Blog Rating

I saw Carrie's blog rating which made me wonder what mine would be with all the talk of breastfeeding and certain body parts I've done recently.

Surprisingly, I still fall into the G category with marks against me for using the word "sex" 3 times and "hurt" once. (I'm sure "sex" was used when talking of Baby P. No use going into my archives looking for something steamy!)

Three-Girl Circus is a wonderful blog about precious little girls, so don't let the PG rating scare you away from wandering over there!

In the interest of honesty

Since I posted a few days ago about my (sometime) desire for honesty, I thought I should go ahead and reveal our new development.

Bryan has accepted a job in Alaska and we will be moving in 6 weeks.

Yes, I know it's a little shocking, but we really feel like it would be a fun place to live. If you've known me for any time at all, you know I L-O-V-E cold weather! The girls are hoping there's a Great Wolf there so we can play in the water while it is 20 below outside. And, Bryan, with his circulation issues, is already preparing to loose a hand or a foot : )

Did you really believe we'd be moving again?! I bet I got some of y'all. At least for a second!

Actually, (off topic, but that is Libby's favorite word...she uses it correctly all the time!) I thought I'd tell y'all the first names we've chosen for Baby P. We decided just a few nights ago.

(In case you don't already know, we choose names that are towns in Texas. Addison and Reagan are both Texas towns.)

If Baby P is a boy, his first name will be Levi.

If Baby P is a girl, her first name will be Campbell.

We have yet to decide on a middle name for either gender. And, we aren't shortening either name. I know, I know, it's so unlike us. Who knows what little nicknames will just evolve once the baby's here, but we aren't planning any "shortenings" with this baby.

I hope this helps with some of the suspense. I know there have been rumors floating around that we really do know the gender and we know what name we will use, but are choosing not to tell y'all. Honestly, we do not know if this baby is a boy or a girl. We have guesses, just like you do. My OB doesn't even know. The sonogram technician did see in my last ultrasound, but she doesn't write it anywhere according to my doctor's orders. She made us look away anytime she was near "sensitive" areas. And, we didn't peek : )

We've just had a hard time getting on the ball with this baby. But, we did have the baby's room recarpeted yesterday and put the bed together last night. I'm washing all our gender neutral clothes and blankets today and I plan on packing my hospital bag by the end of the weekend. We're just trying to make things exciting for everyone : )

Oh, and if you love the names that's great, but if you don't like the names that's your opinion and you are welcome to never name your own child either of those names. In other words, keep it to yourself...we aren't asking for opinions! Now that's some honesty : )

Now before you go scheming to meet a man like that, remember, he's taken

I heard the familiar chime signaling there was a new message in my email inbox. With one child already down for a nap and one still eating lunch, I had a minute to run over to the laptop and see who the email was from. I didn't expect what I got.

a link and then these words:

Kinda neat that someone tried to quantify all you do. What they can't quantify is the long term value our kids get from having you at home. Thanks for all you do.

I love you!

Bryan

The subject of that email was Wow and that is exactly how I felt after I read it.

Thanks, Babe. It's nice to hear I'm appreciated from you.

Honestly, I don't always think (or, maybe even, say) kind words about my husband. We're married and we have two kids and we're human (no excuses, just facts)...but I know that our two daughters are seeing an example of a husband and father that they will one day use to compare against all those boys who come calling.

Future-Boys, that is some stiff competition! I'm sure Addi and Libby's husbands will hear, more than once, My dad says..., or My dad does it like this...

I'm guilty of those exact words. I know that I've been blessed with my husband and I know that I was blessed before that with my dad and the example he displayed for me.

So, thanks, Dad for helping me to choose the man I married.

While I'm thanking people, I should also thank Bryan's dad for showing him an example of a man who treats his wife and children with love and respect.

And, Moms, isn't it wonderful that while there are days when you would earn every penny of that $138,000 (or $85,000 for you working mothers - I don't know how you do it all. Really, I don't.), most days you wouldn't rather be doing anything else in the world than spending time with your kids.

The girls with their SuperDad

Can you guess what this is?

Here's a hint:

Do you see it?

HONDA?

It's the window tint from my car.

I'm slighty irritated.

You see, I tried to have my car inspected last week...twice. Once at the same place that inspected it last year and once at the Honda dealership (while it was in being serviced). The inspector at the first place told me he wouldn't be able to pass it because the window tint was too dark. We went back and forth as I explained to him that we bought the car brand new with the tint and it was passed last year at his place of business. He wouldn't budge. I dubbed him an over-anxious newbie.

