All Five Senses

Does it get any cuter than this? The first is Sophie showing off a cow print Blueberry minky diaper and peanut butter all over her belly. The second is blurry, but its SOOOOO Sophie. "What? I am about to get in trouble, leave me alone!"

Today, Sullivan had a field trip to the donut store to see how donuts are made. He was SOOOOOO excited. So, he got in the car when I picked him up (this was my first time ever to let him go without me, but I had to get some errands run since I have been stuck in the house for over a week), this was our conversation:

Me: "Did you have fun on your field trip?"

Him: "YEAH!!!! It was soo much fun!"

Me: "Did you get to eat donuts?"

Him: "Just one big one with a big hole right in the middle."

Me: "Wow, I bet it was so good!"

Him: "Well, it was, but I didn't just taste it mom."

Me: (Feeling nervous about what he might be about to tell me- I mean, what else do you do with a donut- did I really just ask that question?)- "You didn't? Well, what did you do with the donut?"

Him: "I feeled it, I sawed it, I heared it, and I smelled it."

Me: "Were yall learning about your senses?"

Him: " No, we were exploring the five things."

Me: "What five things?"

Him: "You know how you feeled things, you touch things, you sawed things, and you smelled them."

Me: "Anything else- that was only four."

Him: "Mom, you are old enough to know this stuff!"

Me: "Oh, taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing?"

Him: "That's right! "

I never knew exactly what all you could do with a donut!

The Universe is Raining on My Parade

For the past few nights, around midnight, I am sound asleep, and get woken up covered in vomit. Nasty, chunky, stinky vomit. How's that for a wake up call? Sophie has consistently thrown up about three times a day since Friday morning, and has had some FUN diapers. So, her doctor wanted to see her today to give her a thorough look over. She has lost two pounds (not alot when you are only 20 to start with!). She has lost her "cheerleader thighs." And, any chunk that she may have had filling in has definitely been long gone. They did a strep throat culture and bloodwork, and the consensus is, she has BAD bug. A bad bug that has caused throwup and diarrhea for 8 days now! Our doctor said she has seen quite a few cases like this. So, I guess this morning at 6 am, I wasn't surprised to hear Aaron puking his guts up in the bathroom. He has consistently thrown up all day. All I can say is that I am SOOOOO ready to be done with this. Curse me for advertising that we were all well!

Hopefully we will defeat this soon, because if I have to smell clorox one more time, I think I will be the one puking. In other news, we got some very devastating news this week that we aren't really ready to share, but we definitely need some prayers thrown our way if you don't mind. Our familes have alot going on in them, and the next few months seems to be a very challenging time.

I found my camera charger HOORAY. So, I finally can take pictures of my kids again. Sadly, my program to upload them isn't cooperating, or I would show you how amazingly cute Sophie looked today!

Sullivan, now when he is mad, doesn't allow you to call him Mario. I am assuming its his way of punishing you. Tonight, when I wouldn't take the white gravy off of his bisctuit for him, he told me, "That's it, you may not call me Mario anymore!" I told him that that was fine, as I am sure Mario would never treat his mother that way, and he would definitely eat a biscuit with gravy on it. After thinking for a few seconds, he came back with his smart reply- "Well, I guess its a good thing you aren't calling me Mario then." Lord, I am in for some fun years ahead huh?

Just call me Mario....

That's Sullivan's latest saying. He insists on being Mario. He collects "grand stars" wherever he goes, and tries not to fall in the lava. He turns into "bee" mario or "flying" mario. Apparently I have played too much Super Mario Galaxy with him on the wii. But hey, we were spending quality time together. He just told me that "last night I had a HORRIBLE dream about Bowser trying to attack us with flying ships." Ok, I thought, that's it, honestly, I can't let him play anymore! Then, he asked me if I could go to Toys r us and get him a new dump truck. He isn't talking about the dump trucks normal 4 year old boys are asking for, he is asking for a new nunchuck for the wii because we played ours too much and broke it!!!

In other news, everyone is well. THANK GOD!!!! That was a horrible week. I honestly didn't think my body could handle smelling, touching, or looking at anymore throwup or diarrhea. AHHHH. Things I learned:

1) I really hate disposable diapers. Sophie has only been in them for three days, and I hate them. Ihate the beads she has all over her, I hate how they smell, and I really hate how uncute they are. But, Aaron found my stash (since all of my diapers are now clean because no one is wearing them), and I am not sure how long I will be allowed to have this obsession.

