So much for not spreading the germs

Took Stone to the doc this morning and guess what? He has the same bronchitis junk as me... shocker. Poor thing had a high temp in the middle of the night which I treated with tylenol and then it was high again this morning when he woke up. So I guess we'll be home bound for another weekend trying to get well.

Other bad news is that now my inlaws aren't feeling well after their short trip down this past week. They think it's a touch of the stomach flu... I really hope they didn't get sick from being here.. I really tried to sanitize everything, so I hope that didn't carry over from us. Kevin continues to feel pretty okay, I hope he stays that way.

Under the weather again

Sick again.. made another trip to the doc yesterday morning and he confirmed what I already knew, which is that I have bronchitis. It' frustrating being sick again, especially so soon after our bout with the stomach flu. It's hard to take care of Stone, when all I feel like doing is lying in bed. And, it's most frustrating because I had a lot of things I needed to get done at work this week, which is now not going to happen apparently. Can't do much when you're this sick (I can't even talk that well, as most of the "junk" has settled into my throat area) and have a 2 year old to try to entertain, all the while trying how to figure out how to not get him sick in the process. This morning, he woke up coughing some, but I'm praying it's just his allergies and not bronchitis too. K has managed to stay well, and we even slept in separate beds last night in hopes I wouldn't get him sick. Such is my life!

Easter Pics with the Cuz

Finally had a few moments to get some Easter Egg Huntin' pictures up. It took me a while to get smilebox to work correctly which added to the delay. Anyhoo, here are some fun pics or our time together on Saturday with Gini, cousin Mercy and Jason.

We went over to their house that morning (after a few pit stops) and had brunch... yum! Gini made breakfast casserole and cinnamon ooey-gooey cake. Love being able to take the time to enjoy breakfast! Also love being close to family and enjoying good times together. Next, the boys hid the eggs and then we let the kids loose. Funny thing was, Stone was so excited just to be outside, he could have cared less about finding eggs! Then, he spotted his black truck (from his GiGi and Pop) that you'll see in the pictures. That's all he wanted to do at that point. We had to coax him to go and pick up some eggs cause Mercy was all over that! He then wanted to swing, play in the sand box and then his truck again. He loves to be outside and we just enjoyed the time all together.

Then we came inside to open the eggs and find out what was in them. Mercy and Stone both enjoyed that very much. We then had some more snacks and some coloring time and then it was time to go (nearing nap time and tempers were getting shorter by the moment). When we got back to the house, we let Stone open his present from his my parents, which was a kid digital camera! He loves getting our digital camera and taking pictures, so we thought we'd let him get his own to use. He was very interested in it, until he spotted the match box cars we had gotten him and then that's ALL he wanted to do for the rest of the day! Ha!

Lastly, there's a family pictures of us and a couple of Stone all dressed up. He looked so handsome, if I do say so myself! After church, we ended up going out to Chili's for lunch.. very non-traditional for Easter, but then again, we've been trying to make our own holiday traditions for the most part. Hope everyone had a great Easter, celebrating the fact that our Lord is risen indeed and no longer in the grave!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

How do you have a perfect day at school????

When you arrive and find this right outside your classroom window!!!!


Don't you just love the sight of those little boys at the window watching the excavator digging? Our church is FINALLY getting a much-needed piece of playground equipment (the permanent type like most churches and parks have). For some reason, our church never invested in getting a permanent playground apparatus until now. This week, since the kids are out of school, they started the digging and leveling of the ground so it can be put in. I'm so excited we're getting it!! And I know the kids will love it too. Anyway, back to the pictures. The man on the excavator is a church member who was helping us save some money by doing the digging. There are several rooms that line up around the playground, so the boys in those rooms were in HEAVEN all day! I think I could have even gotten Stone on the thing after school was out and all the other kids were gone, but he was too tired so we went on home. This was his first time being "out" since all of us were sick, and he woke up at 6am instead of his usual 7am or later, so he was pretty pooped. So was I!

