Dancing Girl

Derby High Pantherettes host a fundraising Dance Clinic for little girls.  Sounded right up Emma's alley!!  Here's dance friends & a shot of them practicing before the football game.

 Below you'll see why I struggled getting a decent photo of Emma during the performance. .:note yellow arrow:.  For some reason parents decided to belly up to the wall to take up close nostril shots thus defeating the purpose of the instructors having the shortest girls in front to be seen. Do you know the woman the yellow arrow is pointing to? If so I have some great shots of her head & backside you are welcome to! :)  Emma did a great job especially considering they only learned/practiced it for 3 hours the Saturday before!!  She's definatly more talented than her mommy in that area!

So, what's a brother to do while sissy is dancing?  Aidan found great joy hangin' from the bleacher railing & Isaac was snuggled up in his Sleepywrap keeping warm on the cool fall evening.

Not sure who won the football game, but Matt enjoyed watching it dreaming of when his boys would play together as Senior/Soph Stout football duo! :)

Announcing...

Again a little slow getting to this, but doing my best to NOT fall into the "3rd child gets nothing" trap! I WAS super prepared for the birth announcement.  Even looked up gender neutral, boy & girl ideas on the web prior to delievery.  I worked on the address list of folks I'd be sending them to.  Then the birth came, mommy fell apart and here we are!  I'm posting it here before I snail mail it out b/c I just ordered them so by the time they are in and I get them sent...well they might as well be our Christmas cards! :) Hehehe!



I must share that my friend Ruth made this announcement.  She is simply amazing at creating announcements, Christmas cards, invitations, etc.  She did Aidan's announcement and our Christmas cards the last several years. She can make a beautiful card using my random snapshots and she also is a very talented photographer herself!


So here it is..

Funny story about the photo shoot for this.  Isaac was all tense having Matt hold him 1/2 naked in his arms for the newborn shoot at Penney's.  YET, for this photo shoot Isaac was sound asleep 1/2 naked in the back of a Tonka truck in the backyard AS the ice cream man drives by playing obnoxious music!?!? :)
Thanks again Ruth!  You're the best!

Isaac ~ 1 Month

I'm a couple days late getting this posted.  Isaac turned 1 month last Saturday.  I could ramble on about how that seems so very, very impossible.  Poor little guy has only had 1/2 of his Mama his first month here!  I'm trying my best to change that!  So here's the scoop on Isaac this first month...

.: Stats- 11 lbs 3 oz. & 22 in long

.: What You're Wearing- wearing size 1 diapers, starting to outgrow those newborn outfits, and honestly fitting tooooo well into the 3 month ones!

.: Firsts- parade (Atlanta Labor Day celebration), BIG fireworks display (FCC Fall Kick Off)

.: From Head to Toe- cord almost healed.  Yucky stump fell off about 2 weeks ago, but they left so much a small section has had trouble healing.  After repeated fussiness following eating you're on meds for silent reflux.  Mommy finds it challenging to keep your nails trimmed and your hair "non-greasy". :)

.: Loves- (starting to) swing, Mama's arms, eating, SleepWrap, taking a bath, looking at Sissy, snuggling and being wrapped/swaddled, being outside

.: Dislikes- tolerates bouncy seat, dislikes a slow moving car (45 mph & up is good!), not being held!

.: Eating- 4 oz every 4 hours, recently switched to Sensitive formula

.: Sleeping- You...not so much me!  In general you go down about 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. and then up to eat.  Back down about 1:30 or 2 a.m. and wake again around 5 a.m. to eat again.  After that last feeding you rarely end up back asleep unless it's in Daddy & Mama's bed where you generally sleep until we leave to take Sissy to school.

Misc Tid Bits:

.: super close to smiling...at least mama thinks so!

.: you've been to church twice and from here on now that Mama is better hopefully you'll be there weekly!

.: VERY strong head.  During tummy time we swear you're trying to be mobile.  You get strong enough or mad enough to squirm around pretty good!

Look What I Can Do!

I learned a new blog trick....personal signature! See...

If you're interested in learning it's super easy. Click here.

Yellow Card

Well IT happened.  Emma's got a juvi record.  A YELLOW card. I wasn't sure as the year started if her "teacher pleaser" attitude would vanish or stick around.  I'm happy to announce it still remains 1 month into school! 


