Stinkers

Nap time doesn't happen much around my house. In fact, Will is the only real napper residing under our roof. Sam gave up naps well over a year ago and Jack avoids naps like the plague, except for those days that he falls asleep in the car. So today when Sam walked into the den and announced that he was ready to have rest time, I thought nothing of it. Five minutes later when he and Jack were standing before me wearing pajamas, I still didn't take them seriously. Jody said, "Angela, are you serious? How hard can it be with these three at home all day? These two are begging you to take a nap right now? In fact, I think I'll take a nap too." Whatever, I thought. There is no way those two are going to sleep at 1:00 in the afternoon. I took Will down the hall to my room and laid down with him until he fell asleep. I then peaked into the boys' room and was astonished to find my three boys all snoring in unison. These boys who never, ever shut their sweet little eyes for me during the day. And it made me sick. I mean are they trying to make me look bad? Are they trying to make being a stay at home mom look like the easiest job in the world? They just gave their Daddy more evidence to use against me when he feels the need to remind me of how easy I have it! Little stinkers.

This Week

Around our house this week...

Will is definitely teething and is constantly drooling and gnawing on his little fist.  This is happening too soon, if I do say so myself.  Jack refuses to stay in his car seat.  I have turned around to find him standing behind me in the van a couple of times this week.  Spankings and time outs don't stop him.  I'm seriously considering taking him to the police station and having an officer scare the *&$# out of him.  Sam and Jack will break into their rendition of "Old Yeller" at any given moment.  Very loudly, I should add.  When I answered Sam with "Because" the other day he very sternly told me, "Mama, because is not an answer."  The boys got to get very close to a newborn calf hours after he was born.  The calf laid there calmly as both boys rubbed his soft back.  We are up to 63 cows and calves now.  Will is definitely losing his hair.  A storm blew down our peach tree that was overflowing with nearly-ripe peaches.  Sam's nose healed and the scab is gone.  He hurt it last week at the pediatrician's office when he thought it would be a good idea to pretend to be an orangutan and flip upside down in the chair.  He busted his nose, a bloody mess, and had bad carpet burn across his nose.  Will had his first trip to a pool and dipped his sweet little toes in before deciding he'd rather take a nap than swim.  Jack loves wearing his cowboy boots on the hottest days and they are nearly stuck to his legs when I try to pull them off.  Sam is swimming really well and can hold his breath for a pretty long time.  Jack doesn't want to swim at all so far this year. Will has added squash and carrots to his foods that he likes and has only refused peaches so far.  Jack thought it would be funny to pee in Will's bouncy seat.  I wasn't amused.  And he peed in Jody's shoes this week since mine weren't on the porch.  Sam got really good at shooting a toy bow and arrow set that Jody got him.  But Jack broke all the arrows and Jody had to order a new set for Sam.  He actually ordered three since they were on sale and we all know Jack will likely break the new arrows too if given the chance.  Jody told me again this week that he would keep Jack this age forever if he could, even though he is "mean as a snake."  Allyson told the boys a scary story about an old man in a wheel chair and Sam was too scared to sleep on the top bunk that night because there could be "wheelchairs up there." I think I cleaned my house 47 times this week.  It's amazing what kids can do to a house in an half hour takes me three hours to clean up.  We celebrated Mema Re's eightieth birthday at Lonestar steakhouse, but she keeps telling me she loved having her party at the Longbranch. I got a flat tire yesterday and had to have my vehicle towed.  Another good week around here...chaos and all.

Flattery

My sweet, beautiful, snaggle-toothed four year old melted my heart the other day.  He casually walked up to me and whispered in my ear...

"Mama, you're the cheese on my ham sandwich."

Wow.  I melted.  That's the best compliment I've ever been given.  Apparently his Daddy told him that before and he remembered it and decided to share the love with me.

I love being referred to as the cheese on my little man's ham sandwich.  Flattery from my four year old sweetie. I'm the luckiest girl in the world and I adore him.

Small Talk

Sam is still crazy over his youngest brother. He doesn't beg to hold him every second like he did the first few weeks, but he's just as sweet and loving to him as ever. He loves it that Will is now "talking" and smiling and enjoys cuddling with him and making him smile. Will is a very smiley little boy so Sam thinks Will really, really likes him. He talks to Will, begs him to smile and when he does Sam lights up too. Will coos and smiles and Sam giggles and smiles. It is quite sweet and I envision many of these big brother "talks" in the future. I see a beautiful relationship developing right before my eyes...I am so blessed.

