So, it has been a little while since I last posted. I have so many things I want to share but so little time to do it. I should really, really be sleeping right now since GW just went back down, but here I sit....blogging about lack of sleep ;0)
I have had a few people tell me that not only are they reading my blog, but that they are laughing out loud at it. To them, I say THANK YOU! Thank you for taking the time to read it and thank you for understanding my sense of humor. It is slightly quirky and sometimes a little brutal, but I am nothing if not honest. As I have said before, my life is and always has been, an open book. Well literally now that I am blogging all about it. So, read it if you dare.
I am thinking that maybe I should have added a thorough disclaimer before my first post. It may be a little late now, but here it is...
I sit down and start typing away exactly as my thoughts occur to me. I do not give them any deliberation before I start typing nor (Yes, Jess and Court, I actually use the word nor in my head :) do I proofread or edit depending on what I want to say. I just type, type, and type. If it makes sense, good, if you can follow it, great, if you enjoy it, even better.
A couple of friends ( you know who you are, dears) told me that they could tell from reading that I wrote this just as it came to me AND that they liked it that way. Score! That reading the posts is like carrying on a conversation with me. (Which I think of as hard to follow, rambling, and theatrical. He he ) If it is hard to follow, I apologize. I do get off on tangents very badly. Chuck has been known to say "Ok, get to the point, Shana" quite often. Then he has to remind me exactly what point I was trying to make to begin with by retelling me the last thing I said that actually relates to the story. Sometimes I can reel it back in but other times it is lost in the inner workings of my mind. I have to say, if my mind was an actual place, it could be quite scary. Very cluttered and disorganized with bits and pieces flying around everywhere.
Wow...Tonight must be a bad night because I stopped to picture it for a minute and now I really can't remember what point I was trying to make in the beginning........Where's Chuck to refresh my memory when I need him?
Ah yes, I remember now. I wanted to let all of my faithful readers (All 5 of you, one being my own Mother) know that I have a sarcastic and occasionally harsh sense of humor but rarely do I mean the things I say. Occasionally, yes. However, when I say that my kids hate me when they don't sleep, I don't mean it. Alright honestly, rarely do I mean it. I can't really think of any good examples right now since I am pretty much asleep already but I am sure you have read some and know what I am talking about. In all seriousness, I love and adore my children and the Hubs. I only occasionally want to run away and even then I am fairly certain I would come back after a day or two. Three at most.
While I am up and at it I should fill y'all in on this past week. Lawson had T-ball practice on Tuesday and Chuck is the T-ball coach. I am not sure who had more fun out of the two. Chuck is in his element. He truly loves kids and is so excited to be out there joining in on the fun.
Wednesday I went and watched The Hunger Games....I have mixed feelings about it. For the most part I really liked it but as all books that are made into movies do, it disappointed me as well. They are just never as good.
Tuesday night after T-ball we were bathing the boys and Garrison decided to get a cup full of dirty bath water and chug it. Ewww! Lawson, being the Big Brother who up until probably a month or two ago did the exact same thing, sternly says "Garrison, don't drink the bath water. It has booty in it."
Well, he was right, wasn't he? Two booties to be precise.
MUST GO TO SLEEP NOW....will spill more later.
My sons make me laugh on a daily basis
My cup runneth over
~Shana~
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Mom Jeans
I want to start off by saying that I, in NO way, intend to make anyone who wears higher rise A.K.A. "Mom" jeans, feel bad. Please don't take it personally, it is just not my style nor do they look good on me :)
Ok, now that that is out of the way, I will tell you about my recent jean shopping expedition. I went everywhere! I tried on at least 50 pairs of jeans. I went to to higher end and lower end stores. Dillards, American Eagle, Gap, White Black, Lucky, Anthropologie, Express, Charlotte Russe, Macy's, Loft, Buckle, and Target. I am sure there are other places that I have forgotten about, too. I went looking in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. I just wanted a good fitting pair of dark, boot cut, low rise jeans. Who knew that could be so hard to find?? It doesn't help that I am SO short. I am not proportioned very well, either. I have short legs and a longer torso. My hips have gotten wider and it results in the jeans either being too little on my legs and hips and fitting in the waist or too loose on my waist and fitting my legs and hips. I can not wear curvy style or super skinny. I do not like jeans that have tons of bling on the back pockets or look very worn. I just want a simple pair of good jeans that aren't 4 inches too long! Is that so much to ask?
The truly saddening shopping trip was to Buckle. First off, I don't love the sizing of designer jeans. I don't like saying "Twenty-eight" and much prefer a nice round number like "6". For some reason, it just sounds bigger to me. I wish I was asking for a size 25 and I might feel differently, but that is another issue all together. The other thing is that most of the jeans I tried were made for folks who are 5'10. I realize that I am shorter than the norm, I also realize that there are many tall women out there, but seriously?! There are lots of us short girls too.
First off I stop at Buckle with very high hopes. I just know I am going to find the perfect pair of jeans.So I get Garrison, who has fallen asleep in the car, out. I attempt to put him in his stroller to make it easier to shop, but he begins to stir and fuss, so I carry him on my shoulder instead. He remains asleep but makes it very hard to push the stroller, carry my big diaper bag, and tote my Venti Starbucks Frap all at once. I make it into Buckle and immediately greeted by a very nice worker who sees how much I am struggling to actually be able to pick out jeans and carry them while toting my sleeping infant and many accoutrements. He asks me what I am looking for and I tell him, "Simple dark jeans. No bling. Minimum fraying. Short in length because I don't want to hem them. Brand doesn't matter but I am not a huge fan of Miss Me. My twenty-something size". So he goes about picking out 30, true story, pairs of jeans and puts them in a fitting room for me. He then comes and tells me that he had found lots to try on. He then says, " You like a higher rise, right? Where they come up higher on the waist?" (In my head) Ummmm, no. Actually, I don't. I like low rise. Why are you just assuming I want higher rise jeans?!. So I answer, "No, I like low rise." He acts all surprised and says, "Oh, well I will go get some of those, too." So I start to think, why would I not wear low-rise? In truth, I actually love low rise. I used to wear the lowest-of-the-low, thank you very much! Too ultra lowrise was the fit I preffered. If it had a rise inseam of longer than 7, I didn't want them. Yes, I realize this was in my pre-babies years, but is it really that crazy to still like them? Ok, granted when I try them on now I have more muffin top than a baker, but I could still wear them if I wanted to, right? RIGHT?!
I ended up trying on all 30 pairs of jeans and not finding one single pair that I really liked. Either they were way too long and would require about 4 good inches to be cut off, which would result in a straight leg instead of a boot cut, or they didn't fit well in the waist and hips, or they were just too embellished for my taste. I really don't want 3 Karats worth of bling on my rear to attract attention to the fact that it is rather wide, thanks. While trying on jeans, Garrison crawled all over the dressing rooms and I chased him around. I may have flashed a few people a glimpse of me in my undies. Woops, sorry. No really, sorry. I am sure you were nearly blinded by my whiteness.
