A Day of Fun

Yesterday was a fun day for our family. We went to a "new to us" park in the area. It had a yucky, mud pond with cool turtles. It also had great trails, play equipment, and it was soooo not crowded! We had planned to make sandwiches and take our lunches to the park. We had turkey, peanut butter, and soynut butter (an alternative to peanut butter)---none of them mixed together. We went to see the turtles twice and had loads of fun playing on the "toys." The bathrooms were nice. The basketball courts and volleyball nets were still fully in tact. We were so impressed. There is another area park that is closer to our house, but it is always soooo crowded and even a little run down due to the overcrowding. This park was tons better. Anywho, we had a blast. Afterwards, we went to see Paw-Paw in the transitional care center (he's out of the hospital). Then it was nap time. After naptime, the boys went to play with grandparents while Daniel and I had our first date night in over 2 months. The food and (most importantly) DESSERT was great!

It's Going...

It's been a little bit of a "bear" of a week (and its only Tuesday). Malachi refused to use the potty yesterday. We had a pow-wow last night, and he kept the same pair of underwear on today. So, I made good on my offer, and I went to get him a special drink (apple juice slushy). Our funds are super tight right now, but I still want to do little things for him that can reward him (and are healthy, too).

I've had 2 days of students and 2 days of tryouts for volleyball. I got home about 7pm last night. I got home about 6:30 tonight. Daniel has "started" an after school program at church. So, he's got the boys in the morning and will be bringing them home each evening and making dinner. We're tired and exhausted. Did I mention its only Tuesday!

Back to "Normal" and a Prayer Request

Well, we all seem to be back to normal around here. Daniel's stomach has been bothering him lately, but he hasn't been paid a visit by Ralph, so I think we're in the clear. Malachi, Ezekiel, and I seem to have our stomachs back to our normal eating schedule. The boys didn't eat much this week at "school" or at home (probably due to recovering from upset stomachs). Today, though, they have both been eating like horses! They had cereal for breakfast around 8am, then we decided to do our Saturday "tradition" of going out to breakfast on Saturday at about 10am. We got the boys toast and grits to share, while Daniel and I had the bigger breakfasts. They ate several pieces of toast and most of the grits. Then, they napped early without "lunch." They had letter cookies from Trader Joe's on the way to a family birthday party. Then they both pigged out on nothing healthy. Before bed, they shared a chicken tender and a few french fries. I think they ate more today then the whole week combined.

Daniel's grandfather has been in the hospital for about a week. They have diagnosed him with the early stages of Alzheimer's and just put in a feeding tube to help him eat (because food was trying to go down to his lungs). I won't say much more, but please remember him in your prayers and know that we greatly need them here. Thank you!

On the Way Up

So, after my post about Ralph, it got worse. Malachi gave up his food 3 times on Saturday. He had extreme diarrhea on Sunday. I woke up with the same on Sunday. Then about noon, I started getting a visit from Ralph. Thankfully, I was able to eat and drink a little bit Sunday evening.

I went to work today (as did Daniel), and the boys started school. I was concerned at how the 3 of us would do today. My stomach is still not back to normal, but I am doing well. I ate a hearty lunch and kept it all down. The boys didn't eat much today (the same story for the weekend), and they still have some diarrhea. I am thankful for how quickly I recovered and that Ralph decided not to stay long.

I think Daniel was able to escape the disease. He had an upset stomach yesterday but nothing else.

I know that you all care about the details of our intimate lives, but I thought I would document for posterity sake. Not quite sure why, but let's run with it.

***As I was typing this post, Malachi coughed and started calling for me. I left him in his room. When he starting calling louder, I went in, and he said, "Mommy, I say bleah." Yes, he had thrown up after going over 48 hours without doing that. He's been better today, though, and eating. I'll be praying for Ralph to stay far away.***

I Did a Little Dance

When Ezekiel finally hit 20 lbs., I did a little dance of joy. It came time, this week, to do a little dance, again.

