Bad Old Santa

Well, Santa came to our house. It was pretty surprising given Sullivan's nice, nasty four year old attitude lately. There were days when I honestly thought Santa might skip our house altogether! Sullivan had so much fun though. We went to look at Christmas lights, then came home, got the cookies (Chips a hoy, per Sullivan's instructions, 5 of them) and a mug of milk, then went and threw crackers and dog food on the roof for the reindeer. When Sullivan woke up in the morning, he was so mad that "Bad Old Santa" would leave snow all over my floor again this year after I had asked him not to. But, he got over it real fast when he saw all of the presents. His favorite thing was his Leapster, an educational video game system for kids. He LOVES it, and will play it as long as we let him (honestly). He also got the movie Underdog, which he has probably watched 10 times since we opened it. He runs around saying that he is "thunder dog to the rescue- here to save the day." Sophie loved this zoo circus train thing that she got. Aaron and I got a Wii, and have played it NONSTOP! It is so fun, and so addicting. Probably the best gift that we have gotten this year though, has been Aaron having 6 days off in a row. Its the longest we have had him in forever, and we have just enjoyed hanging out doing nothing. It's been so nice. He works so much ,that we never get to relax with him. We have been going for walks in the new red wagon that Santa left to the park, and having fun. Sophie is walking all over the place, she is still a much faster crawler, and will get down to crawl if she has a long distance or a fast place to go. Its really funny to watch her wobbly legs take steps. Her new favorite word is "see". She picks something up, shows it to you, and says "see." (over and over and over). That's about it for this update, I hope your Christmas has been as wonderful as ours. I can't believe its over already, but I guess we have to get back to real life sooner or later :)

My Love

I can not believe it has now been a year since I first met you in that delivery room. Your scream upon entering this world brought tears to your mommy and daddy's eyes. You have been quite a blessing from day one. I have had more fun playing dress up with you- putting large enough bows in your hair for a child ten years older than you. When I see you smile, hear you laugh, know that you are happy, I feel complete. I have loved cuddling you, loving on you, holding you tight. When your tummy hurt in the night, I stayed up comforting you and loved every minute of it. Your little cries hurt worse than the screams of a grown man. You have taught me so much in this last year- more than I think I have learned in a lifetime. I have never had such a roller coaster of emotions in just one year. When you scared us with how sick you got in September, had me fly with you on a helicopter, I have never known I could love something or someone that much. Don't ever do that to me again Sophie Lynn! I can not wait to watch you grow into a young lady and see your little personality develop. You are such a blessing my love, you have made your mommy happier than you will ever know! Happy First Birthday my love. We love you more than you will ever know!

Life's a Buzz

To all of my friends that think I have fallen off of the face of the planet, I assure you I have not. Life is crazy around here (as usual). Tomorrow at 7 am, Sophie goes for surgery to have tubes put in and bloodwork drawn to test her immune system. She is a little girl, everywhere I go people say, "Is she really almost one?" YES YES YES! She is growing so much lately, and talking up a storm, she will repeat almost anything we say- here she is saying "jump jumpy jumpy" after Sullivan was jumping on the bed. I swear, she is getting so big! We are hoping once the tubes drain the fluid that she will be able to walk again.

And Sullivan, what is he up to? He had a dance performance at an alzheimers retirement center this past weekend. He did his ballet routine great, then for tap, he did a solo dance. It was the cutest thing ever! I know I am prejudice, but man, he had all the ladies there after him! It was wonderful- he stood up there in front of all of those people, smiling away, and did his dance great! He is getting really good at tap. Its getting pretty amazing. He had his school performance this week, so I thought I would share a video of him singing.

Sullivan at tap:

Sullivan and Sophie in robes they got for Christmas. Sullivan thinks it makes him a superhero!

Sullivan and Mrs. Weber, his pre-k teacher. He is in love with her! She made him the necklace he is wearing for Christmas.

More Birthday Pictures

Look at all of the girls admiring him!

Everyone likes pictures right? Here are some more from the party.

Is this a monkey? I am confused?

Trinity and Brooke painting ornaments. Brooke took it VERY seriously, and came out with some beautiful RED work. Trinity even managed to paint a star!

Sophie's best bud checking out her toys and showing her how its done!
Sullivan and Uncle Charlie decorating ornaments (Charlie's was of course the best!)
I can wear a Santa hat if I want at my party! Now, let me keep stealing these kids' food!
What? you don't put toys in your mouth so you can crawl?

Sullivan's future wife (Lauren), and Sophie's future husband (Thomas).

In other news, both kids went to the ENT yesterday. Sullivan was having some hearing issues, and basically has about 30 percent of his hearing right now. He has alot of fluid on his eardrums and really needs a set of tubes to drain it all and to have his enormous tonsils taken out. But, we are going to try a long round of antibiotics first to see if it will clear up. Sophie is having a set of tubes put in on Friday to hopefully drain all of this gunk that seems to be hanging around in her ears and prevent her from needing any more antibiotics. Please pray for them as they both try to heal!

