If Only I Drank...Today Would Be the Day!!

So I JUST posted yesterday about how "boys will be boys." And after today, it makes me wonder if Benz can read unbeknownst to me. He must have seen my blog post and decided to live up to the title because today he created another classic memory. All signs pointed towards a normal day & after yesterday, I needed one! We were eating breakfast and Benz mentioned that he had lots of "blue boogies" today. I shrugged it off and let him know we'd get a Kleenex when we brushed his teeth and get him all cleaned up. And sure enough about 15 minutes later we were in the bathroom and I noticed a blue tint all around his nose. So I took a baby wipe and bravely wiped inside and thick blue goop kept coming out!!! About 4 wipes later I asked him if he had but anything in his nose and he said "You gonna be angry with me." I told him no, but that he had to tell the truth and he admitted to shoving a crayon inside his left nostril YESTERDAY at bible camp! I got a flashlight and sure enough, there it was pretty far back; for a moment I contemplated using tweezers myself to get it out but it was way too lodged up in there. So instead of Bible camp for Benz and a quiet morning for Boston & I, the three of us were off to the doctor's at 8:45am. Three hours, an exhausted one year old, one potent Valium and lots of convincing later, Benz was sedated enough to have the doctor use some super long tweezers to remove the culprit. And out came a 1 1/2 inch piece of crayon! His nose had started to "digest" the crayon and thus the reason for the blue goop. The doctor said it had been a long time since he had had to do such a strange and exciting procedure. When we got home, I put Boston down for a nap and just collapsed. Thank God for my mother-in-law, who was already planning to pick them both up for the afternoon! I pray that there are no more "boys will be boys" incidents until I recover from these recent events and have energy to take on what the future will hold!!! Mojito, anyone?

Boys will be boys!

I am sure that everyone who is reading this has heard the phrase, "boys will be boys," but really, what does that mean???? Well let me clue you in! Benz has had an continual bruise, scrape, cut, lump, burn, or scratch since he started walking over 4 1/2 years ago. And now that Boston is almost at that stage, it's double the trouble! But there have been three times (SO FAR) in my life that I have opened a door and sighed at what was behind it. And it's almost like your life passing in front of your eyes...for a second you are frozen and the amount of work that is ahead of you, as your mind calculates how many hours it will take you to get it back to normal. And after that one second of contemplation, you gather up any energy you have left and begin your work as a mom.

The first happened when Benz was about 2 1/2 and was starting to potty train. He had just moved into his big boy bed. I went to wake him up from a nap one fine afternoon, only to discover that he had taken his diaper off and smeared his "masterpiece" all over his bedroom walls! As the record skipped in my head, I looked up to see a precious face smiling from ear to ear, as if to say, "Look, Mama, aren't you proud of me!"

The second time that I was thrown for a loop was about 2 weeks ago. It was a lazy summer afternoon (or so I thought). I was trying to catch up on one of my many jobs (this time customer service rep for my house) & was on the phone with a company questioning the quality of the new freezer we had bought. Benz marches into the office with a huge strawberry & blueberry cheesecake from Costco that his Grandma B. had sent home. I waved at him, telling him to bring it back to the kitchen. But instead of complying he set it on the very edge of our desk and CRASH! Down went the cheesecake and off the phone I went, only to find the decadent greasiness had landed ALL OVER about 200 interlaced computer cords and wires. And the fruit had found it's resting place on our tan carpet. And there was silence and I took a deep breath and knew at that moment that my afternoon would no longer be lazy! After about 30 minutes of delicately wiping off each wire, I opened the door to find Boston had discovered a can of Pringles I hadn't yet put away and had skillfully opened it and crushed every last one into minute pieces and had rolled over it again and again. And then the familiar theme replayed: I looked up to see a precious face smiling from ear to ear, as if to say, "Look, Mama, aren't you proud of me!" After a few more minutes of vacuuming up the floor and Boston, the carpet was once again chip free and I collapsed from exhaustion!

And the third (and last, so far) incident was today. It was a busy morning but I was looking forward to a relaxed afternoon of getting odds & ends done before having to make a swim schedule tonight. Boston had finished his bath and just gone down for a nap. Benz was getting out of the tub and decided to stay upstairs in our bathroom to take care of "some business" and had requested some privacy. So I went downstairs and called my Mom to ask her a quick question and Benz came running down the stairs screaming, telling me that "water is going everywhere upstairs. Hurry, it's a BIG problem!!" So I hung up the phone, rushed upstairs & discovered my very own wading pool in my bathroom! I rolled up my pants and turned off the water and took that famous second to process it all. I wasn't getting anything done this afternoon besides mopping up poopy water, washing & drying 20+ sopping towels & bath mats, sanitizing the floor, and taking a shower. To comfort myself, I ran the mantra in my head: "it could have been worse, it could have been worse." And then all I could think to do was smile and say, boys will be boys!"

