Chronicles (and a few confessions) of a young mama...

Summer 2011

2011-08-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to say to start this post. So, skipping right to the stories:

Doodie Baffer-

There have been numerous occasions in which people have stopped me to tell me how beautiful baby Bo is. The conversation goes something like this:

"Oh, Ruth Allen, he is a gorgeous baby, look at those blue eyes. He looks nothing like the rest of you, he is just such a pretty boy!"

Me: "oh, well.. Thanks" I'm not sure where he gets those good looks....obviously NOT from the rest of us, ha! He may be beautiful but he is a wild nasty little thing. He pinches and bites. I have bruises to prove it. He already balls his fist up and grunts ferociously. His favorite toys are the little white caps that cover the bolts holding down the toilet. Any chance he gets he crawls in the bathroom and goes straight for them. Then they of course go straight into his mouth. I am going to remove them. Not sure why I have not done that yet. He loves to eat leaves, hes wonderful but he is just plain gross.

John Robert-

Took the child to the grocery store the other day. I was scanning my last items at the self checkout when I overheard John Robert talking to the lady behind him. Not unusal, he loves a stranger! I looked up and he was pulling at the waist of his pants saying "look at my weenie!". I about died. As I snatched his pants up and tossed him in the grocery cart I could not seem to muster up an apology. I kept my head down and back turned to the lady and then darted out of the store.

We have had the hardest time getting John Robert to keep his underwear on. I'll walk in the bathroom and there in a pile will be his "un-er-wears" right inside his shorts, it looks as if the rapture has occured and his clothes fell perfectly off him. It is just a joke now with the neighbors who have to put up with his frequent streaking. The boy's theme song should be "Pants on the Ground"! Bo has recently laid the law down, and we are making progress. Now he wears them with swords and weapons of all types stuck down in them every-which-of-way.

John Robert's favorite thing to do is play swords. He'll come up and stab me and say "I died you, mommy".

I asked John Robert what he learned at church a few weeks ago. He looked at me seriously and said slowly, "Jesus eats goldfish".

I killed a roach in front of John Robert the other day and flushed it down the toilet. He looked at me and said "Mama, why you put the roach in the potty?" I said "because it is nasty". John Robert said "It not nasty, it's beautiful, it a decoration mama!"

I NEVER iron. I don't even have an ironing board. I lost it in the move. I'll fluff something in the dryer or toss it in a pile to take to the cleaners before I'll iron it. I did however iron my shirt for church on Sunday. I had to do it on my couch cushions. John Robert saw the iron not even knowing what is is called and said "why do you have Nona's thing?!

Caroline-

What can I say? She is so creative and bizarre. If Doodie Baffer was not odd enough already, Caroline now calls her baby brother "pickle back". Not all the time, just when she is pretending he is her little boy. I'll overhear her saying "no-no pickleback", "come to your mommy pickleback".... Where do these names come from? John Robert recently started carrying around a stuffed cat and telling us that it is his son named Marcus. Marcus is odd, but pickleback...

We went to my mom's the other day and my brother's huge German Shepherd, "Mia" was out back. Caroline came up to me nervously and said "umm, mama, I'm afraid of heights, and Mia's a height!"

One of Caroline's favorite things to do this summer was catch lightning bugs. The first night she captured one in her net she came running inside and said "Mama I caught a lightning bug AND it is a glow in the dark one!"

Caroline has hair feathers. When she first saw "big girls" with feather extensions she started begging. I found out that the extensions were about $10 a pop. So I went to the craft store and we got us some feathers for real cheap, and those suckers have stayed in that curly hair for several weeks now. She also wears skinny jeans or "jeggings". She looks like a hippie and a teenager.

Eyeball hair

2011-03-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

Caroline is hysterical. At least she thinks she is. She just started telling knock, knock jokes. Lucky us! We are in such a fun stage that I am sure every parent goes through. My favorite "joke" so far... Knock, knock.. Who's there? Eyeball... Eyeball?! Eyeball who? Eyeball hair! (Followed by an eruption of laughter.) Awesome.

Caroline tells me that she feels sick a lot. Another super fun stage. The other day she told me that her tummy hurt and I asked her what she thought was wrong and she said "my tummy is not alive".

My mom took Caroline to school on Monday and while she was driving mom told her that she had not slept well the night before. Caroline said "well that's ok you can try again tonight, Nona".

John Robert has been pretending that he is Caroline's little boy. Caroline decided that she would change his name to "Telmo" like Elmo, but with a "T". So now our 3 children are "Telmo's Mommy", Telmo and Doodie Baffer.

The Sunday before Ash Wednesday I left church knowing that I only had a few more days before I was going to have to deprive my sweet tooth until Easter. Just after church we took the kids over to Caroline's school for a festival. The first thing I spotted was the cakewalk. I explained the rules to the kids and then I sent them over to play. I figured my chances were pretty good seeing as I had 2 children in the game. There was this huge pan of brownies with icing. I wanted it. Probably the way an addict wants a fix. Neither child won the first 4-5 rounds they played. Caroline seemed disappointed because I had been so crazy and insistent that they "win Mommy a cake". (The cakewalk is not nearly as exciting as the other games, and I knew that time was running short, finally I gave it up and let them go jump on the bouncy things.) Next thing I know, I am feeding the baby and Caroline comes running up saying "I won, I won!" She then hands me a plate of cookies and says "I played again for you and I won, but I couldn't carry your cake all by myself, so I had to get these cookies". Sweetest thing in the world.

Baby Bo got his first tooth right at 4 months and his second just broke through. He has already bitten me. I am afraid that all my children appear to be "biters". John Robert and Caroline bite each other. John Robert bit his friend in the nursery the other day. Apparently not all children bite, because when people hear what happened they are like "ohhh, you have "a biter"! That sounds like something you should say about a dog. Don't all kids bite!? I mean what are the chances that all mine would be "biters"? They have ALL had reflux and spit up constantly. Now 3 biters...

I have THE most awesome stroller. It is like a limousine. It is way nicer than my car. It is a triple jogger with stadium style seating. It looks like something from outer space. People stop and stare. My favorite comment, or should I say compliment was: "now that's a humdinger!" Actually, I thought that was a dumb comment, I wasn't even sure what the heck that meant. So, I looked up the word humdinger and found out that it means: 1. something unusually large 2. an excellent person or thing. It is unusually large, and it is an excellent thing. Maybe I should have "humdinger" airbrushed across it. I want to name it like a boat. Bo and I had the humdinger out the other day and it caught the eye of a lady driving. Dangerous. She was so captivated that she didn't realize she was approaching a stop sign, slammed on her breaks, and almost rear ended the car in front of her. It would have made for a better story if she would have actually rear ended the car.

Went to the grocery store the other day. My bill was over $200. I never spend that much, but everyone was talking about prices going up due to corn and other things. I called Bo on my way home and I was freaking out a little. I thought "I am going to have to get a job, this is crazy". A few days later I found my receipt. I had been charged $70 for curry leaves. I headed back to the store to explain that I had not even purchased curry leaves and that I wasn't even sure what they were. The crazy thing was that they didn't even have curry leaves. They had typed the produce code in wrong for the 50 cent lemon I bought to make my broccoli bearable. I was nice- no reason to get all crazy. My money was refunded after about 30 minutes and I got a $10 gift card and a free lemon.

Bo got on facebook recently and realized that for some reason a bunch of his friends had been deleted. So he started adding them again. Then he realized he was signed into my account. Recently over 30 men have accepted my friend requests. Embarrassing. Some of them I barely know.

John Robert woke up this morning, came into the kitchen, stripped his clothes off, snuck downstairs, came back up with a pitcher we use to RINSE them with in the bathtub after they are CLEAN, and then peed in it right in the middle of the kitchen. He was so careful and precise. He was so focused he did not even realize we were watching him, laughing hysterically. Boys and their pee experiments...

Lately...

2011-03-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Wowsers. I've been saying that a lot lately. Here's why:

1. John Robert is potty trained! It was EASY. He is such a big boy. Already sleeps in his underwear and knows how to go on trees (of course). Asked to poop on a tree the other day. Not up for that. We were walking to our car on the square a few days ago. There are trees planted every few feet apart in the middle of the sidewalk beside the storefronts. Yep, pants ALL the way down, mid stream on a tree before I realized it. He was lollygagging as usual, I was rummaging for my keys. A mom with several boys (of all people!) walked by and hollered "been there, done that"! It was awesome. We got in my squeak-mobile and made a mad dash for our house.

2. I have gotten myself stuck in my backyard on 4 separate occasions recently. The first time the baby was in the house alone so I panicked for a moment, but composed myself when I realized I had my cell phone and started dialing neighbors. I've never been so grateful to know my neighbors. (We had a string tied to the lock on our fence that you had to pull to get out. It ripped off. Unless you are tall like Bo and can reach over the privacy fence and let yourself out OR climb over the chain link fence that borders the neighbors yard, you are STUCK if the back door to the house is locked. I am about half an inch too short and a bit too wimpy to climb the chain link fence.) After 2 more incidents of getting stuck, I re-rigged the "pull string". Yesterday, the string got stuck and so did I. Again. I almost let it ruin my day. I was SO mad. I spent a good part of my afternoon scheming about how I would get out if it ever happens again. I think I have a pretty good escape plan, hope to never use it.

3. I'm going to give up sugar for lent. I do NOT want to. I am afraid. I can only imagine what I'll be like with no M&Ms. Pale, mean, head rotating 365 degrees. Watch out.