Birthday girl

Well, So Sophie had her party this weekend. We had a few close friends over and some family, and celebrated in style. Sophie had a bit of an ear infection hanging around, so she wasn't the happiest camper at first. But, once the big kids got here, she truly enjoyed herself. I think the most fun for her was getting to sit at the big kid table and steal food off of their plates. She carried on a full conversation with them. She LOVED eating cake, and LOVED playing with the balloons. I honestly can not believe the child will be one Saturday. It blows my mind! Anyway, I will post more pictures later with her friends in them, I just thought you might enjoy a few of the birthday girl alone :)

And the best for last: the anatomy of eating cake:

Another ear infection

Well, yesterday, I decided to put Sophie in the ergo carrier while I mowed the yard- I really needed to pick up the leaves, and the girl would not let me out of her sight, much less let me put her down. She was having a grand old time when I realized that she had been quiet for a few seconds. I called Aaron over to ask if she had fallen asleep, and this is what he saw. Man, she was OUT! It was also her first dose ever of robitussin, so I guess that had something to do with the 4 hour nap that proceeded. (Yes I know not to give my kids cough syrup, I also have sense enough to put my kids out of their misery). Anyway, last night she burned 103 fever all night, today she screamed basically non stop from 8 am on. So, off to the doctor we went. $75 later and one much needed antibiotic shot, we realized she has another ear infection. We will be seeing the ENT next week to get tubes put in so that she doesn't have to go through this again. She seems to be feeling ok tonight, but I am hoping she wakes up bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning for her big party.

On a side note, we got a High def tv this week. Man, I feel like I am seeing tv for the first time. Its absolutely incredible. I mean, honestly I can not imagine anything more clear or crisp. It feels like you are looking out the window. I guess being married to Mr. TV engineer has its perks, I am sure he wired it some special way or something. I am sure he will get mad that I am not describing it any better, but I am telling you, I almost refuse to watch shows now unless they are in HD. Now, talk about spoiled! And, I complain about my kids being spoiled, listen to me!

Tired

Have you ever been so tired you couldn't even take another bite? Sophie was having a good old time eating, when all of a sudden, she stopped talking. We looked over, and found her VERY asleep! It was crazy. She is a swing, pat, love, sing, etc. to sleep baby, so we definitely didn't see that coming!

In other news, can you believe Christmas is less than two weeks away? I can not!!! I really can not believe that my baby is going to be one in just more than a week! We are having her first bithday party on Saturday, and I can't wait. I got her some super cute little pink tights with flowers all over them, and her first mini skirt, and a cute birthday shirt. Ugggh she is gonna look so big!!! I have finished all of my holiday shopping, and have everything wrapped! I can not believe it. I am on top of it this year. Its so fun though, because Sullivan REALLY gets it this year. We are having a blast every night looking at lights and just talking about Christmas with him. I set up the Christmas village on his eye level last night, and turned on all of the lights, "Its just gorgeous mom! I can't wait to see my friend's faces when they see this!" We read Christmas books every night, he just loves it! Tonight is Aaron's work Christmas party, so that should be fun.

And the best, Sullivan is learning about "Mrs. O" this week. Apparently, she is optimistic- try explaining that word to a four year old. Or better yet, try getting them to pronounce it right!

A little funny story to make you remember why you don't have ten kids. Last week, I told Sullivan to get his shoes on so we could go play with Thomas and Lauren. He has spent the night before at their house- Aaron and I had a fancy, schmancy date night. Anyway, He says "Damn it, I can't find them."
I said, "Sullivan, you can't say that, its a bad word!"
"Well shit!"
"Sullivan, that's a bad word too!!! You can't say that either!"
"Well, what can I say?"
"You can say darnit I guess, but you can't say those other bad words."
"If you think those are bad words, you should hear what Miss Tiffini said last night!"
"What did she say?" (fearing he has learned the "f" word)
"She said stupid, and I told her the police were gonna take her to jail if she talks like that!"

Christian Education Part Two

So, apparently he does learn something good in school! Here is a conversation we had in the car this morning on the way to a birthday party:

Sullivan: "Mom, Christmas is a magical time."
Me: "Yep, sure is. What is so magical about it?"
Sullivan: "You know, reindeer flying, Jesus flying, stuff like that."
Me: "Jesus flying? Where does he fly?"
Sullivan:" You know mom!"
Me: "No, are you talking about after he died when he rose into heaven?"
Sullivan: "Not flowers mom (I am assuming from the rose), I am talking about he flied into my heart and lives there. He lives there forever now that he flied there- right into my heart."
Me: "That is magical Sullivan. Isn't it wonderful that Jesus can live in your heart and be with you all of the time? I am so glad he lives in my heart too."
Sullivan: "He can only live in one of our hearts, and he picked mine. He doesn't know how to fly into yours mom."
Me: "Ok, well, are we gonna have a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas day since its His birthday?"
Sullivan: "I like that plan mom, we can make a cake!"
Me: "Mmm a cake, that sounds great."
Sullivan: "But since he is in my heart, I will probably have to eat his cake and open his presents."
Me: "I am sure he won't mind."

