New Pics!

The link is the JC Penny's site where the kids just had pics taken. The session was for Tooter's 9 month pics, and we got Poodle (a.k.a. Monkey) to get in on a few of them. The link will take you to a log in page. The customer name is my name, first and last, with the normal space in between them. Again, because of the need for privacy for the wee ones, I'm not going to type out my name. But y'all know it. ;-) (And if you don't, leave a comment with your name and email, and I'll send it to you!)

Click Here for the Pictures

I hope you enjoy them! We had a good day taking them. We went last Friday, and Jmk met us there. We got there at 10:45, got the pics taken and ordered, had lunch at Chick-fil-A (shocker), and were back in our cars by noon. It was a good day for photography!

So, I'm making mac and cheese for lunch today, and I had just poured the pasta into the pot. Poodle likes uncooked pasta, and wanted a few more pieces. So she asked for some. I kind of scrunched up my face and said "oh, honey, I've already put them into the hot water". To which she replied quite calmly and seriously "it's okay Mommy. Just take them out and blow on them. You'll be okay". lol.......... Yes, yes, I will.

Y'all keep Chunk in your thoughts. He's still running that weird fever. Strep and ear infections have both been ruled out. I'm sure it's just an odd "fever virus" type of thing. But he feels pretty poopy.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Enjoy the Coffee

This came by way of Kadie, my Boo. Love you girl!

ENJOY THE COFFEE

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned to complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering the guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself, adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups, and then began eyeing each other's cup.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today, Jmk and I were basically sitting in our living room watching trees fall, and praying for protection. The Lord was SO gracious and merciful to us. So much more than we deserve. We went without power for about 45 minutes (yes, that's right, less than an hour), and had some minor shingle damage to the roof. We lost 8 trees in the backyard, but they all fell away from the house. The only hiccup to our life was the lack of gasoline in the area. Because I was 6 months pregnant with Chunk at the time, we had to be careful with the gas we had in our car in case of an emergency with the baby. That was pretty much it. It did give us the privilege of being able to help neighbors, family, and friends who needed the help. Although, to this day, I wish we had done more.

I remember the "crack" as the first tree fell. I looked at Jmk, and we said together "what was that". He looked out the window, and there it was. Or wasn't, for that matter. It was a weird sound. You'd think it would have been louder or more dramatic somehow. Just a crack, and a tree was bent in two. The power of the wind was awe-inspiring, in the true sense of the word.

Praise the Lord for His mercy on us and His unmerited graciousness a year ago today!!!

August 29 - A New Outlook

This came to me by way of my friend Layla:

Rewriting the History of August 29th: A Prayer

Thank you for letting me understand homelessness, living without power, without television, without cool air in the heat;

Thank you for letting me understand hunger, the leisure of dry clean clothes and the relief of a place to sleep.

Thank you for letting me understand the deep and overwhelming sadness when forces, beyond our personal control, take the loved, the familiar, the usual.

Thank you for my needfulness and for my newfound empathy for those homeless before the storm and homeless now and for those hungry anywhere, for those in need everywhere.

Thank you for the opportunity you provided to help my neighbor, to be my brother's keeper, to serve food, to patch roofs, to clean yards, and to start mending that which was broken.

Thank you for the chance to change ourselves, for a reprieve from the normal, commercial day, for teaching us to make do, to get by, to improvise, for drowning our conceit, complacency, callousness, for silencing the noise, for stopping the clock, and for the chance to act our best when the worst occurred.

Thank you for the people who reached in, pulled out the living, cradled the dead, comforted the broken and torn apart, wept for the splintered and uprooted.

Thank you for the people who didn't wait but came right away, who opened their homes, who emptied their shelves, their closets, who cleaned, fed, healed, held us, who told us our spirit was amazing, and who keep on coming.

Thank you for the people who measure their faith by their actions, and measure their actions by its consistency with their faith.

Thank you for all the people we have met, who are new friends, new Loved ones, new brothers and sisters, new neighbors.

Thank you, KATRINA.

Not for the wind, not for the water, but for the appreciation of the things no storm can shatter, no water can wash away, no wind can move.

Written by Tom Teel and Reilly Morse
Tom Teel and Reilly Morse are local attorneys in Gulfport, MS.

Before and After Shots

Before Shot - taken from sort of behind the house. Notice the horrid green menace that has taken over everything.

