The Not-So-Smart Mama

Paul was putting out some weed and feed last week. He got to the flower bed at the end of our driveway and a bird started going crazy. After looking for a few minutes, he found that this bird had made a nest in our flowerbed. She had one speckled egg there.





I don't know if she had sent Daddy Bird to look for the perfect nesting location or if she just decided on a whim that it was a great place to make a nest, but someone did NOT do their research! Somehow the fact that FIVE kids (FOUR boys) and THREE dogs live at that flowerbed! And, the four boys, they LOVE to dig through that flowerbed in search of bugs.

Over the course of the week I have kind of kept my eye out of the bird and her nest. I told the boys that they could not play over there and that if they were to touch the egg the baby bird would die because the mom would no longer care for it. So, they stand at the end of the driveway and antagonize mom from afar.

Through watching her, I became very curious about some strange observations. For one, if you walk towards her nest she flares her tail out and she looks injured. Another thing is until recently she never sat on the nest. She would stand by it and walk around near it, but she was never sitting on it. I also noticed there was another bird that was always near by.



Yesterday when I was taking the trash out I noticed her sitting on the nest. Later when I saw her walking around the yard I went and checked on the nest. To my surprise there were FOUR eggs.



After I told Paul she had more eggs, we immediately wondered how long they take to hatch. We have to start doing yard work. The grass is turning green, the weeds have been green and growing, and we can't wait on baby birds to do the yard work (we have a HOA....we really CANNOT wait!!) So, we got online to find out how long it takes for the eggs to hatch and babies to fly away.

Well.....these eggs will take longer than your average Robin! They are Killdeers and they are a type of shorebird. That means that they hatch with their eyes open and can immediately walk (although clumsy). That is probably a good thing with their boyish and barking neighbors, but it means that they stay in the egg an extra week (it takes 24-28 days to hatch). They cannot fly for several weeks though.

I also read that they are very tolerant of humans (although that was obvious by the fact that they are living here). The male and female take turns sitting on the nest (I don't know if that is so for all birds). They usually lay four eggs, but none of the eggs start maturing until they are sat on, so even though one eggs has been in the nest for a week longer, they will all hatch at the same time. If someone or something goes towards the nest they will act like they have a broken wing and start running the other direction (usually dragging their "injured" wing) to try and get the "prey" to walk away from the nest. When I went out and took the last set of pictures, I had injured mama walking one direction and injured daddy walking another direction. And if one starts screaming, any around will scream (I had at least three or four screaming at me). Also, they often live in gravel areas and their eggs blend in to the rocks and gravel.

Dad bird in the pasture behind us, screaming at me

So, there is your Killdeer lesson for the day. HOPEFULLY, I will be able to get pictures of the babies when they hatch. I am not sure what we are going to do about Easter egg hunt this year because if we do it out there like we normally do, someone is going to be collecting some REAL eggs!!

Injured Mom

I have taken for granted having ten fingers to use to wrangle kids, while also grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. I have been reminded.

I was breaking up the 500th arguement between Bryce and Andrew last night and trying to get them to go to bed. While trying to end it and making some grand and important point I am sure, I flung my hand back behind me and hit the door.

Me, being me, I couldn't hit the front or back of the door so it would simply open or close. I had two inches to hit a different part of the door. Out of a WHOLE door....I found the two inches. I hit the edge of the door. So the door did not open when I hit it and it did not close. In fact, it did not move AT ALL!

It did, however, bend my ring finger on my left hand back.

I quickly left the room (and shut the door) because I could not guarantee what might ocme out of my mouth in the next few minutes. When the colored spots faded away, I was done jumping up and down, screaming and mumbling profanities under my breath, I realized I could not bed my finger.

Since I was home alone and trying to deal with two constantly argueing kids, and a very unhappy little girl, I did not have time for a non-bending finger, so I tried to block out the throbbing finger and continue with what I needed to do.

I probably should have gotten out the frozen peas instead!!

I took some tylenol before bed, it did not do a whole lot. My finger was swollen and still throbbing. Luckily, right after it happened I took off my wedding ring. I don't know why I did it, other than my finger just REALLY hurt! If I hadn't taken off the ring, well let's jsut say that I could not get the ring to my first knuckle this morning!

This morning it was still swollen, the back of my middle knuckle is purple and there is a little discoloration on the top of my knuckle. I don't like taking two kids to the pediatricians office, so the thought of taking two kids to the dr for me (who would be a new patient whereever I ended up) just didn't even cross my mind. Until my husband told me I needed to go.

