short and sweet

My Voice

2009-11-17T20:17:00.001-08:00

I just sent this to 596 people in the government:
(If you want to know how to fax your own message, let me know. If you disagree with me, talk to your dog about it. I DON'T CARE!!)

As a mom of 4 children, I am outraged at the government's attempt to take over my family's life. It is my responsibility to take care of myself and my kids. I want the government out of it! If politicians would allow the American people to take care of ourselves, our economy would heal itself. Obama has taken a bad situation and turned it into a disaster. I feel sick when I think of what this administration is doing to my future and that of my children. Shoving a health care bill, that no one wants, down our throats is nothing more than a plot to take away our freedoms and turn this country into a socialist nation. I have never been so angry about something in my entire life!!! I REALIZE THAT YOU PROBABLY WON'T READ THIS because you don't care what the people want. (It feels good to rant, though.) This is no longer a government of the people, by the people. This administration has proved that it is an oligarchy of elitists who are completely removed from the people. Use some common sense instead of your political agendas to run this country, and we can get back to being a flourishing free nation. DO NOT VOTE FOR OBAMACARE!! It is a bill created by evil, arrogant leaders who should have never been given power.

Brand New Things

2009-05-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

So many new exciting happenings going on in the Patterson household. I'll start with the big move. It happened the same week as a children's production at church in which Bryce, Evyn and Lynn were involved. So much for a weekend of moving. It was a weekend of chaotically scheduled events with a new house involved. Lots of boxes to open--that's all I remember. I was so excited to have a place for everything in my kitchen. I have often since just stood in the kitchen (as well as the bathroom) thinking how wonderful it is to have space. I'm currently awaiting many more boxes to arrive from storage. I'm in no hurry for this to happen. I'm enjoying not packing or unpacking. It seems that's all I've done in my "spare time" for months now.
In addition to a new house, I've gotten a new dining room table (that we desperately needed), a big comfy new couch (which has made me dangerously lazy at times), and a new Dyson (woo-hoo!). What a Mother's Day! I've really enjoyed my family much more without the cramped space. When 2 children are singing 2 different songs, a toddler is trying out all of her new sounds and a baby is letting us know she's still there, it's much easier to handle in a large room than a tiny one.
ahhhh...
Moving on...
Zoey has impressed me this week with how much she can say. I'm sure I've said it before, the learning-to-talk age is my favorite. Here are some words that people besides me can understand: doggie, puppy (which is anything with 4 legs), car, I love you, bye-bye, hi, hey, yeah, uh-oh, mine, Macy, uh-uh, no, Bryce, grandad, dad, baby, waffle, ice, and mess. (I'm sure there are some I have forgotten) Notice I did not say Mom. I'm ok with that.
Zoey's not the only one rapidly climbing up the milestone hill. Shylo rolled over for the first time Sunday. She did it about 4 times in a row. Fortunately she did it once more while I got video of it on my phone. Then she stopped. Hasn't done it since. I guess she doesn't want to show off.
Equally big in the baby news department...dun-du-du-dun...
Zoey pee-peed on the potty!!
She's noticed the stream going down into the bath water as she gets in each time. The first time she did it, I tried to put her on our toilet, but she wasn't havin nun uh that! So we got her this cute little princess thing that plays a tune when you get the bottom wet. Well, she apparently wasn't ready yet because every time I would extend the ivitation at bath time, the answer was always, "uh-uh" with a vigorous head shake. No problem. On your own time kid. So, we haven't had the potty out since we moved. Tonight at bath time, she looked down to her legs (where the stream usually flows)as if to say, "I know what's about to happen..."
And there was this promising gleam in her eyes. Hmmm...should we pull out the princess potty?
Lynn unpacked it and brought it in. I asked Zoey,"do you want to go potty?"
She sat down. The potty sang a joyful tune. I did the potty-training-mommy-squeal-of-delight. She jumped up in confusion. Lynn popped his head in followed by Evyn and then Bryce. We all clapped our hands and sang "Good girl, Zoey, you went potty!"(Every mom has been there.) Even Shylo got an excited smile on her face. Zoey began to proudly clap. Hopefully she understands the origin of our delight and will repeat the process many more times to come.
My original plan was to reward her with a tiny M&M with each accomplishment. However, we've eliminated sugar from our diets recently, so that plan is out the window. It actually makes me happy that she waited so I didn't implement the M&M plan only to have to stop abruptly. That could have been disastrous!

A Little Joy

2009-04-24T13:06:00.001-07:00

Shylo Video

2009-04-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

My Funny Kids

2009-02-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've blessed you with the funny things my kids have done. I have a couple in my head, so I thought I would share. Enjoy!
The first one will take a little introduction. Because Zoey was born at home, and Bryce is 7, he remembers the experience quite well. I was very fortunate to have my sister here during the birth, if for no other reason than to take my dear son out of the room. Poor guy was nearly traumatized. The worst part for him was that scary looking umbilical chord. I knew it had scared him, but hadn't truly known the full effect until Shylo's arrival when he again mentioned the umbilical chord. Not knowing it's name, he just called it that thing coming out of her belly. He was very pleased that he wouldn't have to see it. His description is the funny part!

He said in disgust, "It looks like a dinosaur pee-pee!" wow!

Zoey is staying in Amarillo this week so Mommy can get a few hours of sleep. Grandma followed her into a room to see what she was doing because she looked quite determined to accomplish something. She got into her bag, took out 1 wipe, walked deliberately into another room, where she had seen a spot on the wall, and began to clean it off. Amazing! That's her personality, though. She loves to clean! She'll clean her tray after lunch. She can barely play outside without wiping the dirt off her hands. She will also run to the nearest adult to wipe off her jeans if she fell down and got them dirty. (After, of course, she's attempted to clean them herself.)

Zoey also loves to talk on play phones. I think I've mentioned that before. She was holding her toy phone today, and Lynn's mom noticed that she was running both thumbs across the keys as fast as her motor skills would allow. Grandma finally realized that she was texting. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Speaking of apples...it's not funny, but she has said both "apple" and "nana" this week. We know she was requesting a banana, and think she was requesting applesauce. She has also said "up" to get on the couch. Have I mentioned she's brilliant?

Bryce has a Star Wars calendar that he loves to keep track of. He religiously pulls off each page and knows exactly what day it is at any given moment. Lynn's mom noticed that he had missed a few days, so she asked him about it. He was a little surprised, but then said, "Grandma, we just had a baby!"

After writing this, I realized that Lynn's mom has experienced way more funny-kid-moments than I have.
But, I did just have a baby!

Zoey loves me!

2009-02-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

Zoey wasn't too happy with the arrival of that new baby. I've never seen her bottom lip out so far as the day Shylo arrived. She did show relief when she saw my sister in the hospital holding her. I'm assuming she thought, "Oh good! Aunt Crystal's here to take her away." Then once I got home with Shylo, Zoey wanted nothing to do with me. She wouldn't look at me. You may notice some of the pictures of Shylo's first day when Zoey looked quite disturbed with the whole situation.
She's displayed small moments of affection toward Shylo in the last few days, giving her big kisses and patting her gently.
Then this morning, Zoey actually laid next to me, gave me a big kiss and hugged and patted me. She's been interacting with me all morning. I guess she just needed to be reassured that she wasn't being replaced.

Shylo is Here

2009-02-16T15:01:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have visited www.patterson-pack.com and have been updated on Shylo's arrival, but I need to put my thoughts here, of course. Shylo Re Patterson was born on February 16 at 1:13 pm weighing in at 8 lbs, 9 oz. and measuring 21 inches long. It was the smallest baby I've ever birthed, but the most painful, longest birth yet. There was a point in the process that I was so mad at the whole hospital situation that I wanted to hurt someone! (I actually let out an explative at one time, but I'm sure i will be forgiven.)
Birth is, to me, one of the most beautiful, incredible experiences I have ever had. That is until you sit me on a towel made of sandpaper and tell me I'm not allowed to stand up, drink or eat. Then pump me full of a drug that unnaturally pushes a baby out at a rate that was in no way planned by my body or God. Then the absolute worst--force me to lay on my back to push a huge head against gravity when I'm not even fully dilated.
I now totally understand why so many women think it's necessary to have pain medication to birth a baby! I wanted an epidural at one point just for my butt on the sandpaper towel!
That's all I'm going to say negatively about the situation. I have a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Nothing went wrong. It's over, and I've now experienced the torture that so many women have talked about when referring to birth. And they think I'm crazy for having babies at home. If the experience were the same at home without the option of drugs, it would be crazy! My roomful of attendants thought I was crazy for opting out of no pain meds. I think a lot of things that happened in that room were crazy, but my choices were the only sane decisions being made.
Sorry, I said I was done being negative...
The nurses, with one exception, have been amazing! The food is even good. Shylo is the perfect baby sister to join our family. She truly lives up to her name--"His gift". What a precious gift for us!

