Oct 7 2009

My birthday boy!

Posted on 7 October 2009 by Kim

Happy birthday, Ty-man!
My baby is 6 years old today, although it definately doesn’t seem possible! I still remember the day I had him like it was yesterday. I was scheduled to be induced at 0600, so at 0530 I was at my girl Stacy’s front door with Scotty so he could stay with her while I was having Ty. Stacy’s husband Rob had been my XO and she was by my side during my whole pregnancy because Corey was deployed for most of it, lucky man! As it turned out, I was already having contractions 5 minutes apart, although they really weren’t all that strong. Finally, at 1315, after a decidedly painful labor, Ty made his debut in the world.

The moment of his birth was also when we discovered that he was born with a cleft lip & palate. I was a complete basket case for several days, caught completely unaware. I remember the guilt I felt, that mother’s guilt, that it was somehow my fault that he was facing a future of surgeries because he had been in MY body. But we had a wonderful team of craniofacial specialists who set my mind at ease and cared for my beautiful boy!

And here we are today, in 1st grade, as smart, happy, well-adjusted, and funny as any mother could hope for! He has such an outgoing crazy personality when he is feeling good about himself and he definately uses humor as his weapon. I can’t wait to see the man he becomes! I love you, Ty!

My Ty, always being crazy!

Jun 15 2009

Coffee, birthdays, & kids, oh, my!

Posted on 15 June 2009 by Kim

It’s Monday and I have coffee.
Thank the Goddess. It has been one of those weekends when sleep and I weren’t even in the same house, much less the same page or even the same book. Sleep stood outside my bedroom window for most of the weekend, laughing and pointing at me as I tossed and turned. Sleep is a real bitch.

The Birthday Boy.
June is full of birthdays for our dysfunctionally functional extended family, and today is the birthday of the reigning patriarch, Santa Claus Vern, my dad. He is 65, officially a senior citizen by all major commercial ventures. But don’t think that means he doesn’t have it. Because he has it. The man is a chick magnet. I guess Santa Clones are a hot property among women. Worked with his wife, who is 14 years younger! So, Happy Birthday, Dad! Yes, it is clickable to see Santa Claus the birthday boy full-size.

What is wrong with my child?!
I think Ty is just plain silly. And only did the fact that he was being silly save him yesterday afternoon! I sat down on the floor to sort and fold laundry, a chore that thrills me like no other. I have all four of their baskets around me, as well as my own, and Ty decides it would be a fabulous idea to use the baskets as stepping stones to get from where I was to the living room. I mean, really. Can YOU think of a better place to walk than through laundry baskets of clean laundry? ESPECIALLY when that laundry is being folded and put into those same baskets? I can totally see his logic. Especially when he decided to sit down in the basket. On top of freshly laundered and folded clothes. When I was trying to add more folded clothes to it. Great idea. Really. Eventually, he HAD to expect some type of retribution. I mean, he is cute and all, but how far did he think that was going to take him?! So, this is what happens when you sit in your oldest brother’s basket while he is trying to fill it. You end up with a shirt over your head like a noose. You end up with said brother’s boxers on your head. You end up pinned in the very same laundry basket and tickled to the point of almost peeing. He did, in fact, yell, “I’M GONNA PEE! DONOVAN, I’M GONNA PEE!” He didn’t. Both are clickable to see his torture in full, glorious color!

Then, the same strange child apparently thought that wearing underwear on your head was only a bad idea when it was someone ELSE’S underwear. Tighty grays are an interesting look on anyone, but particularly hot on 5yo’s with attitude. Doesn’t he look inordinately and weirdly proud of himself in the first picture?! But I think the angry face in the second picture is more than a little undermined by the tighty grays. How do you take a guy seriously when his hair is sticking out of the legs of his underwear and the tricky man flap is on your forehead?! Clickable, if you really want to see my UnderGeek!

And apparently, the child doesn’t learn that perhaps sitting/standing/walking in the clean lundry is NOT necessarily a fabby idea after all. Doesn’t he look happy? Glad HE is.

And a totally random shot that has nothing to do with anything.

Jun 11 2009

Birthdays & a Kid-Free Zone!

Posted on 11 June 2009 by Kim

Happy Birthday, to the twins!
Today is Corey’s 30th birthday and would have been my grandmother’s 96th birthday. It was always a family joke that Corey and Grandma were long lost twins separated by generations, but still twins at heart! I miss you, Grandma, and happy birthday! But, bittersweet memories aside, it is still a day to celebrate as my Soldier Daddy is a big boy now! And seeing as we are at opposite ends of the decade, I have to enjoy the next 1 year, 2 months and 1 day of actually being in the same decade, because it won’t happen again for another 10 years! Happy birthday, Soldier Daddy!

The revolving door has CLOSED!
Well, my cranky sweet children have returned to school and are now their problem delight for the day. NO MORE SICK CRANKY BOYS! I am kid-free for the day, sorta. My little buddy Logan, my friend’s 3yo, is spending the afternoon with me. But he actually likes me so that’s okay! He is the cutest little guy and cracks me up when he laughs since he sounds much like a machine gun,… if maching guns COULD laugh!

Jun 10 2009

Birthdays, sickos, & Amaretto boobs!