4. My kids use the windows like doors. Why use the front door when you can climb out the window? I shouldn't allow it.

5. We were playing in the backyard the other day and Caroline got hurt. She looked up at me and said "ouch! my tenders". I did not explain to her that she does not have "tenders". (In my kid's favorite movie ever, KungFu Panda, Po the panda gets hit in the crotch and says "my tenders" I'm thrilled that my children retain such valuable material.)

6. John Robert, a.k.a "pirate boy", has a new way to get what he wants. He will bring a carton of fruit or box of crackers to me and just say "four"...nothing else just "four". If he REALLY hopes for a bunch he says "six" and does a little dance and gives a cheesy smile. I may put 12 crackers in the bowl, but if he is not satisfied he looks at me again and whines "siiix!" So far I have figured out that 4 is a little more than I would like him to have and siiix is enough to make you sick.

7. Doodie Baffer is 4 months old. Love him. I'll do anything to see his smile, there are no words...

(Photos by Brandon Funk)

Doodie Baffer

2010-03-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

2010 was busy and full of changes. Hate that I did not blog at all! Afterall, this is my children's baby book. Here are a few highlights--

We had our third baby- another boy! Bo Durham was born November 8th and was my smallest baby at 7 pounds 11 ounces. I thought they were joking when they told me how much he weighed. Did you see my stomach? Amazingly huge. Baby Bo officially confirmed that Bo and I have not figured out what makes babies yet. That's why I called Bo at work to announce the news and yell at him. I had my third c-section and Bo had some surgery too! I am currently recovering from post-partum depression. (I have the best family and friends and they have been so supportive.) There are no words to describe the transition from two to three. We love little Bo and are all so thankful that God surprised us with him. My older ones (it is crazy to call them older when they are 2 and barely 4!) have nicknamed little Bo "doodie baffer". What?!

We bought a house! March will be a year. Life is so different already. We are having the most fun we have ever had. Our neighbors are awesome! The kids have numerous friends within walking distance. For the most part we are all settled in. My dad would beg to differ by the looks of his basement-- There is just that stuff that you don't know what in the world to do with. And I cleaned out big time. I threw away and donated so much stuff that I am surprised we have anything left. Which brings me to my first story about Henry the dog.

Henry the Dog

I don't love stuffed animals. I believe there are 3 categories for them. The first category is... "just plain nasty". Most in this category are obnoxious colors and they make you itch, or they at least just feel "wrong". Animals in the second category may have a memory attached to them such as "This was the first thing I opened at my shower for my first child", or "so-and-so gave this to me for Valentine's Day". They get kept around the house, are not played with and worst of all... waste space. I'll now take the opportunity to say that adults are too old for stuffed animals. Sorry. The third category is for "purposeful" stuffed animals. Very few stuffed animals fit into this category. I can think of only two reasons a stuffed animal would be purposeful: if they are classic stuffed animals purchased to decorate a nursery (We love these: http://www.blablakids.com/), and secondly those that have become inseparable comfort items for children. I guess it is possible for children to choose "just plain nasty" animals to become attached to, but in that situation, because they serve an important purpose, exceptions can be made and they can be considered purposeful.

It is ridiculous that I took the time to type out my feelings on stuffed animals in such detail, but when I moved, I realized that our stuffed animal collection had gotten out of control. I categorized every animal in the house. I decided that only category 3: purposeful animals, would make the cut and join us in our new home. I grabbed trash bags for the category one animals, and they went to their appropriate place on the next trash day. The category 2 animals went to the local Goodwill.

Now on with the story...

Packing was insane. 2 young children, Bo did NOT take anytime off of work, and we did NOT hire movers. I was left to make most of the decisions of what to trash, donate, and keep. So, my mom came over and we just went at it. We made big piles all over my house. I was as decisive as I have ever been and I was so proud.

Anyway, as I was packing up Caroline's room I came across Henry the dog...one of those category 2 animals...should have gone straight to the Goodwill pile, but I hesitated. The problem? Caroline loved him. He belonged to John Robert, but we could not convince her that she wasn't the owner. I knew Bo would have elected to keep him. But, I was the decision maker and I sent him off to Goodwill with a little uneasiness in my stomach.

We went to the beach just before the house closed. On our LONG ride home just as we were driving through downtown Atlanta, Caroline started asking about her toys. Bo said "I bet Henry will be so glad to see you when we get back!". I started giving him this motion to change the subject. I then explained under my breath that Henry had a new home. Bo was furious. You would have thought I gave my wedding ring away. And at that point I might as well have. He insisted I find a replacement. I grabbed his phone and frantically searched ebay never expecting to find one. Well, apparently Henry the Dog is some sort of collectible and most of the ones on ebay were vintage and were selling for $75 and up! I was horrified. Who pays that much for stuffed animals?! Bo and I then started arguing about whether or not the dog was even cute. I started sweating, knowing I had made a terrible decision and wondering what else I had trashed or given away that I might as well go on and fess up to. The rest of the car ride was miserable. My mom came to the rescue. She always makes things better. She rushed to Goodwill after church the next day, found Henry among the toys (can't be that cute if no one had bought him for the 9 days he sat on the shelf), purchased him back for 99 cents and returned him to his rightful owner.

Since the birth of "Doodie Baffer" I have only run preschool carpool a few times. My sweet neighbor Bekah usually takes and mom and Bo pick up. I don't think anyone has missed me though. My car and I have serious carpool issues. I'm not just talking about the thousands of times I have run up on the curb... I have driven through line with a HUGE ladder strapped to the top of my van. (I leaned out my window yelling "can I still come through line?" - which drew even more attention. I got "looks". It was painful.) I've arrived just in time to miss carpool and had to walk Caroline inside.. the "walk of shame" as they call it- in my pajamas- in the rain. I have had my car break down in the school parking lot and had it towed away. Horrifically embarrassing. And to top it all off, my car has a permanent squeak. A LOUD obnoxious sound that announces my arrival before my carpool number is ever called. And not to mention makes chatting with other mom's in line through our car window's challenging.

Caroline was recently watching a claymation movie about Jesus with her daddy. Claymation is terrible. Next thing we know Caroline looks up at Bo and says "Jesus said stupid?" Jesus was saying that the "stupid man builds his house on the sand". Who uses that translation for a children's movie?! Ridiculous.

John Robert IS a pirate. I have never seen a child so into something. He dresses up. Everyday. All the clothes hangers in the house are "cap'n hooks". Even the dough hook attachment that goes to my mom's kitchen aid mixer has become a "hook" and is part of the costume. He started liking pirates around 18 months old and by 20 months he constantly went around saying "argh Matey" and "on guard" - and would then proceed to sword fight you. His favorite pirate phrases these days are "YOU walk-a the plank" and "scurvy dog". We even have a 3x5 foot Jolly Roger flag run up yonder pole of the swing set. He calls the Lord of the Rings movies "scary pirates" and begs to watch them. (Don't think they have pirates in them, but he's convinced they do.) He is the greatest 2 year old in the whole world.

Hope it is not 15 months until I blog again.

June through December

2009-11-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Lot of catching up to do, let's see...

So... we sold our house! (To a single girl who was sweet as could be and looked to be about 13 years old. It was strange to hand her my house key. I guess I felt like I needed to give her instructions or something.) We are thrilled to have sold in this market, but hope to buy in it as well. We are living with my folks in the meantime. The "meantime" is however long it takes us to save some money, and find a house.

In the last few months we have been to the beach, celebrated John Robert's first birthday, started preschool (Caroline), celebrated my 25th birthday, trick-or-treated for the first time, contracted a nasty virus, celebrated Christmas and... I pretty much have forgotten the rest. Here are a few funnies I can remember and some photos:

1.Caroline's teacher complimented her outfit the other day and Caroline looked at her all sassy and said "Home Depot! (like that was where it was from...)

2. We only use nice words around here, especially me, but nonetheless Caroline started saying stupid. After getting in trouble several times for saying it, she decided to create her own bad word. "Stu-kers" sometimes pronounced "sku-kers", depending on the situation I guess. She catches herself all the time about to drop the "s-bomb" and then quickly changes the pronunciation to avoid trouble. It's a pretty fun word to say so we all use it now. This morning she told her daddy that his outfit was "a little bit sku-kers", but once he put on pants and a button down over his boxers and socks she called him her "handsome little boy".

3. Living with my parents has been awesome actually, and if you ask Bo he has the same opinion, which is a good thing. Not just anyone would want to be in close quarters with their in-laws. He's a good sport, but then again my parents are the best. We call their house the "Cantrell Hotel" and it is wild around here. There has only been one major complaint from my children, and it is not that Caroline's room is the closet. It's a "smaller" problem named Annie. She is a 6 pound yappy dog that hates children, and well just hates life I think. The other day she snapped at my mom and it scared Caroline so bad that she yelled "Kill her! Kill Annie like a deer!" Hysterical! My dad deer hunts but that was still shocking to hear coming from my 2 year olds mouth. They have another dog, Lily, who in my opinion is just as bad. The odor that comes from "Lily" is horrendous, the tumor in her neck is now the size of the 6 pound dog, she poops in her sleep every night and we have to scoop it up with a shovel the next morning, she gets stuck in the creek behind my parents house and they have to lift her out in a sheet like she is a beached whale or something (because she is 130 pounds), hummm... what else, loud barking, constant shedding, I could go on! If it weren't for her, our "rent" would seem even cheaper.

