I Am A Failure……And Okay With That

My goal of getting in the shower as soon as kid 1 leaves in the morning wasn’t met.  Monday, I was right on track.  Tuesday, I cheated and didn’t actually shower because I knew that I would be going later to get my hair done and it didn’t make any sense to put any actual work into it.  And the fact that I would be spending the day at the zoo really didn’t encourage hair fixing.  I did take a bath though.  Wednesday, I didn’t shower either because my hair had just been washed and styled the afternoon before and it didn’t feel like it was absolutely necessary.  I also was immediately challenged to a game of Memory by kid 2 right after breakfast and I am trying to say yes more these days.  Plus, with the Discover card still not here and not wanting to use real money, there seemed no real rush to get all pretty and seeing as we weren’t going anywhere.  Yesterday, I did shower and it was right away (getting back on track), but then the kid and I had a Memory rematch and actually fixing the hair never really did happen.  And today, well I just completely fell off the wagon.  So bad that I got kid 1 up, dressed and fed and then kissed her good-bye and curled up on the couch and let Reese watch NetFlix while we waited for Lila to wake up.  I have decided that I prefer a pajamed morning.  And soon enough, there won’t be as many toys to pick up and babies that need naps and games of Memory that need played and when those days come, then I can be showered and dressed and leave my house in the morning hours.

But in non-failure news, I had pie for breakfast Wednesday and Thursday.  I also had it for lunch and I feel completely fine with that.  Fact is, that’s what I would like to dine on this next week as well.  And those sweat pants I received…..I believe that those are the pants of angels.  When we finally get to go to heaven, I believe we will be given crowns, robes of light and a pair of those sweatpants.  They are just that incredible.

Another thing I have learned this week if that Reese is a cheater.  When we have had our great Memory challenges these past few mornings, he will flip over a card and then hold it in his hand while he flips over his 2nd choice.  Then, when he doesn’t have a match, he puts the cards back in completely different places.  The whole point of the game is to remember where things are after they have been flipped over and that is next to impossible when they keep being moved.  I don’t think he is intentionally cheating, but it definitely drags the game out.  So just know, should you ever play with him, you have to watch him.

And on that note, let me leave you with a wish for a happy weekend.  We are heading out to go camping and I imagine there will be a story or two from that experience.  Also, Janie and Jack is having a huge 25% off everything in the store sale….even the stuff already on sale and for those of you who read this who shop at Kroger for your groceries, Morningstar Farms veggie food is only $2.99!  That’s just unheard of and you should stock up if you are into that sort of thing.

Three’s

That’s a Friday Night Lights reference just in case you aren’t a follower of the show, and it is referring to a character whose jersey number is 33.  Explaining it all sort of takes the fun out of it all, but I got to thinking that you all might wonder what in the world the title meant and I didn’t want to change it to something else.

My special day began wonderfully.  The birds were singing, the sun was shining…..it would have been better if the birthday fairy had gone ahead and let me sleep in while she woke up Mattie and got her all ready for school.  But that’s okay, there’s always next year.  Reese had big plans for the two of us (actually, there were 3 but I don’t think he was considering Lila to be an active participant on our date).  First, he picked out my outfit.  I wore the jeans that were on the top  of the pile, my favorite white shirt (that is  not in the least bit cute or flattering or really even suitable to be worn out in public anymore), this really flashy black and hot pink feathery headband that he thinks is lovely, and a bead necklace that Mattie made me a while ago.  I was looking pretty spiffy.  Well, at least it could have been much, much worse.

So off we went, with our first stop here:

And tastee it is

Because everyone knows that zoos are best when paired with donuts and chocolate milk.

Outside the gates of the zoo. So EXCITED!

Breakfast of champions!

My darling breakfast buddies

Even Lila got in on the donut love.

That’s donutty drool on her little face

 

Our first stop on the zoo tour was the gift shop.  Reese has been talking about a plastic bat that he saw at the zoo gift shop back this past spring when we went with Mattie’s class.  At the time, I thought it wasn’t really fair to buy my kids souvenirs when everyone else wasn’t getting treasures.  But he has reminded me of that bat for months now, so when it was decided that we would be going to the zoo for my birthday, that was priority number one.  He even remembered exactly where their display had been.  So once plastic bat was adopted as well as a tiny bat Memphis zoo button to pin on his shirt, we were off to where else, to see the bats of course.  And that is where we stayed for at least 45 minutes.  The bats at our zoo our in a very dark building that also houses other “creatures of the night”.  Really, as far as animals go, I think he chose wisely.  Their building is air-conditioned in the summer and heated during the winter.  It isn’t muggy like the reptile building and doesn’t have things like reptiles in it.  No, the bats are right across the aisle from the aardvarks and the sleuths, both creatures that I don’t mind spending some time with either. Since we also purchased a zoo membership, I can see us spending many hours just hanging out in the bat building.

