Four years
Topic: Momma's Lover Dover
Four years and one week ago today, Cale was born. It was a long week then and it has been a long week this year too. We've made a cake, cupcakes, opened a zillion presents, assembled toys, added batteries, played games, taken pictures and the grand finale is tonight. Cale and I will attend The Wiggles concert.

I haven't handled this birthday any better than previous years. He just seems so freaking grown up and it pains my heart. Even at his 4 year check up on Monday (weighing in at 45lbs - 95% and measuring 3'10" - off the charts for height) he was bigger than normal. He received 3 shots and DID NOT SHED A SINGLE TEAR while receiving them. He held onto me and I to him and the nurse administered them in his skinny long legs. He did so well and the nurse told us that she's always kicked at this age and has NEVER had one be as calm as Cale. Seriously. . .he should have thrown a fit. Shoot, I throw a mega fit if I have to get a shot or get so close to passing out when getting blood taken that I'm watched like a hawk.

Every day for the past week, and every minute I've relived in my mind. . .from getting the news about my blood pressure, going in for the induction, getting my water broken, getting the epidural, being fully dialated, starting to push, his entrance into the world, the news on his jaundice, them admitting him to NICU, me being released, our trips to NICU for feedings and finally, his grand finale of coming home on May 15, 2002. See. . .that's how I live, wondering if there might be a parallel universe where I am living this in real time. . .wishing I could help myself if there was. There's even a new commercial that I saw for the first time on his birthday. It shows the hospital and I can see the room where he was born. . .second floor first window. . .the room where my life was changed forever. I'll never be the same and I thank him for that. I love him for it. He's an exquisite miracle that we'd waited so long for and he is SO worth it.

Who's my baby's daddy?
Topic: Weirdness
For some reason or another, we happen to be rather intrigued with the Maury Povich Show, especially when they are doing paternity tests. I guess because they always find the most backwards people. . .you know. . .the girl that slept with her cousin or her boyfriend's stepdad's brother? Serves as a reminder that we don't have it all that bad.

But now we know why NOT to watch it in front of a 3 year old. The following is a conversation that transpired between Cale and my dad last weekend.

Cale ~ Odie, do you like steak?

Odie ~ Yes, I do.

Cale ~ Do you LOVE steak?

Odie ~ You could say I LOVE it.

Cale ~ Are you sure?

Odie ~ *giggling now* Yeah. . .I'm pretty sure.

Cale ~ Are you positive?

Odie ~ *now trying not to laugh* Yeah. . .I'm positive.

Cale ~ Are you 30 60 90 positive?

Odie ~ *unintelligible due to laughter*

Thank you Maury for providing my child with the need to go above and beyond the standard "100% positive."

Lookin' good!
Topic: Me!
Today was a day that made me happy. Imagine that! A happy day in the midst of my chaotic life. It didn't start out well with Cale's wild behavior and me not getting everyone around in time to get Cale to school. Luckily, daddy was able to salvage our nasty beginning to May 3.

Once Cale was out the door, I got Pru around and then worked on myself. I knew I had a lot to do (do you realize that in ONE week my BAAAAAAAAABY will be FOUR?!?!) to get ready for Cale's birthday so I knew today would be a wild ride. When getting dressed, I decided on a new top that Chris had talked me into. It's a top that I wouldn't normally wear or pick for myself, but I let him steer me. After I was ready to go, I took a look in the mirror and had an Emeril moment. "Self! You look pretty snazzy momma!" :) That's a rare feeling since I've not been exactly pleased with my post-c-section body.

When I went to mom's, she said, "HOT MOMMA!! WOO!!" Then my sister said, "Holy smokes!! You look awesome!!" So I decided to stop by Bubba's work. . .to show him the "goods" :) He walked out the door and smiled a HUGE smile. He walked up and said, "Niiiiiiiice. . ." Then we did the small talk thing and I could tell something wasn't right. When I asked him, he said, "I'm thinking of how I can rearrange my schedule today." WHAT?!?

You know you look hot when your husband decides to take a half day off work. . .shoot. . .how can he have me out running around the city looking FINE??!!?? ;)

That just made my day!

A fascination
Topic: Me!
Most people that know me well, know that I'm scared of tons of things: spiders, bugs in general, mice, thunder, the dark, UFOs :) I'm the biggest pansy. . .seriously. HOWEVER. . .I have a very deep fasincation with tornadoes.

You may have seen footage or pictures of the tornadoes that decided to develop west of Oklahoma City last night. I literally CRAVE tornado season. I sit in front of the television, often times BEGGING Bubba to let me go chase the storms. Every time he says no. But then there's the story of the June 13th tornado and I'm gonna share it with you, of course.

