sometimes life is funny...sometimes it is not

So...normally I am sure I entertain you more than anyone has before with my tales of Sawyer's hilarities.  I don't even know if that's a word, but I just made it one if it isn't.  Sawyer did something really funny today and not re-tell-able b/c it will embarrass one of his parents.  I don't really have anything funny to tell today.  So I'm gonna be inspirational, or serious, or whatever you will, today.

I know we all know, on some level, that our actions and our emotions affect people around us.  You don't have to be a genius to figure that out...if I'm having a bad day, somebody's gonna take some crap for it, even if I don't mean for them to...but a lot of times, I mean for them to.  I guess it makes us feel better sometimes to take it out on other people.  It's still totally unacceptable, but it does happen.  But, if you are on the receiving end of this, it can really throw you for a loop.  This has happened to me....and while the logical response is to just be patient and understand that people are probably having a bad day...or having a lot of junk going on in their life at this time...etc. etc. etc....the emotional, FEMALE response is, "what the heck did i do?" so you beat yourself up time and time again trying to figure out where you wronged this person.  when....maybe you didn't even do anything wrong at all.  There's no point to this rambling.  Just like there's no point to why we do this...why is it even an option for someone that is NOT the object of your annoyance and frustration to receive the bad end of the deal?  I don't know.  But it happens, I guess.   I think we should stop it.  But I probably won't.  How's this for an inspirational paragraph?

You know what else happens, apparently?  Apparently if a baby doesn't like formula (I wouldn't know, we don't use the stuff), you can feed it...well, wait until I tell the story.  I have a good friend whose sister is in medical residency.   She is working with OB/Pediatrics....and a lady comes in with a baby who is about Ridge's age (12-ish weeks old).  The resident is watching the lady give the baby a bottle.  The resident is noticing the bottle looks incredibly dirty.  So she asks, "Is that bottle dirty?" The mother says, "No." The resident wants to know what's in the bottle but the mom doesn't tell....Finally, the resident says, "give me that bottle."  She takes it and says "WHAT is in this bottle?" and the mother says "Well, he didn't like that formula the state pays for, and this is the only other thing they pay for. So it's hot cocoa mix." WHAAAAAAAAT?  SAY WHAT?  You're feeding your baby some flipping hot cocoa mix?  He may be fat but he ain't healthy, woman!  Well, that's  not what the resident told the mom...she told her that the baby gets little calcium from that since it's mixed with water and that his bones will not be strong from drinking hot cocoa mix (I wouldn't know, we don't feed THAT to our baby either, most definitely).  

Yeah, so there was a little bit of ridiculous sad funny info for you.

Peace out.

everywhere we goooo, people wanna knoooow....whooo we aaaarrre....soooo we tell them...we are the crazies, the crazy crazy crazies

That....is how i feel EVERY.SINGLE.TIME we go out to eat.

Tonight...I put on my new jeans (banana republic outlet- a steal- $24...yep)....a cute black top....and some big giant black circle earrings.  I got all fixed up with some makeup, and did my hair....and the boys and I headed to...the Yukon Super Buffet.  For those of you who don't know-- this is an Asian Buffet.  They have everything from traditional chinese restaurant stuff to sushi, steamed crab legs, muscles....gosh, i don't know...they have a lot of things.  I stick to the fairly normal stuff.  ANYWAY.  So on the way, Brandon lets me know that I can pick somewhere else to eat if I want. I don't want to pick.  Does the girl ever want to pick? I don't know- I never want to pick.  So he says, "Fine...we can just have Italian or Mexican." (He knows I will veto this b/c I can not have dairy currently b/c it upsets the digestive issues of the fat baby)....So I say, "Okay. I will just have a salad." And Sawyer says, "And I will just have a corn dog."

Okay. Good for you, kid.  The other day he got a corn dog at the grocery store. He also tried a chicken gizzard.  The kid who hates any chicken meat....well...he loved that gizzard. I've never even had one, neither has Brandon.  Brandon said Sawyer chewed it forever.  Then he wanted more.  sick.

