O.C.D. {Operation Cute & DisOrderly}

We usually get a good report home every day from Henry's pre-school teacher: he shared, was a perfect angel {for her, of course} or he loved his spaghetti so much that he needed a new shirt.

My favorite this week, though, was when his teacher told me that all the children lined up trucks on a car rug and he went behind them and faced all the vehicles in the right direction and lined them up so they were exactly on the carpeted road.

I have no idea what she's talking about.*

No child of mine could possibly be so persnickity.

{Oh, shoot. I actually have evidence of him in action.}

His latest finished project {heaps of small toys compliments of my in-laws- Merry Christmas!
I should add they really are wonderful and we are super thankful for all our small gifts that may or may not be headed back to their house in an unmarked package }.


While he may follow his big brother to the ends of the earth,
this little brother is completely different in personality and quirks.

Any clue as to why my second born could be so orderly?
And how he can get his lines so straight?
Do y'all think he's trying to teach me how to clean?

*All pictures of Henry's work, as I'm sure you guessed. I just happened to catch a few of these, but he does this with chairs, socks, balls and any and all toys.

I'm planning on keeping him away from the medicine cabinet.

Flashback: Ode to My Son at 15 Months Old

Happy Monday!

First, thank you all SO MUCH for your wonderful support of my post at (In)Courage. I truly felt your love and appreciate every e-mail, comment and message and am doing my best to reply to all of them. Thank you a million times over!

I hope you all survived Halloween like we did and don't have children on a sugar high like we do. Things here are a bit hectic and I am under a pretty big work deadline, so this week, I'm going to update the blog with some oldies and goodies.

I know this means I'm cheating, but unless you are my mom, there is a chance you might not have read this before.

So, even though it's old, please feel free to comment and I will still do my best to get back to you once a dig a hole from under the piles on my desk.

And maybe- just maybe- my brain might be working, again.

Here's hoping!

So, today, a tribute to my sweet little Henry at 15 months. He's now almost 25 months- the age Ollie was when Henry was born. Let that sink in for a minute while I sob quietly. *slurp*

Okay. I'm over it.

Enjoy!

: : : : : : : : :

Originally published January 9, 2009

Tractors in toilets and balls in my shoes,
Cars in the fridge, could it all be from you?

Unrolled toilet paper spread ‘cross the floor,
You’re all the way boy, just looking for more.

You’re into the dog food more than the pets,
That can is full of vitamins, I bet.

You push all the trains then tear up the tracks
It’s demo you love, as a matter of fact.

You have a fake cry that’s terribly sad,
Stealing glances to check if we’ve been had.

You love your big bro’, trail him to all ends
I hope one day you’ll be more than just friends.

That sweet toothy grin sure makes your mom melt
I’m sure no other has felt what I’ve felt.

I hope you seek God who brought you to me
I know that He has great plans, just you see.

A train engineer or a court jester?
A lawyer, doctor, dog food taste tester?

Whatever this life has in store for you
Please give your best because God did for you.

And know that our love will never taper,
As long as you clean up that toilet paper.

Glad You're Here

Thank you all so much for joining in the Crazy Carnival Fun!! Hop on down there and enjoy some of the other crazies. You all make me feel so normal!

: : : : : : :

After a crazy day here in blogland and at home, I had a meeting tonight at church. It's not unusual for Jason or me to have a meeting in the 5:30 time slot, so we are pretty good at making it work. I returned home to find a clean kitchen, children being fed and happy boys talking about their day.

Yes, girls. He's taken.

Over dinner, Ollie said, "Mommy, I'm so glad you're here".
Me: "Thanks, buddy. I will always come home."
[Insert Hallmark card commercial music here.]

A few minutes later Henry was mumbling something that sounded like this:
"Mommy, Gah eeeww heh"
Over. And Over. And Over.

Jason and I couldn't figure out what he was saying. Until we deciphered that he was saying, "Mommy, Go to Hell".

Exactly. I'm sure that is it.

We asked him where he heard that.
I really don't say that. I am hoping his pre-school teachers don't, either!

We just laughed hysterically as those words kept coming out in a sweet two year old voice. It was like a talking Elmo from the ghetto.

Then, as I'm questioning Barney and about to go watch some Dora to check it out, Ollie says again, "Mommy, I'm glad you're here".

Oh. Yes.
That's it.

So glad I'm not being damned to the fiery pit by my 2 year old.
And that he doesn't have a potty mouth before he knows how to use the actual potty.

