What did you drive to work today?

Yesterday as I was pulling into the parking garage I noticed a hearse. I didn't think much about it until I realized that the hearse was pulling into the parking garage with me. (No, I'm really not making this up)

The hearse drove around the parking garage found a spot (well actually two spots since it was a little too long for one) and parked. Then a man got out, gathered his belongings, stepped away from the hearse and took a picture on his camera phone and then was off... I assume to work because it was still parked there when I went home.

All I could think was do you think he lost a bet? Because seriously who looks through the classifieds for a cheep car and decides on THAT? Then , of course, I took a picture for all of you because seriously... were you really going to believe me without proof? I'm not even sure I believe myself....

Makes you want to start snapping your fingers and singing the Adam's Family song... doesn't it? Oh go on admit it.... you know you want to....

What I Did on My Memorial Day Weekend.....

By: Zackary


On Friday night I went to my Grandpa Ted and Grandma Carol's house. When Mommy and Daddy told me where we were going I was SO excited. I kept saying "gam pa, tack tor" the whole way there and then when we pulled into the driveway there was the tractor. It took a little bit of "peese gam pa, tack tor" but he gave in and I got to ride in the tractor and then I even got to drive it a little bit. It was SOO much fun!!

On Saturday I stayed home with Daddy because it was REALLY windy and "ucky" outside and Mommy said that she had to go to lots of different stores and I wouldn't like it. So I played with Daddy and took a nap and I was so excited when I woke up and found these on the coffee table:

Mommy says it's a good thing that I slept for a LONG time because it took her like three episodes of Elmo's World to get them out of the box and she might have said some naughty words in the process. I was SO excited that I played with my "tack tor" for a long time.


After a little while Daddy left and when he came back he went outside so I went outside with him and noticed that he was doing something in the tree in the front yard. I wanted to help but Mommy said I couldn't climb the ladder because I might fall down and bonk my head. So I just watched and boy was I surprised when he finished and I saw my very own swing in the front yard!!
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I wasn't quite sure about it at first but by the end of the weekend I was asking to "wing" every time we went outside. After we played outside for awhile Mommy & Daddy said it was time to go back inside. I wasn't very happy about this. Mommy says if I could I would live in a tent outside. Ya know, I think she might be right.

So, after we went inside I was trying to get the door open to the outside when suddenly I discovered that there was this little flap on the door and if I pushed on it I could get to the outside.

(Ha Ha!! Just watch them try to keep me inside NOW!!) I thought that was LOTS of fun and I went in and out of that flap for quite a while until Mommy and Daddy told me that we had to go to Grandma Julie's. I was a little upset to go but then I was really excited when I got to see "ki kat" and "puppieeee" and "orse" and Grandma's barn. Of course Grandma had to watch me pretty closely because I'm not afraid of anything and I would have run into the stall with the horse if I could have.

On Sunday some of my family came over and I got to see Aunt "Innie" (Lindsay) again and some other relatives. Grandma Carol made a cake and she gave me this thing covered in chocolate called a beater. When she first gave it to me I tried to blow on it because it looked like the wand for bubbles. But I quickly discovered that it was MUCH, MUCH better than bubbles!!

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After we ate dinner I spent the rest of my evening going around to all of the relatives seeing which ones I could con into taking me outside. I convinced my Uncle Tim, my Grandma Carol and my Aunt Sue. It was a lot of fun!!

On Monday I got up and was surprised that I got to spend another day with Mommy & Daddy. We played with my tractors and I took a nap. When I got up Daddy said something about a boat and then he put me in this blue fluffy thing. I was just excited to get to go outside and kept trying to get him to open the door.

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Finally he took off the blue fluffy thing and we all got in his truck. It was really fun to ride in Daddy's work truck because I sit up really high and I could see out the front window really well.

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We drove for a little while and then we all got back out of the truck. Mommy put the blue fluffy thing (she called it a life jacket) back on me and we got in the boat.

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It was fun for a little while. I liked to stick my hand in the water but Mommy kept grabbing the back of my life vest saying something about me having no fear and that I was going to fall into the water.

After a little while I was bored and wanted to go home so we got back into the truck to drive home. On the way home we stopped at this place where Daddy talked into this box and then this woman handed us an ice cream cone. I had never had one before and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Mommy had to show me how to stick my tongue out to lick it but I really wanted to hold it myself.



So when we got home mommy took my shirt and pants off and let me have the ice cream cone.

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It was kind of messy but I liked it A LOT!!

