one heck of a memory...

Being a mommy undoubtedly does something to the brain. I'm sure all my mommy friends would say amen to that one. Seriously, I used to be smart. I used to be able to speak without adding the "y" suffix to all my words. You know, "where's your shoeseys, your nosey is cold, I need a huggy from my buggy..." Come on, don't make me feel alone, you know you do it too! :-) I used to have a good memory. Now, sometimes I fear I'll forget my address or the way home. I can't remember what I need from the grocery once I get there - because of course I wrote a list, but forgot it at home..., I can't remember which of my kids' turn it is to ride in the "big boy booster seat...." the list goes on and on. One thing I'll never forget, however, is what happened on this exact day, one year ago...

December 22/23, 2011 is one day I'll never forget. I know, it's really two days, but you will see why in a second. Last year, on December 22, a Thursday night, I put my little man to sleep sans paci for the first time. He was a trooper and did really well without it, amazingly. Thought we were in the clear, until about 4 am when he woke up crying. I went to him and he wanted milk. Weird for him, but I gave him a drink of water anyway. Then I went back downstairs, only to be awakened again at about 4:30. Jonathan wanted another drink. Again, super weird for him. He was usually a really great sleeper. This time, when I was walking out of his room, he started to cough and choke. I went over to pat his little back when he started really choking and coughing and then throwing up. So I turned on the light to find the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life... my little guy had not just thrown up, HE HAD THROWN UP BLOOD - tons and tons and tons of blood.

Y'all, I flat out panicked. I yelled for Billy to get up there and call 911. I was holding him and we were both pretty much covered in blood when Billy got in there. The look in Billy's eyes is one that is forever etched in my mind... You see, Jonathan had his tonsils and adenoids removed 3 weeks prior to this and we were warned that bleeding could occur, but we thought we were out of the woods. I was terrified. I thought he was dying. It was seriously that much blood. So, he stopped coughing/choking and he was breathing okay so we got him undressed and changed. Billy was holding him and singing sweet soft songs to soothe him. In the meantime, I was a crazy person on the phone with our on call pediatrician and the ENT. Seriously, couldn't even figure out call waiting when one of them beeped in.

So, we called our dear friends Andy and Lisa, who came immediately to stay with Jacob who was sleeping peacefully, and drove straight to the ER. I think we were on autopilot or something. I mean - why in the world they have to ask all those crazy questions in the ER... I'll never know. They kept saying, "how much blood did he lose?" Really??? I have no freaking clue, but it's my baby and ANY blood is not okay is what I wanted to scream, but I just kept saying over and over again, "a lot. a lot. i don't know. a lot."

So, fast forward a little bit... they wheeled him away after giving him the silly juice because he needed more surgery. Apparently, his scar tissue had ruptured or something. At that moment, Billy and I collapsed in the waiting room chairs and both of us sobbed. He was out of surgery in literally 20 minutes and we got to be with him. He was fine. PRAISE THE LORD! He was an absolute terror, wild man after anesthesia, but we got to take him home shortly thereafter. His blood counts were so low, though that he almost needed a blood transfusion. So, to answer your questions you silly ER people (who were incredibly kind and awesome I must say!!!) see, I told you he lost a lot of blood. Almost enough to need a transfusion.

Anyway, that's why I'll never ever forget December 22 or December 23 for the rest of my life. He healed beautifully. Other than some severe sleep trauma, bless his heart, for a few months, he was and is perfectly fine. He still remembers it, and of course so do we.

Thank you Jesus for the incredible blessing of being a momma, the joys and the pains. Thank you Jesus for holding my sweet little Jonathan in your arms one year ago and keeping him safe. Thank you Jesus for the amazing friends and family that you surround us with daily. Thank you Jesus for somehow holding us in your arms, even when we can't stand on our own.



(pic has nothing to do with the post... just a cute shot of my sweeties with their pa on his birthday yesterday!) but... it's proof that God is good. All the time.

Maybe not me...

