Baby! Oh, Baby!!

As I mentioned before, at my last visit the dr expressed some concern that I was measuring about 2 weeks bigger than I should be. The baby, according to the sonogram weighed about 8 ounces. According to most of the different site I have visited and my What To Expect When You're Expecting book, the baby should be about 5 ounces at this point.

I have told Paul many times that I felt I was much bigger than I have been at this point in the past. I am about where I was at the end of my past pregnancies (size wise). I have only gained 8 pounds so far, but I feel like I have gained much more!!!

Paul has been feeling the baby moving since I was about 16 1/2 weeks. Usually this is when I would start feeling the baby move. I did not think too much about it because this is our fourth baby so I figured it was because we knew what we were feeling. This past week though - the baby has been getting under my ribs. I mean, Paul had his hand on my lower ribs the other day when Baby Boy started climbing under them. Paul felt my ribs moving! He has done this several times and the only way I can get it to not hurt so bad is too lay on my side (that he is on). I don't remember EVER feeling the baby under my ribs until closer to the end of the pregnancy.

Needless to say, this has been an interesting pregnancy and I am excited and scared to see where we are headed!!!

Friday I am off to the cardiologist because my heart has been beating very strangely. My Dr wants to make sure everything is okay since I have had previous heart issues.

Holiday Fun

Well, I have not turned on the computer since Tuesday, so I will try to blog what has been going on.

We went to Dallas for Thanksgiving. We went to Aunt Lindsay's house on Wednesday. She and Nana took the boys to Medieval Times. Isaac was sick last week with a virus of some kind, but it only caused fever. He was over it when we left, but he has also had a bad cough for about a week. Bryce, by the time we got there, was running a fever (apparantly he got Isaac's virus). The tickets to Medieval Times were non-refundable and not cheap, so we gave Bryce some Tylenol and off they went.

Paul and I went and had dinner and went to Babies R Us. We picked out the carseat/stroller/playpen, etc we wanted for the baby. Then we hit Walmart to pick up a few things for the turkey. The rest of the evening we spent working on Thanksgiving dinner.

The boys got home and they were all so excited they were all trying to tell us about it at once. They LOVED it!! In fact, Thursday we passed the "castle"4 times and everytime Bryce asked if we could go back.

Isaac's cough got really bad after that. I guess when he already had a horrible cough (and Mom forgets the inhaler!!), then you send him off to an arena full of dirt and horses, this should be expected!

Thursday, Paul made an awesome turkey. We had way too much food and then spent the rest of the day watching the Cowboys kick butt and being lazy!

Friday we went to see my parents who had come down and stayed with my aunt and grandmother. We spent the day at there house and then went to Chuck E. Cheese for Caleb's birthday. The boys spent two hours playing game after game. They had 200 tokens between the three of them and each game only took one token, so they were busy!!

We decided to go home after Chuck E Cheese instead of waiting until today because Isaac desperately needed his inhaler and some sleep. He (as well as Paul and I) have not slept since Tuesday night because of the coughing. We got home about 11 pm and gave Isaac his inhaler and never heard him cough all night. The boys slept in this morning - which was NICE!!

PS the inhaler is back in my purse where it had been until about 2 weeks ago!!!

It was great seeing all of the family even if it was for such a short time!!! Thanks to Marmar and Papa for making the long drive down from CO!!

WE NEED HELP!!

We need some boy name ideas. I might have to start a pool for a name - not that I have had that great of a response for the original baby pool!!! Paul and I just can't find "the" perfect name again. Three was our limit apparantly! PLEASE HELP!! We need to come up with one ASAP so Bryce will quit calling HIM Elizabeth Grace!!!

Disappointed Niece!

My niece is very disappointed in me!! She was really hoping that I had a girl because she is the only girl out of all of my parents grandkids. She has four brothers and five boy cousins. She GROWLED at me yesterday when she heard that we were having a boy.

Sorry for the disappointment Lyssa, but hey, out of ten grandkids - you are still the only princess!!! I will just have to get my girly-ness out of my system with you!! :)

My Life the Book!

Several people have told me I need to write a book about having four boys and living with 5 guys. Oh, the testosterone!!! Maybe I should. Maybe it will start with the year plus of blogs!! I have always wanted to write a book. Hmmmmm??

How the Boys Took The News

Isaac and Bryce went (Isaac was sick today so could not go to school) with us but did not pay attention to the sonogram. We told them and Isaac was excited, since he was the only one that wanted a boy! Bryce - confused!! He keeps calling HIM Elizabeth Grace!! We keep trying to explain to him that we are having a boy and he is fine, just forgets quickly!

Caleb - WOW!! I told him when he got in the car and he yelled at me the whole way home. He kept asking why I kept having BOYS!! I told him to talk to his father about it!!

Isaac, just a few minutes ago, was sitting on the couch in a quiet living room. All of a sudden he starts singing "I am having a baby boy! I am having a baby boy!!"

Baby Boy

This is a great shot. For those who don't know what you are looking at, the side of his face is at the left hand side. He is looking up and you can see his nose, mouth, etc. His hand is at his mouth (not sure if he is sucking his thumb or just holding it there). There is one leg up and one leg down. The leg that is up, you can see his foot.

In this picture you can see his side face profile again. Along the bottom side of the baby, you can see his spine.











They said the baby looked healthy and great. Their only concern was that I was measuring 2 weeks ahead of where I should be. This could be because my uterus is stretched from having four pregnancies or because I am having a BIG baby!

My concern is that if it is because my uterus is stretched, they should have been able to pick that up on previous ultrasounds. If it is that I am having a big baby, the dr said I will probably have to deliver early (safe and healthy early!).

They are just going to have to monitor and see how things go. THe good news is that at this point there is no signs of placenta previa (which I had with Bryce).

For now - the search for that perfect boy name (that we have not already used) is on!!!

And the Search Is On...

For the perfect BOY name. That is right - we found out today that we are having boy number FOUR!!! He is healthy and everything looks good though. Hopefully he won't have some kind of complex from being called her and Elizabeth Grace all this time!!

SURPRISE!!!!!

Yeah...So I Told A Small Lie!!

I knew all along my ultrasound was today, but the only way to surprise anyone in this family sometimes is to lie. Kids - you should NEVER lie. Do what I say not what I do!!!

This way I did not "tell" anyone first so no one can be mad (although I am sure you all are mad at me for lying!!). I put it on the blog and it is whoever gets on and reads it first!

Growing Up

Here is a sign that Caleb is growing up: yesterday we went to the grocery store. I told him he could pick out whatever cake he wanted. His choice: a strawberry swirl cheesecake (which was very good).

Bryce and Food

Bryce must be going through a growth spurt, which means I am glad I have still not spent a lot on winter clothes and what I have bought (shirts anyway) I have tried to buy a little big. He will not stop eating. I am fixing to have to find a way to put up a baby gate to the kitchen (which he would probably climb over) or put a lock on the refrigerator and pantry.

He has gotten to where he can move chairs in the kitchen - silently!! Half the time you don't even know he is in there unless you walk in on him. I continuously catch him walking around with lunchmeat - not just one piece at a time though, usually 5 or more at one time. He rips into the package though, so when I go in to make a sandwich the lunchmeat is all dried out.

He has gone from one extreme - not eating - to the complete opposite - eating me out of house and home!!!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY CALEB!!

Too Soon!

For those of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you may remember that last year Isaac had a "girlfriend" named Ashley at school. Towards the end of last year, he was saying they were not friends anymore.

Earlier this year when I would go to pick up Isaac, the two of them who go huddle up and whisper something to each other and both walk away with smiles. Today, he informed me that he "loved Ashley" again.

Isn't it early for these on-again-off-again relationships?

Holiday Spirit-itis!

These days I am trying to stay busy - but not busy to the point of being worn out. Just busy to keep my mind off things! I am just itching to decorate for Christmas. I don't know if it is nesting instinct or just excited about decorating!

It started a couple of weeks ago. Last year we got all new stockings and a tree skirt that match. I was kind of upset that I would most likely not be able to find another stocking that matched what I bought last year (for the baby). I was very excited when I walked into Target right after Halloween and they were stocking Christmas. I decided to walk through, just to see what they had. Imagine my surprise when they had the stocking. So, of course, I bought it right then!

