More to be Thankful for...

I wrote the following post earlier in the day. I never posted it because I was looking for a cute picture of Lucas to go along with it. I know how it is...people tend to skip over the posts with no pictures, they figure they're boring. You can skip over this if you chose, but I feel the need to publicly thank my Father in Heaven tonight.

Tonight our good friends had a little get together for their little girl. She turned 3. She looked beautiful in her pink dress. And her cake was decorated with pink icing. After singing Happy Birthday to her and having some yummy cake and ice cream, the kids went off to play and the adults began to play a game of Catch Phrase. Just as we were starting our second round, our friend Michael, who was holding his sick two year old little boy, quietly utter the words "uh oh" as I turned to my left I saw his limp little boy in his arms. I don't wish to write all the details, simply because I don't want to relive it again. It was hard enough to relive it telling his mom when she finally got there about fifteen minutes later. (She was at the church helping to clean up a wedding reception) I will however say that he had a febrile seizure. In case you're wondering what that is (I was) it was a fever induced seizure. Luckily his dad is a nurse, and so is our other friend (who's home we were at). They were able to help him through this. I was so impressed with their ability to stay so calm. Our wonderful Bishop and his wife were also there, and while the woman all gathered outside to share some tears and wait for the paramedics to arrive, the men were inside giving this little boy a Priesthood Blessing. It was almost immediately after that he began to whimper.

This was one of those rare moments that I won't soon forget. Not only because it was so scary, but because the spirit was so strong in the room. Our Father in Heaven was able to keep everyone calm, even the three little ones were still and reverent. We all knew that he was going to be okay.

The events of tonight made me think again about how quick I am to get upset over silly things sometimes. I just don't know what I would do if anything like that ever happened to my little boy. It made me want to be a better more patient mother. This is what I had written earlier.

Mother Dear...

I wish I could always live up to that title. Unfortunately like most moms I'm far from perfect. Last night Lucas was having one of those nights. I put him to bed at a decent hour and then proceeded to fall asleep on the couch while Jeremy watched football. Gotta love football season. Not. I don't exactly know what happened next, just that at one point I woke up with a kink in my neck and Lucas was sleeping on my back. From what Jeremy said, he woke up and came into the living room crying. When I did not wake up to get him he just climbed up on the couch and snuggled up on my back and went to sleep. Cute right!? Some time later I woke up again uncomfortable and had the brilliant idea to go to bed. I scooped up my sleeping baby and took him to bed. I must have been really tired because I just laid down with him and woke up there in the morning.

I also remember that at some point in the middle of the night clinging to the edge of the bed, my back to Lucas. I woke to the feeling of little hands gently nudging me. When I turned to him, he ever so slightly lifted my arm and climbed up on my chest to sleep.

It's little moments like this that make me grateful that he chose me to be his mother. I'm glad that I'm the one that the Lord entrusted to love him and help him grow into his own being. I'm honored that he trusts me enough to wake me when I'm sleeping when he just needs some reassurance that his mommy is there for him.

And then there is this morning. He turned into a tornado while I was doing laundry. He ran through the living room where I had all but TWO things folded and completely wrecked all my piles, leaving me to RE-FOLD every last piece. I wish I could say that I kept my cool and had a good laugh about it. Instead I felt like crying. So I yelled something along the lines of "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" and then threw everything back into the basket and headed off to my room....and shut the door behind me. Lucas cried at the door for a good while before he finally became so exhausted he let Jeremy rock him to sleep. I felt really awful about it afterwards. He didn't understand that what he was doing wasn't helpful. I wondered if he would be hurt when he woke up. But instead, he woke up and ran right up to me and gave me the biggest hug in the whole world. I think he was trying to tell me that it was okay.

I sure do love my little boy. Even with all the mischief and wonder and mess and mayhem that comes along with him. Because mostly, he just brings joy.

