Sweet.Baby.Boy

I’m inspired by MckMama today to give you an update on our “little” 16 month old, and 25 pounder, Henry. What a handsome little lover he is. There is something about little boys, everyone told me this. Well they were right. He is so cuddly when he wants to be, and this Mama loves it. He is also rough, and can pull hair, bite and hit like no other. But mostly, he is a lover.


He talks up a storm. Truly he does. Now we can’t understand every word he says, but a lot of them. His new favorite phrase is “Bye-bye Daddy”. Except he says it to everyone, not just Daddy. He loves Elmo. He loves my iPhone. He loves watching Elmo on my iPhone. He loves loves loves his sister. Like when he wakes up and she’s still sleeping, he is looking upstairs for her and saying “Abbie” over and over. He likes to try to put his shoes on. He loves to be outside. He points out to the porch and says “Yesh!!” Every time he sees water he says "Turtle". He loves Brandy. He eats a ton, and he is the reason we are seriously considering a membership to a wholesale warehouse. He likes balls, cars, and is a flirt too. If I walk out of the room, he is yelling “Mammy, Mammy” and chasing me around the house. He loves to be carried around, and I can honestly say my arms are in better shape now than they’ve been in a long time.



So thank you Henry, for making my arms look better, but much more importantly, for bringing us lots of smiles and being the sweetest brown-eyed little boy I know. MOM

I HEART Hilton Head Island

I really, really do. When we found out last week that our trip to Key West was not going to happen because of Hurricane Isaac, I was bummed. But then my MIL found us a place in Hilton Head instead. And I was so so happy. Even more excited to go there than the Keys. Turns out our trip did not disappoint. This was our fourth time there, and my favorite by far. The kids had a blast, which can be proved by their little tans, blisters on their toes from the pool, and sand in every crevice of their bodies. There were hardly any bathes taken, teeth brushed, or bed times enforced, but it was fabulous. We even got to see our cousins who happened to be there the same time as us. We biked, played golf, spent tons of time at the pool, went to the beach, ate crab legs. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it. It’s a great place for families, golfers, beach lovers, seafood eaters, etc. I can’t say enough good things about it. I might even want to retire there one day : )

Lately

I've been a student lately, but not a good student.

I feel like God is trying to teach me things, like how to curb my emotions, but it just doesn't sink in. Sure, I pray about it and am aware of situations when I might come undone, and I really and truly try to hang in there and not freak out. But I still do....sometimes. Then I am guilt-ridden. Lately I have been taking my anger out on Wes. I guess they say you always hurt the ones you love. But I really really dislike that phrase, even though it's true for me sometimes. I don't want to hurt the ones I love, or anyone for that matter. Ugh. I'm not really sure what my point is here, but I thought maybe blogging about it would help. Instead of holding things in until I am at my breaking point, I just need to ask for help, and not in a mean way, or out of desperation, but in an act of kindness.

I've learned a lot over the past four years of being a Mom, and my patience has been tested more times than I care to count. But there is one thing I've realized about myself. The more I focus on ME and what I want, the more upset and unglued I become. So there I am, struggling with the decision between asking for help (that would be for me) and not asking for help but risking going a little crazy.

UGH again. I'm learning. Just not as fast as I'd like to. But hopefully I'm heading in the right direction.

B and B's wedding

We just got home from our weekend in Waynesville for Brett and Brooke's wedding. It was beautiful - the place, the bride and groom, everything. It rained a lot and the ceremony had to be postponed, but it probably made it even more beautiful with the foggy mountains. Both kids were in it. It was a little crazy corralling them around and keeping them happy, but they ended up doing what they needed to do so that was what mattered! Abbie stayed up front the whole time, and Henry walked to me at the end of the aisle while eating his ring bearer pillow and then I had to take him away to a place where no one could hear him! Here are a few of my favorite pics....

This is the only picture I got of Brooke in her dress! I'm kicking myself but that's what wedding photographers are for - she was stunning. I love this girl and look forward to getting to know her even better.

1, 2, 3, 4

A few things I've learned that make my life easier, and might do the same for you….


1) If your daughter wants to wear her Sunday dress to school with running shoes, let her. As long as she is abiding by the dress code, it’s not worth the argument. Oh and if she pitches a fit about brushing her teeth before school - well try getting her to brush them at night. I figure if you can do once a day it’s better than nothing.

2) Always have food in the car. ALWAYS. Graham crackers, goldfish, cheerios – I’ve always got a bag of one of these if not all in my car. This is for Henry. That kid is always hungry. If I give him a snack, he will be happy and quiet.

3) Depending on how your house is set up, if it’s safe for you to load your kids up in the mornings, start the car, and then go back into the house to do a couple last minute things, do it. If I don’t do this, my house looks like a tornado when we get home in the afternoons, and that’s not fun for anyone.

4) Speaking of tornadoes, try to make it a habit to sweep the floors, namely the kitchen and eating area, after dinner each night. And wipe the counters. But not in that order (Always wipe counters first, right??!!) This helps your house stay a little neater which again hopefully keeps everyone happy.

That’s all for now : )

Timing

It was a rough morning….again. When I look back at these mornings, I can’t even recall how we got from waking up in a good mood (me) to screaming, whining, and shoving kids out the door. I even turned the radio up extra loud in the car to drown out the whining. Just call me mother of the year.

I hate it when that happens, I really do. I don’t want to send my kids off for the day with that memory. I know every morning will not be perfect, and most will be far from it, but I want my kids to know I love them, and I want to have time to listen to them, get them breakfast if they are hungry…you know, the little things. But this morning everything just escalated –everything I did or told Abbie just turned into her whining and Henry just runs around either crying to be held, or if I don’t have time to hold him he just starts getting into everything. And then my blood pressure rises, and I NEED A TIME OUT. And it’s only 8 o clock.

Then I read a daily devotion in my inbox. You want to know the title? “Unglue Mama Mornings”. Really God??!! So I guess You were watching. I felt like it was written just for me. And you know what else? If I had woken up just a few minutes earlier, and read that this morning, before rushing to get my day started, I would have probably had a whole new perspective on my kid’s behavior.

The key verse was Ephesians 4:22-24 – “You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”



Sounds like this verse is telling me to be selfless, to be more like Him, to change my attitude. Yea. I needed to hear that. It’s not all about me. Phew. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Five Moms, Nine Kids, One Weekend

Some things overheard this weekend –




“If you do that one more time, we are going home!!”



“Do we need to call Daddy and tell him what you did?”



“If you stick your tongue out at me again, I’m going to give you something to cry about!”



“Jack, are you ok? Is your head hurt?” (After Jack falls off bean bag chair and lands on his head.)



“Who wants to read a blog about how your baby pooped today, ate two jars of baby food, sat up for the first time, blah blah blah. I just don’t get it!!”



“I’m so glad it’s not just my husband who does that stuff!!”



“Is it bedtime yet??? “ (at 5:30pm)



Ahh, yes, it was fun, but maybe next time we will leave the kids behind with Daddy!! : )