a little trip down memory lane

our sunday night outing tonight really moved me. don't laugh. we took our kids somewhere i have SUCH fond memories of. memories of my older brother and i going on a friday night or after church on sunday.

for the longest time, i called it john lawn silbers.

a couple of chicken planks. some hushpuppies. cole slaw. well, bob didn't have so much of the cole slaw. and crunchy things. lots and lots of crunchy things. you know, you had to special order lots of crunchy things.

and really, no trip was complete without the plastic bib and the pirate hat.

and today, our trip was complete with the pirate hat.

(fyi: the little brown thing on big h's chin? crunchy thing.)

is it sad that our nutritional meal this evening brought back so many memories and was so much fun?

no. it was freaking awesome. dee-lish, i tell ya.

happy 19 months

dear goo,

in honor of your nineteen-month birthday, i want to tell you nineteen things i love about you.

1. that your middle toe on your left foot sticks up from the rest.
2. that your pink blankie is monogrammed with the name "isabella rose."
3. that you are a milk addict. seriously. we think you nay have been in some form of detox last week, which contributed to your crankiness.
4. that half of your meal ends up in your lap or high chair.
5. that you like to double fist it with milk and water.
6. that the only way we get you in the bathtub now is to entice you with an entire can of shaving cream.
7. that ironically we've always dubbed you the "angel child," though it's one hundred times more difficult to put you in your carseat than it ever was with your brother. and trust me, sister, that's saying something.
8. that you insist that your right shoe goes on your left foot and vice versa.
9. that you've just figured out dollies, and that makes me happier than you will ever know.
10. that you bonk my head when you try to give me a kiss. oh, and by the way, it really hurts. you've got strength.
11. that you know just what toy to take to push big h's buttons. high five, goo.
12. that you started teething at three months and have had all of your teeth since about seven months. you're such an overachiever.
13. your tush. period.
14. that daddy asks if you want fries with your shake. meaning you work it. you own it.
15. that you can physically carry an entire sam's-/costco-sized jar of animal cookies successfully around the house.
16. the way you look in hats. oh, how this delights me.
17. that you and big h have your own little version of hide and seek.
18. that your favorite breakfast is sausage and bacon. that's my girl.
19. that your CT scan came back perfectly normal!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!

we love you, sweet goo.

all over

as a preface, i'd like to inform you that buz and i will be eating popcorn, watching american idol, and going straight to bed.

because goo is drugged up on motrin and benadryl.

and big h was out in the first TEN MINUTES of getting into his bed.

but as a quick recap. CT went well. anesthesia was not the same as when she had her eyes done. she woke up VERY grumpy and that grumpiness? yeah, it lasted for a really. long. time.

but she got home and was so excited to have brother with her. (thanks to my new friend Christy for insisting she take big h for the afternoon. she has twins, boy and girl, who are in big h's class at school. big h is in love with her daughter. i would have no problem being in-laws with her.)and they sat together, had a snack, and watched a little television. it was blissful. and then, my sweet friend 'aunt biscuit' brought over a king ranch chicken casserole and salad. biscuit, goo LOVED the casserole. let me tell you how nice it was not to have to think about dinner. wonderful.

we won't know the results until thursday or friday. sucks. but buz and i have decided to have a positive attitude and be confident that we are in the palm of His Hand. only place to be.

oh yeah, and not to mention that we have so many incredible friends. we are so blessed, we can't see straight.

(someone please tell me why blogger won't let you use spell check anymore? it's so annoying. there. i've said my peace.)

sweet goo

so, throwin' up a more somber post than normal. requesting prayers for sweet goo. last night, she was up from about 9 until 230 or 3. would be ok if one of us was holding her. but the second we went to put her down, she would cry. and we are talking that kind of cry that you can't ignore. that kind of cry that makes you wonder what on earth is wrong. so in that time period, one of us was either standing with her, swaying or rocking in the chair. finally at 3, i couldn't stand any longer with her. she was calm, so i put her down. and she cried. oh, did she cry. and honestly, if she had been comfortable with me rocking her, i would have just gone to sleep with her. but she only wanted me to stand and sway. no such luck for me.

