A countdown of sorts

4 more school days till Stuart graduates

19 more days till my middle sister's due date

26 more days till my baby sister turns 21

49 more days till Tyson turns 5

72 more days till Stuart turns 32

143 more days till I turn 30

Uh, no

Me: Tyson, do you know that baby Joshua is going to be here soon?

Tyson: Is he coming to my house tomorrow?

Me: Oh, no baby. I mean that baby Joshua is going to be born soon.

Tyson: Is he going to be born tomorrow?

Me: Well, no. But I'm sure that Aunt Marci is ready for him to be born tomorrow.

Tyson: Me too. Is he going to play Legos with me and Tucker?

Me: I'm sure he will love to play Legos with you and Tucker. But first he has to get a little bigger.

Tyson: Is he going to be a baby when he's born?

Me: Yup. He's going to be teeny, tiny. {well, if he's like his sister and you two, not so teeny}

Tyson: Can we have a baby Joshua?

Me: Uh, no.

We can't wait to meet you little man!

My Little Monkey

Tucker, the Monkey from Clarissa Doss on Vimeo.

Monday Morning

Let me just make this clear: I am soooo thankful for my job. It came just at the right time and it fit almost all of the criteria. Namely that it offered benefits (since the boys and I were insurance-less 6 months post getting out of the Air Force) and it allowed the boys to stay home and not be put in daycare (where most to all of my paycheck would go if we had to go down that avenue){let me also just say that I don't have a major complaint against daycare; Stuart and I feel strongly that we be able to keep our children in our house and be able to control what they are learning BUT if we would have had to put the boys in some sort of daycare/homecare we would have, had we needed to AND we didn't}.

BUT working nights is really taking it's toll on my already frayed and nerves. Let's not even begin on the whole sleep scenario...

So, on Monday mornings, after I have worked all weekend, I come home and, for lack of a better word, de-clutter. Let me also take this time to inform you that Stuart is a stellar husband. He works very hard to keep the boys active and outside on the weekends that I work so that I can sleep during the day and make transitioning from day to night easier. However, he is not me. While he does do the dishes, they might still be stacked in the sink and the dishwasher may still have the clean dishes from Friday night in it. And while the boys have clothes on during the day, they usually end up on the floor a night and stay there all weekend long. When daddy's in charge, he doesn't care about picking up all the toys all the time.

He is not me.

But I couldn't love him more for it.

On Monday mornings, I survey the damage of my working weekend and start putting the pieces back together. Sort of like my Sunday night rituals but on a Monday morning and without the toe nail painting.

• All the dirty clothes are picked up off the floor and amassed in the correct laundry baskets
• Laundry is sorted to begin washing
• A load of laundry is started
• Beds are stripped and linens added to the now mountain-pile of laundry
• Clean dishes are unloaded and put away
• Dirty dished are loaded and usually the dishwasher is started
• Errant shoes are found and paired
• Toys are discovered under the couches/chairs/beds and retrieved
• Legos are compiled into the Lego bin
• Tools are banished to the tool bin
• Kitchen items are gathered and lumped into the kitchen bin
• All other toys are thrown into the toy bin (at this point I don't care)
• The miscellaneous bowl is emptied and sorted
• I blog

Pretty much in that order.

In Other News

• Rachael just wrote a new note regarding Luke's progress

• Please pray for a family friend of ours, Sharon Wilson. She's been in the hospital for 10 days in San Antonio due to some abdominal pain/surgeries/issues/complications and still not doing very well. You can read more about what's happening on her daughter's blog here.

Turbo, Meet Tyson

I'm not sure if he's ever forgiven us.

Ramblings

Stuart has 10 more school days left till graduation (including today).

He has a follow-up interview with the company he interviewed with last week.

No real job offers yet.

As a plan B, Stuart applied for grad school, took the entrance exam and passed it with flying colors.

I am crippled with anxiety about our immediate future.

We have surpassed month 6 of bathroom renovation.

Yeah.

My precious nephew, Joshua is due in a month.

Our friends, Amy and Paul just found out that they are having another boy.

My best friend from Las Vegas moved to Wichita Falls over a month ago and I haven't seen her.

Weird.

They are having a little girl that's due in October.

I'm having some baby envy.

Tucker's favorite tv show right now is "Super Why" on PBS.

I just finished reading A Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin.

I cried and cried and cried.

Then again, I think I've cried in all his books.

The boys are sleeping fantastically again now that we've un-bunked their beds.

The key word being *sleeping*.

