Never say never...

So my new bloggy friend Heather made a post about 20 things she's pretty sure she'll never do, and I decided I'd do the same...but I couldn't really think of 20 things I'd never do, well nothing original at least. So instead, here is a list of 10 things (because 20 is a long list and I'm tired) I never thought I'd do (or could do) and have done:



1. In honor of her number one, I'll trump Heather's "I'll never eat sushi" and say...I never thought I'd eat sushi, but then I tried it...and I LOVE it.

2. I went sky diving, not once, but twice...and again, I LOVE it.

3. I never thought I could love a step child like my own...until I met Cierra, and sisters...that child is mine in every way that matters.

4. I never thought I'd look forward to anything that comes on the Disney channel, until I saw Choo Choo Soul. There's this one where she sings, "if I was a car, I'd be a race car...if I was a plane, I'd be a jet plane...and if I was a truck, I'd be a monster truck...and if I was a train, I'd be a bullet train..." or something like that. Hunter and I are on the edge of our seats every morning hoping they'll re-play it. And oh happy day! When I went to post the link I saw that you can watch the video for each song. I must admit I'm singing along to, "bullet train, bullet train..woo woo (so fast)". Look it up :)

5. I never thought I'd like another video from Choo Choo Soul more that Bullet Train, until I just looked up, "Do your own dance". Man, that Genevieve is on to something, "everybody, everybody mmmm yeaaaa"

6. I never NEVER never thought I'd drive a mini-van...and now I'm begging Kevin to buy me one. Do you know how hard it is to fit three car seats in the back seat of ANYthing? Let alone something that gets more than 12 miles to a gallon? I can say that I'll never wear pleated pants though, I may be a Mom of three...and Lord willing I'll pull up to soccer practice in a mini van, but I'll NEVER sport pleated pants and seasonal sweater vests.

7. I never thought I'd be able to do the whole long distance relationship thing...until my dream guy found out that his dream job just so happened to be in Montana.

8. I never thought I'd have a problem with my weight or my body image...until I went to college and replaced hours of volleyball and running with hours beer and Freebirds. Yea, THEN I went ahead and had babies.

9. I never thought I'd really be able to quit smoking (this has been a habit since high school)...until I tried a cigarette after having Ryland. It was BAD. Didn't like it one bit, thank you very much! That is one nasty stinky habit I'm not going to miss.

10. I never thought I'd really be a "real" christian. I always thought that meant you had to be uptight and you weren't allowed to have any fun...until I developed a REAL relationship with God and anything I thought was fun about my life before pales in comparison to the peace that comes with knowing your life is in the hands of someone who knows your true heart.

And now my baby is stirring and about to wake up for her 11:00 feeding...good night :)

what I'm trying to say is...

I have written, edited, deleted, re-written, erased, started over, given up and began again on this blog about 15 times tonight...and what I'm trying to say is, THANK YOU.

I don't know who all reads this, but the comments I've received on all of the posts I've made since reviving this blog a few months ago are just beyond amazing to me.

I already know I have this phenomenal group of friends from high school (some from jr. high even) that are always there with a kind word of support when I need it...and these last few months have been no different. We send updates every once in a while as soon as I started filling everyone in on Montana and the custody DRAMA that has followed it my in-box has been blowin up...I ask for a prayer and not only do I get that, but I get phone calls, texts, e-mails galore from my dear friends reminding me they have my back. I get advise and support beyond measure. They are the kind of friends everyone should be so lucky to have. I honestly don't know how I would have made it through these last few months with my sanity intact without them! Well, without YALL I should say...I know some / most of yall will read this. Ya better :)

Besides that group of sisters, I have an equally amazing group of "newer" friends who are there for me all the same...today CeCe texted me to bring the kids over so her and Chris could watch them and let me veg. This is the same CeCe who showered us with love just last week...she's good people! And I have my Fia, I am so glad she loves my brother...it's keeping her in my world and I think I'd be pretty lost without her! I have a plethora of friends named Erin an awesome friend, Brandy, from Louisiana who is looking for a good coon-a$$ from the swamps to handle up on my "situation" if you know what I mean...wink wink.

