Fun on the City Farm

There was a petting zoo that came to Sarah's preschool yesterday. She was willing to touch a baby goat and brush a miniature pony. That's a HUGE improvement over last year when she wouldn't go near any of them.

She's not a big animal lover just yet. Bless her heart. I know it took a lot of courage to even stand in that corral and turn her back on those animals in the background.

When I asked her if it was fun, she said, "Yeah, but I smell like outside and animals. Gross."

Happy (Late) Birthday, Jason

Wednesday Jason turned 36! Quickly approaching his late thirties... and, being the nice person that I am, I only reminded him of that 3 times all day. :)

We're going to dinner tonight and then out with my parents and sister and brother-in-law tomorrow night. (My brother in law turns the big 4-0 in a week, so we're celebrating both birthdays sans kids.)

I'll try to take pictures just so I have pictures to post. I'm trying to be better about mixing my posts up with some pics. I tend to ramble and write too much sometimes.

I did a french braid... I think

This is right... right?

Close enough anyway... Woo hoo!! I told yall I suck at hair, but I call this a success. I've never seen someone do a French braid before, so I really wasn't sure exactly how it works. And I really could have used 6 extra fingers to pull it really tight and secure. But I consider this a succcess. Too bad she's in her jammies, ready for bed. We need to go somewhere since her is actually fixed. :)

Pics

These are some of the pictures I got... I won't bore you with posting all of them. I know alot of the ones of Caroline look the same, but I was so glad she was happy that I kept taking pictures. I think (knock on wood) she's turning a corner. She's happy much more often than she used to be.

Taking a break.. (Mommy needed this break too.) Having a snack...



What's that, Mom? You want me to stand up straight? Ok.





Yeah, just keep runnin'...






Love when she sticks out her tongue...






Deep thinker...

Arboretum Stories... Pics to come

Went to the Arboretum today. Who needs help? Not me. I'm... du, du, duuuu... SUPER MOM. 3 kids. 1 adult. A long-ish drive. And not a clue about really what there is to do at the Arboretum. (Haven't been there since 2001.) For the average person, that might be a problem. But not for me. I was determined that it would be successful. Caroline would have a nap. I would pack snacks. I would have my camera. Jack and Sarah are old enough to follow directions. Nothing bad's gonna happen.

Except that I LOST MY EVER-LOVIN' MIND BECAUSE I NEEDED HEEELLLLPPPP!!!

Oh my gosh. White flag went up. The imagined Super Mom cape came off. I surrender. The Arboretum is not meant to be done alone with this age group.

First off, super windy.

Secondly, I'm sure there were lots of great ramps everywhere for me to maneuver my stroller down, but I got caught twice having to use stairs. Those all natural, uneven, rocky stairs. I had a bag with the camera and a blanket. And a bag with the snacks and diaper changing necessities. C was in the stroller. S and J were free to run ahead a little. They're pretty trained to stop on command.

But once I got stuck going down some stairs. My bag spilled. Caroline was crying. Sarah and Jack were running wild. Then I got stuck trying to go up some stairs. It was dang near impossible. And the kicker is that men (chivalry IS apparently dead, by the way) and moms (hello!! please relate to me, you've been in my shoes) passed me by and let me struggle and sweat to get everything and everyone safely up the stairs. HASSLE!

Then Jack... uuugghhh! He's so stinkin' cute. But he's an Eddie Haskell. (sp?) Ya know, "Leave it to Beaver". He'll smile at you while he's conning you out of your rent money. Watch that kid! Draw a line in the sand. Sarah won't go near it. Jack will dance all around it, just to make you nuts.

Well his precious 3 yr old defiant personality was in full effect today. And the more I pushed him to conform to my will, the more he resisted. Oh, if I didn't care what people would think if I whipped out my wooden spoon, I'd have done it. I won't go into everything, but he had to pout and drag his feet and whine about almost everything.

Finally I had enough and I took him by the hand and said sternly, "Let's go." He buckled his knees so that he fell dramatically to the ground. (How do they know to pull this crap in public?) Then he wailed... I mean WAILED!!!... at the top of his lungs, "YOU DON'T LOVE ME!! WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME, MOMMY?". All eyes are on me. Freakin' $##@. I got right in his little face and whispered in his little ear, "Boy, you better get up and start walking."

That's when you know I'm losing it... Here's the progression of how I speak to him: "Sweetie", then "Buddy", then "Jack", then "Boy". If I'm calling him "boy", smoke is comin' out of my ears.

He doesn't understand that I spent $31 on this fun-filled activity. But that's all I kept thinking. I shouldn't have made the effort or spent the money without someone else to help me.

Sarah was good but she's my easy one at the moment. Caroline was actually very happy and rolled with things surprisingly well.

But there's always one that likes to push the buttons. There's always one that wants to challenge you. Today, it was Jack.... oh, and those super rude people who didn't help me on the stairs.

But to end on a positive note: The weather was beautiful. The flowers were amazing. It wasn't super crowded. With a little assistance, it would've been awesome!

Checklist to be a kindergarten mom

Took the kids to the park today and there was a cute group of moms there from the school where Sarah will be next year.

I took inventory as I was scoping them out and have made a mental checklist of what I will need to fit in next year..

