Paper Towels

Today when I picked the kids up from school it was "cold", at least for us Texans. It was the first really cold day of the season so I took the boys to get hot chocolate at our local coffee shop. While we were waiting for our drinks, Wake disappeared. Every time he disappears we all know where Wake is, bathroom! He has a crazy metabolism and poops about 5 times a day!!! When he finally comes out of the bathroom I did what every mom does, ask him "Did you wash your hands?" He said, "Yes, but they were out of paper towels." I said, "did you just dry your hands on your jacket?" He said, "Nope, there were some pretty dry paper towels in the top of the trash can!!!" WAKE!!!!!

Wonderful Weekend of Wake!!!

Anyone who has three kids knows what a precious commodity alone time with one child can be! Wake's birthday is coming up and Clay and I have been wanting to do something special with him. Jonas was going out of town with some friends to see UGA play LSU so we dropped Reed with my sister for the weekend and planned WOW (Weekend of Wake)!! Wake had Friday off school so Clay took the day off work and we went fishing, out to lunch for Wake's favorite (chili cheese dog) and then X-Men Wolverine for movie night! Saturday morning we got up and went to Dallas for the State Fair and Mary Poppins the musical! Wake loves to be the center of attention so it was a fabulous time!

Mary Poppins captivated him! After three hours of sitting, when it was over he said, "What? That's it?" If you know Wake, I'm sure you can hear that coming from his mouth!!

At the fair he and I had made a list of things he wanted to do. First we did "Hands on the Farm". This was a very cool farming exhibit where he got to plant crops, feed animals, harvest crops, milk a cow, gather eggs, then trade in his commodities for cash. He then spent his cash in the company store and bought some fruit snacks. I had obvious reservations to this blatant advertisement for capitalism. Clay told Wake to go directly to the store and ask for farm subsidies for not planting this year. At any rate, he wanted to "do it the right way", so we agreed. Clay and I have long known that Wake will rebel with a bow tie and a young Republicans membership card so we weren't surprised!!

His favorite activity was the Colorado Mining Company. For $8. (which is really cheap considering it's more than that for one ride in the Midway) you get a bag of sand with hidden treasures inside. He chose a bag and had a fantastic time sifting in the "river" with his screen box. He found 7 arrow heads. The guy who was running the stand brought Wake another "free" half bag of sand when his was gone. According to him, "This kid is the best advertisement I've had all day!" Wake was his usual self, being completely dramatic at every find!! He is so much like Clay's dad that it just makes me smile. Any day now he's going to say, "Phenomenal!!!"

He ate like a pig, as did Clay and I! Poor Wake was born to a mama who tries very hard to make sure that he has very little to nothing artificial in his diet. We don't do lunch meat with nitrates or hot dogs at home. Every chance my parents and Clay get they sneak Wake out for a chili dog because that is his favorite food! Well, he had never had a real corny dog until this weekend and he is in love!!! He gobbled up every bite of his foot long Fletcher's corny dog. As we were leaving Saturday night Clay asked him if he had gotten to do everything he wanted to do at the fair. Wake said, "Can I just have one more corny dog?" So....we bought 12 more tickets ($6) and Wake got another one!!!!

Wake is Relentless!

Poor Wake hates coming in second! As he once told my mom, "Second place is just first looser!" Well, he has been waiting and waiting and WAITING to get a loose tooth. At least once a week all during Kindergarten he would come home mad as heck that someone lost a tooth. He would do his little head bob with the "Guess What! Someone else lost a tooth!!! I'm such a freak!" Well, finally on this Tuesday night he noticed his tooth was a little loose. He had Clay work on it, wiggling and working it for a full hour. Finally Clay told him it wasn't ready and he'd just have to wait and work on it a little more tomorrow. He gave us the standard, "WHAT!" and went to work on it himself. We saw him tie dental floss around it and get his brother to tie it to the door. That didn't work. I caught him telling Jonas that he would give him the money in his piggy bank if he would knock it out with a hammer. Jonas looked very excited at this prospect!! Finally it seemed he settled down. We all went to bed. At a little after midnight Wake woke Clay and I up. He had a bloody towel in one hand and his tooth in the other! He was screaming "I did it!" and laughing with glee!! I finally got him settled down and to bed. The tooth fairy had to borrow 5 bucks from Jonas' wallet :)

Love Note!

