Forgive me bloggers for I have sinned...

It's been a month since my last post.

I can't believe it's been that long.

Ok, yeah I can but...but...but...

*sigh*

I've become addicted to a couple of things that are taking up my cyber-time... Carepages/Caringbridge cancer kids updates & Facebook (or facecrack as I've seen it lovingly called.)

I think I just gatta quit playing all those dag-nabbed games on FB (I can quit anytime I want to...I just don't want to right now...sound familiar???)

Anyway...

For now here's some kid'ism's for you.

Mom: (getting up to put in a movie for the kids & seeing Adah sit in my chair) "Adah, how come every time I get up you take my chair?"

Adah: "Mom, I didn't take your chair...I'm just sitting in it!" (Like duh mom, what are you thinking you silly woman?)

Can't argue with that logic!


This one needs a little set up - all 3 kids got a tummy bug & we had Michels pukefest 08 for a couple of days. This conversation was the day after Sam got it, I had just offered him something to eat...he was eating again but very little.

Mom: "You sure you don't want anything to eat?"

Sam: "No."

Mom: "Does your tummy still feel funny?"

Sam: "yeah, it feels kinda tickley."

Awww...

The weekend, a birthday & BBB day 3-4

Day 3 - Do what we have already done (shine sink, dressed to shoes, read 2 minutes of messages) - check!

Day 4 - Write these things down (on sticky notes) and continue shining sink & getting dressed to shoes - not going to do the sticky notes...it's the beginning of the control journal which I already have done from before

I didn't do any 15 minute decluttering but did get the house sparkling clean for Sam's birthday party.

My parents came for his party. We invited all 9 kids in his kindergarten class & we had 5 come plus 2 little siblings. I was kind of disappointed for Sam, he really wanted everyone here. But that made for a total of 10 kids & man was it loud!!

We had blast but were relieved when it was over. I'm not inviting that many kids again unless we are meeting at the park or something. We got through it with games & stuff but when we let them play upstairs for a bit we had kids throwing toys & one jumping off of the top bunk! Yeah, put a stop to that quick!

So my baby is 6 years old now. *sniff, sniff* He likes to tell us about every half an hour. "Hey mom, guess what?" "What?" "I'm 6!" But today it's changed a bit. "Hey mom, I'm almost 7!" He's so sweet! I wish I had gotten a shot of his face when we were all singing happy birthday to him. I've never seen him so excited. I just can't believe he's gotten so big! I have never been sad to have him grow up before this. Now he's such a boy, such a kid and my lil chubby cheeked baby lives only in memory. I love to see him develop & learn new things but he's just changed so much this past year, school makes a huge difference. But he will always be my snuggly boy. He thrives on psycal contact & prefers to be all squished together in the recliner for it. I cherish those times more than anything!

We had a good visit with my folks. After the kids went to bed Saturday night they introduced us to the game of farkle. It's a blast to play even when mom wins 2 games in a row. I think farkle makes a good alternative cuss word too!

My parents & I took the kids for a nice long walk Sunday morning. We went on my usual route but mom & the kids picked wildflowers & grasses the whole way so it took about twice as long. Now I have 4 tiny bouquets of pretty weeds in my kitchen. I love the fields around here. There's lots of bachelors buttons, wild lupine, and assorted who knows what scattered all over.

After the walk my dad's hay fever went nuts & they had to leave early. The kids were sad but we worked/played outside for the rest of the day so they got over it soon. I got another lil flower bed dug up & will plant it this week. I also planted another pot of string beans & spent a good hour laying with the kids in the grass looking for bugs in my new flower bed.

We managed to keep the house clean all weekend so this morning is easy-cheesy for me. I don't have too much on my list for today 'cept for a lot of errands. We'll see how it goes with all 3 kids in tow. Sam's school is out for the year so it's time to get used to having 3 kids home all day.

Well I hope y'all had a fabulous weekend. I gotta get hopping on my list-o-stuff & head out for hours of torture my running around with the kids.

Have a great day!!

Sam on kissing

I asked Sam what happens when you kiss.

