My Superhero!

It's been one of those days. It seems like Ronnie is a million miles away. I had to pay for Ronnie's speeding ticket (not cheap these days). I had to take Gram Jackie to the hospital. The last one scares me because she is never sick. My other grandma is always in the hospital, but never this one. Then I go to the post office to get a certified letter stating that we weren't qualified for the home buyer's credit. Yuck. Like I said, just one of those days.



I cried. A lot. I try not to do that. But when a cocky-thinks-he-knows-it-all-rent-a-cop hospital security guard gets ugly with me I don't do well. Especially when he's keeping me from my grandma. (I am in the process of filing a formal complaint with the hospital about that.) But I put on the strong face for my sweet Grandma. So many times she's been my rock and I knew I could return the favor. She should be ok, but I still worry about her. And since it has been a tough day I miss her more. Because normally on bad days she listens and gives me some of the best advice that there is to give. So please say a little prayer for my grandma. Or a big one if you can. She deserves it.


Then I cried over some other stuff.



But I'm trying to keep my spirits up. I've always struggled with my emotions. I used to always be the happy-go-lucky girl in the group that made everyone laugh. I don't know when I lost that. Or suppressed it. But I miss it. I want it back, but I feel so stuck. I'll keep working on it. I know that Melissa is still in there. I'll just have to go get her and bring her over so we can have some fun together.


Sorry about that ramble. But I had to preface the next part of my post so you would understand. I'm a lucky girl. I can call my wonderful husband and talk to him about anything and everything. And he always makes me feel better.

But today I needed a hug. A really big hug. A hug that lets you know it's all going to be okay. A hug that tells you that you are an awesome person and no one can take your place. I needed my superhero! And with a "Da da da daaaaa!" he was here! Amazing!


And I know he's a superhero. He knew exactly what was wrong. He said, "I'm a superhero Mama. And I'm gonna make you not cry!" And you know what? It worked. Plus, he had a "cate" (cape). "You know, Mama, a blanket on my back!"


And you know what else? I got my hug. And I knew it was all going to be ok. Because I have an amazing life. I just needed a little reminding.

Our Life

We'll start today with nothing but the cutest face ever!

When Ethan was small I alternated between disposable and cloth diapers. I liked the cloth ones, but I was never dedicated enough to use them as I still bought disposables and used them after all the cloth were dirty and I didn't feel like doing laundry. While pregnant with Elijah I decided that I was going to go all out this time and use cloth. I ordered several items and was content that I would be able to cloth diaper as soon as Elijah got here. But.... The hospital provided newborn Pampers and I got in the habit of picking up a pack at Wal-Mart. It was just so easy! But then the low price leader decided to not have the sensitive dipes. And then they decided not to have his size. And I decided I was tired of spending money on something I was only going to trash in the end. So I switched to cloth. Elijah hasn't worn a disposable since he was a few weeks old. This past week I ordered the cutest diaper and he gladly modeled it for me. It is so soft and so cute. I love his little fluffy bottom!

I posted earlier about Elijah being sick and needing breathing treatments with a nebulizer.

He fights with all his might at times. Screams. Kicks. Cries. It is so sad. He even learned a couple of tricks to get out of it for a minute. 1. He wraps the tubing between his toes and kicks hard enough to pull it off of the mask thus making me have to re-plug. 2. He puts little fingers in the holes on either side of the mask and yanks it off his face making me stop, remove both fingers and re-position.

And guess who found his toes! This is one of my favorite baby activities. The discovery and the sucking of little toes!

Ethan has ridden many tractors in his time. But never a John Deere. Ronnie used this one to bush hog the yard (pitiful...bush hog a yard) and gave the boys their first rides on a JD. Ethan was very excited!

And Elijah just took it all in. At this age Big Brother loved these rides for their nap inducing powers. I think Elijah may feel the same way.

After a long morning it was time for a nap. Yes, Elijah is asleep even though his one eye is still open. Sweet Dreams Boys.

New to Us

We got our own computer about a month ago I guess it was, and since we didn't have a real computer desk we had a pretty uncomfortable setup on the floor. Our "desk" was a cedar chest that Ronnie bought at an auction last summer. It's cute. It's just not a desk. So to say we were tired of sitting on the floor in awkward positions with sore arms, backs, and/or legs would be a little understated. So I began my search for a real desk that I liked. Should be easy. NOT! I looked at Wally World. No luck. I looked at several stores online, but I could not find anything I liked that looked like it could survive a house with a crazy lady, a big man, a tornado of a 3-year-old and an up-and-coming wild child. Either that or it was really expensive. If you know me, you know I'm cheap and won't buy expensive.


Over the weekend I remembered my friend, craig. You know him; he has a famous list that I love to look over. I looked at a few desks, but they were those fake wood ones that I was trying to avoid due to the destructiveness of the people stated above. Then I found it. The one. The desk that I had to have and if I didn't get it no desk would ever be as good as this one. Lucky for me it was nearby. Unlucky for me it was at a consignment store that was already closed for the weekend. I decided that after Elijah's appointment on Monday that I would stop by and if The Desk was still there I would buy it. With excitement I pulled in to the parking lot, but discovered that the store would not be open until 11.00 Tuesday. Not to be deterred I called at 11.01 Tuesday morning to inquire of The Desk. They still had it!! And they were willing to hold it until the close of business. Needless to say, I gathered myself, my children and all the gear that goes along with us and trekked to the store. I paid and then wondered how in the world I was going to fit this thing into my mommy mobile. The store owner was smart and measured the desk and I measured the van only to discover that I would not be able to bring my treasure home.

Then my wonderful hubby arrives home and gets today off!!! We steal a truck and go to the consignment store to claim my goods. And here it is:

Our New To Us Desk That Is Just What I Wanted

Sick Baby

I have been dealing with a sick baby this week. No. It's not Ronnie. He's not even here.