Photo Tag

This one has a little spin on the traditional tags we do on here. The goal is to take a picture of everything...right now... without altering it AT ALL!

I've done this once before, just before I moved. I said I'd do it again, so here it is.

1. The Fridge- Yes, I really do keep my fridge stacked like this. Jeremy says I have OCD. Maybe he's right. But on the bright side my freezer is a mess.
2.The Closet- You walk through our closet to get to our bathroom.
3. The Kitchen Sink- Yes, the sink. In the kitchen.
4. The Toilet- With Lucas' little toilet too. Bonus.
5. Favorite Shoes- Too hard to choose.
6. Favorite Room- My room. It's so serene. I am looking forward to hanging more pictures and painting though.
7. What Your Kids are Doing Right Now- Getting into trouble.
8. Pile of Laundry-I don't have a pile of laundry other than what is in the dryer.
9. Self Portrait- I didn't want to be dorky all alone, so I made Lucas take one with me :)

I Tag.... Bishop Bell, Jenna, Laura, Chantelle, Trisha, Jessica , Brooke and Jocelyn. (sorry if I forgot anyone)

The Knife

Lucas isn't great at eating food. He will pretty much only eat fruits and vegetables...don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about that. But it does make it challenging to make dinner, or lunch or breakfast for that matter. I began to wonder if maybe some new cutlery would do the trick. The first night home with the new goods Lucas ate TWO plates of food. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a fluke. But the next morning he ate a plate of food for breakfast, a plate for lunch and a plate for dinner. Could it be that all this time all he wanted was a knife to call his own?

That Kind of Day

Monday was one of those days. Lucas and I stayed in our PJ's until it was time to pick the girls up from school (for those of you who don't know...I watch two girls after school everyday). Not only did we not get dressed but we also didn't eat lunch. Instead we finished off what was left of the mint chip ice cream. Not the healthiest choice, but we sure enjoyed it!

Cookie (dough) Monster

I completely forgot about these pictures until I just unloaded my camera. Saturday night after our busy busy day, at bed time, Lucas got into the fridge (you would think that I would have bought a lock by now) and began helping himself to left over cookie dough. He even shared with the cat.

Attitude of Gratitude

These are a few of my favorite things:

1. A good marriage
2. A happy little boy
3. When I kiss Lucas goodnight, while he's in a deep sleep, he will still crack a smile when I tell him I love him.
4. Pregnant friends, I can't wait to love on all the new babies.
5. Digital cameras
6. A safe place to live
7. My religion
8. Health, I think sometimes we take this for granted.
9. A reliable car. Although I already loved my car...I drove Jeremy's home from church last night because Lucas wanted his daddy...and it made me appreciate what a great car I have.
10. Bottled water. This is lame I know, but I was watching this lame reality show the other night and these young girls in Africa would walk four hours just to get water.
11. Lucas' giggle. He can lighten any sour mood with that sweet little laugh.
12. Good music to listen to. It's nice to just have noise sometimes and I hate turning the TV on when I'm not watching something.

This was inspired by my sister in law, Cori. She gave me this wonderful idea to start a gratitude journal. I went right out and bought a pretty little book to keep track of the things I'm really grateful for. Sometimes it's just that I have clothes on my back, but other times I'm really full of gratitude for so many things. Recognizing these things somehow makes me have a better day. I feel happier and more alive. And now it turn, I've been telling other people about it. This morning as I realized how blessed I am to have so much I felt like I should share a few things with those I love.

Baby Joey

Today my friend Amy and I went to Babies R Us so that she could get some furniture for her little guy. While waiting for them to pull it from the back I tried a Halloween costume on Lucas. Last year I wanted him to be a giraffe, but Jeremy didn't want to spend that much money on a 5 month old. This year I put him in a little kangaroo outfit complete with a joey in the pouch. Fortunately for me, Amy had her camera. Lucas posed. As soon as Amy emailed me the pictures I forwarded them to my mom, who I just happened to be on the phone with. She immediately ordered a gift card for us to buy the costume. Can you blame her? I mean really...isn't this just the cutest little roo you've ever seen?