It's Monday and it must be random... right?
* I may have watched my child drop a pretzel stick on the floor at the mall and then pop it into his mouth. I almost threw up in my mouth...
* Three ornaments and two candles might have been broken in my house in the last week. Boys, anyone?
* I may have gone out on a date to a wedding with my hubby and our best friends this weekend, only to panic because what stay at home (almost) mommy has cute sexy clothes anymore?
* I may have smiled when I, on a whim, looked in the very back of my closet and found a little black dress that I wore when we first got married AND IT FIT. Heck, I may have even done a little victory dance in the mirror.
* I may have had to buy pantyhose at the last possible second for said wedding, because hello??? I don't get dolled up that often. And when I do, I MAY wear black pants and turtlenecks, which is my uniform it seems.
* I may have tried to trick my little man into telling me what his daddy got mommy for Christmas. I may have tried, but it sure didn't work. rats!
* I may be wasting time on the internet reading blogs when I.should.be.wrapping.presents. ahem!

Wordless Wednesday

Thank God for Imaginations!

One of the things I ask a new patient's parent when I see them for an assessment at work is "do they have imaginative play?" Imaginative play is developmentally appropriate starting at about 2 years and is almost 100% evidence that a child does not have and will not develop autism or other social communication disorders. I see a lot of kids with some really tough issues, so when I am home, I hug my babies a little tighter and say prayers of thanksgiving for their health!

One thing that warms my heart is the HUGE imagination my littles have. I mean HUGE doesn't even begin to describe it. I know I've posted about our fascination with costumes several times, but really... it's our most used childhood item. If we don't have a costume they want, we improvise. See????

Jacob and Jonathan created a play called "The Grinch meets Buzz Lightyear." We didn't have a Grinch costume, so we made one - sort of. Jacob was concerned that he didn't have any green pants so he thought we should tape some green paper on his legs. Such a cutie and such a great imagination. Oh, and "the Grinch meets Buzz?"... would totally be a hit. So if any movie studios stumble upon my little bloggy, hit me up. My boys are quite the screen writers. :-)

Introducing...

The head coach of your Simpsonville 5 year old team (name unknown yet), Billlllllyyyyy Stover. (said in my most perfect Rupp Arena announcer voice). Yep, I think my one of my hubby's dreams is coming true. He is coaching Jacob's first little basketball team. He had their first practice on Saturday. SO cute. Not sure how this whole thing's gonna work, honestly. Jacob would probably work harder for another coach, since he sometimes acts a little shy and goofy around us. Billy had fun though and so did Jacob! He's definitely a beginner though... despite Billy's love for basketball, we haven't spent much time playing ball with the boys. Stay tuned... the season starts in January. :-)

Just so I never forget...

There are some things that my kiddos do that I make a mental note and say, "you better write that down." Well, of course I forget to write it down most of the time. So here goes: here's a few things I never ever want to forget:
* Without fail, almost the first thing Jonathan says to daddy when he gets home from work is "Hi Daddy. Can I play your phone?"
* I have to try not to laugh at this one, but when one of them gets mad at the other, sometimes they call each other "mean bootie heads." It's so funny, but doggonit, we have a no name calling rule at our house, so I can't laugh.
* Both boys LOVE popcorn. They think it's the bomb-digity.
* Jacob is really into playing monopoly. Yes, he's only 5 and yes, he really knows how to play. He can even be the person totally in charge of handing out the properties. He can't read the chance cards, but he can count what he rolls on the dice and can count small amounts of money. Unbelievable!
* We have been working hard to make Jacob try some new foods. It's a battle, but in the last month, he has eaten ONE lima bean and one green bean and a bite of baked potato. Of course, he said they were "awful." (he tries more things than this at his babysitters, though...go figure.
* costumes are a way of life at our house - we have 2 superman, batman, robin, tigger, pooh, Mickey, Buzz, Woody, pirates, alien, and the list goes on and on. They wear them ever day. Seriously!
* They claim not to like Justin Bieber. We don't even talk about JB in our house.
* We got Jacob a PS3 Toy Story game for his birthday and they love it. Welp, I'll say that I THINK daddy likes it more.
* At least 50 times a day, I hear from Jonathan, "I need a little help."
* Jacob is sleeping like a rock star. Praise the Lord! We've been through a lot to get there, but it is awesome. Now, for the other little person in the bottom bunk - please start sleeping through the night again. Please??? You seem to be getting scared or something through the night. :(
* I get the privilege of keeping Charlie and Caden Gaither on Mondays. The four boys have a blast and are such good friends. Jacob is definitely the leader of this Motley Crew. Jonathan is very protective of Charlie. Whenever we go to the toy aisle at Walmart, he always wants to buy baby toys so "I can play with my friend Charlie."
* One of the classic Jonathanisms is "Gammy, I seep so good I have some chocate pooding?"

