Poor Babies :(

Rhys is kinda being a butt head today. Not quite sure why, other than he just spent a few days at Grammie's house with Charlie and is, perhaps, feeling a bit neglected by Mama. I've been trying to give him extra attention, but he has been taking his frustration out on Oliver all morning, culminating in Rhys tossing the cat at little Olly. Poor baby has scratches all over his face and we are all upset now. Oliver, because his face hurts; Rhys, because he knows that I'm angry with him; and I, because Oliver is hurt and Rhys is sad. Sometimes, this Mom thing is tough. :(

(I'll post a couple of pictures of Olly's face as soon as I find my camera cable. It seems to have wandered off...)

Okay, here are a few...

Good news is that the scratches are healing nicely. But little Olly is going to have a "prison scar" for a little while.

Never Stand On Things With Wheels

OK.  So this was dramatized a bit.  He just happened to be holding his little skateboard when he fell into the box.

But I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a small lesson.

And the opportunity for some cute photos.

What can I say?  He doesn't hold still much anymore. ;)

Poor Dumb Dog

Mopey Miles
Originally uploaded by cocoafairy

Miles came home a few days ago from a week long stay at the Idaho Humane Society veterinary hospital. He had eaten approximately two pounds of chocolate and was deathly ill. The wonderful folks at IHS took excellent care of him and kept him company when we couldn't be with him. Each of the first few days they were amazed that he made it through the night. Then his kidneys failed. They started getting better, then his liver stopped working. All the while, poor Miles is vomiting every couple of hours and having intradermal fluids administered. He's definitely a tough guy. Still sick, but slowly returning to normal.

Grandma Came to Visit

My mom visited this week by herself. We seem to have only gotten a portion of a picture of her though. :( But Rhys tried his first poppy seed muffin. (his "bun")

Oliver had his first taste of strawberries while Grandma was here. He squished them all over and was quite fond of them.

And he was a bit upset when breakfast was over.


We seem to have forgotten to get pictures of most of her visit. We ate lots of good food, shopped a lot, had lots of fun, and not a lot of sleep.
Not a stitch of knitting was accomplished; my housekeeping fell dreadfully by the wayside. And I don't know about Grandma, but I'm spending today trying to recover. :0)

Rhys Saw a Neurologist

For the past two years or so, Rhys has occasionally had these strange little seizures after a bump to the head. Toward the end of August, he had an especially worrisome one, which sent us back to the emergency room with him. This time he had a CT scan and then an EEG the next week. Everything showed normal and we had a consultation with a pediatric neurologist a couple of days ago.

Dr. "B" was very impressed by Rhys and said he isn't worried about him at all. Rhys has "breath-holding spells" which are apparently completely normal and he should outgrow them before he's five. Doc said that we shouldn't spoil Rhys in an attempt to avoid a spell - to which Rhys piped up "Why?" We all had a chuckle over that and the doctor decided that he needed to use bigger words... He told me to start saving for college now - it'll probably be out of state. lol!

Been a while....

Summer is over. Finally. :0) Oly is crawly; well, scooty. He does this cute little curl up and dive thing to get around. Priceless. Should probably video it, eh?

Got a new baby carrier. A Beco Butterfly. I'd been drooling over this carrier for months and all of a sudden - the stars aligned. I found a great price on this lovely lady (modeled by my friend Windy and her sweet little guy, Azure). And David wanted an mp3 player. And the rest is history. :0)

Tired Rhys and Charlie out enough that they both sat still at the same time - a miracle these days.

And Momma must be blind... lol.

I made my first attempt at dying yarn. With kool-aid. Turned out beautiful.
It was for a yarn swap with the Valleybums. She likes it, me thinks. ;)

So now that autumn has arrived, life inevitably becomes busier. Rhys's birthday is coming up soon. As is little Percephone's. And then all of "The Holidays" will come before I know it.
I'm attempting to add a little more "adulthood" to my life. I'm really hoping to have Thanksgiving dinner at my house, for instance. I know, I'm crazy. I should just let the real grown-ups handle it, but I still feel as though I need to prove (both to myself and others) that I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm not sure that I'll ever really accomplish that. But so far, I'm married, I have kids, I own a minivan and a Costco membership. I haven't overdrawn my bank account in a while, and I even manage to wash my dishes and bathe my children every now and then. So, though I know that in my parents and my husband's parents eyes, he and I will always just be big kids, every step we take is leading in the right direction.
I must say, though, that I still find it a bit bewildering when kids treat me like an adult. My kids may never listen to me, but other people's children do. Probably just because I'm bigger than they are... ;)

Surprise...

