Pictures in the Bluebonnets

A couple weekends ago Andrew and I took the kids to the park and tried to get some pictures in the bluebonnets.  It was a case of "Who do you have?"  It was like herding cats!

A few pictures in the wildflowers.

 

Sawyer was done by this time.

Bees!

See it!

Of course weird stuff is going to happen when Andrew is out of town on business.  I mean, why would it not?  I've had the A/C go out when its 108 degrees outside.  I've had a stomach virus go through the entire house and hit me hard when I was pregnant.

What is it this time?  Bees.

My boys found a big ass beehive in the smallest tree in our backyard.  I was feeding Sawyer his dinner and letting them play in the backyard to try and get the last of the evenings energy out.  Jackson and Cullen come inside and are telling me to come look at the bees.

"Mom!  There's bees in the tree.  Come look!" Jackson said.

"Bees in the tree!  Come look at bees in the tree!" Cullen said while running up to me.

"I'm feeding Sawyer.  I can't come out right now.  I'll come out later," I said.  Of course, I was assuming a few bees were just flying around outside.

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

I asked Jackson to point out which tree he was talking about.  Our smallest crepe myrtle has a beehive the size of a freaking cantaloupe!

I immediately called our pest control people, but they can't get anyone out until Monday afternoon.  Now, I'm stuck with a gigantic beehive which appeared out of nowhere.  We were just playing in the backyard this weekend.  Sunday, no bees.  Wednesday, bees.  Why me?!?!?!

I despise bees.  I understand they are good for the environment, and we need them around.  However, I would prefer if they stayed the hell away from me for all eternity!  I have been stung several times.  And joy of joys, I'm allergic to them!  I swell, break out in rashes, get red and blotchy, and itch like no other.  I have to down Benadryl immediately and apply ice to ward off my worst symptoms.  And then it takes almost a week for me to look normal around the sting.  No fun.

I think they're honey bees.  It doesn't
matter.  They need to be gone!

On top of all that, I was giving the boys a bath when I noticed a red spot on Jackson.  I got him to stand up in the tub to get a good look at it.  Guess what it was, a bee sting!  He never even told me he got stung on the belly.  Luckily, he's not allergic to them (obviously).  It's just red and swollen.  Thank goodness he's like Andrew and not me!

Baptism Pictures!

It only took me a week and a half, but I finally downloaded Sawyer's Baptism pictures.  In case you are wondering what Sawyer is wearing, it is a baptism gown.  My brother and I wore the same one for our baptisms, and it is from the Philippines.  Jackson and Cullen also wore the same gown.  It is a family tradition.

Sawyer fell asleep on Monique, his godmother.

A family picture cannot be taken without at least one of the boys acting goofy.

Andrew, myself and Sawyer

 

Bottom Right: Monique, Matt and Sawyer

Bottom Left: GiGi and Sawyer

 

Andrew, myself, Matt and Sawyer

The whole Schlumbrecht/Ingalls crew.  I'm pretty sure Jackson was done with pictures.

Underwear?

I am still in the middle of potty training Cullen.  It is going a lot more smoothly than Jackson did, but nonetheless, potty training is hard.  Cullen has peeing in the potty down.  No problems there.  However, he has not quite mastered the other one.  A few successes, but many more underwear changes.

Saturday morning, the whole family was getting ready to go to a my friend's daughter's birthday party at Pump It Up.  I had gotten the boys dressed when Cullen told me he went in his underwear.  I schlep my kid into the bathroom trying to not pull my hair out in frustration, clean him up, and send him back to playing.

I go back to packing up the diaper bag for Sawyer when I hear, "Uh Oh!" and "Mom! Cullen pooped on the carpet!" at the same time.  I take a deep breath, walk into the living room, and see a massive piece of it on the carpet.  Massive to the point I'm wondering, "How the hell does that even fit inside of him?"

I shout to Andrew I need some help and take Cullen to the potty, again.  I'm pulling his shorts off to figure out exactly how that thing fell out of his underwear.  And then I see my answer.

