Janet and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.... that ended rather nicely

Owen has been sick all weekend. Nothing too bad, just a low fever and very tired and fussy, which makes me tired and fussy too. Last night he woke up crying about 1:45 with no fever but very thirsty apparently. We had a discussion about how how should have water because I'm a big fan of nothing but water after teeth have been brushed and don't want him to have something sugary right before he sleeps. I should have known that the middle of the night was no time for advice about good dental habits. He wanted chocolate milk but we settled on apple juice. Timothy got up to get him the juice and had to search for a sippy cup because we don't use those very often and don't have many anymore. Owen drained the half-cup of juice and wanted more right away so it was my turn to fetch it. This time he decided he needed a big cup and didn't want the sippy cup. Of course I told him no to that (keep in mind he is in our bed at this point) but he insisted and took off for the kitchen. I poured a bit of the juice into the big cup for him which he drank then decided he wanted the sippy cup back. By the time he went to sleep it was almost 3:00 and I didn't get back to sleep till much later, partially due to the apple juice dripping out of the no-drip sippy cup onto my shoulder and my pillow.

We all had to be up early because we had to drop off Timothy at his office at 6:00 so he could leave to work out of town for the week. After we said our good-byes the boys and I had some time to kill because I start work at 7:30. We went to Burger King and had breakfast and the kids played in the play area. Owen couldn't climb all the way up on his own because the steps were soo big, so that means I had to climb into the thing too. (between that and the apple juice it was not turning out to be a glamorous morning for yours truly) Funny side note: I remember climbing into the same play area to help Collin get to the top when I was pregnant with Owen. That was another time when I was glad there was no one around with a camera. So every time they come down the slide they have to get another bite to eat or a drink and during one such break Owen dumps his chocolate milk ALL over his shirt. I blame his confusion on the sippy cup incident mentioned earlier.

Finally, 6:55 I tell them one more time down the slide and it's time to go. Owen does not agree with this assessment and is quite vocal about his opinion. I climb in one more time to help him up and (sniff sniff) what's that? Oh Owen! I didn't bring the diaper bag because we are going right to daycare where the have all the diapers. I then have to drag my screaming, chocolate milk covered, stinky 2 year-old out to the car. I didn't mention yet, but we had a cold front come in and it was in the upper 40's to lower 50's this morning but SOMEONE didn't bother to check the weather because everyone who lives here knows it's always Summer until Halloween, so needless to say my boys were in shorts and t-shirts today. Oops! It was not my proudest Mom moment to walk into daycare this morning with my messy, stinky, fussy, freezing child. At least poor Collin was just freezing. I changed Owen's diaper and kissed the boys and off to work to try to relax and recover from my long morning.

After sleep-walking through my morning I decided to go to the QT (gas station) across the street at lunch because I'd noticed one of my tires was low. I went in a bought a tire gauge (I swear I used to have one of those) then filled my tires to the prescribed pressure like the model motorist that I am. ha! I got back to work and was walking into the building when I realized that I couldn't remember if I had put my debit card in my pocket or back in my wallet. Of course it was in either of those places. Panic! Back to the car, dump out the purse, tear up the car.... nothing. Uh-oh, I threw my receipt and the package for the tire gauge into the trash at QT, could I have thrown away my debit card? Back to the QT, it's been a whole 10 minutes and they have already emptied the trash can. Are you kidding me? It wasn't even close to full! Of course the guys inside haven't found it. Acceptance. Anger. Bad words. Call the bank and cancel the card and now I get to wait 5-7 days for a new one. Timothy will be home before I get my new card. Sigh.

By the time I picked up the boys it was a nice warm afternoon and I no longer felt bad about the whole shorts thing. We came home and they watched Mickey Mouse while I tried to de-stress. We had an easy dinner and had two video chats with Daddy before bedtime. Both boys were really good tonight and I even got to take a shower without anyone interrupting me. They played nice with each other except for bath time which was a bit messy for all of us. Owen fussed about going to bed, but I think he mostly missed his Daddy. My boys like their routine what can I say? Can you think of a better way to end the night than with brownies?! Yum! Brownies just make everything better.