I have my blog world friends who are absolute God-sends...they are proof that He puts the right people in your path when you need them. Just go read the comments that are left for me from people I've never met. We all know it's no coincidence...He knows when I need a kind word from a stranger, and there it is...Keri, Meg, Linda, Heather, Boo, etc...all of yall, people who only know me through my words are praying for me and my family...laughing and crying with me. Come on now!!!!!!!!!!!!

And my Mom. Moment of silence for my Mom. A woman who has unimaginable struggles of her own to deal with still puts her adult children first. I guess I always thought that at some point my parents would get a break from the crazyness that has been my life, but here I am...27 (and a half) with three kids and over at their house everyday, my crew tearing up their back yard and all they do is smile and say, "here, let me hold the baby so you can eat". Just tonight my Mom came and took us for Mexi food, bathed my big kids, helped rock Ryland during a colicky period and sat and listened to me ramble on and vent about the decisions I still have to make...and I know that if I'm dead on my feet tired at 2:00 am she'd be here in a heart beat to stay up with Ry and let me sleep. I know she'd do this because she's did it two weeks ago!!!

Oh, and my church. Wow, my church. We're a small congregation...we worship in an elementary school "cafatorium" (new word to me...half cafeteria, half auditorium) and most of us came over from another church when Pastor Chris began Celebration. This church has literally changed my life. Over the last 10 or so months I've developed a REAL relationship with Christ and without a doubt, Chris was the one who led me there. His sermons speak to me in a way only Beth had been able to before. And it's not just what he preaches about, but it's the person he is. He's legit and it makes what he has to say MEAN so much more. Everyone who worships there is as equally amazing. Every type of person (and guide dog) is accepted at Celebration...and everyone really walks the walk. On any given Sunday I'll literally speak to every person there. And that's not because there are only 10-20 of us, (there are many more than that) it's because we're a family there...a family of former strangers coming together to praise an amazing God. I have gotten so much support from everyone at my church, it's just how I've always thought a church experience should be for me. I love it.

I love all of yall. I'm so thankful. For a day that started out so tough I just needed to end it on a positive note. For everyone who's' reading this...THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. All of the prayers you've bestowed upon this family are being felt...and I truly thank you.

Love,
E

My house

On Kelley's blog (one of my daily reads) she posted about her favorite room in her house and invited her readers to do the same. I had decided I wanted to partake in the blog-a-thon and went walking around trying to decide which room was my favorite and then develop a quick clean strategy so that I could post pictures without embarrassing myself...but I just couldn't decide which room to write about! Then and I realized my camera is at my Mom's house, which is a good thing because if I can't post pictures there's really no need for me to pretend to clean today!

I decided I don't have a favorite room at this house. I have favorite parts to certain rooms, but nothing that motivated me to post a blog. This kind of had me worried because it doesn't take much to motivate me to ramble on and on about myself or things in my world. Being slightly obsessive in nature, (when Kevin reads this he'll say to himself, "SLIGHTLY?!?!?!") I began to make a mental list of why I wasn't bursting at the seams to blog about my house...when it hit me. This house was always temporary in my mind (I always knew we'd out grow it and move eventually) and I never really took the time to make it the perfect home I'd be proud to blog about. In hindsight I wish I would have.

For the year prior to Kevin's move to Montana this was a house that had everything I've ever dreamed of. It had my son - my first born - the love of my life, a daughter I was blessed to inherit around age two that I've always loved like my own and the man of my dreams, the guy who always felt like the light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. Physically this house has never had the things I'd imagine being in my dream home, no granite counter tops, high end appliances or neat architectural features...it's decorated with a hodge podge of remnants from mine and Kevin's past, there's no real "style" to it...but there are signs every where of our life together and that's what makes me happy here, it's also what breaks my heart about being home these days.

Kevin put our laminate floors in himself, there's the toy box / ottoman we built together right after we started dating, the paint on the walls of the powder bathroom is a dark red that covers our attempt at stripes, on the stairs there are framed pictures of Hunter and Cierra playing in my Mom's back yard, the garage is full of the remnants of the coffee shop we opened together. From where I'm typing at the table I can see the Cone vacuum Kevin was so excited to buy. A three year old, curly haired, female version of Kevin just came running down the stairs from her nap. A one moth old baby we made together is asleep in her swing. Every where you look there are reminders of the times we lived here together, as a family, and lately it's just too much to bear.

