The Bailey Family

Well Look Who the Cat Dragged In....

2011-12-09T22:45:00.000-05:00

Is "Blog Abandonment" a punishable offense? I have no clue what has happened to the last month and a half or so since I last posted! Things here have been hectic and non-stop to say the least. I don't remember being this frazzled when I was teaching before my 4 year "sabbatical" but then again I have doubled the number of kids I had back then and now two of them are in elementary school. Mama is WIPED OUT!!!!! I absolutely love my job though and I have a great class. First grade is so awesome :) It's strange though to be teaching the same grade that one of my own kids happens to be in too. Even though we are in different school districts we have the same reading series and Abby's class is one week ahead of my class in the book so we talk about the stories alot.

We have had a break from sports for the last month or so but Max has started practice for basketball and Abby will start swimming lessons next month (at the indoor pool...obviously). Lucy is LOVING her preschool and Ruby has adjusted very well and knows the names of all the kids in her class and her teachers call her the "Little Principal" because she likes to make sure the kids are following directions and if one of the kids takes a cup or pacifier that doesn't belong to them she will take it back and give it to the right child :) Yeah, her teachers call her their "helper"...I think that's a nice way of calling her "bossy". Oh well, she's the oldest in the class and won't ever have that status at home.

Speaking of Miss Ruby...guess who turns 2 on Tuesday?!?!?!?! I can't believe it. My parents got her a big girl bed for her birthday/Christmas gift and we'll be making the transition from crib to bed over the Christmas break. Part of me is fine with it but another part of me gets teary eyed thinking about getting rid of the crib and the "baby" stuff. To think that part of my life is over is tough even as I am excited about the future. It may have something to do with the fact that I am staring the big 4-0 right in the face and that my 30's was a decade of getting pregnant and having babies.

Well, it's late, and I'm wiped out due to the stomach bug that took up residence in our house this past week ;p I will try to do better about posting. We have one more week of school then it's 2 weeks off! Maybe I can catch up then. Don't give up on me yet...PLEASE :)

Catching Up with Max...

2011-10-16T22:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, I can't get caught up all in one post so I'll take it kid by kid :)

Hey there Max...what's up with you?

So far Max has been loving being at his new school (he moved up to the Elementary school...3-5th grade) from the primary school...K-2nd). He loves his teacher Mrs. M and currently his favorite subject is South Carolina history. He recently had to do a project where he had to make a model of SC and show the 6 different regions. He also had to pick one of the regions and do a brochure/pamphlet/poster on that region telling about it's characteristics, major cities, and places to see/things to do.

We decided to make the model out of rice krispie treats. I made a double batch and then poured it out onto a board and molded it into the shape of SC. I think I got it pretty good. Then we colored icing into 6 different colors and I outlined each region and Max spread the icing into them. It turned out really cool and wouldn't you know it...I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!!!! I emailed Max's teacher to ask her if she could do it for me before the class ate it and she said she would but I haven't seen it yet. If I get it I will certainly post it :)

Max has also been playing flag football this fall. He was REALLY into it this year and John has been so excited at seeing Max out on the field. He called me from one game to tell me that Max looked like a real quarterback out on the field and that he was taking a leadership role out on the field trying to direct his teammates on where to block :) This was the year that he could choose between flag or tackle and John and I made the decision to have him play flag because we weren't sure that he was ready for tackle...now we're sure! Max would put his arms up to block another player and the kid would run into him and fall down! Also, Max would run the ball and was so fast he wouldn't have anyone around him sometimes. I watched him run for a touchdown from one end of the field to the other during one game!

He had his last game yesterday and at the awards ceremony afterwards his coach gave each of the players an award based on their skills. Max got the "Lightning" award because of his speed. The coach told everyone that Max had a bright future ahead of him and that he never liked to let Max have the ball on the first or second down because he knew they'd be playing defense again right away :) We have a bit of a break now and then we are on to basketball season ;p

Max has also joined Cub Scouts this year and is loving it! We got him his uniform and he and John went on their first Cub Scout campout a couple of weekends ago. They had a great time :)

One thing Max has had a tough time with though is going to the afterschool daycare. He gets picked up from school by their bus and does his homework there and has a snack and plays outside. It is a great place and the people are very friendly but Max has started having anxiety issues. He started worrying that something was going to happen to me and he couldn't stop thinking about it. We had a rough few weeks where he would sob uncontrollably in the mornings before getting on the bus and then would cry at school because he was worried about me. He told John and I that he was afraid if something happened to me he'd be alone. I emailed the guidance counselor at his school and she has spoken with him one on one and he is now going to her once a week for about 40 minutes for a small anxiety/stress group. It seems to be helping...we keep praying that it does. Also, at the afterschool program they have been wonderful in letting Max stay in the smae room with Abby (they split them up K-2 and 3-5). Since they have let him do that he has been doing much better as well. He still asks if I can pick them up early though.

Another thing I have done is to talk to the school psychologist and his teacher (and the other people on the "team") about possibly having Max tested for dyslexia. He has had some of the more classic signs for a long time and I had been told many times that he would outgrow them by the end of 2nd grade. He hasn't and is showing some other signs as well. I looked up what the characteristics of dyslexia were and found a list of 37 of them on the Dyslexia website. It said that most children with dyslexia would exhibit about 10 of them from time to time. As I went through the list I highlighted the ones that pertained to Max. He hit about 25-27 of them or parts of them. I was told by the school that it is a medical diagnosis so we'd have to go through his pediatrician for that but they reassured me that he is NOT showing signs of a Learning Disability (I didn't suspect that anyway since he is on grade level for reading and above grade level for math). I'm glad I met with them though because they did say they would keep an eye on his progress to make sure he isn't stalling or falling back.

Finally, since I have started back to work we have really gotten serious about having the kids take on some responsibility around the house. We are adding them in increments until they can do them without being reminded then we'll add another. Right now Max is supposed to take care of getting everyone's drinks for dinner, rinsing the dinner dishes, and packing his lunchbox (supervised and helped by me).

So, that is Max...all caught up :)

Happy 40th!

2011-10-12T17:39:00.000-04:00

Dear John,

Happy 40th Birthday Sweetie! Wow! The BIG 4-0. I guess I am married to an old man now huh? :) Seriously though, I met you when you were 28, I can't believe how fast those years have flown by. We have definitely been busy during that time too. Getting married and having 4 kids has certainly been a journey. I'm glad I have been on this journey with you. It's had it's ups and downs but we've stuck together through it all. We've learned so much about each other and there is so much more to learn.

I love you John. More and more with each passing year and each new gray hair (yours...I haven't found any yet :)...) I look forward to spending MANY more birthdays together!

All My Love,
Staci

I'm Here...

2011-10-08T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hi! I'm still here...barely. I feel buried under a mountain of laundry, dishes, lunch boxes, homework, school work, sports, kids (my own and my 18 first graders), Cub Scouts, daycares, and my van (since I am in it quite a bit). I have so much catching up to do here but I have so much sleep to catch up on as well.

I'll post more later...hopefully on Wednesday. We've had a birthday (Lucy's 4th), an Anniversary (mine and John's 10th!) and a VERY IMPORTANT birthday coming this Wednesday...someone in this house (not me) is turning 40!!!!!

One thing hasn't changed around here. Lucy STILL wakes up multiple times a night so I am STILL not getting enough sleep. I am looking into resolving this sleep issue soon...as well as her behavior issues...more on that as the story develops...

Good night everyone!

Been Kinda Busy...and an Allergy Update!

2011-08-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

Just when I had the good intentions to start making time to blog more I went a got a job! Last Wednesday I got a message from the principal of a local elementary school saying she really wanted to interview me for a 1st grade position at their school. I interviewed Thursday morning and got the call 6 hours later that I got the job!!!!!

I have been at home for the past 4 years so needless to say the past week has been absolutely NUTS between finding the best possible childcare/preschool for Lucy and Ruby and an after school program for Max and Abby (I am not at either one of their schools and even though we could transfer them to my school we decided to let them stay at their schools with their friends).

Ruby and Lucy were going to be able to start at their school this past Tuesday so that left me with figuring out what to do with Max and Abby. Thanks and a big SHOUT OUT to my awesome sister Shea and my awesome in-laws Jack and Charlotte for agreeing to keep our two older monkeys up in Charlotte. I drove them up Monday evening and drove back the same night since I had to go to work in my classroom on Tuesday. Looooong night ;p

Lucy has taken to her new school wonderfully but Ruby is having a very hard time and has consequently screamed and cried herself hoarse. She does calm down some during the day but will start crying periodically and doesn't really eat much while she is there. Thankfully she does take about an hour long nap otherwise she'd be done for! I know it will take time and her teachers are great so they are letting her do what she needs to do to adjust. It breaks my heart and I wish we'd had time to get her adjusted more slowly but I had to report officially yesterday and we had Meet the Teacher tonight!

Okay, gotta go clean up the kitchen then head to bed. I have to drop Ruby and Lucy off at school between 6:30 and 6:45 tomorrow to go to professional development meetings by 8am ;p

*****ALLERGY UPDATE*****

Got a call Tuesday afternoon from Ruby's allergist's office. She is definitely allergic to peanuts but thankfully it is a mild allergy but we have to keep the epi-pen handy. She is also definitely allergic to dogs (showed up on the skin test). The blood work also showed positive for allergy to egg whites...she can have fully cooked eggs in cakes and cookies but no scrambled/fried/etc. eggs or anything where the egg may not be fully cooked. He wants to do an "egg challenge" in the office in about 6 months to see how she does. Also, what I had feared with all of my kids actually came true...Ruby is allergic to CATS!

We have 2 cats so I was sad when I was talking to the nurse about it. She said that they have never told anyone they had to get rid of their pets. She suggested just keeping Tai and Chi out of Ruby's room for now and see how she does. The cats are 15 and 14 years old so it would be heartbreaking to have to find them a new home (if we didn't have a choice then we'd certainly pick Ruby's health over anything else) so I am glad we don't have to resort to that.

Reserved Parking...

2011-08-04T11:50:00.000-04:00

You know how when you spend a lot of time at a certain place it can begin to feel like a home away from home? Well, for the past couple of weeks that has been our pediatrician's office ;p Last week I had Ruby there twice due to her high fever and sore throat, which got worse after I took her in on Monday so I took her back on Wednesday. She thankfully started feeling SO MUCH BETTER Wednesday evening...just in time for John and the kids to get back from Charlotte :) So much for all the projects I had hoped to complete while they were gone!

Then Sunday night Max started complaining of ear pain and drainage. Abby had a case of swimmer's ear so we used some of her drops on him. This was NOT fun and from past experience (using the drops after his numerous ear tube surgeries) I expected I'd have a fight on my hands trying to get them in his ear...Max met my expectations and beyond! I got him into the pediatrician's office on Tuesday because his ENT didn't have an appointment available until next Thursday. He was diagnosed with a "bad case" of swimmer's ear. The Dr. prescribed drops which would require 4 drops TWICE A DAY. I was tempted to ask if I could just drive Max downtown twice a day for the next 7 days to let the Dr. do it. I didn't want him to think I was a coward though so I didn't ask ;p

The funny thing was, when I called to make the appointment for Max, the receptionist took his name then she got quite for a second and said, "You are here ALL THE TIME!" She mentioned the two appointments the week before and then the appointment I made for Max. I said, "Yeah, and I'll be back Monday for Abby's 6 year check-up". She laughed and told me I might as well bring a pillow and just stay...I did ask if I could get a reserved parking space right out front though :)

The drops have been a nightmare and he has been on round the clock Motrin for the pain and swelling in his ear. I had to call the after hours nurse Tuesday night because Max just couldn't sleep at all through the pain and the Motrin was wearing off about an hour before I could give him another dose. He also started running a fever. The wonderful nurse (they are the nicest ladies when a frantic parent calls in the middle of the night...I've never felt like I was bothering them at 3 in the morning when they would have to call me back) said it would probably take 2-3 days before he really started feeling better.

I was driving Max around last night from 1-1:30am because he woke up in a lot of pain (and he tends to yell and scream through his pain) and he wasn't due for another dose of Motrin until 1:30. He was able to get back to sleep right afterwards though and only fussed a couple more times before sleeping until 7:30 this morning :) Ironically, my child that had the worst case of swimmer's ear is the same child that won't even put his head underwater at the pool ;)

Of course in the meantime Lucy had woken up and I found her in our bed with john when Max and I got back from our "road trip". I went to sleep on the living room couch and caught some Z's for about 30 minutes before she woke up yelling and crying for me...yes...daddy was RIGHT THERE NEXT TO HER!...so when I got my tired body up the stairs I found that she had wet the bed ;p It was one of "those" nights! Good thing for me I had a job interview at 9 this morning!

FRUSTRATED!!!!!

2011-07-29T17:48:00.001-04:00

I am so frustrated. John took Max, Abby, and Lucy up to my mom and dad's house this morning on his way to work so I could take Ruby to her 8:30 app't at the allergist. After about 10 minutes of frantically searching for my keys (Max had put them in his duffel bag when he unloaded the car for me Wednesday night) I got Ruby up and we headed out the door.

Once we got in the exam room the nurse came in and I mentioned we were there to go over the results of the blood work. She left and came back a few minutes later and said Bad News. The lab that we went to had cancelled the order because they told her (just this morning) that there was something wrong with the sample. Don't you think someone at the lab would have thought to pick up the phone and call the Dr. who ordered the labs or me (they had my number) to let us know this????? NOPE!

The nurse had to call the lab this morning when she didn't see the results in the chart. She was trying to get a hold of someone at the main lab to find out what happened to the sample and no one called her back while we were there. So, I had to take my baby girl BACK to the lab and have her go through the stick all over again. Obviously, since the "sample was bad" we were going to have to do it anyway. I am not upset that we had to do it again because things happen, mistakes are made...I get that. What I AM upset about though is that the lab dropped the ball and didn't pick up the phone to let us know so I went through all the motions and had to sit in the Dr.'s office for nothing.

The nurse said this time she will call us when the results come back rather than us having to go down there again. This was the 3rd Dr. app't that Ruby had this week between 2 visits to the pediatrician for her fever and sore throat and then the allergist. If she sees another stethoscope anytime soon she might lose it ;p

So for now we don't have any more answers...sigh... I just want to know what we need to know so we can move on to whatever we have to do for her. Patience Staci, patience.

Back to the Allergist

2011-07-28T22:21:00.000-04:00

I know it's been awhile since I've been here...no excuses except I've just been trying to keep my head above water during this crazy summer.

I am taking Ruby back to the allergist tomorrow to get the results of the bloodwork...I'll post the details tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Sis!

2011-07-19T08:23:00.000-04:00

Just want to wish my little sis a Happy 36th Birthday! Wow Shea...before you know it you'll be as old as me :) Hope you have a wonderful birthday today and I am sorry we can't be there to help you celebrate :(

Just One of THOSE Days...

2011-07-14T15:53:00.001-04:00

You'd think it was a Monday the way this day is going so far...

So, I can't remember if I mentioned it here or not but over the past couple of months Ruby has had two instant reactions to peanuts/peanut butter. I had been purposely keeping her from anything with peanuts due to her eczema and knowing that food allergies sometimes go hand in hand with eczema. I just didn't want to chance it. Her reactions weren't bad but she broke out in hives both times and both times Benadryl did the trick. She also had an episode where a strange dog licked her on the face and within minutes she had hives/red welts covering her face and her eye was beginning to swell shut. Benadryl did the trick then too (I had also called the pediatrician's office so I knew what else to look for in case the Benadryl wasn't going to work).

My "Mommy's Intuition" has been working overtime lately and although the pediatrician recommended waiting until she was 2 to do any allergy testing I figured I'd just do it anyway...normally I don't mind surprises but being surprised by another food reaction is not something I want to deal with again.

I took Ruby to a great pediatric allergist this morning. Dr. B is the ONLY name that I kept hearing while talking to various parents about it. The skin testing was performed and she came back positive for peanuts AND dogs! Eggs are also a possibility because she HAS had a reaction to eating scrambled eggs in the past. She can eat things with eggs in them (i.e. cake) and doesn't break out in hives but the Dr. pointed out that if her eczema were to flair up within 24 hours then that could also indicate a food allergy. We have been working overtime the past week or so in getting her eczema under control because she had some bad areas so I don't know if it was related to something she ate or not.

We have to go in for blood work tomorrow and we'll go back to the Dr. on the 29th to get the results and get more education on peanut allergies. The Dr. also said that since she has eczema AND food allergies that her chance of developing asthma at some point is about 50%. I'm trying very hard right now to process all this. For the time being the Dr. feels it would be best to have an epi-pen handy so I have the prescription for that I have to get filled. He also suggested using Zyrtec instead of Benadryl only because it lasts longer. He said it would be a good idea to give her a dose about 30 minutes before we go to visit someone with a dog (i.e. my parents and both of my sisters!) We are also avoiding eggs whenever possible (cake or waffles would be okay). The Dr. said we would do an egg challenge down the road to see if she outgrows her reaction to that.

So, THAT was my morning. My incredibly TOTALLY awesome mom kept Max, Abby, and Lucy at work with her this morning because I had heard it might get rough during the testing. So after I picked them up and we stopped off to say hi to daddy at work we came home to a HOT HOUSE!

Our downstairs a/c unit is apparently on strike! While the heat index outside is sitting at about 100 our downstairs is currently a toasty 83 ;p I tried what I knew to do and now I am waiting on the a/c guy to come. I called at 2:20 and the lady said he could be here between 1 and 5...then she laughed and said, "Well, he obviously won't be there at 1"...glad she had a sense of humor...she's probably sitting in a nice air conditioned office :)

On top of that my husband is doing battle with the company that "fixed" our foundation last summer. We noticed the cracks in our garage wall were getting bigger so we put in a call. The guy "E" who originally came out and "sold" the product came out and took pictures and said the crew would call to come out and fix it. Call never came and so after I had called for 2 months the crew came out and apparently one of the piers was installed in the wrong place and they would have to call "E" and he would call me to tell me what would have to be done. 2 weeks went by without a call from "E" (are you noticing a pattern here?) John finally got ticked off enough to step in and raise some cane :)

After several phone calls from John and more from an employee at the company calling on "E"'s behalf, "E" finally showed up on our doorstep yesterday. He said the crew had put the pier in the wrong place, not where he told them to put it. I guess he forgot he had given me a copy of his drawing which indicated where the piers were to be placed...they put it exactly where he marked it to go...the WRONG spot! "E" told me the crew was in the area at another site and that he would have them come over as soon as they were done and take care of it. Huh...they didn't show up. Either he "forgot" to tell them or he has no right to alter their schedule...no one called or anything. I would have thought after all of this that "E" would have called me (as good customer service) to make sure the crew had shown up...nope.