On Wednesday, I took my car in to have it serviced and inspected. Honestly, I was hoping if the first guy was correct then the Honda people would overlook it because of the obscene amount of money they were charging me on preventative maintenance.

My hope failed. And, they charged me all but the sticker price of the inspection.

They helpfully referred us to a tint place that would kindly remove the tint for us. Surely for close to the obscene amount Honda likes to charge.

However, my handy husband got out in the garage with a razor blade today and Ta-Da. He also tried to console me by saying that in a few weeks I wouldn't even remember what it was like with the tint.

I had to remind him that in a few weeks we would not be experiencing the 40-degree weather we are now. I'll have to wear my sun hat and 50 SPF to drive to the grocery store.

While there is so much more I'd like to write on the topic, I should refrain. If you can't say anything nice, blah, blah, blah...

Oh, one last little tidbit...we researched state window tint laws on the internet and found out that not only is every state different in what they allow, some states will/can ticket out-of-state residents for driving in their state with "too-dark" tint. Absurd, I say!

Visit to the pediatrician + visit to Target = 3 hours??

I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't experienced it this morning. I'm remembering why I'm exhausted all the time. And, why I Never get Anything accomplished. Here's how it all went down...Believe me, I know y'all are at the edge of your seats for this one. Don't worry, Bryan (and Mom), there's a picture...maybe not one you're were dying to see, but it's there all right.

My day started out so nicely...up well before the girls. There is a little nip in the air today, so I brewed some coffee. Which is a rarity for me. We usually have coffee on the weekends since Bryan is home. He makes it and whew, is it strong! I have to add lots of sugar and milk to even get down half a cup.

But, that really has little, if anything to do with this tale. Back on point...

I had a little prayer and devotional time sitting with my warm cup in my comfy chair. Then, right before I walked upstairs to wake the girls, I checked my calendar to make sure I knew what time Libby's appointment was today. Of course, I had it all wrong. Somehow, I got 11:45 etched in my brain when really the appointment was at 10:00. We needed to be on fast forward and that, if you have children, is next to impossible.

So, I woke the girls, threw clothes at Addi (amazingly she didn't whine about the clothes I grabbed), dressed Libby, brushed teeth (Libby's and mine while Addi did her own), did hair (all 3...mine was still wet from the shower an hour and half earlier), fed Logan a bottle, fed the girls breakfast, doled out medicine, strapped all 3 kids into their carseats and backed out of my garage at 9:30...plenty of time if I hit all green lights and sped.

Yes, it takes us entirely too long to get to our pediatricians' office, however, our old house was much closer. Coming from a background of socialized medicine (ie, military medicine), our civilian doctors and their parent-patient friendly practices suit us fine. There are two pediatric practices within 5 minutes from our house, but we are loyal to the first doctors and nurses who treated us so well. Not that there is anything wrong with the doctors and nurses in military hospitals. Rather there is something wrong, quite a lot wrong, with "the way things are done" in those military hospitals.

Again, nothing to do with the tale at hand. Back on point...

Fortunately, I set my watch just a few minutes fast and the clock on my dash about 8 minutes fast and, apparently, our pediatricians set their office clock about 3 minutes slow. In short, we pranced in that office (huffing and puffing from the uphill hike through the parking lot pushing 45 pounds in a double stroller) right on time. Just how I like it :)

We settled into our chairs in the waiting room about the time we heard, "Reagan". Back into the stroller went Libby, back onto the shelf went Addi's book, and back to the exam room went the 4 of us, plus the nurse.

I must say the nurse was an angel...Again not really pertinent to the story. Addi told me she had to go to the bathroom as we followed Nurse Angel down the hall. I told the nurse we would be in the bathroom for the next few minutes if the doctor came looking for us. She said she would watch Libby and Logan while I took Addi. What! Oh, no! I wasn't trying to rope you into my duties...wait, would you mind?! Thanks so much! We'll hurry. And we were back well before the doctor even knew he had a patient waiting on him.

Waaaayy before. We sat in that itty bitty room for 30 minutes. I sat in that itty bitty room with a 4-year old who searched for every book we read every time we're at the doctor's while her little sister insisted on having a different book read to her while sitting by herself in the one of the two chairs not occupied by the 4-year old and the baby, who was perfectly content for about 5 minutes, decided to start screaming, just for fun, mind you, and throwing toys. For. 30. Minutes.

Good news, though. Libby is fine. So glad I broke my rule about never doing follow-up appointments for ear infections since "I would know if their ear is still hurting them!" Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to experience the insanity of 3 children and 1 parent at a doctor's appointment. Again.

