Brotherly Love

This is a picture of Carter and Samuel when Sam was about 3 weeks old. I was just talking to Leeann the other day about how when I was pregnant I was SO worried about how Carter would do with no longer being the baby of the family... that he'd hate the baby, or be angry with me, or just sad that he was "pushed aside" for this new little bundle. What a shock that he's stepped right into the big brother role with flying colors! He LOVES his baby... that's what he calls Sam.. "his" baby. Just lately he calls him his "brudder" which melts me. It has occured to me that I really don't know what to expect out of two brothers. I had two step brothers that I grew to love over the years, but I know it's very different from the way I felt/feel about my biological sister that I can't remember my life without. I know what sisterly love is like... but brotherly love? What does that look like? What will they be like together in the future? I can just imagine them wrestling and giggling together in the living room, playing dump trucks in the dirt outside, playing swords and guns, riding bikes, jumping in mud puddles, and of course, pestering their sister. I know that my sister and I still hug each other and give kisses on the cheek.. and always have. Will my boys be this way together? Will they show affection the way we did or will two brothers' love for each other be much different? I can't wait to find out! I'm so excited to see them grow up together. Siblings are such a blessing... even though they can sometimes seem like such the opposite.

Sammy Sam at 4 months

My big man is 4 months old now. He had his checkup today and it went great. He's 14 pounds, 13oz (50%) and I can't remember how long he was in inches but he was in the 90% for height. He's in the midst of a growth spurt right now too... all he's done for 48 hours is eat, sleep, and fuss... so I'll be curious to see what his weight is a week or two from now. He got two shots... he was due for 3 but I've got a two at a time rule so I'll take him back in a few weeks to get that other one. He's doing fine after his shots.. much better than last time when I let them talk me into getting all four of them! He's just been happy as he can be! He's doing everything a 4 month old should be doing and is in perfect health. I couldn't be happier! He's started rolling over now! He can roll from his back to his stomach on purpose.. and has twice accidentally kicked himself over from his tummy to his back. He almost looked scared when that happened. lol He is just so playful right now... he's such a joy! Now, if he'll start sleeping for me again after this growth spurt I'll be truly satisfied!

Race for the Cure

This isn't the best quality picture (it's a scan of one my mom printed out for me) but this is my sister, samuel, and me after we had finished Race for the Cure standing in front of the infamous big pink ribbon. It's such a bitter sweet experience each year. Seeing all of the "in celebration of" tags on every one's shirts is a great feeling... but it always makes me cry at least once to read the hundreds and probably thousands of "in memory of" tags others are wearing. Seeing young children walking with their fathers in memory of their mothers... that is just almost too heartbreaking to witness. But, besides that... it really is always a good time. Sam was nice and slept comfortably in the Ergo the entire time.. and I was so thankful for the hood it has on it since it was quite chilly while we were out there! He was nice and toasty up against me! My legs were really burning by the time we finished! That boy got quite heavy after the first mile.. and the second bridge. My sister kept asking if I wanted her to hold Samuel for a while but I was afraid if I woke him up taking him out I'd have to find a spot on the interstate somewhere amongst 45,000 women and try to feed him... so I opted to just endure it and consider it my exercise for the entire weekend. I love all of the free stuff we get each year too. We were a little late so we didn't get the great Ford scarfs that we always seek out... and they were so cute this year... but we did get free ice cream that was super yummy, free drinks, bracelets, necklaces, etc. And... the show the firemen always put on towards the middle of the race is always worth going to see. The entire crowd just came to a dead stop in front of the fire truck they were dancing on top of! I was pushing past trying to keep moving.. if I stopped in that crowd of screaming women I knew my lil` guy was going to stir! So... we did finish the race and enjoyed it! I look forward to it every year. I looked for the Journey girls but didn't see a one of 'em. I tried my best to get on tv.. did anyone see me? ;) My mom said I should have stopped in front of the cameras to breastfeed and then say something like, "I'm reducing my chance of breast cancer every time I feed my baby!" ... probably would've worked...

Joyful things

We all know the big things in life that give us joy. Things like our kids, our health, our family and friends... this silly face Carter always makes... But what about the smaller, seemingly insignificant things in our lives that make us happy? I always wonder what everyday things bring joy to others... here are some that bring joy to me:

* When there is a sink full of dirty dishes, and I open the dishwasher to find that it's empty or it's already partially loaded with other dirty dishes.... what joy to not have to empty the dishwasher first!

* A car pulls out of a close parking spot right as I pull up... "Thank you Lord for giving me this parking space!"

* Clayton tells me I look nice, and I know he really means it and isn't just saying it b/c he isn't sure if he's told me recently.

* Someone notices something I've done to the house... even just "wow, your sink sure is clean!" (by the way, Leeann is the BEST at this.. she notices everything and is so quick to dish out compliments!)

* Samuel doesn't spit up after nursing

* Someone doesn't look at me weird because I'm breastfeeding

* Someone says, "Oh, my kid does that same thing.." right when I'm needing to hear it.

* I'm able to give someone advice and they really take it to heart... and it helps them.

* I tell my kids that it's clean up time and they hop right to it

* Clayton takes his shoes off before walking on our light colored carpet

* The teachers don't tell Madison to "hurry up" as soon as she steps into the van when I pick her up after school.. instead they tell her they hoped she had a great day and they can't wait to see her tomorrow.

* I cook and everyone eats without complaint

* Clayton's home to help with bedtime

* The kitchen floor isn't sticky

* I take the booster seat off of the kitchen chair and there isn't random and old food underneath it

* The sippy cup I found under the couch had water or juice in it... not milk

* Clayton washes clothes and doesn't ruin my "dry clean only" clothes

* Madison wears her "dry clean only " clothes and doesn't ruin them

* The hangers don't get hung up together when I'm trying to get them out of the closet. (THAT can make me yell...)