checked

2009-02-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm 4 cm and 60%. Procrastinator! 2cm for 3 weeks, and now we progress in a matter of hours. It's going to start going very fast now! If you don't hear from me it means the pain has gotten too much for typing...
Maybe we'll have baby pics posted next!
10:33

irritable

2009-02-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

My contractions are getting stronger. I know I'm not the most pleasant patient. Most women, I'm sure, would want to be here. Just keep thinking of seein' the baby. But my butt hurts!! whose bright idea was this?! Oh yeah! the doctor's! It will be over soon. And I will have a new baby...
10:15

big one

2009-02-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

I just had a big contraction. The time on these blogs is way off, so I'll let you know it's actually 9:37 at the moment. At least the beeping has stopped. Maybe we'll have a baby soon. My thoughts aren't coming out as smoothly as usual, but you can figure it out, I'm sure. It's hard to type with a heart monitor on my finger...and there's another contraction. not as big...9:40. I wonder why they aren't regular and getting worse. I know they're the real thing, but it's not following the rules.

all I hear is beeping

2009-02-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

I'm having contractions. There's lots of beeping. It says "inclusion downstream" whatever that means.

still beeping...

Probably too much info

2009-02-16T06:52:00.000-08:00

They won't even let me pee!

hospital birth update

2009-02-16T06:30:00.001-08:00

My water has been broken. I'm awaiting petocin. The hospital has blocked facebook, so I'm updating here. I hate IVs. I hate having to sit in a bed very still so they can monitor me. This goes against everything I stand for. I'm holding onto the thought that although this is not ideal, I am very fortunate to have a healhy baby. OK, nurse just came in to start petocin.

Meds

2009-02-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Bryce had a fever today and it occured to me after reading that he would need 4 children's tylenol that our household needs baby pain reliever, children's pain reliever, junior pain reliever and adult pain releiver. Not too many families can say that.
I gave Bryce some junior motrin this evening and Evyn tried to convince him to take it by saying that it was bubblegum flavor. I told her it was actually orange, so she said, "oh, yeah, I've had it before." To which Bryce reacted, "No you haven't, Evyn! It's Jr High!"

Zoey Words

2009-02-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

Zoey has started putting lots of different sounds together. We're entering my favorite baby-age. I love it when they start "talking". It is sometimes frustrating not to know what she wants, but the cute factor totally makes up for that. Instead of everything being "mamamama" and "dadadada" and "babababa", I hear "dadabootitlaw" and "kestabeeeeyda". I especially love it when she looks like she's really saying something deep. The eyebrows get invloved, the head cocks to the side, fingers point, hands rest on hips. Precious!
I love it when she actually seems to be talking to herself, just slightly above a whisper. Or when she says something to us and laughs like she just entertained us all. Today in the car, she was pointing and babbling and making Evyn and I crack up. Of course, Evyn always knows what she said. And why wouldn't she? It's obvious! (to a 5 year old who knows everything...)

She walks around talking on anything shaped like a phone--remotes and of course toy phones are her favorite. "alla" sounds just like "hello". And when someone is really on the other end, it changes a bit to sound like "allalla" which I believe is "I love you". The other day Grandma called and she gave a big kiss. She opens her mouth big and says "mwa". (Zoey, not Grandma)
She has also learned that "guns up" makes everyone freak out, so she'll do it on command now. We say "Guns Up!" and she holds her "gun" way up. Of course, this is followed by Oohs and Aahs and a huge, proud, adorable grin from our Littlest Tech Fan.

We're working on signs, but I've totally been slacking in that department. Apparently teaching time dimenishes with each new baby. I hope Shylo has the opportunity to learn something before she gets to school. ;-) Zoey can say "more" but that's about it at this point. Evyn is re-learning what I taught her as a baby, so I told her to help me teach Zoey. It's fun to watch.

39 Weeks

2009-02-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Reminds me of Baskin-Robbins...yum! (39 flavors...)
anyway!
I went to my 39 week doctor appointment today. Typically I don't have much to say about my doctor visits, which are every week now. Today, however, I was very happy to hear that he thinks this baby is about 7 pounds. He said that if she stays in until next week, she MAY be as much as 8 pounds. I have felt the whole pregnancy that this baby is smaller than the other 3, which have gotten progressively bigger. Bryce was born 8 lbs 12 oz, Evyn weighed in at 9 lbs 3oz and Zoey a whopping 9 lbs, 5 oz.
So, barely 8 lbs will be quite different for me. In a good way.

Little Green Tag

2009-01-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

The dirt on our new lot was being dug up last week as the first step to building our house. Monday was the first day of inspection. Lynn drove by the lot and saw that 2 other lots near ours had little orange and pink notices on them. Ours did not have the pretty little tags, so he got out of the truck to see what they said. Apparently, pink and orange means "did not pass inspection". I'm glad we didn't have one of those. I'm not sure of the details of why...something about the dirt not being compacted enough. I don't really care about the details. He drove by again today and saw a little green tag. Green means "go". I like green.

Bryce and Evyn's birthdays

2009-01-28T07:29:00.001-08:00

This weekend, we celebrated Bryce and Evyn’s birthday. Earlier in the week, we celebrated their birthdays individually on their actual birthdays, which are 2 days apart. In the past, I have just combined the two just because it was easier. We decided this year, they are old enough that they need to start having their own special day. It was difficult for Bryce to understand why Evyn got presents and he didn’t. It all worked out though.

We still combined the party for them to save me time, money and sanity. We took them to Jump N Jive in Amarillo and invited a few friends and family. It was fun for the kids and easy for me. Jump n Jive is a big building full of bounce houses and air games for ALL ages. Even Zoey had a blast. Most of the time, I let the kids play and the adults switch off with Zoey. That meant I got to sit and watch it all happen.

We also fed everyone a big tray of chick-fil-a nuggets and cheap wal-mart brand fruit punch. It was absolutely the cheapest, easiest double-birthday I’ve ever been in charge of. I’m usually determined to make homemade invitations, elaborate cakes, food and decorations. And I stress myself out to the point of missing the joy of the birthdays. I’ve recently come to the realization that I don’t have to do any of that. The kids don’t care one way or the other…except they probably don’t enjoy the frazzled, irritable mommy that comes along with the Martha Stewart parties. Of course, I still couldn’t resist making the cakes. But I focused on easy instead of elaborate. This was my favorite part! I made a wii-mote cake for Bryce—very simple. And EVYN made her own cake. She loves to help me bake, and the memory of the experience will last much longer than the perfectly piped fluffy dog cupcakes I would have made.(and I still promised I would make her those on another day without anything else going on) So, she poured, measured, stirred, helped bake and iced the cake…and don’t forget the sprinkles!!(the Hannah Montanna colored cake at the top was her creation. I added a bit of frosting from the last picture to the one above it...but she then added all those yummy sprinkles) She loved doing it, and it came out delicious. And I loved the time I spent with her instead of the time I spent fussing at her because I was busy making her cake.

I’ll probably extend myself unnecessarily on occasion, but I’ll always, from now on, remember that simple can be much better.

(I have put the cake pictures on here, but if you want to see more action shots from the birthday, go to our website (www.patterson-pack.com) and go to our family photo gallery. Then look at the birthday pictures. Lots of good ones!!)

Cliche

2009-01-17T06:05:00.001-08:00

Evyn actually asked me yesterday why the sky is blue!

