And the Frigidaire Has Never Been Cleaner

Yesterday was quite full- all sorts of adventure for Wilson and me. Twists and turns around every corner. We first went to the pediatrician for his 18 month check up. It went very well except that Wilson is very afraid of heights and was miserable every time we had to put him up on the table. He had to get an unexpected shot (the AAP and their ever-changing "suggestions") so that was not the most fun, but he quit crying as soon as I took him off the table and he could get back to the cawrs. The doctor sincerely said he was the healthiest kid he'd seen in a long time. Boy does he know how to make a mom happy.


Next we went to get Granna and then went to have some Easter pictures made with a real duckling and bunny. He had a blast. He petted the duck and it quacked at him and he quacked back. He loved on the bunny. He splashed in the duck's water bowl (before the picture, of course!) It was all too cute. I can't wait to get the pictures back next week!!


After that, we went back to Granna's for lunch and then went to Uncle John's tennis match. It was tons of fun to roam around between the courts and in the grass around them. We hear John won, but we didn't actually get to watch much of the match! It was blazing hot and Wilson was overdue for a nap, so he naturally fell asleep in the car on the way to take Granna back home.

If you came here looking for good news, stop reading here and just skip to the last paragraph of so because the day just goes completely downhill from here. Otherwise read on . . .

We get home and Wilson is in a very deep sleep- the kind that you can move him from his carseat to the bed without any problems. Or so I thought. He laid down in his bed and as soon as I walked out he started crying. I left him for a bit, but there was no changing his mind. So I put him in my bed to watch Baby Einstein while I recuperated from chasing him around in the 90 degree heat.

I got up to get something in the kitchen and noticed a small puddle of water in the kitchen by the sink and thought, that's odd, but I probably just spilled something. I went back later to clean it up and found that it was a flowing puddle! I first thought it was coming from the dishwasher which actually could have been a small victory since I have been begging for a new dishwasher since we closed on the house. After unloading the dishwasher, turning the water off that goes to the dishwasher, unscrewing it from the cabinet and trying to pull it out to see if I could find the source- I realized that this was perhaps the dumbest thing I'd ever tried to do with an 18 month old and two dogs in the house. I put the whole thing back together and decided to just run a load to get the last dishes clean (turning the water off to the dishwasher also turns off the hot water to the sink- so either way I was stuck with a sink full of dirty dishes- might as well let the machine attempt to do it!). I mop up the water that is flowing through grout lines of my kitchen and find that it has gone under the fridge. I then see water running down the front of the fridge from the ice/water dispenser. So now I go pulling the 8 ton fridge from its home and turn the water off from behind it and vacuum up the dust et al from behind it. (Now would be a good time to mention that Phil and I had been noticing an odd noise coming from the fridge the night gefore, but chose to ignore it and hope that it got better on its own) This did nothing to help the water problem so I decide that maybe ice is melting and coming out the ice whole- so I dump all the ice out. Finally, it dawns on me, things in the freezer are usually really hard, and not so much juicy like the broth that is sitting around the roast I put in there last week! (Still, an 18 month old, his tractor, and two dogs trying to help me here!) I use one of my prized Method Eucalyptus Mint cleaning wipes (the only way I know of to simultaneously clean surfaces and smell like your at the spa)to clean up the mess on the floor. I put the ice container back in the freezer, dribbling water right where I just cleaned up, thereby wasting the lovely aroma I had just spread. Alas, I admit defeat and call in the troops. Since this is a matter of food going bad I decide to go with the closest grandmother possible, my mother-in-law. I, of course, catch her as she's going out the door to church, but she graciously switches gears and offers to come over to wrangle the boys. She plays with Wilson while I attempt to get some information from the store we bought the fridge from about repairs and then as I try to call the repair place they recommended at ten after 5:00. Of course, no answer, not even a machine. Luckily, Pat Pat came prepared with a cooler to take the contents of the freezer to her house.