Rare

This is a rare, cordial moment between these two. Their relationship usually consists of bickering, baby doll snatching, hitting, whining, tattling and aggravating. It is a constant war between these two and Ally and I have realized it is probably a really good thing that they won't be going to the same preschool next year. Preschool expulsion... it was in our future if they were together. They just don't mix. Most of the time. But there are those rare times when you catch a glimpse of them playing nicely and actually loving each other. This happened the other night at the t-ball game and I found myself watching them play together more than I watched the game. Because I knew sure enough that it wouldn't last. And, of course, it didn't.

T-Ball Debut

Sam had his first t-ball game Thursday night. He wasn't very thrilled about playing and said he would much rather just stay at home and play with his animals. Thankfully, he has a very enthusiastic cousin playing, which made it a little more fun. Cannon loves baseball and I'm hoping his excitement will rub off on Sam a little. I think Sam was bored to death ten minutes into the game and was surely dreaming of rodeos and cowboys. He asked his Daddy the night before the game if he could bring his bow and arrow and just shoot the other kids when they catch the ball and then he could run take the ball from them. Hmmm, can you tell he's a little into cowboys and the wild west these days? I was very proud of him for sticking it out and going after the balls and I hope he'll grow to love it. He had his very own fan section full of grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins there to cheer him on. I told Jody on the way there that this could be the first game of many in our lives with three boys. I sure hope so.

Wouldn't You?

Will has been eating cereal for over a month now. And he loves it. Every night I fix him a bowl and he devours every bite. I have stuck to only one cereal feeding a day, although I know he would love it other times of the day too. The other day at G-Ma's we mashed up a banana to see if he would like it and, of course, he loved it. So I bought some baby food to start mixing in with his cereal at night. He has had bananas and sweet potatoes so far and he has loved every single bite. This sweet little boy, who loves to eat and grins and coos as I feed him...I just love him to pieces. So maybe he's trying baby food and cereal a little earlier than my other boys did. And maybe it's not what the books say I'm suppose to be doing at this age. But it is working for us. He's happy and that makes me happy. And if a few sweet potatoes could get you a reaction like this, wouldn't you give them to him too?

Jack

He is currently obsessed with Winnie the Pooh since his Daddy calls him Pooh Bear and showed him the cartoon theme song on You Tube. He refuses to sleep on the top bunk because "there are monsters up there." He has way too much energy before 8:00 am. He asks me to fix him "gits" (grits) every morning and then runs over and steals my cereal or oatmeal, leaving me to eat the grits. He gives the best hugs and the sweetest kisses. He hates having to buckle up in the car. Robin and Poppa are two of his favorite people, but his Daddy is his best friend. He loves finding a great stick, throwing it over his shoulder and marching around singing "Hi-Ho" from Snow White. He picks me flowers. He and Landry are like oil and water together. He says "It okay? It okay, Mama?" when he drops something or spills his drink. He thinks it is hilarious to sneak up behind Mama and pretend to bite her rear. And it is funny, until he actually does bite Mama's rear, and makes Mama scream so loud she scares the baby. The other day G-Ma told me, "Everybody needs a Jack in their family." I couldn't agree more.

Little Leaguer

I found out last night that Sam's t-ball season for church starts this week. His first game is Thursday. I ran into his room as he was falling asleep and told him he would be having practice and a game this week. His response..."I'm not playing, Mama. Not until I'm as old as Cade." Shocked (since he asked for t-ball stuff for his birthday and Easter), I told him to think about it and we'd talk about it later. We were out this afternoon with Bec and Nana and Nana offered to go buy him a pair of cleats. He was thrilled about that and was soon running laps around Dick's with his new shoes. Jack begged for "apple cleats" (Nike cleats with a red swoosh) and was heartbroken when they didn't have his size. He threw a small tantrum and I had to assure him we would find him cleats tomorrow. Tonight after baths he brought Sam's cleats to his Daddy so he could try them on. Later, he ran up to me looking like this...

Sam's cleats, Sam's glove, Daddy's hat and Robin's magnet necklace that Sam took from him earlier tonight when Robin told him it would make him "hit the ball really, really far." He yelled to me, "Hey, Mama. My go to baseball game. And my hit the ball and my run and my catch the ball too." He was grinning from ear to ear and so proud to be a "baseball player." So on the itinerary for tomorrow: find cleats, pants and a hat for my precious, two year old t-ball player. And hope some of his excitement rubs off on his big brother.

