Holy Smokes!

What does that mean anyway? Holy Smoke? Right now it means that I have 22 followers. I about flipped my lid. (Or maybe I really did). 22!!!!! That's getting pretty close to 25....
I am excited.
(Its been a slow day)

Visiting Daddy

So, yesterday was Sunday. Like most Sunday mornings I was feeling half asleep. I was running behind schedule, trying to get the kids and myself ready to go to church.
Trey was ready. I had accomplished that much. He kept following me around asking for a popsicle. I took Kayelynn into her room to get her dressed. Trey came in with a popsicle trying to get it open. (We're talkin' ice pops here. The kind that you buy and then have to go home and freeze them. These are his favorites. )
For the twentieth time, I tell him no and instruct him to go into the kitchen "and put that popsicle right back where you found it!"
It wasn't too much longer and I took Kayelynn back to the living room. (I decided I needed to press her dress quickly) When I came around the corner, Trey looked up at me with big round eyes. "Mommy.." He whimpered. He lifted his hands where I could see them. They were covered with blood! I was alarmed to say the least. I hadn't been expecting to see that! At first I thought he had a nose bleed and had gotten his hand dirty that way. But, I was looking at a clean face. "The ife, the ife" Trey said in a scared voice. (Translated that means- the knife! the knife!). As I look down at the couch, I begin to see the whole picture. There is a slightly melted blue popsicle lying next to one of the biggest, sharpest knives I own.
I rushed Trey to the bathroom for a closer inspection. It was his finger. He'd sliced it about half way around under the nail bed. Blood was running everywhere. "Its not as much as it seems" I kept telling myself. It seems like my nursing instincts disappear whenever the kids are hurt. (I once sat frozen while Trey choked on a teething biscuit. My mom and sister had to rescue him from his highchair, turn him upside down and beat him on the back to dislodge the cookie piece)
I had taken a cold wash cloth and wrapped it around Trey's finger. I was trying to hold pressure on it but Trey was crying now and trying to hide his finger from me. In just a few minutes the wash cloth was completely red. Oh boy. I thought. This isn't just a scratch. I put wash cloth number two on as Trey screams like his finger has actually fallen off. It doesn't take long to see that the bleeding isn't slowing down.
"We're going to have to go to the hospital" I announce. This statement causes Trey's wailing to go to a whole new level. I am digging through the laundry to find something decent enough to wear. (I was still in my pajamas). I tried to hurry thinking how awful it would be if Trey bled to death because I couldn't find something to wear.
I scooted Trey towards the front door and scooped up the baby (who had of course, gravitated to the puddle of blue popsicle). Within a minute or two we were in the car and headed towards town.
"Don't drive so fast. It hurts my finger." Trey mumbled. I had called Rex to tell him we were coming. Now, all I could concentrate on was getting to the hospital before anything else could go wrong.
As we drove by our church, Trey tried to convince me to take him there instead of the hospital. Halfway to the hospital Trey was looking a bit pale. He closed his eyes and slouched over in his car seat. "Trey Buddy, you ok?" I asked. " I sink I jus need a little rest" he said quietly. We made it to "Daddy's Hospital" and I hurriedly got us all out of the car. We were walking towards to ER entrance when Trey asked "what do those letters spell?". I looked to where he was pointing. "Emergency" I told him. He sounded scared now. "Is this an emergency?".
"Well, kind of" I told him.
As we walked in,the receptionist eyed the bloody wash cloth that Trey clutched around his finger. "You must be Dr. Stroud's little boy" she said. I guess we were expected. She directed us back to a room that was saved for us. Trey instantly freaked out once we were in the little sterile looking environment. He cried and begged not to sit on the bed (stretcher).
Rex came in about that time. But there was no way Trey was going to let go of his wash cloth and show his finger. Finally, Rex ended up holding the baby while I inspected the finger. "It looks a lot better" I said. "No it doesn't!" Trey wailed. It was hardly bleeding now. I tried to describe the scene at home so Rex wouldn't think I was crazy for bringing Trey in.
We watched the finger for a bit. Rex was hoping not to have to traumatize Trey with stitches. The spot the cut was in didn't lend itself to gluing either. So, 15 minutes later we left the ER with some ointment and a band aid. I felt stupid. Rex just smiled. "It was worse at home" I said. "That's what they all say" my doctor husband replied.
So home we went, crisis averted. Trey's finger did rebleed later that day while he was playing. I made him a super splint/dressing (that came with a bowl of ice cream on the side) and all has been well since.
Trey's still not about to let anyone touch his finger. He warned me this morning that he'd cry if I took his band aid off. He has also made a very solemn vow to never play with "ifes" again.