she woke up about 830, which is the time she normally wakes up, so it wasn't necessarily a relief that she "slept in." took big h to school and headed home for about thirty minutes before we got back in the car to go to the pediatrician. i know you're laguhing. thinking to yourself, "how in the world do they go that often?" i wonder that same thing. trust me.

well, buz and i have had an awkward pit in our stomachs for a couple of weeks now. that things have changed with goo. ever since she fell. she has just been off. really grumpy. not her usual self. crying a LOT in the middle of the night. naps are shorter. she cries to sleep and cries when she wakes up. just a lot of things.

so finally this morning, i went in wanting to check her ears. making sure the antibiotic was working. check. everything else checked out. so i began to tell her (not dr. g -- he wasn't in the office today) what my concerns were. and in a nutshell, she told me that buz and i would most likely be at peace until all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed. and the one thing that would tell us if anything "happened" when she fell would be a head CT. and she would have to be sedated due to her age.

pit in my stomach. but a good pit? does that make sense? don't want her to have to do it. but feel like it's best somehow to rule out everything?

i'll be honest. the sedation part makes me so nervous. it's not until 230 in the afternoon. so that's a lot of time without milk, food, or water/juice.

and then you have the elephant in the room. if the CT doesn't show anything, what is wrong with my baby? if it does show something, what are we looking at? what are the possibilities?

anyway, this mama's got some anxiety.

so if you think of it, would you pray for my sweet goo today and tomorrow?

making me happy

1. this is the song big h requested this morning on the way to school. without prompting. my heart melts.


2. big h (with the help of his teachers) wrote buz and me a valentine's day card. it had a picture of him on the front. when you opened the card, on one side, it said, "i love my mommy because" and the other side read, "i love my daddy because." big h is such an intimate little deep thinker. "i love my daddy because he gives me binoculars." "i love my mommy because she gives me breakfast."


3. um, yeah, this is what buz gave me for valentine's day. so buz, i'm pretty much head over heels in love with you.


4. big h's discussion while we were in old navy today. about the music. and how it made him get his groove on.


5. how excited big h got today about the new mulch they put down at school. mulch, people. mulch.


6. how much better goo is sleeping once she got on antibiotics yesterday. for her ear infection. seriously. an ear infection. can't the girl catch a break? guess what her belated valentine's present is going to be?


7. what i can't stop looking at online. i know. it's an addiction. i can't help it.


8. one of buz's valentine's day presents was a pair of new jeans. (i know. i'm nothing if not a hopeless romantic.) his response? "sweetie? are these some of those designer jeans?" God bless him. c'mon buz. we're going to bring you up to speed, dear.


9. stumbling across this old picture.



10. embracing my delicate flower.
    


11. this morning before school, big h came up to me and asked, "mama, please can i pyay a pee-bee-ess kids dot org game on your computer?" i mean, i realize my kid's four and all. but why does this surprise me? every time? that he knows about dot org?


12. that this is what is going on outside.

um, guess who's feeling better?

HALLELUJAH!

(and a little fashion tip. because i'm so in touch with the trends. it was too cold outside to go without anything on her legs. but i was too lazy to go to her room and get pants. so because i just happened to be doing the laundry, her daddy's work socks did just fine. i know. you're impressed. talk about resourceful.)

and guess who is THRILLED about his "stister's" recovery?

needless to say, we had a wonderful day today.

i so desperately want to write that goo is back in full force happiness and that all is right with the world.

but i can't.

but i also refuse to complain for eight hundred and one consecutive days. sooo...

for those of you out there who have your house cleaned on a regular basis, i am green with envy.

because ms. wiz? my house has never looked, smelled, or felt cleaner than it does right now. how should i thank you? i started taking pictures. but your smart a-- son reminded me that photos don't reveal smell.

right. i know.

but seriously...the euphoria from the smell alone just about did me in.

they cleaned the cupboards. the cupboards.

and they made big h's bed. i'm pretty sure it hasn't been made since goo was born.

thanks, ms. wiz. happy valentine's day to me, huh? i love you, too!

i think we're in for it.

buz and i came to the realization that we're about to embark on something new and somewhat scary.

