Wash Rinse Repeat

I woke up this morning at what has been my usual time (6:47) for the past 8 months.  The first thought that popped into my head was that this was the beginning of the end.  Three more weeks and summer vacation will be here, which will bring with it…hopefully later mornings.  Lately, these early mornings have seemed all the more difficult.  I can go through the actions of getting Mattie ready for school almost in my sleep…unfortunately, that’s a big almost.  Each little task has been divided into sections, 1) get the girl dressed 2) fix the hair 3) get her down stairs and started with breakfast and 4) make her lunch.  And between you and me, more times that not there is a 5, and that is take Mattie to school.  I’m really not thrilled with this number 5, but since her regular chauffeur pulls some pretty late nights, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.  But I’m not going to lie, I wouldn’t get upset if one morning they did everything without  me.  I would be fine with that.

But this morning, I had an epiphany while making the peanut butter and jelly.  This time last year I had a 3 month old.  Sleeping through the night wasn’t something I was familiar with, and Reese was just starting to fall in love with batman.  NASCAR was something we still mainly just watched at Mumsey and Poppy’s house and Mattie was just finishing up her first grade year.  She used a different lunch bag last year and wore different shoes.  A snapshot of last year would have us in a different house, preparing those same pb&j’s in a completely different kitchen.  Even sitting at a different table for breakfast.  And the epiphany portion of this was that this little season only lasts for a short time.  Though I have several years ahead of prepping Mattie for school, I only have 12 more mornings of 2nd grade.  And this time next year, if we were to peek into the future, I’m sure it will look different.

Lila will be a little girl instead of a baby.  She will be walking and talking and have hair.  Mattie will be 9 years old! Taller and bigger, smarter and I bet our conversation will be just a bit different.  Her face will have changed again, as it seems to be doing more here in the last few years.  And she will have a different teacher, so the whole routine that we have been used to classroom-wise will be changed as well.  And Reese, I just have no idea.  Hopefully, the hair will be the same. And hopefully mine will be too, because I am getting attacked by white hairs like crazy!  They just seem to be making these atrocious nests on my head.  It’s probably time to look into doing something about that, but that’s a whole other post in itself.

Suddenly those 14 school days seem invaluable.  Like I should be doing something memorable and making really nutritious meals for these last few days of this snapshot of time.  It was just a real reminder that time is short.  I’m going to blink and I will be making two lunches on these early mornings.  I’ll take a nap and suddenly I will still only be making two lunches because Mattie has graduated and it’s just Reese and Lila here at home with me.

I don’t usually send dessert for Mattie, but after my coffee-time epiphany, she got an Oreo in her lunch.

And on that same note, I had a real in-your-face realization that Reese is growing up this past week.

In the middle of the grocery store, because Reese prefers to do all embarrassing things in public places, he lifted his shirt up to his chin and the started to pull his pants down to show me that he had red marks on his hips.  I think in his mind he was probably dying and he seemed very relieved to realize that it was just his underoos getting a little tight.  That night when he was getting ready for bed, and I got him some clean jammies and “unders” I realized that those little shorts he had been wearing earlier where a size 2T and from the first package I had ever bought for him after he was potty trained.  He will be turning 5 this summer and his taste in underwear has shifted from Thomas the Train (who by the way has been a stranger in this house for what seems like forever!) and firetrucks to Lego Batman.  It’s funny how the laundry has a way of speaking truth to your soul.  Our laundry changed when Lila arrived.  Not only was there another pile in the mix, but it was pink and tiny and mainly made up of comfy clothes for an individual who spent most of their time lounging around.  Brandon’s laundry changed when he went from a student to a professional.  Mine changed when I quit the workforce.  A lot more sweats and yoga pants…..okay, probably way more pajama pants, too.  Seeing how the clothing tastes change in the laundry, or the stains that come through…that first bloody nose, feeding the baby strawberries for the first time, popsicles in the summer….all of it paints a picture of the season of life that this little family is right smack in the middle of right now.

I think maybe I will wake up a little easier tomorrow.

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And completely different, the bigger kids and I went and visited our friendly in-house physical therapist.  Not so much our house, but more Brandon’s “work house”, because none of us that live here are a physical therapist at this time.  Mattie has this crazy bowed back thing going on and Reese has been walking on his toes pretty much since he started walking.  It seemed like as good a day as any to go and see if my children were severely messed up.

Well, it turns out that Mattie is just fine.  Her protruding belly walk is just the result of her current point in growth.  It’s also highly possible that her “stick the landing pose” she mastered in gymnastics over the course of 4 years could have had some effect.  The PT thinks our chances of her one day having regular posture are pretty high.  He also recommended getting her into swimming and said that ought to straighten her right out.  We plan on signing up tomorrow.

Reese on the other hand…..well, his problems might not be as easily fixed as we would have hoped.  The trained eye of Richard Bryant Master PT, caught a little flaw in the development of my boys legs.  It seems as though his left leg is shorter than its buddy.  Not just his left leg, but the left side of his pelvis seems to be smaller, as well.  And that toe walking is more of a ball of the feet walking, which seems to be his way of compensating for the leg thing.  Its funny, when I was picking out a box of bottles to gift my dear friend at her baby shower this weekend, I picked up one that had sort of crunched in corner.  Immediately, I put that box back and began a search for a flawless box.  Because perfect bottle packaging means that I love my friend more than a crunched box corner would.  But when it comes to someone telling you that your little person has a “flaw”, more so than questioning how I could “fix it” or what I had done wrong to mess him up in utero, my question was how can we help him?  Change him and those little legs that feel and look perfect to me, oh I don’t want to do that at all.  He’s perfect already, all three of them are just because….but he could use some help.  If Reese were a box, I wouldn’t put him back.. .even with his asymmetrical legs.

We are hoping to get into the pediatric ortho in the next week to see what’s really going on with the boy’s legs.  They seem to work just fine, but if you don’t mind, we would love to have your extra thoughts and prayers as this little adventure unfolds for us.

