Kids

Rainy Days and Birthdays

| Mommakisses

Something about adding the fourth child has thrown me for a loop… maybe it was the blood loss (another story another time), maybe it was the holidays so close to her birthday, or maybe it’s having four under the age of 10… whatever it is, I’ve got it. And I have yet to recover from it – it seems to have effected my ability to put together a timely, planned party for the child of the moment.

I threw a party at a place where a kid can be a kid for S together in a week. That means I booked it on a Wednesday, handed out invitations the next day, and had the party on Monday. All things considered, it went well. J’s birthday is 13 days after S… I was not up to getting a party together, and had heard eight is were less kids show up… too many other things going on. T had tix to a soccer game that day with a bunch of guys from work and got stuck in traffic. So for J it was me, his siblings and his aunt. I told him we would try to do one the next month… that never came together either. (Bad Mommy, I know.)

So last Saturday I said I have GOT to call about booking a party at the local bounce house place… and T got a wild hair… Let’s rent a couple bounce houses and have it out back. We have the big play area, we could set up wade pools… it would be FUN…

Monday I made some calls, and booked the bounce houses, set the time, ordered the cake, and sent out the emails. By Friday I was trying to find the right goody bags (Kung Fu Panda — I bought everyone I could find in Nashville), and trying to make sure I would have enough food. See this party at home for my now five-year-old turned into 42 people coming to my house.

About 30 minutes before the guest were to arrive today, I heard a noise. J did too… what was that? he asked… I hope it was Daddy I answered, knowing it was not… Then again… no not Daddy… that was thunder… I turned on the weather channel… yes, we were expecting thunder storms this after noon. UGH!

Just after people started arriving, it started pouring… Now, we had to turn our outside party to an inside party. T did a GREAT job of keeping kids entertained upstairs while it rained. Fortunately, it only rained about 30 minutes… then we dried things off, and everyone was back outside. Also fortunately, the rain scared some off, and we ended up with about half of the people I thought were coming.

The rest of the afternoon went well… until S couldn’t wait any longer for cake… right before Aunt GG cut it, she licked it (big brother J was acting like he would, and she had to try)… her piece was spoken for! Notice the little bit of frosting just below her lip…

Fist Full of Frosting

| Mommakisses

This shouldn’t happen for another 5 months… but it did.

After the boys had their tutoring this morning I told the birthday boy, G, he could choose where we get lunch. “Me?” Yes, you, my son… Where would a five year old pick??? Ah, yes, those golden arches. Ever popular with the wee ones. I figured, if it’s gotta be, let’s go to one with a play area and let ’em run.

And I called a friend (we’ll call her GR, so as to not be confused with G) to witness the madness with me.

K, sitting in a high chair for the first time… she is working on sitting up now… was very ready for lunch… couldn’t get that squash and turkey blend to her fast enough. Which can be tough when you are trying to get three others to settle down and eat. GR was helping feed K, when J came to sit beside her… and somewhere in there K was ready for more… we quickly discovered how fast she is getting… we were suddenly bathed in squash and turkey from the jar she tried to grab that ended on the floor.

On with lunch. And as a special treat, I brought in some cup cakes for G’s birthday. K was not very happy about being left out of the goodness. I did let her taste, but to have your own, well, that doesn’t happen until your first birthday…

S is such a good big sister… she felt K needed more, and also gave her a big finger full… No, S, she’s had enough… Well, so, did S… and while I turned to say something (it’s lost to me now) to G, S set that cup cake down… and K grabbed it… in a blink she had big fists full of frosting, in her mouth! Oh well… so much for the first birthday…

I bet ol’ Ronald was never so glad to bid someone goodbye.

And her Kung Fu name shall be “Fist Full of Frosting”

Good Night Moon

| Mommakisses

I love how my kids think! On the way home tonight J and G were looking at the moon. It was full (or very close), low and orange. The conversation was very excited and fast paced. Why was the moon orange? What if the moon was orange tonight and the sun white in the morning? Wasn’t it just half a moon last week?

