Oh the difference an extra child can make

Back when Poodle was a baby, these were the kinds of pictures I could take around Easter:






THESE days - this is the best I could manage getting both of them in one shot. I was oh-so-proud of their coordinating outfits. Tooter's is an outfit that my mom handmade for my brother Robert when he was around 2'ish, and I was so excited to find Poodle an Easter dress that would coordinate with Uncle Robert's outfit. But getting them in a shot together with their clothes on and a remotely pleasant expression on both faces? lol..... yeah. right. This will have to do!


There will be more pictures in the April set when I get around to getting them posted to the website. Actually, I think I still need to get March pictures uploaded.

HowEVER, "perfect pictures" notwithstanding, the beauty of having these more mobile children also means we got to do something quite fun this year! A real live Easter egg hunt in the backyard the day before Easter Sunday! The wonderful beauty of it? All the grandparents were able to be there, along with Amy and Jay and Robert and Jaime and Audrey. It was so great! The grandparents hid the eggs, and Poodle got to find them all, since Tooter wasn't terribly interested in the event.

My biggest ooops of the day was the hot chocolate that I made on the stove. I used a much easier recipe out of a recent Guideposts instead of sticking with the tried and true recipe from days gone by. And by the time it had simmered on the stove for awhile, it was quite thick. More like sludgey chocolate syrup than hot cocoa. Sounds delicious, huh? lol..... Oh well, live and learn!!!

I heard someone say recently that Easter should be the most celebrated holiday in a Christian's life. I rather agree. It won't top Christmas for the commercial world, but our entire faith hinges on the Resurrection. I'm so glad that the combined Zoo family was able to make such a wonderful day of it for my bunchkins!!! Thank you everyone!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

lol!!! No, this isn't Tooter, although I dare say that this is visions of things in my near future!

This darling little one with the yummy cheeks is J.D. - son of my sweet friend Patty. He's a bit older than Tooter, so I can watch him and be ready for the mischief waiting for me up ahead. heehee!

And for all those who are concerned: according to Patty - no snails were harmed in the filming of this blog. :-) Maybe scared, but not harmed. Ewwww. Boys.

Y'all do come - anytime!

Okay. I know my scan of the newspaper ad from the Rankin County News is not the clearest in the world. Here's the text:

Grace Primitive Baptist Church
(formerly Jackson Primitive Baptist Church)
349 Crosspark Drive : Pearl, Mississippi

The membership of Grace PB Church invites all who love Jesus Christ and the Bible to worship with us in our new sanctuary.

We have a simple, traditional form of worship that emphasizes Bible instruction, prayer, and congregational singing of hymns.

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant word of God, and consider it necessary to wholesome minds and hearts. Our doctrines and practices are the same as those of historical Baptists.

Crosspark Drive begins at the traffic light with intersection of Highway 80 (between Kroger and Walmart) and continues to Old Brandon Road where the street becomes El Dorado Road. Grace PB Church is on the left about one quarter (1/4) mile from the Highway 80 intersection.

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAISE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

For more on Primitive Baptists see: http://www.pb.org.
Pastor: Elder David Pyles 601-936-6353
David Pyles (dpyles@netdoor.com)

Oh! And what wasn't in the ad:
Sunday morning: 10:30am
Sunday evening: 6:00pm
Wednesday evening: 6:30pm

AND - it's a "family pew" church. No nurseries, so your kids can just sit with you during worship. And don't worry if they make noise. Mine do all the time! You just take them out, settle them down, and come on back in. Really, you can't "mess up" at our church. We just love you for being there!
So, y'all come!!!

I just need to vent.

I was talking to my brother last night, and he told me that baby Audrey was already sleeping 4 hour stretches at night!!! Go girl!!! What a blessing...... which made me think about Tooter when he first came home from the hospital. He was such a good little sleeper. He had his days and nights worked out in less than a week, and almost never felt the need to play when he woke up for a diaper change or to eat at night.

sigh....

And then the eczema hit. And we have been battling it ever since. We've had good nights in amongst the bad nights. And I know that this is all but for a season - it will pass. But indulge a tired mommy for just a moment, and allow me to whine a bit. I am sooooo tired!

It is been in a flare-up lately. After the round of recent illnesses and the immediate onset of pollen season after that, in addition to his being able to play outside, there really isn't a clear spot on him. I so much want to try to avoid giving him any stronger medicines than he's already having to use. But it's just wearing me out.

