December Days

      Earlier this month we were lucky enough to see my sister and my niece who were visiting at my grandparent's house on the coast.  They will be moving soon to El Paso where my brother-in-law is stationed so I was really glad to spend time with them before they left!  We took the kids to the park and the children's museum down there and they all had fun playing together.



My pretty sister Ashley and Jude!

How cute are these cousins?!

Grammy and all 5 of her great-grandbabies!

Papa playing ball with Joey

This little angel gives me flashbacks; she looks so much like her momma did at that age!



He loved pretending he worked at Kroger's

Jude and I couldn't make it up into the tree house, too many ladders.

Jake insisted I take a picture, lol.

Love the playhouse!

Forget the tree house I always wanted as a kid, I want this in my backyard!

One thing about having all boy cousins, Allison has lots of protection ;)


  

Thanksgiving, Birthday, Sickness and Scares

     I have been super busy lately with my guys!  We had Thanksgiving at our house this year and most of Phillip's family got to come down for a visit.  Big family, crammed house but we all enjoyed it.  The boys got to play with their cousins James and Abigail and they all had so much fun.  Being that there were 6 kids total there was not a dull or quiet moment in the Hearne house, haha!  Thanksgiving dinner was delicious!  It was Phillip's first time to smoke some turkeys and like anything he cooks, it tasted like a little piece of heaven.  I totally ate a gazillion yummy leftovers over the next couple of days.  Food just seems to get even better after it's been refrigerated!

Jake as an Indian at school during their pow-wow.

    

Cutting one of the turkeys, yum!

The kids loved getting wagon rides.

Giving Mommy his best Thanksgiving smile!

He was napping during Thanksgiving dinner but woke up ready to eat.

Some trampoline fun!

Jesse and Aunt Angela

Grandma with two of her grandsons

Jake having a shoot-out with Grand-dad

The guys hard at work, haha!

The delicious spread of food!!

     While family was in town we also got to celebrate Jude's 1st birthday by going to Gatti's Town for lunch followed by a little football themed party here at our house.  I cannot believe my baby is 1!  Didn't I just bring him home from the hospital a few months ago??  Lol.  I dressed him up in a Cowboy's outfit with some cute football leggings(which got no love from Daddy BTW).  My favorite part was when Jude dug into his "smash cake".  He absolutely enjoyed it! 

 These were taken the day of his actual birthday.

After a ton of pics with Jude looking down or not being still Jake came to my rescue and got this guy to laugh.

Sort of a tradition for us now, going to DQ for birthday treats.

Daddy and Jude dude ready to eat.

Very first time to eat ice cream!

And this was his poor face after it was gone, lol.

Birthday Party later on that week.

Halfway to becoming Shrek, haha!

He totally dug in here.

My lil football player likes to dance.

Mr. Lucky Jes scored the jackpot!

Cannot believe Joe Joe rode this; he was very brave and giggled the whole time.

Roller coaster simulator...I miss the real thing!

Deal or NO Deal! They came out pretty good with Dad being smart and taking the deal after 2 cases were left.  Turned out they had the case with the most cash though...of course. Lol.

     That following week we all got the dreaded stomach flu virus.  That crap lasted what seemed like an eternity and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.  I've never been that ill before!  Poor Phillip got the short end of the stick since he was the janitor who had to deal with the upchuck.  Jude had it Monday, then Joey Tuesday, followed by me that evening, and Jesse in the middle of the night.  Phillip was a lifesaver and nursed us all and he had no time to rest afterwards because he got it the next morning. 

     On that same week while Joey was getting sick, Jude was eating in his highchair.  I was in chaos-mode and after he finished I went over and took his tray off but I forgot to grab a paper towel to clean him up and stupidly ran to get one.  All during a 5 second period he stood up and slipped out, landing directly on his head on our ceramic tiled floor.  I saw it all in slow motion and couldn't get there fast enough.  His sweet little face seemed to spell out "oh no" right before he fell. It was one of the most terrifying things I've ever experienced as a mother.  He was crying, I was crying, but thank God he was moving.  We iced his head right away, which was a little red.  He seemed fine afterwards and there was no bump so based on all that(and Joey currently throwing up everywhere)me and Phillip knew if we took Jude to the E.R. we'd probably be sent home with an arrogant response like, "he's fine, kids are resilient, just watch him closely over the next few days". 

