Letting go...Harder than I thought...

This morning I was putting away baby clothes that Lucy has outgrown and I needed to go into the attic to get the next tub and an empty one. Last time I was up there I had seen two tubs on the back side of the attic but I would have had to climb over the A/C and wasn't willing to try it. Today I figured...what the heck? I got them down and put them onto my bed to see what was inside ( I knew it had to be clothes but I had forgotten to label the bins...silly me).

As I opened the first bin I was immediately taken back 5 1/2 years ago to when my sweet boy was a baby. Yeah, they were Max's clothes. I had given a lot of his clothes to our friend Amanda for her son and didn't realize I had missed any (I guess he had more clothes than I thought ) and although I was a little sad at giving them away it wasn't nearly as bad as what I experienced today.

The clothes in the bins were the newborn to 6 months items. His tiny baby clothes...with a few bigger pieces thrown in such as the outfit he wore on his first birthday! Can I tell you that tears immediately sprung to my eyes (as they are doing right now...quite uncontrollably) and I wept as I looked at these clothes and I could remember dressing him in these little "boy" outfits and in my mind I could picture how cute he was in them. I know what you're thinking, "Come on Staci...get a grip!" right?

I don't know why it hit me like it did but I couldn't help it. I was getting ready to take some of the girls' clothes to the consignment store and I should have just taken the two boxes of Max's clothes but I just couldn't do it. Maybe I'm not ready to let go of my "baby boy" yet, I don't know. It hasn't been this hard to say goodbye to the girls' clothes. Is it because Max is my only boy? Is it because he is my first born? Is it because I am just a little loony? (my sister Shea thought this when I called her to tell her about it :) Maybe it is because I feel like he is growing up too fast and that soon the memories of him as a baby will be harder to recall. I already find myself forgetting which one (Max or Abby) did "this funny thing" or "said that word a funny way".

The clothes are still in the bins...still sitting on my bed (Okay so I put them back in the attic so John and I could sleep). Something inside of me just can't let them go yet. It's not silly to hold onto them for a little while longer is it? For comfort? Max has his blankie, Abby and Lucy have their "Bobbies" (post on those guys coming soon), I can have the knowledge of two bins of my first born/only son's baby clothes up in the attic...right? Yes, I am an extremely sentimental person...as well as a very emotional one (I can see my parents and sisters nodding their heads...John too if he actually read the blog). There are many that would say "get over it Staci"...to them I would say, I will, in my own time...SO THERE!

From this...

To this...

Too quickly...

And Here We Go Again...

We are heading off to the doctor again this afternoon. Can you guess who is sick again????? Yep, Abby. She started coughing again this past weekend and has been running a low fever the past two days. Her (hacking) cough sounds horrible at night and I started thinking maybe it could be bronchitis. I want to get her checked out in case that is it. I will keep her home tomorrow but I REALLY don't want her to miss school on Friday because not only is she the class helper but it is also Princess/Prince day! She gets to wear a princess dress to school because they are studying the letter P this week. She is so excited about it and I would hate for her to be too sick to go, especially since she already had to miss her school Christmas Pageant due to the flu!

I'll update later after we get home to report what the doctor tells us...please pray for our pitiful little girl. Doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to play, actually asks to go to bed...That's how we know she's sick :(

Not Me Monday continues...

It's that time again people! MONDAY!!!!! This week MckMama is cruising the Carribean with her husband and MckMuffin but she arranged for the Not Me! Monday to carry on anyway :) So after you are done reading the things I DID NOT do this week, click on the Not Me! button above and head over to MckMama's to find more great Not Me's! from other folks just like you.

~ I did not just spend an hour on FaceBook typing 25 random facts about me since I was tagged. I wouldn't waste time on the computer when I have a filthy car that needs to be vaccuumed and laundry that needs to be washed, dried, folded, and put away...speaking of which...

~ I did not leave about 3 loads of laundry (which included about a thousand socks) sitting on the chair in my room for 3 days before I finally decided it was time to fold and put them away. I DO NOT leave things undone like that...NO WAY!

