Second Best

This post is intended for you all to feel sorry for me because frankly, I'm feeling sorry for myself right now. So, I think it's right for all of you to experience my pain as well.

It's tiring taking care of the kids all day. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it, because I do. I love my kids with all my heart. I love watching them grow up, learn new things, do new things, etc. I don't even mind I can even tolerate when all four of them are begging for my attention at once.

For instance, this afternoon Cody needed "papa bears" (a.k.a. Teddy Grahams), Cade was screaming, Ty was trying to read me his homework, and McKinly was showing me her progress report. Even though I felt a little overwhelmed at this particular moment, I still did my very best to tend to every single one of them at the SAME EXACT TIME! I didn't even mind that my wonderful husband, who happened to be in the very next room as all this was going on, was on the phone with a friend talking about his damn fantasy football team.

It might sound like I'm a little perturbed with T.J. at the moment, but it truly isn't his fault. It's not that I'm annoyed with him...I'm jealous of him. That's right, I envy him right now.

The point to all my ranting is that at the end of the day the two children I gave birth to...you know the ones I carried around for nine months, gained all this unwanted weight for, and the ones I would give my life for...prefer their father over me.

Don't get me wrong, I really do love that they both worship their father. He's a wonderful dad and he loves his kids so much. He plays with them, entertains them, acts their age at times. Who wouldn't love him??

So why am I so bitter you ask!?!?

Well, let me just tell you! Today Cody and I were snuggling on the couch. Cade had just gone down for his nap and Cody wanted to sit with me a little before he had to take his nap. He was being extremely sweet and I looked at him and said...

"Cody, I sure love you!!" and his response was...

"I sure love my daddy!!!"

Oh, and don't think it ended there!

Me: "I know you love your daddy, but don't you love mommy too?"

Cody: "I do love my mommy, but I love my daddy more."

As I was holding back the tears, because I really did want to cry...Cody politely said,

"Mommy, Daddy my besss fwend."

My mom always says to enjoy the time they want to be with their dad, it's a welcomed break. She also says that when they're sick, they'll always want their mommy.

not in this case.

Cody hasn't been feeling well the past few days, allergies again, and who does he go to...yep, daddy! When T.J.'s at work and Cody isn't feeling well, he asks, "when's my daddy coming homet?" (for some odd reason, he puts a "t" at the end of anything that ends with an "n" and the word "home").

There you have it! Like I said, it's great he loves his daddy, but come on, this is just SICK!!

Oh and to top it all off, yesterday Cade was sitting on the couch with T.J., looked up at him and said, "da da da da da da da"...Gross, I know!

I guess now I know how T.J. feels when McKinly favors me more. Who could blame her...I'm one cool step-mom!! (Hey, I have to build my self esteem up some how).

T.J. loves it! He reminds me everyday how they're "daddy's boys".

Cade just loungin', watching Baby Einstein

Not a good picture of Cody, but the only one I have with his new haircut.

Someone's 7 Months Today!

Happy 7 Month Birthday, Cade!!

I really can't believe he is 7 months old already. Time has flown by way too fast. He really is a terrific baby. He's happy the majority of the time. You can just look at him and he'll start cracking up! He is so fun to be around. (except for at this very moment because he's teething and he's very grumpy)

When I was pregnant with him, I was a little afraid I wouldn't feel the same way about him as I did Cody because I had already gone through all this before, it wasn't new anymore. Cade proved that little theory wrong. Not a day goes by that I don't look at both my boys and have to remind myself they're really mine!

That also might have to do with the fact they really don't look a thing like me. Especially Cody who is a spitting image of his father and doesn't have a single gene from me. Cade looks a little more like my side of the family, but the older he gets, the more he looks like Cody. Which means he will eventually look just like his dad as well and I will have to convince people they truly are mine. Trust me, I was there...I KNOW they are mine!!!

Anyway, Happy 7 months, Cade.

You're growing up too fast Cody

OK, you know you're in trouble when your two year old starts talking like his 9 year old sister. I was cleaning straightening up the house this afternoon and I noticed Cody just playing nicely in his room. So, I ran and got the camera to take a picture of my sweet little boy playing quietly with his toys. As I told him to look at me so I could snap a picture, he looked up and said, "oh mommy, are you serwious??"

Notice the look on his face, he's not a baby anymore!

YIPPPEEEEEE!

