I'm Baaaccckkkk!

Yeah...so it's been a while. I'd give the same ole' tired excuse that life's busy and blah-blah-blah, which is true...but really, who cares? I'm back now! At least for the next 30 minutes!

So....I have a lot of stories to share and I don't feel like tying all that much, so I'm re posting them on here from my playgroup bulletin board b/c I always have time to check and chat on that! I'm a bad blogger I know!

So here's the first one. In honor of Will Smith's movie The Pursuit of Happiness, I'd like to title them.

I like to call this part of my life - Cocoa Loco!

So I just finished cleaning up the biggest mess to date that JD has made. I was trying to get a few things done on the computer and should have known something was wrong because it was awfully quiet. I went to find him and found a DISASTER instead! I'm so aggravated b/c Jimmy has my camera for work, but I will try my best to describe it. JD was in the middle of the kitchen covered in hot chocolate mix. He'd opened 9 packets of chocolate mix and poured them all over the kitchen. He'd also poured some all over both of our WHITE American Eskimo dogs. I turned the corner in time to find him pouring the packet on Max's back and then LICKING it off!!! I could have died. I couldn't even punish him because I was laughing hysterically. There was chocolate powder between my toes that was how thick it was. JD looked like one of the Little Rascals because his face was covered in brown and when he smiled he had chocolate caked in between his teeth! Needless to say he went straight to the bathtub! I still have to try and get it out of my carpet! It was awful but so funny at the same time!

I'd like to call this part of my life - Pukin' Fiesta

So I woke this Friday morning and was pretty sick to my stomach. After a bit of wallowing in my sorrow I puked my guts out. Now, this is eventful on it's own, but throw a 2-year old in the mix and you've got a regular ole' pukin' fiesta!! As I'm purging, JD's narrating. Of course, he's not too accustom to throwing up yet (he obviously doesn't remember the concussion a few months ago) so he keeps saying, "Mommy - you poo poo!" No JD - I'm not pooping, I'm puking...a little different! It goes like this - I throw up, he chimes in with a cute comment nonetheless (is that all one word?), and then spits in the toilet. It's actually quiet amusing. I mean, as amusing as puking gets! I finally finish up and carry myself back to the couch with JD in tow. Ok, more like I dragged him out of the bathroom where he was still spitting in the toilet. I was praying it was a freak throw up, but NO - as luck would have it - I was sick.

I'm not sure how many of you have experienced the stomach flu. I know it's straight from the devil. Seriously...it's BAD. I had it last year as well, and ugh...talk about contagious. I will list (just to prove a point) everyone who's caught it in the last 2 years: Me-twice, Jimmy-twice, Susan-twice-, Lynn-twice (work), Aylie (SIL), Nick-twice (BIL), Lexi (niece), Yvonne (work), Tim-twice, Mom, Shannon, Matt, Danny, Kevin, John, several playgroup friends...and so you get the point. It goes around like a merry-go-round! So, I got it. I spent the entire weekend miserable. I stopped counting after my 10th trip (I'm not lying) to the bathroom on Friday. By Friday night I was pretty convinced that I was having an appendicitis and needed emergency medical attention - STAT! This is while I was lying on the living room floor while Jimmy watched another college basketball game rolling around. I know...dramatic...whatever! By the time my stomach eased up my body was so sore from all that rolling around! It was pretty bad and pretty much ruined my weekend. It also prevented me from attending a crawfish boil on Saturday at Aylie's house - booo! So...by Sunday I was almost 100% until this happened....

I like to call this part of my life - Nostril Enema

Sunday was pretty much back to normal. I went to Denny's for breakfast for a good ole fashion Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs (it was so good it deserves capital letters) since I hadn't eaten in 2 days!! We had an uneventful day around the house. Watched the NASCAR race and the Elite Eight (code for NCAA bball - ugh...save me from my misery!)!!! So...a typical Sunday.

Last night I was taking my prenatal vitamins and stool softeners (u don't even want to know - I suffer the pregnancy curse of constipation - TMI???). Well, for those of you who don't know me, you probably don't know that I CAN NOT take pills. I could never be a pill addict b/c I can not swallow pills. It's pretty bad - chewable everything for me!! I gag, throw up in my mouth, puke, etc. when I swallow pills and it all starts as I'm unscrewing the cap. ANYWAYS - my stool softeners are gelcaps - like the easiest things to swallow for a normal person. I take a deep breath and throw them in my mouth and take a swig of tea. You know that burning in your nose feeling when you somehow get the liquid from your mouth into your nasal cavity (the whole milk spewing from nose thing when laughing) - it happened. I was aggravated b/c I'm a pill failure, but figured it would go away in a few. Fifteen minutes later my nose and throat are STILL burning and my nose is beginning to run!! I wipe my nose with a paper towel and much to my surprise - my towel is pink. I keep wiping and shoving twisted up tissues in my nose and they keep coming out all pink! After a few minutes of this, I realize I have not only sucked up tea through my nose, but my stool softener as well! AWESOME. I call my S-I-L to tell her (we share these kind of things). I continue to blow and suffer while my nose is on fire. After a few minutes I gave my nose one last good blow and out came the pill. It was pretty melted by this point, but still resembled the pill! Ugh!!! I had to show Jimmy and I thought he was gonna puke!! It was awful!!! For the next 3 hours my nose burned and my throat had the worst taste EVER from all of the drainage!! It was pretty bad!! I even went to bed with a spit cup just like Papa Tim. Not for dip of course, but for the lovely drainage pouring from my nose to my throat. It literally felt like a thousand ants were being held hostage by Jack Bauer on my throat. The funny thing is...apparently stool softeners are great decongestants as well - you know, in case you run out of clariten d!!