~Year-round tan
~Tennis skirt
~Form fitting tanktop to go with the above-mentioned tennis skirt
~A visor
~Cute tennis shoes that look like they've never been exercised in... (My theory is that they must exercise in one outfit and then change into the cute tennis outfit but never actually sweat in it.)
~Diamond stud earrings
~Big sunglasses

It's always good to model for Sarah how conforming to the crowd is the way to make friends. "Being yourself" is for loners.

:) Totally kidding!!

About the Babysitters post

Just reread it... and just in case my mom, who is a grandmother herself obviously, reads this... I started feeling bad about the way there was sort of a tone to my phrase "grandmotherly type". My mom is a very young grandmother as are all of my friends' moms. What I mean... and we all know the kinds of people I mean... are the ones who sit and rock babies and that's all they do. Sweet and kind as the day is long. But they just don't have the knees and/or the back to be getting up and down off the floor a bunch.

Have I just dug an even deeper hole for myself???

I'll shut up now.

Babysitters

There are a couple of reasons I've been thinking about this post. This is a crazy month and I need babysitters probably 10x more often in the next 6 weeks as I normally would in 6 months.

I'm so frustrated with how hard it is to find babysitters. It's TOUGH. If Caroline went down a little earlier, then I could put her down and ask someone to come over and watch Sarah and Jack and put them to bed. That would be no problem. I could get an 8th grader to do that. But at this point, C goes to bed at 8:00 and the other 2 are 8:30, maybe 8:45. So if Jason and I go to dinner.... even if we push it back as late as 7:30... someone is still putting all 3 kids down. That's a lot to ask of someone. There are even some adults, who don't have kids yet, that would take on 1 baby, but don't feel confident enough to take on more than that.

So what are my options?
1. Ask a mom whose husband is willing to let her come over and make some money babysitting my kids. (But what mom wants to get away from her kids to watch someone else's?)

2. Find a grandmotherly type person. They usually work for less money and they're completely comfortable with kids.

3. Ask a teenager to bring along a friend and pay 2 people to babysit. (I always feel weird about paying just one person and having them split the money. So I end up paying more in that situation too.)

4. Or I have a great college-aged babysitter who the kids LOVE but the only problem is... duh!... she's in college. So you gotta catch her when she's home.

And... (here's where I need some input, Moms...)

I'm never sure how much to pay someone. I have a grandmotherly babysitter who only charges $10/hr, no matter how many kids you have. That's great. But when I ask younger people to come over, I pay more for a couple of reasons.

A) They have options that are more fun than hanging out with my kids. If I pay them more than $10/hr, I'm hoping that they'll want to come back... even if they have something more fun that they could be doing on a Saturday night. (I realize this totally implies that people who are "of a certain age" have nothing better to do than watch my kids. I know that's not true. Grandmothers have social lives too.)

and B) Teens have more energy than older people. (Again, another generalization. There are some spry senior adults out there.) But I can almost guarantee you that a teenager is playing with my kids. Running, chasing, giving piggy back rides. They're working hard. So I pay more.

I also pay more than some of my friends because I have more kids than some of my friends. I think the rate goes up when the # of kids go up.

But I also think you have to take into consideration how independent your children are. You may have 4 kids, but if the youngest is 3 and the oldest is 7, then yes... you're going to be a busy sitter but you're not going to be changing diapers and feeding a baby in a highchair. So I'm not sure that babysitter should get as much as someone who is wrangling preschoolers and babies.

And I also think you can pay less if you're just needing someone to sit in the house while your kids are asleep. If your kids are asleep by 7 and that's right around the time you're going out, I don't think you need to be paying anybody $12/ hr to sit there.

I'm sure this also varies by region, city, heck... maybe even neighborhood... as to how much you feel like you should pay a babysitter.

Moms, what do y'all do? What's a reasonable rate? How do you determine how much you pay somebody? Or do you try to use family and friends as much as possible to avoid this dilemma altogether? ;)

Please... someone leave a comment because I'm sincerely asking. These aren't rhetorical questions. :)

2 things about the previous post...

First, a great fundraising idea...

Hilary was in charge of getting donations for the silent and live auctions, as I said. Someone on her committee suggested an easy way to get donations for the silent auction. Thought I'd pass it along... Maybe you'll be able to modify/use it someday for something you're doing.

Courtney (a girl on Hil's committee) threw a low key party at her house. She invited a bunch of friends, had some food for everybody, and I think my brother-in-law has some connection somehow and was able to get some free wine for the party guests. Everyone just came and had fun... ate and drink.

The only catch is that each guest was asked to bring a Walmart gift card. The amount on the gift card was up to them. But that's all they had to do. Bring a Walmart card and enjoy a fun night with your friends.

There were enough gift cards to purchase a Wii and a Nintendo DS for the silent auction.

No door-to-door begging. No assigning someone to ask the people at Walmart to donate. Just host a party and invite as many people as you can handle and ask them to bring Walmart (or Target or wherever) gift cards.

Easy, right? Courtney said it was so fun and no big deal.

So if you're trying to collect money for school supplies for the Boys and Girls Club or a PTA silent auction, remember this idea.

Second, the tux story....

I don't remember when but it was a couple of years ago. Jason and I were invited to a black tie function. He didn't want to go, so I was going to invite a friend to go with me. She couldn't come. So I was going to go alone. Jason didn't want me to have to go alone so he told me that he'd rent a tux.

Well there was no time for that. We really were down to the wire. But he didn't tell me that. He said that Macy's (I think that's right... does Macy's sell tuxedos? Hmm... can't remember... anyway) Macy's was running a sale and that he would just buy one. It wouldn't be that expensive. He'd probably have more opportunities to wear it at some point. I told him not to. We have too many expenses. When would he ever wear it again? I really didn't mind going alone.