Christian Education

(Sophie as I found her after her brother decided she needed spiky hair)

Wow, seriously. I tell you this story not to make you question anything but your own life. I mean, seriously. Surely you have gone through your day thinking you had a sense of humor. Perhaps you heard a funny joke, laughed a little. Well, today as I picked Sullivan up from school, I got a lesson all of my own that I think I should share. Just to give you something to fill your evening with laughter. He is in preschool and they learn a new letter each week. The letter is a person, "Mr. A" "Mrs. L". The person has a personality, for instance, Mrs. L likes licking lemon lollipops. So, each Monday, when I pick him up, he excitedly tells me about the new person and the interesting fact about them. Today, was the same. It is a preschool at a church, perhaps I should pre empt the story with that tid bit of information.

"We learned about Mr. N today mommy!" (lots of enthusiasm)

"You did? What does Mr. N do?"

"Well, Mr. N is horny."

(choked up, surely I did not just hear that, what do I say? How do I respond?) "What?"

"Yeah, Mr. N is horny, he has a noisy nose that is a horn and makes noise."

"Oh, wow, he is NOISY. Not horny."

"Right, mom, of course."

And you thought your kid was getting a good education!

Sullivan is REALLY into Christmas this year. He told us exactly how to decorate the yard, and the tree, and is very into putting a piece of the advent up each day. He can not understand why there are huge socks with his name on them that would never fit him but we hang on the fireplace. Anyway, here is our tree, that he decorated quite well! Of course it has to have a train around it!

DVRs

So, we have had a DVR now for about two months. Apparently I am seriously addicted to it. I love it so much that we had to get one for our bedroom too because I now refuse to watch "live" tv. Last weekend, something happened with our satellite, and I was forced to watch "regular live cable." Oh the travesty. I was devastated. A whole weekend of no rewinding, watching all of the commercials, no pausing when children were jumping on me, screaming, or pooping, just go with the flow, and watch it as it happened. I guess I got used to it, but it stunk! So, it got me thinking how much I would love a DVR for life. Seriously. Wouldn't it be wonderful? Last night, I was putting up clothes in my room, Sullivan was taking a bath in my bathroom, and Sophie was crawling all around. She was having a pretty serious conversation with Sullivan when she started to scream. I look to see her head soaking wet, obviously full of soap, and her hair sticking straight up. "Why did you do that to your sister Sullivan?" "She asked me to make her hair spikey, I had to listen to her, I have to do what she says!" PAUSE. No unpausing until daddy comes home. Record to the hard drive to have proof later.

Wednesday night, Sullivan was at his ballet class (that's right, he takes tap and ballet, and he is still a manly boy who likes playing with superheroes!!!). They had a contest to see who could sing the loudest. The teacher had to call all of the parents in because Sullivan was definitely winning the contest. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. He was so serious, singing, could hardly take breaths, he was turning red. But, he was not gonna let some girl beat him at this contest! PAUSE, wait for daddy to come, record to the hard drive.

The other day, we were playing with best friends Thomas and Lauren, when Sullivan informs Lauren very seriously (she is 7), "Warren, I am gonna marry you."

Lauren: "No Sullivan, I am gonna marry someone in California."

Sullivan (very emotional, almost to tears): "No Warren you ARE going to marry me and we are going to have 100 babies."

Thomas (also 4, and in tears): "Well then who am I going to marwe, I was supposed to marwe Lauren?"

PAUSE, record to the hard drive so we can always remember how wonderful and sweet they really were when they are 15 and we are being called by the principal because a mysterious stink bomb was found in their lockers!

See how nice a DVR would be for life? So, if you are a tech geek, can you get on that for me? Just start designing it. BTW- the pictures above are from our time with Santa, my kids definitely had reactions to him! Well, I must go, Sophie is biting my leg, and unfortunately, I can't rewind to before it hurt!

Birth Control

Ok, crazy title, but listen up :) Some days, I have hard, long days. They usually start the night before and consist of being woken up about every 30-45 minutes by a little "cuddle bug" whom I don't have the heart to put in a bed in a dark room all by herself. I know you are probably saying that I have brought this on myself, but I don't care, its how I parent. Anyway, then, when I wake up for the day, I feel as if I never went to sleep at all. I drag through the day, usually listening to lots of whining, lots of crying, and change lots of diapers. It is on days like this that I wonder why birth control was ever created. I mean, seriously, send those teens over here that need a birth control pill. Surely, after one day, they will decide that sex just doesn't have the allure that it did the day before, and they can wait. I wonder why I can't capitalize on the market of birth control. Here's a novel idea, you pay me to come to my house to and watch my kids with the idea of not wanting any of your own.

