A Little Challenge

The past day or two have been a little challenging. We have all been slightly under the weather. My throat has been scratchy but not exactly sore but yesterday I felt like I could never quite wake up. I actually did sleep a good portion of the day, as did Curly. I can tell he doesn't feel well. His eyes have been goopy most of the time we've been here but it would get better and then get worse. Nothing was ever very bad so I was waiting to see what would happen. He had the same problem at Thanksgiving and we got antibiotic drops. But I didn't bring those with from Alabama. I called yesterday and got his doctor's office to call in a refill and we've been using those. Also, he's run a slight fever off and on for the past couple of days and he's congested. I don't think he was awake more than about three hours all of yesterday. He'd wake up briefly, eat briefly and then go right back to sleep. No muss, no fuss. And THAT is totally not like him. Fighting sleep is the name of his game usually. So, today he's obviously feeling somewhat better or at least different because it's been the opposite of yesterday. He hasn't slept much at all until about an hour ago. He was refusing to nurse but acting very tired and of course, crying makes the congestion that much worse. He finally kept in the pacifier long enough to get still and fell asleep on my chest. I fell asleep, too and we rested nicely in Poppa's chair. I got up about fifteen minutes ago and managed to execute a transfer to the couch where he still seems to be resting nicely.

I think we'll be heading home tomorrow. Moe has a doctor's appointment on New Year's Eve day and I don't even know when that is. I think Wednesday and I think today is Monday. It's definitely hard to keep up. We need to transition back to school hours and routine because we all start back on January 5. All of us. Even Curly. I hope that doesn't prove to be more of a challenge than the past two days. Anyway, check out this cute video of Curly playing with the toy he got for Christmas. He's making the lights and music go with his feet. This was during a brief period of time this afternoon before he decided his world was coming to an end, pre-nap.

Merry, Merry Christmas 2008!

We have had an outstanding Christmas this year. The entire family was present last night at Mammaw and Pappaw's house. Well, I guess you could say that one of our "regulars" wasn't there. My great-aunt, Coy, who sometimes comes by on Christmas Eve wasn't there and we missed her. Her birthday is today, by the way. Happy Birthday, Aunt Coy! We love you! The boys had a blast passing out the gifts with my two youngest cousins. What melee! What glee! We were very fortunate, too, to have Pappaw there as he's had a very precarious year health-wise. He is doing great considering what major surgery he had earlier this year.

This morning we went to my aunt's house for her annual Christmas brunch. Almost everybody from last night was there this morning, too including a few extra friends whom we also consider to be family.

Tomorrow afternoon we are going to my dad's brother's house for a late lunch. We used to open gifts there, too, but since we have so many people involved now we've decided to forego the gift giving and just visit.

Right now we are enjoying our new Christmas toy. My brother and parents bought us a Wii with sports package and Santa brought the Rock Band 2 game. We are having a ton of fun so far with the whole thing. We have been very blessed this Christmas and are very thankful for all that we have and received.

Christmas Eve, eve

My children have had such fun with the title phrase this week. You know, a few days ago it was "Christmas Eve eve, eve, eve, eve, eve. Needless to say, the day before the "big day" (or night in our case)they were very, very obnoxious, but I guess, in a cute way.

It's Christmastime?!

I am in total disbelief that this year is coming to an end. Ok, yeah, we had a great summer and the boys had a blast on swim team. Then there was the pregnancy with Curly which I now barely remember (I hate that I don't seem to hold things in memory very long; never thought I'd forget how HARD he kicked). All that aside, it's now time to ponder the past year and look forward to the new year.

Yesterday, I had lunch and dessert with a few friends from high school. We've been trying to meet once or twice a year for the past several years. We've added an ornament swap to the festivities as well as sharing the memories of the past and the goings-on of the present. It's really cool. Several of us have had or will be having babies within the past couple of years and it's fun to share that. Some of us are enjoying the single life and all the freedom that entails. It's good to get a different perspective and bounce around ideas over a good meal and laughter. Thanks, ladies, for the great time. I am looking forward to the next go 'round. (Sorry I don't have any photos to add with this. Maybe somebody will send me a few and I'll be able to post later.)

Later this week we'll celebrate Christmas with both sides of my family. We are looking forward to seeing aunts, uncles, and cousins that we don't see often. It'll be a lot of fun.

Welcome to December, Part two

We took the boys to the zoo this week. It was Curly's first trip. It was 75 degrees outside. How weird. And now the forecast is for snow. Non-accumulating snow but snow nonetheless. We let our membership expire when the older two boys seemed to lose interest and we got busy with other things. But we mentioned to grandparents that we'd like to start going again especially now that we have Curly. They obliged with an early Christmas present so we went. The bigger boys were so excited and we were reassured that we made a good choice. Curly enjoyed his time there so much that he was completely worn out by the time we left. I am sure we will go back soon.

I can't believe it's only two weeks until Christmas. I have done NO shopping. My children have really not asked for anything this year (how refreshing!) and that means I have no idea what to get them. Not that they need a single thing. In fact, I think this year I may buy gifts/necessities for other people's children and tell my own that their own gifts were donated to needy children. In fact, I don't really think they'd even notice the difference. I know they will be getting gifts from other family members anyway. So, maybe one thing for each child from Daddy and me and whatever Santa brings. I hope Santa is listening. Think small, Santa. Minimize. Simplify. That's my new mantra.

Anyway, we did manage to visit Santa at the mall this year and get photos made with each boy. In fact, I think I may have mentioned that we saw Santa at the Peabody in Little Rock over Thanksgiving as well. So I guess we made up for last year's non-photo by having Santa pix made twice this year. Sure, I'll tell myself that. Sounds good.

