Stuff I am grateful for....

A husband who cooks

A good carpool 

Wine

Coffee

Coworkers I actually like

My kids teachers 

Other Moms who have kids the same age as mine. 

(They totally get me.)

Funny kids who say funny things. 

Homemade gifts

Making a middle schooler laugh

Sitting down

Wine

A hot shower 

Shoes that don't hurt my feet.

Long days that go by quickly 

Coffee

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Belly laughing 

Kissing

Blog posts that have a logical ending

The ability to stop typing when I run out of things to say

ok - for real

Totally grateful for that.......

The Birth Story of my Baby (who is 7 and insists that he is not little anymore)

Well - I have to say - I am basically in shock and denial that my baby boy is seven! I like to retell their birth stories each year on their special day and well - here is another special day.

I guess I should begin with how we came to have him in the first place. Sorry if this is too much information but this is basically a story that is tossed around at family functions quite a bit anyway so I want to go ahead and tell it here so that I have it down on paper er I mean computer somewhere. :)

We were a very happy little family of four and we talked about maybe trying for a third one day but we were certainly not looking to add on to our family at that time. It was Christmas Eve 2005 and we were celebrating, as is our custom, at my Sister in Law's house. We were enjoying some good food and family fun and I was enjoying an adult beverage. I raised my glass and said, for the universe to hear,

"I am having the BEST time. This is the first Christmas in forever that I have not been pregnant or breastfeeding!!!!!!!"

Fastforward to one week later - yes - one week later - New Years Eve - I knew I was pregnant.

The Buddy's pregnancy was nothing like my pregnancies with my girls. I pretty much knew this one was different from the beginning. I had a small puddle of blood that was sort of pooling between my uterus and abdominal wall and had to go for a BUNCH of ultrasounds. I was also supposed to be careful about lifting things (yeah right with a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old).

When it was time to go in for my 3D Ultrasound at 20 weeks I took my oldest daughter (then age 4) with me. She was very good and we found out that our baby was a baby boy. I had her call Husband and he picked up and she said,

"Hi Daddy - guess what? It is a boy baby!!!!"

We moved in May of that year - once again - pretty much a whipping to be 6 months pregnant with a 4 year old and a 2 year old and move but - we were actually doing pretty good!

Then - it happened -

the dreaded P.U.P.P.S rash.

I went ahead and made that a link if you are interested in it but basically it is a terrible itchy red painful rash that goes across your big sore pregnant belly and in the creases of your arms and legs.

Now - not to beat this point to death BUT - here I was - new town, a 4 year old and a 2 year old (have I mentioned that?), August, in Texas, 110 degree heat with a terrible painful rash.

I tell you -

talk about being trapped in your own body and life -

pretty miserable I will say.

Positives - my husband and the girls were really great and those two little girls were so sweet and good to their Momma - I will never forget that.

Anyway - my doctor wanted to induce me on August 27th. I said

"no way am I am having a boy in Texas in August"

(the cut off for school IN Texas is September 1st and he was not due until the 16th so I felt very strongly about this point).

September 2nd came and we headed off to the hospital for the third time at 5 o clock in the morning to be induced. Things went pretty smoothly and my husband went to go grab some lunch. The nurse came in to check me and I had gone from a 5 to a 9 REALLY fast so I had to call him - "Honey - come back FAST!"

My doctor (who is the GREATEST) came in - checked me and we told him that my husband would be back in just a second. He said, "ok good - I need to go to the bathroom anyway and you guys can wait a minute - perfect" and off he went. I had this crazy urge to call after him -

"be sure and wash your hands"

but anyway......

Husband came rushing back in and it was time to meet the Little Buddy.

That is when I heard my doctor say,

"oh, oh, well, ok, well, he is ok"

and then he said something like, "I want to send that off to the lab."

I cannot really describe what that split second of fear felt like but I can tell you it was so tangible that I remember what it tasted like.

We were told that he had one single knot in his umbilical cord and two double knots in his umbilical cord and the entire thing was wrapped around his neck. My Doctors exact words (and I will never forget them) were,

"he is destined for greatness - he really should not be here - I have really never seen this and have it turn out ok. I just lost one like this at 37 weeks."