Let's pause here. Did anyone else's mom ever advise them to always wear clean underwear "just in case" you got hit by a bus? Okay, show of hands, how many of you have EVER benefited from that advice? Let me give you some advice that is much more likely to come in handy- this is on the house, free of charge. Clean the goo out of the bottom of the freezer regularly and keep it organized "just in case" you have ever to dismantle the dissolving igloo in front of your mother-in-law. Thanks, mom, where were you on that little piece of wit and wisdom!!

So here we go, pulling out the remains of every diet I've tried over the past 3 years, the frozen berries, nuts, and fruit that were going to make wonderful breads and desserts (yeah right!), vodka from party in 2002, ice packs, the ice cream machine middle, coffee, flour, sugar, you name it. We fill her cooler and my trash can leaving only chocolate unfrozen yogurt running down the inside of the door and pile of corn meal and broccoli flowrets floating in melted ice in the bottom of the freezer. Wilson heads in just in time to smear his hands through the chocolate yogurt.

The rest of this evening is spent cleaning the freezer, plugging in our outdoor mini-fridge and deciding which of our most prized refrigerated items should get a spot, trying to get Wilson to eat the supper that he loved last night but now not so much, putting him to bed and pondering how ironic that I had actually just vacuumed and steamed my kitchen floors the day before- WHAT A WASTE!!!

At 3:30 this morning Wilson wakes up and decides he is NOT going back to sleep. I change him, I give him a snack, I rock, I make a palette on the floor, I leave him to cry, but nothing is working. Finally I just decide to heck (but I wasn't thinking heck) with it, and I shut his door and let him play while I attempt to sleep in the middle of the floor. Apparently, he had a blast. I woke up when he threw a wooden stacker ring at my head and found that I was in a sea of legos, cars, stacker pieces of all shapes and sizes, farm animals, musical instruments and books. I fed him breakfast at 6 and then cleaned up his room while he watched tv.

Okay, if you came for good news, you may start reading again, Wilson and I played a little longer and then I peacefully put him back to sleep. Phil took a piece of the back of the fridge of last night a vacuumed out something (I had actually just recently cleaned out the vent across the front, but knew nothing of taking the back off the fridge. Really, mom, help a girl out-write these things down!) and that seems to have done the trick. As I was typing I just heard the first piece of ice fall into the bin- things are FREEZING!! Wilson is now asleep, Phil has gone to work, I think the dogs are under the bed, and I am going to take a nap. I'll post now and check grammar and spelling later!!

Happy Easter

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died;

My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

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Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God;

All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

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See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

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Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my all.

PS

Have you ever seen a more handsome boy? Of course, I am a little partial!

Only in the South

In Mississippi if your social status does not qualify you for an invitation to join the country club, you put in a pool. If you don't have the money for that, you purchase and above ground pool (I love how the TV ads always end with "Land owners only, please". As if to say, "we don't care how long the double wide has been in your family, if the deed to land surrounding it doesn't have YOUR name on it, we ain't brining you a pool or the free deck"). And if you're just "dirt- flo'- po'", as we are, you just pull out the sprinkler and watch your kids turn the yard to mud. (You might be wondering why I skipped over the plastic wading pool- any seasoned Mississippian knows that one good tornado and that pool will be blown back to the Wal-Mart from whence it came.)

Wilson had his first experience playing in the sprinkler this weekend. He and Tate had a blast. Tate views the water coming from the sprinkler much like the bubbles coming from the lawn mower- it must be eliminated. I wish I could attach the video of it- Wilson was just rolling at Tate, the cutest laugh you've ever heard. He finally got the hang of what was going on and started waving his hands through the streams of water. He had a great time. Unfortunately, Tate's 17 pound body can only hold so much water so he had to spend the rest of the evening outside, shall we say, "draining".