Wake has written his first love note! The mom of the little girl he gave it to (Madison) is a friend of mine and saved it for me. In typical Wake fashion, it says,

To Madison

From Wake

and inside it says,

"You love me!"

Soooooo Wake...... I need to start praying for the poor girl that falls in love with him now!!!

Happy School Nurse's Day!

Today was School Nurse's Day (at least at Lindale ECC) and Wake was insistent that he take a gift to his nurse. Wake has quite a relationship with Nurse White! She is definitely Wake's "type"! She is young, beautiful, super sweet, very attentive! Earlier this year I had a conference with Wake's teacher. She was worried about Wake because he seemed to "feel very bad" two or three afternoon's a week. He was also thirsty a lot (needing to go get a drink) and one day even wet his pants. Wake hasn't had an accident since he was three years old so this also alarmed me! Clay's dad has Type I diabetes so we were both very worried and took Wake in for a check. All of his tests came out fine! Dr. Everett (who is oh so smart!!) asked Wake how he feels when he "feels bad" at school. Wake gave this long detailed description (which was also very dramatic!) of this near death experience! Dr. Everett asked him what Nurse White did when he went to the nurse's office and Wake said "She gives me a peppermint and lets me take a nap on her couch. Sometimes she rubs my back." Dr Everett smiled and said, "Wake, I think you are just fine but I'm going to send a note to Nurse White telling her that you need to watch your sugar so no more peppermints and that you need more exercise so no more naps." He hasn't been to the nurse since!!!!

Last night when we were trying to decide what to give Nurse White as a present, Wake said, "Remember when she had to clean up my pee!! That deserves a HUGE present!" He is so right!! We settled on a nice box of chocolate and spring flowers.

Romantic walks on the beach!

Tonight we went to the store (again!!!). In the check-out line I see Wake talking to the guy behind us. He's in one of those motorized carts. Wake says to him, "I've always wanted to try one of those." The guys says, "I hate having to use this thing. I wish I could walk around and not get tired." Wake says, "I'll bet you wish you could take a walk on the beach with your wife at sunset." The guy started dying laughing! He said, "yep! That would be really nice." Wake never even cracked a smile. He was serious the entire time. What a mind!!!

Random Pics from Austin

Both Jonas and Wake got to feed Piper and hold her. They thought she was awesome!

Reed absolutely loved "Build a Bear." He made a puppy which he named, "Bud Pup". He carried the box all the way to the car!

Easter in Austin

We spent a fantastic three day weekend in Austin doing a whole bunch of nothing! We stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool (Jonas and Wake's only request) and saw a bunch of friends that we miss so much! We got to meet Piper (John and Mandy's second sweet baby girl) and Wake discovered that "She loves him the most!" We saw Joe and Jennifer's new gorgeous house (that will be finished soon, I just know it Jennifer!) but missed meeting their new dogs, which disappointed Wake very much. We had a great lunch with Cole and Summer at a fantastic restaurant that reminded me how un-grown-up my life has become! All in all it was great! We stayed up late every night and slept till 10!

Wake and Reed used their Easter bunny money to "Build a Bear". Wake named his Koala, "Nut-Nut" and dressed him in PJ's and slippers (complete with camo boxers). and Reed picked a puppy that he calls "Bud-Pup" (which is what he calls every puppy.) Wake had a blast! I love it that he completely ignores his big brother's eye rolling at "baby stuff" and has fun anyway! To tell the truth, I think that Jonas really wanted to "build a bear" too but he had already spent his money at the co-op on a new longhorn wallet and football.

Jonas and Wake both got to hold Piper and feed her. This was super cool for them because they didn't take bottles nor did their cousin Kennedy, so this was their first feeding. They thought it was very cool. Reed completely ignored the baby. Jonas and Piper's big sister Tegan played together most of the weekend. She seemed to be in love with Jonas and he did a great job of letting her tell him what to do. This seemed normal to him since he sees me tell his dad what to do all the time! Tegan and Reed are about 4 months apart so they spent their time together this weekend fighting over Tegan's toys that Reed claimed were "MINE."

I miss Austin so much! Clay and I both felt a little sad as we drove through parts of the city we really miss. We felt less sad when we were stuck in Austin traffic! Lindale is a great place to raise a family and we love our home here but it's no Austin!

