One year older.

I can't believe that my baby girl is already one. It seems like just yesterday she was born. I had to tell the story on her birthday about her 10:30 arrival. I was so ready that my doctor was telling me about the induction and she said, "I think you'll go fast... probably three pushes and a baby by lunchtime." So, I told her that I was gonna shoot for 10:30 and she laughed. I think she thought I was kidding, but little did she know. At about 10:15 the nurse checked me and said I was a 10 and that she could feel the baby and then she left the room. Are you freaking kidding me? The need to push was definitely there and for all you mommies you know that once you need to push, it's hard not to. So, I started crying. Greg was panicking and calling the nurse station and the nurse on her handheld to get her butt in there. When she came in and I was crying she thought I was in pain so she bollaced my epidural. I said "I'm not in pain, but I'm freaked out because this baby is coming NOW!" Could this seem anymore cliche? She got my doctor on the phone (who luckily is in a building that's attached to the hospital) and told her that I was ready. My doctor said "She's gonna go fast so do NOT let her push until I am there!" 3 minutes later she walked in (10:27) and 3 minutes later Avery was born (at 10:30 with 2 pushes!) The funniest part of the whole thing was my mother-in-law yelling, "Push! You've got 30 seconds until 10:30!!" If there's a next time, I'm gonna call it at 8:00. The earlier the baby comes the quicker the 48 hours until you get to go home right?!

What a whirlwind.

This past week in this household has been one crazy week! Ack!

Last weekend (Memorial Day weekend) was great!! Mom got here on Saturday. Then, on Sunday the Johnston's from Atlanta came and we threw Lauren an 11th birthday party. Then on Monday we got invited to the Gore's for a Memorial Day cookout. They even put some sprinkles and a candle in a brownie and sang Happy Birthday. Too sweet. Lots of hamburgers, lots of extra weight, but all in all a truly great weekend.

On Tuesday the kids were here for the one day of the week and then on Wednesday we had Camden's surgery. Oh what an experience. Anyone local reading this I would advise against surgery at Crestwood Hospital. I have never heard BAD things about them, so I didn't think it would be a bad experience. I was wrong.

We got up in the morning and headed over. Crack of dawn. Of course Camden couldn't have anything to eat or drink and considering how much he loves his milk and pop-tarts that was tough. The first thing that irritated me (on a list of many) was the fact that we had to sit in the lobby and wait for over an hour for them to take us back. Of course, there were people out there chomping on their breakfasts and my poor son keeps asking us, "where's my food? why can't I eat anything?" Grrrrr.. that's hard to explain to a 3-year-old who doesn't even truly understand why he's there in the first place. Then they took us back to a pre-surgery room and gave us a shirt to change him in to. The nurse came in and then the anesthesiologist and then the doc, etc. Within 10 minutes they were ready to take him into surgery. The problem was they took him away from me without letting me walk him back there. The one cool thing they did was put him in a Jeep Power Wheels and run down the hall with him. So, he was slightly distracted but I had to force him to get into the thing in the first place. All the while he's saying, "Mommy? Mommy, are you there?" So of course we start walking down the hall to follow and they say, "Oh no. You have to go this way." This way = opposite way of the way they are taking my son. So, of course I start crying. It's scary to me as an adult for them to put a mask on my face, so I can only imagine how scared Camden was at that point.

We were in the lobby for about 6 or 7 minutes and they called us up to the podium. They said that he was under and they started at 8:19. We knew the doc said about 30 minutes so of course we were timing it. Right about 29 minutes (ha!) the doc came out. He said that Camden was fine, and already waking up.. (alarms going off in Mommy's head!!ahh!!) He said that his tonsils were enlarged and when he started taking out the right one it began falling apart. He said his adenoids were also engorged so he removed those also. So, then he says that he was asking for someone, etc. So, I'm like foaming at the mouth.. lol.. rabid dog style.. get me to my child!! So, the lady tells me that we can go back but Greg has to stay.

I swear that walk to the recovery took about 5 minutes. We walked into the recovery room and she starts to ask the desk where Camden is and then I hear him screaming at one end. So, I just take off running and come around the curtain and he is off the bed, wrestling 2 nurses, has ripped his IV out, blood everywhere, screaming and crying noooooo! noooo! NOOO!! So, I threw my stuff down and jumped into the bed and just wrapped my arms around him. I think I must have said "it's okay. Mommy's here," about 200 times. I was heartbroken. I'm sure he will be less traumatized by the experience than me. Greg said I needed the 2 hours of recovery more than he did.

Today is really his first completely good day. He has taken no pain meds in about 32 hours now. Woohooo! Big improvement. I'm really just ready to have my little boy back. His voice has changed and he sounds soooo cute!! It's a voice that is suited for a 3-year-old instead of his old, gruff, monster truck voice!

