IT'S A BOY!!!!

Ok, I am no longer a bad mother if I admit I really wanted a boy this time. Now I'm intuitive:) I felt a little guilty wanting a boy in case it was a girl. Today, however, it was confirmed. By confirmed, I mean the ultrasound tech pointed to something with a little arrow and said "see that sticking out there? It's a boy". My first thought was just pure joy, my second: this picture with an arrow pointing to his, umm thingy, may haunt him for the rest of his life.
Ironically, on the way to the drs. office we all but picked a girl's name. However, when it comes to boys' names the choices are: Jochobed (submitted by Christin), Zerrubabal and Jereboam (both Georges) and Mommy still needs to think on this for awhile and read some baby name books (I'm leaning towards that one!).

I've got to run. More info and some adorable ultrasound pics to come!

You Know Shannon's Pregnant When. . .

her story's all start with one of the following, "on Regis and Kelly" "on Rachel Ray" or "Today on the View"

her children hear the music to Rachel Ray and say, "are they playing the game with the Mystery Taster today?"

her children don't bat an eyelash when midsentence she jumps up and runs to the trashcan/toilet to puke

were her children's stomach's examined the findings would look something like this: corndog, fishstick, french fry, pizza, apple, pizza, french fry, corndog, fishstick, pear

she's not embarrassed when people stop by and the door can barely be opened, because of all the toys, by the children still in their pj's at 1pm

she has to look at a calendar to see when she last took a shower

if she get's dressed the kids ask "where are you going"

and lastly, she hasn't blogged in forever because she uses blogging time to sleep!

Bring on the boys!

My girls aren't allowed to play with other girls. From now on they will only play with boys. They will be "those" girls that all the other girls hate because they think they are flirting with the boys when really they just know they make better friends. I know you're thinking, but all the other girls will hate them, doesn't that bother you? Nope, girls are mean and will hate other girls anyway so instead of spending time in their rooms crying that their best friends suddenly are snubbing them they can go play with the boys or their sister.
I know I sound a little jaded but that's just because I am! You see I remember everything being rosy until middle school. I have always thought it was something about turning 11 that made girls mean. Well it turns out that 5 is the new 11. Who knew?!?! A recent outing with other girls (just slightly older than Christin) gave me inspiration for a new movie: Mean Girls II: the elementary years. It sounds compelling doesn't it? Here's the general plot: An innocent but strong willed home-schooler meets some other girls. She asks to play with them but is told that it is Wednesday and they wear pigtails on Wednesday and since her mother cut off all her hair she can't play. Not one to be discouraged easily she notes that they are playing with stuffed animals. At the next chance encounter the girl brings not only a stuffed animal for herself but one for each of the girls. How can this plan fail you ask yourself? Thinking she will get her chance to play she skips into the room proudly displaying her animals for all to see. Unfortunately for her she does not have the right kind of animals, it seems that only people with Webkinz can play. Once again the child is shunned. . . I haven't decided which ending is better yet. Ending I wherein the girls are reprimanded and see the error of their ways and they all become life-long friends or Ending II in which the girl gets her revenge by having an acne free puberty will the other girls' faces look like peperoni pizza. . .
Ok, I may have exaggerated a little bit, we'll call it artistic license, but the story is loosely based on a true story that sort of happened one time. And that is what caused me to decide that my girls will only play with boys. Boys fight (which my girls are tough enough to handle) and move on with life remaining friends forever. That's what I want for my girls.

Now before my girlfriends start thinking I hate them I LOVE YOU ALL AND YOU ARE TERRIFIC!!!!!!! but I didn't meet you until later in life;) Well, I guess I did have some pretty wonderful girlfriends in high school and even middle school that I wouldn't trade the memories of for anything and and then there are my Haluwasa friends that I still love. I mean when I think about the sleepovers, jokes, pranks, shopping trips, wawa runs, late night talks. . . Crap, I need to let my girls make some girlfriends! Let's hope this turns out to be a comedy and not a drama!

There's starving children in china!!!!