John has had enough and when we stopped by his office today to say hi he was on the phone with the president of the company (who had no idea any of this was going on) and demanded some answers. We had no problems getting them out here last summer when they were getting $1600.00 out of us...now that they have to correct a mistake THEY made we are getting the run around.

Okay, sorry...had to vent and get that out. WOW, okay, I was going to take some pics to go with this post and my camera battery died...I'm just gonna crawl in my bed and pull the covers over my head! I'll do a picture post soon!

Our 4th and a Face Update...

2011-07-07T15:37:00.001-04:00

We had a busy but great holiday weekend! The kids had their final swim lesson on Friday afternoon and although all 3 of them need to stay at the same level next go round they all have come so far! Before this Lucy never would have even walked to the deep end of the pool much less JUMP IN! Max never would have jumped in either but he did too. Abby is more of a daredevil and even jumped in off the platform. She is the one who is more serious about taking more lessons and becoming a swimmer.

I wish I had some pictures of the lessons but I had Ruby to watch while we were there so I couldn't take my eyes off her long enough to get a picture. She would have been the one to walk right into the pool!

Max was supposed to have a tournament this weekend for the travel baseball team but it got cancelled because they didn't have enough teams to participate. His coaches cancelled practice for the weekend too...it was a much needed break from baseball ;p

Saturday morning was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. since my kitchen was as spotless as it was going to get John went and picked up Chick-fil-a for lunch :) John's parents arrived at about 1:00 for a visit. They took us to Outback for dinner Saturday night and it was SO YUMMY! Even better than the food was the fact that all 4 kids behaved SO WELL! Max has long since stopped ordering off the kids menu so he had some bread, a big chunk of bloomin' onion, a house salad with thousand island dressing, a 1/2 order of baby back ribs, french fries, and a few pieces of my steak. He ate every bite and there wasn't a bit of meat left on the rib bones. What are we going to do when that kid becomes a teenager? YIKES!

Sunday morning we just hung out around the house and after John's parents left he headed to the pool with Abby and Lucy. We had planned for all of us to go but Max was having some pretty serious behavior issues (talking back, pitching fits, lack of respect for his sister's stuff) so after telling him he wouldn't be able to go to the pool if he kept up the attitude, he kept it up so he stayed home with me and Ruby. He wasn't happy about it and it was hard on the rest of us but the boy has got to learn that his actions have consequences and if we don't follow through then he'll just get worse.

Never Saw it Coming...

2011-06-30T15:44:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite pictures of John...I just love this handsome guy :)

This past Saturday John decided to do his workout in the afternoon since we were all going to a friend's house for a party that night. Since the kids were up he figured he'd workout in our room so there would be fewer interruptions...and questions..."Daddy, what are you doing?" "Daddy, why are you doing that?", etc. He was using resistance bands with a P90X workout. The bands go through a loop with a ball attached to it that you put over the door and then close the door. Normally we had done this workout in the living room and used the garage door for the bands.

To make a long story short, John was using the bands when the door came open (on it's own...nobody opened it) and the bands came flying at him. The hard plastic ball and the loop (made from the same material as a dog leash) hit him on the face. I rushed him to an urgent care center where he ended up with 14 stitches to close up 3 lacerations from his upper lip to his nose. He also sheared a large part of the skin off the right part of his nose. They did a CT scan of his face to make sure his nose and any other facial bones were not broken. They also did a chest x-ray because he had some large red welts on his upper chest from where it looked like the bands smacked him.

Scans/x-rays were all good and we left with a prescription for an anti-biotic (he got a tetanus shot) and percocet for pain. Towards the end of the visit he started complaining about one of his bottom teeth hurting. The CT scan didn't show any fractures but he thought it felt loose. We called our dentist on Sunday and he told John to come in on Tuesday morning so he could do individual x-rays of the teeth.

Monday morning he woke up with some swelling in his face that was new and under his right eye looked like a bruise. I took him to our regular dr. and she put him on a steroid to help the swelling in his face and his upper lip which had swelled pretty badly right after he got hit and didn't seem to be going down.

Tuesday morning he went to the dentist on his own and called to say that the tooth was indeed fractured and he was going to have to go in for a root canal at 1:00 that afternoon. During the root canal it was determined that the tooth itself was broken and could not be fixed so it had to come out. He'll have a post inserted and a new tooth constructed by our amazingly awesome dentist.

Another appointment he had Tuesday afternoon did not go as well as he had hoped either. The dr. at the urgent care recommended he consult a plastic surgeon to make sure his nose was healing properly. The urgent care made the appointment with a dr. they frequently recommend. The guy was a complete jerk and made John feel worse than he already did. For a plastic surgeon he had a horrible bedside manner and acted like he had never seen anything like it. He even told John it was good that he mainly talks to clients on the phone and doesn't meet with them face to face! JERK!!!!! Obviously this guy just makes his money off elective nose jobs and butt lifts, etc. Every other dr. John had seen about it had said that it looked like it would heal just fine and there was no infection. This guy tried to tell him that the skin looked dead and infected...sorry but that's a bunch of bull****! He also told John he would ONLY recommend this particular cream and how convenient was it that he sold it in the office...for $100 bucks!!!! Of course after he practically scared John out of his wits John bought the cream. I told John he would NOT go back to that idiot and I would find him another plastic surgeon to consult with and to remove his stitches next week. He's got an appointment next Tuesday morning with a wonderful dr. I called "bad dr.'s" office and cancelled the appointment he had made for next Tuesday. The lady asked if I wanted to reschedule and I said no, he was going to see a different dr. So ;p on you meanie dr.!!!!! I would have loved to give the woman an earful of what I thought of that dr. but it's not her fault her boss is a jerk so it wouldn't have been fair to her. (Can you tell I am just a tiny bit ticked off???)

John stayed home Monday and Tuesday and went back to work yesterday. As expected he has been upset by the whole thing but I keep reminding him about what he said when he was waiting to get his stitches...It could have been much worse because if it had hit him about an inch higher he WOULD have broken his nose or a little to the left or right and it would have gotten him in an eye. Having the swelling all but gone now has improved his outlook considerably and now if I could get the nagging doubt out his head about his nose (that the stupid idiot moron numskull dr. put in his head) then he'll be good to go. He can't wait to start back up with the P90X workouts (minus the resistance bands that we threw in the trash!) but wants to wait until his nose has healed up more and he gets his stitches out. I told him I still think he's a hottie :)

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T11:52:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! I hope today (and everyday) you know how much you are loved and appreciated :)

To my Father-in-Law, Jack ~ Thank you so much for being such a positive role model in John's life. Thank you for raising him to be a good and loving husband and father. I see a lot of you in John...his love for being in the yard and growing things and his love of maps are just a couple of those things. Thanks for being such a great Grandpa too :) I hope you have a wonderful day and know that you are loved.

To my husband John ~ Thank you for being the best daddy to our ~~zoo~~ precious babies. You have been a hands on dad from the beginning and I truly appreciate all your hard work. Thank you for being their protector, provider, coach, co-disciplinarian, role model, jungle gym, teacher, and friend. I could not have picked out a better father for my children, I am so glad that God chose you for me to share this ~~crazy roller coaster ride~~ wonderful journey with :) Thanks for taking our kids on bike rides, to the beach, to the pool, to the playground. Thanks for teaching them to ride their bikes and being excited about doing it. Thanks for teaching them about God and what it means to love Him. Thanks for being excited about showing them the alligators in the pond, the hawks flying over head, beautiful sunsets, deer playing in the backyard, fire trucks, flowers/plants starting to grow, and every golf course that we happen to pass by :) Thanks for wanting our kids to be the best they can be and for helping them get there. Here's to your 9th Father's Day...

To my Dad, Joe ~ Words can't begin to express how much I love you and appreciate everything you have done for me. You taught me so many things and continue to do so. You taught me to work hard and not to give up or be afraid of it...or to be afraid of the ball hitting me :) You taught me to do it right the first time and to make it count (and to completely erase my mistakes on my paper or to get a new piece of paper and start over!). You have taught me to think for myself and do for myself. You pushed me to do better because you knew I could. I probably didn't appreciate it back then but I do now :) You made so many sacrifices for us and never complained (well, maybe to mom but we never knew!) and even when you were out to sea when Shea and I were young, we always knew you loved us and we couldn't wait for the day you came home. Although you would never let us "help" in the kitchen we learned so much from you (my family appreciates the love of cooking I got from you). Our "Super Dad" could mow the lawn, cook dinner, and balance the checkbook all at the same time :) I am so proud to call you my dad and I only hope I can pass on all that I have learned from you to my kids (if Max wants to eat when he moves out I better teach him how to cook!) Thanks for being my coach, thanks for painstakingly decorating my birthday cakes, thanks for providing us with wonderful opportunities, thanks for providing for us, thanks for listening, thanks for loving us! I hope you have a wonderful 40th Father's Day!!!!!!!!!

Ruby's Housekeeping Service

2011-06-17T15:38:00.000-04:00

Ruby had a small bowl of Cheerios as a snack this morning. She spilled it all over the floor (typical). She came to me saying "mess". I asked her if she would clean it up and she picked up the empty bowl and "ran" into the living room saying "Otay"!

Now, you'd think since she took the bowl with her that she was planning to pick up the food and put it back into the bowl. Ha! She had a better idea :)

Yep, bent right over and picked the cheerios up with her mouth! Also, did you like the little dance right there at the end? Crazy kid.

I tried to get her to pick more cheerios up and she decided to mix in her own brand of yoga with her cleaning.

Good thing I don't pay her any money for housekeeping. She does get to keep what she picks up though :) I think it will be a while before she can officially open her own housekeeping business...maybe she can learn to use a vaccuum first?

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality on the video...I was using my cell phone :P

SHE DID IT!!!!!

2011-06-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

Guess who FINALLY made it to the 20 lb mark?

Yep, our little Ruby not only hit the 20 lb mark (just in the past 3 months) but passed it by 1 lb 12 oz!!!!! At her 15 month checkup she weighed in at 19lbs 13 oz. I was SURE this time would be something like 19lbs 15ozs :p Just because she has started walking/running since then and doesn't have a huge appetite...also because she's a stinker and would just do something like that :)

She had her 18 month checkup this morning...
weight 21lbs 12oz - 20th percentile
height 31 in. - 20th percentile
head circumference 19 in. - 85th percentile

Yeah, still our "Tiny Genius". The dr. was very pleased with her growth over the past 3 months. He mentioned that it had seemed like she had slowed down/stopped for a little while but she has picked back up and he has no concerns. I did mention an incident that occurred at one of Max's ball games where a dog licked her on the face and she broke out in welts in that area within about 5 min. His first words to that were that she could have a possible dog allergy. She's been around dogs though and never had a problem so I'm not sure. I am more convinced than ever though that we need to get some allergy testing done on her as soon as they will do it. I don't like scary surprises!!!!!

Now I have to get her in for a checkup with the dermatologist...she is still having some flareups of the eczema and the ointment helps it as well as the Cetaphil cream I use on her but the tops of her feet don't want to clear up. I know it's the shoes so I only put them on her when we are going somewhere and I know she'll be walking...otherwise she is barefoot. I can't put socks on her though or her feet would melt in this heat!

Sweet girl and we LOVE her to pieces!!!!!

Adventures in Teeth Cleaning!

2011-06-08T13:18:00.000-04:00

All I can say is...I am glad THAT is over!

Yesterday Max, Lucy and Ruby had an appointment to get their teeth cleaned. It was Lucy's 3rd or 4th time (they all kind of blur together) and Ruby's first appointment EVER!

Max did great and got a SUPER report from the dentist. I was not able to be near Max during his cleaning though because I was busy on the other side of the room ~~wrestling a screaming banshee~~ consoling a terrified 3 year old on my lap. She refused to lay on the table AGAIN...so I had to hold her in my lap and lay her backwards so her head was in the hygienist's lap. I told the lady she must have drawn the short straw that morning because she ended up having to do Ruby's cleaning as well :P

Lucy also had to get her first set of x-rays done. For this she was fine! While we waited for the Dr. to come and check for himself the hygienist decided to go ahead and do Ruby. It was everything I expected it to be. B.A.D.!

There were quite a few comments about how strong she is...this is while I was holding her hands down and trying to keep her from vaulting herself off the the head off the table. She was moving so bad that the hygienist nicked her top gum with the scraper (I was wondering why they would use such a sharp instrument on a thrashing toddler but that's just me I guess). While she was holding a piece of wet gauze on Ruby's top gum to stop the bleeding, the hygienist went ahead and brushed Ruby's teeth. Let's just say that I am glad that this experience did not make her hate having her teeth brushed :) She held on to her new toothbrush for the rest of the visit and only screamed one more time...when she had to lay back down for the dentist to look at her teeth.

The good news of Max's visit was met with the bad news that Lucy and Ruby BOTH have very crowded teeth just like their big sister Abby. Lucy's x-ray showed that the two top teeth on either side of the front teeth are coming down rotated. The dentist said that she still has time to grow but there isn't a lot of room in her mouth right now. He said Ruby's look more crowded than Abby's...great. With the amount of $ we have already spent on Abby's mouth this was not what I wanted to hear. I see lots of braces in our future...

I had grand plans to take a picture of Ruby at her very first dentist visit but it's hard to hold a camera...much less take a picture...when you are wrestling a very angry toddler...oh well.

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

2011-06-04T22:17:00.001-04:00

Well folks, if anyone needs to reach me this summer I will be at one of various baseball fields. Abby has started t-ball practice and will have games on Tuesdays and Thursdays through the middle of July. Max is playing machine pitch here in our town's rec league (same as Abby) and will more than likely have games on Mondays and Wednesdays...to be ADDED to the Travel league he is playing on in the city's rec league. He will have practice for that team EVERY. SINGLE. FRIDAY. and SUNDAY through the middle of August. The only time he won't have a Sunday practice is when they have a tournament that weekend.

Tournaments will require travel and consist of 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday.

And of course, every parent wants their child(ren) to be ~~out of the house as much as possible during the summer~~ well rounded so we will top it off with swimming lessons and a week of VBS (which will coincide with swimming lessons for 2 days so I'll have to pick them up early from VBS to get to the pool in time). Try to get some schoolwork in with all that so they don't forget too much during their "break" and I'd say we're going to be pretty busy!

Poor Lucy and Ruby have to just tag along to everything. Lucy will be doing swimming lessons with Abby but she's too young for any of the other sports yet and she can't do VBS until next year :(

Just because I don't think I'll be getting enough exercise (or sweating enough during the middle of the day games) I have started doing P90X again. John is doing it too. We have to stagger our workouts though because we do them at night and past experience has shown that as soon as I start a workout, ~~Lucy~~ one of the kids will wake up fussing. It's nice though to have a workout buddy in the sense that we are both in a lot of pain right now ;p John turns 40 in October and I will be 40 in February so I think we both want to be "Fit and 40" and not "Fat and 40" :) I figured since I spent a great deal of my 30's either pregnant and gaining weight or giving birth and trying to lose the baby weight that I should enjoy a fit body in my 40's...right? I'll probably never see my 20's body again but at least I have 4 beautiful kids to show for all the stretch marks!

Wow...off track...anyway...I'll be going out to the ball games but I won't be buying any peanuts and Crackerjack!!!!!

Kid Night

2011-06-03T18:48:00.001-04:00

Ha! It's not as if every night isn't kid night already anyway. Since yesterday was the last day of school and today was a pretty good first day of summer vacation (thanks to awesome neighbors who took 2 of my kids off my hands today :) )...I thought we could have a little celebration for all the hard work the kids did in school this year.

I picked up pizza for dinner and as a treat bought a 2 liter bottle of Sierra Mist Natural (the kids ONLY get sodas as a treat). I also picked up a movie and some popcorn and movie candy. Dinner has been devoured, showers/baths done, now it's MOVIE TIME :)

We might have to make movie night a once a week summer tradition :) Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!

A Barrel Full of Monkey...Cupcakes?

2011-06-01T15:28:00.000-04:00

Some call me a glutton for punishment because I will jump at the chance to make a cake or cupcakes for a school party. I LOVE it :) I started out making my kids' birthday cakes and I am now getting into the cupcake craze (thanks to my mom).

Anyway, I posted last week about the ocean/sailboat cupcakes I made for Lucy's class. I made these cupcakes for Max's class party today.

I searched for "Monkey cupcakes" on the internet and found the idea and ran with it.

It was perfect because Max's teacher has had a monkey theme in her classroom all year.

Looks like a Barrel Full of Monkeys...heehee!

Since the majority of the class made or exceeded their goals on their end of the year testing she allowed them to have a "You Can't Do That At School" party. From the time the first bell rang until 9am they ate nothing but junk food, watched movies and played video games. At 9am they headed outside for a water balloon fight (I filled about 100 of those little buggers last night after making the cupcakes!).

The teacher played a couple of games with them using the balloons then allowed them each 2 balloons, lined them up shoulder to shoulder and told them as another part of their reward they could throw the balloons AT HER! That's a brave woman :)

After they did that (most of them bounced off her and splatted on the ground) they were able to throw them at each other. I was somewhat nervous when she lined them up to throw at her because she had them with their backs to their parents. I kept thinking she was going to tell them to turn around and throw them at us :)

Max decided he wanted to stay at school and ride the bus home (it was a half day today so they dismissed at 10:30). Lucy, Ruby, and I headed down to Abby's class because they were having a water day too. By the time we got down there though the class had just come back inside and having their snack. We hung out for a few minutes and Abby decided to leave with us because she has "done centers all year" and didn't care to do them today.

