The One Where I Lose My Mind

I'm just popping in to say Hi and Good Morning!  - or "Ah' Low" and "Ah' Morning", as Nathan would say.

This week is a super duper busy week for us. 

Saturday is the big Destination Imagination competition so we are doing last minute practices and projects to prepare. This year, I'm coaching a team for both Hayden and Davis - and they have been hard at work on their challenges since the end of October.

You have never seen so much epoxy, spray paint, modge podge, hot glue, and duct tape as what is floating around my house at any given moment. At this point, I am starting to get mixed up about which project goes with which team - and I am just ready for Saturday to roll around so we can see them shine. If they win, they go to the State Tournament in Austin and if they lose, I get about 10 hours a week of my time back.

In other words, it's a Win / Win !

All that to say Jeff and I have spent an excessive amount of time deciding what bottle of wine we want to crack open to celebrate on Saturday night - after the 12 hour competition, and then Hayden's football game - that is.

Also, Hayden started flag football and had his first game last Sunday. The good news is that he looks really good. The bad news is that their first game was against what could only be described as a professional team of 10 year olds. That fifty minutes seemed to DRAAAAG by as the Hurricanes got strummed. In the end, it looked more like a basketball score than a football score. 

Davis starts his flag football career tonight. And while there aren't many things I love more than sitting outside and watching football practice (love it!), I may have to sit this one out since it is scheduled to be 44 degrees this evening. Brrrrrrr. 

Good luck Davis! Run fast  in your new cleats!  You're up Jeff!

Blake is going to be playing his first sport this year - t-ball. He he hasn't officially started practicing yet, but I am so excited. I can't wait to see how much he is going to LOVE having his own team - and jersey - and audience....instead of being a spectator at his big brother's games. However, I just found out that parents might be required to participate and run to the bases with the kids. If that's the case - I need to make it official and say...

NOT IT!

You are up again Jeff! But you understand right? That would just be embarrassing to have everyone in the stands see my 3 year old beat me to first base. 

***

Since all of that above wasn't keeping me busy enough, I thought I would add a little more excitement to the mix and decided to click the 'Make Me Move' button on Zillow....just to see what would happen.

And you're not going to believe what happens when you do that.

People call you and try to make you move!

And want you to show them your house that day.

There is not much on the market in our area so while we haven't officially listed the house, we have seen A LOT of interest. It's clear that it's a sellers market, which is great until you go and look for a replacement house. 

I have shown the house twice now and at some point I even told Jeff this news. After he mentioned he was going to come home for lunch, I informed him there might be people looking at the house at that point. 

To which he replied, WHAT THA WHAT?!

I figure if we can sell it for my overstated asking price without a realtor, he'll get on board. Plus it makes it a whole lot easier to negotiate when you aren't even quite sure you want to move. :)

In fairness, he knew I had clicked the 'Make Me Move' button on Zillow, but neither of us had any idea anything would happen since it wasn't listed through a realtor / MLS. 

So here is how it usually goes down: 

The person calls and asks to see the house (ALWAYS on a preschool day). 

I rush home and spend 2 hours "picking up" the house and making beds and doing hiding dishes. 

The people show up and get the tour from me.

I'm literally out of breath from last minute RUN/cleaning.

They leave. 

I open my computer to look for houses in the area we want to move (West Frisco / Prosper).

I find nothing.

And then I'm all 'oh crud...I hope those people don't really want to buy our house.'

Anyway, that's us in a nutshell this week. 

Whew! 

{The Blogs I Never Posted} Video Games & The Experiment

***

I am not exactly sure what I intended to write when I saved this picture into my drafts blog 3+ years ago. I think it was something about how when the kids lost their electronics "privileges", they would often prefer to sit idle watching their brother play.

Those were the days of the Nintendo DS.
Then came the Nintendo DS-XL.
Then the Nintendo 3DS.
Then the generation of the present - the Nintendo 3DS-XL.

Between that, and all of the Skylanders / Skylanders Giants / Skylanders Swap Force non-sense, I decided that I was never going to introduce the little guys to Video Games.

