WackyGradke

Flawed

2011-12-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about my flaws. I have big feet (size 10 - be jealous! - because I know you size 8s never get the cute shoes because the other 90% of the population wears your size). I'm not the healthiest person in the world. I'm not even the 132,000th healthiest person in the world. I have stretch marks and wrinkles and sun spots and scar on my legs. I have a "flawed" hand with only 4 and 1/3 fingers. I forget people's birthdays. I called my dad on December 3rd to wish him happy birthday. His birthday is December 6th. I forget what I did five minutes ago for that matter. But I'm finding myself less and less concerned with these flaws. Because Jesus doesn't care! He loves me if I choose not to run every night because I'd rather hang out with my kids and husband. He loves those kids that gave me all my stretch marks. He loves that my flawed hand helped me to fall head over heels in love with Him. And thankfully, He gave me a husband that remembers important dates and where I left my phone. Our God is an awesome God.

2011 will certainly be a year to remember for this Gradke family. I've lost body parts and people I love and a sense of myself at times. But what I've gained outweighs the heartache tenfold! I've grown closer to Him, to my family, and to so many fabulous friends that encourage me. I've met new people and have been able to help some of them. Our marriage is solid as a rock and my kids are watching Rustin and I follow Christ as best as we know how.

I want to share some highlights from the last 2 weeks (mostly because I don't remember much past then).

I got my prosthetic this week. I am a happy girl! The artists did an amazing job. Did you know your skin changes colors 10,000x per day. Try this: raise one hand in the air and hang one by your side for 10 seconds. Look at the difference in colors. That being said, the prostetic never really matches my skin perfectly. However, I do believe it's better than the black glove/hair roller solution I fashioned. So I'm content.

Like my ring? $7.88 at Wal-mart and it can be yours! Speaking of rings, I went to see my jeweler today. He is working with me to design a ring. Now I just need to convince my husband to pay for it. Here is what it would look like, sort-of. My diamond would sit in it and the band would be thicker to cover the seam of my prosthetic.

I saw what is left of my ring this weekend for the first time since the accident. To be honest, it was hard. My stomach turned, the lump closed off my airway and then the tears started flowing.

It's hard to see, but my engagement ring is in the same oval shape as the wedding band. I had another wedding band (one on each side) but I suppose the fish in Lake Grandbury are playing ring toss with it now. I loved my wedding ring. I never took it off. I mean NEVER. I showered with it, I slept with it, I laked with it. I've been waiting a long time to be able to wear it again. Although it won't be the same ring, it will still hold the same meaning. That I belong to Rustin, that he is my best friend and my husband.

Our tenants are terminating their lease early which means we are paying 2 mortgages starting Feb 1. We've decided to move back into our Bedford home which means we need to sell our HOUSE. <---- click and forward to all your friends! Thade is ecstatic about moving back to our old neighborhood. All of his friends are in the area. The kids will love the pool this summer too.

Schubert has been up to no good the last couple of weeks.

Can someone please invent an Elf on the Shelf solution for year round? Schubert is keeping my kids in check! Well, he is keeping Reed in line. Adalae isn't buying it.

I completed a little art project I found on Pinterest.

Reed and Adalae's school Christmas program. You won't be dissapointed if you watch through to Adalae's performence. She basically picked her nose and jumped up and down the entire time. It was aswesomesauce.

I have much to be thankful for. I could write pages and pages on all the greatness of my life. God has blessed me with family and friends that I love with all my heart. Most of all, I am thankful for His grace and perfect love. I am nothing without Him.

Dash

2011-10-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

I started this post this morning waiting at my surgeon's office for my surgery follow up. I wrote about how the surgery went well and about all the work I have yet before me to get this hand functioning. And how frustrating it is, but how I know God has this! And then I started writing about Sharon, because she and her family has been in my thoughts without pause. And now I've just deleted everything to start over.

I am blessed. I don't deserve 10 fingers, or even 2 arms. But by the grace of God, I have 2 arms and 9 fingers. I have legs and I am healthy. I have 3 wonderful, healthy children and a husband that loves me just as God calls him to. I am fortunate enough to have more income than 95% of the people in this world (and you do too if your household income is more than $35K). I am a talented recruiter and somewhat charasmatic juggler. Well, I juggled once in high school anyway. The point is, what am I doing with my dash? Gene Stallings spoke at an event I attended yesterday and he talked about our dash. The dash is the symbol that has the most meaning on a tombstone. It's the symbol between your birth and your death.

Today, we say goodbye to an amazing woman who did a whole lot with her dash. Sharon Washburn went home to receive her eternal reward today.

Isn't she beautiful? Always thinking of others, Sharon covered up the ridiculous glove I had to wear just after surgery for this photo. This was taken 8 days ago. It seems like 8 years ago I miss her so much already. I'm not worried about Sharon. She was so excited about the people she would meet in heaven. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, friends and family that had passed from this earthly world. She was so amazing, it's no wonder Jesus could wait for her no longer. But I know she will miss her husband Mike and her precious daughters, Randi and Taylor. Please pray for them. It would bring me great joy to know my blog readers pray for her family, even if you don't know her.

I believe God wrote this chapter in my life a ~~billion, trillion, gazillion~~ more years ago than I can even fathom. I pray that I keep my ears and eyes open to follow His plan as best I know how. He has big plans for my dash. This I know without a doubt. I'm sharing my story in our class at The Hills Southlake Campus on Sunday. The good, bad and ugly. But it's mostly good because God's plan is good!

Life Skills

2011-10-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm having surgery on Thursday to release a tendon in my hand that is stuck in scar tissue. Although it's outpatient and relatively minor, I will be under general anesthesia. So, now my mind wanders to all the things that can go wrong, even in minor surgery, which then leads to thoughts of my family functioning without me (even if just for a few days). I'm afraid the people I love most might be lacking some basic life skills:

Replacing the toilet paper.
First, remove the spindle from the wall mount. To remove the spindle from the wall mount, grasp one end with your index finger and thumb. Gently pull the spindle toward the other end to release it from the mount. If you find yourself yanking the spindle, take a deep breath and try again. Slide the toilet paper roll onto the spindle and insert back into wall mount. Although a paper towel roll is much larger, do not be intimidated. Follow the steps above and you shall find victory!

Using the laundry hamper.
Although the hamper does not have any buttons or blinking lights, it is very useful. Simply lift the lid, place your dirty clothing in the pile, and gently close the lid. The lid will not snap at you or bite you. Do not place food or drink items in the laundry hamper.

Flushing the toilet.
Much like making the bed, I do understand the argument, “I’ll just be using it again later so why flush it?” This argument is reasonable if you live somewhere really dry like Saudi Arabia or Arizona with the fear you will soon run out of drinking water and need to scavenge some from the toilet. However, we live in the good ole state of Texas where we freely frolic in toilet water so while I will thank you for your conservation attempt, feel free to flush away.

The stove.
The stove has more uses than a resting place for book bags, science projects or your chip bowl. Did you know it gets hot? And that heat can warm up food? Simply push the knob down and turn. Don’t be alarmed or confused by the clicking noise. The clicking sound is not a timer, a rat in the wall, or the sound your Call of Duty UMP 45 Vector makes just as you blast the enemy to unrecognizable bits. The clicking sound lights the stove. Then simply pour your food into a pot, and wait for the magic to happen. For the “how to use a can opener” tutorial, click here.

Trash can uses.
We are not saving our popcorn boxes, chip bags or juice bottles to house our pet locust. Once you’ve consumed a food or drink product, it is perfectly acceptable to remove the bottle from the refrigerator, the bag from the pantry, or the half consumed cheese stick from your night stand and place it in the trash can. Directions to the trash can: Walk to the kitchen sink. Look 2.3 feet to your right. Open trash drawer. Drop trash in trash can. Close trash drawer. If your item rolls off the top of the overflowing trash pile and on to the floor, please do not kick it under the cabinet for someone to discover when a pack of ants have set up a tent and built a small fire next to their food source.

Eating off the floor.
Home: OK every other Thursday after housekeeper comes. Eat at your own risk every other day of the year.
Home patio: OK if the item was dropped within the hour and the ants are blown off.
Public bathroom: In the stall, not OK. Outside the stall, not OK. In fact, please do not take food in a public bathroom, ever.

Juice and soda consumption.
Just because it's not milk and contains sugar doesn't mean the entire bottle or 12 pack needs to be consumed in 24 hours from purchase. Unless it reads: BENADRYL. Then by all means, drink away!

Clippings.
Discard of your nail clippings as to avoid a puncture injury to unsuspecting feet passing by. Plus it's just gross. If you walked into the bathroom to find tampon wrappers and armpit shavings lying everywhere, you might find it bothersome.

God is good. And Reed is a genius.

2011-09-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

I could complete this post with: I am blessed. God is good. That is all. But that's no fun for all our adoring fans, right? It's hard to know where to start, all the good stuff, even good stuff that brings so many tears at times. I've been so intentional about being quiet the last several weeks. I refuse to let work, friends, my health, even my family distract me from pursuing this stillness. I feel like I'm hearing Him, more clearly than I ever have before. And as a result of this intentional quietness, I feel that my work, my friends, my health and my family are receiving His blessings!

Although I currently have a sinus infection, I'm thankful for the drugs we have available to us today! 3 hours after a steroid and antibiotic shot, I feel a little like that time in middle school I took mini-thins - but a WHOLE LOT better. I returned to the office a couple weeks ago and everything has been great. Believe it or not, I've only had 2 people ask to see my finger. So I stick it in my ear to give the impression my ~~non-existent~~ entire finger is poking my big ole brain and then I sing, this little finger went to market, this little finger stayed home. I usually don't get much further before the poor unsuspecting fool slowly backs away, assuming I lost a bit more than a finger.

So speaking of fingers (or lack thereof), I'm doing well physically. I am healing, but it's such a slow process. I have some hand function deficiencies that do hinder my ability to perform basic tasks, like removing heavy pans from the oven and spinning a basketball on my ring finger. I am working hard in therapy 3x per week to gain as much function back as I can. I have a tendon stuck in scar tissue that has eliminated my ability to make a fist (or even close) and surgery is likely the only option to free it (although my therapist tries his best with his latest ~~torture~~ stretching techniques). But I'm electing to not have surgery for now. I'm determined to get my prosthetic as soon as possible because #1. I've met my out of pocket max for the year and #2. I can't wait to ask Thade's friends to "pull my finger".

Last week, I discovered that Reed has believed all this time that God would grow my finger back. I know it sounds silly, and I have to laugh a little especially since I joked about it needing periodic water and indirect sunlight, but it was more sad than anything. I've told him all summer how mommy will be fine, and that God is healing me. I obviously didn't realize what "healing" meant to my sweet Reed. I've had several talks with him since and he gets angry, and then sad. He really wants mommy's finger to grow back and it's so hard to explain to a 4 year old why it won't; and more importantly why it's OK that it doesn't. I just pray that God will give me the words to comfort my children and that they will know that I'm OK, that I'm better than OK, and that God is good. And I pray that all of this will soften their hearts when they encounter someone that is different. That they will will take a stand for those that are different and feel honored and proud to be their friend.