Tomorrow is another half day and the LAST day. I'll go back in the morning to take Max's teacher her gift from the class and take pictures of Max and Abby with their teachers...another tradition I have carried on from my childhood...pics with the teachers on the last day of school.

Lucy's Last Day in 2K

2011-05-25T14:55:00.000-04:00

Our little Lucy finished her first year of preschool today :(
Two more years then she'll be heading off to Kindergarten...the time is going to fly and I am trying to hold on to every second I can!

They had a little party and I wanted to make a "summery" themed cupcake to celebrate the beginning of their summer vacation.

I put them on a tray with "sand" (crushed graham crackers) and although they aren't in the picture I put a couple of little umbrellas around the cupcakes. I was remembering my dad's words..."Presentation is 90% of cooking".

Close-up

Since the first day of school Lucy has taken "shy" to a whole new extreme! She barely spoke to her teachers or "her kids" as she calls her classmates. She wouldn't even say goodbye to her teachers when I would coome to pick her up. Abby was the same way when she was in 2K but she grew out of it a lot earlier than Lucy. Lucy was also the oldest in the class (she turned 3 about 2 weeks after school started) so I kept trying to tell her that this was her chance to show her stuff and be the oldest. Didn't work.

Everyday I took her to school I would ask her if she was going to talk to her teachers that day. Her response was either "I don't know" or "Probably" ;p Have I mentioned I think she is our most stubborn hard headed kid? :)

The past couple of weeks Lucy FINALLY did it! She started talking to her teachers AND playing with a couple of "her kids". Thanks Ms. Jennifer for all your patience and love for our little Lucy. You helped bring her out of her shell (it probably seemed more like a tooth extraction!)

I will always be grateful for your TLC with her. I wish you could have another month with her now that she's opening up...then again, I don't want to shatter any illusions you have of her...HA! You'll have to check on her next year in her 3K class and see what she's doing with her hair :) She's gone from about 15-20 hairclips to 6 braids...no telling what her sense of style will come up with next (oh yeah...and the boots)!

Lucy and Ms. Jennifer

8 year stats...

2011-05-23T17:18:00.001-04:00

Really quick because I have to get dinner started...
Took Max for his 8 year checkup today...YIKES!

Weight... 76.4 pounds...94th percentile
Height... 55in (4ft 7 in)...97th percentile

Had to take him yesterday to get some new clothes! Dr. said his height and weight are proportional but that he's a big boy for his age...NO KIDDING :)

Dr. also mentioned that it's important for him to get lots of fruits and veggies and water at this age. I told him it wasn't a problem for Max, he usually goes for that stuff first :) Dr. said he could definitely tell max was getting plenty of nutrition :)

Just for kicks I looked up a "Height Predictor" online and the two results I got from two different websites say about 6'2" or 6'3" by age 18. I predict he'll be wearing his dad's clothes by the time he hits middle school ;p

Our Littlest Twinkletoes and other Ruby stuff!

2011-05-12T09:01:00.000-04:00

Not one to be outdone by her older sisters, Ruby also loves her some country music :) The girls were listening to "Mean" by Taylor Swift on the computer and Ruby decided to let the music move her! I crack up when I see her moving her mouth like she's trying to sing :)

So tell me...do YOU think she's got rhythm?

By the way, just some random Ruby stuff since I'm here and talking about her anyway :)

Ruby's first trip to the strawberry patch.
I don't think she was quite sure what to do with it :)

- She no longer wants anything to do with baby food! I've been trying to get her onto "regular" food for awhile now but she just used the food I put on her tray as projectiles. All of a sudden I was trying to feed her some baby food one day and she turned her nose up at it. Now the challenge is to get a variety of good stuff in her during the day! Another challenge is getting her to keep her food on the plate and not dump it all over her tray.

- I know I am slack about posting but she has been walking since April 11th (2 days before she turned 16 months...she'll be 17 months tomorrow)! I had every intention of posting about it and a short video of the morning that she took her first steps on her own but now that she's on her feet and can reach a lot more stuff I am busier than ever ;p I just tried to post the video but I keep getting an error message that it doesn't want to upload ;p

Hanging out in the dirt at Max's birthday party.

- Ruby is such a funny kid with a HUGE personality! She is talking up a storm now and is picking up all kinds of new words. Communicating with her is getting so much easier :) Her favorite thing to do right now is to say, " Mom, mom, mom, mom" when I say, "yes, Ruby?" she will either "tell" me something in baby language, say "Hi" and give me a big grin, or blow a raspberry at me. Then she does the same thing all over again about 3 or 4 times. She stopped at the playroom door the other day and pointed into the room and said, "mess". I asked her if she made the mess and she said, "No" and turned around fast and walked away. I guess she didn't want to clean it up...stinker.

- She is getting teeth ALL THE TIME! I swear her mouth drips like a leaky faucet all day long. She has her first dentist appointment next month so we'll see how that goes :)

Being cheesy :) See the drool on her dress?

- I guess she is going to grow up to be an artist. She is the only one of all 4 of our kids that has decided it would be fun to draw all over the walls and doors! Abby and Lucy aren't as vigilant about keeping the crayons/pencils/markers/chalk picked up and out of Ruby's reach as they should be. She has colored the carpet in the playroom a pretty shade of blue chalk, the side of the bookshelf has some kind of ancient hieroglyphics on it now, and the door to the playroom has some abstract art done in a lovely shade of neon pink highlighter. Mr. Clean's "Magic Eraser" has met it's match with that one!

-Art supplies aren't Ruby's only means of artistic expression. The other day Ruby brought me a wad of toilet paper that she had so lovingly unrolled from the new roll in the bathroom. The trail that followed her was still connected to the tube in the bathroom. When she handed me the wad in her hand I asked her what she was doing with it. Her response? "I poop"...then turned and walked away!

I may be too old for this :p

Lucy is "Stuck Like Glue"

2011-05-09T16:42:00.000-04:00

Lucy is a HUGE fan of country music! Her current favorites include Reba, Lady "Anavella" (Lady Antebellum), Taylor Swift, Darius (Rucker...but he has elevated himself to a one name star in Lucy's eyes), Keith "Urvan" (Urban), and Sugarland.

Anytime one of her favorite songs by any of these artists comes on the radio Lucy lets loose. I got some video of her in the kitchen earlier dancing to Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" (which is tied with Reba's "Turn On Your Radio" and Taylor Swift's "Mean" for her all time favorite).

For some reason she likes to lip sync :)

Lucy also had gum in her mouth at the time...;p

An Amazing Experience!

2011-05-07T21:50:00.002-04:00

This afternoon our family headed to the beach for one of the most amazing experiences. The SC Aquarium was releasing loggerhead turtles back into the ocean after having taken care of them in their Sea Turtle Hospital (click on sea turtle link to go to the hospital blog to see pics and info on the turtles released today).

There was a HUGE crowd on both sides of a long path down the beach into the ocean. Some of the turtles had to be carried down to the water and a few of them kept stopping as if to say they weren't too sure about going back :) They all made it out into the ocean though and it was so neat to hear the clapping and cheering from the crowd as each turtle caught their wave and swam out to sea!

sorry about the weird stuff from my camera...not sure what was going on ;p

We were actually standing IN the ocean to watch and I had a tough time seeing the turtles up close until one of the little ones that started swimming close to where we were decided to take a left instead of going straight. He came through the line of people and started heading back for shore! One of the hospital (turtle hospital that is!) volunteers was following him and caught him as he was right next to my leg! She picked him up and he smacked my leg with his flipper!!!!!

If I hadn't been so shocked and if it hadn't happened so fast I would have been able to get a picture up close and personal. The very nice people that were in front of us (and had a front row spot) allowed Max and Abby to stand between them so they could see everything. John and I took turns holding Lucy and Ruby. Lucy giggled everytime she saw a turtle :)

I am so glad we took our kids to see this! Other than seeing loggerheads and other sea turtles swimming in an aquarium tank they haven't seen them like this.

8 Years

2011-05-05T14:52:00.003-04:00

Up until I was 31 I had many names...

daughter, sister, wife, friend...but...

8 years ago today my life was changed forever...
At 3:29pm I met my son for the first time and I haven't been the same since...

He was a big boy weighing it at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. Although I had gotten plenty of experience in holding babies and changing diapers, etc. from years of babysitting and helping with my baby sister (I was 13 yrs old when she was born), this was the first baby that would ever call me "mama" and even though hearing it about a hundred times a minute several times a day from any or all 4 of my kids...it is still the name I cherish the most.

Max

My first born.

My only son.

You hold a part of my heart forever.

My dreams for you have not changed from when you were born (even before that).

I want for you to love and honor God. Have strong morals, a kind, giving, and compassionate heart. I want you to be a good role model for your sisters and others. I want you to enjoy life and see the good in others. I want you to find something you are passionate about and do your best at it. I want you to go to college (preferably Clemson...heehee!) and give it 110%.

MUCH later...I want you to fall in love, get married, and start your own family. I want you to be a good dad...just like yours :) I want you to know the feeling of playing ball with your kids, watching them ride their bike for the first time, take them to their first day of school, and say prayers with them and read stories at bedtime.

So, I'm not asking too much am I? :) Max, I love you with everything that I am and I pray every night that I can be the kind of mom you need to become the kind of man God wants you to be.

You make me smile

You make me laugh

You make me wonder

You make me want to be a better me.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Don't grow up too fast please?

***Okay...not sure what is going on but Blogger wouldn't let me change font size or anything so I don't know how it's going to look ;/ ***

Party post coming soon!

2011-04-30T21:32:00.001-04:00

We had Max's party today at the county park. Wouldn't you know it??? My camera battery died after a few random shots so I didn't get one of the cake...that I worked my tail off to make. I did have my video camera and can make still photos from that so as soon as I get some sleep tonight and can get the video uploaded (or is it downloaded???) I'll do the post. Hopefully tomorrow!

His actual birthday isn't until Thursday so...GASP!...I might actually get two posts in the same week...GO ME!

Still here!

2011-04-20T14:12:00.003-04:00

I have a couple of posts I am working on...mostly in my head but I am still working on them ;p Once I get a minute (or more) to sit at the computer without constant interruptions from little people asking for snacks, drinks, to play the Wii, or tattling on each other than I'll get them on here.

**Coming Attractions**
A HUGE milestone...
Easter/Spring parties at school...
Strawberry picking...
Walk on the beach...
New glasses...

Be back soon...

15 Months...a little late :)

2011-03-29T14:00:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! Guess what? I'm 15 months old!!!!! WOOHOO :) I am doing so much and really keeping my mom on her toes...

One of my favorite things to do is climb. I can climb in and out of this chair all by myself. Pretty cool huh? One day I climbed up to the second step so my mom and dad put the gate up to block the steps. That's okay though. A couple of Fridays ago I waited until my big sister Lucy forgot to close the gate back up and I climbed almost to the top...then I came tumbling down.

Scared me but scared my mommy more! She thought the gate was closed. When I started acting funny and I threw up my mommy rushed me to the dr. He checked me out and I was fine but I had a small bump on my head from when I hit it on the gate at the bottom of the steps.

Speaking of the dr. I had my 15 month checkup the Monday AFTER I fell down. Are you ready for this?...

~ I weighed in at 19lbs. 13 oz. (10th percentile...up from the 3rd at 1 year).

~ I am 30 1/2 inches tall (50th percentile...up from the 25th)

My mom just can't believe that I haven't hit the 20lb mark yet! I don't know why she wants me to, that just means she has MORE weight to carry around :)

~ I'm just now outgrowing my 12 month clothes and I'm comfortable in 12-18 months clothes.

My petite size has nothing to do with not eating enough though. I will chow down on baby food but I do tend to be a bit picky about table food. Some days I like it and will eat 4 fish sticks and other days I don't want to have anything to do with it...unless it is a cracker...heehee! My favorite snacks include goldfish crackers, Ritz crackers, Gerber Graduates Yogurt melts, and pretzels.

I am also still dealing with my eczema. If mommy doesn't use my steroid cream on me for a few days I start breaking out again. She only puts it on the rash areas though and then slathers me with Cetaphil cream ALL OVER (I get this stuff every night)! It has been a rough couple of months with the pollen and everything, I've had a nasty bug/virus/crud since the beginning of February that turned into a sinus infection at one point and now I have an ear infection. My mommy took me to the dr. again last Friday because she found some swollen lymph nodes in the crease of my leg and the dr. said it was because of all the germs I've been fighting. Good thing mom took me though because she didn't even know I had the ear infection!

Eating isn't the only thing I'm stubborn about. My mommy and daddy have been waiting since I turned one for me to start walking. I keep hearing them say that Max, Abby, and Lucy were all walking on or before their first birthdays...HA!

Why should I? When I look up at them with this cute face they can't resist picking me up :)

I LOVE to push this toy around though and will walk around all day with it. I have thrown mom and dad a bone from time to time and walked a handful of steps just to see the claps and cheers I get...then I sit on my bottom and crawl away...I love messing with them :)

Speaking of messes! I can and do make my share of them around here. My mommy calls me a human tornado sometimes. My favorite things to do include

opening the bottom file cabinet drawer and pulling out all the papers in there and watch them fly!,

unrolling a whole roll of toilet paper when someone forgets to close the bathroom door,

pulling ALL the toys out of my toy basket and books out of my book basket and flinging them behind my back,

taking the magnetic letters off the dishwasher and throwing them across the kitchen floor,

pulling all the wooden puzzles out and throwing the pieces all over Abby and Lucy's room,

and my newest...opening my bottom dresser drawer and pulling out my clothes to throw on the floor and then crawling into the bathroom when Max, Abby, or Lucy is in there and pulling all the bathtub toys out of the basket...

...notice a theme? THROWING!!!!! Oh yeah, I also like to ask for my cup of milk only to take one drink then fling the cup to the floor to make a loud crashing sound :)

Another favorite...pulling all the nicely folded baby wipes out of the container so my mommy just has to give up and stuff the big ole wad of them back into the box before they dry out :)

I am growing and my family loves me SO MUCH! I can already tell I am going to get away with lots of stuff around here but I mean really...could you say no to this face? :)

I'm off to see what other kind of mess I can make!

Love,

Ruby

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-21T15:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to the best dad a girl could ever ask for :) I love you dad! Hope you have a great birthday and I'll get you those rice krispie treats soon :)

My Baby is Growing Up :(

2011-03-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

It seems like every time I look at Max he has gotten taller or just more big kid"dish". When did that happen? He's always been tall for his age and probably outweighs some of his friends who are 2-3 years older than him (Max is all skin and bones and muscle though).

He eats more than John...which is saying ALOT but he is an AWESOME eater at the same time. Fruits and veggies, lots of salad. When we go out he orders off the adult part of the menu because the kid menu just isn't enough to fill him up. I told him he could never work in a restaurant because the customers would never get their food ;p

I really can't believe that he'll be turning 8 in less than 2 months. I got a card in the mail today. From the elementary school that he will be moving up to next year. It's for the third grade parent orientation. That was an "in your face" your baby is growing up moment for me. Next thing you know I'll be mailing out his high school graduation invitations. It's moments like I had today that make me realize that I need to savor EVERY moment...even the tough ones...because the time goes WAY too fast.

I think I'll go give my babies a hug now...all 4 of them!

Avon Calling!

2011-03-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love being a mom! It is, by far, the best career I have ever had and I have no problem with the sacrifices that motherood entails. Having said that, I also have discovered that it is important for me to have something that is for me.

I have found it in my new Avon business. Yes, I am an Avon Independent Sales Rep! I LOVE the Avon products and the support I have been getting in starting my business has been wonderful.

Have you ever tried Avon products? They have an awesome skin care line and makeup, clothes, shoes, jewelry, hair care products, etc. As a sales rep I established my own online store through the Avon website. Customers anywhere can register on my webpage, shop the brochures, pay online, and have their Avon products shipped directly to them!

I am posting a link to my Avon webpage in my sidebar. I'd love to have you visit and check out what Avon has to offer.

Avon also has a new line of baby clothes and accessories coming out. It's called Tiny Tillia and the line will be available beginning April 12th. In the meantime, they are having a Baby Photo search. Go to the Tiny Tillia website and check out the contest rules and prizes. Grand prize is a $5,000 savings bond and featured in a Tiny Tillia storybook. You can also preview some of the clothes and accessories that will be for sale...ADORABLE!!!!! Contest runs from March 1st throught March 31st so go check it out!

Also, don't forget to stop by my online Avon store and check it out! Thanks :)

Here We Go Again!

2011-03-08T11:07:00.001-05:00

I have truly enjoyed our hiatus from sports the past 3 weeks or so. That has now come to an end and the craziness is about to be unleashed again!

Abby had soccer practice last night at 6:30. I am so excited because she got back on the same team from the fall and the coach is awesome. He played in college and professionally and now is the head coach for our local professional soccer team. Since Abby LOVES playing soccer, John and I are SO glad that she has a coach she can really learn the game from and develop her skills.

Max starts practice for machine pitch baseball next week. He decided he didn't want to do soccer after playing for 4 seasons. We are fine with that. I believe he has realized that he is good at basketball and baseball and has decided to pursue those. His head coach and assistant coach for this team both have experience playing competitive sports, including baseball so he'll get some good coaching as well :) Max also wants to try his hand at karate. John and I believe it would be really good for him to teach him, among other things, self-control and focus. He went to a birthday party at a karate studio this past weekend and came home with a card for a free 30 day trial and a flier for summer camps. I guess I'll be looking into that schedule :)

So far Abby has practice on Monday and Friday nights and Max's practices will be on Tuesday nights with games on Saturday mornings. After the freezing temps at soccer practice last night I am really hoping the Spring weather gets here QUICK! At least Daylight Savings time starts this weekend so we'll still have a little daylight left for practices. It was pitch dark last night when we left the field at 7:30ish.

Because I'm Awesome like that :)

2011-03-06T16:25:00.002-05:00

HA! Or I am just crazy (that's more than likely the correct choice).

Anyway, my in-laws gifted me with a Kohl's gift card for my birthday last month. Thanks again :) I immediately had in mind something that I would get for myself. I should have gone straight to the store with it. I have been carrying it around in my purse for a month promising myself that I was going to stop there on my way back from taking Lucy to school one morning (that way I'd only have Ruby to shop with). It just hasn't worked out and I have changed my mind a few times on what I would buy.