~ I was not a super proud mama this week when Max brought home his second quarter report card and I read this...(click on the image to make it bigger...hopefully you can read it :P )

and looked at this...

and giggled when I read this... (translation at the bottom)

"I went to my friend's house We went to the basement and in the basement was a movie theater".

~I did not start freaking out a little when Max told me Friday afternoon as we were getting home from school that his ear was hurting when he would yawn or chew. I also did not worry yesterday when he told me his ear has a "beeping" noise in it..."like when he has his hearing test done". I was NOT happy to remind myself both times that he has a checkup with the ENT today.

~ I did not let Max have ketchup noodles for dinner twice last week because he loves them!

~ I was not soooooo excited last Wednesday when Max and Abby were in school and I had a friend watch Lucy so I could go to my doctor appointment BY MYSELF!!!!!!!!! Once there I did not keep thinking how weird it was not to have any kids with me.

~ I did not have my cholesterol checked last week because I do not have a family history of high cholesterol. Since I didn't have it checked I would not have been doing a little happy dance when the nurse told me it was normal!!!!!

~ I did not watch the Inauguration last week because historical moments such as that one mean so little...(HA!)

~Once again, I have not spent more time sleeping in Abby's bed this week than my own. Since I was not in her bed last night she did not repeatedly kick me in the stomach!

~ I was not excited when I went my Weight Watchers meeting on Tuesday night...BY MYSELF...and saw that my old leader was back (she's not old in years but she's from when I first joined). Upon seeing her I did not forget my disappointment at only having lost .4

~ I did not leave a toy in the middle of the floor for two days because I wanted to see if anyone would pick it up. I did not leave it there because they kept walking past it and leaving it there when I know they saw it. I wouldn't do this because my family cleans up their messes or will pitch in even if it doesn't belong to them.

~ Finally, I do not feel guilty that I have not taken any pictures of my adorable kids this week.

Okay...head over to MckMama's now and read more great Not Me's!

New Look!

Well, I did it again. Time for a change. I promise to do a post soon...maybe tonight????? Max got his report card this past week and I want to scan it and put it on here...we are sooooo proud of him. I added another button to my sidebar...check it out! If you have little ones you might be interested in the baby photo contest. There are two categories...babies 0-2 and toddlers 2-4.

Gotta go finish up making lunch...BLT's!

Not Me Monday!

It's Not Me Monday time again! Time to get it all out and realize...hey...it's all good :) After you're done here...you know the drill...click on the button and go read more great Not Me's!

This week...

~I DID NOT go back to Weight Watchers and I DID NOT feel relieved that I had only gained 3 pounds since the last time (ummmm, October I think). I mean really, I have been following the program all along and would not have expected to gain weight, and therefore would not have been grateful that it was ONLY 3 pounds!

~ When John and I were planning to get take-out for an in home "date night" last Friday, I was NOT seriously contemplating getting this...

from Chili's (the Southern Smokehouse Bacon Big Mouth Burger). John and I had gotten this on New Year's Eve (another in home date night) and it was sooooooooo awesome!

~ Since I was NOT contemplating getting the burger, I certainly would NOT bother to look up how many Weight Watchers points it would cost me. If I had looked it up, I would NOT have found out that I had to quarter the fiber, calories, and fat grams to fit it onto my POINTS Scale. I would NOT have then had to multiply the number by 4. I absolutely, positively would NOT have then about choked when I realized that this delicious burger (that I had already had once before) was worth....40 POINTS!!!!! ... Yep, got a turkey sub from Publix instead :) Woo Hoo!

~ I did NOT spend about an hour playing the Wii and Wii Fit Saturday night. I do NOT now feel every single muscle in my body screaming out in agony! How was I supposed to know those muscles hadn't been stretched in a while?

~ Speaking of the Wii Fit...I did NOT name my "trainer" Jody and spend my workout talking to that good looking digitally enhanced computer image as if he was in the room with me...John did NOT seriously think I needed mental help! I am NOT now cursing Jody for such a brutal workout :)

~ I did NOT have to giggle at MckMama's blog this week when she posted the comment from the "southerner" who was upset about her pointing out that we southerners say "ya'll". WE DO!!!