Back to the task at hand.  So we go to the buffet.  By the time we get to the host, who will seat us, Sawyer has been told to straighten up at least 3 times, and Brandon finally takes him into the restroom to get a spanking.  So Ridge and I find our seat....and Sawyer returns.  I fix his plate, then fix mine, and as soon as we sit down, Sawyer says, "I think I need to go pee."  Well...this is important b/c we don't want a three year old peeing his pants.  So....Brandon takes him back to the bathroom that he just left...and lets him go pee.  Not long after his return, sawyer says... "my tummy....my tummy hurts!"  Anyone who's kept up with this blog knows what's coming....the kid has to poop.  So I repeatedly ask him if he wants me to take him to the bathroom, which I am so afraid is going to be disgusting.  Taking a 3 year old to poop in a public restroom sicks me out.  I don't think I can take him to a public toilet, not to poop.  So....he makes it.  Until we forget about it and go to Hastings to rent a movie.  Then, the attack of the poop monster returns.  As we are walking the aisles looking for a movie, Sawyer begins his bent over walk, where you know the poop is about to exit the boy.  I find Brandon and tell him we have to go. Now. So we pay for our movie, and as I pick Sawyer up to hopefully avoid a scene, I feel a non-normal something in the buttocks area.  Whatever came out went back in and we just had success w/ him pooping in the potty.  But folks, I gotta tell you, that stuff is nasty.  God should make kids born knowing how to use the toilet.  That's what I think.  Because this pooping issue is strange.  And gross.  

That's all on the saga of my bathroom challenged child.

Peace out.

vaca....i guess.

DISCLAIMER: Sorry if some of the pics don't show up- i can't figure out why some of the copied and pasted pics are working and some aren't...so...sorry.

So, we loaded up the kiddos and headed to Branson...our first "family vacation."  Um...I don't know whether I'd advise taking a trip with a three year old.  Ridge, the baby, was excellent the entire trip- of course he does sleep pretty much all night long, and the rest of the time he is usually held, so he doesn't really have any room to gripe.  We mainly took the trip for Sawyer, but "off-routine" events did not serve him well...and we had a lot of fits...which resulted in even more spankin's (sorry if you are anti- spanking...we, obviously, are not).  but we had a pretty good time overall i guess.  

Here are some highlights of our trip....

we set off around 8:20 on a Tues. morning....forgot the pike pass and had to come home so we didn't really leave till about 8:45...Ridge was lookin' like this:

His daddy gave him that mohawk the night before....but it was still there in full force that morning.  We did nothing to get him to smile- he did that on his own.

Sawyer was lookin' like this:

The car ride was actually pretty good-- we stopped a couple times, but didn't really have any issues; Sawyer watched his DVDs the whole car trip, and Ridge mostly just slept.  It took us about an hour or two longer than if we'd had no kids with us, but not too bad, all in all.

Here's where we stayed:

brandon enjoying the water park
some guy i don't know but this slide was in the park
sawyer liked the splash park
this is the clubhouse of the waterpark...i didn't take a picture of the hotel.

 this is the hotel, but i can't get the pic larger

So, the first day we just hung out at the hotel b/c it was late when we got there...well too late to do much with 2 kiddos.  The second day, we got up early and went here:

That night we went to the Noah musical.  You weren't supposed to have any cameras inside, so I didn't break the rules, but it was AMAZING!  the entire theater is eventually made to be like the inside of the ark, and it is FULL of animals- some real, some animatronic- but they all look real!  If you ever get the chance to see it, go. I've copied two photos from online, and then there's 2 photos of the theater front.

Oh, I forgot that earlier that day we went to Silver Dollar City....I didn't take pictures b/c we didn't stay long.  Sawyer didn't like the rides, and I refused to stay in the heat for nothing....they wouldn't let us take the stroller into the shows, and I wasn't leaving it outside b/c it was too expensive to get stolen.  

The next day Sawyer and Brandon rode go-karts....Sawyer did not really like this unless Brandon went super slow.  

This is the track they went to-- see why sawyer was scared?

