I've got it too easy

The past few days, I've been visiting the blogs that are linked on the blogs I regularly read. I've seen photos of the children of people I haven't seen since high school. I've laughed at things other people's children have said and done.

But, I've also had a great realization: I've got it too easy.

I just read that a friend had dental surgery to graft tissue in her mouth.

I watched on one friend's blog as her husband trembled during treatment for cancer.

I followed some links and ended up on the blog of a totally beautiful socialite from Houston who's recovering from a severe outbreak of MRSA in her nose. (It had to be rebuilt with bone from her rib and cartilage from her ear!)

I followed some other links and found the site of a woman with photos of four beautiful daughters, to learn that her youngest lived just a few hours and died while her old sisters cradled her in the hospital.

The past few days, I've cried for people I don't even know. And, I've wondered why I've been so lucky to have it so good.

My children are healthy, despite the occasional bump or bruise (or trip to the emergency room requiring nothing more than Derma Bond). My husband is caring and loving and funny and sweet ... I could go on and on! My family is there when I need them. My career continues to go well, and work continues to be a great outlet for my pent-up creativity (and need for adult conversation, which is really lacking since we moved!).

OK, God is funny! As I typed that last sentence, daycare called to say that Noah's running a fever. But, again, it's just a fever!

Thank you, God, for blessing me and my family. Continue to hold us in your good graces! Amen.

Car Talk

Today's drive into work ...

Mitchell: Mommy, what's a heart attack?

Mommy: Where did you hear that word?

Mitchell: You said it a long time ago when we were watching "Spider Man."

Mommy: Oh, I did?

Mitchell: Yes, what's a heart attack?

I went on to explain the heart's role, what happens when you have a heart attack and even how the heart carries oxygen through your body.

I won't be surprised if a few weeks pass and he asks, "Mommy, what's your circulatory system?"

How big is Noah?

Ask, and he'll show you. (Heck, just look at him and he'll show you and wait for you to ask! He'll even wait for you to say "So Big" in a sing-song voice.)

So Big!

Not to be outdone, Mitchell shows off that he's now tall enough to reach the bartop.

Ham and Cheese Boys

My boys love their ham and cheese! As an easy supper, I keep Lunchables on hand, and last night I gave Noah one of the juniors. This was the first time I've given him something like that, and he was a pro!

I cut the little chunks of ham and little strips of cheese into smaller pieces for Noah, and he ate the whole meal - including the crackers!

Mitchell has been a ham-and-cheese kid for as long as I can remember. He even went through a phase where all he wanted was an H-N-C sandwich -- breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack.

Of course, if I have the camera out, then Mitchell has to make a silly, gross face.

Boy Wonder

Here's a cute picture of Noah that I took the other day in the backyard. I have no clue what he was looking at, and it's always fun to wonder what they're thinking!

Still Sleepless

I posted too early that Noah had started sleeping through the night! The sleeplessness has returned - to him and me.

It's bad enough that Noah is waking up again at least once a night (on a good night). Add to it that I'm not sleeping when he is! I just lie in bed, listening to the ceiling fan (or my Deepak Chopra meditation CD), praying that I'll fall asleep.

This morning I even contemplated watching the full episode of "Law and Order" at 3 a.m.! Hey, it beats listening to the ceiling fan and watching the clock change times!

Pretty Mommy

It's amazing the conversations we have in the car!

I'm en route to daycare the other morning when Mitchell asks me what pretty means.

"I think it's when you look at something and it makes your heart happy," I told him. Then, I went on to say that I think butterflies are pretty.

"I think you're pretty, Mommy," he replies.

I love that boy!

Spelling is F-U-N

Mitchell is learning that letters can be combined together to make words. We have a new game we play in the car. I tell him the letters, one by one, and he makes the sounds and then puts the letters together to make the word.

The other day, we were playing our game, and I told him D-O-G. He made the sounds and put it together to be dog.

Then, he asked for another. I spelled C-A-T. He paused and very deliberately said "Trans-for-mers."

Sleepless Update

Noah has finally started sleeping through the night again. (Either that, or I'm so tired that I don't hear him.)