Here's to a better tomorrow! Good night.

Lucy, I've got some splainin' to do

I have been asked more than once now about the title of my blog, and here I was thinking it was plain as day, so I suppose I had better lay it out for ya'll. Since this is about my family (mostly) I tried to describe us in a way that no one else had yet claimed on the blogspot internets: Three guys, Timothy, Collin and Owen versus one girl, hello, that's me! That is the 3 to 1 explanation and as for the web address, I couldn't come up with any way of writing the title that wasn't already taken so I added a 4 in front because it's like a countdown. 4, 3, 2, 1 blastoff! And who doesn't think countdowns are fun? Ok, right after I wrote that I realized quite a few ways that countdowns could be really horrible and instead of just taking out that sentence I decided to just let each of you think of an example of good and bad countdowns for your homework. It's fun to use your imagination... except when it's not. Oh dear...... Here are a couple of pictures of my guys:

I'm out-numbered and I realize this will only get worse as the boys get older and graduate from sweet little boys into smelly, disgusting, messy, bigger boys. When I went to the hospital for my pre-operation prep stuff with Owen's scheduled c-section, one of the nurses saw Collin and asked if we were getting a girl this time. I answered no and she gave me this look like she was so sorry for me. She said, "Oh Honey, my best friend has four boys plus her husband and when you walk into that house it just smells like one big fart." So, now that I have been warned about my future, I plan to enjoy the (mostly) fart-free atmosphere of our home for as long as it lasts. And I'm also planning to stock up on Fabreze for when that time comes.

Last night (Thursday) was Collin's first T-ball practice and I think he loved it! He wore his Texas Rangers Kinsler jersey that he has been saving all week for practice. When the coach asked his name Collin said "I'm Ian Kinsler!" and then the coach called him Kinsler the rest of the night which Collin has no problem answering to. Collin was a little nervous at first, but he got over it pretty quickly and before long he had become the team's cheerleader. Every time he saw someone bat, catch or throw the ball he was right there with a loud "Good job!", "Great catch!" or "Good throw!" He even complimented the coach when he caught the ball. Cheeky! And when someone missed the ball he would yell "Almost got it!" He really is quite the optimist. :)

Today was lunch date #2 for Collin and I. I told him that we can't afford to go have lunch at McDonald's every week, but I could still come take him out if he wanted. I made us peanut butter sandwiches and took him to the park. (Thanks for the idea, Mom) I thought it would be kinda lame especially since I'm not the biggest fan of PBJ sandwiches, but it was actually really nice. It took him all of 5 minutes to eat his sandwich and pretzels and then we were off to the swings. We got to play for about 20 minutes before we had to head back which was just about perfect since it was warm today. Now I know that I can indeed take him out and make it back to work within my hour time limit so that's pretty cool. I can't wait for Owen to get big enough to go too.

On a completely random note I listened to the audio book A Long Walk to Freedom the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Two thoughts: 1. that guy was and is awesome and 2. the National Anthem of South Africa is really beautiful when sung in the native language and you should all go Google it and have a listen.

Best Big Brother Ever!

Collin has just been awesome lately and has grown into a wonderful big brother. It is so nice to see him care about Owen. :) I always thought (mostly based on my own childhood) that Owen as the younger child would always be chasing after Collin and wanting to play with him and copy whatever he is doing. Yup, I was wrong about that; it's the other way around. Owen definitely love his big Bubba, but I think Collin is a bit more attached right now. Collin always wants to play with Owen and is happy to help him with anything he can. He has even attempted to change a dirty diaper, but he soon found his limit with that one! Often times Collin will get his feelings hurt because Owen would rather have Mommy or Daddy help him instead of Collin. For months now, Collin has been wanting to help Owen to unbuckle his car seat when it's time to get out of the car, but Owen would scream and only allow Timothy or I to do it. I tried to encourage Owen to let his brother help because after all, it would help me too, but he just wouldn't have it. Finally, last week Collin asked Owen again if he could get him out and Owen said, "sure Bubba" and it was just awesome! So now that is a pretty regular thing and I love it.

