The week from candyland

This is my attempt at catching up on events from the last week. I'm warning, I may give up mid-post as I'm attempting to type with several more keys missing from my lap top and a lovely splint on my pinky. So, here is the update from the last 7 days in the Gradke household.

Thursday:
Nanny terribly ill with 5 kidney stones. Adalae ill as well and diagnosed with bronchialitis and starts breathing treatments 3x per day.

Friday:
While washing dishes, a bowl breaks and I slice my finger. It bleeds, and bleeds and bleeds. Finally Thade catches sight of all the blood and runs to the backyard to find Rustin screaming, "EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY". OK, it really wasn't an emergency but I appreciate the concern.

Here is the "Emergency"

Gross, I know. Rustin was convinced that was a piece of muscle. Anyhow, because I had so much to do (including consuming a glass of wine with my girlfriends), I decided to just wrap it up and see how it was in the morning. Well, Sat morning it looked exactly the same and hurt 10x worse.

Sat:

9am, head to CareNow. Get steri (stitches or some other) and scolded that I should have come in earlier for sutures but now it's too late, yada, yada. Given antibiotic prescription and told I could get deadly bone infection. Try to pick up prescription on way to company Christmas party but find out pharmacy is closed. Attend company 80s prom themed Christmas party in my fabulous dress that was hand made in 1989 for girlfriends prom.

Sunday:

8am Head to CareNow for followup finger check. 9am arrive home and speed-pack to catch flight to Vegas (yes by the way Rustin and I had a "just the 2 of us" getaway planned). Stop at CVS for antibiotic to prevent deadly bone infection. Pharmacy doesn't open until 10am (OMG) so forget about it because obviously making our flight to Vegas is more important than losing a finger.

Several hours later arrive in Vegas. Waiting for our bag. Still waiting for our bag. Bag not there. Wait another hour for the next flight. Bag still not there. Make the terrible decision to save $ and take the shuttle to our hotel (The Venetian) rather than taxi to save money. ONE hour later, we were deposited at our hotel (3.7 miles from the airport, apparently we were the last stop on the strip).

We have dinner reservations at a nice restaurant so we decide to quickly go out and buy some toiletries and myself a shirt and heels (rather than the T-shirt and tennis shoes I was wearing). After realizing the hotel shop offered maxi pads at $2.99 for ONE maxi pad, we decided to find a "normal" store. Was told CVS was "just past that light" which apparently meant just past those 7 lights to the likely already drunk we asked.

We finally arrive back at our hotel to find this:

Hector and Jeff are a couple that Rustin does business with and are super nice. After consuming a bottle of Dom Perignon, I didn't care as much that I seriously needed a shower and deodorant so we headed to dinner. We were in bed by 11pm as Rustin and I both weren't feeling well.

Mon:

Rustin and I are both sick. We spend most of the day in the hotel room napping. We did venture out for dinner at TAO but Rustin was so sick he couldn't even eat. We saw the new Criss Angel show Believe and it was terrible. Do not waste your time on this show! I guess we should have done our research to know that a show that has been out for less than 6 weeks and is already selling 1/2 price tickets is not good.

We also made an attempt to see the fountain show at the Bellagio. It was so cold and windy, we stood there for 10 minutes getting a cold spray in the face instead.

Tues:

SO READY TO BE HOME. I'm feeling better but Rustin is so sick. We are also getting reports that Adalae is getting worse. Head to airport at 9am. Flight delayed. Get on standby for earlier flight that is on time. We don't make it. Build fire, set up tent and move into airport. Arrive at DFW at 8pm (yes that equals 11 hours of travel from NV to TX!).

Check Adalae into Carenow and told 2 hour wait. By 11:15pm we are leaving Carenow with flu diagnoses and Rustin is at home running 101 temp. He heads to Carenow about midnight. Also diagnosed with flu. Did I mention I had to cook a dish for a potluck at work?

1:20am, my dish is cooked, I swig some of Rustin's cough syrup and crash.