the word girl pretty much sums it up.

goo is going to give us a run for our money. period.

the way she looks up at us with the "what?" look on her face. the way she arches her back during a tantrum like even big h never did. (that's saying something.) the way she takes things from him just because they're his. i mean, she's cute and all. but whew. i forgot what 18-month-old land was like. i do remember that i didn't like it.

i think i've figured out why it's going to be so tough with her. with big h, we just knew and anticipated the worst all the time. which is sad to say, but it's true. we knew that in almost every circumstance, big h would throw a huge fit and have some sort of eeyore complex about his poor, pitiful life. even today, when we ask him what the best part of his day was, he will respond with something and then add a "but" at the end.

with goo, she's been so sweet. such an easy baby. and it was like she turned one and said, "i've had it. i'm done being the easy one. i want more out of life than just taking everything as it comes."

i've started calling her sassafrass, and it throws big h over the edge in laughter.

but i'm serious. the sass. oh, the sass. i am not looking forward to it. at all.

and the funny thing? it's like goo is entering the world/stage that big h is leaving. it's weird. and sad. and scary. does that make any sense? it does to me.

course, last night i had a dream about a childhood friend giving me a new handbag and going out on a date with simon cowell.

so you really shouldn't trust what makes sense to me these days.

and big h's finest moment today?

today was beautiful. 70s and clear. and for me to say that a day in FEBRUARY in the SEVENTIES was beautiful is big. huge. we played outside in the afternoon. and then i asked big h if he wanted to have a picnic for dinner.

complete and total elation.

and he also decided yesterday that today he wanted to bake a cake today. guess he's never seen me do such a thing, so it was us wisners living on the edge, really.

so tonight, we had KFC for dinner and then yellow cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles for dessert.

he finished his (first) piece of cake and then proceeded to tell us he wanted a second piece of cake. buz and i said no almost immediately.

and then, as serious as a heart attack (that joke is getting easier to use around here), he said, "well, mama and daddy, jesus says that i should eat my first piece of cake. when i finish that piece, it is time for my second piece."

i mean, who are we to argue with Christ, our Lord and Savior over big h's sweet tooth?

for the record, it was a tiny, little sliver. but he went to bed feeling a victory over his parents. and saying to himself, "wow, i should use that jesus line a lot more often."

seriously, people. find me some wood.

so i can do some knockin'.

i plan on being painfully honest right now.

in the spirit of tomorrow being saturday, here is what i would like to see happen:

• no diarrhea
• no vomit
• no emergency washing towels or other fabrics
• playing outside
• miraculously no more diaper rash on any little bottoms
• fun lunch somewhere
• lots of playing
• no diarrhea. sorry, did i already mention that?
• no vomit. sorry, did i already mention that, too?

i am officially done playing wisner memorial hospital. and you know what? i bet the other members of my family are too.

let's knock on wood together, shall we?

imodium AD $7.99

saltine crackers $2.59

mcdonalds sprite $0.79

prescription diaper rash ointment $26.00

papa driving an hour just to read big h his bedtime stories so i could put the goo down for the night priceless

grandma responding to our last fourty-eight hours with, "what can i do to help?" (and having that question result in arranging for a maid to come clean our entire house)
priceless

buz holding my hair back while i graced the porcelain throne priceless

guess what we've all been up to lately?

big h -- monday
mommy -- wednesday
goo -- thursday
daddy -- thursday

have i mentioned how much i love my family? um, i love my family. i love my sweet mother-in-law for staying awake the whole night last night just trying to come up with something to do for me since i was sick with two children. that's just her. trying to do things for me all the time. after goo made her mark this afternoon, i called ms. wiz and suggested perhaps a clean house would make everything better. and her response? you arrange it and let me know how much. seriously. oh, and by the way. she does stuff like this all. the. time.

i know.

i love you, ms. wiz.

my mom is out of town right now. the scene was -- big h asleep. buz home from work early due to stomach bug. goo getting rid of her upset tummy all over the carpet. i couldn't do it. i called for reinforcements. and it would be a grand understatement to say that my dad "doesn't do sick." seriously. my dad DOES NOT DO SICK. but i believe my exact words were, "dad, i wouldn't call if i didn't desperately need you."

