Car Conversations Part 2

So this conversation was not between me and the boy, but between my husband and the boy. They were on the way home from school and the boy had done something that he knew resulted in a spanking. Below is the converstation as told to me by Steve:

Boy: Daddy? Can I take my shoes off?
Steve: No dude, we gotta go somewhere before we go home.
Boy: Already took them off Daddy
Steve: Well...you gotta have a consequence now
Boy: Oh. I didn't listen?
Steve: No, you didn't listen
Boy: Oh...not a spanking? How 'bout a time out?

Dang their smart even at 2! It's ridiculous. How do you punish the kid after that? Hilarious!

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

It's a Roller Coaster

Well...lovesandboy is about to become lovesandboyandgirl...wow that's really long!

About a month ago I got a call from my sister and the conversation went as follows:
Bekah: Hello?
Steph: How serious are you about adopting?
Bekah: (silence)
Steph: Hello?
Bekah: Ummmm...why?

She proceeded to tell me that she had gotten a phone call from someone who knew someone else that was wanting to give up her baby. She was 20 weeks pregnant, a single mom already and just couldn't raise another child by herself. It threw our whole weekend for a loop. After the phone call there was a lot of contemplative silence. And it lasted all weekend. We felt like we needed to take 72 hours to pray and when that 72 hours was over I looked and Steve and asked him what he was thinking. He said he knew we were supposed to take this baby the minute she called and I said, "I felt the same way!" but neither of us wanted to be the first one to say it. That day we told our liason that our answer was yes and we heard back that night that our baby mama also said yes to us.

Steve and I have been trying to have another baby for about 2 years now but have had a complete peace about the whole thing. For some reason I have wanted to have a baby in February, maybe mostly because I would avoid the enormousness in the heat of summer. So when the time came and passed for us, I was a little sad but held on to Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you..." He has never failed us! Well...ironically, but not coincidentally, our baby GIRL's due date is February 20th. God is hilarious! :)

We are very excited and looking forward to this addition to our family. The boy is going to be a big brother, and although he doesn't fully comprehend the fullness of that, he is very excited!

When all of this came down I struggled with the fear that I might not be able to love her as much as I do the boy but God spoke this to me. That He was the one that decided who this little girl's parents would be just the same as he decided who the boy's parents would be. That they belong to Him anyway and we are just lucky enough to get to take care of them for a while.

We pray for our baby mama every day and know that God has put her in our life for a reason. She will forever have at least 2 people praying for her.

We are so thankful to God for this opportunity to expand our family and can't wait for all that's to come! We're on the adoption roller coaster now...so here we go :)

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Car Conversations Part 1

So yesterday the boy and I were on the way to school and I told him that my birthday was coming up soon. Below is the conversation that followed.

Mommy: My birthday's coming soon!
The Boy: Oh...
Mommy: Are you gonna get me a present?
The Boy: Yes!
Mommy: What are you going to get me?
The Boy: A Hulk
Mommy: A Hulk?
The Boy: Uh huh...a pink hulk!

I laughed so hard and then I wanted to cry because it was so sweet of him to think of getting me a girl superhero. He just blesses my life more and more each day. We have the best time together. I love when I get to have those moments like that with him in the car. It's quiet. It's just me and him most of the time. And he we have funny talks. More car conversations to come I am quite certain :)

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Older Kids are Just a Bad Influence

This last Monday some good friends of ours came in from out of town and stayed at our house. It was so good to see them and their kids (we missed you though Kyle!) Anyway, their son is 3 and the boy is 2. There is only about 9 months difference between them so they had a blast playing together. The 3 year old's vocabulary is slightly more advanced than the boy's and this was where the age difference was apparent. He was putting sentences more completely together, you know, with the nouns the verbs and conjunctions? I don't know, I'm not that good at grammar. For instance the boy will say to me. "Mommy, going?" and Myles (the 3 year old) would say, "Mommy, where are you going?" It was fun to see the differences in age and fun to see what was to come as the boy nears 3. 