Mullet goes Bye-Bye

I first heard the term "mullet" from my friend, Alecia, around 2002-ish, I think. We were on a girls trip to the beach- pre-kids, but post husband- {is that how you classify things in your mind?}- and she pointed out a Mullet {you know- business in the front, party in the back?}.

We all laughed hysterically at the term and I distinctly remember my stomach muscles {I think I used to have those?} aching. We learned about all the different kinds of mullets at a website that's now down! I just checked- so sad. It was pretty offensive and UN-pc anyway, so that's alright.

I never thought the mullet would land right here in my own house, but sure enough, just as our first son had before, Henry was sporting a mullet. I think baby mullets are called mini-mullets. Whatever they are called, he had a fierce one- in a cute, baby sort of way. And we decided that it was time for it to go bye-bye tonight.

Here are the before shots:

Can I tell you that this cheez-it below was from afternoon snack... and we cut his hair after dinner?

During {yes, these are my kitchen scissors that also cut pizza}:

And AFTER!

All business here! No redneck baby parties, thankyouverymuch!Goodbye, Mullet! I'm sure you'll be back soon, but you are gone for now. Unfortunately, Henry looks like a little toddler now *sniff, sniff*. But at least his picture won't be posted on a redneck website anytime soon.

Well, at least not for the hair. Eating old snacks found in high chair, mother posting pictures of him shirtless and large baby pot belly are still possibilities.

Please meet my new children

I'm not actually acquiring any new children at the moment, but I am renaming my existing children for the blogosphere.

Their names will be:

Ollie (short for Oliver- full name only to be used when we are angry with him)

And Henry- who is obviously very confused by this. He just learned his real name.

My mother already hates the names, so I know I'm off to a good start. Why, you ask? Well she didn't like Ollie's REAL LIFE name when we told everyone that's what we were naming him when I was expecting.

And he is named after my father.

So, she will warm up to them like she did to the real name and hopefully life will go on.

As you can see, they are close to their real names so I can remember who they are. And so that you- who presumably might actually know me or them- will know who I'm talking about.

Why am I changing their names?
I don't think that anyone is going to come steal them. If they have read 1/ 10th of this blog then they know that while they might be cute, they are certainly a hand full. Particularly Henry at this point in his life. He has another name around our house- Captain Destructo.

I do think that blogs live forever- no matter how long I continue writing- they will have a record somewhere. And I'd hate for one of my children to find out in middle school that there is a picture of them floating around of them picking their nose or their mother called them Captain Destructo- or something of the sort. Not that I'd ever do that, of course.

Oh, you saw that? Case in point.

So, I know this will be weird for a while. And I thank you in advance for just coming along with me. The stories will still be real and the pictures will still be here (how could I deprive the world of those precious little guys?); just the names are changing.

Oh, and I'll have a new website hopefully by next week.

And a huge jewelry giveaway.

Just call me a tease with fake children's names. I'm sure I've been called worse...

Bundles of Joy

OK, yeah, right. They hate getting all these coats on in the morning, but it was 19 degrees on the way to pre-school this morning with a high of 31 today! Eeesh! Where is Spring? Are you out there on the horizon anywhere?

Please come soon so their car seat straps will fit again without me pinching their cute little thighs! Good thing they have on the flannel lined jeans today. (And Ollie skimped out of a hat because his monstrous 'fro keeps his little head warm. He does have a hat, gloves -he calls them "glubs"- and an ear cover thing for school if they play outside.)

Hope you're staying warm today!

What goes up, must come down???

Sweet little Henry yesterday afternoon- feeling fine.

I was wondering about Isaac Newton last night- around 11:00, then around 12:00 and again at 3:45.

Henry has not been briefed on this law, so he decided to test it by throwing up several times last night.

You know what? Newton was WRONG! Everything that went down came up!

Poor little Henry must have eaten something that threw his tummy into a tizzy. At the kids' pre-school yesterday, they celebrated Chinese New Year with Chinese food for lunch. Hmmm. Could that have been the culprit? Or, Jason and the kids ate spaghetti with mushrooms last night (while I had a fab-o dinner with Becky- more to come on that) and mushrooms have made me and Jason sick in the past, but they were out of a can- not fresh. Hmmm.

Whatever was the culprit, you can imagine the lovely color of several spots on our carpet with the combination of spaghetti and Chinese- mixed with a few mandarin oranges. If it were a paint color, I would call it Spewing Coral Surprise. I guess that's why I don't work for the paint naming people.

