S'More

Camping has been postponed for yet another week due to the looming thunderclouds and the severe thunderstorm warnings :( We did not postpone the S'mores though. Elijah loved them! (Lyddie was already in bed).

Just Tired Out!

We moved the kids in the same room after they were together at the beach since I figured we had suffered through the worst of it. It is s-l-o-w-l-y getting better but they are still up at the crack of dawn and only napping about 30-45 minutes the whole day. I am hoping eventually they will tire out and just sleep. They were lousy sleepers before we moved them in together but now lousy has turned into HORRIBLE! We need them in the same room to make way for baby.

I feel like my whole life has become a quest for sleep and more sleep. I am exhausted and depressed. I am hormonal from the pregnancy, angry that my one and two year old won't sleep, frustrated from dealing with children who are tired and cranky and angry that I am pregnant and will have to go through sleepless nights again with another baby. I haven't bonded with this baby or pregnancy yet--I know it is a blessing from God and that it is the perfect plan for our family but another year of sleepless nights just makes me want to cry. I hate the negativity I feel all the time. I am sure my friends are tired of hearing me say I am tired. I am sure my husband is tired of hearing me say I am tired and having me go to bed at 9pm and scrape myself up every morning. I know I am tired of it.

Please keep us in your prayers. I just want to be able to put the children down for the evening and expect them to sleep until the morning. I want to know if I go to bed at 9pm that I won't have to wake up before 5am with the children. I just want to sleep in big chunks and not feel like I need a nap every second of every day. I want to have energy to play more with the kids and ENJOY the kids instead of secretly hating this time and screaming at them inside my head to stop whining and just sleep.

Sorry for the negativity. Rant over!

Elijah's Wish List

Elijah is being pretty specific this year about his birthday. I thought I would keep a running list on the blog for anyone who might want to get him "exactly" what he wants. Of course he knows surprises are to be expected so feel free to deviate :) Check out the sidebar for his current "wishes."

Happy Memorial Day!

We had a great time at "Granny's NEW beach house" as EJ calls it. We slept on mattresses on the floor, the kids shared a room (and managed NOT to sleep) and worked in a beach trip and a pool trip and a trip to the aquarium. I didn't get pics from the aquarium or the pool but I did snap some cute ones from the beach. We also ate TONS of shrimp nuggets (popcorn shrimp) and I had a HEAPING helping of liver and onions with double collards at my favorite beach restaurant Cox's--delish and wonderful for my anemia!

I don't know how to zoom in on his face other than just clicking on the picture. I don't have any photo editing software so I can't do it for you. Click on this one though to see his THRILLED face. This boy was happy! The hole and the mountain.

"What sand?"

Diggin with grampy

EJ was a bit hesistant of the beach at first. He didn't remember the waves being that loud and there were a lot of people. He was also really tired so he wasn't at the top of his game. He did warm up to it though and I managed to lure him close to the water with a huge hole with fish in it that some other kids had dug. They left and the hole was claimed! Lyddie needed no prompting. She set off running as soon as she saw it and was squealing and laughing and having a ball until a wave knocked her down. Then she retreated to the sand and the hole with water and had a blast spashing around.

Both kids did great in the pool. Lyddie went under several times. Elijah figured out how to go under again and hold his breath a really long time. I was impressed.

Here's the video we took of him going under to show daddy.

The aquarium was also a hit until a meltdown at the end. We got a great picture of the kids--Elijah is riding on a hammerhead shark chasing Lydia on a "stinger ray." As soon as I can I will scan it in to the computer and put it up as my header--its great. Poor Lydia kept calling all of the fish "ducks." No amount of signing and talking to her could convince her otherwise. We just hope she grows up to be a cutie and finds the man God has destined for her--she's not the brightest bulb in the pack :) [This is coming from a girl who kept calling the Chick-Fil-A cow a dog on Thursday night and who saw bunnies and cats on our walk and also called them dogs. She then proceeded to bark at them as if to convice us they really were dogs]

All in all a great trip. Elijah wanted to move Lydia into the "Big Kid" room. Since we're already 3 days into the sleeping together thing we did it today. So far we've gone up there about 10 times to get them to be quiet. I am hoping it will improve soon!! We need them in the same room to make room for Baby Denton #3 anyway so it will be nice to have that done and out of the way.

Camping

We didn't get to go camping last weekend because of the weather so I broke out the tent today for some play and a picnic lunch. I don't know if you can tell, but the kids had a blast.

Teething

What do you do with a teething baby?

What do you do with a teething baby?

What do you do with a teething baby early in the evening?

Stick her in the mai-tai 'til she hushes.

Stick her in the mai-tai 'til she hushes.

Stick her in the mai-tai 'til she hushes.

Then you make the dinner!

Not ME Monday

Whew what a week its been. I am posting in the "not me" frame of mind again--its kinda fun. I won't do it every Monday but every once in a while its nice.

