Life's rough when you're cuttin' teeth.

I got bit for the first time while nursing. I hope it never happens again. My eyes still water when I think about it. Jaida and Mya didn't get teeth until they were over a year. Carter's got a biter. It broke through when he was 9 months and 3 weeks old. Just for the record.

Happy Wednesday!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Words can't explain how much I adore my parents. For so many reasons I can't even begin to list.

But tonight, I love them for this.

Two trees died in my parents front yard. So my dad cut them down himself. These were big trees. But he's my dad and he can do anything. So he strategically cut. And tied a rope to the trees. And hooked the rope to the back of the riding lawn mower. And talked the neighbor into helping. And then videoed the entire event. Like, set up a tripod and the point and shoot (from a distance) and made a video of the falling of the trees. It's actually pretty funny to watch because the riding lawn mower was completely useless (and thus the helping neighbor). Thankfully his strategic cutting was all that was needed. Except for the destroyed lamp post, things went rather smoothly.

And instead of digging out the tree stumps, he decided to make a bench.

I teased him a bit. For a bench in the flower beds. Because who would sit on it? Or was it just for decoration?

His response: "Mom and I will sit on it and watch the moon." I laughed out loud. First because I was willing to bet money my mom and dad would never come out and sit on it, and Second because they're both asleep before the moon comes out. :)

So my dad finished the bench. And he was very precise about the whole thing. And patient. And did it just right (just like he does everything).

And then.

He took these pictures. And I love my mom because she went along with the whole thing.

Dad, I apologize for laughing. Enjoy moon gazing.

Love you to the moon and back.

Buckle Up.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had everything together. If I got my kids ready for school on time, had the house clean, had my 1 month dinner menu planned out, didn't run out of all kinds of food, got more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep at a time, got the laundry folded AND put away in the same day, exercised, ate healthy, didn't need Diet Coke to keep my eyes peeled open, and learned how to say "no" to some things.

I wonder.

And will keep wondering.

Because right now, I have nothing together.

A week in review.

--We went to a cabin in Idaho over the weekend with some friends. I can't put in words how much we needed it. It's amazing what spending time with some of your favorite people can do for your spirit. More on this later. Fun pictures to come.

--The drive home from the cabin was slightly nightmarish. The girls were tired. Tired equals completely irrational and very teary. Carter decided he wanted what should have been a 4 hour drive to be a 5 1/2 hour drive. We fed him dum dums (our version of a binky) and licorice. And even then, he screamed. Oh how he screamed. Temper temper.

--Monday morning. Went in to wake Mya up for school. The smell hit me first. And then I flipped on the light. And the only explanation I have for what I saw was "vomit explosion". I'm not sure how kids do it, but it's like they're a fire hose, and when they puke, they spray it everywhere. On the bedspread, sheets, pillowcases, pillows, wall, carpet, hair. Every. where.

While I was attempting clean up, Carter pooped through his diaper and up his back. And then Jaida started to cry about going to school (a now daily battle we fight with her). Instead of crying myself, I started to laugh. Loudly. Which only made my girls cry harder. Which then made me laugh louder. It was awesome.

--Monday night. Carter woke up about every 45 minutes. On top of some ridiculous stomach issues (I've never met a kid with more gas than him), he's breaking 4 teeth at the same time. Ouch and ouch.

--Tuesday morning. Jaida wakes up crying. Not totally unusual but she said she couldn't hear. Um. What? Off to Grandpa's for an assessment (what would I do without my own personal physician). Diagnosis--ear infection. Pile it on baby. She's already on an antibiotic anyway (for the mysterious coughing issue we're still trying to figure out--yes, she's still coughing all night and now all day).

--Today. It's crazy hair day. But we didn't have hair spray paint. Dad saves the day and runs to Walgreens to get some. We spray Jaida's hair. And then she cries because she wants it out. No dice little lady. It's staying in. Mya wanted crazy hair too. So I sent her to preschool with pink and purple pig tails.

--I've already done the heimlich maneuver twice on Carter today. Once for a wad of toilet paper he had eaten off the role, and the other for a bead (damn those beads we find all over the house). I've lost count how many times I've had to dislodge something from that kids throat. It's impossible to kid proof a house when you have other kids. Thankfully he's a pretty tough baby.

--This week. I have five photo shoots. That may not sound like a lot, but for comparison, I try to only do one per week because it's all I can handle with my full-time job (being a mom). Five. Not to mention I have 3 photo shoots and wedding I still need to edit.

Buckle up. It's going to be a crazy crazy few weeks. And I'm already mellllllllllllting.

Lots of blogging to do that may have to wait until November.

I'll leave you with one of my new favorite photos.

Staking claim.

Just in case someone tries to claim it as their own. She tags it with her name. Funny because I found this on the table and was about to shove it in my pocket. And then I saw it. And I laughed out loud. Because I couldn't take a dollar with Jaida's name on it. It's clearly hers. :) Smart girl.

Diagnosis.

Asthma. Thank you Dr. Google.

Took Jaida to the doctor and we have a plan. Let's pray it works magic tonight. We all need sleep.

Really? Again?

I'm sitting here listening to Jaida cough upstairs. And cough and cough and cough. She's not sick. She just coughs. Only at night. For hours at a time. And at some point, she'll probably throw up from coughing so hard.

We have no idea why. It's frustrating, really. But I'm writing it down so we know when it happened and for how long. Cause doctors ask you things like that.

So. It's been about 2 weeks now. Two weeks of coughing. EVERY NIGHT. For hours.

Because who really needs sleep anyway.

It's only at night. She's fine during the day. She coughs a little here and there, but no coughing fits.

We seem to recall this happening last year. We try to block stuff out so I don't really remember details. But I remember calling the nurse and she gave me lame answers. Keep her elevated (check), give her cough medicine (check), use a humidifier (check), blah, blah, blah.

This time, we've tried everything. EVERYTHING. Cough medicines, allergy medicines, vicks vapor rub on her feet (it works with colds), cough strips, cough drops, propped up, on her side, on her stomach, humidifier, fan, prayer.....and still, she coughs. Every night.

So we've resorted to our good friend google. And he tells me she might have asthma. Asthma?? I'm calling the nurse tomorrow. And though she will try to deflect me, and tell me to "keep her propped up" we have to get this resolved.

Because it turns out, I need sleep. I desperately need sleep. And so does poor Jaida.

And yes, my dad and brother are doctors. Maybe I should ask them. But my dad's answer might be to give her Ibuprofen four times a day with food. :) Because usually that cures anything.

The birthday party.

Miss Jaida was turning 6. And she insisted we have a tea party. I'll admit I tried to talk her out of it. But that's what she wanted. Since one of my latest life goals is to "make an effort" I decided her birthday party was a good place to start. And so, we made an effort. A pretty big effort. And got a lot of very cute decorations from a friend (who is one of the most creative people on the planet and came up with this idea), and we made tissue paper balls, and we planned, and decorated, and invited 16 little girls. Yep, I'm crazy.

Mike came home to help. And was the official lemonade server (cause we don't drink tea). They ate, then watched a slideshow of pictures of Jaida, and then we took photos of each girl on Photo Booth on my mac and they decorated frames to put them in.

The whole time we were decorating for the party (which took forever) Jaida kept saying "It's so beautiful mom. Thank you so much." So the effort was worth it.