Hmmm... a few days ago John started talking about needing new running shoes. The man is a runner and wears out a pair of shoes pretty quickly. His feet have also started bothering him and he thinks it's because his shoes are worn out. Do you see where this is going????

Yep, John got himself a pair of shoes for my birthday ;p He took Max to a birthday party this afternoon and went to Kohl's. He called me to say that he found a pair and they were on sale already. When he used the 15% off shopping pass that I printed off for him he got them for $42.

Well, at least I still have $8 left :) Will I never learn?????

Hangin' by a thread...

2011-02-25T22:07:00.002-05:00

I am SO tired. Since February 7th I have not gotten more than 3 CONSECUTIVE hours of sleep a night. Lucy had the croup and Ruby had a nasty cold. Lucy has gotten better but she still wakes up and screams/yells/fusses at least 3 times a night.

When I took Ruby and Lucy to the dr. on the 9th he said that Ruby would be over it in a few days...well, I guess she took that as a challenge.

She hasn't been sleeping well since she got sick (naps or night time)...Wednesday night was a doozy though. She woke up at 1am and I could tell by the fussing coming from the monitor that she was really awake. I went in and tried to comfort her without picking her up but she had other ideas about that!

So I held her and snuggled her up against me and sat in the rocker...FOR AN HOUR! She would have her eyes closed and I would be just about to get up and lay her back down then her eyes would pop open. She would start crying if I attempted to lay her back down so I kept holding her. After an hour she decided she didn't even want to be in her room anymore. So I brought her downstairs, changed her diaper, gave her some water, and tried to snuggle in the chair with her. Uh-uh...no way...she was in the mood to play!

She was FINALLY tired enough at 3:30 for me to rock her...but she wasn't going back to sleep that easily. I thought she was asleep at 3:45 so I took her upstairs and put her in her crib. Just as I put her down her eyes flew open. I tried to walk out thinking she'd go right back to sleep. Well, let's just say I should have had "STUPID" written across my face if I thought that. She started an all out scream fest (that the other three kids AND my husband surprisingly slept through!!!...I actually think John was faking it because he didn't want to get involved ;p) I got her calmed down and back downstairs and we rocked, and rocked, and rocked some more.

I zombie walked her back to her crib at 4:30. She stayed asleep. I wish my other kids had ;p Max had somehow snuck into my bed with John so I went down to the couch. About 10 minutes later Lucy was fussing, then Abby, then Lucy. At that point I gave up and decided to just have a cup of coffee by myself and enjoy the 30 minutes before I had to get Max and Abby up for school. Ha! On my way to the kitchen Abby comes creeping down the stairs. It was a looooooonnnnnnggggggg Thursday.

Thursday night? Hmmmm...let's just say, "Lather.Rinse.Repeat." This time our story took place between the hours of 1:30-4am.

Once Ruby threw up this morning my plans to take her to the dr. in the afternoon changed quickly. They worked us in and by golly my sweet baby has a right ear that was on it's way to becoming infected AND a sinus infection. I'm SO GLAD I got her in this morning because it gave us enough time to get 2 doses of antibiotic in her before bedtime. The dr. assures me that we will see a definite improvement before the end of the weekend. I am holding him to it dang it!

So, what's hangin' by a thread?

My sanity.

Teeth

2011-02-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

Abby's tooth drama has continued. The poor kid ended up needing 2 teeth repaired (back molars chipped), what we thought would be a simple filling in another bottom molar which actually ended up being a "minor" root canal...(I know, how can a root canal be minor"), the spacer put back in that had to be removed a few months ago, AND one of her front top teeth pulled because it was dead!

She had 2 fillings in the tooth but they were in the sides of the tooth and couldn't be seen because they are so crowded in there. Apparently one of the fillings had come out and the tooth went kaput!

So to recap...since October of 2009 she has had...

8 fillings

3 root canals

2 teeth pulled

3 spacers (the one she had put back in right before Christmas actually broke! Her dentist said he'd never seen a kid break a spacer in that spot before in over 12 years of dentistry...yes, Abby strives to be unique!)

Yes, I take her for regular cleanings/checkups...

Yes, her dentist told us at her first checkup that we should definitely expect to be paying for braces in the future...

Yes, she brushes everyday AND flosses AND we use a special toothpaste.

Yes, she is my child and has inherited my bad teeth...

Yes, I am my father's child and got them from him ;p MY dentist even says that (he's my parent's dentist too!)

I had to have 2 root canals and 2 crowns last year. My second root canal was in a tooth that was an anchor for my bridge. The tooth was so damaged that the bridge came off a few weeks later (on it's own). After some tricky and very clever work by my awesome dentist I didn't have to lose the tooth and now have a crown!

My parents already paid for braces for me...YEARS ago! I guess this is payback time :)

I just realized..February is Dental Health Month...

GO GET YOUR TEETH CLEANED PEOPLE!!!!!

Christmas 2010

2011-02-13T09:50:00.002-05:00

Christmas was wonderful as always!

On Christmas Eve we went to the Children's Service at John's church. Basically it was an abbreviated service where we sang a lot of Christmas Carols.

When we got home we started getting dinner ready because my mom and dad were coming over for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. This year I was going to go all out and then my mom suggested just getting some BBQ. Of course once I mentioned that to John he agreed wholeheartedly. So he had picked up some BBQ for us and I made some sides. Although the meal itself would have done perfectly well on paper plates I insisted that we were going to use the good china!

We enjoyed our meal and the kids, already wound up, got into their Christmas pj's and we went online to the NORAD website to see if we could track Santa. They got so excited and so once my parents left we had to try to calm the kids down enough to go to bed!

Sticking to my own tradition, I made some hot chocolate, turned on "A Christmas Story" and wrapped some presents. Once I was done I headed off to bed so Santa would come.

Christmas morning the kids woke up and I got out my new Flip video camera (an early present from John) and we came downstairs. The kids were so excited to see that Santa had brought them Pillow Pets for Christmas!

They opened their stockings first and laughed about the fact that Santa had once again left them new underwear in their stockings!!! Even daddy!

Abby had only asked for clothes, shoes, and jewelry for Christmas...yes, she's only 5! When I asked her if she wanted any toys she said she thought we had enough so she didn't need anymore...WOW!

Max was NOT excited at all about the clothes he received and Lucy was just as thrilled with hers as Abby was.

For breakfast I made maple pecan sticky buns and they were gone within 10 minutes of coming out of the oven!

We hung out for awhile, cleaned up the mess, put together and played with some toys, then we got ready to go up to my parents house.

Abby with her stocking stuff...lip gloss and underpants were a hit!

John helping Lucy with her stocking and Ruby enjoying the treats Santa left her!

Max and his pillow pet! I don't know what was wrong with my camera that made his face so bright!

Once we got to my mom and dad's we hung out until my sister Shea and her family arrived and then my sister Mallory and her boyfriend. Once everyone was under one roof we had a big dinner! Every year since Molly and Abby were born, my mom has bought the kids matching Christmas p.j.'s and has taken a picture of the grand kids for her Christmas card. Through the years the number of grands has grown (Shea and I both have 4 kids) and she and my dad have gotten into the picture as well...complete with Christmas p.j.'s in coordinating colors :)

This year they decided they wanted the WHOLE family in the picture and we had to wear p.j.'s too. John, and my brother in law John and Mallory's boyfriend Dustin were very vocal in their lack of enthusiasm for the p.j.'s. I guess it was my mom saying they wouldn't get their presents if they didn't cooperate that finally changed their minds ;)

Once the pictures were taken it was time to find a spot on the floor and open presents. With 8 kids and 8 adults it was C.R.A.Z.Y. !!!!! I'm always so nervous that with that much paper flying around that some one's gift is going to get lost in the trash pile!

We had a great time and the kids were exhausted by the time we got the van loaded up and got them home. It has become tradition that the kids and I head back over to my parents' house the day after Christmas so the cousins can have a full day of play time. Jack and Max go off together, Abby and Molly go their way, and this was the first year that Lucy and Sophie and Macy actually played together. I like to joke that Lucy is the luckiest cousin. She has 2 of them that are her age so if one doesn't want to play anymore she still has another one to play with :) Poor Ruby doesn't have a cousin her age but I'm sure with all the older girls that she will be mother henned more than she can handle :)

So that was Christmas 2010. At least I posted about it before Valentine's Day ;P

Happy Belated Birthday Ruby!

2011-02-04T13:39:00.001-05:00

"Happy 1st Birthday to ME!!!"

Ruby celebrating turning 1 :)

I am so incredibly late in posting this but I can't NOT do it. Ruby turned a year old on December 13th. Where did the year go? We had her party on Sunday the 12th. It was us, my parents, my sisters, nieces and nephew, and our good friend Ms. Jackie with her little man Henry. We were decorated for Christmas but we had a ladybug theme. I made Ladybug cupcakes for the party and we just had some of Ruby's favorite snacks to eat...goldfish crackers, pretzels, and cookies.

Ruby and Henry really hit it off! Playing a game of catch.

"I'm not eating that Nana...You eat it"

This was after I had to take her out of her high chair because she started screaming at her cupcake and didn't want it...AT ALL!

Ladybug cupcakes

Waiting to open presents...

We had a great time and just can't believe my last baby isn't a baby anymore!

Ruby had her 1 year checkup on her actual birthday.

She weighed in at 17 pounds 2 ounces (3rd percentile)

She measured 28 1/2 inches (25th percentile)

and her head circumference was in the 60th percentile.

I just figure she going to be a tiny genius when she grows up!

As of today (February 4th) at the ripe old age of 13 (almost 14) months Ruby can...

~ say "Mama", "Daddy", "Hi", "Bye-Bye", "Baby", "bath", "Nana", "Papa", "Tai (our cat)", and "Mimi"

~she almost says "Max" and does more than her share of jabbering :)

~she likes to pretend she has a "bad cough" - Nana taught her that one :)

~ She just started crawling within the past month (she had been dragging her body across the floor) and is pulling up to her feet on everything now. Doesn't act like she wants to walk yet though which is new for us because the other three walked on or before their first birthday.

~ Ruby LOVES to open the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet and pull all the papers out and fling them round the office.

~ Ruby has figured out how to play Peek-a-boo! She puts her little hands over her eyes and when I say, "Where's Ruby" she will pull her hands away and say "Boo".

~she has 5 teeth now. She's had the two on the bottom since about 11 months and the top front teeth (as well as one next to the front teeth) broke through a few days ago.

~Ruby loves to eat goldfish crackers (Nana always has those on hand!), pretzels, Ritz crackers, she is very good at eating triscuits...I think the rough texture feels good on her gums :) I'm watching hr like a hawk when she eats one though. She had her last bottle on Monday, December 20th. She is enjoying organic whole milk out of her sippy cups. She also enjoys throwing said cups on the floor when she is done with them!

~ Ruby is in her last box of size 4 diapers...moving on up to 5's now :)

~ She is still wearing a lot of 12 month sized clothes but the 12-18 month size is fitting better now.

~ She is still rear facing in the car because she hasn't hit the 20lb. mark yet.

~She went through a spurt (this past month) where she wouldn't go to sleep on her own at night and I would have to hold her and rock her until she fell asleep. Normally I wouldn't do that (and didn't with the other two girls...we learned our lesson with Max) but I thought about it one night and figured that this is my last baby. I will not have this again and I am going to savor every moment. She went through the phase for about 2-3 weeks and the past couple of nights has put herself to sleep again.

Ruby is such a joy and although she was a complete surprise, I couldn't imagine my life or our family without her. Looking forward to what her second year brings...

Why I Didn't Blog Last Night...

2011-01-17T14:15:00.004-05:00

It's HER fault! The kids and I had gone up to visit my parents for the afternoon and she was fine. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and woke up screaming about 2 minutes from the house. We got home and I got her out of the car and she was fine. It was a little after 9 so I changed her and put her to bed. She wasn't having any of that and screamed until I came and got her up. I held her for a few minutes and just as she was about to drift off I put her back down.

Nope, didn't work. She screamed again. So I got her up and she hung out with John and I for awhile. At about 11 she was getting droopy eyed so I took her back to bed. Within a minute of me leaving the room she was LOSING IT! I picked her up to calm her down (which normally does the trick right away), uh-uh. She screamed so hard and so loud I was sure the neighbors could hear her...yet Max, Abby, and Lucy slept through it all! This screaming lasted for about 10-15 minutes.

During this time I was holding her and walking with her and she would arch her back and go stiff as a board then curl up into a tight little ball in my arms. John tried to take her and hold her and she wasn't having any of that either. By this time I was freaking out a little (okay, more than a little) and all of a sudden she just stopped screaming and took a big breath, sighed and laid her head on my shoulder. She went to sleep. I held her as she slept for about an hour then laid her back down around midnight.

About 15 - 20 minutes later she fussed/cried again but I was able to calm her down without holding her. At 1am she was awake and screaming in full force again. It was the same as before with the stiff body then curling up. I was patting her back and doing all the tricks (you learn a few when you've had 4 kids) to get a burp out in case this was just a massive gas bubble. It would just make her more upset.

By this point I was convinced something was wrong. I knew I couldn't take her to the ER in the condition she was in and John couldn't come with me because the other 3 were sleeping. We made the decision to call 911. A whole host of things was running through my head at this point as to what could be the problem. My biggest fear, by the way she was moving her body, was that it could be appendicitis. She obviously couldn't tell us what hurt so we made the decision we felt was best.

Just before the paramedics arrived she did something that REALLY freaked me out. She stopped screaming, closed her eyes, and her head flopped back over my arm and she went limp. At this point I thought I might need an ambulance too! It only lasted a few seconds and her eyes opened and she was alert and not screaming. Paramedics and EMS arrived, they checked her out and breathing was normal, her stomach felt and sounded normal and there were no other signs that indicated she needed to be taken in the ambulance. They assured me it wasn't appendicitis because otherwise she'd still be screaming.

They told us that it was up to us whether or not we wanted to take her but since she was alert, making eye contact with them, watching them as they talked with us and checked her out, and then even saying "bye" to them (I guess she wanted them to leave), they felt like there wasn't an emergency (but they did assure us that we did the right thing by calling). John and I decided that we'd wait to see if she would go to sleep and how she did but that I would be taking her to see her dr. in the morning regardless of how the rest of the night went.

She fell asleep on me about 5 minutes after paramedics and EMS left. That was at about 1:45 this morning. I was so freaked out that I sat up holding her until about 3:30. I put her in her bed and she was fine for the rest of the night until I went to get her up at about 9:15 to go to her dr. app't.

Dr. S. checked her out and aside from the hives she has all over her back (which I mistook for an eczema outbreak) she is fine and dandy. Ears, lungs, belly, nose, throat are all clear. He said she probably went limp due to a breath holding episode which a lot of kids will do (Lucy does this when she starts screaming...lips turn blue before she takes a breathe to scream again then she's fine...well, except for the rest of the fit!). Anyway, so that's that. Don't know what started it. I had given her Tylenol when she wouldn't go down when we got home because I thought maybe her teeth were bothering her but I don't think it was teeth that caused all of that last night.

So now you know why I didn't blog last night...

I'm Trying

2011-01-15T22:22:00.008-05:00

I promise. I really am trying to get back to the blog but it has been hard these days getting a chance to sit down at the computer without constant interruptions. The kids are asleep tonight and John is at the neighbor's house with a bunch of guys watching...well duh...football. I thought, hey, the kitchen is clean, why don't I stay upstairs after the kids fall asleep and watch a movie and fold laundry?

Don't wanna...

Then I thought, okay, let's go downstairs and get on the computer and update the blog. I guess I am kinda sorta doing that but not in the way I need to or planned to. I just don't know what it is. Maybe it is because I am SO FAR BEHIND that I just don't feel like I can ever catch up (I have amazingly similar feelings when it comes to laundry!).

Well, I have changed the background and attempted (poorly but I did give it a shot) to change my header. I think the picture in the header might have come out a little creepy looking but I'll go in and fix it later. At least my blog has a fresh look if not a fresh post...but wait a minute...isn't this a fresh post? WOOHOO!

The picture in the header is the one I chose for our Christmas card this year. As we have added kids to the family the Christmas card photo shoot has gotten a little trickier. Below are some that ended up on the cutting room floor (so to speak)...

Take 1... REJECTED! for obvious reasons... (Hello creepy light coming down the side...and Ruby looks like she sees it on the stuffed reindeer) But doesn't Max look like he's saying something like, "Oh Abby, you're such a silly girl"...

Take 2... apparently the light must have zapped the reindeer away and Ruby isn't liking it! REJECTED!

Take 3...Ruby STILL showing much displeasure at the disappearance of Prancer, Abby is trying to look at the insides of her eyelids, Lucy is singing, and Max is just wondering how he was so blessed to have 3 sisters :)...REJECTED!

Take 4...Everyone is rejoicing that Prancer is back and Ruby is trying to figure out where he came from...REJECTED!

Take 5... "Ruby, show mommy what a "rein"deer in headlights looks like"...REJECTED!

Take 6...Max is taking a snooze and Ruby looks about ready to make a break for it...REJECTED!

Take 7...The reindeer has been replaced with a hairbrush because it was there and Ruby wanted it (why else?) Abby is hamming it up for the camera, Lucy is just being cute, and Max is like, "Dude, are we DONE yet?"...REJECTED!

Take 8...Ruby needed a moment to have a meltdown away from the camera because shame on me I tried to get the camera out of the picture...I didn't make that mistake again! I figured I'd get a shot of the cooperative (did I just use that word to describe my children?) ones...REJECTED (but cute!)

Take 9...Figures...as soon as Ruby decides to smile at the camera the other three are giving up...REJECTED!

Take 10...I'm losing them...Ruby is fascinated by the brush, Abby is half smiling, Lucy is smirking, and Max...well...not sure what that face is but do you notice the secret peace sign he is holding up right next to Abby's head...REJECTED!

Take 11...Ruby and the brush...REJECTED!

Take 12...Max and Abby are belting out Christmas Carols, Ruby is still all about the brush, but doesn't Lucy look adorable?...REJECTED!