I got home and realized that I had also gotten stocking holders last year. The ones I bought are silver and spell out SANTA. I was wanting to find a silver Santa to get for the new stocking, but can't find one anywhere! I finally settled on a silver snowflake.

I know we will not have the baby here this year, but I really wanted to get the stocking while they still had it. I really like the stockings and tree skirt and would like to hang on to it for awhile.

The rest of the year is going to be crazy busy. Usually we decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. I think I will start this weekend with the inside house decorations. Then when we get back into town next week we will do outside and the tree. Unfortunately, the decorations are all in tubs in the attic - which I can't get by myself in my current state! So I will have to wait until Paul gets home Saturday.

Would You Ever...

Show up on a strangers door step and ask them to start picking your children up from school?

Would you show up on a strangers door step and ask them to start picking your children up from school without even asking your name?

Anxiousness

I am getting more and more anxious about finding out the gender of the baby. I want to know so bad!! I keep trying to tell myself that as bad as I want to know, the baby will probably not cooperate. I think I am as prepared as I am ever going to be to be told that we are having another boy, but at this point, I just want to know.

I am having an even harder time sleeping. I have not been sleeping well lately because I am a stomach sleeper and, well, that is not working out! My shoulders are staying sore from sleeping on them. I have tried to sleep on my back some, which is also not recommended, but it hurts and makes me have to get up for bathroom breaks even more. Add on top of this the fact that everytime I do wake up, my mind starts wandering about the baby!!

I don't remember ever being this anxious about any of the other pregnancies!!

BIG MONEY

Bryce (remember he is only 3) has a habit of asking for "big money." If we see one of those fun charity coin collectors where you drop the money and it spins and spins until it drops in the hole, he yells "I need big money! I need big money!"

This morning he found one of their little wallets and came running in saying he needed big money for his wallet. His older brothers don't even ask like that or that often (they just ask for "stuff" instead!).

CAUTION: RANTING TO FOLLOW

I AM SO SICK OF PUSHY SOLICITORS!!

First off, I am on a NO SOLICITING LIST! No one is suppose to be coming to my door selling things. It is done through the city and is suppose to be like the Do Not Call List.

Second, DO NOT come to my door and try to pressure me to buy whatever you are selling by telling me what my neighbors bought - I DON't CARE!!

I had a guy come to my door just now selling some kind of cleaner. He told me it was so much better than Shout on clothes and that it does all of this other stuff and it is non-toxic (even drank some to proof it - NASTY). He asked what stain I have a problem getting out and I told him that Shout has always worked well for me.

He asked what my toughest cleaning problem was. I said stains in the carpet. He said show me your toughest carpet stain. Now, I don't even answer my door for these people without my phone with 911 dialed to where all I have to do is push call, so I am DEFINENTLY NOT inviting you into my house.

I told him I was not interested and he got mad "In me or in the product?" He threw me off guard at first. You are going to get mad at me because I won't invite a man more than twice my size that is a complete stranger into my house that I am alone in with my young son. My response: "Quite frankly I am not interested in you or your product." and I threw his brochure out the door as I slammed it in his face.

I am not sure if this is worse or ties with the reason I put us on the no soliciting list. I had a lady come over selling something (don't remember what!). I told her I had two kids in the bath tub and did not have time to talk. She got mad and told me I was not even old enough to have two kids and that it was too early for them to be in the bath (it was about 6:30pm). About that time, two naked boys came walking into the living room. I said I needed to get them in their pajamas and she said it was too early for them to go to bed - at which point - I SLAMMED THE DOOR IN HER FACE!!

Moral: If you are going to go to peoples doors trying to sell something - be prepared to be turned away, and don't be rude when you are turned away.

Birthday

Caleb is getting harder and harder to shop for. He is in that "between" age where he does not want toys, but he is not quite old enough or responsible enough for a lot in the electronics department, which is where he wants us to shop from! The other thing he is into is R/C cars and planes, but we have SOOOOO many R/C's in this house already I don't really have a place for anymore!

His big birthday present came in today. Daddy ordered him a digital camera with a docking station so he can easily print out his photos. Caleb has been using Daddy's 35 mm from when he was young, but he always left it laying around when he was done taking pictures. In this house if something gets left laying around, little hands get a hold of it and it is a toss-up whether it will survive.

I don't think we ever even got a chance to get a roll of film to the store to get developed. It usually got pulled out of the camera before we could finish the roll! We thought getting him a digital camera would keep that from happening again, and maybe with the case (which the 35mm did not have), docking station, etc. on top of the fact that it is HIS - he will be a little more responsible with it.

Hopefully, this will encourage him to work on his blog again, he can use all the help typing that he can get! He won't be opening that gift until Saturday because Daddy is out of town until then. He does have one other gift that he will get to open Friday.

Now for Christmas....

LoveYou Babe

While I sit here and post, my wonderful husband is SEWING! The zipper on his suitcase broke, thanks to the airlines. He refuses to use my pink and white polka dot suitcase for some reason, so he is trying to sew the zipper on his.

I just wanted to tell him thank you for all the help this weekend. He did A LOT of cleaning (including the bathroom!!!) Saturday. Then today he let me take a nap while the boys did, but when the boys got up, he took them outside so I could continue to sleep.

What a great somewhat relaxing weekend to give me before I become a single mother for a week! It will help a lot.

I love you and appreciate your help!!

Something Seriously Wrong

What kind of person craves raw potatoes over chocolate? I tried to eat a chocolate candy bar the other night and had to spit out the first bite I took. I don't like chocolate! SERIOUSLY? What is wrong with me?

Hopefully, this is yet another sign that we are having a girl. I CRAVED chocolate with the boys and with this pregnancy I want potatoes and watermelon (not necessarily at the same time). Watermelon - a bit out of season and EXPENSIVE to buy right now when you can find it!

Favorites

The baby, boy or girl, already LOVES his or her Daddy. He/she does not move a whole lot yet, but when I lay down in the evening and first thing in the morning, all Daddy has to do is put his hand on my belly and the baby starts moving like crazy. Paul has actually gotten to feel the baby a couple of times already.

What is really funny is that after the baby moves for a little while I can feel this tightening pressure on my belly under Daddy's hand and Daddy comments that my tummy has gotten really hard. It feels like a baby is snuggling into his/her Daddy's palm. T.he wierd part - he/she only does this for Daddy. I can put my hand on my belly all day and the baby does not move for me.

I am so glad that we are both already feeling him/her. I know it really makes things become real! With this pregnancy things have felt real to me since day one because of all of the morning sickness and etc., but Daddy just gets to watch Mommy sick. Now he can interact with the baby, which obviously the baby likes!

DIAPERS

Today, one of the mothers of a child at Isaac's school brought me 140 newborn diapers! They were left overs from her 2 year old that she has had sitting around and when she found out I was pregnant, gave them to me. Can't turn down FREE DIAPERS!!!

Zoo Expansion

Caleb, for his birthday (yes it is early), is expanding our zoo to include an insect portion. Paul thought he was "ready" for an ant farm. This one is cool because it is made with gel, so you don't have to feed the ants - they get all the nutrients they need from the gel. It also lights up so you can see what they are doing better. Paul gave it to him tonight so now they are going to go look for ants for it.

We will see how this goes. He does love bugs, but I have a feeling, with all the little hands in the house, we will have free-roaming ants!!

Healing Hands

Curious George's "pokey-dot" is gone and healed up.

Isaac's "pokey-dot" is gone, and his hand is still healing. He does not have to wear anything on it anymore - other than triple antibiotic ointment.

Nursery

I got a JCPenney's baby catalog in the mail today. Of course, it has lots of baby bedding for me to admire and dream about. I had already decided that I did not really want a theme, just really girlie (assuming....). Here are the ones from the Penney's catalog that I like:

This one but instead of brown it is pink and sage green (I will have to scan in the color I like - it is not online). If we have a boy - I like the brown.

This one but in cocoa and pink(see below for color):
This one but I don't know if I want the white and pink or if I like the pink walls with the white and black.

And this one.

Are these girlie enough?

EXTRA!! EXTRA!!! MIRACLES HAPPEN!!!

BRYCE DID NOT CRY WHEN I TOOK HIM TO SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!

His teacher told me when I picked him up that he screamed the one time I initially "handed him over" - that was it. No tears, no kicking and screaming, she did not even have to call in back up today. WOW!!!!!!!!!!