A few more updates-
Wilson has become even more enamored with his Daddy than he already was. One day I was checking my email and had the back door open. I heard this metal on concrete scrapping sound and went out to find Wilson holding both parts of the pooper scooper in his hands exactly as you're supposed to hold them. He looked up at me and said "Daddy". I don't know if he was telling me he was being like Daddy or if he was letting me know that the pooper scooper is Daddy's toy, but it was too cute. He also goes through the closet pulling the sleeve of each of Phil's shirts saying daddy, daddy, daddy. All day long it's daddy, daddy, daddy. He looks for him everywhere, if he sees a grey car he thinks it's daddy's, if he hears me open the door to the garage he says "daddy?" thinking he's home from work. And then when Daddy does finally walk in the door- oh boy! You have never seen a happier child.

Hopefully Wilson will be going down for a nap soon and then it's off to Petsmart. We have a new turtle. He's about as big around as a golf ball and we rescued him from Wilson's great-granddaddy Pop's dogs. Right now we're calling him Giggle because that's what comes out when Wilson tries to say turtle. Then I guess we'll spend the rest of the afternoon in the sprinkler. After all, where else but in the South is warm enough for water play before Easter Sunday. Don't tell anyone, but we've also been wearing open toed shoes!

Happy 90th, Nan!

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating yet another great- grandparent's birthday. This weekend was my dad's mother's 90th birthday. It was great to see so much family and friends together. Her brother and sister were both able to come as well as all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. To the left is a picture of Wilson with Nan. I'm also including a photo of me with her mother when we were both about their ages. Seeing Nan with Wilson has really brought back some fun memories I have of her mother whom we all called Buba (correctly spelled Bubber for some reason- it must be a "Delta" thing!) She crocheted booties for all my baby dolls, including my Cabbage Patch Kids that had those wierd ball shaped feet for which there was no pattern. She sat in the kitchen and instructed us on how to decorate gingermen and women at Christmas. Raisins for eyes and red hots for buttons were not enough for her- she wanted us to ice lace collers around the girl's necks! She had a house that I thought was the biggest house ever and I couldn't wait to go there when we got to my grandmother's house in Greenwood. She was later moved to a nursing home and then I could wait to go get her from there and bring her to Nan's house. I tried my best to teach her all the names of my Care Bears. I was so lucky to have three of these very special great-grands in my life- Wilson is doubly blessed to have SEVEN!! What fun memories he has ahead of him.

Well, I guess that was long enough stroll down memory lane. I have to go take the trash out. Jack got stuck under the sofa this morning chasing a ball. When I got down there to help him out, I spotted a sippy cup under the sofa. I prayed the whole time I was moving the sofa "Please be water, please be water." I have no idea what it WAS- but now it's black. I'm just throwing the whole cup away and on the off chance that it now has spawning capabilities, I want it out of my house!!

A Love/"Tate" Relationship

Pardon the pun, but that is what the last few days have been all about. Tate (one of our Wire Fox Terriers) and Wilson, laughing and barking, screaming and snapping, chasing and playing. As soon as Tate got over his initial uncertainty of Wilson when we came home from the hospital- he took right to him (see the photo below). As soon as Wilson got to be mobile he thought he was even more fun (this was the point when Jack the other WFT decided that he really wanted no part of Wilson and has been hiding under our bed sense!).



Last night I got Wilson into the bath and went in his room to put up his dirty laundry and get his room ready for bedtime. It got sort of quiet in the bathroom, so I went to check on him. There was Wilson splashing around with his good buddy Tate. Tate looked up at me with water pouring down his beard as if to say, "Isn't this guy great. He takes a bath and let's me drink the water!! What a pal." Phil mentioned one night that Wilson was laying on his stomach in the tub drinking the water- I think we've closed the case on where he learned that!