Take 13...Almost a keeper...they are all FINALLY looking at the camera at the same time, no one is crying, smirking, sleeping, singing, or making kissy faces. Now if I could just get a smile out of everyone at the same time we could wrap this thing up...REJECTED...

Lucky 14!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

The brush is still there but who cares :)

Special thanks to...

Nana (my mom) for the Christmas pj's (she buys all 8 grandkids matching pj's every year) and Me! Because I flew solo on this since John was not home for some reason ;p

Hey, I guess I ended up doing a real post after all...YAY ME!

I'm Such a Slacker!!!

2010-12-30T22:21:00.002-05:00

Please accept my apologies for being the "WORST BLOGGER EVER" (at least for the month of December anyway).

We have been extremely busy this past month and are still on the move. For some reason I got the "nesting instinct" (you know, the one a woman usually gets right before she gives birth?) after Thanksgiving...a year AFTER I had Ruby :P

My parents so graciously gave John 2 gallons of paint in the color I had picked out for the living room (because I was sneaky and told them he wanted it...HA!) for his birthday back in October. I got a Bee in my Bonnet or a Bug in my Butt or whatever and decided...ahem...insisted that the living room would be painted before Ruby's first birthday. Her party ( a small one) was planned for Sunday the 12th (her birthday was the 13th) and I wanted it done before then.

So one day I got out the painter's tape and taped the living room. Boy you should have seen the look on John's face when he got home...it was kind of like... "Oh cr**, she really wants to paint". Well, I wasn't about to let the Christmas tree into the living room until the walls were painted and since the tree was sitting out in the garage it just had to get done :)

Well, since we had some paint left over I went ahead and started painting the Butler's pantry the next day when John was at work thinking I would surprise him. Ummmm, I kinda thought we had more paint than we did and ran out before the whole thing was done. I couoldn't very well leave it that way could I? Nope. So I set out will all 4 of the kids to buy 1 more gallon.

Since I had even more paint I figured why not venture a little more into the foyer (our downstairs walls in the living room, dining room and foyer all flow together so I chose 1 color for all those areas ad it will also go up the stairs and through the upstairs hallway...like you care... HA!) So I taped four teeny tiny little walls going into the foyer thinking I could get it all done before John got home. Seriously, who was I kidding? REALLY hard to paint while 4 small kids are in the house... awake... demanding to be fed.

So what did I get when John got home that night...yeah, that same look :) Good thing he loves me :) So we got the walls painted before the party :) Party post to come later...

Fast forward to the Monday before Christmas. Since I hadn't yet finished my Christmas shopping or baking, I had all 4 kids at home full time since winter break had started, I hadn't done any of my baking yet (or laundry for that matter), and I obviously had SO much extra time on my hands, what did I do???? Taped and painted the dining room in 3 hours! Dang I'm good (or stubborn...I'll compromise and say both!) Ruby was taking awesome naps that day and Lucy even took one and Max and Abby were busy with friends so throwing caution to the wind I figured I'd surprise John.

I got everything done...AND even made dinner that night! The stinker didn't even notice when he came in the front door even thought I had the buffet lamps on in the dining room! It wasn't until after dinner when he was...GASP!...rinsing his dinner dishes that he saw the paint roller and brushes sitting by the sink drying. He had this panicked sound in his voice when he said, "What were you painting???" I showed him and I think I heard the sigh of relief when he realized it was all done :)

I explained that since we would be eating Christmas Eve dinner in that room it only made sense that it should be painted too. I mean really, how could he argue with that sound logic?

On Christmas Eve as he was setting the table he came in the kitchen and reluctantly told me that I was...choke...choke...gasp...gasp...wheeze...RIGHT about painting it :)

Now that you have read this ramble (you're still here aren't you?), I'll leave you until 2011...

Coming Attractions in the New Year...

Ruby's First Birthday
Abby's Tooth Drama
My Tooth Drama
Christmas

Good Night and Happy New Year...I hope 2011 brings Peace, Hope, Good Health, and Love to you all!

An Important Announcement...

2010-12-09T16:29:00.004-05:00

Someone in this family...

I won't name any names...

but someone in this family will be turning 1 year old on Monday! (I REALLY hope you didn't think I was going to say I was pregnant!)

Here's a hint...

Hmmmmm...got any guesses?

I'm Here...

2010-11-29T20:37:00.001-05:00

Lots to update on...when I'm feeling better...when everyone stopsa being sick for crying out loud!

Fighting a Losing Battle...Licking My Wounds...

2010-11-22T22:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't been around the blog this week. How's that different from any other week you ask? Ha! This time I have an excuse :P

Last Tuesday evening our family began the epic battle against... A STOMACH VIRUS (insert high pitched screams)

Lucy got it good (well, really bad actually) Tuesday night about 10ish and so I ended up camping out with her on the living room floor where she was up and down to the bathroom several times during the night by 4am she had stopped getting sick. She was better (eating foods that she deemed would not make her stomach "blow up") by Wednesday evening. No school for her on Wednesday though and we are trapped in the house.

Friday morning, about 4:50am, Max woke up and went to the bathroom and ended up with diarrhea. He kept writhing in pain saying his stomach was "killing" him (have I mentioned before that my children are HIGHLY dramatic and that I expect each of them to win an Academy Award at some point in their lives?).

By 5:10 he was throwing up. 15 hours later...yes, I DID say 15 hours later he was done. No school for him on Friday needless to say and we were once again...trapped in the house. I also camped out with Max on the living room floor Friday night.

I should also mention on Friday Ruby got sick all over me, her, and the office floor...yuck.

Fast forward to Saturday morning and I wake up (who am I kidding? I couldn't sleep on the floor) nauseous and dizzy. I could feel it coming on. I pretty much felt like I had been hit by a truck all day. I figured...okay, not the bug, just worn out. Nope...it was the bug. So I was trapped in the house all day Saturday as well...sigh...

Sunday morning dawns and shines right in my eyes that are reeling in pain from a migraine. I was able to down some Motrin and sleep the edge of the pain off. By 8, John was ready for me to get out of the bed (all the kids were up). I was recovered well enough to take Lucy to a birthday party and bake and decorate the cutest turkey cupcakes for Lucy's Thanksgiving "party".

Also insert that Ruby threw up again randomly...

My husband, always the optimist ("I am 100% sure we are going to get this virus Staci"), was not gloating so much when he woke up early this morning with said virus. If he could have mustered up the energy he would have. I had told him the other day that if he got it I was going to call his mom and tell her to come and take care of him...he's harder than all 4 kids being sick at the same time! He stayed home from work in bed and although I couldn't play nursemaid (it's not like he coddles me either people) I did bring him ginger ale and water and crackers and called in sick for him (etc).

The last one to fall was Abby. She was the only one who didn't get hit with this the last time it made it's way through our house.

She came home from school today complaining of a belly ache. She got progressively "poopier" acting as time went on. About 5:30ish it hit. She has on;y gotten sick once and was acting for apple juice (I made her drink water) and crackers within about an hour). She has fallen asleep on the couch and I'll camp out with her tonight. No school for her tomorrow...we'll be trapped in the house :P

So, the bug has defeated us all and now he needs to get OUT OF MY HOUSE so I can get to everything I need to do before Wednesday! I have been spraying everything I think a sick person may have touched. Tomorrow is a deep...deep...deep cleaning of all bathrooms...guess it's a good thing I'll be trapped in the house anyway!

Happy Birthday Mama!

2010-11-16T00:22:00.005-05:00

What an adorable couple :)

Happy, Happy Birthday to my awesome mama :)

She has always been there for us and has taught her three girls to be tough and "get it done". She has been friend and confidante and disciplinarian and a rock that we could always count on(and still can and do).

I hope she knows how much she is appreciated and loved. I can only hope and pray that I can be the kind of mom to my kids that she was to my sisters and me (although Mallory got away with so much more since she was the "baby").

She still worries about us even though we are grown and out of the house...a mom's work is never done I guess. Then we go and make her a "Nana" and multiply her worry (8 times!).

She is always thinking of others and how she can make someone feel better (of course she tells her own kids "oh you're fine, shake it off"... :P...Did I say I love you mom?)

She's not really big on confrontation but she is by NO MEANS a pushover! She says no and she means it, "gosh doty soctamolie".

Her grandkids LOVE her to pieces (mostly her stuff turns to pieces but she's okay with it when it happens..."Soooorrrrry Nana!"). I was talking to her the other day on the phone and when I hung up Lucy asked me who was on the phone. I told her I was talking to Nana and Lucy said, "Oh, I love Nana". I said, "Me too Lucy". She said, "I love her mommy, she's a nice girl!"

Oh yeah, she's also been known to give up her snack to her grandkids (they have inhaled a few bags of her Goldfish crackers from time to time!)

Mama, I hope your _ _th birthday is filled with love and peace (the kids and I will wait until this weekend to see you :) and joy. You deserve it.

Love and appreciation always and xoxoxoxoxoxox,

Your oldest baby,

Have You Thanked a Vet Today?

2010-11-11T09:14:00.004-05:00

Happy Veterans Day and a huge thank you to all those who have served or are currently serving our country in any branch of service.

My favorite vet...my dad...served 20 years in the Navy. He enlisted in 1968 right after high school. He was a submariner. In fact, he was on a submarine on patrol when I was born. We didn't get to meet until I was about 3 months old.

What a handsome guy! He was about 27 or 28 in this picture.

Being a military "brat" gave my sister Shea and I (Mallory didn't come along until I was 13 and my dad retired 4 years later so she didn't move around like we did) many opportunities that we otherwise probably would not have had. We lived in Charleston quite a bit but also were stationed in Great Lakes, IL (fun for snow), Kittery, Maine (More fun for snow and it was pretty), and Honolulu for 3 1/2 years (AWESOME!). When we left Maine to move to Hawaii we drove cross country and got to see and experience so much. Shea and I still talk about that trip :)

This was before he went out to sea...

Being a military family isn't always easy. I remember my dad going out to sea and how much we missed him. We didn't realize at the time though how hard it was on my parents. Back then we didn't have the internet for Skype so we really didn't get to "see" my dad at all until he came home. My mom, practically a kid herself (she had me when she was 20 and Shea when she was 23), was basically a single mom.

So, to those serving in the military and to those that have served...from the bottom of my heart I thank you.

This was at his commissioning ceremony in Hawaii...

He's an Officer AND a Gentleman :)

To those spouses that have "served" (or still are serving)...from the bottom of my heart I thank you for the support and sacrifices you have made to our country.

Saying goodbye to the Navy after 20 years...

They walked it together...

To the children...thank you so much for allowing your mom or dad to give their time away from you to make sure our country stays safe and free.

Happy Veterans Day!

20 Years...How the Time Does Fly!

2010-11-08T14:43:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend my 20 year high school reunion. It felt so strange to think we graduated 20 years (+5 months) ago! Even being the mom of 4 small kids doesn't make me feel old enough to have graduated 20 years ago. It didn't even feel like it had been 10 years since the last reunion.

To think, at that one John and I had only been dating for 6 months. Since then we got engaged, married, and had 4 kids...whew! Let's hope we can relax a little more during the next 10 years (HA!)

I was on the committee that was planning the reunion and about a month ago we had to cancel our original plans due to lack of ticket sales. Another classmate of ours came in a saved the day!

We met at a club and were given our own DJ and the VIP appetizer and drink prices. We also had two servers assigned to our crowd. We pretty much WERE the "crowd" until about 10:30 or so then the regular crowd started drifting in. The classmate that made the arrangements was telling us that someone from our class had called him to see if there was a dress code for the club. He called the manager of the club and the guy told him that they would be a little more relaxed for us since we were an "older" crowd...ACK!

One of our classmates brought our Senior Class video with her and we got to watch it on one of the big flat screen TVs in the room. It was quite funny looking at all of our "big hair" :)

I recognized many faces and I recognized a lot of names. Unfortunately, none of the faces and names matched!

John and I had a great time...even more so because the kids were spending the night with my parents :) Thanks to the mostest awesome mom and dad on the planet for that!

So,
to the Stratford High Class of 1990...
It was great to see many of you again and ...

Go Knights!

"All hail thee mighty Stratford!

Together we shall stand!

We'll show our pride and spirit

To all throughout the land.

With hopes to last forever

As many years go by.

We'll be forever faithful.

All hail thee,

Stratford High!"

- our Alma Mater

See you at the 30 year!

Happy Halloween and Bananas...

2010-11-04T07:46:00.008-04:00

Last Friday Max brought a "friend" home from school. Bananas is the class "pet" in Max's 2nd grade class. Each weekend one student gets to take Bananas home for the weekend. The students are supposed to take pictures and write a small story about what they did with Bananas that weekend. When they return to school they get to read their story to the class. Bananas comes with his own backpack and clothes and a notebook to keep all the stories in.

Below are some pictures of Max and Bananas...

Bananas went with us to Five Guys for Dinner. Max let him "taste" a peanut :)

Bananas taking a nap on Max's bed.

Bananas and Max getting ready to go trick or treating.

This Halloween the Bailey kids transformed into a variety of different characters...

Max (as you can see above) was an "Army guy". We had to go to the Army/Navy surplus store to get the camouflage. He got pants, the t-shirt, a hat, and...probably his personal favorite...a set of dog tags with his name, DOB, and US Army "Sniper" on them. The man at the store asked what branch of the military he wanted and what he wanted to be in that branch. Should I be worried he said "sniper"?

Abby decided she wanted to be a cowgirl this year. We found her costume at Wal-Mart and she borrowed some boots from a friend.

Lucy FINALLY came to a decision after changing her mind for weeks. We got to the store to buy her costume and she chose Snow White. I was so glad when I paid for that costume and we walked out of the store!

Ruby thought about being Minnie Mouse this year but there were no costumes in her size to be found so she settled for being a cute little Ladybug :)

Before we went Trick or treating we went over to a neighbor's house for pizza. We got some pictures of the kids posing outside. Once it started getting dark we headed out. Max, Abby and the neighbor kids moved much faster than my little Snow White in her dress up shoes so about half way through John took Ruby the Lady bug with him to catch up to the big kids and it was just me and Lucy the rest of the way. She really started having a good time with the trick or treating. She about knocked me to the floor when she actually said, "Trick or Treat" to someone! She didn't have her fingers in her mouth or mumble. It was clear as a bell! Then she surprised me even further by telling them "Happy Halloween" as we left their porch. YAY Lucy :) She still isn't talking to her teachers at school yet so this was BIG for her :)

The kids got TONS of candy and will probably have enough to last until Christmas. I can't believe Thanksgiving is already only 3 weeks away...SLOW DOWN! After that I will blink and my sweet baby Ruby will be celebrating her first birthday. I'm having a tough time with that one.

John and the crew before Trick or Treating...notice Bananas on Max's lap.

Me and all of my monkeys...plus Bananas!

Max and the neighbor kids playing "dead" in the graveyard.

Lucy and Abby thought they were being silly.

Little Miss Ruby L.O.V.E.S. her some pizza!

Daddy was feeding her little bites and pretty soon he coldn't feed her fast enough :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

A Letter From Me to the Tooth Fairy...

2010-11-03T13:45:00.004-04:00

Dear Tooth Fairy,
Why are you picking on my kid? Would you please cut Abby some slack here? She is the one kid (she is getting Lucy on her bandwagon though) who is adamant about brushing her teeth! She never forgets and if she does then she'll get out of bed and come remind me that she forgot to brush them.

So, since she is such a dedicated tooth brusher, why on earth is she the one that keeps getting cavities, abcesses, root canals, etc. Why didn't you give her a bigger mouth (to fit her teeth, the volume on the "big mouth" is plenty loud thank you vey much) so her teeth wouldn't be too crowded? Her cavities have been between the teeth which of course is harder to keep clean when the teeth are crammed into her mouth.

Would you please let her just lose a tooth naturally for once instead of her having to have it forcibly removed due to an abcess? Give her a break already! If you know what's good for you then you'll let her have an much easier time with her permanent teeth (which are already crowded according to the x-ray...grrrrrr...)! Yes I know that braces are in her future...you don't have to keep rubbing salt into that wound do you?

Sincerely,
A Frustrated Mommy

** I took Abby this morning for her teeth cleaning and to replace her spacer that had to be removed last Monday because it was loose and digging into her gums causing a lot of pain. Well, the abcess that she had last Monday is now bigger (but still not bothering her thank goodness), so she is now on anti-biotic for that. She has three teeth (molars) that need to be fixed (filling on 1 and the enamel is chipped on 2 more...teeth grinder). The worst news was that the tooth that has the abcess on it has to come out. She had 2 fillings in that tooth (a front top tooth) and opne had come out. The fillings were on the sides and hidden by the teeth on either side so we had no idea it was out.

Unfortunately, the tooth has become infected and thus the abcess. Her dentist (WONDERFUL MAN! So glad we found him), also said that if we wanted to he could go ahead and pull the other top tooth so it looks more "natural". It would be purely for cosmetic reasons and wouldn't help or hurt the permanent teeth come in...so John and I will talk about it.

The dentist also said that she could wait until January to have the work done so that her insurance will start over again by then. She maxed out her benefits back in January. He said that if it was critical he wouldn't want to wait but she'll be okay since we are so close anyway. If that changes then we will certainly get it done before then and just pay whatever it takes...her health and comfort are our first priority of course.

So as of now she is scheduled for January 5th. Max and Lucy are getting their's cleaned on the 24th. Here's hoping THAT trip is uneventful!

She's the Coolest Cat in Town

2010-10-30T21:11:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I forgot to tell you about Abby's Nursery Rhyme show at school! She made her official acting debut :) Her class had been preparing for awhile and learned several nursery rhymes...which have been repeated by her at home...like a broken record (ha! I told Abby she sounded like one after she had been singing Hey Diddle Diddle about 500 times and she asked me what a broken record was...yes, I felt old). All of her practice has resulted in Lucy learning the rhymes as well. Now when Abby is at school I can still hear them. All Nursery Rhymes...All the time :P

Anyway, the reason she was singing Hey Diddle Diddle so much is because she got to play the role of "The Cat". You know, the one with the fiddle? Please don't make me type out the rhyme because it'll get stuck in...

