Friday, August 29, 2008

My cup runneth over

I've got the kiddies in their high chairs eating lunch while I am posting.
Oprah calls it "multi-taskin"! I am listening to the sweetest sounds ever to be heard on this earth. Right now Audrey is chattering away telling her brother something and every now and then James will throw in a "uhhhh" in response to his chatter box sister. They have got to be the sweetest babies ever. How blessed I am to be their mother and how blessed I am that my husband shares my enthusiasm about me being a stay at home mom. Yes there are stressful days. (streeeeeeessssssfuuuullll) Days that I want to pull my hair out and run deep into the woods and not come back for hours. Days when I wish I had the time and energy to actually fix my hair instead of just pulling it back. Days when I wish it didn't look like Gustav made an early stop at my house. Days when I am lying on the couch after I've "clocked out" at night and suddenly realize that somehow I forgot to take a shower earlier in the day. How does one do that anyway? Days when, well I could just go on and on but y'all get the picture!
But oh the joy that can be found in the role of Mother! My heart is full at this moment. I couldn't be any happier if I tried. I have a wonderful, loving husband and two healthy, beautiful children. Children that won't stop growing by the way. James is crawling and pulling up and I have caught myself getting teary eyed every now and then lately. When Audrey started doing all those things it didn't make me sad; I guess because James was still "just a helpless baby". But now he can follow me out of a room and sit up on his knees and oh he is growing up. They both are. In a little more than a month they will turn 1. 1 year old people! When did it happen? I promised myself that I would never dwell on the fact that children grow up too fast and try to just be thankful that the Lord blessed me with them and live in the moments that we have. Instead of being sad when I think about them not being my tiny babies any more, I try to look forward to all the happy times to come. It works for the most part!

Notice we still have a pappy bandit!



Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Fay, why did you make me clean my refrigerator?

Friday morning Fay rolled in slowly with a few rain showers here and there through out mid afternoon. By the time I started cooking supper she was here in full furry and didn't slack off till Monday afternoon. Our power went out about 7 p.m. Friday and did not come back on until Sunday evening. Yep 2 nights and three days in the sticky, humid, end of August Georgia heat. And my sister chose to visit this weekend as well so we had 4 kids and 3 adults in a tiny little house with no electricity or running water. Ohhhhh what a breeding ground for germs my house was! Seriously it was sooooooooo hot at night; I don't know how in the world people survived with out air conditioning in the South during the Summer. But I now know why people sat out on their porches all the time. It was so much cooler out side but you couldn't stay out there for long or take the children out because you would get soaked in less than 30 seconds. At one point Saturday afternoon it had kinda calmed down some so we let Hannah and Matthew run around outside and play in the rain and jump in mud puddles. Boy they had a blast but I can't post pictures because we let them run around in their skivvies. Come on, we live out in the sticks and we all know playing in the rain just isn't as fun unless you can do it half-naked! Sunday morning Jon had a preaching appointment about 2 hours away, so me and Bets hung around here to go to church at Pisgah. We decided to go to McDonalds to eat breakfast and enjoy some air conditioning. I think they were about ready to kick us outta there by the time we left. Ever gotten ready for church in a McDonald's bathroom with 4 kids screaming in the back ground and then have everything that you just spent 30 minutes doing undone as you run to your car in a seemingly endless down pour? I would recommend it, it's character building!

We finally surrendered to the heat and exhaustion and got a hotel room Sunday night. Ironically that was when our power came back on. Oh well, the kids had a great time staying in the hotel anyway.
Since our power was out for almost 48 hours everything in the fridge and freezer was nasty so I got the immense pleasure of cleaning that out today. If there is any one thing I hate to do around the house it is cleaning out the refrigerator. Just ask my mom, I always put out it off until I know she is coming 'cause she is so good at cleaning out refrigerators! Sure needed you today mom! Fay also gave us 20 inches of rain over the course of 3 days so you can imagine what it looks like around here. Thankfully we didn't have any damage around our house but the county suffered lots of flooding and downed trees and power lines. It's only rained once today so I think old Fay has finally moved on.


Hannah stayed on for the rest of the week so I am extra busy now! We are having a good time though and she really is lots of help with the twins. She loves them and they love her so we're good!


Friday, August 22, 2008

Ever lost your wallet?

