The 4th and there after

So, it's Thursday and I really meant to post this sooner. Seems to be a theme, eh? Last Thursday was 4th of July. Cody asked to take the kids all day to the family get-together his family was having, so I was on my own. After I dried my eyes, Jacob came over and we knocked out a ton of house work. How exciting is that?!  Ha. I got the house scrubbed on the inside while he mowed, fertilized, and hand watered the yard. Then we washed my car, vacuumed in and under the couch (holy moly, that had never been done in the 10 years I've had the couch), and went over to Mom and Dad's for dinner. After we ate, he was wiped out, so he went home and I met up with friends for fireworks.

 

The next night we celebrated Ashley's birthday. She left for vacation on Saturday and has been gone all week, so we had to do it before she left. Dinner at Blue Goose...

 (stole this from the Instagram picture she posted)

with a little entertainment of watching the kids play in the fountains.
 

 Look at the pure joy on my girl's face! *sigh*

 And how happy my boy is!

 

Saturday morning we ate a leisurely breakfast and then headed to the pool. We had the run of the place for 2 hours! They were cracking me up. Luke is now obsessed with going underwater with his goggles, and Evan would not stop belly flopping into the pool. I'm convinced small children have a much higher pain tolerance than we give them credit for. At one point Evie girl decided to take a break from swimming and sunbathe a little. You will never have to convince me that girls are just born knowing how to be girls.

 

Always wants to do what Bubba does.

 

Sunday morning Shae had toddler room duty during service, and she sent me this photo. APPARENTLY Evan pulled all the chairs into a line by herself, then got all of her friends to join her in the "choo choo". Have I mentioned I'm in trouble with that one? And that I'm about to give her a little minion all her own?

 

The rest of Sunday we spent at home (I think...nothing comes to mind) (maybe we went grocery shopping....) and all of this week we've been able to lay low in the evenings.  It's been a welcome relief. Thursdays are the day that Mom keeps the kids this summer, so I got this in a text this morning:

 

 Lucky ducks.

Oh. And one final picture. You never have to wonder where my sweet girl has been. Apparently Baby needed some reading material in the bathroom.

You are 5

My precious boy. Last Sunday you turned 5, and I just couldn't believe it.  I remember when you were born thinking that 5 seemed so far away, that I just couldn't picture my perfect baby as a 5 year old BOY, and that surely it would take forever to get here.

Yet here we are, and I'm pretty sure that was yesterday. 

 

These last 5 years have completely changed my life in every single aspect. You have taught me to be patient (okay, maybe I'm still learning). You have taught me to love something greater than myself. You have taught me unbridled joy and true delight. I can't imagine my life without buckets full of Hot Wheels, air planes, and having train books memorized. Where would I be without my daily "What fast cars did you see today?" "Did you see any trains?" "What kind of plane is your favorite?" questions? I can guarantee that at any given moment I have a small car within arm's reach- they are in my purse. They are in the couch. They sometimes appear in my pillow at night.

 

You are my independent boy who doesn't need much. You are, as always, so content to play on your own, do your own thing, not worry about the crowd around you. Every now and then I see the pang of disappointment of being left out, which tears at my heart, but you are so quick to move on and do what you want to do. I have always been able to let you be, never needing to hover or be untrusting.

 

The down side to your "I'll just do my thing" attitude? The respect issue. Oh my love. I couldn't love you more, but sometimes your attitude and your level respect is something left to be desired. Don't worry, we work on it constantly. And I tell you that the reason I want you to try it again is so that you will grow up to be a good, kind, and respectful man. That's always been my second biggest prayer for you (first, being that you always follow your Lord and let Him lead your life to things so much bigger than you).

 

 

So what are you up to? Well, you love to have conversations. I figured when I was so adamant about getting you speech therapy when you were 2 it would come back to bite me, and sure enough, here we are. You still love your planes, trains, and automobiles, and you are learning to love swimming (mostly the "going under water" part). You are 39ish lbs last I heard (I'm not taking you or your sister for your well checks until I'm on maternity leave in October) and while technically you could be starting kindergarten in the fall, I've prayerfully decided to hold you back another year. You'll be starting Jr. Kindergarten at LCS in the fall, and every single person I've told has told me it's not a decision I'll ever regret. I hope that one day you'll realized that having an extra year to grow and mature, to not be the very youngest in your class, was a gift.

