Day 1 of our vacation -- my learnings

We've been driving for 11 hours and here's what I've learned so far:
1. Charlie does not appreciate bright lights at night.
2. I apparently don't care for Louisiana because I slept most of the way across it.
3. Monroe, LA smells digusting. I don't think I could even stop to pee in that stinky town.
4. Hitchhikers think Charlie is cute at 5 a.m. I didn't think the hitchhiker was so darling at that hour.
5. Sunrise over the Mississippi River is beautiful.
6. Cracker Barrel breakfast is awesome regardless of what state you are in (Hattiesburg, MS)
7. Mississippi has a booming log business. Who knew?!?
8. Roadside veggie stands make for fun pitstops. I bought peaches, tomatoes, cantalopes and boiled peanuts. Yummy!
9. Don't feed Charlie a cheerio while he's in his carseat. No really, don't. Jason did it while I was buying the goobers, and poor Charlie decided to inhale said piece of cereal instead of chewing it. Needless to say I came back to the truck to find a baby covered in barf. Thank goodness Jason has a cast iron stomach. Ten wipes and a change of clothes...presto, a clean Charlie:)
10. A full belly coupled with driving all night don't mix. That state trooper got Jason's attention when he made a u-turn and came roaring up behind us. As I'm panicking over where the insurance card is, that sweet law man whipped around us and busted the poor sap in front of us with Texas plates. Whew!! I did NOT want an out of state ticket as a souvenier. Jason has been coherent ever since:)

That's all for now. My finger hurts from typing.

My dream Saturday morning just before I woke up

Don't you hate those dreams you have right before you wake up for the day?  The ones you remember in incredible detail?  Well, this was one of those dreams.  In my dream, I was working out with our friends Summer and Mimi. 

First of all, for as much as I HATE exercise, this was indeed a dream...no, maybe a nightmare.  And second, if you know Summer and Mimi, you'd know they are two of the fittest, trimmest, healthiest women you'll ever EVER meet.  Summer is a trainer with a master's degree in something fancy to do with nutrition and exercise, and Mimi has done a couple of marathons AND teaches boot camp with her sweet hubby three days a week.  So needless to say, it would only be in a dream that I could hang with these two lovely ladies in a workout.

After we finished with the sweat-fest (in my dream), they looked at my flabby tummy, turned to me and said in their sweetest voices, "Honey, there's really no hope for that.  You really need to get liposuction or a tummy tuck!!"  In real life, Mimi and Summer would NEVER say anything like that to me...even if it were the honest truth.  They were mortified when I told them that story last night after church. 

Can you guess what I did yesterday when I got up?  Nope, not eat a box of donuts.  I did my Pilates DVD...and boy am I sore today.  I guess the ladies were "speaking" some truth after all. 

The countdown has officially begun for vacation

Florida get ready!!  The Lains are coming your way on Tuesday for a week of fun, relaxation and playing in the water (pool or ocean...we don't care.)  The piles of laundry are almost clean.  Not folded and put away yet, but clean. 

It's 103 degrees today, and poor Jason has been out putting up an electrical fence so our Houdini of a dog will stop digging out of our yard to go trolling around the neighborhood.  She is in for a serious surprise later today.

This is random, but considering my fabulous job as a NASCAR PR queen, you can see why I love this commercial!!  Especially since the No. 20 hauler parks next to the No. 12 at the races (I'm going to Michigan as a matter of fact in two weeks for the race). Even if you're not a NASCAR fan, you will get a kick out of this commercial I promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWLt34JGbEc

Ta ta for now.

Some random photos I love of my boys:-)

Fun day at the museum

I got the pleasure of taking five kids (my three plus cousins Conner and Sydney) to the Museum of Science and History today.  Carter actually started the day off in perfect fashion when he woke up with "Wow Mommy, that was a short night!!" Then Becky brought donuts for the kids. Great, I thought. Just what I needed were kids on a sugar high, but it didn't phase one of them thank goodness.

Yes, I said pleasure because other than the occasional bickering about who was going to push Charlie's stroller and reminding the boys not to run, they were very well behaved.  One grandmotherly-type even complimented me on how well-behaved the kids were.  This was after she watched me scold the boys for running...he he he.

I think the boys enjoyed it more than Sydney, but then she loves to be with Charlie, so everyone was happy. Conner and Griffin especially loved the "motion" room where they tried to build a roller coaster out of card stock, paper cups and painter's tape.  They could have done that for hours. Sydney and I tried to build a marble maze, but the um, directions, weren't very good.  Soooo, our marbles just hit the floor:(

All in all, it was a great day, and I hope I get to take them all back again this summer.  Although, next time, we will leave sweet Charlie at home because honestly, it was kinda dull for him.

