I've been a slacker

I know.  I know.  I've been a complete and total slacker in writing lately.  I do have multiple excuses which are all very valid.  Life's been a little crazy around here.

1.  Sawyer is recovering from eye surgery as well as teething.  He's had two top teeth cut and has two more top teeth getting ready to cut as well.  He's not a happy trooper about his teeth.

2.  On a good note, Sawyer is noticeable happier after his eye surgery.  Andrew and I can definitely tell a difference with his mood.  He's happier since he can see.  It's pretty amazing.

3.  Jackson and Cullen are entering the 'let's bother the hell out of each other' stage.  It's been a lot of whining and complaining with a good dose of me saying, "Stop bothering each other!"  It not only happens in the house but in the car.  Since the boys are all the way in the back in the Explorer, I can't reach them.

4.  Jackson and Cullen have been out of preschool for three weeks and have two more weeks before school starts.  I will be ridiculously happy to have two out of the house for a little while.  Not only does my sanity need it, I need to go the grocery store with 1 child instead of toting 3.  I have to admit they have been extremely good with grocery shopping.  We've gotten our routine down to a science.  Cullen and Sawyer in the cart, and Jackson walking around with me.  Surprisingly, this works for us.  It's nice to have Jackson at the age where he knows when I'm serious about staying within my eye sight.

5.  I'm still in the process of mourning Mea, my 11 year old dog.  Trust me, I don't bust out in tears anymore, so it's a lot better.  The hardest part is the kids asking where she is.  I've patiently explained several times Mea had to leave us and go home to heaven, and she is not coming back.  Unfortunately, my kids are just to young to completely comprehend what it means.  Cullen still thinks Mea is at the vet or hiding.  Just this morning, I was putting Thibie in her crate as we were leaving the house, and Cullen starts calling out for Mea to put her in her crate.  I get daily reminders she passed away which is just drawing out the process for me.

I will try to do better with writing, but I ask you give me a slight break.  This has been a stressful month.  I'm looking forward to putting it behind very, very soon.

Busted Concert and Pit Lane

My friend Jessica was kind enough to get me concert tickets to the Keith Urban/Little Big Town/Dustin Lynch concert last night for my birthday.  We headed out super excited because it wasn't 107 degrees outside.

And we should have just turned around at the first sign something did not want us to have a girls night out.

First off, we had one parking attendant tell us to park in lot F.  Only to be told once we got into to lot F, we need to go park in lot A.  We turned around and headed to lot A.

We caught the tram to the Amphitheater and were in the entrance line.  As soon as we get up to the scanner people, I hear, "Stop scanning!  Stop scanning!  The system went down."  Seriously!  The scanning system went down right when we were the next people to get scanned.  Jess and I should have just taken this as a sign and gotten the hell out of there.  Instead, we waited about 5 minutes for the system to get up and running.

We made it into the venue and found our seats.  We listened to Dustin Lynch open and were enjoying the music and venue.  I kept looking to the sky and seeing ominous clouds and was praying the rain stayed away.  It was a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms.  I pulled out my phone and checked the radar.  There was a light green patch headed for us.

As Little Big Town started their set, a light drizzle started.  Of course, I had no rain jacket, no umbrella or blanket and neither did Jessica.  We were still enjoying the music getting a little wet when the rain started to pick up to a steady, light rain.  Nothing we got soaked in, but enough to splash in your eyes and get annoyed by.  The wind also picked up, so we were a little chilly.

At 8:30, Little Big Town finished their set and an announce was placed on the jumbo screens.  It stated a severe lightning storm was headed our way, and we needed to evacuate the amphitheater to the storm shelters.  Wonderful.

After asking an usher were to go, we headed to their 'storm shelter.'  Let me tell you about this storm shelter.  The Austin 360 Amphitheater is located as part as the Circuit of the Americas.  We walked across the Circuit of the Americas race track, into a building, which turned out to be Garage 7 in Pit Lane.  They herded everyone to the pit garages.  We ended up sitting and waiting on the concrete floors for 2 hours before we were told we could leave and go back.

During our time in the garage, I was stepped upon and kicked countless times by rude people.  But the event staff made sure the guys selling 'Ice Cold Beer' for $9 were still available.  I also was able to use a clean, nice, indoor bathroom which was relatively new because the inside of the building was still under construction.  This beats a Port a Potty any day!

