So I’ve decided that if they were to give out a lazy blogger award that I would be the perfect recipient. Yep. There’s been very little blogging. Very little blog reading. I do apologize.

There has been lots of living. Sometimes I struggle with the balance of blogs. I start going down my list of must read blogs and just can’t stop. Before you know it, I’ve been on the computer all day. Made a list of projects that overwhelm me before I begin. And wonder where the day went.

So I promise to start blogging regularly. I actually have a project I’ve been working on that I can’t wait to tell you about. It is fall and there is just too much bloggy goodness going around to stay away for too long.

Yesterday while Makena was in school, Keegan and I ventured out to find some fall decor at Hobby Lobby to cheer up the place a bit. I spent an hour and a half there trying to decide between the 10,000 pumpkins available. I even called a friend in desperation to help me. Got home and got the piano decorated just in time for the cool weather. Actually it’s still in the 90’s here but we can pretend can’t we?!?

While we’ve been doing all of this living, a trip to San Antonio was in order to see the family. I think it’s still too hot to go to Sea World. Maybe in a couple of weeks. We did go to cousin Connor’s baseball game. I actually caught a quick shot of Makena with her cousins watching the game. They probably only watched the game for two seconds. The rest of the time running around, eating Ring Pops and trying to catch a frog. Then trying to bring said frog home.

Watching six-year-olds play baseball just melt my heart. It won’t be long before it gets serious. But for now, they are just happy to be there. My kind of sport.

School supplies.

Maybe it’s the teacher in me but back to school time makes my heart flutter.

The stocking up of supplies.

The scissors, the paper, the pens. I fill my cart with supplies for crafts for the next few months. The non-washable crayons and markers. Taking a risk.

This morning we are off to Makena’s school to meet her new teacher Ms. Katie. A big step for my little babe and even a bigger step for me. I think I’m going to need counseling when she goes to school. I think she’ll be fine.

I was greeted earlier this week by a sweet sound.

My youngest awoke from his nap, bright eyed and bushy headed. Playing the harmonica like he’s been doing it forever. Bopping up and down. Swaying back and forth. Making the most of the summertime blues.

As he was standing there, moving to his own beat, I looked at him and wondered how he got this big. When did my baby become a full fledged toddler? Next week is his second birthday and I’m starting to get a little sappy and reflective thinking about it. Slowing down to think about who he is. His spirit. And his quirky personality.

He’s now talking, the sing-songy voice much more pronounced and direct. The occasional ‘why’ to my demands. The ‘that’s hot’ to his food. The ‘uh-oh’ when things aren’t going quite as they should.

During the next week I want to slow down. Not the occasional rushing about to plan a party. No, that is not what his big day is about. It is about him. His sweet little life. And the joy he brings to ours.

Isn’t it funny when you look around and take notice of what life has become. Here most of us are, thirty-something, in the throws of mommy hood trying to figure out how to do this mommy thing. What’s the best snack? Where should my child go to preschool? Where should we live? What activities to engage their time? Who to play with? Pampers or Huggies? Whole milk or soy milk? Crocs or not? Bed times. Nap times. Snack times. Family visits. Vacations. Grocery shopping. Diaper changing. Potty training. Time outs. Hugs. Cuddles. Love. Butterfly kisses. Forgiveness.

We find ourselves saying things like, don’t push your brother. Don’t throw rocks. Don’t drink the lake water. Don’t drink the bath water. Don’t throw sand in your brother’s hair. Come here. Sit up straight. Say please and thank you. Don’t unbuckle your car seat. Don’t hit the dog. Don’t hit your sister with your sword. Keep your clothes on. Your at Disney World for Pete’s sake in a princess dress, now act like a princess. Oh, did I just admit that??? Yes, I did say that. And yes as I was saying it I was like ‘what on earth have I become.’ And who on earth is Pete anyway?

So before you became a mommy, who were you? I’d love to get to know you. What were your dreams? Where were you going? Are you surprised by where you are now?

Hi, my name is Jade and I used to be a high school teacher. I taught debate and coached the debate team. We even went to Harvard one year for a tournament. Now I can hardly form complete sentences and carry on adult conversation without stumbling on my words. Funny isn’t it?!?