Wed:

7am head to work in a fog. Rustin calls 2 hours later and thinks there is blood in Adalae's diaper (thank god it wasn't). I freak a little, take her back to CareNow along with Thade and Reed so I can get them flu shots. (I had one Tues night when I took Adalae in). They are out of shots for Reed but Thade gets one thankfully. Attempt Wal-mart to shop for our Christmas Day lunch.

Do not EVER, I repeat EVER show up at Wal-mart on Christmas Eve. I've never seen anything like it. It was like a swarm of pre-teen girls fighting over the last Hanna Montana CD. Since my surround system gift to Rustin didn't work out, I went ahead and got a couple of stocking stuffers. One of the stuffers I bought for Rustin was the new DVD "The Dark Knight" as I know he's been wanting to see it. I come home and start getting boys ready and Rustin says he wants to go to Blockbuster to rent a movie (which I assume will be The Dark Knight) so I adamently tell him, there is not time for us to watch a movie, yada yada, just wait until tomorrow. So, of course, 30 minutes later as the boys and I are heading to church, I get a text that Rustin DID go to blockbuster and what do you know, he rented The Dark Knight.

So then, Thade, Reed and I attempted to attend Christmas Eve service at Richland Hills Church (left the sicklings at home). After a solid 30 minutes of Reed squirming, screaming and trying to take items out of the poor lady's purse sitting next us, we leave.

At least I got a cute picture of them in something other than sweats!

It's officially Christmas. My family has been in bed for hours and Santa just finished assembling Thade's rock band. Santa brought Reed and Adalae a slide.

When all is said and done, after all the hecticness of life, I am so thankful for my family and friends. But most of all, I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus.

Here's to you Jesus! Happy Birthday!

Santa is my hero

2008

Well Santa is HERO to at least 2 out of 3 and I am not going to complain about those statistics. (we won't count the pre-teen who no longer believes in Santa but plays along for my sake because he knows Santa will still bring him the latest video game craze if he does)

Gone are the days of oblivion for poor Reed.

2007

Merry Christmas Rustin

Finally, this was going to be the year that I bought Rustin the perfect gift. A home theatre system/surround sound. So I've spent every spare moment over the last few weeks researching and learning more than I ever wanted to know about HDMI inputs, multi-zone, optical cables and the such. I've also been stashing cash away to make this purchase without Rustin noticing it gone and hoping I could really surprise him for once. On Friday, I found a great system and at a steal so I made the journey to Plano and bought it.

Today, Rustin gets out of going to a birthday party with the kids and I because he is tired and needs to take a nap. I give him a hard time but get over it since he was up with Adalae last night. So the kids and I head to Shreveport (or was it Garland?) to celebrate Keanne's 5th birthday. Rustin calls me as we are leaving and he obviously is not at home napping as I hear what sounds like highway traffic so I ask where he is. He proceeds to tell me he is on his way home and did some Christmas shopping. My next thought is of guilt and how thoughtful, he didn't really want to nap but just have an opportunity to shop without me around.

I come home 45 minutes later to see Rustin in the family room floor with HIS Christmas present to himself spread about him. Lo and behold, Rustin went out and bought himself a home theatre system.

I mean, who does that? Doesn't everyone know you don't make a purchase like that ELEVEN days before Christmas?

So, I now have a factory sealed Phillips HTS3544 5.1 Home Theatre System. If any of you want it, it's yours for $150.

Last year, he couldn't think of a thing he wanted for Christmas.

Four days after Christmas, he went out and bought an Iphone.

Retirement?

It is now 7:33 PM on a Friday night and my ENTIRE family is asleep. Not just the members under 2, but my 11 year old son (who apprently has nothing better to do after being grounded from all things electronic) and Rustin, who has fallen asleep with Adalae in bed. Seriously, my 70 year old grandmother can outlast this group. (In fact, she has outlasted me many of shopping trips).

Boy have our Friday nights changed from the short 8 years since college.

Updates:
Adalae started crawling on Nov 29th. On all fours. She went from a slow army crawl and generally giving up after 5 or 6 feet of travel to full on ripping bows of Christmas gifts, standing while propping herself on our brick fireplace ledge, and crawling up my leg to a standing position.