Last night, he literally couldn't sleep for more than an hour without waking up to scratch. There were multiple times where he would grab for my hand, put it on his leg or foot, and have ME scratch him. I remember that awful feeling. Where you'd rather scratch your skin till it bleeds instead of feeling the itch. But for some reason, I was able to get mine under control so much more easily. Maybe because it came on later, so I was able to take care of it myself. I dunno.

Thing is, some of what is on his legs isn't eczema. It's just some allergic reaction to SOMEthing outside. Grass, pollen, who knows. But I can't treat him like the boy in the bubble. He's otherwise healthy, and I want him to feel normal. But so much of what he touches outside irritates him.

So, we're trying a combination of Zyrtec in the morning, and his nightime antihistamine before he goes to bed. Maybe we'll get it all under control. I dunno. I HATE having to give any kid this much medicine. But you should see the circles under his and my eyes this morning. We are just about to hit the wall.

waaah waaah waaah. I know he could have such worse problems than this. So, in a weird way, I'm grateful that this is the extent of his being "sick". But I'm so tired this morning that I can't help the whining.

But, maybe now that I've gotten this out of my system, I can go find my facial highlighter and good concealer, and hide the evidence. ::smile::

Tank you Eastah Bunny - Bock Bock!

Being the Easter Bunny was tricky this year. Poodle knows what's going on - and I couldn't just go shopping any ole time, with her tagging along, like I used to be able to do. Thankfully - MooMoo came over for a couple of hours this afternoon and sat with the kids, and the Easter Bunny hit Target!!!

That was fun. Thank you MooMoo!

GaGa's latest creations!

GaGa has been busy in his wood shop! He has turned out some beautiful things for the kids in the past couple of weeks. FIRST:

This lovely Block Box! (Say that 10 times really fast). Jmk's grandmother gave Poodle a set of wonderful wooden number/letter blocks a couple of Christmases ago. And, Jmk wanted GaGa to make a box to hold them. Here are some shots!







Then, GaGa gave these to the kids on Sunday. They're puzzles! Aren't they great?!? And he even painted them himself!!! MooMoo says she sort of gave some guidance as to color, but that he did all the final design work. How special!!! These pictures really don't do them justice. The hummingbird is really pretty in "real life" and the clowns are so sweet. I don't know if the blue and orange was on purpose, GaGa, but thank you for the Broncos moment!!!


And thank you for using your fun time in the shop to create things for your grandchildren. It means more to us than you know!!! We love you!!!

Row Row Row Your Boat

Checkin' down the stream
Mewy, mewy, mewy, mewy,
Life's a Pizza Dream

(and then follow that with a round of laughter)

Now we're singing with Poodle!

You know, when I intentionally mess around with the words of a song, I don't seem to get the same reaction as when a little one does. hhmmph. ::grin::

Oh my Superfreak stars......

This is funny, and pretty good in the same breath! Jmk - you're gonna LOVE this....

(for those playing at home, this Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Scaggs, with a cameo by John Anderson)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY AND JAIME!!!

We love y'all!!!

Okay, technically, it's not Jaime's birthday. Her birthday was closer to the beginning of March. And I had finished a "draft" post a few days before her birthday, and then forgot to publish it. I'm so sorry Jaime!!! I didn't even realize it until just a few days ago, when I was looking for an older post on teeth. Bad mommy brain attack - but we love you! Really!

And, Jay - have a great day buddy!!! We love you!!!

February Pics

are finally up at the family website! Now that March is almost over.... sheesh.

Phoenix from the Ashes

After Katrina's winds and waves left, the Mississippi Gulf Coast has experienced more than one can imagine. More devasatation, prayers, rebuilding, creativity.

I couldn't absolutely verify that these pictures were taken in Biloxi, Mississippi. The best I could do was to verify that the mayor had said back in January that they intended to do this very thing with some of the Oak Trees that were killed in the hurricane. And, the date on some of the pictures indicates that they were taken in February and March. Other than that, I can say that it looks like Biloxi to me!

Four live oak tree stumps were given new life at the hands of a skilled chainsaw artist - I'm assuming it was Dayton Scoggins of Sandersville, MS, according to this. Beauty from decay - the epitome of the determination of the Coastal residents!

Hat tip to Jmk's mom (or maybe his dad?) who sent us these!

Footprint love

I'm not entirely sure which is more adorable to me - darling Audrey, or how precious my brother is with her!

Our Newest Lass

The Adorable Wee One staring lovingly at her Mommy!