I never put underwear back on Cullen.  He was flying in the wind.  Going commando.  Letting it all hang out.  And he never even told me, so I'm guessing he liked it.  The constant state of doing this everyday finally made me forget to put underwear back on my potty training child.

I shout out to Andrew, "I figured out how that happened!"

"How?"

"I forgot to put underwear back on him from earlier," I say while laughing at myself.

I can hear him snickering and laughing when he says, "Ok.  I've almost done that too, but at least I remembered."

Ever the supportive man, that husband of mine!  This is my life.

Eyes, Blood, and Worcestershire

Sawyer had another eye appointment with the Ophthalmologist.  His eyes have improved a little, but they are still crossing inward.  On a good note, each eye is tracking correctly.  After going over some options with the doctor, we decided to wait another month to see if his eyes continued to improve.  The doctor said he wasn't opposed to waiting another month since his crossing is low and tracking is good.  Depending on how Sawyer's eyes are next month, the doctor could put him in glasses to help strengthen his eyes.  Can you imagine my little baby in glasses that will probably look like Coke bottles?  We will wait and see what happens.  I'd rather have him see correctly than this be a permanent sight issue.

Cullen fell down part of the stairs on Tuesday.  I have no idea how it happened.  In the middle of our staircase, we have a landing.  He was sitting on the landing asking me to come downstairs with him.  I had told him no since Jackson was playing upstairs and I was holding Sawyer.  Since the turn is blind from where I was standing, I have no idea how he accomplished the fall.  My guess is he was already scooting/sliding down the stairs on his butt, he probably continued sliding hit a speed bump and fell forward.  I heard his 'I'm hurt' cry, put Sawyer down, and rushed downstairs to see him sitting on the floor.  He looked up and had blood coming out of his nose. 

Cullen's nose was a faucet with no turn off switch.  Blood was coming and coming and coming.  I rushed him upstairs to the bathroom.  I grabbed toilet paper off the floor, since my cocker, Mea, had pulled it off the roll to the door.  I shoved toilet paper on/in his nose.  It didn't slow down, so I proceeded to put Cullen in a headlock to pinch his nose and force his head down.  It was like wrestling an alligator.

I went through quite a bit of toilet paper and two rounds of nose pinching before I asked Jackson to run downstairs and get me some ice.  I just couldn't get the blood to stop leaking.  At one point, I had it slowed down, but Cullen removed himself from my headlock.  It started again.  Jackson came back upstairs with an ice 'pack'.  Now, I have the door of the freezer filled with blue ice and teethers.  Instead of getting me one of those, he grabs a single fake cube of ice that is exactly a 1x1 inch cube.  It was the smallest possible piece of ice he could have grabbed.  I pressed the mini ice to Cullen's nose, and it finally started to stop bleeding.

The bathroom, Cullen, and myself looked like a war zone.  There were bloody patches of toilet paper everywhere.  Cullen had dried blood all over his face, shirt and shorts.  I later found out blood soaked through his shorts and onto his underwear.  I had dried blood all over my face, arms, and shirt.  Inevitable, I was wearing a white shirt as well.  I should know better by now.

And the Worcestershire.  I was cooking dinner in the late afternoon yesterday, since it needed to cook and simmer for 2 hours.  I had grabbed the Worcestershire sauce out of the cabinet and was going to grab my spices.  I knocked the oregano over and went to grab it as it fell.  Unfortunately, my quick reflexes had my elbow knocking the bottle of Worcestershire off the counter and onto the tile floor inches away from Sawyer in the Bumbo.  The bottle shattered.  Sauce and glass went everywhere, including all over Sawyer.  Luckily, Sawyer was only splashed with sauce.  I spent the next 30 minutes cooking while simultaneously cleaning the floor up.  On a good note, the kitchen floor ended up mopped and sparkling clean.

