Tick Tock Tick

Why is it that doctor office visits seem to suck the life out of you for the rest of the day?

Today the baby had his first year well check up. The appointment was at 10. We waited and waited but fortunately I was kept very busy. Cayden threw up his entire morning milk all over the waiting room floor and had received a nice fresh cut that was swelling on his cheek from tripping into the bookshelf. Fortunately when he walked into the fire extinguisher case he just bounced off. Every time Cayden would hurt himself or spit up Dylan drew attention to it by loudly saying, "Oh, my Godshhh!" That, I guess, was his compromise to saying "gosh" instead of "God".

The thing that gets me is, how do moms stare at you like you are the only person who deals with these things? Give me a break! When I see a mom who is having a moment with her kids I make sure not to give the, "Oh my, sucks to be you and by the way, my kids were never like that" look. Instead I give the, “Yeah, it sucks to be you, but it’s okay because they all have their moments, my kids are just pretending that they are always this perfect, you see I’m lucking out right now and having a great day, I'm staring because your children make mine look like little angels, so I want to thank you and let you know that it may be your bad day today, but we all have them” look.

When the nurse came to take us to our own room I didn’t have time to celebrate that we could be a mess in private. Instead, I was trying to comfort the baby who was still upset from the cheek incident, finish up his first year milestone paper work, and scoop up the entire contents of the diaper bag that had been secretly taken out at some point. So, hoping to help end the public humility, I ask Dylan to please help Mommy pick up the books that the baby spread all over the floor. He was sitting in a chair, lifted his head but not his eyes from his game boy and responded with, "Nahhhh, you can do it this time." Yeah that didn't fly; there went the game boy.

Which of course was really punishing me because then I had an hour and 20 minutes left of our adventure to convince an exhausted baby who missed his nap and a bored 4 year old that being confined in a small room wasn't the end of the world. I'm like, "Hey guys lets look at this diagram of your inner ear again!" The latex gloves do make nice balloons I might add. There were several attempts of Cayden trying to throw himself backwards out of my arms while I was standing and Dylan chanting the Star Wars theme while I was trying to talk to the doctor. I asked all of my questions and we survived and I don't have to go to another doctor’s office visit again till Monday:)

First Year Pictures

Today I took Cayden to have his 1 year pictures done. I remember my brother, Brian (sibling #3), noticing that there seem to be less pictures of him than Michael and me. My sister, Becca, (also #3 in the ranking) has told me several times that I should do for the third child as I did for the first two...

Well, I of course, thought I'd be different and break the "third child cycle". To be quite honest - I've failed. This was his second studio photo session - his first was his hospital picture!

We did have a photographer come to the house, resulting in the awesome pictures in my first post below. But again,that only semi-counts cause it was a family picture day. To the right are some of the pictures from today. Cayden was a little ham and made it easy for the photographer.

Cayden is ONE YEAR OLD!

My baby is one!















We celebrated his birthday last night with a few presents, wheat free cake, lots of kisses and Aunt Becca! Tyler and Dylan selected gifts for Cayden from their rooms. Tyler passed down his brother bear that sings and Dylan gave him his glow worm. Dylan did take it back for a few hours and then on his own slipped it in the baby's crib while he was sleeping. This weekend we will share his birthday with family.

Our Family

It's pretty incredible that not too long ago my biggest worry and concern in life was me, myself and I. How life changes! In May, Todd and I will have our 10th year anniversary and also celebrate 6 years of parenthood so far!

WOW.

Really, life is incredible. Some days are amazing. Some days are less than amazing. At the end of the day I often take a deep breath and thank God for my husband and three gifts. Each day is different. We are growing, laughing, crying, learning, and playing. As a parent I realize how unique each child is what it is about them that makes them so very special.

Like most families there are different strengths and weaknesses; similarities and differences. Here are a few that make us unique:

Cayden has my smile. Dylan has his daddy's olive skin. Tyler has my hair color and looks like me as a child, but looks so much like his daddy now as an adult. Dylan has deep thoughts like both Todd and I and is sensitive like his mommy. Tyler thinks logically like his daddy. Dylan is a cuddle bug and loves affection like his mommy. Tyler has the determination of his daddy. Dylan has a sweet tooth like his mommy. Tyler sticks to the rules. Dylan spontaneously says the funniest things. Cayden has the best qualities of both his brothers. He has the lightest hair and the darkest eyes of the three. Cayden is adventurous and independent like the mailman;) I could go on and on!

From my family to yours, I hope you enjoy our blog!