My Many Mini Adventures of Motherhood

Don't ask if you don't want to know!

2009-05-27T08:29:00.002-04:00

I continue to learn some of the same lessons over and over in motherhood. One of the most valuable is don't ever ask a child a question that you don't want an honest answer to. And then brace yourself because you never know what you might get!

Recently I received an email from my best friend about Mother's Day. She was sent one of those generic forwards where children had been asked a series of questions about mothers and the answers are always so cute. Well being the great mother that she is she got that email and decided to ask her 2 oldest children the questions in that email and send their replies to her friends. It was one of the sweetest and cutest emails I'd ever received. So in the spirit of her email I decided one night to ask Cullen one of the questions and see what his answer would be. I only asked 1 question. Here's how it went. . . . . . . . .

Me: "Cullen, why did God make Mommies?"
Cullen: slight pause "Because they don't have wee-wees."
Abrupt end to conversation followed by hysterical laughter!!!!!

Now you see why I only asked 1 question! :-)

What do you pray for?

2009-03-30T19:53:00.002-04:00

Tonight at supper this was one conversation we had:

Cullen: "I like to pray."
Mommy: "That's so good! What do you pray for?"
Cullen: (hesitates for a second then does his wide- eyed, raised eyebrow happy face and says very excited. . .) CANDY!

Honesty. . .children can teach us a lot about it!

Anatomy 101

2009-03-24T14:19:00.002-04:00

The following is Facial Anatomy 101 by Cullen, age 2:

Cullen climbs in my bed this Sunday morning, greets me with his sweet smile and wide eyes and says "Good morning" then snuggles close. He was quiet for a few seconds and then suddenly starts reaching for my ear furthest from him and says "ear" then he goes to the other "ear". I then realized as he was reaching for the rest of my face that we were going to go through the litany of facial features that he knows. I thought it was so cute the way he touched all over my face so proud trying to show me that he knew the names for everything and so I listened as he touched my face and said "cheek", "lips", "eye, "nose" and then he sort of sits up with his hand still on my nose and says with great delight "and there's the boogers in there"!

What can I say. . .boys will be boys and all body parts will be appreciated for the ability to produce gross contents!!!

Food Glorious Food!

2009-03-11T14:10:00.002-04:00

I'm dedicating this post to all those people who dearly love me and worry whether or not I eat! All of you will be happy to know that a Jr. Hamburger, regular onion rings, 7 packs of ketchup and cup of ice water later I have consumed an outrageous amount of calories for lunch today and have loved every minute of it! As I lathered my onion rings with ketchup, I thought "Wow, this is so delicious and even though in a few hours my stomach will be protesting my food choice with indigestion. . .it's soooo worth it!" I ate an "All-American heart attack disguised in nifty little paper bags" kind of lunch that everyone should indulge in from time to time!

Amazing!

2009-03-10T16:38:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning Cullen woke up and advised me that he would be wearing big boy underwear to daycare! Since we haven't been working on potty training I was quite surprised. Don't misunderstand me, he does know about pottying since he has a big sister and he has even shown some interest from time to time sitting on the potty and coincidentally having good timing and actually using it twice. However, it is not something I've tried to get him to do other than encouraging that one day he will get to use the potty and be a big boy with big boy undies and all that. I don't stress about potty training though because I don't feel like it's worth it. You can't "make" someone go potty so what the use in stressing out a kid until they are ready? Just my opinion! Anyway, I digress! My point is that he must want to go now because he wore big boy underwear ALL DAY LONG yesterday without any accidents!!! When I went to get him I was fully expecting him to be wearing his spare outfit and when I saw he had on the same clothes from the morning I just stood there in the doorway of his classroom stunned. I asked the teacher if he had on a diaper and when she said no it was like I had won the lottery. I scooped Cullen up and told him how proud I was of him and went on and on to everyone in the room and then every person that walked in. Almost every person we passed on the way out got a report on Cullen's achievement for the day (we do live in a small town and yes I was talking to people that I knew)! I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts but I didn't care, I was a proud mommy and a shocked mommy. . .my kid potty trained himself! What's even more comical and puzzling to me about the whole thing is the way the teacher said the acted during the day. She said that morning they asked him not long after he got there if he needed to use the potty and Cullen held up his little hand and said "not right now" and then about half an hour later the teacher saw the bathroom door opened and walked in to find Cullen sitting on the potty. She said they just couldn't believe that he did it and then continued the whole day. He is such a strong willed child and this is just another example for me of what a blessing that can be!

When we got into the car I continued to praise Cullen's new accomplishments and told him that we needed to share his news. Immediately he started listing off all the people he wanted to know about his potty success. I grabbed the cell phone and called Tripp and then my Dad and Cullen told him and then I heard Cullen say "Amazing". I assumed at first that my Dad had responded to Cullen that way and that Cullen was just repeating it but after I asked my Dad and he said that he had not said that to Cullen I realized just how proud of himself Cullen really was. . .he was AMAZED!!!
I am too!

Emerson and The Parrot

2009-03-04T13:35:00.001-05:00

Monday we had snow day although we didn't actually have snow. The schools here closed in anticipation of a snow event and therefore the kid's daycare was closed, absurd I know! That meant that I had to find some place for the kids to stay yesterday since I didn't get the day off. Oma and PaPa graciously offered to let the kids stay there in the morning and Aunt Judy (renowned animal rescuer!) came to visit with her new friend. Emerson has consistently said for several months that she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up although the child is more of an animal observer than an animal lover. So you can imagine my surprise when I see this picture! At first glance you may be thinking that she looks just like a future veterinarian but if you really look at it I think you will see that look in her eyes that is shouting "I am brave. . .I can do this. . .this bird is creeping me out. . .oh goodness, don't move bird. . .wonder how long I'm going to have to smile for this picture. . .I hope this is almost over. . .what was I thinking when I said I wanted the bird to sit on my shoulder?" thought process that was truly going on behind the toothy smile! However, I'm pleased to say that according to Oma Emerson really was brave and admired herself in the mirror, let Oma take a picture and at that point she was, as Oma put it still "unbitten innocent". Can guess what happened next? Yep, the bird thought Emerson's fingers looked like a good snack and OUCH! that was the end of the bird interaction! Looks like Emerson's going to have to look for a different future profession.

Good morning

2009-03-03T08:11:00.003-05:00

This morning, like most, I was nestled close to a warm little 2 year old lump of sugar when I woke. Cullen wakes up most mornings around 5am and climbs in bed with me. Thankfully he does go back to sleep for an hour or so! This morning he woke up around 6:45am started wiggling around, got up and walked around the room, I closed my eyes again and then I felt 2 little fingers prying my right eye open. When I focused on the chubby little face just inches from my own face I saw Cullen's bright eyes and long eyelashes looking intently at me. Without taking his fingers from my eye he smiled and said "It's a magical morning, Mama". Now if that doesn't make for a good morning, I don't know what does!

Alive

2009-02-26T14:26:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am still alive. I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts but sometimes inspiration is hard to come by. However having 2 adorable children means inspiration is only an tiny hug away. I think that I will start to try to blog again although I'm not sure what the content will be yet. I'm sure that most of it will continue to be silly stories about life with 2 young children though. And I promise to get some new pictures up soon. Sorry for keeping everyone out of the loop for so long.

Okay so on to updates on the kiddies. I enrolled Emerson in Pre-K starting in August. This was really hard for me and really exciting for her. I know most people say that letting go of the last child is the hardest but with Emerson being dubbed the NICU baby she is the hard one for me to let go of. Emerson continues to be my "girly" girl wanting to wear high heels, jewelry, dresses and most importantly lipstick! She loves her teacher at daycare (what a blessing!) and loves all things school related. She has continued to come out of her shell and plays with several children now and even has a boyfriend, yikes!!! She is my typical 1st child enjoying structure and routine and I love her for it. I love her sheer determination and stubborn streak although it makes parenting difficult at times. One of my most favorite things about her is that she really does love all things girly and isn't afraid of what anyone else says. She is confident in her cuteness and will not hesitate to agree if complimented. I love being a mommy to a frilly little princess much more than I ever could have imagined. Cullen is Emerson's complete opposite as a boy in every sense of the word. He loves to be rough, pretend to be a monster, jump from high places and do anything remotely dangerous. He also is my quirky child carrying around and sleeping with a silver slotted serving spoon as long as his arm which morphs into anything his mind creates. . .sword, gun, baseball bat, golf club, etc. He also loves money and was recently carrying around his "pigga" bank as he calls it until it had a tragic accident and broke spilling it's pork bellies all over the floor of Olive Garden. Now his "monies" are contained in a plastic 1 cup measuring cup which he tells goodnight each night and wakes in the morning to immediately retrieve even before he snuggles in the bed with me. I love that he has such a fun personality. He is the jokester of the family always making us laugh with his extreme silliness. I love that he is such a "boy" he cracks me up with his constant activity but wears me out too! But my favorite thing about Cullen is his kind heart. Although he can be quite a difficult, very strong willed child he is my most sensitive child. He is genuinely concerned if someone is hurt or upset and he loves to show his love with words and hugs. He is unashamedly honest with all of his emotions and will immediately tell you if he is upset but in the regard he is just as expressive when he is happy. He truly is a mama's boy!

Now that we're all updated I'll make sure to post a silly story soon!

Strange Dream

2008-11-21T09:26:00.002-05:00

Emerson has recently realized that she is having dreams. Obviously she's had them before but she's never vocalized what they were about until now. Most mornings she gets up and comes to see me while I'm putting on my make up and she tells me about her dream from the night before. This morning was no exception. She comes and plops down on the rug in the bathroom and says:

"Last night I dreamed that my kids (she thinks she's a teacher) got tattoos. They all took their shirts off and put them in their cubbies and got tattoos on their backs. I painted (she did her raised eyebrow 'wow' look and said it with added inflection) the tattoos on their backs and they had to wait for them to dry."

Is it just me or does that seem a bit odd? Emerson is a 4 year old aspiring teacher/tattoo artist. If this is what she's dreaming at 4 I shudder to think what 14 will bring!

