Things I Have Learned This Month

#1 – If the kids have been playing outside and kindly get Mom a glass of ice water, Mom should make sure they washed their hands before getting the water or she may end up with a mouthful of sandy water.

#2 – Very tired pregnant mommies should resist the temptation to lie down “for just a minute” while the baby is asleep and the older kids are playing. The resulting mess from the “fiesta” they had on the front porch was not worth the few minutes of rest.

#3 – A gallon jug full of water makes an effective “lock” for the top of the trash can. EJ thinks getting everything out of the trash can is great fun. Now if I could just figure out how to keep her from opening the cabinet locks I’ll be all set!

#4 – Mom should remember that Daddy bought their son a 6 foot long rubber snake at the Texas State Aquarium when she goes to pour something in the sink and sees this:



I almost had a heart attack until I realized what it was! CJ’s reply to my yelling? “My snake was playing in the sandbox and needed a bath Momma! Did he scare you?”

#5 – Mom should be thankful that with a 6 year old boy in the house it wasn’t a real snake in the sink!

#6 - If you buy your son a 500ml bottle of water for a trip you should include explicit instructions that he is NOT to drink the entire thing in the first 20 minutes or else you will spend the rest of the drive trying to find bathrooms on the barren stretch of highway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi.

#7 - 3 1/2 year old girls who love gymnastics will insist on wearing a leotard all day, every day even when it is 60 degrees and wearing one requires them to ask "wrap me up in this towel so I don't freeze momma".

Hope all is well wherever you may be reading this from. We miss all of you dearly!

The Texas Coast

This was one tired little girl after spending a couple of hours climbing ladders on the USS Lexington.

I wasn't sure how CJ would react to the surf, but he waded out to where the waves picked him up off his feet and "body surfed" back in loving every minute of it!

EJ was trying to get off of the patio at our hotel to join her brother and sister on the beach.

We spent a couple of days in Corpus Christi and at the Gulf coast recently while we had family in town. The Texas Gulf coast isn't nearly as picturesque as the Florida side of the Gulf, but it is still beautiful in its own way and the kids really enjoyed collecting shells, finding crabs and playing in the waves. CJ has already asked repeatedly to go back to the beach, so we'll have to plan another trip soon. After spending a few days in the salt water breeze and listening to the waves I began to understand the attraction of living on the coast. I wouldn't mind having a house on the beach someday...

So that's how it goes!

We were having a serious conversation with AJ the other evening about death (I don't even know how we got on the subject) and were explaining to her in an age appropriate way that death is inevitable.

CJ's input into the conversation was the comic relief that we needed -
"AJ here's how it goes - you go to tenth grade, then you go to high school, then you're a grandma, then you die!"

It's always interesting when you get a little glimpse into how they think...

Firsts

We've had a couple of very interesting "firsts" in our house over the last couple of days - "first steps" and "first foreign body inserted into the nose"!

EJ took her first step to Eric as he went to get her out of her crib the other morning, and then today while she was in child care at church they said she took 4 steps in a row and then stopped and grinned at everyone as if to say "wasn't that the coolest thing ever?" I personally haven't seen her take any steps and I'm waiting anxiously to confirm the reported phenomena.

We were reading books the other afternoon while the kids had a snack and AJ suddenly said "Mom, my nose really hurts!" My queries about her nose were answered in very vague terms until her ever helpful brother piped in with "Did you stick your snack up your nose??" and AJ said "Yeah! Somebody get the raisin out of my nose please!" Thankfully the offending object was easily removed! And now AJ is telling everyone "It's a bad idea to put raisins in your nose!"

Here in Texas we're hoping that Hurricane Ike will not become any of the "firsts" it could be. The XO will most likely be at work until the storm has passed since he is helping with the coordination of medical resources for the shelters, etc. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Here's Some Pics (finally)

AJ striking a pose at the Science Treehouse at the Witte Museum.

CJ doing what he does best, making noise!

The Witte Museum is the only museum we've ever taken the kids to that actually held their attention for more than an hour. We were there for 3 hours and they complained when it was time to leave!

The 8 1/2 month old tornado known as EJ.

This little one has been by far the most challenging of the three at this age. I timed her today and she can make it up both flights of stairs and into her siblings' room in less than 75 seconds! She can also open all of the drawers on the dressers, get into the entertainment center and "adjust" the sound, and push the office chairs all around the house - all skills that the other two didn't develop until after 12 months. It's going to be very interesting around here in a few months. I signed AJ up for gymnastic lessons, maybe I should have enrolled EJ too!

Technophobes

These comments by the kids recently made me chuckle and also made me think about how much a part of our culture technology has become...

CJ loves to tell really long, detailed stories when we're traveling in the truck. This is the conversation we had the other day:
"Momma, you wanna hear a story?"
"Sure, buddy."
"OK, but you'll have to wait a minute. It's going to take a while to download."

And then about 15 minutes into his story Ana pipes in with "CJ can you push pause on your story for a minute? I need to say something."

I've been wanting to set up the video camera in the vehicle and post a video of one of his stories. I'll have to do that soon. Y'all would think he was hysterical!

It's Official

The NP gave us a "90% sure" answer on the "flavor" of the soon to arrive addition last month, but we wanted to get the "200% guarantee" from the OB before sharing with the world (or at least the 3 people who read our blog). So, it's official - the newest member of the family will be a boy! Tentative name available on request. But it may not be all that tentative since the older kids have already started calling him by his nickname. We're all anxiously awaiting his arrival in early December, some of us more than others!