You know the scene: A child is grumbling and complaining about the hot meal that has been put before them with little or no work on their part. A parent in frustration says what they never thought they would say, "You know, there are starving children in China who would love to eat" The child thinks, but does not dare to say, "you could send it to them but I don't think they'd eat it either because it's gross!" It all comes down to thanklessness.
Lately that has become a problem in our house. Christin doesn't want to brush her teeth, or clean up her toys, or brush her hair. Now the teeth I'm pretty sure it's illegal to pull them out but if you hear otherwise please let me know. The toys, well they're next but we wanted to do something big and drastic to show Christin we meant business. Some sort of announcement that said, "Let it be known from this point forward thanklessness will no longer be tolerated in the DeVol home." So we cut off all her hair. Crazy I know, the first lady that I told the story to at hair cuttery just looked at me with her own, ironically, unkept hair. However, we were blessed to have a hair dresser who also had a four year old and chimed right in with, "you know, if I cut it here (gesturing to a spot much higher on her neck then I had intended) we can donate it to Locks of Love." I thought for a second and then realized that was it. That was saying, "If you don't take care of your things (read hair, toys, teeth?) we will give it to someone who will appreciate it."
Now for those you that think I am a terrible, horrible, no good mother who's child will hate her for the rest of her life, you might be right, but trust me as much as Christin loved her long hair, cutting it did not destroy her self confidence. I still caught her looking in the mirror this morning and stating matter-o- factly, "I look beautiful today." So if all it takes to have a child that is both confidant thankful for the things she has is a few drastic moves lets pack up the toys and food and send them to China and while were at it we can pull a few teeth!

Hahaha, it's a sticker

After seeing an extreme close up of the picture of us at the Phillies game I concluded that the mysterious dot is a lavender smiley face sticker. Who knows how long that was there!

Mommy Body

My recent trip to Georgia got my thinking about how my body has changed since I had children. I don't mean my "love scars" aka stretch marks, or the way my bra size is constantly changing. I mean the fact that my body knows it's a mom and it knows when it's on vacation. On a typical day at home with the kids I might wait all day to go to the bathroom. I know those of you without kids are going, "but if you have to go how do you hold it all day?" to that I say, priorities my friend. I may have the 30 seconds to go but just think of all the other things I could be doing with that 30 seconds! In fact there are probably mommies reading this right now having to go! This is common, everyday for me, I hardly even think about. However when we (we being my body and I) were in Georgia I must have used the bathroom once an hour. Now your first thought might be, "honey you need to see your OBGYN that sounds like a UTI" Nope it's a SOETGWIW: So Excited To GO Whenever I Want. My bladder seemed to know that we could now use the bathroom whenever and wherever we wanted. It was like being a kid again, I saw every bathroom in every place we went. Oh the fun, the excitement, the many kinds of toilets, sinks and paper towel dispensers! Upon returning home last Tuesday I think I used the bathroom at the airport and haven't gone since;)
Another thing my body seemed to realize is that I did not need a soothing snack at 1:00pm. Most days as I begin putting children down for naps my body responds with a need for something sweet, it's favorite is raisinets but it will be satisfied by a scoop of ice cream, a cookie hidden from the sight of little eyes and forgotten about until then, a handful of chocolate chips, some icing, a spoonful of sugar, whatever: as long as it's sweet!!!! In Georgia I did not feel this need right after lunch. Now don't get me wrong we ate some great desserts but I did not need them, I merely enjoyed them.
I also slept without waking up every couple hours. I am convinced that once you become a parent it is impossible to sleep deeply except when you are separated from your kids. Even if your children don't wake you up at all during the night you are still waking up for some reason. It's as if your body refuses to allow you to rest just in case they might need you. Or maybe it's a defense mechanism so that the door handle turning wakes you up instead of a child's face 4 inches from your own waking you up. I believe that only happened to me once but it was so very frightening, maybe that's why I can't sleep deep, the fear of a tiny face looking at me and whispering "My bed is wet". Oh the horror.
So I guess I appreciate my bizarre body. It's amazing knowledge of how to be a mom starting with the first vomit of pregnancy all the way until. . . . . it's own end? I can already picture it "Welcome to Heaven Shannon, we've been waiting for you" "Awesome, thanks, can you please show me where the bathroom is?"

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Bloggers Block

I realize it's been nearly 3 months since my last blog. Unforgivable I know. I've had bloggers block. It's not that nothing interesting has happened, in fact it's been a great 3 months.
Christin had her Spring Sing at school which was very entertaining. She sings nonstop at home and yet during the spring sing she quickly became bored and distracted. I must say that it wasn't really her fault. First of all during her favorite song "Take me out of the Bathtub" they put up a giant bathtub, very cute but covered in bubbles that Christin couldn't resist touching. That was the only song with distracting props so she might have been fine except that they put her next to Angelina, a wonderfully sweet little girl with awesome curly hair that Christin simply cannot help but touch.
Christin has also started dance lessons. She loves them. She's pretty convinced that she is the best dancer in the world and spends more time watching herself in the mirror than watching the teacher. During "free dance" she spends the entire time saying, "look what I can do" and then distorting her body in some made up dance move. She fits in great though. All the other girls are wearing whatever they want while my child is forced to wear the correct thing: Black leatard, pink tights, black ballet shoes (I did let her pick black or pink), and hair pulled back off her face in a braid. She has yet to question this. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I pretty much let her wear whatever she wants the rest of the time as long as she can give me an explanation for why they match ie: one of the strips on the sweater is the same color as one of the polka-dots on the skirt. I can only pray that she will retain her amazing level of confidence in herself without becoming a snob. I'm sure she'll be fine though because her parents are fantastic.