 

Another thing about the fall- you get another little sister. I've loved watching you interact with Evan. Sometimes ya'll fight (okay, a lot of times) but sometimes you are so sweet. You actually really enjoy engaging her, playing chase or tools or games with her. You seek her out and include her. You watch out for her (even when she gets frustrated from not understanding and gets mad!) and you even share with her on occasion. Evan and Elyse are so very lucky to have you on their side, you to call big brother.

I love you babe.

More than you will ever know. You are my first born, my only son, my little man. Thank you for being you.

Special day and Luke's actual birthday

I think I'm almost done catching up! Last I left off was the kids' joint birthday party, which was Thursday the 26th. Friday night skipped out on small group (eek!) to go watch Jacob play soccer. I thought maybe seeing an actual game would change Luke's mind about playing tee ball again, but later when I asked which one he'd pick, he stuck with tee ball. Although, one of the players did come talk to him after the game, and he were quick to tell them he'd played soccer before. Ha!

 Getting the day started with muffins at Corner Bakery

Saturday morning (the 29th) was the start of Luke and I's special day to make up for the one he thought he was getting that past Monday he actually had surgery on. We dropped Evan off at Mom and Dad's about 8:30, then headed to his favorite new place to eat breakfast- Corner Bakery.

 fountains outside of Corner Bakery

After CB we walked around the fountains for a few minutes before heading off to catch a train. Didn't have any real schedule or place to go, but he's been begging to ride trains for forever, so a train we rode. We caught the A-train to Carrollton, then got off and switched to the Greenline train up to the next stop. We got off, walked around Old Town Carrollton for a little while, going in shops. I promise this is what he wanted to do! We did find this little rock shop. That was fun. I was obsessed with rocks as a kid, so it was fun to watch him pour over a little geology. Then we went back to the train station and just rode the train to ride it, before finally turning around and heading home.

(fountains, wanting to get down on the track so bad, me and my boy riding the train, and watching the world go by)

The only problem with coming home was we were going to have to wait an hour and half for the A-train to come back and take us to our car once we got back to the connecting station. So what's a girl to do when she's stranded? Call her daddy of course. Dad came and picked us up and took us back to the car so we could go swimming. We ran home, downed some PB&J's, then headed to the pool for an hour and a half. We had such limited time because Mom and I had already made the kids appointments to get their 2 and 5 year pictures made at 4/4:30.

(sonic drink after swimming!)

 

I had such a good day with my boy. Such a fun way to also get his 5th birthday celebration started. His actual birthday was the next day, Sunday. I'd wanted to make muffins for breakfast, his favorite, but had a total mom fail when I realized that morning I didn't have enough eggs. So I made a birthday exception and told him we could get dressed for church really fast and go get donuts. Get this. He said he'd rather just have a cereal bar. Yep. I'm doing something right!! Ha!

(putt putt with a 5 year old strongly resemble field hockey)

(he got stuck at the top, Ashley had to climb up and slide down with him. I just laughed)

(my girlie loved it all too)

 (Luke driving himself...)

  (and Luke riding with Nana. I couldn't do the go carts due to a certain little Lyssie-girl) 

We went to church, where his dad came early to pick him up. They went and had their time while we lunched and Evan napped, then it was time for family party! We went to Mom and Dad's for hamburgers, then to the go-cart place. We played putt putt, jumped in bounce houses, and he must have driven (and rode some) in the go carts at least 5 times. Then it was back to Mom and Dad's for cake and presents.

I THINK he had a good day!

24 weeks

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: size of an egg plant- about a foot long and a pound and a half

Total Weight Gain/Loss: At the dr's last Monday (oh! I forgot with all the oral surgery stuff that I'd also had my monthly dr appointment that day! Sheesh. They'd sent me home last month with the glucose drink, so I drank it that morning before we took Luke in so I could get my blood drawn, take him to surgery, then go to my appointment in the evening. When I called the office to tell them I'd downed the bottle and was headed in for my draw, the nurse told me it was too early. That it should have been for the NEXT appointment. I told her I had specifically asked about that because I had thought it was too early when they gave me the bottle. The nurse told me I could go ahead and come in and do the test, but if my dr said later that it was too early, then I'd have to redo the test. I said I'd rather just drink the juice twice than risk getting my blood drawn twice. See why I needed the party to go well?!?)...where was I? Oh yes. I weighed 121. *sigh*

Maternity Clothes: Yes. This is what happens when I put on my regular clothes.

 

Gender: Elyse Ann is on her way!
 

Movement: LOTS. She's become quite the active little thing. And it's strong enough now to be able to see- twitching bellies always make me smile. I love feeling her, and only a couple of times has it been to the point of uncomfortable.
   