I think this klutziness only happens to me.  Unfortunately, I believe Cullen inherited this trait as well.  Poor boy.

On another note, this is a normal state of my house.

Did I really do that?

Yes. Oh shit!  Yes, I really did do it.
 

The above is what went through my mine as I was looking for my cell phone at the gym on Sunday.  I was grabbing my iPod and Master Lock out of my purse when I noticed my cell phone wasn't in its normal pocket.
 

I started replaying the events of the morning in my head and realized at that exact moment where my cell phone was or approximately where it was.
 

Sunday morning was little rough on the home front.  I had children crying for no apparent reason, and it seemed like everything little thing led to a melt down.  On top of that, Jackson lost his black Orioles ball, which matched his black Orioles bat, down the sewer on the street.  He hit the ball, and Uncle Matt couldn't get to it in time before it went down the sewer.  Trying to explain to a 3 year old, you are not crawling into a sewer for a small foam ball is pretty painful unto itself.
 

Andrew arrived home a few minutes later from dropping my Mom off at the airport about 5 minutes after the ball was lost.  Thankfully.  I told Andrew I would take Jackson and Cullen to the gym with Matt and I so he could have some quiet time on his birthday.  While I was getting water bottles, Andrew put the boys into the car.  Soon after, Matt and I went to burn off some the extra calories we had consumed this weekend.
 

As I was putting my things into a locker, I could not find my cell phone.  I dug through my purse, but it wasn't there.  That's when I remembered where I put it.  I put it on the bumper of my Explorer while Matt and I were watching the kids riding bikes and playing baseball.  I had seen it while I was putting the bikes away and had planned on grabbing it when I put the kids in the car.  Unfortunately, Andrew was kind enough to do that task, so I completely forgot about it.  In essence, I drove off with my cell phone on my back bumper.
 

I would have called Andrew to tell him, but I had no phone.  To top it off, Matt left his iPhone at home as well, so I had no phone.  On our way home, I asked Matt to look out for it around the neighborhood.  We cased the roads but couldn't find it.
 

When I got home, I told Andrew what happened.  He was so nice and tried not to laugh, but I saw the smirk.  Being the sweet husband he is,  Andrew went off looking for it.  Fifteen minutes later, Andrew walks in with half of my busted up phone.  It had made it all the way to the end of my neighborhood before it fell off the bumper.
 

I see the destroyed keyboard in his hand.  First thing I think of is, did my SIM card make it?  And it did!
 

Andrew and I had been talking about getting smartphones for awhile now.  We finally broke down and decided we really did need them.  This just gave us a huge 'push you off the mountain' push to finally get it.  Andrew went out Sunday afternoon to get new phones and switch service providers.
 

I claim all of this happened because of my children.  They gave me 'mommy brain'.  I used to be normal with minimal space out moments.  After kids, I'm lucky to remember basic functions in life.  Mom's and future mom's beware.  Mommy brain will get you one way or the other.  Watch out!  It's not pretty.  Run!  Run for your brain!
 

This is what's left of my phone that Andrew could find.
 

Busy Weekend-Sawyer's Baptism

A busy weekend was had by all.

My mom came into town Thursday.  She was able to watch Jackson's last swim lesson.  Mom was kind enough to babysit the boys, so Andrew and I could have an actual date Thursday night.  Thanks Mom!  Andrew and I went to Black Star Co-op for food and beer.  It had been months since we went out just the two of us.  It was so nice to have a date with my husband!  I can't even describe it.

Friday, my brother, Matt, and my cousin, Monique, came into town.  We had a great night filled with burgers and adult conversation.

Saturday was the big day!  Sawyer was baptized at 8am Saturday morning.  Yes, it was that early, and no, we did not understand why.  Since this was our third baptism with the same godparents, we were old pros at what was going on.  Mom was nice enough to take pictures and keep Jackson and Cullen entertained.  Jackson was really good.  Cullen wanted to move, so she walked him around the church most of the time.  What a good GiGi!  After the baptism, everyone went over to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/brunch.