Actually, I turned up the monitor so I would hear him if he were to wake up. The past few nights he's been sleeping through until morning. This morning, though, he woke up at 4. One bright spot: I got to see a "Law and Order" that was new to me! Luckily he went back down ... and woke back up and went back down ... in time for me to snag another hour of sleep before I had to really get up and moving.

Turkey Money

One of Mitchell's favorite morning rituals is to rifle through Paul's drawer in the bathroom while I'm getting dressed. The drawer is a treasure trove for little boys: The key to the John Deere tractor, sometimes a Leatherman tool, pens and pencils - and change. The latter is the most exciting to Mitchell. He loves to bring me different coins so I can tell him about them. Since they've started minting the state quarters, there's lots to talk about.

This morning, he brought me a Turkish Lira. When I told him it was money from Turkey, he put it in his pocket. I asked if he wanted to bring it for "show and share" at school.

"No," he said. "I'm going to use the Turkey money to buy a turkey sandwich. That's what it's for, turkey sandwiches."

Happy Father's Day

It wouldn't be a family celebration without a trip to the emergency room, and Father's Day proved to be no different.

Paul had left to make a quick run to HEB for some last-minute essentials when Mitchell went running through the breakfast nook and tripped over Noah. He took a hard hit to the chin on the tile floor. I calmed him down, took him to the kitchen and gave him a Spider Man cold pack to use for pain relief/pressure. I changed clothes like a maniac and threw the kids in the car. While attempting to speed down Blanco (it never fails that you're behind the slowest driver when you're in a hurry!), I left a message for Paul to meet us at the ER.

Mitchell was very brave. By the time we made it to the hospital, the bleeding and crying had stopped. We were lucky that he didn't need stitches - just some Dermabond and Steri-Strips.

On the way out of the hospital, Mitchell took Paul's hand and said, "Happy Father's Day, Daddy."

All is right in the world!

(Still) Sleepless in San Antonio

Day 10 of Noah's sleep strike! I apologize now for any misspellings or if I snap at you for no reason whatsoever.

Last night I decided to let him cry it out.

My history with this parenting tactic isn't good. Mitchell cried it out for 8 hours - yes EIGHT - one night. I was sick as a dog, crying in my bedroom and fighting all urges to go in and pick him up.

Noah's crying lasted about 35 minutes when I couldn't take it anymore. I drug myself up the stairs and carried him over to the game room to nurse him. Almost a hour later, he decided it was as good of time as any to play and rolled over to reach for the remote. Back to bed he went with music playing. He cried for as long as it took me to close his bedroom door. THEN HE SLEPT UNTIL 7:30 THIS MORNING!

Now, I know what you're thinking: Why is she so excited that he slept for four hours? Because that's the most straight sleep I've had in more than a week now. And I didn't even get to sleep that whole time - I had to get up and shower so I could function in the real world.

On a happier note: New Kids on the Block tickets go on sale tomorrow! I've put out an email to my girlfriends who I assume loved NKOTB as much as I did to see if we could get a group together to go to the concert. The promoters are smart: They realize that their target audience isn't tweens but instead women ages 28-40 - so they planned the concert for a Friday evening. Yipee! I can sleep it off the next day!

So long, creepy friend

Well, we have (er, had) a new creepy friend lurking in our yard. I snagged a few shots of him lounging on the side of the house and had all intentions of posting him the next day for all to see.

But, then Paul got a bug to do some yard work with his new weed-eater.

Dear Spidey was hanging out in the grass on the side of the house when he met his untimely demise. Paul was very apologetic to me, but we haven't told Mitchell yet. (He assumed the spider was resting in the grass when we saw him last night.)

Sleepless in San Antonio

We're on day 7 of Noah not sleeping through the night.



Actually, we're on day 7 of Noah waking up every 2 hours for 2 hour stretches. He's stayed chipper because he gets to sleep during the day while I'm slaving at the office.


Even my huge daily cup of coffee isn't doing the trick.