Nothin' But Boys in my House
Author: Erin Jo Kilmer
There are boys in my house - and Spiderman shoes
And 200 papers in various blues.
There's Bob (he's a builder) and Thomas the Train,
There's a fireman coat to wear in the rain.
They have cars on their shirts and frogs on their hats
There's a glove and a ball and a red plastic bat.
There's dirt on a face and a smudge on a nose;
Grass stains on knees and sand between toes.
There's bathtime at night with bodies to scrub,
And when we're all done there is dirt in the tub!
There's bandaids and bruises and curious bumps,
There's smiles and laughter and sometimes there's grumps.
There's odors most icky; there's boogers so green
There's more yucky things than I'll ever get clean.
There's piles of laundry; there's stories at night;
There's bedtime and bathtime and dinnertime fights.
There's cars and there's trains and there's books about trucks
There's Scoop, Lofty, Dizzy, and Travis, and Muck.
Sometimes there are bugs, and sometimes there are frogs;
Sometimes they are lions, or dinos, or dogs.
There are cute little vests and darling neckties
Dragged right through the mud - oh what a surprise!
There's running and climbing and jumping and falling
And laughing and crying and hugging and brawling
And rolling and losing and finding and creeping
And whining and stealing and sometimes there's sleeping.
There's tantrums and time outs and extra loud noise -
There's love in my house shaped like two little boys.

What Are Little Boys Made Of?
By Nikki Blair

Someone once called you
Snips, Snails, Puppy-Dog Tails -
but I know you

and you are
mud-puddle-splashing and
secret-fort-building and
living-room-floor-wrestling and
sometimes even sweet-sibling-hugging

you are
coated with the dust and dirt of
boyhood play -
high-top tennis shoes and falling-down socks
blistered palms from too much free-throw practice
chlorine-damp hair from a splashy cannonball dive into the pool

you are
eating your veggies
only with the promise that they'll make you big and strong

you are
giggling in your pj's at Saturday morning cartoons

you are
letting the cat lick your face and

you are
laughing

you are
scrubbed and tubbed
hair combed (until
it rumples on your pillow
when you settle in to sleep)

and there in your dreams
you are
a cowboy, a fireman,
a dump-truck driver,
an astronaut,
maybe a farmer

but in my dreams
you are
a grown, gentle man with
a lighted smile, shining eyes
you are
in candlelight,
kissing your beautiful new bride
you are
in night-light,
singing soft lullabies to your babies in their beds,
and smoothing their bath-damp hair

for I know you and
that's what my little boy is made of.

Welcome to the world, Sweet Caroline! I'm finally Auntie Melanie!

I am about the proudest Auntie in the entire world as I type this! My brother, Mike, and sister-in-law, Lys, welcomed their first little one into our family on July 2nd! Caroline was about 2 weeks early but still weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. She is just precious and I've already had several people say she resembles her beautiful aunt:) She has had a few bumps in only the few days she has been with us and continues to have some breathing problems. She is making progress in the ICU and we are hoping she is able to go home any day now but please send up your thoughts and prayers for her quick & painless recovery. Just looking at my brother hold his daughter brings tears to my eyes. He looks like such a proud father and she looks so content in his arms; they have both had such an eventful time with unexpected issues arising yet they remain so steadfast and calm; I am proud of their courage under fire and their determination to have the best medical staff assist her. We have never been super close growing up & certainly had our fair share of growing pains. But as we have matured into young adults, even though we've taken very different paths and live clear across the country from each other, we have grown to appreciate each other's differences and embrace the fact that we are from the same wonderfully loving family & I know we both consider ourselves richly blessed for that. And I think we will now grow closer as we have now experienced the joy of parenthood and will discover the journey of raising children together. They have asked me to be Caroline's godmother and I am honored to help guide her on a spiritual path in God's ways. I am looking forward to September when I can hold her & spoil her in person when I fly down to Atlanta for the Christening!

Boston's Blue Lake Bash!