We induced him at 37 and a half weeks. He was 7lbs 8 ounces and he was perfect.

Everytime I think about it.

Everytime I think about how close we came to losing him I get a chill.

I thank God each and every day for that terrible, awful rash!

I kept asking, "are you sure he is ok? He is really ok?" and he was.

That night - in the hospital room - I felt a sense of euphoria that I really had never felt and have not felt since. I could not sleep - all I could do was sit up and watch my sweet baby boy.

And now 

That baby is 7 and going into FIRST grade!

Sigh -  need time to slow down. 

How to create your own minions

So the thing that you know going into having little kids but don't really realize until you are knee deep in it is that they are a ton of work. Three kids means thirty toes and thirty fingers and every time we go swimming I have to sunscreen three and and towels for three and stomach viruses for three and so on and so forth. 

 Division of labor is a big thing for parents who have more than one kid and trust me - there is plenty of labor with three. 

When they were younger I would assign them chores to do because it was the right thing to do but honestly it was a major pain in the butt. You had to teach them and they did it wrong and everything had to be all developmentally and age appropriate for each kid and blah blah blah. 

So much easier to do it myself. 

Well now - the thing that husband and I have realized is that we have minions! They might be mouthy but you know what? They are pretty capable. They all want to live here and can pretty much be threatened or bribed into anything. 

They are also all three big enough that you can try out different stuff on them and it is probably not going to kill them. 

You know - stuff like "hey - see if you are big enough to run this lawnmower" 

and 

"Hey - let's see if you are big enough to dump this trash in the can".

Here are the minons hard at work

 

Here are some examples of things that I used to do before the minions and NEVER do now. Ever. Moms of preschoolers - please take heart when you read this list.....

 

unload the dishwasher

carry laundry baskets upstairs/downstairs

feed the dogs (at night - I still feed them in the am because I am up first and I am nothing but a kind soul so of course I feed them right after we go outside) 

take out the trash 

clear the table

mulch

Put away clean laundry in kids' rooms

Set the table

Water the dogs

Clean the Guinea Pig cage

Dump the dehumidifier

 

The list goes on and on I tell you on and on! 

 

Now don't get me wrong. I am not exactly sitting around and eating bon bons here and all of the activities and homework and this and that do keep me on my toes. Parenting is not for the faint of heart my friends but here is my advice for you regarding creating your own army of minions.

 

Feed your minions well. 

Support them in everything that they do.

Remind them (often if necessary) that they do live here for free

 

and soon you will have happy little people working industriously around the house. 

 

****Minion warning - they do bonk each other on the head on a regular basis, really enjoy fart noises and giggle - a lot, but overall - the minions are totally worth keeping around.*****

Summertime

What did I do with this knucklehead and his sisters today?

We watched Rise of the Guardians. (Rented from the library - how awesome is that? Totally new release - right?)

We made pumpkin bread AND darn good chocolate cupcakes and I didn't eat one bite. (For this I felt I should receive some sort of award which no one felt the need to offer me.)

We played Farmville 2. Go ahead and judge - we like it and so does our Mimi who lives far away so it is a fun way for us to connect. The kids get so excited about the little animals and they love it when Mimi sends them stuff.

We all learned how to operate a manual can opener.

We ate a lot of canned green beans.....

We all read a bunch of books. (I am not even just saying that - we actually read.)

We did the Teen Beach Movie Dance Along. Two things you should know about this - I secretly totally enjoyed it and I am glad my husband was not home. I believe it is possible that he would have teased me. He loves me and all but - let's be honest - I would have teased me.

We went swimming.

We ate homemade meatballs for dinner. I really love homemade meatballs. Almost made up for the lack of cake.

Oh yeah and we had canned green beans with that.

I wonder if I could cook green beans in eggs in the morning....

It is possible I should have thought through the can opener activity a little but but hey - it is my responsibility to teach these children how to be productive citizens. People should know how to work can openers.