Modeling bat wings

Best building in the zoo

And when we finally left there, we said hey to the big cats and then it was off to the pandas.  But the pandas are in the China portion of our zoo and in order to get to China, you must pass through a little piece of frightening that I guess is supposed to be Indonesia.  And the only Indonesian creature that our zoo features is the Komodo Dragon.  Those closest to me know that this is my nightmare animal.  Literally, I have dreams where I wake up thrashing and sobbing because I have dreamt that I walked downstairs and there was a Komodo Dragon down there.  They are worse than the turtles at the alligator farm.  Way worse. Not only are they lizards that are entirely too big (terrifying side note: I recently learned that Komodo Dragons never stop growing through their entire lives.  And if kept in captivity where they have no enemies and a constant food supply, it is possible that much like tortoises, they could live to be who knows how old and keep growing the entire time.  So if you figure that a 20-year-old Dragon can be 8-9 feet long, just imagine how big a, 80-year-old one would be?  Nightmares I tell you.), but they are also carnivorous and mean and angry and have poisonous bacterial spit.  And there are a few of them that live in our zoo. I have managed to avoid these awful lizards for 4 years.  Usually, i have either brought another parent/ grandparent/ friend with me who doesn’t share my intense phobia and they will take my child through the scary building or I just distract the kids and they forget about that particular creature.  But this time, I wasn’t so lucky.  I was the only grown-up and Reese wanted desperately to see them because he had recently seen an animal movie featuring these horrible things.  He begged and begged and I found myself begging him just as aggressively to please skip them this time.  Finally, I decided really this was ridiculous.  It’s just a really big lizard, no big deal.  I am a grown-up and my child wants to see an animal.  So for the first time, i actually walked through the little gate with my head held high ready to conquer my fears.  And then I saw it, sitting out in its yard sunning its gigantic reptilian body.  Let me just take a minute to emphasize the word GIGANTIC here.  And all that bravery went out the window almost followed by my special birthday donut.  And like the big baby that I am…..I started to cry.  Not big ugly sobbing cry, but more like please don’t make me go in there  because it scares me to the core kind of crying.  Daniel had a lion’s den, this was my lions den.  Reese told me what a scaredy cat I was, but allowed me to hold his hand and close my eyes as he led me and the stroller I pushed with a death grip through the outer lizard yard.  It was terrible and yet I was incredibly proud of myself all at the same time.  But still the biggest scaredy cat in my 4 years olds eyes.

After that torturous experience we treated ourselves to an icee.  I felt like considering my near death experience, we could splurge for the big one.  Lila had a bottle and I took a moment to recompose myself.  Then it was off to the bears. We had a lovely little picnic next to the bat house, said good-bye to the bats until next week when I am sure we will return.

Icee break

Proof that I was there at the zoo with my kids

Kids 2 and 3

Her dazzling new smile

My birthday fun continued with a visit to the wonderful Nan.  A few weeks ago I had said that I wanted nothing more on my birthday than to make an appointment to get my hair washed and styled and to sit around and eat apple pie with Nan and Shannie at the salon.  Well, Shannie had class on Tuesday so she wasn’t able to fulfill the sitting around at the salon part, but Brandon did make me a haircut appointment and when I arrived, Shannon had a corner set up with gifts and a Komodo DRagon sized apple pie.  Nan indulged me with a fabulous scalp massage and I enjoyed every little minute of my visit.  So it wasn’t cupcakes in class, but I think just as great if not better.

With Shannie right after my hair was luxuriously washed

My birthday corner, thank you Shannie and Nan

Real love is when a friend makes you a delicious pie and gifts you with super comfy, stretchy pants to wear while you eat it

 

My special day was topped off with a romantic dinner with my sweetheart, and then a trip to Ben & Jerry’s to collect that free ice cream cone.  A great day, sprinkled with texts and messages from my special people, reminding me that I make their lives happy just as they make mine, making new memories of what birthday magic is.

Enjoying my free birthday ice cream

The Week I Showered Early

I have big plans this week.  This is going to sound really ridiculous when actually written out into words, but in my head, it was inspiring.  The big, life-changing plans were going to be that instead of sort of taking my time to ease into the day after Mattie and Brandon leave in the morning, I was going to immediately jump into the shower.  I know, you were probably expecting something a little bit more profound weren’t you?  Reese and I have the best of intentions of errands we are going to run and places we are going to visit, stones we want to turn over and explore, but we always seem to get hung up between point a and point b.  I have pin-pointed our hang up to be that whole getting ready process.  I tend to start cleaning up right after making breakfast and usually there is some other task that needs tended to that would be just as easily done in my pajamas.  I try to get Reese down for a nap somewhere in the 12 o’clock hour and that whole showering and fixing your hair thing just doesn’t really fit anywhere in the morning schedule.  But I am going to try to do better.  I have calculated it just right, that if I immediately go directly to the shower – I might be able to stay on task and actually get myself half way ready before Lila wakes up.  So like I said, I have big plans.

