Charlie & The Bedtime Routine

I was so proud of my Charlie when we got him a big boy bed just before his 2nd birthday. He always had good sleeping habits, but I wasn't sure what he would do once he found he had freedom from the bars of a crib. For the first month or so, he did awesome. He would ask Daddy if he could go nite nite and crawl up into his bed after giving Mommy a hug and kiss. Then, somebody must have told him that he should start exercising his free will some more!

For the last several weeks, Mike puts him to bed and within 5 minutes, he is up. And he is such a sneak, thinking he is going to get away with something spectacular. He gets up quiet as a mouse, tiptoes to his door, opens it VERY slowly, then thinks about coming into the hall, then actually comes into the hall, and quietly closes his door. Then, he begins to look for us. He spots us, scurries over our way, and smiles the biggest smile you have ever seen, saying "I just woke up." I say, "No, you did not wake up, because you never were asleep!" It is so hard to discipline him, but we must be consistent. We send him back to bed and he repeats this scenario until one or two spankings later, he gives up and stays in his bed.

The other nite I tried to explain to him that if he "really needed something", he could get out of bed and tell me, but otherwise he should stay in bed. Well, that little smarty pants, gets up from his bed, runs out to see me, and I say "why are you out of bed?", he says, "Mommy, I need something." I ask, "What do you need?" He says "I need something."

On a positive note, the last couple of nights have been better, with him only getting up once or twice instead of five times or more. I am praying that we will be rewarded as a result of our consistency in discplining.

Sometimes recently, I have spotted him talking to his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. He says, "Mickey, get in bed. Close your eyes. I spank you. Don't get up." Hilarious.

My DH Regarding: Our DD

My Darling Husband (DH) must have been wanting me to blog about him this week. Let me share two cute stories, that both include him, as he anxiously awaits the arrival of our Darling Daughter (DD):

On Friday night, we were eating dinner at one of our friend's house. I mentioned that being 35 1/2 weeks pregnant and 3 cm dilated, I should probably have my bag packed, but haven't gotten it all together yet (it's on today's to-do list!). Mike didn't skip a beat, he looked around the dinner table and said, "What Kelly doesn't know is that I have had a bag packed for myself and in my truck for the last three days!"

On our way home from visiting with our friends, I began to feel nauseous. This feeling has become common and is happening in conjunction with light contractions. I shared my woes with my DH and he sweetly put his hand on my belly and said, "You know, there is a lot of estrogen in there right now." How considerate coming from the male species!

In Thanksgiving

Let me begin with Thanksgiving Eve and follow through to Thanksgiving Day as I highlight some of the memorable moments. Please note: when I say memorable, one story touches my heart, one story is wild, and the other is just plain weird. I'll let you decide which story falls into which category. If your family is perfect, you might not understand....I am guessing you will understand.

Who is this man in my bed and what did you do with my husband? It was Thanksgiving Eve 2009. My darling husband Mike and I had just put Charlie to bed and were enjoying some quiet conversation in our bed (let's keep this blog clean, ok?). After a few minutes, we heard our little one stirring in his room, then the pitter patter through the house to our bedroom. Mike scooped him up into bed with us and asked him what was the matter. Then, I heard my husband say something that I NEVER thought would come out of his mouth. He said, "Do you want to sleep with Mommy and Daddy?" Well, of course he did! We have been very careful not to start this habit, with fear of having a child in our bed on a regular basis and not thinking this was an option that we favored. My heart melted as I thought how sweet it was that Daddy and son were having this moment. My mind raced as I imagined this turning into a nightly affair. So, there we were; the three of us snuggled in bed. I love it, but also was longing for the quiet time my husband and I had shared for only a moment. After about fifteen minutes, Charlie started talking and Mike asked if he wanted to go to his bed. He said, "Yes Daddy, I go to my bed please." Amazed, I watched as Daddy took baby to his bed and got him settled. When Mike returned, I said, "Honey, that seemed so out of character for you to ask Charlie if he wanted to sleep with us." His response was that Charlie is just a little extra needy these days and he supposes that it is because a new baby is on the way. My heart melted. I am in thanksgiving for my husband and his love for his child.

You're on Fire! Now we begin Thanksgiving Day with my Mom's side of the family. I usually have the crazy clan over to my house, but being almost 9 months pregnant, I delegated that honor to Mom this year. We hadn't been at her house for more than thirty minutes when I heard Mom ask Uncle Tom to get the sweet potatoes out of the oven and to do it quick. She was afraid that the marshmallows would burn and that would be disaster! He threw on the oven mitts and reached into the oven. Then I heard Mom say in a most high pitched voice, "Tom, you're on fire." The tops of his arms had come in contact with the top coils in the oven and small flames were lighting up his oven mitts and sleeves. He stayed calm, the fire was a non-issue after a few moments, and the big concern was that this was his only good sweater and what would he wear for Christmas. I expect Uncle Tom will be getting some new clothing this Christmas! I am in Thanksgiving that the sweet potatoes were not ruined and Uncle Tom was not hurt.

