Sorry To My Teacher Friends

Dear Summer,

I am OVER you at the moment. I had a friend that always said that company that stays past 3 days starts to stink. Well, the stench of summer has spread to the boys, and they are ripe - let me tell you. Spending this much time together has lead to more fights and grumpiness in the last few weeks to last me for a while.

Don't get me wrong - I have loved summer, for the most part. I love the lazy days filled with whatever we wanted to do (or didn't do). I have loved vacations, swimming, pajama days, etc. I used to not understand why moms were all like, "Yes, summer is here!!" until I had a kiddo who had to be somewhere every morning at 8am. Then, I was one of those, "Yes, summer is here!" moms. Now, I am a bit over it and crave a few hours ALONE each week. Sue me...

We really have had a great time this summer. The boys are finally to a stage where travel is easy. Whew! That took long enough. When one got the easy stage, then we had another one that was at a point where napping was crucial to making it through the day. Now, they can all last the day without a nap. It isn't pretty all the time, but they can hang. It is a glorious thing.

We went to the mountains with friends and had a great time. Eight adults, 10 kids in one cabin sounded a bit chaotic - I'm not even gonna lie. And then we got there. It was great!! Everyone had a playmate or 2 or 8, the kids wore themselves out and went to bed, and the adults got to all gather at the end of the evening and have adult beverages and conversation. I had almost forgotten what that was like!!!!

We hiked, played in cold mountain streams, went to Dollywood, went to caves, and just enjoyed being away from routine. Our little clan got away again a few weeks ago and headed south to the beach. I didn't even take any pictures with my real camera, but it was so much fun.

Like I said, we have had a really great summer. Schools start back here this week, but the boys don't go back until the 17th at their school. That seems really FAR right now. I'm really not looking forward to being out the door by 7:45 each morning, but the thought of a few hours of quiet sure is tempting. And can I just say that I think 8 hour school days for a 2 1/2 year old sound wonderful. Can I get an Amen from anyone else out there? I mean, wowzers, he sure is a cute one, but that little one is a HANDFUL. And only his Mama will do for almost everything, so there isn't a lot of downtime when he is awake. On vacation, he slept with us, and one morning he woke up, put his hands on my face, and said, "I lub you so much. You're da best mommy ebber." Well, I would have bought him a pony if he had asked right then. And then about 30 minutes later when he slugged his brother, I came back to reality.

Many of you have asked about the adoption process and how that's going. Well, we are trucking along. We are done with our home study, and it is being written. It should be finished in a few weeks, and then it can be submitted to the state for approval. What that means is that the matching process will begin soon!!!! Yay!! We can ask about specific children to see if they match what it is we have specified we would like to have. I sent a list in a few days ago of children that had caught my eye. The list looked like a United Nations poster :) All races, all ages, boys & girls, siblings, and anything in between. Y'all, I will be honest - the hardest part is yet to come. Once we are matched with a potential child who matches our family, Jason and I will have to meet them. For the older kids, they know exactly what is happening, that basically they are being interviewed for a family. This makes my gut knot up just thinking about it. How nerve racking must that be for them? I cannot even begin to imagine. And to be clear, we are looking at older kids, mostly teens, but we have said we would consider siblings. We still need lots of prayers as we continue this process. I'm not anxious about the timeline of things because I have faith it is all working out exactly as it should. My prayers are for the child God has for us that they not become discouraged or anxious - that indeed, there is a family out there that will love them soon!! So there. That's the adoption update.

And now back to regularly scheduled programming: Did I mention I'm ready for school to start? Hmmm, I think I might have. We went to buy school shoes today, had lunch at Moe's (a favorite of the boys), and then I took them to Monkey Joes and Dairy Queen for dinner (for all you health nuts, just hush - I realize this wasn't my shining moment in nutrition). We are trying to survive up in here. A little older lady in Dairy Queen - and can I just say it was like the people of Wal-mart, Dairy Queen edition tonight - sat down and just started chatting. Of course, the first thing she said is "Wow, 3 boys." People always say that. Almost as if I had no idea I birthed 3 boys. I promise, given the number of times a day I have to tell someone to stop touching their penis, I am well aware I gave birth to boys. It's just funny to me that that is always the first thing people say. I say God knew full well what He was doing to give me boys. I can collect bugs and play in the dirt with the best of them. Don't get me wrong, there was a bit of mourning when I found out Tucker was a boy. I was at the high risk OB/GYN (because I'm old) to get the gender ultrasound. I couldn't even hide tears when she happily said "boy", and I felt horrible because all those women were there because they were truly high risk, possibly having real anomalies with their babies and I'm in the bathroom sobbing because my baby had a penis. I can no say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am so much better suited for boys. Girls would be so fun to dress, but we would have some serious headbutts with the attitudes. And now I'm rambling...I've been away from the blog for far too long.

