Friday, June 17, 2011

The ABC's of my kids

A - Active and of course Awesome!
B- Butt naked - Pearson's favorite way to be!
C - Cautious (Owen) and Crazy (Pearson)
D - Determined to do things on their own
E - Excited - about the littlest things in life - I could learn from this!
F - Fish - Owen's response when I would say "Don't you understand the words coming out of my mouth?"
G - Gift from God
H - Happy at 6 a.m. - me, not so much!
I - Inquisitive - Owen asks more questions than the FBI (What's for dinner? - at 7:30 a.m.; Where are we going? as soon as he wakes up!)  and that is everyday!
J - Jumpers - love to jump off and on everything
K - Kindergarten - I luckily have one more year before Owen starts!
L - Loving - Wow, they are the most loving kids I know
M - Momma - no one takes my place - I am always wanted!!
N - Naked - again, Pearson!
O - Ornery - how both of them are when they wake up from naps
P - Perpetual Entertainment - There is always something to entertain you between the two of them
Q - Quote of the Month -
Owen - "Pearson, do you love me?"
Pearson - "No"
Owen - " Pearson, do you love popcorn?"
Pearson - "Yes."
R - Radiating - Their smiles light up the room!
S - Stubborn - what kid isn't?!
T - Technology - I love it so my kids love it!  As I write this Pearson is playing on the ipod and Owen is playing on my iphone!  Can be good and bad!
U - Unique - My kids are unique to us and even with both being boys - they are so unique!
V - Vacation - My kids love to travel anywhere and all the time!
W - Waffle - What Pearson is going to turn into if I don't get a little less lazy about fixing breakfast, lunch and well - dinner!!
X - X-ray - Owen has already had one with all his stomach issues; I'm sure Pearson will be having one soon but for something broken!
Y - Yates - I hope they have boys to keep the name going.  Dave was technically the last male Yates.
Z - Zoo - What my house feels like everyday!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Where Have I Been??

I'm asking myself the same question.  My last post was March 10.  Wow!  Oh well. Life happens and I'm back on board to wanting to write, write, write!!  So Pearson has been on go lately.  He is a ball of energy and just is so different from Owen at this age.  We recently went on vacation and while in the bath at the hotel, he managed to gash open his chin and need 5 stitches!  He cried for about 5 minutes and that was it! Owen on the other hand, probably would still be crying days later!  I guess that is the 2nd child mentality.  He also is starting to really talk - ALOT!  Between all the "mommas" I don't know how he ever gets a breath in. But Dave is so gracious to remind me that one day, he won't be saying "momma" all the time.

I'm in the middle of the craziness and frustrated days on end, but I do love it.  My kids are so loving right now and I don't look forward to the day they don't want to sit in my lap, don't want a kiss when I drop them off at school, and even the day that I don't hear their voice at all because they are too busy with their college friends to call me.  So while I do wish I could freeze time, I know I can't.  So Dear Lord, please help me remember that the frustrating, pull my hair out times won't last forever, but unfortunately, neither do the priceless moments that always manage to put a smile on my face.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Preposterous, Perpetual, Shenanigans of Pearson

Tried to find a "p" word like shenanigans but nothing seemed to fit!  My son is crazy.  That's the only way I can describe him.  Everyone gets to see the loving, sweet boy Pearson is.  But no, just wait, I plan on exposing him...He is downright crazy (or basically an almost 2 year old).

Scenario #1 - For the last couple of weeks, off and on, he wakes up crying and is soaking wet.  No, he's not peeing so much that his diaper is full.  He has found "himself" very fascinating and keeps himself busy so much that "it" comes out of the diaper and when he pees at night, he gets wet.  He gets changed and goes back to sleep. (don't worry, I found a solution to this today- onesie under pj's - totally obvious, but oh well) Last night I made the mistake of putting him in a one-piece with a zipper.  This morning while I was watching TV with Owen, Pearson managed to unzip his pj's and take his diaper off and ran around the entire house naked and laughing up a storm!  He loves being naked but I've never seen him run up and down the stairs and everywhere in the house naked. I'm sure it won't be the last.

Scenario #2 - Pearson thinks he is muscle man.  He is constantly hitting things, picking things up and throwing them, making grunting noises, etc.  He has now ventured into picking up his push toys and slamming them down to the floor.  No smack on the hand or time out has solved this.  It is clearly a goal of his everyday to see what he can pick up and slam down.  I have a feeling Owen is somewhere on his list!