In the spirit of my last post...

Once upon a time, there was a mommy blogger. She loved to spend time with her kids, friends and family. She enjoyed telling stories thru her blog and found happiness in interactions with her followers.
As time passed, her followers grew from 2 to 4 to 14 to 20! But then days and weeks passed without any new followers. The skies turned gray and grim. Rain replaced the sunshine and the mommy blogger grew sad.
A big mean troll (the kind with rotten teeth and hairs coming out of its nose) came and locked the mommy blogger in a basement. The mommy blogger became even more sad. She checked her messages for new comments or followers on her blog. But there were none. Occasionally, the big troll would come and tease the mommy blogger. He would nag at her whenever she was blogging. "Who would want to read about what you do everyday?" the troll sneered.
"Nobody cares if you are inside or outside, awake or asleep, happy or sad." The mommy blogger sighed and looked at her silent computer screen.
Then, one fine day, just past the middle of July, the mommy blogger logged on to her computer. A smile spread across her face.
"What are you smiling at!" the troll growled. The happy mommy blogger gestured towards her computer screen. She beamed proudly as the troll noticed that her follower count was up to 21.
"See," she said joyfully. "Someone does care about me. In fact 21 someones care about me!"
The love and friendship permeated the dungeon and created a rainbow that could not be contained within the walls of her prison. As the beautiful rainbow filled the room, its colors touched the troll and made him growl and howl. The more the mommy blogger smiled, the brighter the rainbow's colors grew. The brighter the colors grew, the smaller the mean troll became. Before long, he had shrunk down to the size of a pea and his growl was no more than a whisper.
The mommy blogger was easily able to flee her cell. She frolicked and played with her children, friends and family and happiness and order were restored in the mommy blogger's world. All of this because follower 21 came along.

The story of Tomato the Salamander

Once upon a time there was a Mommy who was trying to clean out her hall closet. She lifted a box from the floor and was startled when something small and black wriggled out in front of her toes.
"Eww! Eww!" the Mommy squealed. She wasn't sure what she had just seen but she did not like the way it moved! The Mommy found a clear plastic container to throw over the strange little black intruder.
With all of the commotion, the Mommy's little boy had wandered out of his room to see what was going on. Mommy and her little boy knelt on the floor and peered through the plastic barrier.
"What is it?" the little boy asked.
Mommy studied the captive. She was surprised! " I think its a salamander".
"A salad?" The little boy asked.
"No," Mommy replied. "A sal-a-man-der" Mommy said slowly.
"Ohhh" said the little boy, "a sal-ad-man-der"
"Now how are we going to get rid of it?" The Mommy wondered out loud. (The Mommy didn't really want this thing in her house but she didn't really want to touch it either to get it out of its plastic cage)
"Awww. He's a cutie!" the little boy cooed.
The Mommy wrinkled her nose.
"You like it?" She asked the little boy.
"He's my new best friend!" The little boy answered enthusiastically. The Mommy sighed. "Oh my!" the Mommy started, "I'm not sure we can keep it!"
"Mommy," the little boy began in a tone that sounded too adult like. "He has a name!"
"He does?" the Mommy asked incredulously. "Yes" the little boy answered. "His name is Tomato!"
The Mommy sighed again. Seeing how it was very unlikely to have found a salamander in the first place, how the little boy was already the salamander's best friend, and how the salamander had a name...it seemed that the salamander would be staying with the mommy and the little boy for a while.
So, it was decided that Tomato Salamander could live with Oxley Turtle. The little boy hoped that his friends would like each other. The Mommy and the little boy looked through the clear glass of Oxley's aquarium. Tomato scurried around until he came to a flat rock to rest on. Oxley seemed content swimming around on the opposite side of the tank. And so it was for the rest of the day, each friend kept to his side of their shared quarters.
Day after day went by and Tomato continued to sit on his flat rock. The little boy decided that Tomato must be bored. The Mommy thought he was just boring. Sometimes the Mommy would reach in to poke at Tomato because he seemed so lifeless. Tomato would waddle over to a different rock and continue to be bored/boring.
The Mommy was a bit worried about Tomato. He had not eaten one bite since he'd come to live with them. Silly salamander! Maybe he did not like the sorts of food the Mommy had. The Mommy was puzzled. So, she sat down at her computer and googled salamanders. (Googling is something that the Mommy is very handy at with her computer. The Mommy can find the answers to many things this way and generally speaking, the little boy is quite impressed with the mommy when she "oogles" things.
Right away, the Mommy found the trouble with Tomato. Tomato was accustomed to eating live insects. The mommy did not have any of these on hand. (And she really did not want to aquire any) Tomato supposedly would like to eat earthworms. The little boy did have a cool whip bowl full of wormies. But, the little boy did not think the salamander should eat the worms. After all, the wormies were friends of the little boy too.
The mommy and the little boy went back to look at Tomato and Oxley. The little boy giggled. "Oxley is chasing Tomato. They are playing together!"
The two were swimming about. But it looked to the Mommy as if Oxley were trying to bite Tomato's tail. "Oh dear" said the Mommy, "I think Tomato has over stayed his welcome". She watched the salamander swim this way and that trying to avoid the turtle's nips. Was that salamander actually frowning?!?
The little boy was sad that Tomato had to leave. And as it often goes with little boys who are sad, his bottom lip turned out in a pout. The mommy explained that Tomato would be happier outside where he would be free to do silly salamander things like digging holes in the dirt, napping under fallen leaves and feasting on bug sandwiches. Then the Mommy showed the little boy an ideal spot just outside the living room window. The little boy agreed that the spot looked "perfect for Tomato Saladmander!"
So the Mommy wrinkled up her nose one last time as she fished the squishy salamander out of Oxley's domain. Everyone said farewell and Tomato skittered over to a shadowy spot just under the edge of a flower pot.
Now the little boy sits on the window ledge and peers out at Tomato. And Tomato peeks back at the little boy, both of their pouts turned to smiles.