So off I went to American Eagle. I used to love American Eagle. I haven't been in a while though. The high school crowd was there and getting ready for Spring Break. Lots of cute teen girls trying on cute clothes. Here I am, feeling like such a MOM already from my stint at Buckle, wheeling around my 10 month old, trying to find a decent pair of jeans. I try on the usual suspects and ended up being relativley happy with a pair of My Boyfriend jeans (or whatever they are called). Up to the cash register I go, behind two young, cute, tiny girls. The very young looking AE guy is chatting them up asking them all about their Spring Break plans. One girl is going to Gulf Shores the other is going on a cruise. The the convo moves to working out. He does Insanity, one girl (who is T-niny with quite large boobs) doesn't exercise, the other girl does P90X and has been for years. Wow! They finish their transactions and leave. Next up is me. Nope, he does not ask me about my Spring Break plans. No, he does not chat me up about my workouts. He looks at my jeans I have selected and says they are the most comfortable fit they sell. Awesome. I reply, "Yes, I liked them. I just wish they didn't stretch so much because then they start to sag." He then tells me about the Favorite Fit which come up a little higher and don't have as much stretch to them. Thanks. What is it about me and those dang higher rise jeans?! He then sees GW and starts to kind of play with him. He says he loves babies, they are so cute, but is "So not ready anytime soon." I told him that they are wonderful but can be demanding so it is nice to be ready, for sure. I then left with my OK pair of jeans, bound and determined to find the PERFECT pair to make me look good, thin, and hip. And they will be LOW rise!
While I realize that it is no big deal to wear Mid or High rise jeans and that it is a matter of personal taste, I have always thought of these as Mom Jeans. I am feeling slightly Mom-like and dumpy these days as it is, so this did not help matters. I used to feel like I looked my best most of the time, not that I looked good all the time, but that I had put forth the effort to look my best. Now I just try to make it out the door with clothes on before I am another 15 minutes late. I may have some makeup on and I may not. I may have my hair in a ponytail or I may not. It just depends. But I never have my hair done, makeup on, and a cute outfit with accessories on anymore. Or at least very rarely. I really have to do some major scheduling to fit it all in. It just doesn't work out anymore.
I heard a woman in line behind me the other day at Loft tell her teenage daughter while talking about hair cuts, " Yeah, like in the picture on the fridge. You know, the one of me before you ruined my body." I immediately laughed out loud. I thought, "I have to meet this woman. We are kindred. I have used those exact same words!" So I turned around and told her that I had used those same words. We then got to talking about how much child birth changes our bodies, etc. I told her I was still a size away from Pre-pregnancy and that I had a deadline of April 18th, Garrison's First Birthday, to get there. I said the same for Lawson's first and made it, but I seemed to be a lot more dedicated to it then. She told me that she read that it takes a full 9 years for your body to return to its original shape. WOWZA!
I guess I may as well throw in the towel, get a minivan, sport the Mom Jeans, rock a sweatshirt, get my hair cut like Kate from Jon & Kate Plus Eight, stick on some Merrell slip ons and head on out. (Totally kidding of course :)
I would give up a smaller size for my two dolls...
My cup runneth over!
~Shana~
Ok, now that that is out of the way, I will tell you about my recent jean shopping expedition. I went everywhere! I tried on at least 50 pairs of jeans. I went to to higher end and lower end stores. Dillards, American Eagle, Gap, White Black, Lucky, Anthropologie, Express, Charlotte Russe, Macy's, Loft, Buckle, and Target. I am sure there are other places that I have forgotten about, too. I went looking in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. I just wanted a good fitting pair of dark, boot cut, low rise jeans. Who knew that could be so hard to find?? It doesn't help that I am SO short. I am not proportioned very well, either. I have short legs and a longer torso. My hips have gotten wider and it results in the jeans either being too little on my legs and hips and fitting in the waist or too loose on my waist and fitting my legs and hips. I can not wear curvy style or super skinny. I do not like jeans that have tons of bling on the back pockets or look very worn. I just want a simple pair of good jeans that aren't 4 inches too long! Is that so much to ask?
The truly saddening shopping trip was to Buckle. First off, I don't love the sizing of designer jeans. I don't like saying "Twenty-eight" and much prefer a nice round number like "6". For some reason, it just sounds bigger to me. I wish I was asking for a size 25 and I might feel differently, but that is another issue all together. The other thing is that most of the jeans I tried were made for folks who are 5'10. I realize that I am shorter than the norm, I also realize that there are many tall women out there, but seriously?! There are lots of us short girls too.
First off I stop at Buckle with very high hopes. I just know I am going to find the perfect pair of jeans.So I get Garrison, who has fallen asleep in the car, out. I attempt to put him in his stroller to make it easier to shop, but he begins to stir and fuss, so I carry him on my shoulder instead. He remains asleep but makes it very hard to push the stroller, carry my big diaper bag, and tote my Venti Starbucks Frap all at once. I make it into Buckle and immediately greeted by a very nice worker who sees how much I am struggling to actually be able to pick out jeans and carry them while toting my sleeping infant and many accoutrements. He asks me what I am looking for and I tell him, "Simple dark jeans. No bling. Minimum fraying. Short in length because I don't want to hem them. Brand doesn't matter but I am not a huge fan of Miss Me. My twenty-something size". So he goes about picking out 30, true story, pairs of jeans and puts them in a fitting room for me. He then comes and tells me that he had found lots to try on. He then says, " You like a higher rise, right? Where they come up higher on the waist?" (In my head) Ummmm, no. Actually, I don't. I like low rise. Why are you just assuming I want higher rise jeans?!. So I answer, "No, I like low rise." He acts all surprised and says, "Oh, well I will go get some of those, too." So I start to think, why would I not wear low-rise? In truth, I actually love low rise. I used to wear the lowest-of-the-low, thank you very much! Too ultra lowrise was the fit I preffered. If it had a rise inseam of longer than 7, I didn't want them. Yes, I realize this was in my pre-babies years, but is it really that crazy to still like them? Ok, granted when I try them on now I have more muffin top than a baker, but I could still wear them if I wanted to, right? RIGHT?!
I ended up trying on all 30 pairs of jeans and not finding one single pair that I really liked. Either they were way too long and would require about 4 good inches to be cut off, which would result in a straight leg instead of a boot cut, or they didn't fit well in the waist and hips, or they were just too embellished for my taste. I really don't want 3 Karats worth of bling on my rear to attract attention to the fact that it is rather wide, thanks. While trying on jeans, Garrison crawled all over the dressing rooms and I chased him around. I may have flashed a few people a glimpse of me in my undies. Woops, sorry. No really, sorry. I am sure you were nearly blinded by my whiteness.
So off I went to American Eagle. I used to love American Eagle. I haven't been in a while though. The high school crowd was there and getting ready for Spring Break. Lots of cute teen girls trying on cute clothes. Here I am, feeling like such a MOM already from my stint at Buckle, wheeling around my 10 month old, trying to find a decent pair of jeans. I try on the usual suspects and ended up being relativley happy with a pair of My Boyfriend jeans (or whatever they are called). Up to the cash register I go, behind two young, cute, tiny girls. The very young looking AE guy is chatting them up asking them all about their Spring Break plans. One girl is going to Gulf Shores the other is going on a cruise. The the convo moves to working out. He does Insanity, one girl (who is T-niny with quite large boobs) doesn't exercise, the other girl does P90X and has been for years. Wow! They finish their transactions and leave. Next up is me. Nope, he does not ask me about my Spring Break plans. No, he does not chat me up about my workouts. He looks at my jeans I have selected and says they are the most comfortable fit they sell. Awesome. I reply, "Yes, I liked them. I just wish they didn't stretch so much because then they start to sag." He then tells me about the Favorite Fit which come up a little higher and don't have as much stretch to them. Thanks. What is it about me and those dang higher rise jeans?! He then sees GW and starts to kind of play with him. He says he loves babies, they are so cute, but is "So not ready anytime soon." I told him that they are wonderful but can be demanding so it is nice to be ready, for sure. I then left with my OK pair of jeans, bound and determined to find the PERFECT pair to make me look good, thin, and hip. And they will be LOW rise!