He came home from the Galleria that day with a tux. Not from Macy's. From Brooks Brothers. *gulp* Was this one on sale? Nope. How much was it? (His answer had 4 digits.) Are you kidding me? You were just supposed to rent one!!! I told you not to buy one. RENT ONE. When you couldn't rent one, you were supposed to just let me go alone. We can't afford a tux that you're NEVER gonna wear. My dress was maybe $150 and his tux was more than 10x that amount.

You'd really have to understand how tight I am with money to grasp this story completely. Like... I breastfeed, not because I like it or even because I think it's good for the baby, but mostly because it's free and formula is expensive. I prefer for diapers to be sagging before they get changed... just so I can be sure I got my money's worth outta that diaper. Don't want to be throwing money away carelessly.

So an expensive frivolous purchase can send me over the edge.

I told him that he better not ever gain weight. That thing better fit him until the day he dies because he's gonna be buried in it.

He makes impulsive decisions like that sometimes.

Don't even get me started about the time he bought a $500 pair of shoes just because he forgot to check the price tag and when he got to the checkout counter at Nordstrom he was too embarrassed to put them back.

Gala 2010

The Gala was last night to raise money for The Children's Advocacy Center. It was a great night!

Obviously part of the deal of any charity fundraiser is that they have big auction items... tickets to the Grammys, guitars autographed by Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin...raffle drawings for a new Lexus or jewelry from Tiffany. Of course we didn't bid on any of that.

But Jason did bid on "having a personal assistant for 3 hours" and he won that. He said he did it for me. So now I have a personal assistant. Not really sure how it works, but I do know that I can call and schedule someone to run errands for me, go to the grocery store, things like that.

(One would argue that I have a personal assistant named "Jason" who has a honey-do list a mile along. Apparently he doesn't intend to get around to it and thought that bidding on a personal assistant for me would benefit both of us.)

Anyway, I'll be sure to blog about it when I cash it in because don't think for a second that I won't have those 3 hours CRAMMED full of stuff that I need someone to help me with.

And they had awesome bands playing. Kellie Rasberry and Big Al from Kidd Kraddick's morning show on 106.1 were the emcees. (Is it slightly pathetic that I was excited to see them in person and not just hear their voices?)

Anyway it was a really fun night for a really great cause.

A few of the pics...



Jason in a tux. There's a story behind this tux. I won't go into it now. But please know he will be buried it in someday. (maybe I'll tell the story some other time.)



My mom :)




My sister was there because she was the Auction Chair... in charge of getting all these unbelievable silent and live auction items. She did great!! Bless her heart, she's due with baby #3 at the end of June, and I'm sure she was tired last night.




Nancy. I love Nancy.




The bands. I'm way in the back of the room because it was so loud! I must be getting old to say that. But we danced and had a good time.

Fun weekend!

To Do Today

Jason and I are going to the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County Gala tomorrow night. Soooo excited! Should be a great night and will hopefully raise LOTS of money!!

In-laws are coming in to take care of the kids. So grateful!! Hard (as I've stated before) to find babysittters who are willing to take on 3 kids, especially when dinner and bedtime are involved.

BUT... since in-laws are coming and you're looking at (figuratively speaking) the maid around here.... I have SO much to do. I don't want them to see how we really live. :)

1. CLEAN... floors, toilets, tubs, showers, counters... you name it... I gotta clean it. This will take forever because I know I'll have at least one "helper" who won't be much help at all.

2. WASH SHEETS... guest room and the kids' rooms. I don't know about you... but washing sheets is one of those chores that doesn't even kind of land on my radar screen. I ignore the dusting that needs to be done, but I know I'm ignoring it. I put off scrubbing toilets because it's nasty, but I definitely know when those need to be done. Washing sheets is something I ignore, without even meaning to.

3. RUN TO THE STORE TO PICK UP SOME LAST MINUTE ITEMS THAT MY IN-LAWS MIGHT NEED FOR THE KIDS

4. HIT AN ATM SO I HAVE CASH TO LEAVE WITH MY IN-LAWS FOR DINNER TOMORROW NIGHT. Yes, I have to make a conscious effort to have cash on hand. Such a debit card girl. Not a good thing probably.

5. MAKE MY HANDY-DANDY LISTS OF NIGHTTIME PROCEDURES FOR EACH OF THE KIDS. Always gotta leave notes for subs.

6. GO FOR A JOG SO I CAN FIT INTO MY DRESS TOMORROW NIGHT. Ugh, the hassle of buying clothes when you were one size and then spitting out a few kids, losing the weight, but realizing your body sort of settled into a different shape since you last wore the dress. I could've bought a new dress but I'm trying to stretch every dollar these days. So I figure starvation today and a looong run to squeeze into this dress costs less than buying a new one. (That's healthy right?) :)

Have a great weekend, everybody!!

Caroline's a walking fool...

and it's breaking my back.

She can't stand alone for more than 3 seconds. She can cruise around the furniture really well, but that doesn't satisfy her. She wants to roam around the house. So I hold her hands and we walk around. Not to be dramatic but it's kinda painful on the ol' backbone to hunch over that much. When I sit her down, she locks her knees so that she's standing, not sitting. And when I force her to sit, you guessed it... she cries. Shocker, I know.