I learned last night that my sweet, precious niece Tatum, was charged this summer to pray for something, and to pray A LOT for it. That can be a tall order for a 5th grader who has lots of competing priorities like braiding hair and making bracelets (her bracelets are awesome!!). A short time after I had a huge forward step in my healing (new skin!), Barbara found out that I was the "thing" that Tatum had prayed for (Tatum didn't mention it before). And that Tatum had accepted this charge full on and prayed A LOT for me and specifically, for skin. I mean, come on God, how can you say no to Tatum? I know I can't, and am thankful He didn't either!

Sharon continues to inspire me daily. I love my visits with her and I think she likes me around sometimes. I find myself especially emotional after a visit with her (aforementioned tears). I know she is on her way home, and home is not her lovely house in Ft. Worth, but that doesn't make it anymore sad that we all have to finish our days here without her. Ok, so a little embarrassing to admit, but I feel like a Labrador around her. I want to lay at her feet, crawl in her lap (except I have more sense than a dog to know that my big ole butt would crush her!). Come on ya'll, I know I'm not the only one with this overwhelming urge and need to be in her presence so I expect some comments admitting your canine tendencies with Sharon Washburn! I've been praying for Sharon and why He has forged this strong connection between us just as her life here on earth is coming to an end. It's plainly obvious for me as Sharon has been such a source of strength for me, a mentor and example of what it is like to truly give it all to God and to be joyful and praise Him no matter what. And I definitely needed some of that this summer. But Sharon has no shortage of people that love her - and that she makes room for me is such a blessing. His plans are bigger than this, though. My sister-n-law Barbara had a word from God last night in my bathroom (you all know your best ideas are born in the 30 seconds of peace you have in the bathroom). Well she had 5 words - Sharon Washburn Center for Hope. So, I don't know what I'll do with the Center for Hope, but you better believe I'm getting involved. Unfortunately, I know too well where some of these ladies are coming from, and I also know what laying it all at the cross will do for them!

Sidebar - because my blog needs some proud mommy content:
Not only do I make gorgeous kids, I make gorgeous kids with big ole brains (just like my big ole brain as noted earlier). Not only can Reed say the pledge of alligience, he knows why we say it. In Reed's words, "We say the pledge of allegiance in honor of all the policeman who have died because it brings them back to life." Isn't that so true? He might be thinking about mummified policeman pulling mommy over for a speeding ticket, but I choose to believe he is genius and there is so much wisdom in his words. We say the pledge so that we remember what we stand for as a country and to remember those that have sacrificed for our freedom.

Check out Reed's reading skillz as he reads to RyRy. I'm not sure why there is so much background noise, we only had 6 kids in the house. (if you can summon enought patience to get through the first 20 seconds, background noise subsides) Mommy is so proud that he can ~~memorize~~ read a book!

FAQs (in case you are having difficulty putting a finger on your questions)

2011-09-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've decided to go back to the office next week if my Dr. says it's OK at my Tuesday appointment. You see, I work in an office with 250 people and somehow know ALL OF THEM. Needless to day, I have not been looking forward to the onslaught of concern and questions when I return. Sooooo, I put together some FAQs to hang on my wall in hopes I can answer your questions (without answering your questions of course).

Q:
How did it happen? (choose one):

A:

a) A barracuda bit it off when I was deep sea diving in the Amazon.
b) A rabid anorexic bit it off as I was offering her a doughnut.

c) You see, there was this baby on a train track (or was it a squirrel?) and the train was coming awfully fast…… oh look, a chicken!

Do you still HAVE the finger?

A:
If using answer a: Yes – I actually was eating barracuda at a Chinese restaurant 3 weeks later and nearly choked on it.
If using answer b: Yes- luckily I have been fully schooled on the Heimlich Maneuver and was able to dislodge it from her bony gullet.
If using answer c: Yes and No – so here come da train and there was the squirrel and……… is that YOUR chicken?

Q:
Which finger is it?

A:
Don’t worry, “that finger” is still intact.

Q:
Is there anything I can get for you?

A:
Sure, I’ll have a ~~finger~~ Butterfinger please.

Q:
Gee, did that hurt?

A:
No not at all, I was on a local anesthetic as a precaution.

Q:
Will it grow back?

A:
Sure, it just needs periodic water and indirect sunlight.

Q:
So, do you miss that finger?

A:
You know, I thought I would but then I have discovered it isn’t very useful – not like the middle one or the pointer or the pinky when you are sipping tea with the classy Kardashians and that THUMB!!! Thinking about getting rid of the one on my other hand to get more streamlined.

I will get by, with a little help from my friends

2011-08-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been especially trying for me. I don't really know why. I came back to "reality" from vacation in California to "realize" life goes on. I have really great days, then not so great days. But I have realized my bad days correspond with my "I can do this myself" attitude which distances me from God. I know He is good. I know He gives me strength. I know He has a plan for me. I know He will reveal His plan in His own time. Problem is, patience is NOT one of my strengths.

But He is faithful and He gives me just what I need, just when I need it. This weekend has been blessed. Truly a God-breathed weekend. My best friend and sister in Christ Leslie came to lift me up Friday night. She thought she was coming for a free dinner but ended up counseling me until midnight. Rustin and I had lunch on Saturday with Chris and Stacie Hatchett. Chris is our minister and we really look up to he and Stacie. They both had some great words for me and I left lunch feeling better than I had in weeks. Then Saturday night at Leslie's suggestion, Rustin and I watched Soul Surfer. Soul Surfer is the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a pro-surfer that lost her arm in a shark attack. Through her unwavering faith in God, she went on to surf competitively, serve others in His name and has been an inspiration to many around the world. This morning in class, we heard the story from a brother in Christ about how God worked in his life through forgiveness on those that trespass on us. Tonight, we had the fortune to have dinner with the Washburns. Sharon Washburn has decided to cease treatment for the cancer that is ravishing her body. You can read her story here. Sharon is one of the most amazing women I've had the pleasure to know! God continues to answer no to her prayers for healing, her disease has progressed considerably leaving her unable to do things we take for granted every day. Yet she sat there lifting ME up. And she and Mike have been praying for ME everyday. Sharon said something that really stuck with me. Well she said lots of things that will stick with me but one thing I especially want to share. She said, "Your kids are watching how you handle this." How true is this although it's not crossed my mind. This is my chance to praise Him even in the face of adversity; to be an example to my children. Talk about perspective.

I'm in awe. I shouldn't expect anything less from Him but it's still amazing every time he does this. Here's the deal. The last few weeks have been so much harder because my heart was hardening and I could feel the evil one planting those seeds of fear and doubt while I'm most vulnerable. And how God fought back for me! He gave Leslie, Chris, Stacie and Sharon just the words I needed to hear over the last 2 days. None of them could have known in just what way the devil has attacked me. I didn't have to say anything. Because He knows. And He loves me, no doubt.

I am a woman who did not get her way. But Lord, I choose to follow you no matter what.

He's potty trained, promise.

2011-08-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Although I might end up deleting this post one day, like the post that forced my blog private so Thade could save face with his buddies, it's way too funny not to share. I'm sorry Reed, I'm sure you will spew obcentities at me when you (or your girlfriend) are old enough to google yourself. But just think of all those people you made giggle. You can thank Uncle RyRy for sending me such awesomeness. Love, Mom

Toenails: Torture!

2011-08-09T22:02:00.001-07:00

So, beach vacation day #3 started off with a toe injury that sent me to urgent care. I had to have my big toenail removed. Defintely the 2nd most painful experience of my life. I may have drawn blood from Rustin. All I know is poor guy had to pry my fingers out of his hand. Can't go in the sand, have to cancel my ballet class, yada yada. At least I fulfilled my bucket list item of driving the scooter at Target.

Check out the toe sock. Matches my finger sock quite well. Since
Memorial Day, I've sprained a shoulder tubing, injured my knee and wrist running, my hand/finger sliding off a dock, and now this. Maybe I just shouldn't leave the bed. Ever.

I know I'll have way more interesting pics from vacation to share than pitiful me on a scooter. Oh, except I haven't taken one yet. (I'll get right on that) Newport Beach is lovely as always. Perfect weather, beautiful beaches and great company. The kids are having a blast, I'm getting a tan, and my toenail will
grow back so I shouldn't complain. But it still does hurt like, well, getting your toenail ripped out so I suppose I'll whine anyway!

Happy Birthday Husband

2011-08-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

To Rustin:

I'm so glad you were born on this day 32 years ago. I think my life would ~~suck~~ be much different if your mom decided enough is enough! after your brothers. Who would let the kids in bed with us? (they definitely know better than to show their face on mom's side at 2am). Who would find songs for me on iTunes? (nope - I never learned iTunes). Who would coach our sweaty teenager's basketball team? (um, when they make wine tasting a sport, I'm all in!). Who would tell me about the awesome TV shows I should be watching? (Breaking Bad most recently thank you very much). Who would play golf with such a ~~pitiful and dreadful~~ skilled, accomplished and somewhat charasmatic woman such as myself? Who would shave my right armpit in the shower when I didn't have use of my left hand? (I'm sure in your humbleness you are silently begging me to stop here) So- most importantly, who would love me just the way I am in just the perfect way? You are my best friend. I love you.

Your wife

Shock Therapy - They don't just do it in the movies

2011-07-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

One thing I've always wanted to try besides ~~Botox, Taming a wild hawk~~ guitar lessons is shock therapy. Well, today I got my chance! What a weird (and not so comfortable) experience. Basically, they hook you up to these nodes kinda like they do to crazy people in movies. Except I didn't get to attack my annoying neighbor with a hot-glue gun or hide in a porta-potty toliet to deserve it. The nodes send a shock to motor points that force your body into positions. In my case, the shocks force my hand to close into a fist (well as close to a fist as I can get anyway). It's interesting to say the least.

I saw the surgeon yesterday. I didn't exactly get good news, but it's not bad news yet. The skin flap he used to cover my stud is not gonna make it (that's OK flap-dude, just grow some more skin under your dying, patheticness and we'll be cool). I have an option to go ahead with the skin graft surgery. If I do, my healing time will be shortened but I would lose more finger. And it's another surgery. My other option is to keep waiting and pray that there is indeed good healthy skin growing under dying flap-dude. (Mr. Surgeon recommends this option). My patience is growing very thin with the healing process. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss running. I sleep on the wrong side of the bed to keep my hand on the outside and miss MY side. I miss wrestling and picking up my kiddos. It's hot and I want to swim. I miss knitting (oh wait, I don't knit). I'm still not able to hang my hand by my side and it basically hurts most of the time. And did I mention it hurts? Ok, ok, pity party over.

