All About O (3 yrs)

Most days he seems "big" to me. But he's still so little.

O'Ryan at 3 years old

* has enjoyed school ALL year - especially his two teachers, Mrs. Judy and Mrs. Tina, and hanging out with "his Avery Bibb"

* loves all of the play dates we have with our play group

* is really into playing hide-and-seek lately, with the dogs! they're pretty good at it too

* always gets in a great mood when Daddy comes home - wants Daddy's full attention all evening

* Daddy and O's favorite things to do together are: getting Shipley's, wrestling, playing basketball, fishing, hide-and-seek, throwing football, being loud and crazy!

* Mommy and O's favorite things to do together are: snuggle with the puppies, neighborhood walks (and we always stop to pet each kitty we see), night frog-hunting, visit the Greatwood ducks, hang out in the backyard blowing bubbles, swimming or drawing with chalk, jammin' to music

* O'Ryan loves praying before meals - he's very literal with his prayers, lol. "God thank you for dis meatball and noodles. Amen!"

* still very much an entertainer - smart as a whip and funny as can be. 

* is really intuitive! this can be difficult though when Mommy isn't feeling well - O'Ryan feels it and either gets sad or acts out :(

* constantly asks to go to the lake and ride on the boat. pretty soon we'll be there every weekend!

* can be stubborn!! does NOT want to be told what to do and will push it until Mom totally freaks

* despite his stubbornness, he's a good kid who does listen most of the time (except this week!)

* continues to have a thing for music and shaking it :)

* loves wearing his cape shirts Maqui made him - runs around "flying" through the house

* shares his Momma's love for animals!!!

* says adult-like things like: "It's too hot out. I need shade and a hat."

* loves church! feels confident, safe and loved there; what a blessing

* is curious about God and Jesus - knows they're special and the most important thing in our lives

* has spent several nights at Maqui and Popo's the past few months - the boy is on CLOUD 9 when he's there!

* at his 3 year check up, O was 80% height, 20% weight (only 27 lbs!) 

We love you my sweet boy! Always be just who you are. Because you are PERFECT.

HILARIOUS. Rockin' out because his ice cream is sooo yumm.

The raspberry shorbet was THAT good.

Still in love.

"I can't believe mom and dad let me have M&M's in my ice cream"

My absolute favorite. He so looks like me as a little one here.

Man, we make cute kids.

And here's O and cute Avery Bibb. I made them pose together at the Mother's Day brunch today. They immediately wrapped arms and smiled!! SO DANG CUTE!

At a Glance VS Reality

Leah would argue that it was a quite relaxing day.

At a glance, our day would seem just fine and dandy.

Brett took O'Ryan to get donuts before dropping him off at preschool. I showered alone at a leisurely pace. One of my very favorite people came over to plan a summer ladies retreat. Great convo, productivity, love was shared.

Later I scooped O up from school and took him to the chiropractor and to run a brief errand. Then we met some friends at stomping grounds to let the kids run crazy as us moms chatted. Before we knew it, it was time to head home for dinner. O and I cuddled up for a movie night on the living room floor, surrounded by our snugly pups.

But.

If you peered a bit closer, you'd see a totally different story come into focus.

...

After tossing and turning all night from sharp back pain, I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am. Several phone calls to doctors later, we realized a trip to the ER was probably necessary for this hurting momma. I could barely move my body without stabbing pain shooting down my back and arms. Did another disc get messed up? Did one herniate? Ah! Called more doctors to get more opinions only to get more answering machines.

Brett took an unhappy camper to school. O wanted to stay with mommy since he knew she was hurting. I slowly showered and did make up all the while looking like stiff, injured 80 year old. Thankfully a friend came over and distracted me with her pleasantness for an hour and a half.

After icing and heating and stretching in weird ways, I was off to get O. Again, he was an unhappy camper because we were headed to the "firecracker" (chiropractor). I bribed for good behavior with a promise of candy. The chiropractor showed me my neck x-rays to remind me just how crazily messed up my neck is. Apparently my neck should be curved like a "c" and it's a complete straight LINE. What?! In. The. Wooorld.

Chrio had no answer.

Next up was Bed Bath & Beyond. 30 minutes later, O'Ryan was sugared-up on a blue raspberry ring pop and ready for stomping grounds. Whew. Finally somewhere I can sit and rela...wait O'Ryan stop stealing Allie's crackers. No, don't push him, he's just a baby! Get out from underneath the table! Gimme that stupid ring pop! Just go play and have fun. No, away from here! Sigh.

Time to go cook dinner. Except I somehooow lost all of my energy to cook. So hey! Lets do a movie night (evening) and ask Daddy to cook when he gets home. Oh wait. I can't hear the movie because my three year old asks questions every 5 seconds. Ugh, now the dogs are stomping all over us with their muddy, stinky paws! Teton drops his slimy tennis ball on my head 10 times so I'll throw it. Forget the movie.