About the time I was going to steer my car toward an exit leading to Super Target, I realized in the hustle and bustle of the morning, I left my list at home. Normally I can't remember a thing off my list. This morning I might have ended up screaming in the produce section from the sharp pain that would have been my brain trying to remember something, anything from my list. Instead we headed home. And, good thing since Addi needed to use the bathroom. Again.

My game plan was to pull into the garage, turn off the car, but leave the key in so the music could play, shut the garage door and run inside for my list while Addi ran in to potty. I told her to hurry and come back to the car when she finished. We waited and waited and waited. I impatiently honked my horn (something I am so ashamed to admit since I have been the object of a horn-honking many a Sunday morning by my less-than-patient husband). Then I walked inside and yelled her name. She yelled back that she was going poo-poo and "do not come in here, Mommy! It is stiiiinnnkyyy!"

Thank you for the warning. I'll just be waiting in the car with the two little ones who are more than sick of being strapped to their seats.

We finally made it to Super Target. Wouldn't you know from my short list of 13 items, they'd be out of something?! I'm making chicken burgers from this tonight (thanks, Becky!), so I had to run to another store for the chicken. That amounts to me getting 3 kids out of their carseats and putting 3 kids back into their carseats one more time.

We pulled back into our garge and I felt my tummy rumble. Lunch time. We left the house at 9:30 and got back at 12:30. All I could think about was the laundry I needed to catch up on and how much time was wasted from my day. Well, until I looked out the window to see what Zoe was barking at and saw something dead. More correctly, I should say, something Zoe killed. Yuck...perfect end to an imperfect morning.

So, without further ado, and because I have already wasted enough "laundry time", I present to you the photo of Zoe's kill.

And he, like the mouse, will be waiting for the Mister to return from work so he can be properly disposed of.

Easter Egg Mania

We went to an Easter party this morning. Of course, all the kids loved hunting the eggs and eating the bunny cake. Now, we have more Easter candy at our house. The girls had already had two Easter parties a piece which included egg hunts. Don't get me wrong...I am all for a little fun and sweets around different holidays, but I really would like my children to be focused on more than candy and bunnies for this holiday.

As a Christian, this is it. I mean, there is Christmas in which we celebrate Christ's birth, but Christ's death, burial and resurrection is what being a Christian is all about. We should "...fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:12) He is life and he gives life to those who accept.

So, lest you think me an Easter scrooge, I'll gladly take my girls to have their picture made with a real, live bunny tomorrow and we will participate in at least two more egg hunts and I'll allow the Easter bunny to shower my children with gifts, but I will be making sure they hear more about the real reason for the Easter celebration from me. After all, that is my job.

I know y'all only care about the pictures, so here are a few from the party. I also took a few of some eggs one the girls brought home from one of the parties. Now, keep in mind, I sent my daughters to preschool with their designated six eggs each filled with...what else, jelly beans...about 4 in each egg. Not over the top, but not stingy...I thought.


Oh, and please don't get me wrong. I am so thankful for our dear friends and the wonderful preschool my girls attend. Without them, we certainly would have less candy around here, but we also would missing out on such meaningful relationships.

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What a cute egg stuffer!












Wow, ambitious...candy and stickers!













A little lazy, but I'm not above buying these...

Are you kidding me?! I know they're just kids, but leftover candy corn and the mint you still had in your pocket from the last time you ate at Johnny Carinos? Oh, and yes, also the mints left from the last afternoon wedding you attended. I would say that is lazy!

What's in a name?

Well, if you're thinking of our children's names, then a lot. And, since this is my blog, what other names would you be thinking of?!

Bryan and I had a long list of possible, future, baby names when we got married. Then we found out I was pregnant and I presented the list to him. After most of the names were laughed at/scoffed about/mimicked/axed, we began working on a list together.

We came up with the name Addison for a girl.

There is a little suburb of Dallas that, growing up, I always believed was just this town full of restaurants. We only went there to eat and I, honestly didn't realize anyone even lived there for a long time. That was my "selling point" to Bryan. He wasn't super-crazy about the name when I first presented it. He only knew of men named Addison (as did I...now, thanks to Grey's Anatomy, it'll probably be #2 on popularity lists for baby girl names next year...no, no, I'm not bitter). But, I think that it being the name of a place in Texas combined with the possibility of nicknaming her Addi/Addie/Addy was what won him over. In case you're wondering, (and, really, why wouldn't you be?) we spell Addi with only an "i" because I, being a teacher, thought that would be easiest for her when she learned to spell her name. You know, if she learned "A-D-D-I" first, then she just had to add "S-O-N" instead of remembering to take away an "e" or a "y".