On top of that - he did not get in trouble during circle time - which he almost always does! Something about sitting still for Bryce...don't know what it is....he can't do it. Believe me - it goes way beyond the age thing!

A Sign You Should Stay Home:

Yesterday while Paul was hard at work, someone broke into his Jeep. They took his stereo and broke the dash. Luckily I think we can get it ALL fixed for less than $150 - which means no raise in insurance!! What sucks is that apparantly the same guy has a route on parking lots downtown that he hits. The police know the route. They could tell Paul when their parking lot normally gets hit, and that the guy was early - it is usually around the 15th.

Here is what makes me mad...if you KNOW it is a certain person doing the same thing AND you know the route they make - why are there not undercover police waiting on him. Paul was told that he keeps getting arrested, but they keep setting a court date and letting him go. Why, you might ask. Well, we don't have enough beds at the jail to house everyone so unless you are a "serious" offender, you get a free walk - and it is obvious how much they are learning from this!! He KNOWS they have no where for him so he does it over and over to the same parking lots.

Let me also add that he works directly across the street from the police station. You would think someone would be over pretty quick. HE WAITED 40 MINUTES FOR A POLICE OFFICER TO GET THERE!!

Then this morning Paul calls me to tell me that someone hit an electric pole outside their office so they had no electricity, so they decided to hang out at McDonalds. When the electricity finally came back on - their computers were not working.

I think it would be a good idea to just sit tomorrow out. You know, one of those days where you know nothing good can come of it so you just stay in bed! Sounds like a plan to me!

Font on Previous Post

I don't know what is going on with the post about the baby movement. I have spent about 30 minutes trying to fix it and it won't change. SORRY!!

Isaac at Hospital for Surgery

Movement

Monday evening, I had to go pick up medicine after Paul got home. I decided on the way that I wanted a White Chocolate Mocha. I went to our hometown coffee shop and ordered a coffee with my sister on the phone with me telling the guy not to sell it to me. Luckily, he could not hear her! I got in bed a few minutes later and Baby started going crazy!

I have felt her (or him) move a few times, but not too many and not very often. There were a couple of times Monday night that Paul was able to feel the movement. That coffee really did a number on her (or him). I have not felt any movement really since then until today. I decided that instead of eating raw potatoes I would make homemade french fries. Of course, to make it really unhealthy, I fried them!! That got her (or him) going again for a little while.

I have heard that girls don't move around as much, but I think Mom would disagree. If I remember correctly, I liked to play soccer under her ribs frequently when she was pregnant with me. We will see in a couple of weeks - hopefully - which we will be having and then compare with past pregnancy.

FYI - I decided to look up the whole raw potato cravings online. Apparantly, it is not a good sign if it last for a month or more. It could be a sign of iron deficiancies. I guess if I am still craving potatoes when I go back in a couple of weeks - I will have to discuss it with dr.

I Forgot!

I meant to post about Bryce's foot this weekend! Friday, Bryce started complaining that his foot was hurting. He was saying that he broke his toe when he bit it in his sleep. He had shoes on, and i told him to quit biting his toe (but did not look at it).

Saturday we went to Hot Springs and walked downtown. Bryce, again, was complaining about his "broke" toe. Paul asked if his shoes were too small and he said yes. I felt for his toe, and sure enough it was at the end of his shoes. So, we assumed that was the problem and headed for Shoe Carnival to get him some new shoes.

He picked out his shoes and since we took him in with no shoes, wore the shoes out. While we were walking to the car, Paul looked down and noticed him walking funny. I took his shoe off to see if there was something in it. When we got home and were getting out of the car, Paul took off Bryce's sock to see what was going on. HIS TOE WAS GREEN!!

See, he bites his toe nails. Apparantly, he bit it too far down and his toe got infected. We are out buying him new shoes, and all the pain is because his toe is infected. We soaked his toe in warm water and sterilized a needle and Daddy drained the infection. It took a couple of days but the toe is no longer purple.

We keep reminding him that if he bites his toe (or nail) he will make it infected and we will have to take a needle to it again. Amazingly, when we were taking care of his toe, I covered his eyes and he did not even feel the needle in his toe!

Another Trip To the Doctor!

I had to take Caleb to the dr yesterday because his mysterious rash returned the end of last week and got BAD over the weekend. We have thought it was poison ivy (this is the third time he has broken out since school started), but I wanted to make sure. If it was poison ivy I was going to have to go talk to the principal because he would of had to have gotten it at school.

Well, the dr walked in and was amazed when he saw Caleb! He could not believe how bad he had it!! I told him what we thought it was, but that we wanted to make sure! Sure enough - poison ivy!! He was put on steroids and we have to put cortizone cream on the spots. He has it all over his arms, hands (even palms), stomach and face. He has a few spots on his lower back but only where he could easily reach.

I went to the school this morning - never made it to the principal. I was telling the secretary what was going on and the nurse happened to be standing there. She apologized and said that she had not had any complaints about it before. They said they would tell the principal and have him get maintanance to go out and look for it and weed it what they find. Hopefully they will pick up what they weed it - or that will be pointless!!

Hopefully between this and the fact that it is getting colder, we can stop the poison ivy - at least for a little while!

Fall

Fall and Spring have always been my favorite seasons. I love to see how God changes the trees to such beautiful waves of golds, rusts, and reds. Then after a dreary winter to see the green that comes with Spring.

Well, today, as we drove to my drs appointment, the boys very excitedly kept talking about how colorful all of the trees were. I guess this was the first time they quit argueing in the car long enough to look out the window and see the beauty all around them. The colors have been changing for the last several weeks, but it was like God just colored them last night while we were sleeping.

We had a good conversation about the season changes the entire drive to Little Rock. It was actually a nice trip!!

My Son...The Editor

Caleb was reading a book this evening and came in and told me he found a mistake. I looked and sure enough the sentence read Mr. Mouse tried on her new hats. I told him I was proud of him for finding that and he went back to reading. A little while later he came back in and in the same book said there was another mistake. It said What do you want to be when you get a bigger. Apparantly the (almost) eight year old is a better editor than the editor of the book!!! To bad he does not catch his mistakes when he is talking!!

16 Weeks

Okay, I am posting a side shot. I don't think I have any side shots from any of the other pregnancy, so I thought I ought to take some so at least they can see what Mommy looked like pregnant. As things stand now, I will be A LOT bigger with this one than I was with the previous three!!



Paul says my stomach looks like a watermelon (maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can't get enough watermelon!) instead of a basketball (as with the past three). Wives tales have it that if you carry like a watermelon - it is a girl. I might be grasping at straws, but I need all the help and encouragement I can get!!

You can compare this photo with Bryce's and see if he is growing with me!!

Bryce Is Expecting?

Last night Bryce was sitting in bed with me talking about the baby. He was asking if the baby was growing (the fact that my belly is getting huge doesn't mean anything!!). I asked where the baby was and he lifted my shirt and poked my belly button. I went back to what I was doing and glanced over at Bryce and saw this:

"Look Mommy, where is Elizabeth Grace?"

I think his belly is expanding with mine!!!

Cravings!

I meant to add to my last post my cravings. I have been craving pretty healthy things lately like salads, apples, watermelons (that is a big one right now - and not easy to find!!!). The strangest craving I have had thus far...raw potatoes.

Last night at about 9:30, I asked Paul to peel a potato and slice it for me. He thought I was crazy, but did it anyway! It was so good! I have never had a problem eating raw potato when I was making mashed potatoes or something, but I have never CRAVED it.

They say if you crave something it is your bodies way of telling you you need something. I guess there was something in that potato that my body was needing!!

16 Week Checkup

I just got back from my drs appt. to check on the baby. I am being sent to the cardiologist because it feels like my heart is continuously skipping beats. Because of the history with heart problems he just wants me to get checked out by the cardiologist to be on the safe side, but he does not think it is anything to worry about.

As far as the baby goes, everything seems to be good. We got a good strong heartbeat, which Isaac and Bryce were both excited to hear. We go back in a few weeks to have an ultrasound and try to find out the sex of the baby. WE CAN'T WAIT!!! This will be the longest few weeks of our lives!! I have this sneaking suspicion (or fear) that the baby is not going to cooperate and we will not be able to find out.