There's more, but I'll post later.

Halloween Happiness

It's a little late, but here's the scoop on our fun-filled Halloween festivities. I have such awesome memories from childhood. We always had tons of family time and got to hang out with my Pappaw. Halloween is proving to be much fun and we are starting some fun traditions of our own for our little family. So, here we go...

The worldly famous BUZZ LIGHTYEAR and his best pal WOODY



Making a few visits in the neighborhood - our favorite neighbors, Lisa-tales and Andy-tales!


Grammy and Pa came for the fun! (Jacob and Jonathan wanted them to dress up SO bad, so they did!)


A visit to Mamaw and Papaws too...



More to come later... this new internet makes uploading pictures excruciatingly slow. Uggh..

Courageous

Got to go on a date night with my hubby this Saturday - thanks to my awesome in-laws for doing kid duty for a couple of hours. We have been wanting to go see "Courageous" since it's opening a few weeks ago, but we just couldn't work it out. Until this weekend. Oh man - GO SEE IT!!!!!! Really - you won't be disappointed. We enjoyed Fireproof a few years ago by the same film company, so I was hopeful about this one as well. It.was.awesome! Pretty convicting too. The basic storyline of the movie is about 4 cops, trying to save the day... putting their all in at work and sometimes having little left to give at home. They were self-admittedly "good enough" fathers. Tragedy struck one of the families and he, through grief, started seeking the Lord and trying to understand what the Word says about being a dad. He wanted to be better than "good enough." I won't spoil all the movie plot (Seriously - you wanna go see this one!), but I will say that I was impacted greatly. It was full of laughs and serious (actually I cried several times!) parts. The first scene of the movie got my tears a rollin - this guy's car was hijacked at a gas station and the guy literally ran on foot, caught up with the truck and was dragged several hundred or more feet but eventually got hold of the wheel and made it crash into an embankment. Thought he was just a bad dude - but really, he was just concerned about his baby son in the backseat strapped into his car seat. Got me thinking about my kids. I would walk through fire so they wouldn't be harmed. I would die for them in an instant. But I can't imagine for anything willingly giving them up - but that's what God did for me. WOW!

This movie also made me insanely grateful for both my daddy and my hubby. My dad would have (and still would) done anything in the world for us. He loves us so much. I never doubted that. And my hubby??? What a blessing he is to me and to Jacob and Jonathan. I've posted before about how great he is as a daddy, but I will say again, Billy was made to be a dad. He's such a good role model for our boys. I really do hope they grow to be like him as he guides them toward God.

Anyway - getcha a babysitter and go see this one. You won't be disappointed.

Dear Jacob-man,

Well, a week without internet made me a little crazy, but oh well... I felt a little spoiled all week and each time I complained about having no internet service, God gently reminded me that I have MUCH to be thankful for. Anyway, we've been super busy around these parts. So much to update, I don't even know where to start. How about this... MY BABY TURNED FIVE!!!!! Last weekend, we celebrated like crazy with Mr. Jacob. Started with an awesome little field trip at preschool (how thankful am I that I have the flexibility to go with him??? - another post!).


Then a small cupcake party at his school.


Then, family palooza that evening.


