Where has the time gone?

This past Saturday officially marked the one year anniversary of my giving birth to Baby Bum.  Delivering him was a piece of cake compared to his sister.  With Lil’ Bum I went into the hospital with so many expectations of a drug free, peaceful birth, which opened myself up for disappointment when things didn’t go as planned.  I was positive for strep which isn’t good when your water has been broken for 12+ hours and the end is nowhere in sight.  In the end she came without complications.

When I entered the hospital to birth Baby Bum, I had no written plan.  My mental plan was to go with the flow and do what I felt was best.  It was awesome.  No guilt for not following through, no dissappointment and man did he come out alot faster.

 

He has changed so much over this last year but the last month seems to have been overflowing with memorable moments.  Just yesterday I caught him on top of his sister’s captain’s bed and then again this morning.  He has taken notice of animals over the last two weeks.  We have a poster of pigs in our church’s nursery and the calf picture for June of Ree’s calendar are his favorites. 

He has no use for baby food anymore and feel certain that if you are eating so should he.  The only problem with that is he has a very weak off button.

Although he doesn’t say much right now he has a definite way of communicating.  Mostly grunts and screams! but I guess it works.  He off course says Mama and yesterday when I was telling him not to bite me it sounded as if he was saying, “Mama bi”.  My poor right shoulder look like I was attacked by a Chihuahua.  I have to figure out how to get a handle on that.

Happy Birthday Buddy Buddy Poo Pie!

I will add a picture or two to this post when I am able but until then you can check out the latest at Flickr.

My family is doing okay right now considering.  I’ll post details on another post.

Mommy Confessions

I have a confession to make.  Since we are all friends I feel like I can tell you something and you will completely understand what I’m trying to say.  I love my children so much, but this…………….

 

Is making me a little crazy.  Pretty much he cries if I’m not holding him, and he cries if I am.  He cries til he turns red in the face if I put the Dr. Pepper up or if you shut the door, or the door to the fridge, or you take something away from him.  He even stands next to me when I use the bathroom and cries.  Oh, and his sister is starting to mimic him. 

He is so stinking cute but I’m tired of the crying.  At first I made excuses.  You know, he’s tired, hungry, doesn’t feel well, etc.  But then I had to admit the real problem……………………………

 

He’s spoiled!

 

Parental Soapbox

Although I have a good feeling what most of your opinions will be I would still love to read your input.  With our recent attendance of Lil’ Bum’s and her cousins dance recital it has become all too clear that my feelings toward what is appropriate and inappropriate with children differs greatly from others.  I must now gather my nerve and determination and prepare myself for the day when I must stand up for my child.

Our first dance recital was that of our niece S.  It was fun to watch but there was one thing that bothered me.  The costumes for some of the middle school aged children were far from flattering.  Some of the girls were a little heavier than others and the mid-drift revealing costumes caused their bellies to hang out like a beer gut.  In other dances girls wore styles of the same costume and I don’t really understand why someone did think, “HMM, maybe we should get little Katie a different style costume that flatters a full figure girl.”  Instead it seems they totally disregarded the fact that little Katie has a larger tummy and the fact that the costumes are fitted only emphasized that fact.

As a mother would I have stood up for my daughter?  Would I have talked with the teacher about the way the costume was horribly unflattering?  What would you have done?

I try very hard not to talk of dieting and losing weight around Lil’ Bum because I don’t won’t her to worry about those things.  I want her to have a healthy self-image and be proud of herself for who she is and not always strive for the unattainable Hollywood body image.  I can’t help but feel that by subjecting girls to costumes that are unflattering only causes them to be self conscious.

 

Needless to say, I was on high alert during Lil’ Bum’s dance recital.  My eyes were peeled for inappropriate costumes.  Luckily during the part of the recital that I was able to watch there was only one group with belly showing outfits and they weren’t unflattering at all.  Not too bad.  There was a little gyrating that made my skin crawl but I tried to remember that it was all in fun and not meant to be sexual in nature.

