It is inevitable...

It is inevitable.. bound to happen and there is no way I can get around it.

Grace is going to tick me off. That is a given on any day, but today specifically because along with everything else.....

It is inevitable, that they will not only destroy my house.....

It is also inevitable that I will run out of patience LONG before the day runs out of time, That the dishes will go undone until the wee hours of the morning tomorrow BEFORE they awaken for the day, the laundry will yet again remain unfolded and not put away.

It will happen that I will not get a chance to take a shower until 1am in the morning when EVERYONE is sleeping except me because I just finished eating my dinner....that I cooked 5 hours early and fed to everyone else.

It will happen that Grace will somehow find a way to antagonize the snot out of Hailey to the point that Hailey (a normally very patient child) will blow her top and yell, resulting in Ryan being awakened from his nap early and screaming. It will happen.

It is expected that they will NOT clean their room the way I asked them and I will find dirty clothes shoved in the back of their drawers when I go to put their clean clothes away (if I ever get around to fold it that is)

I will have a headache by noon. Unless of course it just decides to stick around from the day before.

They will be bored. They will have absolutely nothing to do. Even though we have over 100 cable channels 7 of which are exclusively aimed towards children 24 hours a day. We have the Internet with endless possibilities for entertainment. They have a HUGE collection of very expensive toys in their bedroom that they only 3 months ago INSISTED they would DIE if they didn't have in their possession. They have bikes and scooters and a swing set to play on outside. Not to mention friends out there to play with as well.

It is inevitable...because it is spring break, because it is April, because it is the 1st Tuesday of the month and the full moon was in the sky for 14.6 hours the other night, because she is wearing blue today, and I am wearing pink. Because I said so, or just because. Because I am Eight and eight-twelfths. Because she is 5 and three quarters. Because I feel like it. Because I don't feel like it. Because I can.

It is inevitable because she woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I think I'm going to move her bed away from the wall.

Dedicated

On Sunday, March 29th......

Ryan was dedicated at church. Our most favorite pastor, Pastor John Dick did the honors. Thought ya'll might like to see.

We are so blessed!

Pocket full of..Posies??

Why do my baby's pants have pockets?

What do the designers of these outfits think they will be needing them for?

His wallet? His checkbook? Perhaps his cell phone? Maybe they think they will be useful for a handful of cheerios in case he gets hungry along the way.

Maybe they think he will want a safe place to tuck away his pacifier until he has the urge to use it.

Any ideas on this?

The only useful infant pants with pockets that I could come across (I googled FYI) were these ones..

A United States Patent 7089598 (no picture to share...sorry) followed by a definition for patent purposes...

An apparatus for infant pants having knee pads permanently or removably mounted to an inner surface of the pants or to an infant pants inner liner. The infant pants or pants liner have internal pocket panels that extend substantially horizontally from seam to seam and are sewn by vertical, substantially parallel stitching to define generally rectangular pad pockets of desired dimensions with upwardly facing pocket openings. The pockets have retainer panels to secure a replaceable protective pad within the pad pocket. The pants have replaceable protective knee pads that are removably contained within the internal knee pockets to provide protection for crawling infants against bruises and abrasion of the knees during crawling activity.

There is a pocket, I'm sure my infant son would find useful as well. Until then, at least we know where to keep his little baby wallet. Now, if I could only find an infant wallet

Credit goes to Brigette, for bringing up such a blog worthy question =0)

Plastic Eggs..

Soooo..

Plastic eggs and Paradise. The explanation I'm sure you've all waited for.

Spring officially will be sprung tomorrow morning at 7:44am EST. With spring comes warmer weather (in Michigan this is an eventual happening that rarely ever coincides with the actual start of spring, more so a month later) With spring comes Easter. I love Easter Sunday church service, the children are all adorned in their traditional little Easter attire and toting the stuffed bunnies and critters that the Easter Bunny left in their baskets. The girls have on shiny unscuffed white Patten leather Mary-Janes, some of them are carrying tiny little matching purses with their little Lip Smackers lip gloss safely secured within. The boys look sharp in the pastel colored dress shirts and neck ties, It is just an around precious little site! I seriously think I can feel Jesus smile at the site of children in their Easter morning church services. (cheesy? I know..but tis truly how I feel)

With Easter comes one of my most dreaded nasty little nemesis'....the plastic egg. I HATE THEM! I swear...People say that bunnies reproduce faster then we can blink, but I firmly believe they must hatch out of these plastic eggs. We all know eggs cant reproduce themselves, but somehow I always wind up with an overload of these darn things in my house. That is the only logical explanation that I can come up with.