The already smitten MooMoo and GaGa

She's here She's here!!!!

Robert and Jaime's wee lass is here!!! She was born, via C-Section, last night just after 9:00pm. (Jaime was induced about 2 1/2 weeks early due to a low amniotic fluid situation). She is 6lbs, 15oz, 21 inches long! Y'all know my maiden name, so I won't list that. But the rest of her beautiful name is Audrey Rune!

Because of the late hour of her birth, I haven't been up to the hospital yet to see her, but I will go as soon as Tooter finishes his first nap today. From what I have been told, she's "beautiful and perfect", and I expect nothing less! :-)

I'm sure I'll have a picture to share very soon. I'm a real Aunt now!!!

Y'all - it's a "V", not a "W"

We all have our pet peeves. A friend of mine opened my eyes to the annoying phrase "recopy". (Technically, you CAN recopy something, but only if it has been copied once already!!!)

One of my biggest pet peeves is a recent trend.... those who like to use the french word for "there", but can't seem to pronounce it correctly. "Voila", of course, is that word. But, folks, it starts with a "V". As in violin. As in Victory. As in... oh, you get the point. If I have to hear one more pseudo-smart Hollywood type say that word with a "W" in the front of it........ grrrrrr.

It's NOT "Wala". It's Voila. "Vwalah", if that helps. Come on everyone - we can fix this! Let's all reverse this trend! My nerves thank you sincerely.

More and more toofies

During the past 3 weeks of illness and recuperation and illness again, Tooter has gotten a few more teeth. Here's a chart to go back and peruse. His left-side upper and lower cuspids have broken through, and his right-side upper cuspid is almost thru. Not sure where that last lower cuspid is, but it'll show up eeeeventually. Basically, except for that last cuspid, all we're waiting on now are his 2 year molars. He has gotten his teeth SO much faster than Poodle did. I don't know if that old wives' tale about "the later the baby teeth come in, the better the adult teeth are" is true. But if it is, poor Tooter is going to be in braces a long time!

Welcome to the family!

Everyone is Irish today!!!

There is some minor dispute as to whether my paternal heritage is Irish or Scottish. (Some think that the "O apostraphe" was added after arriving in this country). No matter - today, we all wear green, smile at shamrocks, and think about the lush emerald hills of the mother country. ::smile::

My parents, and sister, took a trip about a year ago to Ireland - I wonder if Saint Patrick's Day holds any special meaning for them now? I do think they may be missing the music and frivolity of the pubs today!

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate
Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.

Milk plus Cracker equals Water

I dunno - it does in the mind of my 15 month old! Over the past 24 hours, Tooter has taken to saying "ca ca ca ca" while giving me the sign for "milk" at the same time, to indicate that he wants some water. He even woke up during the middle of night last night to request water. (I can only assume that the cold/flu meds have him quite thirsty).

You can imagine the frustration when he started doing this a day ago, and I didn't immediately understand that he wasn't requesting either a cracker OR milk. Silly me.

In illness news, we're hoping to go for a full 24 hours without anyone running any fever.... aaaannny day now. We're ready. Really. Really, really.

Unofficial Zoo Flu

It's unofficial, because the doctor diagnosed it over the phone so I wouldn't have to schlep two sick kids up to her office, while I was still feeling poopy myself. Thus, no official test was run. But, cold or flu, it matters not. Viral bullies just get to run their course. But we are keeping a close eye on things since strep is going around also!

Tooter is having the worst time of it. We have graduated to the "sleep-wherever-they-may" plan, so as to give our arms a break during the day. Thus, this picture:

The Right Size

Our couch is just the right size for me to stretch out with one babe in my arms and another babe draped across my legs. I discovered that yesterday.

Jmk came down with a bad cold Wednesday night, and he was out from work Thursday and Friday. He actually slept most of the day on Thursday, and he usually can't close his eyes during the day. Even though we tried to be good about steering clear, it's virtually impossible to keep from every little germ, and by Friday, Tooter was sick, and by Saturday night, Poodle and I were sick. Blugh.

I'll be grateful for this season to pass and to get into real spring and summer. I know we'll have the typical allergy things to deal with, but benedryl is easy breezy. These colds are just the pits. I think what I hate the worst is the lack of energy. The shaky-muscle-dizzy-head lack of energy. It's annoying.

We had such a busy week (for us) last week, and I want to share! But, it's time to go sit back down in Daddy's chair and rejoin the coughing chorus that is at the top of our playlist right now.

Blugh again.