I'm the Reigning Queen

So here's the thing--

I say I will never do a lot of things.  And when I say I will never do those things, I mean it...with all my heart.  I will NEVER do it.  And then I do them.

I will never have a baby without an epidural.
I had 3 of my 4 without an epidural.

I will never have a baby at home.
I had my last two babies at home.

I will never have a minivan.
I have a minivan.

When I have kids, I'll never yelll.
hahahahaaahahahaaahaa!

I will never live in Manassas.
I live in Manassas.

I will never wear skinny jeans.
I wear skinny jeans.  I'm still in denial about it, though.

I will never buy kids music CDs for them to listen to in the car.
Our 6 disk changer in the car is almost fully loaded with kids music.

I will never join a gym.
I joined a gym.  Sadly, that was years ago, but if juC would let me, I would have already joined another one.

There's no need to continue the list.  Just know that there's a lot and I say it all to lead up to this one.

I will never move my family to Utah.  Never.  Never ever.  Never ever ever ever never ever never.
And here we are...right in the midst of getting our house ready to sell because juC has accepted a job in Utah.
And that is why I am THE Queen of Doing Everything I Say I Will Never Do.  Don't even try, the crown is mine!

A couple years ago, while visiting Utah, I took the above picture.  We were at a park.  It was a lovely park with slides and jungle gyms and water shooting up out of the ground (on purpose) and a big green hill for the kids to run up.  The sky was beautifully blue, the clouds in the distance were wonderfully fluffy, and the mountains were sitting there all majestically without even trying.  I sat there thinking, Utah sure is pretty!  And I couldn't help but snap picture after beautiful picturesque picture.

Over the last several weeks as this whole Utah thing has come to fruition, I keep thinking about that day at the park.

And living in Utah will come with other perks too aside from beautiful picturesque mountainous view parks.  We'll be close to family.  Lots and lots of family.  All over.  juC will have consistent hours at work that (hopefully) won't require phone calls on Saturdays and Sundays for leaky pipes at buildings, and having to go clean up messes at 10:00 at night.  The kids will be in schools that are NOT the school they are in now (huge bonus!)  And did I mention we'll be close to tons of family!?

So Utah.  I'm sorry I never wanted to move my family to you.  But I'm excited about the move after all.  So get ready for us.  And be good to us.  You've got approximately a month to prepare for our arrival.  Use your time well.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to say a lot of "I will nevers..." that I will end up doing, so that I can remain the queen.

P.S.  Virginia.  Oh dear, sweet, Virginia.  Please don't take offense to this.  I will forever and ever love you.  But I'll save that for a post just about you.

Boy Oh Boy....Oh Boy

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  I never, ever, ever pictured myself as a mom of 3 boys.  Just saying it makes my heart race.  For some reason, I thought 2 boys would be the max.  I'd had a feeling all along that it was another boy, which would be the first time ever that my feeling was right.  And I can't deny the fact that I was hoping for just one more girl.  But of course, all that matters to me is that we have a sweet little baby to hold in the end.  No matter what is hidden under it's diaper.

I've been thinking of the benefits of having another boy.  For starters, we have a billion boxes of boy clothes.  We are getting some really good use out of these clothes!  A large portion of the smaller sizes of clothes came from my sister.  And a good chunk of the clothes that came from my sister first came from my brother.  Which means that a lot of them had already been worn by 3 boys before they got to me.  Then my 2 boys have worn them.  Which means by the time this baby wears them, he'll be the 6th one to wear them.  So, I'd say that the money spent on the clothes was very, very well spent and put to good use!

Along with that is that we are already getting a good stock pile of Halloween costumes for the fellas!  It won't be long before we have all we need and I won't even have to buy anymore.

One of the problems of our home is that leftover food usually sits in the fridge and then gets thrown away.  It's such a waste.  With 3 boys we will no doubt not have that problem because either 1.  There won't be any leftovers from dinner or 2.  The leftovers will get eaten soon after.