Reed repeats EVERYTHING. He has a pair of PJs with a football on the shirt and little footballs all over the pants. He wears them as soon as their clean and gets so excited. He runs around the house pointing at his shirt and pants yelling, "ball, ball, ball, ball, ball."
His most spoken phrase at the moment is "Oh WOW, cool" This is repeated in rapid succession anytime we are driving through a neighborhood with Christmas yard decorations.

Thade has been grounded for a while now. In fact, yesterday would have been his first day of freedom in a week but he was clever enough to start wrestling a friend in the hall on the way to lunch and thus lose that privelage. Although, it is a nice break for me that he has nothing better to do than play with his little brother.

Amazingly, Rustin still has his job with a company that has lost billions of dollars in the last year.

And I am FINISHED Christmas shopping. WHEW.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the kiddos.

Sugar Rush

This video illustrates the reason we spent chasing an out of control, hyped up toddler for 4 consective hours a couple nights ago.



Word of advice - brownie batter and 1 year old ---- does not mix well!

Random Items and Updates

Look what my poor baby did to himself 2 nights ago. This was by far our worse scare yet (and apparently we've had several by the obvious skinned nose you see). He fell off the recliner. Worse goose egg yet. Reed is so tough - if THAT thing popped up on MY forehead, I'd cry a lot longer than he did. After 2-3 minutes and a Popsicle, all was well. By the time he woke up Friday morning, it was gone.

Adalae will be crawling on all fours before long. She is very mobile and could put the best of the best armyman (is that a word?) to shame with her army crawl. I'm so sad my baby is growing up. I'm also so sad I can't set her down and expect her to be in the same place when I get back! Which means we will soon have TWO playpens set up in our family room to enable restroom use without either (or both) a toddler/crawling infant tugging on your leg or crawling in your lap while attempting to pee.


Last Friday, I organized a surprise anniversary party for Shelley. RightStaff celebrated 10 years this November. I got her hubby and her girlfriend in on the deal and she was expecting a double date. Our entire team was there to celebrate with her and she was really surprised!

Here is where I ended up later that night.











Don't even ask.

73 pieces of candy

I came home to an opened package that arrived for Thade today from his grand-parents. I opened the lid and to my dismay (delight?) I find it is filled to the brim with candy bars. Not the "fun size" candy bars but full fledged snickers bars, bags of skittles, sour patch packs and much more. I actually took inventory (after I sent 4 candy bars home with Nanny and the 2 candy bars I later find out Thade ate in rapid succession as soon as the box was open).

7 Sour Skittles

5 M&Ms

5 Starbusts

2 Twix

3 Hershey Bars

2 Super Size Sour Patch packs

2 Reeses

2 Kit Kats

6 Airheads

3 Snickers

3 Milky Way

14 Slim Jims

7 Blow Pops

7 Tootsie Roll Pops

I know what you're thinking. "Yeah right, you're embellishing. I mean who would go out and buy 73 candy bars, pack them in a box, and mail them 4 states away?"

I must admit, I'm tempted to lock myself in my room, eat candy bar after candy bar while I mourn the next 4 years in advance. (Why not, the government will soon be paying my medical bills right? Just like they will pay my mortgage? Rustin did change our mortgage billing address today to:

1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, DC 20500 Attn: Obama/White House)

But instead I'll take them to work, get in the Obama spirit and "spread the wealth".

Top 10 Reed List

Top 10 cutest things Reed does:

10. Says "bye bye" and blows a kiss to the stars when we come home after dark.

9. Sniffs repeatedly EVERY time he sees a flower, whether in person or a picture.

8. Now says I love you Adalae, which we have finally deciphered from "lal luv la lallalay"

7. Says a prayer before a meal (which consists of covering his eyes with closed fists while we pray).

6. Cheers, screams and claps when the golf ball goes in the hole or someone catches a pass (no matter the team).

5. This one requires a short story so try not to lose interest. Rustin's brother and his wife have a ceramic chicken in their living room. Anytime we are there, Reed stops what he is doing every 10 minutes or so and frantically points at the chicken while chanting "bak, bak, bak" and proceeds to hold his arms in the "chicken pose" and shake his hips (rather than flap his arms). Only video does Reed's chicken dance justice.