I have had a ton of people asking about how things are, so I thought I'd update. Continue to say some prayers for us! We appreciate all of them!

Jekyll and Hyde

Can I just take a moment to whine for the tiniest little bit? No? Whatever. My blog, my rules - I do what I want (insert Eric Cartman voice) - I'm a rebel that way. Am I the only Mama on the planet that feels like a completely different version of myself at the end of the day? Not every day, mind you - today was a wonderful exception - but many days. Still don't know what I'm talking about?

Morning moms: You awaken with a smile and greet the kiddos with a hug and kiss when you see them.
Evening moms: You can barely contain your excitement as you shut their doors at bedtime because you (hopefully) don't see their little faces until the next morning.

Morning moms: Prepare breakfast thinking about what they would like to eat. Or get even crazier by making heart shaped pancakes because you know they will think that's cute (yep, did that one last weekend).
Evening moms: Contemplate just giving them Benadryl for dinner to hurry along the bedtime routine.

Morning moms: Make up silly songs about the day the fun they will have that day.
Evening moms: Bash your head against the wall because it is bedtime and they are STILL singing that stupid song...

Morning moms: Shower
Evening moms: Even though you got a shower, you are so sweaty and stinky from chasing kids, wiping noses, changing diapers, cleaning off food you need another but are too tired to even care. Hey, the sheets need to be washed anyway, right?

Morning moms: Meal plan
Evening moms: Why do these little people need to eat EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT?????

Morning moms: Dr. Jekyll
Evening moms: Mr. Hyde

You get the drift? Can I get an Amen? Surely I am not alone in this. So many days, the day begins with such hope and promise and ends with mom guilt because all I want to do is escape these tiny little people. I am constantly reminded that His mercies are new every morning. That's a good thing because if I woke each morning as "evening mom" the Department of Family and Children's Services would be called in to evaluate.

Every once in a while, you get a glimmer of hope as I did today. I had to take all 3 children - yes, all 3 - to the dentist (yes, I did say dentist) while myself and the oldest got cleanings. I was prepared for Threat Level "Surely There will be a Terror Strike" or whatever color the high warning is. Lo and behold, they were angels for the most part. And at 5, 3, and 22 months the "for the most part" is equal to well behaved - let's be realistic. We got home, homework was done without whining, they played, got baths and stories with ease. I got muffins made for the morning, checked a few things off the to do list, and unloaded the dishwasher. Of course, this might mean that the world will end tonight, but even if it does I can go to bed assured that on the final day my kids got "morning mom" all day. Miracles do happen.

Don't Use the Chapstick

Ever had one of those days when you feel like you've conquered the world? Nah, me either :) For me these days I feel like a winner when dinner is over, kids are bathed and in bed, and I can sit and breathe for a minute. And get sucked into doing productive things like pinning recipes I don't have time most days to try, Facebooking for an hour, or doing exactly what I am doing right now - blogging - ha!

I was talking with a friend the other day about going out with only two of my children versus all three, and she (who is also a mom of 3) agreed that it was a glorious occasion. One kid? Fuhgiddaboutit. Piece. Of. Cake. I wondered aloud that if we would think it was glorious to leave the house with only 3 children if we were moms of 4, and we both came to the conclusion that, indeed, it would. It is totally relative. And, for the record, I'm not talking about a trip to the park where they are all running around anyway. I mean somewhere like - I shudder to think - the grocery store. Let me set the scene. The other day, I had to pick up something from the grocery store for dinner. Sooo...after naps (which only one of my children now takes - whole other story) we ventured to Publix. Now, Publix is a big dang deal because it just opened on the island. Publix has the cute car carts for the kids - which hold two children. I-have-three. I'm sorry, but someone has to use those two little legs that never otherwise want to sit. Connor, who will proudly tell you he's still two, volunteered to walk. Tucker was steering the wheel like a Nascar driver, Jake was pretending to blow the horn, and Connor trudged along behind touching every single thing in sight. Two aisles in, I wanted to cry. I had told Jake to ignore Tucker touching his horn about 20 times, I had moved Tucker over back to his side at least that many times, and I had told Connor to stop touching things and watch where he was going - infinity. I feared walking too closely to the wine section in case those twist off tops became too hard to resist. Now, give me only two of the children and it's like a Disney movie where the birds are singing and the Oscar winning song is playing.

