If only it looked like this ALL the time.

 

So, last fall I received these countertop pamphlets in the mail because the pictures used in them are OUR KITCHEN!!!

 

Apparently our contractor told the company he ordered our concrete countertop forms from that our kitchen was really pretty and they sent out two professional photographers to capture our pics!

 

I felt really proud and really honored and all, but they were here staging and photographing for FOUR HOURS in the middle of the day one day and I had to keep the kids happy without feeding them...which is like, impossible!

 

So, all that work (not done by me) really paid off because now our perfectly staged kitchen is kinda famous! :)

August 2014

We started the month of August in North Carolina, drove home, celebrated Desi's 5th birthday, the boys started 1st grade and Pre-K and the very next day I was in a canning accident.

When we got home from our trip the garden was bursting with fruits and veggies that needed to be processed. Sadly the squash bugs had eaten over 50 pumpkins and at least 10 watermelons and we were so sad but the peppers and okra and tomatoes were still rampant. I was spending the day canning salsa and spaghetti sauce and by 6 p.m. I had been at it for 9 hours straight was on my last batch of the day. I was using my grandma's pressure cooker and got impatient. I had turned off the fire but didn't wait long enough to remove the lid. I realized it was pretty stuck and left it alone but I had loosened the lid just enough that when I backed away the lid exploded with boiling water and the water landed all down my chest, arms and right side.

Thankfully Brad had taken the kids to feed the hens so no one else was burned. You can imagine how the kids had been at my feet for most of the day. Brad found me in the shower and my mom came to get the kids. He took me to the hospital where they gave 2 IV to pump me full of pain meds and it still took 3 hours for any relief. Brad used up every single bottle the hospital had of distilled water to pour on my burns. There was about 2 inches of water in our hospital room floor but as long as the water was being poured on me then I wasn't screaming at the top of my lungs. The split second between one bottle running out and the other one beginning to pour was excruciating.  I know other people have suffered far worse, but I truly believed I was going to die from the pain and I kept apologizing to Brad for leaving him alone to raise our 3 precious babies. After 3 hours, the magical drugs FINALLY started working, and I really never hurt again after that. We were transported by ambulance to the Burn Center in OKC for one night of more IV drugs and observation.

It was so traumatic and the emotions for several weeks, maybe months, after were very real and very raw. I learned so, so much about myself, my husband, my life because of this. My poor kids suffered from seeing me. But my friends, my husband, and my parents really came through. For over a week I didn't have to leave my bed. I missed the boys entire first week of school zoned out watching Freaks and Geeks and ate way too many cupcakes. It was quite the experience.

 

GG was shipped from Brad's work to friends but sometimes she just cuddled with me in bed. Here she is lying on my gauzey bandages.

 

Or she cuddled with me while watching TV...

 

Meanwhile, I missed my boys so much. My sweet, superheros...

It took a few days, but soon we were back in the tichin' playing away!

And after a couple of weeks, I was even up for celebrating our TWELVE year anniversary. Our favorite band, Hurray For The Riff Raff was playing a music festival in Fayetteville, AR. We left the kids and drove over Saturday morning. After a day of awesome blue grass music (though it was all inside, downtown Fayetteville, near U of A campus, beautiful place!) we rocked into the wee hours dancing to Alynda's soulful tunes. There was probably 1,000+ in the room and we were one of 12 dancers. I was certain my funky monkey was gonna end up on YouTube but I'm still safe. :) Lucinda Williams was next as the headliner and she was great too. We partied at the hotel bar with members of three different bands. Then we went to a tiny bar for some of the late night jams, and shared our popcorn with Kacey from the Riff Raff. Somehow this is the only pic I got of the week-end but it was a fantastic, FANTASTIC time. The music festival itself was mild, with mostly older hippie types, but we pretended to young and wild and free for the night. :)

 

Somehow we found time for more pond-fishing...

And once I felt a little better, GG and I started going on walks around the lake on the mornings I didn't teach yoga. She was really into it and LOVED going, but it only lasted a few weeks because she refused to ride in the stroller and it would take almost 45 minutes to walk 1 lap (.6 of a mile) and I got frustrated. I also got busy, distracted, and forgetful. :)

 

Here are two other random "going on a walk" pictures...