Why do I dislike them so? Well, first off....as I just mentioned the mere number of them I wind up with. I know, I know what you are thinking. If you don't like them...then don't buy any. But, what Easter basket is complete without at least a couple of these stuffed within? I buy, ONE 8 pack a year. No more, no less. It doesn't matter though. I start out with 8, and I end up with 39.

It takes me ALLLLL year to hunt down and destroy the 39. I'm fairly certain that I JUST threw away numbers 38 and 39 last week when I gave the girls room its quarterly annual major cleaning. This will give me 3 glorious plastic egg free weeks, before I start the war once again.

Those plastic eggs, are painful. How can a rounded object be sharp at the same time? Ive asked myself this question while applying many a band-aids. The answer lies in two ways. One would be the lip in the middle that holds the two pieces together. Someone (usually Hailey or myself) get sliced by part of this every year. The other way, and usually the way hubby ends up bleeding as a result is when they get stepped on and they crack and break into several sharp little slivers of plastic death that like to embed themselves in the bottom of the foot, or in the knee, and the ever so embarrassing hinney cheek or whatever other part of the body comes in contact with them.

The annual Easter Egg hunt. I have my own, this particular one doesn't include the children though. The girls don't get left out of the fun despite the fact that I don't include them on mine, they always end up participating in several. I help organize them at church, I do my best to find the perfect spot to hide the eggs. I enjoy watching them run around excitedly looking for the eggs. I just wish the eggs stayed at church.

My egg hunt isn't as fun. I swear, these little oval shaped villains are shifty and move on you, because I can never seem to find them all. Perhaps next year I will just place them all on the ground at church and tell them all to go hide themselves, because they do a far better job of hiding on their own then I do of finding a spot for them.

Long story short...I may temporarily win the yearly battle against these darn things, but I'm doubtful I will ever win the war. I'm sadly outnumbered by at least 1 to 39.

The Paradise.... I guess I will save that part for another day and another blog

Randomness at its best

Currently...

What is running through my mind at this moment in time (scary place to enter I know, but really not so bad once you are there)

1) I wants me a Flip camera, particularly this one
I WANNNNT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2) Ryan needs a bigger swing. He LOVES to swing and is fast outgrowing his current model, which is just the standard swing Ive featured on here in the past. I dont want a super expensive one, I just want one that has a bigger seat and goes heavier then 22 lbs. Any ideas?

3) I lovvvve my Dyson vacuum. The one vacuum that hasnt failed me. No, my love for this Dyson is not fickle, it is deep rooted. It is as wide a love as the cost of the vacuum was deep. Yeah, I paid $500 for a vacuum, but this a Dyson and it was WORTH it! I will never, never again purchase any other model.

4) Im so grateful the weather warmed up. Hubby pulled out the grill last night and made some BBQ chicken. There is nothing like fire grilled BBQ chicken to signify spring has sprung. At least this is true for my family.