Let's be honest...girls are emotional.  And I'm not trying to say that boys aren't, but we all know it's different.  I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about the fact that as of right now, I'm glad that we only have 1 girl to deal with when it comes to a certain part of a girls life.  I imagine that the boys in the family will later agree that 2 of us is plenty.

One day I'm really going to enjoy sending all of the boys outside to mow the grass, trim the bushes, build things with wood and bricks, and use chainsaws...while luC and I stay inside baking cookies and brownies and eating chocolate while watching romantic comedies and follow it up by
going to the mall.

With 3 boys that will probably each be taller than me by the time they are 12 (poor luC, she's so tiny I'm not sure she has that same chance), surely I will look like a little lady with a crew of bodyguards around me.  That's always a plus!

I've always wanted to know every single detail of how Boy Scouts works.  Here's my chance!  And boys haircuts are way easier/cheaper than girls!  Buzz cuts for everyone!

Ok, so seriously, before you start judging me and thinking I'm a girl hater...I really was hoping to have one more girl.  Of course if we have another, there's still a chance.  But I have to look on the bright side now and start psyching myself out now.  Because who knows, we may have another one...and it may be another boy.  (And that's ok, too!!)

A True Story of Courage

If you know me, you will understand why this story is one of true courage.  If you don't know me, perhaps you should.  Or you should just know that the fear I have of the intruder mentioned in this story is a fear like no other I've known before.

Last week was a week just like any other.  No, that's not true.  Last week, for the first time in my life as a mother, I had to have us up and ready every day of the week to get jC off to his day camp that we'd signed him up for.  (You'd think it wouldn't be that much more difficult than getting us all up and ready for preschool when he was going 3 days a week.  You'd be wrong.)  (Have I mentioned how much I am NOT looking forward to jC starting kindergarten in September and having to do it every day for months on end?)

We were up.  We were ready.  We were running a few minutes late.  No big deal.

We were just moments away from being able to walk out of the door.  I placed cC in the car seat that was sitting atop the kitchen island.  I began to put the straps on him.  And that's when things got scary.

As I was about to put the second strap on cC's shoulder, I saw it.  There it was...RIGHT THERE.  It was walking right along the handle of the car seat that was pushed back flush with the seat itself.  It was right by my poor, defenseless babies head (and right by my poor defenseless arm, might I add.)

A quiet squeal escaped my mouth, alarming my other children to the immanent danger.  jC, being the scarediest of us all could not hide his fear.  I put on a brave face and assured him that I would protect my sweet little children from this unwanted evil intruder that had come into our home.

In the face of danger, I pulled myself together and acted quickly.  In a matter of seconds, I had poor helpless cC out of the car seat and safely on the floor.  jC was impressed by my fast acting, life saving maneuver.  I was, too.  But there was no time for celebrating cC's new found safety.  There was still an evil being to rid our home of.

So I did what any other person in my situation would do.

I grabbed a sturdy, easily held box that was on the kitchen island, and threw it at the car seat.  My aim was bad given my mental state.  I picked the box up again.  I pulled myself together and gave myself a brief pep talk.  Then I aimed the box at the demon and threw again.  My aim was better and it knocked it down onto the floor.  (Don't worry, my children were safely away from the battle ground.)

I was in the zone.  I had my 3 dear children to protect and this was the moment of truth.

I grabbed the box for one more go at it.  With precision like no other, I dropped the box on this spawn of Satan, and heroically put my foot on the box, squishing the contents underneath to smithereens.

That monstrous spider messed with me on the wrong day!  When evil tries to come between a mom and her 3 dear children (no matter how scared the mom may be of the evil), evil will fail!!

If I could freeze time...

I without a doubt would.

With another baby on the way, I'm trying so hard to savor luC's babyhood as much as I can. In 5ish months, she will no longer be the baby in the family, and there is a part of me that mourns that loss for her. I know this time will pass all too quickly.