When we know something - we will pass it on.

Isaac's "Pokey-Dot" Update

Isaac went to his plastic surgeon today to have his hand looked at. He has had it bandaged (completely wrapped) for 2 1/2 weeks now. The last couple of days I have not made him wear his sling though because the dr said it should be healed after 2 weeks.

I looked at it yesterday and looked kinda bad, but you could not really see it because of the glue. It had started to peel off, but was still somewhat attached to the incision site. Today, the dr came in and said it looked great and the nurse was going to get some of the glue off. She came in and had to cut the glue off piece by piece because it hurt when it was pulled on.

She got most of the glue off, but where the glue was still attached to the incision, she left alone. It looks so much better without the glue all over it. We have to put triple antibiotic ointment on it everyday and the first few days he goes to school he has to have a regular bandage on it.

He seemed to be in some pain while she was cleaning it up, but is fine now. He is pretty excited to see his hand and he is excited to have his hand unwrapped!! I will try and get the hospital pictures and take some pictures of his hand now and get them on here this weekend.

WHOA CASA NOVA!!

Last night we were all playing the xbox together. Paul and I were setting up a game of Sims for the first time. I was "building" my person, which you get to pick everything - body, face, clothes, shoes, accessories, make-up, etc. When I was going through the clothes options, Caleb said that one of them was sexy.

WHAT!!!!

Paul and I died laughing when we were able to pick our jaws up off the floor. Paul asked him what he knew about sexy.

"It is the same as being hot, except you are sexy when you are pregnant - so you are hot and sexy!"

We again die laughing. I am not sure what to think about my son telling me I am hot and sexy. I might be able to take it as a compliment, except it is MY SON, and he has no idea what he is talking about (I hope)!!

Interesting!

For some reason, at Caleb's school yesterday they decided to do a mock election for the sheriff's office. Caleb was telling me about this and I found it interesting. For one, why are they doing a mock vote with second graders who know nothing about politics? Are they trying to get an idea of what parents are talking about and voting? Or are they just trying to show the kids what is going on?

Here is what I found interesting. The boys only watch PBS when they watch TV. We don't watch a whole lot of tv when the kids are up, we usually watch shows after they go to bed. Caleb told me he voted for Sheriff Phil Mask, who is the sheriff in office now. I asked him why he chose Phil Mask to vote for and his answer interested me. He said that he had seen Phil Mask on television and he had a cool deep voice and he just thought that was who he wanted to be the sheriff.

To be competely honest, I am ashamed to say, that I don't know much about the sheriff or those running for sheriff. No one in this house has discussed who is running for sheriff, so the only places he can be getting this is from a) school or b) tv.

It just goes to show what I have said a lot - the kids don't have to be sitting in front of the tv staring at it for them to pick up things that are said on it. If he did get it from tv, he got it at some point when it was on and everyone was running around seemingly ignoring it.

For everyone who thinks kids aren't listening unless they are staring at you - this proves that they are!!! It came straight from Caleb that he "learned" about Phil Mask from the tv!!

Sadly - this is how many ADULTS vote!

At Least He Won't Freeze

Bryce outgrew his jacket from last year. I had gotten him one, but he would not where it because it was too bulky. I have not been able to get him in a coat at all this year. So, today we went on a mission to find him a coat. We went to Target, they had NOTHING!! Our next stop was the Old Navy next door. They had two different coats in his size. I went for the puffy, warm looking one. He put it on, after some argueing, and immediately said it was too big (bulky big). He then went and grabbed a dressier coat. It is cute, but does not look like an everyday coat.

I put the coat on him and he asked for a mirror. We walked to a dressing room to find a mirror. He looked at himself from several angles, kissed the mirror and said he liked the coat. He then went and decided he wanted a warm hat and gloves (which we have never been able to get him to wear!!). They had several too choose from. He put one on and headed for the mirror again. I followed and he decided he needed to see the others. I, this time, decided to grab several. He finally chose one and wanted to wear it out.

I am quickly learning that when Bryce won't do something, the secret is to make him think it is all his choice. Just like with the vegetables!! He is just stubborn and wants to make his own choices and I have to allow that (within reason). I am just glad that I am finally figuring this out - it will make life much easier!

I will try to get a picture of him with the coat/hat/mittens he picked out by himself! I am sure this won't be a problem because he LIKES wearing them now that it was HIS choice!

Ding Dong....

Bryce was telling me the songs he sang at choir tonight. He got to where he was making up goofy things and telling me they sang about it (like Taco Bell, McDonalds, etc). I ask if he sang a song about me and he said yes. I asked if it went something like this - Ding dong the witch is dead. He told me that was the song they sang about me.

Thanks Bryce - I guess I set myself up for that though!

Mom and Dad:

Does anything about Bryce's face in this photo remind you of me?? I thought you would like this photo and even though it is in the Halloween slide show - I had to point it out to you!! If you double-click on the photo it should enlarge if you want to see it bigger!

Trick or Treating

As I sit here and do my parental duty of "testing" the kids candy they got tonight, I thought I would tell you about our trick or treating. The boys were really well behaved - for the most part.

Caleb tried to take over and lead everyone, although he did not know what he was doing! He was wearing all black, but luckily I thought to put glow sticks on them so I could somewhat keep up with them.

Isaac pretty much just followed everyone else, but he was great at saying "trick or treat" and "thank you". He seemed to have a great time though, especially after being stuck in the house for 2 weeks!

Bryce really cracked me up. He wore a fitting costume! He would say trick or treat when he got to a door. Then he would start growling. The second house we went too - he requested a glass of water (luckily we got him away quickly - with not water!). After that he got to where after he growled at whoever was at the door, he would ask what animals they had and if he could please pet them (at least he used his manners and said please!). Several houses actually chased down their animals so that he could pet them.

All and all, the first year of actually doing door to door trick or treating went well. Maybe next year Daddy will be home to join us!

Halloween 2006

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Oh Yeah!

I did not mention what Caleb was doing today. WORK!! Last week, he and a friend of his told me that they did not like getting older. They are no longer allowed to have Halloween parties - they are too old! So while all of the younger kids are having parties....he gets to do school work! It is definently not always fun growing up!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

While the world (or my children!) plays tricks on me today, two of them had a busy day of partying at school!! Bryce went dressed up as a cowboy - although I tried to get him to go as a fireman (to keep his cowboy suit clean for tonight-there is a lot of white on it!). They had a mini-carnival at Mother's Day Out. He did not throw a fit this morning when I dropped him off (go figure). Somehow he managed to keep his costume pretty clean (just two little spots of cheese from his nachos).

I took Isaac to school for his Halloween party. They had games with candy prizes and LOTS of food! He had a lot of fun and was SO excited to see his friends again. He got a TON of candy and other sugary snacks! I let him stay as long as he wanted and he did eventually tell me he was ready to go.

To everyone out there - HAPPY HALLOWEEN - I hope you get more treats than tricks!!

Is It Bedtime Yet?

I know...it is 7:30 am...you just got up! It has been a LONG night and morning already though! Isaac and Bryce were up for quite a while last night, off and on, because of Bryce's bit foot! This morning after we were up for about 20 minutes, we got a pretty good thunderstorm. Isaac and Bryce would run in and tell me that they were not scared - EVERYTIME IT THUNDERED!!

Then there is the dog. Trip runs from window to window barking everytime it thunders. I have not decided if he is being scared or protective, but when the storm lasts over and hour and the dog is barking everytime it thunders - no matter how quiet the thunder is....

Something To Brag About

I just heard on the news last night that Little Rock is the 23rd most dangerous city in the nation. Think about how many cities are in the nation and Little Rock is 23RD!!!!

Of course, that is not really anything to brag about - so I will brag that we don't live IN Little Rock (and that would be why!!!)!

A Hour Later...

Bryce has been screaming about his toe...the bit one...and now...he and his brothers are up!!! Ain't life grand!!!

Only My Son

Bryce is not sleeping well this evening. He has awakened 3 times already. He wants Daddy (who is out of town, of course). This last time I went in to him he was holding his big toe. When I walked in he said his toe hurt. I asked why.... "I bit it."
"You hit it?" I asked thinking he hit the wall.
"No I bit it, ate it."

HE BIT HIS TOE IN HIS SLEEP!!!!!
WOW!

Caleb's Fall Picture

HELP!!