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After I was "aaahh daaa" (all done) Daddy brought the hose up to wash off the back steps. I was pretty sure that he needed my help to do it so Mommy just threw her hands up in the air and took off my diaper and let me help.

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I was such a good helper that I even made a little swimming pool for the cats in case they were hot and wanted to cool off.

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After I got done playing in the water Mommy & Daddy tried to make me take a nap but I didn't want any part of that. I just played in my crib and talked to the cats for 45 minutes. So then they decided that we were going to go on a walk and they put a hat on my head. Mommy says all my little boy hats are too small so they had to put a big boy hat on.

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I didn't mind the hat that much but about half way into the walk I decided my long day was over. I started to cry because I couldn't push the stroller and I continued to wail at the top of my lungs the entire mile back to the car. Daddy said he thought his ear drums were going to explode but I think he exaggerates.



Either way, I was VERY tired and I went to bed at 6:30.



The End.

Parkersburg Tornado

A good friend of mine, Katie, has in-laws that live in the town that you are seeing on all of the news shows. Please head on over to her blog and give her your love would you?? It is going to be a long road ahead for her family and I'm sure they could use all the support they could get.

The color will go away... evetually....

What do you get when you take one newly stained front porch railing (it's amazing how much motivation company coming provides):

Add some dirt from a broken flower pot.. (It was less broken before he started playing with it. Now... it's a lost cause)


And sprinkle in a little bit of Zackary....

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He is now the proud owner of two parallel marks down his face.

And some wonderfully colored hands.

Apparently he thought it would be really fun to go up on the porch and grab two newly stained rails and stick his head in between them to say hi to daddy on the other side. We tried wiping the stain off without much success. So he might just be stripped for awhile!! :-)

When do You Give Up?

I recently did some cleaning up of my blog rolls and took off some people who were not posting any more. As I was deleting their information I felt rather guilty about it. Some of these people were regular readers of my blog as was I of theirs and then suddenly something happened.

They got busy, had a baby or life just got in the way and one day they didn't post. Then it was a week, a month and before you know it nothing new was on their blog in a year. I left these people on the list because I kept thinking they might come back.

And, I have a confession to make, even though I took them off of the blog roll they're still on my favorites list in case they make a dramatic come back....

So what about you? When do you give up on a blog and take it off of your favorites list? Is it only when the person stops posting for a certain amount of time or do you also have people that you have stopped reading because the content of their blog changes? (i.e. they were a fun single blogger talking about all their nightclub stories and then they got married and suddenly it becomes all about how to properly clean out closets)

Monkey Man

As a reward for all of your wonderful suggestions regarding Zack's daycare problems a video sure to make you smile:

I present to you... What Does A Monkey Do?


I tell ya... this kid just gets smarter ever day!!

Housekeeping

I have FINALLY taken the time to go through the list of blogs I read and add some new ones as well as remove some people who have stopped blogging or have not blogged in such a long time that I may have to send a search party after them.

If I have left you off and you would like to be on the blog roll please let me know. If I have put you on and you would rather not be on there please let me know that too!!

Biting

Help!! My son is being bitten at daycare. This is the 5th time he has been bitten in a month. I don't know what to do. I love... let me reiterate, L-O-V-E his daycare. They are aware that there is a problem and they said they are trying to fix it but he is in a room with 7 boys and three girls and that's A LOT of pint sized testosterone.

They oldest kid in his room is two and the youngest is my baby and his best friend who is a month younger. So, I'm torn. If it was Zack that was biting and I was doing everything I knew how at home I would not want to be threatened with kicking him out of daycare for an age appropriate action that I was trying to control.

At the same time, there is the mother bear part of me that wants to take the other little kid outside and leave teeth marks on his little arm. (Perhaps that's why they won't tell me which little kid it is, although I have been told that it's not the same one every time)

So, what do you guys suggest? I've talked to the director, Zack loves his room and his teachers and I'm afraid moving him could be MUCH harder on him than this is. Right now he still runs into his room and right up to all of the kids in his room and he has not even attempted biting at home so know he's not picking it up. Is this just something that is normal in a daycare setting and it will end? (Hopefully sooner rather than later)

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have!!

Setting a Goal

Today I met with the personal trainer at the gym we joined. They give you one free session with the trainer to ask them whatever you want or have them show you whatever you need shown.