They would be my experiment, I declared to anyone that would listen.

To see if they would grow up to be Rocket Scientists because they never wasted their time on the ever changing video console landscape.

And then Santa went and brought the kids an X-Box One for Christmas, 2013. 

This wouldn't be a problem except that the Xbox One is so technologically advanced that you just talk to it to turn it on.

"Xbox Turn On" you say, and it responds.

Herein lies the problem.

Blake Talks.

And as a result, he has picked up most of the phrases used to direct the Xbox from his older brothers (including XBOX TURN OFF! - which he saves for when they make him mad).

I say most of because the console requires you to be very exact with the phrasing or it won't respond.

While Blake only knows a couple of the commands, he's hard headed enough to keep talking to the XBox until it responds (meaning until he happens to say the right words in the right order).

Xbox Turn On! (this one is an actual command, and always works for him- but then it gets a little trickier)

XBox Should you let me play Lego?

XBox Should you?

Xbox Turn to Lego!!?

Xbox Get to Legos!!?

Xbox SHOULD YOU!!?

XBox Play Legos!

XBox Go Home! (this is another actual command)

...And on and on and on....until something he says finally starts the game. The whole thing is very entertaining to watch. All that to say - so much for THAT no-video-game-experiment! 

Sidenote: We set the system up in our bedroom because of all of the other things it offers (RedBox, Netflix, VUDU, Amazon, etc). But I have to say, the whole thing sort of freaks me out a bit - like I'm being watched. Jeff and Hayden are set up as user profiles - and the "amazing technology" now recognizes them when they walk into the room --- even if we are just watching TV. A little thing will pop on the TV and say Hi Jeff!

Things that make you go Hmmm. 

Maid Day

Every other Friday our house is professionally cleaned.

This means that every other Thursday I run around like a chicken with its head cut off - cleaning the house....cleaner than it has been in the prior 13 days.

So good, in fact, that I often question why we pay for this service.

And every other week, we come to the same conclusion.

The maids force us to clean - and as a bonus - they cleans the toilets.

Except last Thursday, I didn't go through that train of thought because I totally forgot they were coming.

That's not true. I remembered they were coming, but I decided to text them and cancel.

Then I forgot to text them.

So, the next morning when the doorbell rang at 9:00 a.m. I answered the door, exchanged a friendly Good Morning (and a What The Heck?!?! under my breath) and began my mad frenzy to pickup the house so that their mopping and dusting wouldn't go unnoticed among all the Legos.

And the Little People.

And Thomas and all of his Friends.

Typically, when they arrive every other Friday morning, we are either already out of the house - or we exchange pleasantries in passing and I load the kids up in the car and take them to meet a friend for a playdate or head to the gym.

Blake, who has never met a stranger, took this as his cue to distract the maids - probably so they wouldn't know that all this time we really weren't as put-together as it may have appeared.

"Hi Maids!" he said in a cheerful voice, following them up the stairs.

"Sooooo, Maids. It's cold outside, right?"

This is where I should stop and mention that we have 3 maids...they're sisters...but I only know one of them is named Irma and I am not entirely sure which one. I think I knew the other names and who was who at some point, but the whole thing is kind of like that Friends episode when Chandler can't tell the difference between Joey's sisters.

Now it has been too long and it feels really rude to ask.

So, I'm running around like crazy shoveling toys into boxes and Blake is now following around the one particular maid delegated to cleaning the upstairs (she drew the short straw) bombarding her with questions.

Mix that with his Could-You / Should-You semantics issue and this is what ensues:

"Hi Maids!"

"Maid, THANK YOU for cleaning up my mommy's trash!" he said, still following them.

"Maid, should you clean my room now?"

"Blake! Leave her alone!" I snapped.

"But SHOULD she?!"

"She's cleaning other things right now, and she will get to your room soon."

"Maid, should you clean the bathroom next?"

The whole thing was very embarrassing, and excluding duct tape over Blake's mouth, I really didn't know how to stop it. I didn't want to leave without making a valiant effort to pick up - and at the same time I wasn't even sure how much "Maid" understood of what Blake was saying, since English is her second language.