But then, there are days like today, when I am left wondering why birth control was ever invented, but for the opposite reasons. I got a decent night of sleep- did a fair amount of cuddling with one warm little "heating blanket". I was awakened by a big, sloppy, wet kisses, and a babbling baby voice. As I was cuddling her, Sullivan walks in the door with the biggest smile you have ever seen. He covers me in his own version of love- strong hugs, pecking kisses. He tells me he loves me and that he can't wait to play all day with me (Thursdays are "his" days). Then, Aaron and I play with Sullivan, listen to his hillarious stories, his telling us things that we say - "See what will happen if you hit me again", "I would not do that if I were you", "Little Boys who behave this way go straight to time out". They seem much funnier coming out of the mouth of a four year old than they do out of the mouth of an angry mother or father. Then, we eat, get dressed, and set out to find the perfect Christmas tree skirt. Sullivan finds one he "loves" that I do not have the same affection for. He tells the lady standing in the aisle with us to "watch it for us while we look around so that we can be sure no one else gets it". There were only 8 more hanging on the shelf. Anyway, as she is cracking up, and I am as well, I am hit with an overwhelming wonder as to why I decided not to have any more children. They bring me such joy! They bring such humor and love into my life! I wonder why anyone would ever buy birth control to prevent having one of these wonders.

But then I remember that I can't predict what kind of day I will have tomorrow. I realize that it is a good thing that I stopped with two children- that's the number of hands I have, the number of eyes I have, and the number of ears I have. Surely I can keep track of two and hopefull raise them into their adulthoods without losing my sanity. I can right?

Thanksgiving Is Over

Sullivan reading the directions on how to give the turkey "shots".

Well, we have the tree up. But, before we move on to Christmas, let me tell you that Sullivan is at the best age ever!!! (I know if you know me well, you know that I say that every day, but seriously). He had SOOOO much fun for Thanksgiving. We stayed home because Aaron had to work at the big game Friday. So, we decided to have a small day here. Sullivan and I cooked all day. He honestly had so much fun. He is so animated in everything that he does and says. Everything looked like it would taste great while we were measuring, stirring, and baking, but all that he would try were the rolls. That's right, we had a huge feast- ham, turkey, broccoli cheese rice, dressing, green bean casserole, and home made rolls. He had four rolls! Sophie on the other hand, ate anything we put in front of her. She LOVED the green beans, and her favorite was the broccoli cheese rice. Well, that was her favorite until she tried pumkin pie with whipped cream. Oh how your second child is different. I don't think Sullivan had

sugar until he was 18 months!Sophie's attempt at feeding herself the whipped cream from the pie. Her new favorite gig is pouring the dog water on the floor and "mopping" with it. She SOOO does not agree that this is against the rules.

She is very talkative lately. She babbles at us constantly, and is really saying or trying to say what we say. She said cat this morning, and LOVES yelling at Sullivan. She is getting really fun. We watched ALOT of football this weekend, and now she can put her hands in the air and say something that resembles "touchdown." The cutest thing she has done lately was last night. Aaron and I were laying in bed, and she was climbing all over us. I had just put on some mint chapstick. She came and gave me a big, wet, sloppy, open mouth kiss. She sat up, kind of tasted her lips, realized something wasn't right, then gave her daddy a big, wet sloppy one. She sat up, like "what the heck?" She leaned over and gave me another, then did her daddy again. She finally just decided something was very wierd. It was so cute to watch her little mind process it. Oh how I love these nasty sloppy kissed! My friend Tiff always asks her "Sophie, do we need to get you and mommy a room?" (Sophie gets VERY into her kissing)

Dance Lessons

Check it out! We all took dance lessons for the holidays!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9583166765

God is....

Last night, Sullivan was banished to bed with no movie. It was 9:30, and he wasn't totally tired yet, so he thought of many excuses to get out of bed. After about the tenth time, I went in to sit down and have a talk with him. He told me he was really scared, and that's why he kept getting up. I told him that Sampson (our 70 pound dog) was in there to protect him and that mommy and daddy were in the living room. Nothing will happen. "But, I am still really scared mom." So, I told him that God was always watching and can protect him all of the time if he just asks.

"Ummmm, mom, heaven is very far away, like as far away as nanny's house is, so how can He protect me from there?"

"Well, Sullivan, you can just ask him to come live in your heart, and then he is always with you and can protect you from here." (Ok, this isn't exactly how I wanted to have this talk, but it just kind of happened)

"Mom, everyone knows that God is very big, He makes everything, so He has to be bigger than a house. I don't think He can fit in my stomach."

"Well, Sullivan, its kind of like magic. Its not actually a person, its a spirit, and He comes and lives in your heart if you just ask."

"You said magic wasn't real, it was just pretend. Is a spirit a ghost?"

"Ok Sullivan, let's not talk about this anymore. God is real, and He can protect you. If you get scared, just close your eyes and talk to God, then He will protect you and keep you from being scared."

"Mom, God doesn't talk back, so I can't talk to Him."

"Well, He can always hear you, so just keep talking, and maybe one day you will hear him talk back. I need to go- you need to go to sleep."

"Mom, does God have a key to our house?"