one hour later, big h and the goo were overjoyed that papa had arrived. and so was i. we divided and we conquered. dad took big h and i took the goo.

and when all was said and done, we shared a lovely mcdonalds happy meal together at approximately nine o'clock this evening. really, it was just a ploy to get him to come over for dinner.

oh, and my husband? held my hair back last night when it was just the right time to say farewell to all that i had eaten in the month of january. i think it's only fitting that it's february. the month of love and romance, right?

let's raise our glasses to a fun and extremely healthy february 2008.

here here.


gift (gĭft) n.
Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation

no bugs around here. (however, we're knocking on wood.)

so big h just didn't "peel so well this day." but he rested and watched his show. he had his snack and took it easy.

and then, he picked on his sister.

and that's when i knew he was better. no stomach bug around these parts. just the usual four-year-old and eighteen-month-old funk. runny noses and lingering coughs. nothing that a little tylenol meltaway couldn't fix. or fruit circles, as big h calls them.

clearly, he's got a medicine phobia.

and today was a big day for big h. day #5 of staying in his bed at night. which equals day #5 of blissful night's sleep for mommy and daddy.

he made his own chart. this was the second go around for the whole "stay in your bed" thing. so this time, he had to stay in his bed for five consecutive nights, and then it was time to get a toy. we're not above bribes. shocker. yigh-teen ah-keen was the toy of choice.

and because i'm his mom, i have to brag for .01 seconds. he told me that goo would be sad if she didn't get a toy when he did.

"i know. but you worked really hard for something, and she didn't."

"i know i did. and i did a gyeat job. and you said nice words about that. but i will be sad when goo cries because she doesn't have something new to play with. would it be ok if goo got something new too? that way we could have pun together."

melted. literally melted. i mean, i love this kid.

so does goo. because she got a new doll out of the deal.

please. please, no.

got a call from big h's school today saying he had been complaining of a tummy ache and they asked if i could come get him. he asked the teacher if he could "skip yunch and go straight to my mat?"

i know.

and so he did. and i went to pick him up. and poor little guy was in the office looking so pitiful.

i asked what sounded good for the rest of the afternoon. and his response? "mama, i tink it would be goodest to put my syeeping bag on the couch, yay in it, eat a rek-pest bar, and watch mr. incyedible so i can rest. i rest rea-yee good when i watch mr. incyedible." spoken from a true patient.

so little man resides on the couch, with his breakfast bar, his sleeping bag, and the television tuned into the incredibles.

please do not let this be the beginning of the stomach bug. please.

and to think that the morning at school started off so great.

well, la tee dah

it's like a breath of fresh air around here.

(never mind that it's the first week of february, and it's going to be EIGHTY-ONE DEGREES here today. i'm suppressing my deep-rooted bitterness.)

i finally managed to get rid of the picture of goo when she was three months old, buz in his oktoberfest hat, and big h with his train that he used to take every. where. neville, or as he liked to call him -- nim-uhl.

oh, and not to mention my three month postpartum rolls.

i mean, i still have the three month (now eighteen month) rolls, but at least they're not there for all the internet to see.

ahhhh.....

just your average joe friday night...

...at the pediatric urgent care.

seems goo ticked someone off. and didn't fare too well after the fight.

or she just slipped on the monstronsity that is big h's playmobil airplane and landed head first into the fireplace.

either way, big h and i took her to the pediatric urgent care due to dr g's nurse having a suspicion that she might need a stitch or two. no stitches needed. they just glued her face. i'm serious. they glued her face.

big h remained calm. and fashionable.

if i've said this once, i've said this a thousand times. my daughter is a freaking hoss. a power house. basically, we had to hold her down so the glue didn't get in her eye and for another thirty seconds while the stinging was occurring. and the only reason she wanted to move was so she could get her hand on another goldfish. homegirl is serious about her snacks. and that was it.

now, she just has a glossy purple patch over her right eyebrow. it totally went with her outfit. purple is this year's black, so buz says.

needless to say, the playmobil airplane is in a timeout.