Randomness

I should be sleeping but I keep thinking about my OB buddies. I am too tired to call and have a meaningful conversation. But, when I close my eyes I see their faces and I hear the hospital sounds that are as familiar as the sounds in my own home. I see smiles and tears. I am remembering babies born and babies lost. -more lost than living- The lost stay with me. Their faces and the faces of their mothers and the faces of co-workers are imprinted on a certain part of my mind. And on nights like this one, that part of my mind gets very active.
I miss you night shift girls.
Hopefully I'll sleep soon and have sweet dreams about something other than babies.

Well, I did what I said I'd never do and I shouldn't have done it and with all of you as my witnesses, I will never do it again. Oh well. Let that be a lesson to me. I put my sweet, innocent girl in the baby contest at the fair. It was all in good fun but totally not worth the hassle. There were a bizillion babies (and their entourages) crowded into a small space (a show barn to be exact). As I stood in line with about 30 or more babies in Kayelynn's age group, I was seriously wishing I hadn't entered her. I noticed all the other mom's gazing at their children, each thinking their child was the sweetest,cutest baby ever born. I knew what I was doing was pointless. Babies don't care who is the cutest. And Kayelynn didn't care what the judges thought of her (and neither did I). She only wanted to see my smile or spot Daddy's wave. She went about business as usual being her regular
happy, pleasant self. She clapped her hands, smiled and waved but the judges never gave us a second look. My Mommy pride was somewhat wounded. But one look in those huge blue eyes and all was forgotten. She still looked like a princess to me! I know that I will find her beautiful always.
Despite the baby contest debacle, it was a fun trip to the fair. Kayelynn enjoyed riding in her stroller, people watching. Trey rode rides and assessed all of the animals on display. Best of all, Daddy was with us today. We got to enjoy some time together-just the four of us-that is both rare and precious!

The tractors were a big hit at the fair. (Of course)
After Daddy chased him away from the green paint, Trey decided he needed to " try some on". I asked him how this tractor fit. "Pretty good" was his response.

Leave it to Trey to find a train at the fair. He waved and waved to us while he rode in the "freight car". We also visited the animal barns. He seemed to like the cows and goats the best which I didn't expect since he sees those all of the time. He was also quite taken with the rabbits. While checking out the poultry Trey turned to Rex and said, "I wished I had a chicken and she's babies to play with at my house." I had to laugh at that. I have forever been asking Rex for chickens. From the look on Rex's face, I'm still not expecting hens anytime soon - or their babies for that matter.

Trey won an "Ego" (Diego) at the frog pond. All in all, I'd say Trey had a blast at the fair.