It’s always fun to find out what our mommy friends did before they were mommies. Come to find out, one of my friends used to be a teacher and also taught swim lessons. Well having the water loving kids that I have I decided that it was time for private lessons. Today was Makena’s first day. While Keegan and I romped around on one end of the pool, Makena was learning how to swim. Without floaties. We spend most days down at the lake. In the water or around the water. She must learn how to swim.

She was a little neurotic about the pool vacuum but once she realized it wasn’t going to get her, she settled right in.

So tell me, who were you before you became a mommy?

Not to lose the feeling of what my blog is about, and what our real world consists of, I’m going to mix some homespun goodness into the Disney posts. This is not a Disney blog after all. Hehehehe….

Today it’s hot out and I’m running a fever with no symptoms other than my body aching all over. What’s that about? You can’t have a fever when it’s 99 degrees outside.

The only way to stay cool in Central Texas during the summer is to stay in the water.

Any ideas how to keep a Golden Retriever puppy out of the kiddie pool?

I was talking to a friend tonight about our babies and their percentiles. And it brought me back to this time last year, when we were in a state of panic because we found out that Keegan was in the third percentile. Not 1/3, but 3%. For those of you without kids, that’s little.

We spent an entire week trying to get him to take formula. Hour after hour. Day after day. Tears were shed. Prayers were said. “Please Keegan, eat something.” The desperate cries of a mother.

One year later, he is in the 95th percentile. That’s a big boy. He weighs as much as his three year old sister and he’s 20 months old. It’s all phases and stages. Once you perfect the one they are in, they move on to the next one.

The past few months have been a whirlwind of doctors visits, followed by antibiotics and nebulizer treatments. We have been in and out of the doctors office since September. We have been to the emergency room with a severed finger from a baby gate and we have rushed to the doctor’s office when Keegan was having a hard time breathing. At times it has felt like this is an uphill battle that we are losing but today I feel a victory.

Both of my kids have always had lung issues. From antibiotics to steroids to the nebulizer, they are always using something for their breathing. Poor little Keegan has had a runny nose and cough since September. You know that barking cough, that makes people turn around and give you that look in the supermarket.

Keegan was diagnosed as having asthma back in December. I find this highly unlikely although we have struggled with him catching every cold that walks past him. If there is a virus going around, Keegan will catch it and bring it home to share.

Makena came into this world with respiratory issues. She still has a tendency to be snotty and when she gets snotty, a runny eye always follows suit. When the mucous reaches extreme levels, out comes the nebulizer for her daily treatments until the allergens, cold, virus, infection and whatever dissipates.

We had a situation a couple of weeks ago when she was misdiagnosed with pink eye. I noticed a goopy eye so decided to call the doctor to see if we needed to come in. A nurse advised that it could be pink eye and prescribed eye drops without seeing her. Her eye was never pink, just runny. In the past she has had runny eyes due to allergies and sinuses so I figured it was just this. Come to find out, I was right. After almost a week of eye drops, she still had a runny eye so I took her to the doctor to be told that it wasn’t pink eye, it was a sinus infection.

This week we also had a visit with Makena’s plastic surgeon concerning her finger. The good news is that since the growth plate is in place, her finger will grow. The bad news is that it’s going to grow crooked. Which means that this is a permanent injury and she will have more surgery as she grows up and as the finger grows. This is not the news we were hoping for.

I’ve started looking into some natural healing alternatives to the kids allergy, mucus and cough issues. We are trying a few new things around here in hopes that the snot and cough will go away. If you haven’t done much research on milk, do it right now. Milk is a huge mucous creator. So many of the symptoms that my kids have are elevated by dairy so we have taken both of them off of dairy for the time being. So far, they have been dairy free for 24 hours and today is the first day of no coughing and no snot. None. Miles came home from work and kept repeating “who are these kids?” They’ve just got to feel so much better.

I’m sure many of you are concerned about the calcium. I’m not here to hate on the dairy industry. Hey, I went to college in the dairy capital of the world. I’m a huge diary fan, I like a chocolate milk shake just as much as the next guy but what I learned is that it’s not so great for you and you can get calcium in healthier foods. So, we’re starting a new diet and if anyone has any suggestions on dairy alternatives I’d love to hear them. We’ve got the kids on soy milk and have also cut out peanut butter since it’s a big allergen. They are now eating the $7/jar almond butter. Whatever it takes.

