Hurry up and be over!

Still fighting sickness here.  NO FUN.  Thank God Mom and Karen ended up  making a last minute trip down here to "see the guys" (as they say).  It was a big help.  We had to take Luke to Urgent Care this morning because he had a 103 temperature when he woke.  Looks like it's a viral infection so we'll just have to wait it out.  Lots of tylenol and some dimetapp seem to be helping.   That's about all I can share for now.

Germs Strike Again

Brayden & I are sick.  He came down with a fever yesterday after nap.  I can keep it at bay with Tylenol but it is clear that he still does not feel well.  Poor Guy.  When he woke yesterday he just wanted to be held and rocked.  I cherished the cuddle time.  On the other hand, Luke was feeling fine as a fiddle and REALLY wanted to go outside to play.  Bray wasn't having it and I don't blame him.  I tried to explain to Luke (about a thousand times) that his brother did not feel well and we needed to stay inside.  He tried to be patient but I swear that boy has ants in his pants sometimes.  Anyway, when Bray's Tylenol kicked in he decided he wanted to go outside too so there was peace in our home again.

Mom mentioned she may come down this weekend for a quick visit.  Karen would come too.  It would be nice but I'll be surprised if they make the trip.  

John is taking *dare I say* our boat out for a sea trial on Saturday....can't wait!  Even though I won't be joining him I am super psyched!  I love Wilmington soooo much.  Yesterday after John stopped working we put the boys in the stroller and walked over to the "big water" (that's what the boys call it).  It's really the the neighborhood's boat ramp on the intra-coastal waterway.  It was so beautiful outside and it was great just to look at the water and take in the breeze.  Very thankful for those moments.  We were saying that if we were still in Nova that could not have happened.

We have a commitment tonight that I can't/do not want to cancel.  I'm really hoping to feel better by then.... 

Florida Visit

I am trying to find out how to place pictures in the order I want them.  Anyway, here are some pictures from our visit to Florida:

Cute Dookie playing at Gatorland

Raegan & the boys

Aunt Karen & Bray

Our Family Princess

Aunt Leigh Anne with the kids

Bray just because it's cute

Easter Fun

Good Friday or Mourning Friday?

I am fasting today for Good Friday.  I was able to do it last year and I will do it again this year.  A small sacrifice to make on this day; I shouldn't complain, but I do a little bit.  I am such a food lover it's difficult to make it through the day but then I think about what this day is all about and realize that this sacrifice is not even a drop in the bucket comparatively.  I've always wondered why they call it "Good Friday".  I guess ultimately good came from the horrible reality of the crucifixion.  I did some research and here is what it says: "Calling the day of the Crucifixion ‘Good’ Friday is a designation that is peculiar to the English language. In German, for example, it is called Karfreitag. The Kar part is an obsolete word, the ancestor of the English word care in the sense of cares and woes, and it meant mourning. So in German, it is Mourning Friday. And that is what the disciples did on that day—they mourned. They thought all was lost.

I’ve read that the word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy, but I can’t trace that back in my etymological dictionary. There are a number of cases in set phrases where the words God and good got switched around because of their similarity. One case was the phrase God be with you, which today is just good-bye. So perhaps Good Friday was originally God’s Friday. But I think we call it Good Friday because, in pious retrospect, all that tragedy brought about the greatest good there could be.

I can see virtue in either terminology. If we call it Mourning Friday, as in German, we are facing reality head on, taking up the cross if you will, fully conscious that the Christian walk is seldom a walk in the park. But if we call it Good Friday, as in English, we are confessing the Christian hope that no tragedy—not even death—can overwhelm God’s providence, love, and grace. Either way seems fine to me!"

Tomorrow morning we are going to an Easter Egg Hunt at Mayfaire Town Center and meeting up with some other moms.  It will be the guys' first egg hunt.  I'm not sure if they will get run over by the bigger kids but I plan to bring some filled eggs of my own so if that's the case we can hop on over to the side or something and have our own little hunt.  We will also try to hit the beach tomorrow or Sunday.  Saturday night we are going to church for the Easter Service to avoid the Sunday crowd.  Then we're supposed to go out to eat with my cousin, Jesse and his wife Cori.  Should be a fun weekend.

We had a play date this morning with TRIPLET boys who are 2.5.  Benton, Charlie & Campbell.  Quite a threesome.  They are identical and sooooo cute.  And soooo energetic!  I think the boys were quite shocked and didn't know how to interact with them.  They were outnumbered!  That has never happened to them before!