While I realize that it is no big deal to wear Mid or High rise jeans and that it is a matter of personal taste, I have always thought of these as Mom Jeans. I am feeling slightly Mom-like and dumpy these days as it is, so this did not help matters. I used to feel like I looked my best most of the time, not that I looked good all the time, but that I had put forth the effort to look my best. Now I just try to make it out the door with clothes on before I am another 15 minutes late. I may have some makeup on and I may not. I may have my hair in a ponytail or I may not. It just depends. But I never have my hair done, makeup on, and a cute outfit with accessories on anymore. Or at least very rarely. I really have to do some major scheduling to fit it all in. It just doesn't work out anymore.
I heard a woman in line behind me the other day at Loft tell her teenage daughter while talking about hair cuts, " Yeah, like in the picture on the fridge. You know, the one of me before you ruined my body." I immediately laughed out loud. I thought, "I have to meet this woman. We are kindred. I have used those exact same words!" So I turned around and told her that I had used those same words. We then got to talking about how much child birth changes our bodies, etc. I told her I was still a size away from Pre-pregnancy and that I had a deadline of April 18th, Garrison's First Birthday, to get there. I said the same for Lawson's first and made it, but I seemed to be a lot more dedicated to it then. She told me that she read that it takes a full 9 years for your body to return to its original shape. WOWZA!
I guess I may as well throw in the towel, get a minivan, sport the Mom Jeans, rock a sweatshirt, get my hair cut like Kate from Jon & Kate Plus Eight, stick on some Merrell slip ons and head on out. (Totally kidding of course :)
I would give up a smaller size for my two dolls...
My cup runneth over!
~Shana~
Boys, boys, boys
To say I am outnumbered at home is putting it lightly. The ratio of boys to girls is 3:1. As most of you know, I am the lone female in our house of 4. I have been blessed with three amazing guys in my household. Two mini-men and one wonderful husband. Lawson is all-boy. I have a feeling that Garrison is as well. While he is only one, so I don't have the full effect yet, he seems to fit the definition of "all-boy" already.
I, on the other hand, am ALL girl. I can admit, I am a girly-girl. Ask any of my friends or family and they will tell you. I fit the definition to a T. I love girly things. Spa days, dressing up, shoes, makeup, shopping, I love it all. Everyone thought, including myself pre-Lawson, that I was destined to have a little girl. A sweet, innocent little girl that I could dress in ruffley bloomers, lots of pink, and big bows. I have a major weakness for those ruffle-butted bloomers and big bows! But, it seems it was not in the plans. As it got closer to time to find out if Lawson was, in fact, a boy or girl, I found myself picturing having a rough and tumble little boy. I started to feel that I was carrying a little boy and to get really excited about it. I never really wished for one gender over the other as I didn't have a preference, but I felt like I could picture Chuck and I with a little boy. However, I told Chuck that I knew nothing about little boys. I am so girly, I have a little sister, I had no experience with baby boys. He reassured me that he would teach me.
I should add that Chuck was kind of hoping for a boy because he is "scared" of little girls. He has a major soft spot in his heart for those big eyed, innocent looks that they give to which he can never say no. He worried that his daughter would be too pretty so all the boys would be interested and that she would inevitably have her feelings hurt at some point in her life. She may not make cheerleader when she tried out or she may not win the beauty pageant, resulting in tears. If there is anything that can bring Chuck down, it is seeing a sweet little girl crying. (By the way, I love that about him :)
So when it came time to find out if we were having a boy or girl, we felt confident in the fact that we would be thrilled either way. Either gender would give us new experiences, growth, lessons, and lots of love and excitement. When Lawson's little profile showed up on screen I was watching Chuck's face. As the tech moved down to "the goods", as she put it, I looked again to Chuck's face. I saw a flicker of recognition and excitement even before the tech said anything. It was, no doubt, a boy. We couldn't have been happier!
When we found out that we were expecting a second, we still did not hope for one gender over another. A baby sister for Lawson would be awesome because I always wished I had an older brother. An older brother to be protective of me, to pick on me, to scare my boyfriends. (I realize it is crazy to wish for this and that those of you who have big brothers have told me that it is not all that it is cracked up to be :) But a baby brother would allow Chuck and I to experience the love between brothers, which neither of us had. Chuck has an older sister and I have a little sister. No brothers on either side. However, my Daddy has always been very close to his older brother, His Bubba, and they adore each other. I think it is the sweetest thing. So I secretly hoped that my son would have a baby brother to share this bond with. Since my parents have two daughters, boys was a new concept for them. I think it may have been a little bit of an eye opener for Nana and GG. While they are all-boy, they are so much fun! Again, either gender would provide a new experience and love but also allow Chuck and I to experience, in a different way, a relationship that neither of us had growing up.
I suspected Garrison was a boy from the beginning.
When we found out Garrison was, in fact, a boy we were thrilled. I wondered what my life would be like with 3 boys around. While I was so excited that my sweet Lawson would have a baby brother to be best friends with, I will admit that there was a little bit of sadness on my part. My sadness was not at all due to the fact that Garrison was a boy, which made me very excited and happy, but for the fact that he would most likely be my last baby. I will never have a little girl to dress up in those adorable dresses and bloomers, get manis, pedis, and makeovers with, or to girl talk with. However, I do have two nieces and many of my closest friends have little girls, so I can borrow them (and give them back when they are drama queens) . Right Girls?
As a side note, Garrison is rarely referred to as Garrison at home. Lawson, Chuck, and I usually call him or refer to him as Baby Brother. When talking about him, we all say, "Baby Brother did so and so" or "Good night, Baby Brother". Garrison is just starting to call Lawson and says, "Bubba". It is precious and heart-melting.
Since Garrison is not even one, I have not had that many "OMG I am surrounded by boys" moments yet. I do have a few stories, however.
On any given day, while trying to find out if Baby Brother has a stinky or what I have to ask the room full of boys, "Ok, who tooted?" at least twice. I am surrounded by stinky guys. Even the smallest one is lethal.
I have said words that I never would have thought I would have to utter in my life pre-boys....
"OK, who tee-teed in the hall?"
"Who put the fake spider in my shoe?" (more than once)
"Why would you think it was funny to tee-tee on your plate of M & Ms?"
"Hurry, get out of the tub, Baby Brother just pooped"
"No, we do NOT bite each others booties while in the bathtub." As an afterthought........
Or out of the tub for that matter." (Honestly, more than once to both boys)
"WHY WOULD YOU POOP IN THE YARD?" ( I am ashamed to have to add this one to the list but in the interest of honesty and full disclosure, I will)
"If you are in the house, it is just as easy or easier to go tee-tee in the toilet than it is to go all the way outside to tee-tee."
"Is that chocolate or poop?"
(On a completely separate occasion, sadly) "Is that chocolate or poop on my arm?" (Thank goodness it was chocolate that time)
"No, we do NOT karate chop babies."
"No you can not practice your Kung Fu Panda moves on your 4 month old baby brother!"
"No Lawson, Baby Brother does NOT like it when you have him in a choke-hold even if he is not crying."
I will be sure to add more at a later time....I know this is only the beginning.
To tell you a little bit more about the Tee-Tee and M & Ms incident:
I was in the kitchen with Baby Brother and Rochelle, loading the dishwasher. Lawson was in the living room watching cartoons and eating a plate of M & Ms (yes, yes, my parenting at its finest). In comes Lawson who informs us, excitedly, that "Momma, I rang my M & Ms plate". So into the living room we go....where I find a paper plate of soaking M & Ms surrounded by a big puddle on the hardwood floor. In reality, he had tee-teed more on the floor than on the plate, but I guess the fact that some did land in the plate of M & Ms was cause for excitement. When I asked him why he would tee-tee on his M & Ms he replied, with a very nonchalant shoulder shrug, "Because I thought it would be funny." It was as simple as that. I had no reply. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, scold, punish, or what. So, I left it for him to show his Daddy when he got home. Don't think I am too gross, his Daddy was on the way home already and got there 10 minutes later. In the end we ended up explaining to him why he can't just tee-tee on things even if he does think it will be funny and we made him help clean it up. Chuck and I had a good laugh about it later that night.