Hopefully she'll be an unassisted walker sooner than later.

When did it start being our friends?

When did it stop being our parents' friends and start being our friends who lost children?

When did it stop being our parents' friends and start being our friends that lost jobs?

When did it stop being our parents' friends and start being our friends who are diagnosed with cancer?

Has anyone else felt that shift? Has anyone else gotten an email like I did this afternoon that your husband's best friend might have a malignant tumor behind his eye? A dad with a 3 week old baby?

Or your close friend lost a job and has a young family to help support?

Those used to be adult concerns. Wait... I am an adult. But I mean, older adults. Older than us. We're too young to have such real concerns. Doesn't it seem like that?

I refer to myself and my friends as "girls". We're not "women". Women are old. Women are the ones who are diagnosed with breast cancer. Women are the ones who have miscarriages. Women lose their husbands. Not girls.

Maybe I need to check the mirror again. I'm afraid that my friends and I aren't just "girls" anymore. :(

forget everything you learned about your first two kids

It's amazing to me how much has changed in less than 3 years in the world of babies.

I'll only do the comparison between Jack and Caroline, since whatever was true of Jack was also true of Sarah.

Jack had 6 more vaccinations than Caroline will have to get. They've combined a few in the last 3 years.

Jack had to have baby food introduced in a certain order. The thought was that if you introduced fruits before veggies, babies would never eat their veggies. They would, instead, prefer the taste of fruits. Since then, they've changed their minds and found that research shows it doesn't matter what order you introduce foods.

Jack could not have peanut butter or honey before 1 yr old. (Risk of allergies and botulism in the honey.) Caroline CAN have peanut butter. Research shows it does not increase the likelihood for peanut allergies. But still no honey.

The general feeling with moms (not necessarily the medical world) when Jack was little was that crawling was a NECESSARY step in children's brain development. My pediatrician is telling me that it's fine if they go straight to pulling up and walking.

Those are really some pretty big changes. Changes in vaccination schedules. Changes in food safety. I mean, I was pretty freaked out about peanut butter and the correct order to feed my kids their baby food.

And that's just in the last 3 yrs. Is it any surprise how everything is different from the time we were babies?

We were never in car seats. We were put on our bellies to sleep. We were fed food from the table as soon as we could sit up. And yet somehow we survived.

My theory is that, for the most part, if you use common sense, everything will be fine. These rules that you obsessively follow as a new mom who wants to do everything right will probably change by the time baby #2 or #3 arrives anyway.

I wonder what will change next. My prediction is that by the time my kids have kids, drinking and smoking will be encouraged during pregnancy. :) Babies born with addiction and low birth weight because of smoking and alcohol??? Nonsense. ha!

Overcommitted

Matthew 5:37 says, in part, to "let your 'yes' be 'yes', and let your 'no' be 'no'".

Not to take that verse out of context because Jesus said it in reference to not swearing oaths, but it's also applicable to being overcommitted. "Let your 'no' be 'no'".


It's ok to say "no".

Sometimes you have to say "no" to things or else everything in your life is out of whack and far too strained. And if you're like me, you hate to disappoint. Saying no can be a really hard thing to do, especially when you really like to see the look of relief or gratitude on someone's face when you're a "yes (wo)man".

But if all you ever do is say "yes", then you can quickly be the one who's volunteering her time away. There's nothing wrong with service to others, etc. But sometimes you have to take inventory of activities that can be cut out of your life and make the cut.

It's good to be the person that everyone can count on... to work VBS, watch the kids, teach the class, work the nursery at church, host the shower, help with the garage sale, organize the fundraiser, sing in the choir, etc.... but all those (very worthy) volunteer positions can take your patience and your energy that could better be spent on your family.

Balance is the key. And balance is what I'm trying to learn. I want to be good at giving of my time and my talent, and I want to give it without resentment. But I don't want to give so much that my family (for whom I quit my paying job to serve) takes a backseat and gets the leftover bits of me.

So, I'm going to try to say "no" to something that I would normally say "yes" to when I feel myself reaching that point of maximum overload. Allow myself to rest and renew my strength. And not take on any guilt that I might naturally let myself feel for disappointing someone. The people I love will probably appreciate that I'm looking out for myself and preserving my patience and strength.

A couple of random thoughts...

Uno. I cut my thumb on the green beans lid. Cutting it on a tin can hurts because it's slow. It's not a quick paper cut. It's a slow, *$#-I'm-cutting-myself-right-now-and-it-HURTS type of cut.

Dos. I put a bandaid on my thumb and it's really hard to get one to stay just right on the tip of any finger. Hate that.

Tres. I took the bandaid off b/c it was annoying and now the tip of my thumb is that white, yucky color when bandaids come off. Do you know what I'm saying?

Cuatro. The cut still hasn't healed so Jason offered to super glue the wound to seal the skin off. I let him. Weird to super glue a cut, but it worked.

Cinco. I got my hair cut. Just a trim but the lady kept putting in layers. I mean, she cut and cut and cut some more. It's fine. It's still long. Just some additional layers. Then she went back and thinned it out. I have the most baby-fine hair ever. The LAST thing I need is for it to be thinner. Thanks alot.

Seis. Part of the reason the lady cut so much hair off my head is because she was busy talking. Excuse me... Less talking. More paying attention to what you're doing. I remember the last time I got a TERRIBLE haircut was when Molly (my hairdresser at the time) and I got to talking about the "Friends" finale. We got so wrapped up in everything that by the time our conversation was over, I had a bob. TRAGIC!