In Lindsey news she is walking. It's been a lot of fun and not something we really tried to get her to do. One day she just started stringing steps together. At first she would get so proud of herself that she would knock herself over, but now she can take some steps, stop to clap for herself and smile at her adoring audience and then take some more steps. She is very pleased with herself and loves the attention it brings, (not that she's already seeking our approval as the attention starved second child or anything)
We continue to believe she just might be one of the friendliest people in the world. She went to her first 4th of July parade yesterday. Before the parade George and I ran in the 4 Mile race.
The girls helped man one of the streets and cheer for the runners. I hear she clapped the entire time. I didn't see her because by then my vision was blurry and had I stopped to say hi I might have never moved again. Later at the parade Lindsey waved and clapped for almost an hour and 1/2 until finally she just passed out in her stroller mid-wave.
It's been a busy summer so far. This coming week we are going to Haluwasa but then after that it should slow down. (Just nod politely, I know that never actually happens but I'm trying to convince myself!)

Sunny Days and Sick Kids

Spring is finally here. Last week we were trapped in the house while it rained and was a little too chilly to go out. Now it is sunny and beautiful. We, however, are trapped in the house with sick kids. Really it's my fault they are sick. I was just bragging about how "I never have to take my kids in for sick visits, they are just so healthy, it's because I feed them lots of fruits and veggies, oh and I don't let them eat any white flour, oh no it's all whole grains for us. Yup my kids are healthy as horses, you see I don't use hand sanitizer (it weakens the immune system) just soap and water for us, a little dirt off the ground? No biggie, build up those antibodies." Me and my pride!
Seriously Christin had not been to the doctor for a sick visit in over 2 years. Lindsey had never been. This all changed Sunday morning. While getting ready for Church around 8:15 Christin started complaining that her ear hurt. I gave her a warm wash cloth to put on it. By 8:30 she was crying so I called Mom and Dad and asked them to pick up some Motrin (I, of course, do not keep children's medicines in my house! (fool!)) By 8:45 I called the Drs. The nice lady heard Christin screaming in the background and said the doc would call me right away. He did. He also heard the tears, both mine and hers and told me to bring her over and I could meet him there (and by there I mean the farther away Wash. Twp office not the real close one). By the time we got to the office she was beside herself "just wanting to be held" and "please make it stop hurting" and we (mom and I and a starving, but pleasant, Lindsey who I have forgotten still needed to eat) are trying to get her to look at the building and the birds in the woods while we wait for the doc. I'm pretty sure if she could have stopped crying long enough she would have said, "I don't give a crap, shut up and MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!" Too make a really, really long story just really long: an hour, some ear drops, Motrin, ammoxicillan, a lolly pop and a dog toy I thought was a stuffed animal later she was back to her chipper self.
I was emotionally exhausted that night and slept like a log until 12:30 when George brought me a little ball of fire named Lindsey. She had a temp somewhere over 101 (I didn't get a real accurate reading since I was trying to take her temp without her noticing:) Thankfully I had some infant Motrin in the back of the medicine cabinet that didn't expire until the end of this month (what kind of nut doesn't make sure she has infant Motrin when she has an infant?!?!) Lindsey spent the rest of the night nursing and blowing snot all over my breasts (gross I know but how could I leave that part out). Monday she was snotty but no fever, Tuesday she was snotty and miserable. At 5:30pm she woke up from one of many naps with another fever and pulling on her ear. George left for his softball game with "I'll have my cell phone close by if you need me" (I love you hun but I will never believe that line again in my life!) I called the dr. and this time the lady told me I would have to wait until the next day. That wasn't going to work for me. I kindly told the woman that she was 8 months old, I am sure she has an ear infection and she MUST BE SEEN!. She caved and gave me an 8:45pm (they close at 8)appt. in Washington Twp (again). Not only was that 3 hours away but my kids are in bed by 8. I gave Lindsey some more Motrin and called George and left a message saying I needed him home by 8:15. I got both girls in their pj's and then read to them and watched as Lindsey became the happiest I had seen her in days and did not touch her head much less her ear. I began to feel like a fool but I was not backing down. At 7:30 I called George and left a message saying "please, please, please, please (I'm not exaggerating) call me back". At 8 I called George and said (actually I don't know what I said but I don't think it was that mean). I then put pants, socks, and shoes on Christin packed up some stuff and pulled out at 8:15 with both kids in tow. Again to not go on to long (I know you are thinking this is the longest blog ever and it's about your kids getting sick, everybody kids get sick. NOT MINE!) Lindsey did have an ear infection the nice doc told me sometime around 9pm. He was very nice. So were the pharmacists at the 24 hour pharmacy where we waited 20 minutes for more ammoxicillan, so was the nice lady who asked me to move my car before I went into the pharmacy after I had Christin all out of her car seat. At 10pm we finally got home, George was folding laundry and had bought me a gelati with sprinkles (smart man). The girls took their medicine and went to bed and I finally sat down (I know you are thinking I went off on George but I honestly didn't have it in me).
So today, here I am on the computer still in my pjs at 3pm while the sun is shinning. Tomorrow it's supposed to be over 70 and sunny again. We are going outside. No more recovering. You see my kids don't stay sick for long. The medicine works right away because I don't usually give it to them so they aren't resistant to it...(Somebody stop me!!!)