So not only did this lucky boy have a pinata party in New Orleans and a beach trip on June 24, but we threw him a Brawley Birthday Bash on Blue Lake on June 27, 2009. My in-laws were kind enough to let our family & friends gather for a day of fun in the sun at their house. We had a slip & slide set up, some kids went swimming, used the slide, took a boat ride & got pulled behind on the tube. There were water balloons and the hot tub was open for business and a delicious BBQ dinner. We had 35 people join us on the big day and the best part was I was able to log onto my laptop and have my Mom join us from afar via video conferencing for Boston's Happy Birthday song and while we opened his gifts. [My Dad would have loved to get in on this, but he was in the Azores, Portugal visiting his brother]. It was the next best thing to having her there. And the biggest hit of all was the Mel's sno-ball stand! I set up a stand with our new shaved ice machine (thanks Gma & Gpa M.!) & syrups that I had made (thanks Mom & Traci for helping) and it was just like the sno-balls we enjoy back home! Each of the kids must have had at least 5 of them and I think some of the parents got to sample the heavenly nectar cream flavor topped off with condensed milk! Boston received so many wonderful gifts; everyone was so generous! We were just thankful to have so many people that are important gathered together to celebrate him and happy to send them off with some awesome goody bags:)

Boston's first birthday on the Oregon Coast!

I know I am not the first mom to say this nor will I be the last. Moms all around the world who speak many different languages look at their babies on their first birthdays and wonder where that year has gone....it seems just like yesterday Boston was welcomed into our world with open arms. He has grown into such a joyful & adorable little boy and we are truly thankful to be his caretakers in this life. He has gone from sitting in one place & sleeping almost all day to sitting up then crawling then pulling up on things and now he stands and can hold on to just about anything! The progress a baby makes in only 12 months is truly a miracle, second only to the miracle of sperm and egg forming to create a unique human being. He was so helpless and so reliant on us for his every need and now he is becoming independent and curious about the world around him and is so ready to try out new things. He has 8 teeth and is working on his 2 year molars! In fact when we went in for his one year checkup on Thurs., Dr. Mason said "Congratulations, Boston, you have tripled your birthweight!" He weighed in at over 25 pounds and just 12 months ago he was born weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces! [Sidenote: people stop me in stores and on the street to tell me just how handsome and precious he is. My repsonse is always, "well I can't argue with you! Thank you!" Dr. Mason just confirmed it when he told me that he sees babies all day long but that Boston truly is striking and if he had a prize for the cutest baby of the month, it would go to him!] He had his first peanut butter sandwich last week and I took him on the antique carousel (AKA flyin' horses) at Jantzen Beach yesterdayz! So as our precious boy grows right before our very eyes, we will be beside him supporting him & cheering him on as he discovers how to walk and to talk and all the other things little boys are made of!

We left early in the morning on June 24 to head out to the Oregon Coast to celebrate Boston's birthday. We met my in-laws for lunch at the famous Mo's restaurant in Lincoln City. Then we all caravaned over to the Newport Aquarium; Benz enjoyed seeing all of the fish & marine life. From there we went to Newport's historic bayfront and braved the chilly, drizzly weather [when you think of the beach in Oregon in the summer, a bikini does not come to mind, more like a fleece hoodie!] & went to Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. From there we drove back to Spirit Mountain Casino [a casino on an Indian Reservation in Grand Ronde, OR & the most visited tourist spot in the state!] where we would stay the night. Now you may be asking why we would take two young kids to spend the night at a casino? Well the answer is because it was free! My hubby enjoys thrifty deals almost as much as me and received an awesome one that came with his Blazer season tickets. We stayed in the Lodge for free for one night with a free continental breakfast the next morning and Matt turned in a certificate he had for $100 and they gave him cash!!! And to top it off, we used the $100 gift certificate to the Legends restaurant for dinner that night. I was able to get a $51 lobster for free!! All we had to pay for was the tip!! That was probably the most expensive meal I've ever had (with the exception of our wedding, maybe) and it was delicious but I certainly wouldn't have splurged on it under normal circumstances but it was quite a nice treat! And we only ended up gambling about $15 so we came out in the green for sure! Benz had a great time playing in the kids arcade center too and he's now very fond of collecting those engraved flattened pennies just about anywhere we go:)

The next day we checked out and just the 4 of us headed to the sandy beach. It was Boston's very first experience with the sand and he must have put at least 4 handfuls in his mouth! Benz loved making a sand castle and flying a kite. We headed towards the cheese factory in Tillamook and on the way we must have seen over 10,000 dairy cows!! Benz is the biggest lover of cows that I know so he was thrilled and kept saying that the cows must have known he was coming because they all gathered outside to say hi to him! The cheese factory was quite fun; we had delicious grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and freshly churned ice cream cones for dessert and truly enjoyed the self-guided tour of the factory. It's neat to know the process behind where your dairy products come from. While we were in the store checking out our souvenirs, Matt got a text on his phone saying Michael Jackson had passed. What a shocker! We hope the king of pop can finally rest in peace!