Because I'm so in love with how cute my little boy is all dressed up like this...don't be alarmed if he's wearing this everywhere we go.

Minor Surgery (Thanks Hun.)

Friday morning as I was trying to get some laundry folded and put away, I stepped on something really sharp on our bedroom floor. After not finding anything on the carpet I went about business as usual. My day was pain free and normal, that is until I arrived at Jenna's house, kicked off my shoes (and socks too...hey it was toasty in there) and began walking around. It felt as if I had a piece of glass in my big toe. It was so painful that I began walking on the side of my foot anxiously awaiting the arrival of the husbands...who all just happened to be nurses...all accept for Jeremy, but he is no stranger to removing things from hands and feet. I was surprised to see that everyone offered to help me out, I thought the fact that it was my foot would detour our new friends, but it didn't. I chose to have Jeremy do it though...less embarrassing this way and if he hurt me I wouldn't have to feel bad yelling at him. Michael went to get a needle for Jeremy, and when he returned I about passed out. I'm used to safety pins, not FOUR FOOT LONG NEEDLES!!!!!!!Oh well, at least it was thin. And in all actuality, I didn't feel a thing. Thanks babe... you're the best!

Editors Note: Sorry...I thought I wrote about what it was. I think it was a little piece of glass...but honestly I don't know.Jeremy never said.

Girls Night (For about 5 Minutes)

Friday night was girls night. All of our husbands having church callings in young mens together and they had a meeting called at 5:00pm. How lame is that. I mean seriously...5:00 on a FRIDAY night. Oh well. It was a good excuse for the girls to get together eat junk food and hang out. By the time I got off work and got there, Jenna had already talked Chantelle into starting a blog of her own (finally) and the husbands were all on their way over. Chantelle and Blake had a babysitter, so naturally they took off, leaving Jenna and Michael, Jessica and Ty, and myself and Jeremy. We decided to play a game of Guesstures. It's kinda like charades, but you can't use any sounds. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of us, I have NO IDEA what I'm doing...but it looks like I'm trying to get them to smell my perfume??? Go ahead and use your imagination though, because your guess is as good as mine.

Family Night

After a very full eventful day, we headed home to make dinner for the missionaries. After they left we headed back out to Opry Mills to window shop. We like the indoor exercise we get chasing Lucas around. He actually fell asleep right before we got there and stayed asleep when I put him in the stroller. Jeremy and I joked that it was almost like being on a date. Not really, but almost. After we made our first full circle around, but this time Lucas had been awake for some time now, we were tired and ready to go. I couldn't help but notice on our way out that those car looking buggy's (or strollers for those who haven't lived in the south) are FIVE DOLLARS. Holy smokes! Oh, but to be fair you do get a fifty cent reward for returning them. Nice consolation prize.

So as I was saying, we're on our way out the door and Lucas decides he's not ready to go and takes off running. Jeremy went after him, and I after them both. As we rounded the corner back into the main corridor of the mall we noticed a buggy just sitting there. There was no one around to claim it, and good thing because in about half a second Lucas had made himself comfortable in it. We made another round around the mall, Jeremy pushing the car buggy and myself pushing the stroller. Lucas LOVED the steering wheel. I LOVED that he was entertained and I wasn't holding him. And Jeremy LOVED that he thought up returning the darn thing and making $0.50 off of it. Yes it's true, we made money but taking Lucas for a walk around the mall last night. It doesn't get much better than that!

Trains

As I mentioned in my last post, we headed to the park after the ASC. We went to Centennial Park in downtown Nashville. Jeremy and I have frequented this place at night because the Colosseum is beautiful, but we've never been there in the day. To our surprise the place was HUGE. Not only that but they have an old coal train from 1842. It was beautiful and amazing and you can touch it and climb on it (although there are signs that clearly say not to...it's hard to resist). We're such rebels. Lucas was just as excited as we were about this new found adventure. Right away I knew that it was going to make for some great photos. I think we'll definitely be going back for some amazing black and whites.