I didn't though. Instead, when I went to meet him for lunch, the sweet nurse that works at the plant looked at it. She said it looks like I probably pulled a tendon and if it doesn't start looking better by tomorrow I should see a dr.

Now, excuse me please while my splinted finger and I go figure out a story. I can NOT tell the kids I hurt my hand while getting on to them. If I did, from now on everytime I get on to them I would hear "Mom, you better not get on to us, you might hurt yourself!" Sadly, they would probably be right.

The nurse DID say (in front of Paul) that I needed a week off to rest my finger. I LOVE her....she is the best nurse ever!!

Young Leader

Caleb was nominated by his teacher and counselor to represent his school and the state of Louisiana at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C. this summer.

This is what the beginning of the letter reads:

Caleb was nominated by his teacher, who recognized him as one of a select group of students with the scholastic merit, maturity and strength of character to represent (his school) at this unique leadership program for exceptional 5th and 6th graders. On behalf of the members of the United States Congress who serve on our Honorary Congressional Board of Advisors, I congratulate you on Caleb's achievements. You must be very proud.

In addition to meeting the significant academic requirements that are our first consideration in choosing scholars. we have been told that Caleb has the strength of character and leadership ability that will allow him to get the most out of this unparalleled opportunity.....

Some of the places he would get to visit include:
National Museum of American History
Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans, and Korean War Veterans Memorial
VIP view of the historic city
Harpers Ferry
the White House
a sleepover at the Maryland Science Center


Caleb has asked us several times to take him to D.C. He has specifically asked to go to several of the above mentioned places. This would be such an awesome trip for him! Not only would he get to visit many awesome historical places, but he would learn how to put his leadership skills to good use. He has always been a leader, unfortunately, at this point, he uses the skills poorly (telling his brothers to do things that will get them in trouble, etc).

However, there is a downside too. First off (and most importantly), they give you until mid-May to come up with $2000 for the trip AND we have to buy airline tickets. On top of that, any spending money he would need (snacks, lunch on the two days he travels there and home, souveniers - who can go to all of those places and NOT buy souveniers, etc).

Secondly, it would be REALLY hard on Mom. I would not let that hold HIM back, but hte thought of my baby (YES, I know he is no longer a baby, but he will always be MY baby) going so far away without one of his parents....

I know I have to give him the space to become the young man he is becoming. I know I have too loosen my grip, but I DON'T WANNA (insert temper tantrum....hands and feet hitting the floor, thrashing around, etc)

I talked to his teacher and she is trying to find out about scholarships (you can get them through the conference, but they are not available yet. She is looking into the criteria for them and seeing about getting a letter of recommendation from the school). Whether he goes or not, it is an honor for him to be nominated and for his hard work to be recognized! I am keeping my fingers crossed for him that we can make this work!

I am so proud of all he has done and I hope he continues down the path he has been on and works hard. If he keeps his goal in sight (which has been Harvard for a couple of years now) he can make it very far in life. He is getting to a place in school where all of his hard work starts getting recognized and rewarded.

The same day I got this letter in the mail, he came home shortly after I read it and gave me a letter saying that Junior High registration is this week (tomorrow).

It was a HARD week to be a Mom!! I am learning just how hard it is to watch your little boy turn in to a young man. For some reason, I don't think this is something that will get easier with each child, though.

Swing

Mady got a swing for Christmas, but Daddy has been so busy with his crazy work schedule to put it up (and it has been really cold until very recently). He finally got a break and made her a swing that we could move around to whereever we need it to be. That way if we are working in the front yard we can take it to the front with us. She LOVES it. She just sits in the swing all relaxed and looks around or she kicks and giggles.




Even Andrew will swing in it every now and then, but he is almost three and can't sit still, so he doesn't like it for long!

Cutie

I LOVED these very girly pajamas! And, she looks so cute in them :)







The boys asked why she had tutus around her legs and stomach :) A year ago my boys would not have known what a tutu was :)

TEETH!!

She finally got her top two teeth in. They have been teasing her for months!!

Underwear

Andrew came out of his room and I saw the top of his underwear hanging out the top of his jeans. They did not look familiar as what he had been wearing prior to being put down for nap, so I asked what was on his underwear.

He pulled down his pants and said "Cowboy" (Woody from Toy Story).

As I started to ask why he changed underwear, he pulled his underwear down to reveal MORE underwear. "And, Buzz."

As he said that, I realized we were not done.

He pulled Buzz down, "and guitars" (guitars down) "and Handy Manny and pirate monkeys."

I stopped him before he pulled down the last pair.