So today was the first day of no doctors appointments and everyone was feeling good. We spent time around the house, playing and cooking. Simply enjoying being together without the runny noses and nebulizer treatments. Makena and I made homemade bread in both my kitchen and hers.

Since I didn’t spend most of my day chasing around a snotty nose with a tissue I also had time to put together a couple of packages for my far away friends. Claudia and Ruth, packages are coming your way. Here’s a sneak peek of one of the gifts since I can’t show you just yet. Of course it’s patchwork, I did just go out and buy the rest of the remaining fabric in the store.

Three year olds are so stinkin’ cute. It’s when their vocabulary explodes, their coordination improves and their drawing takes form.

People are drawn by crayon, marker or pencil.

Letters are written to friends and sent in the mail.

This letter arrived from Makena’s boyfriend Gage. Supposedly, Gage was watching Little Bear and Little Bear had written a letter. Mid-show Gage turns to his Daddy and says “Daddy I want to write a letter to Makena.” A few minutes later, a letter was written and delivered to the mailbox. So sweet this little Gage is!

Along with their new drawing skills, smiley faces are practiced… with marker, on the deck.

I’ve been running around all week trying to get ready for the big weekend.  Miles’ sister is getting married in San Antonio and I’m the matron-of-honor while Makena is a flower girl.  So I’ve been running in circles, or as my dad so eloquently phrases it ‘Jade, you’re like a dog chasing his tail.’  I do a lot of chasing my tail!  Can anyone else relate?

With a weekend full of events coming up, I was in the market for a small handbag to bring along.  As I was checking my flickr page I noticed that my friend Beki had posted pictures of a beautiful green and black handbag.  I loved the contrast with the green and black fabrics.  I rushed to her blog to see if she had blogged it.  Not yet.  My next stop was to her ETSY shop to see if it was there.  Bingo!  Found it before she could blog it and it arrived in the mail three days later.  Beki’s got quite the following and I knew it would go fast.  She even threw in a great button pin.  Thanks Beki!  Keep making beautiful bags sweetheart!

Good news here concerning Makena’s finger.  Yesterday, the pins were removed and it looks really good!  Now she starts rehab for the next four weeks and we go from there.  It does look like it is healing, and that my friends is a miracle.

Speaking of contrast, this past weekend we went to Cousin Connor’s 6th birthday party.  It was a reptile themed party and had a reptile guy as well.  I kept my distance as the kids were in awe with all of the creepy crawly creatures that he brought along.  And to answer your question, yes those are Makena’s boots and her feet were in them!  Keegan was even enamored with the snakes.  As he was trying to get a good look at this big snake, the snake slithered up to him and went right between his legs as one very nervous mama looked on.  Eeek!

Today is moving day! I’ve got my bags all packed and we’re moving on. So long Blogger, chikaustin’s got some new digs. Check out my pad, take a look around. You can even peek in the cabinets and closets. What do you think? I was feeling limited in Blogger, a little cramped so it was time to spread my wings and find a new home.

So, do you like it? I’m thinking about changing a few things and WordPress allows me to do so much more. I’m thinking about paint colors, art for the walls, some landscaping. Maybe it’s time for new furniture. Oh, the opportunities are limitless. Have I told you about the view? You can see for miles.

Speaking of being able to see for miles, this weekend we took the kids to Enchanted Rock State Park. We stopped in Fredericksburg, a German settlement, and picked up lunch - bratwurst. Then we made our way to the state park to complain (ahem) I mean to have a lovely hike up to 1,600 feet above sea level. From Makena, there was the occasional ‘I can’t do it’ whine which was always followed by my ‘yes you can, God gave you long legs now use them.’ Because I’m supportive like that.

We hiked all the way to the top. Miles had Keegan on his back and some of the time I gave Makena a boost. I do have to say that our kids were definitely the youngest that we saw out there so a little complaining was justified by a three year old. On the way down, we focused on the snow cones being sold at the base of the mountain. You’ve got to stay focused.

Snow cones in hand, we made our way to the car with a trail of bees following us. The day ended with Makena running to the car yelling ‘there’s a bee-hind me.’