Give me your tired

Being a mom makes you tired. At least it does me. I take a nap almost everyday now, and boy do I feel lazy. Sort of. Dr Pepper, who used to be my best friend, is now my alter ego, and ironically most likely the cause for my constant sleepiness. Yes, mom I am taking my vitamins and and eating fruits and vegetables. Yes, I am even taking my calcium.

In this house we are sleeping the best we have in awhile. Unfortunately, those under 4 feet tall like to awake with the sun. Without fail, there is a three year old at my bedside or calling for me from hers by 6:15. Shortly there after I hear the thump thump of Thomas kicking his feet against his mattress. I beg for more sleep, offering books, polly pockets, even my own bed, but she will not be thwarted, and by now the kicking in the other room has turned into a yelling/calling sound. I must get up and tend to those I am responsible for. I mean three is a little too young to be teaching her how to make her own cereal bowl and turn on the DVD, right?

We found an appropriate song for our little early bird by Trout Fishing in America. It is called My Hair Had A Party Last Night.

Surely, those who wrote it have a child with curly hair.

I guess my sleeping in days will have to wait until my kids are teenagers, until then, feel free to call or pop in before 7. We're up.

**P.S. Parents, you do not have to succumb to nursery rhymes and kid sing alongs as your only source of musical pleasure when with your kids (however we do enjoy those, too). There are a bunch of great artists out there that are making good kids albums, like Trout Fishing. Sara Hickman, Lisa Loeb and Dan Zanes are a few of the ones we really like. AND, for those of you from my generation, They Might Be Giants even has a kids album, and it is not bad (we may be late on this since we do not have cable and therefore do not watch the new Mickey Mouse show which it appears they wrote the theme song for). Oh, and for those who enjoy a little flava, Andre 3000 (of Outcast) has a kids album, too. And apparently a show according to itunes. Check it out.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Our lunchtime conversation:

"Has it been raining three years or five years mommy?"

"Feels like it has been five years."

Nothing like having a pool party to go to, something the whole family would love, and looking up into the sky to see those luminous grey rain clouds. Oh but wait, now it is sunny, now we can go! Oh, check again, it is raining. What is up with the moody sky?

Plus, Olivia has an extreme fear of thunder. When we were getting out of the car after church, she was walking up to the house when the thunder started rolling. She immediately started crying and running in circles, for she didn't know if she should run to me or the house. It was cute. Where was the greater safety? Mommy's arms won out. It's great to be a mom.

Despite the rain we have had some outdoor fun.

Swimming (Thomas' first time):




























Bike Riding (Olivia's first bike! Thanks Kate for passing it along.):

A visit to the Nasher Sculptor Gardens (which BTW is free the first Saturday of the month):

We hope you too are finding time for some outdoor recreation. To quote the late, great John Denver, "Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes me Happy".

This is Dedicated to the One I Love

SIDE NOTE: I started reading "mommy blogs" shortly after Thomas was born when my friend Kim (Hi Kim! I miss you!) turned me on to a few. I always thought it would be fun to have one. I also was so surprised to see that people were paid to have blogs. Yes, paid. You can check it out yourself if you don't belive me at ClubMom.com. I thought, paid for writing in a journal? What? How hard is it? Obviously much harder than I thought being that I can't even post once a week. Oh, the things I think I would be so much better at than those who already do it. Much like when I was a waitress and I said I wouldn't let my child eat french fries when we went out to eat. How hard is it when all you have to do is just not tell them they are on the menu? Yeah right.

I digress...

Our family was so excited to dedicate Thomas this past Sunday. We originally had the service scheduled for January 24th. Being that Thomas wasn't released from the hospital until January 17th after that nasty bout with RSV and we were basically told not to let him around anything that could possibly carry or breed germs besides ourselves, we had to cancel.

It was a special time for Mike and I. If nothing else, this experience with Thomas has taught us that this life is not about us. We are not in control, of anything. Despite our best efforts. Thomas' life is for God. We are here as his shepherds and we are so honored to be chosen. We are dedicated to be the parents God wants us to be to both our children. This has proven to be so much different than we thought it would be. And it has proven to be so much better.

We were thankful to celebrate afterwards, at what my great uncle called Thomas' Post Surgery Coming Out Party, with friends and family (we had over 70 of you stop by! Wow!). We fear nothing now, as we know God will carry us through, using those around us when needed. We are blessed with so many who are willing to be used.

Unfortunately, we took only a few pictures at the party. Here are a few from the church and after at our house. Oh, and I will throw in some cuteness that occurred while Mike's sister and brother-in-law were here with their baby. She is adorable, and believe it or not, her personality is even cuter.

CUTE, CUTE, CUTE. And yes, Olivia has on bug pajamas. They are her cousin Aiden's and I don't think she will be giving them back willingly. I tell you, the girl is coo-coo for anything with 6 or more legs...