Goodbye Nemo

2008-11-19T10:54:00.005-05:00

Last week I started to notice that our beta fish was looking a little pale. I thought maybe he was cold or old or a combo of the two. A few times I noticed him hanging out in his bowl sort of catywompus (as PaPa would say). I would get his attention with a gentle nudge on his bowl and he would start swimming. Then finally the other day I came home from work and was getting supper ready when I reached for the fish food to feed our dear friend only to realize that his little grey body was resting peacefully on the bottom of the bowl. I just left him there for the time being not wanting to have to address it with the kids. I thought I had made it through the evening without anyone noticing when all of the sudden I see Cullen pulling a stool over to the counter for his daily fish feeding time. I rushed over to him as he was dragging the bowl towards him. He was looking for Nemo and kept repeating his normal request "I wanna feed the fish, I wanna feed Nemo". I grabbed the bowl and told him no and of course he cried. I told him Nemo couldn't eat right now. Thankfully Emerson's hearing is affected to the point where she didn't hear me and no questions were asked. After our normal bedtime routine I tucked the kids in and sauntered back to the kitchen where I knew I would have to address the bloated fish. In a very brave moment I poured the fish into the net, did a quick exam, why I don't really know? I guess I thought I was working for the fish CSI lab or something. No, there was no internal exam given! I wasn't about to fillet a beta fish the size of my finger. Anyway, I didn't know what to do with him and I actually briefly thought about putting him in a box and letting the kids bury him. Then I pulled from my own childhood experiences with fish deaths and remembered exactly what we did. . .send him to the big toilet bowl in the sky! Yes, I flushed Nemo! But just like the movie I told him "all drains lead to the ocean, go be free!" Not really, I actually just held my breath and flushed. The next morning rolled around and no mention of the fish. Whew, I thought I had dodged a bullet. Then after work we got home and about an hour went by and Emerson came up to me and asked:
"Where is my fish?"
Me: "huh?" complete avoidance, I thought this tactic might work
Emerson: "You know, my fish, the one named Nemo?" which means "duh, Mom, the same darn fish we've had for a year"
Me: hesitantly "well, Emerson, actually Nemo died"
Emerson: "What did you do with him?"
Me: "ummmm. . .(I was really searching for something but I'm not a good liar so I just said it) I flushed him down the potty" oddly enough I sort of chuckled, how morbid?! Maybe it was one of those "not supposed to laugh at death moments"?
Emerson: "You flushed him down the potty? Which one?" Not sure why that's important?
Me: "mine"
Emerson: "okay" she turns to walk away and chuckles and says as she's walking into the other room in her growny nonchalant way, "You should have just put him in the trash."

Lesson learned: Don't sweat the small stuff, just put it in the trash!

Cullen turns 2!

2008-11-12T22:51:00.005-05:00

Cullen turned 2 on October 2nd. I really cannot believe that 2 years have flown by. It has truly been a blur. I hope that the next few years slow down a little so I can have time to soak it all in!

Cullen is amazed by the candles!

Blue icing is the best! Playing with the loot. . .Go Diego Go!!!

Better late than never

2008-11-11T18:40:00.003-05:00

I finally took the time to upload a few new pictures. These were taken about a month ago. Here it is 2 weeks into November and I'm just now getting around to posting pumpkin patch pictures. At this rate maybe I'll have up Halloween pictures by Christmas, Thanksgiving pictures by New Year's and Christmas pictures up by Easter!!!

Emerson does this silly smile that cracks me up!

My favorite pic of the day!

Boys and Boogies

2008-10-22T21:12:00.010-04:00

Warning: Descriptive boogie story to follow!

Tonight I was sitting on the couch reading a very sweet bedtime story to the kids when I noticed Cullen becoming restless. He usually sits in my lap very peacefully and quietly while I read the bedtime story. (Emerson is my wiggle worm.) Cullen scooted over away from me and I spied him out of the corner of my eye doing something with his hand close to his face. I turned just in time to see half of his finger buried in his right nostril and then I watched as he pulled his finger out of his nose, held it out, took a good look and then WIPED it on the couch! I just sat there staring at him during the few seconds he took to find the culprit of his breathing obstruction, bracing myself for the moment he shoved his dirty little finger in his mouth (mind you all of this happened in a split second) and as he wiped his finger clean on the couch all I could think was

"Thank goodness he didn't eat it!"

I was kind of proud and disgusted all at the same time. I mean, he is a boy and tasting odd things comes naturally so when he smeared his boogie on the couch I was almost impressed with his self-discipline! He may yet prove me wrong about boys just being boys! ha ha However, he still did rub it off on the couch which is gross enough and if he were a girl he would have held out his finger for me to wipe. It definitely shows his independence and resourcefulness though. He's probably thinking "why use a tissue when you have a perfectly good surface to clean your finger"? But now I'm wondering if I should do a boogie check on all of the surfaces in the house. Better yet I'll just spray everything down with Lysol and call it a night!

One day. . .

2008-10-20T21:39:00.002-04:00

. . .I'm going to post some more pictures, but it's not going to be today. Unfortunately I can't get the pictures to load on the computer. I'm so disappointed because there are some super cute pictures from this weekend's adventure to the pumpkin patch. As soon as I get the computer problem fixed, I promise to post them!

J U M P!!!

2008-09-30T19:40:00.005-04:00

There is the coolest place called Monkey Joe's close to our house and we decided to take the kids one Saturday to jump and jump. It was cheap and loads of fun. You should take a kid there just so you have an excuse to go down the gigantic slide!

This is when Emerson still had in her hair bow!

This is really hard work on an air-filled giant balloon (note: no hair bow and we've only been there 15 minutes)

Here's the gigantic slide, SUPER FUN!!!

Wee, let's do it again Mama (someone had to hoist him all the way back to the top)!

Slip sliding down!

Yes, he did this on purpose without anyone giving him the idea first. . .Boys will be boys!!!!

An ice cream to finish the day! Don't you just love their expressions, it's a combination of shock, exhaustion and exhilaration!

(YES, that is pink eye shadow on Emerson from her play make-up set and NO it does not come off easily. Why don't they make that stuff parent friendly since we're the ones scrubbing it off the kid's eyes as they scream in pain and agony that you're ripping their eyelids off?)

The story

2008-09-23T23:25:00.003-04:00

I figured after my last post it might be fun to explain my adoption story to you, the reader of this exhilarating blog! When I was about 8 or 9 I suddenly realized that there were hardly any pictures of my around the house. There were a couple of school pictures and then maybe 2 or 3 of me as a baby, mostly with my brother in the picture but no wall or shelf devoted to me, the little sister who was a whole 5 years younger than my brother. Instead the hall walls looked like a shrine to my brother, "the chosen one"! I began in typical dramatic girl fashion to inquire into the case of the missing pictures. I meticulously questioned each member of the family and a few family friends about my birth and babyhood. When I asked my then teenage brother he lead me to believe that I was adopted. Since I didn't look exactly like my parents and I kept wondering where I got my nose I started really thinking he could be right. I started analyzing each picture of myself in comparison to pictures of my parents and brother to figure out whose eyes I had, whose nose I had, etc. I was truly obsessed and would even ask my grandmothers if I looked like other people in the family I had never met. Finally after what seemed like forever I finally broke down to the point that my mother brought out the video of my birth. Now, you have to understand something about my mother, she is a free spirit, independent and not worried about what people think of her. When she gets an idea in her head, it is not easily changed. When I was born there was apparently a movement of women wanting to reclaim the birthing process and my mom was front and center. She decided after a very horrible birthing experience with my brother 5 years prior to my own that she would go through Lamaze classes and have a natural birth. Thank goodness for her that she has a high pain tolerance, that her labor was quick and most importantly I was relatively small! She gave birth to me in a hospital, probably because my Dad wouldn't agree to a home birth and video taped the actual event. So since there was actual proof of my birth my mother, in her infinite wisdom, decided to teach me 2 things when she showed me the video #1: Sex will do this to you. #2: Don't ask a question unless you really want to know the answer! As I watched the video, which I'm not sure I've ever seen since I realized that I wasn't really adopted or at least they loved me enough to show me the pain that my mother went through to give life to some baby. Even then I remember saying as I saw the video "how do I know that's me?" All my mom could do was sigh. My poor parents, if I'd been the first I'm sure I would have also been the last! Unfortunately I've always been WAY too analytical and even when I see proof I question it. But as I've gotten older and started looking more like my brother (you should see the male yearbook pictures I did, YIKES!) I finally came to terms with the fact that my parents are truly my biological parents and my brother only really psychologically tortured me once and after all he was only doing his older sibling duty! One day Emerson will be trying to convince Cullen that we found him on the side of the road (what my brother told me about myself) and that we felt sorry for him and picked him up. Of course that's when I will break out the video of Cullen's birth, which is G rated, for my son to learn the same lessons I learned all those years ago. However, the most important lesson from the whole experience that my parents probably didn't even realize that they taught me was. . .TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR 2ND CHILD!

Here it is

2008-09-21T21:11:00.004-04:00

I thought I should post the picture that I used in my yearbook photos. Everyone keeps telling me they don't believe that it is me, but it really is my face. Tripp took the original picture and still didn't believe it was me in some of the photos. My own mother didn't believe it was my face and she gave birth to me, or so I think?!! That's a story for another time, my brother had me convinced I was adopted! Anyway, for some real proof here is the picture of me without my glasses on. Since no one ever sees me with my glasses off it really has confused everyone.

So, here it is. . .

Just one more

2008-09-16T23:35:00.000-04:00

Somehow I managed to miss posting this picture previously. I have laughed so hard at this picture that I had to share. The hair, the shirt, the earrings, oh how fun it is to look back at the styles and wonder "why?" Once again this woman was a teacher at my middle school and I think she might still be sporting this hair style (and probably the blouse to match). By the way, I did not upload pictures from my past yearbooks so the peoples faces who have been erased with mine replacing are not people I know personally. Oh and yes, I look completely different without my glasses. It's throwing everybody off, even my husband!

Prayer time

2008-09-16T22:24:00.002-04:00

Like all children, Emerson is a creature of habit. Each night she recites the same bedtime prayer but then peppers in her own little thoughts. She sometimes surprises me with her kindness and thoughtfulness when she prays for a friend or someone who is sick. The theme of her prayers lately have been about her classmate's mother who is in the hospital waiting to have her twins. Tonight I was expecting more of the same when she started her "God bless. . .," she started to whisper, at first I could hear her rattling off the names of her favorite people but then the whisper became indistinct. After a couple seconds of that suddenly she said aloud "Susie the dog, I don't know any dog named that?" I couldn't contain my laughter and then she started giggling and needless to say the prayer stopped there. Where does she come up with these things? Every day that child makes me laugh at something she says. Her little mind is always turning and who knows what's going to come out!

Another good laugh

2008-09-16T20:44:00.005-04:00

Although I truthfully hesitate to post any more "yearbooked" pictures of myself, I do so for my own amusement. It seems that I have been made aware by many that I look quite manly. Well, that really is my face which apparently means I'm much more masculine looking than I ever thought. However, it is my face and at least I can laugh at it. So laugh with me, it's good for the heart!!! :)

1980 There was a teacher at my middle school with the same hair, scary!

1984 Is it a woman or a lion?!

1988 I have a 5 o'clock shadow!1990 Same do, more hairspray!1992 Has anyone seen my chin? 1994 I can't lie, I wanted this hair in 94!1996 Wait, I went to school with this girl, no really, I'm NOT kidding! 2000 Definitely the most hideous picture of all but I had to include it because I can't stop laughing at it. Was this really the style in 2000? I guess I blocked it from my memory. This picture explains exactly why I can NEVER be a blond!

Hopefully this silly little adventure with photo shop was fun for everyone. I am now finished humiliating myself, for now anyway! HA!