Stuart forgot to put a Pull-Up in Tucker last night and he saturated everything within a foot of him.

Nice.

Potty-training is going swimmingly.

Other than having to wear a Pull-Up at bed times, Tucker is accident free.

I really shouldn't have written that because now he'll have nothing but accidents today.

I really, really hate bugs.

Stuart and I need to go on a date.

Maybe to celebrate school ending.

Oceanic Alphabet

I found this adorable poster here and I am in love. Isn't it darling?

Nevermind

After the one billionth time going into the boys' room to put them back in their own beds, we called it quits. No more sharing a room. So at 10 pm last night we moved the top bunk into the playroom. And today I get to sort the two rooms back into two rooms.

Oh, and this happened too

Of course Stuart was gone last night when this monstrosity landed square in my line of sight and heaven help me if I didn't almost pass out. Interesting fact: roaches make a chirping noise while you drown them with Febreze. Hey, at least my bathroom smelled better.

While I wasn't sleeping

It seems like the last week has gone by in a whir. So many little things have happened that I'm having a hard time keeping up with the big things like laundry and cleaning and grocery shopping. But who really needs clean clothes and food to eat?

So...a week ago Friday, before I went to work Stuart finally convinced me to let him bunk the boy's beds. He has been hounding me to do this for awhile and I have been insistent that we not because a) it's dangerous, b) I have these horrible visions of one of them jumping off the top bunk with a leash or jump rope or some other "string" device and thus chocking themselves, and c) have you met Tucker? With all the furniture rearrangement for our floor renovation, Stuart took it upon himself to paint the boys' bedrooms. While this task did need to be done, I didn't feel that it needed to be accomplished on the heels of the floor chaos. Again, he trumped my opinion. With all the paint fumes lingering, Stuart busted out with bunking of the beds question. Being too high to think otherwise I agreed.

{painting Tyson's old room, now playroom}

{bunk beds}

{wall 'o Coast Guard}

You might remember that the boys shared a room when we first moved into our house and after going to Dallas for the birth of my precious niece, I returned to two separate bedrooms. I was all too happy to have the boys split if nothing else than to spare the hair-pulling and screaming and utter meltdown that occurred everyday precisely at 1 pm. Otherwise know as "nap time."

Since moving the boys back into the same room, we've drifted back to that all to familiar: hair-pulling and screaming and utter meltdowns. This time around it's not so much about just playing and laughing with each other as it is about the top bunk. So we've ended up with a lot of this around 3 pm.

At least the boys got a playroom out of this ordeal and a new rule has been formed: no toys in the bedroom.

This makes for a happier momma and a somewhat easier bed time routine.

While I was sleeping

Tyson lost his first tooth

The boys visited a farm full of tractors and combines and space to run and explore

The boys got to test fit a police motorcycle while on a coffee run

Regarding the Tooth Fairy

As you know, my baby lost his first tooth this weekend. While I was asleep. And of course I cried as soon as I woke up and Tyson ran at me with his mouth open trying to show me how big he was. Since I had to work that night, Stuart was in charge of handling tooth fairy duties. No biggie, right?

Me: So what is the tooth fairy bringing?

Stu: A new toothbrush and floss?

Me: You're joking right?

Stu: No.

Me: A toothbrush? Floss? What happened to money?

Stu: Tyson's too young to get money. He has no idea what to do with it.

Me: Well we could teach him.

Stu: I think he'll love the toothbrush. It's electric!

Me: Seriously?

Stu: He's gonna be so excited.

Me: Wow. You have got to be the worst tooth fairy ever.

A Cop Out Post

A- My AIR CONDITIONER is set on: 75 degrees. If Stuart had it his way, it would on 78 and if I had it mine, it would be on 70.

B- My BEDROOM theme is: non-theme. I so want to have a beautiful, comfy bedroom but it's the last thing that we ever think about and so it's the last thing to have anything done to it.

C- The CAR in the driveway is: a 2002 Mazda MPV minivan. And I LOVE it.

D- My DESK looks: non existent.

E- The EXACT time I wake up daily is: totally dependent on the boys. Some days it's 6:15 and some days it's 6:52.

F- The FIRST thing I wash in the shower is: my hair.

G- My GARAGE is filled with: tools. junk. crap. spider webs. oil. tile. a bathroom vanity. tires. but NOT a car.

H- My HOUSE is: really, really old.

I- If you peeked INSIDE my bedroom you'd see: lots of laundry that needs to be folded and miscellaneous items from all our renovating drama.