On the agenda for today was a trip to Michael’s to get a few things for some wreathes that I am imagining myself making for the bare front doors.  I have made these types of wreathes before and I know for a fact that they are easy and really don’t take much time at all.  Yet still I stall, finding everything else in the world to do except create them.  But today I was going to tackle those wreathes with a renewed craftiness that would make even Marth Stewart quiver.  And I got up and took my shower right after cleaning up the breakfast mess.  I was on fire.  Then I opened my email in-box and discovered that our credit card number had been stolen.  Apparently we had sponsored a very lovely weekend for some thieves in California who enjoyed a fine hotel and excellent cuisine on our dime.  Discover immediately cancelled our card number and thankfully we won’t be held responsible for any of their expenditures.  But, until the new card arrives – we are credit cardless.  I decided it was probably best not to go to a crafty store while feeling all buzzed up on fall inspiration and not really have means to pay for it.  Yes, we do have debit cards but those are direct access to our real money and that sort of thing just makes me nervous.

So we were showered, we were dressed and we stayed home.  But that was probably best because no one had bothered to speak with Lila about our plans to be productive this one week and it seems as though she had plans of her own.  This is on her little calendar as Hell Week, where all the inner rage that has been building for the past 7 months is finally coming out.  She is very upset at us and tells us all about it whenever she is awake, yet if you offer to leave her alone and give her some space, that doesn’t seem to sit very well either.  Tomorrow, we have plans for the zoo so hopefully she will get over herself by then and be back in her old happy state of mind so that we can enjoy ourselves.  Because nothing says “Happy Birthday Mom” like spending the morning in the dark bat house at the zoo with a  wired little boy who wants to be batman and a yelling infant who neither wants to be held nor but down.

Yes, tomorrow is my birthday.  I was reminded that it was coming up when I received the very thoughtful and personally signed card that our insurance company sends every year.  I realize that they buy these cards in bulk to send out to all of their customers every year, but you would think they would choose a new card design every year.  Maybe even cycle through a few every few years or something, but its the same card every year.  After 4 years, I have to be honest, its beginning to feel a little less special. I’ve also received the annual free birthday ice cream cone coupon from both Baskin Robbins and Ben & Jerry’s.  I know those clubs are probably just intended for little children, but I too enjoy a cone on my birthday and its nice to not have to pay for it.  The only problem with those though is that if I go to collect my complimentary ice cream, I can’t just walk in with my gaggle of children and only get something for myself.  It’s not that I don’t like treating my children to special things, but they are not at ages where daily ice cream in the afternoon is a very positive idea. So for my birthday, I would like a babysitter to watch the kids for an hour so I can go and have some ice cream in peace.

I don’t have really incredible plans for the big double 3’s birthday.  Its funny, back when I was a little thing, there would be a party all planned and everything down to the napkins all picked out.  I would be lying in my bed this night before just feeling almost electric because birthdays just seemed to hold a certain magic – like everything was going to be awesome and perfect and special and unicorns and maybe just maybe there might even be a parade to take you to school.  That never happened, I always arrived to school in the same way I usually did, but still…..lying awake the night before, anything was possible.  Mom usually had something special for breakfast and at school I got a new pencil and to be the line leader or the one to hold the flag or whatever special privilege there was.  And whenever the classroom door opened, there was magical possibility that there might be a surprise waiting just for me on the other side.  Again, this didn’t usually happen, but it was my birthday and if ever there was a day for that sort of thing to happen, it was definitely today.  I did, on occasion, get balloons or flowers delivered from one of the parents and that just added fuel to the excitement of the day.  At lunch time there would be cupcakes to pass out and you would be a sort of classroom hero.  Not because you had accomplished anything special or good, but simply because you had brought sugar to school and there might be an extra long recess while the teacher tried to run that sugar out of us.  And after school, I always checked the mail.  I learned early on that on birthdays, wonderful things come in the mail.

As I got a little older, there wasn’t always a special birthday breakfast waiting for me and I didn’t carry cupcakes around with me to class in college, but there was still a certain buzz of excitement.  I still liked to have something new to wear on my birthday and the mail really held great promise.  Overall, I would say that though it didn’t keep me up the night before, it was still a day of possibility.

And now, well I’m not not looking forward to it.  Like I said, Reese and Lila and I will be hitting the zoo early in the day.  I told him maybe we could have a little Starbucks in the store, not just through the drive-thru.  Because that makes it more special.  He asked me if I had a favorite shirt and if I did, I should wear that.  Mattie just seemed shocked to find out that I even had a birthday at all.  I’m not sure if she thinks I’ve just always been around or what.  But she just kept saying as I was putting her to bed, “tomorrow is the day you were born, wow! Does Mumsey know this?” Yes, I am pretty sure that Mumsey is very aware of it.  But then she looked at me all pitifully and sort of stroked my face as she was kissing me good night and let me know that she was sorry I didn’t have any friends to have a party with or a class to bring cupcakes to.  Thank you Mattie.  You might not have tact, but you have heart.