Through the years

2008-09-14T23:38:00.009-04:00

Check out www.yearbookyourself.com, it's addicting! Here's the 50's, 60's and 70's of me. I'll post the 80's and 90's tomorrow!

1950

1958

1968
1970

I kind of look like my brother in drag!!! 1972

19761978 This one's my favorite!!!!

Bugs

2008-09-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

This picture is for all of you who have never gotten to experience the joy of GA mosquitoes. I squished this mosquito while it was enjoying the delicacy of my O- blood. Unfortunately for it I ended its dinner and sent it on another more eternal journey! Caterpillar update: Here are the only pictures of the cocoon/raccoon that held our little friend. I snapped these the day we saw it. I was completely amazed by the metallic sheen and especially the gold spikes. It was freakishly beautiful for its 1 inch body. However, as nature would have it it provided nourishment for a bigger and hungrier predator. It had fought so hard to stay alive placing its cocoon in reach of 2 toddlers. Emerson managed to forget it was there one day, about 30 seconds after looking at it, and wrapped her arms around the column and squished it or so we thought by the dark residue leaking from its safe home. It clung to the column for a few more days and I realized it was still alive. I saw it wiggling around one morning and was so thrilled by the fact that we might actually get to witness a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Then the next morning came and I walked outside with an extra bounce in my step hoping the see the new creature. As I walked out the door it looked as though the cocoon had popped open. I did a great big smile, walked even faster towards it and saw that something had taken a big bite out of our friends cocoon. My face immediately fell south and I felt a empty feeling in the bit of my stomach. Then as I took the kids to school (they didn't notice the partially eaten cocoon, thank goodness) I thought about all the things I should have done when I saw the cocoon in the first place like build some sort of contraption around it so that it wouldn't fall victim to any predators. I felt so guilty that the little guy had been eaten and then I suddenly Elton John's song, The Circle of Life started playing in my head and I started humming and reciting what I think are the words at the beginning but since I'm not from Africa I just sound like a redneck trying to be "cultured" as my Grandma would say! Cheesy or not, in a sort of ridiculous, curious and somewhat neurotic way I realized that our little caterpillar friend who never got to spread its wings was still doing its part in becoming part of the circle of life! I'm sure whatever ate it thanks it for the meal!!!

Random new pics

2008-09-11T22:33:00.002-04:00

"Happy Mom" :) This is what happens when you leave Cullen alone for more than

2.5 seconds! He discovered his Daddy's powder!

He's doing "high sign" from the Little Rascals.
Showing off her tattoo!
Being silly on a tractor ride.

Writers block

2008-09-11T21:41:00.002-04:00

The title of this post makes me sound like some arrogant writer, which I'm not. Just giving myself the title of "writer" seems a little ridiculous to me BUT when I thought about this post the title I chose was the first to come to mind so I went with it. Hey, I'm working on limited time so don't blame me! Anyway, just wanted to say sorry for my lack of recent posts (that sounds arrogant too like I think all of you reading this have been waiting with baited breath for the 1st glimpse of my newest piece of witty literary works). I have just been too exhausted to even start to write a post and truthfully my fatigue has limited my already limited brain capacity leaving me with a writers block of sorts. Of course I'm not even sure if it could be considered a writers block since there are no thoughts there to even block. I think about the silly things I want to write a post about and I mentally begin the post but after about the 1st line I stop because my brain literally feels too tired to finish the thought. However, it seems that my brain is semi-functioning at this minute since I have seemed to write a fairly lengthy post considered my current state of mind. So, if anyone has any brilliant ideas for getting my brain up and moving again, along with my body of course, then I'll be all ears. I'm so tired of being tired. I don't drink caffeine and I limit my chocolate intake which leaves me at even more of a loss for energy because unlike the majority of America I'm unwilling to jump start my body with "poison"! ha ha Don't take offense if you're a caffeine addict, I understand your pain from past experience, I was a soda sipping maniac about 10 years ago! I digress. . .not too surprising for me.
Here's the point:
HELP, I'm in need of some motivation!!!!!!!

Sounds like. . .

2008-09-04T00:15:00.003-04:00

A caterpillar attached itself to one of the columns on our front porch and decided to go through metamorphasis for an up close and personal science lesson for the kids. I showed it to Emerson and Cullen and they were pretty fascinated. Then we went to my Mom's and Emerson said,

"Nena, there's a caterpillar on the porch that is turning into a raccoon and then into a butterfly."

Power

2008-09-04T00:07:00.003-04:00

Here's a brief rant spurred by something I saw on TV tonight.

Everybody likes the feeling of power. And people get ridiculous when they get media fame. No matter how insignificant, brief, or even negative the attention is people relish in their 15 minutes of fame it because it gives them power. And it drives me nuts that the media takes every advantage of those types of situations to then exploit the person to get ratings. ARG, how irritating!

However, in the media's defense that type of exploitation is exactly what everyone wants to see. Case in point-The Jerry Springer Show!

Best Brother EVER!

2008-09-03T23:59:00.003-04:00

Here is an official thank you to my favorite brother in the whole wide world! Your comments on my posts made me laugh and that's just what I needed today!!!! You're the best and I love you! :)

*Your sis, the NERD*

Red Head

2008-08-30T21:15:00.002-04:00

The night before I had Emerson I dreamt she had red hair. Then when she went bald and her hair started coming back I was convinced she was going to be a strawberry blonde. Her little eyebrows had a hint of red, or so I thought. Apparently Emerson has the same wish now as I did then because tonight as she was getting ready for bed this is what she said to me:

Em: "Is my hair red yet?"

Me: "What? Why?"

Em: "You know, from that strawberry stuff."

Then, as I'm laughing, she proceeds to get into the tub to get her bottle of strawberry scented shampoo to show me what she means. Holding it up she points to the picture and says "See?" The picture on the front of the bottle is a cartoon of a girl with red hair. Next she turns it over to pretend to read the back and says "See, it says it turns your hair red, right?" All I could do was laugh and by this point Tripp was there to witness the conversation. He replied "those are the ingredients" to her question about what the bottle said and she just said "oh" and went on to bed. I guess Tripp thought his reply made sense to a 3 year old and I was just so tickled by the whole thing I didn't think to tell her that she wasn't going to wake up tomorrow looking like Strawberry Shortcake. She's been washing her hair with the shampoo for at least a week and probably dreaming every night of her new red hair and tonight is going to be no different. If she were older she'd be ready to sue for False Advertising by now!!!

Ta-da!

2008-08-29T00:14:00.006-04:00

Aren't you wondering why I posted a picture of a KitKat? And more importantly why does it look a little odd? Well it's not a new Kit Kat premiere. Brace yourself. . . it's a nut free Kit Kat!!!!! Woohoo! Can't you just hear the violins and angels singing?!?! Since I'm allergic to peanuts I have had to be careful about reading the allergy warnings on foods. Surprisingly or maybe not, most candy bars are made in a facility that manufactures peanuts, on equipment that processes peanuts or my favorite (haha) warning, "may contain peanuts". (Kit Kats in America are no exception to this rule.) I never really gave that warning much attention until one day when I was pregnant with Cullen and snacking away on M&M's and heard a crunch and I mean more crunch than when you bite into the sweet candy shell. Suddenly I tasted peanuts, next I started itching and then I was downing Benadryl all for a little chocolate fix. Since then I've been a lot more careful when eating and tonight I decided to do a little investigating to see if I could find foods/candy that are nut free. Thank goodness for the Internet. It's at times like this that I don't know how I ever lived without it. Come to find out there are tons of great products out there for people like me. And thanks to soy butter I can now enjoy a PB&J again or rather a SB&J (Wal-Mart even sells it!). But the BEST news yet is that Nestle has a facility in Canada that is completely nut free and they make Kit Kats, Mars, and Aero. So, if you want to know what I want in my Christmas stocking this year you can refer to the above picture! I'm so excited I feel like it's already Christmas. Just knowing that I can enjoy Kit Kat's again without worry makes me hear sleigh bells!

YAY for Nestle and YUM for me!!!!!

Can you hear me now?

2008-08-28T23:29:00.001-04:00

Somebody, anybody please comment on my posts. I'm beginning to get a complex!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just because

2008-08-27T23:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, okay, I know my blog is supposed to be about my adventures in motherhood but I had other things on my mind tonight. Plus, I like to randomly throw out my crazy thoughts and see what kind of reaction I get! hahaha :) Read my political babble post and then leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of my overanalyzation of a political figure!

Political babble

2008-08-27T21:52:00.003-04:00

The past 2 nights my TV has been bombarded with the Democratic Convention. Tripp and I are still living in the dark ages watching free TV from the antenna mounted in our attic. We don't have cable so there's no way to escape all the political campaigning. Out of sheer curiosity I decided to watch Hillary Clinton's much anticipated speech last night at the Democratic Convention. Surprisingly enough I found myself appreciating her speaking skills and obvious intelligence. Truthfully I am not a Hillary supporter but after hearing her speak I understood why so many others were, she is quite a compelling speaker. Then tonight I saw her go out onto the floor at the Democratic Convention and actually make a motion to officially nominate Barrack Obama on the Democratic Bill and suspend the formal proceedings of recounting the votes from the primaries. Now, like I said before I am not a Hillary Clinton advocate but I have to say that I was sort of wowed by her ability to put aside her personal feelings and make a nomination for her opponent. Seriously it really takes a big person to make a generous speech for someone they have fought against for months on end. And how humbling to not only "lose" to your opponent but then endorse them in front of the whole nation. I realize it's all part of the "game" of politics but I am very amazed at the position that Hillary Clinton has been put in trying to unify her political party. I guess I sound like a Democrat but I will neither confirm or deny such allegations! haha If you know me well then you can probably guess which way I lean but if you don't then I won't indulge. One thing that I've learned is to not discuss politics because it tends to elicit strong feelings and sometimes erratic debates. However, this blog isn't really about politics or partisan views but rather just me analyzing a person trapped inside the twisted world of politics. As an outsider and a "critique-er" of people I see on TV I often find myself minimizing their human existence and only seeing them for the face they have to wear in their profession. However, due to the circumstances of this Presidential nomination I found myself pondering how Hillary Clinton as a person must feel giving up what she has so longed hoped for and swallowing her pride publicly as she nominated someone else for that role. Not that she cares what I think but I feel badly for the place she now finds herself.
This whole blog just proves what a softy I really am! I feel sorry for a woman who is powerful, holds a seat in the Senate, is a former 1st Lady and most importantly makes enough money to buy a small island in the Caribbean to escape from all this and probably play darts with a giant poster of Obama's face!!!!!