Okay...so it was strange this week...we can't all have good weeks can we? What didn't you do this week?

Another break...

Fresh out of Christmas Vacation and we have a 5 day weekend! Last week was a 4 day week since they didn't go back until Tuesday. This week they had school Mon, Tues, and Wed and now are off Thurs, Fri, and Mon! Teacher workday/staff development day and MLK birthday. We aren't doing much this weekend. Just hanging out and trying to finish painting Max's room.

Do you, or have you ever suffered from "mommy guilt"? You know, feeling bad or worrying about what other people think if your kids are dirty, messy or just downright misbehaving?...yeah, I can see your heads nodding... MckMama, the host of Not Me Monday, has a wonderful post on her blog about doing away with "mommy guilt". If you have ever suffered from this, please go to her post and read it...it's eye opening!

Okay...another random thought here...after getting back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon and thinking about the Dunkin Donuts munchkins I decided to look them up. Five regular glazed munchkins equal 5 points. YIKES! They are good but NOT for 1 point a piece! Kind of like the $41 for 2 pizzas...not worth it and as Dana Carvey used to say on SNL as George Bush..."Not gonna do it!"

Wow...really random post...better go now before this gets out of control.

Gaining Momentum...

I decided to get back on the wagon...the Weight Watchers wagon that is. I had been seeing commercials about their new Momentum program and figured it was time (and a sign) to go back and finally get rid of the rest of the baby weight...plus some (it's worth a shot anyway). I went Monday morning after I dropped Abby off at school and weighed in and got the new materials. Being a Lifetime Member I did not have to re-register but they gave me the new stuff for the new year. I have been doing really well with tracking my points for the past three days so I am praying I can have the stick-to-it-tive-ness to keep it up!

Not Me Monday!

Okay, it's time to get it all out and stop feeling guilty about whatever I did (or did NOT) do this week that would make me a not so perfect mama...if I did those things that is...which I'm not saying I did...okay? It's Not Me! Monday over at MckMama's so go check it out when you're done here...I promise it will be worth it to read some other Not Me's! If you've been reading my blog for at least a week then you'll know to click on the Not Me button above to get you to MckMama's.

Alright...here we go...

~ I did NOT eat way too many homemade chocolate chip cookies this week!

~ I did NOT go to Chick-fil-a to buy my son's teacher lunch for her birthday then figure...what the heck?...and got an 8 piece nugget combo for Lucy and I to "share".

~ John and I did NOT pay $41 for 2 large pizzas when his parents were here. We always stick with the cheaper "chain" pizza places and don't go to local places on someone else's recommendation...I mean really...NO pizza is worth $41...I don't care how good it is!

~ I am NOT considering having my kids try out for America's Got Talent based on this video of them "car seat dancing" that I took in the car on the way to my parent's house :)

They were NOT getting their groove on to "You're the One That I Want" from the Grease soundtrack...sidenote...the song was on the radio station...I really was not playing the soundtrack in the car!

~ We did NOT stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way home from church yesterday and I did NOT buy a box of 25 glazed munchkins. My children did NOT polish off the entire box before we got halfway home! I would NEVER buy that kind of unhealthy food for my kids just because the church serves them after services and they are always gone before my kids are able to get any. I would also certainly NEVER allow them to eat ALL 25 donut holes at one sitting (well, John and I got 3 each so they didn't really eat ALL 25).

~ I did NOT have to bribe Abby with ice cream to get her to go out onto the field to play in her flag football game when she was on the verge of tears telling me she didn't want to play this game anymore. I wouldn't have to resort to that because the conversation I had with my 3 year old daughter about sticking with her commitment to something got right through to her. She looked at me and said, "You're right mom...what was I thinking?...my team needs me and I must follow through." Ha!

~ The other night, as I was snuggling with Abby in her bed, she did NOT lean in close with her arm around my neck. As I was waiting to hear an "I love you so much mommy", she did NOT proceed to whisper lovingly in my face..."Boom Boom Shake-a Shake-a, Boom Boom Squit!" I mean really...where would she come up with that?

