Like Father, Like Son

I'm thinking the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

Picasso Anyone?

Since the boys haven't had preschool this past month, I've done a couple of art projects with them.  Here are a couple of pictures taken a couple of weeks ago of them painting.



Yes, that's blue paint on his mouth (nontoxic, of course).

When I was taking pictures, I didn't realize until after I had put the camera down I had forgotten to put the paint smocks over the boys.  I did put them on, eventually.  At least I remembered to cover the table with a drape cloth!  The boys had a blast painting.  Although, I had to scrub Cullen down twice because he was extremely enthusiastic about finger painting.  Jackson was so proud of his work he made me put it immediately on the refrigerator to show Dad when he got home.



Jackson with his paint brush



This was just the beginning of finger painting. It looked liked he had slaughtered a pig afterward.

When it rains, it pours

At least that is how this week has felt.  I spent three out of five days in a doctor's office.

Cullen got a cold on Sunday.  No big deal, just a low grade fever and a little sniffle.  By Tuesday, this little cold took a turn.  He still had a fever, and it was accompanied by a nice barky cough with a hoarse voice.  I took him into the pediatrician's walk-in clinic that morning.  After waiting for awhile, we were finally seen to hear the doctor say no congestion had settled in his lungs, but if he still has a fever by Thursday to come back.

This Tuesday news was accompanied by Thibie throwing up her breakfast.  That was fun to find.  Then Thibie refused to eat dinner.  Wednesday morning, at the ungodly hour of 4am, Thibie threw up again and refused her food in the morning.  A visit to the vet with Thibie, Cullen, and Jackson ensued in the morning.  After our trip to the vet in which Thibie received a shot, we tried to go back about our day.  Cullen still had a cough, no fever, and was just generally not a happy trooper.  Cullen decided to get another fever Wednesday after his nap.  Now we had a unhappier Cullen.

Thursday morning Cullen still had a fever.  Back to the pediatrician we went.  After waiting for forever and watching someone get called in who got there long after me (which royally pissed me off!), we finally got called back.  Of course, both boys are running around the waiting room looking at books, the fish tank, and Jackson decided he needed to use the bathroom during our wait period.  Finally, we saw the doctor to learn Cullen now had an ear infection caused by the cold, hence why he still had a fever.  Oh joy!

After picking up Cullen's antibiotics, I had been home about 30 minutes Thursday morning when Jackson said he needed to use the bathroom.  No biggie until I hear him calling me about 15 seconds after I put him in there.  I walk in to hear him say, "Mommy I peed in the trashcan.  I'm sorry."  Not only did he hit the trashcan, he completely missed the toilet bowl and got it all over the floor.  I start cleaning the mess up when he wanted privacy to finish his business.

After he finished, I was in the bathroom starting to clean up the mess when I hear Jackson say, "Mommy, look!  Yucky!"  I walk out into the hallway and find Thibie lost control of her bowels all over the rugs in the hallway and living room and the hardwood floors.  It was everywhere!!  All over the house!  I can't even tell you how much I lost it.  I just broke down.  I was so tired of cleaning up everyone elses mess and tired of everyone being sick.  I just lost it while cleaning everything up.

On a good note, Cullen woke up fever free Friday after two doses of antibiotics.  Jackson has not missed the toilet again.

It is weeks like these that I hate being pregnant.  Why you ask?  Because I can't drink.  Yes, I desperately need an alcoholic drink several days this week.  Only 13 more weeks until my due date, I can't wait!

Differing Priorities

A couple of nights ago Andrew and I were sitting at the kitchen table talking after eating dinner.  The boys had already finished and were playing in the living room.

All of the sudden, Andrew smiles, claps his hands and starts rubbing them together while saying, "Two more weeks!"

I looked at the calendar and said, "Yes, two more weeks."

After I said that it occurred to me, why would Andrew be this excited?  It doesn't effect him directly.

"What exactly are you talking about?" I asked.

"College football!" Andrew replied.

I busted out laughing.  Andrew looked at me funny and said, "Why? What were you talking about?"

"Preschool," I replied still laughing, "I guess that shows us what each other considers a priority!"

Yes, college football (specifically LSU football) starts in two weeks as does a new year of preschool for the boys.  I can definitely say I am looking forward to having a few more hours of quiet alone time before baby boy #3 comes.  And yes, those few hours I am looking forward to trump college football in my mind any day.  But I am glad Andrew can finally have his college football Saturdays back.  I've been hearing the countdown for a long time.  Love that man!

Baseball Tonight!

