Tag Archives: the kids

To my 2nd born…

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Happy Birthday Rader!

Dear Rader,
It’s hard to believe that 11 years ago yesterday, I went to work having contractions and I had them all day. But I ignored them because frankly, you weren’t due for 3.5 more weeks. And I had been at a superbowl party the night before, so I figured it was just left over excitement from the game. Everyone had teased me that I was going to go into labor, but I laughed in their general direction.

So when I started having contractions, I wrote it off. They weren’t bad. And I had those stupid Braxton-Hicks things all the time, so why rush to the hospital unnecessarily?

By 10:00 that night, I was changing my tune. I told your daddy it was time to go. Those stupid “left over excitements” from the game were now coming in at three minutes apart. Now I was not going to have you at home, without medication. I’m sorry to say, your momma believes whole-heartily in better living through chemicals. Or in this case, better delivery through chemicals. So off to the hospital we went.
Yup, the contractions were real and they were coming in steadily–until 4 a.m. when they stopped. Um, not okay. I was hooked up, IV’d and ready to go, but apparently you had changed your mind. Doc gave me the option to get some drugs and force you out or go home and come back later. Yeah, I wasn’t going anywhere…sorry kid, it was time.

You were born ten hours or so later. It was a good delivery. (I’m pretty sure I didn’t think that at the time) Even though you were 3.5 weeks early, you weighed 8lbs 6oz. You looked like a three month old compared to your brother who was 3.5 weeks early and weighed 5lbs and some change.
You came out hungry and I don’t think you’ve stopped eating since. You have always loved food. Love trying new things and love cooking. Maybe you’ll be a chef one day on the Food Network.

My favorite thing about you is your sense of humor. Not only do you laugh a lot, you crack yourself up. (and since I do that to myself daily, I have to believe you inherited that from me.) You love jokes, you have such a keen mind and are so witty that sometimes it’s hard for me to believe you’re just now 11 years old. Sometimes you seem much older. Here are just a few examples of my favorite Rader stories from the past:

  1. Sex Education
  2. My Duck
  3. Inappropriate conversations
  4. and my favorite, Licking Nipples

But every night when you hug me before bed, I get a glimpse of the sweet boy who used to curl up in my arms with his favorite book, asking me to read it over and over and over. I am the luckiest Mom in the world to have you. Happy Birthday, Monkey.

Love,
Momma

Love Sucks!

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Not really…but writing it sometimes does. UGH.

Goal today is 2 chapters. Keep your fingers crossed I make it. I’m making headway, but for some reason it feels slow.

Rader is home with a fever. He missed his first basketball game last night. 😦 He feels great when the Advil is working, but boy does he crash when the Advil wears off. So I kept him home today.

Nemo has 3 big school projects due within a week of each other. I really hate when that happens. It’s frustrating, especially since my child is the spawn of a procrastinator. I really hope they can prove that procrastination is an inherited trait. Nature vs. Nurture…what do you think? Is procrastination a product of genetics or mimicry?

In the world of good news, I got a sneak peek at a rough cover concept for BITE ME! and I’m totally stoked with the direction the HarperCollins design team is going in. I ♥ it. I can’t wait until it’s ready so I can post it everywhere and brag. LOL

Today I have to fit the gym into my schedule. It’s just too damn cold for me to do the outside running thing. I’m a wuss.

What’s on your agenda today?

the apple (of my eye) does not fall far from the tree

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When Nemo was born, he was my spittin’ image. (or is that spitten?) Seriously, you could barely tell our baby faces apart. He has my eyes, which are pretty distinct in shape…not big, but slanty and very blue. (His are actually gray now, go figure)

As a toddler, the resemblance remained. We’d get the occasional, “He looks just like Fishdog” but we ignored those people because Nemo looked exactly like me…and we had the pictures to prove it. Hell, we had the same teeth. It was freaky.

Fast forward to now. I’ve noticed him changing here and there. The deeper voice, the hairy pits, the lanky walk. Typical teenage stuff. But lately, I’ve noticed something even more disturbing. His looks are morphing. He’s shifting from my image to his dad’s. It’s bizarre.

And it was never more obvious than this morning, when he put on a bowtie for school (yes, they wear ties…and he thought it would be funny to wear a bowtie…No he’s not Fishdog’s child at all). I took his picture because he was too damn cute for words. When I downloaded it, I realized, that was the young face of my husband staring back at me.

speed trapped!

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My friend Dana sent me a link to this article and told me it was my next blog topic. I guess I agreed with her, because here we are…

DETROIT – So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will give you the power to do something about it.

The company will roll out a new feature on many 2010 models that can limit teen drivers to 80 mph, using a computer chip in the key.

Parents also have the option of programming the teen’s key to limit the audio system’s volume, and to sound continuous alerts if the driver doesn’t wear a seat belt.

I think this is brilliant. However, there is one tiny little flaw in this plan: What middle class person wants to buy their 16 year old kid a brand new car? And what upper class person is going to buy their kid a brand new FORD? LOL

Okay, wait a second, there’s another flaw…they’re limiting the speed to 80 mph because they felt that “lopping it off at exactly 70 mph was felt to be too limiting.” Yeah. We’d hate to limit those pesky teens to the speed limit, wouldn’t we?

