The First Versus the Last

When we got pregnant with Tyler everything was exciting!!! I read books, I prepared months in advance, I even put the outlet plugs in the outlets before he was born. Like Tyler would really be able to wiggle over and stick his finger in an outlet when he was 2 days old. We were the boy scouts of parenting. With Talan we were a little less prepared, but we got everything ready in time. We even managed to set up his whole nursery and change the office to a 3rd bedroom. With this last baby, things have changed. You know you are a full time, true blue through and through mom when you are thinking, why do I need so much stuff for a little guy that is basically a blob for a month at least. I mean, does a baby really need a cradle when at least half the time you fall asleep with him in your arms, in a chair, at 2 am after rocking him for what must be at least 6 hours? The other half of the time you fall asleep feeding him in bed or on the couch and then you don't dare more for fear your sleep will be taken away from you. I know the swing, the bouncer, and the car seat are just going to be objects that Talan will manipulate into a climbing device that will allow him access to random objects that he will craftily put together and build some sort of death device. I find myself thinking, do I really want to limit the tiny amount of space we do have with all these things?? Not really. But, what the last child gets that the first never did is 4 people immediately loving you so much. Tyler and Talan sit and talk to the baby in my tummy and give him kisses and hugs everyday. Tyler especially is so cute about the little guy coming out. I think Tyler is probably the most excited of anyone. He is going to be such a great helper. He is already practicing getting the diapers for me and watching Talan in the bath tub for 30 second periods of time. So while the first child get undivided attention, the last gets 4 people's half attention and a whole house of chaos that is surrounded in love. Which would you prefer??

I feel bad

These last few months have flown by. We have been really busy so I haven't blogged as much. Here is a quick catch up. My mom and little sister came out for a visit and made our dreams come true. For the first time since Ty was 1 Matt and I took a mini adult vacation. We went to New York by ourselves and it was completely wonderful. We went shopping, to the Late Show, Regis and Kelly show, we ate whatever we wanted when we wanted, and most importantly, I got to pee all by myself! We were overdue for some time alone together. It was so wonderful. I can never thank my mom enough for our break. Tyler has become a Wii addict! Seriously, the kid is good. Matt and I have a hard time beating him. He has become a champion. Tyler has had some hard days in school and at home lately. We are hoping it is a phase that any normal 4 year old would go through. Talan put us through an autism scare. We have him tested every 6 months and he tested high functioning autism on his last set of evaluations. Since then, I have been able to have a second evaluation done and it was determined that he does not have autism just a speech delay. We were told that if he can make it to his 2nd birthday without the diagnosis then the chances are he won't get diagnosed. Everyone cross their fingers for us!!! Matt is working his tail off trying to graduate. He has had an extremely busy month. The kids have really missed having him around. One night Tyler had decided he had, had enough and told me, "Mom I'm not going to bed till dad comes home and kisses me goodnight." I hope he forgets the long days without his dad in the years to come. Right now he is just too young to understand that Matt is doing what is best for us. I am starting to look like a beached whale so, hopefully this baby will pop out at any second! Hopefully that should catch you up on everything Mower.

From One Extreme to Another..................

All my boys have lost their minds and their hair!!! Matt let Tyler take a pair of scissors to his head before we shaved it. So, watch out, if Tyler comes near you with scissors chances are he is going to give you a hair cut as well. Talan sat like a champ loving every minute of getting his hair cut. Tyler sat for about 2 minutes before asking over and over and over again if I was done yet. I think our new baby is going to have more hair than all 3 of them put together! Hopefully that baby decides to come out soon. Matt got his official orders to that have us reporting to Colorado Springs. We are really excited for our move. Hopefully we'll find a cute house with a big fenced in backyard that I can send my little devil children out to play in. Today I was cooking dinner. I turned on the oven to pre-heat it. After 10 minutes I heard an explosion. Its never a good sign when you hear an explosion coming from the stove/oven area while you have gas flames already lit. I slowly opened up the oven terrified I was going to see a raging fire. No, no, my little Talan had put a diet pepsi in the oven and it exploded. There is nothing Talan cannot open or get into. I told Ty's therapist today that I was almost looking forward to giving birth just for the break I would get from the kids for a day or two. I'm beginning to see that not only do the kids have 5 times more energy they also out number me. Its going to be an interesting summer with Matt gone at boot camp.

Mustache March??????

There are some things as a spouse that you are expected to endure through. For most people, the way you leave the toilet paper, the toilet seat being left up/down, the way the toothpaste tube is rolled, etc. A mustache has been my test of love and patience this month. What do you think about it?