Here are Isaac's school pictures. I have to decide which pose to buy (or spend A LOT of money on both poses). Give me your opinion because I think they are both great (of course I am biased!). If you double click on the picture it will enlarge it a little bit.

Honor Roll

Caleb brought home a certificate for the honor roll.

California

Paul went to Southern California Thursday and Friday for a conference for work. He took some pictures from his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton (must be nice!!!). I thought they were really good pictures, so I wanted to share! If the pictures look smoggy - that is the smoke from the wild fire there.

Beautiful Flowers

These are the beautiful flowers I received from my husband last Friday. I took this picture this morning, so this is what they look like on day 4 of ME having them. Paul gets all my flowers from Proflowers online. This is an awesome way to get flowers. You order them and they are picked from the field and shipped directly to you. Since they do not go through wholesalers and florist and sit in refrigerators, you get them extra fresh and they last a LONG time!! I know I sound like I am advertising for them (and I guess I am), but Paul has been getting all of my flowers from them for several years now, and they are always beautiful and long lasting. Usually flowers I buy at the store are dead or droopy by now!!!

Back to my awesome husband though. The vase that came with the flowers match my living room decor perfectly!! The roses are such a seasonal color too! I have been bragging to everyone about how awesome my husband is!! I should add here (just to futher prove my point) that this weekend I went to Hot Springs with four other girls from my sunday school class. When I got home, the house was spotless (I mean down to he shampooed the carpet!) and he was working on dinner. He also had mowed the yard and sucked up all of the leaves! I told him I needed to go out of town more often (although I should not have told him that because next time he won't do anything so I won't go anywhere!!)

The moral of this post: I have the best, most awesome, loving, caring husband ever!!! No one could come close to matching him and I love him very much!!

Isaac's Birthday Slide Show

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Isaac's Birthday Bash

Well, we have COMPLETELY confused Isaac! We had his birthday party yesterday, a costume party, but he keeps saying he is now 5 - but he is not!! I keep trying to explain to him that it his just his PARTY, his birthday was not until close to Christmas. He doesn't get it. I don't want to confuse him, but I think this is the way we will be doing his birthday from now on.

We don't do the party in December, because December is crazy for us, and most others. We end up having a Christmas party just about every weekend from the first weekend in December to Christmas. Add on top of that all of the shopping and traveling that people do - just not a good month for a birthday party!! November we have Caleb's party, I just can't do two birthday parties in one month! So, this is the best time to do it! Not to mention - these kids usually only get to dress up once in their costumes, so they all really loved getting to dress up the extra time.

I did not take pictures of the decorations unfortunately. Paul did camera duty and he was outside quite a bit of the time with kids, and I just did not think of it. We had lots of black and orange and ghosts and bats and pumpkins. We served Green Slime Juice with worms floating in it, chips and dip, candy corn/peanut mixes, and lots and lots of candy! We also had ghost shaped cupcakes and chocolate ice cream. Some of the kids were unsure about the green slime juice, but most of them liked it and drank it. We went through two big containers of lime sherbet and 2 - 2 liters of Ginger Ale. The good thing was that the parents liked the punch too.

We tried to do a mummy wrap - did not go over too well. The kids were in pairs and they were supposed to wrap their partner and run to the other end of the yard where they were suppose to rip off their wrap and wrap their partner. It did not go as planned, but the kids had a good time and the yard was COVERED in toilet paper (better than the trees)!

The rest of the time the kids just played. I don't think if I had organized a lot of games I could have gotten them to calm down to play. There were a lot of knives and guns, etc. flying around from all the ninjas, knights, etc. that came to the party. Hopefully they all wore themselves out (despite the candy being injested!!) before they went home.

His gifts were an x-box and 3 games, a Hot Wheels racetrack, Hot Wheels cars and trucks, Nerf Ball gun, a Spiderman matching game and two puzzles and a dinosaur pack with a poster, book and 3D puzzle. This party was great timing, because after being home for a week and a half because of his hand - entertaining him was getting difficult!! He and Bryce have been playing with all the new toys all morning (which is why I have time to sit and do this - even though I should be cleaning house!)

I will post the pictures in the next post - I need to go fix lunch so the boys (and I) can lay down for their naps!!

Casa Nova

I have my own Casa Nova!! Caleb is so girl crazy! Not only is he girl crazy - he goes for the older girls. When we were at our sunday school fellowship picnic on Saturday, everytime I went to find Caleb he was under a tree or off alone with a girl. The girl was at least 13, as all of his crushes are lately.

I am not sure what to do now - much less later when he is off on his own more!

Such A Sweet Son!!

I opened Caleb's lunchbox this morning to fix his lunch. There was a handmade envelope inside it addressed to Mommy. It was decorated beautifully. I opened it to find a letter that said I love you! I was very shocked and it put a huge smile on my face.

Car Tire Update

Unfortunately, I found a nail in the tire that went flat Saturday. I asked Paul about if the inside of the tire should shred like that the short distance I drove on it. He said with the small wheelbase - it was possible.

Since there was a nail in it - there is no warranty on it. So at this point, I have to buy a new tire for the new car before I even make my first car payment!! We specifically asked the salesman about the price of the tires because we had read that the tires were hard to find and very expensive. He told us they were not hard to get and that they were only about $80. Well, actually the cheapest Paul found them was $120 AND they are on national backorder with no delivery date!!

Basically, I can either by four new tires or have mismatched tires! I am more than mad right now!! To specifically ask about that and be told what we were told and already have to be dealing with this is ridiculus. I think tomorrow we will be at the dealership talking to someone about this!

The "great" weekend is apparantly following me into the week! When it rains....

Car Tire Update

Unfortunately, I found a nail in the tire that went flat Saturday. I asked Paul about if the inside of the tire should shred like that the short distance I drove on it. He said with the small wheelbase - it was possible.

Since there was a nail in it - there is no warranty on it. So at this point, I have to buy a new tire for the new car before I even make my first car payment!! We specifically asked the salesman about the price of the tires because we had read that the tires were hard to find and very expensive. He told us they were not hard to get and that they were only about $80. Well, actually the cheapest Paul found them was $120 AND they are on national backorder with no delivery date!!

Basically, I can either by four new tires or have mismatched tires! I am more than mad right now!! To specifically ask about that and be told what we were told and already have to be dealing with this is ridiculus. I think tomorrow we will be at the dealership talking to someone about this!

The "great" weekend is apparantly following me into the week! When it rains....

Greatest Husband on Earth!!

This week will be our 11 year anniversary of being together. We have always remembered and recognized the day, but my Sweetie got sneaky this year. I was trying to get on his email to see about Isaac's birthday present we ordered off ebay. His password had changed. He periodically changes them, just for security, so I figured that is why it had changed.

He also changes it when he is being sneaky!! This is never a BAD sneaky - usually an "I ordered something and the confirmation was sent to my email" type of sneaky (I feel as though I should add that just for clarity!!). I did not think of this at the time!

So, imagine my surprise today when I go check the mail and there was a package in the box. I called Paul and he told me that it came early - it was suppose to come Friday - WITH FLOWERS!! He got me some pajamas (and even thought to take into account my growing stomach!!).

Not only does my great man remember our wedding anniversary - without reminder - he remembers the anniversary of the day we got together! That is just one of the bazillion reasons I still love my high school sweetheart! And as long as he is not sending flowers or gifts to the guy at his office....:)

Love you Sweetie!!!

Sometimes You Should Just Stay Home...

Unfortunately, you don't get a warning as to when that should be. Last night we went to our Sunday Schools fall fellowship/hayride. I was not sure where I was going so I followed some friends. About the time we were exiting, the car started sounding loud, but did not drive funny. Because we were not in the best part of town (and did not know where we were going for sure), I did not want to pull over. I knew we did not have far to go, so I just kept driving.

When I get there, I open my door and an overwhelming smell of burning rubber takes over us. The boys started yelling "something stinks!!" MY TIRE IS SMOKING!!! The driver side rear tire was completely flat. I get the boys unloaded and on the playground (minus Isaac who can't go on the playground). One of the guys in my class came over to change the tire for me (remember - my husband is camping!!).