Only later did Jeff tell me how I should have handled the situation by telling Blake to call her by her name and that if he didn't know her name, he should ask her.

In other words, do as I say, not as I do. 

Things That Are Contagious - Part 2

In addition to the never ending line of germs that are brought home on a daily basis (my immune system is on overdrive at this point!), there is also a unique dialect that is often transferred from one person to the next.

The person most responsible for creating new Lyle catchphrases is definitely Blake. 

There is just something about the way he says new phrases so confidently that leads everyone in the house to make fun of him for a day or two -- and then join him and start repeating the phases unconsciously by Day 3. 

If you have been around Blake within the last month, you've heard him shout, "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' BOUT!" with a growl in his voice. 

If you haven't, here's a video - but just know this video doesn't do it justice, because as Blake knows - it's all about the timing. Nathan's also picked up on this, although it sounds more like a single word than a catchphrase"TAS-I-TAK-BOUT". (In this video, Nathan also says "What the Heck?" at the end).

Close Enough. 

Blake also starts every sentence with 'Soooo'. 

This is probably the one I am most guilty of copying and using in my day-to-day conversations now. I literally have to go back and edit all of my blogs and take out about 15 "so's" before I hit publish.

Then there's the more controversial words that little brothers have the tendency to pick up from big brothers. 

FART, for example. 

I hate this word. The boys know this. 

Blake loves this word, but he also knows at age three to tailor his "boy talk" in front of me. 

"That was a Big Fart!" he'll boast, and then his eyes will dart to me across the room and he'll correct himself without prompting "I mean it was a little toot, Mom."

Last month, he also picked up the phrase, "What Tha?!?" when referring to anything, EVERYTHING that he was excited / confused / happy about.

This led to the following conversation one night at dinner: 

Mom: New Rule!

No one is allowed to say 'What Tha?!?' anymore. 

You can say 'What the heck?!' or you can say 'Holy Macaroni' if something surprises you. 

Blake: What Tha?!?

Can I say Holy Macaroni and Cheese instead?

Mom: Yes.

Then, for the following three weeks, every time he would have a desire to say it, he would instead launch a whole recap of that New Rule.

Blake: What the Heck Mom!

Can I say that?

I can say 'What the Heck', right?

But I can't say 'What Tha' Right?

But I can say 'Holy Macaroni and Cheese'! 

***
Sooooooo, now that he has the whole house walking around saying 'Holy Macaroni and Cheese' -'What The Heck', he's over it.

He's moved on.

Somewhere along the line he has gotten 'Should you' and 'Could you' mixed up, which actually makes for some very funny requests.

Should you make me a cup of milk?
Should we watch Thomas the Train now? 
Should we NOT take a nap today?
Should you find the iPad for me? 
Should we go to the park?

It's actually brilliant on Blake's part, because it turns a simple request into more of a recommendation than a demand. Like we are just two adults brainstorming the plans for the day.

It was so cute for the first couple of days - but the cuteness is wearing off when it is combined with his hard head. He doesn't take No for an answer.

Blake: Should you make me a cup of milk?

Mom: No, not right now buddy. You can have some milk at lunchtime. 

Blake: But SHOULD you make me some? (with extra emphasis on the SHOULD)

I have to constantly remind myself that he is just experimenting with his words, rather than taking a jab at my mothering abilities. 

Then 7:30 p.m. rolls around. 

The day finally winds down and the kids are tucked away in bed.

I slide into my clock jammies, put on my fuzzy socks and turn to Jeff and say,

"Soooo....should you turn on the Bachelor for me?"

{The Blogs I Never Posted} Dog Food

So, there's something that's been bothering me for a while now. 

It's my "Draft" Section on my blog. 

Somehow I have 60 "draft" blogs that I started at some point in the last 8 years - but I guess got sidetracked in the middle of- how does that happen?- and never hit post. 

(Holy Moly! I've been blogging for 8 years!)