And then there was this gem from G: “What if God made the moon orange ‘cuz He knows it’s my birthday tomorrow?”

“So then it’s God’s gift to you?”

“Yeah! That’s cool! Thank you God! Thank you God for that great gift!”

Really… Thank you God for that great gift called G! Happy Birthday, little Booga Boo!

I would have taken a picture, but the moon disappeared by the time we got home, so this one from the water park on Monday will have to do… it pretty much sums G up anyway 😉

Sweet girl

| Mommakisses

I am not a mom who likes kids sleeping in our room. Not at any age. At K’s age or even younger, I would be afraid I would smush them in the night. However, once they are old enough to get out of their bed, an element of control is lost.

G would, like clock work, get up and come into our room and snuggle up at 6:30 every morning for about a year, maybe 18 months. He started at about 2 years old. I thought he would never stop. He still has mornings where he wants to cuddle, but we sit on the couch while we both wake up… and that’s not every morning any more either.

S is not like clock work… it’s very hit or miss. Sometimes I think it depends on the pjs she has on. And the time she crawls into my bed changes, too. Sometimes it’s 2 or 3am. She goes back to her bed then. Other times, like this morning, it’s 6:30 or 7. She can stay for awhile then.

However, this morning she stayed long enough my arm went to sleep… and my back was telling me it’s time to move. And I told T about it… fully believing S was sound asleep. To my surprise, S said, “Turn over Momma, I’ll rub your back.” Then she snuggled in more… LOL.

“I can’t, Baby, you are on my arm.” She got up so I could turn over, and then she laid her head on my back and started lightly tapping me… for about ten seconds.

This precious little girl is the one the drs. wanted to abort. I think about it every time I see that sweet smile. Every time she puts that little hand in mine, I am reminded how they told me she wasn’t worth keeping. They were wrong. Thank you, Jesus, they were very wrong.

Honesty and the child

| Mommakisses

Have I mentioned I am the mother of four? Taking 30 minutes to do my hair is not a luxury I have… who am I kidding??? I don’t think I’ve EVER taken 30 minutes to do my hair!

Saturday I took the morning to have my hair high-lighted (something I once swore I would never do) and cut – hey, my 20th high school reunion is coming up! Anyway, when I got home my sweet babies were napping. When a sleepy G came down the stairs he got a funny look on his face, “Momma, your hair looks silly!”

“Does that mean you don’t like it?”

“It looks silly!” At least he didn’t say it looked bad…

Later that night, after eating dinner, letting them play at the mall and eat dippin dots, as I got into the van G says, “Momma’s hair is yucky.” Nice… honest anyway. I had to laugh at his willingness to just share, Daddy didn’t find it funny and got onto him for talking to his momma that way.

On Sunday I got ready for church, and headed out to round up kids. G looked at me, his face lit up, big blue eyes totally elated, and said…

“Momma, YOU GOT YOUR HAIR BACK!”

My Gatorade runneth over

| Mommakisses

How much mess can 4 kids make in 24 hours? Really? It’s unbelievable! Then try adding their parents into the mix and WOW!

OK, so for the parents it takes a little more than 24 hours… T was messing with some power tools over the weekend… and didn’t plug the freezer in the garage back in… and yes, a thawing freezer, even one that is not totally full, makes a big mess.

Last night all I wanted to do was sit down and actually eat dinner with my kids. I opened a brand new bottle of Gatorade, poured 3 glasses, and poured the rest of it into a refrigerator bottle and shut the door. I probably sat there ten minutes before G says, “Look at that big yellow mess!” Now, knowing there was nothing yellow in that direction and that my boys often wish to “trick” me, I didn’t even bother looking. Another five minutes, maybe, and J says, “Oh, my! That’s a big orange mess.” OK… Now, I must look… and yes… there on the floor was a big puddle of Gatorade. I’m guessing the door hit the spout on the bottle, and the whole time I sat at the table, Gatorade ran freely in my fridge, and onto the floor!

