and baby makes 6!

Opheodrys aestivus

This is a drive by post.  I am at my moms with the kids, and the barf virus is rotating through one of us every 48 hours.  I got it the night of opening ceremonies at the Games of Texas which was a real downer.  I hobbled through watching Cody swim in his events.  Thankfully it is a fast and furious virus.  Mia has it now, so the only one left to get it is Cody. 

As for the State meet, Cody placed 6th in 2 of his events!  He was so jazzed.  That’s 6th out of the whole state of Texas!!!!!!  He is one pleased little man, for sure. It was very exciting watching him race, and they did so well. 

From the State meet, the kids and I drove on to my moms house for a visit.  Every time we come here, she wants to buy them a pet.  This time she was convinced we needed a ferret.  Um, no.  I am REALLY sure that we do not want, nor need a ferret.  So guess what we have now…..go on………

If you guessed ferret, you are !!!BUZZZ!!! WRONG! No ferrets, no way, no how. 

If you guessed rough green snake, with his very own 20 gallon high GLASS enclosure, complete with vines, driftwood trees, reptile bark, watering bowl, heat lamp, and 2 dozen live, smelly crickets in their own special habitat, well, you are a genius and a bit scary.

Oh, and we are also the proud owners of 2 Red Efts .  They also have their own little terrarium complete with moss and a tiny little pond.  (I never in my wildest dreams would imagine myself arguing with my 7yo in Petco as he frantically explained to me why his new newts needed….get this….their own miniature fog making machine to make their ‘habitat’ more realistic.)

Imagine the scene I will make while loading the van with all the crap 5 people needed for a week away from home (pillows, stuffed animals, blankets, 3 large duffle bags, camera bag, laptop) plus a 20 gallon snake habitat, a newt terrarium, and a Cricket Keeper. 

Oh yes, there will be pictures.

Oh, and one of the newts is very tiny, so he can’t eat crickets.  When I asked what he should be fed, the reptile/amphibian expert replied "fruit flies".  I said something like, "GET OUT!!!  Are you serious?"  He was.  They come in this little tube, and the maggots are having a party in this blue goo at the bottom of the tube. They grow into wingless fruit flies, and you just shake a few out in front of the lucky newt, and ZAP, out whips a tongue to eat the fly.

Fascinating.

X AND Y

On the day my daughter was born, the OR had never seen such a crew.  The usual suspects were present, but I had recruited my own OR team on top of them.

Let’s see, there were two OB docs, a Anesthesiologist, a nurse anesthesis, and a PA.  I wanted to make DAMN sure there was someone qualified there to resuscitate either me or the baby in case of an emergency.  I worked at this hospital, so I knew who was good, and asked each of them to be present.  It was what I consider the best of the best.  Everyone was on a first name basis, so I am sure it was a bit intimidating to the nurses on duty that day.

Cut, snip, and out came Mia’s head.  She immediately cried.  Dr. Tim pulled the rest of her body out and I heard him exclaim "It’s a GIRL".  We had been told this at my ultra sound.  I had also been told, via ultrasound, that I was having a girl while pregnant with my first son.   He is most obviously a boy.  So, I just could not make myself believe it was true……until I heard those words spoken with joy from my doctor.

After my initial raptured joy that she was actually alive, I don’t recall much else of the OR experience.  There was some idle chit chat between all the docs and Bill.  My best friend, Dr. Donna the anesthesiologist, filmed the baby.

Back in my room, after a quick trip to the recovery room, they handed Amelia to me and I laid her in my lap and took off her diaper.  She was, most certainly, a girl.

Life with Mama Mia has been a complete joy to all of us.  She is so sweet.  The "sugar and spice and everything nice" really applies to her.  She is dainty, makes such sweet sounds (except while in the car seat) and LOVES to play with dollies.  She rocks them, feeds them, puts them "nite nite" and kisses them.  She also adores My Little Pony, and carries one of them around all the time. 

She loves to dance to music, and the boys sing to her to get her to dance.

She loves to play with my hair clips and such and she brushes my hair.  The boys are so relieved that she enjoys this, as they hate to do it and are now off the hook.   

When I change her diaper, I still have to laugh a bit about the feelings of unreality in relation her gender.  I had always dreamed of having a daughter. I can now see with hindsight that it was important to me.  It was always there in the back of my mind.   

Many years ago, while pregnant with Cory, my mom gave me some dresses that were mine as a baby.  One of them was made by my grandmother.  After 3 boys, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that the dresses would have to wait until I had a granddaughter.  On Mia’s first birthday, I had her picture taken in the dresses.   

Playing with her is fun.  I understand the things she wants to do.  Does that make sense?  It is second nature playing with her.  She and I play with little toy mice in her doll house.  Little toy mice that were mine when I was a child.  The doll house was mine also.  We play dolls together, which is totally not like me, as I hated dolls as a child.  I had one doll that I loved, and it was a Baby Tender Luv.  She is Mia’s now, and she seems to love her too. 