Quick Wit

2008-08-26T23:06:00.004-04:00

Emerson never ceases to surprise me with what comes out of her mouth. Tonight she and Cullen were playing in the den when I heard her suddenly say "I'm sorry" to Cullen and then repeat herself over and over as the 2 of them ran towards the kitchen where I was. Her apologies got louder and more dramatic as she approached and then she started her girly cry. Cullen started walking back to the den without saying a thing as Emerson came into the kitchen. I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. I asked Emerson why she was upset and she told me she had "bited" Cullen. I asked her why she was crying if she was the one who did the biting. Her answer was that he hit her so she bit him. (Note I didn't say Cullen did any crying because he didn't. I've concluded the overabundance of testosterone interferes with the ability to feel pain when engaging in physical combat! haha) Apparently all the crying was because she thought she was going to get in trouble for biting. Of course I was going to get on to her for biting but I wouldn't have normally given her a big speech since physical aggression is usually not her way to get her point across. She generally sticks to the very annoying crying and whining characteristic of estrogen! But since she is now in daycare and next year will be in school I had to give her a speech about how biting was not acceptable at home or anywhere else, especially at her daycare where they have a NO biting policy that states your child can be expelled for such behavior. Yes, actually expelled from daycare! I told her that she was never to bite anyone again and definitely not at daycare because it was against the rules (I was hoping mentioning the "rules" would get my point across since she's a big rule follower thanks to being the 1st child). I told her that her teacher (who she adores) would have to call me if she bit anyone and she would be in big trouble. And this is where her response surprised me. She said without hesitation, remorse or worry,

"She doesn't have your number."

Seriously, this kid is getting too smart for me!

Love

2008-08-25T20:00:00.001-04:00

Love means a lot of different things. To children love is expressed in numerous ways. I know my children love me by more than their words. Their actions speak louder than anything they vocalize. However, lately I’m beginning to wonder if they are trying to send me a not so subtle hint! A few weeks ago I asked Cullen if he loved me and he said “I love football”. Then last night we were asking him if he loved Granddaddy (my dad, who Cullen adores!), me, Daddy, or Emerson and to each question his response was “I love Nena”. Well, I guess that shows me where I stand! Then today this happened:
We were in a restaurant with my parents and my brother’s family. Emerson was trying to convince my Mom to let her go home with her, partly because she wanted to play with my niece who she thought was also going to my parents and the other reason is just because her favorite person in the whole wide world is my mom. Just to demonstrate exactly, here’s the conversation from this afternoon.
My niece talking to me: “I want to go home with you.”
Me: jokingly “You want to move in with me?”
Niece: “Yes.”
Emerson: “I want to go to Nena’s house.”
Me: “You do? Are you just going to move in with her?” (She had been there almost the entire weekend)
Emerson: “Yes.”
Me: “But what would I do, I want a little girl?”
Emerson: pointing to my niece “Here’s a little girl for you!”
So as you can see my children have made it clear that I rate under football and grandparents. I thought that kids were still supposed to love their parents at this age. Apparently I’m losing ground with them already. I’m going to have to start doing like the grandparents and bribing them with candy, ice cream and prizes!!!

Paul Bunyan's Kid

2008-08-16T21:16:00.004-04:00

Daycare continues to be rough for Cullen. He got strep throat (no big surprise) and was out 2 days this week. The day he went back Tripp took him and of course Cullen was NOT happy about it. Cullen has stayed very firm about where he stands on the issue of daycare--opposed! However, apparently he does enjoy some of it. I called Tripp after he dropped Cullen off after his days out and asked how it went. Tripp said that it was rough as we expected but then he told me a very comical story. He said that Cullen had cried and acted very dramatic as Tripp left which made Tripp feel horrible and on top of that Emerson broke down when he dropped her in her classroom, her favorite classroom with her favorite teacher (I personally thinks she likes to play on Tripp's emotions!). So there's Tripp thinking he's abandoning his children and that they are just crying their little eyes out for their daddy. He leaves and drives to the bank to deposit a check then drives back past the daycare on his way to work (it's within walking distance to both of our jobs!) and sees kids on the playground. And this is how he described what he saw--

'Cafreene, I looked and saw all these little babies playing on the playground. They looked so tiny running around I was thinking they must have been a group from the baby room. Then I spotted Cullen's red overalls and all I could think was how much he looked like some lumberjack running around with a bunch of midgets.'

And then when I got home from work Tripp did a visual demonstration of what he saw. He took the trashcan from our room and set it in the middle of the floor then held up his arms like a giant and ran around the trashcan saying (with a giant's voice, of course) "you want to play with me kids?". I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to wet my pants. Really, Cullen is so much bigger than the kids in his class that he looks like we've been doping him with baby steroids. And it doesn't help that there is a little girl in his room only a few months younger than him that is so tiny that Tripp has affectionately named her Thumbelina. So in comparison to her Cullen honestly does look like a giant.

I'm beginning to think he is really Paul Bunyan's kid!

Seriously, we were relieved to find out that although Cullen pretends to hate daycare he does enjoy parts of the day--stomping around making the ground shake for all the other kids and of course snack time!!!!!!! :)

Thank you daycare!

2008-08-10T20:24:00.002-04:00

The kids were dramatic the last few days of the week but overall they are doing better. Emerson really likes it but she likes to try to see if you won't drop her off in the morning if she acts pitiful, complete drama queen style. But the daycare workers say that during the day she is having fun and playing. And Friday she got moved to her real room where they will be having short lessons each day. She's very excited about that! Cullen is having a harder time than Emerson but they did say Friday that as long as he was busy he was fine. And he's talking to the workers a lot which really surprised me because he is usually very quiet anywhere but at home. Tomorrow will probably be rough after a weekend at home but hopefully they will be soon get used to the routine.

One thing I was not looking forward to with daycare is the yuckies. I knew that the kids would get sick from being around other children all the time and you know how they are not concerned about sharing their germs with each other. So, after 1 week of daycare, guess what?! Yep, Emerson got strep throat. Apparently it's making the way around her room where 4 cases were confirmed before the weekend. Now it will be 5 when we add Emerson to that list. Thankfully I knew about the bacteria making it's way through all the kids immune systems and when Emerson woke up Saturday morning with a runny nose and crying that hair was stuck in her mouth (she was pointing to her throat) I went ahead and took her to the Dr who confirmed that yes indeed she was the newest victim of the yuckies! All I can think to say is THANK YOU DAYCARE!!! :-/

Day 2

2008-08-05T20:56:00.004-04:00

The drama continues. Poor Tripp got the honor of taking the kids this morning. Emerson did well once again but Cullen was not so happy about being there. He cried when Tripp left him. Tripp called the day care back a few hours later to check on him and the director said she had been in and he had settled down and started playing. When Tripp went to pick them up this afternoon he asked his teacher how he did and her answer was "he's had a rough day". He didn't want to eat anything so they got one of the older kids to come to his class and try to convince him to work which worked (I thought it was actually a pretty good idea). Then he was the 1st to go to sleep again for nap time but the 1st to wake after only 30 minutes. Then he cried on and off the rest of the afternoon again. It breaks my heart to think of him wandering around looking for us and thinking we've left him with a bunch of babies and a couple of adults who he doesn't even know. :(

Fast forward to this evening: Emerson was riding with me to pick up pizza (yes, I didn't cook, I haven't worked out a supper system yet!) and we were having a conversation about her playing on the playground. She has decided that boys stink (yes, her words) and that she only wants to play with girls. So she doesn't want to play anywhere near boys because of their stinkyness and the fact that she says they could knock her down. I told her she could play with them and run around like all the other girls and boys but being the hard headed child that she is she told me she wasn't going to do that because girls should play with girls and boys should play with boys. Then she says this to me (and I quote with emphasis exactly where she said it)
"Well, you're not supposed to leave me at school all day anyway because I will cry for my Mama elsewhere."
Okay really, what 3 year old uses the word elsewhere? That child never ceases to amaze me with the things that come out of her mouth. And there I am just looking at her little face in the rear view mirror feeling the mountain of guilt that is piling onto my conscience and wondering how to respond. I couldn't think of anything great to respond with so I just lead the conversation in another, more positive, direction which was the promise that her Nena would pick her up early from day care tomorrow and she would get to play with her before I got home. That seemed to really perk her up since Nena is only 1 her most favorite people EVER.

So now that we're on day 2 of day care and day 3 of work for me things are looking bleak but I know things usually get worse before they get better. . .just like a bruise. I guess we'll just have to wait it out and just see how long this lasts. I sure hope I have enough strength to endure it.

Day Care Day 1

2008-08-04T22:50:00.002-04:00

Well, we survived the first day. It was uncharted territory for both kids but they didn't cry when I dropped them off, hooray! And the most impressive thing is that I didn't cry either. WOW, huh?! I was amazed myself (at both things!). Emerson was so ready to get there and have me leave that she didn't want me to even kiss her goodbye. Apparently I'm already cramping her style at her age of 3! After I dropped Emerson off I headed to Cullen's room and he was already thinking it was a bad idea. He wrapped his little arm around mine, clung to my waist with his chubby legs and started saying "I wanna go home, Mama" over and over on the way to the room. I felt so bad and I just knew he would cry but he surprised me and when the teacher got him he just looked around. He didn't see me slip out but he was so overwhelmed by all the other very short individuals mulling around that he forgot to cry. However, the teacher said that he more than made up for it in the afternoon after nap time when he cried on and off and asked for his Mommy and Daddy. Talk about breaking my heart!!! Tripp and I went together to get the kids after work and Emerson was happy to see us and gave me an extra long squeeze but she's already excited about going back tomorrow. Cullen didn't cry when he saw us but before the teacher even told us we knew he had been judging by his swollen little eyes and the pitiful sniffle he does after he cries which he continues for an hour sometimes for dramatic effect! Anyway, I don't think I'll be getting away tomorrow morning without some tears from him but hopefully he will begin to adjust.
More to come. . .along with some cute pictures! :)

Winds of change

2008-08-02T23:38:00.005-04:00

The winds of change have hit our house. I started to full time work on Friday and the kids begin daycare on Monday. I'm nervous about how these winds will change our family dynamics. Up until now the children have been with me since they were born. It is going to be quite an adjustment for them as well as myself. I would go into more of how I feel about the whole idea but I don't want to sound like a complainer and I'm just too tired to write right now. But just wanted to mention our little transition to let you know that the posts may once again become sparse as I learn to manage my new schedule.