2) I really hate throw up. I hate how it sounds, looks and smells. I am glad I was not called to be a nurse.

3) I really hate diarrhea. I am not sure this isn't true of the entire world (well humans anyway, my canines seem to be quite fond of it, and throwup).

4) I really hate not being able to help my children. UGGGHHH Its horrible to have them miserable and not be able to fix them.

5) My children, without any control from me, will be totally and utterly spoiled by my parents. They will get gifts upon first seeing them, they will be brought to stores and have every whim and desire met, and they will be allowed to play whatever they want all hours of the night. Sullivan had 50 easter egg hunts, three bear hunts, an ice cream sundae, got to sleep in the middle (because that's his favorite spot), got more toys than he can bring in the house in four loads, and is crying because he didn't get enough time with them. Are you kidding? Any more time with them, and you would be too bored when playing wii!

6) I am ready to have a camera again! I miss having pictures of my quickly growing children!

Keeping up with the Jones's

Apparently this is the sickest year in a LONG time. The hospitals here are full, the doctor's offices are full, and my kids have been relatively ok. But, apparently they got word that everyone else was sick and needed to keep up. Thursday, Sophie began throwing up ALOT. I had taken her in that afternoon thinking she had an ear infection or something- she was cranky. That night, the puke fest began. It was really bad. The next morning, we realized that she had no sense of balance and was quickly dehydrating. She would fall everytime she stood up, and if she tried to walk, she looked VERY drunk. We took her back in, and the pediatrician was very concerned. She took her blood sugar, and then sent us to the ENT to have her tubes cleaned. Did you read that right? The tiny tubes that are imbedded deep in her middle ear that required anasthesia to put in had wax in them. So, needing a full staff to hold her down, the doctor put a LONG needle very far down in her ears and pulled out some major wax. He said that there was nothing wrong with her ears (we were thinking she had a middle ear infection causing her loss of balance). So, we were sent to have a cat scan to see if perhaps she had , get prepared, a tumor or bleeding on her brain. The cat scan looked ok, so the pediatrician wanted to admit her to get fluids put in. We opted to try and treat her at home as long as possible since we thought she wasn't severely dehydrated quite yet and she would nurse a bit.

But, this morning, she woke up pretty bad off. She would not drink anything, and it was apparent that she was dehydrating quickly. So, our doctor told us to go to the ER where they could start an iv and do lab work, and that she would probably admit her to the children's hospital so that they could get a pediatric neurologist to look at her. No one could get an iv in her. It was horribly traumatizing to watch. When someone finally got one in, she fell asleep from the screaming. Then, they started to pump the fluids in, and Sophie woke up going bezerk. It was bad. The iv had infiltrated and was filling her arm up instead of her vein. So, they put her on some serious antinauseau medicine and waited for her to nurse. They decided to send us home on the nauseau meds to see if she would drink at home. She was too dehydrated to get an iv in, and they wanted her to try and get fluids in "the old fashioned way" before they did anything else. Her labs looked good.

So, we got home, and she perked up a bit, drank some water, just ate some chicken noodle soup. But, now Sullivan has it. Isn't that horrible? When I called our pediatrician, she was truly relieved at the news that he had it. She said she was truly concerned that Sophie had something major wrong with her, but since Sullivan now had it, she knows its just a bug. Hallelujah, I guess ;) We are in for another VERY long evening, I can assure you. Sullivan is moaning and crying, throwing up, but now has a pallete in the living room, watching Cars on Blue Ray on the big screen :)

Thank you friends and family who helped me out today!!! Therese- we couldn't have made it without the DVD player! Geralyn- you know we could not have lugged Sullivan around, and I truly hope your kindness is not repaid with this bug! Mom and Dad- I hope you get to see the kids while you are on your "vacation".

Vicky Creasy, Singer Songwriter, Lyricist for Hire

That's right folks, I think I could write one heck of an album for you if you needed it, and apparently, I sing a mena ABC's (according to Sophie). Anyway, here are a few songs I am currently working on (they say all good ideas have to start with reality, and there is PLENTY of reality over here).