I Lick My Wounds Let's move on to Uncle Greg. We were having small talk around the table after we had all stuffed ourselves. Uncle Greg decided it was time to show us a small spot that he had on his hand. He explained that the doctor had called it pre-cancerous and that they would watch it over time to determine if it ever needed to be removed. He then went into detail about a day in which he literally watched the spot grow larger right before his eyes. Then, as jaws dropped, he explained that at some point he determined the best course of action would be to lick the spot on his hand. He continued several doses of his magical saliva and said that the spot went back to normal size very soon. He attributes the healing to his process of licking the wound, as I about gag on the tangerine I was trying to eat. We are laughing and staring in disbelief. I am in thanksgiving that I did not truly gag on my tangerine.

My stories end here...or atleast until I venture to visit the other side of the family this weekend. My thanksgiving does not end here. I have so much to be thankful for. It overwhelms me sometimes to think of all of the ways that our God has blessed us. I don't deserve it, but am grateful for it. I want to share it with others. I pray that I can always be in thanksgiving because no matter what, God has given me much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving 2009 to all of my family and friends. May God bless each of you.

A Mommy's Boy (for now at least)

Charlie (age 2) has become super "into" Mommy lately and I love it. He still has his Daddy moments, but a few instances lately were all about Mommy and worthy of writing down.

Mommy's Hair Clip
He is obsessed with the small clip that I put in my hair everyday to hold the sides up. It is like he has a radar that spots it and retrieves it. Charlie will start running circles around me saying "Mommy's Hair Clip, can't reach it, need mommy's hair clip!" It won't do until he gets a hold of that clip, pulls it from my hair, and then runs and hides it. This game entertains him for longer than I will ever understand. After hiding it, he runs over to me and teases me about my hair clip, saying, "where's your hair clip Mommy?" with his most proud and mischievous little grin.

Makeup Time
Some mornings recently I have been sitting at my bathroom makeup counter, when a little man decides to join the scene. And of course he must be in my lap. I sit him up on the counter and he immediately wants to join in the makeup fun. Before we are done, he has lotion everywhere, a little foundation and blush on his cheeks, and the chap stick has been digested. It is so cute to see him wanting to do whatever Mommy does and then of course we wash it off before we are done as we wonder what Daddy would think. Last time, Daddy came in and didn't say a word...maybe finger nail polish would be the thing to put him over the edge!

Bath Time
I am guessing the days are about to end when Charlie and I take a bath together, but for the moment, we are still enjoying this time together. A bath full of bubbles, toys, Charlie, and Mommy makes for a fun time. This weekend was especially memorable for me because after I got Charlie all clean, I asked him if he would wash my back. I imagined this being a joke, but then experienced otherwise. Charlie carefully put the liquid soap onto his little hands and then maneuvered his way around to the back of me. Then, he did little circular motions with his sweet hands all over my back for at least five minutes, which is like an eternity for my little one. He was so content on doing a good job, he even requested more soap before the job was complete. Then, he spotted Mommy's hair clip and the moment was over!

Thank you Lord for my sweet boy and these amazing memories!

My Trip to the ER

Last Tuesday night, I took Charlie to Gram & Pop's house for a sleepover. I came home and went to bed. Little did I know how good it would be that our little one was with his grandparents that night. Around 1AM, I woke up with an upset stomach. I dealt with that "fun" for a bit and then fell asleep on the couch. I woke up again around 3am, with a terrible itch on my right foot. Within 5 minutes, my hands and feet were very swollen and I was shaking with chills. I immediately thought that it was pregnancy related and called my OB. She listened to my woes and proceeded to tell me that she had no clue what had occurred and that I should go to the ER. Mike helped me get dressed. I went to the ER in hot pink slippers that are 3 sizes to big, Mike's checkered pajama pants, a Notre Dame hoodie, and no glasses (I forgot). While I was at the ER, I developed hives all over my body. The doctor wanted to give me an IV of fluids since I had recently had the upset stomach. Next, he gave me Benadryl through the IV and let us know that it would make me very sleepy and that if it did not take care of the hives, he wanted to give me a steroid. I told him that he must call my OB and get her permission for what to do next. He did so, and she said to give me the steroid. I was rather loopy from the Benadryl. I remember realizing that my almost 8 months pregnant belly was sticking out from my shirt, but I did not care. Mike must have thought I was a hoot, laying there saying all sorts of things. The Benadryl did not work and the steroid was needed. The worst part is that we had no idea what caused the allergic reaction. I had recently gotten an H1N1 vaccination, but there was too much time in between getting the shot and having a reaction. My OB wanted me to be cautious though, telling me to avoid eggs for awhile and get with my allergist. The next night, my foot started itching again in that same spot prior to the swelling. I started looking more closely and realized I had a "bite" on the bottom of my foot. It all began to make sense. I had a moderate reaction a few months back to some "bites" on my body. The allergist explained that when you have a reaction the first time, you can expect a more severe reaction the next time. So, we are trying to rid the house of any of those pesky spiders. I am carrying my Epi-pen with me all of the time, in case of another allergic reaction (only to be used if I have trouble breathing). I am allowed to eat eggs again. The Prenn-cess and I are doing fine. She is due in around 9 weeks. I am thanking God for taking care of us through this ordeal. It was not a fun experience and I don't really like to think about the fact that it could happen again, but we have much to be thankful for. I must make special mention of Mike. He was such a blessing to me. He watched over me at the hospital, helped me go to the bathroom (I couldn't even pull down my pants with my swollen hands!), and made me feel comforted right when I needed him. Thank you God for my husband.

