life that have forever changed me.  Three little people who weren’t here ten years ago and really weren’t even imagined, but now I can’t even fathom what the world would be like without them.  They are starting their own little lives and their own lines are being outlined on the pages of their coloring books.  I have gained so much from ten years ago, emotionally, mentally, physically that it would only make sense that my present body wouldn’t fit into a dress made for a much shallower me.  A sweet and smart and kind me still…..I don’t want to hate on the 22-year-old Kaylee.  And it seems appropriate that the point at which the zipper stops on all those dresses is right about heart level, the part that right now feels so full.  On June 23, 2002 my heart was full of hope and plans and dreams and on June 23, 2012 my heart if full of what has come of those plans so far, those seeds have been planted and I am just starting to see them break through the soil and start to grow.  On June 23, 2022 God only knows how full my heart will be, and something tells me I won’t be able to wear that dress then either.

So to you moms who sometimes beat your selves up about not losing the baby weight, or even women who haven’t started your family yet, but can no longer wear that special dress either.  Before you start in on yourselves about how you have failed or let yourself go, remind yourself that experiences bring change and change sometimes affects how our clothes fit.

So, just as right now my wedding dress from 10 years ago would runneth over, so does my cup of happiness and fullness of life.  I wish that I could go back in time and tell that cute little bride that it was going to be tough, but magical.  To enjoy the day and the happiness and not worry about centerpieces or microphones not working right.  This day would just be the beginning and I had so many things waiting for me.  But the best part of it all, is that I was going to have someone to experience all of this with.  I would be changing and growing and evolving, but not by myself.  I am so thankful that Brandon and I’s pictures are in the same coloring book and on the same page.  Happy ten years to Brandon and to me and to our families who have supported us and to our friends who love us.  In the words of Ben Folds, as sung by the dear Shawnessey and Chris Wilhelm at our reception, I am the Luckiest.

Blame It On The Boogie

Yesterday didn’t start out as a very wonderful day.  I won’t get into all the details, but lets just say that it involved the 10th breast milk storage bag to show up with a tear in it.  And unlike the age-old expression, its hard not to cry over spilled milk when it took all day to pump a full bag of it.  I took the rest of the box of bags back to Target to see if they would give me a refund. I also took the latest torn bag to show as proof. Not only did they not want to grant me a refund (I was told that these bags are man-made and you can’t expect perfection from man-made.), but I was disgusting for bringing in a used milk-bag.  I did wash it out and due to the tear, it didn’t exactly hold any milk anyway.  Anyway, I was mortified by this whole experience and have to admit, due to m love for Target, I am still feeling a little betrayed by them.  I would have expected better from them with all the fond feelings that I hold for them.  Its a good thing that we will be moving to a different part of town because I don’t really know that I can go back to that store for a while.  So that was really fun and then a few hours later, discovered a weird mishap with my insurance not covering a doctor of ours due to a miscommunication between the billing people and the insurance.  Not my favorite morning and afternoon.  I called Brandon to vent and see if he had any advice about the insurance situation and as I was finishing, ended it all with the fact that I hadn’t even been able to take a shower all day.  His usual response to these types of calls is to say in a very sympathetic tone, “I’m sorry babe.  Is there anything I can do to help.”  And usually there isn’t, but at least he offers.  Today was different.  There was no “I’m sorry babe.” Instead, it went something like this, “Go take Mattie to gymnastics.  I’m on my way home and I’ll pick her up.  You go home and take a shower, put on something that makes you feel pretty and we’ll go have a nice dinner.  Then, I’m taking you to see Michael Jackson.” What?

