The surprises of Motherhood

I wrote this about two weeks ago and never got a chance to upload it - so here is some "old news."

We had more drama yesterday. Another trip to the ER. I took the boys to HEB and we were shopping, using one of the longer carts that lets a toddler sit in the back (the part closest to the driver) and the I put the baby on the railing part in front (where you normally place your purse). As I turned a corner, the baby fell off. Luckily he was strapped into his bucket seat, so I don't believe his head hit the floor. People around us were very helpful and another mom said that she thought Harrison was just scared as he stopped crying so quickly. I took him to the doctor and to the ER for a head CT just to be sure. All checked out just fine. He has a small scratch on his head, no bruise, no swelling, no "goose egg," so I really think he hit a box of Matzo ball soup on the way down. We happened to be in the Kosher section and I later found a box of Matzo ball soup in my cart that I never put in there.

I think this story has a few morals. 1. Don't take two boys to HEB. 2. Make sure the bucket "clicks" into the HEB cart. 3. Keep the seat belt on the baby. 4. Have husband do the shopping. 5. Order out!

Jackson continues to keep me quite busy. The little guy really never stops talking. I mean never. He is constantly busy. Like today when I tried to get him dressed he said he wanted to wait. Then he met me later, in my bathroom with his clothes. As we began the process he ran out to get a stool because he wanted to stand on that while I put his pants on him. Then when it was time for his shirt, he ran out again and this time came in, dragging his Elmo chair to sit on (of course, hitting the bassinet and waking the baby on his way in). Whew! If that wasn't enough, when we tried to make Mac n Cheese together, I left for one minute (to get the other child) and came back in to find him eating all of the cheese from the packet. So, once I made the lunch, he took one bite and said he didn't want to eat it because it didn't have enough cheese! Oh really Einstein, that's because you already ate most of it! And we really had no other food in the house because after the incident at HEB I just left my cart in one of the isles, with all of our food in it, so that I could go to the car and cry.

When you are younger and you think of motherhood you never imagine these moments. (I tended to think of motherhood as a Baby Gap advertisement or a Johnson & Johnson commercial.)You don't know about the trips to the ER, the exhausting clothing changes, how much you miss silence, the painful nursing in a Starbucks parking lot, or poop "blow-outs" that can cover almost an entire infant. But motherhood is these moments and so much more.

Birthdays

Today we celebrated two birthdays. My grandmother turned 89 today, and Shaun's dad, Max turned 71. We went to grandma's favorite restaurant - Red Lobster. We all had a great time, Harrison was good and Jackson did super (he did need to take everyone to see the lobsters in the tank). Check out the picture of Harrison all dressed up to go to Red Lobster.

I was also able to have some Dawn time and scrapbook. I only got a few pages done but it was still fun to spend time with Stephanie and start on Harrison's book. Here is a picture of our kids together. Her daughter, Bennett is about 8 weeks older than Jackson. They are wearing their matching "Future Prom King and Queen shirts."

Oh, and I got some mother guilt today. I was reading on line and it said that a mother should not watch TV and breastfeed because it is prime bonding time with her baby. So, I have broken through the barrier and committed to breastfeeding and now I am doing it wrong. I mean if I can't watch TV and breastfeed then how can I keep up with Entourage, Big Love or my new favorite show of "Jon and Kate plus 8" - watch it, you'll like it too. I am more enthralled with the relationship between the parents than the kids. It is on TLC.

Tonight Jackson was in the best mood. He did everything we asked on the first time. That's great for our 3 year old. Remind me of this tomorrow when we having one of our daily "meltdowns." Here is a picture of Jackson riding the train at the zoo this week - it is one of his favorite things to do.

Dallas, Twins, and Cupcakes

Harrison had his first plane trip on Sunday. He was great. Jenny and I met about 7:30 am and Harrison never really "lost it" until the ride home from the airport at 9:30 pm that night. What a traveler. I think Vanessa and Dominick might have been spoiled by our great little guy. Vanessa is expecting twins (boys) and looks wonderful. Lately her hospital stay has been uneventful and for that we are grateful. We got these marvelous cupcakes from a store called "Sprinkles" - I am still thinking about them.

Ouch! and Smiles

Smiles - Harrison is now 8 weeks old. What a cutie. I got him to laugh yesterday and he is really starting to smile - especially at his brother and dad. Everywhere we go they say that Harrison looks like his dad...it always makes Shaun smile. Nights are still tough. Shaun gave him formula last night so that I could get some sleep but it didn't really help - he was up in 2 1/2 hours - right after that bottle. Don't you just love this picture of our little cutie?

Ouch! - We had some drama on Saturday night. After a great dinner out (Paesano's again) Jackson poured a boiling cup of hot tea on himself. It was quite the nightmare. I gave Max and Maimie quick Harrison directions and we rushed Jackson to the ER. We were seen right away and they gave him morphine. We were out of there in less than two hours. It was a a great ER experience. Jackson has been a real trooper but doesn't want us to bandage or put medicine on the burn. We keep trying to tell him that we are wrapping him like a mummy but every time we tried he would cry (and scream). Later he finally said, "I dont want to be wrapped like a mummy, I want to be like a daddy!" How cute is that? Jackson has been a little moody because of the pain. We go back to the doctor tomorrow to have him look at it to see how it is healing. We will also do Harrison's two month check then too!

Sunday will be exciting in our house. Harrison and I will be flying to Dallas to see Vanessa. We are making his first plane trip. That same day, Shaun and Jackson are going to see Diego Live (Kristen, thanks for the free tickets). I'll let you know how things go.