"What are you talking about Sullivan?"

"Does He have a key so He can come in here and protect me and make me safe?"

"He doesn't need a key, He can go anywhere, any time, He is just God, He is amazing."

"Whatever mom, He can't get in without a key, everyone knows that."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Give Thanks

On this day before Thanksgiving, I am left with an overall feeling of thanks. I have SOOO much to be thankful for. I mean, we live in the richest country in the world, just having a government there to protect us is something we take for granted every day. I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, heat when it is cold and air conditioning when its hot. I am thankful for my shiny car to drive that can hold both of my kids and their ridiculous abundance of gear that it apparently takes me to get them places. I am thankful that Aaron has a strong desire to go places in the world, and has a job that can support us. Just having a job is a big thing to be thankful for!!

I am thankful for a family that supports us. My parents would do anything for us in their power. I am thankful more than anyone will ever know for my friends. I have the greatest group of friends a girl could ever ask for. God definitely knew what he was doing by bringing us to College Station. I mean, who knew I could be great friends with a lactation consultant, a girl from California that thinks crawfish are nasty, a girl that survives having three babies in one year and maitains her humor, or any of the wonderful friends I have made here? Its wonderful! I am thankful of course for my kiddos. They are so wonderful. I could not have painted them better- they are definitely gorgeous. But, more than that, they are so fun. I am thankful that I am getting to relive my childhood every day. Yesterday, Sullivan and I were practicing counting to 100. After the third time, he said "Mom, this takes forever." So, thinking back to my wonder years, I said, "Wanna know a trick? Just say 1,2 skip a few 99, 100." He was so thrilled to know this new trick. He cracked up laughing, and said it over and over and over. It was so fun to feel like I was 5 again! And, of course there is my Sophie. I guess I need to be thankful that the trash she finds everywhere we go that she puts in her mouth hasn't killed her! Looking back over our journey this year with her, I am just so thankful to have her. I can't wait to know her more, her little personality (well, not so little of one), is emerging every day. Her spunky sassiness is more apparent every day.

And most of all, I am thankful for a God who loves me, who trusts me enough to give me all of these things He has that I am thankful for. I am thankful that He loves me. And, I am thankful that I know I get to spend forever with Him.

Seven Years Ago today

Aaron and I enjoyed the best day of my life. I had the best time dressing up in my princess wedding dress, having my hair all froo frooey, makeup aglow. Aaron's face lit up as I walked down the aisle. I will never forget that look! And, I will never forget the sound of his crackly, teary voice as he said his vows. I know he looks all big and bad, but everyone present at our wedding can attest to the fact that he is as sentimental as they get! Man, that day was PERFECT. It was to be an outdoor wedding at the botanical gardens in Baton Rouge. The most beautiful rose gardens you have ever seen. Only one problem, the worst storm you could ever imagine!!! Man did it rain and pour and pour and pour that day! But, we moved inside, and had just as much fun! The dancing, the cake, ahhhh..... memories that can never be taken away. And, now, to think that it has been 7 whole years, I can't believe it! I love you so much Aaron! I thank you so much for what you have given to me, and I can't wait to grow old with you and watch these kiddos grow up together. We have moved across the country twice (there and back twice, so really 4 times !!!!!!!! ), bought two houses, four cars, had five jobs, and best of all- created two gorgeous additions to this world. I can't believe we made such masterpieces, I don't think we could have painted them any better.

We have definitely had our ups and downs, but we manage them all in the end! Thank you friends and family for supporting us over the years and helping us along this path. We have needed lots of help, but we are finally here, self supporting (for the most part mom ;) ), and real, true, grown ups. Has it really been 7 years? Man!!!! I am glad we married so young and have been able to grow up together. You have turned into quite a husband Aaron, but more importantly, QUITE a daddy!

Ahhhhhhh

We are for the most part WELL over here!!! Its so wonderful! (Well everyone would agree to that but Aaron!- the ENT put him on some strong antibiotics and steroids and pain medicine that will hopefully heal him up!). My dad took the picture above of Sullivan trying to be him. He is wearing PawPaw's glasses, and smiling big! He is into having "spiky" hair lately. The spikier the better. He makes us put gel in it and blow dry it so that it "cuts" you if you touch it. Its a big deal for him every morning to ask you to touch his hair and then crack up laughing when you act like it cut you. I am not sure when the trick will get old, but not today :) He is at a very "fun" age. He is learning about the letter K this week, and apparently K likes to kick people which is not kind. But, for some reason, K does not like kites. We haven't figured that one out yet!

And what is Number Two doing lately? Well, lets just say she is a mischeivious little girl. She takes joy into getting Sullivan in trouble. She pulls his hair and laughs, she says "uh oh" as she is pouring out his drinks, and her latest one, she got into his blues clues stamp set. She was EATING it! The child will eat anything. Seriously! She has a huge appetite, and let me tell you, its a lie that a baby's stomach is only as big as their fist. She can fit a whole piece of pizza, two fish sticks, and a bread stick in there! What a little turkey!

