Who Dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints...Who dat!

Oh when the Saints go marching in, oh when the Saints go marching in...and baby I'm gonna be in that number, when the Saints march to Miami!

That's right, last night history was made in the NFL as well as in New Orleans.  My long awaited, beloved Saints won their championship game and with that scored a ticket to the Superbowl.  Typing these words seem surreal.  I'm not a big sports person.  I'm not even really emotional about sports and I have NEVER turned on ESPN, even  when my hard working husband has asked me too. ** edited to add-- I am very into Saints football...always have been....always will be....I was a season ticket holder for several years....I love me some saints football...anything else I could take or leave it ya know.....  This week has been a week of first for lots of things....

- my first playoff game
- my first NFC championship game
- my teams first NFC championship victory
- my teams first invite to attend the big dance
- the first time I turned on ESPN was this week and my husband wasn't even home
- the first time I cried at a Saint's game
- the first time I sat and prayed in the last 30 seconds of a game for a win
- I scored my first ever Superbowl tickets
- I will be attending the first Superbowl the Saints have EVER played in
- my first trip to Miami has been booked
- the first time I felt the caboose move and I happened to be in the dome!

The game was gut wrenching, emotional and one a hell of a football game.  I held my breath for the entire 2nd half.  I covered my eyes, my ears and cursed loudly.  At one point I considered listening to the game from the lady's restroom so I didn't have to see it.  It was all quickly becoming too much.  But in the end, in a miraculous overtime, in which we freaking won the coin toss and in which our kicker actually got the ball through the goal posts, we did it....who dat say dey gonna beat dem saints....not Minnesota!  not brett favre!


I was elated....here we are mere seconds later!

Our day started off great, we met up with some friends headed to the Big Easy for a late lunch, walked a little down Bourbon, and then headed to the dome. 

Upon arriving at the dome, it was wild.  More black and gold then you would ever dream off.  The New Orleanians were wild or as they say....crunk  ((v.) mixture of crazy and drunk).  Yes, New Orleanians have added a word to our vocabulary to describe the way of life during a Saint's game.

Our opponent was the Minnesota Vikings and their quarterback Brett Favre, who grew up in South Mississippi and lives a mere 10 minutes away from me.  I am essentially in Brett Country, which made living here the past two weeks a little tough, because I am not partial to Brett at all.  I don't get it, he lives here, but he plays for Minne-freaking-sota.  New Orleans is less then 2 hours away...pull for the home team!  Maybe I don't get it because I didn't grow up here or see him play in college, or maybe I'm just New Orleans through and through, but this city girl didn't feel too bad about winning the game.  Sure they played well, but we came out on top and that's a ball game.  Sorry Brett, but I'm glad my team is going to the Superbowl, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Upon arriving at the dome we saw plenty of these signs...

and plenty of these....

And you know they were both right!

Because when it came down to it, we pulled out a Victory.  In overtime...but, WOW! What a game!

Here we are with our friends, who are surprisingly still our friends after the game.  They were partial Brett Favre fans since they went to school with him and watched him play in college and they were partial Saints fans.  I *almost* felt bad cheering when they knocked Favre on the ground...almost being the key word.  Celebrating with the other 80,000 people our big WIN!

The dome was wild and I can only imagine the condition of the revelers and Saints fans that continued the party down on Bourbon!

So one more big WHO DAT!

And boys I'll see you in Miami!

The Saints are coming.....the saints are coming....the saints....

Shoes and Saints

For some time my children have been complaining that their shoes are too small.  In fact Meredith refuses to wear any shoes other then some Target look alike Uggs.  Trust me they look adorable with her smocked dresses for church.  Noah has also started complaining.  He rarely complains of anything, but he has gotten to the point of refusing to put on his blue shoes. 

I have stated to my husband numerous times the past couple of months weeks, that the kids needed new shoes.  He has asked me numerous times to please go and get them some.  I haven't....I know mother of the year.  It's not that shoes are so damn expensive, which they are....or that they outgrow them so damn fast, which they do.....it is the mere fact that I need both tikes with me to try on new shoes to make sure they fit which can be hairy at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.   See once I pick them up from school and mother's day out, then feed them lunch it is way too exhausting to corral them back into the car to go to a shoe store.  Especially one that contains a train table and calico critters table and that will inevitably end in a fight when it is time to leave the store.   So that is honestly the bottom line, I'm just a too big a chicken to get my kids shoes.