So tomorrow, Mama will try to welcome 33 with open arms and will remember that birthdays are magical.  But then again, so are ordinary every days, too.  The people who love you and reach out to you on your birthday love you every day.  And that making it to a new year wouldn’t mean much of anything if there weren’t all the other days in between.

Mama’s Been Busy

There have been several things keeping me from blogging lately.  Primarily, those things have been doing dishes.  Since we moved in, whenever you ran the dishwasher, the cycle would end with a flashing “PF”.  This was a new dishwasher to us and it seemed to be washing the dishes well enough, so we really thought nothing of it.  It made water noises, there wasn’t a burning smell, and the dishes appeared clean.  I did do some research and found that “PF” meant power failure, but I just figured that the power had failed because the cycle was over.

But then things started happening, or not happening. I noticed that unless things were pretty clean going in, they didn’t come out especially sparkly.  Especially baby bottles.  Those were starting to get rather murky looking and when I finally ran my finger around the inside, it was obvious they hadn’t been getting the kind of bath that they should.  So the repairman was called.  He tinkered around inside and declared that there was a problem with the heating element and a new one was ordered.  The part arrived and then repairman came back this past Monday to install it.  I’m not sure if this was a new repair guy or if he just got a little smarter from the last time he visited, but it was quickly discovered that our heating element was just fine and there was a leak of some sort.  I guess the water was leaking somewhere it shouldn’t causing the power failure.  So a new part was ordered and our friendly repairman will be back tomorrow to fix it.  In the meantime, I have been doing dishes the old-fashioned way.

Our family generates lots of dishes, and lots of bottles that have several little parts that have a tendency to hide and then go down then drain when you let the water out.  Anyway, it has seemed like an ongoing job – washing the dishes, then the countertop being filled with drying dishes, then putting them all away so that you can wash the ones that our overflowing the sink again.  On the plus side – my engagement ring has never been shinier!

Another thing that has been taking some time and patience has been convincing Lila to eat solids.  This has been a new issue for me.  My other two kids have followed a pretty similar script as far as their early babyhood has gone.  They have all slept through the night at about the same time, sat up around the same time, even weighed about the same at each age.  Mattie and Reese both had “immature sphincters” and had issues with spitting up all the time.  To the point that I was scared to let others hold them for fear that they would blow and ruin the holder’s outfit.  I was anxious with the first two, to get them started on solids so that maybe their meals would stay down longer…..or at all.  And right about the time they could sit up, they began dining on rice cereal, which lead to other wonderful things like squash and dinner rolls.  Lila has so far, kept to a similar script.  However, her sphincter must have used those extra days that she stayed in the womb to mature nicely because we have yet to deal with those “juicy” issues that plagued the other two.  And instead of being a champion little eater of solids, she seems to think there is no reason to move on to spoons and sweet potatoes.

Every day, usually in the evening, we do the dance.  I make her a little bowl of mushed something, gather a ton of enthusiasm and positivity and hope she will open her mouth.  It isn’t going very well and up until last Thursday, I was beginning to wonder about the eating future of my number 3.  But Thursday something crazy happened.  While at store, pushing number 2 and 3 in the double stroller, I hear Reese say rather impatiently, “Ask for your own goldfish Lila!” I looked down to see her lunging with her arms straight out in front of her, hands ready, fingers stretched out like little magnets – going for the gold………fish.  Luckily, I had another bag on hand and sister ate herself at least half of it.  She wasn’t exactly thorough with her eating and there were fish heads and tails and slobbery bits all over the stroller and her, but she put forth a very valiant effort and I was proud.  I would have been even prouder if she had gobbled up her dinner later that night, but at least we know she is capable of maybe one day dining on more than a bottle.

And other things than have been keeping me away from the computer….Papa and Nene came for a visit last Sabbath.  They arrived just in time to surprise the kids and go with us to church (they weren’t expected until later).  We had a great, rainy afternoon perfect for just lounging around and getting lots of cuddles.  Later that night, we feasted on some tasty barbecue.  It was fabulous, but left me feeling like I was about 5 months pregnant with a meat baby. It always wonderful to have the parents come for a visit and we were sad to see them drive off Sunday afternoon.  Thankfully, I had something to look forward to on Monday evening.

Monday after getting the kids fed and homework done, I headed to the airport to pick up my dear, dear friend Angela and her little precious and yummy baby boy Lucas.  They would be staying the week with us and I was just happy as could be about it all.

We had quite the week, packing all the kids around and juggling all the different naps and feedings and getting Mattie picked up from school every day.  We laughed at how no matter how early we woke up, we couldn’t manage to get ourselves all put together before about noon-thirty.  And when we finally did get out and about, let me tell you, it isn’t easy to do serious shopping with 3 little ones in tow.  These kiddoes have definitely slowed us down! And after getting all of them buckled in and strollers stowed – well its quite the workout.  We had a fantastic time just being together.  Being a stay-at-home mom is a wonderful job to have, but I will admit, it can get very lonely.   And though we were both “at work”, we weren’t by ourselves and it is amazing how much more enjoyable the mundane things like a trip to Target can be when you have a bestie there with you.  I’m so thankful that she braved traveling with a newborn and leaving a little one behind with dad to come spend some time with me.  Reese is still talking about how that Auntie Ang is probably one of the best women to ride in our front seat.  And I think that’s about as big of a compliment that one can get from Mr. Reese.