We (as in HE) gets the tire off, with Isaac helping by holding onto to lugnuts, etc., They had asked me what I ran over or hit and I told them nothing. He looks at the tire and said it must have just lost all of its pressure because he could not find anything in the tire. Then he laid the tire down to put the spare on. I looked down and noticed three holes (one huge one and a couple of small ones) in different places on the inside of the tire. The guy started looking at it and apparantly it was a defective tire because all the way around it is really soft (where the holes appeared).

So he finished changing the tire, then checked my other three to make sure I would make it home. My spare is so attractive!! The donut tire had a bright yellow wheel on it that I swear glows in the dark. Everytime I looked at the car in the dark - all you could see was the yellow wheel.

So...later that evening we are finishing up eating. Isaac needed to potty. So I went to take him potty and left Bryce, still eating, with some friends that are sitting by us. On my way back I stopped to talk to someone. I look up while talking to check on Bryce and see him surrounded by people. When I finally get a glimpse of him, his face was purple and he is being grabbed over the table to be given the heimlich. He was CHOKING!! I go running over there about the time he starts to breath again. Luckily for him we had LOTS of nurses and a soon-to-be dr there, who was much more help than a frantic mother would be!!

So after we took a hayride, we got followed home (at 55 mph). We made it home without anymore blowouts or choking. Monday morning, as soon as I drop Caleb off at school, I am going to the dealership to have them put four new tires on because I am now scared to drive on those tires!! I will take some pics of the tire today so you can see the damage!

Too Much Blues Clues

or something!!! Bryce found a Tonka activity book that has firetrucks and construction trucks on the cover. He keeps telling me that he needs to jump into the book so he can drive the firetruck. He tried every way possible to get himself into the picture on the book, and was very upset when he couldn't!!!

I Love You - Oh Wait...

Last night we went to get groceries and get some food for Paul to take on his camping trip (which he is going to freeze his patooty off!!!). Right as we pulled in to the store parking lot, Paul's phone rang. It was the other guy from Paul's office that organized the camping trip (Paul and this guy organized the trip for anyone at the office that wanted to go) that was calling to finalize a few plans.

So we are walking through Walmart and Paul is finishing up the phone call. I hear "I love you - oh wait wrong person!" Apparantly the other guy had said "I will see you in the morning." Paul said he was looking at me and is just so used to saying "I love you" that it just came out.

I am not sure that I like him being so used to saying I love you to me on the phone that he says it to anyone. However, every time I think about him saying that to a guy from work and seeing the look on his face when he said it and trying to cover himself - I just die laughing.

Lucky for him - I think the other guy hung up before Paul said it!!!!

Back to Children's!

I have to take Isaac back to the plastic surgery clinic at Children's this afternoon. His bandage is starting to come off. I called the clinic this morning to see what we needed to do because the dr told us not to change the bandage.

She called, and just barely got the drs nurse before they went into surgery. The nurse said that the spot is pretty small and they dermabonded it, so they are not "too" concerned, but to be safe they wanted to change the bandage. They don't get done with surgeries until 2:00. She told me to get there early and she would make sure we were the first ones in a room so I could get back to get Caleb from school.

I don't know what he is doing when he is sleeping but the past two mornings the bandage has come undone a little more than the day before. The good news is that he has not had any pain medication since yesterday morning. He has not complained of pain at all since we left the hospital, but I kept him on pain killers just to be safe. He keeps telling me it doesn't hurt at all. He is such a big boy and handling everything so well!

I won't say he is not milking it at all - he is doing great at that. He thinks everytime we go somewhere he should get to pick out a toy. He thinks he should get to do whatever he wants - even if it means taking something away from his brother!

I must also add that Caleb has done a fairly good job helping Isaac out - without being asked. When he sees Isaac struggling to get in his seat at the table or can't get his seatbelt on in the car - Caleb usually offers to help. I think I made him feel pretty guilty for what he did to Isaac before his surgery!! THAT'S WHAT HE GETS!!!

To Whoever Complained:

I am pretty sure I know who left the comment, but I did not have internet at the hospital and spent all day there. That is my excuse for today, I will find an excuse for the rest of the days another day (maybe the insane schedule my family has!!!). I will post some pictures we took at the hospital today when Paul sends them to me from his phone!

Big Brothers...

Tuesday morning when Caleb was getting ready for school I hear "Isaac, don't forget tomorrow you have to spend the day at the hospital." I went in and, again, told Caleb not to mention the surgery because we did not want him to be nervous about it. Last night when I sent the boys to bed, apparantly Caleb decided to tell Isaac everything that was going to happen.

This morning Isaac gets up and tells me how the dr is going to cut his hand open with a knife and remove his spot. Since Paul and I had not told him that - not that way - I asked where he got that from and he said Caleb told him last night. He then started crying. I finally got him calmed down and ready to go.

I told Caleb I was going to take him with us so the dr could cut open his head and remove the meanness from him. He was not fond of that idea for some reason!!

He was okay until we got in pre-op. He went back and forth from crying to laughing so he wouldn't cry. They gave him some "goofy juice" that was suppose to help with seperation anxiety when they took him back. HE GOT GOOFY (ier than he already was!). He was cracking us up!

When we picked Caleb up this evening I told him I thought he should have to wait on Isaac hand and foot the next two weeks because of how petrified he made his brother. At this point, I will be surprised if I ever get him back to a dr!!

That is what brothers are for...right?

Bye-Bye Pokeydot!

All day when people ask Isaac what happened to his hand this is the story he gave:
"I went to the doctor and he cut off my pokeydot and then he wrapped my hand with this bandage and put it in this thing (the sling)."

I never heard anyone refer to it as a pokey dot so I am not sure where that came from, but I thought it was a very cute description of what happened!

Surgery

Isaac's surgery went well. Recovery - not so great!! It wasn't horrible - just long and hard. Surgery took about 30 minutes and then it was another 30+ minutes before we went back to see him in recovery. He was obviously in considerable pain. He started getting pretty restless so the nurse asked if he wanted to sit in my lap. She started giving him morphine in his IV, but had a hard time managing the pain. Isaac did great in communicating that he was in pain ( the 1-10 scale does not work very well on a 4 year old!!). When we asked where it hurt he always pointed to the exact spot they did the surgery.

He kept burping so I kept asking him if his stomach was bothering him. He would tell me no, but we would soon find out that it probably was. His burping turned into him throwing up orange popsicle and a little bit of apple juice - on Mommy's white shirt!! A small price to pay when your child just had surgery and is in severe pain!!! We figured out that since they put a breathing tube down his throat during the surgery, he had probably gotten air in his stomach (hence the burping and throwing up).

After he threw up and got the maximum amount of morphine he was allowed, he calmed down. The pain seemed to be under control and we got him to hold down apple juice and a little popsicle. They moved him from recovery to 2nd recovery (which is just a private room without constant nurse supervision). After some more apple juice and about an hour they took his IV out and unhooked all of his wires and let him go home.

They put some light dressing on his hand and told us to keep his hand dry and clean. By clean - that means don't let him get ANY dirt in it. He is suppose to keep the dressing on for a week and a half until we have our followup visit. Let me remind you - HE IS A 4 YEAR OLD BOY!! They don't stay clean easily!!! That means he is home from school for the next 2 weeks. If his hand gets infected it would be VERY BAD!! To be safe we are keeping him home. His arm also has to be in a sling for the next couple of weeks as well. On top of all of that - they put his IV in his foot. They apparantly tried his ankle first and failed, so it ended up on the top of his foot. So, he finally put a shoe on this evening and wore it for a while and then complained that his foot was hurting. I guess he will have one hand in a sling and one foot without a shoe!! His foot is pretty purple already!

It will be a LONG couple of weeks of recovery with limited activity which will be hard for a 4 year old for sure!!

How Sweet!

The last several days Bryce has randomly been asking to give Elizabeth a hug and kiss. Then he kisses and hugs my belly. I sure hope we have a girl because all of the kids keep calling her Elizabeth. I have tried, especially lately, to say girl or boy or make it clear that we do not know for sure the sex of the baby yet!

I hope they are as excited AFTER the baby comes as they seem to be now!

Or Maybe Not

So the last post I bragged about what great young men the boys had acted like when we worked at the food pantry. I may need to take that back for Bryce. Yesterday Paul and I were laying in bed relaxing after getting back from taking Isaac to the dr. Isaac was playing with my hair. Bryce walked up behind me and before I knew what he was doing put his hand up my shirt and popped my bra.