Little Elijah hasn't been feeling well. He started coughing last week (during VBS after being around sick children whose parents didn't have the sense to keep them at home), but it wasn't anything major. He had an appointment on Monday with his pediatrician to check his weight. He went from 11lb., 50z. to 13lb., 2oz. in a little over a month so we're good on weight gain for now. But when the nurse listened to his heart and lungs she promptly left the room and returned with the contraption that checks oxygen levels. His levels were really good. But after the doctor checked him she ordered an RSV test and a breathing treatment. The RSV test was cool...steal a booger from the kid's nose and we're good to go. Cool meaning that my child wasn't screaming. Bring on the nebulizer with a big scary mask and my child could not be consoled. I felt so bad holding him still, but I wanted him to feel better. The doctor came back and gave me all the info: negative for RSV (yay!), lungs sound rough so you'll have to give him breathing treatments every 4 hours (yuck!), stuff has backed into his ears so he has an infection and he'll be taking an antibiotic (no biggie), we really have no clue what's causing this so hopefully it will clear up, but if it's allergies there's really nothing to do to prevent these issues so we'll treat them when the arise, see you back in a few weeks.

So at 2:00, 6:00 and 10:00 I get to torture my sweet baby with a nebulizer full of albuterol and hear him scream while squirming with all of his might. I hate it and I'm sure he does too. But the good news is that he's starting to sound a little better. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon!

Elijah

I took this picture of Elijah yesterday during his afternoon nap. I thought it was cute how he had his little legs up in the air! I almost pulled up the blinds, but I'm glad I didn't because I love how this looks!

Sweet Summer

I am really enjoying the summer break thus far. The best part is being with my boys! Ethan and Elijah are so much fun to be with and I wouldn't trade our days together for anything. Ronnie, on the other hand, is a different story. Just kidding! I love being around him too, but it seems that everytime I have time to be at home he has to go over the road and be gone for days at a time. Oh well. But we make the most of the time we have together when he is home!

Last week was a pretty productive week. I got Elijah's pictures made. I normally do pics every three months. I didn't get around to his 3 month pics until this week...less than a week before he turned 5 months. Bad mama! I'll try not to do that again.

I also got the living room painted.

Before

After

My Little Helper

I am constantly being reminded of how Ethan is growing up right before my eyes. I can't believe how mature he acts sometimes. We are having VBS at church this week. Last night he was such a big boy and listened to his teacher so well. He even told me what the lesson was about. I peeped in on him before everything was over and this is what I saw:

him sitting quietly while painting and following directions! He definately doesn't do that at home. As evidenced below. He was yelling for me this morning saying that he needed me so I went to help. When I got to his room I didn't see him, but I heard a little voice say "I'm in here," from the opposite direction. I turned around and this is what I found:

He wasn't doing laundry! Dang it!

Now some pics of my other little guy. He is growing like crazy and is getting to the really fun stage. He "talks" and is full of giggles and belly laughs. And his big blue eyes have me mesmerized! Here he is in his little seat like a big man:

And here he is in his gangster-ish attire. I know he just loves it when his brother dresses him!

100!

This is my 100th post. It's been a long time coming. So much has been going on since Elijah arrived that my blog has fallen behind, unfortunately. Once I realized that the next post would be number 100, I wanted to do something big, but I really don't have anything out of the ordinary. I'll just give some of the day-to-day updates, which in my world add up to be extradordinary.

*Elijah is growing so quickly. No longer is he my little newborn baby, he is rapidly getting to the fun and cute baby stage. He weighed in at 11 pounds and 5 ounces at his 4 month appointment, which was only a gain of 2 pounds in 2 months. Therefore, we'll be going back to the doctor this month for another weight check. I have since started him on a few solids. We began with rice cereal and have moved on to bananas. He seems to really like to eat! He has already started holding his head up really well, has rolled from his tummy to his back, sits up with assistance and smiles the most gorgeous toothless grins you have ever seen.

*Ethan is growing too! He is in the 97th percentile for his height and off the charts for his weight. He is going to be a big guy like his daddy. He is so much fun these days as he explores the world around him. He loves anything to do with a farm, he longs to run around outside all day and he adores his little brother. He had his first pet, a rooster (courtesy of B), Brewster the Rooster, for about 2 weeks before an untimely demise. To hear Ethan tell it, "a 'possum et my rooster." He wants horses and cows in a fence in the front yard and a chicken "house" in the back. He continues to love tractor rides and his new favorite ride is his daddy's Jeep. He digs holes in the front yard to find buried treasure, he plants flowers and veggies and blows bubbles off the front porch. But he still refuses to use the pedals on his bike as it is so much easier to push with his feet. He gives Elijah kisses and hugs like nobody's business and protects him at Gram Jackie's like an over protective mother.

*Ronnie is still working at Wilson Brothers and really enjoys what he's doing. He's thinking about going back to school, but we're still researching his options. I don't know what else to say about him, other than the fact that he is a wonderful husband and father. He is so good with the boys and I love watching him with them. It just melts my heart!

*I have gone back to work and will finish up the semester this week. It has been a challenge getting to work with 2 small kids, but I have survived. Barely. I don't think I've gotten to school before 8.00 in 2 weeks, but it's ok. I have been more exhausted than I have ever been in my life, but I wouldn't trade what I have for anything in the world. I have a great husband and two beautiful children that I adore! My house may not be clean and I may not get everything done on time, but we're happy and healthy and I'm most thankful for that. Each day it becomes a little more clear to me how blessed I am and I don't want to take my family for granted.

Sorry that my 100th post wasn't amazing, but I wanted to update everyone about this crazy Kidd world that I am so happy to live in. Take care!