On Monday, I had put my rings (wedding wrap & engagement) in our bag at the beach. We had to pack up kind of quickly to leave because a storm was quickly approaching. When we got back to the hotel for naps, I realized it was time to put my rings back on. The only problem...I only found my engagement ring. I dug through the bag. I turned it inside out. Daniel & I combed the beach. I asked Josh & Erin to check their stuff. Mom & Dad helped us look inside and outside of the camper. I was praying for it to be found and even emailed some of my girlfriends that I knew would be praying. The next day. We had all accepted that it was lost forever on the beach. On Wednesday, I was changing Ezekiel's second poopy diaper of the morning when I pulled out 3 wipes and saw my wedding band in the wipe package! I did a little dance (several times) and praised the Lord (several times). The wipe package wasn't closed all the way, but it was in the bag at the time that I dropped my rings in. I had even checked the wipes before, but I guess it was stuck in between 2 of them. 2 whole days after "losing" my ring, God allowed me to find it.

I know that a wedding band is just a material symbol of my marriage to my husband, but I HATE/DESPISE/LOATHE losing things. That is one thing that I cherish, and it is actually paid for (unlike my 2nd child). I have to give a little shout out to my friend, J, who had gone through a similar situation just recently. She encouraged me with her story and that she would be praying. I thought, wow, that will never happen to me, because it is not like I'm at home losing my wedding band. But I found it, and God gets all the glory (and props to J)!

More Beach Pictures (and a Musing Note Below)

A beautiful, hot, too-much-surf-to-get-in-the-water, play-in-the-sand-only Day

A washed-up, dead jellyfish (there are lots of them that you have to dodge in the water)

Ezekiel became Callie's new buddy as Malachi & Avery played more together.
I think Callie like having a "baby" to play with, too. She is such a girl:)

Look, Avery is looking at the camera, smiling, and has her eyes open!!!

The Bucket Brigade
The kids thought it would be fun to make Grammy & Grandpa fill up the buckets with water, since most of them were too scared to get in the choppy water.

Ezekiel, did you really enjoy drinking sand and salt water from a sand shovel?!?

Mr. Drama King 3-year-old himself in all his glory.
(So he's really not that bad. He was pretty good on Thursday morning at the beach and pool.)

Living in the Land of Ralph

Why can't my youngest child just be healthy now?

Ok. So you saw how Ezekiel was sick and had to have nebulizer treatments to help clear his lungs (thankfully no pneumonia). Well, as we were driving home on Thursday night, a little before midnight, Ezekiel woke up and threw up. We're on I-85 in a place where there is like 4 lanes of traffic to cross to get to an exit and find a place to pull over to clean the poor boy up. He puked a little bit more when we got home about 2am (Friday morning). He then was done. He ate like a half a piece of pizza all day yesterday with about a half a cup of soy milk and 2-3 cups of juice. We thought he was clear of the throw up until about midnight last night when he coughed in his bed and threw up. He finished it on our laminate floor. After that I put up the pack n play for him to sleep on so I wouldn't bother the sleeping Malachi. He hasn't thrown up yet, today either, and has seemed to be in a better mood. He's eaten a few cheese goldfish and had a cup of juice, but that's all.

Well, Malachi was about to go have lunch with his Daddy a little before 1pm today (I was staying home with the sleeping Z), when he walked into our bedroom (about where Ezekiel did most of his throw up) and threw up. He said he felt fine after we cleaned him up, and he said, "I no want to frow up da-gin" (I don't want to throw up again). He still went with Daddy, but he said that he doesn't want to eat now.

My stomach is messed up, but I haven't thrown up. At times I have felt like it, but I haven't felt that bad.

I thought we might've had food poisoning from a new restaurant we tried on the way home, but now I just think it might be a stomach bug. How fun!

I have to go back to work on Monday, and I'm supposed to teach my typically older 2s class tomorrow. I guess I need to go call in for that one. I hope this thing is over soon. Lord, deliver us! :)