"Puts glue on your lips."
"What does that mean?"
"You put the red glue on & when you touch lips you get the glue on your face."
"Who has the glue?"
"Mom & Adah. Red glue. The girls have the glue. Not Sam & Daddy & Eli."
"Is the glue good or bad?"
"It's good."
"So when you kiss somebody it's good?"
"Yeah, it's good."
"Why do you kiss someone?"
"Because you love them!"

Now if that ain't cute I don't know what is!

Knock knock

Yes Sam has discovered the knock knock joke. The first time it was funny & cute:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Mr. Bear.
Mr. Bear who?
Mr. Bear bananna!
(Sam laughs)
Haha, good job Sam!

Then we get:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Mr. Bear.
Mr. Bear who?
Mr. Bear butt!
(Sam laughs harder)
Yup, that's a knock knock all right.

And finally my favorite:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Mr. Bear.
Mr. Bear who?
Mr. Bear poop!
(Sam laughs histerically)
Ok Sam, now you're just acting like a boy being gross.

Then Eli gets into the action:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Mr. Bear bananna.
Mr. Bear bananna who?
Say hi!
Hi Mr. Bear bananna.
(Eli laughs histerically)

*sigh*

My Dad is bringing overa book of real knock knock jokes this weekend. Thanks Dad!

We've also been treated to hearing "Hey mom, guess what?" "What?" "That's what HAHAHAHA!" about 97 times a day.
Boys.

Our house

The moment you've all been waiting for...my next list! (thunderous applause)
HA!

Projects needed on our 100+ year old house
1. All new windows (including slider door & side doors)
2. Front porch & steps torn out & replaced
3. Fence the yard
4. Tear down & replace original brick
5. Install stove insert to replace fireplace
6. New wiring
7. New flooring downstairs
8. Restore original flooring upstairs
9. Repair plaster on staircase wall

Desired/dream remodels & projects
1. Paint & decorate all downstairs rooms
2. Convert extra bedroom upstairs to a bathroom
3. Tear out & replace (very badly done) enclosed back porch
4. Convert back porch to laundry room/pantry
5. Extend downstairs bath into old laundry area - install tub, new shower stall, toilet & sink/vanity
6. Add banister to front porch & railings for steps - add porch swing

I think that's it. At least that's all I can think of for now. We lovingly refer to this place as our lifetime project...which we hope it will be. I love it because of all it's possibilities & I hate it cos we'll be working on it forever!! It really is a wonderful house & we hope to be here for a long time. I'll include a very good pic taken by my Dad...he's our family photographer & a dang good one.