The date was June 13, 1998. Chris and I were not yet married, but had been hanging out at my mom and dad's house. Chris owned (well, still owns) a truck and it was his baby. Literally. He'd make me walk two miles so that his truck wouldn't be within throwing distance of another vehicle. When the threat of hail occurred, he'd rush it someplace safe. . .someone that had a garage that he could put it. . .a car wash. . .or our favorite, a dry cleaners. On the evening of June 13, hail threatened. When they said the word "hail" on tv, Chris jumped up and grabbed his keys. I was hesitant on leaving because after "hail," I heard "circulation" and that got me all kinds of excited. As we headed out the door, I told Chris that I wish I'd grabbed my mom and dad's video camera. He didn't understand why. . .it was just hail. No biggie. I knew better. We drove like mad to get to the huge awning of the dry cleaners just a few blocks away. . .just as the rain started. We were listening to the radio and Oklahoma's infamous Gary England stated that there were two cells merging and that they both had strong circulation. These storms were merging directly west of where we were sitting. . .directly west of my house. . .and they were headed due east.

The rain poured and then came the hail. Chris sighed a deep sigh of relief knowing that his precious truck was safe (and his truck sought safety with another truck belonging to a friend of ours from high school) and what did I do? I peaked around the side of the building to see what I could see.

THERE IT WAS. Low circulation. I'd never seen it in person before. I was stoked. I was hooked. Apparently, not thinking eXaCtLy straight, I walked straight out into the hail and rain to watch. I made two phone calls, one to a woman I worked with from South Carolina (she was definitely freaked out) and one to a friend that lived in the neighborhood across from where I was. He was outside too and he said it was incredible. He was standing DIRECTLY under it.

As it headed towards me, it moved south just a bit. I still stood totally awe struck underneath the swirling black clouds as the tornado started to rope down. This is when Chris lost it. He grabbed my arm and started yelling at me to get in the truck. I couldn't. I just stood there as it roped a bit more and swirled faster and faster. I never felt scared, but Bubba did and he laid into me about it later :)

I seriously watched this wall cloud spin and rope out and the last thing I remember before Bubba heaved me into his truck against my will. . .the rope of the tornado grazed the top of the Blockbuster Video sign directly to my south. This sucker was going to tornado and it hit me that it could come on down and hit my house.

Well, Bubba backed his truck up clear across the parking lot as we watched this rope go up and down into the wall cloud. Yes. . .it did eventually touch down, but it touched down on the east side of Lake Hefner. And the wild thing about this particular tornado is that once it touched down, it didn't head east or northeast like the majority do. Instead, it headed south. Rather a bizarre sight as far as tornadoes go.

There you have it. My closest encounter with a tornado as of this date. Chris calls me a budding meteorologist because of my fascination and amateur knowledge of the weather. Shoot. . .I'm proud to say that many of my weather pictures have been featured on Rick's Pix. He told me last night that he can see me out chasing storms in ten years. I'd hate to wait that long. I would love to do it NOW. :) But then we have the issues of not sleeping after the adrenaline wears off. . .but I still won't give it up. Strange goal to have huh?? :)

Back on my word
Topic: Me!
Chris called me on something this week. I'm usually a person that sticks to her word. Seriously. If I tell you that I'm going to hug and kiss you when I see you, I do it. Regardless of where or who is around :) I'm just one of those people and my word means a lot.

HOWEVER, Chris told me that I had gone back on my word. It's true. He didn't lie. I did. I swore up and down and cross-wise that my child would not wear any camo clothing. I don't like it. I know it's the "thing' to do, but I've never been one of those to keep up with current trends. I'm more of a "preppy" and "classic" dresser. You know. GAP type. But my mom went shopping and bought Cale camo shorts and a camo shirt (not to be worn together because then I would DEFINITELY blow a gasket!). Cale ADORES them. He calls them his "Soldier Clothes" and asked where his matching hat was (his Uncle Tatee is in the Army and he knows the uniform). I had to inform him that he didn't have a hat, but that he can wear EITHER his shorts OR his shirt.

Yes, I should have never said never, but I still have yet to put him, in his almost 4 years of life on the outside, in a character shirt and/or pants. That's one thing I'm sticking to my guns on. I leave that to the underwear that no one sees. Evil momma :)

Pictures of my obsession
Topic: Me!
I know that I've mentioned my love for babywearing and slings here before. It's not gotten ANY better!! Unfortunately, we don't have the money to keep up this habit, but I've found some AWESOME deals and have added to my stash!! So, I wanted to share with you some pictures. . .maybe you'll understand it a bit more :)

Up first is my sling. Mom bought this for me when I was pregnant with Pruitt. I chose it because it is made by Jennifer of Blue Sky Baby Slings and she's a fellow Okie!