Mrs. Corley

This week was teacher appreciation week here in big Lindale! Wake absolutely idolizes his teacher, Mrs. Corley. He believes that she is the smartest, bestest teacher in the world!!!

Last month, his school, ECC had a sweetheart's ball for mom's and sons. Well, at this "ball" one of the teachers was crowned "Queen" and got to go up on stage where they put a cape and crown on her and showered her with applause and flowers. Well, much to my Wake's dismay, Mrs. Corley was not chosen as Queen. (as a side note, the students voted to determine the Queen.) When the Queen was announced and Wake realized it wasn't Mrs. Corley, he was shocked. His first reaction was jaw drop, ugly stare, and then "BOOOOOO". It was so embarrassing. I had to remove him momentarily from the event! I don't even think it registered with him who the queen was, just that it wasn't Mrs. Corley! Even now, over a month later, if anyone mentions the ball or the word "queen" he has to bring up the fact that "it should have been 'Queen Corley'" He loves her!

I believe he has a little kindergarten crush on her because he always wants to bring her flowers. For Valentines Day, we brought 12 lavender and pink roses. For teacher appreciation day we brought 12 tulips. I hope she actually likes flowers! Jonas had Mrs. Corley for kindergarten also and he loved her as well but Wake is absolutely enamoured. I wanted him to have her because she is very good academically and a little tough with the discipline. Anyone that knows Wake, knows that he will play you in a second if he detects weakness. She has no weakness and I think that's why he loves her so much! It's a love/respect thing!

My sweet boy!

I love that Wake is so friendly to everyone! He is not a shy boy, to say the least, and he will strike up a conversation with just about anyone. Yesterday we were in line and the Red Box machine. In front of us was a guy who looked to be late teens or early twenties, with some obvious physical and mental disabilities. Wake was singing the "Dora the Explorer" song, a show which he is forced to watch in the car because his little brother likes it. He claims he hates this show, but he watches it none the less and if he doesn't think I'm paying attention, he'll actually answer Dora's "stupid questions for babies!!" This guy starts talking to Wake about Dora. He said that he likes to watch Dora and he thinks it's helping him to learn Spanish, which he needs to know because a lot of his friends know Spanish. Wake doesn't even blink or look back at me to make sure it's OK, he just starts talking to him. He tells him that it is a good way to learn Spanish and starts asking the guy what Spanish words he knows. They talked for a good 10 minutes, just laughing and obviously enjoying each other's company. This guy is three times bigger than Wake and is a little scary looking. He's got saliva running down both sides of his mouth and a really bad studder. A couple of times Wake has a hard time understanding him and says, "Huh?" and the guy repeats himself and they just keep talking. Jonas, my 9 year old, keeps looking at me like, "What the heck is Wake doing." The guy has his turn at the Red Box and Wake helps talk him into a Sponge Bob Square Pants DVD that he says is "Awesome." and the guy leaves with a "See ya!" Wake turns to me and says, "Nice guy." That's it! Never a "What's wrong with him" or anything. My precious boy! He gives me faith! Only God could create such a sweet, pure heart. I am so blessed to have him in my life!

The Ladies Man

For all of you that know Wake, you know how much he loves the ladies! For some reason, this child has always loved women. When he was a tiny guys, he could always be soothed by women. My sister was his favorite! He loved (and still does) for Auntie to hold him. When he was about four months old, he started pinching my underarm when he would nurse. When he could talk he started calling that part of my arm my "pinchy". If he's not feeling good or had a nightmare and comes to get in bed with Clay and I he still pinches me there. He's always been close to my friend Shelley. She would laugh at him because even at two, if she wore shorts he would try and rub her outer thigh, just inside her shorts. Sometimes the puritan in me wants to be bothered by this but then I remember how normal it all is! Some little boys are just born so heterosexual!!! This intro brings me to my funny story on Wake.

A few weeks ago at Sunday School, Wake's very creative (and thank God open minded!) teacher had them make two posters. One poster was an "I Want..." poster and the other was an "I Need...." poster. The kids were to cut images out of magazines and paste them to the appropriate poster. When Wake gets in the car after Sunday School he tells us about the posters and said someone stole his thing off the I want poster. We asked him what it was and he said, "A naked lady." I asked Debi about it and she said that she saw it on the poster and discretely removed it before displaying the poster!!! For all of you wondering how he found a picture of a naked lady in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine, it was from a lotion ad and she was only seen from behind (you could tell she was naked, but you couldn't see any of the "private" areas!)Wake also told us that every time he gets the long end of the wishbone he wishes for a "hot chick."