It was fun until Myles started telling his mom, "I don't want to." I noticed this right away because this is not a sentence the boy has used yet. Don't get me wrong...Myles is an incredible, very well behaved kid! He's just 3 and he wants what he wants and he knows he has an opinion.  It was very funny to me but not so much to my friend. Again, it was funny until later that night when both boys were in the bath and when I told the boy it was time to get out he said to me, "Mommy, don't want to." It was evident to me that older kids are just bad influences. Obviously my kid is a perfect angel and would have never said that had he not heard it from an older one. Say what? That's crazy town...oh man, I crack myself up. I am most positive that the boy would have started it soon enough on his own. So that's his new sentence. Love you Bean!

Lovesandboy, 

Bekah

My Treadmill and I are Now on a First Name Basis

So...I got a treadmill from a friend of mine probably 2 months ago. I was very excited and very eager to lose all of this baby weight that has been clinging to my butt and thighs for way too long. So we got it set up in our bedroom which was not my first choice but I also didn't want it in the Living Room all huge and staring at me all the time. The garage wasn't a good choice either because it gets like a million degrees in the summer and let's be honest, who wants to work out in the garage? So into our bedroom it went. It was an exciting and timid day all at the same time. Was I going to use it? Would this be the motivation that I needed? I asked myself with excitement. 

And so I used it. I loved it and it loved me. I think the first week we had it I used it 4 times. Not bad for a fattie! :) By the 4th time I had gotten a blister on my precious little pinky toe. It might have been the shoes or it might have been the fact that my feet weren't used to all the walking. You know how when you do an activity that you don't normally do and you get sore in places that you didn't even know there was muscle? I am pretty sure this was the same type of problem with my toes. At any rate I had to take a couple of days off. So the next week I was back at it. And I used it 3 times. And then the next week 2 times. And then the next week no times. And I haven't been back on it since. 

Why? I ask myself. Why? I actually enjoy it once I am on there and I feel great after. So why is it so difficult for me to get my lazy butt up and get on that treadmill and walk it out? I think I have come up with a solution.  The treadmill is cold and sterile and doesn't have a name. It has no feelings and could care less if I use it or not. And maybe that's the problem. Maybe we need to be friends first before I get so intimate with it. Seriously, how many friends ask you every time you see them how much you weigh and which friend of yours would you be comfortable enough telling? Yet every time I get on that treadmill it says to me, "how much do you weigh" and I willingly punch in those dreaded numbers. And then the next time I see that treadmill it asks me the same question and I totally tell it...again! It's just plain rude. So I decided that being on a first name basis would be a step in the right direction. 

So Bella is her name and now I can start rebuilding a relationship that is so intimate that I will tell her my weight every time she asks...I know my secret's safe with her. 

Lovesandboy, 

Bekah

Mommy Vacation Fun!

We just got back from a 2 week vacation and I could not feel more amazing. It was the first family vacation that the boy was old enough to really process what was happening. It was so fun for us to see him enjoying his time as a family and all of the activities that went with it. During the first part of our 2 week adventure we went to Disneyland with some good friends of ours who have a son close to the boy's age and an amazing 8 year old daughter. It was crowded but we had such an awesome time running around from ride to ride and pushing our way through the people who totally invaded on our Disney time...how rude and how dare they! We decided to skip the "parade" because we found out that it was some dumb "celebration time" thing with a guy that stood on top of some float and sang a million songs while some of the Disney characters danced around on the ground below. That is not a parade and I'm pretty sure that Walt Disney would not be amused. Remember the electrical light parade? Twirling lights and techno music is always a fantastic spectacle to see!

After our Disneyland adventure we headed up to North to visit some friends of ours whose son was turning 2. The 3 boys love each other and we miss our friends who moved away from us deeply so it was great to spend time with them.

Next it was on to San Diego for some beach and relaxation time. It felt so good to be in weather that doesn't make you feel completely sucked dry of all moisture. My skin felt amazing and my nose wasn't constantly dry and full of crusty boogers...I know it's gross but it's true. Dry Las Vegas weather wreaks havoc on my skin and nose! Thank you desert dryness!