I hate feeling like I wish I would have done things differently, it's such a waste of time because you can't re-live the past, but I do...I wish I would have done things differently. I wish I would have worried less about what this house didn't have and concentrated more on what it DID have. It had my family. A family I've waited my whole life for. I wish I would have treated this house like the most magnificent place I've ever lived, because it was... This house deserved to be clean and tidy and treated like a castle, it should have heard less frustration, less yelling and more laughter. If I would have known that I was on borrowed time to be living here with all of us I would have worried a lot less about the little things. Who cares that I couldn't get it decorated perfectly, why did I even care about that? I wanted this house to LOOK perfect and I couldn't feel attached to it until it did. But all along this house WAS perfect because it was OUR house.

I would give anything right now to have Kevin walk in the door from work. I would trade the new kitchen table I got for him to be able to see Ryland smiling at her brother and sister in a heart beat. I would give up the new paint the walls for him to hear CC singing "what Momma doin? workin on the puter, workin on the puter..." For all the nights I was frustrated at the amount of time Kevin spent in the garage...at least he was HERE in the garage. Hunter still had someone to play football with in the evenings, and Kevin still got to see his kids every day. Instead he sleeps on a futon 2,000 miles away and we make plans to see eachother for a weekend once a month (if we're lucky). I hate that I was always complaining that this house was too small for all five of us, because right now we seem to fit...and I don't want to fit. I want Kevin to be here and the house to feel too small again.

So all rambling aside, I still can't pick a favorite room in my house. I'm sure in a few minutes I'll feel like a baby for being so weepy and dramatic about all of this. I'll get my camera from my Mom's tonight, walk around the house and take pictures of happy things to write about. I'll get back on here and talk about all of the positives and turn into the glass half full person again....but since I started this blog as an honest and realistic look into my life, I'm keeping it real at the moment. And at the moment I just really miss Kevin, I'm nostalgic about the days when we all lived here, I'm feeling guilty for all the times I thought this house wasn't good enough. This house was PERFECT when we were all here together, it was our HOME then. Now it's just a house.

Random...it's how I roll

Awesome photo of my Ryland naked is compliments of Sophia's new camera. We love Sophia's new camera.

So much to post...thoughts won't come together properly...perhaps a list?

1. This morning we ("we" meaning my parents, my seeds and myself) all went to a memorial at the Veterans cemetery in town...it was beautiful, the cemetery itself and the memorial. It was hotter than love and thankfully they decided to start the program at 9:30 am but regardless, I need to remember that Houston summers are entirely too hot for a one month old. **side note, Ryland is already a month old...where does the time go?** There were so many people there...and such a variety of people too. We stood near a young-ish (my age) Dad and his toddler son. The Dad was in work clothes and in my head he hurried from work to take his son to the memorial and teach him all about the fallen heroes...and since there was no Mom with them, she was fighting over seas...I have an active imagination. Anyways...the kind of people who stand in the heat to pay tribute to soldiers known and unknown are the kind of people you don't mind being in a crowd with. And by "kind" I don't mean the way they look...I mean the KIND of people they are. Friendly, patriotic, respectful, more than likely Christian...we had one lady offer Claudius some water, another lady gave my kids orange slices, yet another lady gave them little American flags to wave. There were tons of boy scouts...one came to my Dad and asked to pet the Claudster, he was HILARIOUS this kid. Cracked us up, a future Jimmy Kimmel. We parked illegally and didn't get tickets, it was a nice morning.

2. Pastor Chris' sermon on Sunday was about worry...and how we should not let it control our lives. The sermon itself was AMAZING (as his always are) but the timing was even better. Tomorrow morning is our court date. Prayers around the 9:00 am hour would be most appreciated. I'm praying for an open-minded and fair judge and also for my sanity, I've been holding it together really well and I feel like I'll be ok, but knowing me I can lose it in an instant :) During the kids time (we're back to church on Sunday) Big Mike gave the kids a small container of bubbles and told them that when they had a worry they should blow a bubble, watch it float away, and give it to God. So last night when the panic set in I just kept telling myself "bubbles...bubbles" so that'll be my new mantra. I hope my lawyer doesn't think I'm a basket case!