Song #1:
No Ma'am Sophie

Song # 2:
We don't eat dogfood

Song #3:
Will you wipe my heiney please?

Song #4:
Oh I've been cleaning all day long, and to no avail

Song #5:
Whining, Whining, Everywhere

Song #6:
She's Just a Baby!

Song #7:
We don't eat dogfood (a mix of the earlier rendition)

Song #8:
No, those shoes don't really make you fly

Song #9:
I love Sullivan, I love Sophie Lynn

Song # 10:
Rescue Me, Someone Rescue Me

Song #11:
We DO NOT EAT DOG FOOD (an upbeat rendition)

Song #12:
For real, dog food is not a food group

Song #13:
Ok, this is the last time, NO DOG FOOD IN THE MOUTH!


Don't you think it sounds like a wonderful album? Anyone want to hire me?
We have kind of been MIA lately- Aaron is sick AGAIN, Sophie has been snotty for three years, and Sullivan is not napping, but going to bed early. It's nice to have my evenings back. For the past few nights, both children were asleep by 7:15 HALLELUJAH!!!!!

One quick funny story:
Sullivan has now begun eating what the family eats for dinner. He doesn't always like it, but he always tries it. It took a little encouragaing to get him to try broccoli. So, I fibbed a bit (in the interest of his general well being) and told him that eating broccoli promotes good eyesight, and that if you eat enough, you can see in the dark. "You mean you will have flashlights in your eyes and not be scared of the dark?" "Kind of!" Oh man, he was excited by this prospect! He took a few bites, enough to hopefully work, but alas, it did not. So, at the basketball game on Saturday, they were doing the pregame show, which includes graphics of the players. One of the players has fire in his eyes. "YOU WERE SERIOUS?!!!!! You really DO GET FLASHLIGHT eyes? Mom! We have to go get some broccoli!!!!!!!"

Ahhhhhh..... if only more of my fibs had proof ;)

Dadgummit

Sullivan and I were just having a pretty serious talk. I was explaining to him that when he lived in my tummy, he had a cord that went to his belly button to give him his food. He was saying how neat that was and thanking me for eating lots of cheeseburgers while he was in there because "even as a baby I loved DOUBLE cheeseburgers." Then I asked if he believed he was ever small enough to live inside of me, he responded that he can probably still fit (yes I know I have some extra baggage, but come on.....). Then we started talking about marriage (I don't know why he always brings this up). He told me he was gonna marry his daddy. Not wanting to get into philosophy, I told him that boys marry girls. He asked me to "take him to the marry place then so we can get married, and don't forget to bring flowers." I told him that I am already married to daddy. "Fine then, I will marry nanny." "She is already married to PawPaw." "Dadgummit, everyone is already married, all the good girls anyway." True, I guess! So, I reminded him about his plan to marry his best friend's big sister Lauren to which he replies,
"She didn't like the watch I tried to give her and doesn't want to marry me now."

Man! So, then he thinks, and with urgency asks-
"Can you please just take me and Sophie to the marrying place please? I guess I will have to marry her, but I really didn't want to marry someone in diapers. Oh yeah, and don't forget to bring the flowers."

I never have really wanted to marry someone in diapers either!

The beating of a different drum

Well, if anyone has any suggestions on where my camera charger is, please shoot them this way. I really need some pictures of my children before they enter college. Life is rolling along here quite well. Sophie seems to grow more every day, Sullivan takes great delight in the new things she does. It is amazing to watch, almost makes me want a few more, but hey, then again, it doesn't. Sullivan and Aaron surprised me with a wonderful gift card to a salon and spa here in town for Valentine's day. I am super excited!!! Sophie surprised me with red diapers and lots of undigested food, think about that for a moment. Yes, red poop and cloth diapers don't really work out for the best. Speaking of cloth, its going along great. I can't imagine not using them now! My parents sent us a fun package with presents for everyone in it. Sophie got these two littel bunnies that she carries around and bathes in the dog water bowls (yes they are STUFFED bunnies). Sullivan got some cars and ten one dollar bills. My dad told him he had to use them at the dollar store, so he won't bring them anywhere else now. I told him Walmart takes dollars, and he told me "Sometimes I think you make this stuff up as you go along." Yeah, he is four. He also doesn't want to use them in case they run out, "I would rather just use your money instead mom." Smart, huh? Oh yeah, I got a waffle maker, hooray! Sullivan called Aaron to tell him about the presents and told him that "mommy got a big cooking thing that she seems to think is fun, but its not cars."