The boy was hilarious at the beach. He loves the sand but not so much the ocean yet. This is something that will be remedied because gosh darn it...no son of mine will be afraid of the ocean! :) By the end of the week he was much more daring and willing to go in the water. Thank goodness! The boy was fascinated with all the people skateboarding down the boardwalk and eventually started "skateboarding" himself. He would turn sideways and sort of scoot on his feet and then he would jump and fall down on the ground...this was his "trick" and he was always very proud of himself when the trick was over and he was back on his feet skateboarding down the boardwalk. He would look back at me with a huge smile and say "see mommy...skateboarding." I mean...it doesn't get any better than that.

My Grampy and Nana live in San Diego too and it was so great to spend time with them. The boy doesn't really get to see them that much but he remembered them and connected like he gets to see them everyday. My Grampy has always had a knack for finding money behind kids ears. It still amazes me to this day :). Needless to say, he kept finding quarters in the boys ears. It's amazing how exciting a few quarters are! Now he rubs his ears and says "money? ears?" Thanks Grampy! :)

We had so much fun and did so much that I was pretty confident that coming back to normal life would seem like such a bore to him! Seriously, everyday we did something new and fun...how do you return to normal life after that? Can't we all just be on vacation all the time? Then that would be the normal and we would all want to be working...? So many unanswered questions. Regrdless, we had a blast and are now back in the swing of normal life...work, church, school. Blah! One thing I do know is that this vacation was needed in the worst way. Nothing can replace quality family time and we are working on reblancing our hectic lives to have more of that amazing family time that so easily gets pushed aside in the busyness of life.

While we were on vacation the boy kept saying "mommy, vacation fun!" I couldn't agree more :)

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

The Day I Smelled Perfume

So I got ready the other morning exactly as I always do. I showered. Blow dryed my hair. Put curlers in my hair. Brushed my teeth. Put on face lotion. Put on deodorant. Did my makeup. Took out the curlers. Fluffed hair with fingers and gave a spritz of hairspray. Put on my perfume. Got dressed. It was a completly normal and average morning.

Let's talk about the perfume. I have never been a perfume wearing type of gal, however I found a scent at Victoria Secret that I found most pleasant and very light and non perfumey smelling. You know the perfumey smelling kind that I am talking about. We all know the kind. It's the kind where you walk by someone and end up smelling their stank perfume all day because it has lodged itself in your nasal cavities. Or the kind where when someone gives you a hug they might as well have brought their bottle of perfume around and sprayed it all over your clothes because it rubs off on you that much! Their perfume becomes your perfume...thanks for sharing! So...why on this particular day did I smell like one of those stank freaks? I used my normal perfume. Same amount and in the same place.

I got to work and could not shake this strong perfume smell all day. I kept trying to figure it out. Maybe I grabbed the wrong bottle and the one I grabbed went bad? No...I didn't think so...is what I said to myself. Maybe I hugged someone and it was lodged in my nasal cavities? But I haven't really hugged any stanks today...I thought to myself. So I struggled through the day with this strong smell wafting all around me. It seemed to get stronger as the day went on too but I kept on ignoring it.

After work we ate dinner and played all the while I still smelled. So it was time for bed and the boy and I commensed with our usual nightime cuddles as I mentioned in my previous blog. We had sung our songs, read our books and the boy looked up with a puzzled expression and said, "Mommy, what's that?" I thought for sure he noticed the smell and was wondering where it came from. But instead, he reached inside my shirt and pulled out a dryer sheet. The mystery was solved and I cracked up laughing. Steve was gone so there was no one around that could fully appreciate this moment with me. The boy was cracking up but I knew he had no idea why and at one point looked at me with that sweet face and I knew he was thinking "mommy's finally lost it." And that was the day that I smelled perfume.

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Nightime Cuddles

Bedtime is one of my favorite parts of the day for more than one reason. First of all, my husband and I have some much needed time together and secondly the boy is so stinkin cute when it's time for bed! The boy is so fun when it's time to go to bed. It's like something inside of him is saying "act as cute as possible and you'll get to stay up longer!" This happens to be true. We play and wrestle, dance, sing songs (that are completly made up by the way) and read our books. We sit in his rocker and give noses (eskimo kisses), butterflies and cuddle. Last night was no exception. I was sitting there with him singing him the Judah song that I sing to him every night when out of nowhere he started singing with me. This was the first time he has sung this particular song with me. What made it so amazing was that any time in the song that had his name he replaced it with mommy. Come on now! How cute is that and how could I possibly put him to bed after that? I am sure he planned this out. So we cuddled longer than usual until it was finally so far past his bed time that I knew I would regret it in the morning if I didn't force myself to lay him down so he could get some much needed sleep.