Resting....Sort of

2009-01-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

I went to the doctor yesterday, and apparently have high blood pressure. There was talk of toxemia, but I'm sure my high score is due to the fact that I have 3 kids, one of whom is 1 year old, and another who is Evyn. Most of you probably don't know Evyn like I do. She wears me out. Not only does she ask about 86,975 questions a day, but then she either argues with your answer or tells you that you obviously didn't understand her question because you are so wrong. And don't even try not to listen! One day I was just responding with 'yep' to everything she asked because I was so tired, I couldn't think. She said, "mom, you're not even listening! I told you I am 5 and you agreed. I am not 5, mom, I am 4!"
It's not the only time that's happened. Just the first time, so I remember it.
And it's not just concentrating on her conversations that wears me out. You see, she is the boss in her mind. Anyone that disagrees with her on that, namely ME, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. So, my job in relation to raising her--not easy. I hope that someday she will be a great leader...just not in our house at age 4!
When the doctor said that I have high blood pressure, my thoughts were that I've got a lot going on right now, and just need to slow down. I did have to have my blood drawn, (and I won't go into the details of the elaborate pee test!) but only as a precaution. The doctor told me that if it is toxemia, I will have to be induced. Not into that!! I will do whatever I need to for the safety of the baby, but I would rather rest and prevent it, then have a baby this weekend. That would not be convenient at all!! I have said that this whole hospital birth business felt like a God thing, and now I'm wondering what would have happened had I not gone to the doctor yesterday. I know for a fact I wouldn't be resting right now.
When I told Lynn that the doctor said I need to slow down, he said,
"Oh! Like I've been telling you for months." yes, dear, but I don't have time to slow down. Well, now apparently I've been forced to. Except that today we had 2 people come look at the house we're trying to sell, which meant I spent half of the morning cleaning, and the rest out and about being out of the house and going to pre-construction meetings and picking up kids and going to karate and coming home to cook dinner...
But now I'm resting. I always feel guilty when I "rest". So, it's really not that fun. At least I have been ordered to do so, which makes it a little easier to handle. But I still sit here and think about the laundry piling up...

pre-construction meeting

2009-01-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

We went over the plans for the house today to make any final changes before they start building. I have moments when I just don't believe it. It doesn't seem real yet. Apparently they will start preparing the land within the next few days. you know I'll be there like everyday! Maybe once the frame is up it will seem more real. Lynn and I have done multiple remodeling jobs and had every intention of taking before and after pictures, as well as everything in between. Did we do it? Nope. Maybe when we're not actually doing the work it will be easier to record the process. that doesn't mean I'll necessarily get the photos on here, but I'll certainly try.
We did walk through the model home again with our plans in hand to compare and contrast with our future home. I noticed new things I'd never seen before. It's fun to picture where I will put things. That craft room is still my favorite! We also got to see how big the back yard is. All I care about is if it's big enough for a trampoline, pool and swing set once we get our 15 foot back porch and Lynn's shop in the yard. It will be. Plenty of room to run and giggle.
We also made sure that 3 beds would fit in the girls' room, and made plans for the furniture in the Master bedroom. By the time this house is built, I will have walked through the model home enough times to walk through ours with my eyes closed.

Exciting News

2009-01-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it's exciting for me and my family. We have begun the process of building a new house. We will be doubling the square footage and adding a bedroom. the girls will all still be sharing a room, but we will have a separate playroom which will open up quite a bit of space in the room they will sleep in. I also get my CRAFT ROOM!! I've dreamed about having a separate area for my expensive little hobbies for a very long time. Lynn will get his office. We're all happy about that. As much as I love having a cluttered desk in the living room...

Anyway, we have just begun the process, but our new house will be here before we know it. We also have to sell the house we're living in before we can actually pay for the new one, but I'm sure it will happen with perfect timing. Getting the house ready to sell and thinking of a new one has kept me distracted from the fact that I am expecting a baby in less than a month. So, we have a lot going on. This is a particularly busy time, but it does make the end of the pregnancy go by more swiftly.

We had originally discussed building a house by ourselves. Lynn could do all of the building, and we could hire people to do parts he doesn't want to do. It would probably save us money, but it would also take years to accomplish--at least in my opinion, it would. This way is a lot easier and doesn't take away from the time we have as a family. So, we prayed and looked and priced and questioned and compared...and decided to go with Betenbough. The lot we are getting is on the bigger end of the price range spectrum as well as across from nothing. that nothing should someday become a park where our kids could play as we watch from our large front porch.

Last week we picked out all of our tile, counter tops, cabinets, brick, carpet, etc...Even though it took 3 hours, it was less painful than I expected. The fact that we can always change the things we don't like (aside from the brick)made the decisions a lot easier. Honestly, I think it took less thinking for each decision than it does sometimes for me to decide what to eat at a new restaurant. This week we will sign more papers (only the beginning of that, I'm sure) for them to begin the actual building. The house should be finished in April, around Easter.

I'm sure I will have a lot more to say about it. You may even be subjected to photos of the whole process. If you want to go look at a virtual tour of the model home, you can go to the betenbough website (www.betenbough.com) and look for the Jina home. The inside is the same floor plan, only flipped with the garage on the other side. The front porch is different on the house we will get, but it gives us a better view of the kids playing across the street.

2009-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

Zoey has a new and quite unusual behavior for a 13 month old. She is enamored with pen and paper. She loves to draw or color, but really just holding the two together will suffice. As a matter of fact, I was rather annoyed at her determination to hold them the other day. She was obviously tired and wanted to be held, which I was fine with at that moment. However, she was also obsessed with carrying her pen and paper at that very moment. This caused somewhat of a problem since her paper was actually a legal-sized notepad and could not easily be removed from my face area while she rested her head on my shoulder. Try cleaning a kitchen with a toddler in your arms, a huge notepad on one side of your face and a pen on the other. All while 9 months pregnant. The situation gave supermom a whole new meaning. So, I gently removed the paper from her chubby little hand, which threw her into hysterics! Maybe she will sit quietly next to me and draw...um, think again, mom! Not anywhere in Zoey's plans for the day. This fight went on for quite sometime until I gave in and just stood there holding her with that frustrated, exhausted look you can all imagine...paper on one side, pen on the other. She won that battle.

It made me think that she may someday become a wonderful writer. Her Granddad is not only an award winning/published play write, but he has been writing hilariously for as long as I can remember. (see his blog linked off to the side as Wm the Great)I know there are other accomplished writers in my family tree, but I don't know the exact details of their talents. I used to be able to write before all of my offspring sucked my brains out.
I just hope she doesn't start carrying a computer around, since that's what we all use to write now. That could get hairy.

What Were We Thinking??

2008-12-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

Most people who find themselves with a weekend with no kids would go to a movie, hang out with friends, maybe even work on a little project.
Apparently Lynn and I have some sort of deep desire to overwork ourselves. We recently finished remodeling the house I lived in before we were married. It took us over a year and a half, but we did a LOT of work. When you consider soccer games every Saturday and 3 jobs between the 2 of us...2 kids, 2 pregnancies and a new baby in the mix, I'd say we got a lot done in a very short amount of time.

I was very glad to be done with that house, and even more thrilled to hear Lynn say that the house we're living in really doesn't need that much work. Some paint. A new fence. New carpet. Maybe some cabinets. Not much at all really.
But there's something you need to know about my dear husband. He can do anything...and he's a perfectionist who's not afraid to work. That can be a bad combination. Now, you must understand, I'm not complaining. I myself do not mind work. I thrive on projects. I love to acccomplish things. I truly believe that Lynn and I were made for each other! It would be really bad if he were lazy...I know this from experience.
BUT there is no such thing as a small project in our house. One of my first impressions of Lynn was his tendency to overachieve.
We had just started dating and Bryce and Evyn were going to be at their dad's house for the weekend. So, I mentioned that I wanted to repaint the bathroom in my house. I was teaching at the time, so I got off work an hour before he did. I told him I was going to rest and he could let himself in and wake me up so we could start painting. He didn't wake me up, but the sound of walls being knocked down did! He decided that instead of just painting, we should really remodel the whole bathroom. So, that's what we did. It looked awesome when we got finished, but it was completely unplanned. And that began our journey together down the road of Nothing Minimal.
Remember a couple of paragraphs ago when I mentioned that we would have minimal work to do on this house. Yeah, right! We had planned on painting the outside of the house today after painting the hallway because the kids would be at grandma's house. Sounds easy...
We live in Lubbock, and that means high winds. So, painting outside was not an option. We have plenty we could have done after painting the hallway this morning. However, somehow, we decided to redo tile in the kitchen(which was not on our list, by the way!). That turned into, 'we might as well redo the tile in the bathrooms, too'. And of course, 'we can't leave out the entry way'.
I can't put all the blame on my dear husband! As soon as we talked about tile, I got excited. Most women would be excited to have new tile in her kitchen. But what really made my heart flip was the idea of using an air chisel. I'm not kidding! If you've never used one, you should try it. You may find you have a new hobby. Or you may just realize how weird I am...as if you didn't already know. As a matter of fact, the strangest gift Lynn has ever gotten me was a new air compressor for the purpose of using the air chisel. It's a gift I loved and appreciated, and will never forget.
In case you've never had the opportunity to use one of these fun gadgets, when you put new tile in, you have to first take old tile out. To do this, you use a really loud, strong tool that's like a tiny little jack hammer. It pounds away at the tile and grout until it all breaks up and flies everywhere. Fun! Fun!
I'm not really sure why I like it so much. Maybe because it is just difficult enough to feel like I've accomplished something. I was thinking of how much my sister likes to pick at things. How we used to get in trouble for tearing up the concrete on the back porch. To this day I enjoy peeling things that really aren't supposed to be peeled...like someone's wallpaper or the bark off of a poor defensless tree. It may be a big reason why I like it. It's like picking with lots of power! Not to mention it sounds like a motorcycle running in your house. Very loud!
Plus, you get to destroy something on purpose. Little shards of concrete fly around you at incredible speeds. Of course, it also creates a fine dust out of an entire floor. It's like someone takes that dust and throws it in the air to see where it will land. wee!
I'll tell you where it lands: the couch, the coffee maker, the counters, dishes in the cabinets, every surface in your clean, previously dust-free house. The big plastic sheet that you hang to prevent the floating dust really doesn't keep it out of the rest of the house. I had forgotten about that part when I got so excited about my tiny little power tool.
At 8 months pregnant, it's hard enough to breathe without dirt constricting every airway in your face. So, even though I made trips outside every few minutes to get fresh air, I started to feel a little light-headed. And that leaves my poor husband to finish ripping out tile, while I sit comfortably in bed, blogging away.

