Tales of four little monkeys

Fire! Fire!

2011-10-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today was the annual October H.D. Fire Safety Event and the boys had a blast making their own fire rescue helicopters, snacking, and playing on the local fire trucks. The weather was beautiful and it was the perfect day to be outside. Preston even made a new friend; they were both mighty fond of each other. Check him out in the bottom pics...

Ahoy!

Do I regret having four kids?

2011-09-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

That was the question my husband asked me the other night. The day that I totally lost it on our children. Thursday. In short, the answer is no. Absolutely not. It has NEVER crossed my mind! Things have been so rough here lately. With three boys in school, myself in college, and a baby at my feet, afternoons, specifically homework time (3-6 pm), have been unbearable. No one ever wants to do their homework. Cullen's homework (in sixth grade advanced studies) takes him over three hours a night to do. He has to do it in his room because the rest of the house is so hectic and chaotic, and I honestly don't know what he is doing in there. I have to sporadically check in on him, when I remember to. At the end of the night, his answers are sometimes wrong, and they need to be erased and redone. Aiden needs me to sit next to him and spell words out as he writes sentences (which he does not enjoy), and he needs to read to me. Roman, well he needs someone to basically DO his homework at the age of four, as he is not great at finding objects in magazines, cutting them out, and pasting them in order correctly on the notebook page. And then there's my homework!
The back talking, growling, hissing, fighting, fits, and everything else negative that is happening in this house, drove me over the edge Thursday. I lost it on my children, yelled (and cursed) like an insane maniac. I told them I could care less what they do with their life, they can fail and it's on them to repeat the grade, not me, and that I no longer would bother with trying to help them succeed (to put it all nicely). I then called Jude at work, sobbing, telling him to come home before I did anything else stupid in the parenting department. They won! The little midget bullies in my home conquered me. I was angry for the next 12 hours or so, though I did fit an apology in that evening to my poor, disturbed, children. But, I have held a grudge the past four days and can feel a tiny distance between me and the boys. I hate it. I absolutely hate it.
Jude was upset, concerned, and in desperate need of an immediate answer. He tried talking to me that night, but it was of no use. The following day, he came home early from work and informed me he had made an appointment with a family therapist; one to lead us in the right direction in this parenting saga. I was a little upset at first. In fact, it bothered me for days. Until today. Today was the appointment day and I sat in the office with my arms and legs crossed, sipping my Starbucks frap. I wanted to see where this was going to go, but not necessarily "be there". After 20 minutes of being in the room, I noticed my arms were unfolded, my drink was done, and I was talking. Maybe being there wasn't such a bad idea. The therapist had already suggested something I hadn't thought of in my time of desperation...a reward chart for doing homework. The ol' positive reinforcement scenario. She also said a few other things that made me look at it all differently. I came home with a completely different attitude. I made up a chart for all three boys that consisted of BEHAVIOR, CHORES, HOMEWORK, and EXTRA CREDIT. We have a system! We had a family meeting tonight following dinner, and after, I wrote up a contract. They will sign this tomorrow. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I will no longer reward my children, unless it is earned. Everything will be earned and/or taken away. I will not be treated with disrespect and tortured. Homework fights are over. So is the back talking, sibling rivalry, disobedience, and tantrums. I am taking back over control! One of the things Jude and I have to do for therapy homework is to write a list of what we consider to be a good parent. Should be a piece of cake. I may post that later when it is done.
I have a few underlying issues with Jude and his parenting role. One is-he is way too lenient and does not correct our children like he should. I am the disciplinarian. He is the passive parent. No one ever really listens to him, and he doesn't seem as bothered by it as I do. I feel like I am always picking up his slack. Two is-he says, way too often, that we don't spend enough time with our kids. THAT drives me nuts! My entire life is centered around my children. There are cub scouts, football practices and martial arts, Monday through Friday. Every Friday evening is family night, which consists of pizza and a movie, or some other fun family thing. That's been in affect for over a year. Bedtime stories are read 6 out of 7 nights a week, always have been. Dinner is eaten at the table together EVERY night; all 6 of us. We attend church together at the church THEY want to attend, plus catechism on Sundays. We also will fit in a weekend family fun day almost every weekend. I am on the PTO at both schools, a room leader for my Pre-K student, home every afternoon when they get home from school, and we still find time to interact and play with them. Yet, he feels we do not spend enough "time" with them. That is something he needs to work out within himself, and I hope he can knock that out during one of our future therapy visits. I think we spend TOO much time with them. lol WE need more alone time! We are doing the best we can with four rambunctious boys, but every now and then, we all need a little help. I guess that is sometimes hard to accept, like admitting you are not doing that great of a job, when performing the most important job you will ever have in your life. I'm glad I have Jude by my side. There is such a long road ahead...

PS-I don't write this for you to judge me. I write this to remember the hard times, so the good times will feel that much better. I am not the only parent that has lost it on their children, and I hope this helps someone else maybe going through the same thing.

Summer Vacation 2011-Fun and Sun Found Us!

2011-07-18T23:59:00.001-05:00

Day 3
A miracle happened overnight, and we awoke to the beautiful sun shining down on the gorgeous beach. The kids didn't fight ALL day. God must have been listening to my prayers. It was a glorious day! My friend Stacey and her family came over the latter part of the day and her four kids (ages 13, 10, 9, 8) and my three kids (ages 11, 6, 4) had a blast playing together, and I got to hang with my girl. We even had a nice Mexican dinner out and everyone was well behaved. Here are a few pics.

Tonight, we wanted to take the kids crabbing on the beach. At first we couldn't find any, then these nice kids came by and dumped their bucket full of crabs for the boys to catch. It was awesome! The boys had the best time, well, except Roman. He screamed and ran for higher ground. Then, he jumped on top of a beach chair, where he remained until Jude carried him back to the condo. The crabs freaked him out, and that is when you realize just what a baby he is. My little man!

Summer Vacation 2011--Finding Fun

2011-07-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

Day 2
Today we woke up to more rain. Rain, rain, rain!

We ate breakfast and then tried to wait the rain out, all the while trying to make backup plans in case it stayed.

After my nice little morning workout (yay for me!), we chose to head to the movies at the Wharf,

with the kids kicking and screaming. Well, so did everyone else; more chaotic traffic. The movie ticket line was long, and in the rain might I add. After standing in line for a good twenty minutes, I had the bright idea to ditch the movies and head across the street to Laser Tag. A bright idea it was!

The boys had a great time, and so did we.

So much better than a packed movie, and for $88, about the same price. After, we went home for leftover pizza and stared out the window, wishing the clouds away. Around 4:30 pm, it semi-cleared up. It was windy and a bit chilly, but we were determined to play in the water. We went out to the beach and pool for about two hours and the boys had a blast. Although it rained basically the entire day, we managed to fit in some good, family fun and today was much better than yesterday. We ended the evening with Cullen getting his annual henna tattoo. He got two this time; the Monster logo and Fox motocross logo. Thank God that child can not get permanent tattoos at this age! He would be a walking billboard.
Anyway, if our days continue at this rate, the day we leave may be the best day yet:)

Summer Vacation 2011--Far From Perfect

2011-07-16T23:59:00.004-05:00

Day 1
Today we left home for a week in the sunny state of Florida. "Sunny" being the key word! We even rented our condo from a lady named Sunshine. I was positive it would be a hot week of fun and sun. So, where is this beautiful thing called SUN?! We drove through tons of rain to get here. Rain, shine, rain, shine...sunglasses on, off, on, off....it was annoying and traffic sucked. The kids aggravated each other the entire way here, which in turn, aggravated me. Lunch at our favorite travel restaurant, Cracker Barrel, was decent and a nice little break. By the time we arrived three states over, attitudes changed and everyone was happy...for about an hour. We unpacked, attempted some rainy memories at the beach and the pool, and then we went to eat at Lillian's Pizza. I was so stressed out by the time we ordered (and starved), I shed a few tears. Seriously. This isn't the "vacation" I envisioned. This was hell. I ordered a glass of wine, had yet another talk with the children about their behavior, and hoped for the best while leaving my 'perfect vacation week' expectations behind.
Walmart was next on the list and we were checking out at the registers at midnight. More misery. I tried to go alone, but every time I mentioned going somewhere alone, Jude would state "It's a family vacation and we do stuff together as a family". Aaack! I bought a good book titled "The Help" (I haven't read a fictional book since my teen years) and ended the evening lying in bed reading it, praying for a better tomorrow.

(*PRD is staying with Jude's parents this week. I miss him madly!!)

If I die before I wake...

2011-04-22T00:35:00.012-05:00

Who in the hell is going to take care of my four boys?! (Well, Jude would have to have died too, of course.) Assuming Cullen's dad is still alive, he would want Cullen. That leaves three boys (whom I wouldn't want to separate in the first place). Jude and I have discussed this time and time again, and it's not that we don't agree on anyone, we just have no idea WHO to choose. It would be like a death sentence to whomever we picked. No winning! Both sets of our parents are in their mid-sixties and three out of four are handicapped to some degree from accidents or past surgeries. I feel as if we would be ruining their lives. I know we would. Jude is an only child, and I have one older sister. To say we are not close is an understatement. She doesn't even like to hold my boys at holidays because "they're germ carriers". She has one teenage son who is almost out of the house. She's done. So here I am, laying in bed, wondering about the worst case scenario. Both sets of our parents have said that they would want them, but how do you choose? When you do decide, do you tell the set that you didn't pick, or do you wait until you are dead and gone, then cause them more pain? How do you even start to create a custody arrangement on children YOU chose to have? Our parents would all be eighty-something before the last boy left the house. That's insane to think about! I'm looking for that magic answer and wasting time as the years go by with no legal plan. Any ideas or advice? Any takers? <---That was a joke!

THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT MEN IN MY LIFE!

Me? A.D.D.?

2011-04-02T11:17:00.003-05:00

And so it is so. Cullen gets it from his momma.
I started reading an AOL article about ADD, and it took off from there. I recognized so many of the symptoms in myself, that I decided to take some quizzes I found online. They all came back "You have ADD". I then decided to talk to my mom, who was sleeping over that weekend, and she said it wouldn't hurt to talk to my doctor about it. Apparently, many decisions in my past kinda make sense now when their is a medical reason to explain the impulsivity I had growing up. (I am still super impulsive now!) I talked to Jude about it, and when telling him the symptoms of adult ADD, his response was that all adults could fit in that category. He then took the quiz himself online, and he got "You are NOT ADD". My point proven. I understand that we can all be forgetful, impulsive, unorganized, habitually late, etc., but when you look back and realize it has affected your entire life, there is a problem there. As much as I would like to list all the "events" that took place in my life that make all this make sense now, I don't want to share with the world all my past failures and beat myself up in black and white. I was depressed for a few days when I figured this all out, with my self diagnosis, because I kept thinking of all the things I would have done differently, had I known all along that I had ADD. It took a few people telling me that I wouldn't be where I am now (in a VERY HAPPY PLACE) if I changed anything in my past. I get it now. It just hit hard the first few days.
So, I made an appointment with my family doctor and went in to talk to her about it. She told me she would like a psychological evaluation before we do anything to treat it, just to verify and be cautious. I then made an appointment with a psychologist and took the ADD test. While speaking in the psychologists office, she asked me to start with school and go on from there with how well or poor I did and what events took place in my life after. When we were done talking, I realized even more what a problem this has been in my life. Really. She diagnosed me with ADHD, with the symptoms of impulsivity and attention deficit. (I am not the hyper type, the term ADHD is the only one they use in the medical field now, followed with your symptoms, no more "ADD".)
The next step was going back to my family doctor and deciding what to do. I did, and I chose to give prescriptions a try. Cullen takes them (as I have blogged about previously) and I see them work in him daily. I am on day three at the moment, as this all went down in March. I am trying to get used to the effects of it.
Like I stated previously, I was a tad depressed when all this hit me, and I have gone back and forth on wanting to share this with the world. But, as you all know, I am an open book, and in being that way, I have connected with others going through some of the same issues I've faced. I decided to share this. You can judge me, talk about me, do what you have to do. I know I am making the right choice in my life right now and Jude is supporting me one hundred percent, which means the world to me. We will see how this first prescribed medication helps (or doesn't) and I hope to update everyone in a few weeks. Maybe I will have the attention capability to continue on with my blogging. We'll see.
Also, to my very close friends, past and present, if you have noticed any ADHD qualities in me in the past, please feel free to discuss them openly with me. I learned a lot about myself last month and all feedback is welcome, positive or negative. I told one good friend about my ADHD, whose response was "no way!". I told another good friend who said "I knew that about you already." The feedback is interesting;) Thanks!

Dancing with the Stars, Fifth Grade Edition

2010-12-10T23:48:00.008-06:00

When Cullen came home months ago with a paper from his school announcing they were doing a "Dancing with the Stars" type of class for the fifth graders, I was eager to sign the permission slip and get Cullen started. Cullen, on the other hand, was totally against it. I had a feeling when I signed the permission slip, it wasn't going to get turned in. I even threatened him, saying I was going to check up on him and this dancing at the parent/teacher conferences, to make sure he was attending. It is during the PE hour. Well, guess what, I didn't follow through. So, months go by, and one day Cullen slips up and says something like, "That's the time all the other kids go to dance."
Wait! Hold up! Back up!
"Cullen, you didn't do the dance class like I told you to?!" It had been a couple months in at this point. Oh, did he get an ear full! He was grounded from all the glorious things he liked. I knew that permission slip was going to disappear!
Within a few days, without me telling him to, and in trying to redeem himself, he approached the coach and professional dance instructor at school and tried weaseling his way in the class. He was successful, too. That boy! He is a permanent substitute, in case any kids miss class, but he has been learning the dances and catching on quick and...HE LIKES IT! Imagine that. My whole point in wanting him to sign up was to try something new and see if he would like it. I want my kids to be well rounded and learn all sorts of new things while they are young. Cullen is a fantastic soccer player, baseball player, he's figured out football is not his thing, nor basketball, he is in Jiu Jitsu, is an awesome artist, and he is learning a second language of Spanish. He can add ballroom dancer to that list now. I want to push them to experience the most out of life. One day, they will thank me. As for now, he is giving me great memories to cherish forever.
Cullen, and his friends

Here are the video links of his new found skill...
The Salsa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii97DSTbFUk
The Waltz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQv5J8XBY1k
Swing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHXEkQwlhdM
Tango
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=549pNxMXz60
Merengue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaAvpg8sYmU

A gift for you, a gift for me...

2010-12-09T17:22:00.000-06:00

Cullen and Aiden's school had a Santa's Secret Workshop going on this week. That is where they bring money to school and shop for mom/dad/siblings/etc. on their own time. The gifts cost anywhere from $1-$15, or so. I gave them each $6 per family member, with five people to buy for, equals $30 each.
When I handed the boys their envelopes filled out, Aiden immediately asked if he could have some extra money so he could buy himself something. I explained Christmas is about giving, not receiving, blah, blah, blah. I asked him how he would feel if I bought myself a Christmas gift, and not him, which he answered he wouldn't like it. We had a good five minute conversation, which I thought ended with him clearly understanding what Christmas gifting is all about.
I walked to pick them up from school today and the first thing Aiden says is, "I bought myself something today. I had enough money!". "How was that possible?", I wondered. His answer, "I spent less on you all and I had money left over." I think we may need to have the whole "what Christmas is all about" discussion again! He was mighty sad when I told him it, too, was going under the tree with all the other gifts.
Cullen, on the other hand, informed me he brought his own birthday money he had left over from last month so he could spend MORE on us than what he was given. Awww, my baby! Goes to show you what a few years difference will do to a child's maturity level. Makes a momma proud!

Baby, it's cold outside!