We are in so much trouble with him!!!

Wake the Honest...

Wake has never learned the fine art of lying to spare someones feelings. There are so many "social skills" that he either can't understand or just doesn't see the point so doesn't bother with them. White lies are one of these!! Here are a few of my favorite examples of these:

1. After Reed was born (Wake's little brother) my sister went to get Wake and bring him to the hospital. Wake walked into the room and looked at me. He saw that his dad was holding his new baby brother and got a very confused look on his face. He came over and "hugged" me, squeezing extra hard around my middle. He said, "Wait, the baby is on the outside?" I said, "yes, do you want to meet him?" He said, "I don't understand why your tummy is still so fat." Talk about onset of postpartum depression!!!

2. Clay's parents went through a sort-of nasty divorce when Wake was a baby. He doesn't really remember them being "together". (Clay and I've been together 15 years and I don't really either, but that's a different subject.) About a year ago Clay's mother, very unexpectedly, got remarried. Clay was really upset by this and sat the boys down to explain it all to them. They sat there patiently while Clay went over all the details. When he was finished, Clay asked them if they had any questions and Wake said, "Will the new guy have to buy us Christmas presents too?"

3. As he gets older and people constantly are telling him not to say things or that something he has said isn't polite, he tries very unsuccessfully to be "better." Sometimes I will catch him looking at me or someone else and he will say the funniest things! I was trying on dresses for the"Second Chance Prom" with my skinny friend Casey and all of the dresses that were too big for her were still too small for me. I looked at Wake and he said, "I wasn't thinking you were fat, just that you have too much skin!" He also told my father in law, "I know you try your best but you might need to brush your teeth a little bit better."

4. My grandfather, who loves baseball, loves to get out and watch my boys and my cousin Brian's girls play ball. Last year Wake got to play t-ball for the first time. My papa came to his first game and watched him. After the game was over, Papa told Wake he did a good job and asked him if he had a good time. Wake looked at him real disgusted and said, "Didn't you see us loose? My team sucks!"

more to come....

Are there rules? Wake's other family...

I hope there aren't rules.... I'm not very organized and so since this blog is mine, it won't be organized either! It won't be chronological or separated by subject, etc.. Just the ramblings of an average woman about her completely not average in any way son!

Since he was about 3, Wake has had tons of imaginary friends. The first that spent a lot of time with him was Ben. This at first alarmed me because my older son Jonas never had imaginary friends. He was (and still is) way too busy playing in the real world for any of that! Wake has never had peers his age that he could really relate to so he made up his own. Ben was a cool guy. He kept Wake busy for me when we were grocery shopping or when I was cleaning house, etc.. Despite the fact that Wake's older brother continually pointed out that Ben didn't exist, Wake just ignored him and kept on playing with him. Wake once asked Clay if he could have one of his beers. Clay told him no, that you had to be 21 to drink beer. Not long after that, Wake told us that Ben had turned 21 and could now buy him beer! Just what you want your 3 year old telling everyone! Ben could also do everything that Jonas could do. When Jonas would brag that he could jump off the diving board and Wake couldn't, Wake would respond that Ben could do a double flip off the diving board. Jonas could ride a bike without training wheels, Ben could ride a bike with only one wheel. Jonas could read and Wake couldn't but according to Wake, he didn't need to know how to read because Ben could just read anything he wanted to him!

Eventually, Ben morphed into an entire family. Ben became his son and he got a wife named Ashley. They also had three other kids (Susan, Johnny, and Reed) all named after the Fantastic Four of-course! He and Ashley would talk on the phone forever. In July of 2007, (Wake was 4 at the time) we went on a mini vacation to Dallas for Clay's birthday. Wake shut himself in the bathroom for over an hour and "fought" with Ashley for over an hour. He told us he though they were going to get a divorce.... They never did. Ashley and the kids have always lived in Hawaii. According to Wake, pineapples in Hawaii taste like beef steak. He goes to visit Ashley and the kids at night while we are all asleep. I can believe that, because Wake never sleeps!