On Sunday night, Owen was being his normal monkey self and kept climbing on the couch and jumping off. I don't mean sitting on his bottom and sliding off either. He was standing on the couch and jumping to the floor. He actually managed to land on his feet most of the time, which was impressive, but still-- we don't stand on or jump off of the couch! When I told him to sit down for what seemed like the hundredth time (and yes, there were some time outs involved) I said something like, "Stop jumping off the couch before you break your neck!" Well apparently that's the wrong thing to say because Collin lost it. He was crying so hard he could hardly talk but he managed to say, "I don't want Owey to break his neck off!" He was so scared that his brother would get hurt. After that, he kept an eye on Owen all night and told him to sit down every time he stood up. Later, they were is Collin's room and Collin jumped off his bed and of course Owen followed him. Collin immediately realized what he had done and got right in Owen's face and told him, "I'm really sorry I jumped off my bed and I won't do it any more and you can't do it either because I don't want to you to get hurt and break your neck off!" He was so serious and Owen listened to him.

They play together as well as any two kids their age can I think. They will play quietly making a spectacular mess for 20 minutes before one of them starts fussing about something the other one did. I mostly attribute this successful playtime to Collin being an all-around easy-going kid. If Owen wants the toy Collin is playing with then Collin will say, "ok it can be your turn now and then my turn again." We tried to teach him early on that Owen has a short attention span that it's easier just to share because he won't play with the same toy for long anyway so you will get it right back most of the time.

Owen won't go to bed unless he gets to give Bubba a hug and kiss. And there are times when Owen refuses to go to sleep no matter how many time Timothy and I go in to put him back to bed, but we only have to send Collin in once. He will cover Owen up and give him lots of friends (stuffed animals) to sleep with and tell him goodnight and it's just all better. They have slumber parties all the time in Owen's room and sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. I hope that they always get along as well as they do now, and when they don't I will come back and read this entry and remember the good ol' days.

Speaking of bed time, this week I started reading Harry Potter to Collin. It's his first chapter book and first book without a picture on every page. He seems to like it so far (we just started chapter two today) but I'm not sure if he understands all of it. I try to stop and explain often because it's so new for him, not to mention it's British. I really was expecting him to freak out a little when I told him Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but he didn't get scared at all. I also think part of the reason he likes it is because he knows he is staying up a bit later then he normally would, but it's not like he would be sleeping anyway. He always talks to himself or 'reads' a book to himself for a good hour before he goes to sleep. Which is just what I need to do now too, so I will talk to you all again soon.

Play Date and Remembering 9/11

This morning Timothy had to work to make up for some rain days this week, or I should say flood days because I don't think the word 'rain' really covers it. Anyway, it was just me and the boys for our weekly Wal-Mart run today. We always go early because it's less crowded and because we are already up so we might as well get it over with. It has been so frustrating the last few weeks since they have decided to remodel our store and I still can't find anything! I had to ask someone today where the cat litter had moved to and was informed that it is now where the baby section used to be. And that's just one item.... it's like someone took everything in the store and threw it up in the air just to see where it would land. Oh well, I'm sure I will get used to it eventually. Nobody likes change once they are comfortable with something.

After shopping we came home and put away groceries and then took off again to go have a play date with our dear friends. Sally and I have been friends since we were 11 and met on the bus going to 6th grade. She and her husband Brent had two wonderful kids almost the same ages as Collin and Owen. Cooper in 7 months older than Collin and Sadie is 4 months older the Owen. For the most part they all get along really well which is awesome for me because I get to hang out with my friend. It's really sad that we don't live closer to each other to be able to visit more often. Here is a picture of Cooper and Collin playing Wii (I think it was Mario Kart)

It was Collin's first time to play on a Wii and it was pretty intense.  Big thanks to Brent for coaching Collin through the game!

