Kiss My Grits

This morning I was on the phone with one of BFF's Michelle Wells Farmer (maybe you've heard of her). I was multitasking by talking on the phone, making my bed and feeding my kids all at the same time. I made 2 cereal bowls and 2 chocolate milks and carried them to the kids when I heard Dallas. What he said made me turn around with a quickness. Very seriously he says to me "Excuse me, but I didn't order this." I laughed at him and said "This isn't a restaurant, sorry buddy." Michelle heard the exchange and while laughing she says that I should tell him to "Kiss my Grits" (A spectacular reference to one of my old favorite shows, Alice) Of course I do. Dallas looks at me very confused and Addi says "I'll kiss your grits!"

Robert

Last year, at this time, I was waiting with bated breath for my phone to ring. I was waiting to hear that my sister was progressing in labor of her son. Of course, I waited all day to no avail as babies seem to have their own timeline. Later that evening, my youngest sister called to tell me it was happening soon and that since she was in the room (and I obviously wasn't), that she would hold the phone up and let me hear his birth. Now, as I write this, my nose tickles....this is my sign that this memory is going to make me cry a little bit. It was super simple for Debbie to hold up that phone, it cost her nothing. But, to me....being so far away as my first nephew was born....it was worth millions. I GOT TO HEAR his first breath in this world, his first cry. His cries joined with mine as a welcomed Robert Joseph came into the world. Thanks to technology, I received a text message with his picture within minutes of his birth and short of smelling him, I really felt I was there. Oh, how he was longed for! Oh, how he'd been prayed for! Oh, how loved he is!
I didn't get to actually hold R.J. until he was about 4 months old. My body wrought with sobs, I held him close. He so closely resembled my father that I thought for sure that the twinkling eyes WERE that of my dad and that now I had to choose a religion that believed in reincarnation. This little man, so sweet and soft, MY NEPHEW. He turns 1 today and again, I can't be there to celebrate his birth. But webcams, pictures and phone calls will help me be there in absentia and that will be okay.

Happy Birthday Robert Joseph. Your Tia loves you very much!

Mama Monday: He's got a point

In my home this weekend there was a lot of talk about our trip to New Orleans this summer. You see, this July is our church's youth gathering and I am on the planning committee. I am super excited for my children to experience a youth gathering at a young age and see what they have to look forward to. It isn't often you get to be in a place with over 25,000 youth in attendance, all of whom BELIEVE the same thing. It's pretty awesome and overwhelming. Another reason that I'm really anxious about sharing this with Dallas specifically is that when I was pregnant with him and I walked into a mass event I felt him move for the first time. He was moving in response to the loud music. To this day, my boy loves music and singing and I know that the gathering was were he was first exposed to it. So, I want to see his 5 year old face light up when he walks into the superdome and experiences it again. Oh, I'm just all goose-bumpy thinking about it.

This weekend as we are talking about it; I mention that I'm excited for the kids to experience a new city....New Orleans. One of my goals as a parent is to have my kids visit lots of places as my parents did for me. Dallas hears this and says "New Orleans sounds good, but I want to experience Chicago"

Wordless Wednesday: Why I can breathe in and out

Why I Love My Weekends...

This is what it is all about...
I love Addi's disinterest.

overheard

Dallas, to his 2 year old sister as they are walking hand-in-hand down the stairs.

"Come on, Addison. Let's go downstairs and pretend the Simpsons are appropriate."

Stuck Kid Over Here

We're in the habit of spelling stuff around Dallas so that he won't know what we are talking about. Mostly it's just swear words or people's names, so we assume that our spelling is just breezing by our sweet little 4 year old. Well, last night, while watching television, Jayson calls out to me from the kitchen- Is the G-A-Y guy still on there?

About ten minutes later, I hear Dallas calling out "G-A-Y guy over here!" I asked him to repeat himself since I really didn't think I'd heard that right. "G-A-Y guy over here!" I look over to the couch and he has somehow wedged himself in the couch between the two seats. I asked why he was saying "G-A-Y guy". To which he quickly responded "It means stuck kid."

An Ideally Perfect Place

Blogging is something that happens in today's world. No longer do you hear "I can't wait to tell so-and-so what happened" and instead we hear "Oh, I can't wait to blog about this". So, anytime something really funny happens to me at home or school and I can't wait to blog about it, I remember that I don't even have a blog. For a while, I tried Friendster and that calmed the itch, but then nobody had a Friendster anymore and I moved to MySpace and then I remembered I wasn't 20, so I moved to facebook where it isn't blog-friendly. So, where am I supposed to capture all these nuances of life? PROUTOPIA. My newly created country where everything is amazing and hysterical even when reality is not. You're welcome to visit anytime. We have no borders.