Pretty Please, Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office several time even stayed in the hospital, washed hundreds of loads of laundry, been thrown up on and pooped on countless time.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles; and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

• I want arms that don't flap in the breeze but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the toy aisle at Walmart and carry out 4 bags of trash at a time.
• I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my pregnancy with Baylor.
• And if you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like a car with stain proof carpet, fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music.
• It would be nice to have a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals or people dressed in crazy costumes that make me have nightmares.
• I could also use a recording of monks chanting, "No Playdoh on the carpet", "Leave her alone", and "Spit it out".

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for a hot bath without 2 kids and a dog watching me or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container or that comes out of a box and has to be heated in the microwave for 2 minutes removed stirred and heated for another minute.

If you don't mind I could also use a Christmas miracle to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ranch and Dr. Pepper a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

Got to run the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and Brier saw my feet under the laundry room door and he is turning the nob.

P.S. While your here can you fold the endless basket of laundry and carry out the sack of dirty diapers. Thanks!

Love,
Adrian

Poor Thing

Well, my mother's intuition was right and Baylor was really sick. We got to spend the night in the hospital. She had a viral infection and a UTI. Her temp topped out at 103.5 when we were checking into our room. They did get an IV in her but both of her veins collapsed when they were trying to draw blood for bloodwork. The cold caused her to have blisters in her mouth and throat and her head was so stopped up she couldn't breath so her oxygen level was 84% and she was starting to turn blue. So after 1 antiboitic shot, 1 breathing treatment, 2 rounds of antiboitics in her IV, an allergy/steroid shot, and 10 days more of antiboitics for home and Liadacane to numb her mouth and throat we are finally home and glad to be here.

This picture was taken right before we were going home, she looks pretty good here. A thousand times better than when we got there. I knew she was starting to feel a little better when a few giggles starting slipping out.

Things I learned-

• Trust your gut
• Just because one doctor says nothing is wrong you can always get a second opinion.
• I can resist the urge to punch someone when they are hurting my child.
• I can hold my child down while resisting the urge to punch someone.
• I can tell someone to stop when they are hurting my child and they have to because of that "because I said so" clause.
• I forgot how tired you get when you sit up and hold a child all night in a hospital bed (haven't done that since the night Brier was born).
• Its pretty hard to entertain a 10 month old in a hospital room that just wants down to explore.
• I really like Dr. Deena as a new pedi here in town.
• I would do just about anything for it to have been me instead of her.

The 4 of Us

After Christmas shopping all day we stopped by Amy's gorgeous new house to take one final look before the big moving day and this sunset was just to pretty to pass up.

Yay for the Holiday Break!!!

So, after today I get 3 weeks off. 3 whole weeks, can you believe that? It's going to be fantastic.

All Aboard for some more pictures

Polar Express

Well, if you got your Act of Congress in time then you got tickets for The Polar Express of West Texas. Luckily, Shonnie was relentless and got tickets for all of us to go and we had a lot of fun.

This is what you really want, right?

Baylor has started looking at the camera and smiling and I love it. How cute are these?

I don't know why but I love this picture of them

The only time I get to look at a magazine or look through our mail when Dusty is out of town is when we all sit down to eat because they are usually quite and still and I usually have to have my phone right there because it never fails that someone calls me as soon as I sit down to eat, so I had made Brier his weenies and Baylor was eating and I looked up and saw Brier looking through a magazine with his phone beside him. They watch everything you do.

Brier shaving, again they watch everything.

Giggle Girl

If you've been around Baylor much you know it doesn't take a whole lot to get her giggle box turned over. Most of the time she is either smiling or laughing. Here are a couple of videos to prove it. You may have to scroll all the way to the bottom and turn off my music player (the top left corner) to be able to hear her and you'll probably have to turn your volume up all the way to hear her which will make me sound like I'm standing behind you yelling in your ear.

The first one I had lost my voice last week and was just getting it back so normally I don't sound like a 70 year old man that took his first drag off a cigarette when he was a couple of minutes old. Sorry about the quality they were both taken with my video on my phone.






By the way, the new song, the second one I swear was written about me and Dusty about the first time we meet. But instead of a blue eyed boy its brown and instead of a ford it was a chevy.

Why I love work sometimes

If you haven't read my last post please scroll down and read it first.

Most days me and Holly email back and forth quite a bit, if you work you understand. Its easier than getting up and walking to each others office. So I thought I would share one of our email conversations with you from today. I copied these straight from our emails.