Finally, Sunday, he had his first "school friend" party at All About Kids on Sunday. Mass chaos abounded, but I believe birthdays are the one day (or several days in our case) to really make a person feel special.




So, in honor of Jacob's big day, here's the most recent edition of letters to my boys...

Dear Jacob-man,
Oh how I love you. Five? Really??? Unbelievable. You are full of life and full of questions. You always want to know how "this works" or "why is it that way?" or "what did you say?" You don't miss a beat! You have the best memory of anyone on the planet. Seriously. You remember details about places we've been or things we've done... you even remember what people were wearing. You say the cutest things - for example, we were driving in Cave City this weekend and out your window you saw two deer. You said, "hey look, there's a big buck and his wife." Precious!!! You also love to write little messages all the time - they are treasures. You usually write "I love my mommy and daddy" or "I love Jonathan."

You are really into this new Disney CD you got for your birthday and especially love the song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - you are trying to master the words. You are still into all things superhero and even had a Superman party. Batman is still your favorite. Grammy and Pa got you and Jonathan Superman costumes and you wear them every.single.day. I'm so proud of you at school and church. Your teachers have nothing but good things to say about you - they say that you are super mature and are kind to your friends in your class. That warms my heart! You are doing great on your school work and love love love preschool. I love hanging out with you for field trips and special days at school. Mommy feels so blessed! You are sleeping like a rock star - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Still worried about your eating habits, but we are working hard on it. You started eating yogurt (yeah!) and after a battle, you actually ate a green bean tonight. :) We only want what's best for you, never forget that!

You love playing with your brother and isn't it way more fun than fighting with him? Try to remember that he is only 3 and he wants to be like you and with you all the time. He thinks you are awesome, and guess what... HE IS RIGHT!!!! you are awesome and I love you so much. I pray that you would continue to want to learn about Jesus and try to be like Him. I pray that you would be kind and patient and gentle and good. I pray that you are happy and healthy and that you have good friends who lead you to Christ! I already pray for your school, your teachers and your future wife. I pray that you get your identity from God alone and don't listen to what the world has to say. I'm so proud of you and feel so blessed to be your momma.
XOXOXO
Love, Mommy

Fall Ya'll

It's definitely fall around here. The leaves are falling, the trees are turning and there's pumpkins and mums all around. I like fall. I don't love the decrease in the number of hours of sunlight though... it is wrecking my running schedule. But, overall I love fall. Not as much as spring, but I do love it. If you need more evidence that fall's here, wait no longer! How lucky am I to get to spend my Mondays with these cuties???

preschool happenings

Good grief, I'm behind on some blog posts. I can't believe I haven't done the first day of preschool post yet. Preschool is in full swing and both my babies are loving every single minute. Jacob's first day was uneventful. He walked away from me happy as a lark and never looked back!



Jonathan's first day - also went well from his perspective. I was a little (nope, a lot!) sad, but he was so totally comfortable and fine.


Walked right in to Mrs. Boyd's class and got busy!


I'm so glad they are adjusting so nicely. That makes mommy's sadness and ohmywordican'tbelievetheyarethatbig feelings much easier to handle! I'm also settling into a nice routine, I think. Oh my, can't believe I haven't mentioned this before but did you know that I HAVE 3 WHOLE HOURS TO MYSELF EVERY TUESDAY???? Holy moly, that's right, you heard me correctly. I have some alone time. For the first time in almost five years! I have taken long runs, cleaned some and run some errands so far. Yeah! I do admit, I felt lost the first week. I miss the boys a lot. But, I am very very grateful for that time. I'm equally as grateful that our boys are happy, healthy and perfectly normal. At work, i see just the opposite, so it makes me all the more grateful for my babies - I need to remember that the next time I'm in the middle of a 45 minute tantrum over a darn remote control. Ahem. :-)