There are so many more "shenanigans" and I'll keep adding them as time goes on and try to throw in a picture or two here and there!  As crazy as he is....I love him so!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Who Broke the Mirror?? (Part 3)

Ok, so I had to finish this series. I couldn't wait much longer to tell my fabulous story of how I hurt my knee and to find the silver lining.  If you haven't been reading along...be sure to catch up on part 1 and part 2.

I was a little wordy with my last post so I left out the silver lining I found with the boys being sick. Even though sicknesses are not fun, we got to take a break from the daily grind and just hang out together.  I spent a lot of one on one time with both boys cuddled on the couch watching Camp Rock and Toy Story more times that I can count!  But I loved it.  There were frustrating times where they wouldn't take their medicine but after a time out for both of us, they would.  And then there was the constant need for only their mom which was very taxing on me but now looking back, there will not be many years left for that. So I  will stop and cherish every cry for "Momma" from now on and all the outreached arms screaming pick me up and remember that my boys will be grown before I know it.

My knee accident comes 1 day after Pearson's pneumonia diagnosis - like we needed more drama. I really wish I had this fabulous story about how I was training for my first marathon (yet I don't even run even though ironically we were looking at treadmills just days before this accident!) or how I was climbing Mt. Everest (yeah, not even) when I hurt my knee.  Something totally fabulous but no, just quite the opposite - the dog did it.  Yes, Lucy our 8-month old Golden Retriever took me out.  She was playing with a neighbor's dog and was just running full throttle when she hit me at my knee on the outside.  I felt a pop and then it went back in and I fell to the ground, holding Pearson (he never touched the ground - that could be the fabulous part!) Luckily my neighbor was with me and she helped me get everyone inside including myself. She was also able to get me a quick appointment for the next day with a wonderful orthopedist.

The diagnosis - sprained/torn MCL.  The best ligament in your knee to mess up if you are going to mess one up.  So I had that going for me. However the treatment was to take it easy for 2 weeks and see him back in a month.  I will admit I had a slight smile as I visioned laying around for the next 2 weeks while everyone waited on me for a change.  That vision was rudely interrupted when Dave told me he would be going back to work that afternoon - ahh reality - I'm a stay at home mom with 2 young kids and 2 crazy dogs - there is no laying around for anyone, much less me.  But over the last week, we've made it work.

So the silver lining in this is God has a funny way of making sure we take care of ourselves too.  I was forced to slow down and rely on friends and family to help me.  And boy do I have some great friends and family members!  I didn't even have to ask for help. They were all there waiting.  Words can't tell you how thankful I am for all of them.  Dave has been awesome.  He has really made sure I take it easy as much as possible and Owen has been a tremendous help.  He's been going up and down the stairs to get things for me a lot and helping with Pearson a lot too.   1 more week of taking it easy and I should be walking less like Frankenstein!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Who Broke the Mirror?? (Part 2)

So if you didn't read part 1, be sure to check that post out first.  And now for the exciting part 2....While we were with Bill at the hospital, Dave got a voicemail from Owen.  It said, "Momma, I think I need to go to the doctor. I have a cough. Call me back. Bye."  I'm used to Owen's dramatic take on things so I didn't think much about it.  But Dave was pretty worried. So I called mom who was watching the boys (don't know what I would do without her help!) and asked what Owen's message was all about and sure enough, he was coughing pretty bad and running a low grade fever.  I told her to just keep him home from school and we would be home later that afternoon.  That was on a Wednesday.  Thursday we decided to take him to the doctor and they determined he had a virus (I pretty much knew that since many of the other preschool friends had that too.) and they sent us home with instructions that pretty much went like this...."tylenol, nose spray, motrin, nose spray, tylenol, nose spray..." you get the drift.  We did that the rest of the week and all into the weekend.  Meanwhile, Pearson started showing the same symptoms over the weekend and we performed the same protocol with him too.  By Sunday, all I knew was tylenol, nose spray, motrin.  I had to write it all down to keep up with who got what when!