4. My dad was leaving for work the other day and he ran back inside because he forgot something. Caroline asked him what he was doing and he said "I forgot my keys". She looked at him like he was "sku-kers" and said "No, Poppy, you forgot your wife!"

5. We carved a pumpkin for the first time together this year. Bo cut his finger and bleed all over it but once we got it cleaned up and lit up it was cute. Caroline called it the "jackalanny".

6. John Robert loves to tickle people. (He finds sensitive places in your skin and pinches you really hard and says "kickle") He also loves to give kisses. He'll grab your face and pull it toward his mouth. It is pretty intense, I love it. He will pretend to talk on the phone and all of a sudden throw his head backwards and start laughing hysterically. He is really starting to talk or at least communicate well. He loves to play with the pretend kitchen and he likes his "baby" which is a soft light-up glow worm. Hopefully next year he'll like dinosaurs and tools.

7. Caroline was doing so well at night and now she has gotten into an unfortunate habit of getting in our bed in the middle of the night (when she knows we are too asleep to care). Bo took me on a surprise overnight trip for our 5th anniversary. My parents kept the kids, so that night Caroline snuck into their room in the middle of the night. She asked my mom if she could sleep on top of her. Mom said that she literally wanted to sleep like one piece of bread on top of the other! When my mom who is not much bigger than Caroline told her that she wasn't going to sleep like that, Caroline said "well can I please sleep in your armpit"!? (I personally don't/can't touch people when I sleep, and I think I got that from my mom - not sure how much sleep she got that night, but Bo and I slept great in our hotel room - not touching of course.)

8. Recent song lyrics by Caroline:

"hi-ho the "dairy queen", the farmer in the dell"

"Old MacDonald had a farm and bingo is his name-o".

"nice to meet you hope of glory" (Christ in me the hope of glory)

"you walk on waves, you run with flags" (you walk on waves, you run with clouds)

9. We were in the car the other day and Caroline had a little situation...slug-like booger nose and the only thing I could find to remedy the situation besides the floor mat was a cloth doll diaper that belongs to Caroline's cabbage patch doll (she calls her co-patch). I started to wipe her nose with it and she let out a scream and said "NASTY mama, Co-patch goes poop in that thing". Her other children's names are Meo and Kia. We may let her name our next child.

10. Caroline can tell the Christmas story as well as anyone with a bit of prompting. She'll tell you that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem on a donkey and that they didn't find a hotel and there wasn't a bed. They stayed in a barn and baby Jesus was born and the wise men gave him presents. One morning a few weeks ago upon waking up Caroline walked in my room (John Robert was sitting on my bed in his diaper) she pointed her finger up at him and the first words out of her sleepy mouth were "that's a fat baby Jesus". I said "well good morning" and we all busted out laughing.

Caroline's first day of school. Can you see the nervousness on her face? She was white as a sheet and trying to think of every reason why the school was "probably closed".

She loves it now of course.

John Robert's Georgia bulldog first birthday party. See his "Go Dawgs" face below. It was a great party overall, one last chance to pack as many people as possible in our little house and eat lots of food on the carpet that was "under contract".

wish you could hear the snort...

Bryant March Madness

2009-03-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Dog Park
I took the kids to the park the other day. (Our local park is awesome. There's a great walking trail, two cool playgrounds, a skate-park, and even a dog park.) Caroline just has to visit each spot at the park. We walk, we swing, we watch the boys skate or "skape" as she calls it (and we hope that they don't drop a heinous cuss word while we observe their amazing tricks that almost always end with a thud.) And we look at the dogs in the dog park. This time, however, I let her go inside the small dog area. (Which was really sweet of me because I don't love pets.) The area was fenced in and I had been toting 20 pounds of John Robert all over the place, so I parked it in the grass while Caroline ran around and harassed the small dogs. There was a poodle with clothes on the size of a large rat that did not seem to care for children and a few other dogs further away in the field. I began to talk a mom that I had been walking around with and the next thing I know all the dog owners are looking at me like "is that your child?" I turned around and Caroline had her head down in the dog water fountain licking it. She looked up at me and was like "this for Caroline!", "this my water fountain!", "turn on the water mommy". I have heard that a dog's mouth is cleaner than a humans. Let's hope that is true.

Time out!
Bo and I just started a series of videos on parenting. We need it. Parenting is challenging. There are days that completly suck the life out of me. Tuesday was one of those days. We have been using time out or "room time" some lately with Caroline. When Bo got home on Tuesday I told him that I needed some room time. Caroline looked at me and said "oh Mommy, what did you do?" "Did you hurt John Robit?" "Did you hurt him??"

Clean-up, Clean-up
I was cleaning up the kitchen the other day and Caroline was "helping me". I let her have her own squirt bottle of water which I thought was a brilliant move....you know...so she wouldn't keep asking me for the Clorox or some other chemical. Next thing I knew everything I didn't want "cleaned" was dripping wet. The television, the furniture, etc... So the next time we cleaned, I let her have a sponge. She was busy scrubbing away with her sponge, while I worked with my back to her cleaning the counter tops. When I looked up I noticed that she was no longer cleaning with her sponge, she had grabbed a used coffee filter full of coffee grinds and had "cleaned" the floor, an upholstered chair, and her brothers exersaucer with it. (Which if you do not know what an exersauser is, it is basically a contraption he sits in that has toys with all kinds of nooks and crannies for coffee grinds to sneak in.) I am still finding them everywhere. Upon being caught, she of course looked up at me and said "I cleanin' mama!". No telling how many coffee grinds John Robert has eaten while gnawing on those toys. She can make some serious messes while cleaning.

Speaking of John Robert...
If the dog bowl story did not make you gag, this will... I was at my Mom's the other day and John Robert fell asleep in my arms so I laid him down on her couch. When he woke up I picked him up and noticed that he smelled terrible. I was like "mom, you have to smell him, he stinks!". She said "maybe he pooped". I was like like "no mama his head stinks". Then I noticed that there was poop on his head. I was like "what in the world!?" I looked at the couch where he had been sleeping. Then I realized what had happened. My mom's little dog was sleeping on the couch too. She had a "dingle-berry". She got too close...it plopped on the couch....transferred to his head. Enough said.

ER
We had to take poor Caroline to the emergency room last night. She got a fever of 105 degrees and I don't mess around with that kind of temperature. The doctors (and I) suspected a UTI and needed a sample from her. She was a big girl and went on the potty which was awesome because the other option would have been a catheter. She was promised a popsicle if she could go on the potty and sure enough she was rewarded with a grape popsicle, the test was positive, we got a perscription for an antibiotic, a stuffed monkey and a pinwheel and headed home at 1:30 Am. It was a late night party for us all. Even John Robert stayed awake for each moment. The kids enjoyed being bounced on the hospital bed and watching Peter pan and The Lion King.

Popsicle Stick "humor"
Caroline talked about THE Popsicle ALL day and so I decided to take her to the grocery store tonight and let her get some. (She is still having fevers on and off and I thought the popsicles would be a fun treat for her.) She was thrilled, she got a box of Dora ones. When we finished dinner we all ate one. John Robert shared mine. It took me back to being a little girl, because the sticks had jokes on them that you had to eat the popsicle to get the answer. I was excited! I read Caroline's joke out loud and then encouraged her to eat up so we could hear the punch line. Her joke read: What has spots and rides on a fire truck? You won't believe the answer....A fireman with Measles. What!?!? Are you kidding me? What child knows what measles are?? That is twisted. I was furious. Bo and I were so disgusted by the ridiculousness of that "humor". My popsicle joke was not much better: Why does a rhino have so many wrinkles?....because they are too hard to iron. Huh? I don't even get that. Whoever came up with that...much less agreed to print them onto children's (DORA THE EXPLORER!!) popsicles??? They need to be fired!

I don't even know what to say....

2009-03-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Caroline + Daddy's electric razor + 3 minutes alone = redneck hairdo (I was less than 15 feet away) I cried my eyes out...not because I am vain...it's just terrible to see little curls (that have taken 2 years to grow) all over the floor and in the potty...don't even know what to say. Pictures can't do it justice.

Quick story: I have mastitis. I feel like I have the flu. I have had to use my breast pump for relief a few times. Caroline looked at me kind of funny and pointed to the breast pump machine noticing it was "getting my milk out" and said "there a baby in there?". I thought it was funny...

2008-12-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

So, it's been awhile. I have been keeping a list of "stories" I need to blog about. I am looking over my list and I can't even remember some well enough to tell 'em. Here is what I can recall...

1. Caroline is a complete Tomboy. All she wanted for Christmas was a baseball hat and a skateboard, oh AND a bicycle. She did NOT get the skateboard.

2. This is probably the best right here...Caroline turned 2 in January. I love Mexican food and I use any excuse I can to get it... SO we had a Mexican fiesta and I of course needed a pinata! So I looked on ebay because I thought I might could get a better deal than at Party City. As I was scrolling through the listing of ebay pinatas a certain pink one caught my eye and so I quickly clicked on it. To my horror it was not for a little girls birthday party. It was for a bachelorette party. A kinky person's bachelorette party. Do you catch my drift here?? Yeah it was a phallic pinata people!! In case you are interested...there is an African American version coming soon. AND you can specify whether or not you would like "it" to have a face. The worst part of the whole ordeal was that the next time I got on ebay the homepage "suggested some items I may like" complete with pictures. You can only imagine...

