Happy Birthday!!

Dear Stinkerbell,

I cant believe that you are 8 years old today!! Seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the hospital in Midland looking down at your sweet baby face and wondering about all the adventures we would have together.

We have had many!!! I think back to all the mischief you caused and the laughter that I couldnt hold in during most of that mischief making. We had traveled and laughed, sang songs and read books. You became the little woman and friend I always hoped you would become.

I miss you terribly while you are gone and I hate not spending your birthday with you. Its so nice to hear your voice and know that you are having a good time and happy. Doesnt change the fact that we miss you, but it does help to know you are happy.

I look forward to when you come back and we can sit and talk again like we have done many times. Your not my baby girl anymore, but you will always be my little girl. You will always be the ONLY girl, and I am sure with 2 younger brothers, that will be a good thing for you to fall back on! We will need our girl time, just us and I cannot wait for the mischief we will cause when those days happen.

I love you very much, and I have enjoyed being your mom every step of the way. You have already because such a beautiful young lady and while I would love to stop time and keep you my little girl at the sametime I look forward to watching you continue to grow in the young woman I know you will be.

Happy Birthday my Stinkerbell,
Love always and forever,
Momma

Cheerio Coma

Many moms spend hours and days looking for something to help their kiddos fall asleep. I didnt have to.....he found it all by himself. Cheerios act as a sedative for Little Man :-)

There 2 pictures are from Day 2 and Day 3 of lunchtime "Cheerio Coma". Day 1 my camera batteries were dead and I didnt take a picture of it today because while its super cute to see him sleeping in what would be extrememly uncomfortable positions to people without the flexibility of babies, I dont want to be considered obsessive in the photo op department.

My Little Man keeps me entertained, even when sleeping!

Guard Dogs.....or not.

Vicious looking aren't they? Husker and Junior are 2 of the BEST dogs I have ever owned. And I grew up with collies and a wonderful german shepherd. These two take the cake. Both are amazing with my kiddos, good in the house and for the most part, dont leave the yard. Except at night, when Husker makes his nightly "rounds" to check on all the cows and whatever else he feels he needs to supervise. Oh yea, and they are best buds also, obviously by looking at the picture of them.

Husker is our cow dog and while he is still learning, its in his blood and something that is natural for him. He has quickly become one of hubby's best helpers. He will head down to the meadow across the street and if the calves are out, or close to out, he will go put them back without being told. Thats a good cow dog!!

Junior is DH hunting buddy and while he hasnt hunted with him in awhile, he is still good at what he is trained to do. He can track and point out a pheasant without any problems, even with 1 eye.

Great friends, companions and workers. However they are apparently lacking in the guard dog department.

This became very evident to us yesterday when we took this picture out the boys bedroom window:

This little buck walked through out backyard, not 10 feet from the house and maybe 30 feet from sleeping beauty #1 and #2. Yes, sleeping. Very soundly. Sound enough that this little guy hung out back there, eating some leaves and grass and rubbing his neck on the branch before casually wandering back into the hills behind the house.

Yep...my guard dogs missed him.

They can find a skunk 1/2 mile away and go make friends with him (which is why they are spending extra time outside these days) but they miss the deer in the backyard, 30 feet from their heads.

Good thing they are cute!

7 Month Mile Stone

What a BIG BOY!! One day before his 7 month birthday Little Man started standing on his own! He has been pulling himself up for a week or so now, on Daddy's legs and on the couch, but today was the first time he did it all by himself!

I am so proud of my little man. He had a rough start at life in the NICU and being so tiny. He is a little small for his actual age but his gestational age of 5.5 months, he is right in the middle. He is doing his version of crawling, which looks more like "the worm" but it gets him where he wants to go. He is such a happy little boy, he makes me very proud to be his mommy.

It's a BOY!!!!

Its offical...baby #3 can now be called baby BOY Hanna. The ultrasound tech today said she was extrememly confindent in letting us know this one is a boy....and a very proud one at that. Much like his older brother.

Extremely squirmey and not horribly interested in participating in things like measurments of his head or legs, but we finally got it done. Little Man was the same exact way. I guess I just always thought ultrasounds took 90 minutes, because all of mine have.

We are now moving on the the name game. Hubby and I can only agree on a girls name, which is exactly why we have 2 boys. I still have my favorite I am holding out for, and he actually seems to be caving in slightly. I wont tell until it is official which probably wont happen until the delivery.

I am excited about 2 boys. I have my girl and she is more then enough!! I am excited to be the mom of boys, especially that close together. I am sure they will grow up to be friends and enemies, teammates and competitors, and most of all, best friends. What more can a mom ask for!!!