After that, we went here:

This is the Titanic Museum-- also a great stop.  Sawyer liked parts of it, and was bored in part of it, but was pretty good that visit.  Good thing he was free to most of the things we did.  The museum is so interesting- upon entrance you are given a card with a story of a person who really was on the Titanic.  You are told where you can find out more about them w/in the museum, and at the end of the exhibit, you find out if they were a survivor or not.  There was a lot of fascinating information in that museum, and I'm sure we saw it for a much shorter than normal time period since we had a 3 year old with us.  It was incredible.  Here is another pic (these are all online, copied and pasted, b/c no cameras were allowed)

The following and final day, we shopped @ outlet malls all day.  It was super fun and we got some good deals and some cute stuff.  Sawyer was super well-behaved this day which was a complete shock since, in my mind, shopping would be the most boring of the three days, especially to a 3 year old.  

The icing on the cake of the trip was supper on the way home.  Here is where we ate:

and it was WONDERFULLY DELICIOUS.  Definitely worth the hour and five minute wait....next time we will stop there on the way to Branson and the way back, for sure.  Food was great, prices weren't high, and you got all these free pass arounds (okra, rolls, sorghum, macaroni, black eyed peas, fried potatos-- free-- all you could eat!)

The rolls...they throw them at you.

The sweet tea...it's great...and served like this:

mmm...it was our favorite stop of the entire trip.  

So...there was our branson experience in a nutshell.  Here's some funny stuff Sawyer did...I can only think of two things so far, but I'm sure there were lots more.

1. at the outlet mall, just as we were about to leave, I turned to find sawyer pulling his pants down about to pee on the sidewalk.  and he couldn't figure out why this bothered me.

2.  at the hotel, sawyer found out where some guy was from, and the guy said, "where are you from?" sawyer replied, "Well...Jesus gave me to my mommy and daddy, but I don't really know where i'm from."

Upon arriving home, here are some things Sawyer did...

1. Today, sawyer announced, "everyone stinks in this house."

2. (this might not be for those uncomfortable when it comes to feeding a baby)-- I was feeding ridge.  he wasn't eating well.  brandon jokingly said he could feed him if he wasn't really going to eat...and proceeded to raise his shirt.  Sawyer said, "put your boobies away daddy, nobody wants to see that."

Yeah, so there it is. sorry for the long post!

Ridge meets his girlfriend, Sawyer sees dinosaurs and screams

So here's Ridge...and Kate, his cute little tiny girlfriend.  Kate belongs to my 6 months-sr. year best friend in life....not that she isn't still one of my best friends, we just went to different colleges and added more best friends to our repertoires.   Little Kate is exactly two months behind Ridge in age....and she is a tiny sweet thing!  I couldn't believe how little she was when I held her...precious!  It was so good to see her momma again, and to finally meet little Kate herself!  We don't frequent the Tulsa area much, but I suppose I'm gonna have to make more trips as Ridge gets older, so he and Kate can hang out.  We are laughing in this picture because Ridge is pooping his pants incredibly loudly.  That's why he looks so focused...b/c he is.  Just not on Kate.  Not yet.  Give it time, he'll come around. 

While I was roadtripping it to see Kate and Meg, as well as stop off to have lunch with another HS gal pal, which was also great fun, Sawyer got to go see Ice Age 3 in 3D today-- opening day!  Apparently, taking a 3 year old to a 3d movie about dinosaurs, as well as containing 3d previews for a Christmas Carol  (which contains ghosts)...is not a swell idea.  Apparently there was out loud screaming in the theater at the sight of ghosts...and at the sight of the t-rex.  Brandon had to keep saying TAKE YOUR GLASSES OFF!  Sawyer doesn't  respond to things immediately w/out freaking out, so probably at this command he got even more upset.  All in all, I think he had a good time, and he definitely got to experience something I never have- a 3D movie.  But...his favorite part...of course....was the candy.  The kid is surviving on a 15 minute nap today and is all hopped up on Mr. Pibb, Gummy Worms, and some blended iced coffee beverage I concocted for ourselves when I arrived home from Tulsa.  Crazy.

Seriously, though, what a fun day!