3. I found this post from Kelley's blog...tomorrow night I know just what pitcher I'm breaking!

4. Last week my amazing friend CeCe came over. Not only did she provide me with some much needed adult conversation but she brought a delicious dinner, another dinner for us to eat the next night, two desserts, gifts for the big kids (new crayons and color books, mini doodle-pros, play dough and card games...my kids are still smiling!), the cutest monogrammed onsie for Ryland and the most heartfelt gift for me too...I got a great card and a bath set from Philosophy. Click on the link and see if you can read what it says on the containers...how perfect is that? CeCe is one in a million. And for the record, trying to explain that CeCe has the same name as my CC to Cierra (my CC) is extremely difficult...in a three year old's world no one has your name.

5. Um, ok maybe I didn't have THAT much to post about. But a list made it easier for me. I have so many pictures I need to show yall. Hunt's graduation and some cute ones of the girls too. All in due time my friends...all in due time. Doesn't that make me sound aloof? Really it's just when I get around to it.

p.s. my intentions on losing all baby weight within a month isn't working out so well...any evil geniuses out there who know how I can lose 30 lbs in a month...hit a sister up with a comment.

Update!

I am quite proud of the progress I've made today! Two loads of laundry are done and folded (not put away...baby steps), which is huge for me because I loathe laundry and it tends to live in the dryer until I need to dry a new load. Did a quick clean of all three bathrooms, took big H for some playtime at McDonalds, really cleaned the kitchen and swept the floors...oh and I did some exercising too. It's not HUGE progress, but it's significantly more than I'm used to accomplishing by 2:30 in the afternoon.

The sweeping took forever yall. I'm determined to make Ryland like the sling Jenny got me so I'll put her in it at home and just walk around trying to help her fall in love...then I got the bright idea to sweep with her in it. SOOOOO not the way for a not-so-savy sweeper to get her baby used to a sling. But it's done.

And I'm just now posting this at 4:30 because she nursed forEVER then we went to Target to get some batteries where she decided to have another blowout. My daughter likes to reserve her bowl movements for public places. Sigh.

I'm about to get working on whatever I'm making for dinner too...and by dinner I mean the dinner I'll make at my parents house. It's not because I'm a baby about being alone, it's because they need to see their grandkids....promise :)

On my to-do list for tomorrow:

1. organize the kid's rooms (again...they like to un-do my work)
2. go through my closet...pack up maternity clothes and get a pile of donate clothes ready

um, ya...that should take up enough time!

And now she eats her words

I can't even begin to tell yall how many times I've said (both to myself, Kevin, and anyone else who would listen) that I would be THE BEST stay at home Mom. The house would be spotless, the meals would be healthy gourmet creative and organic, the kids would be fulfilled and I would be a hottie. I mean when you have all day to cook, clean and work out how could you not be the perfect trophy wife?

Well by the grace of Stryker it seems that stay-at-home-mom-edness is my reality...and now she eats her words. In the three and a half weeks that I've been off of work and home all day with Ryland I have successfully accomplished nothing. I still haven't sent out the rest of my thank you notes from my baby showers. There is clean laundry in the dryer to be folded. The floors are an abomination. There are little piles everywhere...oh and have I mentioned that my house is on the market and we really need someone to buy it? That is asking a lot of potential buyers...to look past all the clutter and dust to see the gem of a house that is lying underneath. At church on Sunday a sweet little girl asked me if I was pregnant, so I guess that means I'm not a hottie yet. Oh, and I've eaten every meal at my Mom's house.

So where is all this "time" I'm supposed to have? Where is all this "energy"? I decided that today is the day to kick it in gear! I'm taking baby steps in getting used to having all three of my seeds with me 24-7...Hunter's home with me now but CC will still go to day care this week. Bless her heart, she's the most fun kid ever but can you say high maintenance? So after we dropped C at school I dangled the carrot in front of Hunt's face, "Hey buddy, if you help Mommy clean the house this morning we'll get Happy Meals for lunch!" To which my future business mogul replied, "Sure Mom, but I'll also need some money because I'm only five and cleaning the house is a big deal."

It's been an hour and fifteen minutes since we got back home, we've done the dishes and I've wiped down the kitchen counters. That's it.