This week was a busy one. I most definately didn't lift four 50-lb bags of pebble rocks and ten 15-lb pavers out of the back of my car on Wednesday. No--that would have been silly! That is a job for a husband to do, not a pregnant lady. I also didn't give my two year old safety scissors and let him cut some of the grass down around his sandbox because I didn't know how to work the weed-eater. Nope, not me! And I didn't leave my one year old in the swing while we put down landscape cloth and pebble rocks and pavers around the sandbox and picnic table. Nope--little feet running around and getting in the way make all of my projects more enjoyable. I find its much harder to listen to her whine about being in the swing.

I also didn't ignore the horrible state of my bathrooms in favor of watching reruns on TV, blogging, sewing and just about anything else. Nope--bathrooms are TOP of my priority list. I also didn't let my two year old practice pouring stuff by handing him the puffs and telling him to pour his sister some on the carpet. My kids never eat off the floor--that would just be gross.

In an act of desperation I didn't let my kids play with dried beans and pots and pans and then laugh when my hubby came home and stepped on a dried bean on the floor. Nope-I would never laugh at someone's pain like that. I also didn't let Elijah wash EVERY vegetable in the house just to keep him busy while I chopped up stuff to make our dinner. He didn't eat naked either--I just left him to shiver in those wet clothes rather than walking upstairs to get him a fresh pair.

Finally--I dind't inwardly breathe a huge sigh of relief when we found out baby Denton was a singlet. Children are a blessing from the Lord and twins would have been GREAT! I don't ever want to sleep again!

What didn't you do this week?

Square Eyes

Hmmmm--4:30 is too early to wak up but that is when the munchies got me out of bed. After settling them back down I was awakened by Justin's alarm at 5:30 and 5:40 and 5:50 . . . , then Elijah at 6am having to pee.

Thank goodness for Tigger and Pooh and bowls full of Kix! They've been sitting there 15 minutes--long enough to pack EJ's lunch, make coffee, drink coffee, FB, email and update the blog. Oh yeah--15 minutes of PEACE!

Garden time!

Mmm--teething on the clothesline

We're a bit late getting it in the ground but better late than never! We planted our tomatoes, peppers, jalepenos and potatoes today. We'll plant our squash, zucchinis, bush beans and cucumbers next week after the seeds have sprouted. We lost almost the entire pea crop to a squirrel digging up the seeds so we can't direct sew the squash and zucchini and beans and cucumbers like we normally do. The kids has a blast this morning helping with the garden and they were absolutely filthy. We thought we'd done a good job tiring them out but we were wrong! Naps were only about 30 minutes today so, in addition to being tired from staying late at Grandmama's house last night and getting up at the crack of dawn like normal, the kids were tantrumy zombies. It seems they have finally settled down. What long day it was!

Baby Denton #3

We got to "meet" baby Denton #3--aka Delmar--this morning at the OB. We are going with a traditional hospital birth this time so it is completely uncharted territory for us at this point. The doctor was nice though we could really tell he was biting his toungue about the homebirths. His nurse is great too and it was neat that she knew Justin from Boy Scouts in High school.

We had an ultrasound to nail down the due date--January 3rd, not the 1st! That is good news to us. We were a little disappointed with the due date being so close to Christmas. Since I tend to go late this means that the birthday could be even more into January which would be great. It also means I probably will NOT stay up until midnight on New Years and NOT have to spend Christmas in a hospital. Both very good things :)

There is also only one baby in there--so many people were teasing us about our "accident" and said that God probably would give us twins. I think the concept is nice but the reality is WAY MORE than I want to handle. I means I havne't slept more than three nights in a row since ELIJAH was born. If I had twins I don't think I would get to sleep until I turned 40!

Anyway--Delmar was doing great. Laying on his/her side and just chilling. We saw the nuchal cord, the heartbeat (115) and a little arm bud. Not much to look at now. It will be interesting to actually get an ultrasound when Delmar looks like a real baby around 20 weeks. That's something we missed out on with the other two. I am excited. We're still not sure if we want to know what were having. I want a surprise but since everything else about this pregnancy is different we might just go ahead and find out. At least then I will know what to pull from the attic :) I just worry about another horrible labor--honestly the wanting to know who was in me kept me going during Lyddie's labor--if I find out what will I push for?

Ripe?

Elijah asked me:
"When's that baby in your tummy gonna be ripe so God can pick it out of there?"

Yum!

We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday at lunch and had a good time. We ate al fresco and the kids got me portulaca for the bird bath that I use as a plantar out front. It should be beautiful by the end of the summer draping over the side--Elijah got me pink and Lyddie got me yellow.

As much as I like the flowers I think my parents got me the best gift--it is a sign for the playroom that says "No Whining!" Too perfect. Didn't work today though--I guess the kids are too young to read it :)

Tonight the kids were driving me bonkers. Elijah had lost all TV privelages because of his attitude so he couldn't watch TV at all this afternoon or evening. (He normally gets 30 minutes). I needed to make dinner and between throwing up and kids whining it wasn't getting done. (I think it must be another boy :) ) Anyway--I got out the dried beans and pots and spoons and set the kids down in the middle of the kitchen where I could keep an eye on them and they had a blast "cooking" beans. Note to self--the black beans were much easier to find and pick up than the floor colored garbonzo beans. Yes Lyddie is eating a bean--I figured the worst it would do is make her gassy-she is eating everything these days.