As for now, the winds are blowing my exhausted body into the bed. I bid you all good night and sleep tight! :)

Just today

2008-07-28T22:52:00.002-04:00

Just thought I would recap a few funny things that my children have said today. Before nap time I always read them a book on the couch. I told them to go sit down and the phone rang. While I was on the phone I heard this argument:

Emerson: "1,2,3,4"
Cullen: "1,2,3,5"
Emerson: *louder* "1,2,3,4"
Cullen: *louder* "1,2,3,5"
Emerson: *even louder* 1,2,3,4"
Cullen: *louder still* "1,2,3,5"
Emerson: *screams* "1,2,3,4"
Cullen: *scream back* "1,2,3,5"
This just shows you how hard headed they really are. Neither one is willing to budge on their version of counting and they are both willing to scream their convictions at the top of their voice in the hopes of breaking the other. I had to stop the scream fest because I was afraid it might end in blood shed. And, by the way, Cullen is convinced that 4 is a nonessential number, he refuses to say it or even repeat it!
Then I put them down for a nap which neither child seemed to be interested in. Cullen jabbered away in his crib for a full 30 minutes before going to sleep and Emerson got up at least a dozen times thinking of new ideas on how to avoid her nap. One of those trips out of her room I told her to go back to bed, lay down and read a book, her reply "Mama, I can't read yet." Duh?! What was I thinking??? haha

And then again tonight as Emerson was avoiding bedtime I told her to go to her room and get her pajamas on. She starts tiptoeing as slowly as possible from the room and says "well, you know I walk very slowly." Oh, what a kid!!!

Boy on the beach

2008-07-28T14:14:00.003-04:00

More pictures of my little man hanging out with me on the beach in moment, but first let me explain why there will be no pictures of him enjoying the surf. . .

We got to the beach on a Sunday afternoon and after we unpacked all the cars and "moved in" for the week we decided to take the kids down to the beach. It had been a year since either of them had been to the beach and played in the sand. I really thought that Cullen would love it this year since he's so active and loves playing in dirt and water. We got down to the beach and I could tell the surf was rough (there was a storm in the Bahamas causing some serious undertow) so we walked along the beach holding hands and looking at the water. We decided to go walk where the waves would barely cover our toes when whoosh a wave crashed and came rushing towards us. I grabbed on tighter to each little hand and held on. (Bear in mind that the water was only a couple inches deep when it got to us.) Those couple of inches of water combined with the rough seas and shifting sand was quite a match for my 2 little ones. All of the sudden Cullen fell and was rolled by the very shallow water and Emerson had fallen but my grip was so tight that her little legs were going one way and my hand was pulling her tiny arm the other way. The poor child probably felt like I was ripping her shoulder out of joint! But poor Cullen got the worst of it since we couldn't quite hold on long enough. He was soaking wet and covered in sand. He had sand in every crack and crevice of his little body. His chubby cheeks and hair were covered in sand and he was terrified from the whole event. The next day we tried getting him onto the beach but he was hysterical. Every time he even saw the ocean he would start crying and shaking and saying "the water get you, Mama". He was breaking my heart. I don't think he ever got out of a lap the next day at the beach and it took him until the last day until he was brave enough to come within about 20 feet of the water. So I don't think he is going to be doing any surfing any time soon! But despite the traumatic experience with the ocean, Cullen did manage to have a good time playing in the sand and he loved the water at the pool (I'll post those pictures later).

My favorite picture of him on the beach. He's just so darn cute!!!

See how far we are from the water!

Holding up the umbrella really makes him thirsty. . .haha!

And hungry!

And here he is trying to escape back to the safe haven (aka really nice condo)!

PS Yes, I know he's really far away in the last picture but I had to show his great escape from the scary beach! I watched him walk almost all the way to the walkway back which lead to the condo. It was a pretty good distance from us but there was hardly anyone around and I wanted to see just how far he would go, which was apparently to the elevator of the condo! When I realized he wasn't planning on coming back I stopped him before he stepped onto the walkway. I yelled out his name and told him to come back and he did. He started be-bopping back as though it was no big deal. One of the funniest things was that a couple with their 2 very small children stopped to watch the whole event when they didn't think anyone else was. I saw the lady looking very concerned and walking towards Cullen when I stood up so she would realize a parent was around. When the lady saw me she just smiled and probably tried to memorize my face so she could call DFACS when she got back to her condo, hahaha!!!

Drum roll please

2008-07-25T14:28:00.004-04:00

The moment you've all been waiting for. . . more pictures of 2 of the most adorable children ever! :)

Hugs and Kisses

2008-07-25T14:11:00.002-04:00

I grew up in a huggy, lovey family. As a child I saw my grandmothers at least once a week if not more since we lived so close. Each time we saw them we hugged hello and hugged goodbye. It was some unwritten rule and ritual which I did and still do! Now that I have children I have apparently passed down the same ideas about the hugging for greetings and departures. Yesterday Emerson and Cullen stayed with my mother in law while I went to visit a friend who had just given birth (to a very cute baby girl, I might add!). I got back a few hours later and loaded the kids into the car when this happened. . .

Que the drama princess:
Emerson: *begin dramatic whimper* "Mama, you forgot to give Oma a kiss."
Me: (thinking she means she forgot to give her a kiss) "It's okay, we'll see her soon."
Emerson: (with more conviction) "No Mama, you didn't give Oma a kiss. You need to drive back in the driveway and tell her goodbye."
Me: (laughing) It's okay baby, I told her goodbye."
Emerson: "No you didn't."
Me: (still laughing) "It's okay, I will next time."
Emerson: (relaxes) "Okay."

Moral of the story--don't teach your child to do something unless you yourself are going to lead by example.

***Oma, I'll give you a hug next time I leave your house so that I will be saying goodbye the "right" way!

Geocaching in the mountains!

2008-07-22T11:00:00.004-04:00

This way to the trail!

The very narrow and steep trail!

Tripp rockin' the trail!

We found the cache hidden somewhere in the midst of all these trees!

Ready, set the timer, run to the rock and smile!!!

Tripp and I have discovered the fun of geocaching (thanks Aunt Judy!). So, while we were in the mountains we left the kiddies with my parents and went off in search of a cache. We ended up climbing 1/4 of a mile up a very steep and narrow trail (part of the Bartram Trail) and ended up next to a waterfall, which you should see behind us in the last picture but you may have to strain your eyes since it was nearly dry due to the horrible drought. The hike was quite a little trek but it was so much fun. It got us out in nature, exercising, and on a hunt, what more could you ask for?!

Back in the saddle

2008-07-21T17:49:00.002-04:00

We're back from our summer adventure to the beach! It was nice and refreshing. The weather was good and the kids loved swimming in the pool and playing on the beach. Now that our summer is drawing to a close, I'm going to get back in the saddle of blogging. Check back tomorrow for a new post with pictures!

2008-07-11T09:43:00.004-04:00

We went to the mountains a couple of weeks ago. While we were there we took a day trip to Cherokee, NC. It was hot so we stopped at the river that runs through the town and decided to get in and cool off. The water was freezing but my children and a ton of other kids didn't seem to notice. It was very shallow I walked in and it took my breath away. Of course it wasn't so bad once the frostbite set in and my feet were numb. HA! :) Here's a few pictures of the kids having a blast!

Mouth full of river water. . .

Spitting out the parasite water! ha ha

Calling "Emson"Yes, he is a very white child.
The water was freezing but the kids LOVED it!

Computer issues

2008-07-09T13:55:00.002-04:00

Our computer is having some "issues". Sorry I haven't been able to post pictures but for some reason our computer won't upload pictures or videos right now. I promise to get some new pictures up ASAP.

Hope she doesn't repeat that!

2008-07-02T12:49:00.003-04:00

For some reason Tripp and I allowed the kids to stay up and watch the new show "Wipeout" on ABC last night. If you know us well then you know that Tripp and I hardly ever watch TV in the evenings and never let our children watch. This is mainly because Tripp has lots of studying from school, I don't really like shows I have to keep up with every week and the language and subject content are just a little too risque for our tastes. If the TV is ever on in the evenings while the kids are awake we try to keep the volume low so no one learns one of those words. Last night we didn't think we had to worry, wrong! Here's what happened:

Girl on TV on game show as she jumps over obstacle: "I'm kicking my own ass."
Emerson, who ironically hasn't repeated anything from the show up until this point: "I'm kicking my own add."
Me: wide-eyed look at Daddy hoping he can come up with something clever to say
Daddy: wide-eyed look with hand covering mouth as he tries not to belly laugh.
Me: eyes widen more and look of "oh my gosh, why did we let her watch this?! look"
Daddy to Emerson: "Yea, add (emphasis on the D) like add and subtract." laughs to make Emerson think that add is indeed a funny word
Emerson: "Yea, add." then giggles to indicate she sort of thinks it's funny but isn't sure why?!

Whew, one crisis diverted only a bazillion more to go!!! :)

Appearing soon. . .

2008-07-01T23:02:00.002-04:00

. . .more pictures and video!!! Sorry I've been away to the mountains and now I'm back but recovering from some weird stomach bug. Whew, it's been a long couple of weeks but I promise I actually have some new pictures to post very soon. I will try to get the time and energy to do it tomorrow.

Name?

2008-06-19T10:28:00.003-04:00

Okay, since my brother just started a blog (woohoo!!!) with a very cute and original name, I got to thinking about the name of my blog. Truth is, I can't even remember it and I'm the author so I figured the same would hold true for the reader. I'm trying to decide what I should rename it. I've been thinking about it for days and can't come up with anything I really like. Soooo, here's where you, the reader, comes into play. I'll take any suggestions you want to give. I've got a couple of ideas but I'll keep them to myself for now so I don't bias your opinions!

Just leave your name ideas as a comment. If you want to remain anonymous that's fine, there is an option on the comment field for that. Thanks!!!

2008-06-18T21:36:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows someone who pays little attention when you talk to them but then tries to reply to what you were talking about and comes up with something completely absurd based on what they "think" they heard. Well, here's an example of just that. . .

A few days ago as Tripp was studying for his A&P final, Emerson was running around the house trying to get his attention. Of course she was being loud and silly and Tripp was tempted to leave the books to play but they had already had "Daddy play time" and I knew I needed to intervene so that Tripp could study.
So I said, "Emerson, give Daddy some peace and quiet."
She replied, "Let Daddy pee the potty???" (with a very confused look on her face).

Case in point!

Congrats!

2008-06-18T19:35:00.002-04:00

Congrats to my very smart husband who made an A in his 4 1/2 week Anatomy and Physiology class with NO prior knowledge of the subject matter. . .one word, WOW!!!

Little video montage!

2008-06-16T16:25:00.004-04:00

Here's a little video montage of the kiddos. These videos prove that Cullen can in fact talk, which is questionable to many since he tends to be quiet in public AND the clip of Emerson really shows her personality to a "T", including an "Emerson original" song with her clumsy little stumble at the end! These clips are about a month or so old, Cullen has really started talking a whole lot more, in simple sentences most often! And Emerson's hair has been cut back into a bob. I'll try to be better about posting pictures and videos.

I hope you all enjoy!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-16T15:58:00.003-04:00

There are many things I love about my husband. And one of the biggest ones is the father he is. So here is my "ode to my hubby"! ha ha :)

Tripp-

Although I don't put much stock in the "celebrate someone day so that Hallmark and Russell Stover can make lots of money" days, I thought I would take the aforementioned holiday to express how much I love the father you are.