 

We joined our friends Baylen and Emery for one final trip to the splash pad one day after school before it closed.

This guy somehow managed to start a new semester, take on assistant division chair responsibilities, worry about his wife, and take care of 3 kids all by himself. He is a rock star.

 

I can't remember what we were celebrating, but something spectacular happened and we went for ice cream after school. Maybe because it was Friday? :)

 

Ben grew some freckles!

 

We went for a long drive with GG's little friend Megan and her mom to see where they will be building a house soon. The girls in the back were so cute together!

 

I was a very crazy month but we got through it together and I found myself feeling even more in love with my kids and my husband and my life.

Potty Talk.

I'm a bit behind and will try my best to share all about our fun, stuck-inside-the-whole-month January soon enough.

One of the huge perks of being trapped inside is that this girl got interested and then mastered toilet-training in less than a week!

She was by far the easiest one to potty train by far. She loves wearing panties and after every trip to the bathroom she proudly announces, "Now i get chocolate!!!" 

She has only had 3 accidents total in the last several weeks. One time she just straight up peed on the kitchen counter. One time she was watching the boys play from the window seat and pooped. Then the funniest time was when I was gone to yoga and she brought her daddy a piece of poop that she had "dropped" somewhere in the house!!! Oh, the adventures!

She seems so grown up now though. She is even diaper-free at night! Now her little bum barely fills out her 12 month pants, so we tend to opt for something cuter like these little giraffe tights! :)

Now we are not changing diapers for the first time in over 6 years and it feels so, so weird. I am so proud of my little girl though!

Ben lost a tooth!

On Halloween morning Ben woke us up with an announcement...he had his first loose tooth! Halloween was crazy packed with plans and celebrations but the next day I spent a few hours making this for him.

 

He loved it and immediately named it Toothy. :)

 

He spent the next few days wiggling it like crazy and sure enough, first thing Monday morning at school, he said "It just popped out!"

 

Mrs. Moreno sent me this text just after...

*November 4th, 2013*

 

And as soon as that one came out, the one right next to it started to wiggle! That night we put the tiny tooth into Toothy and Ben started to get sad despite his sheer pride and excitement that he had lost his tooth. For him, this was THE step to becoming a big boy. When I asked why he was sad he said he really wanted to keep his tooth. So, I told him to ask the Tooth Fairy aloud and wouldn't you know it. That night next to 5 one dollar bills there was a teensy tiny note.

 

He was so excited! Then his daddy found out the tooth was left and he made the mistake of asking if there was rotten blood in it...Ben no longer wanted that tooth. :)

 

Still, a really exciting event around here!

Ben starts school!

Ben has been counting down for MONTHS for August 8th, the day he finds out his teacher, and August 9th, the day he starts school! He literally asked me multiple times a day since February how much longer until he can be a chieftain. We saw the school supplies out in Walmart in JUNE and he begged and begged to get them so he could be ready for school. (we did, of course!) He couldn't wait to find out who would be in his class but was totally cool if there were no Bullfrogs in his class because he could "sit with them at lunch and see them at recess." After every yoga class for the last two weeks he asked if we could drive by the Crayon School...just to check on it. His excitement did so much to help my fear, anxiety, and sheer mourning over him heading to school. It has been SO hard for me to accept that he is already starting Kindergarten. It makes my heart hurt.

Thursday night was Back to School night and we were there waiting when the doors were unlocked! Ben was giddy but as we walked in he got a bit shy towards his teacher Ms. Moreno. Outside the door were all the kids names and Des immediately noticed that his name wasn't on the wall and got sad that he wasn't going to school with Ben!!???!!! We found Ben's seat, talked with his teacher and the family wandered around the classroom checking things out while I filled out more forms. Ms. Moreno asked Ben what he wanted to learn this year and he replied, "MATH! I'm good at Math!" and she completely won his heart when she said he could be her Math Assistant! We chatted just a bit and then went to see the cafeteria before heading home.

Friday morning I woke up to Ben cuddling me tight and Des on the other side. G. was the first one up and Brad brought her into bed and we were all cuddling and laughing. As we started to get up, Ben said, "Wait! This is the perfect time. Let's do our family hug." He decided a few days ago that since he was going to be away from his family while at school, it would be a good idea for us all to do a family hug every morning before he left. :)

The morning went smooth. He didn't eat too much breakfast because he said his tummy hurt but I think it was nerves. He had helped me make his lunch the night before. He picked out his clothes all by himself. He was confused about why he should take his backpack if there was nothing in it. :) He was literally running around with excitement and reminding me of everything he didn't want to forget. 