Boys equal noise. This house is always noisy. I know that one day I will miss the noise - of this I am certain. Right now, the hum of the computer sounds divine. Someone is always crying. If you have tried to talk to me in the last, oh say 4 years, you would know I speak the truth. Whether it's the tower someone else knocked over, someone flushed to toilet first, or a true injury someone is almost always crying or arguing over something. We have also now entered the days of poo talk. I had received one of those update emails about what is normal for your child. It detailed this behavior about how the kids use potty words and think it's funny. "Whew! At least that's not happening" thought naïve little me. Kid you not, several day later, I hear Jake tell Connor something about being a poop head. We've had the "we don't say that, it's not nice" talk a million times. Doesn't work - just so ya know. If anyone has any magic cures, pass them my way. I'm sure it will pass, so I really try not to focus on it too much other than to remind them it isn't nice.

Tonight, at dinner they started talking about chapped lips. Jake said he needed Chapstick, and Connor told him to put some on his nose. They giggled and started a whole conversation between the two of them about where Chapstick doesn't go. It ended with Jake saying, "Chapstick doesn't go on your penis." Indeed, son, it does not. I'm glad we cleared that up.

Having said all that, little boys are the absolute best. They do love their mama something fierce. They fight often, but I secretly love the little squabbles over who gets to sit with Mommy. They often run in with some weed that has a flower for me or draw me a pretty picture (they always make me skinny). Tonight, they ran back in after their Daddy gave them a bath to give me "one more hug and kiss". Even with all the noise, I think I'll keep 'em. Now, excuse me while I go saw off the end of my Chapstick - just in case.

Ring It In Right

Well, if ringing it in "right" means to you what it does to me, we'll all be fast asleep by about 10 and never know when the ball drops. I am old - it is now official. I have often said that no matter what time I choose to go to bed, my children will still be up bright and early at 6ish. And EVERY.SINGLE. DAY. they want to be fed. The nerve...

I finally uploaded all the pictures from December, and we have packed in a ton of activity in one little month. Of course, the month started like this:

Eat. him. up. He is the sweetest little man, and my heart hurts a little at the fact that tomorrow he will be a year old. Just yesterday it seems like I was waking Jason up to tell him I thought that New Year's Day was going to be "the day." He is waving and saying "bye, bye," trying to mimic any sound you make, crawling like crazy, and he just started standing alone for a few seconds. Before you know it, he will be running after his brothers. Be still my heart (and the clock).

We got to go to Washington, GA while my brother and his family were in town. It was great to see everyone. They live in Kansas, and the last time we saw them our oldest kiddos were just over a year old - it's been a while. We packed it up and headed to my mom's. Of course, my children (well, one larger child in particular) decided this would be a great day to act like a total heathen. I mean, really. When we got in the car to come home one of the first things he said was, "Mommy, I made some bad decisions today." Ya think, son? We did try to get a picture of them all. Two four year olds and two two year olds doesn't exactly scream "great photo op", but we did get one with all of them in it.

We even got to see sweet Lorelei



I love this pic because she is making Tucker laugh.
 

On of the first orders of business for December was Christmas lights and Christmas music. I promptly found the 24 hour Christmas music radio station and left it there. It drove Jason crazy. The boys and I loved it. They didn't remember any of the songs from last year, so they had to relearn all the songs. After a while, it was like playing "Name That Tune" because they would see who could name the song the fastest. "Why, Connor, I can name that tune in 3 notes." Or something like that. Some of you younger ones will have no idea what I am even talking about with that reference. On multiple nights, we ate dinner, got baths, put on jammies, and loaded up to go look at lights. It is one of my favorite things to do with the boys. And let me say that my boys are completely spoiled with lights. If they don't "dance" they are sub-par. And by "dance" I mean that you drive up, tune into a particular station, and watch as a light show coordinated to music unfolds. There are multiples ones all around Savannah. I was, hmmm, 35 before I saw one. Regular old lights just don't cut it for my cutthroat critics :)

We had Christmas parties galore. Jake and his class sang "I Get the Wiggles in the Winter." Yes, it was as cute as it sounds. I also came to school to watch the building of gingerbread houses.



Concentration

The finished masterpiece

Someone ate his fair share of the toppings



Reindeer cupcakes for the class

Connor did great at his program, too. They told the Christmas story and sang songs.