Usually they weigh you, test your body fat, make you run on the treadmill, etc. I was fully prepared for this but not looking forward to it in the slightest. Luckily I had to do none of that. When I started talking to him it was obvious that he was going to just show me what I needed to be shown and that was not the cardio stuff. The treadmill and the elliptical (oh how I hate you...) I know how to use. It was the other equipment in the gym that baffled me.

So he walked me through the weight machines and showed me how do work each one. How many repetitions I should be doing, how much weight I should be lifting etc. He gave me a lot of good ideas to tone my midsection which is really the only area I'm focused on right now.

So I have set myself a goal. By my five year wedding anniversary in September I want to have my waist back. I know that seems like a long time out but he agreed with me, better I set my goal reasonable and reach it earlier than set it too high and get discouraged.

So... September here I come. We might just have to check into a hotel for our five year just so I can have an excuse to wear a bathing suit!! :-)

Terrible Two's??

Here is the scene:

I'm at Zack's daycare. There is a mom. She is on the playground with her son. She picks him up off of the toy he is ridding and tells him it is time to go. He begins to cry and tries to climb back on the toy. So she picks him up.

It doesn't go well. She has a diaper bag in one hand and the child is screaming bloody murder and squirming and flailing. Finally she has him in sort of a football hold as she is trying to get him to the car.

To get to said car, she has to carry him through the daycare and out the front door. The entire time he is screaming as if he is being tortured and flailing about. Finally she makes it to the front door. By this point all the other parents are staring and shaking their heads. Glad it isn't them. That today they don't have "that child."

At the front door he wiggles free and she almost drops him. She sets him down to open the door and juggle the diaper bag. He bolts back towards the play ground. She grabs him again and he is still screaming and flailing about. FINALLY she gets to her car.

She puts him in the car seat and practically has to sit on him to get him buckled in. He is still screaming and has his back arched so that every time she gets one arm in a strap he turns the opposite way and it comes out. Finally, she gets both arms in and he is buckled in.

As the back door to her jeep slams I am jolted from my trance watching her into the realization that I'm not watching this. I'm living this.

Hi, my name is Heather and I am now the mother of "that child."

Yet they wonder why I laughed when the nurse asked me at his 15 month appointment if he had started with the temper tantrums yet.

Do you think it's too early to call it the terrible two's??

Tractor

Boy sees tractor.

Boy gets to sit in tractor.

Boy tells mom to make tractor go.

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Mom tells him she can't make it go.

Is disappointed in her lack of agricultural skills but still gets to sit in tractor so all is right in the world just the same.
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Boy sees tractor.

Mom says we can't play in tractor we must go to daycare.

World ends.
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Dear Grandpa Ted-

Thanks for leaving the tractor in our driveway. We will be sure to appropriately thank you at a later date. :-)

Reading my Mind...

A little over a week ago Julie from A Little Pregnant wrote the following paragraph on her blog:

It's hard to know what to write these days. I don't write much about Charlie. In fact, I'm finding it hard even to write about why I don't write about Charlie. The responsible claim to make is that I respect his privacy and am trying to be careful about sharing his life with the world at large. But that's not it, not really. It's almost entirely out of stupefaction: I don't know how. I don't have words....... — see that I find him utterly captivating. See the problem? Watching a three-year-old dance at a wedding is a relatively common experience, not worthy of hyperbole to anyone but his family. But for his awestruck mother, whom words otherwise seldom fail, "captivating" doesn't cover it.

As I read that paragraph I felt like she must have been inside my head for the last couple of months, following me around and writing down how I have been feeling. Today my baby turns 16 months old. When he was first born I didn't put up pictures of him because my dad had asked me not to, he was afraid some weirdo would come and steal him. I respected that and I tried very hard not to keep images up for too long.


Then after awhile even without the pictures I stopped putting up the stories. It wasn't because I didn't want to share him with you. Quite the opposite actually. I have been quite afraid that if I write how I really feel about him on a daily basis it would make you all vomit a little into your mouths. And we just don't need that do we??

Also, I have some readers who do not have children, who are still trying to have children, or who are over the children phase and don't really want to come to just another mommy blog. So since I also don't want to isolate them I have kept Zack to a somewhat minimum.

However, in honor of yesterday being mother's day and him turning 16 months today, excuse me while I wipe away a tear, I am making an exception. On my last post someone mentioned the feeling of being a mother and whether it was comparable to any other feeling I've ever had and I must say, 100% absolutely not.

Really, there are no words to express to you how amazing I find this child. I am absolutely in awe of everything he does. Even now, as I'm trying to write I'm looking at what pictures to put up and I just stop and stare. This child... I created this child....