All I can say is I’m not ready for my little girl to grow up.  I’m not ready to deal with this stuff.

Now for the fun part.  Please tell me your opinions!!!

 

Over all I enjoyed both recitals very much but my mommy alarmed sounded on high.

Can You Believe?

Sorry for the long spell with no post.  Tuesday was looking pretty good with 2 posts in less than 24 hours but then physically I crashed.  This head cold, sinus, allergy thing finally kicked me in the butt.  I stayed home from work Wednesday.  It was bad enough that I stayed home and took the kids to daycare (that rarely happens).  Luckily with lots of rest and some antibiotics I seemed to have kicked it in the butt. 

Now for the can you believe part.  Can you believe that after months and months of red itchy skin and hundreds of dollars in doctor visits and prescriptions my little guy has a lily white belly?  He looks awesome.

If you would have told me this as I was leaving the dermatologist appointment I would not have believed you.  I was very discouraged by our visit but I was very wrong.  They told me at the appointment that, of course, he HAS eczema and there is nothing we can do to change it.  It is however caused from heredity and not food allergies.  The dermatologist agreed with everything that the pediatrician had tried but agreed that less was better.  Instead of Singulair and Allegra he told me to choose one.  Then he told me to give him Orapred for 5 days and they changed one of the creams we had tried to an ointment form and it worked.  Oh, another great thing about it all is that I have been feeding him everything and it doesn’t break him out.  I’m still in shock and apparently so was the doctor this morning when Mr. Bum took him in for a recheck.  They didn’t expect him to clear up so drastically.

So bottom line is we continue the Singulair and Aquaphor and just treat the outbreaks because they will happen.  I just sat and stared at his white little body yesterday evening.  It is beautiful and he hasn’t scratched in a few days.

 

This week will be filled with chaos.  The recital is Thursday and we have lots of rehearsals and I’m trying to recover my house from my week long “I feel horrible I’ll clean later” spell.  I scheduled to have Lil’ Bum’s hair curled for the dress rehearsal and recital but in keeping up the frugality I have been trying to do it myself.  Did I ever tell you I can’t fix hair?  Tonight we will attempt using her Memaw’s rollers.  Wish me luck.

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day.  I’ll try to not be so distant.

Life at 4: So how do you explain……..

With the arrival of colts and spring also brings breeding season.  Although I don’t take the kids down to the breeding area “the deed” can still be seen from the house.  It has usually started and finished before it is noticed by a certain 4 year old but that wasn’t the case last weekend.

Thankfully I was in the house when Lil’ Bum asked her Memaw, “Why is Tex on top of her like that?”

MIL did a better job coming up with a quick and simple explanation but it never fails that your children will come up with something to embarrass the crap out of you.

I return to the swing set to be told by Lil’ Bum, “Tex climbed on her because he wants her to be his girlfriend, but he wants a  bunch of girlfriends, and boy horses, you know, they don’t smoke.”

 

I warned daycare the next day of what happened to ward off any, “What the heck are they showing that kid?”

Since we don’t smoke I’m seriously thinking that part came from a MGM cartoon.  You know, when the wolf chases the girl and off course cartoons back then contained smoking wolves.

 

Peanut still hasn’t given birth yet.  She is not due until next month but she ALWAYS goes 3 to 4 weeks early.

I totally lost my stuff!

You too can probably recall such an time.  I can remember another time in the last few years that I’ve lost my stuff but it doesn’t happen often.

As you probably remember, a couple of weekends ago Baby Bum had a horrible stomach flu thing.  For 3 days he was completely attached to my side.  On a Saturday he was finally showing signs of improvement which included smiling between episodes of whining and shorts bouts of playing in between clawing to get in my lap.  This story takes place in one of those 5 minutes spurts of play. 