He had FIVE pairs of underwear on and his jeans. This is not completely abnormal (although usually he doesn't put five on at a time). I don't know why he likes to wear more than one pair of underwear, but he does.

I guess if this is the biggest potty training dilemma we had, that is pretty good. He is completely potty trained and actually does better at night than any of his brothers did. He still sleeps in pull-ups, but it is very rare for him to have an accident.

His Master Plan

"Hey Mom! The day before you die why don't you publish your blog and become rich."

Yeah Caleb...THANKS!! Regardless of the fact that we don't typically know when we are going to die - why would I want to become rich AFTER I die.....oh wait, you mean YOU want to be rich!

And my blog is not going to make ANYONE rich!

Tooth Fairy Overtime

The tooth fairy has been working overtime at our house. I guess that is what happens when you have three that are losing teeth. Lucky for the tooth fairy, Caleb only has his 12 year molars left to loose. He lost one the week before last. Bryce lost one last week (he already had one growing in - guess it pushed the baby one out). He has a couple of more that are loose.

I don't guess the tooth fairy gets a break for a down economy?

Rotating Tires

Andrew started riding a bike a couple of weeks ago.

Daddy was rotating his tires the same weekend and had come in to wash his hands real quick. When he went back out, this is what we found:




Guess his tires needed to be rotated too!!

Wrapped Hand

You might be asking what happened to his hand. Technically, nothing. But, he will NOT keep his thumb out of his mouth! We have tried everything. He liked the taste of all of the spices we put on it (he would ask for more and then started going to the spice drawer and eating spices....STRANGE CHILD). We have tried putting a sock on it, which worked for a while. I tried wrapping just his thumb, but he immediately pulled it off.

He only had it wrapped like that for a couple of hours. I took it off before bed so he wouldn't rip it off with his teeth. As it was, the bandage was soaked when I took it off.

I wish he had stuck with the pacifier!!

Weather

It rained ALL day yesterday. Steady downpour, never letting up. But, yesterday evening after Paul got home he came out of the bedroom and said it sounded like the house was going to blow over. I figured it was just a strong gust, no big deal.

A little bit later I walked outside to get some milk out of the refrigerator in the garage. Our garage has a double car opening on the front and a single car opening on the back, but doesn't have the garage doors on it (it is enclosed other than the door openings). Our grill is usually by the back garage door. When I walked into the garage the grill was not there and it was VERY windy. I asked Paul if he moved it and he said no and that when he came in it was where it normally is.

I found it in the side yard. It had rolled all the way through the garage, partially down the driveway and ended up in the yard. A ladder and wheel barrow that were behind the house were also in the driveway. As we were picking things up and taking the umbrella out of our patio furniture, we realized we could possibly be in a tornado. The winds were that strong.

We came in and told the kids to get in the hall. They were all looking at us like we were crazy and we had to tell them several times. We looked up the weather and we were under a wind advisory, but no tornado watches or warnings.

The winds were 35-48 mph and blowing from every direction. This is what it looked like outside:



Today is supposed to be exceptionally windy too. Then it is supposed to FINALLY get warm! One of the only upsides to living here (other than Daddy being home all the time) is that the winters are so mild. NOT THIS YEAR!! Christmas of 08 we were wearing shorts! I don't think there were many, if any, real short days this winter!

I am SOOO ready for the sunny 70's we should have this weekend!

Ballerina

Mady's Room

We finally got Mady's room mostly done. I still need to hang her mirror above the dresser and make the skirt for her bed. I am amazed at how long she spends playing in front of that mirror! Between the corner with the pillows and toys and the mirror right by that corner, she LOVES being in her room now. She doesn't even mind playing by herself (although her brothers also love her room - mainly the mirror - so she is rarely in there alone).

Things I Never Thought I Would Say...

Before you have kids there are things you say you will never say or do. There are also MANY things that you could not even prepare yourself for or fathom EVER coming out of your mouth. Believe me, with four boys..there are a LOT of things that I say and then I wonder if that REALLY came out of my mouth!

Here are some examples of things I have had to say. Warning: some of these might not be for those with weak stomachs....

Go clean the slug slime of the doorknob. (I have a child that likes to put slugs on the front door knob while he waits for the bus so Mom grabs them and gets grossed out...doesn't even have to be April Fool's Day!)

Quit eating (insert some kind of food or candy) out of the trashcan

I believe you that the grasshopper was alive when you put it in your pocket yesterday morning. But, grasshoppers don't survive long in little boys pockets....especially when said pocket has been through the washing machine!