Overall, I'm doing well. Rustin is fabulous, my kids are wild but sweet and my friends call and visit often. I have a new splint that leaves me with almost zero functionality but makes the injury less obvious which means I can stop telling ~~nosy~~ concerned strangers that an Obamacare supporter bit my finger off after I punched him.

No, MY bundt cake!

2011-07-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

People bring me food everyday. They also bring me dessert. I love it and these meals are truly a blessing. However, I can't run yet and I've encouraged the kids to have lots of dessert every night. Because believe me, I will finish whatever is left the next day. And although I love muffins, not looking for a top.

So today, my sweet friend Chesley brought a little of this heaven over.

The kids were begging for seconds but nope, these little heaven cakes are all mine. I think Adalae wanted to punch something (probably me).

Bring on the muffin top!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Good news, finally

2011-07-19T17:36:00.001-07:00

Thade's curve in his spine is not serious. And now I have some major ammunition to make him sit up straight. Any time I see him slouching, I just contort myself into the most unnatural position possible and walk in front of him. He sits up straight then, very straight.

Thank you for the prayers!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hello BlueCross, it's me Heather

2011-07-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

So BlueCross BlueShield (or should I say Overhead Door Corp) really thought they hit it big with a member that passes every well check up with flying colors and has a anomaly child who's never even had an ear infection. Well, the medical expenses the Gradke family has incurred this month will make every premium payment I ever made worth it. Probably every house and car insurance premium payment too. Today Thade had his well check and we found out he has Scoliosis. We don't know yet the degree but he had an X-ray late this afternoon. We should know more tomorrow. I'm guessing his practice of hunching over the XBox for 12 hours a day will not be recommended therapy. So, I'm asking for more prayers. Please pray the scoliosis is not serious and that Thade can continue a normal, active life - with better posture.

I've started therapy and in addition to my home exercises, see the occupational therapist 2x per week. I asked for a parking pass my last visit and the valet guy was all, "what do I look like? a college campus security guard". And I'm like, "what I look like? money bags?". And then my BMW pulled up and all I had was my sad looking hand to wave around for pity. I still didn't get a parking pass.

Tomorrow I see my surgeon again and get the stitches removed. Not really looking forward to it. I wonder if they can put me under for that? My finger doesn't look better, but I'm hoping it's just because I see it everyday. I'm praying the surgeon sees something else that means no skin grafts, no more surgery.

On to less depressing stuff - kid pictures!

Adalae helps Barbara water the plants.

Reed loves "butter cake". He also wore this hat for 72 hours straight. Frisco Rough Riders game.

Thade made this boat with his granddad. He could only use duct tape and cardboard. Crazy, huh? He placed 3rd in the race and won best style.

Reed got to join the boys annual camping trip this year. It was so cold, the trip lasted an entire 12 hours.

It's only a finger.

2011-07-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

It hardly seems right my first post in over a year is about this. Believe me, my life has been full of awesomeness this past year. The past week just happens to have sucked, big time. Losing a body part has created such a strange mix of emotions. One minute I'm hit with the realization that my physical appearance is forever changed. But then I remember it's not forever and in heaven, I'll be perfect and look just like Jesus. It's weird - although this freaky thing happened to me and at times I feel like I'll never be the same, at the same time I've never felt more blessed. And I definitely know now that everyone here on earth loves me just the same, freaky hand or not. Rustin has truly been perfect during this storm. My kids are amazing and Thade has actually started hanging out with mom again (on his own will!). My sweet, sweet mother in law, PJ, hopped the first plane to Dallas the night it happened to help us that week. My Mom calls me every day. My sister in law, Barbara, sleeps in cold, stinky, hospital room chairs with nothing more than a beach towel and takes me to Dr. appointments. Our friends bring us food and prayers and sweet words of comfort every single day. My work family has been so supportive and flexible with my needs. I could go on and on.

My sweet friend Kelli sent me this verse last week and I read it everyday.

There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! Romans 5:3-5
I know God wouldn't give me more than I can handle. And I may not understand today what I should be alert for, but believe me, I'm alert. I do believe this seemingly tragic experience is preparing me for something bigger than a finger.

Now for the medical update and prayer requests. And please pray because I promise God is listening. So my stud... (I think I vomit a little in my mouth anytime I hear the word stump now so I will call it a stud. sounds much more attractive, don't you think?). The skin flap the surgeon used to cover the top of my stud is dead. We plan to watch it a few more days in hopes there is new skin forming underneath and the dead skin will eventually scab and come off. Otherwise, I'll need another surgery for a skin graft. So please pray for healing. I just don't know if I can take another surgery right now.

I have my 1st physical therapy appointment tomorrow. I saw the therapist at my surgeon's office Tues and she gave me hand exercises to work on. Lemme tell you, it is painful getting this hand working again. I could really use some prayers for strength and the willpower to keep up with this therapy.

Lastly, say a little prayer for Rustin. Or while you're at it, send him a note telling him to keep up the good work because he deserves some serious love. Emotionally, I am getting better every day. And I owe much of that progress to my sweet husband who remembers to tell me how much he loves me, and often. After all, it is just a finger.

Groddy Boys

2010-02-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

So, Thade got his first pimple yesterday. Although it was throbbing on his cheek and pulsating a tiny red light, he wasn't even aware of it. This morning I gave my first lesson as a mother on how to pop a zit. After 5 attempts on his own, I finally just popped it myself and put some face wash in his shower that I'm sure he'll consistently use twice a day from now on. Actually, I have a feeling I'll be revisiting the shampoo incident soon.

Today after his basketball game, Thade got in the car to drive home. After a few minutes he says, "Gross what smells so bad in here?" After a slight pause he realized, "Oh, it's me"

Why hasn't someone invited a Glade Plug-In Patch for smelly boys?

I'm happy to say that Reed is just about potty trained! Assuming you don't count the diaper full of 6 or 7 pees he wakes up in every morning. He even poops in the potty! 2 down, 1 to go. I actually brought out the baby potty for Adalae to sit on when Reed goes, but as you can imagine, that created chaos because there is NO way Adalae is sitting on anything that used to belong to Reed.

I've also started grad school. It's been quite the time commitment but Rustin has been very supportive and helps so much with the kids. I'm definitely blessed to have such a great husband!

Potty Training

2010-01-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, enough is enough. When your child says to you, "Mommy I pooped. Peas change my diaper", it's time to get serious about potty training. I am determined to have Reed potty trained by his 3rd birthday. This gives me about 5 weeks (yikes). Here is my plea for help. Please share your potty training tricks, tips, and bribes. I haven't potty trained a kid in 10 years and to be completely honest, day care potty trained my last one. While we are being honest, I also have to admit the reason my child is not even close to a diaper-free existence. Diapers are just easier! No scrubbing pee out of the carpet; no scraping poop out of Buzz LightYear underwear; no stares from other moms at the store because your child has obviously peed a small river all over himself and you don't have a change of clothes; no moments of panic when your child falls in the toliet at Chilis. Reed will sit on the potty, he will pee in the potty but he fights it. I'm told he poops in the potty at school, but I've yet to see this feat at home. He's got the reading part down though. Today he sat on the potty for 20 minutes with Golf Magazine.

I should own a piece of CareNow

2009-12-30T19:38:00.000-08:00

Had our 74th visit to CareNow for the year today. Some kid pushed Adalae down at school and broke her collarbone.
She is doing fine and sleeping now. Please say a quick prayer for quick healing.

Lessons Learned

2009-12-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous time in Phoenix this year for Christmas. Thade opens yet another video game.

Adalae at the park.

Reed catapults from the slide.

Grandpa with his baby girls.

Santa brought Adalae a dollhouse.

Two days in a row we attempted to take a family picture. Out of 1200 pictures, we got this one good photo of Adalae.

After another 600 attempts, this was the best family picture we got. Yes, I am "grabbing" Reed, and yes, at this point I wanted to be ~~strangling~~ "grabbing" him about 6 inches higher.

On a side note, my dishwasher broke the week before we left for Phoenix. I actually had to go to the store to buy dish soap and a scrubber. On a good note, I refuse to cook dinner until it's fixed.

On Wednesday, we drove up to Flagstaff and rode the Polar Express to the North Pole (or Santa's Hole if you ask Reed) and back. There was so much snow! The kids loved it.

Reed calls All Aboard!

Reed and Mommy.

Rustin sings "FIVE GOLDEN RINGS"

Adalae and Uncle RyRy

Now, in the spirit of giving, I'll share with you my top 10 lessons learned for 2010.

LESSON ONE:
There are 4 stages of Santa for kids. Three of those stages are seen here in our 2008 Santa photo. Stage one: I don't know Santa from Adam and would really sit on anyone's lap without a fuss (Adalae). Stage two: TERROR (Reed). Stage four: Why does my mom make me sit on this fat guys lap when I know she will be the one to bring my ITouch. (Thade)

In our 2009 photo, you can see that Adalae has moved from the stage of blissful unawareness to the TERROR stage. Reed is in stage 3: I love Santa and know he brings me cool stuff so I'll sit and take a picture and be happy about it. Thade is now officially too cool to sit on Santa's lap.

LESSON TWO:
Do not leave a two year old unattended with Silly Putty. Even he is busy making you a "dolphin-whale".

LESSON THREE:
At some point for every child "family time" is just not cool anymore. Thade was not nearly as excited to receive his magical bell from Santa as the other kids were.

LESSON FOUR:
If you are flying, taking full advantage of the carry on allowances. Even if it means your two year old also has a carry on plus one personal item. You're paying for it!

LESSON FIVE:
If you buy one kid a car, you better buy one for every other kid within the same age. PJ learned the hard way this year and had to buy Reed his own car as an early birthday present to prevent he and Adalae from killing each other.

Lesson five continued: Even if it's a Barbie, your son will want to play with it.

LESSON SIX:
Don't offer your kid a drink just so they will leave you alone because they WILL take you up on the offer. Good thing I never offered them my wine.

LESSON SEVEN:

Oxyclean removes sharpie from the carpet. Ajax removes sharpie from hardwood floors and wooden tables.

LESSON EIGHT:

When you are feeling that all hope is lost and your child will NEVER fall asleep, alas, they will fall asleep (although likely at the most inopportune time)

LESSON NINE:

Last but certainly not least. Don't buy cheap diapers. I learned this the hard way tonight when I took Adalae pants off and her diaper and everything included fell off along with them. Here is the aftermath. The poop in between the cushions was especially fun to clean up.

LESSON TEN:

Thank God everyday for the blessings He has bestowed upon us!

Fine print: This post took me 2 hours because blogger is awful. After all that, you can see the issues with spacing that wouldn't correct, etc. Please let me know if you are aware of an easier blog hosting site. It would be great if it was compatible with Word 2007s blog posting capability. Otherwise, I don't know if I can do this again!!

