My girl

I took a few pictures of Larkin in this outfit because my parents bought it for her.  My dad (poppy) actually picked it out.  She looked very girly in it.

Yep, I just realized that those pictures are pretty much all the same but at least I didn’t post all 65 that I took. Haha!

guilt and other random thoughts

and here it goes…another bullet post…sorry about that…because you know that this is when I dump all of my random thoughts onto this post!

• OVERWHELMED- see the picture below…I’m a tad overwhelmed. I look at that picture and it really still shocks me that I’m responsible for all three of those children…they are mine.  God gave them to me to raise and I feel like 90% of the time I am doing a horrible job.  I just don’t have enough time to spend with each one of them individually.  Let’s take this afternoon as an example…for some strange reason Campbell has been super clingy and a little difficult.  He has always wanted me to “hold me”…he literally says that and “tractor” a million times a day…however, he has added another request to the “hold me”… “round”…so know it’s “hooooold meeee……round” and most of the times these requests are not so much requests but more like screaming demands.  and in case you haven’t figured it out “round” means to walk aROUND.  So he wants me to hold him while walking around….and he wants me to do this a lot.  Honestly, I probably should just do it…it would be great exercise to carry that chunk around.  But, you know I am a mean mom so I usually don’t give into demands such as those….especially when they are shouted at me at volume ten.  Anyway, back to this afternoon.  Campbell woke up VERY clingy.  He screamed and cried NON STOP for and hour and a half….I KID YOU NOT!!!!!  And, in the mean time, he woke his sister who was then in a horrible mood so I held both…not walking around which completely ticked Campbell off so he proceeded to push Larkin and try to convince me to put her on the “ground” or back in her “bed”.  Again, he didn’t get his way…poor little guy.  AND, his rage came out and I got hit a few times…**head shaking**  Poor guy….he must learn.  No hitting momma!  SUch a hard lesson to learn when she’s a mean momma.  Anyway, the whole time…an hour and a half, Trigger didn’t get a single bit of attention except to help by getting things for me.  I know he is starved for attention and I KNOW that is most of the reason for his rage and lashing out but I am trying my best and still feel like such a failure most of the time.

• Speaking of guilt, I am not sure the last time that I have been able to cook a real meal for my family.  Matt is probably tired of sandwiches, hot dogs, spaghetti, cereal, or breakfast food.  Because of what I described above, it is almost impossible to cook supper…I could cook it ahead of time…like earlier in the day…I have done that before but then I miss good play/interaction time with my little ones.
• Larkin isn’t rolling from her back to her stomach yet…she is 4.5 months old and it really doesn’t stress me out that much but I know it’s because she is almost NEVER on the ground.  AND, lets face it, she probably wont be on the ground for awhile..not until she can defend herself from her wild brothers. 

• I had to take Larkin to the dr again on Monday.  We were just there last Friday to have her ears and Trigger’s checked for ear infections.  Her left ear was not infected anymore so the second antibiotic that she was on finally worked.  Dr. Slusher did note that she still had fluid in her left ear (which is not uncommon and can last up to 6 weeks after an ear infection…yes, I shouldve gone to med school)…but the strange thing was that she had developed fluid on her right ear…she hadn’t had any…and she developed it WHILE ON ANTIBIOTICS which isn’t a great sign…dr slusher told us friday to bring her back in at the first sign of anything strange.  Well, Sunday morning her eye started draining green gunk.  I knew from the boys that that was a big indicator (maybe just for us) that they probably had something else going on.  SO, I took her to dr. moak on Monday…Are you sitting down?  She has another ear infection…her SECOND ear infection in a month…and she’s only 4.5 months old.  HIGHLY IRRITATING!!!!!  THis one is in her right ear.  Dr. MOak said that her left ear still has fluid that isn’t moving which is a big set up for an ear infection.  She said that Larkin’s eustachian tube does not work properly.  I asked her about tubes…because I know that if we have one more ear infection in the next month or so, we will be sent to Dr. Neal.  She said that she hopes that with cold season ending and summer beginning that hopefully this fluid will go away with this antibiotic and that we will be in the clear until the fall….but, and these are her exact words “….but with your family history, probably not looking so good…but we can hope”.  So we will go back NEXT thursday for a recheck…hopefully one antibiotic can clear this up instead of doing two like we did last time. 

 

• I wouldn’t trade breastfeeding for ANYTHING…I LOVE IT!  BUT, let me just say that I am highly perturbed with the textbooks that say “breastfed babies are less likely to get ear infections” and “breastfed babies are over all more healthy”…HA-HA-HA…I am falling out from laughing as I am sure you are.  THREE BABIES…all THREE BREASTFED…Trigger had breastmilk only until he was 15 months old (in bottles/sippy cups)…Campbell breastfed until he was a year old…Larkin has never had anything besides breastmilk…no bottle…no food…nothing…AND, I have THREE CHILDREN with horrible ears.  My friend told me “imagine what they would be like if they weren’t breastfed”.  I guess that is true.  But, good grief!  I mean, I’m still going to breastfeed because I KNOW it’s the best for them but it’s just a tad aggravating. 