Go potty and you can feed P-Rex (or the fact that we have a bank named P-Rex for that matter)

No, Daddy is not going to beat ANYBODY up! (Daddy was wrestling with one child and another one asked "Daddy, can you beat me up next?")

Don't kiss the dog under his tail

I know you love your sister, but you can not hug her to death (Watching Andrew hug his sister makes me flashback to Animaniacs "I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him and pat him and pet him and caress him..."

Do you need to go poopy or peepee

Please put that back in your pants (Andrew likes to pull it out when he needs to go potty, he just doesnt wait until he gets to the bathroom to do it)

Stop licking the wall

Just go pee over there (sometimes a boy has to go...whether there is a bathroom or not)

Stop licking the floor

Stop licking the dog

Stop licking....you can probably add just about anything here and I have probably had to say it

Do not tell your brother to fish out the toy you dropped in the poopy toilet....that is why we don't bring toys with us when we got potty

Do not let the 2 year old climb a six foot ladder and slide down a piece of wood (yeah, unfortunately I had to tell Dad and Grandpa that one...that was during the Redneck Olympics while still recovering from the birth of our daughter)

Do not let the 2 year old jump off homemade ramps on his powerwheels tractor (again... Dad and Grandpa - and I wonder where the boys get it from)

No, you cannot take your brother with you kayaking so he can be alligator bait if one trys to attack you

If you are going to try to vacuum up your brother, go get the shop vac so you don't ruin my good vacuum!!

Go let your bloody nose drip in the sink while I get you something to put on it....and STOP EATING THE BLOOD!

I am going to MAKE that dog bite you if you don't quit kicking her

Is that poop on the floor or is it a bug? Or a raisin? Oh, it USED to be a bug! Which leads me to the next one.....

I know who ate the bug. There is a cricket leg hanging out of his mouth.

DROP THAT MOUSE RIGHT NOW! OH MY GOSH IT IS STILL ALIVE!! (As I jump onto a bed with my two year old holding a mouse that the cat played with ALMOST to death. This was with my first son, but I would probably still react the same way!) Which was followed by...

Let's go wash your hands again. I know we have washed them about 25 times already, but you touched an almost dead MOUSE!!

I know you want to be a fireman and it is your duty to put out any fires, but PLEASE NEVER pee on the fire in the fireplace again!! (probably should have specified not to pee on ANY fires, but hey...)

No, we cannot play in the front yard naked. We have neighbors!

You are going to eat it so quit gagging! (Bryce makes himself gag if the SIGHT of the food set in front of him doesn't appease him. Usually though, after we make him eat it - he LIKES it - except tuna sandwichs)

And, there was also....if make yourself throw up you are going to eat it. It tastes MUCH better only going down once!

You are going to have to hold on to that booger until we get home. I have nothing for you to wipe it on and you are NOT wiping it on my car seats, carpet, ceiling, seatbelt or YOUR BROTHERS! That is why we don't pick our nose! (answered with "I guess I could eat it like my brother does." Which I responded with "as long as it doesn't end up on my car or on your brothers....."

Do you have poop on your butt? Then WHY is the dog following you around licking your butt? OH, and WHY ARE YOU NAKED AGAIN??

No, I will not put dishsoap and chocolate in the water you are drinking

I told you to get ready for school. Since you kept ignoring me you can go to school in your underwear. YES, I AM serious. Get in the car. (this only happened once and not only does he remember it well, but he tells his brothers frequently that I will do it.)

Do NOT brush your teeth with the same tooth brush you just cleaned the toilet with! And WHY are you cleaning the toilet with your toothbrush?

Is there really any point in taking a shower if you are going to dry the pee off the bathroom floor and then dry yourself with the same towel?

Do not feed your brothers red peppers from the bird cage

Since you fed your brother red peppers anyway, go get one out of the birds food bowl and YOU eat it. YES, I am serious! If it was good enough for you to make him eat it, it is good enough for you to eat it!

Why are you sniffing your brothers (or sisters) butt?

You got several blisters on your fingers because you wanted to see how long you could hold your hand on a hot lightbulb? I think you need to move to the bottom bunk!

No, I don't hope the house catches on fire tonight so that the fireman will come to the house. Well, I guess it depends on the fireman that comes. Wait, no....I don't want the house to catch on fire.

Why is there a dirty diaper in the space shuttle?

This is only a small list because, quite frankly, it happens so frequently I can't remember them all (and sometimes I don't even catch the did-I-just-say-that of whatever I am saying! Not much surprises me anymore!

And, there are lots of potty ones...did I mention I have four boys?

What are some things that you have said that you never thought you would say?

LOOK OUT - Here Comes the Torturous Threes!!