2008-12-25T11:07:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T10:06:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone's having a wonderful Christmas! I don't have a lot to say this morning. My wonderful husband got me a cute little pink netbook for Christmas. I'm sitting here doing nothing, so I thought I would put it to good use. I don't have any pictures on it yet to share. I've been planning to share the pictures of the cupcakes I made for Bryce's school Christmas party and the recent kids' pictures. I have the time but not the pictures. Always works that way, I guess.

Merry Christmas to all!

Lesson in Etiquette

2008-12-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that people think they have the right to say anything and everything to a pregnant woman. I can forgive elderly men for some of their comments--like the one who told me today that "by February, I'll be as big as a barn." Lynn says I should have told him that by today, he is as dumb as a jack___. And Lynn probably would have actually said it!
I can even forgive close friends for the things they might say. I'm not really the sensitive type in my old age, and close friends know this . You can say just about anything, and I can take it. I was actually amazed at an acquaintance today, however. I know her in passing only. She is about my age with 3 boys of her own, all fairly young. She stopped and stared in disbelief as she said, "What have you been eating!?!"
Had I been your normal pregnant woman, I probably would have burst into tears. It's hard enough to walk out of the house and face the world when you feel so...awkwardly large. We don't really need someone announcing our size as if we've set out on a mission to be "as big as a barn". Of course, Lynn suggested that I say, "what have YOU been eating?" Instead I just looked at her with this shocked and yet ever so polite grin and said, "I know, I'm huge, right?"
Now for the lesson. Don't say anything to a pregnant woman about her size. Don't say she's smaller than the last time she was pregnant. Don't say she looks "pregnant today". I hear that one all the time. Don't ask when the baby's due and then act like someone has struck you with an idiot stick when she tells you an answer farther off than you expected. And PLEASE don't lean in and whisper in her ear how beautiful she is when your wife is 2 feet away wondering what you're saying. CREEPY!
Don't be surprised if you touch her belly and she randomly touches your butt. We're crazy like that! (but we have an excuse--hormones)
As a general rule, if you wouldn't say or do it to someone who's not pregnant, don't say or do it to someone who is.
If you do, you may find your comments on some hormonal pregnant woman's blog. It's been known to happen.

Yucky, Smelly, Horrible, No Good Hopsital Births

2008-12-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been reprimanded for not updating anyone on this "hospital birth" thing. Not a big deal, really, so I kind of forgot. It's strange how different this pregnancy is emotionally. Not that I don't care, but when it's your 4th and so close to the previous birth, it's not the only thing I think about. You know how your first pregnancy is like the biggest deal and on your mind 24/7. Then with the second, you are excited, but you only check in once a week to see how big the baby is. The third becomes a fun thing to talk and think about, but it's really like old news. Because of that, I assume no one else really cares to hear about this 4th one. I'm not regularly updating anyone on how big the baby is or every time she kicks. I even gave up asking Lynn what he thought about names until I really liked one.
It is really nice to not already be "wishing this baby would just get out of my body!" It's actually so close to the last birth that I'm not too excited about the pain that I can still feel when I think about it.
All that said...letting everyone in on the birth plan seemed like a waste of the readers' time. Apparently I was wrong.
So, here's the latest. I loved the doctor (that I was pressured into seeing) so much that Lynn thought I should think about a hospital birth. I thought about it, and prayed about it. I was going back and forth. Then I had the privilege of sitting next to a very nice couple at Lynn's Christmas party Monday night who had recently birthed in the hospital I would be birthing in. I took that opportunity to ask some questions about how "involved" the nurses are in the whole process. And by involvement, I mean sticking their noses in my business and taking my baby away to do meaningless tests and coming in every 30 minutes to wake me up to check me when I am perfectly fine and just need rest!!
Now this couple is very sweet and was very helpful. They rang praises about the wonderful nurses who only took the baby away for an hour and a half and were very calm in an emergency situation (due to her induction and epidural which was suggested), and were very knowledgeable about everything.
I will not be having a hospital birth.
My baby and I will be much safer at home, and if for some reason, something does go wrong, I will have a doctor who knows me and expects me to birth in the hospital. I am almost certain he won't be hearing from me until after the baby is safely born at home...and I need a birth certificate.
OK, Mother, now I have updated you all! :-)

Newest Discovery

2008-12-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the doctor wasn't too bad. We are actually considering a hospital birth. I know, don't freak out! That will be another blog entry, though.
For now, I just need to tell those of you have been asking...and asking...
It's a girl! The doctor said he would buy me a steak if the baby comes out with a penis. He followed with, "I won't be buying you a steak. That's a girl!" So, he's pretty sure. The sonogram looks to me like a laughing frog on his back floating down a river. But apparently, he saw a baby girl, so that's what we're going with.
I asked Lynn if he ever thought he would have 3 girls. He replied, "no, and I always felt sorry for the poor saps who do!" Deep down I know he's happy about all the estrogen in the house. Bryce won't admit it, but I know he's not really that disappointed. And Evyn is just happy to know. I'm very excited that we get to keep all the pink. Zoey's just in for the shock of her jealous little life.
Now we can start thinking of names, since we haven't even started that process...

2 Months Later

2008-12-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Wow! I had no idea so much time had passed since the last update. Sadly, despite my busy-ness, I really don't have much to show for the time I've been away from the wonderful world of blogging. (It's been so long, I forgot how to sign in!)
Zoey turned one! I attempted my first fondant cake all by myself. The real first was for Lynn's parents' 40th anniversary party, but I had Lynn's help on that one. They both turned out ok, but Zoey's ended up a leaning tower by the next day, and it took me SIX hours just to decorate it! It may be my last. As fun as it was to design, I would say the actual act of decorating was more of a frustration than anything.
Cake aside, the celebration was successful. Her birthday landed on black Friday this year, so we opted for celebrating on Thanksgiving. She got lots of cute clothes and toys. I have to say, the favorite was the red Radio Flyer Sports Coupe. It has a radio with different types of music, blinkers, a key that turns, a removable gas cap and, of course, a horn. Her feet can either hang down so she can "drive" herself, or she can rest them on a ledge so Dad can speed around the house at dangerous levels. Fun for all! We have video to prove it.

Bryce continues to lose teeth and is doing well in karate--2 completely unrelated events. I'm just not sure what other updates there are on him.

Evyn had a solo in the Christmas program at her school, but it turned into a duet. She seemed just fine singing in front of her teacher, but then when it was time to sing in front of everybody, she got a little scared. Plus, there is apparently a boy in her class who won't stop singing while she sings, so they just decided to let them both sing. I'm excited to see how that goes.

We've been focusing on caring about others this Christmas season. That's a tough concept for my kids...
So far, we've experienced hunger, thirst and homelessness. One night, all we had for dinner was a tiny bowl of rice. We talked about how some kids only get that tiny bowl all day...maybe. We went without water for a meal, and talked about other things we use water for, and take for granted. Tonight, we spent 5 minutes outside in the cold and talked about the feelings someone might have if they were out there all night, every night. Then we got to come inside to a warm fire, hot cocoa and Christmas music. I think they are starting to understand just how blessed we are. Bryce has decided to give a pair of gloves to someone who needs them since he has 2 pair. Evyn expressed her desire to "give someone some milk if they come up and ask for it." and to "give some kids some water from a well" Close enough. My favorite night was when we turned off the electricity. What was supposed to be a lesson in how-fortunate-we-are-to-have-electricity turned into a precious evening of family time as we played by candlelight.
This is only the beginning of our nightly lessons. I'm really glad we've started it, and I look forward to the lasting impact it will have on us all.