Five

Is the number of hours that we stayed at the fair riding rides Sunday. My parents were in town, so we decided to go to the real safe (notice the laughing) fair in the parking lot of the mall. The bracelets were $25 to ride all you wanted. We didn't think we would get our money's worth (well my parent's money's worth), but after five hours, I think we definitely did! Sullivan went on one of the climbing "rides" 14 times in a row! He took the motorcycles VERY seriously. As a matter of fact, he kept pretending the one behind him was crashing him, then he would stick his tongue out and pretend to die. Yes, as a matter of fact, he is ALL boy! He loved the "spooky" ride- the haunted house that was nothing more than a loud dark room. I was scared to take him on it, but after time 17 ,I wasn't worried about him being afraid! The day was GORGEOUS! We could not have asked for better weather, and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the break from the reality of nursing all of the sickos for so long! Thanks mom and dad, we will never forget the memories of Sunday!

In Awe

Sometimes, I forget what an amazing miracle it is to have baby Sophie in my life. I mean, to think that a year ago, I didn't know her, is insane. She has changed us in so many ways, but mainly she brightens each of our days with her contagious joy. She is such a happy baby and really easy. She went with the flow this weekend, just following along, not complaining at all. (If only she would sleep at night, we would have NO complaints). I thought I would share some pictures of her over the last month or so. Its crazy to me that she wore this sleeveless outfit in the middle of November to an outdoor fair!

This is her with my PawPaw. He is such a wonderful man, and I am so glad that we got such a great visit with him. It was a joy to see him delight in her. He just lit up as we surprised him with a visit. He said he now believes in real love that I would travel all that way with my kids. It was so worth every minute. I realize that he is getting old, and is not in the best of health, that's why I appreciated every minute. He still has such a big sense of humor that it cracks me up. And, its hard for me to remember sometimes that he is 87, until he reminds me with his lack of understanding of technology. He still believes that you can not stand in front of a remote control, or its rays will fry your brain. You can NOT go anywhere near a microwave when it is on for fear of the "waves" frying your brain. He does not believe that faxes are real, because seriously, can that stuff just fly around in the air? And, when we went to Disney World and were on the alien attack ride, he honestly believed that they had come to get us. He said "I just knew this would happen before I died."

On a side note, Aaron still has an ear infection. He will be going to an ENT this week. They just won't heal, and he can't hear. Since he works in broadcast, hearing is an integral part of his job. So, please pray that the antibiotics would kill all of the fluid in there and heal him quickly! Thanks!

Conversations

(If you notice the time of my post, you will realize I am up ridiculously late. Sophie and her daddy have decided to snore in harmony tonight making it hard for me to sleep).

Tonight at Dinner:

Sullivan: "Mom, did God build this house we live in?"
Me: "Well, not really, Ed Froehling built the house and he used lots of workers to help."
S: "No mom, you are wrong."
Me: "Oh really, sorry about that, who built it then Sullivan?"
S: " Well, my teacher said that God made everything, so He had to make this house."
Me "Well, God did make everything. But, He made the men who built the house, He made their minds smart so they could know how and their arms strong so they could build it. He made the trees to be used for wood, so in a way He kind of made it, but the men built it."
S : "No you are definitely wrong mom, my teacher is always right."
Me " Ok, sorry about that Sullivan."

Conversation on the phone with Nanny:

Nanny: "Sullivan, I get to come see you tomorrow, and we can go to the Rennaissance Festival and ride a real Elephant."
Sullivan: "Wait a minute Nanny, I don't ride real elephants. You could fall off and bonk your head and IMMEDIATELY get hurt."
Nanny: "Well I think it will be really fun, and its safe. I will ride it with you."
Sullivan: "I will have to check and see if I have time to do that."

Afterwards:

Sullivan: "Mom, can elephants have seatbelts?"
Me: "I don't know what does your teacher say since she is right about everything?"
Sullivan: "Uh hello mom, she didn't say about this, so I need to know."
Me: "I am sure the elephants at the festival will be safe to ride, they probably have a metal chair or something on them to keep you from falling."
Sullivan: "Yeah like a chair would be safer, everyone knows you can fall off a chair."
Me: "Well, we will just check it out when we get there and see what we think."
Sullivan: "Ok I guess."

For the love of......