Let's just say we are nearing the end of the Terrible Twos and making a magnifacent entrance into the Torturous Threes! I have always said threes are worse than twos...and Andrew is out to prove me right (which is amazing because the kids normally try to prove me wrong). I have to appreciate the work and dedication he puts into it, though (note the sarcasm).

"Andrew, get out of that." "NO, I DON'T WANT TO GET OUT OF THAT!"

"Andrew, we don't hit our big brother over the head with a big wooden board...or anything else." "I WANT TO HIT MY BIG BROTHER OVER THE HEAD WITH A WOOD!"
(yes, he actually did that!)

This is how the majority of our conversations go lately. I have never looked forward and LOVED napped time with him as much as I am right now (of course, this is also when he has decided naps are for the weak and he is NOT weak!). Just a small amount of time where everything I say is not followed by "NO! I don't want to....(repeat whatever Mom said)!!"

OHHHH....and can he ever push his brothers buttons. Everything they have let him get away with in the past they are now annoyed by. The cuteness has worn off, and he knows it but just LOVES to make is brothers scream at him, then he screams back, and it is loud and nasty until Mom can't stand it anymore!

We turned door knobs to bedrooms around because he LOVED to lock doors (he also loves to slam doors over and over) with him on the outside of the door and no one on the inside, except maybe his baby sister. I am a pro at taking door knobs off....I think I could do it in less than 30 seconds. Now his thing is to wait until his brothers are in their rooms and then go lock them IN! Of course, I know nothing about it until kids are beating doors down wanting out!

I do have to say though, when it comes to temper tantrums.....his about to be seven year old brother has him WAY beat on that. I think he has mastered the "art" of temper tantrums. If it wasn't so annoying I would be in awe of him. But, since he throws them VERY frequently - like anytime he has to do something he doesn't want to - well, let's just say the awe is gone!

Although this stage is a very trying stage, it is also a very fun stage of exploration and learning. It is so fun to watch him figure things our for himself and then see how proud he is of his accomplishments! Everything is a learning oppurtunity!

Here is to hoping that the drama I am preparing myself for having a GIRL going through the terrible twos and torturous threes is all for nothing. I am expecting it to be BAD, especially since she has had the Drama Queen routine down since before birth! Maybe a lot like her brothers, but with lots of tears and poochy lips and going to Daddy to get her way.

Sweet Moments

I witnessed such a sweet moment when I went in to get Madeleine out of bed this morning. Andrew comes running in her room and says "Mowning Pitty Girl Pincess! Did you seep goooood Sistee Pincess Mads? I missed my Pitty Pitty Pitty Pincess Girl!" as he smothers her with kisses and hugs.

She had a huge smile on her face from the moment she saw (actually I think she HEARD him first)him. I have so enjoyed watching the two of them interact. They are usually so sweet with each other, although sometimes Andrew gets a little tougher than he thinks he is.

Tom Sawyer

Caleb had to give a biography today and had to dress up for it. He chose Mark Twain to do his biography on. He really enjoys reading the old classics. Mark Twain liked to wear white suits (which went great with his crazy white hair). I was not going to go buy him a white suit for a class assignment, so his teacher said he could dress up as a character from Mark Twain's stories. Of course, he immediately chose Tom Sawyer.

He did not want to wear his uniform today and they were told that if they wanted to wear their costume all day they could. So, this is how Caleb went to school....I am not sure that this is going to be much better than his uniform.



Don't you want to pop those suspenders??!!

Choking

This morning I heard a story about a 911 operator who was still in training when he got a call from a mom that had a child that was choking. His supervisor was standing there while he calmly told the frantic mother how to help the child and it ended with the child being saved.

When he got off the call, his supervisor praised his great job of calmly directing the mother to helping her child. The operator turned to his supervisor shaking and visibly upset. "That was MY child that was choking!"

When that call came in he had NO idea what he was about to face. But, he was able to CALMLY give his wife instructions to help HIS baby. His supervisor gave him the rest of the day off to spend with his wife and baby!

This is something I have wondered about a lot. I have been through several infant/child CPR and heimlich maneuver training courses. If MY child was choking, would I be able to do CPR or the Heimlich to save his or her life? I honestly think I would freeze in fear!

I have had two children choke on two different occasions. The first time was Bryce, years ago. We were at a Sunday School function and he was eating a hotdog. Paul was out of town, so it was just me and the four kids. You can read about that experience here.

The second time was last year and it was Andrew. You can read about that experience here. Thank goodness Daddy was there! But, my heart stopped and I had a second where all I could do is freeze. If he had not been there would I have snapped out of it in time to save him?