end of an era

Welp... blue boy finally kicked the bucket. We kept saying we'd drive it until the wheels fall off. Well, the wheels didn't fall off, but the timing belt shattered, which caused the engine valves to bust, which caused something else. Bottom line, when the mechanic called us, he said "your blue car is pretty much scrapped." Alrightythen. Not exactly our plans for the weekend, but we went car shopping. And we got a new car - a dark blue Toyota Corolla. Pretty cool. Car payment, not so cool, but we got a great deal. So, we've bid farewell to our old friend, "blue boy." In his memory, here's a few special things we did in that car...
1. We went on our first date (Southeast and Rafferty's and a movie)
2. We left from our wedding to our "happily ever after."
3. We drove to our honeymoon
4. We brought home our first born baby from the hospital (in the rain!)
5. We both travelled lots and lots of miles for work in old Blue Boy - thankful it kept us safe all those miles.
6. The boys climbed up on top and sat and played make believe in there and made many happy memories. They also called the sunroof the "windshine." Cute!
Goodbye Blue Boy. Hope you can be fixed and make someone else safe and happy for at least a little while.

It's Monday, and it must be random...

So, it's Monday, and it's random... a couple of things.
First, I'm thinking of redesigning the bloggy. Any suggestions? I'm not tech savvy, so this may prove to be difficult. I don't read/speak html, so I must keep it simple. Looking for people to point me in the right direction here. :-)

Second, I suck at couponing. My friend, Jody, has given me several pointers and I still can't seem to get the hang of it. Although yesterday, between my Kroger card and coupons, I saved almost $40. Score! Except maybe not...I feel like I spent more money couponing... for instance, I had some coupons that expire 9/30. I didn't really need the items, but knew that I eventually would use them. The result? My typical $100 shopping extravaganza for the week was $130. Ugggh. I need a personal shopper. Oh and someone to deliver and put away the groceries while we're at it.

Third, perhaps the same person who would volunteer to do my personal shopping would also like to become a fairy and sprinkle magic dust on my house to insure I will never have to dust, vacuum or clean the bathrooms again in my life. Oh and while they're at it, never ending clean laundry baskets would be a bonus too. :-) Oh I kid. (not!)

Fourth, I've had a little time (actually I've neglected a few tasks (see above)) and have ALMOST gotten my Disney trip completely scrapbooked. Yeah! I love scrapbooking. Actually, I think I'll neglect a few things now while the boys are resting and go try to finish a couple more pages.

Totally still adjusting to my big boy being away every single morning for preschool. He is totally loving it. I feel like it's come way too fast, but I'm excited to watch him learn and grow. He continues to report that his favorite part of school is riding bikes at "recess." Thataboy!

And finally, I've been meaning to post this for a while (and it's totally not related, but random? Right!!!) My little Jonathan has just started drawing people and it's so darn cute. He is so proud of each and every masterpiece. Love him!

Disney on Ice

Well, our fascination with all things Disney continues in Stover-ville. Our trip this summer renewed an interest in all the old classic Disney movies (and the new fun ones too!). When I heard Disney on Ice was coming to Louisville, I thought, we must do it. I second-guessed myself a little, since it's ice skating and we have boys. Ahem. BUT, I saw a trailer online for the show and it wasn't all "princessy" or anything. And there was a huge segment on Peter Pan and Captain Hook. What could be more "boyish" than Peter Pan and Captain Hook? So, we got great tickets - a good price thanks to a group discount since Daddy works for the Commonwealth of Kentucky! Yeah! It was a blast. Grammy and Pa drove up today and joined us. The boys were glued to the action. Seriously. They loved every single second! Here's a few shots from our day...

Dear Preschool Boy (Gulp!),

Dear Jonathan,
Holy moly, I can't even believe that this is the last picture of you before you become a big ole preschool boy! I'm up early this morning, before everyone else in this house (thanks to running with my great friend KATIE!!! - but that's a whole other post!), and I'm just spending a little time praying for you my friend. I love you with all my heart and just when I think my heart will burst with love and pride for you, I love you more than that!!