Here is a picture of my boys somewhere in the middle of the train. And here is Lucas and I sitting on the back. (Notice the signs... oops..I should have had Jeremy crop better)

The Hitch-hiker

After we left the Science Center we headed to the park. On the way we picked up a hitch-hiker. He rode with us all the way down West End. We thought he wanted to go all the way to the park, but he bailed just before we turned in. Hopefully he made it to his destination safely.

ASC...Again

Today we went back to the Science Center since Jeremy didn't have to work. (Bad idea going on a Saturday). However, Lucas had way more fun since he didn't have to worry about being shy around his friends. He's always able to let loose with his daddy around to be silly with him. First stop was the poop shoot. They had a blast crawling through the small intestines tunnel. He also enjoyed feeding the large mouth again. We're bad parents, we let him over the rail so that he could just feed the mouth directly. That was way more fun than trying to throw them. He also enjoyed talking on the pay phones while on the wheelchair course. I tried explaining to him that a pay phone is something he'll never see in 'real life' they just simply don't exist anymore. It's really strange to think that back when I was a child so many eons ago, I used to carry $0.20 with me every where I went just in case I needed to call home.


We headed over to the new area with all the planets and things. Lucas had a great time there. Mommy took him to outer space and showed him the Earth. Meanwhile, we sent daddy to the moon where he tried to pick up little people to bring back for souvenirs.We ended our tour there with a corny picture, me sitting with my SON on the SUN. Get it? Okay, I know...that was really lame. But the picture looks pretty cool.

We then went to see the dinosaur exhibit. Lucas was thrilled with that. We'll try to get some better pictures of that the next time we go.

The Scoop on Poop

This is quite possibly the best picture ever.

Adventure Science Center

On Thursday I took Lucas to the Adventure Science Center with some friends. We all got annual passes so that we'd have somewhere to take the kids once the weather doesn't allow for the Zoo anymore. Lucas is very anti-social when we hang out with our new friends. Everyone things he's so mellow and angelic, he's quite the trickster. I wish he would have enjoyed himself more, but he had enough fun to call it a success.

First we played at the Lego table. Lucas showed off his talents by walking across them. Nice. Lucas LOVED the water table. They had these little floating discs that represented food, and as they flowed through the water you can control it's digestive path. Later he had fun with his friends throwing 'food' (balls) into a giant mouth. Then we headed over to the wheelchairs. This was very eye opening. You sit in a wheel chair and go up ramps and try to do different things that are both approved and approved levels for handicapped people. Lucas loved riding on my lap. Last we climbed up the vertebrae. I don't have a picture of us, because well, I was carrying Lucas and following Maya and Kelsey. We went straight to lunch from there and then headed home after filling up.

Memories

This is how the game works...


as a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I'm Cheating

Another game of tag. Even though the bishop didn't actually tag me (I'll let it slide this once :P)I'm replying anyway.

Five years in the past:
It's hard to imagine that life existed five years ago.(Without my husband and son that is) I was very single. My girlfriends lovingly nicknamed me the "Serial Dater" Embarrassing to confess by true. I had this theory that if we didn't click on the first date, we'd never click. I had a great job working for ChoicePoint (Home Depot was my big account) and spend a good majority of my day reading peoples background checks. What fun I had. After work I drove 15 miles or in other words an HOUR to pick my little brothers up from school. While I was always exhausted from working full time, going to school part time at night and playing the mom roll to my brothers I wouldn't change it for the world. Those are some of my best memories and I cherish that I time I had with them getting to know their personalities. I believe this was also about the same time that my friend Danna told me that she thought that I was going to Jeremy. I told her she was crazy...we were 'just friends'. She was right, just over a year later we were married.