2010-12-08T23:49:00.000-06:00

It is really starting to feel like winter down here! The two little ones and I had been hiding in the house on Monday and Tuesday. Today, we decided to go have lunch and grab some ice cream. I love snuggling with my two small, silly, babies in this weather. It is a challenge to get out of our pj's.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T22:32:00.013-06:00

A few people that I am most thankful for...

Growing up, all I ever wanted in life was to fall in love and live happily ever after. Seriously. I didn't dream of getting a big job position or earning a title in the business field. Money has never mattered to me. I'm not materialistic, though I do enjoy some modern things;) I remember a guy (some strange date once) asked me what I wanted out of life. I don't think I had given it much thought before that night, as I was young, eighteen. I vividly remember we were on the beach in Florida, it was late, and my answer was...a husband, a nice three bedroom house, two cars in the driveway, and a couple kids. Some might say that wasn't dreaming big, but I am a romantic at heart and all I hoped for was that perfect mate. Hoped. I dated many turkeys back in my time, and though I didn't always make the best decisions, I somehow always came out OK. (I must have had a guardian angel somewhere.) I learned from many of those experiences, and there were many experiences. lol No two relationships were the same. There were no patterns. I never had a "type". I liked tall, dark and handsome, but always found myself with guys very similar looking to Jude (not tall, not dark!). I think God was just preparing me for what was to come.
This Thanksgiving, I have so much to be thankful for. Jude is at the top of my list. HE is what I was always searching for. The day I met him, I knew he was the one, we just had many years added in there to build a friendship and get to know each other. My life was very messy back then. We took our sweet time getting to know each other and that is something I had never done before. Now, we have a relationship like no other. We were newlyweds the first five years of our marriage. That's a great start! I knew going into this marriage what I was looking for and he has fulfilled every hope and desire. You may have an impressive degree, the finer things in life, or a super duper fancy title...but I have all I have ever wanted right here at home: an amazing husband, and four handsome little men that I hope grow up to be wonderful husbands just like their father, as he leads by example. I believe everything happens for a reason! (I met this person, so I could meet the next person, and the next, and so on. I took this job instead of that job for a reason that led me to this time in my life, etc.) I can literally trace back all the steps to that night back on the beach talking to that guy, that led me to right here, right now. All my blessings in my life today have to do with family and friends. Thank you, Jude, just for being you. Thank you, God, for gifting him to me.

Erikk, The Elf on the Shelf

2010-11-23T11:42:00.001-06:00

Attention parents: YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK! $29.95
I can't believe I didn't know the story behind this book any sooner.
People have failed me!!
This book answers the age old question, "How does Santa really know if we are being 'naughty or nice?'".
The answer: a small pixie elf remains in your home for a few weeks until Christmas Day, acting as Santa's eyes and ears. He reports the children's behavior to St. Nick himself daily, and each year the elf returns to perform its assigned task.
The Elf (which the kids name) goes back to the North Pole every night while the kids are sleeping and gives Santa a daily report. Each morning, the kids have to find where the Elf is because he moves around at night. That's a fun game, too. If they touch the Elf, he loses his magic and Santa will think the kids forgot about him. Only parents can talk to the Elf. He has strict orders from Santa to not talk to the children. Whenever there is drama in our household, all we have to say are four magic words..."The Elf is watching!". For $29.95, you can't put a price on the peace and quiet it brings!
Jude is reading them the book, and Erikk the Elf is sitting on the window sill

www.elfontheshelf.com

Happy 11th birthday, Cullen!

2010-11-22T23:27:00.007-06:00

The day I found out I was pregnant with Cullen, my life changed almost instantly. The year was 1999 and I was days away from turning twenty one. Looking back, I was definitely at the worst stage of my entire life, though I didn't realize it then. I was wild, carefree, irresponsible, partying, and had no true path in front of me. I met a boy in a bar in New Orleans and within months, we were in love, expecting, and married. I almost got whiplash from how fast things changed. From that point on, I knew I wanted to be the best mommy I could be, even if it meant being a single mother to provide a better atmosphere and household for him. Cullen and I have been through so much together. When I look back at his eleven years, I not only see how much he has matured, but I see how much I have, too. From the day I met Jude, my life only got better. We were an official couple on Cullen's third birthday, got engaged on his fourth birthday, and married by his fifth birthday. Jude and I, together, with God as our leader, are raising him the way I envisioned life should and would be. Today, Cullen has four loving parents, four sets of families that adore him, and though life isn't the perfect cookie cutter scenario, I can't imagine it any better with all the love and support he has.
Cullen always throws me the curve balls. By the time you have a second child, you kind of know what to expect with each age and stage of that next child. By the fourth child (in our case, fourth boy) I feel very sure of myself. But Cullen, he is almost like my experimental child. I am going through life trying to raise him with no experience, without knowing what to expect next and questioning myself all along the way. When I look at him and see that sweet, loving, sensitive, smart, artistic, well mannered, handsome child, I am reassured we are ALL on the right path...together. I can't ask for much more in life.
His little brothers have some big shoes to fill!
Happy birthday to my baby!

Cullen, his friend Christian, and Aiden

Our weekend

2010-11-21T00:05:00.006-06:00

Saturday, Preston, Roman, and I went to the park to play in this beautiful weather.

Sunday, my dad was in town so he and I went to the local market and walked around. I bought some cute glasses, too.
Here, Preston is modeling a pair.

*Cullen was at his dads this weekend.
*Aiden spent the whole weekend at his Nanny and Paw Paws's house having Aiden-time.

Nicholas Jude, Preston's first friend

2010-11-20T23:57:00.008-06:00

I was so excited to find out my friend Heather was pregnant, only weeks after Jude and I learned we were. I had a friend to go through pregnancy with!

Also, that meant my baby would have a baby friend, too. A win, win. Nicholas Jude (how can you not LOVE the name?) was born about seven weeks after Preston entered the world and today the two little men met for the first time. Nicholas is adorable! The two little blond boys peeked at each other. I'm sure they were just shocked and amazed to see someone their own size. Here are a few pictures from their meet and greet...

Preston in disbelief...

There will be many more play dates to come!

Welcome Preston!

2010-09-25T00:27:00.007-05:00

Two weeks and some days ago the sweetest little man was born to complete our family and make us a six pack. Preston Rene arrived September 14, 2010, with a little help called inducing. He was stubborn leaving my womb, but oh-so-precious at his arrival. 8.15 lbs and 21.25 inches. He was long and skinny. The first thing he did was stretch his legs out and pee on me. Great first impression! The hospital has this new skin-to-skin thing they do, so they immediately layed him on me, where he stayed for at least an hour. He didn't cry much, and surprisingly, neither did I. That's a first! No tears. We were so content just cuddling. He roomed in with us. I wanted him as much as possible. Reason being, I knew when I got home there would be no more one-on-one alone time. I attempted breastfeeding for the first time also. When we left the hospital, my new baby had a bad case of jaundice. He was yellow. His skin, eyes, mouth, everywhere. We had to go to the doctors office, and even the hospital lab (on Sunday) to test his levels daily. By his one week birthday, they were down to a good level and we were done worrying about that. All my boys were born with it, but none had it as bad as Preston.
His older brothers adore him! He was a hit the moment he was carried in the front door. He is really a good baby, too. He likes to stay up late and sleep in late. This morning I had to wake him after 4 1/2 hours of sleep to feed him. He was out! His nicknames so far from mommy are Press-Press, Sticks, and PRD (pronounced PURD). Sticks because he loves to stick his little skinny legs out and stretch, just like he did when he came out the womb. At times, it looks like he is doing pilates. So cute! Not related, he also like s to throw both arms up in the air randomly, like he is riding a roller coaster. It is usually when he is startled. There are times we do not remember his name, sadly. It's not that we draw a blank, we just call him Roman, over and over. Tonight, we were checking out at Party City and I heard Jude talking so sweet to him, and he's calling him Roman in their private conversation. I think he is going to be so confused in a year if we do not straighten that out!
Preston is perfect! He is our last edition/addition and he is the missing puzzle piece to this family of all boys and one queen B.

The sex talk, minus the sex

2010-08-20T23:59:00.003-05:00

Friday night is family movie night at our house, a tradition we just recently started. Tonight we rented "Look Who's Talking" so the boys could see a newborn baby with his "daily thoughts". Anyway, as soon as the movie started, you have the sperm swimming to the egg. From that point on, Cullen tried to ask a million questions during the entire movie. I tried to fast forward through a few parts, including the opening, but that didn't stop him. I told him to hold all his questions until the movie was over, and for when his brothers weren't around. Then Aiden chimes in, "We're ALWAYS going to be around!". So sorry we picked this movie! When it was over, it was late, almost eleven, and I told Jude to have a seat because I was not doing this sex talk alone. I already knew the questions to expect for the most part, but I was SURE he was going to ask about the birds and the bees. We haven't had that talk yet. He's ten.
So, Cullen starts the conversation off asking if those were sperm. "Yes, they were."
C: "What were they doing?"
Me: "Swimming to the egg."
C: "The woman has the egg?" "Yes."
C: "How do they know to come out?"
Me: Thinking logically, I said "Gravity". I was thinking the wrong way.
Jude: "When a man and woman are married, the sperm just know that it is time to come out."
C: "Then how come people who aren't married have babies?"
Me: "Because you can do anything you want to do with your life, but there will be CONSEQUENCES! Some people make the wrong decisions before marriage."
C: Starts going through a list of young people he knows that are single parents.
Me: "Do any of those people have wonderful family lives or do they struggle taking care of their child alone?"
C: "Struggle." I gave him a few examples.
Me: "You can do anything you want, in the end, it is your decision, your life, and you are the one who will suffer the consequences." I then brought God into the conversation and also informed him that just because the girl has the baby doesn't mean she will raise it. He could end up raising the child, and I told him to look at his little brothers as examples of how demanding children can be. You don't get a break. They are permanent.
The conversation continued with questions about sperm donors, enemas, and lesbians; not in that order.
Jude tried to answer the sperm donation question and it started off with "A man puts his sperm in a jar...". I almost fell out my chair to stop him. I told Cullen it is a very technical medical procedure and is something he can wait to learn about later on in life. There is a such thing as TMI.
The entire talk was an awkward conversation to say the least, but he did not once ask about the actual act of "sex", and it was too late in the night for me to dive into it. My brain was half off. I am a little worried he may already know things I don't want him to know from his peers.
My parents didn't have the birds and the bees talk with me until it was too late. I don't want that for him, but I am also clueless in this area on what to say. I think I need a book of some kind. Any suggestions?

(Let me just end this post with, as an adult, I am aware of many healthy, wonderful, families who are headed by single parents, but I am not about to fill my young child's head with stuff I do not want for him. I only pray he does not knock up some teenage girl, which could make me a grandparent in the next three to nine years.)

Summer is done!

2010-08-19T20:35:00.001-05:00

Another non-blogging month long hiatus and I am ready for story time again.

Cullen started school last week. He is an "old and wise" fifth grader now. (At least that is what he would like to believe.)
Aiden's first day of school was today, my big kindergartner.

They were drawing pictures of themselves. Notice the yellow hair Aiden has drawn. First thing. That is how he identifies himself in every self portrait. I love it!

Time just flies on by, and this time next year, Roman will be entering into the Spanish Immersion program his brother is in. They will be talking about me in Spanish in no time, I just know it.
The good news is I survived the summer, and no one was harmed. Bonus! Having just Roman home today was nice. Very nice. We even took a nap together in my bed. Jude has been on vacation all week and home from work. He has cleaned the house from top to bottom and taken care of majority of the household duties, while I have sat and watched television, leaving nothing left on the TiVo to watch. The last couple weeks of being pregnant has caused me quite a few issues and Jude doesn't want me to do ANYTHING, though I think bed rest would drive me absolutely nuts. It is HARD to sit and do nothing all day. Jude is the greatest husband a girl could ever ask for! I hope my boys are learning from him:)

Just...can't...stop...

2010-07-19T21:25:00.005-05:00

SEWING! It is so fun to create all these cute burp cloths and very relaxing to sew. This morning I took the three boys to Krispy Kreme for breakfast and we dined inside and watched them make the donuts, which we've never done together. After, we went over to the library and played, checked some books out, and met up with the Castillo's. We then headed to a fabric store to pick out some cute(r) fabric and ribbons since I've semi-completed ten and still had fourteen more to do. Amy was a big help in picking out some designs. It's like having four eyes instead of two. She also has different tastes than I do, so she sees cute patterns that I may overlook. We make a great team:) We headed to our house with some lunch. Then we went down to another fabric store for more fabric quarters and ribbons. I am really beginning to love this new hobby. Here are the latest creations. I cannot wait to embroider little Preston's name (or initials) on them!
This is the basic look of the cloths opened up.
Love the blue and white polkas with yellow trim

A fave: the brown designs on the blue, with the brown ribbon trim

Pirates ahoy! A treasure map with black and white polkas for trim

Another fave: Ships, labeled by type under them, with dark blue and white polkas

Boy pattern all the way with different wheels, trimmed in dark blue and white polkas

I really want to make some girly ones, so when I am done with Preston's, I may just do that for the fun of it.

Happy birthday to our one and only, Mimi!

2010-07-18T20:04:00.005-05:00

My mom's birthday was this past Thursday so we went across the lake today to celebrate with her. It was a lovely day. The boys even played super well together. She had a yum yum chocolate cake

that Aiden and Roman were all over. It had butterflies, a dragon fly, and rocks (chocolate, that is). We laughed for hours and really enjoyed ourselves. I don't get to see them enough; I wish they lived closer.
Aiden eyeing up the cake!

Mimi laughing at her card from the boys

The boys eating "rocks"

Nanny, aka-Mimi's mom or my granny, whom does not willingly take pictures at the young age of eighty-three so I have to steal them:)

Spit happens!

2010-07-17T22:06:00.005-05:00

In anticipation of baby Preston, I took the time today to decorate some burp cloths (aka cloth diapers). Aiden and Roman both had very bad reflux when they were born (they take after their father) and I am almost positive little brother Preston will follow in their footsteps. It's gross, it stinks, it's extremely messy, and it happens. Over and over and over again! Years ago, an employee of Jude's made me some adorable homemade burp cloths for Aiden, and I eventually gave them all away after Roman. They were one of my favorite baby items, very useful, and I thought I could create my own. I purchased these cute strips of fabric about a year ago when I was taking on the new hobby of sewing. That hobby never really took off, hence I still had the masculine fabric in my closet. I think I did a decent job, though there are many minor imperfections. Now, I can't wait to monogram them with the new monogramming machine that should be delivered any day now that Amy and I are purchasing together. Let the lettering begin!!

For dinner, we took the boys to Chick-fil-a and let them burn off some energy since I had them inside all day.