3. Caroline has an interesting imagination. She pretends to watch tv in bed. She sits in her crib, looks at the wall and tells me she is watching tv. She also plays pretend with her baby dolls. The other day she was talking with her doll, she said: "Do you want your mommy?", Then Caroline turned to Bo and said "take my shirt off daddy" She nursed her baby a minute and then announced..."other side". I DO NOT narrate John Robert's meals...

4. I walked in on Caroline the other morning and she had gotten into my ink pens, which is a "no-no". She was startled and figured she'd be in trouble so she looked up at me with a ridiculous smile and said "mornin' , I writin' a email". Thank goodness she was not on my computer!

5. I have been buying organic milk for Caroline. The milk is like $6 or $7 a gallon! I get furious when it gets wasted and so I now recycle milk. If I have it in my cereal, I pour any remainders into her bottle. Isn't that nasty? She still drinks it...

6. John Robert LOVES me. I mean he smiles huge every time he sees me. He is such a little man. He likes to be naked. He likes to nurse. He "puts his hand in his pants to "scratch"... so to speak whenever he has the chance (which is rare, because we all know what little boys can do when that thing is not in a diaper). He has man gas...loud...often...smelly. He goes crazy when he smells food. He's manly. He is sweet as can be too.

7. I had the word "magnets" on the 'things to blog' list and I was like "what in the world???". Ha! Now I remember. Writing must be good for my poor mama brain. This is hilarious.... Ok: Caroline went over to her "Nona's" house (my mom) the other day. Afterward I packed her in the car and headed home. When we got in the driveway 30 minutes later, I heard her say (somewhat under her breath) "I got somethin' for you daddy!" and she had this super excited look on her face. I was thinking "what is she talking about?"I honked and Bo ran out to help me get the kids out of the car. As he approached the car she was SO excited to see him she was kicking her legs, shaking all over and making this little snort kinda noise. Next thing I know she is reaching into her pockets pulling out some magnets (that she had STOLEN) from my mom's house to give to Bo. She was like "Here Daddy these are for you!". Needless to say the excitement was over when she had to return the stolen goods and apologize to my mama. (I had to call mom beforehand and let her know that she had to be serious about the matter.)

8. I drove ALL the way to IHOP the other day without my keys in the ignition. SERIOUSLY. After I realized I did NOT have my keys I drove straight back to Acworth, and retrieved them from the driveway. My van is super cool. You can take the keys out of the ignition while it is running. So I did...then I dropped them in the middle of the driveway.

John Robert just took a 2 hour nap and Caroline has been asleep for 2 hours and 28 minutes. Amen.

Birthday Do-do!

2008-10-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today was my 24th birthday. I wonder how most 24 year olds celebrate? I had a super day nursing a fussy 2 week old baby (that has been so pleasant before today) and watching my 21 month old get three shots and three stitches in her right pointer finger. I have never been so proud of my girl. Caroline was so still and sweet when Dr. Schuh initially examined her gash that he decided he would attempt her stitches instead of automatically sending us over to the ER. (I think I would have had a mental breakdown if I had to spend my birthday in the ER...) I was so thankful that a pediatrician would humble himself, stay late and give my girl her stitches. She could not have behaved any better and she watched the entire process. Caroline even sang me "Happy Birthday Do-Do" today, which made the whole day worth waking up for.

He's here!

2008-09-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

John Robert Bryant

8 pounds

19.5 inches long

September 24, 2008

4:09 PM

One more week...

2008-09-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

I only have one more week to blame my mothering mishaps on the fact that I am a "first-timer". Baby John Robert is "going to be taken out of my tummy by "hi doc" and we are going to "change his diapers" as of next Friday. It is scary to have no clue what Caroline understands about all this. (Although she did pull a sonogram photo out of my purse the other day and say "hi baby bruda" (Brother). Dr. Bardwell, my OBGYN, whom I highly recommend, has been the topic of many conversations around my house these days. He has earned the title "hi doc" by my 20 month old. My mama always tells her to say "HI DOC!" As soon as he enters the room at my appointments, it is "hey hi doc..I want un band-aid. Two band-aids. Thank you!" He plays along so well and Caroline even sang him her special version of Happy Birthday this week. Which is "happy bir-day doo-doo". (A little bonus...she saw a picture the other day of a distant relative of mine and thought it was "hi-doc". She squealed with delight "oh! HI DOC!!!, mommy" as she pointed at the picture. I immediately started laughing so hard I am surprised I did not go in to labor...it was a woman with a dress on. I must say though, she looks a little butch and I can see a resemblance.)
We walked into her pediatrician's office not too long ago and she immediately expected the same royal treatment and then found out you have to get two boo-boos (SHOTS) to get two band-aids. Once she discovered there were in fact two band-aids on her legs she stopped crying and thanked the nurse. Strange.
Caroline has been growing up so much the past few months. She is as busy and hysterical as ever. She is beginning to entertain herself and play pretend. I still cannot leave her unattended, even though every mom knows that is inevitable. Here are a few things she has been caught doing lately:
- Coloring her nipples yellow with a highlighter...only her nipples, it was a sight
- Climbing in the clothes dryer and trying to close the door behind her...it was a real-life game of hide and seek and I had a creepy feeling when I found her in there (I mean if you know what happened to my cat....)
- Taking off her diapers and then screaming "nakie" (naked), or better yet sticking her hand in her poop and coming to tell me she needs a "change" (I always scream like a baby "don't touch me!")
- "Painting" on baby brothers' newly painted walls with sand paper and then adding additional artwork with a pencil - about 30 minutes after daddy finished the job
- Jumping out of the bath tub like a seal and then sliding across the bathroom floor to make a dramatic escape...I know it has to hurt, I mean she just dives right out of it... the "thump and swoosh" sound is incredible (I only turn my back for a second, don't bash my mothering skills...I am now super paranoid about the wet baby, linoleum floor combo...it has only happened twice)

Caroline is full of surprises. She keeps life interesting. I never know what she is going to say or do, which is scary at times. We were at Chick-fil-A with Bo's dad (Papa) and his girlfriend Robin the other night. When we asked Caroline what color Robin's shirt was she looked at her for a second and shouted "it's boobies"! Recently, I was concerned about why she would not count past "eye" (which is not even a number), no matter how hard I tried to teach her "one, two, three", it was "two, eye, jump". Then one day she looked at me and counted to five and a few days later she looked at Bo and counted to 10. Another surprise....we took her to the park the other night and went for a walk. The next thing I know my fearless child is screaming and trying frantically to "get away from this little girl who was following her everywhere"...no matter how fast she ran her shadow followed and I have never seen her so panicked. The rest of the night she just said "bye bye shadows!".

She is also learning several songs these days. Not typical children's songs..... worship songs that her daddy sings. It is the sweetest thing in the world to hear that baby sing. Her timing and tune are actually very impressive.

Well check back soon for pictures of the latest member of our family....

I was stealing

2008-05-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

So, I was "stealing" my neighbor's internet for the last post. For some reason I can't get it anymore. I guess that was unethical. Won't have internet for a little while. Be back soon I hope.

I'm back

2008-04-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Formal Appology
I am profusely sorry that I have not blogged in a while. (Not as much for the few that read this...really, for Caroline's sake. This has become her baby book. I blog the things I want to remember. And unless I can remember anything noteworthy that has happened since Easter, I guess we will never know what happened between then and now.) Anyway, Bo poked a "hole" in my laptop screen which led to a leak, which led to my whole screen going black. (Which made me act ugly.) Which is why I have not blogged. BUT NOW.... we have my broken laptop (with a key missing= caroline) hooked up to a GIANT screen that I could not even lift, that I think came from a decade before I was born. But at least we are back in business.

New car
We sold Bo's car. We bought a van. Never thought we'd be so excited about a van. We LOVE it. It's a 1999 Town and Country. The coolest thing about it beside the fact it will accomodate our family is that you can program the seats. I push #1 and presto! the seat moves to 5 foot pregnant lady position. Bo pushes #2 and the seat proceeds to move as far back as possible. AND the mirrors move too. The seat warmers will be nice in the winter, but they are not so nice if you accidently turn them on now.

Caroline
...just learned to crawl on top of my dinner table. She moves the heavy chairs and in seconds is standing in the middle of the table. Spankings are no big deal to her if she can just get up to what she wants before I catch her she thinks it's worth it.

I gotta go cook dinner.

My Easter Sunday Rice

2008-03-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Side note #1
Bo thinks you should just write Easter (vs. Easter Sunday), cause it is always on a Sunday...duh.....

Side note #2
I am listening to Caroline SCREAM. Bo is trying to put her to sleep without a bottle. (It has come time for her to only have 3 servings of milk a day and she is supposed to drink them out of a sippie cup. (You know, a big-girl cup.) Can you say trauma?....(for EVERYONE involved) first she gets cut off from nursing...her favorite activity, and now...no bottles at bedtime. Glad we have a few more months before the next baby gets here. I think that would send her over the edge right now.

Side note #3
At my house, beef Stroganoff (spelling?) goes with rice. Not noodles.