And we changed the darn crib sheets 2 times (once was entirely on the carpet). I swear that is more than I've changed them in the past 6 months! Crib sheets are the HARDEST things to change. Apparently he'd had enough of that sheet- and the next two that we wrestled with in the wee hours of the morning.

So, 3 pair of pajamas, 2 cups of juice and 2 tired parents later, Henry finally went to sleep and, I hope, got it all out of his system.

He's eating cookies right now for snack and has been fine all day. I have now explained to him Newton's Law of Motion and told him that there would be no "tossing" of these cookies. He just smiled because he knew that I would love him and clean up after him no matter what he tosses. Maybe he's smarter than Newton...

An Ode to My Son at 15 Months Old

Tractors in toilets and balls in my shoes,
Cars in the fridge, could it all be from you?

Unrolled toilet paper spread ‘cross the floor,
You’re all the way boy, just looking for more.

You’re into the dog food more than the pets,
That can is full of vitamins, I bet.

You push all the trains then tear up the tracks
It’s demo you love, as a matter of fact.

You have a fake cry that’s terribly sad,
Stealing glances to check if we’ve been had.

You love your big bro’, trail him to all ends
I hope one day you’ll be more than just friends.

That sweet toothy grin sure makes your mom melt
I’m sure no other has felt what I’ve felt.

I hope you seek God who brought you to me
I know that He has great plans, just you see.

A train engineer or a court jester?
A lawyer, doctor, dog food taste tester?

Whatever this life has in store for you
Please give your best because God did for you.

And know that our love will never taper,
As long as you clean up that toilet paper.

A Wild Hair

OK, so we've had a few "wild hairs" around here lately.

Ollie decided to dress up in 4 different costumes last night after we went to dinner with some friends. He had free ice cream after dinner which apparently turned him into a wild man. Here he is as (I'm not making this up- it's on his name badge on top of the "muscles") "Officer Awesome". Sounds like it might be a little too risque to me for a child's Halloween costume, but they don't ask my opinion about these things. And I'm sure they think the parents will get a kick out of it. The outfit did NOT include a boom box, so I guess I'm okay with it. Henry had some wild hairs, so we just covered them up. (This was playing outside on New Year's Day.)And I decided to paint our breakfast room yesterday. Or just this portion of it. Because I just got one of those little sample cans at Lowe's and now it will probably be a week before I get back to get the real gallon can. I like the color, though. And I think we're going to do a chair rail and wainscoting at the bottom to break up the different bold colors in every room. That was Jason's idea. And I went to design school- if that tells you anything about my designing ability. I'll post the final pics when we get it done. Don't hold your breath.

Post Script: What kind of a friend am I? This color is Deep Cowslip (make up your own definition of what that is here) #5 by Laura Ashley and sold at Lowe's.

In looking through my Christmas pictures

This series is just too funny not to share:

Wait, let me set the stage for you first. It was about 5:00 pm (thus Ollie's nap hair) the Friday before Christmas and we were getting ready to eat an early dinner and meet some friends and family at Santa's Village. The buzzer for the pizza home-cooked and nutritious dinner I'd made was going off and I was yelling at asking politely for Jason to take it out. He told me to come in there quick with camera because the boys were both on this little ride on toy and it was a cute picture.

Then, very wisely- and a little sarcastically, he asked, "Would you rather have a cute picture or burned pizza?" That man knows me too well- a picture, of course!

So, here is the series. Anyone with multiple children can feel my pain.

Cute of Henry, Ollie not looking

Kind of cute of Ollie, but he's standing up trying to escape my photo op

Cute of Henry, Ollie not looking
Cute of Ollie, Henry growning in misery at this picture and his brother pushing him into the handle bars

There is no need for the last caption here. Just fill in your own. I think that my 3 year old might have let out a curse word if he knew any. This was the last shot- you'll be happy to know.

Also, please don't forget to comment here. Several of you have already- THANK YOU- and I will take all the advice I can get!

A Mixed Bag of Updates

I got home a little while ago from my massage. I am a different person from when I left. Let me tell you, the benefits of a massage are more than the sheer pleasure of a stranger rubbing you down; it's like to get to escape to a little island for an hour. An island with neverending trail mix, faux water falls, wonderful relaxing muzak, plush bathrobes and rubber slippers that never quite fit right. Besides the shoes, it was so stinking relaxing. I don't want to say I needed it, because I'm sure that there are many more people that need it worse than I do, but I am very grateful for it. A special whoop whoop goes to my friend Laura who sent me a gift card for my birthday that I used to finance this special splurge tonight! I had a hot stone massage tonight and I would highly recommend it!


