When it rains...

It pours.

I feel that I should be getting a frequent visitor reward at Dr. Greer's office. Or at least have a revolving door with my name gold-plated over it. Seriously. As we walked in yesterday, I told the receptionist that we were there for our weekly check-in. I know that having 2 precious little ones in "school" at least once a week is asking for germs to latch right on and wreck havoc in our house (Jack goes to Ms. C's class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I take them both to Children's Day Out on Wednesdays so I can go to Bible study, plus of course church on Sundays). But this is getting old!

Four weeks ago Jason took Jack to the doctor (of course, I was convinced it was an ear infection). Turns out that both J AND Jack actually had strep. Thankfully Will and I were clear. However, since Will is so young, Dr. Greer put him on antibiotics as a preemptive strike. Thanks to the meds, Will ended up at Dr. Greer's office a couple of weeks ago with thrush (again, I was SURE it was an ear infection...somehow I had TOTALLY missed the funkiness in his mouth).

Well, last week the runny noses started back up. Will and Jack seem to be passing it back and forth, but in typical Jack fashion, his came with an extra dose of fussiness...and you guessed it! I immediately blame his ears. However, we took a HUGE step towards big-boyhood: he woke up crying Tuesday morning (at 5 am - ugh) and said, "Mommy, this ear hurts." Not only was I right, but he can finally pinpoint and name the problem! Life just got a little easier.

I was able to get him in to see Dr. Greer that afternoon. SO very thankfully, his buddy JP's mom, Mrs. D, lent us their portable dvd player to take with us...typically I'm not a fan of those, but 2 fussy babies in a waiting room has a way of shifting perspectives. :) Jack used to do fine going to see the doctor, but he was slightly less than thrilled to be there on Tuesday. We barely had to wait at all (another blessing!) and they took us right back. Jack was verrrrrrrry whiny (I guess waking up at 5 am and having an ear ache will do that to a 2-year old!), but I was thankful for the distraction of the movie.

However, when Dr. Greer came in, Jack was too aware of what was probably about to happen, so the movie lost his attention. Dr. Greer, in an attempt to win Jack over, pulled out his iphone...complete with the iFart app. Jack was (THANKFULLY) unfazed by the completely inappropriate noises and continued to cry. We decided to go ahead with me just holding him tightly while Dr. Greer checked him out and confirmed the TERRIBLE ear infection. As soon as Dr. Greer got his instruments put away, Jack calmed down and even smiled a little before we left. The whole way to the pharmacy, he and I talked about how God gave us Dr. Greer to help him feel better and that he was going to get us some medicine to fix that ear ache.

Fast forward to tonight: J and I were saying bedtime prayers with Jack, and we've started this new thing where Jack asks us to "help" him say them (we say a line and he repeats it). Once we finished, Jack said he wanted to thank "Our God" (compliments of the Chris Tomlin song) for Dr. Greer. I said, "That's right! He looks at your ears and God told him how to make you feel all better and what kind of medicine you need!". Jack paused for a minute and then stated, "And he taked out his phone. And he pooped."

J and I burst out laughing at the randomness...and then I remembered the iphone and Dr. Greer's app.

That was about 20 minutes ago, and I can hear Jack back in his room still repeating that conversation and laughing. While I thoroughly am enjoying the ability to share a great laugh with my child, I pray that the topic might get a bit more, ahem, civilized in the years to come.

ALIVE

I did some quick calculations the other day (no small feat for one who hasn't slept in several years), and realized that I've had a parasite for 3.5 years. Between being pregnant and nursing, my body hasn't been my own since December 2006...and in case you're wondering, that was a LOOOONG time ago. Now, add to the exhaustion of having another person literally depend on you for their livelihood the fact that the precious parasites seem to have an aversion to (night-time) sleeping and that one of them is a VERY busy 2 year old = I am BEYOND exhausted. Everyday. I gave up on my attempts of coherent thoughts about 2 years ago, but also know that this, too, shall pass...and have even somewhat embraced the fact that I will, at some point every night, unconsciously stumble into the nursery, pick up a screaming baby, and fall back into deep slumber in a glider/rocker/recliner/tasteofheaven for at least 1-2 hours, resulting in an even more tired state the next morning. It's actually quite a nasty cycle of sleep deprivation.