Overall, I think it’s a good option to have. I had planned to give my kid my old ass Honda Civic when he turns 16. It will be 14 years old by then. It probably won’t be able to go past 70 by age default. Plus he’ll have to learn how to drive a 5 speed which I think all kids should learn.

What do you guys think? Is this the wave of the future? Is it a good idea or are we just making our kids be responsible without teaching them responsibilities?

8/15/05–another big day

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My sweet little Tree Frog is a high school Freshman as of today.

Really.

When I woke up this morning, I was flooded with memories.

The day he was born, when I had to have an emergency C-section because my blood pressure was stroke level. I was awake but high as a kite. I thought I was talking non-stop, but apparently the conversations were all in my head. However, when they pulled him out and showed him to me, I did manage to say, “He looks like a grape.”

His first Christmas that I missed because I had to work. He was 9 months old and trying to walk. He was still bald but he had a mouthful of teeth. I treasured the pictures from that year for a long time. He didn’t know I wasn’t there, but I knew it and it broke my heart.

His first REAL Halloween costume. He went to Daycare as a Fisherman. He wore overalls and a matching plaid shirt and hat that I got from BabyGap. We tied a fish potholder to a string and a stick and he drug that around with him for a week.

I remembered his first real projectile vomit. He wasn’t quite 2 years old. I was taking him to daycare. We were at a stop light, I turned around to admire him (as I always did) he smiled and flooded the car with his breakfast. It was horrifying and funny all at the same time.

The cowboy boots he wore EVERYWHERE with EVERYTHING.

How much he loved playing in the ‘sock basket’ and playing inside boxes or baskets in general.

After his brother was born, he named my breasts ‘Milk and Lunch’.

Of course, there are other memories, but for some reason, the baby years are the ones I’m holding on to the most today. Maybe because now he’s only 1/2 inch shorter than me when we’re barefooted. Maybe because his voice is deep and scratchy now. Or it could be the fact that he has to shave sometimes. I dunno. He’s growing up and I want to remember the 5 lb. 6 oz Tree Frog who was born almost 4 weeks early and looked like a grape. I wish I could hold his tiny little naked bottom in the palm of my hand again. I want to feel his long , flexible fingers wrap around mine and see his tiny, dark blue eyes stare at me with love and adoration.

Cuz I promise, when they stare at me now, there is nothing even close to adoration in there. Love, yes–irritation, yes–adoration? Hah.

[insert clever title]

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Not feeling the title love this morning. Feel free to title this particular post whatever you wish. You can even leave your suggestion in the comments. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even listen.

Yesterday was a very long day for my #2 son, Rader. Camp in the morning, in 90 degree heat, 90% humidity and not a cloud in the sky. But he’s loving camp this year. He came home and rested, then had two 3v3 games last night. I thought he would do that instead of going to camp…but no, he wanted to do both. So he played his two 30 minute games, then asked to go back out to camp. What a trooper!

Fishdog says he looked like warmed over death this morning. I’m sure all this activity is wearing on him, but it’s good for him.

One of the coaches calls him “Oakland” now. That cracks me up because one of the questions we often got after Rader was born was “So, you must really be an Oakland fan?” Um. No. Spelled different, but thanks for asking.

The other question we often got: “You must’ve really liked M*A*S*H.”

SRSLY?

No. His name is not Radar. Besides, if I were gonna name a kid after a M*A*S*H character, it would’ve been Hawkeye. Sheesh.

I’ve been lax with my picture taking this round. I will recitfy that tonight. We took some pics at the cookout on Monday, and I’ll be sure to take some at tonight’s gathering. There’s a scrimmage between the Brits and the Americans on Friday…I’ll definitely get pictures that night!

I know y’all are getting tired of me keeping the lads to myself…which is no hardship let me tell ya.

can’t believe I didn’t post this…

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Rader had to dress up like a famous humanitarian and give a presentation during the last week of school. He chose Bono. I can see the likeness, can’t you?

btw, though he did not include the below in his presentation, I believe it would’ve totally added a punch of reality that he was missing.

superstar!

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Ian has been running track this year. First year to give it a go, and he seems smitten with it.

His last track meet was last week. He did the long jump, shot, and the 100 meter dash. He was supposed to run in the 200 meter, but he hurt his leg in the long jump, so he scratched.

Here are some piccies:


listmania

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  1. Finish revising proposal, send to DK.
  2. Start plotting new book idea.
  3. Clean off disgusting desk
  4. Hang anniversary present over desk.
  5. Vacuum and dust.

Wanna take bets on which of these things will be on tomorrow’s list?

In good news, Ian’s mid-term grades were fantastic. He has an A in algebra. At mid-term in February, he had an F. Call me dumbfounded. I am so proud. I think that Sylvan thing has really worked out in our favor.

Hey, if any of you out there are good with sending out positive thoughts, could you send them to Oxford and the house-selling faeries? I know the market is shite right now, but surely our house will sell soon? I don’t wanna have to go to work at Wal-Mart!

Rhonda is talking about bad dates over at Fictionistas. I’m sure you’ve NEVER had a bad date. Ever. Pop over and read about ours…
Fictionistas