Jess and I finally made it back to the Amphitheater after it rained on us again walking.  We found our seats and 10 minutes later the head of the place says the concert is cancelled.  With the amount of rain and electronic equipment, they just couldn't do it.  By the way, this was at 11pm.

We decide to hoof it back to the car since the tram is beyond full.  As we are walking, we have to trudge through gravel, mud, slop, and ground that has been completely soaked.

The concert was a bust, but Jess and I have another eventful memory to add to our repertoire.  No concert, but not many people can say they have walked across the race track of the Circuit of the Americas and sat in a garage in pit lane.  Trying to look at the positives!

Sawyer's Eye Surgery

 Sawyer finally had his eye surgery on Tuesday.  We were at Dell Children's Hospital Outpatient Surgery Center at 9am Tuesday morning.  Sawyer wasn't his usual bundle of joy because he was hungry and had not been allowed to eat his breakfast.  Denying my kids food never leads to good results.

 

After getting checked in and called back by a nurse, Sawyer was ready to crawl around.  Since I know their floor was definitely cleaner than mine, I let him crawl all around our little patient waiting area which came equipped with its own baby crib prison.  We walk in and they have a medical crib about 3 feet off the floor, and it looked like a baby prison cell.  I had to laugh.

 

Sawyer got his vitals checked.  I was asked the same questions by 5 different people in regards to his medical history.  During that time, Sawyer started to get more and more fussy.  Eventually, he just cried and cried and cried.  He was hungry, and he was pissed off he was not eating.  He screamed and cried for 30 minutes which felt like 3 hours for me.  I was grateful all the doctors and nurses were really nice about it.  They knew he was hungry.  Finally, it was time for them to take him back for surgery.

 

The surgery took about an hour.  Sawyer was finally brought to post-op about an hour and half later.  His hunger had not died down.  I fed him, and he gobbled it down.  Unfortunately, Sawyer had screamed and cried so much and had a tube stuck down his throat, his voice was quite horse.

 

From there, we left the outpatient center an hour later and headed home.  That was it.

 

Sawyer had his follow-up appointment today.  His eyes are perfectly aligned.  He has redness on the inside of his eyes, but it should go away in the next few weeks.  The surgery was a success, and he is doing great.  The doctor is very pleased with the results, and Sawyer taking to the surgery.  Now, we just have to wait and make sure the surgery takes fully.  The doctor will monitor his eyes and vision from here on out.

 

Sweet Success!

 

Sawyer after surgery and finally being fed.  He recovered nicely.

To my beloved Mea

My heart is heavy today.  Yesterday, I had to do one of the hardest things in my life.  I had to let go of my beloved 11 year old cocker spaniel, Mea.

Over the past two weeks, she had become very sick.  I won't go into the details, but towards the end, I knew she wouldn't make it.  At the very end, I found out she had a rapid developing case of lymphoma.  I couldn't let her suffer any more.

I had Mea since she was a puppy.  Ironically, I received her as a gift just a few days before my 21st birthday.  Exactly 11 years later, she has left my life.

Mea was the sweetest cocker spaniel.  She was a big ball of tan and white fur as a puppy.  Tan all over her body with a shock of white fur on her paws and nose.  She was adorable.  She loved to cuddle and play fetch.  She was easiest dog to potty train; she was done in a week.

She and I have been through a lot together.  We finished up my undergraduate degree in Texas.  We moved to Baton Rouge to start graduate school together.  I met my husband with her.  Mea was even there when he proposed to me.  She moved with me back to Texas and was there when Andrew and I started our married life.  Mea put up with us getting another puppy, Thibie, which she tolerated.  She has been here through the birth of my three kids which I'm pretty sure she was not thrilled about at all.  Although, she did love all the treats they would give her or she would steal.

I have great memories of Mea.  She decided to be brave and bark at a horse.  This lasted until the horse turned around, then she turned tail real quickly and ran back to Andrew and I.  She loved going for walks around the LSU lakes until she got too hot.  Then she would run from shaded spot to shaded spot and lay down until we reached the car.  It was pretty amusing.  Mea was not thrilled to give up her side of the bed when Andrew and I got married.  There was a lot of growling and trying to push Andrew out of the bed for a few weeks before she realized he wasn't going anywhere.  Mea loved popcorn and would watch the microwave with excitement as it popped, and then would hover around giving me her pitiful eyes until I shared.  She found a bunny den in my parent's backyard once time and would not leave the bunnies alone.  The few times she played in ice and snow, she was in heaven.  My parents always said she reminded them of stuffed animal.  She captured Andrew's heart the moment he saw her, and I loved her unconditionally.