I know what you’re thinking, MJ is dead.  What he was referring to was the Cirque Du Soleil performance of Michael Jackson Immortal that I had seen advertised and had begged for us to go to.  Oh I was excited!  And I did just as he told me to do.  Around 6:15, our baby-sitters arrived (thank you Ronnie, Jessica and Jess’s mom). I traded my diaper bag for a purse that only comes out on kidless occasions (so that’s about once a year) and we took the carseats out for “just in case”.  Which I have to say, really creates a special mood in our car.  When you look back and don’t see a fleet of carseats, it just takes you back 8 years to the no kids and no responsibilities days. Nothing says, “this is just temporary” like riding to a fancy date, all dressed up but in a car covered in cheerios and goldfish and sitting on a small plastic batman.  Thank you Brandon for thinking of everything, even dekidding our car.  I do hope he put it all back in though because we will need it today.

We chatted the whole way downtown and settled on Wang’s Chinese for our little dinner.  We only had about an hour before our show started and everywhere else even with reservations would just take too long.  Wang’s was perfect though.  We were the only customers in there for the first 20  minutes or so, which normally, would worry me.  It doesn’t really say much for a restaraunt when at prime dinner time, no one is there.  But since we rarely get to be alone, it was just fine.  It also made us laugh and created a memory.  Brandon joked that he rented the place out just for the two of us. Ha!

After our lovely dinner, we headed over to the FedEx Forum for our big show.  I have to say, it still amuses me that I now live in a city that gets tourists.  Tulsa is a lovely city and I adored its charms, but people actually come here in droves, especially in the summer.  I imagine that they are on their way to somewhere else and just use Memphis as a layover, visiting Graceland and Beale Street while they are here, but still. On a Wednesday night, there were tons of tourists roaming downtown with their camcorders and even a few fanny packs.  People driving slowly and clogging up traffic while watching the one legged man breakdance on a sheet of cardboard.  He is pretty impressive though and the first time you see it can be amazing.

Back to the show.  We sat down in our seats and just settled in to be thoroughly entertained.  You know its going to be a great show when the woman behind you is already getting her jam on just to the Michael Jackson tunes that are part of the pre-show background music.  She was so in to it, I think she would have been happy as a clam if that had been the only thing going on the whole evening.  On a side note: during the show, I would hear her bracelets jangling and could tell she was just rockin’ out behind me. It made me smile knowing that dancing lady was having such an awesome time. I don’t really know how to describe our show except to say that I loved it.  There was incredible dancing, fabulous costumes, amazing acrobatics and a band that just blew us away.  I think I could watch that show every night for a year and not get tired of it.  Out of all of the performers though, I think my favorite was the little boy, way up in the super cheap seats.  He was wearing a batman t-shirt and looked to be about Mattie’s age.  He was up at the tippy top of the arena, probably up where he thought no one else could see him and he was dancing.  Not just swaying or throwing up his hands no and then.  Full on performing to a packed house.  Someone had a flashlight that they were shining on him and every now and then, he would realize it and would skitter away back into the darkness.  But even in the dark, you could see him gettin’ down.  I loved it.  He was having a moment, he was in the moment and I hope that he hangs on to that feeling for a long time.  He and bracelet dancing lady behind me were embracing life, who knows, maybe they had both had terrible Target experiences earlier and felt mortified, but right now that didn’t matter because they were dancing.  And it didn’t matter any more to me either because I was sitting next to my honey, celebrating ten years of being married and singing “I Just Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” as loud as I could with a packed FedEx Forum as my backup singers while two bird/fairy/cloud/ and slightly demon looking people twirled one another effortlessly through the air.  And to top it all off, the finale had fireworks.  Real, 4th of July grade fireworks right there inside the arena.  I thought we just might die, but clapped and cheered and begged for more just the same.  It was magical.

Today, I feel a little like Cinderella the day after the ball.  Its almost 11 and the kids and I are still in our pajamas.  My huge pile of ironing didn’t magically do itself while I was experiencing my fantastic show.  I still don’t want to go back to Target anytime soon and the billing people haven’t called me back yet about what they are going to do about the charges.  Oh and it looks like Crosby’s dog cancer has come back again.  But these problems will pass and most likely bring new ones.  But last night, unlike Cinderella, I had a fabulous evening with my prince who found me a long time ago.  And he recognizes me not by my shoes, but by who I really am and knows when I need a little respite from our “kingdom”.  So thank you Bran for a lovely evening and a magical 10 years and the 3 little people that share our house with us and for taking the time to not only plan something special for the high times, but making the yuck times better too. I love you.