I'm becoming terrible at this

2009-12-05T19:37:00.001-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been 4 months since my last post. Actually, I've been gently reminded by several family members and friends so I have to admit I'm fully aware of my negligence. It has been a busy fall and winter (is it winter yet?). All I know is it's cold and I'm counting the days until we will be in Phoenix. And then I will start counting the days until spring.

Because I could write a book about the last few months in the Gradke household and I know I realistically only have your attention for about 20 seconds, here are some pictures to ooh and ahh over. As you with kids know, picking out pictures is no easy feat. Most of my pictures look like this:

Thade's first day of Jr. High. His football team went almost undefeated (only lost 1 game) and he made the basketball team! He also is in an AP Math class and making good grades. We are very proud!

We've attended a few sporting events. My least favorite: The Rangers (I hate baseball)

And my favorite, the suite at Cowboys Stadium. Not that I necessarily love football, but the convienence of an all you eat buffet and air conditioning can certainly make anything fun.

Last weekend we went to see "Ice" at the Gaylord Texan. It was 9 degrees in there. BRRRR.

I'll throw this picture in for those that are stressed out about Reed choking Adalae in Pic #1. They do have their rare moments of peace.

Some museum in Dallas.

Halloween. Adalae the parrot:

Reed AKA "Buzz Whiteyear"

Thade AKA "Cereal Killer" and his friends, Noelle and Carli

So, Reed has decided he doesn't need a nap anymore. He's only 2! I still lay him down, praying it's a phase, but after 5 months of no naps I should realize it's a lost cause. This is how we find him around 4pm on no nap days:

My future's so bright......

Happy 30th Rustin. Welcome to the club.

2009-08-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Rustin's birthday. We have been celebrating for 2 weeks. Last weekend Shayne, Amy, and Carter came to visit. They stayed with us on Friday night.

So, you know how there are times that you think your child might have an evil streak? I happen to have the proof.

(Carter in the background. Doesn't he look hungry?)

Saturday, I had a surprise gathering at the horse track with some of Rustin's buddies. Rustin won big so I'd say he had a good day.

This weekend we went to Surfside Beach with Josh, Alicia and their adorable kiddos - Grace and Brady. Jason and Hayley also came out to see us on Saturday and we had lunch with them in Galveston on Sunday.

Josh, Grace and Brady.

Reed having some water with his sand.

The nice view from the beach house.

The not so nice view from the beach house.

Rustin and Josh.

Alicia and I.

The kite that flew for 3 days straight. And yes, that is a water slide you see there. Well, 1/2 a water slide to be accurate. Surfside has plenty of renovation left to complete since the storm. Apparently, the water situation has not been at the top of the agenda. The water was yellow and you felt dirtier after your shower than before.

The only ~~bribe~~ toy we had left to get the babies stopped screaming after 5 hours in the car. If any of you are still considering the purchase of the Iphone, take your 2 and 1 year old on a 6 hour car ride without it.

Adalae has quite the mullet.

The kids and I had dinner last week with Leslie and Ally at Life's A Beach in Lewisville. This place is great! They have a huge sand box, seating outside by the sand box and Dos Equis on tap. What else could you ask for?

Today, on our way back home, we stopped in at the NASA center in Houston. Personally, I thought it was overpriced and overrated, but you can't put a price on wearing out your kids so they sleep for 2 hours in the car.

After their nap in the car (Thank you God), we all needed a break so we stopped at a random Dairy Queen off I45. I had a moment that every mother fears. Reed fell in the toilet while trying to potty. I might have vomited a little in my mouth but I knew I had a Reeces Blizzard to get back to so I toughed it out.

How times have changed

2009-07-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

I've recently been thinking about how different Thade's pre-teen years are from when I was this age. For instance, I recently paid an $80 water bill so that Thade can take 2 showers a day (but not change out of his pajama pants for a week) and Reed can play in the shower for 30 minutes at a time several times per week. In contrast, I was allowed to finally take showers only when I had my own shower (and water bill) because taking showers used more water than taking baths and thus my parents were "conserving water". Secondly, I did not have a TV in my bedroom until I graduated from college and could afford one. We have FIVE, yes 5 TVs with cable in this house and Thade has his own computer that he constantly complains is "too slow". Lastly, my summers starting at 12 were spent at the Little League baseball park working the concession stand to make my yearly purchase of Nikes so I didn't have to wear the K-mart brand. Thade is on his 4th pair of Nikes this year and his 3rd vacation this summer. But yet he's bored all the time? Rustin and I picked him up from church camp on Thursday only to find he hadn't brushed his teeth since Saturday. At what point do kids notice the chicken remnants left between their two front teeth? I notice within an hour. Apparently my child didn't notice for a week.

Adalae is definitely a mommy's girl. If I'm within sight, she is stuck to me like a leech.

Mema came to visit us over the 4th. The kids loved it. Reed would wake up every day asking, "where's mema, where's mema". And Adalae just wants me to hold her.

We went to Bedford Splash the day after the 4th. We had a blast until some kid pooped in the pool and they shut it down to "clean". After the 3rd time my clever 2 yr old snuck into the contaminated pool and the lifeguard ~~gave us dirty looks~~ rescued him we decided it was time to go.

We had our housewarming party last weekend. I had a rare moment of domestication and made a fruit bouquet. I'm taking orders as long as you 1. don't expect it delivered 2. don't expect the fruit to be fresh 3. have no expectations at all except for fruit on a stick

My good friend Susan also had her baby on Saturday at 29 weeks pregnant. He is adorable and his name is Eli. He is 2 lbs 14 ounces. I got to be his guest for the day last Wed. Since then, he is off all oxygen and breathing on his own. Please keep Eli in your prayers for continued healing.

I know you are all wanting to know the latest ~~disgusting~~ cute trick my kids have up their sleeve. Reed loves to play with plastic cups which is totally cool since they cost 3 cents a piece. Here I found Reed spitting in his cup, drinking it and chanting "yummy water, yummy water".

I'm still alive, barely

2009-06-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

My apologies to those loyal fans who have been going through wackygradke withdrawals. The last 2 months have been especially busy for our family so I'll hit the highlights.

We bought a new house. I love it and call it my "grown-up house"

Which is good because I guess I'm officially a "grown-up". My posse at work took me for sushi on my birthday and decorated my desk. I have a colleague turning 50 on Thursday so I suggesting getting her a gift basket with Depends, hemorrhoid cream and replacing her desk chair with a wheelchair. Surprisingly, HR vetoed that idea.

I got a haircut. I don't know how many "inches" but I would estimate 2 feet? All I know and care about is that I can fix my hair in 4 minutes each morning.

Oh and Rustin and the kids did great for my birthday. I got new flip flogs, a bag and some jewelery from Anthropology!

The boys attended yet another ~~torture session~~ baseball game without me.

Thade at Main Street Days festival.

Reed just chillin.

My new fireplace! Oh yeah, and the kids.

Adalae's new digs courtesy of PJ

So... my grown up house also has a grown up shower which Reed loves to play in. The best thing about this is that he can be left in there for short periods of time without the fear of drowning. Rustin, of course, would never dream of leaving him in the shower unattended. However, in a moment of desperation this past Saturday while Rustin was frolicking on the golf course, I left Reed in there for 5 minutes to tend to Adalae. This is what I found upon my return:

Now you all know I wouldn't waste my time with a post that didn't have something totally inappropriate so I hope you don't have a weak stomach today!

I hope you all have a Happy 4th of July!

Hair and house

2009-04-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight after dinner I thought I would perform a "quick trim" of Reed's hair.

I should have known I'm no match for a squirming 2 year old. Reed's cut went from a "trim" to "mullet" to "bowl" to "take a little more off the back" and then finally "give up":

I'm so sad. I feel like I amputated some vital part of my poor son. I know it will grow back but not soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

On a positive note, Rustin and I made an offer on a house that was accepted today. We are very excited and expect you all to visit us this summer. In addition, we are about to venture into landlord territory and lease our current home. If you know anyone looking for a 4 bdrm house with pool in Bedford, send them our way!

2 birthdays + infectious disease = a weekend at the Gradkes

2009-04-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

In my 30 years on this earth, I may have unconciously come to the conclusion that many ailments my parents warned me about were myths. I've never had these ailments nor have I known anyone to be affected. Two of them are poison ivy/oak, and infected cuts/scratches. I never really believed all those times I played in filthy creeks and bacteria infected forests that I would contract poision ivy. Nor did I ever think subjecting myself to the awful burning of peroxide would prevent infection.

So yesterday Thade and I are hanging out on the couch watching the Wiggles or some such when Thade casually starts scratching his arm. After a few minutes he pulls his sleeve up and asks, "Mom is there something on my arm?" This is what I see:

Ummm, yes, there is something on your arm! So gross. Immediately I packed up all 3 kids, called Rustin to cut his golf game short and headed to CareNow. In addition to this infected cut, Thade has a dozen more infected scratches on his legs, plus a bad case of poison ivy with a lovely rash all over his neck and chest. (Which by the way he never noticed until I pulled his shirt up in the Dr. office) He started a steriod pack and is taking 2 different antibiotics. Today it's worse but we are hoping for improvement tomorrow or we have to go back to the Dr.

Saturday I survived the 2 birthday parties. It drizzled most of Thade's party but the boys didn't care. They played football in the mud and had fun. I can't believe he is 12. I know its cliche but the time really does fly.
Here I was desparately trying to keep one of the 12 candles lit thought the Happy Birthday song. It never did stay lit.

Adalae's party was fun also.

Aunt Barbara brought this adorable hat for her to wear. Although she absolutely hated it on, we did get a good picture or two.

Reed enjoyed eating her cake........

And opening her presents.....

>

Reed's blankie isn't the only thing he likes to put up his nose.

So, what do you think, are these kids related or what?

Reed and I had a tea party tonight with Adalae's new tea set and real tea! (decaf obviously, I'm not a complete nitwit)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

After a friendly reminder from my sweet mother-n-law and Aunt Ann ~~of what a blog slacker I've become~~ that some do enjoy reading my blog, I'll highlight the last 2 months in Gradke land.

Adalae:
Now blows kisses, walks, is a mommy's girl, and will continue to eat anything and everything until she reaches the point of regurgitation.
Reed:
Talks ALL THE TIME (as evidenced in the video at the end), now sleeps in a big-boy car bed with Elmo sheets, loves to sit on the potty AFTER he pees in his diaper, is a daddy's boy, and only eats french fries and pretzels.

This is where we sometimes find Reed sleeping after an especially tough night of our failed attempts to keep him in bed.

Thade:
Recently came home with his first black eye, doesn't care much for mommy or daddy unless he wants something (not really - he is still a sweet boy most of the time), and eats like a full grown man.
Rustin:
Was in CA all last week for work. This is all that comes to mind as during this same week I played single mom -- the babies started swim lessons, Thade got in a fist fight, and Reed got double ear infections.
Side note: Adalae's baby dedication was also last week. I almost didn't mention this part since I felt super guilty for not going but at this point I'm over the guilt and content with survival.
Me:
I got a new Tahoe. And it's black! I started a new job. I plan to start grad school in the fall. And I might very well be insane. The new job has seriously put a hamper on my blog posting ability for 2 reasons.
#1. I like what I'm doing and would rather be doing my actual work while at work.
#2. Blogs are restricted sites.