You get what you ask for

I belong to a baby message board for moms of kiddos born in December 2009 (when Little Man was actually due) and September 2010. I have learned alot from the ladies on this board. The most important thing is that when you ask a question, your going to get an answer. From these answers I have also learned that I am a terrible mother.

How can I be a terrible mom with 2 1/3 healthy, happy children? I will tell you....in no particular order, many of the reasons I and others have been ripped apart by the "perfect" mothers of the world:
-I eat deli meat, often times with mayo
-I feed my son formula (aka as rat posion)
-I use a bumper in the kiddos cribs
-I let my kiddo CIO (cry it out)
-I dont measure each and every ounce of food that Little Man eat.
-I drink caffiene. Mt. Dew to be specific.
-I sleep on my stomach (when possible). Or at least how I am most comfortable but apparently I should be sleeping on my left side. Or maybe the right.
-I dont wash baby clothes in "special detergent" - I am only SEMI bad in this catagory...I did at first, but now that its run out, I use regular detergent.
-I ride horses, ski, snowmobile, go to football games and have FUN when I am pregnant. Or try to at least.
-I have no problem leaving my children with my very capable family, so that hubby and I can have sometime to ourselves.
-I take my infants outside well before the 6 weeks recommendation....and much sooner then the one lady who hasnt left her house in the 4 months since her child was born.
-I trust my husband to take care of the kiddos. This one really makes me sad...I cant imagine not trusting my husband alone with OUR kids. I didnt know what I was doing when Stinkerbell was born and people left me alone to figure it out. How is it any different for the guys?"
-I take my babies into a bar (lol....gotta know where I live to understand this one :-)
-I dont make people sanitize their hands before holding my kiddos.
-My daughter drinks soda and eats candy.
-I drink soda and eat candy.
-I dared to put my 4mth old on an airplane!! THEN I did it again at 6mths and will again at 8mths. In November I will put my 1 year old and 1 month old on an airplane.
-I take medication to help with my post partum depression that starts during my pregnancies. Apparently if I cut out caffiene and visualize a happy place, that will make it all better. I dont think we should talk about what happens to me when I cut out caffiene....lets just say its better for all involved if I drink the Mt. Dew.
-I dont enjoy being pregnant
-I am not supportive of the need for "pregnancy photos".
-I follow my babies leads more then the American Academy of Pediatrics "recommendations".
-I use a family physician....not a pediatrician or an OB. Same doc all rolled into one. I trust him completely.
-I use a doctor, not a doula or midwife. And I am perfectly OK with medications during pregnancy.
-I dont understand the concept of home births, water births or silent births. At the sametime, the people on the boards who participate in those methods cant understand why I would want my child born into a "harsh instituion". That would be the hospital.
-My children will not be in the room when Baby #3 is born. Neither will my parents or in-laws, photographers or newspaper reporters.
-I put my infants in their cribs as soon as they come home. Little Man was the exception to the rule but only because his room wasnt ready. Baby #3 goes into the crib as soon as we get home.
-I dont co-sleep. Hubby and I can barely make it through the night without stealing the covers or someone ending up on the very edge....put a baby in there also and oh my.......
-My 6mth old is currently playing with an empty potato chip bag and watching TV....I am sure he is scarred for life.
-I vaccinate.

The list really does go on and on and on. Its sad isn't it? That in this day when there is so much going on in the world, so much bad stuff, moms cant unite together and at least agree to disagree on the methods each uses to raise their children. At least be polite. I mean, these boards can get nasty! One mom made the comment in regards to an article about the benefits of formula feeding (because FF moms often get raked over the coals for their decision) that stated "since she couldnt find anything nice to say about the rat poison we willing feed out children, she wouldnt say anything at all."

I feel sorry for the first time moms who dont have any idea that its OK to follow the guidelines but do what works best for you. That each person has an opinion and is more then willing to share that opinion but its up to the mom to determine what is the best option for them. I always say "this is what works for me" or "I tried this and it worked great but it might not for you". Others are not so friendly and put out there "I do it this way because the AAP says I should and any other way is bad for your baby".

In a perfect world the moms could come together and help raise our kiddos to be good people. Happy, healthy people. I believe that this starts in the beginning, with acceptance of people with different ideas and perspectives on life. No two people are the same, no two babies or family situations are identical so what would make anyone think that everyone should do everything exactly the same? Its in the decision making that makes us individuals. If we cant even accept the fact that people will make different decisions regarding the raising of their children, how can we expect people to accept different decisions when they get older?