H:: You think these boots would be good for work? ;-)

A:: Yeah, they’ll be fine and you won’t even have to change before you go to your second job at night.

H:: That’s the job I need to get. Then I’d have some extra shopping money. I might need a tummy tuck first though.

A:: That’s not the only thing I would have to get.

H:: Oh yeah I forgot, my boobs have gone sour too. I’d need a new pair...LOL.

A:: Sour? Mine have gone South...know anywhere that does buy one get one free for some new girls. You know I’m all about the deal.


That's why its fun to come to work sometimes. Hope you enjoyed and sorry if there's any male readers out there. I know you all really only want to see pictures of the kids so hopefully soon I'll have some new ones up.

My Soapbox

Disclaimer: This is not directly written towards anyone in general so when you are reading this please don't think "did I say something to her."

OK, here it goes. This has been weighing on me for sometime to write but I just never have.

Just because I have chosen to work does not make me a bad mother. Just because someone stays at home with their kids doesn't make them a good mom. Trust me the first time I left Brier to go back to work I thought I was going to die. This has been a hard decision for me and Dusty. I have prayed about it a lot, I mean A LOT but decided it is best for my family if I work.

We are so blessed to have my mom able to keep the kids (she probably does a better job with them than I would) and we are blessed to have Dusty's mom there as a backup anytime we need it. Don't get me wrong there are days that I long to be at home with my kids, like today when they are sick and grumpy but then they're are days that I enjoyed getting to come to work. After many months of struggle I finally see it as I have the best of both worlds, my kids get to spend time with their grandmothers and will grow to have a close bond with them and I get to get out and spend time with other grown ups. There is nothing more that I enjoy as getting to go get them and going home every day. I would rather be a good mom during the time I am at home with them than a bad mom who feels she is stuck at home all the time and longs to talk to another grown up. I am also blessed to have the job I have with incredible time off and benefits that are much needed.

Maintaining a home, raising a family, and keeping a full time job is not easy and most days I go home and do everything stay at home moms do including cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. Working moms don't have little fairies that come do all that stuff for them. (I did recently get a cleaning lady because I can't keep Baylor from licking our floor seriously she's a human vacuum.)

So just because you have decided to stay at home with your kids doesn't make you better than me, its just means we have made different decisions. Of course, I am not saying that staying at home is not wonderful too. I am only saying that for me, for our family, for now, this is what I am supposed to do.

So if you are a stay at home mom and you have never been a working mom then don't look down on them. Like your mom always said walk a mile in their shoes first.

Thank you, I'll step down off my box now.

Exciting News

Skip on over to my sister-in-law, Shonnie's, page. She's got some pretty exciting news. It has been a long time coming and we are overly excited.

Baylor Grace @ 9 months

I took Baylor's 9 month pictures. It is becoming more difficult to get good shots of her. She wants to eat everything and wiggle around all the time.



Please go vote for my friend, Amanda's, little boy. He made the final round for a cutest baby contest. If they win, they'll get $5,000. Who doesn't need that right about now.

Trick or Treating

My Little Poodle

Who doesn't need a bucket of chocolate at 9:00 at night.

Pictures everywhere

Kissy-kissy

Driving the stripper with Pops, he's so serious about it.


Fall Festival at our church
Brier, Trista, and Kenna

Cowgirl Trista

Cowboy Brier, doing what he does best lately, crying.

Chaps - check
Boots - check
Gun - check
Sippy cup - check


Kade's birthday party (I forgot I had them)

Brier sharing his toys, finally.

"Oh, only if mom would let me outside to go play with the boys"

Las Vegas

You would think that I'm a world traveler or something now after reading my last 2 blog post. It just so happened I got a mom weekend pass the weekend after going to the balloon festival. I do think I'm getting old because being gone 2 weekends in a row wore me out that is why it has taken me so long to get this blog up.

It was Mimi's 75th birthday and mom took her to Las Vegas for her very first time and a good time was had by all. I haven't laughed so hard in years.

Mimi @ the Rainforest Cafe in our hotel.

Rainforest cafe

Mimi and Shonnie on the Gondola ride at the Venetian

Mimi and mom at the Atrium at the Bellagio

The whole gang (Karen, Mimi, Mom, Shonnie, Me, & Tona)

Mimi & Mom on the LV Stripe

No, no Mimi. You can't mix alcohol with your meds.