Confessions

Sometimes, when I see him sleeping, I just stand there looking at his wonderfullness. I just listen to the sounds he makes, I wonder what his little mind is dreaming, and I can not believe that God trusted me enough to give him to me. It is all I can do not to just squeeze him and make sure that he is real. Sometimes, I hear him talking, I listen to his jokes, I hear him laugh and giggle, I watch his pure joy he gets from helping me, and I truly wonder what I did right for God to entrust this little life to measly old me. I mean, if you think about the task at hand- taking a tiny seed, growing it inside of you, and then growing it in this scary, dangerous world, hoping that your plant will have manners, confidence, love, desire to change the world, and so many other traits that you can only imagine, the task seems too great. But then, day by day, you realize that its working. He says "please" when he wants something, he says "sir" after a request. He opens the door for you, or scoots to the side on the stairs when a lady is coming down, and you realize, he is just perfect! He is growing strong and fast, and I wonder sometimes why it has to go so fast. I mean, I feel like he was just inside of me, and now here he is wondering how to spell everything, sounding words out that I didn't know he knew, comparing words that have similar meanings (quiet and soft are the same), asking questions about details he shouldn't notice, and I realize this little baby is a boy now, soon to be a teenager, and then a man. What an amazing thing! I know I have said this before, but I love watching my children grow day by day. I have had so many people ask me when I am going back to work, comments made on how I am "wasting" my life- my degree, all of those hard years I spent working on it. But, I have to say, I can not imagine doing anything other than what I am. I love every minute of kissing bobos, doing puzzles, exploring paint colors and markers and stickers and glue, I love seeing every step in these tiny little lives. I honestly can not imagine me anywhere else or doing anything else.

Sometimes I hear her pattering her little feet down the hall, and I get all giddy, like a teenager about to have her first kiss. I get all exciting knowing how happy she is going to be to see me. How she will throw her little arms up and say "up momma." I love waiting for her to grab my face, pull it close, open her mouth wide, and slobber all of me! I love watching the face she makes when she doesn't want to be messed with, and I totally go crazy every time she says a new word (her new one is "gigem" which sounds exactly like that!). Its so amazing to watch her follow Sullivan around like a little lost puppy pretending to fit into his world. How wonderful is it to see her so daring- climbing to the top of the stairs and throwing herself down a slide. Her little personality (well, it isn't so little) is totally coming out now, and man is she a firecracker! What an amazing job being a mommy is- to shape these little lives, steer them in the right direction, mold them into little ladies or gentlemen. It is a job I do not take lightly. Alright, my firecracker wants to play "the itsy bitsy spider", so I must end this sappy moment.

Grown Up

Wow!!! The other day, I told Sullivan that his teacher had sent a note home telling him that he had to make his valentine's cards for his class by had. So, we started talking, and I told him he was supposed to write his own name on each card. I kind of scoffed at the idea when I saw it on the note. If you know anything about Sullivan- he doesn't have a nack for writing. The kid has been reading for about a year 3 and 4 letter words, he can spell well, but he HATES to write, color, draw, etc. So, I asked him if he could spell his name, or if he needed me to draw the dots for his name to trace. (I knew full well I would have to give him a name to trace). "S U L L I V A N? Is that how you want me to spell it?" I almost passed out. Then, he asked for a piece of paper, and wrote his name. I mean, really wrote it. I could not beleive it !!!!! What happened here? I have never been more proud- and scared - I mean this means he is really growing up!

So, tonight, we took him to see the Harlem Globetrotters. He had a blast. He thought everything was hillarious, and loved watching the guys do cool tricks. He LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Afterwards, we were talking about what he wanted to be when he grew up. I was telling him that he could be whatever he wanted to be (he was leaning towards a basketball player because his Uncle Charlie is a "player"). Aaron was telling him he was gonna be an engineer like him. Sullivan thought about it and said, "I have got it! When I grow up, I am gonna be a grown up!" True!!!! He will be that!