After dinner--both kids ate really well--we tried out our new "push pops." These are reusable plastic thingys that you fill with ice cream or sherbet or yogurt and freeze. They work just like a push up. They were a big hit! I think the picture of Lyddie could be used on their website--she was holding it perfectly!

My Angels

After a VERY long week I finally got my little girl back. She has replaced the constantly whiny, not hungry, overly tired grouch-nugget that stayed with us this week. Pnumonia is the pits!

Here's my little boy--who has been spectactular during Lyddie's illness. He hasn't been overly demanding or horrible at night or anything. Very nice :) He's sporting a shirt I painted for him last night. It is a gray shirt grampy got him and he begged me to paint "stickyfingers" on it so he could wear it to preschool. Aparantly plain shirts are out! He loved it and I was happy with how it turned out. T-shirt is a really hard medium to paint on.

Here's a video of my sweetie reading and saying peek-a-boo and ball. Ball is her bew favorite word and she calls EVERYTHING a ball. Justin was telling me last night that he read an article about mothers who had nausea during their pregnancies tended to have smarter babies. With EJ I was sick the whole 9 months and threw up everyday, with Lydia I wasn't nauseous at all. Looks like we'll have a genius and a moron :) At least she'll be a cute moron :)

And for those of you who don't Facebook--

BABY DENTON 3# is on the way!!

It will be a very Happy New Year's Day if this one arrives on time.

Bee Butts and Panties

This afternoon, after his nap, Elijah and I headed outside to enjoy our popsicles. While we were eating and he was swinging we started talking. I was treated to one of Elijah's magnificient monologues.

"Mommy--we gots lots of clover in our yard. It sure is beautiful. Clover is my favorite flower. It's white and it is hard to see sometimes but it is beautiful and it smells good. It smells like bee butt honey."

I told him my favorites were the peonies in the yard (he already knows this because his daddy told him not to mess with them or tear them up). I went to go and smell them--seriously--have you ever smelled those things???? Luscious!! We were picking strawberries and Elijah looked up at me and said:

"Mommy--do your panties smell good? I am going to smell your panties."

I'm really glad he ran over to the PEONIES and sniffed them and didn't head over to me and sniff my panties. Hey--at least I showered today--but this is the tactful little boy who told me at nap time that my breath smelled like poo-poo (it smelled like onions).

I love this boy and the funny stuff he says.

Not Me Monday (er Tuesday)

Yesterday was not a bad day--nope--I really enjoy changing clothes three times and washing 5 loads of barfy laundry. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something during the day. And I most definately did not simply use wet wipes to wipe down my barfy one year old and super-poopy two year old instead of giving them baths because I was too tired. Nope, not me! I didn't let my two year old watch TV just because I was too tired to watch him jump around on the couch and want to wrestle. Nope--I would never do a thing like that.

I also didn't head out to Target in barfy shorts, with legs that hadn't been shaved since Thursday and hair that hadn't been washed since Friday to fill my baby's prescription for antibiotics to treat her pnumonia. Nope--not me! I also didn't get asked on two dates, by two different guys. Nope--and I didn't secretly enjoy the satisfaction of getting hit on-- I am a married woman! And I didn't rush home and ask my hubby if I had my underwear showing or bra straps showing or hole in my pants or a big sign that said "Ask me on a date!" taped to my back because I am WAY too secure and I get asked out all the time by random men in the Target. And I really didn't like it when my husband said to me "Baby-you look hot no matter what. You're a great wife and mom." Nope-I didn't like that one bit.

No--Monday wasn't a bad Monday at all and I most certainly didn't go to bed at 9pm instead of updating the blog--I would never do that!


<------ My charming Kids blog had a "Not me" Monday challenge--check it out!!

We're still alive . . . .

. . . just tired! Lyddie cought a stomach bug and is throwing up and staying awake all night long. Couple that with a little boy who has a "boogery" nose that is waking him up, a night time accident and you have two nights with less than two hours of sleep for Mama. Hello Java!!!

Friday night was great though and I spent all day Friday cleaning outside and inside while my hubby recuperated from a little outpatient procedure. The kids were with my in-laws and my parents so I had a HUGE block of kid-free time. It is kinda nice because I think he actually is starting to realize how much I do. Up until now he hasn't really ever been around when I clean house or do chores (apart from folding laundry or cleaning up the kitchen after dinner). I don't think he realized that to get the pollen off the porch involved me taking everything off the porch, washing it all, washing down the screens and the floors, vacuuming, cleaning the freezer with spray and wipes and . . . It took over 2 hours to do it all and it looks fabulous. We've eaten out there there three times already. Lovely! Then there is the housecleaning and scrubbing and all of that. Nothing too deep but a good cleaning takes about 3 hours without the kids around. When they are here is is more like ALL DAY to clean. I think he is catching on! That does make me feel move valued and validated as a wife to have that work appreciated.

Saturday my parents took EJ to breakfast with spiderman. He wore his Spidey shirt, underpants and sandals. He was VERY excited and had a great time from what I hear.