5)With the warmer weather the kids are outside more. They are such good little ones about playing outside, and living in a trailer park I find myself a bit more protective then I would in a classier neighborhood. I dont let them go in anyones house except 1, my lovely neighbor Brigette's...but that doesnt happen often. Trailers are small...mine is small with 3 kids in it, but hers is even smaller (plus her mom works 3rd shift and sleeps during the day) This leaves the kids to be outside and trying to find something to do.... When they were younger..like 4 through 6 this wasnt an issue. We have a swing set..a traditional metal one. It was great when they were that age. They played on it for hours. Not now though. No, now they are almost 6, 8 and 9...there is the baby to consider now (which currently has no place to hang his swing) We NEED a new swing set. I want this one...minus the strange man and the picturesque mountain backgroundHowever, theirs will not include the sandbox below the clubhouse. I have enough dirt to contend with. They can find something else to do with this spot. Oh yeah... theirs wont include all these similing children. Im full up! They can find a new play feature to attach themseleves to. While on the topic of this swing set and other people's children.... I have to ask.... Would it be rude of me to only allow certain children on this swing set? I.E. My own, and a select handful of pre-approved others. I don't like the other neighborhood children. They dress like thugs, lack adult supervision, play with toy guns, use swear words in the appropriate context,they like to be destructive of other people's properties, One of them stole a Littlest Pet Shop kitty cat from Hailey last year, they probably know how to roll a joint if need be and to top it ALL off....I'm pretty sure....their parents voted for Obama, based on his chocolate milk in the drinking fountain juvenile campaign promises. (I'm just kidding...I would never say that, it was kool-aid =0P)

6) My neighbor...who is currently banging on his door to be let in (he does this EVERY time he comes home) needs to invest in a pair of house keys and figure out SOME way to not loose them. Perhaps a good suggestion would be to leave they by his smokes, or his chewing tobacco...maybe set them down by his Natural Light beer cases. He never has a problem finding those items it seems. P.S. He needs a belt, well more so a drawstring on his sweats. Im sick of looking out my window to find him...head stuck inside the hood of his car, with his butt hanging halfway out his grease covered sweat pants....

If you'll excuse me..I feel the need to vomit, and then go poke my minds eye out.

"CRUD"

If you plan on coming around my family anytime soon...You may want to rethink that idea.

I'm living in a crud cesspool. I have spent so much time in the last month at the doctor's office it is pathetic. Seriously, I think Im personally putting his children through college. I'll start at the very beginning ( a very good place to start...la la alaaaa laaaa)

It all started about 4 weeks ago with the insesent sniffles from my 5 year old..followed by a fever, which she rarely ever gets. I decided to take her into the doctor and get her checked out. Called the docs to make an appointment and discovered his office was closed for the day due to the fact that he is the only one in the office and he decided to take a vacation. Sooo, off to the local urgent care walk in clinic known locally as Redi Med. She was seen by one of the two doctors in the clinic and it was decided that it was just one of the many viruses going around and with fluids, rest and some Ibuprophen and/or Tylenol she would be fine in a few days.

Two days later, I ended up back in the clinic with the baby, Ryan. He was unconsolible which was extremely abnormal for him. He is such a happy baby, and rarely ever fusses unless he is tired, hungry or muddy (in other words..poopy) The sure fire sign it was time to take him in was the mild fever that finally hit, and the fact that he screaaaamed bloody murder when I went to clean his ears after a bath and whenever I laid him down when he fell asleep. So, again I found myself at the clinic after a phone call to the family doctor's office went unanswered due to the fact that he was STILL on vacation (Im getting annoyed)

Ryan was Diagnosed with an ear infection and was put on amoxicillin and sent home with a note to see the family doctor in 10 days.

2 days later, Hailey shares her "virus" with baby Ryan (as if he isnt suffering enough already)

7 days later.....Hailey shares her "virus" with mommy (I reference back 3 blogs)

10 days later,(this would be Monday the 9th) Mommy is still sick. We were actually able to get Ryan in to see the family doctor for a recheck on his ear infection.The virus Hailey had shared with him was short lived and he shows no more signs of it being present. The ear infection is still healing, and with the last few doses of his pink junk he should be good as new. YAY! By this time...Hailey has completely recovered from her virus as well. Mommy...is still suffering. UGH

Now....Thursday rolls along. All is well health wise (cept Mommy of course who is STILL suffering) THEN, the phone rings and the girls' school shows up on the caller ID.........

Ruh roh Raggy!

Hello?

"Hi, this is Shirley. Is this Hailey's Mommy?"

Yes, it is.

"Well, I have Hailey in the office. We are pretty certian she has pink eye"

Oh boy. I'll be right there.