Saturday night, Andrew and Jackson went a Round Rock Express baseball game.  We are lucky enough to live only a few miles away from a AAA baseball club owned by Nolan Ryan.  We are double lucky the stadium is named the Dell Diamond, so Andrew gets discounted tickets.

It was Jackson's first baseball game.  We were going to take him last year, but seeing as we had 90 days of 100+ degree heat, we couldn't.  It was just too hot.  Andrew and Jackson stayed until the bottom of the seventh inning before leaving.

Jackson had a blast!  He just couldn't understand he wasn't allowed to go down on the field and play baseball with the players.  It took Andrew a lot of patience and quite a bit of convincing before Jackson realized he had to watch the game instead of playing it.  What can I say?  He loves to be active, run, and play.

Overall, they had a pretty good time.  We'll definitely be going to more games.  Jackson hasn't stopped talking about the baseball game and keeps asking when he gets to go again.  I'm hoping to go with Cullen and possibly baby brother  #3 next year.  I just can't sit in the heat this year while being pregnant.  I feel like I'm slowly melting to death.

Here are a couple of pictures from the game.

Pity Party for 1, please

I've been having a rough couple of weeks.  Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting upstairs hoping the pain from my foot would go away, telling one child to stop climbing the bookcases while telling another to get down off the coffee table, and no, jumping is not an option.  After making sure both children were relatively safe (as safe as two young boys get), I had this thought, "I'm doomed to not have my foot heal, and I am endlessly tired of being pregnant."  This was followed by many more whoa is me moments.

It took me a few minutes to realize I might as well just crawl into a hole and decide to give up for the next 14 weeks of pregnancy if all I'm going to do is self wallow.  Once I realized what I was doing, I said to myself, "Stop having a pity party.  It could always be worse."

Yes, it could definitely be worse.  Not everyone has a husband who comes home after a long day of work, tells his wife to sit down and rest while he cooks dinner.  Not everyone has a husband who loves her enough to tell her she is doing too much and gets mad when she doesn't let him help out. (I never said I was perfect!)  Not everyone has kids who continuously remind Mom she has a broken foot and kisses her boo boo bandage/shoe to make it feel better.

So yes, I'm having a difficult time right now.  This too shall pass.  It is extremely hard to take care of my kids while hobbling around.  I'm crazy tired of being pregnant.  It doesn't help having a stress fracture, and I don't like being pregnant (never have).  I love my kids, but the whole pregnancy part I could definitely live without.  People who say pregnancy is a wonderful thing have obviously never been pregnant in 100 degree heat, running after toddlers, and are constantly tired because a solid night's sleep will not come.

My Grandma's birthday was yesterday.  I called her while she was out and left her a birthday message.  I never expected her to call me back that night to say thank you.  My Grandma is not much of a phone person, so I was surprised.  It was a brief conversation, but it was so nice to hear her say being pregnant in the heat is awful.  She would know; she had 6 children.  It was the perfect thing to say to break me out of a funk.  My Grandmother, who has been through this, understands and says its okay.  Life will gone, and this baby boy will eventually come out of me healthy.  Its nice to have such a simple thing put life in perspective.

Another Year Gone

This past Saturday was my birthday.  I'm not going to proudly display my age.  It's just not a me thing to do.  Although getting carded at Target two days before made me smile especially when I had the kids with me.  Unlike other birthdays I've had, this year I actually took the time to look at my life and what has been going.  I reflected not only on the past year but the past several years.

I'll tell you the truth.  I really did not expect to be where I'm at five and ten years ago.  I always envisioned myself being the perfect working mom who accomplished it all.  Ha!  Life and reality smacked me in the face hard.

I never once contemplated staying home with my kids until my first child was born.  I had one of those aha moments at some point during my maternity leave.  I just couldn't imagine dropping off this little bundle of joy in the care of a daycare, no matter how qualified and nice they were.  My world completely realigned.  I cannot pinpoint where, when, or how this moment happened.  It could have happened over a period of time or I could have woken up one day with my thoughts all jumbled.  Who knows when it happened, but it happened.  My world shifted, and I decided to talk to Andrew about staying home with the kids.

Andrew was the best most supportive husband about it.  He never once questioned why I changed my mind and just took me at my word.  We had several long talks, readjusted and looked at finances, and decided what would be best for our child (and future children).  Once the decision was made, it was done.

It took sacrificing, but I'm glad I made the decision to stay home with my children.  It especially worked out when Andrew and I decided to have more children.

Besides my career change, I've accomplished so much more with my life.  I'm educated.  I'm very proud of my several college degrees.  I paid for two of them myself and worked while obtaining my two Masters degrees.  It took sacrifices, but in the end, I feel my education to has been well worth it.  I have good friends.  People who I know I can count on.  I'm healthy, as long as you don't count the stress fracture in my foot.