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There is not a day that goes by that I don't try to stop him from growing up so fast. I have never been one of those mom's that couldn't wait for the next milestone. I can wait... really I can... because once he gets there he will be less of my baby and more of a big boy.
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On Friday night when we got done with our meeting we went to pick Zack up from my mom & dad's house. He woke up in the car and so when we got up stairs rather than just put him back to bed I sat down in the chair with him and rocked him. There are so many days that he will just fight me on this wanting to get down and play but not Friday night. Friday night he just laid his head on my shoulder and let me rock him back to sleep. I couldn't have asked for anything more on this mother's day weekend than that.
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Every day he finds something new and different in life and I feel SOO blessed to be able to witness that. I get such joy out of being able to be there for his firsts. The first time he walked, the first time he saw snow,

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felt grass on his bare feet, all of those things I get to be there to see and it is the most amazing feeling I could ever imagine.
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I am, in fact, one of those parents who are not bothered in the slightest when their child cries. I don't like for him to be upset, but on Sunday as we were wrestling him out of the dog kennel and he was screaming bloody murder I was excited to see the person he had become. My heart was filled with pride that he felt comfortable enough with us to express himself and know that he was safe with us. It has been amazing to me to see him develop opinions and ideas of his own about how things should work and what he wants to do with his time.
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Every day I drop him off at daycare and we have conversations about things he sees. Most of which I can't understand but I do catch a few. Like car and go (when I am stopped at a stop light.). And every day I get off of work and can't wait to get to daycare and pick him up to hear what new words he has learned and what new tricks he has picked up.
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Last weekend as I watched him play with bubbles
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And dance at his very first wedding
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All I could think was how I just wanted to keep him this small for ever. I kept wanting to pick him up and squeeze him and he kept pushing me away because he had places too go and people to see.

This feeling is unlike anything I have EVER felt before. I am utterly amazed at every little thing that he does and I couldn't love anything more!!

(Sorry it's sideways... I thought I had it flipped but blogger doesn't like it...)

Before I was a Mom

I put this up last year and I'm going to put it up again in honor of Mother's Day. Perhaps I'll make it a yearly tradition. I like it that much.

Before I was a mom-

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom-

I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom-

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom-

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much

Before I was a Mom.

Braces??

Do you think they make headgear for cattle?

This little guy is out in our pasture and as I was looking the other day I was trying to figure out what was making him look so strange and then it dawned on me. He has an under bite.... For some reason I don't think braces are in his future.

Do you look?

In honor of me turning another year older, and another pound heavier I'm sure, Jake and I joined the gym. So far I have done really good at getting myself up early and huffing my ass over there to walk on the treadmill. I told myself that I didn't want to get discouraged so I would start slow. I know if I start out doing too much I will just give up.

So I walk. Walking I know I can do. When I started I was lucky to walk for 20 minutes without wanting to die. Now I'm up to 1/2 an hour and I go 1.5 miles. I know it's not much but for me it's a GREAT start. Really, I'm not looking for weight loss, although I wouldn't miss the extra 15 - 20 extra pounds I've been carrying around. For me it's about being able to run with Zack and play with him without being winded.

So, for those of you who go to the gym I have a question. Do you look? I've already said that I'm not doing it to be a super star and I know that I'm starting out slow but for me, that first day I couldn't help but look around and see people leisurely strolling at 3.7 miles per hour when I was barely staying upright at 2.9 miles per hour.

Even today, I tried really hard just to focus on what I was doing and the improvements I was making but I couldn't help it. I still looked around at how people looked, were they sweating? How far had they gone, how long had they been walking like that. Are they really going 5 miles an hour? Is that possible without dying?

So that's my question of the day. For those of you who work out or have ever worked out, do you look? Do you compare yourself to others or do you just focus on what you came there to do and then leave?


******************
Cute Zack Moment:

We are leaving the house today and I am carrying him to the car. He looks out into the field and points at the cows.

"Coooo"

(He tends to leave off the last syllable of words)

"Yes, that's good buddy. That's a cow..."

"Mmmmm"

"Yup... cow's say moo"

I swear to you this kid gets more adorable every day!!

Failing to age...

Today is my 28th birthday. As is customary in female culture today is the day in which I stop aging. For the rest of my life whenever anyone asks me how old I am I will forever be 28. So you better remember this year so you can do the math yourself!! :-)

Actually, this custom has got me wondering? Why do so many women hate their age? It is what it is right? Even if you lie about it you are still the age you are so why not just be proud of it? (Of course I might feel differently in a few years...)