To induce, or not to induce

2010-07-16T22:41:00.010-05:00

That is the question on my mind as I approach thirty weeks. Let's start here:
Cullen, my first born, was due November 17, 1999. The day came and went and he decided that wasn't HIS day. He waited five more days and at about four in the morning on November 22, he decided to put me in labor. My water didn't break but I could feel the contractions. I woke my then-husband up and we were on our way to the hospital. They broke my water there and I was in labor for twenty plus hours. It was miserable! There were two nurses pushing down on my stomach each time I pushed, trying to push the booger out. I had no idea he was so big, or I would have asked for a c-section. Cullen was 10 pounds, 5 ounces. My body hurt for days and the recovery sucked. There was an epidural and then after many, many hours, another hit to the back of epidural meds. I threw up during delivery and passed out right after. I had sworn I wasn't having anymore kids for at least a year after that. Once the memory faded, I eventually wanted more.
Five years later I was remarried and pregnant again. I shared with my new doctor my past experience and she said we could induce two weeks early. I was due April 1, 2005 and I went in for induction on March 18, 2005. Talk about a piece of cake! Aiden was 8 pounds, 9 ounces. When the doctor was cutting the cord, I was on video saying "That was easy. I could do this again!". And we did. Two years, two months later.
Roman was also taken two weeks early from the womb by induction. Roman was 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Also, a very easy delivery for me. Always lots of drugs involved.
Jude loves inducing. He can plan his work schedule around it and vacation time. I remember being in the doctor's office with Jude, pregnant for Roman, and the doctor said she could induce tomorrow. Before I could say anything, Jude's reply was "I have some things to take care of at work. What other days do you have?". I was so pissed, yet sat there in shock. I think we ended up scheduling it a few days later, but I let Jude have it in the car and called the doctor to change it back to the following day. How dare he?! Was he the one going in to deliver a baby?! I look back now and laugh. Jude has always gone to every baby doctor appointment with me. I think it's cute. That day he could have stayed his ass home!
What bothers me is this is our last baby and I want to feel my water break, or at least my contractions come on naturally again. I want Jude to experience the excitement of it all too, as he hasn't before. Grabbing stuff running out the door, driving fast, the pain I will complain about... I asked my doctor about not inducing this time (only if I pass my due date) and she was encouraging. She said the first child is always hard, and though she is pretty sure I will have another big baby, it shouldn't be as traumatic. I just wonder if, as the time nears, I will change my mind, or if I am even making the right decision. Is the naturally brought on labor experience really all worth it? Should I induce and spare my (fill in the blank) the extra pound or two, and have an almost guaranteed easier delivery, well planned and all? I mean, what if he comes so fast there is NO time for an epidural? I would rather die!! Should I let Preston pick when he is ready to enter the world? Trying to weigh my options here and I'm not sure what the right choice is.

7 month belly shot

2010-07-15T19:18:00.006-05:00

I was getting dressed the other day and decided to take a belly shot. Aiden walked in the room and I asked him, "Aiden, does this shirt make my belly look big?". Aiden stares for a few seconds, thinks, and replies "No, it doesn't look that big."
Little liar.
He is going to make some woman very happy one day.

A ten year old boy, and his laundry

2010-07-14T17:58:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago Cullen was at his dad's house and I was home doing laundry. I went in his room and his laundry was all over the floor. Total mess! It seems I am always getting on to him about picking up his clothes after himself, for five years at least. So, I closed the door and decided he can pick them up and he can wash them himself. When he came home last week, I informed him of my plan, told him to bring his clothes into the laundry room and then waited for him to take the initiative. When he ran out of shorts yesterday, he was ready. I made him sort colors, turn the washer on, load it, unload it, load the dryer and operate that, listen for the buzzer, take his clothes out, hang them, and fold them. He had three loads. He did it three times. After folding the first load, he turned to me and asked "You have to do this times five? Why do you want more kids?". It was great to see the understanding on his face. I told him as long as he picks up his clothes and just puts them in his hamper, I will continue to wash his clothes. The point is...DON'T BE LAZY!! I am praying he got it. It took me twice as long to teach him everything, compared to just doing it myself.

Good food, great conversations

2010-07-13T23:19:00.005-05:00

Tonight, a few girls and I got together for a quick dinner. I was literally texting from the restaurant asking friends to meet us there. What I thought would be four girls getting together ended up being eight, and I enjoyed every second of the adult conversation. I didn't have to get up and fix anyone a plate, pour a drink, wipe a mouth or get juice off the floor...it was great! We talked about hair, makeup, men, jobs, weddings, diets, vacations, liquor, sex, pregnancy, and so much more. There was no talk of Transformers, Buzz Lightyear, cars, legos, boogers, or any other boy talk. It's the simple things in life that bring such happiness:) I love my girlfriends, new and old, down the street or across the states. They matter in my life, are a priority, and bring me so much joy. Here is a pic of the group tonight...

Save a life!

2010-07-13T16:24:00.007-05:00

A couple weeks ago I read an article in the local paper about a young, beautiful, stay-at-home mom that has acute myelogenous leukemia, or AML, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. It really hit home to me after reading the article because I used to live next door to her husband, Justin, when I was younger. I don't know her personally, but he comes from a great family and I used to call him my best friend. I can't imagine him losing his wife so tragically, and him having to raise two precious daughters, over something so simple as not finding a match for a donor. There has got to be someone out there that can help this family! I thought to myself, what if this was me or MY husband? I immediately signed up at http://www.marrow.org to receive a testing kit to see if I match ANYONE whom I can help. I was never aware of bone marrow donation until I read about this...

According to Amanda, joining the national registry through the National Marrow Donor Program is a simple swab of your mouth, and if you are a match, they will call you. Donating bone marrow is almost as simple as donating blood.

It's free to sign up online, test, and mail back. You can also make a monetary donation online, if you would like. I signed up Thursday night on my computer, received the kit yesterday,

took four swabs of my mouth this morning, and already mailed it back. Today is Tuesday and makes day five.
I really hope I am a match for someone! I would love to save a life. I pray Amanda finds her match soon and gets her health back, so she can enjoy those two beautiful daughters and watch them grow up. I ask that you log on to http://www.marrow.org and take ten minutes to sign up, you could literally save a life!
*Amanda's family has organized a bone marrow donor drive and fundraiser set for July 24 from noon to 4 p.m. at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1001 West Esplanade Ave., Kenner. She needs to find someone with a Filipino or Asian background to donate.

If I had a pair, I'd want to know more about cars!

2010-07-12T22:20:00.008-05:00

Jude came home last week with an issue. He usually does have issues. (I say that lovingly.) His SUV was making a funny sound, like there may have been a bad squeaky belt, and he asked that I take it over to the local mechanic shop the following day. We both have our own mechanics we like to use. Mine is in the neighborhood and his is the next town over. Now, I am used to a little bit of car luxury these days and riding in his SUV is one of my least favorite things to do. The air gets cool (not cold) and he makes a mess in it, which I'm not there to clean. There is no DVD player, no XM radio, no cleanliness, yadda yadda yadda. So, I drive it over to the shop the following day, Tuesday, and it's CLOSED. Closed till the following Monday. Guess who has to drive the Big Dick around for the week? Yes, me...while he gets to drive my baby, Big Betty. Why? Oh, what if something should happen on the interstate? That's the reason I'm given. I really stayed in the house a lot with all three children, as to not use his truck. That's a little piece of hell, right there.
Monday (today) comes and I drive over to the mechanic. Now, they know me there by now because I always bring Jude's truck in with issues. Not mine. Issues Jude sends me with. There is a guy there, we will call him G, and G always ends up waiting on me. He looks like he is straight out of an 80's video, with the long hair, tan, grease look. Think, Billy Joel, Uptown Girl video. I get there and of course the belt is not squeaking. (It hadn't been all week when I drove it.) I tell G that there is a belt that is making noise, not right now, but it was last week, and I needed to see about getting it changed. He tells me pop the hood, he looks, says the belt is fine, closes the hood, and goes to send me on my way. Now, I have to ask the million questions Jude is going to ask me...
"Why is it squeaking?"
"Can I oil it?"
"Which belt is it? Like, what does the belt do exactly?"
"Etc. Etc."
Now, I am beginning to think ol' G thinks I have a thing for him, because Jude sends me there more than I need to go. How idiotic did I look today?
Last time I went, I asked G to put some freon in the SUV because the air doesn't get very cold, and he checked it and said the freon was full. How is that?
Well, the time before that, I asked G to put freon in it with a repair kit Jude purchased from Auto Zone because it was blowing hot air, and G did it for free. Yes, Jude made me bring my own freon to a repair shop that sells freon. I think G just felt sorry for me...look at this poor lady with three kids in a '99 Suburban bringing freon here. lol
I hope I do not need to see G for a very long time!
As I was stuck with the Big Dick today (Jude's SUV), the boys played their Wii game and painted some beautiful photos while we were avoiding the heat inside.
Tomorrow, I get my freedom back!

Our despicable weekend

2010-07-11T23:55:00.001-05:00

Friday I went to the OBGYN for a shot, and got the results of my blood work from Wednesday's testing. I have to start taking these iron pills as I am anemic, though very low range. Saturday I took one of those funky pills and felt disgusting all day. They gave me terrible indigestion, so I pretty much slept off and on all day while the children entertained themselves. I haven't taken another one since!
Sunday I even slept through church. Jude took the boys to mass and I stayed in bed. Later, we took them to to movies to see "Despicable Me".

It was really cute. Sunday evening I went to the Parish to see Stacey; she was having a home-business party.

It was great to see her and her family, as Stacey and I have been friends since we were about eight. I have moved many, many times in my life, and have never lost contact with her. She'd call my momma and find me:) and she's always been pretty easy to find, herself. I'd call her momma. She is a true friend and a wonderful one to have.
(*As you can see, pregnancy is now catching up with me. My face is starting to swell. Wonderful! Only ten weeks left.)

Also, we picked a name over the weekend for Baby IIII. The winner is...
Preston Rene
Preston=ends in a N, like all the other boys; definition: priests town
Rene=after my dear friend Brandi Renee, whom passed away when Roman was three months old in August 2007

Here's some crack...go play!

2010-07-09T13:13:00.014-05:00

Desperate times call for desperate measures! I am running out of ideas for the children to keep them entertained this summer. Just yesterday we went to a local bounce house

and it was $26 for all three boys to jump for not quite two hours. That is crazy to do more than twice a month on my stay-at-home-mom budget. I feel like I am just giving money away, with nothing to show for it.
As you may know, Aiden has a love and addiction for video games (a.k.a. crack), but more for computer games these days. We have limited his play time to just the weekends starting on Fridays, then it went to just Saturday and Sunday; and just recently we've taken the computer away all together. Lego.com is dangerously fascinating to him! Last night I decided to purchase Toy Story 3 for them. It was $50, equal to four hours/two days of bounce play. I think I may give them one hour each day to play with a timer, which gives them something to do indoors while it is sweltering hot outside, or raining. I am going to be honest and say that it is very hard to keep my three children entertained at all hours of the day, ALL summer. I value our quality time together, I do. I also feel a total disconnect from the outside world as I have children under my feet and in my hair non-stop all day, every day. But today, I feel like an enabler to Aiden. I feel guilt. Defeated. At the same time, I feel peace and quiet at this very moment while they are all playing the Wii so well together. Okay, Roman just watches, but he doesn't know what he is missing...yet.
It was so cute earlier, I made finding the Wii game into a scavenger hunt. I placed notes throughout the house and told Cullen he could only read them and hint to where to go and to let Aiden find the next note. Well, by the third note, Roman was onto what was going on and he grabbed the note. Aiden got a little upset, but was ready to find the next one. As Cullen read it, the word "tub" was actually written in it, and Roman took off before Aiden could and grabbed the second to last note. Aiden was so upset. At that second, I wasn't sure how a fun game turned into sibling rivalry. I kept Roman back as the last note was read and the prize was found. There were three very happy little boys then!

Here are a few pics from this week...
The day Roman ate his entire peanut butter sandwich at lunch goes down in the books!

Aiden, with his favorite Shrek glass that was recalled the day after we bought it. It's still here.

Sprinkler/slide fun

A baby pool for my baby

Playing games with Cullen

Re-parenting

2010-07-06T17:50:00.012-05:00

*This blog isn't written by me only to remember the good times. It is a daily record of our life...the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The chaos and tantrums have been taken down a few notches in the past few days and it is sweeeeeet! The past two days Jude's been home and we have been trying out some new parenting strategies. A few weeks back I was watching Dr. Phil (don't laugh!) and they had a show on about parent/child relationships. It was basically about controlling your children without yelling or spanking. Now, I honestly yell. Hello?! I have three boys, ages three, five, and ten. It seems there is always chaos in our home. Let me state for the record, my yells, according to my friends, are not mean or intimidating, but I yell, raise my voice, none the less. Jude does too. It is something we are not proud of, but the kids drive us nuts at times. Fights, demands, whining, not obeying, not eating, not going to bed, etc. are many of the reasons, and that's X 3. The thing I have to remind myself of is, they are not deaf. Just because I say it louder doesn't mean it sinks in more. I have also spanked a few times, not beaten, when all else has failed and it is something I hate doing but it is always in the middle of that very heated moment. Anyway, back to what I was saying, I ordered this book titled "The Big Book of Parenting Solutions" by Michele Borba, and it came in the mail recently. I purchased "Family First" by Dr. Phil, too.

I also caught another show on Dr. Phil the other day about controlling the chaos with young children. I made Jude watch the DVR episodes with me. Aiden has fits, tantrums, and during the summer, there are way more than during the school year. I will let him debate me till the sun goes down. I will argue like I'm five, give in at times because I feel it's not worth the battle, and ignore him the other half of the time while he does these ear piercing screams that truly hurt my ears. Nothing is consistent, I admit that. (There are happy times, too!!) So we are BOTH working on consistency, not yelling, positive reinforcement, redirecting, and enforcing the same rules, even if it makes us sound like a broken record. What ever happened to the phrase "I'm not a record, I don't repeat myself"? So last night I bought a timer and when Aiden tries to throw a tantrum, doesn't obey, or is outright ugly, he ends up in the hallway corner with "Mr. Timer" on for a minute.

That minute can be added on to. The key to this technique working is being consistent. I have praised them so many times in the past few days, it's sick.
"Good job for eating all your food."
"You make mommy so happy by staying in your bed."
"What a wonderful job you are doing."
"You two are playing so nice together, it just warms mommy's heart."
"I love the way you are helping me. Thank you."
And so on, and so on...
When things have just seemed to be so out of our control, I am hoping this is an answer to my many prayers. Sometimes, we lose control of our house. Sad, but true. We get tired, or overworked, lazy, whatever, and it happens. I am, scratch that, we are trying to take back control of our house this summer. I am very fortunate that Jude and I are on this path together. He is trying just as hard as I am. When I feel I am losing it, he steps in and corrects them, and vice versa. That is really nice, as I am usually the enforcer around here. Daddy is the nice guy that comes home from work and plays with them, bathes them, and puts them to bed with sweet stories. I am the lunatic that corrects them, punishes them, and makes them behave. Oh, I also feed them, clothe them, taxi them around town, entertain them, and so forth, but no one ever acknowledges the nice things I do. lol Oh, the life of a mom!
Now, can Dr. Phil really change lives?? hahaha

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T23:33:00.012-05:00

It's not that I take our country for granted, but sometimes it is nice to get a little reminder every once in a while on why our country is so great. This past week showed me what a wonderful justice system we have and the term freedom has a new meaning to me this fourth.
Jude and I started our day taking the two little boys to church and then came home to watch that movie we rented yesterday. Okay, I watched about fifteen minutes of it, fell asleep, and woke up at the end. I am just so tired these days. I entered my third trimester recently and I hope that has nothing to do with it. I think I need to get back on a routine and back in the gym. Then, it was nap time, which I slept some more. The boys played in the pool after, and had some water fun.

Andrea's

When evening came, we decided to catch some more fireworks on the river and drove downtown. I am so glad we did. The fireworks were awesome and the boys really enjoyed it. I took tons of photos of them being silly. I am also wearing no makeup tonight because that would have required energy on my part to put it on; but I am now regretting that decision after looking at these photos.

Cullen is still at his dad's house. He got a phone call today to try out for the All-Star Baseball team tomorrow evening by his dads, so it may be another day or two before my little man comes home.
:(

Our pre-4th of July weekend

2010-07-03T22:45:00.011-05:00

When Jude and I take off to a hotel alone for a few days (for work, play, whatever) I am usually ready to see my kids when the time is up; but if given the opportunity, I would stay just a few more days alone with Jude, as I really enjoy the one on one time with him. Well, after spending four nights in Hattiesburg for the trial of my murdered friend, going through all the emotions, I was so super happy to get home to our boys and spend some quality time with them. I missed them so much! I just wanted to eat them up. Jude is still on vacation till Monday, so we are able to spend time with them together.

