And now I present to you....drum roll please.....

These are videos for the two grandmas and grandpa's...and for anyone else who wants to watch.

Little miss sunshine asked to do her ABC's and count for you. She does know all of her letters, and can say several of them in order. She especially loves to play the game where I say a letter and she tells me what letter comes next. She doesn't however know them as well as it appears here. I have her ABC puzzle underneath the camera and am pointing to the letters.

Little man just wanted to show you his new tricks...jumping and squealing. He has found his voice and has discovered his legs have jumping bean abilities.

If you like to waltz with potatoes, up and down the produce aisle....

Yes, if you, too, are a loyal Veggie Tales fan, you know that line well. Zoe has recently gotten into Veggie Tales. And, my can she ever dance to the theme song.

If I only had half that energy...no, I take that back. If I only had a tenth of the energy she has, I could be super mom. For your viewing pleasure. Can you do this dance too? Oh, go ahead...try it. No one's watching! I dare ya...I double dog dare ya.

Please ignore the grinding sound you hear in the background. I was too far away from her causing the camera to have to constantly refocus.

"Tell her to stop staring at me!"

I'll explain the blog title in just a minute. That'll reveal itself in the following story.

So some of you may know all the stomach issues I've been having. In short, it's like I've had the stomach flu 10+ times since I was 30 weeks pregnant...occurring once a week from 30wks to 35wks pregnant and then appearing again 6 weeks postpartum happening approximately once every one to two weeks. The last "episode" of whatever it is that I have landed me in the ER with excruciating stomach pains, a new symptom in all of this mess. And of course the Arkadelphia ER is has such high profile patients that a rape case came in and they spent over 4 hours investigating it...meaning I waited in the waiting room for over three hours....with a kid who possibly had the swine flu. I'm not sure they'd ever had anything that out of the ordinary come through their doors. That's a story in and of itself, so I'll jump off my Arkadelphia ER soapbox really quickly.

Anwyay, my family practitioner, (who is absolutely wonderful!) after making an educated guess as to what I had finally made the decision to let me go from his care and sent me to his gastroenterologist. He called the doctors office himself and they got me in as a new patient the next morning. That was last week.

This week, yesterday actually, I had an endoscope procedure. They put me to sleep and sent a camera down my throat to investigate my stomach for tears in the lining, ulcers, etc. For some reason they call it surgery, but after having had 4 surgeries in 28 years, I really don't call this surgery. Anyway, they had to put me under. The last thing I remember was him saying, "Open wide." as me put some mouth piece in my mouth. The next thing I remember is waking up to my husband and son sitting beside me in recovery. Apparently as I was coming out of it, w/o opening my eyes, I told my husband, "Tell her to stop staring at me." NO CLUE why I said that, especially since I didn't even have my eyes open. Then, apparently I opened my eyes a few minutes later and asked where we were. Umm...hello, how could I forget that I had a procedure done.

So come to find out, there was nothing out of the ordinary in my stomach. No ulcers, tumors, tears, nothing. He did take a biopsy of the tissue to have it sent off to see if I had some sort of bacteria. He thinks and told my husband that he thinks it was just some sort of infection that kept plaguing me with this...nothing contagious, but just some sort of infection. So I feel in some ways that I'm back at square one b/c I don't have a definitive answer, but I'm relieved that it's nothing serious.

So - fast forward several hours. Darin's now at work and I'm at home with the kids. At 3:30, I went in to check on Ethan. He had thrown up...everywhere. His shirt was SOAKED, like coming out of the washing machine soaked. His head, neck, ears, and sheet were covered in white goo. I whisked him away to give him a quick bath all while calling the doctor's office to inquire about what could have caused him to get so much on him and to see if we needed to come in. As I'm on the phone, he starts choking and throwing up green stuff....yes, green. And we haven't started solids yet. Ok, now keep in mind, my body's still recovering from anesthesia. TOTAL PANIC! After a doc's visit, turns out he could have either had a reaction of some sort to the formula since I couldn't breastfeed following ansethesia...OR...he could have the stomach flu. Wonderful. Little girl's got a cold. We've been trying to keep everyone else well while getting her better. Now little guy's got the stomach flu. So it's been 24 hours. No one else has gotten sick. He hasn't gotten sick anymore. Maybe it was a reaction to old formula or something.

Talk about a L.O.N.G. Day! Phew - glad that one's in the history books.

Mini Bandit

"I like to keep a low profile. I don't like anyone knowing what I really look like when I sleep."



"Aww....MOM, you blew my cover. And now, not only can they see my face, but you're letting them see my tummy too!!!"



In other news, we got a swing from walmart. Zoe tried it out today. It's hard to tell. I don't think she likes it a bit...do you?

Help! I need you!

So...I'm at a stagnant point. I need some motivation. I don't want to pay $40 a month for a gym that requires you to pay $1 per child for childcare. If I worked out 5 or 6 days a week, that'd be an additional $40-$50. Nope - not gonna do it.

And because of that, I do lots of other things. See, I committed to a home workout program by beachbody that is called Slim in 6 a few weeks ago. It's a 6 week commitment working out 6 days a week. My husband bought it for me last summer (by request, not because he was trying to hint something), but shortly after I got it, I found out I was pregnant, so I never started.

This is it.



It's tough, but it's simple moves. But it's only three phases. Phase 1: Start it up is a 25 minute video for beginners to show the basic moves. Phase 2: Ramp it up is the middle video...48 minutes long, and adds to those basic moves. Phase 3: Burn it up is the phase you're supposed to use for the last 4 weeks. I totally skipped the first phase. Too easy..I think it's more for people who haven't worked out. Since I workout often, I went straight to Ramp it up. I did that one for 3 workouts, I think, and then went straight to Burn it up. Phew. That's tough. Still is, even after 15 workouts.

I've done 15 workouts. I have 21 more to go. I'm almost halfway through. I've lost about 4 or 5 inches over my body. Almost two off the biggest area of pudge around my belly - the area I really want gone - the area left over from birthing two kids, the one born just 4 months ago being carried VERY LOW and leaving a little pouch. My arms are now toning and no longer look chubby. They look somewhat muscular, even when it's pressed against my side. You can see a defined (or defining) shoulder, triceps, and bicep. My rear end is slimming down. My quads are once again becoming defined, and my hamstrings are toning as well. I'm losing the cottage cheesy stuff that appears when I cross my legs. So yes, I'm motivated in that fact.

So what's the problem you say? It's the same workout Every Single Day. And it's BORING! I love variety! LOVE IT. I get bored easily. In a typical hour workout, I like doing any of the following. Biking, swimming, playing tennis and softball (or any sport other than basketball and football), walking, kickboxing, aerobics, using my gazelle, etc. But notice, it's a HUGE variety. The lady that does this is great at what she does, don't get me wrong. And the type of workout it is, it's hard to be really enthusiastic. BUT - I've got to do this 21 more times over the course of the next three and a half weeks. I am committed to it, so I'll do it, but wow do I dread it! I just need some motivation from you readers. I know I can do it, I just don't want to.

So here's what I've been doing to throw a little bit of mix into it. I've been knocking off the 4 minute ab portion 3 days a week and inserting a 17 minute ab ripper section from P90X. OH MY GOSH! Can I just say one word? OUCH! Here, let me just give you an 8 minute glimpse into this 17 minute workout.



And that's just half of it. There are 11 exercises, all of which are 25 reps except for the last exercise. And can I say that the second full exercise, the V-Up/Roll Up one, I have yet to make it past 12 reps?

I've done this workout 3 times in the last week. It's gotten easier, but WOW it's tough. No, no, tough doesn't even describe it. Not even a bit.

I'm going to venture out and commit to a 90 day program as soon as I finish this called P90X. Darin's started it. It's T.O.U.G.H! I know I probably won't make it through...but I'll try. It's 13 different workouts. So variety guaranteed. Some I won't even try b/c my knees are terrible and are now lacking cartilage. They sound like sandpaper when I bend down. Gross, I know. Another aftermath of having childhood cancer with chemo treatments for over a year.

BUT - if you're looking into losing inches fast, I would definitely recommend this Slim in 6. Although it's boring, it works. I mean, 4-5 inches in 15 workouts? Yeah - it works.

So, please...help motivate me to finish this. I really need it!

So what did you learn about in Sunday School, Zoe?

Sunday morning - sometimes we're leisurely paced in getting ready. Usually those are the mornings that we end up getting up a bit late...but those are the mornings we end up early. The mornings you'd think we'd be leisurely because we all got up before 8 are the mornings where we (I mean I) take my time a little too much and end up rushing out the door.

This morning was one of the latter mornings. Darin was up at 6:30, I was up at 7:30, kids both slept till 8ish, don't have to be at church till 9:15. Lots of time, right? Yeah, tell that to me as I'm trying to get my breakfast, watch as my husband finishes up his P90X workout, eat my breakfast, get a shower, get Ethan up and nurse him, get Zoe up and get her dressed while Darin showers and makes his and her breakfast, yada, yada, yada.... So long story made short...I mean shortened...I was rushed for whatever reason, and I was the reason we walked out the door a couple of minutes late.

But all that said, this is what I walked in to see when I went to get my son out of bed.

Look at this face!

Now keep in mind, at the start of bedtime, he's wrapped up like this:



AND, he starts out the evening on this side of the bed.



Yet here we are, naked with a FULL diaper on and on the opposite side of the crib. You see, this smile,



is what we see every morning when we go get him. He wakes up happy - all the time (well, almost). I think a smile is permanently planted on his face. He and Zoe were just our smiley, happy babies.

Now fast forward. Lunch time. All of us, except for our now napping son, are now sitting around the table eating. So our daughter has been in the 2 year old class now for 2 weeks. They promoted all of the two year olds last week. She's got a birthday so close to promotion day that it really doesn't make a difference for her...but some of the kids that got moved were 28 months old almost. I was excited that they moved them all up at the same time, though. Made transitions easier. Umm - ok...I apparently am chasing a rabbit. Back to the lunch table. So in the two year old class, the start having SS lessons of some sort. Bless the hearts of those who try to teach these little busybodies. Fully expecting to hear a giggle following this question, I asked Zoe at lunch:

Mommy: "Zoe, what did you learn about in Sunday School this morning?"

***See, we have "conversations" like this a lot, and although sometimes she'll actually answer us in a sentence, most of the time, she looks at us and giggles and we end up asking her specific yes/no questions followed by her answering either yes or no. I fully expected that type of conversation to evolve. But in an effort build her conversational skills, I tried the above question first.***

Zoe: "Moses."

***(Choke a little on food) Umm...wow. Are you kidding me? My child just told me she learned about Moses. She not only paid attention during Sunday School, but she remembered what she learned.***

Mommy: "Wow, what did you learn about Moses?"

Zoe: "Moses and frogs and yucky bugs."

Mommy: "Oh yeah? What about those frogs and yucky bugs?"

Zoe: " Frogs got on the floor."

I'm getting goosebumps. I know, I know, most of you are thinking I'm pretty pathetic right about now. But it was really exciting for me to think that my baby girl is not just hearing, but learning new things about the Bible and how God made frogs and yucky bugs get all over the floor. We talk a lot about Jesus, but we haven't started doing Bible stories with her yet. Maybe it's time.

Sit tall!

"Oh yeah - that's right people, get a good look. I'm learing a new skill and I'm sitting up now (sort of). Either my tummy is so chubby that it helps support me as I lean over, or my back muscles have developed a little early. Either way, wow what an awesome view...until I fall and smash my face into the floor that is. Then it's not so fun anymore. But hey - I'm a guy...and guys are tough!"



(Interjection from mom - notice the video is just a short 5 second clip. That would be because that's about all the up time we can get right now. I trimmed off the few seconds of the nose plant followed by Zoe's giggles and saying "Efan fell down." He's still under 4 months, so his back muscles haven't strengthened enough to hold him up for long. I'm surprised he can hold himself up at all, but we'll do a little bit of practicing every day to help him get more proficient. He loves his new view of the world.)