Cute Zack Moment:

He is eating a sandwich and the bottom part falls off.

"Oh No..."

I could just eat him up... In daycare they call him the entertainment. :-)

Update on Jake

Ok, because someone asked.... I guess I haven't given an update on how we told Jake about the trip or about how he's doing now.

First the trip. I was really discrete about the travel thing. In the hospital I went out into the hallway and talked to the doctor. At the neurologist's office I just said flat out what about travel? We have two weddings this summer that are out of town, is he limited in any way? Luckily he just said no and didn't put a qualifier on number of miles or anything so we were off the hook there.

Unfortunately, his boss sort of let the cat out of the bag a little early. When I took Jake back to work on that Tuesday his boss looked and me and said so is the thing still on. "Yes..." And Jake knows right? "NO"

So it was at that point that Jake knew something was up, he just didn't know what. Then later on that day he called me to ask me when he would be missing work. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about. So he said that his boss told him he might be missing work soon and that he needed to have a list of things for his helper to do.

I could have just reached through the phone and slapped his boss. Two weeks earlier I had called to specifically address this issue. I had mentioned that maybe we could tell him there was a big inspection coming up or something so he would have all of his work done. His boss said not to worry about it. Then the week before they went and hired Jake a helper for the summer and apparently his boss forgot all about being discrete.

So then Jake knew something was up and that he might be missing a day or more of work for this something. But he still didn't know what. It was sort of fun to dangle it in front of him for the rest of the day. We were going out to dinner with Jess and Shane and he kept making comments like do I need to dress up for where we are going? Do I need to take anything to dinner? Are we coming back. I just laughed and told him I don't know what he thought we were doing but we were JUST going to dinner and then we were going back home.

Once we got to the restaurant we all ordered and then we ate and I thought perhaps we were NEVER going to tell him. Finally Jess pulled a card out of her purse that she had made with pictures of AR on it and pictures of stripper bass.

He read the card but still didn't fully understand where we were going until we told him those were pictures of AR. Then he was excited. He kept talking about needing to get this and do this and how many poles could he take because you know there is one pole for this and one pole for that and then he might need another one for this. I think Jess about fell over dead right then and there thinking OMG what did I do??

Luckily he had a bag to put his poles in so they didn't take up too much room or get tangled up with everything else in the back of the truck. All the way home he kept telling me that I should have waited until Wednesday morning to tell him because now there was NO WAY he was going to be able to sleep.

As you might have guessed, he was pretty excited and he really enjoyed the trip. Even two weeks later he is still talking about it and showing people the pictures of the fish. He can't wait to be able to go down there again.

Now on to the rest of the update. As I already mentioned when we were in the hospital they did a CT scan and a full tox and blood workup. It all came back clear. Then on Tuesday April 15th he had an appointment with the neurologist. He said that there are a million reasons that people have seizures and we may never know the exact cause. However, his gut feeling was that Jake's brain was healing from all of the drugs he did. He said he saw some changes on the CT scan that seemed to support that theory. None the less he still wanted to get a few more tests to rule everything else out.

That day they did some more blood screens including ones for Lead poisoning, Lyme disease and West Nile. His lead level was 0.5 which is fairly low, he was negative for Lyme disease and they said he had been exposed to West Nile. I'm not sure what that means, if he had it or just was around it, but either way they said that all the tests looked normal and didn't give them any other reasons that he would have had the siezure.

Then on Tuesday the 22nd he had an EEG and an MRI. We got the results of both of those tests last Friday and both of them were normal. Leading the doctor to stick by his original theory that Jake brain just might be healing from all of the drug use and he may never have another seizure.

However, upon my request they are going to do one final test. A sleep study. Jake has snored off and on for some time and before he had the seizure I had mentioned to him having him tested for sleep apnea since his aunt has it. However, after the seizure his snoring got MUCH worse and he started making these twitching leg movements in his sleep. So they are going to do the sleep study to make sure he does not have apnea and also to make sure he's not having little seizures in his sleep.

Today he goes in to be evaluated and then they will set up the time for the sleep study. As we talked about it last Friday with a group we go out with after the meeting two of the four other guys had had sleep studies also and said they were no big deal. They just hook him up to electrodes and then he goes to sleep. Hopefully he can sleep there. I think I would have troubles.

So for now, that is all we know. I'll update you with more news after the sleep study if they find anything.