Okay, so I must vent for a second because, as you know, no post is complete without a little venting.
The program consisted of a group of 1-4 year olds which is always super cute. They had all the parents in the sanctuary of the church then they brought the kids in to do the program. Jason was working, and I had both of the other boys with me. So they bring the kids in, do the program, and then they released them to come sit with their parents. So far, so good. THEN, they stand up and announce that there will be cookies AND Santa. Now that the kids are all geeked up they announce they they have a few words from the preschool committee person. Are you freaking kidding me?? I have all 3 children with me by myself, they have heard the words cookies and Santa, plus an almost one year old who has had enough of sitting and you want us to listen to someone give a speech? Um, no. I just got up and walked out with my children in tow with about 3 other parents. Wouldn't it have been a little more helpful to let the preschool committee person talk while you have a roomful of parents and no 1-4 year olds? Then we go to the party and they had fruit and cheese on a large table. Perfect. The kids will eat that even when cookies are present. Connor asked me for cheese, and so I noticed 2 kinds of cheese cubes. Cheddar/Monterey Jack blend and - wait for it- pepper jack. Because nothing screams preschool party like pepper jack. After all the extra sugar gives them diarrhea, let's set their behinds on fire with peppers. I cannot make this up.

Christmas was a wonderfully, happy time this year. We sprinkled reindeer food, baked cookies for
Santa, and tracked his arrival. Seeing the anticipation was wonderful. The boys helped make Christmas Eve dinner and we made Jesus (and Grandad who was visiting) a birthday cake. I know that as the boys grow I will long for these Christmases where there was such magic in the day.

Connor said, "Santa's gonna LOVE this house." 

They made cards for Santa and the reindeer

Santa piles - and no, he does not wrap at our house. Out of boxes, batteries ready, plastic doohickies cut, ready to go

Reindeer tracks on the porch

Jake with his new camera telling Connor to hold up his sword and say "cheese"

I'm not going out tonight or even staying up to ring in the New Year, but I am going to bed tonight with a very thankful, happy heart. We have been blessed this year with a whole lotta love, a wonderful family, and healthy babies. There's nothing more "right" than being thankful for all of that. Much love and happy New Year to you all!!



Baffling Things - Part 1

This is one of those old rant type posts I haven't shared in a while. Every once in while I have to pull the old Akisha out of the corner :) When thinking about names for this post "Things that make you say WTH" and "Things that Annoy the *(&^ out of me" were among the top contenders. I decided to go with the above title because I decided some of these don't annoy me so much as just plain baffle me. Some annoy the &^% out of me - just for the record. I'm sure I will be able to add to this list in the months to come, hence the Part 1 part of the title. So here are a few for the night of things that baffle me:

1) Starbucks: Okay, so I get the occasional trip if you really like a certain coffee drink they have. What I cannot comprehend are the people who stop there on a regular basis - like every other day. Do you realize how much money you are flushing down the drain??? May I introduce you to Mr. Coffee. He can brew a perfectly fine cup of coffee that you do not have to pay an outrageous price to drink. And let's face it, their coffee isn't really that good anyway. I just don't get you once a day Starbucks people. Try and explain all you want, I'm still not buyin it.

2) Expensive Children's Clothing: I get having a cute outfit or two that may cost more money. However, if you have closets filled with expensive clothing that you are afraid to let your children play in, you need an intervention. And can I just say that for those of you with girls I don't understand Matilda Jane. I mean, some of it is cute, but most looks like Grandma drank a few too many toddies before she got to the sewing machine. For reals... Tar-Jzhay is good enough for the kiddos when it comes to clothing that they will wear for such a short time anyway. There will be a time when my children care about what they wear, and when they do we will spend more if we can on certain items. Until then, I have better things to spend money on - like clothing for me (although you'll probably see me in yoga pants or shorts and a t-shirt).

3) People Who Pronounce the "L" in Salmon: It is silent, people. You pronouncing the L only makes you look dumb. There, I said it.

4) The "Hide Post" Option on Facebook: The only reason this option exists is 1) someone's posts are annoying and you don't want to delete them for fear of hurting their feelings/potential awkward situation or 2) you want to not look at the annoying posts but want the option of selective stalking their page on your terms. My take - put on your big girl panties and hit delete. Chances are, if someone's posts annoy you to the point you don't want to see them, they ain't your best friend, people. We aren't 12, so even if they did notice why not just be honest and say they annoyed the snot out of you with their 327 recipe reposts daily?

5) The Crazy Need to Monogram Everything: I am a Southern girl, and I do love a good monogrammed item or two. But everything I own? Not.Gonna.Do.It. Seriously ladies, the cars have to stop. I already know my name, and at almost 37, I do not need any monogrammed articles of clothing. Accessories, okay (for example: jewelry, scarves) but shirts - no. Just stop.

In a totally unrelated note: Tonight, my oldest child is now obsessed with rhyming. He doesn't care if they actually are real words or not. He just likes to rhyme. Tonight he chose corn. My rhyming word was born. He picked porn. I tried to steer him to other words, and he kept coming back to that one. He doesn't know that word -for the record.