There are things that I just cannot do...like make rice. I burn it or it tastes like it has never been cooked, or it is so mushy you cannot make out the individual grains. It is pitiful.. Bo has had to come to my rescue for the past 3.25 years and make rice for me, and EVERYTIME I do try to make it, we throw my pot away and Bo makes a new one. About a year ago, I saw the commercial about the precooked bags of rice that you only have to microwave...I was ecstatic. I bought a bag the next time I was at the grocery and figured my problems were solved. Nope. Have you ever eaten plastic? Nasty. Then I bought a bag of Jasmine rice. I figured...this is the kind the Asian people make and eat everyday....it can't be hard if people make it everyday....WRONG. The first step in the directions were: Wash rice in several changes of water until water runs clear. (I guess it's dirty when you buy it...almost as bad as plastic, but I'm not scared of a little dirt) Then the directions proceeded to get so confusing that even Bo was irritated. Then my mama told me to buy the Success boil in bag rice. Good idea, how hard can that stuff be to make? (I forgot it several grocery trips in a row and in the mean time we ate the dirty stuff. Finally, I remembered to buy it and I must admit I was excited about my purchase.) After 2 attempts at Success rice, both in which Bo had to intervene I was just beside myself. I was so confused that I started thinking I was insane. Then, last night on Easter, I discovered my problem...I was following the directions. Never again will I read and follow directions for rice. Non-direction #1: You just have to eyeball it, if you measure it, your in trouble. #2 : Then you watch it like a hawk and you taste it every few seconds and take it off the eye as soon as it is ready. Jesus conquered death today (two thousand years ago), I conquered rice making. Happy Easter it was. Hope yours was as well.

2008-03-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

My brother insisted I write a new post and I haven't had anything very interesting happen lately other than just watching the things Caroline does everyday. So, here is a little window into our world...

Caroline still asks if she can nurse just about everyday... I'll hear her say "urse", "boobies" and then a good bit of the time she'll answer her own question "no, no Caroline". It's like a little conversation she has with herself to remind her that the ursing days are over. It's really hysterical. When will she give it up?

I was unloading the groceries and I took a break after I put away all the perishables. (So all the other stuff was still on the floor.) Next thing I know Caroline has a sack of flour in the middle of the living room. She opened it, but I caught her. That would have been the biggest mess and I would have had to get out the vacuum cleaner (which she is very afraid of.) (I don't like it either)

Caroline's latest obsession is wrapping cords around her neck. Scares me to death. I bought her some beaded necklaces....they seem to keep her busy. I think the cord fascination is almost over.

Great...she just now dumped out a cup of sprite and threw my rechargeable batteries in the trashcan.

She loves to "play" Nintendo (or game cube..I say it is the same thing!) with Bo. She'll scoot up her little chair and hold the controller and say "ball!"

Her favorite song is "clean-up, clean-up..." She goes around singing it. Why that song?

Caroline loves to hug. She'll hug and kiss your child until they cry.

She thinks everything in the sky is a moon. I'll say airplane and she'll say "moon!"

She pretends she has boo-boo's. She'll look at a freckle or anything on her and say "oh noooooo" in the most distressed tone.

She is obsessed with belly-buttons (be-boos). She'll lift your shirt up anytime anywhere with no warning. No matter who you are. You better watch out....

She also loves to step on my feet. It takes every ounce of coordination and determination and concentration, but she thinks it is the best game. It hurts.

Alright..the end...if you made it this far.

Love.

10

2008-02-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

Got tagged...here are 10 things no one needed to know about me...

1. I had my belly button pierced for several years in high school. Bo thought it was repulsive. He removed it.

2. I think cuss words are funny. Not the big "bombs", just the misdemeanors.

3. I like food. I can't get enough hot sauce. I even put it on pizza sometimes. I could eat Mexican food every day at every meal. I hate most healthy vegetables and I don't like to hear people eating. ("Mouth noises" as Bo calls them.) Gag me.

4. I'm a grandma-ish (scardy-cat) driver.

5. In 8th grade I had a boyfriend that had a parole officer. My poor mother.

6. KC (from KC and the Sunshine band) is my daddy's cousin. His real name is Harry Wayne Casey. We get Christmas cards from him. Too bad I was too young to really think he was cool. Do a little dance....

7. I never really played with barbies unless you count burning off their body parts by holding them against a running treadmill. (My brother figured that one out.) I did take care of my baby dolls though.

8. I have never ever smoked ever. The way my parents talked about it, I figured I'd die trying.

9. I went through a phase where all I listened to was rap "music". I decided I wanted to be a missionary to the ghetto's in New York. My mama made me buy all my rap cd's at Wal-mart because they were edited. My friends would be in the car with me and I would say the cd must have skipped, because I didn't want them to know the dirty word had just been bleeped out. Edited cd's were way uncool.

10. I love Braves baseball. Andruw Jones was my favorite. Now he's gone. I could understand an entire baseball game before I could write my full name.

I'd like to hear from:

Patrick, Katie White, Camille S.

"a new post"

2008-02-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Butthole ...such a nasty little word, but not so much to me. In fact, that little word is the motivation behind this post. My brother left me a comment a few days ago.... "Write a new blog you butthole". Before you get offended let me say that "butthole" has really become a term of endearment that is often exchanged between the two of us. It's amazing, every time I hear the word uttered I am quickly taken back to my childhood...
1. I taught my brother "butthole" as soon as he could say words with two syllables
2. Butthole was one of the first words he learned to spell, seriously (dog, cat, b-u-t-t-h-o-l-e)
3. Butthole was quickly forbidden by my mama
4. If we were caught saying the forbidden word we would lie and swear we had just said "button-hole".
5. Once I called Patrick a butthole if front of the wonderful Debbie Sutton. (I was actually afraid of her as a child and I had to call and apologize. It was traumatizing.)
6. My mom did not buy the button-hole story that time.

In other news...

1.Bo and I are expecting our second baby. There will be two under two. But only for about 3 months. It was a surprise, but ready or not... I am due end of September - early Octoberish.

2. I watered my plants with gatorade the other night. Not on purpose. What will happen?

3. Caroline snorts when she gets excited, especially when you put food in front of her that she likes. I hope she out grows it..it's not very attractive, but it sure is hilarious.

4. Went to Publix yesterday...(do you remember how warm it was? We went to the park earlier that day) Caroline did not wear shoes and I was harassed again by an old lady 2 "people" behind me in the line. She was shouting across two people's worth of personal space "where are her shoes?" I ignored it at first and then the cashier pointed out that the old lady was talking to me.

5. Caroline is hateful to me when I am on the computer. I have a laptop and she tries to close it on my fingers. She gets so jealous of it....she looks at it and says "bye, bye". She even pulled one of the keys off the keyboard the other day. It was the { and [ key. Now it sticks up funny, but I don't use that one often.

Tasty China

2008-02-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

A few things:

I don't like it when people sing songs that they don't know the words to. I really get upset when they just make up their own words and keep on singing like it is no big deal. It embarrasses me, (especially when they are unaware of the extent to which they are butchering the song)...it's just wrong and it irritates me. I did it the other day. Had it been more than a few words, I might have not liked myself anymore. I love Switchfoot. There is a line in one of their songs that says "we are the target market, we set the corporate target.." Well, I caught myself actually thinking about the words I was singing, and that is when I discovered I had the words confused. I had (for as long as I had "known" the song) been singing "we are the target monkeys". It was a tragic discovery, I'm a hypocrite.

I dream a LOT and one of my re-occurring dreams is that my teeth are falling out or that I am missing one of my teeth, and so on. The dreams are freaky and more like nightmares. I wish they would go away. I woke up panicked the other day. My dentist said that I most likely grind my teeth and so therefore I dream about them. The hygienist said that I have bad hand-eye coordination and that I am not capable of brushing my teeth as well as they deserve. She said I needed an electric toothbrush and she gave me a $10 rebate for one. You know that if you are given a rebate for a toothbrush, it ain't cheap. It was like $90 and so I bought one for $15 and I use my old one most of the time.

As I am typing, Bo is watching Mike Huckabee. He is a pretty solid candidate if you ask us. We are impressed by his gift of public speaking, he is actually funny and he never reads a teleprompter, he is excellent at answering tough unscripted questions. Most importantly he has right-on political views and appears to be a wise God-fearing man with convictions. He is speaking about his pro-life view now and it is very clear where he stands. I like that.

Tonight I went to Tasty China. My dad took us out. Some good friends recommended the place. When we first got there a little lady came over to greet us. I had given Caroline my chopsticks because she was bored and begging to touch something. Next thing I know the waitress has walked off with the chopsticks and marches right back to our table after disposing of them and says "Chinese people do not give their babies chopsticks. Very dangerous. She can pop her eye out. Do not give them to her again". (Let me just say here that lately people feel like they need to help me parent. I'll be out and people (usually older ladies) will ask where her shoes are (she pulls them off immediately after being strapped in her car seat!) I was a little embarrassed. Then she proceeds to take our order and it was insane. She was apparently frustrated that we did not know what we wanted seconds upon walking in the door to a restaurant we had never stepped foot in. She began asking a ton of questions at once, "you like spicy?, what kind of meat you want?, etc.." She then decides what she thinks we should have and next thing we know the massive plates of food are on our little table. The "pork with young bamboo" was positioned right in front of Caroline and she began helping herself to it. She would agree that Tasty China is in fact tasty. After recovering from one bite of the spiciest noodles I have ever tasted, (and I am no whimp when it comes to spicy) I enjoyed the black pepper beef and fried green beans. I think we will definetly go back, we will just make sure to know what we want when the waitress arives and make sure Caroline does not "pop" her eye or whatever.

I'm off to see if I can con Bo into scratching my back...