Charlie Has a Revelation

Charlie and I were reading a book about all of the things that God has blessed us with. In this book are pictures of people, houses, animals, and more. For quite some time, Charlie has known what sounds certain animals make and what they like to do. For example, a bird says 'tweet tweet' and likes to fly. While asking Charlie what the bird likes to do, he got a real concerned look on his face. He closed the book, stood up on the couch, and looked down at the floor. Then, he looked over at me and said, "Mom, I can't fly." I proceeded to explain that birds have wings and we have arms, so we cannot fly. He said, "what about legs?" I said, "No, legs won't let us fly either." He then repeated several times, "I can't fly. I can't fly." Despite Charlie's dissapointing revelation that he cannot fly, I do pray that I can teach him to fly in other ways despite the limitations that gravity has put on us. I pray that my Charlie can soar in ways he cannot yet imagine.

Charles Robert - Concerning Baby Sister

Most recently, my Charlie has really come up with some stuff regarding his baby sister that is due to arrive January 4, 2010. Let me recap a few for your enjoyment:

Baby Sister Gets a Name
Well, really I have not decided on a name for sure. I have a couple at the top of my list. However, if it were up to Charlie, her name would be Camp. From day one, he has said that this is her name and has not wavered. I don't think I can comply with this request, but I guess he can call her whatever he wants.


Baby Sister is Thirsty
A few nights back, Charlie was clutching his sippy cup full of milk and I craved a big drink. So I said, "Charlie, baby sister is thirsty. Can she have a drink?" He excitedly said "yes" and proceeded to raise my shirt, inserting the mouth of the sippy cup into my ever-shrinking belly button.

When Baby Sister Comes Out
Last night, Charlie wanted to ride on my shoulders. I tried to explain to him that he would not be able to do this until baby sister came out of Mommy's belly. For the next few minutes, he explored my stomach, trying to figure out a what to get her out of my belly right now!

Why I Can Never Leave My Husband

My darling husband might feel left out if he doesn't become the topic of at least a few blogs here and there. So here goes:

I knew that I would be home later that night and that my husband and son would be scrounging for food, so I put some hamburger in the fridge to thaw and buns on the counter. I instructed my husband as to where he could find these items and explained that he could determine what side dishes they had with their hamburgers.

On my way home, I called my darling husband to find out how they were doing and what they had eaten for dinner. He said, "Well, we had the hamburger you left for us." I said, "And, what else did you have?" He said, "Well, Charlie ate some yogurt." I said, "Oh, I didn't mean to buy that yogurt, it has artificial sweetener in it. Why didn't you fix a vegetable?"

That conversation faded and about an hour later my husband said, "So, I figure, you can never leave us." My curiousity was up. Dare I ask what prompted this statement. He proceeded by saying, "I don't think I can feed our son properly. I didn't think of a vegetable and apparently the yogurt I gave him was wrong."

At this point, I am cracking up. Glad to know I am needed.

Memorable Moments

Most recently, Charlie (21 months) has become quite entertaining. He is always doing something that I want to "capture" in my memory forever. I am constantly thanking God for picking me to be his Mom. Here are some "memorable moments" that I am going to attempt to capture:

Dissappointing Marshmellow Moment

While exploring Mommy and Daddy's bathroom, Charlie came across a ziplock back of jumbo cottonballs. He was super excited, thinking he had hit the jackpot of marshmellows. He begged me to help him open the bag of "mellows". I hesitantly let him in the bag. He retrieved one of the white balls and put it up to his mouth. If you think the face that he made was funny, it was even funnier when he went in for another, thinking he had just gotten a bad marshmellow the first time around!