It's totally hard for me to fathom that you are big enough for preschool. But you are. You are so ready. You are curious and love to learn. You want to do exactly what your bubby does. You recently started drawing picture of people and they are precious. Completely developmentally normal, too, I might add! You also just took and interest in learning to write your letters. I'm so proud of you. I love it when you make a J - you make a line and a swoosh. I love the way you say it. You know how to spell your name and know the numbers on our mailbox. You can recognize all the letters (most of the time!) and all your colors. I don't worry one little bit about you going to preschool - skills wise. I'm just gonna miss my little man in the mornings now!

You are getting so big! You still love to read and you love playing with your toys. You love it if I'll play "Batman" or "Jail" with you. You have a great imagination.

Jonathan, remember that you are a child of the King. Jesus loves you so much and wants you to be loving and kind to others. You have a very sweet heart and are working very hard to share. Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud of you! We pray that you would make good friends and that you would be a good listener and sharer. We also pray that you would feel safe and comfortable at preschool.

Know that we are always here for you little man. You are loved beyond imagination. Love Jesus. love others. That's your job little Jonathan!

XOXOXOXOXO,
Mommy

Grateful!

I am feeling so blessed today. Everyday, I feel grateful, but I suppose today, since it's my birthday (yeah!) I'm feeling even more nostalgic. I have about 10 bloggy posts in my brain that I'd like to post, but today, I'm just grateful. I'm grateful to be married to a wonderful man who loves me dearly and always makes me feel special - not just because it's my birthday, but today, he did good! I haven't cooked, cleaned, wiped a bottom or nose or anything like that today. And, I'm not even "doing bedtime." :-) What a wonderful man he is! Thanks honey! We even got a date night tonight thanks to my awesome in-laws! I love you more now than ever before - and I know it's gonna get better as we get older and older.

I'm grateful that I get to be "mommmmmmmyyyyyyyy" to the sweetest boys on the planet. They have been so sweet to me today and Jacob just said, "happy birthday to the bestest bestest mom on the planet." Jonathan gave me a kiss and said, "I love love you so so so so so so so much." Melt.my.heart. (it's a darn good thing those little moments happen, cuz ya'll know that sometimes my kiddos fight and squabble and drive me nuts.) Ha!

I'm grateful for having lunch with family today and for all the awesome texts, phone calls, messages and FB posts. And I'm grateful that the celebration doesn't end today! I get to go to Cave City to P-A-R-T-Y all over again next weekend. :-) Yeah!

More than anything, I'm grateful to be a princess of the King. The one and only King of Kings treasures me not only today on my birthday, but every single second of every single day. Wow!

Do Everything

Do Everything
You’re picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today
Matching up socks, sweeping up lost cheerios that got away
You put a baby on your hip, color on your lips and head out the door
While I may not know you, I know you wonder sometimes….
Does it matter at all?
Let me remind you it all matters just as long as you…
Do everything you do to the glory of the ONE who made you
Cause He made you
To do every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face and tell the story of Grace
With every move that you make
In every little thing that you do

Man, this song really spoke to me this weekend. I heard it on the radio yesterday and haven’t stopped thinking about the ginormous meaning behind this catchy tune. Some days, I just kind of get in a rut. I feel like I do the same things over and over and sometimes, if I’m honest, I don’t have the most joyful attitude. Don’t get me wrong… I am so TOTALLY grateful that my schedule allows me to be a stay-at-home-most-of-the-time mommy. I wouldn’t trade places with one person on the planet. Honestly!!! But, that’s not to say that some days, after cleaning up yet another spilled cup of milk or scraping applesauce off the table or breaking up a little squabble between the kiddos or wiping bottoms or noses that I don’t think to myself “Seriously??? AGAIN???!” That’s also not to say that some days I absolutely countdown to 5pm. :-)

But, this song is a great reminder that all the mundane tasks of life are part of a greater picture. That my purpose in life is to bring Glory to God. The One who made me. He made me (little ole me, cleaning up spills me) to bring a smile to his face. Wow. That’s humbling. I sure pray that God would change my heart so that I can be joyful and grateful – even in the most mundane of daily tasks.