I will be sure to share the poop in the tub drama later, too.
My boys provide us lots of joy and entertainment. As I have said, we literally never have a dull moment around here. I know there will be lots of laughter and excitement as they continue to grow.
My cup runneth over,
~Shana~
I, on the other hand, am ALL girl. I can admit, I am a girly-girl. Ask any of my friends or family and they will tell you. I fit the definition to a T. I love girly things. Spa days, dressing up, shoes, makeup, shopping, I love it all. Everyone thought, including myself pre-Lawson, that I was destined to have a little girl. A sweet, innocent little girl that I could dress in ruffley bloomers, lots of pink, and big bows. I have a major weakness for those ruffle-butted bloomers and big bows! But, it seems it was not in the plans. As it got closer to time to find out if Lawson was, in fact, a boy or girl, I found myself picturing having a rough and tumble little boy. I started to feel that I was carrying a little boy and to get really excited about it. I never really wished for one gender over the other as I didn't have a preference, but I felt like I could picture Chuck and I with a little boy. However, I told Chuck that I knew nothing about little boys. I am so girly, I have a little sister, I had no experience with baby boys. He reassured me that he would teach me.
I should add that Chuck was kind of hoping for a boy because he is "scared" of little girls. He has a major soft spot in his heart for those big eyed, innocent looks that they give to which he can never say no. He worried that his daughter would be too pretty so all the boys would be interested and that she would inevitably have her feelings hurt at some point in her life. She may not make cheerleader when she tried out or she may not win the beauty pageant, resulting in tears. If there is anything that can bring Chuck down, it is seeing a sweet little girl crying. (By the way, I love that about him :)
So when it came time to find out if we were having a boy or girl, we felt confident in the fact that we would be thrilled either way. Either gender would give us new experiences, growth, lessons, and lots of love and excitement. When Lawson's little profile showed up on screen I was watching Chuck's face. As the tech moved down to "the goods", as she put it, I looked again to Chuck's face. I saw a flicker of recognition and excitement even before the tech said anything. It was, no doubt, a boy. We couldn't have been happier!
When we found out that we were expecting a second, we still did not hope for one gender over another. A baby sister for Lawson would be awesome because I always wished I had an older brother. An older brother to be protective of me, to pick on me, to scare my boyfriends. (I realize it is crazy to wish for this and that those of you who have big brothers have told me that it is not all that it is cracked up to be :) But a baby brother would allow Chuck and I to experience the love between brothers, which neither of us had. Chuck has an older sister and I have a little sister. No brothers on either side. However, my Daddy has always been very close to his older brother, His Bubba, and they adore each other. I think it is the sweetest thing. So I secretly hoped that my son would have a baby brother to share this bond with. Since my parents have two daughters, boys was a new concept for them. I think it may have been a little bit of an eye opener for Nana and GG. While they are all-boy, they are so much fun! Again, either gender would provide a new experience and love but also allow Chuck and I to experience, in a different way, a relationship that neither of us had growing up.
I suspected Garrison was a boy from the beginning.
When we found out Garrison was, in fact, a boy we were thrilled. I wondered what my life would be like with 3 boys around. While I was so excited that my sweet Lawson would have a baby brother to be best friends with, I will admit that there was a little bit of sadness on my part. My sadness was not at all due to the fact that Garrison was a boy, which made me very excited and happy, but for the fact that he would most likely be my last baby. I will never have a little girl to dress up in those adorable dresses and bloomers, get manis, pedis, and makeovers with, or to girl talk with. However, I do have two nieces and many of my closest friends have little girls, so I can borrow them (and give them back when they are drama queens) . Right Girls?
As a side note, Garrison is rarely referred to as Garrison at home. Lawson, Chuck, and I usually call him or refer to him as Baby Brother. When talking about him, we all say, "Baby Brother did so and so" or "Good night, Baby Brother". Garrison is just starting to call Lawson and says, "Bubba". It is precious and heart-melting.
Since Garrison is not even one, I have not had that many "OMG I am surrounded by boys" moments yet. I do have a few stories, however.
On any given day, while trying to find out if Baby Brother has a stinky or what I have to ask the room full of boys, "Ok, who tooted?" at least twice. I am surrounded by stinky guys. Even the smallest one is lethal.
I have said words that I never would have thought I would have to utter in my life pre-boys....
"OK, who tee-teed in the hall?"
"Who put the fake spider in my shoe?" (more than once)
"Why would you think it was funny to tee-tee on your plate of M & Ms?"
"Hurry, get out of the tub, Baby Brother just pooped"
"No, we do NOT bite each others booties while in the bathtub." As an afterthought........
Or out of the tub for that matter." (Honestly, more than once to both boys)
"WHY WOULD YOU POOP IN THE YARD?" ( I am ashamed to have to add this one to the list but in the interest of honesty and full disclosure, I will)
"If you are in the house, it is just as easy or easier to go tee-tee in the toilet than it is to go all the way outside to tee-tee."
"Is that chocolate or poop?"
(On a completely separate occasion, sadly) "Is that chocolate or poop on my arm?" (Thank goodness it was chocolate that time)
"No, we do NOT karate chop babies."
"No you can not practice your Kung Fu Panda moves on your 4 month old baby brother!"
"No Lawson, Baby Brother does NOT like it when you have him in a choke-hold even if he is not crying."
I will be sure to add more at a later time....I know this is only the beginning.
To tell you a little bit more about the Tee-Tee and M & Ms incident:
I was in the kitchen with Baby Brother and Rochelle, loading the dishwasher. Lawson was in the living room watching cartoons and eating a plate of M & Ms (yes, yes, my parenting at its finest). In comes Lawson who informs us, excitedly, that "Momma, I rang my M & Ms plate". So into the living room we go....where I find a paper plate of soaking M & Ms surrounded by a big puddle on the hardwood floor. In reality, he had tee-teed more on the floor than on the plate, but I guess the fact that some did land in the plate of M & Ms was cause for excitement. When I asked him why he would tee-tee on his M & Ms he replied, with a very nonchalant shoulder shrug, "Because I thought it would be funny." It was as simple as that. I had no reply. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, scold, punish, or what. So, I left it for him to show his Daddy when he got home. Don't think I am too gross, his Daddy was on the way home already and got there 10 minutes later. In the end we ended up explaining to him why he can't just tee-tee on things even if he does think it will be funny and we made him help clean it up. Chuck and I had a good laugh about it later that night.
I will be sure to share the poop in the tub drama later, too.
My boys provide us lots of joy and entertainment. As I have said, we literally never have a dull moment around here. I know there will be lots of laughter and excitement as they continue to grow.
My cup runneth over,
~Shana~
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
So This is What My Life Has Come To
Today...........Where do I begin?
Today was a DAY. A long day full of poop, throw up, and boogers.
Wednesdays are a stay-at-home-Mom day. Lawson usually has 3Pre-K but since it is spring break and we had such a long night, he stayed home as well.
I will now list some of the thoughts that popped into my head today randomly.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage and/or trauma you may gain from reading this. My thoughts can be kind of scary.
Consider yourself warned........
Whoever invented Boogie Wipes is a freakin' genius
Is it THAT bad if I let my toddler eat a mix of Ritz, Nilla Wafers, and Cheese Puffs for lunch? I mean Cheese Puffs do have cheese in them, that is one of the food groups
When did I start considering it a good day if I didn't get thrown up on, peed on, or pooped on?
