My big 3 year old!

Little Bear turned 3 today. And he had no idea. We had his party on Saturday, so he thinks he is already 3 even though he still only holds up 2 fingers.

I can't believe that he is already 3. It really does seem like yesterday I was hugely prego with him and moving across the country. Lovey was starting medical school, we were moving to a new city and I was so nervous about having a baby while he was in school. Funny thing now since we have had 3 kids during med school!


Back to Little Bear - that child cracks me up. He is adorable, determined, charming, athletic and loves Thomas the Train. His name means "light" and my prayer for him is that others are drawn to the light that shines bright inside him. That they are attracted to him not just because he is cute (and man is he cute) or because he has a great sense of humor, but because he has a love for our Lord that draws others to him. I pray that his love for his Savior & his relationship with his God is strong and deep. That he is able to articulate that love and share it passionately with others. I want him to be clothed with compassion, kindness, gentleness and strength. And I pray that he always has a strong connection with his family and always loves his big brother as much as he does now.


Those are some big prayers for such a little boy. Good thing they are reaching the ears of a mighty God! And I pray that our mighty God will guide this momma and continue changing her so that she would be an example of all the qualities I pray for in my babies. Change me Lord, change me.

Stay at home Daddy

I needed to take a nap. So I asked Lovey to watch the babies for me. Pictured to the right is his idea of "watching the babies".

Seriously, what is that?

If only that is the way that I spent my day...

In his defense -because he needs one after this performance- he did, just an hour before, come home from working a 30 hour shift at the hospital.

But then again, I had been working a 30 hour shift taking care of his palace! For that matter I work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. No days off and always on call. At least he gets to eat without having to give up his food to little people who think that my food taste better than their own even though it is the same thing!!! And he gets to go to the bathroom without some little person coming in asking what he's doing. And the best part of all is that he gets adult conversation without having to use the phone and having little people take advantage of him while he is distracted and having to give them whatever they want so that they can talk for a few more minutes.



I guess Lovey decided that instead of hearing my song and dance he would just let me take my nap and "watch the girls" for me. I've always said he is a brilliant man!

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Today was the kids first day of school. They both said that they had fun and liked their new teachers. While they were at school, Lovey and I went on a lunch date! We took The Girlfriends with us and went to a new restaurant we hadn't been to before. Of course taking The Girlfriends anywhere always provides strangers with an opportunity to bombard us with unwanted attention and comments. Today was no different. The manager of the restaurant came to our table. Our conversation went something like this:

RM (for rude manager!): Oh, wow. twins. I feel so bad for you. Mom how are you doing?

ME: Great! It's going really good.

RM: Really? That must be so hard. I'm so sorry for you.

ME: It's not bad at all and we are crazy about the girls.

RM: Well good luck to you. You sure have your hands full.

Can you believe this??!!??!! Seriously. I was shocked, offended and mad! Why do people act like the twins are such a burden? Not even just twins - children in general. I never encountered it when I just had 2 kids, but now that I have 4, I have gotten more negative comments than I can even count about how many children I have. "Two boys & two girls...now you can stop," is a regular comment that I hear. UGH!

Obviously none of these people have heard the saying, "If you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all."

People if you feel so sorry for me don't tell me...do something about it! Send money, buy diapers, hold one of the carriers while I chase baby Bear, pay for college, get me a massage, send me to Tahiti. Or better yet, don't feel sorry for me. I'm blessed beyond measure!

The best part of this whole encounter is that I didn't have the heart to tell this rude lady that I have 2 boys who are 5 & 3 at school. Tehe... I can't imagine what she would have done!

Triple Threat

On Saturday we lost our cable, phone and Internet. It was a tragedy. Apparently our neighbor was weeding eating and got a little over zealous resulting in the death of our cable line (CL). It was completely unexpected and there was no one that was able to come to the rescue of our CL until this afternoon.

I was so excited to see the "Cable Man", but not near as excited as the brothers or Titan Dog. When he fixed our CL, I all but jumped on top of him with joy. This SAHM felt completely out of communication with the world...and it was lonely.

But now we are back in action...

So the people say...or at least one person!

Well, it's official. I rock. Who'd have thought it? Secretly I always did and would occasionally mention that fact to Lovey but he didn't believe it. But my friend Anna, over at Sincerely Anna, says I do and I believe her. After all, she is sincere.

I PROUDLY and excitedly told Lovey about my first blogger award and he was impressed.

...Until he found out that there was no voting involved and it was "just handed down". Then what little inspiring awe he had for me was replaced with the usual thought of "what a blogging dork she's become." I will wear that title proudly as well!

A day in the life of a mom!

So if you need a good laugh check this out! Pretty funny stuff that I can totally relate to!





Lovey has been working for the past 17 hours at the hospital and won't be home until tomorrow afternoon and I'm exhausted. We had a eventful day (what day isn't with these kids!) and I have stuff to blog about, but have a feeling that y'all can wait until tomorow. I doubt you will be losing sleep with anticipation. Speaking of sleep...

The Bourne Ultimatum

Lovey and I had a lunch date today and went to see a movie. We went to see Bourne Ultimatum and both thought that it was really good. Full of action and suspense. It's funny, we both liked the movie and Jason Bourne for different reasons. Lovey thought his driving, the stunts, the lack of computer generated images and all the action was cool. I thought that Bourne was amazing because he really is a "multi-tasker" - especially for a man!

Lovey was quite disgusted that I was able to "domesticate" an action hero like Bourne. And that I find multi-tasking sexy!

Why don't they look at me like that?

What could the brothers be staring at so intently?...


THE HISTORY CHANNEL!!!


Yep, they love the history channel. There is this show Dogfights that all my boys love - obvious from the look on their face.