Seriously, it just keeps getting more interesting. We definitely need to change our last name so that we can better fit the persona of those in Spanish novellas. Apparently, our lives have to be REALLY full and interesting to keep the folks in heaven laughing. Our channel must be comedy central on their "direct earth" boxes. It makes me feel a bit better to know that someone can get pleasure out of all of this! So, yesterday, Sophie's cough was really junky. She was wheezing, and working pretty hard to breathe, her eyes were running snot faster than any nose you have ever seen. I swear that I stay home with my children, I give them lots of vitamins and immune boosting stuff. I guess going to the doctor's office every other day isn't working for us, because they are picking up the worst of everything there. Anyway, her ear looked like it was about to bust (those were the words of the doctor, not me), and she has a very strong immunity to antibiotics now. All of the ones they normally would try (remember she is still on them from Sunday's urgent care visit), won't work. So, we had to go with the potent shot. The problem is taht last time we just needed on, this time we need one a day for 3 days. Its a very painful shot, she screamed for about an hour, and then last night, every time she would stand, she would scream and sit down. It awful to watch. The doctor said that they gave her an insane amount of steroids while in the hospital (all of which were needed to help her live), and she basically has NO immune system at this point. What's scary about that is that she is not reacting to antibiotics well. So, no immune system plus no antibiotics to kill what you pick up equals not a good thing. Anyway, to add to the drama (since we all know you come to this blog for extra spice when your lives are boring, ps, I should be getting paid for those of you using these stories of my kids as your birth control, ask me where to send the check please), Aaron and I wake up with nasty pink eye this morning! Hoorah!!! He has an ear infection so bad that he can't hear. He has been mentioning that it hurt, I finally looked in it last night, and its bad. So, he will be at his own doctor this afternoon. AHHHHHHHH Take a deep breath.

So, with all of this going on, Sullivan has, let's just say, not been on the best behavior. He is being a great brother, and an excellent four year old. The problem is, we need him to be more of an 11 year old so that we can focus on Sophie. So, we are at our end discipline wise. Yesterday, I told him that every time he does not listen to me, I was gonna put an "x" on the chalkboard in the playroom. I told him that if he got 3 "x"s in one day I would not let his nanny and paw paw come visit. The wheels started turning in his head. He asks "What happens if I just get one "x"?" I said," nothing". "And if I just get two?" "Nothing, Sullivan, its when you get three that is the problem." He keeps thinking, thinking, thinking, "Mom, do you think you could put a circle on the board if I am good?" "Sure!" I am not sure what he will be when he grows up, but all I can say is "Lookout world, this kid is gonna be something big!"

It was so real

So, Sophie got really sick Saturday night. She went to bed with us figuring she had an ear infection. She was super snotty- eyes, nose, nasty. Then, Sunday morning she woke up pretty hot- 102. She acted ok, but in pain. We decided to go get donuts, and as we were there, she coughed and choked herself a few times. Then, she started acting very listless. She looked sick. On everything I have read about kids, it says to gauge how sick they are by how they act. A child with 105 fever but running around playing is probably fine, however, a child with 100.4 fever but acting listless needs to be seen. Anyway, she then had 103.5, with tylenol in her. She didn't move a whole lot, and looked pretty rough. So, we called our pediatrician, who told us to take her to urgent care and have her seen immediately. She said not to take any chances, seeing how sick she got and how fast last time. So, off to Urgent Care we went. I have to say that at this point, I honestly felt like I was gonna have a panic attack. I was sweaty, felt like throwing up, and could have passed out if I had laid down long enough. I don't think the reality of what happened to her in September had ever really sunk in. Well, the thought of having to go through all of that again hit me like a train running into the side of a mountain. I prayed like I have never prayed before. And, as I was praying, with Sophie laying on my shoulder listless, I felt God touch me. Don't laugh, it wasn't as if I felt a literal hand, but I knew what He was telling me. He calmed me down enough to take care of her, and as I waited for the doctor to come into the room, He let me in on His secret. I had held Sophie as she was dying. She literally was gasping for her last breaths on the helicopter ride on the way to the PICU in September. She was in her final moments of life, and I was holding her. I was comforting her, but had no idea just how serious it all was. And, God changed His mind. He decided she should be around longer, and changed his mind. So, as I held her in the room on Sunday morning, I realized that God gave me a second chance with this small miracle of life in September. He changed His mind about wanting her then and allowed Aaron and I to have her back. I know what it feels like to watch your child fighting for every breath they take, and am blessed to know that God felt He could trust me with her. As he revealed this secret to me in the office, I realized that I am to care for this baby no matter how many ear infections she gets, no matter how many bouts with pneumonia she fights, no matter how many sleepless nights it takes with gratitude. Gratitude that I am able to stay up all night and comfort her. Because it could have gone the other way very easily in September. (If you had seen the looks on all of the doctor's and nurses' faces, you would know just how close it was to going the other way). God could not have changed His mind. He could have taken her. There are many moms out there right now who would give anything to sit in a doctor's office with their sick baby if only it meant they could have that baby in their arms once again. So, Sophie is on her 6th round of antibiotics since September 3rd. So, she hasn't slept more than an hour at a time in three months. So, she has no intention on ever stopping nursing. She is here. And I am thankful. I am thankful that I have seen her smile today. I am thankful that I have heard her laugh. I am thankful for her slobbery, nasty, wet, french kisses all over my face today. I am thankful for getting to watch her dance her whole body every time the Aggie band played music at the game today. I am thankful for getting to watch her face light up when she saw the baby in the mirror waving back to her this morning. Thank you God for the honor of trusting us with her. I promise to not take my job lightly as her mother. I promise to love her EVERY time she wakes up in the night. I do not know why she is staying so sick, but I promise to love her, hold her, and comfort her through it all. Thank you for sharing her with me, and for giving her back when you so easily could have taken her. I have taken my job too lightly as a mother, and I apologize. This IS the greatest calling anyone could ever have, and you have trusted me with it twice. For that, I am forever grateful.