It's the red house - you can't really see it all, it's partly shaded by the tree. The spire you see is our town's beautiful Catholic church, we have a great view of the steeple from a window in our living room. I posted another pictue of it here, with Sam in the foreground - you can kind of see Eli in the upper left on the lawn.

~~~~~~~~~~

Update on Sam's lying/sneaking issue. He's gotten much better. I started giving him snacks with more protein & it's seemed to make a difference. I guess the poor guy was just starving...he had bad leg pains the week before so it's my bad I spoze. Now if I could just keep them from fighting...yeah right!

Have a wonderful day y'all!

Lying and stuff

I'm frustrated.

You know that cute little guy Sam? The one I featured in my birth story? Yup, that's the one. Well he's been lying a lot lately. Any time he gets caught or questioned about something he lies right to my face.

This drives me absolutely nuts!

When he comes home from school all the kids have a snack. I usually have something yummy I've made for them, fruit bars, soft pretzels, bran muffins - or just some rasins & crackers or whatever. They all eat the snack & watch a video & then fight play together. Well, of late Sam has done this disappearing act after he finishes his snack. I usually find him sneaking more of the snack, some leftover biscuits or whatever from off the counter or candy from out of my purse. He hides behind the laundry basket or next to the couch, & gives me the innocent look while putting his hands behind his back.

In our house we require the kids to ask if they want something to eat. Yes I'll admit I'm kinda stingy & usually say no. They are served good meals (which half the time he chooses not to eat - very picky kid) & snacks & we are usually broke so we can't afford extra snacking all the time.

I get so angry! He gets disciplined every time but nothing seems to work. This is really why it drives me so nuts. I feel like I'm crazy when I have to repeat things over and over (yes I realize this is normal with kids) so much. He's been doing it for over a month now & it's gotten progressively worse. When he get's disciplined we explain that if he asked we might give him what he wants but if he sneaks it & lies about it he will get a spanking every time. (This is not the only issue he lies over, just a good and frequent example.)

My big problem is that I have a very small amount of patience for this sort of thing. I get angry, take it personally & start talking to him as if he's much older. You know, like, "why do you do this to me?" and that sort of thing.

Another problem is that this kid is extra sensitive - WAY extra sensitive. Everything seems to cut right to his heart. I know my reaction is very hard on him & I need to stop but I don't know how. We just feed off of each other. He sneaks food, I get frustrated. He lies, I get angry. I discipline, he cries. I console, he yells. He yells, I get angry. He cries & yells more, I get more angy & start making comments. It just keeps going on & on until we both need time away from each other to calm down.

I feel like such a looser of a parent when stuff like this happens. I know I have anger issues, I've had them for a long time but they've been aggrivated since we had kids. It's mostly the repeated willful disobedience that gets to me. Wouldn't it be great if they just came with a manual? I could look at the troubleshooting page, "do XYZ and the problem will stop." I'm sure my hubby could use one for me as well. But then life would be pretty boring & I wouldn't have as much to blog about :)

Anyway, I guess I'm just venting today. Gatta spew out the garbage sometime, why not make it available for the world to see?

So sorry this blog is not thought provoking, or spiritual, or funny, or well, even very interesting. I'm just a mom hanging on by a thread & trying to pull myself up.

I'd appriciate any advice you might have. Or some commiseration if you're going through something similar. But please - if you have a 'bad mommy' or 'shame on you' comment, just keep it to yourself. I'm well aware of my shortcomings, thankyouverymuch!

Have a wonderful day y'all!

The birth of...

It was the morning of June 7th & I was going in for my weekly OB visit. I was 38 weeks & getting pretty uncomfortable, ready for baby to show up a.n.y.t.i.m.e!! The visit was the same old same old. Heartbeat, exam, you know the drill. But then my kooky doc decides to get clever and show baby the exit. Pokes her finger up there & says "baby, here's the exit. Come on baby, be nice to your mom." OUCH!!! Ummm, baby be nice? Hellooo, how about the dang doctor!! I loved that doc but I was a leeetle annoyed with her clever procedure.


Fast forward several hours.


We were having a family dinner that night with both my sisters & their families. Margaret was going to cut my hair before dinner. Mom was making one of my favorite dishes, spinach & cheese manacotti, & I could just start to smell it.


I get up to go get something out of my room & while walking down the hall I suddenly feel...well, kinda wet. And with each step I feel more of it. Hmmm, could it be? No, it couldn't, prolly just a squished bladder thing. There it is again - OH MY GOSH I THINK MY WATER BROKE! Ewwwww, that's kinda gross, now I hafta tell somebody.


I call my doc's nurse & she tells me to meet them at the hospital.


I tell my parents. Mom's excited, Dad's a bit grossed out, no surprise there.


I head for the hospital & call Chris to tell him to meet me there but can't get him on the phone. I call, and call, and call, and call. What the heck is he doing, doesn't he know I need him? Finally I call the office to see if they can find him. He was working on something loud & could not hear the phone. They go get him & tell him to get his butt to the hospital cos, "your wife is in labor!"


Meanwhile I get my room & they give me the latest in hospital fashion to wear. I start to settle in & here comes Chris, practically skidding into the room, convinced I'm going to have the kid before he gets there . "You're in labor? Why didn't you call me sooner?" "No I'm not in labor, my water broke you dope!"