Where I've been

I think I've let a whole week pass since I have posted anything. Its not that I'm short on stories. I have plenty of those! I have been to tired/lazy to post this week.
I used to have this relaxing routine: I'd put Trey to bed, settle in my recliner with Kayelynn and then I would blog while Kayelynn nursed and she would end up drifting off to dreamland before I was even finished. This week a new trend has been developing and I don't like it at all!
Trey has been getting out of bed for various reasons: a drink, to potty, imaginary nose bleeds, monsters in his room, or to kiss/hug me one more time. Of course, then Kayelynn feels the need to stop what she's doing and check things out. This leads to her laughing, fidgeting, trying to play peek-a-boo and other such things that are not conducive to sleeping.
Besides all of those shenanigans, I am tired! Things aren't any better by day. Trey has taken to randomly smacking Kayelynn or taking things from her or dragging her from room to room. And when I'm not chasing Trey, I am chasing Kayelynn. The cat's food bowl and the living room trash are her two favorite spots to find things to "eat". She also enjoys pulling up to the lamp table and finding the phone or remotes and then trying (sometimes successfully) to get the batteries out of them. Kayelynn also likes to try to pull up to small chairs or toys that will not support her weight. This leads to a bump and fall and much crying. Plus, I am trying to wash dishes or fold laundry while all of this is happening. (How did my Mom do this? It seemed so easy then.)
What was I getting at?
Oh yeah. I'm too tired to blog.
Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.

My Dilemma

Beauty contests...I've never been a fan. Actually,that's not completely true. As a little girl, I remember liking to watch the Miss America pageant on tv or the queen contest at the county fair. But as I got older, I lost my fascination for them. Probably because I wasn't "that girl". I never was a prom queen, homecoming queen or anything along those lines. Not that I wouldn't have liked getting all dolled up. But, I never was chosen to participate in such things. And after going through those awkward teenage years with body image struggles and such, I decided pageants were silly and part of the reason why some girls are unhappy with themselves.
Yet, tonight, my mom casually mentioned that I should put Kayelynn in our county fair baby contest. And for some odd reason, I find myself wanting to enter her. It makes no sense. Why do I want to do this? I already know she is adorable and I love her no matter what. So is the baby contest harmless fun or a really bad idea? Any comments?

Summer fun

After spending the morning at the splash park, Trey still hasn't had enough of the water. We broke out his new pool and he's having a blast "makin' it full".

The waiting seat

There are no shortage of Kayelynn pictures tonight. But I just thought this was funny. She's just hangin' out. What did mommies do before these things?

Even more pics of Kayelynn (sorry if you're getting tired of this)

More pictures of Kayelynn

Kayelynn's 9 month pictures

How my day went terribly wrong...

You ever have those days where you seriously think you should have stayed in bed?
I had set my alarm for 6 am. I was going to get up and get things done before the kids woke up! Well, in my sleepy stupor I shut my alarm off and fell back to sleep. The next thing I knew, Trey was snuggling in beside me and it was 8 am!
The hurrying ensued as I tried to get myself and the kids ready for story time at 10. I sighed as I dodged piles of laundry. "When I get home..." I told myself.
Story time came and went. Trey was less interested this week. He had the fidgets, so I was glad to see the hour come to an end.
Then it was back to Grandmas to grab lunch before Kayelynn and I headed to Evansville for her 9 month pictures. After lunch Grandma wanted to take Trey somewhere in the farm truck. I went out to put Trey's booster seat in for her. While doing this, I found a loaded gun stuck down in the seat where Trey was going to sit. (I know who left it there and it was not Rex) I was livid.
Rex was there to witness my rage and assured me he'd take care of the problem.
I left for Evansville feeling flustered and upset.
About 30 minutes into my trip I realized I'd left my wallet and cell phone at Grandma's. I had no way to pay for anything, so I had no choice but to turn around and drive back to get it.
On my way to Evansville again, I see that Kayelynn's picture appointment time is quickly approaching. Knowing that there is no way I will make it on time, I fish thru my purse to find the studio's phone number. 1-800-##-smile.... (Clever)
Now I dig around to find my cell phone. I start to dial... Crap! My Blackberry doesn't have letters on the number keys. I can't dial the s-m-i-l-e. I tried to visualize a phone so I could finish dialing the number. I thought I had it figured out. Nope, I got a singles chat line! I finally had to call my husband (who already thinks I have lost my mind) and have him translate the phone number for me.
It turns out it was a good thing I called. The studio was booked until late in the day. I changed my appt. time and slowed my driving down.
Finally I felt like I could breathe again. What I needed was an iced coffee. I find that those fix all of my troubles. (At least temporarily) But not today... today I spill iced coffee all over my white shirt. *sigh*
Why did I get up today?