And an after shot from sort of the same angle. (Just with more sun, obviously). Cool stones, huh? The previous owner invested quite a bit in rock for the back yard. Maybe we'll all be able to actually SEE them now!

Another pond shot - we still have a little ways to go, but we are definitely feeling encouraged!

My Mortal Enemy

Asiatic Jasmine. That vine-y bunch of horridness is the most insidious green thing I've ever encountered. U.G.H.
I finally realized that neither I nor jmk has enough time (or the inclination) to keep this mess under control around the goldfish pond. Quite frankly, I'm not sure why it was planted in the first place, but that happened before we moved in. At any rate, it is ALL going. Every last little annoying bit of it. We have uncovered a ton of beautiful rock and a drainage "system" taking rainwater from the gutter out thru the pond area into the yard that we didn't know existed. We have also discovered that the daylillies were about completely choked out, and the little bits of mondo grass that managed to survive underneath all of it are in quite pitiful shape. BUT, after about a week of uttering words not fit for little ears under our breath, we just about knocked it all out today. At least the majority of it anyway. I am very sure that there is plenty of it hiding under this and that and the other, but the majority of it is GONE. Horrid stuff.

Now, onto cleaning up the bushes and Things that are in the pond area so that it is the little oasis that it was probably meant to be in the first place!

I told you we were crazy around here.

Okay - let me explain. First, jmk had a bad headache when he got home from work, so I took the monkeys outside with me, and he stayed inside and worked on supper. (let's face it - food is usually easier than crazy toddlers/babies). However, I knew I wasn't in the mood to just push Chunk on the swing. I needed to "do something". So, because the asiatic jasmine groundcover is taking over the goldfish pond, I thought I might work on starting to take some of it out. But one can't do that AND hold a chunky baby. And I couldn't very well put him on the ground. He'd eat the yard. So, I got out my trusty sheet sling and threw that baby on my back. I did realize how crazy it all looked, but had no idea that jmk had gotten the camera out! After fiddling with the jasmine and the weeds/grass for about 20 minutes, I decided that Buns of Steel has nothing on the new and improved "Baby On Back" workout.

Why Teachers Teach

Granted, I've never taught for a living, so I don't really know the heart and mind of every teacher. But I had a moment today that may explain how they put up with the parents, low pay, long hours, and crazy administration. Watching a child (especially your own) learn something or watching them improve a skill right in front of you is quite amazing.
The brief time that I taught a few ballet classes during my college years allowed me the opportunity to see children improve their abilities. And that was quite fun and rewarding. But I guess watching your own child go thru the process is even more heart-touching.
At any rate, it brought to mind the feeling that a person who teaches as a regular j.o.b. must experience when she sees a little mind improve itself.

It's like a square

Please bear with me while I brag on my child. I know I shouldn't do this in public, but I just have to. Monkey and I were "drawing" shapes together. Mostly, I was attempting to get a baseline to see how well she could trace shapes so that I could see where we had to go. Anyway, I drew out a square, circle, triangle, and a diamond. She traces the other shapes as best she can and we get to the diamond. As she's tracing it, she says "Diamond. It's like a square."

heeheee...... MooMoo, we may have another little Math girl.

Nine Month Checkup

We had a good 9 month checkup this morning, Praise the Lord! No shots, just a CBC, primarily to check iron levels. (normal protocol for this checkup) Which, according to the doctor, look wonderful and she says he doesn't need to worry with vitamins right now. Yay!
He has grown 1/2 inch and 1/2 pound since his 6 month checkup. Head circumference up by 3/4 cm. Total weight is now 22 lbs 4oz.
She okay'd our giving him an antihistamine every night in the effort to control the eczema. But, suggested that we not stick with benedryl exclusively, because of the negative sleeping effects that it could have. Benedryl every once in a while makes him sleepy - every night could actually make him wake up more often. Hello!!!!! Maybe that explains the horrid sleeping that we've been having lately.
So, even though the Zyrtec makes him a little spit-uppy the next day, we'll swap back and forth between it, the benedryl, and possibly this other thing that she prescribed this morning as another option for us.
The doc seemed to be totally fine with the idea of his having the medicine every night, so that's good. Because I think it's the key ingredient to the skin control right now. I just really dislike giving him medicine every day. But even I have to admit that the difference between bright red dry skin and creamy, only slightly spotted, soft skin is worth the medicine.
I remember that eczema itch, because I was in Junior High school when I developed it. And I remember willingly scratching my skin to sores, because the pain of the sores was easier to take the feeling of the itching. (Sorry for the mental image there!!! Yucko!)