A Date

Back before Reese was born, anything with just Mattie and I was just everyday life.  Shopping or running errands with her, was just that, running errands like any other mom with their kid.  Watching something with her on the couch beside me was the only way to watch tv. We were quite the pair she and I.  We did most everything together because 1) You can’t just leave your children at home by themselves and B) there was only one of her.  Now, things are a little bit different.  I have three little people to accompany me on errands or shopping and I will be honest, they aren’t as enjoyable as they once were.  Sometimes, I even wait till Brandon comes home so he can watch them letting me peruse Target in peace and quiet at 10:00 at night.  I love me kiddos, but they are a mighty force when they are all three combined.  And it’s sometimes nice and even a little magical, to spend time just with them one at a time.

Lila and I get our nights together after the other two have gone to bed and really, she’ll have plenty of time with me after the other two leave our little nest.  And up until she was born, Reese and I spent all day together.  But Mattie – time is a little harder to come by these days.  Today, however, we have been given a little gift in the form of a nap.  Reese has been asleep for over two hours today and for once, I haven’t had anything else to do except whatever Mattie wanted me to do.  We have done a 4 month photo shoot of Lila (even though she is days away from 5 months) and ate ice cream sandwiches.  And we are now curled up on the couch watching a Taylor Swift special and eating popcorn.  I am taking a little mental picture of this moment, hopefully to be pulled out and savored in years to come.  Those years when she has so much going on with her friends and her very important life, which we all seemed to have had when we were teenagers.  Or those years when she has gone off to conquer the world and no longer lives here with us.  I will remember how when Reese would go to sleep, she would look up at me with those crazy big eyes and extremely crooked teeth and say, “Mama, could we have a popcorn date….with a special movie….just you and me?” Like it was the greatest thing in the world, a show on the couch with mom.  Who needs Disney World? And if that isn’t sweet enough, I’m watching her sing along with Taylor Swift, staring admiringly at this person who she truly believes is one of her friends.  And she’s cramming popcorn in her mouth between words.  Its precious and slightly gross, but mostly precious.

As a chore, Mattie’s job is to pick up dog pooh in the back yard every few days.  She doesn’t complain that bad about it, but we all know she doesn’t really like it much either.  But here on our tv and popcorn date, she leans her little head onto my arm, snuggling in real cozy and says, ” Mama, I’d pick up dog pooh for the rest of my life to get to go and see Taylor Swift.” I hope Taylor Swift knows how loved she is.  If she’s having a bad day, it would probably cheer her up to know that a little girl out there in Memphis, TN is willing to sell her life into dog pooh slavery just to watch a 90 minute concert .  And right here, I vow to one day take her to that concert.

And like that, our date is over.  There is the familiar sound of an almost 4-year-old stumbling down the stairs and Lila wants to be fed.  But it was great while it lasted Mattie, and tomorrow, I will hurry and get all my work done early again so that when Reese goes down for a nap, maybe we can have another date.

Raspberries Are in Season

Now that I have started this little blog, it seems wasteful to just let it die.  I started it for the entertainment that I imagined it would bring to my family and friends while we went on our journey to Nana’s house.  But it seems that at least 1 or 3 people out there still checks in on it.  This makes me wonder if maybe you are still interested in the daily anecdotes of our little life here, which then makes me wonder if I should keep it up.  So at least for today, I am continuing the blog.