But in the mean time, this too is a season.  Early mornings, batman masks, skinned up knees, pb&J for lunch and so it seems, uneven legs.  And I’ll take it.

Wigs and New Bags

It has been several days since I fixed my hair.  I have washed it yes, but really fixed it…..I think that last happened on Saturday.  Mattie even asked me last night as I was reading to she and Reese, if I was feeling sad.  Puzzled, I said no and asked her why she might think that. “Because you stop fixing your hair when you’re sad….and then her voice trailed off and she got super excited..”and when you’re sick! Are you going to have another baby mama?” I wish that I could say that this statement caught me completely off guard and I was shocked that she didn’t think I was put together and poised at all times.  But pregnancy is ROUGH on this lady.  In a way, I some times feel that its too bad that Mattie was so young during both of my following pregnancies because my haggard appearance would have made wonderful birth control.  I like to think that I single handedly lowedred the teen pregnancy rate for a good 16 weeks back in 2004, 2007 and 2011.

Who knew that my children read my hair as indicators of my moods and well being?

“Ooh, better lay low today, mom’s hair is in a messy bun and you know what that means!”

I told her that I was perfectly happy and there was no baby on the way for us.  And then we took a moment out of our reading to send up a little thank you prayer for that.

Truth is, it hurts to fix my hair.  This past Sunday was Mattie’s school garage sale and as my tradition has become, my first sunburn of the season.  It is always a lovely farmer’s tan burn that I will spend the rest of the summer trying to fix.  It always includes the tops of my ears and often my forehead, right at the hair-line so that when it eventually peals in a week and a half, dandruffy chunks appear.  And of course my neck will become bright red. For a person who requires heat when coiffing her hair, and this lovely mix of burnt areas on their head, I have decided to just sit the week out as far as all that goes.  The thought of blow drying my fried neck for the sake of pretty hair just seems ridiculous.  It’s time like this where having a wig would be fabulous.  Actually, I can hardly think of a time when having a wig wouldn’t be fabulous! I would LOVE to have  wig I could just throw on when I wasn’t feeling like messing with my actual hair.  I would get one for the girls, too.  I could fix it for church on Sunday while I watched my race and needed to do something with my hands.  Then we could put it away for the week and come Saturday morning when we were rushed and testy, instead of fussing with Mattie to hold still or that curlers are our friends, I could just toss on that beautiful hair and we would be set.  I think this idea could really catch on.

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Uncle Loren and Aunt Brandi stopped by in the middle of the day yesterday.  I knew they were coming, but hadn’t told the kids and Mattie was thrilled when we arrived to pick her up from school yesterday and we had “guests” in the car.  They are moving to Texas, and by the way, every time I say that, the opening credit music from “Friday Night Lights” starts running through my head.  I soooooo want to say that they are moving there for Loren to become the new head coach for the Dillon Panthers, because that’s what Texas means to me.  I have told them that they need to pick a small town football team and become intensely loyal fans, going to homecoming and all that fun…..I don’t know that they are intending on the same Texas-experience as I would be wanting to recreate.  Anyway, they stopped on their way out of Tennessee for see ya later hugs and some cupcakes at Muddy’s.  We wish them the best of luck on their new adventure.

And in other random news, Mattie’s piano book bag tore a few weeks ago.  It wasn’t the loveliest bag to begin with, and it just really looked atrocious after the falling apart began.  This bag had been a great birthday gift last year, one of those bags that comes with special markers so you can color it yourself.  It was very loud and glitzy and right up Mattie’s alley, so to those that gave it to her, I am not knocking it in any way.  She adored it and I think we even bought one just like it for another little girl for her birthday because Mattie thought it was so awesome.  Anyway, it just wasn’t meant to go through the wear and tear that a piano book bag takes. So we needed something new.  And it just so happens that a dear friend of mine can sew up just about anything I can imagine.  I asked her if she ever made little bags and if so could she maybe make a little something for Mattie.  Nothing super special, just a tote bag.

Well, this little piece of wonderful showed up today:

Is it not darling?  I’m telling you, my Pam is a sewing rock star and I am not afraid to say it.  She is the same person who made my precious little russian doll shoes that Lila lost about a month ago and I am so sad about.  And it’s possible that she also made some other darling little baby things that arrived with this bag that will be going to some special little babies soon.

If you ever need a one of a kind baby or kid gift, or just some something like a tote bag made up, I would suggest visiting her at

http://www.pamarner.etsy.com

On that note, it’s getting close to time to fetch the Mattie and I am still here in my “work clothes” aka my pajamas.  I should probably go and not fix my hair so that I don’t embarrass her when I arrive.  Have a great day and make sure to wear sunscreen.

How Zoo Field Trips are Like Pregnancy Amnesia

I am not a career person.  I never have been.  When asked as a little girl what I wanted to be when I grew up, the response was mostly a mom.  Oh, there for a bit it was grocery store checker outer, (that one still gets me and probably explains why I enjoy the self-serve check out lines.) and because it sounded good, pediatrician.  But who were we kidding with that one?  I did grow up and go on to college and do have a degree.  I have even had a paying job that required said degree to have.  I also have a 401k that will be waiting for me when I “retire”, and boy do we have big plans for that whopping $1,000.00!  My point is, ever since I was a little girl I knew that my bliss in life was to be a mom that got to stay at home and be with my children.  I enjoy running errands and laundry.  Not so much that I want to do them for more than my family, but they aren’t bad to me.  I love being there when my little people wake up and getting to share the day with them.  I love that I get to be involved in every area of their lives (for now) because I know that one day will come when that probably won’t happen.  Stay-at-home momming isn’t for everyone, at that is great because for those that aren’t being stay-at-home moms, they are doing an awesome job somewhere else and we are thankful for that.  But for me, I am pretty sure that the main reason my parents sent me to college was to pair me up with a young man who would have an education and hopefully support us.

