Dry spell, Jebadiah, & weird places to sleep.

Yeah I think God's next plague for me was writers block. ;-)

So my adorable precocious almost-4-yo daughter with a beautiful classic name comes up to me today with a very serious look on her face. She looked at me very intently with her hands on her hips and said matter-of-factly, "Mommy, please don't call me &*$&* anymore, my new name is Jebadiah".


So we went to see a movie tonight as a family. We got back pretty late, it was around midnight and the kids had fallen asleep on the way home. DH and I carried the really little ones and directed the semi-conscious older 3 towards the house. I went around to tuck and pray and check on them in their beds after we were in for about 5 minutes. Then I realized I couldn't find my middle son. I asked DH if he knew where he was and he said he saw him come into the house and to check our room. He checked the playroom while I checked my room and the other bedroom and still no Middle Son. DH and I ran out front to check and there I saw him. When I get the pictures developed I will definately post them because there he was fast asleep in the driveway! Next to our van looking as comfortable as if he were sleeping on a cloud. After I took a picture or 2 I woke him up and directed him into the house. Tomorrow he will laugh hysterically at himself, he's a good sport.

I love being a mom, even with the surprises. ;-)

Feels like Egypt around here

At the time of the plagues that is. Lately it's been quite common to be sweeping or mopping the floor and come across one or two or three jumping frogs and toads. I don't know how Middle Son smuggles them in so ingeniously, I don't think I even want to know. I just know when he's coming back in the house he has this "I-did-something-bad" face on. But try as I might, I even frisked him once, I just can not find the toads/frogs! So, we'll deal with the occassional jumping creature, at least he's not smuggling in locusts. ;-)

OK so those of you that have known me for at least 4 years know what fun my Middle Son was as a baby. He liked to eat things. Especially things that weren't supossed to be eaten like pennies and medicine and carpet cleaning fluids. :-/ He also liked to climb high and too many times fall high. Oldest Son was like this too but he calmed down so much as he grew that it seems like a faint blurry memory. We have been to the ER with the first 2 boys at least 5 times combined. Probably more. My girls had their share of scary times but it was more natural things like ear infections & high fevers.

Enter Baby T. I'm not quite sure why I was given so many daredevil children but I'm not going to question God on it. I'm grateful for them all and love them more than anything but well, I am banking on a lot of gray this year.

The other night while I was cooking dinner Baby T and my 3yo were playing with the oversized rocks and gems I keep in a large coffee can. They like to sort them and count them and make up games with them. For some reason the scoop I have in there for the kids was a small glass bowl, like the kind you keep Betta fish in. You know that saying "Hindsight is 20/20"? Yeah, it's a bitch sometimes isn't it?

So he's standing on the chair with my 3yo DD playing nicely. I have my back to them cooking at the stove. I turn around to check on them just in time to see baby T fall off the chair with the bowl in his hand. I run over to him and pick him up and immediately see the stream of blood splattering onto the floor. I do what any self respected concerned mother would do, scream for DH (who has had prior medical training) to get in there. Now I'm good in emergencies, only if I'm the only one there. Otherwise I gladly give the medical reigns over to DH and I become The Nurturer. DH takes ones look and says he's going to need stitches, I try to make the room stop spinning. Thank God my dad is here because he was able to clean up the mess, finish dinner and watch the kids so we could go to the ER.

So let me fast forward through the waiting. We got great doctors and nurses for the most part. When they put in the stitches he cried but laid perfectly still. He was a trooper. Six stitches later DH is insisting I buy all kinds of pain meds for him at the store. I'm trying to tell him I don't think the baby is going to even miss a beat tomorrow but DH is thinking in terms of us adults and how much this would have affected us. Sure enough, by the next morning the baby hardly even mentions his "owie" and has adapted to use his forearm to climb up the playground instead of his hand. THey are simply amazing! The only time he gets upset is when we unwrap it to clean it he says "BUGGY! BUGGY!" because he thinks his stitches are bugs I'm assuming. LoL He really is a trooper.

When we followed up with the DR the first thing he said was "So this little guy is giving you a run for your money eh?" and I told him if he was anything like his brothers he hasn't seen the last of him.

Why this child will never have a diaper rash...

Baby T is changed more often than any of my other children were. Is it because I finally got my act together and realize the minute he's dirty? Nope, that's not it. It's because the child has a strange fascination with p*op (edited to keep the pervies away - hopefully). Every single time he needs to be changed he comes up to me and I hear a slow whine:
Uhhhhh....ohhhhhh...pooooooooooooohhhhhhhhpeyyyyyyyyy.

But that's not it, the entertainment doesn't end there, no siree. When you turn to look at him he'll be wagging, ever so gently one finger with a rather disgusted face and more whining. And at the end of that adorable pudgy little finger is the very thing he's whining about. That's right folks. Every.single.time.

If he was my first child I'd probably be worried about future feti$hes and analyze the crap out of this. But, since he's our 5th we just look, wrinkle our noses, and laugh all the way to the shower for the 3rd time that day.

OK - more than you ever wanted to know I'm sure. The saddest thing about it is I'm really wanting to videotape it - I've become rather desensitized.

Why I've been so quiet...

Grampoo's here!!!! The days have been filled with things like this:

And the nights have been filled with B-rated action & karate flicks, deep philosophical discussions, and the endless quest to find my father a cup of coffee that doesn't make him want to throw it in the clerks face. Yeah, it's a sore spot with him. ;-)

My wonderful DH got my internet hooked back up after I moved the computer to the living room. So, I'm here just too busy living to write about it for a change. It's a good thing.

Jess

You need to get yourself a few of these...

Good friends.

I can honestly say I have an overabundance of really great girlfriends. There isn't one that I'm closest too or one I go to for everything, there's a variety of very different type of women in my life. The woman I go to depends on the situation I'm in at the time. It just feels right.

When I first moved to this town I prayed desperately for just one good friend. Thankfully God is smarter than I and gave me lots of different ones. In high school I had mostly guy friends but I always had one best friend. The best friend cycled between about 4 girls growing up although I kept in touch with them all but for some reason, it just felt wrong to have more than 1 best friend at a time. I had to eat, sleep, and be together of every waking minute with the chosen girl. Looking back, it really wasn't healthy at all and most of the time more heartbreak was caused than joy. But that's just how it is growing up.

I have felt guilty a bit lately because I limit my childrens time with other kids. They play every Thursday at a playgroup with lot of other families and we do usually have lunch or get together with a family 1-on-1 about once a week or so. But I ixnay the best friend thing all together. They have favorite children for different things (football playing, philosophical discussions, fort building) but they don't have ONE friend they need to be with ALL.THE.TIME.

I realized last night that's OK! As I had a Mother's Night Out with 3 of my friends, 2 of which I don't get to see very often at all, I realized how blessed I am to have a variety. The dynamics are never the same. There isn't much drama anymore, hardly any gossip or politics. Just enjoying who was brought together this time. We laughed and laughed and talked deep things as well until 1am last night. I sat and listened and gleaned so much wisdom from them as well. They're all in a later season of life than I and I loved being able to hear both their regrets and their more positive choices in raising their children.

The best part of it all is I know it could be a year until I see them all again in similiar circumstance (we see each other during childrens activities more often). But that's OK. I know we'll just pick up where we left off. And it may never be just us again and that's OK too.

I love the freedom of healthy female relationships!

They're right!

Well, I was an only child for 21 years (which is first born right?). But I do have an 8yo brother now.

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor