Scary Night!!

But before I get to that, a couple of words you will have to know if you want to have a conversation with Liam:
moth= floss
eyelashes= ash-lies. (say that last part like "she LIES to me.")
forgot= gotfor

I'm sure there are more I just cant remember them.

So, my scary night- Most of you know we have a new dog; a rescue Boxer named Clark that we've had for about 3 months now. He's a great dog and very protective of us. He is also very intuitive about people and if he doesnt like something about them, he will sure let them know in a not very nice way!!! He always barks whenever people are coming up the driveway, and that is the very reason I got him, so that he would act as a warning system/protector since Shawn is gone at night. However, he's also not easily spooked- like, he never barks just to bark, and I'm really glad about that. Last night was Shawn's first night at his new job (which he LOVES) and Liam was watching a movie in the family room, and the blinds were open. It was pitch black out side and all of a sudden I heard Clark bark bark bark at the window that faces the driveway, so I went to see if someone was here. Nobody was there. I chalked it up to maybe an animal or something, but then he did it again about 2 minutes later. Now that is when I got spooked folks!!! I went and looked one more time, didnt see anything, and hastily called my brother in law Jonathan who lives about 7 minutes away. He came like a knight in a white....truck with a .38 and a flashlight. He investigated nearly that whole section of woods by the driveway, the whole backyard, everything and didnt see a thing. He came inside, loaded my shotgun for me, said a prayer with me, and after that I felt like we would be fine, but boy!!! There is nothing that strikes fear into a girls heart quicker than the thought that there may be someone outside your house and you are alone inside it with two little ones!!! For sure though, thank goodness I still have the right to bear arms and that I do indeed know how to use that shotgun!! I'm also very thankful that Jonathan wasted no time in coming to my aid, even though he was SICK and it was late and I'm sure he was very tired. Thanks Uncle Jonchin!!

Liamisms

Yesterday Shawn showed me the insurance benefit paper from work so I could look over it. I noticed that sterilization is covered, and I said "Oh, that'll be nice when we dont want kids anymore." (even though I have mixed feelings about that surgery, and am not even sure we would use that). Liam, who was standing nearby us, said very sadly "But I want to stay with my family forever!!!" It took me a moment to realize why he had freaked out, but when I did I heartily reassured him that we're not getting rid of the kids we already have... lol.

Last night in bed Liam was snuggling with me and I was reading my scriptures when I realized he was staring at me. I said "What?" He said "Nothing. I was just looking at your pretty eyes." !!!!! What a heart melter!!!

The other day he climbed up on the counter to get a cup out of the cabinet, because, in his own words "I can do everything on my own!" Well, I have told him and told him not to do this because he's bound to fall or something. He got up there with no-one in the kitchen with him, and suddenly I heard this ear splitting scream. I ran in there and he had banged the side of his head into the corner of the cabinet, and pretty dang hard. He ended up with a large purple lump and as I was holding some ice to it, he said "Mom, (sniffle, sniffle) Tom and Jerry dont need ice when they get lumps. Their lumps just go down by themselves." I had to laugh and explain that that's because they're cartoons, and we're real humans.

One of my favorite bands is Coldplay, and my favorite song is "Fix You". I listen to it pretty often and Liam is quite sure the chorus line goes like this "Iiiii will guiiiiide chit pole." All attempts to persuade him that that is not the line are refuted.

And finally, one from Addy- just now she was playing with the cd player that is right here next to the computer. I said "No, addy! Dont play with that!" A couple seconds later I hear her playing with it again and I turn around to tell her no again, and she flashes me a huge new-toothy smile and says "hi!" except the way addy says it it sounds like this "Hieeeeeeee". lol.

I'm sure there are more that I cant think of right now, but when I remember them I'll make sure and blog it! :)

My first 5k race!!

the picture on the left is me crossing the line- dont ask me why I felt the need to act like a dork as I finished. Also, please try not to look at my mayonnaise colored legs. The one on the right is of me and one of my cheerleaders. :)



So I ran a 5K race a couple of Saturdays ago, and it was alot of fun! Well, after the fact, of course. I wouldnt call running 3.1(or .2, whatever it is) miles in 30 minutes (and I'm not tooting my horn there with that time dropping- I know that's not a spectacular time) alot of Fun. One of my good friends organized it and signed me up, and I am so glad she did! Shawn and Liam and Addy were standing at one of the bends in the course and when I went by they all cheered me on and Liam even ran by me for a few seconds. I started a minute and a half late, but I still won first in my division!!! I considered not telling you that I was the only one in my division, but then I remembered that in my profile I described myself as honest so I better live up to that, huh? Can't be living a double life here on the internet. But anyway, even though I won a medal and all, the absolute best part of the whole thing was my family cheering for me. That was the best feeling and I hope I always do things in life that are worthy of their encouragement and cheerleading. And also, it was great to have my husband so proud of me. I mean, I know he's proud of the way I take care of the family and stuff, but this was different because he was proud of me for MY accomplishments. So anyway, I've been meaning to post that for a while, but hadnt gotten around to it. I hope I get to do alot more races!


p.s. Oh! I almost forgot!! There was a 67 year old man who finished his race in like, 25 minutes or something like that. He's my hero.

Mothers Day...finally

I am finally getting to post my mothers day thoughts!! Accordingly, it is late because of all my Motherly Responsibilities. So here was my Mothers Day: Saturday I got to sleep in and read a book in bed, something I haven't gotten to do in....well, nevermind, I wont add that up and depress myself. Then that night we went to eat at one of my favorite places on the whole earth (well, the little patch of earth called Oklahoma at least!) and it just happens to be across the lake from me! It is called "That Catfish Place." Don't worry, the food tastes better than the dumb name sounds! It is easily the best catfish I have ever had, and the beans are so tasty. And the hush puppies! I am drooling thinking about it.

*wipes drool*

Sorry. So if you come see me anytime soon, (and if I were you, I would), I will definitely take you to eat there and then you will come see me all the time, and I will tell myself that you are coming to see me because you love me, and not because you are using me to eat yummy catfish. I am really sad that I have discovered it right about the same time we are MOVING, but oh well. So we went to eat there Sat. night, the kids acted crazy, but I don't expect them to change their usual ways just because it is Mothers Day. (oh, wait, yes I do.) Addy discovered a new favorite food and ate it to the exclusion of all others, and that new favorite food is Dill Pickle. She ate so many pickles I thought her insides would pickle. Liam ate exactly 1 and 1/3 pieces of catfish, drank a root beer, declared he was full, and then used the booster seats that were stacked behind him on the wall as slides for the action guys that he brought in. Fun times. And, of course, I got some new running sneakers that I have been wanting for a while- the Asics Gel Nimbus. They're metallic green and white, so you know since they're my favorite color I'll be able to run farther and faster.



I'll let you know how that theory holds up.


And then it was Sunday and there were the usual la-dee-da messages about how wonderful mothers are, except the mothers are too busy taking the kids out for diaper changes, reverence pep-talks, and the like to get to hear everyone acknowledge how wonderful they are. But they gave out this really great CD called "For the Beauty of the Earth" for the mommies and it is really fantastic. I've been listening to it all week and I highly suggest you check it out the next time you're at the LDS bookstore.

I have alot more to say about mommyhood but I feel like I've been typing forever and I think my posts are probably too long anyway. But of course, I cant sign off without a shout-out to the special mom's in my life:

Nancy, my mother-in-law, who raised Shawn to be a good husband and father, and who continually impresses me with her willingness to help out with anything she is asked to. She is also one of the most un-selfish people I have ever met, and very rarely complains about things! Thanks for all you do Nancy Lou! :)

My own mom, who always shared her chocolate with us, and if you know my mom, that is really saying something! But seriously, she has always come to my rescue whenever I needed her. That time I had double mastitis...twice, letting us live with them for almost a year while we figured out what the heck we were gonna do with our lives, coming and helping caulk and paint the house when we were on a tight time budget, driving down the night I went into labor with Addy... I love her lots and I will always be thankful that she and dad raised us right and helped us figure out early on what would really make us happy in life. She has also been a great example of kindness to everybody and every thing -she loves animals and I have definitely inherited that from her! Maybe she and I should form the Turtle Saving Coalition Force, where we drive around in search of turtles that are crossing the road and pick them up and help them on their way so they don't get run over. And maybe throw red paint on people who run over turtles for fun. Mwah! Love you mom!

"Teeth,

They are very much worthwhile. They must be very much in style!" That line has been going through my head all day. It is, of course, from Dr. Seuss' "The Tooth Book". Addy started teething yesterday, and when Addy is getting teeth, it is NO FUN! Liam was an easy peasy teether, no worries, no fuss. But Addy. Addy is another story entirely. Each time she cuts a tooth (in this case, 2) she gets a raging fever, a horrible diaper rash, and the crankies, which on a scale of 1 to 10 would be a 23. She wakes up every hour on the hour at night, so maybe you can add this up for me: sleep deprived, aching toothed baby+sleep deprived, aching bodied mom= ? Or maybe if it was an elementary school math word problem, it would look something like this: "Addison, a 13 month old baby girl, is teething her back 2 teeth, which are always the hardest to get in anyway. At night, when the other family members in the house who are *not* teething are trying to sleep, Addison wakes up every hour on the dot. If it takes her mother 15 minutes to get her back to sleep, how much sleep is her mother getting? Addison goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up at 7 a.m. at the first sign that there may be sun peeking through her blinds." I don't know what the answer is, I'm too tired to compute it, but if you do, don't tell me, because it will just make me more tired to hear the mathematical equivalent of my fatigue.
In other toothy news, I had a cavity filled this morning and my baby tooth, my only claim to uniqueness and fame among my peers, pulled. I have put the tooth pulling off for about 2 years, because, you know, that whole-yanking-on-something-in my-mouth-thing doesn't sound so...fun. But it happened so fast I didn't even know he had pulled it. However, he was quite chatty and kept asking me questions that required long answers, while he had the numbing needle in my mouth. After he had numbed my mouth, he told me to sit up and he would be back in about 10 minutes, to give the anesthetic time to take real good. I sat up, in a kind of nervous stupor, (because needles plus my mouth equals hives and sweaty hands) and he goes "You don't like to talk, do you?". What I said was "I cant talk! My mouth feels really weird!" What I was thinking was "I love to talk, I talk all the time, except, you know, for the times that there IS A 3 INCH NEEDLE IN MY MOUTH!". They got done with the whirring torture devices and stuck a piece of gauze in my mouth to blot the small amount of blood from the extraction (which was in the very front of my mouth), and then they made me walk out of there like that! I was like "are you sure you want me to do that? I dont wanna scare the kids in the waiting room. They'll take one look at me with that bloody gauze hanging out of my mouth and decide that going to the dentist isn't such a good excuse for missing school, after all." When I got home I took some me-time with my best friend Blue Bell Cookies and Cream, which tastes the same even if my chewing and swallowing capabilities are diminished, thank goodness. And now that I think about it, my deep love of Cookies n Cream is probably a contributing factor in the appearance of the cavity, but I figure that's what brushing and flossing were invented for.

And I, I Choose the Road Less Traveled...

Is there something about yourself that you would like to change? Not something superficial, like "I wish my nose were smaller" or "I really wish that spot of cellulite would disappear", but something that really bothers you about your personality? What I am about to disclose is not a surprise to anyone who has known me for any amount of time, because it is something that plagues me everytime I try to go somewhere even slightly unfamiliar. I, unfortunately, have about the same sense of direction as a blindfolded drunk trying to whack at a pinata in a tornado. Yes that would be, ah, ZERO. And it. is so. FRUSTRATING!!! Today I went about 15 minutes out of my way to get to where my best friend works, after her husband gave me *explicit* directions on how to get there, complete with finely drawn map. Then, on my way home from aforementioned destination, I took the wrong turn and wasted about 10 minutes, not to mention the ever-increasing-in-cost-gas! And when I get lost, I seriously have, like, anxiety attacks. I sweat, I get nervous, I think about pulling over and sobbing, and I entertain thoughts such as: what if I never get home? maybe I should just find a hotel and stay there until someone comes to get me. would someone come to get me? And it's even worse when my kids are in the car, because just about the time you realize you have made a big boo-boo in the turn-taking, someone either A. has to pee B. needs a snack C. is sick of being stuck in their car seat or D. decides to holler about all 3.
And my poor mother! I think every time I drive to Houston (which I havent done by myself in a while) she worries until I show up, alive, in their driveway. I think that is why she has resorted to meeting Shawn halfway to take the kids and I to Houston. She was probably sick of giving herself gray hairs over worrying about us.
So all of this is to say: I have a fund going for myself called "Help Ashley Choose The Right (turn)!" and the funds will be used for a GPS thingy for my car, as well as map and compass reading classes. Feel free to contribute. Because if you're ever stuck in the car with me as the driver, you'll wish you had.