After the busy morning, we came home and relaxed.  Uncle Matt fell asleep on the couch, and Cullen fell asleep on Uncle Matt.  It was too cute.  In the evening, we went to 5pm Mass.  Of course, Jackson said, "But we already went to church!  Why do we have to go again?"  I answered, "Because we're good Catholics.  We need to go to Mass so we can sleep in tomorrow morning and relax."  He wasn't too thrilled with my answer, but he sure did like sleeping in until 8am on Sunday!

GiGi kindly offered to babysit again while Matt, Andrew, and I went to dinner.  Off we went to Chuy's!  I haven't been to Chuy's in a good two years.  I was ecstatic!  The three of us found a table to wait, ordered margaritas all around, and grabbed some chips to snack on.  It was a great, relaxing dinner.  We got home in time to put the boys to bed and give GiGi props for feeding the three.

Sunday, Mom (aka GiGi) flew home in the morning.  Andrew got himself some donuts in the morning since it was his birthday.  Happy Birthday Andrew!  I took Matt to the gym with Cullen and Jackson.  Andrew grilled dinner with me prepping.  I baked him a Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake which was savored by all of us.

Matt left this morning.  I have a bunch of pictures I have yet to download from my camera.  The pictures will be posted, but I'm definitely running behind of the whole picture thing.  After the hard drive broke, I haven't had the opportunity to download anything.  I'll start working on it.

It was great to see family, but it is also nice to have the house back to ourselves.  I love the quiet when it comes.  It just doesn't come often enough!

Highlights

It has been a busy/hectic week for me, and it's only Thursday.  I'll just highlight the major points, and will catch everyone up on the big stuff later.

1)  Cullen got sick on Monday.  He was asleep at preschool when I picked him up on Monday.  He woke up from his nap with a fever.  The fever kept breaking and coming back.  Yesterday, Cullen stayed home from preschool and finally broke the fever permanently.  Thank goodness!  It's been long days and long nights of having to put him back to bed constantly because he's not feeling well.  Luckily no one else has caught what he had, and I'm praying it stays that way.

2)  I'm being inundated with calls from realtors.  Andrew and I made the big decision to take the house of the market.  We had extenuating circumstances come about two weeks into the house being on the market.  Combine that with the stress of having to keep in clean with three small children, and I was a big ball of stress.  Because this was the one thing we had control over, the house was pulled off the market.

Since the house was pulled off, I have been receiving 2-3 phone calls a day from realtors wanting to be our next agent, asking why we took the house off the market, and basically telling me how wonderful they all are.  I swear they remind me of vultures going after prey.  We still plan on moving, but moved the date back to keep our sanity.

3)  Sawyer is being baptized on Saturday morning, so my mom, brother, and cousin are coming into town.  Getting the house in order and cleaning have just been another thing on my plate.

When my life slows down a little bit, as in probably next week, I will more actively writing again.  I'm looking forward to it.  Blogging/writing has become an outlet for me to take a deep breath, look at the craziness that is my life, and make light of it.  Yep, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Moms Work

I collapsed into bed last night and every other night this week exhausted.

What did I do all day?  I raised my children.

I didn't wake up to an alarm and go off to work at an office or cubicle.  I didn't have to pack a lunch or face rush hour traffic.  I didn't have worry about dropping my kids off at daycare or picking them up on time.  I didn't drive back home in rush hour traffic and fix dinner.  That is not my life right now.

I woke up to the sounds of my 2 year old walking into my room at 4am crying because he had a bad dream.  20 minutes later, I put him back in his own bed, so I could finally go back to sleep.  I was woken up by a wide awake child not being able to wait and see Mom and Dad.  I groggily get up to let him watch Sesame Street while I fish his milk out of the refrigerator and make breakfast.

I have the joy of waking up my 5 month old baby boy and watching a smile break across his face when he sees me.  I love that smile.  It makes me remember why I do this every day.