Neither boy was getting better so on Monday I decided to take both boys to the doctor.  Turns out Owen had a double ear infection and the doctor ordered the good old "pink medicine" for him and Pearson had well, a virus!  Owen was feeling much better by Wednesday and was back at school. Pearson was alot worse.  You could look at him and you knew he didn't feel good - so off to the doctor.  Diagnosis - pneumonia.  I had a mommie's intuition that that was what it was.  I had gone through so many different sicknesses with Owen and none of them fit Pearson at that moment. So pneumonia was completely new and we had just dealt with Dave's step-mom being in the hospitial on a ventilator for pneumonia and the flu.  So needless to say, we were stressing.  But our wonderful pediatrician gave Pearson a strong antibiotic shot and a breathing treatment using an inhaler.  We were to continue at home with the inhaler along with another antibiotic and motrin for fever.  Thursday he was feeling a little better and I wasn't totally convinced he was on the mend but I just kept him relaxing (watched Toy Story 3 about 4 times in one day - please don't judge my use of TV!) and doped up on his medicine.  He perked up that afternoon.   Thank GOODNESS!! We are still on antibiotics for both boys but my little white basket full of medicines has been retired to the medicine closet and now I can think beyond tylenol, nose spray, motrin! So Thursday was looking like the black cloud was lifting from the Yates household...and then it happened....

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Who Broke the Mirror?? (Part 1)

So I have resisted blogging for the fear of totally sounding like "Debbie Downer." However, I'm going to blog and find the silver lining in everything.  The Yates family has had a lot going on. I mean, when it rains, it pours.  I believe we have had 7 years of bad luck within the last 2 weeks.  But seriously, being the firm believer in Christ that I am, I know that God has had his hand in all of this and is helping us grow in ways that we may never know.  I also remind myself during situations like this that he never gives us more than we can handle. 

So to start off - my stepmother-in-law Donna was hospitalized 2 weeks ago on a Friday.  Having previously gone to the doctor for a sinus infection earlier that week, they thought she had just became dehydrated and was having problems with her blood pressure. So they sent her to the ER.  Little did we know what was really going on.  The first diagnosis was septic shock and pneumonia.  She was treated with several antibiotics but they weren't working effectively.  Dave and I got down to Morehead City on Monday afternoon. After several scares over the course of the next couple of days, we found out she had H1N1 which turned into pneumonia and then lead to the septic shock.  They placed her on a ventilator.  Dave's dad and I battled to have her moved to a larger hospital in hopes that more specialists would help her get better faster and finally a fabulous doctor came on board and really helped us get her moved.  He was like an angel. He was very thorough and made everything better, especially since he reminded me of Matthew McConaughey!!   She got moved to Wilmington and Dave and I decided she was stable enough so we came home.  They had predicted she would be on the ventilator for at least 2 weeks.  Over the course of the week, she got stronger and stronger and really surprised the doctors. She was able to come off the ventilator after only 6 days.  And came home 1 day shy of being in the hospital 2 weeks.  She's doing great now. What a miracle!!  

So where is the silver lining in all this??  Well I feel that God brought me closer to this side of the family.  I really was able to spend alot of time with Donna's daughter Angie as well as Dave's dad Bill.  I also was given strength that I didn't know I had.  I was constantly in contact with all the doctors and nurses and asked lots of questions.  I fully believe the knowledgable questions I was able to ask could only have came from God.  The family was struggling with everything so God had me there to be there for them and ask tons of questions.  We prayed a lot together and even with the "angel" doctor and had lots of people praying for her all around as well.  I truly believe it was a miracle through God that she is here today and got better as fast as she did. 

Stay tuned for Part II ......

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The other Dave in my life...

So I have another Dave in my life...Dave Ramsey.  My Dave and I are taking the Financial Peace University class at our church in hopes of  "living now like no one else so we can Live like no one else later."  We are very excited about the possibility of being debt free (not including our house) in the near future.  We don't have a lot of debt compared to other Americans but to say we have no car payment, no medical bills, student loans, etc. will be freeing!!  Owen asked my Dave if we could eat Mexican tomorrow night since we had a coupon and Dave said "Dave Ramsey doesn't like for you to eat out." and Owen said, "Have we met him?" HaHa!  We will be getting to know him really well in the next 13 weeks.  So, starting tonight - if you ask me out for lunch - I'll probably say no!!  But we have turkey and bread here!