My boys have been so much fun, and my bond with them is something that I cannot put into words.  They each have treasures that were once mine also…..stuffed animals, toy trains and trucks that were once my fathers.  I just love them so much, and they reflect my personality so well….love of the outdoors, athletic, dare devil nature.  They love to snuggle, say the funniest things, and are amazing little boys.   But, I have to admit that I am also grateful to have a little girl to love too.  Having a daughter gives me someone that I can relate to gender wise, and it has been delightful.

Murky pools do not go well with 4 kids

My house is chaotic.  4yo has diarrhea, is crying at the drop of a hat, and I discovered this morning that he DOES NOT LIKE TOAST.  He liked it just fine last week.  Funny how that happens.

My 10yo has a friend over, and I overheard him call my son an idiot because Cory lost a computer game. 

Dear Friend of My Son,

If I ever hear you call my son an idiot again, I will pack your overnight bag, set you outside on the back porch with a pillow and sleeping bag, and tell you to ignore the skunk that makes its rounds in our backyard late in the night.

Love,

The Idiots Mom

P.S.  When I spend 2 hours making home made, authentic, Italian tomato sauce for your spaghetti dinner, it might be nice to actually eat it, instead of pushing it away and making an "icky" face.

Mia’s legs are covered in a weird rash, and if Bill hears me talk about it anymore, he will lose his mind.  She has been computer diagnosed by me with everything from Measles to leukemia.  There must be a drug out there somewhere that will take away this useless worry about my perfectly healthy baby girl.  Bill said, as he held her upside down playing with her "It looks like eczema to me.  I am NOT worried about it.  Can you tell??????"

MY BOYS ROCK!!!!!  Let’s see, where to start? Oh, how about with Cory’s All Star team being 2 for 2!!!  They played so great, and I was so proud seeing Cory catch line drives, scoring runs for his team and being a great 2nd baseman!

As for the Regional meet, Cory got 2 bronze medals and a 6th place!  He won’t go on to State, but he is still very happy because now he does not have to practice every day!  Cody (7yo) got……..THREE….GOLD….MEDALS!!!!!!!!!!!!  He placed first in every one of his events.  We are stunned and so excited for him.  Needless to say, we are just so proud of the boys for their effort and good sportsmanship.  Can you imagine how hard it was for Cory to know that his younger brother was heading for State and he wasn’t?  He was outwardly disappointed, but never once acted poorly to his brother.

After the meet, we took advantage of being at Landa Park with the kids.  I can tell you right now that I will not be going back there with 4 kids.  Even with Bill being there, it was nerve wracking and overwhelming.  Landa park swimming hole is spring fed, so the water is cold and murky in its depths.  It is also enormous and it was so very crowded that day due to the swim meet.

I had 3 heart-in-the-throat moments. Once when we lost site of Quinn for 5 minutes.  He had wandered out of the water and over to the play ground without telling me. 

Another time when we spent 20 minutes + looking for Cory.

How do you give a mother a heart attack?  Why, you sound the warning horn and have 7, count them, 7 lifeguards RUN past her down to the murky, cold, huge, crowded swimming hole that 2 of her children are swimming in.  Then you clear the 1.5 million gallon spring fed pool of all the swimmers, without telling anyone what is wrong.  I looked like the disoriented mother in Jaws as she stumbled around the beach amongst the chaotic crowd, calling for her son who, unknown to her, had been lunch to a shark. 

After this fun, we decided to call it a day while we still had 4 kids.

I wonder if sticking needles in my eyes would be more fun?

God Bless the USA

Proud To Be An American…….because, well, I am. 

I’m proud to be an American
where at least I know I’m free,
And I won’t forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know my kids can’t get sucked down a toilet.

Someone came to my site while searching "automatic toilet flushes a kid" from what appeared to be a French search engine.  Désolé, excusez-moi?  Hmmm.  Please tell me that no one actually believes this could possibly happen.  "Kid flushes automatic toilet" works around here.  Maybe my kids just have big heads.

We spent the 4th weekend at the in laws ranch.  Lots of fun had by all via swimming, hiking, feeding lambs, riding in tractors and hunting for arrowheads.  We found some beautiful pieces, and this fall when things cool off again, we will spend more time at the flint piles looking for more. 

Please slap me, as I did not even take one picture.  What good am I?

As fun as our weekend was, it is so great to be back home.  Mia does not seem to like change much.  She prefers to be here at home and does not sleep well when we are gone.  She also fussed the entire 3 hours it took to get home.  I thought my skull was going to split open and spill its contents.  At one point I asked my husband to slow the car down to below 50 so I could leap out.   He felt that would be counter productive.  It was tense in the van, to say the least. 

On our return home we began our free fall into the swim/All Star week from hell.  Swim in the morning, swim at lunch time, ball practice at dinner time. Then a ball game (an hours drive from here) Wednesday, and if we lose, another one on Thursday.  If they win on Wednesday, we play at 8pm Friday, then after the game at 10pm we drive to where the Regional swim meet is being held.  Then the boys swim their events on Saturday.  All of this means more time with Screaming Mimi strapped into a car seat. 

Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?

Au revoir!