Oh man...I love the nightime cuddles!

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

One Year Ago I Was Famous For a Second

Well...maybe not completely FAMOUS. Last February I was on the Ellen DeGeneres show. It's true. So here's how it all went down. I was sitting on my couch watching the Ellen Show and I saw this little announcement across the bottom of the screen that Ellen was looking for 4 friends to roadtrip across the country where they would end up in LA and meet Ellen on the show. I remember thinking to myself "hecks yes!" So I called up the 3 friends that I have known the longest. My sister, Jaime Gottmann and Jamie Bielich. We have all known each other for like a million years and I knew that we could have a great shot at being picked considering how fabulous we all are. I told the girls "we have to do this" and we arranged to film a video the next day. The funny thing about filming that day was this. My sister was sick and cranky and I was totally pms-ing. This is not a good combination for sisters! There were a few conflicts but we worked them out and filmed the winning video that night...grumpiness and all!

The next week we got a call from the producer telling us that we were in the running to get picked for this totally awesome trip. We were ecstatic and paniced all at the same time. We all had these two thoughts. 1) I need to ask my boss for the time off just in case...even though I have no idea when we would leave or when we would come back. This, needless to say was tricky and induced panic especially for Bielich and Gottmann who are total planners. 2) I actually might be leaving my family (and dogs...you're welcome Gott) for possibly 2 weeks. YIKES!

My first conversation with the producer went a little something like this:

Producer: Can you take off of work for possibly 2 weeks?
Me: YES!
Producer: You can really just pick up and leave without any notice?
Me: YES! OF COURSE!
Producer: Your husbands are ok with watching the kids?
Me: YES! THEY REALLY WANT TO!

It didn't matter what the question was I just said yes. I figured this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that the details would all work themselves out at some point. When I hung up the phone I was in frozen "this might actually happen" mode. One week after that conversation I was sitting in the living room at Bielch's house waiting to have what we thought was the final interview with the big cheese producer. As it turns out...the final phone call was from Ellen herself telling us that an Acadia was pulling up outside the house and she asked if we would get it in. The answer...of course...was YES! 3 1/2 hours later the 4 of us were on a plane and on our way to New Orleans where we would start our roadtrip adventure. It was whirlwind fast!

More to come...

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

A Statement

Ok...so I feel like I need to respond to my previous post considering the comments I have gotten both in person and in text. I did not intend for it to be sad. I am not sad that I am sad about being a working mom. There are millions of us that do it every day. I was simply sharing my heart about the inner conflict. My statement about the boy being "emotionally scarred" was said in sarcasm. Sense the tone people! (Mostly the mom...she can't help it. You just never stop being a mom I guess. But that is a blog for another day). I do NOT dwell on the sadness I feel. I count my blessings every day. I just love my boy. I love being with him. I love playing with him. And my heart feels sad when I have to be apart from him. This is the only thing that I know for sure in this situation. I am where God wants me and when we are obedient any sadness that is a direct result of that obedience Jesus will always mend.

There is Sadness Sometimes in My Heart

"No Mommy! No! Need you Mommy!" Is the sound that is left ringing in my ears most workday mornings. This sound usually does not go away until after lunch. I am not quite sure if it is the satisfaction of a full tummy or if it's just that the voice gets dimmer as I am consumed with the activities and work of the day, but nonetheless the voice is there. Being a working mom is something I never thought would be difficult for me. I am not the type of person who likes staying at home, in fact, most of the time I prefer to be out doing things. I am a people person by nature and would choose to be surrounded by people most of the time. This quality can, at times, be frustrating for my husband who (although not completely the opposite) prefers to be at home and would rather spend time with just our family instead of with others. This is not to say that he does not enjoy others' company. He does. Just not in the same "all the time way" that I do. All of this to say that I never thought I would want to be a stay at home mom. It's amazing how much one tiny person can change your entire view of the world around you! And I am still not sure if I would want to be a stay at home mom...this is the dilemma! I feel trapped between two worlds.