Walking and "Ursing"

2008-01-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

Caroline is walking, talking, teething and weaning. I'm exhausted. She is not herself. Perhaps the personality shift is due to the fact she is going through a little too much at once right now... either that or the body snatchers have been here. The walking and talking is going well. Her favorite words are "balloon" and "boobie". (The first body part she identified were her daddies "boop-ies". Isn't that nice.) She took her first steps faster and with less fear and inhibition than any little girl would appear to have. Now that she has fallen a few times, she is a bit more cautious. The teething seems to be lasting forever and is hard for everyone involved...she is getting her molars. Those are some gigantic teeth to have to bust up through such soft little gums. The Oragel and I have been playing hide-n-go seek all week long. When will I learn to put it back in the same place every time? It is currently hiding. So, now about weaning.... I think Caroline would say it is traumatizing. At least she acts like she is being tortured. If the girl can say "boopies", and nurse ("urse") and she can basically rip my clothes off, I think those are sufficient signals that it is time to wean her. Weirdos might disagree with me, but it has to stop sometime. I don't want her to be four years old and her favorite activity to still be "ursing". I have tried to cut it back to twice a day. About mid morning, Caroline locates me and starts clapping. (That is her way of saying please... We taught her some (incorrect) sign language so she would whine less and communicate in a more pleasant way. I recommend it but it doesn't stop the whining while they are teething!) If I don't respond to the clapping she throws herself on the floor (like a 2-year old) and screams "urse" and "no, no, no" and pitches the biggest fit I have ever seen a 1-year old throw. It is embarrassing, she looks like a little gremlin or something. It is not a fun sight to see your sweet child morph into something so grotesque and scary. I usually walk out of the room but she follows me and tries in every way possible to assert her will and get her way. Then, mid-afternoon or so, the whole thing happens again. By that time I start watching the clock and counting down the hours until daddy can come rescue us. Once he gets here she usually forgets about me because he is the favorite these days. I am not jealous, I love it. I love to see him sing, read, and roll in the floor with her. Well, my house is getting wrecked so... The End.

Lunch

2008-01-17T15:19:00.001-08:00

Caroline and I went to lunch with some friends today. (We went to Taco Mac and it was amazing because they seriously have the best wings ever.) I brought lunch for Caroline and I cut it all up and put it in front of her so that I could basically ignore her and eat my lunch (which never happens but I still try to set things up "just right" in hopes Caroline will pleasantly surprise me with good behavior). I even brought all her favorites...raisins (gag), meat sticks (barf), cheese, and a bottle. After squaring Caroline away with her food (and the lemon out of my drink that she begged me for...in which she ate almost the whole thing including the rind), I settled in to enjoy my meal and converse with my friend. Throughout the entire dining experience Caroline tried several times to "Houdini" out of her highchair. (She finally succeeded toward the end of the meal and proceeded to climb on top of the table.) However, during the middle of the meal she had been content for a span of a few minutes and all of a sudden I thought "what is going on?", "Caroline is sure being good". I turned to look at her and noticed she had grabbed one of my wings, devoured the remaining chicken off the wing (if there was any) and was sucking ferociously on the bone. My wings were hot mind you and she was loving them! It was hysterical, she just smiled until I took the bone away which brought about a sound that I don't care if I ever hear again and a grimace that I wouldn't mind ever seeing again. After lunch, we headed over to Barnes and Noble to get some coffee to perk us up after our exhausting lunch. Caroline had fun hugging and kissing on her 5 month old friend. She loves to show affection and aggression interchangeably and you never know what is next. Thankfully her little friend Anna Claire enjoyed both the love and abuse and just smiled the whole time. It is really fun to make new friends who like you for you. Well, I gotta stop ignoring my family and go cook dinner for them....

Big girl!

2008-01-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

Caroline is now a 1-year old. I'm not sure that she knows the significance of a birthday. I'm not sure that she even knows what "big girl" means. But, she definitely thinks she is capable of doing big girl things. (Tonight she all of a sudden decided she would go down the stairs backwards, and for never having done it before she mastered them speedily. It was quite amazing to watch and Bo and I joked that she must practice while we are asleep.) We had a little birthday party that was not so little at my mama's house. People said they felt like they were at a daycare. The chaos was worth every bit of having friends and family celebrate with us. I think it turned out to be a good time. Caroline and I were fashionable... I had burned my neck with my flat iron the day before and I looked like I had a hickey and Caroline got her hair cut by her daddy a few hours before the party. (Bo cuts his own hair and had practiced once (and only once) before on my hair; we both agreed we'd spend the money to get Caroline's cut next time....but at least her rat tail is gone.) Leading up to the big birthday Caroline tried her best to injure herself. Every time I turned around she was into something dangerous..... a razor, 2 seashells of perfect choking size already in her mouth, standing up turned around backwards leaning over the back of the highchair (thankfully, my dad caught her), and the worst... I found a pack of busted silica gel in her mouth. I was able to retrieve a good bit of the little silica pellets out of her mouth...that stuff says "do not eat" all over it, but yet they put it in children's shoe boxes??? Why do shoes need to be kept fresh or whatever? She was fine. My hands shook and my heart raced as usual. God gives parents (and grandparents) a supernatural ability to know just how long to let a child out of sight. It is an amazing thing.

Yes, Jesus loves me...

2008-01-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

Just before midnight on New Year's Eve, Jesus told me He loved me in the most unexpected way. We were over at some of our good friend's house and I was making some brownies. (I thought I was being SO helpful.) I was unable to pull apart the brownie mix bag so I searched around the kitchen for some scissors. What I did not notice was that Jesus (or a statue of Him rather) was standing dangerously close to the butcher block that held the scissors. Upon returning the scissors back into the block something terrible happened... I accidentally knocked two of Jesus' fingers off...all of a sudden I went into complete hysterics. Doubled over shaking from laughter (mostly due to complete humiliation and embarrassment), I desperately tried to compose myself in order to break the terrible news (that I found so terribly funny) to my friend Ann. Before I had a chance to tell her she "caught me" laughing and asked me what was going on. I said "umm I'm laughing, but I should be crying"and then I just said as clearly as possible through my laughter "Jesus just lost a finger!". (Which of course was unfortunately followed by another eruption of violent laughter.) I then proceeded to bring the statue into the room where Ann and our husbands were. Thankfully, everyone laughed as we noticed that Jesus was now giving the sign for "I love you". (see photo) What can I say? Jesus loves me... Also, thankfully, let it be known...people with Jesus figurines are very forgiving. I think Ann still loves me. After all, I saved His fingers in a Ziploc for her and apologized profusely.

The last time I remember being that out of control with nervous laughter was a year or so ago when I was teaching a group of kids (AND their PARENTS) about the beggar at Gate Beautiful. I accidentally called the beggar "the booger"...in the microphone on stage.

*Read Ann's blog (which includes a recount of this story from her perspective): http://www.atlantamama.blogspot.com/

House-sitting

2007-12-31T07:22:00.000-08:00

We're house-sitting. Bo and I don't like pets too much but we're keeping my parents dogs for a little less than a week because we are just so kind. The older dog Lily is a complete oxymoron of her name. She is not dainty nor fragile, and is by no means pleasant smelling. In fact she weighs over 130 pounds (BUT if you were to include the MASSIVE fatty tumor inside her neck she most likely weighs about 140 pounds these days). Lily sheds something awful and even Caroline who is quite fond of animals is easily horrified by her deep loud bark.

The other dog, Annie, is much smaller (about 7 pounds), and is equally as charming. (The day before my parents left to go to the ever exciting Greenville, Mississippi, Annie decided she needed a little attention. I was in the bank setting up a savings account for Caroline and I got a phone call from my brother....this is what I heard coming from the other end of the line, "Ruth Allen!! Mom is having a terrible day and to make things worse mom and dad are on the way to the vet with Annie because she is really sick... They think she maybe ate some rat poison...she can't even stand up...if it was rat poison she's gonna die" Let me add here that I only answered the phone in the middle of my affairs at the bank because Patrick called twice and is not usually awake that time of day (10:00 in the morning). After spending over $100 at the vet, my parents learned that Annie most likely has epilepsy.) Bo and I are keeping our fingers crossed that Annie will hold off seizing during our stay here. All that to say Annie is a grouchy little dog that doesn't like to use the potty in the rain. Therefore, she uses the carpet in my parents bedroom just beside their bed. Day before yesterday I had two brown dog droppings stuck to my foot first thing in the morning. It was almost as enjoyable as waking up to Caroline crying. Caroline likes Annie and is quite obsessed with grabbing her, however the feelings are not mutual. (I have felt like a referee the past few days.) Last night Caroline snatched Annie up out of my lap by only her sweater...yes, the dog wears a sweater to keep her warm this time of year. It was hilarious and quite freakish at the same time. (My brother is ashamed of the fact Annie has a sweater, much less wears it.) Honestly, it is cute on her.

Caroline is enjoying her stay at my parents, but she did not want to sleep in a different bed the first night. I slept so well in my parents full size bed with Caroline sprawled out on one-side and Annie all up against me on the other. Bo got to sleep on the couch, I am still envious. Things are just different when you stay in other's territory. Bo and I decided to cook some steaks night before last. There were some rat droppings...(make that hundreds of rat droppings) by the grill...Bo HATES rats and has quite an unhealthy fear of rodents and all things resembling rodents. He decided to start the grill before ever opening it (just in case any rats were "playing inside") and he was proud of his genius idea. Long story short the gas ran out and the steaks had to finish cooking in the oven. As we were desperately trying to enjoy the steaks, we could not help but joke that the steaks did not come from Publix where we had grocery shopped earlier that day, but instead from Kaufman tire where Bo had picked his car up from the shop that afternoon. We like our steaks rare, but tire rubber works when your husband volunteers to cook for you, and there is a dog begging at your feet.