The pictures below are of him and his classmates having their Easter Egg Hunt for their Easter party. I love being there and being able to take pictures whenever I want! Although the repercussions is that Stone really has a meltdown when I leave after coming back (oops!) but the pics are great and were worth it!

Kid of the Year Award

That's what Stone gets for the past 2 days. After affectionately (not!) giving K and I the stomach bug from h*** over the weekend, he started to feel better. However, K and I haven't recovered as quickly! As a result, neither one of us have been able to give him much attention, nor do we have any energy to want to. He has basically entertained himself over the past 2 days! What a trooper!! I do feel bad for him though, as he's able to have both of us home for an extra day, yet we're too puny to do anything fun!

K was home with him all day yesterday since we couldn't take him to church sick. Before noon, K had texted me and said that he was now sick and bring home some soup and gatorade. I was like, "Great, I guess I'll be next." Sure enough, before 6pm hit, I was vomiting as well. (Thankfully, I had called a friend to check on preschool classes last night as I was starting to feel the ick.) I mean, I hadn't thrown up since forever... I never even threw up while pregnant! And my ribs HURT along with my neck, head and every other part of my body. Needless to say, all of us are quarantined within the house today!

Makes me seriously wonder how those girls who make themselves throw up to stay skinny do it. I mean, I just hurled about 3 times (K about 5 times) and we're both so weak and sore! How would you do this every day??? And more importantly, WHY? This is torture to your body in the worst way (even if you don't have a virus thing with it). Anyway, hopefully, we'll be on the upswing by tomorrow.

F.F.F.

Stands for Fantastic Fun Fridays. I finally got my Fridays back. By this I mean that for most of the Fridays in January and Feb. I had been helping with some childcare at my church for a ladie's Bible study that was on Friday mornings. I was supposed to be doing the Bible study, but couldn't find anyone to help my SIL (who I had recruited to work those Fridays) and we needed 2 people so I volunteered. At least we were able to hang together, even though we had several kids to watch. However, it was draining me after working all week long and not getting that extra time to do whatever I wanted.

So, for the past 2 Fridays, Gini, M, Stone and I had been enjoying hanging out. I now have named them "Fantastic Fun Fridays." Last week, G and M came over and we played and then went to ChicFilA for lunch. Yesterday, we all went to DunkinDoughnuts for a sweet brunch and then to our favorite park in Greer. Came home and had lunch here, then G and M left to go home for naps and we had our own. Stone didn't sleep long, so we ran some errands before K came home from work.

K had to work a little late, so Stone was looking for him long before he got here. I had started dinner when he called to say he was leaving. It usually only takes him around 15-20 minutes get home, but no K yet. Finally he arrives and is carrying a bag from a local grocery store. In it is flowers for me and a movie! He surprised me totally, cause we hadn't even talked about renting a movie. And, it's always nice to get flowers for "no reason" or "just cause." For those of you who haven't seen "NoReservations" I recommend it. I had seen it before, but loved watching it again. It's just a sweet little romantic comedy.

So, I was excited about our "at home date" until bath time for Stone. K was giving him a bath while I was cleaning the kitchen. K hollers at me and I go running into the bathroom. Stone had hurled all over the place! At first, I just thought it was because he didn't eat well all day... hardly had anything. So, later on, we gave him some crackers and watered down juice. Then this afternoon, he hurled again, right after drinking some juice. He had been puny all morning, and just a slight fever. After his nap though, his fever was a little higher and we could tell he didn't feel good. So, I hope this little virus is just short-lived. Needless to say, he nor Kevin will be going to church tomorrow and hopefully by Monday, he'll be fine again.

Some Firsts....

First, I must wish my awesome MIL a Happy Birthday today! Okay, so I'm a little late in posting this, but we did talk to her several times today (as she's in Greensboro currently) and hope to party up big when they come back. Thanks for all you do Gigi and for all the love you give us continually!

Now, for some firsts...in the past few weeks, Stone has accomplished some pretty interesting milestones. I'm not sure I'm particularly proud of these, but thought I'd share anyway....