When I got pregnant again, we pulled out the Texas map. Seriously.

It is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Since we haven't lived in Texas, we've realized what is so wonderful about the state. We know it is part of who we are, of what makes us, us. So, we had to find a Texas-worthy name for our second-born.

That took Austin or Katy or Tyler out of the running. Not that there is anything wrong with Austin or Katy or Tyler, well, actually Tyler would sound awful with our last name, but really we wanted a name that might make people wonder where it came from. While those are great names, they are so common now that no one would wonder where we got them. On the other hand, we didn't want such an uncommon name that people would feel sorry for our little one. Even with my dad's prodding, we just weren't sure about saddling a child with Llano :)

When I drove home from college while at Texas A&M, I would always pass through a tiny, blink-and-you'll-miss-it town called Reagan. I don't think it was even on our Texas map, but I remembered it because of the Aggie barn you pass. Again, Bryan wasn't too sure about the name. He did know he wanted another "Texas" name though and once we decided to use my grandmother's name for her middle name, we knew Reagan was the perfect choice for her first name. You see, my other grandmother is named Rea...now, how perfect is that?!

So, you're wondering where we get Libby from Reagan??...her middle name is Elizabeth and yes, I know all my logic about making it easier to spell her name from her nickname makes no sense with little Libby's name, but, you know, she'll learn...at some point.

Now you know.

And, if there is ever another little one added to our family, rest assured one of his, no her, it will be a her, names will be a place in Texas. After all, she would really suffer the Forgotten 3rd Child Syndrome if we didn't give her a Texas name.

Need Help??

Do you need some help with the pictures below?

(from right to left)

top row: Addi - 20 months; Addi-4 months

second row: Libby - 3 months; Libby - 18 1/2 months

last row: A & L - last week (4 & almost 19 months); Addi - 3 years; Libby - 8 months

I was surprised how much the two of them looked alike in some of those pictures :)

just because

Justin Guarini and Rednecks

Do you remember Justin Guarini from the first season of American Idol? Yeah, the guy with the curly hair. We had a waiter tonight who sported a similar "do". He was a great waiter and seemed really nice. However, right as he left our table after refilling my DP, Addi decided to blurt out, "Ewww, yucky curly hair man!" Nice.

We went over (AGAIN) how you shouldn't say things you don't like about people unless we are at home and those people are not visiting our house. Fortunately she is fairly sensitive, so when I mentioned that it might hurt his feelings to hear her say she didn't like his hair, she instantly realized that was something she didn't want to do.

Driving to eat tonight led me to thinking of a story some of our neighbors' told us about the former owners of our house. Not seeing the connection? Well, I'll fill you in...there is a house at the other end of our neighborhood that must be filled with a family who feels it is their duty to remind the rest us we are living in "Nascar Country". Not only that, but that they also enjoy "all things redneck", if you will. (I'm sure some of you are thinking the two naturally go hand in hand. I've learned while living in the "country" that this is not necessarily true.) I'm sure you can imagine what the outside of their house looks like...too many cars crammed into the driveway, various flags and yard decor, and, my personal favorite, candle lights in their windows. Yes, the ones usually reserved for Christmas. What's a good redneck house without a year round celebration of Christmas?! Oh, but these are progressive rednecks...they change the light bulbs out for various holidays...red for Christmas, pink for Valentines Day, and now green for St. Patrick's Day. I guess they don't want to appear lazy. I mean, who would think they were too lazy to put up their Christmas decorations, if they took the time to change out the bulbs to match the current holiday? As I mentioned, the house is located at the other end of the neighborhood so tonight was my first glimpse of their homage for St. Patrick. Bryan and I chuckled and then I thought of a redneck story of our own house. (Yes, I'm finally getting to the point!)

We knew when we moved in that our house had been neglected by the previous owners for quite some time. There was scotch tape holding our breakfast room light fixture together, the flower beds had some sort of poison ivy looking stuff overtaking them, and you couldn't even see the chains holding the dining room's or entry way's chandeliers because of all the black dust. Seriously, there was at least a half-inch of dust build up all the way around those chains. Granted, the ceilings in those rooms are 18 feet high, but maybe when you put your house on the market you should find a ladder and shake that dust off!