I have a lot to learn about schedules. I've decided that's my down fall. Ryland is asleep in her swing which is giving me a precious opportunity to do pretty much any of the million things that need to get done...so what do I do? I blog. Lord help me. Anywho, back to the schedule. If I could get Ry on some sort of sleeping / eating pattern then I THINK I could schedule cleaning / cooking / self improvement time around her...right? That's how it's done right? Hunt and CC kind of cancel each other out when they're both here. They spend the majority of their time harassing each other and the rest of the time is spent whining to me about what the other one is doing...plus I can thrown them in the back yard with a hose and a bucket and they're set for hours. Oh how I've taken big kids for granted.

In four minutes it'll be 10:00 and I'm peeling myself away from the world wide web in attempts to clean my house and lose 30 pounds. No problem right?????? And she wakes up...

Whipping Cream for Breast Milk

I'm in an odd place today. I should be a basket case, I feel I have every right to be. I'm three weeks post partum raising three kids with my better half 2000 miles away, my baby has become intermittently colicky, I'm having breast feeding issues and I am in the early stages of what I fear will be a nasty custody battle with my ex-husband...and I admit, I'm sitting at my computer with tears stinging my eyes...but I'm not sad. I'm not stressed, I'm not exhausted...I feel blessed and content. How can this be?????

This morning I took Ryland to see the pedi (the real pedi...my hospital wrote down the name of a different pedi so my "real" guy hasn't seen Ry yet) to go over her sleeping / eating / pooing issues. As in she doesn't sleep, barely eats and it takes her two hours and several shades of red face to make a poo. Well to my amazement she slept pretty good last night, nursed well this morning, and Sabrina's recommendation of Dr. Brown's bottles with Gentlease formula and Gripe Water seemed to work wonders...and in the waiting room she easily made a poo. Granted it stunk and I was embarrassed, but I didn't' fear her eyes were about to pop out of her head...so it was a good thing. THEN the world's nicest nurse comes in and tells me her poo looked great and her weight gain was phenomenal (9 lbs). I was shocked! I told her I thought she wasn't getting enough Mommy juice and she said, "well then you must have whipping cream for breast milk"...after I had the best laugh I'd had in the last 3 months I wiped the tears from my eyes and just said, thank you. She felt the sincerity because she teared up, hugged me and said, "she's beautiful and you're doing great". Now tell me this nurse wasn't placed in my path today for a reason?!?!?! After a great check up with my wonderful "real" pedi that same nurse came back in and watched me nurse Ryland and gave me some great pointers...I feel refreshed and hopeful about breast feeding again! Plus I secrete whipping cream. I'm pretty sure that'll land me a show on Food Network.

This afternoon I had a meeting with a new lawyer to go over my legal DRAMA. I know I haven't gotten much into this, and eventually I will...but I'll just say that it was a very positive experience. I'm no longer walking around feeling like I'm on borrowed time with Hunter. I've been asking for prayers and I have FELT every one of them. Three days after I brought Ry home from the hospital I was served with some pretty life altering paperwork, I cried for literally two days straight...then I pleaded with God for more faith. Ever since Kevin got offered a job in Montana I've felt that it'll all work out the way He intends it to, and I still feel that way. This is the first time I've really been able to jut let go and give it to God...and man, it really works!!!!!! I hope the next time I post anything about this "issue" I will feel comfortable to give details and that will be because we have a resolution...I'll be praying hard on that.

So while on paper my current situation sounds a bit hopeless, I'm really doing great...and I had two awesome appointments today to help fuel my optimism. This is coming off a visit from my awesome friend Jenny and her Mom who came by to see me on Monday evening. Jenny & Kathy are the Aunt and Grandma of Coy and some very dear friends of mine...well they're more like family, but you feel me. They are the kind of people who don't ask if they can help, they show up on your door step with dinner, homemade cookies and ready to listen. For some reason having other mothers tell me that they recognize my struggles helps me feel like a stronger woman, so I've been a pretty high note ever since.

I am the owner of a Scion XA, and while it's very fuel efficient (the only reason I drive that car is for the gas mileage) it's freakin TINY. My big kids barely fit in the back seat so adding a third car seat was not an option. Since we weren't blessed to win the Mega Millions prior to Ryland's arrival our car situation has been just one more thing working against us...so my parents were kind enough to let me borrow their SUV and my Mom's been driving the Scion. I have this theory that if you're borrowing someone's car you don't jack with their radio programming. That being said, My Mom listens to KSBJ...a station that has never been programed into any car I've owned. My thoughts on christian music were that you sang it at church and that was about it. Boy, I've been missin out a bit yall! For starters, all the songs we sing at church are on that station!!!!! Not to mention there is something to be said for turning on your car and being reminded that you're not alone. That was just a bit of randomness I thought I'd throw in for ya...it wouldn't be an Erin post if I didn't include some unnecessary rambling.

