PJ's

This morning I wore a soft, loose, crazy print skirt to church - actually maternity that I still keep wearing because it is so comfortable. On the way home from our weekly Sunday lunch spot (the Mexican Restaurant where Jimbo eats for free, he calls it the "free Mexican restaurant"), Jimbo was apparently looking at me while I was driving. He said "oops, you still have on your pj's" - I realized that he suddenly thought my skirt looked like pajama pants and thought I had accidentally worn them to church and the "free Mexican restaurant". I laughed and told him that it was actually a skirt, then I thanked him for giving me a good laugh. Then he fake laughed all the way home and thanked me for giving him a good laugh. What a funny conversation!

Morning Adventure

It is 9:40 and I've already had a full day. Jimbo is on his 3rd episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Clark is asleep. Here is a run down of our day so far....

Jake got home from school at 5am, yes you read that right. He probably won't come home at all tonight because they have a big project due tomorrow. This is not all that rare for him to get home from school in the morning. Clark woke up, for the day, at 5:30. Jimbo woke up at 7ish.

To try to give Jake at least 3 hours of sleep, I packed the boys up and we went through the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A, then to Wal-mart. I vowed last week to never go back to Wal-mart(that's a whole new story), but Publix (which I drove 20 minutes to get to) was out of Karo Syrup which I needed to make some pecan pies, which I'm supposed to be doing right now instead of typing. So, we "had" to go to Wal-mart to get Karo and some other things I forgot at Publix, naturally. We get there and I get Clark out of his carseat first, and immediately realize that he has been busy creating quite a dirty diaper. I have this thing about not using public restrooms and certainly not using public changing tables. Which is why I'm very grateful for my explorer. But on cold, rainy days, I'm sure my boys would prefer the public restroom. So, I get my supplies and clear out a spot in the back of the explorer to change the diaper. Once I get Clark's chubby legs out of his pj's, his expression totally changes and I realize that he is either really scared, or freezing. So I put his chubby legs back into the pj's and push him farther into the back of the car and climb in. I reach up to pull the heaviest back door on earth down to stop the wind from blowing into the back of the car. I start changing the diaper and sweet Jimbo, still buckled in his carseat, says, Mama, something smells really bad. I said "I know, it's just Clark's dirty diaper and we'll throw it away as soon as we can." Jimbo replied "Is there a trash can close by?" Clark is still obviously uncomfortable, probably scared and cold. I take care of the diaper and get his chubby legs back into the pj's. I'm about to pass out when I realize that I actually closed the back hatch door to the car all the way and there is no way to get out. Reminder that it is 7:30 am and nobody should have to go through something like this before at least 9. I'm wearing part pj's, part clothes, finding some clean pants and a fleece to pull over my pj's, getting dressed in the kitchen, all trying to let Jake sleep. I haven't fixed my hair since Saturday and of course no make-up or lotion or any product other than my daily ritual soap and water in my shower which I should be taking right now. So, I'm stuck in the back of the car with the worst diaper and a now happy, snotty baby. So I pick Clark up and somehow lift him over the backseat and set him into his carseat. Then, I saw my keys and I was able to press a button that popped open the back window. I was able to climb out the back window, get my purse and dirty diaper, get both children and get into Wal-mart to gladly drop the diaper off in their trash can. We had a fairly pleasant shopping experience, and I just hope that older woman did not hear Jimbo ask me if she was a man. The morning continued, but I just can't continue to ignore my children while I write about our little life in Clemson....

Jake's First Post

You're probably not surprised that I'm not much of a blogger. I think it is pretty impressive that Laurie keeps up with this considering how active our boys are.


The reason for my post is to introduce the two groundbreaking links to the right - one for my Dad's new book and the other for the Pearson Farm website. If you have a few minutes check them out. Make sure to buy early and often - I've personally subjected the products to rigorous testing and can offer my full endorsement.


This may not be my last post - as I type I can feel myself becoming addicted to blogging...

Nonna.

Jake's maternal grandmother, Nonna, lives in Greenville. So Jimbo has gotten to visit with her a good bit, all things considered. She came to visit us in Clemson today and Jimbo especially enjoyed having her company. It's kind of hard for her to move about these days, so she has a friend drive her and help her out. Jimbo loves her cane. Shortly after she arrived, he took her cane and said "Can we make this a little bit shorter?" He wanted to use it but it was just too tall for him to manage. Luckily, none of us were knocked out.

Before she came, I was talking to Jimbo about where she lived. I accidentally mentioned that there was a pool at her "hotel". He wanted to go swimming there today, so here was his plan.

Jimbo: I know. Nonna can come pick me up in her, her truck. I can wear my bathingsuit and my swimsweater and she can drive us to her pool, and, we can get there and run and jump into the water and swim! Is that a good idea Mama?

Mama: Well that's a great idea. There are just a few super big problems with that idea. The first problem is that Nonna doesn't drive anymore (and certainly doesn't drive a truck).

Jimbo: Okay, then we can walk to her pool.

Picnic.

My mind is like Disneyworld -- so when I come up with ideas of what we can do as a family, it's usually perfect in my mind and sometimes far from it in reality. After all, we have a newborn and a sometimes disobedient potty training 2 year old. So when I thought we should go to the Botanical Gardens for a picnic last night, I imagined it to be a glorious adventure.

So when Jimbo did not want to eat his food and would not sit down for a second, I quickly started to lose my patience.

I said "Jimbo, you need to sit down. I'm losing my patience." Unfortunately, this is not the first time he has heard this phrase from me. Here is the rest of the conversation, if I remember it correctly.
Jimbo: Mama, I want you to find your patience.
Mama: Where do you think we could get some?
Jimbo: Maybe in that water.
Mama: The only way we'll find patience for Mama is to ask God to give it to her.
Jimbo, eyes closed: God, will you please find Mama's patience?

This is our daily prayer.

Juggling...

Sorry for the lapse in posting. There is just too much to do these days and blogging is far from the top of the list. We are all doing well -- we are still trying to figure out life with 2 very dependent little ones, as well as life in Clemson. We are really enjoying Jake's summer break. He is working a great job about 15 minutes from home. He is home at night and on the weekends and we LOVE that! Clark is growing, as you can tell, and he's generally an "easy" baby, if there is such. Jimbo is growing and learning and adjusting. He says some really wonderful things right now, none of which I can remember at the moment....

Brothers.

I'm sorry that I'm just now posting more pictures of our new little one. We are all enjoying him and it's hard to believe he's almost 8 weeks old! I cannot believe how much Jimbo loves Clark. It's like God created him knowing that he would be a big brother and Jimbo has been waiting all of this time to be with Clark. He never wants Clark to cry, or sleep, and always wants Clark to be with us. Jimbo luckily doesn't realize that Clark is the reason our lives have been a little upside down! I'm thankful he hasn't connected the dots -- Clark is a wonderful reason to be tired, and to have a dirty house, and to watch more tv than any professional would ever approve of, and to spend half the day half dressed, and to stay home entirely too much -- What a wonderful reason to be a little upside down, for just a little while....