This story has a happy ending. Kayelynn had a wonderful photo shoot. The more the camera flashed, the more she smiled and hammed it up. She was quite adorable if I do say so myself. I'll post pics as soon as I can and you can all judge for yourselves.

Trey Update

Well, I updated everyone on Kayelynn tonight. So, I figure I oughtta give an update on Trey.
Thankfully, I consider him potty trained! There is much rejoicing at the Stroud house! He still wears a pull up to bed but I am happy with that. Often it is dry in the morning, so I call that progress. I trust him to tell me when he needs to potty. I don't have to spike his sippy cup with Miralax. I no longer pack an entire change of clothes before we leave the house. He has, however, discovered the joy of peeing outside. But again, I can deal with this in the name of progress. What I cannot deal with is more experiences like we had this afternoon...
I was doing some painting outside. Trey was playing on his swing set. After a while I noticed he had gotten quiet. Moms everywhere know that quiet equals trouble. I turned to see Trey sitting at his picnic table with his bare bottom hanging off the seat. "What are you doing?!" I yelled. "Pooping!" He yelled back. No, can't be, I thought. But on closer inspection I could see that it was so very true. Trey couldn't see a problem with this! However, I could name several problems. (And you thought the poo stories were over!)

9 months

I can't believe Kayelynn is 9 months old! (Isn't that what all mommies say!?) I can't help but find babies amazing. They do so much in just one year. I am as amazed with Kayelynn as I was with Trey. Each new thing she does thrills me and fills me with pride.
She has one tiny tooth starting to peek thru. She crawls when she feels like it but is much more interested in pulling up to furniture and "cruising" around wherever she can. She says Da Da a lot. But, she has a special smile and a twinkle in her eye when she says it to Rex. She also says "hi" and has a cute little wave to go along with it.
She weighs 21 lbs. (Starting to lose just a bit of her baby chub.) Unless I measured wrong, she is 21 in long. (seemed short to me. Oh well, it doesn't matter.)
I love her more every day and stand amazed that loving her more is even possible.

I keep telling her she'll ruin her eyes

I think I have moved Kayelynn away from the television at least a dozen times in the past hour. She is fascinated by it and loves to pull up next to it. She makes a noise that kind of sounds like "hi". She will stand and pat the tv repeating "hi, hi, hi". She is cracking me up!

June Treyisms

1. Giggling while riding down the road with his head sticking out the sun roof, "My eyebrows are blowing off!"

2.Me: "Trey can you please help me pick up these toys?"
Trey: "No thank you".

3. After scrubbing out Oxley the Turtle's tank and filling it back up, "That was hard! I'm never gonna work again!"

4. While on a 4 wheeler ride we found one of the goats had gotten her head stuck thru the fence. I went to help her and Trey called after me "Mommy, call the fire dept!"

5. Sometimes (to be annoying when I'm not in a good mood) Rex will sing "Sunshine on my Shoulder". I had a John Denver pbs special on and they played that song. Trey perked up. "Mommy! That man's singing your song!"

6. We usually gather at Rex's mom's for Sunday lunch. As soon as we burst in the door, Trey was asking for something to drink. "All that church made me thirsty!" He declared.

That's all for the month of June. There aren't as many as usual. I guess he is just recycling some of his older sayings! But he's definitely as quirky and rowdy as ever!

Fun Day

My sister Erica brought her kids over this afternoon. Trey had invited them to come play on his swing set. (This was back before it was ever built) So today they finally got to test it out. They also got to see the goats (or at least their backsides as they ran from us). Then they fed the cows. (3 tiny buckets of feed, 50 cows- you do the math) After that we hooked a small wagon up to the four wheeler and went for a ride. Our dogs followed but got tired out and ended up riding in the wagon with the kids. We must have been quite a sight! We made it back home safely, had popsicles and more swing set time. Kayelynn loves her swing too. The kids all had to fight over who would get to push her. Sometimes they pushed a bit recklessly but Kayelynn just laughed and laughed. I love to hear her deep belly laugh!

So, if you are between the ages of 0 and 6, this is the recipe for a fun day.