Thursday:
When we got in town, we picked the boys up and went to the mall. We bought the two little ones their first pair of flip flops and they are so adorable wearing them. We shopped a little, rented the boys a movie, and came home to our own comfy beds. The beds in Hattiesburg did nothing for me and it was really hard to sleep during that time.

Friday:
I was so exhausted from all week that I literally stayed inside all day, mostly laying in bed or on the recliner. I did nothing. For dinner, we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant where the boys were little terrors and they didn't eat a thing. I was so happy to get home and put them straight to bed. Ummm, I mean, I knew the next day was going to be fun filled and they needed their beauty sleep. lol

Saturday:
Jude and I woke up at 10 a.m. and thought for sure the boys had snuck out of their room quietly and were running the house. Nope. They, to our amazement, were still sleeping. It must have been all the energy they burned getting into trouble the night before at the restaurant. We all got dressed and went for beignets. Then, we headed to MS to ride the beach and enjoy some time at the local Crab Fest.

It was so hot that I started melting as soon as I got out the car. Not sure what I was thinking there. The boys rode a few rides,

we had snoballs, and they were ready to go home. You know it's hot when you still have ride tickets and the kids just want to leave. As we were walking to our car, we passed a shaded park that was perfect to play on.

The boys had some fun and finished their snoballs

while Jude and I sat in the air conditioned car right by them with the windows down. I ran into a few people I knew at the fair and it really makes me miss home. I miss running into familiar faces at every corner:( I miss the water, even if it isn't the prettiest water you've ever seen, and the memories of growing up around there. I miss it all!
On our way home we rented the boys another movie and then took naps. Later, we went to watch some fireworks

at the local park, which were beautiful, and then grabbed some McD's for dinner. All in all, it was a very nice day!
Here are two preggo shots from today, at the six month mark. Three months to go!

Cullen is at his dad's house till Sunday and we miss him much. When I told Aiden we were going to spend some family time together Saturday morning, his response was "We will do the best we can since Cullen's not here. He's at his dad's because he has two families." So cute.
*All photos were taken with my cell, as I forgot my camera on this beautiful day.

Happy 35th birthday, my dear Jude!

2010-06-26T23:07:00.003-05:00

Jude turns thirty five tomorrow, so we went out to dinner tonight with his parents, Cullen, and Aiden. Roman was a little too young to dine where they cook your food right in front of you, so Amy was gracious enough to babysit him for us. Jude has been wanting to take the boys to eat here forever, as it is one of his most favorite restaurants and it is really entertaining. The problem is, it is a tad expensive($255 tonight, nothing fancy), so we usually only go on Jude's birthday. Well, the boys absolutely LOVED it! They were in awe. Aiden used chopsticks (he stabbed his meat, but hey) and he even tried to catch the food that was thrown at him with his mouth. Cullen, too. Had I known they would have been that happy and excited to dine there, we would have taken them there a lot sooner. They were both so well behaved and Jude's birthday dinner was a success.

Our day, child vs. mom

2010-06-22T23:39:00.004-05:00

My child's view of our Tuesday

Awoke
Breakfast served to me with my favorite chocolate milk
Went to the gym and played with my BFF for an hour
My BFF came to my house and played for a couple more hours
Had lunch with my BFF from Cane's
Took a nap
Woke up and played Lego's
Went swimming in the pool and the "water slide" for an hour or two
Got dressed, had dinner, played more
Went to the movies with mommy and daddy to see Toy Story 3...It was great!
Came home and went to bed

Mom's view of our Tuesday

Awoke
Made breakfast for everyone and had a cup of coffee to get some energy, cleaned up
Went to the gym in the rain and worked out for an hour, even though I didn't feel like it
Watched four kids and tried to wash clothes for a couple hours
Had lunch with my BFF from Cane's, while arguing with Aiden the entire time because it was past nap time and he was a big crank ball
Took a nap
Woke up to referee arguments over Lego's and prepared dinner
Cooked dinner and watched the children play in the little pool for some time, making sure no one drowned the other one
Dressed the kids and served everyone dinner, ate, cleaned up
Went to the movies to see Toy Story 3...It was great! Spent $35.
Came home, blogged, and went to bed

Our days are so similar, yet so different. Oh, to be a child again!!

Monday, starting the week off right

2010-06-21T21:14:00.007-05:00

The boys and I went to the gym this morning, the grocery, then home. Jude had come home on his lunch break to my surprise and had flowers, a sweet card, and some chocolate waiting for me.

He entered the dog house on Saturday evening, got a free pass on Father's Day, and quickly returned there last night while I was trying to fall asleep. Men do stupid things, and that is all I will say about that. The boys played/fought while I washed clothes and attempted to clean the house a bit.
Once Jude got off work, he brought the boys to the library, mowed the yard while the boys played in the baby pool, and I grilled some delicious steak and corn on the cob.

After, we all watched Charlotte's Web in Spanish. Aiden is very interested in the Spanish language since starting the Spanish Immersion program at school this past year. He was even excited to see the commercials in Spanish. (We DVR'ed it off the local Spanish channel.) I know Roman is going to know quite a few Spanish words by the time he enters into the program next year. I hope to learn it too one day so there will be no secret language in this house as they get older.

Happy Father's Day, Jude!

2010-06-20T23:47:00.000-05:00

I may not say it to Jude often, and it's not that I take him for granted, but he is an amazing father who has more patience in the world than any man I know. I sometimes find the chaos in our home overwhelming, but Jude takes it as almost music to his ears. He loves the noise! He loves our children and provides so much for us so we can have a comfortable life. The fact that I get to stay home with our children and create many special memories is something I only dreamed of until marrying him. I love that I can take many photos of the children's daily activities and email a few pics to him and blog about it when the day is done. It wouldn't be possible without Jude. He works very hard and takes a lot of crap from his job of fifteen years, that I am sure if we didn't exist, he wouldn't do. He tries so hard to balance work and family, and I know that's a job in itself. He is some one's favorite in this house at ALL times. He sometimes plays board games with the kids in the evenings, or takes them to the library, he always reads them books at night, bathes them ninety five percent of the time, and loves watching kid movies with them. He likes to take them swimming at the gym, fixes them breakfast on most of his days off, and will build Lego's with them until they all are used up. He comforts them when they are hurt, settles disputes between them, and can fix just about anything they need fixed. Every day when Jude walks in the door from work, he is welcomed home with a kiss from each of us. (At the moment, that is three or four kisses guaranteed every day.) At times, there is even fighting on who will open the door for him. He is a hero in our home and I am a very lucky girl to call him my husband. He may not be perfect, but he has few imperfections in my book. I married the right man for me, and in good times and in bad, he never changes the way he fathers our children and I am most thankful for that. I know at times I feel like I could be a better parent, and he goes through that too, but from my personal view, he is doing a wonderful job and we are all blessed to call him our daddy here. Thank you, God, for this man!

Congrats to Jeff and Julie

2010-06-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight Jude and I attended an engagement party for Jeff and Julie across the lake. Jude and Jeff were very good friends in college. Jeff was the best man at our wedding, and the godfather to our last two children, Aiden and Roman. As Jude works like a mad man, has been married for six years now, and has three kids going on four, we really don't see them much. (Jude doesn't see anyone much, besides us.) I honestly didn't think Jeff would ever settle down; but he has, and Julie seems like a great girl for him, so I am happy for them both. The ring is beautiful and the wedding is planned for January 2011. Here is the only pic I snapped from the evening.

Jeff's in the middle, Brad (was also in our wedding) is to the left of Jeff, and Jude is to the right

Taste and See

2010-06-18T13:31:00.001-05:00

Cullen and Aiden have been attending vacation bible school together this week at the church we attend and the theme is Taste and See. It has like a Candyland theme. Every day they give a fun report of what they did. Here are a few photos from my phone...

It's a date!

2010-06-17T17:07:00.004-05:00

Roman, my three year old son, and Delaney, Amy's almost two year old daughter, are close in age and I have been waiting for them to get along and start noticing each other/playing together. The most Roman says to Delaney is "Stop looking at me!!", which I know he means lovingly. Well yesterday we hung out together and Roman gave Delaney her first compliment. I told Roman he was pretty (he'd just got a haircut), which in turn he usually yells "I'm NOT pretty!". But this time he said "I not pretty, Laney pretty." Whoa! I don't know where that came from but he is right. So today, all the kids ran outside to play, then after a little while, everyone came in except Delaney and Roman. When Amy and I noticed that, we went quickly to see what they were up to. We found them at the little picnic table together...playing.

Finally, they play! Delaney even hugged Roman today when he walked in the door. It must have been the pretty compliment from the day before that got her:) Just look at his smile...

Our last zoo trip of 2010

2010-06-16T20:44:00.001-05:00

Today we needed to get out of the house, and since there was mad rain throughout the city in patchy areas, Amy and I decided to hit the zoo with the overcast. Fortunately, it wasn't that hot, except for one ten minute time span when the sun contemplated coming out, but it chose to go hide some more. The five children had a blast and burned tons of energy. Sadly, since summer is here already, it will probably be our last trip there until the fall when the weather cools off.

Delaney tried to run...

...but she was caught

I'm not the only one gaining weight around here

2010-06-15T13:52:00.005-05:00

Cullen, who's ten, has been off his ADD medicine for almost three weeks now and is steady gaining weight. I am so happy! He has also calmed down from that first week of getting off of the them. Although he still has problems processing stuff like directions, he is not all over the place like he was that first week. Here is a side by side of the past three weeks. The first picture is from the end of May and the second one is today, mid June. His cheeks are chubbier and his shoulders are a little broader. It amazes me. I want to take him back to the doctor to weigh him again on their scale and see what the difference is.

May 2010

June 2010

And there's the weight!

2010-06-14T22:12:00.006-05:00

Pregnancy #4:
The first 18 weeks, 5 pounds. Doing good!
The last 7 weeks, add 17 pounds. Not so good! (FYI-That's about 2.5 lbs a week.)
Total: 25 weeks, 22 pounds on so far.
14 weeks left...you do the math.
Looks like this fourth pregnancy will be no different than the rest. I have always gained between 50-60 pounds for each boy, losing pretty much all of it after Cullen and Aiden with the exception of this last little rug rat, Roman. I am miserable and cannot afford to put on that much more weight!! I thought it wouldn't happen this time:(

Did I ever tell you how much I HATE being pregnant?! Oh, I said it. HATE!! I do! I just like having the newborn in my arms on it's birthday. I am not a fan of alllllll the other stuff that goes along with it. I'd give you a list, but it would probably gross a lot of people out. To all the women who say they just LOVE being pregnant, screw that. That's just crazy talk! I thought this time would be different, but it's not. I'm going to cry now...

My horrible day

2010-06-11T19:52:00.004-05:00

Jude was off today and I woke up at 9 a.m. to the phone ringing. It was our home alarm company stating that our side door wireless sensory battery was dying and they just wanted to let us know. Well, this is the second time in the past six months that they will need to come out and "fix" it. I then realized I was sweating something bad. The air conditioner must be broke, too. It was!! I had a hair appointment I ran off to and when I got home, I pulled in the driveway, turned the car off, got out, and closed the door. All of a sudden I felt stuff hitting me. I thought our hanging fern had broke through the bottom. Nope. I looked around to see my back quarter driver side window shattered.

The heat apparently made it explode out, and onto me. Nice. Real nice. I get in the hot house, have a seat on the recliner and try to use my Iphone to look up the glass company and I discover IT isn't working. Talk about being in a bad mood!!
Jude's uncle then came out to repair the A/C, which only needed freon, thank God. I found a glass company that can repair my car tomorrow morning, and I realized that every one's AT&T service was screwed, not just mine. Things started looking up. But, to finish the day off, our little blow up pool that gives the children hours and hours of fun (and me peace and quiet), POPPED. No more pool time fun until we buy new one. I just want to go to sleep and start the day over tomorrow. My Saturday is supposed to be a girl day by the pool on the coast. Let's hope tomorrow is better!

This week, so far

2010-06-09T15:39:00.014-05:00

Let me just start this blog post by saying IT IS SO FREAKING HOT down here. OMG! We are in June and my pregnant butt has three more months of this? WTH was I thinking? When I got pregnant for Cullen, he was my first and I had no idea about the summer heat and pregnancy. I learned a valuable lesson with him and swore I would never do that to myself again. The next two children, I planned so I would not be pregnant in the summer. Well, I must have forgotten just how HOT it is from eleven years ago. I wanted us to hurry this round once we decided to have another, as neither one of us are getting any younger. Boy, should we have waited. I am miserable! Just wanted to record this for my future blog book, in case we decide to have another, it will NOT be during the summer for sure!
Monday and Tuesday morning I had to babysit the Kreemer kids so the boys had friends to play with both mornings. By Monday afternoon, Aiden had such an attitude that I decided to go grocery shopping alone and enjoy not being yelled at for an hour. See, Aiden is a gamer. He is addicted to the Wii and all video games in general. Yes, he's five. I try to let him have some time on the weekends to play, but come Monday morning, he goes through detox when the Wii is put away. It's crazy, and oh so scary. I don't even see how he enjoys playing as he gets so mad at the Lego games that he throws and pounds the remotes, which of course gets him in trouble. That doesn't seem fun or relaxing to me. Let's remember, his name does means FIERY.
Anywho, Tuesday came and went with little to no problems. We went to the Castillo's to play for a little while and let the older kids swim for a couple hours in the kiddie pool.
Aiden

Xan

Laney

Eli

Hannah

Roman

Everyone was worn out once we got home and naps followed quickly. Cullen has been at his dad's. Tuesday night we went to get (sugar free) snoballs after dinner.
Today, Jude and I slept in, as he works really late tonight. Then the boys played in the backyard and burned some energy while I booked my hotel room for the trial in Hattiesburg.

The trial for Brandi is sooooo close!
Tonight, we have church group and Cullen comes home. I wonder what tomorrow has in store for us. At least Roman is feeling better and Aiden is all well. Next week, vacation bible school! I learned from a few parents at a recent birthday party that the key to sanity for any stay at home parent during the summer is multiple vacation bible school camps on different weeks. We are signed up for two and are debating a third:)

Dinner with a three year old tyrant

2010-06-08T23:01:00.001-05:00

Roman does not eat dinner. Ever! He barely eats lunch. He just pushes his plate away and snubs his nose. We have tried many different routes, but so far, none have worked. We have plenty of issues trying to feed this child and have limited snacks to bread, crackers, fruit snacks, fruit, granola bars, etc. Meaning, he doesn't walk around eating Ding Dong's, cookies, and chocolate all day. He is stubborn times a hundred. Tonight, I tried to get him to taste a green bean and although I know I shouldn't have used bribery, I wanted to see how far this would go and took out my iphone to record it. We were all done eating dinner.

Some of the things he says in the video (I had to cut the first few seconds to be able to download it to here):
"Daddy gonna eat the bean, Daddy eat the bean!"
"I don't want to get a snoball."
"I not getting snoball."
"I can't...I going in the corner."
That's Aiden laughing at the end.

It does not matter if it is a green bean, mac and cheese, or a cracker he does not want. This is the response to food put in front of him.
Now, let me just state for the record, besides putting him in his room at dinner when he refuses to eat with us, we have NEVER put him in the corner. He punishes himself these days.
I love him so much, bad attitude and all. This is an every night occurrence. No need to wonder why I read all the parenting books!

Our Sixth Anniversary Weekend

2010-06-06T20:31:00.021-05:00

Jude was off Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we made sure to spend some quality time together. After all, we were celebrating six wonderful years of marriage.

Friday:
We woke up and it was funky outside with rain (again). We got all three boys dressed and went to eat donuts. One of their favorite breakfasts...