Five years in the future:
Assuming all goes as planned, we will FINALLY be done with school. Hopefully we will be settling into our own place and a mortgage payment. Hopefully I will have overcome my fear of bleeding to death giving birth and we will have more children than just Lucas. And hopefully we'll finally be able to go to Guam so that Jeremy can finally show me the beautiful island where he served his mission. He's been promising to take me there since our first date.


I tag: Everyone with a blog. Laura...it's time to start one!!!

Life's Better in the Nude

After his bedtime diaper change, Lucas took off before I had a chance to re diaper him. This is a daily occurrence around our house. The boy LOVES to be naked. And I think that's an understatement. I can't say I blame him though, and anyone who says they can is lying.

Birthday Party

Yesterday the family ventured up to Clarksville to attend the party of the year. Laura's boys turned four last week and Leila will be turning two this coming week. It was also her dad's birthday and so they knocked out all the partying at once. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the event but I set my bag in a corner and forgot about it. There was a HUGE water slide and jump house and a kiddie pool, not to mention enough yummy food to feed an army. Laura always makes the most delicious and beautiful cakes and things. Last year the boys had a spider man cake...so cute. This year Levi had Lightning McQueen Landon had Tow Mater. Leila had a puppy. Talk about super mom, making three cakes to make each child happy.Here is a picture of Lucas and his cheesy smile. He was playing Bus driver, driving Jonah around. Jonah was sitting there posing for the camera while Lucas ignored me, when he finally did look this is how it turned out.

The Amazing Phelps

If you missed the Michael Phelps race tonight you missed the best 60 seconds of the Olympics thus far. I haven't felt this patriotic in a long time. We'll be cheering him on in his final race. Go Phelps!!!!

Fish

What this picture doesn't show is that the sink is FULL of water. It was Jeremy's turn to get Lucas ready for bed. I was doing dishes or checking my email or something equally as important... when I heard Jeremy hollering for me from down the hall. I ran to see what was the matter and found my little guy (who might I add had just minutes ago received a clean diaper and PJ's) soaking wet in the sink. He likes to sit on the counter to brush his own teeth and apparently he quickly turned on the faucet and climbed in. Jeremy figured he was already wet so he might as well let him have some fun. And yes, he's wearing orange stripped socks over his PJ's. He thinks they're funny, he loves to wear them!

For my Brother

Normally I wouldn't post something like this, but because I love my little brother dearly and I'm so proud of all his accomplishments, I'm posting this for him. He was accepted into a program for the gifted at UCLA this summer, and needs help paying back part of the loan. This is what he had to say...

Dear Family,Friends and Friends of my Friends,

This is Sam, I have been accepted to U.C.L.A for the Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG). I worked very hard for this. The tuition is $4,800 plus all my school supplies. My mom and I applied for a Scholarship using my grades and achievements, she explained that UCLA has many request from students for Scholarships, and I was lucky to get a $2,300 Scholarship. (See my Scholarship letter) I came up with some of it and enough for school supplies but I still need $2,180 by the end of the summer session August 18th.
I am asking Family and Friends if they can help me by donating anything towards the balance. If you can't help that is okay too. I love you all, and hope you are proud of me.

Love, Sam

PS here is the link to my web page you can pay safely through pay pal thanks again, Sam

www.bedouincouture.com/sammysuclafund

Zoo

This morning the girls and I took the kids to the zoo. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We did the playground, the Elephants, the Giraffes and the two girls took their kids to see the rest of the animals while two of us stayed behind and sat in the air conditioned building looking at fish.

From left to right...

Jessica with her two Max and Mia. Jenna with Levi. Chantelle with Maya and Desiree' and then Me with Lucas.

I Can Laugh Now...

Last night was one of the worst nights of my life, at least it was for about five minutes.

