Rejection: A Photo Story

Ellie experienced her first taste of rejection at Tara's wedding last night (post to come). It was an adult-only wedding so she and the ring-bearer were the only children there. With such limited selection, it is only natural that Ellie fell for him. Unfortunately, he was too old and worldly to give her the time of day. Fortunately for Ellie, I was right there with my camera to document the moment.

Let's start with the trip down the aisle. This couple was a big hit with the audience.

Afterward, Ellie approaches him on the stairwell and takes a flower out of her basket.

She attempts to bestow the petal on the little man, but he ignores her.

So she inches closer, but still he pretends not to see her.

But my girl is not used to being ignored so she gets right up in his face and doesn't back down until he takes the petal. What I didn't capture on film was him giving it back to her.

Ouch.

Slow and steady

I had to give Jack a breathing treatment this morning. He cried and squirmed and tried to pull the mask off. It took longer than I had allotted for so I was running late. So late that I feared my students would be standing outside my classroom door when the bell rang. So, I was rushing Ellie along and I found myself getting more and more frustrated with her as she slowly moved about. Once we finally made it out the door, Ellie was not listening to my instructions to go get in on the other side of the car. Instead, she decided to pick some "flowers" out of the neighbor's yard. I let my voice get sharp as I ordered her back to the car and she looked at me dead in the eye and said very calmly, "Slow and steady wins the race, Mom."

Long waits, grumpy husbands, and more antibiotics

Since I used all of my sick days on maternity leave, Tom was the lucky one to stay home with Jack and take him to the doctor. The appointment was at 3:50, but they didn't see the doctor til after 5:00. I don't think I have ever had less than an hour wait time at my pediatrician's office. I loved the reprieve from having to take Jack, but I still couldn't keep myself from texting Tom a million things to tell the doctor:
Tell her his appetite has decreased and he isn't sleeping well.
Oh, and that he is wheezing and tugging his left ear.
And that his fever has been around 101-103 all weekend.
She needs to know what medicines he is taking - Prevacid, Zyrtec, and Tylonel/Ibuprofen
And then I texted him a pic of my boobs in my new miracle bra to cheer him up, but I needed a bigger miracle to combat the wait time at the ped's office and rush hour traffic on the way home. Plus, I bombarded him with questions about every word the doctor said. Anyway, the verdict is upper respiratory infection. He is on yet another antibiotic (5th time for those of you playing along) and breathing treatments every 4 hours. She is a little worried about it turning into pneumonia. Good times.

A fevered weekend

Tom was going to be in Austin this weekend to coach the Congress Ave. Mile, so I decided a trip to my parents' house was in order. I left as soon as the bell rang on Friday and headed out to Beaumont. The weather was beautiful so we went for a swim after dinner. Jack loved his first time in the pool. I was a little hesitant to put him in since he had a cold and was running a low grade fever, but I thought it would make him feel better.

Ellie was a little hesitant at first because she didn't have her goggles, but soon she was paddling all over the pool.

I think I finally found something to wear Ellie out. And Ellie found someone who will watch Sleeping Beauty with her.

Unfortunately, Jack had a rough night and by Saturday, his fever was much higher. I decided to get an early start for home since he was feeling so miserable.

Poor little guy, he just finished his last dose of antibiotics on Friday. We are scheduled to go in for a follow-up visit on his ears this Wednesday, but I am thinking we are going to have to bump up our appointment.

Random ramblings

I have been married for 8 years today. Just a drop in the bucket. I told Tom that we are going to be one of those old married couples, sitting on the couch, being asked what the secret of marriage is. Hopefully, by then, I will know the answer.

***

Little Mia recently celebrated her 8th birthday and was baptized on Sunday. This was the first baptism Ellie has witnessed and she was totally enthralled. On the way home from church she said, "I wish I could be baptized." I told her she has to wait til she is older. She said, "Well, I don't want the water to get in my eyes. Can I wear goggles?"

***

As we were driving home the other day, Ellie kept going on and on about how she wants to be a mermaid. She was getting positively whiny about it. Finally, I said to her, "I can't just turn you into a mermaid. I don't have that kind of power." She quickly replied, "Heavenly Father and Jesus have the power. You can ask Jesus to give you some power so you can turn me into a mermaid."

It's all about the threes, baby

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. I received several sweet cards and letters from students and former students. I love receiving them, but they always make me vow to focus more on spelling and grammar. It is hard to believe we have less than three weeks left of school.