Wake talks about Ashley and the kids less and less. Since he started kindergarten this year, less and less of his time is spent with his imaginary family. I wonder sometimes if he's growing out of them or if he is just exhausted from school. Socialization is a daunting task for a little guy. There is also a lot of peer pressure to be "normal". It's not cool to have an imaginary family you love because you've created them, at least not when you're 6. I wish he had more time spend in his imaginary world. I think that type of learning is more important than beating the dead horse of letters and numbers and colors. Our school system and educational philosophies in this country do such a poor job of fostering creative learning, especially in the brightest of our kids. I pray everyday for Wake that the artist in him isn't pushed too deep within so that the TAKS taker can shine through. Are we preparing our kids to be all that God has created them to be or are we preparing them to be a commodity within the global economy? Don't get me wrong, I don't want him to starve to death someday, but my sould aches when I see his bright light get shaded by this drive to fit the mold.

Wake's arrival..

From his very beginning, Wake has done things his way. His older brother Jonas was a very big surprise for Clay and I. We were not planning to have kids for a long time (if ever) and despite birth control and a lifestyle not at all conducive to parenting, Jonas arrived on the scene. About 18 months later we decided we might as well get this over with and started trying to produce a sibling for Jonas. We thought that since we got pregnant with Jonas despite trying to prevent pregnancy, this time ought to be a breeze.... Over a year later, we finally realized we were pregnant again. We were so excited! Wake's pregnancy was a little easier than Jonas'. My morning sickness was bad, but not quite as bad as the first time. I was older and a little wiser so I ate healthier and exercised more. I only gained 18 lbs (in comparison to the 65 lbs I gained with Jonas) and felt really good throughout the pregnancy. In utero, Wake loved music. Where Jonas kicked and pushed, Wake danced. He moved softly in my belly. He didn't have the hiccups Jonas had. He was a mellow fetus. At 35 weeks pregnant, Clay took me to hear Jurassic 5 play outside at Stub's. Wake gently moved around and "danced" to the rhythms. We were using the same midwives for Wake's birth that we used with Jonas. Jonas' birth was long but gentle. I'd gained less weight and this was my second baby so I wasn't nervous about the birth. I was expecting a shorter labor, shorter pushing, less pain. Jonas was also two weeks late so as Wake's "due date" approached, I tried not to expect anything. He was due October 20th. At the time I worked for The League of Women Voters. I ran the Texas "Democracy Net" project, which was the League's first online attempt at an interactive voters guide. I was so busy at work, trying to get everything completed before election day. I had an appointment with my midwife on the morning of October 17th. At the appointment the midwife asked me if I thought I might be in labor. I'd been having what I thought were braxton hicks contractions for a couple of days. I told her I didn't think so. She kind-of smiled and said, "well, we'll see." I went on about my day, trying to finish up things at work, etc. I picked up Jonas about 5pm from The Open Door. We went to Central Market for a smoothie and a few groceries. While I was walking around at Central Market I started having much harder contractions. I was in labor and I wasn't ready! I headed next door to the drug store for some supplies. I hadn't packed a bag or anything!!! I called my sister first, then Clay and my friend Kim because she was going to keep Jonas during the birth. I took Jonas home and gave him a bath. I was getting him out of the tub when I felt a little pop and then a gush! My water hadn't broken with Jonas until I was pushing so I had no idea that contractions after your water breaks are OH MY GOD TERRIBLE!!! It felt like Freddie Kruger was trying to get out of my uterus!!! I tried to stay calm and wait as long as possible to recognize the pain. We sent Jonas to Kim's ate some Chinese take out (twice cooked pork that Clay always reminds me was also "twice seen" pork for him that night! yuck!) and watched ER. After ER we headed to Seton to meet the midwife and my sister. It was a shorter labor but much more painful. After only 2 pushes, his head was out. His shoulders got stuck and the midwife had to struggle to get him out. His collar bone broke and he wasn't breathing a first. The poor little thing was all kinds of beaten and bruised! Even through all of that, he nursed like a champ just a few minutes after his birth. Wake was the smallest of my boys at 8lbs 8 oz and 21 1/2" long. Emili said he looked like a little turtle! He didn't open his right eye for over two weeks. The right side of his face was very squished and bruised during the birth. He still has problems with that eye. Even as a tiny guy, he looked old and wise. We named him Wake Edwin Thrasher-Evers. Wake is short for Wakefield from the Weezer song, My Name is Jonas. Edwin was after Clay's grandfather. He made quite an entrance.