Laziness

So, I know I could do a google search. I realize that I could find out this information for myself. Having said that, I would like to fully admit that I'm just too darn lazy for all that and so I've decided to post about it and I'm sure that one of you can help me.

Please someone tell me where/how I can get one of those cute little things that you can put as your picture? Like down were you can "follow my blog", there's these cute little squares that represent who you are. I know how I can make that my own picture, but seriously... pictures of myself are the bane of my existence right now, so I need something cute and fun. Shayla and Heather, you both have something different, so share the love! Where can I get one?

Thank you. That is all.

Need I Say More?

True to my word, my last post was not about the boys. Having pointed that out, I just cannot possibly wait any longer to share these adorable photos of Mr. Kermy. He's just so completely edible!

My child is a genius. He has already set tremendous goals for himself and practices every day to achieve them. The above picture, for instance, is him practicing to fit his ENTIRE fist into his mouth. Yes, people... the whole thing. Now wait... you say that's not enough to get him into Harvard? Well, we'll see... you can all just wait 18 years and then eat your words. Kind of like the way he's eating his hand...

And this is Mr. Kermy smiling after filling out his application to Harvard...

And this is Mr. Kermy laughing because he got accepted into Harvard all while everyone thought that eating your own fist doesn't make you a genius.

Really, need I say more?

Spreadin' the Joy

I was sitting in Olive Garden the other night (my birthday dinner with the Reed family) and was having the hardest time not eavesdropping on the table next to ours. (I had chicken fettuccine, by the way... yummm) Okay, so I wasn't really trying very hard not to listen, but don't judge me... they were talking super loud. Anyways, at first they were talking politics, and I immediately got nauseous and tuned them out. (It was so nice to receive those 8 million messages on my machine yesterday asking me to vote for every politician with a pulse, but I am SOOOO ready for this election to be over!) Well, then their conversation turned to Halloween and Trick or Treating (it was that night) and I couldn't help but tilt my head back in their direction. You know what this chick said?!? She said that someone very important that lived somewhere very renowned did a very famous study that concluded that there are roughly 8000 calories in one of those little orange pumpkins that all the kids collect their candy in. Seriously? Must people go and ruin a perfectly good holiday by attaching statistics to it like that?!? I was JUST FINE, thank you very much, without having an actual number associated with how terrible I was/still am/will continue to eat after this wretched holiday has passed. Well, you all know me, I can't possibly hear something so upsetting without passing along the joy to anyone who will listen. So there you go, people. Happy Freakin' Halloween! Enjoy your candy.

P.S. I was eating a mini twix bar while I typed this. It was soooo worth it!

This is Your Brain After Babies...

I've been working from home on my computer for the past 2 hours and found the blogging world calling my name. How can you be on the computer and not check out everything waiting for you on your google reader? It took all of my willpower to actually do the work first, rather than put off the boring Quickbooks stuff in order to read about everyone else's night that is most definitely funner than mine right now. (Is "funner" a word? Well, if it wasn't, then it is now.)

As it is, Mr. Kermy is fast asleep in his swing. I should put him to bed, but he needs to eat once more before officially calling it quits. I know, I know... never wake a sleeping baby. But these are my choices: a. Wake him now (while I'm still awake), feed him, and then effortlessly toss him in the crib with the hopes that he'll sleep until 6 am. (Worst case scenario he'll wake up once around 3 am) -OR- b. Toss him in the crib, make a mad dash for my bed, lay there awake because I KNOW the minute my eyes close he'll start squirming for some milk (since technically he hasn't eaten since 6 pm), finally fall asleep, wake up @ 1 am to feed him, put him back to bed (while risking the chance that he'll be wide awake and want to play for an hour), crawl back into bed only to wake up at 6 am to feed again. Don't ask me why, but topping him off right before I go to bed almost always guarantees a good solid chunk of shut-eye for me. Wow... I cannot believe I just gave you a running commentary of Kermy's night schedule. Even as I'm typing it, I'm thinking how totally boring this must be... but I just can't stop myself. THIS is what happens when you have a baby! Word vomit... all the time. I'm warning all of you now (I know, it's a little late). This post was merely an attempt to get away from doing more work. I should have put a disclaimer up there at the top. WARNING: ONLY READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE CATASTROPHICALLY BORED AND ARE TRYING TO PROCRASTINATE DOING YOUR WORK. THAT IS WHAT PROVOKED THIS POST, AND THAT IS TRULY THE ONLY REASON WHY YOU SHOULD ALLOW YOURSELF TO KEEP READING IT. IF IN FACT YOUR CURRENT SITUATION APPLIES TO THE ABOVE STATEMENT, BE AWARE THAT THERE WILL BE POINTLESS BABY-TALK INVOLVED. CONSIDER YOURSELF FOREWARNED.

Well, I seriously considered cutting and pasting that little warning up at the top, but suddenly I find it very funny that you are all still here reading this. You know you can't stop reading now. And I digress.

P.S. I promise that my next post will have nothing to do with babies... more specifically... my babies.

P.S.S. (Or is it P.P.S...will someone please tell me?) That previous comment is probably a lie. Just so you know.

P.S.S.S (Seriously... it's going to bug me all night now) No, really... no babies. I think I mean it this time...