Then, we headed over to the insectarium and the boys were in little boy heaven. To be honest, it truly grossed me out, but it was a very neat place to visit. All three really enjoyed it; it fit all their age groups apparently.

For dinner, we all went to Chili's to eat. The boys LOVE molten chocolate lava cake and it was gone in two minutes.

Saturday:
Jude and I slept late and stayed in bed pretty much all afternoon, just relaxing. Then, it was time for the boys to go sleep at Nanny and Paw Paw's so Jude and I could have a nice adult dinner at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse.
*Six years ago, Jude and I had our daytime wedding reception in the FQ and got a hotel room to stay in down there overnight, before we caught a flight in the morning to Hawaii. In all the madness, we left our bags at his parents house and only had our wedding clothes to wear till the next day. Silly, I know. It was raining and we were starving come night time, so we got dressed in our wedding attire and walked a few blocks to Dickies. The wait for a table was outrageous and we decided we would leave and try somewhere else. As we were walking out the restaurant door, a staff member grabbed us and asked if we had just gotten married. Of course, yes. We were seated immediately, the staff was great, and the food was oh so yummy. We try to go back there once a year and we are never disappointed. Great memories!*

After dinner, we came home to cuddle and watch a movie, left to get snoballs at 10:30 at night, and went to bed soon after.

Sunday:
Since we were still child free come morning time, we decided to sleep in late and go have a jazz brunch at a local favorite restaurant. It was wonderful! After, we picked up our two little monkeys and headed home for naps. Yes, we slept some more. Then it was off to Richelle's 30th birthday surprise party with tons of family. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICHELLE!!) It was an amazing, relaxing weekend and it couldn't have been better. Jude sure knows how to treat me, even after all these years. I am one lucky girl and there aren't many days that go by that I do not count my blessings. He is an answered prayer:)

Six years of marriage and we've added two (and a half) kids. I wonder what ten years will look like...

Pregnancy brain

2010-06-03T19:15:00.003-05:00

Tonight, I didn't feel like cooking dinner, but I had already defrosted crawfish tails to make an etouffee. I forced myself in the kitchen and made sweet tea, cooked some rice, and almost finished the crawfish etouffee when I noticed it was very foamy and bubbly. I kept thinking it just didn't look right. Then it hit me! I used baking soda instead of corn starch in it. OMG! I blame it on pregnancy brain. For the rice, well there was one little itty bitty rice bug hanging out on top of the four cups of rice that I had just cooked. I should have went with my instincts of NOT COOKING. Looks like Jude will have leftovers from last night and the boys will have pizza. What a waste of time (and food)!

Two thirds of a break

2010-06-03T17:25:00.013-05:00

This morning I woke hoping to send all three boys to their Aunt Dawn's house. She wanted to take them to see a movie today. Well things do not always go as planned and Aiden woke up with 103 fever. I had a baby doctor appointment to go to, also. I dropped Aiden off at my m-i-l's and then the other two at Aunt Dawn's so I could go sit in the doctor's office waiting room for two hours. (Oh, it was busy there.) So my free day didn't turn out the way I had hoped. We did get to do another ultrasound and see our handsome little man,

whom I say looks like Roman after today's viewing. He is an active little child, moving way more than I ever remember his brothers moving. We have a VHS tape of today's show, but no VCR in the house to play it on. Hmmmm. After the doctors visit, I picked Aiden up and I was going to take him to McDonald's for some mommy and son alone time lunch. I felt bad that his brothers were out enjoying a movie while he was not. We pulled in the parking lot and the skies opened up, loud thunder, and lightning you could see in the car. Scared me half to death. I kindly asked him (looking all petrified) if we could get our lunch to go and hang out at home. He was supportive and agreed. We got home, ate, and have hung out all day on the recliner. He still has a high fever of 103 this afternoon.

This is day five of his illness and the highest the fever has been this week. (He even let mommy take a picture for the blog. What a sport!) What could have been a day all about me turned into a day all about him. Isn't that the way it always goes though? But, I wouldn't trade him/them for the world!
A break from two out of three ain't bad:)
Thank you Aunt Dawn and Megan!

My summer sucks! (Complaining ahead...)

2010-06-02T21:15:00.013-05:00

Aiden has been sick since Sunday night. He has had a fever at night (and in the mornings) for four nights now. He was been chewing on his shirts until the entire front of them are soaking wet and Jude and I really thought he may be breaking in teeth. During the day, he acts fine. Well, last night Jude was about to give him some Oragel and I got a flashlight to look at his teeth. It's not his teeth, it's his throat. Puss filled, red, yucky throat. Now, Aiden and Roman get this about twice a year. It is just a sore throat with fever, and they usually pass it to each other. We take them to the doctor, they test for Strept, it comes back negative, and we go home with no medication. Today, that is exactly what happened, again. I'm drained staying home, basically locked inside, with all three little children. I want to do stuff every day! This week it is Aiden, and next week it will be Roman. Cullen is eating me out of house and home, and the not listening is making me yell. I do not know how parents do it with children that have ADHD and do not have them on some sort of medication for it. I have to tell him to stop doing things five times, in a row, all day long. Annoying his two little brothers until they scream is his top priority this summer. Then, he will turn and ask why am I fussing at him more than them. OMG!!! I may just run away before the summer is over, forget medicating myself as I have said previously.
Me: "Cullen, leave your little brother alone!" x5
Me: "Cullen, go brush your teeth." x5
Me: "Cullen, stop doing that." "Cullen, stop doing that." "Cullen, stop doing that!"...
Me: "Cullen, do not talk to me like that." x5
Me: "Cullen, who is the parent here?! I've got this!" x20
As far as eating (since med-free), he wants TWO breakfasts, TWO lunches, and TWO dinners, with snacks every hour. He has gained TWO pounds in the past week, no kidding. (What am I going to do when all four boys are in the teenage years?) He gained two pounds total all year while taking his ADHD medication. I feel like I am losing brain cells this week cooped up in the house, repeating myself over and over and over. I need a place to escape to so they can burn energy on a daily basis because this "petite" house isn't doing it.

Let me out the house!

2010-06-01T17:44:00.010-05:00

This morning Aiden woke up fever free and all three boys were home. I tried my best to stay home, worried that he could relapse, but around noon I said screw it. I was going nuts. Each child was sent to their room at least once this morning. Cullen has been quite the handful, too.
**About a month ago, I went to Cullen's pediatrician to ask about his ADHD medication. He has only gained two pounds over the past year and the doctor said five to ten pounds is the norm. I informed him that I am concerned about Cullen's slow growth rate and was worried his medication could be affecting him. My goal was to ask for the patch, as I have heard it is better than pill form for eating habits. Well, goal-schmole. The doctor said that his current medication was the best one and if I was worried about his eating habits, I should take him off his medication during the summer to fatten him up. Not what I wanted to hear, but he is the doctor and Cullen does eat like a horse on days he forgets to take it. So, once summer started, oh, a few days ago, Cullen was ready to heed the doctor's advice. (He hates the fact that he has to take medication.) Friday morning he stopped his ADHD meds and my old wild Cullen is back. I think by the end of this summer, pregnant and all, I will need medication! My next option is to put him on a lower dosage, so he eats a little more and still has a little help from his meds. I am trying med free first, for Cullen's growth and for his preference.**
Getting back to today, I called Amy by twelve and asked if she had any plans. She didn't and was happy to get out of the house as well, so we headed over to a bounce house and let the kids run free. The boys played so well together, it was refreshing. An hour and a half later, it was nap time. Nice! Cullen rode his bike and I enjoyed the quiet. It is going to be one extremely long summer.

Manic Monday

2010-05-31T23:26:00.001-05:00

Let's see...
Aiden had a fever last night and this morning. We had to skip the gym and cancel our play plans.
My car was broken into over night, and so was Jude's. They only took two pair of factory wireless headphones out of my car, as far as I can tell. The sheriff's office came out and did reports (some neighbors had the same issues) and crime scene cops did fingerprinting.
Then, we took all three boys grocery shopping together.
Surprisingly, that last part isn't that bad. Jude and I have found a way to grocery shop together, with all three boys, and not go insane. I write my grocery list on Monday, and then when Jude gets home around 5 pm, we load everyone up, tear the list down the middle, and do "teams". We race through the store and whomever finishes first is the winner. (No prizes, just bragging rights.) I usually take Aiden and have him pick up the things I tell him I need that I point to and he puts them in the cart. He has no time to whine, look for things he wants, etc. and he enjoys being my helper. Roman gives Jude hell about wanting out the buggy so he feeds him most of the time to keep him quiet, and at some point, Cullen usually gets mad at me for telling him he can't have everything in the store and follows Jude around the second half of the time. I shop fast, Jude gets to shop too (he likes the grocery) and the boys are content. It's like a family outing. lol
Aiden had a fever again tonight after our yummy dinner. I'm not sure what is going on with that.

Over the river and thru the woods, to grandmother's house we go

2010-05-30T23:58:00.002-05:00

This morning, Aiden, Roman, and I went to church together for a little praise and worship. Jude had to work. There, they have a child's church they attend and the rule is, if they are good and get a smiley face report, we stop at the gas station and they get to pick out whatever candy they like for a special treat. One time not too long ago, Roman got a sad face and just dropped to the floor after he saw it when we were picking him up from class. He had to watch his brother's enjoy their snacks that day. Since then, they have all had good reports. Once we got home, we were going to take off to the Northshore to visit MiMi and Nanny. Well, the skies opened up and it poured and poured. After about an hour, I decided to brave it and off we went. Roman and Aiden got their fill of love and attention from grandma and great-grandma the few hours we were there, and then we returned home in time to have dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant with Jude. It was a lovely day.
Roman and Aiden with MiMi

Little people, BIG attitudes

2010-05-29T23:08:00.010-05:00

All day the boys have been in rare form and I couldn't wait to get them to bed. Of course, things didn't change there. Aiden asked me to read them a book and I agreed. They get a book read to them six out of seven nights. He got a new paper back Transformer book today and as I started to read it, I found it was pretty easy to skip pages without them realizing. (I mean, I am exhausted from all the 'tude today.) Well, I thought no one realized. I got to the very last page and Aiden says, "You skipped a page, and you skipped a few pages here, here, here...". I said, "Then I can just reread it to you tomorrow night with all the new parts. I didn't realize I missed pages." How did he know with it being a brand new book?!
I came and sat on the recliner in the peace and quiet and I can hear them giggling, talking, arguing, and so on. Then, Aiden starts crying. It was an attention cry so I didn't bother getting up. (You can tell the difference in cries.)
He kept on and on with the whining, then he says "Mom! Roman poked me in the eye!".
I said "Aiden, I don't care. You need to go to sleep. Now!! I am tired of the games at night and I specifically told you two I didn't want to hear a peep."
Aiden yells back "You don't care if I die?! I could die. He poked me in the eye!".
Then, I hear Aiden say in a lower voice "Roman, I am going to poke YOU in the eye!".
Before I could respond, I hear Roman crying.
I fuss at Aiden to stop it and to go to sleep. I threaten to punish him from his Lego game on the computer and he starts all kind of back talking. I punish him for one day. I hear in a low voice "Mom is stupid. She doesn't care. She says I am punished from my game and I didn't do anything. Hmmfph!".
Myself, saying loudly "That's it. Two days off the computer."
The reply from Aiden is "I didn't say anything!".
I said "I heard you call me stupid, Aiden."
He says, "I called myself stupid, not you! I said that I'm stupid."
We must have argued for what seemed like an hour with him getting himself in more and more trouble. I think by the time he finally went to sleep, we were at two weeks with no computer games. (Jude is working tonight.)
Roman had his moments all day, too. I think he got fussed more today than he has in his entire three years of life.
Sometimes, Jude and I just don't know WHAT to do. It feels like our kids rule us at times. Especially at dinner time. Definitely at bed time. We read parenting books, we have stacks, and the advice always sounds nice until you are in the moment and things aren't going "text book" ways. It is so hard being a parent, yet so rewarding at the same time. Some days, I look at Jude and ask "Why? Why did we do this to ourselves?". Other days, I look at him and say "Could you imagine how boring and empty our lives would be without our children?". Parenting is a catch-22! All I know is that I am aging FAST.

Happy 5th birthday, Isabel!

2010-05-29T19:17:00.007-05:00

Aiden has been counting down the days till he could attend his friend's birthday party from school, Isabel. We had to wake him up early this morning for his last T-Ball game of the season. Then, he went and shopped for Isabel's gift with his daddy and came home to take a nap. After he got all of that out of the way, it was time to go. He was so excited coloring her wrapping paper on the way there. He did a fantastic job!

When we got to her house, there were way more girls there then there were boys and he got beat. It was a water party and they had lots of water fun. The girls were pulling his arms, beating him with floaties, pouring water on him, and so on. He loved every minute of it! He was in childhood heaven playing with his friends from school. I like to watch him interact with his peers because he is so much better behaved than when he plays with his brothers at home. He's a different child. I got to visit with some of the moms and sno balls were served, which were quite yummy. There was the biggest pinata I have ever seen, too.

It was a great party!

I hope these two get to play together some over the summer and we will definitely see them next year for Kindergarten Spanish Immersion. Just look at that smile on the way home...

Just ONE date, please

2010-05-28T23:40:00.004-05:00

Jude was off Thursday and Friday this week, which is different. Thursday we had a ton of to do's and didn't get to spend a lot of time together. But today (Friday) we made up for it.
We woke up late and went to the gym with two of the little monkeys. When we got home, I was sitting here thinking it has been forever since we have had a date. So, Jude called his parents and they agreed to babysit for a few hours. We dropped all three boys off and went to lunch at Copeland's. We had tickets to go see Sex and the City 2

and were enjoying our nice relaxing adult (child free) time when Cullen's dad called me and asked if we could bring Cullen to a baseball tournament game on the WB at 8:00pm. Ughh, children! Of course, I said yes. We went to the movies and I loved it. Our only issue was there were these obnoxious women at the very top we were sitting near who were so loud and ridiculous, that we actually moved many seats down (after people behind us cursing them out). Odd, adults don't know how to act. We were running very short on time; we rushed to Jude's parents to get Cullen, rushed to our house to get his glove, rushed to Eddie's mom's house to get his uniform and bat and then rushed to the field, only to arrive just minutes before the game started. We missed warm up. It was sweet to watch Cullen pitching, as his dad has pretty much taken over the sport of baseball with him, near his home.

Jude tried to take a few pics, but the lights and camera didn't mix well together.
After, we brought Cullen to sleep at his Maw Maws' and had a very late dinner of McDonald's, then went to bed. It was a long day, with just a touch of relaxation in it, that must get me through the next few weeks of summer until we can sneak away again.