Siete. What she was talking about nonstop was that yesterday was prom for lots of schools here and she had to do seven up-dos. She said that one girl got her prom dress from Neiman Marcus in the bridal section. White, strapless, a train. $2000 for a prom dress. I'm sorry. WHAT???

Ocho. We're getting a Costco membership. No point to that. Just thought you should know.

And now, a poem...

This stage lasts forever
i might lose my mind,
Even though I know this phase
is worse for Caroline.
Every tooth that comes in
causes such sleepless nights.
There's drooling and gnawing
and it hurts when she bites.
Help me be understanding, Lord.
I know she's in pain,
she's my last teething baby. i'll
Never do this again,
but
Good grief does it
Seem to last a long time!
Upper teeth, molars, biscupids
don't forget the
Canines.
Keep coming in, little teeth,
cuz I'm ready to move on.
i want a
Sweet Caroline, like Neil Diamond says in his song.

Signs that you're having a bad day with the kids...

Or maybe more appropriately titled: "How not to parent"

Or better yet: "This is how my day went today"

You catch one of your kids saying to his toys "Please STOP. You're driving me crazy!!". (Hmm... direct quote from Mom? oops.)

You catch yourself saying to one or more of your kids, "Whatever you're doing, don't."

You make Daddy the bad guy.... "You better clean up this mess right now before Daddy gets home. What do you think he'll say if he sees this?"

Your son, who is pottytrained, pees on the carpet, while you're consoling your screaming baby. Meanwhile your oldest wants to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and chooses to pout when she gets less than your undivided attention.

You find yourself retreating to your blog, just to have a break from the madness and anytime someone opens the door, without even turning around to look at them, you simply say, "Go away."



I love 'em. I do. But, man oh man, today was a "beat-my-head-against-the-wall" kind of day.

Jaaaaason, where are yoooouuuu???? :)

Playground Rules, according to me

A million posts ago, I posted about gift giving etiquette. Now I would like to make a comment about park/playground etiquette. There are a hundred rules I think people should follow, but I'll just focus on one, simple rule of etiquette at the playground.

Play areas, parks, playgrounds etc. are designed with certain age groups in mind. You don't have to be a genius to figure out if this park is for toddlers/preschoolers or elementary age students.

If you have a baby or a toddler at a playground designed for older kids, then it is YOUR responsibility to be watching that baby like a hawk. You should be right there with him. If he's 18 mos and there are 6 yr olds running around and it is a playground designed for 6 yr olds, then you're running a risk of your toddler getting hurt. And, while I think the parents of the 6 yr olds should remind their children that there are small kids on the playground too, I don't know that they should feel horrible amounts of guilt if your toddler gets hurt because you weren't watching and you allowed your baby to play at the "big kid" park.

Likewise, if you're in a play area in a mall and the sign clearly says that this area is designed for children 3 feet tall and smaller, if you let your 6 yr old play there, you better be on him like white on rice. :) Parents of babies should be supervising their kids as well, of course. But those babies and toddlers don't need to be scared to play when a first grader, who shouldn't be there, comes zooming past them and knocks them over. That's not ok.

Now on the parks where there's a little something for everybody... baby swings and big swings. Small slides and big, twisty slides. Those are a little trickier. But I think the best thing to do there is watch your toddler. Stay with him. Make sure he doesn't get hurt. And then loudly tell your 6 yr old...so that all the other moms can hear and appreciate the fact that you're trying to raise a courteous child... that there are small children on the playground and that he needs to slow down and watch out for the little kids. Stay with the young one. Keep one eye on the older one.

Sometimes, when you have children with a bigger age gap, you can't help but mix the ages on a playground. You have to bring the baby to the big park or the big kid to the mall. But if you're the one who's taken it on to mix up the ages, then you're the one who needs to make sure that no one gets hurt.

And no, nothing happened at the park this week with my kids. It's just an act of courtesy that I think people should consider.

Head 'em up, Move 'em out

Sarah's tonsils and adenoids are comin' out.

We saw the ENT Monday who sent us to get xrays done. We reviewed the xrays with him today, and he said they need to come out. She'll feel a lot better, I know.

Side note: Cramped doctor's offices + all of the kids + baby missing naptime + "Do you mind going to this different location to get some xrays done?" + looong wait for a few xrays = Mommy making a pretty stiff drink at 4:30 on Monday and begging Daddy to not work late.

I don't want Sarah to miss any preschool (not for any academic reason, but just because the last few weeks of preschool are party after party... and that's F-U-N).
And I have a lot of things in the next several weeks as well. So I'm going to schedule for the end of May, before Memorial Day but after my brother's graduation in San Antonio.

She'll be staying over night, and I know the recovery won't be the most fun she (or I) have ever had. But it'll be worth it in the end.

Glad to get this piece of the puzzle resolved.

Still waiting on the blood work results about her immune system deficiency...

Update... The extra vaccination helped tremendously. It gave her immune system the boost it needed. The allergist said that once her adenoids and tonsils are out, she should be great!

9 months today

Alright... Caroline is nine months old.

General summary of her stats and what she can do:
She's big.
She's squirmy.
She eats a lot.
Lots of teeth.. ouch!
She naps well now.
She's still a Mama's girl.
Immobile for the most part.