But thanks to my fabulous, thoughtful, self-sacrificing Momma, I got glorious sleep last night: 8 hours uninterrupted! And not only did J and I have a great time with our small group, but I also got to do something this morning that I rarely get to enjoy: ride alone in my car! And while I confess that having a minivan all to myself seems a bit superfluous (a nice little convertible would suit me MUCH better), I love being able to crank up the music, roll down a window or two...and worship. With all I've got. Hillsong United, Highlands worship, the new Passion recording. LOVE it. I had 45 perfect minutes in the car alone on my way to get the babies, and I enjoyed it for all that it was worth.

However, there are 2 fun little aspects of having Jack in the car that I miss when he's not there. Everyday, I play "Name That Tune" and lose. That's right; every time Jack hears a new song, he'll ask about 14 times what the name of the song is while it's playing...and I willingly oblige him, knowing that he will remember it well enough that he'll NEVER have to ask again. And not only that, within hearing about 3 seconds of a learned song, he can tell you not only the title of it, but also what song comes next on the album. It's awesome...and fantastically he does NOT ask for children's music, but is happy with my favorites. Win-win.

The other fun (and occasionally annoying) thing about having Jack in the car is that he has an impeccable sense of direction. Example: last Sunday evening, we went out S. College Street to have dinner at a friend's house who have a little boy named Finn. Everyday since, every time we've gotten on any part of College Street (it's about 10 miles long, and we live at the far North end of it), Jack has accurately pointed in the right direction and said, "Finn's house that way." He can correctly guide us towards the football stadium, church, Pop's house, Gigi's house, school, Winn-Dixie, the lake (Lake Martin!), James' house (280 West to Bham), Tiger Town and TCBY. He can direct you to the neighborhood pool, his buddy JP's house and to Chick-fil-a. One smart cookie.

In conclusion, if I could get at least 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, I think I could take over the world with my productivity...or at least conquer my seemingly unending "to do" list. With a little sleep, I feel productive, sociable, motivated and, well, smarter. Maybe one day...

Beach highlights/camping edict

A couple of weeks ago, we decided rather last-minute-ish to head to Orange Beach for a few nights. J had a conference Sunday - Wednesday, so we thought it would be "fun" to take the boys down on Saturday to spend the day on the beach, camp out that night and then head to the resort on Sunday to spend the night, and then the boys and I would come home on Monday. In the heat of the moment, I seem to have forgotten one VERY important thing we learned at our marriage conference a few months ago: go ahead and call family camping trips what they are: planned disasters that you'll enjoy laughing at (later) for years to come.

I think this trip qualifies.

We weren't even out of town yet, and we realized several things:

1. Two year olds can take Zyrtec (allergies show no mercy).

2. The DMV does NOT send reminders about licenses expiring (don't worry, I discovered Jason's September - LAST September, 8th to be exact - expiration date before the law could get involved.) Jason was the proud winner of a weekend chauffeur (which is code for, "I had to drive all weekend").

3. While Dramamine can be dissolved in juice, you canNOT make a 2-year old drink said juice.

4. It's possible to squeeze a 4-hour car ride into 6.

And a few other highlights:

1. Will hates camping. Either that, or he hates having thrush, which, unbeknownst to me, he had. As the old adage goes, "hindsight is 20/20." Usually to keep him from crying in the night, I just have to nurse him...and every time I tried while camping, he just screamed louder. I took him to the doctor the following Tuesday (I was sure the screaming was due to an ear infection) and was enlightened to the truth...which, of course, explained everything.

2. Be nice to everyone. In one 1-hour period, we helped jump-start a car, lent a diaper, had someone get Jack's fishing pole cut out of the wrapping, and ran into my old supervisor from Surfside Water Park...who lives in California now but happened to be parking at the same public beach access as us - he was there for pictures for his sister's wedding. What are the odds?! Oh, and to make the story even better, his name is Chuck Berry. Seriously. Awesome.

3. Two year olds might refuse to carry their own shoes and sippy cups, but when sand toys and fishing poles are involved, their arms are more than capable and willing.

4. Restaurants serve you faster when you have 2 fussy babies along.

5. Sippy cups dropped from the 5th floor balcony that land in the top of a palm tree CAN be retrieved, provided that you have the proper pool equipment.