I don't sit around eating bon bons all day.  I raise my children.  I provide them with meals, learning opportunities, and play time.  I cart them around to various activities.  I wipe poop butts and change dirty underwear.  I change diapers and wash my hands at least 20 times a day.  I play blocks and Legos.  I dance and sing silly songs. I color and paint.  I teach the alphabet and play learning and memory games.  I cook healthy meals.  I catch children as they jump off of couches they are not supposed to.  I dig in the dirt.  I throw baseballs and whiffle balls for hours on end because my three year old refuses to hit off a tee.  I play catch in the freezing winter and get wet with my kids in the blazing summer.  I watch my kids do all their firsts, roll, sit, crawl climb, walk, jump, and run.  I put away all my personal time to potty train them, and when I'm ready to give up, I suck it up and keep at it.  I kiss and tend to all the boo boos.  I take care of them when sick and take them to the doctor.  I throw them in the air and catch them.  I discipline them.  I teach them manners, responsibility, and how to nicely play with their siblings.  I do all this.

I get frustrated, angry, and tired.  I have fantasies about having peace and quiet and being alone.  I have no privacy, including the bathroom.  I have days I want to scream, yell, and put my head in the oven.  I wonder why my kids didn't hear me the first five times I asked them to do something.  I think maybe it would have been easier to just go back to work.  I wonder if  they'll ever get over this particular phase; only to realize another one will just take its place.  I ask my husband at least once a week, "Why did we decide children were a good idea?"

I hear all the derogatory comments made by uneducated and delusional people who believe I do nothing all day.  I hear the hurtful discussions people have when they say how they could never stay at home with their kids because they need intellectual stimulation.  I notice when people don't ask what I've been up to because they assume I do nothing.  I notice how people look down at me when I tell them my occupation.  I hear people say I must not be smart or willing to work.  I notice the scornful looks others give me.

I also hear people say, "Good for you" or "You are a saint to stay at home with your kids" or "You are better than me because I could never do your job."  Unfortunately, these things happen far less often than the negatives.

I say to you this.  Yes, I work.  I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I don't get sick and vacation days.  If I get sick, I suck it up and take care of the kids anyway.  I had a broken foot and was pregnant at the same time.  I didn't get to give my kids to someone else while I healed.  I still took care of my kids.  If I go on vacation, guess what, the kids are usually with me.

I work every day, and I do hard work.  I don't get paid for my work by money.  My pay is to see my kids grow up to be good people.  Stay at home moms get a lot less credit than they are due.  Working moms get a loss less credit too, but nobody looks down upon them.  And if they do, welcome to my world.  Apparently, we are all screwed.

Stop looking down upon Moms.  We work hard everyday whether at work or at home.  And Moms, stop judging other Moms.  You are the problem with society.  In order to feel better about yourself, you have to tear someone else down to do it.  Let people do what is right for them.  I stay at home and work.  You go to work and work.  We all work in the end just in different ways.  Stop the judging and negativity associated with both.  Lets support each other and raise good kids.

Rockin' to the '90s

I'm standing in the house folding laundry, washing dishes, and watching Sawyer roll all over the place.  All the while, I'm rockin' out to the '90s station on Music Choice.  All '90s all the time!

Listening to the '90s music brings back all kinds of good memories.  I remember belting out most of these songs with Matt, my brother in our house in Maryland or in the car.  It used to annoy my parents, but we didn't care.  We rocked our Umbros and t-shirts so hard.  I remember all my friends showing off their Starter jackets during the winter.  The girls wearing their hair half up in a clip and tying to rest in a loose scrunchie around the base of your neck.  You didn't want the scrunchie tight against your head because that wasn't cool.  You needed that perfect not too tight and not too loose semi-ponytail.  And you can't forget the rainbow bangs!  I went to Catholic schools, so we never had the fashion parade since everyone wore a uniform.  Still, the small things everyone did to set themselves apart was never forgotten.  And I can't tell you how many discussions took place and how long it took to pick out an outfit for dress down days.  You would think we were preparing for the Oscars or something.