So now that I have committed to another day of blogging, I really don’t have any fun stories to tell you.  We have had a very full week, but none if it seems even remotely entertaining.  I signed the kids up for a week of gymnastics camp.  It was pricey and I even though I see all these camps and things advertised and think they sound like so much fun, I always guilt myself out of them by reminding myself that they are very costly and isn’t the whole reason that I stay home so that I can keep the kids and we don’t have to pay for expensive daycares and whatnot.  And if my only job is to be at home with my kids, shouldn’t I be doing fun things with them?  Laundry is fun right kids?  But this time was different, now that I have three of them and just feeding them is a whole days job in itself, I felt like I deserved a little break and they deserved a little something special.  I really thought that this was going to be a win-win situation for all of us.  That the kids would have a blast and think I was I cool mom for letting them do gym camp and that I would have a little bit of free time to those sorts of things that aren’t always easy to do while having 3 helpers with you.  Those sorts of things like most anything.  Let me tell you, I wasn’t right at all.  They did seem to enjoy themselves and that was completely worth it, but somehow, time just got sucked up by other little things and before I knew it, I was in the car headed back to get them and I hadn’t done any of those things that had been on my wish list this past week.  So fathers, (dad, Jerry, Grandpa, Brandon, and Grandad) I apologize for the tardy cards.  I was hoping to go and leisurely stroll through the cards aisle, thoughtfully picking just the right cards for you to let you know how much I adore each of you.  But that didn’t happen.  I tried to stop and check out the cards while we were at Kroger getting milk on our way home from the gym and when Reese brought me his 5th card with a half naked man popping out of a cake, laughing hysterically at the man cake and that his “ninnies” were showing (breasts).  I decided that wasn’t going to work either.  So cards are late this year due to the subjects that have either made you a dad or a grandfather or great grandfather.

Other things going on that are exciting to us, but probably not exactly front page news to rest of the world are a few skills that my children have either learned or are now exhibiting.  Lila has discovered that she can blow raspberries and they delight her like nothing else.  If she is awake, she is a soggy mess these days due to all the blissful berries she is happily blowing.  She also discovered her feet and can roll over, but her arm gets in the way and in an attempt to pull it out, she usually ends up rolling herself back to the starting position.  She also just today became very fond of her thumb.  This is something neither of my other two kids ever did so we don’t quite know what to make of it.  I am blaming it on the sudden disappearance of this old friend that went missing for almost a day.

She has been curing this same pacifier now since the day she was born and nothing else will quite do.  I she will take another in a pinch, but no others have the same magic that this “sosa” seems to hold.  We have managed to keep it not only for a good amount of time, but I am pretty proud that it has been with us through our whole California adventure.  Anyway, we had pretty much declared it gone until after we came home from church this afternoon and I found it buried in her car seat.  A Sabbath miracle.

And speaking of Sabbath, about a year and a half ago, my mom got Mattie a special little night gown. It is one of those little silky number with the matching robe and she wears it on Friday nights as her Sabbath night gown, you know to make the evening a little bit better than all the other nights in the week.  I had one like it when I was little, except it was a flashy red and had a few more little ruffles here and there.  My dad called it my floozie suit  ( I don’t really know how to spell floozie so we are going with this).  Anyway, it seemed important that my daughter have one too.  I am thrilled to show you all that not only does Mattie have a floozie suit, but my mother also found Lila one as well.  The girls were kind enough to let me take a photo of them wearing their special Sabbath jammies this morning.

And in their Sabbath dresses

And now on to more kid accomplishments.  Mattie is really into rainbows right now.  REALLY.  We saw a rainbow the other day while driving and it just about brought her to tears.  So if there is something that needs coloring, you can guess what her color scheme is. Rather than guess, I’ll just show you.

Randoom box she painted

Parrot “stained glass” from VBS

Butterfly magnets on our fridge

And if it can’t be a rainbow, well, she is still very much a fan of the large cats and I have to say, I was really impressed by her original tiger design here.  She did this at Vacation Bible School where I have been helping out with crafts and when she finished I tried to act all cool about it, like it was no big deal.  But after she left with her little class – her Aunt Shannie and I oohed and ahhhed over it and took great pride in what our girl could do.