For those who like specifics and details:
Height (or I guess they call it length).. ?? Don't have it in front of me. But she's short. (10%)
Weight... 19 lbs, 10 oz. That's average for a girl her age.

No crawling yet, although she does scoot around really well on her belly. My other kids didn't crawl until 9 mos. So I expect it sometime this month.

She can stand at a piece of furniture and cruise from one end of the couch to the other. She does not pull up, but she's reeeeallly close. She needs to hold on to something to keep her balance standing.

She is napping well. 2 or 3 hours in a day in her crib. (Not as good as some babies but WAY better than where we were.)

Eats baby food 3 times a day. Will take a bottle now, if I need her to. Snacks in between meals on yogurt or bread.

She's started eating off of my plate. Today for lunch she had some turkey, cucumbers, and pita bread.

She has 4 teeth that have poked all the way through. She has 4 more that are right on the edge of coming out.

Still hates for me to walk away from her. If I'm in the room, she thinks I should be standing right there, playing with her or talking to her. But that's where I ask Sarah to help me. She's good about entertaining Caroline so I can get something done and not listen to crying in the meantime.

She has an ear infection. Nothing new here. It's how we roll. :)

I really honestly can't believe she's already 9 mos. old. Everything has flown by in a really good way. We haven't stayed in a horrible phase or stage for too, too long yet.

All is well. :)

Off of my To Do List

I find that I have a super hard time focusing on and completing simple tasks throughout the day. I can do things that are within the normal daily routine, but anything that is out of the ordinary will continually slip my mind.

FOR MONTHS, I have intended to call/email the Dallas Morning News and the people who deliver the Insider and ask them to STOP delivering their free papers. We never go out our front door.

I think that's part of having an alley way and the garage being in the back. We're in and out our back door constantly. And even the mail is usually picked up by me in my car as I'm driving somewhere.

Anywho...

The papers pile up and we never go out the front to get them. Well, we live on a corner, and our front yard is the bus stop. So I think people have gotten super annoyed at us that we don't pick up our papers. Sometimes they throw them on our front porch. It's rather embarrassing.

Even Jennie wondered what was up with all the papers when she came over with Hunter one day. Remember, Jennie? :) Seriously, I think she thought we had moved out or something... It was the only explanation for the ridiculously huge pile of junk on my porch.


Plus, we never read them. We gather them up (when we remember to go out to the front yard) and put them straight in the recycle can. What a waste!!

Soooo... I made the call. No more free papers cluttering up our lawn, making us look like lazy bums.
Check that off the list!

(Funny how something so small can make me feel productive.)

(Also funny how I find the time to regularly blog but fail to pick up the newspapers in my front lawn. Selective memory? Ya think???)

So what's going on with you?

Let me set the record straight about my posts concerning the fact that I have 3 kids and that I'm overwhelmed.

I know that everyone I know is overwhelmed by something. There are tons and tons of people taking on things every single day that I don't take on.

There are working moms...which has got to be stressful. And moms of one or two...which is hard. And college students trying to figure out what to major in or what they want to do in the next couple of years...yuck.

Some are in the midst of a move or a remodel...hectic and crazy. People are trying to figure out who they want to marry or where they want to work... that's huge. Single people with stressful jobs. Married people with stressful marriages. Moms with kids at different ages and stages, and each is one is challenging and rewarding in their own way.

You don't have to be a mom to lose sleep. You don't have to have 3 kids to be overwhelmed.

Sometimes I find myself getting sick of people who, every chance they get, interject that they have "x" number of kids or they have "this much" experience with whatever.

Oh my gosh! Shut up! Sometimes it's about listening to the other person and not always putting in your two cents.

I think I'm guilty of putting in my unsolicited two cents a lot. I'm sorry if it's been annoying to read about.

Besides... y'all know the reason I have 3 kids... bam, bam, bam... is because I was careless, so I never mean to pretend that I'm not responsible for whatever chaos I'm living with.

So whatever is on YOUR plate this week, I hope you navigate through it with flying colors. Take care of YOURSELF and put YOUR feet up.

B/c making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. :)

Disclaimer: I'll still talk about stress in my life from time to time. But now you know that I don't write about it under some delusional assumption that my life is harder than yours. I know it's not!! :)

Conversation with KK

Sarah went to my mom's house, and they read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"....

(I know it's April, but try telling that to a girl who loves the Grinch.)

Here's how their conversation went, after reading the story...

Sarah: That's such a great story! The Grinch changes his heart and realizes that Christmas is all about Santa Claus.

KK: Well, yes. But, you know, it's also about Jesus's birthday.

Sarah: (wide-eyed and sincerely shocked) You're kidding!!!


I'm so glad I spent time emphasizing the true meaning of Christmas. In one ear and out the other. The presents always win. :)

Why is Sarah always sick?

That's what I've asked myself many, many times over the last 4 years. Constantly with the green nose. Disgusting. Ear infection after infection from about 12 to 24 months old. She's had tubes, which dramatically improved her ear situation. But the sinus infections were/are constant. No exaggeration. CONSTANT.

Here's the thing though... When she had a sinus infection, I would always get in with the first available person. A P.A. A Nurse Practitioner. The doctor. I don't care. Who's available this morning at 10? That kind of thing.

It wasn't until a few months ago that I saw her actual pediatrician for her sinus infections. Because I bounce around his office all the time, he was unaware of how often I've been in for the same thing with Sarah. So he referred me to an allergist.

