Can you tell he's the 3rd kid?

Tonight, we got treats from Rick's Bakery. YUM! Alpha had a postcard from her orthodontist that got her a free sprinkle cupcake. I had a $5 gift card that Jim and I got at Christmas for teaching Sunday school. With it, we got Beta a monster cookie (icing made to look like a monster), J4 got a frog cookie, I got a wedding cake cupcake and Jim got a chocolate ganache covered cupcake. Well, we didn't get all that for $5. I ended up paying $4 out of pocket, but it was still a good deal.

So after supper, we all had our treats! J4 is really in to feeding himself so I just gave him the cookie. I figured it was bath night anyway so what if he got a little messy?

Behold.........mommy's little monster

It had pieces of ground beef and cheerios from supper in it, too! Mmmmmm!

With no prompting from us, he played......peek a boo.....


It's so pretty! Double rainbow!


Hulk SMASH!

Oh, I'm gonna need a bath, right?

Milestone: Earrings!

OMg! My babies are growing up! They both got their ears pierced on Saturday.

We were at Justice looking for bathing suits. Well, I was looking at bathing suits. THEY were looking at all the cute earrings and necklaces and bracelets and other assorted junk that store sells. At one point, Beta says she wants her ears pierced. This was the 2nd or 3rd time she's mentioned it in the last few months. Alpha said she wanted hers pierced, too.

So, I thought about it. I was feeling spontaneous, for some reason. I told them that if they REALLY WANTED them, we'd go that afternoon and get their ears pierced. Both girls said yes!

Next thing I know, we are headed to the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

We got them done at Claire's. I really preferred a store like Merle Norman, but I wasn't sure if there was one in the mall. (turns out there is) But I looked at Claire's ear piercing station and they had sanitizing spray, sealed earrings, and they wore gloves. Plus it was full of fun girl stuff to look at when it wasn't your turn.

We walk in and I tell the lady at the cash register that we'd like to get our ears pierced. (well, not me. Mine were done 25 years ago!) She says ok, gets the forms, explains everything and then asks who's first. Beta wanted Alpha to go, but Alpha said no. Since the whole thing was Beta's idea, we made her go first.

Well, sorta. We sat there and talked and reasoned and explained and had to wait on the lady to go check out some customers. Then talked, reasoned, showed, hugged, and prepared some more.

FINALLY, *sigh* we switched to Alpha. Alpha thought, unfortunately, that I had said it wouldn't hurt. So she got up there and sat with no problem. She was expecting it to feel just like someone "pinched her ears." Well, it didn't.

And now, in a scene that will go down in family lore forever, I will tell you Alpha's reaction.

Another employee had gotten there by then so they could do both ears at the same time. They counted to 3. Her eyes got as big around as saucers. She stared straight into my face with this surprised look. It was over with in a matter of nanoseconds. Then, with a wail worthy of her younger days, she started crying. She jumps down from the chair and screams (yes, literally, screams), "Don't do it Beta! They said it doesn't hurt but it DOES!!!!!!!!" Then she runs to the back of the store and cries.

The assistant manager and I just stand there, stunned. And trying not to laugh. And I feel guilty, too.

Needless to say, this does NOT convince Beta to get up there and give us her ears. It took another 30-45 minutes before she'd do it. Thankfully, another girl and her mother came in and were telling her that it wasn't that bad. That helped her get over the shock from seeing Alpha's reaction.

But we still had Beta to do. And time was running out. The manager had told the assistant manager to take only 10 more minutes and then she needed help b/c they were getting busy. I gave Beta 2 minutes to decide if she was really going to do it. She kept saying "wait...wait" Finally, I took hold of her arm and told her to get down b/c we were going home. She jerked it back and loudly proclaimed "No! I'm going to do it!" I had to get my mean voice on and say, "Then DO it. We've been here over an hour!" So the lady got prepped again. Beta was better but kept putting her hand up over her ear. So, against the wishes of the store, I held her hand in mine and put my other hand around her head. I looked the lady straight in the eye and said, "DO. IT." She did.

Beta didn't even cry....

She said, "oh, you know, that wasn't that bad."

The second ear was easier, although I still had to hold her down slightly. After that, she was all smiles! Alpha had calmed down some by then, too. I bought each of them a really pretty earring holder and we left.

And we never have to do that again!