Beach Pictures

My Oh-So Crazy Life

A week ago, Ezekiel came down with a bad cold. Since he is the child who always gets sick, it would only be appropriate for him to take the cold to the next level. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday, and the cold had moved to his lungs. If he would have had a fever, they would have sent him for a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia. Praise the Lord, there was none of that. My opinion is that now that he has tubes, his colds can't settle in his ears, so they chose the lungs. How fun! Anywho, they gave him a steroid shot for the inflation in the lungs and prescribed Albuterol through nebulizer breathing treatments. He SCREAMED through half of the treatment. I "rented" a neb. for the doc but came to find out that I couldn't keep it for a week, and we were leaving for vacation early on Thursday. So, I took it back on Wednesday, got a prescription for an antibiotic to keep from getting a worse infection and had to buy a nebulizer to use while at home and on vacation. (We're already putting our AFLAC Flex account to use). That whole crazy day before we left for vacation didn't provide me much packing time (and I was behind from my sick child), but it finally worked out. Ezekiel is doing much better. His breathing was so bad on Monday night/Tuesday morning last week that I was scared to lay him in his bed. I was afraid that he would stop breathing, so I stayed up with him most of the night. He would breathe and each time his little tummy would raise up painfully, and he would often sigh/groan with almost every breath. I'm so glad that the worst of that situation is over.


The other event that took place on that day is that Malachi went all day with the same pair of big-boy underwear on. He even started standing to pee! We've had a couple of set-backs on the way, but he is finally on the road to being completely potty trained. He's not there yet, but I am very pleased with how well he is doing. We've been on vacation for the past few days and even with the chaotic nature of our vacation, he's done well. He gets so excited that he has to tell everyone that "I pee-pee!!!"

We have enjoyed some time on the beach, but the best time came on Saturday morning. The water is soooo incredibly clear. It is such a beautiful green. The sand is soooo white. The waves are soooo calm. All of this is compared to the Atlantic Ocean in the Myrtle Beach area which is nothing like the Gulf. Here are some pics...

Count My Blessings

On frustrating days like today, I am reminded of how God has blessed us (not just materially but emotionally, spiritually, and so on). I got to thinking about all the "free" things that we have in our house.

• kitchen table with 4 chairs and a bench (which sat 4 kids last night)
• washer and dryer
• refrigerator
• microwave
• large deep freezer
• outdoor gas grill
  
• a few other small items that I can't recall right now

None of these items were gifts but were acquired from various sources. This is just the material. Not to mention that we are making strides to potty train our eldest. Z's tubes in his ears seem to be a success. We have food and clothes. We have love for each other, and most of all, we are loved so deeply by our Heavenly Father! What more could I ask for?

Guess Who Wants to be Bigger?

Ezekiel-isms

Ok, so it is incredibly funny to me that Ezekiel is only 17 months old and has at least 10 words in his vocabulary. He is just catching on so much faster than his older brother, but I know that that is probably due to the fact that he learns from his older brother.

***Note: most words have a sort of funny muffle to them***

• "baw" - ball
• "ah-dah" - all done (usually accompanied by the shaking of whatever is all done, like a cup)
• "sooos" - shoes---he has quite the foot fetish
• "Mommy" or "Momma"
• "Daddy"
• "meal" - milk (accompanied by sign)
• "da-doo" - thank you
• "oww" - ow, as in I bumped my head
• "oh-no" - look at what happened
• "bop" - name for his pacifier that he got from Malachi
• "moe" - more (accompanied by sign)
  

He tries to sing his ABCs with the LeapFrog thing on the fridge. He will also try to sing other songs that Malachi and I sing often. You can tell which song it is by the rhythm. What a smart cookie!

He can go up and DOWN stairs and steps. He can "run." He can be mischievous (already!). And he can be oh, so cute.

Daddy's Home!!!

Daniel left Monday morning for kid's camp. We've been missing Daddy all week, but he just got home about an hour ago, and we are thrilled! Ezekiel is still sleeping, but Malachi is enjoying playing with his Daddy now. Boy, am I glad to have him home. I enjoyed having the queen bed to myself, but I'm ready to have someone else beside me now. We made sure to keep ourselves busy, so we didn't miss him too much. Welcome home!

Updates

Malachi had his 3 year check-up today. He got some vaccines ahead of time (for some reason), so there were no shots today! Woo-hoo!!! He was 33 lbs. and 35 1/2 inches tall. His vision is great and is up to par on all development. He is in the bottom 25% in height but the 75% in weight. He's built like his Daddy. He's not fat, but I didn't realize until yesterday how short he was compared to other kids his age. After the appointment got started, he did well. I was impressed at how well he did at listening compared to the way last week was.

I put Ezekiel on the scales while we were there, and he was around 21 lbs.!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!

My dog weighs...

90 lbs.!!!