Yesterday I discovered that I had lost my wallet. I only went to Publix on Wednesday so I called the store but they hadn't found it. I searched high and low and when I say low I mean I went out and dug in the trash thinking perhaps it had been thrown away with grocery bags. But it hadn't. So I had to reluctantly inform my husband that I'd lost it. Now I say reluctantly not because I think he will punch me in the face or shout at me and tell me how irresponsible I am. No I was dreading telling him because I knew he'd find a great deal of satisfaction in me loosing something. You see, my hubby can sometimes be a little forgetful as to where he puts things and occasionally I give him a hard time about it. But only occasionally!Now I have something to tell him that just pains me to think about. This morning as I was packing the diaper bag to drop the kids off at the baby sitter so I could go get a new license, I found my wallet. Yep it was in the diaper bag the whole time. I am seriously considering NOT telling him that little detail but now I guess I'll have to since I just told all of you! I went to get a new license anyway because I had been needing to change my address. Oh and by the way, choosing to go get a picture taken (not to mention a driver's license pic) during the middle of a tropical storm is probably not the smartest thing I've ever done! I begged them to use my old picture because they used my old weight but they wouldn't budge. The lady told me "Nope every time you walk through the door you have to get a new picture" Bologna. I think she just enjoys knowing that she gets to make one more person suffer every time they have to show their i.d. for the next 4 years. James and Audrey are using sippy cups now to drink their juice and they eat table food every night for supper and absolutely love it. Especially my son! He gets so excited at meal time. And I know he has on a pink bib with pink flowers on it but I couldn't find any "manly" ones. We are currently waiting on some from my mom! Audrey tends to pick at it and she will put it up to her mouth 3 or 4 times before it every actually goes in. If it goes in at all. There is usually a whole lot of whatever she was eating in her chair and stuck to her legs afterwards. But its the experience that counts right now anyway, right?! I've got video of them eating peas, rice and peaches. They are really becoming wonderful eaters!

We have had an absolutely wonderful week, I couldn't have asked for a better one! They have been sleeping so good since they are in their own rooms and they play so sweetly together during the day. James still tries to pick at Audrey's strawberry and thinks it is the funniest thing. Audrey still loves to crawl all over James and slap him on top of the head. For the most part they love to be rough with each other, they get a kick out of it. Yes, I know my son has on a pink bib with pink flowers on it.

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. Psalm 127:3-5





Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Do you know the muffin man? We do!

Back in the early Summer Audrey started dancing when ever she would hear music. Didn't matter if it was on the t.v., a toy or us singing to her, she would dance. While in Hattiesburg Ms. Sue and Nenie and Becky sang the Muffin Man to Audrey and she would dance to it. Everyone just went nuts because when Jon was about the same age he started dancing to the muffin man in the exact same way Audrey does it. Nenie told me it was after her and Papa's house had burned down and Ms. Sue, Mr. Ronnie and Jon went up there to live for a few months and help re-build their house. Choking back her tears, she said Jon dancing to the Muffin Man was the only thing that brought joy to them in those days right after their loss. So, needless to say watching Jon's own child do the exact same thing that brought so much joy to their hearts all those years ago is priceless!

Bet y'all didn't know I could sing so good, huh?! I plan on cutting my very own nursery rymes album next month! Just think, y'all can say "I knew her way back when"!!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Pictures for your Monday




Good shot of her best neck sugar!!!!!!!


She did NOT like him in the basket with her. He cramped her style!


Doing their morning ritual




She's too much some times!





They'll sit there for hours playing with the toys in that basket






Audge doing her new favorite thing, crawling over James

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Self-diagnosis

My blood work came back and everything was normal (ha, he called any way!) so I am self-diagnosing my self with the following: extreme fatigue(just from being a mom!)
slight dehydration(being to busy to stop and drink enough H2O) and a little bit of a stomach virus that has been going around the county. There, that wasn't hard was it? It never really occurred to me that I could have more than one thing going on with me at a time. I feel better today than I have any this week but I'm still not just right. So, I am going to continue taking it a little easier on myself and drink, drink, drink (water of course) and crawl into my comfy bed at their nap times and read or nap or do the unthinkable and watch t.v. in the middle of the day! I think Amber would say "beast" right about now!