4. We sit sometimes and look at photos on the computer. Reed gasps with excitement at each new photo. He also always kisses pictures of girls, whether cartoon or real people.

3. Always "retrieves" Adalae's bottle or pacifier and personally tries to return to its place (I'm sure his aim is her mouth but we usually end up with a screaming baby with milk in her eye or a paci jammed in her ear).

2. Climbs in the toilet (obviously).

AND the #1 cutest/sweetest Reed attribute:

1. Always kisses Adalae after he steps on her.

Halloween was fun (sort-of). I mean, how much fun can you have chasing a 1 year old, keeping your tired 6 month old happy, and somehow entertaining an 11 year old?

Anyways, we went to the Fall Festival at our church. Honestly, I was sold on the petting zoo. Reed LOVES petting zoos. We get there around 6:30 and go directly to the petting zoo where Rustin and I proceed to take turns standing in line because the other needs to chase Reed around (since we have recently been blessed with the terrible 2s early, Reed will sit or be held in one place for approximately 3 seconds before it's meltdown city). After an hour (maybe it was 20 minute) wait, we finally get in and let me tell you, it was yucky! There was yellow water? pee? all over the ground and as you see Reed's costume tail was dragging the ground. And of course, you have to SIT DOWN to pet the animals apparently. Within 5 minutes, Reed was covered in water? pee? which means within 5 minutes after that I, too, was covered in pee water from picking him up. But really, that was OK. After 3 kids, I've had worse things on my body/clothing than goat pee I'm sure.

So, next was games. That was fun for the most part except that Reed doesn't understand the concept of 3 soccer kicks and it's the next kids turn. We tried 3 games and gave up after 3 meltdowns.

Thade complained that he didn't get the usually 32 pounds of candy so we stopped by his cousins house and cleaned out their supply.

Adalae was an angel the entire night.

Picture Link

Ok, I believe I fixed the picture link below. Enjoy!

Pictures

I'm so behind on posting pictures. Here are pictures from the pumpkin patch, Reed's first hair cut, Thade's football and many more must see moments from the last few months at the Gradke institution. I must say I prefer Reed's hippie hair but I did feel bad the poor boy couldn't see 90% of the time!

Thade got moved to Pre-AP Math last week. He is now in 3 out of 4 pre-ap classes. So we are very excited about that. Along with quarterback, he has been playing linebacker on defense and playing on the offensive line some. He has finally gotten over the fear of getting tackled so football is going well.

Work has been very busy. Against my better judgement and contrary to my futile attempt to "demote" myself and get out of management, I have since been suckered back into leading a team. Thus, I can no longer fall back on my "It's not my problem" line I have repeated dozens of times per day for the last year regarding everyone else's drama. Now I am back in the famous struggle of juggling my attempt at being a good wife, mom, employee, manager and golf pro.
Oh, did I mention I've started golf lessons? Well, I've actually only had one but after 30 minutes, I can hit the ball in the air and straight with a 7 and 9 iron. Not bad for the girl that shot 93 on NINE HOLES last time she tried to play. Stay tuned to the LPGA to see more.

Reed fix

Reed's new tricks!

Potty time!

Look where I found Reed yesterday when I left him unattended for 30 seconds to lay Adalae down in her crib.


Does this qualify me for the Mother of Year award? How about the fact that I thought it was that much more funny than gross that I left him there for an additional 10 seconds to grab my phone and take a picture.