6. Given a determined (and exhausted) mommy (and a 2-year old who drank the juice with dramamine), a car ride that took 6 hours 2 days previous can, indeed, be done in 4 hours.

And lessons learned from 2 camping attempts:

I will NOT go camping with my children until they are all over the age of 2, sleeping soundly through the night for at least 1 year, and all in good health. The outside evening temperature must above 55 but below 73, with less than a 40% chance of rain. Having friends along and a cool breeze would be nice, but are negotiable. Neighboring tents (and their dogs) must be a minimum of 50 yards away, and there must be a nearby hotel that is reasonably priced and not at 100% capacity at time of camping attempt.

Shoes

Those of you who know me well know that I have more running shoes in my closet than I have dress shoes/heels/girly shoes...and there's a pretty good chance my number of flip-flops beats out the number of running shoes. And while I am learning (just a few years late) how to be fashionable from head to toe, I've just always preferred function over form. So, to say that Jack comes by it honestly is an understatement! Which explains the following...

The other day, Gigi took our little family out to lunch. While there, she mentioned that she just bought some new tennis shoes. Jack thought about it for a minute, and then informed us that HE needs some new tennis shoes. Knowing that we had just gotten Jack some New Balances a couple of weeks ago, Gigi informed him that he doesn't need new tennis shoes; he has some! Very quickly Jack replied, "These aren't TENNIS shoes, Gigi. They are RUNNIN' shoes. I need tennis shoes." Smart kid...he knows the right tree to bark up to get new things. Ha!

Jack currently has 2 pairs of shoes: his "campin' shoes" (Keen sandals) and his runnin' shoes. If anyone is getting married anytime soon, don't worry - we'll go with the New Balances (they are MUCH nicer). :)

bears repeating (and recording)

So, I posted this on Facebook, but I want it in this reliable keeping place. :)

Saturday morning, Jack pointed and said, "What's that, Mommy?" I responded,"That's called an ottoman, Jack. It's where you can prop your feet up." Jack's response? "Oh, just like a friend."

Dear Jack's friends,

I'm sorry.

Easter Sunday. (not for the weak of stomach)

Jack throws up. A lot. I'd say at least once a month, he's tossing his cookies...no warning, no hints, just all of the sudden here it is. If we're lucky, he's outside or on the hardwood floors. We've learned how to quickly disassemble his carseat, how to get the stink out of the couch, and even been given the tip of having a couple of layers of bottom sheets and mattress protectors to make bedtime hurls easier to clean up. However, I'd say the biggest inconvenience of it all is the "waiting game" for the few hours after each episode to ensure it's just Jack being Jack and not a stomach bug...like the one passing through Auburn the past few weeks.

Well, Easter Sunday rolled around and our church had five identical services for Easter. Adopting the motto, "Attend one, serve one," J and I decided to attend the 8 am and serve the 9:30. We weren't sure exactly what areas we would serve in (SOOO thankful J wasn't in the band all day!), but decided we would just show up, knowing there would probably be holes to fill.

To get to church by 8:00, we knew we had to shoot for leaving the house by 7:30 to hopefully be out by 7:40. Wellllllll, I was feeding Bebe quickly before putting him in his carseat when I heard "the sound" coming from the kitchen. Within 7 seconds, I had thought through the morning and knew J was ready to walk out the door, Bebe was ready to be loaded up, and Jack and I were going to be going NO WHERE, at least for a few hours. J and Will went to the 8 am service and I got to attend the 11:15 with my friend A...we decided not to risk it with Jack, especially since we knew the nursery would be crowded.

We had a wonderful afternoon outside in the back yard as a family - I'm SO thankful for the temperature being in the upper 70s this early in the Spring! Our dog Maddie has been TERRIBLY neglected since we had children, so I know she was happy to have us back there with her.