~ She then did NOT proceed to ask me to sing her current favorite lullaby...and I did NOT give in and sing it. If I did sing it, you would NOT have heard me saying..."Wellll, listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed, the poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed..." because her favorite "lullaby" is NOT the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies! We only sing traditional lullabies and listen to classical music around here I tell ya!


Okay...done...now it is your turn...what didn't you do this week?

ENT Update

Max had his checkup with his ENT on Monday and I think it went pretty well. The infection in his left ear is gone but the fluid remains. The Dr. thinks the upper respiratory infection he had the week of Christmas may be causing it to hang around longer. Not to be Miss Negativity but the Dr. seems to have forgotten that the fluid was there long before the infection came about and I really don't think it is going to go away anytime soon...on it's own anyway. The tube in the right ear is also "out" now but that ear has NO FLUID! The Dr. wants to take a "wait and see" approach to see what the right ear is going to do. Unless that ear fills with fluid, or the left ear keeps getting infected, or his hearing gets much worse, I think we don't have to worry about another set of tubes...that was the impression I got from the visit. Max also has a "mild hearing loss" in his left ear but the Dr. remains confident that it is just from the fluid buildup.

Dr. wants to keep checking Max every 3-4 weeks to keep an eye on it so we go back on the 22nd of January. I'll keep ya posted.

Christmas 2008

Christmas morning started early in the Bailey house...at least it did for Max! He was up by about 6am but since both of the girls were still sleeping soundly I wanted to wait until 7 or until they woke up. Yeah, I know, torturing the poor boy...or should I say boys because John was getting antsy too :)

We got the girls up at 7 and I ran down to turn on the tree and get the camera ready.

Max and Abby (once she saw the presents and stopped pouting) were very excited. I tortured them all a little more by making them wait for me to make coffee before we opened the gifts... I know...I'm a MEAN mom :)

Coming down the stairs...you can see Abby further up...pouting because I wasn't carrying her. And yes, Max is wearing shorts and a tank top...it was a warm night!

The most surprising moment to me was when Abby was almost giddy with excitement at seeing a 3 pack of Disney Princess panties in her stocking! She was equally as thrilled with her new Water Baby...which she has since named "Dora". She keeps her swaddled in a baby blanket and carries her as if she is a real newborn...so cute. Abby got a lot of clothes which excited her just as much as the toys...that's my girl!

Give this girl Princess panties and she's a happy camper!

Max was thrilled to get a remote controlled boat...which ended up not being good for John's back...and a NASCAR racetrack with Dale Earnhart Jr. AND Jeff Gordon cars that race each other...guess who has won each "race" so far? Max...being a boy I guess...was not overly thrilled to receive clothes this year and made a cooment to the effect of ..."NOT MORE CLOTHES!" when he opened the second box...the kid wouldn't bother getting dressed for the day if we didn't make him do it.

Abby opening her pj's from Max and Lucy and Max showing off the NERF football he got from Abby and Lucy...hmmmmm...notice the CLEMSON orange and purple...Abby picked it out...I swear!

Lucy is still at the stage where she just looks at everything and doesn't quite understand. She was excited to get her drum full of instruments, a little piano, a Fisher Price piggy bank and her own Water Baby! She was VERY excited to eat about half of the Gerber snacks that were in her stocking :)

Lucy getting a drumming lesson from her big brother...ROCK ON GIRLFRIEND!

John even got some new shirts, a new David Baldacci book (lucky for me he was looking at that book in Target when we were shopping together...as soon as he left I grabbed it!), a Sudoku book, and his big gift was a new hat and towel from the local golf course and a gift certificate to play golf. The silly grin on his face when he realized what it was told me it was the right gift :)

Daddy in his new hat opening his big surprise!

I, of course, had gotten my new camera already and also got some new picture frames.

