Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My Voice

I just sent this to 596 people in the government:
(If you want to know how to fax your own message, let me know. If you disagree with me, talk to your dog about it. I DON'T CARE!!)

As a mom of 4 children, I am outraged at the government's attempt to take over my family's life. It is my responsibility to take care of myself and my kids. I want the government out of it! If politicians would allow the American people to take care of ourselves, our economy would heal itself. Obama has taken a bad situation and turned it into a disaster. I feel sick when I think of what this administration is doing to my future and that of my children. Shoving a health care bill, that no one wants, down our throats is nothing more than a plot to take away our freedoms and turn this country into a socialist nation. I have never been so angry about something in my entire life!!! I REALIZE THAT YOU PROBABLY WON'T READ THIS because you don't care what the people want. (It feels good to rant, though.) This is no longer a government of the people, by the people. This administration has proved that it is an oligarchy of elitists who are completely removed from the people. Use some common sense instead of your political agendas to run this country, and we can get back to being a flourishing free nation. DO NOT VOTE FOR OBAMACARE!! It is a bill created by evil, arrogant leaders who should have never been given power.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Brand New Things

So many new exciting happenings going on in the Patterson household. I'll start with the big move. It happened the same week as a children's production at church in which Bryce, Evyn and Lynn were involved. So much for a weekend of moving. It was a weekend of chaotically scheduled events with a new house involved. Lots of boxes to open--that's all I remember. I was so excited to have a place for everything in my kitchen. I have often since just stood in the kitchen (as well as the bathroom) thinking how wonderful it is to have space. I'm currently awaiting many more boxes to arrive from storage. I'm in no hurry for this to happen. I'm enjoying not packing or unpacking. It seems that's all I've done in my "spare time" for months now.
In addition to a new house, I've gotten a new dining room table (that we desperately needed), a big comfy new couch (which has made me dangerously lazy at times), and a new Dyson (woo-hoo!). What a Mother's Day! I've really enjoyed my family much more without the cramped space. When 2 children are singing 2 different songs, a toddler is trying out all of her new sounds and a baby is letting us know she's still there, it's much easier to handle in a large room than a tiny one.
ahhhh...
Moving on...
Zoey has impressed me this week with how much she can say. I'm sure I've said it before, the learning-to-talk age is my favorite. Here are some words that people besides me can understand: doggie, puppy (which is anything with 4 legs), car, I love you, bye-bye, hi, hey, yeah, uh-oh, mine, Macy, uh-uh, no, Bryce, grandad, dad, baby, waffle, ice, and mess. (I'm sure there are some I have forgotten) Notice I did not say Mom. I'm ok with that.
Zoey's not the only one rapidly climbing up the milestone hill. Shylo rolled over for the first time Sunday. She did it about 4 times in a row. Fortunately she did it once more while I got video of it on my phone. Then she stopped. Hasn't done it since. I guess she doesn't want to show off.
Equally big in the baby news department...dun-du-du-dun...
Zoey pee-peed on the potty!!
She's noticed the stream going down into the bath water as she gets in each time. The first time she did it, I tried to put her on our toilet, but she wasn't havin nun uh that! So we got her this cute little princess thing that plays a tune when you get the bottom wet. Well, she apparently wasn't ready yet because every time I would extend the ivitation at bath time, the answer was always, "uh-uh" with a vigorous head shake. No problem. On your own time kid. So, we haven't had the potty out since we moved. Tonight at bath time, she looked down to her legs (where the stream usually flows)as if to say, "I know what's about to happen..."
And there was this promising gleam in her eyes. Hmmm...should we pull out the princess potty?
Lynn unpacked it and brought it in. I asked Zoey,"do you want to go potty?"
She sat down. The potty sang a joyful tune. I did the potty-training-mommy-squeal-of-delight. She jumped up in confusion. Lynn popped his head in followed by Evyn and then Bryce. We all clapped our hands and sang "Good girl, Zoey, you went potty!"(Every mom has been there.) Even Shylo got an excited smile on her face. Zoey began to proudly clap. Hopefully she understands the origin of our delight and will repeat the process many more times to come.
My original plan was to reward her with a tiny M&M with each accomplishment. However, we've eliminated sugar from our diets recently, so that plan is out the window. It actually makes me happy that she waited so I didn't implement the M&M plan only to have to stop abruptly. That could have been disastrous!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

My Funny Kids

It's been awhile since I've blessed you with the funny things my kids have done. I have a couple in my head, so I thought I would share. Enjoy!
The first one will take a little introduction. Because Zoey was born at home, and Bryce is 7, he remembers the experience quite well. I was very fortunate to have my sister here during the birth, if for no other reason than to take my dear son out of the room. Poor guy was nearly traumatized. The worst part for him was that scary looking umbilical chord. I knew it had scared him, but hadn't truly known the full effect until Shylo's arrival when he again mentioned the umbilical chord. Not knowing it's name, he just called it that thing coming out of her belly. He was very pleased that he wouldn't have to see it. His description is the funny part!