You know, I can not tell you how grateful Jmk and I are for the blessing of these healthy babies. We scheduled Monkey's 3 year old checkup to coincide with Tooter's 1 year checkup, and it occurred to me that Monkey hasn't been to see the doctor since her 2 year old checkup. What a blessing!!! Granted, she did have strep in the past year, but that was after having visited the doctor's office for a regular checkup. So.... we still think she may have picked the strep bug up from there!

Bottom line, our children are healthy - and we probably don't truly appreciate how MUCH of a blessing from God that it actually is. But we do praise HIM for it!

Tooth Numero Sept

Yeah, yeah, yeah, language mixing going on.
ANYway, we have another toofer in. Well, Chunk has another toofer. Up top, #7 by that chart that I posted back in July. So, that makes 7 teeth, with no other teeth close to eruption as far as I can tell. Although, even though this new tooth has finally broken thru, he's still biting and doing the whiny/pulling on his mouth thing. Which makes me wonder - are some babies' gums sore the entire time the tooth is growing down into place? How bad does it hurt? Is it like braces getting adjusted sore? Or just a constant dull ache kind of sore?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could magically know the answers to the whole teething thing?

Warning! Mary Kay Advertising!!!

I wanted to give you fair warning that this post is one big product advertisement. But, man oh man, I just have to do it. MK has come out with a new Tinted Moisturizer! It is absolutely wonderful. SUCH a timely product. Let me tell you about it.... It acts like a moisturizer in the way it feels, behaves, and goes on. But, it has the sheerest of coverage. You don't feel it, you barely see it on your skin. It doesn't settle into little lines, it soaks into them. AND, it gives you an SPF 20 protective factor!
But, the coolest thing that I was noticing is this glow thing that my skin was radiating immediately. Then, Jaime (who is also a consultant), came over and SHE had the glow too! We figure that the moisturizer contains some kind of luminesence property maybe? Or maybe it is the products that create the UVA and UVB sun protection that give the dewey glow? (Can you tell that it is a brand new product and we're just now learning about it?) Anyway, it gives such a pretty look to your skin. It gives it a healthy look that immediately takes a few years off. And when you add the Dual Coverage Pressed Powder on top of it, then you have some actual coverage that will really even out your skin.
But you don't feel ANYthing on your skin. And you still only see more flawless skin.

Now, this whole thing will make you want to have really good skin care underneath it all. Because you will see YOUR skin. Just a better version of it. And you will still need some concealer for the inevitable bumps and such that occur. But that's SO not a big deal!

I still use my regular moisturizer under it, because it is formulated for Combo/Oily skin, and I need that extra oil control. So, for me, the Tinted Moisturzer is sort of like my new foundation. But, for a lot of y'all, it could become your only moisturizer, saving you a step in the morning!

What a product. Y'all are going to LOVE it. I don't have samples of it right now, but hopefully those will come out soon.

YAY MK!!!

Blush and Baaashful

Just a head's up to those who will be coming to see Monkey when she turns 3 next month: I have been informed that we are:
1) Having a Princess party. Men - leave your Y chromosome at the door. You won't be needing it.
2) Having Pink cake with Pink icing. (I'll just use some pink food coloring - no sneaky strawberry cake or anything like that. Don't worry).
3) "Everybody" is coming. "Everybody" includes Beast, Bugs Bunny, Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and Belle.

I promise not to make the boys wear pink boas and tiaras. I, however, am not responsible for what Monkey may insist upon. Just don't say you haven't been warned.

Creamy skin!

Chunk is looking SO much better these days. Praise the Lord, we finally found the magic bullet of benedryl, Dove soap, vaseline, and prescription cream (mometesone furorate) to help with his eczema. We still have to be vigilant about the weather that he is in, and we can't let him get too out of his routine, because we'll see it on his skin. BUT, it looks like the vast majority of the eczema is allergy related, and is thus responding to a nightly dose of antihistamine. I have always been so leery of over-medicating the children that I probably missed the forest for the trees on this one. Thankfully, the Lord answered prayers that allowed me to be reasonable! Now that we have a handle on the skin, we may be able to ease off of the nightly meds. BUT, we'll see. For now, we're sticking to it. Because he is no longer waking up scratching himself from his head to his feet.

HowEVER, he is still waking up often during the night. His internal clock is so haywire from the months of poor sleep that he can't help it. I'm hoping that because he was such a good sleeper when he was first born that he will be able to retrain himself. We shall see!