I have a wonderful husband in Andrew.  He is a man I can count on in the good and bad times.  Someone who is my best friend and confidant.

After thinking about all these things, the conclusion is my life is pretty good.  So here's to another year gone by and many more to come.  I have two boys to keep things interesting, another baby boy on the way whom I'm sure will add to the endless noise in my house, and a husband to share all the wonderful moments with.  So far, I think I'm doing pretty damn awesome!

No Snack For You!

Me:  Boys, you don't need a snack.  Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes.

5 minutes later...

Andrew:  What's that noise?

Me:  I don't know.

Andrew:  Where are Jackson and Cullen?

Me:  I don't know.

Andrew:  Umm... I found them. (laughing)

Me:  I guess they must have been really hungry.  Don't let them eat anymore.  Dinner is almost ready.

They had closed themselves in the pantry after repeatedly being told to wait for dinner.  When Andrew opened the door, this is what he found.  By the way, ignore the completely disorganized pantry in the background.  I can't keep anything in its proper place with two children constantly going in and rearranging everything.

I'm pretty sure Jackson and Cullen are going through growth spurts right now.  They are eating me out of house and home.  I'm starting to dread feeding three teenage boys.  It will probably be a weekly trip to Sam's just so I don't starve.  Or I'll have to start hiding the food I don't want them to eat.

Cleaning Up

It's genuinely hard to get mad at Cullen for spilling an entire cup of red Kool Aid down the front of his shirt when this happens afterward.  All the wind gets blown out of my sails when both boys actually help me clean it up.

Stress Fracture

I have a stress fracture of the 2nd metatarsal in my left foot.  The official diagnosis came on Friday after I went to see the Orthopedist.

I had been hobbling around the house for about 2 weeks before I called to get a doctor appointment.  I was hoping I had pulled a tendon or ligament, and it would heal on its own.  When I hadn't healed and the pain was definitely not getting better, I decided I should probably see a doctor.

Off I went Friday morning to have my suspicions confirmed.

How did I do this?  I have no clue.  It is usually a runner's injury, but I don't run because it bothers my knee.  It seems to have happened due to multiple causes.  Running after the kids, exercising (possibly), the boys dropping something on my foot, and/or stepping or tripping over multiple toys around the house.  Matchbox cars and Lego's are vicious little things!

How is this treated?  I have to wear a post-op shoe (which has already given me a nasty blister on my heel).  And I have to rest and stay off my foot as much as possible.

Rest?  You want me to rest and stay off my feet?  Ha!  I'd like to see the Mom who can rest while caring for (and running after) a 3 year old and 21 month old.  As idealistic as that sounds, it's not 100 percent realistic.  As much as I'm trying to stay off my foot, it is extremely difficult.  Andrew has been on me about making sure I rest my foot and ice it when it swells, but even he's not here all the time.  We do have lives!

For now, I am trying my best to follow the doctor's orders while also doing all the other things that need to get done.  If you see me limping around or wearing a weird looking shoe, I am not trying to make a fashion statement.  I am simply trying to heal as fast as possible.

Here's to healing and not making it any worse!

Swim Lessons!

On the last day of swim lessons, parents are allowed to stay on the pool deck.  On all the other days, parents are asked to step outside the pool fence, so they don't distract the kids from learning.  I think its great!  I get to see the final product of their lessons and how much they've learned on the last day.  I was finally able to get pictures and a few small videos of Jackson and Cullen in the pool showing off their newly learned skills.

Here is a video of Cullen showing Dad how much he likes going under water.

This is a video of Jackson swimming to get a diving ring.



The 'Hover' Move

With the boys being in swim lessons, our routine has changed a bit.  We're bathing and eating dinner in shifts depending on who gets home first.

Last week, Cullen was eating dinner by himself at the kitchen table while I kept him company.  He was eating quite well, so I left the table to wash some dishes at the sink.  When I'm at the sink, my back is to the table.

As I'm washing, I start hearing Cullen grunt.  I look back and see he's still eating at the table seemingly fine.  I figure he's just really enjoying his dinner.  A few minutes later I start hearing the grunting again.  I walk over to see what is going on when I notice he's not really sitting.

Cullen was squatting quite low in his booster seat and holding onto the arms of the seat.  He was performing the 'hover' move women do in public restrooms when they don't want to sit on a public toilet.  His hover position was due to the fact he was pooping and, obviously, did not want to be seated while he did his business.

And here, I thought only women hovered.  Cullen has perfected his 'hover' at an early age!