After the gifts were opened and the trash thrown away we had some breakfast, played...John threw his back out getting Max's new boat out of the pond...and I took the kids to my parents house while John let the muscle relaxers kick in.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

My sister Mallory was already at mom and dad's and Shea and (her) John and the kids got there about 5 and (my) John got there about 5:30. We had a huge...DELICIOUS...dinner. We got the kids changed into their Christmas pj's and all 7 of them piled onto the couch with New Year's hats and noise makers, with my parents, for my mom and dad's (belated) Christmas...now New Year...cards.
Then it was time to open the presents! The kids were thrilled and my mom was a very savvy shopper this year in that she got Abby and Molly the exact same gifts :) Max and Jack were also thrilled with theirs and the 3 babies were probably more overwhelmed with all the noise and paper flying everywhere but they enjoyed their new toys as well.

I was SO EXCITED that my parents gave us a Wii AND a Wii Fit...WooHoo! Max also got MarioKart which is his favorite game to play when we go to mom and dad's. My sister Mallory also gave us framed phots that she had taken of the kids...she did the same for Shea (of Shea's kids of course...not mine:)

We had a great time playing and laughing and opening up the toys which almost require a fully equipped tool box to open! I finally got all the gifts loaded in the car and then the kids (which took even longer to pry them away) and we headed home. John had gone on ahead since his back wasn't doing well.

Once we got home and the kids were in bed, I stayed up past midnight unloading the gifts from the car and then proceeded to open everything up and throw away the trash so I wouldn't have the kids climbing all over me the next day to open this and open that.

We had a wonderful day and were blessed to be able to spend it with family. Max and Abby really enjoyed time spent with their cousins (we went back to my mom and dad's on Friday, Sunday, and Monday evening to see them again before they went home).

Max and cousin Jack ready to open some presents...yes, they are wearing matching pj's. They are 5 weeks apart in age...Jack is older.

Here is a cute one of Abby...so excited :)

Abby and her cousin Molly are a little more than 4 1/2 months apart in age. Molly is older. Whenever they get together...silliness is bound to happen. Here they are at my mom and dad's just before we opened presents.

Not Me Monday!

Yes, it's been a while but between me having sick kids (and not participating) and MckMama having a very sick MckMuffin (who is doing much better and out of the hospital), Not Me Monday has been put on hold on the Bailey blog. But now we're back and in good health...mostly :)

In case you forgot, Not Me Monday...hosted by MckMama...is a place you can read how other seemingly "perfect" moms can fall off the wagon of perfection from time to time. It happens to the best of us and you can read their confessions over at MckMama's. Just click on the Not Me Monday button above to check it out...after you are done here of course. I promise...you'll find some doozies over there :) So without further ado...

~Over the past couple of weeks, I did not drink about a pot of coffee a day trying to get through the day with my kids at home during break.

~I did not have to make 3 trips to the pediatrician's office within a week...once for each child.

~I did not have to schlep (not sure on spelling) 3 somewhat sick kids out Christmas shopping on December 23rd just so I could get it done.

~I was not finishing my Christmas shopping on December 23rd because previous attempts at night...BY MYSELF...were not thwarted by sick kids waking up and my husband calling me home because said sick child wanted "MOMMY!"

~I did not spill an entire cappucino in my car on the way home from the gas station on Christmas Eve. I would certainly remember to put it in a cup holder instead of just leaving it standing on the console as I took the curvy road home!

~My car does not STILL smell like Hazelnut Cappucino...12 days later even though I shop-vacced it to death after getting home!

~My kids did not eat like maniacs at my parents house when we went over to visit because my sisters and nieces and nephew and brother in law were in town.

~I did not consume too much chocolate at my parents house!

~I did not make an idiot of myself playing Wii Rockband with my sisters and singing songs I barely knew or didn't know...loud and off key! We did not have a blast doing this either!

~ I was not ready to take down the Christmas tree 3 days after Christmas because I wanted to get my house back together and because I couldn't remember to water the tree anymore!

~ I have not spent more time sleeping in Abby's bed than my own lately because Abby does not keep waking up in the middle of the night asking me, "Mommy, will you lay down with me?". I do not try to get out of it by telling her that I have to go to the bathroom first and then not go back hoping she will go back to sleep waiting for me. I am not then summoned back within 30 minutes and have to get in the bed with her. I mean really, this wouldn't happen...all 3 of my kids sleep through the night without a peep...ahem.