Alpha got pretty emerald studs for her birthstone:


Beta got purple studs for (sigh.....) Justin Bieber *swoon*!!

What's in a Name?

Hello all! I updated the "Blogs I Read" section. I have always been impressed with the various titles people come up with for their blogs. Since a lot of my readers (haha! like all 3 of you) don't know one another, I decided to put the blog name along with its author's name here on my site. Maybe these titles will entice you to go check out some of my friends' blogs. They are all very insightful and entertaining! Go check 'em out!

FewWords Wednesday

Follow this link to a video for Acumen Brands, Inc. They launched a new order packing process using Kiva Systems robots.)

This is what Jim has been working on night and day for the past few months. (no, really. Night AND Day)

Happy 10th Birthday, Alpha!

Today is Alpha's 10th Birthday!!!!

10 YEARS! I cannot believe it has been 10 years since I became a mother.

To say I've learned a lot since then doesn't even cut it. I've learned TONS. Which is possible because I knew NOTHING about taking care of babies when I had her. Nothing! Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Nowadays, it's old hat. Taking care of J4 is so simple. Of course, he's a MUCH easier baby than Alpha ever was. But that's another post.

Since I wasn't blogging way back when, I never told her birth story. Maybe I should do that. Briefly, at least. I'll spare you all the gory details....

I was due June 1, 2001. I was finishing up my last classes at UALR for my accounting hours. My last final was May 10. A few people were worried that I'd have that baby in class, but I knew better! I was due June 1st! I had PLENTY of time. (told you I was new at that....)

My water broke the morning of May 11 at 5:30 am.
At 8:00 am, we finally made it to the hospital. (We weren't packed....)
They checked me and I was already at 3 cm!!!
4:00 pm After 8 hours of labor, they checked me and I was at 4 cm! WHAT??????
I labored WITHOUT DRUGS for 8 hours and went a measly 1 centimeter????

I never planned to have a drug free birth. I had not read much about birthing, but I knew enough to know what was considered a "good" childbirth. Drug free was the way to go, "they" said. No, I said. So I got an epidural at 4:00 since the contractions were getting stronger.

At midnight, I think, they told me I could push. So I did. Or tried to. I couldn't feel a thing. I GUESS I was pushing. The nurse checked me while I did and said she thought she felt the baby's head move.

At 3am, my doctor suggested a c-section.
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!

Like I said, I had not read a bunch. I hadn't even gotten "What to Expect". I think I had just relied on Babycenter.com, and I avoided the "what could go wrong" sections. I knew about c-sections, but those were BAD! I was already bending the rules by having drugs. The "right" way to have a baby was, um, well, NOT via c-section. (see, I'm leaving out the gory details...lol!)

At 4am, I caved. The baby (Alpha) was at +1 station (wherever that is) and had been since midnight. She wasn't far enough down to use forceps or the vacuum. (Which later, thinking about those things, I was kinda glad they didn't have to use them.)

At 4:55 am, 23 1/2 hours after my water broke, 7 pound 1 ounce Alpha came into this world!

I was SO sleepy and SO drugged that I barely remember seeing her. I have an image of a bright light and an outline of a baby in it. I then remember wanting to hold her, but they wouldn't let me. I even asked in the recovery room and they said no. (Ok, ok, I was drugged. But it was my first baby darnit! I wanted to HOLD her!) It would take me about 6 months to reconcile all these disappointments in how her birth unfolded. While I WAS happy to have a healthy baby, I was so upset that I had made it to the VERY EDGE of giving birth and then not been able to. It's like making an 89% on a math test! A silver medal in the Olympics! Missing the cutoff by ONE whatever. (second, question, minute, day, etc)

The next day, I woke up around 8 am. Immediately, I asked to hold her. And I did! It was just so amazing. I mean, her little eyes looked up at me. A real little person! I'll never forget that moment or her eyes.



To say these past 10 years have gone by fast would be an understatement. I sometimes look at this budding young lady and wonder who on earth this kid is and where my baby went! I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring. Although at the end of them (ok, end of 8), she'll be headed out into the real world to make her mark. I think I'll cry. But at least I've got 10 years until I have to face that. :)

Age 2

Age 3
Age 4
Last day of preschool
First day of kindergarten
Age 7
Age 8
Age 9

Age 10 (or close to it, at least!)