Emma comes home from school Wednesday evening about 5:45 (she went to a friends after school).  Her first words - hidden behind her hands covering her mouth - was something to the effect of "mumble,blah,mumble,yellow card,blah, mumble". 


I knew I didn't want to jump all over her...after all it was just a warning, but I didn't want her to get the idea a warning was nothing to worry about. I tried to get the story out of her as to why she had to pull a card.  That proved to be difficult. First of all she mustn't be like me....likes to give each and every detail of a story...oh no! I AM my dad!  She (still in her mumbling, scared tone) said something about a "guy kissing a girl & Avery and I were talking about it".  Which I'm sure her and Avery's conversation went something like "Oh, my.  They are much to young to be kissing.  We would never do that as it would cheapen us and disappoint our parents.  We vow to remain pure..." AND CERTAINLY their conversation wasn't anything like "Hehehehe. They kissed!! Hehehe! Did you see that!! Hahaha!" (all in a squeaky, high pitched little girl tone). 


As Emma told us what had happened you could see in her eyes (blood shot and flooded with tears) that this had weighed on her all day.  Which broke my heart.  So did knowing that she cried when she had to pull the card (she reported Avery did not cry). So, being the hormonal and oh so sleepy mommy I am...the yellow card made me cry a bit too!  Tears of sadness for her and to be honest tears of joy for me...the thought that she cares enough about doing well at home and school. And joyous tears that SHE was not the one being kissed!! :) Our talk ended by her letting out all the worries & fears of the day on Daddy's big shoulders!


So, my guess is it went like this.  The girls saw a boy and girl kiss.  They were snickering about it.  Substitute probably asked them to stop laughing/talking about it (Emma denies) and they didn't, so thus the stripping of the precious white card...revealing the yellow warning card.  


How we handled it right or wrong...heck if I know I used to be the mean teacher having sweet children pull their cards/sticks/etc.  We praised her for telling us first thing.  She could have waited until bedtime, or even until Thursday when her school packet & behavior chart comes home.  We encouraged her to respect substitute teachers as she would her regular teacher.  Explained that she will sometimes make mistakes and that is ok, but a frequent yellow card day is NOT, nor is any red days.  Whew!  Hopefully this is as bad as it gets!! :)

BTW where are the PDA kiss anyway??  Did they pull a card? :)

Push Present

Look what arrived in the mail!! Don't you L-O-V-E this necklace???!!! I do!  It was an unexpected gift from Matt..unexpected as in he didn't know he got it for me! :) This necklace is what I'm considering my "push present".   What's a push present you might ask? (I actually didn't learn of it until after I had had Emma- where most of my labor pushing occured) Push present explained: Us women push, push, PUSH (aka endure hours of excrutating pain) and our reward- besides the precious child GOD gave us- is the push present from our hubby.  So, let's reflect for a moment on all we endure to receive such a fine gift...


-Pain. Pregnancy pain. Exam pain. Pain from needles. Labor/birth pain. Simply P-A-I-N!
-Needles...short ones for basic lab that make one nervous and then oh so long one jabbed in the spine that is anxiously anticipated and often times begged for!
-Mesh Undies... *sarcasim begins here* they're soooo wonderful! Breathable, stretchy, one size fits all...when will Victoria start sellin' those!
-Mega Large Pads...sorry boys, but I speak the truth.  These bad boys could double as a mattress!

-Swollen legs, feet, and unmentionables.  Not everyone gets the latter, but some, like me are just that fortunate!

-Indigestion...did you even know it's possible to have indigestion from water!!!???

-Sleepless nights...nights of dreaming and wondering about that new little one to come transitions to lack of sleep from discomfort (such as baby dancing the Irish jig on the mattress or doing a tap dance on the bladder) then the baby comes and sleep becomes something you daydream about and a memory of the past you hold near and dear to your heart.

-Modesty exits as everyone enters...Hello! You're the hospital custodian?  Welcome to the birth of my child.  Nice to meet you Suzie, the cafeteria worker!  Come on in.  Everyone's apparently welcome!

-Excess skin...I guess we can't expect our bellies to expand like a beach ball and then snap back to that six pack we previously had.  Oh, wait.  I never had one of those to begin with!

