Dear

One of my friends posts "dear" letters occasionally.  Hers are short, sweet, and funny.  Mine are a bit longer, but certainly gets it off my chest. :)


Dear dog-walking neighbor,
I know its inconvenient to pick up poo when your dog goes on the side walk.  Trust me, I know.  We used to have a dog.  But, its a one-time inconvenience for you.  When you leave it, its an inconvenience to me and my crew every time we walk on said side walk to and from the bus stop every day.  So, what is that?  Four times a day?  Yeah.  Its proving to be a little more than a simple inconvenience, especially when they step in it. 
Do you need a bag? I have plenty.  Maybe I should leave some outside for you.  You know, so its more convenient for you.

Much love and puppy dog kisses,
Your sick-of-side-stepping poo neighbor


Dear Isaac,
I know you love to nurse.  Especially at night.  Thanks for being such a trooper these last few days as we started night weaning.  Thanks, especially, for not hating me in the mornings like you so clearly do at night when I don't nurse you.  It will get easier.  I promise.  In the meantime, maybe we should start a 12 step program for you.

Love,
your over-tired mommy




Dear Miss I-hate-all-people receptionist,
If I'm not mistaken, being a receptionist at a doctor's office does require some interaction with people.  If you really hate the human race that much, maybe you should consider another line of work.

Sincerely,
the patient-who-simply-called-to-check-our-appointment-time



Dear A,
You are not as stealthy as you think.  When sneaking food,  you may want to consider throwing away the evidence when you are through.  Believe it or not, I won't believe you when you say that Isaac got into that banana all by himself.

Love,
your grocery poor mother


Dear O-
I know you want Twinkle Toes.  I know.  I know.  I know!  We bought them for your birthday so BE PATIENT!

Love,
Can't spend $40 on girl's shoes just because.

Dear E,
You make me laugh.  With your sense of humor, and your ability to fall asleep at 7:30.

Love,
your bored and lonely wife




Dear me,
Stop eating crap.

Love,
your future self

The Ham

I asked A if I could take some pictures of him.  He said "sure" and this is what he gave me.

Being the 3rd child means...

...getting every illness known to man kind because your big siblings are notoriously bad at staying out of your face before they wash their hands.

...having built in play-mates.

...passing a googly eye with your BM.

...your mommy hardly raises an eyebrow upon seeing the eye in the BM (But does take a picture to show daddy later to have a good laugh.)

...getting things constantly ripped out of your mouth that are choking hazards.  Like said googly eye. And Legos.  And Polly Pockets. And the list goes on.

...getting to eat peanut butter waaaaay before your siblings did.  Mainly because they feed it to you.

...having a mommy who is way more relaxed than someone who is a 1st child. (i.e. walking, talking, climbing, picky eating, not drinking milk.)  You'll do whatever it is you're going to do when you are ready and when you want to do it.

...having a mommy who realizes how quickly you really do grow up.

...having siblings pull, prod, and dress you up like a girl.

...a mommy and daddy who will snuggle, rock, and smell your head when you are sick. (and love every minute of the snuggles!)

Staring me in the face

We finally had Isaac's birthday party.  On his 13 month "birth"day.  Since we had to reschedule, I invited ALL of the 40 people I invited the first time (which was scheduled for right after Christmas, and only 4 people were coming the first time around) despite E's pleas.  (seriously?  Like I could un-invite people?) Since most of us had been snowed in all week, I think a lot of people were desperate to get out of the house.

My original plan for Isaac's birthday was to get cupcakes from a cupcake place here.  That way, there wouldn't be a lot of left-overs.  That plan changed. Seeing as I didn't want to make 40 cupcakes myself, (and I certainly didn't want to pay $3 a piece for them) I decided to order a Costco cake.

It turned out pretty darn cute.  His party was snowman themed, so it worked.  Plus, Costco cake is yum-o.

See the inside of it?  Its like a whipped chocolate fluff. 

Oh, so yummy. (Isaac thought so, too.)

See, here's the problem.  The Costco cake said it would feed 35 people.  We had 35 rsvp's.  I kind of knew that some people wouldn't have cake, so there would be some left overs.  However, I didn't realize that Costco does every thing in bulk.  Including their cake "servings". 

I have, at least, a quarter of that cake in my fridge.  Staring me in the face.  Daring me to eat it.  Gosh, I think I hear it calling my name. 

Did I mention I'm still trying to lose some weight? (not much, but I'm pretty sure the cake would be counter-productive to reaching my goal.)

Do they make fridge locks for adults?

Why I haven't blogged in a while

We got 8, yes, 8, inches of snow down here in the south.  Can you believe it??  Wild, huh?  Anyway, school was out all last week.  With all of our other activities cancelled, I had to come up with some new ways to entertain the masses. 

The first two days we played outside.  After that, it was too cold to really spend much time (with out the appropriate cold-weather gear) in the snow.

Here are some pictures from our first two days of adventures.

A peace in my heart

Whenever any of my kids have been scheduled to have surgery, (yesterday was the 4th time. O had kidney reflux surgery, A had to be re-circumcised and, at a separate time, had his adenoids out.) I always start to wonder if we are making the right choice. Are the risks of the anesthesia outweighed by the benefit of the surgery?

Isaac's surgery went really well on Wednesday.  When the ENT came back to talk to us he said that Isaac's ears were already 75% filled with fluid and were already infected.  They were completely clear on Thursday afternoon when we went to see him.  So, less than a week later, and he already had another infection. 

Even though that bit of information may seem like bad news, it was actually very reassuring.  It gave us complete peace in our decision.  A confirmation that we did the right thing and made the right choice.  With out this surgery, we would've been back to the pediatrician for another visit sometime yesterday or today. 

I had prayed, right before Christmas, that God would make it abundantly clear that Isaac needed (or didn't need) the surgery.  He not only made it clear before his surgery, but afterward as well.  I think its kind of cool (and, really shows me His love) that he reaffirmed this decision for us. 

Isaac's having surgery tomorrow

My little man is getting some work done tomorrow.  Tubes in, adenoids out.



He's had lots of ear infections in his short life time and he seems to be a good candidate for tubes.  While we were at the ENT discussing tubes, they went ahead and did a head x-ray and discovered that his adenoids are very large for a baby his age.  This may be one of the causes of all of his infections to begin with.  So, those suckers are coming out!

Sick baby, after his antibiotic shot

A-man had his adenoids out at 18 months, and it was one of the very best things we had ever done for him.  He felt so much better and was such a happier kid. 

Not that Isaac isn't a happy kid, but I'd love for him to feel better.  Oh, and to sleep better.  (I think that's a given, though.)