What happens in Vegas

We went to Vegas.  We hit the jackpot!  We didn't leave our jackpot there.  We brought it home with us.  We will know sometime later this year if we brought home a boy or girl who will arrive sometime around May 24, 2011. 

Fall is here

Fall is finally here.  After one of the hottest summer's I can remember, whew, fall is finally here!  I should be joyful, and to some extent, I am.  However, there is a part of me that cringes when fall comes calling.  See, even when the weather has not yet shifted to cool mornings and the leaves have not yet started to turn from green to every other color, I know fall is coming.  All I have to do is look at my calendar.  I am going to blink and it will be Christmas.  Somehow, ever since Kale made the Fall of 2007 eventful, there has been some kind of karmic energy that ensure that every following fall stays so busy that I can't seem hardly sit still. 

Here is my 2010 proof:

Oct 2 or 3  Pumpkin Patch???  This has to be in there somewhere...and now is probably better than later...

Oct 10-18  Work trip to Romania

Oct 20 My baby turns 3

Oct 23 Birthday party...(maybe/probably/ummmm....)

Oct 30-31 Halloween fun

Nov 7-14 International staff in town for meetings, which means I will be in meetings all day and probably entertaining some nights

Nov 25 Thanksgiving

Nov 26-Dec 23  Create/order/mail xmas card and manically try to make sure that all xmas gifts are purchased and wrapped.

Dec 24-Jan1  enjoy xmas and possibly hibernate

*I should note that Kales entire class has birthdays from Sept-Jan...so there is always the possibility that we will be working in other birthday parties as well.  At least the 12 of them are more spread out this year...last year, all 9 of them had a birthday within a 3-4 week period. 

**I should also note that there are a few other items that I am not listing...because they are not absolute on the calendar just yet. 

The Gate

Kale fears the gate.  Just mention the gate and you will see a look of fear cross his face.  Mention it at bedtime and you will get a fit.  His fear of the gate is sad.  Based on his reaction, you might think something terrible has happened to him with the gate.  In his world, it has.  The gate removes his control at bedtime.  If the gate is down, he can crawl out of bed and come to our room....sometimes multiple times.  Yes, we allow him to come to our bed...but not before he has ever even gone to sleep in his own bed.  He knows, once the gate is up, there is no more coming and going from his room...and to him, that is the end of the world. 

A few nights ago, I had to bring out the "gate threat".  Oh the fit.  He had crawled out of bed and come to our room several times.  I had rocked him, tucked him in, said goodnight, left on the closet light...but he wanted me in his bed and I wasn't giving in.  Control.  So back to the gate.  I actually did have to put it up in his doorway. 

What followed was every parent's heartbreak and breatkthough all rolled into one.  He screamed, jumped up and down, shook the gate, tried to reach over it to open it (its more complex than just a latch), and even hiked a leg up to see if he wanted to try climbing over.  I was watching all of this from the edge of my doorway.  He couldn't/didn't see me, but I could see him.  It took all the restraint I had to stay put when he hiked up his leg to attempt climbing.  I waited it out.  Glad I did.  He isn't a huge risk taker.  Not yet anyway.  I guess the little bit of gate wobbling as he hiked up his leg was just enough to make him worry about falling.  Then, in defeat, he ran back to his bed and covered himself up...and fell asleep.  I went in about 30 minutes later to make sure he was well covered.  I also took down the gate and later that night he came to our bed and gave his dad a good nightly kicking in the back.  Since that night, there haven't been any problems with him staying in his bed to fall asleep for the night.   

Fast forward to this weekend.  Kale became very interesting in trying to put up the gate in his doorway.  Smart little sucker.  He knows if he can figure out how to put it up, he will know how to take it down.  He went and got his babies and laid them in the floor close to the doorway.  He then tried to put up the gate.  Once he believed he had succeeded (the gate was standing, but one little movement of air and it would fall over), he let me know that the babies were not staying in thier bed and that he put the gate up.  Control. I couldn't help but laugh.  See mom and dad, those college psych classes are paying off!

Kale's babies

Kale has babies.  Not just one baby, mind you, he has two.  They are identical.  My son has twin babies.  They are magical babies because they light up and play lullabies.  His babies are what most people call a GloWorm. 

