Been a while!

Wow, it's been a along time since I've blogged. I have to blame Facebook! I spend way too much time on there. lol

The boys are all doing great - C1 is playing tee ball on two different teams now, and is almost done with Kindergarten! C2 is so excited to go to school next year, but I'd really like to just keep him home with me!!! C3 is growing way too fast! He's already trying to use the potty - he's only 16 months old. I wish he'd slow down and just be my baby for a while longer!

Things with the hubby are going great right now. We had a big rough patch, but we are both working hard at making time for each other and it's been great. He even went to church with us last week without me even saying a word. It was Mother's Day, though so that might have had something to do with it. I'm just so happy he was there! I hope this means that he'll be more involved with the church in the future!

More Tee Ball!

This is C2's first year to play tee ball. He's pretty excited about it and loves to catch! He gets kind of upset if someone else gets to the ball first, so he's learning to pay attention and run as fast as he can. Sometimes it turns into a dog pile and the coach has to pick each player up and get to the bottom to see who has the ball. It's a lot of fun to watch him play!

Tee ball time!

C1 had his first tee ball game of the season yesterday. He did a great job and had a lot of fun!

He got to play catcher in the first inning - everyone wanted to because of the extra gear!

This is his first hit of the game - see where people are looking? It was a GREAT hit!
This is his first run of the game - you can see Daddy right behind him helping to coach.

Muddy Buddies

After most of the snow melted yesterday C1 and C2 enjoyed some time in the mud. Daddy was NOT so happy about this.

You can see that C1 was very proud of his muddiness!

Late March Snow

We ended up getting 7-8 inches at our house. C1 and C2 LOVED it! C3 loved it only when he was in our arms. lol

Rough couple of days

C3 has been sick this week with some sort of stomach virus. It has not been fun for him or me! I don't know how many loads of laundry I've done or how many times I've had to drag out the spot cleaner. And somehow, I've been blamed for the throwing up - someone thinks it's the juice I've been giving C3 for about 9 months. Yep, that's right - he's been throwing up for two days because I've been giving him 100% juice for 9 months. Hmmm. Is it any wonder I found great satisfaction when C3 threw up ALL OVER my husband last night?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Even if it's just for a few hours! Last week was hard - I had a lot of extra time with all the kids since it was Spring Break. I tried to take them places and have activities to keep them busy, plus a lot of time playing outside. It probably helped a bit, but it was still a struggle. I don't know how many times I heard C2 say he doesn't love me, or C1 tell me that I'm so mean. By Saturday, I was so worn down that I can't remember how many times I cried. I know I shouldn't let what the kids say get to me, but after a while it just does. I'm so thankful for having a night out with friends! They have no idea how much they all mean to me. I feel so much better now - like I'm actually able to handle what they throw at me for a couple more months! I think I'd lose my sanity without my girlfriends! I just wish I could see them all more often!

BOYS!!!

Last week we noticed that C3 could climb the ladder to the bunk beds. This isn't good - he's only 14 months old!!! He would get up there to play with C1 and you could tell he really thought he was a big boy up there. We of course could not let this happen because it's dangerous, so we made sure we drilled the boys on keeping the door closed all the time, or I'd put the baby gate up. This was going good until Thursday. C1 came home from school and I was going through his backpack. C1 came to ask me a question and I hear a series of thumps and then screaming. I realized immediately C3 had been in the bed and had fallen down. This was when I saw the scariest thing in my entire life. C3 was at the bottom of the ladder screaming, his whole head was red and he didn't look right. I was already hysterical, screaming and crying. I remember screaming, "What if something is wrong with him?!" over and over. I tried to hold him and make him stop crying, but he just didn't look right. I held him away from me to see if I could find any injuries - he's never cried like that - and when I tried to stand him up he couldn't stand. He was limp and his head was held tight to one side. He got enough strength to stand, but he couldn't walk, just fell over. By this point I'm already on the phone with the dr, waiting for a nurse to pick up. I was crying so hard they probably had trouble understanding me. He had quit crying by now. She asked the obvious questions - vomit? pass out? etc then asked me to check his pupils. When I laid him down on the floor he just went completely limp again and closed his eyes. I had to hold his eye lids open - pupils looked the same to me. She said not to speed, but take him to the ER. I hate this, but I was so scared to call my dh, knowing he would blame me and yell at me. He did.