Mini Memphis Trip

So Darin and I took our first family vacation as a married couple (outside of our honeymoon of course - and not counting the few education conferences we've been to). He was asked a few months ago if he would do a 8-3 math workshop for the West Memphis school district. With the money that they paid him, we decided it'd be neat for the kids and I to tag along and turn it into a mini-vacation. His workshop was on Wednesday, so we took off Tuesday morning and drove in.

As soon as we got there we got ourselves checked into the hotel room. Y'all - the room was AMAZING! My husband booked the room. We knew that taking Zoe with us (since she can't sleep on a bed without a rail), we'd have to take our air matress. And we also knew that a regular hotel room would definitely not accomodate that. So he tried to find one that had a "living room" attached. So this is what I see when I first walk in the door.


NO WAY - are you kidding me? A jacuzzi tub...with jets? Awesome!! A nice relaxing spot for when the kiddos are sleeping (don't let your mind go wandering...remember, we had two kids in the room!) Guess where I ended up when Zoe went to sleep? That's right! In the jacuzzi...Watching TV. Again, I say...AWESOME!

Look at this space! This is the living room part complete with a table, and chairs, a couch, a mini fridge, and of course your typical dresser with tv. You can see the amount of space it has b/c we had Zoe sleeping on the queen sized air matress behind the couch and there was still a few feet between her bed and ours.

And of course the bedroom part. Awesome, I tell you! He had the biggest grin on his face when he saw my reaction to the jacuzzi tub. What a sweetheart! So after checking in...we went to the CMOM (Children's museum of Memphis). And we did a little of this...

Personally loved the flying over Tokyo bit...gotta love those green screens.

So back at the hotel - this is what we dealt with for about an hour - we had a wound up kiddo.



Not that we advocate her jumping in her bed - but she discovered the fun of jumping on an air matress because it's so low to the ground. Mama had to let her two year old be a two year old for a few minutes and not worry about her falling and busting her head open.

And after the long but fun day...and just following a whole lot of jumping up and down on the air matress, we finally saw this!

Wednesday was Darin's conference, so the kids and I just took the day to rest up. She was exhausted from the busy day before, so we just hung out at the hotel until Darin came to pick us up for lunch. Can you guess where we went?

And of course after lunch came naptime for Zoe. So basically, until about 2:30, we just vegged. The botanical gardens were our stop for the afternoon - and it was a free entrance day! Yay! Free's always good. So there, we did a little bit of this...

And on Thursday, our final day in Memphis, we went to the Memphis Zoo. Fantastic zoo, and a hundred times better than the LR zoo.

That's one flexible elephant! :-)







Yeah - so I don't think I want to make this guy mad! Look at those teeth!!

This guy either!

Look closely - on the end of the stick you see a bright yellow blob. That's a bird eating some bird food on the stick.

Umm - so that's me apparently practicing a roar. Who knows?

Great trip - just three days, but a perfect length of time for a 2 year old and 3 month old. Zoe was totally exhausted by the end of it, but despite that, we only had a couple of meltdowns over the course of the three days. One was a mistake on our part. Never take a two year old on a vacation and forget one day to give her a snack becuase you're caught up in the hustle and bustle of checking into a hotel and going to a museum. NOT a good combination. Now back to the reality of living the normal life. It sure was good to get away from that for a while!

I don't think I'm going to do anything fancy for this one. In fact, I think I saw this in one of the months past, so it's probably a stolen idea. But here goes...

Ten things I can tag the following statement to: "What would we do without....?"





1. Cars - Oh my. A trip to walmart...with no car...and two kids...and a husband with a garbage disposal for a belly? And the minivan at that. What would we do without the minivan? Well, for starters, probably look a little cooler. No one likes to see a mom jamming to the Itsy Bitsy Spider like there's no one else around.




2. Michael Jackson. I have to be honest...I was never a fan. But, I understand that some people are very sad at his passing. So what would we do without MJ? We'd do what we're doing now...have tributes on TV 24/7 for months on end.