     We like to think that we know how to handle everything because we have 4 kids and we've "been there, done that"...for the most part.  Well, I will never assume such nonsense again.  Day 2 after the accident Jude woke up with side of his head badly swollen.  In a completely not-funny-at-all sort of description, it was egg-shaped on one side.  I drove him to the children's E.R. crying hysterically, praying, and thinking my child was bleeding internally.  The doctor in the E.R. looked over his head and said since it was significantly swollen they would need to run a CT.  Jude was the best baby ever, he was still during the entire scan and they got the images they needed in one try.  Afterwards the doctor informed me Jude had a hematoma and they were unable to detect a fracture but were still waiting on the radiologist's opinion of the scan.  I was rejoicing and felt so relieved! 

Swollen on his left side

Really noticeable right around his left eye

     Then thirty minutes later she came back and said the radiologist confirmed there was a small skull fracture; it was like someone had punched me in the stomach.  While I was quickly losing my grasp on my emotions she said they called the neurologist and we'd need to wait to see what he wanted to do.  What little I knew about medical terms I knew enough to know that hematoma and nuerologist meant something was wrong.  Nurses came in next to hold him down as he screamed and fought to try to find a vein on his tiny wrist.  They got the IV in and took his blood and double wrapped his lower arm with a brace and tape.  I just knew he was going to go into surgery and I was bailing. 

Playing peek-a-boo with doctors, nurses and anyone else walking by.

My poor baby :(

     Thankfully prayers were answered when the neurologist came to speak to me and said the words, "he's going to be fine".  He informed me that skull fracture was a very small one and should heal with time because he was so young.  They do want me to take Jude back in January to confirm he's healing properly and that the fracture doesn't become a "growing fracture".  So we aren't completely out of the woods but I know that God is watching over Jude and with the power of prayer the appointment will prove he's okay.  December 1st will go down in history as one of the most scariest days ever!  We are all incredibly thankful, times like this really make you count your blessings.

Mr. Sensitive & A Little Rascal

     Yesterday was Parent/Teacher Conference Day since it was a holiday and there was no school.  I have never been to one before because I am a big baby and I send Phillip instead.  This year though it happened to land on a Friday and since Phillip is off on Fridays I decided it was my time to go and face the teachers.  When I was in Elementary I was extremely nervous around teachers especially if I was reprimanded in the littlest bit, I can still remember the knots I would get in my stomach. I guess this has never gone away because whenever the guys get a frowny face or a note sent home I freak out! Lol.

     If I was a teacher(thank the Lord I am not!)I would automatically assume that any bad behavior shown by a student would be because of their home life and/or how their parents were raising them.  Am I wrong?  So, when my oldest says a bad word or "potty word" as they say in school I think, "oh great...I am the potty mouth mom and that's all my fault! Now I do believe there are some exceptions, for instance I do not dig in my nose and eat boogers like a certain child that lives under this roof and neither does Phillip.  I know, yuck! But...aside from that kinda stuff I think it's safe to assume that your kid is a reflection of you, maybe not the whole reflection but definitely some specks. 

     Jacob's teacher meeting was first and I got to speak to both of his teachers, who seem like the perfect Kindergarden duo.  They started sharing some funny stories with me about Mr. Sensitive right away.  He has always been an emotional little guy so hearing this didn't shock me.  Apparently Jake asked to go to the restroom one day last week and he was gone longer than normal.  Another teacher had found him sobbing, sitting in a corner in the hallway on top of some boxes and she brought him back to class. Jake told his teacher he was crying because he had no money for the school store.  I had given both boys money that day for ice cream and Jake's teacher suggested that he could use his money for school store instead but he wouldn't get ice cream if he did.  He said no to that idea real quick. Hah!

     His teacher's told me he is a sweet boy and it breaks their heart to see him cry.  They said with most kids crying is a way to get attention and it's usually fake because they stop when they're told but with Jacob he has to cry it out because he wears his heart on his sleeve for sure.  Of course his Daddy says this is the result of too much "titty time" as a baby, haha!  He nursed until he was 2, longer than any of the other boys. I was pleased to hear that he does really well in school, he loves learning, and is very excited to be reading.  The teacher's were glad that I get to help chaperone the upcoming field trip.  Of course I volunteer to go see The Nutcracker on stage. ;)
After that was over I was able to exhale and calm down a bit, but not for long since I had to walk down to Jesse's class and do it all over again.

     Jesse's teacher is hilarious!  She makes me feel ancient since she is 23 years young.  This is her first year to teach as a homeroom teacher, she'd only been an aid before so I don't think she's burnt out yet. Lol!  She does seem like a really fun teacher though and you can tell she loves her kids by the way she talks about them.  She cracked me up with her ability to act and sound exactly like my Little Rascal!  She said Jes is one of those students who is quick to learn everything but it's a matter of getting him to sit and do it.  He loves math the most, and he soo did not get that from me.  He's not a big fan of artwork like coloring or drawing, he gets frustrated if whatever he's drawing isn't perfect and gives up.  Apparently I was the only parent who didn't get to take home a portrait because that turkey head didn't complete his the day before!