It has been in the last year, and for some reason more intense the last few months, the sadness I feel when I have to drop my boy off to be in someone else's care for the day. Last night I laid in bed and had anxiety over the thought of the boy sitting at a table with 15 other kids eating his pb&j or balogne sandwich all alone...at least it feels like he's alone if he's not with me...in a robot like fashion. Here's the thing. I know he gets cared for. I know that he's not in danger. And I also know that I am INCREDIBLY lucky that I get to be right upstairs from him! I don't have to drop him off at 6 in the morning and then make a commute to work, as I know some single moms and fellow working moms have to do for survival. In many ways I am incredibly blessed. But I can't help but wonder if I'm making a mistake. And this makes me sad lately.

On the other hand, there are no words to explain the look of joy on the boy's face when I pick him up from school. The enormous smile that stretches from ear to ear and the shout of delight "MOMMY!" that erupts from his little body. So that is what I try to focus on as I struggle to get the morning cries out of my head. The guilt for leaving him in others' care not only during the week but then again on the weekend while I am there for services feels like a weight on my heart.

So now I have found myself in this place of sadness. I feel sad that I have to leave him and sad that I don't know what to do about it. I don't feel a peace about staying at home full time. And I know I am where God wants me to be...it's quite the dilemma!

I realize the morning cries will eventually stop. But will they stop because he isn't sad anymore? Or will they stop because he will be old enough to resolve in his head that he will be away from mommy and daddy during the day? These are questions I am not sure I want the answers to.

So to my sweet amazing boy...I am sorry if my working causes you emotional scarring one day. You're tough with strong muscles though, so I know you will get through it. I love you so much!

Lovesandboy,

Bekah

A Friday Night

I knew last Friday would be a blog when I was on my way home from work to discover that my husband had taken the boy to the park. Let me just say, Fridays are our day off so normally it is family day. Sadly, I had a video to finish for services that weekend and had to go to work when the boy was taking a nap. So...on my way home I called my husband to find out what they were up to and they were just heading to the park for some daddy/boy time. On my way home I stopped at the park where I found my husband, boy and dog all playing. I love to watch my husband play with the boy. It makes me love him so much more! I walked up to the slides and the boy shouted with such genuine excitement "mommy!" This, of course, made my night. They were running around, and going down the slide for what I can imagine was at least one million times. In the words of the boy "again? again?" He grabbed my hand when I got there and wanted me to go down the slide with him. This, considering my hips, is not always easy but thankfully the slide seemed to be wider that day. So we went down the slide at least one million more times before it was time to head back home. We loaded up and headed to the house. My husband wanted burgers that night so we made some juicy goodness hamburgers and then settled down to eat.


Dinner time is one of my favorite parts of the day. We sit at the table together, with a begging dog sitting at the feet of my husband and the boy. The dog has quickly learned that droppings are most likely to come from one of the two! That night we ate dinner together as we usually do. Lately the boy has been the entertainer at the dinner table. My favorite is when he crinkles his noise and squints his eyes and says things like "yeah man..." and "cool dude" all the while shaking his head in a jazz-esque fashion. He was in the middle of these entertaining antics when I looked at his plate and noticed that he had stuck chips in his hamburger bun. They were sticking up as if to make a porcupine out of his hamburger. This cracked me up and of course my laughing prompted him to stick more chips into his hamburger.

About half way through the meal the boy took a ginormous bite. He was chewing and chewing and chewing. And then I saw the look of panic in his eyes. He started to gag and my husband and I panicked. I grabbed some napkins, my husband ran to get a towel and then it happened. He spewed throw up all over the kitchen table and all over himself. It's so funny how food reversed sends people into such a tizzy. At first our audible levels started to escalate and then we just started laughing. What else are you going to do? So we cleaned up the reversed food (it just sounds nicer than throw up) and the boy and then sat back at the table. My husband and I looked at each other and then at our half eaten formerly delicious looking hamburgers and knew our meal was over. Who can finish eating after an event like that?

