Just wanted to share some pictures I took this afternoon. I should be packing and cleaning but this was more fun. I always avoid doing the necessarily when I am overwhelmed.

I love my kids

In seven days I was at the zoo three times. Is there some kind of award for that?

No?

Maybe there should be. We went on Monday and after being there for four hours I was ready to pack it up and go home. The response that I got....... "But Mom, we haven't seen anything yet!"

Here are some things we didn't see

This is Betty the snake. Kati literally climbed over me to get away, but she didn't see it.

Here is Domino, who is six years old but I don't know how I know that since we didn't see that either.


This is Mack who says his name is Barbara.

(I wish I could have someone push me around all day while I propped my feet up.)

Here are some other things we didn't see

penguins

otters

We also didn't see Kangaroos, Gahril, various reptiles, bears, tropical fish, Jaguars, bald eagles, coyotes, bats, insects, and a mountain lion. Clearly you can see why they were upset to be leaving.

Just in case your day wasn't complete, here is a Silver Back Gorilla eating his own barf.

Date Night

Life gets busy with three kids and at times ya don't get out much. Around here "gettin' out" usually just means a trip to Wal-mart so when I planned our bought the tickets for our special date you could just see the gleam of excitement from Jeffrey's eyes.

Not really.

I kind of want to be vague about things to protect any hint of where we may or may not live but we went to a place to eat. And eat. And eat. Lots of food. A pregnant girls dream, which I am not (I just thought I would rub a little salt in the wound).

When we first got there we had to make a long walk across the parking lot and along the way I felt so light and bubbly looking at all the other happy people. We were one in our love for food and music. It was going to be so fun! And then I walked inside and thought "What have I got myself into?" I don't like crowds and there were people all around us. I also don't like to stand in lines because someone I don't know might touch me or I might feel their body heat. There were lines every where. If it hadn't been for the price of the tickets I might have booked it but instead I just stood there looking overwhelmed. So of course Jeffrey took charge and lead my throw the crowds of people and got us started. I am ever grateful for his ability to take charge.

Jeff and I decided to be adventurous and just try everything, wither we thought we would like it or not. The first place we stopped was a hit, but you can't really go wrong with a quisadilla can you? The next stop had some cold concoction with shrimp, avocado, and raw tomato, all things I hate. Big surprise, even though you put it in a pretty glass it's still gross.

We had other things like cake, fondue, lamb, creme brulle, what I thought was Susi but maybe not, sweet potato chips, key lime pie, some kind of cheese that was like eating glue, and many other things.

I wish I had a picture to share with you all but who wants to look at that. It was so dang hot by the end of the night or clothes were sticking to us. And plus my make-up had just melted clean off.

My boys

LOOK AT MY BABY

The weening war

**Warning**
**Okay boys, I know y'all have been to war and can handle all kinds of things, but before you proceed with this post, be warned, it does involve nursing so feel free to click away**

We leave for camp in a little over a week. And although I am excited about a chance to bond with the youth kids it is killing me to leave my own children for a week. I have never been away from them for that long and certainly never that far of a distance from them. I know they will be in good hands and that I am also only a phone call away, but that's just it, they are not my hands and a phone call just isn't the same. A break from wiping bums and tying shoes is nice but a mommy never needs a break from sloppy kisses and Lego towers. Oh how I will miss them.

And Timothy. A week in baby time is forever. Who knows all the things he could learn to do in one week. The little guy is cutting three teeth, two on top and one on bottom. The bottom one is shinning out now but those two top ones are taking forever. By the time I come home he will look like a different baby. And the walking..... He is trying. He has taken about five steps or so and from time to time he tries to take off on his own only to stumble and fall with a big smile on his face. I am sure he will get it just right while I am gone and I will miss it. The worst of all is the weening. He is so angry. He screams and slaps me. We are down to only twice a day now and that's good but it's killing me. Truth be told if we weren't leaving for camp I probably would have nursed longer than a year. Eventually Jeff would have said that it was time to stop and I would have resented that, so it's probably better this way. You can't really be mad at a camp, so it works out that I have no one to blame. I know that I am the one making this choice but it's hard. He is my last baby. I will never get to do this again.

Unless you have nursed a baby I don't think you can truly understand this. For me it is like an extension of pregnancy. I am sustaining life. I am giving my child something that no one else can give them. Those are bonding tender moments. My Katibug was our noisy eater and unless you ever heard her eat there is no describing it with words, only sounds. She took large gulps. It was nearly impossible to nurse her privately in church. She also would hold onto my bottom lip sometimes. Who knows what that was about. Maybe she wanted to eat in peace and quiet but let me tell you getting a cut on your gums hurts. Those little tiny baby nails are sharp! Brendon on the other hand wasn't noisy he just wanted to know that it was available at any moment, where ever and whenever he wanted it. I kid you not, on his first three night home he would cry as soon as I got all covered up after nursing. He didn't even want to eat anymore he just wanted to know that he still could if he so choose. As he got older he held onto my bra while he ate. What I thought were tender cuddling holds have now become clear to me. I think they were really about making sure he ate until he was full. If you know my Bear then you know he is never full. Now my Timbo is different. There are no cute sounds or holds, the boy just can't be still. As soon as he had control over his limbs he began swinging his feet while he nursed. And swinging. And swinging. And swinging. When we sideline he likes to try to lay on his belly and put his hiney in the air and when I sit up he thinks he need to sit after a while himself. Never still. If this is a sign of things to come then I am in trouble. At least we will have found someone to give Bear a run for his money.

I am not looking forward to the very last time I nurse him. It will be bittersweet. There will be freedom but much will be lost for me. I will cry knowing it's my last time. Knowing that this stage of our lives is over. No more pregnancies. No more nursing. No more babies.

Boys will be boys

We had our own mini-episode of Cops tonight, up at the church. It was nothing major really, but still breaking the law none the less. After an evening of swimming at a youths home we headed back to the church and two of our boys got a little rambunctious in their cars less then a quarter of a mile from the church. The officer might have even over looked it but I think seeing them pull into an empty parking lot compelled him into action. He pulled out from the apartments and sped by us. We then pulled into the church parking lot to swirling red and blue lights and were met by more cars of on looking youth. The officer threatened jail and delivered a ticket. One of the boys was quit lucky really, considering he doesn't have a drivers license (we didn't know that).

Brendon declared that "racing is not bad" but fun. And truth be told, if this were just eight years ago my bleach blond Jeffrey would have been one of those boys getting a ticket.