So that is my career, I am the mom.  I pack the lunches, I get up in the middle of the night, I buy the clothes (that part I have no complaints about), I typically get to do the potty training,  have lots of responsibilities that we don’t need to go into, but for the sake of this blog post, we need to highlight that one of my duties, at this point in my job, is to always be free to chaperone field trips.  There is a handful of us moms who always serve.  We have become used to one another and used to the way our teachers like to run things.  We are a well-oiled fieldtripping machine.  Anyway, this past Monday was the annual zoo field trip.  I have accompanied Mattie every year since kindergarten and every year as we make the journey back home, I think to myself, “Whew! That was a doozie!” But still every year when the permission slip comes home and the sign-up sheet for drivers appears, I put my name on that list.  I seem to forget what it is like bringing your own personal zoo to visit the zoo.  My mind blanks out those hours of screaming and squealing little girls that will act like this is the first time that they have ever been allowed outside.  As I sign up to spend the entire day at the zoo, nowhere are the memories of last year when the majority of my group was wanted to go through the reptile building, but I had the lone duck who was terrified and had a full-out meltdown over it.  A little lone duck who wasn’t my own and I wasn’t quite sure how to deal that meltdown….or how to be in two places at once.  And the gift shops….Oh how I loathe the gift shops on field trips.

My own children, the eldest especially, could have her own gift shop in her room.  Her room could be the zoo gift shop outlet store.  We have things we could probably return to the zoo when we visited.  She and Reese have learned in the past year or so that if mama wants to go to the gift shop, we will go.  If she doesn’t, don’t even ask.  And Mattie has especially learned that when on a field trip, you sit just outside the gift shop and don’t even ask to go in.  I personally love a good gift shop, that’s one of my favorite stops while visiting an attraction.  But to take a group of 25 kids in one, kids that may or may not have money to spend, and if they do, it’s going to be up to you to find something under the amount that they have.  It’s also going to be up to you to explain to the child who didn’t bring any money, why they can’t have anything.  And what often happens, it will be up to me to buy that broken-hearted child something.  So I have began telling Mattie, our souvenirs are the memories we make.  Your prize is getting to go in the first place.

And just like after giving birth, when I said to myself, “Oh my word that was terrible!  I am never doing that again, ever!” I seem to forget it all.  Forgetting and getting myself in that pregnant situation has happened 2 times to now, same as zoo trip chaperoning.  The first time, I was just naive….the next two….I have no idea what I was thinking.  I guess it just seems like the right thing to do, and all in all, it really is for the most part, pretty fun.  But it’s also exhausting.  Down right exhausting.  And if you have children like mine, it’s also humorous….a little humiliating and you should probably bring along the hand sanitizer.

The first part of our adventure in the zoo, really didn’t have a whole lot of blog worthy action.  Then we went to visit the gorillas.

About the time that we had settled in to watching the gorillas catch oranges and bananas that were being tossed to them by their friendly keepers, Reese informed me that he needed to go to the bathroom.  Urgently.  I guess he skipped the whole, sorta could go period and went straight to emergency.  I will be honest, I was tired by this point and the idea of corralling my girls and hiking them to the nearest bathroom while listening to them grumble that they weren’t done watching the gorilla eat fruit salad….well, I just gave Reese a very generic, “hold on buddy” answer and then ignored him.  A minute later, I began to feel very guilty and looked around for the little guy.  For just a moment, I experienced that all too familiar pang of panic when you can’t find your child in a crowded, public place.  That pang of panic took a whole new turn when I did find him…..off to the corner of the large primate exhibit relieving himself in the jungle foliage.  I looked away, hoping no one saw me scanning for my child and then I did what I hope any one of you reading this would also do…..I completely ignored him.  i engrossed myself in the fascinating gorilla and began a very animated conversation with the girls I was chaperoning to give off the impression that I wasn’t the least bit aware of my son peeing in the bushes.  He joined us a minute later and it was as though he and I had some sort of unspoken code, I knew he had peed, he knew I knew and we said not a word.  On to the giraffes……

As we were passing the giraffes and other African animals, Mattie sidled up to me, grabbed my arm and in a hushed tone asked me if I could explain the Irish to Betsy, another one of her little friends who was zooing with us.  “Explain the Irish?” I said, completely confused.  I had no idea what walking through zebras and giraffes had to do with Irish people and why in the world were we whispering about them?  “What about the Irish?” She them elbowed me really hard and gave me that look that only an 8-year-old girl can give that lets you know that you are completely clueless.  “Mom! The Irish!” she hissed at me and sort of pointed while keeping her arm firmly planted to the side of her body.  I followed the point and noticed a large group of Mennonite folks also enjoying the zoo. I have to say, Memphis doesn’t seem to be a real haven for the Mennonite community and I was a little surprised myself to see them touring around.  This would be a good time to also point out that it seemed that there had been 4 big bolts of fabric purchased and all of their dresses had been made using one of those 4 color options.  Because I am quick, I caught on pretty fast that Mattie meant Amish, not Irish, but how to explain them to this group of 8-year-old ladies, I wasn’t sure.  So I think I just looked at her quizzically….this bought me a few minutes before my little gaggle of girls whispered again, “They’re all wearing the same thing!” And I whispered right back to my girls, “And so are you.” Touche’

As the girls continued on through “AFrica” I heard them saying to one another, “those are some of the strangest uniforms I have ever seen.” So note to self, at some point in her life, I need to explain to Mattie that Amish and Mennonite people aren’t just going to a special school and that’s why they dress the way they do.  But some other day, today I am tired.

Reese used another bush before we eventually left the zoo.

This should probably also be addressed sometime in the near future….again though, not today.

I drove back to the school with my tired kiddos, a baby finally sleeping and felt a slight sense of accomplishment.  I had made it through another zoo field trip.  My charges were happy, nothing had been too terribly stained, and no one got lost….for very long.  We were good.