This is something that is very serious to me. Not only because it is a serious situation, but because I have a two (almost three) year old that still ALWAYS has something in his mouth that he should not have. Money, legos, marbles, SOMETHING! I also have a fairly newly mobile baby that puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. If she can reach it and it fits in her mouth, it is in it. If it doesn't fit in her mouth she is trying to bite it. The odds of me being alone and one of them choking are VERY high!

I can only hope that if (or when) I am put in that situation that God would give me the strength to move, and quickly. There is no way I would be able to do it otherwise!

Bad Habits

When Mady hears one of the boys burp, she "burps." It is the funniest thing, except she is a GIRL! I do NOT want my daughter walking around burping all the time, albeit fake or not.

Daddy says the burping is okay because he doesn't want guys to like her! I told him my parents might have felt the same way and asked what he would have done if I walked around burping all the time. "Well I would have thought you were gross and would not have wanted anything to do with you." Yeah, I guess I proved HIS point!

She also shakes her head no all the time. If she hears anyone say no, she will shake her head and say "nuh-uh" over and over.

Andrew also has a new bad habit. He calls EVERYONE a "doedoe" (much thanks to his oldest brother for that one). I have been trying and trying to break him of it.

Why is it that bad habits are learned much quicker that good habits?

Patience

I am sitting in Madeleine's room with her and Andrew. Mady has a toy that is 10 half circles that you can connect and make a tower, snap together and make 5 balls or you can nest the balls inside each other (10 different sizes). Andrew figured out he could hide a small ball under each half circle. As quickly as he gets a ball under one though, Mady takes the ball to eat.

Andrew keeps telling her over and over "Mads, you have to be patient sistee!"

Except Mads has already started to master the art of ignoring all of her brothers (which is probably a good thing). So, we are instead just going in circles. Andrew places balls under, Mady takes them, Andrew tells her to be patient. Andrew places ball under, Mady takes them......

I must say, Andrew is being pretty patient and he is politely telling her to be patient over and over instead of being mean to her.

Madeleine's Room

I spent the weekend working on Mads bedroom. She is no longer in a blue bedroom :) We did two shades of pink with a green stripe around the room. That was a PAIN! It sounded much better in my head! There was a LOT of time spent measuring and taping off this stripe and the whole time I was painting I was nervous as to how it would look when I pulled off the tape!

It turned out cute though. I hate trying to pick paint colors because they come out so different when you put them on walls then that little swatch looks. I was a little concerned about the green, but I think it came out nice.

There is a corner of her room that I put a bean bag and some pillows in. She LOVES that corner. She spends a ton of time climbing on the bean bag chair and then rolling off of it. There are SO many giggles that come out of that corner! I was really just trying to get that stuff out of the way, I never guessed she would love it so much.

We went with a ballerina theme. I still have some stuff to do. One of the big things I want to do is to put a long mirror on one wall with a dance barre on it (down low at her level). Mads loves looking at herself in the mirror and talking to herself, so I think it would be a big hit.

Here are a couple of pics of what I have done this weekend....




Not only has she been napping much better since we changed rooms, she is starting to sleep through the night! I give her a "dream bottle" (that is from the Baby Whisperer) before I go to bed and IF she wakes up in the middle of the night, she usually goes right back to sleep without anyone going to her room!

Snow Day 2010

It started snowing at about 6:30 this morning. We got probably an inch and a half to two inches. By 10:30 it was still snowing, but melting too. It briefly started accumulating on the roads and they talked about closing the bridges (they did temporarily to sand them), but not before Paul got sent home (he was actually told by the boss to go home).

Andrew came out of his room in shorts and a tshirt and said he was ready to go play outside in the snow. It was his older brothers shorts and tshirt so they were not even staying on him!

We got to enjoy some time outside playing before it started melting and then we spent the day running errands and trying to stay out of the house for a while.

A LONG Weekend!

School has been cancelled for tomorrow "just in case." We have a chance of 1 or 2 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow. That means either we will get nothing or we will get a foot of snow :) That is just the way it normally works. But the weathermen always make a point of saying it is VERY hard to predict down here because everything has to work out "just right" for us to get snow.

Honestly, this is just God's sense of humor at work. We told the kids not to expect to see snow at home when we moved down here. That year they got the most snow they had gotten in over 20 years. This will be our second snow this season. I guess I should tell them to expect snow every year and then it won't snow!!

If I am lucky the two Mississippi bridges will be closed due to ice on the road. That means Daddy will have to stay home and we can have a family day stuck inside!