So there you go, my explanation for being absent for a while.  I hope to do better this next weekend as I have had my two faithful readers – Mumsey and Nana, tell me that they have missed me.  I know they really mean they miss pictures of the kids, but its nice to feel loved and missed.  So until tomorrow…….

Skeleton Pajamas, But No Pictures

Yesterday marked day two of wearing the new batman shirt.  Technically, I feel like it was almost day three since Reese also slept in it the night before.  He was all set to wear it again after his bath, even though it had remnants of most of his meals and snacks from the day, but finally decided that it needed a wash when he found one of my hairs on his sleeve.  That will do it.  All the mud and crud and food is fine, but one of your mom’s hairs, well that’s just disgusting.  So the shirt is now in the wash and it looked like we were moving on today.  If you call safety pinning the cape from the Batman shirt onto another shirt.  But then while at one of our treasure sales, we came across a pair of skeleton pajamas just like the pair he lived in last year (and sadly grew out of).  Oh happy day……for Reese. Some of you out there might remember that last year, Reese was in love with skeletons.  Not the scary of it all, but the actual skeletal system.  He loved to watch this goofy video on Youtube called “The skeleton Dance” , but he called it “Bone Song”.  Actually, he called it “Bone Thong” because he has the whole lisp thing going.  I think people who just heard him talking really questioned our parenting when they would hear him say that he wanted to watch “Bone Thong” on the computer.

Anyway, as soon as we arrived home, off went the boring t-shirt and on went the pajamas, where I imagine they will stay for another day or two.  I am waiting for him to ask me to safety-pin the bat cape to the skeleton pajamas to make the ultimate favorite outfit.  Oh and  throw on the Jimmie Johnson hat just so that all the bases are covered.  Speaking of our good friend Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson, he just happened to be on Live with Kelly and Michael (formerly Regis and Kelly) today.  Unfortunately, this was the one day in weeks that we were out and about being productive before noon so we missed it.  Maybe next time.

In other news, my camera is officially broken again.  As some of you may recall, this spring it just mysteriously quite working, wouldn’t even turn on.  Well, I guess it wash;t completely mysterious.  It happened about the same time some water was spilled on the floor in my car when the camera was sitting.  The water wasn’t spilled on the actual camera, but I think it still got wet due to being on a wet surface. So do to that, it spent some time away from us getting fixed.  When it arrived home, it was working again and just in time for Reese’s birthday party.  It wasn’t until a bit later that I noticed something was off with the flash.  Thinking that my settings were just a little off due to the whole water incident, I didn’t worry about it too much.  But after fiddling with it and messing up who knows what else, I was thoroughly convinced that there really was something off with my flash.  I know my children are little bites of precious, but when I would take pictures using the flash, it looked like I was attempting to take a picture of God or something.  Just a completely bright screen, no matter how I adjusted things.  We go to church with a man who is a professional photographer for St. Jude’s and I figured that if anyone would know how to fix my silly flash, it would probably be him.  He was kind enough to look at it for me, but just confirmed that yes, it was indeed flooding light.

After weeks of only taking pictures during the day time when the natural lighting was optimal, I finally took it to my favorite little camera shop.  I was horribly embarrassed of what they were going to think of me, having the nice camera that I do, yet knowing how to change the flash settings.  (Just as a side, I normally can adjust the settings, it’s just that at the present time, they don’t adjust).  I figured there was some special something that someone who actually knows how their camera works would know how to do to reset everything.  And I also imagined that they would shake their heads at me and talk about me after I left.  I probably think about things too much. Today I decided that I had had enough.  It was time to be a big girl and I was sick of my camera not working up to its full potential.  What was the point of really even having it if it didn’t work right.  So  after picking Mattie up from school, armed with my phone for Reese to watch his “Bone Thong” over and over and orders for Mattie to keep her hands in her pockets and not touch anything, into the camera store we went.  This sort of place always makes me nervous because my children are the type that have to look with their hands, not just their eyes, and there is nothing cheap in a camera store.  But they did great, and even taught the secretary the skeleton dance while they waited for me.

Sadly enough, though the kids were fantastic, my camera’s diagnosis was not.  It looks like it will be off to spend some more time at good ‘ol Nikon again for a while.  Thankfully, it is covered by a warranty, too bad it probably won’t be back before Christmas.

I feel like that was all incredibly boring to read and for that I apologize.  Hopefully, there will be something incredibly funny or entertaining in our lives tomorrow.

