HOW in the.....???

Today I noticed a strange phenomenon: My son has GROWN several inches. While this might seem like a normal thing to happen to a little boy who's about to turn four, I am astonished.

You see, Landon hates to eat. He really does. He is picky, for one thing. (Andy's son, for sure!) If you sneak in any vegetables, be ready to meet the gag reflex. A pea=throw up (even if he just THINKS he ate a pea!). An onion?: Better watch out! He inspects any plate put before him with a look of displeasure on his face. He takes the first bite with a snarl on his face while Andy and I wait anxiously for the verdict....He chews....He thinks....He inspects the plate..."What is that yellow stuff?" he asks us suspiciously. "It's just cheese", we answer (even if it's not really cheese). (pause, chew, chew)...."Otay."

Can I just say, I NEVER thought I'd cave in and play his reindeer games? Never in a million years! I was going to be the mom who said, "Here's your food. If you don't want it then don't eat!" I'm quickly learning that when you plan to be a certain type of mom before having kids, you usually end up being the exact opposite of what you thought you'd be. When mealtime rolls around, I think about how stubborn my son is (If I tell him "Fine, don't eat!", he will trot happily away and think nothing of it). I think about how cranky my son gets when his tummy is empty. I think about all of my deficiencies and can't help but thinking he MUST have some! I look at his skinny little legs running around all day outside with nary a nibble and I will do ANYTHING to get that kid to eat.

Part of the problem is that he is just too busy to eat. If he's doing anything at all, it's more important to him than food. I approach this with a sneak attack. I crank out grilled cheese sandwiches and scrambled eggs (which I have to call "buttery grilled cheese" and "buttery eggs" because the child is a butter FIEND! I am not kidding.) I am constantly chasing him with yogurt "popsicles" and fresh strawberries or spooning bites of oatmeal or cereal into his mouth as he plays. It never amounts to much in his belly, but it's something. At the end of the day (sometimes after attempting to shovel dinner into him during bath time, when he's most distracted), I mentally calculate what he's had to eat and breathe a sigh of relief when I remember he hasn't had his vitamin yet. He looooo-oooovvves his vitamins and so do I. Vitamins in place of food isn't the greatest plan, but right now they're our insurance plan. This stage is a tricky one for Andy and me and, I can tell, it's going to be a fight to the finish!

Daylight Savings

Yippee! Hooray! Tra-la-la! (Clicking heels together) I have never, ever, ever been as excited as I am today to lose an hour of sleep! I am not kidding--After the horribly long "Fall Back" period, I am ready for more sunshine in my life. It has been so terrible having darkness roll in at five thirty because when Andy finally rolls in at 8:30, it feels like the day has gone on forever. To some people, that might be a good thing, but when you're sick (and scared of being alone--shhh!) and trying your best to entertain and care for a little boy, a couple of extra hours of daylight seems promising.

Here's to a positive change for all of us this Spring! (Cartwheel) (<---As if!)

Drumroll Please!

I have decided that daffodils are hands down the BEST plant ever created!!!...at least for people like me who were born without their green thumb. Every year these flowers are trampled by kids and animals & run over by our lawn mower, but they still lift their bright yellow heads every March and make me smile. This year, the poor things bloomed and then were immediately frozen solid in the snow storm. Guess what? Within two days, they had perked up so much that you couldn't even tell we'd had a hint of bad weather. Daffodils are beautiful. They remind me of spring. They bloom no matter what and make it look like I know what I'm doing in the garden. I love them. :o)

I Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry...

...or PUKE, but as soon as I heard the words, "Guys! Hurry! I found a COCKROACH!!", I think I wanted to do all three! Today was a gorgeous day with a high around 80, so you know my yard was teeming with little boys. Everything was going well. There was lots of digging and swinging and running. I was sitting on my porch, thinking about how much fun it was to have a street full of little boys when they all came running from the side of my house holding a long stick with a big, fat (gasp, gasp, GASP!) ROACH crawling all over it (shiver, shiver!) What is that saying? "It's all fun and games until someone...whips out a roach"? Yes, I think that's it. In case you're wondering what my exact sentiments are toward these creepy crawlers, refer back to my post: 100 Things About Me and look for number 48 (should have been number ONE!!!!).

At any rate, these boys took my favorite flower pot (ACK!) and made a home for their new pet, "Cocker". Then, when Cocker kept crawling out, they opted to move him into Lanodn's sand box. They chased one mom with Cocker and then went after my stepdad's car as he drove by....and then tried to come after ME (I don't think so, you crazy little children--Let me eat my banana in peace)!

Why? Can someone tell me WHY in the WORLD....??!!! Never mind. Just never mind.

I am recuperating upstairs on my bed.

Blehh! Boys...

The Countdown Begins!

Until recently, my sister's wedding seemed soooo far in the future. Now it seems like we are having to rush to get everything done in time. What kind of rushing, trimming, cutting corners are we doing? Weeeellll, we have decided to try to make our own flower bouquets and boutonnieres! (No, we are not crafty. No we have never tried this before. And yes, we are probably a little bit crazy.) Here's our first crack at throwing something together. Let me know what you think of our efforts!

March...In Like a Lion!

You better sit down for this one (as if you haven't seen it on the news already!): WE GOT SNOW!! And it wasn't just the whisper of a frosting that we southerners usually call snow, either! It was real snow! Landon, of course was out playing with his friends all day long. Here are some pictures from the day. (They would have been better, but this snow was southern in one way: It had already begun disappearing by morning!) The first one is a picture of when it first started snowing. Also notice the lovely picture of the ingredients the kids were using (on the sewage drain mind you) to make SNOW CREAM (gag, retch!) and the indoor pictures of some of the neighborhood kids piled into my mom's dog cage (someone call DSS!!)

Oops!

I left something important out!

My labs showed something that I think is going to turn out to be very important and I wanted to mention it because it's something that it could easily affect anyone. I had high levels (extremely, unusually high) of sulfate in my urine. This is usually caused by sodium lauryl sulfate which can be found in lots of different kinds of soap, shampoo, cleaners and lotions. You guys know I am usually on top of (okay, maybe "hyper-diligent" about!) keeping the dangerous stuff out of the house now, but somehow this one slipped through the cracks. I found this stuff in the shampoo I've been using since the "good" one Nancy gave to me ran out, in our toothpaste (that I know we shouldn't be using anyway), and worst of all...in our antibacterial hand soap. This stuff is not good for you! The doctor told me that it could be one of the causes of my heart arrhythmias. It's an interesting thought! Just thought I'd pass it along. :o)