Until this week....  This week my husband laid the smack-down.  Which he never does....so when he did, I knew he was serious!  He said....quote/unquote..."you know those Saints tickets we have for Sunday, well if the kids don't have new shoes by then...we won't be going."  He said this Monday...today is Friday and today the kids got some new shoes....in fact Noah got two new pairs of shoes....one navy pair and one red....he said  "I wan wed shoes momma!"  and how could I refuse.  Everyone should have at least one pair of red shoes right!  I knew what his dad would say to that so I bought the navy ones too!

So now...on Sunday I'm headed to the dome!  WHO DAT Baby!

What he says...some of it is absorbed

Patience is a very big word in our house.  Since Meredith was born it is used daily. 

"God grant me the patience to get through this day."
"Because counting to 10 helps mommy find her patience."
"Meredith have some patience, I will bet there in a minute!"
"Noah, where is your patience?  One second and I will get it!"
"Have Patience.....PLEASE!"

I don't think a day goes by that I don't utter the word patience to someone in this house or to myself.  In fact I don't think a day goes by that Josh doesn't utter it as well.  We are big at instilling patience in our household.  Maybe because my husband has gallons of it and I have none and hope to instill a little into our kids.  I am learning to get some of my own,  having 2 tikes has definitely helped me out.

A little background about what comes next.... At Noah's mother's day out program there is a handicapped door entrance.  It has a red button a few feet in front of it and when you press it, both door magically open.  Lots of parents stand outside the door with very patient children waiting for the doors to shut so the kids can have their turn pressing the magic button.  Not me and my kids, if the doors are already opened we just repress and walk in, I don't have time to wait for them to close and do it.  Most of the time we are rushing.  The rule is Noah presses it on the way in since he stays there and Meredith on the way out.  I established this rule after 3 weeks of them running and fighting over pressing it.  It works for them and me and my sanity.

Anyway today I was caught off guard with what happened...

"come on guys let's go, remember Noah presses the button on the way in Meredith!"

"Noah, hurry, hurry, go press the button!"

we were a good 30 feet away, 3 little kids were coming up quickly behind us, Noah looked over his shoulder at Meredith and said...

"Have pay-shens TATA!"

And that folks is what I call DAMN good parenting!

hectic or daily life?

Just last week I thought to myself...Wow! Noah hasn't really entered the terrible twos, maybe we'll skip it.  Well guess what...I'm eating those words for sure.  Today he was slapped/spanked 4 times.  Why?  Because nothing else works.  I didn't spank him hard, not even enough to make a mark, but when I do he screams and cries because his heart is very broken.  Time outs don't work, screaming is extremely unproductive, and no matter what I do, he just goes about his business.  The spanking works for a little while.  I am sure it will wear off soon.

He is now going through this phase of throwing fits, hitting his sister, biting again and being aggressive.  It's typically not in his sweet little nature.  He has also gotten extremely whiny and his sleep is not as great as it used to be.  I finally figured out the culprit, he is cutting three of his 2 year molars.  One is already out, the other 3 are busting through AT THE SAME TIME.  He has chewed a hole in all of his uh-ohs or pacifiers.  He is frustrated that none of them "work."  He hands it to me and orders me to "fix it momma!"  When I tell him I can't he says  "need new one."  So now I'm between a rock and hard place....do I buy new ones or make him suffer through and wean himself while teething?   Although if I buy more I am sure he will just chew those up as well.  UGH....life.

These are now my worries, my hurdles to overcome in daily life. I remember the days of yesteryear when I did swallow studies and treated patients with memory and cognition problems due to stroke and head injuries and even gun shot wounds...hey I worked at charity hospital.  You never knew what you would see.  Then I did some work in nursing homes where I managed 300 patients diets and also did therapy on a daily basis.  I also worked in schools systems where I managed caseloads of children between 40 and 70 kiddos.  How did I do it?  How did I go from that to dealing with a 2 year old's tantrums and a 3 year old's going on 4's attitude?  I'm pretty sure my old job was much easier and I believe I was also better at it.