• Started calling me by my first name. This mostly happens when he's around cousin M, who of course calls me Aunt Shebby. A couple of weeks ago, M or Gini was talking to me and the next thing I knew, Stone was saying, "Shebby! Shebby!" I was like, "No, it's MOMMY to you!" He still called me Shebby anyway.

• Pulled the wool over my eyes. Yep, I was out-duped by my 2 and a half year old. Again, a couple of weeks ago, after coming home from preschool and getting a snack, he started putting himself to bed. Or so I thought. He'd climb up in his bed, gather all his blankets around him and say, "Night night." I would then ask him if he want me to hold and rock him for a few minutes. He didn't want me too, nor would he get out of the bed. He kept laying down and acting tired. So, I turned on his fan, his music (the CD player happened to be on the floor at the time) and left the room. I figured I'd give a few minutes to see what he does, as I usually have to rock him to sleep for nap time.

Next thing I know, I fell asleep and snoozed for about 10 minutes. When I woke up, I heard the music blaring out of his room. I didn't think I had turned it up that loud, so I go check on him. I found him out of his bed, playing with his trains and he had turned the music up as loud as it would go. He was basically having a party in his room! Ha! I had to laugh....at him and myself. He keeps trying this about every day, but mamma is on to him! :)

• Started throwing tantrums where he purposely throws himself in the floor to be sure that Kevin and/or I see just how angry he is at the moment. It's pretty hysterical, actually. I mean, these aren't his first tantrums, just the first where he throws himself at your feet and if you move away, he crawls on his knees until he's right at your feet again. As if you can't hear his screaming and fake crying!
  

As for other happenings, not much is going on. I am very stressed with work right now, as I am in the middle of recruiting another round of volunteers. It's been very discouraging, to say the least. I wont' even go into details, cause that's another whole soapbox. But, if people don't start volunteering, then I'm going to be left with the option of closing a class, one which I would hate to do. Pray for volunteers!

Poor hubs is also very stressed right now with work. Not that any major project is going on or anything, but just the daily grind, which seems to get worse every day. We continue to pray for a job change for him.

Have to admit that I've been enjoying the weather over the past few days. I'm not really a "lover of Spring" but I have enjoyed being able to get out and walk after dinner this week. Tonight, we got to visit with our in-law's next door neighbor for a little bit. Her dog was out in the yard as we were coming back to the house. We are very familiar with Pooh, so it wasn't a big deal. However, Kevin didn't want Stone to pet him, since he has the allergies to dogs and all. But, I had asked Penny if her dog was a Shitzu, and she said he was a mix of that and something else. Well, a friend of ours who lives in Memphis has a Shitzu and had told us long ago that anyone who is allergic to dogs usually can have a Shitzu because they have real hair instead of fur. Sure enough, I let Stone pet Pooh and he didn't have any outbreaks! It was fun for him, since every time he sees a dog or cat, he wants to pet it and we can't let him. It was also nice to visit with the neighbor, as they have always been good friends to our in-laws and are super nice folks.

That's it for now....

Twins and a Mohawk

Nope, father and son. Again, I am amazed at how much Stone looks like Kevin (from Kevin's baby and kid pictures). Took this one of Kevin from his Aunt Kathy's little puzzle she put together cause he was wearing funny glasses like Stone is.




Mohawk man. Yep, I gave my child a mohawk in the bath a few days back, right before he got it all chopped. It was way too long!


Kept cousin M last night while G and J went to a birthing class. S and M got along great and it was a fun evening. Until, after bath time, I went to dry her hair and got it caught up in a round brush. She was great about it, but I was very frustrated! This is why God gave me a boy!! Ha!