I've put together a little video for y'all of one of Audrey's first times pulling up, a fight over a toy (note: this happened right after the bottle of pink baby lotion incident took place!), James getting up on his knees and James with his infectious laugh this morning at his ole mama. Let me tell you, when your own children think you are funny, well that is just one of the best things in the whole world! And his laugh is like a car wreck that you just can't stop looking at. When he laughs his belly laugh at you, you just have to keep doing what ever it was that made him start laughing!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mystery Illness and Free Advertisement

On Sunday I came down with some sort of mystery illness. I have three very distinct symptoms that have made me feel like I am dying at times but together they don't point to any one thing. I went to the doctor Monday expecting to get a diagnosis along with a prescription to make it all go away but instead I got: "Okay I can tell you what I think it could be Ms. Mizell 1. Your thyroid is out of whack 2. Your anemic 3. You have some sort of viral infection that you'll just have to wear out. So I want you to go across the street to the hospital and get some blood drawn to check for the thyroid and the anemia. I'll call you if anything comes back abnormal."

Wow. Not only did I not want to hear the word think from the guy who went to MEDICAL SCHOOL for 8 years, I reeeeely didn't want to hear "I'll call if anything is abnormal." How about you call me any way doc, instead of just letting me go through the rest of my life wondering what in the heck was wrong with me that week in August 2008.
Notice anything out of the ordinary in the picture above? Yeah, Audrey doesn't have a diaper on! Monday evening while daddy was in charge Audrey had what he called "a bomb" and he decided to let her crawl around without a diaper after he cleaned her up. I'm not sure what his logic was for that moment of insanity but her naked hiney sure was cute popping up in the pictures he took that night! (She only pee-peed once on the carpet he said! Nice.)




I am now the proud owner of the Superyard XT(plus extensions!). With my roaming daughter and soon to be roaming son I desperately needed something to keep them contained so they wouldn't hurt themselves the second I turn my head. But I needed the containing thing to be large so they would have plenty of room to move about and not realize they were confined. Enter Superyard XT.
All together they have 34.4 square feet to roam around on and I can breathe easier now when my hands are other wise engaged! Best money I've spent on gadgets for them so far!

Friday, August 8, 2008

All's well that end's well

So today marks the end of Jon's official first week back at work and I have adjusted much better than anticipated! It is lonely with out him all day (or any other adult to talk to for that matter!) and I am completely exhausted by the time James and Audrey hit the hay. But other than that I got back in the groove with out a hitch!
We started "crying it out" this week. Audrey has taken to it like a duck to water; James however, has not. We rock for just a song or two, then I put him down with pappy and teddy. If he has his eyes closed it takes him long enough for me to get out the door before he starts whaling. If his eyes are open when I put him down he has this look of surprise come over his face and then he starts kicking and screaming. We made progress today at nap time though. No rocking with a few tears and then he was out. He is still waking up a couple times a night but it is starting to not take so long to calm him down without picking him up. Hooray!I rock Audrey for a couple songs too and then put her down and if she isn't asleep she plays between crying fits in her bed. She may sit there playing with her pappies or blankets for 30 minutes before she falls asleep but she does eventually fall asleep on her own! She cries some but is really good at the whole self-soothing thing!
The Lord has really blessed me with 2 children that are exact opposites! He knew how much harder it would be with 2 children that slept like James or moved like Audrey!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

More Changes

We have had a great couple of days around here! We ALL were relieved to finally be at home for a while without another trip looming in the distance and the twins have just been in the best mood. We've made some transitions this week; good ones but sad ones. I decided it was time for them to have their own room (the week before the beach Mr. James was awful at night time; that's what prompted the move) so when me and the kids got home Saturday, Jon had already moved James' crib to the guest room (his was the easiest to come down, that's how I decided who would move!) which left a HUGE empty space in the nursery, uh Audrey's room. My bad.All I could think about was the first night we brought them home and how little they were, all swaddled up in their blankets with hats on their heads that barely fit them. They hardly took up any space on that big mattress! I couldn't help but cry when I thought about how I slept in the single bed in their room and Jon insisted on sleeping on the floor by the their cribs all night. He is such a good daddy! That night we were so tired but all the tiredness in the world couldn't have squashed the excitement and happiness we felt on that night.

They are growing up so fast and changing every second of every day. We have rough patches, as all parents do. But 1 good day can make up for 10 bad ones! And the contentment and joy that was in our hearts on that first night is still there and it only grows with each passing moment!


Monday, August 4, 2008

It is better to be the tormentor than the tormented....