School is out for summer

2010-05-27T21:35:00.008-05:00

Today was Cullen's last official day at school and ALL three children will now be home ALL day on a some what regular basis till the middle of August. (Please pray for my sanity!) When I picked Cullen up from school, he and I went to the store to pick him up a new bike for having all A's and B's all year in academics (not conduct). He did so good on his LEAP tests, too. He really tried this year, you could see his efforts, and it was a brand new school that he had to adjust to on top of it all. He has made us proud and I felt he needed a little reward to encourage him for the next school year. He is now entering the fifth grade. Wow! I told Jude that it really makes me feel old because I can remember the fifth grade like it was yesterday. Now, I am the mother of a fifth grader. *Looking in the mirror for wrinkles.*
Also, I picked up Aiden's report card today from school and he had all 3's (equals proficient) for his final grades, which is the highest you can get. My little Pre-K'er did so well! He also got all green smiley faces in conduct ALL year long except ONE yellow face ONE DAY (for looking under a bathroom door, lol). That is a big change from what I experienced with Cullen in his younger days. I was the parent always in the parent/teacher conferences, trying to explain his behaviors with reasons and trying to find solutions. That boy put me through some sh*t. Aiden's conduct IN SCHOOL is very refreshing!
After, Jude and I took the three boys to see Shrek 4 and it was cute. Cullen thanked us over and over, telling us he had such a great day today, and you know what, I did too:)

The name game

2010-05-25T12:33:00.003-05:00

Naming your first born child is hard. Naming your fourth born child is even harder. Jude and I throw names at each other every once in awhile, but nothing catches. Well, Saturday night, Jude found a few he liked and wrote them down for me. I actually really liked one of the names. So, Sunday, while we were in church, I picked the perfect middle name: Rene, after my friend Brandi, who passed. It was her middle name, and conveniently, it is a unisex name. So I passed a note to Jude in church, and he just kinda nods to acknowledge me. I was teary eyed from excitement. When we got out of Sunday's service, he said Rene was a girl name and he has never heard of any guys named that. Well, I know a few and went on a Facebook mission to get others to back me up, asking if it was unisex or not. The responses were great and the final outcome was, YES, it is unisex. So Sunday when he got home from work in the evening, I showed him the FB thread. After I learned the meaning of the name, I was done. "Reborn" is the french definition. No negotiating. Jude wasn't happy with me at this point and we dropped it, after me nagging just a little bit. I mean, our last two boys have his family names as middle names. I want ONE. When he went to bed that night, there was a lack of attention for him:) The next morning, Monday, there was a note on the chalkboard for me. I love him so, so much.

*The first name is blocked out because I don't want to confuse anyone, in case we change our minds.
The last name is blocked out because, hello, this is a public blog.
(He did misspell Rene with an extra E, but I am not taking any points off for that.)
I wrote him a note back at the bottom.

Slide, rinse, repeat

2010-05-24T23:26:00.015-05:00

This morning I woke before Aiden and Roman, which is extremely rare. When I went in their room to check on them, they were cuddling. I had to sneak a pic.

Then, we all got ready and headed to the gym. I hadn't been there in a very long time (months) and I was happy to be there, exercising. When Amy and I were done, we walked into the gym daycare and all three boys were coloring pictures at a table. Adorable.

After, we went home (Xan came with)

and I cleaned the house while the boys played so well together. In no time, everyone was back in the pool having a blast.

Slide, rinse, repeat...for hours.

Summer is among us

2010-05-23T21:45:00.004-05:00

The baby pool was put up yesterday evening in anticipation of today. After church this morning, Aiden, Roman and I put on our swim suits and took a dip in the warm water. It wasn't long before I was chased out with splashing and craziness, but I did get to cool off from the hot sun every once in awhile. We called our best friends and asked them to come play with us, too. Pool, water sprinkler+slide, toys, snacks, and pizza equaled a fun Sunday afternoon.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Nathan!

2010-05-22T21:49:00.010-05:00

Today we went to one of our fave bounce houses to celebrate cousin Nathan's birthday, who is just a few weeks younger than Roman. It was great to see Jude's family and our two little monkeys played like crazy. Every time Roman would lose Aiden, he would walk up and ask "Where's Aiden?" and vice versa. They were so cute chumming around together.
Here are a few photos:
The birthday boy, Nathan

Chuck E Cheese, please

2010-05-21T22:00:00.007-05:00

Last night Cullen slept at his dad's house, so this morning the boys and I slept in, past nine. (Aiden's last day of school was yesterday and Cullen's is next Thursday.) As I was laying in bed with pissy thoughts about Leo checking out of the slammer today with the bond bomb, Amy called me and was ready to start some summer fun. Her and the kids came over and then we headed to Chuck E Cheese, where many other parents and children were today. The boys had tons of fun, and didn't even complain when it was time to go. Next, we stopped to say hello to my friend Stacey, went to Walmart, picked Cullen up from school, and the two little ones took naps while Cullen and I cleaned the house. I paid him five dollars and he did half my load of work. It was sweet! After, he took off to his dad's for the weekend and I made a homemade lasagna and a molten chocolate surprise for dessert. It was a very busy day. One that I am thankful for because it took my mind off of some terrible things for many hours. I am so glad summer is here. I can't wait to spend some quality time with my little herd; that is, until they drive me crazy. lol
Ro-man, who didn't want his picture taken

Aiden, with his new Nerf gun obsession

Aiden and Roman are both ALL about sunglasses and nerf guns at the moment.
Picture at their request.

Aiden's Pre-K 4 End of the Year Program

2010-05-20T15:54:00.000-05:00

Aiden's last day of school was today and he was looking (and feeling) sharp.

They were to be dressed in their Sunday best. Aiden kept looking in the full length mirror and smiling while getting ready this morning.
Jude and I enjoyed the performance the kids put on, thoroughly. In fact, I cried a little too. It is sad to see our little baby complete his first chapter of school.

Iguana's

Diva Isabel in the blue dress

Aiden, with his teacher, getting his Pre-K certificate

Aiden with Ms Crystal (asst teacher) and Ms Beatriz (teacher)

Isabel and Aiden

Mom, Dad, and Aiden (thanks, Paw Paw)

Aiden with Nanny and Paw Paw (Jude's parents)

Maria and me (Isabel's mommy)

His 'Tooty Ta' performance

Leap Test

2010-05-18T16:30:00.000-05:00

Cullen changed schools this year from Catholic to Public and has been doing really good academically, socially, and even in physical education. They actually play sports at this school during P.E. and his little football team even won an award, competing against other classmates. He is playing there instead of just hanging out like at his old school, which is helping him is his after school sports tremendously.
So anyway, he took the LA Leap Test a few weeks ago and his results came in today.
The results fall into these categories on Leap Tests:
advanced, mastery, basic, approaching basic and unsatisfactory.
Cullen's results were as follows=
English Language Arts-Mastery
Mathematics-Advanced
Science-Mastery
Social Studies-Advanced
He was so excited to get in the car from school and tell me the results and I am so very proud of him.

Dear Cullen,
You are a very smart young man and you never cease to amaze me. At times, you have no faith in yourself, but mommy has enough for the both of us. You make me very proud and one day I hope you see your own potential, grab it, and run with it.
I love you with all my heart.
Mom
Now, if we could just get him to stop talking in class...

The annual picnic

2010-05-16T15:58:00.007-05:00

This morning we woke to a terrible storm happening outside. It was pouring down rain and church was in an hour. We also had Jude's annual work picnic to attend later on. I decided we were going to both, no matter what. We have missed the last few weeks of church and the cycle was going to stop today. We all dressed, put on our rain boots, and as the boys and I walked out the door, it stopped raining. Thank you, God. *wink, wink* After a nice Sunday service, we went to the WB to meet daddy and eat some yummy crawfish.
(Jude's pot is always the best.)

The boys had a blast, playing in mud puddles and helping Jude boil.
They made crafts,

ate a ton of sweets, and kept busy the entire time. I got to visit with Jessica, whom I see three times a year at the work events, which was nice. After eating way too much, the boys and I decided to leave before they did some pie throwing contest, where all the employees there were able to smash a pie in the face of a manager that they wanted to for $2. Now, with Jude being the boss, I totally think this is a terrible thing to do and to some point, a little disrespectful. There is always some idiot who will put a little too much force behind that pie. I personally didn't care to witness it and knew it would be happening soon, so the boys and I left. We're home now, the boys are napping, and I am right behind them. All in all, it turned out to be a great day.

Baseball player #2

2010-05-15T16:33:00.002-05:00

Aiden started playing "baseball" at the local YMCA recently, and he loves it. He is following in his big brother's foot steps.

Cullen is playing baseball again this year by his dad's local park and he is the pitcher for the team. He's a terrific player!

Rocking chairs

2010-05-14T23:29:00.006-05:00

Roman and I headed over to Amy's this morning to hang out with our friends. When I saw Delaney and Roman sitting in the rocking chairs in the playroom, I had to take a pic. Who knows?! Maybe one day, in seventy years or so, they will be doing the same thing on their front porch together.

I failed.

2010-05-13T22:58:00.003-05:00

Aiden had a field trip to the local park this morning near the school that I had signed up to chaperon a couple weeks back. Let me just state for the record that no where on the paper was it written that we would be walking to this park or that we would be outside for four hours, including a walk there and back. Yesterday, I received another paper stating these facts and a reminder to pack a lunch. I immediately wanted to cancel when I read that but the field trip was the next morning, and I didn't want to put anyone out or have a couple children left without a chaperon. So, I woke up this morning and very slowly got myself ready, begrudgingly. I mean, I'm five months pregnant, it was 88 degrees outside with a humidity level of 68% in the middle the day. When I finally made it to the school this morning, Aiden was happy to see me and I told myself I had to do this. That was the talk I gave myself on the sofa before I left the house, "Andrea, you have to do this. It is your job as a parent to chaperon these events and you must follow through." Really, I had this talk in my head. So I did my best to hang in there, from 9:30 to 1:30. Well, noon came and that was it. I had drank all my water, I was HOT, and Aiden wanted to leave thirty minutes into being there.

Another hour and a half seemed like pure torture and I couldn't bare the thought of it. I asked the one teacher who drove if I could leave, and if she would drive me back to the school. My stomach was crampy and I was done. She agreed and I bid Aiden farewell. He couldn't leave with me and I think he was fine with that. I did promise to check him out as soon as they all arrived back at school. I got home and drank like a fish. I was so happy to be back in the a/c and my thoughts were with those still stuck out there. Today, I officially failed in my parental role as a field trip chaperon. But, as another mom said, Maria, it was more like a field trip to the sun than a day at the park.
Aiden, please forgive mommy.

Feelings on a fourth boy

2010-05-12T17:53:00.006-05:00

When I was pregnant with my first child, Cullen, I only wanted a boy. I was scared to death of having a girl. I swore I would send the baby back if it was anything but. I was so excited to learn he was a boy during the ultrasound. I got what I wanted and loved it!
When I became pregnant with Aiden, again, I wanted a boy. I was remarried and I wanted my husband to have a son of his own, to carry on the last name of the family. I was ecstatic to discover that my fetus had a penis. Again, I got what I wanted. Super happy!
When it was time for my third child, I wanted a girl so badly. I already had two boys. When we did the ultrasound with Roman, I poured my eyes out in the waiting room after we saw he was a boy. I was devastated, instead of happy and joyful. I should have been celebrating that he was healthy and active, appearing on the screen right before my eyes. I had built myself up for a girl and was at a complete loss. Emotionally distraught.
When January of 2009 came around, Jude and I started talking about having another child. We knew we wanted another baby then, but weren't ready at that moment. We were going through a rough spot together and wanted to make sure we were making the right decision. We agreed we would try in May. Well May came around and we still weren't ready. Things were great between us, but we felt our hands were full. Aiden hadn't started school yet and I was feeling overwhelmed with Aiden and Roman both at home all day. As the months passed by, we still entertained the idea, but weren't ready to start trying. We said we would discuss it again in September. Finally, we sat down and looked at the Chinese Birth Chart to try and figure out when were the "girl months". Of course, we both wanted a girl. We already had three boys. There were times I can remember coming home from play dates and crying to Jude about how bad I wanted a girl, as if I couldn't conceive at all. About the time we were ready to try again a few months back, Jude and I had started going to church on a regular basis and were seeing positive changes in ourselves, and were having a wonderful relationship with our almighty God. One day after a Sunday morning service, around November 2009, I felt this emotional breakthrough happen and I turned to Jude, tears streaming fast, and told him that I was so ready to add to our family again. I didn't care if it was a boy or a girl, I just wanted another child. I felt ashamed that I had yearned for a girl so badly in the past, when I was so very fortunate that we could so easily conceive big, healthy babies. I started thinking how great it would be to have another boy, and was ready for either or, just a fourth healthy child. We started trying immediately, and I became pregnant on January 1, 2010. All along in the pregnancy, I've heard the same question over and over "So, you all are trying for that girl?", and it isn't something I like to hear. The reason is different than what you would think. It is a constant reminder to me of how terrible I was during those years yearning for something that I didn't have, focusing on the negative, idolizing something other than God. Thinking I knew what was better for me than what God had in store for me. When we did the ultrasound with for our fourth baby a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to see our cute little baby bouncing around. When I spotted the penis, I was happy to know what I was having. Cullen and Jude were in the room with me, and I could feel they were both a tad disappointed. I started to feel sad, like I was going to let so many more people down. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, so many people that were cheering us on for a girl the past four months. But inside me, I was happy. Happy that God had blessed us with another healthy baby. A boy is definitely easier at this point, considering I have a clue in to what I am doing with them, I have the space for another boy at home, and hand-me-downs will still be going strong. Brothers!
So will we have another one? Will we "try again for that girl"? I am not sure at this point. If I had to make a definite decision today, I would say we are done. BUT, we thought we were done after Roman, even as going as far as getting a doctor set to perform a surgery to help out with that. I changed my mind when we left the doctor's office. I wasn't sure we were done yet and Roman was just a few months old. In a few years, we may change our minds and want to add on. But if we did, it wouldn't be to have a girl...it would just be to add another loving soul to this great, big, happy family that God has blessed us with.

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T21:39:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed my 11th Mother's Day today! Jude and I spent the day with all three boys, doing normal stuff, like lunch, playing ball, and eating snoballs. I did get breakfast in bed, served by all four of the most important men in my life. The weather was beautiful and the day was relaxing. I am twenty weeks pregnant today, which means I am halfway there to adding our fourth boy. Happy Mother's Day to all my friends and family who read this blog!
Here are a few pics from the day...
My pink flowers from Aiden that he made at school

My card this morning that Aiden made

My card from Cullen (my little comedian!)

Flowers from all my men

Me and my three boys (after snoballs)

Baby IIII

2010-04-28T22:32:00.000-05:00

Here are the ultrasound pictures of our fourth BOY...

Big Betty

2010-04-26T23:09:00.004-05:00

I was driving down the street and I saw this girl on the corner. She really caught my eye. She was so fine, and I just had to meet her. She was clean, perfect body, and looking for attention. I ran my errand I had to run and stopped by her on my way home. It wasn't love at first sight, but there was a deep lust. I got out my car and approached her, just as a a man approached me. That was it, hook, line and sinker. My future ride was right in front of me, Big Betty. The car salesman asked me if I wanted to take her for a drive, but I had my two little kids with me and not Jude. I told him I would come back after looking her over a bit. I mean, why take her for a ride, fall in love, and Jude not agree. He had no clue I was car shopping at that moment. We planned on one day looking in anticipation of baby number four, but in the near future. So later that afternoon we went back together and took her for a preview. It did take a little convincing to get Jude to agree to a sale in a matter of hours, when we weren't car shopping (yet), but he hesitantly signed the papers knowing he was making me happy at that moment. We traded in my favorite Honda from 2004 and bought a 2005 Suburban. I told Jude as we were doing the paperwork that I wasn't in love with her, but I did think it was a great price and good car. I did my homework after I checked her out the first time. What I didn't realize was how loaded she was until I got home. Then she became a really great deal! I fell in love!
She has seven leather seats, the two front are heated seats, the driver side has memory, Onstar with a phone line built in, a sunroof, dual front a/c and rear a/c control, built in DVD entertainment center with wireless headphones, XM radio, a six disc cd player, hard lined floor mats throughout, captain chairs for the first two rows, and even auto mirrors that close in and open out with a touch of a button. She's everything I've never dreamed of and more. She rides nice and I love that she sounds like a truck when I start her up. Jude, after a few days, came around and admitted it was a smart choice and he loves to drive her. Jude hates to drive, period. The kids fell in love and Aiden told me thank you, which I thought was so cute. My favorite part is taking an hour drive with no kids touching each other like all three were in the back of the Honda. The captains chairs keep them all separated, at least two feet from each other, and no one whines and complains on car trips.