At 4 pm, there was a baptism service at the church. An incredible guy from our small group had made the decision to be baptized...and what's even more awesomer* is that Brandon, our co-leader of our small group, was the one who got to baptize him! J and I were so excited about being a part of the special service. We knew there wouldn't be nursery provided for it, but also figured it wouldn't be a big deal to keep the kids with us. After that, I was supposed to help with Highland Kids at the 7 pm service, but they had WAY over-staffed that area, so I got to end my day grabbing snowbiz with 2 of the coolest chicks I know - love me some Thomas girls! :)

All in all, I say it was a great day! I wish Jack could keep his food in his tummy, that Will's collar would have laid down better and that J and I could have attended worship together. But I LOVE Jesus. And that even though our church does an incredible job of weekly acknowledging the hugeness of the cross, I love that the world takes a few hours to do so, as well. As my friend Taylor's husband sings, "My God's not dead. He's surely alive! And He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion." So thankful.

*My post = my grammar. :)

EASTER!!

With Christmas, we were SO intentional about talking to Jack about why we were celebrating ...you know, keeping the "Main Thing" the main thing. After talking about it for awhile and conferring with friends who also have young children, we decided it was good to help our kids realize that Christmas is actually one time of the year that's NOT about them. And as a part of that, J and I have decided to be upfront with our children about Santa (Easter Bunny, etc.) not being real, but how it's fun to pretend that they are (my apologies to anyone who is just finding out this truth). :) Following the example of Christ, we want Christmas to be about us giving as a family, and hopefully maybe even be able to do mission trips some during Christmas when the children are a little older.

Anyway, I realized the Tuesday before Easter that we had done NOTHING to introduce Jack to the idea of Easter - which isn't a small task. How do you explain life, death, resurrection and eternal life to a 2-year old? Short answer: for the most part, you don't. However, I also realized that he HAD learned about Easter eggs at school since they were going to have an Easter egg hunt the following Thursday...and we definitely wanted him to know that there was more to it than just eggs and candy! After heading to the local Christian bookstore, I found a couple of little books to help explain it all.

After reading one of them (over and over and over...), Jack is now walking around saying,"What the angel say? Angel say, 'Don't be afraind! (Jack's version of "afraid") Don't cry! Jesus IS ALIVE!'" And he wraps up his monologue with a,"And what Jesus say? Jesus say, 'I LOVE you! Tell E'erbody!'".

Not a bad start to Jack "getting" it, I reckon.

Just needs recording...

There's a chance that no one cares about the following notes except my mom and me, so please feel free to totally skip this post...again, this blog was created so that in 20 years I can remember the (occasionally not-so-)cuteness. :)

Cute:

When Jack started preschool, I'm pretty sure they spent the first day teaching him how to pull his sleeves up (with a possible side-lesson of handwashing). All I know is that since January, all of his long-sleeve shirts have cuffs with ruined elastic in them. Well, shortly after all that started, his Gigi got him some jammies that have a short-sleeved shirt - he LOOOOVES them. And now that it is short-sleeved shirt weather, getting him dressed every morning is going MUCH more smoothly. I guess with all the jumping and running that he does in a 24-hour period, he was probably getting pretty toasty. On a side note, I've decided that I'm going to follow Jack with a video camera for a couple of days and then sell it as a work-out video...I could make millions and rid America of its obesity problem.

Cute:

Speaking of Jack running and jumping, I can tell that Will THINKS he is big like his brother. Today, Jack was playing his drum (thanks SOOO much for the drumsticks, Gigi*) and dancing and singing. Every time he would start singing, Will would start bouncing in my lap and trying to wiggle to get down. And every time Jack stopped (presumably to breathe occasionally?), Will stopped, too. I think it's just a matter of time before Will joins the band, though - he is officially an independent sitter now!

To top it off, we're figuring out that Will can't sit in our lap while we are eating or drinking ANYthing due to his desire to take ownership of our food/drinks...I just don't remember Jack ever doing that. However, I think we are being MUCH more lenient with what we're willing to let him try than we ever were with Jack (example: Will apparently loves Mellow Mushroom...at least their crust!).

(*Anyone interested in a pair of drumsticks with a little bit of life left in them? They are free and available to a good, loving, too-quiet home!)

NOT Cute:

Jack likes to suck on food. Or at least that's the only reason that I can come up with for him NOT swallowing his food. The other night, he chewed (that's not accurate; he stuck inside his lip like it was chewing tobacco!) the same bite of chicken for THREE HOURS.