That is what my daddy has always told us when he starts aggrivating me and my sister! Poor James has been tormented by his little sister from day 1 and until he gets real aggressive (which I don't see happening any time soon) he will continue to suffer. But and however he is slowly starting to learn to fight back and the scene that unfolded last night in Audrey's room after their bath, had me and Jon rolling in the floor.
When we travel I always pack travel size items such as baby wash and lotion. Well for some reason the little pink bottle of baby lotion has become the toy of choice for my little uns and there is only one so you can only imagine how that went down last night. As you well know Audrey wants and always takes anything that James has in his fat little fist, until last night. He had the bottle of pink baby lotion and she wanted it. (She tends to have the advantage you know since she can sit up on her own and crawl.) James was on his back and Audrey was sitting next to him and started grabbing for the bottle of pink baby lotion and he wouldn't give it up. He had a kung fu grip on that little bottle and even as Audrey got the bottom of it in her mouth he was still holding tight to the top. And man alive did Audrey get MAD! That is the first time ever that she has not been able to take something away from him and it didn't sit too well with her! She tried a couple more times to get it but James wasn't giving it up so she eventually got bored and found something else. I wish I'd had the camera rolling but that is a scene Jon and I wont soon forget!
Speaking of James getting tougher, he is slowly starting to push up on his knees a few times a day and I figure it wont be long before he starts to crawl because he gets so frustrated when something he wants is out of his reach. He doesn't cry near as long as he used to(or as loud) when he falls over and bumps his head! He may be slower on all his gross motor skills but let me assure you his fine motor and social skills (especially his eating skills) are progressing at lightning speed! He LOVES the little fruit puffs; I can keep him occupied for a long time with just those. Yesterday I gave him a Biter Biscuit for the first time and no lie, he wolfed it down in less than 10 minutes! (Audrey barely touched hers!) He loves any and every kind of food you give him!





Sunday, August 3, 2008

All I can say is "We survived"

As I predicted Destin was not the same this year. Not by a long shot. Instead of wrestling 2 monkeys for the sunscreen, I had a monkey and a cat. James has a holler that can rattle the inside of your brain when you are doing something that he doesn't like but at least he is still. Good grief his little sister WORE ME OUT last week! Putting on sunscreen, changing clothes, taking a bath, eating, you name it and me and Audrey wrestled with it. She isn't even fussing half of the time, she is just constantly wriggling and squirming. Oh my word.
Tuesday afternoon we sunscreened it up and hauled the kids down to the pool where we began the 5 day long event of whining/laughing babies. Audrey of course didn't want to stay in her float at the pool which meant I got to wrestle her in the water, which resulted in lots of nose dives and gaspings for air! Bubby was quite content to stay in his float and play with a new toy, much to his mother's relief! Oh if they were both like Audrey......................

Tuesday evening after Jon got there we took them to the beach. Oh they squealed with delight when they first saw it so we walked close to the water to put their feet in it. Oh boy, if only we'd had the camera rolling when James got his feet wet. He started screaming and shaking and clung to me like a cat to a tree and wouldn't have it any other way except to get away from the loud, rushing water. Poor baby. He even hated the sand. We've got video of Jon pouring sand on his feet and James goes nuts. Needless to say we didn't spend a whole lotta time at the beach this year but he did sit in his Bumbo seat on a towel that was covering the sand one day for a long time. Until Will put some sand in his own hand and as soon as he started bringing it close to James, well he lost it. I think we went in soon after that! It was pitiful for him to be so scared of it but man it was hilarious. I know, I'm a terrible mother. Forgive me!
Audrey didn't like the ocean to much either but she loved the sand! She demonstrates that in the video we took! There isn't too much Miss Pepper doesn't like or can't do for that matter! We didn't get a lot of comfortable sleep that week which translates into: The twins weren't sleeping good so they ended up in the bed with us every night. Oh what fun that was! I did get to go shopping, me and Emily went twice as a matter of fact and got some pretty good deals! And Friday afternoon I left the kids sleeping (with grandparents of course!) and went down to the beach to sit with everyone for a while and enjoy some conversation that didn't have to be shouted or repeated!

All in all we had a great time, even though it wasn't much of a "vacation" for any of the parents this year, and I'm not any taner than I was when I left and I didn't get to read up on Brad and Angie's twins, Harrison and Pearl (Isabella earned a new nick name while at the beach) and the twins really enjoyed playing with each other and that's what really counts, right?!