So...in case you were ever wondering if you can suck more than milk into your nose from your throat - the answer is yeah!! A pill the size of 2 cem. will fit as well!! Nice....

Truly Blessed

There are few things sweeter than JD telling me he loves me after I tell him. This is one of the few...

Jimmy got JD ready for bed tonight while I hopped in the shower. I kissed him goodnight and went on my way. This is one of the tiny things that is so incredible to me....(see below for more)

Anyways, I got out of the shower and could hear JD in his bed talking. After getting dressed I stopped outside of his room to see if it sounded like "fussy talk" or just rambling before falling asleep. At first I thought he was calling me, and then what I heard melted my heart. He was saying in his sing songy voice, "Mommy, I wuv you. Daddy, I wuv you. Mommy, I wuv you. Daddy I wuv you." It was to date, the most precious thing this sweet child has said. I wish I could have recorded his voice to replay over and over again. I am so blessed....

As I mentioned above, one of the most amazing things to me is watching JD and Jimmy. As many of you all know, I had a very strained relationship with my father growing up and have zero relationship now. It wasn't that my parents were divorced or that he didn't live close. No...we shared a roof. Before anymore is said, I must say that I have some of the most wonderful memories of my dad growing up and I can now look back and see the good times, instead of only the bad. I'm not sure what went wrong when I was little. I think it was a combination of so many things. I think there were some jealousy issues. My mom and I have always been very close, and I think my dad was always jealous of the relationship my mom and I had. We were also two people who shared so many of the same qualities, unfortunately so many of these qualities were things I despised and qualities that seemed to drive us further apart. He's a very intimidating man and I feared him for many years. It was just a tough relationship and I guess still is. So, of course this meant my mom and I were inseparable. She was the one I ran to for everything. As hard as it was, it makes me appreciate the amazing husband and father that Jimmy is. I can't begin to explain the comfort I have knowing that JD is fine with daddy putting him to bed. It's so silly and hard to explain, I just can't imagine how torn my mom most have felt all those years. I am truly blessed....

The End of an Era

So it's not really the end of an era, but it feels that important to me.

JD is growing up. I say this like it's a surprise, like I haven't said it several times a week for the last 2 years and 30 days. But really, this time - he's growing up.

Tonight after I put JD to bed, which like so many other things has become easier as he's gotten older (and I know this continues to change), I came across something that made tears feel my eyes. I was picking up my room when I came across his bear blanket. I've spoken about this in other posts - the beloved LOVEY if you may. This can't be right I thought - JD's asleep without his blanket. He's slowly been less interested in Bear and Blanket (yes - those are their very technical names) and more interested in Mickey House (I know I called him Mickey House, but that's what JD calls him and for the life of me I can't correct him - it's just too cute). He received a blue night-time Mickey Mouse from my mom and Tim for his birthday. And well...since then, he's not put it down. It's even replaced Bear and Blanket at Mother's Day Out. He'll still ask for Bear and Blanket occasionally and if he sees them in his crib later in the day, he'll pull them out. But for the most part - he doesn't miss them. As long as he's got Mickey House he's happy. Which is great! I'm happy if he's happy, but it's a little bittersweet. Blanket has been by JD's side since he was a baby. I received it at a baby shower and I couldn't wait to use it when JD was born. It's the softest chenille blanket with a stuffed teddy bear head as one of the corners. It made the best blanket/pillow for JD as a baby in his bouncy seat or swing. I've tucked him in bed everynight with his sweet face nuzzled into Blanket's softness. I've had to sneak it in the wash time after time, afraid that eventually the teachers at MDO were going to ban it because it looked so dirty. I had to pry it from his sweet hands when we were at the ER the last time because he'd thrown up on it. It's literally been through it all, and I guess it just saddens me because it's just another remineder that he's growing up. As much as I can't wait for the fun times ahead, my heart aches a little knowing that I'll never get these moments back.

I'm not sure why I'm so sentimental over all of this here recently. I think part of it is that we've had a wonderful couple of weeks. JD has had his moments, but overall he's been so much fun. He's been extremely happy, he's eating better, and he's talking so much. I've spent more time asking myself what the heck Jimmy and I did before JD. I love this precious child so much. I can't wait to watch t-ball games and to teach him how to water ski, but I don't want to - not yet. I need a few more years of this....