Most of them are just titles, although some of them have been started - and some even have a picture included. As I scan through the titles on these drafts, some of them very well could be Blogging Gold - if I could only remember the story behind them. 

Anyway, I figure I have two options to solve this problem: 

I could go through and delete all of them; 

 or I could go through and attempt to finish and post them. 

There must be a good story behind each of these titles if I took the time to type it out "so I wouldn't forget" and so, to just delete these memories feels so wrong... since they clearly no longer reside in my head. 

So, every Friday, I am going to attempt to finish one of my drafts. 

Hopefully, I will remember some of the stories - or at the very least, maybe it will prompt me to tell a new, more recent story....so without further adieu: 

***

Dog Food

This is Blake eating dog food. 

Or maybe it's Nathan. 

I'm not 100% sure. 

I am pretty sure it is Blake, but it's hard to say 

because the dog food eating phase was relatively short for Blake. 

Nathan, on the other hand, PREFERS dog food.

LOVES it! 

He often feeds Angel his pancakes and eggs in the morning 

and then heads to the bathroom to grab a handful of Pedigree (small breed) Dog Food. 

He's a smart boy though.

He knows eating dog food is frowned upon, 

(warranting a spanking even)

so when he gets caught in the act, he pretends like he was just giving a handful to Angel. 

And of course, Angel goes along with this charade to stay in his good graces. 

B-Lockey

This language in this video is wildly inappropriate - so I apologize in advance.

But it is still worth watching, so that you know why we now refer to Blake as "B-Lockey".

Hi-LARIOUS!

*Thanks Matt, for sharing this video! 

My Kids Facebook Stream

Some Days

I look forward to checking the mail.

Some days I walk back up the driveway extra slow, and linger as I sift through the junk mail / bills / and cards full of box tops (thank you Grandma Lyle!).

Those days...this is what I find when I arrive at the front door.

It feels good to be missed.

{I'll miss being missed one day.}

The Cupcake Monster

Mistake #1: Thinking that the cupcakes ON TOP of the fridge would be safe from the not yet two year old.

Mistake #2: Deciding to finish folding the load of laundry before checking on Blake in the other room, who had become eerily quiet.

Notice how he's already mastered the art of playing it cool - and not acting guilty. He totally tries to deflect the situation when he realizes that he's been caught by starting up a casual conversation.

He's all, "MMMMM! ........MMMMM!.........GOOD!.......... CUPCAKE!"

All his grand plan to take away from the facts of the situation that he moved a chair across the entire kitchen, climbed on top of the counter to access cupcakes ON TOP OF THE REFRIGERATOR!

And then DEVOURED them.

I just know that if he had more words in his vocabulary, I am sure he would have tried to distact me even more. "Hey mom - quick question speaking of cupcakes...do you like buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting better?"

Dog Training At Its Finest

Except when he says "SIT" it sounds more like an obscenity than an actual command.

{Hot} Air Balloon Festival - AKA: The Boon Festival

Last weekend, we went to my favorite festival of all time...the hot air balloon festival.

It's become somewhat of a tradition to go every year but we have had to skip out the last couple of years because of the babies. So this year, when we got a flier in the mail a couple of months ago, Hayden was so excited to show his younger brothers the hot air balloons. We went on Saturday evening and once the sun set, the weather was amazing. It's sort of a beating to get to with all the traffic but totally worth it once you do finally arrive.

Blake LOVED it but I can't say it had anything to do with the hot air balloons.

In fact, I am not even certain he noticed the hot air balloons.

With all the talk about balloons, he became fixated on all the little yellow latex balloons that were being passed out to the kids. And when those kids would inevitably drop their balloons, and they would float up into the sky - Blake would squeal with glee.

"BOON!" he'd shout as he pointed to a tiny spec in the sky...over and over and over.

Each time more excited than the last.

And in addition to watching small yellow latex balloons float away, we also enjoyed roasted corn on the cob (which almost resulted in the fall of Davis' front baby tooth), greasy corn dogs and the company of Mimi and Granddad!

And when evening rolled around, we watched the balloons glow in the night sky.