-Speaking of belly.  What happened to my belly button?? It's what I call the Belly Button Makeover Baby Edition.  First it's "normal", then it becomes an outtie or flat out...well flat. Baby exits and the depth of the bellybutton is as deep and dark as the sea. Then there's the baby's button...ewe! 

-Blood Pressure, bleeding and other complications.  I expected my blood pressure to rise in the teen years, but already! 

-TMI here- Wearing a pregnancy crotch girdle for my varicosities/hernia...through the HOT  summer months I might add!

-Assistance with the most basic of tasks such as bathing.  Matt has proven his abilities to care for me in my elderly years. He's very caring and of great assistance to me following each labor/birth. Again, modesty has left the building.
-Using the "Personal Cleansing" bottle I call the "Gift from Heaven".  Oh yes, the baby is sweet, but this bottle is your best friend! Probably the cheapest medical "tool" you'll come into contact with during your hospital stay. OK, probably not as cheap as those mesh undies.

The sweet smellin' baby burrito, soft dimpled hands,  wrinkly feet, round belly, kissable cheeks, precious little lips that will someday say "Mama" (I KNOW they usually say Dada first, but don't ruin my moment here!) are all gift enough! But my necklace shares with the world my 3 precious "pushes". 


I thank God for the perfect baby blessings He has given me.  I'm blessed to have Matt's support and help throughout each delivery.  Thanks again honey for the push present! It's just what I wanted! ;)


**In case you're wondering I ordered the necklace online from Moonlight Doodles at etsy.com.  Clich here.  It's called the small family circle necklace.  I'm very pleased with it..kinda wish the necklace was a bit shorter, but that's just me.  It even came gift wrapped (Matt was so thoughtful to have planned that! Ha!!) in a pretty box complete with bow!

Things I Learned Today...

I learned that men simply think different. Now I didn't call them "simple" thinkers...just that they think differently. After a meltdown this AM due to constant screaming by the newborn and then the 2 year old to follow suit I was on the ledge. I text Matt at 12:15 and it goes like this:

Me: Call me if/when you get a chance.

Matt: Everything ok or do I need to leave lunch to call

Me: Finish your lunch...

Matt: Ok. Love you.

Well that's how it went down, but THIS is what I "remember"-

Me: Call me instantly I'm having a meltdown and I need you to talk me off the ledge!

Matt: Is this important enough for me to pause my peaceful, fulfilling, sit down restaurant, adult lunch I'm enjoying?

Me: Sure finish your lunch!! I HAVEN'T even had breakfast yet b/c YOUR son keeps screaming his face off. I'm certain he needs to go to the Dr., but I don't need the Dr. adding to my bad day by giving me the "You're here b/c your baby is crying LOOK". It's 12:15 and I nor Aidan have even had lunch yet...but I'm sure the nutritious sugar laden gem donuts he ate for breakfast is tiding him over!!! Enjoy your lunch, take your sweet time and call me once you're nice and full that way you can perhaps concentrate on my important matter!!

Matt: Thanks for understanding the importance of me eating honey. I love you because you're so understanding of a nice meal time filled with adult conversation.

Me: UGH! #$#W&%$*E%$*^*&(&^%$#@

*DISCLAIMER*- I love Matt dearly and he's been very thoughtful and helpful throughout this last month that I've been super worthless. He totally would have left lunch and called me if I had asked him to, but I know that he was out with the office staff as he does each Friday following staff meeting at work. :)

I learned (*Warning...gross) that a sneezed our french fry looks a lot like hashbrowns thrown all over the place. How do you achieve learning this life lesson? First, start with a 2 year old with allergies and FORGET to give them their allergy medicine. Next, fast forward to lunch. Feed him a corn dog and fries. Now have him chew a fry but do NOT let him swallow. This is where the sneeze comes in. Have him Sneeze withOUT covering the mouth. Wow. How do you begin to clean up ABC (AlreadyBeenChewed) fries? Let me tell you!!! First don't bother starting the cleaning up until after the 6th and FINAL sneeze (trust me...I tried cleaning after the 1st, then the 2nd, the 3rd & 4th were back to back as were #5 & 6..much easier to wait until after the storm to clean up rather than during!) and then simply vacuum.