I was so shocked I did not know what to do and I have no idea where he learned to do that. He is already a sneaky little boy - we will have to watch him for sure!!

Such Great Young Men

Tonight the boys acted like young men. We worked at our churches food pantry or pantry store as Bryce calls it. Tonight was preperation night so that Saturday we can hand the food out. When we got there we had to open cases and count out 80 cans of each vegetable, 80 boxes of macaroni and cheese, cereal, etc. Seperate out potatoes. You get the picture!

This food pantry is in an old house. After the food is all seperated out and lined up, the men line up with boxes. The kids all line up at each of the different foods and drop one in each box. Isaac and Bryce added peanut butter and beans to each of the box (until too many kids were trying to put the same thing in and the boxes were ending up with several of each thing!!). Caleb, though, spent the ENTIRE time we were there carrying boxes. He got to work with his Sunday School teacher and worked the entire time - even when most of the other kids were playing. Then he lined up and had his box filled and carried it out the back door, put the box in a car and then circled around to the front door to start all over again.

It was so neat to see him so excited about helping people he has never met. Saturday morning we will be getting up early so that we can hand the food out to the people in our community that need the help. I think this is an awesome outreach that the church has and I think it is even more awesome that they ENCOURAGE us to bring our kids, even though it would probably be quicker without them there.

THEN HE ATE TOMATOES!!! What a night!

Bryce Eats Green!!

Not only is Bryce eating guacomole - which is green and unusual - he is getting upset about having to share it with Caleb (which is who it was bought for). I guess the key is you have to let Bryce help make it then he thinks it is the best thing on earth.

I should just let you go on believing that I stood in my kitchen and made guacamole, but I didn't. We buy this stuff that is in a bag in a plastic container. You just cut open the bag and squeeze the guacamole into the plastic container.

So I guess Bryce will have to be responsible for cooking the vegetables at night so that maybe, just maybe, he will eat some too!!!

Come On People!!

Make some guesses in the baby pool!!! Just make a guess - you don't have to be exactly right, but lets see who can GUESS the closest!!

Teen Night

Tonight was completely awesome. Our church is having a "revival" and tonight was the last night. It was also teen night. The entire sanctuary was full of teenagers. There were a few people sitting in folding chairs in the back. We don't exactly have a tiny sanctuary either!

I got goosebumps seeing the enthusiasm in these kids while we were singing. It was amazing how into it they got and seeing them raising their hands and singing to Jesus.

The invitation really got me though. They had several adults down at the alter as encouragement - someone for the kids to go to. The number of teens that went to the alter just to pray was amazing. There were teens kneeling in the aisles because the alter was full. How awesome to see God work in these young peoples lives.

It is kinda strange too. I vividly remember being one of those young people. It is strange to be "all grown up" now and to see things through and "adults" eyes. I hope that we can raise our children to be proud to be a christian and to not be afraid to show it!

Baby Pool

Okay - I started a pool online. If you go to http://www.expectnet.com/game.php you can make your guess for the babies gender, birthday, weight and length. I just thought it would be fun to see guesses and see who "wins". I guess I will have to find a prize for the winner!

The game name is Sweetpeaslittlepea. If you enter that where they ask for the game name it should take you directly to my game. Then you just make your guesses and wait to see what happens!

GOOD LUCK!

Fun Facts About the Baby

These are some fun facts I got off a webpage with the approximate due date.

Birthstone: Diamond (Innocence)
Astrological Sign: Taurus
Flower: Daisy or Sweet Pea (Yellow, red or colorless)
This is pretty funny because, of course, these are also Paul's facts and we did not know that SweetPea was his flower before that became my nickname!

This time next year the baby will be 28 weeks old
The baby will start kindergarten in 2012, be old enough to drive a car in 2023, finish high school in 2025 and graduate college with class of 2030 (give or take a year)

Bryce's Seperation!!

Bryce has begun to throw a fit when I drop him off for MDO or sunday school. I don't know what has gotten into him. When he is home he asks when he gets to go to "big boy school" but when I take him - he screams and won't let go of me.

This week, with revival, Isaac has been in the same class with him in the evenings at church. He does not throw a fit then. He also is in love with the girl that has been taking care of them. Her name is Ashley, and he talks about her ALL the time. He asks for her ALL the time. I am ready to ask her to move in with us!!!

I feel bad when I drop him off though. I feel bad for the teacher and I feel bad as a mother having to walk away to him screaming every time. I can't let him win though. I know that if, just once, let him leave with me while he is throwing one of these fits, I will never be able to leave him ANYWHERE he does not want to stay!

Bible Caleb and Caleb

Our church is having a "revival" this week. Tonight the speaker was speaking of Caleb in the Bible. As soon as he said what his topic was I knew it would be a long service with Caleb sitting next to me.

Everytime the speaker said the name Caleb, Caleb began to clap or say "Yay, Caleb!" Everyone around us that knew his name commented on how cute it was, but in my humble opinion it quickly got old. See, when the topic of a sermon is Caleb...chances are you are going to hear the name Caleb a lot!!

Isn't this the boy that told me I could not name our daughter Elizabeth because someone on tv has that name and our little girl would get confused by that? Who is the confused one here?

When the speaker started talking about how when Caleb was 85 years old when he wandered the wilderness because God told him too. Caleb's mouth dropped when he heard that Caleb was 85 (come on - he thinks Daddy and I are REALLY old now).

I finally had to give him some paper and let him draw, hoping that he would not hear the name Caleb quite as much. It did not work. He drew, but he still listened. On top of that he drew a picture of Caleb and Bible Caleb and said that one day he would be Bible Caleb.

I hope one day he is a man of such integrity that Bible Caleb had!!

Hope this post was not too confusing with all of the Caleb's in it!!

Dr's Appointment

Went for my 4 week checkup today. We got a strong heartbeat and everything seems to be where it is supposed to be. I am 12 weeks and 1 day. While he was listening for the heartbeat he asked me what questions I had for him. "Am I having a girl?"

"We can't tell that yet." he said with a chuckle.

"I know, but that is the only question I have for you."

So...he said that my next visit in 4 weeks will be too soon to find out the sex of the baby. The visit after that he is going to schedule early so that we don't have to wait 2 more months to find out.

It is so neat to watch Bryce when he hears the heartbeat of the baby. He gets such excitement over his face and quits talking. I can't wait to the kids with the baby!

Catfish DInner

Last night our church served a catfish dinner to kick off a revival. Bryce got several pieces of catfish, some french fries and some bread. He ate for about 45 minutes, but did not eat much of the catfish. Daddy asked him why he wasn't eating the catfish and Bryce's response "mine was better than this" (referring to the catfish he cooked a few weeks ago!!

Already an ego about his cooking!!!

Learning To Say Elizabeth

Isaac and Bryce are having a hard time saying Elizabeth. When I ask Bryce to try and say it he says something like "dado." Don't know where that came from, but he consistently responds with that.

So, I asked if they wanted to have a nickname for her that would be easier than Elizabeth. Bryce, again, responds with "dado" and Isaac says "Superdog." Sorry Isaac, we are not calling our sister "Superdog!!"

Caleb says we will just call her "Princess." Won't that be fitting I am sure - IF we have a girl!!

The Boys and Baby Names

This morning when we were eating breakfast I asked the boys what they thought about Elizabeth Grace. Caleb said that we already had a cousin named Elizabeth Grace. I told him Elizabeth was my middle name and there was no one else in our family with that name or Grace. He then reminded me that the cats name is Grace (which, yes I did not think about again!).

He then told me that when Elizabeth is watching tv she would get confused because the name Elizabeth was in cartoons (the only one I know of is Emily Elizabeth from Clifford).

Isaac said no, her name was Ava and Bryce agreed. I guess their Mama has brainwashed them! So now I am frequently asking and reminding them of the name. They argue every time saying they want Ava (which let me remind you they did not want when I wanted it!!)

It is kind of funny to hear Isaac and Bryce try and say Elizabeth though. It was a hard name for my older siblings to say too. That is how I became Meggie Lilbit!! She will have to be Little Lilbit!

Blog of the Day

I just found out that my post about our baby name yesterday was named blog of the day. I did not even know anyone was reading other than my family and the occasional passerby.