The joy of summer and snowcones!!

My new cleaning crew

I borrowed a great idea from Clover Lane for cleaning our floors. Griffin and Carter thought it was a swell idea to "ice skate" across the floor with towels on their feet and a squirt bottle. Griffin even took to a step further and cleaned the kitchen lights for me.

Now if I could just get them to flush the toilets and pick up their dirty clothes:) I know, who am I kidding!?!?!?!

He turned 1 last week

I'm finally coming to grips with having a 1-year-old. Charlie had his check up with the lovely Dr. Vert yesterday, and he was off the charts literally. He weighed 21.5 pounds and is an AMAZING 33.5 inches tall (or should I say long???) Whoa mama!! He grew three inches and gained three+ pounds in three months. I hope this isn't a trend...I'll never keep the boy in clothes or shoes.

He had a great party Friday night...well, he actually had two parties since Becky and Greg were going to be out of town for the real party. So we had a mini party on Wednesday (his actual day of birth). He enjoyed being the center of attention, but the funniest part was that the Brothers Lain practically knocked their baby brother down to get at his toys. I mean really, a 4- and 8-year-old who are excited by baby toys!!! God love them, I can dump all the electronics, Legos, trains, etc and just buy them baby toys. Hallelujah.


Here are some pics from the parties (thank you Mama Sue for helping with the photography!!! -- we love you!!)

Hmm, what's in this package? Notice the ever vigilant Carter and Mama Sue's precious daughter assisting with the presents.

Nope, it's wasn't better then my nubby ball.

Conner, Sydney and the Brothers Lain during the first party.

Cupcake!! Not a big fan of icing, so we scraped some of it off for him.

Now, that's a happy 1-year-old!!! Love you bunches Charlie O.

Two random things

I LOVE LOVE LOVE using the word "hinky". I can use it in a sentence -- My computer is acting hinky tonight -- but I'm not sure I can actually spell.

So there's your word of the day.

You're welcome:)


We have nicknames for the boys:
Griffin -- either Eddie as in Eddie Haskell or the Professor. Self explanatory

Carter -- Gabby because he will talk your ear off about any subject he can think of

Charlie -- Beaver. The boy will chew on ANYTHING, and I do mean an y THING. Books, shoes, boxes, Legos (yikes!!!), dog bowls, body parts, especially shoulders and fingers. It's a challenge to have him loose in the house right now.

Hard to believe it's been a year

Since I looked like this. Charlie was born shortly after this photo was taken (at 1:31 a.m. on July 14).

I love these two photos. The first one is when my OB came in to deliver Charlie, and the second is the actual time he was born. I like 15 minutes from start to finish for a baby!!!

I can't believe it's been almost 365 days since that sweet baby boy blessed our family. What a year we've had. He's been our most challenging baby as eating, sleeping and a schedule were NOT part of his overall plan. But we've all learned to coexist peacefully in the last 12 months, and I dare say, we've all thrived for the most part.

Now we have a baby who sleeps through the night (most of the time), is learning to feed himself, can drink from a sippy cup, is considering taking some steps, can say Mama and Dada...and he waved bye-bye for the first time tonight. Such milestones for a boy who was a little blob last July (but such a cute blob!!!)

Thank you God for Charlie Owen!!!

I am back, and I am sad

Sad because my baby will be 1 on July 14. Sad because my oldest baby will be 9 in October. Sad because my second baby will be 5 in October. I'm just sad. I keep threatening not to have a party for Charlie because if I do, he really will have to turn 1 on July 14. Can't we just skip over that day and go directly to the 15th?

I wasn't sad about Griffin and Carter's first birthdays. I guess it's because deep down I knew they weren't my last babies. But Charlie is our last baby (thanks to a little nip and tuck Jason had in March), and it makes me sad. I never knew I'd love being a mom as much as I do. I love 98 percent of the minutes I have with my boys. (I have to be realistic as some times they do drive me crazy.) Why do the days go by slowly, but the weeks and months fly by? Do all moms feel this way as their kids grow up? My heart aches with pain and overflows with joy all at the same time when I am with them. Am I just crazy? I promise I'm not depressed, just having a hard time with everyone hounding me about Charlie's birthday party.

I've said this a hundred times...if I were younger, we'd have another one. And it has NOTHING to do with wanting a girl. It has everything to do with loving kids...MY kids. I hope I'm doing a good job as their mom. I see so much of myself in Griffin, and yes, I do some parts of me in Carter. Charlie is a mystery, but a delicious one at that. I just love these boys so much.

Okay, enough pity on this beautiful July 4. The house was quiet, and I felt the need to write. I leave you some recent photos of my beloveds.