I learned that if anything, anything medical is going to happen to our fam it will be on a Friday very near noon when all offices and Dr.s are no longer in the office. I also learned that the fear of looking like an idiot parent will scare me from actually going into the Dr. Isaac was super fussy Wed. and today, but with him being my 3rd I feel I should know what to do in all situations and don't want to be given that "look" of Ha! She's here because her baby is crying. No fever. No cough. No blood. No vomiting. Crying!!! Hehehe...babies cry lady! Ok...maybe they don't really think those things...but deep in their eyes I can see/hear it!

I've learned my children can share ONE thing with regularity and without fighting. What is that you ask? It's called their "scream time". Earlier this week jumping out of a moving vehicle seem like a doable option as opposed to listening to them take turns fussing, screaming, whining, or any other annoying sound. Some might say "Well at least it's not all at once." Oh NO! I beg to differ! I'd rather it all be at once. At some point they'll stop to breathe even if just for a moment and there for that brief second there would be silence!! They've got scream time sharing down...now on to toys, books, TV, etc, etc, etc

I learned one large difference between my girl and my boy.

Girl- 20 minute screaming fit over whether to wear her flip flops or tennis shoes to Gma's b/c she knew there might be dew on the ground and her feet might get wet in flip flops, but she wasn't sure about tennis shoes b/c her feet can get hot.

Boy- Stomped and splashed in water puddles...in crocs, repeatedly. Even a puddle that had gravel bits, dirt and God know what. As a matter of fact he drove his little toy fire truck IN the puddle and then *LICKED* it clean. And yes that is the precious little mouth I kiss goodnight (after a bath and good brushing of the teeth of course!)

I learned God did watch out for me today to narrowly avoid a Tbone crash! Whew! So happy the boys weren't screaming in the car like usual, thus my eyes were very much on the road to see the man running the red light! Thank you God! Looks like he wants me to stick around and learn some more...

My Newborn Babies

Emma ~ 1 week

Aidan ~ 1 week

Isaac ~ 1 week

After a month of speculating who Isaac looked like and with minor research we made our best guess of- a Stout in general b/c of the scowl and like Aidan b/c of the prominent nose and a certain little "sad/pouty" face he makes. Well, were we wrong!!!

I was digitally "shuffling" through photos to find pics for one of Emma's school projects. When I hit pictures of Emma's first weeks at home I about jumped out of my seat! OHMYGOODNESS! It's Isaac in pink with bows!

I'm embarrassed to admit that we've been saying for a month that Isaac was our first baby with hair. Well, actually that's a NO! Compared to Aidan yes, but as I look back Emma did in fact have hair and ironically enough it stuck up over her left year just as it does on Isaac. Her hair also had a rather long rat tail in the back...as does Isaac's. Their hair color, head shape and much of their face looks very, very similar. Looking at pics of all three with their eyes open there's just *something* similar in Emma and Isaac's eyes. Yet, Isaac resembles Aidan too. So confusing...but (yes I'm biased) all very, VERY cute as well!

So, now it's up to you all. The pics are posted above. In order Emma, Aidan & then sweet little (rollalicious) Isaac.

Future in Government?

Not sure how many of you were aware...and honestly I wasn't even aware until today that my children...YES my precious little Emma and Aidan have a future in working for our government. NOW, I'll attempt to eliminate political controversy by not going into my feelings about my children working for the corrupt government or how I would feel very disappointed that their moral compass was not set straight enough in their upbringing to take them to the point of such employment.

Anywhos… What job might they hold you ask? Based on today's behavior they are in line & all ready equipped with skills to be government operatives. Like CIA, FBI, those folks that have the inside information and missions that no one is supposed to know about. When Bush was needing proof of weapons of mass destruction…all he needed was my children. They can sniff out stuff that they’re not supposed to. They can scope out, seek, find and destroy anything you hope and pray they will avoid. They’re like specialty trained drug dogs, seizure dogs, earthquake dogs, whatever. They have an innate ability to smell out anything with a whiff of Lysol, lemon or Clorox clean and then cover that fresh clean scent with snack residue, urine or any other “non-clean” substance. Negotiating is another skill they possess. They might also be good to work with leaders of other stubborn countries. In their united effort they can make the strongest parent leader contemplate surrender.