It was an event filled evening but the boy was fine and all was well by the time he went to bed.

I do NOT love throw up.

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

The Beep

This morning the boy and I were getting ready to head out the door for the day and we heard a beep in the house. I am still not sure from where the beep originated, but nonetheless there was a beep. I looked at the boy and said "what was that?" And without missing a beat he smiled and said "snacks ready." I started laughing and then he started laughing and it instantly became one of those moments I hope I never forget.

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Our family is frequent watchers of the Wiggles. Not only do they have Australian accents but the show is filled with 20 minutes of singing and dancing! Who doesn't like that? Such fine entertainment! My favorite part of the show though, has nothing to do with the Wiggles, but instead the look of pure enjoyment on the boy's face.  We usually watch The Wiggles in the morning while we have breakfast together. It entertains the boy while my husband and I are still waking up. The boy has been getting up at 7 am from the time he was 2 months old. Although I appreciate the consistency, I do miss the days of sleeping in sometimes. So the Wiggles have become our life line. Our way of having a moment for our brain and body to be in awake mode at the same time. Just because I am out of bed, doesn't mean I am awake! 

Back to my favorite part of the show,  "the look of pure enjoyment on the boy's face" as I stated before. He sits on the couch eating his fried, sunshine, omelet or scrambled eggs (the style varies from day to day but there are almost always eggs on the menu for breakie...as they say in England) and enjoys the singing and dancing with a sleepy smiley expression on his face. At some point he gets off the couch and dances with glee to the songs he likes best. And then he comes and says "mommy dance, up" And so I get up and we dance together. At this point I am usually wide awake and feeling good. My husband, on the other hand, needs exactly one hour and one pot of coffee to be fully awake so most of the earlier morning play time is up to me. I am ok with this because my husband quietly makes breakie, the boys lunch and takes time to read his Bible. He stays in his zone and the boy and I watch the Wiggles and dance. There are times, however, that I don't feel like dancing in the morning,  but I do it anyway because of that look on the boy's face that screams "play with me mommy!" He grabs my hand and I know that my moments like this with him won't last for much longer.  I have recently been really trying to focus on the now and not the "if he was only a little bit older we could do more" moments. My boy will only be little for such a short time and I will never get year #2 back. The year of potty training, tantrums, singing and dancing.  There will come a time when The Wiggles are for babies and dancing with his mom is embarrassing, so I choose to embrace this time and hold on to it with everything that I am.  So when he grabs my hand in the morning and we are both in our jammies with egg breath...he makes me feel like dancing. 

Lovesandboy,

Bekah

Let's Talk About Sam's Club

Sam's Club is a phenomenon that I so appreciate these days. We like to do basic grocery shopping at the Sam's Club. It seems mildly silly seeing as everything comes in restaurant size quantities and there are only 3 of us in our family, but nonetheless we continue to go there every paycheck to buy things that we need and some things that we don't need. We ALWAYS go as a family and this is the part I like best. We try to plan our shopping extravaganza (doesn't that sound so much more excting than grocery shopping? BORING!) around lunch or dinner time because our whole family can have a delicious meal for exactly $4.50...drinks included! We sit in the cafeteria style dining area on the hard white plastic pinic tables and try to enjoy some time as a family before or after the GROCERY EXTRAVAGANZA! The boy sits there so nicely for about 30 seconds and then he wants to get down and run around. He is fascinated with the claw game and wants to play every time we are there. Let's talk about that game for a minute...they charge like $3 (which is almost more than our dinner cost) for a game that almost never rewards its enthusiasts with a prize, and on the off chance that it does, it is a totally cheeseball stuffed animal that I am sure was purchased at an online mass quantity warehouse, much like the one we are trying to enjoy dinner in, for 30 cents! So...we tell him no and of course he is upset because he doesn't understand the "I can go to the dollar tree and buy you a better stuffed animal, not that you need it because you have a million toys sitting at home, and also does money grow on trees?" concept. So...after dinner we wander around the Sam's Club discovering new and exciting items that seem to overwhelm us with joy. It is especially joyous when those new and exciting items are food and they are sampling it. It's just good clean fun people!