Posted on 10 June 2009 by Kim

Happy birthday, Corey,… PART I!
Okay, his birthday is actually the 11th, but in his current part of the world, it will be the 11th in about 7 hours. So, happy 30th birthday, baby! We are actually in the same decade, for another year, 2 months and 1 day. Woot! Party on, Soldier Daddy!

And so it goes,…
Apparently this week is just going to be a neverending parade of children staying home from school. Child #3 has glands so swollen that it feels like he has large Grade A eggs shoved into his neck, which, I assure you, he does not. The resulting voice makes him sound either like a toad on crack or like he is hitting the voice-cracking stage of puberty,… at the ripe old age of 7. Maybe not. And Child #4 is making a repeat visit to the Land of Sick, this time with a fever of 101.8°. So, at the butt crack of dawn, I headed to the store before Donovan’s bus came to stock up on the standard products necessary for the care of sick children,… apple juice, applesauce, Tylenol, cough drops, and vodka, the latter being for me, of course. Okay, so maybe I didn’t get the vodka, but I probably should have. Child #3 is reclining as a man of leisure on the playroom couch, much like the couch garden (again, too lazy for a single couch potato) that Child #2 was the other day. Child #4 is still earning my resentment, as he is comfortably tucked into his bed, asleep and without a care in the world.

:♥ UPDATE ♥: Child #4 is now awake, with no fever at all, and acting like not a damn thing is wrong. What the hell?!

Amaretto boobs,…
In this house, even getting my mug of life’s blood coffee is an adventure. Being in a pre-caffeine fog, I set my empty mug on the counter next to the fridge while I dug out the cream. As I turned back to the counter, a giant ball of black & white fur hurtled through the air, aiming itself like a missile at my mug. With catlike reflexes (and a whole helluva lot of luck), I caught my mug mere inches from its destruction on my floor. Using non-family-friendly language, I discussed the situation with my cat, expressing my displeasure at his behavior. In the manner of cats around the world, he appeared to be completely unbothered by my dismay and merely looked at me in his oh-so-superior way, as if I were the one with a brain the size of a walnut. As I continued to express my ire to him, it occured to me that he might be right in that I may very well be an idiot, as I was continuing to talk, out loud, to a cat. I blame it on the lack of caffeine and being the mother of testosterone-filled little people. Moving on. I picked up the as of yet unopened bottle of Amaretto cream, which had landed on the floor during the mug rescue, and set it on the counter to open it. It had one of those little foil seals on it and the archenemy of my chemo-weakened nails. So I use teeth. As I had it up to my teeth, peeling the sucker off, the giant ball of black & white fur once again hurtled through the air and hit me straight in the chest. The foil came off with a jerk, and a generous helping of cream went flowing straight down into the cleavage, pooling helpfully in my bra. Great. All I wanted was a freakin’ cup of coffee. Not a battle of wills with a feline devil cat. But at least my boobs smell good.

Apr 6 2009

Monday Morning Wrapup

Posted on 6 April 2009 by Kim

I need to get a taxi license!
I think that I should get my taxi license and go into business with my trusty TrailBlazer! I seem to spend half my life in my truck driving one or people to various destinations at various times of the day and night so I might as well get paid for it! Donovan had to be at his friend Brittney’s farm by 1000 Saturday to work on a science fair project with his group. I am all for working on educational stuff, but having to get up at 0815 on a Saturday morning wasn’t all that joyful! Add to that the fact that they live 20 minutes away in the middle of nowhere! YAY! Fortunately, he got a ride home so I was off duty from taxi service for a few hours. But, of course, that only meant I had more time for domestic duties like grocery shopping, a chore that I HATE! But done it is and I came home, curled up on the couch and watched me some Twilight! But I still had taxi duties later on since Donovan’s friend Catie had a party for her 17th birthday. Just getting him there ended up being an adventure in and of itself, one that young Mr. Donovan almost did not survive. I don’t know what was up his butt, but considering I was going out of my way to accomodate him, it annoyed the hell out of me. Since we had to make a couple of stops before dropping him at the party, I had told him to be ready at 5:30. All that he needed to do was eat dinner and change his clothes, not exactly monumental activities. But no matter how many times I reminded him, it made no difference. Kinda seems to me that at 16, I really shouldn’t have to nag him repeatedly to do something. Once should be sufficient. But it wasn’t and he never got out of there until 5:45, never mind that these stops were for him. And he was a complete jerk to me the entire time. I don’t know, I guess I just find it really disrespectful for him to totally ignore what I am telling him, especially when I trying to help HIM out. And then to add the attitude? Totally uncalled for. The only reasons he still went to the party was because Catie had planned for him to be there and because I really didn’t want to have to deal with him anymore! AARRGGHH!!

Sunday birthdays,… & nephews, too!
My family came over yesterday to celebrate Ka’lani’s birthday, who made out like a bandit with a remote control car, a series of books, and some extra ammo for his new Nerf gun that I got him. The kids, and Chris (my nephew’s baby daddy), had lots of fun racing around with the RC car! And the party also meant that Auntie Kim got to see her new little nephew! It also meant that Auntie Kim got to cuddle and kiss and love on him all day long! And Auntie Kim loved every minute of it! Kai is such a teeny little thing, still smaller than any of my own babies. He will be three weeks old tomorrow and weighs in at 6lbs 15oz and is perfect! Can you tell that Auntie Kim is besotted?!