On to tonight, where K waited patiently, or so I thought, for me to get her food ready… once I got to the table, I found her happily sucking on the spoon she had grabbed from the sour cream sitting on the table, and sour cream from ear to ear… yes, she’s not quite seven months old…

Then there’s G, who got a bath tub shark yesterday. You know, the kind that you pull the string, and the tail flips back and forth so that it “swims.” He wants to play with it in the shower…and grabs a cup. I told him no, he was NOT stopping the drain in the shower… if he wanted the shark to swim, he could get into the tub. End of story… NOT. No, I walked into the bath room to get K’s bath ready and found water running on the floor… from under the shower door! This young man found ANOTHER cup and did it anyway. Off to bed with that one.

Then S gets out of the other shower to show me her boo-boo on her knee (shower still running). As I am trying to dry K and get her pjs on, I tell S to go show Daddy. (It takes several times before she actually goes.) He comes into the bathroom where I am still trying to get K dry and into pjs, saying, “It’s a good thing she got me… she tried to pull a G! The water in the tub was about 4 inches from the top.”

I’m going to bed!

Could you hear the water?

| Mommakisses

Ah the mind of a child…

The boys had gymnastics for the first time today. As much as they run, jump, tumble and otherwise do moves I could not, even at their age, I figured they would be thrilled with the idea. They were less than…

Once they got there, I guess they got more into it, as the instructor informed me they did well. G’s first question to me, as soon as he got out of the door, was “Why haven’t we been to Hawaii?” What???? I should have seen something coming, as both boys had Hawaiian lei’s on their heads. The more we talked, I learned their theme for the day was “Aloha” and they learned about being trustworthy.

We talked about J’s wanting to go to Hawaii, a topic he had to write about over fall break (that’s another topic), and we talked about my parent’s trip to Hawaii. My dad had r&r in Hawaii while in the army. My mom, I believe seven months pregnant with me, flew over to meet him there. I informed G of this being the only time I’ve ever been to Hawaii. He had to contemplate that for a while. After about five minutes of silence he suddenly said, “Could you hear the water?” What???? “While you were in Hawaii in Grandma’s tummy, could you hear the water?” Wow.

You know, we have been to the ocean before. G knows what it is like to listen to the waves kiss the shore and retreat. Are they the same in Hawaii? As the older brother of two, he knows babies can’t see you, but they can hear you… and sometimes they will kick at you to prove it. It is amazing where his mind goes…

As we drove to eat dinner with Daddy, G fell asleep… and his lei fell too…

Groceries at lunch time and other big messes

| Mommakisses

So what does one mom do with groceries to put away, a hungry baby to feed, and a tired toddler who is making big messes? Get the big brothers involved!!??? What was I thinking??? Let me show you what happens when an 8 and 5 year old try to feed a 6 month old…

I’m not sure who made the biggest mess… the toddler who used 1/4 a brand new bottle of pump soap on her hands (and feet, toilet, sink, floor) plus emptied a brand new bottle of detangler (why can a 3 year old get open those plastic wraps on bottles that I have trouble with???) on the floor or the two boys who were very eager for such a chance… and made a big competition out of it!

Anyone want baby kisses now????

Nicknames

| Mommakisses

By the time each of my kids were 6 months old, I had a nickname for them. I didn’t know how much it really mattered to them until we started talking about what K’s name would be. Honestly, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to come up with one for her. The whole time I was pregnant, I thought about it… and thought about it… and thought about it. I should have known God would give me the right name when He was ready.

See, when J was a baby, I called him Boo Bear. He was just so cute and cuddly. When G came along, Booga Boo just popped out of my mouth, and S was Baby Cakes almost from the day she was born. The three of them will talk about their nicknames. They go over who is called what. They talked about what we could call K… but nothing seemed to fit. And usually they were thrown into fits of giggles by the time it was over.

The other day, it just tumbled out and I thought… Ah, there it is… Thank You, Jesus… and when I told the kids, J said “Cool… it’s part of mine and S’s.” Well, sort of. Then they all called her by her nickname and kissed on her some more.

Welcome home, Sugar Bear!