Today I went to the local cell phone store to get some tutoring on my phone.  I have a master's degree, but can't work my new cell phone.  I didn't get very far in my lesson, between trying to listen to the knowledgeable cell phone man, arm wrestling a 2 year old and then listening to the play by play of everything the 2 year old was doing wrong by the 3 1/2 year old.  At that point I scooped them up, thanked the guy for his time, grabbed my little sanity that was left and headed to the car.  It was there that I listened as a whole bag of $4 Reece Pieces were dumped into my Gucci.  I quickly followed that by an "OH SHIT!"  I try to use my favorite words only in extreme circumstances in front of my tikes....this was one of them.  The tikes just looked at me, knowing better than to ask for my purse to eat out of it.  Smart tikes.

Evidently the cell phone store was not enough to end our day or our outing and from there, I then went to the grocery.  It all goes downhill from  here.  Here I lost my patience, despite taking several moments to quietly and out loud count to 10.  I again spanked, threatened and was defeated by the tikes.  After racing threw the store, throwing things in the buggy, cursing myself and Dr. King for giving us this wonderful Monday off, I headed to the check out.  The computers were down, but I was determined not to leave without my groceries.  I felt like I had just survived the Cold War, or at least ran a 26 mile marathon.  I spent another 15 minutes waiting for my debit card, credit card or check to go through.   Finally it did....1 point for the momma.  Once we were in the parking lot, I wrestled a little boy into his car seat and patiently waited for my other tike to snap herself in independently.  I spent 20 minutes in the parking lot.  I repeatedly said my mantra in the store and in the parking lot..."God grant me the patience to get through this day and wisdom to know when to just go home and get in bed!"   Meredith repeated it in her most worrisome tone as well "God please give my momma her patience back...she needs it!"

Once we arrived at the homestead I couldn't turn around and put the kids back inside in their beds, even though I really wanted to.  We all have had a bit of cabin fever.  It was finally warm outside, the sun was shining bright and we all needed a little vitamin D.  So I sat in the sun and cleaned out my purse while the kids played and rode their jeeps in the driveway.  I removed receipts, useless paper, crayons, a princess pen, 3 hot wheels, 2 chipmunks, a toy train and 500 Reece pieces.  I got all the change and important things out and then dumped the purse over the trash bag.  One little chocolate Reece piece fell on the ground.  Meredith walked over and picked it up and said "Here's an "Oh Shit" that you dropped mom!"

Yes, it has been an Oh Shit kind of day.  Now if they would just take a nap that would be great.

Where I'm at...

Here goes some rambling because honestly I've got nothing for you.  I'm feeling better....better, not great.  I'm still sluggish and throw up every other day to every three days.  That's great, but not at all would be so much better.  I still get  nauseated daily, but not getting sick.  Which means I'm gaining weight, I know, now I'm throwing up and gaining weight.  4lbs in a month!  4lbs!  I would like to blame it on the muscle gain since I've started back regularly at the gym, but I'm going to go with it has to do with all the shit I have been eating since I've gotten an appetite back and am not worshipping the porcelain gods!

Now if I could only do something about the extreme fatigue.  You would think officially being in my second trimester I wouldn't be not so tired. I think working out at the gym kicks my ass at night.  Although I feel great doing it and right after, I am exhausted by about 4:30.  Maybe it's the gym and the tikes that wear me down.  Hell they wore me down before I was preggers, now I'm really dragging ass!  I know, I'm not winning mother of the year award lounging on the couch.  On a good note, I have started cooking again.  The kids are happy.  They hate to eat out.  Or they don't eat out.  We buy them extravagantly priced chicken nuggets for them to waste, but if I cook at home they gobble it down.  So back to cooking it's been.

The kids are great.  Busy, but great.  Noah started mother's day out 2 days a week....he LOVES it.  He loves to ask continuously "what dat noise?"  And whenever you ask him why?  He responds with "Because said so!"  He also wants to "wide in big twuck momma!"  He says that when he sees any 18 wheeler, garbage truck or any other larger truck on the road.  When I try and explain that he can't he gets really upset and cries.  Then he ask "wanna touch twuck momma!"  He is very verbal, he knows what he wants and he tells you what he wants.  Listening to him working on forming sentences warms my heart, you can tell he is the child of a "speech teratist!"  He generally is a very good child, he listens well, he shares when told with tears, but he shares.  He doesn't get into too much trouble, but he is busy.  BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!  He never sits still, well except for when he fell asleep on the hard wood floor in front of the tv which had one of the daily soap operas on.  Is that it, soap opera?  I think I called them soap bops when I was little.  Hell I don't know, I don't watch them, this one just happen to be on and he was too tired to ask me to put toons on instead.