So that is about it for now.  Have a beautiful Father’s Day tomorrow and to the father figures in my life, I love you very, very much and appreciate all the sacrifices you have made for me, the laughter that we have shared and the unique ways that each of you have influenced me in making me the person that I am. I hope my children always feel as loved, as safe, as special, and as treasured as you have made me feel.

One Year Ago this Weekend

Before I get into my fun story about what happened a year ago, let me say that Mattie’s sleep over went fine.  She never did call me and when I texted the next morning to find out how things had gone, I was greeted with a message from her little friend’s grandma that said she was wonderful and that they girls wanted to play together that afternoon if that was okay.  Not only had she not become frightfully homesick, but she didn’t appear to be in any sort of rush to ever see us again.  I will admit, my feelings were a little hurt, but at least she had a good time and I suppose that’s what I really wanted anyway.

So what happened a year ago this past weekend?  Mattie went to Vacation Bible School, and not jut any VBS, but the one that the huge mega-church just down the street puts on.  They call it Camp Outrageous and that is putting it lightly.  This past year they had 4,000 kids attend and at the end of the week the total offering brought in to pay for a new playground at a Women and Children’s Center is some foreign land I didn’t quite catch, was over $10,000.  Its pretty crazy.  Anyway, all week the put on a little play for the kids, a little snippet each day and then over the weekend, they hold 3 different shows where the families can come and watch the whole play.  Last year, we had chosen the Saturday night show.  So off we went, ready to get our Baptist on.  We were just going down the street and I figured it would be rather loud, so I hadn’t brought my cell phone.  That was my reasoning for mine, I’m not sure why Brandon left his – either way, its important to remember that we had not brought phones with us.  We also, for some reason, brought a different set of keys that usual.  A set that didn’t contain a house-key.  So after the show was over, we came back home and made the discovery that we were locked out of our house.  Brandon climbed the fence to see if the back door (that frequently gets left unlocked) was in typical form, but just this once we had been responsible and locked it.  He walked around trying windows and had just about decided to knock out one of the little glass plates in the door, but I discouraged that I suggested instead that we go ahead with our plan to go and get ice cream and figure out a plan.  No sense in getting the kids all upset with not fulfilling our promises.  So we headed to YoLo, our favorite frozen yogurt place.  It was about as we pulled into the parking lot that we realized we not only didn’t have keys, but we didn’t have a phone either.  again, I knew my reasoning for not having my phone, but Brandon had just forgot his.  Still, it was somehow me that had been the irresponsible one to go off without their phone.  We left and decided that we would try to go by our nearby friends, Ronnie and Jessica’s to see if a) Ronnie could break into our house since he can fix most any of our other problems…really he can and does.  Or 2) we could at least use their phone.  But they weren’t home. So we  continued through the neighborhood to our other friends (and Ronnie’s brother and sister-in-law) Robert and Sara’s house – they weren’t home either.  So we decided to drive a bit further away to Chris and Shannon’s apartment.  I mean, we weren’t doing anything anyway.  unfortunately, because we didn’t have our phones, we couldn’t call them and have us buzz us in through the gate.  So we went back through the Nelson neighborhood, still none of them were home and as I recall, it was getting rather late.  What were they doing?