Just how much snot can one tiny little nose contain? Jeez!
When will my Husband be home? (While looking out the window every 2 minutes)
Who knew that a 3 year old could work a Kindle better than I can?
How did that giant puddle of liquid on the floor in the hall get there? What is it?
Why is the half of a Nilla Wafer I just stuck in my mouth SO soggy?
I said this out loud, to which Lawson replied that he and Baby Brother were sharing and that Baby Brother sucked on it and then put it back in the box. Great.
How many times will I have to clean up throw up today?
If I have to hear the Bubble Guppies theme song one more time I may scream.
Since when did ramping a culvert get to be such a big deal? I mean, I didn't get stuck or anything.
It can't be good to drink so much coffee that you are shaking, can it?
Drinking a glass of wine following a run is considered rehydrating right? I mean it is fluid.
Maybe if I don't eat lunch I can even out all the calories I have consumed before lunch through Coke, coffee with lots of sugar, and straight-out-of-the-box Lucky Charms.
Running a half mile and then walking the other half is almost running the whole thing, right?!
(Sadly, I know this is not at all true, but I had to make myself feel better at the time)
(While looking in the bathroom mirror) Hey, that new eye brightener and concealer I bought at Ulta really covers those lemur-like circles around my eyes. Yes!
(After getting into my car and looking in the rearview mirror) Crap! That new eye brightener and concealer I just bought at Ulta really does NOT cover up those lemur-like circles around my eyes. Sigh...I am not sure that anything short of a mask can cover those bad boys.
That 3 mile half run/walk means I can eat pepperoni pizza and drink coke, right?
While thinking about all I have eaten today: No wonder I can't lose that last 8 pounds.
_______________________________________________________________________________
These are just a sample of my random thoughts over the course of the day. I have forgotten many. Maybe I should start writing them down. Hmmmm......
Oh, I guess I better fill y'all in on the whole culvert ramping one, huh? It was a part of my day that made it a little interesting and provided quite a few people with some laughs. (Yes, I am talking about you Mike, Brent, Jessie, and Nikki :)
While I was out running errands today at lunch I jumped the culvert between McGraw-Webb's used lot and Travis's. I really did not even give it another thought until Jessie called me about it. She was checking to make sure my car was OK. I didn't even know what she was talking about. I think I may have asked Why? Then said something to the extent of I didn't have a wreck. Not too sure about the details. Jessie, you may have to help fill me in. I was quite confused about why this was even being asked. She then said that she had heard I jumped the culvert. Oh, yeah, I did. I told her it wasn't a big deal, I had not even remembered doing it. The reason I accidentally ran off into the culvert was because I remembered I had to go to The Pig and had just passed it so I quickly whipped into the used lot to do the loop around through Travis's. While turning in on two wheels, my drink tipped over and I quickly looked down at it and ran right into the culvert. (Don't worry guys, the babies were NOT in the car with me :) It didn't even slow me down, though. I just kept on trucking, bouncing right along. It did make a pretty awful noise though. So I park at Travis's, run around the passenger side to pick up my drink and head on over to The Pig to get some much needed Ritz crackers and bananas. I didn't even give it a second thought.
So when Jessie already had heard about it and called me about it, I was pretty surprised. I know word travels fast in Camden but sheesh! Turns out Mike and Brent at SAG saw the whole thing and told Jessie about it. Apparently most people who run into it get stuck and damage their car. Hmmm, I must be a good driver ;)
My car did not get any damage from running in the culvert....
My cup runneth over!
~Shana~
Today was a DAY. A long day full of poop, throw up, and boogers.
Wednesdays are a stay-at-home-Mom day. Lawson usually has 3Pre-K but since it is spring break and we had such a long night, he stayed home as well.
I will now list some of the thoughts that popped into my head today randomly.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage and/or trauma you may gain from reading this. My thoughts can be kind of scary.
Consider yourself warned........
Whoever invented Boogie Wipes is a freakin' genius
Is it THAT bad if I let my toddler eat a mix of Ritz, Nilla Wafers, and Cheese Puffs for lunch? I mean Cheese Puffs do have cheese in them, that is one of the food groups
When did I start considering it a good day if I didn't get thrown up on, peed on, or pooped on?
Just how much snot can one tiny little nose contain? Jeez!
When will my Husband be home? (While looking out the window every 2 minutes)
Who knew that a 3 year old could work a Kindle better than I can?
How did that giant puddle of liquid on the floor in the hall get there? What is it?
Why is the half of a Nilla Wafer I just stuck in my mouth SO soggy?
I said this out loud, to which Lawson replied that he and Baby Brother were sharing and that Baby Brother sucked on it and then put it back in the box. Great.
How many times will I have to clean up throw up today?
If I have to hear the Bubble Guppies theme song one more time I may scream.
Since when did ramping a culvert get to be such a big deal? I mean, I didn't get stuck or anything.
It can't be good to drink so much coffee that you are shaking, can it?
Drinking a glass of wine following a run is considered rehydrating right? I mean it is fluid.
Maybe if I don't eat lunch I can even out all the calories I have consumed before lunch through Coke, coffee with lots of sugar, and straight-out-of-the-box Lucky Charms.
Running a half mile and then walking the other half is almost running the whole thing, right?!
(Sadly, I know this is not at all true, but I had to make myself feel better at the time)
(While looking in the bathroom mirror) Hey, that new eye brightener and concealer I bought at Ulta really covers those lemur-like circles around my eyes. Yes!
(After getting into my car and looking in the rearview mirror) Crap! That new eye brightener and concealer I just bought at Ulta really does NOT cover up those lemur-like circles around my eyes. Sigh...I am not sure that anything short of a mask can cover those bad boys.
That 3 mile half run/walk means I can eat pepperoni pizza and drink coke, right?
While thinking about all I have eaten today: No wonder I can't lose that last 8 pounds.
_______________________________________________________________________________
These are just a sample of my random thoughts over the course of the day. I have forgotten many. Maybe I should start writing them down. Hmmmm......
Oh, I guess I better fill y'all in on the whole culvert ramping one, huh? It was a part of my day that made it a little interesting and provided quite a few people with some laughs. (Yes, I am talking about you Mike, Brent, Jessie, and Nikki :)
While I was out running errands today at lunch I jumped the culvert between McGraw-Webb's used lot and Travis's. I really did not even give it another thought until Jessie called me about it. She was checking to make sure my car was OK. I didn't even know what she was talking about. I think I may have asked Why? Then said something to the extent of I didn't have a wreck. Not too sure about the details. Jessie, you may have to help fill me in. I was quite confused about why this was even being asked. She then said that she had heard I jumped the culvert. Oh, yeah, I did. I told her it wasn't a big deal, I had not even remembered doing it. The reason I accidentally ran off into the culvert was because I remembered I had to go to The Pig and had just passed it so I quickly whipped into the used lot to do the loop around through Travis's. While turning in on two wheels, my drink tipped over and I quickly looked down at it and ran right into the culvert. (Don't worry guys, the babies were NOT in the car with me :) It didn't even slow me down, though. I just kept on trucking, bouncing right along. It did make a pretty awful noise though. So I park at Travis's, run around the passenger side to pick up my drink and head on over to The Pig to get some much needed Ritz crackers and bananas. I didn't even give it a second thought.
So when Jessie already had heard about it and called me about it, I was pretty surprised. I know word travels fast in Camden but sheesh! Turns out Mike and Brent at SAG saw the whole thing and told Jessie about it. Apparently most people who run into it get stuck and damage their car. Hmmm, I must be a good driver ;)
My car did not get any damage from running in the culvert....
My cup runneth over!