I was excited too...just had a tummy full of butterflies. I was on the verge of melting down I could feel it and Des was having a really hard time. He wanted to go to school. He wanted to be with me. He didn't know why he was so sad...but I did. Neither of us wanted Ben to leave us. :(

It was raining a little but we captured plenty of first day of school pics!!

And here's how Desi's morning was going...

Brad was worried I wouldn't be able to handle it with the two littles (I was on edge!!!) so he took them to class with him so I could face this hardship on my own. As I was buckling Ben in and we were waving bye to Daddy he said, "This is the most excitingest day of my life!" So far so good. We got there in plenty of time. We decided to grab his breakfast card because he thought he might want to have breakfast again. He wouldn't take a pic next to Mrs. Moreno as he was acting shy again, but he wanted to take one in front of her name...

Then we had to get a cubby pic!!! (OSU sent him that backpack in the mail and he thinks it is the coolest thing ever.)

We ran into some friends in the hallway and when Ben found out Case wasn't eating breakfast, he decided he didn't want to either. Typically this would be morning recess time if you weren't eating, but because of the rain, they were gathering the kids in this room and having them volunteer to come up to the front and sing songs. 

 Ben was happy to volunteer, but he wasn't really sure what for. When he got up to the front, she asked him, "what are you gonna sing?" And he replied that he wasn't going to sing and she asked, "well, what did you come up here for?" and he said, "I dunno!" with a shrug. Pretty cute. He smiled and sat back down.

I stayed for a few minutes and then had him come over to give me a hug goodbye. I had a feeling that he was bored listening to kids sing Twinkle, Twinkle over and over and when he hugged me he clung a little too tightly and with a quivering voice said "I don't want you to go yet." I told him that it would be just a couple more minutes before they would head back to his classroom and start to learn! He nodded his head and said, "Ok." I reminded him I would see him at 3:00 o'clock and he turned and went and sat back down. As I was walking out, they started singing the ABCs and I could hear his voice above all the others...

The entire drive to the college, I had a movie reel playing through my mind of his entire life: the moment he was born, the day we brought him home from the hospital, watching him play the tiny OSU hoops in a big cloth diaper, cutting off his curls when they were all ratty, him in the backyard of OKC running the flag, him hugging his brother, and holding his newborn sister...It was ridiculous. And I could NOT stop crying. Why is this so hard for me? 

I spent the morning helping Brad at the college do some little things, then he came home for lunch, then Mandy came over for coffee. I snuggled a lot with Des who was very quiet and introverted. And then at 2:45 we loaded up and went to get Ben. When we got to his classroom, he wasn't there! His teacher looked at me quizzically and said that he was on the bus! I wasn't super friendly to her and then sprinted to the bus lines but the bus had already left. I wasn't very friendly to the bus line teachers either and then I turned and sprinted out with G and Des in tow. I was so afraid that he would get home before us and be all alone...which was silly because he was on that dumb bus for over an HOUR. I called Brad in a panic and he came home to wait with me. I called the school to find out where in the heck they were gonna drop him off. Turns out that back in February I filled out some form. They encouraged me to fill it out "just in case" he needed to ride the bus and then I forgot that I ever filled it out and they assumed he was a bus rider. They assured me he was on the bus and that the driver would drop him off AT OUR HOUSE. We all waited outside and as soon as the bus tried to turn in to our driveway, it got stuck in our bar ditch. I saw Ben BUST through the doors and begin sprinting towards me, screaming at the top of his lungs. I ran to meet him and picked him up and he was crying, "I just want you Mama...I just need you so bad." The bus driver took forever to get unstuck from the ditch and then she told me as she drove by that he cried the entire 1 hour plus ride. 