Tonight we went to my Mom's...nothing news worthy there, we spend 90% of our time with Kevin gone at my parent's house...but I actually got a nap in! Ever since Ry stopped sleeping my Mom has told me to come over and nap but I hadn't been able to until tonight. She nursed so good then fell into a food coma on my shoulder. A baby sleeping on you is better than any Tylenol PM so moments later I was out like a light! Thank you Jesus for my parents living three minutes away and being the kind of grandparents who love to play with their high maintenance grandkids so their delirious daughter can rest!!!!!!!

So the combination of kind words from a patient nurse, a lawyer who breaks the stereotype, a visit from a good friend, involved parents, a persistent God and the discovery of a new radio station have left me feeling oddly content tonight. I'm watching Ry sleep in the impulse buy swing I acquired last night. Hunter just came downstairs to tell me that since there is no medicine for his "eating problem" he would just take some raisins. Cierra took a nap in her room today at pre-school (instead of the director's office where she usually ends up during nap time because she tries to keep her friends awake) which is something that hasn't happened for 13 days in a row. How can I not feel blessed? Three healthy and happy kids to call me Mommy and whipping cream for breast milk, the rest will work itself out!

a sleep deprived ramble...complete with pictures

Today I mean business!!! I've decided that all the weight that's going to come off on it's own has already come off (25 lbs) so the rest (30 lbs) is up to me, and boy does that stink! My plan to breast feed the pounds away was cut short when my left milk machine stopped producing and my right one doesn't produce enough to satisfy my child (and this after I endured a week of bleeding nipples)...I just looked on dummies.com and it seems as though you need to consume a certain amount of calories to produce enough milk...um, my bad. I've had NO apetite since giving birth, which is so unlike me, but literally the thought of food makes my stomach turn. Perhaps I need to eat more and then I can get back to the business of making milk!

Speaking of my nursing troubles...aparently my infant child doesn't like to be bragged on. Ever since I posted about her sleeping so good at night, she's decided to go ahead and stop. I'm afraid I have another Strong Willed Child on my hands here. Saturday night she didn't sleep a wink (thankfully we were having a sleep over at my Mom's so she was there so help a sister out) and she wasn't just awake, she was FUSSY. Her little tummy was upset, so sad. Then last night she was up from 2-6am, not fussy...just awake. But as soon as she did fal asleep at six she threw up all over her bassinet. Kev and I decided her little tummy doesn't like all the formula so I'm going to have a heart to heart with my mamory glands and we're going to find a way to compromise and get Ryland full from Cafe Mommy.

What's the word on off brand formula? Walgreens has their version of Infamil Lipil two of the BIG cans for $20...that's way less than half the cost of the brand name stuff. What's the catch there? I never used generic formula with the Hunt (and I didn't nurse him at all) so I'm in the dark here...but that seems too good to be true.

Why is it that now that she's napping I have all this energy? I'm doing laundry, blogging, making my lawyer appointments, just did some floor exercises (not in the gymnastics sense)...and I should be sleeping! I slept a matter of minutes last night...why the adrenaline rush at such inoportune times?

Did yall watch the Survivor finale last night? I totally forgot about it until 8:00 so I saw the end but I missed all the drama of the 7:00 hour...shame on me.

Just watched Jason Castro preform my second favorite song of all times on Regis & Kelly, Over the Rainbow by IZ...I think he has a shot with all of my friends in the Jack Johnson / Colbie Calait world...I can dig it, he has that California surfer vibe going on...I'll be a fan.

I have no idea why I watch The View...it just gets me so riled up. I don't agre with 99% of the things they say on this show, and poor Elisabeth...what's the point of the token republican if they don't even let her get a word in edge wise? They're just jealous because she's so cute.