Rip Van Winkle

It's 12:15 pm and what is my oldest up to? This...

His younger brother has been up and out the door with Daddy for over five hours now. And he sleeps. He's going into his fourteenth hour now. A boy after my own heart.

A Note to the Tooth Fairy

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Thanks for visiting last night to mark such an exciting occasion in our household...our first lost tooth.  Sam was so excited to go to bed and place his damaged little tooth under his pillow.  He was even more excited when he woke up today and suddenly remembered to check for the surprise you left him.  So imagine his disappointment (and my horror) when he threw his pillow off his bed to reveal nothing laying beneath.  He was a little shocked and his smile was replaced by a frown.  Luckily, Daddy called just as we were searching for Sam's surprise.  It seems that he, the Tooth Fairy, left a five dollar bill under Jack's milk cup on the ledge of the bunk bed.  The Tooth Fairy thought I could slide the bill under Sam's pillow when I went in to get early bird Jack out of bed.  And you see this would have worked if Jack hadn't spotted the money before I came into to get him and stolen the money.  I didn't check under Sam's pillow at the time because I didn't want to wake him.  So I was as shocked as he was, Tooth Fairy, when there was no treasure under the pillow.  We searched under the bed, pulled the sheets and quilt off and checked under the rug.  No money!  I had to sneak away to my room and find a crumpled up bill in my jeans pocket from the day before and throw it back under the pile of bedding when Sam wasn't looking.  I asked Sam to check under the sheets one more time and he pulled them back to find the crumpled up bill.  He was thrilled and I as relieved.  And Jack stood by with a grin and guilty look in his eyes.  I asked him later if he had seen Sam's money.  "Yep," he said, "My got it!"  He refused to tell me where he hid it and it has yet to be found.  So Tooth fairy, next time hide the bill under the pillow so Jack "Sticky Fingers" Standley doesn't take off with the treasure.

The Tooth

Last week at Cade's t-ball game, Sam crawled up the fence behind home plate. He was up pretty far up when Jack grabbed his foot to pull him down. Unfortunately, on the way down, Sam hit his mouth on the metal pole. I ran to him, fully expecting to see blood everywhere. His eyes were full of tears and when he opened his mouth, I saw it. His front tooth was completely cracked across the front. He hit so hard he had the silver metal color across his tooth. I rushed him home and called our dentist. We went to see Dr. Lee early the next morning and he said we needed to go to a pediatric specialist. I found a specialist and they said the tooth would have to pulled, but they couldn't do it until the following Thursday. One week later! Thankfully the tooth died and he wasn't in pain. He mastered biting and chewing on the side, but as the week passed the tooth continued to loosen and push further back in his mouth.

This morning we headed to the dentist to have his tooth pulled. They called Sam back and Jody and I both walked to the door with him. At which time the hygienist said, "Um, mam, we encourage them to go back by themselves, without their parents." And at which time I looked at her like she had five heads. Was she crazy? Jody and I looked at each other in shock. There was no way we were sending him back there alone to have a tooth pulled. So I ever so nicely told her, "Um, I don't think so." and marched myself to the back with Sam. They made me wait in a central area close to his chair but not by him. After then telling another hygienist how I felt about the whole situation she told me I could go get Jody and bring him back too. I'm sure they all thought I was a nutcase but they were the crazy ones to think I'd send him back there without me or his Daddy. Sam did remarkably well. He did cry and I had to sit there and listen to him, knowing he was hurting and there was nothing I could do about it. It was agony. Five long minutes later he was done and sporting a new smile.

I must admit this whole situation has been hard for me. Between him getting hurt, the crazy folks at the dentist office and him losing a tooth, my nerves have been torn up this week. I couldn't bear the idea of him having to have a tooth pulled and walking around for the next few years with a big hole in his mouth. I mean he is my baby, you know. Jody even kindly told me I was getting on his nerves. So I am trying to suck it up and be grateful that it was just a little baby tooth. And I must say that toothless grin is starting to grow on me.

Before, with the damaged tooth...

And after, my toothless cutie...

Focus

My littlest is now focusing on objects and gazing at things for the longest time. He loves the animals that hang in front of him in his bouncy seat and gets so excited that he nearly bounces himself out of the chair. He loves to look at people and he tries his hardest to talk back to them, cooing and making the sweetest sounds. He can have the most intense look on his face and them he smiles and his whole face lights up. He smiles so big and throws his head back in delight. He just continues to make every day wonderful and sweet for all of us.