Boys are gross

I'm learning that you have to be VERY specific with your questioning of an 11 year old boy. I found out last night that Thade had not washed his hair in at least a month. Here's how the conversation went:
Thade takes shower for 1 min 20 seconds and is somehow finished.
Rustin: "Thade, did you wash?"
Thade: "Yes."
Rustin: "Did you wash your body?"
Thade: "Yep."
Rustin: "With soap?"
Thade: "Yes, Dad."
Rustin: "Did you wash your hair?"
Thade: "Yes."
All sounds good at this point right? I'm thinking my kid has super powers and can move at lightening speed so he can get to his video games.
Rustin: "Did you wash your hair with shampoo?"
Thade: "No, I'm out of shampoo."
Here's where I chime in and ask, "Gross! How long have you been out of shampoo?"
Thade: "I don't know, maybe a month?"

Which in reality probably means 3+ months.

UGH!

Thade's Essay

It's getting increasingly difficult to post from home. Courtesy of Reed, the space bar, m, n, b, and v keys are all now missing from our laptop. Lovely.

Thade brought this essay home from English class today. The task was to use his vocabulary words in a paragraph.

My Dad is a great person. I can attest to it even though his decisions can be contestable. He's still very great. He thinks I'm very loquacious at school. He gives me a lot of eloquent speeches. You can say he's got a skill in oratory speaking.

The funniest (saddest) part? There were at least 2 words in that paragraph that I didn't immediately know the meaning.

I tried to get a picture of Reed and Adalae. This is what you get after 42 pictures. As you can see, Adalae is on the verge of a breakdown. The next 12 pictures are of her screaming and Reed attempting to place her pacifier in her mouth.

On the other hand, Adalae was picture perfect this day:

Thade update

Yesterday, Thade got moved to Pre-AP English and Reading! He will take the COGAT aptitude test next week to determine his eligibility for Pre-AP Math. I was so excited for him. Needless to say, when I asked how he liked it, his only response was, "It's hard." So, being the over-explainer that I am, I tell him how great an opportunity this is for him and if he takes AP classes in high school, he gets college credit, and how privileged he is to be selected for this advanced learning opportunity, etc. I'm fairly certain he tuned me out after the first 10 seconds because when I finished my "lecture", his response was, "How long do I heat up this spaghetti?"

I received an email this morning from his Pre-AP teacher letting me know that Thade continues to have a talking problem during class. He has been moved to another seat, but if the problem continues, he will be moved back to regular (ugh - average) Reading and English. I told some people today that I think I should go sit in on his 2 Pre-AP classes to show him how serious I am about this (or maybe embarrass him into behaving?) Hey, whatever works right? Anyhow, the feedback I've gotten has been mixed. Some think it's a great idea, while others think I'm going to see him on the news one day committing some atrocity because he never got over his mom showing up at school and sitting in class with him.

Any advice out there?

More Salsa Please

I know by posting these pictures, I will make many of you insanely jealous of the quality of photos my camera phone takes.

We have recently discovered that Reed loves salsa. He will eat ANYTHING if he can dip it in salsa. He dips his quesadilla, chips, beans and shredded cheese. Yes, I did say pinto beans and shredded cheese.

Here he is getting started. After I failed to notice he was out of food, he proceeds to pick up his spoon and scoop spoonfuls into his mouth.

I realize this and give him more quesadilla which he promptly begins to dip and suck the salsa off.

Yes, Reed ate this entire bowl of salsa by himself. He was very close to licking the bowl when I had to physically separate him from the table and take him outside because of the major meltdown he had to be away from his salsa bowl.

I'm sure Nanny was very thankful to me regarding our food choices during diaper time the next day.

Thade played his first game on Saturday. He played quarterback in Hurrican Ike aftermath with SIDEWAYS rain, mud and wind. They lost but he played great! I was very proud of him and it almost makes me sad to see him leading a football team. He seems so independent, ok well he IS so independent.

Anyhow, that's it for now before I go all sentimental on ya'll.

The next Tony Romo?

As I mentioned, Thade is playing football this year. Thade hated football 2 years ago. He complained his pants are too tight, his helmet hurts, it's hot and that the other boys tackle him. (rather than what?) He carried that attitude the entire year and got stuck occasionally playing on the defensive line and keeping the bench warm the rest of the time. His energy level matched that of a slug and generally you would find him sitting alone on the bench during the games because it was just too hot and tiring to stand on the side lines with his team-mates.