I have decided, with Lynn's prompting, to go to an actual doctor before this baby is born. For those of you who don't know, I fired the midwife a long time ago, and am planning to have this baby without a professional attending. I'm really excited about it, as is everyone else involved. (At least I tell myself they are.) However, Lynn wanted me to have an actual prenatal visit for peace of mind. My appointment is tomorrow. I won't go into how difficult it was to find a doctor who would take a 30 week pregnant woman with no prior prenatal care. I finally found one, though. I probably won't sleep tonight because I am so stinkin' nervous!! I don't like doctors anyway, but here I am going to one who won't be delivering my baby, but doesn't know it! And I'm sure he is wondering why I haven't had prenatal care thus far. Not looking forward to his questions and/or accusations...
I'm not at all worried about the baby's health. I'm sure it's perfectly fine. It's the doctor's response to my situation I dread.
I'll hope for the best. Maybe he won't be typical.

This has been a wide range of topics, eh? Maybe I will come back to update before the baby's born!

Sonogram pics

2008-10-09T19:38:00.001-07:00

Can you tell what these are?

Look Out!! Here She Comes...

2008-10-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Results Are In

2008-10-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, the day has come. No more voting. We have a bit of a tie. 42% voted for a boy, 42% for a girl. And then I'm excited to know that someone thinks we are having a Mexican baby. I'm sure it was my husband since he claims that he was in Hobbs when I got pregnant. (This is strictly a joke for those of you who aren't familiar with his sense of humor.) I'm glad it will not be Mexican since I can't speak Spanish.
Ok, for the information you've all been waiting for...
Sorry, we don't know yet. We had the ultrasound this morning, but this baby wouldn't cooperate any better than Zoey did at this gestational age. The sonographer squirted lots of goop on my belly; I laughed, coughed, wiggled and Lynn poked, but it just wouldn't let us see. So the baby girl stuff will have to stay in storage for awhile longer and we'll just have to keep saying, "no, we don't know what we're having yet..."
What we did find out is that it is a healthy, strong, active baby that will be born in February. We've decided to do the whole birth thing on our own (no doctors, no midwives), so this information was quite comforting.
When we were trying to get it to move so we could get the perfect angle, Lynn poked my belly and you could see his finger on the screen along with the baby moving in response to it. It was amazing! So sweet!
As soon as we get the ultrasound photos scanned, I'll post the best ones for you to try to figure out. Some of them are actually very clear.
I'll keep everybody posted on whether we will try to find out again!

Just Got These Pics

2008-10-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist putting these new pictures up. Maybe these smiles will brighten someone's day. Zoey "took a step" on Wednesday. It's in quotes because I don't know if I would qualify it as an actual step. She was letting go of my hand and reaching for the ottoman, and accidentally stepped without knowing it. I'm writing about it because it proves that she can...she just doesn't want to.

She also has MORE teeth coming in. MOLARS!! Hello!?! Pretty soon, she'll have more teeth than Bryce.

Oh! and the other morning, Evyn was peeking over her bunk bed down at Zoey on the changing table and I said, "Look, that's Evyn!" and she pointed at Evyn and very clearly said, "Eddin"

well, not CLEARLY. But it made Evyn pretty happy.

Can you tell I have extra time on my hands. Lynn's parents took the girls for the week since they were here and then will be back on Thursday. They would have taken Bryce, but the school might have a little problem with him missing a week for no reason. And he'll get to go for a week by himself when school is out. He likes that better than having to spend time with Evyn any day!

Anyway...I don't know what to do with myself without chasing a 10 month old away from dog food and bathroom cabinets...or answering 83 questions and then being told my answers are wrong because my 4 yr old knows much more than me. So, blogging seems the most logical answer to the burning question, "What do you do in a quiet house?"

Tumbling (take 2)

2008-10-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Remember those other tumbling pictures I promised from Grandma's camera? Well, I finally got them today. I'm sure you can figure them out, but one is of Evyn on her coach's shoulders. The other is of her doing an assisted flip at the end of the trampoline. She still loves tumbling and looks forward to it every week. We've finally gotten the hang of what Monday is. She used to ask every day if it's Monday because that means she gets to tumble. Now she says what day it is, and then tells me all the days before that day. "Today is Friday. Yesterday was Thursday. The day before that was Wednesday. The day before that was Tuesday..." this happens almost every day on the way home from school. I'm hoping it's because she's learning the days of the week in school and not that she's got some strange obsessive compulsive disorder regarding the days of the week.

Wiggle Worm

2008-09-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling the baby move from deep within my womb for quite awhile now. Last night, as Lynn and I layed down to watch a movie, it seemed to move so big I thought I might be able to feel it from the outside. So I felt my belly with my hand and there it was, big as you please. So, I told Lynn to feel my belly, just in case he could feel it, too. Immediately he felt it move. Now, I don't know how many of you have been in the business of trying to feel babies move from the outside of a pregnant mom's belly. In my experience, it's nearly impossible because my stubborn children always stop moving as soon as someone touches the outside of their little cave. So, when we both felt it from the outside on the very first try, I was quite impressed. We must have a brave (or compliant) one in there.
I guess the excitement overwhelmed us because about halfway through the movie, Lynn suddenly awoke and asked what he missed. I couldn't tell him. I had fallen asleep way before he had.
Movie off. Lights out.

Cast Your Vote

2008-09-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

I've had a few votes sent via email/facebook regarding the sex of this baby, so I thought I'd put a poll up. I'm interested to know what you, the people, think. Not that your opinions will change a gosh darn thing. It is what it is. But this is turning into a fun little game.

baby banana

2008-09-22T05:07:00.000-07:00

I don't think anything has happened recently in kid world. I was checking on my website that updates the baby's size by comparing it to different produce. If you really think about it, that's kind of creepy. I guess I really didn't think about it until I had looked at it one day and saw that soon it will be the size of a mango. Then that same day, I cut up a mango. Maybe it's just me...
Anyway! At this point the baby is the size of a banana. the most common question right now is "Do you know what the sex is yet?" It's kind of strange that I don't remember that being a real concern with anybody in my previous pregnancies, but for some reason, I'm asked at least once a day with this one. Maybe by the fourth, people just don't know what else to say.
I really want to find out with this one for a number of reasons. #1 - the kids really want a baby brother, and if it's not, I want to prepare them for the letdown. #2- I really think it's a boy, and if it's not, I would like to stop calling it a he in my head. #3- we have lots of girl stuff and no room in our house. So, it would be especially great to get rid of it all if that's a possibility. #4- we still don't have a name, and picking one is easier than picking two. #5- I'd like to have an answer for all those inquiring minds besides, "no, we don't know yet, but we really want to."
So, all that said...I will be checking into a sonogram any day now, and will let you all know as soon as I find out. If anyone feels compelled to let me know what you think it is, go ahead. It might be fun to see your replies. I will even answer your old wives tale questions if you have any.

Oops

2008-08-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I titled the promised pictures and then added pictures, which caused the whole things to be backwards. You'll get over it, right?

Dr Pepper, baby

2008-08-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

She may have even said the word today. Sounded like dababa...we know what she meant..."Give me more of that sweet nectar of the God's"

Posing on the Porch

2008-08-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Lynn says retard, I say gangsta. Iss like dis, yo! wut wut...

I had to include this one because Evyn makes it slightly Adam's Family-ish.

yes, everyone's head is slightly cut off, but they look like normal children! Have I fooled you?

First Day of Tumbling

2008-08-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

There are many more where these came from--ones of Evyn standing on her coach's hand and shoulders high in the air, and ones of her doing jumps down the trampoline and flipping in the coach's arms at the end. Those are all on grandma's camera since she happened to be here for the first day of tumbling. If she would like to email them to me, I would greatly appreciate it.

First Day of First Grade

2008-08-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

2008-08-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

first tooth fairy loot

2008-08-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

first tooth lost

Promised Pictures

2008-08-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

first loose tooth

Zoey's New Trick

2008-08-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Zoey stood all by herself twice today, each time for about 10 seconds. She turned 9 months yesterday. Ummm...I think she's getting too big for her britches!
The second time she stood, Evyn and I clapped and screamed and nearly scared her to death, so who knows if she'll do it again for awhile!

Big Sister, Big Helper

2008-08-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

I knew there was trouble when Evyn frantically called, "Mom come quick!" I had no idea...
As we rounded the corner into the girls' bedroom and Evyn explained, "I opened Zoey's diaper and there was poop in it." There was Zoey, happy as could be clapping her hands and smiling in her pile o' poop on the girls' brand new girly pink rug. I quickly sprung into action, cleaning Zoey and the rug.
"Evyn, why would you do that?!? You never open a baby's diaper unless you know exactly what's in there and you're ready to take care of it."
"Well, she had this really big one!" Evyn exclaimed with her hands spread wide to illustrate it. I quickly began to scan the room dreading that I might find "the big" turd somewhere on the floor.
"A big what?!?"
"fart"
I'm thinking, "Was she trying to investigate her sister's gassy-ness? what did she think she'd find?"
I'm absolutely certain she was trying to help, but hopefully that will be her last attempt at DIY diaper-changing.
Unfortunately, my rush at cleaning did not lend itself to a picture. I'm sure you're all upset about that one!!