We finally decided to go to our neighbor’s, (the ones Mattie spent the night with) and see if we could use their phone to look up a locksmith and maybe hang out till one got there.  That’s about the time that the thunder-storm started.  Of course they let us in and had great pity on our situation.  Mattie and Reese thought this whole thing was the best night ever and were having a blast going from house to house and thought it was especially exciting that we were at a friend’s house way past bedtime.  Brandon finally got ahold of someone and drove home to wait for the guy to arrive – in the horrible storm.  Its funny, the keys and two phones were all sitting next to each other on the table, almost cuddling.  And the young locksmith only charged us about $250 dollars….only.  For some reason, This whole situation upset Brandon way more than things like this usually did.  He was all sorts of cranky about things, and even more surprisingly, I wasn’t really annoyed at all.  Anyway, I decided that this probably wasn’t the best night to tell him what I had found out earlier that day – that we were expecting baby number three.  I discovered that I was pregnant all three times on days that had bad storms.  And all three days had memorable experiences, like being locked out or the power going off for 2 days.  Anyway, it’s just a fun memory that I have now of not only Vacation Bible School, but also how Lila entered our family with quite a bang months before she was actually even born.

 

Good Night Mattie….and Batman

This is no longer a journal of our journey to Nana’s house.  I don’t really know just how long I might keep it up, or if I will have any more readers now that the big trip is over.  But just in case there are one or two……

Today is a monumental day here in our house – Mattie has gone to her first sleepover with someone who isn’t related to her.  It is 11:15 and I am exhausted.  I would love to go to bed, but I keep thinking that if I go to sleep, she might need me to come get her, so I should just wait for the call.  She was so cute and so excited today as she packed up her things for her big night.  Pajamas, tooth brush and tooth paste (just in case she doesn’t like what kind they have), underwear, clothes for tomorrow, her favorite doll Elizabath, her pillow pet lion, her sleeping bag, one tootsie roll and two dum dum lollipops, and her pink blanket.  All the essentials.  I’m sure I was around this age when I started having sleepovers with my friend Stephanie, but she just seems so little still.  She can be sassy and thinks she knows everything.  She copies things she hears older kids say and has been telling me more and more that maybe she doesn’t need to wear a bow in her hair.  But at night, like it is right now, she is still a little girl who likes to be cuddled and gathers her special things and sneaks into my bed.  And to be honest, I think I am awake right now, not because I am afraid that she will need me, but because I miss having her here in our little nest and it feels wrong that she isn’t upstairs in her little yellow bed and I am afraid that she will do great at her little friends house and not miss us at all.  I think I am secretly hoping that they will call me any minute now and tell me to come get her because she needs her mommy.  But I bet they won’t.

On the contrary, Kid #2 is very much here in the nest.  I had to make a run to Babies/Toys r us this evening because I accidentally melted one of the bottles to my breast pump.  While there, I just kind of found my way to the Batman section.  I really don’t know that I was headed there, I guess it was just instinctual or something.  Anyway, they had a batman face mask there and I knew a little man that would be so excited if that came home with me.  So since Mattie’s moving out and doesn’t need us anymore, I guess I felt like I should indulge the kids that still like being with us.  The mask and I arrived home and I found Reese and Brandon in the “bat cave” (a fort made over his bunk beds), watching old retro episodes of Batman with Reese in his Batman jammies.  I couldn’t have set this little scene up better if I had tried.  So I told Reese to close his eyes, that I had a surprise for him and but the mask on his face.  He got SO excited and immediately ran to go check himself out in the mirror.  He is now sound asleep in the bat cave wearing a black, plastic batman mask and that makes me very happy.

I asked Reese tonight if he thought he needed a shower, just curious as to what he would say.  He walked over to me and put his little arm right up under my nose.  “What are you doing?” I asked him.  “Smell me”, he said.  I guess that it the way we are determining whether or not to bath these days.

I guess she is doing fine and they aren’t going to call me.  That’s probably okay.  I knew this day would one day come and at least she’s just in the house behind ours and not across town.  You hear about kids calling their parents to come get them all the time, but I wonder if there are other parents who are tempted to just show up at the friends house and retrieve their kids just because they miss them.  Probably not.  I’ll guess I’ll just got cuddle Batman or that little, little girl that lives in my room with me.

 

 

Are We There Yet?