Even simple gadgets vary from home to home. Bo tried to make us some coffee this morning. His first attempt failed because he forgot to empty the coffee from the morning before and it overflowed everywhere. (The coffee pot is stainless steel...not glass) His second attempt failed, because he forget to place the carafe back inside the coffee maker. Even bigger mess as you can imagine. Thank goodness the "third time is a charm". (You must understand that Bo RARELY does mindless things...it is always so funny to see him laugh at himself.) Speaking of Bo he did an amazing job leading worship at church yesterday and all around we had a great service. I was excited at how the congregation (I feel weird using that word, we're small) got involved and seemed to really hear from the Lord yesterday. I love our church. Bo and I can't wait for the day we can move into Marietta. We actually have enjoyed our stay at our parents as they live in the heart of the city Bo and I love so much.

We went to the famous La Parilla last night and had a great time. Caroline was thrilled by the Mariachi band and we were too, because it kept her entertained. (We were even spared the unfortunate parental task of having to scarf our food down, it was fun and relaxing.) She danced and smiled and pointed and squealed. It was a highlight of our holidays for sure. That's all for now... (Mom and Dad we are having a good time really, we are laughing a lot...)

The Best Christmas Ever!!!

2007-12-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

No, I did not get an "official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time"... I got something even sweeter...check it out... My brother mustered up all his artistic ability and created a little somethin' just for me. It is very possible that this old t-shirt (holes (BUT thankfully no pit stains) included) is the most generous and thoughtful gift I have ever received. PATRICK, thanks for blessing me with your creativity...the blood "says it all". Love to all. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas! Please do not covet my awesome gift, that is a sin.

Attack of the killer spider and infant Motrin!

2007-12-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

Caroline is too much for me. Too cute and too funny, yes. But I am talking about her remarkable, paranormal ability to "get into things". I mean she is seriously a handful. (I am so thankful that God chose me to be her mom, but seriously, I need His constant help.) This task of raising Caroline is simultaneously enjoyable and terrifying. There are times I literally have to just sit down and breathe because of what "could have" just happened. I know that she inherited her inquisitive behavior from one uncle and her busy-ness from the other. She gets it honestly. (Don't get me wrong, Caroline is probably more fun than those kids who sit around and obey all the time. I love my job.)
Today, we had three freakish encounters with dangerous things...
1. A black widow spider...I am positive it was one.... I researched GA spiders until I stumbled upon the nasty little creatures "positive ID match"... Thank God Bo un-knowingly smashed it in the door just before she found it-
2. She unlocked a child-proof bottle of Motrin...in my panic I licked her mouth to see if she had consumed any... I think we are in the clear several hours later
3. the fireplace "poker" tool...she loves it...It scares me...
Despite these terrifying episodes, we have had a fun day. Caroline has mimicked just about everything I have said and it is adorable. Her little voice is so high pitched.

Christmas shopping with Caroline & the insane TJ Max lady...

2007-12-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

Today started out with a bang. literally. (I went in to get Caroline up this morning and she was so happy to see me that she began jumping up and down in her crib. It was the cutest thing ever. Then, just before I lifted her out she banged her mouth on the side of her bed...really hard. The intense excitement of seeing mommy quickly turned into an ear piercing wail. I would have cried too.) Then it was my turn to do something stupid I guess, so we packed up and headed out to buy Bo Christmas gifts. (We set the most unrealistic budget of $30 to spend on each other. SO just coming up with what to buy was hard enough.) Well, we went to Target (of course) and no, my brother has not made my t-shirt yet-(Just say no to pyramid schemes), but thankfully I was not approached today. I think Caroline would have scared anyone within a 10 feet radius off. She was throwing things out of my buggy faster that I could put them in. Chaos! After choosing a few items that I will not mention, because Bo reads my blog, I checked out. I couldn't find my money anywhere and I had to surrender my credit card that I am not allowed to use for anything but gas. I was so nervous that my cash had been tossed out with the other "things" Caroline had launched at people that I forgot to give the cashier one of the items. I did not realize my mistake until I was loading up my car and realized I had stolen the $6 pack of disposable razors. My life would be so much easier if I were dishonest! But no, I had to go back into Target, wait in the customer service line (meanwhile I find my cash, I had hidden it from myself), and I get stuck in front of this man who keeps asking if he can hold Caroline. I was like, uhh "she doesn't like anyone but me". I wanted to say "hell no get away from me", but I am not mean. So, the whole time I was RE-checking out he is playing with her, touching her face, etc.... good thing I am not a germ freak. I'm glad to be home. I spent more than the $30 limit...
Oh and speaking of Christmas shopping... listen to this....I got behind this lady the other day in the TJ Max line and she was talking about that mall shooting that happened a few weeks ago. She was saying that she couldn't believe that there haven't been more shootings. She said that the terrible Christmas music that stores play is enough to drive anyone insane. She then starts telling me how she would have "performed" the shooting. (She said she would have gone on a Saturday where there were a lot more people, etc..) Then she continues on about how crazy Christmas music can make you.... Crazy enough to kill people????? I don't think so!!!!!! I wanted to call 911 and give them a "tip", but I figure she was exaggerating. It was creepy...

3 years ago

2007-12-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

3 years ago today, Bo and I got married and were off for a week long cruise to the Western Caribbean islands. It was nice. Today, currently, Caroline and I are still in pjs and I am desperately trying to get the dishwasher unloaded without her grabbing something sharp, while Bo is working hard selling hose and whatever other accessories you may need to go with your hose. (Our latest joke is that Bo is a "pimp" (because he sells hose...)I think it is hilarious) Anyway, I am going to write a whole blog about Bo sometime soon, in a nutshell he knows how to love better than anyone I know. (I have been meaning to write just about him because he gets mentioned less than the girls in the family.) My brother started a blog and he requested that I make him famous, so all 4 of you who read my blog can check it out. (It is linked to the right) It was not until recently that I discoverd that "pay per view" was not "paper view". When I saw it writen, it all made sense. Merry Christmas. Love.

Holy Moly! Target at Target!

2007-12-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

I went to Target today; what I did not know was that I was wearing a big fat "target" on my back. I was minding my OWN business looking on the formula isle (because I had forgotten to pack a bottle for Caroline and she was REMINDING me of that). Next thing I know, a lady who did not appear to have ulterior motives, asks me how old Caroline is. I am naturally friendly with strangers and so I answered her and asked how old her little girl was. Then she asked several more questions and gradually proceeded to get more inquisitive and personal with each question. Suddenly, my "pyramid scheme detector" went off. I knew I had heard this little deal before. The next question out of her mouth was "are you looking for something to do in your spare time?" (*OK my neurotic nervous problem has kicked in at this point! She has just put her little pyramid scheming self "out there" and I desperately did not want to reject and humiliate her, BUT I was furious. You see, this is the SEVENTH time in the last few years that I have been HIT UP by people like this. I am not kidding you, and this is the THIRD time I have encountered one of these people in this particular Target store.) I literally could not believe that this was happening again.... I was livid. Then out of nowhere, I get supernatural "courage", and instead of a wimpy answer like, "no, I don't have much spare time, but thanks it was so nice to meet you", I say "NO, I am not looking for anything, bye" and I walked off. VICTORY! SWEET VICTORY! She didn't even have time to give me her "business" card! I felt so proud! I will admit that the rest of the time I was in there I was pleading with God that I would not run into her again. AND He answered my plea! It was a victorious ending to a tragic and unfortunate meeting! Let me tell you that I plan to wear a "Just say no to Pyramid Schemes" t-shirt next time I go in there. I refuse to be a target at Target again.

Take 3...

2007-11-27T11:49:00.001-08:00

I have been trying to write a post for about 3 days now... I have even gotten started and have had to save it as a draft... I just keep getting interrupted! Caroline is apparently NOT supportive of my blogging. (Perhaps, it is because I have to neglect her in order to write a post.) As soon as I sit down at the computer she grabs onto my ankles, pushes buttons on the printer and SCREAMS! OR she wanders off to go destroy something I most likely just cleaned up. (Her favorite new "games" include BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: unrolling ALL the toilet paper off the mega size roll, pulling soggy toilet paper out of the toilet when mommy forgets to flush, and eating things that aren't food...especially bugs, loose hair, lint, and cardboard. All children do these things, I know. I just need some time to get used to it.) Well, Caroline is napping, so here is the latest...

Thanksgiving:

1. I am one of the adults now. Life is different. On holidays you cook and you clean and you wake up when your children do.

2. I shared a twin bed with Caroline at my aunt's house. (She would only sleep in her pack n' play for half the night.) How can one small person take up so much room? How can she sleep and move that much at the same time?