Wilson's latest acquisition is a Fisher Price Bubble Lawn Mower. He thinks its great although he does prefer to call it a car. The first few times he used it he would stop as soon as the bubbles would come out completely baffled as to where they came from. Bubbles are about the only thing that all three of my little boys (Jack, Tate, &Wilson) can agree on. The dogs LOVE bubbles. They go nuts- back legs several feet of the ground in an attempt to catch every last bubble blown. The mower is just too much fun for them. It makes load noises that are fun to bark at and then, at random, produces bubbles to terminate. Jack has a great time chasing them, but Tate takes it a little too serious at times. He decided to got straight to the source and runs along side Wilson with his snout in the bubble blower licking the soap thereby preventing bubble formation. Then just to really let the mower know who's boss- he grabs onto the front tire and gives it a good shake. Wilson is infuriated- "Ta-Ta!" he screams (mimicking me, I call him Tate-Tate). Tate backs off for a brief moment, beard full of soap suds. We eventually have to put Tate in, but he continues to lay down the law from the back door window. And, yes, we mow the yard in our pajamas!!

Return of the Prodigal Meon

I had this little hiding place
for my lion's silly face

My mom had looked all over town
but he was no where to be found

She searched for a new one to take his place
in 5:00 traffic it was a race!

The new one came home, but was not the same
I missed my old one's ratty mane

It was a long night, with not a lot of sleep
mom didn't know, Meon was feet away not making a peep!!

We got ready for our morning stroll
and there was Meon in one of my stroller's wrinkly rolls!

Needless to say, it's been an emotional roller coaster around here the last couple of days (evident alone by the fact that I'm blogging in rhyme!) We lost Meon (his lion blanky) early yesterday morning while on a walk in our neighborhood. Wilson sat in his bed and cried for an hour before finally falling asleep for his nap. When he got up we went to a local store to check on their supply of "lions". They had every other animal the company makes but the lion. I handed him a horse, he put it up to his face, shook his head, and handed it back. I handed him the frog and said, "look how cute this one is." He put it up to his face, shook his head, and handed it back. He wouldn't even look at the dog. So we get in the car at about 10 till 5 and I 411 a store downtown that has them. They had a lion in stock. We go careening down the interstate to get there before they close at 5:30. We get there in one piece and on top of a basket in the back of the store with sort of a halo glow about it- there was Lion. I handed it to Wilson and he put it up against his face . . . and kept it there. Yes! An acceptable replacement. We pay for it and get back in the car. He quickly became aware that this was not Meon. He was calling it Lion and making roaring noises. He was identifying all the body parts that it has that he recognizes (eyes, nose, ears). All things he has never done with Meon. We pulled into the garage at the same time as Daddy and Wilson immediately started yelling to him Lion! Lion! Lion! and showed him his new friend. We all rejoiced at our family's newest member, but Daddy still prayed for Meon during our blessing over supper. It was hard for Wilson to get to sleep. I think every time he would wake a little and search for Meon, he would get the newer, much softer Lion and didn't realize what he had. I stayed awake picturing poor Meon stranded on the dirt road behind our neighborhood, being pummled by the dump trucks that go up and down it, before being drug off by some wild cat. Fast forward to this morning . . .

Wilson and I get ready for our walk. I pull out the stroller- the same stroller that I searched yesterday as this was Meon's last known whereabouts. I unfold it and put Wilson in. And there HE is. Meon had been tucked behind the seat in the folds of the stroller hood! Well, you have never seen a happier little boy. "Meon!" and of course, his new friend Lion. Lion, who already has Captain Crunch stuck in his fur and can't be returned!

"Meon" (AKA- Lion)

He's been with me since I was my smallest
& stayed around till I was my Tallest

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. . .

He comforted me when I got my shots
& hung with me in all my play spots

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. . .


He comes up with the funnest games
& snuggles up with no shame

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. . .

He helped me shop for my party hats
& lays down when I take my naps

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. . .

He's soft & sweet- it is no lie
Even my granddads have given him a try

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But now he's lost & we're so SAD
I can't take my nap without this lad

Mamma's putting up signs with letters in neon
"Lost, please help, we miss our Meon!"