Mom called me and asked if I had gotten her comment from last night. I said no and she asked if I even knew that I had the blog of the day. I got on and read the comments from the post and sure enough...

Such excitement! If you want to see it go to the comments on my last post and click on the link.

Baby Name

Well, I think we have found a girl name we agree on!!! Of course there is plenty of time to change it again!

I got the okay to use Ava because the guy at Paul's office that was going to name his daughter Ava decided not too. I still really like Ava, but I really like this other name too.

Elizabeth Grace. Paul has really wanted to use Elizabeth somewhere, which is my middle name. I was unsure about it until he told me those names put together today while we were standing in line at Walmart.

I have really wanted Grace as a middle name. I know - that is our cats name. It is also the name of a very special church. I was a charter member at this church. Paul and I got married in this church and we were members until we moved from Texas to Arkansas (for over 10 years)! Not to mention that this is the first church that the boys ever went too!!

So...I think....if we have a girl...Elizabeth Grace will be her name.

Now - it is time to start searching for a boys name. The odds....you know!

Here's An Idea!!

Caleb has been getting into what looks like poison ivy. We are assuming this is happening at school because their playground is covered in trees and shade, which is great in the heat but also where poison ivy likes to grow!

He won't quit scratching and has several on his face that are getting infected. We have been getting onto him all week about it. It is bothering him so bad HE asked his teacher to get onto him when she sees him scratching.

Today, while grocery shopping he says "Mom, I have an idea of how to get me to quit scratching."

"What?

"Why don't ya'll pay me when I don't scratch?"

Hmmmm!!??

Better idea: Why don't you pay me when you DO scratch!!??

Bryce came in first thing this morning and took the baby sonogram picture. He said "there's baba Ava (making it rhyme). THat is what he has called the baby all morning now!

Cartoon Crushes

At dinner tonight I called the baby Ava. Paul told me her name was not Ava and then asked the boys what the babies name was. Everyone answered Ava!! He asked if everyone liked that name and everyone but Caleb said yes. Caleb said he wanted her name to be Fern.

I finally asked (although I was pretty sure I already knew the answer) where he got the name Fern. He said Charlottes Web. I asked if he had a crush on Fern from Charlottes Web and he turned red and would not respond.

Paul was giving him a bad time about having a crush on a cartoon character when he admitted that he had a crush on Jessica from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Paul just said she looks as good as he remembers her!!

Caleb's Parent/Teacher Conference

We had Caleb's first parent/teacher conference of 2nd grade today. His grades range from a 92 to a 100 for the semester. The only problem his teacher ever has from him is his talking!! Big surprise!

They take an independent reading level test at the beginning of each year. He scored a 3.4 (which means he is reading at a 3rd grade 4 months in level). He had a zone of 2.8-3.9 (which means he can read and comprehend books on an end of second grade to end of 3rd grade level). The teacher said that really there are many 5th and 6th grade level books that he is reading and comprehending.

His teacher went on and on about how great a student he is and how much she loved having him and what great manners he has. That is always nice to hear, even if he does not always follow that over at home!

I asked her how the GT program worked. She said basically the teachers nominate the students they feel show leadership, hard work and have constant good grades. She said she would be nominating him and with how quizzical he is and with his grades she thinks he will do great in the program.

Halloween Costumes

Daddy finally talked Bryce in to dressing up as something other than a fireman for Halloween. I was impressed because I have tried several times and could not get him to change his mind. I finally gave up and decided that we would just save the money of getting a new costume. He now is going to be a cowboy. He found a really cute costume that he liked, and he is going to carry a stick horse with him.

Caleb wants to be a Tyrannasaurus Rex. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to be creative enough to make that for him and can't find one already made. His next request was to be a robot. This would be easier to make, I just don't know if I have it in me right now! So at this point we don't know what he is going to be.

Isaac is back and forth about being a doctor. Every time you ask he changes his mind. Right now he is saying he is going to be a monster. Maybe when he goes and has surgery next week and he sees the scrubs that Children's hospital sells he will decide for sure if that is what he wants to be.

Trip To the Zoo

We took the boys to the zoo on Saturday for a quick trip. Bryce saw a bald eagle and asked what it was. After we told him he spent the rest of the day calling it a botabeetle. HE thought he was saying it correctly and could not understand why we kept laughing at him!

Lindsay:

The book we are looking at baby names in is broken up in lots of categories. One of the categories is Wild Child Names. We saw your name (spelling and all) Lindsay. Guess what the next name was? Renee!!!

Go figure!

Baby Names

I am a very sad person!! You will soon realize why.

So, Saturday evening we had Parents Night Out. Paul and I went and had dinner ALONE (WOW!!!). After dinner I asked Paul where we were going and he said I would see. He pulled in to Barnes and Noble. He said that we were going in and looking at baby names and we were not leaving until I agreed that if we have a girl we were not going to name her Ava (no matter how much I love it). So, we get a book and I am naming some really BAD names!!

We are going through ALL of these names and at the same time Paul and I said Mia. Shortly after we saw Mia, we saw Grace. I told Paul that I really liked Ava Grace. I also like Mia Grace (although I love Ava better!).

Here is the sad part. That was Saturday. Last night, I brought up the middle name Grace again and asked Paul if he really liked it. He said yes - then reminded me WE HAVE A CAT NAMED GRACE!!!! How stupid am I that it took me 24 hours to realize I had chose the cats name!!!

So the girl names that we had "agreed" to discuss (I say we are still naming her Ava) were Mia and Chloe. I asked the boys Sunday morning which name the boys liked best: Ava, Mia or Chloe, thinking that since we have been calling the baby Ava, they would go with Ava. Bryce and Isaac both said Chloe. Caleb said Fern. I told him that was not an option and he chose Chloe. It backfired!! And what is worse, Paul heard it all and now keeps reminding me the boys chose Chloe!

So... we still don't have a name that we agree on, although until not too long ago we were agreed on Ava!

At this point we may do Hagaleenamagaleenalukasteenawalkadenahokapokaloka!!!

We looked at boy names a little and Paul wants to name our boy Kent (HMMM could that be Clark Kent AKA Superman??)

Hurricane Isaac

This is a picture of Hurricane Isaac. Although this hurricane is in the Atlantic Ocean about to hit Canada, we are feeling the effects of it here in Arkansas. Oh, wait, maybe that is our own Hurricane Isaac that we are feeling the effect of!! Especially since his school has been closed since last Wednesday! If anyone is looking for Hurricane Bryce - I have him as well whenever you would like him back!!!!

We Are Exhausted!!

Yesterday we had a busy day! We walked 1000 miles of the Mississippi River and Paul paddled all the way around the Gulf of Mexico 3 times in a paddle boat. Seriously!!!

Okay well maybe it was just a replica of it all, but that does not sound quite as exciting!

We went to the Mud Island Riverwalk and Museum in Memphis. You take a Monorail (a train car that hangs from the bottom of a bridge). This takes you from the parking lot over to where the Mud Island Park is at.








When we got to the other side we went to the museum first. This is a very well planned museum. It was really cool! You get to get on a portion of an old steamboat and an old civil war boat complete with cannons and everything. It was neat the way it was set up and they even had it to where when you look over the side of the boat there was water. It was real enough that the boys were a little scared!

After the museum we went to the Riverwalk. This is very awesome. It is a complete replica of 1000 miles of the Mississippi River. It shows where is widens and narrows and turns and even the where the depths change. Throughout the 5 block walk they have it broken up by states and have maps of major cities on the river built into the sidewalk.


The boys spent several hours wading through the Mississippi River replica. They walked the entire 5 blocks while have "speed boat" races (they were each picking out leaves and racing them down the river), stopped to watch tugboats on the "real" Mississippi River, and whatever else their imaginations told them to do!

At the end of the river was a replica of the Gulf of Mexico. The guys got a paddle boat and went and paddled around the gulf! It is a 1 acre enclosure that holds 1.3 million gallons of water. There is also a little area that has a huge fountain. The boys went and waded around in the water around the fountain.

Unfortunately we did not think to take a camera so we did not get any pictures. We will be going back, with extra clothes for the boys (we spent the entire time trying to keep their clothes dry for the trip home) and a camera. It was well worth the $20 we spent to go to have a whole day of entertainment and WARN OUT BOYS when we left!

All of the pictures I used were from the Mud Island River Park website.