The boys don't go back to school until next Wednesday. They have Monday and Tuesday off for Mardi Gras. Oh, the benefits of living in Louisiana!! There aren't many, so we take what we can get!

Decorating

Since I have to paint Mads room again, I am trying to figure out what I am going to do with her room when we go get her new furniture. This would be MUCH easier to do if I had someone to help! Paul really could care less. Unless he just does NOT like something, everything is "fine" or "okay" or "cute". I need a little more than that.

The big problem is that I have wanted a girl for so long and there are so many different ideas I have for a room that I want to do them all. That doesn't mesh well! The more I look online at different ideas, the worse it gets!

I also want to buy her furntiture that is going to last her. I really like a furniture set called Princess:

but, I don't see a teenager wanting furniture like that. And, white is going to age (aka show nail polish, lip gloss, markers, etc...) a lot quicker than anything else.
So, I will probably be going with a cherry wood.

I will post pictures when I figure out what we are going to do and get it done. I finally got a girl and I do not plan on her being in a blue room for long (blue would probably be fine if I didn't have four boys BEFORE getting the girl)!

If you have any pictures or ideas of what I can do, I would LOVE to hear them!

Success

Mady has two friends that she has struggled to be able to have coexist. I think she has finally figured them out.

Sleep and Awake are getting along much better. And if I knew it was as easy as changing which room she slept in (not that it is easy to flip flop two bedrooms full of three kids stuff), well I would have done it a long time ago.

The two boys that moved into her bedroom, which is significantly smaller room, are actually enjoying that room more. Bryce even said that I could leave it pink (he is six and a third child.....he will like anything if it causes anyone to stir or balk at him whether he LIKES it or not). Yes, his brothers ALL got a huge kick laughing at him and teasing him because he likes the PINK room!

Mady is enjoying her room more too. She is playing in it, but more importa ntly, she is SLEEPING in it. There was not even really a transition period(which is REALLY amazing with her). When we changed the rooms I was also going to attempt to get her back into taking two naps a day. I figured this would be a challange. I was WRONG! She has easily gone down for her naps and taken good naps. AND she is even sleeping when her brothers are home!!! Even with the door open, if her air purifier is on it drowns out all of the noise (unless kids are right outside her door).

She is sleeping better at night too. She is still waking up some, but it a lot of the time she just crys for a minute and goes back to sleep. Daddy and I are only getting up once if we have to get up. Still not where we want to be, but we are making MAJOR steps in the right direction. I have hope that by the time she is 1 (which OH MY GOSH is coming quickly) she might be sleeping through the night!!

The main thing is she is a MUCH happier girl now that she is sleeping like she should be!

Super Bowl

We finally have EVERYONE well again! Thank goodness! Andrew and Mady were both running fever again Friday and Saturday and Andrew's allergies were horrible Friday (eyes swollen, watering, runny nose). So glad to start a new week!

I had a very productive weekend of getting some stuff reorganized. I feel like things are calming down with Mady enough that I can get things back to where they were pre-Mads! I am a very organized person and the lack of organization was really starting to get to me.

We spent last night watching the Super Bowl. None of our friends and family WANTED to cheer on the Saints (they all have teams they would prefer to win over us), but I have cheered for them all season and I am so glad they won. I think that was the best game of the year (for any team!). They took some awesome chances that paid off and not only did the underdogs win, but they won by TWO AWESOME touchdowns!

I walked outside after the game just to hear what could be heard. There was a LOT to be heard! Our usually quiet-after-dark neighborhood was ALIVE and celebrating. There were gunshots (not really a big fan of shooting guns to show my excitement - but noone was injured), fireworks (someone saved up from New Years I guess), hollering, horns honking! Even as late as a couple of hours after the game I took the dogs out and was still hearing the effects of the game.

The news this morning said traffic was worse before 6 this morning than normal rush hour is. There was not a lot of sleep to be had in the state last night.

Sexy as Defined by a Six Year Old

"Everybody! Mady's sexy!"

That is what Bryce said today.

"What does sexy mean?" I quizzed.

"It means hot and sexy."

"You can't define a word with the same word."

"It means your pants are hanging down and your underwear are showing!"

Lots of Coughs

Mady was the first to get sick and the first to get better. She is pretty much over her cough now. I guess she found coughing such a fun experience she wants to keep it up.

Everytime anyone coughs (which is a LOT lately), Mady does a VERY obvious fake cough. Then she looks around and smiles. We all laugh everytime, which probably is why she looks around smiling!!

Boy Problems

Andrew, for the past two days now, has told me his "weiner is broke." I asked yesterday after the first time why and he said "because it won't peepee."