J- My favorite JUICE is: apple or white grape. Wish I wasn't allergic to oranges. :(

K- The best part of my KITCHEN is: the fridge. The dishwasher is a very close 2nd.

L- The LAST person who visited my home was: the mailman.

M- The last piece of MAIL for me was: my mortgage bill and Business Week Magazine.

N- My NEIGHBORS think: I'm ready to slash their tires (which I won't) for ALWAYS blocking part of our driveway with their truck.

O- If you OPENED my fridge you'd see: condiments, milk, cold cuts, and yogurt (for the kids, not me. I'm kinda grossed out by yogurt).

P- My last house PARTY was: New Year's Eve 2007. Gracious, that was a while ago.

Q- A QUICK meal I like to fix is: cereal. Can't get much faster than that.

R- My favorite ROOM of the house is: the living/family room.

S- The SHAMPOO brand I use is: currently Suave. I'm frugal like that.

T- My largest TELEVISION is: 50". I know, it's a man thing.

U- UNDER my bed you will find: a tv stand and the 2nd leaf for our table.

V- The last time I VACUUMED was: yesterday.

W- Looking out my WINDOW I see: a really dirty garage.

X- I wish I had X-TRA: energy.

Y- My YARD is: in need of mowing. Thank you rain!

Z- ZZZZZZZ My bedtime is: completely out of whack thanks to working nights.

*Please be in pray for Luke today. He has a big visit with his regarding his decanulation today.*

Tooth

my baby lost his

first tooth

which makes him

a baby no more!

Five Things Friday

1. It has been raining everyday for the last week. While this is doing wonders for our front yard (I have long since accepted that fact that we absolutely KILLED our grass last summer with the multiple drainings of the pool), the change in atmosphere is reeking havoc on my allergies.
2. Stuart has been busy repainting the boys' bedrooms this past week. He finally finished last night. Thank goodness!
3. We still haven't finished moving everything back into the living room from having our floors done. It's kind of like the last box that needs to be unpacked after moving; it just gets moved around and you pick things out of it until the box is empty and you realize it's been 6 months since you moved.
4. I have been on a chicken nuggets and honey kick. I know! What's wrong with me? Condiments!?
5. Stuart has 16 school days lefts till he graduates!

A little bit 'o me

I think I might have mentioned before that I am a bit obsessive and somewhat compulsive. Just a tad. I mean who doesn't like to have their clothes in rainbow color order according to style and who doesn't relish in seeing all their DVDs alphabetized and fawn over their books in order by author's last name and then publication date? I know that I am not the only one who eats Skittles in order from least to most favorite flavor after making a graph so that those colors that are in most abundance can be consumed first.

I did not know though that I was secretly passing some of my idiosyncrasies on to my innocent children.

Take for example that when the boys eat, their utensils have to match the color of the plate on which their food is presented to them.

Or that Tyson always picks out a blue shirt to wear with blue shorts.

Or that the boys sometimes make a scene when their food touches.

I mean, those things are all {normal}.

So last weekend when the weather man predicted rain all weekend and we were all piled on top of each other because we got out floors refinished, I busted out some arts and crafts. Some creativity was in order and the boys and I were all set to go with stickers and foam pads and trash and poly fumes.

I was not however prepared for the color blocking in which Tyson presented to me:

I guess he has a little bit of me after all.

How old are you?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This man

The one right here

Is getting old!

Happy Birthday Padre!

(The boys say Happy Birthday Peepaw!)

Pretty soon we're gonna be adding another cousin to this picture

{September 2008}

Baby Joshua arrives NEXT MONTH!

Happy Birthday America!

Five Things Friday

1. Our floors are DONE! Hallelujah! But we still can't walk on them till 2 pm today and can't move furniture back into the living room till 2 pm on Saturday. {pictures coming soon}
2. The boys haven't had a nap in three days due to the construction going on in our house (and the close quarters) and they are unraveling at the seams. I, on the other hand, have already lost it.
3. Our sink got clogged on Wednesday night, so on top of having the floors guys in the house, we had to call a plumber and then clean up nasty, yucky, clogged sink water.
4. We had to cancel our trip to San Antonio this weekend due to the floors and Stuart having a job interview yesterday...needless-to-say we're kinda sad not to see Mimi and Peepaw and Aunt George.
5. Stuart got a bathroom itch and has resumed work. {pictures coming soon}

Julys

2006

2007

2008

2009

Thank goodness for YouTube and MY PHONE when the power goes out