Okay, so this is a simple, ordinary list. But.. if these things don't happen, it can really sometimes change my day! So, what's your ordinary list look like?

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to Grady to Hardin Farm's pumpkin patch Saturday and had so much fun! None of us have ever been to that one before.. wow, GO if you haven't! There was almost too much to do! The kids just loved it, and so did Clayton and I. We did the hay maze, looked at all of the Native American exhibits, played on the playground, climbed the big hay "mountains", went through the hay tunnels, went down the huge slide, looked at the livestock, etc... it was a big big time for all. I even ran into an old friend that I haven't seen since high school and her two kids... now that was neat! (I didn't even know she was married and had children!) Of course the hayride to the pumpkin patch was lots of fun.. the kids really enjoyed that. (I liked it minus the dirt the tractor pulling us was kicking up and the hay pieces that were flying around...) After an intense search, the kids both found their own perfect pumpkin. We've yet to make jack-o-lanterns out of them... but we don't want them to rot before Halloween so we're trying to wait a few more days. We even bought a cool strobe light that's made to sit inside pumpkins... easier than candles! I can't wait to see how that looks at night... hopefully the neighbors will appreciate it.

Birth Order

In our parenting group we've been watching one of Kevin Leeman's video series. Last night the topic was birth order... how interesting! I've heard plenty about it over the years but he really layed it out well and talked about how it impacts you as a parent (YOUR birth order) and how knowing about it can help you with your children. So, I thought I'd share some info with you all since I found it so enlightening. Today I'll talk about first borns. I'm considered a first born since my older sister is 6yrs older than I am and we were raised in different homes. I could literally check each of these traits off of this list of typical first born traits. I can also really see all of them in my first born... Miss Priss Madison. Here's the list for you all:

STRENGTHS

Take Charge, know what to do;Command respect; others want to follow their unflinching leadership;Cooperative, easy to work with, good team player; Always do things right and leave no stone unturned to do a thorough job; Have everything under control; always on top of things; tend to be on time and on schedule;Ambitious, enterprising, energetic, willing to sacrifice to be a success; Set goals and reach them; tend to get more done in a day than others, planning the day is a must;Known as straight thinkers;can be counted on not to be compulsive or to go off half-

cocked; Tend to be voracious readers and accumulators of information and facts; good problem solvers who think things through.

WEAKNESSES

May undermine the initiative of those who lean on them too much or may come off as too overbearing or aggressive; Can run roughshod over others; may be insensitive and tend to be selfish; too focused on the goal and not enough on the feelings of others; Can be taken advantage of, bullies, bluffed; Tend to criticize themselves and/or others too much; never satisfied; may procrastinate because they fear they cannot do a "good enough job"; May worry too much about order, process, and rules and not be flexible when it's needed; may show real impatience with anyone who is "disorganized" or not as meticulous; can be upset by surprises; Put themeslves or those they work with u nder too much stress and pressure; May become boxed in, too busy with the to-do list to see the big picture and what needs to be done right now; May believe they're always right and fail to pay attention to the more intuitive opinions of others; May spend too much time gathering facts when there are other things that need to be done; may be so serious they fail to see the humor in situations when humor is desperately needed

So, you first borns out there... did you see yourself here? Of course not all of it will fit everyone, but in general it usually does. If you're not a first born.. does this describe your first born child? Your spouce that's as first born? Knowing things like this can really help you relate to that first born person in your life better. I think the reason I can handle Madison often times better than Clayton is b/c I share in her personality... Clayton's the relaxed la-ti-da middle child.. which I'll get to in a few days. He can't understand the things she and I do... like why does it matter if we're a few minutes late? Why does the floor NEED to be vacuumed every single day? Why does it matter if there's one book out of place on the shelf? Can't I just relax about things? I do think being married to a middle child has helped me relax IMMENSLY... but I still am much more uptight about a lot of things compared to him. Madison is the same way... I'm trying to help her chill out a bit too... we'll see if I can do that successfully as the years go by!

Sick house

Oh man... we've been so sick the past week! First we battled Strep... conquered it after many days on antibiotics. Now Samuel and I are sick with something totally different. I'm guessing just a cold or something but I feel horrible! Fever, body aches.. you know the drill. I don't know how little man feels but all of his screaming today tells me that he's not doing so hot either. So we've been eating Tylenol like crazy and getting some relief right before it wears off, yet we have another hour or so to go before we can have another dose. (don't you love how that always works out?) Ya know, we spend a lot of time on our blogs talking about how much we love our kids, how much fun they are, yada yada yada... well I'm going to be totally honest and say that I don't think my children have EVER been on my nerves as much as they've been today. Even hearing them giggle has me on edge. Clayton's working so I have zero help.. and I know that's why I'm so short tonight. If I could hire a nanny, just for one night, tonight would be it. Even nursing has me frustrated. Sam acts like he wants to nurse, but then screams at me for about 5 minutes before he'll actually eat. In that 5 minutes I'm frantically trying to make 'it' better. "Want to lay in Carter's bed and nurse?"
"WAHHHHH!!!"
"How about Mommy's bed?"
"WAHHHHHHH AHHH AHHHHH!"
"Sitting on the couch?"
"hmmm... hmm... WAHHHHH!" (man.. almost had it that time...) Nursing with full body aches is fun enough on its own.. much less getting fussed at the entire time. So, there ya go. My serious gripe fest for this Saturday night. And, to make matters even more crummy, if we're still sick tomorrow it'll be the third Sunday in a row we haven't made it to church b/c of sickness. We finally find a church we love and we can't make it 3 weeks straight! sheesh!

My boys