I have a love / hate relationship with Jon & Kate Plus Eight. As most of you probably know, there was a marathon on yesterday so my Mom and I watched some of it and I know that show has a lot of fans in the blogging world, so I hope I don't offend...but she just works my nerves. Maybe it's just the editing, but she NEVER smiles, she's always so serious and they never show her playing with her kids or saying a kind word to her husband. She comes off as so demanding to me. And I hate the intro where she says, "...we tried for one more but were surprised with six". Um, I'm assuming she was implanted with six fertalized eggs, and I don't know that much about infertility treatments, but how can you be "surprised" with six babies when you implanted six fertalized eggs? If you implanted two and six came out, ya...that's a surprise...but you asked for six babies and six babies you got. I'm sorry, I'm just not convinced that nature intended us to have six babies at a time...but then again God allowed for six healthy kids so I guess it's a gray area. And I do watch the show so I suppose I'm being a tad hypocritical...if it bothered me that much I could just not watch, but I do. And clearly I need to go take a nap because I'm sounding very bitter.

This was, hands down, the post pointless post in the history of pointless posts and I don't think I'm even going to spell check...my apologies.

and one more thing

The other night I had the following conversation with Hunter:

Oh, first I should set the tone...EVERY single night Hunter decides he's starving as I tuck him in to bed. Regardless of what he's had to eat all night, as soon as you put the covers on him, the boy is famished...and it drives me insane. I decided I was going to lay the law down and the bed time snacks were going to be a thing of the past.

Hunter is of the impression that every single thing you tell him is negotiable so he's gotten pretty creative in asking for his snack. He needs an apple because, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away and I think I feel a fever coming on". "I need some cereal in bed because I need my energy in case I do any sleep walking". How can you not give in to these? Obviously, I do...then one night he comes quietly down the stairs at about 10:00 with a very somber look on his face and says the following:

H: "Mom, I've been thinking"
Me: "Yes son"
H: "First of all, I would like to apologize for my behavior"
Me: "Thank you Hunter, I appreciate it"
H: "Second, I think I have an eating problem"
Me: "An eating problem? You don't say..."
H: "Yes, I just can't stop eating!"
Me: "Oh man, what should we do about that?"
H: "I think I would like a banana"
Me: "That's fine son, take a banana, go to bed..."

He's five yall!!!!!!! Ya, I'm in for it.

He had his pre-K graduation today. I cried, we all cried. It was so special and I'll be sure to tell you all about it later...once I have pictures uploaded we'll do a little show & tell :)

Attention...new blogger alert!

My brother has this girlfriend, she's kind of a big deal. Her name is Sophia but feel free to call her Sofa, the Couch or best of all...FIA. She's much more than my brother's girlfriend, she's also become a very good friend of mine, she's absolutely family and my kids adore her.

Last week was her and Trevor's two year anniversary so he bought her an awesome camera and we've since inherited our very own paparazzo. It's awesome. Today Trevor fell out of the hammock and instead of coming to his aid, she took pictures...and best of all, she's started a blog. Look here.

Her post about my kids should be proof enough of why we adore her. She has one of the kindest souls and we just love her.

Two Weeks!

10 things I've learned about my darling daughter Ryland in the last two weeks:

1. She has her father's gastrointestinal system...um, she gassy.

2. Her eyes go crossed when she's "making a poo". Just go ahead and visualize that one. My sweet dainty baby girl...with eyes crossed she's working so hard...she will love hearing this story when I meet her boyfriends for the first time.

3. The INSTANT she gets a dirty diaper it better be off her, she hates to have a dirty diaper and she will let you know.

4. My first attempt at a lunch out with her and my Mom (at La Madeline of course) ended abruptly with an explosive diaper that left it's marks on her car seat carrier thing, her clothes, her blanket AND my shirt...such a rookie Mom move.

5. Finally, something not about her bowls: I'm breast feeding but having to supplement with formula due to "inadequate supply" (this is another blog in itself...it's coming, hold your horses) and she is very picky about which one she wants when she's hungry...if she's in the mood for a bottle and I offer her my mammary goodness, she ain't havin it...if she wants food from her Momma and I give her bottle...equally mad. I try to explain to her that beggars can't be choosers but I guess babies are hard to reason with.

6. She is THE best baby at night. She sleeps for long bouts from 8 pm to 7 am waking up to eat once or twice and her feedings only last about 15 min each.