Lucas and I had gone to my friend Angela's house for dinner and afterwards we went to Target to walk around. Lucas was pitching fits left and right. It was frustrating to say the least, but to his credit I had woken him and and started our day about an hour and a half early. He missed his morning nap because my friend Laura and her three kids came to visit. He slept for about 20 minutes in the car when we went to the park. And then took a nap for about an hour after they left, but he normally gets much more sleep than he had received yesterday. And then I took him out late for dinner and shopping. What was I think???

As we were getting back into the car I did the usually, strap him into his seat first thing, then I handed him the keys to keep him entertained. If it's hot out I'll start the car, otherwise I let him hold them. Then I shut the door and went to put the stroller in the trunk. It wasn't two seconds later I heard the honking of my horn. Lucas had locked himself in the car. Frantically I started freaking out as any mother would when she realized that her baby was locked in a car by themselves. As I reached for my phone to call Jeremy unsure of what to do first, the buggy boy asked me if everything was okay. He explained that because my 'alarm' was going off, security was on their way out. Great I told him, let them come, it's not my alarm going off, it's my fifteen month old son pushing the lock button from INSIDE the car!

He goes inside to get me the number to Pop-a-Lock while Jeremy is trying to keep me calm. I'm starting to wonder where I might find a brick to throw through the window.

Just then, security makes there way outside accompanied by two managers. They start telling my 'little buddy' to 'push the other button, just push unlock'..ya like that's really going to work. Lucas was just sitting there with a grin waving at everyone like he had just pulled the worlds funniest prank. And then the manager has the nerve to say to me, "At least it's at night and cool, it couldn't have been worse and been the middle of the day." To which I promptly replied, "There would have been a brick through my window about two minutes ago." Just as the last words rolled off my tongue, I looked down to see that the front door was unlocked. I opened the door quickly and jumped it to get the keys and tell Lucas what a good boy he was.

Only from the safety of inside my car was I finally able to take a deep breath and laugh it off. I'll chalk that one up to being a first time mom... And I think I've learned my lesson. Don't close the door when your child has the keys.

Newspaper

This is long over due, but funny and cute none the less. A few hours after moving into our new place, there was newspaper everywhere from all the glass that was packed. My friend's little boy, Ethan, began stomping in it, which Lucas thought was absolutely hysterical. Ethan thought that Lucas cracking up was hysterical and so he make more noise. The two boys were feeding off each other's excitement. It was so much fun to watch.

Through the Eyes of Lucas

Lucas has always been interested in whatever doesn't belong to him. I know this is true for most children his age. Whether it's a cell phone, car keys or most recently the camera, Lucas wants what we have. Last night I was not in the mood for debating, so rather than fight him for the camera back, I showed him how to use it. It was so much fun to watch the pure joy and excitement on his face every time he pushed the button and he saw the big flash. Here are a few of the pictures he took.

Cheap Entertainment

The other night Jeremy had to work a little later than usual. Lucas and I were out running errands a little later than usual. And so getting dinner started was a rush. It's inevitable that he always gets clingy just when I need him to entertain himself. Pleading with a one-year old never goes well. Letting him do whatever he wants however works like a charm. I tend to think that as long as he's not being destructive or hurting himself or others than his chosen activity is harmless. In this particular instance it was very harmless....also VERY messy.
He first chose to scoop cat food all over the kitchen floor. Our kitchen is very small, so it wasn't an issue of cleaning it up so much as it was that every time I took a step in any direction I was stepping on the food. That got old real quick. When he got bored with that, I picked him up and set him on the counter next to me so that he could watch what I was doing. (I was making a chicken pot pie for dinner). He quickly lost interest in that and inched his way over the sink. The next thing I knew he was completely soak, so were my counters and my floor and several towels. He was enjoying himself so much that I just let him drench my kitchen so that I could finish dinner. Right about the time I popped it in the oven he was bored. The timing couldn't have been better.