...too late. Now I'll be singing myself to sleep with it. Sigh.

The class did a great job and Abby actually sang and performed her part beautifully :) The kids had brought in flashlights and sunglasses earlier in the week. The parents were handed the flashlights before the show and were instructed on when to use them. On their third verse of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star the turned off the lights and we got to turn on the flashlights and shine them on the ceiling to make stars...so cute!
My favorite part though was their last song. The whole class came to the front of the "stage" (we were in their classroom) and put on their sunglasses. Then they had someone flashing the classroom lights while they rapped Baa Baa Black Sheep. Oh my goodness we were cracking up it was SO STINKING CUTE! I wish I had a real video camera instead of just my digital (I didn't have enough memory left to record it). Their teacher was sitting with the audience facing the class and directing them and she was getting into the dancing as much as the kids were :) It was great to see that.

Our Cool Cat Abby!

Finally...It's Lucy's Turn!

2010-10-29T22:45:00.005-04:00

For the past 3+ years of her life (ummmm, since she was a month old), Lucy has always attended Max and Abby's class parties at their school. If I went, Lucy was there too. Of course, it wasn't HER party and the snacks weren't for HER. Don't get me wrong, there was always enough for younger siblings to share as well but it just isn't the same when you aren't a part of the class.

Wednesday was different. It was FINALLY, Lucy's turn to have a "party"! I can't tell you how excited she was when I told her that she was going to get to wear her Halloween costume to school to walk in a parade THEN she was going back to her classroom for a party! Her excitement involved throwing her arms up in the air, dancing around and shouting "Yahoo!"

So I go her dressed in her costume (she has to be THE cutest Snow White I have ever seen) and we headed to school. She almost didn't want me to leave her in the room but I told her I had to go outside and wait on the sidewalk for the parade.

Those 2 year olds (Lucy is the oldest in her class at 3), were SO CUTE! The marched down the sidewalk and the parents were lined up with cameras and video recorders like the paparazzi! The kids got a kick out of it :)

Lucy on the other hand didn't crack a smile. Nope. Not my kid. She had her finger in her mouth most of the time and wouldn't look up at me either. She didn't wave like she said she would on the way to school. Lucy will talk a good game but the moment she's in the spotlight she's like a turtle crawling into her shell.

This is Lucy during the parade. No "Yahoo's" going on here!

Yes, Snow White is sporting green crocs :)

This was the photo op after the parade.

"Now where did those silly dwarfs go off too?"

Immediately after the parade we all headed back to the classroom for their Fall Party. It consisted of Cheez-its, fig newtons, and grapes with juice boxes. By 10am all the parents were heading out so the class could get on with their day. Lucy wasn't too sure she wanted me to leave again. She didn't talk at all except to say "candy corn" when I pointed to her napkin and asked her what was on it.

She has spoken exactly 3 words to her teachers since her first day of school almost 2 months ago. She won't talk to me either when we are in the classroom together. Abby was a lot like this when she was in the 2 year old class so we are hoping she'll snap out of it soon. I keep trying to reassure Lucy that it is okay to talk to her teachers and her classmates. They want to play with her and see how smart she is. I guess it'll come sooner or later. I have told her teachers to watch out once she does start talking because she won't stop! They are looking forward to that day (be careful what you wish for...)

She refused to look at me even after I said her name about 50 times!

I moved to the other side of the table to get her to look at me.

Yes, she is picking Cheez-its out of her teeth...

aaahhh such a classy southern girl we are raising, I know :)

So now Lucy has had her first official "school" party. My baby is growing up so fast. I look at Ruby (another baby that is growing up WAY too fast...don't wanna talk about it :P ) and I think how Lucy was "just" that little.

I'm not ready for all this, but I am excited about it at the same time. I can't wait to see what amazing things these kids of mine are destined for but I don't want it to come too fast. What does God have planned for them? I just pray that John and I are able to do our parts in getting them where God wants them to be.

*** Sorry if this doesn't look very neat. Blogger wouldn't leave the spacing between my paragraphs the way I saved them. Tried ten times to edit and it kept posting the way it looks now..grrrrrrr....

The "Tooth" About Abby...

2010-10-26T07:20:00.003-04:00

Alright, alright...call me cheesy, corny, lame for the title :) It's tough being creative when you're running on 5 hours of sleep in two days!

While we were in Charlotte this weekend (went up to visit John's parents and brother and my family), Abby developed a toothache. Abby is a very dramatic child (total understatement!) so whenever she gets a mild ache she acts as if 911 should be called. I'm sure there are many starngers out there that have witnessed Abby in "pain" and think I am a horrible parent for not rushing her to the ER at that moment. Because of Abby's flair for the dramatic we have developed the "less (attention) is best" philosophy...once we have determined it isn't serious of course.

Yeah, I know, get back on track...

Abby's toothache progressed to the point where she was in pretty bad shape. We got home Sunday night and by the time she got changed and in the bed it was 9:00. I gave her an ice pack for her cheek and she went to sleep. She was up at midnight in lots of pain and I brought her downstairs and laid her on the couch. I was already up because I was coughing and couldn't breathe. I gave her another ice pack and let her watch some tv to help take her mind off of it and hopefully lull her to sleep. NOPE. She was up the rest of the night and didn't fall asleep until about 5am and that was only for an hour.

Needless to say I kept her home from school and planned to put in a call to her dentist as soon as they opened.

Just so happened her dentist is out of the office for the week and the dentist that was on call for him is a 45 minute drive away. I could have called a different dentist but since Abby has had some extensive dental work done and this problem was either due to the spacer in her mouth (bottom left molar was removed) or one of the teeth next to the spacer. She also had a small "bump" on her gum right above her top front tooth (that she has a filling in). So we got an appointment with the dentist that we knew would be in contact with hers.

She was miserable most of the day and any time she tried to eat something it would start hurting. I was trying to keep Motrin in her to help with the pain. Getting her Halloween costume helped distract her from it for a little while. Her app't was at 3 and although I was able to arrange for Max to go to his friend's house right off the bus I still had Lucy and Ruby with me...;p

God definitely answered our prayers yesterday because as it turned out the spacer was loose and it was rubbing into and therefore irritating her gums. The dentist was able to remove the spacer easily (although Abby cried and wanted her daddy! I know it had to hurt since she was already in pain) and gave it to us to take back to her dentist to have adjusted and put back in. She has to have it until her 6 year molar comes in. We were so happy that it was an easy problem to fix and that it wasn't actually a tooth that needed a root canal. That would be 3 in one year and NOT GOOD!

My relief was almost short-lived however when the dentist told me that the "bump" on Abby's top gum was in fact an abcess on her tooth! The good news is that it is draining on it's own which is why it isn't bothering her :) Because it is taking care of itself we didn't need to get an antibiotic :)

Abby is still in some pain, her gums around the spacer are probably still tender, so I am keepiing her on Motrin for another day but she was able to go back to school today. She really didn't want to miss her class field trip to the Fire Station!

So I'll call her dentist again this morning and make an appointment for next week. It's time for her cleaning anyway. I am just praying that we can have an uneventful cleaning this time (read...NO CAVITIES!). She brushes her teeth like a champ and still has to deal with all this because of her teeth being so crowded in her mouth. I'm not in a hurry for her to start losing teeth though because we have pretty much been told by her dentist that she WILL be needing braces...like mother like daughter...sorry Abby ;(

Ball Games and Camping and Play Dates...oh my!

2010-10-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was jam packed with stuff to do. John took Max and Abby on their annual camping trip with our neighbor and his son. They don't go far...the KOA on the other side of the highway from our neighborhood :)

They do sleep in tents though and have big campfires and coook out on the grill. The electrical outlet that supplies the power for the portable Sirius satellite radio to hear the college football games? Doesn't exactly qualify as "roughing it" but we'll give them that much :)

Anyway, I took the kids to the campsite to meet John there since he had to come straight from work and get the tent set up before it started getting dark. Once it was up and they started talking about getting dinner going, Lucy and Ruby and I hightailed it out of there and went to get some dinner of our own. Fast food, yes, but it was to help Lucy not feel so bad that she wouldn't be getting to sleep in the tent and the "campsite". Are you kidding? John would get a ticket for her breaking the noise ordinance if she started her scraming in the middle of the night!

Anyway, Saturday morning Abby had a soccer game at 9 and Max had a football game at 10. The "little girls" and I met them at the field. Afterwards we got some Chick-fil-a for lunch and John wanted to eat lunch at home so he could get a shower (once again, a reason they stay just across the street).

When John was ready he took Max and Lucy back to the campsite (Lucy was just hanging out for the afternoon). Abby had been invited to a "Getting to Know the Girls in the Class" playdate from one of the girls in her class from 2-4. I took her to that where she had an AWESOME time on the jump castle, decorating her own little pumpkin, having cupcakes, and just screeching like a girl...and then back to the campground where Ruby and I hung out for about 45 minutes then loaded up with Lucy, picked up dinner, and headed home.

Lucy was really upset that she wasn't staying the night at the campground again so I asked her if she wanted to sleep in my bed with me. She was so excited. We snuggled together and were watching tv when about 20 minutes later she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm tired. Will you put me back in my bed?"...so much for the slumber party :) As I laid her down in her bed she snuggled in and got "cozy" (as she calls it). I gave her a kiss and she looked up and said, "Get a good night's sleep mommy".

The campers made it back home at about 10ish. Tired, happy, and smelling like campfire smoke (not my favorite part of their trips...the stinky laundry). Showers were had, lunch eaten, and a quiet lazy day. John and I had originally planned to hit the pumpkin patch that afternoon but due to the state of exhaustion...there would have been meltdowns for sure!

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of any of the events :( I wasn't at the campsite long enough to take any and even if John had the camera...he's just to busy to think about taking any ;p

Lucy swears she's sleeping at the campsite next year...I think John's going to need a much bigger tent :) He promised her he'd do a practice "campout" with her in the backyard soon...

The Great Gum Wars...

2010-10-18T01:00:00.002-04:00

I'm sure you've heard of it. Many of you have probably fought in this war yourself or with your child. It's a sticky situation for sure (get it? sticky? gum? Haha! I crack myself up).

Anyway, it wasn't until last year that I even LET my kids chew gum (only sugarless mind you) because their DENTIST (of all people) told me...in front of the kids...that it would actually be a good idea to let them chew sugarless gum. Well then, being the rule follower that I am, and the fact that my kids HEARD him say that (of all times for them to actually listen to someone) I let them chew gum.

I set the ground rules first:
1. Keep it in your mouth.
2. DO NOT SWALLOW.
3. Wrap it in a tissue or piece of paper when you are done.
4. Throw trash in the trash can
5. Refer back to #1 and DO NOT GET IT IN YOUR HAIR!
6. Oh yeah, don't chew it with your mouth open or smack it because that really drives Mommy NUTS!

Fast forward to last Monday. Lucy's treat when I pick her up from school is a piece of gum. She asked for a piece when we got in the van on Monday and was happily chewing away...like a cow mind you...she hasn't quite mastered rule #6 yet ;p #'s 1 & 2 are hit and miss, but she's always been really good about #'s 3 & 4.

Anyway, we had to make a stop and during this time she asked for a snack. I had forgotten about the gum she already had (non-stop repetition of the same 5 Veggie Tales songs on 1 cd kinda makes me lose my marbles a little) so I gave her one...a snack that is.

We got home and I reached back to unbuckle her straps on her car seat. As she is trying to get down she starts fussing that her hair is stuck. It has gotten tangled in the chest buckle before so I reached back and was able to get her loose. When I brought the hair forward however I saw it...the arch nemesis of long hair (second only to lice...PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE don't ever make us fight THAT war!)...a big ole wad of bright pink (watermelon flavored if you were wondering) gum all tangled up in her pretty blond tresses! I was horrified and did the only thing I thought I could do at that moment...I whipped out my phone and called my hairdresser! She wasn't working that day and the other hairdresser was booked solid...YIKES! I was told to try rubbing ice on it to get it out...it only made it worse.

I tried combing it out and her hair is so fine and flyaway that it only made matters worse. I broke my heart but the only other thing left was to get out the scissors. The gum had a death grip on a pretty long stretch of hair so I held it in my hand...closed my eyes (no, not really)...and did something I never planned to do (myself anyway) until AT LEAST next year...I cut of a hunk of my baby girl's hair...several inches long. I couldn't let her go for the rest of the day that way (her appointment was set for 10am Tuesday) so I had to go all the way around. She was upset and wouldn't keep her head still so it was just a tiny bit lopsided.

On Tuesday we headed to see Ms. "J" and she "cleaned it up a bit" for us. Lucy wasn't too thrilled t be standing there (she refused to sit down). Ms. "J" even gave her a mini candy bar to eat while she stood there. It completely melted in her hand because she wouldn't eat it.

Does this look like the face of a girl excited to be getting a haircut?

A smile just wasn't gonna happen!

We left and I wanted to get another picture of her hair. She stopped at the van door and finally smiled for me. I think she decided she liked her hair...she just wasn't telling anyone :)

Here's a little smile...

COMPARISON...

BEFORE (taken on her birthday)

AFTER

Wanna know something funny? Lucy actually asked me on the way to get her haircut if she could have a piece of gum! I laughed and told her no. She asked why and I said...just look at your hair Lucy. She said, "Oh yeah, I forgot!"

A Happy Birthday Thank You Note...

2010-10-12T14:33:00.002-04:00

Dear Jack and Charlotte,
Thirty-nine years ago today you brought into this world an incredible gift...your fourth child, your third son (sometimes the "GOOD" son :) ). I want to thank you for raising and loving that child and creating such an incredible man.
You raised him to love, to laugh, be kind and honest. You raised him to understand the value of hard work and to put no less than his best into it. You raised him to love God and honor Him. You raised him with a good example of how to be a husband and father and how to take care of his family. You raised him to love the outdoors and to LOVE TO EAT (no more rice and jello for him)!!!!!
Long ago, God chose John to be your son. To raise and to love and to cherish and to protect and to teach. Long ago, God also knew that John would grow into a strong, loving man because of the parents He chose for him. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. God chose for John to be my husband. I thank God for that everyday.
John is a wonderful husband and a terrific father who strives to teach his children good moral values and character and how to love God...just like he was taught as a boy.
Jack and Charlotte, I wanted to thank you today, on John's birthday for being his parents and helping to shape him into the man he is today.

Love, Staci

Happy Birthday John...You are so loved

The fourth child with his fourth child :)

Up, Up, and Away!

2010-10-11T08:30:00.000-04:00

ALTERNATELY TITLED... John's Birthday present...

John's birthday is Tuesday. I was trying to come up with a present that I knew he would LOVE, would remember for a very long time, and would be something that would suit his personality.

John's dream job would be to take flying lessons to become a pilot and then own his own air charter service. He LOVES the ocean/beaches, golf, lighthouses, and flying. What better gift than to take him up in a small 4 seater plane for an aerial tour of Charleston?

I found an aerial tour service online called Flying High Over Charleston. For an awesome price I got John and I the 70 minute-70 mile tour which covered about 40 miles of coastline, the historical downtown area, lighthouses, down to Kiawah over the famous Ocean Course, and various other sights.

I was able to keep the secret from him for a whole week :) I had arranged for my parents (you are so awesome mom and dad) to watch the kids for a big chunk of the day and just told John we would do something together to celebrate his birthday.

So my mom and sister Mallory came to Max's football game Saturday morning and then took all 4 kiddos back with them to my parent's house. John and I came home for a few minutes then headed to lunch.

We went to a new pub in the area called, O'Brions Pub. It fit the bill perfectly because they had big flat screen t.v.s covering every wall! One of the employees came over and asked John which game he wanted top watch and changed the channel on the tv above our booth to...what else...the Wolfpack game :) Oh well, it was his birthday lunch...I wasn't going to complain that he had his eyes on the tv the whole time! We had an AWESOME lunch then I told him I had something in mind for us to do but I wasn't going to tell him what it was. We paid the check and headed out. John kept asking where we were going but I wouldn't tell him. At one point he asked if we were going flying and I stuttered to recover, I couldn't believe he asked that!

As I got off the exit to head to the airport he kept asking where we were going and what we were going to do. I told him we were going to watch planes take off...he was actually okay with that. When I turned into the building for the charter service though he started asking questions again. Finally, I pulled into the parking space, turned off the car and looked at him. He had this questioning look and a funny grin on his face and I told him he was going flying. At first I don't think he believed me then he was like, "REALLY?????". We got out of the car and went in the building to check in and as we sat in the lobby area and looked out the huge glass windows at the (incredibly too small) planes I think it started dawning on him that it was real :)

Finally, our pilot, Jim, came over and introduced himself and once we walked outside it finally hit John that this was really happening. Jim was talking to us about the plane and his experience. I got into the back seat (it was a 4 seater) and as I was sitting back there I was looking out the window at John standing next to the plane listening to the pilot. He could not wipe the silly little boy excited grin off his face :)

I told John to sit next to the pilot up front because he was going to get a chance to take the controls during the flight. Part of him wanted to sit in the back with me but the biggest part REALLY wanted to fly the plane...I didn't mind...him taking the controls was one of the selling points of the tour for me.

Jim went over all the dials and gadgets with John and we got our headsets on and were on our way!

John and I in front of the plane...it's REALLY that small!

My handsome co-pilot. Can you tell how excited he was :)

I got this shot for Max. The C-17's at the Charleston AFB

John couldn't wipe the silly grin off his face. He was so cute!

Flying over/around/near the Ashley River

Flying over The Citadel...check out the cool red and white checkerboard courtyards!

Johnson Hagood Stadium (The Citadel).

There was a football game going on and we circled the stadium

One of the diamonds of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge

connecting downtown Charleston with Mount Pleasant

Double Diamonds

Slightly blurry view of the USS Yorktown (aircraft carrier) at Patriot's Point

USS Yorktown

Right over the top of the Yorktown...can you count the jets?

A view of Downtown Charleston and Rainbow Row

Morris Island Lighthouse

Morris Island Lighthouse again...

John took the controls and was flying the plane at this point.

Flying over Kiawah Island and part of the Ocean Course golf course.