I only wish that they stared at me with such intense looks when I am trying to have a "teachable moment" with them!

"Do you want to hear me count to 100?"

Whenever Badger asks me that question I cringe. The voices in my head scream, "No! No! No!" But the words out of my mouth are, "I would love to." Isn't that what a loving, encouraging, teaching mother says?

And then it begins... "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...ect." He follows me all around the house counting. And if he would happen to forget a number or skip a number or "mess-up" then he starts all the way from the beginning. I guess I should count my lucky stars (since I don't believe in luck there wouldn't be that many) that he hasn't asked if I want to hear him count to 1000!

Brink of Chaos

Lovey is off today and I thought that this would be the perfect day to go to the grocery store since I wouldn't have to take any kids with me. I nursed the girls and then ran out the door planning on returning before the next nursing.

I went hungry (mistake #1), sure that we had no food in the house (mistake #2), and sure that I had all the time in the world to hang out at the grocery store by myself (mistake #3). 2 1/2 hours later and $100 over budget, I called Lovey to see how things were going at the house and to inform him that he would have to give the girls a bottle because I wasn't going to make it home on time. (He was absolutely NOT surprised at this news since I am typically later than I say I'm going to be when I run errands by myself. I can't imagine why I wouldn't rush home to my crazy house when I get a few minutes by myself?!?)

So I say to Lovey, "How are things going?"
"Petty good. We're hanging at the brink of chaos," he replies.
(At this point I think to myself, oh goody...just what I want to come home to.)
"What is so chaotic?"
"Well, I've got 6 kids that I'm chasing around the front yard." Lovey says. (Interesting...when I left there were 4 kids, 2 of those couldn't walk.) "Don't worry, whenever I'm watching the kids I always feel like I am on the brink of chaos."

...and we wonder why I'm not in any hurry to come home!!!

So, I guess it's time to clean the van...

It's true. I'm a minivan momma. I was in denial for a long time, but have come to accept that fact. Not only am I a minivan momma, I am a minivan momma who drives a minivan filled with trash, toys and old food. With 4 kids I don't really have time to dedicate to cleaning my van, nor do I really want to because I know that the kids will trash it anyway. So, I put off cleaning it until... One of the kids eats food that is old, crusty and green.

So I guess it's time to clean the van.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar what?? That's what I said too. After weeks of foot pain I finally went to the Internet to figure out what I have. And the winner is Plantar Fasciitis. Apparently people who are at risk are:

1. Those who exercise or play sports - Yeah right...no time for that these days.
2. Middle aged or older - I guess that could be me since I did turn 30 this past year.
3. Overweight - CHECK.
4. Pregnant - hopefully not!
5. Being on your feet - I have 4 kids, 5 and under, I'm always on my feet!
6. Flatfooted or have high arches - no idea?!

Okay, so I have all the symptoms and only 1 of the 6 risk factors. Symptoms are:

1. Sharp pain in the inside part of the bottom of your heel, which may feel like a knife sticking in the bottom of your foot. CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!
2. Heel pain that tends to be worse with the first few steps after awakening, when climbing stairs or when standing on tiptoe. CHECK!
3. Heel pain after long periods of standing or after getting up from a seated position. CHECK!
4. Heel pain after, but not usually during, exercise. CHECK!
5. Mild swelling in your heel. CHECK!

What do I do to get rid of this pain. It is seriously painful. I am now hobbling around and it hurts to walk. Here are the tips for self-treatment:

1. Put your feet up and stay off your feet - okay, let's move to the next one since that isn't happening...
2. Apply ice. Hold a cloth-covered ice pack over the area of pain for 15 to 20 minutes three or four times a day - WHAT?! I don't have time for that! Next one...
3. Decrease your running/walking miles.
4. Take up low impact or no impact exercise - We've discussed that above.
5. Over the counter pain meds. - I really want something stronger!

So there is my dilemma. I did read that this usually resolves itself and can take anywhere between a few months and a couple of years. Lovey is so sick of hearing me whine and just keeps telling me to buy new shoes, don't walk barefoot and take some Motrin. I guess I should listen to him. After all, he is almost a doctor!!

"Your hands are full"

As a mom of 4 kids, the oldest being only 5, people love to comment on my situation. It began when I was hugely prego with the twins, and had a 2 year old and 4 year old running around me like wild animals, and hasn't ended yet (and I don't think it will for some years to come!). One of the most common phrases that I hear is, "You sure do have your hands full". Many times this phrase is used in a kind sweet sympathetic way, but more often than not it is used in a subtle way of telling me my kids are out of control and maybe I shouldn't continue breeding until I get them under control. (Being the mom of infant twins, at this moment my hands are literally full especially when I am out with the kids by myself - which is frequent and will be more frequent in the future - and I am carrying 2 infant seats, 2 diaper bags, trying to keep a 2 year old within 12 inches from me and answer a million questions like, "Why doesn't God walk on the moon?" from a very curious 5 year old.) So, I have complied a list of replies that I like to use and some that I am going to start using when assaulted with this obvious observation.

1. "My hands are full...but so is my heart." (favorite)
2. "My hands are full...but I'd rather them be full than empty."
3. "My hands are full...of God's blessings."
4. "My hands are full...and so is my life."
5. "My hands are full...of opportunity to change the world."
6. "My hands are full...of God's grace and mercy."
7. "My hands are full...of little, cute (and usually dirty) hands."
8. "My hands are full...of opportunity for God to grow me."
9. "My hands are full...of laughter and love."
10. "My hands are full...of opportunity to leave a legacy."
11. "My hands are full...and I would have it no other way."

My hands are full and so is my heart!