Update

2008-08-26T16:44:00.001-07:00

I'm a little late with my news, but a lot has happened in kid world that I feel I need to share. I just haven't had the time to sit down and type.
Bryce lost his first tooth Saturday, august 9th. we tried wiggling, turning and wiggling some more. then Lynn was tying some floss to it so we could tie it to the door, and it just came out in his hand-a surprise to all involved. Then the next weekend, another one came out. He's got a big hole in his smile. So cute!
Evyn got an adorable new haircut. I'll post pictures of all this stuff soon.
Bryce started first grade this week. For some reason, it felt like any other day. I was almost unprepared. Like it was absolutely no big deal. We were almost late for his first day. He's enjoyed everyday so far. He thinks his teacher's nice and he's already made new friends. He told me tonight that he fell in love with 2 girls, Audrey and Lexi. When I asked him what it means to fall in love, he said he didn't know, but he shouldn't kiss them because he would get in big boo-boo trouble. At least he knows that!
Zoey has another new tooth coming in. This makes 5. She's a bit cranky. She turns 9 months on Thursday. we'll be planning a 1st birthday soon!! Crazy! she's into everything. Her favorite things to do are open and close doors, bang on things, and pull hair.
As for the youngest of our clan--my morning sickness is finally over. I feel like a huge whale already, but I know I have a long way to go. According to "May Baby This Week" he/she is about the size of an avocado.
I've been extra moody these days. An annoying project at work hasn't helped that any. I think if I actually worked the rest of the week, I would make some enemies. Fortunately, my work-week is over. Hopefully, my hormones haven't made anyone irreversibly angry with me.
We went to Wonderland this past week. While we were in Amarillo, we met the new midwife, and I had my first prenatal visit. We heard the heartbeat, and I had blood drawn. Pain! I've had lots of needle-pricks, but I guess she was nervous because I've never had one hurt that bad.
Evyn started tumbling yesterday. She's a natural. Her coach asked me where she had taken before. Pretty impressive since she's never had any kind of training. She loved it. She'll sleep very well on Mondays. Constant movement for an hour will be good for her. I was telling one of the teachers at her Parent's Day Out about how hard she worked, and she said, "I can't imagine Evyn ever wearing out."
I'll try to post some pictures soon to tickle the fancy of all the grandparents.

Paw-Paw's Teeth

2008-08-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

Evyn and Bryce are staying with my friend Angie while I'm at work for the last couple of weeks of the summer. Angie's grandfather passed away recently, and she had left his teeth and a pair of shoes that were returned from the funeral home in her closet. She has a fairly new puppy that found said teeth and was walking around with them in her mouth. The puppy looked like she had human teeth. This picture is funny enough as it is, so I thought I would include it in my story. Angie left the teeth on the computer desk after she removed them from the dog's mouth to keep them out of reach. Evyn saw the teeth on the desk and inquired, "What are those?" Angie answered, "Those are Paw-Paw's teeth." This answer was sufficient for Evyn until the next day. She had obviously been pondering over the situation.
"Where's Paw-Paw?"
"He's in Heaven."
Evyn's eyes grew wide with concern. "He forgot his teeth!!"
"It's ok, we get a new set of teeth when we get to Heaven."
"Well, why are they on your desk?"
"So Lexi won't chew on them."
Maybe I shouldn't have told you the rest of the story. The last part of that conversation would have been even funnier! You might think my daughter and her caregiver were both on crack, though. I'll leave it in.

Sick and Tired

2008-08-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Alright, people! I'm about to complain, so if you don't want to hear it, don't read this entry. I'm officially in my 2nd trimester, and still suffering from morning sickness. Although for me, morning has nothing to do with it. I keep hearing stories of women who were sick their entire pregnancy. Not one of those women has 4 children. I know why! I told Lynn that if this continues through the entire pregnancy, I will have my tubes tied. I can handle pain. I've had all of my children (8lbs 12 oz, 9 lbs 2 oz and 9 lbs 5 oz) naturally, and wouldn't do it any other way. I don't even mind throwing up. But the constant all day nausea is about to drive me insane. I did buy these awesome arm bands to eliminate the nausea, and for the most part, they have curbed it. But then there are days when the sick feeling just lingers or I have moments when I can't move because I feel so sick, even with the bands. So, I've tried to only wear them when I have to in case I've gotten desensitized or something. I don't know if that's possible, but I'm not taking chances. On days that I work, I can just sit and close my eyes for a moment or even put my head down. But then at home, I have this curious little 8 month old who is into everything. And she's fast! We're talking NASCAR fast. And she is drawn to things that will hurt her, like dogs who oddly enough don't like their hair pulled, and computer wires and bathroom trashcans-yuck!...so closing my eyes for a moment is not an option. Most of the time, sitting is not even an option.
Getting work done is nearly impossible. My house is a wreck, which makes me feel even worse. Then there are times like this morning, when I was putting all the trash into one big bag...that apparently had a hole in it! So there was then Dr.Pepper and baby food all over the floor. Of course, that looked like lots of fun to Zoey. It looked so gross to me that I barely got through it. But I did get through that and Zoey's bath that followed. And now I get to complain about it without making anyone listen. I feel better. Thank you blog world.

Dog-gone it!

2008-07-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, we went to Benjamin for Lynn's Granddad's funeral. We stayed at the ranch where there are lots of cats outside. Our dog, Macy, believes that aside from loving her family, her purpose in life is to chase things such as cats and jack rabbits.
So, like any other visit, she bolted after a random cat. Not like any other visit, she began to cry shortly after. She held her back leg up the rest of the time we were there, but we all assumed she must have pulled a muscle or something.
When we got home, she was still not walking on it, so we finally took her to the vet yesterday. The vet saw her and said, "oh! She's not walking on it at all." Our first clue that it's not just a pulled muscle. He felt her leg for all of a tenth of a sec and said, "ok, what we have is..." Our second clue that it's a pretty big problem. "...a torn ACL" WHAT!?! Both Lynn and I begin thinking of all the athletes who spend thousands of dollars and months of recovery time on torn ACL surgery.
He shows us a model of a dogs knee, which honestly looks very similar to a human knee. I know more about the ACL now than I ever thought I wanted to. Pretty neat. But along with my newly acquired canine knee education, our dog has a torn ACL. We both feel very bad that we didn't get her in sooner, but apparently we didn't wait as long as some owners do.
She goes in for surgery on Monday. By the way, it will not cost thousands of dollars. They'll keep her overnight and then she returns home on Tuesday and should be using the leg in a couple of weeks.
While we were waiting for the vet, we saw this 3-legged cat who had completely adapted to her situation. Lynn and I were talking about the fact that animals are so much more adaptable to things like lost limbs than humans, but then they also have a couple extra to fall back on.

It Is Finished!!

2008-07-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

I never thought it would actually get here. The moment we've all been waiting for! The house is done. It is up for sale. No more dry wall dust. No more painting. Our Saturdays are finally free. We've been working on this thing for a year and a half. I've worked on this house for 2 different pregnancies. But it was worth it. My dear husband's perfectionist tendencies have paid off. If I wanted a 3 bedroom house in that neighborhood, I would buy it.
We've actually already had someone show interest. Show me the MONEY!
If you want to see what it looks like, you can go to www.patterson-pack.com
There are lots of pictures with lots of angles of the same rooms, so you either need to set aside lots of time, or pick and choose your favorite angles. And you can play 'where's Zoey?' I know it will be challenging, but see if you can spot the baby in some of the pictures.
If you want to see it in person, which I highly recommend, let me know. We would love to show you! We're pretty proud of it!
Maybe we'll get some before shots up soon.