7. She balances her perfection at night by being high maintenance during the day...but in all honesty, it's my fault. I literally couldn't put her down for the first few days she was alive. I was too in love and couldn't bare not being attached to her, I mean we spent every second of the last nine months together, and now that she's here and I can kiss that perfect face you expect me to put her down? Not happenin...so now she just expects to be held 24-7...and you know what? I'm perfectly happy to oblige. Eventually I'm going to have to train her to hang out in the awesome sling Jenny got me, but for now I just say, "she's only this little once"

8. In all 15 days of her life I think I've said Ryland's name about 5 times. I'm so used to calling her "the baby" or "baby sister" (because we hadn't decided on a name prior to her birth) that I haven't gotten into that habit of calling her Ryland yet.

9. There is a HUGE difference in the kind of mother I am now than I was when Hunt was 15 days old. Maybe it's the fact that I'm 5-1/2 years older or maybe it's just because I'm not a first time Mom anymore, but I'm so much more relaxed and it does feel a lot more natural this time...and the fact that I recognize that makes me wish I could start over with H too...I feel like I missed out on his newborn days because I was too worked up about all the wrong things.

10. Having Ryland here in the flesh makes me love her Daddy even more. Looking at her tiny face and seeing Kevin's lips and the shape of his eyes just warms my heart...the man of my dreams and I have created this perfect little being and there is no one in the world I'd rather share this with!

Days away and this is all I give you...

Yes, I have succumbed to the "inevitable newborn hiatus" that my friend Amanda predicted. I've been riddled with guilt. So whilst Ryland is asleep and my parents are entertaining my "big kids" I will come back to the land of the blogger...I've been tagged by my friend Ann Marie, and being the good law abiding blogger that I am, I will hold up my end of the bargain. Here are the rules:


Link to the person who tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Write six random things about yourself
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog
Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Six bits o randomness ala Erin:

1) Kevin and I are having a contest to see who can live off the least amount of money (proportionately...there are 3-1/2 of us in Texas and only one of him in Montana), so in my attempts to save money I decided to start clipping coupons before going grocery shopping. I have NO CLUE where people find all of these alleged coupons! I painstakingly looked through all the junk mail I get every day...but no actual coupons, just ads. I'm so lost. I feel like such a yupie. How do I now know where to get coupons???



2) I have almost no sense of smell and my brother has absolutely no sense of smell. You know how your sense of smell is supposed to tie to your ability to taste? Not the case for the Wright kids. Boy can we taste...but smell? Nope, not at all. My lack of smelling capabilities comes in handy when changing Ryland's explosive diapers, it also makes me a fine catch since Kevin is free to make all of his manly odors and I can't smell any of them.


3) Sometimes when I'm cooking at home, or well actually EVERY time I'm cooking at home, I pretend I'm making a show on Food Network...it's a cross between 30 Minute Meals, Paula's Home Cooking and Semi Homemade...but with much more witty banter and a lot les corny sayings and mis-placed inflection (ala Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee). Granted, I don't know too many people who would watch a cooking show that features the likes of tuna casserole and "clean out the veggie bin soup" but it makes me feel fancy.



4) I started kindergarten a year early. My birthday is in October so I just missed the cut off but I attended private school in Arizona at the time and they (along with my Mom) decided that I was ready to start when I was four, almost five. So that means I was always the youngest person in my grade...I had a lot of friends whose birthdays are also in the fall...but when they were all turning 16 and getting their licences I was turning 15, it also means I started college when I was 17. Sometimes it was kind of fun to be the different one, but BOY was I NOT ready to move away to College Station at age 17...I honestly think 75% of the reason I didn't finish college was beacuse I was far too immature to handle the freedom.


5) I've lost 25 lbs in the last 13 days. Yes, I'm bragging...and granted 7 of those pounds are asleep next to me, but still. How many times in your life can you say you've lost 25 lbs in less than two weeks?


6) I only like the skins of tomatoes, not the runny inside and seeds. So that means I don't like tomatoes on sandwiches of any sort because they come in slices and I don't do slices.



Hey, you asked for random so random's what you got!!!!! I don't think I can come up with six people to tag but I'll try. I tag Amanda, Sabrina, Kelly, Keri, Meg, and Boo Sheep...so go at it!!!!!