Wordless Wednesday

Trimming the Figurative Fat

Trimming the figurative fat...something that I've been thinking of working on and recently decided that the beginning of the year is probably the best time to start! By figurative fat I mean all the unnecessary aspects of my life that are not productive and/or healthy (emotionally and physically) or that cause a lot of waste. Any kind of waste. Emotional waste, monetary waste, energy waste, etc...This is something I have even discussed with my therapist about doing and basically, in therapy speak, it seems to be referred to at setting boundaries. But, I'll be honest, I prefer the phrase 'trimming the figurative fat.' It's a lot more fun!

The first trimming I have done actually started this past summer. I decided to get closer to my roots- my hair roots, that is! I have gradually gone darker with my hair color and I am currently pretty much at my natural color. I like it! My hair is TONS healthier, my calendar is not booked for an entire afternoon every 6 weeks and my checking account is quite a bit heftier. Wow!

Some other trimming I am working on runs the whole gamut. I have cleaned up my Facebook page and no longer hear from all sorts of random 'friends' what they are doing at any given moment in the day. This saves me time checking my email and keeps my Blackberry from sounding like a ticking time bomb! I've also started to eliminate some unnecessary ties on Facebok, too. Because, quite frankly, it's not important for all people on my page have an open window into my life just because I knew them once upon a time. I am also working on eliminating the non-essential household chores I tend to create for myself. So, my baseboards might just be a little scuffed for a while. I'll eventually get around to touching them up, but probably not like every week! I have also begun to eliminate/limit interactions with people and/or things that are not a positive influence. I know that you can't just do something or be friends with someone when the gettin's good, so to speak, but when something or someone becomes a constant downer it just might be time to step back for a while. This will free up my time and energy to focus on the MANY wonderful aspects of my life!

So, here's to trimming the fat!! What a great relief and positive way for me to begin a new year. :)

We'll Be Back Next Week When We Run Out of Money!

I've written on this topic before, and I think it's a good way to document the little things our children say that have us rolling on the floor laughing. I'm sure we will forget these moments as they grow older, but as least I'll have documentation of what happened. Hey, it could come in handy some day. First dates, future daughters-in-law, senior year montage things, etc... ;)


This past weekend Patrick and Marshall loaded up their new back packs (aka 'pack pack' according to Marshy!) with all the essentials- books, lovey, trucks, blocks, etc. and headed to the front door. They attempted to escape, it was not only locked but chained out of the reach of little hands (yeah, my kids have escaped before and now I have a chain lock at the top of the front door!) They informed us that they were going on a trip and would be back next week when they ran out of money! Ran out of money?!? How did they know to say that? I was laughing hysterically, as was Robert. If only it were that easy. Mommy would like to pack a bag of essentials, walk out the front door and come back next week when she ran out of money, too! :)


Yesterday the boys were throwing play-doh all over my house, excuse me, playing nicely in their chairs with play-doh. Patrick built some contraption that involved a play-doh knife and a rolling pin. He then informed me that it needed two thousand dollar batteries. Huh? Okay, son. You better start saving now. Actually, I told Patrick he'd have to ask daddy about those two thousand dollar batteries when he got home from work!





This morning Marshall went in the bathroom to pee pee before getting clothes on. He already had on his Scooby underwear. And, he insists in using the little hole in the front of his underwear in order to gain access to his goods. Why, I don't know. He struggles every time and I constantly tell him to just pull down his underwear but he won't. So, while digging for access he tells me that his penis won't come out. He's stuck in here! Where he go?! There he is!! This morning ended like most trips to the potty. I had to go in and help Marshy get him out.



The other morning, Patrick walked in our bedroom while I was getting dressed. He looked at me, in shock, and asked, "Momma, what are those on top your belly?!? That where your milk is?" I was speechless. Robert, on the other hand, just about died laughing. I think it was more the tone of Patrick's voice and expression on his face that got us, not so much the question itself. But, Robert and I recovered and simply told Patrick that yes, that was where Graham's momma milk was. Phew. However, I'm sure it's not the end of discussion on this topic, being as I am the only female in a house with 4 males!!



