Me and the kids

Just a picture that I liked. I love my kids and I'm so thankful that I'm their mommy!!

Happy Father's Day! (a little late!)

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful man who I am so proud to call my husband and so thankful that my kids get to have him as their daddy!! I love you, Nick!

Also, Happy Father's Day to my sweet dad, who was always loving, always caring, always protective and a wonderful example of how a father should be with his children and a husband should be with his wife. I love you, dad!

Losin' it just a little

Anyone who knew me before I had kids has probably thought to themselves in the last 5 years that I have lost some sanity. I think I agree. Some days are just more overwhelming than I can handle. I love my kids and I love the fact that I get to stay home with them and see every little thing they do. But, sometimes they drive me BONKERS! Let's take a look at yesterday. We recently listed our house with a realtor and she was scheduled to come over yesterday at 4 to take pictures of the interior and exterior for her brochures and her website. I started cleaning/tidying as soon as we woke up yesterday morning. The kids were home and playing. Gege and Papa came over and brought some potted flowers for the front porch (per my request) to enhance the curb appeal. They offered to take the kids back to their house so I could finish cleaning. I was appreciative, but decided to keep them home. The kids weren't bad and didn't misbehave, they just acted like kids. They played in their rooms, in the den, in the kitchen, in our room and upstairs...and they pulled out toys in all of those places. I changed their sheets since I was making their bed and an hour later, Bradley peed on his sheets. The kids LOVE to play games in their bed and Bradley really loves to get cuddly in his bed with as many toys as he can fit, blankets, pillows, Bay and a juice. But, since we're doing the dreadful potty training (and failing miserably) he had on underwear. Well, he ended up peeing on his comforter and sheet. I was SO MAD! I yelled, and told him I was mad and did all the things you're NOT supposed to do when you're potty training. Then, as we're changing pants in the bathroom, I notice that the toilet needs to be flushed because it looks like there might be poo in it. Upon closer inspection, however, I notice that it's not poo, but a PLUM in the toilet. And, I know that 30 minutes earlier, Rachel had asked for one and had apparently decided that the toilet was a trashcan. Again, I yelled at her, MADE her put her precious little hand in the toilet and retrieve the plum and throw it in the trashcan. Then I told her to go wash her hands and sit on her bed. I was SO MAD again!!! And, while all this is going on, poor, sweet baby Trent has to wait for me to finish dealing with his siblings so that he can nurse. We were able to get everything cleaned and it looked great when the realtor showed up, but I was mighty tired. The kids and I ended up piling into the car and driving to Monroe to chick-fil-a. It was a nice break to just get into the car and leave.

That's pretty much our daily saga...wake up, nurse Trent, change diaper, fix juice and food for R&B, take B to potty, nurse Trent, change diaper, take B to potty, start laundry, try to fold laundry, answer phone, change diaper, take B to potty, nurse Trent, make lunch, answer phone, clean up lunch, change diaper, take B to potty, try to fold new pile of laundry that was added to unfinished previous pile, nurse Trent, take B to potty, try to entertain R&B, answer phone, think about something decent we could eat for dinner, take B to potty, etc....You get the idea. And, add in the 5 million poo and pee accidents that occur daily, so that adds cleaning the floor where it happened and changing the underwear again. THAT is why I go bonkers and am losin' it just a little.

I know...it won't last forever...
I will one day look back on these days and long for more time while my kids are young...
Kids grow up too fast...
But, sometimes I still feel overwhelmed (and blessed and loved and extremely privileged).