I Heart My Dentist and Someone Got New Underwear

I saw something crazy yesterday morning.  I know, that’s shocking coming from me, but really….it was wacky.  I was up in the bathroom, not even looking out the window, until I heard the trash truck.  That wasn’t the wacky.  But that’s what got me to look up and when I did, I saw the jogger doing his athletic thing sporting a bullet proof vest.  Now, I will admit, I don’t see a lot of Kevlar vests in my daily life, but this little number looked exactly like what they wear on tv.  It was either that or a life jacket and really, that doesn’t make a whole lot more sense.  That part was strange, but then his method of jogging was pretty odd as well.  He ran in circles for a little while and then finally chose to continue his journey north, only to turn around in about 30 seconds and do a few more circles and head east.  I figured he must be gone.  But then a bit later, here he comes again.  And this time there was just some jogging in place and then he walked away.  Just another day in Kirby Woods I suppose.

Yesterday brought about my semi-annual visit to the dentist.  I love a good cleaning! This visit also taught me that I have been aggressively scrubbing a little bit too much on the left side of my mouth.  The lovely Dana informed me that I probably do that because I am right-handed (and it might be also that I start brushing and start staring out the window and see things like nightgown cat walker and circle jogging vest man and just get a little distracted). But while I am on the subject of oral care, I would like to take a minute to acknowledge how great my dentist is.

When you are like us and don’t have any family in the town where you live, no grandparents to watch the kiddies, its nice to have help from other places.  My dear friend Sara used to live just down the road from me and it was very easy to us to watch each others chicks while the other went to any appointments.  But since we moved, it’s not as easy to do that and yesterday, Lila and Reese were with me on my trip to get my teeth cleaned.  But where I don’t have family or grandparents, I have been blessed with wonderful friends.  Friends that are also dentists and hair stylists.  Yesterday, as my chompers were being polished all pearly white, my incredible dentist was carrying my baby around on her hip tending to other patients and office business.  At one point, she was even on the phone setting up an appointment with my baby babbling into the phone.  All this going on while Reese sits beside the secretary watching Batman on youtube.  This isn’t typical at most dentist offices, but it is at mine and I am so thankful for it.

And my hair stylist, she would be devastated if Reeese didn’t come along with me because they are tight.  I walk in, hand over the baby to the receptionist (who just happens to be the kids “Aunt Shannie”) and they get snacks, kisses and the run of the place.  And I get an incredible pampering.  So should you ever need a dentist who is going to make you feel like a million bucks and you are in the Memphis area, I recommend Christal Hall and the crew at Wolfchase Family Dentistry and Nan Frezza at Alernative Health and Beauty will make you look like a million bucks.  That’s my little shout out, but truly, I am reminded daily that even though we moved to a completely foreign place, knowing absolutely no one.  God had a plan and has put some of the kindest, dearest people in our lives to be our “friend family.”

Now on to the funny of the day.  As some of you may know, my middle child adores Batman.  He loves bats, they are his favorite animals and since Batman is a person who has bat-like qualities, well, that’s just fantastic in his book.  If you want to make a friend out of Reese, present him with something Batman related or mention that bats are fond of fruit.  You will instantly bond.  Even mundane things like underwear suddenly take on a whole new sparkle when you add Batman.  While on a weekly trip to Target, to get new heads for the ol’ Sonicare because manual brushing seems to be something I am too aggressive at, Reese wore my down and I finally purchased him the Lego Batman underwear he has been begging for since July.  He had been a really good boy during all of our errands and especially while I was at the dentist yesterday, and if for 2 months a kid is still pining away after a package of underwear, well I thought he deserved it.  He was absolutely thrilled and spent a good half hour lying all the unders out and describing to me each of their individual qualities and why they would be a good candidate for wearing.  He tried each pair on at least 5 times and paraded around for me to admire before finally settling on a blue pair with just batman all over them.  Perfect I told him.  Even though he really didn’t want to, he put his shorts back on and we headed out to go pick up Mattie from school.

We actually had to go into the school because I had something to drop off and because he was so excited about his new briefs, upon seeing Mattie the first thing he did was pull his pants down to declare that he had Lego Batman underwear, see! Thankfully, we arrived late and there wasn’t much of an audience, except for Mattie, to see his exhibition.  But it was something his mother will remember for a long time.

Then a bit later…..we had dropped Mattie off at gymnastics and headed over to Old Navy, which is nearby, to kill some time and use the gift card that Reese had received from Uncle John and Aunt Kumiko.  Turns out that Old Navy has quite the Batman (and many other superheroes) selection.  Reese found a long-sleeved shirt, complete with a cape, and was immediately smitten.  While in the dressing room, he couldn’t get enough of himself and even requested that he wear the batman shirt out instead of his t-shirt he had been sporting all day.  I said fine.  I know I have many times loved a pair of shoes so much that only did I want to wear the new ones out, but felt like just tossing the old ones.  Apparently, that’s exactly how he felt because when we got up to the register to pay, I couldn’t find the old shirt any wear.  And then as I was looking for it, I heard the cashier just start laughing.  I looked around to see my child standing there topless, with his new shirt on the counter ready for her to scan.  I was just going to tear the tag out of the back, but I guess he had other ideas.  As I was trying to get the streaker redressed (and thanking my lucky stars that he hadn’t also felt the urge to show off his new underwear), he informed me that he just left his old shirt in the dressing room because he didn’t need it anymore.