~Shana~
One of these nights
Last night, Tuesday, was another one of those nights. It was rough. I somehow accomplished work, T-ball practice, and a run yesterday evening without falling asleep. Both boys were in bed and asleep by 9. Praise! I decided not to do my usual cleaning routine before bed and opted to just read and go to sleep. It was nice.
My cleaning routine before bed is usually just enough to keep the living room and kitchen from being labeled a danger zone. It is nice because I can actually pick up the toys and put them away while they boys are asleep and they will stay that way until the morning. I will run the dishwasher and put in a load of towels to wash while we are asleep, or supposed to be sleeping as it goes most of the time. I also have to clean up the highchair and sweep the floor because Garrison is very fond of eating everything off the floor. I kid you not, you can give that child a plate of something and he will immediately dump it on the floor and proceed to eat it from there. He just prefers it that way. What does it say about my cooking if he dumps it onto the dirty floor to add flavor?! If he is in his highchair, he does the same. Immediatley dumps it all out and throws the plate. I should really stop investing in those suction cup dishes and spill-proof bowls and just start putting all his food directly on the floor or highchair tray. It would really save time, money, and cut down on the dishes to wash.
Ok, sorry, I tend to get off on tangents and I am typing just as my thoughts occur in my head. Kind of scary, I know. I tend to ramble. I do have ADD, so please consider that. When I am mid conversation with you and see something that catches my attention and I just randomly change topic or quit talking entirely, I am not meaning to be rude. I just have zero attention span. I am very easily distracted. OK, dang, another tangent! Focus, Shana.
Warning: This talks a lot about throwing up so if you would prefer not to know, do not read below.
Back to the subject at hand. Everyone was asleep by 9 o'clock. It was great because I had a migraine. I had a glass of wine, read a little, and went to sleep. I passed out around 10 o'clock. At 11 o'clock Garrison wakes up screaming. When I get up, my head is pounding like full-force migraine mode. When I get a bad migraine I usually throw up and this one was no exception. I try to get screaming Garrison calmed down and rock him, all the while gagging repeatedly. He continues to scream like he is hurting so we keep rocking. Then it happens, he throws up on me, twice. This is how I know I am truly a Mother: I am so nauseous and gagging repeatedly but his throwing up did not affect me. It didn't trigger a puking rally on my part. I am slightly worried that this makes me a little proud. What has happened to me?
So we continued to rock, he continued to scream, and I continued to gag. I had somewhat successfully cleaned the throw up off my shirt, but am ashamed to admit that I did not change it. My head was hurting too badly to move much. Plus his screaming in my ear wasn't helping the pounding in my head. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I went and got Chuck, threw up repeatedly, and then took a Phinergan. I felt so horrible. After that kicked in, I don't remember much. I remember Chuck telling me he was taking Garrison riding around to calm him down and I laid down. That is all she wrote.....If I did wake up when Chuck came back home, I don't remember it. Poor Chuck had to get up for work at 5 AM and he ended up having to drive Garrison around from 1 o'clock until 3 o'clock. He said that every time he would pull out of the driveway Garrison would fall asleep so he would ride for a little while. Then when he came back home he would try to get him out of the seat but he would wake up and start screaming again. So he tried to sleep in the car for a little while. He said once he finally got GW in bed for good, that Lawson woke up. The poor guy never went to sleep again after 1 o'clock.
Of course, in my innermost thoughts (and apparently now not-so innermost since I am blogging it) I was a little glad that he experienced what I had been doing for the past few nights and for many months while I was breastfeeding Garrison and he was suffering with Reflux. Of course during those times Chuck was the one who was getting up with Lawson, who still gets up once or twice a night most of the time. How horrible of me, huh?
I am truly blessed with a wonderful, helpful, generous Husband who is willing to do it all.
He helps clean, he helps cook, he does laundry, he bathes babies, he gets up at night with them, but most of all, he loves us all so much and shows it in all that he does. (most of the time ;)
Because I am so blessed,
My cup runneth over!
~Shana~
My cleaning routine before bed is usually just enough to keep the living room and kitchen from being labeled a danger zone. It is nice because I can actually pick up the toys and put them away while they boys are asleep and they will stay that way until the morning. I will run the dishwasher and put in a load of towels to wash while we are asleep, or supposed to be sleeping as it goes most of the time. I also have to clean up the highchair and sweep the floor because Garrison is very fond of eating everything off the floor. I kid you not, you can give that child a plate of something and he will immediately dump it on the floor and proceed to eat it from there. He just prefers it that way. What does it say about my cooking if he dumps it onto the dirty floor to add flavor?! If he is in his highchair, he does the same. Immediatley dumps it all out and throws the plate. I should really stop investing in those suction cup dishes and spill-proof bowls and just start putting all his food directly on the floor or highchair tray. It would really save time, money, and cut down on the dishes to wash.
Ok, sorry, I tend to get off on tangents and I am typing just as my thoughts occur in my head. Kind of scary, I know. I tend to ramble. I do have ADD, so please consider that. When I am mid conversation with you and see something that catches my attention and I just randomly change topic or quit talking entirely, I am not meaning to be rude. I just have zero attention span. I am very easily distracted. OK, dang, another tangent! Focus, Shana.
Warning: This talks a lot about throwing up so if you would prefer not to know, do not read below.
Back to the subject at hand. Everyone was asleep by 9 o'clock. It was great because I had a migraine. I had a glass of wine, read a little, and went to sleep. I passed out around 10 o'clock. At 11 o'clock Garrison wakes up screaming. When I get up, my head is pounding like full-force migraine mode. When I get a bad migraine I usually throw up and this one was no exception. I try to get screaming Garrison calmed down and rock him, all the while gagging repeatedly. He continues to scream like he is hurting so we keep rocking. Then it happens, he throws up on me, twice. This is how I know I am truly a Mother: I am so nauseous and gagging repeatedly but his throwing up did not affect me. It didn't trigger a puking rally on my part. I am slightly worried that this makes me a little proud. What has happened to me?
So we continued to rock, he continued to scream, and I continued to gag. I had somewhat successfully cleaned the throw up off my shirt, but am ashamed to admit that I did not change it. My head was hurting too badly to move much. Plus his screaming in my ear wasn't helping the pounding in my head. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I went and got Chuck, threw up repeatedly, and then took a Phinergan. I felt so horrible. After that kicked in, I don't remember much. I remember Chuck telling me he was taking Garrison riding around to calm him down and I laid down. That is all she wrote.....If I did wake up when Chuck came back home, I don't remember it. Poor Chuck had to get up for work at 5 AM and he ended up having to drive Garrison around from 1 o'clock until 3 o'clock. He said that every time he would pull out of the driveway Garrison would fall asleep so he would ride for a little while. Then when he came back home he would try to get him out of the seat but he would wake up and start screaming again. So he tried to sleep in the car for a little while. He said once he finally got GW in bed for good, that Lawson woke up. The poor guy never went to sleep again after 1 o'clock.
Of course, in my innermost thoughts (and apparently now not-so innermost since I am blogging it) I was a little glad that he experienced what I had been doing for the past few nights and for many months while I was breastfeeding Garrison and he was suffering with Reflux. Of course during those times Chuck was the one who was getting up with Lawson, who still gets up once or twice a night most of the time. How horrible of me, huh?
I am truly blessed with a wonderful, helpful, generous Husband who is willing to do it all.
He helps clean, he helps cook, he does laundry, he bathes babies, he gets up at night with them, but most of all, he loves us all so much and shows it in all that he does. (most of the time ;)
Because I am so blessed,
My cup runneth over!
~Shana~
Slightly was an over statement...
Tuesday, March 20
Per the title, in regards to the ending of my first post, slightly was definitely an over statement. I literally slept half an hour this morning. So far, I am good.