We are waiting out the days until Christmas holidays. Then in January comes the big change. I will be starting back to work at Day School in the 2K but will go back as a Monday through Friday teacher instead of MWF. I think it will be good. I hope so. Curly will be down the hall in the nursery and I love, love, LOVE, his teachers. This will be a new "thing" for me, however, as Moe and Larry didn't start school until they were two years old. I know we can handle it. It's a necessity for now and as I always have said, "I can do ANYTHING for a few months."

So, in case I don't get to post again for a while, Merry Christmas to all and please remember the real reason for our celebration: The birth of Christ the Lord who has made it possible by his death on the cross at Calvary for us all to be reconciled to God. Thank you, Jesus, and Happy birthday!

Welcome to December, Part One

Well, the weekend in Arkansas was terrific. Curly slept all the way to Little Rock going and all the way back coming home. We had a short layover in MS to get the rest of our "stuff" including our dog.

The game was a definite heart breaker. LSU couldn't pull out the win despite their best efforts. The winning points were scored by Arkansas with about twenty seconds left in the game. What a disappointment. On an upnote, Curly also slept through most of the game after getting his tummy full soon after we arrived. It was cold and rainy for most of the game but we all made it fine...until the end...twenty seconds from the finish...like I said before. We are still reeling.

But, we also had a fun time in LR. We went to the Peabody Hotel on Saturday evening to see the ducks retire for the night and learned that Santa would be there the next morning. So, we got Santa pix made in Little Rock. Nobody was dressed in holiday attire, but at least we got the photo made. Last year we missed a Santa photo op altogether. First time ever. Hopefully, I'll be able to post photos to go along with this soon. Right now, the computer at home is down because we decided to deconstruct the room and rearrange furniture.

By the way, we found a terrific pizza place in Little Rock. If you're ever in LR and have the time, be sure and look up Damgoode Pies. They have a varied selection of crusts and sauces as well as toppings. They also had a diverse selection of beers (we noticed but didn't imbibe) as well as desserts (which we didn't try either). We actually ate there twice during our three days in LR. We tried to convince them to open a franchise in Birmingham but they weren't interested...yet. They apparently want to canvas the Arkansas area before expanding beyond state lines.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, another year has flown by, seemingly under the radar. A lot has changed since last Thanksgiving...namely, the addition of Curly to our family. Right now we are in Mississippi visiting with my family (have been here since Tuesday night) but we are leaving in a few hours to travel to Arkansas to spend a lovely Thanksgiving weekend at a football game with hubby's family. It'll be our longest roadtrip yet with five members of our family. Hopefully, tonight will be a lot better in terms of sleep. Last night was pretty crummy since Curly didn't want to stay asleep. Luckily, Nana has had better luck getting him to sleep today than I had last night. See their picture above.

I am thankful for my family, my job, my "new" boss, my coworkers, a warm place to stay, plenty of food, and the love of my God.

Soccer mania

Well, this weekend was a total blast for our whole family. Our oldest son was picked to play at a soccer tournament. He and two other boys from his team were picked to play with other boys from our hometown in The Governor's Cup. They had four games: one Friday night, one Saturday afternoon, and two on Sunday. These incredible boys won their first three games and lost the final game 2-1 in a heartbreaker. The most awesome thing about it was that these particular boys had only had four practices together before even going to the tourny. We have several teams of U9 boys but no one team was able to attend the tournament. It turned out that several boys from each team were interested in playing so the director formed a new team of those three or four from each team who could play. These guys were fantastic. They won their first game 3-1, second game 6-0, third game 4-0, and lost the last game against a very challenging team. So, they came in 2nd overall. To add to the challenge, it rained all during the game on Friday night and then turned extremely cold and windy on Saturday and Sunday. The sun finally peeked out for about thirty minutes on Sunday before disappearing again behind a massive blockade of clouds. If you can't already tell, I am a very proud mama. We all had a good time and the baby cooperated as well. He did GREAT on the first night in the hotel (and not so wonderful but still ok on the second night). It gives me great hope for the Thanksgiving weekend when we are supposed to meet family in Arkansas for the LSU/Arkansas football game and stay in a hotel again.

One step forward

Here I am again with just a few minutes to spare. The house is quiet for the moment. My hubby and oldest son are out of town on a spur of the moment trip; my middle son is playing outside with the neighbor, and the baby son has been fed, swaddled, and put down for a nap. The in-laws have gone to a wedding and I am blessedly all alone. Now is the time to tackle the laundry...all four baskets of it. Maybe I shouldn't be blogging now since I have a few moments to get some actual work done around here. But this could be so much fun! I hope to be able to get more adept at this as my time frees up a little more. And maybe one day post some photos. I am told we should develop aliases for protection of our fragile identities. I am not sure my creative-yet-sleep-deprived side can dream up anything cute enough. For now, we'll refer to the children as Larry, Moe, and Curly. I don't know much about those three but I think it might be fitting. And the hubby can be the biggest Stooge of all?! Would that work? So now that only leaves me needing an identity. Hmmmmm. I'll have to ponder that while I get to work on that laundry. More later...

In the beginning...

So, today while I have five minutes (if my newborn son stays asleep that long!) I'll try to set up a blog. Just for fun, just for kicks, just for sanity, whatever. I have been reading a few blogs of friends and links to blogs of people I don't know and it's kinda fun. A way to stay connected to the world outside my home. A way for people to stay connected to me. Hopefully, I can become adept enough to post a few photos now and then as well as thoughts for the day. Well, my five was cut to about one since I hear the little prince calling. Maybe I'll get back to this later.