3. Washers and dryers. Somehow I can't imagine myself bent over a washboard and bucket washing load after load after load. My family would be wearing dirty clothes a lot more.

4. Know what this is? This is a picture of one of the biggest consignment events around. Duck Duck Goose. What would I do without this? Be broke, probably. I manage to get (sometimes brand new, tag still on the item) clothes for the kids for 6 months at a time for a little over $100 per kid. I get giddy going to shop at these because I feel like I can shop guiltlessly.

5. Dogs. What would we do without our dogs? Be able to sit on our own furniture every once in a while, perhaps? This one's not mine by the way....just too funny a picture to pass up.

6. Sonic. Enough said.

7. The technology of vaccuums. I don't want to think about having to get down on my hands and knees to pick out pieces of banana that's been dropped and mashed into the carpet.

8. Umm - no computer...no internet...no blogs...no ten on the tenth. :-)

9. You know, I didn't have my first cell phone until I was in college...unless of course you count the mega-sized car phone that was about half the size of your head. My first cell was one of the stick like nokia phones that you could change out a million faceplates on. Sadly - I had that same kind of phone until about three years ago when I finally went to a flip phone. So, ten years and I can't remember what life was like without a cell. Wow.

10. The other stuff I could live without (if I absolutely had to). But these guys....not sure I could. These three people are the ones who bring smiles to my face and joy to my heart every day. I love them with all my heart.

And thank you for....

There's nothing like hearing a prayer exit the mouth of your child for the first time. I've been praying with her a little bit here and there, but being our first, I just wasn't sure what age to start really teaching her how to pray. Whenever we'd pray with her, she would watch intently, but never repeat what we'd say. She'd fold her hands, but that's about it. Apparently today she was telling me she's ready for more.

Today at lunch, she was finishing up her meal. At times, she's a 20-30 minute eater whereas her dad and I are fairly quick eaters. I was clearing the table off and watched her as she abruptly stopped what she was doing, folded her little hands, bowed her head, squinted her eyes, and said, "Thank you Jesus for Mommy, and Daddy, and Efan (Ethan), and Jedi, and apple juice.....

So at that point in the prayer, I had to exit the room so as not to laugh. She was so genuine about praying for her apple juice! So precious!

She noticed at some point that I was watching her and stopped, so I sat down with her to help her finish her prayer. I asked her who else she wanted to thank Jesus for. She began naming off names....Sef (Seth) and Jared, Befany (Bethany), Jorja, Silas (her 2 yr old cousin), Kelsey, Zoe....pause....Amen.

Wow - regardless of the fact that she was praying for a million different people and random things, she was praying to Jesus. I can hardly wait for the day when she truly grasps who her Jesus is and embraces Him as her heavenly Father. But for now, we will continue to pray for those 20 people she knows and her apple juice. It's those small steps that are going to one day lead her to her Father.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy,

That's almost all you'll see on this face - looks of happiness and big blue eyed ear to ear grins. The kinds that will just melt your heart. The kinds that will eventually get me into trouble if I'm not careful. Look at this face...



Yeah - that's the face that I never get tired of seeing. The face that could easily break me out of my "I only got three hours of sleep last night because you're in a growth spurt" mood.



So this little face is three months old today. Wasn't it just yesterday when I was a week overdue, and moody as a bear awakened out of hibernation?



Oh the faces, the faces. We get all sorts of different faces. Some that make you go, "Wonder what they're thinking"...like the one above.

So this little guy got a treat today. He got to try out his bouncy seat - the ones you hang from a door frame. Check out his first reaction.



And second reaction (this of course was after almost an hour of bouncing around giggling).



And finally....



Here's his monthly rocking chair shot.



At two months he looked like this.



I'm not thinking there's been all that much change. Maybe a little bit, but not just a huge change.

3 month stats:

Weight - 14.9 lbs
Height - 24 inches
Milestones reached - obviously smiling and laughing, but his newest is rolling over from tummy to back. I, of course, haven't seen this yet. And I'm the one who stays home all day with him. But my husband says that he rolled over yesterday while I was at a conference.

Happy three months little one!