I have been so easily frustrated with my children these last few weeks, but I know that this time won't last forever, and it's images and times like this that I want ingrained in my mind forever.

Anniversary AND birthday

This past Saturday, juC and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We were lucky enough to be able to go away for a few days (thanks to my dear sister, elB). After little to no to debate, we decided to head to rural Pennsylvania. Why? Umm...not really sure. But it was great. We were in a teeny-tiny town, in this super cute place.

Not sure what the history of this place is, but it was divided up into different rooms and we were in a room up top at the far right. We had a kitchen, a living room, bathroom, bedroom, cable tv, and a mouse. It was wonderful.

As with anything juC and I do, I planned it all...in spite of me trying soooo hard to get him to plan something. While we were talking one night while on our trip, he tried to say he did plan stuff, and I said "Name just one thing you planned for this trip." To which he replied "I planned on not having fun, but you changed my mind." And that folks, is the reason I married this man 5 years ago. He is quick and witty and he lets me do what I want.

A couple of highlights from our trip:

As we were driving around doing nothing on the rural Pennsylvania roads, I spotted this place and said "STOP!" It was much like a place we have in my home town. I wish I had a picture to show you what we got but I haven't yet developed the pictures I took with the disposable camera I got (The one that juC fought tooth and nail to try and not let me get). I got a glorious hot fudge sundae here, and juC got a "medium" ice cream cone...that was about the size of his head. This place was great!

We were close to Shanksville, Pa...the location that Flight 93 went down on September 11, so we went to the memorial site. Amazing! As soon as I stepped out of the car, I couldn't help but feel a since of overwhelming love for each of the people that sacrificed their lives to save so many others. I couldn't help but think how amazing it was that the plane, headed straight for the US Capitol was brought down in the middle of a field...sparing the lives of so many. What an amazing miracle in that tragic day. Those people on that plane are truly heroes and I'm so glad we got to go to the memorial site.

For our anniversary dinner, we had troubles finding the perfect restaurant, and ended up finding the perfect place on accident. Obviously, the perfect place for a Cinco de Mayo anniversary would be at a Mexican restaurant, but we had Mexican the night before. After some frustration on my part in finding a good place, we ended up at a Chinese restaurant, and it was great. It was the "real deal" as juC called it. Again...no picture yet, as it is still on the forbidden disposable camera, but just know that it was a wonderful anniversary dinner.

And now, after all of that excitement, today is juC's birthday. I couldn't help but publicly remind him that this is the last year that he is closer to 20 than he is to 50. I love giving him a hard time about his age. (Especially after we had an intense conversation one time because he was convinced he was a year younger than he actually was.)

I'm doing my best to make sure that when he gets home it will be a wonderful birthday. I will have to post later to let you know if I succeeded.

Happy anniversary and happy birthday, my dear juC. Couldn't be happier that I get to celebrate with you! I think it would be especially awkward at this point if we celebrated either of those things with anyone else.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

When I say that it feels like a lifetime ago that juC and I got married, I mean it in the best possible way. It's hard to believe that it was only 4 years ago today.

I, with out a doubt, married the most perfect person for me. But don't be fooled. Our 4 year marriage isn't with out it's problems.

For instance, he still insists on trying to play footsie with me which I absolutely cannot tolerate.

See? Even we have marital problems.

But the good outweighs the bad. This guy makes dinner when I'm not feeling liking a chef. He does dishes. He takes out the trash. He takes little jC on adventures so that I can have some quiet time with luC. He surprises me with treats. He ends all of our phone calls with "I love you." He takes me on dates. He lets me buy new clothes. He tells me I'm hot (even when I'm not). He works so I don't have to. He fixes things. And I could go on and on. But the best thing is that he loves me...for me. Which is saying a lot, people!

I'm looking forward to all the years we still get to spend together!

How do you know?

How does a wife know that her husband really loves her?