Other notes of interest, this Saturday I am throwing 2 (yes TWO) separate birthday parties. This weekend will raise my party host tally to 6 in the last 2.5 months. Thade will be 12 and Adalae is 1 already! Obviously, I tried talking Thade into sharing his party with his sister but I guess "cool" doesn't involve Baby Einstein when your 12. And Adalae WILL be having a Baby Einstein party because I saved all of Reed's decorations from last year. I even saved the Einstein candle that was on his birthday cake. I am not above reusing a candle!

About this time next month, I will officially have been on this earth for 3 decades.

Ok, that covers the major stuff. Now time for pictures!

Easter at Mimi's in Atown.

MeMaw and Adalae

I got one out of three possibly looking at the camera but all 3 are looking in the vincinity of the camera. I'm liking it!

Spring Break vacation - 20 something hours in the car later

The beach

PJ and Adalae

Grandpa, Reed and Peaches

Mimi's great grand children

Reed takes care of bidness!

I have the greatest husband in the world. It's 9:30 on Sunday night and Rustin is at the grocery store for me. I am blessed!

Are you starring in your own movie?

2009-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

My Sunday trip to Wal-mart was an annoying reminder of how oblivious people are to their surroundings. So, in an attempt to do my part in the betterment of humanity, I will point out 10 annoyances that sign you think you are starring in your own movie while grocery shopping.

10. Rather than taking the most direct route from the exit to the parking lot (or vice versa), you leisurely stroll diagonally while simultaneously pushing your cart, talking on your cell phone, smoking a cigarette, and dragging your toddler behind you.
9. While scoping out the cereal, you leave your cart parked directly in the middle of the aisle. If you are especially annoying, the cart is parked horizontally. Even after three "excuse mes", you still don't notice that someone is trying to get by until the cart is "accidentally" ~~rammed~~ bumped into you.
8. Chancing a hungry vagrant might be grocery shopping that day, you leave your child's half-chewed chicken nugget in the middle of the bread aisle.
7. Express check-out = 15 items or less. Self check-out = ASSUMED 15 items or less.
6. Ooops! I forgot just one thing! Or, ooops, I left my wallet in the car! Need I say more?
5. Kids on wheels. Really? Must your child skate down the aisles in his Heelys pushing your cart 30 mph while you obliviously decide between Cheddar or Swiss?
4. You have not recognized we are in the 21st century and write checks. You are especially annoying if you begin the actual check-writing process after every item has been scanned, bagged, and placed into your cart.
3. Checkout belt hogs. Your items should be placed on the belt as close together as possible, and non-breakables stacked. If you have placed your items on the conveyor belt, MOVE out of the way.
2. Your milk selection process goes like this: you prop the door open with your cart, thus blocking the way for any other potential 1% milk buyers; You then proceed to dig through your purse for your reading glasses; Once you find your reading glasses, you pull out the front 2 milk jugs from every milk slot to ensure you find that one jug that expires 2 days later than the rest.
1. You sneeze something into your hand, proceed to examine it, wipe it on your pants, then sift through the zucchini with the same snotty hand.

Other than the dreaded weekly Wal-Mart trip, we had a great weekend.
On Saturday, we saw "Deep Sea" at the Omni Theatre in Ft Worth. Correction, Thade, Adalae, and I saw "Deep Sea". After 5 minutes, Reed was freaked out so they spent the rest of the movie outside climbing up and down a flight of stairs (love ya Rustin!).

Warner is so right about how differently your Valentine Day is celebrated once children come along. Saturday night for the Gradke family was spent at a nail-biting 11 year old basketball game, then a romantic dinner at Taco Bell drive-thru.

Rustin was so sweet and delivered flowers to my office on Friday for Valentine's day. Saturday morning, I gave Rustin his V-Day card and a box of chocolate. 20 minutes later, after I showered, I came into the kitchen to find my V-day surprise. Along with a sweet card, Rustin re-gifted the box of chocolates I had given him 20 minutes before.

Should I say, "It's the thought that counts."?

Or should I teach my husband proper re-gifting etiquette?

Where have all my snacks gone?

2009-02-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I go to the cupboard for a Special K bar to find the entire value size box I bought one short week ago is gone. Also gone are the dozen teddy graham packs, 6 pack of cheese and crackers, and dozen pack of Baked Cheetos snacks I bought the same day. As we get in the car, I'm silently pondering the possibility of sleep-eating in the middle of the night since my Nanny is way too skinny to get away with eating all that snack food and I can't lose weight by starvation. Then Rustin asks me if I knew the amount of food Thade takes to school these days? Apparently, along with 3 Nerf guns, Rustin found 5 variety snack items in his back-pack this morning and Thade has been snack-supplier to all his friends at school.

We have been busy having lots of fun this month! We hosted a Superbowl party 2 weekends ago and I hosted a lingerie shower at my house on Saturday. Now I have Reed's birthday party on Feb 21st (also at my house), hosting a couples shower Feb 28th, heading to see Leah in Austin March 1st, then Mexico for Spring Break. Whew.

One of my best friends is getting married and she definitely deserves all the fun and blessings in the world! (thus showers, showers)

Lingerie Party/The Hostesses:

Me and the Bride to Be!

Superbowl party pictures:

Kurt Warner

2009-01-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

What an inspiration Kurt (QB for the Arizona Cardinals) is to us all. His personal story says it all. At 21 years old, when most men at this age are partying it up, Kurt was falling in love with Brenda and her two children (one with special needs, a serious brain injury inflicted by her ex-husband, and confined to a wheelchair). Brenda was a divorced single mom supporting her family on food stamps. Four years later, Kurt and Brenda married, and he immediately adopted both of her children. They have since had 5 children of their own. All the while, Kurt is being cut from teams, getting injured, loosing contracts and at one point stocked groceries for $5.50 per hour.

Kurt Warner is an amazing man of God and I will be right there with my husband cheering him on this Super Sunday!

This is a really neat article about Kurt, his family and his unwavering faith. God is good!

"If you ever really want to do a story about who I am, God's got to be at the center of it. Every time I hear a piece or read a story that doesn't have that, they're missing the whole lesson of who I am." - Kurt Warner

www.kurtwarner.com

Don't laugh, Daddy dressed me

2009-01-20T16:41:00.000-08:00

I generally do not allow Rustin to dress the children, unless for bed. For instance, he dressed Reed on Saturday. He dressed him in a long sleeve polo shirt and sweat pants.

Reed's PJs are all stacked neatly in his drawer with matching tops and pants and we still end up with this last night (and countless others):

Or this, which happens to be Adalae's sleeper that was accidentally placed in Reed's drawer. The neck was actually stretched so far down and poor Reed had to stand on his tip-toes to avoid choking. I'm not even sure how Rustin managed to stuff his arms and legs in, much less button the thing.

Reed loves these sunglasses. He wears them to play and watch TV.

Thade's new shirt

2009-01-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

I just bought this shirt for ~~myself~~ Thade.

Thade's hero

2009-01-08T18:07:00.001-08:00

I couldn't post this any larger but if you click the letter, it will pull up larger in a separate window. Way to go Gary!

Never too young for Ugg Boots or to start a Rock Band!

2009-01-06T17:42:00.001-08:00

And she is just adorable. Thanks PJ for the cute outfit!

Conversations with a 1 year old

2009-01-06T17:07:00.000-08:00

It's amazing and scary at the same time how quickly Reed's vocabulary is developing.

Tonight at dinner he says, "Cheese peese, Wawa (water), All done, Bath?"

Every night as soon as he gets in the bath he stands up and says, "pee-pee, pee-pee" and proceeds to pee in his bath. He thinks it's hilarious. I've started keeping his potty by the bath tub but he has no interest in it. Literally, I will pick him up mid-pee, put him on the potty, put him back in the bath after a couple of minutes of nothing, and he stands right back up and finishes his pee in the bath.

Just now, I pull up my blog to start a post. Reed sees the last post as I'm scrolling down and in rapid succession yells,

"Hand!"

"Da-Di, Ba-Bi (for Mommy), OH WOW!" (sequin prom attire)

"Da-Di"

"Ball, Ball, Ball"

"Tade, Alalae, Ho, Ho, Ho"

He quickly loses interest and then starts shoving a book in my face chanting, "Buu, Buu, Buu"

Well he quickly lost interest in that also after about 4 seconds.

Rustin and I started The Love Dare on New Years Day. For all you couples out there, I highly recommend this book! Our class at church is doing it together and I guarantee you will be blessed no matter if your marriage is in great shape or not so great shape.

Some pictures from Christmas morning:

Reed loves his slide.

Thade showing about as much enthusiasm as always when Naruto or video games are not involved.

Adalae's first baby doll!

Rock Band, Rock Band, We all scream for Rock Band!

Reed does the monkey while yelling, "oo, oo, ah, ah!"

Everyone is finally well and healthy in our household so I'm very thankful for that. Adalae is not far from walking. She pulls up on everything and will let go so we have to stay right by her at all times. Thade starts basketball practice tonight and he is very excited about that. Rustin and I are still gainfully employed and loving each other and our beautiful kids so life is good! I'm excited about 2009 but also sad this makes 12 years since high school and the big 3-0 for both Rustin and I. Time flies!

The week from candyland

2008-12-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T18:49:00.001-08:00

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?

2008-12-02T18:40:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

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

Pictures

2008-10-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Reed's new tricks!

Potty time!

2008-10-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-09-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-16T05:44:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

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!

Adalae Reese Gradke

2008-04-23T12:02:00.001-07:00

Born 4-22 at 11:14 am

6 lbs 6 oz 18 inches

Thade's birthday

2008-04-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

We had Thade's 11 birthday party at Skate Town yesterday. The kid ended up with $380 in cash and gift cards. This doesn't include the random array of actual gifts he got from us, his uncle, grandmother and aunt. $380?? That is nuts to me. I can remember being his age and hoping for $50 so that I could buy a pair of Nikes. So Thade bought a new cell phone and new IPOD nano. Mind you, he JUST bought a nano with his birthday money last year. But that was before the new nano came out and the old boring black and white one just doesn't do it for him anymore.

Anyhow, back to the party. The party was scheduled from 3-5. At 4, I was already complaining that I should have ended it at 4:30. I was so ready to go. Reed was everywhere, but thanks to my mother, my brother, Rustin and his brother Ryan, I didn't have to do much waddling-chasing. About 5:15, there are still 3 kids left and they are telling me they are staying until 6pm and their parents have all said it's OK. Who does that?? I then get to call all their parents to verify they know I AM NOT staying until 6pm and their kids will be there unsupervised. Although by the time that fiasco was over, it was pretty close anyway.