Nothing like waking up at midnight to a thud in the hallway, only to become awake enough to realize that its not your child that went thud.  It was one of his babies.  Its hard not to at least smile at Kale's little glowing face (thanks gloworm) as he comes to a halt on my side of the bed...waiting for me to haul him into the middle of our bed.  If both of those suckers aren't singing before I grab Kale, they are by the time I am done squishing him and them as I haul him into the middle of the bed. 

I won't lie.  Waking up in the middle of the night isn't fun.  However, seeing my son's little glowing sleepy face as he hugs his babies does warm my heart.  It gives me great hope that he will be just as great of a daddy as his own daddy has become. 

Yeah, we can pretty much file this entire post as mushy...now you can go on about life. 

Finally Friday!

Hey y'all, its finallllllllllyyyyy Friday.  The past week has pretty much been a whirlwind of family, Vegas, and unexpected craziness.  I mean, normal everyday craziness is fine....but the craziness lately has really stepped it up a notch.  We will embrace the changes, but first we will embrace the WEEKEND!

We have big exciting plans tonight.  We are going...wait for it, wait for it....grocery shopping!  Whoohooo!  Or not.  Actually, it will be kind of nice to just do something ordinary. 

Tomorrow, we plan to attend a tailgate party before the big Hog game and then head home to watch the game from the comfort of our living room. 

Sunday...we might have plans, but those plans don't require us to leave our house.  That will be nice.  I am sure that will be my opportunity to catch up on laundry as well.  Yippee!  Or not. 

Somewhere in there, I have to price and tag my items for the local huge consignment sale.  Last spring, I swore I would be done with all my sorting, pricing, and tagging before the weekend preceding the sale.  Whoops, totally missed that goal.  Oh well.  I was too busy living life in the moment.  I can live with that. 

Here is a helpful hint from Kale this week:  if you cry or whine during circle time at school, you have to leave hte circle and go sit in a chair. 

I am thinking that we need that chair at our house...

The ACH Soap Smell

Today, I was at the local chidlren's hospital to support my brother and sis-in-law while my nephew had a small outpatient procedure (which didn't end up happening...too bad they had to knock him out to do nothing, but we are glad because nothing was much better than knocking him out to do more).  I digress. 

I was at the hospital and used the bathroom.  I know, newsorthy or blogworthy right?  Or not.  I washed my hands.  Yes, I know, even better information to be sharing. 

A few minutes later, my hands were cold and I brought them up to my face to blow into them.  The smell hit me.  That familiar-yank-me-back-in-time scent of the soap used at each public hand washing sink in the entire hospital.  That smell floods me with a tornado of emotions that whip around one another and settle when the tears come to my eyes.  The tears come because of the fear, memories, and thankfulness of the week we spent there with Kale.  There is a link to Kale's story somewhere over there -----------------> in the right gutter of this blog.  I know that I will never forget our days spend there.  I allow those memories to flutter away the the back of my mind.  Its only in moments of fear or soap smelling that those memories seem to come careening forward with such force that my emotions are completely overwhelmed and I end up looking all teary eyed for no obvious reason.  Let's just say I have a true love/hate relationship with that soap scent. 

UNcensored

Some things I have wanted to tweet, facebook, or blog for the past few days and haven't...until now:

Vegas: been there, done that, not impressed!

When a husband puts his wife on the back burner, she tends to simmer and can quickly become boiling.

If you haven't become acquainted with 46mommas.com then you are missing out! Those are some inspiring and courageous momma's! (and not just because they shaved their heads!)

I think my brother rocks! I am so proud of him for so many reasons. I probably don't tell him that enough...

We have a housefull tonight and I am thankful for that fact. It probably saved my sanity.

We should all work harder to tell and show our love to those who mean the most to us.

There is a little boy snoring next to me. He is my world. I am so proud and humbled to be his momma!

I'm going to Romania next month for work.

There is so much going on behind the scenes that I am exhausted just thinking about it. If I could only tell you...

I don't exactly do well with censorship...me and censorship are not exactly friends. I tend to live out loud.

Words any wife just loves to hear from her sweetie: Hot Asian Chick.

If you believe that last one, call me and I will sell you all kinds if stuff!

Going to join the 5am party in the living room now...


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