In any event, the story goes that the lady of the house had an affair with a neighbor, the husband left her, she hurt her back and had to stop working so she filled her days sitting on the porch drinking wine. Their boys were grown at that point and I'm not clear on where they lived, but in the least, they spent plenty of time here having hot tub parties in the middle of the afternoon and poker games in the garage all hours of the night. It seems the rest of their time was filled working on their Harley's and then test driving around the neighborhood. Not your ideal neighbors!

At some point a tree fell over and a huge limb went through the garage. As you can see in this picture, there are second story windows that lead out to the roof over the garage. Instead of removing the limb, the family decided to make use of it. For Easter they hung eggs on the branches, for July 4th flags, for Christmas wreaths and lights, and so on. I'm not sure when the limb was removed. That, at least had been done before we ever saw the house.

Now the garage holds my car, we've replaced the breakfast room light, and I try to dust semi-regularly. As for the hot tub, well that's a story for another post.

Hmmmm...

80% of 5 years olds know there have only been white presidents

1/3 believe it is against the law for a black person to be elected president

source: University of Texas

Before my kids woke this morning I caught most of a segment on Good Morning America. It was about race, but what struck me was this little tidbit that flashed on the screen during the story (see above). 80%????!!! Of 5 year olds??! I must really be failing as a parent - I don't believe Addi can name or recognize 1 president, including the current one! She's only 4, but does a year really make that much difference? I mean, silly me, I've been working with her on letter sounds, and simple words, and patterns, and numbers when, apparently, I also need to be squeezing in some US history! Come on, people! I don't know where they got the 5 year olds or how the questions were asked, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there were some major flaws in that study. Not that I'm trying to imply that anything to do with the University of Texas would be flawed :) Really though, I work with 3 and 4 year olds (in a preschool in Raleigh which was named the 3rd most educated city in the US) and have taught 6-12 year olds in the past, so I know a little something about the knowledge of a typical child. Typical 5 year olds don't know there have only been white presidents in this country. That is plain ridiculous! Most couldn't name more than 1 or 2 presidents and would only recognize their faces on money. I'm not sure what the GMA folks wanted to prove by flashing this on screen, except maybe you can find a study that "proves" anything if you have time to read all 20,400,000 hits that pop up when you Google 'presidents'. Anyway, I better get going...have to download pictures of all 40+ presidents to hang up in Addi's room :)

Watch where you step

or you may crunch on a mouse! Yep, that's right, I experienced the most disgusting thing ever to happen to me in recent memory, perhaps even my life, today....I stepped on a mouse! In a way it is incredible. I couldn't have stepped on a mouse if I was trying (not that I would ever try), but I happen to step at just the right time to hear a "crunch", look down, and see the little thing twitching. Here's the story. This morning I was loading my girls into the car which was in the garage (garage door open). I buckled Addi and as I was walking around the back side, I heard (and felt) something crunch under my foot. I took a couple more steps and kind of thought to look back because it was certainly something more substantial than a leaf. There was a little mouse laying on its back and twitching a leg. I screamed. I jumped. I almost had a heart attack. All I could think of was that it was still alive and I didn't want the thing making it all the way into our garage and then into our house. The thought that I weigh probably a million times more than what it weighs and the crunching was all of its little bones breaking didn't cross my mind. I was in survival mode. It was my mortal enemy! So, I worked up my courage to step out of the car and peek around...still twitching. I ran inside to get the broom, decided I didn't want our dirty broom touching a mouse (it made sense to me at that moment), ran back to the garage to get something else that could be used to scoop it up and away. There were shovels of all weights and sizes, however, I felt a rake would be more appropriate for this job (again, it made sense to me at that moment). It is one of the rakes with long, curved, flimsy spikes on it. When I tried to scoop the mouse out of the garage (keep in mind it was laying about 2 inches inside the doorway) and into the yard, it fell into the ridge where the driveway concrete meets the foundation of the garage. There it still lays because I am not nearly as brave as Kat! Kat, how did you work up your nerve?! You are my hero :) Unfortunately for my viewers, I am not about to walk out there and take a picture to add to this post. I did call Bryan. His reaction was a little different than mine. He thought it was one of the coolest things I've ever done...glad I could impress you, Babe :) But, he clearly understood that he will spending hours of time laying traps in the garage and Decon under the crawlspace. I keep envisioning armys of mice making strategic battleplans to invade my house. Apparently my feet are the only defense we need, but since I am a wimp, we will be using other means to defend our domain. As I said before, watch where you step! Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket and be thankful the weather is nice with no thunderstorms in the forecast :)