Today perhaps could have been a conspiracy between Aidan and Emma, as Aidan was home throughout the day to witness my works…hmm. Ah, yes focus…in an attempt to perhaps look productive after basically a month of doing much of nothing I decided to appear the task master I once considered myself. What grand plans did I have to accomplish that today? Hold on to your seat! I used Clorox wipes to scour the filth in from my hall bath AND picked up the boy’s room clearing off the changing table, putting away some clean clothes and even making Aidan’s bed. Simply tiding up. Wow! You’re impressed aren’t you!?!? Well that was all looking good and in place to begin the “impress Matt with my ambitious Martha Stewart abilities” mission UNTIL my precious angels from God united forces to conspire against my plan.

Emma gets home from school. All is well, catch up on the day, have a snack, and then they decide to “P.L.A.Y”. How in the WHOLE W-I-D-E W.O.R.L.D did they magically decide to play in the 2 rooms I had attempted to clean??? And I don’t just mean play, like with a few toys. I mean- Emma “washed” her hands after snack in the hall bath totally eliminating the appearance of cleanliness and that was right before Aidan walks into the bathroom and pees on the floor. Shooing them on to take care of the pee they head off to the boys’ room. Emma instantly decides to “help” mommy and make Aidan’s bed. (Um..it’s already made, but TRYING to remain a calm mother who ultimately cares much more about her children and their thoughts and feelings of belongingness to the family WAY over the cleanliness of her home I yield let her “help”) Losing track of Aidan I didn’t realize he had gotten back into the bathroom and covered his hands with hand soap. Now, he’s too little to reach the faucet/water to actually wash the soap off. So, lifting him to assist (wait no I’d never do that…I’m not supposed to physically be lifting him!) in washing it all off before it ends up in his eyes. He and I return to boys’ room to find Emma “reorganizing” the clothes in the closet. Wow, well that would only be the clothes I had hung and sorted earlier today. Ugh! Again shooing them from the closet they land over by the book shelf. You guessed it. The one I had just loaded with all the books strewn around the room/hallway earlier. Ok. That is it. I fold. Yield. Surrender.

Off to the basement. There’s always laundry to be done. Emma & Aidan were helpers earlier and took all the dirty laundry down so now all I have to do is sort and load while they read books. Enter laundry room. Find- Aidan’s urine soaked clothing on top of my basket of CLEAN laundry needing fluffed or ironed. AHHHH!

White flag is waving. This war is not mine to fight. I’m out numbered. Matt will be home in minutes and BTW…where is child #3…the new one…. Isaac during all this?

So, like a good wife when I call Matt and let him know it was “his” night to bring dinner. I also fill him in on my lack of accomplishments around the house and Emma and Aidan’s future helping the security and defense of our country.

UPDATE: The dog is in on it too. I’ve waited all day for our darn icemaker to make enough ice for a nice big glass of ice water or ice tea. All my little future government workers in bed I sit down to compute with my glass of ice water and big bowl of cookies & cream ice cream. My fowl mouth (and I mean FOWL you’d rather kiss his “other end”) dog first drinks from my glass and then knocks over the glass spilling my precious ice cubes and water…right down the air conditioner vent. It’s time to call it a night.

Start of a New Week!!

Oh, I am ready for Monday! Due to sudden recurrence of heavy bleeding on Tues. evening I am set for a D&C on Friday AM. Although I'm very frustrated with some of the staff at my OB's office & the overall handling of my case I guess I'm ready to get it over with and hopefully start next week with a healthy uterus and BP that is continuing to drop. (Yes, irregular BP readings, yet nurse assures me it's ok to be knocked out for the procedure!?!) So, here's to getting better and perhaps enjoy a bit of time with my kiddos before the extra ones come back!!

Hard to believe Isaac is three weeks already! Him turning 1 month might stir the same emotions as Emma going to school! I've gotta find a "Happy" place that I go to so I don't dread each of his milestones. BUT darn! It's sad...he's my baby...it goes so quickl

y...and I'll never get it back! I can't snap enough pictures or take enough video to soothe the feeling of time passing & him growing at mega speeds...oh that need to hold on to his tiny, tiny precious little body!