So timing was perfect. I had just fed Ryan so he should be good to go for at least 2 hours. I went and picked my pink eyed little lady up from school and decided to call the family doctor's office right from the parking lot as his office is directly across the street from the kids' school.

"Hello. Dr. NeverIns office. How can I help you?"

Hi, I just picked Hailey up from school, they are pretty sure it is pink eye. Can I quick pop in so she can get a prescription.

"Doctor is ALL busy today. No empty spots."

But it wouldnt be anything major..just a quick peek. Isnt there any way at all?

"Nope. you are going to have to take her to urgent care"

Well, I suppose I can just bring her in tomorrow. Let's just make an appt for tomorrow then.

"Well, Dr is out of the office tomorrow. He is going on a weekend vacation."

Suuurrrprise, Surrprrise Surprise.

So, back to Redi Med we go. We walked in and the place was packed! We got the last chair in the waiting room. When I approached the window and inquired about the wait time I was told "ohh, bout an hour. Tops"

Okay, I can do that. Ryan should be good for at least another hour and a half. Hailey and I waited a good hour and 40 minutes. By this time, the waiting room was so full, people were standing along the walls. I called to check on Ryan and was told by my husband that he was very fussy and he couldnt quiet him. Much to my dissmay the process to get back to exam room was taking entirely too long and that was just to get into the room. That wasnt including the wait once you were IN the room to see the doctor. I knew I was going to have to leave and come back later. The receptionist was rather irritated when I asked her to pull Hailey's file (still three away from being called back, FYI) I told her the situation and that I would return. Which I did, 4 hours later.

When we returned later on in the evening it was much slower and I decided while I was there and they werent busy, I would have myself seen as well. As the virus that Hailey and Ryan had came and went in a week. I was on week two and it wasnt getting better. We waited about 30 minutes and were taken back to the examination room together. The nurse took our vitals and discovered that Hailey had a temperature of 100.0F. Well, that is odd...Ive never heard of pink eye causing a temperature before I thought to myself.

Doctor came into the room and went about examining Hailey where he decided that she probably most likely had the starts of pink eye due to what he was seeing, but mainly because of the repeated exposure she was having in her kindergarten class. However, he thought there was more to it then that and decided to do a strep test (that is going around her classroom as well) Quite surprised the test came back positive! So now, no only do I have pink eye to fend off myself and the rest of the family, but we have strep to contend with as well. Oh joy!

Then he came to me..... and he said "My dear...You have what I like to call, 'crud'."

Uhm. Okay, can you be a bit more specific with that, please.

"You have a double ear infection, a sinus infection and tonsilitis."

Oh. Well, that would explain why Im not getting better.

We left the office with no less then 7 perscriptions between the two of us. Four for me, and 3 for Hailey.

Hailey stayed home from school yesterday, because she was still considered contagious. We spent the morning watching the weekday cartoons that she misses due to being in school, coloring in our coloring books, reading her Junie B Jones book and just snuggling. Then as we prepared to go out and run some errands that wouldnt wait despite having contagious child home sick from school, the phone rang.....again. It was the school, and it was Grace in the office with a sore throat.

OYE VA!!!!

You know, it is really really pathetic when you go in to a walk in medical care clinic and they know your face and name. Pathetic I tell ya.Well, if it is the same doctor as last night..then he should be willing to give a prescription just on the merit of our issues, and hopefully on sympathy for me as well. Long story short, it was a different doctor (that would be my luck) She was tested and doesnt have strep...She has enlarged tonsils that are slightly red, but Im think mainly just jealousy at Hailey staying home (most likely), and perhaps some allergies thrown in.

So....I think Id like to find a Lysol Bomb and use it on this peatree dish of a house. Until then...you might want to stay away, or wear a mask and rubber gloves if you come in contact with my children.

Poor Little Southpaw

So Gracie is left handed...