I resign

This is my official resignation letter from being a stay at home mom. I have spent the day taking care of ANOTHER sick child. I feel like I need to run away- far away. Oh wait, where would I go. No replacement willing to take over you say? No one willing to take NO pay for a job involving getting pooped on, thrown up on, and snotted on all in one day? No one willing to be bitten over and over and over, take six warm showers with a baby, fix meals, be a living bottle and pacifier, AND ignore the fact that their head, neck, lymph glands, throat and whole body feel like they are going to explode? Alright, I guess I will stick it out! You guessed it another sick one. Sophie, in the picture above, finally collapsed after her stupid mom finally remembered that I have numbing drops for her ears. Apparently we will be at the pediatrician again tomorrow (WHAT sick on a Sunday you say, you must not remember my children's track record of ONLY getting sick on holidays and weekends). If I sound bitter, its because I am! Sorry, dealing with sick children, husbands, and myself for two and a half months now apparently has worn me thin. I need something in the form of a very stiff drink.
We decided to wean Sophie because I just can't go on anymore, but she got sick today, so weaning had to take a break. I am now wondering if there is any way that a manipulative ten month old can cause herself to get sick so that her mother will stop the weaning process. Hmmm... maybe its a secret coded hidden in the Baby Einstein videos. I always wondered why they were so amusing to kids and so boring to adults. Perhaps I am on to something- secret, hidden codes. Well, normally I would go investigate this claim. But, I am dealing with less sleep than a mother of newborn quadruplets right now (Please read this God: I am NOT asking to be a mother of newborn quadruplets so that you can prove me wrong), and do not have the energy to check out my claim.
My children went to visit Santa Claus today. Boy am I glad they did, the Christmas list I had for Sullivan was all wrong! I am glad I got to listen to him tell Santa about Hungry Hungry Hippo and some racing car set that crashes cars (go figure- both full contact, LOUD, toys that require batteries). He also informed Santa that he has been a very good boy, and he should find his name on the good list. I wonder if lying about being good to Santa counts as a lie- pushing your name down to the bad list? Or, is it such a good con that Santa actually forgets that you have not listened, had many many meltdowns, thrown things at your mother, and screamed quite a bit and actually puts your name on the good list. He told Santa that Sophie wants a Learning Vacuum cleaner so she can learn to clean the house. Yes, you are free to say it, I am in for trouble as he gets older! Well, he is now asking me to look at his hiney to check what a great wiping job he did, so I must go. Enjoy this little clip of Sophie being a rock star! Perhaps she has a career in the dancing profession?

Dragons, and Ladybugs, and Mono OH MY!

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Sooooo...................... Yesterday was Halloween, and we got one more trick from God. Apparently He really thinks Aaron and I are strong, because He sure seems to be throwing alot our way. Sullivan has been saying his throat hurt since last Wednesday. I took him to the doctor then, because he is prone to strep throat, had him tested, and it was negative. So, she said its a virus, let it run its course. He seemed to get worse on Sunday, saying it hurt really bad, and then throwing up. But, his temperature was around 95.3 the whole time. Monday, he kept saying he was tired, but we all are (night weaning isn't going as planned with Sophie so we aren't getting much sleep in the house). At dinner, he literally could not sit up, he kept saying he had to go to bed. He looked like he was about to pass out. Aaron kept asking if he had taken a nap (yes three hours as usual). Tuesday, he was just as tired all day, but he was crying his throat hurt so bad, I looked, and it had puss pockets all over it. So, I took him in yesterday morning, and he has mono. His spleen is rather large, so we have to protect it. She said he was free to do whatever he felt comfortable doing- that he is only contagious if he kisses someone or lets them drink after him. She also said he could feel sick like this for another week to two weeks and would probably be tired for a few months! This is getting insane! I don't know how much longer I can deal with sick people, at this rate, I should definitely be getting paid from the state a nurse's salary.
In other news, Sophie has started to wave!!! Its the cutest thing ever. She waves backwards (like at herself). She is also doing her first sign- the sign for "gentle"- a rub on the top of her arm. She does it anytime she approaches our dogs. She is giving unsolicited kisses as well. Like, when you pick her up, she opens her mouth wide and starts "making out" with your mouth. Its really sweet. If you are already holding her, she makes smacking noises, like "give me my kiss now." The thing is, she totally denies Aaron everytime he asks for one! Its really funny. She will be kissing all over me, and he will say "Sophie, daddy really wants some of those kisses," and she turns her head away. She should be an intersting teenager!

I will have to upload our halloween pictures later, I keep getting an error every time I try now. Hint hint- Sullivan was a dragon and Sophie was a ladybug.