When life gives you lemons...

have them removed!! That's what someone once told me about tonsils. In all the 40 years that my ENT surgeon had been practicing he had never seen anything as big and ridiculous as my tonsils. In fact, he said that he just had to keep them. Apparently I passed those killer honkin tonsils on down to my son! It only took him about 0.5 seconds of looking in Camden's throat to say, "Yep! Those are some big puppies! There's no way he'll be growing into those." He then asked Camden where he got them - WalMart or Target? Greg chimed in with, "Must have been Sam's. Apparently they are value sized!" Ha. Good times. At least I know that my son will be in good hands and the doc is good with children.

Any doubts that I had about whether or not he needed to have the surgery done were alleviated yesterday. Cam's nose started running late last week and then got green and icky over the weekend. Knowing that we were on the 10 day countdown, and that he never gets better from this point, I decided to go ahead and take him in to the doc yesterday. Of course, after I called and made the appointment his nose didn't run anymore. Isn't that how it always happens? It's like their little bodies hear that they have to go see the doc so they suddenly wanna straighten up and act right. Either way, we went to the appointment. Dr. Laue said it was definitely on it's way to an infection and was pretty much a judgement call, but he agreed that with an impending surgery he needed the meds. Round 5 for the year!! Poor kid. Luckily I headed it off this time before he was completely miserable. He did wake up with a cough this morning though.

We had a great weekend. The Dixon's came over on Sunday and we grilled and had margaritas. The backyard looked like a fun zone! It was great for the kids. Avery is going to be a water baby. I couldn't get her out of the baby pool. She would act like she wanted out, but then wanted down and she would crawl back in. Camden at her age was not interested in the water at all, but she definitely is. My son is a complete outdoor boy. He asked me to put his bed out there. I bet that would last for about 2 seconds when he heard a coyote howl. We love the new friends we are making!

Other than tonsils out next week life is pretty much the same! I started a new course this week that is a survey of special education. I love it. Definitely one of the most interesting courses I have taken in my program. I thought at one point I wanted to be a special education teacher, but then I spoke with a lady who had been one for years and she said the paperwork will bog you down. I don't wanna spend my time behind a desk. I'm gonna be a teacher for the face-to-face classroom time and to make a difference for the kids. With classroom inclusion becoming as popular as it is today in our schools the likelihood is that I will have special education students that I can reach in my classroom.

Hope you all are having a great week!

The small things.

Some of the most precious things in life are those little moments that you wouldn't miss for the world. Yesterday I had to tutor and since we haven't been able to find a babysitter Greg and I have worked out the logistics between the two of us. Being that it was Tuesday he couldn't leave work early, so I took the kids to him. On the way we stopped at the chicken store for kids eat free night. There was a little too much of the kids in kids eat free for Camden. He walked into the play area, stayed for about 3 minutes, and then came out of there and asked for ice cream. Being that we were pressed for time it worked out perfectly! After we got back in the car and were headed for Daddy one of Cam's favorite songs came on., "Hey Soul Sister." (He thinks this song was written for his sister.) So Camden sings to Avery, "Hey soul sista, hey theeee sista sista... radio... stayeo... the way mumble mumble mumble.. ya, you knowww..." All the while she is waving and saying, "hiiiiiii. hiiiiiiiii." Sweetest. thing. ever.

So, during the writing of this post to my blog was one of those never dull experiences in this house. The kids were playing in the backyard because they had far too much energy to be inside this morning. The sandbox got left open during the latest rainfall and is now a mixture of sand and water. So, the rule the past two days has been you can go outside, but you can't play in the sandbox. Of course, the boys (who have been the two staying out of the sandbox) played outside happily for about an hour and then decided to make some trouble. Lil' miss mommy came and told on them for getting her wet. When I called them to the door they thought it was the funniest thing ever that they were soaked head to toe and covered in sand. Of course I wasn't letting them in the house like that, so I stripped them down and said it's time for a bath. In the meantime, someone rang the doorbell. It was the builder coming to repaint the garage wall that was supposed to be done weeks ago. I sent the kids inside and went to meet him in the garage. Four kids in the house and a mommy in the garage is always the perfect formula for trouble. When I came inside about four minutes later, the three big kids had dropped trowel and were playing in the bathtub with no water. And then there's little Miss Avery splashing away in the toilet bowl.. thank the Lord it was a freshly cleaned (and flushed) toilet! I am now exhausted from bathing, drying and dressing three three-year-olds while trying to occupy a baby. Nap anyone??!!

Stay tuned for pictures.

Monday, Monday.. dah dah, dah dah dah...