     We laughed a lot about his mischievous side and she told me she wished she had a punching bag or treadmill in the corner of her room so he could get his aggression all out; implying that he was "all boy".  She informed me that he comes up to her and hugs her during class and even sits by her at lunch often sharing his chips with her because they're her favorite. I dunno if he has a crush or if he has figured out how to be naughty and nice at the same time.  It sounds like the same kinda stuff Daddy does to get out of trouble with me! Lol!

     I walked out of the school smiling and laughing to myself but I was so relieved to hear good things about Mr. Sensitive and Little Rascal.  I told Phillip I dunno how we did it but so far the first 2 are turning out okay, haha!  ;)

Boys of Fall

     Everyone knows I am not the biggest football fan but now that Jes is playing I keep saying I need to learn more about it.  At Jesse's first game last week I realized just how clueless I was.  Everyone started clapping and I joined in knowing that obviously something good for our team had occurred but I hadn't the slightest idea what it was. Right after that a young girl in front of me turned around and asked, "that was a first down, right?"  My reply was a dumbfounded look.  Haha!  Luckily I was beside Phillip who gave her the answer so I didn't feel too embarrassed in front of a 5th grader. 

     The other day Phillip recorded a football program for me to watch on ESPN.  When he first mentioned it I pictured something along the lines of a "football guide for dummies" and thought, oh great.  He told me I should watch it and I'm really glad I did because it wasn't about rules or plays at all.  Kenny Chesney directed it and it was titled The Boys of Fall.  I don't know which came first, his song or the show but the music video has clips of the show.  Seriously...who cries while watching an ESPN football special...that would be me. LOL.  I don't wanna "Tim Taylor" the whole show with my description and ruin it for anyone that wants to watch it, so I'll just say it's definitely worth it. 

     I had no idea that football meant so much to young guys (beyond the winning factor) or the values and life lessons that they take from it all.  I actually feel like I missed out on all that; I didn't do any sports in high school.  I can see how sports might have steered me into a better direction than the one I chose to go down in those lovely teenage years. Any who, you live and learn and I got a good cry out of it thanks to Aunt Flow's visit and her emotions.  I am all too aware of time by simply seeing how fast all my guys are growing up. It's so very important to live in the now.

     Alright, time to lighten up the mood now, lol!  Today was a really good day.  I took Joey and Jude and we all 3 went exploring outdoors.  Joey had a blast!  That kid loves being outside.  I parked near our reservoir and off we went, down a trail that followed a little stream into the river.  There were big trees that had fallen and made a perfect bridge across the creek. I was holding Jude while I crossed over first showing Joey how to do it and then told him, "okay your turn" my toddler jumps right into the cold creek fully clothed, shoes, socks and all. LOL! He was a mess after that and because of his wet jeans sand was now caking onto him as well.  Normally this mess would have stressed me out but I couldn't help but laugh at that crazy lil guy.  Guess he figured using the tree trunk bridge took the fun out of it all.  Hah!

     After we played around in the woods some more we had to go pick up the big boys from school and then I took them them all to the park.  I caught a first glimpse of Jesse trying to be a mack daddy!  He always makes friends with boys but today I noticed that he was all about 3 girls that were around his age.  Jes and a group of boys were playing tag and Jes kept paying close attention to the girls and would shout, "Hey girls, try to get me!"  He didn't know I was watching him and he continued to try to get those girls to play with them.  The girls were too busy holding hands and sliding down the slides together and in my head I was thinking, "smart girls, stay away from those boys until your 18". LOL.  It soo reminded me of my favorite movie, Now & Then and I secretly wished I was 10 years old again for just a second.  ;)

     They all had fun and I think we are gonna try to hit up the park once a week until the weather gets too cold because these guys have endless amounts of energy that needs to be burned up.  Also I am much happier when they aren't bouncing off the walls at home.  Jesse had his 2nd game last night and he did really good!  At one point he forgot it was flag football and tackled a kid to the ground, haha!Even though I love watching the boys play baseball it sucks big time that it occurs in May when it is smouldering outside and I literally wanna die, lol. I really enjoy football because the weather is awesome!  In my opinion it's much easier to stay warm in cold weather than to avoid being hot and miserable in the summertime!

Jesse is #9 playing center

"Family Day" on base!

The guy from Swamp People was there so they had this set up for pictures.

Pretty day at the lake

Right after he jumped in

At the park on the Lion King rock