I think its time for us to get her some more exercise and maybe a little less food.

I Need Advice

Somebody, please help me! I don't know what to do.

So, here is the series of events. We finally made our 3 year old get rid of his pacifier (only to sleep with since he was at least 2) just before his 3rd birthday. He still doesn't sleep well. Therefore, he gets up earlier in the morning than he needs to, and he is not napping as he needs to. Someone might say, well maybe he doesn't need a nap. OH, no, no, no, no, no, no! The past few days he has been throwing incredible screaming/flailing "I'm not going to be happy with ANYTHING!" fits. I can't do anything to help him calm down. Trust me. Usually when they come on, I am calm, cool, and collected and rarely raise my voice. I don't give into his whinings, though. He won't take a nap unless I lay down with him until he goes to sleep. Otherwise, he will just play quietly in his bedroom. Then, he will be in a horrible mood later. I can't get him to sleep enough. I don't want to start where he has to have someone lay down with him to go to sleep, but he NEEDS to sleep, and I need him to sleep!

I need good advice, please!!!

Beethovens or Mozarts?

It is Finished!

I finished painting the upper trim work in the living room! We have very high ceilings in the living room and kitchen. We rolled both rooms last summer but ran out of time to do the high trim work, not to mention that we didn't have a ladder that would reach high enough. Yesterday, during nap time, I knocked it out. Now all I have to do is finish the kitchen upper trim work and organize the office. We also bought Malachi and Ezekiel twin bunk beds. Malachi is in one of the twins, and we may move Ezekiel from the crib to the other twin soon. We probably won't "bunk" them for another year or two. So, we moved the boys to the front room which had been the office to give them more room to play and move. In order to do that, we had to paint the room and switch the stuff (not to mention that most of the "stuff" in the office is in piles from last summer. It was a little hairy here for a few days, but it is all coming together.

I hope to be finished with the kitchen this weekend and move to the new office (the old boys' room) to paint on Monday or Tuesday next week. My plan is to have the house mostly in order by the end of next week. If I start worrying about blogging less and work more, I should make my goal. That will give me about a week and half to "rest" before vacation. After vacation, school begins again. What fun!

I hope to finally get some before and after pictures posted soon, since it has taken us almost a year to get the house in order and mostly the way we want it. I'm a painting machine right now. I can't wait until next summer to truly get some time to relax and not have to worry about too much painting or organizing. Wish me luck!

Spray Grounds with a Friend

Yesterday, we went to a local park that has a spray grounds facility for free! Malachi and Kyla had a lot of fun. Ezekiel wasn't too excited about it but did get a little bit wet. There were lots of pictures, but these are some of the best.

My Favorite Picture

"Mommy, I like the taste of chlorine water on this ball!"

Buddies have so much fun together!

More chasing each other in the water

Ezekiel's Dedication

Today we finally dedicated Ezekiel to the Lord. He was dedicated by our Lead Pastor Rick Ross. Great Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw Hinson, Grammy & Grandpa, and Uncle David and Aunt Michelle all joined us on stage to support us and pledge to help aid us raise Ezekiel Luke in the way that the Bible intends for us to do. Ezekiel enjoyed being up on stage and seeing all the new faces but wouldn't let Pastor Rick hold him. Pastor Rick tried, but he lunged for Daddy. We were given some flowers, a certificate, and a small Bible for our precious son.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with Ezekiel Luke, as we make a statement that he is not ours but Yours. You have entrusted us with this precious gift, and we desire to raise Him to always desire to follow You.

Malachi's Birthday Party

Malachi had his birthday party Saturday (yesterday) and really enjoyed it. He got lots of cool toys and even some money. He played with some friends in the water and watched his other friends go down the slide. Even though he likes to go down the inflatable slide, he was afraid to go down it with water. So, he hung out in the small little kiddie pool.

Malachi opening presents and cards

Getting a little help from Momma to blow out the candles

Malachi and Ezekiel playing in the kiddie pool

Malachi's best bud, Kyla, going down the slide

Malachi's cousin, Jasmine, hurling her way down the slide

***Last night when I was laying down in Malachi's new big boy bed (twin bed) with him and talking with him about his day, he said, "I got snot on my suitcase." It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was saying. What he meant was his pillowcase! He caught Ezekiel's cold and after fussing about not wanting to go to sleep, he rubbed his snot on his pillowcase and didn't want me to lay in it. How sweet!

