One day, on our way out to the lake, we stopped at this rest area to take some pictures. It was a fabulous day and these are some of our favorite pictures with Shane. I don't usually get many pictures of myself with Shane since I'm quite often the one behind the camera, but this day, I made sure to get a couple shots of me with my baby boy. This was a very good day!!

Baptism into motherhood...

So, this was our first Thanksgiving together, and I had visions of grandeur as usual. We were off to Arkansas for Shane to meet his Aunt Kathy, and Uncle Don for the first time. Steve's mom is an excellent cook, so I was sure this was going to be a meal that Shane would NOT forget (as well as the 9 hour drive to get there.)

So, we embark on our voyage on Wednesday around 9:00 AM. Shane did fabulously! He only asked once or twice how much further we had to go. He played with his toys, he sang, he watched a movie on the little DVD player, and just watched as the scenery changed. He talked a lot. Oh, and he was thinking a lot because at one point he says "mom..I have a question for you. How do babies come out their mom's butts?" I almost started laughing, but knew I needed to answer, so I simply said "They don't come out there. They have a very special place they come out and one day, you and I will get a book and sit down and talk about it." He was pleased with that answer and went on to the next topic of Pokemon or something! Whew!!!

We arrive in Arkansas and meet everyone and Shane starts exploring! He is fascinated with Aunt Kathy's house! The next day, Shane and his Aunt Kathy went out into the yard hunting rocks. He had a blast doing that! She had planted several River rocks all around their yard before we arrived, so Shane "found" some really nice rocks!

We then prepared to eat Thanksgiving dinner and Shane suddenly wasn't hungry. This was a HUGE shock because Shane is always hungry! He could eat and eat and while he's eating, start telling us how hungry he is. So, when he didn't want to eat, I knew he wasn't feeling well. Long story short, haha, not...he spent the day with a fever and upset stomach. It continued on the next day, and then added a 2nd victim...me! So, on Saturday, we got up to head home with Shane feeling a little better, and me much worse.

Once again, on the trip home, Shane performed spectacularly! He just enjoyed the trip and we heard very little complaining. We go 8 hours and 45 minutes....15 minutes from home, Shane says "I need to go to the bathroom." Then he says he can wait, and about 30 seconds later he says "no, I'm going to throw up!" I scream at Steve to pull the car over. OH, by the way, this just happens to be Steve's brand new Honda Element that we just bought 2 weeks prior! So, Steve starts looking for a place to pull over and it's too late. Instead of staying in his seat, Shane, who happens to be sitting behind me, chose to STAND UP, and lean over my seat and....yes....throw up!!! He threw up 3 times and it went EVERYWHERE..but specifically, all over me!!

Well, with me already being sick, AND having some major issues with bodily fluids as it is, I was doing everything I could to not throw up as well. I'm screaming at Steve to pull over. We almost get stuck in the mud as he is trying to find us a place to pull over. We get pulled over and I jump out of the car and basically froze in shock at what had just happened.

So, we get everyone cleaned up as much as possible (I have no idea how he did not throw up on Billy, our dog, too). We get back in the now incredibly smelly brand new Element and spend the last 15 minutes of our trip in misery just trying to get home and get into the shower. Poor Steve ended up having to do all the clean up as well as comfort Shane (I was in no place to even attempt it). Steve did tell me later that he just wanted to hug Shane, but he just couldn't make himself do it with that vomit all over him! haha

So, we had an incredibly eventful first Thanksgiving together and I'm quite sure we will remember the events of those few days for years to come!

But mom, 1 hour is like 70,000 minutes!!

That's what I heard today when I told Shane that I would like for him to go into his room and rest for 1 hour. I don't require him to take naps on any day except Sunday, and even then, he doesn't have to go to sleep. He just has to stay in his room and rest. He can read if he wants to, but usually, he just watches the clock. Every week the routine is the same, and every week we have the same argument...time. As in, does it have to be a WHOLE HOUR!?!?

Of course, in any other situation, such as how much time he gets to watch TV, or how long we will be staying at the pool, and hour is "like only 30 seconds!" Shane's clock definitely doesn't match the rest of the world's clock! :)

I remember as a kid having the same type of thing happen though. When something fun was about to happen, time seemed to run in slow motion. And when I was in the middle of doing something fun, time went by so quickly! Summers went by like a flash, and the school year, it took forever! (As a teacher it still feels like that!)

I tried to explain to Shane that if he watches the clock, it's going to feel like time is going slower. He said "well, why did God make clocks work like that? That wasn't very nice." I laughed and tried to explain that it just FELT like that. Not that it really was like that! :) He makes me laugh.

My little motocrosser..

Well, today I took Shane to see his first race. This particular type of racing is a mixture of motocross and trail riding, so it's kind of the best of both worlds. I've always been a motocross rider, but I have raced this type of race and enjoy it as well.

So, Shane got to meet lots of people that I've known for a long time. These people are a great bunch to hang around and it's just a wonderful atmosphere for families. Everyone helps everyone else, and kids have a lot of freedom out there. It's out where you are not close to the city, and it's a "family" kind of feeling.