For now, I'm just so grateful that he is feeling better. Happy babies make for happy parents.

The Man Who Built The Boat

So, someone stops by yesterday to pick something up, and as is Monkey's custom, she offers all sorts of information - asked for and otherwise. Nancy happens to see Tooter and comments on how big he has gotten. Then Monkey, of course, tells her his name. To which, Nancy says "Oh! Like the man who built the boat!" Monkey's reply? "Um - Robert".
lol..... Uncle Robert - your legacy is secure. :-)

Baaa Baaaa Musing

Did you know that sheep respond to their shepherd's voice and his voice alone. Put several different herds in one area, and each herd will only respond to their own shepherd. Sheep WILL respond to their Shepherd, as well. Thought for today - cattle must be driven, but sheep must be led.

Maiden Voyage

Jaime's pics were excellent - and they're already posted!
Here you go!

My brother built a boat.

I am not kidding! My camera batteries are so dead that I couldn't even get the pictures off of them to post anything for you to see. But I will as soon as they recharge! Wow. A honest to goodness canoe. Jmk and I both paddled around the Rez for a little bit this afternoon.

A boat. In his garage. It was so cool.

Yardwork. Blech.

I'm on a mission to get our front beds cleaned up and mulched properly. It's a piece meal job, because 1) it's really hot outside and 2) I have to do it in spurts so that Noah doesn't spend any, or very little, time in the heat because of his skin. But, folks, let's face it. I am NOT my mom. She could work outside in the yard all day long, and be perfectly happy. Now, while I don't mind the work part, I come back inside sneezy and covered in little red bumps because my over-achieving immune system thinks it has to bully up on every little speck of nature that hits my skin. HowEVER, the results of yardwork are so rewarding. Getting an area cleaned up and attractive to look at is a pleasure. Taking something from uncontrolled to pleasant creates this relaxed, peaceful feeling. You know, the world around one's pretty things outside takes over in a blink of an eye.... flower beds around the house will be nothing but weeds in a week's time if proper care isn't taken first. Good weeding, laying down the black weed cloth stuff, covering it in mulch. It's work, it requires some sacrifice of time and energy, and it requires some investment of both money and sweat. It's a lot like our lives. The Holy Spirit may clean out our heart, but unless we keep our life, mind, and heart clean, weeded, and mulched, the weeds of the world WILL come back in. In fact, I bet I'll still have to go out there and weed those beds from time to time, even WITH all the work that I put into it. Walking with Christ is not a couch potato sport. It is an active, daily pursuit. This certainly isn't the first time this analogy has made, mind you. But it's the first time that it has really hit home, because I'm in the middle of the job. Maybe yardwork isn't so blech after all.

Bathtub Medicine

MooMoo and SueSue, avert your eyes. This story involves Tooter in pain, and I know it's gonna get to you!
So, last night, Tooter is having his bath. Monkey hasn't even gotten in the tub yet, and he starts screaming. Well, this screaming thing has been going on a couple of weeks now, and I don't really turn my head. Daddy is sitting at the side of the tub, though, and all he says is "oh my gosh". Well, I'm picking clothes up off of the floor of the bathroom, so I don't look. I just assume the "oh my gosh" refers to the incredible decibels that Tooter produces. Not so.
Daddy says "no - blood".
I look, and Chunk has blood around his mouth. He hasn't bumped his head, nothing weird has happend... just blood everywhere.
I look at his nose and lips, and don't see the source, and then I put my finger to his upper gumline and come back with a red finger. Source found.
That other front tooth is also thru the gumline. But, I don't think it was time for it to be showing.
All I can guess is that maybe he broke the gum tissue with his bottom teeth, exposing the tooth, and causing the blood.
POOR BABY!!!!
I grabbed a washcloth and wet it with cold water and held it to his teeth until the blood stopped. The screaming, however, went on for another 10 minutes. He has never hit those octives before. His poor little eyes had that panicky, mommy-fix-this-hurt look to them. And when he finally calmed down enough to go to sleep, he was back up in less than an hour needing to be held.

This never happened to Monkey, so I totally didn't expect it at all. Didn't know this kind of thing could happen, really. In fact, neither Daddy nor I are actually SURE that we know what happened. But, he seems to be feeling better today, somewhat. Just don't touch his gumline. I tried this morning to see what I could see, and was promptly reminded that the area is sore.

I'm telling you.... as much as I joke, sometimes it really IS hard being a baby.