In this picture, we yelled to him to get off the bench and go be with his team-mates. YES, that is my kid LYING DOWN on the sideline.

This year when sign ups came, I gently encouraged him to give it another try. (Ok, I told him if he didn't play sports, he'd be a geek in high school) I know, I'm a terrible mother but in all seriousness, the kids involved in sports typically have less time to get in trouble! And the last thing my pre-teen wants is to be a geek so I said what I knew would work on him and hoped for the best.

WOW, what a change this year. He is having a great time and apparently has a talent for throwing the ball. Thade will be QB at his first scrimmage on Saturday. He has also been playing some tight end and safety. I couldn't be prouder! I'm very excited about the game tomorrow and if we can juggle the babies and video camera simultaneously, I will post some video next week.

Disney Pictures

Here are some pictures from our Disney trip.



My favorite - as you see, Reed was very excited to meet Disney's stars, Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Picnic

Wow, has it really been 2 months since I last posted? I promise to post new pictures soon. We've been very busy the last couple of months and the kids are all growing up too fast! We recently returned from a week spent at Disney World (smack in the middle of tropical storm Fay), Susan, the new nanny has started, and Thade has started football. Reed can "show his muscles now" and Adalae rolls over!

Yesterday, I thought I would be brave and take all 3 kids to the park and have a picnic while Rustin was doing yard work. The 10 minute walk there was great. Adalae slept and Reed jabbered the whole way. However, within 10 minutes of arriving at the park, the grossness started. My packing list had consisted of:
sandwiches, grapes, teddy grahams, and applesauce
paper plates, cups and a jug of water
sippy cup, bottle
diapers
burp cloth
sunscreen
bottled water
phone

I should have also included a change of clothes for all 3 children.

First of all, Thade had to pee so I sent him over by a tree to take care of business. He comes back soaking wet and can't figure out why? Apparently, instead of taking care of business on the ground by the tree, he decided to pee on the tree from less than a foot away. Do men not look at the stream to make sure it doesn't run into their feet, etc? Or to make sure it's not hitting the tree and SPLASHING their shorts?

If there is a puddle of water, Reed can spot it from a mile away. As soon as he is out of his stroller, he makes a bee-line for a slide and while I'm helping Thade get cleaned up, Reed climbs to the bottom of the slide, and then proceeds to lie flat in the water and lap it up like a doggy. Now his shorts are so wet they don't stay up so we proceed to strip him to his diaper and pray that I don't get CPS called on me for letting my toddler play at the park in 100 degree weather without clothes. 5 minutes later, Reed has a poopy and guess what I didn't check/pack? The wipey case which was completely empty. By this point, we've been at the park less time than it took to walk there or I would have just given up and walked back home. So I do the best with what I have (which is only the dirty diaper) and we play some more while his clothes are hanging from the slide baking in the sun.

When I finally get the chance to check on Adalae, she is awake, happy, and covered in spit up.

By this time, I'm totally over the park so we wash up the best we can with our water jug, eat and head home for baths.

Maam, I need to frisk you

I'm sure you all want to know who got frisked?? Well, it was me. Just wait for it, wait for it.
I think I'll share how the last 24 hours has gone in the Gradke household.

Wed
4:30pm - meet Rustin at daycare to pick up babies, change gross day care clothes and make bottle for Adalae
4:45pm - crawl in back seat while Rustin driving along highway to soothe Adalae
5pm - arrive at church as Thade has arrived home from camp. Find out teeth have not been brushed since Friday night.
6pm - leave church after awards ceremony and head to dinner
7:15 - arrive home, Rustin at store, both babies start to cry. Thade takes Adalae while I change Reed's diaper, change him into PJs and get him a drink
7:30 - start Thade's laundry and feed Adalae bottle
2 more hours of who knows what but I don't remember sitting down
9:30 - still doing Thade's laundry
10pm - pack Thade's bag for his 7am flight to GA
10:30 - sweet dreams, hallelujah