Here's the thing about Ben. If he is prepared and knows exactly what's going to happen, he can handle anything. It's all about the details with that kid and if he knows them, then he feels superior and in control and he has no fear. But this was not in his plan. I was surprised they even got him on the bus knowing how stubborn he can be with "following the rules/plans" but when I asked him why he let them put him on he said he thought it might be fun. He reallllllly hated it. Not hard to believe since he gets carsick and he probably wondered if they would ever get to his house. Once I promised him he didn't have to ride the bus he really opened up about his day...and it was a good one. He likes his teacher, likes music class, likes that his job is to help the other kids remember their numbers, made a few friends that he can't remember their names. :) I was really proud of how much he talked about his day. I was really surprised at how tired he was. I was really happy at how he made me cuddle him until dinner time. 

So, Ben is in school now. We are having a hard time not having him around all the time...he is super fun you know...but we are excited for him and are just gonna have to deal with it. :)

Breckin Adair

June 11th, 2013 was a day that completely changed my life. My little sister had a baby and I became an aunt. I am still reeling from it!

My sis had a few due dates. The first one was May 25th, Jess's birthday. Then after the second ultrasound they bumped it to May 27th. Then a different doctor said that he would have set it at June 1st. No one knew which one to follow and none of them mattered anyway! 

On Sunday, June 9th, we were on our way to church when Lane called me to tell her water broke. She was giddy and I was giddy and I hung up telling her that she was gonna have a baby today! When I got home I booked Mom, G and I plane tickets for the next day.

On Monday, June 10th, we headed to L.A. and landed at 3 p.m. We still hadn't heard from Lane or Jess but had received a few updates from Jess's mom that Lane was laboring and that she was a superstar. Cute, undetailed quotes she would very rarely receive from Jess. We decided to get a cab to a hotel to wait it out since Lane was still at home. We ate some room service, mom settled in, and G and I headed over to Jim and Janet's rental for some wine and eager conversation. It was sure to be any minute! We got a call about 5 p.m. that Lane and Jess were headed for the hospital, so we immediately went to pick up mom and headed there to await our precious baby. 

It was a long, long night. As soon as we arrived the midwives met with us for nearly an hour answering all of our dumb questions and calming us down. They were so impressed with Lane and Jess and assured us that she was in fact a superstar. We did see Jess for a second at some point. The midwives forced him out to come eat but he didn't last for more than a minute shouting out that he needed to be with his wife! He is perfect like that.

Finally at 3:38 a.m. Breckin Adair made her way into our world. Jess ran out into the waiting room as if he had scored a touchdown. He shouted, "She's here! We did it!" But he didn't stay long as he said, "My daughter is in there waiting on me." We were able to meet her shortly after. Me, G., mom, Janet and Jim (or Happy as Breckin will call him) excitedly walked in to see Lane and Jess completely a glow. Truly one of the most incredible moments of my life.

Lane had a long, hard labor but you couldn't tell a bit by the smile on her face. She kept repeating, "I just can't stop staring at her." And we couldn't either!

They stayed 2 nights in the hospital and we kept busy visiting them, bringing them treats, and watching Happy hang new blinds in their house...oh, and trying to catch up on sleep!

On Thursday they were discharged and we were all so excited to be there to welcome them home!

Thursday night we had a very endearing ceremony in the backyard. The doula came and we shared wishes and blessed the baby. We listened to special songs and released a lantern into the sky in her honor. Then of course we had a toast and ate birthday cake! It meant so much that I could be there with my sis for these unforgettable moments. 

We all wanted to hold that baby as much as possible, even G! But there is something pretty incredible about grandmas holding their brand new granddaughter...

This baby is perfect in every way. I think she looks so much like Lane. But I also think she reminds me of Desmond when he was new. She is definitely long and skinny like her mama! She has the cutest button nose like Lane and it makes a wrinkle in between her eyes that Laner kept rubbing. So sweet.

As much as I loved being there to snuggle and love on that baby as soon as she entered the world, I think my favorite part of the experience was seeing the transformation of seeing my sister and brother become parents. It was immediate. The pride, the protection, the worry, the unconditional love and nurturing. It was instant and immense. She will be one month old tomorrow and they are already amazing parents.  Breckin is a lucky, loved little lady.

So, now I get to be an auntie to this little angel. She is absolutely a dream come true and my heart aches for her already. I still can't believe I got to be there while she was coming into this world. It was just perfect and I could not be more proud of my little sis. She is amazing. She is the strongest woman I know. And we all owe her big for bringing us this most incredible little gift...