Milk, eggs (2 18 packs), bread, cheese (3 different varieties) and pull ups are always on the list. Not only are these items cheaper, but we go through them so quickly that we need the bulk! The rest of our cart is filled with whatever else we deem necessary during that shopping extravaganza. One important tip...we never shop while hungry. Hunger, we have experienced, is especially dangerous at the mega stores. We run up and down the aisles and chase each other while people look at us like we are totally nuts and how dare we! But we don't care. We have fun. My husband almost always finds a big bin of giant overstuffed animals to throw the boy into where he stays so quietly until I come around the corner to "find him." He laughs, and then his laughing makes us laugh and then we continue on our way to finish the extravaganza ignoring the looks from the stangers around us.

I like Sam's Club better than Costco for one reason and one reason only. Sam's Club sells their milk individually and Costco sells it in two's. I am the only one that drinks nonfat milk in our house so we need 3 gallons of whole milk and only 1 nonfat. Now you might be thinking that I could just pick up a gallon of nonfat when I got to the regular non super sized grocery store. While this is correct in theory, I like my cartons of milk to match. I know. I know. I need help...

By the time we check out of the store the boy is usually way past over the grocery extravaganza and ready to go home. This is NOT my favorite part of the outing and almost always results in some crying and at least one spanking...or at least the threat of one...don't judge me GKGW peeps...you know who you are. This does not ruin the fun that we have. We make it through the check out and head out the door where the lady who checks the receipts draws a little smiley face in yellow highlighter on the back of the receipt which always proceeds to get yellow on myself, the boy or some item of clothing...thank you receipt checker lady!

This concludes our Sam's Club family time. I am so thankful that I am a part of a family that can make anything fun. We just love to be together and if you can't have fun while doing it...what's the point?


Lovesandboy,
Bekah

Me and Mr. Potato Head Have a Love Hate Relationship Right Now

Before we had kids I bought a giant Mr. Potato Head at Costco. Inside the giant potato head was a whole family of potato heads with the usual parts and pieces for each. A purse for the Mrs. and a flowered hat for the little girl were included. It was a novelty that I liked to display in our lving room...I thought it was fun to look at. Then my nephew and niece were born and they had a blast playing with it too. We would empty out the giant potato and the amazing sea of parts and pieces would flow out of it like some sort of oddly colored body part river. We would play and make up different looks for each of the Potato family members. And then my nephew and niece would go home and Mr. Potato Head would return to his home on the shelf where his smiling face with perfect white teeth and red nose would amuse me until the next time it was time to play. My feelings for Mr. Potato Head have since changed. I now find myself, since becoming a mom of a boy, picking up pieces and parts of the giant Mr. Potato Head from under every piece of furniture, tucked into nooks and cranies and stashed anywhere the boy thinks would be a safe and secret hiding place for the unusually colored body parts of the Mr. Potato Head. At times I find this amusing. At times I find this annoying. Say for instance I find a Mr. Potato Head ear in my sock drawer...amusing. Say I find a Mr. Potato Head shoe inside of one of my shoes...also amusing. But to find a Mr. Potato Head eyes in the chip bag? Actually...also amusing. So the times I find it annoying are when I have just cleaned the house and I have found that the boy has dumped the entire giant Mr. Potato Head onto the living room floor and then walked away. Why? Why...I ask myself...why? For the pure enjoyment of making a mess I am pretty sure. I love to hate all of those million pieces and parts of the giant Mr. Potato Head and then I see that perfect white smile...and I am in love once again.

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

My Peripheral Vision Was Not So Much

Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like you have lost all peripheral vision and the benefits that come with it? Suddenly you are dropping things, tripping on stuff and not able to handle daily tasks with the same ballerina-esque fluidity that you do on a normal day. That's how my Thursday was from the minute I woke up. It was one of those days that just feels weird. Nothing was going quite right. It was almost right...I blame my lack of peripheral vision. It felt like I could only see right in front of me. Not down or off to either side. Just direclty in front. This absolutely becomes an issue for every day tasks. You begin to appreciate the peripheral. It was a day that started out weird, slowly worked its way into the average category, then it got good...but it ended great.