Birthday Fun

Happy Birthday, Malachi! You are 3 years old.

Malachi's birthday presents (Lightning & Mater Chair, Mickey Mouse figurines, and a pirate counting book) waiting on him this morning

This is the first time that I remember Malachi truly interested in opening all the presents himself and looking at them all. He had a blast!

Birthday breakfast with his little brother

Since Malachi's birthday is today, and Wednesdays are always SUPER BUSY for the Honeycutt house (especially Dad), I wrapped the presents that we had for him and opened them first thing in the morning. He'll get lots more presents at his party on Saturday. Since Daddy was busy today, we met Malachi's good friend Kyla for lunch and a stroll around the mall. He seemed to have a really good time. We also turned our free (thanks Pastor A & K) double stroller into a triple. You see Kyla's Mommy didn't realize that the car that she had didn't have a stroller, SO we laid down the back seat and let Kyla & Malachi sit together. They always enjoy that. Malachi opted to get out after a few minutes and walked beside the stroller.

On Monday, we got Malachi the other part of his present. We went to Build-A-Bear where Malachi chose an elephant (only b/c they didn't have an alligator) to make and wanted it to have a race car suit. While we were stuffing the elephant, Malachi put his bop inside the animal. We both knew that he totally didn't understand, but it was time. So, now he is not sleeping with a pacifier. Unfortunately, that also means that he is not sleeping much (period). He was up until midnight Monday night and 11pm last night. He's done a lot of crying for that bop, but we're not giving in. We should have done it a long time ago, but we knew it would be difficult, and we would lose some sleep. Last summer was an awful time b/c Malachi was sick a lot, and we were remodeling our torn-up foreclosure purchase. Now, it is ok if I don't sleep because I don't have to get up at 6am to get ready to go to work. I'm just tired and not getting all the painting and organizing done that I had hoped. It will come, and potty training has been put on hold until Malachi has come to complete terms with losing his bop.

Update

Everything has been going well here at the Honeycutt house. Daniel has been working hard on summer camp registrations for the NC district children's ministry, starting KWASP (Kids' World After School Program), and doing his typical jobs at the YMCA. I have been working a lot on the house and getting that in order. I'm finally going to finish the paint job that I started last July! We were blessed to take care of a 12 mo. old for three days. Boy, that wore me out! Malachi's birthday is coming up on Wednesday, and his party is on Saturday. Ezekiel is finally being dedicated in church this coming Sunday. I'm now the commander of the "older 2s" room at church. We had over 30 kids in the 2 year old rooms last week. Can you imagine if they had all been in one room like they used to be 2 weeks ago!?! Ezekiel has all 4 molars now but not all the teeth in between. We're having a blast hanging out and running errands. Potty training is not going that well, but I hope to focus on it after things calm down. I don't know when that is going to happen, but it will at some point (I hope). We're getting a brand new roof on our house thanks to all the hail storms that we have had (at least 4) in the past 2 months. Ezekiel is doing great from having his tubes in. Everything was clear when we went to the doc last week. I'm not getting much "rest" on my vacation but at least I can sleep past 6:30 every morning. Mr. B (a friend from church) cut down 2 of our trees in the back yard and will probably do one more. Daniel and I had to clean it up, but we will have a much better back yard soon. Woo-hoo! Thanks, Mr. B. I think that is all of my musings. Here are some pictures.

Concord First Assembly celebrated its 50th anniversary on Father's Day in June. To celebrate, they combined their typical Fourth of July celebration and the 50th parties together. On Father's Day, there were inflatables, food, drinks, entertainment (different Christian bands), and to end it all, there were fireworks! Happy Belated 50th Birthday, CFA!!!

"Super powers da res-you" (Super Powers to the rescue!)
I'm not quite sure where he got that from.

Ezekiel signed...

MORE!

This is the first time that Ezekiel has signed more correctly and completely unprompted. I was sooo proud and excited. We haven't done that sign a lot lately b/c he has never really seemed to want to use it. I'm soooo excited. He won't do the sign for all done anymore, but he used to do that one unprompted at times.

Yay!!!