This is a point in the story where I would like to tell a little story within the story.  I have been living on the edge lately.  I ran out of wipes about 2 weeks ago and have been taunting fate, daring it to send a horrible diaper disaster my way or something else equally messy.  I have made it fine so far, but as I was leaving the house yesterday, that still small voice that I can only assume was The Holy Spirit, firmly impressed upon me that I would be no longer daring and edgy, but down right stupid to go to the zoo without any sort of baby wipes.  I listen to that voice and obeyed.  I probably should have listened a little closer and for a touch longer to get the rest of the message, a change of pants wouldn’t be a bad idea either. So I was at least prepared for a pretty decent sized cleanup should I need to be. Okay, now we are caught up…..

So I pulled into the parking lot, got the two bonus girls and their carseats out and told Reese I would be back in two seconds.  I left the car running with he and Lila, who was sound asleep by this point, and quickly darted in and out of school for Mattie to get her back pack.  The whole thing took about 3 minutes.  Who knew 3 minutes was long enough for a bomb to go off and destroy everything around it?

I walked back to the car and saw Reese standing up…odd…I opened the door and found him with his pants down around his knees and in tears.  Within seconds the horrific smell hit me….about the same time that he came up for air in his crying and squawked out, “Mama I couldn’t hold it.” That was very obvious by the pant and shoe carnage.  I won’t get into it in super graphic detail because there are just something things that are too disgusting to share.  My eyes can never unsee what I saw, but I can save you.  I stood there for a moment trying to figure out just where to start.  no matter what I did, this situation was going to get nastier before it got better.  Those pants were going to have to be removed, that poop covered boy in my car was going to have to be removed…and for just a second I got really annoyed with my husband that its parenting moments like these that he never experiences.  And then I got into Momgyver mode.  I also sent up a little prayer of thanks for that still small voice reminding me to add wipes to the diaper bag.  Otherwise, the boy would have had to spend the night in the parking lot because that was not riding home with us.

Again, I could go into great detail of how I cleaned the little guy, how Mattie’s piano teacher spotted us in the parking lot (by the way it was piano lesson day and not only was I trying to clean my child, I was also trying to hurry to get to lessons) and I called to her to save herself and not come a step closer.  Thankfully, she was coming to ask if I wanted Mattie to go with her and oh did I ever!  This allowed us a little extra time to run by home and shower the boy and sanitize the carseat.  It also prevented him from having to ride across town naked from the waist down to and from lessons.  I was already preparing what I was going to say to the policeman when I inevitably got pulled over, to explain why my son was pantless.

I ended up taking a picture of the pooh that we left in a pile in the parking lot….that’s where it fell out of Reese’s pants…I’ve probably said too much by saying that.  I took this picture and sent it to Brandon so that he could have as clear as possible of an understanding of the day I had now had.  I don’t think even a picture did it all justice.

To end this, I would like to say that I think I deserve a hearty mother’s day prize this year.  I also think that right now, if the kids were having some sort of contest on who has to take care of me when I get old based on the trials that they brought in their own childhoods, I think I would be living with Reese.  I look forward to urinating in a public place when I am an old woman and in his care.  I also plan to definitely pooh in his car…if nothing else just simply because it’s only fair.

 

B Strong

Baughmans and Batman for Boston

Our thoughts and prayers are with you

Silly Car

My car is at the vehicle vet right now.  Before I had this car, I don’t think I had ever spend any amount of time at the service center of a car dealership.  Not a single second.  But this car?  He is a different story.  I have heard that 2008 was a bad year for Acadias.  I like to think that.  That there was nothing he could do about his faulty everything, he was just part of a bummer crop.  Even despite all of his many, many problems….I have loved this car.  He is roomy and spacious for our party of 5, but not a van.  Nothing against vans, but when we purchased him, we weren’t quite ready to be van people yet.  That’s what happens when you have your children 10 years before all your friends, you become van people before its cool.  I have also loved that in the middle row, there were two captains chairs so that allowed for a little walkway through to the backseat, rather than climbing over.  I realize that many of these vehicles have seats that fold down, but lets be honest, my chidlren would be seat crawlers.  I love the idea of my Acadia, I just kind of hate all of the problems that is has had.  It has had a new engine, a new transmission, a new power train, a new air conditioner, and a few other little things that just have neames that aren’t nearly as easy to remember as words like engine.  Beudreux has been a good, terrible car that thankfully was under warranty through most of this.  That is until now.

Given his history, when the factory warranty ran out, we were quick to purchase a pricey extended warranty.

Because we know him.

When the check engine light came on and stayed on, we figured he was probably telling the truth and went ahead and took him back to the dealership.  I would like to take a moment to say that this is not the dealership that he was purchaed from.  That dealership is dead to me now.

The kind men who have come to know us like family, thank you by the way friendly automotive staff for not even flinching when I out of no where I just handed you my baby as I was trying to figure out how to get car seats out and hold my children at the same time, broke the news to us gently that Boo has emission problems.  Of course he does.  Why wouldn’t he?  And his emission problems are not covered under our new extended warranty.  Again, why should they be?  That would make sense.  Isn’t the whole point of buying a warranty to either never use it or need it and it not apply to whatever the problem is?  That’s how I have always understood things.

So we are now at a crossroads….does Beudreux get to stay in our family?  Or are his days here with us numbered.  Between you and me, I think he might be finding a new home.  Now that we have replaced everything under the hood and under the actual car, I fear that we will start having to replace things like seats and they don’t really sell insurance for that.

So for today, we are in a loaner car.  We received it yesterday and its working out okay.  Its another Acadia and didn’t come with the entertainment set up like our Secret Service vehicle that we borrowed last so its not nearly as exciting to the family.  But I am enjoying the XM radio, especially the NASCAR station.  This has been a pretty exciting week in NASCAR anyway, I won’t go into all the details because I know none of you readers care, but if ever there was a week to have constant NASCAR news streaming during my frequent car trips, this was a good one.