So, it is a new day, a new blog post and time to get going...however, I am not sure that I won't fall asleep mid sentence or while standing up. Sorry Boss, I can't make any promises. Please keep in mind if you see me out and about today that no, I do not have black eyes, no Chuck does not beat me. I simply have under eye circles that could rival the dark side of the moon, or perhaps just a lemur.
Poor Garrison is so sick. The only way to keep him from crying was to sit up and hold him while he slept. If he cried, he would start with a coughing fit and cough until he would gag. Bless him!
While this year is only a drop in the bucket compared to how many times we went to see Dr. D or Dr. M last year with Lawson's 10 cases of strep and Garrison's multiple ear infections keeping us there constantly, I do feel like Dr. D and Dr. M are some of my closest friends because we see each other so regularly. Yesterday I even told Nurse June, who is the phone nurse at Partners In Pediatrics, that I felt like she and I were best friends we talked so regularly. I always call her and run the symptoms by her to see if Dr. D wants to see us. She usually does. I am starting to think they might be suspicious of me with how often I call and how often they are sick. I am expecting Child Services to show up at my door any day now.
To sum up the last 5 weeks, we have been to the pediatrician's office in Montgomery at least once every week. It started with a nasty case of congestion for both boys. Then Lawson had croup. The next week we went back for Lawson who had a sinus infection. After 5 days on the antibiotic, Lawson was worse. So two weeks ago we went back to see Dr. D. I loaded up both boys and off we went for what felt like the hundredth time. Dr. D looked at both boys. Both had bronchitis. So they each got script for Cefdinir, the really fun antibiotic that I will be sure to describe after this. So they both started taking it on Wednesday. By Saturday night, Garrison had only gotten worse. He started running a fever of 100-101, cried, coughed and gagged until 5 A.M. Sunday. The fever, cough, congestion, and trouble breathing all stuck around which landed us right back in the Dr.'s office Monday. Poor little GW had developed an upper respiratory infection with croup. So now we have a steroid added to the mix.
NOTE: For those who do not want to read all about baby poop, dirty diapers, and all that is entailed by it, please skip ahead to the next post. Don't worry, I completely understand.
For those who have had children and know that you talk about poop way more than you ever used to on a regular basis, read on .
For those who haven't had children but aren't bothered by a little poop talk, thanks! For some reason babies and poop just go together....
WARNING: Lots of talk of baby poo below
OK, I gave you fair warning, go ahead........
Now, to tell you all about Cefdinir. While it is a wonderful antibiotic and one of the only ones that will actually touch Lawson's illnesses, it is sort of a tool of the devil.
It absolutely causes the most poop-splosions, blow outs and tummy aches of any antibiotic my kids have taken. However, that is not all it does. It also causes their poop to be a nice reddish/maroon/fuchsia color. If I did not have prior warning from the Doc before starting it, I am almost certain I would have taken Lawson to the ER in a panic. Something would have to be very wrong with one's digestive system for their poo-poo to be this color naturally.
So, not only do we have lovely up-the-back, down-the-legs poop-splosions from Garrison but they are maroon and super hard to clean up.
While on this subject, I may as well tell y'all the little anecdote from Saturday night that I didn't include in the above. It is kind of detailed and gross. Don't say I didn't warn you....
Picture this: It is midnight and Lawson and Chuck have been asleep since 9 and 10, respectively. I am still up with all-nighter Garrison who is fussy and refuses to go to sleep and is ill in general (As a side note here, I am the world's worst at cry-it-out). So he and I are watching The Rock. Great educational, parenting, I know. Well, Garrison has a poopsplosion followed by two more back to back. Yikes! It was quite a mess.So I take him into his room to commence the clean up. It was quite worse than I expected. The inside of his PJ pants was covered as well as his legs. It was even all the way up to his belly button. While I have his legs pulled up over his head he decides to start grabbing at the toys on his hutch above the changing station. He pulls down Mr. Monkey the wonderful smelling stuffed animal that the Henderson girls gave him at his first shower. Poor Mr. Monk (yes that is what we named him) then did a nose dive straight into the dirty diaper. ( Sorry to have to tell you like this, Lindsey. Don't worry, I cleaned him up. He may never smell quite the same again, though :) Sigh. I grab Mr. Monk and throw him out of the way onto a towel. While I am trying to save poor Mr. Monk, Garrison has kicked his feet all into the dirty diaper and stuck his hands down in it. Ahhhhh! I frantically try to clean his hands before he has a chance to stick them in his mouth, on his face, or in his hair. Been there, done that, DO NOT want to go back. His feet are steadily kicking all around and smearing it all over the changing pad.There is poop everywhere. On the changing pad, on the hutch, on the floor, on me, on him, on poor old Mr. Monk, who was just an innocent bystander in the ordeal. I grab the camera-end of the video monitor and start whisper-yelling "Chuck, Chuck" into it in hopes that he can come help save any thing/one else from being contaminated. I mean, there are still several special stuffed animals on the hutch in harm's way.
No response. I wait another minute all the while using 110 wipes to try and keep GW from getting poop on his face or in his mouth... No steps coming down the hall. I proceed to grab the camera and yell (no whisper in this one) into it. "Chuck, wake up!" Nothing, silence. So I stick my face into the camera part and somewhat quietly, so I don't wake Lawson, yell repeatedly and keep up the steady stream of wiping every surface. It was all in vain. Chuck never stirred. I ended up cleaning it all without any more casualties to war but I may have gone through half a box of wipes in the process.
In the end, Garrison and I were up until 5 o'clock Sunday morning. On the plus side, Chuck repaid me for the poop incident by making it possible for me to sleep until 10:30. Yay!
My cup definitely runneth over!
~Shana~
Per the title, in regards to the ending of my first post, slightly was definitely an over statement. I literally slept half an hour this morning. So far, I am good.
So, it is a new day, a new blog post and time to get going...however, I am not sure that I won't fall asleep mid sentence or while standing up. Sorry Boss, I can't make any promises. Please keep in mind if you see me out and about today that no, I do not have black eyes, no Chuck does not beat me. I simply have under eye circles that could rival the dark side of the moon, or perhaps just a lemur.
Poor Garrison is so sick. The only way to keep him from crying was to sit up and hold him while he slept. If he cried, he would start with a coughing fit and cough until he would gag. Bless him!
While this year is only a drop in the bucket compared to how many times we went to see Dr. D or Dr. M last year with Lawson's 10 cases of strep and Garrison's multiple ear infections keeping us there constantly, I do feel like Dr. D and Dr. M are some of my closest friends because we see each other so regularly. Yesterday I even told Nurse June, who is the phone nurse at Partners In Pediatrics, that I felt like she and I were best friends we talked so regularly. I always call her and run the symptoms by her to see if Dr. D wants to see us. She usually does. I am starting to think they might be suspicious of me with how often I call and how often they are sick. I am expecting Child Services to show up at my door any day now.
To sum up the last 5 weeks, we have been to the pediatrician's office in Montgomery at least once every week. It started with a nasty case of congestion for both boys. Then Lawson had croup. The next week we went back for Lawson who had a sinus infection. After 5 days on the antibiotic, Lawson was worse. So two weeks ago we went back to see Dr. D. I loaded up both boys and off we went for what felt like the hundredth time. Dr. D looked at both boys. Both had bronchitis. So they each got script for Cefdinir, the really fun antibiotic that I will be sure to describe after this. So they both started taking it on Wednesday. By Saturday night, Garrison had only gotten worse. He started running a fever of 100-101, cried, coughed and gagged until 5 A.M. Sunday. The fever, cough, congestion, and trouble breathing all stuck around which landed us right back in the Dr.'s office Monday. Poor little GW had developed an upper respiratory infection with croup. So now we have a steroid added to the mix.