The allergist was surprised by how many sinus infections she has had. He did the allergy testing. She's mildly allergic to a whole bunch of stuff... trees, pollen... no animal or food allergies. Probably the same seasonal allergies we all have. She's been on Flonase. He switched her to Singulair and Omnaris.

Then he tested her immune system. Her very first in-her-arm blood draw. We've done finger pokes, but never the "let me tie you off and stick a needle in your vein" kind. She tried so hard to be brave, but she told me she was scared. But she refused to cry. Which made me cry. When you see your baby batting her eyelashes as fast as she can to stop the tears from rolling down her face, it kills you.

Her immune system is pretty pitiful as it turns out. (I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that I only breastfed for 3 mos. No, never mind. I'm not going to take on that guilt.)

So we had to go back to the doctor and get an additional Prevnar vaccination to see if we could boost her immune system.

Yesterday we went back to have another blood draw... which was harder than the first one because now she knew what to expect... and are waiting on the results to see if the vaccine boosted her immune system.

If not, we have to talk about whether she will need to take a pill every day indefinitely or if we're going to need to do some IV replacement something or other. Basically replace her immune system through several IV treatments. Let me just say this... if the pill is an option, I vote for that. No more needles. Please.

But, in addition to all of that, the allergist referred me back to the ENT. He thinks that her adenoids may need to come out. He wonders if that might be another contributing factor to all of these sinus infections.

So it's been sort of never ending. But I soooo appreciate all of these medical people taking the time to get to the bottom of this. I appreciate the pediatrician referring us to an allergist. I appreciate the allergist exploring every possible cause of her sickness. I look forward to the ENT weighing in. We're going to get this thing figured out.

I do feel bad that she's been constantly sick for years and I just thought this is what it is to have a toddler/preschooler. She's my first, bless her heart. You do a lot of learning on your first child. :)

Hopefully we'll know something soon.


Hey, as I typed this, I think I've realized that maybe I'm not stressed about my calendar being full or my schedule being crazy. Maybe this has worn me down more than I realized. Huh... Blogging... The new form of therapy. :)

Scheduling

Warning: Venting ahead....

My life has recently become a scheduling nightmare. I think it will get better someday, but for now... yikes! I open my calendar and it's full! Full of doctor's appointments and end of year parties. Dance rehearsals and dance recitals. Weddings and baby showers. A graduation and a black tie event. And that's before we even get into the summer. That's in the next 8 weeks.

I don't mind being busy. I really don't. What makes me nutty is trying to be that busy with Caroline. Jack and Sarah are pretty easy. Especially now that Jack is pottytrained. Going places is a breeze. It's hard when you throw in a baby who has finally started napping well.. (yay!) but that means I need to be home for 2 hours in the morning and at least one hour in the afternoon...(boo!) Sometimes that just doesn't work with an ENT appointment for Sarah. Or a class party that I need to help with. It's not like I'm disgruntled over not having the freedom to go to the mall because my baby needs a nap. I'm frustrated with trying to get everything done for everybody. Sometimes it's just not possible.

And with things like weddings and such... (super fun things... that I'm really looking forward to... that I'm GLAD I need to leave my kids at home.... I love getting away for a while.... I love spending time with just Jason...) but with those things, it is REALLY hard to find a babysitter that can handle 3 young kids. They're mine and sometimes I can't handle them. I KNOW how hard they can be. :) So I almost feel guilty about asking someone to watch my kids, which can take the fun out of getting away.

I want to feel like I can handle things. That I don't need help. I can manage my life. The chores. The errands. The kids. The weight loss. :) The tanning. :) I can keep it all together. I can do it all. It's frustrating to fall short of that. I'm not shooting for 100%. But I want to be able to make a solid "A", ya know?

Right now I think I'd give myself a "C". A 2.0 A "You're average and are passing by a hair".

I don't know. Ya know what.. I'm just going to go make a cup of coffee and press on.
Life's too short to stress, right?

New Dude Perfect Videos

I've talked about them before. They continue to hit the big time. They were flown out to Sacramento by the Kings to do some promotional videos.

Here are the new videos (6 total):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840_S6yQb2E

They were also interviewed by the Associated Press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1my_zg1FjKk

My new BFF

Crappy pic courtesy of my camera phone.

Today Giada de Laurentiis was at Sur la Table in Plano. Tonight she'll be at the Williams-Sonoma at Northpark.

She signed her new cookbook for me. :) It said "Julie xo Giada". :) And she talked to me. :) And she thanked me for coming out. :) And it was the most exciting thing in my entire life... wedding and birth of my kids included. :) LOL!!! (j/k)

But no seriously. It was awesome. I'm a star-struck fool. She was so nice. (Which she should be. I just bought her book. But I'm gonna choose to believe it's because she's a nice person.) And she was so personable. (Which she was to everyone but I'm gonna choose to believe it's because she thought we could be best friends.) And she was gor-geous. If you think she's pretty on TV, let me just tell you, she's a katrillion (that's a number, right?) times prettier in person.

I can't believe she was right there. I mean right there. Talking to me. 15 mins from my house. It's like she came to see me. haha! Good times, good times.

Quick story from the "This kind of thing only happens to Julie" file...