Lets go out to dinner.

Uh oh, it's coming. Can we avoid it? Yes, I think we - oh no, it's too late.

TANTRUM. Full-on red-faced screeching, kicking tantrum. Screw dinner. I lost my appetite. Dodge O'Ryan's punches and kicks as I put him in bed for the night. Who cares if it's 6:30pm. Good night! Try to act normal and have adult convo with Brett as we ignore the wailing. 20 minutes into the tantrum I give in and calm him down. Lets just go make pancakes.

Ah. We all three sit and eat and smile and chat. After nearly dodging two more tantrums O'Ryan is bathed and put into bed. Now?

We pass out.

...

At a Glance VS. Reality = TWO VERY DIFFERENT VIEWS!

Life as a SAHM totally drains me and wears me out. Life living with pain does the same. But I was blessed to be able to even think about doing all I did today! There was a time when all of that would have been unthinkable. I documented this day all in good humor, but every bit is true. I always want to remember just how crazy, wild and hilarious our days were during this season of life :)

Ring pop excitement

Attempt at Movie Night

A Little Story

Here's a little story. 

There was a dark, sad night several months ago I was alone sobbing on my bed all tied up in a knot of pain, confusion, desperation and exhaustion. I was angry God let me feel so much pain for so long. Pain that took me from my family and friends and isolated me. Pain that at times controlled me; defined me. 

Then a small body crawled up beside me and gently rubbed my back. Through the tears I made out my son's sweet face outlined with his angelic blond hair. Through my heavy crying I asked O'Ryan to pray for Mommy. This tiny little boy didn't back down from this scary moment of his Mommy acting so uspset and vulnerable. He put his head on my back and prayed. Prayed the most beautiful, simple, sweet words. 

"God pwease help Mommy. Take away her pain. Make her feel better. She needs you."

What he didn't know was that just before he snuggled up next to me, I was angry with God telling him I was lonely in dealing with this tonight. I needed Him. Where was He?! 

God worked through a sweet boy with a sweet prayer. 

Having endured makes life that much sweeter. 

He does not waste our pain.

Ordinary Days / Flashback

Ordinary Days in May '12

May '11

May '10

May '09

Wow. Time flies.

My Favorite Things - March/April

Here are some of my favs from March and April! Better late than never.

1. Popsicle Holder

Found this for $.99 at Hobby Lobby! One side has slits for popsicle sticks and the other is a hole for a cone to fit in! Best idea ever - no-spill, no-mess pop holder.

2. Better Homes Scentsy Knock-Off

They are $2 even at Walmart and smell gooood. Much better than paying the Scentsy price!

3. Thirty-One

One of the moms in O'Ryan's class sells this stuff and I AM IN LOVE. I have a love for all things bags. I use every single one I have. Most of them are cheapy freebies I got from somewhere, which is fine, but Thirty-One's bags are SUCH great quality. And not too pricey!!

4. Glucosamine

This stuff is heavenly. To no one's surprise I have a lot of joint pain. This natural supplement works WONDERS for that. You can find it anywhere - Walmart, HEB, CVS. Any brand is fine. I highly recommend this.

5. White Reese's

Most women love chocolate. It's not that I'm not a fan of some rich, milk-chocolate, but it gives me a wicked headache. And I need a headache like I need a needle in the eye. Sooo...WHITE chocolate it is for me. And OMG I love it. The white chocolate Reese's just melt in your mouth and put you in a happy sugar coma.

6. Milani Lip Gloss

I've shared I'm a big fan of lip gloss before. I randomly grabbed this on the way out of Target the other day (Grr, Target has a way of doing that) and I'm SO glad I did. I forget the price ($4-5?) but WOW this stuff is awesome. It's really RICH in color, has a beautiful shine and goes on so smoothly. 

7. Sephora Eye Shadow

My mom bought me this set a while ago. Each color is SO creamy and rich. The color stays on all day and lights up my eyes!! LOVE! I think it costs $30.

I use all of the left and middle colors.

8. Gold and Suede Bracelet

No that's not my scraggly arm, although it kind of looks like it. That's O modeling this cute summery bracelet I found at a boutique in Norman, OK.

9. Charming Charlie Green Necklace

Yeah, his face says it all. Sorry O. This necklace was $12 at CC. Can't go wrong with summery jewelery in that store.

10. Cabi shorts!

I hosted a Cabi show recently and am SOOO glad I did. They have some of the cutest/best quality clothes I've ever seen!!! These are my white Cabi shorts. I also got a maxi dress, capri jeans, and a patterned maxi skirt.

11. Target Throw Pillow

This cutie was only $15 at Target!!! It's a perfect match for our living room on our new couch.

12. Pottery Barn Pillow

I think both of these pillows I bought are technically outdoor ones. Outdoor pillows = cheaper. So they work for me. This blue/turquoise is my FAVORITE color to decorate with...and wear :)