Baby Blues (Ryan, you'll be in my heart)

Ryan is my baby. He is the 5th and final addition to are herd. Ryan celebrated his 3rd birthday and is officially wearing "Big Boy Underwear". He is very proud of this accomplishment, as am I. I was so excited to finally be free of Diapers after 12 consecutive years! And I am. But it feels kind of sad to see my little man running around in his "Fruit of the Looms". I guess with most milestones our children make, is Bittersweet. Ryan is a very hard headed 3 year old and will test the boundaries and then some. But he is my baby. I LOVE the way he says, "I lub you too!" Or after his bath, "Mom, I need a Talow." I LOVE IT!! I know that his speech is becoming better and he will not say those cute little things to me anymore.
I also have to admit, I am probably a better mother to him then I was to my oldest, just because I worried about everything back then. I still do, but not as much. Now, I feel like I know how to relax a little more and know which battles to pick. Not that I have this parenting thing down. Not even close! But I do feel like I am learning to enjoy it more, Take the little moments in, Sit down and play trains with them and Just be their Mom.

We had a lazy morning today and watched Disney's Tarzan together. I have seen this movie many times and it is one of my favorites. But today as I laid down next to my little guy as we watched it together, I felt almost emotional. You know, the song, "You'll be in my Heart" it just got to me, I guess.

"Did I sign up for this?"

Do you ever have one of those days where, the house looks like a bomb went off and nothing you do makes your toddler happy? And then you ask yourself, "Did I sign up for this?" I've been having alot of those days lately......hmm.... for the last 10 years (when my oldest was 2) OK, I'm lying I've been having those kind of days for the past 12 years!

Not, that my kids are awful kids, on the contrary they are pretty good kids. I just remember being a young newlywed and saying to myself, "Hey, Derek is great with kids. We should have a baby! I mean, I think I could have one of those little bundles! It will be so great!"
(I know,......silly, silly girl!)

I was just thinking, "Let's have a baby!" Not "Sweetheart, (me speaking to Derek) I think we should have a baby and then have four more after that one. Because I want to have days, when I am horribly sleep deprived from being up with a crying baby. I want to have so much laundry that there is no way I will ever have it done, EVER! I want to have days where it takes me one and a half hours to get a toddler dressed and into the car. Because the child will of course go limp when I try to help him get dressed because he does not want to go to to the store."

"Derek Darling, I just don't think my life would be complete if I didn't have a 2 year old who loved to be naked and because hos older siblings will reliably leave the front door opened, so he can escape. Then as I am pass a window, I will see our naked toddler riding his bike, having the time of his life. As I freak-out, because it will have been the eighth time that week and our neighbors will wonder if the child has any clothes."

"Derek you do not have to worry. We will not have children who pick their noses and then eat it (eww), yet they are picky eaters and won't eat anything we make for them. (picky eaters -get it? I know, gross) We will never have children who will not come out of the ball pit, at the local Fast Food Play land, when their mother asks them to. They will not sit their and giggle while their 11 months pregnant Mommy tries to crawl in to that tubular contraption to show them she means business!"

"Not to worry Derek, my dear. I know exactly what we are signing up for!"

I didn't think that. Did you?

What is LDS??

Dawn, from "Because I said so!" said she gets many people asking her if she is LDS. She did not know what that was. Finally she realized it was "Mormon".

I decided if anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them, as I am LDS. Don't worry I am not trying to convert anyone. I just know there are many "Mormon Myths".

If you want to talk about your religion, I would love to hear you about how it blesses your life.

Here Lies Foo-Foo

Having kids, certainly keeps life entertaining. For Christmas, my daughter, Meg wanted one of those "Fur Real Chimps". Lucky for her Santa delivered! This Monkey looks fairly realistic, makes monkey noises and even sniffs for it's food. (It fits right in at our house, even though we have no "pets" just kids.)
Later that afternoon I asked Meg, "So what are you going to name your monkey?" (She names everything) She replied without hesitation, "Foo-Foo." I was startled a bit by this answer. Why? My childhood nickname was Foo-Foo. Meg knew that was my nickname and thought it would be so great to name the monkey after me. I was freaked out and flattered all at the same-time. Mostly freaked out! I mean come on, here she has all of these pretty Dolls and she names the Hairy Monkey that SNIFFS IT"S FOOD, after me!! I think I would of felt less self conscience if she would have named Malibu Barbie after me." (I am a size 18, so my likeness to Barbie would have been a little easier on the ego.) "Are you sure you want to name it Foo-Foo? How about Sophie or Fifi?" I asked "No, I like Foo-Foo." She quickly smiled and skipped off. I decided, it could be worse and forgot about it.
A few days later, her younger brother, Ryan aka Twitchy, got hold of the monkey and got up on the top bunk and decided to see if , "Foo-Foo" could fly. Meg walked in just as "Foo-Foo" took flight. Ofcourse it was a no-go on the flying and Meg was horrified as she picked up that Hairy thing and it would not move, talk or sniff. Meg was very unhappy and when she is unhappy we all know about it! (Because she is her mother's daughter.)
My Husband went in to her room ten minutes later to see if she was calmed down and to see if he could fix the chimp. When he walked in he saw a pile of blankets lying in a mound on Meg's bed. On top of the mound sat a home-made tombstone that read, "Here Lies Foo-Foo". Now I don't know about you, but it is a little disconcerting when you have a tombstone in your house with your name on it!!! Thankfully Derek, my hubby was able to revive the hairy little thing with a tightening of it's batteries. Meg was thrilled and I was beyond happy to throw away the Tombstone!
Kids, they keep you hopping!