I love that you love our children! I love that you love them with a child-like fun love that makes them giggle and squeal when you chase them around endlessly. I love that you are silly with them. I love that you are goofy with them even in public places (even when I'm pretending not to know the crazy man singing to the top of his lungs with his 2 very loud children). I love that you smile each day when you come home and see them. I love that no matter how many times they tell you the same joke or play the same silly game that you relish in it. I love that you are patient with them. I love that you want to protect them. I love that you encourage them. I love that you love them enough to discipline them. I love that even though you discipline them you never make them feel like you don't love them. I love that you are their father and that your love for them is so vast that you would do anything for them.

I'm truly so proud of you for all you have done for our family. It hasn't always been easy but you have persevered. I'm proud of you for going back to college to be the non-traditional student that you are! I know your load is a LOT to bear. You work a full-time job, attend college classes and are a husband and father. With your discipline and love for your family you manage to balance your schedule. I know the sacrifice is great at times but I'm proud of you for seeing past the present to the future and working to make that better. You really do inspire me!

Thank you for your dedication to us, our children, your job, your schooling and your future goals. I love you and I'm proud that our children call you "Daddy"!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Love,

Cafreene :) xoxo

A picture's worth a thousand words

2008-05-21T23:28:00.003-04:00

Their cuteness is overwhelming!

2008-05-09T11:30:00.007-04:00

My little dancer!

This is what happens when I say "stay still so I can take a picture of you"

And yet another try. . .

Here's the shot of her hair with 2 french braids, soooo sweet!

This picture makes me laugh because he looks like Elvis Presley with his smoky eyes!

Cullen's cute overalls that Oma embroidered! GA red clay= toddler facial treatment!!!

A worthy cause

2008-05-09T11:05:00.002-04:00

We all know about cancer and Relay for Life. We hear about it all the time and it is definitely a worthy cause. But there many other diseases that affect peoples lives each and every day that we don't hear about as often. Diabetes is one of the life changing illnesses which cannot be put into remission or cured. It affects 20 million Americans alone. My brother, Earl, is just one of those people affected by diabetes. He was diagnosed 20 years ago with Type 1 diabetes. This means that his pancreas doesn't function properly and supply him with the life saving insulin that he needs. When he was 14 he began his journey. Back then he had to take his blood sugar numerous times a day and give himself 3 or 4 shots of insulin daily. (Imagine being an 8th grader who suddenly has to give up sugar and be actively responsible for your daily health, not as easy task!) Several years ago he was able to get an insulin pump which supplies him with a constant dose of insulin mimicking more closely how his pancreas should be functioning. However, he is still not cured. He has to give himself boosts of insulin with his pump each day and continue to monitor his blood sugar. He still has diabetes and unless there is a cure he always will. He, along with 20 million other people live each day with diabetes. I pray that in his lifetime or his children's (he has 1 daughter and 1 more on the way!!!) that diabetes will be cured. Of course that is only possible with more research. My brother is actively a part of raising money for a cure by cycling in the upcoming Tour de Cure. Please check out Earl's Tour de Cure website and consider being a part of a cure for diabetes by donating to this worthy cause.

Birthday pie

2008-04-15T16:04:00.004-04:00

On Sunday my dear husband had a loose plan for making a pie for my birthday as a family but I decided that sounded more like a disaster waiting to happen than a bonding family experience! So, yesterday while the children were playing and Tripp was at work I decided to make the pie. What an experience. . .the recipe was written down incorrectly which proved a little challenging. But I was up for the challenge and after an 1 1/2 hours that seemed like an eternity my long awaited coconut cream pie was done. Happy Birthday to me! :)

YUMMY!

Here's my Mom's recipe if you want to try it out!

Coconut Cream Pie

2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs, separated--use yolks for pie
Pinch salt
3 T butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded coconut (do not pack)

Mix dry ingredients well, add milk and egg yolks and stir until blended on top of double boiler (sauce pan will also work). Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thick (when you can make a track with your spoon that disappears slowly). Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla and coconut. Pour into baked, deep dish pie shell.

Meringue topping:

3 egg whites
6 T sugar
Pinch cream of tartar (salt will also work)

Beat egg whites in a metal or glass bowl at high speed until foamy and white. Add sugar slowly and cream of tartar. Continue beating until stiff (meringue will form soft peaks when beater is pulled out). Spread meringue on top of pie filling. Cook at 400F for 12-15 minutes or until peaks are golden brown. Store pie in refrigerator.

The little artists

2008-04-15T12:51:00.008-04:00

Cullen says "ta da" when he's done with his art work!

Here's his little masterpiece!

Emerson pasted the flowers and drew the stems and leaves (minus the one on the right that I did to demonstrate). You have to look really close to see the straight green lines with circles for leaves that she did.

Emerson is working on writing her name. Today she was really proud of herself and I was too! :)

Fun at the fair

2008-04-13T17:59:00.004-04:00

Ironically enough, Tripp and I built a house right next door to the house that I grew up in. I lived there 21 years until my parents built a house outside of town. So, no, they do not live next door. Anyway, our house now (and mine growing up) is only 1/2 mile from the local fair ground. When I was a kid, my brother and I would convince our parents to take us to the fair to ride the rides, look at the exhibits and eat high prices deep fried food and lose our loose teeth in a candy apple. Everyone in our town went to the fair when it came. Maybe it was an 80's and 90's thing to do but it was definitely the place not to miss as a child. My poor Mom hated it when the air got crisp and my brother and I started talking about the fair because that meant lots of money blown and the worst part of all "the rides"! She was always concerned about how well the rides were put together and until last night I didn't really understand the full extent of her reluctance. Last night we had the great adventure of taking Emerson to the local fair. It is a very small fair but they have several kid rides. She rode almost all of them. She passed by the "boy ride" which was supposed to look like old fighter planes with fake guns. And her Daddy made her pass by the massive slide that he thought might take us on our 1st trip to the ER. However, she did try out 2 rides that went up into the air, little boats and a mini roller coaster, all of which she was thrilled to be on! And now I understand why my Mom hated when the fair came to town and why my Dad was the one who usually took us! It is a little terrifying to watch your baby flying up into the air on a bumble bee ride where only 1/2 the lights work. My heart sank as I watched her zoom 20 feet into the air all alone but then I looked at her smile and my heart went back to its original position. Thankfully all was well and we truly had a great time. My how times have changed though. There was hardly anyone there and there were no exhibits of farm animals, paintings and homemade crafts. Despite the changes in the last 20 years, the fun was still the same. I recognized that thrill and pure joy on Emerson's face as she defied gravity in a dragon and a bumble bee, held on to a caterpillar as it looped around the track and drove a little shiny boat as it bobbed up and down. Her imagination took her flying in the clouds, slinking through the tall grass and riding on the high waves of the sea last night. And the joy I felt as I watched her experience that is indescribable.

Her first fair ride!

Flying high!

Driving the boats.

Thrilled!!! Riding the roller coaster!Look at those cute pig tails! Riding the carousel with her Daddy!

Clearing the air

2008-04-11T10:43:00.002-04:00

So far I've had about 4 people apologize thinking they were the person who said "I hate blogs". Well, there's no need for any more confessions to me. The person who said that is NOT on the blog list. I feel bad that I must have sounded like I was fishing for an apology in my post about why I had stopped blogging. That was never my intention. So, if you hated blogs in the past but like mine then great. Don't worry about offending me though. I should have never let someone discourage me in the first place.

Now that that is cleared up. . .thanks for caring and reading my silly little stories!

You know you're an American if. . .

2008-04-11T10:09:00.005-04:00

. . .your child sets up this scene with her dollhouse figurines! Yes, Emerson actually did this the other night when she couldn't sleep. She had gotten up a gazillion times and I was going into her room to cut her off at the pass when I saw her doing this. I slowly backed out of her room so she wouldn't see me and waited. I went back in, tucked her in and waited until she was asleep to snap these pictures. I guess she was hoping I might see what she had done and get her hint that she'd rather be watching a movie with her Daddy than sleeping, but no such luck! Instead I take pictures and post it on my blog. :)

Matching outfits

2008-04-06T20:14:00.004-04:00

Thanks to my very talented mother-in-law, my children looked precious this morning in their matching outfits. Everyone at church wanted to know if the outfits were from Strasburg, but I said "no, they are Oma originals"! That's right, she made the shirt and suit for Cullen and the dress for Emerson, including the embroidery. I took this picture as I was running out the door to church this morning so they aren't the best in the world but at least you can see their matching cuteness!

The little chef

2008-04-04T19:37:00.007-04:00

While Cullen went to the Dr for his 18 month check-up, Emerson got to spend the morning with her Oma. Oma always has lots of fun things for Emerson to do. Today they made fruit salads and pizza for them, me, Cullen and Aunt J. Needless to say, Emerson had a great time being the chef for the day. Thanks Oma!!!

Oma made the adorable apron and chef's hat!

Making her cute little salads with raisin eyes, cherry mouths and cheese hair.

Rolling out the pizza dough.

This is her serious work face!

It's only fun if you get covered in flour!!

Spreading the sauce.

Her masterpieces were T-licious (that's what she used to say for delicious)!

I speak it better than I write it. . .

2008-04-02T23:48:00.003-04:00

English, that is! Spanish is the reverse. I was just reading through my blog about Emerson correcting my grammar and I realized that I didn't proof read before I posted. I somehow managed to use incorrect grammar in the last sentence. . . embarrassing and ironic!!!

PS For everyone who rushed to that post to see the mistake, don't be confused. I already fixed it! :)

Prayer Request

2008-04-02T21:20:00.002-04:00

Recently I heard an amazing story about a young couple who had a 24 week preemie and the wife has CF. The wife has been on a transplant list for a double lung transplant since the baby was born (12 weeks ago) and tonight she is in surgery getting her new lungs. Please pray for her, her husband, her daughter and all of her family and friends. Also, please pray for the donor's family. The husband has a great blog which chronicles their story from his perspective. Their story is inspiring.

Kid conversations

2008-04-02T13:24:00.002-04:00

Today my best friend's 2 oldest children have been staying with me. While I was cleaning up the kitchen I heard Emerson and the little girl talking (she's 4). Here's their conversation. . .

B: (holding a stuffed toy horse) "This is a horse but I call it a pony. I call everything ponies."
Em: (little pause) "You call chickens pony?"
B: "No. I call a chicken a hen."
Em: "Oh!"

Guilty

2008-04-01T22:14:00.003-04:00

Here's a good example of how easily I tend to run into things with the car. Today I had a Dr's appointment and as I pulled into the normally crowded parking lot I noticed how few cars there were. I see lots of spaces but opt for the one up front (right across from the man sitting with a little boy). The spot I chose had a metal post at the end of it. Also, the parking spot was at an incline, going down towards the sign. These two things combined should have been enough for me to go to another parking spot but in my greedy moment of wanting to be closest to the door I opted to give it a try. I turn in, probably to fast, and whomp! hit the post. Then I remember there is a man sitting right behind me and now he's probably laughing his head off. So, I decide to correct my error and back up and straighten out. Now here is where I should have just pulled out of the parking space and gone to another one but NO I'm too hard headed for that. I had to prove I could do it. I start to back up and wonder what in the world is wrong with the car because I can't seem to reverse. The car goes back about 6 inches and then whomp! right back into the post. I look down and realize that when I hit the post, the 1st time, I pulled up the emergency brake. Now I'm completely embarrassed and am seriously considering pulling out of the parking space and going to the other side of the building. Instead, I released the emergency brake, backed the car away from the post, put the car into park, turn it off and exit with my head held high. I glance over towards the man who is still sitting with his son and thankfully he quickly turns his head before we make eye contact. And as I walk to the door I know exactly what that man is talking to his little boy about. . ."those women drivers". And yes, I'm one of them!