Well, that's all for now. I'm sure I will have more little boy-isms to post soon. I'm working on jotting them down as they happen, as I tend to forget half of them. But, as we all know, kids just say the darnedest things!

Christmas 2009

I'm finally getting around to editing our Christmas photos and doing our Christmas blog post. And, it's only January 9th!


We had a fabulous Christmas this year!!! We got to Dyersburg late Tuesday night, after a relatively painless 7 1/2 hour drive. We made great time! The boys got to play with a lot of their cousins Wednesday and that night we did our gift exchange with Robert's parents and brother's family. The boys had round one of gift opening! And, GanGan realized that putting the boys down for their afternoon nap was a pretty good gig. He ended up falling asleep in bed with them! Thrusday night, Christmas Eve, we headed over to Twomamy and Daddy Pat's for the annual Christmas gathering. The night was full of excited little ones awaiting the gift exchange and Santa even stopped by for a quick visit! We told everyone our exciting news about Baby Carraway #4.


After our Christmas Eve in Dyersburg we headed to Memphis. The boys were SO full of excitement that they fell asleep shortly before we arrived at MiMi's! But, once we made it to MiMi's house it was off to bed for the kiddos so Mommy and Daddy could get ready for Santa. Christmas morning was so much fun! The boys loved seeing what Santa had brought. The Piggy Bank from Santa and the remote control cars from MiMi were favorites, along with the M&M candy they got in their stockings and ended up eating for breakfast! After the boys' afternoon nap we headed to Brownsville to celebrate with Robert's dad's side of the family. This is where Patrick and Marshall discovered video games! They were up stairs most of the evening watching the big kids play and were lucky enough to get a turn at the games, too! We headed back to MiMi's later that night and celebrated with MiMi, Uncle Goob, Aunt Becca and Aunt Dian on Saturday. Round three of gift opening- the boys were in absolute heaven! We had a great Christmas dinner Saturday night and then decorated a birthday cake for Baby Jesus that Aunt Dian had brought. The boys really enjoyed this and I think we'll make it a tradition! Before bed we made a trip to see Starry Nights. This is a fantastic drive through light display. The boys loved seeing all the lights and were off to bed as soon as we got back to MiMi's. Sunday we made the drive back to Cincinnati and the boys did surprisingly well. We made great time and as much fun as we had on our trip, we were all happy to be back at home and to crawl into our own beds and get some much needed rest.

Christmas with Robert's family and Christmas Eve at Twomammy and Daddy Pat's

Christmas Morning at MiMi's and Christmas Celebration with My Family





Decorating Baby Jesus' Birthday Cake

Starry Nights 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! :)

Potty Training Boot Camp: The Second Time Around

We are potty training Marshall!!! Yay! Last Thursday Marshy entered 'Potty Training Boot Camp." After he woke up I changed him into a pair of his new Scooby-Doo big boy underwear Santa brought him and told him that he needed to pee and poop in the potty. If it were only that easy! The first 48 hours were pretty rough, as I think the tally ended up being Potty- about 3 My Floors- I just quit counting after 10. But, by Saturday and Sunday he was getting the hang of it. Sunday evening we even ventured out to the grocery store in our big boy underwear and did not have an accident. Shortly before we were ready to check out Marshall said he needed to go potty and off to the potty the big boys went with daddy. We had a successful trip to the gym this morning in our big boy underwear, too! Hooray Marshall! Hopefully we will continue on this successful trend and he will be fully potty trained before we know it.

