Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It's Your Thing

Miss B and I were talking the other day about some odd quirks she has: bumping into things with one side of her body, then she has to with the other; tapping things an even number of times; etc. She asked me why she did that. I had no great answer and told her those were just a few quirky little OCD-ish behaviors.

Then we starting talking about how everyone probably has some sort of quirky behaviors. I have too many to mention right now. But here are a few examples: our comforter must have the flowers facing a certain direction; pillow cases must face a certain way; I could spend a solid hour cleaning the stove and completely ignore HUGE piles of clutter in the kitchen; I LOVE symmetry.

So, what's your thing? It would make me feel so much more normal to know others have weird things, too!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Boycott

OK, when a restaurant gets your order wrong they should not only fix it, but they should APOLOGIZE! Is it really too much to ask?

C-Man decided after my second trip into the restaurant (after driving through to avoid actually going in) we should boycott the place. So...I'm going to do my best to stick with his wishes. We will now be boycotting that particular establishment. (But most definitely not the whole chain!)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Simple as Legos

Well, we've now spent 6 nights at my parents house. The a/c is STILL not fixed. The part should hopefully be in tomorrow.

Trying to explain to Little I why we can't go home has been confusing. He can see our house across the street and it looks fine.

He told me a couple days ago, "Our house is broke. We'll have to break it down and build it again."

Oh, if everything were as simple as Legos!!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Just so you know, I AM COMPETITIVE. There, I said it, hopefully you'll better understand the following story now that you know that.

Last night we were hanging at my parents house (for the 4th night because our a/c still isn't fixed) with Baby Sis, her hubby, my parents, and all of our kids. Baby Sis's 3-year old boy had soaked through his Pull-Up and she was changing him. She held it up and said how heavy it was. (And it WAS quite visibly full of urine).

So...being the competitive older sister that I am, I decided to check Little I's Pull-Up. Yes, I know he's 4. He's pretty much potty trained, but he'd been at Papa & Nana's all evening with no parent to make him stop playing and remind him to use the potty chair.

Anyway, Little I's Pull-Up was bulging, so I whipped it off of him and waved it around to prove that his was bigger, more full of urine, and to my surprise out dropped a poop nugget on my parents' coffee table.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

I SOOOOOO won!!!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

NoBo's progress

A few weeks ago I expressed some frustration to Cowboy that NoBo was just not progressing like I hoped he would when he first came to our home. Cowboy pointed out many ways that NoBo had made progress since coming to live with our family in January. Recently I've noticed even more progress, which is very hopeful.

As many of you know, we really struggle with NoBo's eating. Recently we've gone to a psychologist's office for some help with his food aversions. Things seem to be looking up. A few days ago he weighed in at a whopping 18.7 pounds. The 18-pound mark has seemed like an unattainable goal since we've had NoBo. Everytime he'd approach 18 pounds he'd get sick and lose back down. Needless to say, we've been rejoicing with his weight gain!!!

He's vocalizing often and the sounds he makes are no longer just vowel sounds. Yay for consonants!

A few minutes ago he took his first step!!!

Currently he's throwing a fit because I won't let him touch the keyboard. Things like this are a huge praise. I know that sounds funny, but I get excited when he exhibits "normal" behaviors. He's throwing a fit right now as I type that is very typical of a 1 1/2 year old. YAY!!!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement in the baby steps. I'm believing God will continue to restore losses that NoBo has had.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Where has chivalry gone?

OK, I realize that in most areas I am very old-fashioned and this one is NO exception.

Last night Cowboy and I were doing weights together at the gym and these two guys next to us were using some foul language in just their everyday talk. After the first one used his filthy mouth I said nothing, then the next one chimed in. Seriously, they were only 3 feet away. I felt they should have noticed a lady was present, but they didn't.

So, I did the thing I've done numerous times. (Which, by the way, does embarrass Miss B to no end). I asked the men to please watch their language. The one who I specifically asked said, "Oh, sorry." Whether he meant it or not, I don't care. He didn't have to apologize or watch his mouth, but he did and I'm grateful. I heard no more ash tray talk from him or his bad-mouthed pal.

My point is, how far have we come with our whole "women's lib"? Apparently now we're so equal that men don't even recognize when ladies are in their presence. You can ask Cowboy, it's QUITE apparent from my body that I'm a lady. Even though my hair is short, my chest is not anywhere near flat! :)

I do have to point out at this time that these men were in their 40's and not wearing wedding bands. Just an observation. Take what you want from it.

So I guess all I want is for men to be men. I want men to be protectors and defenders of ladies. I hope I'm raising my boys to be just that.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

A Little Peek Into Our Future

Friday night Cowboy and I ran some errands and went to dinner with the 2 little guys. C-Man was away with my parents for the weekend and Miss B was fulfilling the commitments on her social calendar.

As we're sitting at dinner, we realized how funny it felt for just the cute brown boys and us to be together. Then it hit me! This is just a peek into the next few years of our lives. The older our 2 big kids get, the more this will happen. WOW! You don't realize when they're so little how soon it will all pass. Their time with you will be less and less, which is normal, I know. But WEIRD nonetheless.

The other things running through my mind as people are commenting on our cute boys...Do people think to themselves, "Oh, that poor couple wasn't able to have kids" or "How sweet that they adopted internationally" or "They are definitely older parents!" Who knows? But, here's my responses... "No, not poor us, blessed us. Not international adoption! They're from right here in our community. And, finally, YES, we are older parents!!! But, we didn't start this way 12 years ago when we had our first!"

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Praise God!

The rain is here. I had just finished publishing my last post when C-Man looked outside and said, "Why is everything all wet? Oh! It's raining."

Isn't God good?

Bring the Rain

OK, let me just whine for a minute. May is usually an AWFUL month for me when it comes to how I feel. My allergies get so bad that I usually spend at least one full day in bed from pure exhaustion. The sneezing and itchy eyes do me in!

This May was actually quite pleasant for me because of the cooler weather which forged its way through most of the spring.

I suppose because the weather stayed cool for so long things are blooming later. Therefore, June so far has KILLED me!

I spent about 10 minutes outside Saturday and was yuck all day Sunday.

Yesterday morning I spent about an hour outside with the kids and I was sick all day. I had to miss a meeting last night and C-Man's baseball game. BOO HOO!!!

Today I'm declaring myself a prisoner in my own house. I'm trying not to step outside for ANYTHING!

I've loosened the reins on the 2 big kids and allowed them to spray paint outside without my supervision. I've sent Cowboy to Wal-Mart to buy a few supplies for Little I's birthday party tomorrow. I've had my children monitor Little I while he went outside to "water" the grass. (I'm not sure why he refuses to use the toilet, but I'll glady let him use the outdoor facilities if it means less urine in the Pull-Up).

Tomorrow I will have to get out and about, so I'm praying that today some rain comes to settle down all those allergens that have been flying around!