This school year has been all about the threes. I took three months off to have a baby. I broke up three fights, getting accidentally hit during one of them. I had a student who had three seizures in my room (but they weren't so scary after that first one). I had three runaways. Three of my students were sent to ALC. And! And! Wait for it...this was my third year teaching. But most of all, I am looking forward to three months of summer.

Dear Jack - 7 months

Dear Jack,

Today you are 7 months! As for milestones this past month….well, you sit unsupported and eat a few (very few) finger foods. And you are growing…boy, are you growing! You weighed in at 21 pounds, 10.5 ounces today. People are always stopping me to tell me what an adorable little chunk you are. And no one can resist those cheeks!

You have amazing focus. I love how when I hold you, you stare intensely into my eyes. You have been doing that ever since you were an infant and I always wonder what you are thinking. You will sit and play with your toys, really play with them, for long amounts of time. You also pay close attention to what everyone around you is doing. I have been reading “Little Green” to you each night and you seem to be really interested in each page.

You love your big sister, really love her. And she loves you right back. Every morning, I take you with me into her bedroom to wake her up. You start squawking as soon as you see her, your chubby, little arms reaching to grab at her hair and face. Ellie can make you laugh louder and quicker than anyone else, even me.

You have been to the doctor three times since I wrote your last letter. It seems that you haven't been able to hear, little man, so we have tried allergy medicine, reflux medicine, and antibiotics. The thought of you not being able to hear my voice as I read to you, or told you how much I love you, just broke my heart. But at yesterday's appointment, your hearing test came back with a little movement instead of the flat line! You are starting to hear again! You still have an ear infection so the doctor put you on your third round of antibiotics, but she seemed pretty confident that it would clear it up. Other than the ear infections, you have been very healthy and happy. I couldn't have asked for an easier baby.

My heart is so full of love for you, little man. No matter how stressful my day, or how out of sorts I feel, it all seems to melt away when I hold you in my arms and look down into your big, blue eyes. You are simply amazing.

I love you forever,

Mama

Sunday Best: Mother's Day edition

I started out my day feeling cranky and unappreciated. I resented getting up at 5:00am to give Jack his bottle and change his smelly diaper. I resented having to wash a frying pan so Tom could cook me breakfast. And I definitely resented cleaning up afterwards. I thought to myself, "Shouldn't today be the one day where I don't have to do anything?" But I found myself soothed during church and I let my mind wander during the talks. I thought of my mom. Of how she woke up every morning, bright and early, to fix us a hot breakfast. I thought of how she packed me a lunch every day, even when I was in high school. I thought of how she would read us stories at night, with all of us fighting over who got to sit next to her. And I thought of how she would kneel down next to each one of us individually as we would say our nightly prayers. I thought of how long Ellie's bedtime routine takes and then multiplied it by seven and realized that my mom is super woman. I thought of how she always put her kids and husband first. How she almost never bought anything for herself, wearing the same clothes for a decade. How her furniture came with the house and her appliances were from her wedding day. My mom never asked for much. She never walked around like a martyr or tooted her own horn. She simply provided for her family because that was her way of showing us how much she loved us. I hope that I can show my children the same unconditional love and selflessness that I have always known from my mom.

Too random to title

Wow, it is amazing how adding a second kid to the mix limits your blogging frequency! Right now, for example, I have paused twice in the first sentence to pick up the toy Jack has tossed on the floor. Fun little game...love when they discover it.

We spent the weekend at Rosie's house watching Leilani and Aidyn while Mark, Rosie, and Mia were in Utah. Ellie was just so thrilled to have kids to play with all day and to whisper and giggle with all night. Then on Sunday, Tom left for the regional track meet and I have been single-momming it ever since. I don't do well when he is out of town. I sleep with my bathroom light on and every noise seems magnified. I do like being able to hog the entire bed, though.

Yesterday we went to Sabrina's since Daniel is at the dumb track meet, too. (Is it wrong that I secretly hope that my husband's athletes don't make it to State so that track season will end even sooner? Is it unsupportive to wish for their failure?) Anyway, Sabrina had chalked in a little race track on the driveway, complete with a gas station, for the kids to ride their bikes on.

Jack was giving a little attitude because he is working on those darn top teeth. Remember all those blog posts I did on Ellie teething? I really, really hate teething. If only they could just sprout all at once instead of dragging on for a year.

Huh. According to spell check, "unsupportive" is not a word. Nor is "momming," but I knew that.