And having nothing to do with my car or NASCAR, a little photo from last night’s dinner on the deck:

Peeping

Happy Peeping

I love some scantily clad babies!

Left Behind

When we moved into our house this past summer, one of the first things that I did was nose around to see what sorts of things the previous owners had left behind.  You know, things like old dressers, flower pots in the shed……grandmothers…..just because you never know.  Some of the treasures I found were expected, like the play set in the backyard.  1) Who wants to uproot a giant play set that has been firmly planted and haul it all the way to Chattanooga from Memphis? and 2) We had sort of requested it in our offer to buy the house.  Other things were mini blinds.  They hadn’t had them all up when we looked at the house, but I found them all and in great condition up in the attic.  I also found tons of carpet samples that I am EXTREMELY curious about, but have no answers for.

I didn’t expect them to leave bare light fixtures, but was pleasantly surprised that they left the ones that I had fallen for when first looking at the house.

Dining room chandelier

Entry way light fixture

I’m sure Mattie wishes every night in the summer heat that this was instead a ceiling fan, but BOY does Mama love that little chandelier!

Mattie’s room light fixture

I found this fun, old chair up in the attic that has been perfect for my little office nook.

Fun retro chair

And the coffee/ train table out in the shed, which we repainted and now lives in the playroom….that little find gets a smile every time I look in there.

The playroom table found in the shed

I have loved the shed full of ceramic pots and even potting soil.  And I know that I would probably do the same because the last thing I would want to pack up were a gazillion balls, but the kids have loved all the outside toys that the previous kids left behind.  Especially the ones that were lost in the monkey grass and we get to “discover” every time we peel another layer of the rain foresty back yard away.

Set of 4 little patio chairs that need pressure washed, but still work fine

A bonus little table found in the shed. We need segregated seating around here

Play house and make shift carport

I have to say, one of the most thoughtful things left behind from the Holliday family, was the Charmin toilet paper in each of the bathrooms.  An empty house feels just that much more like home, when the first night you arrive to sleep on box springs and mattresses and there is already toilet paper waiting for you.  No frantic calls out for a kleenex, possibly a paper napkin from the pizza you had for dinner or in our case, a baby wipe from the diaper bag.  No, this was home….barren of furniture, naked walls, but the bathroom was taken care of….and even hand soap.  The next time I move, I will definitely remember to leave behind good toilet paper in each of the bathrooms, I whole, new roll even so that it looks purposeful.

Something that I am sure that hated to leave behind is this:

Measuring door frame

There were 4 little kiddos in this home before we arrived, so it is very much broken in and used to be chased through and yelled in.  I’m sure its house ears would ache for the sound of laughing (and whining and arguing, too) and all the windows are breathing a sigh of relief that it will be at least another good 10 years before they are spotless and free of hand prints.  The walls will get to gallery another generation and as it has for many years, this past January, this house got to host it’s 5th First Birthday party. As a side, note, that is just the 5th in the last 10 years….I am sure that since it was built back in the 60’s there have been many,many more.

But this house is a family house, and though its previous owners were strangers to me, I can’t bring myself to paint over their little ones initials and growth plots on my closet door frame.  I have really pondered, several times, how I could remove that door frame and mail it to the family.  Thankfully, we haven’t painted that room just yet and it will probably be a while before we do.  Maybe then I can tell myself that they are now much, much bigger and these little marks don’t really matter.  They probably marked up their new home just fine.  Those are the stories I tell myself, but I know I won’t believe when the time comes.  Because my kids will be bigger, too, then and I will long for the days when they were those same heights measured in pink and blue and black.

But of all these great things that have been left, I think my favorite is the hammock.  We noticed shortly after arriving, that two of our trees had these hook things anchored into them right at the same height.  A trot to the shed, and we also discovered a huge hammock.  We have patiently waited all winter and now it is time.  Brandon hooked it up last week and every evening since (with the exception of the rainy ones), the kids have played on their new toy.  It has been a Batmobile, with the kids decked out in their superhero wear (Mattie wearing a spanish, flamenco dancer skirt/shawl as her wonder woman cape) for several nights.  A pirate ship once or twice and even a canoe.  And the other night, it was the only safe place from the lawn sharks that were harassing my family.  Friday evening, as we were waiting for many of our friends to arrive to celebrate Brandon’s birthday, the hammock was our concert hall.  The kids cuddled up with me and requested that we sing.  Mattie perched up at the top as our conductor and we sang a wide variety of tunes, from ‘The Star Spangled Banner”, “Oklahoma”, “Dixie” and ended with Vanessa Williams’ great classic, “Save the Best for Last.”

Na na na na na na na na BATMAN

So thank you previous family that lived here, for all that you left behind.  I hope that you took with you as wonderful of memories as we have been making, and that your new house had toilet paper in every bathroom upon arrival.

Special Music

My parents started me out in piano when I was in kindergarten.  I didn’t enjoy my lessons.  I think they kept thinking that as I got older, something was going to click for me.  Maybe when I realized that my other friends were also taking piano, that would impress me.  It didn’t.  Maybe after my first recital, that rush that comes after being so nervous about something that you think you might vomit all over your new dress and then when you actually tackle it and come out victorious…that was for sure going to get me on the piano playing wagon.  No, not at all.  I did not relish my 30 minutes of practice every day.  I dreaded that one day of the week, usually Tuesdays, when I had to go and stand before my piano teacher judge and for half an hour, have her silently stare her disappointment at the back of my head as I fumbled around on the pieces that I had no interest in ever learning.  I don’t blame my parents for keeping me in piano against, my will.  I know they thoroughly believed they were doing the right thing.  That’s what good parents do, put their children in piano lessons.  Everyone I knew as a child was also taking piano lessons, so really, they were just following along with the parental peer pressure.