Cade only woke up ONE time last night. You got it...only ONE time. And you know what, I didn't even know he woke up that ONE time because T.J. is the one who got up with him. I wouldn't even have known Cade woke up that ONE time if it weren't for the fact he was lying in bed with us when I woke up this morning. When I asked T.J. about it, he said Cade just got cold and he brought him in bed with us and Cade instantly fell back to sleep!

You all know what this means don't you?? I got to sleep ALL NIGHT LONG!!! I didn't even know what to do with myself this morning. I actually had energy!!! I don't want to jinx anything by posting our little miracle but I had to share...I was just too excited!

Oh, and to top it off...he slept until 8:45!! You read that right...he slept for almost 11 straight hours. Some of you might be thinking...what's the big deal, he still woke up once but let me just remind you, I had not had any sleep for the past two weeks. He would wake up screaming every couple hours and just wanted to chew on his bottle. Anything to relieve the teething pain!

I think he was even proud of himself!!

Sleep wherever you want, Cade!

We have had a rough couple nights, more like couple weeks. Cade is teething and not sleeping well at all. Which translates to me not being a very fun person to be around at times. I think last night was by far the worst. Cade woke up every two hours crying and nothing would help except to just let him cry himself back to sleep. Normally, that would be fine except as long as he's crying, I'm still awake.

I understand teething is not fun for him either, and I guess I can't complain too much because during the day, he's a pretty happy baby. However, starting around 11:00 p.m., the teething problems begin.

He was more clingy than usual today which made it hard to get anything done. So, wherever and whenever Cade fell asleep, we just left him and made sure nothing, or no one, bothered him!!

His morning nap

His afternoon nap

Hey, in desperate times, we take what we can get!

on a side note, we were next to him the whole time he was sleeping on the couch and he could breathe perfectly fine...in case you were wondering!

Attack of the Little Brother

It all started off nice and sweet...

Cody was reading a book to Cade.

Cody didn't want Cade touching the book.

Cade showed Cody how he felt about that!


Don't mess with little brothers!

The Sweetest Sound

The Video is a little dark so make sure the brightness is up on your monitor.

A Day with the Carnies

The Oklahoma State Fair is here! Saturday, after all the soccer games, McKinly, Ty, Cody and I headed to the state fair. We were meeting my friend, Jen and her daughter Laney up there and then my sister-in-law, Liz and my nieces met us up there too.

It was an eventful afternoon, full of rides, food, animals, and the hot sun beating down on us! The kids had a great time. Who doesn't love carnival rides and games?? Oh yeah, the parents who have to pay for them!!

I started to do a little people watching as the kids were riding some rides. We all know the type of people who work at the fair, but I was amazed at some of the people attending the fair. First off, I'm not a rich person by any means. There are times when we're flat out broke. However, we live in a nice house, in a nice neighborhood, and my kids have nice clothes on their backs. I say this because we're not poor by any means, but we're strapped for cash at times. When we were at the Fair yesterday, I dropped $90.00 like it was nothing. Money goes so fast at that place. My question is, there were some people there who obviously couldn't afford shoes for their kids, so how in the world were they able to afford the fair?? I'm not a judgemental person at all, it was just that we had trouble affording our little outing, I can't even imagine how some of the people that were there afforded it.

Anyway, the reason we go to the fair every year is because the kids love it. They love everything about it.

Cody riding the Dragon ride with some little boy

Cody is Steve from Blue's Clues
(You can tell this is old, Steve isn't there anymore, it's Joe now!)


Ty and Laney then Cody and McKinly on the Frog Hopper

They all liked the Frog Hopper because it went up high so I shot a little video



McKinly was almost too tall for it, but the guy let her ride so she could be there with Cody, what a great big sister.

When McKinly had enough of the little kid rides, she set off to be with the older girls. She rode all the fun rides with my nieces including the Crazy Mouse. It's like a tilt-a-whirl on a roller coaster. She loved it and just had to have the picture from the ride itself.


After spending 6 hours in the blazing, hot sun, we decided it was time to head home. But we couldn't leave without sampling some delicious, yet fattening, Fair food.

Ty eating a chocolate covered banana


T.J. and Jen's husband, Shawn were at home smoking a turkey for us so we decided to bring home some roasted corn from the fair to go with it. It was a big hit (for everyone except me because I absolutely HATE corn, it makes me gag).

Cody really loved the corn, how can he be my kid??