Well, he had a great time playing with his new friend, but taking him definitely gave him the racing bug! He was disappointed that he wasn't out riding his bike like his new friend, but hopefully that will give him the motivation to work hard and learn to ride safely. That was my biggest concern before I will allow him to race and I explained that to him. He knows how to ride now, and does a good job, but sometimes, his judgment is a bit lacking, so I need to make sure he's going to ride safely before I'll let him on a race course.

One thing that absolutely puzzled me today was this. He was playing with his new friend. She's the same age as him and they got along well. They did all of the exact same things as each other, but when they came over towards the end of the day, Shane was FILTHY and Ashley, well, you would never have guessed that she had been out at a motocross track with the LACK of dirt on her. I asked Shane how he got so dirty and he said "I don't know...it just gets me!" I think that's true! Dirt seeks him out!! I was able to get him cleaned up a bit so that we could at least drive home, but it just made me laugh at just HOW dirty he really was!!

But, he had a great time out there and is now in a hurry to go practice so that he can do his first race, and hopefully earn a trophy!

I wonder..

Today, I'm feeling rather contemplative. You know how it is, just wondering about life. Wondering what Shane will be when he grows up, and wondering what I will be when I grow up! haha I'm REALLY wondering what in the world Steve will be when he grows up! (just kidding!)

When I was young, I had dreams and aspirations. Honestly, being a mom was never one of them. I wanted to be a singer first and foremost. I wanted to make an album and I wanted to go on tour and be a big star. Well, obviously that never happened. I would still like to make a recording someday and who knows, it may happen. But, right now, my focus has changed dramatically. Since I became a mom, life has done a 180 on me. Do I regret it? Not for a single minute! Shane is the best thing that happened to me since I convinced Steve that his life would be a million times greater if he married me! :)

There are serious things that I wonder about with Shane, and also silly things. This morning, one of the things I wonder is if I will ever be able to go to work again with a clean shirt. Or, will my shirts always have a toothpaste or milk stain on them right where his mouth hits when he comes to hug me after he's brushed his teeth or eaten his breakfast?

Shane is one of the sweetest kids alive. Sure, he's a natural boy, but his heart is just about as transparent as they come. He loves to love. He loves to hug. He loves knowing that he's loved. I just pray that he never ever doubts how much I love him. I know right now, he doesn't have a clue, and honestly, I don't think I do either.

I just sit and look at his picture. I have his picture EVERYWHERE!! His eyes are bright and curious, yet guarded. His heart is wide open for us to love him, yet, with all the pain he's experienced, I know he protects himself as well. I just hope that the walls around his heart crumble and he knows the warmth, peace, and joy of having a mom and dad that love him, and will be here for him forever.

Surgery

Well, my beautiful little boy is going to have to have surgery. Although, I know it's not a major surgery (tubes put in his ears, and adenoids removed) it's still surgery and he will be put under general anesthesia.

I'm not so concerned about how I feel about it, but more concerned for him. He doesn't show much in the way of pain, so when he is hurting, it's hard to tell and I certainly don't want him to hurt needlessly! I'm also wondering about the oxygen mask and if that will scare him. One of the brochures says to talk about it like a mask that airplane pilots wear to help them breathe. I thought that was a good idea.

He actually seems excited about it. He knows that he is going to get to stay home from school, and that daddy and I will both be there with him for the surgery and that I will be staying home with him one day and daddy will stay home with him the other one. They say the recovery time for this particular surgery is actually very quick, so we will see. With his extremely high pain threshold, he may appear better before he really is, so that's going to be tough to watch.

Anyway, just thought I'd post about this. Of course, with my scrapbooking, I want to take pictures, but I'm not sure what state of mind I'll be in to do that, so I may tell daddy to bring the camera, but who knows if we will actually take any pictures. We probably will! :)

God gave me a bad life...

It's amazing how quickly the statement can go from "This is the greatest day EVER!" to "God gave you guys good lives and me a bad one!" That all came from the fact that this weekend, Shane has gotten to do a LOT of fun stuff. He's been a very busy kid! He's played and played until you'd think he couldn't play any more. Well, that was not the case.

Last night, when it was time to start getting ready for bed, Shane decided he still hadn't had enough play time and asked if he could stay up and watch TV after his bath. I told him no because it was a school day tomorrow. This is the exact same routine we've followed since the day he moved in, but yesterday just happened to be such a FUN day that he didn't want it to end.

He started to pitch a fit. We let him have his little fit (it wasn't too bad..) and we just were going to let him cool down when we hear him holler... "God gave you guys good lives and me a bad one!" We just about busted out laughing! When we finally went in to talk to him he said "IT's not fair! You guys get to tell me what time to go to bed but I don't get to tell you guys that!" We just tried not to laugh and said "You know...you are right!" He didn't expect that answer and he pretty much just dropped it.

He just makes me laugh how drastically life can change in the blink of an eye!