If I happen to be on your Christmas list, please let me give you a not-so-subtle hint: I love to be pampered. I would never buy a massage for myself. Thus, if you would like to get me something that I would love and I would never buy for myself, contact Terreme here. Don't feel like you are getting a lesser gift because it's a gift card; this is the gift that keeps on giving. Just think, if there were a dozen kind souls out there who felt moved to have this kind and overworked mother rubbed down monthly, then you could make it happen. Sure, it would cost more than sponsoring a child with Sally Struthers, but you know me. (You don't know where that other money is going. There could be someone who is actually buying a cup of coffee every day and writing those notes back to people in America.) And I would put your picture here. Your generosity would be admired by dozens of people.
This is actually a great idea. I'm going to begin a spa and plastic surgery fund and have a place where you can donate over there on the right. I can make a sappy commercial, too. Oh, you just wait.

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In other news, I got a B+ in my History class! I guess I'm okay with that, but I never got a B before in a history class in college. I also never had a full time job or 2 children when I was in college the first time, so I'm going to make myself be okay with a B+.

You know what, though? I kind of think the "+" is a slap in the face. Why not just say "B"? It's kind of like when you ask for an item at a store and the kind employee tells you with a sad/ smirkish face that they just sold the last one. Why tell me if I was that close?

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My husband and I did something together for the first time last night. We've been together for a decade and have never gotten this close in our relationship before. He has seen parts of me that I'll never see (quite literally- with a couple of C-sections and all), but this was a new level of intimacy. We neti potted together! That's right. We went there.
Since Jason and I are both stopped up- his combined with a nasty cold- I went to the Walgreen's on the corner and invested $12+ in a plastic neti pot. If you don't know what this is, then you are missing out. Basically, it's a small tea pot with a spout that is shaped for your nose. You pour warm filtered water (does it count if the filter on our refrigerator has a red light on it- meaning it needs to be changed?) combined with their mysterious saline packet into one side of your nose. Then you watch it come out the other side of your nose. That's right- nasal irrigation. Then you turn around and do it again on the other side.
This video will give you a comical idea of what it's supposed to look like. The man/ woman here is much too docile in his/ her approach, though. Jason and I were choking/ screaming, "Is it coming out?" and "It's getting down my throat!!!". I guess we were first timers and will get better with practice. Apparently people in Asia have been doing this daily for thousands of years. It does make you feel better and cleans you out pretty good, but it's kind of like hocking up a salt lugey through your nose and balancing on a tight rope while you're doing it, so I can see why it isn't so popular over here in the western world. And I'm sure with that description you're rushing out to buy one right now.
OK, that's all I'm leaving you with tonight. Not even a picture of a neti pot. Oh wait! Here's a little candy cane with some warm milk for your holiday indulgence! Good night!

If Henry was a Girl...

had brown and multi-colored yarn for hair and wore it in pigtails, this is what he'd look like:A lot of "ifs", but you never know...

Who's this bank robber?

You've gotta love a matching hat and sweater- even if he looks a little sketchy- like he could steal your Cheerios at any minute. I mean, can I puh-lease have a few cute things with boys? Why do the girls get all the cute stuff?

Here's Henry before pre-school today playing on his little car. He pushes this thing around the living room and kitchen all the time- except when I'm trying to record him doing it.

He's walking most of the time now and still looks a little intoxicated, but he's getting the hang of it.

Thanks for all your well wishes. I am feeling like a human today thanks to some steroids and antibiotics (sorry, Annie). I had a bad sinus infection and have cut it off at the pass! Hooray! It's just hard to be sick when you're the mom. Anybody got an Amen for that??

It's finally happening...

I don't want to say that I hate it when this happens. It actually makes my world a tad bit easier (and my biceps a tad bit weaker), but I guess it's finally here.

His preferred mode of transportation is still crawling. And he'll probably take a few weeks to get the hang of it, but we can't put off the inevitable anymore (I have to quit pushing him down now). I hope you enjoy my sweet little angel baby slowly morphing from a baby and into a toddler. I'm trying to hang on to every minute of it.

Henry's One Year Stats

Look at this noggin'. It's big, but it's pretty cute!

Before I forget them, here are Henry's one year stats from our trip to the doc today:

25 lbs, 12 oz.- 85th %

31 in - 87th %

?mm head circumference- something in the 40's- 90th %

Ollie was never on the actual chart, so I know that Henry is a bit smaller than Ollie was, but he is super healthy! Praise the Lord!