Zoey's World

2008-07-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered the difficulty in emailing/blogging with Zoey at the cruising stage. She's into everything! If I hold her on my lap while I type, she ends up doing more typing than me. If I leave her on the floor while I type, she ends up in another county in a matter of minutes. That girl is fast! We have lots of little areas that are off-limits to little sticky fingers...like the trash area, big sister's room with lots of polly pocket accessories, and the dog cage with the lock that could put an eye out. The one I love most-the dog food and water dishes. Not as dangerous as it is messy. Mess and fun do go hand in hand, I've noticed.
I've also noticed the love/hate relationship she has with Max, our little retarded furry white dog. She loves to pull his hair. He hates that, oddly enough. He loves to play with her toys. I'm the one that hates that! The biggest problem is that to get away from her, he runs and hides by me. And if he's near me, and she is right on him, he won't move because he thinks I'm the safest spot. What ends up happening is she's crawling through my legs to get to him and he's growling and all I can do is shove him away, but then he comes right back to "safety". Ok, see where the retard part comes in? the funniest thing about this situation is that he has this dog bed that for some reason he thinks is his girlfriend. They've had some pretty intimate moments. wink, wink. anyway, just like everything else in her path, Zoey thinks it looks like something she needs to investigate. Max gets really defensive if you touch his bed! The older kids learned a long time ago not to mess with the bed if you want to keep your fingers. And Max learned that if he growls wrong at Zoey, he will soon feel the wrath of Dad's alpha male hand. Do you see his dilemma? What ends up happening is quite funny to watch. He crawls from the safety of my feet to the opposite edge of his bed and gingerly pulls it away from those mean little chubby fingers.
"no, baby, not the bed."
I digress...
So, the blogs may be few and far between. I could communicate with the outside world while she sleeps, but trust me, those moments are way too precious to spend at the computer. Here's a quick update on her most recent communication skills.
Zoey can now high five on command. She can sign the word "more" when wanting to eat more food. And my personal favorite--she can give big, sloppy, open-mouthed kisses to those she adores!
She is also trying very hard to push through her 2 top front teeth. It kept us all up the night before last, and has given her quite a lot of pain and suffering. We just use lots of teething rings, love and what I call "baby morphine". (homeopathic teething tablets) This too shall pass.

I haven't heard from the kids in a few days. It's amazing how much easier one child is compared to 3. Can't wait to see what 4 will be like. But I do miss Bryce and Evyn. Every time they called last week, they sounded like they were having fun. Hopefully, they'll call again soon.
It's been a strange summer so far...maybe I'll write again before it's over. ;-)

Here We Are

2008-07-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

This was taken in Houston recently. I'm amazed at the way Houston looks really. I had a wonderful time running on the trail that is near my parents' house. Rain forest on one side, rolling green hills on the other. Oh, and gorgeous houses all around...with trees and flowers and chirping cicadas. I never ran into any aligators or deer, but I enjoyed the scenery nonetheless.

Good News

2008-07-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were concerned with Evyn's blood test yesterday, it came back negative. Apparently she's normal. Well, at least her blood is...

It's Been So Long!

2008-07-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Forgive me, friends, for I have not blogged in a very long time. I'm sure you were all on the edge of your seats just waiting to hear about the next exciting thing to happen in the Patterson household. Your wait ends here.
I was actually waiting to blog, knowing that we weren't telling everyone about the newest Patterson to arrive in February. I was afraid I might slip and say something since all that has been on my mind was my overwhelming desire to vomit! I think the strangest thing this baby has made me do so far was guzzle applesauce in Wal-mart. I HAD to have applesauce right then. There was no waiting to pay. I couldn't wait for a spoon. I just opened it up and poured it down my throat. And then carried it tightly in my arms until the next moment when I could guzzle again. I've definitely wanted sour flavors--salt and vinegar chips dipped in vinegar and horseradish, pickles and pickled okra and pickle juice. I think this baby might be a little psycho...or maybe it's just me.
So, that's the biggest news for those of you who hadn't yet heard. Zoey will be a big sister at 15 months. Bryce and Evyn may get their wish for a baby brother, which they asked for only weeks before I found out about this one. We got a new Honda Pilot to seat us all. Lynn says we will NOT be filling it. It seats 8...I should hope not! Of course, if you count dogs and luggage, we're already overflowing.

We went to Houston to see my parents last week. It was quite fun. They have this wonderful neighborhood with 3 pools, one of which is actually a water park with slides, high dives, squirting water, a huge bucket that pours huge amounts of water at random times, a perfect little baby area and plenty of seating for moms to watch the festivities. We visited the Space Center and had some delicious meals at a few of Houston's numerous restaurants.

The night before we left for Houston, we got a call telling us that Lynn's grandad was being flown into Lubbock because of a heart attack. Since then, he's had a triple bypass and is in CICU at UMC recovering. While we were in Houston, the reports were sounding better and better. He was doing amazingly well for a 90+ year old man who just had a triple bypass. He's had one or 2 days that weren't as hopeful, but last night he seemed to respond to people more than he had been as well as just looking better. I don't know all the medical details. I just know good or bad. We're praying and hoping for the best. I think his favorite thing to look at is baby Zoey. It's hard for anybody not to smile when she gives you that cheesy grin. We keep telling him he has to get better so he can bounce her on his knees. I believe he's fighting.

The morning that we got back from Houston, my idiot ex-husband called to tell me that he had a court document stating that he was supposed to have the kids for 30 days in a row in the summer. He told me that he had gone to a court hearing on Friday and the judge ordered it. I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that if there were a court hearing, I would be notified...and if there were a change, I should be notified. Neither of those things happened. Of course, our household went right into chaos mode once I got off the phone. Confusion, anger, crying, barking. When it all settled down, I realized that there is no way that Sperm Donor could handle the kids for 30 days in a row. So, why not let him give it a whirl? I'm not exactly positive what his motive is, but it's not because he loves his kids. I know that. It's going to backfire someday, I know it will. The good guy always wins! And in this case, that would be me...
Later I found out that the "court document" was a paper stating what standard visitation is, which we do not have, by the way...and it applies to the kids he has from a previous marriage that he doesn't even know where they are and hasn't paid their child support either. He's now responsible for 9 children...not a good thing when you don't EVER have a job! What a winner. And by winner, I mean stupid lazy lying loser. but if you know him, I don't even need to tell you that because it's obvious! Now that that's off my chest...

I've had suspicions of Evyn having anemia for quite some time, but didn't think it was an emergency to do anything about it since I just made sure she had her vitamins every day. It seemed to make her not quite as fatigued and a little more emotionally stable. Then I was talking to my mother last week about her symptoms, and she suggested that I get her screened for diabetes. After she slept more than usual and had a complete melt-down yesterday and she had her vitamin, I decided to google diabetes. Not that I don't trust my mother, but I really don't want it to be true, and if I can just convince myself that it's not...well, as many times as I've used that logic in the past, it will not go away. So, my googling informed me that she indeed has many symptoms of diabetes. I'm holding onto the fact that those symptoms can be other things, and I'm not really sure that she's lost weight. And I don't really know if she's going to the bathroom more. And maybe she's eating more because she's in a growth spurt. And she has eczema-that's why her skin is dry and itchy. And she scratches so she has lots of sores that don't heal quickly. But just to be sure, I made an appointment for her to get checked this morning. The kids are leaving tomorrow for 30 days of poor supervision. It's best if I know now, so I don't have one more thing to worry about while they're gone.
The doctor said Evyn is in the 25th percentile in height and 10th percentile in weight for her age group. I never would have guessed that! (Maybe I have them backwards. I don' remember.)
She was very brave when they took her blood. I knew she was scared to death, but I let her call Lynn at work since he is her biggest protector. It helped tremendously. He talked her through the whole thing. The nurse taking the blood actually said, "wow! he's good! I can still hear him talking." Yes, my husband is very good at talking. Look how handy it is!
She got a Hannah Montana sticker and a yo-yo for being so brave. And I bribed her with a piece of gum...a delicacy in our house. She went right back to school and told all of her friends about the blood that they got out of her arm. So, all is well in her 4 and 1/2 year old little mind.
I'm anxiously waiting for the results.

Did you enjoy reading about the drama in our house? I promise to blog more often now that everyone knows about our future new addition.
Don't forget to check out www.patterson-pack.com for pictures from Houston and other random shots of our family.

Don't Wanna Grow Up

2008-06-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was riding in the car with a friend who shall remain nameless for this particular blog. She was pulled over for what I considered to be a ridiculous offense. I'm sure it's an actual rule, but I have seen more people break it than I could count. I myself have apparently un-knowingly broken the law just about every time I drive. She used the center "turning lane" to merge with traffic.
So, all the adults in the car were discussing how silly it was that she was being pulled over, all being very supportive...and I, not quite as supportive, say, "I'm so glad it wasn't me who got pulled over!"
I don't think any of us even realized that Bryce was listening to the whole conversation in the back seat. So when he randomly spoke, it was especially funny. "I'm so glad I'm not grown up!" His comic relief certainly lightened the mood.

Drama

2008-05-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, all tattle-tales are required to be submitted in written form with a 5 cent processing fee in my house. This has greatly reduced the tattle attempts. Except for this one particular evening. Bryce presented me with a lovely illustrated sentence which read, "She sed shut-up." Up in the corner was a rather life-like picture of a nickel, labeled "five cents".
I immediately rejected the submission on the grounds that it must have an actual nickel, not a drawing of five cents. Of course, this sent Bryce into hysterics. Why should he have to give me his money?!? He's saving up for a lego star wars, and he shouldn't have to give me his money. Umm, hello! Just don't tattle, and you'll get to keep your 5 cents...
His brilliantly dramatic response: That would be wasting a tree, and killing animals!