For years, we played the game…I whined about how much I detested the piano.  I stomped around about practicing and even got grounded a few thousand times due to piano induced temper tantrums.  I am pretty positive that I also let my mother forget it was lesson day a few times. Finally, after 9th grade and the annual spring recital of 1995, I walked away from the piano never to look back again.  Oh there have been a few times I have pulled out some sheet music and played a little ditty.  Mattie was really impressed when I wowed her with a few selections from The Lion King, back when she was heavily into her Simba phase. Today, several years later, I will admit that I am glad I know how to read music.  I appreciate what limited musical knowledge I have, but do I wish that I had stuck with it?  Not for a minute.

Now, with that all being said, you can imagine my torn feelings when it came time to consider putting Mattie in some sort of music lessons.

Her early years did not exactly lead us to believe that she had much of a future in music.  Maybe instruments weren’t really going to be her strong suit.

And by the sound of things, her voice wasn’t really going to open doors for her either.

Upon Nana’s insistence, however,first grade (I think it was just last year….I would have to pull out my old check book to see when I started writing check to Miss Jenni to confirm that.) brought with it the power of literacy and the beginning of piano lessons.  I sat Mattie down at the piano that I had also sat at as a little girl (it haunts me still), with her little level beginning beginner book opened in front of the both of us and with my arms around her, assured her that this was going to hurt me just as much as it was going to hurt her.  She didn’t understand what I meant that fateful day over a year ago, but trust me, she most certainly does now.

I think Mattie has a similar sentiment towards her piano career as her mother, however, the difference lies in her teacher.  Mattie adores Miss Jenni.  She wants nothing more than to make Jenni happy and she enjoys everything about Mondays at 3:30.  She gets to ride home from school with Miss Jenni and sometimes gets treats from the Nelson kitchen.  She enjoys her 30 minutes of Jenni’s attention, even though it’s supposed to be focused on piano playing.

This past Monday, Jenni asked me how I felt about Mattie playing a song for special music at church.  How did I feel about that? I got all sorts of nervous and wondered to myself why in the world would she suggest such a thing?! I thought she liked us?  Why would she do such a mean thing? Special music, well, that’s just cruel.  But Mattie was thrilled by the idea.  And so I took a deep breath, hoping that it had bought me enough time to flush my own childhood fears and anxiety, and told her that sounded very exciting.  I tried to play it cool all week.  I casually mentioned her duet to a few people, just throwing it out there in addition to our plans to go to the zoo later in the afternoon.  I reminded her to practice, but didn’t make her focus on her “special” song.  Again, trying my hardest to down play the whole thing. And it seemed to be working.  When Sabbath morning rolled around, she hadn’t vomited and was still willing and excited to get dressed.  She even got into the car on her own, which was not always the same story for her mother when it came to her own public piano performance days.

And right after the children’s story, hidden behind my camera as I cried, I watched my little person bravely take her place beside the wonderful Ms Jenni and play the loveliest rendition of “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” that my ears have ever heard.

Everyone needs a moment like that.  One minute and 3 seconds of watching the little person that came to them as just a sweet little bundle of promise, flapping their little wings. Solo. Showing her mama, her church and her God what she has learned so far in this short, short life she has had.  And I was proud! I was beaming.  That was my girl doing something completely out of my comfort zone, completely independent of me.  And for just a bit, I basked in it.

I cringed today as she practiced a song that is fairly new to her.  I kind of wanted to go out in the garage and hide as she fused and whined about counting.  But in the back of my mind, I will play this little video over and over to remind myself that there are victories. Though it sounds like noise now and I can’t stand being on the mom end of the practicing stick anymore than I could the student end, she has promise.  The song and the girl aren’t ready yet, but when they are, I will again sit back and be amazed.

The Surprise Birthday

So about a week and a half ago, we were sitting around here at home and I asked Brandon what he wanted us to do for his birthday.  Without missing a beat, he answered that he wanted a surprise party.  I will be honest, I just laughed.  At the time, his birthday was exactly a week away and planning a surprise party didn’t really seem like a real possibility.  Especially, when the birthday boy was the one requesting it.  It’s not easy to surprise a person who is expecting a surprise.

But surprised he was.

I may have written off a surprise party, but Shannon, who also happened to be over at our house on the evening of the birthday party conversation, didn’t.

Instead, she and Chris came up with a wonderful idea to shock and surprise the dickens out of Brandon.

On Thursday morning, before the sun came up, my alarm went off…….45 minutes earlier than usual.  In the darkness of our still sleeping house, I turned off the alarm and unlocked the side door, the quietest opening door in the house.  I measured out coffee and listening to it brew as I stood looking out the window….waiting.  Waiting for the troops to assemble for operation Birthday Surprise 34.

And at around 6:25, assemble they did.  A banner was hung, the griddle was plugged in and the waffle iron fired up.  And then as the sun began to peek through the trees, and the earliest of joggers started their route, we filed up the stairs….giggling.  An army of 6 assembled around my bed, where Brandon was still soundly sleeping, and unfortunately Reese too, which we were a little concerned about but not enough to alter our plan.  We counted to three and then……terrified Brandon to death.  We shouted “Happy Birthday” and he screamed right back at us.

We attempted to record the whole experience, but it was so dark that you couldn’t really see anything later on the video when we tried to watch it.  But the screaming and flailing around that those of us who were in the room go to see…..on that we will never forget.

It’s good to know that in the event of a robbery or something else of that caliber that involves someone sneaking into our home, Brandon will not be protecting his wife and children first.  As he screamed in horror at us, as we cheered and applauded his 34 years, pulling the covers over his head, never once thinking of the boy who had been sleeping beside him.  There will be no stealthy sneaking through the house with a golf club or baseball bat, spying around corners to see what that noise is.  But there will be lots of screaming…lots and lots of screaming.