They're really this difficult everyday!

David could never understand why, when all the boys are home, I'm ready to run away by the time he gets home. They couldn't possibly be that difficult to manage... You're just not saying the right things... Calm down... . . . What have you been doing all day?!?!

Ha! On Sunday, they didn't put on a show for Daddy. They were themselves in every gloriously torturous aspect. One at a time, they're the most awesome kids ever. Together, I kinda wish I were in a looney bin; or at least had a nanny. ugh!



The look on David's face was priceless when, after throwing up his hands in frustration, I told him that they behave this way all day every day while he's gone. Perhaps that means he'll be more helpful and understanding, eh? Fat chance. But hey, it's nice to vent sometimes.

Thanks for listening. :0)

Things I Never Imagined I'd Say

My sister and I were talking a while back about all of the strange things I've said since having children. Mostly to Charlie, interestingly enough. :0) I've meant to write them all down; these are what I still recall.

1. "Charlie, get out of the popcorn bowl."
2. "Charlie, keep your spoon to yourself."
3. "Charlie, we don't lick the dog."

And there will assuredly be more.
My goal for the near future is to recap all of my motherhood memories before they leave me forever. Like Charlie's little army crawl thing that he did before he figured out how to crawl "for real".
And the way my "little Rhysie Piecie" made adorable little hoo hoo sounds like an owl. And how Aubrey just adored him, especially after witnessing the "exorcism" that was his birth. :0) And the quiet times Rhys and I had alone that I really never experienced with Charlie.
And how much more quickly than the last each babyhood has gone. And taking pictures of each of my sweet boys in the same outfits and places and noticing their similarities and differences. And wondering if someday, I won't be able to tell the difference between them in those pictures.
And teasing Charlie about eating good food (broccoli!!) so he'll grow big and strong like his Papa Carl. And how much he adores Papa Carl. And Uncle Carl. With a reverence one could only have for someone they rarely see.
And the way David is with little Olly. The way he holds him (the fact that he holds him), the way that he looks into his eyes. And the way that Oliver "talks" to his da-dad.

So many things that I wish to never forget; so many things that have been forgotten. As long as the internet exists though, I'll at least be saving my future memories.

That reminds me: I should try to figure out how to save all of this stuff to a disk, eh? ;0)

Win awesome cloth diapers!!!

Win a Bum Genius 3.0 Starter Kit from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

Win baby carriers!!!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

"I'm Mad At You Mom!"

This past Christmas, instead of getting a big dead tree or putting up the big fake tree, I decided to buy a dwarf tree that would grow and stay with our family for years and years. I did this despite the well-established fact that I DID NOT inherit my dad's green thumb.

Today, Charlie finally noticed that our poor pitiful tree wasn't doing too well....

So much for that idea, eh? Sorry Charlie.

I suppose this year, it's back to plastic for us.

June Already ?!?!

Just wanted to share some photos today. My babies are getting so big!

My David too ;)

Little Feet awwwww.....

Our New Doggie

We finally got a dog. His name is Miles. He's a five year old Basset Hound and he's just the sweetest guy. We got him from his previous owner because they had moved to an apartment and had no yard for him to run in. He's a little bigger than we were supposed to get, but he seemed to fall in love with us the second he saw us. The feeling is mutual. :)

He's adapted to our family very quickly and the only one's who seem unhappy with him are our poor kitties. They'll get used to him. ;)

Kiddos

I'm at the kitchen table, listening to American Gladiators and the squeak of my rocking chair as David rocks little Oliver, allowing me a much coveted, though not completely, childless moment.
I love David.
Rain is falling heavily outside, and if I try hard, I imagine I can hear it over the tv.

Then, as suddenly as the peace came, it is gone. All three kids are screaming. It was nice while it lasted.

Let's try this again ;0)

A lot has happened in the past year and three months.

New kid before.

New kid after.

This is Oliver James.

Still trying to figure out how the picture stuff works.