{Black and White}

{Oops}

So, as it turns out, you should never go to Walmart during naptime.

Not even if your new, naive, stay at home logic tells you

 that it will "wear him out" and he will take a really good nap when he gets home.

Not even if you think chicken nuggets and a fancy Suburban

of shopping carts will win him over.

Don't be fooled by the picture above.

Less than five minutes before that picture was taken, Blake was

literally flopping on the ground behind the cart. I could have buckled him

in but I knew that he would not like that and he when he doesn't like something,

he will let the world know.

So I stopped and regrouped.

Just then, Elmo happened to call on my iphone and

so I let Blake take the call.

I got everything under control but  this lady must

have been following behind me for the whole dragging incident

because just as I got him sitting in the seat and happy, she walked by me

and said "Bless Your Heart."

Read that sentence again.

She didn't just think "Bless Your Heart."

or mumble "Bless Your Heart."

She wheeled her cart up next to me.

Stopped.

Looked me in the eyes.

And Said "Bless Your Heart" with a subtle tilt of her head

and knowing nod.

I am sure she was trying to make me feel better. I guess?

But I couldn't help but take it as a big, fat,

"Needs Improvement"

stamp on my goals I posted the other day.

To make matters worse, I ran into an old co-worker while I was there. 

I was erroneously assuming that everyone I know works, therefore no one would

recognize me at Walmart. I was wearing black yoga pants, hair in a messy bun,

no make up and looking like the definition of a worn out mom.

Oops.

The Best Medicine

Ever since I saw this video of the baby who laughs hysterically at torn paper and this video of the baby who cracks up at nose blowing, it's been on my to-do list to get a video of Blake belly laughing at something random. One night a couple of months ago, after attempting to explain to Jeff the hilariousness of these two videos, I finally just grabbed some paper and started ripping it in Blake's face.

He didn't laugh. He just furrowed his brow and stared at me. The exact same way Jeff was doing across the room.

Then I faked blowing my nose.

Nothing.

Blowing my nose while ripping paper? Funny, right?

More blank stares.

It's not that he doesn't laugh, he does. He laughs all the time. But I've had zero luck getting anything on camera because as soon as I start to get the camera out, he stops laughing.

So you can imagine my surprise when I came home from taking Hayden to Tae Kwon Do tonight, and was shown this video.



Apparently, it's hilarious to get a ball thrown in your face. 

I think that just about sums up what it is like to be the third boy in the family.

Alive and Well, But Busy

You know that whole blog a day thing? Well, we had a good run while it lasted, right?

Obviously, that didn’t work out.

At first I skipped a couple of days and my head was spinning...in a constant state of guilt.

Then I skipped a few more and I found myself writing catch up blogs in my head…which completely stressed me out more.

It was sort of like that time when I was a six year old little girl BAWLING hysterically to my mom because I couldn't stop saying curse words IN MY HEAD.

Do you have any idea how stressful it is to repeat bad words in your head that your bad-influence-friend says? Words like 'sucks' and 'stupid'. Very stressful!

Anyway, another week or so of Not Blogging went by and suddenly I was all, “Blog? What blog?”

Fast forward two months and that’s where we are today. Since we last spoke, this particular boy has gotten HUGE!

There is definitely a lot happening these days, but not a lot of free time to sit down and soak it all in.

So here are the top thirty nine things we (one or all of us) have been up to over the last couple of months. I will follow up with individual blog posts in more detail, but this should get you up to speed for the most part. I’m sure it goes without saying at this point…don’t hold your breath for those posts.

1. Stayed at home for FOUR STRAIGHT days due to snow and ice.

2. Became thankful that I don’t live north of the Red River since there would probably be a lot more weather days.

3. And that I have a full time job.

4. Started a diet.

5. Taught the kids how to say “Duh! Winning!”…a parenting moment we will no doubt look back on with pride.

6. Bragged about a baby who sleeps through the night (when he feels like it).

7. Stopped bragging about a baby who sleeps through the night after realizing I was jinxing myself.

8. Started official Karate Tae Kwon Do classes. I’m still not sure of the difference, but I know that I get corrected every time I say Karate. These lessons cost more than the previous ones which included a $1 Redbox rental of the new Karate Kid movie with Jayden Smith.