~ I did not check MckMama's blog in the middle of the night when MckMuffin was sick and I couldn't sleep to see how MckMuffin was doing. I mean really, did I expect the poor woman to stay up all night updating her blog instead of getting some much needed sleep? What was I thinking?

~As I am sitting here typing this, Lucy did not just throw her sippy cup of milk onto the hardwood floor. The lid did not come undone and the FULL cup of milk did not just spill all over the floor!

Okay, enough. I'm sure there is a lot more I "didn't" do but I really can't recall it right now. Head on over to MckMama's and read some other Not Me's.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do the Christmas post and pictures later. I've got a cute little video of Abby and my niece Molly being silly in their matching pj's. Max has a checkup with his ENT today so I'll post about that later as well.

Finally...Our Christmas Eve!

Our unexpected trip to the pediatrician's office for Max on Christmas Eve morning kind of knocked me off schedule a little but I am so glad I didn't have any last minute shopping to do! This was the first year in I don't know how long that I didn't have to go out on Christmas Eve for something...YEAH!

Once we got home from the Dr. I switched into high gear! Lucy went down for a nap, Max and Abby wanted to lay on my bed and watch t.v., which was fine since Max was newly sick and Abby was still not back to 100% after the flu. Since my parents and sister Mallory were coming over for dinner I was cleaning like a madwoman. Not that my mom would nitpick or anything (seriously, she doesn't), but what is it about feeling the need to completely sanitize yourhouse when your mom is coming over? My mom is at fault for this quirk because she was the same way when I was younger...heck, she still does it! Don't get me wrong, I do clean my house even when I don't have company coming over but I usually try to do it in stages rather than all at once...driving myself completely crazy! Anway, I digress...

I planned to make a dinner in the crockpot to save myself some time since John was working until 5:30 and I knew having sick kids in the house...and a 1 year old...would not be conducive to preparing and cooking a meal later. I got the london broil and veggies in the crockpot right after lunch and continued my mission to clean. I stopped long enough to make an apple crisp for dessert as well...boy, if my house wasn't clean at least it was smelling GOOD!

Once everyone got here we got dinner on the table and ate. It was pretty good. I had a few too many veggies in the crockpot so we had to take them out and put them on a pot on the stove to finish them up...oh well, it was my first crockpot dinner.

Once dinner was over and dessert was eaten we started to clean up and realized that I was out of dish soap! UGH! We had used the good china and silverware for dinner and they have to be hand washed and I had nothing to wash them with...all the shopping...all the money spent...the lists of what I needed being carefully checked and rechecked...HOW COULD I FORGET DISH SOAP?

So the dishes were rinsed and neatly stacked...THANKS MOM! and my parents and sister went home. We got the kids in bed (after having to check the local tv station's website to track Santa ONE MORE TIME) and John and I proceeded to wrap presents! I usually do this by myself every year and stay up until at least 2 or 3 in the morning. This year John swore we wouldn't be wrapping on Christmas Eve but every night we planned to do some, a kid kept waking up sick and crying...so much for plans :)

John helped a lot and even had to make a run to the 24 hour gas station for batteries...OOPS again! We got to bed about midnight and hoped that the kids would sleep through until a decent hour.

We had a great Christmas Eve and my sister even brought some of her goodies that she made this year. She made yummy brownies with melted peppermints on top, white chocolate peppermint bark, sugar cookies, and the cookies with the hershey kiss in the middle...YUM! I swiped some before they left to put out for Santa since I wasn't able to get any baking done this year :( ...did I mention I had sick kids??????

Christmas post and pics to come soon...John's playing golf today and I want to try to get some more stuff done around here...

Happy New Year!

I pray that 2009 brings you much joy, laughter, peace, and good health.

Post and pictures of Christmas coming soon...

Still trying to get my house back together!

"Enough football Daddy! I'm changing the channel!"

Lucy decided she didn't like the sound of the EARLY fireworks outside her bedroom window so she joined John and I downstairs on New Year's Eve for a little while. None of us made it to midnight however!