Unfamiliar Morning

"Home is where you can say anything you like, because nobody listens to you anyway."

Good Morning...It definitely is an unfamiliar morning.
Our 2 oldest sons are at camp this week. We drove them to Ingleside on Fathers Day. I truly miss them. Not only because it's nice to have a built-in babysitter when I need or want to run out somewhere, but because they are an important part of my day.
Brandon was very excited. He really enjoys Tourettes camp. This is his 3rd summer there. He was a little upset last week because he thought he might have to go back on his medication. His meds make him so tired and he puts on a lot of weight too. He started rubbing his tongue across his teeth - and couldn't stop, even when it hurt and started bleeding. He took one of his pills and slept an extra 4 hours that morning. So he is at camp without his pills. He doesn't want to be so tired that he can't enjoy camp. He is doing whatever he can to control this "tic" on his own.
Ethan was a little nervous about camp. I think he'll make great friendships and have so much fun that the week is going to fly by for him. It will be nice for him to talk to others that understand more about OCD. I can talk to him about it, but I think it'll help him to talk to someone more his age too.
Campers and Counselors come from all over the world for this camp. England, Australia,... I find it amazing that we live less than an hour away. What a blessing. I hope our children continue to go and enjoy the camp and end up working there someday.
Last night there was a tornado warning where their camp is. I'm the type that believes that "no news is good news" so I'm going to believe that they are fine. I stayed glued to my laptop until the warning was over. I prayed while I watched the little red spot on the map move away from them.
The other part that makes this a different type of morning - Jakey is sleeping. In his crib. Since the day he was born (10 months, 3 days ago) he has slept with me at some point during the night. Not last night. Did I wake up with a smile on my face thankful for the full night sleep? No. I had to quickly get up and check to see if he was ok. Which he was. Which he still is. Still sleeping in his crib right now.
Jakey is now pulling himself up to standing, shaking his head no and "bobbling" it up and down for yes. He is eating mostly table food that we cut up into teeny tiny pieces. Those who know me know that I am a little freaked out about choking. Brandon, our oldest, choked on a grape when he was about 4 years old. To this day, I do not allow grapes in my home. My friends joke about how my children treat grapes like "drugs" when they come to their home and see them. They let out a surprised "You have grapes?!" And then gobble them up.
So I have 2 Noah quotes for this week. The day before the boys went to camp we attempted the impossible. A family photo. We got a picture with all 9 of us, but since Sarah was "in charge" we didn't get one with just our children. Sarah wouldn't let go of Daddy. But that gave us a different idea. We got a picture of Tom with our 3 daughters and one with me and our 4 sons. That worked. Of course, we had to do a little bribing to keep everyone smiling. We agreed to take them out to eat. This is very rare. Our children used to love going to Old Country Buffet - and with picky children, it's a great place. So we took them there after. It's changed a bit - for the better. And really wasn't as expensive as we had feared it would be. At one point Tom kept calling our son Ethan "Noah." I said (while pointing to each child and in a somewhat joking manner) "Tom I don't understand why you do that. Ethan looks like an Ethan and Noah looks like a Noah." Then Noah pointed at Brandon and said "And Brandon looks like an idiot." Ok. Not nice, but quick for an 8 yr old. A little later our children were eating their desserts and Ethan said "Is it hot in here?" Noah quickly said "No. It's just me." Where does he get this? Must be from being the 3rd boy.
Well, it's getting familiar again. Cats are meowing to be fed, Sarah needs a diaper change, dog needs to go out, children are hungry, and there is a request for Dora to be put on.
But first, I feel the need to go peek in on Jakey again :o)

Being "Mom"

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born."

It's been awhile. School is out - let the fun begin! Well, we will once the sickies go away. A few achey tummies, a couple of sick tummies too. And Baby Jakey has Roseola. For 5 days he had a high fever, then it went away and the next day he broke out in a rash. Once the doctor couldn't find anything to cause the high fever, I had a feeling we'd be seeing the rash. Not a big surprise.
It is nice to have our happy little boy again. Jacob is back to giving big "hi" and "bye" waves, kisses, and clapping his hands. Jakey can even pull himself to standing now. I think he wants to keep up with his siblings. I must say, this little boy is going to be well taken care of. He has brothers that love every little thing he does - and sisters that want to hold him and play with him all the time. At church, during peace, we all kiss each other. Now Jacob will give kisses too. He sits in my arms and just keeps making kissy sounds with his mouth while looking around. It's pretty adorable and makes our children laugh. I am excited to have another little boy to raise.
The same day that Tom and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary (Wow!), Brandon graduated from 8th grade. Woo Hoo! I tried not to think too much about Brandon graduating, but once he walked into the gym for the ceremony, I cried. Mommy got teary. Time has just flown by! Where did my little baby B go? He's so big! Taller than me! Amazing. I remember when he was about 18 months old. We were eating in a Baker's Square. An older couple came by and commented on how cute B was then looked at me and told me to treasure every moment because it goes by so fast. They were right. And I do treasure every moment of each child. I also treasure the wonderful man that shares these moments with me.
Today we took our children to the pool. After, Tom took our boys to shower and get dressed in one room while I took our girls to another. Standing there with my 3 daughters - I was just hit by the moment. Wow. I have 3 daughters. They were all saying different things to me, but the one thing in common was that they were all calling me "Mommy." There are 7 people in my life who call me "mom." When I stop to think about that, it just amazes me. It is wonderful.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I have many ideas. I love to be creative - and I always have a new idea to share. Someday I'd like to do something with one or more of my ideas. Hopefully I will. Sometimes when I get frustrated with not having the time to do my "own"thing - I just remind myself that right now my "job" is to be a mother. The nice thing is, at this time, our children would love to grow up and work together. They talk about us all living near each other and possibly having a family business. Being their mother, I would love that too. Maybe that's one benefit of 9 people in a 3 bedroom house. You learn to love being really close :o)