Worth every penny right there! I think her year is perfect, as Jude and I will personally never buy new again. (Smart financial decision.) Maybe in five years, we'll get a 2010. As of now, Big Betty is here to stay!

From urbandictionary.com, definition of Betty: The term Betty refers to a hot chick. One that is attractive, stylish and self confident. A Betty is typically a looker.

NOLA weekend

2010-04-25T20:56:00.010-05:00

Jude is on vacation this week and it was our last two days together this weekend before he went back to sixty hour work weeks. We decided to take the two little boys on a few adventures around the city Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, we drove down Canal and caught the Algiers ferry so the boys could experience a ferry ride. They LOVED it!

We got out the car and let them take in all the scenery. The wind was blowing hard so the smell of the river and choppy water spraying us was part of the experience. We immediately caught the ferry back to the city and visited the Aquarium. Roman really got into it, a little more than Aiden.

His favorite fish was the "Nemo fish", which he refers to as the "Daddy fish". Aiden loved the Adventure Island play area and the jellyfish. Sunday, we rode out to the boat launch to feed the ducks (and unwillingly, the seagulls) and then headed off to get sno-balls. After eating yummy sugar and ice in the shade, we went to the park to play. The boys really enjoyed playing together there.

After, it was nap time at home and the Deanie's crawfish for dinner. They were soooo yummy! It was a great N.O. weekend. Tomorrow, the three boys will be home all week for their spring break, so I plan on getting out the house with them as much as I can.

The results of IntelliGender

2010-04-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

The results said GIRL:

This was the color it should have been for a boy...GREEN

IT LIED!!
Ultrasound says BOY.

IntelliGender - Boy or Girl

2010-04-13T21:31:00.004-05:00

I went to CVS today and purchased the IntelliGender test. I actually spotted it before we started trying to conceive, and knew I would want to buy it one day soon. After I did some online research and read it can be faulty, plus add to it the price of $40, I swore I wouldn't buy it. You can get a false boy prediction, but not so much a false girl prediction, so I've read. You can take the test at ten weeks on. Well today, as I waited for a prescription to get filled, with Roman throwing a fit in the store, I grabbed it without any hesitation and put it on the counter. My thoughts are that my ultrasound is in two weeks (at 18 weeks) so I won't be misguided for long. I just want to try it out before I'm not pregnant anymore and wished I had. It's an experiment! A fun one! I have to do it first thing in the morning, so tomorrow will be the day. Stay tuned for my IntelliGender results...

French Quarter Fest

2010-04-09T23:07:00.008-05:00

My little athlete(s)

2010-03-19T23:33:00.000-05:00

Cullen dressed in his official soccer uniform...

I can't stand how much he is growing up! Makes me sad.
Also, Aiden has signed up for T-Ball at the local YMCA and will be improving his skills over the next eight weeks. Photos coming soon!
Roman wondering when it will be his turn to run out on the field

Aiden turns 5!

2010-03-17T22:01:00.006-05:00

Today, Mr. Aiden Bo Jaiden woke up a five year old. When I told him happy birthday this morning and congratulated him on turning five, he informed me he was not five yet. According to him, people have to sing to you and give you cake before your age changes. Oh, if that were the case, wouldn't life be perfect?! I'd still be twenty.
He had a (snack) party at school involving Spiderman cupcakes, singing, and he brought home a very handsome birthday crown that he wore today. Once he got home, Roman and I baked him a cake.

The family went to McD's for dinner (Aiden's favorite place to dine out) and we all came home to eat cake, ice cream, and open presents.

The past five years have aged me ten, but I wouldn't change them for the world. Aiden, whose name means fiery, has probably given me the most stories to tell out of all three children in their toddler years. As a second child, he has forced me to grow as a mother and has given me totally different challenges than his older brother ever did. He whines and makes me want to stick sharp pencils in my ears, but then he cuddles and makes me forget all about it. He argues with me about almost everything, but then he goes to school and gets perfect conduct, which makes up for it. He screams the loudest screams imaginable at home, and in public, but then he says, and does, some of the sweetest things in the world and I melt. It is a very give and take relationship with him, but he is mommy's pride and joy and I can't wait to see what he has in store for me over the many years ahead.
He's just perfect! Beautiful!
One of his Lego presents he put together tonight

Roman, the boss

2010-03-16T21:22:00.006-05:00

Roman rarely gets fussed/corrected, as I find him to be a pretty easy child. Lately, he has been getting into mischief (trouble) and these are the things I hear when I tell him to behave.

Me: I tell him to stop doing something.
Roman: With his finger over his mouth, "Ssshhhhhh! Ssshhhhhh!" to me, every time I try to speak

Me: Correcting him in the car, or again, telling him to stop doing something
Roman: "You stop talking to me!" repeating himself over and over again

Me: "Roman, here's your dinner", putting the plate in front of him
Roman: "Not theees!", pushing the plate away, two, three, four times

Me: "Roman, give me a kiss."
Roman: "No!"
Me: Pretending to cry and be sad
Roman: "You go cry!!" pointing me away

Me: Turning the radio up in the car a tiny notch
Roman: "That's too loud!" "That's too loud!"
Me: Turns it down

The other day...
Me: Laying in the recliner, I jump up to tell him to stop stepping on the baby bouncer we just got
Roman: Talking over me, "You lay down!", repeating himself every time I try to speak "You lay down!" pointing his finger at me

My least, least favorite...
Any time I smack his little hand or pop him on his baby butt for this back talking, he screams "KISS IT!" "KISS IT!" and will continue to push whatever body part it is in front of me so my mouth will grace it.
He did it to me in public at the airport the other day when he kept throwing my iphone that he was watching. I smacked his hand after the third time and he yelled "Kiss it!" repeatedly, loud. I turned many shades of red as I tried to hush him, eventually caving and kissing it.

I just don't think he understands he is two and I am thirty two.

Do you see God?

2010-03-15T23:14:00.002-05:00

He's the little blue guy in the sky right below the orange chalk up top, but above the kite. Yep, that's him. Well, according to Aiden, it's him.

I love it!

Pay it forward

2010-03-14T23:49:00.011-05:00

I am going to start this blog off by going back a few years. Five years and ten months ago I was about to marry the man of my dreams. I had the bright idea to have a joint bachelor/bachelorette party. (Don't EVER do this!!!!) May 28, 2004 came and by the end of the night on the party bus, I threw my beautiful diamond engagement ring at Jude and told him it was over. There was a lot more to it that night, but this is the important part of the story. Jude was intoxicated (okay, we both were) and we parted ways that night/morning after getting off the bus not speaking. The next morning, with no ring on my finger, realizing what a huge mistake the whole night was, I called Jude ASAP. After some apologies, I asked where my ring was. He had NO CLUE what I was talking about. After hours of rehashing, we met at his friends house from the night before and called the party bus driver. Now, he was a real big, tall, very dark, scary, tough looking (but kinda cute) guy named Bernard. I had chatted him up the night of the "party" and really thought he was cool. So, we called Bernard and asked him if he had found a diamond engagement ring on the bus floor. He said he was driving the bus back from Baton Rouge, but would look for it and give us a call. I cannot explain what those minutes/hours felt like. The ring was expensive for our budget. Very! I had almost convinced myself it was just a materialistic item that could one day be replaced, but Jude couldn't be. We waited and waited and then the phone rang. HE FOUND IT! He was bringing it to us immediately. I was so happy, I definitely didn't imagine it all going down that way. There were many thoughts that had entered my mind earlier that day...he'd keep it, it got stepped on and smashed, someone else would find it and keep it, he cleaned the bus and lost it, etc. etc. When that bus pulled up with Bernard on it, and my ring, I tackled that man like no one was around, just him and I. lol I was all over him with joy. We all thanked him. We gave him a few hundred dollars (from our wedding funds) in an envelope for returning it and driving it to us. A thank you to him! There are plenty of times I have thought about ol' Bernard over the years. What an amazing man he was! He has a place in my heart, where ever he is.
Flash forward, last night out with the girls, Amy found a cell phone in a parking lot by this club. I looked through the numbers and found one that said "Momma". That was the one to call. Momma answered and she was just as sweet as can be. She said it was her son's cell and she would let him know we would be leaving it at the bar we were at. Well, at the bar, I didn't feel it was safe after I left it with the odd bartender. She just rubbed me wrong, and she did Amy too. So when we left, we took it back. I called Momma again and she said she would call me tomorrow with a plan. She was very thankful for the kindness. On our way to the next place out, I decided to peek at the pictures and see whose phone I had. (You would have, too!!) Well, I was a tad scared at that point as it was some thug guy with pictures of guns, him holding guns, money photos, etc. It was too late now, I already had Momma calling me back the next day to set up a drop off and it was very late at night. Maybe, I could just chalk it up to we lived different lifestyles. The next day I waited and waited, and about six that evening, she called. He got on the phone and was so courteous and pleasant, thanking me over and over. Jude and I decided to go eat at a public place and have him meet us there. Over dinner, I look up and see an old (used to be close to) friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Just as the old friend was walking past our table to leave, we started having a brief conversation, then ol' boy walked in and I excused myself to meet this "guy in a red and white shirt with dreads" (that's how he described himself) and return his phone to him. He was quite little in person, not as scary as I thought he'd be, so nice and he even grabbed a hug. I knew that feeling he had inside and it felt nice to do a good deed. I went back to the table, and when it was all over, I asked Jude if that could have been any more awkward of a moment. We laughed. Talk about a weird dinner! I know the cell and the ring do not compare in comparison, but when you lose something, anything, and a stranger gives it back, it renews your faith in people, if only for a short time:)

All Star Soccer Team

2010-03-13T12:19:00.000-06:00

Cullen's soccer team won first place in their playoffs! I was so happy for him and his team. He received a trophy on Friday

after their final game. Well, I thought it was his final game of the season until I received a phone call asking if he could play on the All Star Team these next few weeks. It's the first year he was eligible to play on it and he got picked as one of the few. Now, I'm not a big sports fan, but I do know that this is an honor. I really hope his team does well and they move up to the next level. My little boy is growing up. He is having a lot of big "moments" this year. I am one proud mommy!

Note: He definitely doesn't have his mother's athletic abilities.

Flower competition

2010-03-06T17:10:00.009-06:00

Reason #568 and #569 of why I love my boys.
Today, in this gorgeous weather, we went to watch Cullen play a soccer game at our local playground. They are an undefeated team, and this is a first for any team Cullen has played on. I usually do not get to really watch him play because I have two other monkeys to look after. But today, they played on the field where I could watch everyone and I was able to cheer Cullen on. Oddly, they were playing GIRLS today; older girls. In the end, it was a tie (and they never make them play over time).
While the game was going on, Roman handed me two little flowers (weeds) in front of Aiden. Not to be outdone, Aiden picked me some more flowers (weeds). Then, Roman had to continue with the competition, then Aiden. It is so cute to have two little men competing for you. I'm a very lucky girl!! This isn't the first, and I sure hope it isn't the last.

Earlier, before we left for that game, I was flat ironing my hair while Roman and Aiden were playing their Leapsters on my bed. Roman rolls over near me and says "Momma, you so phootiful (beautiful)." He complemented me and my heart melted. They are sweet just like their daddy. They get it honestly.
*My photos won't upload, only one. Need to work on that.

Highway workers

2010-03-04T21:28:00.003-06:00

Cullen, my artsy ten year old, decided to opt in on a project that was parish wide in schools and draw a sign to promote caution while driving during road construction. This is the beautiful picture he has drawn...

Happy baby shower, Joann

2010-02-28T23:31:00.005-06:00

Joann's baby shower was today and Amy and I went together. There's nothing like a baby shower to get you pumped for your own upcoming bundle of joy. Joann received so many cute things that I was in awe. I sat there thinking, "Oooh, I want that...and that too...and that's interesting...". Such adorable little itty bitty baby items. The girls did an amazing job putting it all together. The food was yummy and the cake (from Zoe's) was to die for. Her baby boy, David Allen, is due this month and it will be her and her husband's first. I think she is going to be such an awesome mom. I can't wait to see this fun loving school teacher with a baby of her own. I just love babies!

(photo by:Andrea Savoie)

Happy birthday Granny, you 83 year old, you!

2010-02-27T23:10:00.001-06:00

Today we celebrated Granny's (aka Nanny) 83rd birthday and it was lovely. I am so thankful to still have my grandma in my life, and my Mom. Those are two of the most amazing, important women to me and I consider myself blessed to still have them both around. They live an hour away, which at times seems just way too far to me, but in reality, they live close. Granny is healthy (definitely for her age) and still ventures out in her car at times, though it's a thought I don't like to think about. She is feisty, funny, and is very caring and giving. I look forward to the many many more years to come with mom and grandma as role models in my life, and my children's!

Student of the Month x2 with a lil' ADHD

2010-02-26T11:56:00.002-06:00

Last month, I was very proud to hear that Aiden was January's Student of the Month for his Pre-K class. Each month (in nine months of school) they pick one student from each class to be the Student of the Month. It was a proud mommy moment for me. My first child to get recognized for something like this at a school. Cullen was saddened by this news, and really gave himself a hard time, saying to us "Well at least you have one smart/good kid". Cullen has had a hard time in school since he started preschool with keeping his mouth closed and staying seated during class. It has been a long journey trying to control his mild case of ADHD, with many years sitting in doctor's offices talking it all out, trying to come up with a plan not involving medication. When a child has ADHD, they can show symptoms very early on. As they grow, and get older, you start to expect more out of them (in the behaviour department with listening, etc) that they just can't provide. I am fine with a child who doesn't "listen" to mommy and daddy, as honestly, none of my children really do. lol It's when it starts affecting his quality of life that I really started to consider giving him medication, around the middle of third grade. He was constantly in trouble, being fussed, and not a favorite among the teachers when it came to conduct. Don't get me wrong, he is polite, respectful, and sweet as can be. It's the listening and following directions that he struggles with. His conduct has kept him off the honor roll, not his good grades. It's sad to see him struggle in school and I have had more parent/teacher conferences concerning his talkativeness then I would like to admit. So we started him on medication last year and there were a few instant minor improvements, but nothing miraculous. We were still trying to figure out the right dosage recently, as I am always very hesitant to increase it. This last dosage adjustment last month seems to be the magical number. It has taken a year of trying to find the right formula, but I think we've got it. I can see big improvements in him, like a little miracle, yet he is still my same Cullen.
Well, a few days ago, Cullen came home and stated he was Student of the Month this month for his fourth grade class. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited, and yet a tad hesitant to get worked up without the paperwork in front of me. That sounds terrible, I know, but I was in disbelief. Like, it was too good to be true. Today, the school had an award ceremony for the January/February students (thank you God for combining them) and Cullen sure enough got the certificate as PROOF. He has really shaped up this past month and has even improved some of his grades (not that they weren't perfect to mommy already). I am so super duper proud of my little man! Both of them!
Maybe I'm not that bad of a parent after all...
Aiden receiving his award

Cullen receiving his award

Roman learning from his two big bro's

Gatlinburg

2010-02-21T12:04:00.000-06:00

Some months back, my fun friend Amy had the wonderful idea to take a trip to the mountains

with our six (total) young children for one week. I, at the moment, thought, why not?! We (Amy, Amanda, Andrea) put our money down and looked forward to February 2010with excitement. It would be the week of Mardi Gras. Well, as the months passed by, I got a little more worried as the date got closer. What in the hell had I signed myself up for?!
Mandy and Amy

are used to pretending to be single moms as their husbands travel all year long. (I say that loosely because I was once a single mom and it's still much easier when you are being supported by a spouse, I know.) I, on the other hand, depend on Jude a lot for help with the kids. He is always there when I need him and pretty much takes over the parenting most evenings. The thought of doing the "parent thing" alone scared me silly. What in the world had I signed myself up for? Ten hours in the car with Amy and four kids, ages five, four, two and one. I wanted to run in the other direction, but I being the adventure seeker that I am, went.
Sunday, February 14th came and we loaded the VW Routan up and left the state of sanity, I mean, Louisiana. The trip up there wasn't that bad, actually. In fact, the entire trip was more fun than I expected. The cabin Amy booked was spectacular!