Birthday/Easter fun

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High Chair Fun

That Woman

I was that woman in the grocery store today. Now before you get excited for me I'm not talking about the one with her nails and hair done who's dressed impecably and pushing the cart full of angelic children and organic groceries which she has a coupons for and singing her children fun little songs. Oh no, not THAT woman I'm talking about the other one. The one who depending on what kind of mood you are in is either "that poor woman", "that incompetant woman", or "that women who is so far in over her head that that she's seeing the scary fish with the lights" (if you don't get the reference go whatch Finding Nemo six or seven hundred times)
Anyway, when it got to the point that I realized it is most likely unhealthy to make the children eat mayo for lunch I decided I must go to the store, and take all three of them. I know if you're a mom and you've done this, take 3 children under 4yo to the grocery store, you're thinking "mayo is a fantastic lunch"
When we got to the grocery store we circled the parking lot until we saw another mother with one of those "car carts" They only have like 2 of them but they are the only thing that will hold even 2 kids so we needed one. As a side note if you've never used one try it some time. It's much like child birth, you try to push something that is clearly to large for the space you are trying to push it through often to the sound of screaming and crying. . .I wonder if they make a grocery store epidural. . .but I digress.
Upon entering the store, putting Aidan's shoes back on, taking everyone's coats off and buckling everyone in we began shopping. We made it exactly 1 row in the produce section before the whinning began. Aidan was squishing Christin, Christin took Aidan's toy, they both wanted to get out and I wanted to run away. About halfway through Christin lost her Barbie doll's skirt and began cry/whinning about it. I had told her not to bring that Barbie so I wasn't going back to look for it. I think it was about then that we passed the other "car cart". With FOUR angelic children in it. At first I was in awe, then jealous, then I decided she must have drugged them and herself. By the end of the trip I was positive about the drugs, you see as I was prying Aidan's hand off the mop bucket in the middle of the isle she ran me over with her huge car cart. I was not hard to see with my screaming children and gigantic red cart so either she was high or just plain mean. And for the record, it hurt, I think it would hurt less to get hit in the back of the legs with a VW Bug.
After checking out, without eggs which I somehow forgot, I got out of there vowing to never go back with all the kids again! Being THAT WOMAN is no fun.
The End
PS. Did I mention that Lindsey is teething and has not allowed me to sleep in, actually I have no idea how longs it's been, maybe 7 months?

What came first the crazy or the kids?

I found myself lying awake the other night sniffling, then laughing, then pondering, and finally sleeping. It all started with a simple question I asked myself: "How old will Christin be when Lindsey is her age now?" "7" I answered (this is where I start to loose it) The train of thought that followed was this: 7?!?! That's halfway to 14! 14's only 4 years away from 18! Oh my gosh where is the time going my baby is almost ready to move out!!! Then I started to cry. After a few minutes of tears I realized I actually was crazy. I think I've known it for some time now but I finally admitted it out loud (it kind of felt good). That made me laugh. I thought about waking up George to tell him what a nutcase I am but then I realized he probably already knows and if he doesn't who am I to ruin his perception of me.
So this revelation (the fact that I actually am crazy) led me to ponder another question: What came first the crazy or the kids? I'm fairly certain I am not the only crazy mom out there, frankly because I know a lot of them and well ya know. And let me make myself clear: I'm not talking about hormones, I'm not talking about when a mom is pmsing or pregnant or had a really crappy day. That's a whole different story. I'm talking about middle of the cycle, "normal" life crazy. I know I became this way sometime around the birth of Christin but I'm wondering, did Christin make me crazy or was my very first act of craziness when I said "I'm ready to have a baby."? Since that moment there have been other acts of craziness (like when I said "I think we should have another one") Or when I find myself smelling my children to decide if I have to give them a bath or if it can wait one (or two or three) more nights (I gave serious consideration to deleting that but what fun is a blog if it's not honest?).
So tell me moms, what crazy thoughts have you had? What ridiculous things have had you in tears in the middle of the night?