Two Month Well Check

Will has his two month well check today. He is 14 pounds 10 ounces (95 %) and 23.75 inches (75 %). There was another little boy in the waiting room who was there for his two month check. He was ten pounds at birth and looked so small beside Will. Will is so big and looks more like a six month old than a two month old. I sure wish he'd look like an infant a little while longer. Dr. Mann says he's big and precocious and will probably do things early. My response..."Lord, help me." He had two shots and ended up having a reaction to his dpt vaccine so I had to take him back to the doctor this afternoon. His leg is very sore and he just cries and is inconsolable at times. Ironically, his Daddy had the same reaction at his two month shots. He'll get a little more loving tonight (as if that's possible) in hopes he's back to normal soon. My big, big boy...I love every ounce of your chubby arms and squishy legs, sweet one.

Thankful Today

Today I am thankful for my mom and all she does for me and my family. She is always there when I need her and I am blessed to know her as my mother. And I am thankful for my mother-in-law. She is wonderful and giving and all a girl could ask for in a second mom. And I'm thankful for my grandmothers. I appreciate their kindness and the Christian example they've shown all my life. And I'm thankful for Jody's grandmothers. They are angels on earth and I treasure both of them.

But today more than anything I am thankful for my sons. For the joy they bring me and what they've taught me about love. My heart overflows for each of them and I feel so blessed to be their mom. They are the best thing I've ever done and being a good mother to them is my greatest purpose in life. I thank God for entrusting them into my care and for the amazing little beings that they are. Sam, Jack and Will...I love you.

Mother's Day Surprise

A few days ago Jody surprised my mom and his mom with a limo ride and lunch for Mother's Day. Ally, Bec and all six kids came along too. Nana and G-Ma knew we were going to lunch but had no idea that Jody had rented a limo. Nana was thrilled to get out of the house since she's unable to drive because of her recent shoulder surgery. G-Ma's reaction when we picked her up at school was priceless. Landry and Jack were terrified of the limo and took a little while to realize they were safe. Will slept the entire ride. The older boys loved it and ran around inside like wild animals. We were nearly the only people at the restaurant and we all enjoyed our late lunch. It was a wonderful day for all of us. We think we should make it a yearly tradition (hint, hint Jody).

Caught You

Jack,

I appreciate you trying to help Mommy. You were obviously concerned for my new hydrangea plant with all this hot weather we've had lately. You must have thought it needed a little water. And since the garden hose was way on the other side of the house, you did the next best thing. You peed all over my plant. And I caught you. And I didn't say anything, because I am certain you were just trying to help me. And I am sure there is some reason that prior to this plant sitting on the porch, you chose my tennis shoes to pee in. Over and over again. And it would dry before I wore them. And I couldn't understand why my shoes smelled so bad and in turn why my feet and socks reeked after removing those shoes. But I figured it out when I walked outside to find you peeing in my shoes. I immediately yelled for you to stop and Sam sold you out by telling me, "Mama, Jack always pees in those shoes of yours." So into the trash can went my shoes. Thankfully, the hydrangea withstood your generous showers and is now planted in the yard. And I'll be shoe shopping this weekend.

Love,

Mama

Growing Up

From this...

to this.

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday we were pulling these three around in that little red wagon. And now they are riding four wheelers, bicycles and scooters. Their little boy bodies have begun to show muscles and they are nearly too heavy to pick up. But they are still the best of friends...no matter how old they get.

Two Months

Today you are two months old...where do the days go? You are the sweetest, happiest baby and you fill our days with so much joy. Everyday you wake up a little prettier than the day before. You are big and cuddly and look like a six month old, not the two month old you really are. You are wearing six month clothes and even some nine month outfits. You have the sweetest rolls on your legs with the deepest little crevices. There's really nothing like a chubby little baby to kiss on and I could spend my entire day kissing those chubby legs and your sweet head. You are really focusing on things now and will fixate on faces and objects for a long time. You still love your bath and your nighttime cereal. You are cooing and trying so hard to talk back to whoever is talking to you. You smile all the time and it is amazing to see. Your entire face lights up and your eyes disappear into little slits when you smile, just like your oldest brother. Those smiles sustain me sweet boy. When I am tired or frazzled and looking around a disastrous house, one of your smiles makes everything better. It's as if you're telling me, "Hey, Mama. Look at this. This is what is important." And I thank you for that. You are constant ray of sunshine and unending sweetness and I love you more than you could ever imagine.