Thursday
5am - alarm, snooze
5:15 - get up, wake Thade, shower
5:45 - go get Thade to leave, Thade still in bed, yell at Thade which woke Reed up, Rustin feeding Adalae bottle so I get Reed settled
5:55 - leave house only to realize I don't even know which airline the flight is on, much less the terminal and gate. Call delta, no reservation for Thade. Call American, no reservation for Thade. Call Airtran as I've pulled into terminal E to figure this out. Yes! It's Airtran and hallelujah the gate is E 17.
6:10 - walk in to realize there are 12,000 people in ticket line
6:20 - resolve we will miss the flight and I will spend my Thursday morning trying to get Thade on another flight which I assume will be a piece of cake the day before a holiday right??
6:30 - Thank you Lord, someone is calling all passengers on our flight to come to the front of the ticket line.
6:45 - Beg to cut in the security line so Thade doesn't miss his flight.
6:48 - Get stopped at security because I'm beeping!! Spent 2 more minutes taking off all jewelery and half-way stripping. Suddenly I realize what it is.

Let's just say the dress I was wearing required an undergarment to keep my baby belly in check. As I realize this, I have to tell the security person in front of the 12,000 other passengers in the vicinity. The security person then asks me to "step aside ma'am" and proceeds to wave the metal wand slowly across my mid-section approximately 32 times as it beeps as loud as a garbage truck reversing. Just as I think I could not be more humiliated, and to ensure all 12,000 people know about my "undergarment", Thade asks in the loudest voice possible, "Mom what are you wearing under there??!!"
6:57 - Thade is last person to board plane.
7am - Plane leaves, off to work.
10am - call Ikea, dresser I've been waiting for is in stock and there are 7 of them! Get in car and drive straight there
10:35 - Apparently 6 other people are on their way to buy the same dresser. Arrive at Ikea and buy the very last dresser left (for Adalae's room)
12noon - work out then vomit (I didn't really vomit but I want to everytime I do this particular set with some people at work)
1pm - start hinting to office we should take off early today.
2pm - get email about cake celebration at 4pm. Count me out!

Happy Fourth of July!

The Zoo!

Today Reed and Adalae enjoyed their first trip to the zoo!

Adalae enjoys her lunch.

Reed called any animal that had 4 legs a dog. He just kept pointing and repeating "dog, dog, dog".

Reed also likes Adalae's bottles. He doesn't actually drink out of them, just runs around with it hanging from his mouth.

Our niece Haven came for a visit too last week.

Rustin will kill me for posting this but it's too funny not to share. Here is the outfit he chose to do yard work in last weekend. Thank God he was in our BACK yard. Nice headband. Oh, and don't forget your wristbands!

Ball!

Today at lunch Reed starting calling grapes "ball". Every time he wanted another grape he would say, "ball! ball!" It was funny until he started throwing them like he throws his balls.

Pictures!

Sweet baby girl




Back off girls. He's only 11!!



Just stopping by to smell the flowers with Uncle RyRy.

Reed has so many words now. He says ball, bath, uh oh, that, go, and a few more. He still doesn't say mommy or daddy but he does say Thade! It's more like Dade but we know what he means. It's very sweet and makes Thade feel special that he calls him by name now.

It's hard to believe Adalae is already 6 weeks old. And Reed is saying words and wants to be so independent! Oh, and don't get me started on Thade. He recently asked to start wearing deodorant!!! It goes by so fast.

Girls Have Cooties!

Today I was going through Thade's text messages because I'm a mom and invading my kid's privacy is just what I do. Anyhow, one of the girls from his school sent him a text asking who he thought was prettier, her or Bailee. Thade's reply was, "I think your both ugly so what is this about?"

Classic.

Happy Mother's Day TO ME!

Although a little late, it's definitely the blue box (I mean thought) that counts! Rustin hid this under Adalae's burp cloth yesterday at dinner. Look closely at the bottom and you will see the beautiful black onyx earrings I got for Mother's Day. Honey, you did good!