I'll try to post some pictures later.

We then said goodbye to the left over children and left without paying for the party.

Sickly

2008-04-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

I am inducing tomorrow morning and have bronchitis. Lovely.

Need another reason to induce?

2008-04-14T09:05:00.001-07:00

This is an email I just got from my brother-in-law Regan.

"Natalie and I have been at the hospital since 11 last night. they made us walk around the hospital for an hour before admitting her. She was given the epidural around 2am and has just now fallen asleep. she is EXHAUSTED. I slept for about 3 hours. They put her on a drug that starts with a p (I'm sure you all know what it is) and then broke her water about 20 minutes ago. Pray that she can get some sleep for an hour or two before the baby comes. I'll let you know more later."

Going into labor is for the birds! (God, please do not strike random labor down on me for saying that.)

However, let me tell you, I hope this baby waits until next Tuesday. It really doesn't fit into my schedule to have a baby this week. I have a manicure and pedicure scheduled for Friday. Thade's birthday at Skate Town on Sunday. Dinner with Leslie on Wednesday.
Plus, I'd much rather go in at 7, have a baby 6-7 hours later and have a nice hospital dinner. There will plenty of time for sleepless nights after our little angel arrives.

Good luck Natalie, I feel for you girl! We can't wait to meet baby Haven!

God Bless Texas

2008-04-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

If you have not ever gotten your kids out of bed at 3am to hide in the bathroom because the tornado sirens were going off, I highly recommend it. The best part is trying for another 2 hours to get the baby back to sleep. Then, you wake up 1 hour late for work and get to iron clothes for your 5th graders dance competition at school, (I NEVER iron my clothes) only to find out 30 minutes later as you try to drop him off, the schools are closed because of power outages. Then we argue for another 30 minutes because he doesn't want to come to work with me and would rather sit at home by himself and fry his brain on Youtube.
So, here we sit at my office while he fries his brain on youtube.

At least we don't have earthquakes in Texas.

I turned off the filter that only allows registered users to comment. I'm sure this is the reason that only Biddy leaves me comments, and it's not because no one but her is reading my blog!
Sooo, if you need a stronger hint, leave me comments!

YAY for puppies

2008-04-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Did I ever tell you how much Reed LOVES animals? Particularly cats and dogs. Here is Reed at my Mimi's with her dog Jack. Yes, that would be a Jack Russell Terrier named Jack. Original, right?

Adalae Reese update

2008-04-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Adalae Reese should make her official appearance April 22. This date is more than a week before my due date so I don't expect her to come before we plan to induce. I have the best Dr. I know many of you out there will say, "let nature take it's course, she'll come when she's ready, blah, blah, blah". Well, if I let nature take it's course, I would surely have 11 children by now. Let's just say I'm not that "natural woman". I want the labor drugs. I want the processed baby food. I want the disposable diapers that take 100 years to disintegrate in the land fills. I want the good ole Butt paste or Desitin diaper rash cream. And, I want to know what day my baby will be born so I can adjust my work and schedule accordingly.

Is Sex a Dirty Word?

2008-04-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Look at what my brain child toddler learned to do on Mommy's laptop:

Cool trick huh? Especially when it's 5:30, you are on the phone with a client, cooking dinner and have a crying 13 month old trying to climb your swollen 9 month pregnant leg.

I had lunch with Thade recently. I really think Thade likes for me to eat lunch with him just so he can have his own little social hour. When I get there, he already has 1 friend sitting at the "parent's eat lunch with their kids table". Within 5 minutes, he had 3 friends sitting with him and was trying to invite more! It really is sad how fat kids are these days. And I can see why. I would guess that more than 85% of the kids in that lunch room were eating ice cream. This, added to the fried chicken and chocolate milk on the menu must equal more than the amount of calories these kids should eat in a meal. I have to admit, I'm not one of those moms that makes her kids lunch everyday (or ever for that), but I do not let him have the "extras". If he wants something else, he can take a pre-approved snack from home. Not that is would matter much if I did make his lunch. One of the 3 boys sitting with us had his lunch that his mommy makes everyday. It consisted of a sandwich, chips, apple and Gatorade. Sound nutritious? Guess what he actually ate for lunch? The chips and 2 snickers ice cream bars from the lunch line. Thade ate his sandwich for him. Like his mother, he could eat a turkey sandwich for every meal of the day.

Now, I want to take a quick poll. How many of your husbands will change a poopy diaper? Fortunately, I have a husband that, for the most part, changes his fair share of diapers. However, yesterday at church Reed had a dirty diaper and it was Rustin's turn. He was too embarrassed to be caught in a public men's restroom changing a poopy diaper. Now, he apparently will change a pee diaper anytime of the day in a public restroom but according to Rustin, "It's unexpected to find a man in a public restroom changing a poopy diaper." Considering I only hang out in the men's restroom on special occasions, I'm not sure of the protocol. Is this true or did I get conned into changing a poopy diaper when it wasn't my turn?

We attended a seminar at church yesterday entitled, "Sex, it's not a dirty word." It was targeted at parents, kids, etc. Thade attended the last session with us at 1pm. Thankfully, they sat the kids separately from us as I think Thade and Rustin were about tied on the scale of awkardness. Anytime we mentioned the word sex around Thade, his response was "Ewwww." Apparently, sex IS a dirty word still to my almost 11 year old (THANK GOD).
Anyhow, here is her website. She is really great and has written some books. One item you will find is a coloring book for the younger kids about inappropriate touching, etc.

I love you more than cake

2008-03-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

I love you more than cake is something my nephew Grayson used to say around 2-3 years of age. I'm hoping that Reed copies him.

5 weeks and counting until baby Adalae is due to make her appearance! Why do I have absolutely zero ambition to eat healthy at this point? You would think every time the Dr. makes me step on the hell scale that I would say, I should go get a salad for lunch today. But instead, I tend to crave anything that has lots and lots of carbs. Especially cereal, cake and candy. Just like this morning. I'm feeling good about myself because I brought a whole wheat English muffin and egg from home to make my own better version of the oh so yummy McDonald's Egg McMuffin. So as I'm waiting for my muffin to toast I notice there is some butter in the fridge at work. Yummy, so I slap some butter on my toasted muffin. Oh wait, is that cheese I see? Ooooh, and a pre-cooked sausage patty? Oh yes it was and oh yes, I did eat someone elses sausage patty and cheese from the fridge.

I also grabbed a few pieces of the kid's Easter candy (ok, 8 to be exact) on my wait out to "share with my co-workers". I've been at work 28 minutes and have managed to eat my muffin and 6 of those candy pieces. I should really have a salad today at lunch.

We spent Easter weekend in Abilene. We got to hang out with Memaw, Mimi, Nana, the Aunts, cousins, and a dozen or so kids under the age of 5. I know my Mimi loves to entertain but I seriously don't know how she does it.

Saturday night we saw Semi-Pro. It was mildly entertaining, as expected. I'd give it one thumb up. Rustin and I were the only people in the theatre besides a group of 4 teenagers in the top row. We should have suspected the movie would be less than par when we walked in and saw the empty seats. But I would have been happy watching anything (with the exception of the wiggles) alone with my husband since we never do that.

Sunday, we went to church at University Church of Christ. We thought we would try something new and the church is practically on ACU's campus so I assumed it would be full of young-uns and a fun service. I do believe Rustin and I were the youngest people there. Reed wasn't feeling it at all so 5 minutes into the service, I had to take him out. Boy was I relieved to get downstairs and see this:

If you can't see from the excellent quality of my camera phone, this is a nursery door sign. A little old woman pointed me in the direction and said, there is a nursery if you'd like! So I walk in and this is the "nursery":

What was I expecting?? Oh, I don't know, a sweet little old lady that would take my baby and say, "Go enjoy the sermon. Your baby is going to have SO much fun with me and all the other little kids!". But then I remembered, Rustin and I were the only attendees without an AARP card, so why would there by an actual nursery with workers?

Oh, and if you can't tell from the picture, the room was approximately 15x15. Reed had very smelly lasagna poop all morning and of course filled his diaper as soon as we came in the nursery. I'm sure you've guessed there is no diaper genie in said nursery, so we got to sit in that room with that diaper for an hour. Fun stuff.

Oh yeah, Reed LOVES the water. If there is a toilet near, beware. In fact, Sunday morning he cruised into Mimi's bathroom and splashed around in her toilet just after my 5 year old cousin used it and didn't flush.

Reed also likes to spit his milk. He thinks it's so funny.

Thade starts golf lessons today. I hope he has fun. It's something I really want him to learn but it's hard to keep a 10 year old's attention for that long. Just the reason we've never played baseball. Oh wait, baseball can't keep MY attention either.

Hillary and Hubby

2008-03-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

Rustin just emailed me this pic from his Iphone. I wonder if he told her he's voting for McCain.

Reed's first birthday

2008-02-29T09:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone that made this day so special for Reed! And thank you Rustin for putting such a great video together of the occasion. Enjoy :)

Updates

2008-02-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

I have fallen off the bloggy bandwagon! I was tagged by my lovely cuz Biddy. I had to ask what a tag was. Sad, I know.

1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people. & post a comment here once you post it to your blog, so I can come see.

1. A book I just finished, Lamb by Chris Moore

2. Done

3. "Well, so far, it seems to be moist." Side note: I really hate the word "moist".

4. "Moist?"

"Yeah, but I can't say it's always that way, just in my experience. Maybe we should ask a harlot?"

"Better yet," Joshua said, looking around, "I'll ask Titus. He's older, and he looks as if he's sinned a lot."

5. Instead of tagging anyone since I'm not sure how that works anyway, I think I should explain #3 and #4. Lamb is a fictional account about Jesus's (or Joshua) adventures during the time of his life that is not mentioned in the bible (around age 12-30). The story is told by Joshua's childhood friend, Biff. On this particular page, Biff is experimenting "for Joshua" as Joshua has been told by the angel that he can never be with a woman.

Anyhow, the book is hilarious if you can get past the slightly sacrilegious tone of it all.

Now, for updates.

In the past 2 weeks, Reed has been to 4 Dr. visits. As it turns out, he had the flu and double ear infections all last week. This morning we saw the ENT and he will have tubes put in next Friday.

A depiction of the result of me trying to work from home and let Reed "entertain himself"

Rustin got strep throat and pink eye this week.

Thade and I are both well, thank goodness.

I was just informed that Reed is the bully of his class at school. Apparently, if he wants something, he will climb on top another child and pull his/her hair/head back to get them away from the toy he wants. I laughed. I know I should be more concerned but he's 11 months old! He laughs when I say no, he laughs when I slap his hand, he doesn't know any better right now. I'd like to think he's a go-getter!