Your FIRED!!!

For those of you who dont know me well I need to inform you that I am PARANOID of snakes. I am a total irrational freak when it comes to snakes and I am ok with that. I have survived 30 years like this and I dont anticipate that changing anytime soon.

My hubby assured me that while we live in an area where their are very large, very mean snakes, our dogs will take care of them. Junior specifically....he is a snake killer! He will bark at them, get them to strike at him and when they stretch out, he grabs and shakes and kills them dead. PERFECT FOR ME.

Well, not quite "perfect"....that would mean there weren't any snakes anywhere within a 100 mile radius but since my husband doesn't believe that is going to happen, second best is a snake killing dog.

I found out today just how "reliable" the snake killer is. Or isn't is the better term.

The dogs started barking insanely and I thought the dreaded UPS man has pulled in the drive way. I looked out the window just in time to see the snake strike at the boys. Yes, Husker was helping but he didnt last long...he ran and hid and left Junior to take care of the snake all alone. I wasn't to worried...after all, he was a "snake killer"!

Junior barked and barked and the snake coiled and struck out at him. They repeated this little dance several times while I waited and watched. Waiting for the kill! Waiting for my hero to rescuse me from the 4 foot snake that was 6 feet from the window.

My hero seemed to have a different idea as he continued to bark and circle and bark. For 30 minutes. Yes....MINUTES!!! Apparently the "killer" instinct takes time to formulate a plan. In the mean time, I am proceeding to flip out. To which I needed no plan for. Its just a natural talent I have.

The approved method for sandhillers to kill the snakes is the shovel method. Wacking them in half or 3rds, or really however many times you feel necessary to kill them. This is not a method I approve of. Do you know how close I have to get to wack a snake with a shovel???

Hubby said my approved method was to shoot them. OK, that would have been fine and I would have done it except for the fact that the gun I know how to use was in the pick up that hubby had out on the ranch with him. I debated just grabbing one from downstairs but thought better of it when I realized I didnt know what kind of ammunition to use in which gun, and would probably end up blowing off my hand and missing the snake.

I called my dad (in Michigan) and asked him for help and he recommended the shovel method. I reminded him how close I would have to get and that wasnt going to happen. I called my mom (in Michigan) and she agreed the shovel method wasnt going to happen, to close (thanks mom!). I called my mother in law who said the shovel method was an option but not one she would use, just to encourage the dog. Father in law didnt answer the phone.

Why didn't I call hubby...well because his phone was in the living room right next to where I was sitting. Gotta love hubbies and cell phones....I still don't know why we pay for one for him.

Finally, as I was pacing in the house, cancelling my plans for the gardens in the front and side yards, I hear the barking slow. I go to check it out thinking that the "killer" found his instinct.

Not so much. He was instead laying down about 4 feet from the snake.....his exhaustion kicking in. The snake was also uncoiling so I guess he was tired also. They needed a "time out" from the mutual hate and agression for each other. That whole "pretending to bite" on both sides was exhausting.

Finally....hubby appeared in the window. He was ready to kill the snake...with a shovel. I choose at this time to start yelling at him through the window and he ignored me. Rightfully so until he killed the snake. THEN the dog jumped into the game. Once it was dead. Yep...he's a killer all right.

Hubby came into the house and I told him "we have to talk about the snake killer" and he said "What about him?"

REALLY????

"He is FIRED" was my reply. We are going back to my original plan of ringing the entire front yard with moth balls and planting marigolds along the sidewalks to the garage. And anything else I could find when I googled "how to protect your yard from snakes".

"Well, he needed his partner in crime to distract the snake so he could move in for the kill. He has only killed 2 or 3 in his life, he is still learning."

My fearless defender is a rookie.

My husband had me convinced that it was safe to walk into the yard KNOWING my paranoia because Junior, the snake killer, would go with me and protect me. He conveniently left out the part about Junior needed back up to take out the reptile. I may never forgive him for that.

I may never walk outside again. I know that isnt an option but I can tell you the odds of my having my boots on everytime I leave the house is extremly high.

As for the "snake killer" he is currently resting in the sun. It took alot of energy to entertain a 4 foot snake for 30 minutes. Or as my hubby says, a 16 inch snake...but why should Ibelieve him. HE is the one who also told me that Junior had a black belt in snake killing and we all know the truth behind that now dont we. Its a good thing he is cute...and that goes for BOTH of them.


The standoff begins.
He looked to me like he was 4 feet long....this picture just doesnt show it.