Reed has learnned to get his crocs off of his feet. Even better, he's figured out out to suck his toes

Reed also has learned to blow his nose. Although he only blows it in an actual tissue about 5% of the time. Mostly he just walks around blowing snot out and sometimes, just for kicks, he will blow snot on Adalae's head under the disguise of a "kiss".

Gene

Rustin's grandfather, Gene Sosebee, went home to be with the Lord this morning. So, we are headed back to Abilene tomorrow for our 2nd funeral this week. Please pray for Rustin and his family during this time.

Have you ever washed AND dried a diaper? I had my first experience with this yesterday. Do you know how many tiny pieces one newborn size diaper can be shredded into? If you want to find out, just give one to your 14 month old to play with and then don't pay attention when he mixes it in with the laundry you have on the floor by the machine.

Crackers are also made to be crumpled into a million pieces. As I am typing this, Reed is crumbling his saltines on his tray and then trying to lick them up like a dog.

Mother of the year

Remember the picture from yesterday showing Reed entertaining himself while I took pictures of Adalae? Well, apparently Rustin left his ring on his clock radio antenna (great idea) and along with the power cords I allow my child to play with, Reed pulled the lamp and the radio off the nightstand. I find out last night that Rustin's ring is missing and Reed was obviously the last person near it.

So, I just returned from the radiology office because I thought Reed swallowed the ring. Mind you, this is AFTER I dug through his man-poop diaper to see if he passed it. After the circus (taking 2 babies to doctor and xray) was over, Rustin's ring thankfully was NOT in Reed's tummy or intestines. I found it within 10 minutes of returning home in Reed's laundry hamper.

Jo Ella Mason

My great-grandmother went home to be with the Lord early this morning. She was 91 and lived a great life. Even in her 80s, when Thade was a little boy, he spent at least 2 nights a week with her. They would go to McDonald's to play and chase the train that passed her house several times a day.

Her house was a favorite of mine and my cousins growing up also. We would play out back in the "muddy cake house" and we did exactly that - make muddy cakes. She cut our toast into 4 squares every morning even though we were all big enough to eat it whole. She hid us in the hallway with pillows every time it rained in case a tornado came. Her hallway walls were covered with our artwork. We ate cake for breakfast and eggs for dinner. We stayed up late watching cartoons from the pull out couch in her living room. She was an amazing person who loved us so much.

Nana, we miss you dearly and will see you soon.

Picture time

First things first, here are some recent pictures of the kiddos.

Cute picture right??

This is what Reed did to entertain himself for the time it took me to get her picture with her eyes open and arms NOT flailing this morning.

Blogging has definitely gone to the birds for me. As I sit here at 12noon, I am attempting to make a quick post while Reed is napping and I am eating my lunch while bouncing Adalae's bouncer because she doesn't like to sleep alone. Oh, did I mention my lunch? Lunch consists of me dipping Reed's crust from his sandwich into a jar of peanut butter. Maybe I'll have time for a quick salad later. I shouldn't complain about being too busy to eat and believe me I don't. Two pregnancies in 2 years has definitely added some pounds. But I'm working on it and it's a great excuse to get the kids out for long walks every day.

I learned something interesting about my husband this weekend. I truly believe he would starve (or be severely obese from fast food) if it were not for me. I was making an attempt to cook dinner (spaghetti of all the easy things) and Adalae needed to be nursed and Reed was latched on to my leg. So, I ask Rustin to brown the meat for me. He actually asked me how to brown meat? I guess I should know better since the time (thank goodness I walked in) he was going to make his mother's famous "BBQ cups" and I saw him spooning raw hamburger meat into biscuits and was planning to bake for 10-13 minutes and NOT get e coli.

Staying home with a 14 month old and 2 week old has been a ton of fun. It's very, very busy but I'm loving it thus far. We have our good and bad days but they are mostly good. I get up everyday and thank God for my awesome children, husband, family and friends. It has certainly helped that the spaghetti is the only meal I've had to cook since Adalae's arrival. My friends and family have taken care of every dinner so far. And I'm loving all the pink stuff people send us. We play a lot of dress up around here :)

Love you all and thank you!