My second carrier is a wrap. I love this wrap, it's an Ellaroo wrap. This started my wrapping frenzy!

Then there's my pouch. I got a killer deal on this and it works for me! I had tried one before when Pru was smaller, but it just didn't work right, but I'm so pumped this one does!

I also own an AWESOME mai tei by Baby Blue Cat Designs and love it also! I wore Pruitt in this at the mall last weekend and talk about turning heads. Doesn't help that he was on my back either! LOL

I also got another Blue Sky Baby Sling mai tei for a KILLER deal too. This one, Chris stated he could wear so here's my babywearing daddy!!

And my last one is a BB-Slen wrap. It's my first "expensive" wrap but, again, got it for a killer deal! I must say that I love red!!!!!!

I know that I already have a wish list going, but since I've found the pouch love, I want to add to it :) These Karma Baby pouches from Hold Me Near are GORGEOUS!!!!! They also have this stunning Catbird Baby mai tei that I drool over. Maybe one day the fairy of babywearing will grant me with the more expensive, and possibly unused, carriers. Until then, I dream of them and wish and am grateful for the hand-me-down carriers I do own. . .

A baby sister
Topic: Momma's Lover Dover
Yesterday, in the midst of playing cars and trucks on the table, Cale looked at me and said, "Is Carly your sister?" I nodded yes. He went about his playing and said, "Oma is my sister." I, unfortunately, had to tell him that she was in fact his grandmother, not his sister. He started to laugh which led me to believe that he was originally joking, but he eerily stopped the laughing and looked at me and said, "I need a sister because I only have a brother. Pruitt is my baby brother and I am the big brother Cale." So, thinking about how this conversation was already going to play out to Bubba, I just had to ask!

Me ~ You think you really need a sister?

Cale ~ Yep, will she be a baby?

Me ~ She could be. Probably like Pruitt was a little baby.

Cale ~ Will she cry? Cry like Pruitt cries?

Me ~ Oh yeah, babies cry. Are you sure you'd want another baby around?

Cale ~ Yep, I need a sister momma.

Me ~ Well, I'm not so sure you won't have one, but you won't get one for awhile.

Cale ~ Why not?

Me ~ Well, I'm not sure I'm ready to have one. Remember, they grow in a momma's belly.

Cale ~ Well, we can go buy one then.

It blows my mind that he thinks this way. This kid knew that I pushed him out, I never told him or explained it to him. He also knew that Pruitt came from "momma's boo boo on her belly" and we also didn't tell him that. We'll see if he's singing a different tune in a few years. During the meantime, I'll have to try to talk his Daddy into it LOL

Up and down
Topic: Me!
Within two minutes tonight, I hit a high and I hit a low.

Let's start with the low. I emailed a friend of mine. I like to call her my friend. She has a son, with gorgeous red locks, and he's 6 months younger than Cale. Cale adores him. He's so cute and funny!! And, they live less than a mile away, which is odd b/c we don't see each other much, but we chat, and enjoy, and we have a great relationship as is. Well, she's moving to TN. That totally bites. That bites the big one. I'm really down about this!!

Then, after reading that, I get an email that says, "Hey, I have a checkerboard cake pan just sitting in the garage, brand new. Do you want it?" UH YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll have a rockin' cake for Cale's birthday, but D & J won't be there this year *sniff sniff*

Off the wall thought
Topic: Weirdness
You know how you grow up hearing, "You are what you eat"?? If that's true, then I'm a giant potato, drenched in chocolate, on a bed of ice cream with a green olive on top. Doesn't sound very appealing huh??

So what are you?

My dancing
Topic: Weirdness
Mom and dad have always enjoyed my "dancing." The word "dancing" is in quotes because although it is dancing, it's not dancing that you would do in front of people of importance, not that mom and dad aren't important, well shoot, I'm just getting myself buried here :)

Anyway, I saw this commercial from Carl's Jr (drag the cow to the box to see it) and just needed the song to dance to. I finally found it - It's by Sean Paul and called Get Busy, HOWEVER, after seeing a rather large woman on the Jell-O commercial while the music goes "Jiggle and a Wigglin' free, in a Wiggle and Jigglin' spree". . .I will no longer be dancing. If THAT'S what I look like, I sincerely apologize for EVER dancing in my fun manner.

Now I understand why everyone laughed and wanted me to do it over. . .and over. . .and over. Glad my jigglin' fat amuses you. :)