After they left we had twin girls come over.  They were supposed to be at our house a little earlier but they got tied up.  Anyway, by the time the girls came Luke & Bray were a little frazzled!  It took so much energy for them to play with the boys!

Brayden has such a tender heart.  While the triplets were here, we all went into the boys' room so their Mom could change one of their diapers.  The train table is in Luke & Bray's room and it was a big hit with the Tucker boys.  I said something like, "I think your friends like the train table" and Bray thought for a minute and then said "Friends can take train table home".  It was SO SWEET.  

I made the boys and twin girls lunch and chatted with their mama.  It was fun.  By the time everyone left and the boys went down for nap I was beyond fried.  Seriously.  I just needed a few minutes of QUIET.  SILENCE.  PEACE.  Ahhhhhhh...it was heaven.  And as soon as I start to fall into a sleep, "Mooooooooooommmmmmyy".  It is SO hard to get up when you are just about asleep.

The boys are really getting into pretend play now.  They like to "drive" places and come back.  Typical places they go other than work is church, going to pick up Thomas & Percy, school, Ella's.  Today they used their Jay Jay the Jet Plane storage bag as their suitcase.  Bray left the room and said, "Bye, lub (love) you".  

Luke told his Ganma (short from Grandma, John's mom) that he needed to go potty today.  He took her by the hand, straight to his potty, preceded to take his pants off, and sure enough -- pee came out.  Does this mean I have to potty train now?  All the moms tell me that "boys are harder" and they are not trained until they are three.  My guys are barely two.  I do have some big boy underwear they like to play in.  We have played around with the potty but that's about it.  I have such cute pictures of the guys in their underwear but since this is the internet and all and since I could have a crazy stalker person out there, I'll just post one little pic.  Cute enough to get the idea!

I really do not understand how the triplet's mom does it.  I am beyond baffled at how she keeps her sanity.  She seems like such a patient, kind mom.  It's like the show Jon & Kate, Plus 8.  I LOVE that show!  I am amazed at the strength of that woman.  Sheer strength and energy.  And Love.  Lots of love.

Dad, I miss you

Today while watching John's Dad with the boys it hit me like a ton of bricks that my Dad isn't here to share in the fun.  I would have loved to have seen him with the boys.  I think he would get a kick out of them and he would finally have that boy he probably always wanted but never admitted to.  What would he do with them?  How would he play with them?  How would he talk with them?  I'll never know.  I only know that he would have loved them and I guess that has to be good enough for me.

Dad, I often think about you but rarely mention you.  I don't have to.  Your girls never have you far from their thoughts, including me, your youngest and best (just kidding).  I love you and miss you.  You'll always be big and strong and smart in my eyes.  And I'll always be your little girl.

Need Sleep

Why does my entire body scream BED and yet I find myself still awake until the wee hours of the night?  

I'm re-discovering the Dixie Chicks and I can't stop listening to "I Believe in Love", "Landslide", and "Top of the World".  I haven't even played "Travelin' Soldier" yet but I know that could keep me up all night.  I downloaded a couple of Alison Krauss songs tonight but I can't go there right now.  Her voice is so beautiful it makes me teary.  Okay, enough of that.

Good day with John's parents.  We went to the mall and let the boys play and ride the carousel.  They had a blast and are eating up every bit of attention they are getting from their doting grandparents.  They also spoiled them with lots of presents today.  They had a nice dinner and cookies for dessert.  Lots of hugs, kisses, tickling, etc...  I would say that's a pretty darn good day for a two year old.  

My first attempt at making videos.  I hope to get better as time passes and I have more practice.  It was actually alot of fun to make and I have all sorts of ideas running in my head now about what I want to do.  I LOVE MACs.  

So...we made it back from FL in one piece and with sanity in check!  Is it wrong that I was a little worried?  Two two year-olds trapped on a plane was a little intimidating for me but they did much better than I anticipated.  The way down was a little crazy toward the end but the way back was much better.  Bray slept almost the entire flight on the way home.  They had a good time meeting their "Cousin Raegan" and seeing Leigh Anne, Karen and Nanny.  They also slept fine in the hotel.  Even though we were gone for four days it seemed like a short trip because basically two whole days were spent traveling.  We had a low-key first day just hanging out together and then the second day we went to Gatorland.  They had a BLAST!  The whole way home they kept saying that they "rode Thomas" (or Momas as they both call him).  I will try to post some pictures from our trip in the next post.