Also learned that M is great at "stalling" before bedtime. I mean, where do 2 year olds learn this stuff? I know they somehow know how to manipulate you by the time they are just a few months old, with the whole crying thing, but to hear and witness a 2 year old using antics to keep from going to bed cracked me up. First it was having to go potty. Then she wanted some of her bath toys dried off and in the bed with her. Then story time and singing (part of her usual ritual). Then potty again. Then had to have on pants with her nightgown. Then had to have the "right" blankets. Then didn't want her pillow. Then was thirsty. (That didn't happen, as she can't have anything a couple of hours before going to bed to prevent accidents.) Then didn't want her door shut. More things in the bed with her (which as she tried to settle down, got in her way and she said they were "frustrating her!" (How many 2 year olds use the word "frustrating?" Only Gini's child!) The whole thing was pretty hysterical, actually, but all in all, she was great and after getting her into bed, I didn't hear a peep out of her. If only it was that easy with my own child!

"Paging Dr. Stone, Paging Dr. Stone..."

To secure our financial future when Kevin and I are old and gray, we've decided on a career for Stone......






What do you think? Isn't he the cutest little Doctor you've ever seen??!!!! Tee hee hee!

Cousin Pics

Seems like it's been forever since I posted some pics, so thought I'd play catch-up. Here are some pics of Stone and Cousin M when she came over to play a couple of weeks ago.

Playing in Stone's BBB (Big Boy Bed)

Mercy "hiding" under the sheets (her foot is sticking out)

Now it's Stone's turn to hide under the sheets!

Hanging on the seat cushion.

Mercy "posing" or break-dancing.. you decide!

Stone helps his dad fix a chair.

Now M gets in on the action.

CHEESIN'!

Why the poll...

I guess I can now say that I've been a "blog-slacker" too as it's been a week since I've updated. Just been busy... first, making sure we got our old place cleaned so we could turn in keys, then helping get our quarters at the inlaws organized and cleaned as much as possible (still working on that one!!)

Okay.. why I asked the poll question, which is below this post. I don't even know where to begin with this one, but I guess the reason I asked was because during the past couple of months, I've witnessed first-hand, 2 different families who have bought their boys the items I mentioned in the question. Now, before I continue, 1) Hear me out and 2) disclaimer here: I'm not saying that boys should never be exposed to girl toys and vice-versa. My own son is not only around "girl" toys at church, but also anytime he visits his cousin M at her house and even now, as we are living with my inlaws, there are girl toys here for M that stay in the closet in his room. With all that being said, I will begin my soap box for the moment.

In the case of the one family (who will remain nameless), this little boy is in K and goes to the weekday preschool program at my church. They do not attend our church otherwise. However, some of the information I got came from the director and assistant director, who have become pretty good friends and coworkers of mine since I started there. Anyway, this Kindergarten boy has 3 older brothers at home, both his parents are in the picture, but no sisters, so this makes him the youngest of course. Last week at school, I actually saw him wearing a tied-dyed, purple and pink "My Little Pony" t-shirt, that was complete with sparkly accents. Let me be clear: this was a shirt I expected to see on any typical GIRL, not a boy. Not even close to being a non-gender specific type shirt. When my friends (director and assistant director) had told me about how this little guy LOVED (and they meant it with a capital L) anything that was My Little Pony, even Barbies and just about anything girly, I thought they were exaggerating. Turns out, they weren't. And, as we discussed it some, we determined that the mom had to be buying her child these things, as there are 3 older boys who were "all boy" and therefore, did not indicate that they too, were into all girl toys. And since there are no sisters living at home, it's not just that he's playing with a sibling's toys either. This mom even buys him all "Pony" scholastic books (that you order through school). So, to our conclusion, we are pretty sure the mom is encouraging this behavior and maybe even views him as "her girl" since she has 4 boys.

The other family observation came on my end, as this family is a member of our church and the 2 boys are there all the time. These 2 boys are brothers and have no sisters at home; they are 2 and a half and 4 and a half and they too, have both mom and dad together and at home. I first noticed that one evening, as it was time for pick-up, they were very engaged with the dress-up clothes that are in the room. Typically, only the girls even give these clothes a second thought; most of the time they aren't even played with. Well, these guys not only had as much on as they could get on, they each had on a hot pink, sequenced mini-skirt, complete with accessories! Now, you're probably thinking that it was funny, and it was kind of cute, UNTIL I overheard the older brother say to his younger brother, "No, that doesn't go together. These things go with each other." Okay, what 4 year old knows how to accessorize and match GIRL clothes, unless they do it frequently? Or unless they may help their mom at home? Maybe I'm wrong on that one, but it was still surprising to me, as I've noticed other boys that same age who could care less about matching or accessorizing, much less playing with dress up clothes.