Check it out… Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Do Everything.” Hope it blesses you as much as it has me! (and no, I don’t know him personally and he certainly didn’t request my personal endorsement, but should you read this Mr. Chapman, I sure do admire you and your family. I’ve followed you for a long time and your story over the past few years touched my heart!)

Wordless Wednesday

Loose Tooth Update

Well, a few days late, but here's the loose tooth update: My sweet baby boy lost his first tooth on Monday night. (one week ago!)


He was so totally excited. My mom had gotten the boys personalized tooth fairy pillows for Christmas a few years ago, so we had to dig that one up and he proudly put it in his pillow before bed time. So much fun!


And just so you know, the tooth fairy left $1 and a little package of toy story tattoos. Fun times. Jacob was even sweet enough to share his tattoos with his brother.



With his $1, Jacob went to Dollar Tree and chose silly string. Fitting for my silly silly boy!

Happy Monday! Oh, and PS - he has another one loose already. Seriously?????

wow

So, I usually don't talk about work too much on the ole bloggy... primarily because I blog so that one day, I'll have written memories of this precious time in my life. And also because I mostly stay at home, my blog fodder is pretty much consumed with the J's and the hubster. Anyway, this week has been interesting at work and I just needed to share. Yep, that's right, I'm practicing one of my therapy homework assignments I sometimes give to patients...journaling. :-)
Yesterday, I had the privilege of having a new patient. She is an 8 year old cutie, but has a world of difficulties. She is severely autistic - no language, no eye contact, no real communication with anyone. She is visually impaired and has some physical abnormalities - especially her face and mouth. That's not the worst part... she's a self-mutilator. She hits herself in the face and scratches herself until she bleeds. And she screams in unfamiliar situations. Basically any time she is outside her house. So, for an hour yesterday morning, I watched in horror this little girl freak out because of the new environment. My.heart.broke.in.pieces. I'm heart broken for this little girl, and maybe even more than that, I'm so totally heartbroken for the mom and dad. Their life is not their own. I can not imagine what this must be like.
I have been doing therapy/social work stuff for almost 13 years. I have never ever cried in session with a client (it's not really the most professional thing to do). Not to say that I've never felt empathy or sympathy during a session, but yesterday, I was so deeply impacted that I almost lost it. In session. I had tears, not uncontrollable, but tears none the less. Wow. Would you guys do me a favor? Pray for this little family that have come into my path! Pray for me as I work with parents on a behavioral plan to decrease the self-harm behaviors. Pray that this little girl knows Jesus and can experience a miracle in her lifetime.

Say cheese!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have hit another milestone in our little family. I know I say all the time that they are just growing up TOO DARN FAST (stop it boys, would ya? Please for mommy????!!!). Yesterday, Jacob pointed to this:



and said, "my tooth is jiggly". What? How in the world does my baby already have a loose tooth? I quickly googled "when should my child lose his first tooth?" and found the answer to be anywhere from 4 1/2 - 8 years old. Well, holy moly, I didn't know that, but now I do. Since we are only (gulp) 2 months away from being 5, I guess we're right on track. But seriously? I don't know why this milestone feels so old to me. He's going to have a toothless smile before we know it. Ohmywordiwishicouldfreezetime!!!!!!

So, any wise words we could pass on to the tooth fairy? What's the going rate these days? :-)

Nite Nite prayers

So, I'm a total creature of habit, right? Naturally, I have a routine for my kiddos - especially at bedtime. Here's our basic schedule: go upstairs (about 8:15ish): take baths - well, Jonathan takes a bath, Jacob showers with Daddy; race to get jammies on (everything is a race with boys!); brush teeth; read story in the rocking chair (Jonathan insists on being on the top bunk to hear the story.) Then, Jonathan must turn off the light and we all return to the top bunk for prayer time. It is really sweet.

Here's a recap of most night's prayers...
Jonathan: "Dear God, Jesus in hearts make us feel better. Forgive sins. And I pray for family and sins and hearts better. When we are sad or mad or fight, put our hearts back to feel better. In Jesus's holy name, amen."