He said in disgust, "It looks like a dinosaur pee-pee!" wow!

Zoey is staying in Amarillo this week so Mommy can get a few hours of sleep. Grandma followed her into a room to see what she was doing because she looked quite determined to accomplish something. She got into her bag, took out 1 wipe, walked deliberately into another room, where she had seen a spot on the wall, and began to clean it off. Amazing! That's her personality, though. She loves to clean! She'll clean her tray after lunch. She can barely play outside without wiping the dirt off her hands. She will also run to the nearest adult to wipe off her jeans if she fell down and got them dirty. (After, of course, she's attempted to clean them herself.)

Zoey also loves to talk on play phones. I think I've mentioned that before. She was holding her toy phone today, and Lynn's mom noticed that she was running both thumbs across the keys as fast as her motor skills would allow. Grandma finally realized that she was texting. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Speaking of apples...it's not funny, but she has said both "apple" and "nana" this week. We know she was requesting a banana, and think she was requesting applesauce. She has also said "up" to get on the couch. Have I mentioned she's brilliant?

Bryce has a Star Wars calendar that he loves to keep track of. He religiously pulls off each page and knows exactly what day it is at any given moment. Lynn's mom noticed that he had missed a few days, so she asked him about it. He was a little surprised, but then said, "Grandma, we just had a baby!"

After writing this, I realized that Lynn's mom has experienced way more funny-kid-moments than I have.
But, I did just have a baby!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Zoey loves me!


Zoey wasn't too happy with the arrival of that new baby. I've never seen her bottom lip out so far as the day Shylo arrived. She did show relief when she saw my sister in the hospital holding her. I'm assuming she thought, "Oh good! Aunt Crystal's here to take her away." Then once I got home with Shylo, Zoey wanted nothing to do with me. She wouldn't look at me. You may notice some of the pictures of Shylo's first day when Zoey looked quite disturbed with the whole situation.
She's displayed small moments of affection toward Shylo in the last few days, giving her big kisses and patting her gently.
Then this morning, Zoey actually laid next to me, gave me a big kiss and hugged and patted me. She's been interacting with me all morning. I guess she just needed to be reassured that she wasn't being replaced.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Shylo is Here


I'm sure most of you have visited www.patterson-pack.com and have been updated on Shylo's arrival, but I need to put my thoughts here, of course. Shylo Re Patterson was born on February 16 at 1:13 pm weighing in at 8 lbs, 9 oz. and measuring 21 inches long. It was the smallest baby I've ever birthed, but the most painful, longest birth yet. There was a point in the process that I was so mad at the whole hospital situation that I wanted to hurt someone! (I actually let out an explative at one time, but I'm sure i will be forgiven.)
Birth is, to me, one of the most beautiful, incredible experiences I have ever had. That is until you sit me on a towel made of sandpaper and tell me I'm not allowed to stand up, drink or eat. Then pump me full of a drug that unnaturally pushes a baby out at a rate that was in no way planned by my body or God. Then the absolute worst--force me to lay on my back to push a huge head against gravity when I'm not even fully dilated.
I now totally understand why so many women think it's necessary to have pain medication to birth a baby! I wanted an epidural at one point just for my butt on the sandpaper towel!
That's all I'm going to say negatively about the situation. I have a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Nothing went wrong. It's over, and I've now experienced the torture that so many women have talked about when referring to birth. And they think I'm crazy for having babies at home. If the experience were the same at home without the option of drugs, it would be crazy! My roomful of attendants thought I was crazy for opting out of no pain meds. I think a lot of things that happened in that room were crazy, but my choices were the only sane decisions being made.
Sorry, I said I was done being negative...
The nurses, with one exception, have been amazing! The food is even good. Shylo is the perfect baby sister to join our family. She truly lives up to her name--"His gift". What a precious gift for us!