Oldie but goodie!

2008-03-31T10:25:00.000-04:00

Here's something that I wrote and never posted. Thought I would share!

This week has been full of interesting comments from Emerson. I'll start with the beginning of the week and work my way to the end. Then I'll throw in a quick story from a few weeks back.

Monday--after ballet class, going to Wal-Mart with the family and STILL in her leotard and tights. . .

Em: (furiously doing arm and leg motions while strapped into her booster) "un, duh, twat, un, duh, twat. . .

Me: "Emerson, what are you doing?"

Em: "I'm doing ballet."

Me: "Oh, what are you saying?"

Em: "I'm saying un, duh, twat."

Me: "Oh, are you counting in French?"

Em: "Yes."

Me: "How does it go again?"

Em: "Un, Duh, TWAT!"

Of course by this point Tripp and I are laughing hysterically. I finally tried to convince her the word was trois (pronounced like twat without the t on the end) but she was insistent that the teacher had said twat. I obviously didn't tell her that the word she was saying was not a very nice word to say because some things are better left unsaid but I did try to sway her opinion on how to say the word. No luck for me though. She's still saying twat. . .and of course, she puts the most emphasis on the t at the end. I guess that is to prove her point. I can't wait to tell her ballet teacher what she taught Emerson this week!

Thursday--The kids and I are in the car on the way to Augusta for Cullen's 12 mo. shots. . .

Em: "Mommy, when I grow up I going to have brases."

Me: "What baby?"

Of course she repeats herself this time with more passion.

Me: "You mean bras, sweetie."

Em: "No Mamma, brases."

Me: "What are brases?"

Em: "BRASES."

Me: "Do you mean boobies?"

Em: "No, I already have boobies."

Me: "Oh, I guess that's true. Well, do you mean you want to wear a bra like Mommy?"

Em: "I mean those things that go over your nipples."

Me: "Emerson, those are called bras."

Em: "Okay, well I'm going to have big boobies and wear those things over my nipples."

What can I say? Out of the mouth of babes!

Taste of my own medicine

2008-03-29T15:29:00.003-04:00

This morning I took the kids outside to eat a popsicle. Emerson loved hers and Cullen just walked around pretending to eat his and talking about it. He was walking, chanting "sicle, good, yum" to anyone willing to pay him attention, and dripping fake sugary banana goodness. After about 20 minutes the popsicle really started to disintegrate and in one huge lump fell off the stick onto the porch. And this is where my story really begins! Cullen looks down, then looks at me and says "Mama, I break."
me: "You break?"
Cullen: "it break"
me: "it breaked"?
Cullen: "uh huh, yeamam (supposed to be yes mam, it's sooooo cute)"
Then Emerson chimes in: "No Mama, it BROKE, not breaked."

Well, that's what I get for constantly correcting her grammar. I stand corrected, by a 3 year old no doubt!

Confession

2008-03-29T15:12:00.004-04:00

I recently got an email asking where my blog had gone. Well, the truth is this. . .I stopped after someone made a comment to me that they hated blogs. The person went on to say how ridiculous it was to post your life on the Internet for people to read and how no one wanted to read it anyway. Who knows if this person remembered that they were on my email list OR that I had emailed my blog to them, however, it struck a nerve in me and I stopped blogging. This is probably surprising to those of you who think I'm completely hard headed and not surprising to those of you who know how much I want everyone to like me. Truthfully, it was silly for me to stop for just one person's comment but it was just my catalyst. There were a few other contributing factors to my lengthy absence to the blogging world. I started thinking about the fact that no one ever commented on my blogs, by email or in person. Well, being the over analyzer that I am, (refer to previous post) I began to think about that combined with the negative comment and I decided that maybe everyone felt the same way. So until I received the email asking about the blog I just assumed that my assumption was correct. But the email also said that the person missed reading my little stories. So, thanks to that person my hope in blogs has been restored. I will continue my quest. . .to share my many mini adventures of motherhood! :)

PS This is by no means a ploy to get comments so no pressure, really! :)

Digging ditches. . .

2007-09-20T16:29:00.000-04:00

(After some medical issues accompanied by my medical history and my family medical history I had to visit a cardiologist and have a stress test.)
On Monday morning I psyched myself up for the big event. I put on some "loose fitting clothes" per my instructions then packed up the kids and dropped them off at a friend's house. I drove the Dr.'s office thinking "I can do it, it's no big deal." I sign in, got called back and immediately given my 1st task--take off everything from the waist up and put on a pitiful excuse for a top. Then I lay down on the table and had sticky, itchy leads attached to me to monitor my heart rate. Once again, no big deal. Then the nurse starts doing the echo cardiogram and smearing goo all over my chest in the process. Finally she gets the pictures she needs and we move to the adjacent room. Then she hooks me up to even more leads which makes my torso look like a bad sci-fi movie. Anyway, more echo pictures, then she proceeds to tape the top together (yes, it opens in the front) with 2 tiny pieces of not very sticky tape. It is a medical facility and I know they have that tape they use when you get an IV that rips the whole 1st layer of your skin off but nooooo, she uses the scotch tape. The Dr. comes in, I shake his hand and chat for a minute about what is next. Then I get up, careful not to trip over the many wires attached to me, tackle my 2nd task--walking on the treadmill. This whole time I am truthfully thinking that it will be easy as pie. I've taken my Grandma to have these tests so it can't be that hard, right? I thought, "I'll get up on the treadmill walk 10 minutes, break a little sweat and sit back down, no problem". Boy, was I in for a surprise. They started me off at a walk that I would consider brisk (it was 3.something miles an hour). Then the Dr. tells me that he will increase the speed and incline every 3 minutes. At this point I'm still talking and joking with the Dr. and nurse because I can walk like this for 10 minutes. Three minutes passes by and my heart rate is still low and BP is great and so the Dr. increases the speed. Now, this is when I get a little worried. I thought he used the word "gradual" when he talked about the increase but I must have misheard him because now I was in an all out legs stretched, hips swinging walk. I looked like one of those "overly fanatic about working-out" middle aged women who walk through downtown with their CD players and sweatpants walking faster than you can drive. My talking/joking began to subside as the minutes crept by and as breathing was taking precedence. As the next "gradual" change grew closer so did my anxiety about how I was going to survive this test. Once again they checked my BP and upped the pace. By this time I'm seriously thinking that I can only do this for 3 more minutes at this rate. My heart rate was only moderately up though so the Dr. continued to push me. As minutes 7 and 8 go by I'm thinking "if he ups this thing again he better bring in the code cart". Well, the point of the test is to push you to the limits and see what your heart does so that's exactly what the Dr. does. (I'm sure they have some guidelines for this based on your statistics because goodness knows that if the average 80 year old person had to walk this fast then let's just say they might be leaving on a gurney.) Those three grueling minutes end and the Dr. ups the pace again. Now, this is the point in a work-out where I would think I had pushed myself far enough, my plateau. Keep in mind that not only is the pace increasing but so is the incline of the walk. The bar that I was loosely gripping in the beginning now has indentions from my fingernails as I clutch it hoping that I won't lose hold, fall and break my neck as the machine zooms me across the room. I actually say (or pant) to the Dr. at this point "3 more minutes, are you serious?". He says (in his very thick Indian accent) "yes, you can, come on, just 3 more minutes, you can do it." Now, this Dr. is a very nice guy. He sounds so genuine and encouraging that part of me starts believing in myself a little more. I end up having to jog, body parts jostling to and fro, to keep up with the pace, which he had increased to almost 6 miles an hour. I continue to trudge on, leaning forward on the bar a couple of times thinking my legs might fail me. I'm breathing so heavy that I think my lungs might explode and my heart is beating so fast that it feels like a person trapped inside my ribcage trying to free himself. Finally I achieved my target heart rate of 164 and it continues to climb to 176. At this point I don't care about the numbers or anything other than my body screaming to myself "stop, death is imminent"! Just when I think about what song I want at my funeral the Dr. says "only 1 more minute. . .40 more seconds. . .30. . .15. . .10. . .okay STOP." You know how when you work out you're supposed to cool down when you're done so that your heart can get back to its resting rate? Well, that is not the point of this test. They want to get me to my breaking point then immediately stop me and put me back on the table to do more echos on my heart so they can see exactly what my heart is doing under extreme exercise. So, I go from jogging to laying down in a matter of seconds. I was seriously so worn out that the Dr. and nurse both grabbed an arm and led me to the table (only a couple feet away) and I lay down as they got the shots. During the middle of the walk I can remember thinking "oh great, the tape is coming undone and I'm about to flash this Dr. mid-walking, poor guy!" but when I was laying there when it was done I was so exhausted I didn't even think about the paper shirt gaping open or the sweat rolling down my face or the completely limp posture I had as I lay there recovering from the walk. Instead I was thinking about how pitiful it was that I was so out of shape. I mean, I was drained! I felt like I had just run a complete marathon and all I had done was walk on a treadmill. To be honest it was a little embarrassing to feel so out of shape. Knowing you're out of shape is one thing, but looking it in front of strangers is another. Several minutes pass, the nurse gets her pics and the Dr. looks at them. As I'm regaining composure the Dr. begins explaining the results of the test to me. He shows me the different angles of the heart and compares the resting to exercise then he shows me the EKG and then at the end shows me some numbers that mean something to him (nothing to me) then interjects in his very thick accent, "see, this shows the amount of work you did, it's equal to if you had just dug a ditch." I say "dug a ditch?" because I think that I may have misunderstood. He says "yes, same amount of work you would do to dig a ditch 2 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 6 feet long." A smile breaks across my face because just when I'm feeling horrible about my lack of physical endurance he tells me I just did a work-out comparable to "brute strength, sweaty men", hard manual labor. This helped renew my hope that I could get back into shape and be strong again. And of course I will never again look at a treadmill the same way! The best news was that the Dr. was encouraged by my results and sent me on my way with a happy report that my heart was doing exactly what it was supposed to. Now maybe I'll train for a marathon. . .don't laugh, it could happen! :)

Warning!