NOTE: For those who do not want to read all about baby poop, dirty diapers, and all that is entailed by it, please skip ahead to the next post. Don't worry, I completely understand.
For those who have had children and know that you talk about poop way more than you ever used to on a regular basis, read on .
For those who haven't had children but aren't bothered by a little poop talk, thanks! For some reason babies and poop just go together....
WARNING: Lots of talk of baby poo below
OK, I gave you fair warning, go ahead........
Now, to tell you all about Cefdinir. While it is a wonderful antibiotic and one of the only ones that will actually touch Lawson's illnesses, it is sort of a tool of the devil.
It absolutely causes the most poop-splosions, blow outs and tummy aches of any antibiotic my kids have taken. However, that is not all it does. It also causes their poop to be a nice reddish/maroon/fuchsia color. If I did not have prior warning from the Doc before starting it, I am almost certain I would have taken Lawson to the ER in a panic. Something would have to be very wrong with one's digestive system for their poo-poo to be this color naturally.
So, not only do we have lovely up-the-back, down-the-legs poop-splosions from Garrison but they are maroon and super hard to clean up.
While on this subject, I may as well tell y'all the little anecdote from Saturday night that I didn't include in the above. It is kind of detailed and gross. Don't say I didn't warn you....
Picture this: It is midnight and Lawson and Chuck have been asleep since 9 and 10, respectively. I am still up with all-nighter Garrison who is fussy and refuses to go to sleep and is ill in general (As a side note here, I am the world's worst at cry-it-out). So he and I are watching The Rock. Great educational, parenting, I know. Well, Garrison has a poopsplosion followed by two more back to back. Yikes! It was quite a mess.So I take him into his room to commence the clean up. It was quite worse than I expected. The inside of his PJ pants was covered as well as his legs. It was even all the way up to his belly button. While I have his legs pulled up over his head he decides to start grabbing at the toys on his hutch above the changing station. He pulls down Mr. Monkey the wonderful smelling stuffed animal that the Henderson girls gave him at his first shower. Poor Mr. Monk (yes that is what we named him) then did a nose dive straight into the dirty diaper. ( Sorry to have to tell you like this, Lindsey. Don't worry, I cleaned him up. He may never smell quite the same again, though :) Sigh. I grab Mr. Monk and throw him out of the way onto a towel. While I am trying to save poor Mr. Monk, Garrison has kicked his feet all into the dirty diaper and stuck his hands down in it. Ahhhhh! I frantically try to clean his hands before he has a chance to stick them in his mouth, on his face, or in his hair. Been there, done that, DO NOT want to go back. His feet are steadily kicking all around and smearing it all over the changing pad.There is poop everywhere. On the changing pad, on the hutch, on the floor, on me, on him, on poor old Mr. Monk, who was just an innocent bystander in the ordeal. I grab the camera-end of the video monitor and start whisper-yelling "Chuck, Chuck" into it in hopes that he can come help save any thing/one else from being contaminated. I mean, there are still several special stuffed animals on the hutch in harm's way.
No response. I wait another minute all the while using 110 wipes to try and keep GW from getting poop on his face or in his mouth... No steps coming down the hall. I proceed to grab the camera and yell (no whisper in this one) into it. "Chuck, wake up!" Nothing, silence. So I stick my face into the camera part and somewhat quietly, so I don't wake Lawson, yell repeatedly and keep up the steady stream of wiping every surface. It was all in vain. Chuck never stirred. I ended up cleaning it all without any more casualties to war but I may have gone through half a box of wipes in the process.
In the end, Garrison and I were up until 5 o'clock Sunday morning. On the plus side, Chuck repaid me for the poop incident by making it possible for me to sleep until 10:30. Yay!
My cup definitely runneth over!
~Shana~
Monday, March 19, 2012
Jumping on the bandwagon...
So, I have decided to start blogging. I realize my life is so very average and boring to most, but I have had a few people tell me I should blog to tell my everyday-life stories. Thank you Miss Cynthia and Miss Teresa. I really appreciate the fact that y'all think we are interesting!
I decided on the title My Cup Runneth Over because it is one of my absolute favorite scriptures.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (Psalm 23:5)
It means so much and can really be applied to many things in my life. I have been blessed with infinitely more than I deserve.
This is a fun way to count my blessings, recount some of our daily happenings, vent, muse, keep friends and family up to date, and maybe even share an idea or two.
I plan to not only tell our stories and document some of the more interesting points of our lives as a family, but also to post interesting things I come across. My greatest joy is my family, but I also have other passions and interests. I love fashion and makeup, party planning, and have recently started to really get into baking. I will also include some diet and exercise as it is a necessary evil at this stage of my life. IE after having two huge Tait babies and still having 10 pounds left to lose to get back to pre-pregnancy weight.
Each day brings something new for the Tait household. Between all three of my guys, I stay quite busy and quite entertained. So here goes nothing....Please feel free to quit reading if there is nothing of interest for you here. This is mainly to keep a record of our day-to-day life and occurences so that I will not forget it all. As I plan to explain in my next post, I firmly believe that Mothers are programmed to "forget" most of the negatives of raising little ones and years later, only remember good, happy memories for the most part. I think God knew exactly what He was doing when making us Mothers, because how else would people ever have more than one child?!
No, but seriously, ask any other Mother out there if it is a piece of cake and all sunshine and rainbows and she will tell you no. If she doesn't, she is either lying or trying to convince herself. However, the good times far outweigh the bad! Of course, I could be being a little negative right now as it is three A.M. and I am still awake with a sick 11 month old and I have to go to work tomorrow followed by 5K training and the first day of Lawson's T-ball practice. Sigh....I will get back to you on that tomorrow when I am slightly, and I do mean SLIGHTLY, more rested.....
However, my cup ALWAYS runneth over!
~Shana~
I decided on the title My Cup Runneth Over because it is one of my absolute favorite scriptures.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (Psalm 23:5)
It means so much and can really be applied to many things in my life. I have been blessed with infinitely more than I deserve.
This is a fun way to count my blessings, recount some of our daily happenings, vent, muse, keep friends and family up to date, and maybe even share an idea or two.
I plan to not only tell our stories and document some of the more interesting points of our lives as a family, but also to post interesting things I come across. My greatest joy is my family, but I also have other passions and interests. I love fashion and makeup, party planning, and have recently started to really get into baking. I will also include some diet and exercise as it is a necessary evil at this stage of my life. IE after having two huge Tait babies and still having 10 pounds left to lose to get back to pre-pregnancy weight.
Each day brings something new for the Tait household. Between all three of my guys, I stay quite busy and quite entertained. So here goes nothing....Please feel free to quit reading if there is nothing of interest for you here. This is mainly to keep a record of our day-to-day life and occurences so that I will not forget it all. As I plan to explain in my next post, I firmly believe that Mothers are programmed to "forget" most of the negatives of raising little ones and years later, only remember good, happy memories for the most part. I think God knew exactly what He was doing when making us Mothers, because how else would people ever have more than one child?!
No, but seriously, ask any other Mother out there if it is a piece of cake and all sunshine and rainbows and she will tell you no. If she doesn't, she is either lying or trying to convince herself. However, the good times far outweigh the bad! Of course, I could be being a little negative right now as it is three A.M. and I am still awake with a sick 11 month old and I have to go to work tomorrow followed by 5K training and the first day of Lawson's T-ball practice. Sigh....I will get back to you on that tomorrow when I am slightly, and I do mean SLIGHTLY, more rested.....
However, my cup ALWAYS runneth over!
~Shana~
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