Fresh Air

Ahhhhh..... well, my camera charger is still in the land of the lost, so I had to take pictures with our video camera. It's pretty amazing how much technology has progressed since 2.3 megapixels was alot! Anyway, that's what the poor quality is about, but a picture of a cute kid is a picture of a cute kid whether the quality sucks or not, right? So, yesterday, after a weekend of sickness, we decided to get some fresh air at the zoo in Houston. The kiddos are still sick, but we thought fresh air would help everyone. It was sooooooo much fun!!! It was the first time Sophie really "got it". She was mesmerized by all of the animals, and soaked everything up. It was so neat to watch her little expressions. The child is a daredevil, she loved the park, and did all of the big kid slides ALONE. What was pretty neat was that she did about 10 signs! We have been signing with her pretty much from birth, we have a ton of sign language videos that they love to watch, and Sullivan does signs to her too. Supposedly, if you teach them signs, they can sign before they can communicate and it cuts out on fits. Well, we were starting to think she was never going to sign. I mean, she talks, she says just about anything she wants. The only sign she has ever done is "gentle" when she approaches our dogs or cats, and she has been doing that since 10 months. So, I thought they were just not gonna happen. But, yesterday, she signed "mommy, daddy, milk, water, more" and a few others that we think were bird, cat, and full, but we aren't really sure. Anyway, it was REALLY impressive!!!!

Sometimes I get sad thinking about Sophie being my last baby, but then we have days like yesterday, where I realize how wonderful it will be to do fun things without a baby in tow! She toddled around the zoo yesterday, exploring and getting into all kinds of mischief. Sullivan taught her all about the animals, and we just watched the two of them interact. It was such a nice day!!!!

Have you ever needed to create a curse word?

Seriously? Like a tailor made word that would fit the exact situation you are going through? Last night, let's just say I did not sleep. Ok, that's an exaggeration, I did sleep a total of about 30 minutes, and that's probably stretching it. So, I was nice, I told Sullivan he could watch a movie while I took a nap with Sophie. I didn't want to force him to nap if he didn't need to. We have really been dealing with giving him direct instructions so that we don't set our expectations too high. Here is exactly what I told him:

"You are to lay in your bed and watch Cars. If Cars ends and mommy is not awake, you are to play your video game in your room quietly without getting up. You may NOT change movies in the dvd player. You may not leave your room unless you are hurt."

He understood the directions. And seriously, I mean what kid wouldn't want to watch a movie instead of napping?

Apparently one- namely Sullivan. Let me let you listen in on his phone call to Aaron because I was so mad that I couldn't deal with it.

"Ummm daddy.... it's not good."
"What isn't Sullivan?"
"Well it was all a accident really."
"What was Sullivan? Sullivan, were you bad? We talked about you listening yesterday."
"Well, I wasn't good daddy."
"What did you do?"
"First?"
(Ummm, first would be a good starting point.)
"Yes, Sullivan, first what did you do?"
"Well, I didn't want to watch Cars, so I changed it to animals, but first I changed it and it was music, and that didn't work, so I changed it to Little Einsteins."
"You changed your movie three times? I thought we don't want you changing your movies, that's how they get scratched."
"Then, I got the box of cereal out of the cabinet."
"How did you get in the cabinet?"
"I climbed. And THEN I poured all of the sugar from the box all over my carpet."
"What? Sullivan, that is not very good."
"And I danced on the sugar."
"What? Are you serious?"
"And then, I got the king cake out of the kitchen and the knife to cut it."
"Oh my goodness Sullivan, that is it. This is not good."
"And I took off my underwear."
"I am coming home Sullivan, you need to go sit in timeout until I get there."
"No, dad I can handle it, I can tell mom I am sorry."
"Somehow I don't think sorry is gonna fix it."
"But it was all just an accident."
"Sullivan......."

I will leave it there, bc I am pretty sure what happened, well, I will just leave it there. But, I will say that he is currently in his room cleaning. He has been cleaning now for 30 minutes, and his tv, dvd player, and all of his movies are sitting in the hall.

On a side note, Sophie fell out of the shopping cart at Walmart Wednesday. See, I told you I need a new curse word designed just for me. She is fine, but it was quite traumatic. How people can handle more than two children, I will never know. I am not sure I will survive these two.