We went back to get it, but I guess that for at least the next month or 5, Reese plans to wear his new, caped long-sleeved Batman shirt.  Its gonna be hot buddy, but I guess love is love.  So thank you also to Uncle John and Aunt Kumiko for providing a fabulous birthday gift that Reese adores and a good chuckle for a bored Old Navy cashier.

Tomorrow I have a few little craft projects planned.  We shall see what becomes of those.

 

 

Seven Years Ago Today

So I was inspired to do something kind of fun today.  While looking through my volumes of saved photos for pictures of the grandparents and the kids, I just couldn’t get over how much my Mattie has changed in the 7 years that she has been out in this world.  I also couldn’t get over how much she and another little girl who share the same last name and parents look so similar to one another.  Not the same by any means, but similar.  And I thought it might be fun to share with you, my 19 readers, a peak back in time to seven years ago today.

So coming to you straight from the photo files of Kaylee Baughman, this being one of the first months that Brandon and I had a digital camera – I bring you September 7, 2005

Crawling amongst the chairs

In this picture, Mattie Belle is exactly the same age, plus a week as Lila currently is.  And I have to say, our current baby isn’t nearly as advanced as the little one pictured.  People say that each kid develops their skills faster, I suppose to keep up with their older siblings.  That might be true for everyone else, but it doesn’t seem to be the case for the Baughman children.  Reese was a touch behind Mattie, just a hair.  But Lila, she is nowhere near ready to put herself through baby army training crawling through the chair legs.  It might have something to do with her never being put down on the ground.  Between me enjoying her baby cuddles and packing her around and fearing for her safety due to the others that live here, she doesn’t spend a lot of time working on those floor skills.  But with crawling comes walking and walking leads to running and then they just start running away from me and chasing each other.  So we are pretty okay with our Little not really being to keen on the idea of mobility just yet.

Great Grand Parents and Store Openings

I seem to have forgotten to finish documenting my weekend.  Here we are enjoying Thursday already.  I realize that my mom is about the only person that reads this and I was spending the weekend with her, so the suspense probably hasn’t been killing anyone.  But just in case you are not my mother, and you are wondering how we filled our Sunday…….well, here we go.

Sunday morning started wonderfully for 2 reasons.  Reason 1) I got to sleep in and when I did way up, (Reason b) It was to Reese asking me what he needed to wear because he and Poppy were going on their special date.  I love my little guy very much, but sometimes its nice to have a few kids off my plate.  And a busy with Poppy Reese usually comes home a very happy Reese.  That’s something many people can appreciate.  So Poppy and Reese headed off to the grand opening of Cabela’s in a neighboring town.  I think that particular Sunday morning could easily rival any Christmas.  This was the GRAND OPENING.  There would be give-aways and special guests, and of course all the excitement that comes as soon as you open the doors of any outdoorsmany store.  When they did arrive home (with complimentary cd’s and camo can cozies – which Mumsey, we left Reese’s at your house and its okay, you don’t need to mail it to us.), and Reese was asked about what all he saw there, this was my favorite. “We saw boats and 4-wheelers and real live dead animals. Like deers and Dodge Rams.” Have you ever gone to the zoo and seen a Dodge Ram?  I believe that is an animal that only exists in my little guy’s world.  Just like he doesn’t use honey mustard for his fries, but instead “honey nut mustard” and he adores spagaragus (asparagus).

And after all that fun and excitement, he took a nap.  Waking up just in time to welcome the whole extended family for a little birthday celebration.  We celebrated Brandon, Reese, Kumiko, Grandpa, and Little Momo – but mostly Grandpa, because when you turn 85, it kind of is all about you.  My name was also on the group cake, but I’m not quite ready to celebrate the ol’ birthday yet.  It not for another 2 and a half weeks and I just don’t want to rush things.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

It’s always lovely to get to see all my special peeps.  And it just makes my heart happy to see how even though we haven’t lived in the same city for over 4 years now, Mattie and her great grandparents still have such a tight bond.  When I first got pregnant, Brandon was very much in the trenches of grad school and I was working full-time.  It wasn’t really the best time for a baby to be arriving in our lives time-wise and especially financially and I had no idea who was going to keep this little one during the day while I was at work or how we were going to pay for it.  I should have never worried.  There was no question at all, Grandma and Grandpa would be keeping her for me. I think those two years were the biggest gift that all 4 of us have ever received.  Grandma and Grandpa absolutely spoiled that little girl.  I think Mattie spent entire days just sitting in the rocking chair with one of them.  It took both of them to take care of her and care for her they did.  Grandma played short order cook and Grandpa pushed in her the swing outside till she fell asleep.  She had her own room there and even a cabinet with her special foods and plates and cups.  Grandma also pretty  much potty trained her for me and then praised me for what a good job I was doing with my little girl.  I appreciated the gesture…took away a bit of the mommy-guilt for having to work, but Grandma I know I really had nothing to do with it.