Fighting like Cats and Dogs

I think my children are going to try and tear each other apart. We are just entering into the world of playing together. Matt and I thought we had done a good job of working with Tyler and Talan teaching them to share. We were so wrong. Not only do I now need 2 of every toy that we will play with throughout our day. I need to label which one is Tyler's and which one is Talan's. I know many wise parents have told me in the last few years, if you think this is hard just wait. Well, I've waited, our time is here, I don't like what I see, and quite frankly, I don't care to continue the trend we are on. So, to the parents who have been through this stage, the grandparents, the people who pass us by, I say to you, "We are fighting this stage. We will win!! Victory will belong to Matt and me. If not, expect 2 cute packages on your front door in a few days." On another sad note, I got an email from the pregnancy website saying I still have 82 days or something horrific like that. What pregnant woman wants to know how many more days of torture are left?? Unless that number is a single digit number I say, don't write it. If a pregnant woman (like there could be a man) cares enough and wants to know, she will figure out how days are left on her own. On the happy side of this topic I have had 3 people tell me in the last couple of days that I look small for how far along I am. This is the best compliment any pregnant woman can get. Please people, stay away from the you are so huge you look like you're about to pop comment. I don't know that my patience could handle a comment like that one this time around. Finally, I have to go to the RMV (or the DMV in other states) tomorrow with either 1 or 2 children depending on when Talan's therapy finishes up. That is enough to give me nightmares tonight. I hope I am not the only one who shudders at the thought of going there. It could possibly be that I was once scared at the DMV. You see, my dad and I once upon a time were in line at the DMV. You know one of those really long lines where people are so close to you that you practically touch. You know that everyone around you is listening to each other and quite possibly judging each other based on conversation alone. My dad being the smart, witty, charmingly handsome man that he is thought, what could I do to liven this situation. Darned if he didn't say out loud (quite loudly), "Boy would you look at my daughter's shoes." I looked up to see the entire line of quite possibly 40 or more people staring at me. I looked at him and said, "Dad, I am going to hurt you dad." Ever since then the thought of the DMV is not a pleasant one. So, tomorrow when I am at the RMV for hours with most likely 2 screaming children, I hope the line takes pity on my soul. Hopefully those people will think, I think she is hanging in there just fine. When in reality they are probably thinking, I wonder how many accidents that girl is going to have. She can't be more than 19. I recently heard my dad tell a story about my dear, sweet Grandma Gould where she says a toast. I have decided that her toast in my life's new motto. So, Here's to all those who wish us well, all the rest can go to hell!

And Tyler takes off with the cake

I don't know if you have ever been to a reception with a 4 year old. I think, I hope, any 4 year old would do what my child did. If not, pretend you didn't read this and that everything below is purely fiction. I believe that Tyler is responsible for eating at least one entire tier of Andrew and Michelle's wedding cake. Every time I turned around he had a different piece, with different frosting, and different filling. What happens to be unique about this is, Tyler licks off any frosting and leaves the rest of the cake untouched. In essence he is only eating 1/4 of every piece if you count frosting, cake, filling, cake. So, Matt and I limited ourselves to his half eaten cake to try and make up the difference. In addition to the cake, Tyler must have filled at least 50 cups of water from the water jug. He must have thought it was entirely too cool to fill your own glass so, he helped himself, as well as many others, to glasses of water. Unfortunately, when others tried to get their own water, they were often confronted with "people get out the way" and "people go home" phrases that are sometimes muttered from a certain Grandpa on a certain side of the family that will remain undisclosed. If that was not enough entertainment for me to watch, my boys dancing to their all time favorite song, Sweet Home Alabama, where they sang louder than the music would have done it. Tyler was quite the dancer. Especially when he provided the strip entertainment for the night. All in all, I remain a proud mama!

The Wedding

My bro tied the knot! I can't believe the little big man of the Gould's is a married down man. He was truly beaming at the alter. I have never in my life seen that giddy of a smile on someones face. He seems so completely happy that we can't help but be so happy for both Andrew and Michelle. Matt and I both agree that they are a perfect pair that compliment each other well. We look forward to watching them grow together and become a cute little family. If you'll notice, Matt isn't in any of these pictures. You may ask why? Does Megan not want him in pictures? Does she not care for her husband of 6 years to proudly display him? The answer would be, I sent my husband off to get dressed in his tuxedo why I dressed both boys. He in turn decided it would be an excellent time to stand around, chit chat, and do nothing. So, when it came time for pictures, everyone else was dressed ready and present, except for yours truly, Matthew Mower. If he had listened to his lovely wife's council and did as instructed you would see a handsome Matthew Mower all smiles but unfortunately this is not to be. In truth there are some with him in the pictures, I just don't have any copies. Once I do, I will definitely post them. It was a lovely wedding, 3 of us down, 1 to go. Dad, start saving your pennies now, rumor is its going to be an expensive one. P.S. Remember if you are looking at these pictures thinking Megan sure is looking fat these days I am 6 months prego!!! Cut me some slack!