I'm reeeeally hungry at this point. I'd been thinking about that manacotti they were eating in my honor back at the house. So the next time a nurse breezed by I grabbed her, explained about the dinner & asked if I could eat something. I mean, my water broke but I'm not in labor or anything, pleeeease? The nurse has to have like, a conference with 900 other people about it and with only a half hour more of thinking about the food, they tell me I can eat a little bit. Hooray! Get my mom on the phone PRONTO, I'm gonna have me some manacotti!


A nurse checks me & takes a sample to the lab...an hour goes by, waiting for results & eating my yummy dinner (thanks mom!)...yup, amniotic fluid, my water did indeed break.


Years hours later the doc gets there & starts ordering stuff for me. She informs me I'm going to be induced since my water broke. Now, hindsight is 20/20 & I wish that I would have told her I wanted to think about it. But I tend to be intimidated by authority figures like docs etc so I just went with it.


They get me hooked up to all the stuff & give me pitocin. I reacted right away to it and discovered that, YOWZA, I don't like contractions one bit!


I think it was about 7-ish when my contractions started, & they went on in the usual way for a few hours. I take some kind of narcotic to take the edge off the pain but it really doesn't help much, just makes me feel kinda fuzzy. So at about 11 I asked for my epidural, none of that natural stuff for me, thank you very much, I'm a huge wimp & breathing was NOT working anymore. They finally got it in place around midnight & ahhh, sweet relief! I loved my epidural, life was good, I could rest & let my body do it's thing.


Except that my body started doing strange things. Once the epidural was in place my contractions pretty much stopped. They had to give me more & more pitocin to get things going again & I ended up on the highest dose. My contractions came back but were very long & weak, which was the case for the rest of my labor.



Suddenly in the middle of a contraction the nurse slaps an oxygen mask on my face & urgently makes me turn on my left side. She told us that baby's heart rate dropped & I had to to that to give baby the most oxygen possible. This became a frequent occurrence - my family looked pretty worried & got no sleep at all that night. The nurse was reassuring but looked pretty intense every time did it. I was not worried at all which is strange for me. Usually I would completely stress myself out over something like that but I just went with the flow. God knew I needed to be calm & rest as much as possible.



I really wanted to have a vaginal birth but when morning came I started to worry it wouldn't happen. I began to pray during each contraction. God please make something happen. I don't want to deal with a surgery right now, please, please let this baby come the normal way. Please God? But God had other concerns in mind.



In the morning the nurse paged the doctor to find out what she wanted to do. She took f.o.r.e.v.e.r to call back, (I think they paged her multiple times) and finally came in around 9. The nurse was very assuring during the night & nobody ever said c-section to us. But I think she knew that's how it would end up. When my Doc got there she gently told me that it looked like a section was what we would have to do. I cried just a little & asked her if she was sure. She said they would give me a little more time but she didn't think it would help.



I silently talked a bit more with God & told him that I very much did not want to do this. But if a c-section is what's necessary it would be ok. I then told my doc to go ahead with whatever was needed.



They renewed my epidural & got me prepped to go to the OR. When they were wheeling me over, I felt like I was in an episode of the show ER. Get her to the OR - stat!! Laying there with the lights passing by overhead was a very surreal feeling!



In the OR, the doc who really runs the show is the Anesthesiologist. Chris asked the nurse if my family could be with us. She told us he'd have to ask the anesthesiologist & it just depended on his/her preference. I think we were blessed with the coolest one in the hospital cos when we asked him he said it was fine & not only that, but they could video as well. That was way beyond our expectations, we were just hoping they could get in the room! So they suited up in the hallway to wait until the OR folks had me all ready to go.



Once they were in the room things happened rather quickly. I couldn't feel a thing & it was just like they told us in pre-natal classes, lots of tugging and pulling. (My dad said later that he couldn't believe how hard they pull on the baby to get it out.) The anesthesiologist gave me a running commentary of what they were doing & told me everything looked great etc. I asked to have oxygen, my epidural was too good & I couldn't feel my chest. I felt like I had an elephant sitting on me! He told me I didn't need it but since it made me feel better he gave it to me. He was such a good doc!



Mort tugging & pulling - my anesthesiologist told me they were almost through my uterus. Then came the big moment, baby was out and Chris announced...



Samuel John is here!

























We found out that God was watching over this little guy big time. His placenta was only working at 25%. That's why his heart rate dropped during those contractions - they were cutting off his oxygen to some degree. Had he been born vaginally, he very likely could have had brain damage or died. God knew the perfect way for this guy to arrive, even if it was not what I wanted. Oh, He is such a good God isn't he?

Round 2

Well, here we go again, this time it was Sam.
So nice to get Mickey D's back - didja know french fries look like noodles later? Yeah, I didn't want to know that either!

S'all I gots to say for now...my bed awaits :)