After work we headed as a family to visit our friends, who just had twins, at the hospital. I had made them dinner that day...which let me tell you is a difficult thing to do when one's peripheral vision is not so much working. We brought it to the hospital and we were going to eat there with them in their room. The boy made me so proud. He walked right with us and stayed and sat when asked. Good boy :). Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to our dog. This makes me feel like an unfit mother so I do try to catch myself..."sit, stay...no!"...this is what I'm talking about. Nonetheless, he was very good and very patient while we hung out at the hospital and helped our friends move rooms and load up their car. My husband ended up taking the boy home for bed so that I could go see the girls in the NICU. What a good man he is.

This may sound strange but this is when my day started to go from good to great. I walked into the NICU, scrubbed up my apparently dirty hands, and walked over to my friends who were sitting next to their little twin girls. The girls are doing good, but are still hooked up to who knows how many different machines and wires. They had little cloth sunglasses on and you could see the cutest scrawny little arms I have ever seen poking out from around the wires and blankets. It was so amazing to see! It's amazing how hard we have to work to finish something God does so easily. Here's the thing. It wasn't sad. There was a peace from God that was so real and profound you could almost see it hovering over those girls beds. You know there's an angel on duty for each one day and night. It was peaceful. A peace only God can bring. I got to hold each of their little hands and pray for each one. I can't imagine the rollercoaster ride of emotions that my friends are on, but you can see the same peace in their faces. I feel sorry and sad for those going through something like this without God!

When I got home I had the incredible urge to hold my son. So I told my husband "I'm going in to see the boy." He responded with a loving "Are you crazy? Leave him alone! What if he wakes up?" It's amazing the joy you find while watching them sleep and the complete fear that can overwhelm as they show signs of waking before the proper time. But that night I didn't care. I went in his room, picked him up and we sat in his rocker together. He laid in my arms asleep, looking more awesome than ever, and I sat and prayed for the girls and our friends at the same time thanking God for my boy. I leaned down and whispered to the boy "I love you" and without missing a beat in his sleep he smiled and said "love you." And that's when my day made the complete transformation from good to great.

Lovesandboy,
Bekah

A Fancy Day

Today is fancy because...

I laid in bed this morning, my face pounding from the constant waves of sinus pressure, and heard my boy yelling from his room..."mommy! wake up!" So I did what any self respecting mother would do at 7 am. I rolled over and hit my husband and said "the boy needs you." Being the blessed husband that he is, he rolled out of bed and went and got the boy. Lately we have been bringing him in bed with us in the morning. It's the sweetest family time that we ever have. We lay in bed, sometimes with the witty tunes of the Wiggles playing on the tv...we cuddle and laugh, give zerberts, and enjoy our time together before we have to drag our sleepy butts out of bed and head into the day. So that is what we did this morning. Steve plopped him on the bed and he crawled over to me with a big smile on his face and said "hi mommy!" It's my favorite way to wake up. That smile and sweet voice welcoming me into a brand new day. I asked him how his sleep was and he said "good." I love the way he talks so I make sure I ask questions that allow him to answer with actual words instead of yes or no. After one round of the Wiggles and some cuddles later, he was ready to get down and ready to eat! That boy can pound the food! So we got up and headed out to the kitchen for some breakfast. Eggs with ham and toast...delicious...just in case you were wondering. While breakfast was getting ready he got cranky! I call it the hunger blues...he's not quite old enough to express with accurate precision..."mother I am hungry." So...two spankings and one time out later, we ate breakfast and my sweet boy returned from the abyss of the hunger blues.

This is why my day was fancy...
When I got out of the shower this morning I checked my texts and found out that our good friends were having their baby twins this morning! 9 weeks early. I rushed to get ready and headed to the hospital. Mom and babies are both doing great. I am just so thankful to God for the gift of life and the joy that parenthood brings. I was overjoyed to know that our friends would now be able to share in the joy and craziness (come on now! Can I get a witness!) that being a mom and dad brings. What a great day so far and it's only 2:30. I can't wait to pick up my son from school...the sadness of a working mother is for a whole other blog...but for now I will look forward to the smile on his face when I walk into his classroom to pick him up for the day. Man....what a day! What a fancy day....

Lovesandboy,
Bekah