Meredith is Meredith.  Serious as ever.  At night she plays Dr. B.  The girl one, because my Dr. B, the boy one who is the ob, is married  to her Dr. B, the girl one who is the pediatrician.  Did you get that?  The Dr. B's are married, the boy an ob, the girl a pediatrician.  I refer to them as girl and boy, because that's what she does.  They are really man and woman, with 4 of their own busy tikes!  Anyway every night she is Dr. B, the girl one, however she delivers the baby in this scenario, like the boy one does in real life.  So I lay on the couch, sofa, floor, wherever she tells me while she checks my vitals and then the Margot's, then she yells " Call the AMBULANCER" (yes I said ambulancer, isn't it cute!) and then she starts shouting things like "Don't worry, Ms. Mandi....I'M GONNA GET THAT BABY OUT!"  Yes, I am very worried when my 3 1/2 year old shouts things like that.  How can you not worry?  I'm thinking she might be a surgeon one day....she has absolutely no bed side manners.  She is also pregnant right now.  Yes, she is also carrying a girl baby, who she has named Girl Tate.  It's more of a double first name then a first and middle name.  Every morning I hear...."Momma your belly is getting so big!"  And I thank her for noticing those 4lbs I put on this month.  Then she retorts with "well look at mine it's getting so big too!  Don't you think?"  So then I comment on her every growing belly.  She is seriously too much, her imagination is awesome.  I love it!

Speaking of growing belly, today a few ladies in my circuit training class noticed the baby bump.  It is there.  I was 17 weeks with Meredith before I showed.  I'm still wearing all of my own jeans and shirts.  Although the bump is totally there.  I mean it is hard to hide it in yoga pants and a tight fitting yoga shirt.  Oh well, I'm preggers right.  

So there you go internets, that's where I'm at.....what about you?  What's going on?

Happy Birthday Poppa!

Happy Birthday Poppa!  We had a great time at lunch celebrating with you today!

And we hope you get that championship tonight for you birthday!  So in honor of your alma mater!

ROLL TIDE!

What they say....random

Momma, when baby Margot cries, I'm gonna say...."It's okay Margot don't cry, it's only a monster!"

****

Noah come put on your shoes.

Why?

So we can go get Ta-ta

NO!

Why?

Cause....cause said so!

****

Noah let's play choo-choo....say okay!

Ohh-kay

Noah you be dis one....say okay!

Ohh-kay

Okay noah now you drive dis way,  Noah now say Stop train

Say top tain!

No, noah don't say "say stop train", just say "stop train!"

Say top tain!

No NOAH!  Say "Stop Train!"

Say top train!

Nevermind Noah just play

Neh-mind baby jus pay!

****

Mom when I grow up I wanna be Beyonce,  I'm gonna sing single ladies too!

Oh bug I  hope one day you are a Beyonce.

Why?

Because then you can take care of mommy!

When you are little? 

Yep when I'm a little old mimi!

****

Momma, momma nuggle.....nuggle!

I lay with my littlest tike

Can you give momma a hug?

No

Why?

Cause said so

I reach over to give him one anyone

mush, Mush, MUSH ME MOMMA! while pushing me away

Noah I'm not smushing you!

Silly baby! giggling all over himself

Greetings from the Artic Tundra

No, I'm not seriously in the arctic tundra, I'm still here is South Mississippi, where it was 21 degrees.....read that people 21 degrees when I woke up this bright and early this morning.  With a wind chill of 15 degrees.....yes, I said FIFTEEN degrees...I didn't even know the temperatures could go that low here in the South. I mean we are in the South, not as southern as I used to be down in New Orleans, but still pretty freaking South.  The kids and I are so not used to it.  I mean putting on jackets and hats to head outside, it's just plain easier to stay in. 