They did a CT scan, a couple of nurses looked at him, a resident who wouldn't tell me anything except that by his foot reflexes she could see he had a head injury but she wanted her supervisor to come talk to me. (SCARY!) Dr. Warlick (I really like him!) came and said that C3 was pretty much ok. The CT scan didn't show a skull fracture or a brain bleed. His soft spot is gone, which everybody noticed. He said that it made it a little more risky, but he's ok. He said there is a 4 hour window to really watch for symptoms - we had an hour to go. If we got out of that ok, then C3 would be fine, I'd just have to watch him through the night to make sure he didn't vomit. If so, he'd be right back in the hospital. He is ok, just had a minor concussion and isn't showing any symptoms - pupils match again, etc. Just thinking back to the way he looked and the way he acted makes me sick to my stomach. I was so so scared for my baby. I feel like such a bad mom. I know this stuff happens, but dh says that I should have him in eyesight every minute he's awake. I don't know how to do that. We took the bunkbeds down. They will have less floor space, but at least I took away one danger.

Ok, so two things to say about that horrible night - 1, I'm so glad it happened last week if it had to happen, because if I knew then what I know now about apparently minor head injuries, I would have FREAKED out even more. And 2, C3 is obviously really interested in climbing, getting into mischief, and head injuries. I was baking blueberry muffins this morning - standing at the oven. I turn around and this is what I see:Yep, he climbed up on the kitchen table to get to more cereal. UGH No wonder I have so many gray hairs!!!!!!!

Small victories are still victories!

Since I first mentioned the changes I wanted to make in the way I deal with my children, I've seen steady progress. I still find myself losing my temper sometimes and I want to scream so stinking bad, but I really try not to. C1 really seems to want to push me to the limits to see how far he can go. He's only six years old now - I can already see how bad this could get as he gets older. That's one reason I feel so good when he sees that I'm not going to give in. I don't know how many times I've heard C2 tell me he hates me, I'm the meanest mama ever and that I'm meaner than the Devil in the last week. But I always tell him I love him and act as sickening sweet as possible until he's in his bedroom in time out. They seem to HATE it when I act like that. They see that they don't have any control over my emotions and my reactions to them aren't the same as they used to be. That must be frustrating for them - throwing them for a loop. But, and this is a big but (lol), I am seeing some small victories! Now I only have to tell C1 the same thing two or three times instead of ten. No, I'm serious! And C2 is slowing down on the verbal attacks just a bit. They are also getting a long better when they play video games. I'm noticing that they don't raise their voices with me or each other as much. And that's the goal, right? To learn to teach each other with respect and not over react in anger?

Kiddie Fun Day!!!

Inspired by a link a friend posted, I've decided to make this Kiddie Fun Day! I'm going to set the tent up in the living room, we'll eat fun foods all day, make some play dough, finger paint, sing and dance and do crafts for St. Patrick's Day!

These pictures were taken to show the aftermath of Kiddie Fun Day! My living room was a disaster!!!! But look at that peaceful baby - all worn out from a day of fun!

Phew What a Day

Ok, so the new day yesterday was exhausting! I did well, though trying to focus on the positive, think about what I'm saying, say what I mean and mean what I say. All of that went pretty well. Until C1 (6 yrs old) decided it would be fun to test me. It was all I could to do bite my tongue! And he kept testing me through two different stores, tee ball practice, back home, through dinner and play time all the way to bed time. OMG I seriously wondered how he has made it this long. But, I must say that I stuck to my guns and he is now grounded from the XBox 360 for the entire week (he lost one day at a time), from the bionicles, and he's on shaky ground with the legos now, too. Wow, what a rough day. What I didn't know, though was that from the time he got on the bus yesterday morning until after tee ball practice last night he had a headache. Poor guy! I wish he'd have told me before we went through all of that so I could give him some Tylenol and some extra loving! Today has been going good - we'll see what tonight brings!

A New Day

I have a confession to make. I am a screamer. I am embarrassed to even admit that. I try to be kind and patient with my children. I get frustrated and scream at them more than I should. I immediately feel guilty and worry about what I'm doing to them. I worry about C1 because he screams back and me and also yells at his brothers. Am I pushing him away? How badly could this progress if I keep treating him the same? I worry about C2 because he looks absolutely beat down when I've had an outburst. What am I doing?! I finally took the time to think about this habit. That's just it - my screaming has become a habit - a very bad one! I sat C1 and C2 down this morning and had a talk with each of them. First, I apologized for screaming at them in the past and asked for their forgiveness. Then I told them that I don't want to do that anymore, but I will need their help. Boy did that perk up their little faces! From now on I want to go over expectations and consequences on a regular basis. I know I need to say what I mean and mean what I say - no more empty threats or promises. I also really want to focus on the positive. I will point out their good qualities so they have pride in themselves and in the work they do. I want to listen to their stories and jokes. I will play with them more and act silly with them every single day! Screaming is going to be a tough habit to break, but I'm determined! I already feel such relief knowing that I am at least trying my best to be a good mom.