3. If you have not seen the YouTube video "It's Business Time" by "Flight of the Conchords", you should. Watching it was possibly the highlight of my Thanksgiving. Don't watch it if you aren't married...you won't GET it. (Oh and one more thing.. the song will most likely be stuck in your head.) Here's the link...I think... If not, you can search for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

4. A few photos:

Caroline is way into giving kisses:

How tall girls wear their footie pajamas:

It appears that Caroline is herbivorous:

Thanksgiving, confessions, Michael & The Office and the bathroom (my hide out)

2007-11-20T05:38:00.001-08:00

1. A confession: OK, so I have this INSANE problem. You know "they say" that a strength in excess can be a weakness. Well... I think one strength I posses is compassion, but sometimes I think I go overboard. Here's the bottom line: I get so extremely nervous and embarrassed for people that at times I have to go "hide" because I get so uncomfortable I have no choice but to remove myself. (I usually hide in the bathroom when this happens.) You see, I can't stand, (I literally can't tolerate) people getting embarrassed. ESPECIALLY when people are embarrassing themselves and don't know it. A few examples... when a "long-winded" person is in possession of a microphone and they don't know when to "give it back", when someone tells a joke and it doesn't go over well, when someone gives a "heartfelt talk" and no one responds or connects..... you get the picture. In the midst of these "situations", my response usually begins with nervous laughter and then from there I get so uncomfortable that I just leave. What is wrong with me?? Maybe I should talk to someone...

2. I love The Office (tv series). My plans for this Thanksgiving are as follows: 1. Go to Montgomery, Alabama, 2. trick someone into watching Caroline for me in the mornings so I can sleep in, 3. eat a LOT of good food without gaining a pound (have not figured that one out yet...), 4. watch most of The Office season 3. Let me just say that because of my "problem" discussed above, I almost could not watch The Office when I saw the first season. Michael made me too nervous. I had to convince myself that it was not "real" and then I thoroughly enjoyed it. IF I worked with Michael, my desk would be in the bathroom. Where would yours be?

3. I love spell check. I would not blog if it weren't a feature. I spelled 10 words wrong in the two paragraphs above. But you would have never known that!

4. Happy Thanksgiving.

5. Caroline update: She's unbelievably resilient . Yesterday, the chair her booster seat was in turned over but she stayed strapped in. Then, her car seat (that WAS buckled in) flipped over twice yesterday when the car made a turn. From what I can gather, she will not enjoy roller coasters...she gets that from me.

Love to all (especially Brett my faithful blog reader).

The Park

2007-11-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

Went to the park today. Caroline LOVED it. She squealed the whole time she swung (swang??). It was FREEZING... The kind of cold where you can't tell that your nose is running until you taste it because your face is so numb you can't feel it running toward your mouth. (Caroline stuck her tongue upward toward her nose one too many times today. gag.) Took a friend's child with me. We were walking and she screamed "OH LOOK AT THAT" I looked up and the only thing I saw anywhere close by was a squirrel. I said, look at what.. that squirrel WAY OVER THERE? She said YES!!! I said "Oh, have you never seen one of those before?"- as I died laughing (She is 9 years old). She said, "well I have never seen one that close up"! This is probably NOT funny to read, but it was HILARIOUS!!!!! The squirrels at the park are friendly folks. The only other possible noteworthy bit from today: I went to a deer cooler to pick up my dad's venison and it was the worst smell I've ever smelled and I got a little deer blood on my thumb on my right hand. We saw goats there...Caroline loved them as well.

last few days...

2007-11-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

Unless you find injuries, sickness, and medical procedures humorous, nothing "noteworthingly" funny has happened the last few days:
1. Caroline and Bo got head injuries. Bo's bled, it made me nauseous.
2. Between the two of us, Caroline and I got 4 shots. Neither one of us cried. We're BIG girls!!
3. I had cavities 3, 4, and 5 filled. (All five have been filled in the past two weeks. I say "at least we met our dental deductible". Bo called me "rot teeth" for a few days)
4. I got a cold yesterday so I went to bed at 8:00! It was amazing. (I used to cry during those Lunesta commercials right after Caroline was born. *New Mama's...you will sleep again.)

Yesterday

2007-11-12T06:16:00.000-08:00

"look first"...

2007-11-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

My new instuctions on how to use the bathroom are: "look first, then flush"...
Bo is enforcing this rule around the Bryant household due to the fact that he had to stick his hand in pee-water a moment ago. Caroline loves the potty, she obviously does not know what it is for... there was part of a bottle stuck in the toilet in her bathroom. I have no idea how it got there nor what was coming when I flushed... I say "it's not my fault", Bo says, "look first, then flush"...

By the way...

2007-11-10T10:41:00.000-08:00

If you are offended that Caroline was Cowoline for Halloween...
Please Note: We do not celebrate Halloween..we just DO and say we DON'T

Less about poop, more about cute....

2007-11-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

Went to Target the other day to return a sweater. You see, I had run in there a week or so ago to get a hoodie for Caroline, because the wind bothers her ears. I decided I would get a brown one. I grabbed the first brown sweater I saw in her size and went to pay for it. As soon as the cashier handed me my bag I realized the sweater did not have a hood. I looked at the cashier as I was about to walk off and said "oops I didn't mean to buy this". (It was the ONLY thing I had bought) Then I did a little nervous laugh and walked out of the store. So the next trip to Target (a different one) was to return the not-hoodie sweater. Caroline will NOT sit in the part of the buggy w/ a strap. She sits in the big part where the "stuff" goes. AND she doesn't even sit in it, she stands up and holds on to the side....which makes me nervous! Well, we were in the children's clothes section and I looked up to make sure she was still in the cart and this is what I saw.... She must have been trying to get my attention. She knows I am drawn to those Price Cut signs....

The other pictures are recent..obviously they are from October....Happy Fall, love to all!

Cowoline.... (She is NOT a Dalmatian folks!)

*If you haven't read the previous blog check it out for a little Bryant family history...

If I had had a blog before today this post wouldn't be so long...

2007-11-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

I had it all together. Not only did I have things Monogrammed, I KNEW what was coming. You see... I had babysat for everyone who had children in Marietta. Nothing would surprise me about being a mom. I had endured many a temper tantrum, I had changed many diapers that "didn't do their job", I had fixed dinner for picky eaters, I had let kids "cry it out", I had doctored boo-boos... I was READY TO GO, and you could tell by the appearance of my stomach last January. In other words, I was a naive idiot...Here are some recent stories that I would have blogged if I'd had one.... AND in some cases pictures speak louder than words.. I tell these stories so that I can laugh instead of cry...

1. Caroline (4 months old)- I started going to a play group to GET OUT (which I recommend). I had just perfected the ability to only be about five minutes late everywhere I go. I got Caroline dressed. She looked cute and her diaper bag was full so I was ready to go. I got her loaded in her car seat and made my way to the driver seat (garage door open by this time). I was feeling good that morning...free... ummm maybe because I forgot to dress myself. My excuse: I am so used to nursing I just forgot to put my shirt back on. Needless to say, I was more like 8 minutes late. (No photo for this one!)

2. (From an email I sent to the play group I mentioned above...) I changed Caroline's diaper in the wee hours of the morning..(do any of you wonder how many of us are up at the same time together being "mommy" when most people are sleeping?) Anyway, she wet through her diaper (the"organic" Harry's ones) and so while I was changing her I felt something weird inside her p.j.'s... I grabbed it out from under her and I realized that somehow there was a plastic medicine syringe inside her pajamas! I mean she slept on top of that syringe all night.. You know the story of the princess and the pea?? Caroline must not be a princess by the world's standards, but I think she is pretty great to go to sleep with a plastic syringe in her pajamas! About the Harry's diapers...I actually really like them...they contain her poop..ALL of her poop! Yay!! Well, if any of you can figure out how the medicine syringe snuck its way into my little ones p.j.'s please let me know.

3. I went on a little shopping adventure with Caroline in September. I had one of those free Victoria Secret panty cards and I was at the Avenues so I went and redeemed it. The lady at the counter was like "aren't you going to buy something else...you get$10 off bras..." I said not unless you have nursing bras. Then she tried to talk me into some other things and I wanted to say "PLEASE Woman I am broke and I just want my free panties!" I always redeem those FREE cards because I am slowly replacing my XS panties with M and L ones after having baby C... And FREE is the best way to do that! Anyway I made my way to Gymboree a few "stores" later and Caroline was fussy so I thought "I have the perfect toy!" My bag of free panties. Well, can I just say I love Gymboree and when I go in there I probably don't watch Caroline as well as I should. I was looking at a really cute dress when a lady walked by that worked there and said "she is eating that tissue paper", I didn't even look up, I just said, "yeah, she has a little paper everyday". Well when I finally looked up there were little pieces of pink Victoria's Secret tissue shreds ALL over the floor in differnt places. I picked it up and decided I better head out-but before I could get out the door I hear "Are these your panties Miss?" from across the store! On the other side of the store lay my BIG panties that had previously been in the pink tissue! So I said "yes thanks" and after looking at a few more cute things I left. Got to my car only to realize I had left all my shopping bags inside Gymboree. What a fun trip! Needless to say Caroline didn't get that cute baby deer outfit. Probably better since I would have paid for it with grocery money and we would have less meat to eat.

4. One time Bo and I had a discussion on whether or not babies poop in the bathtub. He says they just pee (we call it tee-tee). I said no they do both numbers...who would you say won the "discussion"? Bo got this picture in an e-mail while he was at work one day....
You know you want more Bryant family history...

5. Caroline had a diaper rash (Just so you know...I have treated diaper rashes in the past, in my valuable babysitting days... So give me the benefit of the doubt here!) I was letting her "air out".... I thought I had contained her to my cheap linoleum floor in my bathroom- (that I'd love to replace but I'd rather move). She made her way into my closet, found my shoe and made good use of it. I think we should begin potty training immediately. Yes, that is poop....You know you want more Bryant family history...