Honesty is the Best Policy?

Yesterday I went to get Hunter from his Primary Class.  I was presented with yet another work of art from him.  This one, though, actually cracked me up to no end.  To explain the picture, the commandment that Hunter has chosen to work on for the week is I will honor my father and mother and he drew a picture of Matt and me holding hands with a heart between us...  Do you see Matt?  And that big, egg-shaped lady holding his hand?!  It seriously doesn't bother me a bit though.  Hunter knows that I'm the only person he can ever call fat... but I did remind him that once the baby was out, all bets are off. :)

Obviously, the tall, thin guy on the left is Daddy and my representation is spot on.  Hunter made me nice and round because I'm a fat mommy right now.  LOL!

Hunter the Graduate

This morning, my sweet boy graduated from Pre-school.  What?!  I know, where has the time gone?  Hunter had the same two teachers, Miss Cindy and Lynda, as Corbin did when he went.  I was pregnant with Hunter when Corbin graduated.  Now Corbin will be in 4th grade and Hunter will start Kindergarten.  And Dane will start Pre-school in the fall.  How the time has flown by.  And through the tired and frustrating days, my heart is full and our lives continue to be blessed.  Hunter has grown up so much over this last school year.  According to the growth chart they gave me, since August he has grown 2 inches and gained another 8 lbs.  I forgot the camera in the mayhem of this morning, so all I was left with was the video camera on my iphone.  At least I got it recorded though.  I will "beg" pictures off of some of the other moms.

Whiner McWhiner

I've been doing this a lot lately.  I've caught the whining bug from my kids.  I feel terrible that my husband has had to endure me over these last months, so instead of calling him and ugly crying into the phone, I turn to the interweb.  I'm not a great pregnant person.  I don't glow.  I don't have a perma-smile.  I'm lucky if I dry my hair and actually put street clothes on.  I'm walking sorta pigeon-toed these days because of the pain.  I've become seriously neurotic (more so than when I'm not pregnant).  My hips pop all the time.  My stress levels are off the charts (it all should have been done yesterday).  The third trimester nausea is seriously going to do me in.  My mind has so many grand plans, but my body won't sync with it.  I want to drink Dr. Pepper all the time, but I don't want my baby turning into a caffeine dependent high strung crying thing.  There's only room for one of those in our house and I sit comfortably on that throne right now.  Fighting the exhaustion is exhausting.  I'm swelling.  I can't wear my wedding ring anymore **tear**.  Spider veins. ew.  I just want to feel human again...**Deep breath in... aaannnd exhaling**

So now that I've let off some steam, these words have been on loop in my head all day long, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."  Sometimes this phrase ends in question marks, other times exclamation points.  Sometimes it comes in a whisper, sometimes in a shout.  But one thing is certain.  I can and will make it through.  Life is good.  We are blessed.  Soon, we will have Talon and this time will be a distant memory.  I still don't feel any different than I did at the beginning of this post.  I still hurt and stress and worry, but I can deal.  I know I can, I know can, I know I can.   

Girl's Overnighter

My friend Chrissy and I recently went on an overnight trip to Charlotte, NC.  So. Much. Fun!  We raided IKEA, Homegoods, and the South Park Mall where there was an Anthropolgie, Pottery Barn, and some other stores that were way overpriced.  We got lost trying to find the van Friday night (at the mall), so we approached a security guard who actually drove us to our vehicle because of my "condition".  Yay for being pregnant (for once)!  So come to find out Usher and Akon were in the Mall when we were.  It was actually really dead for a Friday night and I seriously wouldn't have been surprised to find out that I walked right by them without noticing.  I was a woman on a mission that weekend and shopping tends to block out everything else. :)  Chrissy and I didn't get to bed until the wee hours of the morning, so I was blown away to find myself waking up after 9 am on Saturday morning.  Whoa!  That seriously hasn't happened since my Rick's Days.  We got ready relatively quickly because we were approaching check out time and I know Matt wouldn't have been very happy with me if I got another night charged on the bill for over sleeping...  So off we went... to....  IKEA!  I love that place!  I love their prices.  I love their cafeteria...  I love their bathrooms.  I went there with a purpose though.  I've been in the process of re-doing the boys' bedroom to accomodate all 3 of them.  So far so good.  I'll post pictures of the finished product soon.  We're on the last leg of completion.  They will actually move in there this weekend.  yay!  Then onto getting the baby's room put back together... and then onto the playroom... okay I've gone off on a couple tangents...   So girl's vacation.  Great shopping, great company, great eating, and great spending!  Couldn't have asked for a better break!!

Our haul.  It was quite impressive if I may say so myself.  There was a significant amount of planning and preparation that went into this trip, by the way. :)

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

This actually happened about 2-3 weeks ago.  It happened in a split second and I beat myself up for days over this one.  Dane was jumping on the bed and (according to Hunter) bounced right off the bed onto the Kung Zhu battle arena.  He got a gash in the side of his head about an inch long and a puncture wound at his crown.  All I remember is the blood.  Everywhere.  Running down the side of his face down his neck and pooling in his ear.  Did I mention the bloody handprint on my bathroom door?  And the spotted trail of blood that went from Hunter and Corbin's room, through my room, and into my bathroom?  Horror movie come to life, I tell ya.  A plastic toy did this?  Holy Cow!  I just had checked on them 2 minutes before and as I began drying my hair, I heard a scream.  I rolled my eyes b/c I thought Dane and Hunter were fighting, but seconds later a bleeding 3 year old stormed my bathroom.  My first thought was his ears... head wound....  brain bleed... serious....  Heavenly Father kept me calm because my internal monologue was trying to make me panic, but it didn't happen.  I somehow went into business mode and wrapped Dane's head with a towel and sat him on the floor.

Dane's gash- the picture doesn't do it justice.  It was nasty and we didn't even get the puncture would on his crown.  He was a little less than tolerant at this point though. :(

Talking to him calmly and then directing Hunter on what I needed him to do, we were up and dressed and out of the door in about 5 minutes.  Hunter was amazing!  He stayed calm throughout as well and followed every direction I gave him and did it in record time.  I was so proud of him.  I was able to stay focused and not get frazzled and I think because of my calmness, Hunter was able to think straight and perform quickly and accurately himself.  We met Matt at the Urgent Care and I think once it all set in and Matt kind of took over, my nerves got me and I broke down a couple of times.  My baby was in pain and I couldn't fix it and the guilt was just all consuming.  It was hard to listen to his cries of pain as they stapled his head wound, but it was over in less than a minute.  His head was wrapped and after some sprite and a toy, he was okay.  We had a quiet day that day and by the afternoon, he was back to his old self.  He let me know when he wanted the dressing off his head and there were times during that day and the next couple that I had to make him slow down.  Man, what an experience.  The staples were taken out last Wednesday (after 7 days) and I think there is still some sensitivity in his head, but we were really lucky with this one.  The Lord watched over us and blessed us-especially Dane.  I'm very thankful for the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit and the reassurance I receive on a daily basis.



After the Sprite... and after a little clean up too- like the sagging front of his shirt?  All dried blood- and yes, we still have the shirt- I was magically able to save everything that got blood on it!