Well, this wasn't the end of this story. The next week, they were dropped off in their classroom and I noticed that both of them had a little clear plastic purse, that had 2-3 sparkly lip gloss containers in it. At first, being so busy, I didn't even think about it. Later as I came back around, I noticed they were playing with it and putting it on their lips (and then realized it wasn't chap stick but girly lip gloss). This bothered me some and then I happened to overhear the mom when she came in to pick them up. Another parent was there and asked about the lip gloss and she said something to the affect, "Well, we were in the grocery store and they saw it so I bought it for them. I didn't think it was a big deal." Oh really?? (This is what I'm thinking, not saying out loud).

Before you think I'm being judgemental or harsh, let me finish my soap box by explaining why I think this is wrong on so many levels. As one of my friends commented on the last post, that she might have been more inclined to not think it was that big of a deal (she's getting ready to have a baby boy and already has a 3 year old daughter), until she read "Bringing Up Boys" by James Dobson. In that book (as I've not read the entire thing, but enough to know this), he explains why it's important, and even crucial that we teach our kids appropriate gender characteristics. Does this mean to be over-bearing or ridiculous about being homo-phobic? No. But I do agree with him in the fact that it's important that we teach our sons that they were made as a boy by God (not by chance) and therefore they have specific male characteristics and roles as they grow into young boys, teens, and then men. Same goes for having little girls. I'll be the first to admit that I was more of a "tom-girl" than ever being a girly-girl growing up. However, I believe my parents made it clear as to how I was specifically designed and created by God to be a girl (and therefore, grow into being a woman.)

I think our society has far crossed over the lines of being specifically male or female and then embracing that fact. Everything has become "gender neutral" and as the result, MANY people grow up confused about who they are, and what their purpose and role in life is. As in the case of these 2 families, during these early, formative years (before age 5, 75% of a child's moral values will be set!) it's important to encourage our boys to be boys and our girls to be girls. Yes, I believe it's okay for them to be exposed to things of the opposite sex. But overall, I believe that it's important for us to encourage them to be who God intended them to be. As in the case of the little boy in K, he has no interest in boy stuff, and according to his teacher, only wants to play with girls. I think this will have a huge impact on him for the rest of his life... and, he could possibly end up living a homosexual lifestyle as a result. And sadly, I believe this mostly comes from his mom. (As my hubs said, "Why do you even ask me what I think... you KNOW what my answer would be!!! Of course I wouldn't buy him those things or encourage it!") I just wonder why this husband of this child has allowed it thus far. Maybe they think he'll "grow out of it." However, I think that won't be as easy as they may think.

I have observed this in our own son: as I said before, he has been around his girl cousin M all his life. During last summer, he spent 4 days a week with her and therefore, was not only exposed to a lot of her "girly" toys but also played with them as well. He has been exposed to and played with girl toys at church. And, like I said, there are dolls and girl things here at my inlaws house, which he has access to play with, if he wanted to. However, because we haven't encouraged him to play with girl things, he has NO interest in them what-so-ever. I mean, he never gives the dolls or few other girl things here another glance. He wants to play with his trains or color, or play golf (a new passion he just discovered!). I say this to say that I do believe this behavior has to be encouraged on some level (either way you go.) And, I feel it's important to encourage appropriate behavior, not behavior that will later cause confusion, frustration, and even teasing and bullying (I can only imagine what that little Kindergarten boy will face when he goes to 1st grade next year.)

So, there's my soap box. If you have boy, encourage him to grow as a boy and celebrate that fact! God made him that way! If you have a girl, same goes! God created her to be special by being a girl! Don't buy into the world's idea that it's okay for him or her to be something that they weren't created to be in the first place. That's all I have on that subject. :)