9. Attended the third annual Girl Scout Cookie Taste Test hosted by Mimi and GrandDad. If you have a Girl Scout in your family, grab a pen and write this name down…Mike Stadler. You won’t regret it.

10. Ended a diet.

11. Started Blake on baby food.

12. Wondered aloud how someone in my bloodline can HATE food so much.

13. Dressed Hayden up like a 100 year old for the 100th 104th day of school. Those snow days got in the way of a lot of good things. Including peace and quiet.

14. Bought tennis rackets. And matching sweatbands.

15. Played tennis.

16. Chased tennis balls.

17. Lost tennis balls.

18. Started a diet.

19. Became (what felt like) a single mom while Jeff worked 20 hour days.

20. Picked my favorite kid of the day to sleep in my bed during those long nights (they didn’t know the selection process).

21. Thanked God that on Jeff’s last busy night, he arrived home literally minutes before Angel ate a baby bunny and regurgitated it in her crate.

22. Realized that when I say “this is my busiest time at work”, it has a whole different meaning than when Jeff says it.

23. Fed the kids raw oysters for the first time.

24. Made a 3-D angler fish complete with a flashing light. Hey, first grade parents…WE’RE BACK IN THE GAME!

25. Spent way too much time scouring match.com (totally unrelated to the Jeff working late thing).

26. Convinced Davis that he should create a TV show called Kid vs. Food (similar to Man vs. Food) after he ate over a dozen wings.

27. Cheered the Cow-Q-Lated BBQ team on (Matt and Jeff) in their second competition.

28. Ended a diet.

29. Took all three boys to their annual well check appointment.

30. Realized that we were 4 days early for said doctor’s appointment.

31. Waited 4 days and revisited the doctor with all three boys in tow.

32. Determined that while efficient, a triple doctor’s appointment that involves shots for two out of three kids was not practical.

33. Tricked the kids into a photo shoot at the house.

34. Hosted a Belated New Year’s Eve and Minute to Win It Party.

35. Made homemade blueberry muffins after Davis sung the days of the week song and realized that “saying the word Monday reminds him of blueberry muffins.”

36. Convinced Davis that even though we know how to make blueberry muffins (with the help of Betty Crocker), it doesn’t mean we should sell them to our friends and cousins.

37. Lost a tooth. Then literally lost the tooth again - - somewhere in the carpet. I would like to apologize in advance if you are ever at our house and happen to step on a tooth.

Note Jeff in the background searching for the tooth 

38. Advised Hayden to write a note to the tooth fairy explaining his predicament.

39. Aged another year and was gifted with an adorable sock monkey.

One Hundred Thirty Four: Let Them Be Little

As I said before, this whole professional newborn photo shoot was a new experience for me. I am so excited that my friends and family gifted me with the photographer gift card at the baby shower. It is one of my favorite gifts EVER. So timeless.

And based on all of the whining / bribing / random posing that was involved in the twenty minute Christmas-card-photo-shoot a few weeks later with Kellie, I know I made the right call by inviting the big boys for only a fraction of the newborn shoot.

p.s. I love the song that I set the slide show to...probably because I let him "sleep in the middle" more than I should. :)  

One Hundred Thirty Two: Boy Who Cried Wolf

It's official. Blake is definitely going to be the child that gives me grey hair before my time.
He just turned one month old and already he is responsible for three of the most stressful times of my life.

It all started in utero. When I went in for my very first appointment at nine weeks, the doctor ordered a routine ultrasound to determine the size and age of the baby. Technically I could have saved them the time because I know my body down to the minute, but I wanted to see my little peanut.

Anyway, during the ultrasound, the technician asked me about three different times if I was sure I was having no problems.