Okay folks, remember when I mentioned the AWESOME lunch John and I had at O'Brion's pub? Yeah, well, this is where I lost it ;p It wasn't my best moment and I really didn't think I'd get motion/air sick but it happened. Thankfully Jim had showed me where the air sickness bag was before we took off!

John was so worried about me and I know he would have told the pilot to head back to the airport if I wanted him to but I was determined to let him have the whole time in the air...do I love my husband or what?... I ended up losing it...literally...throughout the rest of the flight.

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter again

The Lighthouse at Sullivan's Island.

John proposed to me on the beach at Sullivan's Island

The Mount Pleasant airport in the middle. Our neighborhood is right there to the left.

Once we left Sullivan's Island I spotted the Mount Pleasant Regional airport, which is next to our neighborhood. Jim asked us if we wanted to fly over our house. We said yes so Jim contacted the airport and requested permission. I handed John the camera because I was a little too queasy to be taking pictures.

Our street. Jim circled our house while John shot some pics of it.

Our street/neighborhood/house.

It was funny because I could see our van parked in the driveway :) Then it made me nauseous to look down so I stopped ;p

Another shot

A final shot before heading back.

Once we got back to the airport we hung out for a few minutes for me to get my bearings. Then we headed back to our house to rest for a little bit (well, for ME to rest). We headed back up to my parent's house at about 4:30 to get the kids and my mom ordered pizza to celebrate John's birthday. They had also made him a chocolate chip cookie cake. Needless to say I DID NOT eat any pizza :) but we had a great day!
From the moment we got off the plane, besides worrying about me, John kept telling me thank you and that he was sorry I got sick and that he felt guilty because he didn't :) I told him that I was sorry I did because that wasn't what I wanted him to remember about the trip. I can't remember how many times he grinned at me and thanked me.

He works so hard to take care of his family and he doesn't have a lot of free time to do things for himself. I am so glad that I was able to do this for him and that I kept the surprise for as long as I did! :) I know he will always remember this birthday and it really made me excited to see that silly grin on his face all day :)

Hilton Head...with LOTS of pictures :)

2010-10-08T10:00:00.002-04:00

John's parents have a time share thing at Hilton Head and this year they were going to be there over Labor Day weekend and that week following. They were wonderful enough to let John and I take the kids there for the weekend so we could have a little mini-vacation.

We had a great time! The kids L.O.V.E.D. the swimming pool right downstairs. I have to say it was nice being able to just put on the bathing suits, grab a towel and the sunscreen and walk down to the pool. Not having to load a bunch of toys/snacks/drinks/etc was a nice treat :)

We got down there late Saturday afternoon and once we got the car unloaded John and Max, Abby, and Lucy changed and headed down to the pool so I could put Ruby down for a nap (she refused to sleep in the car) and make tacos for dinner.

After dinner we got everyone settled in for the night.

The next day we got up and, of course, the kids kept bugging John to take them down to the pool! So that's what we did. I had Ruby all set for her first trip to the pool in her very first and brand new bathing suit, but just as we were walking out the door it started raining so she and I stayed in until it cleared. After a few minutes we headed down and she wasn't quite sure what to think of it. She didn't like the cold water AT ALL! Once she got used to it she was okay but she's not quite a water baby yet :)

Our 3 bathing beauties!

Abby and Lucy were being goofy but it was a good one of Ruby

Finally got Abby and Lucy now Ruby is plugged up :)

What a cutie :) Yeah, the baby too!

Abby really got into swimming with her face in the water...

swimming lessons are in her near future

I know I have posted this pic before but she is just SO cute :)

We headed upstairs for lunch then got dressed and drove to Sea Pines to check out the lighthouse. We walked up to the top of the lighhouse and for once...got someone to take a picture of all 6 of us together!

Yep, there we are...all 6 of us!

The kids also had a blast playing on the playground at Sea Pines. We ended up there a couple of times that day :)

This was up in a big tree.

The Bailey Monkeys :)

They only went down this slide about 500 times!

Mommy isn't usually on this side of the camera!

Standing on a tree branch...Tarzan and his son :)

We headed over to the beach as well and the kids did a quick change into their bathing suits and played in the ocean for about 30 minutes before we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up.

Ruby's not too fond of the ocean...her first time!

"Ahhhhhh....much better Daddy!"

"Aaaaaaaack! It's cold!"

Max enjoying the ocean!

After a bike ride for John (the kids were worn out and didn't want to go) we headed back to Sea Pines for a mediocre yet ridiculously overpriced seafood meal. It wasn't the highlight of the trip by any means!

After dinner we had to play at the playground again before heading back and heading to bed.

Daddy and Abby...Daddy's acting goofy!

This playground gets a "Two Thumbs-Up" from Max!

"The Boys"

Lucy didn't want to pose...she just wanted to SLIDE!

This is Abby on the swing...sorry, flash didn't work.

A moment of sweetness...it was a brief moment but there nonetheless!

Bring on the cheese Lucy!

Monday was more of the pool and in the afternoon Grandma and Grandpa came down to spend the rest of the week. We had some enormous (but yummy) sandwiches (again...overpriced) from a sandwich shop for lunch then loaded up and headed home.

Other than spending waaaaaaaaaay too much money for food we had a great time and are so grateful to John's parents for letting us have a couple of days at the condo :) I know the kids wish we could have a pool now that they can just walk out the door and jump into...keep wishing kiddos :)

Making God Smile

2010-10-06T14:13:00.004-04:00

I just had to post this so I would remember it.

Lucy L.O.V.E.S. to color, draw, paint, doodle, write...you name it.

She has been bringing home several "pieces of art" from school the past couple of weeks. Each time I have asked her what it is a picture of (after I tell her how beautiful it is of course) and she has told me, "It's God mommy".

A 3 year old's artistic interpretation of God is quite interesting :)

Anyway, I picked Lucy up from school today and she had a beautiful purple and blue fingerpainting in her folder. I asked her what it was a picture of and I got the standard, "It's God mommy". I said, "Wow Lucy, you really like drawing pictures of God don't you?"

Her response, I believe, made God smile...

"Yes I do mommy because He's a nice boy!"

I will point to Lucy's heart and ask her, "what's in here?" Instead of saying her heart she replies, "I have God and Jesus in my heart mommy". John and I are truly blessed :) She has also said that although she doesn't share her "Bobby" at night with God, she has a stuffed animal in her bed "for God and Jesus to share".

We're As Happy As Can Be That Lucy is 3!

2010-10-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

In my attempts to catch up the blog, I am going to begin with a very important event last month. Our little Lucy Goosey turned 3 years old! Her birthday was the 16th and yes I am just posting this now.

Dear Lucy,

Happy 3rd birthday to my sweet and stubborn third child who happens to look just like me. You are full of life and I am so proud to be your mama. Although a lot of people may not know this (because you won't talk to them!) but you are quite the little conversationalist. We carry on some of the most interesting conversations and I can understand every word and you certainly throw some zingers in there :) Talking to you is like talking to a big kid most of the time. Some of the things you say that make me laugh...

"extra-case I need it" (Just in case)

" Mommy, I look stylish!"

"No mommy, I wanna do that for real life"

"Mommy, I'm serious!"

"Mommy, I'm so exciting about that!" (she means "excited")

You love to cock your head to the side and bat your long eyelashes or roll your eyes at me when you think I have done or said something silly. You make the silliest faces...especially when I am trying to take your picture :)

You love to sing and dance with your big sister and are quite loud and wild about it at times. I love it when we turn on the radio and a song that you like comes on...you start shaking your hips and your head and walk around just a be-bopping to the music. You LOVE listening to Reba songs on the radio.

Coloring is your favorite past-time right now, along with bugging your brother and older sister :) You have adapted to a lot of changes over the past year (some took longer than others to adapt to). You moved into a big girl bed and into a different room that you share with Abby. You have given up your "pappy" (pacifier) AND started potty training. As if that wasn't enough...mommy and daddy went and turned you into a BIG SISTER! You love your baby sister Ruby and you are very helpful and gentle (MOST of the time) with her. You also started your first year of preschool this year and LOVE it...even though you won't say anything in school and your teachers REALLY want to hear your voice :)

You still take naps on most days. You get up so early in the morning that you tend to be a bear in the afternoons if you don't get a morning nap. You nap in the morning otherwise you'd NEVER go to sleep at night! You still wake up screaming in the middle of the night and won't stop unless I pick you up and hold you for a minute or two. I wouldn't be sad if you grew out of that REALLY SOON!

This year you also went to your very first amusement park. When we went to Indiana in June we got to go to Holiday World. You had a blast! You rode on the big carousel, a mini "Puppy dog" roller coaster, a mini train, the flying birds, and the "Turkey Whirl"...which was the least favorite because you keep reminding me you didn't like it. You also liked playing in the water park. It was a fun day and since you still talk about it (and talk about what you want to do when we go back "next time") I gather you'll remember it for awhile!

Oh my goodness child...you are the "SNACKING QUEEN!!!!!" For your birthday party you decided you wanted to have your favorite snacks. You requested animal crackers, goldfish crackers, pretzels, chips, juice, and of course your Dora the Explorer birthday cake. Funny thing is, you didn't really eat any of it :)

You LOVE books and will "read" stories to yourself or your Bobby all the time. You can count to 20 without a problem (and beyond if I remind you that 15 does not come after 20). You can say your ABC's, you know your colors, and you can spell Lucy, Ruby, Abby, Daddy, John, Max, Mommy, Staci, Nana, and Papa. You have a love/hate relationship with cleaning up. Some times I can ask you to pick up a couple of toys and you end up picking up the whole downstairs...other times I have a fight on my hands to get you to put your shoes away...that's you though...

...Sweet as sugar one moment and a stubborn stinker the next.

Okay, enough for now. I love you my little monkey and I can't wait to see what new and exciting things you'll be doing this coming year.

Love you,

Mommy

Here are a few pics of Lucy from this year and her birthday party we had this weekend. She wanted her party at the "Big Toy" like Max and Abby have had in the past. She had about 3 of her "new" friends from her preschool class and family friends Henry and Mark. Nana and Grandma and Grandpa were also there. Lucy had a great time going down the big slide about a bajillion times!

Ruby and Lucy...A happy sister moment :)

Lucy at her party...she was embarrassed that people were singing Happy Birthday to her!

Anxiously awaiting CAKE TIME!

Dora birthday cake I made...that's a yellow candle in Dora's belly button area :)

"I surrender!"

The end of the day at Holiday World...SO glad we rented the wagon!

"Mommy, I'm just so 'exciting'"!

Playing dress up with Abby and her baby dolls.

When Lucy says "cheese" she really means it :)

First day of preschool...wouldn't look at the camera.

First day of preschool...what a goof!

Hey Lucy, can we get a little wine with all that cheese? :)

At the playground at Hilton Head...cutie patootie!

The only picture she'd let me take of her on her ACTUAL birthday.

She wouldn't let me take another one after her hair got brushed...sigh...

A Week?

2010-09-22T15:02:00.004-04:00

Has it already been a week since my last post?

Dang.

I had such high hopes for getting caught up and keeping up with the blogging...I've lost such hope for the piles of laundry that seem to be multiplying in my room like rabbits...grrrrr.

I have been jotting down ideas for posts but I haven't had the time to sit down and type any of them out...

Between school, house cleaning, cooking, cleaning some more, feeding/changing/playing with Ruby, cleaning again, swimming for Max, football for Max, soccer for Abby, homework, baths, bedtimes, lunch making, cleaning AGAIN!...I just haven't carved out the time to do it.

No more, I am going to sit down and do some posts...my goal is to do at least one tonight...I wouldn't hold your breath though...just in case :)

Highlights of what's to come...

Hilton Head weekend

Lucy turns 3!

Lucy goes to school!

Sports

Root Canal...for me...second one this year :/

T.V. vacation

Ruby's "new" scoot...too cute but I have to get her on video first.

Anniversaries

Okay, since you might be having some Ruby withdrawal...because face it, the girl is cute...and Max and Abby and Lucy (also quite cute) have given me some good pics lately...I'll grant you one of each :) I know, I'm nice like that...

Max...he had to set up the pose first :) What a ham!

Abby...is that water a little too cold?

Lucy... a ray of sunshine :)

She is sporting her "stylish" (her words not mine) new rain boots she got from Nana and Papa for her birthday...wore them everywhere for two days...hasn't rained yet :P

Ruby...couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?

9 years...

2010-09-15T07:35:00.006-04:00

I have been away from the blog for too long! I haven't wanted to be but life happens sometimes. We have been really busy around here for the past few weeks and I have a whole slew of ideas for posts but I just haven't had the time to sit down and type...also, I havebeen in severe pain since Sunday due to a tooth that I had to have a root canal on yesterday. it was pressing on the nerve in my jaw...

Anyway, as my first post since my unintended self-imposed blogging hiatus...

9 years ago today...

I married the best blind date ever!

We have driven each other crazy and held on tight to each other.

We laugh and yell and smile and cry together.

We have created a beautiful family together (they tend to drive us crazy at times too)!

I cook for him and he loves to eat :)

It hasn't always been easy but our faith and love for God and each other keeps us going even through the tough times.

He has a good heart, loving/silly spirit, a curious nature, and a good moral character.

He works hard for his family.

The fact that he is incredibly handsome?...just a side benefit :)

Happy Anniversary John! I love you and I hope we have at least 90 more years together :)

I'm Here!

2010-09-04T09:10:00.002-04:00

Sorry everyone. After having such a good week last week with the blogging I kinda fell into a pit this week. John has been working late 2 nights a week and soccer practice and football practice got into full swing this week. I had a committee meeting Wednesday night for my 20th high school reunion (YIKES! 20 years? Seriously?) and then I took Lucy to meet her preschool teacher on Thursday (more on that to come). Also, I have been working on getting organized for my parents 40th anniversary (more to come on that as well).

We are having a family weekend this weekend so I will post "hopefully" Monday night.

Have an awesome weekend!

Bring On the Country...Music that is!

2010-08-27T08:12:00.003-04:00

Ruby may be a rockin' and rollin' baby but her mama is a little bit country.

Yes, I admit, I love country music. Always have and more than likely I always will. If that means you can't like me anymore and will never read my blog again then...I'll miss you :)

I do love me some oldies music too. I have hijacked John's ipod that I got him for Christmas and put on quite a few "oldies but goodies". I MAY be getting my own ipod this Christmas so he can delete my songs from his ipod :)

I grew up listening to my parents play country music and 50's and 60's stuff too so it makes sense I like the stuff...I have heard it enough I know the words to it :) I was bummed one day though when I was listening to an "Oldies" station and heard an 80's song...ummmmm, excuse me? It HAD to be a mistake!!!

Well, if you have been on my blog page long enough to hear any of the music you'll notice I have "It Won't Be Like This for Long" sung by Darius Rucker. I really like his voice and the fact that he is from this area makes me a bigger fan. The fact that he went country just sealed the deal :)

Yesterday I was on FaceBook and noticed that some of my friends had posted a link to his new video for his song "Come Back Song". It is filmed here in Charleston, SC. If this video couldn't serve as a way to bring tourists to the area then I don't know what could.

Here's the link that will take you directly to the video on the CMT website...check it out!

I have to say though. If this was filmed in the summer then poor Darius had to be on the verge of melting in those jeans and long sleeve shirt!

It's All About Rockin' and Rollin'

2010-08-26T10:15:00.003-04:00

Alternately Titled..."Doin' Things Her Own Way"

Having my 4th baby I thought I knew what I could expect. Max, Abby, and Lucy all did the same things at around the same age (give or take 2-3 weeks).

Max got teeth right before he turned 7 months. He NEVER fussed during teething and he would get teeth 2 at a time. He never cut just 1 tooth. Once he got 4 on the same day. Seriously, he never fussed and only ran a low grade fever for a couple of days about a week before his first 2 teeth came in. After that, I only knew he had more teeth when he would open his mouth and I would see them in there.

Abby came along and screamed/cried/fussed/drooled her way through every single tooth. Lucy was about the same and they both cut their first teeth between 7-8 months.

Max never really crawled but he scooted his way around (by dragging himself around the house on his belly and using his arms to move). He was FAST too! If he did get up on his hands and knees to crawl he would always drag his right leg behind him. He never did get the hang of it :)

Abby and Lucy scooted for a little while then hit the crawling stage.

They were all sitting up between 7-8 months and it didn't take long after before they would go from lying on the floor to sitting themselves up.

They were pulling up on furniture and standing between 10-11 months and they each walked on their own days before their first birthday. Abby actually walked ON her first birthday.

When Ruby came along I figured it would be similar...

HA!

The only thing she's done so far that is like the other 3 is that she was rolling over and smiling at about the same time they did and had really good head and neck control from VERY early on.

She is now at about 8 1/2 months and other than a couple of days of fever last week and the incessant drooling and chewing, I haven't seen any indication of a tooth being ready to break through those pink little gums!

She JUST started sitting up for any length of time on her own (without falling over within seconds) about a week or so ago. She has no desire when she is lying down to attempt to sit up on her own. As a matter of fact, when I do have her sitting up and she purposely falls over to lay down, she gets the biggest grin on her face like she's saying, "Ahhhhh yes, now that's more like it"!

I don't think this child will EVER scoot around the floor like her brothers and sisters did. She has no interest in draggin' herself across the floor to get what she wants. She has just decided to be different and has developed her own unique way of moving around the floor.

She rolls and then will use her foot to twist her body into a new direction and then roll a little further, then twist her body again...the process continues until she gets where she wants to go.

Now, if something is just out of her reach? She kind of rocks and rolls her body back and forth and strrrrreeeeetches her arms, torso, and legs as much as she can to reach for the object. If she still comes up short then she rocks and rolls some more then stretches again (lather rinse repeat the process) until she has it in her tiny little hands.

Well, here. I got some video of the process this morning. Watch and see for yourself. She is bucking the system and doing things her own way. Way to be your own person Ruby!

You didn't get to see it on tape but she did eventually get the paci!

So who knows? She may cut all of her teeth at once next week and just get up off the floor and walk across the room. Or, she may just be a laid back kid and figure, "Huh, what's the rush? I'll get to it eventually."

"Mr. Sandman, Bring Me..."