Maybe I Did Teach Him Something Moment

The babysitter, Iris, called today to brag on my son. That is music to a mother's ears. She asked the three boys at the table to be easy with the toy cars so that they did not go flying off the table. The other boys continued to play, but Charlie looked up as said "Yes Man". After a zillion times of asking him to say "Yes Ma'am" I will have to give him credit for this one. Good boy Charlie.

Mr Responsible Moment

We were taking a walk earlier tonight and went to get the mail. Charlie was very curious doing zig zags up and down our long driveway, trying to see what all he could explore. On the way back, he was in charge of carrying one piece of mail (just an advertising for those of you wondering). About half way up the hill, he saw something interesting in the grass, left his mail on the driveway and departed on a mission. He wandered and inspected a few bugs before returning to the driveway. During his excursion, I had picked up his piece of mail and combined it with the rest of the stack. When he returned, he kept spinning circles, looking on the ground, and saying "mail, mail, mail" in a frantic manner. It took me a few moments to realize, he was coming back for his mail...after all it was his responsibility - ha.

OCD Moment

As I understand many children do, Charlie has become quite happy with certain amounts of routine in his life. In the morning, I come to his room, he hands me his blanky, hands me Mickey, and then says "Charlie" as if to ensuate that he might be forgotten. The other day, I acted like I was walking away with just the blanket and Mickey in tow, he said "Mommy, Charlie, get Charlie". How could I forget that sweet boy? Some mornings, he takes this to an extreme and seems to think that all of the stuffed animals, blankets, and Charlie's in the room need to be picked up and taken to the living room for milk and cartoons. What a mess!

Kelly the Pig

So, here's how I turned into a pig last night...I was driving home, very tired, and very hungry. I picked up Charlie and he was snoozing in the backseat. I had already given much thought to what I wanted to eat for dinner, considering hubby was working very late. I was headed for Dairy Queen. I knew exactly what I wanted. And I deserved it, right? Being "in the motherly way" can really change your perspective. I thought, next time I am pregnant, I will always eat good and work out. But when you feel like you are gonna barf and only certain things sound good...you have to eat it right? Well, I arrived at the drive thru. There it was, a stupid piece of paper taped to the intercom that said "no credit cards. our machine is broken". I NEVER have cash! I tried to convince the poor fellow on the other side of the intercom that I needed some DQ and that there must be a way for me to get it. All he said was "sorry." I called my hubby in tears! As an afterthought, this was probably a little too much emotion for such an instance as this. My husband encouraged me to go to the ATM and pay the extra $1.50, after all, I NEEDED it. So, I went to the ATM. Well, that was a fiasco. The machine ate my card and gave me no cash. Someone came to help me, and this was very nice, except for the cigarette smoke that she blew in my face...now I was really ready to spew. Finally, I had my cash and was off to DQ. Well, the guy with the intercom must have recognized my voice (surely I hadn't been whiny?). He said, "so, you're back". And here is the part that turned me into a pig...I ordered exactly what I wanted...chili cheese dog, 4 piece chicken strip basket, and ice cream with peanut butter sauce. I was too hungry too wait until I got home, after all it was 5 miles away. I ate the toast from the basket...might I add that it was dripping in butter. Then, I scarfed a few fries. When I got home, Charlie woke up and helped me eat the chicken strips and ice cream, but I did not share my chili cheese dog...only because Charlie didn't want it...and I DID. Funny, I had just sworn that I would never eat a chili cheese dog again, after almost getting sick a few weeks back. So, last night you can easily see that I turned into a pig. I think I am back to myself for now...until the next hunger pain hits...yikes!

Here it is...my first blog. Well, that's not true. I have written plenty in my head, but none made it to print. Please understand, with amazing bloggers, like MckMamma, how can I even begin to write. Here are some of the blogs that I almost wrote: "Everything is Mine" about the day my 17 month old, Charlie, learned to say "mine" and I wished I could remove it from his vocabularly. "Cookie Monster Needs a Grammer Lesson" about my strong desire for the infamous blue character to use proper English. 'Me want cookie' is not acceptable. "The Almost Baby Bump" about my miscarriage/ectopic pregnancy a few months ago and how God must always be glorified. "Alyssa Got Her Wings" about my friends who loved and cared for their daughter until she went to be with God at 18 months due to a genetic disease called Hurler's Syndrome. And how I miss her, even though I never met her. "Who I Am" about me. This blog probably gives me the most struggles. I am not sure that I know who I am. I am in this place between who I am and who I want to be. I guess that is one of the reasons I am here making my first blog. Putting things on paper is good. Blog #1 complete.

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