I took Bray to the doctor today to see about his breathing issues.  I can't remember if I wrote about it before but he goes into coughing fits after alot of activity and he had one at school last week where he had trouble catching his breath.  Bray + Doctor = Lots of Screaming (the entire time).  He hates the doctor.  I thought he would be a little better this time because we have spent alot of time talking about doctors and reading a book about Elmo going to see the doctor.  I also brought his "papi" (pacifier) and "inkie" (blanket) but none of these things really seemed to make much of a difference.  The doctor always nice about it but he must find it challenging to really think with a SCREAMING child.  I guess he's used to it?  Anyway, it turns out that he most likely has exercise-induced asthma but we will not know "for sure" until they can run some tests.  However, because of Bray's age and his issues with going to the doctor, the doc doesn't think there is any way in the world that he would be "cooperative" with the tests.  Yes, doctor, I absolutely agree 100%.  So, we did alot of talking about the symptoms and family history and he listened to his lungs for a long time.  We have an inhaler to use if he goes into another coughing fit after activity.  Dr. Edwards said that not all people with asthma have the classic wheezing and that many have a large amount of coughing.  So, the sound of his lungs + the family history (John had asthma as a child) + the episodes of coughing he has at home and at school = a diagnosis of activity induced asthma and the inhalers.  We'll see if it helps.  I sure hope it does.  It's actually a really cute inhaler with a little Duckie mask.  I might try to take a picture of it.  Brayden asked about his brother many times during our trip to the doctor and apparently Luke did as well (he was with Shannon).  I think they really find it odd to be separated.  Very interesting.  Did I mention Dr. Edwards is one fine looking man?  Just had to get that one in there.

John's parents will come for a visit tomorrow.  Unfortunately John is out of town and will not be back until Saturday.  Kind of a bummer since his parents will be here.  I hope to get a few things done around the house while they are here.  We'll see....

Two Year Olds at Work

Oh - I must add because I don't want to forget.  It's so precious and sweet!  The boys have two little red cars that they play in. They get in the cars several times a day and I always ask them where they are going.  Lately the answers have been work (the most common), Trooper's (Cooper's) or Ella's.  However, because Daddy is on a "work trip" this week now the boys tell mommy when asked where they are going that they are indeed going on a "work trip" and also to "airport".  Ya think they want to be like Daddy?  God love them.  They also like to come in and out of a room saying when they leave that they are going either to "work" or on a "work trip" and they'll say "bye, love you" and then come in less than a minute later saying they are "off work now".  And then they'll say "Brayden's Home" or "Luke's Home" - yes, we usually say "Daddy's home".

I want to keep these moments forever in my heart and mind.  Once again, thank you Lord.

Gators Here We Come!

We're off to Florida today!  The boys are excited and so am I.  We'll go to visit Leigh Anne, Raegan & Chris and Mom and Karen will meet us there!  YAY!  I can't wait to see my niece.  I feel so bad that I have not seen her since she was about 3 months old.  Leigh Anne said that she took 3 steps yesterday!!  The boys have said several times that they will "see Cousin Raegan".  So sweet.  It will be a short trip - I'm a little nervous to fly with the boys but it is a direct flight and we've tried to get them excited about "flying Jay Jay's friend" (Jay Jay the Jet Plane that is).  I think they are looking forward to the adventure.  We'll just see how they do with only napping in the car and the plane (fingers crossed for that).

Still Kicking

I can't believe I'm posting this on my brand new Mac computer! I am BEYOND happy! So far I LOVE it except that I can access everything except my Gmail. Busy couple weeks. Boys are doing great. Last weekend we went to Airlie Gardens and the boys explored the gardens and had a blast sticking their hands in the water fountains. Then we went out to lunch and they didn't go down for nap until like 2:30!!! They were a bit hyped up but were still able to get to sleep - they are SO much more flexible than they used to be! We also got our new swing set yesterday thanks to Great Grandpa & Grandma Bowen. The boys are having a blast on that thing too. I told the boys who it was from and then a couple hours later while B was playing on it he say "from Ranpa in Heaven"...so sweet! And then he always follows it up with "Broder Andrew in heaven too". I have court tomorrow and then a twins club event on Thurs. night and then Fri we leave to go to FL to see Cousin Raegan and Aunt Leigh Anne and Uncle Chris! Can't wait! I'm a little nervous about the flight but I'm trying to put together a goodie bag to hopefully make things run a bit more smoothly. John's parents will be visiting a couple of days after we get back.

Go Obama~!

Gotta go figure out how to use this computer.