Just add some lights and a stage.

To Moms Everywhere

2008-05-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a fabulous Mother's Day! Here's just a hint of how mine went. We went to work/church as usual. The kids brought home tons of cards, fingerprint/footprint poems, chocolate, and pots. We went to Chili's for lunch to celebrate our "first date anniversary." Lynn took me and the kids out 2 years ago for the first time on Mother's Day to Chili's. After waiting for what seemed like hours, we sat down and ordered an appetizer that was way below Chili's standards...so that was free. then our food came out an hour later...so it was almost all free. We basically ate for the cost of kid's meals and the tip. Pretty good! We then went to Baskin-Robbins to get Bryce's soccer-goal-ice-cream. Yummy!

At home I opened my wonderful gifts from the kids and we played as a family. The best part--I didn't do even a smidge of laundry, cooking, cleaning or reprimanding! Who could ask for anything more?!?

If you're a mom, I hope you had a most super day. If you're not a mom, I hope you treated your mom to a most super wonderful day!

I Guess She Was Tired!

2008-05-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Career Day

2008-05-09T14:45:00.001-07:00

Since the first time Bryce was asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he has said an Astronaut. There were the occasional "rockstar" thoughts, but his main career goal has always been Astronaut. He got to share his dream today at Career Day. The kids spent their morning listening to 'an ambulance man', 'a cotton man', 'a swat guy with lots of guns', 'a dog trainer', and 'a museum lady'. Then they got to share what they would like to be someday. They could also dress up in something that represents that career.

I wasn't in any way surprised when Bryce told me he wanted to dress up as an astronaut. Overwhelmed, maybe, but not surprised. I forgot that I have the best husband in the world that can do anything...including come up with the best astronaut costume ever made in 2 days.

We had trouble coming up with the base outfit. No one sells white sweats, child size painters clothes, or child size white coveralls. And I don't sew!

I happened to be cleaning out mouse-infested rooms at the church on Tuesday. Jermaine and I prayed that we would find something in there that would work for an astronaut. Well, guess what we found in the first box!!! A child's sized painter's suit. Perfect! We just had to rip off the musical notes that were glued to the back, draw on some NASA patches, make a paper-mache helmet, sew some arm bands and a belt (out of some random fabric we also found among the mice), spray paint some snow boots, and voila! An Astronaut!

Thank God for the mouse-infested rooms. And thank God for my brilliant husband.

Go check out Bryce's presentation at school!

Here We Go!

2008-05-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Zoey went forward today. She saw a little green toy about a foot away and decided she just had to have it. She went up on those hands and knees, and lunged forward. It wasn't very graceful, but it worked. The rest of the day, she skipped the hands and knees and just pulled her back half along using her arms. So, I'm not sure I would call it crawling, but it's a pretty efficient way of getting around. Just as dangerous as crawling. I suppose we need to baby-proof!

Sitting Up

2008-05-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit behind on my blogging. The day before yesterday, Zoey started sitting up. She can stay upright as long as she wants to, unless a dog licks her in the face or something. She can even do a little dance while sitting.
This evening, she also had a strong desire to reach our white dog, Max, and tried very hard to crawl to him. She would have done it had she not been in "reverse". She was up on her hands and knees and moving, but she was getting farther from her destination. How frustrating that must be!

First Field Trip Ever

2008-05-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Bryce's Kindergarten class went fishing yesterday. He worked very hard to earn the privilege of Lynn taking off work and going with him. Bryce got to put his own corn on the hook, and caught 4 fish. They got to play on the playground and eat a picnic lunch.
The Wolfforth Fire Department brought out a truck. Bryce got to sit in the driver's seat. He pointed out, however, that he did not get to honk the horn. He did get to enjoy the water hose, though. In the picture with water, he is on the very right edge with the blue hat on. Looks like they had a lot of fun! I think it was a wonderful father/son experience, and I know Bryce's teacher loved Lynn's help. I wish I could have been there!

Sisterly Love

2008-05-01T14:06:00.001-07:00

Party on my Feet

2008-05-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

In case some of you didn't know, one of Hallmark's wonderful holidays was in the recent past. I'm not really an administative assistant, but I was certainly appreciated. My boss actually pulled one over on Hallmark. I didn't get a card. I got something sooo much better! He sent me and my co-workers to a nail salon for manis and pedis. woo-hoo! What a spectacular treat! So, I'm sharing with you the party on my feet!

See What I Mean?

2008-05-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of Bryce. It usually takes bribery. These photos were taken by FORCE!

...Mouths of Babes

2008-04-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

My kids say some pretty funny, profound, even absurd things. I thought I'd share a few from this week...
Evyn shares most of her thoughts on the way home from school. One day I asked her to tell me the Bible verse for this month.
Evyn: For I know the plans...mom, is it plans or plants?
Me: plans, a plan is like when we "plan" to go to the park...(long motherly Bible verse lesson)...so God has an imortant plan for your life.
Evyn: and plants!
If you know Evyn's personality, this shouldn't be surprising since she is NEVER wrong.

This morning Bryce was singing to Lynn. Keep in mind that the entire quote is to the tune of The Little Drummer Boy.

"Do you hear what I hear? Little lambs clomping all around...or however that goes, Dad."

We were in the car with the radio on:

Evyn: Is that God talking?
me: I don't think God usually talks on the radio. why? does it sound like God?
Evyn: yes
me: Where did you hear God talk?
Evyn: When I was asleep.

5 months old

2008-04-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today is Zoey's "5 month birthday". What a monumental occasion! Well, she doesn't care. I am actually probably the only person on the planet who does care. But I hold that right. I am her mother. It thrills me to no end to realize that 5 months ago, she couldn't do ANYTHING! Yet in such a short time she has learned to roll over, get where she needs to go by herself. Even though it's 2 feet from where she started, and no one has actually seen her move, it happened. She was here, now she's there. She did it! She can hold an entire conversation with anyone (or thing) that will listen. Most of her words are made of vowels, and usually the same vowel strung out for 45 seconds, but she's saying it, whatever it is. And I pretend I know what she's saying, and respond accordingly. Bryce and Evyn have caught on as well. There are a lot of "really?"s and "are you kidding me?" s and "that can't be true!"s. We all love to hear her precious stories! She does throw in the occasional d, m, and g sound just to keep us interested.
I have no idea what she weighs or how tall she is, but she's huge compared to that little bundle that arrived way back on November 28th. We all thought she was so big then. 9 lbs, 5oz! 22 inches! She doesn't even look like the same person.
And she's so strong! She can sit up without assistance when she feels like it. That's the key. Kind of like two other children I know...only when they feel like it. Nothing like me, of course! She can hold herself up on her hands and knees. She can stand holding on to me with one hand.
I have to say, I'm quite impressed by her new talents. But then, I am her mother!

Crazy Hair Day

2008-04-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today was "crazy hair day" at school. At least that's what Bryce told us. If you bring a dollar for some random good cause, you get to wear your hair all funky. I hope I don't get a call from the school...

sweet siblings

2008-04-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's not often you get a good picture of Bryce. It's even less often that you get a good picture of Bryce and baby. Even less often to get them all 3 together. So! we have settled for 2 pictures--one of each of them with Zoey.

Dadgummit!

2008-04-24T12:36:00.001-07:00

Ok, I can't make it to 12, and I have to stop this nonsense. You try it! Here's the game.

Zoey

2008-04-23T18:29:00.001-07:00

Ain't she cute!! She'll be 5 months next week. The biggest reason, besides peer pressure, to begin this blog endeavor is so that I can share beauty with the world. I begin with the image above.
This bald beauty is sitting up with very little assistance now. Actually she sat up this morning using only her own hand on the ground for balance. She also held herself up on her hands and knees. She wasn't sure what to do next, but she'll figure it out soon enough. Too soon, I'm sure.
She's making some consonant sounds, especially ones that sound like she's saying, "mama". And the biggest sign that she's growing up--her sleeping patterns are a little more normal. I wouldn't say she's sleeping completely through the night quite yet, but I can feel it coming soon!
Her favorite activity--watching her big brother and sister.

And We're Off...Well, everybody's a little off

2008-04-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

(The title is for you, Daddy!)
I suppose I caught the blog fever. I was feeling a bit left out, so here I go! I'm really not sure I'll have the thought provoking blogs like the ones I've been reading, but I'm sure you'll know more than you ever dreamed of knowing about my kids...
Who knows? I might even reveal a thing or two about myself.