Getting a little love from Mattie

Celebrating that first big birthday

Swinging with Grandpa

I don’t think Grandma would go out bouncing with anyone else but a Great Grand Child

When we moved away, I know my grandparents were sad to see Brandon and I going away.  But I think they were devastated to think of what this was going to mean for their relationship with Mattie.  They were besties.  If only I was around, I was pretty good.  Add Mumsey to the equation and I take a big step down.  Add Grandma to the picture and I am invisible.  They had special secrets, just the two of them.  Special ways of doing things and private memories that were only shared between the two of them.  I think Grandma was afraid that over time, Mattie would forget those things and that bond between them would fade a little.  I believe she was preparing herself to just settle for those magical 3 and a half years that she shared with Mattie and not expect things to really grow between the two of them after we moved away.  And a relationship with Reese, though she would love on him and all those other grandparenty things.  I think she imagined he would grow up not really knowing her or their great grandpa.  She was very wrong.

Welcoming a new little guy

Grandma and Reesie

Happy Together

I consider myself very lucky to be almost 33 years old and still have a set of my grandparents around.  But I consider Mattie to be especially lucky to be getting close to 8 and having not only all of her grandparents, but a fabulous relationship with her Great Grandma.    That’s one reason why none of the kids grandparents are called “grandpa or grandma” – because she already has a set of those.  Harley and Glenna Huff have been grandma and grandpa for 37 years now, it seems rather silly to call someone else by their very well deserved names.

Grandpa meeting Lila

Wearing coordinating outfits, Grandma still is a great grand girl rocker

Playing at Mumsey’s house

Playing under the table….how many great grandma’s will do that?

So, back to the day – it was wonderful.  It started out with happy things like sleep and memories being made by a little boy and his Poppy.  Celebrations with my Grandpa and hugs and kisses with Grandma and it ended with watching NASCAR with Mumsey.  That part didn’t go so well, but it was a memory just the same.  And I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

Way back before they were great grandparents

Our Journey To The Promised Land…..For The Weekend

With it being a long weekend, Mattie being off of school on Monday and Brandon being caught up at work and having no patients scheduled for the first day of the work week – it seemed like a perfect time to take a little weekend jaunt over to the natural state to visit Mumsey and Poppy.  That and Lila hasn’t seen her great-grandparents since sometime in the early spring and that’s just not okay.  My children love “Ahkansawl” , as Reese calls it.  Especially my boy.  He often speaks of visiting and how when he is a grown up man he would like to live here and drive his pick-up.  Mattie loves the vast yard that Mumsey and Poppy’s house sits on and how you can sit on the back patio and watch the cows or drive tractors through the yard when Poppy allows.  There is also a tiny airport down the road that does sky diving and often on the sunny weekends, you can sit and watch the daredevils falling from the sky.  All of these are things that we don’t have readily available at home.  There is also the maid service and the child care, which I really enjoy. In many ways, northwest Arkansas is our Canaan.  And our journey Friday night felt s touch like the children of Israel as they wandered through the wilderness.  And the thunderstorms (thank you hurricane Isaac) and I-40 road construction were our plagues.  A trip that should have lasted about 5 hours and landed us at our destination around midnight ended up taking us much longer and we instead rolled into the driveway a touch after 3 a.m.

Yesterday was all the magic that Reese and Mattie have been envisioning for the past week or so since I told them we would be coming to visit.  Reese started the day with checking out Poppy’s die-cast cars.  Poppy has purchased a few new ones since our last visit and Reese has been so excited to check them out.  There was church at the donut church, a delicious lunch and then naps.  There is nothing like taking a nap and knowing that there really isn’t a time limit.  My husband is very kind about letting me take Sabbath afternoon naps.  Pretty much since the arrival of Mattie, it has gone without question that I could take a nap without interruption.  With that said, I still try to get the kids settled (usually napping also) before I start the snooze and then try to hurry and get to sleep so that  I wake up around the same time they do.  But at Mumsey and Poppy’s house, that doesn’t apply.  When I finally did wake up, I found a Reese quietly playing in the living room with the mountain of Legos that once belonged to my brother and Poppy reading nearby.  Upon opening the fridge to get a little drink, I found that Mattie and Mumsey had made caramel apples while the rest of us were sleeping.  That is something that never happens at our house.  The candy fairies do not make surprise visits and leave little treasures for us in the fridge.  Part of the magic of Mumsey’s I guess.

And the evening ended with Mums and I taking a little trip to the store and just perusing around for about an hour.  I hope one day, maybe when she is older….Mattie’s idea of bliss will be strolling through any store with her mama, just looking to look and talking about nothing.

So though the journey was long, very long.  I think that even if all we had was today – cars with Poppy, kisses from Mumsey and a stroll through Wal-Mart were our milk and honey