This has never been an issue until today...8 1/2 long years into her life. The fact that she is a lefty is of no surprise to neither myself or my husband, both left handed. Her older brother, Earl is left handed as well. Her maternal grandmother was born a lefty until she was forced to become right handed back in the 50s (a common occurance back then) and she has several family members on her paternal side that are all left handed folks as well.
When Gracie was little..like 2 and 3 we thought it was precious that she was left handed just like the rest of her immediate family. When Grace was 4 and started kindergarten, there were no issues. She used sissors just fine, she held her pencil correctly and wrote legibly enough for a kindergartener. Nooooo being left handed was nothing we even really thought about anymore. Until last month when I sighed her up for her first ever season of softball.
The same day I signed my little southpaw up for softball, I signed her right handed little sister up for Teeball. The next day I went out to purchase the equipment listed that they would need and/or recommended.

• Hats and shirts will be provided by the teams and their costs were included in registration fees. Sweet.
• A water bottle. Check and check. Ive seen loads and I plan on taking them out and letting them pick their own out shortly before the actual season begins in a few weeks.
• Ball pants. No problem! They ALL wear white and they were available for purchase the night I registered them, so I went ahead and got them.
• A bat was recommended for practice purposes but not required. Naaah... I dont need anymore weapons in this house. sticks and stones may break and scratch but bats cause concussions.
• A helmet is required for all players when batting. This will be provided by team, but you may purchase your own if desired. Ohh I desire! Ive been done down that lice road and I made sure to do my best to burn that bridge after I crossed it! Helmets are readily available at many stores as well, in pinks and purples and girlie prints, and as soon as I have their little heads with me to size..we will be purchasing one each of those as well.
• A glove. This is a requirement for all players...and THIS is where all hell has broken loose.

I found adorable little gloves at our local KMart that are pink and purple..they even light up! What is a little girl NOT to loooove about that? I grabbed one for Hailey. I then found one that was light pink and dark pink slightly bigger for Gracie. It was the last one AND it was on sale. Great! Gracie loves pink! This will be great.

I was wrong. I got home and she went to put the glove on...and that is when it occur ed to me...Ohhhhhh, she needs a left handed glove (for those that are lost here, that means the glove it to be worn on the right hand leaving their left one open for throwing the ball) Do you think any store in this town would have a left handed glove? All of them except one didn't carry them. I found a left handed glove at Duhnams Sporting goods. The local sports specialty store. Specialty would mean that they charge more then usual. Poor Gracie is stuck with a glove that is black and barely pink trimmed. It doesn't light up AND it wasn't on sale.

Why must my little girl miss out on the cute little pink and purple gloves JUST because she is left handed. Poor little southpaw. The injustice of it all. Land of equal opportunity, but only if you fit the mold folks!

At least the batting helmet is pink, right?

Mommy MUST haves!

Ryan turned 5 months on March 1st and I cant believe that it has already been that long since he entered our family! There have been many wonderful moments, and many trying moments...and there are a few things that I wanted to tell you about that have saved me through this chaotic and memorable time.........I call them my Mommy MUST haves!

The first month with Ryan, I would not have survived without the swing. WE love the swing!!! All our naps were in the swing. Without this, there would have been no hot meals, no clean laundary, no naps for mommy and NO bathroom breaks. If Ryan wasnt in my arms...he was in the swing!

Next came the paci.....and not just ANY paci (cause we tried a few) the MAM paci! We had the Nuk, and he liked it at first...but once he gummed down on the MAM there was NO going back. I give credit to my somewhat peaceful nights to this little piece of rubber and plastic. Now, if only they would make a bottle nipple shaped like the MAM...I think we might be set.

Free entertainment....and I mean by this, the sisters! Not only is Ryan strong enough now that he can sustain his 8 year old sister carrying him around the living room, he is old enough now to enjoy it! She will pluck him out of his swing when he fusses, or out of his crib when he wakes from a nap, and the amazing thing here is...she wants to help me!!! Hailey, while not strong enough to pick up her 17 lb baby brother loves to play peek a boo with him, and tickle monster, and snuggles with him on the floor...her approach is much gentler then Gracie's, but just as much loved by the baby and her help is always appreciated by Mommy as well.