Sleep: Not great, but mostly my fault. I can't seem to make myself get to bed earlier than 11, and then I wake up at least once to go to the bathroom and/or roll over in bed. I hardly feel rested any more.
 

What I miss: Not tooo much, and definitely not anything I can think of at the moment.

 

Cravings: Pizza! So cliché. So good. I let my kids indulge with me on Saturday ("in honor of Luke's birthday" I said) and wouldn't you know that Luke woke up with a stuffy nose. Maybe the no dairy IS helping.

 

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks, round ligament pains, and once I woke up dizzy. (is movement a symptom? I mean, it's not something that normally happens to me, and it is a tell tale sign there's a baby in there.) Oh, and the belly is quickly becoming a brick wall. Not really a symptom, but a pain all the same. Bending over to wash my face make my rib cage feel like it's breaking in half.

 

Best Moment this week: One day last week Luke and I were sitting on the couch. He suddenly told me that we needed to get a floaty boat to put Elyse in next summer so she can go swimming too. It made my momma heart so happy that he was already thinking of ways to incorporate his new sister into our family!

Birthday party gone wrong

Thursday night was Luke and Evan's joint party! (Luke's 5 year letter is to come. I'm behind. What can I say.) Yes. If you are keeping track, we went on vacation for a week, came home to oral surgery, which left me with Tuesday and Wednesday to plan a joint party. Her's is on the 1st, his is on the 30th, so ideally I would have liked to have had it more in the middle of the month, but the second week of June I was getting us ready to go out of town, the third week of June we were actually out of town, so baaaaaaaasically that left Thursday. 

I made lists.

I appointed tasks.

I thanked my lucky stars that my mother is out for the summer and so willing to help.

(half the kids and all the adults that came. you can barely see Tamara's elbow behind Joby, and Dad is taking the picture) (and who said black was slimming? :/ apparently not when you're pregnant)

Tuesday night while the kids were with their dad I did supplies shopping at Party City. Hot Wheels party gear for my boy, monkey party gear for my girl. He was THA-RILLED when he saw the stuff, and she has been loving the monkeys on her p.j's, so I thought that would be a fun theme for her.

 

Wednesday I left my card and a grocery list of hot dog supplies for Mom and she went for me during the day AND they (Mom and Dad) grilled the hot dogs that night.  Thursday day she made the cupcakes for me, since I'd decided to not skip church and take the kids to the fire station appreciation outreach they were doing instead of staying home to make them on Wednesday night.

Three weeks ago we had reserved the pool in my grandmother's neighborhood for the party (Luke's request) and I'd emailed the three families my kids are friends with the time and location. Party was to start at 6:30 Thursday night. Mom, Dad, the kids, and I rolled up to the pool about 6:15 to set the food up and be there before our friends arrive.

6:15 is when it all came crashing down. The pool was closed. The lady living next to it said that about 4 days prior someone had severely vandalized the pool. Glass everywhere, things torn down. The pool was drained, chairs were strewn about, and not one person had let us know to move the party.

Ya'll. I panicked. I wish I could say I was cool as a cucumber, but it was 100*, I'm pregnant, and after the week I'd had, I just needed it to be the one thing that went right.  Crying, I got on the phone. I knew the aquatic center we normally go to is closed on Thursdays for cleaning, so I checked the times of the other one. Closed for the night at 7. I called Cindy in tears and asked if we could come over to her neighborhood pool. She said she'd make some phone calls and call me back. I sent out texts to everyone to wait. 10 minutes later (in the heat) I made the executive decision to go back to my house. I hadn't heard back from Cindy, but I was hoping that we could at least eat and hear from her by the time we were done. Worst came to worst, I could turn on the sprinklers. Texted everyone the new plan, and not long after that we were assembled at the house. Luke was upset that we weren't swimming, but what could I do?

Thankfully about halfway through hot dogs Cindy called back. She couldn't get ahold of anyone to ask about the pool, and said we'd just ask for grace later. We ate our cupcakes then headed off to her neighborhood. By ten till 8 everyone was finally, FINALLY, in the water. We swam until 9:30, and fun was had by all. Luke saw his friends going under water and using goggles, so he finally worked up the courage to try it and he LOVED it. Cindy stayed with us, and even though she was fully dressed, Evan plopped her wet self down in her lap and not an eye was batted. Who could ask for a better babysitter?! She saved the day and loved on my sopping wet girl.

(oi. it took a lot of blue gel to get the icing that color. as was evident by all the boys' blue lips. which they remained for the rest of the night.)