After a long day of way, way to much driving on Saturday – we finally reached Mumsey and Poppy’s house at around 9:45.  Though technically it isn’t our address, and technically we still had another 5 hours to go before we would actually be at the end of our 2 week-long adventure, being at Mumsey and Poppy’s felt like we had reached another version of home.  That could be because I have always held a belief that home is where your people are.  Anyway, since Mumsey and Poppy are two of my favorite people, pulling up into their driveway felt like home.

Since the drive from Siloam Springs, Arkansas to Memphis is only about 5 1/2 hours (just a little Sunday drive compared to the stretches we have made on this trip), we felt no rush to leave our little bed and breakfast.  Reese and Poppy got to make their usual run to Lowe’s and Tractor Supply.  They rarely get anything on these visits, just puruse the aisles as Reese asks Poppy endless questions about all manner of things from paint brushes to lawn mower engines.  These trips used to be Poppy’s way of helping me out on Sunday mornings, giving me a little break to sleep in and getting little brother out of Mattie’s hair for a bit.  But I think they have become a treasured little “man time” between Poppy and grandson.  I think Poppy enjoys their time just as much as Reese.  I say that because used to, it was just a trip to Lowe’s and now they have added Tractor Supply and Atwoods to their tour.  I don’t know if they talk about things – weather, politics, life – or if they just wander and enjoy the company.  They don’t share with the rest of us, and we don’t really ask.  Lowe’s slogan is “Let’s build something together”, and I would definitely say that Poppy and Reese are building something together that will last for a life time.

We had a delicious biscuits and gravy breakfast and again, since we were in no hurry, the kids decided to go out and help with the “harvest” of Mumsey and Poppy’s garden.  This was also about the time that Poppy and Reese turned the channel on the tv from Mattie’s Little House on the Prairie marathon.  Why, you may ask?  Well the race was on of course.  Poppy likes cars and that has stirred something in Reese.  Reese also likes Lowe’s and when he discovered that there is a Lowe’s race car, well he became a devout fan of all things Jimmie Johnson.  Oh, he knows a few other drivers names too and likes to watch the other NASCARs, but he LOVES Jimmie Johnson, number 48.  Nascar races last for quite a long time and Reese can’t handle sitting and watching the whole thing, so instead, he just likes to keep the tv on and then pop in and out to check to make sure the 48 is still where he wants it to be.  During the course of the 2-3 hour race (or so it seemed), Reese and Mattie picked tomatoes and learned how to snap peas with Mumsey on the back porch.  It was a wonderful relaxing day at “home” before we made the final stretch back to Memphis.

Snapping with Mums

I love both these set of hands

Checking out the crops

Every visit much include some work on Poppy’s trees. He even has his own shovel – bought on a Lowe’s trip

She almost looks like a little Amish girl out on her farm….almost

Reese snapping too

His hair is getting too big for his cap

We finally rolled into Memphis at around 11:30 last night.  Brandon and the kids unloaded the car while I loved on Crosby and went through all the mail and then it was off to bed, our beds in our house in our town.

Haven’t seen this sign in quite a while

It was a fabulous trip.  One that I will never forget and I have only lovely memories of.  We made it without losing anyone, hurting each other – too much, and with smiles on our faces.  I think we all enjoyed ourselves.  We loved getting to spend time with Nana, Grandad and Uncle Kris and getting to catch up with other family and friends.  We loved getting to take our kids to see these amazing places (and Stewart’s and the Alligator Farm really are amazing!).  But more than that, I think all of us truly loved just getting to be with each other, with no interruptions.  No school to go to, lessons to rush to, reports for dad to write or patients to see – just us with each other, nothing to do but drive and always going in the same direction for the past 2 weeks.  Its been wonderful and though I was very relieved to finally be back at home, I think part of me was a little sad that our adventure was over and we would be back to rushing and going and all the other every day things.  I always enjoy getting back to my home after a long time away, what am I kidding, I like getting back home after a weekend away.  But its a different sort of thing when your “home”, your people have been with you the whole time you were gone.