Brandon’s birthday scare was followed by a fabulous breakfast of homemade waffles with friends, a gift or two and then the crew headed on their way to work. I would completely recommend the birthday wake up surprise for everyone.  It’s pretty much fool-proof, even if they expect it, everyone eventually goes to sleep.  Also, having birthdays first thing in the morning are very convenient because you still have the whole rest of your day and most everyone is free at 6:30 a.m.  They may want to be sleeping, but are they busy, probably not.

Four-Fifths of the Baughman Family

B and 2/3 of his children

I’m sure his wish was not to ever have that same awakening again

Mattie and the birthday dad

The boys

Chris, the surprise coordinator

Shannie the waffle maker

Reese loved his waffle, but was still a little miffed at us for his rude awakening

These are my Confessions

If that doesn’t perk up your ears than I don’t know what does!  Who doesn’t want to hear the steamy confessions of a 30 something stay-at-home mom with a pretty PG rated life.  I know if I wasn’t the one writing this, I would be so enthralled right now.

But before we get into all that, let me show you a little of what our weekend looked like around here.  I attempted to take a picture of the kids before church, sort of our redo Easter.  As you can see, they are going with a nautical theme.  Mattie’s little dress isn’t really visible and truth be told, its not the least bit new.  But it coordinated nicely with the other two so we went with it.

 

Mattie’s dress is actually her flower girl dress from Uncle Chris and Aunt Shannon’s wedding, as seen here.

Dancing with Auntie Jess

There was some deck-nailing before we allowed the kids to eat dinner.

This was actually just something to do while the sprinklers were on and we were waiting for the coals get good and hot.

There was a little bit of this.

Topped with a little bit of this.

And its funny, we grilled out on Saturday and then Sunday, the whole neighborhood smelled of charcoal summertime goodness.  I do beleive we inspired our neighbors.

And every good sunny day in the backyard should involve this.

And if you are my son, the sign that you are truly haveing a great time and don’t want it to end would be this.

Then Sunday, my weekend looked like this.

I like to think that me sporting my 48 gear and having the whirligig in the front yard, as well as me running in place during the last 30 laps as though my energy could somehow be transferred through the tv to Jimmie Johnson’s car to make it go even faster than the 187 mph it was already going, helped him win.

But now on to my confessions…..

1) I have an eBay habit.  Luckily, it’s not of the purchasing kind but more of the selling variety.  It started a while ago, I believe with a dress or something that I could no longer take back but still had the tags on.  There was something addicting to seeing how many people viewed my item out of the possibly hundreds like it.  And then when they started bidding, oh that was incredible! And I’m pretty sure just one time was all it took for me to become hooked.  It didn’t take long for me to discover that even used stuff could find a buyer and some of the used things I had, were just what some people were looking for.  Especially kid clothes. Again, I started off small, just selling off things as the kid (which later turned to kids) outgrew them.  But then I started to figure out which things were more in demand, which brands people cared about and that sort of thing.  I started “hunting” for things.  When I would go to a store looking for my own children, I always checked out the sale racks for all sizes because I knew that should I find a real bargain, I could resell it and make a nice little profit.  My hunting took a real turn when I discovered consignment sales and the treasure trove that is Goodwill.  I could find things that still had tags on them, nice things, and scoop them up for pennies.  Then turn around and sell them for a nice little chunk of change.  One of the best money makers, smocked dresses.  Here in the south, mama’s smock their babies from the moment they are out of the womb.  And they are willing to pay great prices for it.  They are not, however, willing to check out Goodwill to see if they have any.  One of my greatest eBay wins was when I got a little smocked dress for free, and then sold it for $57.00.  I really don’t know how you could do that and not get a little hooked.

All of that to say that something I put on eBay way back in November and have been trying to sell without having any interest at all, sold out of the blue last week.  There were 13 minutes left in the auction, no one was even watching it and then lo and behold, a message popped up in my email saying that it had sold.  I was amazed.  And directly following that, a really ugly pair of Nike’s that belonged to Mattie (and had been hand me downs) also sold.  That was a real shocker.

Confession 2) Lila is almost a year and a half now and her room still isn’t completely finished.  I feel like I have a good explanation for the slow start in this project, when I was pregnant with her, we were still living in our smaller house.  At the height of my nesting, there wasn’t a nest to “nest”. Instead, that intense maternal energy was fixed on christmas time and planning a birthday party for Mattie.  But a little den for Lila, that didn’t happen.  Once she arrived, she slept in a pack n’ play in our bedroom, shared a closet with me and was given a corner for her changing table.  We were all perfectly content with that set up and knew that we were looking for a new house and she would have her darling little nursery once we found one and settled in.  In the mean time, I decided that we were going to go with simple pink and white bedding and just decorate with various other colors and a theme of Russian stacking dolls.  It was going to be very easy and sweet and something she could grow into.  Perfect.

Shannon and Jessica even had a little party for me pre baby arrival, and used my “theme” to decorate, which provided me with some fun little things to use in the nursery.

But all those plans sort of went out the window when we moved into our house and there was entire wall covered with golden birds in the room that we planned to use for Lila.  I knew that we could just paint over them, but they were kind of lovely and the more I looked at them, the more I felt like that had to stay.  But a wall that already is a decoration in and of itself, is kind of hard to embellish, so I have just left it.

And the lone pink wall directly across from it, well it has nothing.  I have ideas and two canvases to paint, but again, we have lived here almost a year and I have yet to commit to doing that little task.

I’m also not sure when to put the wedding picture/ fingerprint tree, as the wall with her bed is already being used and the wall opposite of that houses her closet.

 

 

I think I am just waiting for those birds to come down off the wall and do a little decorating for me, like the birds in Cinderella or any other Disney movie.