That -9s++ong6 856685al8slw6a6y+8s comes to mind when
-
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.Mnonday comes around. (Translation: That song always comes to mind when Monday rolls around. Thanks for the help Ave!)

It seems like the weekends pass more and more quickly these days. Especially when no nap for two days + a very busy weekend = my son going to bed before 7:00 pm and rise-and-shining at about 3:45 am. H-o-l-y C -o-w! He came into my room expecting me to get up with him at that time. Camden, have you met me? I do NOT get up for my day at 4 am. Fortunately, he's okay with laying on the couch and watching cartoons. He only came into my room and yelled, "Mommmyyy! Mommmyyy! Wake up! It's 9:00!" What a dear boy... I only wish that I got to sleep until 9:00 every day. Camden also has far more of a social life than his father and I. We have become the taxi service that escorts him to Little Gym, lunch outings, play dates and birthday parties. Isn't it supposed to be a few more years before that happens? Of course I love every minute of it. I am so glad that he has friends outside of the two that he spends every day with. He has become fast friends with a little boy named Dash. They share a love for Thomas! Camden has train envy though, cause Dash has just about every Thomas made. That's supposed to start at a later age too right?

Yesterday Camden had one of his "Cam-isms." We were talking about going to the Chinese buffet for lunch. So, when it was time to get ready we said, "Ok. Let's get shoes and go." So he said, "Yeah, let's go eat the precious food!" So, we kind of both looked at each other and then asked him was he said. He responded with, "Oh, I mean the patches food." HA! Close enough sweet little boy.

Speaking of patches, (that was one heck of a segway), I was watching a pretty disturbing commercial. It was for the Venus Trim 'N Style I think it's called. In the commercial they show ladies and then they show landscaping - trees, bushes (oh the irony...) and topiaries. As the women pass by these things they shrink, straighten and groom themselves. (As I type this out it becomes ever more hilarious...) I am thinking the entire time that this is going to be some kind of diet or health supplement commercial. In other words, these things are shrinking in order to signify a shrinking waist or self. WRONG! It was to signify the grooming of a woman's hair down there. Oh my! After I saw what it was for, I was disturbed by the fact that all of these bushes and topiaries were different shapes. For example, they show one woman and then show a tall rectangular tree - landing strip anyone? Then on another lady they showed a triangle - who really has time for that? It was kind of embarassing to be a woman and watch that. Who really wants to display for all of America into what shape they trim themselves.

Ok, ok, enough of that... Definitely over this Monday. It's very hard to make children follow the rules and act right when they have not had to for a whole weekend. It exhausts me. All I can do is start the day with a positive attitude and hope that by the end I am not completely beat down! Praying for steps from Avery by her birthday. She's getting there in her own time. Just like she does everything else!

Finally Friday!

This week has seemed like the longest one of the year! I don't know why that is, except maybe that I took on another tutoring student and had extra nights of work this week. I am so glad for the weekend! The only thing is that we have yet another birthday party to attend this weekend. My son's social life at 3 far exceeds any social life that his father or I have! He's a hot commodity. I am thankful for the busy weekends. They make the time pass faster until family is here to visit and keep my mind off Camden's impending surgery. The thought of him in surgery just makes me shiver, but I know that God will wrap us all in his warmth.

Speaking of God, I've been having issues lately with being selfish. Things have seemed to happen in ways that aren't beneficial to me, and I have had huge issues with this. It's hard being a stay at home mommy because that usually means that when something's gotta give it's always your obligations, responsibilities or free time for that matter. With Greg working 7 days a week it doesn't make it any easier to make the accommodations to do the things I need to do. And WHY can I not find a decent babysitter in this town??! Is it really that hard these days to find someone who is reliable and dependable to call to watch your children on occasion? It either is or there's some trick that I just don't know.

The Bible says that we should not be of anything in this world. The tenth commandment is God's warning against harboring an attitude of covetousness, self-seeking, looking out for number one, and the desire for selfish gain (Exodus 20:17). Although this may not relate specifically to the issues I am having, it is definitely something to live my life by. Lord, please help me.

Looking forward to another busy, fun-filled weekend! TGIF!

To blog or not to blog...

I have gone back and forth on the idea of having a blog forever now. The other day when I was going through some paperwork and pictures to hang in the house, I found a journal that I used to keep for Camden. I vowed when he was little that I was going to write in it every night before bed so that I would have a written account of his childhood. I picked it back up when Avery was first born, but just like before life got in the way. I don't want to miss all the little things that they say and do! I have done a great job at keeping up with my Project 365 - a picture (at least) a day for every day of the year. It's a great way to have something to look back on and see how much they changed over the course of a year. It's hard when you are with them every day to notice all the changes that take place. Now, with this blog I can have a written account to pair with it. Lord knows I spend enough time at my computer to keep up with it! Happy reading!