Seasons of Life

I am amazed at how quickly we enter one phase in life and then leave it and move on to the next. Especially when it comes to our children.

I can no longer call Andrew a toddler. I guess he is now a preschooler. He is talking, walking, running, counting and working on ABC's, using the potty all the time now - without asking or telling me he needs to and without asking for rewards for it. He is just not a toddler anymore.

Madeleine is moving from baby to toddler very quickly. She is getting into everything, walking holding on to stuff, standing unassisted for a small amount of time, drinking out of a cup (she is taking one bottle a day right before bed), talking (even though it is only a handful of words). She dances when she hears music, she sings, she waves, she claps.

She still has that touch of baby to her. She is still very sensitive and very needy. But, it appears that is also going to be her personality.

It is just so hard to believe that my LAST baby is growing up so quickly! She is at such a fun age, but it is bittersweet. With every exciting "first" she has there is that voice in the back of my head saying "this will be the last first word, first crawl, first step, etc. I really have to focus on the moment and not get lost in the LAST first!

And then there are the school-aged kids. I have THREE kids that are reading by themselves, counting their own money, telling time, etc. Even the one that started off struggling so much this year has come close to completely catching up and getting his grades all up! I had one move to a new school this year (the schools here are done by grade level, not where you live. The k - 1 is in one school, 2 - 3 in one, 4-5 in one and then junior high and high school). And next year I will not have anyone at the k-1 grade school.

Then there is the fact that in a few months, I will have a JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT! I am not ready to even discuss this fact yet, although he LOVES LOVES LOVES to remind me often!

When you get caught up in the day to day, you don't always recognize that you are leaving a phase that you may never be in again. Sometimes that is a good thing. There are somethings in life you hope you will be done with soon and never return too. But when you are a Mom, and the phase you will never enter again has to do with the fact that your child (or children) are growing way to quickly, it seems to slap you in the face!

I hope that I can always stay in the moment and enjoy every minute. Even the challanges! Because before I know it, I am not going to have "children" anymore, and that will be a new phase in which I may never be ready for!

Suicide, Sewage...It Is All the Same, Right?

Bryce came home today and says "Today another teacher had suicide in her sink and her class had to stay in our classroom with us. It stunk up the whole hall!"

We said suicide back and forth countless times while I was trying to understand what he is talking about. I had flashes of a teacher commiting suicide at her sink during class and was PRAYING TO GOD that was not what happened!!

"Yeah, you know, like what is in the ditch!"

"Sewage?"

"Yeah, that! It was really stinky!"

Sick Kids

Last night was a BAD night! I went to bed at my normal 10 and Mads was screaming by 10:45. Daddy got up and went in and she continued to scream. So, I went in her room and rocked her for a bit. She was burning up (104.5)! She was also breathing very loud and heavy.

We finally got her fever down, but there was not much sleeping to be had. She was in our bed rolling all over, sitting up and throwing herself back down, etc. It was obvious she was not comfortable.

This morning I called the dr as soon as they opened. Of course our normal dr was not in, which sucked because I knew with him I could bring in both sick kids and he would take care of both of them without having to make two appointments (and paying two copays). That did not exactly happen.

The dr said her ears and throat looked perfect, but her lungs sounded bad. She ordered some blood work to see if she had a viral or bacterial infection. They did a thumb prick, which did not go over to great! The machine was down, so we ended up leaving with no results.

The dr called this afternoon and told us that they ran the bloodtest and she did have a bacterial infection of some sort. She told us to start her on antibiotics. I asked her if she thought Isaac had the same thing. We had discussed all of his symptoms and fever, but she did not look at him at all. She said he probably did, but to give him another day and see if he can shake it on his own. I asked her if I could just call and get a prescription for him if it didn't go away and she said that they don't give antibiotic prescriptions without "looking" at the child.

I don't know that the best thing to do is let him run a fever for another day to see if he can kick it on his own. He would end up missing an entire week of school and that is the last thing he needs right now. I think we are going to go see our normal dr tomorrow (hopefully) and try to get this under control. I really don't think I should have to bring five kids in for the same thing as this passes through the house!

One thing that was kind of funny. I mentioned to the dr that we had not had sick kids since March of 2008. She says "Mady is nine months old and hasn't been sick at all? You must homeschool." She was REALLY amazed when I told her I had three in public schools!

She has NO idea how amazing it really is!!

Isaac has been sleeping for the past three days, pretty much around the clock. Caleb came home today from school and complained about a headache and went to bed for about an hour, until bedtime.