And confession number 3)

I am pretty sure that I am no longer in the running for mom of the year.  I don’t think I had even made it to the finals as it was, but after something especially wonderful that I did last night, I am pretty sure that I will just be getting a participation ribbon this year.  Brandon was getting Lila ready for bed, diaper change and jammies, when I heard him come banging down the stairs.  I figured there must be a problem.  Shortly after the bounding, the “Kaylee” hollering began.  And then in seconds, there he was in front of me with a naked Lila, showing me this horrific spot on her right “skin right next to your underarm” whatever part of your body that is.  It was awful looking, all pinched up and red.  It looked like something had tried to take a bite out of her and chewed and chewed, but just couldn’t break the skin.  I had no idea what that grisly thing was…….until I did……and that is when I hung my head in shame and I realized that when I had clipped my baby’s pacifier clip onto her little dress, I had also clipped it onto her skin.  All day, she had her little chest/arm/ armpit skin pinched in that thing and she hadn’t so much as uttered a peep.

It looks much better today, more like what I imagine a hickey would look like because I have never seen one in real life (wink wink).  It’s no longer raised up and feels smooth to the touch, but still, looking at it makes me feel terrible.  I have apologized repeatedly to her and she doesn’t seem to have any ill feelings towards me, so I guess we are okay.

I hope you enjoyed those confessions, there are plenty more where those came from…..try to contain your excitement!

 

Eggs and Finds

So this is a photo of what we did for our activity of the day yesterday.  And by yesterday, I am meaning Wednesday, which would have been 3 days after Easter.  Judge me if you will, but I like to think that doing activities that typically correspond with a particular holiday when it isn’t that holiday make me a free thinker, a go with the flow kind of person.  What is that kiddo? You feel inspired to carve into a vegetable or gourd in July, awesome that’s using your imagination!  And the fact that I am wearing Christmas pajama pants in April should also show what a flexible person I am.  Not the least bit rigid and fixated on tiny details.  Just because something comes as a matching set doesn’t mean you have to wear it that way.  Maybe I want to use a different colored envelop than the one that has been provided behind the card I just chose at Target.

Our turtle has artistic skills

All of that would be nice and empowering, but let’s be honest here, I like things to match and I am a stickler for certain rules and details.  You will not catch this girl allowing white shoes after Labor Day or before Easter.  I have learned to become more accepting of it in other people, but as for myself….it pains me.  So the coloring of eggs 3 days after the holiday had actually passed, that was just being lazy.  That was also desperation as I had a mountain of ironing to do and the boy was driving me bananas and needed a project.  After he ran out of eggs, he dyed other things with a smooth, porous surface.  Things like Legos and his sister’s hand.  Most of the eggs came out looking like dinosaur eggs due to the fact that A) They were brown eggs and 2) They took many a dip in a different hue of dye.  But we will certainly be doing that one again before Easter 2014, because it keeps the boy happy and entertained.

In between his egg coloring and my ironing, we got the mail.  Our neighbors across the street get packages daily.  I’m not even exaggerating a tiny bit.  Some days they get more than one package delivered by more than one delivery service.  I can think of zero times when both the UPS and the FedEx person came to my house with goodies.  But this has happened at least twice in the last 30 days.  I have all sorts of theories regarding the immense mail activity going on over there, but none of them that have really stuck.  Anyway, we got a package yesterday and this is what was inside:

Reese and I immediately put it together and planted it in the front yard.  When Brandon talked of this great landscaping revolution that was going to happen to our flower beds, I don’t think a Jimmie Johnson whirligig was what he had in mind.  Really, I was shocked that he has let it stay there for 24 hours.  I think probably because its raining, but tomorrow when its sunny,  I bet I am texted to remove it.  For the record, I did not order it and I was just as surprised by it as he was, but I am thrilled.  I have been looking for a plain royal blue with yellow “48” flag to hang up on Sundays, for race day, but haven’t been able to find just what I was looking for.  This is going to work just fine though.  I think Brandon is concerned that the HomeOwners Association is going to have a problem with is, but I have seen plenty of giant “A’s” for Alabama and even little Colonel Reb statues for Ole Miss (even though for the record he is  no longer the official mascot because he is considered offensive being a southern plantation owner and all.) I think he is just afraid of being labeled as a redneck house for supporting NASCAR .  Whatever, come Sunday, our whirligig will be proudly whirling.

Now on to a little section I would like to call, Target Finds.  If you have been reading this blog for very long at all, you have probably grown used to my sharing about things I find at Target and I figure it’s about time we just make it a regular thing.  Maybe every Friday can be Target Find Friday or something like that. But on to the finds, so last night I went out for diapers and was amazed at what is going on in the back of the store where holiday things usually are.  They are selling a few things in bulkier packages back there and one of the things is diapers, the kind I use.  I bought a box of 172 size 2 Pampers Baby Dry for $34.99.  And I think you should probably go and do the same.  Even if you don’t have a child that is wearing diapers, that is something you probably don’t want to let pass by.  Usually, they are about 120 for $35.99, so this seems like I am really winning.  My next find was some left over Easter Candy, which considering how much I liked it, I am sort of glad that I didn’t find it until after the holiday.  Its Hershey’s Cookies and Cream eggs.  I love anything cookies and cream and a little tiny egg of it, something I could toss a handful into the diaper bag to save as a treat for my alone time in the front seat, well that’s just magnificent!

And my last find was this:

It even has a matching headband!

I adore anything nautical and I don’t think I am alone in this love.  If it has anchors on it, I want it.  If its striped and one of those stripes happens to be navy, I must have it.  My favorite color is nautical if that is possible.  If I could redo my wedding, I would have done it in a more nautical color scheme, think seersucker suits for the guys and navy dresses with a yellow sash for the ladies.  Oh it makes me happy.  Maybe one of my daughters will use that idea.  Anyway, the infant section is chock full of nautically type things and they are all very reasonably priced.  My children would all wear navy stripes and anchors all day everyday if they weren’t already wearing turtle suits and school uniforms.

So those are my finds for this week and I am sure that I will have something new to share next Friday when we make this a regular thing!

And that’s about it for what’s going on today.  Happy almost weekend friends and tune in tomorrow when I make a confession to you all.