Articles Archive for May 2006
Somethin' »
my parents brought some more stuff over from their attic. looky! i was getting the dress out to put away and my honey said, “you know, i’ll bet that dress will be too big on you now.” and i took the bait. “ya think?” “yep.” i didn’t think i’d be that excited to put it on. it’s been seven years. i wanted to keep it on all day and be princess all over again! and look at my angels with me. the only thing better than your wedding day is 7 years later in your living room playing dress up with your littleuns runnin’ around excited because mama looks like a princess.
Featured, TheySay »
(originally published May 29, 2006)
random thoughts on things that have made me happy lately… and some is not for the squeamish…
i just read lee ann’s post about her missing rosie and phillip. i’m SO happy for them! and i’m SO sad for me. but i really believe it’s where they’re supposed to be and that helps so much. i love them. and i’m so excited about their new start.
i fixed like 40 seussian pancakes to freeze the other day and the boys ate about 4 each of the green and blue ones. so… last night my middlest goes to the bathroom and says, “my poop is greenish-backish” his daddy goes to investigate since he’s been sick lately and i hear hysterical laughing from the bathroom… as daddy said it may be the best poop i’ve ever seen - crayola green. not sick green, mind you, bright, neon, crayola green. awesome. he was so proud. and my oldest son was so jealous he promptly went to the bathroom to try and compete. the little brother sat guard on the step stool. nope. nothing like the green winner!
chicken little is by far THE best movie i’ve seen lately. not just out of kid movies. the best by far of all.
while watching chicken little this morning for the 15th time, literally, my middlest says, ” uh-oh, dum” (gum). i look down and he has gum stuck on his t.t. yep. so i help get it off, he takes it from me - i think to take to the trash - nope, back in the mouth before i can say, “gross”. oh well. we’re building immunity. we’re building immunity. everyone with me now, “we’re building immunity.”
i warned you.
my living room is so clean. my honey and i put the scrub down on it.
my girl has taken a sudden interest in clothes. she brings ‘em to me, holding them to herself, and i put them on her. then she walks around so proud. since most of the clothes we have sitting around are boy clothes, it’s extra cute. this morning her picks were a soccer shirt and her oldest brother’s batman underwear. pics to follow. so cute.
i like csi. i have a hard time admitting this. i’m addicted. every night. i love grissom. and greg, and nick. and thanks to dvr i’m catching all the old ones. they’re new to me. i just finished watching the one where nick gets kidnapped and then saved. good stuff.
i like charlie and lola. you should watch it. more good stuff.
it’s a 3 day weekend for my man. yea!
my oldest’s new school. it’s so pretty. and the classes are so cute. it makes me want to be a teacher. kinda. okay, i just want a classroom, not really the kiddos to go with it. 
we have air in the living room. aaahh.. if you’ve been to our house in the last month, you’ll know how great that is!
i think that’s it for now. i’ll try to get pics on next time. thanks for tuning in.
Understanding »
i would like to take a moment to address some concerns about having parker4. and i figured this was as good a place as any to do just that.
FAQs
yes, it is hard. yes, it is even harder having several so close together (so i hear) although, i wouldn’t really know, since this is the only reality i have to draw from. no, they don’t get as much as they would have if there were only one or two of them. yes, i have to sacrifice - time, money, wants, alone time, sanity, sleep. yes, i do have my “hands full”. and my personal favorite - yes, i know what causes this.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOVING KIDS
i always knew i wanted to work with kids. i just didn’t know what that looked like. i babysat. i majored in elementary ed. i worked/lived in the wilderness 8 weeks as a girl scout camp counselor with sixteen 8 year olds. i worked daycare as the only care-taker of nine 18-36 month olds. i taught 4 year old pre-k. multiple children in one place doesn’t scare me. i remember vividly praying when i was at college that God would teach me patience. He has been faithful. He put a desire in my heart to have a bunch of babies. and now He’s giving me the chance to practice.
WHY
why not just work with kids like i started out doing? that was not my calling. that’s not the desire in my heart. it just was never quite right. there was more. when matt and i got married i knew i wanted kids. he knew i wanted kids. i knew he didn’t really want kids, but that he would compromise. neither one of us wanted them for a LONG time. hey, we had partying to do, yo. “maybe in 2 years” 2 years came and we still weren’t ready. but God had other plans and along came our first. i wasn’t sure if i was going to stay home. my honey’s mom did, mine didn’t. i wasn’t sold. i was loving the downtown little rock high life. but i got laid off in the dot-com industry crash, and it’s hard to find good work when you’re 6 months pregnant. so i decided to stay home. my honey and his brother are 2 1/2 years apart. and i loved seeing how close they were. my sisters are 8 and 11 years older than me. i grew up an only child, kinda. with 3 moms, basically. not fun. i also knew i wanted several kids. so the equation was coming together. for my sake - i wanted several kids. for their sake i wanted them close in age. my honey’s best memories are of his first 5 years of life with his mom. this is what i wanted for my kids. i knew the inside of the daycare industry and i knew i didn’t want my kids there. my mom nannied when i was in high school and i saw those babies grow and call my mom “mama”. i translated for 2 and 3 year olds at day care for their parents who couldn’t understand their words, but i, a young college single, spent more waking hours with their babies than they did. these were not the things i wanted for my family. i’m not judging. i’m not making a statement about what should be for everyone. i’m saying this is the direction I was being led. and how we got where we are.