Some women need to get jewelry from their husbands to know. Some women need to be wined and dined to know. Some might need a car or two to know that their husband does, indeed, love them.

While some women only need a smile, a kiss, and a tender whisper of loving words in their ear to know that their husband loves them.

Me? What do I need to know that my husband loves me?

I need to come home on a Saturday afternoon, after spending the morning shopping with little luC to find some boxes, with a little note....


The contents of the box being a dozen cupcakes (minus one that little jC ate) from Georgetown Cupcakes (aka DC Cupcakes from the TLC show)

And then I know, with out a shadow of a doubt, that my husband loves me with every fiber of his being!

April Fools!!

I'm not one for April Fools jokes. It's kind of like Valentines day. Why should we limit love, or fooling, to one day a year?

But this year I made an exception. First I needed to find an easy target. One that would be easily tricked. Little JT seemed like the most gullible, so I set my sights on him and put my plan in motion.

We woke up that morning, had some breakfast. And then I said "Let's go to the park!" And I didn't mean just any old park. I meant Clemyjontri!

So we got dressed, and I loaded us up in the car. We had a 30 minute voyage ahead of us!

I got on the toll road, which cost me $4.15 to get on, and then another $1.00 to get off. Then we drove to the park and it was completely crowded. Nary a parking space to be found, unless we parked down the road and hiked up to the park. I told little JT to worry not, we'll go to another park.

I pulled out my GPS and looked up parks. I picked a random park and my trusty GPS guided me there....to a little patch of grass the size of my half bathroom on a dead end in a random neighborhood. Sweet! By this time he was done with being in the car, and I was done with him being done being in the car. After over an hour of driving, it was just time for us to head home.

So back home we go. Another few dollars to get us home on the toll road, we arrived at home just in time for lunch.

"APRIL FOOLS!" I said! I totally tricked him. He totally thought we were going to the park!

Or was it the universe playing an April Fools Day joke on me!?

indescribable

today my little jC turned 1. i'm not sure how this has happened. but surely it has, since last year it was 2008, and he was born. and now it's 2009 on the same day. which equates to him being a year old. i just don't understand how it happened so quickly. and also so slowly. how is it possible that quick and slow proceed at the same speed?

you know how people talk to you before you have a child, and they say things like "being a mother is hard." and you say "yeah, i know!" but the thing is, you don't really know. you know an assumption of hard, not a reality of hard.

you know how before you have a child, people say "being a mother is the best thing in the world." and you say "i know, i can't wait." you don't really know that either. it's another one of those things that's an assumption, not a reality. really, truely, words cannot describe the greatness of having a child.

every day i watch little jT as he discovers new things and learns new tricks. every day i sit and stare at him at some point in time, and wish i could freeze that moment into my memory forever. a certain look he gives me. a certain sound he makes. the way he attacks and loves on every stuffed animal he gets his hands on. the way he throws himself back on the floor to lay and relax for approximately 3 seconds before getting up and being busy again. the way he waddles as fast as he can to the front door when his dad comes in from work. the sounds of joy he makes when he tries a new food he really enjoys.

i wish with all of my heart that i can remember all of those moments in my mind with a perfect clarity.

words honestly can't describe the love and joy. i couldn't even possibly try. but i know i can say that i am so thankful for him, and the blessing that it is to be a mother.

how?

juC and i are trying to figure out our next adventure in life.

saturday we were talking about some things and he said "we need a family motto. it should be 'livin the dream.' " and i said "no". then proceeded to tell him we don't need a family motto. to which he replied, "how are we supposed to live the dream if we don't have a family motto?" then i decided that should be our family motto.
so let's make it official. i now declare our family motto is:

how are we supposed to live the dream if we don't have a family motto?
(fancy letters and a different color makes anything official)

so last night as we were moving forward in trying to make a decision, juC decided we should make a pro/con list. the list looked like this in the beginning:

pro
close to sonic
close to duke's bbq

con
close to sonic
close to duke's bbq

making life changing decisions is so hard.