He decided to play so I decided to pee.  It was the first time in days that I had done this without a crying baby clinging to my clothing.  Its not easy pulling up your pants while your 9 month old is trying to climb your legs.  Anyway, I used the bathroom and I heard the cry.  I first thought that it was the cry of Baby Bum not wanting to play anymore and wondering where the heck his momma was but it became more intense.  I found him sobbing with his finger pinched in a cabinet door.  The door was light but his own weight was pushing it shut.  I picked him up to console him when I saw IT and that my friends is when I lost my stuff.

You know, sanity, reasoning, composure.  The ABILITY TO THINK AT ALL!  His little fat finger was squished.  Right above the top joint it looked to be pinched to 1/4 of an inch, the tip was white and his little nail was purple…….and he SCREAMED.  I completely forgot about all the times I smashed my fingers as a child and immediately thought, “Emergency Room”.  He’s almost pinched his finger off.  There is damage on the inside.  OH MY GAWD!!!!  MY BABY IS GOING TO LOSE HIS FINGERTIP!!!!

Yeah, my mind was gone.  Lucky for me my MIL was quickly on the line and bringing with her the reasoning and sanity that I had lost.  “Put something cold on it for swelling, it should go back to normal soon.  I just pinched my finger recently and it looked like that but cleared up quickly.”   Okay so I’m paraphrasing but these are the words that my frazzled mind heard.

Guess what!  He wouldn’t let me come near him with anything cold but in the few minutes I was talking to MIL on the phone the color came back, the dent filled in and the purple nail was gone.  He still cried but after rubbing some orajel his swollen little red finger he was soon asleep.

Oh, and I got my stuff back. 🙂

BarnBum Easter

Besides being a bit chilly, our Easter was great!

Lil’ Bum and cousin M at church. 

Look at that hair. 

The Boys

Lil Man

There’s no bunny in this egg.

A barn full.  Notice how we have a blonde and what’s looking like a redhead.  Lots of fun comments come our way, all in good humor of course.

Have a great weekend. Also, cross your fingers for me. The kids are supposed to have portraits made tomorrow and we were hoping it could be done at the park. The weather is not looking too spiffy.

Glutteny, Addiction & Windblown Hair

I am losing the battle on my weight.  I would desperately like to lose 15-20 pounds.  I would feel better, my knee would feel better and of course I would have a larger selection in my wardrobe. I just can’t………stop……………eating.  The nighttime eating has picked up a bit also.  Last night at about exactly 3:23 am Baby Bum woke up.  I made his bottle and after he was happily drinking away I returned to the kitchen for a CUPCAKE.  What’s even worse is that I took it back to bed and ate it with my back to Mr. Bum like I was doing something illegal.  The funny part is that in his lifetime as my boyfriend/fiance/husband he has never said anything by what I ate or weighed but I am so ashamed of my overeating that I try to hide it from him.  

As far as the addiction…well its all Tracy’s fault.   There that feels better.  The first step to recovery is blaming someone else.

You see  I have this savings/coupon addiction.  The adrenaline rush from getting $0.28 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, saving $4 on trash bags and $5 on shampoo, free Excedrin and normally $10.49 packages of Pull-Ups for $7.   It is work though and it is a learned process.   I never had it before until Tracy shared her killer CVS deals.  In the last couple of weeks I have been obsessed with coupons and sales.  I guess maybe all the savings can go to support my other habit, Diet Dr. Pepper.  

If you guys come across any deals for Aquaphor Baby let me know.  That stuff costs $7-$8 dollars for 3oz and we use 1 of those a week on Baby Bum.  I do think we finally have a bit of a breakthrough on the allergies with a new detergent.  Time will tell.

See I told you it was bad.

Holy Mega Gusts Batman!  The wind is horrid.  The temperatures have been awesome but when you have 80 mile gusts it almost defeats the purpose.  Well maybe not.  80 mile gusts at 30 degrees is worse. 

I had to run an errand at noon and the combination of the wind and passing a semi actually made my windows seem to pop from pressure.