V-Day

Monday was V-Day in our house. Not lovey-dovey Valentine's Day, but "Vasectomy Day". :) My precious, tough, strong husband underwent the scariest man-surgery ever. And, let's just face it, Not every man has the "balls" to do it! hahaha! I couldn't resist. The surgery was scheduled for 11am, but this was really, show up at 11am and we'll make you wait for about an hour before we do anything. That's always awful when you're waiting for something that you're not entirely comfortable with in the first place, and the longer you sit around, the more anxious you get. Anyway, me, Trent and Nick went to the Urology Clinic where there are (I promise) about 40 chairs in the waiting room. And, almost every chair was occupied. It's kind of a sad place to be, because most of the men in there look extremely uncomfortable and most of them walk funny...so you can just imagine the pain they're in. I have to say, it certainly was nice NOT being the one poked, prodded and violated for a change. I'm not glad Nick had to go through it, but I sure was glad I didn't have to "bare all" for once. The surgery finally started at about 12:30 and the doctor was done about 10 minutes later. Nick was very pleased with the Urologist and how things went with the exception of inadequate numbing on one side of the vas and an excruciating pain when one vas was cut, but then the doctor corrected this with immediate numbing relief. He walked out of his room with a very slow, awkward gait and was about as laidback as I've EVER seen him. He had only what I can describe as a "stupid" grin on his face. He also kept saying very silly things that he normally doesn't say. Once we got in the car, he started giggling and couldn't stop. He did this most of the way to Publix to get his painpills. I couldn't stop laughing at how strange he was acting. This was definitely not my usual husband...this man was giggly, laidback and goofy. He was quite a hoot! I guess he was "high" from the valium they had given him pre-surgery. Anyway, we got him home as quickly as possible, ate some lunch, watched Gran Torino and rested. Deborah was kind enough to keep R&B for us, so we could relax. Nick's done great all week, improving every day, but definitely comes home from work each day VERY sore and ready to lay down. I have to say, I'm so thankful that Nick was willing to do this for us, for our family and we're so thankful to have the 3 precious children that we have. Our cup runneth over...and we don't need any more little Milligans. :)

Brother Time

Rachel and Bradley are still very crazy about their baby brother. I think he's quite crazy about them too...he LOVES talking to them with his little "coos" and "goos". It's quite precious. Rachel gets the most talking out of her baby brother and she definitely invests the most time. She's so sweet in how much she cares about Trent and wants to take care of him. Bradley genuinely loves Trent too...he just shows it in a different way. He gets excited, giggles and likes to lay wherever his brother is. Bradley loves it when Trent talks to him. The other day, I caught him in Trent's bed...again! He wasn't being rough, just wanted to be in there with his little brother and (I think) act a little bit like a baby. Bradley seemed to enjoy watching the mobile go round and round just as much as Trent does!! The brotherly love was so sweet and cute that I got a few pictures. I hope they're always close and love being together! What sweet little boys!!! I love them so!

PT = SUX

I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel about potty training. I know it's necessary, but it's just a darn pain! Poor little Bradley was so ready for potty training that he made me do it. He started pulling off his diapers or pushing them over and peeing out the side. Once he started that, we couldn't ignore the signs any longer. The problem is that I just didn't want anything else to have to do. I just wanted to go along playing, half cleaning, nursing Trent, taking care of R & B and NOT have to add in monitored potty breaks, accidents and clean ups. Oh well. He's actually doing well, but not because of any wonderful technique I've used. I decided that Potty Training is a process that can take weeks and/or months to get right. He now goes pee pee on the potty any time we put him on it, so he CAN control his pee. He just doesn't recognize the urge yet. He still pees any time he needs to go, wherever he is and whatever he's doing. He'll also poo poo on the potty, but only if I see his "poo" face and catch him in time to get him on the potty. Bradley's so proud of himself when he does it and enjoys watching the pee come out into his little potty. We're making lots of progress, but I have no idea when it'll be "through". Till then, we'll just plug along and do our best!

VBS and more...

We've had an extremely busy week this week with VBS. It's the first time my kids have ever been part of VBS and another reason we're so thankful for this church. I'm teaching 5th and 6th grade this year and get to work with a very nice lady...the pastor's wife. Rachel is really enjoying her class and Bradley thinks he's such a big boy going to his class of 3 or 4 with two great teachers. He gets to do alot of "big boy" things like, play on the playground, eat snack in a special room, play games, make crafts, etc... They both really love it! Trent has done great too! It is the first time I've left him with anyone, and even though I am in the same building with him, I still miss him. I just go nurse him when it's been about 2 hours and the very kind, nurturing ladies in there are doing a great job of rocking him and keeping him happy...which makes me happy! My 5th and 6th graders are lots of fun...really and truly a precious group of sweet kids. Most of their moms are working somewhere in VBS, so that shows what wonderful parental involvement they come from. I'm really glad I have gotten to work with such an older age group since that's so different from what I do everyday at home!

Written AFTER VBS:
One of the biggest obstacles this week was getting us all ready and out the door ON TIME every morning. It was quite challenging. I got up at 6:30 each day and tried to get ready before the kids woke up. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't. Trent is the most unpredictable since he still sleeps and eats whenever he wants. Another obstcale was our broken A/C from Sunday-Tuesday. It was SO hot and uncomfortable! I never realized how spoiled we were to having a cool house. But, we made it, our A/C was fixed on Tuesday afternoon and we slept great and felt refreshed the rest of the week. VBS was an absolutely wonderful, uplifting, exciting experience and I'm so thankful that we got to be a part of it!!!