Not the party I'd envisioned. Not anything either of them will remember. But they had fun with their friends, and that's all that counted. Not one person complained (Luke aside!), and Brandy even texted me later to tell me it was a great party. I'm so very thankful for the people in my life!

Oral surgery

So, a lot has happened in the little over a week since we've been home from the beach. That Friday morning we got up and went down to the beach one last time.  Evan really hated her life jacket the whole week, and since she didn't get in the water anyway, I didn't make her wear it.

 

Then we went inside for lunch, naps, and started packing. We didn't have to be out of the house until Saturday at 10, but Ashley had to work Saturday night and we were going to try our hand at driving all night again anway. We loaded up the car about 5:30, drove for an hour, stopped for dinner, then hit the road for real. Dad drove all night, stopping only once to get gas, and we were home Saturday morning at 5:30. Ashley put Evan straight in her bed where she slept for another hour. Luke played, and I was able to get us completely unpacked. By 7 we were starved for breakfast but, seeing as before we left I let the pantry and fridge run dry, we had nothing to eat. What's a little family to do?  Hit up Corner Bakery!

 

We were their first patrons for the day, and since it was only 7, the temps were still lovely from the night before and we could eat outside. After breakfast we headed across the street to restock our food storages, then headed home. By 9:30 I'd unpacked us, done all the laundry, taken us out to eat, and gone grocery shopping. Whew. The rest of the day was spent at home just being home.

Sunday came and went, and it seemed my sweet girl was still trying to get back on schedule. This was after church on our WAY to lunch. She hadn't even eaten yet.

 

I'm no fool. I knew that a 10 minute doze would equal a one hour nap in her bed, so I didn't make nap time start immediately when we got home from lunch. A little Veggie Tales was in order.

 

 

I'm glad that we were able to have the quiet weekend that we did, because Monday Luke had to have oral surgery. At the beginning of June, I took him to the dentist for his first ever cleaning, and also because I suspected a cavity. There was one molar that you could visibly see was missing a chunk out of it. Turns out he was missing a lot more- there were cavities in almost every tooth. In between and along the gum line. When I found out I was devastated. If you know my children, you know they are going to need counseling one day from the lack of things I allow them to eat. Halloween candy lasts until Easter. Easter candy generally gets mostly thrown out because it gets old. We don't snack a whole lot and anything besides milk or water to drink is reserved for only when we are out to eat. I've always put a big priority on making healthy choices, and Luke will be the first one to tell you if something will help you grow or if it's "just for fun" to eat. And there is no way that Luke ever lets me forget to brush his teeth. On the rare occasion that I have, he's gotten out of bed to come tell me we need to do it. Dude likes his routine.

 

Anyway. I felt like such a failure. I sat there in the dentist's office and cried as she told me everything. And due to the extensive need for work all at once, coupled with his asthma that would prevent normal sedation, he was going to have to be put under full anesthesia at a pediatric surgery center. The time was eventually set for Monday the 24th. Nice was to start real life after vacation, huh?

 

Luke came through it like a champ. I only cried a little bit when they wheeled him back. It took an hour longer than I thought it would. The anesthesia coupled with the narcotics made him sick afterwards, and I think the hardest part of the day was holding my starving baby off of food (then making him take it very very slowly when I did let him eat) so that his tummy would hold it down. The second hardest part of the day was before we even left. Their other grandmother always keeps the kids on Mondays, so she just came for Evan that morning and when they left, he was SO. EXCITED. that he was getting a special day with me. He kept asking "what are we going to do without Evan? It's our special day! I can play with my train table without her messing it up!" He loves his sister, but this was totally new. Ya'll. I still cry when I think about it. (don't worry. Saturday I made it up to him and we had our special day. more to come on that later)

 

Tuesday he was pretty much back to normal. He'd complain that his mouth hurt occasionally, he had sores in the crease of his mouth from it being propped open for so long. That afternoon Shae and Tamara took all the kids over to Cindy's to take him a "get well" treat. He felt so so special and it did my momma heart some good. Wednesday we went to dinner at Which Wich (his new favorite place!) and they insisted on eating at the children's table.

 

 

Elyse and I would not ever fit at that table, so we just sat next to them. My babies are leaving me all ready! :( That's one sucky thing about single parenting. As your children grow more independent, you are left alone more and more. (and it's only beginning)

(not sure when this was, but it was on my phone. I walked in to them playing under the crib. They'd dragged most of their toys under there. One is reading, one is "fixing" the bottom of the crib. I realize I've yet to post about their room redo's, but that's coming!)