And I Might Just Have a Future Bully on My Hands

Yup, that's right. One of my sweet, darling little boys has recently turned in to quite the trouble maker! He might just end up being a bully. And, I say this jokingly as I am sure it is just a phase that we will have to work through with him. But, can you guess which one of the adorable little boys in the picture below got quarantined in Sunday school today? Which one of them got in trouble for spitting at his friends at church? Which one of them has developed quite the attitude? Which one of them puffs his chest out and grunts at anyone who gets in his way? Or, if that is not effective just spits in your face? Which one of these little boys was caught a couple of times tonight sitting on one of his brothers' heads in attempt to gain control over a toy?

Have you made your guess yet?!?

IT'S THIS ONE!!!!

My sweet baby Grammy is now the trouble maker of the house!!! He is defiant, stubborn (now where did he get that from? Surely not his mother!) and full of A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E.

Yup. This little monkey has discovered his influence in our world and is making his presence known. We obviously discourage the spitting, grunting and aggressiveness towards his brothers, but it's not working. I'm thinking that I will have to take a new approach. Telling him 'no' and redirecting him to another acceptable activity is not working. Neither is popping his little hand. All of these approaches end up with him puffing out his little chest even more, cocking his head to one side and either grunting or spitting. SO frustrating. Tomorrow I plan on ignoring the display of attitude and seeing if not giving him any reaction deters him at all. We'll see. I will not ignore the sitting on heads thing or his spider monkey move he does when he just jumps onto one of his brothers' backs. He will certainly be reprimanded for that behavior! But, who would have thought that it'd be my little 16 month old doing this? I certainly did not think he would turn in to that kid. We will work through this, though, and hopefully nip this new behavior in the bud before he really does get kicked out of church! How awful would that be?!?

Happy New Year and 9 Weeks

January 1, 2010. Wow! It's 2010. I'll still be writing 2009 probably until this time next year. :) But, Happy New Year! I am hopeful that 2010 will be great. I have several things that I plan to work on this year.

1. Having a smooth, healthy pregnancy.
2.Forcing myself to slow down a bit, let the house be a little 'undone' and enjoy the ride of life!
3. Taking more time for Robert and I. We've been better about this one, but there's always room for improvement, right?!
4. Patience. Or, having even more of it! I do pretty well with this one in many aspects, but I want to strive to be even more patient with the boys and with myself.
5. Volunteer. I'm working on finding some volunteer activities that I can fit into our busy schedule. I think it would be very personally fulfilling.
6. Find my 'home' at church. I haven't felt connected, at all, to our church. So, I'm going to attempt to find the right group/activities where I feel at home. I'm even considering visiting a new church just to try it out.
7. Successfully potty train Marshall. Yesterday was day one. We ended the day Potty-2 My floors- lost count after 7.
8. Wean Graham. This one will be easy and hard at the same time. I'm mostly ready to do it, and so is he. But, we both have a weakness for 'mo-mo' time. I love the closeness with him and he loves the liquid gold! However, I have ZERO desire to nurse a newborn and a toddler at the same time. And, he's going to have such a hard time adjusting to a new sibling as it is and if he has to share his mo-mo I think it will be even that much more of an adjustment for him.
9. Be more accepting of help and recognize that we're going to need it, especially at the end of this pregnancy and the first few months afterwards. We are already looking at nannies, so we'll see how this one goes!
10. RELAX. I have always had a problem sitting still.


Now on the 9 weeks part...
I am 9 weeks pregnant today! Time is flying by and creeping very slowly at the same time. I am NOT a good first trimester person. At all. I hate this time. The morning sickness has pretty much gone away, except for a few times a day. But, I hate the bloated feeling I get during this time. I swear that my GI tract completely stops. And, I don't like the not quite fitting into my regular clothes but not being ready for maternity clothes either. Although, this pregnancy is showing quite a bit sooner, so this time my end very soon! All in all, I really should not complain. We are SO blessed to be able to bring a child into this world and I want to take every moment possible to realize and enjoy this. I go back to my MD next week and I'll have another ultrasound around 11 weeks, so belly pics and Baby Carraway #4 pics should be posted soon!!!