GROSS. I told him that by that point, he wouldn't even have to chew it to get it to go down! Last night, it started out being a piece of pork chop that sat in his mouth for awhile, but we enticed him into swallowing that by offering him some "salad" (code for Jack getting to dip lettuce in a little dressing, only to have him suck the dressing off and dip the same piece of lettuce back in the dressing). I give up. Thanks to some wise advice from some friends that have gone down this path before us, from now on he WILL be spitting out the food if it stays in his mouth for more than a couple of minutes...control has to be maintained somehow! :) I'm just thankful that he is willing to eat lettuce at all.

Tales from the Schoolyard...

When I picked Jack up from school on Tuesday, Ms. C wanted to know where Jack learned to sucker-punch...turns out he had punched a kid named Drew in his class. And not just an, "oops, my fist must of slipped," but she said he even had his fists up like Rocky, looking for a fight. She assured me that it wasn't out of frustration or anger, but he was having a great time looking for a rousing game of punch-you-in-the-face. I am STILL trying to figure out where he learned to do that; I do not want to be the parent of "THAT kid" in school. We have been teaching him that he is a warrior (for Jesus!) and he and J wrestle every now and then, but never with fists up in the air like that, and we tell him over and over that he ONLY hits daddy. Should I be concerned?!

Oh! And to make the story even worse, turns out the kid he punched was a GIRL (who names a little girl DREW?). Ay carumba.

On a lighter note...all during Spring Break, Jack kept talking about Taylor from school. Wanting to know more about this new bff, I started asking questions (and then remembered that Jack is 2, which means he only asks questions, not answers them). However, I ran across a picture of his class that I took a couple of weeks ago and I asked him to point Taylor out. Without hesitation, he pointed to a precious little girl. Hmm. I decided to ask the obvious. "Jack, is Taylor a girl?" His response (mingled with TONS of giggles): "NO, Mommy! Taylor's a BOY!" After asking several times and getting the same response, I had no choice but to laugh and move on.

Well, when I told Jason about it later, he assured me that Jack's just too young to know the difference between boys and girls...so, I tested him. Jack definitely knows what gender family members belong to (Jason's defense was that he has seen us all naked - ha!). I decided I just had to wait to ask Ms. C when Jack went back to school the next week. Turns out, Jack definitely had been pointing to the right kid in the picture and Taylor IS a girl. Poor Jack. He is standing by his claim that little Miss Taylor is a boy, though. But I can see why he likes her! This morning at his class's little Easter chapel/egg hunt/party, she came right up to him in the sand box, handed him a shovel and scoop and helped him (wordlessly) fill up a dump truck. Jack's kind of girl.

Where does the time go?!

It is UNREAL how fast time seems to fly by sometimes. Growing up, a week seemed like an ETERNITY...and a year, well, no point in even trying to comprehend that. And it's one of those things I guess I've always heard, that time flies by faster the older you get, which makes sense. But I can hear cute little old ladies now, "My, how fast you are growing up!" and it always, and I mean ALWAYS got on my nerves; I dreamed of - but never dared to - responding with a, "What did you expect me to do?".

But here I am. Call me an old lady. But my boys are growing up SO fast! Will turned 6 months old on Wednesday. And I feel like I've totally missed all 6 months of it, even though I've had a front row seat for it. It feels like it was just yesterday he looked like that precious baby to the left. So, I am vowing now to be more intentional every day to soak up his precious little personality, to remember (and take more pictures!) of his perfect little round cheeks and sparkly eyes that are a part of his continuous smile, and to savor his sweet, easy laugh; to not wish away those wee morning hours of falling

asleep with him in my arms in the rocking chair (again); and to perhaps dream less of his independence and mobility (this whole "put-him-down-and-he-stays-where-you-put-him" thing definitely has its benefits). Before I know it, he, too, will be asking if it's Thursday yet(because in Jack's mind, that's the one day that he goes to school), saying, "Let ME do it," and taking off with his besties Leland and Livi (his 2 best new friends who were born this past month!) as soon as we hit the church door, like Jack loves to do with Cameran and Jaylen.

And while he's a *little* irritable with teething (still waiting on the first one, but we're hopeful), and frustrated when he's sitting up but has a hard time remembering how to stay that

way, I remind myself that this, too, shall pass. And quite honestly, I wouldn't trade a day of it for anything.