THE FIRST 3 PARKERS
my first came along and when he was 3 months old i was ready to go again. i got pregnant with my second (with 2 months of trying) when my first was 10 months old. when our second baby turned a year old and i wasn’t pregnant i was a little sad, but not quite ready yet. the morning we learned a friend’s baby was born - the fever hit. let me also back up. my honey didn’t want kids. and was petrified while i was pregnant with our first. about 3 months after he was born he was sold. absolultely lovin’ the one we had and ready for more. same with our girl. he’s ready to be done now. i could keep going. so we’re compromising. one more.
DON’T MISS IT
why would i want this?
could i be having more fun? seriously. i LOVE watching them. learn, play, fight, grow. i love how much they’re teaching me. about love. love - watching matt with them… could i be more in love with him? love - learning what unconditional means. love - seeing how discipline and love go hand in hand. i love the questions they ask. i love watching them sleep. i love nursing my babies. i love being pregnant. i love knowing God is growing a baby in there. that He’s knitting the details where i can’t see. i love the surprise of their birth. i love their smell. i love even the big-kids-playing-outside-top-of-their-head smell. i love how they interact with each other. i love how they love playing with their daddy. i love how they look packed like sardines across the back of the corolla. i love pick-ups, and hands-in-the-air-please-hold-me-mama looks. i love when they learn that first joke. and they realize the world is funny and they can create some that. i love the pictures they make and asking, “tell me all about it” because i can’t tell anything about it. i love their eyes when you tell them you got ‘em a surprise. i love seeing who they are and waiting to see who God made them to be. i love when they hold my hand and the softness of that hold. i love when they say, “i wuv wu mama” i love that they are as excited as me to get another brother or sister. i love how they make up games like catch the bouncy ball with the upside down bucket. i love when they discovered crisco while i wasn’t looking. i love how they take care of each other and then beat each other to a pulp the next second. i love the fingerprints all over everything.
WHAT I KNOW
i know we don’t have much money. i know that more babies puts a strain on the pocketbook and add more sleep deprivation. i know the chaos is not always joyful. i get tired, frustrated, fed up, and angry. the patience isn’t just handed over on a silver platter, after all. but it is given. i know that what i have is priceless at the end of the day. i know i wouldn’t trade what i have for all the money and time and sleep i’ve given up. i know this won’t last forever. i know it’s going faster everyday. i know God said they are a blessing from Him. i know He’s right.
i know i don’t want to miss this.
Somethin' »
so, do you think the world can handle another parker? no, not yet, but it’s officially on my mind and in discussion in the household. so, in the next few months i’m sure baby fever will hit a new high. you know, probably just in time to learn how to take my oldest to kindergarten and soccer, my second to be in the throws of wildly independent threeness and my girl to hit 16 months - you know, into everything, fighting with the middlest, the full press. why wouldn’t i want to add morning (all day) sickness to that mix? but if God gives us this one (although, i’m praying for twins - i want a boy AND a girl) more this will be it. my honey’s called the game. no mas. just when i was hitting my stride. i’m just now getting the hang of all this and not stessing over all of it, oh, is that the zoloft, i wondered. 
i can truly see why people keep going once they get to 3 or 4. it’s getting easier. no, really. you should try it. but, i think i’ll be content with this being the last. i’m not kidding about the twins though. i could get a 2 for 1 deal. my girl really needs a sister, i want my next boy, and we could go out with a bang! but, twins don’t run in either family so, God would just have to see that this is what my life needs and grant it. you know, that’s how it works, right? i know what’s best for us.
you’re not really surprised by this post, now are you? you knew it was coming. and if you do the math and look at our track record, you’d know we’re right on time. so, start praying. for health, minivans, twins, and contentment. i want it all, baby!
TheBetterHalf »
2 words…
strep throat.
argh.
i feel like we’ve dropped out of society the last week. we’re all on the bubble gum pink medicine - all 5 of us got prescriptions yesterday. i don’t remember when i was this sick. i was thinking back over the last year and how infrequently i go to the doctor. in a year i’ve had mastitis, double pink eye, a raging ear infection and now strep throat. not bad for a whole year with preschoolers. with all the others i never missed a beat (maybe some complaining ) but it never stopped me. yesterday i called my honey at work crying and asked him to come home to help me. i NEVER do this. i thought i was dying. good grief.
and can i say - mad props to my honey. when i called at 11am yesterday i asked if he could come home an hour or two early. he called 30 minutes later and said he was almost home. and then he proceeded to clean the whole house, while catering to the whims of the 3 little ones and me. mopping, scrubbing the stove, vacuuming, and everything. he is SO my hero.
today i feel mo’ betra. and who wouldn’t? for $5 tonight you can eat the best chicken on the planet - fixed by someone else none the less. what could be better?