Tomorrow though that all changes, Meredith goes back to preschool, with a hat and gloves, and thermal underwear if wehad any!  Yep, tomorrow we have to head out the house in these frigid conditions.  Tomorrow means back to our reality.  Back to the gym, back to the school, back to dance, back to all the other errands that I normally run.  I've really enjoyed our Christmas break, I'm sure when the tikes enter big school, I will enjoy these breaks even more so. 
We have had lots of fun during our time off, we went on a little overnight stay, saw many christmas lights, seen movies, rode in a horse drawn open sleigh, made smores over a firepit, made Christmas cookies, took art lessons, had multiple playdates with friends, lots of Christmas parties, unwrapped many a present, visited with often not seen family, hung out with cousins, spent many a day in our pajamas, spent many morning watching Cars in my warm bed snuggled together, we laughed, smiled and were just plain merry.  The time has flown, I'm gonna miss having my big girl home with us every morning, but she is really excited to get back to school and dance and back to seeing her little friends.  She misses them and her teacher Mrs. K. 

So, so long Christmas break, we look forward to meeting up with you again next year!

what she says....a love story

Seven years ago this very month, Mommy and Daddy met.  Daddy was a doctor and Mommy was a speech therapist at Charity hospital in New Orleans.  Daddy helped the sick people feel better and Mommy helped them learn to eat and swallow and talk again after they were sick.  That's where we met.  Then we fell in love, got married, had baby Meredith, then baby Noah and now we are about to have baby Margot or Camping.

Mommy can you tell me dat story again?

Sure.....repeat the above verbatim as verbatim as I could remember.

Mommy I love dat story.  Can you tell me it again?

Okay one more time.....Seven year ago this very month, Mommy and Daddy...

Wait...Mommy TURN IT LOUDER!

Huh?

I can't hear TURN DA STORY UP LOUDER. (We have bilateral ear infections...poor baby.)

Okay...SEVEN YEARS AGO THIS VERY MONTH, MOMMY AND DADDY....REPEAT THE REST OF THE STORY VERBATIM

Mommy I love dat story. 

Me too baby, it was a New Orleans love story. 

Can I be a New Orleans love story too?

Sure!

Okay Noah can be da doctor and help people and I will be da speech tere-ra-tist like you.

The speech therapist?

Yeah, da speech teratist and teach people how to talk and walk and eat.

Sounds good.  Mommy can I be da doctor too? 

Of course!

And da speech teratist.  

If you want, you can be anything. 

Okay. 

Mommy why you weren't da doctor?

Because it was easier to stay home with you one day being the speech therapist.

Okay I'll be da speech teratist and stay home with you when you are little.

Sounds good buggy!

I love how they think at this age....so logical.

A new year....anticipating lots of new adventures

I have to say that 2009 was a great year.  I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, 2 fabulous tikes who mean more to me and my husband than anything and another blessing on the way.  I mean seriously, it's just been a great ride.  Every year that I have known my husband has gotten better and better.  Saying I'm a lucky girl doesn't even begin to cover it. 

So, I am very sad to see 2009 go.....well some of it.  There were some events (uh-hm major rennovation) that I thought would never end.  Just thinking about it is causing me to break out in hives.   However, there were many great memories and a new year means my kids are getting another year older, more independent and growing up.  Time waits for no one. 

So here is a recap on some of the highlights and lowlights of this year, I mean what's the good without the bad:     Noah started walking, we put our house up for sale,   we took our first camping trip,  I turned 30 , I suffered with kidney stones again,  Meredith turned 3,  our house came off the market and started down the path of losing one's insanity,  the construction started, we went on one of our 3 beach vacays and came home to hell on earth, my sister graduated from law school,  we had our first dance recital, we went back to the beach, the remodel continued,  I began drinking heavily, I started going back to the gym, one tike became pacifier free,  I went insane, but I got a new kitchen and living room,  we went back to the happiest place on earth,  I avoided you for a long time, Noah turned 2, I found out I was pregnant and that pretty much sums up our year.

Ahhh, the trip down memory lane.  I didn't think I would do that, but it was fun.  My blogs were also way more entertaining in the beginning of the year if I may say so myself.  Read entertaining if my mundane life, entertains you.  

Anyway 2010 is here.  I'm back I am anticipating no major life changes this year....besides adding another little mouth to feed, gaining 40 pounds, hopefully losing it to, undergoing my 3rd c-section and you know becoming the mom to three tikes ages 4 and under......now that doesn't sound like anything life altering.  I mean I will not be putting the house up for sale or doing any more major remodeling projects, yes, nothing remotely close to any of that.
Happy New Years interenets!  I hope there are many new and exciting adventures awaiting you this year too!