It's funny to look back at pictures from our childhood.  All I can think is, "Why the hell did my parents let me wear that?!"  But then I realize, we were the height of fashion or tried to be.  A lot heavier on the tried to be.  It also reminds me of how hard of a time I had finding clothes to fit me correctly.  Most of the stuff swamped my body because being small was not easy to fit.  It also reminded me that some of these songs are 20+ years old which reminded me of my age.  Damn, I'm starting to get old.

As I rock out to Salt 'N Pepa, Savage Garden, Ricki Martin, Aerosmith, Des'ree, Everything But The Girl, and a few others, I'm grateful I grew up in the '80s and '90s.  I never had to worry about laptops, tablets, and cell phones.  It was a little less complicated.

Rock on '90s!!!

Egg Hunts and Easter

The last part of the week turned a little hectic.

Thursday, Jackson had his swim lessons in the afternoon.  He's a little fish and constantly asks if he has swim lessons every. single. day.  After swim lessons, we rushed home to eat, so I could take the boys to the Twilight Egg Hunt in the park.  Andrew was able to make it home in time for it to be a family trip.

The park was crazy as usual.  It was unusual for me to be on the participant side of the egg hunt.  I was the coordinator of this event in my previous job.  Andrew had Sawyer strapped in the Bjorn, I went to Jackson, and Cullen was with Andrew.  The boys had a good time and hunted their own eggs and candy.  I refuse to be 'that parent' who grabs all the eggs and candy for their kid's basket.  My two are old enough to find eggs and candy on their own.  If they weren't, I would not be allowing them to participate.  It always seems to amaze me how ridiculous the parents get at these things.  Some of them were down right vicious.  I'm sorry but if your kid is in stroller or can't walk, they really should not be participating.  Just my opinion.

Saturday, Jackson's preschool friend had a birthday party.  Jackson was extrmeley good and was able to ride a bunch of kiddie rides.  He even rode on a pony.  Twice!  He was a regular cowboy!

Easter Sunday, we woke up early and got ready for church.  After much drama, which included both boys not wanting to wear their Easter church outfits, we finally made it out the house.  By the way, Jackson was in khakis and an orange polo, and Cullen was wearing khakis and a pink oxford button down.  Nothing too unusual, but from the fight they put us, you would have thought we asked them to wear a straight jacket.  As Andrew so delicately put it, "I know you don't want to wear it.  I don't care.  Get used to wearing dress clothes you don't like.  You'll be doing it for the rest of your life."  Love how my husband puts things into perspective.

We headed to Easter Mass to only end up sitting in traffic to get to our church.  We stood still at a light for 5 minutes and got nowhere.  After getting beyond frustrated, I called my parents and asked them to look up Masses at a couple other local churches.  We ended up driving to St. Helen's in Georgetown.  Not ideal, but at least we made it to Mass.  And only a little late!

On a side note, I can't stand it when everyone and their brother feels the need to go to Easter Mass.  I mean if you aren't going to Mass every other Sunday, do you really think this Sunday is going to make that much of a difference?  All you end up doing is pissing people like me and my family off when we try to get to Mass 30 minutes early only to realize we can't even make it to the parking lot.  Think people?!

After Mass, the boys played outside and we had a small egg hunt in our game room.  Both Jackson and Cullen enjoyed finding the eggs.  Or at least we think they found all of them.  Andrew forgot to count the eggs before hiding them.

Other than that, we had a lazy day.  The boys went on a bike ride which we ended up getting rained on half way through.  I had made Jambalaya and Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake the day before which made dinner a breeze.

I hope you and your family had a Happy Easter or Passover!

P.S. I did take some pictures, but Andrew accidentally broke the hard drive in the laptop.  I don't have a wire to connect my camera to our upstairs computer, so I can't download any pictures at the moment.  I'll try to get some up once I'm able.