I wish I knew what's keeping him awake. It was easy to blame it on the rotovirus and ear infection last week. But, he bounced back quickly from the yucky poos and has been on an antibiotic for the ear. Then, it was easy to blame it on the (formula) hunger strike at the end of last week. (He was nonviolently protesting the daycare ladies feeding him Nutramigen instead of his usual formula - just an extra precaution to get him over whatever bug he had and to eliminate the suspicion that he was having an allergic reaction to his usual formula.) Maybe I could blame it on Miss Judy's vacation.


FYI: Miss Judy is the adorable afternoon lady who just loves Noah - and it's a mutual admiration. He is so happy when Miss Judy is around. I was so glad to see her yesterday afternoon when I picked him up. She even hugged me.


Miss Judy being back yesterday gave me a glimmer of hope that all would be well in Noah's world and that he would sleep through the night once again. I gave him plenty of his favorite foods for supper (carrots, corn, bananas and avocado that he fed himself plus helpful bites from me to ensure he ate enough). I let him play in the grass - and even eat a little as an after dinner snack. I nursed him until he fell asleep (bad Mommy, I know!). Did it work?


NO! He woke up around 12:30 then again at 2:30 and again at 5:30. At least he wasn't awake for 2-hour stretches like before. Last night, he was only awake for about 30 minutes each time. But, I was also awake the whole time, only to come back to bed and spend the next 15-20 minutes trying to fall asleep while Dear Paul snored away in dreamland.



Let's all take a moment to pray that Noah sleeps through this night. Lord knows that Mommy needs it!

He'll kill me later!

Noah may kill me later - but doesn't he look adorable with the little flower behind his ear? (Thank Aunt Teisha for that Sweetie, not Mommy.)

Reunion

This weekend was my step-dad's annual (family) Reunion. It's not a family reunion, it's just Reunion.

So, Saturday morning, we got the boys dressed, threw together Ramen Noodle Salad and hit the road.

For three hours.

With a crying baby.

And a squealing toddler.

(And that was just one way!)

We arrived at Lake Texana, just outside of Edna, around 11:30. Did I mention that it took about three hours to get there?

Nanny (my mom) met us in the parking lot to scoop up and hug her grandbabies and then to whisk them inside to show them off.

Mitchell was a charmer, to say the least. He shared his toys, didn't say too many potty words and even felt adventuresome enough to try a few of the potluck buffet offerings.

Back at the table, Mitchell chose to try the orange fluffy fruity salady stuff first. I'll interject here to point out that I gave him a little tiny bit on his plate and he insisted on a big scoop. Well, he loaded up his fork and took a huge bite.

Then, he made the funniest gross face. But, my gracious little boy did the right thing and politely swallowed the huge bite. He didn't spit it out, yell that it was gross or cry. Instead, he quietly said "I don't like that" and asked for a drink to get the taste out.

Of course, I didn't have my camera handy for the photo op, but Aunt Llana did a great impression! (Wish I caught that one!)

So, here's the family photo at Reunion. Pictured are (left to right):

Paige, Teisha, George, my Mom, Larry, Hunter (up in the tree), Llana, Stefani (the very tan!), Bailey (also in the tree), Caymon, Olivia, Mitchell (on Paul's shoulders), Paul, Kimberly, Lauren, Noah and me.

I don't know what all 3 of my boys are looking at off in the distance, but it must have been something really exciting.

The ride home wasn't quite as bad. Noah was so tuckered out from all the fun that he slept most of the way.

Clap Happy

I know you're not supposed to compare your kids to others, but it's so hard not to! Last weekend, our friends Jenn and Mark were over with their two cuties. Graham is just 2 weeks older than Noah, and of course, he's way more advanced.

OK, let me rephrase that - Graham can clap.

I was all bummed to see this because those pesky "Your Baby This Week" emails all said that Noah should be clapping around this time in his development. And, he wasn't.

I'd try so hard - guiding his little hands and cheering. He'd just laugh and try to eat my fingers. (Remember, this is the kid who will eat anything.)

Over the weekend, I was trying yet again to get Noah to clap. Lo and behold, HE DID IT! NOAH CLAPPED THIS WEEKEND! And not just once. No, you cheer and he just grins and claps. It's really cute.