• We finally got our patio furniture in and I am itching to have people over so we can enjoy sitting out there with our friends!   I love that we chose to go with conversational furniture instead of a dining set.  It’s so cozy and comfortable.  Matt and I actually went out there after we got the kids in bed and read while lounging.  Side note: we must get some bug candles or something because I am sure I will be covered in red bumps tomorrow…and red bumps on my white skin makes me look like I have the chicken pox!

• I realized about a week ago that Campbell’s birthday is pretty much here…He will be two on June 3rd.  I had assumed that we would have a tractor party because Campbell is OBSESSED WITH THEM…OBSESSED!  However, I had/have nothing planned…no invitations ordered…no ideas researched…no decorations made.  So, I’m sorry, Campbell, but it looks like we will be going the simple route this year.  I hate that but the older I get and the more children I have, the more I realize that they truly don’t care about what I care about….and I just don’t have the time that I once had…NOW, I say all of that…but I’m not going to promise that I won’t sneak in something last minute…I’ll try to remember that décor and all the extra isn’t important…I WILL TRY!  Ha! 

Okay…it’s getting really late and I have lots to do still so I’m done with my random thoughts…more later!

Campbell’s Loves

Campbell has two main loves right now…BOOTS and TRACTORS.  If you have seen us lately, I’m sure that he has had on his boots…even if they don’t match AT ALL!!!  IT’s funny because with Trigger I would have NEVER allowed him to wear mismatched boots with his jon jons.  NO WAY…he wouldve had on matching sandals or keds.  However, I have relaxed and REALLY, REALLY MUST pick my battles because I now have THREE children AND because a majority of the time one or more of the three are sick and highly grumpy!  So, if boots make him happy, he gets to wear his boots. 

His other love…TRACTORS…the poor child…I wish I knew how many times a day he said the word “tractor”.  He loves them…the word love really doesn’t even accurately describe it…it’s probably more like an obsession.  I took a few pictures of Larkin on the table the other day and thought I would get a few of Campbell too…he wasn’t feeling the greatest because this was the day after his surgery (tubes, adenoids, sinus irrigation….more on that later).  Of course he had on his boots…and I get him to sit up there by giving him some tractors. 

OH and his other love is….his MOMMY….or at least I am adding that to the list!

Cousin Love…congrats Lance

Uncle Lance graduated from PT school this past Friday.  We had a little family celebration with some crawfish.  It was so fun…and as always, CHAOTIC.  Matt and I didn’t eat crawfish because Matt is highly allergic…and I didn’t because I’m breastfeeding and it’s recommended for you to stay away from eating foods that someone in your family is allergic to.  PLUS, it’s nearly impossible for one of us to watch all three kids while in a chaotic situation like that…so I needed to be available and not covered in crawfish juice.  SUCH is the LIFE! ;) I tried getting some pictures of the three and I got some great ones…only to realize later that I had my camera on the manual setting while inside and they all turned out pitch black…so I attempted to recreate the pictures a little while later and they did NOT turn out so great…but here they are.   Matt did take the boys to ride the “fire jeep”.  They LOVE it!!!!We got some with Reid too…the first attempt pictures would have been a lot better of these too…However, this picture below is MY favorite!  Look at campbell…he is telling Reid “shhhhh”…which is so humorous because Reid wasn’t making a peep and Campbell pretty much yells most of the day.  Maybe he shouldve been telling himself to “shhhh”.  HA!Larkin and Meme…I didn’t get one of Larkin and Mamaw :(ANd, this was a big ordeal…The girls (abby and sydney) brought their swimsuits to swim and I didn’t realize anyone would be swimming…therefore, I didn’t bring trigger’s swimsuit.  He pouted forever…I mean with his head hung down, lip out, etc…the whole nine yards…it was pitiful.  I was hesitant to let him get in because Campbell had just gotten tubes/adenoids out a couple of days before so he did NOT need to swim….I didn’t want Campbell throwing a fit.  BUT, I finally gave in…I let Trigger swim in his underwear.  He was THRILLED.  I told Matt to go put on some floaties…I assumed he would put the frog ones on him…but, Matt chose the girly ladybug.  Oh well…

So, I don’t have a single picture of Lance but he graduated…worked really hard for three years and I know that he is so thankful to have school behind him.  He already has a job here in Ruston and we are glad to have him back home with us!!!!  Congratulations, Lance.  We are so proud of you!