Still no colt yet but that is probably best.  The way the wind is blowing it could take 2 days for a new colt to get its feet under it after birth.  Have you ever watched a brand new long legged colt try to stand for the first time?  It is really pitiful.  A couple of years ago I was blessed with walking outside to witness the very last moments of Peanut giving birth.  The colt was 3/4 out and the bag was open.  Mother and foal were resting a bit.  I watched in amazement for a minute and then left them alone.  After 20 minutes or so I took Lil’ Bum out to see the new baby.  They have such a hard time at first learning to stand.  You just want to go pick them up and hold them there for a while.  

More animal ramblings.  Mr. Bum weaned the nurse calves Monday.  He actually milked one of the cows Tuesday evening.  He thought Lil’ Bum might enjoy making butter.  She accompanied him for the milking process so that someone could get help if he were kicked in the head for the experience. Last night he put the cream in a jar and started shaking.  Lil’ Bum joined in for about 2 seconds and Mr. Bum was left doing the work.  About an hour later he had made a whole 2 tbsp of butter.  It’s the thought that counts though.

How To Make a Man melt

Take the big brown eyes of a 9 month old baby, add one frown, and a cry of disappointment and hurt feelings and you’ll have one 6’5″ 260+ lb daddy falling all over himself to pick up his son.

Wednesday evening when Mr. Bum came in from work Baby Bum crawled as fast as he could to greet him.  It was pouring rain and Mr. Bum was needing to carry feed down to the barn through the mud and rain and then feed all our animals plus the 2 pregnant heifers that we are babysitting.  (Have you ever had the object of your babysitting go into labor?)

Anyway, I know his thoughts were  to hurry and get his chores done so that he could come in and play with the kids, so he tried to step over Baby Bum and in the process touched his head with his boot.  I know he wasn’t physically hurt because Daddy was being very careful but the look that came across Baby Bum’s face was the most pitiful site I’ve ever seen.

First there was the frown then the water works started, but only until Daddy drop everything and picked him up.

It’s so funny how children can wrap you around their fingers.

Now for more links.  5minutesformom is giving away the exact carseat that I just bought Baby Bum.  I absolutely love it and even entered to win theirs because I would love to have another for Lil’ Bum being that she has several pounds to go before she can move to a booster.

I know many of you have probably already seen the post but Pioneer Woman’s post with pics of her youngest son playing with a cigarette are about the funniest thing. It just goes to show how much our children really do watch our actions, or in her case the actions of others.

I know for Lil’ Bum and I, we weren’t exactly star pupils when it came to potty training but like my MIL always told me, you never see a first grader that’s not potty trained. Jenna is experiencing the joys of potty training and I bet would enjoy any tips or experiences you might want to share.

Stinky Epiphany

One thing that I couldn’t give up when I became a mother was a daily shower/bath.  It didn’t matter how hard it was to get, I always had to have me a shower.  Maybe no makeup, maybe wild hair, but always a clean body.

 Well Saturday that all changed.  The kids and I were scheduled to be at church at 9am to participate in a sewing day.  Some of the women from church were helping to make new curtains for the nursery.  I had set my alarm for 7:15am but since I was playing human bedrail for Baby Bum I decided to stay put to allow the kids to sleep longer. 

Finally at 8:00am Baby Bum awoke and I realized that unless his sister decided to wake I couldn’t take a shower.  You CANNOT leave the child alone for more than a second or there will be problems.  Normally that wouldn’t be a problem but with Lil’ Bum being as emotional as she has lately sleep was a necessity.

I made the decision.  I almost backed out several times, but I didn’t.  I washed my hair in the sink, spruced up with a couple of baby wipes, put on clean underwear and off we went.  Me………..no shower………….what had I done.  For the first 5 minutes or so  I worried that they could smell me.  What if I stunk??????

Then I started chasing children and forgot all about my stinky butt.

I survived!  And if I was stinky they didn’t tell.