I stand in the forever long line and I'm just about to get my turn to go up to the table to meet her. I got a little nervous. I was fixing my hair and fretting over the fact that I'm breaking out right now like a 12 yr old. I mean, seriously, meeting Giada with pimples??!!! I'm so embarrassed she had to see me like that. And as I'm doing my sort of "straighten out my body" routine... you know, smooth the hair, straighten the shirt, smooth out any wrinkles in my pants... I realize my zipper on my pants is DOWN. How long has it been down? Crap. I'm about to meet a famous person and my zipper's undone. How can I discreetly zip it without Ms. De Laurentiis seeing me? I did a quick turn and an even quicker zip and everything was fine. Whew. Listen I realize I had been talking to strangers for an hour in the line. I don't care what they saw. I'm just relieved that Giada didn't see it... even though she is my new bff and probably wouldn't have cared. :)

Que?

Went to Kid to Kid. Bought the must-have Leap Frog table. Times have changed since Jack and Sarah had one. Since when did they have an option to hear everything in Spanish?

As if the noise and lights weren't enough to send me over the edge, now I don't even understand what the table is saying....

But it is amazing how much the kids pick up. (Well, at least Jack and Sarah. Caroline... not so much yet.)

I have friends who are paying more than they need to so they can have Spanish speaking nannies/housekeepers. I'm telling you... save your money! Get cable (for Dora and Diego) and a Leap Frog table. Your kids will be speaking Spanish in no time!

(And if you throw in a little Ni Hao Kailan, they'll learn some bonus Mandarin as well.)

Thank you, Nick Jr and Leap Frog table, for making an effort to make my kids (who don't even speak the best English) bilingual.

School

Jason is throwing around the idea of going back to school and getting his MBA. It will make finances and scheduling even tighter and trickier than they are now, but I want him to be happy. It's never a bad idea to invest in yourself. It gives you options. As the sole (for now) and primary (probably always) breadwinner, I would be dumb to discourage him from things that could enhance his career. So I'm just praying that, if this is what he needs to be doing, we would find the money and the time to make it all work.

But that's all background and not even the point.... I'm so easily sidetracked.. Sheesh!!...

The point is: I'm SO JEALOUS that he might go back to class!!! I love going to school. :)

I took the GMAT right after A&M and thought about going back to school. I was single and could do whatever I wanted. Remember those days? ;)

But then I realized that-- deep down-- the reason I was considering getting a Masters in education was because I love going to school... It's my comfort zone... And at the time, I was a struggling, sucky first year teacher. So I did a little self-analysis and understood that the mature thing to do was to stick it out in the workplace and not retreat to the comforts of being a professional student.

I know that lots of people don't feel the way I do about sitting at a desk, listening to a teacher. That's fine. I'm weird. I don't care. :) I like taking notes. I like studying for tests. I like going to class. I like reading the textbooks. I like highlighters. I like tutorials. I like it all. Really... sitting here typing this.. I'm literally smiling. Just thinking about it.

I wonder--if Jason does go back to school--- if he'll let me get him a backpack. And different colored mechanical pencils. With coordinating spirals. And if I can help him review for the tests. Or grade practice quizzes.... I'm giddy with excitement. :)

Easter Pics

It's hard to guarantee that everyone is looking at the camera and smiling when you have to use a tripod....


WILL EVERYONE BE IN THE FRAME??? TESTING, TESTING...



TAKE ONE...



TAKE TWO...


FORGET IT....


Easter Egg Hunt at KK's house...

Good Friday

On a hill far away
Stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and pain

But I love that old cross
Where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Til my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown


I am so thankful to be covered by the blood of Christ. Everyday I do things that are so unbelievably hypocritical of who I know I am in Him. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me. And thank you for not giving up on me as I continually fall short of who You would have me be.

I'm so thankful for what today represents... but I'm looking forward to Sunday. :)

One last song I've been singing today...

He paid a debt he did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone
To wash my sins away

And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing grace all day long
Christ Jesus paid the debt
That I could never pay

Have a Good Friday everybody!

Sunday's On The Way

Does anyone remember Carman? Christian artist. Man, this video takes me back to elementary school. Very 80s. But I loved this song.

Sunday's On The Way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muK1DPKhKJ8


Or here's a brand new video of a song that I had never heard that just came out on igniter media...

http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/1644/Come-Awake

Getting Older

Have you ever been so preoccupied with how fast your kids are growing and you can't believe how old they are that somehow you've forgotten that YOU'RE GETTING OLDER TOO??

My age (30...which is super young BTW..haha) jumped up and slapped me in the face this weekend.

I found my first white hair. It wasn't gray... oh no... because that would be easing me into this aging nonsense. It was full-on white.

I know that lots and lots of people find gray hairs, even in their 20s. I never did. I don't color my hair. I've never had to. I think subconsciously I must have been wearing that as a badge of pride, and God must've felt the need to humble me. :)

I was going about my usual flat-ironing process when there was this one sticky-uppy hair in my part. I tried to smooth it down. But it was a wiry son-of-a-gun. A texture like nothing I've seen before. I could've cleaned a drain with that thing.

So I tried to pull it. But I couldn't get it so I just trimmed it so it wasn't sticking straight up for all the world to see. And when I held it in my hand and examined it, I realized it was white.

A little family history: My grandmother was fully white by age 35. My mom was white in her 30s as well. My sister's been covering grays for years. I thought I had dodged this bullet. I thought maybe auburn hair doesn't go gray. (The logic makes no sense, but I've been defying the odds for so long that I had to explain it somehow.)

Mother Nature and Father Time mocked me this weekend, and I'm not happy about it AT ALL.

Listen, if this is what it is to be 30, sign me up for 29 again. ;)