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

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

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!!!