2010-08-25T09:39:00.009-04:00

...the Lego set of my dreams!

Max L.O.V.E.S. Legos. His favorite website to go to is the Lego website where he plays games and searches for the best lego sets. He likes to find pictures of things others have created with Legos and will try to copy it with his own legos (future engineer maybe?)

The boy eats, sleeps, and poops legos. Well, no, that was Lucy that pooped a lego but it was a tiny one and in her defense she thought it was a Nerd (the candy) because it was that tiny and it was red and round. How do I know? I found it when I changed her pull-up one day...nice, I know ;p

One day, Max was upset because he had "accidentally" clicked on something on the Lego site and he thought he had ordered something. I reassured him for the 100th time that unless he types in our address and a credit card number, we won't have any surprise Lego deliveries (and for the 99th time I asked him why he keeps clicking on that stuff if he thinks he shouldn't...hmmmmmm).

Anyway, it was an order form for a free catalog. I went ahead and requested one for him. The day that catalog came in the mail will probably go down in history as one of the best days of his life! He carries that thing around like it's gold. He even falls asleep reading it.

"Forget a bedtime story mom, can you read me all the captions?"

Anyway, Max's passion for all things Star Wars right now fits nicely with his lego obsession. He wants all the Star Wars Lego sets as well as other "non -Star Wars" related sets.

Last year for Christmas, Santa brought him the Lego City Police Headquarters set.

It is 953 pieces of Lego action fun I tell ya! Added to the hundreds of other pieces he already had and the hundreds more he has received since then, the boy has Legos all over the place!

He wants more Legos for Christmas this year. Once I informed him that he would NOT be getting THIS set (Star Wars Death Star set)...

...featuring 3,803 pieces of Lego fun and retailing for a mere $399.99...

he decided to set his sights a little lower and is just requesting THIS...

The Lego City Fire Brigade (ONLY 2, 231 pieces and retailing at $149.99)...

AND THIS...

I mean come on! What's the point of having a Fire Brigade WITHOUT having a cool 771 piece fire truck to go with it right? It's ONLY $59.99 mom!

Oh dear sweet Max. I love you with everything that I am and I want to give you the world but I have to say...

...Keep dreaming!

Just one of those days...

2010-08-24T11:38:00.003-04:00

You realize it is going to be just "one of those days" when:

...you got up in the morning and threw on some real clothes so you wouldn't embarrass your kids (or yourself) when you walk them to the bus stop.

...after coming home from the bus stop you go on about your morning with your 2 year old and 8 month old.

...during their morning nap you realize you have a small window of time and so you clean up, empty the dishwasher, make your grocery list, sort through your coupons, realize you are out of bathroom cleaner so you add that to your list, and make your bed.

...with moments left of nap time you put your contacts in (the wrong eyes the first time so you have to switch them) and apply your makeup and brush your hair and put the "mom ponytail" back in. As you look in the mirror to assess the final product (that's as good as it's gonna get) and get ready to put the diaper bag together, you see it in the reflection...

...the shower...

...which reminds you...you forgot to take one! At that same moment you hear it...the noise coming from the baby monitor...your 8 month old is awake and now kicking the slats on the crib...grrrrrrr!

...heck with it, you take the world's fastest shower, breaking your all time record and you're just grateful that the migraine you had last night is gone and you don't have anyone walking into the bathroom and opening the shower door to ask you if she can open the shower door when you're done with your shower ;p

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Cartoon for This Important Announcement...

2010-08-20T10:56:00.004-04:00

Hey Everybody...guess what? I gotta tell you something cool...

Oh wait a second...I gotta see which Mous-ka-tool Mickey is going to use this time!

Oh that Donald Duck is so silly!

Oops...you still there? Okay good. Anyway, I wanted to tell you some big news.

Actually, I am showing you right now. Can you tell what it is?

Yep, I'm sitting up ALL BY MYSELF!!!!!

I'm such a big girl...

And I'm so happy about that :)

"The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round..."

2010-08-19T09:27:00.004-04:00

***** UPDATED WITH PICTURE*****

I was able to get a quick shot of Max and Abby getting off the bus yesterday! Fortunately for me they were the first ones off. They were sweaty and tired and grouchy from the heat and overcrowding on the bus (they had to sit on the bus and wait for another one to come to take some of the kids). Abby's cheeks were flushed but she looked up at me with her tired eyes when I asked her if she liked the bus and smiled and said, "That was fun Mommy"!

"Get me off this oversized furnace!"

***Original post***
I did a very hard thing this morning. I let go of my Kindergartner before I was ready.

Max and Abby insisted yesterday that they wanted to start riding the bus to and from school starting today. I had hoped to take them and pick them up this week then let them start riding home next week then the following week they could ride in the mornings too.

They had their own ideas. Abby was so excited to ride the bus this morning and as I put her on the bus she was biting her fingers and I was sure she was going to turn around and latch on to me. Nope, she kept walking up the bus steps.

If it wasn't for Max being right behind her and assuring me that he would sit with her, walk her to her classroom, and look for her to get on the bus this afternoon then she wouldn't be going on the bus.

I guess I have to let go sometime right? Max didn't ride the bus AT ALL his Kindergarten year. Their school shares the buses with the 3-5th graders at the Intermediate school right next door...meaning they are all on the bus at the same time. I didn't want my baby being on the bus with all those big kids!

I FINALLY let him start riding it last year around October...he wouldn't stop begging! Also, the bus driver is AWESOME! Abby and Lucy would sit on the front steps last year and wave to the bus as it came by. The bus driver would always wave to the girls and would say, " Good Morning Princesses" :) Also, whenever she gave the kids on the bus a treat (Halloween, Christmas, End of the Year) she always gave Max two extras to give to the girls...such a sweet sweet lady. We have the same bus driver this year so that was a huge load off my mind!

But...I wasn't ready for Abby to want to go on the bus yet. I'm not ready to let go that much yet.

This morning when I had to let my baby girl go and watched her climb on the bus like the little Miss Independent she's always been...I cried (after she was on the bus and they drove away of course).

John saw me crying when Lucy and I walked back home and gave me a kiss before he left for work. He laughed at me and told Lucy, "Mommy's got issues" :)

Yeah, I'm a dork ;p

I can't believe I forgot my camera. If I can get one of them getting off the bus this afternoon I'll put it on here later. If it weren't for Lucy and Ruby being here I might be sitting at the bus stop all day waiting for them to come home...yep...Dork with a capital "D"!

"Gotta Go Back...Back...Back to School Again!"

2010-08-18T09:34:00.006-04:00

Isn't it amazing how the simplest phrase "Back to School Again" can trigger a song from a movie you watched as a kid? Yeah, Grease 2...NO, my kids haven't seen it.

Anyway, on with my point...

Max and Abby didn't head off to Rydell High this morning but they did head off to Primary school.

On our way to start the day!

Max is a Big Man on Campus this year as a second grader.

Do they have a GQ for boys?

Next year he moves on to the Intermediate School (3rd - 5th grades).

He is in a "cottage" this year..."cottage" is a fancy term for "trailer" :) The funniest thing though is that the sign on the outside of his cottage to tell you what number it is says it is "Cabana 7"! WOW! He can pretend to be on vacation on a tropical island somewhere :)

Sorry Sorry Sorry this is blurry...it was from a distance and he wouldn't be still!

Abby, my first baby girl, walked into Kindergarten class excited but a little nervous/shy. She has been giddy with excitement for weeks about it and she got to meet her teachers yesterday and see her classroom, but today was real...today, mommy didn't stay with her. She held on extra tight when she hugged me and asked me to stay. I could feel the tears coming (mine...not hers) so I kissed her and told her I had to take Max to his room and that she would have a wonderful day and I'd see her after school...sigh...

"I'm ready mom...let's go already!"

Getting a little nervous...about to walk in the room...

Found her name...and PLAYDOUGH!!!!!

I took them this morning and I'll pick them up after school but they both told me they wanted to start riding the bus tomorrow ;( I had planned to take them for at least a week but they had their own ideas. Oh well...

My two oldest goofballs off to learn and grow and ...mature? Maybe just a little?

Do you think they will still let me take a picture of them on their first day of school when they go off to college? High school at least? Definitely middle school...right?

P.S. Lucy and Ruby declined the photo op this morning. I have warned Lucy that I WILL take her picture on HER first day of preschool...Sept. 8th!

What's wrong with this picture?

2010-08-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Nope, the picture isn't sideways...the baby is! Ruby likes to sit in her swing in the mornings and enjoy a few minutes of Mickey Mouse. I was getting breakfast ready for Abby and when I came back into the living room Ruby was in this position. Notice how her bib stayed in the right direction?

Yes, she is strapped in but I think we may be outgrowing the swing :)

Out of the mouth (and a little off the top) of Abby...

2010-08-16T08:26:00.003-04:00

Abby made me laugh bright and early this morning. When I brought Ruby downsatirs I grabbed about 3 diapers to bring down with me so I'd have them close by during the day. Abby sat next to on the chair and asked why there were 3 diapers sitting there. I told her it was in case I had to change Ruby downstairs.

She looked at me with a serious expression on her face and said, "She only has 1 butt, why do you need 3 diapers?"

Maybe it was because Max got up (and therefore I was up) at 5:30 this morning...I thought it was funny :)

Also, after growing out her hair for a year, Abby decided it was time to get it chopped off again. We went to see Ms. Julia on Saturday and...voila!...Abby is ready to start the school year with a cute new do :)

Poor Baby :(

2010-08-14T17:51:00.002-04:00

Ruby turned 8 months old yesterday! How is she celebrating? By running a fever. I'm thinking it is probably teething issues because she has been chewing on everything she can get her hands on...heck, she's chewing on her hands!

I can't feel anything when I rub her gums or when she bites down on my finger when I try to rub her gums :)

She won't keep her mouth open long enough for me to see anything either. She hasn't been eating too well the past couple of days and isn't finishing her bottles...oh man, I hope it isn't an ear infection ;p

Snack Time!

2010-08-12T09:00:00.003-04:00

*** I was originally typing this post last Friday but a storm rolled in with some crazy thunder and lightning before I could upload the pictures and videos so I am finally getting around to it now. Yeah, I know what you're thinking...slacker!***

Ruby is definitely one of our kids...no doubt about it...

She had a snack today and about went bonkers over it!

After she did so well with the Cheeto the other day at Abby's party I figured she'd do okay with a healthier snack...okay, so it was Cheerios but it is still better than a Cheeto. Well, better FOR her...I mean really, what kid would say a Cheerio tastes better than a Cheeto? NOT one of mine, that's for sure.

Anyway, I broke a few up into quarters and helped her get one in her mouth and she thought it was the better than a clean diaper!

It was so cute to watch her try to chew :) I also let her try out her pincher grasp...needs some work :)

I also gave her some water in a soft spout sippy cup. She is constantly grabbing my water bottle and bringing it to her mouth to drink. I have given her some sips from mine before but since she puts her mouth over the top of the bottle and has been drooling quite a bit as of late I figured it would save me the "ewwwwwwww thanks for the slobber in my water" factor if I just gave her some in a cup.

It cracked me up (and Abby as you can hear on the video) watching her try to get the hang of the cup.

So without further ado...and because a storm is rolling in and my crazy husband wants me to sit on the back porch with him and watch it...here are some videos of Ruby's first snack!...

Under Construction

2010-08-11T08:12:00.002-04:00

I am trying to play around with a header for the blog. Not going as well as I'd hoped so...

"Please excuse our mess as we work to make this blog better!"

The youngest crew member is calling me to get her out of the crib and feed her so the blog construction crew is taking an extended break...be back...when I get a minute :)

In the meantime. Anyone know how I can get the box to disappear from around the header? Since blogger changed the design tab I can't figure out how to get to the colors and be able to get the title box off.

More Excitement

2010-08-10T11:47:00.004-04:00

The excitement never ends around here! I have been in high gear cleaning mode the past couple of days. Yesterday morning at 7:30 I was sitting on my kitchen counter scrubbing my blinds on my kitchen window!

After that I figured I'd go whole hog and clean my oven...or, well, let the oven clean itself but you catch my drift.

I took the racks out and looked at the bottom of the oven. It didn't look nearly as bad as it did the last time I "cleaned" it so I closed the door, flipped the latch, and pressed the "self clean" button. About 20 minutes into it Max walked in the kitchen to talk to me and said, "Mom, why is there a fire in the oven?" I was thinking he was seeing the red heating element at the bottom and was just getting ready to say this as I turned around to look in the oven...

...Uh, my oven was on fire! It wasn't huge and it was contained in the oven but there was definitely flames and they were getting bigger. I turned off the self clean and picked up my cell phone. I told the kids (all of use were still in our pj's) to go out the front door and wait in the front yard for me because had to go upstairs and get Ruby out of her crib.

As I am doing this I am calling 911. Max is freaking out in the open front door calling for me to "GET OUT OF THERE". I am trying to reassure him and talk to the dispatcher at the same time. By the time I get downstairs with Ruby I peek into the kitchen praying it wasn't coming out of the oven but the fire had put itself out. I told the dispatcher this but she said she'd send the fire dep't anyway...I agreed!

We all got outside and waited until the fire truck got there. Max, Abby, and Lucy stayed outside with one of the fire fighters while I took the other two inside. The latch on the oven door was still locked and they said it was more than likely the stuff on the bottom of the oven that had caught fire. She said it should be fine but if something didn't seem right later then to call them back.

All that before 9am...what a way to start the week!

Needless to say, I got a scrub brush and used LOTS of elbow grease to scrub the bottom and sides of the oven before I made our baked potatoes for dinner last night. When I turned the oven on to preheat it I was hoping I'd be able to just bake the potatoes and not turn them into briquettes! Anyone order potatoes flambe?

That will more than likely be the only event that Max and Abby relate to their teachers about what they did over the summer..."Uh, the fire truck had to come to our house because my mom caught the oven on fire and we got to go on the fire truck!" Great...

Checkup time!

2010-08-05T16:11:00.005-04:00

Playing dress up one day...wearing an old pair of Nana's shoes:)

My other little Southern belle Lucy!

Carolina Girls (the best in the world) taking their babies for a stroll...

Abby had her 5 year well check today. Everything was good. She weighed in at 45 pounds and was 44" (3'8'' if it hurts your head to do the math...I already hurt my head doing it so I'll spare you the pain) tall.

Dr. S. said she is growing well and proportionally...that's always nice to hear.

He did prescribe a nasal spray to help alleviate her snoring and loud breathing at night since it is waking her up at times. I told him she was doing the same things Max did when he was little before he had his adenoids and tonsils removed. Hopefully a nasal spray will do the trick for her.

He did ask about her "wheezing" and if she was still having trouble with it. I told him she hasn't had any bad coughing/wheezing episodes in a few months so that was good. The last time I took her in for it the Dr. had suggested she might have asthma. If she does then maybe it is a winter thing that triggers it. We'll definitely explore testing if she develops the cough again.

So Abby is good to go. Before we left I made Lucy's 3 year checkup appointment and Ruby's 9 month appointment. I made them for separate days so I can have Ruby there by herself while Lucy is at school. I couldn't handle it if they were both getting shots in the same appointment!

Abby's Birthday

2010-08-04T11:36:00.004-04:00

As it turned out, the weather was pretty unpredictable on Sunday so in the interest of not getting drenched at the park we made a last minute call and decided to have the party here at the house. John ran to Blockbuster and rented the Barbie and the Three Musketeers movie (that was the theme for the party). Including Abby there were only 6 girls anyway so I called the parents and surprised them with the opportunity to have a couple hours off and told them to drop their little one at the door and be back in two hours!

The girls played for a few minutes then they feasted on a delicious fruit bowl (courtesy of my wonderful dad who made it and my wonderful mom who suggested it and volunteered my dad to make it!) and chips and juice/water while they watched the movie.

We took a break to open presents and sing Happy Birthday and blow out candles. The girls got back into position on the floor to watch more of the movie while we served them cake and ice cream. By the time the cake was done and the movie was just about over, parents began showing up.

Besides Abby's friends, my mom and dad, my sister Mallory, and her boyfriend Dustin came along to celebrate as well.

Abby had a wonderful time and her only complaint was that it had to end!

Here are some pictures from the party and some from her actual birthday which was the 22nd.

Abby and Lucy after the party. Lucy is licking her ring pop.

Abby got a beautiful dress from "Mimi" (my sister). She had to try it on right away...she would have slept in it if I hadn't stopped her :)

What is this incredible deliciousness? Mom...you've been holding out on me!

My dad was holding Ruby and was trying to enjoy a bag of Cheetos. Ruby was doing her best to get the bag away from him so my dad decided to share. Ruby enjoyed her first Cheeto! She actually pitched a nasty fit when she ran out...she had to settle for boring old squash and applesauce.

Abby and her friends...

Please don't look at my messy kitchen...it WAS clean before the party!

My mom, Lucy...the GOOF, and my sister Mallory.

The birthday girl..."Hmmmm...what should I wish for?"

The birthday cake.

Just as I do every year, I made the birthday cake. I bought the cake topper from a bakery at the local grocery store. I was going to try to do icing roses but the day of the party is a little late to teach yourself how to do that! She liked the cake though :)

Abby on her actual birthday. My parents got her a Zhu Zhu pet... his name is Nugget...she was sooooo excited!

My parents came over for a homemade dinner for Abby's birthday. She had requested "chicken bowls" (like the kind from KFC). I make my own chicken nuggets (fresh) and I make my own mashed potatoes. We add the corn and the shredded cheese and the gravy and...voila! Funny thing is, Abby doesn't eat it in a bowl...she eats each part separately.

Blowing out her 5 candles!

I whipped up a batch of cupcakes and some yummy pink butter cream icing so Abby would have something to put candles in. Not quite the same to stick the candles in chicken nuggets :)

New shoes!

Next up for Abby? Kindergarten and soccer!

Did you notice there weren't pictures of Max from the party? He got out of the "girly" party by getting invited to go bowling with his friends :)

Party time!

2010-08-01T11:51:00.001-04:00

We are having Abby's party today :) Will post more with pictures later. We're having it at a park and we have already had a thunderstorm this morning...stay away rain!