Now I am typing on my computer watching America's Got Talent with husband while the girls play and the aforementioned knucklehead is putting around the living room - literally - golf ball, putter, cups, etc.

Sigh - I love summer time. I really do.

Keeping it Real

This is a post about keeping it real.

I love it when I hear (read on Facebook, blogs etc) 

"oh sure - I would look like that after I had a baby if I had a makeup artist and hair stylist show up at my hospital room...." (In case you have been under a rock - A really pretty Princess in England had a baby)

Listen Sweetheart, you tell yourself whatever you need to get you through your day but I am telling you - there is no makeup artist/hair stylist/pair of spanks in the WORLD that could make me look like that ONE day after having an 8 pound baby. You get to be a princess because you are a princess. You look and act and talk and walk like a princess. Just keeping it real folks. You can say that Husband is my prince and I am his princess and I would totally agree  but we were looking pretty bedraggled when we brought home that first little duchess. We are also totally ok with our ordinariness.

Just keeping it real folks.

Now on that same note. Did you know that people are WAITING to name their babies in England to hear what that little royal dude's name is going to be? I make fun of that but it is possible that I would wait to name my baby because I would HATE to accidentally  use the same name and then my poor kid would be one of like a hundred Chuck's (or whatever name) in his Kindergarten class.

Just keeping it real folks.

If you are a long time follower of the blog you know about my cupcake days. "Toughen up cupcake. You are not the only fat chick in the gym!" has been a long time mantra of the BFF and I and it helped me lose 25 pounds of baby weight (about 4 years after the last baby - keeping it real of course). I have never been one to hide my body from my kids. This is a good little body. It is not perfect but you know what? I am proud of it. It has worked hard and withstood some stuff. It made three beautiful babies and fell off of a bunch of horses and has somehow despite all forces of nature learned to ski again but now it is telling me,

 "Holly - in the interest of keeping it real - I think you should probably get your chubby butt back into yoga class and while I am not criticizing (this is my body still talking in case you lost me) it would probably not be the worst idea if you picked up a weight or two."

I'm all "ok body - whatever you say" and then do you know what my body told me back?

Ouch - damn girl - that hurt. 

Really? Not supposed to work like that. The body talked. I listened and now it is talking back. That sucks.

Just keeping it real folks.


Who's Line is it Anyway is a very funny show that I used to watch in the middle of the night when I was nursing my now 9 year old. It is back on and it a little bit makes me want a baby again but it mostly makes me happy I don't have to stay up all night and it really makes me want to laugh. I always like to confess guilty TV pleasures here so this is my keeping it real confession for the night.

Just keeping it real folks.

I love summer time. I love my little family. I REALLY REALLY REALLY love my new kitchen. I love that I am starting to get my groove back. I just might catch up after the craziest 6 months ever and I am pretty excited about that. I like being able to sit at my little computer and type my stream of consciousness posts for both of my followers to read and I really love that Husband just walked through the front door and said.

"Hey Babe."

Just keeping it real folks.

Happy Birthday my Zoe!

So here is a random collection of pictures. I dig through pictures and get distracted and look and laugh and talk and can't help myself but wonder how 9 years have passed but yet again, I find myself at the end of a birthday. My Noodle is 9 years old and here are just a few pictures to celebrate her....

Big fun with big sister and Daddy

 Hi Momma

 Daddy's girl

 She loved those fingers and her yellow blankie. At first it's name was "My" and then it went to "lello" and finally  became her "yellow blankie". Shh don't tell but it is in her bed still. It used to accompany us everywhere we went and my greatest fear was losing it. Now it stays safely in her room but is still very much loved by both of us.

 Ready for Sesame Street Live!

 2nd Birthday Party

I love you baby girl. I wish I had more time to look through your pictures but you want me to come and sit with you and read some Katie Kazoo so I will look through pictures another day.

Another July - another retelling of the Noodle Bear's birth story

So I am a big believer in stories - I think that the only way that stories can really live on is if they are retold so each year on my children's birthdays - I like to tell their birth stories. It just so happens that today is such a day.

