From the Mouth of a Mommy Raising Rascals

8/1/12

18 Months Old

I can't believe that my little boy is 18 months old! It's funny how the fears you have as a mother evolve but they never go away. When he was just a few weeks old, I was afraid I would drop him. I was afraid of forgetting what he looked like and that I'd try to take the wrong baby home from daycare (I'm not even kidding). Now that he's no longer my little tiny baby I have much more selfish fears, like the fear of him preferring someone other than myself to rock him to sleep or kiss his boo boos!

I read this article today: Parenting Boys; What Boys Need from Moms. It lists 17 things every mom should do for their sons. Reading it made me feel like Jordan was 18 years old and about to graduate High School. What do you mean I have to learn to let go? Apparently he'll eventually not want mommy to hold and kiss him 24/7 (what!!??) and I'll have to be mom enough to let it happen.

What's ironic is that I've been looking forward to a little bit of separation for a long time now. I mean come on, he's been wanting me to hold him for 18 months straight and I have some pretty awesome biceps to prove it! But I can't imagine a day when he won't want to snuggle up to mommy, and it breaks my heart to think that it could actually happen sooner rather than later.

Ali will be 7 in September (for real!?) and she still loves to cuddle and snuggle me. But another point in the article I read said that you can't compare girls and boys in any way, shape, or form because they are so incredibly different.

I know men who never really stop being "mama's baby" and as adult I find it very irritating. I know that I'll have to let him go--and I want to because I know it needs to happen, but that doesn't make it any easier! I want him to be a good man, a good husband, and a good Christian. But if I shelter him and don't teach him to embrace his independence then I am only doing him a disservice.

So, when that day comes and he begins to mature and search for other sources of comfort instead of Mommy's arms, I won't cry. Okay, fine, I'll probably cry, but I'll be sure to do it in a bathroom.

6/25/12

Scorpion

I have an irrational fear of scorpions. I've been around spiders and snakes all my life--yes, I'm scared of them, but they don't give me nightmares like scorpions do!

The other day I brought a jacket inside the house that had been setting on the front porch since who knows when. As I get inside, walk into the kitchen, a SCORPION THE SIZE OF MY FACE falls out of the jacket, along with FIVE GAZILLION BABY SCORPIONS. Oh my word. Just thinking about it makes me feel a little freaked out!!

I squashed all the babies (screaming "Fuzz, Fuzz, come here! I need you, I need you NOW!"). He was still in bed (it was 11:00 on a Saturday morning, of course he was still in bed). After scooping up Jordan (who was playing in the floor just feet away from the monster) I run into our bedroom screaming at my husband, "GET UP! IT'S GONNA GET ME!!!!" He rolls out of bed (taking his ever-loving sweet time) and goes into the kitchen. The scorpion had crawled underneath our dishwasher. I made him stand watch for a little while in case it came back out, but no sign of it ever appeared. And now everything I see in our house is a scorpion. A leaf. A spider. A safety pin.

Last night I woke up thinking I'd touched one; when I pulled the covers back I saw it, black and menacing and about to get me. And then I realized it was a headband.

There is no point to this post. The scorpion is still loose in my house (and I found another one of it's babies last night in our dining room! EWWWWW!!!) and I can never go barefoot in the kitchen ever again. In fact, I'd like to move.

6/22/12

Playing Catch Up

"When I grow up I want to be a librarian."
May 15, 2012

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I have forgotten about my blogs!! I guess being a full time mom and student and working a full time job has really started to scramble my brain (as if it wasn't already scrambled in the first place!??).

So what's been going on since APRIL? I can't believe I went all of May without posting anything, and it was such an important month, too! My baby girl GRADUATED KINDERGARTEN! Why the caps lock? Because I'm yelling, duh!! Okay, I know this may be a little bit biased (just a little) but Ali was the prettiest little girl at the entire graduation. Seriously.

Jordan in his adorable button up shirt and vest!
May 15, 2012

I told her before graduation that I would probably get kicked out by the bouncers (had to explain that one to her...) because I would make too much noise crying my head off and yelling out, "That's my girl!!" She made me promise I wouldn't make a scene. So I didn't; Jordan, however, started getting a little restless and noisy but eh, the bouncers didn't take him away ;) I only cried a little bit, like when they called her name and then read aloud, "Alyssa's favorite thing about kindergarten was: Everything!" That kid, she is the light of my life! I am such a proud mama!!

May 2012

Aside from all that, she has also been playing t-ball for the Lil Cudas. She mostly plays right field and usually doesn't know what's going on, but she does have some shining moments (none of which I have pictures of though because I'm always jumping up and down like a crazy person when she gets the ball). One time she got to play at second base and when the ball was hit to her, she ran at someone and tried to tag them out!! They were safe but still, the fact that it registered in her brain as soon as she got the ball that she could tag someone out was like... awesome. And her throwing has improved SO MUCH as well; she's really starting to look like a softball player (one that always wears pink and has ribbons in her hair, of course!!).

June 2012
"Blue Easter Stamp"
(At least this one was washable!)

So what has Jordan been up to lately? Oh, that kid... he is such a little trouble maker, and he's only 16 months old! Yikes! BUT, he has started sleeping through the night several days a week! Woohoo for mommy and daddy! It amazes me how much he has grown, both physically and mentally. He blows kisses, points at things he wants (most of which he's not allowed to have, like curling irons, glue guns, etc.), plays chase and hide-and-seek, and, following sister's lead, tries to swing the bat at softballs! Or golf balls. or mushrooms. He has figured out how to get caps and lids off of things, like permanent markers, chapstick, Coke bottles, his sister's Easter stamps...

He finished up his Tadpole Swimming Class last month too (with only one ear infection!) and now thinks he can swim all on his own. Seriously, he cried during the last two classes because I wouldn't let go of him (in 4 ft.deep water!); he wanted to go off on his own. It was crazy because when we first started he clung to me for dear life and would cry if he thought I was going to let go of him. And now he's Michael Phelps.

There is so much more I'm leaving out, I just know it. That's what happens when I don't blog on a regular basis--I forget things! It's a good thing I take pictures of my kids every 2.5 seconds; they won't be this little forever.

May 2012
Any cuter and your screen would explode.

4/3/12

Just Another Day at the Hospital, No Biggie.

Last Saturday morning, baby girl woke up with a 102 fever. Call it a mama's instincts, but I just could NOT sleep the night before. I could hear Ali coughing all night long, and as soon as she woke up I could tell she didn't feel good. I went to the hospital and scheduled her an appointment with the pediatrician for this morning.

She doctor listened to her breathing and could tell right away that she had bronchitis and is most likely developing asthma. Three hours later, she had gotten two shots (one in each leg, crippling her for the next hour), a breathing treatment, chest x-rays, and a respiratory appointment in which the doctor taught her how to use her brand new inhaler.

She now has two different inhalers, nasal spray, and three different kinds of oral medicines. She isn't allowed to do any physical activity until released by the doctor, and can't return to school for the rest of the week.

The kicker is, she feels fine. She told me earlier, "I'm not sick. Well, I am, but I don't feel it."

In a wheelchair bc the shots "crippled" her

3/28/12

When I Die...

Ali told me this weekend that when she dies, she wants to go to God. Me too, sweet angel, me too...

Children are so innocent and perfect (especially mine!). I can't imagine my life without them. I can imagine my life without a LOT of other things, but not my kids. There is no love that could ever compare to the love I feel for my babies.