This weekend will be a fun, yet very busy weekend. Thade will be baptized on Sunday. We are all very proud of him. I am also having Reeds 1st birthday party on Sunday. We are expecting around 40 people in my 2000 square foot home. Wow. I also plan to make a Baby Einstein Caterpillar cake. Seeing as I am not Betty Crocker and I don't generally bake, this should be interesting.

Lastly, I really can't have 2 more months left can I??

Here is a picture 2 weeks from delivering Reed:

Here is a picture taken today, 9 weeks from my due date!

I am huge. Looks like I'm having a WNBA all-star. Or a Rosie O'Donnell. I should go ahead and schedule my lipo.

New Toy

2008-02-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Check out Reed's new $2000 toy. He spent 20 minutes watching the wash cycle on the first load I put in! I am especially excited that I no longer have to dry a load of clothes for 6 hours at a time.

We are on our 2nd ear infection this month. Poor kid. It's so sad when he's sick. Especially at 3am.

Oblivious

2008-02-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, along with my good looks and uncanny ability to eat anything and everything, Thade has inherited my oblivious and non-observant nature. Now, Rustin will always take time to point out things such as a beautiful full moon, the changing leaves in the fall, or that I need a wax. I, however, only noticed yesterday that Thade only has 6 teeth to chew with, thus putting him about even with Reed.

The other day Rustin and I were having a conversation about one of Thade's friends in our car. Specifically, this friend has their house for sale, and as we also have our house for sale, I pumped him for information on his realtor, showings, etc. As I am sharing my findings, Rustin asks me if I really thought Thade would be able to accurately answer all these questions (assuming the kid was probably just making things up). I reply that most kids are more observant than our oldest boy. Thade pops in, "Mom, I'm offended". I ask Thade why he is offended. Thade pouts, "because you said that most kids are, um, err well, something...."

My point exactly.

Video of Reed

2008-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

As you can see, Reed can now feed himself, wipe his bottom and drive his froggy around on the fire truck.

Parenting 101

2008-01-29T13:39:00.000-08:00

Just some advice for you parents out there. Notice my last post and Reed chewing on my shoe? Nice. Thanks Biddy for passing it on!

Evil Eye

2008-01-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

Thade says he has an "evil eye". He also told me I was going to ruin his eyes by taking this photo with the flash on. Since, he has managed to play 13 consecutive hours of WII play and guitar hero so I guess he's doing just fine. We had our post-op appointment and the Dr. says his eyes look perfect. No more wandering eye. Along with Thade's post-op appointment, we got to visit Reed's Dr. Reed has yet another ear infection. I'm afraid his ears will rot off soon. I now have 2 kids to administer antibiotics to 2x daily plus Thade's eye drops 3x per day. I haven't remembered to take my pre-natals in over a week so wish me luck keeping my kids alive this week.

I think we've decided on Adalae Reese for the name. You are welcome to give your feedback and I am welcome to delete/ignore you.

Not much activity on the house showing this week. I'm sure the weather doesn't help. I have, however, found many homes I want to move to. So, any of you want to buy my house?

Remember those "kickin" one size DOES NOT fit all Ugg boots Rustin got me for Christmas? Well, I got my size! And they are so comfy.

The laces also make a good teething toy for Reed.

Well Reed just blew out his diaper in my lap so toodles for now.

A birthday to remember

2008-01-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

This is hilarious.

This morning I get up and am stoked since today is a holiday and Rustin is home, I don't have to get kids ready and dropped off this morning. I get out of my house so early, I even get to stop at Starbucks and still arrive to work by 7:20am. I'm thinking to myself how much I can get done this morning! So, I walk to my office door and the locks have been changed! I end up waiting for 45 minutes for our operations gal to get here. Actually, I didn't wait the whole 45 minutes, I dropped off Thade's prescription at Walgreens. While sitting in the drive-thru pharmacy waiting on the girl that decided to take lunch between taking my credit card and getting Thade's prescription to me, I can't help but overhear the car next to me talking to another pharmacist. His prescriptoin costs $89.99, so of course the next conversation is about insurance.
Random guy in mercedes, "This isn't covered by insurance?"
14 year old pharmacist, "No, sir Aetna doesn't cover you anymore"
Random guy, "I'm on my wife's insurance. She should be in your system."
14 year old, "OK, what is her date of birth?"
Random guy, "Um, Um, UM" BUSTED
He really could not remember his wife's birthday. He ended up paying $89.99 for his prescription that probably would have otherwise cost a $10 co-pay but do you blame him for not calling his wife to ask her birthday!?? He deserves to pay full price!

Bring on the beef!

2008-01-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

I've officially had 2 ridiculously expensive dinners in 6 days. I do believe that is a record. I usually go 6 months before getting out for anything besides Arbys, Taco Bell, or on a special night, Chili's! What happens when you have babies? You decide you would rather eat the left-over mac and cheese in the fridge before going to a decent dinner because you know if you leave the house, you have the following things to do before you leave:

Prepare for last minute showing (our house is on the market):

Open all blinds
Sweep the floor
Vacuum the rugs
Sweep the pool
Skim the pool
Sweep the deck
Make all beds
Put all toys or resemblance of life away
Wipe spots off the mirrors
Clean toilets
Wipe vanities
Empty all waste baskets
Wipe appliances down
Put dirty dishes away
Find out where odd smell is coming from you have been trying to ignore all day

THEN.... you get the baby ready:

Oh, we haven't changed your diaper in 3 hours and find this:
Change diaper and clean floors again

Find shoes and socks

Wrestle with crying baby to put shoes and socks on

Find hat and coat

Wrestle with crying baby to put hat and coat on

Pick crusted boogers from crying baby's nose

Find and pack the following in diaper bag:
Pacifier (DON'T EVER, EVER, FORGET THE PACIFIER OR YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE AN UNEXPECTED STOP AT WAL-MART, OPEN PACIFIER IN BABY ISLE AND PAY FOR ITEM WITH EMPTY PACKAGE)
Diapers
Wipes
Cheerios
Formula
Bottle
Sippy Cup
Extra clothes
Toys
Orajel

(tired yet?)

THEN, you get yourself ready
Flip-flops (who cares if it's 29 degrees out, I don't have to bend over to put flip flops on)
Maybe some deodorant

READY

You then load crying baby who hates the car seat into the car seat. You start off. Did we forget anything? Oh, crap, where's Thade?

Won't having TWO babies be SO MUCH fun?! We can't wait until MAY!

Anyways, back to dinner last night. Rustin and I got an all expense paid dinner to Nick & Sams (thank you Rustin for giving someone business). There were 12 of us. Needless to say, I was yet again, the only person not drinking there (besides the super cool Tongan Mormon).

Anyhow, back to bragging about my oh so yummy and fancy and ridiculously expensive dinner. The table had 8 bottles of $220 wine, 11 jager bombs, 11 shots of tequila (Rustin thankfully passed on the latter), and various other cocktails throughout. 2 people from our table ordered $150 porterhouse each. Oh and did I mention our appetizer was lobster?? Along with shrimp cocktail and calamari.

Half way through dinner, a group of people came in and sat at the table next to us. I thought Super Cool Tongan Mormon was about to have a heart attack. Apparently, it was the judges and host of So You Think You Can Dance. Cat is definitely as skinny in person as she is on TV. I hope someone forced some Ribeye on her last night.

Some of our party were definitely characters. One girl kept calling one of the waiters "Shitter". She swears she knows him and that is his name, but the poor guy avoided her at all costs. I'm pretty sure she took the extra shots from Rustin and Super Cool Tongan Mormon. Oh, and can you guess where Super Cool Tongan Mormon is from and now lives? You guessed it, from Utah and now lives in Euless with a brother playing football at Trinity. However, she was super cool and I was glad to have a non-drinker to have an intelligible conversation with.

We have a 2nd showing at 4:30 today. Wish us luck!

There's a hair in my food!

2008-01-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

Thade's friend Garrett spent the night with us for the first time this weekend. Being the good hostess I am, I scrambled around early Sunday morning to make the boys eggs, bacon and toast before Garrett had to be home for church. I'm feeling very motherly as I set this great spread of food in front of them until Thade cries, "There's a hair in my food!". Why should I be embarrassed about hair in food to another 10-year old boy? Maybe because he will go home, tell his mother, then I'll be exposed for the non-domestic, just have some chips for breakfast type of mother I really am.
So, I make light of it and say, "Oh, it's probably just one random hair from my head, just eat it." This, of course sparks some extra attention to the bacon and low and behold, 5 of the 6 pieces of bacon I made had my hair on them. Garrett politely picked hair out of his bacon and ate without comment. Now that's my kind-of kid!

My friend Shirlett wrote this article regarding the atrocity we all witnessed yesterday afternoon. Happy Reading!

To all of the Dallas Cowboy fans out there who find yourselves struggling with the inability to define your current feelings and emotions about yesterday's game, I'm here to help. The following list briefly defines the 5 Stages of Grief :
Denial- If you have refused to talk with anyone about the game; if you have not watched ESPN's post game commentary; if you refuse to read today's newspaper; if you cannot bring yourself to listen to those loudmouth, know-it-all radio talking heads....if you went into work today with your Dallas Cowboys 'Got Five?' t-shirt on today, then you're in denial.

Anger - If there's a brick wedged in the middle of the flat screen TV you just got for Christmas; if you're feeling the urge to organize a grass roots effort to boycott Jessica Simpson, complete with burning effigies; if you spit on spot at the sudden image of Patrick Crayton's gigantic bug-eyes; if you want to take a Shaquille O'Neal sized cleat and practice place kicking with Flozell Adam's butt while shouting "FALSE START THIS!"; if you suddenly see Wade Phillips as a dumb, non-chalant idiot because during the most crucial time of the season he let his asistant coaches go on head coaching interviews and let his key players take time off to chill in Cabo - as if getting paid millions of dollars to play football 6 months out of the year isn't motivation enough to keep focused...umm, perhaps you're angry.

Bargaining - If you had hope that on 4th and 11 with 9 seconds left in the game, Tony Romo was going to throw a miracle touchdown pass to Terrell Owens because it seemed impossible to believe that a team being led by Eli Manning could pull off a win, then you were bargaining.

Depression - If you have refused to talk to anyone about the game; if you have not watched ESPN's post game commentary; if you refuse to read today's newspaper...wait... that's denial, not depression... *sighs* (I'm a little confused)...but, yeah, if you haven't already begun to look ahead to the draft or August pre-season, then you're depressed.

Finally, Acceptance - Well, this is a tough one. I can't really comment on this because, frankly, I'm not there yet. If you are reading this, feel the same way, and think you'll feel this way for awhile - then you're a Cowboy's fan.

Randomness

2008-01-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

Has anyone seen this? Two guys tried to wheel their DEAD roommate to check cashing store to cash his Social Security Check. I know it's a bit morbid, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I read the article.