My Noodle was an easy pregnancy and I was very very excited that she was a girl and I was very very defensive about any "oh you didn't get your boy" cracks. She was meant to be and I knew it and I would not listen to a word edgewise.

We were getting closer and closer to her due date which was July 14th. I did teach until the end of the school year and then my oldest (then age 2) and I spent most of the day in our backyard pool. She was due on July 14th and she was looking like a good size baby so my good buddy Dr. (Insert OB's name here) said that we could induce on July 14th.

Mimi and Papa came over early to stay with my two year old and Husband and I got to the hospital nice and early. All seemed well, I had my epidural in and Husband and I were playing cards. Suddenly, I said, "hey I felt that" and then I said, "hey I REALLY felt that - ouch" and so on and so forth. We called the nurses, and called the doctor back in and the anesthesiologist.
The anesthesiologist normally worked in cardio and he sort of shrugged his shoulders (incidentally - never a good thing for a medical professional to do) and administered more medicine in my epidural. By now, I am in full labor and I am feeling EVERYTHING.
Finally, Husband finally has the presence of mind to lean me forward and look at my back and says, "ummm excuse me - her epidural fell out!" The last dose of medicine that he had given had just soaked my sheets and I had no epidural, was dilated to like a 7 I think and let me tell you - that hurt hurt hurt.
Now I know that some people are natural labor people - great - bully for you - I know myself and had planned on an epidural. Also what is interesting is that even after having a shaky epidural experience with my second - you betcha I had one with my third.:)

As a matter of fact, I have friends that can attest to the fact that in my childbirth class with first born - I nearly asphyxiated myself trying to do my breathing which lead me into my hysterical giggles that I get which then led to a little crying jag - all right in the middle of the class. Anyway - I digress - that is a story for her birth story.

The doctor comes back in and says that he wants to do another epidural - I am in a lot of pain at this point and say, "well sure". Man - sitting up in that bed holding on to Husband and the nurse (who buy the way was one of my Kindergarten students' Moms which was interesting) for dear life while he tried to put that thing back in was - well - tough.

So he gets it going, I lay back, Husband looks sort of haggard and two nurses are standing there chatting. I say to Husband, "Umm honey - I feel funny, I feel REALLY funny." He says, "don't tell me - I think we need to tell them"

Here is what happened next from my perspective, "heeeeeyyyy, looooook aaaattt thhhaaaattt evvverrryyoonnnneeee isssss mooovvvvinnnngg reeeeaaalllly faaaast buuuut I feeel reeealllly slooooowwww."

My blood pressure (which tends to run pretty low normally) dropped dramatically and suddenly this swat team of nurses comes in, pushes Husband out of the way and there are literally like 6 of them all standing around my bed. I remember the blond one at the end looking at me and even though I was feeling so weird I remember my eyes getting bigger and her asking me what was wrong. I think I said that all of them were freaking me out by being in there and asked what was the matter. They basically told me that I had trouble with my epidural and they were going to have to turn it off and get my blood pressure back up.

When that crisis was over and the swat team went on to their next mission, Husband and I were left looking at each other, like "what's next?"

Next thing I know - KK's mom ( the nurse whose name I can't remember now but I remember the little boy) comes in and says it is time to push. Well I push not for very long ( and remember - no epidural anymore so I can feel most of this) and she says, "ok - we have to stop and wait for Dr. Insert OB's name here.
I said, "oh no - I think you are doing great - let's just go ahead!!!" Well Dr. Insert OB's name here came in, said hello to Husband, says hello to the nurses, doing his doctor thing.
He grins at me, is putting some gloves on and goes to start putting his gowns and stuff on and looks down and says, "HEY!" He dropped what he was doing - looked at me and said something along the lines of the fact that they weren't kidding around - I really was ready - I think I pushed one or two more times and then - there she was.

8 pounds, 3 ounces 5:48 - little baby girl. I watched while they took her over to the little baby whatever and she stopped crying almost immediately. My first thought was uh oh and then I looked over and saw her little skinny arm reaching up for the lights. She was so quiet and they gave her to me and I don't think I let her go for a long time after that. She just looked at me like,
"Hi Mommy - I am here - ready to go."