The infant car seat....not to be confused with the huge convertible one that comes later when the chunky little baby becomes too big for the one they came home from the hospital in. Im talking about the one that removes from its base and snaps into shopping carts, and strollers and carrys ackwardly on your hip all while your baby snoozes happily and undistrubed. This is also a GOD SEND..when your baby has reflux and cant tolerate laying flat without puking their stomache contents everywhere. Also handy, when their big sister shares their cold with them and they cant breathe through the nose unless they remain upright. Also handy when they start baby cereal and cant yet sit up on their own which renders the high chair useless (unless you count taking up space in your kitchen a use). True you could use the bouncy seat, but when the baby likes the food so much that they kick their legs in delight...it bounces the seat and that makes it hard to get the spoon in their little mouth without the danger of spoon being jammed into throat by the sudden jerking movement. Rubber coated utensil for their comfort or not...that would NOT feel good.

THE GRANDMA!!!!!!!!

Every mommy and new baby needs a grandma..although they can go by many names other than grandma...For example Mammy, Nanny, MawMaw, Memaw, Maema( We know one of those) Nana, Nah Nah and Nene (which would be OUR grandma). Nene is a savior! Ryan loves his Nene..and Mommy loves the Nene because she will not only happily hold with no time limits the grandbaby, but she also helps with the laundary and the dishes and WANTS TO! Plus, she truly understands how the Mommy feels, because she too has been there. So whatever they go by.....You gotta have one!!! If you dont have one, get one! No blood relation needed...there are several older women out there that love babies and are just waiting and wishing for a young mommy to grab hold of her cardigan sleeve, yank her to the closest rocker and plop the baby in their lap!

First picture is Ryan with his Nene...She lives in the same town as us, and we get to see her quite often. We are very lucky to have Nene around and we love her very much! The second picture is Ryan with his Great Grandma Mildred Patrick...Mommy loves GG so much, that she named him after her. Ryan Patrick. She unfortunately lives in Florida and due to her health is unable to travel up here to be with us, if she could though...she would be here in a heartbeat.

Back to our list...and naturally we lead into this next one as it pairs so well with the grandma...The rocking chair. This continues to be a great place to sit and feed the baby, and settle him down during a particular fussy moment. I couldnt find a picture of JUST the rocker, as it seems to always be occupied by someone with the baby...so I just picked one that happens to be one of my favorite pics (the corner of the rocker can be seen in the bottom right of the picture ;0P)

Last, and certianly not least.... our current favorite. This provides entertainment like the sissys do....except this one wasnt free. It was actually quite expensive...but the freedom it has brought, the skills it has helped develope, and the joy it brings to the baby, is well worth the $100 dollars in my humble opinion. The exersaucer....

The obvious must haves, like the diapers and the wipes, the ointment, the bottles (which he REFUSES) the breast pump.....the Daddy. Ive left off because like Ive said....they are obvious. So this is my list thus far..Hope you have enjoyed it.

If I were to create a WISH list for baby it would be..

A car seat that not only carrys the baby, but bears the blunt of their weight as well. 17 ISS heavy after awhile!

A Paci locator. You know those little buttons you can push on the base of your phone to find your cordless phone? I want one that locates the paci...or to be more exact..the 13 that are floating around my house SOMEHWERE.

A TRULY odorless diaper pail. The only odorless one I have seen yet is the one that hasnt been used.

An outfit that will fit the baby for more the 3 weeks. Shoes that does this would be nice as well.

While on the topic of feet...socks that actually stay on!

Last...but certianly NOT least.....

A book with all the answers that will grow with the child through the teen age years.

Share! Share! Share!!!

Short and simple...

I don't have the strength for anything more.

I tell the kiddos all the time. Share! Share your toys....share your treat....share your book...share the TV...share the computer...SHARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yet, they continually hoard their toys, their treats, their books, the TV and the computer....EXCEPT

They are always more then willing to share their germs...and their favorite person to share them with is me.

I think Id rather them not be so generous.

Now.... I need some Tylenol, a nap, and a nice and soothing Hot Toddie...too bad Im breastfeeding. I guess I will have to settle for some gingerale....Will someone bring me some please?????!!?!