My only big problem of the week long event was Roman didn't sleep but every other night. The heater was hot and he didn't have a humidifier to help, which he has at home. One night he would toss and turn all night, sitting up and crying, always coughing, then the next night he would pass out from lack of total sleep. I was definitely grouchy on the nights he didn't sleep because my pregnant butt ONLY wants to sleep these days. We did do some fun things on the trip.
We went to downtown Gatlinburg and suckered ourselves into some dumb Mirror Maze for way too much money.

We took the kids swimming at the cool on site indoor water park.

Swimming inside, snowing outside.

Amy and Mandy both at some point took the kids outside to play in the real snow (vs. our fake south snow).

We went to Ober Gatlinburg

and did a bunch of fun things there, including animal viewing and ice skating (not me).

We played at the park on the grounds,

and at times the kids watched lots of television while we cooked and cleaned.
It was always an experience every where we went with the six kids and three adults. I reminded myself a few times that this trip was ALL about the kids.

One of the last days, we did manage to hit up the Serenity Spa and get massages, taking turns on who goes and who babysits. We also visited the Tanger Outlet Mall and I was able to purchase a few things that I wanted.
I was surprised at how well behaved Aiden was the entire trip. I guess he was in kid-heaven

and didn't have much to complain about. I think we only butted heads once, maybe twice, the entire week. Roman tried his best at being good and I give him a B for Behavior.
I did learn something from this trip. I learned a few things, actually. I love Amy and Mandy lots and lots. Those are two great girlfriends that I am so happy to have. I learned we all face different challenges in our parenting lives and we all do the BEST that we can:) I learned that girls are a lot more challenging than boys, and require a lot more mentally raising them. Girls are sassy, and probably more than I can handle at this point in my life with three boys already. That being said...I'll take another boy, please, God. Maybe I am truly not meant to have a girl. Growing up, I was a daddy's girl. My mom and I didn't develop an awesome relationship till I started having children of my own. I then realized how wonderful of a person she was. It's all adding up. lol
The trip was a success and on the drive home I was thinking, I could do this again, no problem. Thanks Amy and Mandy for the beautiful memories! Now, I need a vacation!!

In order, from oldest to youngest:
Xander

Hannah

Aiden

Roman

Eli

Laney

*Cullen stayed with his dad this week, as he was a tad too old for this crowd and he visited here in November with his dad and went to Disney in January.

Mardi Gras is coming

2010-01-28T19:24:00.001-06:00

The boys love walking a block over and catching all the local parades. We will be out of town for the official Mardi Gras week, but we will get in all the parades we can before then.

I bore babies to sleep!

2010-01-27T16:52:00.001-06:00

Amy and Mandy had an errand to run today and I volunteered to babysit a few days before. Well, when I woke this morning, I felt like poop but didn't want to change plans, so I willingly took in Laney and Eli. They were very well behaved! Delaney kept trying to lay down and watch tv on the floor, but with the two big brutes, she kept getting disturbed. She finally decided to come play behind the chair I was sitting in, to avoid the boys. She got quiet and I turned around to find her sleeping on the ground.

Within minutes, Eli passed out on the sofa.

Neither had fussed about being sleepy. God was good to me and let me rest, even when I had to babysit under the weather.
What's funny is a few days before I had to babysit Xander and Laney and Xander passed out in the chair sleeping in the middle of playtime.

There must be something relaxing, or outright boring, going on here.

Name dropper

2010-01-26T16:41:00.001-06:00

The boys are very proud of their littlest, most beautiful girl friend, Delaney! They just want this to go down in the books that they know her. She (in the Saints outfit) is on her way to supermodel stardom and we hope one day when she hits it big time, she will remember her roots (or Cullen, Aiden and Roman will have to remind her). We're all very proud of Miss Sassypants!

There was a large family that lived in a shoe

2010-01-25T11:10:00.007-06:00

I hope this blog answers some questions that some people may have about adding to our already big, happy family in our small, warm home. This is to help you understand a little better what is going through our minds.

Jude and I purchased a modest (small/older) house, right under 1200 square feet, in a really nice part of town with very low crime a little over three years ago. Yes, we searched the local sheriff's office website to view crime in all local areas and we checked for child predators before we made a decision on any home. We considered what public school district we would live in knowing we wanted a large family and private school wasn't always going to be an option in our lives. We talked to neighbors before signing the papers on our house. We drove by at all hours on different days to see the neighborhood at all times. My point is, we put a lot of time into choosing our latest home. It is small in size, and in the past, has been an issue I have had to deal with and accept, moving from a larger house to this home. I have come to terms in the fact that we will not be moving anytime soon, as our plan now is to get out of debt before bringing on anymore financial burdens (besides children, top priority). A larger house being one of them. Ideally, I would like to add on to this one, eventually. We prioritize. I enjoy staying home with my children and that is most important to us at this time in our lives. We are very fortunate that I am able to do this off of one income and there is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for this wonderful gift. We do budget and it is a very hard task in it's own, but it is what we want and totally worth it to us.
I came from a very small family and have always admired larger ones. There were kids in school that had many brothers and sisters and I envied that. I look at Jude's large family, his dad has six brothers and sisters, his mom the same, and I think their big families are amazing. I want my children to have lots of siblings. I am happy we will have four kids and am even now considering adding one more, for a total of five. It's not about having a girl, though that would be ideal and a joy to me. It's about having a big family, which is a rare thing these days. For anyone that has the mindset that each child needs their own room, I will have to say that I totally disagree. Here, in our household, all we do in our rooms are sleep and change clothes. We have a toy room and a family living room. My children do not hang out in their rooms. Even Cullen, the one who has his own room, is rarely in there. My children like to be under my feet. They drive me crazy at times, but I am happy with this situation. So to think that two (even three) kids cannot share a room at this young age is totally ridiculous to me and MY opinion is all that matters when it comes to raising MY family. By the time they are teens, I am positive we will have expanded on our home and made more room for three teenage boys, plus. Having one's own room is a luxury that not everyone can afford, nor finds necessary. Owning a home is a luxury in itself, big or small. Also, private school is not a top priority for everyone. I'm really tired of people thinking that one is better than the other, when they have no experience in both. The saying is: To each, his own. I am happy we are having another baby, we planned this, and consider our lives a blessing! There are many people in this world that have less than you, and just as many that have more. It's about being happy with what you have that counts....We're happy!!

Saints Sunday

2010-01-24T22:01:00.001-06:00

Jude was off work today and he invited his dad over to watch the NFC playoffs at our house. I volunteered to babysit Xander and Delaney, and all three boys were home. It was a lazy football Sunday. Jude was so excited when the Saints won, putting them in the Superbowl.

He was so cute to watch! I am used to him being grumpy season after season when they lose a few games, but the joy he had from this one win was all worth it.
Here are a few pics from the day.

I told Roman to give me "number one" and he kept turning around and doing it behind his back

Miss Laney in her Saints outfit

These two knuckleheads played the Wii Super Mario Brothers the entire time

Manly wrestling

Monkey town

2010-01-23T21:55:00.008-06:00

This morning I woke up and decided to take the boys out for a day of kid stuff. We, as a family, usually do stuff on Sundays, but with the freaking Saints playing and Jude working on the other Sundays, the kids have been deprived. First we went to the donut shop and had breakfast. Then we tried to go to the big city park and ride some rides, but I didn't realize they were closed until Spring. We then headed to the funnest place (that mommy can semi relax at) nearby and the boys burned some energy. After an hour or so, I bribed them to leave with McDonalds and we headed home, where we ate and played the Wii. It was a fun day and I look forward to the football season ending soon so Daddy can tag along.

Where do babies come from?

2010-01-22T09:07:00.004-06:00

This past week we told the boys we were having another baby. There have been a lot of questions coming in ever since then. They want to know if it will be a boy or a girl. They like to discuss names. They all seem very involved and it is precious. So, I was bathing Aiden Sunday and he asked me where do babies come from. I snickered and yelled the question to Jude so he could get a giggle. As I was deciding the best answer in my head, Jude yells back, "From a flower". (Flower=girl part here) When I heard that, I quickly told him they come from the belly. Aiden says "Nu-uhh, I know where babies come from", smirking. I asked where and he replied, "From a flower." I could have died. I think he knew I was BS'ing at that point because Daddy spoke the truth. He's four and he now knows where babies come from. Cullen is ten and still doesn't know this interesting fact!
Which brings me to this. My four year old schooled my ten year old on where babies come from. Cullen came home Monday morning from his dads and we were on our way to Jude's Maw Maw's funeral. We're in the car and I hear Aiden say so proudly, "I know where babies come from!". Cullen replies, "Me too! They come from the stomach." Aiden says "Nu-uhhh, no they don't. They come from *insert motions pointing to himself down below*". Cullen says, "No they don't!" Aiden, "Yes they do! They come from a flower!". At this point, Jude and I are cracking up laughing. Cullen tries to tattle on Aiden and the truth comes out. Both boys now know where babies come from THANKS TO DAD. I did add that technically, babies come from both areas, it just depends on your delivery.
_____________________________________________________
The other day Aiden and I were playing around rough and I told Aiden "I made you. I brought you into this world and I can take you out." Without skipping a beat, Aiden replied "You didn't make me, GOD DID!". He is too smart (mouthed).

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful

2010-01-21T21:43:00.003-06:00

Roman and I decided to take a ride out to the Kiln and hang out with one of my good friends, Breezy, today.
On our way out, we stopped at Randazzo's and picked up two king cakes for my two friends that live in the sticks. First, we stopped at Jenn's work and delivered hers to her surprise. She was very happy! We got to chat with her for a few. Then, we went on to Breezy's house where we hung out with
Breezy,

Coein (he's five),

and Glory (Breezy's sis).

I love the country! It was so peaceful, quiet, the weather was gorgeous, and it was just a perfect day all around. Breezy ate half her king cake just while I was there. She is so tiny, I don't know where she put it all. But, she ate it! Roman and Coein played the entire time, which had him sleeping the whole ride home. That means he had a great day, too. We are going to have to go back on a Monday so we can visit with Jenn on her day off. I look forward to going back to hang with my girls! I've known them since middle school. Thanks, Brandi, for putting them in my life for good:)

Girl's dinner

2010-01-20T23:34:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went to dinner with some of my fave friends and it was a fantastic time. Amy got to announce I was preggers to the girls:) We discussed relationships, photography, weddings, and religion, just to name a few topics. We are all so different, yet similar in so many ways. I always leave laughing and happy I went. We've been doing this for almost three years and I hope we continue this tradition for many, many, more years to come.

45 days; oh, and 8 months to go

2010-01-19T19:14:00.011-06:00

I haven't blogged in about a month and a half (45 days) and I do miss it at times; other times, I don't. A lot has happened over the weeks, including a wonderful Christmas, a happy new year, a death in the family and a new life created.
Every Sunday you will find Jude and I at a church that I absolutely love! It is amazing what God can do in your life. I wish I had found this church sooner.
Wednesday nights I recently started attending a small covenant group within the LCC and am enjoying it. The kids still love going to church! Life has been wonderful in an amazing Godly way. Last week we were presented with fasting for three weeks of prayer. I decided to fast from Facebook, something I do way too much and find pleasure in. It was hard the first few days but I think I got the hang of it. I have been reading some great books to make up for all my empty time. So maybe, just maybe, with this new found time, I will figure out how to manage my time better and be able to blog again.
Aiden got "Student of the Month" at school a few days ago. Yes, my little man is the complete opposite when under other's care. He is an angel. lol Nine months of school, twenty students in class, he was one picked. Yay Aiden!! Cullen also had all A's, B's, and one C on his report card for his studies. Conduct is all C's too. The boy likes to talk. He can't help it. He was so down on himself the day he got his grades. I was super proud of him! It's like we weren't looking at the same report card. (I know he can pull that C up and give his momma an honor roll once this year.)
In other news, sadly, Jude's Maw Maw passed away on Thursday at four in the morning. She hadn't been doing well and hospice had come in about two weeks ago to help with her care while she spent her last days at home. She had seven children (including Jude's dad), many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even one great-great grandchild. She was 86 years old. I'd say she lived a long, happy, fulfilled life. She was a woman to admire and I am sure she is enjoying her stay in heaven. Her services were yesterday and it was a beautiful thing to witness. She packed a church!
On the morning of her passing, we got a call at 7:00 a.m. I was waiting to take a pregnancy test as it got closer to my due cycle. It was three days before my missed cycle but I knew New Years Eve night was a success. I just knew it! (Yes, we started trying in December.) So when the phone rang, I woke to run to the bathroom and do my thing. Sure enough, there was a very faint pink extra line. I was sad about Maw Maw and happy to have new life inside of me. That day will never be forgotten. Jude and I are expecting another baby!
For the question, "Are you hoping for that girl?", well, I am just hoping for a healthy baby. I put so much hope into my last child (Roman) being a girl, that when I found out it was a he, I was devastated. I cried and cried. I don't want to do that to myself again. I'll take another boy! At least I will know what to do with him. I'll have hand me downs, too. We can always have another:) I am four weeks and our due date is September 25, 2010. We are so excited to add to our family!

My heart is tattered

2010-01-12T14:08:00.004-06:00

The murder trial of my friend Brandi Hawkins Laurent is no longer scheduled two weeks away, for January 25, 2010. Today, the lawyer for LLL III requested a continuance on the murder trial and I found out about this one hour before it was scheduled to happen. I thought for sure it would get denied. It has already been two years and five months since he murdered her. Nothing new has occured in the past two years since he was arrested in January 2008. He has had the same defense attorney for the past two years. I thought there was NO WAY he would get it granted, giving all the family (and county) has had to go through. Well, guess what, it was granted! We now have to wait four more months. April 19, 2009 is the new date. I am sick. My heart hurts. I don't understand and am a tad confused about our justice system at the moment. I hope God has a plan, cause I don't see any good in this.

I have no idea what color my hair is!

2009-12-03T17:39:00.003-06:00

I decided that I was going to start dying my hair myself (again) a few weeks ago. I used to have it down pat on what to get at Sally's to dye it blonde. Well, I haven't tried red myself, yet. So today I went to Sally's, with Roman I might add, and spent thirty minutes looking at colors. I finally picked a pretty red and was happy with my purchase. I, being ever so eager to get it done, went in the bathroom to mix my colors; two red two-ounce tubes, to four ounces of developer. I have to double the formula, use two, because my hair is so thick. My process: I poured the developer, opened a red tube and squeezed. I poured more developer and opened the second red tube (last step) and squeezed. BUT, red didn't come out the second tube, some shimmering gold did. See, here is a photo.

My delimma...what do I do? It is too late to go and exchange it as I have opened it all and it would be weird to bring the bowl into the store. It is a hassle when my hair is already sectioned off into many pieces thirsting for color. So, after very little thought and lots of bravery (or stupidity), I mix it up and start painting my hair. Let's see what comes of this. If it is hideous, I just have to wear it like that out tonight and to a bachelorette party this weekend out of town. Then I can fix it. If it is wonderful, I have no idea how to get that color again.
And I am absolutely positive the boxes and inside tubes were identical because I checked them twenty times after "the incident".

A bird watcher

2009-12-02T23:39:00.004-06:00

Today while Roman and I ran errands, he carried around his older brothers "spy camera". In the parking lot of the doctor's office, we got out the car and Roman says "See birds?" and held the goggle things up to his face, scanning the grounds. He was so cute as he repeated himself, scanning; I snapped photos and he stopped immediately. He doesn't like to get caught on camera.