The Good, the Bad, and the Impossible

So one thing that you kind of know happens when you have kids, but totally don't understand the extent of, is all the growing that occurs. It starts at the very beginning when you first notice that little "baby bump" that is just "so darn cute." You're excited. You can't wait to start wearing those maternity clothes and for people to notice that "you're showing". It's proof that you are, indeed, doing the one thing on earth that NEVER gets old. You are making something amazing, therefore, you are amazing. And then, suddenly, your little "baby bump" starts getting a little bigger. And then it starts getting a lot bigger. But you stay cool... it's okay. You knew you were going to get big. And then it just keeps on growing! And suddenly, you're in your 8th month (okay, okay... you're 7th month) and you are starting to wonder how in the world things could possibly grow any more. And then... they do. They just KEEP GETTING BIGGER. Oh, and by "they", I mean EVERYTHING. Not just the belly. There are certain things that nobody warned you about, or if they did, you sure as heck either didn't listen (women who are pre-baby have a tendency to do that) or you just down right didn't believe that that would ever happen to you.

And then the baby comes. And in an attempt to keep things from getting too graphic, I'll just say that the growing doesn't exactly stop there. And while the belly sort of went away, it didn't really go away. And you patiently (or not so patiently, if you're at all a human female) wait for your body to return to "normal". As a side note, I want you all to know that I started laughing out loud after typing that last sentence. It took a LONG time after Noah was born for me to figure out a very key part of becoming a mom. NORMAL DOES NOT NOW AND NEVER WILL AGAIN EXIST. That applies to everything. Time, control, emotions, and most definitely your body. Being a mom, for me at least, means attempting to recreate normal every second of every day. But anyways, getting back to all that growing...

So there's all the physical stuff. And everyone hears about all that emotional growing that does indeed occur pretty much every day. But many people don't know that there is such a thing as the "impossible growth". Yesterday I was faced with the challenge of growing in such a way that no science or earthly power could explain. I was rocking Mr. Kermy in his room, hoping he'd fall asleep quickly so I could get Noah off to his own dream world. Noah, in turn, was in his room, and I figured he was probably enjoying the extra few minutes of play before bedtime. The next thing I know, I see Noah quietly walk up beside Mr. Kermy and I, with such a look in his eyes that could break a mothers heart. He reached up his hands and motioned for me to hold him and rock him the way I was rocking little Kermy. Here was the dilemma. And I'm sure many mothers have faced this and thought the same thing. Surely there wasn't enough room on my lap for both children. One would wake the other and there would most definitely be crying involved. I reached for Noah and the most miraculous thing occurred. I'm telling you, people, you had to see it to believe it. Right before my eyes, I watched my lap grow. Suddenly there was all of the room in the world for my boys and I knew without a doubt that there always would be.

Okay, Okay... I guess some of that growing isn't all bad...

Look What I Made!!!

I have absolutely no excuse. I mean, except for moving into our new home (by myself and 9 months pregnant), finally welcoming my husband back home, giving birth to a beautiful little boy, and recreating our own definition of what we call our family… yeah… except that stuff, I have absolutely no excuse for taking so long to blog. In fact, you’d think that with so much going on, I’d have oodles of stuff to say! I bet all of you thought I had quit blogging for good. Well, I’m back and ready to catch up. Without further ado, let me introduce you to our new little one:

Caden James Reed

Born: July 22, 2008
7lbs, 12oz
19"

I make some pretty cute babies, huh? For those of you wondering, Cade was in the NICU after he was born. He had some breathing difficulty, but got to come home with us at the normal time. He's totally fine now. It’s been an incredible experience this time around. It’s so fun to watch and see how similar Cade is to Noah, and so TOTALLY different all at the same time. Lots of people tell us that they look a lot alike, but Cade definitely has more Ivey in him. Plus, I’m sure you can’t really tell, but Mr. Kermy (that’s his nickname since when you hold him up, he curls his legs up like a little frog) is working on growing a beautiful head of red hair. (He gets that from his Great Grandma Ivey). He also completely escaped the curse that is Noah’s hair. (Noah has what we call “The Perfect Storm” occurring on his poor little head. I’m not kidding people… all of the cowlicks look like a bunch of converging hurricanes.) Cade has the most bubbly personality and is ready with a laugh and a smile at any given moment. We fortunately also escaped that terrible colic that Noah was plagued with so badly. It’s a rare moment to see Mr. Kermy really upset. And he’s only 3 months old but definitely knows his big brother and loves him to death. Noah, in turn, is a great big brother and (knock on wood) hasn’t had even 1 jealous outburst. I love that they are already getting to be the best of friends, but I fear that Mommy is in for a real ride once they get older. We’ve got some real double trouble coming our way, I think.

Noah just woke up from his nap. That's my cue to wrap things up. Oh, and by the way, do you know where the word "cowlick" came from? Yeah, some guy thought it up because if you've got a cowlick, it looks like some cow came up and licked your head, leaving the hair going in every direction. How funny is that? I think cowlick is my new favorite word...

Bliss

I slowly closed my eyes as I felt my fingers curl themselves ever so slightly around the bar in front of me. Even with them closed, I could sense the bright red color that, for tonight at least, signified my freedom. It had been forever, it seemed. I allowed myself one small step forward as I listened for the tiny squeak that I knew would inevitably accompany the turn of the wheels. Most of the time that noise would annoy me along with a million other aspects of this errand, but tonight... no... tonight I would allow that noise to be my background music. I would allow it to lull me into a false sense of time, allow it to carry me senselessly up and down the isles. I knew by heart that my first stop would be that beloved dollar section. Oh, how many times had I urged myself to pass by, knowing that my small shopping partner would never allow me to exit without something in stow? But this errand was different. I was alone this time. Blessedly child-free. When was the last time I'd been able to visit this wonderful world of red and white without dodging the toy section and hurrying through the rows of bliss only to grab and get through the check-out lane without any tantrums or mishaps? How long had it been? As I aimlessly wandered up and down every isle in the store I knew that my time here would be ending soon. I knew that I must return, and I knew then, just as I know now, that tomorrow I will surely awake and wonder if it was all just a dream...