Last night Rustin and I had dinner at JRs without the kids. This is such a rare occurrence, I actually took a shower and rolled my hair! JRs is one of those places you have to make a reservation, can't wear flip flops, t-shirts or a gorilla costume. It's fancy! Within the first 35 minutes upon arrival, I had already made 2 bathroom trips. Little Girl Gradke loves to kick my bladder constantly. I had to hold it again for the last 15 minutes we were there just because I was too embarrassed to walk by the 10 tables yet AGAIN to the restroom. I'm sure I seemed like a bulimic pregnant woman to the casual observer.

Thade has made the decision to be baptized. He will take the plunge (no pun intended) on Feb 24th. We are so very proud of you Thade!

These boots are made for walking!

2008-01-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

Reed Walks!

On one hand, I'm stoked because I certainly do not want to lug 2 babies around come May if I can help it. On the other hand, this means a quicker commute to cleaning supplies, toliet and many other places he loves to play.

Tupperware Party

2008-01-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

This is how Reed entertains himself while I cook dinner.

I plan to show him how to cook with them next.

Reed's PJ had this bath in Phoenix. I absolutely love it so much I came home and purchased one immediately. It sits on your sink perfectly and works famously for all you fellow pregnant moms of infants that can no longer comfortably bend over to tie your shoe, much less bend over a bath tub and wrestle a wriggly 10 month old for bath-time. Oh, and the mohawk was just for fun.

This is the game of Risk we started tonight. As you can see, it appears Thade (red) is winning. This is because both Rustin and I are SO competetive, we only attack each other. I guess we figure we can knock Thade out later but I think it's going to come back to bite us.

Thanks Natalie for the game!

I want a BEAMER

2008-01-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

Thade asked me yesterday if we would buy him a car when he gets his license. I can't help to think back to when I was 10 years old. I'm pretty sure I was happy to have a Huffy bike with streamers and an Atari with 1 pacman game. (By the way, pacman is no longer even a word spellcheck recognizes. How old do I feel??)

Anyhow, here's how the conversation went:
Thade asks, "Mom, when I turn 16 are you and Dad going to buy me a car?"
I reply absently, "I don't know Thade, what type of car do you want?"
Thade: "Well I was thinking maybe a LandRover or Tahoe or Lexus."
I'm thinking, where in the world has he even HEARD of these cars??
I reply sarcastically, "Well how about a BMW?"
Thade, ever so fruitful, replies, "Well those are expensive."

In what fantasy world is a Landrover, Tahoe or Lexus not expensive? At least he has good taste.

WII, o WII, o where have you been?

2008-01-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

Thade comes back today! This means the WII also makes it's return and debut into the Gradke household. If anyone does not have one, I highly suggest you purchase one. Or steal one since you still can't find them in the stores. OR, you can pay double for one on Ebay (I know this because we sold the extra one we bought).

Why didn't someone think of this before. What a gold mine! I, for one, will purchase this when it comes out. I mean, come on, no one likes to "sweat to the oldies" with Richard or "thighmaster" with Suzanne. And most days, I would rather someone vomit on me than actually step foot in the gym that I have dedicated 4 years of monthly dues to. Let's face it, we would all rather sit on the couch with a bag of potato chips, candy, or tub of Crisco than exercise. I am looking forward to the release of WII fit, and spending my work-outs fighting Count Bleck who has recently arranged a marriage between Princess Peach and Bowser while simultaneously nursing my baby and forming rock-hard abs.

I plan to do a post soon of the differences between men and women. But I will offer one obvious difference. Is there another woman out there that would spend even 5 minutes watching ESPN classic? I mean, it's not like Friend's re-runs. Who in their right mind wants to watch a basketball game from 20 years ago?

My friend and I Stacy had a conversation last week about bras. She has hooks in her bathroom and bedroom that she randomly hangs her bras on. And doesn't think they should be put away when she has a party. I say the lingerie should be put up if you have company.

Well, I hate to say I told you so:

puke, planes, party!

2007-12-31T15:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we arrived home from Phoenix. The flight was uneventful, besides the poop diaper I changed in front of some poor young couple sitting near us. You know you love another more than yourself when you will perform such an atrocity in your lap. Oh, and the matter of the puke. Not spit up, but full-blown spewing vomit.

In the car seat and my leg.

On the floor and my bag and jacket.

And perhaps my favorite part, in my shoe.

I was lucky enough to get to walk in that shoe for another 2 hours before arriving home.

Reed got so much stuff, we had to go today and buy and "organizer". Here is Reed 5 minutes after discovery:

He is working on getting every single toy out before moving on to the next bin.

Reed has been cranky lately. I think it's his teeth. He will chew on ANYTHING and here is proof:

Today is New Year's Eve. Thade is still out of town and sounds like he will be partying more than his parents this year. We have thus far spent the day doing yard work, laundry and some painting. Our big plans tonight consist of dinner and picking up toys. We were invited to a party except it starts after my bedtime. I'm loving this vacation though. One more day before back to work!

Happy New Year!

Turkey Coma

2007-12-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't actually have turkey on Christmas, but I did have Ribeye. And I have to say, the cow affects me much the same. We have been in Phoenix since Sunday night, and I have taken a nap every day here so far. I'm having flashbacks to preschool. Yesterday was Christmas. Rustin got me some kickin Ugg boots. Only one problem, they are TWO sizes too small. I know what you are saying, it's the thought that counts. Well, don't men THINK to check their wife's shoe size when planning to buy them shoes? But really, he did good. Only problem is every store I've called and/or gone to doesn't have this shoe in my size. Apparently, clown's are the only women in this country besides myself that wear a size 10.

Thade got his WII and loves it.

Did you know that, other than babysitting your children, the WII can tell you how "fit" you are? Rustin's fitness age was 59. I'm afraid to take the test myself. I'm sure it would say I've been dead for a while.

My personal favorite gift of them all is the new "Tickle Me Elmo Extreme Special Addition" Santa brought Reed. It really is hilarious. I also found this adorable hat for $1.

O Abilene, O Abilene

2007-12-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

We got home a couple of hours ago from a 18 hour stay in Abilene because Rustin was sure our flight left at 7am tomorrow morning. Funny thing, we get home and Rustin finds out our flight doesn't leave until 3pm tomorrow afternoon. Big difference! So I've now packed our entire lives in a bag that I will proceed to unpack tomorrow because I'll need 1/2 the stuff for the baby.

The boys got lots of cool stuff as did Rustin and I. Here is Rustin pictured in his favorite gift of all, courtesy of my Mimi.

Didn't get any pics of the boys before the camera died.

I knew it was a matter of time before the 911 call happened. Here's how it went:

Reed picks up cordless phone and proceeds to push buttons.

I say in my mocking baby voice, "Reed are you going to call 911?"

Reed tires of phone and moves on to something more interesting, like eating wrapping paper. 5 minutes later, phone rings. Because my family is as oblivious as me most times, it rings 16 times before Aunt Kathleen finally says, "Where is the phone?!" I see it lying next to my leg and pick it up.

I say, "It says City of Abilene."

A chorus, "well answer it!"

911 operator, "We had a 911 call, is there an emergency?"

I say, "No, I just instructed my 9 month old to call 911 to show my family how smart and advanced he is for his age"

Why in the world would the emergency call gods decide to make the emergency number 2 digits in perfect baby/toddler position?? Wouldn't 582 make more sense to keep little grubby fingers from reaching the emergency numbers?

I also learned from my husband what a "blowby" was today. Here's how it went:

We are in car driving back from Abilene.

I say, "what smells?!!??"

Rustin says, "I had a blowby"

I say, "what is that??!!"

Rustin, "when a fart blows by a poop on it's way out"

So romantic.

Saw Aaron Watson last night in Abilene. Quanah Parker was out in full cowboy gear performing the cotton eye joe.

Ever raced a 6 year old girl to a bathroom stall before? I'm ashamed to admit that today I did, but proud to say I won.

Sugar Rush

2007-12-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

By 7:30 this morning I have eaten 2 large mint chocolate cookies and a cupcake. I now feel like I did when I took those minithins in Middle school. A little hyper, but mostly nauseous. What is it with pregnancy?? I would never eat a cupcake at 7:30 in the morning otherwise!

Last night I made taco soup. I loved it, but I love everything I cook. I later found a full bowl sitting in the sink. I asked my oldest, Thade, "so you didn't like the soup"? He almost cried and went to his room afraid "I was mad at him". Funny thing is, I was happy to see him upset because it means he doesn't want to disappoint me!! Does that make me a bad mom?

Speaking of Thade, we got news this week he needs to have eye surgery. It is scheduled for Jan 23rd. Thade has strabismus, diagnosed at 18 months. He wants the surgery and is not nervous about it at this point.

Reed made up for his naughty bed-time behavior last night by crashing at 7:30 and sleeping until 6:30 this morning!!! I felt so good this morning, I even called my mother on my in to the office geared up for a usually long chat.

I handed out Christmas cards at the office this week because I'm too cheap to spend an extra $4 to mail them to my co-workers. Someone told me this morning we should model. If only they knew that the part of my shirt you can't see had spit up on it and I didn't even have the last few buttons done because my pop belly was busting out.

Lastly, my boobs have gotten so big that my seat belt chokes me because it has no where to go but OVER them. I love growing babies.

2 Hairwashes tonight anyone?

2007-12-20T12:09:00.000-08:00

I think the girls at work get tired of hearing how crazy life tends to be with a 10 year old, a 9 month old, and 5 months pregnant with your third child. For instance, my night last night. Generally speaking, baby Reed is very well-behaved and goes to sleep very easily. Unless, that is, Daddy and brother are gone to the Mavs game and Mommy is left to fend for herself, fend for Reed, finish the wrapping for Christmas, laundry, and all after 8pm when we finally rolled home because we leave town in 2 days for TWO weeks.

So, around 8pm we get home and Reed is asleep. Normally, I would say forget the bath tonight, I work full time, the nursery will understand if Reed is a little sticky tomorrow or has dirt under his fingernails. However, Reed had clumps of sweet potato in his hair and I know I couldn't get away with that. Reluctantly, I wake Reed from his coma and put him in the bath at 8:15 (15 minutes past his usual bed-time). Because I also have super-human speed, (or because I'm wanting to get to this, or this, and especially this since my Suns loving husband and Mavs loving son were at the game) at approximately 8:16, we are finished, rocking in the chair having our bottle. Around 9pm (yes 45 minutes of rocking this night), we fall asleep.

Free at last, free at last. Around 9:03, Reed starts coughing and before I get to his bedroom, I hear the dreaded sound of spewing liquid from his monitor. I return to find vomit in the freshly washed hair, sheets, Pj's, everywhere. Needless to say, after a 2nd bath, it was close to 10pm before little Reed went back to sleep and Mommy started her chores. When I finally got to bed, baby girl decided to wake up and kick me to brethren for half an hour. So much for my relaxing night at home without the big boys. He is so worth it.

I know I should be thankful for any extra time I have, even if it is after 10pm. Things will be much different when baby girl arrives!