So, there you have it - the first list of things that baffle me. I'm sure there will be more. You're probably gripping your seat in anticipation, right? Haha. I see a lot of Starbucks gift cards and monogrammed items for Christmas coming my way. I have twisted friends that way.

It Ain't for the Faint of Heart

Goodness gracious! Snails, shells, and puppy dog tails, they said. What about snot, superheroes, and "more whiney than not"? We have been deep in the parenting trenches up in here! In some ways I jest, but seriously it has been a battle of wills more often than not at the Lowe house. Life is BUSY right now, and I know those of you with older children are shaking your heads. Trust me, I know it only gets busier from here on out. We talked about letting Jake play soccer. He really hasn't expressed interest in soccer, so I am fine with not rushing around on another afternoon right now. There will be a time - just not right now. The poor little man has been worn out every day from preschool. We are officially in real preschool now, and he loves it!

So far, so good. He can tell you how to write Aa, Bb, and this week we are working on Cc. Of course, Connor can also now tell you how to draw an A because he heard Jake say it once. It's 2 for the price of 1 preschool. Which is good - 'cause preschool ain't cheap, my friend.

We had Labor Day to hang out as a family, and we went to Oatland Island where it was "surface of the sun" hot that day. Needless to say, we weren't there long.

I could eat this child up!

All the boys

Seriously? How cute is he???

Oatland Island has miles of trails with animal exhibits along the way. There are gators, a cougar, bobcats, deer, bison, etc. They also have a barnyard. We were feeding the cow hay when Connor stepped to the side and said, "Look, it's a baby crocodile." Said crocodile was a pile of cow poo. See exhibit A:

Exhibit A

Now, to his credit, I can see where he got that idea. Jason assured him it was cow poop. Jake kept asking where the baby crocodile was, Jason said no crocodile, Connor argued it was "right dere" pointing to exhibit A, and repeat - over and over.

We had to get some shots of this on Labor Day, too:

Where does time go? He was just born, and now he is over 20 lbs of sweetness. Jason just said tonight that Tucker was milking this "I'm the baby" thing for its full potential. If he's smart, he will.

And then Connor started school two days a week. We had to get a picture for their cubby at school, so I thought I'd get a recent picture. This is what you get when you ask Connor to smile. Hot mess...

 I just printed out the last one and called it good. That boy is something. And here he is on the first morning. I have included a few "outtakes."

Wild hair and bruises in all their glory. We are in the throws of the terrible two's and they are quite terrible. Jake was MUCH worse at 3, and I think if Connor is worse at three he might need a new home for a while. I wish I had taken a picture of each boy's room before this post. Jake's room is cutely decorated with pictures, blinds down, access to the closet and bathroom, etc. Connor has a mattress on the floor because it was too high with rails. Period. That is it. He managed to tear down a picture I had above the bed, so it has been gone a long time, the blinds are up, the dresser that was once in there is gone because he wouldn't stop climbing on it, and there are locks on the closet and gates on the bathroom door. I had to raise the blinds even higher because he climbs in his window sill to stand. Last night, I found him asleep on his bed, naked with all the stuff on the bed strewn around the room. He was probably in the window giving passersby a show after he got all his clothes off. I dressed him while giggling and tucked him in to bed.

He knows no fear, and it terrifies me. On the other hand, he is the sweetest thing ever. He tells me he loves me 100 times a day. He is inquisitive and asks intelligent questions about everything. Yesterday, at the PACK event at church, he stood patiently and helped me put peanut butter and crackers in bags over and over while his brother ran around playing. He was content to help. But, man oh, man, does he test our patience these days.

The hubs and I celebrated his birthday and had a great time. Love this man, and I am thankful that he is such a great Daddy to these boys of ours.

Speaking of those boys of ours again, their "boyness" really is an innate quality. The love of superheroes that they have never actually seen in action, the play fighting, etc. It just comes from within. Jake came in yesterday singing, "Go, go Power Rangers." He has never even caught a glimpse of Power Rangers. Spiderman is the coolest thing ever, although they have no idea who he is except that he is a "good guy" and shoots webs out of his hands. Swords are their weapons of choice these days, although only the good Lord knows why I thought it was okay for them to have them. I will leave you with pictures of them playing Spiderman the other day. I'll be sure to caption appropriately. I must sign off for now. Being a Mama to three little boys is hard work, and we'll have to do all this again tomorrow.


Apparently, this is a Spiderman face

Getting our web hands just right

 

Checking out the little bro's web hands

Web hands are hard...

Connor's getting wound up now

You can't move when you have your web hands in the right position

Just a blur...as usual