Mea was my first child, and I will miss her more than words can express.  I was there when she left this world because I wanted her know she was loved.  I wanted her to know how much I was going to miss her.  The love and companionship of a dog is something you can only experience and never understand until you've done it.

Thank you for being a part of my life, Mea.  You gave me awesome memories, and I will miss you more than you can imagine.  I love you.

Don't Flush!

My boys have a bad habit of forgetting to flush the toilet.  Even after I remind them.  Maybe they are too excited to run off and continue playing or maybe they just know how much it bothers me, so they do it to torture me.

Either way, it's gross.

Sunday morning, Andrew and I lost Sawyer.  It's not as bad as it sounds.  We just couldn't find him because he decided to crawl off and explore.

I have no idea how long he was out of sight.  After awhile, I ask Andrew where Sawyer was.  I was back in my bedroom.  Hence, it was not my responsibility to watch the kids.

I go looking for Sawyer.  I found Sawyer.  In the bathroom.  Playing in the toilet.  With one of his rings.  And splashing.  And my kids hadn't flushed the toilet!  Gross!

I grabbed Sawyer, brought him into the kitchen, and started disinfecting his hands.  I tell Andrew to go take care of the toilet.

All the while, Jackson had followed me into the bathroom.  He stayed in there after I grabbed Sawyer and proceeded to say he was going to flush the toilet.  Andrew gives the go ahead for this.

"No!  Don't flush it!  Andrew the toy is still in the toilet!" I scream.  I'm having visions of an excess plumber's bill to come fix the toilet after a toy gets flushed down it.

Andrew immediately realizes his error and bolts towards the bathroom yelling, "No Jackson!  Don't flush it!  Don't flush it!"

Luckily, everything turned out okay.  The toy was fished out of the toilet before it was flushed, and we narrowly avoided an outrageous bill to fix a broken toilet.  Crisis averted.

Living with Sons

I was putting the boys lunches together today for their last day of preschool.  Our preschool closes for the month of August to give their teachers a much deserved break as well as prep for the new school year.

I had emptied yet another gallon of milk (because I swear we go through 3 a week) and left the jug on the kitchen table.  After hearing a child crying, one asking for help, and the other asking if his clothes match (yes, this is super important because my kids will at least be able to match their clothes even if they are boys), I was distracted.  I have no idea why I got distracted.  This is normal for me.

After averting a crying crisis with Sawyer who was upset the entire toy couldn't be shoved into his mouth, helping Cullen find his cowboy hat, and assuring Jackson his clothes did match today, I went back to packing backpacks and finding water bottles.

Next thing I know, Cullen is sitting at the kitchen table pouring the little remnants of the milk jug into a glass left on the kitchen table from last night filled with water.  It made this milky white concoction that looked chalky.

He looked up at me (obviously quite proud of himself) with a smug smile and said, "I like milk!"

Following this statement, he proceeded to drink his chalky concoction with a yum thrown in there for effect.

During this whole time, I just stared at him, like I was watching a bad movie, thinking, "That's just gross."

Cullen drank his milky goodness.  He's his father's son.

On aonther note, Jackson was walking back to the bathroom last night for bath time.  He was naked after shucking his swim trunks.

Right before he turned the hallway corner, he bends over grabs his butt and other male parts and says, "Look at this!  Look at me!"  He's laughing the entire time thinking this is the funniest thing ever while jiggling everything at Andrew and I.

Andrew and I are about 10 feet behind him talking.  At this event, we both stop talking watching this unfold.  At the end of it, Jackson laughs, turns the corner, and goes into the bathroom.

I turn to Andrew, "A girl would never do that!  That is a male thing, and a girl would never ever do it.  He doesn't get it from me; he gets it from you.  A girl would never do that!"

I turn to go get Sawyer dressed, and Andrew is standing there half staring at me, half laughing at me.

"A girl would never do that," I stated again just to make my point.

The things I put up living with 4 boys!

Wild West

It's Wild West week at the boys preschool this week. They're having a blast with the theme.