No bleeding?
No

Not even a little?
No

No cramping?
No

Hmmm. She said. With a tinge of surprise in her voice. She went on to explain to me what she was seeing was a subchorionic hemorrhage. It was "the most common sonographic abnormality" as if that was supposed to make me feel any better. She probably explained it pretty thoroughly, but unfortunately, when I got back to work I googled it and four links later had diagnosed myself with something much more severe.

Something I could fret about for the next 30 some-odd weeks. This fortunately turned out to be nothing. Praise God.

Fast forward to my 18 week ultrasound. I had already found out that Blake was a boy (shocker!) and so I was really expecting the appointment to be rather anti-climatic.

Which it was.

Until about 6 hours later when Dr. Boyd called to let me know they had found another "abnormality" in the ultrasound. There was a cyst on his brain. It could be nothing...it is very common even for adults to have cysts on their brains...or it could be a "marker" for something much more severe. She wanted to send me to a specialist for further testing.

I don't remember many more of the details but I know that I had a complete meltdown in the middle of Wendy's that night. I know that I couldn't take another bite of my spicy chicken sandwich. I remember trying to explain to Jeff everything she had told me. He was so confused. He had walked away from the table for two minutes to get the boys a Frosty and come back to a sobbing wife.

The boys were also confused. Jeff tried to explain to them that there might be something wrong with the baby. I remember Hayden looking back into my teary eyes with concern on his face, and in a very sympathetic tone said, Mom, is Blake really a girl? I guess that was the worst thing a six year old could imagine.

We had two high tech specialists appointments after that to determine if Blake showed any other signs of abnormalities. At both of those appointments they assured us that everything else looked fine, so he was *probably* okay. That word probably sat in the back of my mind for the next twenty weeks. This also turned out to be nothing. Praise God.

Then about two weeks ago, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Jeff and and the boys had just arrived back home from a bike ride. My phone was ringing as they walked in the door. I answered, and it was Blake's new pediatrician asking if we could come into the office immediately to discuss his newborn screen results. They had come back 'abnormal.'

We haven't ever loaded up the car and three kids as fast as we did that afternoon. We were to the office in less than ten minutes. Me, already in tears of course...and not even sure why...as I held what seemed to be a perfectly healthy baby boy.

When we walked in, we were ushered into one of the patient rooms and the doctor came in pretty soon afterward. She explained that Blake showed signs in the newborn screen that he may have a condition called MCAD, which is a completely treatable "disease." She went on to talk about what it is. Basically, MCAD deficiency prevents the body from processing certain fatty acids and in turn makes the sufferer become hypoglycemic. 

The doctor described it so casually and matter of factly that by the time she was done, tears were no longer falling from my eyes. Then she explained that she was going to send us to Children's Hospital that night for additional testing. Before she left the room, she gave me a very genuine hug and I felt almost at ease, until I read the one page MCAD handout she'd left that said if not treated could result in "sudden death".

And of course, the tears started again.

Let me just stop and say thank goodness that Jeff is level minded in times like this.

Anyway, longstoryshort, we went to Children's Hospital and got a blood and urine sample (do you know how hard it is to get a urine sample on a two week old?). Then we waited  a week to get the results. During that week, we were under the strict orders to NEVER LET HIM GO MORE THAN 4 HOURS WITHOUT EATING.

No pressure.

I am happy to report after many prayers from family and friends that once again it was a false positive. PRAISE GOD!!!

All that to say: if this boy keeps this up, he is really going to wear me out and I will be dying my hair in no time. The doctor assures me that he should be a perfect teenager since he is putting me through all the stresses now.

I am hoping she's right.

Hayden & Davis wait patiently

(and I use that term loosely)

as we get additional tests for Blake at Children's Hospital.

One Hundred Nine: Lessons

Directed toward Hayden:
What is the first thing you are going to teach your baby brother?
Science. Like science experiments. Like how to shrink a feather.

Directed toward Davis:
What is the first thing you are going to teach your baby brother?
That when a dog goes (panting noises), it means he is tired.
Then I am going to teach him about site words. Did you know I have a site word in my name.
IS!
Seriously, who needs kindergarten when lessons like this will be readily available from your big brothers?