We all really enjoyed the fair but I am glad it only comes around once a year. Not only does it cost a small fortune, it wears you out. I woke up this morning so sore from being on my feet all day. I have no idea how Ty woke up and was able to play in his soccer game today. I guess that's a sign of how old I really am getting! Four more years and I'll be 30!!

Soccerday, I mean Saturday

This time of year, our Saturdays consist of soccer games. This morning, McKinly had a game at 9:00 am! I really hate the early games. Don't the group of people organizing the schedules realize I have four kids I have to wake up, get dressed, and feed in the mornings and getting to a game by 9 am is almost impossible! I say almost because I am a parent who will have her children at their functions on time because I hate to be the one everyone is waiting on.

The kiddos eating breakfast before our busy day

Cody showing off his soccer trick

OK, back to McKinly! She did awesome at her first game. Her team won 7-0 and she worked really hard. I am extremely proud of her because it's not easy these days for a 9 year old of any gender, to enter any sport this late in age, because competition these days is unbelievable. I should know, I already received an e-mail letting me know Cody is old enough to start t-ball in the spring and they were kind enough to let me know when sign up starts. Geeze people, he wont even be three by then. However, I have marked the calender and set a reminder so I'm sure not to miss it!


McKinly kicking off


Look at her go!


A little video from her game today.



After McKinly's game, we headed over to Edmond Soccer Club fields for Ty's team pictures and game.

Ty's team, the Black Widows


Sitting on the bench before the game


Cade just chillin' on the sidelines


Cody and Daddy cheering Ty on!


Ty's team acted a little tired at first, but they came around and won 12-8. They're still young so the scores are pretty high at this age.

A little preview of Ty's game...he's #22



After our busy morning, I got the crazy idea we hadn't had enough excitement for the day, so I decided to pack the 3 oldest ones up, kiss Cade and T.J. good-bye, and head to the Oklahoma Fair. This post is long enough, so I will fill you in on all the fair details in my next post.

To Be Continued...

Window Shopping

Since school started, the boys and I have pretty much just hung around the house. Today, we decided to get out and actually do something. However, our options are a bit extremely limited because money is running low completely out until payday. So, we decided to go hang out at the Mall with my friend Nicole and her son Dugan to do a little "window shopping".

Cody and Cade playing before we left


Cody got a balloon at the play place


Riding the Kiddie Coaster in the Food Court


Cade modeling a hat at Baby Gap


Taking a pretzel break (we can't leave the mall without one)


Cade didn't get a pretzel, but he enjoyed being in the "big boy"stroller because his stroller was in Daddy's car!


We had a great time and of course we didn't leave completely empty handed. It just so happened Baby Gap had some pretty good sales on their sale rack. Since that is one of my favorite stores, I couldn't pass it up.

New Accomplishment

Cade has discovered how to drink from a sippy cup. I know he's no pro, but he can at least get it to his mouth and get some out of it. I do have to mention half of what he gets out ends up down the front of him but hey, we're trying!

Fall Fashion Show

Fall is getting near! When we woke up this morning it was a chilly 57 degrees! I was able to get the boy's Fall clothes out! I am getting a little tired of their Summer clothing because I wont buy them anymore since it's about to cool down. I think I jumped the gun just a little because it ended up heating up to 78, but it's still cool enough to wear light, long clothing. They looked super cute in their Fall clothes. Now, if only we had some place to go to show it off!

Cade sporting his Tommy Hilfiger pants outfit, complete with a matching hat.


The outfit works well without the hat, and the personalized Binky adds just the right touch.


Cody is wearing Oshkosh wind pants with a navy blue Polo sweatshirt (He's more casual today because we were just hanging around the house so he wanted "comfy" pants) I didn't even fix his hair, the only place we went was to pick the kids up from school. Plus, he was being a brat he wasn't in a picture taking mood, so the only time he let me snap a picture was in the car.

Cody has a lot of cute Fall and Winter outfits but he loves wearing his "comfy" pants so when I can talk him into letting me dress him up a little more, I'll be sure and share with everyone.

They both will definitely be my little preppy boys!

Read Me a Story

Cody loves to read, he always has. Lately, he has started reading books to himself if he sees we are busy doing other things. He's pretty good at it too. He's only two so we all know he can't read the words, but he does a great job of making up the story from the pictures. Half the time he's pretty close to the true story itself. It helps that he has read these stories hundreds of times and probably knows them by heart, but I still think my kid is a genius.

Cody reading his book before bed

Clifford books are by far his favorite


This is just a cute picture of Cade taken earlier in the day