Mother’s Day

Well, once again, Mother’s day did NOT go as planned.  This is the second year in a row that I could not be with all of my children/husband at once.  Campbell had been running fever so we split up…I went with Larkin to my parents for lunch and Matt went to his parents with Trigger for supper.  We did the same thing last year except that I think I was sick too last year.  Like most of the other holidays that we have missed this year, I kept seeing these beautiful pictures on fb of moms with their precious children…all dressed in their sunday clothes, ready for church.  WELL, we didn’t even get to go to church.  Campbell had to be taken to the surgical center to get his last (of three) rosefin shots and that took forever.  Matt knew that it bothered me that I hadnt even gotten a picture with my children so after the boys took naps, we took a few pictures…NONE of us are in our sunday best.  I really wanted to dress them up BUT, I just didn’t have the energy to fight the boys.  The sad part is that last sunday I was going to put Campbell in this precious sailor outfit that was Triggers (and was only worn once) and I decided at the last minute to not put him in it because I wanted to save it for him to wear on Mother’s day since it was my favorite…well, he didn’t get to wear it.  Maybe another sunday. 

ANyway, here are the best from our little mother’s day shoot.

I sure love being a momma to my three precious children…I even love taking care of them when they are sick which is good because that’s what I spend my days/weeks doing.  Ha!

Tough Love

The boys really love each other…however, if you were to spend a few minutes in our house with the two of them, you would think I was seriously lying.  They are constantly screaming at each other and hitting each other.  BUT, if one of them is gone, the other one is constantly asking about their brother.  So, here is a true picture of what life looks like with two little boys…at least this is what is like with our two little boys and their little personalities.  Maybe I should give a little play-by-play.

Trigger is mad and does not want to sit down for a picture.

Daddy comes in to save the day and says something funny…but c is not amused (imagine that).A few seconds had passed of sitting still so Trigger made his move. Campbell was not happy to be touched.Trigger decided to get Campbell to move back next to him (because we had been asking Campbell to scoot back)Matt: “yall stop” and says something funny…Campbell is amused this time, Trigger is NOT!Both are happy…but wait for it…..Campbell attacked Trigger…and I’m pretty sure Campbell is biting Trigger’s back.  I’m worn out and tired of worrying about the bricks behind them…because I can just see a busted head if we continue.Trigger is mad about something else…IMAGINE THAT…im betting he wanted to change clothes…yes, I do believe that is what it was.And he has changed and Larkin is now upset!  Look at her, arms thrown out like she has been sitting there for hours just waiting for someone to pay her some attention…Im telling you…this is a rough house to live in.  HAHA!

Oh and the reason the boys are wearing their cc jerseys is because my niece, Sydney, had her birthday party and it was a cheer party…so the boys wore their jerseys since “boys don’t cheer…they play football”…I repeated this over and over again to Trigger so he wouldn’t get there and think he could do some cheers.  LOL!

LOVE

I love this outfit that Larkin is wearing…you really can’t tell much about it in these pictures but it is really cute…I tried to take a few quick pictures but they didn’t turn out great…I don’t have anything to really say about them except that I sure love these children!

Trigger’s End of the Year program

Last week seems like it happened a month ago…anyway, Trigger had his last day on preschool on Thursday (May 10th).  They had a program with lots of singing.  It was really cute…and wouldve been even cuter if Trigger would have actually sung the songs.  I do have to give him a little credit…he did much better than he did last time.  At his Thanksgiving program, he had a finger in his nose almost the whole time…this time, he just stood there and smiled.  At least he has a really cute smile! 

I had to have a picture of him washing his hands because that is something that we did EVERY morning when we arrived…as you can tell, Trigger was thrilled to have his picture taken.

We LOVE Mrs. Lisa!!!!And, the three of us…it seems like it was just yesterday when it was JUST the three of us!

And, here is a picture of his first day of preschool.

And, his last day of preschool…did you notice that in BOTH pictures, he DESPERATELY needs a haircut.  The problem is that Campbell has been so sick lately, I haven’t been able to squeeze in an extra second to get their haircut! 

Trigger has had such a good year at Trinity.  We have missed a lot of days because of illnesses but it has been so good for him and his social skills.  Mrs. Lisa has been SOOOO good for Trigger.  Trigger will do one more year at Trinity…the four year old program…and then he will go to Cedar Creek Pre-K.  We decided when he was born…actually before he was born, that we would hold him back.  His birthday is July 29th and I do NOT want him behind at all…so he will be five when he starts Cedar Creek Pre-k.  He could start this next year but I can’t imagine how he could do it…he is SO not ready…and I know! because I taught it.  Not that we are discussing Campbell but we will hold him back too.  His birthday is June 3rd and I still think it will be very beneficial for him to wait.  I have never seen it hurt a child…especially a boy, to start a year late!!!!!!