2007-09-20T13:34:00.000-04:00

Just so you know this is a warning about reading my blog. I tend to have a crude sense of humor, use sarcasm and am brutally honest. Of course, if you're reading this then chances are you already knew that about me. Also, I unfortunately don't usually conform to society's rules about what is politically correct and not. So, if you're easily offended or don't want TMI about me then it's best not to read the blogs but instead just scan through the pictures. Anyway, having said that I will be sure to post a blog later about my experience at the beginning of the week. It should be filled with lots of crude humor, sarcasm and tremendous honesty. Hopefully the combination makes you laugh!

Fun Festival and Ballet Class

2007-09-18T17:30:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we took the kids downtown in Augusta for the annual Arts in the Heart festival. The featured country this year was Ireland so we got to see the Irish Dancers which was entertaining. Emerson was very excited about seeing the girls dance but she had more fun playing with her brother and dancing with her daddy in the park. Of course the highlighted moment of the day was the "kids area" where Emerson got to do lots of crafts (projects as she calls them!). She was thrilled to get to color, string beads and get her face painted. I thought I would post several pictures. It was so hard for me to just choose one or two.

Also, yesterday Emerson went to her 1st ever ballet class. She was absolutely adorable in her leotard and tights and she knew it. She pranced around in her outfit and couldn't stay still so all the pictures are action shots of her dancing around the living room. She was super excited until we arrived and then she panicked. I sat there in the room for a few minutes (because that's what I told her I would do) but that was a bad idea. She just sat and looked at all the other little girls doing just what the teacher said and but she wouldn't do anything. Then she started crying and reaching for me across the room. That was one of those moments where I'm over analyzing the situation trying to figure out the best way for me to react to her to cause her the least amount of emotional scarring. I'm thinking, "do I smile and coddle her or be mean and force her to participate". All the while I'm doing a mental checklist of pros and cons to each reaction. I opt for the mean "do what the teacher says" reaction laced with a slight smile but not too overly sympathetic to her crying. Anyway, that doesn't work and the crying progresses to an actual audible sound distracting the other girls. After a couple minutes I decide to sever the cord and leave. I felt bad at 1st because I told her I would stay but I hated that she was taking away from the other kids experience and figured she might be performing for me to see what she could get away with. So, 30 minutes goes by and I don't hear screaming and the teacher hasn't emerged from the class with my child clutching her arm and sobbing for her mommy. The class ends and I figure Emerson is first in the line to run to see me but instead I see all these precious little girls start filing out and no Emerson. I go in the class and what is she doing? She's saying good bye to the girls still in there. She was just dawdling around the room, the same room where she just cried to leave. The teacher said she warmed up as soon as I left and did everything that she asked. It's a miracle how different kids act when their parents aren't around! Finally, we get in the car and Emerson starts talking about going back next week. The funniest thing about the whole experience was that she actually absorbed everything the teacher said even through her dramatic performance of "I need my mommy and I don't want to be a ballerina today." Last night she stands up in the living room and looks at me and this is the conversation we had:

Em: "Okay class, stand like this with your feet together. Now, spread them out. Now, back together. Good job."

Me: "What are you doing?"

Em: "Ballet class. I'm the teacher. Now, feet together and now apart. Now, plie (which she says plea-lay and squats to the ground) and back up."

Me: "What is that called?"

Em : "Plea-lay, Mommy." (she says it like "duh, don't you know that Mom?")

Me: "Oh, okay."

Em: "Now, plea-lay slow. (and she goes across the room doing I guess what is a plie walking) Now, fast. Now, lets turn on the music and dance. (she goes over to the chaise and touches the pretend CD player and turns it on.) Is this too loud? Okay, now dance. Is that how butterflies dance? Noooooo (she says this with the same southern draw the teacher had). Okay, now let's do ballet to the ballet music. Plea-lay again. Now dance around. Okay mommy, you have to dance around like this." (she changes the pretend music and starts dancing around shaking her booty and sticking her tongue in and out)

Me: "Emerson, what is this called?"

Em: "This is dancing like a butterfly mommy, see.?"

Me: "Oh!"

Needless to say it was hilarious. Probably funnier at the time than reading it, but take my word for it, Tripp and I were cracking up. I can't wait to see what she comes home to teach us next week!

Drama King?

2007-09-10T23:58:00.000-04:00

When I was pregnant with Cullen and Emerson was having one of those "I've got too much estrogen already and I don't know whether to cry, laugh or scream hysterically" kind of days, I remember thinking, thank goodness I'm having a boy this time. I mean, I just imagined a little testosterone surged kid who was always doing daring things and injuring himself or blowing up GI Joe men, or whatever it is little boys do. So, when Cullen was born I was in for an awakening!

At first Cullen only cried when he was hungry or riding in the car. However, one day he discovered that crying and drama was quite exciting and got him lots of attention. And that was the birth of "Cullen, The Drama King"! I don't mean that to say that all he does is cry because it's really quite the contrary. He is the jokester of the family always trying to make someone laugh. He will go to great lengths to make someone laugh, showing off his big silly teeth as he grins and giggles. But when he gets upset. . .he's really upset. Truthfully I think it is because he is so sensitive (one day he'll be embarrassed that I'm saying that). Every time I get on to him he immediately pokes out his bottom lip and whimpers and if he's really in trouble he puts his head down on the floor like he's surrendering to some awful punishment. It is truly the most dramatic thing I've ever seen a baby his age do. Seriously, as dramatic as Emerson is (and she is dramatic) she was never like this at his age. Maybe she just didn't know she could do it or didn't have any motivation since she wasn't competing for attention but whatever the reason she didn't do that type of acting when she was his age, she decided to save it all up for later when it is much more effective in public places! hahaha However, Cullen is so funny when he's trying to be upset that all I ever do is laugh at him. It's just so dramatic and fake that it is hilarious. Just the other night Tripp got on to Cullen for trying to play with the computer and Cullen went on and on for several minutes burying his head in the couch (literally) and crying this sad little muffled cry and looking up every few minutes to see who was watching. Then he made his way into the kitchen stopping every few feet to bury his head in the carpet and cry some more. It was so funny that we got the camcorder out. Anyway, when he's doing one of his head down on the floor Oscar award winning performances he usually goes from face down in the carpet then he rolls over on his back to see whose attention he's caught. Most of the time he ends up turning over and trying to be mad until someone makes him laugh. So, this is one of those "I did have on my angry face but Mommy made me laugh" poses. What a little drama king!

Good news!

2007-09-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

Good news! A huge sigh of relief came when I called the optometrist office and they said it wouldn't cost me a thing to get Emerson some new glasses. I'm so happy to not be out of $100 more. Yay! Thank goodness for those very sweet people in the optical center. :)

I failed the mommy challenge of the day.

2007-09-07T14:38:00.000-04:00

Somebody explain to me why I have the worst luck in the world! Today I was on the way home from the Dr. with the kids (and may I add that I did take both kids with me to the Dr, bad idea in the 1st place!). I was less than a mile away from home and Emerson tells me that she dropped her glasses. A couple minutes later we pull into our driveway, Emerson unbuckles her seat belt and gets out of her booster. At the same time I'm opening up her door and see her stepping on the glasses that she just dropped. Of course I start yelling but it was too late. She bent them and when I tried to bend the arms back into the right spot one broke off. Yes, broke off! We've had them for how many days and they're already broken? Aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!! I am so irritated. I know she didn't mean to do it, but didn't she remember she had just dropped them? I guess considering her age it's not a big surprise that she wouldn't think "hey, I just dropped my glasses and I might step on them, I better look before I get down." Anyway, I got upset with her then she got upset and now I feel like a horrible mommy for being mad that she had an accident. I completely lost it and failed the mommy challenge for today. I feel like I should go ahead and save money up for the day Emerson has to go to therapy because her mother yelled at her for breaking her glasses. I apologized for over reacting and hopefully I haven't scarred her too much for one day.
But honestly I'm still thinking, "great, now we're going to have to fork out another $100 to get the glasses fixed" because we have to pay 50% of the cost of the frames and lenses for repairs. Oh why didn't I just immediately stop the car and look for the glasses? I mean, I'm the adult, the supposed responsible one, right?!
*takes a deep breath*
It will all be okay.
*takes another deep breath*
Okay, sorry for the rant but it's been quite a frustrating day.

The first of many. . .

2007-09-06T02:00:00.000-04:00

blogs, blogs and more blogs. They are all over the Internet and I find myself completely fascinated by them. It's a way to talk about life and put your thoughts out there for someone to read. Rather or not someone reads the blogs isn't always the point though. I guess it's more like free therapy, which I probably need a lot of! ha ha ha Honestly, I want to share the little things that happen day to day in my life that I find entertaining. I really enjoy writing, and although my misuse of commas and such are rather embarrassing at times, I find myself writing in spite of myself. I constantly log my day, either just in my head or on paper (or computer!). Anyway, I figured there was no better time than the present to start a blog to record my life. Most of my exciting moments come from the 2 silly tots that live here (hence the name of the blog!) so I figure this blog is really more about them than me, but I will be sure to include completely random ramblings of total nonsense that leak from my brain. If you know me, then you understand this happens all the time, whether or not anyone is listening! So, I hope everyone enjoys getting a glimpse into my wonderful world of mothering 2 amazing little kids.

It's in her genes. . .

2007-09-05T23:23:00.000-04:00

At Emerson's 2 year check-up, we found out that she needed glasses. Of course this wasn't surprising to me since I had noticed her left eye wandering and her squinting. So, off we went to the optometrist to start spending her inheritance on her first pair of glasses. I let the people talk me into wire frames since they were more durable for her age group and Emerson picked out a cute pair of Dora glasses. However, after we got home and they were too big and the nose pieces were always uncomfortable looking, I knew I had made a mistake. Too bad though because we'd dropped a chunk of change and Daddy-O wasn't feeling the "I don't like them, can we buy her another pair" attitude I had. So, for almost a year we suffered through those glasses. We were constantly repairing them. Since they were too big we had to cut off the arms and add wrap around ear pieces. Let me just warn you if you ever are in that situation that it is a bad idea to have an ear piece that pulls off on any glasses, much less the glasses of a toddler. So, this past month I have not been enforcing the "you can't see out of your left eye, put on your glasses" law because the Dora glasses were scratched beyond help. Thankfully, Emerson had a scheduled appt. for last week and when we went I was briefly lectured on the importance of Emerson wearing her glasses (as if I didn't know since I'm blind too) until he held up her glasses and declared them almost impossible to see anything clearly out of them. Then once again, I dug into the wallet and forked over $218.00 for new glasses (no, that didn't include the eye exam which was $50!). However, I'm really not complaining because truthfully I was ready for Emerson to have some comfortable cute glasses and I'm happy they survived almost a year with a toddler and new baby in the house. All that to say, this time we picked out what I think may be the cutest little pair of glasses I've ever seen. They're cute, sassy and pink! They fit Emerson's personality and best of all she picked them out right away. She loves seeing herself in them and better still she loves being able to see again. Oh, and Emerson would definitely want me to share the exciting fact that they came with their own pocket book eyeglass holder that has Princess written on it in rhinestones. . .tacky, but cute!