And our poor little guy got 5 shots today (one was his second dose of the flu shot). It's always so hard holding them down for those. You know they have special shot people and the doctor is never in the room when they give the shots? It's so that the kids don't associate the shot with the doctor. Did anyone ever think that the kid might associate the shot with the mom pinning him down??? Just an idea.

Alright, off to clean my house- which I'm sure I'll be doing most of the day tomorrow, too. My mom and dad, my sister and nephew and all Jason's family (4 adults, 1 teenager and 2 babies) are all coming over for lunch on Saturday. We're having chili in bread bowls. I'll have to share my easy chili recipe. It's from Southern Living, so you know it's good, but this one is actually really easy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HENRY!

Henry is ONE today!! Holy Cow! When did that happen??

We had a wonderfully normal and fun day today. It rained most of the morning and Becca is babysitting for us this week while the kids are out of school for fall break. Ollie loves her (and all teenage girls) and I do, too (not the teenage girl part)! She and Cooper (our regular babysitter) are good friends and Cooper is out of town, so I'm so glad Becca could help all this week.

After Jason got home today we went to the park since it finally dried up after lunch.
Here's my big one year old swinging- his favorite thing:

Here's his 33 year old daddy being an idiot fun-loving, as usual, with his superman swinging.
How can you not love these cuties?
Alright, it's confession time. Here is Henry LEGALLY facing forward in his car seat. He has been ILLEGALLY facing forward in his car seat for six weeks since our trip to Kentucky at the end of August. It's so different with your second child. I always said it wouldn't be... but it is.
And then cake after dinner, of course! This is leftover cake from Ollie's birthday (in the freezer, people, of course). Refer to the last statement about your second child if you are thinking that you would never do such a thing.
We will have Henry's real party on Saturday with all our family in town. I promise I'll get him his own cake then.

I haven't posted a video in a while, so here is a fun one of us singing to Henry tonight after dinner. Be sure to listen to the dog howling and you can't miss Ollie.

Happy Birthday, Henry! You are a precious child of God and we are so thankful to have you in our lives!!

Which is Scarier?

The baby or the pumpkin?

New Cleaning Service

Last week I heard from my cleaning lady that she wouldn't be able to keep my house on her rotation. She said it was because her mother was ill and she was cutting back on her hours to help her, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it might be because of the large amount of dirtiness she had to deal with over here!!

So, I've resorted to a new cleaning service.

The new guy came by today and he does laundry:Bathrooms (he's particularly skilled with the toilet paper):And he even re-organizes refrigerators (at no extra charge!):

He's pretty cheap for cleaning, but his room and board can add up quickly.

I just love this little guy. He's at home with me for a few more Mondays and then he's off to big boy pre-school with Ollie. He's about to start walking and (as is glaringly obvious) is into everything- perfectly normal though. And these pictures weren't staged. I just had my hands on a camera for a few minutes while folding laundry and this is how our day goes!

Hope your Monday has a cutie like this in it!

Lord Have Mercy, Baby's Got His Blue Jeans On

It was either that title or, "Forever in Blue Jeans". Since today is Henry's first day to ever wear our favorite article of clothing I figured the former would be more appropriate! We're still dealing with the aftermath of Fay, so it was blue jeans and tennis shoes for everybody today.
Happy Tuesday!

9 Month Check Up

I love going into the well side entrance of the doctor's office! It's actually nice to be there. And while the toys are still just as infested- I'm sure- it makes me feel a little better that well dirty children have played with them instead of those other SICK dirty children. Can you sense my {feigned} superiority? I'll have to pay for that next week on the sick side, you know...

Here are Henry's stats:
24 pounds- 89% on the growth chart

29.5 inches- 83% on the growth chart

and I can't remember the head circumference, but it's 73%.

Ollie was never on the actual chart, so this whole chart bi-ness is a bit new to me. Ollie was always proportionately balanced, but just a year or two ahead of where he should be.

Back to Henry, our little angel boy was so sweet when they had to prick his toe. That was all- no shots today- YEAH! He has great vision- per some cool looking screener- and 3 teeth coming in! Yowzers!
And a tip for those of you with yung-uns out there, our Dr. advised the flu shot in two doses (if they are under 2 yrs, I think) that have to be a month apart. So, we'll probably go for the first in September before his one year visit and knock that out while we are there. I hope your day was without doctor visits... unless you were on the good side, of course!