Jacob: "Dear God, I agree with Jonathan. We love you and your son so so so so so so much. Forgive us when we sin and help us all sleep really good tonight and you too God, I hope you sleep good. Thank you for my loving daddy and mommy and Jonathan. In Jesus's Holy Holy Holy name, Amen."

Then when Daddy starts to pray, Jonathan always tells him what to say, which is exactly what he prayed earlier. It is hilarious.

I seriously need to video tape this stuff. I never ever want to forget a single detail.

Happy Friday all!

Sweet little messages

Jacob is all into spelling and creating words. It's so cute. Here's a couple of messages he's written us. Can you say precious?

(dad, you rock and roll for Jacob. So does Mom)




(I am so happy and I hope you are too.) - this one he did completely on his own. He didn't ask for help with any of the words.)

just couldn't resist

So, this probably tells you a little bit about my sense of humor - this was randomly found in my kitchen floor, and I tell you what, I couldn't stop laughing. The boys asked why and I just said, oh, mommy's just being silly... With boys, we have enough poop, toot and stinky jokes, laughs and giggles. I thought it best not to encourage the craziness. Ahem. :-). I didn't really want them to know I was cracking up at the thought of Barney pooping on my perfectly mopped kitchen floor. Oh in case you can't tell, that's a grape behind Barney's bootie. Hee hee.

Great Season little Dodgers!

Today was the last game of Jacob's T-ball season. It was supposed to be last night, but the park rescheduled for today due to the heat. Not sure it helped much, because it felt like it was 117 degrees on that T-ball field. But, it was much fun! Jacob has really enjoyed this t-ball thing and I am glad. But not nearly as glad as his daddy - I think being a daddy to little boys who like sports make his heart smile really big.

One of the highlights for the boys is visiting the concession stand for a popsicle - oh boy, I wish we'd never introdued them to that idea this season! Here's Mamaw taking Jacob over to get his spiderman (very messy I might add) popsicle. Little kiddos sure know the right words to get grandparents to do exactly what they want. Sneaky little critters. :-)


Today, little bro got in on the action and it was precious! He asked daddy if he could bat and daddy took him over to ask the coach. She said yes! It was so so so cute.



His smile as he touched home plate was precious.



And Jacob was the beaming proud big bro! Such fun blessings.

Must haves - when you have boys

I have a running list of "goodies" that I have really liked as a mommy of two boys. Here's a few. Leave a comment and add your "must haves" - those things/activities that have made being a mommy to little ones easier.

1. Random Halloween Costumes - oh.my.word. My boys have gotten some SERIOUS mileage out of the various Halloween costumes we've had over the past few years. We still make the 18 month old Pooh costume work when needed. :-) So much fun. Here's a few recent picks of the shenanigans.




2. Can I just say two of everything? Really, it just makes life easier to purchase doubles of stuff - same strollers for Disney World. Same sunglasses. Same sippy cups. Same swim trunks. Same plates and cups. You get the pattern. It also helps feed my need to have them in matching clothes. I know I won't be able to get away with that forever, but until then... match on I say! (see - matching strollers, shirts, sunglasses???) :-)




3. DVD players for the car. Can I get an AMEN on that one? I feel bad for my parents for having to put up with my sister and I all the way to the beach every year.

4. Toy Story miniature figurines - oh man, we've gotten some mileage out of those little things. They are Jonathan's most favorite toys.




5. Crayons. Lots of them (but of course two of every color!) My boys love to color and that's an activity I always pull out when we need some chill time - read, when they are fighting with each other and can't seem to pull it together. wintertime, summertime, anytime, coloring is a hit in my book! Sometimes we even do it right before our night time routine commences.

6. Puzzles. We love love love puzzles in our house. Both boys are very good at them and again, puzzles are a great chill time activity. But, I always take the puzzles out of the original box and keep them in big ziploc baggies. Less space and those boxes get demolished so easy.

what about you guys? What are your go-tos... your must haves?