Look Who Got Bunk Beds! and Guess Who Is Big Boy?

The boys got to pick bunk beds around Christmas time and we got them put together. That was a huge feat for Doug and I as neither one of us is handy. One of us does like to read and follow directions. One of us flies by the seat of his pants and we ended up having to take everything apart and starting all over due to not READING THE DIRECTIONS!! But the important part is that there are fairly sturdy and well put together bunk beds in the boy's room and Doug and I are still married. This means Max moved to the toddler bed. No more crib for him, not that he couldn't get in and out of it over the past year anyway. We are pleased with the amount of space it freed up in their room (space that is now taken up with laundry, books, toys, legos, wrestlers, you get the picture).

On another note, my Maxwell has taken off on the potty train! I had started with him a few months back, but his interest level was low. Last week I brought the idea back up with the help of suckers and popsicles (there is a dentist out there who is going to make a mint off the cavities he probably now has) and he took to it right away! We still put a diaper on him at night, but last night he even took off his diaper to poop in the potty. I remember with Brady that pooping in the potty was the biggest obstacle, but not Max! This morning his diaper was dry and he peed a gallon in his potty! I am very excited to be a diaper free family, but it does make me sad that I no longer have a sweet cuddly baby anymore. Poor Doug and kids have had to walk on egg shells around my many swinging moods these past two weeks. I blame the hormones that are taking their time exiting my body. Just when I feel like I am back to normal, something knocks me back down and I am swimming in anger and sadness. I feel bad that this has such an effect on my family and wish I had dealt with it better. Hopefully it will get easier as the weeks go on. Live and Learn!!

Life Decisions

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. -John Lennon

We certainly had our share of lemons this past week. Doug's sister was hospitalized and was in a lot of pain for the majority of the week. Thankfully, she is on the mend and has been able to get up and around. We will all breathe a huge sigh of relief when she is able to come home.
On March 6, Doug and I went to the Dr. for a routine 12 weekish checkup. We found out that our little Sweet September had stopped growing. We had no inkling at all that anything had happened. On March 7, I went in and had a D and C. I have to say my favorite of all the discharge instructions they gave me was the one saying that I was not to "make any life decisions." I kinda carried that through the weekend. It was nice having a hiatus from "life decisions." To make a long story short, I know that I am not the only woman by a long shot to have gone through this. I have family members and friends who have walked this path. Somehow, that does not make it better or easier. We are VERY thankful for the blessings of our four children. We have talked about how difficult this would have been if it were our first and not our fifth. We know how lucky we are in the grand scheme of things. I do not understand, nor probably ever will what God wanted with my Sweet September before we could even get a chance to meet, but I suppose I have to learn to take it on faith. This has also been a huge learning experience in our marriage. Doug and I handle things VERY differently. It has caused some tense moments, but I also think it is a good thing that we our opposites emotionally because we bring each other to a middle ground and have learned from each other. We have been very well supported by friends and family as well.
It is a new week and I think I can tackle some life decisions again. I do not know if we will go down this path again. That remains an open-ended question between us and the Man Upstairs. As my friends Rascal Flatts would say, "I'm Moving On."

Lauren is 7!!

Well, she did it! She made it to 7! Lauren's birthday was a fun filled weekend. I think she really enjoyed it. She agreed to no big party if we got her a Leapster Explorer as a gift. I agreed she could have a slumber party with her BFF Kym and her sister Paige in lieu of a party. This was the first time Lauren got to have actual friends over and spend the night. I was very worried that it would be a night full of running and screaming girls. To my surprise, the girls played well with the exception of them waking up at 3 am and thinking it was morning and okay to run around and play on Kym's walkie talkies. The boys did well taking a back seat to her "girl" party. Of course they are boys and brothers, so there was some teasing and aggravation caused, but for the most part, it went smoothly. She is loving her Leapster. She is the only one in our family with any kind of video game device, so she holds the power. If the boys cross her, she will put the kabash on them playing on her Leapster. Besides the fact that it eats batteries like crazy, I don't mind it as much as I thought I would. Guess what Walker and Brady want for their birthdays now?
Lauren was spoiled by her out of town relatives who sent her some very nice presents as well. I think the steady stream of packages and cards have come to an end, much to her shagrin.
Seven seems to be suiting her. Her attitude has really improved since her birthday. Unfortunately, she was hit pretty hard with a stomach bug that keeps coming back to her shortly after her birthday. Don't worry, as any good sister does, she shared it with her brothers! We had quite the house of vomit and diarrhea for a while! With the help of bleach and Lysol, I think I have eliminated said stomach bug. I hope.
In other news, basketball has wrapped up for the season. Both Walker and Brady really enjoyed it. Walker's coach went out of his way to tell me that he thinks Walker has serious potential if he pursues basketball. I was very proud to hear that, but I didn't want it to go to Walker's (or my) head. Walker isn't necesaarily the high scorer on the team, nor is he the tallest or the fastest. Walker just genuinely enjoys sports and really wants to learn to play it to his best ablility, therefore, he really listens and is blessed with the coordination to apply whatever coaches tell him to his performance (not a trait he got from mommy dearest). Since Walker has struggled with some behavior issues, I think this is good for his self esteem. He really wanted to play flag football in the spring, but as luck would have it, we got the dreaded letter from the YMCA that his team has no coach. This happens more frequently than I would prefer. The selfish part me is enjoying the free Saturdays and one day a week we were shlepping him to practice. Oh well.
Wait to you see what the boys got installed in their room! Mom and Dad put it together, and we managed to stay married in the process! Next post will feature that little adventure!