Of course today is the anniversary of 9/11 and Timothy and I were watching a program about it on the History channel tonight. There are no words to describe the horror of that day. I was glued to the TV tonight just like I was 9 years ago on that Tuesday morning and I would not be surprised if I have nightmares of those burning towers tonight just like I did in 2001. I feel like I should reach out to everyone I know and tell them I love them. I remember all too well where I was and what I was doing that day just as I'm sure all of you do. I remember that feeling of helplessness wanting to do something for all those people so far away. I remember wanting to call everyone I knew to make sure they were alright even though they were nowhere near the sites affected. I remember the feeling of unity that brought our country together because we were all living the same nightmare. Strangers talking to and comforting each other in ways that we would never have done the day before. I remember the utter stillness of no planes in the air for days after. I remember the beauty of a country drawn together that was born of such horror. I remember the flags flying everywhere. Remembering is important and I will never forget.

I would like to close today with a huge Thank You to everyone who has ever served our country and fought to provide the freedoms we enjoy today. God bless you.

Lunch Date

Collin was supposed to go to the dentist today, but they called yesterday and had to reschedule because we were a couple weeks short of the 6 month mark since his last visit and they were afraid insurance wouldn't cover it. His appointment was in the middle of the day and I told him that I would come pick him up from school (daycare) and we would go to the dentist then to lunch and he would be back at school by nap time and I wouldn't miss a whole day of work. When I informed him last night that we had to change the appointment he was actually disappointed, so I promised him that I would still come take him to lunch. That was me making promises to make him feel better before I thought about this remnant of a tropical storm that was hovering over us today and flooding everything in sight. If you live in the DFW area you know what I'm talking about. It's been raining like crazy for 2 days now. Luckily, when 11:00 rolled around today I didn't even need my umbrella. Of course Collin wanted to go to McDonald's.... do 4 year olds know any other restaurants? I hooked him up with his chicken mcnuggets and we sat on the big stools at the counter which was so fun for him.

He is just getting so big! While we were eating it started pouring again, which was good because it reinforced why we could not go outside in the play area. He ate all his food down to the last fry so since I was already spoiling him......

I got him an ice cream sundae! I just love the look on his face. :) You can also see his new Aquaman toy there. I think that foot-long spoon they gave us was supposed to be for some other frozen treat, but it did the job. By the time he was done with the ice cream the rain had almost stopped again and we went back to school. All his friends were all over him asking where he went and I was really glad I made him leave Aquaman in the car. Then I had to go back to work and I really didn't want to.
The daycare is less than a mile from my work and after this trip went so smoothly it has got me thinking that I might should do this more often. If we hurried a bit I could even fit it into my lunch hour without taking extra time off. I can't wait for Owen to be able to take little trips with me like this too. Right now he is still at the point that if he sees me for a few minutes and doesn't get to go home with me it is the end of the world so I don't want to add to his stress. After this year Collin will be in real school and I won't be able to go get him whenever I feel like it to go out and have fun with me so I suppose I should enjoy it while I can.
Speaking of the little O-man.... here is a short video of him brushing his teeth:

Don't worry, I brushed for him first, but sometime he like to follow up after I'm done.
Thanks for sharing part of our day!

Give thanks with a grateful heart

There are times in life when I rediscover how much I have to be thankful for and this past week has been one of those times. My family has witnessed God's awesome power as he guided doctors and nurses and saved my tiny baby cousin's life. It kinda puts everything into perspective and makes me want to count my blessings. It seems like there is always something to complain about, but this week I'm having a hard time thinking of anything.

Of course the obvious one is that I'm thankful for the health of myself, Timothy and our boys. Owen had his 2 year-old check up this week and not only is he in perfect shape, but he didn't even cry when he got his immunization shot! That was a first for either of the boys. I always feel so guilty when I have to hold them down and I know what is about to happen and they don't. I told him he was going to have a "little owie" and he said it back to me, "yittle owie." Then he just got all excited about the Elmo band-aid and kept showing it off. In my book, not crying over shots is definitely something to be grateful for.

Yesterday, I was eating breakfast and I realized that my food was almost all given to us! I had a bagel with home-made peach jam from my Aunt Joyce (SO yummy!) and banana bread from my sweet Mom-in-law (also very yummy!). Then I realized how awesome it is to be able to have a pantry and fridge full of food to choose from. I know many people are not so blessed.

So I could go on forever about how everything is wonderful. I'm so grateful to have our house, cars, jobs, etc. I hope all of you have something to be thankful for today, or many things! Happy Labor day!